Consolation By Rachel

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or it's characters. Although I really, really want to. I'm not making any sort of profit from this story except the self satisfaction I get from good reviews. --Hint hint--

"I do it for the drugs,
I do it just to feel alive,
I do it for the love,
That I get from the bottom of a Bottle."
--Smile Empty Soul 'Bottom of A Bottle'

The blonde glanced over at the man next to her in the bed. He'd grabbed a cigarette from his nightstand and was now feeling around on the floor for a lighter or a book of matches. She wondered briefly how he could find anything on this floor. Clothes were flung about every which way, some old ones, and some that had only been removed from them not too long ago. Empty cans and bottle were lined up against the wall, covered the dresser surface, and you could hardly move around without knocking something over.

"Fuck!" he had fallen off the bed, pulling the sheet with him partly. It still didn't do anything to hide his exposed body. He stood up shakily attempting to catch his balance.

"Reno..." she started, looking away from him.

He looked at her questioningly before it struck him. "Shit Elena, we just had sex and now your getting all bent out of shape because I'm standing here without clothes."

The realization of what he said had actually happened, struck her very suddenly. She closed her eyes at the sudden tears that had formed. She would not cry. Especially not in front of him, she wouldn't ever hear the end of it that way. She'd come to him, only really planning on getting completely smashed of her face. She had wanted to forget for a few hours that she was in love with someone who would never love her back. And Reno was the best person to get drunk with, it seemed like he did it professionly.

Then again, that does seem to be the profession of the Turks.

"Oh Gods." The red head rolled his eyes, running a hand through his long locks which were hanging around his shoulders at the moment. He picked up a pair of pants from the littered floor and pulled them on, "There, you happy?"

She cringed slightly at the tone his voice took. She shook her head, "No, I'm not."

"Well that much is obvious, why else would you come to me for comfort." There was a hint of something she couldn't quite catch in his voice. She just ignored it. He'd eventually found a packet of matches and lit his cigarette.

"It wasn't comfort." She shot back defensively. "I just wanted to get away for a while. You know the best places to drink. I didn't mean for... for this to happen!"

"You can't say it was bad. You enjoyed it." He glared at her back. She thought she was so pure.

"On a purely physical level" she admitted.

His normal smirk had returned as he flicked the ashes from his cancer stick into a very full ashtray. "That's all that matters babe."

She'd glanced at him and scowled. "You're sick!"

"And you, enjoyed it." He emphasized.

She let out a derisive snort, standing up and wrapping the sheet around herself. Maybe they did just have sex, but that didn't mean he could see her naked whenever he wanted. She still had her dignity as much as it had been diminished. She'd collected her clothes and disappeared into the bathroom to take a quick shower, and put them back on.

Reno glared after her. The bitch would have to learn soon enough that there was nothing good, nothing righteous about being a Turk. It was a dirty job. One could not remain unstained by it. She'd also have to understand that feelings were a thing of the past. She was in the finest Shinra had, that meant killing, tormenting, and doing things that would tear normal people apart on the inside. But the Turks were not normal people. Plus they couldn't fall in love, even if it were another member. And if they did, they couldn't show it.

Tseng had learned that well enough with that stupid flower girl. He cared for her, and that got in the way of his job. His job to capture her, and bring her to Hojo. When he mentioned he didn't want to take that job, that it was too personal for him Rufus had taken him into his office. Reno didn't know what went on in there, but when his boss had come back out looking worse for the wear, he didn't argue with the assignment anymore.

His guess was Elena had fully realized that Tseng would never like her the way she liked him. He would always be chasing after that flower girl. So she wanted to forget. To just let it all go for a few hours. Well who else better to lose yourself with than the womanizing drunk, Reno? It made his insides crawl every time he remembered that that's all he really was to them. But he accepted it. She would have to do the same.

Elena slid down the wall, a surprisingly clean towel wrapped around herself. How could she have been so stupid? What would Tseng think? That was an easy question though. He wouldn't think much of it. He'd give her one of his disapproving looks, but otherwise he wouldn't care. It wasn't like she was obligated to him. Drinking sounded good to her again. Now she had even more to forget.

Maybe this is why Reno does it.

Elena slowly crept into the office the next morning, hoping that Tseng wouldn't notice her tardiness. She had gone home at around two in the morning and pretty much passed out on her bed. Her alarm clock hadn't been set and therefore did not wake her up at the appropriate time. When she finally had woken up she was confronted with the most excruciating pain she'd ever felt. A full-fledged five star hangover. She'd been about ready to go back to sleep when she remembered work.
-----
"Elena good of you to join us." She looked sheepishly at her boss through his open doorway. Rude and Reno were both in there, and they had seemingly been conversing about something or other that she probably would have known about if she had been on time.

Briefly she wondered how Reno would react. Or how she should act around him. Would anything between them change? It had too, you didn't just fuck someone and have everything be as dandy as it was before. She glanced at him to gage his reaction. He had just been giving her his normal boyish smirk, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Jeez blondie, did you get lost or something." Same old Reno.

"Um... Sorry. I... forgot."

Rude had raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He didn't normally speak anyway. "You forgot work Elena. That's not very good is it." Tseng told her.

"Yeah, going senile already?" Reno laughed at his own joke.

"I am not!" she responded

"Well that's a good thing. You guys have a new assignment from Rufus."

"Yes. Tseng was explaining it to us before you got here, " Rude had explained to the blonde, "Apparently they've gotten a lead on Sephiroth again. They want us to go check it out."

"And meanwhile they believe they have an idea of where the fucker's headed, so I get to check that bit out." The leader added glancing down at the picture in the file.

"Better get ready Blondie. This one isn't for little sissy's." Reno ruffled her hair as he walked by her. Not a thing had seemed to change between them

She decided to go along with that, "You're more of a sissy than I am."

"If you say so."

"Shut up. I don't want to deal with you two the whole way there."

Elena had giggled and they left to go find out about these leads on Sephiroth.
-----
Reno threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. He barely stopped himself from lighting another one. Smoking was a habit that had a basis in emotion, and he was plenty emotional enough as it was. He hoped his eyes weren't all that bloodshot. The last thing he needed was for her to know he had been crying.

He sighed and knocked half-heartedly on the door. He still wasn't sure why he had to be the one to do this. Rude was better suited for these types of things. Rude had taken a short leave of absence though, to 'come to term with things' as he had put it to Rufus. So Reno had to tell Elena, who had been home recovering from a nasty poison bout, the bad news about Tseng. And one Aeris Gainsborough, but she didn't like the Flower girl anyway, so she won't care.

"Reno? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be..."

"No. No Elena I really shouldn't!" He'd said it sharply, but hadn't meant it that way.

She noticed his state then. "You don't look so well. Come inside and tell me what's wrong."

He followed her in the apartment looking around. The place was fairly neat. Empty antidote bottles were aligned on the table, the TV was on but muted, and her meals for probably the last three days hadn't been thrown away. He sat down on the couch when she indicated to, and took the glass of water she handed him. He downed it greedily only pausing to breathe.

"What is it Reno? Is something wrong? Nothing happened to Tseng did it?" She was sitting on her coffee table across from him

Bingo woman. Hit the head on the nail. You're a regular fucking genius! He never actually said any of those things to her. He wasn't that mean. "Yeah. Something did happen to him. Sephiroth."

Her eyes got wide. She knew what he meant. It could only mean one thing. Sephiroth didn't spare people. This meant that Tseng was dead. But, it couldn't be! He was their leader. Even the great general couldn't stop him. ... Right? The tears spilled over easily enough. She didn't even try to blink them back. What good would that do. Reno knew how she felt, better than anyone else did. It wasn't long before the sobs wracked her body.

Reno sighed, leaning forward to hug her. It wasn't something he'd normally do, but he did feel bad for her. He pulled her into his lap and rested his head on her shoulder, trying not to cry himself. "I know you don't care as much about this one but..." he swallowed hard, "He killed the Flower Girl too. Sephiroth did."

She hardly heard him. It didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore. Tseng was dead. He was the reason she had become a Turk. She didn't really think it was cut out for her, but he was there. Now he wouldn't be anymore, and there was nothing she could do about it. There was no way to bring him back. It hurt so much. If only she could forget. Yes. If only she could just forget...

"R--Reno." she pleaded shakily.

"Hn?" he pulled back to look at her. He was most surprised when she leaned up and kissed him. It wasn't a sweet kiss either. It was violent and needy, a sure sign that it had no meaning. No meaning other than to lose herself in anything but reality. He had started to kiss her back, but pulled away. "Elena..."

"No. I... I just. I need this. I need to let go... forget. Than tomorrow I can come back to work, throw myself in it, and not think. Ever again. For tonight, I'll be your flower girl, and you be my Tseng."

It was an odd request coming from her. But she was right. She was only doing the same thing he planned on doing once he left her place. So he agreed, and jerked her closer feeling her body rest against his as they lost themselves in pure physical sensation.

And for that night, they consoled each other for their losses.

THE END

Notes: Well that's that. That was kinda to feed the Turk obsession I suddenly found myself in today. It's a one-shot not really any couple fic. I'm not much of a Elena/Reno fan for an actual relationship. And I don't think Tseng has any real lovey dovey feelings toward Elena. It's entirely an unrequited love. I also think that it wouldn't be totally out of character for Reno and Elena to have some sort of substitute relationship like this. So tell me what you think of it.