Night Shift 24: M11-M20 Hallway

[screwthegods]

((OOC: Starting off in M13, moving into the hall.))Homura closed his eyes as that familiar voice filled the air, let out a slow breath to ease into the proper mindset for what was about to happen. Short this time, which was good, as he didn't have any desire to listen to the head doctor prattle on endlessly. No, Homura was eager to get things

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[offduty]

At this point, he’d slipped in front of Rufus, both to catch up quicker to Elena and to keep up his role as the President’s human shield. She hadn’t gone that far, and so it didn’t take him very long before he’d fallen just a step behind her.

“Hey, rookie,” he said. “Shouldn’t be wandering by yourself without a weapon.”

He held out the gun. Peace offering. He didn’t need it, anyway, now that he’d gotten his hands onto a pipe. Rufus could’ve used the gun, but in the end, Rufus had him; Rufus was used to being protected. Elena was not-it was obvious by now that she didn’t want to fall into the category of a damsel in distress-which meant she’d be better off being able to take care of herself. She’d feel better about it, at least.

Hopefully.

And if he did somehow screw this up and she did end up running off, then she’d at least have something to defend herself with.

Besides, he needed to clear his hands. He couldn’t grip as well with his left, what with there being a goddamned hole in it at all.

He grabbed the edge of the cloth between his teeth in an attempt to tighten the makeshift bandage. Dammit, he hated losing the use of a limb.

[theheirshinra]

"Reno is right, Elena. It's not safe."

The evening had started out damn good. Ending, eh, not so good really. He could have thought of better and worse things that could have happened. Reno bleeding rated very high on his not good scale. The Turk had been wounded far, far worse, of course, but it annoyed him this time and not simply because it meant the Turk was half-useless. He didn't care to go into the reason.

What he did want to know was why Elena was running off. Even if she had heard what Rufus said, he failed to see why she had taken offense. Surely she knew what Schuldig was stating wasn't exactly true. Wasn't false precisely either. It all depended on one's point of view. Almost every single truth in the world depended on a point of view.

"Elena, stop. Talk to us. I take it you heard what Schuldig said. I do hope you know that it's not what he makes it out to be. Schuldig is a lot like me. He will take whatever weak point he sees and hammers at it until it breaks to force the whole to fall. That's not to say you're weak. You know you're not. Reno and I know you're not. If nothing else, Reno needs bandaged, and I'm not that good at it. I might end up making it worse."

Rufus just hoped that his damage control abilities were up to it if necessary.

[offduty]

A smile was always a good sign.

It was a little interesting to hear Rufus compare himself with Schuldig, though Reno couldn't deny the similarities in that regard. Except the telepath's arrogance even put both the President and Reno to shame, which was saying a hell of a lot.

Had the circumstances been different, he might've brushed off the concern. Unless he was actually knocked out, he usually insisted on tending to his own injuries, and either managed to succeed or fumbled it so bad that Elena or Rude would finally yank the equipment away from him in exasperation and made him let them do it.

But he knew what Rufus was doing by suggesting that Elena take care of his hand, and really, he could probably use the help.

He edged both Elena and the President closer to the wall, to avoid being sitting ducks in the middle of the hallway.

"Here," he said, plucking the gauze from Rufus's grasp and offering it to Elena. "Work your magic, Nurse 'Laney."

[theheirshinra]

Rufus went easily enough with Reno's nudge, putting his back to the wall. Even in this place, he didn't look as at ease as a normal person would have. He didn't lean against it, merely standing there with his arms folded. The fact that she had stiffened at his approach hadn't been lost on him. Then again, he was simply used to people reacting so to his presence.

Rufus smirked faintly, watching the two of them. "In another few years, you almost end up as Mrs Rufus Shinra, Elena, if you want amusement. Reno, if you ever tell Tseng I told you this, I'll deny it and let him shoot you to keep the secret. The board and my father demanded I get married, and Elena was the only woman I trusted. Besides, there's a certain amount of pride in knowing that your woman could beat up any man in the room."

Rufus chuckled to himself, seeming amused more than anything. If it was true or not was anyone's guess. Rufus could have been making it up on the spot or it could have been one of the many secrets the then Vice President and Tseng had between themselves.

"Is his hand going to be all right, Elena? Can you still move it, Reno?"

He held himself back a hand raising to almost touch on Reno's arm, pulling his hand back, not sure if the Turk would appreciate it or not.

[offduty]

Elena's sputtering was probably justified for anyone who hadn't been around Rufus that long. A shame Rufus had thrown an "almost" in there, though. If it'd actually occurred - now that would've been amusing.

For his part, Reno just glanced at Rufus, one eyebrow raised. He'd figured by now it was hard to tell when Rufus was joking or not - as proven during their little encounter in the room not to long ago - but the concept was not an impossible one.

Besides. Elena wouldn't make a bad wife for Rufus. They both had that blond hair going for them, and between Rufus's shotgun and Elena's sniping skills, they could probably take anyone down.

He caught Elena's eye.

"So, assuming Tseng would've been best man, does that mean I would've ended up as the bridesmaid?"

As far as he knew, Elena didn't really have that many close female friends. Beyond their little circle, the Turks weren't close with anyone, actually.

He shook his head at Rufus's question, dismissing it. "Don't sweat it. I'm fine." He pulled his hand away after Elena had finished. "Thanks."

The pens were proving more trouble than they were worth. Evidently, the idiots who ran this place hadn't thought far enough to provide the patients with fat felt markers instead.

He noticed the way Rufus drew his hand back, and it evoked an ironic smile. The President certainly had no issues with touching him earlier...but that was sort of in the heat of things. And they hadn't had an audience.

Not that Rufus needed to worry. A hand to the arm might've seemed overly intimate to Rufus, but Reno had slept shoulder to shoulder with a shitload of people before when friends used to crash at his tiny little apartment.

And yeah, if someone held a gun to his head, he might even admit that he kinda liked being touched by Rufus.

[theheirshinra]

Rufus raised his hands before him, palms open as he shrugged. "Mrs Rufus Shinra. Elena Shinra if you like. My father was determined I would marry because it would give me a weak spot, not to mention produce another heir so that he could finally do away with me. I had to pick a woman, so I picked you. You were the only woman beyond my mother that I considered trust-worthy and that didn't swoon at the thought of my bankbook. You weren't invited, Reno. My father wasn't overly fond of you as you'll recall. Probably had something to do with damages."

He met Reno's gaze with a serious look. If he was making this up, he was putting his all into it. Even he didn't look about to tell if it were truth or not. Given the former President Shinra's dislike of his own son (not to mention Rufus' attempted murder of the man) it was within the realm of possibility that he'd want Rufus married and a new Shinra baby produced immediately to replace Rufus. Who knew how many bastards the first President Shinra had produced and had waiting in the wings to take out Rufus if he could have done it without the Turks rebelling?

"Don't worry though. Meteor saved you from a fate worse than death. With all that and AVALANCHE's attacks, he ended up losing interest in seeing me wed and bedded for other matters. Good thing his Mako dabbling made him sterile. Otherwise, you might have been married to a far different Shinra for the same reasons."

Okay, so that was a bit of a joke for Rufus, but there could have been a bit of truth to that as well. He grew more serious after that, eyeing Reno's hand thoughtfully.

"Are you all right, Reno? I didn't expect that to happen, and now I'm at a bit of a loss to decide what to do. I like Schwarz's talents, but I can't be constantly watching my back for another attack or have the two of you waiting for a second one. Next time he might get right up to me and try to put one of those pens through my eyesocket."

The President glanced at the two of them, wanting both their opinions on this for good or ill. At least he was giving them a say for once.

[damned_monsters]

Normally, they didn't come this far down, but the night had been long and tedious - and it sensed prey. The phantasm slipped easily down the hall toward the trio, darker than a new moon night, and went for the smallest of the three. She had her back to it, so it was a simple matter of getting close and reaching out with shadowy tendrils. The first wrapped around her leg, icy to the touch, and the rest quickly began to surround her, sucking away her warmth.

[Kaze]

[offduty]

In retrospect, it was good Rufus opted to ask for his opinion, because the President would've gotten it whether he wanted it or not.

Reno started to tie his hair back again as he contemplated his answer. He hadn't expected it, either, because he hadn't foreseen Farfarello. Schuldig, at least, seemed to actually want Rufus, and so was less inclined to physically harm him. Crawford had the mental capacity not to go around throwing things at people at the slightest insult.

But the new one seemed to be the wildcard, and it left Reno even more uneasy about the situation. If that were even possible.

"Never made it a secret how I feel about Schuldig," he said finally. "Poking through minds is a nice party trick and all, but it's not worth the rift he's creating, and it sure as shit isn't worth your life. Or your eye. That, and he's a fucking asshole. Plus, I don't like the vibe coming from their Tseng ripoff, and the albino's five cans short of a six-pack."

Schuldig's comparison of Farfarello to Rude was a fucking joke. Rude was the most solid guy he'd ever known. He made Tseng look like a flag in the wind.

Reno twirled the pipe in a slow, absent circle. "Besides, the larger the crew, the more likely someone's gonna end up dead and maybe dragging the rest of us with them. Hate to sound elitist or whatever, but I'd rather keep us as small as possible with just the people we trust, yeah? Hell, I've been a bit iffy about pulling Dean in with us too deep, and I actually like the guy."

After working with just those same three people for years, it was hard to meet any new face with any great degree of trust. With faces like Schwarz? Not even a goddamn blip on the rada -

"Uh, ohshit - "

Later, he would realize his mistake in believing the monsters here were all solid. Otherwise, he wouldn't have shaken off the instinctive chill at his back when a quick glance down the hallway revealed no obvious danger.

Reno grabbed Elena right about the moment she reacted in an attempt to pull her away, but quickly let go when it seemed something was wrong with her. His grip tightened on the pipe, and he backed up into Rufus on purpose, not really caring that it might cause the President to fall flat on his ass. He just wanted to push Rufus as far away from that - whatever the fuck it was - as possible.

He stared at her, keeping a bit of a distance just in case. Few things actually scared him, but her eyes did.

"Elena?"

[theheirshinra]

"I had been willing to risk Crawford, but Farfarello leaves me less than comfortable about the whole situation. Schuldig is very valuable though. It has a high degree of uselessness to keep pursuing the matter when I have all of Schwarz except Schuldig working actively against me. I can't afford to have a bodyguard like Farfarello that insists on harming me, and I can't ask Schuldig to step away from them. Invalidates the entire -"

Rufus found himself interrupted when Reno backed into him, ending up Rufus flat on his arse in one of the more undignified positions he'd been in. Getting back to his feet, he didn't look pleased with much of anything.

"Reno, what..."

Turning his attention to Elena, he frowned, taking in her appearance. Okay, that wasn't exactly the best of things to be happening now. He felt the small chill the same as Reno, but didn't think much of it. There wasn't anything that he could see or hear.

"Elena, what's wrong?"

His first thoughts were more along the lines of possession of some sort. Surely if she had been one of those SC'd, she would have been elsewhere and armed, right?

[damned_monsters]

Satisfied with its meal for the night, the phantasm let Elena go and floated there for a moment. Frost formed lightly on the floor beneath it, then the monster moved off and disappeared down the hallway to wherever it came from.

[offduty]

"Sorry, boss."

There was no real regret behind the apology, though, not because Reno was completely lacking in sympathy, but because he doubted Rufus would begrudge him for trying to save his ass. There’d been no time to be more delicate with the way he’d gone about it.

Reno would've offered to help Rufus up if the President had looked like he needed it, but he hadn’t. And anyway, his attention was more focused on Elena. It certainly looked like a possession. Thoughts of Special Counselling crossed his mind, but the notion was shoved aside almost immediately. She'd already gone through it, and he hadn't heard of anyone who'd done it twice. Besides, they started those people at the beginning of the night, not halfway through. Even the doctors here weren't so talented as to be able to brainwash people out of thin air like this.

If not for Rufus, he would've disregarded his safety and gotten close to Elena without hesitation. But he couldn't risk getting affected by whatever this thing was, too, and leaving Rufus to fend on his own. That wouldn't help Rufus or Elena.

Reno's logic was always more sound when the well-being of those other than himself came into play.

He took a cautious step forward. What the hell was this? A simple attack he could've dealt with, but he had no idea what this was. It was obvious she wasn't herself - even women weren't that moody - but...

God, they really were getting hit twice as hard in return for last night's luck, weren't they?

"Elena." He waved a hand in front of her face, as though it would help. "C'mon, snap out of it. You're scaring the fuck outta me here. What just happened?"

[theheirshinra]

While Rufus was, once again, a bit behind on what was going on, he recognized Reno's tone quick enough. It was the Saving-Your-Arse-So-Shut-Up one. He'd heard it quite a few times after taking a tumble when one of the Turks had knocked him roughly out of the way of a bullet or blow.

Keeping back behind Reno, Rufus' expression was smooth and seemingly uncaring. Something was wrong with Elena, and while it seemed that Reno had matters in hand, Rufus wasn't going to make things worse by showing upset or any sort of worry. Such simply wasn't him. Had it been his Elena, he would have ordered her to snap out of it as he had tried with Reno when the man was under the brainwashing treatment of this place.

When Reno stepped forward, Rufus' hand slid forward to hold onto the back of the man's shirt. Despite how it looked, it wasn't an advance, merely a way to ensure that he could jerk Reno back if whatever had gotten Elena tried to grab the Turk as well. For now, he stayed silent, merely waiting to further see what was going on before saying anything.