Dark Nation

Veld gave no impression he was in a hurry, breezing out of the board room like a shadow when his phone gave off a silent signal that there was an emergency, ignoring both the curious looks and Heidegger’s audible scoff.  The President had merely waved him off, uncaring - just as much as he was when he’d dismissed Rufus also about an hour prior. If the Director showcased any irritation over it, no one really knew.  While aware of the VP’s emergency signal having gone off - most of the time he trusted his Turks to handle even the most serious of situations, but if they were summoning him directly, it was much more of a concern than expected.  At the apartment floor under two minutes, Veld stopped dead at the doorway when he saw the sight before him - eyes widening at Rufus, a bleeding pile on the floor, but immediately knew why he was summoned upon Dark standing over his unconscious body, growling loudly.  He visibly relaxed, then shut the door gently. No point in antagonising her further.  “No one move.” Veld said calmly, standing still, “Has she hurt anyone, Tseng?”

Dark panted, tongue lolling from her jaws. The stress and her wound were bothering her, tiring her out. She tensed up with a deep growl as the door opened, but relaxed slightly again as she recognized the director. Still, she growled again, warily this time, letting him know that she didn’t want him to approach.

Tseng stood slowly and backed up once Veld entered the room. “She bit my hand and whipped Rod, but otherwise we’re fine. I’m more concerned about her leg and Rufus’s condition. It’s hard to tell how bad it is when we can’t approach.” He pressed his lips together. “There’s a lot of blood.” He gestured to the body of the intruder nearby. They hadn’t yet had a chance to remove it. “Looks like she killed the assailant, but Rufus is definitely injured.” He glanced at Veld. He knew there was a possibility he would be able to assist, somewhat aware that he had been involved in portions of Dark Nation’s training, but he didn’t know to what extent.

He looked over at Rod as the younger Turk climbed to his feet, wincing. “Tell the others to avoid this area for now. Once we have her out of the way, we can clear the mess.”

“That makes the two of us Nation.” Thankfully he had managed to snag a few of the finger foods as he popped another one into his mouth while listening to the personified guard hound speak as he then nodded his head. “Trust me, he rather deal with the professor and his experiments then deal with stuffed up rich assholes and tight suits that he hates wearing.” And it was the same with the blade, he missed his normal outfit since it was worn in to where he moved freely in it and could fight at a moments noticed. But the silver went quiet once more as he heard Dark speak up, and well…..she wasn’t happy, course hearing that Rufus wasn’t going to be lenient with his favorite companion, was quite interesting. From what he has seen, the blond vice president would do anything for Nation if he could allow it but the fact that he had to drag her here meant it wasn’t his choice this time.

Popping in the last finger food that he had into his mouth before taking a sip of the drink he had, he continued to listen to Nation as she spoke, and having her mention that the dignitaries didn’t give a shit about meeting her, the blade was the same way. They only wanted to meet the silver general himself, not the silver haired sword he wielded, although it would give them bragging rights to have talked to a weapon but whatever. But seeing Nation’s eyes trained onto a spot as the blade glanced in that direction, there he was, the blond vice president himself and he certainly didn’t look happy. “Luckily it’s the same with the dignitaries, they rather meet up with my master then the actual weapon. Not like I’m going to accidentally stab them or anything, even I don’t want to taste that blood at all…..might actually kill me for once…..”

Course he couldn’t help chuckle a bit as while Nation would have a hard time trying to find Rufus, for the blade it was way easier. “Don’t need to but he’s easy to spot since he is taller then most of the normal humans here so that’s a bit of an advantage.” He then tilted his head since he blinked, as he had a curious question on his mind for the guardhound. “Your job to watch him like a hawk, but I would have thought there would be a Turk or two to help you out in case things go sour…. then again my master is here so that makes his protection a bit more secured in a way…..”

Now he wondered who in there right mind would even try to attack now since his master could go into defensive mood at a moments notice. “Your not wrong about that, depending on the situation, we usually can have the enemy dead from a few seconds to a few minutes.”

Nation hummed noncommittally. She had met the professor a few times, and she couldn’t say that she would prefer being under his uncomfortably scrutinizing eye than at one of these functions. These were painfully boring, but at least they weren’t actually painful. She took a drink to avoid having to make a comment.

She gave a short, unladylike snort at the idea of Masamune somehow accidentally stabbing someone. “Pretty sure most of the people in here have blood of poison and filth,” she murmured conspiratorially, eyes flashing with amusement. “To be completely honest with you, I would strike if given the chance. I would love to watch them turn into frightened children.” She smiled, eyes lidded with pleasure at the thought.

She tilted her head, attention gathered again, when he mentioned the Turks. She made a low noise in her throat and rolled her eyes. “They’re here,” she acquiesced. “But technically they’re supposed to protect him and provide a form of security for the entire event. They keep an eye on everyone for threats. I only need to pay attention to the people actively around my boss.” She tapped her finger, contemplating. “Some people are stupid enough to still attempt it,” she said. “And I’d rather not see a single hair out of place on Rufus ShinRa.” Her job was to make his life easier.

His phone auto wiped. Good, that was good. That means he didn’t give the password. The only drawback was that everything had gotten deleted. Photos, numbers, notes, things that he had wanted to keep. All of it was gone. When had been the last time that he had backed up his phone? He couldn’t remember. Everything was just gone. Ugh, that was frustrating and he growned under his breath at his own stupidity for letting himself become a target.

While the hound spoke next to him, he closed his eyes. What more could he remember? What else could he remember? What little bit or piece could be helpful? Tseng wanted answers, he could hear the man practically begging him. Heh, no. His boss didn’t beg. That was more or less just him asking in a normal fashion, wasn’t it? Like they would have asked anyone they were interrogating.

When his eyes opened back up they had a bit of trouble focusing. When they finally did his lips were dry. Wetting them seemed easy enough. A deep breath held for several seconds before finally released. “I remember a distinct scent about them.” Dark Nation was right, there had been an assortment of smells accompanying them. But there was one in particular that he remembered. “It smelt like bleach. Not the normal kind either. But like a stronger, more powerful one.”

It did him little comfort to know they had used him to get to Rufus. It made sense. If they couldn’t get their true target, why not go for one the ‘easier’ targets attached to it? Weaken the outer resistence so that the softer, inner core is more vulnerable. It made sense and he hated it. Though, he would admit that having an excuse to have Rude around all the time was nice. Wouldn’t feel like he was bothing him all the time. 

But could Rude handle an attack if these people came back for him?

A hand had moved to rub the hound’s face. Unaware of the action until he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. Oh, it was just the petting motion. A sigh and he was trying his best not to fling himself back against the bed. What a time to be alive. Haha.

“Well, They’re definitely organized. It takes a hell of a lot of cordination to attack a Turk.”

Tseng went quiet and let Reno think. He watched his face closely, searching for the smallest signal of recollection or some emotion. He straightened when Reno opened his eyes again. “A scent.” He looked down at the sheets on the bed, calculating and assessing what the information could give them. “Perhaps something unique, something not everyone can get their hands on.” He breathed a sigh and pushed his hair back with one hand. “We can try following that. See what we get.”

Dark startled when the touch of Reno’s hand caught her off-guard and she flinched away. She let out a low grunt and settled down again, tilting her muzzle into the petting a bit to give him a better angle. “Did it occur to you that you could have just slipped up?” she asked.

She didn’t mean anything by it, not really, but Tseng gave her a sharp glance. “It happens,” he said slowly, but there was a warning there. “Humans make human errors. Regardless, they are indeed organized if they can attack a Turk and hide him away without leaving nearly any hints behind.” She grunted again, noncommittal. Tseng stood, folding his hands behind his back. “Rude will remain nearby to keep you safe. Rest, Reno. We need you back on your feet.” He headed to the door then paused and looked back. “Dark Nation, come.”

She actually hesitated. The hound looked to Reno and back to Tseng, then very pointedly lowered her head back down.

Masamune could handle any task or activity that was thrown towards him and his master since if it was a battle of any sort, they could make sure that it was won and none of their men suffered any losses. Kill the monsters that Hojo makes for shit and giggles? Yeah they can handle that as well since why not, probably a test from the insane madman anyways. Protecting the president and also get assigned onto basically suicide missions that required only his skills alone? At least there was a challenge to them. But the one event that Masamune always despised was dealing with the corporate parties aka, kiss up to the sponsors,plus the rich and hope they are satisfied enough that they can keep throwing their money at Shin-ra. And his master being forced to go as always, this time the blade was dragged along which meant he was out of his comfortable outfit and into a suit which he despised.

Pulling at the collar of the suit slightly as he was left to his own devices once his master was dragged away by President Shin-ra to a group that seemed interested in meeting his master, Masamune sighed more. While granted the blade could save his master from mostly anything…Hojo, parties and events were the few that Masamune was powerless against. The silver knew that both Genesis and Angeal were cooking up a plan to save his master but in the meantime, Masamune had eyed the drink table and casually did his best to make his way over to it. However, it seemed that he wasn’t the only one that was forced at these parties since along the way and thankfully stopping in time so that the person in front of him didn’t spill their drinks. However as she spoke his name, Masamune blinked since of course, if Rufus had to be at these events as well then that could only mean one thing.

“Nation, I honestly didn’t expect you to be here either.” Well the good news is that they could suffer together, at least he had an acquaintance and someone who hated this as much as he did. Grabbing a drink and one of the small little finger food, Masamune spoke up once more to the guard hound. “As for my master….It’s his once in the while obligation and trust me, he hates it as much as anyone else since he rather deal with Hojo then this.” Popping the little finger food into his mouth since it was energy that he might as well save up at this point, before swallowing and speaking to Nation once more. “And seeing if your here, that means Rufus is somewhere in the crowd of over dressed humans and fake personalities.”

Which also meant that one of the poor Turks was stuck on guard duty just in case….sucks to be them.

She sighed and looked across the room to resist the urge to roll her eyes. “I would rather not be here,” she said frankly and took a sip from the glass she had picked up. She couldn’t help the upturn of her mouth at the confirmation of Sephiroth’s suffering. “The professor? Really? He must despise these indeed.”

Nation’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, he’s always somewhere in there,” she replied flatly. She tucked a lock of escaping hair back behind her ear. “He doesn’t always make me come to these damn things with him, thank the gods, but he decided he wouldn’t be so lenient today, I guess. I’m not sure why.” She recalled him looking both annoyed and amused. She wasn’t sure what he had been annoyed about, but she was positive the amusement had been at her expression of absolute dismay.

Having Dark Nation in the room with him was a good sign. Rude may not have been there (or he just hadn’t heard him), but at least having the hound made him feel safer. Though he wished he could have relaxed more, closed his eyes and gone back to sleep, there was the sound of shuffling. The nurse had left, but who was in here now? It took a moment for his eyes to focus after he opened them. Wasn’t that the Director?

The scraping of the chair against the ground grated upon his ears, but he could ignore it. His head twitched but nothing more. “Ugh, but all I want to do is rest. Can’t we do this later?” The answer was no. The man didn’t even have to say it. He already knew. A sigh fell from his lips quickly followed by a groan. This man wanted to know what he remembered? Absolutely nothing. A lie of course, but he just wanted to rest. 

But that was the thing, wasn’t it? Tseng wouldn’t just walk in here unprepared for his Turk not to remember something. Silence enveloped the room for several more seconds before he ran his tongue over dried lips. Let’s see, what exactly was it that he remembered?

“Its all in bits and pieces. I’m pretty sure I was walking alone. I, I don’t remember where I was going though. Just somewhere. Someone walked up to me, thought they knew me from somewhere. Its possible, I frequent the bars. Men and women are all the time coming up to me.” All for varying reasons. The Turk shrugged and wracked his brain a little bit harder. What more did he remember?

“I suppose I said the wrong thing. Heh, you know the trouble my mouth likes to get me into.” A joke to lighten the mood, but he doubted that it would work this time. What else could he be saying? Oh, right. Remembering. “They must have had friends with them. A blow to the back of the head came and I was out. Next thing I know, I’m strapped to a chair surrounded by people. Kept demanding the password to my phone, not sure if I gave it to them or not.” But enter the wrong one enough times and it basically fries itself. No worries there heopfully.

What else happened he couldn’t have been too sure of. Pain. Drugs. Questions. An assortment of tortures that even he couldn’t have begun to comprehend. They had wanted something. But that had picked the wrong Turk to give it to them. All he could really do was shrug after that. “I, I just don’t remember much else. No idea who they were or what they wanted. Took my jacket, phone, keycards, keys, whatever it was they wanted.”

Tseng just listened patiently, not interrupting. He sighed a little after Reno was done. “Your phone was clean of data, so we believe it auto-wiped,” he informed his second. “They knew you were a Turk, and it was clearly a coordinated attack, so I highly doubt anything you said was enough to provoke them.”

He leaned forward slightly, gaze intense. “Reno, I need you to remember. Anything specific, anything of note. The smell, a hair color, the tone of a voice. Anything to help us find them.”

Dark let out a low, frustrated rumble. “There were smells where you were found,” she commented, “but I couldn’t track them. They were confusing.” There was a specific smell overlaying everything, but she didn’t have a word for it and the collar couldn’t translate what she was thinking of.

Tseng’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Think. You’re a Turk, you know how this goes. Is there anything you can remember? Absolutely anything?” He was inclined to be concerned more than anything; they must have hit Reno with some serious drugs to alter his memory so severely.

He sat back in the chair, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “We’re raising security on the president and the Turks are required to keep their partner with them at all times,” he commented. “But if they injected you with narcotics and used the methods there is evidence of...” He looked at Reno again and there was something close to sympathy in his eyes. “They may have just been using you to get to Rufus. To make all of us angry.”

“Pfft, probably just doing what Rufus told her to.” His voice wavered a little in its pitch. A deep breath was taken and held before its slow release back into the air. Eyes began to blink open and he found himself staring at the ceiling. Though he had this overwhelming feeling of security, he couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t enough. What would be enough?

Tempting though it was to pump his veins full of the wonderful pain-relieving drug that had the potential to put him to sleep permanently, he resisted. The urge wasn’t really that great no matter what he might have felt like. His breathing just needed to even out. The redhead needed to push everything out of his mind and relax. Much harder to do than he would have liked, but he would push through. His hand never left Dark Nation’s body, the constant contact with her giving him something of a security blanket.

Eventually, the faint sounds of pages turning began to disappear. His eyes began to drift closed, his mind falling into an abyss. He was about as relaxed as he was going to get. A dreamless sleep was what he had prayed for and that’s what he was rewarded with this time. The last thing he needed was to have people rushing back into this room because he was plagued with another nightmare.

This time when his eyes opened, a nurse was checking his vitals. When she noticed that he was awake, she said something about breakfast. Asked if he thought himself well enough to eat. Wouldn’t know until he tried so he said yes. Nodding, she left the room and he took his time to struggle to sit up. Dark Nation and Rude had been with him before he’d fallen asleep, that much he remembered. The question remained, were they still in the room?

Dark was staring at the nurse as she attended to Reno, her bright red eyes probably unsettling the woman. She was lounging as only large animals could by the door, sprawled on her side with her legs stretched out and tentacle draped over her ribs. She blinked slowly and shifted to look at Reno instead when he woke and began talking to the nurse.

After she left, Dark shifted to her paws and wandered back over to the bed. She sat down next to it and set her chin on his hand. She didn’t expect anything from Reno. She just sat there and watched him.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Tseng entered. His expression flickered into surprise at the sight of the guard hound, but he didn’t remark on it as he pulled a chair over to Reno’s side and sat. He folded his fingers together. “I would love to let you rest further, but unfortunately time is not something we have in abundance,” he said flatly. He gave Reno a moment then asked, “What do you remember?”

Dark Nation gave a low groan. She licked Reno’s hand and turned to lean her shoulder against the bed, closing her eyes.

If asked if she had ever questioned Rufus’s decisions, Dark Nation would have responded with a firm no. But the truth of the matter was that she had a brain and she wasn’t dumb so yes, she did occasionally question his decisions even if she followed them through without saying a word about it.

This was one of those times.

She stood at Rufus’s elbow, arms folded across her chest and looking rather intimidating for being shorter than most of the people in the vicinity. Wall Market was one of her least favorite places and her lip was curled at the stench assaulting her senses. She could sort of understand what people found interesting about this place, as most human beings forced themselves to hide their animalistic tendencies under a guise of decorum and this was the perfect place to toss that veil aside. But it was horrendous to enhanced individuals who could smell last night’s excrement too well and hear not only the music from two streets over, but also the people in the alleys whispering to each other about her ass.

Tedious.

Parties. She hated parties. Corporate bullshit was rampant at these sort of gatherings, and Rufus was in the thick of it, either kissing up to someone to get in good with their family, or them kissing up to him. Dark Nation had never bothered to learn the in-depth machinations of it all. It wasn’t in her job description.

Nation kept pulling at the dress she had worn, irritated with it. Rufus had insisted, something about needing the other powers in the room to believe she wasn’t as adept as she was. She had a hunch he just wanted her to dress up for once. Either way, it was uncomfortable and she was frustrated. She excused herself from his side and went to grab another drink, long nails clicking against the glass as she picked it up and turned. She almost ran head-long into a familiar man.