AD, Part the Forth

[blue_soaring]

Even though I'm just unlocking this and running out again, we'll pretend I actually posted it. XD

Armageddon Days (4/6, illustrated)
FF7. Reno/Rufus, Reno/Rude. NC-17 overall. 3k words this chapter. Illustrated. Co-produced by blue_soaring and ponderosa121.
With President Shinra starting to clean house, Rufus seems like a lost cause, but Reno's got orders to follow.




Armageddon Days - cont'd


Reno clamps a hand over Rufus's mouth before the kid can let loose with that scream showing on his face and fuck everything to hell.

"Baby, c'mon." Holding Rufus's head still with his other hand - still holding the gun, the same one Rufus had been practicing with - Reno whispers, "Don't scream, baby. Don't make a sound."

Wild blue eyes flicker to the warm body. Blood soaks into the deep carpet, a viscous black stain creeping slowly closer. Hot, frantic breaths warm the back of Reno's hand.

"Little fucker deserved it," Reno says, keeping his voice easy, soothing. He knew the kid didn't have much to do with the real violent shit, but he never figured Rufus would react that badly to seeing Yuri kick it. "It's still them or you, remember? He deserved it."

Saying it like that, Reno almost believes it himself. Seeing the guy so eager to rape Rufus makes it a hell of a lot easier to dismiss the body as trash. Yuri might not have deserved to die, but Reno doesn't honestly care.

"I'm gonna let you go, baby. Don't touch him, don't say anything. You got it?" Reno waits for Rufus's nod, then waits a little bit longer, watching his face. Satisfied the kid's not going to puke his dinner all over the damn place, Reno gives the back of his hand, still clamped tight over Rufus's mouth, a little kiss.

When he lets go, Rufus just stands there for a second, eyes darting from the gun in Reno's hand to the body. Then he makes a sound, a quiet whimper in the back of his throat, and that seems to jerk him back from wherever he was drifting.

"Reno," he says in a harsh rasp. Reno grins and gives him a proper kiss this time, only making it rougher when the kid tenses at the feel of the gun pressed into the small of his back.

There's a damn good reason Reno really loves his job.

"You killed him," Rufus says, like he's trying to believe what he's seeing. It's what people usually say the first time.

"I told you to be quiet, baby," Reno says, pressing the gun's barrel to Rufus's lips.

Fear makes Rufus shut up, and Reno feels a twinge at that. It could go either way, Rufus trusting them or fearing them, but Reno'd kind of prefer trust. Fear makes people do some stupid shit.

Taking his hand as if they were out for a friendly stroll through the park, Reno leads him through the dark corridors. The place isn't half bad; a little overdone for Reno's tastes, but then he's never really gone for Wutai meets gutter trash.

In the car on the way over, Rufus had been the one giving directions to the Cirko's townhouse. Once he'd found out Cirko was making noise, the kid assumed Shinra was paying him to shut up, and sent Reno in person just to piss him off. Reno had to give him credit; that's usually how it went.

The location and architecture made it a snap to get in - sure, it looked impressive, all those alcoves and balconies and big fancy plants, but Reno always likes it when people's bad taste got them in the end.

Rufus crowds close, his hand trembling. Reno'd call it an act, an excuse, but Rufus's slim fingers twined with his are clammy.



Pausing by the entrance to a swank sitting room, Reno tucks Rufus against his side and listens. "Shit."

Instantly, Rufus freezes. His mouth is open, but the obvious question on his face doesn't make it into words.

"Cirko and his woman aren't here." Glancing at the clock, Reno figures it'll be another twenty minutes, tops, before the mister and missus stumble their way home from Shinra's little dinner party. "We're early," he says, and lets Rufus go to trot down the stairs to the artfully arranged seating area.

"We're waiting?" Pale enough that the dark doesn't do much to hide it, Rufus hesitates to follow, looking back down the hallway towards Yuri's body. "Here?"

Reno pats the cushions. "Have a seat, baby."

Rufus takes one cautious step down. "You're serious," he says, his voice quivering with strain. He notices it, too, and swallows as if it'd help.
"Yeah." Reno drops the gun onto an expensive-looking side table, hardly surprised when it's the dull echo of synthetics instead of solid wood. Cirko only likes to think he's something big. "You gonna sit down or what?"

Like a puppet with half it's strings snapped, Rufus crosses the room and curls up on the wide couch as close to Reno as he can get. The kid's still scared - or in shock, maybe - but Reno's not surprised anymore when Rufus's craving for touch gets worse when he's like that.

It's when Rufus starts clinging to the person who fucked him up in the first place that Reno gets confused.

Rufus wets his lips, wipes them dry and licks them again. He starts off looking anywhere but at Reno, so Reno catches his chin to make him look up.

Taking the kid on a job was a bad, bad idea. In Reno's experience, though, object lessons go a hell of a lot further than just plain talking.

"I thought- I thought you were going to..." Rufus tries to pull away and winces as Reno's grip tightens. Through the thin barrier of his cheeks, Reno can feel the perfect lines of his teeth. When Reno eases up, he says, "You're going to kill them. All of them."

A grin splits Reno's lips, and he's knows it's nasty, and it creeps the kid out, but he can't stop. "Maybe," he says. "Maybe. I'm gonna off the wife." Rufus's breath goes shallow, his fingers twisting the edge of Reno's jacket. "Me and Cirko, though, we gotta have a little chat."

"About-"

"You know what about."

Rufus closes his eyes, letting all his air go slow like he's afraid he'll shatter if he's not careful, and whispers, "Fuck, Reno."

"This is the job, kid," Reno says, settling Rufus more comfortably against his side. He lets go of Rufus's chin, stroking it once before drawing his thumb gently over soft lips. He's got to admit, the kid's growing on him. "And I like my job just fine."

Rufus's eyelashes flutter. He acts like he's not paying attention to a damn thing except Reno's hand sliding through the hair at his nape, but Reno can hear the gears churning. For all the stupid, crazy shit Rufus does, he's not a dumb kid.

"Yeah, now you're getting it, baby." More eager for another taste than he should be, Reno tilts Rufus's face up to his. "It's all about the job," he says, his lips moving against Rufus's in mock kisses between words. "The Company. Not the man."

"Not my father," Rufus breathes. His eyes open, the ice blue of them so vibrant it hurts. "Not my father."



This time when he kisses Rufus, Reno tumbles the kid straight into his lap and doesn't let go. It's been so fucking long since he's had a decent assignment, so much time putting up with Rufus's bratty shit that it's finally getting to him. He's gone fucking crazy, and all he can think is if Rufus moans like that for a kiss, the sounds he'd make spread out flat on his back with Reno's cock up his ass would be fucking heaven.

"Didn't let me get my dick in you last time, did ya," Reno says, catching Rufus by the back of the neck to keep him right when Reno wants him. "Jammed that fucking hypo in me and took off."

"You wouldn't fuck me." Fingers scrabbling at the smooth leather, Rufus hauls himself up, his leg sliding over Reno's. When Reno tugs on his hair, a warning to stay still, he just moans and ignores it, too desperate to care. "Fuck you, you weren't going to fuck me."

"Maybe I wanna fuck you right now," Reno says, and it's a solid kick to the guts to realise it's true. The kid's more than pretty, sweet in all the right places. And nobody's had a taste of Rufus's ass for weeks. Not even gotten close.

Reno's mouth goes dry and instantly floods wet again just thinking about how fucking tight that gorgeous little hole will be.

Before Rufus can say no - Reno doesn't want to hear it, doesn't want to take the chance he won't listen - he gets a hand between Rufus's legs. The kid's not quite soft and getting harder, rocking into the little squeeze Reno gives him like it's the best damn thing he's ever felt.

"You're crazy," Rufus says, breathless but like he means it. There's still something off about him. Too much fear making him strung out. It should be enough to make Reno back the fuck off, it shouldn't make him want the kid so goddamn bad.

Biting at Rufus's lips, Reno murmurs, "Maybe." He's got to be out of his mind to do this now, to want this now, when he's been brushing the kid off like a fly for weeks.

Rude nailed it, saying Reno liked the kid. Way too much if all he's supposed to do is manipulate Rufus into doing what they want.

"Won't fuck me here, either." Rufus's voice trembles only once. He's into it, would probably let Reno bend him right over the couch and pound him. Knowing that makes it even harder to work up the energy to slow Rufus down. He makes that disappointed noise but backs off, staying curled up on Reno's lap like an overgrown cat. "Knew it," he says. "I knew it."

"Yeah, you're a fucking genius." Reno scrubs a hand over his mouth. He's more on edge now than he's been in weeks. His dick's killing him for giving up the chance to have the kid's smart mouth, and it's not listening when he tries to tell it there's lots of time later. Tseng wants him to fuck the kid, Rufus wants to get fucked, and right now, Reno's having a hard time thinking up reasons why he shouldn't.

He strokes a hand down Rufus's spine, struck again by how responsive the kid is when Rufus's back arches, and Rufus says, "How long?"

Reno shrugs. "Ten minutes, maybe. We just got here early."

Rufus looks like he's going to say something else and doesn't. Settling down again, his head nestled in the crook of Reno's neck and a hand curled on Reno's thigh, it's probably easy for the kid to forget they're hanging around waiting to murder somebody.

Reno'd forget, except he's looking forward to it.



Lights flicker through the dark, car after car passing by. Rufus gets tense every time and Reno doesn't do much to calm him, letting the kid ride the nerves. Reno's listening for the telltale sound of footsteps, that drifting murmur of conversation that people almost always have on their way back from a party. Talking about the food, the drink, who snubbed who and who wore what. Pointless shit they don't get a chance to regret wasting their time with.

Keys rattle, hit a table. The lamps in the darkened living room brighten slightly by remote sensor, warm and inviting. The wife breathes a huge sigh of relief, complaining that only men get the comfortable shoes so he should count his lucky stars.

Rufus quits breathing when Reno picks up the gun.

"Are you coming to bed, or do I lose you to the late night news again, honey?" she says, dropping her glittering purse on a low table beneath the ugliest painting Reno's ever seen.

The first shot drowns out his response. She stumbles back, blood blossoming on her chest, ruby red against the gaudy tarnished gold of her dress. A second shot to the head takes her down, a wet gurgle dying on her lips.

Rufus clutches at Reno's jacket as Reno stands, wide-eyed and silent in the chaos as Cirko screams for his dead wife and Reno fires another round into the wall beside his head.

On Cirko's face, shock turns to slow anger. He stares past Reno to the kid and hisses, "Shinra."

"Yo, Cirko. Up here." The guy's gaze rests on Rufus for a moment longer, then he turns to Reno and the gun. "There ya go. You wanna cry a little more or get down to business?"

"My son," he says. "Where's my son?"

Gesturing with the gun, Reno waits for Cirko to stand up and move away from the body and the doorway. "Y'know, I don't like your son, and I don't think I'm gonna like you."

"If you think you can- you can terrorise me into forgetting about what that slutty piece of trash did to my boy." He clams up as Reno closes the distance between them, either groping for more words or the balls to say them with a gun shoved in his face. Reno's always hated this part, where they get self-righteous, shouting their soapbox indignation.

"Hey, c'mon. I'm right here, y'know. That ain't nice." Cirko flinches when Reno grabs his tie at the throat and tries to cover it up with a glare. "I like that slutty piece of trash just fine, so maybe it's time you shut up, huh?" Using the gun, he nails Cirko in the gut and gets a faceful of bad breath for his trouble. Cirko goes down, wheezing.

"Oh." Reno grabs a fistful of the man's thinning hair to jerk his head back. "Your worthless son's dead too," he says, and smashes the gun into Cirko's face.

Cirko howls, hands flying to the bloody pulp of his nose. Casually, Reno tosses the gun to his other hand and shakes out his fingers, pacing a couple steps away.

The kid's still quiet, watching the whole thing with a kind of stunned fascination on his face. His eyes flicker from the sad sight Cirko makes to Reno, and Reno grins.

"See, I like it when I don't have to go wasting time explaining myself," Reno says. Jobs like this are always about putting on a show, and usually his audience doesn't hang around long enough after to properly appreciate it. With Rufus sitting there watching him, Reno feels inspired. "You know just why I'm pissed off."

"You're just one of Shinra's dogs," Cirko says, blood smeared lips pulled back to bare teeth gritted with pain.

Expression unchanging, Reno draws off to nail him with a solid kick to the ribs. He goes down again, hacking and clutching at his chest.

"And you're a fat pain in my ass, but you don't see me calling you names." Reno perches on the edge of a glass-topped coffee table, idly turning the gun over in his hands in that time-honoured tradition of hitmen everywhere. "Your son - Yuri, right? - he would've gotten off easy if you'd kept your mouth shut. Bit of surgery, bit of downtime, he'd be all set with a nice bruise to impress the chicks with."

Cirko sucks in a whistling breath and rolls onto his back, making noise like he's still got something to say. Reno gives some serious consideration to blowing a hole in his foot, but Cirko's already proved he's a screamer. One more headache is something Reno sure as hell doesn't need.

Sighing, he stands back up. "Your kid pissed me right the fuck off, Cirko." Reno eyes the man's outstretched hand, fingers curved like claws into the carpet. It's messy, not classy, but Reno's going for effect instead of style, so when the urge hits he goes right ahead and steps on Cirko's fingers, grinding them under his heel. All his weight, a quick twist, and there's the satisfying snap of bone. Since Cirko's got his mouth open like he's gonna scream anyway, Reno kicks him in the face to shut him up.

"He spreads easy, Cirko, but my baby over there ain't no whore." Crouching, Reno grabs Cirko's flabby chin, not caring about the blood smearing onto his fingers. "Your boy was gonna rape him, and you know it. From the way you stink, you got shit for brains, but you know it."

Rufus makes a sound, swinging Reno's attention from Cirko to him. Before Reno can ask what's up, Rufus shakes his head.

That warm, glowing pride is back again. Rufus is handling himself just fine.

"You think I was gonna let that happen, let the little fucker get away with it?" Thankfully, Cirko doesn't say anything. Reno's damn tired of his bitching already. "And now, 'cause you wouldn't shut the fuck up, he's a pile of meat in the other room leaving a stain on that worthless knockoff carpet of yours."

"You son of a bitch," Cirko says, spittle and blood flecking his lips. "Fucking bastard, Shinra can't just-"

"Fuck Shinra," Reno says, surprising Cirko into silence. Bored with the gun, pointless to hold onto it when he's not gonna use it, Reno tosses it to the kid. "Fuck Shinra," Reno repeats. He jerks the e-mag free and snaps it into place with a practiced flick as smooth as the curve of Rufus's ass. "Your son fucked up, so he's dead. You're dead too, fuckface, you just don't know it yet."

Reno stands up, knuckles white. He'd been the one to hold Rufus down. He'd made the offer, gave those useless cocksuckers the opportunity to do it. He did all that, but he didn't make one of them lay a finger on the kid. They did that all on their own.

Reno doesn't use the charge. It'd be over too quick. Cirko tries to use his arms to protect his face until the bone in one snaps. Reno cuts the wretched sound he makes short with another blow to the head.

He's angry, disgusted with the guy for giving up so easy, but not furious. The rhythmic thunk of metal on flesh is too familiar for him to get lost in, each strike too calculated. The minutes still blur, though, stretching on and on. Reno eases up when it looks like he's going to pass out, waiting for the haze to clear so he can begin again.



Cirko knows which blow kills him. They both feel it, the moment bone finally gives under the brutal, incessant beating. Cirko's chest is crushed, caved in on itself. He's still breathing, barely, blood bubbling at his lips. Stepping back, Reno cleans the stun e-mag on the lining of his jacket and watches Cirko die.

"C'mon, baby," he says, offering Rufus, still sitting on the couch right where Reno left him, a hand dyed red.

Rufus stares at it, his breaths fast and uneven but his eyes startlingly clear. "You did that for me," he says.

Reno smiles, slow, easy, satisfied. "You know it." He snaps his fingers at Rufus for the kid to hurry it up, and this time, while Rufus's hand is still trembling when Reno takes hold of it, it's for a completely different reason.

*
TBC