Ill Wind

Elena snapped her phone open before it had even finished the first ring. Kerri had finally fallen asleep, and Elena didn't want anything to awaken her. “This is--” she began.

“Outside. Now,” Tseng cut her off.

“What?” she asked in confusion.

Her boss sighed. “I'm in the hallway outside Kerri's door. Get out here, Elena.” He hung up with no further conversation.

Elena felt her apprehension mount as soon she opened the door to find Tseng standing there. His posture alone was enough to tell her he was pissed; he was standing very straight, arms held stiffly at his sides and his hands clenched into fists. Then when he spoke and she heard how pronounced his normally light Wutain accent was, she realized he wasn't just pissed, he was furious.

“I called Headquarters to speak with you, to see how things were going there. Imagine my surprise when a secretary told me that you were here. That you had left this morning in a hurry. When I asked Rude if he knew anything about it, he told me that Reno had left and he had asked you to come and be with Kerri. He seemed to feel that she shouldn't be left alone. What's the story, Elena?” he asked her.

Elena had worked very hard to control her habit of giving away information. In the beginning, that tendency had irritated her colleagues to no end. Reno especially had been merciless to her because of it. She thought she'd done very well in overcoming it...except for times like these, when Tseng questioned her about anything, his penetrating gaze fixed on her. “Rude called and told me what happened yesterday. Since it's the weekend, I thought I'd come down here to see if she needed to talk.” It wasn't exactly a lie, and anyone else would have accepted her answer at face value. But not Tseng. He knew her too well.

“Then perhaps you can explain why you are here instead of Reno?”

“He was here...he went home,” she began, but trailed off at the look on Tseng's face.

“I know that. Don't try to cover for him,” he snapped, “or for Kerri. I want to know why Reno stayed only one night with her, why he is missing, and why you felt you needed to come here to be with her. Rude isn't talking, so you had better.”

Feeling helpless, Elena said, “Please, Tseng, I can't.”

“You'll tell me,” he said in a deceptively soft voice, “or you'll tell President Rufus. Who is it going to be?”

Elena gave up. After all, there was no way that the rookie's condition could be hidden for long. “Kerri's pregnant.”

The surprise on Tseng's face would have been comical under other circumstances. As it was, Elena was in no mood to find humor in anything. “The idiots!” he nearly yelled, and Elena winced. “I want the whole story, Elena, and I want it now.” He leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms, and waited for her to begin.




By the time Elena had finished talking, Tseng looked even angrier. “It seems that Rufus was right in wanting to put some distance between them. He just waited too long.”

“What do you mean, Rufus wanted--” Elena began, but stopped when Tseng raised his hand in a curt gesture. He brushed past her and entered Kerri's hotel room before she could think of protesting. She followed him inside, waiting for the explosion. Instead he stood looking down at the sleeping woman, an expression of unwilling sympathy on his face. After a moment he reached down and shook her shoulder. “Kerri. Wake up,” he said gently.

Kerri opened her eyes, utterly surprised to find Tseng standing over her. She sat up, clutching the covers to her chest before she remembered that Reno wasn't there, so there had been no reason to sleep naked. Catching sight of Elena, she shot her a curious glance. Elena shook her head and mouthed, “I'm sorry.”

Tseng felt pity at the sight of Kerri's swollen eyes and woebegone expression. There was little point in tearing into her verbally. What's done was done. “Why didn't you come to me this morning, Kerri?” Tseng asked. “After Reno left. Someone should have come to me.”

“What good would it have done, Tseng?” Kerri asked.

“He wouldn't have gotten as much of a head start, for one thing. It would have been easier to find him.”

Kerri snorted. “There's no need to look for him. He can take care of himself. Besides, he's a Turk, he has to come back to Headquarters. It's me he wanted to leave, not his job.”

“It is true that you're pregnant, then?” Tseng asked, wanting to hear it from her.

Kerri closed her eyes. “It's true, Tseng.”

“All the more reason to find him, then,” her superior said, looking grim. “He has a responsibility to the child.”

Kerri opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Not if he doesn't want it. I can take care of both of us. Even if the boss fires me, I'll find a way. I'm not helpless.”

“You aren't going to be fired,” Tseng said absently.

“Turks don't get fired.,” Elena said “Shot, maybe, but not fired.”earning a glare from Tseng and a frightened look from Kerri. Elena's lips turned up in a smile, and Kerri started giggling, unable to help herself.

“Elena,” Tseng said in reproof, and she merely shrugged.

“She needed to laugh,” the blond answered. “You should develop a sense of humor, Tseng.”

“I don't see anything funny about jokes concerning the well being of my teammates,” Tseng answered, and Elena rolled her eyes at him.

"This from the man who threatens to shoot Reno on a regular basis?" she remarked.

Tseng pretended to ignore this and turned back to Kerri. “The plan was for you to stay here in Kalm for a while until the reactor is running smoothly. Now, I believe you and Elena should escort the president back to Edge tomorrow in place of Rude and I.”

“Does Rufus know?” Kerri asked, worried. She dreaded the moment that the boss found out about her condition. There was no way to guess what his reaction would be, despite Tseng's assurance that she wouldn't be kicked out of their ranks.

Tseng's answer set her at ease, for the time being. “No, not yet, and I see no reason to tell him until Reno makes his way back home.”

“How will you explain why I won't be staying? And that Elena is here?” Kerri wanted to know.

“It's quite simple. I'm not going to explain. Rufus will accept that from me, for a time; he trusts my judgment when it comes to my team. If you want to tell him, Kerri, that will be your decision. Personally, I advise you to wait until Reno comes to his senses.”

Behind him, Elena snorted. “So you mean that the boss will find out when he's invited to the kid's wedding?"