A/N: Damn, I've been working on this chapter for the best part of 2 weeks now, and it's so long
So yeah, this is my new story. I figured as 'The Reno Diet' is nearly finished, I might as well put this up now. I worked really, really hard on this so I hope you all enjoy it. I know I can rely on a few people to review, but I'm hoping to pick up a few new reviewers. Sooo... I decided to try a new genre, not too different from what I've been doing, but just a little extra.
So yeah, I think that about it. So enjoy, and PLEASE review. On one of my stories, I have over 100000 hits, and two hundred and something reviews. I would like to know what you guys think. : )
Chapter One
"Reno? What are you doing?"
The red-head in question was standing in the hallway, looking out of the window when the blonde woman approached him curiously.
"Admiring the view." Reno said, not turning his gaze away from the window. Elena wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not.
"Sure…" Elena rolled her eyes. "What are you really doing?"
"Just thought I saw something…" Reno said, finally turning to Elena. The blonde wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, because his aquamarine eyes showed no emotion at all.
"Okay then…" Elena replied uncertainly. "Well, come with me. Tseng wants to see you."
"Sounds fun. Why?" Reno said casually.
"I don't know, but he wanted both of us, so my guess is a mission of some sort." Elena told him. She rolled her eyes at the sudden enlightened look that came to his face.
"Finally!" He cried excitedly. "It'd better be fuckin' exciting this time…"
"Ah, nice of you to finally arrive." Tseng said upon their arrival. He indicated them to sit down.
"Please say it's a mission, please?" Reno blurted out straight away, sitting heavily down on a chair. Tseng smiled slightly at Reno.
"I appreciate your… enthusiasm, Reno. Yes, it is a mission, but not a terribly exciting one." Tseng said, looking at Elena with a slightly awkward look in his eyes. "As Reno probably hasn't heard with his less-than-perfect attention span…" Tseng coughed and Reno turned in his chair to face Tseng. "… anyway, a large amount of materia has been stolen."
"What the hell?" Reno interrupted. "Why do people keep stealing materia? It's not like there's a shortage of it… just go steal it from some shop." Elena couldn't help but laugh as she was expecting Reno to say they could just buy it, which of course, defeated the whole point. As usual, she had over-estimated his logic… or under-estimated.
"There is in fact a shortage of materia…" Tseng told him. "Destruct materia has been difficult to get hold of for a while, and that's why most of our supply has been stolen."
"We have received an anonymous tip-off," Tseng continued, ignoring Reno's interruption. "That our materia has been transported to the Forgotten City."
Elena stared at him, her mouth slightly open. "Forgotten City? You mean-?"
"Yes." Tseng answered before she could finish. "The Northern Crater."
"Are you an idiot?" Reno said loudly. Miraculously, he had managed to keep obscenities to a minimum through most of the conversation. It looked to Elena like that was about to change. "The Northern fuckin' crater? Jenova? Sephiroth? None of that ring a bell?"
"Aw, is poor little Reno scared?" Elena said mockingly.
"Bite me. I'm not scared and I ain't little." Reno said, glaring at the blonde.
"Yeah, you're a scrawny little-"
"Learn to shut ya mouth, before I shut it for ya-"
"That's enough." Tseng said commandingly. "Anyway Reno, let me finish the mission briefing before you get worked up."
"Right, whatever. Just get on with it." Reno said, pouting slightly.
"Okay, this should be a fairly simple mission. I'm not sending you to necessarily retrieve the materia. I want you two to survey the area as inconspicuously as possible." Tseng looked at Reno. "Which I realize is more difficult for some."
Reno coughed slightly and deliberately looked away from Tseng.
"Anyway, I need you to find out as much information as possible, because I believe that this is much deeper than just stolen materia."
"Ya don't say?" Reno interrupted sarcastically. "No one else woulda suspected that our fuckin' materia would be hoarded at the home of all things bad-ass for a reason."
"Thank you, Reno." Tseng coughed slightly. Ignoring your obscenities and unnecessary interruptions… you understand what I want you to do right?" Elena nodded enthusiastically. "Good. Reno will be in charge of transport."
"Oh God…" Elena muttered.
"Chopper?" Reno asked elatedly.
"Yes. But be serious about your piloting Reno." Tseng said, adopting a deadly serious look in his eyes. "There is a large amount of interference around the Northern Cave area, and it can interfere with electrical equipment."
"Alrighty then…" Reno stood up. "Although you would of though I would know how to pilot a fuckin' chopper by now… can I go now?"
"If you don't have any questions… You can leave for the mission tomorrow morning."
"Sweet." Reno left promptly, but Elena stayed seated. She did in fact have questions. There was something she had been curious about for a while now, but never had really thought to ask.
"Is there a problem Elena?" Tseng asked, putting his fingertips together.
"Not exactly." Elena replied slightly awkwardly. "I was just… curious about something… about Reno."
"Ah." Tseng said, smiling. "In the short while you've been with us, I'm surprised how little you've asked about Reno."
"Well, it's not just about Reno… it's you too." The blonde told him. "The way you treat him."
"I understand." Tseng said, nodding. "Reno is the best Turks we've had working for us for a long time. No matter what he seems on the outside, he is more intelligent that anyone knows."
"So why does he act so dumb?" Elena enquired.
"Because he's smart." Tseng said, smiling at the confused look on Elena's face. "He's good at acting dumb, that way no one has high expectations from him."
"But he always gets so cocky… he… acts smart… what the-?"
"Mind play." Tseng said amusedly. "Typical of Reno to confuse someone when he's not even in the room."
"I think… so the reason you treat him like an idiot-?"
"It works the same. Have you even heard the term self fulfilling prophecy? It means when someone is labelled an idiot, for example, they automatically begin acting like that. It's human nature."
"Right…" Elena said, guessing where this was going.
"So, like before, Reno works the opposite way. He will always work against any label anyone gives him, whether it's bad or good. He's a rogue."
"So why are you so keen to keep him here?"
"We put up with a lot from him, but it's worth it. I've been working on him for years, and I don't claim to understand him at all." Tseng paused, looking thoughtful. "That's enough for today. But take note, Elena; you have to be careful. I know this mission is simple, but it's your biggest with Reno so far. Although I tell you he's a fantastic Turk, his one big fault is that his ego usually comes before his sense of what is right, and what is wrong."
"Why are you telling me this?" Elena asked. She wondered how something like this could be relevant to the mission they were about to do.
"Not necessarily for this mission, but for future reference. You haven't been here very long, and I think you should know as much as you possibly can about Reno." Tseng stopped, as though thinking of a way to put what he was about to say. "Put it this way… it doesn't matter what's going on around him, if someone compliments Reno, that'll always be his first priority. It'll take a big shock to stop him from doing that."
Elena nodded, wondering if Tseng was maybe exaggerating a little. "I understand."
"Good." Tseng said, his tone becoming kinder. The atmosphere in the office loosened and Elena breathed out heavily. "Ok then. You could be away for a few days, so make sure you take some things with you."
"Right." Elena said, trying to take in everything he was saying.
"Everything okay now?" the raven haired man asked kindly.
"Yeah, I think so…" Elena said quietly. There was nothing else she wanted to ask Tseng, but there was a certain uneasiness in her mind she couldn't quite place. Maybe it was what Tseng had just told her about Reno's ego. Could that mean he was telling her from experience? Had something happened; something serious, because Reno was too wrapped up in his own mind to pay any attention? For some reason, Elena thought there was more to it than that; she didn't think Reno would be that careless. But then again, Tseng had known Reno for a lot longer than she had. Well, she would soon find out.
As Elena exited Tseng's office, she bumped into the red head in her thoughts. He was running for some reason, and panting slightly.
"Oh, hey 'Laney." He said breathlessly.
"What are you doing?" Elena asked. It seemed she was asking him that question more and more often these days.
"Nothin'." He said quickly, his lively, aqua eyes darting back and forth. "Just ran into Hojo, that's all."
"Right…" Elena said unsurely. She had learned long ago to never question anything Reno said that had the word 'Hojo' in it.
"So, ya know what's happenin' tomorrow?" he asked. "You come to my apartment, then we'll go from there. Any questions?"
Elena shook her head, slightly dumb-founded at the sudden serious tone Reno had taken.
"Good. 8 AM sharp. Don't be late." Reno winked and walked off. Elena laughed slightly to herself; she knew for a fact that Reno would keep her waiting tomorrow.