"What the hell?" Reno yelled above the din, as what sounded like a barrage of bullets pelted the ceiling above them.

"Go!" called Tseng.

The three of them rushed outside again, shielding their eyes as the sun backlit the top of the fort, where the condor's nest had once been. Precariously balanced on the structure's edge, five men in white jackets were opening fire on a long figure crouching across from them on the rooftop.

"Rude!" screamed Elena. She ran back inside and up the rope, scrambling up the ladders and reaching the fort's opening to the sky just in time to hear one of the gunmen's screams as he plummeted down to the trees below. Behind her, Reno and Tseng emerged into the light.

There wasn't time for shock or pleasantries. Reno dove at one of Rude's assailants and tackled him to the roof's surface, wresting the gun from his grip and firing a shot cold into his skull. Standing, he drew his weapon, an electric shock-wielding rod, with which he took a swing at a third attacker.

Elena was faster. She landed her heel in the back of the third attacker's neck, and shot him as he toppled to the ground. From a strangled groan behind them, the three newcomers could tell that Rude had picked off a fourth.

Tseng hit the fifth, now cowering and companionless, over the head with the butt of his gun. As the man fell forward, Elena made as if to finish the job, but Tseng put out a hand to stop her and hold her back.

"Leave this one," he advised, staring down at the man's bleeding forehead. "We'll need him."

Elena was too distracted to ask questions. Rude was standing, shakily braced against Reno's supporting arm, staring around at them, closed-mouthed. His characteristic sunglasses were hanging loosely by one ear, shaken off in the tumult. Beneath them, his eyes were wide, softening by the moment as the alarm of battle was replaced by the unexpected glimpses of his allies.

"Hey," Reno said, "crisis averted. You alive?"

Rude gestured vaguely with one arm. "…Reno," he said. "Tseng…Elena?"

"Miss me?" Elena asked, with a smile.

Rude stared at her, and then nodded. "Yeah."

"I see we didn't arrive too soon," Tseng observed, kicking the prostrate form of the one surviving gunman over on to his back. The injured man groaned and stared, panicky, into his captor's Wutain eyes.

"Who are you?" Tseng asked.

The man sputtered, barely conscious. Tseng sighed, and kicked him again. He fell silent, knocked out by trauma and blow.

"We'll wait until he wakes up entirely," Tseng decided. He crossed to Rude. "You okay?"

Rude nodded. "Living, thanks." He slumped into an exhausted heap on the roof, gazing at the dead men strewn in front of him. "Game's up, huh?" he asked, but it was more of an acknowledgement than a question.

"That's how it looks," Reno agreed.

Rude sighed. "Oh," he muttered. "Joy." Elena knelt down beside him.

"Let's go inside," she suggested. "I'm sure we raised a pretty loud bit of hell out here. It'd be better to be indoors, in case anybody comes to check it out."

Rude nodded his agreement, and pushed himself to his feet. Elena followed him back down the ladder.

"Reno," Tseng said, as the other man turned to accompany them. "I could use a hand."

Together, the two of them pushed the bodies of the dead gunmen off of the roof, watching as they landed with sickening crunches against the trees below. Then, they lifted the surviving man, and hauled him slowly down the ladder, careful not to hit his head any more than they already had for the sake of whatever he might have left to offer them.

While Tseng and Reno were washing the blood off of their hands, Rude and Elena sat down at Rude's makeshift table. Rude was flexing his arm back and forth, exercising a cramp in a muscle that he must have received during the tension of the attack. Elena looked around.

"You've really been here all this time," she murmured, somewhat incredulous, and mostly impressed. "Wasn't it lonely?"

Rude glanced at her. "Alone is safe," he noted. "Safer than you were."

Glaring at him, Elena rested an arm on the tabletop. "I was just fine, thank you," she muttered. "None of you believe I'm in any way capable of fending for myself. Let me remind you that for six years I was by myself."

Rude said nothing.

"Who were they?" asked Elena, motioning to the prostrate form of the wounded man, whom Reno and Tseng had dumped against the far kitchen wall. "How did they find you here, of all places?"

Rude shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "Gil-seekers, I guess." He paused as Tseng and Reno returned from the bathroom. "Tseng's got it," he said.

Reno crossed to where they sat, slumping into a chair. "We made a pretty big entrance, didn't we?" he asked Rude, with a tired but triumphant half-smile. "Together again."

Rude nodded at Reno. "Hasn't changed a bit," he noted to Elena. She laughed.

Author's Notes:

Thank you to everyone who's been reading!

Just a couple of shout-outs and issues addressed:

Cueball has made an important point…our heroes are traveling a little bit too fast. I'll do some editing when I return from my trip, and we'll make sure they aren't quite so fleet-footed, to make it a little bit more realistic.

AstarothTheFallen, Kawaii Plushie Fetish, and Morbid Knight, thank you for the reviews and the encouragement! I'll keep writing until I leave, and I'll pick right up when I get back, so please do keep reading if you're enjoying it.

Thanks to everyone! Next chapter tomorrow morning, with any luck! Maybe it'll even be up tonight, I've got nothing else to do for twenty-four hours. ;)

Love!

Memmselle