A/N: I betcha you were all lookin' forward to this one. We FINALLY got around to updating this thing. This was s'posed to be my chapter, but since I got a lot on at the mo, LPN kindly did another chapter. I think she did an awesome job, and I hope you guys do as well

Enjoy

Chapter 20

The ride back to headquarters was uneventful to say the least. Elena stared out the window, the dreary evening sky slowly descended to darkness.

Thoughts plagued her mind. It seemed like her old way of thinking was clashing with this new lifestyle. And she was stuck somewhere in the middle, trying to sort out what she wanted to do, and where she wanted to go with the opportunities presented to her.

On one hand, she had wanted something more from her life. She had been tired of her regular nine-to-five life. Sure, she wanted something different, and exciting, maybe a little risky if it came down to it. But she definitely didn't want something like this; Murder, theft, secrecy. It was against everything she was ever raised to believe...

And, she thought, it's either now or never. To leave her old, scheduled, and very predictable life behind scared her, and at the same time excited her. Did she really want to leave it all behind? For this? She thought about the man, the almost comical way that he fell like a puppet whose strings were caught. For him, or others like him? Surely, she realized, this wouldn't be the only time she'd have to kill someone.

She felt horrible, almost disgusted at the prospect of having to do such a thing.

But Reno's voice broke into her thoughts "Hey 'Laney?" he spoke up.

"Yeah?" She turned away from the window and looked at him.

He seemed nervous "Um, y'know, it gets better," He started "It isn't always bad, some of it's cool. Like there was this mission where me n' Rude had to blow up this old train 'coz it was cloggin' up the water to Junon."

She stared at him. Was this his way of trying to comfort someone?

"Look, all I'm sayin' is, is that this mission was bad, but we move on. Sure, there's a bad mission here n' there, but we don't focus on that stuff, just the good ones."

Where did this come from? Who knew Reno could be so serious. But it made sense… what if he was right? What if she just, let it go? Like Reno said, "move on".

So as the helicopter descended onto the Shin-ra, Elena looked back, just once, onto the vast city of Midgar, and bade her old life, her old doubts, and her old fears a silent good-bye. Now or never, she thought, it's time to take up something new. I'm sorry mom, for doing the very thing you warned me of.

But she had no regrets.

Tseng cleared his throat as he shuffled papers. "I trust that the mission went well?" He asked from his desk.

She sat in a chair, and Reno was next to her slouched, as always, and he seemed to not have even heard his boss, as usual.

"Yes, it did." She said, slowly, not really sure what to say.

"Good, I expect a full mission report tomorrow. But, well, seeing as though it was your first mission, I trust Reno will show you the proper way of filling out paperwork, and writing a report, right Reno?"

"Sure boss-man." Reno said "Can we go now?"

Tseng seemed very annoyed but he nodded "Yes, you're dismissed."

"Cool, c'mon 'Laney, I'll show ya how to do your paperwork and stuff." He said as he left.

She stood and followed him.

However she wasn't surprised as he led her to some bar in the slums. "Reno, I thought you were going to show me how to do paperwork." She said, thinking that it was probably a very important part of her job.

"Yeah, but it's a rule 'Laney, that all paperwork is done tomorrow." He told her as he sat down at the bar. She sighed as she sat down with him. She hadn't made it a very big habit of hers to drink, and as she recalled alcohol tasted horrible.

"You're going to show me how to do paperwork tomorrow?" She asked.

"Sure, why not?" He said as his eyes lit up, and he smirked.

She sighed, it figures; if he was like this at work, then he'd also be like this after a mission.

"C'mon 'Laney, don't be such a wet blanket." He told her, and gestured to a drink.

She made a face. "No, I-"

"Ah, here's Rude." He said as Rude walked in the bar.

Rude nodded, and the chair creaked as he sat down in it.

"'Laney, don't ya know? It's the law to have a drink after a mission like that." He told her.

Of course, she was very skeptical of such a law, but she knew that Reno wouldn't stop bothering her until she at least took a sip. So she squeezed her eyes, took the cup, and took a sip.

Good God, what was she getting herself into?