Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

[oftemptation]

Once again, Endrance's nurse interfered with his plans. He had been planning to look around the Game Room, but the moment he began to move towards the Sun Room, she had taken him by the arm. "Your family has asked that we make sure you get as much fresh air and sunshine has possible, and you won't get that by staying inside playing video games all

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[tofindherwings]

She'd spent her time after being separated from Rude people watching for the most part. Nurses, other 'patients' of this place. It was all good research since she didn't intend to be trapped here for too long, no matter what Rude had said. She trusted him, really she did, but they were Turks. They didn't get trapped. They were usually the ones doing the trapping after all.

The chance to go outside was something that she wouldn't pass up. The Courtyard seemed as good a place to start as anything. The walls were high, but not high enough to prevent someone scaling them. There had to be something else though to keep people from just bolting if the night was as bad as it was made out to be. It just wasn't visible which was a little irritating.

She settled for walking around the perimeter for now, looking for all the world like she was merely out for a stroll.

[For Reno]

[offduty]

Rude had said she'd be here, but it was still kinda a surprise. Been a hell of a long time, at least.

But hey, Reno was never gonna say no to having another Turk or another chick around. Two-in-one? Even better. Especially with what Yuffie had mentioned earlier about Kadaj being here. Goddamn. Little bastard just didn't stay dead, did he?

He hadn't been specifically looking for Cissnei when he decided to go for some fresh air (real fresh air, unlike the smog of Midgar), but when he spotted her wandering along, he made his way over. He walked forward, not slowing down even when it looked like they were about to crash into each other.

He flicked two fingers in a lazy salute. "Enjoying your impromptu R&R?"

[tofindherwings]

It was easy to just fall into an easy walk next to Reno when he arrived. Of course it was, she'd never left the Turks. Not in her mind at least, no matter what Rude said about how much time had passed. If she'd really been gone (comatose or whatever else) for such a long time, surely that would have been more difficult.

She smiled at him, tapping her lips with one finger. "Personally, I'd prefer the Costa del Sol if I was going to get a vacation, but at least you can breathe here without feeling your throat get coated with grime." Living in Midgar forced you to get used to it.

[offduty]

"Just about the only plus," Reno agreed.

He glanced at her again out of the corner of his eye. She looked same as ever, not a day older than when he last saw. (Of course, Reno would say that he didn't look a day older than whenever, either, but that was different). What with the whacky time travel stuff or whatever, he was willing to bet his dick and an inch that she wasn't exactly from where he and Rude and Elena were.

"Rude says you guys spoke," he went on. "He brief you good? 'Cause you know how he is when he has to use words."

[tofindherwings]

Sh knew that she was being scrutinised. Was it really such a surprise to see her? Tha really wasn't all that reassuring when she thought about it. It meant that something had definitely happened to her. She hated not knowing.

She nodded her agreement. "I spoke to him. He seemed surprised to see me. As for the brief; fake names, monsters, a bitch to escape from. Sound about right?"

[offduty]

Reno frowned a little, debating. He could keep her in the dark about what was going on here, but sooner or later, she was gonna find out. She had to know, anyway. He wasn't gonna dance around it.

"That's about it. Not gonna lie to you, though," he said. "Surprised to see you, too, for a damn good reason, but I'm guessing that you aren't, yeah?"

Man, this was gonna be a bitch to explain when he didn't really even have an explanation in the first place. More of a, Just take my word for it, dammit kind deal.

[tofindherwings]

Had they always danced around things like this, or was she just a special case? She'd been a Turk for years, she thought that she could handle the truth. "I'm not surprised to see the two of you. You were fine last thing I remember. So was Tseng. He was the one who sent me off to find Zack before I woke up here." She did hate not being able to remember anything after that. She had things to do and she worried about him, damn idiotic hero type that he was.

[offduty]

Reno stopped walking suddenly, leaning back against the wall that lined the courtyard instead.

"Yeah, that's the thing." He propped his foot up against the wall, fingers drumming absently against his leg as he let out a breath. Could always break this gently, but really, what was the point? Maybe Tseng managed to have some tact, but that hadn't exactly come with default training for a Turk.

"Look, Zack's dead," he said bluntly. "Couple years ago. You and the rest of us, there's a big ol' gap of time between, and before you ask me how the hell, don't, 'cause I'd really like to know, too."

[tofindherwings]

Cissnei turned when Reno stopped walking, regarding him curiously as she folded her arms across her chest. This was going to be bad news, she could already tell. Something worse than the Turks of all people being trapped in a place they couldn't escape from.

She hadn't expected the news that Reno imparted though, and she could feel the blood draining from her face. Zack was dead? She knew it was a strong possibility, had known it since the disastrous mission to Nibelheim. Hell, she'd nearly done the deed herself. But it still left her reeling for a moment. "I failed," she said softly, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

It took a moment for the rest of Reno's words to catch up with her. "And what? Two years ago?" That was crazy. "That's... a lot to take in." Which explained why Reno and Rude had seemed so surprised to see her. If something had happened to her in two years, which wasn't that difficult to believe considering her occuptaion.

[offduty]

Reno watched her for a moment, expression neutral for the first time. He'd been there, of course. Not right there, but--

Whatever. There'd been Sector 7 and a bunch of crap after that and when it came down to it, holding onto all the fuckery you felt guilty over just wasn't worth the headache.

He kept quiet, though, just waited for her to ask the next question. Comfort, also not a part of default Turk training, and the closest he'd ever gotten to something like that was to shake someone out of it so they could get their ass moving and not get killed.

"S'when they shot him down, anyway," Reno said, dodging the phrase when he died 'cause that just sounded bullshit, like, oh, he rolled over and stopped breathing. He peered at her. "Dunno when you've come from if last thing you remember, he was still alive."

[tofindherwings]

"We knew it might happen," she replied quietly, seriously because she really should never have let herself get emotionally invested in him. You'd think that the four years where he was locked away at Hojo's tender mercies would have killed off whatever she felt for him, but apparently feelings like that for Zack Fair just didn't die off. She was as bad as the Ancient girl in that respect.

"The last thing I remember was Tseng sending me out to find him before the army did. Tseng wanted me to keep him alive and safe." And they'd have sorted out the details later on about what exactly to do with him. But he didn't deserve what Shinra had done considering how devoted he'd been.