"What's up?"

Striker wiped his mouth and turned to her. "Barret says we're going leave for Midgar in a few minutes. I was just about to go upstairs and see if you're ready."

"Why?"

"He says there's nothing that we can do in Corel, and Reeve would like us to come to Midgar."

"Why?" Yuffie asked again.

"I dunno, Barret didn't tell me," Striker answered.

"Where's Kat?"

"Outside, waiting."

They heard the unmistakable roar of a helicopter.

"That's our ride," Striker informed her.

Dion came into the kitchen wearing a pink terry robe.

"You guys better get going," she told them. "Barret is very anxious."

"You're not coming?" Yuffie asked, noting that Dion appeared to have just rolled out of bed.

Dion shook her head. "I have to stay with Marlene."

Yuffie nodded. She checked the materia in her conformer.

"Well, I'm ready," she said.

Striker finished his milk in one last gulp and set the glass down in the sink. He wrapped an arm around Yuffie's waist.

"Be careful," Dion said, following them out of the kitchen towards the front door. "And watch Barret for me. I worry about him."

"We will," Yuffie assured her. They headed outside.

Barret was on his knees in front of the house, hugging Marlene. The R&R Shin-Ra helicopter hovered a few feet above ground, its propellers throwing dirt and grass around wildly. The pilot was helping Kat and her bags up the final steps of the ladder.

"Be good, honey," the big man was saying. "Dion will take good care of you. Daddy will be home real soon, and we'll fix all the stores and open the Youth Center."

Marlene nodded sadly and hugged her father tighter.

Barret kissed the little girl on her forehead and released her, standing. Marlene raced back to the house.

"Bye guys!" she cried to Yuffie and Striker as she passed them.

"Bye, Marlene," Yuffie called after her. The little girl ran into Dion's waiting arms, where the dancer stood at the front door drinking a cup of coffee.

Yuffie and Striker turned to Barret.

"Let's get this show on the road," he said.

Yuffie and Striker followed Barret and boarded the helicopter. Kat was already strapped into her seat and was looking down at her hands solemnly.

"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked as she settled into a seat beside Striker.

Kat sighed. "I'm worried," she answered in a small voice.

"About what?" Yuffie wanted to know.

"Ross may be planning to kill Rufus and Reeve," Barret answered when it was obvious Kat wasn't going to. "Worse yet, they may be threatening to declare war."

Yuffie looked shocked.

"The nerve!" she cried. "How do you know this?"

"The Turks went undercover at Ross," Barret told her. "Reeve told me all of this last night."

"Don't worry, Kat," Yuffie rubbed the red haired girl's shoulder reassuringly. "Rufus will be alright."

"Yeah," Barret agreed. "You know that damn Shin-Ra won't let anybody even think of hurting him or his precious assets."

Kat merely stared out the window, unconvinced.

"That's why we're going to Midgar," Barret said as the helicopter began to ascend. "If anything goes down involving Ross, it'll be in Midgar."

Striker put an arm around Yuffie. "We'll take care of this problem once and for all, right?"

Barret nodded, determination to right Corel etched on his face.

"Look, Vincent," Lucrecia was shaking him to wake him.

Vincent's red eyes opened and he turned to his beloved. She was holding a looseleaf binder in her hands.

"What that?" he asked her.

"It's about you," she told him. "Hojo's personal notes."

Vincent closed his eyes and lay his head back against the chair, taking a deep breath. "Read it to me."

Lucrecia looked at him with what Vincent decided was sympathy in her eyes before she opened the book.

"January 28th - Professor Hojo

Today my wife Lucrecia, the lab assistant, has given birth to my son, whom she called Sephiroth. I have taken the infant away to my private quarters to monitor during these critical hours.

Lucrecia didn't make it past the birth, and I didn't expect for her to. However, it was neccessary for her to become a sacrifice for the sake of science. The child whom she has given birth to will be more than super human, he is destined to become a god. With the power of Jenova and the mako which both of them where injected with during the pregnancy, his power is sure to be unimaginable. He was born completely healthy with not a single defect.

Upon Lucrecia's death, the Turk who was assigned to protect us during the project, Vincent Valentine, dared to interfere with me. He wanted to kill me to avenge Lucrecia's death.

Ha! I have known for some time now of my wife's affair with the Turk. I didn't care, however, as I didn't love Lucrecia or care for her at all. She was merely a tool used in the project to create Sephiroth. Lucrecia didn't love me either, I had to use a potion to muddle her senses in order to get her to marry and have intercourse with me. We only did it once, but that once was just enough to conceive what will possibly the greatest human being to ever walk this earth.

I didn't interfere in my wife's affair with the Turk, in fact I was thankful for him keeping her amused during the pregnancy. She was actually seeing him before I chose her to bear Sephiroth, and he was quite shocked and angry when she told him that she was going to marry me. However when she began to realize she wasn't in love with me, and was wondering how she ended up married to me, she turned to her beloved Valentine for support.

I was quite annoyed when Valentine threatened me after Sephiroth's birth and Lucrecia's death. He was a bit too emotional over her death, and he demanded he would take Sephiroth away from me. In fact, the confrontation began when I caught him in my lab trying to steal off with my son.

Thankfully I carry a weapon with me at all times. For a Turk, Valentine's reaction time was rather slow when I shot him down. He was unable to move his arm to reach for his gun, and he crashed to the floor.

I quickly grabbed a hypodermic needle with strong tranquilzers and sedated him at once. With Sephiroth healthy and resting peacefully, I had nothing much to do at the moment but wait until we would be transfered back to Midgar. I decided to teach the Turk a lesson.

I decided not to kill Vincent, but to test some unvalidated theories and experiments that I had put on hold during the Jenova Project. During Gast's excavation up north where he had collected Jenova, he also came across some bones and DNA samples of monster like creatures that were believed to have roamed the earth years before humans appeared. No one had cared to study these remnants as Jenova was the project at hand.

I wanted to know what would happen if I injected the DNA of all of the beasts into Valentine's bloodstream. There were four of them, the most horrific the Chaos beast, which I'd read about in legends in Cosmo Canyon. The Chaos beast was once a protecter of the Planet before any human or Cetra life appeared on it, dating back possibly hundreds of thousands of years ago. It was said that the Chaos Beast was an immortal and ageless creature, but finally died because it begged the planet to destroy it after the appearance of humans. I wonder if this will make the Turk immortal?

Each time I injected Valentine with one of the beasts, I would watch as he unconsciously transformed into the said beast before my very eyes. I tried to pry him awake, but the pain of the injections and shock from the traumatic experience must have put him into a strange coma. I was delighted at my work.

I continued to prod with Valentine's body, slicing off his right arm from the elbow down and replacing it with a metal claw that had been thrown out as an idea for use in Shin-Ra's military. I also noticed that the Turk's blue eyes had turned a bloody red color, perhaps a side effect from one of the beasts which now lived within him.

I cut Valentine many times over finding new ways to monstrify him until I finally grew bored and it was time to return to Midgar. I couldn't wake him out of his coma, so I left him in the basement on a gurney for a few days. When I returned to pack the rest of my equipment for the move, I noticed that Lucrecia's body was missing from the gurney where she was stored to be deposited to the morgue in Midgar. Thinking it had something to do with Valentine, I checked on him, but found he was still on gurney in a coma. I locked him in a coffin room before we left. If he ever is to wake, he will not be able to get out, unless he learns to use some of the abilities of his beastliness. Perhaps when he awakens and discovers what a horror I have turned him into, he will not wish to live and will crawl into one of the coffins in the room.

We arrived in Midgar late last evening. Sephiroth is still doing well, and I tested a new theory by cutting the flesh on his thigh with a scapel. Just as I predicted, the wound healed in a matter of minutes before my eyes. And he is only an infant!

Gast is pleased with Sephiroth's progress, but he is still mourning Lucrecia's death. I could care less. The only emotion I feel toward the woman is some gratitude for him involvement in creating a new race of humans. We have Jenova's head in Midgar now, and I will use it to draw samples to inject into Sephiroth throughout his development. The project will be an absolute success!

As for the Turk, god help him if he ever awakens from his coma. I have not done much research on what I did to his body, so I do not know the effects of it. It was mere experimentation. I cannot say if Valentine will even survive the experience, if he will ever wake, or if he will indeed be immortal. All I know from my experiment, is that he is now filled with the souls and bodies of four ancient beasts. -Professor Hojo, M.D.

Lucrecia closed the notebook and looked at Vincent sadly. "That's the only thing I've come across about you yet," she told him.

Vincent's eyes held a distant anger. He looked past Lucrecia, not saying a word.

"Vincent?" she waved a hand in front of his face.

Vincent looked up at her. "The bastard didn't even know what he was doing," he stated. "He merely ran experiments on me that were no more than theories. He didn't research any of them. All he did was play with my body."

Lucrecia looked down.

"I knew it was foolish to come here," Vincent said. "Let us leave." He started for the door.

"Wait," Lucrecia stopped him, touching his shoulder. "I haven't finished looking. Maybe we can find something else."

Vincent looked at her. His eyes held an uncontrollable rage that Lucrecia saw was ready to emerge. She said nothing as he walked out the door.

A few minutes later, she heard the cry of Chaos in the air outside.

Within moments Ross appeared at the doorway.

"Silence!" he shouted at her.

"Let me go!" she cried. "I'll kill you!"

"I think not," Ross said, smiling. "I've got to be going. Will you be a good girl?"

"No!" Elena screamed. "Let me go! Where's my PHS?"

"Smashed to peices, in the dumpster I'm sure," Ross told her. "Now will you be a good girl, or do I have to administer another tranquilizer?"

Elena seethed. "I need to use the bathroom again," she said.

"I'll send someone to tend to you," he told her. "We're unvieling the new cyber army in twenty minutes, so I'd better get going. Then I have to conduct a meeting with my top execs before I make a decsion on how to handle your employer."

"Cyber army!" Elena exclaimed.

"Why, yes," Ross answered. "A little gift thanks of Scarlet."

"Scarlet!" she repeated.

"Yes, she helped me to create my little soldiers," he said.

"Impossible!" Elena cried.

Ross shrugged nonchalantly. "If you say so. Listen, you really are holding me up. Behave yourself. I'll come back for you soon."

Elena cursed him as he shut the door. Her nose was still hurting badly from when he'd broken it a couple of nights before. A couple of nights! Had he had her knocked out for that long?

She looked around the room hoping to locate a phone, but there was none. She was tied to the bed with metal chains that there was no escaping from. She sighed and laid her head against the bed when a guard in a Ross uniform entered the room and approached her. He began to remove the chains.

"What now?" she asked.

He stopped. "Don't you need to use the little girl's room?"

Elena scowled. He continued removing her confines and after she was free, promptly handcuffed her wrists together. He then forced her to stand and led her out into the hall towards the bathroom. He waited outside the bathroom door for her.

After Elena did her business, struggling wearing the cuffs, she looked around the bathroom for escape. She looked out of the small bathroom window to the ground below. She had to be about twenty stories up, and she realized she wasn't in Jonathan's penthouse anymore, but inside the Ross building. There was no getting out that way.

The guard rapped on the door.

Elena sighed and exited the bathroom. The guard grabbed her shoulder and led her back to the bedroom.

"You don't have to be so rough!" Elena complained. The guard ignored her.

Back in the room, the guard tied Elena back into the contraints on the bed.

"I'll bring you food later," he said gruffly before he left.

Elena sighed and dropped her head on the pillow again in aggravation. Her eyes welled with tears as she thought of Tseng and the others. Did they realize she was missing? Were they worried yet? Would they come looking for her?

She looked around. Would they know where to find her?

Elena began to sob in desperation.

Some of them began to clap as Ross approached. Ryu emerged from the crowd and walked up to Ross.

"Are we ready?" he asked.

Ross nodded. "Let's see what you all have done."

Stephens nodded and flipped a switch on the wall. The lights inside the room the observation window viewed came on, revealing a gymnasium filled with soldiers. There were nearly fifty soldiers in the room, all wearing silver armor with large helmets and dark masks that covered their faces. They were equipped with both a sword and a strange looking gun.

"Watch this," Captain Mac said, stepping out from the crowd. He grabbed a microphone that was in front of the glass.

"Attention!" he yelled into it. Every soldier came to attention in perfect sync.

Ross's eyebrow went up.

"About face!" Mac called again. Every soldier made a 180 degree turn perfectly.

Ross nodded, impressed. "Wonderful. These soldiers are all ready to go?"

"Yessir," Stephens answered.

"I have just one question," Mac asked, setting down the microphone. "Are our soldiers still human at all?"

Ross turned to Stephens to answer the question, as he didn't know much about science.

"Slightly," Stephens replied, snickering.

Ross was pleased. "Excellent work, ladies and gentlemen," he said to everyone. "And a special thanks to Scarlet for volunteering her skills."

"I didn't volunteer, you lying bastard!"

She recieved a kick in her shin from the guard behind her. She cried out in pain.

Ross laughed. "Lock her in a cell," he said. "Are there more recruits ready to undergo the process?"

"Yes, but Mac has been training them as of late," Ryu answered. "Zack Taylor, our lieutenant and trainer, went MIA a few days ago."

Ross frowned. "That doesn't sound too reassurring. We need to find him. In the meantime, I'd better get to my meeting. Thanks again to you all for your hard work and for this amazing success. Including you, Scarlet."

The blonde scowled at him.

Ross smirked and made his exit, Ryu trailing behind him.

"Are we ready..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the beautiful caramel skinned woman standing behind Reno.

"Yep," Reno answered. "This is Lela. Lela, I'd like you to meet my collegue and best friend, Rude."

Lela smiled and waved. Rude nodded at her and looked at Reno knowingly. He then stepped out into the hallway.

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Just a sec," he told Lela, then followed Rude into the hall.

"What's up?"

Rude was looking at him intently. "Who is that, Reno?"

"That's Lela," he answered, without much else to say.

Rude nodded. "Oookay, but who is she?"

Reno shrugged. "I just met her, but we were talking for a while. I decided to bring her to Midgar so we could get to know each other better."

Rude raised an eyebrow. "You can't bring her with us, Reno. We're on duty."

Reno through his hands up. "So what should I do? Tell her to walk and meet me there?"

Rude shook his head. "Since when do you bring your wares with you wherever you go?"

Reno frowned. "It's not like that, Rude." He dropped his voice a notch. "I really like this girl."

Rude looked visibly surprised. "But you just met her!"

Reno shrugged. "So! You told me yourself that when I met the one, I would know it! She's it!"

"Reno, I don't know...."

"I can feel it, Rude!" Reno exclaimed. "Look at her, she's beautiful. And get this - she used to have a crush on me, before she even met me!"

Rude rolled his eyes.

"That's not all, Rude," Reno continued. "She knows I dropped the plate on Sector Seven, and her family was there when I did it. She was able to forgive me!"

Rude stared at him.

"She's something special," Reno said. "She wants to be a singer one day. I think this is it, Rude. It's time for me to settle down. I think I found her."

Rude sighed. "I hope you're right, Reno." He turned to go back into the room.

Reno followed Rude back into the room where Lela was waiting patiently.

"Where's Randy?"

"He got a ride back to Midgar with his girlfriend," Rude said. He pulled out his PHS and called for a helicopter.

"What about Elena?"

Rude hung up the PHS after making the call and turned to Reno. "She still doesn't answer."

"Should we just leave her here?" Reno asked.

"Are you worried about her?"

Reno turned red. "I'm worried about all of us!"

Rude chuckled. "I know. I left her four messages so she has to know whats going on. Tseng said she can stay in Junon for a while, because it would make Ross suspicious if she suddenly up and left. As long as we know she's safe, we can leave her."

"But we don't know if she's safe," Reno argued.

Rude shrugged. "I'm sure she'll call us back," he told him. "In the meantime, Rufus is really anxious for us to get back to Midgar, so we can't waste another second. Let's wait outside for the chopper.

Reno gathered his bag and the three headed outside.

"I haven't been to Midgar since Meteor," Lela told him as they walked. "Has it changed much?"

Reno shrugged. "Reeve has improved it, and fixed most of the damage. Only some parts of the city are still hurt from meteor, but for the most part its better than it was before Meteor."

Lela nodded.

They'd been waiting only ten minutes when the R&R Shin-Ra helicopter roared overhead. Reno helped Lela board and the three took seats. The pilot took off immediately.

Lela stared at the world zooming past from the helicopter window. She smiled as Reno placed an arm around her.

"When we get to Midgar, you can go to my apartment if you like," he said. "I won't lie, its kind of messy, but I have to report to my boss as soon as we touch down. Tonight we can out to dinner, because we have a lot to talk about."

"I'd like that," Lela told him.

Rude watched through his dark glasses, happy for Reno, but somewhat confused by the sudden change in character.

"I think you've been putting on weight, Tia," he said bluntly. "You've been eating too much."

She looked at him angrilly. "Oh, really. You think so?"

He nodded and patted her stomach. "Look at that pot. Lay off the fried chicken and lasagne for a while."

She scowled at him, but he merely laughed at her expense.

"Yeah? Well, guess what, Mr. Robinson," she said. "I have news for you."

"What, you're going on a diet?" he laughed again.

Tiamoyia gripped the steering wheel tight, trying to ignore him. "That's not what I was going to say."

"Fine. What then?"

It was Tia's turn to smirk. "I'm pregnant."

Randy blanched. "What?"

She took her eyes off the road for a second to look into his eyes. "That pot is not fat, its a two month old baby. I'm pregnant."

Randy's head hit the headrest as he fainted.

Reeve sighed at Barret's outburst. Yuffie, Kat, and Striker stood behind the big man, looking at him expectantly.

"The President wants to wait for Ross's first move," Reeve explained. "As long as we are not in immediate danger, we will wait until he decides to act."

"I ain't trying to wait for nothin'!" Barret hollared. "Do you know what that punk did to Corel?"

Reeve nodded. "I know, Barret, but we don't want to put more lives at risk," he tried to explain. "At least if we wait for Ross to act, we can retaliate accordingly."

"Bullshit!" Barret waved his gunarm in the air and stomped away from Reeve.

Yuffie went up to Reeve. "You have to understand how upset he is," she said. "Ross has antagonized Barret personally by messing with Corel. He wants to stop him fast."

"I know, Yuffie, but you have to understand, Ross is a threat to all of the cities protected by Shin-Ra, not just Corel," Reeve explained. "And Midgar is top priority. From the Turk's reports, he's planning to either attack myself and the President, or Midgar itself."

Yuffie shook her head.

"So where do we go from here?" Striker asked.

Reeve shrugged. "The Turks are on their way to Midgar now, and Elena is going undercover with Ross to get more information. Rufus says he knows that Ross will act soon. The man has created all kinds of horrible weapons to attack us with. He wants SOLDIER prepared for an attack."

"But how will we know when he'll attack?" Striker asked.

"We don't," Reeve said. "Hopefully Elena will find out."

"But what if we can't handle his attack?" Yuffie asked nervously. "What if we can't win?"

"Perposterous," Rufus said, emerging from his office. "Ross is nobody. He'll never defeat me, and his puny army, cyber or not, will never defeat SOLDIER, no matter how hard he may try."

Striker shrugged, but Yuffie and Barret didn't look convinced.

Kat ran up to Rufus and embraced him. "Darling, I was so worried!"

He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry about me, nothing can touch me."

Barret rolled his eyes and grunted.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Reeve went to open it. He found Tseng, Reno, and Rude standing in the doorway.

"Oh, thank god. The Turks are finally here."

He let them enter as Barret rolled his eyes again and Yuffie sighed loudly. Reno smirked at her purposely.

"Nice to see you all," he said, but none of AVALANCHE returned his greeting.

"It's about time," Rufus said angrilly, releasing Kat. "I was beginning to wonder if you weren't out getting drunk somewhere.

Reno pulled out his flask from his breast pocket and took a sip, ignoring the President's shocked expression. "Its not too far from the truth, boss."

Tseng elbowed him as Rufus balled his fists up and turned red.

"Where is Randy?" Rufus asked, clearly annoyed.

Reno shrugged. "He got a ride with his girlfriend here, I guess he's late."

As if on cue, Randy stormed into the office.

"Hey everybody!" he screamed.

Rufus looked at his sloppy clothing. "Why are you dressed like that? And why are you late?"

"Traffic," Randy explained, catching his breath. "And what's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"

Rufus looked at the missing dress shirt that was replaced with a sleeveless undershirt, the pants that were hanging off Randy's ass, and the oversized jacket that was unbuttoned. He fumed.

"Enough! I've got work to do. I want this building secured. Reno and Randy, make sure security is in tip top shape. If anyone is sleeping the job, shoot them."

Reno laughed and nodded.

Rufus turned to Rude. "I need you to guard Reeve," he told him. "And Tseng, Kat and I will be leaving for lunch in a little while. I'll need you to escort us."

He turned to Barret, Striker, and Yuffie. "The rest you, get the hell out of my office!"

He went back into his office, dragging Kat along, and slammed the door.

Randy turned to Yuffie. "Isn't he an asshole?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys. Let's get something to eat."

"Rufus will be a lucky mofo if I don't assassinate him my damn self!"

Reeve blanched. "Barret, please don't say that so loud."

Barret waved his gunarm in Reeve's face. "Shaddup!" he stomped out of Reeve's office.

Yuffie suppressed a giggle. She took Striker's hand and the two followed after him.

Reno turned to Randy. "Let's secure the building," he said. The two snickered as if at some inside joke before finally leaving the office. Tseng shook his head and turned to Reeve, who collasped in his desk chair.

"I don't know what's gotten into them, they're like children," he said.

Reeve shrugged. "Haven't they always been like that?"

Tseng nodded and smirked. "I suppose so. Tell Rufus I'll be waiting outside for him when he is ready to leave."

Reeve nodded and watched him leave.

"He wasn't lying," she mumbled to himself.

The carpet appeared not to have been vaccuumed in years, and there were various stains littered on it in different places. The couch was full of newpapers and magazines and the floor in front of the television was littered with DVD's and video games. There were ashtrays all over the place, most of them with more ashes on the surface around them then in the actual ashtray. She walked into the kitchen and saw the sink was piled high with a week's worth of dishes, and a roach was skittering across the kitchen table. She cringed.

She found Reno's bedroom and sighed. Expectedly, the bed was unmade and the closet door was wide open, most of the clothing hanging off the hangers or on the floor. A hamper full of dirty clothes was over turned with the contents spilling out as if someone had been digging through it for something. She shook her head.

"What a slob," she said.

Lela decided to do Reno a favor and clean his apartment for him. She had nothing to do anyway until he came home from work, and she couldn't stand to be in a house this messy. She started in the kitchen, anticipating the look on Reno's face when he walked in.

"Take us to Avantgarde," Rufus instructed. The driver nodded and pulled off into traffic.

Rufus hooked an arm around Kat's waist and looked down at her. She instinctively drew closer to him.

"Can I see your daughter today?" she asked.

Rufus nodded. "Sure," he said. "I have to say, she is a fiesty one, just like her mother."

Kat giggled. "Well since I'll be staying with you for a while, I can help you take care of her," Kat told him.

"That would be a big help," Rufus agreed.

They arrived at the resturaunt and Tseng had to escort Rufus and Kat inside. Once the two were seated, He took a seat for him self at a table not too far away where he could keep watch. He ordered himself a drink and pulled out his PHS.

He dialed Elena's number and heard her voicemail pickup immediately. He frowned and then hung up. He dialed Rude's number.

"Rude."

"Rude, its Tseng," he told him. "Did Elena call you back yet?"

"No, sir," Rude said. "I left her four messages."

"I don't like this," Tseng said. "She left with Ross two nights ago. She's never gone this long without contacting us, and her PHS is still off."

"I know, but how else can we contact her?"

Tseng shook his head. "I don't know, without blowing her cover."

"I'll keep calling her," Rude said. "I'll leave her a thousand messages until she calls back."

"Thanks," Tseng said. "Call me as soon as you hear something."

"I will," Rude said.

Tseng hung up. The waiter brought his drink and Tseng quickly took a cup. He looked over to where Rufus and Kat were dining as if they didn't have a care in the world. He was admittedly worried about Elena. What if something happened to her? He knew Elena was capable of taking care of herself, but that didn't keep him from having his doubts. He should have known this mission was a bad idea.

He sighed as he watched for the President's safety.

Reno looked at Randy, surprised, as they walked through one of the lower level floors of the R&R Shin-Ra building. "Oh yeah, and where did you hear this?"

Randy smirked. "I've been sworn to secrecy."

Reno's electro rod came out in a flash. "Unswear," he said.

Randy chuckled nervously and swallowed. "Alright, fine! Rude told me."

Reno scowled, making a mental note to kill Rude later.

"I heard she is FINE, Randy said, winking. "Rude said shes a singer or something. Is she good?"

"I haven't heard her sing yet," Reno sighed.

"Oh man. What's her name?"

"Lela," Reno answered.

"What she look like?"

Reno sighed again. "She's got honey colored skin and long brown hair," Reno said quickly. "Light brown eyes."

"And a body like a Shin-Ra Swimsuit model, according to Rude," Randy added. "Did you knock boots yet?"

"No!" Reno shouted, turning red. "Why are you so nosey?"

Randy ignored his question. "You didn't? Why not?"

Reno threw his hands up. "Look, I'm just trying to take it a little slower with this girl, thats all."

Randy stared at him strangely. "Are you sick, Reno?"

"No, I'm not sick!" Reno shouted in frustration. "I'm serious!"

Randy attempted to touch Reno's forehead. Reno slapped his hand away.

"Cut it out!"

"I'm just making sure..." Randy said, feigning concern. "This is not the Reno I know."

"There's been a slight alteration," Reno said. "I'm trying to settle down with one woman."

Randy bellowed into laughter.

Reno got mad. "I'm serious! I'ts not funny! I'm getting too old to be running around with a different woman every night!"

Randy stopped laughing and looked at Reno. "Oh shit. You are serious."

Reno slapped his forehead.

"I'm sorry, man," Randy said. He smiled. "I guess if I met a woman who was as hot as this Lela sounds, I'd want to settle down too."

Reno frowned. "Don't you have a girlfriend?!"

Randy covered his hands in his face. "Don't remind me..."

"Why?" Reno asked.

Randy shook his head. "I got some news today," he said. "Tia is pregnant."

Reno stared at him wide eyed. "Pregnant?!"

"Yeah," Randy sighed. "My freedom is gone..."

It was Reno's turn to laugh. "And you're talking about me? I was just thinking about dating only one woman, you're already having children!

Randy punched him in the arm.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he pushed open his door and saw the condition of his apartment. For a moment, he swore he had the wrong apartment.

"Surprise."

Reno looked up and saw Lela standing in the doorway between Reno's living room and the kitchen. She took off the yellow rubber gloves she wore and wiped her forehead.

Reno's mouth hung open as he glanced around the apartment. Nothing was cluttering his living room at all. All of his tapes and DVD's had been stacked neatly in the shelves on his entertainment center. Magazines were placed on the bottom shelf. His coffee table was sparkling, his couch was free of dirt and crumbs. The carpet was a bright pale blue color, like it was when he first moved in, and was free of most of the stains that had been there before. His ashtrays were emptied, washed, and clean.

Lela was beaming as Reno entered the apartment and moved toward the kitchen. Sure enough, the dishes were washed, the counters were wiped down, the trash was gone. The floor had been mopped and there were mice traps and roach killers on the floor in the corners.

Without saying a word, Reno dropped the bags of food on the kitchen table and went into his bedroom. It too was clean in a way he hadn't seen in years. His bed was made and the carpet vacuumed, every surface had been wiped down. His hamper of dirty clothes was empty. He opened his closet and saw most of his suits were hanging, freshly pressed.

He closed the closet door and turned to Lela, who was peeking through the doorway of his bedroom. Without warning he rushed her and took her in his arms.

"You did all this?"

She nodded as she too wrapped her arms around him.

"You didn't have to..." he told her, looking into her sparkling hazel eyes. "Thank you."

Lela giggled. "You're welcome, Reno, but I didn't do it entirely for you. I couldn't stand to be in an apartment that filthy."

Reno laughed. "Oh, you've got a smart mouth, huh?" he said. He kissed her deeply. "You better believe you won't be going anywhere for a long time, if you can clean like that.

Lela laughed.

He released her. "C'mon. I brought us dinner from the italian place nearby. Let's eat."

Lela kissed Reno's cheek and followed him into the kitchen.