A/N: It's me again. :) As usual, I'd like to firstly thank my fabulous reviewers--you guys are almost as awesome as Sephiroth, and I really mean that. ;) (I can't say you're actually as awesome as Sephy until you almost succeed in destroying the world...sorry. ;P) Seriously, though, your reviews do help me a lot and make writing a heck of a lot easier. :D Also, my apologies for neglecting Rude in the last chapter. He does make a brief appearance in this one; however, Chapter Five (which, yes, I already have written; I'll post it in a few days) has much more of Rude featured therein, so no worries.
And, of course, I'll mention this: If you could kindly review and let me know what you think, what you'd like to see happen, etc., which parts you did or didn't like, and so forth, I'll make Reno give you a hug. ;) And for free! Just think of that!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Turks, or Shin-Ra Inc., or anything else in the Final Fantasy VII universe, or Square-Enix, or Japan, or Earth, or our solar system, and certainly not the Milky Way Galaxy...but can you imagine how rich I'd be if I did:D Right, on with the story.
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Chapter Four: Secret crushes are for wimps!
If Elena had wings, she would've jumped through the nearest window and flown to the other side of the world. If she had a good summon materia handy, she would've called for some unearthly creature to distract everyone while she made her get away. If she'd even had so much as a cell phone with her, she would've pretended that someone was trying to get in touch with her, and excused herself from the room. As it stood, however, she had very little choice but to drag her heels across the carpet, trying not to show the rising tide of panic that threatened to overwhelm her mind.
He knows. He HAS to know! What else could he want? Why else would he ask to have a "chat" with me? She tried to devise a plausible lie to explain her and Reno's odd behavior. Say that we're trying to imitate each other's personalities? Pretend I don't know what he's talking about, and that he's just overreacting to nothing important? Oh, no, that would never work--Tseng's not stupid! We are going to be in so much trouble... Elena groaned inwardly and braced herself as she sank into a chair, avoiding making eye contact.
Tseng sat down behind his desk, giving Elena a long, steady look of disapproval before he finally started speaking. "I have no idea what that little exchange between you and Elena was about, or what you pressured her into going off and doing," he began. "And from what portion I did overhear, I'm not sure if I want to know. However, whatever mess you're dragging her along in is unimportant. I just wanted to remind you of the conversation we had a few days ago." His eyes were cold as he folded his hands and looked expectantly at Elena, waiting for some response.
Elena blinked. "Um...conversation?" she echoed blankly.
Tseng's eyes narrowed. "Do I need to warn you again, Reno?" Seeing the hesitant, vague half-smile on Elena's features, he sighed in exasperation and leaned forward. "I'll only repeat this once," he said darkly. "If any of your idiotic schemes or pranks result in Elena getting hurt or in trouble, I will see to it that you're repaid doubly for your meddling. Am I perfectly clear?"
Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. Why is he telling me this? she wondered. I'm a big girl–and I can take care of myself! A sudden thought struck her from out of nowhere. Unless...
"You like me!" she exclaimed in delight.
Tseng's eyes shot open in surprise. "What?" he demanded.
"Um...you like Elena, I mean," she said, her tone more subdued but no less excited. "Don't you? You like Elena!"
Tseng's face immediately became a reserved mask. "I am not having this conversation with you again, Reno," he said cooly.
"You do! You do like Elena!" she said triumphantly, feeling butterflies of adrenaline flitting around in her stomach, sharing in her giddy delight. Never in a hundred years would she have guessed this on her own.
"Oh, shut up," Tseng said, sounding disgusted. "If I remember correctly, you didn't consider Elena so bad yourself."
Another shock. Elena's smile froze on her face, and she stared at Tseng with wide eyes. "What did you just say?" she gasped.
Tseng rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you don't remember," he answered. "In fact, you said, 'I don't care who knows, either. Go tell Laney yourself, see if I care, yo.' Something to that effect."
Elena couldn't handle the shock. She leaned across Tseng's desk, grabbed his jacket, pulled him out of his chair, and gave him a firm shake. "WHY didn't you tell Elena?" she demanded. "Elena needs to know these things! Why do you ALWAYS have to keep your mouth shut all the frickin time! Why–"
"Excuse me." Rude walked in calmly, outwardly unruffled by the sight of his coworker strangling his boss. "If this is a bad time, I can wait outside."
Tseng took advantage of Elena's distraction to free himself from her grip, smoothing out his jacket calmly. "No, it's fine," he answered. "I was just having a discussion with Reno about what is and is not appropriate conduct with one's coworkers."
One of Rude's eyebrows went up. "You didn't..." he said, glancing at Elena.
"Um...didn't what?" she asked, trying to seem casual.
"As if I had to tell you." Rude answered. One couldn't be certain, but Elena guessed from his tone that Rude might've even rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.
"Oh, that," Elena said with a forced chuckle, pretending that she knew what the heck he was referring to. "No, of course not."
"Good." Rude turned from her to Tseng. "I take it you have an assignment for us, since you wanted to see us, sir?" he asked.
"Of course." Tseng riffled through a desk drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it to Elena. "Just a run-of-the-mill assignment today. The President will be visiting the Three Fountains Plaza in downtown Midgar today to make a public affairs address. You two are to visit the Plaza and make sure that the security preparations in place are up to par. Also, have a look at a young man named Dain Forsythe working in the café there; he was recommended to us as a prospective candidate for our military program. I'm sure you two are more than capable of handling this."
Boring... Elena thought to herself, scanning the paper. "We'll take care of it," she promised, hoping that she sounded more excited than she felt.
"Excellent. Good luck," Tseng replied.
Recognizing an informal dismissal when they heard it, Elena and Rude turned and began to walk out of the office suite. Just before they left, Reno entered, looking immensely self-satisfied–which she took to mean that all had ended well. "Hey," Reno said, looking from her to Rude in surprise. "Where are you guys off to?"
"Oh, nothing important," she answered loftily. "Just taking care of company business. I guess you're stuck here for the day...which reminds me, my desk needs dusting. Do you think you could take care of that?" Elena grinned wickedly at him as she walked past, feeling immensely pleased that she'd managed to one-up him.
Reno glared at Elena as she and Rude left. "Funny," he commented under his breath. "Fine, Laney, if that's the game you want to play..." A slow, wicked smile crept over his features, and he turned on his heels, approaching Tseng's desk with the most feminine walk he could muster.
Tseng looked up as Reno sauntered in. "Is there something I can do for you, Elena?" he asked.
Reno batted his eyelashes as he perched on the corner of Tseng's desk. "I just wanted to tell you something," he answered with a warm smile.
"Okay..." Tseng sounded uncertain.
"I want you know that I have a huge crush on you," he answered brightly. "I mean, a monster crush. But I'm a serious loser, so instead of just saying, 'Hey, Tseng, are you busy after work?', I go whining about it to Reno and Rude instead. It gets on their nerves, too...but that's beside the point. I'm telling you now, aren't I? Because secret crushes are for wimps! You know what I mean, don't you, babe?"
Tseng seemed to stunned to answer.
"By the way," Reno went on, twirling one of Elena's short blonde locks around his fingers. "If you were smart enough to hack into my computer, like Reno did, you could read all these lame poems I wrote about us in my diary. I might print out a couple for you. They're very pathetic."
"Elena–you're joking, right?" Tseng had a wary expression on his face, as though he expected to be bitten on the nose at any second.
"Nope." Reno hopped down to the floor, started toward the door, then paused and turned around. "One other thing, though," he added. "Don't think that just because I've got the hots for you means that you're sexier than Reno. I just know that he'd never give me the time of day, because he's far too awesome in every way for some little dweeb like me."
Tseng arched one eyebrow. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good." Reno grinned and walked out, humming to himself under his breath.
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Chapter Five Preview-but you can't fool all the Turks, all the time: Elena tries her best to fool Rude into thinking she's Reno on a mission...yeah, like that's going to happen, especially after she learns about the wicked prank Reno pullled on her with Tseng. Will Rude figure out that she's not really Reno? And how will he respond?
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