Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 14: Trouble in Paradise

“I… I… said I was sorry!” Elena called after the quickly retreating figure of her colleague as he exited the elevator ahead of her. She hastened her steps to catch up to him, nearly having to jog to match his stride. “Reno? Reno, wait!”

Reno pushed open the door to the Turks office and made a beeline toward the Turk commander.

“I’m done, Tseng,” he said, somewhat breathlessly, “For the love of all things holy, no more… I can’t take it. At this rate ‘Lena is gonna fucking kill us both, and take out half of Midgar in the process!”

The aforementioned rookie Turk slunk into view just beyond the doorway, looking dejected. She paused before entering, still somewhat furious with herself for making such an idiotic mistake. Tseng glanced from one to the other, taking in the scene before him.

“What happened?” he asked, concerned. Two weeks ago, Reno had practically begged to be the one to help Elena with her pilot’s certification. Tseng suspected it was mostly because it got him out of several meetings and kept him away from the ever growing pile of paperwork he kept putting off. It seemed, however, that the rookie was proving more of a challenge than his young lieutenant had anticipated. There had been any number of… mishaps.

“What happened? I’ll tell you what happened…” Reno began, looking slightly paler than usual. Elena visibly cringed. “Simple takeoff and landing. That’s all I was havin’ her work on, and what’s she do? Throttles up, pitches us forward… straight into the goddamn communications antenna. Which is completely wrecked, by the way, so… ya know… you’ll be hearin’ from Heideggar at some point today about that.”

With great effort, Tseng managed to suppress a groan. That was all he needed. Elena’s cheeks reddened and she shuffled nervously from one foot to the other behind Reno.

“Oh, but that’s not all,” he added with a slightly incredulous laugh, “Helicopter took a pretty bad hit, too. Sheered off half a rotor blade, and I’m fairly sure the chuck that flew off is embedded in someone’s apartment somewhere over in Sector 3. We barely made it back down in one piece… and we weren’t even a hundred feet off the helipad! Seriously, boss… she’s a menace!”

“Who’s a menace?” a voice queried from the doorway. Rude strolled in, coffee in hand.

” ‘Lena, that’s who…” Reno replied, “I mean it, boss… I’m done. This is the fifth time in two weeks she’s almost killed me up there. I’d kinda like to live to see my next birthday…”

“Hey…” Elena said, indignantly. It was one thing to point out how badly she’d screwed up – and she had to admit… she’d screwed up pretty epically this time – but that was being just a little overly dramatic. It wasn’t as if she’d done it intentionally. She just… needed more practice, that’s all. But before she could inform her less-than-enthusiastic teacher of that, Tseng held up a hand, silencing them both.

“Fine… No one is forcing this on you, Reno. You volunteered, remember? I’m perfectly happy to take over Elena’s flying lessons myself.”

“Oh, thank god…” Reno sighed, flopping onto the couch in relief. “Hope your insurance is paid up, boss. You’re takin’ your life in your own hands going up with her at the stick.”

Elena glared at the redhead, but bit her tongue.

“But further lessons will have to wait,” Tseng continued, ignoring Reno’s commentary, “I need the two of you in Costa del Sol, immediately, if not sooner.”

Reno perked up. “Costa del Sol, huh? Sweet…”

“It’s not a vacation, Reno,” Tseng said, seriously, “A Shinra junior executive has gone missing. Zedge Wymer. He works under Reeve Tuesti in Urban Planning… apparently he had a hand in designing the city’s mako reactors, which, understandably, makes his disappearance fairly concerning.”

“Are we thinkin’ he meant to disappear?” Reno asked, slipping into professional mode with practiced ease, the incident with the helicopter set aside for the moment. Elena, too, snapped to attention. Other than a handful of assignments to various guard details, she’d never been given a mission outside of Midgar before, let alone one that sounded so urgent… and more often than not, she was paired with Tseng, not Reno.

“Unknown. Reeve doesn’t think so, for what it’s worth. For now, assume he was taken against his will… but be open to other possibilities. Regardless, he is to be found. If he’s still alive, he’s to be brought back to Midgar by any means necessary. If not… attempt recovery. But if it comes down to a choice between one of you, or the body, the body isn’t a priority.”

“Yeah… duly noted. I take it you want us to keep things low key while we’re there?”

“If at all possible, yes. If this is indeed a kidnapping, there’s little sense in tipping off the kidnappers. And if not… Frankly, I’d rather not have to justify any significant public disturbances to Heidegger right not. It’s never pleasant, and he’s in a particularly bad mood this week, dealing with the weapons transfer from Junon. As I’m sure you’ve already surmised, that’s why you’re taking Elena,” Tseng replied, “A couple on vacation would hardly draw attention in Costa del Sol.”

“C-couple?” Elena said, blinking in surprise. She and Reno were going to be a couple? Well, that was certainly new.

“Aww… our little ‘Lena’s first undercover mission,” Reno snickered, putting his arm around her shoulders, “Hey Rude! Take a picture for the scrapbook!”

Rude rolled his eyes, but obligingly pulled out his PHS, snapping a photo to humor his friend. Elena shoved Reno’s arm aside, and glared at Rude.

“Don’t encourage him,” she said flatly.

“Enough joking around, Reno. I want you two en route within the hour,” Tseng chastised, handing his second-in-command a folder containing the missing man’s vital statistics and details of his stay in the resort town, before allowing himself a small smile, “And try not to traumatize Elena too badly.”

“Geez… take all the fun out of it why don’t ya…” Reno quipped.

---

“Tch… travellin’ with the cargo. Typical,” a very unamused Reno drawled from one side of the cramped space. He and Elena had boarded a supply ship in Junon less than an hour ago. Being that their transport generally didn’t carry passengers, the accommodations were a bit lackluster. The two Turks had simply been shoehorned into the cargo hold. ” ‘Course we coulda flown to Costa del Sol… if someone hadn’t crashed the helicopter.”

Elena looked up from where she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, reading through the file Tseng had given them. “Well, maybe if you were a better teacher, I wouldn’t have crashed it,” she said stubbornly. It wasn’t really a fair criticism – Reno had actually been fairly patient with her up until she’d almost splattered them across Midgar – but frankly, she knew she screwed up and she was tired of him harping on about it. He’d complained while they were leaving Midgar via train. He’d complained through the entire drive to Junon… and now he was apparently planning on complaining the entire trip on the boat, as well, and she wasn’t having any more of it.

“I happen to be a great teacher, when the student actually listens to me. You just keep tryin’ to get ahead of yourself, and then ya panic when it doesn’t do what ya want it to. And don’t think Tseng’s gonna go any easier on ya, rookie,” he retorted, before smirking, “… Wanna know what he did to me the first time he took me up for a lesson?”

“What?” she asked, genuinely curious. Reno’s grin widened.

“Twelve hundred feet up, bastard shuts off the autopilot, hands control over to me, and leans back in his seat, hands behind his head… tells me it’s all mine,” he replied, “I had all of ten hours of flight time logged… all in the planet’s shittiest simulator program and none of it solo… and suddenly I gotta deal with the very real possibility that I’m about to screw up and do something that gets me killed while Tseng just checks the fuck out.”

“W-what happened?” Elena was staring at him somewhat wide-eyed.

“I froze up, that’s what. For about fifteen seconds, I forgot everything I knew about flyin’.”

“So what’d you do?”

“Very quickly came to the realization that if I fucked up, I wasn’t the only one goin’ down. Once it dawned on me that Tseng wasn’t completely suicidal and was probably gonna stop me from doin’ anything too stupid, I was more or less alright. But man… those fifteen seconds damn near gave me a heart attack.”

“That’s horrible!” she said, slightly aghast that Tseng would do something like that. It seemed almost sadistic.

“Yeah… well… to be fair, I was kind of a know-it-all little shit as a rookie.” Reno leaned back against a large crate and let himself slide to the floor. “That particular lesson was more about trainin’ me out of that mindset than it was teachin’ me how to pilot a helicopter. Had a lot of those lessons, come to think of it. Thankfully, most of ’em were on the ground.”

“Too bad none of them ever stuck,” Elena teased. Reno snorted a laugh.

“You think I’m bad now? You’d’ve really hated me back then.” He smiled knowingly and laced his hands behind his head, reclining against the crates. “I don’t even try ‘n deny it anymore… I was a nightmare for Tseng when I was first promoted. I’m kinda amazed he never just tossed me off the edge of the Plate. Had to’ve considered it a few times.”

“He probably still does,” she commented. Reno cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Two witty, sarcastic comments in a row, ‘Lena? I must finally be startin’ to rub off on ya,” he said, looking somewhat pleased, “Anyway… we’ve got like five more hours to kill. Might as well start going over what we’re gonna do when we get there.”

“Erm… right. Rude has us booked at the same resort Wymer was staying at. Do we start with the staff?” To be honest, Elena was a lot more interested in hearing more about what made Reno such a “nightmare” when he was first starting out… but she shoved her curiosity aside for the moment. They did have a mission to prep for, after all.

Reno shook his head. “Don’t wanna draw too much attention right out of the gate. Assuming he’s still there at all, we might lose him for good if he, or whoever grabbed him, hears someone’s looking for him. So we start by actin’ like any other couple on vacation. Check out the area first… hell, maybe we’ll even get lucky and find something that points us right to him. If not, then we’ll worry ’bout questioning witnesses.”

Elena nodded. She’d never actually seen this side of Reno before. Usually, he went for the direct approach. Cautious and patient was more Rude’s style. But then she’d never worked undercover before, either. The normal rules didn’t necessarily apply, and she knew Reno was exceptionally good at adapting to the situation at hand.

“That bein’ said… people are ‘sposed to think we’re a couple. That means you’re gonna have to act the part,” he added, “You up for that?”

“Absolutely!” she said, confidently. Reno gave her a smug look.

“Yeah? ‘Kay then, from here on out, you’re madly in love with me. Stand up…” he ordered, climbing to his feet. Elena quickly followed suit, not entirely sure where this was going. Reno closed the distance between them and before she even realized what he intended, she was in his arms, his soft lips pressing insistently against her own. Her eyes widened in shock, and she pushed him back.

“What the hell, Reno?!” she yelled. The redhead held up his hands in surrender as he took in her defensive posture. He really didn’t feel like having to disarm her – or dodge an incoming punch – at the moment.

“Just provin’ a point,” he said, all business for once. His demeanor was so completely professional, Elena almost didn’t recognize him for a moment. “You can’t react like that in front of people, no matter what I do. So… I’ll ask ya again. You up for playing this part? ‘Cause if not, I ‘d rather know now.”

“Y-yeah. Of course,” she said… though with much less certainty than before. Reno’s serious tone had thrown her off a bit.

“Heh… Relax, ‘Lena,” Reno said, his usual teasing nature returning, “It’s not like I’m gonna be all over ya the whole time. You’ll do fine. Just don’t get over confident and forget your cover like ya did just now.”

---

The supply ship arrived at port late due to a strong storm at sea. By the time it docked, the moon shown brightly in the sky and Elena was feeling decidedly queasy from the incessant rolling of the vessel over the waves. She’d never really been prone to motion sickness… but things hadn’t stopped rocking for hours and her tolerance was nearing its end. Even Reno had been looking less than comfortable towards the end of the voyage. When she and Reno finally set foot on dry land again, she groaned in sheer relief. Reno eyed her for a moment.

“So… You hung– ”

“I swear to Ifrit, Reno… If you say anything about eating right now, I’m going to kill you,” she quickly cut him off. Elena had gotten to know Reno’s warped sense of humor a little too well to let him finish that sentence.

Reno sniggered and adjusted the bag that hung from his shoulder. “Spoilsport. Fine, be that way. Let’s get checked in. I think we could both use some sleep at this point. Huh… Wonder if we could get a waterbed…?”

Elena punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow! Kidding! Just kidding…”

The hotel was a short walk up the beach, and between the fresh air and lack of constant back and forth movement, Elena was feeling considerably better by the time they arrived. Reno snaked an arm around her waist as they strolled into the lobby, and Elena had to purposefully remind herself to behave as if that were perfectly normal. Luckily, there weren’t many people to witness her first attempt at acting… the lobby was empty save for the night clerk and two of the cleaning staff. Reno grinned at the clerk as they walked up to the counter.

“Good evening, sir. Checking in?”

“Yep,” Reno replied, “Reservation’s under Shairn.”

“Oh yes… Mr. Shairn. A reservation for two, for the week,” the clerk confirmed with the computer, and reached for a key from the board behind him, “Suite five, with a lovely view of the beach. If you’ll wait a moment, I’ll have someone show you to your room.”

---

“Shairn?” Elena asked, curiously, once they were safely alone in their suite. Reno shook his head and chuckled.

“Rude’s idea of a joke,” he explained, kicking his shoes off and into a corner, “It’s an anagram of Shinra. It’s also a very obscure word for cow shit. Asshole thinks its funny. He’s got a whole list of aliases like that, too… and some are actually worse.” He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I don’t think Tseng is wise to it yet, so… uh… don’t mention it to him, okay? It’s funny as hell when he ends up with one of ’em.”

Elena giggled as she pulled her favorite pale blue pajamas out of her bag and disappeared into the bathroom to change. She hadn’t realized just how completely exhausted she was until now. She barely had the energy to brush her teeth and wash her face. At this point, all she really cared about was climbing into the nice soft bed and getting a decent night’s sleep.

As she emerged from the bathroom, she found Reno stripped down to his boxers and grinning up at her like the Cheshire cat from the edge of the bed.

“You’re not gonna believe this…”

“What?” she asked, suspiciously. Nothing good ever came from seeing Reno with that expression on his face.

He flopped onto his back, setting off a series of ripples across the mattress as it undulated his body up and down. “We really do get a waterbed! How fucking awesome is that?!”

Elena groaned and started giving serious consideration to sleeping on the floor.

“Reno, please promise me that you’re not going to spend all night recreating the trip from Junon for me… I-I don’t think my stomach can take round two this soon.”

“Would I do that?” he asked innocently as he stretched out on the bed, making himself comfortable on the far side.

“Yes.” Of course he would… Reno would never pass up an opportunity like that. She glanced around the room. The was a perfectly comfortable-looking loveseat against the far wall. It might be a little cramped, but she could manage.

“Aw, don’t be like that, ‘Lena,” Reno sighed, following her gaze, “I’ll be good. Promise.”

“Yeah? Well… I just hope you don’t toss and turn in your sleep,” she replied, as she shut off the lights and somewhat hesitantly climbed under the covers on the side opposite him.

Reno’s voice reached her in the darkness. “Heh… Believe it or not, I hardly move a muscle when I’m asleep. It’s kinda weird, actually. ‘Sides… it’s not like it’s the first time you’ve spent the night with me. I seem to remember wakin’ up next to you in a sleazy motel not so long ago. Sorta remember, anyway.”

Elena groaned. “Don’t remind me… I was seriously wondering for a solid ten minutes whether or not I’d ever be able to show my face in the office again. But we were both drugged that time. You could have been kicking me all night for all I know.”

“We spent an entire week sleepin’ less than two feet away from each other in a tent,” he pointed out, “Only one who kept getting’ woken up was me… mostly ’cause ya wouldn’t shut up…”

“We were physically exhausted every night and wrapped up in sleeping bags… you probably couldn’t have moved if you’d wanted to… And what do you mean I wouldn’t shut up?!”

“Exactly what I said… and apparently not much has changed,” Reno replied in a smug tone, “Whatever. I’m too tired to debate this. If I start kickin’ ya, you’ve got my permission to kick me back as hard as ya want. You stay on your side, I’ll stay on mine, and we’ll both promise not to rock the boat,” he yawned, before adding teasingly, “Ya know… unless ya want to come sleep on my side…”

“Yeah… in your wet dreams, Reno,” Elena responded, rolling her eyes, and curling up against her pillow.

---

Elena woke to the sounds of surf on the beach and the calls of tropical birds. Sunlight had stirred her from sleep, but she was far too comfortable to so much as open her eyes just yet. Reno had kept his word… she hadn’t felt so much as a ripple all night. She sighed contentedly and snuggled against her soft, warm pillow… and suddenly realized that, in addition to being soft and warm, her pillow also appeared to have a steady, even heartbeat and was breathing softly.

Her entire body went rigid and her eyes snapped open.

“Mornin’ ‘Lena…” Reno’s voice drawled. She could practically hear the smirk she was certain he was wearing as she realized that she was laying with her head pillowed on his bare chest, her arms wrapped around his torso. Elena bolted upright, sending off a series of waves across the bed. Judging by the look on Reno’s face, he was desperately trying not to laugh. She opened her mouth to reply, but had no words.

“Sleep well?” Reno asked with feigned innocence, and this time she definitely heard a barely repressed snicker. She leaned back, nearly falling over on the wobbly surface of the waterbed, and struggling to right herself again.

“Sooooo… what were you sayin’ last night about wet dreams?”

“Oh, just shut up, Reno…” she said at last, setting off peals of laughter from her bedmate. She glared at him, waiting for him to sober a bit, before continuing, “How long have you been awake, anyway? You couldn’t have just… nudged me back over?”

“And miss out on this? No way,” he replied, between giggles, “I’ve been waitin’ two hours for you to wake up just so I could do that…”

“Ugh… Reno, you’re completely demented.” Two hours, just laying there, waiting for her to realize what she was doing. Seriously… who did that?

“Hey, I stayed on my side of the bed, just like I said I would. You’re the one who couldn’t keep her hands to herself… so I figure I’m well within my rights to mock you for it,” Reno said, grinning maniacally. Elena pushed herself away from him and awkwardly made her way across the bed – she’d be damned if she was going to give him the satisfaction of laughing at her as she climbed over him to get up just because it was the shorter of the two routes.

Reno watched her, bemused, as she finally managed to get her feet back on solid ground. “Ya know, ‘Lena… If you’re tryin’ ta steal my reputation as Shinra’s resident pervert, I’m gonna have to fight ya for it. Been workin’ on that for years and I’m not just givin’ it up. Guess I should give ya props for takin’ our cover story so seriously, though…” he commented light-heartedly, which earned him a slightly murderous look from his fellow Turk. Reno sighed dramatically. “Yeah, yeah… I know. Shut up, Reno.”

“Are you finished, yet?”

“For now,” he grinned, “Look, get dressed, alright? Much as I’d love to stay here and let you grope me some more, we’ve got a junior executive to find.”

“I was not groping you,” Elena hissed vehemently. She grabbed her bag and disappeared into the bathroom.

---

They strolled near the water’s edge, unhurriedly making their way north up the shore. Reno was dressed in cut-offs and a well-worn band t-shirt for some group Elena had never heard of called Petrified Zolom. She was wearing a pale green two-piece bathing suit, with a flower print sarong tied about her waist and a sheer white top. All in all, they looked no different from any of the other beach-goers out that morning.

“Where are we going?” she asked, as Reno escorted her along the beach, his arm holding her casually against his side, hand resting lightly on her hip. It really was a strange thing to get used to, having Reno acting so overly-friendly without it being either a tease to get on her nerves or an attempt to embarrass her. He managed it like it was nothing at all… though to be fair, he probably hadn’t thought twice about it. Invading someone’s personal space never seemed to concern him too much.

She wasn’t really expecting him to answer her… there were tons of people on the beach already this morning, and any one of them could overhear their conversation if they weren’t careful. Reno suddenly leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek before whispering so softly she almost didn’t catch it, “Wymer’s room.” She was quite proud of the fact that her only reaction was a slightly surprised blink… well, that, and feeling decidedly weirded out at being kissed again.

Wymer’s room was a small bungalow at the far end of the resort. The crowds were sparser here, and the two Turks used that to their advantage, slipping unseen into the shadow of the covered deck that surrounded the little building.

“Lose the shirt.” Reno ordered.

“W-what?” The redhead smirked and gestured to her top.

“Time to put that bikini you’re wearin’ under it to good use. You’re on sentry duty. Ditch the shirt and lay out in one of those deck chairs. Look like you’re enjoyin’ yourself. Wymer’s still registered at the resort… so if anyone asks, he invited you to hang out here. I’m gonna go take a look inside.”

Elena nodded and pulled the loose-fitting coverup over her head, then settled into one of the lounge chairs, leaning back against the woven surface. She set her beach bag within easy reach… if she needed it, her gun was right next to the bottle of sunscreen. Elena tipped her sunglasses down over her eyes, and dutifully began scanning the beach for anyone who might be paying too much attention to Wymer’s lodgings.

Reno, meanwhile, made short work of the locked door and slid silently into the bungalow.

Nothing immediately struck him as out of the ordinary. No signs of a struggle, no indications the room had been searched previously. Wymer’s clothes were unpacked into the closet and a chest of drawers on one wall. Reno rifled through the drawers and came up empty, then turned to the closet. Aside from a somewhat disturbing abundance of garish, tropical-themed shirts, there was nothing untoward there, either.

There was, however, a small safe in the closet. The LCD display panel on the front read “Locked”. He grimaced… electronic locks were always a bitch to circumvent. He was much better with the mechanical ones. It looked like the same model he’d found in their own suite… which meant it had a five digit combination, chosen by the user. Maybe he wouldn’t have to circumvent it at all. Reno started trying numbers from Wymer’s file.

Wymer’s date of birth was no good. Neither was his employee ID number. Also a no on his Shinra Building security code and his office number. Wife’s date of birth? No. Anniversary? No. Office extension? No. He was quickly running out of numbers. Finally, in a moment of sheer frustration, he punched in 1-2-3-4-5. The display switched to “Open” with a soft electronic ping.

“Oh, goddammit… You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered. The stupidity of some people never ceased to amaze him. He wrenched open the little door and helped himself to the contents of the safe.

A pretty substantial stack of cash, Wymer’s company-issue PHS, a return ticket to Junon via Del Sol Cruises, and the man’s wedding ring were among the relatively innocuous items inside. Of primary interest to Reno, however, was a bundle of receipts. He flipped through the pile. Apparently, Wymer had a taste for expensive food and even more expensive liquor. A rough count of eight days worth of restaurant and bar checks, and various other purchases, gave Reno a total of nearly 400,000 gil.

“Awfully pricey for someone who’s supposedly vacationing alone,” Reno murmured to himself. The last receipt in the pile was dated four days ago… the day before he’d disappeared. It was for a sailing trip to Playa Roja Island the morning after.

“Guess I know where we’re headin’ next…” He tucked the receipt into a pocket and returned the other items to the safe, re-locking it. Time to collect Elena and get out of there.

“Look, I said I’m not interested! I’m already here with someone,” Elena’s voice, muffled through the door, called out.

“Crap…” She’d been noticed. Not a problem in and of itself, but if she was making sure Reno could hear the conversation, obviously she was having some trouble getting rid of them without drawing attention. He pressed himself against the wall next to the window and peered out through a crack in the blinds.

There were two of them… over-muscled idiots, by the look of them, but persistent. One of the men had Elena by the wrist and was trying to coax her out of the chair. He was half-tempted to let them find out first-hand just what happened to morons who were stupid enough to harass the rookie Turk. It was a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget. On the other hand, a blond chick in a bikini kicking the asses of two very large men wasn’t exactly subtle… even if it would have been extremely entertaining.

Reno slipped out the back door and walked around the deck to where he’d left Elena.

“Ya mind takin’ your hands off my girl?” he drawled, glaring at the two men. They turned to face him.

“Get a load of this guy, Race” one of them snickered, “Thinks he’s gonna come to the rescue…”

The other one, who still had a hold of Elena’s arm, looked down at her. “This skinny twerp is your boyfriend? Gimme a break. Hey, Rocca… snap that little twig in half and we can show Gorgeous here what a real man is…” He pulled Elena bodily out of the chair, and held her with her back against his chest, “Just watch this, babe…”

Reno subtly gestured for Elena to stay where she was. “Now that is no way to treat a lady… I said, hands off.” He’d been hoping they’d just fuck off without a fight… but knew better than to count on it. Sure enough, the closer of the two took a swing at him… which, to be fair, had it actually connected, probably would’ve hurt like hell. But big almost always meant slow… and Reno was anything but slow himself. He dodged left, and punched the guy in the throat. Idiot Number One went down like a sack of bricks, gasping and gagging.

“Last chance…” he said, pointedly, to the one who was holding Elena.

“You little shit!” he growled, and shoved Elena to one side before charging straight at him. Reno smirked. This was way too easy. He grabbed a handful of sand and sent it flying straight into man’s face, then ducked out of the way just in time for his blinded opponent’s momentum to carry him head first into the palm tree behind the Turk. Idiot Number Two collided with a loud crack – Reno wasn’t sure if it had come from the man’s skull or the tree trunk – and dropped to the ground, moaning and clutching his head.

“Heh… Didn’t even break a sweat,” he said, strolling back towards Elena, “You alright?” A crowd had started to gather. He pulled her into his arms. “Act upset,” he murmured. Elena obligingly nestled herself against his chest and even managed to work up a few tears, as Reno guided her past the onlookers.

---

Safely back in their suite, two the Turks could finally drop the act.

“So seriously… you alright?” Reno asked.

“Of course I am,” Elena replied, a little defensively, from her position by the sliding glass doors that looked out over the beach, “I could’ve handled them, you know. I just didn’t want to do something that might give us away.”

Reno leaned back in the love seat, and waved a hand dismissively. “Figured as much,” he replied, “Just checkin’. I actually thought about just lettin’ you beat the crap outta them.”

“You… did?” She was a little surprised by that.

“Tch… Come on, ‘Lena. I give ya a lot of shit for bein’ the rookie, but I know you’re no pushover. You’d’ve wiped the floor with those two asshats, with or without my help.”

“Well… Yeah. I would have. Just so long as you know that,” she said, grateful for the rare compliment, “So did you find anything in Wymer’s room?”

“As a matter of fact,” Reno said, grinning, “I did. Guy was spendin’ gil like there’s no tomorrow. Way too much for it to have been just on himself, too. Mostly cash, and there was more cash in his room. Wymer didn’t want Shinra, or anyone else, trackin’ his spending. Also found his wedding ring tucked away in the room safe… Now, I don’t know about you, but that practically screams ‘I’m plannin’ on fuckin’ someone who’s not my wife’ to me. And then there’s this,” He pulled the receipt out of his pocket. “Looks like our missing junior executive took a little day trip and never came back. Again… paid cash, so it didn’t show up when Rude checked his credit cards.”

Elena took the receipt from Reno. “Playa Roja Island? Where’s that?”

“Southeast, I think. Thought about goin’ last time I was here on an actual vacation. Hooked up with a cute blond from Mideel who wanted to check it out, but we kinda got distracted with other… activities.” He smiled lecherously at the memory, leaving Elena with little doubt as to what those ‘activities’ may have been. “It’s ‘sposed to be real secluded ’cause you can only get out there by private sailboat. Which I guess means we’re goin’ sailing…”

Reno leafed through the stack of brochures the resort had helpfully left in on the small table next to the loveseat until he found one for Playa Roja. He tossed it over to Elena, “Here… you get us a boat. I’ll get us some lunch. I’m starved.”

---

“Are… we sure this thing’s safe?” Elena asked, eying the tiny vessel uncertainly. There was hardly anything to it. Two narrow pontoons with a length of thick netting stretched between them, and a tall mast for the sail.

“Absolutely!” The owner of the tour service said, clapping her on the back, and nearly knocking her off the dock in his enthusiasm. “I’ll have you two out to Playa Roja in no time.”

“What’s up, ‘Lena?” Reno asked as the man headed back toward the little boathouse to take care of a few last minute preparations. Something was off with the rookie. She actually looked… nervous. And he had no idea why.

“Umm… Now might not be the best time to mention this, but… I don’t swim so well.”

Reno blinked. “What are you talkin’ about? I’ve seen you swim. It’s part of our standard workout routine.”

“I didn’t say I can’t swim… I’m just not a very strong swimmer. I’m okay in a pool, where I can touch the bottom, but…” She glanced out at the wide expanse of ocean and shuddered.

“Well, lucky we’re gettin’ on a boat and not swimmin’ to Playa Roja, then,” he replied… which didn’t seem to ease her concern at all. Reno draped an arm over her shoulders and grinned, “Want me to tie ya to the mast so ya can’t fall in?” Elena looked slightly horrified at that suggestion.

“Everything okay?” the man from the tour service asked as he returned, life jackets in hand.

“Ah, she just gets a little nervous around water is all,” Reno said smoothly, “She’ll be fine.” Elena forced a smile and nodded.

“Well, alright, then.” He handed the vests to the two Turks, “Put these on, and hop aboard!”

“You’ll be fine,” Reno repeated softly, for her ears only, snapping the closures of his life vest into place, “Just don’t fall off the boat. Simple as that.”

“Really not helping, Reno,” she whispered back, and stepped aboard the little sailboat. They cast off, and moments later were flying over the waves at a speed Elena’d had no idea a wind-driven craft was even capable of. If she hadn’t been surrounded on all sides by sapphire blue, watery death, she might have even enjoyed it. They turned slightly, angling towards a distance speck of land, and as they did so, the boat began to tilt, one pontoon rising out of the water. Elena gripped the little railing that ran along its length with one hand, her knuckles turning white, dead certain they were about to capsize… but as they began to straighten out, it lowered itself back the the ocean’s surface, leveling out. Elena let out the breath she’d been holding, and suddenly realized that while her life had been preparing to flash before her eyes, Reno had found her free hand and taken hold of it.

Elena looked back at him, and he shrugged lazily. She relaxed a little, feeling better knowing that Reno had a hold of her.

All in all, it was a short trip. Barely ten minutes had passed since they’d left the mainland, and now their pace had slowed, and they were gliding through the shallows that surrounded the island.

“If you look down,” the captain of the little craft said, “You’ll see why we have to bring people out on these little boats instead of the big ferry that goes to some of the larger islands.”

Elena shifted her gaze down into the water. Beneath the surface… just barely beneath the surface, she was surprised to note… were huge coral reefs.

“Those reefs are less than three feet down in some places. Gotta have a boat with a real shallow draft to get over them,” he continued, “These little cats ride barely four inches below the surface… rudders only go down about two feet and can flip up if they hit something harder than water. Lets us skim right over the coral.”

They drew nearer to shore, and the boat slid right up onto the beach. A handful of similar crafts were likewise beached along the shore, and a few men and woman, probably the owners of the boats, milled around talking. One group was playing cards. “Here ya go… Welcome to Playa Roja!” the captain said with a wide smile, accepting the life jackets back from the two Turks, “When you’re ready to head back just pop back down here… I’ll be waiting!”

“See ya then,” Reno said with wave, as he started up the beach, Elena in tow.

“Told ya you’d be fine,” he said, when they were out of earshot, not waiting for a response before adding, “Now… where to start…”

Grateful that apparently no merciless teasing about her white-knuckled boat ride was forthcoming, Elena dug the brochure for the island out of her bag. “There’s a lighthouse on the east side of the island. And the Red Beach is on the north. And then there’s all the cheesy, touristy stuff… Lover’s Cove, the wishing rock, the singing caves, the Lovers’ Graves, Dead Man’s Drop, the tidal pools…”

“Huh… What’s closest?” he asked.

“Um… Looks like the singing caves,” said Elena, studying the little map on the back of the brochure.

“Good a place as any, I guess. Lead the way.”

Elena started up the path that had plainly been intentionally cut and continuously maintained. A wooden sign at a crossroads directed visitors toward several of the locations named on the map. The two Turks followed the arrow that pointed out the singing caves. The island itself was beautiful. It was cool and quiet under the palm and citrus trees, and the breeze from the ocean brought with it the faint smell of salt spray even as they lost sight of the beach.

“Lot nicer than the last island I was stuck on with you,” Reno commented, smirking. Elena laughed.

“Especially since you’re not lugging fifty pounds of camping supplies, you mean?”

“That certainly doesn’t hurt,” he agreed, “That must be it up ahead.”

The trail lead down to another beach. To one side was a tall limestone cliff, mottled with water-carved caves that looked like long vertical slits in the rock. As the wind blew in from the ocean, a soft, musical moaning could be heard from the openings in the cliff face. Any footprints that might have been left in the sand had long since been washed away by the tides… in fact it was unlikely they’d find much of anything on the beach itself. Reno headed straight for the caves instead, Elena a step behind him.

“So? Which one feels lucky?” he asked. Elena debated a moment, then started toward the one that seemed the easiest to reach. Scrabbling a short way up the rocky base, she poked her head into the opening.

“It really opens up in here…” she called back to Reno, “I think it goes back a ways.” Before Reno could tell her to stop, she was squeezing herself through the narrow gap.

“Fuck! ‘Lena, hold up!” he said, eyes widening, but she’d already disappeared. What the hell was she thinking just charging in there like that? They had no idea what might be back there, and he had no way to cover her. Reno hurried to follow her through. It was a tight squeeze, even for him, but thankfully a short one. Elena was right… the cave opened up after about four feet into a huge chamber. Light filtered down from similar openings to the outside higher up the wall. Reno pushed his way into the chamber, eyes scanning for his errant partner, finally locating her near the far wall crouching by a rock formation. Thankfully, she was alone.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?! You know better than to just go running into unsecured areas! For fuck’s sake, ‘Lena, what the hell –”

Elena held up a waterlogged wallet. “Guess who’s…”

“… Don’t run off like that again,” Reno snapped, taking the wallet and flipping it open. Sure enough, the ID inside belonged to their search objective. No credit cards, no cash. He doubted it had been quite so empty when Wymer had left the mainland. That didn’t bode well. He glanced around the cave. There really wasn’t much to it – just an open void in the rock. No additional passages leading farther back… no openings to the opposite side of the cliff. Just rock, rock, and more rock. In other words, a dead end.

“Well, at least we know he was here,” he sighed, before rounding on Elena, “As for you…”

“I know! I-I know…” Elena replied, sheepishly, “That was a really dumb thing to do. It won’t happen again.”

Reno narrowed his eyes at her. “It had better not. If I have to go back to Midgar and explain to Tseng how I managed to get you killed, I’m gonna be beyond pissed at you.”

“I… wait… what?”

The corners or Reno’s mouth curved upwards into a smirk. “Takin’ care of rookies is my responsibility as second, remember? You die, Tseng’s blamin’ me for it.”

Elena rolled her eyes. Sometimes Reno really was the most self-centered person she knew. But before she could tell him so, he continued. “And don’t think for a minute I wouldn’t blame myself, too. Come on… we still got a lot of ground to cover.” He tucked the discarded wallet into Elena’s bag and strode back towards the opening they’d entered from, squeezing himself into the narrow space a second time. Sometimes, he really was the most self-centered person she knew. And other times…

Elena hurried to follow him.

“Alright… pop quiz, rookie. What do we know?” he asked as they emerged onto the empty beach.

“He almost certainly wasn’t here alone.”

“And we know that because… ?”

“His wallet was cleaned out. Someone did that. Plus like you said… the guy was probably cheating on his wife.” She held up the brochure. “All the advertising for Playa Roja is geared toward couples.”

“Anything else?”

“He had to have left the island. The boats obviously stay until their passengers come back to the beach. If he’d just vanished, whoever brought him would have noticed.”

“That it?”

Elena thought for a moment, but she couldn’t come up with much of anything else from the scant information they’d found. She nodded.

“Eh… B-plus. Might be willing to up that to an A-minus if you can tell me why he might still be here,” Reno teased.

“I… um…”

“Come on… it’s a really obvious answer. I’ll even give ya a hint. How many boats were down on the beach when we got here?”

“I… didn’t count,” Elena admitted, suddenly wishing she’d been more observant.

“There were nine, not counting the one we came on. Don’t supposed you noticed how many people there were?” Elena shook her head.

“Aw, ‘Lena… ya gotta start payin’ more attention. Seven. Again, not counting us or our tour guide. Which means either it’s not unusual for those guys to just fuck off somewhere while they wait, in which case it’d be awfully easy to make a passenger or two vanish with no one noticing, or some people sail out here on their own, in which case they wouldn’t be missed right away if they didn’t come back.”

“So you think he’s dead, then.”

“I think it’s more likely than not. The guy’s been livin’ the high life for more than a week. Goes missin’ four days ago, wallet’s here and cleaned out of everything valuable, and he hasn’t been back to his room in all that time? Nah… he never left this island. I’d bet on it. Question is, where’s the body?” Reno folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. “Didn’t you say something about a grave earlier?”

“Umm…” Elena pulled the brochure out again, scanning it, “Oh… Yeah, the Lovers’ Graves. They’re not actual graves though. It says it just a memorial garden.”

“Might still be worth checkin’ out,” said Reno, “Best place to hide somethin’ is usually in plain sight. Ya wanna hide a body, why not put it in a grave?”

---

“Well… That’s creepy as fuck.”

The Lovers’ Graves stood before them, a large patch of land sheltered by tall palms and hibiscus. At the center stood an imposing marble statue that Reno supposed was the titular “lovers” the garden memorialized… it depicted a man and a woman, arm in arm, leaping from a cliff into the sea below. All around the statue were little towers of stacked flat stones that seemed to have been placed without any sort of rhyme or reason.

Elena was reading the plaque mounted at the base of the statue. “Ok, I’ll bite. What’s with the rocks?” Reno asked.

“They’re memorials to the Lovers left by visitors to the island. You’re supposed to collect the rocks at Lovers’ Cove, and then bring them here, and you’ll be with the person you love forever.”

“Tch… I think I’ll take my chances without the help of some idiots that were so ‘in love’ they jumped off a fuckin’ cliff, thanks. Not really the kind of relationship I’m lookin’ for.” Reno commented as he looked around.

“The only kind of relationship you’re interested in is one that’s over the next morning,” she needled him. Elena just couldn’t help herself. She’d been dying to say it for months, and the words were on their way out before her internal filter ever had a chance to engage. She immediately cringed, desperately hoping that wasn’t crossing a line. Reno rarely seemed to take insult to much of anything, but that really had been a whole other level of personally judgmental.

“And what’s wrong with that?” he said, grinning almost as if he were impressed she’d had the nerve to call him out on it, “Least I’m upfront about it. I’ve never strung anyone along, and I do try not to be a total jerk…”

“You do know that word around the company is you’ve supposedly slept with every woman in Shinra, don’t you? And possibly some of the prettier guys, depending on who you ask,” she countered… after breathing a little sigh of relief at not getting herself into trouble with her comment. She studied a few of the stone piles. Most seemed to be made up of five flat rocks, stacked from largest to smallest.

“Hey, now… I do have some standards. I’ll have you know that I have never slept with Scarlet.” Reno replied, an expression of indignation and mock-horror on his face for a moment before the grin returned.

Elena rolled her eyes, and laughed softly. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be completely used to just how open Reno could be about some things, but it certainly bothered her far less now than it did when she was first promoted.

“Eh… Truth is I’m not nearly as big a man-whore as most people seem to think I am. Not sayin’ I don’t get around, but… yeah… the rumors are a little exaggerated.”

Reno turned his attention back to the garden. Something towards the back had caught his eye and he wove his way past the little towers to get a closer look. The earth there had been disturbed… recently, too. It had been fairly well camouflaged, but the tell-tale signs of digging were there. A stack of rocks sat on top of the spot.

“Hey ‘Lena… Might wanna take a look at this.”

Back to business. Elena hurried to where Reno was now crouching, careful not to disturb any of the stone piles on her way. “Is… that what I think it is?”

“Only one way to find out,” Reno replied with a shrug. He moved the rocks aside, save for a long flat piece of stone that he used to dig into the soft dirt. He didn’t have to dig far; he was barely a foot down when he hit something. Frowning, he set the stone aside, and used his hands instead, moving aside more and more earth until the object came into view.

“Yep… that’s a shallow grave alright.” A human hand was now plainly visible in the hole he’d created. “Gimme a hand, will ya, ‘Lena? Uh… no pun intended.”

Between the two of them, they quickly cleared the loose soil away from enough of the body that they could see its face.

“Wymer,” Reno grimly confirmed. Elena swallowed harshly. Somehow a four day old corpse was far worse than the more recently deceased bodies she’d dealt with – and in some cases had been responsible for – up until now. The skin had taken on a grayish tinge, and the eyes stared lifelessly ahead, the pupils having gone a murky white. Reno reached down and turned the dead man’s head to one side, revealing the obvious cause of death. The left side of his skull was caved in, the wound swarming with writhing maggots.

Elena took an involuntary step back, feeling dizzy and more than a little nauseated, gritting her teeth and willing herself not to be sick. She was a Turk, dammit! This shouldn’t phase her…

“Well, now the only question is who put him…” Reno started, slowly turning back to look at her as he spoke, cutting himself off when he caught sight of her, “Ah, hell…”

The redhead rose smoothly from his crouched position and seized her by the shoulders, steering her towards one of the stone benches that lined the periphery of the memorial garden. “Sit,” he ordered, and she unquestioningly did as she was told. “Head between your knees,” he said, sitting down beside her and putting light pressure between her shoulders to nudge her into the position, “Breathe.”

“I… I’m… f-fine… I just…”

“Don’t talk. Breathe,” Reno said, firmly, and Elena felt his hand gently rubbing up and down her spine in time with the breaths she found herself taking, “That’s it…” She relaxed a little as the dizziness began to subside and her stomach gradually settled. Elena stayed like that for a few more minutes, until she was sure she had control of herself again, before slowly sitting up. Reno’s hand dropped away.

“Sorry… Probably shoulda warned you that wasn’t gonna be pretty.”

Elena couldn’t quite meet his eye. “I knew it would be bad… I just…” She looked back down at the ground. She’d never thought she’d ever react like that to any of the darker parts of her job. The fact that she had left her feeling inadequate and utterly ashamed.

“Don’t let it get to ya… Least you didn’t puke,” Reno replied. Elena snorted derisively. She was pretty sure the only reason she hadn’t was because of him.

“What kind of Turk gets sick over seeing a corpse?” she said, her tone self-deprecating, as she shook her head in disbelief at her own weakness.

Reno suddenly laughed. “A corpse that’s probably been in the ground the better part of four days? Uh… me, for one.” Elena looked up at him, staring at him incredulously. He shrugged. “First time I had to help dig someone up, you better believe I lost my lunch. Tseng’s shoes were never quite the same after that… You get used to it eventually.”

Elena was speechless for a moment, before finally managing, “You… puked on Tseng?”

“Yeah… and please don’t ever remind him of that. Remember me sayin’ how I was amazed he never threw me off the Plate as a rookie? I think that may have been one of the times he came close to actually doin’ it…” Reno said, looking a little embarrassed, “Stay here… I’ll finish up.”

Reno was acutely aware of Elena’s eyes on him as he settled into the grim task of exhuming the rest of Wymer’s body, and going over it for anything that might tell them where to start looking for his killer. He knew he really wasn’t doing her any favors letting her sit this one out – she’d have to get over the initial squeamishness at some point – but he just didn’t have the heart to force it on her this time around. He remembered that feeling a little too well. ‘Next time’, he promised himself.

Unfortunately, he came up empty. Wymer’s pockets had been turned out, anything useful long gone. There was nothing buried with him… not even whatever had been used to kill him. He scowled in frustration and stood up, brushing the worst of the grime his hands had accumulated off on his shorts. Tseng would be disappointed if all they came back with was a body. Reno wasn’t particularly happy about it himself. Finally he came to a decision.

“Hey, ‘Lena,” he called, “I’m gonna cover him back up and then we’re headin’ back to the mainland.”

“We’re not taking him with us?” Elena asked, “Tseng said we should recover the body if we could…”

“We know where he is, and unless the zombie apocalypse hits in the next few days, I really don’t think he’s gonna walk out on us…” replied Reno, turning to her with a smirk, “We can’t exactly haul him back on the boat we came in on, anyway. Kinda hard to maintain a cover story when you’re draggin’ along a dead guy, and Tseng’s gonna want to know who did this, so we’re not done here. Don’t worry… Wymer’ll be just as dead when we come back for him…”

Reno turned back to the open grave and began undoing the past twenty minutes of work. Moments after he started, Elena joined him. He glanced up at her, questioningly.

“I have to get used to it some time, right?” she said shakily. Reno nodded. ‘Good for you…’ he thought, impressed. They worked in silence for a time, returning the grave site to its original condition. By the time they were done, both Turks were tired, sweaty, and filthy.

“The first thing I’m doing when I get back to our room is taking the longest bath in history…” Elena looked down at the dirt encrusted on her skin and clothes and sighed.

“Yeah? Well, in that case, I get to go first. All I want is five minutes under a very hot shower,” said Reno as they made their way up the trail.

The return trip was uneventful. As promised, their captain was waiting for them on the beach, amusing himself with a friendly game of poker against some of the other tour boat owners. Several of the others had already left. Boarding the boat, Elena found she was too distracted with thoughts of finding Wymer’s murderer to be concerned about a watery death this time around. Where would they even start? They had nothing left to go on.

The sun was setting by the time they reached the mainland. Bidding their tour boat captain goodbye, they made their way back to their suite.

“Oh, thank god… I can’t wait to get clean again,” Elena sighed as she walked through the door, only to have Reno push past her casting her a smug look.

“Gonna have to… I already called first dibs,” Reno replied, stripping his shirt over his head as he walked and tossing it on the floor on his way toward the bathroom. The rest of his clothes quickly followed, leaving a trail leading to the shower.

“How about a little common decency, at least?” she called after him, groaning as she caught sight of a little more than she really wanted to.

“Don’t have any!” he responded cheerfully, closing the door behind him. Elena rolled her eyes, and picked up the trail of discarded clothes, tossing them into a pile next to Reno’s bag. She heard water running, and sat down on the loveseat to wait for her turn. Apparently Reno had been serious when he’d said all he wanted was five minutes… it couldn’t have been much longer than that before the taps shut off again. He emerged a minute or two later, damp hair lying loose down his back, and, much to her relief, a towel wrapped around his waist.

“All yours.”

---

Elena sighed contentedly as she stepped out of the bathroom more than forty minutes later. There really was nothing better than a nice long soak in a warm bath. She would have stayed in even longer if she hadn’t suddenly realized how hungry she was. And if she was that hungry, Reno had to be starving by now, given his usual penchant for eating everything in sight. Neither of them had eaten anything since before they’re left for Playa Roja.

To her surprise, she found him dressed, but curled up and dozing on the bed. Elena reached out, intending to lightly shake him by the shoulder. Reno jerked awake the moment she touched him, his entire body tensing and almost immediately untensing as he realized who’d woken him. It was so sudden, Elena jumped a little herself. She knew he was a light sleeper, but… wow.

“Fuck, ‘Lena… I was startin’ to wonder if you’d drowned or somethin’…” he teased, stretching and sitting up.

“Tired?” she asked. She was kind of beat herself, but not to the point she was falling asleep quite yet.

“Nah… just starved. Easier to ignore it if ya let yourself nod off for awhile,” the redhead answered. She tried not to think too hard about the implications of that… and failed spectacularly as she started wondering how many times he’d had to have gone to sleep hungry in the slums as a child for it to be second nature now. “Didn’t think you actually meant it when you said you were takin’ the longest bath in history,” he added, chuckling.

“Sorry…” That had actually been incredibly inconsiderate of her. A part of her wondered why Reno hadn’t just headed out in search of food on his own.

Reno shrugged. “No big deal. But seriously, I really am dyin’ of hunger here. Dinner?”

---

“Are you planning on eating any actual food? Or just the bread?” Elena asked. Reno had already devoured the equivalent of about half a loaf while waiting for their orders. He made a point to swallow before answering.

“Believe me, ‘Lena… I’m gonna eat the food, too,” he said with a laugh, reaching for his drink. She’d been a little surprised by his choice. The restaurant had a fully stocked bar, but there wasn’t a drop of alcohol in what Reno had ordered. She must have been looking at him funny, because a moment later he raised an eyebrow and asked, “What?”

“I’ve just never seen you… not drink… given the opportunity.” Even she had opted to go with a Cosmo Candle tonight, and normally she avoided cocktails, since she never knew how strong they’d end up being.

“Oh, that…” he offhandedly replied, dropping his voice so as not to be overheard, “I don’t drink on missions. Ya know… unless there’s a legit reason for it.”

Elena’s jaw dropped. “R-really?” Now, there was something she would never have expected to hear from Reno. She glanced guiltily at her Cosmo Candle, wondering if it had been unprofessional that she’d ordered it. He snickered, apparently following her train of thought.

“Personal rule… Don’t deny yourself on my account.” He stuffed another slice of bread, slathered in butter, into his mouth, and Elena honestly wondered if he’d simply swallowed it whole, because moments later he was talking again. “But you get yourself wasted, I’m writin’ you up,” he teased, “We’re still technically on duty, after all.”

At that moment, their server arrived with their food, setting the plates in front of them with a flourish. Reno dove in immediately. He was nearly halfway through the crab and pasta dish before picking up the conversation again.

“Soon as we’re done here, we’re headin’ back to Wymer’s bungalow,” Reno said in a low voice between bites.

“You think you missed something?”

“Not really… but it never hurts to double check. And we kinda don’t have any other leads at the moment.”

---

The night was absolutely beautiful. The gentle sounds of a steel drum band echoed up the coast from a show that was going on near the shore to the south. The heat and humidity of the day had been usurped by a cool off-shore breeze, and the sky was clear and dotted with thousands of stars, the moon a narrow sliver among them. It was the perfect night for a romantic walk on the beach… or, in the case of two very determined Turks, for a clandestine visit to a murder victim’s hotel room.

As they approached, Elena could see something wasn’t right. Apparently Reno had noticed, as well, because she heard him swear under his breath, and a moment later, his mag-rod was in his hand, held low and ready to strike if necessary. Elena followed suit, drawing her gun, but keeping it to her side, out of sight should anyone happen to see them from a distance.

“Looks like someone beat us to it,” he commented softly. The door to the little building stood ajar, and a faint light could be seen through the narrow opening. A faint light that seemed to be moving around the room. “Take the front. I’ll take the back. Wait for me, and watch yourself.”

Reno split away from her, and she lost sight of him as he rounded the bungalow. Meanwhile, Elena carefully approached the front door. She pressed her back to the wall and cautiously peered around the edge of the doorframe. She could just make out the silhouette of a single person in the room… at least she thought it was a single person. Much of her view was limited by her position, as she stood, tense, waiting for Reno to make the first move.

Unfortunately, that move never came. Instead, Elena heard sharp cry, that sounded suspiciously like Reno’s voice, followed by a thud. Her stomach twisted in concern and her pulse quickened. That couldn’t be good…

“Oh, what now…” a woman’s voice, obviously aggravated, muttered from inside. No one answered her… she seemed to be talking to herself. If she was alone, Elena could take her safely without worrying about being ambushed… and if Reno was in trouble, having some leverage could only be a good thing. She took a deep breath and kicked the door open.

“Hold it!” she intoned, gun aimed at the head of the woman who now stood directly across from her. She was tall and slender, with an air of the exotic about her… Long black hair fell to her waist, and her pale blue eyes were narrowed coldly at the Turk currently holding a gun on her.

“And just who are you?” she said in a dangerous voice, raising her hands.

“Step away from the door,” Elena replied. The woman smiled nastily, and complied… and the moment she did, the door at the back of the bungalow opened. Elena’s eyes widened.

“Well, now… what have we here?” Reno hung limply in the grasp of two men, out cold. Even in the dim light, she recognized them. They were the ones she and Reno had dealt with the last time they were here.

“Drop the gun,” the woman said smoothly, “Or Race here is going to snap your friend’s neck.”

One of the pair smiled maliciously and wrapped an arm around Reno’s neck, tightening his grip until the Turk made a quiet choking sound. Elena hesitated… she was hardly defenseless unarmed, but she was outnumbered. Her gun evened the odds considerably. On the other hand, it took less than a second to break someone’s neck, and by the look in the man’s eye, he was pretty eager to do it. She could take him out first, but that meant taking her eyes, and her aim, off the woman, who may or may not be armed herself. She sighed realizing that there was really only one thing she could do without putting them both at risk.

Elena took her finger off the trigger and slowly set her weapon on the floor.

“Smart girl,” the woman said, “Now… kick it over here.” Elena glared at her, but did as she was told. “Rocca, tie her up.”

The second man advanced on her, sneering. “Looks like I’m gonna get some payback.” He grabbed her by the arm and practically threw her across the room into a chair. Moments later, her wrists were bound tightly behind her back with thin wire that bit into her flesh when she tried to move.

“Who are you two?” the woman asked, as Elena found herself staring down the barrel of her own gun. She kept her lips firmly pressed together, not about to give this person any information she didn’t already have.

“Nothing to say?” she smiled a cold smile, and gestured to the man holding Reno, “Put him on the bed. Tie him down.”

Race cackled and dumped Reno onto the mattress. Apparently, the redhead had been searched before they’re dragged him in, because a moment later, Reno’s wrists were bound to the headboard with what Elena was pretty sure were his own handcuffs. The woman raised an eyebrow.

“How kinky… Did he have any other toys on him?”

“Just this,” Race replied, holding out Reno’s electro mag-rod. He pressed the trigger in the handle, and the tip crackled with electricity. The woman handed Elena’s captor the gun.

“Keep an eye on her. I don’t think she’s quite as delicate as she looks.” She moved over towards Race. “Let’s see if we can wake him up…”

“Don’t be nice about it, either. Little fucker needs to be taught a lesson,” Rocca jeered from behind Elena. Race smirked, and touched the mag-rod against Reno’s belly, and glanced back at Elena. He grinned cruelly and let loose a jolt of electricity. Reno’s entire body spasmed, and Elena saw his eyes snap open.

“Stop!” Elena cried, watching in horror. Race kept it on him, until Reno finally cried out. He lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, before pulling himself up to as close to a sitting position as he could get.

“Oh, great… you two again,” Reno growled, looking decidedly pissed off. His eyes scanned the room, resting on Elena just long enough to assure himself that she wasn’t hurt, before turning to the other woman. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’ve been asking your pretty little girlfriend here the same question,” she replied, “But she’s very rude, and won’t tell me. I was hoping you’d be a little more forthcoming.”

“Yeah? You first,” he shot back, earning him another long jolt from the mag-rod. This time, he kept silent for the duration.

“A tough guy, huh? Well, fine. Since my associates and I are going to kill you both anyway, I supposed there’s no harm in introductions.” She walked over to the bed, and patted Reno’s cheek. “This lovely gentleman with the penchant for inflicting pain is Race. And that nice man looking after your lady friend over there is Rocca. And I go by Amara. We’re what you might call… entrepreneurs. And what shall I call you?”

“I’d prefer you didn’t,” Reno deadpanned. Amara nodded to Race, and Reno found himself writhing again as the current from his mag-rod shot through him. When it finally ended, he turned a somewhat weakened glare on her. “Ya know, that’s really not very pleasant.”

“Really? You rather looked like you were enjoying it…” Amara taunted him, “Would it be safe to say that you’re friends of Mr. Wymer? Poor Zedge… such trusting man.”

“With shit taste in dates, apparently.” The shock came almost immediately, and Reno grunted, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of hearing just how much it hurt. He looked over at Race when he finally let up, out of breath again. “You’re havin’ way too much fun with that thing, pal…”

“A pity, really… You’d think someone as wealthy as Zedge would have been a little more careful around strangers. Anyone who can afford to catch my attention can surely afford someone to tell him not to do foolish things. Or… is that your job? If so, I’m sorry to say, you’re rather terrible at it. We were just going to ransom the poor dear back to his family… Sadly, Rocca got a little too enthusiastic trying to… hmm… extract the details from him. I don’t supposed anyone would pay for you two?”

“Would ya believe me if I said yes?”

“Not likely,” Amara cooed, stroking a hand down his side. “Too bad. You’re very pretty, and I am fond of redheads. It seems almost a shame to be rid of you. Ah, well… before I have Race finish you off, let’s see if there’s anything useful you can tell me. We’ll start with something easy… Do you work for Zedge Wymer, or did someone learn he was missing before we thought they would and hire you to find him?”

Even if Reno had intended to answer the question, Race didn’t give him the opportunity, delivering another painful shock to his midsection. Apparently, he’d figured out the voltage controls… because this one was far stronger than the previous ones had been. A cry tore from Reno’s throat before he could stop it.

“Now that’s more like it…” Amara said, bouncing on her heels gleefully. Reno groaned, dazed from the intensified pain and twitching violently for several seconds. “Oh, my… Forget the questions… Do it again!” Race was only too eager to match her enthusiasm. The Turk’s back arched, his muscles seizing up as the mag-rod was applied again, and this time… he screamed.

“Stop it! You’ll kill him!” Elena shouted, watching Reno writhe in agony. Amara gestured for Race to stop, and Reno fell back to the bed with a soft whimper, movements no longer under his control for the moment. The sight left Elena feeling ill, as the woman laughed.

“That’s the point, sweety! But I might be willing to make things quick for him. See… we know Zedge had quite a bit of gil with him. And we know its in that safe over there. That’s what we came back for when you so rudely interrupted us… so maybe you save us a little time and hassle and tell us the combination, hmm? Make things a little easier for me, and I’ll make things a little easier for him. And for you. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy to see how much I can make him suffer before his heart gives out. And you… well, Race and Rocca are going to have plenty of fun with you before they dispose of you.”

“I… I don’t know the combination. But he does,” Elena admitted. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have given it to her, knowing that all it would accomplish was a swift death. If they let Amara draw things out, they might at least stand a chance. Ultimately the choice was up to Reno, though. He was the only one of them that had opened the safe.

“Oh, really?” She turned back to Reno, gently pushing his sweat-damp hair back away from his face, and forcing him to look her in the eye, “What will it be, then? Give me the combination, and I’ll put a bullet through your head and hers right now. Don’t, and we’ll see how long you two last. I give you an hour at most. But her? Those two can stretch out their fun all night long if the girl’s pretty enough. And she’s a pretty little thing.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Reno spat out.

“I was hoping you’d say that…” Amara held out her hand for the mag-rod, and Race obediently handed it over. “You two… take the girl and do whatever you want with her. This one is all mine…”

Rocca, who had been largely silent up until then, laughed and hoisted Elena over his shoulder. She winced as the wire binding her wrists dug into her skin.

“Reno!” she shouted, her voice tinged with fear… more for him than for herself… as they carried her out the door. He was on his own now… completely on his own. These two were morons; she’d get away eventually. But Reno… he’d separated their assailants and bought her time to save herself… but he was already hurt, rapidly being worn down, and any further shocks like that last one could easily kill him. Worse still, he couldn’t move. She, at least, could run if she had to.

“Reno? Is that your name?” Amara purred, tapping the mag-rod against her thigh, “I like that. Reno. Well, Reno, where should I begin?” She placed the tip of the weapon against his ankle. “Maybe just start at the bottom and work my way up?” She dragged it slowly along his leg, stopping when she reached his groin. “Or maybe somewhere more sensitive…”

“Ya know… I’ve been in that safe. Know what’s in there?” Reno asked. If he was going to get out of this, he was going to need a few minutes… preferably a few minutes where he had full control over his body.

“Feeling talkative all of a sudden, are we?” she asked, cocking her head to one side.

“Not a lot of point in holding back now…”

“Alright… tell me, Reno… what’s in the safe?” Oh, good… if she was interested in what he had to say, maybe he actually had a shot at this. He didn’t particularly feel like dying just yet.

“Oh, let’s see… ’bout four hundred thousand gil worth of receipts. I’m guessin’ a lot of that was spent on you. Ticket back to the eastern continent… company cell phone… wedding ring. Cheap wedding ring. Know what’s not in there?”

Amara narrowed her eyes at him, and turned to look back at the safe thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Reno began to work part of the headboard loose from its base.

“Piles of cash… that’s what’s not in there.” Reno smirked. It wasn’t a total lie… there was cash, but not nearly what he suspected the woman was hoping for. “See… Wymer wasn’t really all that well off. What he spent on you? Pretty sure he embezzled that.” That was kind of a shot in the dark. Really, Reno had no idea where the money had come from. Not that it mattered. The important thing was keeping Amara from noticing what his hands were up to. He was almost there.

“You’re lying,” she said, her back still to him. She didn’t sound so sure, though.

“Think so? Face it, you got played,” he said, “What’d he tell ya he did for a living? Architect? Engineer? Scientist? I can tell ya what he really was… He was an underling working on urban development. One of about a fifty in the department. Hell, I make more in a year than he did. Considerably more.” The bar his handcuffs were linked around finally popped loose.

“Only reason they sent us after him at all was because he was privy to some sensitive information about company tech. Shinra is kinda protective of their secrets.” Amara’s hand clenched angrily around the handle of his mag-rod, as Reno slipped his cuffs out from behind the bar and pushed it back into place.

“Who. Are. You?” she ground out, spinning to face him.

“Me?” he asked, innocently, “Oh… I’m a Turk.”

Amara swung the mag-rod down, furious, but Reno was free now. He rolled to one side to avoid the blow, then kicked out at her wrist. The weapon clattered to the floor, and he dove for it. So did Amara. Reno got there first, recovering his mag-rod, and rolling into a defensive stance. The woman froze… even with his hands still chained together, she was unarmed and outmatched, and Reno was pretty sure she knew she’d lost. She might be able to dish it out, but he didn’t think she was quite so willing to take it. Amara lifted her hands in defeat.

“Guess I don’t get to have my fun after all. So now I suppose the question is… are you going to deal with making sure I don’t get away? Or are you going to go save your little cohort? Because I can tell you… Race and Rocca probably aren’t treating her very nicely right now…”

“Yeah… those two are real jerks,” a voice called out. Reno nearly laughed in relief at the sound of it. Amara’s eyes went wide.

“How could you possibly have…”

“Heh… ‘Lena’s tougher than she looks, lady. You really don’t wanna get on her bad side,” Reno replied, smoothly cutting her off, “Hey, rookie… do me a favor and find the key to these damn things…” He held up the handcuffs that still bound him.

“Way ahead of you… I took it off the stupid one before I came back for you,” she said.

“There was a smart one?”

“The smart one surrendered. The stupid one’s dead,” she answered. Reno chuckled. Elena unlocked him, then used the cuffs to restrain Amara. Reno sagged against the wall. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he was beginning to feel every one of those shocks. Everything hurt, and a few of his muscles were still twitching every once in awhile.

“You okay?” he asked, once Elena was finished with their prisoner.

“Are you?”

“I’ll live. Probably,” he replied. Aside from feeling like he’d been trampled by wild chocobos, he was only too well-versed in the dangers associated with multiple sustained shocks from his weapon of choice. The general recommendation was at least twenty four hours of cardiac monitoring and bed rest after an incident. Normally, he’d argue against it – and almost certainly lose, if said argument happened to be with Tseng – but the way he felt at the moment, twenty four hours in bed didn’t sound half bad.

---

Eight hours ago, twenty four hours in bed had sounded great. Now, however, Reno was damn near ready to tear the stupid electrodes off his chest and storm out.

He’d managed to stay upright long enough last night to get in touch with both the local authorities to deal with the two remaining murderers, and Tseng to report on successfully locating Wymer… or what was left of him, anyway. Shortly after Costa del Sol’s police force had hauled Amara off, though, his strength had finally given out and he’d collapsed, exhausted. To say Elena had looked terrified went he went down was putting it mildly. She’d spent the ten or twelve minutes it had taken to summon medical help obsessively checking his pulse every ten seconds, in spite of him still being conscious and very obviously not dead.

To make matters worse, she’d made a call informing Tseng of his condition as they were carting him off to the clinic… since he’d conveniently forgotten to mention the bit about being tortured with electric shock when he’d spoken to the Turk leader. He was gonna get reamed for that when he got back to Midgar, he was sure. Tseng had, in no uncertain terms, made it clear that he was to do whatever the doctors in Costa del Sol told him to do… or else.

Reno didn’t really care to find out what “or else” entailed… so here he was, flat on his back, hooked up to a heart monitor, whose beeping was rapidly getting on his last nerve. The door creaked softly. And, right on cue, there was Elena. For the seventh time since they’re bought him in.

“Don’t you sleep?” he sighed. He certainly didn’t, apparently. It was impossible with her poking her head into the room to check on him constantly. The rookie jumped slightly, apparently not having realized he was awake.

“Sorry… I was trying really hard not to wake you…” she said.

“Seven isn’t your lucky number, apparently, ‘Lena…” he replied, groaning as he sat up. His abused body protested sharply. After laying in bed, hardly moving at all for most of the night, not only was he sore as hell from all the involuntary muscle contractions inflicted on him by Amara’s lapdog, he was also as stiff as he’d ever been. And then, of course, there were the burn marks from where the mag-rod had been applied; they seemed to rub uncomfortably against the fabric of his hospital gown with each breath he took.

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s how many times you’ve been in here by my count. ‘Course I guess it’s possible I missed one or two… I was pretty out of it for awhile around midnight after they dosed me with pain killers. That was kinda nice, actually…”

“I… woke you up before, too?” she asked, mortified.

“Only about once an hour…” He rolled his shoulders trying, and failing, to work out some of the stiffness and tension. What he really needed was to get up and stretch properly… unfortunately, he was under strict orders to stay right where he was, and since there was that whole “or else” thing to consider, he didn’t have much of a choice.

“I’m so sorry… I didn’t realize I was being that much of a pest. I’ve just been so worried. I mean, they want to watch you for an entire day before they’ll sign off on you being alright…” she said in a rush, “Do… do you want me to leave?”

“Nah… you can stay. Kinda wanted to hear about what went down after those two fuckwits hauled you off, anyway.”

“There’s not really that much to tell. They carried me down the beach a ways, making comments and innuendos that put yours to shame the whole time,” she said, allowing herself a slight grin as she settled into the chair by his bed. Reno looked affronted.

“What do you mean ‘put mine to shame’?” he gasped, feigning shock and outrage. Elena giggled.

“You’re just perverted in a flirty, mostly harmless kind of way. Those guys were… vulgar. And definitely not harmless.”

Reno bit back a growl, wishing he’d been there himself.

“Anyway… they decided to untie me before they started their… fun. It was pretty much all downhill for them once I was loose. When Rocca came at me, I went straight for a girl’s secret weapon.”

“Groin shot?” Reno guessed, reflexively cringing at the thought.

“Yep,” she said, proudly, “I got my gun back while he was busy trying not to black out, and when Race wouldn’t back down, I took him out. Rocca didn’t put up much of a fight after that. I left him tied up and then ran back to help you… but you already had things handled by then.”

“Heh… yeah. ‘Course if I hadn’t fucked up and gotten myself ambushed in the first place, things wouldn’t have had to be handled at all.” It was bad enough that his own carelessness had landed them in trouble. The fact that she’d had to fend for herself because of it made his mistake much, much worse. He was going to be kicking himself for that one for awhile.

“It all worked out, though,” she said. She hadn’t even thought of it that way, to be honest.

“Sure. It worked out… It also could have easily gone the other direction, all because I made a really fucking stupid mistake that I damn well know better than to make. I put myself in danger, and worse, I put you in danger. When Tseng gets a hold of me, he’s gonna rip me a new one…”

“I don’t really see the need. You seem to be doing just fine on your own. Saves me the effort.”

“Sir!” Elena cried, smiling. Reno smirked. The man always had impeccable timing.

“Come to see if I’m being a good little Turk and staying in bed, or just here to make sure I didn’t kill the rookie?” His tone was bordering on snarky, but he couldn’t help but feel a little relieved to see Tseng… and, a moment later when the Turk leader stepped out of the doorway, Rude.

“Rude and I are here to recover the body and interrogate your prisoners for you,” he replied, approaching the two Turks in measured steps, “Though I’ll admit… I was also wondering whether or not you were actually behaving yourself. Long distance threats can be so unreliable.”

“Couldn’t cause trouble if I wanted to… ‘Lena won’t let me out of her sight for more than an hour at a time. And she keeps checkin’ my pulse, like somehow that damn monitor wouldn’t notice if I suddenly keeled over… For some reason she thinks I haven’t noticed her doin’ it.”

Elena quickly released her grip on Reno’s wrist, and stuck her hands behind her back. Tseng smiled.

“You can relax, Elena. The monitoring is really just a minor precaution. If hasn’t dropped dead yet, the odds of him doing so in the next sixteen hours are extremely slim. He does need to rest, however,” he said, giving Reno a pointed look.

“Yeah, yeah…” He glanced at Rude. “Bring me anything?”

“… Like what?”

“Ah, come on, man… I’ve been tortured enough for one day.” Rude snorted a soft laugh, and tossed Reno a package of gummy worms, which he immediately tore into. “Hell, yeah… You rock.”

Tseng reached out and carefully pushed aside the gown that covered Reno’s torso, frowning at the series of burns that littered his chest and stomach. “That looks like it was… unpleasant,” he commented.

“Well, yeah… That’s one way to put it,” Reno mumbled around a mouthful of candy, “Another would be to say that it felt like my body was tryin’ to rip itself apart. Repeatedly.”

“The one who did it is dead?” Tseng asked, shifting his gaze to the rookie. Elena nodded.

“Good,” Rude stated emphatically.

Tseng pulled the garment back into place. “Agreed.” He straightened and turned to Rude and Elena. “Elena, I’d like you to accompany Rude and help retrieve Wymer’s remains. In the mean time, I’m going to check on our prisoners. Reno… sleep.”

“Sure… stick me with the tough job,” the redhead grinned, popping another gummy in his mouth.

---

As they left the clinic, Elena felt an impending sense of dread… the last time she’d had to deal with Wymer’s body hadn’t exactly been one of her finer moments. It was one thing to lose it in front of Reno… thinking about Rude seeing her like that left her feeling decidedly uncertain about this trip.

It suddenly occurred to her that she was a lot more comfortable being vulnerable around Reno than she was with Rude or Tseng – probably because he somehow made even her worst insecurities seem like they were no big deal… and he had a habit of making her laugh at the most inappropriate times. Usually when she most needed to.

She followed close behind Rude as he lead the way to the beach… straight to the helicopter with the unmistakable Shinra logo on the side.

“It’s already fixed?!”

“Called in a favor,” Rude replied, “Thought we might need it sooner rather than later.”

“So that’s how you guys got here so fast…”

Moments later, they were airborne.

---

Reno pulled hard against the ropes that held him to the chair… pulled so hard it hurt… but it was no good. He was trapped. Completely immobile. That, however, wasn’t his primary concern at the moment.

“Poor little Turk…” Amara sneered, “How long do you think she’ll last?”

“Don’t…” Reno growled. The woman laughed and turned towards the her other prisoner. Elena’s hands were cuffed to the headboard, just as his had been hours ago. Reno could see the fear in her eyes, even though the rookie was trying very hard not to let it show. He fought harder against his bonds… if he could just get to her…

Amara shoved the electro mag-rod under Elena’s chin and forced her to look over at Reno. “Where to start, where to start…” she sang.

“R-reno… Help me…” she whispered. Their captor laughed coldly.

“Oh, he won’t be coming to your rescue, my little Turk…” Amara jabbed the mag-rod into Elena’s side and triggered a short burst of electricity. Elena yelped in pain, her body going rigid as the current briefly locked her muscles.

“Stop!” Reno shouted, “Get away from her!”

He felt cold. Powerless. Amara fingered the settings panel on the weapon… he had a feeling she wasn’t turning it down. This time, it was no short burst. She held it to Elena’s midsection and kept it there. Elena screamed… and kept screaming.

“Please… stop! What is it you want?!” Reno could feel the growing desperation in the pit of his stomach as the rookie’s pain echoed in his ears. When she finally let up, he could swear that he still heard it.

“That was just… delightful!” Amara smiled vindictively and studied the mag-rod. “Let’s see how she likes the highest setting…”

“Fuck… No! Please, don’t… Me! Do it to me!” Reno cried, in a last ditch effort to do something – anything – to save her. Amara just grinned, and placed the mag-rod directly over Elena’s heart.

“No!” A moment later her scream made his blood run cold, and he closed his eyes, willing it to stop… and suddenly, it did. The crackle of electricity, however, did not. He dared to open his eyes again just as Amara pulled the weapon away.

“Oh… what a shame. I was hoping to have a little more fun…” Elena lay motionless, silent… lifeless.

“Please, no… ‘Lena…” Reno whispered.

“It’s all your fault, you know. That really was a very stupid mistake…” Amara purred, close to his ear. And then she seized him by the throat.

---

Reno fought against the hands that were on him, holding him by the shoulders, shaking him.

“Reno! Reno, wake up!” The voice seemed distant, like he was hearing it from miles away. But he recognized it, and it was a voice he couldn’t disobey. He woke violently, his heart racing, breaths coming in ragged gasps. It took him several moments to realize where he was, but he focused in on the familiar face in front of him almost immediately.

“Boss?” he panted. Tseng sighed in relief.

“You had me worried for a minute there. I’ve never known you to be so difficult to wake…”

Reno swallowed harshly, his mouth dry, and collapsed back against his pillow. He was drenched in sweat, and still physically shaking.

“Fuck me, that sucked…” he groaned, willing himself to calm down.

“Nightmares usually do,” Tseng observed, “Especially when they involve reliving being tortured.”

Reno let his eyes close, breathing deeply. A hand gently brushed back the hair that was plastered to his damp forehead. When it kept stroking his hair, he deigned to look up at the the owner.

“Not… exactly reliving it.”

“Elena?” Tseng ventured. Based on the conversation he’d walked in on a few hours ago, it wasn’t hard to guess what was bothering the redhead most.

“Got it in one,” he replied, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips.

“You’re much too hard on yourself, sometimes, Reno.”

“Yeah… well… I fucked up.”

“Yes, you did. And you both survived to learn from the mistake. So learn from it, and stop tormenting yourself.”

“Workin’ on it,” Reno said, smirking, “Rude and ‘Lena back yet?”

“They are. Though I’m glad I decided against bringing them along to check on you. I don’t think either of them would have enjoyed seeing that any more than I did.”

---

“Don’t ‘spose we could stick around a few more days?” Reno asked trailing just behind Tseng as they made their way toward the helicopter waiting for them on the beach early the following morning. The clinic had released him with a clean bill of health, and now that he was free, Costa del Sol was looking very inviting.

“I truly wish I could say yes,” Tseng replied, “I hate to begrudge you a little time off after all this…”

“But?”

“But the weapons transfer,” he said. Several weeks of finalizing plans for increasing reactor security were culminating in two days time, and the Turks had been tasked with overseeing it. Things were going to get very busy for them very quickly. In fact, had the situation with Wymer not been dubbed so critical, Tseng would never have sent Reno and Elena out immediately to begin with. If Tseng could have spared Reno at the moment, he gladly would have done so.

“Ah, hell… I forgot all about that,” Reno sighed, “So no vacation, then, huh?”

“I’ll make it up to you,” the Turk leader promised, and he meant it. Even Reno, for all his dedication, could be pushed too hard… he didn’t want that to happen.

“I’m holdin’ ya to that, Tseng,” Reno warned. He grinned, seeing the helicopter looming before them on the sand. “Well, at least I don’t have to put up with another six fucking hour boat ride for the return trip.”

The two Turks climbed aboard, and Reno hardly took notice when Tseng slid into the copilot’s seat… that is, until Rude climbed in back and took the seat next to Reno.

“Wait… if you’re back here then who’s… Oh, god… No… Please not that…”

Elena turned to peek around the pilot’s seat, a wide smile across her face. “Tseng’s letting me fly us home!”

“Rude… ya mind takin’ me back to the clinic?” Reno said calmly.

“… Why?”

” ‘Cause if that’s not a joke, I really am gonna have a heart attack…”

~fin~