Chapter 6: A Well-paid Job
Stepping with a distinct air of confidence from the shadows of the hallway, he was showered with dim streams of light, flowing toward him as if by some unseen magnetic force. There he stood, towering, stone still in the midst of the office. While his presence was slightly overbearing, his appearance was not at all threatening, or for that matter orderly. A ruffled shirt, buttoned sporadically, hung loosely on his body, and a pair of oversized pants covered his untied, and scuffed, shoes. Everything about him screamed of a relaxed attitude, except, of course, his red hair. Each strand was meticulously glued into position, spiked up like a multitude of little crimson flames, radiating a surreal glow which formed a none too innocent halo.
“Surprise, surprise…” Reno grinned mischievously at his unsuspecting hosts.
There was no response, but Reno was not at all taken aback. After all, he was trying out his new materia, just receiving it that very morning. Although proving very effective, his freeze materia only retained control over his opponents for a mere few minutes. For Reno, time was always a problem, mostly because he enjoyed soaking everything in with pauses for dramatic effect. His associate, Rude, on the other hand never understood Reno’s obsession with “adding suspense”, as he liked to call it. Just do it, and do it right…. good advice, but Reno was not about to let an opportunity to inject a little fun into the situation to pass him by, even if the clock was against him.
Twirling his nightstick expertly between his fingers, Reno remained in his stance, head cocked slightly to the side, and waited… Slowly, Tifa twitched her left arm, which was soon followed by her right. It was like watching someone encased in an iceberg thawing out. Although Reno acknowledged that Barret Wallace was also in the room, behind the desk and actually pointing his gun-arm at him, his sparkling eyes never let Tifa out of his site. And hey, who could? She was still as beautiful as ever, and Reno was always looking for a skirt to direct his “charm” on. Then he remembered, grimacing slightly, that she was now not just Tifa, but Tifa Strife. He shook his head visibly, bringing his mind back to the correct time and place it should be residing. After all, his audience awaited….
Tifa stared motionlessly at Reno, anger rising in her but then slowly slipping away only to be replaced with curiosity. Hadn’t the Turks, Reno among them, forsaken ShinRa and joined up with Reeve to work harmoniously around the Planet? She squinted her eyes in question as she stiffly slid into the seat. Now with her back to Reno, Tifa flashed Barret a quick smile as she watched him laboriously collapse into his office chair. The effects of the materia were wearing off…
Reno’s grin widened. Show time.
“Ahem,” Reno glided across the room and leaned casually on the desk with his back to Barret. “Long time, no see?”
“Get off my desk.” Barret’s voice was cold and possessed a detached business-like tone. “I don’t know what your doing here, but I have a no-scum policy that says your welcome has officially run out, not that it was ever extended.”
“Aww, that hurts, right here,” Reno clasped his heads over his heart, “How about a little hospitality, eh Big Guy? After all, I did travel a long way just to stop by…”
Barret grinded his teeth together. He did not have the time or the patience for this, not that he ever had time or patience anyway… “I don’t want to hear it. Just go back to the barstool you crawled off of and save it for your whiskey.”
Reno pulled out a silver flask from his black coat pocket, lifting it up to Barret before taking a big swig. “This’ll save me the trouble. Want a sip? Well, I’m not offering so don’t ask. After all, this is your ‘place’ and therefore YOU should offer me a drink...”
“Offer an alcoholic a drink!?” Barret exclaimed incredulously.
Reno opened his mouth in response, but allowed his words to fade away, leaving a sly smile on his face. He was, of course, staring at Tifa, his new, not to mention, beautiful, target. “So, how’s Spikehead? Feeling a bit ‘under the weather’?”
There was a strange glint in Reno’s eyes and a foreboding feeling that hung in the air between them, as the question remained unanswered.
“He’s fine,” Tifa finally broke the silence, her voice wavering ever so slightly, but enough for Reno to pick up on…
Noticing the glint in his eyes, Tifa shot Reno a warning look, almost daring him to say another word about Cloud, and watched as he leisurely pushed away from the desk and flopped down in the seat right next to her. Barret leaned back in his chair, massaging his temples with his fingers, trying to control his temper. Nevertheless, if Barret couldn’t restrain himself and a fight broke out, chances are that Reno would be useless to them… and she had an unshakable feeling that his presence was somehow related to Alyssa. But Tifa’s thoughts were interrupted by, of course, their unanticipated guest. He was digging into his pockets, apparently looking for something he had misplaced, to his distress.
“Well, here it is!” Reno jumped out of his seat, revealing a piece of white paper, stained by food and crumpled, that he held up triumphantly.
Tifa rolled her eyes. They had endured this enough. “Reno, we really don’t have time for this, so if you could just tell us if ---”
“Ahem!” Reno put up a hand to silence her, both eyes twinkling while he waved the scrap above his head as if calling their attention to him. “As I was saying… This is it!”
Barret stood, still a bit rigid from the freeze materia, and opened his mouth to defend Tifa. It was obvious to him that Reno had dropped by in a drunken state, for some arbitrary reason, but tolerating his presence and tolerating defamation were two distinctly different subjects. Tifa, signaling to him through her expressions, no doubt believed that Reno was here because of Alyssa, which made absolutely no sense. After all, he was a drunk and Barret was not about to allow this ridiculous situation continue when his friends needed his help elsewhere. But the words never got out, due to the instantaneous decision of Reno to pitch the white piece of paper into his face, therefore putting the wheels in motion for disaster…
Barret snatched the paper as if it was a threatening weapon, and the expression plastered on his face betrayed his surprise and shock. But as quickly as it had appeared, Barret replaced it with a scowl, crushing the paper vehemently in his fist.
“I ain’t gonna take this right now, so if you don’t get your drunken ass the hell outa here….” Barret fumed, his voice thick and flowing with unquenchable anger, shown not only by his poor sentence structure and vocabulary, but also his determinedly set jaw.
“If you read that, you’d see I have a good and accountable reason to be here,” Reno crossed his arms stubbornly, clearly enjoying himself, and returned to his position: leaning comfortably back in the seat after his “outburst”.
Seething, Barret lurched across his desk with full force, extending out his arm and clenching his fingers tightly around the collar of Reno’s shirt. Yanking him out of the chair, Barret pulled Reno towards him so that their faces were only an inch apart. He held him there, staring coldly into his eyes, their breath mingling between them tensely.
“Get out.”
With that, Barret released his hold on the collar and situated himself back in his chair. After straightening his shirt and regaining his composer, Reno shrugged, seemingly genuine in his recognition of Barret’s request… although, Tifa knew, things were not always what they were perceived to be. Still, Reno shuffled his slouched body towards the door, and while Tifa nonetheless had an urge to talk to him, maybe even attempt to persuade him to help them, she expected him to leave, knowing herself too well to do something of that nature. Barret had given an “order”, so to speak, and she intended to stick by him. After all, she didn’t know what exactly was on that sheet of paper. Unfortunately, he was not yet deferred from his purpose…
For that matter, Reno did make it to the doorway, but that was the extent of his travels. There, he stopped, spinning on his heels to face Tifa and Barret. He had had his fun. Now it was time to be serious, or at least more direct. With that in mind, Reno pushed his sunglasses down from where they had rested upon his forehead, tinting the room a shadowy gray. Then, running a hand through his red spiky hair, he widened his mouth in a malicious smirk.
“You can destroy the paper, Wallace, saying that I’m drunk and dishonest, and so is the paper, but it won’t just disappear,” Reno sneered, “Any law abiding person would respect it, though I can’t speak for you… obeying the rules was never your strong point, was it?”
“Forging paperwork is not…”
“Forged!!” Reno laughed, intently amused. “What would be the purpose of that?”
Barret remained silent, but a burning red color began to consume his face.
“It doesn’t matter anyway.” Reno dismissed his last question with a swish of his hand. “The recovery has already been accomplished, no matter what you have to say.”
“Can somebody fill me in?” Tifa asked wearily, glancing from Reno to Barret.
“Going too fast for you, sweetcake?” Reno responded in mock sincerity. “Well, let me break it down for you. I work as a private investigator… you can just say that we’re the “formerly know as Turks” association. And believe me, it’s one hell of a well-paid job. Anyway, we’re on a case to find a run away. She turns up in Cloud’s company, so assuming that he is aiding her, the girl was forcefully taken from the house.”
Tifa gasped with horror and shock. “Wait a minute! What do you mean by “forcefully”?! And why were you looking for Alyssa? The Turks are investigators… how did you know where she was?”
Barret stood, more poised than he had been since Reno’s arrival. “Where did you take her?”
Reno held out his hands, warding off the bombardment of inquiries. “I am but a poor drunken fool,” Reno sarcastically stated. “I have delivered the required paperwork… the lowly delivery boy that I have become….and must now return to my barstool, eh Wallace?”
Biting his lip in frustration, Barret sighed, “Cut the crap and tell us where she is.”
Staring at the wide-eyed Tifa, Reno shrugged, “I don’t know… after all, I’ve been here with you. But I will give you a quick tip: Go home now.”
Adding a two-fingered salute, Reno glided out of the office, snickering into the darkness. Tifa got up as if to follow him, but thought better of it and turned towards Barret.
“He said forcefully…”
Barret hesitated and reluctantly answered, “Yes.. but that doesn’t mean, well, we don’t know anything concrete yet, and can’t just jump to conclusions.”
“Forcefully, Barret, and they took Alyssa,” Tifa’s eyes shown with misery. “Why would he say ‘go home now’, unless..”
“What are we waiting for then? We better get back there.” Barret interrupted, his voice confident but strained. After all, they were shaken by Reno’s news, and although at first he heartily disbelieved all of it, now Barret was not so sure. The question of what Reno gained still lingered in his mind like a sharp pain, mostly because the answer was nothing.
He grabbed a few scraps from his desk, stuffing them hurriedly into a folder, and moved towards the door. “Coming?”
Tifa breathed heavily, “I’m just… I mean, what if…?”
Barret reached out and squeezed Tifa’s hand, attempting to comfort her. There always seemed to be an “if” just around the corner… With a sigh, after glancing around and clicking off the light, Barret led her from the darkened room. They became two shadows, black against the night, moving swiftly from the building with the same thought hanging between them, though both remained speechless:
What if there was nothing to go back to?