Tseng and Rude were both quietly watching the small boy who was standing on the balcony. Even if it was normal for them to find him on the balcony watching the city below, they had wanted to know what it was that Rufus was thinking about when he was out there and why he decided that standing on a balcony 62 floors up was a good place to think. Of course, they were never able to know since Rufus hadn't said a word in 10 months.

While it wasn't unusual for Rufus to spend hours on the balcony, the two Turks didn't like him being out there at the moment. It was pouring rain, windy and cold outside; conditions which would cause the young boy to fall ill.

'Alright, that's it.' Tseng sighed and turned to Rude. 'Rude, get a towel and some dry clothes for him. I'm dragging him in here whether he wants to or not. I'm tired of seeing him do this to himself.'

Rude nodded and went to the Rufus' bedroom to find some dry clothes and a towel while Tseng went outside to bring him into the suite.

When he got outside, the air that hit him was cooler then he expected. Even in his suit, he was cold and the rain was quickly soaking his jacket. In a matter of minutes, he was beginning to shiver slightly. If he was this cold he wondered how cold Rufus must be in his t-shirt.

Making his way to Rufus, Tseng noticed that Rufus was barely shaking or doing much else except for staring at the streets below him. Tseng was worried that hypothermia had set in. When he touched the boy's arm and turned Rufus to look at him, he noticed that he wasn't far from being wrong. The boy's lips were a light shade of blue and his hands were frozen.

'Rufus-sama let's go back inside. You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here any longer.'

Rufus shook his head no and tried to turn away from the Turk to go back to the edge of the balcony. Tseng had decided earlier that no matter how much he refused, he would get Rufus back into his suite and get him to hopefully talk to them again. Tseng did not want to give up and not get him to talk. Rufus hadn't said a word to anyone in 10 months, which to Tseng, was 10 months too long. He knew that Rufus wanted to cry and wanted to have someone be there for him, but he had a feeling he wasn't doing any of those to avoid being called weak. He hoped he could change the boy's mind.

'You are not staying out here Rufus. You've been in the pouring rain for an hour. It's cold out here and you are only wearing thin pants and a t-shirt. I'm bringing you back into that suite whether you want to or not.'

Rufus didn't have time to put up a fight against the Turk. He was picked up, carried into the suite, wet clothes taken off of him and wrapped in a warm towel before he even had a moment to react.

While the two Turks were trying to warm him back up, Rufus didn't move. He let them do whatever it was they wanted without any reaction.

'Don't tell me that you don't feel better being dry then you did being cold and wet out there Rufus.'

Rufus only shrugged at Tseng's question.

'Would you like some hot chocolate Rufus? I can put some on for you.'

Rufus looked up at Rude and nodded.

Both Turks looked at each other and let out a collective sigh. Tseng decided there was no point in talking to him nicely. They had to find some way to get through to Rufus, even if it meant being slighty mean to him.

'Rufus, why are you doing this? We only want to help you, yet you're pushing us away. You won't talk to us let alone acknowledge that we're doing things to help you. Why are you doing this?'

Rufus shrugged and began putting on the dry clothes that Rude had brought out for him. Said man came out of Rufus' kitchen a couple of minutes later, hot chocolate in hand. Rufus smiled and accepted the cup that he was given.

'YOu could tell him thank you. That's usually what people say when someone does something nice for them.'

Rufus was taken slightly aback by the scolding that Tseng gave him. He shook his head no and began drinking the hot chocolate.

'Very well. You don't want to talk to us, you don't acknowledge the things we do to help you, you don't want to go out places that we want to take you, you don't want us to help you with how you're feeling or talk to us about it and you stay in places where you won't be bothered. You win. Me and Rude will be on our way and you can stay here by yourself since that's what you want. Goodbye Rufus. We hope you'll be ok.'

Rude followed Tseng's lead and walked towards the door out of the suite. Rufus was shocked to see the two Turks leaving him. They were two of the only people that he trusted and they were leaving him. Go after them! Don't let them go, your mother would be so dissapointed in you if you let them go. Remember she said she'd always take care of you? Maybe having them take care of you is her way of taking care of you from where she is.

'No! You can't leave me!' Rufus broke into a sprint to catch up with the two Turks who were at the door. Tseng knelt down and caught the small boy as he was running to them. Rufus wrapped his arms around Tseng's neck hugged him as hard as he could.

'Please don't go! You can't leave me.'

Rude smiled when he heard Rufus finally say something and smiled more when he saw Rufus hugging his boss. Tseng breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him closer to him and stood up, holding Rufus in his arms with the boy's head resting on his shoulder.

'It's alright sir, we won't leave you. But, if you please Rufus, could you tell us why you were quiet for so long and tried to get rid of us?'

Rufus' reply was a shrug and another hug. Tseng sighed and told Rufus sternly. 'I will not take that as an answer Rufus. Why did you do that?'

'I don't know.'

'I think I know why you did what you did.'

The reply made Rufus lift his head up from Tseng's shoulder.

'You do?'

'Yes, I think I do.'

Rufus stared at the Turk. He was curious to know if Tseng really did know why he was behaving the way he was.

'What do you think?'

'I think you did this so that you wouldn't look weak. To you, crying when your mother died would have made you look weak and you didn't want anyone to think that of you. You stopped talking to everyone because you couldn't get over your mother dying and you were scared to get attached to anyone in case they died too. Am I right?'

Rufus lowered his head to avert Tseng's gaze. He didn't think that Tseng would have been able to understand why he did what he did.

'Am I right Rufus?'

Rufus nodded his head. Remembering that Tseng wanted to hear an actual answer, he quickly replied 'Yes, you're right.'

'Crying for someone that died doesn't make you weak. You love your mother, you should cry about losing her. We cried a bit when she died you know, we miss her too.'

'You don't think mom would be mad if I cried?'

Tseng was slightly surprised at the question. 'No, she wouldn't be mad at you if you cried. You miss her, she'll understand why you're crying. Do you feel like crying about it? It's perfectly fine if you do. You won't be weak, you'll be strong because you were brave enough to face how you feel.'

Rufus listened to Tseng explaining to him that he would be strong if he cried. He tried to keep the tears that were forming in his eyes from falling, but the 10 months worth of tears won over his want to not cry.

Dropping his head onto Tseng's shoulder, he cried. He cried for his mother, for the people that missed her, the people that he hurt when he pushed them away and he cried for himself. Neither Tseng nor Rude interfered, they let him cry as long as he wanted. Even though it was hard for them to watch him cry so much and be in obvious pain, they were happy that he decided to let someone in and help him.

Tseng's suit was soaked in tears, but he didn't care. The boy he was holding was now sleeping quietly in his arms, exhausted from all the crying that he had done. He quietly went to Rufus' room and laid him gently in his bed. Now that the wall was broken, he was confident that he and Rude would be able to help him deal with his mother's death and help him move on.