Reno lay on his side, eyes half-closed, in a puddle of vomit and blood. His eyes were dull, glazed over with unconsciousness; or death.

The thought struck me like a sledgehammer. Still screaming for help, I rolled Reno over onto his back. There was a short crack in the side of his head where he must have hit the floor. I grabbed for a towel and pressed it to the wound. I couldn't breathe. Tears stung my eyes, bile tore at the back of my throat. Shaking took me over, wracking heaves took over my body.

I shook him, hard.

"Come on, Reno. Come back, come back to me!" I shouted at him. I shook him more, my chest heaving as I got no response. "Come on, buddy, wake up, wake up! Reno, for fuck's sake! Wake up!"

My vision was swimming again. I heard footsteps running towards the apartment. Lights came on, but I hardly noticed. Someone was shouting, someone was screaming for help, someone was begging for Reno to wake up; after a moment, I realized that it was me.

Cloud Strife, Vincent and Cid came tearing into the room at the same time. They stopped as if they'd hit a wall, staring down. I looked up at Vincent shouting at him to stop standing there, to help, to leave, to do something; Cradling Reno's head and torso in my arms and rocking.

I was deaf, I was mute. I couldn't speak or hear anything. I felt two pairs of strong arms grab my biceps and heave me roughly off the ground. Reno fell limply to the floor. I struggled, kicking, fighting, screaming. I wanted to go back, I needed to see Reno, he had to wake up, he had to come back now. I was thrown onto the bed, and I tried to get up. I was being slammed back down viciously by Cid.

Strife sat on the edge of the bed, holding my arms down and speaking comforting words. I saw his lips moving, but all I could hear was the echoes of my own screams, the steady drip, drip, drip of Reno's blood. Tseng, Rufus and Elena exploded through the door one followed by another.

Elena shot towards the bathroom, and I looked over in time to hear her scream and faint. She crumpled to the floor and into oblivion. Tseng carried her quickly to the couch, tipped her onto it, and ran, top speed, back to the bathroom. Everything was a blur, everything was silent but I could still feel it screaming in my head. Rufus was on his phone, his face hard as stone, shouting orders into it.

Tseng's face was crushed in with grief, guilt, pain. He pulled a syringe out of a case in his pocket, and stepped towards me. I thrashed will all my might, still screaming. My sunglasses went flying, and the last thing I heard before the stabbing pain in my shoulder, before everything went black, was the sound or sirens and my precious sunglasses striking the blood-soaked floor.
THIRD PERSON POV

Rude breathed deeply, and sank into the chair behind his desk. He looked around the almost-empty office, taking in the boxes, the furniture being brought in after he'd destroyed it. He stood restlessly, walked softly across to the only piece of furniture that had been left untouched. A desk. Reno's desk. He ran his fingers over the smooth, cool surface, noting the scratches, and the patches of wear from the countless times muddy boots being swung onto them.

His throat ached as he opened the drawers and found them empty, and knew they would stay that way. He sat gingerly in Reno's chair, which had barely survived his explosion, and placed his own feet on the desk. Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back as he was flooded with memories.

Elena padded softly into the room.

"Rude?"

He opened his eyes and looked over.

"Your things are ready to be moved now."

He studied her for moment. She was drawn, pale. He noted the shadows under her eyes, the gloss of grief in the irises of deep, stirring brown. Coming back to himself, he just nodded at her. She turned and left the room.

He stood, grazing his fingertips one more time over the chair, the desk, and headed for the door. He glanced back, just once, and then continued upstairs.

He arrived at Tseng's office, found him leaning against a large box as he had seen him lean countless times against his desk. Something that was not quite a smile tugged feebly at the corners of Tseng's mouth. They studied each other. Tseng looked as if he had aged. He looked more tired than Rude had ever seen him, and he noted a single, thin lock of silver-gray among the mane of flowing black.

He approached Rude, looking right into his eyes. He extended his hand, found it firmly gripped, and shook.

"Congratulations," slid quietly out of Tseng's mouth.
Rude nodded silently.
"Sir." Tseng added, and made Rude's lips twitch.

Clapping Rude on the shoulder, he picked up the last of his boxes, and Tseng, the former-Turk leader, strode to the door. He didn't let himself look back.

Rude stood silently for a moment, alone. It had been 4 weeks since Reno… well, since Reno. The wound was fresh and raw, and he imagined it would be for a long, long time.

So much had happened in those four weeks. Tseng had resigned. He denied that it was out of guilt, but Rude knew better. In turn, Rufus had come to personally inform Rude that he was to take the place of Turk leader.

Rude had wandered in a fog, watching as his things were packed up and shipped to Tseng's office. No, Tseng's former office. The effect that one night had left on the ShinRa company was earth-shattering. Not a single smile was seen. There were no sounds of happiness, hardly any signs of life. Deep red armbands adorned the biceps of every Turk and even the members of Avalanche. They had all agreed that Reno wouldn't have wanted black. Lost in himself, Rude sat on the floor and leaned against the cardboard box that held Reno's things.

He heard a soft knock, and looked up to see Vincent Valentine holding out a gold-taloned hand to him. Rude studied him a moment, and then took the hand and was pulled to his feet. He noted the other members of Avalanche at the door of his office, nodded to Cloud and Cid.

"It's time." Vincent said softly.

They arrived in the auditorium as the rest of the company filed past them. Rude felt many hands touch his back or shoulders as they walked past, murmurs of solace or sorrow. Seating himself in the front row, he gazed at the memorial. Hundreds of pictures of Reno lined the podium. Reno fighting, Reno laughing, Reno sleeping. Thousands of flowers were strewn at the feet of these photographs. Rude noticed a particularly beautiful bouquet of gold and white flowers lay directly in front of his seat. He turned to Cloud Strife and nodded in thanks, his throat too tight to speak.

Rude studied the photographs, as one by one, friends of Reno stood behind the podium and spoke. Spoke of his life, his manner, his jokes. It all seemed soft and vague to Rude. Nobody who spoke had ever truly known him. At last, as Rufus ShinRa stepped down, his usual white outfit a deep shade of charcoal gray, the company stood and filed out. The auditorium filled with murmurs, the scrape of chairs and the occasional sob.

He stood with the rest of Avalanche, but stayed behind when they headed to the door. Vincent looked back questioningly, but Rude only shook his head. Inclining his head, Vincent ushered the others out, leaving Rude entirely alone in the massive auditorium.

He walked heavily to the podium, and addressed the empty seats with four simple, crushed words.
"I miss you, buddy."
Tears finally came as he stepped back and reached inside his jacket. He pulled out the photo of himself and Reno that day in winter and studied it.

He heard a snap of gum from the doorway, and looked over.

And there stood Reno. He grinned over at Rude, the white light spilling forward at his back silhouetting his lanky figure. Rude heard his voice echoing around the stadium as he spoke. "I miss you too, man."

Rude tried to smile, but could only manage a nod. Reno, still grinning, nodded back silently. Rude watched as he waved, turned, and faded gradually away into the blinding light.

He stood for another moment, and then the first true smile in almost a month broke through on his face. Folding the photo back up, he slid it carefully into the pocket next to his heart, and left the auditorium. This time he didn't look back.