Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list lambda. Theme 17: Gloves.
Promises to Keep
Elena made her way through the streets in the early morning light. She wasn't fond of getting up this early, but her new job required it, and Elena was hoping to actually keep this one. It had been nearly eight months since she had been fired as a Turk. It had been awkward for just about everyone involved. Politics had necessitated the need to terminate her, and while Elena knew that Rufus felt bad about it, but his company came first.
Unfortunately for Elena, she had found that being a Turk had spoiled her for most other jobs, and while Rufus had given her a generous severance package, she would need to work again. So she had gone job hunting and lost the first three jobs she had found. Breaking peoples' bones in normal jobs was apparently not approved off. Even when it was well deserved. But Elena had finally found a job as a chorus dancer at a musical theater that was still in business, and for one the lessons her mother had insisted on went to good use. Even if it did mean getting up at an ungodly hour in the morning.
She slipped into the theater through a side door and quickly made her way to the main practice room for the dancers. Half of the other dancers were already there, and Elena quickly joined them for warm ups. The show was supposed to open in six months, but there had been problems with funding lately. Elena was keeping her fingers crossed that they wouldn't go under. It wasn't the same as being a Turk, but it was a job that Elena was enjoying and that she felt fairly comfortable in.
The company was all present and had finished their warm ups when the choreographer called for their attention.
"I have good news, folks. As you all know, the show has been struggling somewhat. We have finalized an agreement with a new producer. Mr. Rufus ShinRa is now the sole producer of the Rose of Mideel."
A sigh of relief rose from most of the dancers. Elena tried not to let her own emotions show. While it was good that they didn't need to worry about the show going under, Elena wasn't sure she was ready to deal with any one from ShinRa just yet. Except Tseng. Tseng had kept tabs on her since she had been fired, and she heard from him at least once a week if not saw him in person. She wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps he still felt responsible for her or perhaps it was the fledgling romantic relationship that had sprung up between them just before she had been fired. But whatever the reason that he had kept in touch, Elena had to admit that she enjoyed it.
Still, the change of producers didn't turn out to make that many changes to the daily life of the dancers. Elena's days were filled with lessons and rehearsals as the play began to come to together. They were about two months away from opening night when problems started to appear. Not financial problems though. No, this time it was outright sabotage. Or at least what Elena believed to be sabotage. Most everyone else seemed to think it was a run of bad luck. However, after nearly a dozen incidents, Elena was more than willing to believe that something was going on here.
She had actually started investigating the incidents on her own. Many of the problems had been accidents that would not be hard to engineer. For example, weakened supports on some of the sets were easy enough to arrange. So were the missing costumes and the mislabeled paints. Elena was willing to be money that someone was deliberately causing problems for the play. The only problem was she wasn't sure who exactly to report things to or who to trust in general. It wasn't like working for the Turks where she had both a clear chain of command and carte blanche to investigate as she liked.
So Elena kept her findings to herself for now and hoped that she would be either be able to turn them over to someone else or act on them herself. She hadn't figured out just what was going on yet, but at least she had made a start of untangling the mess. However, the accidents didn't appear to abate. In fact, they increased in number. So when Turks showed up at the theater a few weeks later, Elena was not entirely surprised. Rufus was not one to let his investments get out of his control.
However, she wasn't expecting the Turks that showed up to be the new recruits. Out without the supervision of a more experienced Turk none the less. She kept her eye on them. They hadn't gotten around to talking with the dancers yet, but it was only a matter of time. So far, Elena was not impressed by the newbies. Hell, Reno would be doing a better job. He was at the very least far more observant than these fools. The way they were going about this investigation they weren't likely to ever collect the information they needed. And she especially didn't like the way they kept eyeing the dancers.
Elena rose up on her toes, stretching as far as she could. She knew what she looked like. Petite and blond, her clothes fairly revealing but comfortable and easy to move in along with leg warmers and fingerless gloves. She looked delicate and unthreatening. Appearances were deceiving when it came to dancers, and especially when it came to her. These new Turks wouldn't be the first people to look at dancers as simple a step up from strippers.
She kept an ear open as they began to approach the dancers. It didn't take long for the two newbies to corner one of the younger dancers and start in on her. Elena allowed the steps of the dance routine she was working on carry her in that direction. So when the idiot boys started pressing Elena's colleague for sex instead in exchange for leaving her out of their investigation (Caris didn't have anything to do with the sabotage, but these people clearly hadn't figured that out), she decided it was time to act. Elena whirled in the middle of the routine and took the feet out from under the one who has been acting as the leader. She snarled. "Next time send a real Turk. And next time you think about bothering the dancers, remember you have to go through me first."
And with a flip of her hair, she stalked to the other side of the room. Elena knew what would happen next. There were really only two options. Either they would be good little Turks and call their superiors for help or Tseng would have to send someone competent over in order to investigate later on. Or he would try to attack her and get broken bones, and one of the first two options would happen anyway. Either way, Elena would be able to deal with someone who could actually do something about the situation.
Elena went for her water bottle and leaned back against the wall to see what happened. She was not at all surprised when Tseng showed up in less than twenty minutes. She watched as the two rookie Turks fidgeted as Tseng first talked to the director and the theater manager and then the choreographer and then finally he talked with his Turks. It took less than five minutes for Elena to get a signal to wander her way over to them. And she was just in time to play her role in all this.
Tseng raised an eyebrow at the Turks. "Would you like to tell me why you attacked someone who is supposed to be under our protection?"
There was uncomfortable shuffling. Tseng nodded.
"I see. And I don't suppose you have any concrete information or leads as a result of your investigation so far." He turned his attention to Elena. "Elena, report."
It was an easy feat for her. She was used to doing this. Within five minutes, Tseng had the entire account of both the troubles at the theater and the incident with his rookies. He also had info on all her leads and her own analysis and thoughts on the matter. Tseng gave her a satisfied smile before turning his attention back to the rookies.
"That is a proper report. By the way, I know you both were told that we had a contact here, so I'm rather curious why you didn't immediately try and seek them out."
"We didn't expect it to be some girl."
Elena bit her lip to keep from giggling. Not that it would impede what Tseng was trying to do here, but it wasn't very professional, even if she wasn't a Turk any more. Of course, when she had been a Turk, Tseng wouldn't have wrapped his arm around her like he was doing now. She leaned against his shoulder as he continued dressing down the rookies. Most of the other dancers were also sitting back and watching the show.
"But she's just a pretty girl," one of the rookies protested. "How were we to guess she'd know anything?"
Tseng just rolled his eyes and looked heavenward before answering. "Elena is a Turk even if she isn't on ShinRa's payroll any more. You two are rookies on probation who will be lucky if you ever are half the Turk Elena is. Now, thanks to her, we have some leads to follow up on, and I'm sure the dancers would like their studio back."
He waved the rookies out of the room before leaning in and kissing her lightly. "Thanks, Elena. We should have things wrapped up quickly."
She just shrugged. "Not a problem."
Tseng smiled. "Dinner tonight?"
"Sure."
"I'll pick you up after work."
It wasn't long before the Turks were a familiar presence at the theater. The rookies were rather subdued upon their return, but Reno and Rude were the same as ever. Elena found herself being kept in the loop about the investigation. The Turks had a pair of suspects and were working on drawing them out. But Elena's main focus was on her dancing as opening night loomed closer. Still, in a lot of ways it was very much like when she had been a Turk, and Elena had missed it. She might have made friends among the other dancers, but it really wasn't the same as the camaraderie she had shared with Reno and Rude.
The final dress rehearsal started out well. Things went fine until the middle of the second act. Then several things happened at once. Half the set came crashing down. The lead's understudy tried to shoot the lead, and Elena executed a perfect spin kick in the middle of a major dance, knocking the gun out of the woman's hand. By the time Reno appeared on stage, Elena had already subdued the woman. Reno smirked at her.
"Good work, Laney. Tseng and Rude have her minions. The rookies are tripping over their own feet style."
Elena smiled and let him deal with the prisoner. The director cleared his throat. "Can we get back to work now?"
The rest of the dress rehearsal went well, and when opening night went flawlessly, Elena was more than pleased. Especially since the play had been soundly hailed as a success. She attended the party afterwards on Tseng's arm in a stunning dressing and enjoyed herself greatly. What was more, Tseng had made known to her an offer of employment. She might not be on the books as a Turk, but her help with recent events had convinced Rufus of finding a way to retain her services. So Elena would get to keep the job she enjoyed, and it didn't hurt that she would be keeping her partner as well. Unofficially, but Elena could live with that. So it was with a smile and light heart that she accepted his offer to escort her home from the party, and Elena was content to let the future play out as it would.
