Author's Note: NEW STORY!!! Hurrah! I have a feeling this will be the best one yet! Sorry again with the boring title, but at least it's to the point! =P If anyone has brilliant ideas, feel free to share, my last oneshot had a lot of great title ideas from my devoted readers. I finally settled on "Just Add Salt" suggested by QueenAlla. So thanks. Also thanks to everyeone else who suggested ideas, they were all great but I can only pick one!!! =) Anyway, this is my new story, first chapter. I hope you guys enjoy. And please forgive me for the long break in updates. I was unable to write for several days due to a multitude of reasons. But I'm back now, writing regularly again! So read this chapter, let me know what you think! I realize a lot of people write stories about Elena's start as a Turk, but hey! It's a good idea. xD So read, review, repeat!!! Thank you guys!

Elena flicked the lights on in the living room of her cozy apartment, tossing her purse onto the table with a sigh. Falling onto the couch with a sigh, the blonde girl rested her eyes. It had been a long day of job hunting. She thought it would be easier to secure a job as a graduate of a Shinra military school.

"Seriously, why do they even have those things if they don't hire us," she grumbled in annoyance. She'd applied for every position imaginable at the Shinra headquarters. She'd even applied for the Turks, despite being assured by the secretary assisting her that no one would get a position there. Still, she had applied mainly for the sake of being able to say she had applied for every position.

Elena's chain of thought was broken abruptly by a deafening bang, followed by a rumble, which grew louder and louder until she was forced to cover her ears. Everything shook and the lights flickered. The disturbance lasted about thirty seconds before it began to settle down. The resulting silence was eerie, replaced shortly by a wailing of sirens in the distance.

Somewhat shaken and overbearingly curious, Elena sat still, wondering what the hell had just happened. Searching briefly for the TV remote, she turned it on, relieved to find that it was still working and the news station was working as well. Sifting through the confusing information all the news networks were spewing out, Elena eventually pieced together what had happened.

"Those assholes!" she tossed the remote aside with disgust, leaving the TV on however to continue monitoring the reports. Apparently AVALANCE, the Shinra-hating-planet-loving group had blown up the entire seventh sector for no apparent reason. "How could they? All those innocent people," the girl turned the volume on the TV down since nothing new was being reported. Her frustration with her fruitless job search had been replaced with sorrow for the people and anger against the cause. She stayed up long enough to determine that there was no more information to be had that night, and to hear the live newscast by the President of Shinra. He expressed his immense sorrow at this catastrophe and his just anger against the instigators. He assured the citizens of Midgar that already plans were in motion to stop AVALANCE from causing any more harm. He hoped to soon eradicate the group, permanently removing the danger.

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The explosion of the previous night did not stop Elena from continuing her job search the next day. She moved slower though, spending more time over the little things, sitting still to enjoy her cup of coffee instead of chugging it on the go. She broadened her search, willing to settle for almost anything at this point. The day passed much as normal throughout the city, overshadowed however by the disaster.

As she walked down the sidewalk, her cell phone began to ring. Elena curiously looked at the screen. She didn't recognize the number.

"Hello, may I ask who's calling?" she answered, trying to sound as professional as possible, hoping it was someone calling her for an interview or something at least.

"This is Tseng, head of the Turks. Elena, I presume?" a man's deep, smooth voice replied.

"Yes, this is Elena," she tried to refrain from squealing. Was she seriously going to get a job offer?

"I'm a very busy man, I'll make this quick. We have found ourselves suddenly in need of another Turk. You got lucky. Can you come to begin training right away? If not I have several other promising applicants…" Tseng left the sentence hanging, his calm voice seeming a drastic contrast to his words.

"Uh…yes, yes, of course," Elena instantly began walking faster, her mind struggling to keep up with the unexpected chain of events.

"Good. I'll leave instructions with the secretary at the front desk, be there within the hour," With this the man hung up, leaving Elena in a stunned silence.

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"Welcome to the Turks, Elena," Tseng's calm, smooth voice said after he has sat simple staring at her for about five nerve-wracking minutes. Elena has shown up at the building with ample time to spare, and had spent a harrowing hour being interviewed and filling out a bit of paperwork.

"Th-thank you, sir!" she shook his hand, still surprised that this was even happening.

"Hmm. You will start immediately, nothing complicated at first so don't worry," the man handed her a chunky file full of papers, "Go over these tonight. It's basically all the information you will need to know before you can be of any use to us. It also contains information such as salary and a more detailed job description." Here the dark haired man paused and watched her face for a moment. To the general public, the Turks were elite bodyguards, but it was rumored almost to the point of becoming fact that their job really involved much more. It was one of those things that everyone knew but no one could prove and no one would admit to. It can't be that bad. Elena assured herself. She was no softy, but she still had emotions.

"I'll read it over this evening," Elena promised.

"Good. You have three co-workers: Rude, Reno, and myself," Tseng dug around and produced a photo to go along with each name, excepting his own. Elena looked at these eagerly, very curious about her fellow Turks. Rude was intimidating, even in a picture, dressed in the neat Turk uniform and dark sunglasses. Reno, while not intimidating in the slightest, was definitely eye-catching. Long blood-red hair pulled back in a ponytail combined with pale skin and aquamarine eyes was intriguing enough, not to mention the matching red marks on his cheekbones. This one's got a personality. Elena immediately assessed, noting the messy uniform which lacked a tie, as well as the wink and grin.

"Where are they, sir, if you don't mind my asking?" she asked, looking up at her boss.

"Rude is working in his office. I'll show you your office and let you meet Rude shortly. Reno…well Reno recently encountered an unfortunate incident and is currently in the infirmary. I can take you to meet him as well though." The smile, almost a smirk, that twitched briefly across the man's face made Elena slightly nervous. Was she missing something?

"Great," she smiled, brushing the feeling away. It was a ridiculous suspicion, people, even people as serious as Tseng, could smile whenever they wanted to right?

Tseng took her a couple doors down the hallway and unlocked one to reveal a fully furnished office, complete with top-of-the-line computer. He handed her the key he had used.

"This office will be yours. Don't destroy it."

"Thank you, sir!" Elena looked around at the nice room, feeling extremely professional.

"Sir is nice, but you can call me Tseng if you'd like," the man said as they left, "And always lock your office when you leave it for the day or for any long period of time. You probably won't be going back in there today so go ahead and lock it." Elena did as she was told and the two continued down the hallway to the next door, which was open halfway.

"Rude, this is the new Turk," Tseng announced as they walked in, "Her name is Elena." The bald man looked up from his desk, where he sat with a pretty good sized stack of files next to him. He still wore sunglasses, even though he was inside.

"Hello," Rude said, his voice quiet but not timid, with a good deal of the same calmness that showed in Tseng's voice. Elena smiled and waved.

"We'll see how she does," Tseng said, "Hopefully she can handle it. I'm taking her to meet Reno now." The smile was back, stronger now, and more disturbing since Rude matched it, looking towards Elena.

"Good luck," he said, and turned back to his paperwork, still grinning.

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The infirmary was located a few floors down from the floor the Turks were on, which was pretty high up in the massive building. A nurse looked up from what seemed to be the 'front' desk when they stepped off the elevator. Seeing Tseng, she smiled politely and went back to her work. Walking down the hall as if he owned the place, the Turk leader led her silently through the maze of impeccably clean rooms, all pristine and white enough to make anyone go crazy. Finally arriving at their destination, Tseng laid his hand on the doorknob of the closed door and turned to smile at her one last time before opening it.

"How's he doing?" Tseng asked of the nurse that was in the room, who was checking the read-outs on the machines in the room. Elena's attention was drawn directly to the man laying asleep in the bed. He was definitely the same person from the picture but he looked so different. The pale skin was even paler, making the red marks along the sides of his face stand out so much more. The blood-red hair was pulled back as usual, messily covering the pillows his head rested on. The man looked tired even though he was sleeping, making pity well up in Elena's heart.

"He's stable now, sir," the nurse answered, steadily, though it was apparent she was a bit awkward in Tseng's presence, "The bleeding has mostly stopped and the doctor was able to set the bones successfully in his arm and knee. Although the knee was extremely tricky and we're not sure how well it will heal."

Tseng nodded, not seeming too disturbed by this report, "This is Reno, Elena. This is basically the reason you got your job. We've been shorthanded lately, but it wasn't unbearable until Reno encountered this….incident. It was the last straw you could say. Hopefully you will soon be able to fulfill the duties we are in need of."

"I hope I can help too," Elena didn't take her eyes off the man in the bed. He was tall, and very thin, she could tell even though he was laying down and mostly covered by crisp white sheets, "Is he ok?" she asked, almost in a whisper. He just looked so…hurt.

"Well he's got a rather large cut on his back," Tseng explained.

"From here to here," the nurse added, pointing to her shoulder and then her waist on the opposite side. Elena's eyes widened slightly. Damn, how do you get a cut that big? This was no kitchen accident, that much she could definitely figure out.

"Also he's fractured his arm and managed to practically shatter his knee," Tseng sounded almost annoyed, "Don't ever for a moment think this job doesn't have it's risks," the man said softly, but very seriously, "This," he waved a hand toward Reno, "Is practically normal, to be expected. The job is dangerous. You could very easily be in this same position, or dead. Are you sure?" Tseng turned to look at the girl who stood next to him, only coming up to about his shoulder.

Elena considered silently for a moment, watching Reno's chest rise and fall shallowly, gazing at the heavily bandaged arm laying limply across his stomach, "I'm sure." She had got this job, she wasn't going to back out of it now. She may be a bit small, but Elena had more than her fair share of courage.

"Good," Tseng paused, looking back to the red-haired man, "Well Rude and myself will show you the ropes until Reno gets back. Then he will be given the task of training you. The two of you will work as partners. We won't send you on any missions until he is well again, which shouldn't be too long, right Reno?" He ended his statement as a question, directed towards Reno who had begun stirring. The man groaned in reply, attempted to roll over but gave up instantly as it appeared to cause him pain. "Nice to see you awake," Tseng said, the mysterious smile back on his face.

"Fuck off," Reno said through clenched teeth, not even bothering to look at his boss. Elena blinked, taken completely off-guard. He'd looked so weak and helpless laying there, in fact he still looked weak. Clearly there was a hell of a lot more personality to this man than she had guessed.

"Why don't you say hello to our new Turk?" Tseng suggested merrily, actually seeming to enjoy this encounter.

"Hello to our new Turk," Reno said, his voice mocking as he turned his head to look at the two of them with shining aquamarine eyes. He looked more than a little surprised to see the petite blonde woman standing there, "She's a girl, Tseng." Reno made it sound like an insult, completely ignoring her presence.

"Yes, she is. She has excellent qualifications and is looking forward to working with you as her partner," Tseng smiled delightedly. Reno just stared back at him.

"No," the redhead turned away, crossing his arms over his chest awkwardly because of the bulky cast.

"That's a shame," the Turk leader didn't looked the slightest bit perturbed by the man's rudeness, "Because we were going to let you out of the hospital early to begin training our new recruit here." Reno's head snapped back towards them, interest gleaming in his eyes.

"Ok," he had deliberated for a moment before coming to his decision, "Deal." Turning to his new partner, Reno looked her up and down slowly making her extremely uncomfortable, "Gotta name?" he asked curtly.

"Uh, Elena," she answered, wondering if maybe she shouldn't take this job after all.

"I guess you'll do," he answered with a lopsided grin, "So 'Lena, you'd better be enjoying this break because as soon as I get out of this hell-hole things are gonna get hard. All the qualifications in the world don't make you a Turk. I'll do my best to train ya, but at the end of the day experience is what counts." With these surprisingly wise words, Reno settled down again, clearly done with this conversation. Tseng simply smiled, smugly triumphant that he had gotten his way. Motioning for Elena to follow, Tseng turned to walk out the door.

"Oh, nice ass by the way," Reno called blithely after her, with a devilish grin and sparkling eyes. Elena's mouth fell open, she didn't even know how to respond to that. Before she came up with anything, they were in the hall, door closed safely behind them.

"Reno's like that," Tseng said, in what was supposed to be a comforting tone. Elena just walked along awkwardly. Now she understood the smiles and the 'good luck' she'd received from Rude.

Author's Note: So what do ya think? Drop me a review and let me know!!!! Also, sorry for the swearing, but hey! Reno's like that. =) You'll get over it, I promise. Anywho, I'm gonna run now since I'm EXHAUSTED! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please leave a review and subscribe to story alert if you like it. =) THANK YOU AWESOME PEOPLE!!!