Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

A/N: Again, a bit gruesome, but nothing that will leave emotional damage. Elena's a bit rough with her capturer as they interrogate him. PS - We're a third through now!

Chapter 20: A Woman Wronged

Unbeknownst to Vincent and equally as interested in the broadcast, Reno sat in the proprietor of the Pink Toad's Umbrella's most comfortable chair, enjoying one of his fine cigars and watching Yuffie Kisaragi speak. Rude was leafing through the account books, going over the deals. He was better at written Wutain then Reno had ever been, although Reno could write every dirty word. This was because as a pup, during the first few months he was here in Wutai, he'd had relations with a hooker in the main city's pleasure district. She had gleefully taught him all sorts of things, one of them being how to write characters all over her body in chocolate. He'd aced all of his Wutain exams and knew how to write dirty letters that would set fire to the cheeks of any of his Wutain prey.

"It was about time," Elena snapped as she came into the room, breaking Reno's thoughts. He looked over at her, as a pair of muscle-bound bodyguards hauled her in. She jerked her arms away from them, and straightened the flashy, imitation kimono she was wearing. Boy did she ever have legs! Reno whistled and gave her the once over, before going back to the television.

"Sure, I'm just fine," Elena growled.

"You can leave now," Rude instructed the burly men. They looked at their bloody boss, who only croaked an agreement. Reno hadn't needed to play butcher, especially not after spotting Elena brooding in a cage and refusing to partake in the fun. All it had taken for this man was a bit of roughing up. He apparently was not used to having girls with protection sold to him.

"You okay?" Reno asked Elena anyway, watching as Yuffie said something and laughed. She was waving off a question eagerly, and assuring the reporter of a different answer then he thought he wanted.

"What are you watching?" the blonde demanded when the door shut. She stormed over, pulling her skimpy kimono shut tighter, only to expose more of the sides of her breasts. "Give me your jacket, you louse," she commanded, holding out her hand. Reno shirked it off. "Hey, that's Yuffie. What's happening?"

"Covering up a family scandal," Rude answered. Reno glanced over at him. "I read it in the paper. Two of her sisters are bickering. The one that could have ruined the other is taking back what she said and claiming it was due to her delusions from the latest fever. The paper described that sister as sickly and given to tantrums."

"Looks like they're eating it up. Boy, could you imagine that sort of press coverage for the Shinra? We'd have been unstoppable." Reno snickered. Elena was trying to pull Reno's jacket further down her shapely thighs. She kicked off the stiletto heels.

"What's the sudden interest in the kid?" Elena asked.

"She's funding your rescue," Reno answered. Elena blanched.

"What? Why?"

"She wants us to investigate the kidnappings." Making an O out of his mouth, Reno blew a lazy smoke ring, followed by two more. He watched as they drifted towards the TV, catching the upper right part of Yuffie's face. A carefully placed ornament winked in her hair.

"I'd heard they kept a painful close eye on her since she got married. It must be worse then I thought if she's hiring us."

"Hey, favor with the Wutai Empress can't be bad. Think she'd marry Rufus? We'd live like fuckin' kings!" Reno cackled, and took a huge puff of his cigar. He exhaled in delighted satiation through his nose, relishing the burn and distinct flavor of the cigar.

"Can we get out of here? Take some of those horrible things with you and let's go. I've had more then enough of this place," Elena shivered.

"Well bub, now we've got Elena. You've been such a big help already," Reno smiled, flipping off the TV as Yuffie walked away from the podium. He wasn't sure how she could even see after staring at that many flashing cameras, but it had made the sparks already in her eyes more mischievous. Putting the cigar between his teeth, Reno stood up and sauntered towards the man with his hands in his pockets. The proprietor, a staunch, balding man, whimpered as Reno approached. "See, I want to know more about the guys who sold this pretty chicky to you," he bobbed his head at Elena. She seemed to have thought better about the stilettos.

"W-what?"

"You know, Koga and Sonji?" Reno chewed on the cigar meditatively.

"I d-don't know who you're talking about," he stammered. Elena's heel jutted down and drove like a stake into his bound palm. He howled, but the music outside was too loud for the guards to come to hear and come to his rescue.

"How about now?" Elena snarled, twisting her foot. Reno gave her a smile, and tapped ash all over the man's back.

"You're so goddamn sexy. I'm gonna have to talk to Tseng about makin' that your new uniform," Reno purred through the heavy smoke in the room.

"You want your ass to be next?" she growled.

"Sign me up."

"Where the fuck are the guys that trounced me and dragged me here?" Elena ignored him and turned back to their prisoner.

"I-I really dunno…" he wept, tears and snot sliding down his face. "K-Koga…he comes and goes…"

"Oh yeah. We found him. He ratted on you…'course, it took four fingers for him to spill it," Reno said thoughtfully.

"What?"

"I had to cut four of his fingers off before he'd tell me where to find you, Elle. It was almost kinda cute how hard he tried to make us believe he'd screwed you," Reno supplied conversationally.

"How about Sonji?" Elena demanded. The man whimpered. Elena held out her hand. "Give me your switch," she commanded. Reno provided it and watched Elena do something he would have never thought she could when they'd first met. She bent over and with a flash of silver, severed the man's ear from his body. His body arched up and he shrieked, writhing spasmodically. Elena lifted her foot and stabbed that heel down into one of his shoulder. His voice broke and then rasped painfully as he sobbed. "Where's Sonji?" she repeated.

Reno loved watching Elena work. Tseng was very…persuasive. If words didn't work, he was artful and delicate in torture, exacting the most amount of pain with the least amount of blood. Elena, while not the same butcher that Reno and Rude could be, was pragmatic in her approach. She wasn't fond of interrogations the way Reno was, and preferred to get them over with quickly. There was no dancing about the point to her, and she severed ears and struck Tseng's pressure points with quick and decisive blows. Cutting off an ear was the least of this man's worries if he really upset Elena.

"H-he's not familiar to me. Someone high up wanted him to do the job…"

"Who hired him?"

"I don't know…he's too pricey and too hardcore…this job didn't suit him at all!" the man wailed. Reno slid his eyes to Rude, who watched with the usual masked indifference. "They coulda gotten some low end mercs. I don't know why they used him, or what they'd want with someone like you."

"Where would I find someone in his usual price range?"

"Th-there aren't a lot…you're talking…high nobility…or the most powerful yakuza…"

"Do you know why they would bring me here?"

"No! I don't know any of those guys! I'm here for the kids and the tourists! The idiots who don't know anything about beauty and just wanna fuck!" The man clenched his teeth and paled at the murderous look in Elena's eyes. She dislodged her heel from one shoulder and thrust it into the other. He screamed again, his body wracked with spasms.

"Any guesses then?" She said in a dangerous whisper.

"N-no. No…I'm sorry…" he begged. After another twist or two and he still had nothing, Elena pulled her heel out. Reno's mind was already going through possibilities, honing in on where Tennouji might be at this point in time. Tennouji was connected to one of the most powerful families in all of Wutai, a family that had bought its way into nobility during the Shinra era, and had stayed there even after the Kisaragis were reinstated. There was nothing he could do about working the high nobility, people who Reno knew had been to proud to be bought out by the Shinra. Tennouji's mafia family would have to be his inside information.

"I guess killing him would bring in too much attention," Elena growled after the man had passed out. Rude only gave her a nod.

"If we're going to stay in the Empress' good graces, we can't disrupt things too much. It would look bad since we need her select permission to come into Wutai anyway," Rude explained. Elena pulled her shoes off, and went to the desk. She sat on the dark wood and collected a few tissues to clean off her dainty toes.

"I'm going to need a new uniform," Elena grumbled. "And another ID."

"The Empress'll cover it," Reno said automatically. "I already made her get me another suit," Reno modeled his current rumpled attire. Rude had pulled out his phone. "Who you callin'?"

"Who else would know about the nobility?" Rude asked.

"Woah! She gave you digits! Score bud!"

"She handed them to me while you were daydreaming in the window," Rude answered.

"Can I have them?"

"She said you weren't allowed to have them."

"What? Why not? You got somethin' goin' on with her? Huh you sly dog?"

"Who the fuck wants you calling at three a.m. asking them to spot some cash for booze and girls?" Elena stabbed the words at him as if they were daggers. Reno feigned injury, but fuzzily recalled times when he'd called her in a not-so-sober state. As he recalled, he'd asked her to come out with him so he could introduce her to a few "friends" of his.

"Was that the time I wanted you to make out and stuff with those girls from the bar? Are you still bitter about that?"

"Among other things," Elena growled. Reno wasn't sure if she was referring to the kissing or if it was one thing on a laundry list of other things. She was certainly vindictive enough to have numerous lists, and Reno was sure he would appear on just about every one of them.

"Empress Kisaragi," Rude said, and both Reno and Elena dropped their argument to listen. "How are things with your sisters?" His eyebrow arched at a response, and then Reno and Elena could both hear a string of loud and distinctly angry swears. "Yes. We found Elena. She's fine, more or less. Are you in a position to discuss more…delicate matters?" He waited. "Do you know a man named Sonji?"

There was distinctly silence on the other end of the phone. Reno and Elena unconsciously leaned in closer to listen in. Yuffie said something, and Rude nodded before hanging up.

"Our instructions are to talk to the yakuza family Karasuma. She says she will investigate the nobility. She'll call us to meet again in about a week. She sounded…concerned…"

"My turn," Reno smiled, and flipped his phone out.