Author's Notes: Well, this chapter turned out to be a little bit different
than what I had expected. I didn't expect the flashback to be so detailed
but it is. It's partly the reason why I am so late posting. I was so upset
with it after its first draft that I had to re-write the entire bloody
thing. Here it is though! Thanks for your patience.
Incidentally, I apologize if the proverbs I wrote seem a little off. Eastern philosophy isn't exactly my strongest point. As always, if I offend I apologize because it was not my intention.
~Salvation (6)~
When Elena woke up the next morning, it was to a mild sense of déjà- vu. Sunshine was pouring in through her light beige blinds and Tom had his paws on her leg. It felt very strange, almost as if yesterday hadn't happened at all. She remembered it very clearly though: calling Reno, working on the book, that quotation- no, best not to think about that- and Reno coming over. He had brought her soup. It had been . . . very thoughtful. She'd almost say 'un-Reno-like' but that wasn't entirely true. Elena could remember a few other times when Reno's seemingly unimagined 'good guy' complex had shone out for a moment or two. She liked to tease him about it sometimes just to hear him say 'Shut up 'Lena' with that funny little mischievous smile of his. Those eyes could sparkle and laugh like you wouldn't believe when they wanted to.
Elena sat up in bed and winced at little at the tinge in her shoulders. Now that was reminiscent too, wasn't it? Except last time she had awoken uncomfortable because. . . God, why did she even bother to think about things like that? Her shoulders were hurting *now* because she had spent too much time bent over Tseng's book yesterday. That was it.
Funny. Yesterday after Reno had left, Elena had had a hard time concentrating on the book in hand. She hadn't managed to get much more translated.
For all the splendour of her day off, Elena still hadn't accomplished much. She was still awake, sore, and unwilling to go into work. She cringed a little again. That's what all this pointless musing was about, wasn't it? It didn't matter that she still had ink stains on her fingers, or that her shoulders were sore, or that Reno had smiled and brought her soup. What mattered was that she still had a problem and hiding away for a day hadn't made it any better. What the Hell was she supposed to do now? She couldn't just keep on calling in sick despite how very tempting that sounded. So, what? Quit? Heh, that was laughable. A person didn't 'quit' being a Turk. Obviously, she had to go back to work. Obviously. But. . .
Elena leaned over to her beside table and picked up Tseng's book in an attempt to distract herself from her thoughts. She opened it to a random page and scrolled down. Elena had a pretty good memory, a trait that had only been reinforced by her Turks training. God, how many times had she and Tseng walked out of a room, only for him to ask her how many men there had been at the fourth table in the back or where had the most convenient exit been placed or how many people had looked like they were carrying weapons or. . . It was something she did almost immediately now. There were four men at that table, the back right door was the best way out, three men looked dangerous etc. It had been even worse when he had been training her to remember documents. Some days, he had presented her with a pile of ten or fifteen papers. Imagine trying to remember their titles, dates, and important phrases, after only having a minute (if that) to scan them.
The important thing though was that Elena now had a very good memory. She was able to repeat things verbatim usually just after reading them once. Looking at these Wutaian phrases, Elena was able to automatically associate them with their English translations. She was certainly less adept than a native but she was slowly learning to 'read' Wutaian. Tseng might've even been proud of her, Elena thought wryly, if she hadn't taught herself using his stolen property.
She scanned the pages she had translated. There were so many little things in it. Some were easy to understand, straightforward tidbits about Wutaian culture. Others were prayers to the Wutaian gods. Elena had never really looked up any information about the pantheon of Wutaian beliefs and so some of the more specific references left her a little confused. Other things were proverbs that sounded simple at first glance but seemed to have a deeper meaning every time she returned to them. Those were her favourites. They had this simple, easily phrased style that contrasted their eloquence so wonderfully. Her eyes devoured the pages.
*Live every moment as if it is your last. Greet life with the courage you would show at your death.*
*Strength without integrity is savagery.*
*The path I took brought me to today. The path I will choose will lead me to tomorrow.*
Elena paused when she read that one. It reminded her of something that Tseng had told her a long time ago. It had been after her first job. She still remembered every gruesome detail of that one. It had supposed to be a simple surveillance mission but everything had gone wrong. She and Rude had ended up fighting for their lives just to make it out. It had been the first time she had ever killed a man.
***
Elena looked down at the group of men clustered beneath her and Rude's hiding spot and her mouth twisted in disgust. There were three men in smart business suits talking quietly together with a ring of armed guards surrounding them. Elena looked down with avid interest at the three men in the centre of the ring. They were some of Midgar's middle-class drug lords, large enough to warrant Shin-ra's notice but not powerful enough to pose a threat to the company. Usually, the upper execs at Shin-ra couldn't care less about what the drug lords did in the slums so long as they paid their respects to the proper authorities but the man that Rude and Elena had been assigned to watch seemed to be skimping lately. Shin-ra had been tipped off about this meeting between the three drug lords and so the Turks had been dispatched to gather information on the whos and whats of the deal. Simple.
Elena pulled out her binoculars and wished that she knew how to read lips the way Rude could. Tseng hadn't taught her that yet. In a way she was glad she didn't posses that particular talent though. Dealers made her skin crawl.
Suddenly, Elena turned to scan the area behind her.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Rude.
"There's nothing. Quiet," he hissed back. Elena looked away, chagrined. He was probably right; she was just being jumpy. This part of Sector Two was renowned for its high number of monster sightings though and it made her nervous. There were stories about whole groups of people disappearing overnight. The place was full of abandoned buildings with plenty of tempting dark corners. Normally this would've been considered prime real estate if it hadn't been for the squats other inhabitants. She shivered and Rude gave her a harsh look, almost as if to say 'don't screw up rookie'. Her expression hardened and she nodded once before turning back to the group of men below them.
She and Rude were hiding in an old building a good twenty-five feet away from the dealers and their armed thugs. They were far enough away to maintain secrecy but close enough for them to watch the transaction. Suddenly, Elena swivelled around again. She could've sworn. . .
"There's something there Rude," she whispered, her eyes squinting against the darkness. Rude didn't turn around. Was that a glint in the shadows? Elena's eyes widened.
"Rude!" she cried but her warning came too late. Rude went sprawling as the creature leapt onto him. Elena recognized it instantly: one of the poisonous insect-like monsters that haunted the slums.
"Rude!" she cried again, watching the older man struggle with the monster. It had him pinned against the ground, its mandibles clacking hungrily above him. He cried out as one of the creature's claws stabbed him in his side.
Everything seemed to slow down for Elena at that moment. There was Rude, there was the monster, and then suddenly her gun was in her hands. Her shot rang out, hard and pure, and the creature recoiled from the attack. It swivelled its twisted form to face her but then three more shots went off and it collapsed.
Time caught up to her and Elena ran over to Rude. He winced when she helped him sit up.
They both looked over to the men that they had been watching. All ready all the armed guards that had been surrounding them were dispersing, looking for the source of the shots.
"We have to go. Now." Rude said between gritted teeth.
"All right. Let's go."
Elena stood crouched behind a half-decayed wall, cursing silently. The sounds of bullets were ringing loudly in her ears. They had almost made it out unnoticed. Almost.
She looked over at Rude who was clutching his wounded side.
"What do we do now?" she asked, trying to be heard over endless cacophony of artillery. Rude winced and looked at their surroundings, trying to blink away the blurriness in his vision. They were in a field of rubble strewn with half destroyed walls, rows of twisted metal, and dilapidated cars. It was a good place to fight if you were fast and smart. Unfortunately, he was poisoned and Elena was an untried rookie.
"You go left. I go right. Two each." He exhaled heavily. "Then, we go."
Elena nodded but he could still see the fear in her eyes.
"Okay."
Both Turks leapt off in different directions, dodging bullets as they went, firing, firing. . .
There is a door in the hallway of the Turks offices with a single key card. Beyond that door lie three more doors. One of these doors leads to a room the Turks call Detox. When a mission goes wrong, that's where Turks go.
It was where Rude had been wheeled into to after he and Elena had been brought back to headquarters by helicopter. Tseng had met them at the helicopter pad with two nervous looking doctors. Then, without a word, Rude had been strapped to a stretcher and then wheeled down into Detox. That had been forty minutes ago.
Amazing how much a room could change in forty minutes. Elena had never liked Detox because it reminded her too much of a hospital. The room was painted in a sickening not-quite-white and was lined with cool sterile counters. Two surgical beds took up most of the space in the room. She stood beside one and tried to imagine what kind of a scene it could have been when Rude had been brought in. Chaotic perhaps? Had the doctors been frantically passing instruments between each other like frightened insects while Tseng had coolly looked on? Or had they been pragmatism made flesh as they had discussed Rude's various wounds and the poisons leaking into his veins? Probably the later considering the short time that it had required them to 'fix' their broken Turk. After forty gruelling minutes of antidote injections, rushed stitching, and massive use of curative magic, Rude had been pronounced fit. Somewhere in all of that, someone had managed to restore Detox to its original state. It was once again nauseatingly sterile, all the bloodied bandages and utensils having been properly disposed of. The efficiency of the Shin-ra staff both impressed and sickened Elena.
In the end, she only knew one joy in all of this: the room's most essential element was now free for her use. Stored away in the back of the room was a beautifully clean and complete shower.
Detox got its name because there a Turk could literally be 'detoxified'. Wounds were healed and cleaned. Bloody uniforms were destroyed in special containers that would burn any contents placed inside them. Then, after everything, all that was left to do was wash the blood off your hands. Or face. Or body.
In Elena's case, it seemed to be everywhere. Rude's blood. Her blood. Their blood. Everywhere. Her uniform had been splattered with in. Some of it coated her hair. She had never expected. . . Elena closed her eyes against the flood of images that threatened to overwhelm her.
/*She crept up behind the man. He was looking over at where Rude had just dived and never expected the bullet that sunk into his brain from behind. It was a messy way to die.
Another man –why were there always more of them?- tackled her, sending her flying against the ground. All the air rushed out of her lungs as the man was suddenly on top of her. Her instincts took over and she kicked upwards. The man's hands reached for her throat but hers were faster. The shot rang out like a fist in the gut.
One more coming up from behind her. She spun around and the heel of her foot connected with the man's chest. He crumbled in a heap, clutching broken ribs. Frantically, he tried to grab the gun that had flung free of his hands but he was too slow. Elena's foot crushed down on his fingers, breaking bone and pinning them to the ground. Her own shot rang hollow as he looked up at her. He had had such a surprised expression as the bullet ran through his heart.*/
Shaking hands searched for the shower's valve and steam rose up from the sudden downpour of hot water. Elena cranked the heat up to maximum and scrubbed frantically. At her feet, red water drained away.
Tseng had had Rude taken back to his apartment by one of the private drivers they had at Shin-ra. His injuries hadn't been overly grievous but he had been feeling very drained from the combined effect of the poison and materia healing. Now, all that was left for Tseng to do was to check on Elena. Before he had left, Rude had made sure to tell Tseng of Elena's role in their escape. In the end, Elena had had to practically carry Rude to their fall-out shelter because he had been so weakened by the paralysing effect of the monster's poison. At the shelter, she had radioed for help and organized Rude's quick trip to Detox. Tseng had been impressed.
He had been waiting for her in his office for a good twenty minutes before he had decided to go down to check on her. He disliked leaving his Turks alone for too long after their first mission.
When Tseng entered Detox, he was greeted with a cloud of hot steam.
"Elena?" he asked, unanswered. He could hear the sound of dripping water still. His pulse quickened a little as he tried to perceive her in the think mist.
"Elena?"
For a brief moment, he was afraid of what he might find. It was always possible. Not everyone could handle the pressure. Maybe she hadn't been ready. Maybe. . .
"Elena?" he asked a third time and this time a voice piped up behind him.
"I'm right here Tseng."
Tseng couldn't help but feel relieved. He could see her now, sitting on a surgical bed, bare legs showing under the towel that she had wrapped around herself. Elena tried to smile at him and failed miserably. Tseng sighed and walked over to her. He took a seat on the bed beside her. Looking over at her, he was shocked to see how red her skin was. His fingertips brushed against the skin of her bare shoulders when he noticed that the skin there was peeling slightly there.
"Are you hurt?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head.
"No. I just. . . I just couldn't get clean, you know?"
Tseng nodded sagely. They were quiet for a moment.
"Is it always like this?" Elena asked sadly.
Tseng shook his head.
"It's always worse the first time."
"Does it ever get better?"
How to explain to her that it didn't get better but that you felt it less and less? Instead, he just shrugged.
"Everyone is different."
She seemed to take that in.
"What did you do? Afterwards I mean."
"My first mission?"
She nodded.
He had stood outside the door of the temple, looking at the people clustered inside. Wutaian temples were rare enough in the east but you could always find one or two. He had stood there for he didn't know how long until an old man had walked past him and asked if he was going in. He had turned around and left then.
"It was a long time ago," Tseng said simply. Elena nodded, taking it to mean that he didn't remember.
"Do you. . . do you ever regret it?"
That was a complicated question.
"There is only one way to stop being a Turk," came the answer, cold. Elena was quiet for a moment.
"Still. Do you?"
Tseng sighed.
"My life is a product of the choices I have made. Regret has no meaning."
"Do you really believe that?"
"It's not a question of belief."
He stood then and offered her his hand to help her off the seat. She took it cautiously and smiled slightly at him.
"Thank you Tseng."
"You're welcome Elena."
***
Elena set the book back down on her beside table and got out of bed, much to Tom's distress. She smiled a little and walked over to her closet, revealing the trim, pressed blue suit hidden inside it. Sometimes what you believe in has little to do with faith and everything to do with survival. Elena took out her suit and ran her hands against the crisp blue fabric, an unreadable expression on her face. Then, she headed to her bathroom to get ready. She had to hurry if she didn't want to be late today.
~~~
Responses: Thanks again to everyone who has dropped me a review. Look! I have ten now! *dances*. All of your comments and criticism are well- appreciated guys and I thank you.
Jess Angel: Thanks a lot for the reviews. Do you realize that you single- handedly doubled my review count? That's pretty cool. *blush* Yeah, the opening scene was surprisingly descriptive but I'm glad you thought that it was still tasteful. I hope that you appreciated the fact that in this chapter I wrote more about 'the book'. Oh, how annoying that book can be at times. I'm also glad that you like what I'm doing with Elena's character. Every time I sit down to write, I realize that I'm walking a fine line between her being 'different' and her being ooc. It is complicated but, so far, I'm relatively satisfied. I am *so* glad that you reviewed this though. Thank you. *bows*
Ktrenal: Thanks a lot for your review Ktrenal. I'm glad that you like what I've done with Elena's character. I admit that I had to tinker with her stereotypes a little bit because the stereotypical Elena *really* wouldn't have fit in this story. I'm sorry if you find the chapter a little short. I must confess that I'm not one of those ppl who pay too much attention to chapter length. Usually, I have an idea running in my head and once it reaches its end, I end the chapter. Long or short, it doesn't really affect my decision. Thank you for your poking. I'll try to update somewhat regularly though God knows I won't be able to accomplish what you have with Ouroboros. Great story, that one is.
Incidentally, I apologize if the proverbs I wrote seem a little off. Eastern philosophy isn't exactly my strongest point. As always, if I offend I apologize because it was not my intention.
~Salvation (6)~
When Elena woke up the next morning, it was to a mild sense of déjà- vu. Sunshine was pouring in through her light beige blinds and Tom had his paws on her leg. It felt very strange, almost as if yesterday hadn't happened at all. She remembered it very clearly though: calling Reno, working on the book, that quotation- no, best not to think about that- and Reno coming over. He had brought her soup. It had been . . . very thoughtful. She'd almost say 'un-Reno-like' but that wasn't entirely true. Elena could remember a few other times when Reno's seemingly unimagined 'good guy' complex had shone out for a moment or two. She liked to tease him about it sometimes just to hear him say 'Shut up 'Lena' with that funny little mischievous smile of his. Those eyes could sparkle and laugh like you wouldn't believe when they wanted to.
Elena sat up in bed and winced at little at the tinge in her shoulders. Now that was reminiscent too, wasn't it? Except last time she had awoken uncomfortable because. . . God, why did she even bother to think about things like that? Her shoulders were hurting *now* because she had spent too much time bent over Tseng's book yesterday. That was it.
Funny. Yesterday after Reno had left, Elena had had a hard time concentrating on the book in hand. She hadn't managed to get much more translated.
For all the splendour of her day off, Elena still hadn't accomplished much. She was still awake, sore, and unwilling to go into work. She cringed a little again. That's what all this pointless musing was about, wasn't it? It didn't matter that she still had ink stains on her fingers, or that her shoulders were sore, or that Reno had smiled and brought her soup. What mattered was that she still had a problem and hiding away for a day hadn't made it any better. What the Hell was she supposed to do now? She couldn't just keep on calling in sick despite how very tempting that sounded. So, what? Quit? Heh, that was laughable. A person didn't 'quit' being a Turk. Obviously, she had to go back to work. Obviously. But. . .
Elena leaned over to her beside table and picked up Tseng's book in an attempt to distract herself from her thoughts. She opened it to a random page and scrolled down. Elena had a pretty good memory, a trait that had only been reinforced by her Turks training. God, how many times had she and Tseng walked out of a room, only for him to ask her how many men there had been at the fourth table in the back or where had the most convenient exit been placed or how many people had looked like they were carrying weapons or. . . It was something she did almost immediately now. There were four men at that table, the back right door was the best way out, three men looked dangerous etc. It had been even worse when he had been training her to remember documents. Some days, he had presented her with a pile of ten or fifteen papers. Imagine trying to remember their titles, dates, and important phrases, after only having a minute (if that) to scan them.
The important thing though was that Elena now had a very good memory. She was able to repeat things verbatim usually just after reading them once. Looking at these Wutaian phrases, Elena was able to automatically associate them with their English translations. She was certainly less adept than a native but she was slowly learning to 'read' Wutaian. Tseng might've even been proud of her, Elena thought wryly, if she hadn't taught herself using his stolen property.
She scanned the pages she had translated. There were so many little things in it. Some were easy to understand, straightforward tidbits about Wutaian culture. Others were prayers to the Wutaian gods. Elena had never really looked up any information about the pantheon of Wutaian beliefs and so some of the more specific references left her a little confused. Other things were proverbs that sounded simple at first glance but seemed to have a deeper meaning every time she returned to them. Those were her favourites. They had this simple, easily phrased style that contrasted their eloquence so wonderfully. Her eyes devoured the pages.
*Live every moment as if it is your last. Greet life with the courage you would show at your death.*
*Strength without integrity is savagery.*
*The path I took brought me to today. The path I will choose will lead me to tomorrow.*
Elena paused when she read that one. It reminded her of something that Tseng had told her a long time ago. It had been after her first job. She still remembered every gruesome detail of that one. It had supposed to be a simple surveillance mission but everything had gone wrong. She and Rude had ended up fighting for their lives just to make it out. It had been the first time she had ever killed a man.
***
Elena looked down at the group of men clustered beneath her and Rude's hiding spot and her mouth twisted in disgust. There were three men in smart business suits talking quietly together with a ring of armed guards surrounding them. Elena looked down with avid interest at the three men in the centre of the ring. They were some of Midgar's middle-class drug lords, large enough to warrant Shin-ra's notice but not powerful enough to pose a threat to the company. Usually, the upper execs at Shin-ra couldn't care less about what the drug lords did in the slums so long as they paid their respects to the proper authorities but the man that Rude and Elena had been assigned to watch seemed to be skimping lately. Shin-ra had been tipped off about this meeting between the three drug lords and so the Turks had been dispatched to gather information on the whos and whats of the deal. Simple.
Elena pulled out her binoculars and wished that she knew how to read lips the way Rude could. Tseng hadn't taught her that yet. In a way she was glad she didn't posses that particular talent though. Dealers made her skin crawl.
Suddenly, Elena turned to scan the area behind her.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Rude.
"There's nothing. Quiet," he hissed back. Elena looked away, chagrined. He was probably right; she was just being jumpy. This part of Sector Two was renowned for its high number of monster sightings though and it made her nervous. There were stories about whole groups of people disappearing overnight. The place was full of abandoned buildings with plenty of tempting dark corners. Normally this would've been considered prime real estate if it hadn't been for the squats other inhabitants. She shivered and Rude gave her a harsh look, almost as if to say 'don't screw up rookie'. Her expression hardened and she nodded once before turning back to the group of men below them.
She and Rude were hiding in an old building a good twenty-five feet away from the dealers and their armed thugs. They were far enough away to maintain secrecy but close enough for them to watch the transaction. Suddenly, Elena swivelled around again. She could've sworn. . .
"There's something there Rude," she whispered, her eyes squinting against the darkness. Rude didn't turn around. Was that a glint in the shadows? Elena's eyes widened.
"Rude!" she cried but her warning came too late. Rude went sprawling as the creature leapt onto him. Elena recognized it instantly: one of the poisonous insect-like monsters that haunted the slums.
"Rude!" she cried again, watching the older man struggle with the monster. It had him pinned against the ground, its mandibles clacking hungrily above him. He cried out as one of the creature's claws stabbed him in his side.
Everything seemed to slow down for Elena at that moment. There was Rude, there was the monster, and then suddenly her gun was in her hands. Her shot rang out, hard and pure, and the creature recoiled from the attack. It swivelled its twisted form to face her but then three more shots went off and it collapsed.
Time caught up to her and Elena ran over to Rude. He winced when she helped him sit up.
They both looked over to the men that they had been watching. All ready all the armed guards that had been surrounding them were dispersing, looking for the source of the shots.
"We have to go. Now." Rude said between gritted teeth.
"All right. Let's go."
Elena stood crouched behind a half-decayed wall, cursing silently. The sounds of bullets were ringing loudly in her ears. They had almost made it out unnoticed. Almost.
She looked over at Rude who was clutching his wounded side.
"What do we do now?" she asked, trying to be heard over endless cacophony of artillery. Rude winced and looked at their surroundings, trying to blink away the blurriness in his vision. They were in a field of rubble strewn with half destroyed walls, rows of twisted metal, and dilapidated cars. It was a good place to fight if you were fast and smart. Unfortunately, he was poisoned and Elena was an untried rookie.
"You go left. I go right. Two each." He exhaled heavily. "Then, we go."
Elena nodded but he could still see the fear in her eyes.
"Okay."
Both Turks leapt off in different directions, dodging bullets as they went, firing, firing. . .
There is a door in the hallway of the Turks offices with a single key card. Beyond that door lie three more doors. One of these doors leads to a room the Turks call Detox. When a mission goes wrong, that's where Turks go.
It was where Rude had been wheeled into to after he and Elena had been brought back to headquarters by helicopter. Tseng had met them at the helicopter pad with two nervous looking doctors. Then, without a word, Rude had been strapped to a stretcher and then wheeled down into Detox. That had been forty minutes ago.
Amazing how much a room could change in forty minutes. Elena had never liked Detox because it reminded her too much of a hospital. The room was painted in a sickening not-quite-white and was lined with cool sterile counters. Two surgical beds took up most of the space in the room. She stood beside one and tried to imagine what kind of a scene it could have been when Rude had been brought in. Chaotic perhaps? Had the doctors been frantically passing instruments between each other like frightened insects while Tseng had coolly looked on? Or had they been pragmatism made flesh as they had discussed Rude's various wounds and the poisons leaking into his veins? Probably the later considering the short time that it had required them to 'fix' their broken Turk. After forty gruelling minutes of antidote injections, rushed stitching, and massive use of curative magic, Rude had been pronounced fit. Somewhere in all of that, someone had managed to restore Detox to its original state. It was once again nauseatingly sterile, all the bloodied bandages and utensils having been properly disposed of. The efficiency of the Shin-ra staff both impressed and sickened Elena.
In the end, she only knew one joy in all of this: the room's most essential element was now free for her use. Stored away in the back of the room was a beautifully clean and complete shower.
Detox got its name because there a Turk could literally be 'detoxified'. Wounds were healed and cleaned. Bloody uniforms were destroyed in special containers that would burn any contents placed inside them. Then, after everything, all that was left to do was wash the blood off your hands. Or face. Or body.
In Elena's case, it seemed to be everywhere. Rude's blood. Her blood. Their blood. Everywhere. Her uniform had been splattered with in. Some of it coated her hair. She had never expected. . . Elena closed her eyes against the flood of images that threatened to overwhelm her.
/*She crept up behind the man. He was looking over at where Rude had just dived and never expected the bullet that sunk into his brain from behind. It was a messy way to die.
Another man –why were there always more of them?- tackled her, sending her flying against the ground. All the air rushed out of her lungs as the man was suddenly on top of her. Her instincts took over and she kicked upwards. The man's hands reached for her throat but hers were faster. The shot rang out like a fist in the gut.
One more coming up from behind her. She spun around and the heel of her foot connected with the man's chest. He crumbled in a heap, clutching broken ribs. Frantically, he tried to grab the gun that had flung free of his hands but he was too slow. Elena's foot crushed down on his fingers, breaking bone and pinning them to the ground. Her own shot rang hollow as he looked up at her. He had had such a surprised expression as the bullet ran through his heart.*/
Shaking hands searched for the shower's valve and steam rose up from the sudden downpour of hot water. Elena cranked the heat up to maximum and scrubbed frantically. At her feet, red water drained away.
Tseng had had Rude taken back to his apartment by one of the private drivers they had at Shin-ra. His injuries hadn't been overly grievous but he had been feeling very drained from the combined effect of the poison and materia healing. Now, all that was left for Tseng to do was to check on Elena. Before he had left, Rude had made sure to tell Tseng of Elena's role in their escape. In the end, Elena had had to practically carry Rude to their fall-out shelter because he had been so weakened by the paralysing effect of the monster's poison. At the shelter, she had radioed for help and organized Rude's quick trip to Detox. Tseng had been impressed.
He had been waiting for her in his office for a good twenty minutes before he had decided to go down to check on her. He disliked leaving his Turks alone for too long after their first mission.
When Tseng entered Detox, he was greeted with a cloud of hot steam.
"Elena?" he asked, unanswered. He could hear the sound of dripping water still. His pulse quickened a little as he tried to perceive her in the think mist.
"Elena?"
For a brief moment, he was afraid of what he might find. It was always possible. Not everyone could handle the pressure. Maybe she hadn't been ready. Maybe. . .
"Elena?" he asked a third time and this time a voice piped up behind him.
"I'm right here Tseng."
Tseng couldn't help but feel relieved. He could see her now, sitting on a surgical bed, bare legs showing under the towel that she had wrapped around herself. Elena tried to smile at him and failed miserably. Tseng sighed and walked over to her. He took a seat on the bed beside her. Looking over at her, he was shocked to see how red her skin was. His fingertips brushed against the skin of her bare shoulders when he noticed that the skin there was peeling slightly there.
"Are you hurt?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head.
"No. I just. . . I just couldn't get clean, you know?"
Tseng nodded sagely. They were quiet for a moment.
"Is it always like this?" Elena asked sadly.
Tseng shook his head.
"It's always worse the first time."
"Does it ever get better?"
How to explain to her that it didn't get better but that you felt it less and less? Instead, he just shrugged.
"Everyone is different."
She seemed to take that in.
"What did you do? Afterwards I mean."
"My first mission?"
She nodded.
He had stood outside the door of the temple, looking at the people clustered inside. Wutaian temples were rare enough in the east but you could always find one or two. He had stood there for he didn't know how long until an old man had walked past him and asked if he was going in. He had turned around and left then.
"It was a long time ago," Tseng said simply. Elena nodded, taking it to mean that he didn't remember.
"Do you. . . do you ever regret it?"
That was a complicated question.
"There is only one way to stop being a Turk," came the answer, cold. Elena was quiet for a moment.
"Still. Do you?"
Tseng sighed.
"My life is a product of the choices I have made. Regret has no meaning."
"Do you really believe that?"
"It's not a question of belief."
He stood then and offered her his hand to help her off the seat. She took it cautiously and smiled slightly at him.
"Thank you Tseng."
"You're welcome Elena."
***
Elena set the book back down on her beside table and got out of bed, much to Tom's distress. She smiled a little and walked over to her closet, revealing the trim, pressed blue suit hidden inside it. Sometimes what you believe in has little to do with faith and everything to do with survival. Elena took out her suit and ran her hands against the crisp blue fabric, an unreadable expression on her face. Then, she headed to her bathroom to get ready. She had to hurry if she didn't want to be late today.
~~~
Responses: Thanks again to everyone who has dropped me a review. Look! I have ten now! *dances*. All of your comments and criticism are well- appreciated guys and I thank you.
Jess Angel: Thanks a lot for the reviews. Do you realize that you single- handedly doubled my review count? That's pretty cool. *blush* Yeah, the opening scene was surprisingly descriptive but I'm glad you thought that it was still tasteful. I hope that you appreciated the fact that in this chapter I wrote more about 'the book'. Oh, how annoying that book can be at times. I'm also glad that you like what I'm doing with Elena's character. Every time I sit down to write, I realize that I'm walking a fine line between her being 'different' and her being ooc. It is complicated but, so far, I'm relatively satisfied. I am *so* glad that you reviewed this though. Thank you. *bows*
Ktrenal: Thanks a lot for your review Ktrenal. I'm glad that you like what I've done with Elena's character. I admit that I had to tinker with her stereotypes a little bit because the stereotypical Elena *really* wouldn't have fit in this story. I'm sorry if you find the chapter a little short. I must confess that I'm not one of those ppl who pay too much attention to chapter length. Usually, I have an idea running in my head and once it reaches its end, I end the chapter. Long or short, it doesn't really affect my decision. Thank you for your poking. I'll try to update somewhat regularly though God knows I won't be able to accomplish what you have with Ouroboros. Great story, that one is.