New Blood

As soon as Rude entered the sparring room, Elena excused herself. She caught up with Reno as he reached the elevator. “Hold on a minute,” she said. “I want to talk to you.”



“Talk away, then,” he replied absently.



“Have you thought about this, Reno?”



He raised an eyebrow. “Only every day since she got here.”



“No, dummy. I mean have you thought about what it might mean to sleep with her?” Elena said in exasperation.



“Yeah,” he said as if he thought she might be brain damaged. “It'll mean I won't have to jerk off as much. Ow, hey!” he exclaimed as Elena punched him in the chest.



“Don't be a smart ass for once. She's not a secretary or a receptionist. She's one of us, and what's going to happen if you fuck her and then get tired of her like you always do?” Elena looked downright pissed at him. “We have to trust each other, Reno. We have to know we can count on each other. What will happen if she feels that she can't count on you in an emergency?”



“Tell me you wouldn't drop your panties for Tseng in a heartbeat if he snapped his fingers, yo,” Reno countered. “And I know you'd still trust him in a tight spot if you fucked him, wouldn't you?” He jerked his thumb toward the ceiling. “Out there, she's the same as the rest of you, she's a Turk, and I wouldn't treat her any differently no matter what goes on in here. Pussy is pussy, Lei Lei.”



“You're deliberately misunderstanding me!” she accused. “If you break Kerri's heart, do you honestly think she'll trust you to cover her back?”



“I never make any...” he began.



“Oh, to hell with your I never make any promises shit!” she cut him off. “You don't have to make promises for women to fall for you, and you know it!”



“You never did,” he said with an overly innocent look. “Oh, wait, that's because you already wanted in Tseng's pants, and you still do. You're being a hypocrite, Elena. You're not her mother, so why the fuck are you so concerned?”



“Because she can be an asset to us and I don't want to lose her. She's good, Reno. You know that.”



“Tell you what. I'll let you know if she's good.” Reno turned and pushed the up button on the elevator. The doors opened immediately and he got on, smirking at her as the doors closed. Elena screamed through clenched teeth and kicked the elevator doors impotently. She should have known talking to him would only be a waste of breath.



She hadn't been able to tell him the main reason she didn't want Kerri to leave. It was so simple. She hadn't had a female friend since she left the Academy herself, and she liked Kerri very much. Elena loved her male comrades, but she had missed having a woman to talk to. Some things men just didn't understand. She hadn't even realized that she was a little lonely until Kerri arrived.



After composing herself a bit, she headed back to rejoin Rude and Kerri. She supposed another woman would now decide to play 'cock blocker', warning Kerri about Reno's reputation, telling her that sleeping with him was a bad idea. Part of her wanted to do just that. But, mad as she was at him, Reno had first claim on her loyalty. Unlikely as it seemed, Reno was the one who had comforted her the most after the Mako brothers had captured and tortured her and Tseng. He had came to her apartment one day not long after she and Tseng had returned, uncharacteristically grave. Sitting on her sofa, his hands clasped, and staring at the floor, he had said, "It's my fault. I failed you, Elena. I couldn't save you from them, and I couldn't kill them for what they did to you and Tseng." He finally met her eyes, and she was shocked to see he was holding back tears. "Can you forgive me?"



She'd tried to answer and had burst into tears herself instead. Before she knew it, she was in his arms, this time not as the result of one of his teasing attempts at playful lewdness, but as a loved friend. She had blurted out the entire story, every detail, as he stroked her hair and murmured soothing sounds. Since then, he'd gone back to his normal way of treating her, the good-humored flirtation, teasing her about Tseng, and generally annoying the hell out of her. But underneath it all there was a deeper bond of friendship than before. She just couldn't go behind his back, telling tales about him like a teenage girl. She could only hope that Kerri was strong enough to stand up to his charm. If not, well, the girl was a Turk now. She'd have to learn to handle heartbreak, just like the rest of them.



As Elena re-entered the room and saw Kerri sparring with Rude in that eerily silent fighting style of hers, she felt a little bit better. Anyone who could fight in silence had to have some deep steel in them. Reno might be in for a surprise if he expected Kerri to be an easy conquest. And after all, she'd resisted him this long, though the desire in her eyes when she looked at the redhead was plain to see. Most other women would have fallen into bed with him by now. At least Kerri showed some restraint.



*****



Reno was waiting when Kerri, Rude, and Elena got off the elevator on the apartment floor.  “Hey, partner,” he greeted Rude, made a face at Elena, and grabbed Kerri's hand as if afraid she would run from him.  In spite of herself, Elena had to smile at how much he looked like a kid whose birthday had come early.  Watching them walk down the hall ahead of herself and Rude, Reno bending slightly to whisper something to Kerri and her looking up and laughing, she had to admit they looked good together.  Please, let him fall for her.  If only so I can torment him the way he torments me about Tseng, she thought.



“I'm glad you're coming over,” Reno told Kerri.  “I even cleaned up the place for you.”



She looked up at him and laughed, the sound sending pleasant shivers down his spine.  “You don't have to go to any trouble for me, Reno.  I'm not the world's neatest person, either.”



“Well, like Rude said, I wouldn't want you to get lost,” he answered, causing her to laugh again.



“I want to take a shower and change first, and grab something to eat.  I'll be over afterwards, ok?”



“You're welcome to shower at my place, too,” he purred, making her blush.



“No, Reno,” she said reprovingly, and he grinned.



“Can't blame me for trying, yo.”  They had reached her apartment now, and he leaned down to kiss her on the temple.  Kerri somehow managed to hide the fact that the touch of his lips made her weak in the knees.  “I'll be waiting for you,” he murmured.



“I won't be long,” she said before entering her place.  As soon as the door closed behind her she leaned against it and slid to the floor.  What had she gotten herself into?  She'd already decided that sleeping with him would be a very bad idea, so why had she agreed to spend an entire evening alone with him?  Especially when his mere touch made her feel like she was on fire.  Even more damning, on top of being attracted to him, she actually liked him.  He was funny, self-confident, sweet...in his own unique way.  It would be far too easy to fall for him, and far too unlikely that he would return the feeling.  “I'm such an idiot,” she whispered to herself.



***



“Be right there,” Reno called as soon has he heard the knock.  He opened the door to see Kerri standing there wearing a pair of jeans and a simple white t-shirt.  Her hair, normally confined to a neat braid, was loose and flowing over her shoulders, reaching midway down her back.  “Wow,” he breathed.  “You look great, Kerri.  Come on in.”



She walked past him and started laughing at the sight of his living room, with comics and magazines strewn on the coffee table, his suit jacket tossed carelessly over a chair, movies spilling out of a shelf beside the T.V.  “So you cleaned up for me, huh?” she said, still giggling.



“Hey!  I'm offended.  You should have seen it before,” he answered, heading towards the kitchen.  “Have a seat, yo.  Want something to drink?  I got soda, beer, water...and that's about it.”



Yeah, like she needed anything alcoholic.  “Soda's fine,” she called, sitting on the end of his futon.  Leave it to Reno to want a couch that could easily convert to a bed.  



He came back with two cans of Amino-D and handed one to her.  He sat on the opposite end of the futon, resting sideways with his back against the arm and one leg cocked on the seat.  “Remote's over there on the end table,” he said.



“It's your place, Reno,” she protested.



He shrugged.  “I don't watch much television.  I'm just happy that you're here.”  He smiled when he saw her face color.  “Do you ever not blush?” he asked wickedly, which of course made it worse.  Trying to cover her embarrassment, she grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels, all too aware of his amused gaze.  Finding a sitcom that she liked, she put the remote back on the table and pretended to be able to concentrate on the program.



“You don't have to sit way over there,” Reno said.  “I promise I won't bite...unless you like that.”



“You promised you'd behave yourself,” Kerri reminded him.



“I should have known you'd remember that I said that.”  He looked so sad for a moment that she couldn't help but laugh at him, and he couldn't keep up the pretense.  “I'm kidding, yo.  I'll be good.  But I know you gotta be sore after sparring.  Let me massage your shoulders for you.”  She looked skeptically at him and he went on, “Come on, you let me do it down in the gym.  What's the difference?”



What's the difference?  she thought.  The difference was that they were on a very large, comfortable futon and were quite alone.  The difference was that Reno had taken off his jacket and had his white shirt mostly unbuttoned, and she could barely keep her eyes off his chest.  



He sighed.  “Of course, I understand if you're afraid of me.”



That did it.  She wasn't going to allow him to think she was afraid.  His ego was large enough already.  “I'm not afraid,” she said, and slid closer to him, turning sideways as well so he could reach her shoulders.  Kerri sighed in pleasure as his hands relieved the slight pain from the day's practice.  Luckily she couldn't see the smug little smile on his face