Work Day

AN: I own nothing in this story. This is for MysticSpiritus so enjoy. Please R&R.

Reno's hand gripped his daughter's fingers as they stood before the entrance to the multistory building. He looked down at his seven year old daughter and smiled.

"Remember Elly, be good and you stay with me, alright?" Reno said.

"Okay Daddy." Elly said, smiling back. Entering the building, Elly waved at the guard who let them through. They then entered an elevator and rode it up to a higher level. Exiting the elevator Reno led Elly into a large room filled with cubicles. Rude was sitting down in one of the cubicles and Elly ran up to him and wrapped her tiny arms around his leg.

"Uncle Rude!" Rude looked down at Elly and gave her a small smile. Elly looked at him with brown eyes gleaming with joy and held up her arms. Rude picked Elly up and set her on his shoulders, the child squealing with joy.

"Is that Elly I hear?" A feminine voice called out, one that Elly recognized immediately. Elena then walked into the room, well waddled would be a more apt term given her pregnancy.

"Aunt Elena…you're huge!" Elly said. Elena blushed and although she knew Elly didn't mean anything cruel with the comment, she still felt self conscious about her huge belly. Rude laid a hand on his wife's shoulders and smiled at her gently.

"When you due Laney?" Reno asked. He knew better than to crack jokes about a pregnant woman's weight. He had learned when his own wife was pregnant and still bore some wounds from unthinking wisecracks.

"In a month, Rude won't let me go on any missions and I'm bored to death." Elena muttered.

"I'm just worried about the baby, that's all." Rude said, letting Elly off his shoulders. Tseng then came into the room, eyes asking what the commotion was about. Then he saw Elly.

"Reno, is this your daughter?" Tseng asked. Elly looked up at Tseng and her head cocked to the side.

"I'm Elly Mr. Dot Head." Reno, Rude, and Elena tried very hard not to burst out laughing but a few small chuckles found their way out nonetheless.

"Well Elly my name is Tseng and I'm your daddy's boss." Tseng said. Here Elly looked at Reno with a confused expression.

"But daddy isn't Rufus your boss?" Elly asked.

"Yes he is but Tseng is my boss after him."

"Oh alright, anyway Mr. Tseng Dot Head do you like to color?"

"No Elly, I don't."

"That's sad Mr. Tseng Dot Head." Elly said. The child then walked back to her father and looked at his desk. She saw a picture of herself and her mommy along with one of her drawings.

"Why the President thought it was a good idea to start having a bring your daughter to work day, I'll never know." Tseng said to his subordinates.

"Oh lighten up Tseng; Elly's a great kid and totally adorable." Elena said.

"Well just keep her out of the way during our meeting, okay Reno?" Tseng said eyes boring into Reno's.

"I got it Tseng, don't worry." Tseng then motioned towards the meeting room. Rude and Elena went in along with Tseng. Reno approached Elly and picked her up. "Sorry princess but you can't stay here." Now where could Reno put her where she wouldn't get hurt or cause much trouble? Then the Turk saw Rufus's office and opened the door, setting her down in the chair. He removed a coloring book from his jacket pocket along with a set of crayons and set them on the desk. "Here you go Elly, I should be done in an hour and then we can go get some ice cream, alright?" Elly nodded her head and started coloring. Reno left and went to the meeting carefree.

After finishing her fifth picture Elly was starting to get bored. Opening a little compartment on the oak desk she saw a red button. Touching it, Elly watched with amazement as a section of the office wall slid away to reveal a tiny room, decked out with red carpet and a gilded scratching post. A loud purring sound was heard and Elly saw a black panther like creature sleeping on a bean bag chair.

"Kitty!" Elly said, walking up to the creature. Its eyes opened as it sensed the child approach. Roaring at Elly loudly, a paw raised to slash her but Elly grabbed its whiskers and gave it a firm tug. "No, bad kitty!" Elly scolded. The panther yowled in pain and tried to break itself free from her grasp but Elly had inherited her mother's strength so it was an exercise in futility. Letting the pet go, Elly then stroked its fur and it calmed down.

Rufus Shinra heaved a sigh of relief as he walked to his office. The day had been a long one filled with meetings and paperwork and he was glad he would get a chance to relax. Opening his office door, Rufus was met with a small girl sitting on the floor. She had fiery red hair that reminded the President of his cocky subordinate and she looked up at him with dark brown eyes, eerily like those of one bartending Avalanche member.

"What are you doing here?" Rufus asked.

"I'm waiting for my daddy. Who are you?"

"Rufus Shinra and you are Elhaym Van Lockhart, correct?"

"Yup but you can call me Elly. So you're the stupid head who makes Daddy work all the time." Elly remarked. Rufus's eyes went wide at the childish putdown. But then his eyes saw his beloved pet panther, its usual dark fur covered in a rainbow of colors.

"Dark Nation…did you do that Elly?"

"Yeah, you're kitty's fun to color on." Elly said. Rufus's good mood had evaporated.

"RENO!" Rufus yelled. A few minutes later Reno showed up and saw the mess his daughter had created.

"Sir I'm sorry…" But Rufus cut him off with a glare.

"Save your excuses. Your little spawn here has vandalized my property. I should fire you for that." Rufus said. "But I won't, instead I'm going to put you on leave- OW!" Before the president could continue telling Reno about his punishment he was suddenly punched hard in the leg. Looking down, he saw Elly in a near perfect martial arts stance.

"You leave my daddy alone you doo doo head!" Elly yelled, punching Rufus again. Rufus had been injured many times in his life but to be hurt by a seven year old was beyond the pale. Reno quickly picked his daughter up and took her out of the room.

"Sorry boss, I'll have to talk to you later, we're going to get ice cream, right Elly?" Reno asked his little girl.

"Yeah, I want rocky road!" Elly yelled. Turning around to glare at Rufus, she stuck her tongue out at him. Rufus, for the first time in his life, was speechless.

Later that afternoon Tifa opened the door to her home and saw her husband and daughter sitting at the dining room table and eating some ice cream.

"Mommy, daddy's work is a lot of fun!" Elly said.

"Really, I would have never guessed, so what did you do?" Tifa asked.

"I colored on a kitty, got a piggy back ride from Uncle Rude, and met a man with a dot on his head." Elly reported. Tifa laughed at her daughter's description of Tseng and sat down beside her. "I also punched the stupid head Rufus." Elly then punched out into the air, just like her mother had taught her.

"Nearly gave me a heart attack." Reno remarked. "Luckily I wasn't fired but I think I might have a few weeks off in the future."

"Then you can just train with me and Mommy!" Elly then got up from her chair and went to the living room, kicking and punching at invisible enemies.

"She's learning fast, isn't she?" Tifa nodded at her husband.

"She's a natural, but hopefully she'll never have to use martial arts at all." Tifa said.

"I sure hope not babe." Reno said, arms wrapping around Tifa's waist. He then kissed her on the lips.

"Eww, mommy you could get cooties!" Elly said, making a disgusted expression. Both parents chuckled as they broke apart and Elly shook her head sadly. Her parents needed to be more serious about cooties.