Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 32: To Dare To Dream

“Either tell me why, or get back to work,” Tseng said, firmly, his fingers steepled in front of him as he rested his elbows on top of the desk. Reno shifted awkwardly in his chair.

“Come on, boss… I really need this.”

Tseng shook his head. He wasn’t going to make things that easy. “Not without an explanation.” For the first time since he’d known the man, he was at a complete loss to explain Reno’s behavior. Friday, he’d been – not unjustifiably – angry with him for enforcing an order from above and demanding the redhead participate in an experiment for Hojo’s staff. Even Monday, he’d still been a bit short with him. But today… today he was all but pleading with him. And what he was asking for almost defied belief.

Reno sighed. “I did somethin’ stupid,” he muttered.

“And now Elena is upset with you?” the Turk leader ventured, “I hardly think that’s any reason to transfer responsibility for her training to Rude. I’m sure you’re capable of winning her back over.”

The redhead visibly flinched at that comment, and Tseng began to wonder just what was eating at his friend.

“It’s not ‘Lena that’s got the problem,” he finally admitted, after several tense seconds. “I just… can’t… right now.”

“Alright… That’s enough. We’re going in circles,” Tseng said, growing frustrated. This little back and forth had been going on for nearly twenty minutes now and at this point, he was even less certain of what was going on than he was when Reno had first walked in and asked to speak to him in private. On top of that, he was growing more and more concerned about his second-in-command’s current state of mind. “I’ve given you ample opportunity to explain of your own volition. Now… you’re going to tell me what in Leviathan’s name is going on, and you’re not moving from that spot until you do.”

The fact that Reno looked tired and pale was not lost on the Wutaiian Turk, nor was his somewhat listless demeanor.

“You can start with why you look like you haven’t slept,” he added, when Reno made no effort at responding to his demand.

“Tch… that’s easy enough to answer, at least. I look like I haven’t slept ’cause I fuckin’ haven’t. Every time I finally drift off, I get hit with another damn nightmare.”

“I see…” Tseng said, finally understanding at least part of what had his lieutenant so out of sorts. He raised a hand, rubbing his eyes. “Am I to understand that this began after the experiment you were to take part in?”

“How’d ya guess?” Reno asked, sarcasm dripping from the words. Tseng sighed, a distinct feeling of guilt taking hold of him. He truly hadn’t had any alternative but to enforce compliance with the orders he’d been given… but that didn’t make him feel any less responsible for the younger man’s present suffering.

“How bad are they?”

“… Bad enough that I called ‘Lena within about thirty seconds of wakin’ up to make sure she was still alive. And that was one of the more pleasant ones.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck, Tseng… I can handle the occasional bad dream. Even the occasional shit-your-pants-terrifying dream. But since Saturday, it’s every damn time I close my eyes. I haven’t had one fuckin’ hour of uninterrupted sleep… Hell, I’m scared to even try at this point. I can’t take much more of this shit… I’m seein’ Ward before I head out about getting something to knock me out hard enough I don’t dream at all.”

Tseng’s eyebrows rose. That Reno was voluntarily going to see a doctor was astonishing enough… but that he was willingly requesting a sedative, let alone one powerful enough to essentially render him comatose, was unheard of. The redhead hated the very idea of being unable to wake himself up… he’d always said it made him feel too vulnerable.

“What exactly happened during this dream study they were supposedly conducting?” he asked, suspiciously. If he found out that one of his Turks had been used as a guinea pig for some experimental drug, there was going to be hell to pay. But Reno shook his head.

“Nothin’ weird, aside from being hooked up to half a million little sensors. They just asked us to sleep,” he said with a shrug.

“They didn’t give you anything? Offer you anything to eat or drink?”

“Nah. ‘Sides… you know me. I don’t trust those assholes as far as I can throw ’em. I didn’t even eat the shit they brought in for breakfast after it was over.”

“You’re certain there was nothing?”

“Only way they coulda drugged me is if they somehow managed to do it without wakin’ me up.” Reno hesitated a moment. “To be fair, though… ya know how I can get when I fall asleep upset. And I kinda wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I showed up.”

“Because you were still angry with me,I assume,” Tseng sighed.

“Well… yeah, that too, I guess. But like I said… I did somethin’ stupid. And it kinda came back to bite me Saturday morning.”

“And this unbearably stupid thing you did… It concerns Elena?” Tseng asked, looking for confirmation.

“Yep.”

“And it was apparently bad enough that you want Rude to take over her day to day training…”

“That about sums it up.”

Tseng still had no idea what was going on between Reno and Elena… but whatever it was, it seemed to be weighing heavily on his lieutenant. He’d never seen Reno looking so disturbingly desperate. Whatever the real problem was, it was suffocating him. As tempted as he was to order him to work things out with the rookie, Tseng was more than a little concerned that, under the added stress of sleepless nights, he might break down entirely if he didn’t have some relief soon.

“Alright,” he said at last, and Reno looked up in surprise.

“Boss?” the redhead asked, as if he wasn’t sure he’d understood.

“Rude will take over with Elena… Temporarily,” he stressed. “I will not simple recuse you from one of your primary responsibilities indefinitely. I won’t press for details quite yet, as you’re obviously hesitant to give them, and I know you well enough to surmise that it’s for Elena’s benefit… but I expect you to sort out whatever needs sorting out with her, sooner rather than later. I trust I’ve made myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Reno replied, with a very noticeable note of relief in his voice.

“Reno…” Tseng continued, his tone softening, “I know you’re not happy with me for not trying to fight those orders. I hope it won’t stop you from coming to me in anything other than a professional capacity if you need to.”

The redhead finally managed a smile. “Relax, boss… I get that there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot you coulda done about that. We’re good.”

---

As Reno left his office, Tseng simply swapped one meeting for another, calling his other two Turks in. He couldn’t help but notice the somewhat pleading look the rookie cast at his second-in-command as they passed one another, but Reno didn’t seem to acknowledge it. He shook his head and ushered the two of them inside. Reno would be heading for Wutai shortly to deal with the final hand-off of a purchase Scarlet’s weapons lab had begun negotiating some time ago… It was straightforward and simple. Payment and pickup. Perhaps an easy mission such a distance from home would help him to clear his head a bit.

He closed the door behind his subordinates, and took a seat.

“An… unusual… situation has come up,” he began. “Rude… for the time being, I’ll be placing Elena under your supervision. You’ll be taking over Reno’s training duties until further notice.”

“W-what?” the rookie, stammered, eyes going wide. “Reno’s not going to be training me anymore?”

“… What’s going on?” Rude asked.

“It’s a personal matter. Frankly, if you think you can get the details out of him you’re welcome to try. I couldn’t.”

“…”

Elena’s shoulders slumped and she stared down at her hands.

“I want to emphasize that this is not a permanent change. Reno will return to supervising Elena as soon as he is able.”

“… Yes, sir,” Rude said, glancing over at Elena curiously. Tseng had a feeling the man was wondering the same thing he had been. He nodded.

“You’re dismissed, Rude. Elena… stay a moment, please.” Rude stood and left the office, leaving the rookie on her own with the Turk leader. “I have no intention of ordering you to explain what happened. At least not at this time. But I don’t suppose you’d be willing to be a bit more forthcoming than your partner in crime…?”

Elena, for a moment, looked like she might have been considering doing just that. But the moment quickly passed. “I… I did something stupid, sir…”

“Mmm… that seems to be a recurring theme this morning.”

---

Rude crossed his arms, staring at his friend.

“Quit it.”

He didn’t move so much as a muscle.

“Quit it.”

He stared harder.

“Seriously, man… Quit it,” the redhead repeated again, nearly whining now. “I fuckin’ hate when you do that.”

“What’d you do now?” Rude finally asked, his stance not changing in the least. Reno scowled and slammed shut the desk drawer he’d been rifling through, but then sighed.

“Why do ya always assume it’s my fault?” he asked, in a defeated tone.

“Because it usually is. And when it’s not, you’re a lot more indignant about getting blamed for it.”

“Yeah… well… Fuck you,” Reno muttered petulantly in response, mirroring Rude’s posture.

Rude smirked. “And you don’t pout when it’s not your fault. You’re going to tell me eventually. Why not just get it over with?”

“‘Cause I gotta leave for Wutai.” the redhead said, and shouldered a small duffle bag.

“…”

“Yeah, yeah… I know. I’m gonna tell ya eventually. But not today, ‘kay? Just… take good care of ‘Lena for me. I’ll see ya in a few days.”

With that, he was on his way out the door. Rude shook his head, and went back to his desk, pulling up his schedule for the week. If he was suddenly going to be wrangling Elena, he’d need to move a few things around. By the time he’d finished, Elena was emerging from Tseng’s office.

“Feel like taking a trip down to Sector 2?” he asked. His sudden acquisition of his own personal rookie did have a few advantages, he mused. Sector 2 wasn’t the safest part of the slums. He was wary of it on a good day… much less still sporting a fractured arm… and having someone along to watch his back certainly wouldn’t hurt. Particularly since his objective was in territory claimed by a man named Jericho. He and his gang had caused problems for Rude before, and it was entirely possible they’d do so again.

“Sector 2?” Elena asked, a little nervously, and Rude nodded. “I… Sure, I guess.”

He could guess why she was somewhat hesitant… he’d never made any secret of the fact that he regarded the sector as particularly dangerous, and the rookie had very little experience with the Slums in general. She’d probably heard more than a couple of stories about the place from Reno, as well.

“Ten minutes,” he replied.

---

Reno sat back and relaxed, letting the aircraft do most of the work. The weather this morning was perfect… warmer than it had been in ages, and sunny. A perfect early spring day. He even had a decent tail wind, heading west. That would save him some time and fuel.

He was planning on going direct from Midgar to Rocket Town, with a quick stop in Costa del Sol to refuel, since flying over the mountain range between the beach resort and and the former Shinra testing grounds always seemed to eat up his reserves. Then he’d have to refuel again. Crossing that last stretch to Wutai without a second pit stop was doable, but a bit nerve wracking… He knew from experience that he would inevitably reach the island on nothing but fumes if he risked it. All in all, it was going to be close to eighteen hours in the air. A hell of a long way to go just to play delivery boy.

But he didn’t really mind. Reno enjoyed flying… even on his own with no one to talk to for hours on end. He found it both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time.

And it would also give him time to think.

It wasn’t fair to Elena, dumping her off on Rude like that. It wasn’t really fair to Rude, either, but he knew his friend wouldn’t hold it against him. He hadn’t said anything explicit, but Reno could tell the man was just as concerned about him as Tseng had been. He just desperately needed a break.

As much as it irked him to admit it, Lira had been right. He’d fallen hard for the rookie. And that was going to become a serious problem if he didn’t get the fuck over it soon. It was difficult just being in the same room with her, knowing that she didn’t feel for him what he felt for her. Worse, he still hadn’t apologized for being such a complete asshole to her Sunday morning, despite having plenty of opportunities to do so the day before. Between that and the constant nightmares…

He dug the little vial of pills Dr. Ward had given him when he’d stopped by the medical suite on his way to the helipad, turning it slowly between his fingers. It was hard to believe something so tiny was going to help, but he’d never had cause to doubt Ward’s expertise before. He wasn’t about to start now.

She’d been reluctant to give it to him, but he’d persisted in his argument until she understood just how bad things had gotten. Even then, it had come with several minutes of warnings about taking too much, side effects, possible dependency if he made a habit of taking it… and her truly emphatic caution not to drink if he planned on taking it within eight hours. She’d given him just enough to see him through his mission, and informed him that if he wanted more, she would have to personally evaluate him first.

She needed have bothered… he wasn’t planning on making this a long-term solution. Reno detested the idea of medicating himself into a decent night’s sleep. Normally, he’d have avoided it at all costs… but one more night like last night and he was going to lose it. Whatever that dream study had triggered just wasn’t subsiding on its own. If anything, it was getting progressively worse.

He’d had bouts of nightmares before. But never like this. His dreams were always starkly detailed… almost tangible… but these were so vividly realistic, he was legitimately beginning to have difficulty telling the difference between the dream and reality sometimes.

He yawned, and reached for the coffee he’d brought with him to keep him alert. That was another problem. He’d woken up in abject terror so many times over the last couple of days, he didn’t feel well-rested at all. Which, frankly, was probably half the reason things seemed to be getting worse. It was a rather vicious cycle. He hoped that finally breaking it would be a reset button of sorts. He knew he’d probably have to get a room for the night when he got to Rocket Town… He didn’t much like his odds of somehow not crashing if he attempted an eighteen hour flight all at once right now. Even at his best, it really wasn’t a good idea. That’d be as good a time as any to give Ward’s sedatives a try.

Reno stretched a bit, looking out into the distance. Costa del Sol was a ways off yet, but with the strong tail wind he’d had since he left, he was making good time. Maybe he’d stop for more than just fuel and food. A few minutes on the beach… maybe a quick swim, too, while he was at it… wouldn’t hurt anything.

---

Elena gazed out the windows of the train as it wound its way down Midgar’s central pillar toward the slums below. They were such a stark contrast to the world up top. Just a few minutes ago, she’d left behind a perfectly sunny morning. Now she was entering a world where, in most places, shadows tended to linger even on the brightest of days, driven off only by mako-powered lights. It was almost like the city below existed in a perpetual twilight.

The car was empty save for her and Rude. Not surprising, given that most people with business on the Plate… or below in, in the Slums… would have made the trip a few hours ago.

“… So are you going to tell me what he did?” Rude asked, finally breaking his silence, and Elena jumped, startled.

“W-what?” she asked, blinking in surprise.

“Reno. What’d he do?”

“Nothing,” she replied, sinking down into her seat. “It was my fault, not his. If he’d just let me talk to him…” She been trying to talk to him since yesterday… but the redhead had been studiously avoiding giving her the chance to catch him in private, and then he’d gone out somewhere after work. She’d finally given up watching for him to get home around midnight.

Rude shook his head, confused. “So… you’re not mad at him, then…”

“No… I’m not mad. If anyone should be mad, it’s Reno. But I don’t think he actually is. He’s just really… hurt. And it’s all my fault.”

“Was wondering why you told me you couldn’t make it for Shadow & Sword the other night… Must be pretty bad if you didn’t feel like watching.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if he’d just let me explain!” she said, frustrated.

“Think you’re gonna have to corner him to get him to talk to you.”

“What? Why?”

“Because he’s stubborn as hell sometimes,” Rude said, smirking slightly. “Want some help?”

“Yes! Please…” Elena cried, eternally grateful for a friend like Rude.

“He won’t be back for a few days, at least. Can’t do anything ’til then. Try not to think about it for now.”

“Easier said than done… It’s all I’ve been thinking about since Saturday.” She sighed, and glanced out the window again. The Sector 2 station was just ahead.

“Right now, you need to think about your job. Sector 2 is dangerous,” he pointed out, before adding, “Don’t worry. He’ll talk to you. I’ll tie him to a chair for you if I have to.”

---

Reno woke with a sharp cry, panting softly as he tried to piece together where he was. He finally calmed as the warm sand and gentle waves came back into focus.

“Son of bitch…” he muttered, annoyed. He’d let himself get a little too relaxed, and ended up drifting off. At least no one had been around to see that. This little strip of beach was as deserted as it was when he’d arrived.

He’d left the copter for the Shinra personnel at the harbor to deal with, and then wandered off to enjoy what Costa del Sol had to offer for a little while. The bar was out… for a couple of obvious reasons… so he’d headed for the beach and the invitingly clear blue water. He’d found the secluded bit of beachfront on a previous trip, and had been pleased to see that it had remained much as he’d last left it.

It hadn’t required much debate on his part as to whether or not he should strip and head out into the waves. In fact, it really hadn’t been so much a debate as it was the little voice in the back of his head practically screaming at him to get in the water. He’d hesitated perhaps half a minute before tossing his clothes into the shade of a palm tree and diving in. He knew he couldn’t stay long… but damned if he was going to miss out entirely.

When he was done, he’d stretched out in the shade to dry off… and apparently fallen asleep. Reno sat up, sitting cross legged on the sand, and dug his PHS out from the pile of discarded clothing, glancing at the screen in search of the time. He’d been out for twenty minutes or so.

“Thank Ifrit I fell asleep in the shade…” he sighed. Twenty minutes under the tropical sun with no sunscreen on would have roasted his poor, fair-skinned self alive. And explaining a full-body third degree sunburn when he returned to Midgar would probably have been almost as painful as the sunburn itself. He stood and brushed the sand from his bare skin before dressing. He’d had his little break… now he had to get back in the air. Rocket Town was still at least six hours away, and he wanted to make it before dark.

---

“How’s your arm?” Elena asked as she kept pace with Rude through the winding streets of Sector 2. The stoic man gave a light shrug.

“Still aches. And itches.”

He’d been in a cast since the spider incident almost three weeks ago. The break had been a bad one, but Ward was confident it would heal nicely, given time. She’d seemed almost relived that it had been Rude and not Reno who’d been injured… Elena got the distinct impression that Rude was a much easier patient.

“Still nervous around the elevators?” he asked in return.

Elena stopped dead, eyes widening as a very noticeable red hue tinted her cheeks. “Y-you know about that?” She’d thought she’d been so careful not to let on about that lingering fear. Rude paused and turned back to look at her.

“The building has cameras everywhere…”

“You’ve been spying on me?!” she asked, a little disturbed by the fact.

“I spy on everyone,” he replied, smirking, “It’s what I’m good at. Just happened to see you a couple times looking like you rather do anything than get on one. Wasn’t that hard to figure out why.”

“That’s… a little creepy, Rude,” she said, laughing softly. He shrugged again and smiled before finally continuing toward their destination.

“Someone has to do it.”

Elena fell in step beside him again. “It’s not as bad as it was…” she admitted, “The more I use them, the easier it gets. The one outside our main office still creeps me out, though.” That had been the one she’d been pulled out of. It had long since been repaired, and any evidence of the attack completely erased… but it still seemed to have a bit of an uncomfortable aura around it to her.

“We’re coming up on gang territory,” Rude suddenly said, “Daytime is usually alright, but don’t let your guard down. Keep your weapon out of sight unless you need it.”

Elena quickly put her own issues on the back burner for the time being. She wasn’t down here for a friendly conversation. She and Rude were supposed to be extracting one of his informants who’d run afoul of a dangerous gang. Rude frowned but didn’t alter his pace.

“We’re being followed,” he said simply, his voice pitched for her ears only. She hadn’t realized it at first, but now that it had been pointed out to her, she immediately knew he was right. There was someone behind her, watching. More than one someone, in fact, she was pretty sure, and she fought the instinctive urge to turn and draw her weapon.

Ahead of them, two men stepped out of a side street, blocking their path. Elena swallowed sharply as she realized that she recognized one of them. He was large… heavily muscled. And just as heavily tattooed.

“You’re on my turf, Turk. You wanna keep goin’, gotta pay the toll. Ya wanna turn tail… still gotta pay the toll.”

Elena didn’t even have to look back to know that they’d been penned in.

“What’s the going rate today, Jericho?” Rude asked, calmly, sounding almost bored.

“Well, it was gonna be a hundred gil… but then you decided to show up with that pretty little kitty…” he said, eying Elena, and someone behind her wolf-whistled.

“Sounds like we’re going to have a problem, then.”

“Plannin’ on fightin’ us off one-handed?” Jericho asked, and several of his cohorts snickered. “What happened, anyway? Pussycat too much of a tease? Get a little too enthusiastic havin’ her keepin’ ya company? Hope that’s not all ya damaged…”

Rude snorted in amusement and turned to her. “Aim for his friend. But don’t kill him yet.” Jericho was beginning to laugh, but Elena already had her gun drawn and aimed. The shot was fired before the man even realized what was happening.

His cohort dropped to the pavement screaming, and the laughter died on Jericho’s lips. Elena adjusted her aim, keeping him directly in her sights. She’d only shot the man in the thigh. He’d live… though he wouldn’t be walking quite right for awhile.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” Jericho growled.

“You should think before you do anything stupid. She doesn’t miss. Neither do I at this range.”

Jericho glared at him, but seemed to realize that with only himself and the two men behind the Turks, this wasn’t a fight he was going to win. He grabbed his fallen comrade by the collar, hauling him to his feet. “Quit whinin’ ya son of a bitch… or I’m leavin’ ya here,” he muttered before shoving him forward, back into the alley they’d come from. The other two similarly disappeared.

“Better make this quick. He’ll be back if we stick around too long. Probably with more friends.”

The two Turks set off again, and Elena quickly found herself getting a little turned around by the winding path Rude was taking. She did recognize the pattern, however… it was standard, to throw off a tail, and she wondered if they were really being followed of if he were only being overly cautious. Eventually, though, he slowed, and began taking a more direct route.

“Rude? Why not just take that guy out?” she asked.

“Same reason we don’t take out Corneo in Wall Market, or the girl who runs the bar Avalanche hangs out in over in Seven. They cause us problems, but killing them wouldn’t be to our benefit. Corneo has a lot of uses… information, security for the sector, easily manipulated into doing us a favor now and then… Take away the girl in Seven and Avalanche finds a new hideout that we may or may not be able to locate.”

“And Jericho?”

“We take him out, there’s two or three others gang leaders in Two that are going start fighting over his territory… a gang war doesn’t help anyone.”

He had point. Jericho was obviously dangerous. And violent. But if other factions started fighting in the streets over who was going to succeed him, a lot of innocent people would get hurt needlessly. Rude stopped in front of a crumbling building and headed up the steps, pulling open the door. Elena trailed him down a dimly lit hallway to a narrow staircase, and they climbed up to the second floor. Soon, they were standing in front of room 203. He knocked… and waited.

“Who ya lookin’ for?” a woman’s voice called out from inside.

“Dominic,” Rude replied, without further comment.

“Don’t know any Dominic. Fuck off.”

Rude sighed. “Fine. But I’m not coming back for him again.”

There was a commotion behind the door, and frantic whispering, and finally the door opened a crack, stopped short by the security chain.

“Oh, thank fuck… I was startin’ to think you were just gonna leave me hangin’ out to dry,” a young man said. He closed the door, and Elena heard the soft rattle of the chain as it was removed. It opened again, and he ushered them both inside.

He was thin and short, with dirty blonde hair that hung over his eyes. He had a twitchy, wired way of moving, as though he subsisted on nothing but caffeine and cigarettes… which judging by the state of the little apartment, might not have been far from the truth. A woman… slightly older, with plaited brown hair and too much makeup… stood off to one side, arms crossed, looking exasperated.

“You takin’ him?” she asked. Rude nodded. “Good. I’m sick of the fucker. If he weren’t my brother I’da tossed his ass out on day one.”

“I have a place for you in sector 4. Should be safe there,” said Rude, “She coming, too?”

“Fuck no…” the woman replied, interrupting her brother before he could answer. “I got a business to run. Last thing I need is to relocate. Now get this idiot outta here, will ya? Before he uses up all my product.”

Rude checked the hall, then waved Dominic and Elena out. The woman followed her brother to the door. As he was leaving, she turned to Rude. “Hey… Try ‘n keep my asshole brother in one piece, will ya? He’s a giant pain in my ass, but… family’s family, right?”

“Love ya, too, Lyla…” Dominic said.

“Oh, fuck off already,” she replied, and disappeared back into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Elena blinked, not quite sure what to make of Dominic’s sister.

“Let’s go,” said Rude, and the three of them slipped back down the stairs and out onto the street.

They’d nearly made it to the station when it happened. A man with a baseball bat went for Rude… and two more, one armed with a pipe, the other with a long knife, swept in from an alley, heading for Dominic. Rude blocked his attacker, surprising him by taking the full force of the blow with his cast, and retaliating with a headbutt that send the man staggering into a cluster of garbage cans. He shoved Dominic behind a dumpster.

Elena took down the man with the knife… a bullet to chest ensuring that he’d stay down… but the other managed to slip behind her. She only just avoided taking a pipe to the head. He was fast. Almost as fast as Reno… and definitely faster than her. He caught her from behind, holding the pipe across her neck, choking her as he held her in place. She twisted away, but a moment later a fist caught her in the face, and she reeled back, blood gushing from her nose. A second punch sent her to the ground.

A gunshot rang out, and the attack against her suddenly stopped. The man fell forward and remained motionless on the pavement.

She glanced back, and caught sight of Rude, gun in hand.

“Thanks,” she said, pinching her nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“You alright?”

“Mostly.” Elena got to her feet. Rude turned back to the first attacker, hauling him out of the pile of trash.

“Tell your boss Dominic’s leaving the sector. If he knows what’s good for him, he won’t try to find him,” he said, before shoving him back down the alley the other two had come from. The man scurried off, terrified.

The trio boarded the next train for the sector 4 slums, settling into a car, and Elena finally was able to relax a little. Rude handed her a handkerchief, and she pressed it gratefully to her still-bleeding nose.

“Hmph… Hope that heals fast. Reno’s going to be pretty ticked if I give you back to him damaged…” he said, smirking.

---

Reno groaned and rolled over, grabbing a pillow and pressing it against his face to block out the light. He’d forgotten to closed the damn curtains last night. Finally, swearing under his breath, he gave up trying to reclaim the sweet comfort of absolutely dreamless sleep and sat up. He dragged himself to the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes.

Ward’s little miracle pills had done the trick. He’d slept like a rock… and though he was immensely grateful to have not woken up screaming for a change, he still felt a bit uneasy. Rocket Town wasn’t the quietest of towns in the morning… and by the looks of things, when he finally deigned to glance out the window, morning had been well underway for some time now. Those pills really had knocked him out cold. If he hadn’t been so desperate for some rest, he never would have risked leaving himself so vulnerable.

He sighed and stretched as he stood. That was just how it was going to have to be for now.

“Hope you slept okay, too…” he murmured as he tucked El safely into his bag. He’d considered leaving her behind in Midgar, concerned that the little bunny might be too closely associated with Elena… but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. Mr. FooFoo had always traveled with him when possible. It was a long-standing habit. A silly, and admittedly childish one… but one he’d sorely missed after his first bunny’s untimely demise, all the same.

Showered, dressed, and fed, an hour later Reno was making his way to the helicopter. He was looking at anywhere from six to eight more hours, depending on the weather… and he was getting a later start than he’d planned on. At this rate, he would still make the planned rendezvous that evening… but he certainly wouldn’t be doing any sightseeing on the way there.

It wasn’t really a problem… just a minor inconvenience. It meant that he would have to hunt down a place to stay afterwards instead of before the meeting, and probably an unbearably late dinner as well. He settled himself into the cockpit, and fired up the engine.

---

Elena held an ice pack against her eye as she tried to type out her report on yesterday’s mission with one hand. It wasn’t likely to do much for the bruising at this point, but at least it helped alleviate some of the residual throbbing. That second punch had done more damage than she’d initially thought. When she woke that morning, her left eye had been ringed in deep purple and nearly swollen shut. Her nose didn’t look much better… though thankfully, Dr. Ward had already verified that nothing was broken. The stitches the good doctor had used to close the gash over her eyebrow, however, did nothing to improve her appearance and the cut across the bridge of her nose had scabbed over and looked awful.

“I hope you’re feeling better than you look right now,” Tseng teased lightly, setting a mug of tea on her desk.

“I guess that depends on how bad I look, sir…” She set the ice pack aside and picked up the cup, taking a sip.

Tseng chuckled. “I’ve seen worse. I’ve looked worse, for that matter.” He leaned against the edge of her desk. “I have a small task for you, if you’re feeling up to it.”

“As long as it doesn’t require me getting hit in the face again, I’m up for it, sir,” she replied, drawing a laugh from the Turk leader.

“I think you’ll be fairly safe in that regard. I want you to find out everything you can about one of Hojo’s staff. A Dr. Thaddeus Skarn. I’d like to know who he is… his area of expertise… what he’s presently working on in Hojo’s labs, if at all possible, though I suspect that will be highly classified. Rude may be able to help you if you run into any serious roadblocks… but he’ll be occupied much of the morning. I’ve been summoned to Junon for the day, or I’d be looking into this myself.”

“Is there anything in particular I should keep an eye out for?” she asked, wondering what his interest was in someone working for Hojo.

“I am particularly interested in what he might be researching, and his methods of conducting that research. Hojo’s files on his projects will almost certainly be sealed, but Skarn may have published work from before he began working for Shinra. Just locate whatever information you can, and try not to draw attention. I would prefer word not get back to either Skarn or Hojo.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.”

“Thank you…” He hesitated for a moment. “Elena… I don’t want to pry if I don’t have to. But you will let me know if there’s anything I can do to help resolve whatever this issue is between you and Reno, won’t you?”

“Yes, sir… But I don’t think it’ll come to that. I just need to get him to sit down and listen to me for five minutes, instead of running off every time I come close to getting him alone.”

“Would you like me to tie him down for you?” Tseng asked, smiling gently. Elena giggled.

“Rude’s already offered, sir.”

---

The sun was setting as Reno touched down in wide valley a short distance from the Wutaiian capitol city. It would be a bit of a hike, but he didn’t want to draw too much attention to his arrival. He was meeting his contact at the commercial docks on the side of town tourists rarely bothered to venture into.

Reno opened the secure cargo area, pulling out a metal case and flipping up the latches on either side of the lid. He laughed softly and shook his head. Twelve million gil. It was a little impressive, seeing that much cash in one place. Whatever it was Scarlet had bought, he hoped it was worth it. He also hoped the sellers weren’t late to the meeting. Lugging twelve mil around a tourist trap like Wutai wasn’t his idea of a good time. He snapped the case shut and shoved it into a backpack, shouldering it and climbing out of the helicopter.

It was dark by the time he reached the place. He was cautious as he made his way past the moored boats, and racks of fishing nets. Few people were still around to see him pass by, but even so… he didn’t exactly blend in in this area. At last he found the dock he was looking for. Two figures stood silently at the end of it, beside a dark speedboat.

Reno paused beneath the light of one of the dockside lamps, holding his hands out to show he wasn’t holding a weapon, and then calmly approached the two men. As he drew closer, he could better make out their faces… and he nearly stopped right where he was in surprise.

“Ah, you have gotta be shittin’ me. You two?” he groaned, “Don’t tell me… I’m buyin’ back the same goddamn materia you assholes stole in Veraheim.”

The Zenshou traders. The same two that had been harassing Elena’s family, and had had the nerve to shove him in a box and stick him in a hole in the ground. One of the men laughed. “Traded for in Veraheim. Though, I do think we got the better end of that bargain. I doubt you would have fetched nearly as much. Quite the coincidence, running into you again, I’ll admit. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings about that… business is business, after all.”

“Yeah, yeah… Ya outmaneuvered us, plain and simple,” he muttered, before adding, “Buryin’ me was was bullshit, though. Didn’t much appreciate that.”

“Our apologies for the inconvenience,” the second Wutaiian said, “You have our money?”

Reno removed the case from his pack, opening the lid for them.

“You got my materia?”

One of them held out a lacquered wooden box. He lifted the hinged lid, and in the dim lamplight, Reno could make out the glint of a single crimson orb. He nodded in acknowledgment and snapped the case closed, stepping forward slowly. The trader did the same, his partner remaining motionless behind him, and the redhead was fairly certain that if he did anything foolish, he’d regret it instantly. The money was exchanged for the materia, and the traders both stepped back towards their boat.

“As always, a pleasure doing business with Shinra Company.” The pair climbed aboard and started the engine, disappearing into the night. Reno shook his head. It just figured.

“Whatever,” he sighed, walking back up the dock the way he’d come from. Once he was safely back in the shadows, he opened the box and removed the materia sphere. It was roughly the size of his palm, and glowed with a faint light. Summon materia… both rare and dangerous. He vaguely wondered what sort of creature it summoned. Judging by the decoration on the box, some sort of dragon certainly wouldn’t be out of the question. He wasn’t about to try and find out, however. He moved to place the sphere back into it’s container.

Without warning, a shadow dropped from above, landing squarely on top of him and forcing him to the ground. His head slammed into the wooden decking, leaving him momentarily dazed.

“Yoink!” a high-pitched voice cried, nimble fingers plucking the materia from its confines. “So long, loser!” His attacker leapt to their feet and took off at a sprint back towards town.

“Hey!” the redhead growled, pausing only long enough to shove the empty box into his pack before tearing off after the thief. “Get your sorry ass back here!”

His thief was fast… but he was faster. It took him some time to gain ground on the mysterious person, but it wasn’t long before they made the mistake of turning down a dead end alley. The thief came to a halt a few feet before the end.

“Now I gotcha…” he spat, “Give that back and maybe I won’t fuckin’ skin ya alive.”

The thief rounded on him, and the Turk was a little astonished to suddenly be face to face with a young Wutaiian girl. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Reno held out his hand.

“Ya got balls, kid, I’ll give ya that,” he said, advancing toward her, “But this is the end of the line. Hand it over.”

“Yeah… In your dreams, ya knucklehead…” she said, grinning. She lashed out at a rope he hadn’t noticed until just then, slicing through it with a small blade concealed in her palm. Reno suddenly found himself on a the ground again as a heavy fishing net fell, taking him down. As he struggled to free himself, the girl climbed to the roof of one of the buildings blocking them in.

“Finders keepers, jerk,” the girl taunted him, and vanished. Reno finally managed to throw aside the net, and got to his feet. With an angry growl, he scaled the wall after her, looking around in all directions when he reached the rooftop. He spotted her silhouette in the moonlight, several buildings away, and moving fast, and he wasted no time in resuming his pursuit.

She was headed inland, towards town, he realized… and if she got there, he’d have a hell of a time finding her. He had to head her off. With that in mind, Reno risked a jump that normally he would have shied away from… and only just made it safely onto the next roof, fingers catching hold of the edge and allowing him to drag himself up. The EMR that had been holstered on his belt, however, didn’t quite make it. It caught against the edge of the roof as he was pulling himself up and tumbled to the ground two stories below.

“Oh, that kid is so fuckin’ dead…” he muttered to himself, making a mental note of where it landed. He’d have to retrieve it later.

The shortcut did save him some time, however… and allowed him a clear path to circle around the girl. He moved swiftly from rooftop to rooftop, careful not to let her out of his sight for more than a few seconds. If she disappeared on him, he might never see that materia again.

Finally, he was even with her, racing just outside her field of vision to keep up. He saw her glance back in the direction he’d have been if he’d followed her own path across the roofs, and realized that she hadn’t noticed that he’d flanked her. As she slowed her pace, Reno grinned and darted into the shadows.

The girl settled herself on the edge of a tiled roof overlooking the river, pulling out her prize and gazing at it in the moonlight.

“Ultimate Ninja Yuffie, one… Fred the Red, zero.” She smugly tossed it into the air, planning to catch it… only someone else beat her to it.

“Name’s Reno, not Fred… and I’ll be takin’ that back now, brat.”

“Hey!” the thief whined, jumping to her feet. She swung at him, but Reno was ready for it. He dodged, and gave her a casual shove backwards… right off the roof. The girl squealed in alarm as she toppled into the river with a loud splash.

“Find a new line of work, Ultimate Ninja Yuffie,” he yelled down to her.

“H-help!” she shouted in response… not exactly what he’d been expecting to hear from her. Though judging by the way she was flailing, dropping her in the river might not have been the best idea. Reno shrugged… It was her own fault. You steal from the Turks you end up paying for it. He stood, arms folded across his chest, and watched as her head disappeared below the water.

On the other hand… she was just a kid…

Reno sighed in resignation. Thief or not, she was barely more than a little girl. He just couldn’t do it. He tucked the materia into his pack, and jumped in after her.

Moments later, he was dragging her out onto the bank as she coughed up river water.

“Some ninja…” he muttered.

“Knew I should’ve paid more attention to water escape lessons…” she gasped, flopping onto her back. Reno rolled his eyes.

“Congratulations. You’re not dead. So long.” He checked that the materia hadn’t decided to go for a swim as well, and then turned to leave.

“H-hey… wait!” He glanced back, and the girl was on her feet. She threw herself at him, arms wrapping around his waist in a tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you… You totally saved me back there,” she intoned, squeezing him. Reno snorted, and peeled her off of him.

“Yeah, well… Don’t need a dead kid on my conscience. You try that shit again, though, I’ll fuckin’ drown ya myself. Now beat it.”

The girl grinned and vanished into the night without another word. Reno set the materia back into it’s box, and placed the box into his pack. At least that was over. Now all he needed was some dry clothes, some dinner, and a nice soft bed. But first, he should let Tseng know that he’d secured the item. His hand went to his pocket for his PHS. Unfortunately, the phone was gone.

He realized a moment later, so was his wallet. His eyes narrowed angrily. That conniving little brat…

“Goddamn it! You thievin’ little moogle flea!” he shouted at the darkness. He’d been played. She was probably never in any trouble to begin with.

“Sucker!” a voice called out from far in the distance. He’d never catch her a second time. Swearing loudly under his breath, he made his way back toward where he’d lost his mag-rod, hoping that,at least, might be recoverable. He couldn’t wait to get off this Ifrit-forsaken island.

---

Elena yawned and rubbed her eyes… wincing as she rubbed the bruised one just a little too vigorously. With any luck, Reno would be back sometime today or tomorrow. She’d been mentally rehearsing what she planned to say to him all night. Needless to say, she hadn’t slept very well.

“Not you, too…” Tseng sighed, when he noticed. “At this rate I’m going to be in command of an elite team of zombies.”

Rude chuckled quietly from across the room.

“Sorry, sir… I’m just anxious to talk to Reno. That’s all,” said Elena.

“Mmm… speaking of which. Rude, has he checked in yet?”

Rude shook his head. “Haven’t heard a thing.”

Tseng frowned in response. He’d asked the redhead to contact him once the transfer had been made… It was plausible that he hadn’t had the opportunity last night or that the meeting had been briefly postponed, but by this morning, they should have had some word from him.

“Call him.”

Rude pulled out his PHS, intent on dialing his partner, but before he could do so, it rang. He raised an eyebrow at the display that now read ‘Unknown Number’ and answered.

“Rude here…”

“Hey Rude… Gonna have… keep this short… Got… –tally shit service… here…” The connection was terrible. Reno’s voice was barely recognizable, and hard to understand.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Still… Wutai. Tell Tseng… picked up Scarl–… –ing goddamn package… stole… fuckin’ PHS… little brat… Gonna kill that… hands on her… ‘Lena?”

Rude snickered softly. At Tseng questioning glance, he smirked.

“Bad connection. Reno has our purchase. And he’s either had his phone stolen, or he’s planning to kill Elena.” he said, switching over to speakerphone.

“… funny… asshole…” Reno’s garbled voice commented.

“Let’s assume the former for now,” Tseng replied, chuckling. “What’s your ETA?

“… Wutai in a few… stop in… –et Town… home prob–… tomorrow.”

“We’ll see you then,” said Tseng. The call dropped off, and Rude tucked his PHS back into his pocket. “Elena… submit a request to security to have Reno’s phone remotely wiped, then requisition a replacement, please.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, “… Oh, sir? I have that information you wanted on Dr. Skarn.” She handed him a thick folder.

“Ah… Good.” He took it, flipping through the first few pages. “Thank you, Elena.” The Turk leader carried the folder off to his desk without another word, sitting down with it and beginning to read. Rude cast Elena a questioning glance, to which she could only shrug.

---

The more Tseng read, the more suspicious he became.

Thaddeus Skarn… doctor of neurology, chemistry, and biology. One of Midgar University’s top graduates, as well as one of their youngest doctorates, with a rather impressive list of publications for a twenty four year old. A rather significant number of them concerned controlling dreams through the application of chemical compounds.

Elena had been unable to access any project data since the man had joined Professor Hojo’s team, but what she had found left him feeling uneasy. His instincts had been telling him that the experiment Reno had been recruited for was more than a simple dream study from the moment the redhead had told him about his ongoing nightmares. The background information on Skarn and his research only reinforced his belief that his lieutenant had been drugged somehow.

He was not happy about it.

Tseng briefly considered taking his complaint to Heidegger… but dismissed the idea almost as soon as it occurred to him. At best, all he’d get form Heidegger would be an empty promise that it wouldn’t happen again. No. Hojo had gone over Heidegger’s head, and he was going to do the same.

He quickly set to drafting an email to Rufus, requesting a meeting.

---

The helicopter touched down on the roof of the Shinra building shortly after three in the afternoon on Friday. Though it had been a hell of a long flight, he hadn’t stopped for the night in Rocket Town after all. He’d simply refueled and gone on to Costa del Sol. If he hadn’t, he would’ve had to have left at an ungodly hour that morning to make it back to Midgar while it was still daylight. Not that he had anything against flying at night, but frankly, he was anxious to be home… and he’d be home that much earlier if he only had to make the trip from the resort town the next day.

Plus he’d gotten in a little more time on the beach before he’d left.

But it had also brought back a plethora of memories revolving around Elena. Costa del Sol had been her first undercover mission. It had also been the first place he’d come dangerously close to getting her killed, and he remembered clearly how badly that had affected him. And it had been the first vacation… of sorts… they’d taken together on the way home from her grandmother’s cabin. Granted, he’d returned to Midgar horribly sunburnt after that… but she’d spent half her time there diligently looking after him. It really hadn’t been an altogether unpleasant experience, having her so concerned over him.

In the end, he realized, even if Elena didn’t want to be with him, she was always going to be there for him… so long as he didn’t stupidly push her away. He’d been perfectly happy, before their night together, regarding her as a younger sister. It had been enough for him then. It was just going to have to be enough for him again. That night would have to become a pleasant memory, and nothing more… or he risked losing her entirely.

The redhead sighed, steeling himself for the inevitable reunion. It would get easier with time… he just had to make it through today. And the next day. And the next. Eventually, it would be like that night never happened. He wasn’t entirely sure that was what he wanted, but it was what had to be.

He picked up the box containing the summon materia and headed for the elevators. When he reached Turks headquarters, he shoved open the door, grinning widely.

“Hey, ‘Lena… you’re never gonna believe what I bought…” he began, catching sight of her at her desk, before pulling up short, eyes going wide. “What the hell happened?” he breathed. The flesh around her eye was badly discolored by a bruise that looked to be several days old. It was still a deep purple in some places… almost black in others… with a mottled yellowish ring along the outer edge. A handful of stitches held together what looked like a nasty cut above the same eye.

“… Ran into some trouble down in Two…” Rude piped up from the opposite side of the room. The redhead’s eyes narrowed.

“For fuck’s sake, Rude… You’re in charge of her for four fuckin’ days, and she’s already beat all to hell?”

“Actually I believe he was only in charge of her for a couple of hours before that happened…” Tseng pointed out, emerging from his own office at the sound of the redhead’s voice.

“‘Kay… that’s it. Rude, you lost your rookie privileges. I’m takin’ her back.”

Rude smirked slightly. He’d known Reno would never be able to abandon Elena to someone else’s supervision for long. “Too bad. I was starting to like having one of my own.”

“Now that that’s settled, I trust you have Scarlet’s purchase?” Tseng queried. Reno held out the wooden box.

“T-that’s not… ?” Elena gasped, recognizing it immediately. Reno opened it, and lifted out the materia orb.

“Yep. Told ya those Zenshou assholes were plannin’ on sellin’ it back to us. And guess which Zenshou assholes showed up to make the trade, too…”

Tseng took the box and the materia, placing the orb back in its container. “I’ll see that this gets to Scarlet… before she comes down looking for it herself.” He headed for the door. “Rude… I believe you now have a task to perform for Elena,” he added, with a smirk.

Reno eyed his mentor curiously as he left… which was why he never saw Rude as he calmly moved behind him, and seized hold of his arms.

“Hey! What the fuck, partner?” Reno shouted, as he tried to break his hold. Rude was significantly stronger, however, and the redhead suddenly found himself facedown on the couch. Cold metal snapped around his wrists, and was tightened securely before his belt was removed and wrapped around his ankles. Reno squirmed in a desperate attempt to get loose, without success. “What the hell’s goin’ on?” he asked, angrily, when Rude lifted him off the couch and sat him down on the chair at his desk.

“All yours,” the bald Turk said to Elena, with a snicker, before turning and leaving them alone in the office.

“What’s this all about, ‘Lena?” Reno asked, clearly annoyed at the rough treatment.

“Sorry…” the rookie replied, “It’s just… you wouldn’t talk to me. And we really need to talk. So Rude kinda suggested… tying you to a chair.” She giggled softly at the ludicrousness of it all.

“Cute.”

“I’ll let you loose if you promise not to run out on me again…”

Reno huffed, but finally nodded, and Elena produced a handcuff key, freeing his arms. The redhead released his feet himself, tossing his belt onto his desk for the time being. The rookie took a seat on the couch, and motioned for him to join her, which he, somewhat hesitantly, did.

Elena leaned over and gently cupped his cheek in her hand, pulling him in for a soft kiss.

“Don’t…” Reno whispered, “Just… don’t.”

She winced at the pain in his voice. “Reno, I – ”

“Please, ‘Lena… Don’t. I know you not doin’ it to be cruel, but it was hard enough hearin’ you say this wouldn’t work once already. So just don’t.”

“I really hurt you, didn’t I?” she said, sadly.

“My own fault… Just forget about it. It’s fine.”

The rookie narrowed her eyes, angrily. “No it’s not!” Elena nearly shouted. “It’s not okay to just try and ignore how you feel because you think it’ll make me happy. It doesn’t make me happy.”

“… Then what would?” he asked, after a moment of silence.

“I’m… not sure. But not this,” she said softly, gently forcing to look at her. Elena bit her lower lip, trying to decide what to tell him. “Lira came to see me. Saturday night.”

Reno eyed her cautiously. “What’d she tell ya… ?”

“Exactly what I needed to hear, I think,” Elena replied with a quiet snicker. “You’re right… she really doesn’t hold back at all. And she sort of called me out on a few things.” She let the back of her fingers glide along Reno’s cheek. “I never wanted to hurt you. I guess I just figured you’re so… used to one night stands, it wouldn’t even phase you. And I shouldn’t have just assumed that. I know you well enough to know that you’re a lot more sensitive than you let on. And the truth is… I think the only reason I did it was because I started thinking too much. I started thinking about some of the women I’ve seen you with and how I can’t even come close to comparing. And about how you wouldn’t even have to try to find someone else any time you wanted to. And mostly… mostly I started thinking about how being with you meant that I’d be just one insignificant person among all those women I can’t compare to. And how I just couldn’t stand that.”

“I’d love to hear ya name one woman you can’t compare to… ’cause I sure as fuck can’t,” Reno said, softly. Elena blushed.

“You don’t have to say that…”

“I’m not. ‘Lena… Look. I know I have a reputation. And I’ve earned it, believe me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how different you are from pretty much every woman I’ve ever met. So yeah… when you told me you didn’t want things to go any farther between us, I was… crushed. ‘Cause for the first time in my life, I desperately wanted more than just one night with someone.” He paused for a moment and then laughed softly. “Goddammit, Lira…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Elena asked, slightly amused.

He shook his head. “She fucking told me awhile back that I’d eventually have to admit to myself how I really felt about you. Now I’m gonna have to tell her she was right. She’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

She joined him in laughing, but quickly sobered. “So… Where does this leave us?”

“You tell me. You already know what I want.”

“I think… I think I want the same thing…” she said, hesitantly.

“So then what’s holdin’ ya back?” he asked, confused.

“Selfishness,” she replied, snuggling against him. “I hate the idea of… sharing you.”

“Who told you ya have to?”

“Weren’t you the one who less than three weeks ago said, and I quote, ‘I don’t do the whole boyfriend thing’. Something about it requiring too much monogamy?” she smugly pointed out.

Reno groaned. “I said that ’cause ya caught me so off guard and I panicked a little. It’s kinda my go-to response when a date gets a little too… attached.” He smiled and let his hand drift slowly along her arm. “Is that what you want? To have me all to yourself?”

“I just don’t think it could work for me any other way.”

“Then you can have me.” The redhead suddenly gave a dramatic sigh. “I just hope the secretarial pool doesn’t take it too hard…”

“I think they’ll somehow survive,” Elena deadpanned, before turning serious again. “Do you really mean that? Am I really worth giving all that up?”

“All what? Casual, meaningless sex? Don’t get me wrong… it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Some of those secretaries are surprisingly flexible…” he replied, grinning widely. Elena shot him a dirty look, and he leaned in and kissed her, “But I’d much rather have you. You’re a thousand times better than any secretary.”

Elena’s arms wrapped around him, pulling him close, and Reno sighed.

“Ya know… it’d be just my luck to find out I fuckin’ fell asleep again, and this is another goddamn dream.”

“It’s not,” Elena replied. “I promise it’s not.”

“I hope not… ’cause if it is, I don’t wanna wake up.”

The rookie smirked slightly and pinched him, hard, on the back of the hand.

“Ow! What the fuck was that for?” the redhead asked, glaring.

She grinned. “Just proving that you’re not dreaming…”

He rubbed at the sore spot. “Okay… so I’m not dreamin’… Geez, ‘Lena… first ya tell me you never meant to hurt me, then ya practically tear out a chunk of skin…”

She giggled and took hold of his hand again, softly kissing it where she’d pinched him. “Better?”

Reno reached for her, his fingers stroking her hair back from her face. He smiled. “Much.”

Elena suddenly blushed. “Y-you know… we’re going to have to tell Tseng and Rude something. I mean, they’ve got to be driving themselves crazy by now trying to figure out what happened that made you so upset.”

Reno shrugged. “Tch… We’ll tell ’em later. Tseng’s probably got it halfway figured out anyway, and I’m still kinda pissed at Rude right now for lettin’ you get hurt. ‘Sides… we’re off duty in a couple more hours. I’d rather spend my time thinkin’ about what I’m gonna be doin’ this weekend.”

“And just what is it you think you’re going to be doing this weekend?” she teased.

“Depends,” he replied, grinning widely. He held up the handcuffs Rude had restrained him with, “I’m givin’ very serious thought to puttin’ these to good use…”

“Ugh… Pervert.” Elena giggled.

~fin~