Arriving at the bar, Reno and Rude both seemed to relax considerably. It had almost become a tradition for the two to stop by the bar Friday night after work. Seating themselves at the bar, they ordered their drinks. As they waited, Reno pulled a crumpled up pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket and lit one up. He offered one to Rude, who merely held up his hands in decline. Reno shook his head as he blew a cloud of smoke across the bar. The two were as close as friends could be, but different as night and day. Reno and Rude had been recruited for the Turks at the same time and had immediately hit it off. Reno was loud, obnoxious, and stubborn while Rude was quiet, analytical and reliable. Reno smoked and had a mouth that would easily rival Cid Highwind's any day. Rude was never big on smoking and usually left the cursing to Reno, who swore more than enough for the both of them. Where Reno was one extreme, Rude was the exact opposite. And that,' thought Reno to himself, is probably why we get along so well.'

The drinks came, and Reno threw back half of his beer in the first gulp. "So, Rude, what do you think of Elena? She's been a Turk for over a month now."

Rude thought about the eager blonde Turk while absently swirling his drink. "She's a little short in the fighting and common sense department, but she more than makes up for it with her knowledge of computers and electronics."

"She's got it bad for Tseng."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Very funny, Rude. You think he knows?"

"I don't see how he could miss it."

"I think we should set em up. You know, kinda like a blind date thing, only without either of them knowing? Maybe in some sort of cheap, sleazy hotel..."

"And I think you should just stay out of it."

"And you know, Tseng has been a little stressed out lately. Maybe some womanly companionship would help him ease up a bit."

"Maybe if you didn't run around the office in your boxers, Tseng wouldn't be so stressed out in the first place."

"...That was great, wasn't it? Did you see the look on Elena's face? Getting chewed out by Tseng was worth it just for her reaction!"

The two laughed at the memory and settled into a comfortable silence. Reno finished his drink and ordered another. "So, how was picking up little Miss Shinra today?"

Rude groaned. "I'll be very happy if I never, ever have to deal with her again."

"She good lookin'?"

"She looks like a female version of Rufus."

"I'm not sure if that's good or bad."

"She'd be okay if she lost the whiney attitude. I ended up casting a sleep spell on her and carrying her out of the slums."

Reno snorted with laughter. "I'll bet she was pissed when she woke up."

"She was."

A few beers later, Reno looked up at Rude with glassy eyes and a silly expression on his face. "Hey Rude? Tseng's got nice hair. Ya think he uses conditioner?"

Rude threw some gil on the bar to cover the drinks and pulled Reno off the bar stool. "You know, the problem with you Reno, is I can never really tell how drunk you are, because you say stupid stuff like this even when you're completely sober."

Reno just smiled. "I'm not drunk Rude. My hair just never looks as nice as his."

"I'm sure Tseng combs his out once in a while."

"Oh. At least you don't hic have to worry bout that..."

Tseng stayed at his desk until late that evening, looking over the schedule for the next week. Shinra had provided the Turks with a massive gym for them to train and work out in, and Tseng insisted that they all make full use of it, at least twice a week.

Monday would be a good day for that. Reno and Rude were superb close range fighters, and Elena was a crack-shot. The three had yet to work as a team in battle, but Tseng was pretty sure that with Reno and Rude mercilessly pummeling the enemy, and Elena alternating between shooting and healing, the three would be unstoppable. However, a Turk should be well trained in more than one kind of weapon, and Elena desperately needed to properly learn how to use her fists in combat. Monday would give them a chance for the four to brush up on their hand to hand combat skills.

Packing up his belongings, Tseng thought about Elena. He knew from the moment he'd met her that she harbored a pretty hefty crush on him. He tried to remain neutral around her. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy her company, or didn't think she was attractive, but he had a job to do. He knew relationships between coworkers often ended bitterly, especially when two people worked so close together. He couldn't risk either of them fumbling a mission because of emotions.

Tseng walked to the elevator, finally ready to go home for the weekend. Most people would crack under the kind of stress Tseng bore, but he really did love his job. He loved the adrenaline high he got during missions, and the feeling of a job well done afterwards. He liked the responsibility of training new Turks and shaping them into functional members of Shinra. He was very fond of the people he worked with. He could always count on Reno for comic relief around the office when tensions were high. Even though he ended up disciplining Reno at least every other day for some thing or another, he usually did it holding back a smile. Rude, on the other hand, was a constant source of sanity for Tseng. Keeping his redheaded friend in check, and responsible and dependable to the last, Tseng was sure Rude would advance quickly.

The elevator stopped on the ground floor, and Tseng walked to his car, more than ready to go home.

The weekend was over all too quickly for Elena. As she walked into the office Monday morning, she found Rude and Tseng standing in the middle of the room. She gingerly set her purse down on her desk, and snapped on the computer.

"Actually, you wont be needing the computer today, Elena," called Tseng.

Elena looked at the two men in the middle of the room with a confused face.

"It's one of Tseng's self-declared training days," explained Rude.

"As soon as Reno gets here, we start," finished Tseng.

Elena scratched the back of her neck, mildly worried. She had only been a Turk officially for just over five weeks, but she knew what Tseng's training days' could be like. She was in top physical shape, but that really didn't matter much when you couldn't throw a good punch.

A few minutes later, Reno walked in, sober and with a goofy grin on his face. Elena gave a small laugh. "Reno? Sober at 8 in the morning? Why, whatever has come over you?"

Unfortunately, Tseng and Rude knew exactly what he was so happy about from the look on his face. Tseng knew from experience that when Reno came in like this in the morning, he had either visited the Honey Bee Inn, or had gotten to know some woman at a bar very well. He silently prayed that Elena would stop harassing Reno before he could start spouting off every detail of his wild night, as was usual.

"'Whatever has come over me?'" repeated Reno, his grin widening. "Let me think..."

"Reno, not now. We're going to the gym today," Tseng stepped in.

"Awww, Tseng, today? Common, we're all in great shape. And let me assure you, I definitely got a workout last night!" laughed Reno. He started to laugh even harder as he saw Elena's face redden as she figured out what Reno was so happy about.

It took a few minutes, but after Tseng finally had the group under control, they all rode the elevator up to the gym. There was one locker room in the back, outfitted with a simple wooden bench and 8 lockers. After each Turk went to their respective locker to obtain their workout uniform, the three men left wordlessly, with Tseng pulling the door shut behind them so Elena could change.

She neatly hung up her coat, pants, and crisply pressed white shirt, exchanging them for a grey sweat suit. Sitting on the bench to lace up her running shoes, she heard a light knock on the door. "It's alright, you can come in," she called.

The door opened. Rude and Tseng hung up their uniforms as neatly as Elena had, while Reno balled his up and held them like a basketball. Attempting to make a basket' into his open locker, he overshot and his wad of clothes ended up on top of the locker. Kicking his locker shut in disgust and ignoring the stifled laughter coming from the other three Turks, he walked out to the middle of the gym with Rude, Tseng and Elena at his heels. They looked expectantly at Tseng, wondering what the fearless Turk leader had planned for them to work on today.

"Today I figured we would work on close range, hand to hand combat. You can never practice that enough. Weapons can be lost or misfire, but you always have your fists. Ultimately, they are your backup and may save your life, should you ever be in such a position."

The group nodded as Tseng went on. "We all have different fighting styles, so I want everyone to fight with everyone. The more you practice, the faster it becomes second nature. We have more than enough mastered Cure materia and half a day off after this, so I don't want anyone to hold back. Especially you, Elena. Don't be afraid to go after us with all you've got." Elena nodded weakly. "Alright, I want Reno and Rude together, and Elena and me first." Tseng finished. The group nodded once more as Rude and Reno strolled over to the opposite corner of the gym.

"Alright, Elena. Show me your stance," ordered Tseng.

Hesitantly, Elena stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, her right foot slightly in front of her left. Balling up her fists and holding them in front of her chest, she looked at Tseng.

"Your posture is good, but you're going to break your thumbs that way," Tseng noted and he unfurled her fists and placed her thumbs on the outside of her fingers. "Alright, now you're ready. The key to fighting is finding your opponent's weak spot. There's always some area that they fail to block well. Once you see that, go after that area. The tricky thing is not letting them see one of your weak spots. Just remember that and you'll be fine. For now, I'll try and block all your punches and kicks. Don't worry about guarding yourself, just try and find a good place to attack me."

Elena gritted her teeth in compliance as Tseng went into a defensive battle posture and gestured for her to start. Taking a deep breath, and ignoring the grunts and groans of pain that Rude and Reno were inflicting on each other, she quickly swung her fist at Tseng's head. Tseng merely brought up his arm, swiping her hand away from his face. She tried to kick him in the stomach, but before her foot could come in contact with him, he grabbed her by the ankle, throwing her off balance.

Frustrated, Elena was determined more than ever to show Tseng what she could do. She raised her leg up and stomped on Tseng's foot as hard as she could. Tseng hadn't been expecting that and momentarily lost his focus. Seeing her window of opportunity, Elena jabbed him in the stomach, and as he fought the urge to double over, she jumped onto his back. She kicked the back of his knee, knocking it from under him and pinned him to the floor. She heard laughing and looked up at Reno. Flustered, she rolled off Tseng's back and the two wearily got up. Rude had a small smile on his face and Reno was applauding her effort.

"Man, you fight like a girl, Elly! I'm surprised you didn't pull his hair or scratch him with your nails!" shrieked Reno through his fits of laughter.

"Reno..." Tseng warned through the tone of his voice, "Elena did exactly what I told her to. I told her to look for an area I was bad at blocking. Apparently, that's my foot." He smiled at Elena. "Good job. I had expected that to take longer."

Elena beamed.

"Alright, let's switch. Now that Elena's got the basics, I want her to take on Rude." Elena blanched, not noticing the look Tseng threw at Rude, clearly saying go easy on her, but make it a fair fight'.

Rude nodded in acknowledgment. As the two began to walk to the same corner where Rude had been previously, Elena looked up at Rude clearly intimidated. She knew she was no match for his large, solid muscle frame. As she looked at her partner, Tseng's words replayed in her head; "I don't want anyone to hold back..."

Swallowing, she looked at Rude and nodded, saying she was ready. All I have to do is what I did with Tseng. Just find a weak spot,' she thought. However, her train of thought quickly derailed as she saw Rude pounce from his stance. Holding back the scream she desperately wanted to cry, she collapsed to the floor, arms over her head. Although she knew that must have looked very weak on her part, she had managed to escape Rude's punch.

Standing up, she quickly thought back to her previous fight with Tseng. Deciding that her technique might work here, she raised her foot again in an attempt to repeat it. But Rude had witnessed his leader fall for this and had expected her to try it again. Reaching down, he grabbed her ankle and swung her over his hip. She landed with a dull thud, but sprang back up in a flash.

She ran around to his back before he could turn around and jumped up, arms around his throat and her ankles locked around the front of his waist. She wriggled and struggled wildly, trying to somehow knock him off balance from her position. However, her small frame wasn't enough to knock 230 pounds of muscle over, and Rude ended up just standing there, waiting for her to back down.

From across the gym, Reno and Tseng were engaged in a heated fight. Out of the corner of his eye, Reno noticed that Rude was just standing there. Noticing Reno's pause, Tseng looked over at Rude. As the two walked over, Tseng threw Rude a questioning glance. Even with Elena still struggling on his shoulders, he managed a nonchalant shrug. After another minute of useless struggling, a winded Elena gave up. Rude kneeled on the padded floor and Elena climbed off his back.

Oh, that sure went well,' thought Elena as she looked at Tseng.

Tseng, in return, looked as the clock on the wall, and then back at the three Turks. "Well, I think maybe that's enough for today," The relief in Rude's face was obvious. "You're all dismissed."

The group made their way back to the locker room, blissfully unaware of what would happen at the Shinra mansion that night.

As Rene Shinra climbed into bed for the evening, she smiled. She loved visiting her uncle and her cousin. Her dad was President Shinra's brother, and part owner of the company, making her immediate family very wealthy. However, her own family was nothing like the president and Rufus. They made a habit of telling her to count her blessings' or give to the less fortunate' or some other philosophical garbage like that. They were hypocrites; neither her mom nor her dad ever did any of those things. It was only around her Uncle Shinra and Rufus where she could act herself. Her normal snobby, conceited self. As she pulled the expensive silk sheets over her, she heard a faint click come from the front door of the guest house. She figured it was either her uncle or Rufus and walked out towards the front door.

"...Hello?" she called, noticing the front door was open. Panic setting in, she began to run to the phone, only to be roughly caught by the arm. "Going somewhere?" a harsh voice pressed.

Out of sheer fright, Rene fainted. "Good, that makes getting her out of here a bit easier," commented one man to the other.

"Whatever, let's just go," prodded the other. "This place creeps me out." Leaving a small note on the coffee table, the two black clad men quietly crept to the running car waiting just outside the parameter of the mansion.

The next morning, Heidegger ran as fast as his short, stubby legs would carry him. After catching his breath during the elevator ride to the Turk floor, he raced to Tseng's desk. Tseng looked up at the chubby man and immediately knew something was very wrong.

"What is it Heidegger?" asked Tseng. The three other Turks had stopped what they were doing to listen to his reply.

"President huff Shinra's niece...she's been taken hostage!"