Chapter 29

Elena sat upright in her hospital bed when she heard Tseng's voice outside the doors. Hurriedly, she tried to smooth down her hair and make herself as presentable as she could. She couldn't quite make out what he and Zena were talking about, but the tone in his voice suggested that it had already been a busy morning and he was feeling a little under the pump. Looking around herself, Elena tried to find something else to fix, and settled for trying to flatten her sheets down before the door opened and Tseng came in, Zena following closely behind him.

"Sir…"

"I'm pleased to see you awake, Elena."

She watched as he sat in the chair by her bed. "Thanks… I… Woke up last night."

Tseng nodded, "Zena tells me that you'll be just fine. A week in bed, though."

"Not a week in bed!" Elena flicked her attention to Zena. "You told the boss that it was a week before I would be able to be back to work. You can't make me stay in bed for a week!"

Zena huffed. "If you're up and moving about, I'll just have to stitch you back together all the sooner."

"… what if I'm careful?" Elena asked meekly. Zena flipped her curly hair in response.

"As if that's something you're capable of."

"I am."

"You," Zena frowned, "are in here more often than anyone else…"

Elena frowned, the words pricking her pride. What if Tseng thought she was incompetent? "Surely," Tseng put in, "nobody is in here more often than Reno."

Elena gave a small smile. "Yeah."

Zena shrugged, turning away. "Perhaps he just wishes to see me." Elena raised an eyebrow at Tseng who looked as disbelieving as she was. "Fine, Elena. You can leave tomorrow, but you will not be doing anything other than paperwork for a week. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" She smiled happily and settled back against her pillow, looking at Tseng again.

"You're rather excited to do paperwork…" The man remarked.

"I like my job." She replied, he smiled softly and nodded, looking at his hands with a sigh. "So, what's going on?" she asked, "What have I missed? Why do you look stressed?"

"Ah…" Tseng's dark eyes flicked quickly up to her, and for a moment she thought that he wasn't going to tell her.

"I suppose the main piece of information is that shipments of that fake cure are being organised in Junon." He shrugged elegantly, "The President wishes for one of us to go and destroy them."

Elena nodded, "And will it be you?"

"No, he wants me to stay here."

"So… Reno." It wasn't a question, and Tseng nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, I'll send Reno."

"When?" she asked, and he ran his fingers through his long hair before replying.

"Probably about a week perhaps longer. They're just amassing it all now. When it's all together it'll be easier to destroy."

Elena frowned. That was an incredibly dangerous mission. If everybody making those false cures were together to start shipping them out there was no way that Reno could just walk in there and do what he needed to do. The shipments would be highly protected. She doubted it would be a one person job. She said as much to Tseng who nodded again.

"Yes. I would have preferred to go myself." He said gently. "Reno will get the job done, though." Elena agreed. He always did.

"Have you had him covering my patrols?" she asked, and when he nodded once, she continued, "So when he's gone…"

"I don't know." Tseng replied, "We'll manage…" Elena studied his face for several moments, knowing that the soft creases between his eyebrows only appeared when he was feeling particularly stressed.

"So…" she murmured, "What else is new? Any goss?"

"I don't… goss…" he replied, blinking rapidly and then fixing her with a stern look.

"Come on…" she smiled, "Don't make me ask Rude." Tseng just raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed, "Well… why were Reno and the boss here last night? I woke up at like eleven or something and they both came to see me." The slight tilt to Tseng's head told her that he had no idea what she was talking about. Perhaps she would have to ask Rude for any gossip that she had missed. "Well…" she made a face.

"I should get back to my desk." He said, getting to his feet. "Here, I brought you this." He handed her a small packet. Elena smiled at him and then looked inside to see a small sweet pastry.

"Did you get this from that Bakery in the main square?" she asked softly.

"I thought it might be nicer than whatever it is Zena was going to give you for breakfast." He said, before turning on his heel and striding for the door. The pastry didn't last five minutes before Elena had eaten it in its entirety.

Aura felt hot. She knew it was panic, but she couldn't quite get herself to calm down as she headed for the President's office. He had summoned her. Fanning her face with her free hand as she turned the corner and his door came into view, she stopped to lean against the nearby wall. Get a grip, she told herself. Get a grip, get a grip, get a grip. Reno had said that Rufus wouldn't touch her again, and she had to trust that. But, she just couldn't make it stop.

"Aura…" Rude's voice asked her, "are you alright?" She looked up to see the big man watching her from his desk nearby.

"I'm fine, yo." She replied, trying to sound bright, "Perfectly fine…"

Reno was suddenly striding toward her, and she reached a hand out to him. "Did he call you?" he asked, his voice low. Aura nodded, trying to smile. "It's okay." He told her, rubbing her arm gently. She looked at him, seeing that he did believe that. She made herself walk with him up the hall to the doors of Rufus Shinra's office. Clutching at the small tub of ointment in her hand, she hesitated before reaching for the handle. Reno knocked lightly on the door for her, and she caught his gaze with a quick glance.

"Reno…" Tseng's voice called him and he gave her an encouraging smile before backing away from her. Aura steeled herself before pushing the door open and walking into the office.

"Good morning, Aura." Rufus Shinra's voice was steady, and Aura made herself look at him. He was sitting behind his desk just as he had been yesterday, and she swallowed thickly.

"Good morning…"

"You can leave the door open, if you would prefer…"

She nodded and left the door ajar as she moved toward his desk, her eyes catching on the smooth wood. She remembered her hands moving over that glossy surface searching for something to hold on to as Rufus had thrust repeatedly into her. Forcing herself to look away from the desk, she looked instead at the blond man whose eyes were intent upon her. "You called me…" she began and he nodded, rolling his sleeves up.

"Yes, and I see you brought the ointment. Good." He gestured for her to move closer. "Aura, I would like to tell you that I regret any distress I may have caused you." She raised an eyebrow at him, and he continued. "My intention had not been to hurt you, but rather to punish Reno, and I did not, admittedly, consider the impact that would have on you."

"I see." She murmured.

"You do not need to fear me." He told her, "I will not lay a hand on you again."

"Reno told me that." She said, setting the ointment on the desk.

"It is true." He replied, then smiled, "Unless you ask me to, I won't touch you."

"Don't go holdin' your breath for that, yo."

Rufus laughed softly, and then pressed a button on his phone. "Tseng, get in here." He looked at her, "If you don't mind, I need to talk to Tseng while you change this bandage…"

"I don't mind." She said, actually rather thankful that someone else would be in the room while she had to work on him. She wondered if Rufus had been aware of that and done it on purpose. Rufus unbuttoned his shirt and Aura looked away as he did so, busying herself with organising the new bandages so that she wouldn't have to watch him undress.

Tseng arrived a moment later and seated himself in front of the desk. Aura set about her business applying the new ointment to Rufus' infection and then bandaging it up while the two men talked about patrols and Junon. The news of the shipments of false cure was worrying and she wondered if Cadan knew anything useful about it. She would have to see if she could find out. She didn't particularly relish the idea of spending more time with him, however.

Before long, Aura had finished what she had been called to do and she packed her supplies quickly. Once Rufus had told her she could go, she decided to head back upstairs and then go and pay a visit to Elena. She would bet that the blond woman was going insane trapped up there with nothing to do and nobody but Zena to talk to.

Reno was waiting for her right outside Rufus' office and his arm slid around her shoulders the second she was out the door. "All good, yo?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Yeah, it was fine." She replied, "He told me he wouldn't touch me unless I asked him, and then Tseng was there."

"He can't think you'd ever ask him…"

"You thought I would want him." She muttered and he gave a shrug.

"Sometimes I'm an idiot…"

"Who told you that?" she smirked.

"You."

"Sometimes you're not." She told him, and he pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm going to go and see Elena."

"Good idea." He replied, "She'll be bored out of her mind." He released her and she looked up at him for a moment. She wanted to ask him what he would be doing after he went home for the day, but did not want to be presumptuous. He probably already had ideas of how he would be spending his evening without her trying to monopolise his time.

"Okay… I'll see you later." She said gently before turning and heading upstairs to find her friend.