Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 23: Down and Back

“How much longer are we going to be stuck here?”

“What’s the matter? Rookie gettin’ restless?” Elena shot him an annoyed glare, and Reno grinned happily at her response. He pointed at her with the half eaten candy bar he had in one hand. “You really need to be more patient, ‘Lena. I don’t like sittin’ around doin’ nothing any more than you do. Hell, I fuckin’ hate it, but ya don’t hear me complaining…”

It was late. Nearly everything was closed for the night. The two of them were parked in the shadows of an alley across from an out-of-the-way materia shop at the edge of Sector 4. Supposedly, the owner had a bit of a side business… namely selling other people’s information to the highest bidder. In this case, that information came in the form of stolen Shinra security schematics, and the high-bidder was, reportedly, an agent of Avalanche. Rude’s informant claimed the purchase was being made tonight.

“I’m patient,” she countered. Reno nearly choked on the bite he’d just taken. Elena wasn’t sure if the tears in his eyes were from the sudden obstruction of his airway, or the laughter that began the moment he managed to dislodge it. “What? I am!”

With some effort, Reno calmed himself, returning his gaze to the shop across the street.

“‘Lena… let’s go over a few recent examples of your ‘patience’, shall we? You crashed a helicopter, ’cause you got in a hurry and tried to do three things at once…”

“That was mostly your fault. You were making me nervous up there…”

Reno snorted derisively, and continued. “You knocked over six trash cans rushin’ to get a better position on the guy you were tailin’ with Rude… Six. Got yourself seen, and lost the guy.”

“I… uh… He told you about that?”

“In excruciating detail. And it was also in his report, so yeah… Tseng knows all about it, too.”

Elena groaned and sank lower in the seat. That was not one of her more shining moments… though it had been a fitting precursor to Hell Week.

“And let us not forget about the flaming vacuum of doom…”

“F-flaming… what?!”

“Okay… so that one we can maybe chalk up to you bein’ drunk off your ass at the time. Which was funny as hell, by the way. But if you hadn’t been so insistent on cleanin’ up the mess immediately, it wouldn’t have caught fire.” He suddenly started laughing again. “Fuck, you’re a hilarious drunk, ‘Lena… Wish you’d let me getcha plastered more often…”

Elena folded her arms across her chest. “Are you done yet?”

“Wait… wait… I got one more,” he said, sobering, and jabbing at her again with the candy bar. “Swimming lessons… You want to get ’em over with so badly, you’ve damn near drowned yourself twice, so far. You either really hate swimmin’, or you’re desperately tryin’ to get me to give ya mouth to mouth…”

Elena snorted in contempt, and leaned forward, teeth snapping down on the confection in an act of retribution.

“Hey!” the redhead protested, pulling back what remained. “Not cool, ‘Lena.” He took a disgruntled bite and glared at her.

“Were you actually going somewhere with all this?” she managed to say around a mouthful of chocolate and nougat.

“I’m just sayin’… you’re kinda lacking in patience. Need to slow down and think once in awhile. And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

She obligingly swallowed. “Right… Because you never do that,” she snickered.

“Ah hell… If your new acceptability standard is ‘Reno does it’, Tseng’s gonna kill me…” Before she could respond, something else caught his attention. He sat up straighter in his seat. “Looks like we’re on…”

A young woman had stopped in front of the door to the shop. Whoever she was, she definitely looked out of place, even here in the slightly less posh district of the Sector 4 Plate. She moved nervously… furtively… eyes darting in all directions.

“Wait ’til she’s inside.” The two Turks watched from the darkness as the woman knocked on the shop door. It was several minutes before it finally opened, and the woman was ushered in. “Okay, go…”

Elena reached for the door handle, opening it as quietly as she could and slipping out. She closed it just as quietly behind her. Reno mirrored her actions.

It wasn’t supposed to be a difficult task. Wait for Avalanche’s agent to come out… with the schematics… and move in on them until they were cornered. Schematics recovered, Avalanche member brought back to the Shinra Building’s holding cells for questioning later, and then home for a good night’s sleep. Simple.

Reno motioned for her to take a position at the corner of the building, well out of sight of the front door… and with a view of the side entrance, just in case the woman didn’t come out the same way she went in. Meanwhile, he slipped into the shadows of an alcove across the street. They waited in tense silence.

It felt, to Elena, like eons before the sound of a door slowly creaking open registered. It was the side entrance. She sank back a bit in spite of the fact that she was fairly well concealed already, not wanting to take any chance at being seen. The woman checked both directions up and down the alley before leaving the safety of the shop, and began walking quickly away from where the two Turks were hidden.

The rookie waited until the woman reached the back of the building and rounded the corner before emerging, and swiftly followed her. At the corner she paused, sighting her target, and watching as she turned back in Elena’s direction, eyes wide and searching in the dim glow of the distant streetlights. Elena held her breath, hoping it was just the woman’s obvious nervousness, and not something she’d done to give herself away. At last, she continued on, apparently satisfied she was alone.

She didn’t get the chance to relax for long.

When a figure appeared in front of her, the woman froze for a moment, then turned back in the direction she’d come… only to find herself facing Elena. She backed away, then seemed to remember the reason she’d turned around, and spun, looking at Reno.

“Doin’ a little late night shopping, are we?” he asked, advancing slowly.

“S-stay away from me… whoever you are.”

“Ya know… You have no idea how much I’d love to. I’d much rather be in bed right about now… but I come back empty-handed, and my boss’ll have my ass served to him on a silver platter. So how about you hand over what that guy just sold ya?”

“You’re with Shinra, aren’t you?” she spat out, her disgust readily apparent.

“Obviously. And so’s my friend behind ya, there. The one with the gun aimed at your head. So seriously… how ’bout we just make this easy so I can go home and get some sleep?”

The woman looked back at Elena, who, indeed, had drawn and aimed her weapon. They were under very strict instructions not to kill unless absolutely necessary – Tseng was more interested in information than taking out an Avalanche courier; he wanted her alive – but their target had no way of knowing that. She reached into her pocket.

“Slowly,” Reno said, “Wouldn’t want my friend there to think you’re reachin’ for anything but those schematics, after all…”

The woman slowly withdrew a small USB drive. Reno approached her, casually reaching out and taking the drive and tucking it into his front jacket pocket. Elena moved in as well.

“‘Fraid you’ll be comin’ with us.” He caught hold of her wrist, but as he did so, her other hand moved to her belt and a split-second later, she lashed out at him with a knife. Thankfully, Reno was faster. But he was forced to release her in order to dodge the blade. The woman didn’t stick around to continue her attack. She was off and running down one of the side alleys before he could fully recover.

Elena immediately took off after her, only vaguely aware of Reno’s voice shouting at her, “‘Lena! Don’t!”

A moment later, an intense white light lit up the alley, and the rookie squealed in pain at the blinding flash. She dropped to her knees, rubbing her eyes. Somewhere behind her, she could hear Reno swearing. Moments later, she was being hauled to her feet.

“Come on… we gotta go. If she’s got friends nearby, we’re in deep shit…”

Elena felt his arm encircle her waist, as he began guiding her, she assumed, back in the direction of the car.

“R-reno… I… I can’t…” she began, as she suddenly realized that the spots of light that had blanked out her vision weren’t going away.

“I know, ‘Lena… Relax. It’s temporary. Just a flash grenade.”

He was pressing her downward now, and her hand shot out instinctively, coming in contact with soft upholstery that she recognized a few seconds later as the passenger’s seat of Reno’s car. Elena felt him lean over her as he pulled the seat belt across her body. Then he shut her in and rounded the car, climbing in behind the wheel.

“You okay? Other than not bein’ able to see, I mean…” he asked, as he started the engine and pulled into the street, in a hurry to get out of the area now that their position had been compromised.

“I… I think so. H-how long does this last?”

“Varies… Could be a few minutes, could be a few hours. What the hell were you doin’ back there, ‘Lena? I told ya not to go after her! Didn’t ya see her drop the grenade?”

“… No,” she was forced to admit, flinching slightly at his tone. She’d been so focused on tackling the woman, she hadn’t been paying attention to anything but her position.

It was rare that she heard Reno sound angry… particularly angry at her. It was far different from the usual – often mostly over-dramatized – irritated voice that she heard when she did something wrong, or his grouchy nature when he was hurt or sick, or even the note of impending violence that became apparent in a fight. But he was definitely angry right now.

“You’re damn lucky it wasn’t somethin’ lethal.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Satisfied they weren’t being followed, he pulled over. He took a calming breath before speaking again. “Here… lemme take a look.”

Reno leaned over, fingers gripping her gently by the chin, as he turned her face toward him. Even in the dim console light of his car, he could see that her pupils were mere pinpricks. Not that he was surprised. She’d been right next to the flash grenade when it had gone off. The effects would probably last awhile yet.

“Can ya see anything?”

Elena shook her head miserably. “Y-you’re sure it’s temporary?” she asked, nervously. Reno smiled lightly in spite of himself. He didn’t like seeing the rookie like this, and he was pissed that she’d ignored his warning and taken off, but maybe she’d pay a little more attention after tonight.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve been hit with those damn things before, too. Sucks for awhile, but it wears off eventually.” He released his grip on her. Then he put the car in gear and sighed. “Looks like we’re callin’ it a night. Guess half a successful mission’s better than a failure, huh?”

“I really am sorry, Reno…”

---

Elena woke the next morning, almost afraid to open her eyes. When she finally did, it was to her great relief that the sight of her own bedroom greeted her. The last thing she remembered was Reno helping her into bed and reassuring her, once again, that flash blindness was only temporary, and she’d be fine in a few hours.

She yawned and stretched, glancing over at the clock. It was still early… her alarm wouldn’t go off for another thirty-eight minutes… but she didn’t feel much like staying in bed.

Elena groaned, and swung her legs over the side of the bed, dragging herself to her feet. She wasn’t really looking forward to going to work, either. She’d have to face Reno, and she already knew he wasn’t exactly pleased with her actions last night. He’d been perfectly right when he’d told her she was lucky. Being blinded for a few hours was nothing compared to what could have happened to her. She couldn’t recall an instance when she’d ever heard someone manage to sound both concerned and intensely pissed off at the same time… and now that she had recovered, she wasn’t sure which she’d be facing when she got to the office.

Pushing open her bedroom door, her first instinct was to head for the shower and get herself cleaned up for work. That plan, however, was interrupted when she realized that she wasn’t alone in her apartment.

Reno was curled up at one end of the couch, minutes away from being woken by the sunlight that was rapidly encroaching on the living room. She debated on whether or not she should wake him herself, and finally walked over.

“Seriously, ‘Lena… Why the hell do you insist on gettin’ up at the ass-crack of dawn?” he murmured before she could do anything further, not bothering to open his eyes. “And when the fuck are you gonna get around to puttin’ a bed in that spare bedroom?”

“You stayed all night?”

One eye cracked itself open, and his lips quirked into a smug smile. “No… I just thought I’d get up early and come take a quick nap on your couch before work. ‘Course I stayed. You think I’m gonna leave ya alone, blind and defenseless? Which, I’m gonna assume, you’re neither at this point.”

“I’m okay now,” she replied.

“Good.” He sat up stretching his arms above his head until his shoulders gave a soft crack. “In that case, I’ll see ya at the office.”

“I… um… do you want to stay for breakfast… ?” His demeanor seemed civil enough, but she couldn’t help but think he was in an awful hurry to leave. Normally, Reno lingered – at least for a short while – well after he’d decided it was time to go. Even if he had been watching over her all night, she wasn’t quite convinced he wasn’t still angry with her on some level.

“Appreciate the offer,” he said, “And ya know I wouldn’t normally turn down food… but Tseng wanted me in early today for something. And since I gotta explain why we didn’t come back with someone to interrogate last night, I think maybe I better actually show up early for once.”

“Oh. Reno, I’m really sorry. It was all my fault.”

Reno rolled his eyes. “No… It wasn’t. She got away from me, remember? By the time that flash grenade faded out, I doubt I would’ve been able to catch up to her… even if I hadn’t stopped to help you instead of chasin’ her down.”

He stood up, grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch and shrugging it on. Elena followed him to the door.

“But don’t think you’re off the hook for puttin’ yourself in danger like that,” he added, “The next time I tell ya not to do somethin’, don’t fucking do it.”

Elena didn’t have anything to say to that. She dropped her gaze, disappointed in herself.

“Come’re,” Reno sighed, pulling her into a hug, “Look… I’m not mad at ya. But I’m not gonna pretend like it’s no big deal, either. That was… spectacularly stupid, and I know ya know better.”

“I know. I-I do. You’re right.”

Reno released her, and grinned. “Heh… Do me a favor and keep that in mind from now on. See ya at work, ‘Lena.”

---

When Elena did finally arrive in at the Turks’ main office, she found herself alone. Rude’s absence could be explained… he was in Junon at the moment with Heidegger. As she sat down at her desk, she quickly saw why Reno wasn’t there either. The door to Tseng’s office was firmly shut… the only time that happened was when he needed to speak to one of them in private.

She chewed nervously on her lower lip, wondering if she’d be next. Odds were good he wasn’t pleased with how last night’s events had unfolded… though, overall, it didn’t seem like something Reno would actually be in trouble for. So if not a reprimand, then what?

Before she could run through the possibilities, the door swung open.

“Don’t get comfortable, ‘Lena,” Reno said as he exited, “We’re leavin’ again. Five minutes…”

With that, he was gone. She couldn’t help but notice that the redhead had sounded less than thrilled. Tseng, on the other hand, looked suspiciously like he was trying to keep a straight face.

“Sir?”

The Turk leader dropped his collected demeanor, and laughed. “I will apologize in advance, Elena… He’s not exactly excited about the transportation I’ve arranged for you.”

“Why not?” she asked, mystified. He smirked.

“Because Reno… doesn’t get along with chocobos. And unfortunately for him, they’re the most efficient way to reach Mythril Mine when one lacks an available helicopter, so he couldn’t come up with a convincing argument against it. You’ve ridden before, I believe?”

“It’s… um… kind of been awhile. But yes, sir. I can manage. Reno doesn’t like chocobos?”

“He’s never really mastered handling them,” Tseng replied, “I hate to say more than that and ruin it for you. Rude will be extraordinarily disappointed when he finds out that you get to take his place today. If I weren’t due in a meeting in twenty minutes, I’d come to see you off… just so I could watch.”

Elena blinked in surprise. Riding required, above all else, a good sense of balance and a certain amount of confidence. She’d have thought Reno would’ve been a natural at it. It was right about then that the subject of her musings decided to return, a travel pack on his back, and strapped to it, a tightly rolled sleeping bag. He carried an identical pack in his hand, which he tossed to her.

“For the record… If one of those stupid overgrown chickens kills me, I’m comin’ back just to haunt you, Tseng. I will fucking haunt the ever-living crap outta you for the rest of your Ifit-forsaken life.”

“Duly noted,” Tseng chuckled.

---

They had been on the train to one of Midgar’s exit gates for almost ten minutes before Elena finally voiced one of several questions she’d been wanting to ask since they’d left the Shinra Building.

“So… why are we going to Mythril Mine, anyway?”

“Because Scarlet’s a pain in our collective asses,” he muttered in reply.

“Umm…”

“Sorry… Mine’s been abandoned for a few years now ’cause of the Zoloms that moved into the marshes awhile back. The workers from Kalm cleared out pretty quick, and left a lot of shit behind. A lot of Shinra property. Apparently, one of the things they left was a prototype for some kinda sonic drill that Scarlet would like back. Tseng only agreed to go get it because, turns out, it’s kind of a dangerous piece of tech… Not really something we want scavengers to get ahold of and sell.”

“And I guess you don’t think we’re going to find it very quickly…” she said, gesturing to the packs. Reno shook his head.

“We’re not even gonna be there ’til almost nightfall. Gotta make a side trip to Kalm first, and find the guy who knows where the damn thing was when they took off. Otherwise, we could be wandering those mine shafts for weeks with nothin’ to show for it.”

The train reached the station and the two Turks disembarked, heading for the gate. Reno swiped his access card and stepped though, Elena right behind him. The checkpoint wasn’t for security, per se… Shinra just liked to keep tabs on who was coming and going from the city. Just in case. Reno groaned at the sight that greeted them. Two chocobos stood, saddled and ready, at a small covered stable outside the gate. One was a deep emerald hue, and smaller than the other. Elena guessed that it was either very young, or it was a female. The other, noticeably larger bird, sported shiny jet-black feathers, and gave a very loud Wark! the moment moment the pair approached them. He… and Elena was absolutely certain this one was male… was gorgeous.

She’d always been fond of chocobos. Had even gone to great lengths to talk her parents into signing her up for riding lessons several summers in a row as a teenager, and still rode on the rare chance she had the time to do so, though it had been nearly two years since her last opportunity. But she’d never ridden anything as beautiful as the tall, sleek creature that stood in front of her now.

“Hi there, handsome…” she said softly, slowly extending her hand toward the bird’s beak. The chocobo studied her a moment, then trilled and lowered his head, letting her touch him. “Aww… Who’s a good boy…”

She turned to look back at Reno… who seemed to be staring at her in disbelief and looking slightly pale.

“Yeah… You’re ridin’ that one.”

That was perfectly fine with her, and she grinned as Reno hesitantly approached the other bird, curious to see just how bad he was at this. He reached out toward it, and had to immediately draw his hand back as the little female snapped at him.

“Hey!” He glared at the bird, muttering something under his breath. “Alright, look, ya fuckin’ mutant pigeon… I don’t like you, and I can tell ya don’t like me, but you’re takin’ me to Kalm whether you want to or not.”

Elena snorted in amusement, and quickly untied the reins of her mount from the post he had been tethered to, leading him out into the open. She held onto the halter, and hoisted herself onto the creature’s back with little difficulty. Reno, meanwhile, was trying to do the same… unfortunately, his chocobo was having none of it. The female whistled loudly as he made to climb onto her back, dancing away from him and leaving him stumbling forward.

“I fucking hate these things!” he lamented after the fifth failed attempt. “That’s it… Come’re ya goddamn featherduster…”

Reno seized the reins, and jumped, landing awkwardly in the saddle with a grimace. The chocobo warked indignantly, and ducked her entire body forward, sending Reno somersaulting back to the ground. Elena couldn’t help it. She started laughing hysterically. Her own bird seemed to share her amusement, and the green chocobo looked extremely smug as her would-be rider slowly picked himself up.

“‘Lena, I swear to Holy, if you don’t knock it off…”

“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” she said, trying desperately to get herself under control, “It’s just… You of all people. You’re usually so graceful…”

The redhead sighed, and brushed himself off. “I’m… not good at this, okay?”

“No kidding…” Elena steered her mount over toward the other chocobo and took hold of the reins. “Here… I’ll hold her still.”

Reno stepped up to the bird’s side and reached for the halter, pulling himself onto her back a second time. When Elena released her to Reno’s control, she remained still… for a moment. Then she attempted again to throw him. This time, however, the wiry Turk was ready for it, and held tight to the chocobo’s neck.

“Ha! I win!” he cried, triumphantly, when she finally gave up. The chocobo sat down. “Oh, come on!”

As much as she would have loved to watch this little dance go on, it was quite a ways to Kalm, and even farther to Mythril Mine. They really needed to get going. She urged her chocobo back over to where they’d been tied up, and pulled a handful of gyshal greens from one of the feeding troughs.

“Who wants a snack… ?” she said teasingly, holding them out to the other bird. The green chocobo stood immediately, and calmly walked over to her.

“Oh, sure… reward it…” Reno responded, somewhat petulantly. The greens did seem to appease the bird, however, and once she had finished, they were off, crossing the plains toward Kalm.

Reno was unusually quiet for the entire journey, and Elena actually started feeling bad for him after awhile. She wasn’t sure if he was terrified, furious, or motion sick… or some unholy mix of all three. The chocobo seemed to be intentionally giving him a rough ride, and she was merciless. By the time they reached the little village, Reno certainly looked desperate to be back on the ground.

“Oh, thank fuck…” he groaned, sliding down from his mount. Elena joined him moments later. “Remind me to make Tseng’s life a livin’ hell for at least a week once we get back to Midgar…”

“It was not that bad,” she teased him. Reno looked at her as though she’d sprouted a second head.

“‘Lena, let me tell ya a little something about bein’ a guy…”

“Please don’t.”

The redhead scowled in response, but didn’t say anything further until they reached the center of town. “Alright… the guy we’re lookin’ for is named Anthrin. He was in charge of the Kalm miners ’til they abandoned the place. He’s ‘sposed to still be in town. I’m thinkin’ we start by…”

“E-Elena? And Reno? Is that you?” The voice was familiar, and both Turks turned, seeking out the source. “Oh! It is you! You look so different with blonde hair!” The rookie suddenly found herself in the tight embrace of a young woman.

“Talia?” She wasn’t the only one who’d changed a bit since the last time they’d seen one another. Talia was very clearly no longer pregnant. She beamed at the two Turks, and and took hold of Elena’s hand.

“It’s so good to see you again! What are you doing here? Oh… you have to come and meet Fawn. I thought for sure she was going to be a boy… but nope… A little girl!”

The stark difference between the Talia they’d met over a month ago in Wall Market, and this new, ecstatically happy version was a little hard to reconcile. Reno seemed to be the first to recover.

“Nice seein’ you, too, kid. But we’re kinda workin’ right n-…”

“Oh, Reno, please? Can’t we go and see the baby? It’ll only take a few minutes…” Elena cut in, grinning excitedly, “Please?”

“I’m not gonna hear the end of it for days if I say no, am I?” he sighed, “… Fine.” If nothing else, it would keep him off that damn bird for a few extra minutes. Talia’s smile widened and she grabbed him by the hand as well, all but dragging the pair down a side street.

“She’s just the cutest little thing… Wait ’til you see…” They stopped in front of a small building who’s signage proclaimed it a bakery. Talia led them around the back and into a small living room, calling out as she entered. “Aunt Evelyn? I’m back! And I brought back guests!”

“That’s lovely, dear… but more importantly, did you bring back the eggs I sent you for?” a woman wearing an apron and cradling a mixing bowl in one arm asked with a smirk. Reno’s mouth watered as the heavy scent of something baking hit him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but damned if it didn’t smell amazing.

“Oh, of course I did.” Talia giggled and pulled the requested item from the bag she was carrying. “You remember Elena, don’t you? She was one of the people who brought me here. And this is Reno. They’re the ones who rescued me.”

“Well, for that, you have my eternal gratitude,” the woman replied, eyes falling on the two Turks, “Shiva only knows what would have become of my niece if you hadn’t been there. And poor little Fawn…” A buzzer suddenly went off in the bakery’s kitchen, and Evelyn disappeared with an exclamation of, “Oh! My cakes…”

Talia giggled again. “Aunt Evelyn has been baking like a maniac all morning. With the festival coming up, she’s got more orders than she knows what to do with.” She trailed after the woman, carrying the eggs with her, returning moments later, empty-handed. “Come on… Fawn’s in here.” She hurried the pair through another door and into a quiet, sunny bedroom. A cradle sat in one corner and Talia moved toward it, gently scooping its sleeping occupant into her arms. The baby fussed slightly, but calmed upon seeing her mother.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Talia said softly, smiling as she held the child up. A pair of cerulean eyes stared back at the Turks, framed by a soft halo of honey-blonde hair that matched her mother’s.

“Aww… She’s adorable…”

“Yeah… real cute. ‘Lena, can we-”

“Can I hold her?”

Reno cringed, wondering just how long “a few minutes” actually meant when there were two women and a baby involved. Talia was already enthusiastically handing the infant off to Elena. Annnd… now Elena was holding it. Great.

The rookie cooed at the baby in her arms, cradling her gently. “Aren’t you just the sweetest little thing ever…?” Reno stood near the door, watching the abject fawning that was going on over… Fawn.

“Well, at least the kid has the right name…” he mused, though neither woman seemed to hear him. He shook his head in vague amusement as Elena seemed to turn to mush right in front of his eyes. He was about to remind her that they still had a job to do when he heard something that made his blood run cold.

“Reno, you have to hold her…” The redhead’s eyes widened in horror as Elena advanced on him.

“Oh, no… Absolutely not,” he said, backing away, “I don’t do babies…”

He suddenly found himself with his back to the wall.

“Don’t be silly… Now just put your arm like this, and… There we go!” Elena placed the little girl neatly in his arms before he could make a break for it. Reno froze, eyes searching for a way out of this… any way out. Unfortunately, there didn’t appear to be an escape. He didn’t dare move.

Biting back a groan, he looked down at the tiny human resting in his arms. She was very cute… She was also very delicate-looking. And squirmy. And droppable. And… he really didn’t want this sort of responsibility.

“Okay… I held it. Now would someone please take it back before I break it or somethin’?”

The two women broke down into giggles, but didn’t relieve him of his burden. Instead, Elena pulled out her PHS and snapped a photo.

“‘Lena…” His tone was bordering on desperate now, but he didn’t care. He was not comfortable with this at all.

“Oh, alright…” Elena took the baby from him, rocking her gently as she carried her back to her mother. Reno leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes for a moment, thanking every deity he could think of that that ordeal was finally over.

“Okay… Great. Now, if you’re done losing your mind over the little princess, I’d like to remind ya that we’re still on the clock, and we have no idea where to find this Anthrin guy…”

“Anthrin?” Talia repeated as she carefully set Fawn back in her crib. “Oh, he’s easy to find. He’s almost always at the bar on the east side of town. His wife complains about it constantly.”

“I… Well… that makes things a hell of a lot easier… Thanks, Talia.”

“Now see? Aren’t you glad we came to see the baby?” Elena said, smiling.

---

“‘Lena, keep up, will ya?” Reno called over his shoulder. The tiny bar was just ahead of them, but Elena had fallen several steps behind him. “What are you doin’ anyway?”

“Um… Nothing…” she replied, hastily stowing her PHS back in her pocket. Reno stopped dead.

“Alright… who’d ya send it to?”

“N-no one, really. Just Rude…” Elena said. Reno raised an eyebrow. “Well, okay… Tseng, too. And… um… Lira…”

The redhead had to force himself not to whimper out loud, and prayed the photo wasn’t as bad as he was fairly certain it was. “‘Lena…” he lamented. “Wait… why do you have Lira’s number?”

The rookie shrugged. “She gave it to me. Don’t worry… you only look slightly terrified in it.”

“Very funny.” He turned and continued on his way towards the bar.

Elena snickered. “Oh, please ‘Lena… take it back before I break it…” she mimicked. She was enjoying this just a little too much, but she was having a hard time stopping… and since Reno seemed to be taking it in stride, she didn’t feel too bad about poking a little fun at him.

“Focus, ‘Lena… We’re workin’, remember?”

“Come on… she was so cute!”

“Yeah, yeah… Cute. And tiny. How the fuck do those things even survive? They look like they’d snap in half if ya so much as stare at ’em too hard…”

“You’re really serious, aren’t you?” she said, grinning ear to ear, “You wouldn’t have hurt her, you know. Babies aren’t that… um…’breakable‘…”

“Don’t care. Holdin’ ’em still makes me nervous.”

“So… just for future reference, which are you more afraid of? Needles? Or babies?”

“Oh, look, we’re here.”

Elena smothered one last laugh, and followed him through the the door. No more teasing… time to work. Reno paused in the entryway, scanning the patrons of the bar. It was still early in the day, but there were several who seemed to be firmly entrenched on their barstools. The redhead shrugged and looked over at her.

“Might as well see if we can do this the easy way…” He turned back to the small group, raising his voice slightly. “Any of you named Anthrin?”

“Who’s askin’?” a heavily-built man with graying hair at the end of the bar shot back. The pair crossed the room, and Reno took a seat next to the man.

“We work for Shinra Company… You him?”

The miner looked Reno over and snorted, turning back to his beer. “Turks, huh? And what if I am?”

“Then, we’d like a little information from ya ’bout the mine.”

“Oh ho… the mine!” he laughed, “Plannin’ a day trip, are ya? Ain’t nothin’ in that mine worth riskin’ the zoloms for, trust me.”

“Tch… Got no argument here. Unfortunately, my boss disagrees… so, here we are.”

“You takin’ this pretty little filly out to the mine?” Anthrin asked, glancing back at Elena, “She got a death wish or somethin’? Mine ain’t no place for a little girl. Zoloms’ll make an appetizer outta her.”

“Not if I get to them first,” Elena indignantly replied. She hated it when men took that sort of attitude with her. Anthrin laughed, slapping Reno on the back.

“This kid’s got fire in her veins!”

“And a loaded gun under her jacket… Watch it. Kid’s kinda easily offended,” Reno said, smirking.

“Well, far be it from me to stand in her way, then.” He drained his beer, and motioned for another. “What is it you’re lookin’ for?”

Reno reached into his jacket, pulling out a photo of a Shinra lab technician demonstrating a piece of equipment. “This. You remember seein’ it?”

“The Screamer? Sure… I remember that thing. The boys were like kids on Christmas mornin’ when that thing showed up. It was more’n triplin’ our production levels right outta the box. Too bad the fuckin’ zoloms decided to show up not too long afterwards.”

“Ya happen to remember where you left it?”

“Sure do. I was the one runnin’ it when the boss said to evac. Level Five, Section H.”

“Deep?”

“Pretty deep. Not the bottom, but damn close. Mine goes down six levels, total. Level six was flooded, last I was there, though. Had equipment on the way from Junon to start pumpin’ out the water, but the goddamn zoloms shut the place down before it got installed. Mighta even reached level five by now.”

“Oh, terrific. This assignment just gets better and better,” Reno said, conversationally.

“Been there, son. Been there,” he grinned, “No one likes the shit jobs, but someone’s gotta do ’em.” The bartender set a new glass down in front of him. “Hey, Julien… you still got any of them mine maps sittin’ around?”

“Yeah, probably… Hold on, I’ll check.” He disappeared into the back room.

“Bar was where we met up in the mornings back in the day. Always kept a box of maps on hand for the rookies. Dumb bastards always ‘forgot’ to bring ’em for their first shift. Stupid little shits. Thought they knew everything ’bout the tunnels without ever seein’ ’em,” Anthrin laughed.

“Tell me about it.” Reno looked back at Elena and winked. She scoffed and folded her arms over her chest, glaring at him.

“Hope your sweet little rookie there’s smarter’n some of mine were.”

The bartender returned and plunked a map down on the counter. “There ya go. Thought I still had a few.”

“Well, now… let’s see here,” Anthrin said, unfolding the map, and pointing out various landmarks. “This here’s your main entrance. And this’un’s the entrance over on the Junon side. ‘Bout sixty feet in on our side, there’s a shaft that’ll take ya down as far as level three. Hit some pretty solid bedrock there, though, and had to dig a second shaft over here when we started the lower levels. Once ya drop down to five, the sections are in order startin’ with A at the base of the shaft, all the way out to H at the far end of the mine. Lateral sections are numbered… so ya got A-1, A-2 and A-3 all right next to one another, then B-1, B-2 and B-3, and so on. H was one of the last sections were diggin’ at the time so there ain’t no H-2 or 3 even though they’re on the map. That’s where you’ll find it. Right there.” He pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and circled it, then refolded the map, handing it to Reno. “If you’re really intent on doin’ this, best take that with ya.”

“Thanks.” He stood up, pulling a ten gil note, from his wallet and tossing it on the bar. “Next round’s on me.”

Anthrin raised his glass in salute, as they left. “Try not to die. Ya seem a decent fella.”

Once they were outside, Elena punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow! What the fuck was that for?”

“‘Tell me about it’?” she said, repeating his own words.

“Ah come on, ‘Lena… I was just tryin’ to keep the conversation going. You know I’d never really call ya a stupid little shit.” Elena looked slightly mollified by his response. “Not to your face, anyway…” he added with a grin, and then immediately took off running.

She didn’t catch up to him until he’d reached the spot where they’d left their chocobos. She found him leaning smugly against the fence.

“Ready to get this ride from hell over with?” he asked. She rolled her eyes and chuckled. Reno may have gotten in the last word, but she was about to get a repeat performance of this morning. It seemed like an even trade.

“I guess. Are you?” she teased.

“Not especially, but there’s no sense in puttin’ it off.” Elena untied her chocobo, and swung herself up. Reno tried to do the same, but the green bird hadn’t grown any fonder of him while they’re been gone. He growled softly and grabbed the reins, pulling the bird’s head down so they were eye to eye.

“You keep this shit up, I will shoot you, I will cook you, and I will eat you.”

“Reno!” She was fairly sure he wasn’t serious, but still…

“Just try me, ya feathered bastard…” The chocobo trilled warily, stomping it’s feet, but finally settled and let him climb on. “That’s more like it… Let’s go, ‘Lena.”

---

When they arrived at the edge of the marshes, Reno signaled to her to stop. Aside from the fact that the green chocobo seemed to be retaliating against her handler by giving him the roughest ride imaginable – far worse than the journey to Kalm, by the looks of it – the trip had been relatively uneventful. They’d stopped at the Chocobo Farm to feed and water their mounts… and to get some lunch for themselves… and then gone on to the marshes. By the time they arrived, the sun was just beginning to set.

“Better make this quick. We don’t wanna be out here after dark…” said Reno, “Be ready to move at top speed. You see that open area on the other side?”

Elena nodded, squinting against the glare of the sun as she looked westward across the marshes towards the mountainous region that housed Mythril Mine.

“Head straight for it, don’t stop, don’t slow down, and for fuck’s sake watch for anything comin’ at ya from the water.”

“Um… Reno? Are… are zoloms really as big as everyone says they are?”

“Never seen one?” She shook her head. “Yeah… they’re pretty goddamn big. And mean as hell, too. I really don’t wanna be in the position of havin’ to take one on, so get the fuck across that swamp as fast as you can. Ready?”

Elena swallowed nervously. “I’m ready…”

“Go!”

The pair of them spurred their chocobos forward, urging them to run as fast as they could. Elena scanned the gray water of the swamp, looking for the telltale shadows that would indicate they were being hunted by the massive serpents, but saw nothing. The far side of the marsh was drawing close… it looked like they’d lucked out.

“Shit… ‘Lena, don’t fucking stop at the edge. Don’t even slow down… Keep goin’ towards the high ground,” Reno shouted to her. He was a few paces behind her, just within her peripheral vision if she turned her head slightly. “And don’t look back…”

As soon as he said it, she was sorely tempted to do just that… until she remembered what had happened the last time she’d done something when he’d told her not to. Instead, she kept her eyes focused firmly on her destination, hoping that the reason he’d told her not to look back wasn’t what she thought it was…

That hope died the moment her bird’s feet hit dry land. She heard a splashing behind her, followed by a roar… followed by a terrified squawk from Reno’s chocobo. She didn’t stop, but she did look back towards the sound, eyes going wide. It was the biggest snake she’d ever even imagined. The creature had to be at least a hundred feet long… and that was just what she could see of it. It was towering above them, fangs bared and ready to strike. The green chocobo surged forward, catching up to her own as they climbed the rocky path that lead away from the marshes and toward higher ground.

Once they were safely out of the zolom’s territory, Reno brought his mount to a halt.

“That was a Midgar Zolom?!” Elena said, incredulously.

“I told ya not to look back…” Reno said, snickering at her expression.

---

They set up camp just inside the shelter of the mine entrance. Reno had more or less dropped to the ground and remained there the moment he unrolled his sleeping bag, leaving Elena to gather whatever she could find to build a fire.

“You could help, you know…” she said, setting down an armload of wood. The man was stretched out on his stomach, face buried in his arms. He turned his head just enough to look at her.

“‘Lena… right now, I’d rather freeze to death than inflict any more pain on myself by movin’. That fucking bird was tryin’ to cripple me the whole way out here.”

“Poor thing…”

“Ya know, if you’re feelin’ sympathetic, you could…”

“I meant the chocobo.”

Reno glowered at her, and moved his face back into the crook of his arm. Elena smirked.

“Well, if you’re not going to help, then can I at least borrow your lighter?”

“Left front pocket,” he replied, remaining motionless. She shook her head and slid her hand into his pants pocket, fully expecting some form of thinly veiled innuendo to be forthcoming. Which was why she was more than slightly surprised when she got nothing. Her fingers closed around the object of her search, and she withdrew the lighter without hearing so much as a feigned moan.

She eyed him a little suspiciously as she put a flame to the pile of kindling. It caught easily enough, and she quickly began to pile larger pieces on. A short while later, she had a nice little fire going, and Reno still hadn’t moved… but she knew one thing that would definitely get his attention.

She unzipped her travel pack, digging out two of the Shinra military ration packets; Standard issue to the Turks as well, though they seldom actually used them.

“Which do you want? Vacuum-packed pot roast, or vacuum-packed chicken?”

“Oh, I don’t know… both just sound so appealing…” He sat up, wincing as his body protested. “Don’t care. I’ll eat whichever one you don’t want.”

He was right. Neither sounded tempting. Finally, she chose the chicken, and handed the other packet to Reno. “They can’t be that bad, can they? I mean, they feed them to the army…”

Reno snickered, tearing into the outer wrapping. “Well… they’re usually a step up from the Shinra Building cafeteria, anyway,” he commented. Elena followed suit, and then broke the seal on the one of the smaller packets inside.

“Oh my god…” She found herself looking at a gooey mass of shredded… was that supposed to be meat? It was coated in a thick layer of slimy white-ish sauce. “I really hope this doesn’t taste the way it looks…” She took a tentative bite, and immediately gagged. Reno burst out laughing.

“There usually a step up… ‘cept for the chicken. That shit’s just all around nasty.”

Elena groaned and hesitantly speared another bite with the plastic fork from the package. If she hadn’t been so hungry after such a long ride, she wouldn’t have dared, but her stomach had been growling angrily for the last hour. Maybe if she held her nose… and didn’t chew too thoroughly… or at all…

Reno reached over and grabbed her wrist before she could give it a shot.

“Fuck, I can’t watch ya do this to yourself,” he said, grinning. “Here… I’ll trade ya.” He plucked the packet from her hand, and surrendered his own.

“A-are you sure?” she asked. She really didn’t want to make another attempt at swallowing that… whatever it was. She refused to refer to it as ‘food’. But she had willingly chosen it over the other option, and given the other to Reno.

“Ah, go ahead… I’ve choked down worse.”

“… When?” she asked, disbelievingly, “And more importantly, why?”

“Ever heard of slum slurry?”

“No… but I have a feeling that I should be glad I haven’t…”

“Be very glad. I’d tell ya what’s in it… but I’m assumin’ you’d kinda like to keep your dinner down…” He took a bite, and much to his own surprise, nearly gagged as well. “Wow… that really is vile… Think they may have actually found a way to make this shit worse than the last time I had it…”

Elena slowly opened her new packet, and sighed in relief. This, at least, looked like identifiable food. She took a small forkful of the pot roast, and tried it. The difference between the two was vast. Compared to the chicken, it was almost tasty. Now, though, she really did feel bad for letting Reno trade with her.

“Reno… I… I can’t. It’s not fair to you. Trade me back…”

“Nope.” He shoved four more bites into his mouth in quick succession and swallowed.

“But…”

“Eat, ‘Lena. Seriously, I don’t mind bein’ stuck with it. I was gonna take it anyway… I just couldn’t resist seein’ you try it first.”

She turned back to her own meal, and started in on it in earnest. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” he asked, downing the last of the chicken, and poking around in the main packet to see what else Shinra had decided to grace him with.

“You always volunteer to take the worst option so I don’t have to.”

“Think ya kinda answered your own question, there.” He finally came up with another smaller vacuum-sealed bag. “Yes! The one redeeming feature of these things… Please be chocolate chip…” he said, tearing it open. “Eh… oatmeal raisin. That works, too.” He shrugged, and popped half the cookie in his mouth, though Elena thought he looked somewhat disappointed.

“But why? You don’t do that with Rude. Or Tseng.”

“Sure I do… just not quite to the same extent. You’re different.” By now, he was back to digging through the packet again.

“How? And don’t you dare say because I’m a girl.”

“‘Cause you’re a girl,” he said, looking up at her and smirking.

Elena narrow her eyes at him, annoyed. She’d never asked for or expected special treatment just because of her gender, and it irritated her that Reno seemed to think she needed it. “Reno! That is just so… sexist!”

The redhead, laughed softly. “Yeah, maybe it is. But look… It’s not ’cause I think women are weak, or helpless, or inferior, or some bullshit like that. Particularly you… Believe me, I know better.”

“Then why?”

“… ‘Lena, when I was a kid, I spent half my time watchin’ guys treat my mom like crap. She did her best to keep me from seein’ it, but I was a nosy little brat, even at that age and I saw a lot more than a kid really should. And eventually she couldn’t take that shit anymore, and I lost her. So fine… if me sometimes treatin’ women with a little more consideration than I would a guy is sexist of me, I’m okay with that.”

Elena blinked and studied him for a moment. It was kind of hard to hold that against him. It was actually very sweet, in a way, if a little misguided in her opinion. “The more I hear about the slums, the more it sounds like a terrible place to grow up.”

“Nah… It’s not all bad. Sector 2’s really not a great measure of the slums in general. It’s… what ya might call the dumping ground for the assholes that get run out of the nicer sectors. And then ya got the halfway decent people who can’t afford the nicer sectors. Kind of ashamed to say it, but that’s why I didn’t try and talk Lira out of goin’ to work for Corneo back then. I hated to see her do it… but…” He trailed off with a shrug and opened up another pouch, this one filled with dried fruit.

“So… I guess your mom was one of those people who couldn’t afford to get out, then…”

“Not for lack of tryin’. Gettin’ stuck with a kid you weren’t plannin’ on, though… that’s sort of a drain on your finances. She could’ve taken the easy way out and just got rid of me soon as she found out. Would’ve made her life a lot easier… not that I’m not grateful she didn’t.”

“What about your father?”

“What about him? If she knew who he was, she sure as hell never told me. But to be honest, I’ve always just assumed she didn’t know.”

“Why automatically assume that?” Elena asked. It struck her as odd that Reno, who seemed to hold his mother in such high regard in just about every other sense, would think that about her…

Reno stared at her for a moment, then laughed. “‘Lena… for fuck’s sake, I know I’ve never come right out and said it, but haven’t ya figured out by now what my mom did to support herself?”

“I… What? Um… No, I-I guess not…”

“She was a prostitute, ‘Lena…” he said, spelling it out for her. Reno chuckled to himself, studying her fondly. He was definitely going to have to work on getting her to better assimilate the information she picked up. She could be shockingly oblivious at times, and surprisingly insightful at others… It was kind of a crap shoot, and she needed to be more consistent.

He cocked his head to one side, watching her. She didn’t seem to know what to say, though he was pretty sure she was running through several options in her head.

“I… I’m sorry. I have really got to stop prying into your personal life. Every time I do, I seem to dredge up something… like this,” she said at last, ducking her head to avoid looking him in the eye.

Reno decided that he had better deal with that before she got the wrong idea. “Okay… stop right there. Let’s get one thing straight. I have never been ashamed of her, and I never will be. And you’re welcome to pry… I really don’t mind. There’s very little that’s off-limits with me. Truth is… I kinda like that you do.”

“You… do?”

“Sure… I’m a total attention whore, remember? I love talkin’ about myself.” He smiled and laid down, arms behind his head in lieu of a pillow. “Especially when someone’s actually listening instead of just waitin’ for me to shut up. Finish up, and get to bed, ‘Lena. We’re gonna have to get up at a seriously ungodly hour tomorrow if we wanna have a chance of findin’ the stupid thing and gettin’ all the way back to Midgar by tomorrow night.”

Elena looked into the packet. There was only one sealed pouch left… she’d been so hungry, she’d devoured the rest in the short time they’d been talking and hardly realized it. She tore it open and grinned.

“Oh, hey… forgot to ask. What kind of cookie’d you get?”

Elena stood up and walked over to where Reno was trying to make himself comfortable. She wordlessly set the pouch on his chest and turned back to climb into her own sleeping bag.

“It’s chocolate chip… Good night, Reno.”

---

The following morning, Elena woke shortly after dawn. The fire was still going, though it had burned quite low by then. She set a few for branches on top, and coaxed it back up a bit. Reno was curled on his side, head resting on his arm and apparently sleeping peacefully… a fact for which she was glad. She hadn’t questioned him any further about his nightmares since witnessing one first-hand, so she didn’t have the faintest idea how often he had them. Not every night, it seemed, and she was relieved by that knowledge. She hated to think about him suffering like that every time he closed his eyes.

She really didn’t want to wake him… in fact, if she hadn’t been freezing when she’d woken up herself, she wouldn’t have risked disturbing him by tending to the fire. There was something very endearing about him like this, and she was hesitant to ruin it.

“You watchin’ me sleep is turnin’ into a habit, ‘Lena…”

She let out a soft squeak of surprise at the sound of his voice and nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Don’t do that!” she cried, pressing a hand to her chest. Reno snickered, and rolled onto his back, stretching. “How long have you been awake, anyway?”

“I dunno… Hour maybe? Been diftin’ in and out. Stupid birds woke me up awhile ago fightin’ over what was left of those damn sylkis greens you insisted on gettin’ ’em at the farm, then I think it was the zoloms down in the marsh, and then you started movin’ around… So what’s for breakfast?”

Elena grabbed one of their packs, and found the next set of packaged meals. “Omelets…”

“Sweet… those actually aren’t half bad when ya heat ’em up a little. If ya can ignore the texture, I mean.”

Elena groaned and began to wonder how hard it would be to make it through the next twenty four hours without eating…

---

“How could anyone work down here?” They’d only descended to the third level of the mine, and already Elena was beginning to feel uneasy. The tunnels were narrow and only dimly lit by strings of bare bulbs along the ceiling – and they were lucky for that light. It had taken several attempts to get the rusting generator at the entrance started. In fact, the only reason they’d succeeded was because Elena had remembered an old trick her father sometimes resorted to when they visited Nana in Veraheim and her generator was being uncooperative.

The deeper they’d gone, the more her discomfort grew. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so claustrophobic in her life, and knowing that there were thousands… maybe even millions… of tons of rock above her wasn’t helping. Reno didn’t seem to be enjoying it any more than she was.

“Beats me,” he replied. “Don’t think I could do it… Ready for another elevator ride?”

The first one hadn’t exactly been relaxing. The equipment was old and unmaintained… it creaked and groaned every inch of their first descent to the point that she’d been halfway convinced the cable would give out before they made it. Now they were standing at the second vertical shaft that would take them even deeper into the mine, with an even more dilapidated-looking elevator car waiting for them.

“Like we have a choice?”

Reno shrugged. “Could always climb it if we had to. ‘Course that access ladder doesn’t look much more inviting than the elevator…”

He shoved the gate open, cringing at the horrific squeal of protest the metal gave as he did so.

“Ladies first?” he offered, teasingly.

“After you… I insist…” Elena dryly responded. Reno snorted softly and cautiously stepped into the car. It groaned ominously under his weight. “Reno… I’m not so sure this one’s safe…”

“Think we better go one at a time… just in case.” He hesitated a moment, but finally pulled the level, setting the elevator in motion. Elena waited, tense and straining to hear any sounds that might indicate Reno was in trouble. After about a minute, the hum of the motor stopped. Seconds later, it started up again as the car reversed directions and stopped in front of her, empty.

“Good news! I’m not dead! Come on down, ‘Lena…” Reno’s voice called up to her from the depths of the shaft.

Elena rolled her eyes at the proclamation, and nervously stepped aboard. Maybe it was her imagination, but the car seemed to protest even more with her weight, and in some detached corner of her mind, she briefly wondered if she was actually heavier than the skinny redhead who’d preceded her down. She held her breath as she pulled the lever, sending herself deeper still into the planet.

She didn’t release that breath until she stopped the car again at the fifth level of the mine and found Reno waiting for her. The air was damp and cold down here, with moisture beading on the walls… but despite Anthrin’s warning back in Kalm, it didn’t look like this level had flooded after all.

“How far in do we have to go?” she asked, glancing down the main tunnel.

“Heh… all the way.” He pulled out the map they’re been given in Kalm, spreading it on the floor of the tunnel. “Good news is, it looks like it’s a straight shot right down this tunnel. Not quite sure what this is, though…” Reno pointed at a fairly large empty section on the map, at the far end of the mine.

Elena tilted her head, studying the diagram. “It looks like open space… maybe they ran into a natural cave or something…” Whatever it was, it seemed to connect the fifth and sixth levels of the mine at the end of the main tunnel.

“Well, whatever… it’s not our problem. What we’re after is ‘sposed to be right here,” he said, finger landing on the chalk mark that Anthrin had made. “Let’s go.”

The two Turks began walking… Elena soon discovered that the map was a little deceptive. The scale of the mine was significantly larger than the neat little diagram had implied. They’d gone several hundred yards and still had not reached the end. Reno suddenly froze, and as Elena started to ask what was wrong, he clapped a hand over her mouth, silencing her and slowly pulling her backwards, into a side tunnel they’d just passed. As he did so, she saw why… in the shadows ahead of them, something was moving.

“What is that?” she whispered once he released her. Reno shook his head.

“Dunno… Couldn’t see it very well,” he replied, just as softly. “Stay here and cover me. I’m gonna see what we’re dealin’ with.”

He drew his mag-rod and slipped back into the main tunnel, staying close to the wall as he made his way toward the movement. Elena watched, gun ready, even though, for the moment, she didn’t have a target.

“Oh, shit…”

The curse was followed by the familiar crackling of electricity from the EMR, as Reno struck out at something. Elena heard a pained squeal, and then silence.

“All clear… for now, anyway,” he called back to her. The rookie hurried to Reno’s position, stopping dead as she saw what had been waiting for them.

A snake, some twenty feet long, and as nearly as big around as her thigh, lay dead at Reno’s feet.

“That’s a big snake,” she commented.

“That’s not a snake. That’s a zolom. A real young one.”

“W-what? What’s a zolom doing down here?” She wasn’t an expert, but she’d never heard of zoloms living underground. They were water serpents…

“Let’s hope he just wandered away from mommy and got lost…” His tone, though, didn’t sound too confident of that. “Take it slow, and keep your eyes peeled. And don’t put your gun away.”

They moved along the tunnel, side by side, checking side tunnels as they went. Eventually, Elena became aware of a soft sound echoing through the mine, and when the tunnel suddenly opened up, she discovered what it was.

Ahead of them, a wide cavern stretched out into darkness. The lower portion, which the map said extended at least as far down as the sixth level of the mine, had flooded, creating an underground lake… and in that lake, something was moving… undulating slowly beneath the water. Something very, very big.

The floor extended outward from the mouth of the tunnel, leaving a wide ledge around some of the perimeter of the flooded section. There were numerous crates stacked along the wall to their right, and to their left…

“That’s it…” Reno said in hushed tones, nodding in the direction of a piece of equipment laying on the ground some seventy-five feet away from where they were standing. He took a step towards it.

“Reno…” She pointed toward the water, and the shape moving lazily in the darkness.

“I know. Just keep an eye on it. I’m gonna make this quick. In and out before it knows we’re here.”

He hoped. He’d always heard that zoloms sensed vibrations… it was how they tracked their prey. He took a deep breath and set off, keeping his steps as light as he could, and never taking his eyes off the water… which was probably why he didn’t notice where he was standing until the first eggshell crunched loudly under his boot.

Reno froze and looked down, and felt his heart hit his throat. The floor was covered in bits and pieces of broken eggs the size of his own head. Not just broken… hatched. He swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He was standing in the middle of a zolom nest.

Eyes wide, he stole a glance over his shoulder at Elena. She was still by the mouth of the tunnel, which, worst case scenario gave her a place to find cover if she needed it. There was no way a fully grown zolom could fit down there. The babies, though… where were they hiding, he wondered. By the number of shells just in his range of vision – which was admittedly limited in the darkened space – there were a lot of them.

He forced himself to keep moving, in spite of every instinct he possessed screaming at him to get the fuck out of there. With an almost silent sigh of relief, he finally reached the abandoned sonic drill.

It consisted of a power pack, with straps to allow it to be worn on one’s back, and a cone-shaped hand-held unit that housed the drill itself, which was attached to the pack by a thick cord.. He really hadn’t followed much of the explanation of how it worked during the briefing yesterday morning. Something about sound waves and oscillating frequencies, and any number of other long, scientific-sounding words that he’d have had little luck pronouncing correctly, let alone explaining to someone else. The short of it seemed be that the thing used sound to vibrate shit apart. Why the rep from R&D couldn’t have just said that to begin with, he’d never know.

He picked it up, slipping a strap over one shoulder.

“Reno!” Elena’s voice came in a hissed whisper… probably as loud as she dared call out. The redhead turned and immediately saw why she broken her silence. It was another baby, and it was headed straight for him, head back, fangs bared. Forget quiet… Reno ran, darting past the creature and narrowly missing being hit when it tried to strike. Electro mag-rod in hand, he lashed out before it could try again, sending it back several feet with a jolt of electricity. The zolom squealed in pain.

“Reno, run!” Elena shouted. There was no attempt to keep her voice down this time, and Reno didn’t have to stop to wonder why. Mommy was angry.

He saw the head first, rising out of the water. The adult zolom roared, the sound shaking the walls of the cavern around him. He took off at top speed, sprinting toward Elena. This was not good… He heard gunshots, and realized that the rookie was firing at the serpent… though it didn’t even seem to phase it.

“Fuck this,” he muttered and dropped the drill. He wasn’t going to die for a piece of tech, and it was slowing him down. For a moment, he thought he was going to make it… and then he saw the tail.

He had no way to avoid it… it was massive. It slammed into him mercilessly, knocking the wind from his lungs, and sent him flying backwards. The last thing he was aware of was pain as he struck the stone wall of the cavern. After that, everything went black.

---

Elena watched in horror as Reno sailed through the air, hitting the wall hard and dropping limply into the water below. He floated, face-down and unmoving, as the zolom turned its attention on her instead.

Her weapon wasn’t doing anything against it… except perhaps making it angrier. She had to do something. Reno didn’t stand chance like that. If the zolom didn’t finish him off, he’d drown for sure. She adjusted her aim, targeting the creature’s eyes. If she couldn’t kill it, maybe she could blind it. Elena fired, and the zolom roared again in pain and anger as her shot hit home. She put four more bullets in it before it turned away from her, shielding it’s remaining eye.

When it did, Elena turned to look at Reno… he hadn’t moved. Her gaze dropped to the sonic drill, and she saw her chance. Figuring that if the thing could cut through rock, it could cut through a zolom, she ran for it, hoping it still worked after all this time. Elena stumbled, landing painfully on her knees next to the drill, and scrambled to seize it, only to realize that she had absolutely no idea how it actually worked. As the zolom recovered and began to charge her, she silently prayed that it was as simple as aim and shoot… and pulled what she could only assume was the trigger.

An ear-splitting shriek rent the air, and it took her a moment to realize that it was coming from the drill. It vibrated almost painfully in her hands, and she watched in awe as the zolom stopped its attack, writhing in the water as if in agony. Moments later, its head and upper body burst apart, exploding in a rain of blood and flesh, the rest of it sinking below the surface of the water and disappearing.

Elena stared, dumbfounded… she’d never seen anything like it. No wonder Scarlet wanted this back…

“Reno!” she gasped out, as reality caught up to her. She staggered to her feet and raced toward the edge of the pool. She didn’t have time to hesitate or worry about how deep it was, – and given there was half a dead zolom somewhere down there, it had to be pretty deep – she dove. Awkwardly, but it got her there. The water was freezing and her clothes were weighing her down, but she somehow got ahold of him. Elena lifted his head out of the water, and began pulling him back to the edge, her own head slipping beneath the surface several times before she managed it. She lifted herself back onto dry land, panting, and dragged Reno’s limp body out behind her.

“Reno…” she tried, kneeling beside him. Elena leaned down, setting her ear by his mouth, listening for any indication he was breathing, but heard nothing. “No… Please, Reno… Don’t…”

She pressed her fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse, and her heart leapt when she found one. It was sluggish, and fading, but it was there, and at that moment, she had never been more grateful for Reno’s insistence when they’d started her mandatory swimming lessons that she also practice for her CPR certification.

She tilted his head back, pinching his nose shut, and pressed her lips against his, slowly forcing air into his lungs. She did it again, and again, checking each time for any sign that it was making a difference.

“Reno, please…” she whispered desperately, and tried again. This time, she was met with success. He coughed, choking on the water that came up as he did so, and she hurried to roll him to one side so he could finally take a breath on his own. Reno instinctively curled in on himself, as more coughing wracked his body for a moment before he lay still, panting harshly.

“R-reno?” she tried again, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. He flinched slightly at the sudden physical contact, but turned to look at her.

“‘Lena?” His voice was weak and somewhat strangled. His eyes widened. “The zolom…”

“It… It’s dead. It’s okay. We’re safe.”

“Fuck, ‘Lena… You killed a zolom?” She nodded. “Remind me to try not to piss you off anymore…” He laughed weakly, but gasped moments later in obvious pain. “Ow… ‘kay, definitely shouldn’t do that for awhile…” He let his head rest on the ground, closing his eyes.

“H-how badly are you hurt?” she asked. They were close to a thousand feet underground. Their phones would never find a signal through all that rock… and if he was too injured to risk moving him, she couldn’t leave him to go and get help. The adult zolom may have been dead, but who knew how many more of the little ones were lurking down here. And if one adult could get in, that meant others could as well. Probably, the water in the chamber had come from the marshes. There could easily be an underground cave leading from there to here farther down in the mine.

“Bad enough that the Doc’s probably gonna have me on bed rest for a few days,” Reno groaned, “Shoulder’s fuckin’ killing me… so’s my head. And my chest. And my back feels like one giant bruise right now. Fuck, I musta hit that wall hard… Help me sit up, will ya? If I don’t pass out, I can probably manage well enough that you won’t have to drag me outta here by yourself.”

She wasn’t sure she liked his plan, but did as she was asked.

Reno groaned as she helped him upright, raising a hand to his temple and squeezing his eyes shut as he bit back the threatening nausea and tried to wait out the sudden onslaught of vertigo. For a moment, he really wasn’t sure he could do this… the dizziness calmed slightly, though, and he dared to open his eyes again. He still felt, very much, like he was going to vomit, but his grip on consciousness seemed to be holding, at least. He could practically hear Dr. Ward’s voice already telling him he had a skull fracture… or at the very least a concussion.

“Reno?”

“Yeah, I’m okay… just gimme a second.”

He tried to move his shoulder, and gritted his teeth against the pain that sent lancing through him. “Broken collar bone,” said his mental projection of Ward, “Or, maybe if yer very lucky, just a dislocated shoulder.” The good news was that his legs seemed to be relatively unscathed. He might just manage to walk out of here after all.

“Alright… let’s see if I keel over when ya get me on my feet,” he said at last.

He was starting to shiver now, and he realized, for the first time, that he was drenched. He remembered hitting the wall. Landing in the water, though… that was news to him. As Elena helped him stagger to a standing position, he noticed that she was similarly soaked. He finally had the presence of mind to scan the area, and was a little shocked by the carnage. Whatever she’d done to kill the zolom, he hoped she never had cause to try it on him.

“‘Lena… when we get outta here, you’re gonna tell me exactly what the hell I missed…”

Most of his weight was still resting on the rookie. He slowly shifted it to his own two feet, relieved when he found he could mostly support himself. The annoying dizziness still plagued him, however, and combined with the fact that he was now trembling uncontrollably from his unexpected swim, he was fairly sure he wouldn’t make it very far without her help.

“Alright, let’s get the fuck outta this hole… and make damn sure ya grab that drill on the way out. After all this, I am not leavin’ empty-handed.”

---

It took them almost two hours to make the trip back to the surface. Reno had nearly lost consciousness twice on the way, and had ultimately failed in his valiant battle against the nausea his concussion – he still held out hope that’s all it was – was inflicting on him. His stomach was still roiling even after he’d emptied it and clawed his way back to his feet, clinging to the rookie just to stay upright. By the time they reached the mine entrance, he so exhausted and chilled even her support was only just barely keeping him standing.

Elena lowered him to his knees beside the remains of the fire. Reno edged closer to the warmth of the embers, shivering violently as, with her help, he painfully stripped off his damp clothes and crawled into one of the sleeping bags.

“I’ll contact Tseng…” she said, pulling out her PHS and almost laughing when its screen sprang to life at her touch. She’d never had cause to test out the R&D’s claims that it was waterproof to a depth of a hundred feet – and was glad that it apparently didn’t matter that said water was also a quarter mile underground.

“Call Rude first. He’s closer, and he’s got the helicopter.”

Elena tried to dial out, but soon discovered she had no signal. “I think the mine’s blocking reception…” She’d have to try outside… maybe even down by the marsh where she wasn’t quite so thoroughly in the mountain’s shadow. She really didn’t want to leave him on his own, but he was in no shape to be moved any farther. They were lucky he’d made it as far as he did. Elena pocketed her phone and began piling wood onto the fire, coaxing the embers into a flame. She moved Reno as close to it as she dared, and made sure he was tightly ensconced in his sleeping bag before placing the other one over him for good measure.

She ran her fingers tenderly through his hair, prompting him to look up at her. The dazed look in his eyes worried her. “Reno? I need to go find someplace with a signal.”

The redhead gave her a weak smile. “Think I’ll just stay here…”

“Don’t fall asleep, okay? You’re not supposed to sleep when you’ve got a head injury…”

“Heh… trust me, ‘Lena… I know the routine. Doc’s got that shit drilled into me at this point. I’ll be alright.”

Elena stroked his hair one more time before she rose and hurried out of the mine.

Out from beneath the cover of rock now, she tried her PHS again, to no avail. So she began walking… she was halfway down the trail to the marsh before she finally picked up a weak cell signal. She opened her contacts list, and dialed Rude’s number.

“Rude here,” the other Turk answered, though the connection wasn’t great.

“Rude! It’s Elena… Reno and I are at Mythril Mine. Reno’s hurt. We need you to come and get us…”

“Elena? I can barely hear you… Did you say Mythril Mine?”

“Yes, the mine. Please… hurry. Reno’s really not doing so well. Rude? Rude, can you hear me?” She looked at the screen and found that her call had dropped. She groaned in frustration, and tried dialing again, but the signal was gone. She rushed farther down the trail, hoping to pick it up again, but even when she reached the edge of the marsh, there was nothing. She couldn’t go any farther without one of the chocobos… and even if she went back and got one, she wasn’t sure it was wise to risk it. One close call with a zolom was enough for one day, and besides that, she didn’t want to leave Reno alone for too long if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Elena started back up the trail, checking her phone constantly on the off chance that the signal might come back. She saw the indicator flicker a few times, but it never held long enough for her to even dial, let alone reach anyone.

The chocobos warked loudly when she returned, and she checked that they had food and water before returning to Reno. Inside the the mine entrance again, she hurried over to him, finding that he done exactly what she’d told him not to do and fallen asleep.

“Reno?” She frowned when he didn’t respond. She was hesitant to try shaking him at all, given how battered he was. On the bright side, though, he seemed to have warmed up at least. Elena gently pushed aside the sleeping bag, taking stock of his injuries… what she could see of them, at any rate.

His chest was already turning a deep purple in several places… probably where the zolom’s tail had struck him. She carefully ran a hand across his ribs. Nothing felt broken, but that certainly didn’t mean that was the case, and small fractures wouldn’t be apparent without an x-ray, so it really told her nothing. His right shoulder, on the other hand… that definitely didn’t feel – or look – quite right… whether something was broken, or just out of joint, she wasn’t sure. She very gently eased him onto his side, looking over his back. There was even more bruising there… ugly, dark bruises that patterned his pale skin from his shoulders all the way to his waist. In short… he looked terrible, and the fact that he hadn’t even stirred the entire time she’d been poking and prodding him scared her.

There really wasn’t anything else she could do for him. She tucked the sleeping bag back around him, and settled herself by his side, drawing her knees to her chest. Her own clothes hadn’t yet dried completely, either, and the air was cool. On top of that, she was so tired…

She didn’t realize she’d drifted off, her arms wrapped around her knees and her head resting on top of them, until the familiar thumping of helicopter blades startled her awake… though she didn’t recognize it for what it was until Rude was walking toward her. She slowly… stiffly… uncurled herself, and rubbed at her eyes, wondering how long she’d been out.

“How bad?”

“I-I’m not sure… Bad, I think. He fell asleep while I was outside trying to get a decent signal to call for help, and I haven’t been able to wake him up…”

“You hurt?”

“No… I’m okay. Just cold and tired.”

“…” Rude knelt down, gently prying open Reno’s eyes one at a time. Elena wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but whatever it was, it seemed to concern him. “… Let’s go.” He picked him up carefully, sleeping bag and all. Meanwhile, Elena grabbed the equipment they’d been sent after. Reno would kill her if she left the drill behind after all the trouble they went through to get it back. She also collected Reno’s weapon and clothes, stuffing them into one of the mostly empty travel packs. Everything else, she abandoned.

Following Rude to the helicopter, she saw that the chocobos had torn themselves free of their tethers… probably frightened by the aircraft’s sudden appearance. She hoped they made it home safely. Rude loaded his partner into the helicopter, and Elena climbed in beside him to watch over him during the flight.

---

Elena found Tseng at Midgar General Hospital, at Reno’s bedside, a file folder in hand… None of them wanted to leave him alone right now. In the end, they’d decided taking it in shifts would be easiest way and the least disruptive to their regular duties. It was Elena’s turn again.

“Sir?” she called out, quietly.

“Elena…”

“How is he?”

Tseng shook his head. “The same… though Ward tells me the swelling has gone down quite a bit. He hasn’t woken, however.”

Reno had been comatose since Rude had picked them up… nearly a week ago. A skull fracture and the accompanying swelling were the obvious reasons for it. His other injuries were minor by comparison. A dislocated shoulder, eight badly fractured ribs, and a plethora of bruises. Six days he’d been unconscious… A healing sleep, Dr. Ward had called it, though given that no one yet knew when – or, Odin forbid, if – he would wake, didn’t really make the term any more comforting than “coma”.

Tseng closed the folder he’d been reading from, and stood. “You are to…”

“Call you immediately if there’s any change. Yes, sir. I know… I will.” He had given her the same order every time she’d relieved him. It bothered her a little that he felt the need to keep reminding her, but chalked it up to the man being worried and tried not to take it personally.

He paused, studying her for a moment, and shook his head, laughing softly. “Have I been really been that repetitive?”

“Er… yes, sir. You kind of have…”

“My apologies. I fear this is beginning to test even my patience. Reno and Rude both have certainly been badly hurt on occasion over the years… even you have already had your share injuries in your short time with us. But none of you have ever gone so long without regaining consciousness before. It’s… upsetting.”

“It’s alright, sir. I’m worried about him, too.”

“After reading your report, I’m not surprised,” he said, nodding toward the folder, “It was a narrow escape. For both of you. Elena… That was exceptionally well done. Reno owes you his life – several times over, I think.”

“I-I really think it just makes us about even, sir…” She felt an uncomfortable heat rise in her cheeks. Reno didn’t owe her anything. She would have done the same for any of them… as they would have for her.

Tseng chuckled softly and turned to leave. “Regardless… I’m grateful to you. I’ve seen entirely too many Turks lost in my time. I’m glad to not be adding another name to that list. Goodnight, Elena.”

“Goodnight, sir,” she called after him. Left alone with Reno, she settled into the chair Tseng had vacated moments earlier. She couldn’t help but wonder how many names were on that list, and for just how many of them Reno and Rude had been around to share in Tseng’s loss. She could hardly bring herself to imagine one of them suddenly not being there.

The clock on the wall read 11:15… It felt much later. She had napped for an hour or two after work, in the hopes that it would be easier to stay awake until Rude took over at five in the morning. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure it had been such a good idea. When she’d woken up, she’d felt like all she wanted was to go right back to sleep… it had been hard to get up and moving again. Now, she felt like a bit of a zombie.

It probably didn’t help that she hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since her return. At best, she managed to grab a few hours here and there between work and the hospital. It was wrecking her sleep cycle, and the weekend, when she might at last have a chance to catch up, was still another full day away.

Elena leaned forward and let her fingers rest on the back of Reno’s hand. “Come on, Reno… You can’t sleep forever. I know you’re not that lazy…” she teased him, though it was a half-hearted effort. The fact that there was no retort from the redhead left her feeling dejected. “I brought a book tonight… I’ll read to you if you want. Maybe… maybe I should have brought one of my romance novels instead. You hate those so much. You’d probably wake up just to tell me to stop.”

She sighed, and flipped to the story she’d marked earlier that day, glancing at Reno one more time before she started reading.

---

Elena whined softly in irritation and tried to squirm away from whatever it was that kept poking her in the ribs. It tickled, and she wasn’t in the mood to be tickled. She wanted to go back to sleep, and it wasn’t letting her. It prodded her again.

“Mmph… quit it…” she murmured, swatting at the nuisance, her hand smacking awkwardly against something solid.

“Ow. Hey, watch it… pretty sure least some of those are broken…”

Elena burrowed her cheek against her arm, and groaned. “Trying to sleep, Reno… leave me alone…” Suddenly her eyes snapped open, as she realized what she’d just said. She jerked herself up, into a sitting position, and stared. The redhead laughed at her befuddled expression, and then immediately cringed, his uninjured arm wrapping around his ribs, protectively.

“Owww… Fuck, laughing was a bad idea…” he moaned.

“R-reno?”

“Yeah?”

“You… You’re awake,” she said, a smile spreading across her face. Her first instinct was to hug him, and she’d already begun to move to do so, before realizing just how much pain that would probably inflict on him right now. Reno, meanwhile, had apparently noticed and braced himself for it. She quickly restrained herself, still grinning madly. “We were so worried!”

Reno relaxed, glad he wasn’t about to be crushed by an overly enthusiastic rookie.

“Tch… so worried ya couldn’t even stay awake?” he taunted her. He seemed a little weak, but in surprisingly good spirits.

“You’ve been unconscious for six days…”

“Oh…” Reno replied, considering the new information, “Huh… In that case, guess I’m lucky you didn’t just get bored waitin’ on me and go home…”

She gasped suddenly, and went for her phone. Tseng was at home. And Reno was awake.

Reno groaned, not having any trouble guessing what she had in mind. “Ah, come on, ‘Lena… Don’t call now. It’s the middle of the fuckin’ night.”

Elena ignored his protests and dialed, but barely even had the chance to open her mouth once Tseng answered.

“Sir, Reno’s – ”

“Go the fuck back to bed, Tseng,” Reno cut in, raising his voice to ensure he’d be heard on the other end of the line. Elena smothered a slightly hysterical giggle. Between the lack of sleep, and the elation at seeing Reno conscious and alert, she was feeling a little out of control at the moment.

“Yes, sir.” she said, and ended the call, grinning at Reno. “He says he’ll be here in ten minutes.”

---

Reno was supposed to have spent the next week in the hospital under observation for his fractured skull… By the fourth day, he’d threatened so many of the doctors that only Dr. Ward was willing to go anywhere near him. She had grudgingly agreed to have him released, on the condition that he go home, and stay home until she personally decided he was healed enough to do anything more strenuous than play video games all day.

Which was precisely what he was doing when Elena dropped by on Saturday. The door was answered by Rude, who looked at her with such a measure of relief she almost laughed.

“… You staying awhile?” he asked.

“W-well… only if he wants me to. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to get some rest or not…”

Rude snorted derisively. “The closest I’ve come to getting him to do that, is letting him watch me get shot in the head… repeatedly.”

“Uhh… What?”

“Rude, for fuck’s sake… I’m gettin’ my ass kicked here. Whoever it is, tell ’em to either sit down or fuck off, and help me take these guys out!” The sounds of combat could be heard from Reno’s living room, and as Rude ushered her in, she spotted him on the couch, eyes locked on the television screen. The bottom half was stationary, a shot of some war-torn building’s exterior. The upper portion of the screen displayed a wildly panning view as Reno’s avatar charged through the interior. It made Elena dizzy just watching it. Gunfire and the occasional explosion reverberated from the speakers. “No… no… ah, crap! No!” The top screen turned red and displayed the words “Fatality: Headshot”, and Reno threw up his arms in frustration… only to almost immediately cry out in pain, reflexively gripping his injured shoulder, and then moaning as the rest of his battered body protested that movement as well.

Elena snickered at the sight. “At this rate, you’re never going to heal…”

“‘Lena!” Reno said, grinning as he turned back to look at her. “Tch… I’m fine.”

“Except for screaming in pain every time you move too much, you mean?”

“I don’t scream… And it’s better than layin’ around flat on my back in bed all day. Seriously… Ward was here half the damn day yesterday, and she would hardly let me up to take a piss. Thought she was never gonna fuckin’ leave…”

“Hmph… Speaking of leaving. I said one more round. That was three rounds ago. If you want to eat, I need to go pick up some supplies…”

“Ah, just order a –”

“No. No more takeout. You need real food once in awhile.” Rude smirked, and added, “Elena’s gonna take over babysitting duty while I’m gone.”

Reno glared at him as the bald Turk turned and strode out the door. “Well… Guess, you’re also takin’ over player two, then, ‘Lena… You any good at Tides of War?”

“Tides of… um… sorry, Reno. I’m not really big on video games.”

He groaned and tossed the controller onto the coffee table.

“Couldn’t we do something a little… quieter? You’re supposed to be taking it easy,” Elena continued, hoping to head things off before his mood could sour.

“Yeah, I guess… And why the fuck ya just standin’ there? Come sit down.” She circled around the end of the couch and settled in next to the redhead. Reno fidgeted a moment. “So… I read your report. Tseng brought it by last night. I… um… I owe ya.”

“You… You don’t. Not really.”

“‘Lena, do you realize how monumentally fucked I’d’ve been if you hadn’t been there? You vaporized a goddamn zolom, saved my ass from drowning, hauled me out of a thousand foot deep hole in the ground, and got me back to Midgar in one piece. You’re really gonna sit there and tell me I don’t owe ya for that?”

“You’d have done it for me. You have done it for me,” she pointed out, and then snickered teasingly, “Well… I guess you’ve never done anything quite as amazing as taking down a zolom by yourself…”

“Don’t downplay that, ‘Lena… that was some fucking impressive quick thinking.”

“It was more desperation, to be honest…” she admitted, “My point is, you don’t get to have a monopoly on looking out for the people you care about.”

“Alright… fair enough, I guess. But I’m still gonna say thank you for it. So… Thank you,” he said. Elena beamed in response. Reno eyed her somewhat warily, and sighed. “… You wanna hug me now, don’t you…”

“I’ll be gentle… I promise.”

“Tch… Fine…” he said, smirking, “Just watch the ribs… And then I’m teachin’ ya how to play Tides of War. Rude kinda sucks at it.”

~fin~