Chapter 45

Elena jumped when the locker room door flew open with a bang, and she clutched her shirt to herself as she spun to see who had walked in.

"Sir…" she murmured, seeing Tseng walking across the room. She was surprised that he had made such an entrance, when usually he would slip in and out of rooms without so much as making a sound.

"Are you ready for your training?" he asked, loosening his tie and lifting it over his head. Elena pulled her shirt on.

"You bet." She watched him take his suit jacket off and fold it carefully. After a few moments he must have noticed her watching because his dark eyes shifted her way.

"You can wait for me out on the mat, Elena."

"Okay."

She hurried out of the locker room and went to stand in the centre of the training mat. Looking around, she figured that she should probably warm up. Silently, Elena began her usual routine. She was actually nervous. She had trained with Tseng loads of times over the years, but this felt different. She had asked him because she felt deficient. Hand to hand combat had always been something that Elena had considered a strength. She had excelled at the academy, and Reno had taught her a lot since being on the job. It was never an area that Elene felt like she had to make up for. Until recently.

She had just finished her routine when Tseng emerged from the locker room and moved toward her. "Are you ready?" he asked, and she nodded, taking up a defensive stance in the centre of the room.

"Do you want to use anything?" she asked, jerking her head toward the stash of weapons by the far wall.

"No." he replied, circling her slowly. "This is better."

Elena shifted, moving around again and again to keep her eyes on him. She had just begun to wonder what he was doing and if he intended to make a move at all when he struck. She ducked, rolling out of the way and coming up on her feet again, her hands raised once more defensively.

"That was good…" Tseng's voice was low, and Elena allowed herself a half smirk. Her reflexes weren't completely shit then. She barely had time to wipe the smirk from her face when Tseng had grabbed her and flipped her over onto her back on the mat. She gasped and struggled to get up, but Tseng held her down. Grunting with the effort, Elena managed to shift his weight enough to push him to the side and lift herself a little. Breaking free, she sprung to her feet, in a crouched position and waited for his next movement.

Tseng lunched for her, but Elena dodged him, giving a hard shove to his back as he passed her, sending him sprawling onto this stomach on the mat.

"Ha!" she crowed, pleased with herself. "Take that!"

The heat in Tseng's eyes as he pushed up and looked at her had Elena guessing if it was irritation or pride she saw there. "You want me to take it?" he asked mildly.

"Yes." She grinned at him, "You heard me."

Tseng got to his feet and Elena followed suit, taking up her defensive position once again. "Bring it." She grinned and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Elena, I'm going to have you at my mercy in about seven seconds."

"Oh really?" she tried to sound confident, but something told her that she was about to get walloped. Thinking that she'd surprise him by taking the offensive instead of waiting for him to swing at her, she leaped forward to try and tackle him. Tseng was ready, however, and once again flipped her. He took her to the floor and pinned her on her stomach, her hands behind her back. "Ah!" she struggled, but couldn't push herself up as she had no leverage. Kicking her legs wildly, Elena tried to unbalance Tseng, but couldn't shift him.

"You want me to take it?" he asked, leaning over her, his breath hot against her ear. Elena tried to get up again, but he held her down. "You're at my mercy…" she felt him move behind her, his hands now on her hips. "Only… I never did have any." Tseng's hands suddenly yanked Elena's pants down, exposing her to the cool air of the training room, and she couldn't hold back a surprised gasp.

"What are you doing?"

"Whatever I like, since it appears you're unable to stop me…" Tseng shifted until he was kneeling between her legs, as he kept her flat against the mat. Elena tried looking over her shoulder at him, her mouth going dry as she heard him fiddle with his own pants.

"Tseng…?"

"How many people did you tell that we had sex?" he asked, as if he were asking her what she would like to order in a café.

"None… I mean… Reno kind of guessed…" She tried not to panic. Was he pissed off? They hadn't discussed who they would or would not tell. Had he not wanted anyone to know? She looked over her shoulder again as his hands slid under her hips and he lifted her slightly as his knees forced hers open wider. "What…?"

She gasped when Tseng thrust into her and she found her hands free to come around and brace herself against the training mat. He didn't so much as pause before he'd begun a hard rhythm and Elena's hands slid over the mat looking for purchase.

"He… just… guessed…?" each of his words was punctuated by a hard thrust and Elena struggled to draw a complete breath, pushing herself up on her hands as Tseng leaned over her, one of his own hands bracing himself with a hand on the mat by her head. She groaned and nodded.

"Yeah…"

His other arm snaked completely under her, pulling her to him as he continued to thrust into her, his own breath gasping against the back of Elena's neck. "… How… could you … get out of this situation…Elena…?" he asked, shifting his angle and sending shivers throughout her body.

"… Not sure I want to." She groaned, arching back into him.

"Rufus… can't… know…" he panted, and she felt his lips ghost over her shoulder. She just nodded, not sure she would be able to form words to respond. "He's… unpredictable…" Tseng continued.

Elena just nodded, her mind quickly being emptied of any sensible thought. "Uh…. Yeah…" her eyes closed and she began to move to meet Tseng's smooth strokes, pushing herself back as much as she was able. "Yeah… Mmm…" Elena stopped trying to think at all and just let her body take over as Tseng continued to just about fuck her into the training mat.

Aura was in her front garden when Reno got to her house that evening. She had gone home after the debriefing with Rufus, and after Tseng had been through her place, checking to see if it was safe for her to return. Reno was going to ensure that there were new, larger, locks put on her doors in the very near future. Cadan knew where she lived, and Reno didn't at all like the idea that she was somewhere the prick had access to. Maybe he should find her somewhere else to live. Maybe she should come and live with him…

He looked at her now, standing in her yard, surrounded by gardening equipment, and he wondered what she might think of the idea.

"Hey." He said, and she turned to face him. Caught by the bizarre look on her face, Reno tilted his head. "What's up?"

She just pointed and Reno turned to look as the smell hit him. Burning. The acrid smell of smoke drifted down the street and his eyes scanned the sky. Nearby, a large column of grey smoke was twisting into the sky. "That…" Aura broke off and they looked at one another at the same time. "You don't think that's…"

"I really do." He replied a moment before they were both running up the street in the direction of the fire.

He came to a halt in the street, among the crowd who were standing and watching Cadan's Pub burn. "Sweet Shiva…" Aura gasped, standing beside him. Reno just nodded, unable to help a grin as he watched the flames leap higher, devouring the building with orange and yellow. "Do you think anyone's in there?" She asked.

"I don't know, Aur…" he shook his head and then grabbed her when she darted forward. "What in the…?"

"The kid!" she exclaimed, "There was a boy… he lived in there…" Reno didn't let go of her.

"Aura." He said, pulling her back. "You're not going in there."

"But the boy!"

"Anyone still in there is dead!" he said loudly, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back against himself, holding firmly. She stopped trying to get away a moment later and just leaned back into him, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she watched the fire continue to grow.

"Who would do this?" The words left Aura's lips the moment Reno wondered the same thing and his eyes slid from the flames to the people on the street watching. Those who enjoyed lighting fires always stuck around to watch them burn. He would have put money on the arsonist still being here watching with the rest of them. Reno's gaze slid across the many faces of the watching public. Frightened faces, disinterested faces, fascinated faces. But then curly blonde hair caught his attention and he watched through the busy street as Zena pushed her way past several bystanders. His eyes followed her as she looked over her shoulder, and for a second she met his eyes before she slipped into a nearby side street and was gone.

Reno didn't move. He stayed where he was, his arms around Aura as they watched the fire swallow the rest of the building, the heat burning their faces as the smoke stung their eyes. "It was Zena." He whispered in Aura's ear. He felt her straighten in his arms, but then she nodded a second later, remaining silent.

Thinking back on Zena's face that afternoon as she had given Rufus her version of what had happened when she and Aura had been held by Cadan, Reno supposed he should have seen something like this coming. He'd been particularly impressed hearing about how the blonde woman had protected Aura from Cadan by offering him herself and he figured that, under different circumstances, Zena may have made a pretty good Turk. He'd thought about finding her afterwards to ask her if there was anything he could do for her. He supposed she'd figured out something she could do for herself.

"Come on, Aur…" He loosened his hold on her, and instead linked his fingers through hers.

"Yeah…" she replied, turning to move through the crowd with him, heading back the way that they had come. "Will she get in trouble?"

"Not likely." He said, "Bastard had it comin'."

"Ain't that the truth." She glanced back toward the fire and frowned. "… if that kid was in there though…"

"Nah." He said, "She didn't go lookin' to kill. She's a doctor. She just wanted to do some damage, and as soon as that fire was lit the kid and the rest of them would have run."

"Guess so."