wei_jiangling (wei_jiangling) wrote in areyougame, @ 2009-08-28 06:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | *final fantasy vii, author: wei_jiangling |
The City and It's Keepers, FFVII, Reeve/Midgar/Rufus
Title: The City and It's Keepers
Author: wei_jiangling
Rating: PG
Warnings: None... Original game spoilers, I suppose
Word count: 1649
Prompt: Reeve/Midgar/Rufus: abuse - they all have different ways of loving
Summary: Reeve and Rufus contemplate Midgar, and Midgar doesn't contemplate them.
A/N: Over a month late, but I finally wrote it! So sorry for the wait. I hope you like it.
Reeve
sat, his legs crossed, his hands folded neatly in his lap, and his eyes peering across a desk.
“It’s been almost two weeks, Reeve. At this point, continued rescue efforts will be a waste of time and resources. All you’ll be finding is corpses.”
He frowned, ever so slightly. The words didn’t surprise him in the slightest. He hadn’t really expected anything more when he decided to bring up the topic with the young man who had only become President days ago. Rufus had a point, of course; the search for survivors of the Sector 7 incident turned up fewer and fewer each day. There was a time in which to save lives, and a time to merely catalog the deceased.
Even so, that response disappointed him. As of yet, the number of people rescued from the rubble in a day had yet to actually reach zero, and if he had his way the searches would continue until it did, regardless of whether Rufus considered that an efficient use of manpower or not. Sector 7 was a part of Midgar, and while it had largely been abandoned by ShinRa, he had a responsibility to it as the head of Urban Development. He had been unable to put a stop to its destruction; the least he could do was to continue reducing the toll.
“Sir, if there are even a few people...” Even as he spoke, he knew from the look on Rufus’ face that it was an argument he would lose. It was frustrating, knowing that he was simply walking into a wall. Frustrating both that this decision wasn’t in his hands despite the position he held, and for the fact that the man who was making the decision didn’t care.
In some ways, Rufus was exactly like his father. Younger, and perhaps in some ways smarter, but when it came down to it, it didn’t matter what was lost as long as it happened to suit whatever their plans were. Lives were nothing more than bargaining chips.
“I said forget about it,” Rufus replied simply. Reeve peered back disapprovingly. Even if he knew he would lose, that didn’t settle with him. They were talking about his city and his people. Rufus might not care about them, but if he couldn’t get through to him, he at least wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
“I refuse to abandon that sector completely.” Rufus raised an eyebrow at the comment, and Reeve fixed him with as emphatic a stare as he could muster.
“If you want to focus on Sector 7, I suggest you put your efforts into rebuilding it.” Reeve blinked, the resolution in his expression wavering. Of all things Rufus could have said, that was not one he had been expecting.
“But, I thought...” He paused, not finishing the statement. Surely he had misunderstood. He had heard the President say it himself: We’re not rebuilding. We’re leaving Sector 7 as it is. Did he dare think that Rufus had a different opinion?
As if he had read Reeve’s mind, Rufus responded.
“The former President is precisely that. Former. He may have thought it was a reasonable decision to ignore part of the city that already exists in favor of claiming the Promised Land, but I’m less inclined to count chocobos before they’ve hatched.” He picked up a piece of paper from his desk, glancing at it briefly before returning his gaze to Reeve. “I’ve looked over your damage report. The repairs would be costly, but the funding is manageable if it’s undertaken wisely.”
With that, he handed the paper to Reeve, who took it with a brief questioning look at Rufus before he examined the paper itself. It was a rewritten budget plan for his department, allotting money for the reconstruction of Sector 7.
“Does that suit your agenda?” Rufus asked, and Reeve gave a nod without looking up from the paper.
“Yes.” It didn’t help with the question of what survivors might remain, but he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere by pressing that issue any further, and this was at least something. For once, Reeve felt that his dedication to Midgar wasn’t a completely losing battle. He couldn’t keep a small smile from appearing on his lips.
“Do you have any questions?” He gave the paper one more glance-over, then looked up at Rufus.
“No.”
“Then you’re dismissed.” He simply nodded, placed the paper neatly in his briefcase, and decided he would see what could be done about running some smaller search efforts out of just his department. Rufus couldn’t get on his case too much for that, probably. Beyond that, he had plenty of work to do figuring out the details of these new plans for Sector 7, and he was more than happy to get on that right away.
Without uttering another word, he left