Guilt’s Cost: Part LXXVIII

Reno’s Return

The three remaining ASRIO agents sat in silence on the helicopter as it took them back to Costa Del Sol. Reno had forbidden anyone from radioing ahead to Tseng. He needed to tell him what happened himself, in person. Tseng would be absolutely heartbroken once he realized that he had sent his men into a trap. Tifa and Vincent were now Hojo’s, and Zale was dead.

Zale, although young and only a member of ARSIO for two years had quickly worked his way into Tseng’s heart, and that is why he had been made Tseng’s personal attendant after only six months in the base. Reno fully suspected that the boy had drawn the older man’s affections and that was the reason for his quick promotion. Reno carried the entire burden of the boy’s death on his shoulders. As a former Turk, he should have been more alert and should have seen Rude and his companion slip up behind them. He never should have allowed himself to be distracted, and the price for allowing it was Zale’s death.

As much as Zale’s fate was hurting him, it would pale in comparison to having to tell Angel that her long awaited father was now back in Hojo’s grasp. Only she would be able to understand the true horror of this, and she would be heartsick. Reno did not know how he was going to comfort her, or if she would even want to be near him after he had failed to protect Tifa and Vincent on the mission.

Reno had been a Turk, Goddamn it, and he should have been able to have carried off this mission with success. He had become complacent over the years, and had lost his vigilance. All the missions he had been on over the years had all been too easy. He had become lazy because of this. Maybe Vincent had been right. Reno wasn’t cut out for this line of work. He was too sloppy. He was too self absorbed. He was a failure. The fact that Vincent had been right all along was almost as bad as the guilt of not seeing the trap for what it was.

When the chopper finally alit on the airfield Reno, Morris, and Ericson hopped out. They walked slowly to the entry way under the control tower and went down into the base’s depths. Reno led the procession, with his head hung in shame. They went straight to Tseng’s quarters. Somehow, Reno just knew he was there.

Reno took his key to the room out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He pushed it open and stepped in. His two companions followed.

Tseng was lying in his bed, propped up to a sitting position by several pillows. He examined his visitors, and knew immediately that something was terribly wrong.

Reno’s face showed an expression of absolute dejection, something no one had ever witnessed before. His eyes were bloodshot and teary and when he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. "Tseng… it was a trap."

Tseng’s eyes grew wide. This had been his greatest fear, and as he looked upon Reno, he was certain that things had been horrible. "Where’s the others?"

Reno shuffled a few paces forward, not looking up from the floor. He drew a jagged breath, trying as hard as he could to maintain himself. "Tifa and Vincent are in the lab. Hojo’s got them."

Tseng placed a hand over his racing heart. There was a pain within it, but it had nothing to do with his physical condition. "He… he has them?"

"Yes." Reno brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes, hoping that it would push back the tears.

"And Zale?" Tseng sat up a little more. His young assistant was the only one still not accounted for. "Where is he?"

Reno failed to keep his composure. One body-wrenching sob wracked him. "He’s dead."

Tseng gasped and fell back onto his pillows. He placed a hand over his eyes. "Morris, Ericson, will you please excuse us?"

The two other agents nodded and retreated quickly shutting the door behind them.

Once they were gone, Tseng picked up his laptop computer from the bed next to him and flung it across the room. It smashed against the wall near the door, at once shattering into a thousand pieces.

Reno could see Tseng’s face flush from fear and grief and took a few more steps toward him. "It’s my fucking fault old man. Take it easy."

"It is not your fault!" Tseng’s voice was harsh with tears. "I am the leader! I gave the order to send my own brother and friends in there! I should have known it was a trap!"

Upon seeing Tseng’s outburst, Reno did something completely out of character. He sat on the edge of Tseng’s bed and took the older man into his arms. Tseng was shocked by the embrace but submitted to it, feeling that without any comfort at the moment he would go mad. He cried bitterly against Reno’s chest, knowing that if Tifa and Vincent weren’t dead, that they would soon be.

With Tseng having completely let go in his arms and the others having left, Reno felt safe enough to let his own tears come freely. Reno had only ever cried once before in his life, and that had been when Elena had been killed. He wasn’t sure what was making him do it now. Whether it was his guilt or the loss of Zale, Tifa, and Vincent he did not know. Maybe part of it was seeing Tseng, his best friend in such torture. But it didn’t matter to him which of these it was. "Tseng, let me go back and get them."

It took Tseng a long time before he could reply. "I can’t risk losing you too."

Reno took Tseng by the shoulders and looked him into the eye. "I am going back to get them, Tseng. Whether I have your permission or not, I am going. I can’t leave Vinny and Tifa there, even if it means losing my life in the attempt. I should already be dead. The only reason I got out was that Rude let me go."

Tseng caught his breath. "Rude let you go? What do you mean?"

"Rude was there along with another Turk. After his associate killed Zale, Rude sent him off and then let me escape." Reno dropped his gaze away. "Since I am living on borrowed time after that, I don’t feel hesitant in the least about going back in there to get them."

To hear such emotion and eloquence out of Reno was an event for Tseng. It was too clear to him that Reno was going to try some desperate rescue, so he might as well provide the support he would need. "So be it. Give me two days to arrange it."

"We don’t have two days!" Reno shook Tseng slightly. "I need to go now!"

"If you go now you will just be killed." Tseng hung his head. "Allow me to get you the provisions you need so that you will at least have a chance. I can’t risk losing you too."

Reno sighed in submission. He knew that Tseng was right, and that if he was to succeed, he would need preparation. "Two days, no more. If I have to go in there and drag Vinny and Tifa out of there with my teeth, that’s what I’ll do."

Tseng smiled faintly touched by Reno’s dedication to his friends. "Fair enough. Go see Angel now. I’m sure that she will want to know that you are fine."

Reno hated to leave Tseng like this. "Will you be all right?"

Tseng attempted another weak smile. "I’ve been through hard times before. At least I know that you understand. That is more than enough. We’ll get Tifa and Tsuvati back. We have to."

Reno rose up from the bed. "Yes, we will."

Tseng nodded, giving Reno permission to leave. He wanted to be alone for a while, knowing that his friend would be uncomfortable by his need to continue crying.

Reno walked to the door and stepped into the hall. He was fairly certain that he could hear Tseng crying again as he made his way toward Angel’s room.

Upon entering, Angel ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "You’re back!"

Reno allowed his head to rest down on her shoulder, and he slouched in her embrace.

By the way he failed to immediately attempt to whisk her to the bed, Angel knew that something was wrong. "Reno? What happened?"

He took a step back from her and then made his way to the couch. He landed upon it and leaned forward, placing his face in his hands. "We fucked up."

"What do you mean?" Angel went over and sat on the floor before him. She was filled with worry over what the problem would be.

Reno looked up at her for a brief moment, before hanging his head again. "Hojo’s got Tifa and your daddy. And Zale is dead."

Angel caught her breath, as her eyes at once were stung. "No, no!"

Reno couldn’t bear to look at her, his guilt over the mission’s failure crushing in on him. "It was a trap, and I didn’t seen it coming. I never should have let them go into that lab! I should have known…"

Angel stared up at him through her own sadness. As upset as she was about the plight of her father and Tifa, she couldn’t allow Reno to blame himself for this. "It isn’t anyone’s fault except for Hojo’s! He’s the one that did this, not you."

No one’s words were going to help Reno. He had failed, and no matter who tried to convince him otherwise, he wouldn’t let it go until he had Tifa and Vincent back in the ASRIO base. "I already talked to Tseng, and he’s going to let me go back and get them."

"Reno, how are you going to do that?" Angel wasn’t about to let Reno go on a suicide mission.

"I don’t know." He leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "But I have to. You need your father."

"I need you, too." She placed a hand on his knee. "Let Tseng send some one else!"

"You know I can’t ask him to do that!" Reno closed his eyes. She was speaking out of panic, and he knew it. "This is something that I have to take care of and you know it. Would you really want Tifa and Vincent’s lives in anyone else’s hands?"

Angel wasn’t certain, but she thought she heard a hint of Reno’s old sarcasm in his voice. "You’re the best man for the job."

He sat back up and looked her in the eyes. "I will be."

Angel gave him a quick smile, but it soon fell. "How did Tseng react to hearing about Zale?"

Reno knitted his brows. "Threw his laptop across the room and busted it."

"He really liked that boy. It’s awful." Angel sighed.

Reno didn’t think that she knew exactly how much Tseng had liked him. "He was his favorite, that’s for damn sure."

"He must really be upset." Angel slowly stood back up.

Reno was embarrassed at the memory of holding Tseng as he cried. "He’s taking it pretty hard."

"I should go see him." Angel started for the door. The best way to divert herself away from her own pain was to try and help someone else with theirs.

Reno knew what she was up to, and wasn’t going to let her ignore her feelings. "No, don’t go. Tseng needs to be alone for a while, and besides, I think you need to let this all sink in before you go off trying to console anyone else."

Angel turned back to him, her bottom lip starting to quiver. "Reno…"

He got up and took her in his arms. "Come on, baby. Let it out."

Her body began to tremble in his embrace. She buried her face in his shirt and sobbed. She was filled with absolute terror about what Tifa and her father were going through. It was all too clear that Vincent’s sanity as well as life was on the line. And as to what Hojo could want with Tifa she could only imagine. "Reno, you’ll save them, won’t you?"

He kissed the top of her head. "You bet I will, baby. That mother fucker Hojo is going down."