Chapter Text
“Open. Open open open. Come On!” Elena pulled on nothing, digging her fingers into any seam on the wall that she could dig her nails into. She tugged relentlessly, with whatever strength she had left. Tseng watched her, leaning against the wall, with no energy left to do anything more than blink slowly. He forced himself to keep his eyes open. He had to have faith in his team. Reno and Rude would come and find them, and Rufus would rip into them both for getting caught. Especially considering they were currently being tortured by the Remnants of Sephiroth. God this was embarrassing.
“Elena. Sit down.” Tseng watched her as she scrambled to find them an exit, they had been at this for days, and they were no closer to figuring anything out.
“I can’t just sit here and let them torture us. I’m going crazy!”
“Have patience, Elena. In this situation, we have to just wait for our team. Reno and Rude will figure out how to reach us.”
“Reno can’t do anything seriously.” Elena huffed and sat down next to him.
“Reno is the Vice Director for a reason. The two of you may see your jobs as something that isn’t too serious, but he knows when to buckle down and actually put his mind to it.”
“Hey! I don’t think this is something to scoff at. I worked hard to be a Turk. I always wanted your approval.”
“You don’t need my approval to be a good Turk. You’re good at what you do, Elena. You just have to stop comparing yourself to others.”
“I’m working on it.”
The next few days were much of the same. Tseng would get taken to be ‘talked to’, and then it would be her turn, sometimes she would go first, and occasionally they would be tortured together. Elena wasn’t exactly sure what the Remnants were asking of them, her brain was so fuzzy, but she assumed it was something about the fact that they had been trying to recover Jenova. Elena sat, waiting for Tseng to be returned, and wondered what her life would have been like if she wasn’t a Turk, or if Emma hadn’t been a Turk, or even if her father hadn’t been an instructor at the academy.
Elena’s whole life had had something to do with Shinra, she realised, much as many of the people she surrounded herself with had. She wondered what it would be like to make friends outside of the company now that it was destroyed, or if she would even bother. She had her group of Turks, and the boss, who she considered friends. Especially her and Rufus. She hadn’t expected to get on with the other blonde as much as she did, but she truly enjoyed some of their moments.
Tseng stumbled into the room, and the door slammed behind him as usual. Elena had yet to figure out how that door opened, it just seemed to blend so seamlessly with the wall. She could never find a seam on the wall when she attempted to get them out, and it also seemed to open in a different place every time, but that could just have been her. She was sure she had at least a minor concussion.
They sat together on the floor. The conversation had run out at least two days ago, or so she thought. It was hard to keep track of time in the room with no windows, and Tseng, whom Elena had never known to optionally touch anyone, had taken to leaning against her as they both stared listlessly at the grey walls. It had gotten to a point where they had stopped trading off sleep shifts, often just sleeping whenever they could for as long as possible just to pass the time.
The door stopped opening as often, and when it did there was only ever one Remnant, Elena assumed that the other two were often out, probably getting in Reno and Rude’s way while the two tried to get four Turks worth of work done. She wondered if the two had perhaps sidelined looking for them. She would have expected them to, especially after this long. The boss was the top priority, making sure the stubborn man looked after himself and didn’t fall prey to the negative emotions that were rumoured to make Geostigma worse.
“Hey, Tseng. Do you think the boys are still coming for us?” Elena spoke up one day, and the two of them slouched against the wall.
“All in good time, Elena.” Tseng’s replies to anything she said had gotten a little philosophical. She couldn’t blame him, they’d both been doing a lot of thinking while they’d been locked in together.
“We’re really locked in here, huh? How do you think the boss is without you to kick him in the ass when he’s being stubborn?”
“I’m sure Reno and Rude have a handle on him. He respects their opinions as he respects mine.”
“I guess. I’ve never seen him take Reno seriously before.”
“He takes all of us seriously. He values our opinions and insights, I can assure you.”
“Yeah, I know that. I miss him. In a way.”
“So do I, Elena, but we’ll see him soon. I assure you.”
Elena nodded at him and relaxed back against the wall. It had felt like so long since they had seen the team, and she had started to lose hope that they ever would again. Tseng’s trust was unwavering, but Elena had started to grow sick of their confines. She longed to be outside, and ro see the team again, perhaps even take a moment to actually spend some more time with Reno. In a way, she missed the redhead the most and had been craving his relentless teasing and stupid nicknames. She longed to hear someone call her Rookie again, or even for him to call her Laney, just for a sense of normalcy.