The next chapter! Sorry it's a little short. The next one is a little short too, but I promise that chapter five will be a good long one! Enjoy!
Elena waited until she was alone in the elevator before she allowed her body to shudder. She didn't understand what was wrong. Why the President's questioning would have such an effect on her. Why, after all these months of living in numbness, that now would be the time her feelings would choose to resurface. She leaned against the wall of the elevator and took a deep breath. She would not let the pain come back. She made that decision long ago, right after the accident. If escaping the pain meant shutting out all feelings and emotions, than so be it. She wouldn't let the President or anyone get to her like that again. Never.
It wasn't long before Elena reached the floor where her office was located. She walked in and settled into her desk, anxious to get back on schedule. The meeting with the President had put her off and she needed to get back on track.
Tseng looked up from his desk. He could see Elena sitting at her desk, typing away at the computer, deciphering all of Reno's indecipherable notes and entering them in a more readable format. He sighed. She was only a shell of what she use to be. He could remember the days when she would come into the office, eager and ready to go out into the field. Ready to bring down the bad guys. Her enthusiasm for the job was worse than Reno's, but unlike the unruly redhead, she had a penchance for following rules. He hated what the accident had done to her. Hated that he had a part in what turned her into the robotic Elena that she was now. That's why he never sent her out into the field. He knew she was afraid. It was the only way he felt he could make up for the words he said to her that day.
"Seriously, Rude, you need to come to this bar with me! I swear you'll like it!" Reno exclaimed as he and Rude burst into the quiet office. Elena looked up at the two briefly and then turned back to her work. Rude walked over and sat at his desk. He brought up a search engine as Reno looked over his shoulder.
"Elena will come with me, won't you, sweetheart?" Reno asked, grinning at the stoic blonde. Elena looked up.
"I don't think that would be a good idea," she said calmly before turning back to her work.
"What? Does no one here know how to have fun anymore?" he exclaimed in mocked frustration. Tseng couldn't help but snicker at the redhead's antics. It seemed as though he were trying doubly hard nowadays to get the office atmosphere back to what it used to be before the accident. The poor soul. Tseng straightened up and walked out into the office.
"Rude, Reno, the president said that he wished to see you at your earliest convenience," he said, standing just outside his office door. Rude looked up from the computer and nodded. Reno grinned and looked down at Rude.
"What did you do to get us in trouble this time?" he asked as he began walking to the door of the office. Rude just rolled his eyes and followed his exuberant co-worker. "Don't work too hard, Elena!" Reno shouted right before Rude pushed him out the door. Elena never took her eyes off the screen, though her fingers slowed their frantic pace. Tseng watched her silently, as she stared unfeeling at the computer screen. She shook her head slightly and then began her frantic typing again. Tseng sighed and turned back into his office. Would they ever see the old Elena again?