Tengoko: Sorry for taking so long. For some reason, my browser wouldn't cooperate with me yesterday. This chapter was a little hard to write, especially after the last chapter. But some questions might be answered about this mystery woman that Rude's stumbled upon. Will there be a sequel for him and her? I don't know...I guess that's up to you. I really wouldn't mind writing one (anything with the Turks is just fine with me). If you'd like me to write a sequel...let me know, and I'll start planning it out ;). Well, enough of that. Please review. Always love reading them. Enjoy.
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Rated M for language and romance
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Chapter 19: Hands
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Rude wasn't quite sure how he'd ended up this way. He was laying out on the couch, completely shirtless and at the mercy of the beautiful, dark-haired woman who was determined to patch him up. He kept glancing at his watch. Damn, Tseng was taking a long time getting Shin-Ra troopers to him. How much longer would he have to endure the fantastic torture that she was unknowingly inflicting upon him?

He hadn't felt so nervous when the little boy, Hunter as she called him, had been in the room. But, he'd gone to bed about ten minutes ago, and now he had nobody else to divert his attention to. Only her, and her mesmerizing gray eyes.

"I never got your name," she said, pressing a gauze pad to his side. He winced which caused her to roll her eyes. "You don't talk a lot, do you? You haven't said two words to me in twenty minutes. I'm beginning to think you don't like me."

Rude's pale blue eyes looked down at her hand as she began rubbing the wound soothingly. Beautiful hands. So small, yet so delicate. Her fingers were nimble and thin, much like a violinist or pianist. He winced again when she pressed the gauze more firmly against him, now making her chuckle.

"Maybe I'll play for you some time," she said, catching Rude completely off guard. "I've been playing the violin since I was a young girl. My father taught it to me. Said music was one of the most effective ways to express the truth within your soul. Honestly, I don't think truer words had ever been spoken."

She glanced up at him, her eyes sparkling inexplicably. "Still not talking, are you?" she laughed. "Well, then I guess I'll just tell you my name. I'm Lavinia. Now it's your turn."

Rude cleared his throat nervously. "My name is Rude," he said quietly.

She started laughing. Rude couldn't figure out what he'd done. "What an odd name," she said.

Rude's face reddened. "It's about as odd as Lavinia," he muttered, looking away from her. This only caused her to laugh a little harder. Much to his chagrin, he couldn't help but notice that she had an endearing laugh.

Suddenly she stood up, absently humming a tune to herself, and grabbed a pen. Turning back towards him, she took his hand and began writing on it. Rude looked at her curiously before she smiled and set the pen down on his stomach. "That's my phone number," she told him.

"Why are you giving this to me?" he asked, looking at his hand.

"Because we have a date. Have you already forgotten? You've got to listen to me play my violin."

Before he could say anything to that, Lavinia had grabbed the antiseptic and was now dabbing at his side. Rude really winced now. It hurt more than the actual stab had. And it just felt like the burning sting was getting worse.

"Oh, stop," she scolded, as though he were a child. But, then she leaned down and began blowing on it to ease the burn. "Better?" she smiled.

It had to have been her smile. Rude had never seen such a smile. Before he knew it, his hands were under her arms, pulling her closer to him. She only seemed surprised for a moment, gasping a little until his kiss caught her breath. Gods. He was swooning. Never had a kiss made him feel like an untried youth, inexperienced and over eager. And it wasn't until he felt her tongue on his lips that he realized what he'd just done.

Holding her up, he stared at her contritely, but her gray eyes didn't hold any anger. In fact, she looked quite amused. With a chuckle, she put her hand on his shoulder and said, "I suppose I should be expecting a call from you then?"

"I'm sorry about that," Rude said, a blush rising furiously to his cheeks.

"Oh, don't apologize," she smiled. "I was rather hoping you'd be the first to kiss me. It spared me the embarrassment of making the first move." She was only joking, but it only made Rude blush more. Gods, what was wrong with him? He never blushed. And already, in the short time he'd known this woman, he found that blushing was really all he could do.

It was in the very next moment that there was a loud knock on her door. Slowly, she got up, and the second she answered it, Tseng and a few troopers filled the room, taking in the sight of the wounded, but no longer near death Turk.

"How'd it happen?" Tseng asked, looking at the gun wound and the slash on his side.

"He led me into a trap," he told him, sitting up. Havre stabbed me to get me down, and after it became clear that I wasn't needed to help them find Elena, Justus decided he was going to keep me down. Tseng, if I hadn't been shot into that water, I would have been killed. The bullet went through my heart, I'll be damned if it didn't."

"How'd you wind up here?"

Rude looked at Lavinia appreciatively. Tseng followed his gaze. "And you are?" he asked her.

"Lavinia. Lavinia Lewandowski."

"I will remember to thank you for your kindness Miss Lewandowski. I'm sure Rufus Shinra would also like to express his thanks. Rude is one of our most cherished employees."

Lavinia was about to say something, but Rude's voice cut her off. "Tseng, your thanks won't be necessary. As it stands, I'd like to thank her personally."

Standing up, he grabbed the pen and slowly made his way towards her. Grabbing her hand, he said. "This is my number. I'd love to hear you play your violin." With that, he bent down and kissed her cheek. Finally it was Lavinia's turn to blush.

Rude walked towards the door, pulling his jacket on one arm at a time, but not even bothering with his shirt. Tseng smiled at Lavinia before turning his attention on Rude. "Reno's out looking for him," he said.

Rude nodded as he made his way outside, the others behind him. Tseng closed the door and pushed through the troopers to walk next to Rude. "I know you aren't in any condition to fight, Rude. But…"

"You know I want to," he finished. "I can't let Reno fight on his own. Besides that…I did promise Justus that I'd get him if he didn't finish me off."

"Right then," Tseng nodded. "I will also be going. Reno's already called. Elena is safe. I told him we'd rendezvous with him at headquarters. Come, I've brought the chopper." He grabbed Rude by the elbow and quickened the pace. It hurt Rude a little to be walking faster, but he knew that there was no time to waste.

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Elena sat for a few minutes, studying the chain. It was sturdy. There was no way she could break it. And her hands weren't small enough to slide through. She'd already tried that. Dried blood on her palm and fingertips could attest to that. She was so desperate to get free though. She'd even resort to gnawing her own wrist off if it came down to it. Okay...so she wouldn't do that, but she knew she had to do something.

And then the answer came to her. So obvious she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. The bed was made of wood. Solid wood, but wood could always be broken given the right leverage.

Moving quickly, she took hold of the chain with her free hand, and put her feet against the post. Damn, this was going to be hard. She tugged as hard as she could while her feet pushed. Nothing. Her wrist was stinging. She didn't care. She tried again. Nothing. Fresh blood dripped down her arm. Again. The wood moaned. Again. It cracked. Or was that her wrist? It didn't matter. Something was happening. Again…The wood split. One more hard kick had divided the pole right down the middle.

Smiling, pleased with herself, she slipped the cuff from the pole and stood up. That's when she realized that she was still quite naked. She made quick work of putting her clothes back on.

One last look at the bed. She still couldn't believe what had happened. They'd really made love, hadn't they? He'd really told her that he loved her. She really believed it. But, he didn't think so now. Cursing herself, she wiped away her silent tears. Why was it that every time they seemed to be getting closer, she kept making things worse?

Her body still tingled where his fingertips had touched her. She closed her eyes and remembered the taste and feel of his kiss so perfectly, that she was sure he'd be there when her eyes opened. She smiled when she imagined his arms around her, holding her securely against his warm body. She did love him. And she swore there and now that she would never do anything again to knowingly push him away. She wanted to make him happy. And in doing that, she knew that she too would be happy. If Reno, a man who had once told her that he never would fall in love, had outright said that he loved her, then there was no doubt in her mind that he meant it. She smiled at that. They loved each other.

Looking down at her gun, she flipped the barrel and stared at the two bullets she had left. One for Havre. And one for Justus. Yes. She knew that going would anger not only Reno, but Tseng and Rude as well. She was willing to do that…one last time. This was her fight. They wouldn't be in this mess if she'd just listened to Reno at the beginning. And now…she was going to make it all right. She was going to fix it. Then…she'd apologize to Reno and tell him that he was right…and that she loved him.

She reached out to the doorknob and cursed under her breath. He'd locked her inside. So, he had anticipated her making an unlikely, but not impossible escape from the bed. Still, not all was lost. If there was one thing that Reno and Rude had taught her, it was that there was always a way out of every and any scrap. You just had to be resourceful.

So...what did she know? Well, there were Shin-Ra troopers all around the building. There was no way she'd get out without anybody seeing her, so there really was no bother in trying. Another thing is, once she did get out of the room, she'd have to procure a car. That wouldn't be too hard. Rude had taught her how to hotwire only three years ago. It would be easy enough getting passed the troopers. They wouldn't be allowed to touch her. She wasn't an enemy. There was nothing they could use against her. Lastly...one of them would have a key to her room. Reno would have made sure that it would be possible to get her out should Justus or Havre discover where she was. Really, all she had to do now, was bait them.

"HELP ME!" she screamed shrilly. "GODS, PLEASE HELP ME!"

She heard footsteps running towards the door.In seconds, the door was opened, and the man from the front desk rushed in only to get a boot in his face, knocking him out.

"Sorry about that," she said, though he couldn't hear her. She checked the man quickly to make sure he was okay, and then she hurried down the hall and into the foyer. Shit. She hadn't expected troopers to be waiting there. They all looked at her, and then froze.

"Elena!" One of them shouted. "You aren't supposed to be out here. Tseng's and Reno's orders."

"You want to stop me?" she asked, walking towards the door. "Then shoot me." She knew they wouldn't. That's why she said it. Though, they did block her way. But really, that's all they could do.

"Somebody…call Tseng."

"Yeah…you do that. In the mean time…I'll be taking one of your cars. Don't worry. I'll try and have it returned to you in one piece."