Chapter One: The First Cut

((Author's Notes: This story takes place within my AU (which is based on the original game only). The events that follow happen in the past, between Irony of Fate Chapter 17, when Avalanche finds Tseng wounded in the Temple of the Ancients, and Chapter 47 when he frees them from the brig in Junon Harbor. Tseng is next seen on assignment with Elena in Battlegrounds Phase 4. This is what happened "behind the scenes" to lead up to that and my later fic On My Honor. However, you DO NOT need to have read all of that to follow this story. There's mention of some of my AU continuity (like the fact that Sephiroth has joined Avalanche), but otherwise this follows canon events to a degree and isn't all that complicated. I'm always available by PM to answer any questions as well. Thanks for checking this out! ~ JenesisX ))

Three black chocobos skid to a stop outside the ancient temple, a shower of dust camouflaging their riders. The lands surrounding the enormous building appeared tranquil and abandoned, but they dismounted with haste and readied their weapons. The afternoon may have seemed peaceful, but the emergency request for assistance they'd received a short time before had already informed them it was anything but.

"Come on, guys," Elena urged her companions, taking the lead even though she was the least senior member by far. "Hurry up!"

"Cool it, rookie," Reno snapped, checking his gun yet again. His usual playful demeanor had vanished the moment they'd received the worrisome message, and for the first time in Elena's experience he'd transformed into a serious leader. The effect was rather disconcerting, and she was already as ill at ease as she'd ever been in her life.

Rude barely looked up as he finished organizing his equipment, which included a small first aid kit. "We have to be prepared, Elena. If we rush in there and get ambushed, we're no good to him."

Elena forced herself to slow down and wait for them, biting her lower lip. Her stomach was alive with butterflies, and her mind raced with one horrible scenario after another. When a Turk sent that particular encoded message, it was serious. The fact that Tseng had sent it made it even more so. Their leader was extremely competent and independent, and he never would have requested aid in such a way unless he was in immediate danger. The fact that no one could raise him by PHS since made the situation far more dire.

Elena stared ahead at the winding stone path that led to a steep flight of stairs, nearly trembling with nervous energy. Dammit, she never should have let him go on ahead without her. They were partners, and she should have been there to watch his back. Well… they weren't really partners. She was still being supervised in the field because she'd been a Turk for less than a year, and he was the head of the department who had done much of her training. And she hadn't exactly had a choice about being left behind, either, lacking the position and the nerve to voice her protests. But the reality of the situation did little to ease her guilt as she studied the forbidding structure. If something bad had happened to him, she'd never be able to forgive herself.

"All right, let's go," Reno said after a minute that seemed to stretch on forever, leading the way forward with his gun firmly in hand. Rude gestured for Elena to follow before falling in behind. As tall as he was, he could easily shoot over his shorter companions, and he'd become accustomed to bringing up the rear.

Elena swallowed nervously as the three of them advanced along the narrow stone pathway, moving quickly yet with caution. They still didn't know what had gone wrong, a sense of impending danger heavy in the air. Whether it was a band of local monsters, an unknown force, or the rebel group Avalanche themselves that had caused Tseng to call for help, they could only guess.

Avalanche. Of all the possibilities, it was the one she dreaded most… Because if it had been the rebel group who put Tseng in danger, it was entirely her fault.

Her main weakness as an up and coming Turk had always been her nervous excitability, the result of innate personality mixed with age and inexperience. The moment she felt unsettled, she had a near uncontrollable urge to speak, to say something… anything… to diffuse the tension. She'd been scolded for it repeatedly, and while she'd begun to improve as of late, she'd done it yet again when faced with the entire rebel group back in Wutai. While Reno and Rude seemed entirely nonplussed and returned to their drinks in the tavern, she'd stood there like a fool and blurted out Tseng's current location, and the fact that he was alone. She felt a bit better once she'd stepped away from her teammates to contact her boss and let him know Avalanche was on to their plans, but hadn't found the courage to admit that she was part of the cause. She was certain Reno would inform him of all her recent mistakes as soon as he had the opportunity. The chain-smoking redhead had hated her on first sight, and seemed hell-bent on embarrassing her as much as possible… especially in front of Tseng.

"It's too quiet," Reno said, continually scanning their surroundings as they made their way along the path. "And the fact that he ain't out here waiting for us…"

He didn't need to complete the sentence. Tseng would definitely have been there awaiting their arrival… if he was able. Elena frowned, a sudden wave of nausea bringing on the strong urge to vomit. She swallowed hard and summoned all of her will power, unwilling to give Reno one more reason to make fun of her and tell anyone who would listen that she was not cut out to be a Turk. She still had so much to prove.

They were all desperate to reach their boss, but Elena admitted that a large part of her concern for him went far past loyalty and duty. Her face grew hot as the thought passed through her mind, and for a moment she feared the others knew exactly what she was thinking. From the first time she'd arrived in his office to report for duty, there had just been something about Tseng. It was a feeling she'd never experienced before, an immediate rush of feeling and gripping fascination that went far beyond the usual admiration she had for a handsome man. While he was indeed extremely attractive, there was much more to it. She felt almost drawn to him by an unseen force, and everything he said and did held her attention. At first, she'd told herself it was simply because he was her boss, a powerful man within the company who had long since grown comfortable with his position. But before long, she had to admit that her feelings for him came from the side of her that was a woman and not a Turk.

Elena knew it was dangerous, and she'd tried desperately to curb her interest before anyone caught on. Tseng seemed oblivious, even when she repeatedly embarrassed herself in his presence. She tried so hard to stop thinking about him that way, but the more time she spent with him, the worse it became. She noticed more and more things that she found irresistible, and sometimes when their eyes met, she wondered… Was there a hint of feeling hidden beneath his professional exterior, a part of him that felt the same way? Her heart would race before she quickly looked away, scolding herself for believing someone so serious and focused on his work would have any interest in a much younger underling. But even if he never returned her feelings, he'd become so important to her that the thought of losing him was unbearable. Though she hadn't prayed in many years, she found herself leaning on the gods for strength as she stuck close to Reno.

Once they'd made their way to the top of the crumbling stairway, Elena immediately spotted something lying on the ground just outside the elaborate temple door. She aimed her weapon at a motionless heap of black, quickly realizing that it was a human body. The figure was dressed in a long cloak, lying completely motionless in a congealing pool of blood. Elena held back a gasp of alarm as Reno quickly moved forward, squatting down beside the body and quickly shaking his head after checking for signs of life.

"Dead… Sword wound," he said flatly, removing the hood of the cloak to check the figure's identity. It was a young man, his brown Mako eyes wide and unseeing, his mouth frozen open in a silent scream.

"What's he doing here…" Rude asked, mostly to himself. "He's no one we know, and he hasn't been dead very long. Dressed oddly to be way out here in the middle of nowhere, and this temple isn't exactly known to the public."

"Shit," Reno concluded, standing up and eyeing the thick golden door just ahead. "Tseng doesn't carry anything that could make a wound like that, so someone else is definitely in there. Could be Avalanche, but… I dunno, they don't tend to randomly kill people."

"Sephiroth's with them now, though," Elena finally spoke up, remembering the chill his presence in Wutai had caused to race down her spine. Gods, she hoped she was wrong. Tseng was a damn good shot and extremely skilled in close combat as well, but even if the unnatural former general had come alone he would not have stood a chance.

"Good point," Reno said to her surprise, nodding thoughtfully. "He always was a fucking lunatic, and we don't really know what his agenda is now. Let's assume their whole damn team is in there, and that we may be dealing with a hostage situation."

"Think we should call for backup?" Rude asked as Reno placed his free hand on the door, quickly locating the heavy latch that would open it and admit them.

"No time," Reno said as he braced himself. "Look alive, kids, 'cause we may not get to do that for a hell of a lot longer…"

"Always think positive," Rude mumbled from behind Elena, as Reno pulled hard on the latch. The golden door groaned in protest, forcing him to use nearly all his weight to yank it open far enough for them to enter the building.

It was dark inside, the only light provided by a few torches spread throughout the entrance hall. Rude pulled the door shut behind them, and the group paused for a moment to give their eyes time to adjust after being out in the sunlight. An ancient, musty smell hung heavy in the air, and Elena saw Reno muffle a sneeze into the sleeve of his jacket. The room was silent, amplifying the sound of her breathing and the nervous pounding of her heart. She concentrated on holding her weapon steady and scanning the room as her vision slowly improved, trying not to think about what might be lurking in the shadows.

Reno finally took a few steps forward, and when Elena followed she was immediately hit by a powerful odor that halted her in mid step. Rude almost bumped into her as she raised her free hand to her mouth, bile rising in her throat. She had always been sensitive to the scent of iron, but had never experienced it as powerfully before. The odor practically slapped her in the face, its presence as physical as another being.

"Reno," she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder as he inched forward. "I smell blood… A lot of it."

He paused, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a small flashlight. "Yeah… I thought I did, too. Still can't see shit, though." Having decided that the need to thoroughly scan the room outweighed the risks, he flipped on the device and began to slowly pan the narrow beam of light across the chamber from right to left. Rude's hulking presence behind her was a comfort, but Elena still felt as if something was about to leap out and attack them at any moment.

Elena's eyes followed his movements, peering across the room as the beam cut through the shadows. There were elaborate carvings in an unknown language decorating the stones that made up the floor and walls, thick cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and adorning almost every surface. There was a thick coating of dust on everything, especially the strange alter that stood in the center of the room. There was a small platform of some kind beside it, and Reno lingered over it for a moment.

"Okay, that's supposed to lead down into the rest of the temple," he said quietly, clearly possessing information Elena hadn't been privy to. "Tseng had the key to activate it, though… So if he's already down there, we'll have to figure out how to reach him without it."

That didn't sound promising, and Elena's stomach churned with dread. What if they couldn't find a way, and Tseng was lost to them forever? Why wasn't there a second key in case of such an emergency? She clenched her jaw, her rising panic mixed with frustration. As the newest member of the division, she was often left out of the loop and given only the most basic information about their assignments. She'd understood at first, but thought by now that she deserved a bit more trust and respect. Once they were safely back in Midgar, she would have to work up the nerve to address the issue with Tseng. Assuming they could find him…

Reno advanced the flashlight past the alter and into the left half of the room, passing over countless cracks in the stone and thousands of scattering insects. Elena felt the tension in the air so strongly that her chest grew tight, and she scolded herself and concentrated on breathing slowly and evenly. Tseng had taught her to do so after an occasion during which she'd hyperventilated, and she tried to channel some of his persistent calm as she remembered the lesson. But all the meditation in the world could not have prepared her for what happened next.

She'd finally begun to question her senses as Reno directed the flashlight toward the last portion of the room without locating anything out of place. It must have been her nerves, and she felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. At least Reno thought he smelled it, too… She still did, even stronger than before. She was about to say something when the narrow beam of light illuminated the shadows of the very last corner.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to a large pool of blood, already seeping into the cracks of the ancient stone as small rivers of red trickled away toward the alter. Time stood still as the light found first a dark shoe, and then a pair of legs, lying within the puddle. Elena screamed as the beam followed the limbs along the bloodied torso of a man in a familiar blue suit, finally settling on his face. They had found their leader.

((Author's Notes: This is the previously unwritten back story to Tseng and Elena's present situation in my AU, so we've traveled back in time to watch those events unfold. At first I thought it would be a one shot, but it kept growing in my head until I realized I needed at least a few chapters to do it justice. The fandom needs more Tseng and Elena fics, so I'm just doing my part. ;) Thanks a lot for reading, and for any feedback you'd be so kind to share with me! ~ JenesisX ))