Author's Note: Hey! Sorry I didn't update on schedule! was being dumb and was having issues uploading documents! I tried several times last night and it didn't work, and it's still not working now but it occurred to me that I could just copy and paste the text into an old document I already had saved on here. =P I can't believe I didn't think of that before. Well anyway, I wrote about twice as many words as this update this past week, but the rest has no good stopping point, so it will have to wait. =P I feel it only fair to warn you of the level of fluff in this chapter. This past week I've had about nothing on my mind but chocolate and sexy guys, if you catch my drift ladies. LOL, so that explains the suffocating amounts of fluff. Also, a friend of mine and fellow author is doing my a HUGE and AMAZING favor soon so I feel I should try and repay her as much as I can be giving her a mention! So if you guys want to read some good stories, head over to QueenAlla's profile and check her stuff out. I have not had the pleasure of reading all her stuff, but I'm sure it's all good. =P I remember good things about reading her stories, although I don't remember any titles in particular. Probably because I read a lot of them at once and it was ALL good. =P LOL. So that's all for now, I'm sure you just want to get on with reading this chapter. Please enjoy and review!

Elena woke up suddenly, realizing she wasn't holding Reno's hand anymore. A second later she felt his hand on her head, slowly stroking her hair. As she looked up, his hand slid to rest against her neck, bandaged fingers gently rubbing her soft skin. Reno was staring at the ceiling, a pained expression on his face.

"I thought you were sleeping," Elena whispered, glancing over at the two other sleeping Turks.

"It's no good," Reno answered, sounding slightly breathless as he shook his head, "I can still feel….everything in my sleep and it doesn't make for good dreams."

"Oh," Elena replied sympathetically. She leaned on the edge of the bed, content to simply be near him. Carefully, she put a hand on his chest, having a sudden urge to touch him. Reno turned his head to look at her and smiled.

"I wanna kiss you," he whispered suddenly, "But I can't really move." Unable to suppress the blush, Elena wordlessly leaned over him, bringing her lips down to his and letting him kiss her. She could feel his lips tremble as they brushed against hers softly. He kissed her slowly and gently, savoring every moment. Elena couldn't help but giggle as the beeps from the heart rate machine quickly grew faster.

"I'm still here," Rude interrupted suddenly, his voice amused. Elena jumped, pulling away and sitting back in her chair suddenly.

"Well, that's you're problem," Reno sounded annoyed, "And you can fix it too. There's the door." He nodded his head in the direction of said door, only earning an amused look from Rude.

"I wouldn't be getting your heart rate up if I were you," Rude went on calmly, "You've lost a lot of blood and you've got a lot of open wounds."

Reno muttered something grumpily in reply, unintelligible, but most likely a variety of curses. He cast an angry glance at the betraying machine.

"Also, even if I left, Tseng would still be here," Rude pointed out, looking at their boss who was asleep in his chair. Reno lit up at once, leaning his head up to look and make sure Rude was telling the truth.

"Draw on his face!" the redhead whispered excitedly, completely forget his recent annoyance, "Does anyone have a marker? Please, I can't move! Somebody has to draw on his face!"

"We're not going to draw on his face with a marker, Reno," Rude answered, rolling his eyes but grinning, "We aren't children."

"But it would be awesome!" Reno didn't give up, staying uncharacteristically still. Usually he was extremely energetic, almost hyper all the time, but now it was clear he was making an effort to stay still. It was understandable since practically any movement made something hurt more actively than it already was.

"What would be awesome?" Tseng, like all the Turks, was a light sleeper and their talking had woken him up.

"He's trying to convince us to draw on your face with marker while you slept," Elena answered him at once, trying not to smile.

"I was not!" Reno protested, faking anger, "I was saying how awesome it would be if we got all the paperwork done before you woke up."

"Good then, we'll bring it down here and you can do it," Tseng answered, not falling for it.

"Yeah, I was tellin' them to draw on your face," Reno said blandly.

"I know," Tseng replied, "But you actually reminded me, I do need to go handle a few things in relation to this mission. The threat still exists, and is more dangerous now that they know we're on to them." He sighed, "It's never pleasant telling those corporate bastards we failed a mission. We haven't failed a mission in years…"

"Sorry," Reno muttered glumly.

"It's not your fault, Reno," Tseng spoke calmly, "I consider it Hojo's fault."

"I'm gonna fix it," Reno continued, a suppressed anger in his voice, "Don't you dare send someone else, Tseng. I got dibs!"

"Reno, don't go back there!" Elena pleaded, alarmed, "Please, please don't go back there."

"Hey, calm down," he turned to her at once, speaking softly, "I'm not goin' anywhere for awhile yet, and when I do, you won't have to worry. I'll have all the advantages. It's ok."

"Don't let him go," Elena turned desperately to Tseng.

"I can't promise anyone anything right now," Tseng settled it quickly, "And now I have to go. Play nice." He left on that sarcastic tone. He had been gone a split second when he poked his head back in the door. "But not too nice, for Rude's sake."

"Don't worry, I don't play nice," Reno smirked. Elena blushed, and Rude just stared at the floor.

"I never should have said that," Tseng commented awkwardly, closing the door behind him.

"I think it might be best if I go," Rude said, inching toward the door, "Think you can handle watching him?"

"We'll be fine," Elena assured him, smiling.

"Go start convincing Rufus I deserve a raise," Reno commanded, giving a weak wave. When they were alone, he looked over at the torn and bloodied black shirt they'd taken off him to reach his wounds. "I liked that shirt," he commented regretfully, "I suppose you're the one who convinced 'em to take it off? Fine with me, I'm just surprised ya didn't talk 'em into taking my pants of too. You're so naughty, 'Laney." He poked her arm, wincing and thinking better of this action when his broken finger throbbed more violently. Not surprisingly, Elena blushed. She made a mental note to work on not blushing all the time.

"No, I actually had nothing to do with that," Elena replied, killing Reno's joke, "But I'm not complaining either." She grinned tiredly, leaning back in her chair and yawning. Reno watched her, knowing it was only a matter of minutes before the fatigued girl fell asleep, against her will. He too, was utterly exhausted, but he had trouble staying asleep because of the pain constantly harassing his mind and body. He stayed quiet, wanting her to get some rest. True to his predictions, it wasn't long before she was out, breathing quietly and evenly.

Reno sighed, as much of a sigh as he could manage without causing more pain to his broken and bruised ribs. Pain really was mind-numbing. It had a tendency to sort of take over the mind, blocking out everything else. It made it hard to focus, or think. Your whole world turned into a red-tinted, throbbing world of hurt. He shifted slightly, uncomfortable from staying in the exact same position for so long. The movement was a mistake, utilizing a number of muscles close to many of his wounds, pulling at the cuts and bruises and making him gasp quietly. Gritting his teeth, Reno squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the spike of pain to recede. Getting his already short breath back, he held his hands up in front of his face, watching them tremble there unsteadily. He was too weak to even hold his hand still. They were bandaged securely and completely, covering all those tiny cuts and bracing his broken fingers. He frowned, staring at his long fingers with a growing mixture of anger and sadness on his face. Bastard. He hated that man and his clever torture tactics. Why did it have to be his fingers? Couldn't they have been just as happy breaking all his ribs or something else?

"They'll heal soon enough," Elena's soft, sweet voice broke the dark thoughts he was falling into. He put his hands down and looked over at her, surprised she was awake. She looked sad, and he knew she knew. Still, he lied.

"Yeah, I was just thinkin' about all the paperwork I can get out of," he forcing a smile. It wasn't hard to fake one when he was looking at her.

"Tseng might make you do it with your feet," Elena answered, seeing right through his lie and trying to cheer him up. It worked, Reno laughed, but it quickly turned into a sound more like a cry of pain. His torn up hand hovered over his side, where the broken ribs were.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Elena was instantly remorseful, leaning toward him protectively, although there was nothing she could do. It passed in a moment and the redhead caught his breath again.

"It's alright," his voice was much quieter and weaker than it had been, "Hey, can I have a blanket or somethin'? Or is there some crazy reason of Hojo's why I have to freeze?" Elena hadn't noticed before, but Reno was shivering.

"Yeah," Elena got up and looked around, "It's a hospital, there's got to be blankets around here somewhere. Here we go." She found a couple stacked on a chair. She shook out the folds and tossed it over him. "Better?" she asked.

"Yup," he grinned tiredly, "I prefer body heat, but hey, this will do." Elena's eyes narrowed as she looked at him suspiciously. "Yes, I was implying sleeping with you," Reno clarified, his grin growing.

"It's not funny when you have to explain it," Elena tried to turn the tables on the mischievous redhead.

"Well it's not my problem you're too naïve to get it. Blondie," he muttered the final word as if it were an insult.

"Blonde women are very smart!" Elena defended her hair color fiercely, "And it's not that I'm too naïve, it's that your joke was too vague and dumb!"

"What if it wasn't supposed to be funny?" Reno went on, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "And would you really have liked it if I was more specific? Because I can be, if you want me to."

Elena stammered a moment.

"You win," she conceded, crossing her arms and faking anger.

"I know, I always do," Reno smirked, watching her adorable wrath.

"Jerk," Elena spit her tongue out at him, but there was a flirty sparkle in her eyes.

"Sore loser," Reno had no issue with 'stooping to her level'.

"Conceited."

"Dumb blonde."

"Dumb…redhead," Elena was floundering.

"You're beautiful," Reno doubted she would notice, as preoccupied with coming up with names to call him as she was.

"Oh yeah, well you're…" Elena paused abruptly, just then realizing what he'd said, "Sexy." She said it almost solemnly, making it completely hilarious. Reno tried hard not to laugh, knowing it would only make him hurt dreadfully worse.

"I'm beat to a bloody pulp, lying in a hospital bed, covered head to toe in a blanket, and you're calling me sexy?" Reno questioned, smiling hugely as he tried not to laugh.

"Oh, Reno," Elena spoke almost condescendingly and gave him a knowing look, "You are always sexy, no matter what you're doing. That was probably the first thing I learned from joining the Turks."

"You would have had to come to that conclusion very quickly for it to be the first thing you learned," Reno almost looked a little surprised.

"Well, as unrealistic as it is," Elena's cheeks flushed pink and she looked away shyly, "I'm pretty sure I fell in love as soon as I saw you. You make a hell of an impression, Reno." Now he really did look surprised.

"Really? That's funny…" he mused, "Remember that day, shortly after we met, when I kissed you? Well I really didn't know what drove me to do that…but I figured it out soon enough. I guess I was just…meant to love you."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Elena almost looked annoyed, but she was still extremely happy at that moment.

"Because…I was afraid something bad would happen to you. Really bad stuff always happens to the people I love, so I hoped that if I didn't say or do anything, you'd be ok," Reno said softly, looking down at his hands with a troubled expression, "But bad things still happened to you anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter if you know or not."

"Reno," she put a hand on his arm and looked him in the eye seriously, "Bad things happen. That's just the way it is. As much as we try to prevent it, bad things happen to the people we love. It's not your fault, Reno. Even if you do cause something bad to happen to someone you love, they forgive you. No matter what happens, I'll never be better off not knowing you love me." She saw glistening tears forming in his eyes, and, knowing he wouldn't want to cry, smiled to herself and went on. "If you had said something sooner, I could have spent so much more time kissing you by now." She bent down to kiss him, her blonde hair tumbling around their faces until he pushed it back gently with his broken hands, holding her head lightly enough to avoid hurting himself.

Elena was convinced she could kiss Reno forever. Kissing him was like chocolate: smooth, sweet, delightful. You never got tired of it, and you could never get enough. Yes, kissing Reno was like chocolate, only better. You didn't gain calories from it for one thing.

"Well that's certainly unexpected," the doctor barely spared the couple a glance from the file in his hand. Reno and Elena's kiss ended on an awkward note once again, only making Reno more annoyed than he had been earlier.

"That's the second time today! And it's barely noon," Reno complained about the interruptions, "How many more times are you people going to get in my way?"

"Well that depends on how many more times you're going to make out with her," the doctor answered calmly, "You realize you're not making it any easier for me to monitor your condition, right?" He was examining the read out from the heart rate machine, noting the various periods of increase.

"I'm fine, I'm not dyin'," Reno muttered grumpily.

"Not now you aren't," the doctor agreed, "You could have been though, so consider yourself lucky."

"I do," Reno glanced at Elena, not really referring to the fact that he was alive when he said he was lucky, "Even though I've got this damned mako thing goin' on. It could at least give me special healin' powers or somethin'."

"It does," the doctor commented, "Only not quite on the scale of being a 'magic power'. You heal surprisingly fast, although it doesn't seem to be applying right now. I wonder if there's some disturbance in it's normal pattern because of the fever…" the doctor's voice trailed off as his thoughts wandered away on this topic. Although he was far from having Hojo's fanatical interest in the subject, the doctor was a man of science at the end of the day and it did interest him, thought mostly for the sake of understanding and aiding Reno's case.

"See? It ain't doin' me any good," the redhead complained.

"Well you certainly are moody today," the doctor commented absently.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Reno's sarcasm was just as strong as it ever had been even though he himself was laying in a hospital bed possibly weaker than he had ever been, "Please try and bring yourself to forgive me a little bit of bad mood considered I have recently been sliced, stabbed, shredded, jabbed, snapped, bruised, and….hurt." He glared up at the doctor who simply looked down at him with mild amusement.

"We need to get you on pain meds very soon," the doctor replied.

"Yeah! But guess what? I can't have the damn meds because that dumbass scientist is a jerk who can't keep his fuckin' research to himself! Somebody get me a damned cigarette!"

"We don't allow smoking in hospitals," the doctor said critically, then turned to Elena, "Maybe you'd better kiss him some more." He wasn't really bothered by Reno's rampage except that it wasn't good for him to be getting himself worked up just now. The doctor left abruptly, leaving Reno fuming silently and Elena looking down at him, a mixture of sympathy and happiness on her face. She felt awful for him, but she was still just glad he was alive.

"I think he's right," Elena giggled slightly, sitting gently on the edge of the bed. She leaned over to kiss Reno again, being very careful not to put pressure anywhere else on his body.

"You just wait until I can actually move and breathe without it hurtin'," Reno whispered when their lips parted.

"Why does that sound like a threat?" Elena teased, grinning and feeling a pleasant chill run up and down her spine at these implications.

"I dunno, maybe it is!" Reno grinned wickedly, "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Elena, you are ordered to go home and not come back until the morning," Tseng had a very clear no-nonsense look on his face when he walked in determinedly a few hours later.

"But-" Elena began to speak, looking upset, but Tseng cut her off at once.

"No," he crossed his arms sternly, "You are going home to sleep and you may not come back until tomorrow morning, after the sun is up." He covered that particular loophole.

"But I don't want to!" Elena complained.

"Oh well that's too bad, because I didn't ask if you wanted to. You are not going to help anyone if you collapse from exhaustion," Tseng remained firm. "Reno is not going anywhere and nothing is going to happen to him. He won't be alone either. Rude or myself will be here at some point all night. Hojo will not even be allowed to step foot on this floor, and we'll give the twelve hour delay on the pain medication another hour as a sort of grace period just to be certain it won't hurt him." Reno groaned in the background at this news. "By the time you are back in the morning, Reno will be on pain medication and feeling fantastic. So go home." Tseng smiled to himself with satisfaction. He'd pretty much addressed every concern Elena could possibly have.

The blonde glared at him for a moment, trying to come up with a reason why she should stay. Unable to, she stood up stiffly, not happy that she'd been beaten in this particular battle.

"Well, I guess that's that then," she leaned over and kissed Reno lightly and quickly on the lips, "Bye, Reno. I'll be back first thing in the morning."

"See ya," Reno grinned weakly, and his eyes flicked over to see if Tseng was watching before he whispered, "Love you."

"I love you too," Elena whispered back, smiling delightedly and then composing her face to an annoyed frown as she walked past Tseng and left the room without another word. Both men watched her go, and then Tseng turned to Reno with a small, amused smile.

"She's got a temper," he commented calmly.

"Yup," Reno replied, feeling incredibly at peace until something struck his mind and his eyes widened suddenly, "Yo, call Rude and tell him to go walk her home. Quick." The redhead seemed fairly urgent about this.

"Hmm, good idea," Tseng pulled out his phone and made the call.

Elena hadn't wanted to leave, but part of her knew it had been the right thing to do. She needed a shower and a good night's sleep and they would look after Reno just fine without her. That didn't change the fact that she would rather not have left Reno's side. Apparently he wasn't comfortable with her being without him either, because Rude had met her at the door claiming Reno had freaked out and demanded she be escorted home safely. She smiled, his concern making her feel warm inside. Soon enough, the hot water from her shower made her feel warm on the outside, and then a comfy blanket on her bed kept her feeling warm, but that special inner glow stayed, leaving a smile on her face as she fell asleep, comfortable in the knowledge that she'd be back at the Shinra infirmary before long. Back with Reno, where she belonged.

Author's Note: FLUFF! Had enough? If so, TOO BAD! Because it's not over yet. There's more in the next update! WEEEEEE! Ok, I'm a bit tired so forgive my delirious-ness. xD I hope you enjoyed and please, remember to go check out QueenAlla's stuff because she is being fantastically helpful. =) Again, sorry for the delay of update! I feel terrible! =( Finally, please review. xD