Author's Note: Ok, so I know this is a really short chapter and I know it's been a while since I updated, but I swear I have not forgotten about this story! I was having some really bad writer's block, and then I figured out the problem which was actually something about the plot that I didn't like, but I fixed it (hopefully) and I'm good now. xD So I'm going to settle down and WRITE! Right now I'm really tired but I'm going to write as much as I can before I pass out. =P My feet hurt SO BAD!!! I was in heels from 10 this morning until 5 this evening...so you can imagine. Those of you who wear heels. xD Anyway...hope you enjoy the chapter, sorry for leaving you on that cliff hanger...=P Read, review, repeat! lols

The first thing Elena felt was unease. As she woke up, she noticed one thing after another that was wrong. She was cold, sore, the bed was hard, and where was Reno? Her eyes slowly fluttered open, looking around her strange surroundings with confusion before her brain caught up and it all clicked. Hojo! Sitting up quickly, she discovered she was certainly not at home in bed. Instead she was in a cage.

Jumping to her feet, she took a defensive stance while examining her position. This is honestly a cage. Once she ascertained that there was no immediate danger, Elena forcefully relaxed herself. Never panic. Her Turk-training would serve her well. Remaining constantly alert to catch any sound or movement, she looked around her cell. The lock, bars, and floor were all sturdy. She searched through her pockets quickly, looking for anything that could be of use. They were all empty. Hojo must have gone through them already. Well, you got me good. Elena stood by the bars, looking around outside her cage. How long until someone notices I'm gone? They'll find me. Just have to deal with Hojo until then.

The rest of the small room was filled with cages like hers, all different sizes. All were empty. Elena didn't know whether to be encouraged or frightened by this. While she was standing there, a metal door on the other side of the room clanked open and Professor Hojo came in.

"I see you are awake," he stood before her looking self-satisfied, keeping his distance from the bars as she glared at him.

"What the hell, Hojo," Elena crossed her arms and did her best to look intimidating from behind bars, "Are you insane? What's going on?"

"Ah, yes. I knew you'd be curious," the man rubbed his hands together and began to pace as he explained, "I've been working on something…a particular experiment. I need to test it, and I need someone very particular to test it on."

"So you're using me like a guinea pig?" Elena grabbed the bars and practically yelled at him, enraged and totally creeped out.

"Not you," Hojo paused in his pacing to turn and give her a twisted smile, "You're only bait. I need someone with naturally more…strength if you will. A Turk you may be, but you're still a woman." With a sigh, Hojo continued pacing. "The big one would have been ideal, but the red-head will do."

"Wait," Elena reached out and grabbed Hojo's sleeve as the man began to walk away, "What are you going to do to Reno?"

"You'll find out when he comes to 'rescue' you." With a cruel chuckle, he jerked his sleeve away and left, slamming the door behind him.

Watching him go, Elena's heart sunk and she began going over every inch of her cell desperately. I have to find a way out before Reno gets into trouble.

Tseng glanced around the room with a frown before checking the clock one more time. Elena had never been late before, and definitely not by a few hours. He decided to call her. He became even more concerned when she didn't answer. He left a message and went back to his work, only paying half attention.

By early afternoon, Tseng still hadn't heard from her even though he'd tried calling several more times. Finally giving up on his work, he got up and went to the apartment she shared with Reno to see if she was sick or something. Tseng picked the lock when no one answered his knocks. Something must have happened to her. The apartment was completely empty.

"That's it," Tseng muttered, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

"What?" Reno answered, sounding incredibly bored, "We're kind of in the middle of something."

"Elena's missing."

"What?!" This time Reno sounded anything but bored. "What the hell happened? Where is she? How'd you let that happen?"

"I don't know where she is, Reno. If I did would I have told you she was missing? I have no idea what happened and it's not my fault. The last I saw of her she was staying late to finish your overdue paperwork."

"Damn. Ok, screw this, I'm coming home right now. Rude says he'll stay and finish up here. If anything's happened to her…" he couldn't finish the sentence, instead he swore again and hung up.

"How can she just have disappeared? She wasn't going anywhere was she?" Reno sat in Elena's chair, his head in his hands. He'd already been over their apartment without finding any clues as to where she was.

"Not that I know of," Tseng shook his head, "She was just staying late and then going home."

"There's gotta be something around here somewhere," Reno muttered, picking his head up and making a mess of Elena's desk looking for anything that could shed some light on the situation, "I just don't get it. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt her. Unless it was just some random Shinra-haters, but it would take someone damn good to break into this place after dark."

"Well, I'm going to look around the route she would have taken home. There might be something there," Tseng put his cell into his pocket, "Call me if you find anything."

"I'll keep looking around here," Reno didn't even glance up to watch the man leave, "There's got to be something I'm missing." Racking his brain for anything he might have forgotten, Reno absentmindedly began to straighten up Elena's desk. Stacking the last of the papers neatly to the side, he was about to get up and look elsewhere when he noticed something under his hand.

A tiny bit of a white powder was smeared on the wood. This is definitely something out of the ordinary. Looking around, Reno grabbed a piece of paper and carefully scraped the powder off the desk and wrapped it up carefully. Gotta figure out what this is. Might help. Reno considered who could tell him what it was. He came up with no one other than someone he really didn't want to deal with.

"Hojo," he muttered with a sigh, "I don't wanna do this." He groaned. "Dammit, I so don't wanna deal with the damn bastard." As he headed to Hojo's lab, Reno thought about what he'd found and what it could mean. Clearly it was a drug of some kind. What exactly it was and what it did was what he needed to find out.

Author's Note: Ok, so I promise things will start happening soon. Well you might have figured that out. =P I'm going to keep this note short, so I can write and then sleep! So please review, let me know what you think. I may be the only person in the world who is dying to hear your thoughts no matter what they are. Still that is no reason for mean reviews...I haven't gotten any, just to throw that in there. xD Constructive criticism is allowed, emphasis on the constructive. xD lol Anyway...thanks for reading.