Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Forty Insights about Rude and Elena ❯ Forty Insights about Rude and Elena ( One-Shot )

1. Grim


Elena felt as if she'd never smile again. All the work and toil after Meteor. The incident that led to her and Tseng both barely alive, and in the hands of the remnants. The remnants themselves... Rufus seeming not to care about his own well being... The always overcast sky above Edge. Grim attitudes, grim faces, drab clothing. It was enough to severely depress you. She sighed, and leaned against the window frame. Then there was Tseng.
A large man with sunglasses and a very trim beard, stood watching her in the hallway. Concern. A little sadness. Nothing he could do or say would cheer her up. Sometimes, Rude wished that Tseng had never met the Ancient girl. All he could do was be there- if she needed him.
But, he knew, she would get over it.. Eventually.
Elena sighed again, tracing the patterns of raindrops on the glass. She was a Turk. Was a smile even allowed?



2. Elite


Things were looking up. The laughing blonde was sitting across from him, the redhead smirking and making funny sarcastic comments next to him. Tseng was sitting next to Elena, and looked like he was enjoying himself as well, though less pronounced as the rest of them.
It was their first get together since Reno had healed, it was a time to celebrate and relax. So what if they were chasing a ghost across the world? So what if AVALANCHE was still on the loose? They were with Shin-Ra, they were the elite of the elite, nothing could stand in their way to get the mission completed.

...Right?



3. Still Water


Rude doesn't like touching. He doesn't like even casual pats on the arm or back. I wonder why that is? I asked Reno once, because asking Rude would have been.. rather awkward, but Reno said I shouldn't stick my nose in where it doesn't belong.. Reno gets away with it, but why does he always flinch when someone else does it? I figured it's because they've been at this job a long time, and they're friends.. and stuff.
At least that's what I thought before I found Reno's journal. I know I shouldn't have touched it, the meanie probably had a million security things attached to it to tell him when someone opened it, but I was just so.. curious. I flipped it open, to a random page, and started reading..

X, X, of X,
That bitch is at it again. It pisses me off she's using Rude like some sort of man whore, and Rude is too blind to see it. He just thinks I'm bein' some kinda jerk about it. Y'know, one of those friends who don't like who you shack up with no matter who it is. Thats not it at all. I don't trust her, at all.

This was really interesting.. so I decided to read more. Rude had a girlfriend? Well, despite Reno's bad grammar, I read it all.. And I had to stop myself from crying. The things Reno wrote about were so sad. There was this girl Rude liked.. But he didn't know she was just using them. She was a touchy feely person, at least that's what I got from the journal.. She'd just been trying to get at Shin-Ra.. Yeah, she had been a terrorist. Poor Rude.. I felt horrible, I'm a kinda touchy feely person on the inside.. When we're not on a job I like giving people hugs, when we are I like giving them punches, whether friendly or not..
And now, there's that thing with the AVALANCHE girl, Tifa was it? Reno told me that one, he seemed kind of worried..

After that, I made an apology for Rude, for no reason.. At least I hoped it was like that. He just nodded.. As if he knew. It was odd.. He's a man that doesn't say much, but I know.. The still water really runs deep, doesn't it?



4. Faith


Elena was sobbing into the dark blue fabric of his blazer, unrestrained tears darkening the color even further. He felt awkward at best, and knew the others were staring at them, but... Elena needed it. It was hard for him to pat her on the back comfortingly, it'd been so many years since he'd had to.
Today was different, though.
Reno had gotten to the Temple late with the helicopter, much later than they had intended. He'd found Tseng inside, injured and had waisted no time in getting him to the nearest hospital. It'd been a rough ride for him to get to Junon without running out of fuel, but he'd made it.
Tseng was in bad condition though.
The doctors said he might not make it through the night, but if he did he'd be fine. The chances, however, were slim.
Elena was inconsolable.

Rude tried to comfort her anyway, let her know that no, Turks were much tougher than that...

She just had to have faith.



5. Not over


This seemed to be it. For everyone, for Shin-Ra, and the Turks.
Walking out of the train tunnel and into the slums only seemed to confirm that. Things were in a panic, people were dashing around. Meteor was hovering closer, and closer, threatening their way of life. Civilization as they knew it was in danger, it felt like the end.
Reno had been very quiet ever since they walked away from their last encounter with Cloud. It seemed to have hit him hard when they refused to fight the three turks. For him, it drove something home that he hadn't even realized was there yet.
The rookie looked at him with her head tilted to the side. He continued walking, yet she had stopped. Rude stopped beside Elena, and glanced at her. "You comin'?"
Elena blinked, then looked up at Rude. "Is it really true? The Turks are over with, just like that? I don't think that's... Rude, from everything I've learned from you, Tseng and Reno... That's not what the spirit's about." She looked slight confused, her world was falling out from under her feet, and Meteor hadn't even fallen yet. "I think we're forgetting something..."
The tall turk pulled off his glasses and looked down at Elena, searching her gaze for something. Ah, there it was... Elena wasn't a rookie anymore. "Yeah, you're right." He kinda smiled at that. "We're not dead yet." It was strange when he gave her a slight squeeze around the shoulders, as if in thanks. "Let's go get Reno. We got a President to save."



6. Fluff


Elena bounced into the room, almost literally- she was walking with a very large bounce in her step. She looked happy, almost glowing. It surprised the other two since she'd been very quiet, ever since the mission to the Crater and the remnant incident.
"What's got ya so excited?" Reno mumbled around a mouthful of doughnut, then washed it down with a swallow of bitter, black coffee.
The young blond twirled on her foot. It was a bit unprofessional, but after working together closely for three years, they were almost like family. "Tseng and I are going out for dinner... After three years!" No wonder she was so ecstatic. Reno gave a grunt of disgust and walked into the next room where their desks were. Rude snickered a bit at Reno's reaction. "Watch out, 'Lena. You're getting fluff all over Reno. Don't think he likes it."
She just gave him a glare.



7. Missing


Rude was going to kill something. Preferably that damned Don Corneo bastard. He was messing far too much with the Turks lately, and kidnapping Elena was the cherry on the cake for him.
His partner didn't think very much of it, either. Rude could tell the redhead was seething under the quiet exterior as they searched the mountain for Corneo's whereabouts. It bent them to even side with Cloud and his friends even a little bit. That's how pissed Reno was, Rude noted, that he'd voluntarily offer a truce with Cloud, the one who had nearly killed Reno at Sector 7, to get back at Corneo.
It kind of disturbed Rude, actually, but had he bothered to really care, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, he was just as mad. In fact, he'd have worried that Reno might have protested Cloud being in the way.
Rude was not sure whether he was bothered more about Don Corneo's leaking, or the fact that he'd dared to kidnap a Turk. A rookie turk, yes, but still one of them.
The search on Da Chao took a long time, even with Cloud searching where the Turks didn't, it wasn't until mid afternoon that they found where Cloud had disappeared to. The sounds of battle sounded from out on one of the arms of the giant carving; the one they had seen Cloud run out on. He hadn't come back and then the explosion sounds had started. That rather irritated the two turks, to tell the truth. Rude knew Reno had wanted to be the first one there, probably to give Corneo a taste of his own medicine. It just made Rude more determined to make sure the mafia overlord was dead.
Reno motioned for Rude to stay back in case he was needed. "Damn, we shouldn't rely on AVALANCHE, they might get too forceful with him. He's probably got the girls as hostages. Hold here while I distract them." Rude nodded in acknowledgment, thankful he didn't have to take over this time, though he would do his part as usual. The redhead ran ahead to deal with Corneo. Rude picked up a large rock, and got into position between the body and the arm of the figure, where he could see everything.
Cloud and his friends looked to be battling a kind of flying dragon; Corneo's new pet, no doubt. They finished it off pretty easily, then Reno finally showed up.
That was it, Rude was prepared. Now all he had to do was wait for the sign. Elena was as good as saved. The sex-maniac wouldn't know what hit him.
As soon as this was over, Rude intended on giving Elena a lecture, then the two of them would probably take her out to a bar to celebrate the successful completion of the mission.



8. Teamwork


Rude glanced at the clock on his desk. It was nearing midnight and he still didn't have this report on Sector 7 done yet. He was about ready to go down to the infirmary floor where Reno was holed up, and dump the task on the redhead, where it belonged. Of course, Tseng had expressly forbidden bothering Reno short of the tower collapsing around them, and Rude was stuck with the job.
Damn Tseng and his ability to delegate. Rude had only a cursory role in the incident, piloting the helicopter while Reno made a fool of himself in that battle, and Tseng kept Aerith occupied. That also meant, unfortunately, that he'd witnessed most of it, which gave him enough qualifications to write the report.
Again, Rude damned Tseng and his mercurial redheaded partner. Not that Reno wouldn't have tried to foist the paperwork on Rude anyway.
Then there was the brand new rookie, still so new the shiny hadn't worn off yet. She'd come in for orientation that day, and had stayed long after so she could go to ask questions and generally annoy him and Tseng. Well, he thought it was an annoyance, but he honestly didn't blame her. Questions about what she was expected to do was a very good idea, in his opinion, he just wished Tseng had taken over the whole task of orienting her. For planet's sakes, Tseng knew Rude couldn't handle long lengthy verbal explanations.
Sighing, he went back to work after his brief reminiscing of the day, determined to finish the report by the morning, if not tonight. It was proving to be a difficult paper to write, there too many variables and details of the battle to put down. Things had gotten very crazy, very quickly, and it had been hard to follow who did what, since AVALANCHE showed up. The Turks had heard there was a leak in their informational network, most likely from one of their underground contacts based in the slums, from what the report said. Thankfully, they had ordered a small troop of guards to the pillar to counteract the expected attack from the terrorists, and as expected they had shown up, then reinforcements.
There was something wrong here, they had at least fifty men 'protecting' the pillar, AVALANCHE only had about six, and they suffered losses to boot, so how did they manage to beat their way to the top of the pillar and defeat Reno? It had been a good thing Reno jumped out of the helicopter and distracted them, otherwise the mission would have been a failure. Rude started to write his observations in the professional opinion section, this was at least one part he could do quickly. A sudden noise startled him slightly; he thought everyone had gone home for the night. Turning around, the bald man searched for the source of the noise, calmly noting that yes, there really was a person nearby.
Elena walked in with a mug and a carafe of coffee, smiling a bit shyly. "Hi... I noticed you were still working even though Tseng and I left, I thought you could use some of this..."
Rude frowned, a bit confused at this. She'd left almost five hours before, why did she come back now?
"Um, I'm sorry if I did anything wrong..." The girl started to look unsure of herself, nervous.
Rude shook his head. "You didn't. Just surprised. I... appreciate it." It was the funny kind of thing that would have happened only a few short months before the Turks' very own crisis...
"Here." Elena went forward, set the mug and carafe beside him, smiled at him, and walked back to the door.
"...Thanks."
The girl turned and nodded, still smiling. "It's all about teamwork right? Tseng told me to embrace what I told him, so I figured why not start right away?" Then she was gone.



9. Cocktails


The sun beat down on the beach, baking everything and everyone on it, including the blond girl in the pink bathing suit sitting on a large fluffy towel bearing the Shin-Ra logo. Rude smirked, and ambled over to her carrying drinks full of pink frosty liquid, topped by tiny little cocktail umbrellas. Tseng was off doing whatever it was he usually did, and Reno was causing a ruckus at a local juice stand- apparently they only serve virgin drinks- so for now it was just Elena and Rude. Elena had joked about needing popcorn and drinks, just for the sheer amount of mischief the redhead was getting involved in.

Rude humored her by grabbing the drinks, more amused than he had been in months.



10. Reflection


The moon shone down on the canyon, casting odd shadows where alcoves had been created and scraped from the walls. Elena sat on the ledge of the building. Cosmo was a strange, mysterious place. They had come here after the fight in Gongaga, hearing from the villagers that Cloud and company had passed by only a few days ago. Rufus was starting to suspect that they were no longer following Sephiroth's trail, but they were intent on going forward. Rocket Town was beyond the Nibelheim range, and there was a plane they could take to the tiny island the Turks suspected was Sephiroth's destination.
Things were really complicated at the moment, even in her personal life.
Rude sat beside her, a silent, comforting companion, facing the silent, strange night with her.
Elena didn't mind in the least, he was a quieter companion than Reno, and safer to her feelings than Tseng.



11. Bonds


The scene was almost like something out of a fantasy scape, Elena thought, still embarrassed she'd asked Rude about Tseng. It was like a painting one of the masters had created. The valley lay still, quiet, the only things animated were the stars twinkling in the velvet black of the nighttime sky. The warm glow of the fire gave light to the village, the houses gleaming with their own spots of light.
Off in the distance, a ruckus started up, voices coming out of a house; raising, then lowering. Rude shrugged, turned to Elena and sighed. "Reno's complaining about it being a dry town, again. We've been here a few times before."
The rookie started giggling. "What, can't he handle being sober one night once in a while? I can imagine it now if I did something like that... 'Elena, don't act so weak.' Maybe we should go down there and tell him something along the lines of..." She pretended to think, biting her lower lip in a thoughtful expression before continuing. "Oh, like 'Reno, you don't need booze every night, don't act so weak.'"
Rude snickered. "He'd maul you."



12. Peaceful


Wind whistled through the rock walls, sending a hair raising wail down the valley, and Elena shivered slightly. Rude turned his head to look at her, his eyes still covered by the sunglasses.
"I'm all right."
The bald turk shrugged and looked back at the valley, his thoughts still kept to himself.
"Tseng... likes the Ancient girl, doesn't he?"
There was an affirmative grunt from his direction. He wished she wouldn't go further, the night was peaceful.
Elena just sighed a little, rested her head on her knees. "I guess, it's really stupid to fall in love with your boss, huh?"
He didn't try to answer, the silence between the two of them deepened.



13. Used to Winning


Rocks crunched under foot as the two Turks walked up the gravel road. The sun was shining and insects sang, it was almost peaceful in the sunny country side.
At least it would have been, if not for the foreboding mountains that lay ahead of them.
Elena glanced at Rude, but as usual his expression was undecipherable behind the usual black sunglasses. Ever since that encounter in Gongaga, he'd been a little more quiet than usual, and Reno made a lot more snappy comments at her.
She was still new to this job, but she got the feeling that they were not used to losing like this. Everything about the reputation of the Turks said otherwise; they were used to winning.
Sometimes, the rookie wondered whether the difference was because of her.
"Elena." The sound was surprising, especially since the large man had been so intent on the summer baked road ahead of him.
"Sir?"
"Stop thinking so much."



14. Weapon


It had been a long time since she had been in Icicle; the Midgar climate must have rubbed off on her, she was freezing.. Elena's chattering teeth sounded loud in the transport truck. She and a crew of escort guards were traveling over the snow plains, intent on following Cloud and Sephiroth to wherever they led. She would get revenge for Tseng, and then make sure Cloud could never, ever harm one of her friends again.

Too many had died in the blast of the mako reactors, including some people she had known from childhood. Rude kept telling her not to let personal feelings get in the way of the work...

But when it might be good for the work, use it like a weapon.

There, up ahead. The frozen town in perpetual winter... She could see a small group of people walking towards it.

The young turk smiled. Let them find out who they were dealing with.



15. Time Off


The turks were in the office for once, sunlight streaming in through the big floor to ceiling windows that were so common on the Shin-Ra Building. Tseng was in good mood, humming an old Gongaga folk tune as he walked around the floor filing things away. Elena was at her desk, writing out a brief report on the last idiot who tried to take materials from the restricted library, who had been fired the very next day, incidentally.
Reno was at his desk as well, feet on the top and hands behind his head. He was napping in the sunshine like a big lazy, redheaded cat. Or a fox, which Elena thought he kind of resembled.
Rude typed up something on his computer, the clickety click of the keys hanging in the air in the otherwise quiet room, mingling with Tseng's humming.
Tension built up, things didn't seem quite right. Everything was quiet, they were all, if not happy, at least content, and they were sitting around, working?
Elena snapped. "We need a vacation." She announced suddenly.
Rude glanced over at her, and Tseng stopped humming. "Why's that, Elena?"
"Because we're all so happy, sir, and there's nothing to do but file these reports... Should we, you know? Have some time off? Wasn't that in the job description?" Elena asked, hopefully. Even if it was in the city grabbing a bite to eat or in a movie, it would be better than nothing. She just couldn't let a beautiful spring day like this go.
"She's got a point. There's nothing to do right now other than clean up things that the secretaries can do." Rude spoke in one of his rare long dialog modes. "I'm getting restless."
Tseng paused for a long moment. He could see Reno and Elena ganging up on him for time off, but not Rude. He looked at the two, going back and forth between each of them, then sighed. "All right, we'll take the rest of the day off. It'd be nice to go out for a while."
"WOOHOO!" Reno rocketed up out of his chair and raced out the door.
"...Guess he wasn't as asleep as I thought he was."



16.A Secret


The man they were after was just down this old, disused road, through this strange land Elena had never been before. She kind of doubted Rude or Reno had been here, either. The leaves were falling, drifting in the gentle wind. Brown, red and yellow became flying colors, only to decorate and no more. It was a surprisingly beautiful place Sephiroth had led them. It was said there was a temple of antiquities at the end of this road, based on rumor and speculation. Hopefully this would be the end of their long journey to catch Sephiroth and dispose of him once and for all.
Elena looked to Rude, to see what he was thinking. It was nice to be away from Tseng and Reno for a while, they were up in the helicopter scouting around the island.
"What?"
The girl shrugged. "Rude, you think this road really has a old temple at the end of it? I heard there used to be a place like this in Midgar, before it took over the towns that are the slums now."
Shrugging, he eyed her over his sunglasses. "If there was, it's gone or buried now. You think Shin-Ra would want it known if there was?"
She looked confused for a minute, then blinked. "Oh, no. But it'd be interesting if there was. Why? Is there?"
"Maybe."
"Rude! You can't just tell me something like that and not expect me to bug you about it! C'mon! Tell me!"
Rude just smiled and shook his head. He was used to her chatter, so it didn't matter if she bugged him to the moon and back. He wasn't telling.



17. Past Times


Elena looked out at the ruins of the fallen empire, quite safe and cozy in the large chopper the four of them were riding in. Once proud banners hung from buildings, the fabric unraveling and burnt in patches. It was a majestic, nostalgic sight for any to look on. It made her a bit sad to see the end of an era... But that was what life was about, right? Change?

The destruction of Midgar had been just that; utter, total destruction. The ultimate black magic.

She looked to Rude, tilting her head slightly, wanting to know what he thought of it. The bald man shook his head slightly. It wasn't good to think back on the past, especially when you were a turk.

The red-haired man in the pilot's seat was totally oblivious to it all, he didn't care either way.



18. Determination


There was nothing like a warm long hot soak in a bathtub after a long, dangerous mission. Of course, such comforts would be a long time in coming for the girl currently clinging to the side of a cliff.
Up above, she could hear the clashes and explosions of battle. Her friends were fighting the big monster that had dove down from a higher perch on the mountainside, knocking her over the edge and keeping Reno and Rude occupied. So it was entirely up to her to get back up, and try to make up for the utter failure that had led to the three Turks on the side of Da Chao in the first place. Maybe she could even get up in time to help the others, and therefore being in a better light.
Slowly, inch by inch, she lifted herself from rock to rock, grasping and clinging like an insect to the side of a window. She would have to be careful; there was no safety line this time to keep her from falling.
Her head peeped over the very edge of the cliff, she lifted her arm over the side as well and grabbed on a stable crack, helping her pull herself up.
Panting and gasping at the exertion, she turned her attention to the battle between the Wutan dragon and the two turks.
Reno was on his knees, having fallen back against the wall for more protection, readying an attack with his rod. Rude stood in front of him, using his fists and magic to keep the dragon at bay. Unfortunately for Rude, the dragon was of fire element, and most magic Rude had involved fire. Of the two fighting, Reno was the weaker, but faster of the two, so it made sense for Rude to take a protective situation in the battle.
It looked like they were starting to lose, the dragon was very tough.
Elena got to her feet, a large rock in hand. She ran more towards the others, not to distract it but to get from the edge so the sweep wouldn't happen again. Reno saw her and started, then called something to Rude. The blond focused on the dragon and aimed carefully, throwing the rock at the head. It hit and bounced off, but it gave the distraction the other two needed. She started to fire up her Ice materia, and Reno managed to get to his feet.
The dragon was mincemeat after that. They really did make a good team.



19. Out of Breath


The water flowed by Elena smoothly, her body making graceful arcs in the water. She loved this exercise, it toned her all over and kept her fit without really breaking a sweat. Truly one of the better ways to do so. The world around her was blue, shimmering and sparkling with filtered light. Another world inside a bigger world.
She started running out of breath, so she headed for the surface, pushing herself through the liquid with powerful strokes.
Unfortunately for her, someone was waiting.
As soon as her head broke water, two frisky men- one bald, the other redheaded - yelled and canon balled into the water, while another man looked on, shaking his head.
The poor girl got a mouthful of water.
Right, it was time for revenge.



20. Not a Replacement


Reno casually glanced behind, stopping just a second, to see the rookie was still struggling up the side of the mountain they were crossing. Rude noticed and followed his glance, then looked back to the redhead. Reno had a slight frown on his face, and Rude knew it was only a matter of time before his partner said something to Elena, again.
"Problem?"
The redhead shook his head, then turned back around and headed up the mountain. Corel was on the other side, and their destination. They were heading for the Gold Saucer, and this was one of those times where the company had failed to provide transportation. Heidegger was a very clumsy man when it came to the Turks.
Rude waited for Elena to catch up with him, then held out a hand to stop her. "Elena."
"Sir?" Elena's look was a bit confused. They were a bit pressed for time, so why Rude felt the need to stop her was unusual.
"..." Rude's usual problem with words were biting him in the ass right now. How was he going to tell her, exactly? "Elena..." He started again, hoping the words would come out now. "Uh, I think you should try keeping up with us... If you need help, stick with me. Reno's... Getting a bit impatient." The bald turk shrugged helplessly. "He's used to being fast... I'm used to it, but you're lagging back. I think... He's going to give you another lecture."
Elena's face fell immediately, she bit her lip and lifted her eyebrows, looking prettily worried. "Is that... Oh, I understand, sir. From now on I'll try to..." The poor girl seemed embarrassed.
He shook his head. "It's not just that... I think Reno is..." Again, it was hard for him to get the words out. After all the things that had happened to them over the past six years, Rude had taken some things badly, and he couldn't even help it. "It's going to take a while... For him to accept you. He keeps remembering your sister... and you were promoted to replace him... It... hit everyone hard, so..." His mouth stopped working, he shut it with a snap after a few formless words. Hopefully she'd gotten the picture.
The rookie put her hand up to her mouth in surprise. "So... That's why he's so hard on me? I think I understand... I'll try my best. I don't want to let my sister's memory down... I want to prove myself. Don't worry, OK?" With that, she smiled and ran off, after Reno. She was taking the mountain much better now, catching up with Reno quickly.
Rude was a little bemused.

Where'd that come from?



21. Blue


She'd been so happy when he asked her out to dinner, it was something she'd been hoping and waiting for for a while now. Something that she'd sometimes daydream about, after he dropped a few hints that he might, might just like her back. Of course, she'd have been almost oblivious to them if Rude, of all people, hadn't pointed them out to her. Of course, the bald man had known Tseng much longer than she had. Truth was, Reno noticed it too, but being the type of person he was didn't bother to mention it.
So she was thankful to Rude for that, but now she kind of wished none of it had happened.



22. Speeches


"Hey, wait up."
Elena paused, pivoting on her feet slightly, a scraping sound issued as the sole of her shoe turned. "Yes sir?"
"...We're not on duty, you don't have to call me sir, but..." Rude paused, words catching in his throat. It was so hard to talk to women, sometimes. They were prone to bursting out in tears for no reason whatsoever, at least in Rude's experience, when they talked to him. "How are you getting along? You've been a turk for a few months now..."
Another one of Rude's rare and unusual speeches. Elena blinked. "Well... I hope I'm doing well... Tseng is very strict, I hope I'm impressing him."
The senior turk nodded, satisfied with her answer. He was about to turn away when...
"Um, sir?"
"Elena..."
"Oh! Right... Rude. Um, do you think I'm doing okay?"
He seemed to think a bit, then nodded again. "Yeah. You do great. It's good to have you."



23. Turks + Kitchen = ?????


Rude stared in dismay at the mess in the frying pan. What it was supposed to be, was a pancake. He frowned a little, the dark glasses hiding the glare only part way when the redhead behind him started cracking up in fits of laughter when he caught sight of Rude's mess. Elena was giggling as well, but trying to hide it behind her hand. Well, at least she was trying which was something that couldn't be said for Reno.
"Need help Rude?" Elena asked, her face straight all of a sudden. Her lip twitched just ever so slightly, though. She was trying so hard not to hurt his pride...
Rude ground his teeth, put down the spatula and nodded.
"Y'know, partner," Reno started, tapping one of the black charcoal fragments with a finger, "with your cooking, why spend a budget on weapons? All we gotta do is feed this stuff to-" He stopped there, because Elena had whapped him, quite hard.

So much for trying out his mother's special recipe.



24. Elena's Predicament


"Veld had always said, a dirty turk was a dead turk." Reno made a comment, passing by on his way to the showers after a very intense workout session.

Elena was a little dirty... Smelly, even. She'd been training again, with Tseng this time, and it was more than just sweat, honestly, but that was embarrassing so she didn't tell anyone. It was great just to get to be near him, but Reno's comment brought her back to reality. She turned around to see Rude grinning at her with a knowing face, his glasses were off for once.
"He's right, you know. Not only an enemy can smell you when you're in hiding, they can probably tell what you've been doing depending."

Her face flushed, right up. Of course, Rude had meant that about someone crying or being sweaty on their back versus in their armpits, but the words struck home, and made her blush.
"I'll go shower then... Good cleaning habits in the turks, right?"
Rude nodded, and snickered when she left the room.



25. Alien World


Smoke. There was smoke all over, clinging to the walls and oozing around door frames. Midgar had been hit by the calamities from the sky, and only now were the Shin-Ra returning to the headquarters to see what could be salvaged.
Evacuations hadn't gone well, Reeve had made sure most were in the slums, but many still had remained on the plate, dying as was their wish.
It was amazing to Elena that the place was still smoking, even after three months.
She looked around the lobby, at the once proud displays Shin-Ra boasted, minus one truck and motorcycle, and even now she could see where the sign had been repaired where the truck AVALANCHE had stolen hit it.
So far, it was just the Turks in the building, sent on ahead to see and assess things before any workers came in. Rufus was recovering nicely, they expected him to be up and about before six months, and he was of course, being his usual cantankerous self.
Reno shifted a pile of rubble with his foot, and snorted. "As if there's anything in here worth taking. The elevators don't even work... We're going to have to go up on foot. From the look of it I doubt anything's up there anyway." He'd been rather unamused to get the order to go in. There were several other things he'd wanted to do that he felt more important, but Rufus was Rufus and his orders were orders.
The rookie sighed, watching him clump up the partially decimated staircase. Compared to the rest of the building, the lobby was largely intact, just... not really pretty. She looked over to Rude, hanging nearby at the receptionist desk. She approached quietly, wanting to at least stay near by someone. The place gave her a strange chilling feeling, a feeling it'd never given her before. This used to be her home, after all. "Whatcha doing, Rude?" The three Turks had gotten a bit more informal with the coming of Meteor and the disastrous events that happened before and after. They were kind of like a family now.
"She's not there anymore. It's really true and I'm not dreaming."
Elena was surprised. She usually didn't get such a candid, wordy answer from Rude... Then she realized something. "She was... someone you had a crush on, wasn't she? I heard Reno-..."
Rude shook his head. "Yeah... I heard she didn't make it. I just wanted to see for myself." He turned away from the desk, and headed for the stairs.
Elena lifted her head to the ceiling far above them, three stories at least, and sighed. Sometimes, she felt like a ghost herself, drifting in a strange and alien world that was quite not her own.



26. It Happens


Aromatic vapors wafted toward the young turk, you could literally see the smoke in the dingy, overgrown jungle. It felt like a steamy bathroom filled with incense and candles for some sort of romantic get up, the trouble was, this wasn't even inside. This part of the world housed, of all things, man eating plants. And Shin-Ra thought there were some powerful ancient weapons hidden in this forest by the Gi?! What madness affected the entirety of the board members?! All right, so Rufus was sane, most of the time, but the fact of the matter was he let the others do whatever they pleased, almost. Well, Elena supposed the one exception to that would be Heidegger. Rufus was always quick to find something wrong with him, maybe the man's presence itself just irritated Rufus.
Elena sighed, and hacked down another vine in her way. At least this was one mission they would let her do on her own, and she was doing a good job of it, so far. She just knew there was some sort of evil girl eating plant around the corner though, she just knew it.
"You OK, Elena?" Rude's voice sounded over her PHS, set to on constantly. At least they were still keeping an eye on her.
"Just peachy, haven't found anything yet, though. I doubt there's anything here. I just see a lot of Vileplume blossoms and vines."
"Keep looking, Elena, radar is picking up something metallic fifty meters to your right."
"Oh, gee, thanks Rude. Can't I just pack up and go home? No..." Sighing, she sloughed off in the intended direction. It was hot, slow work, but she eventually made it to a half buried chest stuck under a gigantic leaf of a nearby plant. Working it out of the ground, she managed to pop the lid open, and peer inside.
There was nothing but a small knife, ornate and sheathed in rotted leather. She sighed. "Rude, found it, but it's just a small knife. Doesn't even look usable. I'm heading back now. Ok?"
There was a pause, and a brief burst of static before Rude's voice came back over. "Roger... Come on back, you did your job. It happens."
The blond turk stood up, dusting herself off, and turned to go when the blade shining through the leather caught her eye. Well... It was a good looking knife even if it had no materia slots, and waste not, want not, right?
At least she'd have something out of this jungle other than insect bites and plant rashes.
The knife turned out to be embedded with enough spiritual power to hold a spell for healing. Elena was glad she had kept it the very next time they battled. It was better than materia, in it's ways.



27. Reckless


Spatters and drops of blood glistened on the skin of the girl laying in the ditch by the roadside. She was desperate for air, wanting to take a big breath and start panting for the needed supply, but fear and the fact the monster that did this to her was only but a foot away snuffling in the grass, held her to soundless shallow breaths. She should have known better than to take on a powerful one like this before she was ready. The others had told her not to go out without one of them, but being the stupid rookie she was, she had to go and prove herself to them, and Reno especially, that she wasn't weak.

Now, she was just wishing one of them would come and help her before she sacrificed her life for her foolishness. Even Reno. He would blab this through Shin-Ra and she'd never get peace from it, but right now the sight of that red rat-tail would be welcome.

The monster snorted, walking a few steps from the ditch, trying to track her through her scent. Thankfully this particular breed didn't have a good sense of smell.
It seemed like an eternity passed in a moment, her insufficient breath not doing her any good, the monster snuffling and getting closer again. Her heart nearly stopped once or twice, the tension was killing her.

There was a sound of materia being primed, an unearthly green glow washed the area and made the blades of grass stand out in sharp contrasting shadows, and the monster went up in flames, howling its pain to the moon.

Footsteps walked over to the ditch, and Rude's face appeared, along with a hand to help her up. He was silent when she took his hand, noting the relief evident in every pore of her body, and helped her up.
The wounds were superficial at worst, scratches at best, but the blood was still there.

"Here. You'd better get rid of that before we go back." The bald man shoved a potion and a rag at her, she took them gratefully and started cleaning herself off.
A gash in her forearm was mended with potion, a quick wipe took off the blood on her face. There was nothing she could do about the tears in her uniform, however... It was inevitable that someone ask what happened.

Once she was finished, he turned and started back to camp.

"Rude, wait!" She hurried to catch up with him, albeit slowly; she was really feeling that battle. "How'd you know I was out here?"

Pausing to turn and lower his shades a little, he smiled. "You forget, Elena. We were all rookies at one point."



28. Mesmerizing


As usual, Elena was talking. Innocent things mostly, like the weather, what it was like traveling, being a turk. Wait, that last one not so innocent... But it was still talking. Some reason, he didn't mind her talking so much anymore, even though he'd disliked it when they first met. He'd gotten accustomed to it.
Actually, there was something soothing and mesmerizing about the way her mouth and lips formed words and phrases. He found it decreased tension while waiting during those long times where they had nothing to do between the start of the mission and the end. It was kind of surprising, that he could get used to hearing a woman talk again.
It was just interesting, really.



29. Nightmare


Silver strands of hair fell into her face, those inhuman green eyes stared at her with gleeful malevolence. Slowly, the lips underneath twisted into a sadistic leer, and the pain flashed through her body, again and again. Electrical pulses caused havoc with her system, limbs jerked and twitched spastically. When it was over, she lay on the ground breathlessly, the aftereffects giving her a strange disoriented feeling...
She was being shaken, hard by someone. She tried pushing them off, turning over to go back to sleep.
But did she really want to go back to that nightmare?
"Elena, wake up." A voice crowded her thoughts, Rude's voice. She heard other murmurs too, as if there were more than one person.
With a start, she opened her eyes to look into two very concerned faces.
"Hey, what's up? Bad dream? You were shrieking." Reno raised an eyebrow, his usual smirk nonexistent.
Rude was silent, of course, but she could see the concerned creases in his brow, even though the sunglasses blocked out the rest of his eyes. She wondered why he wore those to bed, of all places.
"I'm... OK, just a bad dream... I'll be fine? OK?"
They nodded, respecting her wish for privacy, and left.
She was thankful for friends like them.



30. Iron Will


Rude flexed his fist and held it up to the sun, light filtering around it and giving it a golden halo. These were his weapons, his livelihood, and his life. They were everything and nothing. He could protect or destroy with them. Keep friends safe, shatter enemies into a thousand smithereens. They could be as gentle as a whisper in the throes of passion, they could wring torturous cries from prisoners.
His fists led a double life, as he did, and all turks did. A life of protection and sometimes destruction, the spirit of the turks buried in lies and deception, truth and redemption. They weren't what they once were, and his fists reflected this. He no longer could wear the fingerless gloves standard issue to the Turk's uniform, he had to wear heavy duty leather now. It was just another small deception to the world, like his glasses.
All things changed, though, including the world.
He knew what to do with them in any situation except one of social awkwardness, he could almost pound a hole into a brick wall. There was nothing he couldn't do, and nothing he could.
How could he make Elena realize that is what makes a Turk?



31. Forgotten


Sometimes, words felt meaningless to Elena, it was always actions that meant something to her, especially in this world of sadness and sorrow. It had been three months since Meteor came sailing down from the skies. Three months since the world had seen the fall of a great city. It had been only about nine months since Tseng had asked her to dinner, but nothing had ever been mentioned since that. Sometimes she wondered if he suffered from amnesia due to his injuries, or if he had simply forgotten. She was afraid to say anything, to her it was better not knowing than to find out her worst fear was true. There was still anxiety about it. She thought to ask Reno or Rude to try and get hints for her, but Reno would blab, and Rude...Well, she thought that maybe, he was doing it already, in a very subtle, silent way almost so she didn't notice. Just like Rude himself.


32. Beginnings


There were consequences for everything, choices, decisions made, things done, and orders given.
Today was like every other day for Elena, though rumor had it that AVALANCHE would be trying to take down the pillar supporting Sector 7. She was walking home from class, thinking about how well she was doing in the Academy. Working hard and aiming for a top position in the Turks, as they were called informally, that was her. Truthfully, she kind of resented them, in an odd way, they seemed kind of smug in their positions.
Well, despite that, she had already applied for a position, after hearing about so many causalities in the ranks lately. They were terribly short staffed, but were reluctant to take on any new members at the moment. She supposed she understood; those that died been very close team members, the survivors had to be grieving. She guessed it was that 'My dog died and I don't want another' mentality.
Still, she held on to her PHS almost constantly, hoping for that one call.
The young blond got home safely, there wasn't much she couldn't take down these days thanks to her training, and set about getting comfortable and studying what paper homework she had been given. When she was setting her drink on the coffee table, a strange shudder tore through the house, her drink wobbled and spilled a few drops on the clean surface, and she winced. What was that? An earthquake? She had thought the pillars would protect Midgar from such things; they were built to wobble enough to cause no damage to the upper plates, even though Midgar never got earthquakes.
Flopping into the couch after cleaning the mess, she flipped the T.V. on to her favorite news station, which ended up...
Blank.
That was odd... Flipping to another with local news, a reporter came on screen, the background being a empty, smoking hole where...
Sector 7 should be.
Elena gasped, sitting up straighter to listen to the story.
It was some time after that, about five hours give or take a few, that her PHS rang. Snatching it up, she answered, hoping it might be her mother...
"Is this Elena?" The voice was deep, kind of rumbly, and she knew the man who had it would never be able to sing baritone.
"Yes... Who are you?"
There was a slight pause, and a sliding of papers before he answered. "My name is Rude, I'm with the Department of-"
"You mean you're a turk?" Elena rolled over top of him, excited that she was getting a call. Maybe even THE call.
"Yes..." Rude sounded put off, took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Due to the shortage of active turks..." He hated these calls, he wondered why Tseng made him do this one. "You've been selected, and..." Damn him to hell. "We've accepted you as rookie, if you could start tomorrow that-"
He didn't much of a chance to finish, Elena interrupted him with an excited almost squeal.
"You mean I get to be a turk! I've been waiting for this for a while now! Oh, geez I haven't even graduated yet..."
Rude wondered whether she'd be right for the job after all. Oh well, at least maybe she could put that enthusiasm into becoming a turk, and who knows, it might lift everyone's spirit. Not his though. He was getting a headache.
"Report to the Shin-Ra building at eight a.m. sharp. Is that all right?"
"Yes, yes! I'll be there. Don't worry!" She was literally bouncing on her toes.
"Thank you. Congratulations." Rude hung up his PHS and felt a stab of guilt. She seemed very... innocent, almost childlike in her enthusiasm. It almost seemed as if she didn't know exactly what she was in store for.



33. The Rookie


Rude found comfort in silence. It was a part of who he was. To have Reno babbling at him, and now Elena...
But with Elena, it was a bit different. It was all a part of her nervousness during their work days, something that most rookies had in common. She let slip important information from her lips; she hadn't yet tamed herself.

Just a little time, that's all it would take. He was sure of that.

Reno, on the other hand, said little about anything. To him, words were meaningless. He did it to fill the awkward silences when they were on the job. Awkward silences were filled with awkward thoughts. So he said. Rude knew it was actually because Reno didn't want to think about the things they were about to do... Things they had done before.
Rude would rather have had the silences, to be honest.
Elena just talked to purge emotion. She had no idea what they really did; she hadn't been on enough missions yet. Nor had they encountered something like Nibelheim or Sector 7 on her watch... He was thankful that she joined after Reno's injury.
The thing is about Reno, he at least knew at times when Rude was seriously wanting quiet. He did respect Rude enough to give him that much, as Rude did for him when Reno talked.
Though Rude thought he would miss it a little if Elena became jaded as the rest of the Turks. He hoped it would never happen, that she would become used to mayhem and war, like him and Reno. She seemed a bit too innocent- a bit too naive to him. He wanted to keep it that way, even if the talking never stopped.
At least the rookie made things interesting, at times.

He had the feeling when the talking stopped, they would be less one rookie.

It was a nostalgic feeling, really.



34. Understanding


Bullets rained fire on their hideout; the rookie frightened and rather panicked, the experienced fighter calm, though worried.
Rude really hated guns, more than any other weapon being aimed at him, he really hated being forced to use one, even in situations like this. "Be quiet!"
Elena crouched down farther, fear etched on her face, and nodded. With shaking hands, she clumsily reloaded her gun, blood and sweat making it harder than ever. She wasn't sure whether she could do it... Jumping up, being hit, hitting someone back...
The man looked her in the face and seemed to understand.
There was a small lull in the fire, Rude jumped up and fired two shots, dropping back down like a stone.
Those two bullets had ended the deadly rain, silence met the hot, gun smoked air, and it was deafening.



35. Wallflower


At this point, Rude was wondering exactly how Reno had managed to not only talk Elena into going to the dance club, but him as well. Now Rude was stuck at a bar, frequently getting mistaken for a bouncer by the staff, or having nervous girls sit on the other end of the bar and glance at him suspiciously.
Elena was out on the dance floor, having a lot of fun after the first two drinks, dodging the usual pinching and pokes from Reno and the other guys. She caught sight of Rude and danced over, laughing and dodging people who wanted to claim her as a partner.
"Hey Rude! You wanna dance?"
For a second, he was almost tempted to give in and join her, but then ducked his head. "No thanks, Elena. I uh... Kinda have two left feet."
"C'mon, Rude! It's fun!" She didn't give him time to answer, he found himself getting pulled away from the bar...



36. Everything He Sees


Why did she wish it never happened, that those words had never come out of his mouth? Looking back it seemed kind of cruel- he asked her to dinner, then Sephiroth, like some demon of torment, stabbed him and left him bleeding on the floor of the Temple.
Even now, even though he was in stable condition, nothing had changed much... That is, except that his body might live. Tseng was in a coma.
Privately, Rude wondered if Elena was ever going to get used to this job; losing people and friends, possibly lovers too. Reno admitted that he thought pretty much the same, but said that nobody ever gets used to that. At least not unless they killed their emotions. The two agreed after that, not to let Elena ruin herself. Tseng and Elena were going to go on that date even if it killed them.



37. Peeping


"Move over! Lemme see!" Reno tugged at Rude's sleeve, and when that didn't work, shoved him. "Damn hog."
Rude snickered, and moved over a few inches so the lanky redhead could get a peek through the just barely opened curtain.
Outside, the scene set out was that of Elena and Tseng standing outside her apartment near the Edge Branch building. The young woman was looking down a little, nervously brushing away a stray strand of hair, while Tseng was talking to her. The odd thing about this was Tseng had his hand on her shoulder.
"Dude, you think he's gonna kiss her?" Reno breathed, whispering even though not only were they across the street, they were in another building. Kinda illegal, but it was the only choice; break and enter, or be spotted.
Rude hushed him. "I think something's happening..."
Indeed it was, Elena looked up just in time as Tseng was lowering his head to kiss her on the forehead- and missed.
Their lips were pressed firmly against each other's. They may or may not have also heard a faint muffled whoop and yelling from somewhere nearby.



38. Responses


"Hey, Rude, do you think you'd like to ride that little box thing with someone special, someday?" The young blond asked, curiosity staining her gaze as they watched Cloud and his chosen girl soar above Gold Saucer. Fireworks went off. She was a little jealous of the sheer magic that the two inside the ride must have been witnessing.
Rude looked over at her, a muscle in his cheek twitched. It was annoying that they had to even keep an eye on the spiky headed mercenary, her questions were worse. "I dunno. Depends."
She poked him in the shoulder, grinning. "I bet you will."
The senior turk grumped. "Be quiet," he muttered, then immediately felt bad when she seemed contrite, as if he scolded her.
"Y-yes sir..."
He really hadn't meant to make her feel bad, he was just used to Reno, who would have smirked and said "You only say that cuz you know it's true."
He'd have to be careful in his responses to Elena from now on.



39. Choices


There were times where Rude wished he had been the one to go with Tseng to the Crater. Right now was one of those times. When Elena got that half 'not there' look, her eyes grew sad and something reflected inside them told of horrors not only witnessed, but experienced. This was a time where he wished Elena had been rejected for the Turks, then she'd be normal; bright, happy, flirtatious girl just starting out on the road to life. The one he saw now was subdued, bothered, shy and seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders at times. He got the same look sometimes in Tseng, but not so much due to Tseng's experience and coping power; he'd already been through a lot, Elena hadn't.
Sure, it was true that at one point Rude had a crush on Elena, but that had nothing to do with wishing Elena had just... taken a different choice.



40. Opposites

~Elena
Strangely enough, Elena found it was easy to talk to Rude, as a confidant. She never could do that with Reno, and Tseng... Well, that was unthinkable. Rude, however, was the perfect listener. Only talking whenever he had advice, he made all the right grunts and monosyllables that made her feel better.
A secret was safe with him.

~Rude
Rude wished Elena didn't talk to him so much about her personal life. He was polite and said things as best he could, just to get her to leave him alone for another long stretch after she was done. He didn't mind it, so much, but it could get tiring hearing her swooning after Tseng, or get riled up about Reno.
Half the time he wasn't even paying attention.