I finally got this chapter finished. I've been doing things all week, and I just got a chance to finish it. So, there isn't really all that much to explain. R&R and just let's see how this one comes out…

Elena stared at Rude as he paced around the room, staring at the bloody sheets. "Always one step ahead of us, aren't they?" She sighed and lowered her head, not giving an answer. The sheets were saturated in the red body fluid, proving that something had happened there. However, like he'd said, the bastard was one step ahead of them. He'd moved Reno somewhere else instead of staying where he'd been to rest. They'd been wrong about the location. "But, that's okay. I doubt Reno's moving too quickly. They'll have to slow their pace for him if he's to be any value."

Blinking a few times, Elena looked at the sheets. "Do you think he…?"

"Do you think he what? It's a given he's already raped him. There's nothing we can do about that right now. We just have to worry about getting Reno back before the bastard gets him to reveal what exactly ShinRa has in its largest warehouse. Man, if a drug-lord got his hands on that shit, we would all be in very bad trouble. Therefore, we have to make sure that little red doesn't reveal the location. I mean, Reno's very strong, and I doubt he would allow the guy to get him down that much. I don't really think he'd give any information away."

"But what if Reno does give information away? What's in the warehouse anyway?"

"The most powerful piece of materia in the world. It's supposed to be more powerful than Holy and Meteor. Only, it isn't the destroy-the-world-all-at-once kinda powerful. It's one of those more subtle things. One that someone could use to get an upper hand on Shinra Inc. I think we need to find the two of 'em and make the bastard pay. We might wanna get Reno to a hospital, too." Rude smiled at her and walked toward the door, wrapping an arm around her as he walked.

"Do you think he would kill Reno?"

"I don't know. I doubt he would until he found out what he wanted to know. He might feel the need to kill him after that, but before that I doubt Reno's life is in danger. Maybe his pride and his happiness, but not his life. We have to get going, Elena."

The two clasped hands and headed toward the stairwell that would allow them access to the cold streets of the slums once more. Though Rude assured Elena that he was safe for then, he wasn't sure if he trusted himself. What if Reno was already dead? That kept weighing on his mind like a concrete block.

Elsewhere, in the same sector…

"Do you really think we need to push him?" Tasha frowned as she watched Reno's whimpering form, curled up with pain as he held his stomach. "I mean, he looks like he's in really bad shape. He could be hurt inside, or maybe the boss cut him too deep and he bled too much? Do we really want to take that chance, Ti?"

The young man that was trying to get Reno up off of the ground looked up, dazzling mako eyes to match her other friend's staring up at her. "If we don't do what the boss wants us to, you know what's gonna happen. Someone's gonna get a cap in th'ey ass. We need'a just get 'im in, y'know? Somewh'er outta the cold so's he can recover. I know he gotta be hurtin'." Ti shifted the red-head, tugging his arm over his larger frame to help him to his feet.

"What, we're just going to take him back into the hotel? You know the Turks are probably on our trail by now. If we don't get him away from here, we're going to get caught."

"Well I dun' think that really matters now. I mean, boss wants him alive. Therefore, we gotta keep him alive, or else we're gonna get it from him."

Tasha shot him a smile. "You're scared of him?"

"Well, shouldn't I be?"

"Pfft. You're a wuss."

"Who says!"

"I say, and my opinion is the only one that matters." She stuck her tongue out at Ti and then grabbed Reno's arm, tugging him back toward her. "We gotta get him outta here before we get caught, I'll say it again."

"Man, you're trying to get me killed, aren't you?"

"Nah, just do what I say and everything'll be just fine. I'll even take the blame if we get in trouble with the boss."

"Fine. You're takin' care of the little faerie when we get him somewhere safe."

"Deal."

As the two hobbled off with Reno in between them, Rude and Elena descended the stairs. "So where are we going to look next?" The sentence had become quite common between the two since Reno had disappeared with the drug lord. Rude only hoped they wouldn't have to repeat it very much longer.

"I say we look around, see if there are any tracks and follow 'em. You know how stupid criminals tend to leave tracks. If we can get their trail, we might be able to follow them somewhere. It's the only thing I can think of."

"Do you really think they'd be that stupid to leave a trail that we can follow?"

Rude glared at her over his sunglasses. "Don't even doubt it. I've seen dumber things over the years than that. I don't doubt anything anymore."

Elena shook her head and shoved her hands in her jacket pocket, stepping down on the first floor. They'd shaken the owner of the hotel up really badly when they barged into the place as they did. It was the middle of the night, everyone was supposed to be asleep and he'd been locking up. Who really expected two people in dark suits to come knocking at their door at that hour? It usually meant trouble.

Rude shot the poor guy a glance as he stood behind the counter, a curt nod passed between them as he headed for the door. They let the man with nothing else, not even a clue as to why they were there in the first place.

"Think we shook him up?"

"Pah. He probably shit all over himself."

Somewhere…

"So, do we know where the materia is yet?"

"Nah. Can't get the red-head to crack. If we can't get him to tell us where it is, then who else can?"

"I thought Turks were all knowing when it came to that crap? If'n he don' tell us where it is the firs' time we ask, maybe we need to convince 'im it's best to tell us."

"Convince? Pfft, didn't know that was your style."

"You oughtta know what kinda convincin' I'm talkin' about. He's gonna tell us, one way or 'nother. And if he don' crack soon, I'ma get tired of him. It ain't usually good when I get tired of someone."

"I hear ya, boss."

The drug lord was perched in front of a wide table, talking with a few of his associates. "What do we do when we get hold of the material? They say it's even more potent than that black materia that Sephiroth supposedly used a couple of years back. Do you think that's possible?"

The beefy man glared over at the underling. "I dunno if it's possible, but if anyone'd be capable of makin' somethin' like that, it would be ShinRa. I guess ol' Rufus got tired of bein' threatened by meteors and strange silver-haired weirdoes with big katanas and stuff. We gotta get hold of the materia, whether it's useful or not." The men nodded, all of them rising from the table at once.

"Oh, and make sure li'l red talks. Use whatsoeva you gotta use to get him to blab."

An hour later…

"Reno?"

"Ugn?" Reno's eyes fluttered open, despite his desire to stay fully unconscious. He did NOT want to wake up again to a rape crisis or a crazy bastard asking him where some nonexistent materia was. It was just crap, right? Not real, just an Urban Legend, right? Reno wasn't sure he wanted to know or not. Hell, chances are if he knew and told things would just blow up in his face. Besides, he wasn't a traitor.

"Reno, you have to tell us where the materia is." Tasha stared down into his face, her eyes revealing fear beyond measure. "C'mon, you have to wake up and tell us now. Something bad's going to happen if you don't."

The red-head sat up, staring around at the room. It was odd, everything was blurry. Had they given him something to knock him out? Reno whimpered, hugging his knees to his chest. "N-… Na.. I do-" He couldn't speak well, couldn't even form the words it would take to tell them that he knew of no such materia. Taking a glance to the right, he noticed some evil-lookin' dudes standing a few feet away. They didn't look too happy with him not being able to talk properly.

Glaring over at them, he laid back and shook his head. "The kid ain't gonna talk is he?"

Reno closed his eyes and curled up on his side. He knew what was about to happen, and he knew that it was going to be painful. Tasha sighed and stood in front of him. "C'mon, guys. He apparently doesn't know anything about this. I mean, wouldn't he have already told you if he knew anything?"

"No, cuz he's a little sneak that doesn't know what he's doing in the world. He doesn't know who he's messing with and by all goodness, he ain't gonna live through this sit'iation if he don't talk. He's very expendable right now, cuz the boss's got plenty of pretty boys that he can take his frustration out on. He don't need red there."

"What in the hell are you going to do to him?" The savage growl that rose in Tasha's throat caused the men to give her another glance. "He doesn't KNOW anything, else he wouldn't be cowering away from you like a fuckin' dog. He just wants you to leave him alone. He would've already said something if he knew something, therefore why can't you just leave him alone? He doesn't know SHIT, apparently!"

"Shut the fuck up, woman, and get outta our way." A couple of the brutes moved forward and shoved Tasha to the right harshly. However, they didn't count on the repercussions of their actions. Reaching out to grab Reno's wrist, the first man had a smirk on his face that showed he was confident that he could get his job done. That was until his brains splattered against the wall, a bullet through his temple. A horrified expression was left on the man's face as he slowly tilted sideways and flopped down onto the floor. The other guy looked over at Tasha, then turned and beat a hasty retreat.

Reno stared up at Tasha as she stepped over the body to see if he was hurt. "Reno, I'm gonna get you back to your friends. I know you know something, but I'm not going to let you get hurt anymore. I've seen too many friends go through this." Reno blinked a few times, remembering the opportunities they'd had to talk. He'd learned a lot about the girl, and she'd learned a little bit about his loyalty. Hefting him up, she draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled him toward the door to go look for Rude and Elena.