"Urgh, why do we need to find this stupid thing again? Wouldn't it make more sense if we just left it there?"
Elena groaned and sat back in the Co Pilot seat, staring ahead. Reno sighed and looked across at her.
"Hey, don't look at me! I'm just the pilot. Ask the stick with a dot on his head!"
Her eyes widened and she stifled a laugh as Tseng's voice drifted in from the main body of the chopper...
"I Heard that Reno..."
"Reno! You can't say that about him or you'll be fired before we even get there ha ha"
The Redhead gave a careless shrug and looked out at the horizon.
"You underestimate how many times I've been fired, then rehired overnight, Laney. He doesn't faze me."
She grinned and looked ahead.
"How long till we get there, I wanna get in and out pretty quick"
Tseng nodded in agreement with the girl and stuck his head through the cockpit doorway...
"As do I...How long Reno?"
"About five minutes, so get ready you two."
Elena nodded and looked over her shoulder at where Rude was sat.
"Ok, Rude?"
He nodded and she clambered out of the cockpit, allowing Rude to take the seat, moving to the back and getting herself sorted for heading into the cave. She reached into the bag they'd brought and pulled out a small camera, linked to the monitor in the cockpit and attached it to her jacket, switching it on before moving over to the door for her weapons.
"Hey Pretty Boy, get down as far in as you can and we'll go in, then you fly back up and wait for Tseng's orders...got it?"
"You got it. Wouldn't want you gettin' frostbite."
Elena turned round and Reno saw Tseng looking towards the door on the monitor next to him...
"Ha. Ha. Very funny, we wouldn't want you losing your job for messing up now either"
He smirked, looking over his shoulder when Elena peered through the doorway.
"Ok, Reno, is the Cave in sight?"
"Yeah, should be in about 3...2...Bingo."
He gave a thumbs up to her and she nodded, moving back into the main body and picked up her gun, cocking it before stepping over to the door. She switched on the com links they had and nodded to him...
"Ok Pretty Boy, let's get this over and done with"
He flew down into the cave, darkness consuming the chopper and hovered a little off the ground at the bottom.
"Good luck! And don't miss me too much."
He took off again, Elena lifting her hand to wave them off before turning to Tseng and sighing...
"Ok, where are we looking for this thing?"
"This way..."
Up in the chopper, Reno watched the pairs movements carefully, occasionally yelling back to Rude, updating him on how they were doing. After a while though, he began getting a little impatient...
"Tseng! Look at this..."
"...Pay Dirt"
"Not a Pretty Sight is it?"
Reno sighed and shifted in his seat.
"Who cares, just get the Damn thing…"
" Reno the chopper"
"You got it."
He began descending into the cave, calling to his partner in the back...
"Hey, Rude. Get ready, cuz it's go time."
Down in the cave however, something was up.
"Tseng, over there"
They both looked across the area, to where the shadows seemed to move. Wait a second...they weren't shadows, they were...
"Elena, watch out"
Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of gunshots, hitting the wall behind them and hitting the chopper as it lowered to aid the pair. Upon hearing the first gunshot Reno was confused, when they started hitting the chopper, he got worried and jumped in the cockpit.
"Woah, Woah!"
Elena moved ahead, taking aim at the silhouettes coming into view and fired, unsure of what she was shooting at but doing it anyway, desperately trying to distract them from the chopper.
"Reno HURRY!"
She moved in to cover Tseng whilst he reloaded and looked up toward the chopper briefly, fear starting to creep into her chest and she called out to him once more...
"Reno"
The Redhead attempted to get in closer, staring at the monitor, seeing what Laney was firing at and frowned.
"Who the hell is that?"
He signalled to Rude to get the door open and get them outta there before looking back at the screen, watching as Elena moved across, still shooting at the new enemy. Then one of the two fired at her, hitting Elena just below the ribs and she dropped down...
"AH! Uh..."
Reno felt his heart stop for a second and he nearly stood in the cockpit, staring at the screen in horror.
"ELENA!"
She gritted her teeth and staggered over to the chopper, throwing something in before shoving Rude's hand away and slamming the door shut with a yell...
"G...GET OUT!"
Reno looked back at Rude frantically as Elena moved away from the chopper, straightening up and firing again as a third figure came into view.
"Ah, Reno..."
He looked back at Rude who shook his head and moved into the cockpit, seating himself beside the Redhead and sighing.
"What...ah, damn it."
He began the ascent back to the top but his heart was racing, he felt scared, for the first time in a long time, but not for himself. For Laney. Why? He stared at the monitor and the last of the three men came into view and as Elena moved over to Tseng, who was on the ground, a gunshot to his shoulder and shut his eyes.
"TSENG!"
The frightened Turk moved to stand shakily in front of her boss, still firing at the new threat but it did no good. The last one, the leader as it would seem, stepped forward with a cruel, twisted grin and grabbed a fistful of Elena hair at the back of her head, pulling her closer resulting in a cry. Reno gritted his teeth...
"What? No, we gotta get 'em outta here!"
"Reno. Don't even think about it, Elena said to get out of here so we gotta do that now"
The Redhead opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't and looked back down at the screen. The leader of the trio had noticed the camera and dragged Elena's head back to speak directly to them...
"Don't think you can keep it from us for long"
Reno's eyes widened as he shoved Elena aside, sending her crashing onto the ground, the camera being tossed aside as she landed. Reno stared as the image settled, showing Elena on the ground as she sat up, opening her mouth to say something to the men but was cut short as one of them stood over her, aiming his gun and her shoulder and shooting. Reno jumped in his seat, holding back a scream as Elena dropped to the ground and the image cut out.
"Damn, Reno NOW"
The Redhead cursed loudly and flew out of the cave in silence, his heart pounding and his mind racing. No matter what it took, he would get her back...