They stayed another day. What was the rush, thought Tseng, since nobody here was looking? He knew his logic was flawed, that they should even now be running, especially with Elena's newfound and dangerous publicity. But Reno was a persuasive man, and Tseng himself, though never allowed to be an optimist, tried to hold out hope that "their little girl" might do a double take and change her mind.
When the cash did run out, though, even Reno knew it was time to go. Tseng found him watching the races, with an almost brutal expression on his face, one Tseng hadn't seen since their fighting days.
"If they hurt her," Reno said, following reluctantly as Tseng started towards the tram station, "I'll show them why they want us locked up after all."
The two men sat on a bench, waiting for the tram to arrive, as the sun set.
"We'll blend in with the partygoers heading back from here to Corel," Tseng said, "and then we'll wait out our return to Corel till it's dark enough."
Reno snorted. "I'm tired of this sneaky shit," he muttered. "It feels wrong, like, we're too good to be creeping everywhere like criminals."
"We are criminals," Tseng reminded him.
"But damn good ones," came a voice from behind. Reno and Tseng leapt to their feet.
"That's the second time I've surprised you," Elena noted, almost grinning at the looks on their bemused and shocked faces. "I'm getting better every day."
"What took you so long?" Tseng asked, noticing her heavily shadowed eyes. "We would've left without you if you'd been a minute later."
Elena sighed. She stood there for a moment, clearly having dressed in a hurry, with the bottom buttons of her work shirt undone, and one suitcase in each hand. "I really wasn't going to come," she said.
"And?" Tseng prompted. "What changed your mind?"
She bit her lip. "And then I realized," she said, "if they found me, like I guess I know they would, it wouldn't be just me. They'd break me and break me until I told them…where he was."
Tseng raised an eyebrow. "He?"
"Rude," murmured Reno.
Tseng stared at him, and then back at Elena. "You know where he is?" he asked. "Why? Where is he?"
Elena shook her head. "I haven't seen him for three years," she said. "But we've all settled somewhere. There would have been more rumors, if we'd been on the move. He's probably still there, and I…I'd be putting us all at risk, because I know."
"About three years ago," Reno spoke up, "Rude wrote to me." He grinned. "He's not so good with words, that guy, but he said he'd seen Elena. Said you were sick," he nodded at Elena, "and that we had to go find you again. I guess you never told him where you'd been all that time."
"And what'd you say to that?" asked Elena.
Reno shrugged and sighed, glancing at Tseng. "I said that the boss told us to stay away," he said, with an apologetic grimace. "And that we had to listen to the boss."
Elena rolled her eyes and smiled, adding, "'cause it's our job."
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Tseng cut in, trying as hard as he could to maintain his controlled expression, "but do you mean to tell me that you've all been in touch for the past six years? That you've all been blissfully aware of each other's situations all this time?"
Reno shook his head, sensing the coming storm. "No. He just wrote me that once. I never heard from him again, or Elena. We did just want you told us we had to do."
Elena frowned. "Reno, that's not it…" she murmured.
Tseng turned away. "Just…get in the tram," he ordered. "We'll miss our window, otherwise."
They sat on the tram together, conflicted entirely. Finally, Elena said, "I'm glad I came."
Reno looked over at her from across the seat. "Hey," he said, with a toothy half-smile, "us, too."
Tseng didn't speak. He was trying to organize the roiling swell of thoughts that sat on his taxed mind. All this time, he thought, and I was alone. He'd had his assumptions, his ultimately correct suspicions, and the knowledge of his own orders. Yet none of that could ever make up for the unspoken limitless gap in his conscience where Reno, Elena, and Rude had been. For six years, he'd been entirely alone, never even allowing himself to wonder if they were alive, never writing, never waiting. And all along, they'd known. They'd never been that alone.
The tram stopped outside Corel, and they got off. Reno sped up to met Tseng's quickening strides as they started towards the nearby forest, away from the Corel settlement.
"Hey, look," he said, "It wasn't like that." He stopped, forcing Tseng to stop as well, and waited for the older man to nod his assent, his understanding.
Tseng turned away. "Let's go," he said.