Rufus Shinra stepped out of his helicopter and onto the roof of the Shinra Headquarters  and looked around. He hadn't been back in a long time, ever since it had been built. That had been thirteen years ago, and he was 18 now.

    His visit was not expected. Rufus' father, the President of Shinra Inc., always seemed to avoid seeing him. But this time around there would be no escape. Rufus was here now, and he wasn't leaving till he saw his old man.

    He was immediately greeted by a trio of men in blue suits. The one in front had long black hair, and was neatly dressed. The one behind him and to the right was neatly dressed too, wearing sunglasses and completely bald. The one to the left had unruly red hair, pushed back from his face by the sunglasses he wore on his head. His uniform was a mess, his shirt was untucked, as well as half way unbuttoned and he wore no tie.

    "Rufus Shinra," said the one in front with a monotone voice, "pleasure to see you here."

    At least they know who I am. "You must be the Turks," said Rufus, "I'm here to see my father."

    "I'm afraid he's not here," spoke the head Turk in the same sterile voice. "He is on a business trip."

    "Dammit," cursed the son, stamping his foot. "There's always *something*."

    "You are of course welcome to stay in the building until your departure," the dark haired man continued.

    The young blonde heaved a sigh. "Well thanks."

    "Hey, Tseng, can we have the night off?" the red haired Turk spoke up loudly, gesturing to himself and the bald man. "I wanna show the President's son around Midgar."

    Tseng nodded with barely audible sigh. "Very well. But remember you have to work tomorrow, no matter how you feel. Understand?"

    The red head shot his shot his boss a crooked grin. "Course, boss." His bright blue eyes shifted back to Rufus and he extended his hand. "Hey. I'm Reno, and this here's Rude." He pointed to his partner.

    The President's son shook the Turks hand stiffly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rufus."

    Reno laughed. "Hey! That's funny! Reno, Rude and Rufus! Triple R!" He grinned and glanced at his boss. "Hey, Tseng, too bad your name doesn't start with 'R'! Then we could be quadruple 'R'!"

    Tseng rolled his eyes. "Yeah...I'll leave you three alone. Report tomorrow at 8 A.M sharp." With that he went back into the building.

    "What about Reeve?" Rude asked Reno.

    "Hey, yeah! If we got Reeve we'd be quadruple R!" He grabbed Rufus by the wrist and started dragging him towards the building,

    "Reeve...." Rufus thought back. "He built Midgar, right?"

    Rude nodded. "Yup."

    Rufus glanced around at the building as he was dragged at top speed through the corridors.

    "Come on, slow poke!" Reno scolded, pulling him into a glass elevator. "What, you never been here before or somethin'?"

    Rufus shook his head and said, "not since it was built."

    The jaws of both Turks dropped.

    "Come on!" Reno exclaimed, "you're screwing us, right?"

    Rufus calmly shook his head again. "No, I'm completely serious."

    The fiery haired Turk turned to his taciturn partner. "Ya hear that, Rude? President's own son's never seen the whole building."

    "Hmm," replied the bald Turk.

    The elevator stopped and Reno took hold of the younger man's wrist again. They went through what was clearly a floor of offices.

    Reno came to an abrupt halt in front of one office. The Turk then released Rufus grinned devilishly and told the President's son to watch. With a silent laugh he knocked on the door, grabbed Rufus' wrist and the three R's ran around the corner.

    "Come in!" called a booming voice.

    Reno giggled hysterically, while Rude simply smiled and shook his head with a sigh.

    "Come in, dammit!" the voice hollered again.

    Rufus heard the sound of a door opening.

    "Dammit!" cursed the voice. "Not again! Who the hell keeps doing that?" The door was slammed shut.

    Reno was against the wall, practically crying with laughter.

    "Who *was* that?" Rufus asked, uncomfortably.

    "That's Heidegger," Rude told him.

    "Oh...." Rufus breathed. "Your boss." His expression was neutral. "I see."

    Reno frowned and looked the young blonde over. "Shit, you're so uptight! How old are ya, kid?"

    Rufus told him he was 18.

    "18!" Reno exclaimed. "Man, you act like you're forty! Loosen up!" He took Rufus' wrist again. "Come on." They moved onto the next hallway. "Hey, Rude. Do you think. Reeve'll be in one of his moods tonight?"

    Rude replied, "hope not."

    "What do you mean?" Rufus asked.

    "Well sometimes Reeve is cool, but other times he's really anal, kinda like you kid."

    Rufus frowned.

    "Oh, Reeve!" Reno called, knocking a few times on the office door. "Guess who?"

    "Come in."

    Reno opened the door and the trio filed inside Reeve's small room. "Hey, 'sup, man? This here's Rufus, the President's son."

    Reeve, a man in blue suit, and slicked back hair, looked up at Rufus in surprise. "So you're the company's Vice President. Nice to finally meet you."

    "Nice to meet you too," replied Rufus.

    "So we're goin' out drinkin'," Reno explained. "You wanna come?"

    Rufus froze. "What...we're doing *what*?"

    "We'll be quadruple R if you join us," Rude told him.

    Reeve laughed. "I think you kids just want my I.D." He shook his head. "I'd love to join you, but I'm really swamped with work no one else wants to do. Besides," he gestured to a very stiff Rufus, "I think you're going to be a little too much for our Vice President."

    "Us?" Reno said innocently. He laughed and got the blonde in a head lock. "Never."

    "Ow!" whined Rufus, trying to push the Turks arms away. "You're going to mess up my hair!"

    "Ah ha! Some sort of personality!" Reno released the teenager and gave him a little shove.

    Rufus frowned and fixed his clothing. "Whatever."

    "Come on, let Reeve work," Rude suggested, leading Reno towards the door.

    The red head waved over his shoulder. "Bye, buddy!"

    "Bye, Reno. Bye, Rude. It was a pleasure, Rufus."

    Once the door to Reeve's office was shut, Rufus crossed his arms and said flatly. "I can't go drinking."

    "Why not?"

    "I'm under age."

    Reno and Rude looked at each other and burst out laughing.

    "So are we!" Reno hooted. "That doesn't stop us! I've been drinking since I was 14!"

    The Vice President hesitated. "I don't know."

    "Afraid of what your dad might say?" Rude questioned.

    "No," Rufus answered defensively. He licked his lips nervously. "I....uh....I've never drank alcohol before."

    "Trust me," said the fiery haired Turk, putting an arm around the teenager. "You need to get drunk *badly*. Doesn't he, Rude?"

    "Yup," Rude agreed.

    The young blonde tugged nervously at his collar. Suddenly the building had become a sauna. "Uh....."

    "Oh come on!" Reno exclaimed with impatient. "Listen kid, we can't be waitin' around all night for you to make up your little mind."

    Rufus glared at him. What could he do? The Turks were losing respect for him fast, and he had only been here a half hour! He could have them thinking they were better than him. "I'll out drink you both."

    The red head laughed, clapping his hands together. "That's the spirit!

    Rude smirked at him. "Let's go then."
 

  Rufus hesitantly followed the two older men into a seedy bar in what they told him was Sector 6.

    "This town is called Wall Market," Reno told him. "Me 'n Rude come here a lot." He laughed.

    Rude just smiled.

    The three young men took a seat at the bar. Rufus must have looked very tense, and when the bartender came over to take orders, Reno told him, "two beers and a vodka for my uptight friend here."

    When the bartender was gone, Rufus looked questioningly at the red headed Turk. "Vodka...is that *strong*?"

    Reno shook his head. "Nah. You can handle it."

    Rufus worried more. He decided he would have to make conversation. "So, where has my father gone on business?"

    The smiles on the two older men vanished, and suddenly the tables turned as they looked increasingly uncomfortable.

    "I dunno, do you, Rude?"

    "Nope."

    The blonde frowned. "Does the other one know? What's his name again...?"

    "Tseng, and I really don't know." Reno was quiet after that until the drinks arrived.

    Hmmm....thought Rufus, I definitely feel as though they're hiding something....

    After they had been served, Reno perked up again. He passed the younger man his shot of vodka. "Here ya go, kid! Drink up!"

    "Let's have a toast," Rude suggested.

    "Yeah! A toast!" Reno agreed joyously, holding his foaming glass high in the air. "Here's to Shinra--which gives us our paychecks, so that we can buy more beer." He drank.

    "Agreed." His partner drank too.

    Rufus looked uncertainly at his glass, took a deep breath and chugged the whole thing down. "Ugh!" he sputtered, feeling a little dizzy as he slammed the glass back down and grabbed for his throat. He gave the fiery haired Turk a look of utter displeasure. "That burns!"

    Reno laughed, "you'll get used to it. Want another one?"

    Rufus responded firmly, "no."

    The other man said, "just get him a beer, Reno. Don't shove hard liquor down the kid's throat."

    The red head agreed, and ordered a beer for Rufus.

    "Who's paying for this?" asked the younger man.

    "Don't worry about it. We've got it covered," Reno told him.

    Rufus just sighed and rested his head in his hands.
 

     The eighteen year old was not used to drinking alcohol, and he 'loosened up', according to Reno, very quickly. The two older men, used to absorbing large amounts of the liquid, were still reasonably sober when Rude suggested they leave for the evening.

    "We don't want to kill him," he said.

    Reno agreed, paid and bill, and he and Rude dragged the young blonde out of the bar.

    "That was fun!" exclaimed Rufus.

    "I think we should take you home," said Rude.

    "No!" Rufus protested. "I don't *wanna* go home!"

    "No one says you do," said Reno with a mischevious grin.

    His partner gave him a confused look. "Huh? Whadda mean, Reno?"

    "Well.....the Honeybee Inn's not very far....and he *is* legal...." the red head raised his eyebrows.

    "Reno! We can't buy him a hooker!" Rude protested.

    "Why not? I'm sure he'd like that!" He looked down at the teenager. "Right, Rufus?"

    "Sure!"

    "See, Rude."

    Rude frowned. "Reno....if his father finds out, Heidegger will kick Tseng's ass and then Tseng will kill us."

    "He won't find out! The kid's too drunk to remember anything!"

    "Huh?" said Rufus.

    "See?"

    The bald man still did not look convinced. "All right..."

    "Hear that, Rufus!" Reno said excitedly, dragging Rufus down the street. "You're gonna get laid!"

    Reno and Rude waited patiently outside the Inn for their young friend to emerge.

    "I don't understand why I couldn't get one too," Reno muttered, "I mean, while we're here....'

    "You spent enough money for one evening," Rude told him.

    "Sometimes you're just no fun, man. You know?"

    Rude replied, "sometimes you're *too* much fun, Reno. You gotta slow down a little."

    The red head snorted. "I've got time to make up for. There ain't no reason for me to slow down."

    "Whoo hoo!" Rufus stumbled out of the Honeybee Inn looking rather dishelved. "That was a good time!"

    Reno grinned at Rude and rushed to help the younger man. "I told ya!"

    "I could spend my whole life doin' that!"

    Rude gave Reno a look. "See what you created, Reno?"

    "Aw, come on, Rude, it's just drunk talk. He'll be back to his ol' tight ass self in the morning." He took a few steps, but nearly stumbled. "Here, help me out."

    Rude took a hold of Rufus from the other side and helped Reno drag him back to the Headquarters.

    "You know, I really love you guys," Rufus sighed happily.

    "Yeah, we love you too, kid," Reno groaned under Rufus' weight. Together the Turks dragged him into the glass elevator of the Headquarters.

    "Look who it is," said the other person in the elevator. "If it isn't tweedle drunk, tweedle drunker and tweedle drunk off his ass." Reeve smiled.

    "Hey, Reeve," sighed Reno, dropping a half awake Rufus to the floor.

    "What did you make him drink?" Reeve asked, kneeling down to inspect the young man. "Absolut?"

    "Only one shot of it!" Reno protested. "The rest was beer, I swear!"

    Reeve shook his head as the elevator came to a stop. "Poor kid." He stepped off the elevator. "Good night."

    "Night, Reeve." The elevator closed and they rode up a few floors more. The two partners dragged the now sleeping Rufus to his guest room.

    "He's gonna have some headache in the morning," Reno commented as they laid him on the bed.

    "So are we, if we don't show up to work on time," Rude reminded him. "Let's go."

    They left Rufus alone.
 

  The next morning, the two Turks showed up in Tseng's office promptly at eight. But they weren't happy about it.

    "Man, I'm tired," Reno moaned, leaning against the wall. "What time did we get in last night?"

    "I don't even know," Rude answered honestly.

    Tseng answered and frowned at his fellow Turks. "Well you're here, but you don't look too good."

    "We're fine. Jist tired. That's all."

    The head Turk frowned. "Where, do I dare ask, is Rufus Shinra?"

    "We left him in his room last night, sir," said Rude, standing at attention.

    "Reno..." Tseng paused. "Did you bother to check on him this morning?"

    "Check on him!" exclaimed the red head. "I just woke up fifteen minutes ago! I barely had time to get dressed!"

    The older man was still frowning. "Would you go check on him *now* please? The both of you. Bring him back here."

    "Yes, sir," the subordinates answered in unison, trudging back out the door and into the elevator. They rode it up to the floor Rufus was staying on.

    "He better not be dead," said Rude.

    "Would you stop with the dead thing!" exclaimed Reno. "He didn't have that much to drink!"

    The duo stepped off the elevator and walked right into Rufus' room. Reno's eyes were distracted right away by a bottle of champagne chilling by the window. "Hey! How come we didn't notice this last night!" He hurried over to it and lifted it out of the bucket. "Damn! They treat guests pretty damn good.

    Rude went into the bedroom. "Reno!" he called.

    Reno was opening the bottle. "What is it?"

    "He's dead."

    The red headed Turk dropped the bottle on the floor and it broke, sending golden liquid and green shards off glass all over the carpet. "You're shittin me."

    There was silence. "Yeah." And Rude chuckled.

    "You son of a bitch!" Reno yelled, joining his partner in the bedroom. "You fucking son of a bitch! That's not funny! You *know* that wasn't funny! You made me drop a bottle of good champagne you fucking imbecile!"

    Rude was still laughing to himself. He pointed to the vice-president. "He's still asleep."

    Reno frowned. "I'll wake him up. You go clean up the mess I made, asshole. And don't hurt your dumb ass self on the glass."

    The bald man was still laughing as he left the room. "The sound of your voice was worth it."

    Reno scowled and shook the blonde man's shoulders. "Hey, kid! Wake up!"

    Rufus just groaned and curled up in the fetal position.

    The Turk heaved a labored sigh. "Come on, Rufus!" he impatiently shook the young man until his blue eyes eased open a bit. "Morning, sunshine."

    The young man moaned and rolled over on his back. "Oh....my head....it feels like....it's caving in."

    "Yeah, drinking as much as you did would do that," Reno said logically.

    Rufus sat up slowly, a hand to his head. "I don't remember what happened last night..." he paused. "I remember...going to a bar...and drinking some horrible substance...but everything between that and now...." he shook his head. "It's a blur."

    "Hey, I always say it's best to forget the things you do when you're drunk. They're probably not things you'd be happy to remember."

    Rufus glared at him. "Yeah."

    "Now get your ass outta bed, and let's go. Tseng wants to see ya."

    "Tseng?" Rufus slowly got his feet, and hand still holding his head. "Oh yeah. That other one."

    "We're Turks," said Reno, "don't forget it."

    Rufus turned and looked at him. "I don't think I could."

    "Yo, Rude! You done cleaning up yet?"

    Rude just nodded.

    "Good, let's go." They headed back for the elevator.

    "Cleaning up what?" asked Rufus.

    "Just the bottle of champagne you dropped last night," Reno told him. "I told you it's better to never know." The elevator zoomed to the upper floors.

    Rufus just sighed.

^_^The End^_^
 

Back