Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 39: No Rest for the Weary

“A-are you sure about this?” Elena asked, nervously.

“Yep.”

She glanced beyond Reno towards Tseng, somewhat pleadingly. “Sir…”

“If Reno thinks you’re ready, then I will defer to his judgment.”

“But…”

“Come on, ‘Lena… you got this. I can’t hold your hand forever. Gotta try it on your own sometime. ‘Sides… you’ll be gone, what… hour and a half, tops?”

The rookie took a deep breath, and glanced down at the controls in front of her. It was all so very familiar. She’d sat here dozens of times before. It shouldn’t have been this intimidating.

“B-but…” she began again, but Reno firmly shook his head, arms crossed.

“No buts. You’re goin’. You’ll be fine… and if ya need us, we’re a phone call away.”

“If I need you, odds are I’ll be stranded on the side of a mountain again,” she muttered, as she reached for her harness to strap herself in, and Reno laughed.

“Ah, relax… Rude checked the copter over thoroughly, didn’t ya partner? Nothin’s gonna blow up this time.”

“You’re good to go,” Rude said with a nod. Elena groaned. She definitely wasn’t going to be getting out of this. Flying to Junon wasn’t a big deal… she’d done it a couple of times already. And she’d grown steadily more and more confident with the aircraft. Even her landings had vastly improved. But she’d never done any of it alone.

The rookie suddenly found herself absolutely terrified.

Reno climbed in next to her. “Doesn’t fly any different without me in it,” he said, leaning over and kissing her. She relaxed slightly at the feeling of his lips on hers, and tried to prolong the contact as long as she could, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. Far too soon, though, the redhead broke away. “Nice try…” he said, smirking, “But I’m not gonna make out with ya just so you can avoid work.” He grinned teasingly. “We can do that we you get back.”

“I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that,” Tseng commented from outside the helicopter.

“Hear what?” his second-in-command called back over his shoulder, feigning innocence. He turned back to her. “‘Kay… Enough stallin’, ‘Lena. You’re playin’ delivery girl today whether you like it or not. So take that…” He pointed to the case that sat innocuously on the co-pilot’s seat. “… to Rufus, and then come straight home. And stay outta the bar.”

“Why would I go to the bar?” she asked, staring at him oddly. Where the hell had that come from?

Reno shrugged. “What? That’s what Tseng told me the first time I flew to Junon solo…”

Elena laughed in spite of her nervousness. The Turk leader, as well, shook his head chuckling quietly in amusement. The redhead grinned and pressed another quick kiss to her cheek before leaving her alone in the cockpit. She watched as they backed away to a safer distance, and took second calming breath before starting up the engines.

Less than a minute later, she was airborne, the helicopter fading into the distance. Reno stood, watching it go, and sighed.

“‘Kay, well… if anyone needs me, I’ll be at my desk bein’ a nervous wreck for the next hour and a half or so.”

---

“Calm down. I think you may be more nervous than Elena was,” Tseng said. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards into a slight smile as he set a mug of tea in front of the redhead. The fingers drumming against the top of his desk abruptly stopped, and Reno looked up at him, accusingly.

“That’s not coffee.”

“No… it’s chamomile. Without sugar. You’re entirely too wound up right now. The last thing you need is a caffeine high.”

Reno hesitantly picked it up and sniffed at the steaming liquid, his nose wrinkling in distaste. He took a sip anyway. “Ugh… Why would anyone actually want to drink this shit?”

“Because it’s naturally relaxing and soothing.”

“Tastes like fuckin’ pond water.”

Tseng rolled his eyes and gave an amused laugh before returning to his own office, leaving the other two members of his team on their own. Reno set the mug down and nudged it away from himself. He was sureElena would be perfectly fine. There was no doubt in his mind that she was ready for a solo flight… hell, she was ready for the final certification exam, as far as he was concerned. But for some reason, he couldn’t stop imagining the worst.

“She’ll be okay,” Rude commented from his own workstation.

“I know.”

“She’s a good pilot.”

“I know.”

“And she’s only going to Junon and back…”

“I know.” He glared at his fellow Turk, who simply shrugged.

“… And I thought Tseng was bad when he sent you on your first solo flight…” Rude said with a soft snort.

“I will pretend I didn’t hear that, either,” the aforementioned Turk called out from his office.

---

As soon as the skids touched down on the landing pad, Elena slowly let out the the breath she’d been holding through her entire descent. If she hadn’t known it was impossible, she’d have sworn she’d been holding it since she’d left Midgar. She groaned in relief as overly-tense muscles finally relaxed. For a moment, she just sat there, glad to be back on the ground again.

It really hadn’t been that bad. In fact, the whole flight probably couldn’t have gone smoother if Reno had been with her, flying the helicopter himself. Still, she was glad it was over. Well… half over. There was still the little matter of the return trip to deal with.

But, she mused, no matter how nervous she’d been, she’d made it in one piece. She hadn’t crashed into anything along the way. Even her landing had been almost picture perfect, aside from being slightly off-center on the helipad due to an unexpected crosswind. Elena smiled slightly to herself… all in all, a perfectly successful first solo flight.

Feeling a little less shaky, she released her harness and stood, grabbing the case for Rufus from the other seat. She wasn’t entirely certain what was in it… Tseng had only told her that its contents were classified and thus being transported by the Turks rather than one of Shinra’s regular couriers. She stepped down from the aircraft, onto the massive flight deck and headed for the vice president’s office in the main administration building.

As she entered, Rufus didn’t even acknowledge her, most of his attention, instead, focused on the large model of the Junon cannon that sat on his desk. The miniature seemed to have seen better days. Some of the supports had collapsed and the barrel of the cannon itself had a large crack running along its length.

It took her a moment to realize that he wasn’t simply studying it.. She cleared her throat softly and he jumped slightly, startled. His hand jerked back from the model, followed by a tiny crack. The executive glared at her.

“I see your timing is just as poor as that of your mentor…” he said sourly. “You couldn’t have waited five more seconds?”

“I-I’m sorry, sir…” she said, flustered. She’d only been trying to let him know she was there. She hadn’t meant to interrupt.

“Nevermind.” Rufus said, with a dismissive wave. “Bring that over here. And be careful of the model.”

“Yes, sir.” Elena hurried forward, carrying the little case with her and set it down on a clear corner of his desk before taking a step back and standing silently, her hands behind her back, waiting for her next order. Rufus rolled his eyes and unlocked the case, lifting the lid. The rookie Turk stared in confusion as he drew out… another Junon cannon barrel.

“That’s the ‘classified material’?”

Rufus set it carefully on his desk alongside its damaged twin.

“You are not to speak of this to anyone,” he said seriously.

“You’ve got to be kidding…” she blurted out.

“I most certainly am not!” The vice president scowled at her, and Elena quickly clamped her mouth shut. He sighed and sank down into his chair. “I had it classified because… if my father ever learned that I’d damaged this, I would likely be banished to the research station on the Great Glacier instead of merely to Junon,” he admitted, somewhat awkwardly. “I finally had to admit defeat and request a replacement from the fabrication lab in Midgar.”

Elena had to bite down on her lower lip to prevent the laughter that threatened to slip out. She wasn’t quite successful.

“I’m being entirely serious. Keep your mouth shut.”

“Yes, sir… Not a word to anyone,” she replied, doing her best to sober herself before she got into trouble.

“And that includes that obnoxious lover of yours,” he stipulated. “Gods help me if the slum rat finds out. I’ll never hear the end of it…”

“Understood, sir. Er… if you didn’t want anyone to know, why not just wait until I left to open the case?” she asked, curious.

The young executive’s eye twitched. “Because… Much as I’m loath to ask, replacing the barrel is going to require two sets of hands if I’m to have any hope of doing so without causing further damage, and there are few people in Shinra with a better sense of discretion than the Turks. Covering things up is in your job description. Now… hold onto the base while I remove the old one.”

Elena quickly did as requested. It was a little surreal, to be honest. She was actually helping Rufus Shinra – vice president of the company and heir apparent to the Shinra fortune – fix something he’d broken so that he wouldn’t get in trouble with his parents. She snickered to herself… She’d helped Del do much the same thing when they were little and her brother had accidentally shattered a decorative plate that had belonged to their great grandmother. The shoddy repair work had gone undetected for years… In the end her mother had bumped it a little too hard while dusting, sending it tumbling to the floor a second time, and thought that she’dbroken it herself. They never had come clean.

“I had expected Tseng to be bringing this… Hold that piece back,” Rufus said, hefting the new barrel, and the rookie did as she was ordered. “Did he find something more important to do, or is he still too damaged to fly… I’d heard he was injured recently.”

She was a little surprised to hear a note of veiled concern in his voice… though she wasn’t quite sure why. Reno had told her that he and Tseng were friends of a sort.

“Yes, sir… he was shot a few weeks ago. He’d planned to come himself… but Reno convinced him to let me do it instead. I’d never flown solo until today and the run to Junon is an easy one to start out with.”

“The redhead’s not here, then?” Rufus queried, looking slightly surprised. “Hmph… and here I was beginning to think you never went anywhere without him. You were quite obnoxiously attached to one another on your last visit.”

The cannon settled neatly into it’s slot, and Elena released her hold on the little tab that locked it into place.

“No, sir… I’m here alone,” she replied, ignoring the commentary. He seemed different this visit. Less… antagonistic. Still decidedly stuck up, she noted, but he wasn’t going out of his way to insult and provoke her at every opportunity.

“And… Tseng? He’s recovered?” Rufus asked, so casually that had Elena not known better, she’d have sworn it was nothing more than idle curiosity.

“Yes, sir… fully recovered,” she replied, “Though I wish I could say the same for his car…”

Rufus glanced up at her… That had certainly gotten his attention.

“His car?” the executive repeated, in a conversational tone, “What happened to his car?”

She couldn’t help but think he had more than a passing interest.

“Well, it kind of… blew up, sir,” the rookie replied, “The man who shot him tried to use it to get a bomb into company headquarters. Tseng and Rude stopped him before he got that far, but it went off before anyone could disarm it.”

Rufus nodded minutely. “That’s… unfortunate. Very well… I have farther work to do on this, but I should be able to manage on my own from here on out. You’re free to return to Midgar. Try not to crash the helicopter into any mountains on the way back, will you? They’re quite expensive to replace, and the vehicle maintenance department is already over-budget for this quarter…”

Were it anyone but Rufus, she would have been almost certain that had been a joke. Even being Rufus, she was fairly sure it was. Since when did he joke with her, she wondered.

“I’ll do my best, sir,” she replied, before taking her leave, trying to keep a straight face. Still a little bemused, the rookie headed back towards the helicopter… but not before she made one more brief detour…

---

“Ya think I should call her? Check in?”

She wasn’t even really overdue yet, Tseng noted, glancing at his watch… though she did seem to be taking her time. She’d been gone going on two hours now.

“I’m sure Elena is fine. Rufus likely detained her for a short while to entertain himself. I doubt she’ll be gone much longer,” Tseng replied. “In the mean time, you must surely have something to occupy yourself with. Have you set up the meeting with Lira for Rude?”

“Yeah, yeah… It’s taken care of, boss. Like I told Rude earlier… She’s expectin’ him at her place tonight to go over specifics of the arrangement.”

“And you’ve filed the reports you’ve been putting off all week?”

“Yep.”

“All of them?” he prodded, suspiciously.

“Did all mine and two of yours. Folder’s empty.”

“And the transcription of yesterday’s interrogation?”

“Finished, formatted, and filed. I even proofread the fuckin’ thing. Twice.”

Tseng smirked at the redhead’s annoyed alliteration. “Perhaps we need to send Elena off on her own more often. This may be the most productive I’ve ever seen you…”

Rude snorted with laughter before quickly going back to pretending he wasn’t listening in on the conversation from across the room.

“Lunch?” the Turk leader finally suggested. It was a little early, but if it took Reno’s mind off of his absent rookie for a short while, it was fine by him.

“Not hungry.”

Both men suddenly froze, staring at him in shock. Rude turned to look at his commander.

“Did… Did Reno just say he wasn’t hungry?”

“… I’ll call Dr. Ward. This could be life-threatening,” Tseng replied in a mock-serious tone. He smiled. Reno really must have been nervous about the rookie soloing if it had managed to kill his appetite. That was a rare occurrence indeed.

“Oh, shut the hell up,” the disgruntled redhead muttered. “Just let me suffer in peace.”

Tseng chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, then moved to the other side of the room, leaning calmly against Rude’s desk.

“I think you were right. He’s much worse than I was.”

“… About a tie,” the bald Turk responded, not looking up from his current task. Tseng cast him a sidelong glance.

“I realize I was… on edge… waiting for him to return from his first solo flight, but there’s no need to exaggerate.”

Rude snickered and finally looked up. “When have you ever known me to exaggerate, Tseng?”

“‘Lena!” the redhead suddenly cried, and shot to his feet. “What the hell took so long?”

Tseng quickly followed his gaze, and saw that Elena was, indeed, standing in the open doorway.

“Rufus didn’t send me back right away,” she replied, and the Turk leader quickly cast Reno a look that all but screamed ‘I told you so’. “And…” she said, smirking slightly, “I know you told me to stay out of the bar… but I stopped in anyway and got you a present…”

She produced a bottle from behind her back, handing it to him with a grin.

“Aw… You got me my favorite…”

Tseng eyed the bottle with only mild interest. He recognized the label as one he’d frequently seen at the more exclusive of corporate functions… Typically the ones that only the VIPs were invited to, which meant that it was good odds Ultima Ale was on the pricy side… though he was hardly a connoisseur. In fact, he didn’t much care for beer at all, to be honest. Tseng typically preferred wine… as well as the occasional cocktail or glass of quality cognac or scotch. “Just what he needed, I’m sure…” he teased. “How was the flight?”

“Getting there was a little nerve-wracking… coming back was a lot better.”

Reno grinned and draped his arm around her shoulders. “See? I told ya you’d be fine.”

The other two Turks exchanged a glance, and Rude quietly laughed.

“Anyway…” the redhead said, pointedly ignoring the sounds of mirth behind him, “Let’s grab some lunch. Boss said we can go early today.”

“I…” Tseng began to protest, before suddenly realizing that an early lunch had actually been his suggestion not five minutes ago. “… suppose I did.”

---

Rude moved silently through the narrow streets of Wall Market’s residential district. It was getting late… much later than he typically liked to be in the slums. Wall Market, though, was a little different from most of the other sectors. It came alive at night. Still, though… he wasn’t nearly as intimately acquainted with it as he was elsewhere down below. The denizens of Wall Market preferred to keep their own counsel. It had been quite some time since he’d had an active informant in the red light district.

He could easily understand why. Discretion was the name of the game here. People from all walks of life visited Wall Market, and not all of them wanted that fact advertised. Breaking a client’s trust generally meant losing the client… or worse. Reno had told him that Lira was reluctant… and that her cooperation was contingent upon her safety and that of the other girls she worked with. He was going to have to be extra careful. His partner wasn’t going to be happy with him if he got the woman into any kind of trouble. Rude wouldn’t have been particularly happy with himself, either, as far as that went.

Which was why he was presently creeping stealthily through an alley that reeked of leftover takeout.

He had little difficulty finding the building he was looking for, and he slipped around to the back of the little boarding house. The back door was locked, but not much of an obstacle. He was inside in seconds and on his way up to the second floor. At last he knocked on the door. It opened a few moments later.

He was slightly surprised by the sight that greeted him. The young woman was wearing only a towel, her short, damp hair plastered loosely against her forehead.

“Hurry up and get in here,” Lira said, quietly, waving him inside, “Last thing I need is someone seein’ ya.”

Rude didn’t argue, and hurried past her. She shut the door behind him, throwing the deadbolt. Once he was safely concealed, she seemed to relax.

“Sorry,” she said with a wide grin, “Thought I’d have a little more time to get cleaned up after work. Kinda forgot that you’re a lot more punctual than Reno tends to be. Give me just a minute…”

Before he could say much of anything, Lira had tossed the towel into a nearby laundry basket and sauntered off to her closet. Rude cleared his throat, turning to stare out the window across the room instead of at her – admittedly alluring – backside.

Lira turned back at the sound, pausing in her search for clean clothes. “Oh, give me a break,” she giggled. “You have any idea how many men have seen me naked? Go ahead and look if ya want.”

“…”

It wasn’t as if he had any particular hangup about the human body… especially having spent so much time around Reno… but still. He hadn’t exactly expected a strip tease when he’d prepped for this meeting. Given what he knew of Lira, though… he probably should have. Rude shrugged and brought his gaze back over to the woman. If she didn’t care, why should he? It certainly wasn’t an unpleasant view…

He had to admit… he’d always thought Lira was pretty. It wasn’t hard to see why she was one of the Honey Bee’s most popular girls. Lira slipped a long t-shirt over her head and escorted him to the couch, settling in next to him.

“So… she purred softly, much closer to his ear than was strictly necessary. “You want me to turn snitch, huh?”

“… We’d appreciate it.”

Her hand found the end of his tie, twirling it between her fingers. “And just how… appreciative… are ‘we‘ gonna to be?”

“Lira…” he began, cautiously, pulling away from her slightly.

“Oh, lighten up,” she laughed, “I’m just teasin’.” She grinned and sat up, vacating his personal space a bit. “Now, then… let’s get down to business. Got a few ground rules for ya.”

“… I’m listening.”

“First off… Like I told Reno. I start gettin’ worried that me talkin’ to you is puttin’ me or the girls I work with in danger, we’re done. No exceptions.”

“Understood,” Rude replied. His partner had already informed him of that stipulation, and he found it perfectly reasonable.

“Second, I don’t want ya comin’ here unexpected. My landlady knows damn well what most of the girls here do for a living and she frowns on her tenants… entertaining… in their rooms. Prefers us to keep male visitors to a minimum, and I don’t wanna start drawin’ attention. You need to send someone to my place, send Elena. Otherwise, we can chat at work or I can meet ya somewhere else.”

“Done,” he said, nodding.

“Third… I’ll pass ya information on clients. I’ll pass ya information on Corneo. But I won’t snitch on the other girls without a damn good reason. Plenty of shady shit goin’ on behind the scenes at the Honey Bee… Most of it ya don’t need to know about.”

He could live with that. “Fine. Anything else?”

“I think that’ll about cover things.”

“My turn, then,” Rude said, smirking slightly. “Weekly reports. Anything you think I might be interested in… even if it’s something minor. We’ll arrange a system of contact. In return, you get regular payments, made the same way we’ve done it in the past, plus a bonus for any extra assistance you might be willing to provide as needed. And… should you need my help, all you have to do is ask.”

Oh… does that mean I have my own personal Turk now?” she asked, teasingly.

“Within reason.”

Lira grinned. “A girl could get used to that. Sounds like we’ve got a deal.” She paused a moment, looking at him thoughtfully. “Actually… there is one more thing I need from you.”

“What’s that?”

“Tell Reno that I still expect him to tell his girlfriend how paranoid he is about screwin’ things up with her.”

Rude gave a short laugh and shook his head. “I’ll give him the message.”

---

Someone was watching him. He could practically feel their eyes on him. Rude made his way through the streets of Wall Market heading for the train station, calmly and without acknowledging his shadow for the moment.

He wasn’t quite sure when he’d picked up a tail… though he was certain it hadn’t been there when he’d arrived at Lira’s place. He was relatively confident that it hadn’t been there when he’d left her, either, but it was difficult to know with any certainty. Still there was no point in taking chances…

Rude disappeared into an alleyway, quickening his pace once he’d reached a point where he had to have been out of sight of his pursuer, and hiding himself in the shadows. And he waited. At the alley’s entrance a figure paused, as though debating the wisdom of following a man of Rude’s size and build into a dark, confined space. A moment later, it vanished, footsteps receding into the night. He smirked and went after the stranger.

It didn’t take long to catch up to him. The boy was young… perhaps seventeen. Rude watched him as he tried to pickpocket a drunk on the corner. The young women the other man was chatting with spotted the little thief and chased him off… probably, Rude thought, not willing to lose out on her own paycheck tonight.

He quickly decided that there was no threat here. Just a slum rat who’d almost made the mistake of making a grab for a Turk’s wallet. He turned back in the direction of the station.

If he’d watched a little longer, he might have seen a second figure retreat into the night.

---

“Stop it! I’m trying to make you a nice dinner, you jerk…” Elena giggled. She swatted playfully at Reno, who’d grabbed her from behind as she was trying to drain the pasta. He ignored it and nuzzled his cheek against the back of her neck, arms still locked around her.

“Ya know, if we ordered in, we’d have about thirty minutes to kill before it got here,” he said, voice muffled slightly by her shoulder.

Elena rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think about anything besides what we could do to kill thirty minutes?”

“Sure I do. Sometimes I think about sex,” the redhead replied, a little too innocently. He nipped lightly at her earlobe. “Why? What’d you think I meant?”

“Go sit down!” she demanded, laughing. He heaved a grossly exaggerated sigh and obligingly took a seat at the table.

“Tch… You been takin’ lessons from Rude or somethin’? He fuckin’ hates it when people bug him in the kitchen…”

“I thought you weren’t allowed in Rude’s kitchen…”

“I’m not. But I used to be. He usually chased me out after the first five minutes…”

“Well if you were all over him, too, I wouldn’t blame him. It’s hard to cook when you’re being groped,” she shot back, smirking at him.

“Heh… If I’d ever tried to grope Rude in the kitchen, I think he’d have done a lot more than ban me…” he snickered.

“What did you do to get banned, anyway?”

“You… uh… ever seen what happens when you poor water on a grease fire?”

“Forget I asked…” the rookie said with a groan. “And remind me to never let you anywhere near my stove.”

Reno looked up at her, affronted. “Hey… I’ve gotten a lot better at not lightin’ shit on fire when I cook,” he teased.

“What were you making?”

“… Blueberry pancakes,” he admitted, somewhat sheepishly. “I figured if I had a shit-ton of butter in the pan, they wouldn’t stick when I tried to flip ’em. Mighta used a little too much…”

Elena snorted softly and poured the pasta into a colander, letting the water drain.

“But hey… at least the fire made him forget all about me forgettin’ to put the lid on the blender…” he went on.

The rookie turned around, slightly dumbstruck. “You… tried to blend pancake batter?”

“… It seemed easier than stirrin’,” Reno shrugged.

“Who taught you how to cook?” she wondered, more to herself than to her snickering boyfriend.

“Eh… No one, really. I kinda made it up as I went when I was a kid. Rude came over to my place one weekend and tried to fix me awhile back. Lesson lasted until I got a knife stuck… He gave up after that.”

“Got a knife stuck where?” she queried, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Rude’s foot.”

“You stabbed Rude while he was trying to teach you how to cook?!”

“No!” the redhead quickly denied, “Well… yeah, kinda. But it’s not like I did it on purpose! I just sorta knocked it off the counter is all. I wasn’t tryin’ to hit his foot. And it was just a flesh wound. His boot stopped it before it could go that deep… Hardly even bled.”

Elena turned the heat down on her sauce and gave it a quick sir before turning around to face him. “Uh huh… Reno?”

“Yeah?”

“Go sit in the living room until this is ready… and don’t go near any of the cutlery on your way out.”

Reno laughed and leaned back in his chair. “Ah, come on ‘Lena. That was years ago. I’m not nearly as dangerous now…” Elena silently stared him down. “… Alright, alright. I’m goin’. Tch… banned from another kitchen, and I didn’t even do anything this time…” he muttered. He planted himself on the couch, stretching out on his back with his arms behind his head before turning his gaze toward the coffee table, looking for the TV remote. Instead, his eyes fell on an open envelope.

“Got a new pen pal or somethin’?”

“Oh! I was going to tell you this morning, but then you sprang that surprise solo flight on me and I completely forgot,” the rookie called back, “That’s from Nana… She and Del are coming to visit next week!”

Reno sat up a bit, interest piqued. He hadn’t seen Elena’s grandmother in months… and her last visit hadn’t been under the best of circumstances.

“Seriously?” he asked, grinning widely. “Sweet! Josephine’s fuckin’ awesome…”

Elena giggled quietly and stuck her head out into the living room. “How many times is she going to have to tell you to call her Nana before you actually start doing it?”

The redhead shifted somewhat uncomfortably. “I feel weird doin’ that,” he replied, awkwardly. “I mean… she’s your grandmother. Not mine.” Hell… the woman hardly knew him, really. He didn’t feel right co-opting her like that, no matter how much he would have liked to.

“We’ve been through this… she’s already adopted you, for all intents and purposes,” Elena pointed out, “You might as well just go with it.”

Still out of her line of vision on the couch, Reno smirked to himself. “And that doesn’t bother you?”

“… Why would it bother me?” she asked, sounding thoroughly confused.

“Well… if I’ve been adopted by your grandmother, doesn’t that make me like… your uncle or somethin’?” he joked. “I mean, seriously… after what we did over the weekend? And what I fully intend to do to you againtonight…?”

“Reno, just shut up and get your adoptively incestuous butt in here. Dinner’s ready,” Elena laughed.

---

Elena put six more bullets into the target, a neat little cluster of holes right in the center, and hit the button to return it from the far end of the range. Tseng reached past her as it arrived and pulled it from the clips.

“Sometimes, Elena, I wish you weren’t so accurate,” he said with a sigh.

“Sir?”

He smiled slightly. “You make the rest of us look rather pathetic by comparison.”

“Speak for yourself, boss.” Several more rounds went off before the Turk leader finally turned his attention to the redhead in the next firing lane. By the time he did, Reno’s target was also on its way back. Tseng chuckled as he noted the four stray holes in the paper, each a few inches from the cluster in the middle.

“I suppose that pattern was on purpose, then?”

“Tch… just gettin’ a little creative, that’s all.”

“… If you were any more creative, you’d have hit my target,” Rude taunted him. Reno glared back.

“Yeah? And just how tight did you manage to keep ’em?” he challenged. The bald Turk called the target back to him, nonchalantly pulling it down with a smirk. Only one of his shots had been off-center… and not by much. “Ah, shut up.”

Elena giggled quietly, trying not to catch the redhead’s attention. Fortunately, he seemed more interested in challenging his partner to another round of target shooting to notice.

“Shall we leave them to it for a moment?” Tseng asked, quietly, “There was something I wanted to speak to you about. Privately.”

“Er… yes, sir.” The rookie followed him to back of the range. He swiped his ID card through the reader on the ammunition locker, and removed a fresh box, reloading his weapon. Elena followed suit.

“You’ve been a Turk for well over a year now,” he began.

“Yes, sir… It’ll be a year and a half next month.”

“Which also means that Reno had been training you for well over a year…”

She nodded, uncertain as to where he was going with all of this.

“I trust that you haven’t forgotten about Hell Week in all that time?” he said, a slight smile curving his lips upwards.

She laughed a little. “No, sir… I have definitely not forgotten about Hell Week. I don’t think I’ll ever forget about Hell Week.”

“Would you like a little retribution?” Tseng asked, slipping the clip back into his gun and locking it into place.

“Sir?” she asked, a grin carving it’s way across her face. She suddenly had a feeling she did know what this was about after all… Reno had mentioned it to her not that long ago. “Is Reno going to be evaluated? As my mentor, I mean?”

“Ah… He’s already told you about that, then…” the Wutaiian Turk chuckled. “Yes, I’ve decided that it’s about time. And for that, I will need your help. But first and foremost… I must stress that you are not to say anything about this to him. Part of the evaluation is not knowing that one is being evaluated.”

“I understand,” she replied, nodding.

“For the record… I strongly suspect that Reno is convinced he still has quite some time before he has to worry about this. In fact, I’m not sure he even believes I’ve been considering it yet, let alone planning it, so it should come as quite a surprise to him. I intend to begin in a few weeks. We’ll discuss the specific details of what I require of you a little later, but I wanted to give you something of a heads up.”

“Yes, sir,” Elena replied. She finished reloading. “Um… sir?”

“Yes?”

“I know this is supposed to be a test… so I think I should probably tell you. I-I’m not sure I can really be… unbiased… when it comes to Reno,” she said, blushing slightly.

“Very few rookies could everbe entirely objective about their mentor, regardless of their personal relationship with them. It won’t be a problem,” Tseng said with a warm smile, “I will be judging his performance. You will simply be conducting the exercises.”

“Oh… Good,” she said, a little relieved.

“In any case, I think we should get back to those two,” he added, glancing over his shoulder. “Preferably before they decide to switch to more powerful ordnance. The last time they conducted one of these contests unsupervised, one of them got their hands on a rocket launcher. Maintenance was not pleased.”

Elena very nearly groaned. “Reno with a rocket launcher…” she said, more to herself than to her superior.

Tseng smirked. “I’m actually still not entirely certain which of them it was. Rude seemed just as guilty, and neither was willing to rat the other out. I ended up having to reprimand them both.”

---

The remainder of the week dragged by at a snail’s pace, owing largely to the fact that Reno had been shipped off to pay a visit to the reactor site at Fort Condor. A small contingent of locals had taken the the facility over and were preventing Shinra personnel from accessing it, because of the huge birds nesting on top. For the moment, the situation was being handled by the military… but Tseng had wanted an in-person assessment just in case the Turks eventually ended up being called in to deal with the occupation.

Elena, meanwhile, had been loaned out to Rude again, and he had wasted little time in putting her to work sifting through his intelligence reports and pulling anything that even tangentially mentioned the anti-Shinra group, Avalanche. The little collection of instigators had gone off the radar for awhile… but recently, there had been a resurgence in activity being reported by his informants. Perhaps most concerning, however… several reports seemed to indicate that there was someone new on the payroll… Someone claiming to be an ex-Soldier. A name hadn’t yet surfaced, but Rude had been busy making a shortlist of every known ex-member of the elite unit, both alive and those listed as M.I.A., and tracking down their current whereabouts whenever possible.

Of course, it may have simply been a boast. There were any number of mercenaries for hire that embellished their past in order to negotiate a larger paycheck. Rude wasn’t complacent enough to make that assumption, however.

“Anything new?” he asked, startling the rookie.

“Rude, for Shiva’s sake… Don’t do that! It’s bad enough when Tseng sneaks up on me.”

“Sorry,” he replied, not sounding the least bit contrite. “Anything new?”

“Not really… There are a few more reports confirming the new hire, and one that says he might be staying with the Seventh Heaven bartender. But other than that… no.” Elena shook her head, staring at the screen in front of her. “How in the world do you keep all of this organized? There’s so much information!”

“Practice,” Rude replied, grinning.

“And if you can figure out his fuckin’ system, you’re way ahead of me in that department. I’ve been tryin’ for the better part of ten years, and I still don’t know how he keeps it all straight.”

The rookie perked up at the sound of Reno’s voice, a smile crossing her face. “How was Fort Condor?”

“Boring as fuck,” he declared, strolling into the office. “They’re just sittin’ there, camped out. Military moves in occasionally, but the locals are pretty entrenched, and they’ve got the high ground… so far they’ve been pushin’ us back every time without much effort. Our troops really can’t do shit, ’cause it’s a fuckin’ reactor. Not the best place to risk goin’ in shooting. I spent forty-eight goddamn hours watchin’ those fuckwits from Junon do exactly nothin’.”

“Sounds productive,” Rude snorted.

“Oh, yeah. Real productive. Where’s the boss?”

“President’s office. Sounds like we might finally be going after the Ancient soon.”

The redhead paused in his bid for his desk, looking over at his partner. “Ah, shit… seriously? Tseng won’t be happy about that…”

“Ancient?” Elena queried. Reno shrugged.

“Descendent of some near-extinct race. Last one of ’em, apparently. Lives down in the Sector 5 slums. He was s’posed to bring her in years ago, but Tseng’s got a little bit of a soft spot for her, so we’ve kinda been ignorin’ that order and just keepin’ tabs on her instead. She’s a nice kid… Doesn’t deserve to be in Hojo’s hands, that’s for sure. You’ve probably seen her yourself, actually. Sells flowers at the train station and the Sector 0 plaza sometimes.”

“The flower girl?” Elena said, surprised. “She’s a target?” She’d seen the young woman several times, in fact. She even remembered seeing Reno buying flowers from her once to take to his mother’s grave.

“Not a target,” Rude was quick to clarify. “She’s not to be injured under any circumstances.”

Reno nodded. “Strictly a subject for recovery. If we bring her in, we bring her in alive and well. Or else we get our asses handed to us by the President himself. And then, most likely, by Tseng when the President’s done with us.”

“What do they want her for?”

“Not really sure, to be honest,” Reno replied. “Hojo’s got an interest… but I’ve always had a feeling there’s more to it than that. Somethin’ to do with the Neo-Midgar project, but that shit’s classified above my security clearance. Tseng knows more about it than I do, but he’s not at liberty to tell us anything else on the subject. Anyway… on to more important matters. When’s Josephine gettin’ here?”

Elena giggled softly. Ever since she’d told him her grandmother was coming, Reno had been getting more and more excited with each passing day.

“I just heard from Del this morning. They’re hitching a ride this afternoon on a cargo plane to Rocket Town and then catching a ferry from Rocket Town around the north shore to Costa Del Sol. Then they’re taking a passenger ship to Junon. They should be here on Monday or Tuesday.”

The redhead snickered. “Fuck… I keep forgettin’ just how completely in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere those two live.”

“Veraheim’s not the easiest place to travel to… or from,” Elena said with a nod.

“So… I guess that gives us the weekend to ourselves, then…” A lewd grin crossed his face, and the rookie rolled her eyes.

“You know… just because I know what you two do on the weekends doesn’t mean I want to listen to you discussing it,” Rude interjected. Reno eyed him skeptically and leaned against his desk.

“Jealous?”

“Nauseated is more like it,” the other Turk shot back, with a teasing smirk. “Gonna be glad when you two can finally go more than five minutes without the running commentary on your sex life.”

“Definitely jealous,” Reno snickered, turning back to Elena… who by then had turned an interesting shade of pink… “Anyway… about this weekend…”

Rude groaned somewhat over-dramatically and returned to his own desk. “And to think… I actually wanted you two to get together…”

---

Elena shivered slightly as lips marked a trail along her collarbone, slowly making their way across her shoulder. She loved it when his did that. Reno had a way of making her feel as though he was laying claim to every inch of her skin… and she was more than happy to let him.

Most nights.

As much as she hated to do it, she gently stopped his progress down her arm. He looked up at her, disappointed.

“I have to go.”

The redhead gave a soft whimper of frustration, looking at her, a dismayed expression on his face. She laughed softly.

“I told you not to start that. You knew I was going out tonight. And if I don’t leave soon, I’m going to be late for Shadow & Sword.”

Reno sighed, and let his head rest on her shoulder. “Five more minutes?” he asked, pleadingly. It was hard to resist… in fact if last weeks’ episode hadn’t ended on a massive cliffhanger, she might have just said the hell with it, and called Rude to let him know she wasn’t coming tonight… even if it was last minute.

“You could always come with me,” she teased, “Rude wouldn’t mind…”

“He might if you spent the whole time payin’ more attention to me than to the show,” he said, grinning widely. “Two more minutes?”

“No more minutes,” Elena giggled, and ran her fingers through his hair. “I really do need to go. Besides… you had my full, undivided attention all day yesterday, and most of today.”

“Sick of me already?” Reno asked, and although his tone was joking, Elena couldn’t help but notice a little bit of real concern behind it. She kissed him tenderly, one hand caressing his cheek.

“Of course not. Now… Let me up.” Reno obediently released her, and the rookie got to her feet, straightening her clothes and fixing her hair. She smiled. “I mean that. I’m really not sick of you. But if I don’t find out what happens to Lysander, it’s going to drive me insane. Are you going to wait up for me?”

“Ya want me to?” he asked, catching hold of her hand, and bringing it to his lips, placing teasing kisses on her knuckles. He usually didn’t stay over on Sunday nights… the show wouldn’t be over until ten, and she and Rude typically went through all their favorite parts for quite some time afterward… It would be late by the time she got home, and they had to work in the morning. It didn’t leave much time for anything too intimate… though she certainly wouldn’t mind being cuddled to sleep, or waking up in Reno’s protective embrace.

“Definitely,” she said, mirroring his earlier grin, and pulling her hand away from him. “But right now, I’m leaving…”

“‘Kay,” Reno replied, chuckling softly. He followed her to the door. “Guess it’s just me ‘n Snuffy for awhile, then.”

“I’ll be back in a few – ,” she began, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. Elena’s attention shifted in surprise. It was a little late for visitors. She reached for the knob, opening it.

“Elena!” a cheerful voice greeted her, and the rookie quickly found herself caught up in a tight hug.

“Nana?!” she managed to get out before the air was forced from her lungs. She was released almost as suddenly as she’d been captured.

“Oh, and Reno, too,” the old woman declared, pulling him into her arms next. “How’s my favorite redhead?”

“Hey, El,” another voice chimed in while Josephine’s attention was focused on the redhead.

“Del! How in the world did you get here so fast? I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow night at the earliest!” She ushered her brother inside, giggling at the amusing sight of Reno being fawned over by her grandmother. He didn’t quite seem to know how to respond to it and apparently had opted to just let the woman do whatever she wanted with him… which at that particular moment involved nearly squeezing the life out of him.

“We caught a lucky break,” Del replied, “There was a pilot in Rocket Town who was willing to take us straight on to Junon. Saved us a lot of time.”

“Such a nice man… A little on the gruff side, but very sweet under it all,” her grandmother added. By now, she was holding Reno by the shoulders at arms length, looking him over intently. “Poor thing… you’re still so thin! I am going to fix that if it’s the last thing I do!”

“Here kind of late, aren’t you?” Del asked, glancing over at the other Turk somewhat suspiciously.

Reno cast a sideways glance over at the rookie, who seemed to be subtly shaking her head in an attempt to keep him from saying anything. Thankfully, he was spared from having to answer by Josephine, who had, at last, turned her attention back to her granddaughter.

“Were you going somewhere, dear? I hope we’re not interrupting any plans…”

Elena laughed. “I was actually on my way to Rude’s place. We have sort of a thing where we watch Shadow & Sword together every week…”

Del rolled his eyes. “Ugh… You still watch that?”

“Yes, Delion, I still watch it,” the rookie replied, hands resting on her hips as she glared at her brother, before turning back to her grandmother. “But it’s not a problem. I’ll just call and tell him I can’t make it tonight.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. We’re early. You two go on. We can manage,” Josephine replied. Elena spent a few more minutes half-heartedly arguing the point with the woman… but it wasn’t long before the pair of them found themselves in the elevator on their way down to the parking lot. Reno leaned back against the wall.

“Ya didn’t tell ’em about us, did ya?” he finally asked, a little dejectedly. Elena bit down on her lower lip.

“Not yet…” she admitted.

“Could’ve at least mentioned that to me…”

“Reno…” The elevator chimed as it reached their destination, letting them out into the first floor entryway.

“Yeah, yeah… Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Elena could tell the smile he gave her was forced… Even when he kissed her goodbye, she could virtually feel how upset he was. The rookie grabbed him by the wrist as he turned to go.

“No,” she said, firmly, “You’re not going anywhere. You always do this… I do something that you have every right to be pissed off about, and you just pretend like it doesn’t matter. Just… stop it, okay?! You’re allowed to be mad at me sometimes!”

Reno blinked, somewhat shocked by the sudden outburst.

“I’m not mad…” he said after a moment. “Just kinda… disappointed, I guess. Look, if ya don’t want ’em to know, I get it. It’s okay. I just wish you’d given me a heads up is all…”

Elena frowned and all but dragged the redhead back into the elevator. “Stay,” she ordered, releasing him long enough to press the button for the eighth floor and then search her purse for her PHS. He snickered quietly at the unexpected assertiveness from the rookie, as she dialed. “Rude? I’m really, really sorry for the short notice, but I’m not going to make it tonight. My brother and grandmother got here early,” she said when he answered, pausing as she listened to his response. “Yeah. Thanks for understanding. See you tomorrow!”

She ended the call, just as they were deposited right back where they’d started. Elena guided Reno towards her apartment. “I didn’t tell them because… well…” she started, searching for the right words.

“‘Lena, ya don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I told ya… I get it. I’m fine with keepin’ things quiet around your family.”

“Well, I’m not,” she replied, “And you definitely don’t ‘get it’. I’m not trying to keep you a secret. I know it’s stupid, but I didn’t tell them because Nana would never be able to keep it to herself for long, and Del’s always been a little… overprotective… when it comes to me dating. Not that I really had a lot of dates when he was still living in Midgar… but the few guys I did go out with… well… I just don’t want him to end up hating you. So… I’ve sort of been trying to ease him into the idea gradually when I write to him instead of just springing it on him.” She paused outside her door, kissing him softly. “You’re not something I want to hide.”

Before Reno had a chance to protest farther, she’d pushed open the door and pulled him back into her apartment.

“Nana?” she called out.

“Oh, did you forget something, Elena, dear?” the old woman responded, poking her head out from Elena’s guest room.

“Um… sort of. Could you and Del come out here for a minute?” The pair of them appeared from the other room, Josephine smiling sweetly, and Del looking vaguely confused. “It’s just that… There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you both for awhile now,” she said, reaching for Reno’s hand and letting her fingers twine with his with a grin. “Reno and I are seeing one another.”

“Well of course you are,” Josephine laughed, “It was obvious that something was going on between you two the way you’ve been talking about him lately…”

“W-What?” Del stammered, “When was that obvious? What letters were you reading?”

“Oh, for… You’re so oblivious, sometimes, Delion,” she tisked, shaking her head. Elena’s brother scowled.

“So how long’s this been going on, El?” he asked, eying the redhead with renewed suspicion.

“Not quite two months… Remember when I told you Chai was getting married?” she asked. He nodded affirmatively. “Well… Reno was my date for the wedding, and things just kind of… happened.”

“Don’t the Turks have any rules about dating your boss?” Del’s eyes narrowed as he looked the redhead over… and Reno had the distinct impression that he was being carefully reevaluated.

“I’m her superior by rank and seniority, not her boss. That’s Tseng’s job. And no… we don’t.”

“Seems like it’s something you should consider. Just in case someone got it in their head to take advantage of their ‘rank and seniority’…”

“Del!”

“What? I’m just saying that the fact that this guy could make or beak your career is a little…”

“You finish that sentence, and you can go find a hotel for the week.”

“I’m just trying to look out for you, El…”

“I don’t need you to look out for me!”

“Are you sure about that? Because from where I’m standing it kind of looks like you do,” Del replied, more than a little condescendingly.

Reno’s eye twitched. “Watch the tone, pal…” he interjected. Brother or not, no one was going to speak to Elena like that if he had anything to say about it.

“Or what? Guys like you are all the same. Interested in one thing. My sister deserves better than that.”

“Tch… First thing outta your mouth tonight I’ve actually agreed with…”

“That is quite enough!” Josephine broke in. “Delion… go calm down.” She pointed to the door leading to the guest room, and Reno couldn’t help but smirk as he slunk off. She calmly turned to the pair of Turks. “I’m so sorry for his behavior, Reno…”

The redhead shrugged. “Can’t exactly blame him for wantin’ the best for ‘Lena… I do, too.”

“Which is exactly what I’ve got,” Elena said, before adding with her voice raised to carry into the next room, “And if he wasn’t such a jerk, he’d see that.”

“Elena… I said that’s enough,” the old woman said, in a tone that wasn’t to be argued with.

“Sorry, Nana…”

“Now then… you go and talk to your brother. Calmly. And if I hear raised voices in there, there’s going to be hell to pay. Reno is going to stay right here and keep me company… aren’t you?” she proclaimed.

“Uh… Sure, Josephine…” The old woman eyed him with a challenging look and waited. “… Nana.” Reno quickly corrected himself. Awkward or not, he wasn’t about to argue the point with the woman herself. Elena giggled quietly before heading for the guest room.

Josephine tugged her somewhat captive companion over to the couch, pulling him down next to her, and cozying up to him. “Try not to take it personally, sweetheart. Elena’s the baby of the family. Both of her brothers were always a little on the protective side. Delion will come around.” Josephine’s fingertips lightly grazed the back of his neck before settling into a gentle massage.

“You sure about that? Heard he’s got a history of drivin’ off ‘Lena’s boyfriends…” He was having to fight to keep his eyes open. The damned woman seemed to know what he liked just a little too well… and he vaguely wondered how that was even possible. She chuckled quietly and doubled down on her efforts to get him to relax.

“You don’t strike me as someone who’s quite so easily intimidated,” she replied with a little laugh, “And besides which… I very seriously doubt any of those other boys ever looked at her the way you do. You’d do just about anything to make my little Elena happy. I could see that even before tonight. Now, come here… lay down and let Nana look after you.”

Reno, somewhat reluctantly, curled up on his side, his head resting comfortably on the old woman’s lap. Josephine’s hands moved ever so slightly to stroke his hair.

“Nana… One of these days you’re seriously gonna have to tell me how the fuck I always end up like this when you’re around…” he sighed in defeat. Fuck it… Elena was right. He was just gonna go with it.

“Years and years of practice…” she said softly. “I’ve never been one to turn away a soul who needs to be someone’s child for a little while… whether they realize they need it or not.” She smiled to herself, as she toyed with his hair. “You really are a sweet little thing. You remind me a lot of Elena’s grandfather, you know. He had such a gentle spirit… but he’d fight tooth and nail for the people he loved.”

“‘Lena’s never mentioned him…”

“Sad to say, she never knew him. He passed away a year after Delion was born… just after Aaron and Helen found out they were expecting again, in fact. Neither Belane nor Elena ever had the chance to meet my dear Andre.”

“Guess we have that in common, then…” He should get up. He felt ridiculous like this… but he was enjoying it so much right now.

“Didn’t know your grandfather, either?” Josephine asked. Reno managed a slight shake of his head.

“Didn’t know him. Didn’t know my grandmother. Didn’t know my father. Couldn’t even tell ya their names. Only family I ever had before Tseng found me was my mom…”

“Elena told me you lost her pretty young.”

“I was five.”

“No wonder you cling to family so tenaciously now. I can’t imagine being so alone at that age…”

Reno didn’t answer. There really wasn’t anything to say. Not many people could imagine what that was like if they hadn’t lived it. The woman’s hand moved to his back, rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades. The redhead finally let his eyes close in content.

“Why don’t you tell me about this wedding that finally brought the two of you together, instead…”

“Heh… Nothin’ much to tell. It was just a wedding. Still not really sure what it was exactly that changed ‘Lena’s mind about me, to be honest. One minute I’m sayin’ goodnight to her and the next she’s askin’ me not to leave… Couldn’t say no. Not to her.”

“So you didn’t need anything to change your mind, then?” she prodded.

“Nah… I fell for her a long time ago. Just couldn’t seem to admit it to myself.”

“Why not?” Josephine glanced up at the opening door, shushing the two figures that emerged a moment later.

“… Didn’t think I had a shot with her,” the redhead sleepily admitted, none the wiser to their presence. “‘Lena’s too good for me. She’s always been too good for me. I’m lucky…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah… She could do a lot better than me. She doesn’t want to.”

“And you don’t think you could do better?” she chided him.

“‘Lena’s perfect. No one else even comes close,” Reno murmured, a faint smile on his lips, “… just hope she doesn’t get bored with me eventually. Not sure I could take it…”

Elena sharply elbowed her older brother, casting him an indignant glare before silently making her way over to the pair on the couch.

“I don’t think there’s any danger of that, honey,” Josephine replied, smiling as Elena brushed his hair back from his face. Reno’s eyes snapped open, startled, and he sat up.

“Uhh… How long ya been there?” he asked, cheeks flushing slightly. He hadn’t meant for her to hear any of that, and once again he couldn’t help but think Josephine Brewer would have made one hell of a good interrogator. Elena smirked slightly.

“Long enough to hear how perfect I am,” she teased. Elena moved onto the couch, pulling her lover into her arms. “And I’ll never get bored with you. So stop worrying so much.”

Josephine softly cleared her throat, looking up at Del. “Well… Don’t you have something to say?”

Elena’s brother shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment’s deliberation.

“For… ?” Elena quickly demanded, glaring at him. Del grumbled softly to himself before answering.

“For being an over-bearing jackass instead of being happy for my sister…” he muttered.

“Over-bearing, idiotic jackass…” the rookie corrected, and her brother sighed.

“For being an over-bearing idiotic jack– For fuck’s sake, El, he gets the point! How long are you going to make me grovel?”

Reno snickered softly at the exasperation in the other man’s voice. Elena kissed the redhead on the cheek.

“Just until I see him smile,” she teased. “You can stop now.”

“Well,” Josephine said with a clap of her hands, “Now that that’s settled, how about some dinner. Have the two of you eaten yet? No? Wonderful! Elena, why don’t you and I see what we can come up with?”

She hustled the rookie off into the kitchen so fast it nearly made Reno’s head spin. Something told him the wily old lady had left him with her grandson on purpose. Del folded his arms across his chest.

“I guess El could do a lot worse,” he said after a brief silence. “And… you have done a lot for our family. It’s just… weird. To think about my little sister being involved with someone, I mean.”

“Don’t worry about it. Believe me, I get it.”

“Yeah, well… I suppose I owe you a real apology. Doesn’t really count if El makes me do it. So… I’m sorry. I’ll try and be a little more open minded.” He held his hand out to the redhead, who was more than happy to accept it. “You ever hurt her, though… I’ve got guns and plenty of territory to disappear into,” Del added, somewhat ominously.

“I ever hurt her… do me a favor, and don’t miss.”

---

Rude yawned and shut off the TV before hoisting himself off of the couch and stretching. Tonight’s episode had been a little on the slow side… most of it was just setting up for next week. He hated it when they did that. No one had even died! He wished Elena had been able to join him… at least if he’d had someone to complain to, it might not have seemed so endlessly expositional.

But she had family visiting… He could understand needing to choose that over their weekly viewing party. At least he could have some fun teasing her with threats of spoilers tomorrow. He doubted she’d taken a break from her houseguests to watch the show. And since she’d also missed out on dinner, he wouldn’t have to worry about what to take for lunch for a couple of days.

Tossing the remote onto the coffee table, Rude made his way into the kitchen to take care of the dishes he’d left soaking. He was just reaching for a dish towel when his PHS rang. It wasn’t the ringtone he’d set for the rest of the team. The Turk’s eyebrow rose in curiosity wondering which of his informants would be calling so late… and more importantly, why.

A quick glance at the screen didn’t provide an answer. The number wasn’t listed in his contacts.

“Rude here,” he intoned, accepting the call.

“H-hello?” a timid voice said on the other end of the line. Definitely a woman… and she sounded fairly young.

“Who is this?”

“I… I’m… No one. Just… no one. Look… Lira gave me two numbers and said if she was ever in trouble, I should call them,” the voice said, and Rude could hear just how afraid she really was. “I-I… I think she’s in trouble. A lot of trouble.”

So… Lira had a fail-safe. Smart girl. The other number was undoubtedly Reno’s.

“What happened?” Rude asked, concerned.

“I don’t know… Her apartment. It’s trashed, and Lira’s gone,” the woman said, “I… I have to go. Please help her.”

The call was abruptly ended, and Rude frowned. This was bad.

~fin~