The Way Back to 429, Post-Vortex

[the_merriest]

Two daughters, very different, both gone. One wee Turk, not hers in any sense, gone as well.

Rikku was walking back to the dorms, very, very slowly. And trying not to sniffle quite so much. And failing.

She reached over, almost instinctively, for Reno's hand.

(for the modded one)

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[raspberryturk]

Ringing. Ringing.

Reno shook his head, no, no, no, you can't leave right now, I need you, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his room along with him.

Ringing.

Pick up, Tseng. Damn you.

[the_merriest]

Then she was here, right here, curled into his side and placing a light kiss on his neck. She'd be quiet. She'd stay close. And if there was more rain, when he had to explain Rede to his boss, she'd never tell.

She waited expectantly for someone to pick up. Somehow she figured the Turks were the on-call sort.

[raspberryturk]

"Tseng." It was his standard greeting.

"Boss." It was Reno's standard, too. Minus the 'yo' and with a little less easygoing 'whatever-vibe' than usual. "I, uh."

....

"I gotta call my report in, this week. Early." Yeah. That was a great place to start that.

Tseng frowned. Either Reno had encountered some major resistance, or he was about to confess to some high-level rule breaking. Neither could be good. "Go on."

Reno took a deep breath. Right.

"The island had another... random invasion," he ventured. And he'd jump in again with, "but nothin' dangerous, I swear," before Tseng could yell at him for getting involved.

"Still serious enough to warrant an early report," Tseng noted. "How so?"

"It was an influx of... children, sir." Ruba and Rede and Riina and even evil little Cissney, and Reno had to take another deep breath. "Possible future children, from alternate universes or timelines, zoto."

[the_merriest be the Tseng of awesome woo!]

[the_merriest]

This conversation required the standard serious-conversation set-up. Which meant piling the bedding in a heap and arranging both of them against it and snuggling in. He was okay. Ruba curled up on his lap for naps, and Rede was a full-fledged Turk now, and Cissney was off destroying the world and ... well, Riina was probably stopping her. Still. He was okay. Right?

[raspberryturk]

He'd be fine. If he told himself that enough, Reno would be fine. He took another deep breath, wriggled back into the pillows and pulled her tightly against his chest, and waited for Tseng to say something. Anything.

Tseng raised an eyebrow. This was what Reno had called for? There had to be something darker coming, but he couldn't resist commenting on the obvious. "Dare I ask how many you had?"

"Four, sir. Three daughters. And a... a clone, sir." It sounded like a swear word, saying it like that. He curled his lip a little and shut his eyes and he had to take another deep breath. Shit shit shit.

Now, he had Tseng's full attention. "A clone? Like the Genesis and Angeal copies?"

Reno winced at that.

"Nothin' so nasty, sir," he replied. And it was a quiet, tentative sort of reply. "He was a kid. Came complete with free will and a hate of broccoli. He was..." Spit it out spit it out spit it OUT, Reno. "Hojo made him. Some kinda Turk cloning program, sir. He was half me, half Rude. He was number 32." He paused for a moment. He hated leaving him as a number. "We named him Rede when we found him, zoto."

[the_merriest]

She was going to lace her fingers through the hand of his that wasn't holding the phone. And squeeze. And snuggle in that much more. She was here. He could do this. For Rede.

Okay, her other hand was dabbing at her eyes a little, but she was trying to be subtle with that so he didn't notice. Not because she thought he'd mind, but because she was trying to be strong for him, dammit.

[raspberryturk]

That was appreciated. A lot. Because Reno would be having one hell of a time keeping himself from cracking if not for the fingers he was holding in his own.

Tseng's blood ran cold. Hojo. Turk cloning program. He flipped open his laptop and began typing furiously. "Hojo never had authorization --" he started, before biting it off. No point wasting words on obvious statements. Hojo never bothered with authorizations in his life.

"In Rede's reality, Hojo was still alive, I guess." Reno was going to press on, here, because if he didn't, he'd be curling up and freaking out for sending the kid back. Damn it damn it damn it anyhow. "We... so sure he's dead, here?"

"Positive," said Tseng, entering passwords he knew by heart and navigating what was left of ShinRa's classified database. "I'll be verifying that personally. Did the kid give any indication of the location or scope of this program?"

This would be easier if Hojo kept accurate records. Which was probably why he didn't.

"No clue where he was at. Rede didn't know, either. But it'd have to be someplace with the... resources for that kinda shit to go down, right? And somewhere that Turks who're actually gonna give a shit ain't gonna trip into?" Reno was talking pretty numbly, now. His lips were moving on his own and he was trying not to listen to what he was saying and he was pulling Rikku close and pressing his forehead into her hair. "He was... number 32, boss. Means there were at least 31 other kids before him, not just of me an' Rude, and fuck only knows how many after."

[the_merriest]

If she brought his hand up to her lips, she could nuzzle against it, kiss it. That would have to do for now, since she couldn't throw the stupid phone across the room and hold him. He had to talk to his boss, his boss could find Rede if he was out there, and so Rikku wasn't allowed to throw the phone yet even if Reno sounded like he was inches away from falling apart.

"Love you," she breathed, hoping it was soft enough the phone wouldn't pick it up. Please?

[raspberryturk]

Reno gave her a squeeze, and he gave a nod, and he mouthed the words right back. It was a pretty sensitive phone, but to hell with all of it, it was good to hear.

If Tseng heard, he was at least diplomatic enough to keep it to himself. Or too distracted by his indexing to notice, though that was less likely. "We can hope Hojo's numbering system was atypical," he said, not believing it himself. 31 others. His, Reno's, Rude's, Cissnei's, and that was going to sting. "Hojo had at least one lab facility referred to only as 'deepground.' Even my clearance can't access those records. Brute-force hacking would take years, but the President has to know where some of the keys are."

Some, but not necessarily all. Rufus Shinra had held the presidency for a damned short time before the whole empire had collapsed, along with the city of Midgar.

"Some's better than... nothin', right?" Reno was holding a breath and he swallowed the lump in his throat and he didn't dare open his mouth again or the rest would come spilling out. That Rede grew up never seeing the sky and nobody ever told him they cared until this weekend and the kid had looked like he was going to break down and fucking cry when he'd been told that he had to go back. Back with a gun. And maybe Tseng would have enough tact to not call Reno on that choked noise he just made.

Better than nothing, but not good enough. Tseng did not accept failure from his Turks, and that went double for himself. Think.

A moment later, there was renewed vigor to his typing. "We're approaching this from the wrong direction," Tseng said.

It was going to take Reno another moment before he could reply. He had to breathe. Okay. This was a good sign, right? Right, it had to be. Okay.

"We are, sir?"

[the_merriest]

If she sat up a little, she could nuzzle into his neck. Which was ... something. Better than nothing? It felt like nothing, sitting here and waiting and holding on and wishing she could keep him together with her bare hands. She would squeeze harder, just in case she could. He just had to get through the phone call, and then he could fall apart. For Rede, who was heading back to the lab with a gun and who had called her mom and she hoped it was okay that his neck was going to be damp. Dammit. So much for being strong.

[raspberryturk]

"SOLDIER members were in and out of the Science Department for mako infusions and Jenova treatments. Turks, on the other hand, gave one sample for record-keeping purposes. Mostly to identify remains." There was no point mincing words; Reno knew as well as anyone what the Turk mortality rate was like.

Reno nodded. It wasn't like Tseng could hear Reno nodding. Phone, and all. But he nodded anyhow. "You, uh... Figure Hojo might've gotten his hands on those?" Record keeping. Right.

"Those are kept under a tight watch," Tseng said. More typing. More frowning. "If something gets misplaced, then we have no means of identifying Turks on the field. SOLDIERs could be asked to contribute new samples at any time. Our files were never near the Science Department to start."

Reno's breath caught.

"Someone would'a had to give 'em over, then?"

Tseng nodded. More passwords, more searches. "They might have. He had influence. But there would be a paper trail somewhere that would be checked meticulously."

Reno's eyes narrowed at that. "Depends who's handin' it over, don't it?" Okay. Right. Another deep breath. "Rede said that the program was to breed loyal Turks. Don't s'pose maybe...?"

Wasn't it possible? When all hell broke loose and the President wanted them all dead? Telling a freak like Hojo to make him some new Turks who wouldn't say 'no' didn't seem too much a stretch at that point, did it?

It didn't. That was the hell of it. "I found the event log," Tseng said, watching it fill and refill his screen with hits. "This is a place to start. If those files never left record-keeping, then he couldn't have tried cloning Turks. If they did, we'll know when, and can estimate where based on his other activities."

He frowned at the screen. If he could narrow the search parameters, that would help, but too narrow and they'd miss the one piece of information they were looking for.

Reno nodded. He was holding his breath again. He could probably hang in there for four minutes or more. Or maybe if he just clung to Rikku tightly enough, she could do all the breathing for him. She was awesome like that.

Part of him wanted there to be nothing at all. Part of him would break down into a mess if there was no way there could possibly be a Rede out there somewhere, waiting to be rescued.

He didn't speak. He just waited.

Tseng rubbed his eyes. "The output here is a list of names and departments that will need to be cross-indexed against logs from those departments, over a fifteen-year-span. It's going to take me a couple of hours to have any information for you."

Coffee. First, Tseng was going to need more coffee.

Reno nodded. Again. Lots of nodding at the telephone today. Hooray.

"He was seven. Liked croissants. Didn't care for the rain too much. Wanted... so damn hard. Just to be a Turk. Couldn't keep him. Sent him b-" He was not going to choke. He wasn't. "-Back with a list of phone numbers and a gun."

Fandom was so fucking cruel.

[the_merriest]

She was. She was going to choke, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"I t-told him I loved him," she said, softly, but his phone could probably pick it up and Rikku didn't give a damn any more. "Th-that's why he ... called me ..."

Couldn't say that word again. It was shattering her just to try.

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah," Reno murmured back. "I know." And to hell with Tseng if he heard, anyhow.

"I'll call as soon as I have information," Tseng said. First, he'd call Rude and assign him the other half of the list, and then they'd cross-check one another's results. Half-Reno's, half-Rude's, he would want to know. Would want to help.

There was a slight pause before Tseng added, "I hope he shot the bastard."

"Me too, sir." And then Reno hung up. Because, if he didn't hang up then and there, he was going to fucking shatter on the phone.

This way, he was going to break down and sob all over Rikku, instead.

[the_merriest]

A subtle shift in positioning was required, to pull him against her chest and settle herself against the bedding. Better to be held, when you were falling apart and the world was ending and you couldn't stop crying.

Her fingers tangled in his hair.

"He's a damn good Turk," she murmured softly. "Right now he's calling phone numbers and you're moving entire cities to get him."

She believed it.

[raspberryturk]

"I have to be," he managed, somewhere between a choke and a hiccup that he couldn't quite wrestle back. If he cried some more against her, it wouldn't matter. They were both wet anyhow. So much rain, today.

He would have to be looking for Rede. There was no way that any Reno out there would say no.

Because... Because Rede was his son, damn it.

[the_merriest]

"You are," Rikku said. "No matter where or who you are, yeah? He's yours so you'll protect him. You and Rude both."

And maybe this Tseng, too. He'd snapped to attention when Reno had started talking about clones and children. She didn't entirely trust him yet but she was willing to believe Reno was right about him. Maybe.

[raspberryturk]

"Kid's in good hands," Reno replied. Tiredly, with a bit of a nod, shutting his eyes.

He was going to be pathetic and stupid and weak for a moment, here. He'd get over it, honest. He just needed this one moment. One moment to stop thinking about the what ifs, and he'd be fine again.

[the_merriest]

She kissed his hair, gently. He should take two moments. Maybe five. Five was a good number. She was here, for the night, and she'd never tell.

He'd gained a family and had them plucked right out of his arms again. That wasn't weak, to feel it as it hit you right in the gut.

Payido. Ruba. Rede. Even if Rede wasn't hers.

[raspberryturk]

He sucked at this. This whole, 'losing family' deal. Was pretty new at it. Never had much of one to start with. So, shouldn't be so huge, right? Like a band-aid. Rip it off and suck it up, and the sting should be going away any freaking moment now, right?

It wasn't. This sucked.

So... maybe he'd press himself a little closer against her and move up some and wrap his arms around her and cling to her for dear life. Just until his head was working again, of course.

[the_merriest]

Harder when you didn't have anyone to lose, before. Also harder when you kept losing people, and expected to be numb to it, but weren't.

Maybe it was always hard.

She rested her cheek against the smooth plane of his forehead, then turned to press her lips against it.

"You'll find him," she murmured. Whichever Reno could, would. It was that simple.

[raspberryturk]

That prompted him to hold on even more tightly.

"Somewhere out there, he's gotta find me, first."

But. But if that happened, then yeah. Yeah, he'd find him. He'd tear apart all of fucking Gaia to find him. Kid would be found.

[the_merriest]

"He's got a gun and your phone number," she said calmly. "He's a Turk. What more does he need? That guy is toast."

Seriously. Stick Reno somewhere, give him a gun and a list of numbers. Kill anybody between you and the phone. It was cake.

[raspberryturk]

Reno... wasn't going to point out that Rede had been a Turk for all of three days. And that in those three days, he'd been... coddled mercilessly, for a Turk, really.

Because doing so meant admitting it. And Reno was so very not able to admit it.

"He's a Turk," he agreed. Because if he didn't agree, He was going to lose it and crack again.

[the_merriest]

"He's ... yours," she said, gently, afraid the words would break. Afraid they'd break him. "Yours and Rude's. He's got instincts and training. They've trained him themselves, haven't they? One mission, then he gets to retire. He can do it. I believe in him."

[raspberryturk]

"If they trained him, the only thing he'll do that they won't expect is actually have a gun on him," Reno said. And then he tilted his head and pressed his face into her shoulder and sighed.

"Maybe that'll be enough. Who ever expects a seven year old kid to have a gun?"

... He hoped Rede didn't have to use it.