Author's notes: I find this a little ironic. One morning, I literally woke up, went 'oh', and realized what I had to write in this chapter. However, the actual writing of the chapter proved to be a bit more challenging than I had expected. Not only that, the original idea that made me go 'oh' in the first place wasn't even included in this bloody thing. Stupid muses.

Also, the good people that run this site have decided to change their formatting... again. This makes this difficult for me because I don't usually write with double spaced paragraphs. Obviously, I no longer have a choice in the matter. Bloody inconvenient, that is. So, from now on, here's how my formatting is going to have to run. One indent is just a change in paragraph. Because I usually right some short paragraphs, that might become tedius and I'm really sorry. Second, for a change of perspective (ie. place/point of vue) I'll use three dashes (---). For a flashback, I'll just use the word flashback in paratheses. Stars don't work anymore! Sadness. If it's not working out, write me some suggestions, k? Thanks.

Salvation (12)

Elena remembered this scene well. She stood outside a glass window looking into a hospital room where a man lay. To her, he looked barely alive. In truth, the bleeding and a post-surgery infection had nearly killed him. There was something different this time though. The first time Elena had seen this, the man had been nothing to her. She had felt a twinge of sadness for the man who lay so close to death but mostly she had been in awe of him. After all, he had single-handedly killed countless thousands of people.

But this time it was different. This time, Elena knew this man. She knew him and it was killing her to see him enshrouded in wires and plastic tubing with monitors clicking away the slow unsteady beat of his heart.

Tseng also looked in on the scene, his face a cool mask. He had wanted Elena to see the man she was replacing. At the time, his aloofness had seemed appropriate. What do you say to a stranger looking in on your comatose partner? What words could you possibly say to convey the importance of such a thing to an outsider? Now though, his detached presence alarmed Elena. She wanted him to tell her that Reno would be alright, she wanted him to let her share in his grief, but Tseng remained silent.

In her mind, Elena struggled against the memory. She wanted so much to run over to the comatose man and save him from his fate. She wanted to rip out all the intruding wires and unfeeling metal and snap him back to life. But she could not.

As if hearing her silent plea, Reno rolled over in his bed. Elena leapt forward towards the window and pressed her hand against the glass. Mako blue eyes opened and looked out at her blurrily. Impossibly, she heard him speak.

"Elena," Reno whispered.

There was the flash of a memory, a sudden pain in her face and her heart, warm hands and a comforting voice, and then suddenly it wasn't Reno lying in that bed. Another had taken his place. A woman.

Elena stood by her bedside, strangely fascinated by the great impersonal machines that tracked her failing heartbeat. The woman's skin was ashen and grey. Her cheekbones jutted out at strange angles and her eyes were dark and sunken. Her shoulder bones were jarringly visible under her flimsy hospital gown. Though the room was maintained at a comfortable temperature, the woman was sweating and shivering alternatively. Her hair,once a vibrant, lively blonde now clung to her skull limp and thin.

The woman turned her face to Elena and looked at her with dark brown eyes. Even they looked changed. The woman's once warm and loving gaze was clouded almost completely over with pain. Elena trembled when a skeletal hand reached out towards her.

"Elena," the woman whispered to her.

And then it wasn't her mother in that bed but herself. She was seven years old and she was huddling under her covers, shivering and trying so hard not to make any noise. There was a monster outside her bedroom but if she was very still and very quiet, he'd forget about her.

Elena could hear him weeping and raging outside her room but if she was very quiet...

Something crashed outside and Elena let out a small little shriek. Then, suddenly, there was nothing, no sound. And that was infinitely more terrifying than all the other noises.

With an expression of mounting terror, Elena watched the door of her room. The doorknob was turning slowly...

"...Elena?"

---

"Hey, 'Lena!"

Reno shook the smaller woman softly.

"'Lena wake up!"

Elena suddenly threw her hand up around herself and Reno backed off instinctively. For a moment, Elena couldn't remember where she was. She looked around her room wildly. Then, she sighed heavily and lay back down in her bed. She closed her eyes wearily.

"You alright?" Reno asked.

Elena nodded.

"Nightmare," she explained unnecessarily.

"Figured," Reno said simply, taking a seat again in the chair by her beside. Elena was at once relieved and disappointed when he didn't ask her to elaborate. After a moment of silence, Elena added impulsively,

"You were in it, you know." Reno tensed and Elena winced at how that had sounded.

"What I meant was," she said slowly, rolling over to face him, "my nightmare was about you. At the hospital, after Sector Seven."

Reno's face clouded but he didn't comment.

"I'm sorry," Elena said contritely, her eyes turning downcast. "I shouldn't have told you that."

Reno shook his head.

"Nah, 'Lena, it's alright. But that was a while ago. You shouldn't be thinkin' 'bout stuff like that." He paused for a moment. "Sorry if it... made you worry."

Elena gave Reno a peculiar grin.

"Really?" she asked, a little amused. Reno smiled.

"Yeah, really. A rookie like you needs her beauty sleep," Reno teased and Elena laughed quietly. Her face suddenly darkened though and she sat up in bed.

"Reno, about last night..." Reno waved Elena's words away dismissively and she frowned at him.

"No, I'm serious Reno. I wanted to say... thank you. I know you didn't want to get dragged into this-"

"It's alright 'Lena," Reno cut in suddenly. Elena fell silent and Reno seemed to wrestle with his words.

"Look, 'Lena," he finally said, "we're Turks. We gotta look out for each other, right?"

Elena stayed quiet for a moment before answering.

"I think I... I think I made a mistake last night. With him, I mean. But I was just so sick of not really knowing him, you know?"

Reno winced and looked away from the younger woman.

"Elena, look... there are lots of bad people in the world, k? But Tseng isn't one of them." Reno paused for a moment before looking back towards Elena and continuing more slowly. "But any man who hurts a woman, that man's a bad person."

This time, Elena winced and touched her hand to her cheek.

"Are they bad?"

"Noticeable," Reno said honestly. Now it was Elena's time to sigh. She leaned back in her bed.

"I love him Reno," the words caught her and the older man by surprise. Reno was quiet for a moment.

"Then that makes this more complicated," he said eventually. Elena laughed bitterly.

"I suppose it does."

Reno seemed to think it over again.

"Do you want to see him again?"

Elena didn't answer right away. She looked directly at Reno trying to read him but it was an impossible task. He was keeping his face deliberately neutral. One more mask, came Elena's unexpected thought.

"Yes," she finally answered. "Yes I do."

Something flicked across Reno's face just for a second but it was gone before Elena really had a chance to take it in.

"Alright then," he said. He stood up then.

"Where are you going?" Elena asked, confused. Reno chuckled.

"Work."

Elena's eyes widened.

"God, what time is it?"

Reno chuckled again.

"Don't worry about it 'Lena. I'll cover for you. In fact, I don't want you coming into work today. That's an order."

Elena frowned and Reno pushed the matter.

"I'm serious. No work, nothin' 'Lena. Just rest up a bit, k?"

Elena nodded and Reno grinned.

"Good."

He turned to leave the room and Elena called out to him.

"So are we back to ''Lena'?"

Reno paused in her doorway. He seemed a little tense to Elena and he didn't turn to face her when he replied.

"What?"

"Last night, you called me Elena. I don't remember you ever doing that before."

This time, Reno turned to face the younger woman. His face was blank again and he shrugged.

"It's just a name."

"Still," Elena pursued, "it was nice."

Reno looked down at his feet. Quietly, he said,

"I could call you Elena if you'd like me to."

Elena frowned looking at Reno. Suddenly, she felt like this conversation had crossed some boundary she had never even noticed before. Her answer suddenly felt very important.

The memory of her dream came back to her. She felt an old ache in her heart remembering her mother whispering that name to her and a vivid scar of fear when she remembered her father but when Reno had spoken to her last night using her proper name she had only heard warmth and concern in his voice.

"Yes," she said softly. Then more firmly, "Yes, I'd like that a lot Reno."

He looked up at her and she smiled at him softly. He gave her a small smile in return.

"Then, rest up... Elena."

Her smile widened.

"I will... and thanks Reno."

Reno grinned, his old self again. Without another word, he left Elena alone in her bedroom.

---

By the time Reno had made it to his car, most of his good mood had evaporated. He swung into his car and made a face similar to a man who had bitten an exceedingly sour grape. Despite what Reno had said to Elena, he hadn't really wanted to get involved in all of this. What he wanted, he reflected bitterly, was a hot shower and a cold beer but he knew he wasn't going to get either of them. For some reason, it seemed to have fallen to him make everything right between the two ill-fated lovers. That irony was not lost upon him but he certainly didn't feel like laughing at it. So, instead of returning home, showering, drinking, and calling in 'sick' he was going to drag his sorry sleep-deprived carcass into work and shove a bit of sense down Tseng's throat. Reno was annoyed enough to smile slightly at that. He had a kink in his neck that was stubbornly refusing to leave him alone and an empty, painful feeling in the back of his head. Even though he had managed to be pleasant for Elena, he felt no such compulsion for Tseng. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Reno's face darkened. There were quite a few things he needed to say to his superior officer today and none of them were going to be pleasant.

Reno pressed down on the accelerator and sped towards the Shinra headquarters.

---

Rude was sitting in his office, reading a newspaper. When there was a distinctive rap at his door, he looked up.

"Hey Rude," Reno said. Rude nodded to his partner. "You seen Tseng?"

"In his office," Rude answered in his brassy rumble. Reno nodded once, spun around, and was gone. Rude pointedly ignored the tension Reno had left in his wake and continued perusing his paper.

---

Reno entered Tseng's office without knocking, a surprising dismissal of that particular office taboo. Tseng looked up at the younger Turk but his face remained impassive.

"Reno," Tseng said simply.

"Tseng," Reno replied, his voice equally cool. For a moment neither of the men spoke.

"What brings you here?" Tseng asked smoothly. Reno's words jumped over his.

"You know damn well why I'm here," Reno snarled. Tseng leaned back in his chair and eyed Reno speculatively.

"You saw Elena?" Tseng asked though the statement was not truly a question.

"Yeah," Reno said, with a nod that was more of a jab. "I fucking saw her. You have some nerve Tseng."

Tseng did not reply which only made Reno angrier.

"What? Aren't you going to at least going to ask how she was? If she was upset or scared or fucking hurt?" Reno particularly spat the last word. Again, Tseng did not reply.

"You have some fucking nerve Tseng," Reno repeated. "I just don't get it. A guy like you, it wouldn't be hard for you to find yourself a bit of tail. Shit, walk out to the fucking street corner if that's all your after. I got no problems with that or with you. But what gets me, what fucking gets me, is that you think you can do the same thing with Elena. I mean, for fuck sake's Tseng, she ain't 'xactly a fucking hooker! She's a Turk Tseng! I thought that meant something to you, I thought that maybe all that shit you told us about loyalty and dignity and all that crap wasn't entirely bullshit but I guess that you lied to us the exact same way I'm sure you've lied to her!"

At the end of his spiel, Reno was practically yelling and he was seething visibly. Both of his fists were clenched in some sort of last-ditch effort of control. As his last words died in the room, Tseng sat forward in his chair. He looked up at the standing Reno, his eyes dark and unfathomable.

"I have never lied to either you or Elena, Reno." Tseng said quietly and smoothly. "Last night, Elena and I had a disagreement and I was concerned for her well-being."

"So I suppose those bruises just fucking magically appeared on her face, Tseng?" Reno asked sarcastically. That attack seemed to register on Tseng. For a moment, he looked stung.

"That was... unintentional."

"No shit," Reno said, flippant.

Tseng's jawline was becoming tense. Reno could tell he was making him angry and that his boss was fighting to maintain his control but at the moment the younger man truly did not care. He didn't worry about the consequences of his blatant insubordination or the damage it might wreck on his tentative and fragile relationship with Tseng. All he truly cared about at that moment was Elena and her well-being made all of the risks non-consequential. In that moment, Reno's rage did not cool. Instead it peaked and reached a point of white-cool. When he spoke next to Tseng, his voice was icy.

"Tseng, I honestly do not care about you or your past or whatever fucked up relationship you are having with Elena. All I know is that last night I went over to her apartment, like you asked me to, like a good fucking little Turk," Reno practically spat the word, "to see her fucking broken, do you understand me Tseng? I don't care what you said or what she said or what fucked up justification you think you have in this. To me, it doesn't matter. But I will tell you this. You are going to go see her and you are going to fix whatever it was you said to her. You can break it off with her if you want or you guys can make up and fuck like stupid little bunnies, I don't care. I don't care if you love her or hate her or if you just like getting off with her but you will go see her. Tonight. Now. Because, if you don't I will walk."

When Reno spoke that last line, an uneasy quiet descended in the room. Neither man seemed quite able to process what Reno had just said.

"Reno..." Tseng started slowly but Reno cut him off, his voice continuing in that harsh, uneasy, yet quietly bitter tone.

"Tseng, I don't care about the consequences. Don't say it, I know: there's only one way to stop being a Turk. It doesn't matter. Either you fix what you've done to Elena or I am gone Tseng, gone, and I am not coming back. Because if you can't fix what you've done to Elena, then everything you've ever told me about respect and loyalty and companionship, all the stupid little speeches, everything was a lie, no matter what you say." Reno paused in exasperation.

"How could you?" Reno asked, his voice breaking a little on the question. "How could you just pick her up and... this is Elena Tseng! She's a Turk, and a damn good one too. She wasn't just some girl. She's one of us! And if you don't have a problem turning on her, what about me an' Rude, huh? Because Tseng, we need you to look out for us! Shit man, we need you watching our backs just like we watch yours. There's a fuck load of people out there – and in here for shit's sake – that wouldn't mind taking us out. If we can't trust you then who the fuck can we trust? If we can't rely on you to look out for us, who do we rely on? Huh? Nah, I can't do it. I won't do it. Fix this or I'm gone. Because if you can't fix this then there's no fucking reason for me to be here anymore."

At that final statement, Reno finally spun away from Tseng. He was about to leave the room when Tseng's voice, soft as ever, interrupted him.

"How do you even know she wants to see me?" he asked. Reno chuckled softly, bitterly, at that before looking back at Tseng over his shoulder.

"She fucking loves you Tseng. She wants to see you again."

With that, Reno left the room and didn't look back.

================================================================

Responses:

Jess Angel: There's always more Reno. {grins}It's ironic because he was supposed to be something of a comic relief character in this. He certainly changed roles quickly. I wonder if you enjoyed the 'talk' with Tseng? Reno seems to swear a lot when angry. Heh heh. And don't worry. You'll hear plenty about 'her' later on. Next chapter, Elena and Tseng have to talk as well. Then, flashback time. {grins}

I like the word filmatic. It seems too appropriate not to be a word. {grins} I'm glad you find the way I cut scences beneficial. I can't help it. I don't like sticking in one scene too long. So long as it doesn't come across choppy, I'm happy.

And you are very much welcome for the tips on the writing block. Did it help at all? I thought of something else I do sometimes. Ever tried writing to music? With lyrics or otherwise. Sometimes, when I'm writing a fanfic or songfic and I get stuck on something, I play whatever song inspired it (if there was one) over and over again. Sometimes it works even if the song doesn't have something to do with the fic but has the right 'feel' to it, if that makes any sense. I don't know if that'll help or not but I thought I'd pass that along too. Good luck Jess Angel! And thanks a lot for the review!