Chapter 53

One eye on the crowd outside, Elena half listened to Reno and Rude as they speculated about the benefits of the recruitment office. It was something that Rufus had decided would be a good idea. The man was under the impression that it would attract two kinds of people. Those who wanted work, which would be of benefit to ShinRa, as it would increase the employee numbers, which continued to fall. It would also apparently attract those who wished to do ShinRa harm, and so identify their enemies. Reno and Rude were of the opinion that the entire idea was moronic, and Elena couldn't help but share the thought. She hushed them when Tseng approached. He wouldn't take kindly to outright, loud, disagreements with the President.

"Reno and Elena," Tseng said, "You have patrol."

Elena's eyes flicked to the man and watched him as he gestured at the door, his own dark eyes on Reno who was leaning on a nearby counter.

"Got it, yo." Reno pushed himself up straight and headed for the door, his EMR in his hand. "Come on, Rookie."

"I'm not a damn Rookie!" Elena complained, following after him. He just flashed her a grin and held the door open for her. Elena cast one last glance at Tseng over her shoulder before following Reno out into the street.

Watching the people passing them, Elena tried to judge the looks she and Reno received. "Do you really think the recruitment office is a bad idea?"

"I don't know about an outright 'bad idea'." He replied, slowing his pace to match hers, "Don't think it's gonna work the way the Prez wants it to…"

"Why?"

"Because his employees are still getting attacked in the streets. Who is gonna want to sign up for that, yo?"

"Yeah…"

"There's a reason Tseng is sending us out together for this."

"I know…" She frowned, "But he's also hoping to draw out Cadan and those guys…"

"So he wants more of his people to get hurt… great plan."

Elena eyed Reno from the corner of her eye. The bitterness in his tone was evident and she wondered at the cause of it. Reno had always been insubordinate in his own way, but she'd never known him to be so openly hostile when disagreeing with an order. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"… any word on the Junon shipment?" She asked after a moment, figuring she may as well change the subject if he wasn't going to tell her anything.

"Not as yet." He replied. "Maybe his intel is faulty."

"It's been pretty reliable…" He just shrugged and Elena watched him. "What's with the crankypants?" She raised an eyebrow at him when he cast her a questioning look.

"What?"

"The attitude." She watched him roll his shoulders for a second before letting out a sigh.

"The Prez is being a dick."

"…How so?" Elena asked evenly.

"Been doing shit to Aura." His tone was dark and Elena tilted her head, wondering what that meant.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah." He turned a corner, "She's tough, yo."

"…what's he been doing?"

"Don't worry about it, Laney." He cast her a wide smirk. "Tell me about Tseng."

"…what about him?" she asked hesitantly.

"He still doin the weird robot sex or has he loosened up?"

"The… the weird… what?" Elena asked weakly, and Reno smirked at her again. "That's not… he… doesn't do that…"

"Oh, really?"

"Just… we're… not talking about Tseng…"

"Why not?" Reno asked, "You're not ashamed are you?"

"No…"

"Cause you shouldn't be." He held a hand out to stop her from walking into the street, "It's perfectly natural to enjoy-"

"Reno!"

"I'm just sayin'"

"Well don't just say." She muttered, "I don't need to discuss my sex life…"

"Don't be a prude." He chuckled.

"I don't see you sharing copious details of yours."

"What do you want to know?" he grinned, "My sex life is currently quite exciting."

"I don't… exciting?"

"Oh yeah." He winked at her and Elena walked more quickly to keep up. She battled between wanting to ask what he meant by that and trying to seem indifferent. It wasn't something she had really discussed with Reno before, and Aura was her friend and it didn't really seem right to pry.

"Exciting, how?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Reno laughed softly.

"Oh, you know." He looked at her, "I'm gettin' down just about every day, often several times a day." He winked at her. "Had some great shower action just last night."

"Okay, gross. I regret asking."

"Nah, you don't."

"Honestly didn't think you'd talk about Aura like that…" She looked at him and he tilted his head, glancing back at her.

"I ain't bein' derogatory, yo."

"No?"

"Just sharin' the fact that I'm getting' some serious action."

"… do you think Aura would want that known?"

"I'm not tellin all of Edge." He replied, "Just you." Elena watched him wave a hand at her, "And she's not exactly shy about it. I barely got in the door last night before she jumped me."

Elena made a face. "Okay, stop telling me."

"Maybe you should do the same with Tseng."

"I doubt he'd appreciate that."

"You never know. He is a man. I think."

Elena remained silent, wondering about that. Would Tseng like her being so forward? Where would she even do that? At his place? What if she went to his place and waited for him to come home? Would he be into it, or would he send her packing? "I… do you think so?"

"Yeah. I think he'd enjoy it."

"…shouldn't you be telling me not to be inappropriate with my superior?"

"Maybe at one time." He replied, "But things are different now."

"You think it's okay?"

"Yeah, just don't go tellin' Rufus, yo." Reno's voice darkened and Elena eyed him. "He learns about that and he'll enjoy fucking with you." She watched him stride ahead, his shoulders stiff, and she wondered just what the President had done to him and to Aura. Was Rufus ShinRa threatened by any loyalty that wasn't to him? It was more than plausible.

Reno groaned, the familiar metallic taste of blood on his tongue. Forcing his eyes open he tried to make himself sit up from where he was facedown on the ground. He pushed himself up on his hands, squinting through the haze surrounding him. "… Rude?" Unable to see the big man, Reno pushed himself higher. He and Elena had returned from their patrol mid-afternoon, right as an apparent brawl was breaking out. Tseng and Rude were already on the defensive, so Reno and Elena had attempted to even the playing field.

"…Reno?" Elena's soft voice turned him and he crawled to his feet to move toward her. The woman was crumpled by the far wall, blood smeared across her forehead.

"Laney, you right?" he asked, sliding a hand under her elbow to pull her up.

"I think so." She wiped at her forehead, "My head hurts."

"Yeah, looks like it might." He turned to look for Rude again, frowning when he didn't see any movement. "Rude?" He was met with silence and he pulled his EMR out. "Laney, lock the doors." He barely noted Elena staggering toward the doors which were open as he moved toward the back of the room, behind the counters, looking for Rude and Tseng. Elena pushed the doors closed, rolling the prone body of a young man in uniform out of the way as she did so.

Reno's blood pounded in his ears, as his heart thumped wildly when he saw long black hair splayed across the dirty cream carpet. "Boss?" he dropped to his knees beside Tseng, his fingers automatically feeling for a pulse as his eyes took in blood, grazes, cuts all marring what looked like deep bruising across every inch of skin he could see. "Tseng?" Resisting a sigh of relief when he felt the older man's heartbeat, Reno got to his feet once more. "Laney, here."

"Gotcha."

Reno stepped back as Elena came to take care of Tseng as he moved to continue looking for Rude. He stepped over the crumpled body of an obviously dead ShinRa clerk, hoping that Rude would be in better condition. "Rude, buddy?" Reno fought the slight panic rising in him. He passed an upended desk, stepping on lots of fallen stationery supplies and then dropped to his knees again when he found his partner in a pool of his own blood. "Rude…?" He pressed his fingers to the man's throat, his eyes moving quickly over him, trying to determine where the blood was coming from. "Fuck… fuck…" Reno pulled Rude's jacket open, pausing at the blood soaked shirt. "What the fuck." He frowned when he noticed Rude's scalp was also bleeding rather profusely. "Rude… wake the fuck up." Looking up and around, Reno's eyes locked on Elena. "Call for Zena."

"Got it." Elena flicked her phone open and Reno looked back to Rude, trying to pad the wound in his abdomen.

"Wake the fuck up." He breathed, looking to Rude's face. "C'mon, Partner."

"They'll be here in a few!" Elena called and Reno nodded, reluctantly getting back to his feet. He had to make sure the rest of the building was clear, and that they hadn't locked themselves inside with anything that remained a threat.