I’m drunk.

And right now I’m so in love with you.

And I don’t want to think too much about what we should or shouldn’t do.

Lay my hands on heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars.

While the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car.

Nothing quite like the feel of something new.

Maybe I’m all messed up.

Maybe I’m all messed up.

Maybe I’m all messed up in you.

NIN – the only time.

9. The only time.

Reno was alone in the red light of the photo developing room. Tseng had run to look at some fingerprint matches that had been running for the better part of two days. Finally finished with the entire film, Reno looked at them in the ruddy light, he shook his head, there was nothing there, with a sigh he turned on the light, and left the room, walking to the coffee machine helping himself to a cup, he wondered if they would manage to pull this off at all, after all they had to trick the boss, that in it self was completely absurd, he tried not to think about this too much, maybe it wasn’t Rufus, maybe Elena had just lost her mind? He had a hard time coping with the fact that Rufus would order such a thing, he was merciless in his judgement, he knew that, better than most because he was the one doing the dirty work, but to kill kids? No there had to be some logical explanation to this. He leaned against the window on the twelfth floor and looked out on Midgar, coffee in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. He hoped Tifa would do as he had told her, Cloud had to stay away until this was over, but somehow Reno knew that he wouldn't do that.

“Hey, partner,” he heard a deep voice say behind him.

Reno turned around and looked at Rude who stood behind him. “Rude! Fuck man, it is good to see you.”

Rude raised a brow and grinned “So Tseng didn’t pay your tab at the bar?”

Reno rolled his eyes, “No bad manners, all together, man.”

Rude laughed and helped himself to a cup of coffee as well, “So I hear you’re catching a killer,” he said.

“Yeah, well, we’re trying,” he said, Reno fought an inner battle, should he confess to Rude, this was Rude for fucks sake, his best buddy, but he was also employed by Rufus Shinra like himself, and his thoughts put into words could be dangerous if it were to reach the wrong ears. He decided to not put Rude in danger like that. “He’s one slippery mother-fucker,” he said smiling.

“So what are you doing here at this hour?” Rude said, pointing at his wristwatch.

“Waiting for some pictures to dry,” Reno said, downing his coffee. “Rude? When this is over, and we’ve caught that fucker, what do you say that I buy you a drink?”

Rude smiled back. “Yeah, that would be cool.”

“Deal,” Reno said, “Well I should get back to those damn photos.”

“Nimrod,” Rude mumbled in a cough.

“What?” Reno said.

“Nothing, I just coughed,” Rude said, “See you around, partner,” he said shrugging casually leaving the room in front of the photo room in a hurry.

“What the hell?” Reno whispered to himself, shaking his head he went to fetch the photos. He took them out into the room with the coffee machine and laid them on a light table, and with a sigh started to look them over. It was Tifa, and the kids, all kind of stupid normal family photos, Reno stopped as he came across of a picture of Cloud, He were sitting on a sofa with both kids crawling on him, even if his everlasting pout was in place, he looked happy. Maybe Reno really was the one in the wrong? Maybe he really did butt into something that was not his to begin with. Maybe he really should leave Cloud with his family. Lost in a moment of self-pity, he shook his head as he rose from the chair and fetched himself some more coffee, he would much rather have had a drink, all this coffee couldn't be good at all, but right now he had to stay sharp and awake, so he reckoned that coffee was as good as it got. Looking down at the pictures again he sighed, he was getting absolutely nowhere with this. But never the less he sat down and continued, looking through every picture with a magnifier to be sure.

Two hours later, Reno was so tired that he nodded off, either he needed drugs or he needed sleep. Yawning he took the next picture, and scanned it, and just as he was about to push it over in the pile with the other pictures that were crap, he saw something, there in the background, there was a man, a tall dark haired man taking to Marlene. But the picture was from the side, and Reno couldn't make out anything but that he had a very distinctive profile, “Got you, you fucker,” he said to himself, grabbing the picture he ran all five stories down to where he knew Tseng was.

Bursting through the door, Tseng looked up at him with a raise brow “found something I take it?” he said.

“Yes, damn it!” Reno said, “Look,” he handed the picture to Tseng, who looked it over.

“Its a bad photo, can’t tell much,” Tseng said.

“At least she wasn’t lying,” Reno said.

“No,” Tseng said as he turned in the chair, “I found something too,” he said. “There weren’t many prints found, the only ones were actually found in your apartment, on the flyers attached on the wall, I figured the killer was in a hurry and got sloppy,” Tseng said, pointing to a computer screen. “But we ran what we could salvage through the database, and what to you think I found?”

“I have no fucking clue,” Reno said, looking at the computer screen with a sheepish expression.

“Nothing, nothing at all!” Tseng said, “Whoever has these prints, is classified.” When he could see he didn’t make much sense to Reno, he pointed at the screen with a long finger “the print is there, otherwise I wouldn't get a message, which means, that it’s classified, this person is in the Shinra database, but not on the ordinary personnel file.”

“So it’s not Elena’s?” Reno asked

“No,” Tseng said, “I would have clearance to see her personnel file, just like I can see yours if I want to.”

“Rude came to see me in the photo developing room, he was acting really strange,” Reno said, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. “He said ‘Nimrod’ and then when I asked him what the hell he was saying he said he had just coughed, and then he nearly fled the damn room.”

“Nimrod?”

“Yes,” Reno said.

Tseng typed in Nimrod in the personnel database, and it came back with the same classified answer. “So there is someone on the payroll with that name,” he said, looking up at Reno with a puzzled expression.

“Or was,” Reno said, “I take it this database was started during Senior’s time.”

“I think you are right,” Tseng sighed. “We need someone to hack this.”

“The only one I know of who would remember this, if its an old employee, is Vincent,” Reno said, but for the millionth time that day he was cut off by his phone, he looked at the caller id and flipped up the phone, “Cloud?” he said worry hiding his excitement.

“Reno,” Cloud said in the other end, “I have been to your place, but ... are you alright?”

“You are here? In Midgar?” Reno whined, “Cloud, listen.. You should go to Tifa, and stay there until I get there.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Cloud said, “I wanted to see you, and I thought..” his disappointment was evident through the phone. Like an undercurrent in his voice.

“I want to see you too, baby” Reno said, turning his back to Tseng in a futile attempt to keep the conversation private. “If they see you.. Fuck man, just go there. I will explain this another time, but everyone is hunting for your head.”

“What for?” Cloud said, starting to sound worried.

“Child murder, rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, you name it” Reno said with a sigh. The other end was silent for a moment, and then Reno could hear a door slam, “I can’t go to Tifa’s, I would put them in danger then.”

Reno turned his head and looked at Tseng, who just looked away. “Meet me at the corner of Justice and Tristin in 15 minutes, don’t be late, baby.”

“I am on my way,” Cloud said and hung up the phone.

Reno turned to Tseng. “So are you coming?”

Tseng shook his head, “and neither should you Reno, its a dangerous game you’re playing.”

“I know,” Reno said, “Yo, man, danger is my middle name,” he tried with a smile that failed miserably. “I will just take him to the apartment, and come right back here.”

“If you say so,” Tseng said with a clearly not approving tone, “I will be here, trying to see if I can get around the security and find this Nimrod person.”

“Cool, call me if you stumble across anything while I’m gone.”

“Will do.”

_______________________________________

Reno had not taken his car; he had run as fast as he could to where he and Cloud planned to meet. He could see Cloud’s motorcycle from far away, and that only made him run faster. Stopping in front of Cloud who sat on the bike and waited, Reno bent over and rested his hands on his knees, fighting for breath. “Ba... by” he panted.

Cloud smiled one of his too rare little sexy smiles, “you smoke too much,” he said softly.

“Bah” Reno said, still trying to catch his breath, “We have to hurry,” he gasped, as he sat up behind Cloud with a swift move, “take the bike to the construction lot on Rosefield, and then we walk the rest of the way.”

“Fancy neighbourhood.”

“Just drive,” Reno said, looking over his shoulder in a sudden attack of paranoia. If Elena had been able to listen to his voice mail, she could easily tap his phone too, but he didn’t have time to tell Cloud all that now.

The left the bike at the construction lot, and walked over to the apartment building where Rufus had given Reno an apartment, It was stupid really, but as they walked here side by side in the dark, Reno wished he could just take Clouds hand, like normal lovers would do, but there was nothing normal about their relationship, there never was. “Cloud?” Reno said softly, Cloud looked in his direction and nodded “I love you, man,” Reno said, it felt strange a scary way to have said it, like being naked in a public place, but just in case everything went haywire, he needed to know that he had said it, and that Cloud knew it. Cloud frowned a little, and the to Reno’s surprise he took Reno’s hand in his as they walked down the street, Squeezing it gently Cloud looked strangely shy and smug at the same time, but he didn’t say anything, not that he had to, Reno knew exactly what he meant.

They walked up to Reno’s apartment, and closed the door after them. “I have no lights,” he said with a little apologetic smile in the dark.

“Doesn’t matter,” Cloud purred playfully, as he pushed Reno roughly up against the wall next to the door. “I don’t need lights where I am going,” he whispered before he leaned in and gave Reno one of those toe curling kisses that was pure sex.

Reno could have cried as the phone buzzed in his pocket, “I should pick up,” he mumbled between kisses. Cloud nodded but didn’t stop kissing him, moving his lips away from Reno’s mouth, tracing them over his cheek and down to his throat. Reno fetched his phone with one hand, and flipped it open. “Tseng? Did you find anything?” he purred as Cloud scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin of his collarbone.

“Yes,” Tseng said with a strange, hollow voice. “Nimrod is an old SOLDIER, but he was kept secret and has been locked away until recently, he killed for the fun of it, this list of victims is as long as Fifth street, he skinned them, and was even suspected of eating some of them, he was a very, very sick individual”

“That’s fucking gross!” Reno said smiling as Cloud’s hands snuck up under his shirt, leaving trails of warm heat on their way to Reno’s nipples, that Cloud pinched hard, smiling against his lover’s neck as Reno gasped softly.

“Well,” Tseng said, “He escaped two months ago.”

“Escaped, or set free?” Reno whispered, trying to keep his voice steady when Cloud licked his way from Reno’s neck to his ear, sucking on the soft earlobe while breathing heavily into his ear, grinding his pelvis against Reno’s thigh lightly to make a point.

“I would say the latter,” Tseng said darkly. “It has a home address here, I would recon he would go there, as tormented as this man is, and I don’t think he is too clever, it says here that he has a disturbingly low IQ, he is nothing but a killing machine.”

“So you don’t think he would have been able to think all that up? I mean it must have taken someone clever to think up that stunt he pulled on Tifa.” Reno said, realising his mistake as Cloud stopped sucking on his earlobe.

“What with Tifa?” Cloud whispered.

“Shh” Reno hushed Cloud.

“What with Tifa damn it?” Cloud said again, this time louder.

“Hang on Tseng,” Reno said into the phone, and turned to Cloud. “I will tell you in ten minutes, she is not in danger, relax.” He tried to give his lover a carefree smile, but it didn’t seem to work too well.

Cloud squinted his eyes but slowly relaxed.

“So,” Reno said into the phone.

“No I don’t think so, and Reno.. Guess who visited him the last time, just hours before his alleged escape?”

“Elena?” Reno said, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Elena and Rude,” Tseng said.

Reno felt like the earth would swallow him whole, and he felt dizzy “are you absolutely sure?” he breathed.

“Yes,” Tseng said. “Are you at your apartment with Cloud now?”

“Yeah,” Reno said slowly, as if he was not sure if he should admit it or not.

“Stay there with him,” Tseng said, and somehow Reno thought he sounded a little bitter, but pushed that thought away, “I will get the men I need and then go straight to Nimrod’s house.”

“Tseng?” Reno said, “Be careful man.”

“I will call you when I drive Marlene home,” Tseng said in a phoney singsong tone. .

“You do that,” Reno said. And hung up, turning to Cloud who stood against the wall, he was just about to say something when he heard a rustle, “oh shit” Reno whispered, and then leaned in as were he about to kiss Cloud again, “Cloud,” he whispered, burying his fingers in the blond hair, “they are here, we need to get to your bike and the fuck away from here.” He licked the corner of Clouds mouth just because he couldn't resist.

“Run?” Cloud whispered against Reno’s lips.

“Run,” Reno repeated, as he looked his lover deep in the eyes, to make sure they understood each other, and then they flung the door open and ran down the stairs as fast as they could, making directly for the big doors to the street. But as the door opened, Reno stopped dead, in front of them cutting off the way towards the bike they had hidden, stood a group of people that he didn’t recognize, but were most likely some hired hands, but they had guns, large ones. And there in the middle he saw Elena. And as he turned around, he saw Rude coming down the stairs with another handful of hired help.

“Crap,” he groaned, looking at Cloud that was painfully under armed, they had not brought any big swords, and Cloud only had the one he had had strapped on his back as he had travelled.

“Reno,” Elena said as she stepped up in front of the hired men, “We really should thank you,” she said. “You are such a good puppy, brought us right to him,” she smiled and nodded to Rude, behind them.

Reno turned his head and looked at Rude who just stood there. “Hand him over Reno,” Rude said.

Reno then turned and looked at Cloud, who looked oddly calm. “We can take them,” Cloud said softly.

“Fuck yeah” Reno said, with a smile, not that he was convinced at all, but he knew that there was no way out of here, they would have to fight their way out, and with a little luck they could stay low until Tseng had caught Nimrod. He flipped his wrist and grabbed firmly around the handle of his E-mag, standing back to back with Cloud like this, felt oddly good, he had done it before and he knew what immense powers that hid inside that young blond man, but never had he had to fight Shinra, and never his friends.

-TBC-