Chapter 14: Clarification

The tickle fight finally comes to a halt when Elena is forced onto her back and she wraps all four limbs around Reno, pulling him into the aptly named guillotine choke. "Hey, free spinal adjustment." he jokes, wriggling around in an attempt to escape. After seeing that she has the choke on too firmly for him to slip loose, he relaxes. "Sneaky move. I ever tell you what a devious woman you are, Lena?"

"Flattery won't get you out of this," she purrs, "but don't stop trying."

"Did I mention how beautiful you are?" he tries. "And I love that thing you do with your toun-" he chokes off as she momentarily tightens the hold.

"We're not alone here, remember?"

"All the more reason to brag about how lucky I am."

"Heh, you're incorrigible."

"Hey, that's why you love me, right?"

"Well, that's one of the reasons." She releases her grip, allowing him to climb to his feet.

He then reaches down and helps her stand, stealing a quick kiss as he does so. "The hell're you all staring at?" he asks when he notices that most of the members of Avalanche are looking at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"Shit, what the hell were you doing?" Barret demands.

"It's called fun. You've heard of that concept, right?" the smirking redhead sarcastically asks while wiping pizza out of his hair with a piece of damp paper towel.

"Damn smartass." Barret accuses after fuming for a moment.

"That I am." Reno calmly replies with a wider smirk while mixing Vermouth and Vodka in a cup.

"Hey," Cloud says, "you got me curious. What's that plan you wanted to use instead of dropping Sector Seven?"

"Simple. I'd've climbed up into the plate's understructure above her bar with my best sniper rifle and six rounds of ammo. Rude would've brought his spotting scope. Six easy shots, minimal effort, and no collateral damage. But the old man wanted something more flashy to make the company's search & rescue division look good and give him an excuse to restart that Neo-Midgar bullshit."

"That'd be a hell of a shot." Barret observes.

"Nah, I made tougher shots back in the war."

"What, you claiming to be Shin-Ra's best shooter or sumpthin'?"

"No, just the best looking."

"You've got some nice moves." Tifa compliments Elena on the other side of the room.

"Thanks." she replies after swallowing a mouthful of pizza.

"How do you stay so skinny eating like that?" she asks, sitting down next to Elena and pouring herself some Crème de Cacao.

"Mako enhancement." Tifa chuckles at this. "Seriously. A faster metabolism's one of the side-effects. Took me forever to get used to it and get Reno to quit making anorexia jokes." she says with a smile.

"What do you see in that guy, anyway?"

"Oh, it's complicated. I guess the main thing's we really understand and trust each other. We've spent hours just talking, sharing basically everything with each other."

"But what about all the things he's done? All the people he's killed?"

"He had his reasons. And you can't expect to make a serious relationship work if you won't accept the bad with the good in someone. Besides, my hands aren't clean either, so I can't go judging him."

"You can't have done that much, you haven't been a Turk long."

"I never kept track, but I'd already killed a lot of people before the company hired me. The first was when I was eleven, some wanna-be rapist who looked at least three times my age. I managed to save myself by sticking him in the side of the neck with a shiv I'd made by grinding an old spoon against the pavement until it was sharp." Tifa looks shocked at this revelation. "Yeah, that's pretty young, but street kids in the slums don't live long unless they learn to protect themselves. Usually I killed for survival and a few times I did it for revenge, either way I ended up with a lot of blood on my hands."

"I'd heard street kids had it rough, but I didn't think it as that bad. Weren't there any orphanages you could've stayed in?"

"I've heard they're different now, but back when the three of us were kids, all orphanages did was concentrate easy victims in a small area and leave them unprotected. Like a buffet for the worst scum in the slums. And that's another thing I see in him, the two of us survived a lot of the same things growing up and we escaped that hell when the company hired us. It was the same for Rude, too."

Tifa looks thoughtful. "I never thought of Shin-Ra like that."

"Yeah, it's like a strange love-hate relationship. This job's forced us to do all kinds of horrible things and turned us into heavy drinkers, but it also got us off the street and introduced us to the best friends we've ever had. Hanging out with the guys, I learned how to trust people again and even fell in love, so, overall I think it's worth all the pain this job's put me through."

"But what about Sector Seven?"

Elena lowers her voice and confides, "He'd probably never admit it to you, but that's one of his biggest regrets."

"He doesn't look very regretful." Tifa says, looking skeptical.

"Yeah, but how many guys do you know who don't try the 'hey, look at me, I don't feel pain' macho bullshit?" Tifa nods after taking a moment to think about her traveling companions. "He's opened up to me, and trust me, he regrets dropping the plate. You just have to get past his front to see it." Seeing that Tifa still looks unconvinced, Elena leans forward and whispers in her ear, "Don't tell anyone, but he actually tried to kill himself twice after that mission before coming to terms with what he'd done. Remember us mentioning that I got promoted because we were short-handed while he recovered from injuries he'd picked up on the Sector Seven mission? His injuries weren't physical."

Tifa looks at the smug redhead, currently apparently engaged in a cursing contest with Cid on the other end of the room, and tries to wrap her mind around the idea of him being remorseful. "You've got to be kidding. He doesn't look like the type for that."

"He might not, but he's more complicated than he looks. And at least he notices my feelings, unlike a certain someone here. What do you see in that guy?"

"Er... What do you mean?"

"Hey, everyone's seen how you've been looking at Strife."

Tifa blushes. "It's that obvious?"

"Yeah. Sorry I've gotta be the one to break it to you, but just seeing you two together for a few minutes makes it obvious."

Tifa looks down into her drink, embarrassed. "You probably think I'm pretty dumb for hoping..."

"No, I think you're frustrated and hurting, not dumb. See, I've been there. I had a huge crush on Tseng and he ignored me for months." Elena interrupts, deciding not to mention how he'd come around toward the end.

"Really?" Tifa looks up and her blush begins to fade.

"Yeah, it's the most frustrating thing I've ever been through. I was purposely making it obvious to make sure he'd notice, and he just kept ignoring all the hints I dropped. The guys noticed and tried to help without letting on that they knew. Heh, Reno's suggestion was to go get plastered and find a one night stand. I thought he was just being an ass, but I found out later he meant well. He was just suggesting the way he copes with heartache."

"Whatcha talking about?" Yuffie interrupts.

"Boys." Elena answers. Tifa looks slightly embarrassed again and Yuffie giggles. "So, how long's he been ignoring you?"

"She's been mooning over Cloud as long as I've known them." Yuffie announces while grabbing a slice of pizza. "That's almost a year and that jerk hasn't done anything about it." she says while sitting in a chair next to Tifa.

"Yuffie, you knew too?"

"Yep!"

"It's been almost a year and a half since he showed up in the slums." Tifa says in a quiet voice.

"Even a complete idiot would've noticed by now. There's no way he doesn't know how you feel, but he keeps playing dumb. What's that tell you?" Elena asks. As her words sink in, Tifa crumples the cup in her hand, but fails to notice the spilled chocolate liquor running down her shaking arm. "Hey, easy there." Elena says, looking concerned and placing a hand on Tifa's shoulder. Yuffie does the same from the other side. "You've wasted enough time on that guy, don't go wasting your tears on him too."

"It can't be..."

"Why don't you ask him? You don't want to face the end of the world not knowing."

"I'll go get him!" Yuffie volunteers before jumping up and dashing in Cloud's direction.

"Um... Where's the restroom?"

"Don't go chickening out. You need to find out so you'll stop torturing yourself. Run away and I'll just cast stop on you."

"Hey Reno, want me to read your fortune?" Cait Sith offers.

"You bored or something, Reeve?" Reno asks.

"Dad's not here. He took off after you finished your speech." Cait closes his eyes for a moment. "He's working on the evacuation again."

"The hell's that Shin-Ra spy going on about now? The hell's he mean by 'dad'?"

"That's what Cait calls Reeve, cause he built him."

"What?" Cloud asks, confused. "You mean that's not Reeve there?"

"You really think one of the company's top execs could watch you 24-7? Cait's an AI, Reeve steps in sometimes, but it's usually just Cait there."

"The --'re you babbling about, shithead? What the --s a --ing ay eye?"

"The way I understand, Reeve made a person's mind in a computer and put it in a robot cat body. I don't know the specifics, but it works. So, what's my fortune, furball?"

"It's that you'll receive a large electric shock if you call me furball again." Reno laughs at this.

"Looks like Reeve was right about you being a bad influence on him." Rude observes with a faint smile.

"All right, this time it's for real!" Cait proclaims with an exaggerated smile on his animatronic features before launching into his fortune-telling dance. He finishes and retrieves a slip of paper from the robot Moogle's mouth. "You're heading in the right direction. Things aren't as bleak as you think, you can still claim a happy future."

"Kinda a roundabout way of saying it, little guy, but I think I know what you're saying. I'm still not convinced Holly'll work, but thanks for trying."

"Hey, you!" Yuffie interjects, walking over to Cloud. "Teef needs to talk with you, now!"

"Hey, wait a- Ouch!"

"No excuses! Get your butt moving!" Yuffie demands while dragging him away with a wristlock. Several pairs of shocked eyed follow their progress.

"What the hell just happened?" Barret wonders.

"Poor bastard's getting dragged into a lioness' den." Reno muses. "Heh, something tells me he'll need a stiff drink when those three're done with him. Now shut up so we can eavesdrop."

"Got him!" Yuffie proclaims.

"Nice work. Well, you gonna ask him? Think of it like lancing an infection, doing it might hurt, but you'll feel better afterwards."

"Um... Cloud... do you... like me?" Tifa forces out while staring at the ground.

"Er... Yeah, you're a great friend." he answers, intently looking at his combat boots.

"Stop playing dumb, that's not what she asked." Elena says, glaring at Cloud.

"I... don't know what you mean." he stammers, looking nervous. "Ouch!" he exclaims when Yuffie smacks him across the back of the head.

"Jerk! Stop leading her on and answer the question!"

"Try to dodge the question again and I'll hit you next time." Elena threatens, slipping on a pair of brass knuckles. "I'll make it easy for you. You're only interested in being friends with her, right?"

"Yes..."

"Why the hell didn't you tell her sooner?"

"I didn't want to hurt her..."

"Baka!"

"Dumbass, dragging it out just hurt her worse."

"I... Sorry, Tifa. Can you forgive me?"

"...eventually. We've been friends too long to hold a grudge for long. I don't really feel like thinking about it right now, though..."

"Alright, we're done with you." Elena announces. Yuffie releases his right hand from where she'd been twisting it behind his back and he hastily retreats to the other end of the room. "Well, you finally know the truth."

"Yeah..." Tifa murmurs, looking like she's on the verge of tears. "I guess the old saying's true, the truth hurts. But I had to know... You were right about asking being the hardest part. Thanks, both of you."

"I really hate seeing people in that situation after going through that unrequited shit myself, so don't worry about it. Hey, cheer up, we'll find you a new guy." Elena reassures her.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Yuffie says. "Forget about that jerk, you deserve someone who'll make you happy."

"What type do you like?"

"C'mon, tell us."

"Congratulations, you're still alive." Reno says with a smirk while holding out a bottle of Vodka as Cloud approaches. Cloud wordlessly grabs the bottle and takes a swig. "Hah, I knew he'd want the booze. Shoulda let her down easy when you had the chance."

"Can we talk about something else?" Cloud asks before taking another swig of Vodka.

Reno laughs. "Sure. Hey, Cait, mind doing me a favor? Put those fancy sensors Reeve gave you to use and tell me where my chip is."

"Chip?" Cloud asks.

"Yeah, we've got tracking chips like rich folks put in their pet dogs. Only these are made of stuff that won't show up on X-rays. The company kept us away from the type of equipment that can detect them so we couldn't mess with them. Now that I've finally got the chance, I wanna get rid of mine."

"Hold on a second." Cait says, then he and his moogle begin waving their arms around like a pair of cheesy stage magicians. "Geeze, ya got enough scar tissue for a regiment."

"Heh, I'm not exactly in the world's safest job."

"You've got a lot of metal in you too. This'll take a while to sort through. Plenty of pins, screws, and plates, you musta broken a buncha bones back before materia started getting issued." Reno nods. "Lotta shrapnel and bullets in you, too. Hey, this is weird, you've got a piece of steel in your right radius that looks like the tip of a knife."

"Yeah, that's from back when I was a kid. Got stabbed and the tip broke off in the bone."

"Hey, I found it!" Cait does his victory dance. "It's in your right hand, right near the center in between the bones." Reno holds his hand out and Cait points out the exact spot.

"Heh, it'll be easy. Thanks." Reno sits down at the nearest table, then pulls his long, stiletto-like commando knife from his right sleeve and jabs the tip into the back of his hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Elena yells from across the room when she spots him cutting himself.

"Taking my chip out." he answers around gritted teeth, ignoring the shocked looks everyone except Rude and Vincent is directing his way as he slides the literally razor-sharp blade through his flesh.

"Your what?" Tifa asks. Elena quickly explains what the chip is while Reno probes the inside of his hand in search of it. "Shouldn't you have a doctor do that?"

"No time. And If I'm gonna die up north, I'd like to at least die without this damned leash on. Hey, think I found it." Cait confirms that it's the chip. "Anyone got some needle nose pliers I can borrow?"

Elena pulls a folding multi-tool from a pocket and opens it, revealing a small pair of pliers. "Alright, hold still." she instructs before sliding the tips of the pliers into the cut and grasping the small object the tip of Reno's knife rests against. "Hey, now, I've seen you wince less than that from getting shot." she says in a soft voice as he withdraws his knife.

"Yeah, adrenaline's good for that..." he groans.

"Well, how about a distraction?" she offers before leaning foreword and kissing him. She then yanks the chip out, causing him to emit a muffled grunt.

"Best bedside manner ever." he jokes after she pulls back. He reaches into a pocket and the soft green glow of a healing spell surrounds him. In a moment, the only signs remaining of his self-administered surgery are some blood, the chip, and a faint line on the back of his hand that's only visible to those with mako enhanced vision or a magnifying glass. He reaches out and takes the pliers from Elena, then squeezes, crushing the chip. "I've carried that thing around for almost a decade. Feels good to finally get rid of it."

"I want mine out, too." Elena announces.

"You sure?" he asks. She nods and Cait begins the scanning process.

"You've got more scar tissue than I expected. Odd, you haven't been a Turk for long." the mechanical cat announces.

"I kinda had a rough childhood." she explains.

"Sorry to bring it up. Your's is in exactly the same spot as his."

"Well, you're probably not going to be able to get it out yourself, since it's in your good hand." Reno states. Elena nods and holds her hand out to him. "I wish there was a way to do this painlessly, but we haven't got any local anesthetic. I'll do it quick." he promises while taking her right hand in his. Knowing precisely where to look this time, he cuts into her hand and finds the chip within moments and she only winces a little. "Guess it's my turn to be the distraction." he says while sliding the pliers into the cut. He then distracts her with a kiss while extracting the chip, then casts a quick healing spell on her and crushes the chip. "Heh, you barely flinched. Way to make me look like a wuss." he jokes with a crooked grin.

"You were probably just playing it up for sympathy." she teases.

"Guess I'm next..." Rude states. Cait begins the scanning process for the third time.

"Wow, you're just as bad as Reno. Scars, pins, shrapnel, and stuff everywhere. Hey, you know you've got an arrowhead between two of your ribs?"

"Yeah, it's been stuck there for years. No way to get it out without breaking the bones..."

"Well, your chip's in the same spot as the others." Rude places his hand flat on the table in front of Reno, who quickly cuts to the chip. Rude's jaw muscles tighten visibly, but he shows no other visible sign of pain, aside from the signs hidden by his shades.

"I don't suppose one of you ladies would care to give my buddy a distraction?" Reno asks. "C'mon, now that I'm taken, he's been bumped up to planet's most eligible bachelor. Sure, he's a little shy, but he's spent enough time hanging around me that he oughta know how to please a lady." Rude blushes faintly at Reno's suggestion, surprising almost all of the onlookers.

"Go for it." Elena whispers to Tifa. "He'd be great for you."

"But, I can't just kiss some guy I barely know." Tifa protests in a low voice, blushing slightly.

"No takers?" Reno asks. He then quickly yanks the chip and heals his friend, then crushes the chip. "That's it, the last of our ties to what's left of Shin-Ra. This calls for another drink." He cleans and sheathes his knife, then gets up and walks back over to where he left his drink.

Elena cleans and pockets her multi-tool before standing. "Now, where were we?" she asks before heading back to the table she'd been at before along with Tifa and Yuffie.

"Hey, were you serious back there when you said Rude'd be great for me?" Tifa asks when they're far enough from the others not to be easily eavesdropped on.

"Well, he does match a lot of the things you said you're looking for. Two of the bigger things you mentioned were sensitivity and smartness and he's got plenty of both. He's really perceptive too."

"Hmmm..." Tifa looks deep in thought as she recalls the conversation she had with Rude on the way to the briefing room, in particular how he'd accurately read her expressions. "Well, he's definitely interesting. I used to think he was either a cold thug or dumb muscle from what I've seen, but talking to him on the walk over here kinda killed those ideas."

"He actually talked enough for you to tell that? Huh, usually it takes him a long time to loosen up enough around someone to talk much. Heh, I actually thought he was mute for the first few hours after I met him." All three laugh a bit at that.

"Yeah, he really surprised me. He got a bit philosophical and even gave me some business advice."

"Some what?" Yuffie asks, having not been listening very well in the hallway.

"Well, I told him about how I want to try running another business after this's over and he had some suggestions that made sense to me. He even smiled a couple times. And was I seeing things or did he actually blush a minute ago?"

"Yeah, it's only the second time I've seen him do that. And both times were because Reno made some comment involving women and Rude being shy."

"That's pretty weird. A shy assassin?" Yuffie says with a giggle.

"Why not? It's not like Turks ever get sent on missions to make friends with their targets. Hey, he's an artist, too. You should try to get him to show you his sketchpad. I've only seen a few of his drawings, but he's really good."

"Really?" Tifa asks. She'd always liked artistic types, but also liked athletic types. The idea of both in one guy intrigues her.

"Yeah. Hold on." Elena slips off her jacket and rolls up her right sleeve to show off her tattoo. "He designed this as a sorta team symbol when they were in the war."

"Cool, is that real?" Yuffie asks.

"Yeah, I just got it yesterday. The guys both have one too."

"Hey, that's pretty cool. It must've hurt, it's a lot bigger than mine." Tifa states before rolling down her right sock and showing off a small tattoo of a dolphin on her ankle.

"Cool, you've got one too!" Yuffie exclaims. "I wish I had a tattoo..."

"Cute dolphin. Mine didn't really hurt. I've heard they only hurt if you get them over bone instead of over muscle."

"I'll have to remember that if I ever get another one. Hmmm, you've got me curious about that sketchpad now."

"Well, ask him about it when you get the chance. And see if you can get him to take his shades off, he's got really cute eyes. It's a long flight from Junon to the crater, so you should have plenty of time to get him alone and talk."

"You've managed to get me curious enough, I'll have to give it a shot. Heh, you three are just full of surprises, aren't you? I didn't expect you to sort out my problem with Cloud and play matchmaker when I came over here."

"Well, the guys're great and all, but they're about the only people I've had around to talk to for the past few months, so of course I jumped at the chance for some girl talk. Hope I didn't overdo it and meddle too much."

Tifa laughs a bit at this. "Actually, I wish someone'd meddled sooner. Heh, I never thought of actually twisting his arm and forcing him to answer."

"Hey, whatever works." Elena replies with a smile.

"We oughta hang out together some when this's over, it's been a lotta fun." Yuffie suggests.

"Girls' night out? Sounds fun to me. Now, we've talked about my love life and Tifa's love life... How about you? You have your eye on anyone?"

Yuffie looks embarrassed. "Um... I dunno."

"C'mon, we won't tell." Tifa says. "We could even hook you up with some cute guy." Yuffie blushes deeply at this suggestion.

"Um... I've been too busy um... trying to steal materia to think about that. Yeah. Hey, I missed hearing about you and your guy. So, you two go all the way yet?" Yuffie asks, desperate to change the subject.

"Every chance we get." Elena brags with a grin, prompting a round of laughs and causing a certain sharp-eared redhead to grin.

"What's it like?" Yuffie asks, then blushes at her own impulsive question.

"You mean you don't know?" Yuffie blushes deeper and stammers a bit.

"Hey, it's alright." Tifa says. "I still haven't gone all the way either, no need to be embarrassed, Yuffie. So, since you're the experienced one, what's it like?"

"Er... Well, it kinda depends." She thinks for a moment on how she'll phrase her answer. "Depending on how you feel about who you're with and if he knows what he's doing it can be the best thing in the world, the worst, or about anywhere in between. Heh, it can even be boring if the guy's got no idea what he's doing. Since we're in love and both know what we're doing, it's been incredible."

"Is it true the first time's... special?" Tifa asks.

Elena shrugs. "I wouldn't know." Seeing confusion on the faces of both of her new friends, she elaborates, "I wasn't exactly given a choice my first time. I guess whichever of you scores first'll have to let me know."

"Oh, sorry I asked."

"It's alright. That's actually kinda a common experience for slum orphans, a hard lesson in why we had to be able to protect ourselves. In a way I was kinda lucky, a lot of people don't survive that lesson. Plus, I ran into the bastard again when I was older and better armed and got a little revenge. But that's enough changing the subject. There's a lot of guys in this room, Yuffie, I bet you think at least one of them's cute." she says, directing the conversation back to a happier subject.

"Ummm... Wellll..."

"Yo, the Highwind's ready!" Reno announces in a loud voice from the other end of the room while pocketing his PHS. "We've gotta pick up some gear from the parking lot, we'll meet you on the ship."

"Hah, saved by the bell!" Yuffie announces.

"We'll just ask you again later." Tifa promises with a devious smile as the Turks and Avalanche exit the briefing room.

When they step out onto the runway, the Turks are mildly surprised to see that Avalanche has been waylaid by a news team who're attempting to interview them. "Hey, what're you doing?" Reno asks. When the members of Avalanche turn at the sound, they're surprised to see that the Turks have traded in their jackets for black nylon tactical vests that are covered in magazine pouches and are carrying much heavier weaponry.

"Ah, here come Shin-Ra's elite Turks, who'll be leading this mission to save the planet." The reporter says into the camera. "Sir, would you like to say a few words? This is being broadcast live, planetwide."

/Last words, huh? Heh, alright./ Reno thinks, having just had an idea. "Yeah, I would. Give me that." he says, snatching the microphone. He takes a deep breath and tries to compose himself, acutely aware that millions are watching. "Alright world, listen up, cause this's the most important thing I'll ever say in front of a camera." He pauses for another deep breath.

"What's going on?" Tifa whispers.

"No idea." Elena answers in a whisper.

"I, Reno of the Turks, love Elena of the Turks more than anything on this world." He then reaches out and takes his furiously blushing lover by the hand and pulls her in front of the camera. "Lena, when I told you I'd stay with you till the end, it wasn't just because odds are I'll be dead in a few days. We could die up in the crater, or we could both live to a hundred. Either way, I'll stay with you as long as you'll have me. Well, what I'm saying is, well, if you'd..." Starting to fumble over his words and blush a bit, he decides to get straight to it and kneels, a difficult task when one has a large rifle slung across their chest, a single-shot missile launcher slung across their back, and is carrying over half their own body weight in ammunition and other equipment. "Lena, if we live through this, would you marry me?"

Her mouth moves soundlessly in surprise for a few moments before she manages to answer. "Yes!" An embrace ensues that's made somewhat awkward due to the large amount of equipment encumbering the couple.

After a few moments of making out on live TV, Reno tosses the microphone back to the reporter. "We can finish this on the ship. Time to get going." he says before leading the way to the Highwind.

Author's Note: Thanks as always go to Noroi for betaing. Thanks for the great reviews icewolf9, Yumesuta, rune, TheDonutMistress, The Tiramisu Of Impending Doom, Bruna Aquino, Sessha, secretselphie-tilmitt, and Cathy7. I'm glad to hear you all enjoyed that chapter.

I'm glad to hear I still correctly remember at least a little Japanese, Yumesuta. Heh, I may not remember anything practical, like how to ask for directions, but at least I still know how to insult people. Hey, DonutMistress, any chance one of those old shows is Quantum Leap? I've got this crazy half-baked idea for a crossover with Sam leaping into various FF7 characters, but I've got this feeling no one would have any idea what I was writing about, which would make writing it kinda pointless. Bruna, I'm not really sure what you mean by asking if Jenova's an illusion. If you mean the bit with the floor exploding and the scene changes between various stages of the last boss battle, I'm not sure. But I don't think the characters could tell if it was an illusion or actually happened, so that's how I plan to write it.

I slipped a couple 007 homages in this chapter. Elena's line about flattery not helping, but don't stop trying is a paraphrase of a line by Moneypenny. I'm fairly sure it's from Dr. No, but I could be wrong. Cait's line about Reno having enough scar tissue for a regiment's from when Bond gets a physical in Never Say Never Again. And Reno got to paraphrase Christopher Walken. His 'just the best looking' line's a homage to Last Man Standing, an extremely fun mindless action flick that's basically Yojimbo set in the US during prohibition.

You've probably noticed that I've started taking longer on my updates again. I've actually got a good excuse this time, it's because I'm alternating between two ongoing fics now. So go read my ReTi if you haven't already. And if you have, thanks.

Edited again because some site update deleted all the '--' lines I used to use to denote scene changes. So time to slap horizontal rulers into all my fics.