A/N: This is the longest chapter I've done in a while and I spent a bit of time on it, so I hope the hard work payed off. (The end of this chapter has blatant sexual stuff, so sorry if that offends anyone or anything)

Enjoy

Chapter 9

She felt terrified, but she was fairly safe as far as she could tell. Elena looked up, not yet daring the move her head from the floor. She had been thrown into a cell similar to the one she had been in with Kayla and her father, except it was much smaller and made the dreadful feeling deep in Elena's gut magnified several times over. She sat up slowly, propping her body up with one hand, and brushing the dirt away from her face with the over. She could feel a graze on her cheek where her face had hit the floor, but other than that, she seemed relatively unhurt. She looked up at the small window above her where the moon shone in the sky outside, sending a small sliver of light into her dingy cell, without that, Elena was sure she would be in darkness.

As she stared longingly at the sky, Elena's heart leapt to her throat as she heard a pitiful cough behind her. Even though it was only a cough, it sounded very familiar to Elena. Cautiously, she started to crawl in the darkness towards the opposite corner of the cell from where the cough had come from. She only moved a few paces before she stopped; cursing herself silently as she remembered the flashlight she had put in her pocket earlier. She pulled it out and shone it over to the corner where she could see a figure laying still on the floor. It was horribly familiar…

"Reno…?" Elena whispered, hurrying over to the corner. Sure enough the redhead was huddled in the corner, his eyes half closed. "Reno, are you okay?"

Reno didn't reply, he only pulled his jacket around himself further and coughed again. Elena saw a small droplet of blood dribble out of the corner of his mouth. Swallowing hard, she shook his shoulder gently. His eyes opened briefly, but his gaze was vague and unfocused.

"Huh…?" was all he managed to say before his eyes dropped shut again.

Elena leaned back against the wall as close to Reno as she could possibly get. She had no idea what was wrong with him, since other than the trickle of blood from his mouth, she could see no wounds on him whatsoever. Part of her wanted to check him over completely, but for some reason she didn't dare make that move to unbutton his shirt.

Elena's eyes bolted open. She had dozed off again, despite her best efforts to stay awake. She heard Reno's uneasy breathing below her as she leaned on his chest. She hated being in situations like that; of course the fact that she was locked away by an unknown race of people, but also that because she was sitting in silence, she had gotten to thinking. How was it that such a simple mission could have gone so horribly wrong? Was this mistake bad enough for Tseng to discharge her from the Turks? She knew he wouldn't punish Reno, because he was such a valued member of the team, but Elena was still only a rookie, and such a mistake would not be taken lightly. The only way she could secure her position on the team was to get herself and Reno out of this mess successfully. That way she could prove that she wasn't incompetent, and that it was a genuine mistake…

Elena sat bolt upright, her pulse pounding in her ears. She had dozed off once again, but Reno coughing had made her jump awake. It took her a few minutes to realize however, that it was more than just Reno coughing that had awoken her.

"There you go. I told you I was going to be nice."

Elena looked up at the doorway to see Rei, standing tall and proud, with two other Shiso by her side.

"What have you done to him?" Elena said, anger overtaking her fear.

"Him?" Rei laughed lightly. "Oh nothing more than he deserves."

"Tell me." The blonde demanded confidently.

"Don't you worry." Rei said with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "He's perfectly safe."

The Shiso walked over to where Elena and Reno were sitting and ran her finger down the side of Reno's face where his tattoos were. His eyes flitted open and he stared at the woman with an angry look on his face. It was a look that frightened Elena slightly, since she'd only seen it a couple of times before, and somebody usually died a few seconds after he'd shot the glare.

"Come on then." Rei said. The two other Shiso followed Rei into the cell and grabbed hold of Reno, pulling him to his feet by his arms. Reno looked desperately back at Elena as the blonde watched helplessly as they practically dragged the redhead out of cell.

Time seemed to fly by while Reno was gone, but Elena wasn't sure why. She was unable to fall asleep again because she was so worried about Reno, so she had been sitting in the dark alone and in silence until she heard the door creak open again, and somebody threw Reno inside without saying a word. Elena crawled over to the redhead as the door slammed shut again.

"Shh." Reno said hastily. He lifted his head up and looked around with his eyes flitting back and forth. After a couple of minutes, he sighed loudly and let his head fall back on the ground again.

"Reno?" Elena said unsurely. She saw Reno's eyes close then open again, but he didn't say a word. 'Well, at least he's awake now…' Elena thought to herself.

Deciding leaving him in the middle of the floor wasn't a very good idea; Elena put one hand under each of his arms and dragged him towards the corner. It was difficult, but at least he wasn't too heavy.

Leaning against the wall, Reno breathed heavily for a couple of minutes before putting his head up and looking at Elena. His eyes weren't properly open, and they were unfocused, but he seemed a lot more together than he had been earlier.

"Thanks." He said breathlessly.

"What happened to you?" Elena asked concernedly.

Reno sighed, closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. "Don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Elena said exasperatedly. "You must…"

"Did I ever tell you that you talk too much?" Reno said quietly. He may not have sounded stern, but it was enough to tell Elena to drop the topic.

They sat in silence for the next few minutes and the only sound Elena could hear was that of her own heart beating. It was funny; Elena wasn't anywhere near as scared when Reno was with her, even though she knew that he wouldn't be of much use as far as protection went, because he seemed to be struggling to manage to keep his own eyes open.

Elena stared out of the small window again, becoming lost in her own thoughts. She really couldn't think how they were going to get out of this; they had already tried escaping once and they had been caught, so there wasn't much chance of it working if they tried again. But then again, when would the Shiso be happy? What did they actually want with the two Turks? Maybe it was just because they were trespassing on Shiso land, or maybe they had bigger plans. Whatever they were after, they seemed a lot more interested in Reno than they did in her. So were they to die at the hands of Rei or not? Elena didn't much care for the outcome. After all, a lot of Turks died for their cause, and Elena wasn't scared to be another one of them. No, what she hated most was the wait; she just wanted to know what was going to happen.

Elena jumped as there was a loud bang outside. She sat silently, listening and watching the door, but no one came. Sighing, she leaned further towards Reno.

"You're jumpy, aren't ya?" Reno said in a croaky voice.

"I'm scared." Elena admitted.

"C'mon." Reno said. He slowly put his arm up and let it rest around Elena's shoulder. "It's not that bad."

"It is, and you know it." Elena said. She leaned into Reno, leaning on his chest until he drew a shark intake of breath. "You okay?" she asked him as he pulled away a little to try and get comfortable.

"Yeah." He sighed.

"Let me have a look." Elena said. She moved his arm gently by his side and he didn't seem to object so she opened his jacket and began to unbutton his shirt. It was too dark to see properly, but she could just make out several large gashes on his stomach, and the skin around them was darker, as though bruised.

"What did they do to you?" the blonde asked.

"Already said I dunno." Reno replied. "Why, is it bad?"

"Well, you've looked better…"

"So have you sweetheart, trust me." Reno said grinning. It was the first smiled she'd seen on Reno's face in a while, but even that was tainted with the pain showing through his aqua eyes. Elena was shocked, but realized Reno was probably right. After all, she had been days without a shower, or even brushing her hair. It was okay for Reno, since he seemed to be able to get away with having the hygiene of a wild animal, and still no one noticed when he hadn't brushed his hair for 5 or so days.

"Don't look so shocked." Reno said the smile on his face breaking. "We're all in the same boat; I'm not one to judge… having fun there, by the way?"

Elena looked up, blushing. He hadn't realized she had been tracing her finger over the cuts on Reno's stomach. She pulled her hand away quickly.

"I never said to stop." Reno whispered. Elena smiled and carried on, slightly taken aback by the situation. She felt Reno run his fingers through her short blonde hair, and although it pulled slightly when his fingers hit tangles in her hair, it was comforting.

Elena looked up at Reno, his eyes were closed but she was sure he was awake. A slight smirk touched his lips, and his porcelain skin looked dewy in the faint moonlight. As always, his red, crescent shaped tattoos stood out almost beautifully against his skin tone. Elena only just realized, she still didn't know the story behind those tattoos. It wasn't a common place to have a tattoo, and yet Elena had never thought to ask him. It just seemed so natural; she couldn't imagine him without them.

The corner of Reno's mouth twitched slightly as Elena's hand traveled further up his chest. Elena suddenly blushed; half wishing she was a little more impulsive…

Well, maybe she could be… In one swift movement, Elena shifted her body so she was on top of Reno, but the redhead seemed unmoved, his smirk merely widened. It was almost like he had been expecting it. She moved her head towards his, so she could feel his cool breath on her; it was like torture, watching him smile like that. Then, something clicked in Elena's brain, and she made her moved. She pulled Reno in and their lips brushed together. She felt his mouth open slightly and she moved in closer to share a long, passionate kiss with the redhead. Of course, he took it all as it came, and seemed completely unsurprised. Maybe Reno was used to things like that…

Elena had no idea how long they were locked in that embrace, but when she finally pulled away, Reno's eyes opened wider, and he had a strange, demanding look etched into his features. Elena sat up and began tracing her hand over Reno's stomach again, until she this time going as far down as she dared. She clicked open the clasp on his trousers, and Reno silently unbuttoned Elena's shirt…

It was a comfort thing, of course. Nothing more than that. Elena hadn't expected it, but she had accepted it. Every touch, every kiss, every item of clothing Reno removed; she had accepted everything. She had enjoyed it of course, but as she laid next the spent redhead, she realized just how irresponsible she had been. She had taken advantage of him really, as all she had wanted was a little reassurance. However the more she told herself that was all the reasoning behind letting herself do these things, the less she believed it. Could it be that there were actually feelings behind the sexual mask?

Her mind and body was exhausted, but she would not fall asleep. Reno had dropped off as soon as they had broken apart, and she could hear him snoring gently beside her. Buttoning up her shirt, she sighed and leaned on Reno, her eyes dropping shut again…

…yeah, reassurance. That's all she needed…