A/N: Ok, first I have to apologize if my writing's not that good at the moment. I saw something today over on dA that really, really upset and disturbed me. I don't know what kind of effect that will have on my writing, but I'm hoping I'll be over it soon. I'm starting to include Rihanna in the story a little more now.

Enjoy

Chapter 12

"Good job Elena." Tseng said encouragingly, tapping her on the shoulder. "You did well. You can report everything to me tomorrow. You may leave." He raised his voice slightly with the last part, so the rest of the recruits could hear. Most of them made for the door immediately, but Phoenix stayed behind, seemingly waiting for Elena.

"You okay?" he asked as she joined him. The two of them exited the training arena.

"Yeah." Elena replied happily. "Just tired."

"You did well, especially against Joey." He turned his gaze to her, giving her one of his extremely rare, direct-in-the-eyes stare. Elena felt her spine tingle.

"I didn't do that well against Joey. And of course, I would have done worse if it wasn't for you." Elena said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Phoenix asked. He was playing innocent but he had a distinct mischievous glint in his aqua eyes.

"You have bolt materia in your pocket." Elena smiled.

"I thought you might have noticed." Phoenix grinned slyly. "But I couldn't stand there and watch him beat you."

"Thanks." Elena said quietly. The two of them had just exited the building. "Listen, I'm gonna go over to Rihanna's place and see her. You want to come?"

"Sure." Phoenix shrugged his shoulders. "Haven't got anything else planned."

Elena had the feeling that something was off, the minute she and Phoenix entered Rihanna's street. She didn't know why, but she knew something was wrong. Then they heard it – raised voices. One of the voices was definitely Rihanna, and the other one gave Elena a sense of horrid familiarity.

"Can't you see that's not gonna work?!" they heard Rihanna shout.

"I just want to know where I stand." The other, slightly quieter male voice said.

Elena picked up her pace, hearing Phoenix's footsteps grow faster behind her. When they reached Rihanna's apartment, they saw her standing in her front doorway, and a slightly shorter blonde man standing in front of her.

"Rihanna?" Elena said loudly. The redhead looked up at them, and the blonde turned around. "Cloud, what are you doing here?" Elena asked angrily.

"Wha..? You're dead…" Cloud stammered. Elena furrowed her brow for a second, before she realised he was looking at Phoenix.

"You will be if you don't leave her alone." Phoenix said angrily.

"Cloud." Rihanna said sadly. "Please, just go."

Cloud turned to Rihanna then back to Phoenix again. He gave them one last pitiful look, and then left. Rihanna put her had to her head, and then began sobbing uncontrollably.

"Rihanna." Elena cried, running up to her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm s-sorry." Rihanna said, calming down a little. "He just b-brought up so m-much."

"Don't worry about it." Elena said, putting a comforting arm around her.

"Sorry." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Come in."

"On second thought…" Phoenix said suddenly. "I'd better go. It's gettin' late. Bye 'Lena. Rihanna." He nodded his head once and hurried off.

"What was that about?" Rihanna asked. The two of them stepped inside and Rihanna closed the door.

"I have no idea." Elena said, shaking her head. "He's certainly a strange guy."

"Umm, what about what Cloud said?" Rihanna asked awkwardly, while she and Elena sat down. "He thought he was dead."

"I think he was talking about Reno." Elena said grimly. "Phoenix and Reno do look a lot alike."

"Yeah, they do… but there's something not right about him." Rihanna sat bolt upright. "I mean, like he's hiding something."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Elena said, scratching her head, "But, I can't shake the feeling that something is going to happen. There's that kind of… atmosphere."

"Rude has seemed a little uptight lately too. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he didn't want to do the sparring." Rihanna told her.

"Did he say why? It's not like him…" Elena said.

"Nope… when I asked he just said he didn't know." Rihanna said shaking her head. "I have a feeling that Rude knows more about what's going on than we do."

"I have a feeling everyone knows more about what's going on that we do." Elena sighed. "Even Tseng's hiding things. It's obvious."

"Well." Rihanna suddenly grinned. "I think it's time we took matters into our own hands."

"Huh?" Elena raised an eyebrow. It seemed like the 'Reno' side of Rihanna was showing through.

"Well if no-one else will tell us what they know about Phoenix, we'll have to find it out for ourselves. We're Turks, so it shouldn't be too hard." Rihanna smiled at Elena.

"I suppose." Elena replied. "But the thing is, Phoenix will know what we're doing. He's a better Turk than either of us."