Here we go: chapter 2. Any typos may be due to the fact that my monitor is currently deciding to go all bizarre on me, so I apologize. Anyhow: enjoy!
Well, they had done it. They had somehow managed to drag her quite literally kicking and screaming through the doors of their favourite bar, and didn't even release her when they had sat her down on one of the few empty bar stools within this buzzing, busy building. She had to admit that her arms really were aching now, and she was tired from all of the fighting and struggling that she had been doing. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep...was that really such a crime?
"Ok, I'm here now. Satisfied? I'm really not in the mood for drinking...or even seeing anyone right now, so... can I go home now? Please?" Elena asked rather pitifully, sighing as she bowed her head, her hair falling across her face as though trying to hide it. However, Reno showed no mercy. It seemed that he was determined to make Elena drink something, whether she wished to or not. The fact that Reno had bothered to bring his weapon with him didn't exactly make Elena feel much happier, either.
"No way, rookie." Reno replied firmly, before going ahead and ordering a round of drinks for the three of them. As he did so, he nudged Rude with his foot (as the two men were still holding Elena to stop any possible attempts of escape that she may have wanted to try) and shrugged, before pointing to the barmaid with his free hand (It was his little way of saying something along the lines of: 'Can you lend me money? By 'lend,' I mean 'donate' of course, because I'm really broke right now, but I really wanna have that girl later.' ) to which the quiet man only shook his head, reluctantly parting with some gil in order to help his friend. However, this was not done without a quiet, almost mocking chuckle which seemed to say: 'In your dreams you'll have her, Reno. You're definitely paying me back later.' The moment the coins left his hand and clattered to the counter, Rude's gaze drifted over to Elena and lingered for a few moments. Perhaps he felt guilty? No, that was impossible, wasn't it? Well, even if he were feeling guilty, he would probably never show it clearly enough for anybody else to see. After a while, the light tinkling sound of the little brass bell over the door of the bar caught Rude's attention, and a feeling of amusement came to Rude. 'Speaking of owing people...' he thought as the man entered the bar. Of course he knew him. Vincent Valentine, wasn't it? Well, this was certainly a surprise...the man, quiet and mysterious like himself was definitely not someone that he had expected to ever meet here. He remembered how he had heard of the man rescuing Tseng and Elena from the torturous clutches of the silver haired trio all those years ago, and Rude couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here when he could be out doing something much more worthwhile, say...saving the world again? He chuckled, and shook his head at that thought, his gaze meeting the senior ex-Turk's for only a few moments, before the two men nodded, and turned their attentions elsewhere. Rude turned back to face his co-workers, ,(in an attempt to pull them out of the argument that they had gotten themselves into) whereas Vincent disappeared amongst the crowd of people within the bar, almost as though he were nothing more than a crimson shadow. They would meet again, of course...if the two stoic characters had taken anything from that single glance; it was that thought, unknown to the other two squabbling Turks.
"Rufus was in on this whole thing, babe! You see? Even Mr. President wants you to sit yourself down and-..." He was trying to reason with the young blonde beside him, but it seemed that his attempts had gone to waste the moment that her mouth opened, as she cut his sentence short.
"Get drunk?! Get drunk, so you can take advantage of me later?!Maybe even something worse: God only knows what you've got in mind!" She stopped only to take a breath before continuing with her rant. " Excuse me for doubting someone of a higher rank than me but somehow, that doesn't quite sound like one of the President's plans!" Once again, she only paused, wrenching her arrms free from Reno's and Rude's grip. (This job was much easier, due to the fact that both of the men had been distracted: Rude by Vincent, and Reno by Elena's arguing.) Getting to her feet, she rubbed her sore wrists, glaring at Reno angrily. "Reno, I'm tired! I'm annoyed! I'm worn out! You are not helping in the least! You think this is professional?!" she demanded, her hands now on her hips, and her eyebrow raised in questioning. "Sure, you're off work now, but is this really how you should be spending your time?"
"I spend my time how I like, rookie!" Reno argued, also getting to his feet and slowly approachiung Elena, the look of joy now gone from his pale face to be replaced by impatience. "I'm only tryin' to help you. If you can't appreciate that, fine. I don't give a damn. Also: sure, you're a damn fine girl, but you can't accuse me of bein' some kind of sexual predator!" he snapped, He would have gone further, had Rude not stood up to intervene before either of the arguing Turks decided to take out their weapons...it would be an especially bad thing if they did so here in a packed, public place. "..." Holding up one hand, he shook his head as if to say: 'Stop right now.'
"But! But! Gahhh..." Reno tried to argue, but found himself unable to against that stoic expression that Rude held at that moment. Turning to Elena, he gave a simple nod, before finally choosing to speak. "Elena-..." he began. However, as expected, the young blonde refused to listen to anyone right now. She wasn't angry, but she was definitely frsutrated and irritated.
"I'm fine, Rude! I know you don't like speaking so much, so you don't have to force it! " Elena began, interrupting Rude's sentence as she was so used to doing. When Rude's gaze fell to the ground in slight worry or perhaps disappointment, the young blonde reached up, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, immediately drawing his attention to her. "It's fine." she repeated with a quick nod. However, her gaze soon met Reno's and her hand slipped from Rude's shoulder in order to become a clenched fist by her side. "But you!"
"Me? You mean the person who was lookin' out for you? Who wanted to make you feel better?" Reno asked, getting rather irritated at Elena's behaviour right now.
"Yes, you! There is a warm bed waiting for me at my house! Don't even think about getting in the way of it, else you really will regret it! I'm going home...I'll see you tomorro-..." She had moved to turn around, but instead, had bumped into someone who had been standing behind her chair. By taking a step away; she had collided with the man. Her face flushed in embarrassment, and her eyes narrowed as she glared up at the stranger, only to find a pair of coldd crimson eyes there to meet her angered gaze. His hands were now placed on her shoulders to steady her, and he said nothing as she only stared, now wide eyed in surprise at him.
"V-...Valentine!" she stammered in shock, hastily pulling away from his light hold on her. "Um...ahahaha..." she laughed nervously, before turning back towards Reno and Rude, racing over to them and grabbing their hands, almost pleading: "Hide me! Hide me! Hide me...!!"
"I refuse..." Reno replied with a sadistic grin on his lips. "Because you told me not to 'get in the way of your warm bed at home', didn't you, Laney? I'd say this counts as getting in the way." He loved every second of this new theatre of embarrassment which seemed to have opened up before him. "Let the show go on..." he teased, placing one hand against Elena's shoulder and pushing her towards Vincent again. Giving the dark haired man a small wave,;he then turned back to the bar, eagerly beginning on the drinks rthat had finally been placed in front of him. He looked to the right from the corner of his eye when he heard a crashing noise, and his grin widened. What had happened to amuse him so? Well, when he had pushed Elena away, she had somehow managed to fall back, and stumble over the bar-stool, falling to the ground and bringing the stool down with her. "She's gonna start to hate bars, eh buddy? First time she comes to a bar, she gets kidnapped by some womaniser, and this time...well...see for yourself!" Rude glanced down at the scene which Reno motioned to, and he then stood up to help, only to have Reno force him back to sit in his chair again. "Leave her." Reno ordered, shaking his head. "The scene's just getting good." It wasn't that he didn't care about Elena, it was just that...well...he recognised this kind of 'typical-romance-comedy-movie-scene' style situation, and thought it better to leave well alone. Sure, Elena might kill him for it, but if things were going the way that he sensed they were, then it would be worth it when considering her happiness. Besides: she would then be forced to shower him with praise and thanks, wouldn't she? With this thought in mind, Reno grinned, nodding a few times as he took another gulp of his drink, setting the glass down with a quiet thump. "Yeah...leave 'em to it, buddy..."
Embarrassed, she sat up, pushing the bar stool off of her and looking up at Vincent, only to find that he was crouched by her side, a look of concern on his face. "Are...you alright?" he questioned, one eyebrow slightly raised. It was almost as though he was slightly amused by the whole thing, but Elena tried to ignore that thought. She still saw him as a person who couldn't show humor, no matter how hard he tried. All the better for him, really...well, when considering the fact that she wanted to shoot just about everyone who had laughed just then. Clearing her throat, she hastily got to her feet, setting the bar stool right and nodding a few times in response to his question. "Are you sure?" he asked once more.
"Of course, I'm fine!" she insisted, her cheeks a dark red in colour now due to the blush of humiliation which had settled there. "I...I did that on purpose!"
"...Why...?" he asked, apparently not believing a single word. "I think...maybe you've had enough...?" he suggested, nodding towards the empty glasses which Reno had assembled around the area where Elena had been sitting.
"WHAT?!" she demanded, her blush deepening, and rage flashing in her eyes as she realised what he was referring to. Her anger intensified when she heard the loud: "HA!!" that Reno let out upon hearing what Vincent had said. "Ohhhh, Reno...you are so...dead..." she hissed through gritted teeth, her fists tightening, and her body trembling in rage. "I have not 'had enough.'.. she snarled bitterly, glancing at Vincent, her bad mood showing itself extremely obviously now. "You don't know a damned thing! Not a damned thing! If you did, you'd know that the drunkard is sitting right over there!" With that, she pointed at Reno, before looking away from Vincent, folding her arms across her chest as though she were trying to hide herself from him.
"I realise that, Elena..." Vincent muttered in response, his crimson eyes gaining a look that appeared almost apologetic. Reaching out, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder (ignoring the fact that she flinched when he did so) and continued: "...I was trying to lighten the mood...well...yours. I apologize, Elena."
This shocked her a little. Valentine? Lightening the mood? What was the world coming to?
"No, um...it's ok. I mean...you're forgiven!" Elena replied, feeling a little guilty for snapping at him like that. "Um...what...were you doing there? I mean: why were you standing behind me like that?" It had creeped her out a bit, she had to admit. However, she was sure (at least...she hoped) that he had a good reason for doing it. When he didn't answer right away, Elena began to get a little impatient, but did her best not to show this.
"...I...wanted to see you again." Vincent muttered in response, before nodding once as though to say farewell, and turning, walking away towards the exit. It seemed that being forced to answer a question such as that (especially with that answer) had embarrassed him. Well, Elena was shocked, too. She stood there, trying to figure out if she had truly heard him correctly. "Wanted...to see me?" she repeated under her breath. "Why?" she asked herself, watching as Vincent left the bar, shutting the door behind him. Without even thinking, Elena found herself pushing past everyone who stood in her way as she fought to follow him. Reaching the door, she hurried through it, only to find herself alone in the night. The figure that she was following had almost melted into the darkness, it seemed, as he was nowhere in sight. Gazing up at the night's sky, she simply stared at the full round, glowing moon, which shone above her. Maybe she would meet him another night? For now, that nice warm bed at home was calling out to her...and a warm drink wouldn't be unappreciated either. With her hands in her pockets and her head hung low, the young blonde began on her way home, eager to get some rest, and spend the night alone. However, she had no idea that things were not going to go exactly according to her little plan...