A/N: Right, on with Day Two, Part Two of "Prisoners"!

Disclaimer: Me still own no FFVII.

Elena bit her lip as she waited for the call to go through. She heard a dull click over the PHS as the call connected. A familiar voice sighed. "Who is it?"

"Uhmmm…"

"Ah, Elena. How're you?"

"I-I'm fine…sir."

There was a deep chuckle. "No need for the 'sir', Elena. How're Reno and Rude? You keeping them honest?"

Elena smiled and blushed slightly. "Y-yeah. They're both fine." She paused. "We've caught Avalanche!"

There was a pause. "Really?"

She felt a little crestfallen. They'd caught the people who'd hospitalised him, and all he could say was 'Really'? "Yeah." She paused before saying. "I-I'm sorry, I tried before, but I…kinda messed up."

"That's OK. But, uh, why are you sorry?"

Elena was slightly taken aback by this. "Well…I messed up catching Cloud and his friends after what they did to you--"

There was a slight splutter. "Wuh-what?! Is that what everyone there thinks? It was Sephiroth who sliced me up, not Cloud." There was a slight grunt down the phone - Elena supposed he was adjusting his position.

"…oh." She said in a quiet voice. "…I feel like an idiot."

"Well, that's better than actually being one." She was reassured down the phone.

She glanced around unsure. "I…I have some bad news. It's, uh, about Aer…Aerith." She choked slightly.

There was a long pause. "…Sephiroth?" She hadn't heard him use that tone of voice before except once when she'd met him in training. Cold and hard.

"I-I'm afraid so." She heard something at the other end of the line - maybe it was a nurse asking him to finish the call soon, or maybe he was swearing quietly. There was a long pause.

"…I'm sorry, Elena."

"Wuh?" That wasn't what she'd been expecting. "Wh-why, s-sir?"

"I said not to worry about that formality. I'm sorry, but it must seem that I've gone to a great length to get out of that dinner I promised you."

Elena went beetroot. "Th-that's o-okay…"

"As soon as I get out of here, I'll make it up to you." She was promised. "I spoke to the doctor yesterday. He says I should be out in about a month." There was another grunt. "Heh, didn't realise getting myself cut by the Masamune would result in such a long hospitalisation." There was a sound from the other end of the connection again. "Ok, ok." She heard him sigh. "Sorry, Elena, but I've just been told that I should get off the phone."

"Oh, OK." She paused. "It…was nice talking to you again."

She was surprised of the warmth in the reply. "It was good hearing from you again. Take care of yourself, and keep Reno out of too much trouble. Rude, I trust without adult supervision."

Elena found herself grinning uncontrollably. "Will do, sir." She replied jokingly.

She was rewarded with another chuckle. "Good. I hope to hear from you again soon. Bye."

"Bye." She replied quietly, and waited for the connection to click off. As soon as it had, she sighed deeply.

"Hey, 'Lena!" She rolled her eyes at Reno's loud hail from down the hall. She turned and saw him strolling towards her, with Rude alongside. Something was up. "That the boss you just got off the phone with, yo?" Reno asked as they came up.

"Hey Elena." Rude said almost simultaneously.

"Hey guys." She smiled. "Yeah. He's doing fine. And, uh, it wasn't Cloud who cut him." She swallowed slightly embarrassed. "It was Sephiroth."

Rude grinned and stuck a hand out at Reno. "Told you."

Reno groaned, rolled his eyes and stuck his hand in his pocket, rummaging around for some money.

Elena looked at them, feeling slightly appalled. "Just WHAT had you two put money on?"

"Rude had thought that we'd find out that it WAS Sephiroth sooner or later, I thought we wouldn't ever be sure." Reno explained. He eventually brought his empty hands out of his pocket. "Sorry, yo, I'll have to owe you for now."

Rude tutted with a mock frown on his face, as he shook his head. He turned his attention to Elena with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I have a favour to ask."

"Shoot." Elena nodded.

Rude looked at her blankly. "But…you're the one with the gun." He said monotonously. Without breaking his stride, leaving Reno grinning and Elena slightly in shock at the joke, he continued: "Anyway, I'd been asked by the Powers That Be to, uh…" Rude broke off, and looked away.

"Escort the lovely Yuffie Kisaragi to the showers." Reno finished.

"…Right." Rude affirmed uncomfortably. "I…was slightly hesitant--"

"Well, yeah." Elena nodded. "You're not a pervert, unlike some."

"You mean me, right, yo?" Reno said, pretending that he was offended. "I resent that."

"--BUT," Rude said, in an attempt to regain control of this conversation. "She downright refused, and told me that unless I got you to take over for me, she would insert a piece of furniture into me…anally." Reno burst out howling with laughter. "She was unspecific as to which piece she would use." Rude finished, glaring at Reno from behind his glasses.

Elena bit on her lip, and covered her mouth with her hand. "Awww, muh man!" Reno guffawed. "You'd never told me that part, yo!"

"I, uh, yeah." Elena grinned, uncovering her mouth so Rude could hear her. "Don't worry, I've got this one."

"Appreciated." Rude muttered, still looking irked at Reno. "Look, either stop laughing, or I'll use your own shock rod on you."

Cid had started to doze in one of the chairs in the room, which Vincent was glad of. He could understand the pilot's frustration and outrage about Elena not being sent originally, but it seemed that Cid hadn't had much experience with the real Shin-Ra - which was no surprise, as it was only members of the Turks that saw the full picture, and the odd SOLDIER 1st Class - and such humanity was beneath them. His upper lip twitched in anger as he realised that if it was still Heidegger in charge of the Turks, then such common decency would be seen as below a Wutaian, even one of such high rank as Yuffie. He scoffed angrily.

The young girl was behind him pacing slightly as she waited for Elena's arrival. She looked up at him. "What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

Vincent kept his back to her, because even though it wasn't visible in his reflection, he could still feel the Galian Beast writ large upon his face in contempt. "…Shin-Ra doesn't change." He replied eventually, with no small measure of bitterness. Still, had he ever expected it to? If a soul as kind and pure as Lucrecia could be corrupted and perverted by them, what hope had anyone of changing the nature of the demon?

Yuffie scoffed herself behind him. There was a bitterness and anger in her words that cut at Vincent's heart. "Shin-Ra doesn't WANT to change, Vince. They're quite happy being amoral little bastards, lining their own pockets."

Vincent felt enough of the Beast had faded from him to risk turning towards her. "There's at least one of them who wants to change." He muttered quietly.

Her eyes narrowed. "Cait Sith? You think we can trust him? Or whoever his controller is?"

Vincent took a small step towards her, just enough so that he could impress his words upon her without intimidating her. "Remember, I was once a Turk. One of the best of the time, too, although I don't like to brag. Part of our job was knowing who to trust. We didn't get that quick enough… in training, we were dropped from the Turks, in the field…we died. I lived that life for years." Yuffie's eyes were wide staring at him. "I know who to trust."

There was a long pause, during which Vincent started to walk away. He noticed the curious faces of Nanaki and Barret studying the two of them, and felt his cheeks flush slightly. He hated being the centre of attention.

"Why?" Yuffie's voice was strained slightly. "Why…did you join the Turks?"

Why? He felt like just breaking down in insane laughter, for there was no real reason, but that was not an option. "…Mainly…? To spite my father, for not being there when my mother died. He was a scientist, you see. Back when Shin-Ra hadn't even been properly founded. His work meant he was away a lot."

Yuffie went quiet, and looked away. "How did things end between you?"

"…He…died. During an expedition." Vincent smirked humourlessly. "Turns out, Lucrecia was his assistant on that study, and she blamed herself for his death." He shook his head.

"Uh… 'scuse me for asking, but…was that Professor Lucrecia Crescent?"

"Goddammit, don't any of you Shin-Ra spooks knock?" Barret growled quietly at Elena who was standing in the doorway.

"Sorry." She smiled embarrassedly. "I, uh, didn't want to disturb you guys any more than I had to, and…" Her eyes fell to Cid, who had begun snoring. "…I was unsure whether any of you were asleep."

"In answer to your question…yes, it was Lucrecia Crescent." Vincent acknowledged as soon as he felt it was proper.

Elena's eyes widened. "Oh. Wow, you really are THE Vincent Valentine…I, uh, woulda thought you'd be older by now." Her eyes widened even more, and her mouth opened and closed a couple times. "Oh…God, that didn't come out right."

Vincent couldn't help but smile, albeit grimly. "Don't worry about it. It's due to Hojo's work."

The female Turk's nose wrinkled. "Eurgh. Don't mention him - I had to be his bodyguard once. Never again." She suddenly seemed to remember why she'd come here. "Uh, Ms Kisaragi? I've been asked to accompany you to the showers."

"Call me Yuffie, Blondie." The ninja replied, as she walked out through the door.

"Elena." The Turk corrected, closing the door behind them.

A/N: Well, I think we'll call it a day there. Unfortunately, I, like Joss Whedon, like to hear myself write. So my characters make with the yak-yak, and then we go all over the shop as things conceived as fillers take centre stage...

Again, I'd like to apologise about the delay of these two chapters, but now I have returned! I won't make any promises about when the next chapter will be posted, but rest assured I am working on it...amongst other stories. Oh yes. My writer's block did not stifle my creativity, but I could only write about a chapter for a new story, and then...well, sorry.

I may split a day in two again in the future if I think of too much for one day to be contained in one chapter. Hopefully, though, I should get about enough for a chapter a day from now on.

Please read and review, and I hope you enjoyed this rather long ramble through a day in the world of FFVII.