A/N: Chapter by Le Pecore Nere. I have a feeling I may have messed this up when I uploaded it, so yeah...

(LPN, I didn't change anything because I think Reno was pretty much in character, so don't worry.)

Sorry updating's been very slow, my vacation is extremely busy right now. I'll be updating other stories soon though

Enjoy

Chapter 19

Reno pounced suddenly into a bush; he disappeared between the thick green leaves. As he entered in, there came a strangled cry from beneath it, with a quick shout of "gotcha!" from Reno. This all happened in a span of about five seconds, and Elena had hardly any time to process all of this. She could see the bushes moving as Reno struggled to subdue the rogue scientist.

"You're a slick little fucker ain'tcha?" He said, and she could hear a few thumps as someone hit someone else. She watched as the man stumbled out of the bushes right in front of Elena. His glasses were eschewed, and his dark brown hair was riddled with twigs and leaves and dirt. She was shocked by the sudden bursting, and stumbled back a few paces. "C'mon Elena, don't be such a baby…" Her sister's voice sang through her head. She strengthened her resolve and pulled out her gun. I'm not a baby, not anymore. She thought. She pointed it squarely between the scared scientist's eyes. He held his hands up and was practically trembling from fear. This look reminded her almost of this boy she saw as a child. He looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in a while, and he was asking for food. She didn't have the heart to look at the boy, who had the same desperate look that the scientist's eyes held. That same feeling dawned on her and she lowered her gun.

The man had taken this opportunity and grabbed the gun, trying to wrench it from her hands. She struggled against him, but he had the force of gravity working with him, and she felt the gun slipping through her greasy grip.

That was when she saw a red blur that belongs only to Reno come out of the bushes and launch himself onto the man's back. The scientist gave a startled cry and fell back onto Reno. The gun was flung high into the air and span back down to the ground in lazy loops. The man made another lunge for the gun, but Reno pulled him back. She saw her chance; jumping over the tangled bodies, she landed squarely –and a bit roughly- to the ground. She scrambled quickly to her feet and grabbed the black barrel. She pointed the gun, more sure of herself than before. She didn't want to become the one with the barrel pointing at her, it didn't matter how pitiful the man looked.

She saw the scientist; in his now dirty, white lab coat stop struggling. Reno grabbed hold of his arm and pinned him to the ground. It was over.

"Laney, keep that gun on him. Now, I'm gonna get off you, and you're not gonna move, got it?" He addressed the scientist, who shook his head like a broken spring.

Doing as she was told, she kept the gun trained on the man's head. She felt uncomfortable with the cold metal in her hands. But she knew that if she showed any signs of relenting, the scientist would only take the chance to seize it. And they may not be so lucky to get it out of his reach again.

Reno cracked his long, bony fingers. "Now, here's the way it's gonna work, we're gonna take you back to our headquarters, and I'm not gonna hear a peep out of you… got it?" He said, but the tone of voice told both her and the scientist that it wasn't a question.

"No, p-p-please don't take me back! I'll do anything! I've got a wife and kid, please, let me go, I'll do anything!!" He pleaded. He was on his knees, imploring to Reno.

"Save it. You ain't got a choice in the manner." Reno told him, and crossed his arms. At this point the young scientist turned to Elena, his eyes full of panic.

"Please, Ma'am, you look kind and understanding! You've gotta let me go! Please Ma'am I'll do anything! I don't have much money, but you can have it!" He said, crawling on his knees toward her. She couldn't do this. She didn't think she could stand it. What if she were in his shoes, wouldn't she want a chance? She glanced unsurely at Reno, whose icy blue eyes looked back at her. She saw in those eyes a hardness that her sister had every day. That look also told her to get a grip. They'd come all this way, and she couldn't fold on Reno now. He was counting on her, Tseng was counting on her to do this and Shin-Ra, even though scientists were a dime a dozen, needed her to do this. In light of that, it seemed like a little begging wasn't too much. She pursed her lips and turned her gaze back on the scientist. She did her best to put that same icy coldness in her eyes, and hope she succeeded.

"You're going to have to come with us. R-… my partner is right; you don't have a choice in the matter." She told him. The very first thing drilled into her head was to never let anyone know your name. Was it because they didn't want emotional attachment? Or simply because if the person escaped they could find contact with you? Maybe both… but what she had said seemed to hit home. He stumbled back and gasped.

"I won't let you take me!" He said suddenly, and lunged at Elena. She felt the full weight of the scientist hit her; she let out a gasp of air as they both collided to the ground. She heard a deafening bang emitted from her gun. The man scrambled off of her, a look of surprise on his face. A red flower seemed to bloom open from a hole in his chest. He dropped to his knees in front of her, a look of shock forever plastered on his face. She moved into a crouched position, and stared at the scientist, who was now turning dead rapidly. She had done this… she looked down at her hands and saw the gun in a new light. She had done it, he was dead, maybe it was inadvertent, but he was dead. She cast the gun aside; she wanted nothing to do with it. There was so much blood coming from that little hole… who knew bodies carried so much blood? The world swam before her eyes and she felt this morning's breakfast lurch around her stomach. She was going to faint… or puke… or puke and faint… She turned around to the brambles behind her and threw up. She felt an arm snake around her shoulder. She turned and saw Reno crouched beside her. Thank God he was here. At least she wasn't in this alone.

"You gonna be ok?" He asked. She saw the body; no she had to avert her gaze. She fixed it instead at her hands. She felt if she had to look –or even think- about the dead scientist, she would puke again.

"I killed him Reno." She told him. She felt both stupid, for telling him this when she obviously did, and revolted, for having done it.

He wrapped his lanky arms around her. The gesture was supposed to be comforting, but Elena couldn't find any in it. Is this what this job was about? Finding people and killing them? She hoped not, but the coldness in her long-dead sister's gaze told her differently. The coldness in the usually warm gaze of Reno just seconds before told her else wise.

Maybe her sister was right; maybe she wasn't cut out for this job. Killing people wasn't something Elena was made to do. She couldn't easily dust her hands of something like that.

"Hey, it's not your fault, Laney." Reno told her quietly. She felt tears prick her eyes. Maybe he was right. She hoped he was right. But that didn't change the fact that there was one dead person with a bullet wound from her gun. Even if Reno was right, it didn't change how she felt.