(for Disclaimer refer to chapter 1)

Chapter 13: Working for a living

Reno had propped himself against the wall to keep upright. He had already given up on the idea of standing. It just seemed like too much work. Elena had force fed him a few potions that had barley cut though his alcoholic haze. Still, for the moment at least, he was quite far from sober. More importantly, he was glad of it. He definitely wouldn't have been able to put up with this is he wasn't drunk.

"What do you mean, you lost our room key!" Elena yelled. "That was the last vacant room they had! It was bad enough we had to share it!" She turned away from him in disgust. As he left her sight, her tone seemed to calm. "Yeah, okay. We screwed up and that's the only reason we had been assigned to this mission. Then we screwed up this mission, didn't get the keystone or the Ancient, but at least we some place to sleep for the night. We don't even have that now."

"I didn't loose it." Reno tried to explain to her again. " I saw somebody and gave 'em the key. Or something. That much I remember. I ran into somebody I know and I gave them the key." Somebody asked about you and I gave 'em. Something like that anyway. Something like that."

"There's only two other people we've seen in this place and those were the AVALANCHE terrorists. They'd be long gone by now. Regardless, it just doesn't matter. We don't have the key. There's nobody at the front desk, and we don't have any other place left to sleep."

Reno shook his head in disgust. "she can ruin a good …" he searched for the word but couldn't think of anything that even came close to fitting, "Good drunk-ness." Reno liked the way that sounded. In his hazed over mind it actually seemed quite clever. "You can sure ruin a good drunkness," she said aloud to her. Elena just looked at him coldly.

It was simply a disgrace. She never could understand why anybody would allow themselves to get as inebriated as Reno presently was. It was just indecent. She turned back to the door and sighed again.

"We're going to end up sleeping in the hall. I just know it," she muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

"You said something'. Reno pulled himself to his feet with a bit of effort. Thought he was wobbling a bit. "now as the highest ranking guy here, I'm pullin' rank. You said something'. What was it?"

Elena grimaced. Right now Reno was hardly in his right mind, but he did outrank her. Regardless of personal feelings, she had to say something. "I was just commenting on how we can't get in. The same way I've been doing for the last few minutes." After a bit of thought she added, "sir." It was cold and didn't feel right at all. She made a mental note to read though the regulations about following orders from an intoxicated person. It probably fell somewhere under mental incapacitation, but she needed the regulation itself to be able to back her on it.

"Yeah. We can't get in." Reno pulled out a 9 mill and fired directly at the lock. "Now we can." Reno said. He kicked the door and the remainder on the lock came off as the door itself flew open. Elena just stood there. She wasn't sure what to think. This was definitely going in her report. She was just glad Reno usually kept a silencer on his pistol. "ladies, first" he said with what was either a bow, or his inability to stand up straight.

She looked around the room. It wasn't the best the Saucer had to offer, but it was one of their better accommodations. It was also intended for a one person occupancy something that Elena most certainly wasn't comfortable with.

"Well, let's hit it then," Reno said stumbling past her. "Oh yeah, just so's ya' know. I sleep naked."

Elena gave her best twisted smile. "Good. I sleep with the air conditioner cranked up to max." Just in case he didn't get it she added, "So it's cold." A moment passed between them. Their eyes locked in a battle of wills and stood there for a moment without movement of sound.

"You're point," Reno said.

"and you get the floor," Elena said tossing a pillow from the bed into an empty corner of the room.

"No wait just a se-"

"You're NOT pulling rank on me this time."

"Give me a sheet," Reno said yanking the heavier of the two blankets from the bed. "Don't think you're not hearing … stuff…reported about this later." He finished. I was intended as a threat, but with his muttered stammering, it was more humorous than anything. She doubted he'd even remember in the morning.

Elena removed her jacket and tie. She sat down on the bed to remove her socks and shoes as well. Reno watched her intently and all too obviously to see what else she was going to take off. As it turned out, not much. She sat down on the bed and removed her shoes and socks. She made it as obvious as she could that her pistol was going to be loaded and within easy reach as she removed it from her holster and placed it on the nightstand.

Reno shook out his blanket a few times, and after a bit of trial and error, decided on laying it out, laying on it, and then folding part of it over him.

"I don't get paid enough for this kind of abuse," he muttered. Elena wasn't sure if it was meant as a joke or not.

"All part of the job," she added. It seemed like a nice mid-ground thing to say. She clicked off the lamp and the room went dark.

"Goodnight, Reno." She said with a sweet triumphant tone.

"Fuck you too."

"In your dreams."

"Every night, babe."

Coming Next Chapter: Two faces have I