Elena was rudely awoken before dawn by the ringing of her bedside phone, and she resolved to ignore it until she realized that the only people likely to be ringing her at this hour were her Shinra senpais.
She didn't even bother to disguise her growl when she picked up the receiver. "What is it?"
"New orders. Suit up, look sharp."
"Damn it, Reno!"
"Whaddaya gonna do? I don't write the orders babe, I just pass them along."
Elena slammed down the phone with a huff. She hated the pet names, she hated the early morning wakeup calls, and most of all, she hated that man. Rude had paired the two of them on this mission just to get her goat. Nevertheless, she carefully counted to ten until she could breathe again; obviously, it was going to be a very long day. She put on her bespoke suit and fiddled with her hair as best she could, though she knew Reno would be banging on her door any moment, leaving her painfully bereft of a shower. True to form, he didn't even give her five minutes before assaulting her door with his gloved fist. She let him into her room.
"What?" she demanded, glaring.
Reno looked at her from top to bottom. Elena stood with her arms crossed, careful not to give into the urge to smack him across the face.
"Time to go. Your lapels are uneven."
Elena snorted. "Oh yeah? Look at you. You look like something the bandersnatch dragged in."
Reno just laughed at her.
"I'm the senpai. I have seniority."
With that, he turned and walked out of her room. Elena briefly, agonizingly, fantasized about simply not following him. Just quitting her career on the spot and getting a job in Junon as a bartender. But it would be stupid to give up her life's dream over one irritating man, so she ultimately took in a deep breath and hurried after him. He didn't say anything, instead he just led her through the twisting alleyways of Junon until she was completely disoriented.
She finally broke down and asked, "Are you going to bother telling me anything about this mission?"
"Bad guys."
She found herself making a fist, and she slowly and deliberately released her fingers.
"Bad guys?" she asked with contrived innocence. "I thought we were supposed to be monitoring A.V.A.L.A.N.C.H.E., staying three days behind."
A merchant hauling a heavy cart cut right in front of Reno's hurried walk, and the Turk casually shoved the man out of the way. The peddler opened his mouth to complain until he saw Elena in her fitted suit just screaming Official Business. Sure enough, he closed his yap and stood aside to allow the pair to pass. Maybe there was something to be said in favor of strict dress codes.
Reno debriefed her without slowing down. "This is some kind of A.V.A.L.A.N.C.H.E. copycat group. They saw the news about terrorist attacks in Midgar and decided to join in on the fun. Headquarters got word from an informant that they're planning to place a bomb on Waterfront Street, and we're the best asset in place to stop them."
"Won't Cloud and his party get away? We were supposed to leave the city after them this afternoon."
Reno just shrugged. "They'll send a helicopter if they have to."
"And anyway, what's the point of bombing Waterfront Street? That's just a bunch of shops and houses – there's nothing there worth blowing up."
"They're terrorists, honey. Who knows why they do what they do? Headquarters says to stop them, so we go in there and stop them."
"What are the rules of engagement?"
Reno came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the street, and she almost plowed right into him. She managed to stop just in time but so close that she could feel the warmth of his body radiating in the cool dawn air.
"Warn me next time!" she hissed.
"HQ says to try to take them alive. But don't worry about trying too hard."
Elena nodded. If they had an apartment full of bomb making materials, they posed a huge threat not only to the pair of Turks, but also to the entire neighborhood. If they resisted in any way at all, they would have to be killed.
Reno suddenly took off again, heading down a narrow alley that provided direct access to Waterfront Street. Elena hurried after him and quietly fumed. No matter how fast she walked, he always managed to stay exactly one step ahead of her. It was like he could laugh at her using only his back.
Though it would be hours before the sun was visible above the thick line of apartments that lined the city, a bright and cool dawn brought the people of Junon to life. Fishmongers and bakers set up stalls in the narrow alleys. The street-level shops turned their signs over to "OPEN" and cracked their doors, tantalizing Elena with the scent of freshly butchered meat and old books. Reno threaded through commuters and schoolchildren alike with unfailing coordination that left her struggling to keep up without tripping on the cobblestone streets. It was Friday, and the people of Junon were excited to get the last work day over with before the sweet relief of the weekend. A rickshaw driver bumped her with the side of his cart and apologized profusely. Suddenly, Reno materialized behind her.
"We're here," he whispered in her ear.
"Gyah! Don't do that!"
Reno just grinned at her with a satisfied smirk, and she gave into her primordial urge and stomped on his foot.
"Hey! Geeze! I'm your senpai, you can't do things like that."
"Watch me," she huffed.
Suddenly, Reno turned as serious as she'd ever seen him.
"Third floor, apartment 3B. Our contact got out so there's nobody in there but the terrorists."
Elena's eyes got wide as the gravity of the situation dawned on her. "Can't we evacuate the building?"
"No. We'd lose the element of surprise, and that's probably our only chance to catch these people before they can set off the bomb."
"Shit. There's kids here, Reno."
Quietly, he replied, "I know."
The door to the apartment's foyer creaked open, and the pair quietly but quickly walked past green mailboxes and the remains of a long-deceased ceiling fan. Elena heard a clatter from the building's common kitchen, and she put a hand on Reno's shoulder and brought him to a stop. The two crept around a corner and peered into the kitchen. A family - a father, a mother, and two young children were just sitting down to breakfast before going about their day. Elena couldn't help herself. She strode into the kitchen, heedless of blowing their cover.
"Get out of the building, now," she hissed.
The two adults looked at each other in confusion.
Elena whipped out her badge. "I said go!"
Fear dawned on the face of the father, and he hurried his family out and into the streets.
"Good job, Elena," Reno told her. "But you could have gotten us killed."
"If facing danger so others don't have to isn't our job, what is?"
Reno shrugged. "It's all quiet for now, at least. Let's head upstairs."
The pair silently crept up two flights of stairs until they were standing in front of the terrorists' apartment. The air was tainted with dust and mold, and the whole building had clearly seen better days. It had been built during the great Mako boom and had been intended as temporary housing for longshoreman, but budget cuts had forced the residents of Junon to make do with what they already had instead of carrying out the grand development plan to completion. Only half the lights in the hallway worked, and the grout between the tiles of the floor was simply unspeakable. All in all, it looked like exactly the kind of place where Elena would expect a nefarious plot to be hatched.
"Ready?" Reno whispered as the two took up places on each side of the door.
"One sec."
Reno waited impatiently while she subvocalized a quick, melodic chant. Sure enough, Elena could feel time itself warping around her, moving her ever-so-slightly into the past. It was an extremely disorienting sensation, and she had to concentrate to keep from losing her balance. Reno looked similarly distressed. But it would be more than worth it when they broke down the door – a Haste spell would give them a powerful advantage against the unsuspecting criminals.
"Okay," she said, waiting to follow Reno's lead.
"Okay. Ready, steady, go!"
He slammed the door with the heel of his foot, and the rusting hinges readily gave way. Elena blundered in after him, doing a millisecond's reconnaissance from the other side of a thin membrane of time. There were three targets – all young men, wearing the innocuous clothes of Junon's lower class. The informant had been right. There was a broad table pushed against a wall, suspicious looking blueprints, and a large, ugly bomb sitting right in the dead center of the room. Elena felt a surge of revulsion and then focused on her target.
"I'll take left, you take right!" she cried.
Reno grunted, and charged towards the pair of suspects who were caught in the middle of an argument in the apartment's small kitchen. Time caught up to them and they finally reacted to the incoming Turks. Elena pushed everything out of her mind except the one foe, trusting in Reno to at least do his job no matter how disheveled he was. Her opponent reached into his vest for some kind of weapon, but Haste gave her a powerful advantage, and she lunged forward while he moved in slow motion. She was on top of him before he could fully draw, and she kicked him in the belly with all her power.
"Oof!" the man gasped, momentarily stunned.
Behind her, there was a burst of gunfire that was just as quickly cut off. She concentrated on the man in front of her, delivering a savage punch across his jaw. She knocked him cold and he toppled over like a sack of potatoes. She turned to see Reno grappling with a man with a gun, while the third terrorist rained blows down on his unprotected head. Elena briefly reached into her satchel before stopping herself – using even a small explosive in here could send the whole building up. Instead, she charged the third man with all the grace of an enraged bull, knocking him to the floor with her padded shoulder and leaving him gasping for breath. Apparently the suit was good for more than just looks.
That gave Reno the space he needed to clear his staff, and he started smashing the last terrorist in the stomach with the butt of the weapon. The man involuntarily dropped his gun and doubled over. Elena slipped in behind him, drew back, and dropped him with a single chop to the neck. The two Turks stood and panted, trying to catch their breath while the terrorists moaned on the floor.
"Not bad work," Reno said, brushing a sweaty lock out of his eyes. "Not for a greenhorn, anyway."
Elena rolled her eyes, and got to cuffing the suspects. They glared contemptuously at the pair of Shinra enforcers, breathing hard and trying not to think about what their future looked like from here. Elena was surprised to see Reno go to the telephone to place a phone call.
"Who on Earth are you calling?" she demanded.
"The local PD. It's their problem now, sweetheart. Fuck it – you don't want to fill out After Incident Reports all day, do you? Make sure those guys are secured and let's get the Hell out of here."