A/N: Okay…. –deep breath- I'm not giving up on IchiRuki…I just need something refreshing to the eyes.

Some Reno/Elena! I can't say how fast I'll update this however; I'll try to keep it even with Apartment15B.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the ride. This story is set after everything, so just go with it. I make up my own timelines.

Elena could recall the exact details that had her in this situation. The Turks had gone to 7th Heaven for a round of drinks. Elena wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and maybe get some paperwork done. Reno wanted to go drinking. Rude…well he didn't voice his opinion but Elena assumed he wouldn't mind seeing the brunette barmaid.

"You're such a light…weight…" Reno slurred shaking the bottle in her face. "C'mon! Drink! It's the good stuff!"

"Shut up, Reno. I'm not having another drink." Elena said, sitting up properly in her chair while Reno was half-sprawled on the table.

"You afraid? Reno asked with a smirk and that mocking look in his aqua eyes.

"No." Elena rolled her eyes and decided that maybe if she ignored Reno, he would give up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You can get drunk and have your way with me 'Laney! Doesn't that sound tempting?"

Elena's nose scrunched up in response, 'more like disgusting!' she thought angrily. She forcefully pushed her chair away from the table. The harsh screeching noise made Tifa look up from the glasses she was cleaning. Elena was heading for the bathroom, she heard another chair move, and then felt a hand on her shoulder.

Her body was spun around and pressed against the wall. She gasped, looking up to see Reno, smirking.

"Reno!? What the hell is your—"

Reno grabbed a fist full of her short blonde hair, the strands slipping between his fingers; tilting her head back. Before Elena could react, Reno had his burning lips on hers. She felt her knees go weak. Then her mind remembered that this was Reno. A very drunk Reno. Her body went rigid before her knee shot up and collided with his crotch. Reno jolted back, letting out a few choice words before he fell onto his ass.

"Damnit Laney!"

"Drunken Idiot!" She sputtered back, her face bright red with a mixture of rage and embarrassment.

She stormed into the back room of Tifa's bar. Her heart was pounding and the heat rushed to her ears. 'Relax Elena...it was just a stupid...drunk kiss. It meant nothing!' She could hear Reno's voice as he casually flirted with Tifa. Who, in return, told him he wasn't getting anymore drinks tonight. Her eyes blinked away the small moisture gathering in her lower eyelids. It was so damn embarrassing! How dare he just grab her like that!

Elena smoothed her hair with her hands; she could still feel the bastards' fingers against her scalp. His other hand firmly on her backside, she heard footsteps and turned around to see Rude.

"......"

"We're leaving?" She guessed. Elena hadn't figured out Rude's 'language' quite yet. The bald man nodded in response before leaving the blonde rookie alone. Elena gave herself another 30 seconds to make sure her heart stopped racing. During that time, she also thought of a few choice words if Reno brought anything up.

She walked out of the back room with her head held high. Reno was on the floor again. She couldn't help but feel a smug sense of satisfaction. He looked better on the floor anyway. Rude helped his partner to his feet and the duo stumbled out of the door.

"See you next weekend?" Tifa asked, the smile in her voice, her back turned to Elena.

"Probably." the blonde replied stiffly.

&3&3&3&3&3

Rude gave Elena a ride home, with Reno in the backseat. Her silent companion didn't say anything until he parked the car in front of her apartment.

"….Have a nice evening"

"You too."

Elena slammed the door shut and walked up the steps. The autumn air was brisk and it bit her nose. There weren't many trees in Midgar, so Elena never saw leaves changing or any of that. She had to rely on her senses to tell her what season it was.

She stepped into her apartment, seeing that it was neat and orderly, just as she left it. Her door made a soft 'click' and the sound echoed through her 'home'.

Elena turned on the hot water for her shower. The steam fogged up her small bathroom. As she stepped into the scalding water, she suddenly thought of Reno. Her hand unconsciously moved and touched her lower lip. Elena shook her head fiercely, sending water droplets into her shower curtain.

"He won't even remember it tomorrow." Elena said aloud.

She hummed to herself as she washed her hair, getting rid of the cigarette-smell. The citrus scent of her shampoo filled her nose and she decided to reflect on the events that happened earlier today. Her mission was a success and she did it all on her own. It was something to be proud of. She was still known as 'The Rookie'.

&3&3&3&3&3

"Do you understand the mission?"

"Yes, sir" Elena said with a determined nod.

"You must be careful. This is a mission for information, not bloodshed."

"Understood." Tseng smiled a bit and then dismissed her. She checked the coordinates on her phone before taking off. They had a civilian vehicle waiting for her in the ShinRa garage.

ShinRa didn't know who was after them. Their only information that another group was on the rise and AVALANCHE was no longer a suspect. Cloud had left the city, leaving Tifa behind with Marlene and Denzel. Barrett came into the city every week to see Marlene. Vincent had fallen off the face of the earth (or at least Elena thought so.) Yuffie had returned to Wutai.

Sometimes Elena saw the young ninja when she came to see Reeve. The WRO was still working hard to rebuild the earth and reconstruct what once was. Then…there were the Turks. They had their hands full now with this 'unknown threat'.

Elena fumbled with her hands as she sat in the backseat. Without Reno's annoying complaints and Rude's soft grunts of either approval or disdain…it was deathly quiet. Elena almost asked the driver to turn on the radio but that would be unprofessional.

Elena peered out the window as the car slowed down.

"Please call when you are ready to be picked up." The driver said and Elena felt like some sort of princess. However, this was far from a fairy-tale.

She stepped out, staring at the building as it crumbled before her eyes. Homeless people were scattered about the area, huddling by fires, staring at Elena with contempt in their eyes. She was a Turk. She had grown to expect these stares.

"What business do you have here?" A male who was previously crouched stood up. He was much taller than Elena. His skin was pale, with smudges of soot and dirt, but his eyes were strikingly bright. Despite their gray color. Elena couldn't tell if he was muscular, all his layers of clothes gave him a bulky—yet intimidating appearance. His hair was hidden by a black beanie.

"I'm searching for someone." She said keeping her tone even yet friendly.

"Who?" The male prompted, crossing his arms and chewing on the toothpick in his mouth. Elena had a random thought of Cid, she figured he was off and married—maybe with kids now. It was weird that she was reminiscing so much today.

"I…I don't know his name." Elena ran a hand through her hair. "All I have is this." She produced a small photo of a young boy. It was their only lead. This boy had left a package on the front step of ShinRa, addressed to Rufus, when it went through clearance—ShinRa had upped its Security—it held a bomb. The bomb was wired improperly, so it was useless and probably wouldn't have gone off. However, it was enough to raise concern.

More packages came in but they were never delivered personally again. Always from fake addresses. Then notes began to appear with the boxes. Those notes held cold words of hatred for ShinRa and everything it stood for.

"Sorry, can't help you."He was lying. Elena could see it on his face.

"Please!" She tucked the photo in her pocket with tender care. A lie of her own formed in her mind.

"I have a sister…when she was young…she had a baby." Elena wished she could summon tears, but the best she could do was plastering a frown on her face.

"She couldn't keep… so she had to give him up…Hell, she didn't even give him a name! When we found this picture..." Elena let the story flow effortlessly from her lips. She explained how her sister only wanted to see her child again, to atone for the sin of leaving him. She went into details about how her sister was so positive that this picture was of her son, that she threatened to lock Elena out of their house until she learned something.

The male was moved by her story; at least Elena thought he was.

"The kid might be Allen. He used to hang around here a lot. 'Till some guys starting talking to him and then he disappeared."

"T-thank you…" Elena whispered and turned her back on the male. She placed her hand on her mouth, to take in sharp breath. As if, she was holding back tears. She had to admit; she was quite the actress when she had to be.

&3&3&&3&3

Elena ran her comb through her wet hair. Minus the drunken kiss, today had gone well. It would be back to paperwork tomorrow unless a mission came up. She couldn't get the kiss out of her head though. When she set her coffee machine so she'd have a fresh cup for the morning, she just had to grab the red thermos. Her mind linked the color with Reno's red hair.

"His hair is obnoxious." Elena was thinking aloud, she knew it, but she lived alone—and as pathetic as it sounded; she could talk to herself if she damn well pleased!

"Reno is…the definition of annoying! And vulgar, crude, he's a womanizer, a drunk, and callous about the emotions of others around him." Elena's grip on the counter suddenly tightened.

"He's an idiot…but I should have reacted faster…"

"Then again, I probably gave him a nice bruise." Elena mused, her spirits lifting slightly.

Elena had just settled into her navy blue sheets when her cell phone began to ring. The soft green glow of the front screen lit up her room as if the life stream itself had entered through her window. Elena reached over and clumsily picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Yay! You're awake!"

"Go to hell, Reno. It's almost one in the morning—can't I get a good night's rest for once?" She could practically smell the alcohol through the receiver.

"Don't be mean, Laney." He stretched out on his couch. He quirked a brow when she didn't respond.

"Laney?"

"It's Elena."

"I thought you hung up on me…"

"Why didn't I think of that? Goodnight, Reno!" Elena snapped her phone shut with a grin. Aha! Take that you cocky red-head! She set her phone to vibrate and set it back down on her nightstand. Rolling over, Elena buried her face into her pillow, her hair leaving a damp spot.

'Bzzzz….bzzzz….bzzzz.'

She closed her eyes tightly while waiting for the noise to stop.

'Bzzzz….bzzzzz….bzzzzz!'

Elena groaned and pulled the covers over her head, "Pass out already!" She ground her teeth and began counting to one-hundred in hopes that it would numb her mind into sleep.

It worked. The annoying buzzing sound from her phone eventually faded with her inner voice counting. She got to three-hundred and twenty-six before she couldn't keep counting and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

&3&3&3&3&3

Reno mumbled a greeting to Rude and Tseng when he walked into the office that morning. His head was killing him.

"Where's Laney?" He asked, kicking his legs up onto his desk that was littered with papers and junk-food wrappers.

"She was here earlier." The raven-haired male responded without looking up.

"That didn't answer my question, yo."

Tseng sighed heavily.

"Get to work, Reno."

The red-head frowned. Tseng never withheld information from him—when he did, it was for a damn-good reason. The only theories that Reno could come up with while sitting there…Elena was hurt, off on a mission—alone, getting coffee, and maybe she just went to the little girl's room.

&3&3&3&3

Elena returned to her shared office, to find that Reno was the only one still inside.

"Where's Rude and Tseng?"

"Am I not enough for you?" Reno asked with a smirk.

Elena didn't dignify him with a response; she sat back down on her desk and took out a folder, browsing its contents.

"Where'd you go this morning?"

"Hm?" Elena looked up, rather dazed.

"You've been missing for two hours."

"I haven't been missing Reno, I just wasn't here."

"Well…where were you?"

"…"

"Laney."

"…"

"LANEY!" His eyebrow twitched as she so bluntly ignored him.

He huffed, "Elena."

"Yes?"

"Why won't you tell me?"

"God, if you must know…I went down to floor 66 to brush up on my hand-to-hand combat."

"Oh?" Reno was suddenly interested and this was a perfect opportunity to tease the rookie. "Was it because of last night?" He gave her a smirk while watching her reaction.

Elena felt her blood run cold and the pen she was using fell flat against the paper, leaving a smudge of black in on the pristine white paper. She just sat there, frozen. 'Oh god! Say something! Be witty or rude or sarcastic…just…say…SOMETHING!'

A/N: I had SO much fun writing this.

I needed it. It got my creative juices flowing again and my muse seems to have returned for the time being. I guess she likes Reno/Elena too.

I'm feeling a little better about the next chapter to Apartment15B and lord only knows what I'll be doing with "Speeding Cars." –Shakes head-

Please send me a review; thoughts/comments/fan girl squeals are all appreciated! Have an awesome weekend!