A/N: Sorry for the delay…again. Writer's block has decided to strike me (for this story and Waiting) so it's taking longer to complete then I would have hoped. This chapter starts off where Chapter 6 ended.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! (gives Rufus and Dark Nation cookies)

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'Do you think that Dark Nation is ok back there? I mean, he's hurt and now he's all alone. Rufus is usually with him. Maybe he's scared back there by himself.'

Rude smiled and Reno couldn't help but laugh. 'Yeah, good luck with that one 'Laney. If you're so worried about him, you go back there. Let's see how the scared and injured animal will respond to you. Don't forget to cover your face, wouldn't want it to get scarred.'

Elena huffed and crawled to the back of the helicopter. 'He won't do anything to me. He wants company.'

When he heard movement behind him, Rude turned his head and watched Elena moving slowly towards the cat. Given the cramped area, she really didn't have much choice but to move slowly.

'Elena, I don't think...' Rude began, but was stopped by the redhead.

'Let her learn the hard way not to mess with that cat. We did. I still got the scar to prove it. You can crawl back there when you hear her yelling at Dark after he scratches half her skin off.'

Shaking his head, Rude turned away from Elena and Dark Nation. This is too much to have happen in one day. We weren't even officially done with the previous mission, and now we have a new one. Save Rufus' cat. What kind of a mission is that anyway?? When he finally realized what exactly he was doing, he couldn't help but shake his head. Although, if we want to live to see next month, we do have to see this one through. I can hear Rufus now: "don't let my cat die or I'll kill you." He'll be fine, sir. I don't exactly want to die because of a cat.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a rather hard punch to his shoulder. He turned to look at the redhead, eyebrow raised in question.

'She hasn't yelled yet.' Reno motioned to the back of the helicopter, where Elena was trying to make friends with Dark Nation. 'Maybe he went right for her neck and killed her. What if he killed her!? How do we explain this to Tseng? We can't exactly say, "Well sir, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that Dark Nation is going to be fine. He was weak and dying in the back of the chopper, but having lunch seemed to have helping him out. The bad news is that we lost the Rookie. She was his lunch. We're sorry sir. Are there anymore Rookies available?'

Rude shook his head. 'You put sugar in your coffee this morning, didn't you?'

'Well, yeah I did.' he shrugged, 'But that has nothing to do with Elena becoming that cat's lunch.'

'Haven't I told you that you don't need caffeine or sugar and that it makes you go insane?' I should have you locked away, Reno.

Reno sighed, exasperated. 'I'm not insane! He killed her! That cat is crazy! It's scared, it's hurt and it misses Rufus. Not a good combination! You go deal with the insane murderous cat and the leftover Rookie parts. I'm trying to get us to the President.'

Rude turned to assess the damage and possibly to console Elena. He was rather certain that Dark Nation wouldn't want anyone near him right now, unless they were male, dressed in white, had blond hair, blue eyes and answered to the name Rufus. Elena had seemed set on comforting an animal that most people ran away from in fear.

The sight that he saw was not exactly what he expected, nor anything like Reno had predicted. He glanced back to his partner, smirking slighty, taking the controls from the redhead.

'Hey this is my flight baldy. Hands off the controls.'

'You can have them back, after you look behind you.'

Oh right, like I want to see little 'Laney bits all over the place. He closed his eyes and reluctantly turned around and prepared himself for a gruesome sight. When he opened his eyes, he couldn't help but stare in disbelief.

'What. the. fuck!? That's not fair! It hates me but loves you?? I bought the damn thing!'

'I'm not mean to him. You are. There's a difference.'

Elena had managed to prop herself up enough for Dark Nation to rest his head in her lap. He was now resting comfortably, purring quietly as Elena gently scratched him at the base of his tentacle. When Dark heard Reno's voice, his ears perked up. He turned to look at the redhead, gave a rather large yawn, then went back to sleep.

Grumbling, Reno went back to his seat and took the controls from Rude. 'Stupid cat,' he mumbled, 'loves her but hates me. I spend money on it and it hates me. She pets it and she's loved. I hate cats. Damn finicky things.'

'It's just a cat.' Rude admonished, managing to hide his amusement. 'Relax. Quit worrying about it and get ready to land. The vet's hospital is coming into view. The medical center where they brought Rufus isn't far from here either.'

'Yeah, yeah, Rude. Got it.' Reno snapped as he began preparing to land. 'Yo 'Laney! Hold onto sleeping kitty, we're landing.'