Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 27: Plans Derailed

She finally manged to get her head above water, sputtering and coughing as she tried to sort out what direction she was supposed to be moving in. Below her feet, a streamlined figure circled once and then surfaced behind her. Elena felt his hands on her shoulders and suddenly, she was plunged back into the depths. She screamed in frustration under the water and twisted away with a sharp kick of her legs, propelling herself upward again.

“Would you stop doing that!?” She was out of breath now, and beginning to tire, even as she worked at treading water. Reno, on the other hand, floated effortlessly nearby.

“Nope,” he said, grinning. “I keep tellin’ ya, ‘Lena… Best way to learn to fight someone off is to actually fight someone off. If someone’s tryin’ to kill ya, they’re not gonna be polite about it and let you keep your head above the water.”

The rookie glared and sent a wave of pool water at his face in retaliation. “Well, if you’re going to keep being a jerk, can we at least take a break?”

Reno glided toward her, slipping behind her again. This time, though, his arm wrapped around her waist instead, gently supporting her. They were in the middle of the pool, in deep water… holding her up was easier than than helping her all the way to the side, which he was fairly certain he’d have to do. Elena looked exhausted. “You really gotta stop workin’ so hard to stay afloat and let yourself relax,” he said, taking her weight easily, “You’re wearin’ yourself out a lot faster than you need to be.”

“Easy for you to say… You don’t even have to try.”

“That’s kind of my whole point,” he snickered, “Quit tryin’ and fucking relax. The water’ll hold ya up if you let it.” He nudged her legs upwards, forcing her to float, but kept hold of her just in case.

She’d improved markedly over the past few months. Her first swimming lesson hadn’t gone much better than the Hell Week evaluation that had prompted the lessons in the first place. In fact, for the first three or four weeks, Reno was almost afraid he’d gotten himself in over his head, so to speak. Swimming had always seemed to come naturally to him for some reason, and he’d had a hell of a time trying to convey to Elena what she was doing wrong when he couldn’t quite fathom it himself. Eventually, though, something had clicked with the rookie. Now, though she still struggled, he was no longer concerned about her drowning herself every time she went near the water. Even panicked, Elena could at the very least get herself to the surface and stay there.

Elena leaned her head back on Reno’s shoulder, letting him do all the work while she caught her breath. “Ready for the next round yet?” he prodded her, and she groaned. “That a yes?”

“Reno… we’ve been at it for over two hours already…”

The redhead smirked at the near-whining tone. It had actually been barely more than an hour. It seemed his rookie was starting to get a little cranky.

“Tch… Alright, fine. We’ll call it a day,” he acquiesced, and Elena moaned softly in relief. It was short-lived. Reno suddenly released her without notice and fled. The rookie flailed slightly in surprise for a moment, but righted herself casting him an annoyed glare. “Race ya…” he teased in response, and took off toward the side of the pool.

“That’s not fair!” she yelled after him, but the man either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore the complaint. Elena huffed in irritation and followed suit, catching up slightly, but having little chance of actually beating him to the edge. By the time she arrived beside him, she was out of breath again. Reno, meanwhile, didn’t seem phased in the slightest, grinning as he hoisted himself out of the water. He offered her a hand, which she quickly accepted, letting him pull her out as well.

“Same time tomorrow?”

“Do I have a choice?” Elena deadpanned.

“Nope.” His grin widened noticeably. The rookie calmly placed a hand in the center of his chest and shoved. Reno didn’t bother trying to counter it, and simply let himself fall backwards into the pool behind him with a splash. By the time he surfaced, chuckling to himself, Elena was already on her way to the locker rooms.

---

Wednesday found her at her desk. Things had been almost mind-numbingly slow for her all morning, owing in large part to Reno and Rude having been sent off the deal with an issue with the security scanners along the Midgar rail system. Someone had been very busy over the last few days, and the tampering had become obvious early that morning. What was less obvious was who had done it – though the Turks certainly had their suspicions – and how they had gained access.

Her assistance, however, had not been requested. Instead, she’d been left with yet another fairly substantial pile of reports from the backlog. She hadn’t minded helping out with mundane clerical work at first, but the more reports she entered, the more all three of her cohorts seemed to take advantage of the fact that she never really complained about it. Even Tseng was guilty of leaving more than usual in the folder for her lately. She really didn’t appreciate being treated like their private secretary… but it never seemed to be a good time to protest.

“Elena? I’ll be leaving for Kalm in a few minutes. Are you busy this afternoon?”

Elena looked up from her computer screen.

“No, sir… Not especially. Was there something you needed me to do?” She hoped desperately that it wasn’t more data entry. She was almost caught up again… finally.

“Yes, and no,” Tseng replied, smiling slightly, as if reading her mind, “I was actually wondering if you would care to get some additional flight time in.”

A grin spread over her face. “Absolutely!” She hadn’t had the opportunity since well before the holiday break. Elena rose and followed the Turk leader down the hall, snatching her coat off of the hook by the door on the way.

“What’s in Kalm?” she asked, curious as to why they were headed for the sleepy little hamlet.

“At the moment… Rufus,” he responded, sounding vaguely irritated.

“The vice president?” Her eyes widened slightly. Rufus Shinra spent the majority of his time in Junon, these days. According to rumor, it was a punishment doled out by the president himself… apparently, the young man had gotten on his father’s bad side over something in recent months, though no one seemed to know what had actually happened. What business he had in Kalm, however, eluded her.

“From what I gather, he’s decided to take a little day trip – without any security – and gotten himself stranded.” Tseng sighed in a long-suffering sort of way. “And to be honest, I’m finding it very difficult to be particularly shocked. He usually has far more common sense than that, but he’s been bored out of his mind in Junon. Were it anyone else, I would have been expecting something like this, but Rufus isn’t usually so impetuous.”

“So… it’s true, then?” Elena ventured, “The president really exiled him?”

Tseng snorted softly, laughing as they boarded the elevator to the roof. “I suppose you could call it an exile of sorts. It’s really more the equivalent of sending him to his room to think about what he’s done. He’d be bound for home within the hour if he’d simply apologize, but he can be… stubborn. As can his father. They seem to be waiting to see who will blink first, and both are thoroughly determined to emerge the victor.”

“… So… What did he do?” She suddenly found herself dying to know.

The Turk leader smiled knowingly. “I’m afraid you still lack the necessary level of security clearance. Suffice it to say… Rufus has an arrogant streak, and it’s gotten him into trouble in the past. Unfortunately, this time, it’s gotten him in trouble with the one person who can put him in his place.”

They stepped out onto the windy roof of the Shinra Building, making their way across the snow-covered platform to the helicopter. Tseng, with some effort, pulled away the tarp that had been shielding it from the wintery weather, before climbing in beside Elena.

“You’ve not yet been introduced to Rufus, I believe,” he commented, as the rookie went through the pre-flight checklist.

“No, sir… I haven’t had the pleasure.”

Tseng chuckled, and pulled the co-pilot’s harness across his chest. “I’m not sure ‘pleasure’ is the word most people would use.”

Elena looked up, resisting the urge to groan. Great… another full-of-themselves executive. “Sir?”

“You needn’t be concerned… Rufus is a far cry from Heidegger or Scarlet,” the Wutaiian said, with a subtle shake of his head, “But he can be very… ah… brusque at times. It’s no simple task to earn his respect, and he’s not shy about showing his contempt for those who haven’t.”

The engine whined to life, the rotors set spinning in the icy air.

“It’s no act, either… He really can be quite cold,” Tseng continued, “Though he does bear a certain level of respect for the Turks, even if he doesn’t particularly like all of us on a personal level.”

“… Reno?” she ventured, noting the inflection. She pulled up on the controls, sending the craft airborne and hovering for a few moments as she compensated for the strong winds blowing out of the north.

Tseng snickered. “Naturally. Though to be fair, there’s no real animosity between them. Reno simply tends to get on his nerves, and Rufus isn’t especially tolerant of it… but they can be civil enough when they have to be. Even friendly, under the right circumstances. Actually… the younger Shinra was frequently a target for Reno’s pranks. And I can assure you, he gave as good as he got.”

“Sir? Is Reno completely insane?” she asked, forcing a serious tone… though the thought of the mischievous redhead locking the vice president out on the roof over lunch or super-gluing all of his pens to his desk did make it difficult to keep a straight face.

“Sometimes I do have to wonder…” Tseng replied, off-handedly. “But that was quite some time ago. Reno was only a rookie, and Rufus was still two years away from becoming vice president of the company. Once his father made the position official, and Rufus began taking business matters more seriously, Reno had little choice but to back off. Though he still tries from time to time when he’s certain he won’t get caught in the act… and I do know of at least one incident when Rufus thoroughly outdid him, and was never found out. I’d prefer you not mention that to Reno, though. I’m quite certain he’s still convinced the fourteenth floor is haunted.”

“WHAT?” Elena nearly let go of the controls altogether as she turned to look at her commanding officer in shock. Memories of that incident were still deeply etched in her mind. She’d been so completely unable to fall asleep that Halloween that she had ended up watching infomercials until five or six the next morning in a effort to calm down. From what Reno had told her when they’d returned to work the following Monday – and he hadn’t said much, apparently preferring to never mention it again – he hadn’t fared much better.

Tseng hurried to seize the co-pilot’s controls on the off chance his revelation had distracted the rookie enough to accidentally send them into the side of the building. He smirked almost imperceptibly.

“Oh, yes… That was him up there with you two. I’m sorry to say, I wasn’t in on it until nearly the end… but your expressions when the pair of you launched yourselves into the elevator were extremely entertaining, none the less.”

Elena blinked, processing the new information. “B-but… if that was just Rufus playing a trick on us… then why is fourteen really abandoned and sealed?”

Tseng began to laugh. “It’s not really sealed, Elena. Merely locked,” he said, once he’d regained his composure. “Oh, the story I told you was true enough… with some minor embellishments on my part… but that’s not why there isn’t anyone on fourteen. The entire division was moved to Junon about a year after the murders for the sake of efficiency. Shinra has simply never gotten around to repurposing the space. It requires an access code because if it didn’t, it would almost certainly become the location of choice for anyone wishing to slack off during the workday. I’ve actually been trying to talk Heidegger into commandeering it for the Turks for training purposes.”

“I can hardly wait to see Reno’s reaction to that,” she said with a quiet giggle. The Turk leader relinquished control to her again, satisfied that she was no longer too distracted to pilot the helicopter safely.

“Mmm… I’m still not certain of the best way to break the news to him should I be successful… Perhaps sending him downstairs on his own to take inventory of any hazards on the floor.”

“At night,” Elena suggested, grinning a little maniacally, “… and unarmed.” The redhead had it coming. Monday afternoon had only been the beginning. He’d been torturing her in the pool all week. Tseng raised an eyebrow, glancing over at her.

“Just what has Reno done to incur your wrath now?” he asked, bemused.

---

“How the fuck’d they get in here?” His voice echoed off the cold concrete tunnel walls. Every access point they’d passed thus far had been secure. Those that weren’t actively guarded were at least under surveillance, and had a plethora of deterrents – a number of which were fairly lethal if you ignored the initial warnings – in operation. Much farther down the tunnel, Reno could just barely make out the screech of train wheels braking to a halt at the Sector 4 station. He tapped his electro-mag rod against his shoulder, agitated. The tunnels were a terrible place to end up in a fight… especially if you happened to be outmatched. You could only run in one of two directions, and the odds of running straight into a train were entirely too high for his taste. It was much too easy to find yourself trapped.

Rude glanced up from the terminal he was looking at. “Don’t know. System isn’t showing any breaches.” He shrugged. “Missing some log files, though, so who knows what they really did down here.”

The monitoring system truly was a work of art. It was capable of tracking someone right down to which car they were in on any given train. It could scan for IDs belonging to specific individuals… for example, those who may have been of interest to the Migar police force – or the Turks – and would notify the stations of any passengers who had somehow boarded without an ID. It monitored the comings and goings of every person who used the trains to get around… which was a pretty significant percentage of the city’s population. And it did it all so unobtrusively that most people forgot it was even there.

But apparently someone had found a blind spot… because someone had gotten into the tunnels and tampered with the system. Station engineers hadn’t discovered it until four days after the fact, and when they had finally realized something wasn’t right, it had turned into a commuter’s worst nightmare. Heidegger, in one of his rare moments of not being completely useless, had recommended clearing the passengers and shutting down all travel on the network until every train had been searched for potential threats and the monitoring system was back online. It had come back online less than an hour ago, though only half the usual number of trains were running at present, because of the Shinra personnel still working in the tunnels.

Reno was just glad he wasn’t the one in charge of coordinating the transportation disaster that had to be unfolding at the stations as the lunch time rush hour approached. Half the trains meant they’d be twice as packed. And they could get to be pretty packed to begin with… not to mention all the re-routing that would have to be done to avoid running trains through areas where people were still working.

No, thankfully, the Turks had instead been tasked with assisting in locating the saboteur’s point of entry and determining who was responsible. It had seemed fairly straightforward when Tseng had given them their orders that morning. Now Reno wasn’t so sure. Whoever it was had covered their tracks as well as anyone could have. There wasn’t so much as a grate out of place, and he and Rude had been walking the tunnels for miles by now.

The redhead sighed, and leaned against the wall. “Come on, man, hurry up with that piece of crap… time to take a break and get something to eat. I’m starvin’. And freezin’. And starvin’. In that order.”

“You’re always starving,” Rude said, smirking at his partner, “And we’ve got six more access point to check on this line.” But he logged out of the terminal, and joined the younger man at the side of the tracks. Reno had barely opened his mouth to reply to the remark when they were suddenly plunged into total darkness as every light in the tunnel blinked out.

“Oh, terrific… Now what?” he muttered, fishing his lighter out and flicking it on. Rude snorted softly and switched on a flashlight, its beam hitting Reno squarely in the face. Reno squinted in the harsh glare and pocketed the lighter. “Huh… ‘least one of us is prepared. Well, no power means no way to check the terminals. Guess this means I get lunch now after all.”

The pair made their way down the tracks, toward the nearest exit. At first, the only sounds in the tunnels were the echos of their own footsteps. They’d gone several hundred feet when that changed.

“Umm… You hear somethin’, Rude?” Reno asked, straining to catch the low rumbling noise.

“… Yeah.”

Unfortunately, neither man could determine whether the source was ahead of them or behind them. One thing Reno was certain of, however… it was getting closer.

“They fuckin’ know we’re still down here, right?” The tunnels here were narrow… a man could stand to one side and avoid being pulverized by a passing train, but it would be by a frighteningly close margin. The passage widened up ahead at the junction where the Sector 4 line joined the Sector 5 line, but until then, the safe zones along either side of the tracks were minimal. “Uh… maaaybe we better pick up the pace…”

Rude nodded, and both men broke into a run towards the junction.

Reno felt it long before he could see it. The rumbling sound quickly became a physical vibration, a tremor shaking the ground beneath his feet. Rude stumbled beside him as it intensified, and the redhead slowed his pace to let him catch up. When he looked back, a bright light broke the darkness as one of Midgar’s trains rounded a curve in the tunnel. Reno’s eyes widened, and he shoved Rude hard to one side as the engine rushed toward them.

Rude hit the wall with a grunt, his flashlight falling from his hands and dropping to the ground with what probably would have been a fairly loud crack, had his ears not been filled with the sound of the passing train and the woosh of the air as its cars careened past him. In any case, the light went out, leaving him reliant upon the flicking illumination from the train car windows to see by.

“Reno?!” he shouted, though his voice was lost to the din. His partner wasn’t beside him, and dread flooded his veins, as he began to fear the worst. Reno had still been on the tracks when he’d pushed him. Even Reno wasn’t that fast.

---

Elena eased up on the controls, bringing the helicopter close to the ground. The skids bounced, and she instinctively pulled back again, and scowled. Despite his assertions to the contrary, landing was a lot harder than Reno always claimed – and made it look – and hers still needed a lot of work. She tried again, touching down more softly this time, but still sending a rough jolt through the craft that sent both herself and Tseng forward in their seats.

“S-sorry…” she said, flushing in embarrassment.

“I think, perhaps, you should ask Reno to work with you on landings. I hate to admit it, but he might be able to convey the more subtle aspects better than I.” He smirked slightly, and added, “Of course, that’s assuming you can coax him into a helicopter with you again.”

“Oh, I think he’s over that, finally… Didn’t he tell you he made me fly Scarlet to the Gold Saucer just to scare her?” she replied, snickering as the churning blades slowed and finally stopped. Prior to that mission, she’d tried a few times to talk him into resuming her lessons when Tseng had been too busy… but each time, the redhead had sidestepped the subject with a thinly-veiled excuse and run off to perform some other all-consuming task that would keep him occupied for at least an hour or two… or until he was confident she’d forgotten about it. But she hadn’t asked him again since the Gold Saucer.

“No, he never mentioned it,” Tseng replied, looking mildly surprised. He slipped out of his harness and moved to the back of the craft to pull open the door. Elena hurried to follow as he started towards the town center. He scanned the signs that hung over the various businesses for a moment, before finally settling on a small cafe. “Ah… That will be where our missing executive is hiding out, I’m sure.”

“He didn’t say where he’d meet us, sir?”

Tseng snorted derisively. “The entirety of his call was ‘Tseng, I’m stuck in Kalm. Come and get me.’…” he replied, shaking his head, “Everything else I got from the security detail he managed to elude back in Junon. He simply assumes I know him well enough to find him without too much effort. Which I suppose I do, but frankly, I’d prefer he not make a game out of his personal safety.”

The two Turks entered the little cafe, and Elena glanced around. It was lunch time and a lively crowd filled the space with conversation and the clatter of tableware. She didn’t see vice president at first… in fact, she missed him entirely, seated at a table off to one side, until Tseng started moving toward him moments later. It seemed he’d forgone his usual style of dress for this trip, and, though she was a little embarrassed to admit it, she really didn’t know his face well enough to recognize him from a distance without his trademark white suit.

Tseng calmly came to a halt next to his table. “Sir.”

“It certainly took you long enough,” the blond man replied, taking a sip of coffee. He was seated casually, one leg crossed over the other, with his back to the wall, affording him a view of the entire restaurant. Elena wondered, briefly, if that was a matter of vigilance, or if the man simply preferred to be able to observe those around him for entertainment’s sake.

“Yes, sir. Shall we go?”

“Not yet. I’m not quite done enjoying my little outing. Sit down.” He gestured to the empty chair across from him, and Tseng obeyed the command, resting his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers before him. Elena’s eyes flickered to the other chair at the table, wondering if she should join them… but as she hadn’t been invited, she chose to err on the side of caution and clasped her hands behind her back, standing stiffly beside the Turk leader instead.

“This was not a wise choice, sir.” His voice was calm, but Elena could hear a distinct undercurrent of irritation in his tone. Rufus waved him off, unconcerned.

“I was bored. And sick to death of those useless grunts you’ve got following me around in the name of ‘security’.” His eyes turned toward Elena. “They have about as much personality as your little minion over there.”

Elena quickly bit back the retort that threatened to slip out at the not-so-subtle slight. Tseng chuckled lightly. “Have a seat, Elena. There’s no need to stand on formal protocol for the time being.”

“Er… yes, sir…” she replied, flushing a bit, though she wasn’t quite sure why, as she awkwardly claimed the seat between the two men.

Rufus eyed her again, and she could almost literally feel him appraising her value as one of Shinra’s Turks. “Leave it to Reno to pick a woman,” he scoffed and Elena felt her eye twitch. “Did she qualify based on any actual skill or simply by what she was willing to do for the promotion? She certainly looks like she’d be his type… though his type seems to include anything that could even remotely pass as female, and I’m not entirely convinced even that is actually a requirement.”

It took everything in her not to openly glare at the man. “I earned my promotion… sir,” she ground out, finding it increasingly difficult to keep her tone civil.

“Oh, of that I have no doubt,” Rufus shrugged, “I’m just curious as to whether you did so on merit or on your back.”

That was almost enough to set her off… it was only the memory of what had happened the last time she’d lost her temper with an executive that kept her in her seat and her lips firmly pressed together, albeit with thoughts of showing him exactly how qualified she was flashing through her mind.

“Clam down, Elena.” Tseng’s voice pulled her from her violent fantasies. “He’s only interested in seeing how much abuse you’re willing to take.”

The vice president regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “Why did you have to ruin it?”

“Because I have no desire to explain to your father why I’m returning you to Junon in several pieces,” he responded, smiling slightly as some of the formality between them dropped. “Elena can have quite the temper when provoked… and she is, after all, armed.”

“So am I,” Rufus commented, though his tone seemed lighter now. Elena was beginning to get the feeling that Tseng and the younger man were on much friendlier terms than he’d initially let on.

“She’s a better shot, sir.”

---

“Reno!”

It had taken less than two minutes for the train to pass by completely… to Rude, it had felt like an eternity. Once it had thundered off down the track and out of sight, he’d been left in darkness again with a sense of hopelessness threatening to overtake him. He swore softly as his hand blindly groped alongside the tracks for the fallen flashlight… though he wasn’t entirely certain being able to see again would bring him any comfort, given what might be waiting for him a few short feet away.

“Still alive…” a disembodied voice responded, somewhat tremulously, from the direction of the tracks, and Rude sighed in relief just about the same time his fingers grazed the metal casing of the flashlight. He seized it, switching it on and illuminating the area around him. “Never thought I’d be so glad to be such a skinny little twerp…” Reno stated, with a nervous laugh. He was lying in between the rails, flat on his back.

“… You didn’t really…”

“Hell yeah, I did.” He sat up, and Rude helped him to his feet. “Didn’t have time to get the fuck outta the way. All I could do was hit the ground and hope for the best. Just so ya know… not a lot of clearance under those things. You alright?”

“Fine.”

Well… if feeling slightly dizzy from the sense of elation at seeing his friend in one piece could be considered ‘fine’. Rude had never been more ready in his life to hit the nearest bar. The redhead looked like he wouldn’t have minded such a respite, either. He was unhurt, but clearly more than a little shaken.

“In that case, let’s get the hell out of here before the 12:15 comes through… I really don’t wanna do that again any time soon.”

The tunnels remained dark. By the time the pair reached the junction, and the emergency access hatch that would take them back to the surface, both were beginning to suspect that the blackout was more than just a coincidence.

“Just realized somethin’, partner…” Reno said with a groan, as Rude was was pulling on the handle that would open up their exit route. “No power means we can’t disengage the locks on that hatch. How far are we from the station again?”

The hatch swung open in Rude’s grip. “… Don’t think that’s supposed to happen.”

“Yeah… It’s not,” the younger man responded, eying the opening suspiciously and moving toward him. “Power cuts out, those things are ‘sposed to lock down tight and not open up ’til they get power again. Think we better give the boss a call. I don’t like this.”

---

Rufus polished off his coffee and leaned back in his chair, regarding the two Turks with what Elena could only guess was mild amusement. She found herself growing increasingly annoyed at the young executive’s careless attitude… Surely there were more important things she and Tseng could be doing than collecting the president’s wayward son. Well, she amended, Tseng, at least, had better things to do. She’d probably still be typing up reports right now if the vice president hadn’t decided to go sight-seeing.

“If you’re finished… ?” Tseng prodded.

“You never were any fun, Tseng. But then, neither was that mentor of yours, so I suppose it’s only natural. It’s a pity Reno tends to be such an annoying little idiot. He’s much more entertaining than you… if only I could tolerate his presence for more than five minutes at a time.”

Elena couldn’t help but scowl slightly. Thus far, Rufus had managed to insult not only herself, but Tseng andReno and – she assumed, at any rate – Tseng’s predecessor, Veld, in the space of about five minutes. It wasn’t the best of first impressions, in her book. She was shaken from her thoughts by quiet laughter to her right.

“I strongly recommend caution, sir,” said Tseng, “I think Elena is already quite annoyed with you, and she happens to be very fond of Reno. You’ve no doubt heard about her recent run-in with Scarlet. That incident was precipitated by a slight against him as well…”

“Indeed I did hear about that…” Rufus said. His lips quirked upwards into a small, self-satisfied smirk. “You were the one who made sure of it.”

“I have no idea what you mean, sir. You’re well aware that your father has forbidden discussing company business with you until he says otherwise.”

“And yet I have still somehow managed to stay in the loop…” This time, Rufus’ smile was far more genuine. Elena blinked in surprise – she had the distinct impression that the executive had just subtly thanked the Turk leader – and suddenly realized that he had turned to look at her directly. “Did you really tell that cow she ought to be working for Corneo?”

“Er… I…” Elena stammered, “I-I may have, sir…” To be honest, she couldn’t recall most of the conversation itself. Just how thoroughly fed up she’d been with the woman and her disgusting behavior. She did vaguely recall Corneo’s name having been mentioned, though, along with one or two choice rumors she’d heard about how Scarlet had gotten to be an executive in the first place.

“Hmm…” Rufus continued to study her intently, and Elena shifted awkwardly under his gaze. It was several moments before he saw fit to release her from it. “Alright, Tseng. I believe I’ve kept you from your duties long enough. You may return me to Junon now.”

Tseng nodded and stood, and Elena quickly followed suit. As the trio made their way out of the cafe, the Turk leader’s PHS began to ring. He drew it from his inside jacket pocket, and thumbed the accept button. “Yes?” Tseng frowned as he listened intently to whoever was on the other end of the line, slowing his pace toward the helicopter. “I see. Elena and I will meet you at headquarters. Have any remaining Shinra employees pulled out of the tunnels immediately.”

“Problems at home, I take it?” Rufus inquired as Tseng ended the call and tucked the phone back into his jacket.

“If you consider a malfunctioning security grid and two Turks nearly being run down by a train on what was supposed to be an inactive route a problem…” he said, darkly.

“I suppose that would qualify. Are they’re both still in one piece?”

“No one was hurt,” Tseng confirmed, “But apparently it was much closer than either of them would have liked. It would appear your day out will have to be extended briefly. Reno seems to think things are about to get worse, and I’d like to be there in the event that he’s correct.”

“Father won’t be happy to see you’ve brought me back with you,” Rufus said, smirking, as they boarded the aircraft. Elena was only too happy to relinquish the pilot’s seat to Tseng. She was improving… but not to the point that she really wanted to demonstrate her flying skills in front of the vice president.

“Not if he finds out, no… which is why you will be remaining at Turks headquarters. With Elena.”

The rookie turned toward him at the mention of being left out of the action, intending to protest.

“I hardly think someone of my position in the company should be expected to babysit your new recruit,” the vice president replied. Elena frankly couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, and Tseng’s apologetic glance didn’t give her any further insight.

---

“Come on, already, move it…”

Most of Shinra’s people were present and accounted for… at least those working in the general area of the Sector 4 station. Reno had sent Rude on ahead to Sector 5 to make sure everyone there got out safely. Sectors 2 and 3 would have to be handled by their respective stations’ personnel. They were lucky the work had been staggered… pulling their people out of the tunnels in all of the city’s sectors would have probably gotten ugly.

As it was, the crowds of passengers in the station were getting restless. He couldn’t blame them for being more than a little irritated with him for ordering the trains halted and blocking off half the platforms as the inspection teams began returning. He’d have been pissed, too. There were ten groups of two wandering around down there, though… twenty people, all of whom he was temporarily responsible for. The majority of them were milling about behind him at the moment, the ninth pair being the ones he was impatiently urging along. He was just glad he didn’t have to manage crowd control, as well. Station security was taking care of that.

The redhead glared at the darkened tunnel, wondering where the hell that last group was.

“H-help! Someone, please… help!”

“Fucking typical…” he muttered, hopping off the platform and down onto the tracks. He’d just known things had been going entirely too smoothly. Reno took off at a run toward the voice farther down the tunnel. He didn’t have to go far.

“Oh, thank Holy,” a middle-aged woman in coveralls gasped as he approached. She was supporting a young man – Reno put him at no older than eighteen or so – over her shoulder. He could barely stand even with her assistance, and in the dim light that penetrated the tunnel from the station, Reno could see that his face was ashen. The blood that was soaking the entire left side of his body probably had something to do with that. “Train came through while we were checking out one of the junctions. Missed us, but Aedi here fell onto the switch in the side-track just as it was closing,” she said as Reno took him from her, “Closed right on his arm. It’s bad.”

“I got him… Go on ahead and tell ’em to get some medical personnel down here.”

The woman rushed off toward the station. Reno’s charge stumbled, moaning in pain, as he tried to hurry him along.

“Fuck, kid… You really did a hell of a job on yourself,” he said, as he hoisted the boy off his feet and carried him the rest of the way. Reno grimaced at the way the injured arm hung limply from Aedi’s shoulder. He was betting there probably wasn’t much left there to be saved, but the kid himself didn’t look too far gone just yet. In so much agony he probably didn’t even know what was happening, sure… but assuming he didn’t bleed out at the station before they could do anything else, Reno was willing to give him pretty good odds of survival. He certainly didn’t envy the recovery period, though.

By the time they reached the station, the woman had already shoved her way through the crowd and returned with help.

“Watch it. Kid’s in bad shape,” Reno cautioned, handing the young man off to waiting hands above him on the platform. He pulled himself up onto the platform as well, watching for a moment as those better trained to deal with such things took over, before turning back to his original task… herding the remaining teams. Now that everyone was accounted for, it was simply a matter of making sure everyone got to where they were supposed to go.

---

He was sitting at her desk.

What’s more, he knew it was her desk… and he’d taken it over just because he could. Elena had responded only by wordlessly co-opting Reno’s workstation for the time being, so she could at least get started on the task Tseng had set for her – monitoring and organizing the reports that were beginning to come in from the Shinra personnel overseeing the inspection of the train system – but it still aggravated her that the vice president had decided that her space was now his space.

“Hope you drove in to work today, ‘Lena,” a voice called from the doorway, “’cause if you were plannin’ on takin’ the train home, you’re not gonna be going anywhere for awhile. And why are you at my desk?”

Elena looked up just as Reno was strolling through the door, Rude in tow. She gasped softly as she took in the bright red stain that marred his shirt and the damp, dark continuation of that stain that saturated much of his jacket’s left sleeve. Before she could either answer him or ask what had happened, however, he had moved on, his gaze falling on Rufus. “Oh… That’s why.” He grinned slightly. “Someone finally surrender?”

“No… I’m here somewhat under the radar, courtesy of your superior. Is it really necessary for you to bleed all over my building? We pay maintenance too much as it is…”

“Tch… I’m not bleedin’ on anything. It’s not even mine. Appreciate the concern, though, sir. Makes me feel special.” Rude subtly elbowed his partner as he walked past him, to which the only response the redhead gave was an unconcerned shrug. “Annnyway… Where is the boss?”

“Being thoroughly eviscerated, I imagine. Tseng forced me into hiding as soon as he heard him stomping down the hallway, but I gather that Heidegger wasn’t exactly happy that he pulled everyone out of the tunnels without approval.”

Elena refrained from commenting. ‘Wasn’t happy’ was an understatement. Heidegger had been downright apoplectic when he’d stormed in twenty minutes ago and demanded the Turk leader accompany him to the President’s office. She hadn’t seen Tseng since… though she very much doubted evisceration was something the Turk leader would stand for, particularly from Heidegger.

“Yeah? Well, I’m pretty sure the kid over in Four who’s missin’ an arm wishes we’d pulled ’em sooner.”

“Now go and say that to Heidegger,” Rufus shot back. The executive glanced at his watch.

“You gonna stop him from takin’ my head off if I do, sir?” Reno asked, and for a moment, Elena wondered if he was seriously considering it.

“No.”

“Then fuck that. Above my pay grade.” He settled himself on the corner of his own desk, looking over Elena’s shoulder as she scanned through the latest report. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rude shake his head in exasperation, and wondered just where Reno drew the line when it came to interacting with the vice president. Though, to be fair… Tseng had been far more casual around Rufus than he was the other higher ups in the company, too. It didn’t seem to anger the vice president… though with Reno, it was met with disdain or a cutting remark at virtually every turn. She found herself wondering whether or not the ‘respect’ Tseng had claimed Rufus Shinra had for the Turks really existed.

“I thought as much,” said Rufus, his tone cool. “Make yourself useful for a change, then, and tell me what’s been going on. Your temperamental little secretary over there hasn’t been much of a conversationalist.”

“Heh… that’s above her pay grade,” Reno replied, smirking. “Fine. President asks, I didn’t say anything either. Scanners on the trains have been feeding fake data back to the stations all week. No one figured it out ’til this morning. Hell of a job, apparently. I’m no expert when it comes to technical shit, but the guys who are say they wouldn’t’ve caught it for at least another week or so if somethin’ hadn’t needed rebooting or whatever over at the main transport hub. No clue where they got in, either. The computer geeks swear up ‘n down it had to have been done from one of the terminals on the line, and not from outside, but we couldn’t find any evidence of unauthorized personnel gettin’ past the security on the access points. ‘Course we lost power ’round lunch time and then damn near got run down by a train that wasn’t ‘sposed to be there, so we didn’t exactly cover every inch of the place… Pulled everyone out after that, and it’s a good thing we did. Besides the kid in Sector 4, there are two dead and one missing and presumed dead in 3 and three more injured between 2 and 5.”

“At least one of the trains that were still running was being re-routed,” Rude added, apparently correctly guessing Rufus’ next question, “We don’t know if it was random, or if it was being sent down specific lines.”

“We’ve shut down everything, now,” Reno continued, “The passengers are just about as pissed off as it sounds like Heidegger is, but not much we can do about it. Fuck only knows where those trains might end up if we just let ’em run. Move over, ‘Lena… I need in that drawer.”

Elena obediently slid over a few inches to give Reno access. She rolled her eyes when she saw what he was after.

Rufus snorted softly in contempt. “Glutton.”

The redhead shrugged and bit the head off a gummy worm. “Hey, I haven’t eaten since this morning. I need somethin’ or I’m gonna be completely useless pretty soon.”

“And that would be different from your normal self… how exactly?”

“Reno?” Elena interjected, “One of the Sector 2 inspection teams found a damaged terminal.” The report had only just been entered and forwarded to the Turks.

“Oh, yeah?” He leaned over her shoulder again, scanning through the new report on the screen. “Recent damage?”

Elena shook her head. “It doesn’t say. They were recalled before they could do much more than note that it was damaged.”

“Well, that figures. Guess someone better go check it out,” Reno said, sighing dramatically, “I’m never gonna get any lunch at this rate.” Rude stood, moving to follow him out the door, but Reno waved him off. “I got this. No sense tyin’ up half the team to go look at broken equipment. If Tseng survives Heidegger’s wrath, let him know where I’m at.”

“… You sure?”

“Tch… Already been run over by a train once today. What else could possibly go wrong?” he said, grinning.

“W-wait… what? What do you mean you were run over by a train?” Elena asked, horrified. Even Rufus raised an eyebrow at the comment.

“Ah, no big deal. Couldn’t move fast enough to avoid it, so I had to hit the deck and ride it out. Nothin’ to worry about. Right, partner?” he said, looking to Rude for confirmation.

“No comment.”

“Well… clearly, at this rate, you’ll be dead before the day is out. Should I just have HR start the paperwork for your life insurance payout now, or wait until they recover your body? I assume, that since you have no family, the company gets to collect on you.”

Elena shot the vice president a dirty look, amazed that anyone besides Hojo could be so callous. He either wasn’t paying her any attention or chose to ignore it. Reno, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, his grin widened.

“Sorry, sir. Company’s outta luck. Anything happens to me, everything goes to ‘Lena ‘n Rude.” With that, he grabbed his coat and headed out the door. The rookie blinked in surprise. She glanced questioningly over at Rude, who simply nodded.

“Hmph… Not only an idiot, but a sentimental idiot,” Rufus said with a quiet sigh, more to himself than to the others in the room. He looked over at Rude. “As… entertaining as the prospect of being sequestered here with the pair of you sounds… I think I’ll go and find something else to keep me occupied. I’ll be in my office. Assure Tseng that I’ll be sure to avoid anyone who might report my presence to my father.”

“Yes, sir,” Rude responded. The vice president stood and left their offices without further comment, moving, unhurried, toward the elevators. Once he was gone, Elena turned to her fellow Turk, curious.

“Rude?”

He shrugged. “You’re surprised? Who else would he leave anything to?”

“I… guess. But why just you and me? Why not Tseng, too?”

“Tseng asked him not to,” Rude said simply, “A long time ago.”

“Why?”

Rude shifted a little uncomfortably. As a general rule he tried to avoid these sorts of morbid topics of conversation with his fellow Turks. If he didn’t, he tended to dwell on such thoughts. “Tseng was the one who brought him in to begin with. I think it makes him feel responsible for what happens to him, so the idea of profiting if something were to happen to Reno… doesn’t sit well with him. ”

Elena looked back at the computer screen noting the three new reports that had just popped up in her inbox. “When you put it that way… I don’t think I like it much, either,” she sighed, opening the first of them.

“It’s important to him. Reno’s logic is, if something happens and he’s not here to look out for us himself, this is the best he can do. It’s one less loose end for him. I can’t bring myself to talk him out of it… He’d be hurt if I did.” Rude smirked slightly. “And he’d never let you.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked, her gaze snapping up to him in surprise.

“Same as Tseng. He’s responsible for you being here.”

Elena rolled her eyes. “It’s not like he personally recruited me. I applied to the training program, you know… I wanted to be a Turk, and I knew exactly what I was getting into.”

Rude gave a soft laugh. “I’m amazed you can say that with a straight face. You had no idea what you were getting into.”

“Hey!” Elena glared at him, plainly hurt by the implied insult. She knew she still sometimes came across as naïve, and Reno was occasionally in the habit of pointing it out to her… but Rude was usually a bit more tactful. The bald Turk shook his head dismissively and gave her a small smile.

“That isn’t what I meant. Everyone knows it’s a dangerous job… but is it really what you were expecting?”

She opened her mouth to assure him that it was… but paused and leaned back in her chair. It really wasn’t something she’d given much thought to, but if she was honest with herself… no. Being a Turk was nothing like she’d imagined as a recruit. She’d never expected to find herself part of a family so close that she didn’t dare imagine losing one of them. Or being so secure in the knowledge that whatever happened to her, every last one of them would be there when she needed them. She’d never have believed the sheer level of trust she would find herself capable of placing in someone else, or how much that trust would be reciprocated. And she certainly wouldn’t have thought it possible that anyone could know her so well… sometimes – like right now, she noted – better than she knew herself.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Rude said, chuckling softly, as Elena realized that she’d never actually answered him… and had been sitting in silence for a good minute or two. “Things are almost never the way you expect them to be. Not always a bad thing.”

“And of course… no one in their right mind would have expected what training with Reno would involve.”

Elena squeaked in surprise and jumped violently in her chair as she twisted around to face presence that had suddenly materialized directly behind her. Every time. Every damn time…

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. Reno and Rude are both so used to my tendency towards a stealthy approach, it barely phases them anymore,” Tseng stated, as a subtle grin turned the corners of his mouth upwards. She turned back to Rude.

“You could have told me he was there…” she said with a half-hearted scowl.

“Could have,” he agreed, not looking the least bit remorseful.

“In any case… do try telling Reno sometime that he bears no responsibility for you. You might find his reaction entertaining. Speaking of…” the Turk leader prodded, forcing the conversation back to the current crisis, “Where is he? And for that matter, where’s Rufus?”

“Rufus went to his office, sir,” Elena replied, grateful that the teasing over her reaction was being kept to a minimum. “Reno’s headed for the Sector 2 station to follow up on one of the inspection teams’ reports.”

Tseng nodded in acknowledgment. “In that case… Rude, I want you downstairs in the transportation division’s offices. As soon as they’ve figured out what was done, I want to know every last detail.”

“On it.”

He turned to Elena once Rude had vanished. “Was there anything else of interest in the reports?”

Elena glanced at her inbox again. Nothing new had yet arrived. “Not really, sir. But… um…”

“Yes?”

It was probably nothing… but it had been nagging at her. “It’s just… almost every report mentioned there being a train on the inactive routes. Most of them, after the power cut out. I can’t help but think… sir, is that normal? For a train to be running at all when the monitoring system is down and they can’t track its location?”

“I have no idea,” Tseng replied, arching an eyebrow in curiosity, “Send a message to Rude. Have him look into it while he’s down there. And then find Rufus and bring him back here. He’ll almost certainly be exactly where he told you he would… I doubt he’ll do anything to draw attention, but I’ve already had one angry conversation with his father today. I’d rather not risk a second.”

Her stomach dropped. “I… sir… Y-you want me to order the vice president to come back to our offices?”

“Yes. And see that he stays here,” Tseng calmly replied. He smiled reassuringly. “Rufus is stubborn, but not entirely unreasonable… In fact, I find him far easier to deal with than anyone else on the executive board. I’m sure you’ll manage. Once you’ve secured his cooperation, keep the rest of us updated as new information comes in. I have a lead of my own to follow up on. If you need me, I’ll be on 62, speaking with Mayor Domino.”

“Er… Yes, sir.”

---

Reno squeezed himself through the access hatch for the second time that day, eventually poking his head out into the suffocating darkness of one of the many Sector 2 tunnels. He turned on the powerful flashlight he’d brought with him, driving away the shadows for a short distance, and looked around. The terminal he was interested in shouldn’t have been far. He squinted down the dark passageway and smirked when he spotted the niche that held it.

“There you are, you little bastard…”

He headed toward it, sighing as he tried to not to notice the insistent growl his stomach gave. Reno hated skipping meals. He’d always seemed to burn through calories faster than the average person, even as a child. Aside from making him irritable in the extreme, going too long without eating also tended to leave him feeling mildly lightheaded and distracted – which wasn’t exactly the best combination when one needed to be on their guard. The candy had staved that off for awhile yet, but it really hadn’t made him any less hungry. Though, that, at least, he could deal with without much effort. He’d had plenty of practice ignoring the gnawing sensation of an empty belly.

And for now, that was exactly what he’d have to do.

Reno knelt down next to the terminal. At first glance, nothing looked particularly off about it… until he noticed the loose panel and the scratch marks along one side. He barely had to touch it, and it clattered to the ground, the sound echoing almost painfully in the enclosed space. Flashlight aimed into the opening, he peered around inside.

Beyond his video game habit, computers really weren’t a specialty of his – he tended to rely on Rude for dealing with that sort of thing – but, in this case, spotting the out of place component didn’t exactly take a systems engineer. It was a cobbled-together mass of wires and circuit boards that had no more right being inside the terminal’s case than would a rabid slum rat.

Without warning, the lights overheard came on, bathing the tunnel in their pale orange glow… and it became painfully obvious exactly what he was looking at when, seconds later, the terminal whirred back to life and a tiny LED panel lit up and began counting down from ten…

“Ah, fuck…”

---

Elena stood in front of the door to the vice president’s office, steeling herself for the task at hand. This wasn’t going to end well… she was sure of it. At last, she knocked firmly, and pushed the door open, pausing in the doorway, hands clasped behind her back.

“What is it?” Rufus didn’t even bother to look up from the stack of documents on his desk.

“Sir… I’ve been ordered to escort you back to Turks headquarters.”

“I prefer to stay here. And since my authority supersedes that of the Turks in general, and most certainly yours, specifically, I think I’ll do just that,” he said, glancing at her with a haughty expression. He waved her off, dismissively. “Now leave me alone. I’m busy. Surely you must have someone to kill or maim or torture. It’s what we pay you for, after all.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but Tseng said…”

“If Tseng is so terribly concerned about it, he can damn well come and get me himself instead of sending one of his little peons to do it for him. You may go and tell him so now,” he interrupted, sounding far more angry than annoyed at this point.

“Tseng has more important things to do right now,” she replied, nearly cringing at her own words. She was letting him get to her, just like Scarlet had, and she really couldn’t afford to royally piss off yet another executive. If Rufus decided to retaliate, not even Tseng would be able to save her this time.

“Oh, he does, does he?” Rufus said, casting her a dark look, and Elena swallowed sharply. He brushed his hair back and stood, slowly making his way over to her, studying her as he did so. It was no small feat for her to meet his gaze and hold it. He suddenly smirked. “Hmph… You’re not completely spineless after all…”

Elena slowly let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

“Fine… If Tseng wants to hide me away, I suppose can let him. I’m not much in the mood for an argument with Father, anyway.” He brushed past her, heading for the elevators, and the rookie hurried to follow, relieved that things had gone so relatively easily.

Which, of course, was when she heard the elevator chime, announcing its arrival on the floor.

Rufus was surprisingly quick to react. The young executive ducked effortlessly into an alcove, and was out of sight before the doors had a chance to open. Unfortunately, his sudden departure left Elena completely exposed in the hallway. Her reaction wasn’t quite so expedient.

“What are you doing here?” a wholly unwelcome voice intoned. It was a perfectly reasonable question, really… the vice president’s office was tucked away from the other executive offices, and given that the man himself was supposed to be in Junon at the moment, there was no legitimate reason for her to have been there.

“I… uh…”

Scarlet advanced on her, glowering. “I asked you a question, Turk. This is vice president Rufus’ private office. Just what are you up to?”

“Tseng… er… asked me to retrieve some… documents that the vice president requested be delivered to him,” she managed, hoping she wouldn’t be questioned any farther.

The other woman’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Oh, really? I don’t seen any documents. Leaving without them?”

“I… couldn’t find them?” Oh, yes… that sounded convincing. Scarlet smiled evilly.

“Well, maybe Heidegger can tell you where they are,” she hissed, catching hold of Elena’s arm, “Let’s go and ask him. Don’t think for a second I’ve forgotten about your insubordination… now we can add corporate espionage to the list.”

Scarlet yanked hard on her arm as she backed toward the elevator, pulling the rookie along with her… only to pause at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. The woman spun towards the source of the noise and froze, a look of shock on her face.

“I… Mr. Vice President…” she stammered, blinking somewhat owlishly.

“Stop interfering with my security detail, Scarlet. She’s here because I am. This is a brief visit… one that is meant to be secret. And if you know what’s good for you, it will remain so,” he said, leveling a dangerously calm gaze at her.

Scarlet paled slightly and released her grip on Elena.

“Y-yes… of course…”

He turned to Elena, with a look of disdain. “Well? Don’t just stand there. My business here is finished and I have no intention of spending my entire day in Midgar. We’re leaving. Now.”

“Yes, sir.” She scurried past Scarlet and boarded the elevator alongside Rufus.

“Though I do have to wonder…” the vice president said, as the doors were beginning to close, “just what are you doing skulking about outside my office while I’m supposed to be in Junon?”

The woman’s eyes widened noticeably. “I… I… was only…”

Whatever Scarlet’s excuse would have been, the doors slid shut before either of them could hear it. Rufus snorted in contempt. “That should keep her good and scared for awhile. You’re a terrible liar, by the way.”

“… Yes, sir. I know…” she said, flushing faintly in mild humiliation. As if it wasn’t bad enough he’d had to rescue her – and she was still trying to figure out why he’d bothered – she could have done without him pointing out the obvious.

He said nothing more as the elevator slowly descended, opting instead to gaze out at the view of Midgar through the glass walls of the car. Elena had always liked these elevators… There were only two of them, and they were only accessible from the secure floors of the building – and then, only to reach very specific parts of the building – so she rarely had cause to use them. But when the opportunity presented itself, she made sure to avail herself of it. Seeing that Rufus seemed content to ride in silence, she joined him in enjoying the scenery.

And when, moments later, a massive fireball erupted in the distance, she found herself staring right at it.

The vice president took a reflexive step back, eyes widening, before apparently remembering that the walls of the elevator were reinforced ballistic glass. Even if the explosion had been close enough for the Shinra Building to have felt it, the odds of anything penetrating the car would have been virtually nil. Elena, meanwhile, already had her PHS in hand, dialing Tseng.

“There’s been an explosion, sir” she said somewhat breathlessly when he answered.

“Where?”

“Sector 2, I think… It’s hard to tell from this angle.”

“You saw it? Where are you?” Tseng asked.

“The executive elevators, sir. I was just on my way back to our offices with the vice president,” she said. Suddenly another thought occurred to her, and she nearly gasped aloud. “Sir… Reno’s in Sector 2…”

“I’ll check in with him on my way.” He ended the call abruptly, leaving Elena to her own devices as the elevator arrived at its destination. She glanced out at the smoke billowing up from the Sector below, and swallowed sharply, hoping that Reno hadn’t been anywhere near that. Rufus, too, seemed somewhat transfixed by the sight. His expression gave nothing away, however, so if the other Turk’s welfare concerned him at all, she certainly couldn’t tell. “Sir?” she prodded, “If you would?”

Rufus pulled himself away from the view, and followed her lead as she made her way back to the Turks’ main office. As she pushed open the door, she half-wondered what to do with him… Information would be coming in quickly in the next few minutes, and dealing with a temperamental executive wouldn’t make sorting through it any easier. Rufus, however, didn’t appear to be in the mood for interfering, opting instead to take up a position near the window – pointedly out of the way – keeping a wary eye on the smoke plume.

Elena took a seat at her desk. Just as she’d thought, accounts of the explosion were already filtering through to the Turks. It had, indeed, been centered in Sector 2. Moreover, to her dismay, it had originated below the city streets… probably in the train tunnels. She silently prayed that Tseng would be able to get ahold of Reno, and verify that he was safe.

The door opened, and she looked up, as Tseng arrived, PHS pressed to his ear, and a decidedly concerned expression on his face. A moment later he huffed in frustration and ended the call.

“There’s no answer,” he said, in answer to her questioning gaze, “Do we know yet what happened?” She couldn’t answer at first. For a moment, she was certain she’d forgotten how to breathe. Tseng let his hand rest on her shoulder, pulling her, for the moment, from the feeling of trepidation that was quickly settling over her. “Elena… focus.”

“I… um…” She turned back to her screen, glancing through the reports. “Not exactly. It definitely came from the tunnels in Sector 2, but we don’t know what exploded. The area’s blocked off by debris, so our people haven’t been able to get in yet. There was a lot of damage topside, too, but no major injuries have been reported.”

“Get your coat. We’re going to take a look,” Tseng said, frowning, as he turned to Rufus. “I think it goes without saying, sir, but I would greatly appreciate it if you remained here for the time being.”

“Yes, fine. Go. I’m sure I can find something to keep me entertained,” he responded, still looking out at the distant destruction.

Elena had just slipped into her coat and was preparing to follow Tseng out the door when his phone rang. Her heart leapt, hoping that it was Reno finally checking in. It was a hope that was short-lived.

“You have something?” Tseng answered, and the rookie realized it must have been Rude, not Reno, on the other end of the line. She waited as he listened to what the other man had to say. “Alright. Stay there and keep an eye on it. If anything changes I want to know immediately.” He pocketed the phone and turned to her. “Change of plans… We’re going to Sector 6.”

“Sir? What about Reno?” she asked, anxiously. Tseng shook his head.

“I’m afraid he’ll have to fend for himself for the time being,” he replied, “There’s no time. I’ll explain on the way.”

He was out the door seconds later, Elena rushing to keep up. The Turk leader hit the button for the roof, and Elena blinked… apparently he wasn’t kidding. It was, at most, a forty-five minute drive from the Shinra Building to the edge of the plate… and given Tseng’s zeal for speed, and his possession of a car that was built for it, she was fairly certain he could accomplish it in significantly less time if he had to. Yet they were going by air… Whatever was going on, it must be big.

“You were right,” he said as the floors clicked by on the panel above the door. “When the transit system lost power, there shouldn’t have been any trains running. That was a very good catch on your part, Elena.”

“What’s happening?”

“Rude says the tampering was done to hide the presence of a rogue engine. It’s been running for days, circling the city. They’re tracking it now in Transportation.”

“But… why?”

“Rude isn’t sure. A traveling base of operations, perhaps? Or merely a method of delivery for something more destructive… Regardless, it’s heading for Sector 6.” They reached the roof and stepped out into the freezing cold air. “Or, more specifically, it’s heading for the Number 6 reactor via Sector 5. Soldier is already moving in, attempting to take control of the train. Our task is to see that all Shinra personnel are evacuated in the event that they fail to do so in a timely manner.”

“Then… the explosion in Sector 2…”

“Was probably a distraction… an insurance policy in case the tampering was discovered early, to keep our attention focused as far from the target as possible.”

They boarded the aircraft, and Tseng took them up, beelining for the Number 6 reactor. Elena looked down at the construction below… Number 6 had been online for years, but the Sector 6 Plate was still only partially completed. If the reactor was a target, it was an odd one. Or, she mused, a perfect one, depending on the goal… Of the eight reactors, Number 6 would have the least impact in terms of casualties. If whomever was behind this really were attempting to destroy a reactor, there would be far fewer people near 6 than any of the others. And with the incomplete plate, the slums below would be relatively safe from debris as well. Shinra Company would bear the brunt of the suffering from its destruction, not the people of Midgar.

“When we land, we’ll need to immediately start directing people into Sector 5… away from the train lines, obviously. An evacuation order has already been issued, but there’s bound to be plenty of confusion. With any luck, reactor security personnel will at least be trying to keep things organized. Nearby residences will need to be evacuated as well,” Tseng detailed to her, as the reactor loomed ahead of them, “I probably don’t need to tell you this, but should this turn out to be an attack, we don’t want to be anywhere near the reactor if it is successful.”

“Yes, sir…” Elena said, swallowing sharply, “Safe distance is a minimum of ten city blocks.”

Tseng eyed her sideways, smiling slightly. “Most people believe it’s only eight.”

Officially, the minimum safe distance in the event of a catastrophic failure at a mako reactor was eight city blocks… but that only kept you well out of the blast area. Anyone who happened to work in one of them knew the explosion generated by a failing reactor was only half the danger, and Elena’s father had helped construct the city’s reactors. Eight blocks would more than prevent you from being killed outright by an explosion… but the danger of serious mako poisoning was still significant within that radius. When she was a child, her father had always cautioned her that farther was better.

“Most people weren’t raised by a reactor foreman, sir.”

“Ah. I suggest we also route them away from streets the tunnels pass under. Soldier tends to be a bit lax when it comes to avoiding collateral damage. I expect the repair teams will be busy once this is over.”

Target in site, the Turk leader set them down just outside the massive mako reactor. An ear-splitting alarm was sounding, and personnel were already fleeing the structure as he and Elena got to work.

---

Reno coughed painfully in the smoke-filled air. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, was burning, but whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be dying out on its own. He could barely breathe.

Which, he mused briefly, wasn’t an entirely bad thing given his current predicament.

He’d really only had one option when the countdown had started. The access hatch had been too far away – even at his best sprint, he’d never have made it – and he had no idea if there was any sort of cover in the other direction, though he doubted it. That had made his decision fairly straightforward. If he couldn’t go left and he couldn’t go right, he’d just have to go down.

Unfortunately, down meant an extraordinarily cramped sewer line. One that was presently filling with smoke from the destruction above him… though at least it made it very difficult to smell what he was currently laying in. Worse still, he couldn’t get out. The narrow drain he’d slipped through – just barely slipped through, in fact – was now blocked, and unless he spontaneously learned how to transform himself into a liquid, he wasn’t getting through the heavy steel grates that were welded along the entire length of the pipe at fifty foot intervals. Somewhat ironically, those grates were meant to protect people in the tunnels by preventing industrious terrorists from moving through the city’s sewer system. For Reno, however, they were looking more and more like a death sentence.

His lunged ached, and he was starting to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen… and he was beginning to wonder if being blown up would really have been so awful. If nothing else, it would have been quick. His instincts for self-preservation, though, had forced him to act… and while he had indeed saved himself from the bomb, it was becoming increasingly obvious that he’d ultimately done nothing more than ensure a slow, and thoroughly unpleasant, death for himself instead.

Reno crawled through the fetid water in the pipe until he reached the closest security grate and leaned up against it. The pipe wasn’t even tall enough for him to sit up fully. He was drenched, freezing, covered in Shiva-only-knew-what, and wheezing as he desperately fought to get enough air… It wasn’t exactly the most dignified way to go.

He shifted his position a bit and pulled his PHS out of his pocket. The screen had shattered while he was squeezing himself through the drain The whole thing was pretty badly mangled, in fact. But, to Shinra Company’s credit, it was still functioning… he just couldn’t do a damn thing with it. It had even tormented him, a short while ago, by chirping out a garbled attempt at the custom ringtone he’d set for Tseng… but with the lack of a working interface, he hadn’t been able to answer. At least they were looking for him.

He didn’t think they’d have much luck finding him in time, though. It was obvious, from the thick smoke, that the fire was still burning, and odds were pretty good that the drain he’d entered through wasn’t the only thing the explosion had blocked off.

This was far from the way he’d pictured his end. It had always been his hope that it would happen fast, with no time to think about it… which, to be fair, was not exactly uncommon among Turks. He’d just assumed that was how he’d end up one day. No suffering… no time for regrets or fear. But it looked like that wasn’t going to be his fate after all.

Even, so… he didn’t really feel afraid. He was too ticked off to be afraid. Mostly, he was angry at whoever the asshole was that put him in this situation to begin with. That bomb could just as easily have taken out the inspection team that found the damaged terminal. Or a passing train full of people.

Or Rude, if he hadn’t insisted on coming down here alone. He was glad he’d told his partner to stay behind. If it had to happen, Reno’d prefer he be the one slowly suffocating… not one of the others. He looked down at the damaged phone in his hand. That pissed him off even more. If he had to be stuck here dying, he would have at least liked to have had the chance to say goodbye.

That was the worst part… having to lay there, thinking about never horsing around with Rude again. Never teasing Tseng for his prim and proper habits. Never hearing Elena laugh at one of his terrible jokes. He didn’t have to wonder if he’d be missed. He knew he would be… and somehow that made him feel worse. He never liked causing his family pain.

---

“I think that’s the last of them, sir,” Elena called out over the din of the moving crowd. Tseng nodded in agreement. It had taken longer than he would have liked, but they’d accomplished what they’d set out to do. All Shinra personnel, along with a number of residents and workers in the vicinity of the reactor, had been relocated to a safe distance. He pulled out his phone and dialed Rude.

“Anything new to report?” he asked when his subordinate picked up.

“Not yet,” Rude responded. “The train is still on course for the reactor, still at full speed. It’ll hit in about three minutes. Soldier has been inserted, but I haven’t been updated on their progress.”

“Understood…” Tseng resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The members of Soldier always did like to wait until the last possible second… but they usually got the job done in the end, even if their efficiency left a lot to be desired, in his opinion. That being the case, all he and Elena could do now was wait… which gave him the opportunity to ask the question that was really weighing on his mind right now. “And… Sector 2?”

“… It’s a mess. Something’s still burning, and reports have been sporadic. No one from the company seems to be in charge over there right now. It’s being left up to Midgar police and fire while we focus on the threat to the reactor.”

His shoulders sagged. That wasn’t the answer he’d been hoping for. “I see…” What he’d really been hoping for was to be told that Reno had miraculously turned up, complaining about how terrible phone reception was in the tunnels, and wondering which of them was treating him to dinner for his trouble. “Elena and I are nearly finished here. We’ll head for Sector 2 as soon as we’re clear to retrieve the helicopter.”

“… Hold on.”

“What is it?” Tseng queried, noting the serious tone.

“You’re clear now. Soldier reports the train is secure.”

“Meet us there.”

“On my way,” Rude said in lieu of a goodbye, and Tseng heard the relief in his voice. He understood completely… Right now, Tseng, too, wanted nothing more than to go and search for his missing lieutenant, and he had a feeling Elena was just as anxious. But their job had to come first.

“Elena!” he called, waving her over. As she approached, he started walking. “The train is in the hands of Soldier. Reactor security can handle crowd control from here. Let’s go.”

---

The scene wasn’t nearly as chaotic as she’d expected it to be. In fact, things seemed to be moving fairly smoothly… the city police had the area cordoned off for several blocks, injuries were being triaged and treated, and fire trucks were pouring water on the large, smoking hole in the middle of the street.

As she and Tseng approached, she spotted Rude already moving toward them, his expression as unreadable as ever.

“No one’s seen him,” he said once they met.

“Have they searched the tunnels yet?” Tseng asked.

Rude shook his head. “They just got things under control enough to send some guys down a few minutes ago.”

Elena was pretty sure Tseng gave some sort of response… but whatever it was, she didn’t hear it. She was much too focused on the group of firefighters emerging from the crater. Two of them carried a stretcher between them, its occupant sealed in a black, zippered bag.

“Oh… Oh, no…”

She felt sick. It had always been a possibility, but… somehow she’d never expected it to actually happen. And really, who else could it be but Reno? He was the only one who would have been down there.

This felt so different from the losses she’d suffered before now… It was different from how she felt when her mother had told her about the reactor accident that had taken her father, or the day her grandfather had died. Different, even, from losing Bel so very suddenly. This time, she’d still had hope, right up until she saw them carrying out that stretcher. It seemed to hit her twice as hard, feeling the loss and having those hopes dashed simultaneously. She staggered back a step, and someone caught hold of her, seizing her by the shoulders.

“Don’t act so weak,” a cool voice chastised her. To Elena, it felt like a painful mockery of Reno’s own half-serious taunting, and her eyes narrowed in fury as she roughly shook off the interloper’s grip and spun to face him. Rufus Shinra stood, eyebrow raised, waiting for her to say something… and she’d finally had enough of his cold, uncaringly superior attitude. She didn’t even think about what she was doing. Her hand clenched into a fist, and she drew her arm back. But before she could let her punch fly, Tseng and Rude had her restrained. It was two against one… a losing battle… but she tried to fight her way loose anyway.

“Elena!” Tseng’s barked in a commanding tone. “Stop. Now.” Reluctantly, Elena stopped struggling. Neither man dared release their grip on her for several seconds.

Rufus crossed his arms over his chest. “Not much self control, this one,” he commented.

“Sir… I respectfully suggest that you stop provoking her. Before my own self control fails me.” Tseng said, evenly.

Rufus snorted derisively, and shook his head. “Casualties are unfortunate… but it’s not as if you knew whoever that was.”

“Sir…” the Turk leader began, only to be unapologetically cut off by the vice president.

“We extracted that obnoxious excuse for a second in command of yours twenty minutes ago. Much to my perpetual annoyance, he’s still very much alive,” he said, with a casual flip of his hair.

It was right about then that Elena spotted an ambulance several hundred feet behind the vice president… with a very familiar shock of red lingering in the back of it. Rufus fixed Tseng with a somewhat smug glance.

“I did tell you I’d find something to keep me entertained…”

“Oh, thank Ifrit,” Elena said with a sigh of relief, ignoring Rufus’ commentary. She felt practically giddy as they made their way through the throngs of first responders and injured. Reno looked up as they approached, shivering and clutching a blanket around him, an oxygen mask on his face. He coughed harshly every now and then, sending tremors throughout his entire body.

“What? Were you guys worried about me or somethin’?” he asked, grinning weakly as he pulled the mask away. The paramedic seated next to him frowned and replaced it, as the redhead dissolved into a coughing fit.

“Is he injured?” Tseng asked medic, ignoring the teasing.

“Smoke inhalation and minor hypothermia. They’ll probably want to keep him on oxygen for a few hours.”

“Assuming they can stand to get near him, with that stench following him around,” Rufus interjected, nose wrinkling in disgust, “Hmph… It figures the slum rat’s first instinct would be to crawl into a sewer. I had to order a demolition team from Urban Development in to remove him once we locked onto his phone’s signal. They had to shut down power to six blocks to do it. And I now have a broken sewer line actively spilling into the slums. Considering the expenses the company is going to incur fixing this mess, I ought to take the cost of your rescue out of your salary.”

“That mean I don’t get a hug, sir?” Reno shot back, having finally recovered a bit.

“I doubt even she would be willing to get close enough at the moment.” He nodded towards Elena, before turning his gaze on Tseng. “If the current crisis is finally over, you may return me to my little prison. I don’t believe Father is aware I’m here yet, and it’s probably in all of our best interests that it stay that way.”

“Of course, sir,” Tseng replied, “Rude and I will transport you back to Junon immediately. Elena… accompany Reno to the hospital. And notify Dr. Ward that he’s there. She can decide whether or not his injuries warrant her personal attention.”

“Yes, sir.” She watched the three men walk away, heading for the helicopter, before climbing into the back of the ambulance with Reno. Moments later, they were on their way. The redhead sank down on the gurney, coughing occasionally. He looked thoroughly spent… though he perked up a bit when Elena reached out and stroked his hair.

“No hug from you either, huh?”

“Not until they hose you down…” she laughed. The smell really was pretty bad. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, and she briefly lost herself in thought. “I don’t get him,” Elena finally said, more to herself than to Reno.

“Who? The pretty-boy VP?”

She nodded. “The way he acts… The way he talks to people… And then he goes to great lengths to get you out of there in one piece.”

Reno pulled the oxygen mask off again, and propped himself up slightly on one elbow. “Aw, don’t let his charming personality get to ya. Rufus is okay,” he said, “And he’s usually got our backs… you just kinda gotta read between the lines with him. Kind of an asshole on a personal level, and dangerous as fuck to have as an enemy… but I trust him a hell of a lot farther than the other execs. There’s a sense of humor buried somewhere under all that ice, too, believe it or not.”

“I still don’t understand him at all,” she lamented, “I mean… I’d have sworn he couldn’t stand you. Even Tseng said you two don’t really get along…”

Reno laughed, which quickly turned into another coughing fit. It took him some time to recover, but when he did, he was grinning. “I’m not really sure Rufus actually likes anyone… ‘cept maybe Tseng, but that’s ’cause… well… anyone ever tell ya what happened to Mrs. Shinra? The first one, not the current one.”

“Not really… I kind of remember my parents talking about it when she died, but I was pretty young at the time.”

“Before my time, too. Someone tried to snatch her and Rufus while they were out shoppin’. He was probably only nine or ten at the time. Things went bad, and his mom took a bullet in the head. Rufus woulda, too, but Tseng got in front of it ‘n pushed him down. Almost died himself. He’s had kind of a soft spot for the boss since then. Heh… Soft as the guy ever gets, anyway.”

“So… he saved you because Tseng saved him?” she asked, still confused. Reno shrugged.

“Probably doesn’t hurt, but to be honest… I think he secretly enjoys havin’ me around to bug the crap outta him sometimes. If he didn’t, I’d never get away with half the shit I say to him. Rude still thinks I’m nuts for messin’ with him like that.” He coughed again and sagged back down, nestling his head in the crook of his arm. “Mind if we picked this up later, ‘Lena? I kinda feel like I’ve been kicked in the chest by one of those fucking chocobos you’re so fond of.”

“And you’re always telling me that I talk too much…” She placed the oxygen mask back over his nose and mouth, and let him rest for the remainder of the drive to Midgar General.

---

She hit the ground hard – much harder than she’d intended to – and winced as one arm was yanked roughly behind her, a weight settling over her lower back. Elena growled in frustration as she tried unsuccessfully to break the hold. Without warning, her adversary’s free hand slid beneath the bottom hem of her sweatshirt, fingers, at first, only grazing her… but then they attacked without mercy.

Elena let out an involuntary peal of laughter, and made a second attempt at escape. “S-stop it, you b-bastard!” When that attempt failed as well, she did her best to curl in on herself, desperate to escape the relentless torture as she gasped for breathe between bouts of hysteria.

“Reno… unless you’re seriously advocating tickling an opponent into submission as a viable defense tactic, would you please release her? I think you’ve won this round.”

Her torment finally ceased, and the grip on her arm vanished as Elena found herself panting to catch her breath. She was still pinned, face down, beneath him, however, and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move.

“I don’t know, boss. Seems pretty effective from where I’m sittin’… Maybe we oughta add it to standard training.”

Tseng sighed softly and shook his head. Reno always seemed more playful than usual when returning from convalescence, and he was certainly in fine form today. He’d only been out a day… Tseng wasn’t sure what had his second so anxious to get back to work. The man loathed being confined to bed, it was true… but there had been no such mandatory confinement this time around. In fact, he’d probably been perfectly fine to return to work the previous day, but Tseng had insisted he stay home. He’d found him that evening surrounded by various snack foods and aggressively targeting some sort of demon hellspawn on the screen in front of him… or what Reno would call a typical Thursday evening. He’d refused outright when Tseng had offered to let him stay home Friday as well.

“One successful takedown is hardly proof of concept.”

“Works on Rude, too,” the redhead pointed out, “Need a reminder?”

“… Try that on me again and you’ll be back in the hospital,” the aforementioned Turk deadpanned.

Tseng chuckled at the memory. It had been some time ago, and Rude had never let himself fall for the feint that had lead to the ‘attack’ again. It had been quite entertaining to see his stoic friend reduced to helpless, hysterical laughter, though. He never would have guessed. “I don’t think it would be quite so effective if the opponent weren’t ticklish.”

“Will you get off of me already?” Elena cut in. She swatted blindly at him from her awkward position on the mat, and he snickered loudly.

“Enough, Reno.” Tseng said, firmly, “Let her up.”

“Alright, alright… geez…” he muttered, pivoting over her on one knee before fluidly climbing to his feet and helping the defeated rookie to hers as well.

“I think that’s enough training for today,” the Turk leader continued, “And unless I’m very much mistaken, it’s nearly lunch time.”

At the mention of food, Reno’s eyes immediately lit up. “Finally… Hey, anyone up for skippin’ the crapeteria today and gettin’ some real food? Heard there’s a new Mideelian place over in Sector 3 that’s ‘sposed to be good…”

“I’m in,” Rude said with a shrug.

“Me, too… I’ve been wanting to try it for ages and never seem to get there!” Elena agreed.

“I’m afraid I have a prior engagement… but I’m sure you’ll be only too happy to eat enough for both of us.”

“Oooh… Hot lunch date, boss? Careful… you’re gonna make ‘Lena jealous…”

“Reno!” the rookie growled through clenched teeth, her cheeks reddening. She punched him, none-too-gently, in the arm.

“Somehow I don’t think I’m the one who needs to be afraid of our Elena at the moment…” Tseng replied, walking toward the locker rooms. He glanced back him and smirked. “And just for that, you can clean up the practice area today.”

Rude followed, sniggering softly. Elena, too, made for the locker rooms, but paused, turning to watch the redhead for a moment.

“What’s with you today?” she asked after a moment, eying him somewhat suspiciously. Reno had been decidedly more zealous and hyperactive than usual. Moreover, he’d volunteered for every little task that required more than one of them to accomplish. In fact, she was pretty sure he hadn’t let himself be left on his own all day.

“Whaddya mean?”

“I mean, you’ve been acting like you finally found a way to infuse coffee and sugar directly into your bloodstream. And you’re almost… clingy. What gives?”

Reno paused a moment in his stacking of the practice mats, and she could have sworn she saw him cringe. “I’m fine…” he replied. Elena folded her arms. “Tch… don’t give me that look…” he said, shoving another mat onto the pile. The rookie didn’t comment. “Fine… maybe I’m not completely fine, but it’s no big deal. I just need a day or two.”

“For what?” she asked, though she was beginning to think she might have a pretty good idea. Reno sighed and turned to face her, leaning back against the pile.

“You’re gettin’ to be as bad as Rude,” he said, teasingly. “He likes to corner me, too.”

“Will you please just tell me what’s wrong?”

“Nothin’, really… I just almost died, that’s all. It’s not the first time.”

His tone was joking, but the rookie could hear the sincerity behind it.

“Reno…”

He groaned softly. “You’re really gonna make me do this, huh?” When Elena didn’t budge, he sighed in defeat. “Look… I was stuck in there for close to an hour. Didn’t know if help was comin’ or not… never woulda got out on my own, either, and I knew it. That’s a hell of a long time to think about things. I honestly thought I was never gonna see you guys again for awhile there. It’s… kinda makin’ me not wanna let any of you outta my sight for too long right now. I was hopin’ no one would notice…”

“Oh… Reno… Why didn’t you say something?”

“It’s hard for me,” he admitted. “I know any of you would be there to listen to all the shit that goes on in my head sometimes, but even after all this time, I still feel like a burden any time I end up unloadin’ on someone.”

“Well, you’re not, so stop thinking that,” Elena stated, firmly, “Reno, you can talk to me any time. You wouldn’t turn me away… I’d never turn you away, either,” Reno laughed softly, and shook his head.

“Told, ya ‘Lena… I do know that. But I’ll try harder to remember it.” He tossed the last of the mats onto the top of the pile, and turned back to her. “Ya know… I never did get that hug you promised me. I know I’m kinda sweaty right now, but at least I don’t smell like raw sewage anymore.”

Elena grinned and wrapped her arms around him. Reno leaned into it, and she could feel some of the tension in his body ease. She didn’t let him go until he finally decided to pull away on his own.

~fin~