Chapter Eight

Then

Reno had recovered enough to return to work, but the other Turks were already starting to wish he hadn't. Their main assignment at the moment was to track Sephiroth, something Reno was not happy about.

'What about AVALANCHE?' he whined, slumping dramatically in his seat as Tseng gave them their orders. They were going to Gongaga with Scarlet, to try and find any materia that was still within the reactors, for the Weapon's Development team to use in their quest to build the ultimate weapon. A quest that Tseng thought was doomed, but hell, he would never say that straight to Scarlet's face. That woman sure could slap.

He sighed. 'Actually Reno, you're in luck for once.'

Reno sat up straighter. 'I am?'

'Yes. We've heard from Reeve that they'll be heading to Gongaga next, and we don't want them getting in Scarlet's way. You need to go there and hold them up for a bit.'

Reno looked jubilant. 'No kidding? So I can finally get 'em back for Sector Seven?'

Tseng shrugged. 'You can try. You're still not one hundred percent though, so don't worry if you can't finish them off.'

Reno pouted. 'I'm gonna kick their asses,' he muttered under his breath.

Elena smiled at him, then turned to Tseng. 'How is it going with Reeve? They don't suspect anything?'

Tseng shook his head. 'They don't seem to. I have to admit, I thought it was a ridiculous idea at first. I mean... a fortune telling moogle? That just happens to have a vendetta against Sephiroth? But... it seems to be working. We'd never have known where they were going if not for Cait. And the little machine's doing a pretty good job.'

'Shinra technology at its finest,' Elena agreed. 'So, when do we leave?'

'Imminently,' replied Tseng. 'The chopper's just being refuelled, then we're off.' He checked his watch. 'I better go make sure Scarlet's ready,' he said, making a face. 'Meet on the helipad in ten minutes.'

The three Turks nodded. When Tseng was gone, Reno stuck his tongue out at the door. 'Jerk,' he muttered.

'Reno! God, have some respect,' Elena scolded him, shaking her head. 'Tseng was just stating a fact. You're not in your best shape at the moment.'

Rude raised an eyebrow, unnoticed by Elena. Reno made a face. 'I am gonna get them though.'

'Of course you will. At some point.'

He glared at her. 'Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lena.'

She stuck her tongue out at him, and for a second they were just glaring at each other, but then Elena couldn't keep it up any longer, and burst into laughter.

'Ha!' crowed Reno. 'Lena, try as you might, you will never outstare me!'

Rude rolled his eyes. He felt as though he was working with children sometimes. Maybe it was to be expected from Elena. She was only twenty one, had never even graduated from the Academy. And she wasn't that bad, compared to Reno. At twenty two, and having been a Turk for nearly seven years, you'd think he'd have grown out of things like staring contests. But no. He'd challenged Elena to one at the infirmary on pretty much the first day he'd met her, and it had been a running thing since then. Along with arm wrestling, and even goddamn thumb wars. Rude wished the two of them would just give in and screw already. Did they not realise how obvious the underlying tension between them was? The fact that they were constantly touching each other, staring at each other... though... Rude frowned suddenly. He'd seen Elena gazing at Tseng earlier. Did she like him too? He had a feeling Tseng liked her, because he had yet to lose his temper with her. That was a big thing with him. He had a very short tolerance, and it usually took very little to set him off. But even when Elena had blurted their orders to AVALANCHE, Tseng had remained pretty calm, not even mentioning the incident again. If Reno, or even Rude, had done the same, they would have gotten the telling off to end all telling offs. But not Elena...

Rude sighed. It was trying sometimes, working in such an intense atmosphere. He couldn't remember a day in the last year where he hadn't seen at least one Turk. They spent so much time together, it was no wonder they all ended up falling for each other. Rude smiled slightly. Not him though. He had his eyes on someone else, and even though there was little chance of it ever coming to anything... well. He could dream, right?

He was shaken from his reverie, by a shriek from Elena. Reno had her pinned to the wall, and was trying to liberate her ID badge.

'Reno, no! I hate that picture! Please...' Her pleas were somewhat softened by the fact that she was barely able to breathe as she was laughing so much.

Rude stood. 'We've gotta go,' he pointed out.

Reno sighed. 'Fine. I'll get it another time,' he warned Elena, before releasing her. She punched him, hard, in the stomach, leaving him rolling on the floor.

'We'll see,' she sang. Rude smiled slightly as Reno groaned.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

When they reached Gongaga, Reno and Rude waited in the little clearing just outside the town, whilst Elena checked the perimeter. It was boring just standing around. Reno was not good at doing nothing, so he turned to Rude.

'Who do you like?' he asked him, grinning. This was one of their favorite topics of conversation, or Reno's at least. It was a good way to kill time, especially as you usually had to wheedle it out of Rude.

He turned away, shrugging. Reno burst out laughing. 'What are you getting so embarrassed about? Come on, who do you like?'

Rude sighed. '... Tifa,' he admitted, reluctantly.

Reno grinned. Hmm, what could he possibly see in Tifa? Must be her huge, ahem personality. He shook his head. 'Hmm. That's a tough one.' He couldn't resist messing around a bit. 'But, poor Elena... she, you...'

Rude gave Reno a look. 'Ha ha. No, she likes Tseng.' He meant it as a joke, but he saw Reno's face fall slightly.

'I never knew that,' he said, voice slightly strained. 'But Tseng likes that Ancient...'

Elena was coming up the path when she heard them talking. She barely noticed Cloud just ahead of her. She was smarting. Why would Rude say that? She didn't like Tseng! She... liked Reno. As weird as it was to admit it. She sighed. Reno hadn't even sounded bothered when Rude had said it though. And he'd thought something was going on with her and Rude, and he hadn't seemed to care about that, either. Elena suddenly felt very low. A voice ahead of her said 'What are they talking about?'

Automatically, she found herself answering. 'It's so stupid. They always talk about who they like or don't like.' She sighed. 'Tseng is different, he...' Her head suddenly snapped up, and she realized who she was talking to. 'Cloud! They're really here!'

She ran to Reno and Rude. 'They're here!'

Reno nodded, going all business like suddenly. 'Then it's time...' He turned to Rude. 'Don't go easy on them, even though they're girls.'

Rude nodded. 'I'll do my job.'

'Then we're counting on you,' Elena told them. 'I'll report to Tseng.'

She ran towards the chopper, stopping only to blast the opportunistic monsters that came after her. When she reached it, she found Tseng and Scarlet sitting within.

'Reno and Rude are with AVALANCHE,' she told them.

Tseng nodded. 'Okay. Let's go. 'He signalled to the pilot, and the chopper lifted into the air. Elena sat staring out the window, wondering why she felt so crappy. Had she really thought there could be anything between her and Reno? She was just a stupid little kid.

Tseng watched her, frowning. 'Are you okay, Elena?'

She smiled weakly. 'I'm fine. Just tired.'

He smiled at her. 'Thing's will quiet down soon,' he assured her. 'It's been pretty tough so far, hmm?'

She nodded. 'Yeah,' she said softly. 'It has.'

xoxoxoxoxoxo

For the next couple of weeks, the Turks had very little to do, but Tseng made them spend time doing administrative duties and training, to make sure that they were ready and available at a moment's notice. Elena wasn't sure, but it felt as though something had changed since the trip to Gongaga. Reno was still probably the easiest person to get along with, but their relationship was far less jokey than it had been. It was odd, she almost felt as though Reno was being as careful with her as she was with him, though she couldn't work out for the life of her why he would be. She was a bit sad that their friendship seemed less close. She'd never had a really good friend before. Not until Reno.

Nearly three weeks later, they were sent to Rocket Town, along with Rufus and Palmer, to retrieve a plane that Rufus wanted. Reeve had apparently contacted them about a place called the Temple of the Ancients, which AVALANCHE was trying to find, that was on a remote continent. Rufus thought they'd have a better chance of getting there by plane than by helicopter, and so here they were, in Rocket Town, or the asshole of the universe, as Reno had named it. Rude was backing up Palmer; Rufus was sitting in the chopper, bitching at Tseng; Reno and Elena... were sitting in a field just outside the town. Bored out of their skulls.

Rufus had decided that the two youngest Turks lacked the subtlety and finesse required for this mission, and so they would be back-up, should Rude need it. Reno was seething.

'Finesse? They're stealing a plane off some has been fucking pilot! How will they be using finesse?!'

Elena shrugged, wrinkling her nose as a bee flew awfully close to her head. 'I don't know. Maybe they're gonna try and get the plane without any bloodshed, for once.'

Reno snorted. 'I doubt it. Rufus doesn't do negotiations. Rufus whacks people into submission, then does what he wants with them.'

'Actually, that's true,' said Elena. She sighed. 'They clearly just don't trust me, and they're making you look after me, probably 'cause of those water balloons the other week.'

Reno pouted. 'It was a hot day,' he muttered. 'I thought people would appreciate it.'

Elena rolled her eyes, smiling. 'Well, they didn't.' She looked around. Nothing but grass, for at least half a mile around them. Grass and the blue sky. 'We may as well make the best of it. This is the closest we're gonna get to a vacation for the time being.'

'I guess.' Reno was in one of those moods, where pretty much nothing was going to cheer him up. Elena decided this just was not good enough, if she was going to have to sit here with him for god only knew how long. She plucked some grass and threw it at him, hitting him square in the face.

'Hey!' He spat the green blades from his mouth, glaring at her. 'Grow up, Elena!'

Elena opened her mouth in feigned shock. 'You're telling me to grow up?' She threw more grass at him.

'LENA!'

She blinked innocently. 'What?' she asked, the challenge clear in her voice.

Reno's eyes narrowed, humor glinting in them. 'You're gonna pay,' he told her. She leapt up, and started to run across the field, but Reno wasn't called the fastest Turk for nothing. He caught up to her in a matter of seconds, pulling her to the ground and dropping a handful of grass into her face, before pinning her down. Screaming with laughter, Elena begged him to let her go.

'What was that Elena? Did you say please?'

'Y,yes,' she choked out, between giggles. Reno let her go, smiling. Elena smiled back, glad he was being normal with her. She decided to risk the peace, by asking him about what he and Rude had been talking about, all those weeks ago.

'You know when we were in Gongaga, a couple weeks ago?'

Reno nodded, frowning slightly. 'Yeah.'

'I heard you and Rude talking. I never knew he liked Tifa!'

Reno shrugged. 'I know. She is hot, I guess. Didn't think she was Rude's type though.' He looked up at the sky. 'I didn't know you liked Tseng.'

Elena blushed. 'I don't, I mean... I like him, a lot... erm, you know, but...'

Reno cut her off. 'You don't need to be embarrassed,' he said, smiling slightly.

Elena frowned, watching him out of the corner of her eye. 'What about you, Reno? Who do you like?'

'Me?' Reno looked away. 'I like Rude,' he said in a high pitched voice.

Elena whacked him. 'Ha ha. No, I'm serious. Who do you like?'

Reno just shrugged. 'It doesn't matter,' he said, standing. 'Look, there's Rude now. Ya think I should ask him out?'

Elena glared at him, then stared at Rude. 'He's walkin' kinda funny, isn't he,' she remarked. As he got closer, they saw he was covered in cuts and bruises. Even with his sunglasses on his face, a black eye was beginning to show. Reno winced.

'AVALANCHE, huh?'

'...' Rude grunted. 'No.'

Reno raised an eyebrow. 'No?'

'...' Rude sighed. 'Palmer got hit by a truck. I tripped over him.'

Reno and Elena stared at him for a moment before collapsing to the ground in hysterics. Rude just glared at them.

'Idiots,' he muttered, though he couldn't help smiling at the sight of them, rolling around in the meadow, laughing til they could barely breathe.

A/N- lol I know Rude doesn't go to Rocket Town until later, but I wanted to start getting things moving. In the next chapter, Elena goes back to Edge. But will she and Reno be reunited? After that, the Turks go on holiday- sun, booze, pimps and ninjas: the hallmarks of any good vacation :-p. Please review XD