Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 38: Restoration

Reno had curled himself up at one end of Elena’s couch, the woman’s head resting comfortably on his lap, as two unfortunate teenagers were decapitated, their screams of terror abruptly curtailed in a shower of blood.

“Tch… Shouldn’t’ve gone in there…”

“Five to one odds the next one to go is the guy who just slept with his best friend’s sister…”

The redhead grinned. “Nah… my money’s on the goth chick gettin’ it first.” He looked down at the rookie, and ran his fingers through her hair. “I can’t believe you actually like shit like this… I have to beg Tseng and Rude to watch ’em with me… and even then I’m lucky to get ’em to sit through one, let alone four. And Kel’s a total fuckin’ wuss. Freaks out if I even suggest it.”

“What about Lira?”

Reno snickered. “Eh… I’ve tried the movie night thing with her a few times before. Always ended up missing the end ’cause she lost interest and we started doin’ somethin’ else halfway through.”

It was nearly one in the morning, but neither of them were ready to call it a night. Reno had brought her home hours ago, and settled her on the couch with her injured ankle propped up on a pillow and an ice pack draped over it. Then he’d ordered in Wutaiian take-out and joined her for the impromptu marathon. She wasn’t even sure which of them had suggested it at this point, but she had been so thoroughly taken care of from the moment he’d carried her through the door, it hardly mattered.

“Well, I guess they just don’t have our level of sophistication when it comes to entertainment,” she joked, as another teenager met her grisly end in a vat of acid. “Damn… you were right.”

“Your guy’ll be next,” the redhead said, grinning. “So… we do this a lot?”

Elena snuggled against his thigh and giggled. He hadn’t remembered anything else since that afternoon, but he seemed far more reassured now that that would change as he healed. “Only every time we find something new to watch. It’s so much better than watching alone. I’ve had these sitting around for a couple of weeks now. I was going to invite you over last weekend, but you had other plans for us.” She smiled, thinking back to her birthday weekend.

“Okay… That would seriously fuckin’ hurt…” the redhead said, cringing slightly at what was currently happening to a young man on screen. “Other plans, huh? Somethin’ fun?”

“You took me to the Silver Swan for the weekend. For my birthday.”

“Heh… oh, those kinda plans…” he sniggered. Reno pulled his gaze away from the screen and looked down at her. “Fuck, ‘Lena… Is there anything about you that I don’t like? Besides the whole Shadow & Sword thing, I mean, but I can tolerate that…” he asked, with a teasing grin.

“And just what makes you think I’m going to tell you about all the awful, terrible things you hate about me?” the rookie retorted, smirking slightly.

“I’m havin’ a hard time finding anything to hate about you,” he replied, toying with a few strands of her hair, and Elena rolled her eyes, laughing softly. “Hey, I’m bein’ serious here. You’re amazingly hot… You don’t get ticked off at me every time I make a joke… AND you’re a total horror junkie. You’re almost too good to be true… but there’s gotta be somethin‘ about you I can’t stand. No one’s this perfect.”

“Nope… I’m just going to go with perfect…” she laughed, poking him playfully, and then gasped, “Oh… No! Don’t go upstairs, you idiot!”

“Yeah, she’s a goner. Hey, ya need some more ice?”

“Umm…” Elena prodded the ice pack with her uninjured foot. Water sloshed inside, and she vaguely wondered how long ago it had melted. “Yeah… looks like I do.”

“‘Kay… hang on.” He gently lifted her head off of his lap and slipped out from underneath her, and headed for the kitchen.

“Should I pause it?”

“Nah… this’ll just take a second…” he called back. A scream echoed from the speakers. “She dead?”

“Not yet… she’s– Nevermind, she just got impaled… Oh, hang on, she’s still mov– … Okay, he crushed her head with a sledgehammer. I think she’d dead now.” Elena sat up and moved her foot and the pillow it was on to the coffee table as Reno returned with the ice. He paused, staring at the screen for a moment.

“Fuck… talk about overkill.” The redhead knelt down and gently probed her ankle. “Still looks pretty swollen. You gettin’ uncomfortable layin’ on me like that or somethin’? I can move if ya want the whole couch to yourself…”

The rookie shook her head and patted the cushion beside her, smiling. “No… I just feel bad that I’ve been using you for a pillow all night. Why don’t you take a turn?”

“Wasn’t botherin’ me…” he grinned in reply, “But if you insist.” He happily stretched out on his back, letting his head rest much as hers had been a few minutes ago. Elena lost interest in the violence on the screen for little while, studying him as he relaxed. Her hand found it’s way to the top of his head, lightly petting his hair.

They stayed that way until the last of the teenagers… the young virgin heroine who never did anything even vaguely immoral, of course… escaped into the night, eluding the killer and reaching the safety of a small diner – only to find herself surrounded by the aftermath of a massacre. As a menacing shadow appeared behind her, the credits began to roll.

“Saw that comin’ a mile away,” the redhead murmured as he let his eyes drift shut, enjoying the attention the rookie was lavishing on him. “I fucking love it when you pet me…”

“You do?” she queried, wondering vaguely if he was speaking from experience, or just commenting in general.

“Yeah… Reminds me of the first time ya did it.” So it was a memory. Or part of one, anyway. Either way, he was getting sleepy now, she could tell.

“When was that?” she asked, hoping to coax it along. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure what he was talking about at the moment, and she couldn’t help but be a little curious.

“Veraheim…” the redhead breathed, and he rolled onto his side, curling up, almost catlike, and nuzzling her. Elena giggled and took the hint, extending her range of motion and letting her hand slide along his back, as well.

“What do you remember about Veraheim?” By now, her voice was barely above a whisper. Elena slipped her hand behind his neck and gently squeezed, drawing a quiet moan of pleasure from her lover, and grinned.

“You took care of me…” he sighed, drifting off. She smiled silently at that little bit of success. Elena shifted slightly so she could lay back herself, trying not to disturb him, and let him sleep.

---

Reno jerked awake suddenly, roused by a bizarre vibration against his chest. It took him a moment to figure out that it was the PHS he’d silenced before they’d started the first movie last night. The redhead groaned, fumbling for it and rubbing his eyes.

“What’s going on?” a barely awake voice asked, and he realized that Elena was still with him on the couch. The redhead mentally kicked himself. He’d meant to put her to bed so she’d be comfortable… He must have let himself fall asleep first.

But there was nothing for it now… Reno yawned and glanced at the screen. “Ah, fuck… boss wants somethin’…” he muttered, answering the call. “Yeah, boss?”

“You do realize it’s nearly ten…”

Reno sat up and stretched, looking over at the clock on the wall. Yep. It was nearly ten alright. “I swear to Ifrit, Tseng… if you woke me up on a Saturday just to tell me what time it is, I’m gonna kill you.”

The Turk leader chuckled softly. “I only mention it because, normally, you’re up by now.”

“Late night. So since we’re discussin’ my sleeping habits, I’m guessin’ this is a social call…”

“It is,” Tseng confirmed. “I… was hoping you might be willing to to help me with something, if you haven’t already made plans for the day.”

“Sure… I mean, I don’t have anything specific in mind today, besides waitin’ on ‘Lena hand and foot…” he responded, flashing the rookie a grin. She rolled her eyes and hit him with a throw pillow. “But, ya know… if ya really need me for somethin’, I think she’ll survive without me around for a little while.”

“… I detest the train system.” Tseng replied, and Reno’s brow furrowed, not quite sure where that had come from.

“Yeah, I’m not so crazy about it either… What’s that got to do with anything?”

“I’ve been relegated to taking the train since the unfortunate demise of my car, and I’m tired of it. As much as it pains me, I need to find a replacement, and I could use a second opinion on my options. As well as… moral support.”

“… What happened to your car?” the redhead asked, baffled. Tseng took better care of that damn car than he did himself sometimes. Elena suddenly snickered.

“It blew up…” she whispered. Reno’s eyes widened.

“There was an… incident… involving a target a few weeks ago,” Tseng replied over the phone, and the Turks second-in-command could clearly hear the underlying anger in that statement. “Unfortunately, what was left of it wasn’t salvageable.”

“Uh… heh… Just so we’re clear here, boss… I didn’t have anything to do with this, right?”

“You’re still alive aren’t you?” Tseng deadpanned.

“Point taken…” he said, grinning to himself. “Uh… yeah, gimme like… half an hour or so. I’ll come pick ya up.” He glanced over at the rookie, who was looking a little disappointed at being abandoned in favor of the Wutaiian Turk. “Ya mind if I bring ‘Lena along, too?”

“So long as you’re willing to accept any blame from Ward for her not following the good doctor’s instructions to the letter…”

“Done. See ya in a few.” He ended the call, and turned to the rookie. “Feel like goin’ shopping?”

Elena sighed. “You know… normally, I’d love to. But all that walking… or hobbling, as the case may be… from one store to another doesn’t really sound like much fun right now.”

“No stores… and ya won’t have to walk or hobble. Promise,” he replied with a wide smile. “And trust me… you’re not gonna want to miss this. Tseng’s goin’ car shopping.”

“Okay… What is the deal with Tseng and cars?”

The redhead laughed. “It’s not cars in general, trust me. He really couldn’t care less. His car, specifically, though… that’s a whole other matter entirely,” he replied, “Heh… I guess that means ya never rode in it when the boss really opened it up, huh? See… Rufus gave it to him. Had it custom built in Junon… The thing was seriously tricked out. Kinda too bad you never got to see what it could do, actually. It was pretty impressive. The boss really loved it… Rufus isn’t exactly the kind of guy that says ‘thank you’ real often. That was his way of doin’ it. It meant a lot to Tseng.”

“No wonder he’s waited so long to start looking for a new one…”

“Heh… yeah. It’s gonna be interesting,” he replied before suddenly flashing her a mischievous grin. “I… uh… borrowed it once, ya know.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re using the term ‘borrowed’ very loosely?”

“Hey, borrowin’ without askin’ is still borrowin’. Although… borrowin’ Tseng’s car without askin’ was definitely not one of my better ideas. S’pecially since I technically didn’t have a license yet. I’m pretty sure I’m only still alive because I was in police custody when he found out…”

“Just how many times have you been arrested as a Turk?” Elena asked, somewhat incredulously, and judging by her tone, the redhead got the distinct impression that she’d heard tell of other such incidents. Reno’s grin widened.

“Oh, let’s see,” he replied, thinking, “Eight? No… nine. Almost forgot about the time I… uhh… yeah… nine. Ya know, unless there are some more in the last couple of years I can’t remember right now. Doubt it, though. It was mostly back when I was a teenager.”

“… Nine times?!”

“Yeah… Rude probably still has a collection of my mugshots lyin’ around somewhere. He liked to post ’em in the office the next day every time he had to bail me out… ’cause you better believe I always called him first. Rude just put up the bail and hauled me home. Tseng woulda bailed me out for the sole purpose of kickin’ my sorry ass into next week,” the redhead replied with a slightly embarrassed laugh. “And Veld… Fuck, I don’t even know for sure what Veld woulda done to me, but I don’t think I’d’ve enjoyed it…”

Elena simply shook her head. “You really were a nightmare as a rookie…”

“Look…I’ll level with ya. Things are a lot different in the slums. You can get away with all kinds of shit down there, and no one bats an eye. It kinda took me awhile to get used to the way things work up here, which is probably why Tseng tended to cut me a little bit more slack than he would’ve otherwise,” he replied, “Anyway… I’m still in uniform. So I’m gonna head home, grab a shower and change, and then we’ll go see if we can find the boss a new car, ‘kay?”

Elena laughed. “Okay. But at some point, you are going to tell me about every last one of those arrests.”

---

Tseng was a little surprised when the doorbell rang almost exactly thirty minutes after his call to Reno. The redhead wasn’t well-known for his punctuality… even less so prior to Elena joining them, which was essentially the state in which he currently existed. He made his way to the door and opened it.

“Mornin’ boss!” came the exuberant greeting. Reno was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt… though it was what was on his back that really caught Tseng’s attention.

“Ah. I see you’ve taken to wearing Elena, now,” he teased, with a shake of his head. “Reno… I realize you haven’t fully recovered your memories, but I would have assumed that it went without saying that rookies are not fashion accessories…” The rookie in question grinned and loosed one arm from around his neck to wave at the Turk leader from her piggyback position.

Reno shrugged… or made some semblance of the gesture at any rate. It was difficult to do with her clinging to him. “I promised her she wouldn’t have to walk if she didn’t want to…”

“I have crutches in the car, sir,” the woman added.

“Perhaps this should wait until Elena’s injury has healed. I hadn’t meant to impose.”

“Oh, no… you’re not gettin’ out of this that easy, Tseng. You’re replacin’ that car. Today,” the redhead replied, insistently grabbing his mentor by the arm and leading him down the walkway towards the parking lot. “I don’t care if we gotta drag ya to every dealership in Midgar. You said it’s been weeks. Time to let it go…”

Tseng frowned slightly but sighed and followed, pulling the door shut behind him. He didn’t want a new car. He wanted his car. And though the Wutaiian Turk realized how entirely irrational and impractical that was, given the circumstances, it didn’t change the way he felt about it. Reno was right, however… in the end, it was only a thing, and it was past time to let that thing go.

Besides which… he wasn’t sure he could tolerate another week of being sandwiched in between his fellow commuters on one of Midgar’s trains every morning and evening. Not only was it starting to give him a definite sense of claustrophobia, he was inevitably far later in arriving at the office than he would have liked.

“Surprised ya didn’t ask Rude to join us…” Reno commented as they walked.

“He had a prior engagement. Some sort of seminar on bakeware. Apparently the speaker is rather well-known in culinary circles.”

“Bakeware?” Elena echoed, “I know he takes his cooking seriously, but… really?“

The other Turk snorted in laughter. “Tch… only Rude would wanna spend his day off listenin’ to some guy talk about pots and pans…”

“Mmm… and what had you intended to do today that was so much more appealing?” Tseng prodded.

“‘Lena,” he replied, with a slightly twisted grin.

“Reno!” the young woman squealed, her face going red. “You know… I’m in the perfect position to choke you out right now…”

“Indeed. I really thought I’d taught you better than that, Reno,” Tseng chided him, “Never anger someone who has the upper hand on you…”

“I was just kidding, geez!” the redhead replied, rolling his eyes.

“Somehow I doubt that…” the Turk leader chuckled softly. Reno smirked and wordlessly opened the car door for Elena, and she slid from his back, settling into the passenger seat of his convertible. Tseng said nothing more until she’d pulled the door shut.

“I take it, then, that the two of you have come to some kind of understanding regarding the situation with your memory?” Tseng asked, as they headed around to the other side of the car. Reno shrugged again.

“It’s gonna come back eventually,” he replied, “And I figure even if somethin’ goes wrong and I don’t remember everything,my instincts haven’t steered me wrong yet… and to be honest, right now, pretty much every instinct I have wants to be with her. You were right. As usual. Bizarre as I still think it is bein’ someone’s boyfriend, I think I really would have to make an effortnot to like her. Everything just feels so right with ‘Lena…”

He opened his own door and leaned the seat forward, giving the other Turk access to the back.

“So… who wants the top down?”

“As if we have any say in the matter,” Tseng commented, “I’m surprised it’s not already.”

---

“This one is fuckin’ awesome…”

“No.”

“Ah, come on, boss… Just test drive it.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Reno… I didn’t bring you along just so you could point out the most absurdly conspicuous cars in the lot…” The Turks leader sighed and shook his head at the white two-door with coupe with the red and purple flames painted along the sides.

“Yeah, yeah… I know it’s a little flashy, but–”

“No.”

It was only the first dealership and already Tseng was beginning to think asking the redhead to come with him had been a mistake. At least Elena was here. She was doing a remarkable job of keeping him relatively under control… though that may have had more to do with the fact that the man couldn’t flit about the lot as effectively as he normally would have been able to while carrying her on his back.

“What about that one, sir?” the aforementioned rookie piped up, pointing to a small dark gray sedan a few rows over.

That one was a bit more to his taste, he had to admit. Though it still lacked the sleek style of his old car.

“Tch… sure. You could go with the most boring one here…” Reno replied, grinning as he intentionally turned so that Elena was no longer in Tseng’s line of sight – much to the rookie’s annoyance. “Or you could come take a look at this one over here…” He was already subtly backing towards the far corner of the lot, and the Wutaiian Turk instantly saw why.

“No convertibles,” he said, flatly.

“Whatdya got against ragtops?”

“They’re cold in the winter.”

“Not if you turn up the heat…”

“They leak when it rains.”

“Tch… They do not.”

“… I don’t enjoy being buffeted by a typhoon every time I need to go somewhere.”

“But that’s half the fun of drivin’ one!”

Tseng roughly pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, and fought the urge simply walk to the nearest train station.

Things continued in much the same vein at the second lot… and the third. By the fourth, even Reno seemed to be growing bored of it, and Tseng was rapidly developing a headache. This shouldn’t have been so difficult, he mused. It was just a Leviathan-foresaken car. It was intended to carry him from point A to point B… nothing more.

‘Well…‘ he silently amended, watching as his second-in-command gravitated toward… something… that barely even resembled a car, ‘It would also be nice if it wasn’t an utter embarrassment to drive…‘

“Let’s take a break and get some lunch,” the rookie’s voice suggested, breaking in on Tseng’s thoughts and also effectively stealing the redhead’s attention away from the odd little three-wheeled vehicle. She cast a supportive glance at the other man, and he smiled gratefully.

“Excellent idea,” Tseng quickly agreed, seizing upon the opportunity. For a moment, Reno almost looked torn between the prospect of food and continuing his search for the most ridiculous car he could get the Wutaiian to test drive, but a moment later, it was very clear that food had won out. He grinned and wound his way through the rows, back towards Tseng, happily bringing the rookie along for the ride… in fact, Tseng was fairly certain he’d taken a few extra twists and turns just for her benefit.

“There’s a pretty good Costan place down the street,” Elena offered as they approached. “Just don’t bother ordering their Cosmo Candle. They’re terrible there.”

“That suits me… Reno?” Tseng replied, glancing at the younger man… who, he was somewhat surprised to see, seemed to be a bit distracted all of a sudden. “Reno?”

He shook his head. “Sorry… zoned out a little there for a second. I’ve made those for ya before… They’re your favorite…” he said, glancing over his shoulder at Elena. The rookie leaned in a bit and kissed him on the cheek.

“Especially when you make them…” she said, grinning.

“Just how much have you remembered?” Tseng asked.

“Not really sure. It’s mostly just random bits and pieces, and I don’t even think I’ve been rememberin’ shit in any kind of order. Like, for example… I can very clearly remember ‘Lena’s final evaluation for her promotion… but I can’t remember her first eval at all, even though I had to’ve been there, too. It’s weird as all fuck, actually. Every once in awhile, I’ll just suddenly know somethin’ I didn’t know five minutes ago.”

“I see.” The Turk leader regarded his lieutenant thoughtfully for a moment. It was certainly a good sign that the younger man was improving… and that the improvement seemed to be accelerating. He smiled slightly. “Incidentally… you actually were not at Elena’s first evaluation. You were supposed to be, of course, but you and Rude were held up on a small assignment that rather unexpectedly turned into a much larger one.”

“Heh… Guess I won’t be rememberin’ that, then…” the redhead laughed.

“Thank goodness…” Elena replied, cringing as her face reddened, “That’s something I’d kind of like to forget…”

Tseng chuckled. “Yes, I rather imagine you would…”

Reno glanced back at Elena, and over towards Tseng, staring at him expectantly. After a few moment passed in silence, he gave an irritated groan. “Come on, boss… ya can’t just say shit like that and then not tell me!”

---

By the time they returned to Elena’s apartment, the sun had already set.

“Well… that was bust,” the rookie said as she maneuvered herself through the door. The novelty of an all-day piggyback ride had eventually worn off, and she’d abandoned her mount in favor of her crutches. Reno had protested… though she had a feeling he was quietly grateful for the break. The redhead may have had energy to burn, but he didn’t have Rude’s physical strength… or even Tseng’s for that matter. She could tell carrying her everywhere was gradually exhausting him, despite his denials.

“Nah… I think we did pretty good, actually.”

“What in Shiva’s name are you talking about?” she asked, as she opened Snuffy’s cage to fill his food dish. The little ferret chirped happily at the sudden freedom and darted straight for Reno, climbing him like a tree and taking up a perch on his shoulder. Reno scratched him between his ears.

“Hey, Snuffy… ya miss us? Seriously, ‘Lena… I think we made pretty decent progress today. We got him look, at least. I was expectin’ him to try ‘n skip out way before we made it to that last lot. Trust me… this isn’t gonna happen quickly. He was really, really attached to that car…” The ferret sniffed curiously at Reno’s hair, nosing him gently as he pawed at it.

“Too bad we can’t find him another one just like it…”

The redhead blinked, and slowly grinned. “… Says who?” he asked. He plucked the inquisitive rodent from his shoulder and set him back in the cage, alongside his dinner. Snuffy trilled, clearly annoyed, but moments later, contentedly set to eating.

“I thought it was custom built…”

“Yeah… So? Come on… Shinra never throws anything out. The specs have gotta be on file somewhere. Bet we can get hold of ’em. And if we can’t, I know who can…”

“Rufus?” Elena speculated. After all… he was the one who’d had it built in the first place.

“Got it in one,” Reno replied, grin widening.

“… You know… that’s not a terrible idea.”

“‘Course there are still a couple of problems…”

“Like what?”

“Payin’ for it, for one…” the redhead shrugged, “I mean… it’s not like any of us are hard up for cash, but somethin’ like that’s gotta be pricey. I don’t think Tseng’d fork out for it, even if we did get him the plans. In case ya haven’t noticed, the guy isn’t really too big on splurging on himself. Hell… even if you, me, ‘n Rude went in together to get it for him, somethin’ tells me we’d all be on a much tighter budget for awhile…”

“You really think it’d be that expensive?” As Reno has said… she was hardly hurting for money, but putting a significant dent in her savings just for the sake of a gift that wasn’t really a necessity – even one meant for Tseng – had her thinking twice.

“I can almost guarantee it. Plus, the second problem is gettin’ someone to build it. I’ll betcha anything Rufus had those plans classified… which means there are only a few people in the company who’re even allowed to see ’em. And I think ya know who handles buildin’ classified equipment for Shinra…”

Elena groaned. “Scarlet…” Just the thought of asking that woman for any kind of favor turned her stomach… particularly given that the executive had damn near killed her just a day ago. Tseng had later told her that Scarlet was claiming it had been a malfunction in the Proud Clod’s targeting computer. The rookie didn’t buy it for a minute… and she could tell that Tseng hadn’t either.

“Yep…” Reno joined her on the couch and lifted her onto his lap, drawing a laugh from the young woman.

“What are you doing?”

“Holdin’ you,” he smirked in reply.

“I can see that… Why?”

“‘Cause you’ll let me…” he grinned, “Wonder what Scarlet would even want to get her to do it?”

“Oh, I can answer that,” the rookie said, a sour look on her face. “She’d want you.”

The redhead shuddered slightly. “Guess that means Tseng’s gonna have to find his own damn car… ’cause that’s not happenin’.”

“Damn right, it’s not,” Elena said, emphatically, and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “You’re mine… and I’m definitely not sharing with her.”

Reno snickered softly. “Gettin’ a little possessive there…”

“I can’t help it.” She laid her head on his shoulder, one hand trailing up along his arm until it came to rest at the back of his neck. Reno cocked his head to one side, studying her with a somewhat perplexed expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’… Still kinda tryin’ to wrap my head around the idea that I somehow got this lucky. I keep thinkin’ eventually someone’s going tell me it’s all a big joke.” He shook his head, and his grip tightened around her. “Please tell me no one’s gonna tell me that…”

“No one’s going to tell you that,” the rookie said, smiling.

“Good. ‘Cause I’m startin’ to think you’re about the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I could say the same thing about you, you know…”

“Me? Come on, ‘Lena… I’m nothin’ special,” Reno replied, grinning. Elena frowned and nuzzled him.

“Don’t say that…”

“Why not? It’s true,” he chuckled.

“No it isn’t, and I’ve never liked it when you put yourself down like that. You’re not just a slum rat and you’re more than good enough for me, and I don’t care how many times I have to say it… eventually I’m going to get you to believe it. There’s no one I’d rather be with. I want you, not some perfect guy that probably doesn’t even exist.”

Reno looked at her, surprised. “So… I guess that’s a discussion that’s come up once or twice before, huh?”

“Once or twice,” the rookie said, giggling softly before turning a little more serious, “I still don’t really understand why you keep insisting on it…”

“Guess I just spent so long not bein’ wanted by anyone, I got used to the idea.” He shrugged indifferently, and untangled himself from her embrace. “Should probably get some ice on that ankle. Ward’ll kill me if it’s still swollen on Monday and she finds out I talked ya into runnin’ around all day.”

He stood and made his way into Elena’s kitchen, filling the ice pack. The rookie watched him intently until he returned to her. He grabbed a pillow from one end of the couch and propped her foot up on the coffee table, setting the ice pack over her injury.

“Was it really that bad after your mom died?”

The redhead looked up at her, a little sadly. “It coulda been worse, I s’pose. I mean… the people at the orphanage fed me, and they gave me a place to sleep ‘n clothes to wear ‘n shit like that. Wasn’t getting’ beat up. Wasn’t gettin’ touched. But it wasn’t really a home. My first few weeks there, I missed her so bad, I cried every night… After a few days, they just told me do it quieter, ’cause I was keepin’ the other kids awake.”

Elena could only stare, horrified. “Oh… Reno…”

“That’s just the way things were for me ’til I got a lot older. Lira was really the first person who ever wanted me to stick around, and I didn’t meet her ’til I was fourteen.”

Elena took hold of his hand, teasingly toying with his fingers. She flipped it over and ran her thumb across his palm. “No one deserves to be treated like that…”

“Won’t argue with ya there.” He pulled his hand from her grasp and raised it to her cheek in a gentle caress. “Believe it or not, I had it better than some kids down there. I wouldn’t wish Lira’s family on anyone.”

“What do you mean?”

Reno visibly cringed. “I… really shouldn’t have said that. She doesn’t like to talk about it, and I don’t think she’d like me talkin’ about it, either. Let’s just say that Lira had things pretty rough and leave it at that.”

“Why is she still down there, then?” Elena asked, curious about this woman who had known Reno so much longer than she had.

“Hell if I know. I’ve never had much luck convincin’ her to leave. I’ve even offered to get her a place up here and find her a job with Shinra. If she wanted out, she knows I’d get her out. But she’s been turnin’ me down for years,” he said, sighing, “Never has told me why she wants to keep workin’ for Corneo… but Lira does what she wants. Always been that way.” He smirked slightly and wrapped an arm around Elena. “Now me… I couldn’t wait to get the fuck outta there. Tseng coulda told me he wanted to give me to Hojo to experiment on and I’da probably still gone with him.”

“How’d you meet Tseng, anyway? You’ve never told me…”

The redhead eyed her curiously. “Why the sudden interest in my life story?” he asked, and the rookie snickered.

“It’s not really sudden… I always like hearing about you.” She smiled and shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch. “And… I was just thinking that maybe talking about things you do remember might segue into a few things you don’t remember.”

“Sneaky, ‘Lena…” he laughed. “Ah hell, why not? Not like there’s anything to lose… Let’s see. Met him a few times actually, before he finally recruited me. Didn’t even realize who he was the first time we met.”

“When was that?”

“Almost two years before I became a Turk. Came staggerin’ into the bar I was workin’ at in Sector 3 one night. Figured he’d been chucked outta one of the other bars in the area at first, and just made his way over to the next one… Saw that kinda thing all the time. Long as they didn’t cause trouble, I didn’t mind servin’ ’em.”

“What was Tseng doing drunk in the Sector 3 slums?” Elena blurted out… before she realized that the redhead hadn’t actually said he was drunk. Just that he thought he’d been. The undeniably amused look on his face very quickly confirmed that to be the case. “Oh…” She blushed deeply and shook her head. “So then then what was really going on?”

“Heh… Mission gone bad. Got himself ambushed and shot. Nothin’ too serious, but from what he told me later, he’d been outnumbered bad enough that it was gonna be a problem if they caught up to him again. Wasn’t in any shape for another fight, so he was lookin’ for a place to lay low ’til he had a chance to get back to the Plate.”

“I guess a bar would kind of be a good place to hide out, wouldn’t it?”

Reno nodded. “‘Specially at that time of night. It’d be about the only place in the sector that would’ve been fairly crowded and easy to blend in… Sector 3’s never had much of a night life. Couple of strip clubs that did decent business among the people too broke or too lazy to head over to Wall Market, but mostly it was just the bars.”

“So he just hid out there?”

“Tch… It’d be kind of a crappy story if that’s all that happened,” the redhead snickered. Elena rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“Well, what did happen, then, Mr. I’m Way Too Interesting For My Own Good?”

“Some guys came in lookin’ for someone. Kinda had a feeling he might’ve been who they were after… ya know, given that he was bleedin’ and lookin’ like he’d just lost a fight. Figured if they got into it, they’d probably trash the place and I’d be the one cleanin’ up the mess afterwards… so I warned him before they caught sight of him. Let him hide behind the bar. Still had to clean up the mess.”

Elena giggled softly. “So they saw him, then…”

“Nope…” the redhead grinned, “Guess they didn’t quite believe me when I told ’em I hadn’t seen him. Picked me up and threw me into shelf full of booze. Thank fuck my boss didn’t take that outta my paycheck. I’d probably still be payin’ it off.”

“Were you hurt?” she asked, concerned.

“Nah… couple scratches and a bruised shoulder. No big deal. Anyway… owner came out of the back with a gun. Told ’em to fuck off before everyone in the bar decided to kick their asses, and they hauled ass outta there. By the time I got shit cleaned up, Tseng was gone, too. Never even saw the fucker leave. Heh… left me a nice tip, though.” His grinned widened noticeably. “And I managed to salvage about half a bottle of pretty decent vodka. My boss let me keep it, since he couldn’t sell it. Made for a hell of a weekend.”

“I can’t imagine you getting drunk off half a bottle of vodka,” Elena laughed.

“Never said I did,” Reno smirked, “Lira, though… she’s got the tolerance of… well, actually, come to think of it, you could probably drink her under the table. Doesn’t take much, and she’s almost as much fun as you are when you’re drunk.” For some reason, Elena couldn’t help but think he looked decidedly pleased with that statement. “Which apparently means that I can remember that time I got you completely hammered,” he added, grinning, “Fuck… this really is workin’…”

The rookie mirrored his grin and cuddled up closer to him. “Well, in that case… Tell me about the next time you met Tseng.”

“Ya know… I don’t think anyone’s everbeen this interested in me…” he teased.

“Quit stalling, and talk.”

“Yeah, alright…” he leaned back against the couch, his free arm stuck behind his head. “It was a little over a year later. It was the day I… I took Lira to Wall Market.” Elena could hear the regret in his voice. Reno sighed. “I didn’t want her to have anything to do with that place. Fact is, though, Wall Market’s a hell of a lot safer than Sector 2, even for Corneo’s girls, and I couldn’t be there every minute of the day to look out for her… She’d already got hurt once when I wasn’t around. So I didn’t try real hard to talk her out of it. But I sure as fuck wasn’t gonna let her head over there on her own. Unless you’re plannin’ on goin’ the long way around, you had to go through one of the worst parts of Sector 2 to get there ’cause the trains didn’t run between the all sectors down below back then. Tracks weren’t finished yet.”

She’d never realized that. The Plate had always been thoroughly interconnected. She could remember taking the train with her mother as a child to all of the various sectors. Her mother had loved to explore the city. Elena had always just assumed that the Slums had been built up in the same way… though, in retrospect, that didn’t really make any sense. The Slums were largely comprised of a number of small towns that Shinra had bought out and simply built on top of. It was easier than attempting to tap the vast mako stores that lay beneath them from a distance.

“I’d dropped her off and was headin’ back home and decided I was gonna try take some time off my trip, since it was gettin’ kinda late… so I cut through a part of Sector 1 that wasn’t a whole lot better than Sector 2. Thing is… people in Two knew me. Most of ’em liked me to some extent. I could usually talk my way out of trouble. People in One, though… I was nobody to them. And I was makin’ okay money over in Three, so I was a little better fed and better dressed than your typical gil-less slum rat. Kinda made me stand out.”

“So… you got jumped?”

“Yeah. Always been scrawny, so people tend to see me as an easy target. Usually regret it, too,” he said, smirking. “This guy was no exception. He wasn’t too hard to beat. Had a knife on me, and I was more than willing to use it if I had to, so when he tried to take me down I stabbed him in the chest. He went down and I figured that was the end of it.”

“You killed him…”

“Thought I did. The fucker had to’ve been on somethin’, though… Second my back was turned, he was on me again. He caught me by surprise and grabbed the knife… Put my own blade to my throat and told me I was gonna die. And I believed him, ’cause he was about twice my size and had the drop on me.”

Elena’s eyes widened. “How did you get away?”

“Didn’t. That’s when Tseng turned up,” Reno said, chuckling. “That son of a bitch shot the guy right between the eyes while he was holding me up like a fuckin’ human shield. Hell of a shot, too. He intentionally grazed me, just to prove a point.”

“What point?”

“That he could. I mean, Tseng hit the guy dead fucking center. He coulda aimed a fraction of an inch farther to the right and missed me completely. He didn’t.”

“But… why?” Elena asked, confused and more than a little disturbed. Reno grinned.

“Tseng was different back then. He was pretty cocky, actually. But don’t ever tell him I said that. I kinda enjoy livin’,” Reno said, with a joking wink, “He was the best and he made sure ya knew it. He’s mellowed a lot over the years. Don’t know if he’s ever told ya what happened to his sister but… that changed him. A lot.”

The rookie nodded. “Yeah… He told me about that,” she said, softly.

“First and last time I’ve ever seen him cry. Fucked him up pretty bad for awhile. I don’t think he’s ever completely forgiven himself for her death. Probably never will. He told me once that he’d never make the mistake of puttin’ loyalty to the company before family again… because he didn’t think he could live with it twice.”

“But… how can he send us out on missions that could get us killed if that’s how he feels?” Elena asked, a little confused.

“There’s a difference between duty and blind loyalty, ‘Lena. We all signed up for this job. We knew the risks, and we’re willing to take them. But if it came down to a situation where there was a choice between keepin’ one of us alive or obeying an order to let us die, he’d do everything in his power to protect the people he cares about.” He paused for a moment, looking a little unsure of whether or not he should continue. “So would I, for that matter. You guys are are my life.”

Elena hugged him tight, pulling his head down onto her shoulder. She felt him relax in her arms and smiled. “I know…” They stayed like that for a few more minutes, before the redhead finally sat up.

“Heh… I think we drifted away from the story just a little,” he laughed. “Anyway… After he shot the guy, I was more than a little freaked out. Didn’t recognize him at first… and when I finally did, I think I was even more freaked out. I asked him why he saved me, and he just said that he owed me… and that if I was gonna try and kill someone who wanted to kill me, I’d better learn to make damn sure they’re dead before turnin’ my back on ’em. Told me I’d be seein’ him again soon and disappeared.”

“Lucky he was there… or you might not have walked away from that.”

“Oh, it wasn’t luck,” Reno chuckled, “He was watchin’ me. Not constant surveillance or anything… but when he had the time to do it, he was keepin’ tabs on me. Tseng was pretty sure he wanted me for the Turks right from the start… but I was just a kid. Wasn’t ready. He didn’t want to lose track of his potential new recruit, though, before he got around to actually recruiting him. I kinda got the feelin’ that might not’ve been the first time he’d saved my ass, either.”

“That’s almost creepy…” Elena giggled.

“Tch… no it’s not. I watched you for months.”

“W-what?”

“Yeah… Soon as Tseng told me I could have a rookie, I started goin’ through the candidates in the recruitment program. Had it narrowed down to five or so, and started keepin’ an eye on ’em… during training and outside of training. Eventually, I was only watchin’ you.”

“You… you stalked me?” Elena cried, with a somewhat disbelieving laugh. Reno quickly joined in.

“Heh… this rememberin’ shit is gonna get me in trouble pretty soon. Yeah, I guess I kinda did…” he admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “You were kind of a big deal. I really wanted to be absolutely sure I was pickin’ the right recruit.”

The rookie rolled her eyes and snickered. “Well, I suppose it’s nice to know I was so important to you even before we officially met…”

“A lot more important than ya know, apparently…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Guess it’s never come up then,” Reno replied, “You’re my first.”

“Oh… that. I knew that.”

“Yeah… but I’m guessin’ no one has ever told ya exactly what that means,” he said, smirking slightly, “First rookie isn’t just about me trainin’ a new recruit on my own. It’s also a kind of a test for a second-in-command. Tseng expects me to take over for him one day. But he also expects me to prove to him that I’m capable of bein’ responsible for the team. That starts with bein’ responsible for you.”

“I… You never told me that…”

Reno shrugged. “Like I said… guess it’s never come up. Would’ve eventually, since at some point you get to evaluate me.”

“I do?”

“Yep… but when that happens is entirely up to Tseng. I don’t have any say in it and I’m not allowed to know if it’s comin’ up. Kinda like Hell Week, but without the advance warning.”

A grin slowly spread across Elena’s face. “So… does that mean that one of these days, I’m going to get some revenge on you for what you put me through during Hell Week?”

“… Uh… I guess that’s technically one way to look at it…” he said, cautiously, “What exactly did I do to ya during Hell Week?”

Elena giggled quietly, and said nothing.

---

Elena yawned and sat up in bed. And suddenly realized that it was a lot brighter in her bedroom than it should have been. She looked over at the clock and froze. It was already five after eight. She was supposed to have been up an hour ago!

She darted out of bed, very nearly re-spraining her ankle in her haste, and began pulling clothes out of her closet… and silently cursed the fact that virtually her entire weekend had been preoccupied with working on getting Reno’s memory back. She’d skipped out on laundry detail. With an annoyed huff, she pulled on the same pants she’d worn on Friday, hoping no one would notice the wrinkles in the fabric.

At least they had made some progress. She’d been hoping for a little more, but anything was better than nothing. Every recovered memory brought him one step closer to being whole again, and she wanted Reno back… her Reno. The one who knew her inside and out. The one that loved her more than anything in the world… because as much as he enjoyed spending time with her at the moment, she was still painfully aware of the fact that he didn’t feel the same way about her as he had before he’d been injured.

Elena pulled a brush through her hair, glaring at the stray pieces that insisted on sticking up in back. She hated rushing in the morning. Her fingers fumbled her tie into place and she raced out of the bedroom, pausing only long enough to dump more kibble into Snuffy’s cage… about half of which landed on the disgruntled ferret’s head.

“Sorry, Snuffy! I’m late…” she called back to him. By then, she was already halfway to the door.

---

“Feeling better?”

The redhead shrugged, and propped his feet up on his desk. “S’pose so… I mean, a lot’s come back, so it’s not so bad now. Still a hell of a lot missing, though.” He smirked. “How was the bakeware seminar?”

“… Informative.”

Reno snorted softly and leaned back. “Fuck, man. You’ve seriously got the most boring social life of anyone I’ve ever met. If it wasn’t for me, you’d spend all your free time in the kitchen.”

“You don’t complain when my boring social life results in free food for you…”

“Heh… Fair enough,” he responded with a grin. “Seriously, though… a bakeware seminar?”

“…”

Reno cocked an eyebrow. There was something Rude wasn’t telling him. “Spill it.”

“… I wasn’t really that interested in the seminar,” his partner admitted, “I just went for the speaker.”

The redhead’s eyebrows rose in curiosity. “Oh yeah? Who was the speaker?”

“… Illisa Chan.”

Reno laughed. “The hot chick with the huge rack from the cooking channel?! Oh… now I get it. Yeah, I can see how she might actually make bakeware interesting.” He grinned as Rude blushed faintly. “You’ve got a crush…” he teased, “Your bartender down in Seven’s gonna be jealous…”

Rude rolled his eyes at him. “You can’t remember having a girlfriend, but you remember that…”

“Well, sure… I mean, there are only so many things I can mock you for. Important to keep track of ’em.” He sat up, removing his feet from their perch. “On a more serious note, though… What are we gonna do about Tseng’s transportation issue? It’s ten after… he’s late. Tseng is never late.”

“Elena’s late, too…” Rude pointed out.

“Nah… she had an appointment with Ward this morning to check out her ankle. She’s probablyjust downstairs still. Tseng is late.”

“You have a suggestion?”

“Not really… that’s why I was askin’ you. Saturday wasn’t a complete waste of time, but he’s definitely not ready to jump right in and buy a new car. Me ‘n ‘Lena talked about askin’ Rufus for the plans to his old one…”

“Won’t happen.”

“Why not?” Reno asked. Sure, they’d already come to the conclusion that building him an identical replacement probably wasn’t feasible, but surely they could at least get ahold of the plans…

“Rufus destroyed them after it was finished. It was one of a kind.”

“How the fuck do you know that?”

“Scarlet wasn’t happy about it. She entered a formal complaint.”

“And again… how the fuck do you know that?”

Rude shrugged. “It’s in her file.”

“Been readin’ the executives’ files, have we? Thought those were off limits without permission from Heidegger…”

“They are,” Rude replied, smirking. “But when you’re stuck as Heidegger’s office slave for a week, and have unlimited access to his computer any time he’s not there, you can bypass the middleman. I… made the best of a bad situation.”

“Nosy bastard,” Reno snickered, “Better not let the Boss find out about that…”

“Wasn’t planning to.”

“But… I guess that means a replica’s out.” He leaned back in his chair again. “Ah, well… probably wouldn’t’ve worked anyway. Like I told ‘Lena… we’d probably have to get Scarlet to okay buildin’ the damn thing. I don’t think she’d be real inclined to do us any favors.”

Before Rude could respond, the door to the office was shoved forcibly open, as a very irritated – and damp – Wutaiian entered.

“Enjoy the mornin’ commute, boss?” Reno asked. Tseng’s jaw clenched.

“No,” he said, emphatically, stripping off his jacket. “If I have to take that Leviathan-forsaken train… One. More. Time…”

“Guess that means I’m givin’ ya a ride home tonight… if only to prevent a mass murder…” the redhead sniggered. Tseng sighed.

“I would greatly appreciate that.”

“So what happened to your jacket?”

“A college student with a very large cup of coffee happened to it,” he replied, draping the wet garment over the arm of the couch by the window.

“Thought I smelled hazelnut…”

Tseng glared, clearly not nearly as amused as his lieutenant. “Where’s Elena?”

“Medical, I would assume. Ward wanted to sign off on her ankle before she came upstairs this morning.”

The Wutaiian Turk visibly cringed, and swore under his breath in his native tongue.

“Boss?” Reno queried, slightly concerned. It wasn’t often he saw Tseng so frustrated.

“I was supposed to be down there myself first thing to finally be released from this damned medical restriction.”

The redhead suddenly cackled in glee. “Oh… that’s too good. You missin’ an appointment with Ward! She’s gonna chew ya out, you know. You’re s’posed to be the responsible one.”

“Weren’t you due to be re-evaluated today, as well?” he countered.

Reno grinned. “Yeah… but my appointment’s not for another half hour. See… unlike some people, I don’t schedule shit like that for the second I walk into the building.”

“Hmph… Only because you’d rather not go at all,” Rude commented. Reno flipped him off.

“Indeed. In fact, why don’t you just accompany me while I try to placate her? I’m sure the doctor will be able to squeeze you in a bit early.”

“… I’d… kinda rather not…”

“It wasn’t a request.”

Reno groaned and stood up. There wasn’t much sense in arguing. He was outnumbered, and if he didn’t go willingly, he had a feeling his partner would be more than willing to ‘help’ him to the elevator, as usual. And at least Elena would probably still be down there by the time they arrived. Maybe she’d stick around and keep him company. “Fine… but I see one needle that’s meant for me, I’m outta there. That wasn’t part of the deal today.”

Tseng chuckled softly and escorted him out the door.

As they stepped aboard the elevator, Reno couldn’t help but feel a strange… and entirely unwarranted… sense of foreboding. Along with a distinct feeling of deja vu. His vision swam, and he was suddenly overtaken by dizziness so extreme that he had to brace himself against the wall of the car. He was distantly aware of Tseng’s voice… and moments later Tseng’s hand on his shoulder, but he couldn’t seem to answer him.

The redhead inhaled sharply as the memory assailed him… huge, hairy legs crashing down, puncturing the roof of the elevator like it was made of paper… Elena screaming… Ward’s voice, too, frightened… and then Elena, vanishing into darkness and an all too familiar terror engulfing him. Fear, mingled with desperation, mixed with the stomach-turning sensation of loss. And then everything went black.

---

“‘Lena!?”

His eyes snapped open, and he almost immediately squeezed them shut again, half-blinded by the horrendously bright light above him. He’d tried to sit up, as well, but the motion was quickly arrested by firm pressure against his chest, forcing him to lay back down. He opened his eyes again, more cautiously this time, and found himself face to face with Dr. Ward… who seemed far more interested in blinding him for a second time than asking him how he was. The redhead flinched away from the bright light at the tip of whatever instrument she was holding in front of his face.

“Just relax. Yer perfectly safe… now stop yer fidgeting and let me look at yeh…” Ward said, calmly.

“What the fuck just happened? Where’s ‘Lena?”

“I’m afraid the answer is ‘I don’t know’ ta both those questions,” she replied, firmly gripping him by the chin and holding his head still so she could look at his eyes. “What do yeh remember?”

Reno growled, and tried to pull away. What he remembered was Elena. In trouble. He couldn’t lose her… not now. Not after she finally knew how he felt about her. Not after he’d won her over.

A moment later, his entire thought process seemed to grind to a halt.

“Reno?” Ward prodded, concerned by the sudden blank expression on the young man’s face. The redhead blinked and focused on her. “What do yeh remember?”

His eyes widened in realization. “… Everything.”

Tseng suddenly appeared from behind the woman, moving toward him. “What do you mean, ‘everything’?” he asked. Reno raised a hand to his eyes, trying to rub away the spots that still littered his vision. He had a splitting headache. He tried to sit up again, and this time Ward allowed him to.

“I mean I fucking remember everything. At least I think I do.” He looked up at her. “Where’ ‘Lena?”

“She missed her appointment this morning. I was about ta give her a call when Tseng hauled yer sorry behind in here half-unconscious and mumbling about spiders… What in Shiva’s name happened to yeh before yeh got here?”

“Don’t know… just… it hit me like a goddamn freight train.”

“What did?” Ward gently coaxed.

“The elevator… that fuckin’ spider that took ‘Lena… And then everything else, I guess. I couldn’t keep it anything straight after that. I just felt so… dizzy and overwhelmed. Like someone was tryin’ to pour everything I’ve ever done back into my head all at once.” He shook his head trying to clear it, and groaned as the pain in his head spiked at the sudden movement.

“Lay down…” the doctor said, gently easing him back, “And for Shiva’s sake… watch yer language.”

“Is he going to be alright? What happened to him?” Tseng asked.

“I’d like ta transfer him over to Midgar General for a quick scan just to make sure everything’s alright in there… but my best guess? The block in his memory finally broke. Probably blacked out from sheer information overload.”

“Seriously? Another trip to the hospital? I’m fine,” the redhead grumbled. “Now would someone fuckin’ find ‘Lena already? She’s s’posed to be down here…”

---

Elena pulled into her parking space, and spared a second to look at the clock on her dash. She groaned. She was supposed to have been at work twenty-five minutes ago. Why was it that, whenever she was in a hurry, she seemed to hit every red light in Midgar? She pushed the door open and hauled her crutches out. She didn’t really need them anymore, but she’d already ignored one of Ward’s demands and gone out with Reno and Tseng on Saturday. She didn’t want to risk raising the woman’s ire any more than she had to.

She rushed for the elevator, momentarily debating on whether she should check in at the office first or just go straight to Ward, before finally hitting the button for the ninth floor. Ward first… then the office. Tseng was liable to be far more forgiving.

Even the elevator seemed determined to hold her up this morning, stopping at three floors to pick up other passengers before at last depositing her on Nine. Elena sighed. Of all the days to oversleep. She hurried down the hallway towards the medical suite, and slipped inside, fully expecting to be chastised for her tardiness by the acerbic doctor. Instead, she found Ward’s attention focused exclusively on the redheaded patient on her exam table. She felt her stomach drop in panic, as she wondered what more could have possibly happened.

“Reno?!”

At the sound of her voice, the redhead sat up, grinning wildly.

“‘Lena!” he called out, trying to get up, only to be held in place by both Tseng and Dr. Ward. “Would you two let go of me already? I told ya, I’m fine!”

“W-what happened?” she asked, a little frightened by the possibilities, as she made her way over. She reached his side just as his pair of captors finally gave in and released him. Reno was on his feet seconds later, and she suddenly found herself lifted off of her own. He hugged her against his chest and spun her before finally claiming her lips with his own. It took her breath away. Elena’s arms slid around his waist, pulling him closer as she happily returned his enthusiasm. Eventually, though, he pulled away.

“I love you.”

The rookie blinked in surprise. “R-reno?”

“I remember everything, ‘Lena,” he said, grin widening, and Elena’s own expression quickly mirrored his. She couldn’t seem to find any words herself. She kissed him again instead, reveling in the warmth of his embrace, the sensation of his body against hers.

The moment was cut short by the sharp clearing of a throat behind her, and Elena was suddenly very aware that they still had an audience. She broke away, eyes going wide as she turned to stare at Tseng and the doctor.

“I hate to interrupt…” the Turk leader said, smiling warmly. Elena’s face reddened. “But Dr. Ward would like to run some additional tests on Reno, and I believe that you and I are also due for evaluation this morning.”

---

“… They’re slipping again,” Rude muttered, disgusted, as he prodded a small lump of what was, ostensibly, potato salad. He shoved it to one side of his plate, and dove into the turkey sandwich instead. That, at least, wasn’t half bad.

“I don’t know… I actually sort of like it. It tastes downright bizarre, but it’s not really bad. Just a little… unexpected,” Elena replied. The bald Turk stared at her incredulously, mid-bite.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Reno lately,” he said at last. The rookie giggled and took another bite. It was true… She’d hardly left Reno’s side since Monday. In fact, this was probably the longest they’d been apart since his memory had returned – he’d been staying at her place every night this week. But this afternoon, he’d had to go check in with Lira in his continuing efforts to convince her to work for them on a more regular basis.

“I’m just glad to have him back.”

Rude gave a soft laugh. “Don’t blame you. How is he? Really?”

“He’s himself again… but I think he feels bad for putting me through all that, even though there really wasn’t anything he could have done about it. He’s practically been my own personal servant all week. Won’t let me do anything for him.” She smiled and shook her head. “It’s a little hard to complain, though… especially when he’s rubbing my feet or massaging my shoulders or bringing me tea.”

“He’ll calm down,” Rude replied, “He gets a little… clingy… sometimes after something major happens. Always has. Best not to bring it up and just let him work through it on his own. Doesn’t usually last long.”

“Thankfully,” a new voice added. Tseng joined them at the table, setting his own plate down in front of him. Rude chuckled.

“Tseng’s not fond of it.”

The Turk leader cast him an affronted look before picking up his fork. “I would never begrudge Reno a little affection, but he does tend to to be very… physical. I’m not overly fond of having my personal space invaded…” He calmly speared some of the potato salad on his plate and took a bite. “… which is something he’s quite adept at. What in Leviathan’s name did I just eat?”

“We’re not sure… but Elena likes it.”

“Then Elena has been spending far too much time with Reno lately.”

Rude smirked at the annoyed scowl that crossed her face. “Told ya so.”

---

Reno sighed softly as deft fingers danced along his spine, lightly massaging, teasing out the tension in his shoulders. He groaned as they made their way to his lower back, the pressure increasing expertly, and he felt himself relax.

“I shouldn’t be doin’ this…” he murmured.

“Like hell you shouldn’t. You’re more wound up than I think I’ve ever seen ya.”

“I’m on duty. And ‘Lena –”

“Hey, now. Don’t go thinkin’ this is gonna turn into somethin’ more than a little backrub,” Lira laughed. She pressed her knuckles firmly into the tense muscles, eliciting a moan from the redhead. “So… you really couldn’t remember anything about her?”

“Mmmph… Nothin’. Worst part was, I could see how much it was upsettin’ her, and I felt bad about it. And now that I remember exactly how much she means to me, I feel even more guilty for makin’ her suffer like that.” He sighed softly as Lira’s hands found a particularly sensitive spot. “Plus, my asshole brain keeps comin’ up with new reasons for her to break things off.”

“Like what?” Lira asked, her voice calm and quiet.

“Like maybe she doesn’t want to worry about bein’ stuck in that position ever again. Or maybe losin’ the part of me that knows her made her think about what it’d be like if somethin’ worse ever happened to me. Might be a little easier to get over somethin’ like that if we weren’t together…”

Lira snorted in contempt. “What if you lost her? Would it be easier for you if you weren’t together?”

“Don’t even fuckin’ say that…”

“I’m just pointin’ out the obvious,” she chuckled, “Reno… you need to get over this delusion you have that she’s more important to you than you are to her. You couldn’t stop loving her if you tried. Why can’t you accept that you mean just as much to Elena?”

“… ‘Cause she means everything to me.”

“And you still don’t think you could possibly be that important to someone?” When Reno didn’t answer, Lira rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.” She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss between his shoulder blades. “And you’re a fucking mess… but you’re an adorable mess, so I’m not going to give up on you.” She gave his spine one final caress. “Time’s up.”

“I can’t have been here an hour already…” the redhead replied, rolling onto his side to look up at her.

“You’ve actually been here an hour and a half… which means you owe me another fifty gil,” she said, grinning as she extracted his wallet from his back pocket and removed the requisite amount.

“Tch… Remind me to do this when you’re off work from now on. Shit’s costin’ me a fortune.”

“Like you can’t afford it…” Lira teased, tossing the wallet back to him.

“Did I at least talk ya into workin’ for us? Ya know… before we started my therapy session…”

The woman sighed. “I never could say no to you.” She shook her head and stood up, collecting Reno’s shirt and jacket from the chair in the corner and handing them to him. “Alright… on a trial basis. If I feel like snitchin’ to Shinra is puttin’ me or any of the other girls in danger, it stops. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Good,” she said, and giggled, “Now go explain to your girlfriend why you just spent your afternoon half-naked at a brothel.”

“Yeah… I don’t think I’ll be phrasin’ it quite like that. I’d rather live to see tomorrow, thanks.”

“I mean it, Reno,” Lira said, one finger prodding him in the chest, “Talk to to her. If she knew how fuckin’ paranoid you really are about screwin’ things up with her, she’d make sure you didn’t have a reason to worry about it so much. Don’t make me talk to her myself… ’cause I fuckin’ will.”

“Yeah, okay… I’ll get around to it.” He pulled his shirt back on, buttoning it, and shrugged into his jacket.

“Reno…” she said, warningly.

“I will get around to it. Promise.”

“You’d better. Or I’ll make it a provision of me workin’ for ya.” She leaned towards him and kissed him on the cheek. “Take care, okay?”

“Yeah… You, too, Lira. See ya soon.”

Reno made his way out onto the street in front of the Honey Bee Inn. He hadn’t meant to spend quite so long here, but Lira had always been good at getting her way. He’d long since gotten used to the fact that he seldom left her company until she was good and ready for him to go. Even now that they were no longer lovers, she still held that sway over him to some extent.

He shook his head and started towards the station, wondering if she was serious about making her services as an informant contingent upon him having a heartfelt discussion with Elena about his own insecurity. Knowing her… she probably was. Lira didn’t typically bluff. He really wasn’t looking forward to that discussion…

He was so lost in his own thoughts, he failed to notice the eyes watching him from a darkened alley.

~fin~