Hello everyone. It's been a while, and I apologize. Life happened.

Namantos-Of course he won't forget! That wouldn't be very fun at all. But there will be some intense denial. ;] Reno is my favorite character of all time, too; it makes me so happy to know that I write him well!

Sonya-You're right about that. Thanks for the praise. :]

Thesheep-I know! I was so thrilled with the last line because Reno was finally himself again! Thank your patience; I hope this update is worth the wait.

Chapter Ten

Reno was back.

Tseng found it hard to concentrate on the road. Elena was pestering Reno, chattering question after question, and Reno kept telling her to shut up because she was giving him a headache. It was just like old times.

At last, they arrived at the apartment. Tseng felt another pang of happiness when Reno yelled at Elena for trying to help him from the car.

"I got it, yo! I'm not an invalid!"

Elena huffed and put her hands on her hips, but she was having trouble keeping the smile off her face. "Sorry for trying to help!"

Reno just grunted in reply. He fought to get out of the car, and then stumbled a little when he finally managed it. Tseng led the way into the building and they waited for the elevator. When the elevator got there, they took it up to the top floor.

Even such a short time on his feet was taking its toll on Reno, and he was breathing heavily when they reached the apartment. Rude opened the door before they even had a chance to knock. Even though Tseng had called to warn him, he still looked like a deer in the headlights when he saw Reno. To everyone's relief, Reno grinned.

"Hey, partner."

Rude almost smiled, which was more emotion than Tseng had ever seen him show, and gave Reno a nod before he stepped aside to let them in. Reno walked right over and flopped down on the cough.

"Ah, it's good to be home," Reno sighed, putting his head back and closing his eyes. "Being in the hospital sucked. There weren't even any hot nurses."

"You may be out of the hospital, but you're still not at one-hundred percent," Tseng warned. "Just take it easy for a few weeks."

Reno's eyes shot open. "Weeks?" He laughed. "No way, boss-man. I'm going back to work tomorrow."

Tseng lifted an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you plan to manage that?"

"What d'ya mean?"

"What I mean, Reno, is that you are in no shape to be working. I doubt you could even manage to walk from the couch to the door without collapsing."

Reno's head tipped back forward and he thoughtfully gauged the distance. "I could make it," he decided at last.

Tseng sighed. "Reno, you will be staying home tomorrow and every day after that until I decide you are suitable for duty, and that's final. Now just sit there and rest until dinner's ready."

Reno pouted, but strangely he did not argue. He yawned and leaned back, then a few seconds later, he had fallen asleep.

When Elena came out to check on him ten minutes later, that's how she found him. She told Tseng and Rude, and Tseng decided that Reno needed sleep more than he needed food. Rude nodded in agreement, then he gently lifted Reno from the couch and carried him to bed.

xxx

It was all happening again. Reno thrashed and fought the hands holding him down, but it was no use. He couldn't get away. There was terrible pain, and Reno screamed.

But then he was awake. Reno opened his eyes to find Tseng, Elena, and Rude standing over him, looking concerned. The room was dark; it was the middle of the night.

"Reno, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Reno nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet. Elena's cool hand touched his forehead.

"You're burning up," she said. Her voice was shaking. Reno knew his screaming had probably scared her. "I'll go get you some water."

Reno found his voice. "Don't worry about it, 'Leney. I'm okay now." He took a deep breath and wiped his wet eyes. "Sorry for waking you guys."

Tseng and Rude exchanged a glance, then they left. Elena followed a bit more reluctantly.

When the door closed, Reno let his mask crumble. He burrowed down into the covers and pulled them up to his chin, as though they would protect him, and let a few more tears fall.

It was a long time before he fell asleep.

xxx

In the morning, Reno didn't come out of his room. Tseng sent Elena to check on him, but Reno just told her to leave him alone.

"Give him time," Tseng said. "Rude, you stay here with Reno. Elena, let's go."

Rude settled down on the couch as Tseng and Elena went off to work.

xxx

Reno didn't leave his room all that day, or the next day. Every time Rude looked in on him, he appeared to be sleeping, but Rude didn't think he was.

On the third day, Tseng told Elena to stay behind while he and Rude went to Neo-ShinRa. She waited and waited for Reno to come out, but she knew he wasn't going to. At last, she got up and knocked on his door.

"Reno?" No response. "Reno, I'm coming in, okay?"

Elena opened the door and went inside. She walked over to the bed and saw that Reno was awake.

"Hey. What're you doing?"

Reno blinked at her. "Thinking," he replied. His voice sounded odd.

"About what?"

Reno sighed and sat up. "Just stuff." He tried to stretch and winced. "What time is it?"

"4:30." Elena sat down on the edge of the bed. "Reno, are you okay?"

Reno shrugged. "Sure."

"Really?"

"What else you want me to say?" Reno snapped. "I'll be fine; I always am. Now go away."

Elena crossed her arms. "No."

Childishly, Reno lay down and rolled over so he was facing away from her, pulling the covers over his head.

"You can't ignore me."

"Watch me," Reno replied. His voice was muffled. Elena yanked the covers down, and he sat up. "Hey!"

"Listen, you idiot. I don't know why you're so determined to pretend that you're 'fine,' but no one expects you to be, so you can drop the act."

Reno glared at her, but then the glare faded away. He looked tired. "I don't have anywhere else to go," he said quietly.

Elena blinked. "What?"

"And I'm not really good at anything but this."

"Reno, what are you talking about?"

He looked at her. "Tseng's going to fire me."

"He won't."

"Yes, he will. He'll fire me when he sees how broken I am, and then I'll have to leave. And I have nowhere else to go."

Impulsively, Elena pulled Reno into a tight hug. "Don't say that," she said. "You're a Turk, Reno. Tseng won't fire you; he wants you to take the time to get better. You'll always have a place here."

Reno did nothing, then he tentatively hugged back. "Thanks, 'Leney."

After a moment, the hug ended and they sat there awkwardly. Reno sighed and threw back the covers. "Well, I guess I should take a shower," he said. Elena got up and helped him to his feet. "Hey, Reno?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to ask a favor."

"Go for it."

"Could you please go back to making fun of me? Getting along with you is just too weird."

Reno looked surprised, then he grinned and reached out to playfully tousle her hair. "Sure thing, Rookie."

Elena nodded and smacked his hand away. "Much better."

As Reno went off to shower, Elena walked into the kitchen and ordered a pizza. She had thought briefly about trying to cook them something, but then decided that Reno had been tortured enough.

When Tseng and Rude came home, they were shocked to find Reno dressed and sitting on the couch, eating a piece of pizza.

"Yo," Reno said, his mouth full.

Tseng was the first to recover. "Good to see you're finally out of bed. How are you feeling?"

"Awful," Reno replied casually, swallowing. "But the pizza's helping. I think I'm ready to go back to work."

Tseng raised an eyebrow, just like he did the last time Reno mentioned returning to work, but this time he didn't argue. "If you think you're ready."

Reno nodded. "I am."

"Then it's settled." Tseng said with a small smile. "As of tomorrow, you're back on active duty."