"You're kidding."

Rude remained silent, hidden behind his shades. He shook his head.

"Says who?" Reno pressed.

"Just got word."

"From who?"

"—From whom."

Reno jumped, losing his grip. Elena's mug shattered on impact.

The two peered out of Reno's hideaway just in time to see the door three stalls down open. A puffy-eyed, red-nosed Elena trudged into the open. Visibly shaking, she turned her bleary gaze on the duo.

"Elena?" Reno exclaimed. "Where the hell did you come from? How long have you been in here?"

"Long enough," she managed. Her voice was rougher than Reno's. "Sounds like you had fun."

Rude frowned.

"You didn't tell him?"

"I—"

"ENOUGH!" Reno shouted, scowling. Elena jumped. Rude turned abruptly. "Will somebody tell me what the fuck's going on?!"

A heavy silence followed.

"Reeve's informant," Rude announced, "spotted Tseng in the Temple of the Ancients. He was investigating the area when Sephiroth ambushed him."

"…Fuck."

It'd been a gut reaction, completely unbidden. His face disappeared temporarily behind both hands as he dug his palms into his eyes, processing. The pallid, blindsided features afterwards revealed contrasted sharply with the red of his tattoos. Elena sniffled softly to herself. Rude continued.

"Sephiroth attacked Tseng near the entrance. They're already moving to extract him."

"Who's they," Reno reinforced, sick of the ambiguity.

"Reeve's contact," Elena replied. She was clearly trying to keep her trembling lips steady as a fresh wave of tears claimed her. "And a few of our plants in Junon."

Legs unsteady, Reno shifted his weight slowly, trying to think. A slight tremor plagued his balance. Between the booze, the sick, and the news he'd just received, he felt like he'd been sucker punched. He had to keep his cool, had to stay focused. Had to keep the fogginess rimming his vision at bay. There had to be more to the story.

"How do we know he's dead?"

"Sephiroth stabbed him," Elena sobbed angrily. Reno had never seen her so worked up before. "Stabbed him and left him for Avalanche to find. The Centra girl was the only one who bothered to stop and try to help him. And Sephiroth killed her too."

Reno's blood turned to ice.

"—Aerith?" he stammered. "The girl's dead too?"

Rude placed a hand on Elena's shuddering shoulder.

What the hell…

"…Can't be," was all Reno could come up with, dazed. Tseng, 'The Director,' was an uncompromising perfectionist. The guy lived and breathed his job and performed it with the ease one could expect only from a seasoned professional. He was like a spider at the center of a web of a thousand strands: any movement and he was there, on top of the matter before the situation even saw the light of day. Half of the time, Reno knew, things were taken care of before even they—the Turks—knew about it. Tseng was a master of his craft without equal. Reno had always admired Tseng's level head in uncertainty, his practiced tact, his ability to read a room in an instant. Losing 'The Director' wasn't just a job vacancy.

It was an irredeemable void.

Reno did his best to keep his mind from collapsing in on itself. Mouth dry, heart racing—he felt panic sinking in. He'd done terrible, unspeakable things…witnessed and committed violence at the wave of a hand. In all the years he'd been a Turk, he'd barely given his choices a thought. They were assignments handed down by others with more power—and more money—than him. They weren't his responsibility. They were jobs. Nothing more. Tseng gave an order, the President issued an assignment…and he'd acted. It was as simple as that—

The President.

"Who knows about all this?" Reno asked tentatively.

"Just us," Rude answered. "And Reeve."

Reno nodded, counting his blessings. If the President didn't know, that was one less thing for him to worry about. Not my job— he thought, stopping short. Elena and Rude stared at Reno in relative silence, with the exception of Elena's attempts to collect herself. They were waiting expectantly for— What, exactly? he questioned. A next step? A pat on the back? An order?

Alarmed realization slowly dawned.

…Oh.

"You're Second Rank," Rude said, somehow always tracking with Reno's moods. "Or at least, you were."

Sobering, Reno let the gravity of the situation sink in.

"You're the new—" Elena started, but Reno cut her short.

"Don't say it."

I could always bolt, he told himself. Find the nearest window and jump. Steal a helicopter and bail. Barricade myself in an office and never come out again. But despite the racing in his pulse and thoughts, he knew how this story ended. He owed it to himself—after all, he'd worked damn hard to make Second. He owed it to the two goons staring google-eyed at him to give it a try, to give them something to focus on. And, deep down, he knew he owed it to Tseng. The guy had spent every waking moment keeping Shinra's seedy underbelly in some semblance of order. He'd protected the Turks, sheltered them without coddling or tolerating excuses. He'd organized ventures that had resulted in tragedy, knowing full well that the outcome fall on him. He'd made difficult call after difficult call, taking the hit for the rest of the team. He'd retired the only way Turks knew how.

In a body bag.

The least Reno could do was simple enough.

He could try.

Over the years, Reno had been entrusted with the highest levels of responsibility due to his performance. He'd been the former President's personal body guard, had been tasked with silencing…and saving…ex-SOLDIERS, had personally been given the order to drop the plate of Sector 7. He was good—and he knew it. But there was a certain brand of responsibility that he hadn't seen the need to cultivate: leadership. He had the authority to boss the other Turks around, sure. But being the head of something?

Guess I gotta start somewhere. Damn you, Tseng.

Reno took in a deep breath, let it out. Focused up. Straightened his posture…as much as Reno could.

"Alright, here's the deal," he began. "No one hears about this outside of us. Let rumors do what they do best: muddy the waters. I'll fill the President in on Tseng, but until we get confirmation on the Centra girl and what went down in that Temple, I don't want him catching wind of this. Understood?"

"Understood," Elena and Rude chanted in unison. "But," Elena added, "why not?"

"Because a lot was riding on her being alive," Reno replied. "And I gotta come up with a way to break it to the Boss."

Elena nodded. Her attention drifted to the shattered pieces on the floor of Reno's stall.

"Is that…my mug?" she asked, swiping at the moisture lining her face.

Reno followed her line-of-sight before leveling her with a sarcastic scowl.

"That's what you're worried about right now?"

Elena flushed in frustration.

"No! Obviously! I just…it was a gift. From my dad. It was my favorite."

"It's my fault," Rude chimed in. "I didn't know it was yours."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Reno sighed.

"Look, I dropped it. I'll get you another one. Cool?"

Elena shook her head.

"You don't have to do that; it's okay."

"I know I don't have to," Reno pressed, rushed. His headache was coming back. "Just let me do it. Alright?"

Sensing Reno's delicate hold on his self-control, Elena let any further protests go.

"Alright," she conceded, tired. Heavy lids hid her bloodshot eyes behind damp lashes. "You owe me."

"Fine," Reno replied.

Rude cleared his throat, tugged absently at the end of his sleeves.

"What?" Reno prompted.

"What are we going to do about Sephiroth?" Rude asked. The steel in his tone meant business.

Gut the bastard, came to mind.

"One thing at a time, partner," Reno replied. "Revenge is on the table, but too soon and we'll all end up taking a trip to the Lifestream. If he surprised The Director, he could get the jump on any of us. We gotta make sure he pays…and we can't do that if we're dead."

A dull ache settled in Reno's chest at the thought of Tseng's final moments. Execution style. Bleeding out in the dark. It was fucking Veld all over again. And Tseng didn't deserve to go out like that.

He pushed the pang aside. There was no time to mourn.

"Elena," Reno assigned, "see if you can find where Avalanche is hiding out. I want to know what went down."

"Got it," she nodded, tears nearly dried. Radiating with fierce resolve, she buried the last of her grief in a way befitting her uniform. "I'll get answers, don't you worry about that."

"I won't," Reno replied honestly. The edge in Elena's tone left little room for doubt. Without further ceremony, Elena left the two gentlemen alone in the women's restroom, the door hissing behind her.

Rude, who had watched the sudden departure, turned back to Reno.

"What should I do?" he asked.

Reno bit down hard, his jaw clenching.

"I want you to get Reeve's footage," Reno explained. "I want to see it for myself."

Rude frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"It's evidence," Reno explained. "And we need to go over it top to bottom."

The crease lining Rude's sunglasses deepened.

"Right," he murmured. Clearly, the prospect of watching their Director bleed to death didn't sit well with either of them, but Rude seemed particularly uneasy.

"Leave the footage to me," Reno said knowingly. "After you get your hands on it, see if we have any leads on Sephiroth. I have a feeling he's not worried about being spotted."

Rude took to the second order with notable enthusiasm. He straightened, nodded with an affirmative grunt.

"What about you?" Rude asked.

"I'm, uh…" Reno thought out loud. Over Rude's shoulder, Reno caught a glimpse of his own colorless features in the mirror lining the wall. "I'm gonna see about gaining access to Tseng's files. See what I can piece together about what the hell's going on." He swallowed. Dry. "Then I'll check what's in that surveillance footage."

Rude stiffened.

"Gotta do it, Rude," Reno explained dully. "For the facts, sure. But it's…respect. You know? Gotta respect what happened."

Gravely, Rude nodded. "Sure."

The line-up of the night's events began catching up to Reno…his one-night-stand, the drinking, the episode, getting sick, losing the Director, losing the Centra girl, and gaining one tall order of responsibility.

The weight of it all settled over the former Second.

"Come on." Reno gestured to Rude, stepping over what remained of Elena's mug. "Let's get started."