Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 34: Recovery

“Not again…” Elena sighed. Reno shrugged, and shouldered his pack.

“Sorry… but orders are orders.”

“This is the fifth time…” she pointed out, clearly annoyed. “I’m starting to think Tseng has it out for us.”

Reno snickered and took her hand, gently raising it to his lips. “Pretty sure he doesn’t.” It was getting a little aggravating, though. This was, indeed, the fifth time he’d had to break a date with her in barely two weeks. The first time had been a little unavoidable. He hadn’t been in any shape to go out after being rescued from the mountain side.

The other four… those were the ones that were starting to tick him off.

First, it had been a dinner date that had been derailed by an emergency call… which, naturally, had turned out to be a false alarm initiated by an overzealous security guard at President Shinra’s residence.

Then, their whole weekend… a weekend he’d planned on taking her to a fair in Kalm… was over before it had even started, because of Rude’s network of informants. One of them had located the man they’d been interested in talking to in regards to helicopter crash that had ruined the couple’s previous date. Reno had been sidelined, as Ward had not yet cleared him for field work, while the rest of the team spent the better part of two days futilely chasing after the target, only to lose track of the bastard when he’d disappeared into Wall Market. They had reluctantly broken off the pursuit and fallen back into a holding pattern, waiting for him to surface again. Thus far, not even Lira had yet heard anything regarding his whereabouts.

And just two days ago, their rescheduled dinner date had to be called off due to Elena unexpectedly being needed to replace Tseng as Juliet Shinra’s personal security for the evening… She’d refused to allow a male to accompany her on the premise that she didn’t want to give any sort of credence to her stepson’s accusations of infidelity. Reno got the distinct impression that the tantrum had been all for show… but she was the president’s wife, which meant she got her way.

And now tonight was shot, too. So much for Petrified Zolom. Now that his injuries were healed… or at least healed enough that he’d been cleared by Medical to do something more than sit at his desk all day… he was heading for Junon until Friday to babysit Rufus while additional upgrades were made to the vice president’s security.

It was becoming frustrating… and not just because of the canceled dates. It had also been close to three weeks since they’d last had the chance to be intimate. Elena had flatout refused another lunchtime rendezvous, apparently permanently traumatized by the last time… and since the discovery of sabotage on the helicopter, they’d all been putting in extra hours, which often led to them leaving work too tired to want to do much of anything that required more effort than lifting the TV remote. Not that the redhead had never gone that long – or considerably longer – without sex before. He wasn’t a nymphomaniac, for fuck’s sake… but, his relationship with Elena was new, and new left him feeling so very eager to experiment and explore.

Beyond his own sexual frustration, though, he felt bad for Elena. He didn’t really care how they spent their time together – though he certainly had a few ideas… Reno was just happy to be in her company, regardless of what they ended up doing. But he knew that she wanted to be romanced once in a while… something he was more than willing to do if it would make her happy, but all of the opportunities for things like that had fallen through lately.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he continued, “We’ll do somethin’ this weekend. Promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she replied, pulling away and turning her back on him.

“‘Lena…” He frowned, hurt by the cold reply.

She sighed again, and turned back to face him. “I know… I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I just want to finally spend some time alone with you! It seems like all we’ve been doing lately is running ourselves ragged chasing shadows. We’ve hardly had any time to ourselves.”

“Come’re,” he said softly, pulling her into his arms. His fingers comfortingly stroked her hair as he held her, before gently tilting her chin upwards to kiss her.

“I suppose I should have realized this would be an issue sooner or later,” a voice interrupted.

Elena jerked slightly in his embrace, surprised. Reno snickered quietly… he’d already noticed the Turk leader’s silent and unassuming approach before the man had spoken. Apparently, Elena hadn’t.

“Relax, boss… I’m headin’ out right now. No need to personally drag me outta ‘Lena’s arms…”

“Actually, I came to ask you to wait, as I had decided to come with you,” said Tseng, “I don’t entirely trust Rufus to listen when you tell him to stay put in his quarters… He’s been in a decidedly foul mood since the increase in security, and I don’t think it wise to leave him unattended while you’re sorting out the new changes. I doubt he’ll take off again, but given the way the two of you typically interact…”

“He’s not gonna just sit around and behave himself for me, is what you’re sayin’,” Reno finished for him.

“Essentially.”

“‘Kay, so when are we leavin’, then?”

Tseng smiled. “We’re not.”

“Uh… Wanna run that by me again?” the redhead asked, confused.

“You’re taking Elena instead… whom I trust can be ready to leave for Junon in a timely manner?”

“Y-yes, sir!” The rookie grinned widely and darted out the door to gather what she’d need for a couple of days out of town.

“And as for you…” Tseng added, turning to his lieutenant with a hint of a smirk, “I expect professional decorum. I will assume you can use your best judgment as to what is and is not appropriate.”

Reno grinned. “Are you seriously lecturin’ me about behaving myself on an unsupervised, overnight trip with my girlfriend?” he teased, “When the hell’d you adopt, ‘Lena, Tseng? Ya sound like an overprotective father who doesn’t like the asshole his kid’s dating…”

Tseng calmly clasped his hands behind his back, fixing his lieutenant with a steady gaze. “If it’s too much of a temptation for you, I can always reconsider,” the Wutaiian Turk warned.

“No… No, we’ll be good,” Reno replied, raising his hands in surrender. “Look… Thanks. I’ve really been missin’ spending time with her since things got so hectic.”

“I know. And I hope this helps alleviate that somewhat. We make a lot of sacrifices for our job. This shouldn’t have to be one of them. I’ll see you both on Friday.”

---

Rude had to try very hard not to let himself be sidetracked by the gentle but insistent pressure against his lips and the skilled hands slipping inside his jacket as he found himself being pushed, somewhat blindly, into a candlelit room. Fortunately for him, much of the attention ceased once the door closed behind him. Slender fingers still held him by the tie, however, pulling him over to the bed, and the Turk obediently followed her lead.

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that this little visit is meant as business for me, and not for you…” she said, flirtatiously.

“… Your message said you’d heard something.”

Lira sighed. “You Turks… Get a woman goin’ and then all you wanna do is talk,” she said, grinning, “Yeah… I heard somethin’. I was expectin’ Reno to show up, though.”

“He’s on his way out of town on another matter. This couldn’t wait.”

It used to be that Lira would only deal with Reno. She had been slow to warm the rest of them, as, in Wall Market, betrayal of a client’s trust could be extremely detrimental to one’s finances. Or one’s ability to breathe, depending on who you were betraying. It had only been within the last couple of years that she’d come to accept Rude as an occasional substitute for passing along information when the redhead wasn’t available… though she still had a distinct preference for her old friend, and, for some reason, remained a bit wary of Tseng. Elena, on the other hand, she seemed to have taken to almost immediately, and Rude really wasn’t sure if it was by virtue of her being a fellow woman, or because of Reno’s feelings for the rookie.

“Ah, well… Hey, how’s he gettin’ on with Elena? I haven’t heard from him much lately.”

Rude smirked. “Hard to say. We’ve been busy.”

“Hmm…” Lira studied him for a moment. “You know somethin’ I don’t… Spill.”

“… I’m just here for information.”

“And I’m just askin’ for a little information. Seems like a fair trade to me.”

The bald Turk sighed, shaking his head as he quickly decided what Elena wouldn’t kill him for sharing with the woman. “It’s hard to pry those two apart anymore… and he’s started calling her his girlfriend.”

A wide grin spread over Lira’s face, and she gave a little squeal of excitement. “Finally! Ugh… I swear to Shiva, if you’d told me that boy still hadn’t worked things out with her yet, I was going to give him such a kick in the balls!”

Rude snorted in laughter. He had a feeling the woman may very well have meant that. “Your turn.”

She trailed a finger teasingly down his chest. “It’s all business with you, Rude… You’re even worse than Reno. ‘Least he flirts back, even if he doesn’t let it go anywhere when he’s workin’.” She paused, cocking her head to one side in thought. “Guess I’m not really gonna be gettin’ anywhere with him now, workin’ or not.” She turned her attention back on Rude, a predatory smile spreading across her face. “Hmm… You’re still single, though… right?”

He cleared his throat, and tried to back away, only to find that she still had him by the tie. “Lira… the information?”

“Ya know… I’ve never really been much for the strong silent type, but you’re actually kinda cute when you’re caught off guard…” she purred. Her fingers caressed his cheek before nimbly stealing his sunglasses, “You have such pretty eyes, Rude…”

“…”

“You sure I can’t interest you in a little somethin’ while you’re here?”

Rude’s eyes widened slightly. Lira was almost always a little uncomfortably suggestive – even moreso than Reno could be, much of the time – but she’d never actually outright propositioned him before. He vaguely wondered if her forwardness had more to do with her sudden loss of the redhead to another woman than it did with how pretty she thought his eyes were.

“Oh, alright. Be that way,” she giggled before he could answer, rolling her eyes. The woman held the ill-gotten sunglasses out to him, and Rude quickly took them back before she changed her mind, slipping them back into place. “Your guy’s been hangin’ out at a boarding house in the residential area last few days… paid off one of the girls here to let him crash and not say anything. He took off this mornin’. Headed up to the Plate. Told her he’s got a sister up top he needs to pay a visit to. Guess the way he said it musta scared her a little, ’cause she came straight to me after he left, knowing I’d been askin’ around about him.”

“… Thanks.” He awkwardly plucked the end of his tie from her grasp, and straightened it before standing.

“Whoa, now… wait a minute, honey. Don’t get me wrong, I’m good, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a customer walk out of here in under five minutes,” Lira said, pulling him back down onto the bed next to her. “I’ve got a reputation to think of. Don’t want anybody gettin’ the wrong idea ’bout what we’ve been up to in here, now do we?”

“…”

---

“Better…” Reno commented as Elena maneuvered the aircraft so that the skids of the helicopter touched down on the helipad.

“You know something? I think this new model’s actually easier to land than the old one.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me… I’ve been beggin’ for an upgrade for somethin’ like three years now. Military gets all the cool shit, n’ we get their fuckin’ hand-me-downs. Too bad we gotta give this one back once they replace the executive copter.”

“You could always crash the old one, too…” she teased.

“… ‘Lena, don’t go puttin’ ideas like that in my head. I’m just crazy enough to consider it,” the redhead laughed, releasing himself from the safety harness and moving to open the door. “And anyway… havin’ somethin’ that’ll do ninety percent of the work for ya is great and all, but I kinda want you to learn to do it yourself, first.”

“I guess…” Elena stepped down from the aircraft. “Wow… I can never get over how much bigger this place is than it looks like from the air.”

Reno shrugged. “Yeah. It’s got nothing on Midgar, though. Not even when ya take into account lower Junon and the reactor.”

The pair walked along the flight deck, heading for the main administrative building. That was where, if he was actually doing what he was told for once, they would find Rufus.

“I’ve never been down to lower Junon…”

“Eh… It’s kinda just a nicer version of the Slums, really. Not as fallin’ apart, though, and the people that live there aren’t quite as jaded. I’ll take ya down, if you want… assuming we get some free time while we’re here. They’ve got some decent shops down there.”

Elena broke into a fit of giggles, and for a moment couldn’t stop.

“What?” Reno asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“It’s just that… I’ve never had a boyfriend who offered to voluntarily go shopping with me before.”

Reno snickered. “I’ve never had a girlfriend before. I don’t know any better.”

“W-wait… you’ve never had a girlfriend?” Elena asked, blinking in disbelief.

“Nope.”

“But… what about Lira? I always kind of thought…”

“Nah… Me ‘n Lira have always had more of a friends with benefits kinda thing goin’. We were never really together. I mean, I guess there was a while where she was the only person I was sleepin’ with, but that was more ’cause I was an inexperienced kid who was just glad to be gettin’ some,” Reno said, mildly amused by her curiosity.

“So… I’m really your first girlfriend? Ever?”

“Yeah… why?”

Elena smiled warmly and and took hold of his hand. “I don’t know… It just makes me feel a little bit special, that’s all.”

“Come on… You were already special. That’s why you’re my girlfriend.” He suddenly groaned as he realized what he’d just said. “Tseng was right. I am startin’ to sound like a fuckin’ romance novel. ‘Lena, if this gets any worse, please promise me you’ll put me out of my misery… I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life talkin’ like everything I say was written by some lonely forty five year old woman fantasizin’ about gettin’ laid.”

“No way,” she giggled, “I like romance novels, remember?”

“Oh, dear Ifrit, I’m doomed…” he replied with an exaggerated moan. Elena grinned, gripping his arm and pulling him along. He laughed slightly. “Hey, go easy on that arm… I only got rid of the damn sling yesterday, and I do not wanna have to explain to Ward how I managed to dislocate it again already. You in a hurry or somethin’?”

“The sooner we get started, the sooner we can take a break. And the sooner you can take me to lower Junon.”

Reno shook his head, chuckling. “‘Lena… I’m just as anxious as you are for some down time, but keep your mind on the job right now, will ya? It’s important. ‘Sides… if Tseng starts thinkin’ that we can’t be professional when we’re together, I can guarantee ya that I’ll be stuck handlin’ out of town missions with Rude from now on instead. He’s happy for us, but there are limits to what he’ll tolerate.”

“I know…” she said with a sigh, and fell back into step beside him. She snickered quietly as they stepped through the doorway. “Weird… Usually, I’m the serious one.”

“Heh… ya just can’t get enough of me, that’s all,” Reno teased, “I know, I know… I’m impossible to resist. It’s a curse sometimes.”

The rookie rolled her eyes. “Oh, give me a break…”

---

Rude had notified Tseng of their target’s apparent intents before he ever boarded the train back to the Plate. The Turks leader was already en route to the Shinra residence to check on the president’s wife. He leaned back in the seat, arms crossed, deep in thought.

He’d been doing quite a bit of digging on their target, one Jessup Malloy. A demolitions expert in Shinra’s military for nearly four years, he’d been injured after a charge exploded early, costing him his right hand and the vision in one eye. Shinra had paid the rather hefty price tag for an advanced prosthetic to replace the missing limb, but Malloy had ultimately left the military and moved on to a civilian job in Urban Development’s construction unit, often being floated to offsite mako reactor projects that required the removal of large amounts of rock or other debris before construction could begin.

Malloy’s father, as it turned out, was also Juliet Shinra’s father, Jessup having been the product of an affair the man’d had in Kalm. The affair had come close to destroying the marriage of Juliet’s parents, and her father eventually paid off his mistress and sent her and the baby away to Mideel, preferring to try and salvage his first family. He’d been involved in a fatal car crash three years later… Juliet had been only five at the time.

When Malloy had been fired for assaulting his supervisor a year ago, he’d simply disappeared. Rude had been unable to find any trace of him in Midgar during that time up until he’d met with Avalanche, looking to join and been turned away. His best guess was that he’d left the city to plan… whatever it was he was planning. Disgruntled employees could be unpredictable.

He had also been thoroughly unable to uncover any evidence of contact between Juliet and Jessup. It was entirely possibly that the woman didn’t even know she had a half-brother, though he wasn’t quite willing to stake his reputation on that. Lira had even implied that Malloy intended his sister some sort of harm… which, given that his father had essentially tossed him aside in favor of her, wasn’t an outlandish notion by any means.

Still, though, Rude wasn’t willing to dismiss the possibility that Juliet was involved with him in some way. Rufus’ accusations of gold digging did have merit. The young heir might not have had proof of her cheating on his father, but Juliet certainly wasn’t in love with the man. She was in it for the money and power, plain and simple, and, frankly, Rufus was really her only obstacle at this point. And he’d made it clear that he wasn’t especially willing to share. It gave his step-mother quite the motive to try and take him out… and an arrangement with her half-brother would give her the means to do so, as well.

Right now, though, that was all conjecture. Rude had no proof of anything. Hell, he couldn’t even say with any certainty that Jessup Malloy was even involved in the attempt on Rufus’ life, though he’d long ago learned to trust his instincts on such matters. And right now those instincts were telling him that Malloy was someone who, at the very least, needed to be detained and questioned.

The train finally arrived at the station, and Rude disembarked, making his way through the lunchtime crowd. Tseng had requested he meet him at the Shinra residence as soon as possible. He didn’t intend to keep his superior waiting any longer than necessary.

---

“Oh, wonderful… It’s you two again,” Rufus commented dryly, glancing up from the book open on his lap. The same one, Elena noted, that he’d been reading when they’d found him in Kalm. She vaguely wondered when he’d managed to retrieve it from the crash site. “If you’re planning another helicopter ride for this afternoon, you can count me out.”

“Aw… and I was gonna let ‘Lena do the flyin’ this time,” Reno responded, and pointedly ignored the other man’s snort of contempt. “Relax. We’re just here to oversee the security upgrades. Heh… well, I’m here to oversee the security upgrades. ‘Lena’s here to babysit.”

Rufus scowled at the Turks second-in-command, and closed his book, setting it aside. “Watch your tone, Turk. I may be exiled, but I am still vice president of Shinra, and I can always have you demoted to building security…”

“Yes, sir,” the redhead said, though he didn’t seem overly concerned by the threat… which only further annoyed the executive. “In that case, I’ll leave you in Elena’s capable hands and head out to see how badly they’re screwin’ things up downstairs.” He flashed Elena a grin as he turned to go, before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Try not to kill him.”

If Rufus heard the comment, he chose to ignore it. The rookie shook her head, somewhat aghast at Reno’s overly casual treatment of company’s second-highest-ranking executive.

“Well?” the blond man broke in on her thoughts once he was gone, “Don’t just stand there like a worthless lump. If I’m stuck with you for company today, I intend to make good use of you.”

“S-sir?” Elena queried, uncertainly. He pointed at the desk that sat in the center of the office space.

“I detest paperwork. And since I seriously doubt that you’ll be doing anything other than sitting around pining for that redheaded manwhore of yours, you can take care of it for me. I want it sorted by department, then by priority. If it doesn’t need a signature, file it. Anything that appears to require immediate attention, set aside, and I’ll see to it later this afternoon. I assume you’re capable of managing such a relatively simple task as that?”

The rookie’s eye twitched and she had to bite her tongue before she said something she knew she’d regret. “Yes, sir,” she finally replied, taking a seat at the vice president’s desk, and picking up the first sheet on the pile. It seemed to be a memo from reactor maintenance detailing the most recent inspection of the facility… which it had passed with flying colors. Informational only. Nothing that needed attention. She set it aside to file.

Rufus, meanwhile, settled back into his chair and returned his attention to the book.

---

The first thing Rude noticed as he approached the Shinra residence was that the elaborate gate that kept the general public from getting too close to the family’s home was unlocked and hanging slightly open. His eyes narrowed behind tinted lenses and he drew his gun, just in case. It wasn’t like Tseng… or the security personnel for the house, for that matter… to leave things unsecured.

He closed the gate behind him before making his way cautiously up the driveway on foot, keeping to the cover of the hedges that lined it. He paused just long enough to send a short message to Tseng’s PHS… coding it just to be sure that no one else could understand it. There had been no reply by the time he reached the front door. Rude frowned and skirted around towards the back of the residence. Even a fresh rookie wouldn’t have been foolish enough to walk in the front door under such circumstances.

When he encountered no security on the grounds, he began to worry. Tseng had insisted on regular patrols and a visible presence. He should have seen at least a guard or two by now. Suddenly the back door was looking almost as unappealing as the front. He glanced upwards, eying the second floor balcony above him, and internally groaned. He was not a climber… Reno was much better suited for that sort of thing. In fact, the redhead probably would have already been up there in the time it took Rude to consider what a pain in the ass getting himself up was going to be.

But… it was by far the safest point of entry. Rude shook his head and slipped over to the side of the building.

---

He really should have insisted on lunch first. Skipping meals was never good for him, and he would have finally had the chance to sit down with Elena for a little while if they’d gone for something to eat beforehand. But no… he’d been in a hurry to get started on this, simply because he knew that the longer these guys were left unsupervised, the more work he’d end up having to do in the long run… and he really did want to make good on his offer to take Elena down to lower Junon later.

Reno sighed as his stomach growled at him again, and turned to direct the maintenance personnel installing the new security cameras to point them at the doors… not the fucking wall.

“Come on, man… I don’t wanna be stuck doin’ this all day anymore than you do, but at least pretend like ya give a shit,” he muttered, irritably. After this, they still had the main entryway, and the executive residential wing… as well as Rufus’ office. Rufus’ private quarters were being outfitted with an updated alarm system, and the office would have a panic button installed. To be honest, Reno thought the whole thing was a bit overkill… Junon was already about as secure as secure got. As long as the vice president didn’t take off to parts unknown yet again, he was probably even safer here than he would have been in Midgar. Personally, he was beginning to think implanting a tracking device in the son of a bitch would have been far more efficient. Or hell… put the little shit on a leash.

Tseng hadn’t been too keen on that idea, though. Unfortunately.

Which left Reno here in Junon. His orders were to oversee the upgrades… and that’s was he was going to do. He still wished he’d grabbed something to eat first, though. It was past time for lunch, and dinner was a long way off.

To be fair, though, that was only a minor inconvenience. On the whole, he couldn’t have asked for an easier assignment, which he had to admit, was a nice change of pace. Thanks to Elena, he didn’t even have to deal with Rufus today, for the most part. He grinned slightly to himself at the thought of her having to put up with the snobbish executive all afternoon, and wondered if he’d return to find them at each others’ throats. He was pretty sure Rufus would play his usual little game of insults and threats, winding the rookie up until she was ready to punch him in that smug face of his. He half-hoped she’d actually do it… though he didn’t envy her having to explain that to Tseng.

Reno was actually rather fond of Rufus, truth be told… but he wasn’t above seeing the bastard taken down a peg or two every once in awhile. For all his cold aloofness, the vice president could occasionally make for decent company, as long as you kept in mind that he didn’t really mean half of what he said to you. Rufus lived to provoke. And he’d been trying to provoke a reaction out of the redhead for years… mostly to no avail, because Reno had figured out his game a long time ago and generally refused to rise to the bait. It had resulted in an interesting relationship between the two, involving mutual bickering and an unspoken acknowledgment of some level of respect on both sides. Reno usually found it more entertaining than annoying… though there were times when he just wasn’t in the mood to play.

He was fairly certain that Elena didn’t quite know what to think of the vice president yet. She was used to people being more direct with her. Her early days as a Turk aside, none of the team ever went to any great lengths to mask there intentions around her. Rufus, on the other hand… sometimes it was hard, even for the redhead, to tell what his motive really was. Reno, admittedly, enjoyed trying to puzzle it out. Elena wasn’t nearly as fond of mind games, however, and if the executive held true to form, he was probably already getting on her last nerve.

---

Rude silently pushed the balcony door open, and stepped into Rufus’ bedroom. The space had a dejected, unoccupied feeling to it… the Shinra heir hadn’t been in residence at the family home in months, and his room seemed to have been left largely ignored, save for the occasional dusting by the maid.

As he peered into the hallway, the silence that permeated the huge house made his skin crawl. He’d been here before any number of times… It was never this quiet, even when the family was out. There was always some member of the household staff cleaning or cooking or tending to the back garden. Today, the place seemed abandoned.

And still there had been no reply from Tseng.

Rude frowned and crept down the hall, checking rooms as he went, but finding no one. At last, he came to the staircase that led down to the first floor foyer… and finally caught sight of the Wutaiian Turk.

“No…” he said softly, quickening his pace, his senses suddenly on even higher alert than they’d already been. Tseng sat motionless on the cold marble floor, slumped against the wall. His head hung limply against his chest, long black hair shielding his face. The smell of smoke and sulfur hung heavy in the air. Rude hurried down the stairs, years of training forcing him to instinctively scan the area for threats. Aside from the destroyed doorway leading into the sitting room – and evidence beyond that door of a small but powerful explosive – there didn’t appear to be any threat. The pair of them seemed to be alone.

“Tseng?” Rude knelt beside the fallen Turk, fingers carefully reaching for his wrist in search of a pulse. He allowed himself to relax slightly when he found one, strong and steady. The man was alive… but out cold. He left him for the moment, and moved towards the destruction at the other end of the room. In all likelihood, whoever was responsible was long gone. Not many people would stick around to push their luck after knocking out a Turk… but it never hurt to be sure.

Rude pushed aside what remained of the decoratively inlaid door, stepping into the sitting room. The source of the explosion wasn’t difficult to find. An expensive-looking table sat several feet in front of the entryway, its top charred. Tseng had almost certainly walked into a trap… the fact the that table the bomb had been resting on was still mostly intact, and that the rest of the room was relatively unscathed, meant that the force of blast had to have been directed almost entirely towards the door. Whether the Turk leader had specifically been the target or had simply had unfortunate timing, he couldn’t be sure. All things considered, Tseng was lucky not to have been killed. The explosion had thrown him a good fifteen feet directly into a wall with enough force to knock him unconscious. It could easily have done far more damage.

He swept the room, as well as the ones beyond it, before returning to Tseng. There was no one here… Malloy – if that indeed was who was responsible – had already been and gone. And likely had Juliet Shinra with him as a hostage. Or a co-conspiritor.

Rude had just reached the table again when a soft, but insistent, beeping to his left made him freeze.

“Shit…” he swore and broke into a run. It was too late. The blast came moments later, and Rude’s world went dark.

---

“Useless… Utterly useless,” Rufus muttered, snatching a sheet from one pile and depositing it in another. “I suppose you’ve been putting all of the requests from lower Junon into the general maintenance pile.”

“Er… Y-yes, sir… I just assumed…”

Rufus swept his arm across the desk, knocking the neatly sorted papers to the floor. “Start over,” he demanded, “And do it right this time.”

That was the last straw. She’d been putting up with his running commentary on her abilities for nearly two hours. She’d almost been finished in spite of it… and now he expected her to start over?

“I am not your secretary, sir,” she hissed at him angrily, rising to her feet and staring at him defiantly.

“You are whatever I happen to require you to be. Right now, I require a secretary,” the executive replied, evenly, “I think later I’ll require a maid. Maybe I’ll even order your pathetic excuse for a superior to supervise you while you clean. Although… he does have a rather twisted sense of humor. He might actually enjoy something like that. I wonder… is that what attracted you to him? That perverted nature he’s so proud of?”

“Leave Reno out of this… sir,” she ground out through clenched teeth.

“Hmm… you really are quite defensive of that lazy, idiotic slum rat, aren’t you?” Rufus snorted in contempt.

She knew she should just walk away. Rufus was baiting her again, and she was letting herself fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. Hearing him talk about the redhead as though he were beneath him, though… it got to her. Reno might not have been especially sophisticated or cultured, but he was genuine and sweet, and she was really starting to hate it when people put him down.

Before she could respond, however, someone else broke in on the discussion. “I hear someone talkin’ about me?” Reno asked, grinning ear to ear. At the sound of his voice, she calmed, as reason finally caught up to her emotions. Rufus looked decidedly irritated by the interruption.

“We werehaving a private conversation regarding company personnel,” came the cool reply from the executive.

“Soooo… some other lazy, idiotic slum rat, then?” the redhead prodded, still grinning. Rufus scoffed and shooed Elena out from behind his desk and taking a seat.

“I assume that, since you’ve decided to once again grace me with you questionable presence, you’re done for the day?” Rufus asked, pointedly changing the subject.

“Nope… not even close. The maintenance guys are waitin’ on some more cabling from Midgar, though. Can’t do much more without it. Should be here in an hour or so. ‘Sides… I’m starved and ‘Lena’s gotta be, too, by now.”

“Of course you are,” the executive said, in a dismissively dry voice.

“If there’s nothing further, sir?” Reno queried, smirking slightly. Elena found herself growing rapidly more and more confused. The redhead seemed to alternate between overly-familiar and professional, seemingly at random. Rufus, meanwhile remained as stuck up and snappish as ever, but acted as though the Turk’s responses were perfectly acceptable and expected. She really didn’t get it.

Rufus waved a hand, dismissing them, and Elena found herself being guided towards the door. Once they reached the hallway, she could feel the soft trembling of Reno’s silent laughter against her side as he walked her to the elevator. She held her tongue until the doors slid closed behind them.

“That doesn’t bother you?” she finally cried in frustration, and Reno burst out laughing. It took him several seconds to recover, and by the time he did, they’d arrived on the ground floor.

“What are you talkin’ about, ‘Lena?” he asked, innocently. The rookie glared at him. “Okay, okay… Look… I’ve told ya before. Rufus isn’t so bad. He just likes to fuck with people. Takes some gettin’ used to, that’s all.”

“He called you a lazy, idiotic slum rat,” she pointed out, shaking her head in response to Reno’s attitude. The redhead shrugged.

“Ah, he always calls me a lazy, idiotic slum rat… actually, that’s one of his more mild insults. He’s got much better ones than that.”

“And that really doesn’t botheryou?” she asked, incredulously.

“Might… If I actually thought he meant anything by it. It’s all a game to him. Best way to beat him at it is not to let it get to ya… ’cause that seriously annoys the crap outta him. I play along ’cause I like annoyin’ the crap outta him.”

Elena stared at him disbelievingly. “You’re a complete lunatic.”

“Have I ever denied that?”

“Reno…”

“Hey… if he wants to play games with me, then I’m playing a few of my own in return. And anyway… the guy’s a dick, but he’s not really as big a dick as he lets on. Think about it. If that stick were really as far up his ass as he acts like it is, I’da been skinned alive years ago. Rufus is far from harmless… but if you can earn even a little respect from him, he can be a powerful ally.”

“I’m not sure his respect is worth the effort,” Elena muttered. Reno frowned slightly and and studied her for a moment.

“Don’t write somethin’ like that off so easy, ‘Lena. It’s good to have friends in high places. Good to have ’em in low places, too, for that matter.”

“I guess,” she sighed, “He’s just such a… a…”

“Dick. Trust me, that’s the word you’re lookin’ for,” the redhead said, grinning widely, “Truth is, though, right now I think he’s mostly just bored and lookin’ for something to keep himself entertained. He really doesn’t have much to do here and he’s one of those people who hates not havin’ anything to do. Don’t let him get under your skin too bad. And seriously… I know it’s tempting, but don’t kill him.”

Elena sighed and shook her head, allowing a small smile at that. “I’ll try. So… how bad is the airbase cafeteria?”

Reno pulled her tight against his side and kissed her on the cheek. “Not nearly as bad as the Shinra Building cafeteria. But I promised you a trip to lower Junon… so whaddya say we hit up a nice little cafe I like down there instead?”

---

Rude’s ears were still ringing faintly when he woke up. Everything was pitch black. He groaned quietly and tried to force himself to his feet… only to discover that he was securely bound.

“Are you alright?” a familiar voice queried from the darkness.

“… Think so. You?”

“Aside from feeling very bruised and more than a little foolish, I’m fine,” Tseng responded. “I assume you’re also restrained?”

The corner of Rude’s mouth quirked upwards into a smirk. You’d almost think this was a daily occurrence the way the Turk leader was reacting to being tied up in a dark room, not knowing where he was or what was planned for him. He pulled at whatever was binding his wrists behind his back. It bit painfully into his skin. Wire, most likely. That was going to be tricky to get out of without doing some nasty damage.

“Yeah… I am. Any idea where we are?”

“The basement, I suspect… though I woke up much as you did, so it’s really only a guess.”

“What happened?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I… rather stupidly… let myself be lured straight into an obvious trap,” Tseng said, and Rude could hear the self-directed disgust in his voice. “I’m more than a little disappointed in myself. Juliet called out for help and I responded. I should have known better than to rush in like that.”

“Malloy?”

“I never saw him, but I assume so, yes.”

Rude frowned to himself. If the woman was calling for help, that certainly made it harder to believe that she was involved in whatever was going on. On the other hand… she could just as easily have intentionally baited Tseng into coming after her. He shook his head, trying to clear the lingering disorientation from the explosion. He was suspicious by nature, but Juliet Shinra had him second-guessing himself at almost every turn. And of course there was one question it was impossible not to ask himself.

“Why aren’t we dead?” he voiced aloud.

“Mmm… that is the question, isn’t it? I can only surmise he has some later use for us. Though I, for one, don’t plan on being here when he returns.”

Rude heard the other Turk shift positions, followed by a soft string of unfamiliar Wutaiian… which judging by the tone was nothing complimentary. A loud snap echoed in the darkness, accompanied by a somewhat pained grunt.

“I suppose it would have been asking too much for him to have simply used our handcuffs. It would have made this far less unpleasant.”

“Out of practice, Tseng?” Rude asked, finally realizing what the other man was doing. It was a technique Veld had insisted on teaching his protege that involved dislocating one’s thumb in order to slide out of a particularly tight wrist restraint. Rude had never managed it himself… the last time he’d tried, he’d broken his thumb. That had been the end of his attempts.

“I was never very good at this, if you’ll recall… despite the fact that Veld always made it look rather effortless. Ah… That’s got it.”

There was a quiet shuffling, and then footsteps, and moments later the lights came on overheard. Rude blinked in the sudden brightness, made even more uncomfortable by his lack of sunglasses.

“As I thought… the basement,” said Tseng, who was now standing beside the light switch at the bottom of the stairs as he flexed the fingers on his left hand, assuring himself that everything was back in its proper position. He moved toward his fellow Turk, intent on releasing him as well. Once both men were free, Tseng reached for his PHS… only to find that it, along with everything else he’d been carrying, was gone. Rude quickly made the same discovery.

“Seems he was thorough,” he commented, annoyed more by the lack of his favorite accessory than his other missing possessions.

“Let’s check the house. It’s unlikely Malloy would remain here, but perhaps he left behind something that will point us towards where he’s run off to with his sister.”

“Should we call Reno and Elena back to Midgar?”

Tseng shook his head. “We can handle this on our own. I’d prefer to have them close to Rufus, just in case.”

Their reconnaissance of the house proved fruitless, however. In the end, all they discovered were several dead security guards and a badly traumatized maid locked inside one of the upstairs closets. She had only been able to tell them that a man had attacked her and shut her in. Her description matched that of Jessup Malloy, but beyond that little bit of confirmation, she had nothing useful to offer. In the end, they’d left her in the care of a neighbor and turned their attention elsewhere.

Rude and Tseng made their way swiftly down the long driveway, emerging onto the street. The Wutaiian Turk suddenly stopped short, one hand instinctively going to his right pocket. Rude was surprised to catch the angry twitch of one eye.

“Something wrong?”

“He took my car,” the Turk leader ground out. Rude’s eyes widened slightly. Tseng wasn’t an especially materialistic man… in fact, his home was downright spartan by most people’s standards… but if there was one possession he truly valued, it was that car. Rude remembered vividly the one and only time Reno had… borrowed… it as a teenager. He’d never been forthcoming about what his punishment had been, but when Rude had jokingly suggested doing it again, his friend had vehemently refused to even consider it.

“Guess I don’t have to ask if taking him alive is a priority,” Rude replied. He was only half kidding.

---

Lower Junon wasn’t quite what she’d expected. When Reno had described it as a nicer version of the Slums she’d pictured the same somewhat despondent and hopeless scenery she’d become used to in the underside of Midgar. Not the rundown yet welcoming little village she discovered when the pair of them stepped off of the massive elevator platform from the city above.

It wasn’t exactly bustling with activity, but people were out and about, shops stood with their doors open invitingly, and a soft breeze blew in from the direction of the ocean. Reno led her along a pebble-strewn pathway between two buildings, finally emerging in a little courtyard lined with tables.

“Reno?” a soft, lilting voice called out, “I haven’t seen you in months!”

Elena’s eyes instinctively sought out the source of the greeting, at last falling on a tiny woman with short shoulder-length strawberry blond hair. Well… tiny in all respects but one.

“Uh… how many months, exactly?” Reno asked, a little nervously. The woman giggled and made her way over to the pair of them.

“More months than I’ve been like this,” she said, patting her protruding abdomen. “Don’t worry… You’re not even in the running for responsibility for this little guy.”

“Fuck, Abby… give a guy a heart attack, why don’t ya?”

If she hadn’t felt so awkward coming face to face with one of Reno’s previous lovers, she would have laughed at the look of sheer relief that came over his features.

“Oh, believe me… when I told him, I think I nearly did. We’re getting married in a few weeks!” she replied, excitedly, before dropping her voice to an almost conspiratorial tone, “So… if you were dropping by hoping I might keep you company tonight, sorry. I’m not on the menu anymore.”

“Just here for lunch. I’m… not exactly available anymore, either, actually.”

“You? You finally found someone to keep you honest? I have to meet this miracle worker sometime…” Abby teased.

Reno grinned and nudged Elena forward slightly. “You’re lookin’ at her. Abby, meet Elena.”

“Um… hi,” the rookie said, a sudden shyness gripping her.

“Hi!” the woman laughed, shaking her head, “Wow… I can’t believe someone finally managed to pin him down. What’s your secret?”

“I-I… I don’t really…” Elena began, flushing slightly, “It sort of just… happened.” It seemed a little pompous to say that all she’d had to do was ask… even if that was, quite literally, all she’d really had to do in the end. She smiled slightly. It hadn’t fully hit her until now just how easily Reno had agreed to give up his womanizing habits for her.

“I’ll bet that broke a few hearts back in Midgar…” Abby said, giggling, “Well, come on… I have the perfect table for you two!”

They were quickly ushered to a table off to the side of the courtyard, partially screened off by a trellis inundated with twisting vines. Tiny blue flowers were just coming into bloom along the vines, giving the air the subtle scent of spring. Abby left them with menus promising to return shortly for their orders.

“Was not expectin’ to see Abby… uh… expectin’,” Reno chuckled. Elena looked up from the cafe’s offerings and smirked.

“Well, that is sometimes what happens when men and women get together, you know…”

“Yeah… I know how things work, ‘Lena,” he replied, snickering. “Scared me for a second, though… I couldn’t actually remember how long ago we last hooked up. I mean, I’m careful but… things happen.”

“Worried there might be some little Renos running around somewhere?” Elena prodded, only partly joking. Like he’d said… things could happen. She hadn’t actually considered that possibility before today… and she wasn’t quite sure how she should feel about it.

Reno shook his head. “Not especially… Just caught me off guard, is all. And freaked me out a little…”

“So… I guess that means you don’t want children?” she asked, hesitating a bit. It wasn’t as if she were overly anxious to start a family herself or anything. Her career was important to her, and she intended to put everything into being a Turk for as long as she could. But that didn’t mean she’d couldn’t possibly picture herself as a mother… under the right circumstances.

“Well, I definitely don’t want ’em this afternoon…” the redhead laughed.

“Sure… but… have you ever thought about it?”

Reno blinked, apparently caught off guard for the second time since they’d arrived at the cafe.

“I… uh… H-have you?” he stammered, suddenly nervous.

“Well, I definitely don’t want ’em this afternoon,” she parroted, before turning a little more serious, “… but… I don’t know. Maybe. Someday. So… has it ever crossed your mind?”

Reno gave her an awkward shrug. “Not really… I mean, not beyond havin’ the goal of not gettin’ someone knocked up.”

“Oh…” She could certainly understand. And she’d never hold it against him. It was a huge decision to make, especially given how dangerous their lives could be. But still, Elena had to admit… she was a little disappointed hearing him say so.

“I’m not sayin’ I wouldn’t,” he quickly added, “Just… that I’ve never given it much thought. I always kinda figured on bein’ a bachelor for life. And I’m not such an asshole I’d ever wanna leave some girl on her own with a kid, so… ” He shrugged again, trailing off. He smirked suddenly, and fixed her with an amused gaze. “I know I’m kinda new at the whole boyfriend thing, but do most women make a habit of bringin’ up the idea of havin’ kids witha guy they’ve been seein’ for all of three weeks? Or is it just you?”

Elena felt her cheeks blaze furiously, and she ducked behind her menu. “T-that’s not… I wasn’t trying to… to imply anything!”

The redhead placed a finger at the top of the menu, gently nudging it down. He smiled, eyes locking onto to hers. “No fair hiding… You know I love seein’ you blush. And I don’t get to see it nearly enough now that most of my jokes aren’t so much jokes as they are suggestions for the evening…”

The rookie rolled her eyes, and forced herself not to laugh at that comment as she went back to studying the menu. “So… what’s good here?” she asked, in a not-so-subtle attempt at changing the subject before her face actually managed to catch fire from the heat it was generating… and thanked her lucky stars that Reno hadn’t taken her line of questioning for anything more than the idle curiosity it was meant as.

“Everything. Abby is Junon’s Rude… minus the sunglasses and Shadow & Sword obsession,” Reno replied, grinning widely.

Elena snickered quietly. “Does Rude know you’ve been cheating on him with another chef?”

“Ha. Ha,” the redhead dryly responded, before adding with a wink, “… and no. He doesn’t. So don’t ruin my side action.”

---

“Turn left,” Tseng instructed. Like the Turk leader, Rude had discovered that his keys were missing. His truck, however, had still be right where he’d left it. It had taken him a few minutes to hotwire it, but now the pair of Turks were on their way across the Plate. Juliet still kept an apartment in Sector 4… with no other leads, that seemed as good a place as any to start. And it was on their way back to the office…

Tseng had no intention of recalling his two absent Turks, but he wanted to at least keep them in the loop. That required a replacement for his PHS, and that required returning to headquarters. Replacing both men’s weapons was also a priority… as, unfortunately, was reporting Mrs. Shinra’s disappearance to Heidegger and the president.

“That’s it, up ahead,” he said, “Pull around to the back of the building. There’s little sense in advertising our presence on the off chance they actually are here…”

Rude turned down a side street and parked. As he and Tseng made their way inside, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was wise.

“If we know about this place, what are the odds Malloy does, too?” he asked.

“I suppose that would depend on how long he’s been watching her,” Tseng replied, “Whether they were in contact or not, it seems clear that Malloy, at least, has known about her for some time even if she didn’t know about him.” Rude had been thinking along the same lines.

“Then we should be careful walking into that apartment,” he said. “I don’t feel like getting blown up twice in one day.”

They took the stairs to the fourth floor, avoiding the elevator and main corridors. Rude made short work of the door’s lock, and cautiously stood to one side as he turned the knob. The door swung inward and…

Nothing.

The two men stepped inside. The little apartment was empty, but clearly that hadn’t been the case earlier. It had been ransacked… drawers pulled out and emptied of their meager content, closets open, furniture upholstery shredded… Whatever Malloy had been looking for here, he’d certainly been thorough. And, Rude thought, it stood to reason that he’d found it. They hadn’t seen this level of destruction at the Shinra family manor.

“Interesting…” Tseng murmured, picking up a photo in a shattered frame on the floor. The frame had cracked, leaving the image hanging halfway out. It’s edge had been folded over.

The visible portion showed Juliet Shinra as a young child standing on a beach, looking out at the ocean in a yellow swimming suit, next to a young man. Rude could only assume it was her father. Tseng pulled it from behind the broken glass and unfolded the other half of the snapshot. An olive-skinned woman with pale blond hair sat on a beach blanket gazing up at the pair, a boy of two or three held on her lap.

“That’s not Juliet’s mother, is it?” Rude asked.

“No… it’s most certainly not,” the Turk leader replied grimly. “It seems her father didn’t severe ties with his mistress after all.”

“What’s going here, Tseng?” He was having a hell of a time reconciling everything. And he was no closer to determining whether Juliet Shinra was a victim or a threat than he had been several hours ago.

“I don’t know…” the Wutaiian Turk said with a scowl. “You’re certain there was no evidence of her having any sort of contact with Jessup Malloy?”

“None I could find.”

“But you still suspect?”

“…” The evidence pointed one way… Rude’s instincts pulled him strongly in the opposite direction. He never liked it when the two were at odds. “I can’t prove anything one way or the other,” he finally said.

“But you do suspect.”

Rude gave a hesitant nod. It wasn’t an accusation he made lightly, but he couldn’t deny that the suspicion continued to nag at him.

“As do I,” Tseng confirmed. “Let’s get back to headquarters… We have some digging to do.”

---

“We should probably head back up…”

Reno grinned and gave a large seashell a kick as they strolled along the narrow stretch of beach. “We’ve still got some time. ‘Sides… soon as we go back up, I have to abandon you to your fate with Rufus again. You really tellin’ me you’d rather not put that off just a little bit longer?”

“Good point,” the rookie replied suppressing a groan. It had been a fun little break, though, in spite of the time limit. Abby’s food really had been amazing… She’d only been kidding around about cheating on Rude, but she still felt just the tiniest bit of guilt for enjoying it as much as she had, when she knew just how much pride the other Turk took in his own cooking.

When they’d finished lunch, Reno had shown her around a little. They’d finally ended up walking along the shore. Lower Junon was an odd place… overshadowed by the neighboring military installation, and a bit neglected… but pleasant all the same. She could see why the people wanted to stay, even with the air base looming over them. It was strangely peaceful, in spite of the tools of war above. And it was nice to finally be able to spend some time with the redhead without concerns about being pulled away for guard duty or a chase through the slums. She had missed that.

She’d missed him, even though he hadn’t gone anywhere.

Elena giggled softly as they wandered along the sandy shore. It wasn’t like the beach in Costa del Sol. Here the sand was darker, and coarser, and strewn with smooth pebbles washed up by the surf. “I wonder if Tseng and Rude are having as easy a day as we are?”

“Heh… If they’re still waitin’ on our target to show his face… which, since we haven’t heard otherwise, I’m guessin’ they are… he ‘n Rude are probably cursin’ at me’n my shit handwriting right now for leavin’ so many reports in the to-file folder for ’em again…” he said, laughing softly. The rookie elbowed him gently.

“Reno… I thought you were going to try and be better about getting things filed on time…” she scolded him.

“Hey, I did try… but I think I’m allergic.”

Elena rolled her eyes at him. “You’re ‘allergic’ to paperwork, huh?” she deadpanned.

“Must be… I feel sick every time I even have to look at it.”

“Well then, maybe I need to take you back to Dr. Ward and have her testyou for allergies… You don’t mind having a little more blood drawn, right?” she teased.

“Not funny…” the redhead replied, looking concerned at the prospect.

“Wimp,” she grinned.

“Bein’ concerned about havin’ sharp, pointy shit jabbed into your veins is a perfectly rational fear,” he countered.

She giggled. “And I suppose being terrified of crying women and holding babies are both perfectly rational, too…”

“Damn right…” he agreed, an amused smirk crossing his lips, “Now quit pickin’ on me for it.”

She returned the smirk with one of her own. “Why should I?”

Reno snickered and without warning, swept her feet out from under her, taking her to the ground. He cushioned her fall, laying her carefully on the sand and straddling her waist to keep her in place. Elena squeaked in delight as his lips trailed teasing kisses along her throat for a few moments. And then it all stopped. She glared at him, annoyed by the sudden lack of attention.

“‘Cause if ya don’t… I’m gonna stop doin’ this and take ya back up to Rufus instead.” He gave her a smug grin and simply waited for her response.

The rookie’s arms found their way around him, and pulled him back down. “You’re terrible,” she giggled.

“Mmhmm…” he agreed, resuming his tantalizing exploration of her neck.

“I thought we were supposed to be profess–” She gasped suddenly and shivered as he nipped delicately at the skin below her ear. “–ional…”

“Lunch is personal time, remember? Too bad we don’t have enough of it left to really get into this…”

“Oh, I remember, alright. And if you think I’m ever going to agree to that again, you really have finally lost your mind…” Elena replied, laughing softly. Though even to her own ears, she didn’t sound nearly as adamant as she’d intended.

“Not like we have to worry about Tseng and Rude walkin’ in on us here…” he breathed, loosening her tie and focusing his efforts on the junction of her neck and shoulder.

“No… just potentially the entire town…”

He chuckled and raised himself up slightly, capturing her lips and effectively silencing her protests. Elena let her eyes drift shut, marveling at just how intoxicating the redhead could be and wishing that they weren’t expected back so soon. When he finally pulled away, she sighed.

“Time to go,” he said, nuzzling her, and Elena couldn’t stop the soft whine of frustration that escaped her lips. He grinned as he climbed off of her, and pulled her to her feet. The rookie hurried to brush the sand from her uniform and make herself presentable, groaning internally as she realized just how turned on she was now… and that she had to go back to work.

“You are so cruel…” she snickered, shaking her head.

“That’s what ya get for makin’ fun of me,” Reno said with a wink.

---

It had been sheer luck.

Luck that a moving van had cut them off, forcing Rude to brake hard as the traffic signal turned red. Luck that, less than five seconds later, a familiar black sports car came flying through the intersection heading down the cross street. And luck that the occupants of said car didn’t notice the two Turks staring after them in varying degrees of disbelief.

Rude had somehow managed to recover first from the shock of so easily stumbling across the target they’d been chasing futily for over two weeks and floored it, running the light and following at a distance.

“I don’t think he’s seen us yet…” Tseng commented as he watched his car weaving through the traffic on the overpass, cringing as it came just a little too close to sideswiping another vehicle.

“… Is it just me or is he heading for the Shinra Building?”

The sports car took the next exit and Tseng nodded. “It certainly seems that way.”

---

“What took so long?” Rufus demanded, arms crossed over his chest.

Elena fought the desire to simply reverse course and walk back out the door. Reno had joined up with the maintenance team in the lobby, leaving her to find her own way back to the vice president. “We were only gone an hour, sir.”

“Hmph… In that amount of time, the slum rat could have devoured half the food in Junon.”

She mentally sighed, and reminded herself of Reno’s advice not to let him get to her. “Yes, sir.”

The vice president did, indeed, look vaguely annoyed by her lack of reaction… for a moment. The expression quickly shifted to one of barely concealed glee.

“In any case, I have good news for you,” he replied, coolly. “My father has at last seen fit to approve at least one of my requests, and ship the contents of my library to my little prison here in Junon. It arrived while you and your less than ideal suitor were off gorging yourselves.”

“Why is that good news for me, sir?” she asked cautiously, pointedly ignoring the slight towards the redhead.

“Because you now have the enviable task of unpacking, sorting, and reshelving them in my quarters. I’m certain you’ll enjoy it.”

Elena’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. That was it? That was the best he could come up with? Putting a few books away?

“Yes, sir. I’d be happy to.” She forced a smile just to show him that she wasn’t going to play his game anymore. Rufus, however, looked decidedly smug as he headed for the door.

“Follow me.”

The rookie obediently trailed the Shinra heir to the elevator, joining him on the ride up one floor to the executive suite. The pair of them stepped through the door, and Elena went still, eyes widening in dismay. When the man had said library, he’d apparently meant it literally.

“I have quite the collection,” Rufus commented, as she stood, frozen on the spot. Well over forty large boxes were lined up along one wall. “There should be plenty of space for them. Alphabetically, by author, if you please. And be careful with them. I have a number of first editions and rare volumes that are collectively worth more than your precious redhead’s miserable hide… and I won’t hesitate to extract compensation for any damages from it directly.”

“Yes, sir…” she said. She was not going to let him get under her skin this time. Rufus, apparently not content with merely the idea of her toiling away, planted himself on the window seat across the room to supervise, and opened his book again.

Elena, meanwhile, turned to the first of the boxes.

---

Tseng roughly pinched the bridge of his nose, and momentarily closed his eyes. It just had to be his car, didn’t it? Rufus had gifted it to him years ago… it was one of a kind, custom built… and a stark reminder of the younger man’s rarely voiced gratitude.

“Force him over,” he said at last. Rude’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Tseng mentally sighed, picturing the damage that would almost certainly result. “Just do it. He has my vehicle and my ID card. That gives him, at the very least, access to our secure parking deck. And if he has another bomb…” He trailed off shaking his head. The car didn’t matter. The safety of the company and those in the building mattered.

“… Hope you’re not planning to hold this against me…” the bald Turk replied, and accelerated, catching up to the other car. As he pulled alongside, Tseng spotted Mrs. Shinra in the passenger’s seat. He frowned. Tseng didn’t like the idea of putting her at risk, if she really was innocent in all of this… but on the other hand, letting Malloy get so close to the Shinra Building was a far greater danger. Ultimately, the president was a higher priority than his wife.

“Do it.”

Rude jerked the steering wheel to the left, colliding with the side of Tseng’s car just as the driver finally realized who they were. Malloy sped up, squeezing past the slower truck – leaving several deep gouges in the car’s pristine black paintjob in the process – and darting across four lanes of traffic. The maneuver sent two other vehicles into the median as they swerved to avoid the sports car, and forced Rude to cut off a massive semi to avoid them. The semi braked hard and jack-knifed, resulting in several more collisions as Rude tried to keep up with their target.

“Let’s at least try not to kill anyone but our target, shall we?”

“You want to drive instead?” Rude asked before turning his full attention back to the road. The sports car was rapidly outpacing them. “How fast is that damn car of yours?”

“Fast enough that we don’t have much hope of catching it like this. We need to cut them off somehow.”

“Hmph… I can do that,” the other Turk replied, smirking, and before Tseng could ask how he planned to accomplish such a feat, Rude peeled off the freeway at the next exit, tires squealing loudly as he took a sharp right onto city streets at top speed.

“You do know this is a one way street, don’t you?” the Turk leader asked, cringing at the sound of the horns that were currently blaring at them from several other cars. Cars that were headed straight for them.

“Only need to go a couple blocks.”

“And here I always thought Reno was our resident maniac behind the wheel…”

A hard left followed, as Rude turned down an inclined driveway, driving straight towards a metal gate that barred off access to a city maintenance tunnel.

“You can’t be serious…”

“They cut straight across. Comes out right where we need to be. Hold on.”

Tseng instinctively braced himself moments before the truck collided with the gate, sending it flying wide open and granting them access to the tunnels.

---

Fourteen boxes down… Shiva only knew how many more to go. Elena stood up straight for a moment, pressing her hands against her lower back in an attempt to relieve some of the tension. It had been almost three straight ours of bending over, lifting, bending over, lifting… Assuming her spine didn’t simply snap in two, she was going to beg Reno for a massage later.

She was sorting as she went, alphabetizing the growing pile of tomes as she pulled each one out of a shipping container. If she ever found out who had packed these boxes, she was going to kill them. Nothing was in any particular order. It seemed as though the books had been packed with the single objective of maximizing the available space. If a book could fit, it had been slotted in, like some unholy game of Tetris. She sighed and opened the next container.

The vice president’s interests certainly seemed to be varied… assuming he even read them. Elena had met plenty of people who kept collections like this just for show. But thus far she’d found fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose. As she began unpacking the current box, she realized that nearly half of this batch were written in Wutaiian, the elegant, but unreadable – at least to her – characters standing out on the covers and spines.

‘How am I supposed to put these in any kind of order?’ she wondered to herself. She flipped one open, hoping for something more familiar on the title page, but as met with more of the same.

“I take it you don’t read Wutaiian,” Rufus commented, and the rookie startled in surprise. She hadn’t noticed him coming up behind her.

“Er… no, sir. I don’t.” She had actually tried picking up a little of the language shortly after she was promoted to the Turks. She’d been hoping to impress Tseng just a tiny bit… but it had proven far more difficult than she’d thought it would be. In fact, she really hadn’t gotten much past basic greetings and a few common phrases before conceding defeat. Written Wutaiian was well out of her repertoire.

“Set them aside, then… I’ll deal with them myself once you’ve finished with the others.” He handed her the book he’d been reading all morning. “You can shelve this one as well.”

A small smile crept across her lips… She loved this book. Her father had read stories from it to her and her brothers throughout her childhood. She’d even shared several of them with Reno… when she could actually talk him into letting her read to him, that is. She was certain he secretly enjoyed it… but, just like the first time she’d done it – when she’d woken him from a nightmare and wanted so badly to lull him back to sleep – he always complained that he felt ridiculous any time she suggested it.

“Does something about my choice of reading material amuse you?” Rufus’ irritated voice cut in on her thoughts. Elena looked up, in surprise. His tone was different somehow… and given that she’d been listening to the man nag at her almost all day now, the change was readily apparent.

“N-no, sir. Not at all,” she said hurriedly, “It’s just… this is one my favorites.”

He stared at her for a moment, as though gauging the veracity of her reply… and for the briefest of moments, he looked almost vulnerable. It was gone so quickly, she was nearly convinced she’d imagined it. Nearly.

“Mine as well,” he said at last.

“The Mouse and the Fly was always my favorite story…” she offered, offhandedly, as she placed the old book on the appropriate pile. Maybe a little common ground would smooth things over between the two of them. “I usually ended up fighting with my brothers over it because I asked my dad to read it at bedtime so often…”

“I myself am fortunate to have never had that problem. One of the many benefits of being an only child.”

“Your father read them to you, too?”

Rufus gave a harsh laugh. “Hardly.” He said nothing more, and returned to his perch. The rookie shrugged slightly and went back to sorting. At least the conversation had been civil, if not entirely friendly. The silence remained, stretching on between them longer and longer. The young executive seemed to have lost interest in her for the moment… something for which Elena was somewhat grateful. If he wasn’t talking, she didn’t have to worry about losing her temper… though, if she was being honest, it had been slowly getting easier to let his constant stream of negativity roll off her back.

“Your brothers…” he suddenly began. “They’re in Midgar, I assume.”

She shifted a few books around, wedging volume on birds of Mideel into a nearby stack. “No, sir. My oldest brother lives in Veraheim, with my grandmother.”

“And the others?”

Elena silently groaned. She certainly didn’t mind having a less antagonistic conversation with the vice president, but this was the absolute last subject she wanted to discuss… especially with the acerbic, cold young man.

“Other… I only have two.” She sighed almost inaudibly. “Had two…” she corrected herself, and trying to keep the sadness out of her voice, “My other brother… passed away not long ago.”

Rufus didn’t respond right away, leaving the rookie to her task for a few more moments.

“… I wasn’t aware,” he said at last, “My condolences.”

Elena looked up, somewhat surprised, searching the man’s face for any sign of sarcasm, but found none. He actually seemed sincere, albeit not especially emotional about the revelation.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I always preferred having The Lizard King read to me as a child,” he said, abruptly switching back to the previous subject, and Elena was glad he didn’t seem interested in pressing her any farther about Bel. The vice president paused briefly, apparently debating whether or not to continue. “It… was my mother’s favorite to read as well. I have several meetings this afternoon. I assume you can manage on your own without doing too much damage…”

He didn’t wait for a reply, instead opting to simply sweep from the room, leaving Elena to stare after him in confusion. It took her a moment to realize that he certainly wasn’t talking about Juliet Shinra. It took her several more moments to remember that his mother had been murdered right in front of him when he was just a boy.

---

Tseng flinched as they emerged from the tunnels into the bright afternoon sunlight. It had been quite the harrowing ride, and he couldn’t help but wonder just how often Rude did this sort of thing, given that he seemed to know the layout just a little too well.

“There!” he shouted, as the sports car came into view. Rude cut the target off, and Malloy swerved, narrowly missing the pickup truck containing the two Turks. The sports car jumped the curb into a parking lot, slamming into the side of parked sedan.

“Still in one piece, at least” Rude commented, glancing at the abused vehicle as they exited the truck.

“Barely.” But Rude was right. It held up admirably. And it could be fixed. It would be pricy, but it could be fixed.

Malloy was unconscious, slumped against the driver’s side airbag. Tseng forced the passenger side door open, extracting the president’s somewhat shell-shocked wife. “Are you injured?” he asked, escorting her away while Rude dealt with Malloy. The woman managed to shake her head in the negative… though he wasn’t about to take her word for it. Ward would see to her as soon as they returned to headquarters, and ensure that she really was alright. Malloy, on the other hand… gazing back at his car, he wasn’t feeling especially generous towards the man. “What was he trying do?”

“He… he made me go with him! He was going to use meto get into the building,” she replied.

“To what end?”

“I… I don’t know. He never told me. I was only trying to help him… at first. He’s… my brother,” Juliet admitted, sniffling, unable to look her rescuer in the eye. “But then, he… he started saying things. About Shinra Company… about h-how they were going to regret everything. And then after what happened to Rufus… I’m sure he did it. I told him to leave me alone. That I didn’t want any more to do with him. And then, when he showed up at the house…” She shook her head, running a hand over her eyes.

Before the woman could say anything farther, a sharp cry tore his attention away from her.

“Tseng!” Rude called out from some distance away. The Turk leader turned in time to see him go down, hitting the ground hard as Malloy managed to overpower him. Apparently he hadn’t been as unconscious as he’d led them to believe. Malloy drew a gun from inside his jacket, taking aim at his sister.

Tseng didn’t have much of a choice. He wasn’t armed, and he wasn’t close enough to disarm their attacker. He moved in front of Juliet half a second before the gun went off. Almost instantly, he felt the familiar searing pain of metal penetrating flesh. His shoulder felt as though it were on fire as he pushed the woman to the ground. Two more shots rang out, one striking the side of the truck, and the other sending a second wave of pain through his right side. Tseng fell to one knee, one hand pressed to the injury. His vision swam briefly, but he forced himself to stay upright.

When he heard the fourth shot, he was certain it was over for him… until he looked up and saw his fellow Turk pinning the man to the ground, fighting for the weapon. Rude finally forced it from his hand, and slammed Malloy hard against the concrete. He went still. Tseng sank to the ground, relieved, and leaned back against the side of the truck. Rude was beside him momentarily.

“How bad?”

“I think I’ll take tomorrow off…” he replied. He had no idea how bad it really was but it certainly, as Reno would say, hurt like a bitch. He was still conscious, though. That was promising.

“… Caught me by surprise,” Rude ground out, angrily, as he did what he could for the Wutaiian Turk’s injuries before daring to move him.

“Don’t worry about me. Get her off the street,” Tseng said, nodding toward the woman on the ground beside him. She, at least, seemed unhurt. Just terrified. He, on the other hand, was beginning to feel dizzy… Sleepy. Blood loss, he mused. That wasn’t good.

Before Rude could do anything, however, a massive explosion sent up an enormous fireball. The ground trembled with the force of it, and Tseng felt himself being pulled down alongside the president’s wife, out of harm’s way. When it was over, he followed Rude’s gaze towards what was left of Malloy… and the smoking remains of his car.

“Ah. Of course… insult to injury,” he managed, before darkness claimed him.

---

“‘Lena, you would not believe the fuckin’ day I’ve had…” one very irritated redhead proclaimed as he strolled into the staff quarters later that evening. “I don’t know if these guys are really as big a bunch of idiots as they act like, or if they were totally screwin’ with me all day… but thank fuck that’s over.”

“So… I guess that means you’re not in the mood for a back rub?”

“I’d love a back rub…” he replied, grinning.

“I meant for me,” Elena giggled, “But that’s okay. Come on over here.” She patted the bed beside her and smiled.

“Nah…” Reno crossed the room, and sat down settling himself behind her. His hands rose to her shoulders, kneading gently and eliciting a soft sigh of content from the rookie. “You asked first. Only fair. You can do me later…” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck, before adding, “… and feel free to interpret that whichever way ya want.”

“I thought we were supposed to stay professional on this trip…” Elena murmured as his fingers moved lower, teasing out the stiffness in her muscles.

“Only when we’re on duty…” he laughed softly, “Fuck, ‘Lena… the hell’s Rufus had you doin’ all day? Feels like one giant knot back here…”

She didn’t answer right away, opting instead to sink down onto the bed to give the redhead better leverage. She pulled a pillow toward her, snuggling against it. “Playing librarian…” she said at last.

“Sounds kinky… Should I be jealous?” he chuckled, redoubling his efforts.

Elena turned her head and shot him a half-hearted glare before rolling her eyes. “Yes, Reno… I’m sorry, but Rufus and I are running away together. I’m leaving you.”

The redhead snickered and scooped her up, lifting her onto his lap. “Hmmm… Anything I can do to win ya back? Or am I just gonna have to throw myself off the end of the mako cannon in utter heartbreak over losin’ ya to that jerk?”

“Well…” Elena began as she wrapped her arms around his neck and urged him closer. Her lips just barely grazed his in a gentle temptation before she pulled away again, smirking. “You could take me to dinner. That might do it.”

“Heh… When’d you get to be such a tease, ‘Lena?” he asked.

“Consider it payback for this afternoon.”

“Guess I really outghta know better than to cross you, by now,” he laughed, “So… I’m almost afraid to ask, but how’d your afternoon go? Rufus still alive, or am I gonna be helpin’ you hide a body tonight?”

“It really wasn’t terrible. He sort of just let me alone towards the end of the day.”

“Yeah?” the redhead asked, cocking an eyebrow, “How’d ya manage that?”

“I’m… not exactly sure, to be honest. We got to talking a little about a book we both liked and how his mom read to him like my dad did. And then we somehow got onto the subject of my brothers.”

Reno’s eyes narrowed somewhat angrily. “He say somethin’ that upset ya?”

Elena shook her head. “Actually… no,” she replied, “And I was even kind of waiting for it, after I mentioned what happened to Bel. But he didn’t. He just… changed the subject. And then he said he had meetings to deal with and headed back to his office.”

“Oh…” Reno said, as though it made perfect sense to him.

“Care to enlighten me?” she prodded, curious now.

The redhead sighed, and scratched at the back of his neck, hesitating. “Yeah… uh… it’s not exactly common knowledge, but… Rufus’ mother. She was about four months pregnant when she was killed. So he didn’t justlose her that day.”

Elena’s breath caught in her throat as she processed that. She’d had no idea.

“He doesn’t talk about her much,” Reno added, “I’m surprised you got as much as ya did outta him, really. Maybe stay away from that topic in the future. Ya know… unless he brings it up. The guy’s cold, but he’s not heartless.”

“I guess that explains why he took off so suddenly,” she said softly.

“It’s not always an easy thing to talk about. I should know.”

The rookie glanced up at his face, noting the veiled sadness there. “Oh… Reno. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

The redhead quietly laughed. “Don’t be. I’ve told ya before, ‘Lena… I don’t mind talkin’ about my mom. But there was a time when I couldn’t do it at all without breakin’ down completely. So I know how he feels.”

“I still I feel like that about Bel sometimes, too…”

Reno laid back on the bed pulling her down on top of him, and held her tight. “I know. Don’t be afraid to talk to me, though… if ya ever feel like it. That’s Rufus’ problem, I think… he really never had anyone. From what I’ve heard, Tseng did what he could, but there was only so much time he could spend with him after it happened. And the president prefers to pretend she never existed.”

Elena toyed with a strand of his hair. “You know… it’s a little weird that he’s such an asshole to you when you have something like that in common. Does he even know?”

“Oh, sure, he knows,” Reno replied, smiling faintly. “It’s one of the few lines he doesn’t cross when he lays into me.”

---

The helicopter touched down on the roof of the Shinra Building just after ten on Friday morning. As glad as he was to be home again, Reno had found it difficult to leave Junon that morning… the upgrades had been kind of a pain in the ass, but it had finally afforded him at least some downtime with Elena. Their return to Midgar meant a return to long days, ruined weekends, and exhausted nights after tracking down leads and waiting for their target to show. She hadn’t said so explicitly, but he suspected the rookie was feeling much the same. Still… it couldn’t last forever. The son of a bitch had to turn up sooner or later.

“So, ‘Lena…” he asked, as Elena was shutting down the engine, a playful note in his voice, “Tell me again how I don’t have to be jealous of you ‘n Rufus…”

She looked up from the controls, and rolled her eyes. “What are hinting at now?” she laughed.

“Oh, nothin’…” He released himself from his seat’s harness and reached behind him, grabbing his bag, and rummaged through it for a moment. “I was just wonderin’ why he asked me to give this to ya when we got back to Midgar…” He finally came up with a small package, wrapped in plain brown paper.

“What is it?” she asked, more than a little confused. Reno shrugged.

“Didn’t tell me. Just said to give it to ya.”

Elena took the package and slid a finger beneath the strip of tape at one end, carefully prizing it open. The redhead groaned, shaking his head.

“Seriously? Come on, ‘Lena… It’s not even nice paper. Just tear it…”

“But if I did that, I couldn’t torture you like this…” She giggled at the expression of frustration on the man’s face. Reno looked as though he was moments from snatching it and unwrapping it for her just to end the suspense. She tried not to look too smug as she forced herself to open it as slowly as possible.

“I hate you, sometimes,” he lamented with a dramatic sigh.

“Well, if that’s how you feel, I’ll just open it later.” The rookie calmly folded the partially removed paper back over, and had to bite her lower lip to try and keep a straight face when the redhead’s eyes went wide.

“That’s just evil.”

She smirked and finally gave in, pulling away the paper. Elena blinked in surprise at the sight of the familiar object inside.

“Tell me that’s not another romance novel…” Reno groaned.

“No…” she breathed, softly, “It’s my favorite book.” A very old and rare first edition of it… the same one he’d spent most of yesterday reading. She looked up at the redhead. “Why would he give this to me?”

“Guess that means ya passed the Rufus test.,” he said, grinning slightly. Elena eyed him, not quite understanding. “Consider it a stamp of approval. Anyway, you can read your present later. Come on… Tseng’s bound to be waitin’ on us.”

Elena carefully tucked the book into her own bag and followed Reno into the building.

“Think they’ve even heard anything yet?” she asked. They stepped into the elevator and she pressed the button for their floor.

“Well, I know Lira heard somethin’ right before we left. Rude was gonna head down ‘n talk to her for me. ‘Course if it turned out to be anything important, you’d think he’d’ve let us know…” the redhead replied, “… Don’t make plans for the evening. We’re probably gonna be workin’ late again.”

The elevator chimed, and the doors opened. The two Turks stepped into the hallway, heading for the main office. Reno pushed the door open… and froze.

“Wha–” Elena began, but he quickly turned around and shushed her, then motioned her into the room. She stepped inside, peeking curiously around from behind him and followed his gaze towards Rude’s desk. Elena snickered as softly as she could at the sight. The bald Turk was thoroughly passed out, head resting on a stack of folders, sunglasses askew. The rookie glanced towards Tseng office, but it appeared to be empty.

“Workin’ hard, I see…” Reno whispered, a slightly maniacal grin spreading over his lips. He calmly sauntered up to Rude’s desk, and carefully plucked away the glasses, setting them aside. In one swift motion grabbed the folders and jerked them out from under the sleeping Turk. Rude’s head hit the wood with a soft thump. Moments later he sat up straight, suddenly awake and blinking in confusion until the snickering redhead came into focus.

“Rise ‘n shine, Sleeping Beauty!”

“… Very funny,” Rude replied, rubbing tired eyes. Reno leaned against the corner of the desk.

“What’s up? Not like you to be caught sleepin’ on the job, partner… Where’s the boss?”

“Midgar General.”

The grin suddenly fell from Reno face, and Elena gasped.

“What happened? And why the fuck didn’t you call me?”

“Tseng was shot. He’s fine… relatively speaking. Gonna be on light duty for a few weeks, though. I’ve been dealing with the mess all night. Haven’t slept.”

“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t call,” Reno persisted, not sounding too happy about being left out of the loop.

“PHS is in about a thousand pieces at the moment. Tseng’s too. I’m still waiting on a replacement. Ward offered to notify you, but Tseng asked her not to. Said you’d just come running home, worried.”

“Damn right I woulda… Not like we were real busy in Junon,” the redhead muttered, “What the hell’d you two get up to yesterday?”

“Rescuing a kidnapping victim, preventing headquarters from being bombed, taking down a known danger to the company. A typical Thursday, really…” a somewhat tired-sounding voice replied, and Elena jumped, spinning to face the source. Tseng smiled, entirely too amused by the reaction.

“Sir!”

“… You’re supposed to be in the recovery ward,” Rude stated.

Tseng chuckled, and then flinched in pain. “I was.”

“So why the fuck aren’t you still there?” Reno asked, folding his arms over his chest. Tseng sank down on the couch by the window and let his head fall back, closing his eyes. One arm wrapped protectively around his abdomen.

“Someone has to keep an eye on you three…”

“Sir, are you sure you should be here right now? You… don’t look well,” Elena said, worriedly. And the man did indeed look more than a little pale.

“Tch… seriously, Tseng… take a day off once in awhile,” Reno added.

Tseng shook his head, with a small smile. “I’m only here for the debriefing with Heidegger and the president. Had it not been the president’s wife who was taken, I wouldn’t even be here for that.”

“No.”

“I beg your pardon?” Tseng responded, an eyebrow rising in surprise.

“You’re not in any condition to do anything. And that means I’m in charge right now. ‘Lena… Give the Doc a call and have her help ya haul this fuckin’ workaholic’s ass back to the hospital. And make sure it stays there. Rude can fill me in, and then we’ll handle –”

“I should have known I’d find yeh here! Yer getting ta be almost as much trouble as that one, Tseng!” Dr. Ward interrupted, storming into the office, and nodding towards the redhead. “Yer barely twelve hours outta surgery. What in the wide world d’yeh think yer doing on yer feet right now?”

“As it happens, I am not on my feet. I am on couch,” Tseng pointed out.

“Don’t yeh give me that. Yeh know perfectly well what I mean,” she warned, and motioned to someone in the hall, “And don’t yeh even think I’m leaving yeh here to go and pull those stitches loose, either. Yer going back to bed ’til I say otherwise.” Two orderlies shuffled inside carrying a stretcher between them.

“Justinia… I can assure you that I am perfectly capable of –”

“This isn’t up for negotiation,” she said firmly, turning to the two men in hospital scrubs, “Get him loaded up.” She looked back over at Tseng, fixing him with a steely gaze. “I’ve been dealing with that little troublemaker over there more years than I can count… I’ve got keeping you lot in line down to a science, so don’t yeh dare ta give me any trouble, Tseng Itsudake. Yer going back and that’s final. Don’t yeh test me.”

“Reno… Would you please inform Dr. Ward that I’m fine?” Tseng sighed.

The redhead glanced from Tseng, over to the decidedly cross doctor, and then back to the Turk leader again and smirked. “Boss, if you seriously think I’m dumb enough to get between the Doc and one of her patients, you’re in even worse shape then you look,” he said at last.

“Rude?”

“Hmph… Don’t look at me,” the other Turk answered, “I’m not that stupid either.”

“And neither is ‘Lena, so don’t bother askin’,” Reno added.

The Wutaiian Turk groaned in defeat – and no small amount of pain – as Ward’s reinforcements lifted him onto the stretcher and carried him out. Elena left Reno with a quick kiss on the cheek and then wordlessly hurried after them.

“So… Ya gonna tell me what I missed?” he asked once they were gone.

“Finally caught up with Malloy. Long story short, he stole Tseng’s car and we ended up chasing him across half of Midgar before we finally brought him down.”

“Damn… Boss musta been pissed when the fucker took off in his car,” Reno sniggered.

“I think he may have been slightly more pissed when the car blew up.”

The redhead blinked, not sure how to respond to that. Tseng loved that car. He babied it. He barely let anyone else sit in it, let alone drive it.

“Guess I don’t have to ask if the idiot survived.”

~fin~