Chapter Eight

Elena sighed as she reached for the next form she had to fill out. She never used to mind the paperwork, but now? Now, when there were hardly any of them left, and all four Turks had been present in the Marketplace as well as the President she was hard-pressed to see the point in a detailed report from each of them. Okay, so that was the way it had always been, and okay, Rufus was trying to get them up and running again, and yes, okay, she saw the point, but maybe her point was that she had saved Rufus right in front of Tseng and he'd still not said ten words to her!

Yeah, he'd given her an acknowledging nod and he'd sort of spoken to her when he'd agreed with Reno in the debriefing, but he'd still not come to her and said "Good work, Elena!"

Was that what she expected? She didn't always seek praise for everything she did. That wasn't the way she operated, but Tseng always acknowledged when they did something well. And she'd saved the president for cryin' out loud! Could he still be pissed about her getting drugged? She'd thought that if she proved she could do things right, that she would be forgiven. Wasn't saving Rufus enough? What more could she do?

Maybe she should talk to him? No... He clearly didn't want to speak to her.

She could make an official report? On what? The man she had feelings for wasn't giving her enough attention? She was probably already a joke to them.

Reno was just below Tseng in rank... could she bring it up with him? If she had a problem she was meant to take it to her superior. This fell under that, didn't it? She thought it did.

When Reno returned that afternoon, Elena asked to speak with him. He raised an eyebrow but nodded without a word. Twisting her hands, she looked at him. He remained silent and waited for her to speak. Looking around, Elena hoped that nobody could overhear.

"Elena." Reno eventually said, and once again she knew that she was speaking to her superior. Good. That was what she wanted.

"I..." she sighed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Tseng..." she said, flailing her hands around, "Is... there a reason that he's still pissed at me? Have I done something wrong? He's barely looked at me in days! He relays orders through other people ... and if he has a problem with me, then he should just tell me so!"

Reno looked at her. "You've done nothing wrong, Elena." He finally said.

"Then why is he...?"

"I don't know."

She watched as his expression changed and then he smiled, "Don't worry, Laney." He ruffled her hair. "I'll sort it out."

She just nodded silently and Reno headed off toward his desk. Unable to sit still any longer, Elena headed down to the training room.

Reno sat at his desk, thinking. Tseng had been acting strangely toward Elena. He'd noticed it himself. He could understand why Elena had thought he was pissed at her, but he had no reason to be. Not only had Elena done nothing wrong, she'd been doing rather well lately. She'd probably saved Rufus from being attacked in the Marketplace. She should be feeling great about herself, not second guessing everything.

It must have taken Elena a bit to even come to him and say anything. He knew she hated to show any kind of weakness like that. He had to do something.

Not one to beat around the bush, Reno got to his feet. He'd just go and ask Tseng.

He knocked once on Tseng's office door before striding inside.

"Reno..." Tseng said without looking up. Reno moved forward, grinning at the fact that Tseng hadn't bit his head off for just walking in. Throwing himself casually into one of the chairs facing Tseng's desk he just looked silently at the dark haired man. "...Yes?" Tseng asked, looking up at him after a moment.

"So... Elena..." Reno began

"Oh, so you know?" Tseng sighed.

"Know what? That you've been acting like a jerk?"

"Excuse me?" One of Tseng's dark eyebrows raised slowly.

"You know you have."

"I may have been slightly distant..."

"Why?" Reno blinked when Tseng looked at him, "I'm only askin' cause there's a problem, yo."

"A problem."

"Yep. It's clear. Been obvious to me... and then Elena came to me, askin' what was goin' on."

Tseng sighed again.

"So...?" Reno leaned back in his chair, "What's your deal?" He watched as Tseng ran his hands over his face, sighing yet again. "Has she done something?"

"No." Tseng replied flatly.

"Didn't think so..."

"I just... I've been busy..."

"Mhmm..." Reno replied in a tone that told Tseng clearly that he wasn't buying that.

"She's not a rookie anymore..."

"I know that."

"She can take care of herself."

"We're a team."

"I know."

"Okay..."

Tseng nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll fix it."

"Excellent." Reno got to his feet, stretching. He grinned at Tseng and then strode for the door. He knew that Tseng had been making excuses but as long as the problem would now be fixed he figured it was all good. Elena would be happier and things would go back to normal. Throwing himself into the chair at his desk, he then grinned at Rude.

"Feeling good about yourself?" The big man asked him.

"Ultimate Peacekeeper." Reno replied, jabbing himself in the chest with his thumb. "That's right."

Rude smiled. "Whatever you think."

"It's proven."

"Okay."

"Where's Laney?"

"Dunno."

Making a face, Reno picked up his pen, eyeing the pile of paper on his desk. Not actually having anything else to do, and without Elena around for him to annoy, he might actually get bored enough to willingly do his paperwork. Casting one last hopeful look around the office, he sighed when nothing too interesting caught his attention, and then pulled the top piece of paper toward himself. There would be no more procrastination, at least for the moment.

Elena smiled as she patrolled one of the quieter streets in Edge. Reno had said he'd take care of the problem with Tseng and apparently he had. Tseng had come to her this morning himself to inform her of her new patrol route. With the frequent attacks on ShinRa employees, they'd given up their patrols in the centre of town and moved them to less busy areas to at least maintain some sort of presence. Feeling good, because Tseng was speaking to her again and because she got to spend the morning in the fresh air, she lengthened her stride to cross the street.

Before long, Elena found herself in a fairly narrow but well used laneway. Stuffed into every available space down the sides of the laneway were makeshift stalls selling everything from handmade jewellery to food. Liking the look of some of the fruit at a nearby stall, Elena stopped to look. A few minutes later she had selected a juicy looking piece and handed her money over. The old woman running the stall took it with a smile , looking her over.

"I'd be careful around here, love." She said. Elena tilted her head.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. But, in that suit, it's all too clear who and what you are..."

"Ah..." Elena nodded, looking around. It was then she noticed the looks people were sending her way. Looking back to the old woman, she nodded at her and continued slowly down the alley.

Aura put the bundle of herbs into her basket and moved along to the next stall. She'd been right in thinking she might be able to find some ingredients up this end of town that she hadn't been able to get in the main marketplace. She doubted she'd find them all, but some was better than none. She supposed for the rest she would have to wait and see if Maati managed to bring some back with him from his trip. Reno, too, she reminded herself. He'd said he would see what he could get for her.

She smiled at the woman who passed her her change and placed the next small bundle of herbs in her basket before moving further out of the alley into the main street. There were more people here than usual, perhaps as things were becoming more difficult to find in the centre of town. There was also the fact that more people were becoming afraid of another attack. As dodgy as this part of town was, even she felt more comfortable here than in the central marketplace lately.

Getting jostled by a passing group of young men, Aura backed into a nearby side alley and set her basket down. These tiny alleys were not meant for so many people. Taking advantage of her now cleared personal space, she leaned against the cool bricks and thought about what else she needed to buy as she tried to work up the motivation to head back out into the crowd. Looking around the corner back into the crowd she noticed the loud murmur that seemed to be spreading among them. Trying to work out what was happening, she scanned the crowd more quickly. After a few moments she spotted the blonde woman in the dark suit. Immediately recognising her as the woman she'd seen Reno with the other day she let out a small, "Ah."

It was then she heard the loud cry of "SHINRA BITCH!" followed by a gunshot.

It took a moment before Elena felt the pain. When it hit her, it nearly made her knees give out from beneath her. Looking down, she saw the blood begin to spread across her shirt and she just stared at it as if frozen. Around her, people were screaming and running as panic broke out. She was hit twice before a hand seized her arm and dragged her back out of the alley and into a smaller, narrower one. When her back hit the cold brick wall, she looked at the dark haired woman before her. Wide green eyes were running over her before looking up to meet her gaze.

"How bad are you hurt?"

"Uh..." Elena tried to get her brain working around the pain. Looking down again she pressed a hand to her shoulder. "Just my shoulder I think..." She forced out. She watched as the woman pulled out a knife and turned to face the entrance of their little alley. Not a moment later a broad shouldered man with blond hair came toward them.

"Here's the little ShinRa bitch..." he grinned. Elena tried to keep her face neutral as she looked at him. The dark haired woman put herself between them, knife held loosely in her hand in a way that had Elena taking another look at her.

"Just keep moving, yo." The woman murmured, following him back and forth with her knife. The blond man laughed, looking down at the woman before taking another step forward. He took a hasty step back when she had dashed forward and given him a deep cut across his chest. Swearing, he disappeared back into the crowd hurrying past their alley.

Remaining silent, Elena watched the dark haired woman turn back to her. "I'm Elena..." she said after a moment.

"Aura." She replied, wiping her knife on her dress.

Nodding, Elena looked her up and down again. "You're pretty alright with that knife."

"Thanks."

"You've been taught..."

"A bit."

"You know Reno...?" She watched as green eyes looked sharply at her.

"What?"

"Reno."

"... who?"

Elena gave a pained laugh. "Don't bother." She said, pressing her hand into her shoulder again. "The way you hold that blade is just like he does. It's weird." She looked at her, "Also, the way you talk..."

"... I talk like lots of people." Aura protested. "From a big place..."

"... And the way you looked at me when I said his name." She looked hard at her. "I'm trained to pick up on these things."

Aura swore. Elena laughed again, leaning back heavily against the wall.

"Wait here..." Aura murmured, before ducking out into the crowd. Elena closed her eyes for what felt like only a few seconds before she was being gently shaken. "Here..."Aura held a dress out to her. "You should ditch the suit."

"Mmm..." She nodded, trying to undo the buttons. She sighed when she realised that her hands were shaking too badly to manage alone. Without saying anything Aura moved forward and undid them for her. Bundling her shirt into a soft pad she pressed it against Elena's shoulder to stem the bleeding as she helped her into the dress. "What now?" she murmured, feeling rather light headed.

"My house is not too far..." Aura told her, slipping an arm around her waist. "Let's go..."

"Okay..."Elena nodded, trying her best to move with her as she dipped to pick up her basket in the other arm and they headed out into the now slightly less busy crowd.

Aura helped Elena sink down on to her couch. Watching the woman wince and bite her lower lip in pain she frowned. "I'll grab something for that..."

"Mm." Elena nodded, her eyes closed. Hurrying into her kitchen, Aura knelt by one of her cupboards and pulled out a few tubs of ointments. She was running low on supplies, but she still had some stuff that would help. Carrying a few tubs back into the other room, she knelt down by the couch and set them out where she could easily reach them.

"You got some towels or something?" Elena asked, "I don't want to get blood on your furniture..."

Aura nearly snorted in amusement. Her furniture was nothing special. Nevertheless, she got to her feet again and went to get some old towels. It wouldn't hurt to make Elena feel better. Returning a few moments later, she lay them out and helped the blonde woman settle over them. She then helped her pull the dress she was wearing off her wounded shoulder.

"Ugh." Elena grunted eyeing it ruefully. "It'll need work."

"Yeah... I..." Aura shook her head. "I can clean it and bandage it up..."

"Sure, thanks."

Opening one of her containers, she dipped her fingers into the cool ointment before gingerly applying it to the wound. Elena hissed, giving a sharp intake of breath.

"Sorry..."

"No... It's fine. Good." Elena nodded, closing her eyes. Aura worked silently cleaning the wound and then wrapping it in clean white bandage. When she was done, she got to her feet.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Thanks." The tightness in Elena's voice made Aura frown in concern for a moment before heading back into her kitchen to get her something. Deciding that water was probably a better option than wine, she came back after a few moments and gave her a glass.

The blonde woman took it with a slightly trembling hand and took a sip. They both jumped when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Expecting someone?" Elena asked, looking toward the door. Aura shook her head and hurried over to open it, not bothering to check who it was. She blinked in surprise when Reno stood before her.

"Now, I know you didn't check like I told you..." he said, stepping inside. Aura was about to answer when he stopped suddenly "Elena? What the hell?"

"Uh..." She tried to think of something to say as she watched him notice the blood everywhere and quickly look Elena over.

"What happened?" he asked

"Someone shot me."

"How's the shoulder?"

"Could be worse."

"Why are you here?"

"-I helped her." Aura cut in, moving forward. "I saw it... and I brought her here..."

"You were there?"

"Yeah...people recognised her... Those damn suits you wear..." she looked him up and down, taking in the expensive material, "And someone shot her... and people went into a panic... so I brought her here..."

"And she fought off some guy with a knife..." Elena put in.

"You...what?" Reno looked from Elena back to Aura and she had barely blinked before he was right in front of her, moving her around to check her over. She slapped his hands away.

"Quit it!"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, yo!"

"You're not hurt?" Reno's eyes looked her over again, and Aura shook her head. It was then his gaze snapped to Elena who stiffened at the sudden hostility in his eyes. He turned and moved around the end of the ocuch until he was standing before her. She couldn't suppress a shudder. He was looking at her the way she'd only ever seen him look at their targets. Like she was prey.

"Elena..."he said silkily. She felt her blood chill at the ice in his voice. "Whose idea was it to bring you here?"

She looked at Aura.

"Relax" she said through gritted teeth, "I won't tell."

"Swear." There was no silky ice in Reno's voice now, nor anger or even his usual cockiness. His voice was flat and humourless.

She nodded, "I swear."

Reno changed immediately. His face seemed less harsh and the hostility was gone from his eyes within moments.

"Laney... you've taken a hell of a shot by the looks of it." He looked at her shoulder, "Can I see?"

"Yeah..." she nodded and he moved closer, kneeling on the couch with on knee to balance himself as he bent over. She clenched her teeth in pain as he carefully peeled away the bandaging to look at the wound.

"Yeah, you'll definitely have to see Zena."

"I know." She groaned.

"That'll teach you to try and pick fights on your own."

She looked at him and he smiled, replacing her bandage gently. She watched him look back to Aura and smile again. "Thanks for takin' care of my rookie, Aur."

"Sure."

She watched them continue to just look at one another and it was clear they were communicating non-verbally. She didn't have any idea what they were saying. She had seen Reno communicate like that with Rude on occasion, but she'd never been able to get in on those conversations either.

Now, tired and in pain, it irritated her.

"When you two are finished staring at each other, you think maybe I could put a coat on or something?"

Reno blinked at her and shrugged out of his suit jacket before helping her get it around her shoulders.

Aura mumbled something and headed back into the kitchen. Elena blinked, watching the doorway. She could have sworn she'd seen the girl blush.

"Ah..." she breathed, looking back to Reno. "She's your girlfriend..."

She'd never before seen the look that crossed his face then.

"No." He replied.

"Then who is she?"

"My friend – family." He said quietly, "The only one of either I had."

"Oh." She tilted her head "So you hid her..."

"So I hid her."

"Why?"

The look he gave her then made her feel as if she'd just dribbled down her own shirt.

"Because, Laney." He replied after a moment. "I was ordered to cut all ties with my life before ShinRa."

She nodded. She understood that. The recruits they took from the streets had to be carefully assessed and profiled. It wouldn't do to bring someone in, give them all the inside information on the company and then find out they would sell it to the highest bidder. ShinRa employees had to be trustworthy, and to make sure of that, ShinRa had to be the most important thing in their lives, if not the only thing.

The fact that Reno had hidden a secret like this was huge. She knew that he was loyal to ShinRa. He loved the company. Anybody with half a neuron knew that, but hiding Aura? What did that mean?

"But still?" she asked, "I mean, I get why you did it back then... things were different before... but now? I don't think it'd matter now..."

"I won't risk that." He stood straight, looking down at her.

"Rufus woudn't-"

"Elena!" he snapped, "No!"

"Kay..." she blinked, then watched as he strode into the kitchen.

Aura was washing an empty container when Reno came into the kitchen looking stressed. "What is it?" she asked, "Is Elena okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "She's fine. Thanks."

She nodded back, just watching him as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Reno..."

"mm?"

"Are you annoyed that I brought her here?" she asked, "I mean, I know you went through so much to make sure they never knew about me... all the precautions and rules... and ..." she broke off and just looked at him.

"No." He replied, moving toward her. "I can't tell you how glad I am. She could have died." He wrapped his arms around her and Aura hugged him. "It turned out okay." He was silent for a moment before adding "I have something for you."

Aura stepped back when he released her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small pouch and handed it to her. Money. She looked at him. Knowing what he did now to earn the money he gave her, Aura shook her head. "I... I don't need this." She told him. He frowned. She bit her lip. She didn't want it. It was blood money.

Reno ran a hand through his hair again as he looked at her, and Aura could tell that he knew exactly what she was thinking. She tried to hand the pouch back, but he closed her hand around it. "Please." He breathed, stepping closer to her, but she still had to strain to hear him. "Please. I need to know that some good comes of it."

Her eyes lifted back to his face and upon taking in the tight expression he wore she nodded. "Okay." She replied softly, "I could always use more glass vials..."

"Thank you" he murmured, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "I should get Elena looked at." He said, stepping back from her a moment later.

"Yeah." She agreed. He nodded and headed back into the living room. Aura followed, watching as he lifted the blonde woman off the couch into his arms.

"I can walk..." she heard Elena say.

"And this will be faster." Reno replied, heading for the front door. "Or would you prefer we spend another hour stumbling around?"

Moving forward, Aura opened the front door for them.

"See you, Aur." He said, smiling at her as he carried Elena out.

"Thank you." Elena turned her head as they passed and met Aura's gaze.

"Sure." She nodded. She watched silently then as Reno carried her down the path and back onto the street. Then turning, she headed back inside and over to her couch. Bending, she pulled up one of the loose floorboards and dropped the pouch Reno had given her into the space beneath it. She may have taken his blood money, but she wouldn't use it. Reno had needed her to take it, and so she had. She didn't have to rely on it however. She made enough on her own now to get by without it if she was careful.

It was clear to her that it was important to him to feel as if she needed the money he brought. At first she had. She wouldn't take that from him. It was clearly something he clung to. She wondered what else he used to deal with the things he did for ShinRa. Involuntarily, Elena's face flashed through her mind and Aura got quickly to her feet. She supposed that was feasible. People working alongside one another in those kinds of situations would have all kinds of ways they dealt with things together. Huffing, and trying to get those mental images out of her head, she stepped on the loose floorboard to get it back in place and then wandered back into the kitchen to clean up some more. She refused to think about such things anymore. Though, maybe she could find out more about it next time she saw Reno... perhaps.