Tengoko: No, this is not another elevator story. Title is deceiving isn't it? Sorry that it took a while to get up. Finally moved into my dorms, and now that my computer's back online, I'm able to update. Well, same old schpiel. Reviews are very much loved, appreciated, and needed at this point. I am very thankful to all of you who have reviewed. It really does help the writer's block when I go back and read them. Well, enough talking. I'll shut up and let you read the story.
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Rated M for language and romance
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Chapter 13: Going Down

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Oh Gods! There was nothing now to take away the pain. She wanted it to stop. Wanted so badly to end it. It felt as though she were being torn from the outside in. Her whole body was shaking. She was freezing, but she was drenched in sweat head to toe. She'd made so many cuts. There was so much blood. Why had she done it? She didn't even remember doing it.

But, it seemed clear. Cutting was almost like releasing the air from a balloon, removing the tension. But, now, there was nothing to stop the stinging. She hadn't cut herself very deep. Nothing life threatening or anything that would scar. They'd been made with her fingernails, as if she'd just literally thought of tearing herself apart with her bare hands.

"Make it stop," she said, rocking back and forth. "Oh Gods, please make it stop."

She was pale. Her eyes were distant. She just didn't look like Elena at all. But then, she hadn't been acting like Elena lately either. In her trembling hands she held her cell phone, but she kept talking herself out of calling for help. Who could she call anyway? Tseng? No…he was probably sleeping now, or else at the office working. And really, she had nobody else. She would die before calling Justus, and Rude and Reno were definitely not among her options.

But suddenly, the cell phone rang, and she jumped, not expecting it. Staring at the caller ID, Tseng's name came into focus. She didn't answer it right away. What could he possibly want at four o'clock in the morning? Probably calling to check up on her.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice sounding alien to her.

"Elena!" he seemingly shouted. "Get out of your apartment right now!"

"What?"

"Havre's escaped. According to the guard, he was forced into revealing your whereabouts. Elena, he's coming after you. You have to get out of there, right now!"

She was in no condition to go anywhere. Even she knew as much. She could barely will herself to respond to him. The desire to just die was too compelling. Closing her eyes indefinitely sounded so good to her.

"Elena!" he shouted again, her silence too telling. "I'm begging you, not as your boss, but as a friend. Get out of there."

Shouts were then heard outside her door. A banging and a scream followed. He was here. "Too late," she said almost child-like. "Bye, Tseng."

"Elena don't hang up! Elena, don't you-"

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The steady drone of the dial tone. That's all that filled his ear now. But, not before he heard the door crash on the other end. He was there. He'd found her. And now, it might be too late. He had already been in his car, on his way to rescue her himself. He'd failed.

Cursing, her ended the call and began calling another number. At first, it seemed as though nobody was going to answer, but on the fifth ring, a deep voice snapped, "What the hell do you want? This'd better be a damn emergency this early in the morning!"

"It's Tseng, Rude."

Silence, and then. "…oh. Sorry about that."

"Rude, I need you to head to Elena's house. You're much closer than I am."

"Why?"

"She's in trouble," he said vaguely, not even thinking about elaborating for the newly wakened Turk.

"I guessed that much, Tseng, but what kind of trouble? Serious trouble or her usual drama?"

"Do you think I'd be calling you if it was only that, Rude! I know your sentiments on the girl, and I wouldn't have you go over if it were for that. You know what, I don't have time to argue about this with you. Get your ass over to her fucking apartment now! That's an order!"

"Fine," he grunted. "Tseng, you do know that Reno is probably at Don's Bar. That's just two blocks away from her place. He can be there in three minutes if he has his car. And, just so I know what to expect when I get there…"

"You'll need your gun," Tseng cut in, letting him know the seriousness of the matter. "With lots of bullets."

"Shit! What's she done now?" And then he hung up. Tseng didn't waste any time calling Reno now. It went straight to his voice mail, meaning he was either passed out drunk, asleep, turned his phone off to pay more attention to a female guest, or hit ignore.

But, a second later, Tseng's phone rang. "Sorry about that," was Reno's apology. "Accidentally hit the wrong button. Still trying to get used to this fucking phone. So…what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"Leaving the bar," he said while honking his horn. "Learn to fucking drive you damn crack whore!" Then to Tseng. "Why?"

"Turn around. I need you to go to Elena's. She needs help."

"What?"

"Havre escaped, he's looking for-"

"I'm on my way," was all he said before hanging up.

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"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Havre said, his voice bellowing. His black eyes were so full of hate, but Elena was too delirious to notice. She knew she was in trouble, knew that he was an enemy, but her mind was still racing to put everything else together. "But, it appears that if I wait, time will take you instead. Wouldn't that be a shame. You'd have spilt all the blood of my men, and I wouldn't have had any of yours. That's not fair."

"Havre?" she whispered hoarsely.

"You are suffering, Turk. It almost makes me want to leave you for dead. But, I have a feeling this won't kill you. I need to make sure that you pay for what you've done to my men. And you will. By the gods, I'll make sure you do."

She smiled her first smile in hours and looked at him square in the eye. "I'm not sorry," she said quietly. "If I had the chance to do it all over again, the only difference would be…I'd have used a bigger bomb. Then maybe I'd have killed you the first time."

That did it. Evoked his wrath. And suddenly, his curved blade was drawn and he held it right below her chin. She didn't flinch. Just stared at him emptily. "You think I am afraid of death, Havre? You think the feel of your cold steel on my skin would incite some kind of fear? I'm not going to beg you for my life. Quite the contrary. In fact, you'd do me a great favor if you just killed me now."

He didn't say anything to that. In fact, he looked rather frustrated. He wanted to kill her so badly, but on the other hand, it did look like it would bring her some release, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Grunting, he bent over her and kicked her side, eliciting a loud cry from the smallest Turk. He had to have broken a rib, as powerful as his kick was. But, she didn't care about that. What was a rib anyway? It'd heal in time, and it's not as if anything could be done about it. But then, he kicked her again, in the exact same spot, making her cry out again.

"Havre, you damned bastard! Just kill me and be done with it!"

"I'll be doing no such thing," he said cruelly. "Not when you want to die so much." And with that, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her up. She was wobbly on her legs at first, and the only reason she hadn't fallen was because he was holding her up, albeit in a very painful way. "Nine stories up," he said thoughtfully.

"What?" she asked, unaware of the tears in her eyes.

"Going down?" He pulled his pistol from his belt and shot at the window. Then he proceeded to drag Elena towards it. "If you want death so badly, Blondie, why are you struggling now?"

And Gods, she was. Kicking, screaming, trying to tug herself out of his strong grip. But even she knew that it was pointless. He was too strong, and she was at her very worst. So, this was how she was going to die. Plummeting out of a nine-story apartment room. So much for going out in flame and glory.

They were close now. She could feel the wind and the slight dampness of the midnight drizzle. Gods, it was cold. What did it matter. Soon, she'd know nothing of the kind. Not cold, not warmth. Not happiness or despair. Not hate…and not love. …love.

"Reno," she cried.

"Nobody can save you, Blondie. This is it. Are you ready to die? It doesn't matter anyway. My men weren't ready to die, and you didn't mind killing them. So…I think I'll take great pleasure out of watching this."

Elena's eyes widened as he lifted her from the ground and grabbed her by the back of the collar. With a scream, she was hoisted outside of the window, and the only thing keeping her from falling was his hand, which had yet to let go of her.

"Please, don't do this," she pleaded. This was not how she wanted to die. Not without saying good-bye to Reno. Saying she was sorry to him.

She was just about to give up all hope, when the sweetest voice she could ever think to hear said, "Havre, if you even think about dropping her, I'll fill you with every bullet that I have on me."

Elena turned her head, and there he was. He wasn't looking at her right now. His blue eyes were glaring at Havre, filled with more hate than Havre's had been. His gun was pointing right at his head, and it was clear that Havre knew that this Turk wouldn't miss.

"You are probably going to kill me anyway."

"Bring her back in," he ordered.

"If I am to die," he continued, as though he hadn't heard him, "then it will be a death of my choosing."

And then he let go. "ELENA!" Reno shouted. It had been a good thing she turned. She was able to grab the window ledge at the last possible second, but it was damp and her fingers were fast slipping. And then she heard gunfire. They must be shooting at each other. And now she was really scared. What if Havre killed Reno? It would be all her fault, and she wasn't sure she could live with that.

The gunshots were still being fired, and Elena was now holding on by her fingertips. "Gods," she gasped, and then there was nothing. Nothing to hold on to. She began to fall. Closing her eyes, all she could do was wait. At least, until the jerking feeling had her opening them again, and she stared up to see that Reno had caught her by the wrist.

Before anything could be said, he lifted her back up and pulled her into the building. Next thing she knew, she was in his arms, being held so tight that she could barely breath.

"Is she alright?" came a new voice, though a very familiar one.

"Rude?" she asked.

"I'm here, Laney," he said, kneeling beside her and putting hand on her head.

"What happened to Havre?" Reno asked, almost breathlessly.

Rude hesitated before saying, "he got away." His hand fell to her back as he asked, "Laney, why didn't you fight back?"

"I…couldn't," she said. Then her eyes closed. Reno looked at Rude for a second before standing up and picking her up into his arms. They could tell by looking that she was in bad shape. She needed help. She needed their help. And now…they knew they had no choice but to give it to her.