From the Northern Cave to Healin Lodge, Gaia, Friday Morning

[raspberryturk]

Reno	So, Reno had gotten his stupidly early pickup from Rude, earlier, and had gotten the chance to heave his supplies into the back of the chopper before he, Tseng, and Elena had set off on their way to the Northern Crater. Booze, porn, potions or some shit, fireworks. Reno's stun baton was tucked away safely in his clothing, where it belonged. The essentials. "Okay. So we're headed to the cave, lookin' for Jenova's head?" Yeah. That sounded like it was going to be a party and then some. "Let's get this done with or whatever, then." He had to tell Rikku he told her so.
Tseng	"We're going to find Jenova's head," Tseng clarified, giving Reno a sharp look, "and secure it, and possibly run tests on it. We're also looking for any signs of trouble in the area." Silver-haired men. Mako reactors. It didn't necessarily mean there was a tie to Sephiroth -- after all, Sephiroth was dead. But then Sephiroth had never been very good at staying dead. So they were going to investigate, and rule that possibility out first.
Reno	"Right. Find it an' secure it and poke at it with sticks. I know the drill, yeah, yeah." Reno would probably seem a little more concerned if it wasn't for the fact that The Rookie was in the chopper, too. They wouldn't bring Elena along if this was something huge and world-shattering. She hadn't earned her stripes just yet, after all. "So, where you want me to park it, boss?" The crater was just below, hidden through the haze of clouds. Wasn't like they were getting any younger, circling overhead.
Elena	"Are you in such a hurry to get back?" Elena snapped, folding her arms. Several months off on a mission, and he still strolled back in here like he owned the place, and they should all just be grateful he showed up. Elena had no idea why Tseng even put up with it.
Tseng	"Elena," Tseng said mildly. Some days, he was less their leader and more their baby-sitter. Today was clearly going to be one of those days. "There won't be solid ground to land the chopper, inside the crater. You'll have to touch down to let us off and circle." Which should be no great hardship for Reno.
Reno	"Noooo problem," Reno said, grinning and slouching back further into the pilot's seat. Any excuse to fly the chopper around, he'd take, sure. Meant he didn't have to go tripping around down there, which suited him just fine. And down, down, down the chopper went, Reno glancing casually out the window for a good place to chuck the boss and newbie through the door from. After they cut through the cloud cover, it wasn't too hard to find a place to level off the chopper and hover in wait. "Next stop, creepy-ass cave. Keep your arms and legs inside the chopper until you leap outta it, blah blah blah." Business as usual.
Elena	"Don't go too far," Elena said. "If there really is weird stuff in that cave, we might need to call you in a hurry." He didn't exactly seem to be taking this mission seriously. As if he ever did.
Tseng	Babysitter. He should get hazard pay. "We'll contact you by radio as needed," Tseng said, nodding to Reno. And raising an eyebrow. Could Reno maybe let that one slide? For Tseng? Yes, he had far more experience than Elena, very good, but Tseng had the feeling that maybe she'd be less fussy about it if everyone could stop throwing it at her. What would she know, she was just the rookie.
Reno	Reno rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, flown these sorts of runs before. Get outta my chopper and go get some head, you two. I'll be nearby, listenin' in, yo." Yes, he was fully aware how that sounded. He figured he didn't need to add the 'good luck' to the end of it. He knew well enough what kind of crap was crawling around in this crater at the best of times.

---

Elena	The crater was rough, but nothing they couldn't handle. One of the King Behemoths had gotten a bad swipe on Tseng's leg, and Tseng was refusing to drink a potion for it, because he was a stubborn bastard. Great. So now he was limping, so they could save potions in case the situation went bad. Whatever that meant. She gave the point up entirely and was just going to look around through this gross, icky pile of junk over here. Being a Turk made for such interesting stains on your suits. Gross, icky worthless blob ... gross, icky decaying dead thing ... oooooooooooh. "Tseng!" she called out. "Look at this."
Tseng	"Hm?" Tseng was making his way along, carefully, naturally. Being mauled by large beasts didn't make the going any easier. But if Elena thought that there was cause to push himself onward faster, then he certainly would. The sight that he was greeted with once he had caught up was hardly a pleasant one, but it was entirely too familiar. Discolored skin, exposed brain and all, there wasn't much else it could be, save their target. "Paydirt," he stated, leaning closer for a better look.
Elena	Elena didn't want to pick it up, but being a Turk also meant you had interesting stains on your hands, sometimes, and really, really disgusting squishy things in them. "It's not a pretty sight, is it?" she said, holding it up. Oh, fabulous, it was dripping. Just what she always wanted.
Reno	Reno tapped his finger against the joystick and rolled his eyes, listening in on the whole conversation. For as much as he loved flying in circles for hours, now that they'd found the friggin' head, maybe they could get back out of there and head off to Edge or whatever so that the 'poking the head with sticks' portion of the mission could get underway? "Who cares," he mumbled to himself, "Just get the damn thing." His grumpy moment was rewarded with a command from Tseng crackling over the radio. "Reno, the chopper." "You got it," Reno replied, smirking and dipping down below those clouds again. What he hadn't expected was the sudden burst of machine gunfire. That made him dip down double-time. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dangerously fast, sure. But when the boss and the newbie were being fired on, you just didn't bother to tap your fingers and fuck around.
Elena	The sudden spray of gunshots made Elena's head snap up. One hand tightened her grip on Jenova's head, and the other grabbed for her gun. Her eyes were scanning furiously. Who was shooting at them? Were they shooting at herself and Tseng, or the chopper? Where were they? There. All the way across the crater, there was a figure just barely distinguishable from the backdrop. Light was bouncing off his silver gun ... and his long, silver hair. "Reno! Hurry!" Elena said, running out into the open. In case the situation goes bad, Tseng had said. Elena had a very bad feeling that it was about to.
Reno	The sound of the chopper feeding directly into his headset via the radio that Tseng and Elena were carrying was almost deafening, but he still heard Elena urging him down faster, and he complied, leveling off the chopper and wrestling the door open and hanging out of it in time to see, nice and clear, that silver-haired guy with the gun. Well. He certainly didn't remember flying that guy down there. "Who the hell is that?!" Tseng, Elena, hurry the hell up now, okay? Reno couldn't even see Tseng, try though he might. That gunfire had been sudden, and with that behemoth-buggered leg-- Reno wrenched his brain off of that thought with a good deal of force, hanging out the door and holding an arm toward Elena. Not losing the Rookie. No way.
Elena	There were more of them, behind the first figure. They had matching hair and matching guns. This wasn't just a bad situation any more. There was Reno, hauling the chopper door open, arm out. Perfect. Elena lifted the head and threw it as hard as she could. He almost looked surprised as he caught it, holding his arm out again, insistent. She shook her head. Tseng was further back, limping; she couldn't leave him behind. Jenova's head was safe, on the chopper, with Reno. She'd carry Tseng if she had to. She was running back when the next shot ripped through her abdomen.
Reno	"Elena!!" The head that was in his hands was flying backward into the chopper, and he was back in the seat and trying to chase her down, but there was nowhere to land, three of those silver-haired freaks closing in, no sign of Tseng, nowhere to fucking land. He was not going to lose another rookie. Not going to. Flying closer, but there was only so close he could get, and the mystery shooters were closing in, and Reno of the Turks had no idea what the hell to do. No idea what to do...
Elena	Gunshots. Burning. The ground tilted and slammed into Elena. If she was on the ground, why did she still feel like she was falling? She stared up into the cloud cover as more bullets ricocheted in her ears. The helicopter buzzed overhead like an angry wasp. What was Reno doing? He had to get the head back to Edge. Before the endless silver men turned their guns onto the chopper. "G-get ... get out," she gasped.
Reno	Another shot, and the radio went dead. Nowhere for Reno to land, no way to get down there to help them, he'd just end up dead, too, and they'd lose the head, and he still couldn't see Tseng. Reno had no other choice. He kept his eyes locked firmly on Elena for as long as the cloudy haze would allow as he pulled the chopper up and out of the crater. "Dammit..." He'd lost another newbie. But he got the damn head. Not a good enough trade. And no way to go back. Reno took a deep breath and steered the chopper back toward Healin. Aside from the gunshots echoing through his head, the trip back was entirely too quiet.

---

Reno	Bad day. Started bad... Reno was leaning against the side of the helicopter, not because he felt particularly like slouching, but because he was suffering from the biggest rush of shit to the brain that he'd had in a long while. Okay. Okay. He was going to have to dump the head on Rufus or something, and explain the situation, and grab Rude and fly back and get their guys out of there, and that was ... Well, it was going to take a little longer than he'd expected it would. So Reno was making a phone call. Because, really, things went crappy like this all the time. Really. And he'd tell that to Rikku, and she wouldn't worry if he wasn't back by Monday, like he'd said he would be. Yeah. That there, that was Reno hitting send on his phone before he could change his mind. Yep.
Rikku	Rikku snapped her phone open. "You've reached the Wellspring Arms and Meditation Center, 'cause that's where I am today. Rikku speaking!" Some days, Rikku amused herself by answering the phone weirdly. Today was apparently going to be one of those days.
Reno	"Oh, uh. Am I interruptin' you at work? I can go?" Reno didn't want to interrupt Rikku at work. Work was important. Like the work he had been doing when he watched the silver-haired freaks kill the rookie- not kill. Elena was still alive when he pulled away, and they were Turks, and he was going to get them out. Which was why he was calling. Okay. Okay. Damn, it was good to hear Rikku's voice, though.
Rikku	"No, it's fine," she frowned. "Reno? Is everything --" That was a stupid question. If everything was okay, he'd be calling to tell her the mission was over and there would be lots of kinky sex once he got back, and he wouldn't sound like someone just hit him in the gut.
Reno	Get. Your shit. Together. Reno. Okay. Okay. Okay. "I'm fine," he said, almost a little too quickly. "They had me flyin' chopper, nothin' too bad. Made a field trip out to the crater, got what we needed. Just turns out I gotta make another run out, is all. Kinda came up outta nowhere. Might not be back as soon as I thought, zoto." Either it was going to take him extra time to kill the assholes and get those Turks back, or he'd have a pair of corpses to identify and destroy. Either way, time-consuming. Naturally.
Rikku	"Oh," she said, flatly. Right. So that was why he was upset. They were jerking him around, adding more missions onto the first one, hey, we need you here, you'll go back eventually. Awesome. Wasn't that what she'd said last night? "Does this mean I get to say I-told-you-so, instead?"
Reno	"Yeah," he said, a tired note in his voice. "You get to say I-told-you-so. Right to my face, okay, when I get back? Kick me in the shin or somethin'." He'd need it. A swift kick to the shins. Might get his brain working again. Damn, that nasty head was stinking up the chopper. Hot day in the wastelands. Let's just leave this severed alien body part out to ooze brain goo all over. Like hot feet marinated in ass from space. Nice. He was going to have to do something with that. "Look, I... Uh. I got some other stuff I gotta take care of. But I'll keep in touch, okay? No problem. Call you later today if I can, even."
Rikku	"Yeah," she said, frowning again. He really didn't sound good, right now. She wanted to pull him through the phone, shake him, and then give him a good, long hug. Maybe his boss was being crazy, or maybe the city was having troubles again. Whatever it was, it was wearing him out, and he'd only just gotten home. "Reno? If you need anything ... I mean. Even just to say hi. I won't ... I won't say I-told-you-so too much, or anything. Really."
Reno	"I appreciate it," Reno replied, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath. He was fine. He was a Turk. It was cool. "I'll try not to, like, wake you up stupid-early or whatever, okay? Kinda settin' my own schedule for a bit, it looks like. Just, the sooner I get to it, the sooner I can get it done, you know?" Reno-codespeak for, 'the boss is M.I.A. So now I'm the boss. For a while. Gotta fix that. Sooner, the better.' Codespeak tended to make more sense with some sort of legend handy. Sadly, Reno never did leave behind the manual.
Rikku	Without a manual, Rikku didn't get the "boss is gone" bit of it. Just that things were kinda bad. And crazy hours meant stress and him worrying about waking her up meant he might grab the phone and then remember he was on crazy-person time, and not Fandom High EST. Therefore. "I just switched my phone to vibrate," she said. "It won't wake Ella up, if you call. And if it's stupid-early or stupid-late, that means I can snuggle the phone and you can wish me a good-night when you hang up again. Nice way to get back to sleep, yoto." Which was Rikku-codespeak for 'call whenever. If you're looking at the phone and you want to call? Call. Please?' Of course, she didn't have a translator up and running, either. She'd have to hope for the best.
Reno	Right. Right. Okay. Right. Good. He was good. That was his mental mantra. Clearly, he was fond of lying to himself. Awesome. "Sounds like a great way to get back to sleep," he agreed. "I'll call you again as soon as I can, alright?" And then a pause. "Take care of yourself, yo. It's almost the weekend. Weekends are weird. Don't turn into a penguin or anything when I wanna phone you, okay? The conversation would be kinda..." He didn't know where he was going with that. He suspected that he was just puking out words, stalling, not wanting to go. Going meant he was going to have to break the news to Rude and the president. Which he had to do. So. "I gotta go, zoto. Talk to you soon, okay?"
Rikku	"Okay," she said, trying not to worry. Failing, at that one. "If I turn into a penguin, I'll get someone to answer my phone." That wouldn't actually help matters, no. But it sure sounded like something to say. Something nice and reassuring. Maybe? "Be careful?" she added. "Please? For me."
Reno	"Remember what I told you that one time about fools dyin' for their jobs?" Reno took another breath, and then he forced a smile. Maybe she'd be able to hear it. Maybe not. "I'm no fool, okay? I'll be back soon." A beat. "Love you." And then Reno hung up before he could change his mind.
Rikku	Rikku clicked her phone shut and stared at it. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. She was going to be worrying until her phone rang again.

[NFI and NFB due to being on another planet and all! Preplayed with the winningest the_merriest, who also rocks the Rookie and half the Boss like a rocking thing. Dialog from the crater scene was yoinked from Advent Children, which makes no sense but is delicious like eyecandy. OOC comments are welcome and loooooooved!]