Chapter 36

Elena surveyed the crowd, a little wary. She wished that Rude or someone had come with them. Tseng. Tseng should have come with them. But then maybe she was only thinking that because she wanted to be able to look at him. Maybe it was good that he hadn't come because she just would have looked at him the whole time and not done her job. But if he had have come then her job would have been easier because Tseng was so very good at his job and that would have made hers easier. Realising then that the two women she was with had moved on, Elena sighed and turned to trail them up the street.

Zena and Aura were standing in front of a little stall that appeared to be selling glass vials. The crowd surged around them in the narrow street as Elena moved to get closer. She had been assigned to accompany them into the town while they attempted to get some supplies. Scowling at the way Rufus had given her the instruction directly, Elena tried to ignore her suspicion that she had been chosen because she was female. She supposed that disguising their little errand run as a girls shopping trip was probably effective, but she couldn't help feeling like a silly rookie all the same. Did Rufus still think she was an inexperienced joke? She hadn't thought he did. She had stayed with Reno, Rude and Tseng when none of the others had. She had saved Rufus' own life several times. Hadn't she proven herself already?

"You alright, yo?"

"Hm?" Elena blinked and looked around to find Aura standing by her side. "Oh, just fine."

"You annoyed at playing bodyguard?"

"Well…" Elena looked at her friend, realising that Aura was perhaps just as perceptive as Reno, if not more so, and there was no point in lying. "I thought maybe they had begun to see me as more than a rookie… But I guess they haven't."

"Well, speaking as one of the people you are currently protecting…" Aura smiled at her, "I feel very safe."

"Thanks." Elena grinned at her. "I'm surprised that Reno didn't talk the boss into letting him take my place, though."

"I doubt he would have succeeded." Aura said, shifting her basket to her other arm. "Rufus seems pretty pissed at him."

"Oh… they always fight like that." Elena replied, "They always make up." She saw the questioning look Aura threw her and she shrugged. "Rufus likes to push."

"Does he… push… you?"

Elena hesitated, knowing full well that Aura was asking her if she'd ever slept with their boss. "No…" she said after a moment, "Again… just the rookie."

"Do you wish that he looked at you in that way?"

"Not really." Elena shrugged, "I mean, I know he and Reno were … y'know… for years… and even Tseng… I don't think Rude ever actually… I mean, he could have… but… I don't really think he's the boss' type…"

"Then who is his type?"

"Honestly?" Elena asked, "Anyone he gets satisfaction out of exerting control over." She watched Aura frown for a second before continuing. "I think he likes having control over Reno being so… wild." She gave a smirk to her friend, "And I think he likes playing with Tseng's need to control everything around him. I suppose he wouldn't really get much out of trying to control Rude in that way. Or me, for that matter."

"He's a bit broken, isn't he?" Aura muttered, "Rufus, I mean."

"Some would say so." Elena said, watching Zena's blonde curls flounce around nearby. "So I'm not really surprised he's supremely pissed off at Reno for keeping you a secret."

"Do you think he would actually kill Reno for it…?"

Elena heard the honest concern in Aura's voice and she turned to face her friend. "Has he threatened that?" Aura just nodded and Elena bit her lip. "Well… Rufus has been more loyal to us than his father ever was… I mean, not that I was a Turk when his father… but, that's not the point. Rufus has valued us… treated us far better than I ever expected… but… he expects that loyalty back and I do think he would feel betrayed by Reno… so… he might…"

"Do you think there's anything I can do to fix it…?"

"I don't know, Aura." Elena murmured, "It's all about control with him. He probably feels like he's had that control taken from him. He'd want it back." She wondered at the thoughtful expression on Aura's face, but then noticed that Zena had wandered away "Damn it!" She cursed and pulled Aura along, chasing the blonde doctor down the street. "Can't she stay still for five seconds?"

"It seems unlikely." Aura replied.

Elena and Aura caught up to the other woman soon enough and Zena called Aura over to ask her opinion on something or other while Elena returned her attentions to the crowd around them and on making sure that she was focused on her job. Soon enough she'd relaxed anyway and had begun to think about how she might finally prove herself to Tseng and Rufus. She was vaguely aware of Zena and Aura chatting away and moving on to the next stall when a swarm of children rushing past them cut Elena off from her friends. At first she laughed, stepping back as the kids rushed past her, but then the crowd was different. She sensed the panic before she heard anything and as she tried to get to Aura and Zena, she heard Aura's shriek.

"Aur?" Elena called, shoving people indiscriminately aside now. By the time she got to where she had last seen the two women, she found them gone. Blonde curls caught her eye and she followed them to an alley where she found Zena standing, blocking her path further in, as the woman was clearly trying to protect Aura behind her. "Are you both okay?" Elena asked, her gun now in her hand.

"What in the name of Shiva is going on?" Zena demanded and Elena had just turned to work out an answer to that question when everything went black.

Elena vaguely recalled a man with brown hair moving across her vision and Aura's voice telling someone to back off. She heard Zena throwing threats around and then Tseng was leaning over her and Elena realised that she was back at Healen Lodge.

Aura tugged at the rope around her wrists. "What the fuck, yo?" she demanded, yanking again and glaring at Cadan who sat nearby, his honey brown eyes following her every move. He said nothing, but continued to watch her. "The fuck is your problem?"

"My problem?" he asked, not even getting to his feet. "My problem? You're the one who is working for that twisted piece of shit, Rufus Shinra."

Aura didn't have a reply for that so she said nothing. She glared at the man, loathing every moment she had spent in his company. She yanked fruitlessly at the ropes around her wrists, trying to get any kind of give in them.

"Do you two know one another?" Zena asked, and Aura threw a quick glance to the woman who was sitting nearby, her wrists also bound.

"Sure thing" she said, "This is the psycho hosting the armature groups attacking ShinRa employees in the streets." She saw Zena's sneer as the woman looked Cadan over, but then he'd spoken up. She had known what he had been involved in, but she had hoped that he would never have done something like this. She also knew that she was doing what Reno had always told her to do when she was cornered and in danger. Bite back.

"Hosting?" he asked, amusement in his voice, "You think I just host meetings…? "

"Not only." She replied, "But I doubt you're very important."

"Oh, you think so?" he got to his feet and moved toward her. "You think you get to pass judgement on me? You? A worthless little slum rat whore?" He yanked her to her feet, looking into her eyes.

"Cadan…" she said softly, "We were friends… You're a good person…"

"Friends?" he laughed, "You lied to me… You led me on… and then you played the fucking cocktease to chase after that redheaded fucking murderer…" He must have seen the shocked look on her face because he nodded, "Yeah, we know who he is." One of his hands seized hold of her chin, "Your boyfriend's a fucking Turk."

"When did you work that one out?" she asked, her voice flat.

"Not long after he lost his shit thinking that you were gonna give it up to me…" Cadan's other hand went between her legs and Aura couldn't hold in a shriek, pulling away from him.

"In your fuckin dreams, yo!" She pressed her back to the wall but Cadan moved closer.

"You don't want to know what I do to you in my dreams…" he said softly, pressing her into the wall, his breath hot on her neck. "But for your information… you love every second of it."

Aura shuddered, unable to move away from him; her skin crawling. "Not likely."

"Oh, it is…" One of his hands tightened around her throat, while the other forced its way between her legs again. "Do you think he'd still want you…?" he asked, "Once I was done with you?" Aura struggled to get away but couldn't move anywhere, her hands were still tied as she twisted them madly trying to get free. Instead she headbutted him, nearly blacking out with the effort. She was unprepared for his fist colliding with her face a second later. Aura collapsed, her knees hitting the floor before Cadan kicked her over onto her back. She barely had time to register that she was on the ground before he was on her, both of his hands around her throat as he choked her.

"Let's see if that Turk prick still wants you after this…"

Aura choked, kicking at Cadan as he ripped her dress open before dragging it up her legs.

"N-no…" she gasped, and he brought one hand back to her throat, holding her in place as she fought him with her bound hands. "Please don't…"

"Never thought I'd fuck a ShinRa bitch…" His hand tightened around her throat, cutting all air off, "Fucking keep still!" Aura continued to fight him, despite her vision going blurry as she grew more lightheaded, unable to draw a breath.

"Stop…" she choked, "Cadan…"

"You owe me!" he snarled, "I put so much time into you." She kicked again as his hand moved roughly between her legs. "You betrayed me. I told you things… but it was just ShinRa fucking me again." He pushed her dress higher, yanking it out of his way, "But now, I'm going to fuck ShinRa."

Aura couldn't even choke out a protest now, but she continued to claw at him.

"Stop it!" Zena's voice rang out clear and commanding, and Aura drew a grateful breath when Cadan paused in what he was doing and turned to look at the blonde woman. "Let her go." Zena said, "I… I'll go with you… I won't fight you."

It took Aura several moments to understand what the other woman had said, but as Cadan released her and got to his feet, she was able to grasp the full meaning. She could barely move, and just watched as Cadan pulled Zena across the room and just out of the flickering torchlight. She couldn't see anything, but heard several moments of rustling and scuffling noises followed by a moment of silence. Aura curled into a ball, trying to imagine she was anywhere else, when the silence was replaced by rhythmic grunting.