proxnotxaxfoolâ:
were they still waiting for their son to come home? did they wonder why his calls and letters had stopped? how many letters had they sent to shinra, addressed to zack? probably shredded on-sight, or in the bottom drawer of someoneâs desk. he didnât want to dwell on that - better not to put himself in their shoes, he might end up venturing down the same path cissnei had taken. he had to stay back and stay objective and right now two things were glaringly clear.
first thing - guilt was keeping her tied to gongaga. guilt for not being able to get to them before the military had. and second thing - if she kept returning, she was going to get herself and fairâs parents killed. shinra was not above using overt force ⊠heâd learned that the hard way; drop an entire plate in order to destroy one back-alley bar. it was the way of the world they lived in - a hand grenade to get rid of an anthill.Â
â you canât stay here with them, cissnei. you know that as well as i do ⊠you may as well shoot them yourself if you stay. â
her quip about making the chase harder for him had a small smirk tugging at the corner of renoâs mouth - not all too long ago sheâd been the one tracking him down. and sheâd had one hell of a knack for it too, sheâd always managed to find him before rude or the others too. he just ⊠well, heâd never factored in that the tables would be turned like this. she had abandoned her post. you didnât get to do that with shinra. they told you when it was time to retire and they decided if retirement was out of the question and liquidation an option instead.  looking down at her when she finally turned to look at him and in that instant reno hated her. hated her for asking a question she knew the answer to. hated that she wanted him to say the words aloud ⊠and he hated that it took him barely a momentâs hesitation before he answered.
â if you come back willingly, youâll be put into lockdown or kept in custody. i doubt the directors will approve the turks overseeing it after everything thatâs happened, so that means itâll be a custody overseen by one of their divisions. â
not like before where the turks took care and ownership of their own. scarlet and heidegger were still shouting for their heads to roll on the best of days, there was no way theyâd let them handle this themselves. and knowing those two, theyâd take their disdain towards the turks out on her. which, by company mantra, was what was deserved if you deserted your post, right?
heh. ask no questions and heâd tell no lies.
reaching into his pocket, reno took out a small burner phone and held it out to cissnei, â there are numbers saved in it already. others who left. â rod. emma. freya. balto. most whoâd left after that order. ones who had managed to stay beneath the radar ⊠ones who might be able to help her adjust.
   The answer alone she always knew, yet hearing it was like having pain through her heart, broken and constantly aching. But the thing was... Reno was right, in this exact situation, he was right. Â
   â You canât stay here with them, Cissnei. You know that as well as I do... You may as well shoot them yourself if you stay. â
   She couldnât imagine doing it literally, but the twisted part was there was a time she would have. Yet, Cissnei had made the mistake of allowing herself to open up to someone, get close to someone outside of the Turks and it shredded her apart every second she thought about it. Was there a part of her that missed it... maybe? The dirty work, not so much... maybe it was the company of the other Turks that she had worked alongside for so many years. Just like how even in the face of Reno, there was a feeling of comfort from seeing someone she knew, worked with, and had grown fond of. But damn... did those words cut her.
   Maybe she needed someone outside of her world to help her see that her actions were foolish, the actions of someone who would get themselves hurt, as well as others around her. For a moment, the ex-Turk glanced down at the ground, but only for a moment. Ciss found herself looking back up at Reno, she took notice of the small smirk that had to begin to form at his lips. Even in a situation like this, it was nice to have a simple moment to lighten it up. Even if it didnât last all that long. Â
   âI see.â It didnât surprise her, the punishment for leaving as she did was usually worse. If she came back willingly it seemed like less than what it would be if Reno had to drag her in. But either way... she didnât want to return. Not now... not ever. A hand moved to rest on her hip the other was rested by her side. The real question was... what would he do? Would this moment of peace between two old coworkers come to an end with a possible battle? She had seen Reno fight, she never wanted to be the person on the opposing side. Â
   The air hung heavy for a moment as her mind raced, wondering- what would be the next course of action?
   The next action, however, did surprise her. A phone was pulled from his back pocket and handed to her, she reached out slowly, each name listed took her by surprise. âHow- You know what... never mind.â To some degree, she wasnât all that surprised by this, it seemed like a few stayed close but watched their backs in the process. Just like Reno was doing this very moment. âI canât thank you enough, Reno. Itâs been hard... harder than I would like to admit.â Â











