Chapter 10: Playing the Fool

We've barely landed on the outskirts of the village of Gongaga and I'm sliding open the helicopter door and jumping down, landing with my legs apart for balance, onto the ground. The brownish green blades of grass whip around violently until it is given the appearance of ocean waves. My hair whips wildly in my face as I run a few feet from the helicopter. Reno and Rude join me after a few moments. We turn back towards the chopper, the force of its blades blowing dust and bits of everything else towards us. It takes off back into the air, the sound of its blades becoming distant. Tseng and Scarlet are heading to the old mako reactor, Tseng's flying of course, while it is our job to patrol the area just in case Avalanche shows up—which they most likely will.

They dropped us off in the middle of a field, about 5 minutes from the small sprinkling of ugly little houses known as Gongaga village. There is nothing but trees, dirt and grass around us otherwise, the damaged reactor's structure not even visible above the trees.

"Somebody's excited," Reno says, turning to me as the helicopter grows distant. "Don't wet yourself from the anticipation, rookie." With this, he slaps me a little too hard on the back of my shoulder. I want to retaliate, but I hold back.

Reno's comment makes me swallow a bit of the excitement radiating from me. I look over at him, and he cuts his eyes at me and gives me a little half-grin.

"I'm not gonna wet myself," I reply, lamely.

"Good because, Rude would have to clean that stuff up," Reno says, nudging his partner who was surveying the area immediately around us with his shaded gaze.

"..." comes Rude's reply.

I know that it is written all over my face. I mean, of course I am excited. I get the chance to redeem myself in front of not only Tseng, but Avalanche and the guys as well—and Rufus will get a good report back from the field, which has even more added meaning now, I think. There is no way I'm going to screw up to the point of embarrassing myself again. They won't get any confidential information from me, and if I do see them—help them.

"Tseng wants us to head a few miles east of the reactor—it's the only way there from the village by foot so we'll be able to surprise Avalanche," Reno says, almost as a reminder to himself as to what we're doing as opposed to giving any type of direction or orders.

This is Reno's first time encountering Avalanche since he was injured, I realize as we start heading east towards the trees.

Looking over at him, I can't tell if he himself is a little excited about another round with them or not. He's got his usual laid-back casual demeanor, occasionally saying something to Rude who opts not to respond verbally. They do this sometimes, though it seems like they're having a conversation anyway. If I was Reno, I'd be more than a little excited to see them again—excited meaning I'd want to turn them inside out—I think. I didn't see him in the hospital, but from what I've gathered, his injuries were pretty bad. So bad that they had to finally review the possibility of growing the Turk pool again to include me.

Elena, the fool.

Our twenty minute hike is silent, and all I can think about is the fact that the sun feels like it is trying to kill me instead of warm me. I feel sweat beginning to trickle down my back and the taste of dirt lingers in my mouth. I listen closely for anything that could be a group of people walking in our direction.

Biting my lip to keep from talking, I look up through the canopy of trees. The sky is bluer and brighter here in Gongaga. It is a rare day indeed for Midgar to have a sky like this. Sometimes it was hard to even tell if the sun had risen properly in Midgar.

My thoughts are cut short by an abrupt connection with a solid object: Reno's back as he stops short. Stumbling backward, I lose my balance and begin to fall. Wind rushes past me. I brace myself for an impact that doesn't come. Strong, firm hands wrap around my upper arms, and my back presses into Rude's chest. He steadies me without a word. Embarrassment creeps up to my face.

Yeah, already looking like an ass aren't I.

Reno is watching, amusement clear on his face. I look away, turning to Rude with every intention of hugging him. He catches my outstretched arms and puts them down at my sides silently, shaking his head. No hugs.

"Fine," I say, grinning sheepishly. "I'll get you later."

"Don't try it," Rude says, "and you're welcome."

"Thanks."

A smile spreads across my face. Rude shifts in his spot uncomfortably, looking away from me. He's not comfortable around me yet. I guess it's better than Reno's mocking me. Reno would've just let me fall on the ground.

"You done?" Reno calls our attention. Turning around, I see that he was watching us with a peculiar expression. His eyebrows are raised so high that they're almost in danger of disappearing into his hair. What is that about?

"Yah," I say.

"..." is Rude's reply.

"Uh huh," Reno says, disbelieving. I'm not sure what he's supposed to be believing in the first place.

Before us is a split in our path. We can either go to the left or to the right. I look at Reno again for instruction. Reno looks down at his phone. At the same time, my phone and Rude's vibrate. We've received a text from our source—a member of Avalanche's party who works for ShinRa—confirming that Avalanche is indeed in Gongaga today as they'd planned.

A rush of excitement flows through me. I remind myself to breathe. I'm gonna kick their asses.

Reno's reaction? To lean against a tree with his foot propped against it. He looks over at me shrewdly. "How would you like to be lookout?"

"I'd love to!" I blurt out, just a little too loudly and a little too enthusiastically. I stop myself before I'm jumping up and down and clapping like a four-year-old at a candy store.

He rolls his eyes. "Calm yourself down, rookie," Reno says with mock disgust. "Dry yourself off."

Before I can truly understand what his comment means, I hear Rude laugh ever so slightly beside me and tell Reno to stop being a child. Reno shrugs it off, as casual as usual. Never mind that we're on a super important assignment. Can Reno ever be serious?

"What do you want me to do?" I say. I ignore the annoyance creeping up on me. Reno needs to take me a bit more seriously.

"Go ahead of us. Find somewhere to lay low, watch out and listen. If you see them, notify us so we can get the drop on them."

"That's it?"

"Yes," Reno says, giving me another one of those strange looks that I can't quite define, where he just cuts his gaze over at me and looks at me in from the side. "Keep your phone on you."

"Got it. I got this," I say, taking out my gun and cocking it.

"Whoaaaaah, what are you pulling that out for?"

"I got this, Reno," I say. I mentally reassure myself that I, in fact, have everything I would need for this assignment. "Trust me."

"Don't shoot anyone, rookie," Reno says, raising a brow. "Nobody said anything about bringing Avalanche in with bullet holes in their heads. Pretty sure they want them alive. Besides, you can't take all the credit. You don't get extra credit in the field for being a crackpot. What did they teach you people at the ShinRa academy?"

For a second, I think of pointing the gun at him and telling him that they taught us how to never miss—but I don't do that. Sassy, true, but they also taught us to never point a gun at anything you didn't plan on shooting. Well—that was my parent's weapons safety mantra in their academy classes. Still—I'm sure Reno'd appreciate the sentiment.

Instead, I snort to myself. What does he think I'm going to do? Burn down the entire village? I'm not that incompetent or crazy. Without responding, I salute them both in a manner that is more of a joke and less about respecting their rank. The response is easy grins from them—I figured they'd like that.

Gotta play this cool. Serious Elena is always being mocked.

I leave the men behind and continue on down the dirt path. I keep one hand firmly on my gun and the other is balled up in a fist at my side. I pause when I reach the end of the path; there is a slight incline that leads into an expanse of field. They'll definitely be coming through this path if at all.

There is a great spot find near the entrance of the path. It is unkempt, overrun with tall grass. I make my way over, find a comfortable looking spot, and lie down on my stomach. The grass provides a somewhat soft cushion from the hard, wet ground. From here, I know they won't be able to see me at all.

I'm so gonna shoot one of them.

No. Reno said don't shoot anyone—yet. I think they actually want a fight. I am just supposed to call them—that's all.

After a few minutes of sitting in the grass staring, bugs begin to crawl on me. I bite my lip and try to ignore the tickling of critter's legs on my skin—then comes the biting. I work on letting my mind drift to ignore the feeling. Soon, the sound of bugs buzzing and the feeling of sweat pooling at the small of my back goes to the back of my mind. My thoughts drift to Rufus and what he might be doing right now in his comfortable, cool office.

Is he thinking about me? Worried about me? Probably not. Why should he be? I'm a Turk. He knows what I signed up for. And heck, one ill-advised, but totally-worth-it-date doesn't mean anything. I really should leave it alone and let it go anyway.

It is inappropriate and unprofessional.

Crack.

I reach for my phone. Don't shoot anyone. Twigs snapping. I strain my ears and catch the sound of voices getting even closer. The first thing I hear is a chipper young girl. The Wutainese princess Yuffie Kisaragi, I realize as they come into view. She is going on and on about how she's hungry.

They're all here, Cloud leading the pack. I glance down at my phone again. I should call them, tell them that they're coming. Follow orders. I pull myself up to my feet as they pass by me and begin to follow them silently, stalking them, listening to their conversation.

Crack!

I throw myself behind a tree and hold my breath. Maybe none of them heard that. Nope.

"You guys hear that?" Tifa, the one in the mini skirt and white tank straining against her breasts, says. She stops for a second, looking around.

"Couldn't hear anything over Yuffie talking," a rougher, male voice says.

Stepping from behind the tree, I follow behind them at what I believe is a safe pace. I eye the group of seven from behind.

The group stops abruptly, and I stop too and hide behind another tree. I should text Reno and Rude, tell them who's coming. I peek around the tree. Cloud is looking around, he has a finger to his lips and is standing completely still. Barrett leans against a tree that is too close for comfort. The women find spots at trees directly across from me. Do they see me?

I inch around the base of my tree to find a spot that is out of their line of vision. They're getting closer to Reno and Rude, I know it. I really should tell them that they're coming so they can get the jump on them. If I'm going to do it, the time is now.

Gingerly, I open my phone and begin texting a message.

"Is someone there?" Barrett says.

I hold my breath. I have to do something. They're going to find me. How do I want to play this? I can't take them on by myself—not all 5 of them. I mean, look what they did to Reno when he took them on alone, and he's got a lot more real-world skill than I do.

I'm going to have to play the dumb card here. Sadly, it is a card that isn't a stretch. I put my phone away and pull out my gun, hiding it behind my back. I creep up through a few thickly clustered trees to the front of their pack. To where their leader, the young blond Cloud, is still looking around. He's farthest away from the rest of the crew.

I step out from behind the trees, pulling the most innocent, confused face I possibly can. "Hi," I say, hands still behind my back. I angle myself so that he can't see my gun. Don't shoot anyone.

Cloud jumps slightly, startled. "Uh...what?" He tilts his head to the side. I feel his friends all staring at me, the tension rising in the path.

Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

"Sorry," I continue on, backing away from them ever so slightly, focusing on Cloud. His mako-enhanced blue eyes follow me, confusion clear on his face. At least he doesn't look ready to cut me. Not that I wouldn't be able to take him down. "I'm just a little lost. I was looking for the Gongaga village," I say, giving him my most disarming smile. I tilt my head to the side, parting my lips slightly and widen my eyes as much as possible.

Cloud stares at me, for a moment, he seems to be believing me. The tension in the air gets thicker. They're all staring at me, I can feel it. Nobody moves, waiting on Cloud's reaction. Their leader's gaze softens for a second, and then hardens as he frowns.

"Aren't you that Turk?"

"What's a Turk?" I say. Cloud makes a sudden move, and in the next second, I have my gun pointed at him. "Don't move or I'll shoot you in the face!"

And, in a split second, I take off running down the path, running so fast I can barely feel my feet hitting the ground. When I'm far enough away from them, I look over my shoulder. I don't see them, but I know they're on their way.

This wasn't smart.

I'm about to text Reno and Rude finally when I hear their voices just on the other side of some trees.

"Hey Rude? Who do you like?" Reno asked.

What the cuss? They're having a casual conversation while I'm running from a gang? Now I really do feel like shooting someone.

I lean against a tree for a second, unable to speak, inhaling and exhaling, listening to the rest of their conversation while I try to catch my breath.

"What are you getting embarrassed about? Come on, who do you like?" Reno presses on.

This should be good.

"Uh...Tifa," Rude says off the top of his head.

"You're so full of crap," Reno scoffs. "Though..." he trails off, a slightly perverted inflection in his tone. "If that's true, poor Elena."

Poor me?

"I mean…" Reno continues, "she and you..."

"No," Rude says flatly, "she likes Tseng."

Heat rises in my face. How does he know that?! Am I really that obvious? I wonder if this means that he also knows I like Rufus, too. What else do they know?!

"I knew that!" Reno scoffs, "good luck with that though. Tseng likes that Ancient...bah, what a waste," Reno says.

Time to break this up. I don't think I want to hear anymore. Pushing away thoughts of doubt creeping up on me, I remind myself where I am and what I'm doing. This is serious. I've already screwed this up enough, alerting the party to our presence.

"Guys!" I say, running through the trees to where they're standing. Reno's leaning against a tree, Rude is across from him against another one, the path between them. As soon as I burst out, there's a second where they're startled and they both take on more aggressive stances—until they realize it is me.

"What the hell?" Reno says, looking at me.

"They're here. They're coming," I say as seriously as possible. What I want to do is flail my arms and run around screaming.

I expect Reno and Rude to do something drastic at this information, but instead, Reno turns his attention to Rude. "Don't go easy on them, even though some of them are girls. Especially Tifa," he says.

Rude scoffs and says, while adjusting his sunglasses, "Speak for yourself. I'll do my job."

"Elena, go report to Tseng," Reno says.

"What!?" I screech.

Reno winces at the sound of my voice. "Go report to Tseng. Stay with those two, Scarlet may need the extra protection or something," he says waving me off.

"But—"

Crack. I look over my shoulder, Avalanche has caught up with me.

"Go," Reno says, taking his EMR out and extending it. Blue electricity dances from its business end.

"No, I want to fight with you guys," I say, and as soon as the words escape my mouth, Tseng's stern words about me doing whatever is asked of me—especially by a superior—was to be heeded. It was all a learning experience, he said. Tseng would give me an earful if I whined again, or disobeyed in the middle of what looks to be a bad situation.

They're getting closer at every second.

Reno ignores my complaint, focused on the trees behind me, a dark look crossing his face. I see Rude straightening out his black leather gloves, ready to fight. They don't need me here. I'm just going to annoy him if I complain about it.

"I'll report to Tseng," I say, frowning slightly. I want to argue that I could just call Tseng, but I don't. This isn't the time to be insubordinate. I already failed to contact them earlier and now Cloud and the crew already know to expect Turks. I could've single-handledly ruined their chances of catching Avalanche.

I take off just as the first Avalanche member breaks the tree line. I run away from them, hearing the sound of fighting begin to fill the air.

After a few seconds, I slow down to a fast walk, my fists balled up so tight that my short, ragged nails are digging into my skin. I mutter to myself, every cuss word I know falling from my lips. I wanted to kick someone's ass today.

Yeah yeah, Tseng's right and all, supposedly, but I can't help but feel like that was a slight. There's no reason for me to report to Tseng. Why couldn't one of them have reported to Tseng? Take a break from busting heads to let me get a few licks in?

I sigh and kick a pebble. Watching it fly, I let out a groan of frustration. I swear and swing my leg at a small boulder. As soon as my foot connects, pain slides through my left leg, but I ignore it and keep on walking, limping slightly.

This is not how this assignment was supposed to go. Yes, I suppose someone has to report to Tseng, to let them know what is going on, but why does it have to be me? I guess it makes sense that I would have to get away from the hostile situation to make the call, even if I didn't reach the reactor in time, but why do I have to do it? Why can't one of them?

Where is Tseng anyway?

I look around. Hadn't I passed by those same trees a few minutes ago? And this same boulder? Where am I?

Stopping, I approach the nearest tree branches shaped in a way that would allow me to climb it easily. Holding onto its rough bark, I shimmy up without much effort and mount myself on top of a thick branch near the top of the tree. There is nothing but canopy beneath me, but to the west is the reactor, the trees closest to it seem frail and small. It would take me at least another 30 minutes to get to Tseng—that would be too late by then, surely. Who knows what could've happened by then?

I reach for my cellphone only to reach air instead of it.

I lean over, straining my eyes. Sure enough, there is a black object on the ground. Please don't be broken.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I make my way down from the tree and plant my feet on the ground. I find my phone—or what is left of it. It is in five different pieces. Useless.

Now my only option is to physically tell Tseng what is happening.

How hard can that be? If I can't even complete a simple task like that, maybe I am not fit to be fighting Avalanche—maybe I'm not even fit to be a Turk.

Barely able to see straight due to the mounting frustration, I start heading in what I think is the right direction. Little beads of sweat form on my forehead, and my shirt and pants are beginning to stick to my skin. The balls of my feet are hurting, and my mouth is dry with thirst. I remove my suit jacket, loosen my tie, and continue on my way.

They're probably looking for me right now, unsure as to where I am because the only way to locate me is gone: my cellphone's global positioning system.

I sink down on a rock. I can't see the path in any direction—surely it would lead me exactly to the reactor. What kind of Turk has this poor of a sense of direction? I put my head between my knees and wait. If I stay in one spot, maybe they will find me. I'm sure they were wondering where I am, right? I can see it now, they report me missing and then Tseng has to go back to Kalm and inform my mother that I went missing in the field.

Not dead. Nooo. Just couldn't find her way back to a beaten path in the woods.

A few moments pass before the sound of gravel moving meets the edge of my hearing. I look up, not sure what to expect. A figure in black appears—a Turk—Rude. Reno's not with him. He looks a little beat up, a little dirty from the fight. My fight. Where is Reno? Surely he's not dead—he lives to piss people off.

"Rude? You're not a mirage are you?" I say, attempting to joke. Embarrassment and shame grips me so hard I can feel it in my stomach, in my chest, my throat—all over. How do I tell him that I got lost?

"No," Rude says as he reaches me, a small, almost invisible, smile crosses his features. Despite my current situation, I add that to my mental tally of the times I've made Rude smile.

"They sent you to come get me didn't they? Sorry. I was lost." There. I've said it.

Rude raises a brow ever so slightly. "Actually, I volunteered to find you."

Yeah, because Reno would've made fun of me. Tseng would've been extremely disappointed. More disappointed than me, probably. I apologize again, staring at the ground. I'm so mad that I could cry.

I stand up from my spot, wobbling slightly before righting myself. "My phone broke. I couldn't find my way, I kept getting lost. So stupid."

"It's alright," Rude offers. "Don't worry about it."

"Did you and Reno win? Are they in our custody? Avalanche?" I ask, dusting myself off. Changing the subject. I don't want to whine again. I don't need reassurances—I am going to worry about it. That's just how I am.

Rude shakes his head. "Not even a little bit."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help. You guys needed me," I say. I feel just a little better knowing they failed. I shouldn't feel that way—I'm a Turk. We're a team. We are ShinRa. If we fail, ShinRa is affected by it. But still—I'm glad they failed. It proves that they needed me more than they realized.

"Yeah," Rude says, not really agreeing or disagreeing. He turns away from me and starts in the direction he came. I spring after him to keep up, and am soon walking in stride with him.

How far from the others are we anyway? We can't have been far if they had Rude walk to find me. I don't know what I will do to myself if I find out that I was a mere mile or two away from them and had been walking in stupid circles for an hour. That kind of crap makes me want to choke a chocobo.

As it turns out, I am right to some degree. Too bad there is no chocobo around. The chopper is sitting in a clearing, silent. Reno is nowhere to be seen, so I am guessing he is inside. Tseng is leaning against the helicopter and Scarlet is looking out of the window from the inside—she's gonna complain about my little screw up isn't she? Rufus is going to hear about this.

Silly little Turk can't find her way back to her superiors by herself.

As we approach Tseng, I stare down at the ground. I really don't need a lecture.

Tseng tells Rude that he can co-pilot if he wants. Rude takes him up on that, silently getting into the other side of the cockpit. It is just me and Tseng. He looks at me for a second, frowning ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry sir," I say, unable to look directly at him. Instead, I look past him.

"You can explain in the debriefing," Tseng says, "we have to get back."

"Yes sir."

To my relief he doesn't say anything else. I'm such an idiot. If I was a crier, I'd have a tantrum right about now.

But I don't. Instead, I rest my head against the cool glass of the helicopter as we lift off into the air. I ignore Scarlet's irritating voice, drowning her out.

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

Why am I always playing the fool? Next time I'll be better.

There's always next time.