Smoke and Shattered Mirrors,

By Ealinesse

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy, just the plot to this story, and a couple of painfully annoying original characters. And a rusty truck that, apparently, Reno and Yuffie don't want any more… Woohoo. ^_^

Summary: A stakeout doesn't go as planned, and the two people least happy about it are the same two who have to drop everything and work together to keep themselves alive… and sane.

Warnings: Language, (Kiwi Spelling), More Language.

Category: Action/Adventure, Bad Humour, Angst, Reno and Yuffie being prats… Nothing too unusual, really.

Chapter Five...

The town was close. She could see the lights from the dingy cab, could almost smell the revolting fumes of the industrial factories silhouetted by the unhealthy glow of the streetlights, and as stretch after stretch of god-given road grew out of the darkness before them, Yuffie was sure she could almost taste the sweet goodness of civilization. Leviathan only knew she loved nature – had spent much of her earlier years out in the forests and fields of her homeland – but if she had to deal with another tree anytime soon there was going to be Hell to pay.

For these reasons, it was pretty logical to assume that when the ruddy old ute pulled over onto the edge of the embankment and into a bunch of trees not two kilometers from the town boundary, she wasn't too happy.

From beside her came an audible click, and Yuffie's mouth dropped open as the truck's headlights flickered out. She spun in her seat to face Reno, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness when she realised she couldn't see anything but a vague outline. When that outline moved, and she heard the door to the cab squeak its way open, her confusion got the better of her.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"We." This was accompanied by the slamming of the door.

"What?"

"'Where the hell are we going', is the question you want to ask," Reno said as he picked his way around to her side of the truck and opened the door, indicating for her to get out. "And the answer to that question is Junon."

Yuffie raised her eyes skyward, hopped out of the cab and slammed the door as Reno began walking away. Why couldn't he ever explain something in depth?

"I know that," she muttered under her breath as she followed behind Reno as he made his way away from the truck. When she realized this was the case, Yuffie turned around. And stopped. The truck could barely be seen, parked as it was along the forest boundary, and she supposed that was how Reno had intended it. "I know that," she repeated, turning back to the retreating Turk, "but why are we walking? We have less than three miles to go before we're there!"

Reno stopped and slowly faced Yuffie. "Do you want to alert the whole town to us being here?"

"No, but-"

"Then do you suggest we drive straight on into that town with that truck? It sounds like a lawnmower. And just what time is it?" Reno waved his arm up at the sky, indicating the sliver of a moon and the blanket of stars flickering in the background. "Don't you think it would be a dead giveaway to anyone looking out for us to see us drive in in that rusty old truck?"

Yuffie pursed her lips. "I guess so," she replied after a moment, humouring Reno's remarks. When he began walking again, she bit her lip to hide a grin as a thought occurred to her. She snickered instead, not quite managing to hide the sound as a light laugh escaped.

Reno stopped instantly and Yuffie sucked at the insides of her cheeks to prevent further sound.

"What, brat?"

"… Nothing," she squeaked out.

"Nothing?" Yuffie could just picture Reno raising an eyebrow at her tone.

"No… well…" she screwed up her face in a futile attempt to disguise her amusement. "You just must have a lot of experience at running to know so damned much about it… Though now I think about it, with the amount of times you fought us and ran off I wouldn't be surprised."

Something akin to a flicker of real anger breezed across Reno's face before he got control of his expression, and it was just a hint of the stress they were both under that his usual laid-back attitude cracked so easily. Yuffie winced, and realized that his moods weren't the only ones changing. Despite their past affiliations, they'd been at each others throats for hours.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Shut up." Yuffie rolled her eyes and began walking in the direction Reno had been headed, ignoring the invisible eyes boring into the back of her skull. She hadn't walked any more than a dozen paces before low rustling sounds came from beside her, and she glanced at Reno out of the corner of her eye. She noted with a strange relief that the few hours driving had done wonders for his side, giving him the brief rest necessary before they continued their journey. The slight compensating limp was still there, as was the obvious stiffness in the movements, and she couldn't help but ignore the apparent exhaustion in his tall frame, but for the moment he was all right.

She turned her gaze to the horizon before her and withheld a small smile, catching the briefest of smirks on Reno's own face - if only for a moment. Perhaps there was an end to this road after all. Beyond the crappy road and ceaseless, oppressive trees…

*  *  *  *  *

Yuffie clenched her jaw and tensed her muscles, taking one deliberate step forward after another. Ignoring the fact that she was now sure she had doubled her own weight in goosebumps, she trudged on, the only thing keeping her going the knowledge that she wasn't the only one suffering the dreaded, icy, howling wind.

She scowled. Okay. So maybe the trees had been slightly oppressive, but perhaps that was because they were actually there to oppress something. She cast her eyes heavenward, glaring at the unseen assailant, the movement only making her wrap her arms tighter about herself. Why the hell did the trees have to stop now? What the hell happened, had they run out or something? She snickered at the thought, but any amusement she felt was soon contrasted greatly by the way her ankle unexpectedly rolled out from underneath her. All too soon her axis on what was up and down was lost, and after what seemed like an eternity bouncing her merry way down the remaining segment of the embankment, she was staring unblinkingly up at the sky, wondering what the hell had just happened to cause that.

She lay there for a moment, listening to the wind rushing in her ears, allowing herself to catch her breath. When she felt she could fill her lungs with air and not feel them groan with the effort, she sat up - slowly, mind you - and shook her head as if to clear it. She looked up to see Reno picking his awkward way down the raised portion of the road, slowly but surely. At the bottom, he crouched by her side.

"What the hell did you do!" he exclaimed after finding she was still in one piece.

"What did I do?" Yuffie blinked, her jaw dropping open. After a second she assumed a calm expression, sure she hadn't sustained more than a graze or two. She extended her hand to Reno, who stood and hauled her gingerly to her feet. "What did I do?" she continued when she was standing. "Oh, I did nothing. I'm fine. In fact, I'm sure it was just my overactive imagination that I fell down that twelve foot-"

"-six foot-"

"-hill!"

There was a short pause during which Reno turned his aqua gaze to her fully. After a moment he cocked his head to the side.

Yuffie narrowed her eyes at the silent scrutiny. "… What?"

"I'm just wondering whether you had antennae before you fell down the hill."

Yuffie blinked. "Are you sure you're not the one that fell and scrambled your brains?"

Reno let out an exasperated sigh and reached behind her. When his arm came back, he had a handful of small twigs.

Seeing this, Yuffie's hands flew to her hair, where she felt several more of the offending objects nesting. "Oh great," she muttered. "More to the effect." She sucked in a breath, feeling her lungs ache at the immense scope of the action, then let it out slowly. "Civilisation," she breathed through barely parted lips. "Civilisation, no Turks, and food…"

Yuffie turned around, reorienting herself toward their goal. There was a soft snort behind her.

"Food…?"

"Food." She reinforced the thought, and took a deliberately slow, halting step forward. She was lucky she managed that. As she put her foot down, Yuffie felt a sharp twinge in her ankle and realised it was going to roll for a second time. Before she could fall though, strong arms grabbed her and held her upright just long enough for her to get her other leg under her. She did so quickly, hearing the sharp hiss of breath from the man behind her.

When Reno released her, she sighed, looking up over the embankment to the small, beckoning lights in the distance. Great. A sprain. Why did it always seem as if something was stopping them from making progress?

"Well, look at it this way. You didn't have a hill to fall down this time."

Yuffie bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the comment, choosing not to respond to his twisted logic. When that action received no merit, she folded her arms across her chest and took a limping step forward. Then another. And another. Stuff it, she seethed. She deliberately kept her eyes straight ahead of her, picturing the town's entrance not too far ahead. She ignoring the rise to her right. The bloody hill could wait.

Reno caught up to her again. And again she was aware of the scrutiny, his sharp eyes missing nothing. She ignored him too. She had dug a bullet out of his side, carted him through a forest denser than she had ever seen before, saved his ass from whoever the Hell was after him, and he didn't even have the decency to ask if she was all right. Damn him, anyway. He could damn well shove--

Yuffie yelped in surprise as something – no, wait, someone – made contact with her arm. Her eyes darted to her left, then widened as she saw that Reno had stooped slightly to lift her arm over his shoulder. Her mouth opened in a faint squawk of protest, but he just shook his head and smirked.

"Don't look at me like that. When I said I wanted to get to Junon, I meant sometime in the near future."

"But you're-"

"Enough. You're going to slow us down, and with the way you were bitching about me doing that earlier on, I'd imagine that this is no different. And besides, brat, it's easier this way. Don't talk, just walk."

Yuffie's jaw snapped closed, and all of a sudden she was unsure of what to say. She wasn't going to thank him, that was for certain – he owed her. But even in this situation she'd never imagined he would help. She bit her lip as they took a shuffling few steps forward, Reno adopting her distributed weight awkwardly at first. But eventually they grew used to each other and the pace quickened and evened out.

And he was right. It was easier.

Yuffie focused on the steps, the simple movement helping her to iron out her confusion, and at last she felt a small satisfaction wash over her. Maybe they would reach Junon tonight after all…

*  *  *  *  *

…Or not.

There was a nervous cough to her right and the distinct shuffling of someone who thought themselves seconds away from the biggest hiding of their life. Yuffie ignored that for the moment, however unintentionally. Right now it was hard enough to control her own anger. Right now, she was finding it hard to understand why the sign currently in front of them read the way it did. She squared her jaw and narrowed her eyes against the lights illuminating the large marker, which were both telling her that, no, she had not misread the bold word painted across the massive board.

There came another cough from beside her. "Before you ask, no, we're not lost. And we didn't turn the wrong way, either…"

When biting the inside of her cheek didn't work, Yuffie turned toward Reno, who had left her to her own devices for the moment. She tried one of his own tricks and raised her eyebrow. "Well then where are we?" she countered, her voice becoming dangerously low. "And why does that sign say Trent and not Junon?"

"Shh!" Reno muttered, looking as if he were going to step forward and clamp a hand over her mouth. "Do you want to wake the whole bloody town up!"

Yuffie scowled. "You want me to answer that, Turk?"

"No, I fucking-well don't, brat."

"Fine. But you can answer me this. Where are we, and why the hell is this not Junon?"

"Because this is the town just before Junon."

Yuffie blinked. "… What."

"When was the last time you went to Junon?"

"Not for about six months, and that was only to visit Reeve."

"Well then do you know about all the small colonies and such that have been placed around the world that are resource-based?"

"Yes. Reeve has been occupied with alternate resources for a while…" she said slowly.

"Well this town is one of those," Reno replied. "Trent is focused mainly on the logging industry, due to the increase in revenue in properties and real estate since what happened to Midgar a few years back."

Yuffie fairly rolled her eyes. "Two guesses why they're into forestry here…"

Reno shrugged. "That answer your question? Can we enter now? I'm sure we can discuss the rest later."

Yuffie didn't answer. Instead, she turned back to face the town entrance, watching as the sight she'd previously seen as large, industrial chimneys and a skyline littered with the oppressive, glowing smog of the city became none other than that of a few wood fires and some lanterns before her very eyes. She swallowed plaintively and slumped her shoulders. This had been a bad few days.

"Is that a yes?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Whatever."

Reno snorted and began walking. "You've been spending too much time around that blonde-haired freak…"

"…"

*  *  *  *  *

They made their way around the outskirts of the town quietly, flitting through the shadows as well as their injuries would allow them. To Reno it almost seemed a parody of a scene, with him hobbling along and Yuffie limping badly beside him, cursing softly under her breath the uneven, dusty surface of the small town. It seemed to take forever to find what he was looking for, and when he did there was a surprised gasp from Yuffie.

"You mean… we can…?"

Reno hushed her with a raised arm and nodded in satisfaction at the open door and the sign out front. "I'll explain later." He looked at his battered watch. 11:30 pm. It was late, and a few hours rest would do them good, it was just an added bonus that the place was still open. With little hesitation he led them inside. Yuffie, wisely stayed silent.

They approached the counter cautiously, while the young man behind it seemed to do the same, his hazel eyes watching them nervously under an exterior of faked calm.

"How can I help you?"

Reno resisted the urge to smirk. "This is an inn. I would like a room."

The boy eyed them up and down suspiciously, taking in their no less than battered appearances. "I – I'm sorry, sir. But we're full up tonight."

Reno took a step forward and leaned upon the wooden counter, resting his chin on his hand and ignoring the pain the effort to do so caused. He swept his eyes over the wall behind the boy and cocked his head to the side in faint amusement. "The full shelf of keys on the wall say otherwise."

"They're – reserved."

Reno let his feral grin widen enough as to take on that of the Cheshire Cat. "Really. All of them?"

"Y-yes."

"Oh, nonsense. God, man, you're wasting time!"

Wincing as a light blow came in contact with his head, Reno watched in mild fascination as Yuffie nimbly jumped over the wooden counter, picked a key at random, and then proceeded to poke a bony finger at the worker's chest.

"I've had a bad day, kid. Don't mess with me!"

"B-but, miss-"

Yuffie leaned into the boy, and Reno caught the flicker of satisfaction that won across her face as the kid flinched away. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, miss, but that's our-"

"Whatever!" Yuffie then climbed back over the counter and faced the boy, allowing a serene smile to play across her face. "We'll take this one."

The boy eyed the key for a moment, his troubled frown deepening. His gaze flickered to Reno, soaking up the torn, bloody shirt, and icy Mako eyes that spoke of a past both troubled and cruel. He then looked at the more-so tattered, somewhat skimpy and shredded getup of the Wutaian girl. After a long moment he sighed, and retrieved a book from under the counter.

"Just the one night?"

Yuffie's smile widened, and Reno couldn't help but grin. "Yes."

"And what shall I put your name down as?"

"… Bonnie and Clyde."

Reno's grin melted into a smirk.

The pen that had been hovering over the book remained poised in place, unmoving. "But, miss-"

The light caught on a glint of metal and Reno watched in silent amusement as the servant's eyes widened in equally silent recognition of Yuffie's shuriken.

"We're not going to have any trouble, are we?"

The boy shook his head fervently and scribbled down the names with visibly shaking hands. When he was done, he pushed the key across the small counter to them, and offered a quivering smile. "Your key."

Yuffie raised her chin in acknowledgement, swiped the key and pocketed it, then offered a mock salute with a small snigger. "Why thank you," she replied, then leaned over the counter as Reno had done earlier. "Good night…. Rob," she said sweetly, fingering the boy's name tag before turning on her heel and making her way to the small corridor beside him.

Reno hung back for a minute, a puzzled expression warring across his face as he watched her go. He shook his head, then turned an icy glance to the carefully composed gaze of 'Rob', the helpful counter boy. He snickered frostily. "Now, as ol' Bonnie said, there won't be any trouble, will there?" He pulled the gun out of its holding and flicked out the magazine, making a show of checking for bullets. "No surprises in the night. No police. We aren't here to cause trouble. We'll be gone by morning."

Rob again shook his head in the negative, and Reno silently entertained the image of it rattling off its hinge and onto the floor. "Good boy," he muttered, turning to leave. "And just remember, we're not here."

"Y-yes, sir. Good night, sir."

Reno ducked down the hallway without another word and hurried to catch up to Yuffie, who was in the process of limping down the corridor with what looked like a little more hesitation than before.

"… Shouldn't have made that… goddamn leap… over the bloody counter…"

Reno caught the words drifting toward him and controlled his amusement with care. The last thing he wanted was a black eye. He warily jogged the remaining distance to catch up to her. "Found the room yet?"

The curse that followed his words was more audible than the previous streamline. Yuffie turned and faced him with a belatedly furious look. "Does it look like I've found it?"

Reno shrugged. "How the hell am I supposed to know?"

The brunette turned around and began walking away again, muttering. Reno followed, keeping any further comments to himself, and at length they reached a door at the end of the hall.

"One twenty," Reno heard Yuffie murmer. "Of course it would be the last one on the floor."

"… Consequently because you grabbed the last key in that row?"

"Did I ask for your input?" was the icy reply.

Reno smirked. "Remind me never to get between you and sleep again."

There was no reply from Yuffie; she was too busy concentrating on unlocking the door in the dim light. A few frustrated curses and some angry rattling later and the door clicked open. The sight in the room caused Reno to step back, but Yuffie was by no means deterred. He watched with detached, idle amusement as she ran and dived onto the large, overstuffed bed, practically squealing in delight, sore ankle forgotten. He merely stood in the doorway, finding what lay before him hard to believe. Of all the rooms in the inn to pick it had to be this one…

"…Oi, Turk, what's the matter?"

Reno turned his attention to Yuffie, who had sat up and was now eyeing him suspiciously, no doubt wondering why he hadn't taken a single step inside. He frowned, shaking his head. "Do you know what room this is?"

Reno watched as a slow kind of realization dawned upon Yuffie. He grinned, settling his tall frame comfortably against the wall as he prepared to ride out her reaction.

"You mean…" Yuffie's mouth dropped open and a fierce crimson blush swept across her elfish features as her eyes scanned the room, soaking up the somewhat tacky, but unmistakable universal design as if for the first time. She leapt to her feet, overbalanced, pinwheeled her arms, and regained her feet all in the blink of an eye. The next second she was spinning on her heel, pouring over the finer details, embarrassed revelation winning over any astonishment she may have felt as her gaze moved passed the sickly red sheets, vulgar pillows, old-fashioned dimly-lit lamps, and finally up onto a painting above the bed revealing a rather comic depiction of a cherub with a love arrow.

"This can't be… it's not… I didn't mean to choose…"

Reno pushed himself with some effort off the door frame and walked with slow deliberation across the room, projecting an aura of the utmost comfort. He leered at Yuffie as she watched him make his way across the room, and he found himself fighting back the beginnings of uncontrollable laughter as he fell back onto the bed. He didn't think he'd ever seen her quite so embarrassed as she was now. And he was loving it.

"Personally, I think it's a beautiful room, Yuff! The pink and red is gorgeous… and you have to admit… it is awfully… romantic," Reno drawled, dragging out the last word in sardonic mockery, indicating he felt the complete opposite.

And she knew it.

"I-it's a Honeymoon Suite, you moron!"

"Well I think you chose well."

"Shut up! You're not helping!"

Reno suddenly found himself with a face-full chubby comforter as a cherub-shaped pillow smacked him in the face. He pushed the offending item off and sat up with a wince. "What the hell was that for!" He threw the item back and was rewarded with a satisfying yell of frustration.

"Well you started it," he maintained indignantly when she merely glowered, smirking as her blush set a new record for that of the ripest human tomato.

"It's not like I planned to get this room!" Yuffie snapped. "Why would I? You're… you're…"

"A Turk?"

"Exactly!"

"Well excuse me if I don't exactly jump for joy at the prospect of you, either."

"Good."

"Fine."

Reno shrugged, reaching behind him for another pillow as he watched her lift her arm for another throw. What he didn't see, however, was what she held with her other hand. Seconds later she released the pillow, and Reno did the same, only to find the cushion he'd just thrown returning with the surety of a boomerang. He sucked in a sharp breath as it passed within inches of his face, then hit the wall behind him with a solid thud.

Reno blinked. Frowned. Turned to face the wall behind him, only to blink again in faint surprise as he spotted the pillow he'd thrown attached to the wall with none other than Yuffie's own shuriken.

He turned back to her and scowled. "Cheat," he muttered. "You can't even get a pillow fight right."

Her only answer was to curtsey.

Reno ripped the fingers.

He could see she was contemplating her next move when there came a slight cough from behind her. Reno leaned to the side, peering around Yuffie to see who had interrupted their war. Yuffie, not too slow either, spun around as well.

"I – um… sir…?"

"Yes, Rob?" Reno offered a callous smile and cocked his head to the side – as much recognition as he was going to give the teenager from behind the counter.

The boy took a nervous look around the surroundings, his eyes finding and settling on the sight of Yuffie's weapon lodged into the wall uncomfortably. He visibly gulped, opening his mouth to speak. No sound came.

Yuffie eyed the boy, then her shuriken. She stepped up to him, blocking the sight of the weapon above the headboard of the bed, and forced the boy to hold her eyes. "Yes?"

The boy coughed, looked up at her, then down to the floor, for some reason found his gappy shoes interesting. "Well, I just thought, miss, that I heard some noise. I decided to come and check and see if everything was all right… and-"

"Everything is fine." Reno said quickly, standing up and ignoring the faint dizziness that went with it. He frowned, cursing both his weakness and the fact that he had been stupid enough to allow himself and Yuffie to raise their voices. It was a small town, and the last thing they needed was more trouble. "We don't need any help."

The servant, obviously not wanting to linger any longer, nodded hastily and hurried away.

"And don't annoy us again!" Yuffie yelled after him. Rob's only answer was to power walk faster down the corridor. When he was gone from sight, Yuffie closed the door to the room and sunk down on a heart-shaped couch a few feet away.

"Well, damn."

Reno, sobered by the sudden wake up call the servant had instilled on them, flopped back onto the bed once again and closed his eyes. He was tempted to simply not open them again, not think about anything remotely even to do with his vendetta with Donovan, but…

"So, what do we do now?"

… It just wasn't that simple.

"Reno?"

… Was it?

"Reno!"

Reno's eyes snapped open at the voice coming from straight above him. Yuffie was standing beside the bed, shuriken in hand, expression puzzled. As soon as he looked at her, however, the look changed into something much darker, and he found himself wishing that she weren't holding that God-forsaken weapon of hers.

"God, man, you're such an ass!" Instead yet another pillow greeted his face. "I thought you'd carked it… again."

As Yuffie moved away to sit back down on the seat she'd pirated, Reno sat up, watching her twirl the weapon in her grip. A sudden twinge of pain made him gasp at the movement, and he looked down at his side, his hands going to the wounded area. Gingerly, he touched the wound, gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath as his fingers came away with a light coating of blood.

His cursing must have attracted Yuffie's attention, because the next thing he new she was crouched by his side, running light fingers over the bloody area with a small frown marring her features. He watched, silent and still for a moment as she pulled at the crusted fabric that had stuck to the area, until she struck a particularly sore spot. He swatted her hands away with irritation.

"Leave it alone, will ya!"

Yuffie looked up at him with equal annoyance. "Stop being such a baby. Let me have a look."

"No. You'll make the fucking thing worse."

"Yeah. Right. Because it can get worse than it is right now. Just look at it! You need a Cure Materia before it gets any more infected, it's a wonder you're still able to walk, let alone insult me."

Reno shrugged. "It's the Mako. The same reason we could take as many shots at that Cloud guy as we could and he'd still remain standing." But he didn't deny that he needed a Cure, and it must have shown in his eyes, because Yuffie stood and stepped away from his side, turning around and around in the lavish room as if scavenging for something. He watched as she disappeared off into the small ensuite. Moments later a series of disorganized clanging ensued followed by a dialogue of various curses and obscenities.

Reno merely waited, suddenly not having the energy to do more than sit, wondering how long it had been since he'd last slept. He frowned, comparing it to the last time he'd been in this same situation, then realized he wasn't doing so badly after all. This wasn't nearly as grave as last time. He was still of his own free will, not a prisoner, and with a few hours up his sleeve he…

"This goddamn bathroom has everything but materia! What is this place! It doesn't even have a First Aid Kit!"

Jolted from his thoughts, Reno looked up at the sight of Yuffie leaning out of the bathroom door, face red, hair disarrayed, expression blatantly annoyed. And then he realized. With her here, and Donovan no doubt scouring the countryside for him, all he had to do was form the wrong attachments to the wrong people, and it would be exactly like last time. Only this time, he had the heir of Wutai riding on it…

He forced his features to relax. They would get out of this. They had to.

He wouldn't screw up.

He wouldn't get close.

Donovan wouldn't win again.

Reno raised an eyebrow at Yuffie and shrugged off his reverie. "In this room, you're not supposed to need a First Aid Kit, Yuff."

The blush he received was worth it, and he watched as the brunette disappeared back into the tiny bathroom to hide it. Expecting to have her mutter something about useless Turks to him, he was, needless to say, surprised when a startled shriek echoed through the room.

Getting slowly to his feet, Reno went to the bathroom, wondering just what had gotten into the quirky Wutaian now. Peering around the corner of the door, he wasn't surprised to see her standing stock-still in front of the mirror, her expression one of deadpan horror as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

He smirked and sidled into the room, stepping up to her side and cocking his head at her own reflection, more than prepared to make some wise-crack comment about her looks. But that was until he caught his own reflection, and stopped dead.

There was no way to explain it, and their appearances shouldn't have remotely surprised him, but looking into the large, wall-sized mirror under the harsh make-up lights of the bathroom reflected no more than the brutal, honest truth. And there was no way about it. They looked horrible. Finding himself caught in the horror of the reality of the situation, Reno rested his hands on the end of the counter and leaned into the ghastly reflection, eyeing the sight before him with disdain. Nearly three long days of dirt coated his skin, and the once-white t-shirt was now a sickly shade of crimson-streaked grey. His skin, coated with equal muck, and plastered with Leviathan-only-knew-what, was just as bad. And pale. From what little that there was left to see, it looked like something had sucked all the colour out of him and left him as but a shadow of himself.

"We look horrible."

Reno glanced at Yuffie through the mirror, feeling for the first time that he was seeing her own haggard appearance; the heavy, dark circles framing her eyes, which stuck out starkly in a too-pale face. She was just as ragged. He noticed the mussed hair, the shredded, minimal clothing that had been sacrificed to stop him from bleeding to death. He vaguely wondered whether there was a person under all that muck.

"Wrong."

Yuffie turned to face the real-time him. "Wrong? Wrong? You're kidding, right?"

"No. We don't just look horrible… We look like hell warmed over."

Yuffie snorted. "Well you got at least that right." She then turned around and surveyed the bathroom. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she caught sight of the bath, watched as a glint of steel came into her eyes.

"What?"

Yuffie barely paid him any attention. Instead of answering she reached over and plugged the bath hole, and then turned on the tap to full. When this was done she turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Right back at you. Now get out."

Reno lifted his arms in silent query. "You're having a bath?"

"What do you think? I've been traipsing around in the wop wops for the past Leviathan-only-knows how long, and I'm covered in mud that has set with the same strength as cement. Of course I'm going to have a bath!"

Reno smirked and turned to leave. "A simple yes would have sufficed, you know."

There was a low growl of frustration, and Reno suddenly found himself propelled out of the small ensuite and into the main bedroom. He spun around to find Yuffie's head peeping around the nearly-closed door.

"And no peeking!"

Reno merely leered suggestively, and found the door slammed in his face, the lock on the door slammed forcibly shut. He smirked. "You know that stupid lock can't keep me out, right?"

There was a mumbled answer in response, and he leaned up against the door in order to hear it better. "What?"

"I said if you even think of coming in here I'll use up all the hot water in the tank, and take as long as I possibly can!"

Reno, suddenly remembering Elena threatening the same thing and carrying it out when he knocked on the door telling her to hurry up, paled. He thought of his reflection in the mirror, and the chill of a cold shower and fell back onto the bed, reveling in the glorious softness of the many plush pillows that littered the bed and spreading out his arms so he took up nearly the entire space. Best to make the most of a horrible situation, he mused idly.

It wasn't long before he fell into an exhausted sleep.

*  *  *  *  *

Author's Notes: Well there you go. Another chapter. I'm feeling generous, and didn't cut the chapter up as much as I was going to. Instead, I gave you a longer one because I'm being very (cruelly) slack with my updates. For that, do I deserve more reviews? ~_^

CHAPTER FOUR RESPONSES:::

Tijuana Pirate: Thank you so much for your reviews! I guess I can count on you, huh? ~_^ I'm glad you like my Reno – I stress about how badly he is out of character sometimes, and since there's not a lot to go on in the game, sometimes it's hard to judge how he would react in certain situations, so that you think that fully boosts my confidence!

Eternal Wanderer: I know what you mean about my review count – I don't get a lot. The fandom isn't exactly dead, and nor is Reffie, but I find it hard to get criticism, especially with these stories. And stealing a truck from a barn? No, I knew I couldn't put it past them…

The Burning Misery: Yeah, it is quite angsty in parts. But I'm trying to keep it light right now, but it's hard considering the situation they're in. This chapter is much lighter in correlation to some of the others, so I hope you liked it. ^^

Miriel: Well I hope you didn't camp out too long… it's here… and you might want to stay off the sidewalks in case Yuffie does decide to take a drive…

Dragon Master Lytore: Yeah. A month and a bit without updating. *Bites foot* … I'm sorry, I really am, but I've started university this year and it's not such a light workload. You're waiting for my bad guys to die? … Wow… They're as hated as I hoped… wicked… and don't worry, their time will come…  ^^