Elena tried not to fidget in the car. She hoped the shakes wouldn't start until she finished this. She had lied to everyone about Cloud, she knew it was Tseng who had ordered her brother killed. She had been in his bed at the time, half-drugged but she remembered very clearly that she overheard him on the phone, getting the news that the job was done, and when she went home a little while later, she had found Cloud dead, and Elena knew it was her fault. He had told her earlier that he knew who was using her, and he was going to put a stop to it. This time, she was going to put a stop to it. She wasn't going to let Reno end up like Cloud. Elena patted her pocket with the gun in it.

"This is it?" Reno looked at the dilapidated building as Rude pulled to a stop.

"That's what Tifa told me." Rude said.

"Well, let's go." Reno reached down to get the gun out of his ankle holster. "Dammit!"

"What's wrong?"

"I really hope she didn't take my gun." Reno said, just as they both heard a single gunshot coming from the building.

Reno ran out of the car towards the building, Rude following him.

Tseng grabbed the gun from Elena's trembling hands. "You stupid little tramp!" He yelled as he pistol-whipped her until she was an unmoving heap on the ground. "It's a pity that such a pretty girl would commit suicide, but it wouldn't be the first time you tried it, only this time you succeeded."

Tseng pointed the gun at Elena's head as Reno burst into the room, tackling Tseng. There was a struggle and the gun went off again. Tseng stood up victorious, pointing the gun at Reno's head. Elena came to, and screamed as she heard the shot, then looked in surprise towards the door as Tseng collapsed. Rude stood there with his gun in hand. Elena crawled over to where Reno lay bleeding. She put his head in her lap.

"Please don't die, Reno. Don't leave me!" Elena repeated over and over again as Rude called for an ambulance and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

As the sirens got closer, Reno opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Didn't I tell you I'd take care of you, Ellie?"

Elena nodded through her tears. She heard the paramedics coming up the stairs and looked towards the doorway for a moment, then turned back to Reno and nearly screamed when she saw his eyes closed again. He wouldn't respond to her, and Rude had to carry her away kicking and screaming so she wouldn't interfere with Reno's treatment.

Epilogue

Elena had insisted on sharing a room with Reno at the hospital, but her head injuries were minor compared to Reno's gunshot wound. He was lucky in that it had missed his organs, but he had serious blood loss, and they were waiting to see if there was any sign of infection. She sat next to his bed holding his hand whenever she could. The withdrawals weren't as bad as she expected, because they gave her something to mitigate the effects.

It was four days before Reno regained consciousness. Elena had fallen asleep in the chair, her head resting on his bed. She woke up to him stroking her hair.

"Reno?" Elena asked hopefully.

"The one and only. You look tired." Reno replied as his eyes focused enough to look at her.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up, sleepyhead."

"Come here." Reno patted the space on the bed next to him, and Elena curled up against him. "What are you going to do now?"

"The hospital said they have a free treatment program available, and there's also funding available for free room and board if I want to go back to college." Elena said quietly.

"That sounds great to me."

"Will you be…I mean…" Elena had trouble saying what she wanted to.

"I meant it when I said I'll always be there for you." Reno said, hoping she was finally going to get her life back on track. He was tired of it always being the wrong time to let her know how he felt about her. He pulled her closer so he could kiss her.

Rude answered his phone, surprised that his landline was ringing, it was usually his cellphone because it would be work if it was this late at night. "Hello?" he said.

"Congratulations on a job well done. You made sure everything pointed to Tseng as the culprit, and he'll never be able to say otherwise." Rufus said.

"Yes sir."

"It was a pity because I rather enjoyed his company. Just make sure you don't make the same mistakes he did in getting too involved with the merchandise."

"Yes sir."

"Good night." Rufus hung up.

Rude put the phone down and turned over in bed, nudging Tifa. "Now where were we?"

"Who was that, dear?" A woman said, walking into Rufus' study.

"Scarlet, if you so enjoy being Mrs. Mayor, I would strongly suggest you learn to mind your own business. Even though from what I hear from the hired help, keeping your mouth shut is not one of your talents."