Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.
A/N: I just love the Turks. I think they must have the closest friendships of anyone in the FFVII series...especially in this story.
Chapter 21: Turkey Talk
Elena sighed as the water burst over her skin. The filth and grim of a month working in Wutai's pleasure district seemed to finally fall away. She still felt odd, and knew it wouldn't be okay again until she was snuggled in Tseng's satin sheets with his arms firmly settled about her after she'd ravaged his perfect physique and tangled his thick hair in her fingers. Mm…maybe some chocolate…and whipped cream…
Well, she could stand here in the shower for hours and contemplate that delightful moment, or she could finish the job and actually live it. She wrestled with the cap the shampoo bottle and drenched her blonde locks in the rich gel, rigorously massaging her scalp. She scrubbed herself brutally for over half an hour, until her skin was rosy and tender, as close to really clean as she could feel, and then climbed out and wrapped herself in a bathrobe. It was fluffy and soft, and she sighed in delight.
Empress Kisaragi was a generous employer. It was almost like old times working with her, before the Shinra had collapsed. Elena, Reno, and Rude were situated in a suite in an exclusive hotel, a place where their identities were not important, as well as where the money was coming from. It was a pricey bill, but the place was tightly guarded and unobserved all at once. Neutral guards were silent on all dealings, and the proprietor seemed to be a friend to all.
"You 'bout ready for dinner?" Reno asked, lounging in the spacious conjoining room of the two bedrooms. He was flipping through the channels.
"Do I look ready?"
"You'd turn heads. Good enough for me," Reno shrugged, smiling as he ground his cigarette butt into the ashtray. Elena smirked. She ran her hands through her damp hair.
"Have you turned up anything useful?" she asked. Reno shrugged, flipping the TV off and turning his attention to her. He looked restless.
"Not much. Sonji is someone the Yakuza seem to try and avoid. They know he has no loyalties and he's smart. He uses what he learns against them."
"What sort of idiot bites the hands that feed him?" Elena scoffed. Reno yawned.
"I'm all worn out from gamblin' for a week straight. Nice of the princess to foot the bill," he stretched his arms up. Gambling was one of the few neutral ways to interact with the yakuza, and even that was risky. Elena had to admit that for all of Reno's vices, he was a sharp hit man. He played dirty and knew all the filthy tricks. Sometimes she felt like she didn't credit him enough. After watching him play cards with some of the greatest murderers in all of Wutai, dangerous enough that Reno wouldn't even accept a drink while he sat with them, Elena had forced herself to reevaluate the sum of Reno's pros and cons.
"Yes, terribly strenuous to play with the Empress' money," Elena mocked him anyway. Reno laughed.
"You feelin' lonely without Tseng here? There's more then enough of me to go around,"
"Don't you have a date with the bar tender?"
"Why? You jealous?"
"I'd sleep with Rude first," she shot back. He laid his hands over his heart, scrunching his face up in pain.
"My key," Rude's gloved hand slid over her shoulder, holding out a key card. Elena smirked and took it, making a show of sliding it inside of her robe.
"I guess I'll have to console myself with the bartender and that pretty girl from the front desk," Reno sighed, as if this was a problem.
"Keep that key. I'm sure he's already lost his," Rude advised Elena. She smirked, and turned now to look at the taller man. He was looking at Reno pointedly, one eyebrow raised. He carried two suitcases in either hand.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Gifts from the Empress," he replied. Reno whistled and hauled himself up.
"Damn! She's one helluva sugar mamma! How did you get such a sweet deal?" he demanded, looking hurt. Rude smirked, but said nothing. He set the cases down on the coffee table and opened them up. Inside was state of the art stuff, with a note from Tseng.
"If Elena is kidnapped again, I'm killing both of you," was written plainly. "PS – Yuffie paid for all of this and smuggled it in here. You'd better bust your asses and land a good deal with her. Elena, that's your job."
"I like it when he uses the rough words," Reno crooned in a high voice. Elena drove her elbow into his ribs, appreciating the "oomph" more then she should have. He laughed and turned to the weaponry, selecting a gleaming nightstick. His eyes sparked. "This is good shit. This is like…WRO shit…"
"She worked for Reeve for five years after Meteor," Rude replied.
"Still," Reno pulled out a handgun, eying the barrel. Elena took it from him and aimed. There was a pleasing weight in it, and Elena would bet her next paycheck that there was next to no recoil. Rude opened the second case and there were all sorts of contraptions, including communicators, various assortments of antidotes, a manual on poisons, and a list of cases involving Sonji. Three cell phones were also present, and in tampering with one, Elena found only the best technology inside of it.
"Is she your sugar mamma?" Elena turned to Rude. Reno cackled, scrolling through the numbers in his phone.
"Empress Hotline," Reno smiled, showing Elena. Yuffie had indeed labeled her number as such. Taped to the keys of Reno's phone was a warning that if he used it without reason, he would be smeared across Da Chao faster then he could blink. Elena laughed, her fingers straying over the leather holster for her new pistols. There was even a full sniper with ammunition, in case they needed it. Reno turned his nightstick over, and looked at another taped note.
"She really doesn't trust you," Elena surmised in great delight.
"Did you get any notes? Some Haiku love poetry?" Reno shot at Rude. Rude provided the dedication scribbled on the inside of the Sonji file. It was only research notes. "I bet it's code for 'I'm gonna ravish your sexy bod the instant you come back,'" Reno sniffed, disappointed. Elena collected what was hers, and went to suit up. They needed to head for dinner.