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CHAPTER NINE - WAITING

'A kind and steady heart, can make a grey sky blue … And a task that seems … impossible, is quite possible for you … A kind and steady heart, is sure to see you through … It may not seem like very much right now … It'll do, it'll do … When you find yourself in the middle of a storm … And you're tired and cold and wet … And you're looking for a place that's cozy and warm … You'll make it... You can never forget! … A kind and steady heart, can conquer doubt and fear … A little courage goes a long, long way … Gets you a little bit farther down the road each day … And before you know it, you'll hear someone say … "That'll do, Babe, that'll do." … A kind and steady heart, is sure to see you through … A little courage goes a long, long way … Gets you a little bit farther down the road each day … And before you know it, you'll hear Someone say … "That'll do, that'll do, that'll do, Babe, that'll do." (Peter Gabriel: 'That'll Do')'

Shantytown. Mayor's Tent. Afternoon.

Elena paced around the tent restlessly, wondering what was taking Reeve so long in Kalm. He'd been gone a week already, and hadn't sent any word. She was fearful of what might have happened to him, afraid that he'd been ambushed and had never reached his destination. She shook her head to dispel that notion, remembering that he had taken Cait Sith with him. The big, overstuffed Moogle could protect him, even if the cat/moogle toy was remote controlled. Although one of Reeve's goals was to fit Cait with an artificial intelligence module he had stashed away, he hadn't had the time to make the upgrade lately.

It had been a fairly uneventful week progress-wise on the cleanup efforts in Sector Seven. However, Reno had been pestering her non-stop because she was the only one that knew why Reeve had gone to Kalm. She wasn't even going to tell him where he went, but she had finally relented and told Reno that the mayor had gone to Kalm on a business trip. She wasn't going to mention Mythril, Mines, or power sources to Reno at the moment. That would disprove his theory about her that "she talked too much". Which, admittedly, she had in the past, but that was before. Her loyalty to Shinra was for a paycheck. Her loyalty to Reeve was… well, what was that for? Friendship. Yes, that was it. Reeve treated her like she had a brain and was capable of making important, independent decisions. She'd felt proud when Reeve had confided in her his plans and had put her in charge of things while he was gone.

She'd been writing down notes and reports from the heads of cleanup, and true to her word, Tifa was trying desperately not to fight with Reno, despite his continued taunts towards her. Although she was holding up well, Elena could tell that not fighting back was weighing the other woman down considerably. She'd been spending more and more time at the ruined church, and while Elena hated to see her leave the comfort of their "family", she hoped that Reeve would return with good news regarding the re-opening of the mines. Tifa needed a serious distraction, and an outlet for her anger and frustration. Getting away from Midgar and away from Reno would do the younger woman nothing but good at this point.

"Keep pacing like that and you'll wear canyons in the ground." Reno's voice pierced her thoughts.

Elena looked up to find him standing cockily in the doorway. "What do you want, Reno?" Her patience was wearing thin from his constant attempts to get her to tell what Reeve was up to.

"The usual. A bottle of good booze, a cheap lay… you wouldn't happen to have either of those would you?"

Elena rolled her eyes and sat down at Reeve's desk. Somehow it was comforting to her to face Reno across the desk. "Not hardly, Reno. I don't drink, and you're not my type."

"That's right. You like men in power." Reno smirked. "So if you can't give me either of those, how about some information?"

Elena knew that was coming, and once again she'd walked right into his trap. She resisted the urge to deck him and instead said. "I'm not telling you why Reeve went to Kalm."

"Black market goods? Kalm strippers to entertain us?" Reno prodded her with asinine questions in an attempt to get Elena to break down and tell him. Admittedly, he was impressed that she hadn't broken down yet. The Elena he'd known before was the stereotypical "ditzy blonde", giving away privileged information at the drop of a hat. But this one who sat before him was more mature, and somehow stronger. If she'd been his type, he might have considered making a move on her. But she wasn't. Besides, she'd long made it clear that she liked men in power. Tseng especially and Reno had suspected there had been an attraction to Rufus. And now apparently Reeve was an object of interest. Because of that he knew that he didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell with her.

"Reno-" Elena said in her best warning tone, knowing that Reno hardly took her seriously.

"Yes, Elena?" Reno asked, putting on all the false charm.

"I'm not going to disclose the nature of Reeve's business trip to you. But," Elena paused for a moment, knowing she was going to be treading on very thin ice soon. "I do have a request for you."

"Yes, Elena?" Reno repeated, still in "false charm" mode.

"I, and Reeve, and everyone else, would greatly appreciate it if you would be civil to Tifa."

There. She'd said it. Voiced what had been on everyone's minds to ask him. Rude hadn't done it during their talk, saying that talking to Reno had been like talking to a brick wall.

"Who died and left you in charge?" Reno's tone changed from jovial to sarcastic in a moment, and Elena could tell that he had no intention of heeding her request.

"No one died, but Reeve left me in charge during his absence. And I am asking you to make an effort to be civil to Tifa."

"Why would I want to be civil to her?"

"Because she's one of us. And because she's a friend."

Reno laughed an almost evil, scoffing laughter that Elena had never heard come from him before. "Tifa Lockheart? One of us? She was too good to be with me after she found out I was the dreaded 'Reno of the Turks', but she had no problems screwing my brains out before she knew who I was. You need to pick your friends better, 'Lena."

Elena was shocked beyond belief. So that was it. Reno and Tifa had been lovers. That explained a lot, but she wondered why Tifa hadn't said anything.

In a rare moment of inspiration, Elena actually had a comeback for him. "I picked you, didn't I?"

"Don't ever compare me to her again, Elena." Reno spat back at her as he stormed out of the tent.

Unfortunately, she hadn't anticipated how much that would piss him off after their last stream of conversation. She sighed and hoped that Reeve would return soon. Apparently she wasn't as good a leader as Reeve had thought she was. She buried her head in her hands and tried not to cry.

"Don't let him bother you."

She looked up this time to find Rude standing in the tent. He had passed an extremely angry Reno as he had approached the mayor's tent, and while it hadn't been his original intention to stop in, Reno's expression made him wonder.

"I can't do anything right."

Rude crossed the tent to sit in the chair in front of the desk. "Yes, you can." He was lousy at pep talks, and he hoped that Elena realized this, but he also sensed that she needed reassurance after an obviously bad conversation with the hot-headed Reno.

"I pissed off Reno."

"He'll get over it."

"He thinks I compared him to Tifa by calling them both my friends." Elena said, trying not to sob.

"They have a past."

"He hates her. She didn't want him when she found out he was a Turk."

Rude raised his eyebrows beneath his sunglasses at her words, surprised that Reno had told Elena about his sordid past with the ex-Avalanche member. "He still cares for her."

But you're the one with the crush on her." Elena told him.

"Not my type."

"What do you mean?" Elena looked confused.

"Don't like girls who can kick my ass."

"You said you liked her at Gongaga." Elena was growing frustrated at this conversation, so typically Rude with short answers, giving only enough information to give her only a basic picture of what was going on.

"Testing the waters." Rude could tell she was getting frustrated with the conversation, and he got up to leave before he said more than he intended to. In a way he had already said too much and if Elena hadn't been acting like such a blonde, he was certain that she would have already figured it out.

"Don't worry, Elena. Reno will come around." Rude departed the tent without another word.

Elena groaned as he departed. "Men!"