After Meteorfall (Reno x Female! Reader)

Chapter 10

(Y/N) brought her knees up to her chest and sighed.
''Today....I really didn't expect to end up in an interrogation room.''
She frowned, blinking at the red head. ''Or to have you there for it.''
Reno simply stared back at her, his expression carefully arranged, like it had been earlier today.
''Believe me, I didn't expect to see you. But, it is my job, yo.''
(Y/N) looked down at her hands.
''That doesn't make me feel better.''
''I don't expect it to, but its the truth.''
(Y/N) turned to face him again.
''I know that.'' She mumbled, feeling foolish.
He had only met her once, after all. What, did she expect him to throw away his career for some slum kid?
She felt a wave of irritation, chiding herself for being so pathetic.
Get real.
''How long have you been a Turk?'' She asked gently.
Reno tipped his head back as he considered her question.
''Hmm...about 11 years, yo.''
''Wow, long time.''
''Yeah.''
(Y/N) wondered what he had seen in those 11 years, what he had done.
The peoples lives he had stepped on and who he had offered little mercy. She knew it was the Turks who had been responsible for the Sector 7 Plate incident 3 years ago.
Apparently they had been pardoned by the Director of the WRO.
Still, it was a tough pill to swallow.
The man sitting before her didn't look capable of such cruelty, not the man who had kindly given her food and shelter.
It was something that she hadn't considered before, but now, seeing him sit before her and remembering his detached demeanour earlier, she had to face up to it.
He was a Turk down to his bones, and always would be.
''Has there ever been a time when you didn't wanna follow orders?'' She tried carefully.
He met her eyes evenly.
''No.'' He sighed.
''That may be hard to understand, but ShinRa was my home and family. They're all I had and still have.'' He looked away now. ''And me and Rude, well...we'll always be partners.''
(Y/N) smiled and he looked a little surprised.
''The truth is, I took this job purely for the money.'' (Y/N) admitted guiltily. ''I had no chance back in the day at a job with ShinRa, but it was OK because I had Arlene, Jim and all my friends. Then, after Meteorfall, things went south. There were other jobs, but the pay wasn't nearly as good. I was tired of living on the bread line, I wanted more. So, when this job came up, I jumped at it.'' She sighed sadly. ''I didn't stop to think how much I was throwing away for the Gil, didn't realise what I stood to lose. I told myself that everyone was blowing it all of proportion, making me feel bad when I had no other choice but to take this job. it wasn't true at all, I was just playing the Martyr. Now, this job is all I have.
All my life, those of us in Migdar had been under ShinRas boot. So now, to find that even today, when the company is on its knees, when I work for them...to find myself back there, well...'' She looked out over Edge. ''It hurt, a lot.''
Reno said nothing, only listened patiently.
There was a silence for some time as
(Y/N) allowed Reno to digest her words.
''Listen (Y/N), I'm sorry you were involved in this mess. But believe me when I say, that this breach- its huge.''
(Y/N) slowly remembered Phillips words, his frightened warning.
Her stomach turned unpleasantly at the implications.
''You know yourself the danger the staff are facing, and that there have even been casualties along the way. Somebody is planning something big, and everyone in that building is in huge danger. So, if I thought that someone may potentially be behind that, I wouldn't be exactly friendly.'' He ran a hand through his red hair.
''I got off lightly, I know.'' (Y/N) murmured.
Reno smiled ruefully, nodding. ''To be honest, I'm relieved to find out that you aren't involved. It was a shitty twist of fate that it was your terminal that was bugged and you had to go through what you did today. But in a way, I'm kinda glad it was.''
(Y/N) frowned at him incredulously. 'You wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't your terminal, yo.'' He smirked.
(Y/N) couldn't think of a thing to say, she simply shook her head in disbelief and smiled.
He was right.
Now that he mentioned it, she was kinda glad too.
''Although, you've gotta be more careful from now on. Everyone's at risk from this, and I don't wanna see you hurt, OK? You've seen how quickly people can turn on you for aligning yourself with ShinRa, even your own friends.'' Reno warned her seriously, and she nodded solemnly. ''Anyways, don't worry about the company. I've read your file, and from what I can see, you're a damn good employee and it hasn't gone unnoticed. Trust me.''
(Y/N) blinked in disbelief. ''I have a file?'' Renos smirk turned positively shark-like. ''Oh yeah, made for some interesting reading, too.''
(Y/N) groaned. ''Please don't say anymore!'' The Turk laughed.
His voice was suddenly soft and smooth. ''Who knows, if it hadn't have been you, we might have still been missing each other at 7th Heaven, passing each other like Airships in the night...''
(Y/N) caught the glint in his eye and felt her face grow hot.
''I did hope to see you again.'' She admitted quietly.
Suddenly, Reno had closed the gap between them on the sofa, and was mere inches from her.
''Well, you see me now.''
She searched his crystal blue eyes and felt her heart began to race.
She tentatively reached out a hand, placing it on his smooth solid chest.
(Y/N) heard a barely audible intake of breath from him at her touch, before he slowly leaned into her.
His kiss was slow and gentle. She could smell his freshly washed skin and feel the heat radiating off him.
They broke apart, and she couldn't help a shy smile in reply to his impish grin.
It was their second meeting, but that indescribable feeling was back.
As she gazed up at him, she knew that she could accept the part of his heart that would always belong to the Turks. Because deep down she knew this was right.
She wasn't so alone anymore.

AN =  We've reached the end!
I really really appreciate everyone who took the time to read this story.
Honestly, I wrote it a few months before I posted it and had no intention of doing so at the time, but I worked up the courage and decided to go for it!
So for it to have the number of reads it has now, perhaps small in comparison to some stories, is such a wonderful feeling for me! So thank you all again! :)

I didn't know whether or not to continue this story beyond this point. I feel like whilst it wasn't massively heavy on the romance, it did point towards a loving future for Reader and the incorrigible Turk! If this story does well enough I am open to continuing it beyond this or even writing a sequel, but right now there are no plans.

I have got an idea in the works for a Vanitas x Reader fic, based on the amazing song Dark Times by The Weeknd, *a must listen* (since I love the modern AU trope where Vanitas is a total chain-smoking, drinking, fighting rogue, but the love and friendship between the two is solid) so stayed tuned for that since its probs gonna be my next story!

Toodles! :) <3