Chapter Text
The mood in the room for the first team meeting following Veld’s departure was a somber one. Reno and Rude had barely gotten any sleep the night before, staying awake into the late hours with Emma and Tseng to prepare the newly accessible east wing apartment for their long-term guest: Rufus fucking Shinra. Eventually Reno fell asleep against Rude on the couch in their shared office only to be awoken by Tseng, who said absolutely nothing about the position he found them in and only asked them to get up and join the meeting.
That was at least something, wasn’t it? Tseng had already seen Reno with his mouth around Rude’s cock and now he was in charge of the Turks. So it wouldn’t really hurt anything rules wise if they finally crossed the line Reno was so desperate to cross, would it? Tseng wouldn’t get rid of them for something like that, even if he was a hardass.
It was strange and unsettling to watch Tseng take the chief’s chair at the head of the table in the conference room. He looked uncomfortable with it himself, settling awkwardly into the chair and observing a stack of papers in front of him.
“As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, yesterday the chief defected while on a mission in Corel.” He paused and waited for the hushed conversation to die down. “In addition, Ruluf is currently in the infirmary in a coma. He’s stable, but the doctors could not provide a timeline for his recovery.”
Freyra looked the most upset by this news, her eyes glistening as she turned away.
“Wonder if they were fucking,” Reno whispered to Rude, who frowned at him in response. “What? Just saying.”
“The President has placed me in charge of the Turks,” Tseng continued. “As a result, I’m placing Emma as second in command should I be unable to fulfill my duties. She will take over my field work as I have to dedicate more of my time to work here at headquarters.”
“Tseng,” Balto spoke up, quickly correcting himself. “Er…director…chief, sir.”
Tseng’s ears flushed. “Yes, Balto?”
“Is the President going to make us hunt down the chief? I mean Veld. I mean-”
Tseng held a hand up to silence him. All eyes turned to Tseng and Reno found he was holding his breath. He wanted to believe even if it was an order from the President, Tseng wouldn’t turn on their old chief like that. After all, Turks were loyal to other Turks, weren’t they? And as far as Reno was concerned, once a Turk always a Turk.
“I cannot reasonably ask any of you to apprehend or neutralize the chief. I can’t do it myself.” It was the most emotional Reno had ever seen Tseng. “I do, however, want to find out where he is.” Before anyone could protest, he silenced them. “If we know his whereabouts before Heidegger or SOLDIER, we stand a chance of keeping him safe. I can lie to the President. I’ll take the brunt of that responsibility as your new chief.”
“Damn,” Reno said. “Didn’t know you knew how to break rules, Chuckles.”
“Occasionally, when the circumstances permit, I can bend a little,” the corners of Tseng’s lips turned upward in the faintest hint of a smile before deepening into a frown as his brow furrowed. “And you will address me as ‘sir’ or ‘director’ from now on. Not ‘Chuckles’.”
“Yeah, all right,” Reno waved his hand. “I guess you’ve earned it.”
Tseng ignored him and continued on with the meeting. He doled out assignments, with additional assignments to scour the mission locales for signs of Veld. Poor Cissnei was relegated to helping Scarlet and Heidegger ‘clean up the mess’ in Corel by razing the town. Typical Shinra to burn any evidence of their incompetence to the ground, even if it meant innocent lives being lost.
As far as Rufus Shinra went, Reno, Rude, and Emma were the only others who knew about their special new hostage, but Tseng addressed the use of the east wing in proper Turk fashion.
“You may notice from time to time that myself and some of your colleagues are utilizing the restricted space in the east wing. Unless you’ve been granted specific permission to access this area, you will not go anywhere near the east wing. If I find out anyone without access has been overly curious, there will be consequences.”
With that warning issued, Tseng and Emma left to pay a visit to the forbidden east wing.
“What about us?” Reno asked, following alongside Rude as they left the conference room.
“You two can go home and get some rest,” Tseng said. “I need you in top shape to take over tomorrow evening. I’ll be making a weekly schedule for our security duties.”
“Babysitting you mean,” Reno laughed.
“Go home, Reno. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He and Emma disappeared around the corner and Reno turned to Rude.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” Rude yawned. “I’m not going to ask twice if Tseng’s giving us the day off after everything that went down yesterday.”
Reno followed him into the elevator and up through the lobby out into the streets of sector zero. They walked in relative silence back to the apartment building where several Turks made their home away from headquarters. When they reached the front stoop, Reno turned to look at Rude with his stomach in knots.
How could he say what was on his mind? That all the sudden chaos had made him appreciate their bond even more. That he was bone tired, but he didn’t want to sleep while his mind was flooded with thoughts of everything they hadn’t done yet. That even if he was going to sleep, he didn’t want to sleep alone.
It was all too fucking sentimental for someone like Reno - someone who had never loved or been loved, to the point that he was certain he didn’t deserve it even if he wanted it.
So instead he just said, “Guess I’ll see you whenever we both wake up.”
Rude smiled, that stupid handsome smile of his, and pecked Reno on the cheek, which took his breath away.
“Good night, Reno. Or…I guess good morning.”
With that, they went off to their separate apartments and despite his fatigue, Reno found himself staring at the ceiling for some time, thoughts swirling through his head, and a new and uncomfortable feeling settling in his chest.
The secret apartment hidden within the Turks’ headquarters was a far cry from the luxury penthouses Rufus was used to, but as far as prison sentences went, it could have been considerably worse. There were three sets of security doors, which Rufus thought was a bit extreme, but then Tseng knew even if his father didn’t that he was smart enough and had the proper education to bypass anything less than air-tight security.
Once past the security doors, an open living room-kitchen area was decorated in his father’s particularly gaudy tastes, funneling into a hallway with a room for whatever Turk happened to babysitting him at the time, a bathroom, and finally his room, complete with a plush king-sized bed and a window with a view of the slums far below.
Rufus had been allowed to request a handful of his effects - clothes, books, his chess set, and his cello, as well as a little box of sex toys that would likely be the only touch he knew until he was released. He couldn’t decide how long his father truly meant by ‘indefinitely’ but his father never did anything lightly, so he was prepared for at least a year under the Turks’ watch.
His first night in the apartment had been spent stewing over his own failure. He always knew the inherent risk that came with his plans, with funding insurgents and trying to overthrow his father, but he never imagined it would all go to hell in such a spectacular fashion. He was angry, but more than anything he was disappointed that he had lived up to exactly the kind of failure he knew his father expected of him.
A loser.
It would require years of brown-nosing and ass-kissing and even more furtive planning to undo what this mess had created.
By the time Tseng and Emma arrived to establish law and order on the indefinite house arrest, Rufus hadn’t slept in nearly two days, not for lack of trying. He was also hungry and the combination of hunger and lack of sleep put him in such a foul mood that as soon as he heard the security doors opening, he hurried down the hall and shut himself in his room.
Tseng and Emma’s voices carried from the living room down the hallway and then Rufus listened as their footsteps approached and there was a curt wrap on the door to his room.
“Mr. Vice President?” Tseng asked.
Rufus scoffed. Tseng was the one with the power now: power over the Turks as their new leader, but also power over Rufus in a way neither of them ever could have imagined. Rufus may still have been the vice president of the Shinra Electric Power Company, but he was the Turks’ ward and they had undoubtedly been given free reign on how to handle his imprisonment. The thought did worry Rufus, if only a little - he knew what Tseng and the other Turks were capable of if push came to shove - but the fact that Tseng was still addressing him by his title despite the absurdity of the situation and the sudden power shift set his mind at ease.
“I’m coming in,” Tseng announced loudly before gently opening the door and standing just beyond the threshold.
Rufus rolled to face the window, turning his back to Tseng. “If it’s all the same, I’d rather be left alone.”
“I understand,” said Tseng. Rufus almost chided him for his submission, but before he could think to say anything, Tseng continued. “I understand why you might think you have any say in the trajectory of your imprisonment with us. This is certainly a modest and comfortable apartment. Don’t let that lure you into a false sense of authority here, sir.”
Rufus sat up and met Tseng’s gaze. No matter how many times he had gone round with Tseng, he was always taken by surprise when he showed a backbone. He didn’t carry himself like a leader - there wasn’t Veld’s sense of arrogance and authority, nor the inflated self-importance the other executives seemed to have (except perhaps Tuesti). Tseng was, as far as Rufus was concerned, the very essence of a good spy: tall dark and handsome, but easily able to blend in to the background, to nod his head and say ‘certainly, sir’ and do exactly as he was told. It was both a surprise, and frankly a delight, anytime Tseng took on that role he seemed so averse to.
“So what will you do with me then? Chain me up and feed me gruel?” Rufus laughed.
“You’ve been provided very reasonable accommodation,” said Tseng. “And you will continue to be provided with reasonable accommodation so long as you remain a cooperative prisoner. What that entails is up to us, not you. You don’t get to decide when you want to left alone because you haven’t earned my respect or the respect of any of my subordinates.” His eyes flashed as he held Rufus’ gaze. “I sincerely doubt you even understand the meaning of the word.”
“You sound like my father.”
“If that were true, you probably wouldn’t be where you are right now,” Tseng bit back. “Emma will be staying with you this week. There’s a notepad on the kitchen counter for you to write down any food requests. Let me be perfectly clear: you won’t be getting room service here and we aren’t your chefs.”
Rufus would not admit aloud to someone like Tseng that he didn’t have the faintest clue how to cook because he had never in his life been taught how, nor had he needed to. The idea of trying to cook anything more than some microwave noodles felt like a punishment in itself. It was exactly what Tseng would expect of him, though, so he simply shrugged.
“And I can request any foods?”
“You can request any foods,” Tseng agreed. “You might not receive everything you request.”
“Fine. If that’s all-”
“For now.” Tseng took a step back and paused in the doorway. “You’ll be under surveillance every hour of every day. And if I find out you’ve been rude, aggressive, suggestive, or otherwise inappropriate with any of my subordinates you’ll be forced to deal with me as your full-time overseer. I think that’s something neither of us want.”
Rufus snorted. “I’d rather cut my cock off than fuck a Turk.”
This was patently a lie because Rufus would have gladly fucked Tseng if he weren’t such an uptight rule-abiding asshole. And he would have fucked that muscle-head who brought him in with Reno the loudmouth. But in his current predicament, his hand seemed like a much better option.
Tseng didn’t dignify this comment with a response. He walked away, closing the bedroom door behind him and leaving Rufus to stew in his thoughts once more.
Elena Lindholm was used to scraped knuckles and bloody noses, so she didn’t shirk away from them when she found herself in a fight - which was more often than not. Blood trickled from one nostril and her fists were covered in tiny cuts, her own blood mingling with that of the man beneath her who shielded his face in a vain attempt to slow the torrent of blows she directed at him.
He expected, she knew, what every single other man seemed to expect of a petite blonde who hid her lithe muscle beneath a stained, over sized waitress’ frock: a submissive little waif who couldn’t fight back.
She hadn’t even been the target this time. A woman at the bar had been ordering drinks when he showed up - he wouldn’t leave her alone despite her insistence, and then he slipped something into her drink. Growing up in the slums and working at a bar had given Elena a keen eye for such things. She also knew how to play a situation to her advantage.
It was easy to make it look like she spilled the drink on accident. ‘Silly me, I’m always so clumsy. Don’t worry, miss, I’ll get you another.’ And while her coworker prepared a replacement drink, she batted her eyelashes at the man and moved her hips this way and that and asked if he could come out back with her while she took her smoke break.
As soon as they were outside, his disgusting hands were on her and then her knee was between his legs and her fists were flying at his face. He never saw her coming. They never did.
“What the fuck?” He choked, spitting up bits of his own blood as she slammed her fist into his face again. He had managed one good head butt that caught her nose before she had him flat on his back.
“I saw you drug her drink,” Elena hissed. “Consider this a warning.” She stood up and kicked him in the ribs with the full force of her legs. “If I see you here again, you won’t be walking away.”
“You’re a fucking bitch!” the man spat, crawling away from her and struggling to right himself.
“Maybe I am,” Elena agreed. “Now get the fuck out of here.”
She stepped back into the bar, wiping the blood from her nose onto her frock. Her coworker sighed at the sight of her.
“Another one? Really?”
Elena only shrugged. Was it her fault that violence and sex were the only tools she knew how to use to solve her problems? If she was giving an honest answer to the rhetorical question, it was her father’s fault. He chose to raise her and her sister in the slums, he chose to keep them under his thumb, falling in line to authority to such a rigid degree, and he chose to put her through the Shinra Military academy.
Top of her class. The best martial artist they had seen in decades. An excellent candidate for SOLDIER or the Turks.
And yet somehow always standing in Emma’s shadow.
Elena didn’t take issue with falling in line under authority she respected - it was why she had done so well at academy once she was out of her father’s classes - but she was too hot-headed for her own good. Her father had yet to write her any sort of recommendation for a position at Shinra until she could ‘prove herself’.
It made her fucking blood boil. Emma never had to prove herself to get a recommendation to join the Turks. And Emma was half as good of a marksman as Elena was a martial artist. Hell, Elena was a better marksman than Emma, and it wasn’t even her specialty. The over-protection, the constant sizing up against her sister, she knew it all came from their father’s ineptitude at coping with the loss of their mother. As if it hadn’t hurt her too?
Why should she have to suffer through so much more than Emma ever dealt with when she was twice as good as Emma would ever be?
The job at the bar had been her father’s idea - it would show she could handle herself in the real world without losing her temper - so long as her father never heard about the patrons she picked fights with.
Unfortunately, proving herself to her father also meant following his rules: regular lessons with him at the academy, a curfew of eleven on nights she didn’t work, one hour after last call on nights she did work, paying him three hundred gil a month in rent just to show she knew how to budget, and a laundry list of other pointless requirements Emma never had to meet.
Worst of all the demands though, was his insistence that she ‘be nice to her sister’ whenever she came around.
But she wanted a recommendation to SOLDIER more than she had ever wanted anything, so if that meant kissing her father’s ass and pretending to be nice to a sister she could barely tolerate, she would do it.
It would all be worth it for the look on Emma’s face when she became a SOLDIER. After all, SOLDIERS were stronger than Turks, more valued by Shinra.
Maybe then she’d finally get the respect she’d been chasing her entire life.
Sleep eluded Reno.
He stared at the ceiling for hours, his mind occupied with thoughts of Rude and his feelings he couldn’t bear to put a name to. He didn’t get emotionally attached because there was no purpose to it - no value. It only served as a weakness.
Except he knew he was full of shit.
As a kid he’d loved Madam S like she was his mother - and she was the closest thing he’d had. He had a soft spot for the chocobo handlers who took him in as well. Reno’s entire life, he liked to think he didn’t form emotional attachments - and it was easier when he became a Turk and it seemed like part of the job - but the truth was he had always been a clinger hiding behind a face of aloof disinterest. And of all the people he’d ever unintentionally given a little piece of his heart to, he had given the most to Rude by a longshot.
Even before his crush completely twisted around his insides, Rude had been his first true friend, the first person he could genuinely trust every fucking moment of his life.
Was he in love with Rude? How could he even know when he had never been in love before? All he knew was he had never felt the way he felt in that moment.
It was fucking killing him.
After a few hours of restless tossing and turning in bed, he got up and paced, chain smoked a few cigarettes, paced some more. His heart was racing and he couldn’t get Rude out of his mind. They had already crossed so many lines, but they were taking it slow because Reno’s natural speed setting was significantly faster than Rude’s. But hadn’t they done enough waiting?
Fed up with being wrapped up in his own thoughts and admittedly not thinking as clearly as he probably ought to, Reno made an executive decision. He threw his door open and moved down the hall and up the stairs like a bolt of lightning, coming to a stop outside of Rude’s door and knocking once.
Gods, he was gonna feel like a dick if he woke Rude up from his first undisturbed sleep in ages.
He didn’t have to wait long though, his hand had barely pulled away from the door when it flew open and he found Rude standing in the doorway in his boxers with his sunglasses off looking as wired as Reno felt.
His eyes were so fucking gorgeous that Reno had long ago decided he was doing the world a favor by wearing those sunglasses of his because who the fuck could keep their eyes or their hands off of him as soon as he pulled them off?
“I couldn’t sleep,” Reno said.
“Me either.”
“Can I-?”
“Yes.”
Rude took a step back and Reno moved inside, hovering by the door after Rude closed it. He laughed nervously - he had never been so fucking nervous in his entire life. It was embarrassing actually.
“All these thoughts in my head and I can’t think of what to say.”
“Reno,” Rude said. “I…”
“You know, maybe for once in my life I could just shut up, huh? What if we didn’t talk?” He took a step closer to Rude. “Hell, I mean, we don’t need to talk half the time to know what the other is thinking, right?”
In answer, Rude gripped Reno’s hips and pulled their bodies together, pressing his lips softly to Reno’s as his fingers dug into his skin. Reno leaned into the kiss, opening his mouth to greet Rude’s tongue, guiding one of his hands to the edge of his underwear beneath the fabric where his grip clenched around the curve of Reno’s ass.
Reno surprised himself with the moan that left his throat, heat quickly pooling between his legs. He held Rude’s arm with one hand and ran the other across the contour of his chest, his large muscles a stark contrast to Reno’s comparably smaller frame. They broke away for a moment, noses still brushing while they caught their breath. Reno’s head spun.
“I don’t…I don’t want you to feel rushed-”
“I want this,” Rude interrupted him. His lips hovered close to Reno’s, his breath hot against Reno’s face. “I want you so badly I can’t stand it.”
Reno chuckled against him. “The feeling’s mutual then.”
Their lips came together again and they stumbled backward toward Rude’s bed, Rude climbing on top of Reno and moving his kisses down to Reno’s neck and along his collarbone. By this point, Reno’s heartbeat was throbbing between his legs and all he could think about was how beautiful Rude’s cock was and how badly he wanted it inside of him. It had been too long since he’d had sex at all, but he had wanted this with Rude for far longer.
Rude was an attentive lover, his lips moving down Reno’s chest, his tongue gliding over Reno’s nipple while he palmed at Reno’s erection through the fabric of his underwear. Reno arched his back to meet Rude’s touch and was met with two strong, firm hands pinning him back to the mattress. Reno squirmed while Rude moved his kisses further and further south, his thumb gliding over the head of Reno’s cock through his underwear until he was so hard that it hurt.
“Fuck,” Reno huffed.
Rude knew better than anyone how impatient Reno was. He was just as impatient in the bedroom. He was used to fooling around with men and women who were quick fucks, eager to get theirs and move on, and as a result he had never really been teased like this. Or at least, it felt like teasing. Reno wasn’t quite aware that in a relationship built on mutual respect, this was just attentive foreplay.
Finally, Rude’s mouth reached the edge of Reno’s underwear and he hooked his fingers under the fabric, pulling it down Reno’s legs and tossing it aside. Reno was suddenly acutely aware Rude had never seen his dick before, and while Reno had never exactly been self conscious about it, it wasn’t much of a display compared to what Rude was packing.
Of course, you never would have known the way Rude looked at it. He planted soft, delicate kisses all along the sensitive skin of Reno’s thighs and hips before pressing his lips against the base of Reno’s cock and kissing a path to the head.
“Ah,” Reno gasped. And then Rude’s mouth encircled his cock as his tongue swirled around the head. “Fuck!”
Rude bobbed his head and Reno gripped the back of Rude’s neck, biting down on his lower lip as Rude’s tongue drove him to a near-frenzied state. He wanted to cum, but he also wanted Rude to fuck him first.
“Stop, stop…” Reno panted. “I don’t want to finish before we’ve even started.”
Rude released him and sat back on his legs, a bashful look on his face. Gods, but he was so cute. “To be honest, I’ve never done that before. I was worried it wouldn’t be good.”
“Not good?” Reno balked. “Partner, that was the best head I’ve ever had.”
Rude rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously calling me partner right now?”
Reno shrugged. It only felt natural. “I promise I won’t yell that when you’re fucking me.”
Before Rude could respond, Reno tugged on his arm and forced him to sit back against the headboard, following Rude’s lead and slowly trailing kisses down his body to the line of his boxers. Rude tensed slightly beneath his touch, but Reno knew it was just his nerves.
He pulled Rude’s boxers down and tossed them to join Reno’s underwear on the floor.
“You want me to lead, partner?” Reno asked, gripping Rude’s cock at the base and stroking up and down the length of it. Rude’s mouth fell open and he barely managed a nod. “You got some lube?”
“Nightstand,” Rude answered.
Reno found it quickly and straddled Rude’s lap, grinding his ass back against Rude’s erection and placing the bottle in Rude’s hand. “Use your fingers,” he directed.
Rude didn’t need to be told twice. He slicked a finger up with the lube and brought his hand against Reno’s ass, the other hand gripping at Reno’s thigh as his finger slide inside. Reno pressed his chest against Rude’s and kissed his neck while his finger moved.
“AH FUCK,” Reno nipped at Rude’s skin as Rude’s finger brushed against his prostate. “Right there.”
Rude moved his finger against it again and Reno’s cock throbbed. After a few seconds of this, another finger slipped inside, pumping against him while Reno ground his hips to meet Rude’s hand. He couldn’t bear it for very long before he felt so desperate to have Rude’s cock inside of him that he felt liable to explode.
“Enough, enough,” Reno gasped. “I need you to fuck me, now.”
He grabbed the lube and squeezed some into his hand, pumping up and down the length of Rude’s cock and taking the lead while Rude held his hips and watched, tense with anticipation. Slowly, Reno settled down against Rude’s lap, guiding Rude’s cock inside of him and shifting his hips until it hit that sensitive spot inside of him and he nearly came undone.
“Oh, fuck,” Reno breathed against Rude’s shoulder. “Fuck me, you’re big.”
“Does it hurt?” Rude asked, and when Reno looked up there was a look of such concern in Rude’s eyes that his heart swelled. He laughed despite Rude’s concern and rolled his hips to move their bodies together. “No, it feels fucking amazing.”
Reno didn’t mind leading in most situations, and he found it almost endearing how inexperienced someone as handsome and charming as Rude was in this situation. Reno moved slowly at first, guiding the movement while Rude’s fingers dug into his hips. After a few seconds of this, the tension Rude was carrying seem to release all at once and he allowed his mouth to fall open and his eyes to flutter shut, moaning from deep within his chest as two distinct syllables left his mouth:
“Reno!”
Reno was subsequently both surprised and a little embarrassed when his cock throbbed and he came across Rude’s abdomen with a groan, the orgasm hitting him so violently that his body shook. He ground to a halt, gasping for breath, his face flushed.
“Ah, shit,” he panted. “I’m sorry, I-”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Rude answered quickly.
Honestly, as ridiculously sappy as it was, Reno had hoped they might cum together.
“I want you to finish,” Reno said, clutching at Rude’s neck. “Finish inside of me.”
Rude nuzzled against the top of Reno’s head. “If you’re sure.”
Reno nodded, digging his nails into Rude’s skin as Rude took control, clutching at his ass and thrusting his hips. Despite the fact that Reno was so sensitive it almost hurt, he also wanted it so badly. Rude’s breath grew ragged as he pumped into him, his movements becoming clumsy, his fingers digging more insistently into the flesh of Reno’s ass until he finally came with a low groan followed by several soft moans as he fell still.
All things considered, even if it hadn’t gone exactly like Reno had hoped, it was well fucking worth the wait.
For several minutes they lay against each other catching their breath, sweaty and sticky, until the cum drying on their skin between them became too irritating to ignore, at which point Rude was the one to get up and attend to the mess, delicately and affectionately wiping a towel against Reno’s skin, kissing his shoulder as he did so.
Fuck.
Reno’s heart fluttered. He lay propped up on one elbow waiting for Rude to return to the bed, uncertain what he should do next. To his immense relief, Rude solved the problem for him. He climbed under the sheets and turned to face Reno, smiling with heavy-lidded eyes.
“You’ll stay and sleep, won’t you?”
Reno nodded wordlessly and curled against Rude, overwhelmed by the comfort of Rude’s arms wrapping around him and then, finally, he found some much needed sleep.