Sorry it's so short. Transition chapter-ish. Not my characters. Except for the thugs. And the head thug that calls Elena Birdie.

"Ew, that's not the most sanitary, is it?" Elena asked. She and Myde were in a warehouse looking for the gang and its leader. "Myde?"

There was no answer from her partner. "Myde, where are you?" she looked around her, unable to find Myde. What she did see was a couple of men walking down the hall behind her, dragging something between them. "Myde," Elena whispered.

She took off after the men, silent and unseeing of the man that used a lead pipe to knock her out.

Elena blinked and opened her eyes a bit. Head pounding, she tried to put a hand to it, but failed due to the ropes that tied her down.

"Well look it that. Birdie's up. Time for some questions." The voice pounded more nails into her already sore head.

"Wha… what do you want from me?" Elena rasped. Her throat was dry and nearly unable to make words.

"Well Birdie, we're s'posed to get info from you, and if you don't answer our questions, your boyfriend in the other room gets another mark on his body," the man responded.

"What?" 'No!'

"If ya don't believe me, take a look through the one way mirror." A light switched on, showing Myde in a room, chained to the ceiling, stripped down to his boxers, large bruise on his back, head hung like he was unconscious and his wings were out. No explanation for Elena. There was a man sharpening a knife in there with him, wanting to sink the sharpest knife into the Turk's body as he could.

Judging from the determined look on Elena's face, the gang man who called her Birdie would have trouble with her.

Running. Footsteps. Where was he? She didn't know, but she had to get out of there before she was killed. There was no way she would find him in time. Her fallen one. He loved her for her, and she loved him as well.

A huge man blocked her path. She tried to swerve, but to no avail. The man grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let go. He pulled a gun from a holster and shot her.

No!

"All right Yaz, we're going to have to split up," Reno said. "You find Myde and I'll find Elena."

"Okay." Reno sprinted down a hall, leaving Yazoo alone.

After trying several rooms with no success, Yazoo came across a room where the smell of blood was overwhelming. 'This has to be it,' he thought, pushing the door open. The sight stunned him.

"Yaz, I found Elena, but there's a bit of a problem," Reno yelled. He hadn't yet seen the room. "Oh my god…" Reno trailed off, seeing the room.

'Oh my god' was a bit of an understatement. The floor was covered in blood and black feathers, but that was nothing compared to what happened to Myde. There were cuts all along old scars, the ones from the original experimenting. He was held up by his wrists, using ropes and handcuffs, which were rubbing his wrists raw. The rope held him a foot above the ground. One wing had attempted to curl itself around him, but had failed. The other hung limply- most likely broken in several places.

"We have to get him down," Reno whispered. Yazoo just nodded, looking green and not wanting to lose what little he had in his stomach. "I think he's still alive." At that moment, a wing fluttered slightly and Myde cringed. "Shit, he is. Gunblade and ropes, please, Yazoo. I'll catch him."

Yazoo complied and lightly stepping through the blood, he drew his gunblade. He jumped and sliced the rope, causing Myde to fall. Reno, true to his word caught him.

"Let's get out of here. You look like you're about to puke and Myde needs some potions or a Phoenix Down." Reno, holding Myde, nudged Yazoo in the back with one of his feet, standing on the other, perfectly balanced.

A few minutes later when they were in sight of their chopper…

"Reno, what happened to Elena? You never said," Yazoo asked the other.

"Yaz, Elena's dead. Bullet 'tween the eyes. Nothin' else happened to her though. I'm thinkin' they were torturing Myde to get her to talk. That's why he's so beat up. I'm bettin' they shot her when she refused to say anythin' or tried to escape." Reno said slowly, letting the information sink in.

"Oh," was all Yazoo said. Reno kind of expected that though, considering that the two could be called friends.

"Yeah, it's a shame, but she died fast. We'll have to bury her of course. She's already wrapped up in a sheet in the chopper. Tseng and Rufus aren't going to like the news."

People who've read the second chapter of Who Does he Remind me Of? will probably recognise Elena's death scene.