A/N: Just a quick beginning note that will never appear again. This is a challenge/gift fic for goodwitch08. It's Rufus/Elena. Now, romance isn't my thing. I suck at it hardcore. So a warning now, this won't be cute or sappy or fluffy. I don't know if it will have a typical ending. Who knows, I don't plan that far in advance. Either way, it's got plenty of humor and probably some action because Rufus shooting things is sexy. Now that everything's settled, on with the show!

I don't own FFVII

"And that's all I have to report, sir."

A young woman stood stiff at attention. She was not intimidated by the large wood desk or the austere nature of the room. Everything was clean and immaculate, not an object was out of place. The only thing that had the potential to faze her was currently the man sitting at the desk. His clothes were like the room, orderly and sterile, the only contrast being the black vest he wore over his white shirt and under his white coat. Currently, he had his sharp blue eyes trained on the woman obediently awaiting her next orders.

"I see. Thank you Elena."

"Sir."

Though the man before her had the potential to be daunting, Elena refused to be intimidated by him. It had been three years since she first met him and she was not the same rookie she was those few years back, despite what a certain colleague of hers kept telling her. She was about to leave the room successful, but, as if he could read her mind, the man smirked ever so slightly.

"You know, I'm quite proud of you, Elena."

Elena stiffened, painfully so, as she fought her muscle reflex to bite her lower lip. Everybody told her to get rid of that nervous habit, but it was called a nervous habit for a reason. She steeled her nerves and tried to put on a game face that would have made her other colleagues proud.

"Sir?"

It was not that she did not understand what was being said. On the contrary, she loved nothing more than when her superiors, especially the top of the top, paid her a compliment. She wanted nothing more than to make those she respected and admired proud. However, the fact that it was coming from the man before threw her off guard and set off a plethora of mental alarms. He was not one to pass out compliments in any way or form and if he did, it was never obvious and left a person wondering if it really was a compliment. But, for him to pay a compliment in such a straight forward manner, something was not quite right.

The first thought to flutter across Elena's mind was that she was going to die. She had done something to anger the white clad man and he was going to kill her. For most, that would have seemed a ridiculous thought, but for those who worked for this particular man, it was the most logical and normal thing to think. It was not like it had not happened before. Anybody who had a single active brain cell knew who Rufus Shinra was and what he could do.

Rufus watched her with a steady gaze, his small, self-satisfied smirk still in place. He was not blind. He could easily see the agitation growing in his subordinate's demeanor. He felt that the ability to make those around him squirm was a sublime feeling, but with Elena, he found it more amusing than anything else. He had to agree with another one of his subordinates, she was absolutely fun to tease.

"I said I am proud of you, Elena. You do such a fine work."

He watched her begin to fidget uncomfortably. She was becoming increasingly more nervous and for whatever reason, it felt like the room was getting warmer by the second. Never had she heard him continue to use her name. The way it rolled off his tongue made her feel like she could have a fever. She really hoped it was all in her imagination. Her skin was pale, she knew that, so if the heat she felt was real, it had to be translating into the mother of all blushes. However, she had no way of telling because Rufus Shinra kept the same expression in place and was completely unreadable to her. Swallowing some air, Elena recalled all the strength she had in reserve just to be able to speak properly.

"T-thank you, sir!"

Of all the times for her to speak appropriately, Elena knew she had failed. Rufus had twitched ever so slightly at the volume of her voice. While he knew she would probably not speak with her usual eloquence, he had not been anticipating the immense volume with which she used to thank him. Nevertheless, Rufus found he was adding it to the growing list of things Elena did to amuse him.

A bright pink flush painted her cheeks in embarrassment. The minute she finished speaking her eyes clenched shut as she silently berated herself for showing weakness in front of her superior. Currently, she had her eyes open, but she was staring at the floor, hoping a hole would pop up and suck her into the ground. Elena dared not look up at Rufus. Even though she refused to make eye contact, she could already feel his gaze sizing her up. She could only imagine what kind of disgusted look he had for her, or even worse, what kind of amusement he was getting out of it. Though she did not want to know, that sick, little, and twisted part of her mind needed to know. Giving herself a quick pep talk, Elena counted to three and snapped her head up at attention. Immediately, she was drawn to his blue eyes and was stuck.

Rufus was a hard man to read. Even those who have known him since birth had difficulty telling what he was thinking most of the time. Rufus liked it this way. He liked it that nobody could read him. That was what kept him at the top of the food chain. Keep everybody guessing and they will never reach him. That did not mean, however, he was expressionless. On the contrary, he had his fair share of set emotions he could convey without revealing too much. Of course, majority of them fell into his "smug bastard" category, or so he was told by a certain subordinate of his. That was fine with him. Besides, it drew out the most wonderful reactions from his only female subordinate. And, it was not like he was busy at the moment, so he saw no reason why he could not prolong his little hobby.

"Of course. I always appreciate hard work, Elena."

He purred her name out and just as he anticipated, she began to grow a darker shade of pink. How could she not? The way he was saying her name was causing her to lose all the strength in her legs. It was wrong, it was so very wrong. Rufus should not have this much control over her physiology. Elena felt like she was committing a grave sin by admitting she liked it. But that could not be right in any sense of the word because Rufus Shinra did not care about real things like relationships, how could he, a man who never cried or bled feel? Besides, she had affections directed more towards her other superior. He was a man she could see in a respectable relationship, not one whose his sole goal was to torture her by teasing her with compliments and saying her name with such a seductive undertone.

Before she could find words to say, let alone the nerve to say anything, the door burst open, breaking the tension like a hammer to glass. Never had Elena felt so happy to have her noisy colleague pop up. She quickly turned to face Reno, in order to take her mind off of her superior. Rufus on the other hand just gave the intruder a bored glance. It seemed his fun was over.

"Yo, Rufus!...Sir."

The "sir" was tagged on more as a fleeting afterthought than an actual term of respect. Then again, that was to be expected out of this one. Rufus reclined in his chair and rested his elbows against the arm rests.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking, Reno?"

"It's overrated."

Reno barely gave Elena a sideways look before tossing a stack of papers unceremoniously on top of Rufus desk. The force of the less than gentle placement of papers caused a few small items on the desk to stray away. While Rufus hated when things he placed in a certain way were disrupted, he tended to let it slide with Reno. There was no stopping him no matter what he did. On top of that, he was feeling fairly unproductive today, so his more neurotic tendencies were taking a back seat. He idly fingered the corners of some of the pages before nodding his head once and swiveling in his chair.

"I'm surprised you finished this early. Only three weeks behind."

This elicited a snort from Reno who crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, just be glad I finished. What was all that bullshit anyways?...And why does Elena look like her head's gonna blow up?"

It was not worth fighting the reaction. Elena slapped a hand to forehead and slid it down to pinch at the bridge of her nose. Reno jerked his thumb in her direction and looked curiously at Rufus. Rufus shook his head but smirked.

"I merely complimented her on the hard work she does."

There was a brief moment of silence before Reno leaned forward slightly and then pointed at her.

"Ya ain't gonna kill her, are ya?"

Elena was not sure whether or not she should take offense at that. But then, she was happy that somebody else shared her sentiment about Rufus and compliments. However, unlike her, Reno was more at ease with their superior than she was. It baffled Elena how Reno could show such apparent disrespect and still keep his head intact. Then again, from what she heard from Reno's partner, those two had always been like that with each other. He called it a "dysfunctional relationship that every psychiatrist would have a field day with." That was one of the few times where she heard him speak more than a few words. To say the least, she was envious of that easiness and she was not sure why she felt that way. Rufus Shinra was her commanding officer and as such, he should be talked to in an appropriate way.

"Or is it somethin' else? Hey, he sexually harrassin' you or somethin' Lena?"

"Aargh!"

She dug her nails into her face in the hopeless dream that Reno would shut his mouth. However, if she was not so busy trying to tear her face off, she would have seen the slight, but playful smirk on Reno's face. As annoying as he could be, Rufus was always glad to have Reno around on a slow day. He knew how to liven things up and Rufus guessed he enjoyed getting reactions out of people as much as he himself did. Besides, when Reno was in the room, Rufus did not have to do anything to be able to enjoy different reactions.

"What's going on?"

Elena looked up and immediately felt relief. If there was a person to bring sanity back into a room, it was him. Reno glanced over his shoulder and gave a lop-sided grin to the newcomer.

"Hey partner, guess what? Lena's all flustered 'cause Rufus gave her a compliment. Ain't she cute?"

There was a small twitch in her right hand. It was the same twitch she felt when it was time to fight and place a bullet between somebody's eyes. Before she could do anything drastic though, Reno's partner looked silently at Elena, and then silently at Rufus, before giving his attention back to Reno.

"Is he going to kill her?"

If he were not a master of control, Rufus would have broken out in a grin. He was not sure when this whole idea of him killing people came up, but he was enjoying every minute of it. Of course, it was even better that Elena continued to grow more agitated as time progressed. Watching her embarrassed reactions were infinitely amusing and fascinating for Rufus.

"Nah, but I think it might be sexual harassment. What d'ya think Rude?"

Once again Rude looked over blankly at Elena, then at Rufus before adjusting his sunglasses. Elena really hated how he always wore them. The man was hard enough to read as is, but with those sunglasses, it was next to impossible. Rude was happy with that. He was like Rufus, in that, he appreciated the benefits of people not knowing what he was thinking. Of course, that never stopped Reno. Most of the time, Reno just put words into his mouth. He gave up trying to say otherwise. He was a man of few words and his partner made up for it enough. For all he knew, Reno pulled his ideas out from out of nowhere but his mind, which had to be a fourth dimension or something. Like now, he had no way of knowing for sure if sexual harassment was the case, but from what he knew about his partner, chances were, he was being his usual, teasing, idiotic self.

"I don't know. Is he?"

He slid his sunglasses a little bit down his nose so he could make eye contact with Elena. Just the fact that he bothered to actually look at her caused Elena to swear under her breath. Now Rude was being just as bad as Reno. At least, that was what she thought. She could never tell if he was joking or not. Whatever the case, it did not matter. The point was, her face was going to melt off with the amount of heat she was generating. Swallowing the stream of curses that were ready to flow from her mouth, Elena indignantly looked each male in the eye.

Rude had his glasses back in place so she had no idea if she made eye contact with him. Reno had his usual smirk in place, aqua eyes watching her in amusement while Rufus had a similar expression. Elena was flabbergasted. She had no inkling of why Rufus was not upset or annoyed with the current conversation. Should not he be distraught over sexual harassment charges? If anything, he appeared smug and pleased with himself. That was what finally snapped her minute amount of control. She could no longer hold it in. Elena declared, or yelled in some people's opinion, the real situation.

"HE'S NOT SEXUALLY HARASSING ME!!'

"Who isn't sexually harassing you?"

If it was bad enough having Reno and Rude joining the conversation, it just became far worse. Elena slowly twisted her head to face the newcomer. The man she admired the most was standing barely three feet from her staring at her with a mildly interested expression. It was too much. She felt her mind collapse in on itself. A fine set of tremors coursed through her body as she clenched her teeth together in an attempt to keep from screaming.

"It's nothing Tseng, sir."

Tseng tilted his head to the side curiously as he studied Elena's reaction. He could easily tell she was embarrassed. Who would not be with those three together in the same room? He had been around Rufus, Reno, and Rude for a long time and he was quite used to their antics. However, it seemed Elena had yet to catch on and be more at ease. In all honesty, Tseng found that admirable about her. Despite their close connection with each other, she still kept a level of polite decency. Well, Tseng had to admit that Rude was also fairly proper with decorum, but unlike Elena, he was at perfect ease when Reno and Rufus started something up. Now for Reno, Tseng did not even bother thinking all that much about. If there was ever a rebel without a cause, it would be Reno. As far as Tseng was concerned, Reno seemed to only have a vague idea of authority and not much else. Rufus fell into the same category as Reno only his was because he was the final authority. Tseng knew that he himself always kept his propriety, but his colleagues' actions no longer did much to irk him. That only left poor Elena to deal with their insanity and inanity.

"If you don't mind, sirs, but I have things I need to get done."

Elena shoulders were hunched and her hands were in tightly balled fists at her side. Rufus decided that it was enough fun for one day and knew what little work that needed his attention had to be completed sometime today. He nodded his head once though never once did his tiny smirk falter.

"Thank you Elena. You're dismissed."

She had not the vaguest idea of what she felt at that moment. Finally, Rufus was saying her name in his usual smooth, no nonsense manner. She smartly saluted even though she never made eye contact and more or less stomped out of the office. When she exited the room, Elena immediately walked to the restroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Making sure it was locked, she stormed to the sink and looked into the mirror hanging above.

Dark hues of pink still lingered around her cheeks and nose and her usually tidy suit was slightly ruffled. She growled as she straightened her jacket with a little more force than was necessary and turned on the cold water with a huff. She cupped her hands under the water and when a sufficient amount of water collected in her palms, she splashed the contents onto her face. After repeating this process a few times, Elena grabbed the nearby towel and patted her face dry. Glancing up in the mirror again, she was proud to see most of the pink gone and her face was back to its normal pale color. Satisfied with her cleaned up appearance, Elena reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a small black comb. She ran the comb through her blond hair while being grateful for having this color of hair. With her hair color, it would be impossible to see all the white hairs she must get from dealing with Reno, Rude and Rufus.

When she ran into a tangle, Elena had to grab the snarled chunk of hair and carefully work the comb through it. As she did, she grew envious of Rude who never had to deal with a tangle, what with being bald and all. She was even envious of Reno because when she thought of it, the few times he had ever run a comb through his mess of long red hair, he never seemed to ran into a snarl. Perhaps she should ask Tseng about what he does since his hair was never unkempt as well. As she thought about it, she let out an irritated growl and jerked the comb through the knot. The brief pain shooting across her scalp finally gave way so she could finish combing her hair. Now, it was silky smooth. Well, as silky smooth as her hair got anyways. As she idly played with it, Elena wondered how Rufus dealt with his hair. It was always so perfect and smooth. There was never a time when a single strand was out of place. The comb in her hands was thoughtfully turned over as she imagined combing through his hair.

"Gah!"

She caught herself just beginning to daydream and immediately slapped herself, literally. Surprised at her own force, Elena ruefully rubbed her cheek. It was a stupid and dangerous place to start daydreaming. Sure, she allowed herself a dream or two when she was in military school, but there was not a girl who did not daydream about Rufus Shinra. However, she was grown up now and beyond childish fantasies. Who cared that he should up at her school one time and she embarrassed herself in front him? It was not like she wanted to see him at school again. That would have just been ridiculous.

"Yo, you okay in there? Ya sound like yer havin' some problems."

Elena about rammed her fist into the mirror when she heard Reno's voice call from the other side of the door. She did not know whether she was more irritated by Reno's comment or her ability to be so loud. With much indignation, she whipped the door open and glared as menacingly as she could at him. At first, she thought she might have put him in his place, but lo and behold, she was quick to judgment. Reno smirked and patted her on the head patronizingly.

"Aw, no need to be embarrassed. I'm pretty sure Tseng has some prunes in the fridge. Ya know how constipated he always looks."

For the second time that day, Elena slapped her hand against her face as a horrible mental image that did not belong popped into her head. As Reno was laughing, a third person appeared behind Reno and cleared his throat.

"So, I look constipated?"

A glaring Tseng stood right behind Reno with his arms crossed. He just happened to be walking by when he caught what Reno said. Any lesser man would have given into embarrassment, but not him. Tseng was above that. That did not mean he was above a little revenge.

"Well, you'll look constipated too, once you finish this paperwork."

With an overly smug smile, Tseng handed Reno a large stack of papers causing him to sigh dramatically and droop his shoulders. Elena felt a small fraction of satisfaction from that.

"Sheesh, yer no fun, ya know that?"

"So I've been told."

Tseng pointed towards the main living room of Healin Lodge and Reno, like a recently punished child, dragged his feet towards the indicated direction. Satisfied with his subordinate's response, Tseng followed behind to make sure Reno at least did some of the work. He knew it would not last too long. However, the few minutes he could get out of his revenge, he would enjoy. Thinking Elena needed some time away from them, he politely bowed his head and trailed after Reno.

Elena sighed. That was the kind of man she could go for. He took nothing from nobody and managed to be all suave in the process. It was the kind of skill she truly admired. Feeling much better with the current situation and much more calm from recent events, Elena strolled to her room to maybe get in a small nap or read her new book. On her way, she passed by Rufus. The little angry butterflies in her stomach worked up into a flurry all over again, but without anybody else around to make the situation worse, Elena felt she was in control.

"Sir."

It came out simple, straight forward, and polite; exactly how she intended it to be. She was quite proud of herself and celebrating her victory to herself when Rufus acknowledged her greeting.

"Elena."

He kept walking but from the lack of the sound of a second pair of footsteps, he knew he got Elena to freeze in place. It was sometimes too easy. Then again, that was what he loved about her. All he had to do was drop his voice a pitch or two and say her name in a drawl. There was no denying it, Rufus Shinra knew the effect he had on women. It did not matter who they were or who they liked, he could always get his reaction.

And a reaction he got. Elena remained rooted to her spot as she listened to his footsteps fade away. She was over it, at least she thought she was. But once again, Rufus proved to be better at it than she was. It was a mean game to play in her mind, but no matter how she kept telling herself it was just a silly game he was playing at to get a reaction, Elena could not help but always be flustered by it. It did not help that she got the same way with Reno. The only difference was, it was Reno, not Rufus. Reno was her colleague and her occasional senior, not her employer and megalomaniac of Gaia. Not wanting to think any more on it, Elena growled in frustration and stomped towards her room and slammed her door shut.

Those in the other side of the house paused what they were doing when they heard the racket. Rufus walked into the room and all the Turks gave him questioning looks. He just shrugged. Honestly, he could not say why Elena felt the need to storm into her room. It was just amusing as hell. Reno leaned back in his chair and stared expectantly down the hallway. There were a few seconds of silence before all of them stared down the hallway when a very loud, muffled scream echoed down the hallway.

A/N: Alright, it's written in a slightly different style than Stability. This is one of those omniscient third person thingy's. Anyways, what did you think? This takes place let's say a little bit after Dirge of Cerberus. The timeline will be a bit clearer in upcoming chapters. I doubt it will be that long. Six chapters at most, probably not even that. Well, I hope you enjoyed this opening little chapter and et me know what you think. Thanks for reading!!