Chapter 85

Elena slipped through the shadows, desperate to get to the place Tseng had instructed her to meet him. She held her phone clutched tightly in her hand, ready to give it to him, to show him what she had seen in the bar. She could hardly believe it herself, and she was more than pleased that she had managed to get photographic evidence that she would be able to show to Tseng, and then to Rufus.

"Elena…" her boss appeared out of the darkness, and Elena just about flung herself at him. "What are you doing?" his voice was clipped and Elena stepped back.

"Ah… in case anyone saw us…" she said, "Figured it'd look better…"

"Yes…" He nodded and slipped an arm around her shoulder as he turned her to begin walking up the street. "Are you hurt?"

"No." she replied, noticing that they took a turn that was not in the direction of her apartment. "…where…?"

"Mine." He said simply.

"Okay…" They walked in silence for several minutes before she turned her head to look at him, "Tseng… they…"

"Not here."

Biting her lip, Elena forced herself to keep quiet, clutching her phone more tightly in her hand. She quickened her step, hoping they would get to Tseng's place before she burst from trying to keep what she had seen quiet.

While Tseng unlocked his front door, Elena practically bounced up and down on the balls of her feet before springing through the door when it was opened. The moment it closed behind her, she swung around to face her boss as he moved toward her. She found herself unable to speak as his hands ghosted over her.

"Are you certain you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine." She forced out, before pushing her phone into his hands.

Tseng looked down at it, taking several steps back as he began flicking through the pictures. "Tell me…"

Nodding, Elena sank onto the couch. She recounted, as he had been trained, everything she had seen from the moment she had walked though the doors into the bar. She told him about how Dee had taken her to sit with the other girls, and what she had learned from them. She told him about the discussions that had swept the bar about Geostigma and, gesturing at the phone in Tseng's hand, she told him about how the group leading the discussions had brought out a young man suffering from Geostigma and had given him an injection that had made the horrible dark marks on his skin vanish before their eyes.

"They… have a cure?" Tseng asked, his voice barely audible.

"It looks like it."

Their eyes met as they both fell silent, clearly wondering what the implications of that might be. Elena could practically see the cogs working behind Tseng's eyes. If they could get the cure for Rufus…

"Was Cadan there?"

"Not that I saw…" Elena shook her head.

"And you're sure nobody recognised you?"

Elena nodded her head slowly. She was fairly certain of that. Nobody had seemed to pay any attention to her at all. She had blended in, especially sitting with the other girls, and then everybody's focus has been on the man being cured. Tseng smiled at her, his hand on her arm, and Elena felt pride swell within her. This was something she had done well, and she could see how pleased with her Tseng was. Finally, things were improving.

"You saved my life, you know…"

Aura lifted her head from the cushion she was leaning back against and looked at Reno. His green eyes lifted to hers as he held her feet in his lap. "What do you mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him when he gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Pretty sure it went the other way, yo." She told him. "If you hadn't found me that night, I would have been a Mako Whore and dead within the year…"

"I know." He replied, his hands moving carefully over her feet and Aura resisted a pleasured groan, "But before that night I didn't have purpose." He said gently, "There wasn't a reason for anything I did. I didn't care if I lived or died…" He pressed a thumb into the sole of her left foot, "I went into that alley knowing that I shouldn't because I had nothing to lose."

"What do you mean?" Aura asked, frowning. He'd never said anything like that to her before. "You were doing fine…"

"Yeah, but there wasn't a point to it." He replied, "Not until I had you." Aura just looked at him and he continued to massage her foot. "When you agreed to stay with me, I had something to do each day… make sure you had food… somewhere safe each night…"

"Reno…"

His hand moved up her ankle "Everything I did from that night on was for you."

Aura bit her lip, listening as the cold evening wind picked up outside. She and Reno had been in this place less than two weeks and she wasn't sure she entirely trusted it not to come down on top of her. He had been gone since morning, and she had expected him to be back by midday but she had seen nothing of him.

"Come on…" Aura murmured, craning her head to see out the window in the hope that she would see Reno's red hair coming home. It would be dark in less than two hours and she was beginning to think that maybe she should head out and try to find him. There had been talk in this part of town of plenty of jobs going and that had been part of the reason they had chosen this area when they'd had to leave their last place. Reno had gone out this morning in the hope of finding some form of work that would pay enough to keep them fed and warm, and she hoped that that was the reason she hadn't seen him all day. She hoped that nothing bad had happened to him.

"Reno!" Aura jumped when the door opened with a bang as the wind caught it and swung it fiercely.

"Miss me?" he asked, bounding across the room to her.

"hm." Aura couldn't keep the smile from her face, "Of course. Where have you been, yo? I was starting to think I'd have to go looking for you."

"Aur, you won't believe it."

"Reckon I might…" She grinned at him when he came to kneel before her.

"I got work…" he told her, taking one of her hands in his, and Aura met his green eyes before he continued after a short pause, "… with ShinRa."

Aura tilted her head, unsure she'd heard him as she pulled her hand slowly from his. "…what?"

He nodded, "I know it's weird… but… it's proper work… with good pay." He smiled hopefully at her, "Full time work…"

"…with ShinRa."

"Yeah… I won't have to…" she watched him make a face, "Take whatever I can find on the streets to afford food…"

"Full time work…" Aura tilted her head again, "Doin' what?"

"Whatever they train me for, yo." He was smiling again, and Aura could see the eagerness in his eyes, "They're gonna train me up… Actual useful skills… In an academy."

Aura went cold then. "…Not here?"

Reno shook his head, "Nah, I need to actually be there. It's training, board and food all rolled up…" He was practically vibrating with excited energy and Aura forced a smile onto her face.

"That's great, Reno…" She told him, feeling as if a ball of ice was forming in her stomach. Her eyes burned and she struggled to keep the dread off of her face. "Good for you…"

He glanced at the window and then got to his feet. "I've got to go…"

"What?" Aura got to her own feet, "Now?" her hand reached out for Reno's sleeve and her fingers brushed the material gently. Surely he wasn't just going to leave her without warning. But, as Reno headed for the door Aura was unable to do anything but watch him silently as horror began to set in. "Reno…"

He threw a smile over his shoulder, "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

The door swung shut behind him and Aura was alone. She tried to keep her breathing under control as it grew quicker and more panicked, but she lasted only about a minute before the anguished cry escaped her and she clamped a hand over her mouth as she fell back against the wall and slid to the floor.

She didn't know what to do. She hadn't imagined that Reno would ever leave her, let alone without warning. Unable to make herself get up, Aura just sat there, hands shaking as tears slid down her cheeks. She had thought that she had meant more to him, she had thought they were family. Yet he had left her as soon as the opportunity had presented itself. More than that, Aura knew that she wouldn't survive long without Reno. She depended on him for so much. She had no idea what to do.

Pressing her face into her hands, Aura cried. Tomorrow, she would work out where she could go and what she needed to do to try and protect herself. Tonight, she would allow herself to cry.

And she did. Aura cried for the fear that was settling on her, and she cried for the loss of her friend. She cried for the small happiness she had found in their life, as hard as it had been, and for the loss of the hope she'd held that it would get better. She had thought she could face any hardship that came for her because she had had Reno to help her, and he always convinced her that everything would be fine. No longer. So, Aura cried.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed as she sat on the floor with her face in her hands, but she wasn't expecting the hands that took hold of her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. Aura jumped, startled, and blinking rapidly to try and clear her vision. She had not been expecting to see Reno kneeling in front of her.

"What is it?" he asked, "Aur, what happened? Did something happen while I was gone? What's wrong?"

Aura just looked at him, unable to stop the tears and unable to get an audible reply out. One of her hands clenched a handful of his shirt and she watched as realisation filled his eyes.

"You… thought I'd left you…"

She cried harder and Reno pulled her into his lap, wrapping an arm around her waist. Aura let out a sob and Reno rubbed her back.

"I wouldn't do that…." He told her softly, his lips against her ear as his hand continued to move across her back.

"I don't understand then…" Aura murmured, swallowing thickly. "You said you were going to be trained by ShinRa…" she pulled back to look at him, "… with board."

"That doesn't mean I would abandon you, yo."

Aura's fingers tightened on his shirt, "I don't understand how you can be in both places at once…"

Letting her go, Reno met her eyes. "Pack your things." He told her, "We're leaving."

"We are?"

In less than fifteen minutes, Aura had everything she owned in a bag tossed over her shoulder and she met Reno by the door. He hoisted his own bag over his shoulder before leading her out the door. Aura followed him, casting one last glance over her shoulder at the empty house. "Where are we going?"

"Sector Four."

"What?" Aura hurried to catch up. "Why?" She saw Reno cast a furtive glance around them before shaking his head. Understanding that he didn't think he could speak about it here, Aura fell silent and wondered how they were going to pay for tickets to get them that far.

When they reached the train station, Aura just watched silently as Reno pulled Gil she hadn't known he'd had out to buy their way and she just added it to the list of question she would ask when they were wherever he was taking them.

The house was on a narrow street, rather out of the way and Aura's eyes moved over it quickly and with interest. She looked around at Reno before they both headed for the door and he pulled a small key from his pocket to let them in.

"What is this?" Aura asked once the door had closed and she realised that they were alone.

Reno sat on the small couch and looked at her. "This is your house."

"My house?"

Reno let out a soft breath and raked his fingers through his hair, "Come here…" he pat the couch beside himself and Aura didn't even consider not doing as he said. She sank onto the cushion, unable to take her eyes off of Reno's face.

"Talk, yo."

He nodded, looking at his hands. "I told you before, I was offered training at the Military Academy. It comes with pay, and food and board. And… I would need to be there."

"Right…" Aura felt sick, that ball of ice forming in her stomach again. "So… what is this?" she gestured around them.

"This is for you to be safe…" He glanced at her, "This is a safer area… nobody can get in here unless you let them…"

"So… you are leaving me…" The words sounded flat even to her.

"No…" he took one of her hands in his. "I… The condition they gave me…" he looked at her again, "The condition was that I cut ties with everything in my life…" he held tighter to her hand when she tried to pull it away from him, "But I wont…" Reno shook his head, "Not you…. I… I told them I needed money to get things squared… I… found this place for you…"

"Reno…"

"You'll be safe here while I'm there and I'll come as often as I can… I'll bring you money and anything else you need. I'm not abandoning you, Aur…"

"You're just leaving me…"

He lifted a hand to her cheek and Aura just stared at him. "… If… if you don't want me to do it… I won't…"

Tilting her head, Aura held her breath for a moment. She didn't want him to go, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for him. There was no way she was going to stand in the way of him learning or of his chance to better himself, to earn a better life. "I… No…" She shook her head, "You should do it, Reno."

He lifted her hand to his lips and tears burned her eyes. "You know ShinRa…" he began softly and Aura nodded, "If they know that I've kept you in my life…"

"Secrecy." Aura nodded, "Got it, yo."

"I'm sorry…"

"No…" Aura forced a small smile.

"I think this is it." He said, "I think this is how we build more…"

Aura nodded and looked around the room. "Let's have a look at this place, then."

"You chose to evacuate Sector Four?" Aura asked Reno as he continued to massage her foot, "During Meteorfall?"

Reno's bright eyes flicked to her face and he nodded. "Had to know." He murmured and Aura nodded.

"It was a good place." She told him softly, "I miss it sometimes."

"Yeah," he said, "Somewhere you could be comfortable and free…"

"Exactly." Aura closed her eyes as his warm hands moved up her calf muscle and her head tipped back against the side of the couch. "But I like my place now too…"

"I'm glad."

"It's even better when you're there…"

"Even more glad, yo."

Aura cracked an eye open to look at him, unsurprised by the wide grin spread across his face. She was more than glad that, despite everything ShinRa had done to him and put him through, Reno had remained, more or less, exactly himself.