Remember Who You Are (Canon Turks)

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

Ethan sighed to himself as he looked at the wreckage of Midgar. It had been years since Meteor had come and caused ruin unto the city. If it hadn't been for Holy and the Lifestream, the Planet would've been destroyed. Considering how things had changed since his slum days, it was almost staggering. Even now, he was still struggling with the professional life of a Turk.

Loading a clip, Two Guns wandered down the old dirt path to what had been left of Wall Market. Everything was in ruins but it made not much of a difference to Ethan. Sure, it was a lot shabbier looking but the Slums hadn't exactly been whole like the surface used to be.

Here, this very place, he once called home. Here was where Two Guns first began his career as a bodyguard. The memories of back then weren't exactly comforting. He had killed many a man over Don Corneo's case. A man that wasn't worth defending. Thankfully, he learned that rather quick and left them. If it hadn't been for the Turks, he would've been on the run the rest of his life. Don Corneo never forgave anyone that dropped ties with him.

What still bothered him more was having to sit there and see ladies get taken advantage of. The Don's famous slogan being that he was in the market for a bride. He never chose a bride and generally used who he fancied the most before tossing the others to the other mobsters of his mafia. Once he was done, the slime ball would end up having them disposed of. That had been one of the main reasons why Ethan left their number. He was a man, not a coward or a creep.

"Well, if it isn't Ethan!" sounded a familiar voice. Turning his head rather casually and calmly, Two Guns set his sights on a familiar face. It was a former mafia member. One of the ones that was high up there next to Ethan in terms of skill. As he faced him, Ethan noted the silent hints of others around the vicinity, the slight movements in the corners of his eyes. He had to be surrounded by about five to six men, give or take.

"Hey, Ryo. It's about time ya guys caught up with me." Despite how serious his situation was, Two Guns was calm and collected. He had come out here on his own accord. It was about time he stopped running from his problems and face the music. Having been sent a message telling him to come here alone, Ethan knew exactly what he was getting himself into. After learning the things he did from the Turks, Ethan was more confident in himself. That and he couldn't afford one of his new friends getting captured or hurt because of him. He knew how these people worked. They always tried to get their hands on those someone cared about. Ethan was going to stop them short before they got worse.

"Long time no see, Ethan." Ryo, the one he had addressed, had sandy brown hair that ran rather ragged on his head and seemed to never want to go in place. Since Two Guns had known the guy, he merely got a scar on his face and his hair just grew even wilder. Judging by the leer Ryo was giving him, his intentions here weren't friendly. As it was expected. Ethan had come well prepared for a fight. "How does the Turks suite you?" he inquired.

"Much better than my time with the Don. I don't have to sit there and watch women get exploited or worry 'bout people like you stabbing me in the back!" he replied coolly. Two Guns almost didn't blink he was so focused on Ryo right now. His hands were holding his guns rather comfortable. If these fools thought they were going to take him, they would soon find themselves at the disadvantage here. Two Guns had no plans of failing. Whether or not any fellow Turks had managed to track him, considering how aloof he had been acting today, he wouldn't know. As far as he was concerned, this was his problem. He wouldn't want for them to get involved because he didn't heed the warning the note gave.

"Hah! The Don's what made ya, Ethan. How dare ya spit on his memory like that?" Ryo inquired before glancing around. It was a silent signal, it had to have been since the ones Ethan detected earlier had finally come out of their hiding places to reveal themselves. "Made me? It's the Turks that made me what I am."

Ethan glanced at those around him. There was actually eight former mobsters surrounding him on all sides. Two he had apparently missed. Oh well, it didn't matter. Two Guns wasn't going to let that intimidate him. Twirling his guns in his hands upon taking them out casually, he gazed at them all with a fierce look in his eyes. "Doesn't matter what ya think, Ethan. We're here to return the favor we've long neglected in teachin' ya a lesson for abandoning us and the Don!" Ryo stated simply.

"Yeah, Yeah! Are you gonna do anything about it or what? Talk me to death?!" he retorted. "Alright wise guy, ya asked for it!" Ryo replied before sending his fellow goons to rush Ethan. Raising his two guns with little effort, Two Guns decided now was time to show them what he was famous for because apparently the morons forgot. With his left gun, he fired on a fellow gunman. His precision was so lethal, the guy didn't even know what hit him. With his right gun, Ethan fired on the kneecap of another mobster whom had come too close with his chains.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena shivered slightly, as she glanced at the ruins around her. Sure, she had grown up for part of her life in the slums before they had moved to the Upper Plate, but being here....gave her the creeps. It was a reminder of her childhood, and of all the bad things that had happened to the world. And all of what ShinRa had done. She was proud to work for ShinRa and the Turks, of course, and she was loyal to no end, but sometimes it made her feel awkward, especially when she was looking at places and people that had been directly affected by the company.

Sighing silently to herself, she kept to the shadows and moved quickly and stealthily on her search. She had been sent to spy on the movements of a gang that was apparently causing some trouble in Edge, and their base, or hiding place, was here in the slums. They had also interfered with some of ShinRa’s work, and had stolen some equipment. It was Elena’s job to find them, watch their movements and report back with all that she found out. There was most likely going to be a follow-up mission in which the gang members would be captured, and the equipment they stole taken back, but it would be safer to do that after collecting all the information first instead of just plunging straight in.

That was when she spotted a few of her targets a little ahead of her. Bingo.

She knew by their faces that they were from the gang she was looking for, since she had seen some of their criminal profiles. She followed them silently and swiftly, still sticking to the shadows, and not a single one of them noticed her presence. Idiots. She had climbed up a little higher into the ruins of a building, hiding behind a wall and peering down on the gang through what probably used to be a window, but was now just a hole in the wall. There seemed to be some sort of confrontation happening below, and it didn’t look friendly. The gang members were surrounding a man, who was twirling two guns, one in each hand, and had hair over the right side of his face...

Elena’s eyes widened immediately as the man’s appearance registered in her mind. Two Guns...? Of course, she hadn’t been a Turk at the time Two Guns had been, she had been too young. However, she had known who all of theTurks were, what their weapons were and what their names were. With her hair cut like this, it wouldn’t surprise Elena at all if Two Guns mistook her for her sister, Gun, if he spotted her. The only real difference between Elena and Gun now that Elena’s hair was short also, was that Elena had dark brown eyes while Gun’s eyes were bright blue.

Her eyes hadn’t left the older Turk at all for the moment. She hadn’t known that he was back in the area, but then again, Cissnei had come back. Perhaps more of the others would as well. However, it didn’t seem like Two Guns had intentions of coming back to the Turks, at least not today, since he was here in the slums...and had ended up in a fight with some mobsters. A frown tugged at her lips as she listened to the conversation from her hiding place and watched as the mobsters now closed in on Two Guns.

I’m not just going to stand by and watch this...

Moving quickly, Elena slipped down from her hiding place and moved around the corner of the ruined building. She wasn’t being exactly careful with her feet, however, and accidentally knocked a few stones with her feet, not creating a big noise, but enough to alert the gang members to her presence. The two closest to her turned around and spotted her; her bright blonde standing out from the darkness of the shadows. Cursing under her breath at her clumsiness, something her sister had never had, Elena moved a little out of the shadows as the two men approached her.

“Well looky what we’ve found,” one of them leered, a sick grin on his face that consisted of horrible and rotting teeth. Elena pulled a face. “If it isn’ a lit’le female Turk.” Elena’s nose wrinkled in annoyance, sick and tired of being looked down on by practically every man she faced. Just because I’m a woman, doesn’t mean I’m weak. However, she had to admit that it always felt good to prove them wrong and beat them into the ground. The looks on some of their faces were always priceless.

The man that had spoken lunged towards her, and she quickly side-stepped him, aiming a roundhouse kick to his chest and winding him, before she struck the side of his head and his neck. Pressure points were a quick and easy way of bringing down guys like this and were especially useful when you were outnumbered. In her attacks, her back had been turned to the other male that had approached her, and he managed to grab her wrist. Instead of trying to pull away, Elena used it for leverage and she aimed a spinning kick backwards towards him before pulling her arm so that he was yanked forward and into the kick, hard.

That was another solid difference between herself and her sister. Gun had been proficient in weaponry, namely her handgun, and Elena had mastered martial arts, even earning herself the status of a prodigy because of the five Elite Emblems she obtained from the ShinRa Military Academy. She glanced up and over at Two Guns with her dark brown eyes and gave him a small smile, nodding to show that she had his back. Even if she didn’t know him personally, he still used to be a Turk, and Turk’s defended their own. They were family.

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NOTES !? I would have loved to join this with Rod if I had him already D: but Elena will do lol XD joining this because it’ll be interesting and because it’s another way to get my post count up! =D hope this is okay~ maybe this could be how Two Guns comes back to the Turks? (since I saw no mention that he was back in the post.) Heehee XD !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? Two Guns !?
WORDS !? 978 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

(OOC: Actually, that sounds pretty good to me. That does give him a chance to 'return' XD I didn't really know how I was going to implement him back among the Turks. We'll go with that!)

Two Guns had no idea that a Turk had actually arrived on the scene. As far as he was concerned, he was alone in this. If worse came to worse, he'd take them down with him. He just hoped his former comrades wouldn't appear and end up in danger. Ethan had been living away from the Turk life for some time. Even now, he remembered how much he had missed it. Two Guns had thought retiring would've been a breeze but after the Meteor and Advent Children incident, he found himself wanting to go back to the life of a Turk.

It wasn't easy living back in the streets again. Where he thought he would've had an easier life, more luxurious than what he once had back when he worked for Don Corneo, he was proved wrong. Where he used to struggle with Turk life, he found himself struggling worse with normal every day life. Having killed for work, it wasn't easy getting a normal job. It wasn't easy to not use a gun or two to solve his problems anymore.

The Turks, if there was a place he enjoyed working for the most it had been under ShinRa as a Turk. Never before had he encountered such a close knit group. A group where everyone was held in high regards to the point of a makeshift family. Almost always, there was someone else there to watch your back. Normal life, Ethan hadn't met anyone that loyal as he found his former comrades back in his Turk days.

Speaking of Turks, he didn't know that one was actually overlooking the scene in search of the mobsters that had blackmailed him to come here. Like Elena was thinking, Ethan might mistake her for her elder sister, Gun. It had been a long time since he had been a part of the group. Holding his guns, which he had taken into retirement with him, Ethan still had that cold efficiency whenever he worked as a Turk. Having eliminated an enemy with one shot to the head and another, disabled with a busted kneecap, Ethan was feeling pretty good here. His odds of survival on his own looked brighter every second.

A commotion broke off somewhere close by. Shooting another mobster in the arm, whom had been wielding a gun, he took a quick glimpse of what was happening. A familiar looking figure was currently held by the wrist. 'Gun? What's she doing here?' he wondered. The female Turk, he thought, had retired like he did but he didn't know that this girl actually happened to be Gun's younger sister, Elena.

Making haste, since he figured she might need his help, Ethan dropped to the ground and rolled to the side to avoid gunfire as he returned it rapidly at his attacker, forcing him to duck behind an old broken down pickup truck. When he stopped himself six feet away from where he had been standing, down on one knee, he held out his guns carefully as he kept firing to keep the mobsters distracted. It bought him enough time to finally look back in the woman Turk's direction.

Unlike earlier, she was no longer held by the wrist and appeared to be just fine. Well, that was a relief but what confused him more was how the heck Gun managed to get herself free. Gun was a gunwoman. She hadn't much expertise in the physical field from what he could remember. That and her eyes, did she have brown or blue? Seeing the small smile and nod reassured him that she was okay and most likely had his back. Returning the nod, Two Guns returned his attention back on the gangsters. If one former Turk was bad, an actual Turk and a former Turk was even worse for these criminals. They would soon find they were not a force to be reckoned with.

After all, the Turks had each other's back. Even if a person no longer were a Turk, they still took care of their own. Even now, Ethan was reminded of that close bond he held with all the rest. It made him wonder what happened to the others. Who remained Turk and who retired from the job? Confident that the girl he assumed was Gun had his back, Ethan focused on the gangsters. These men were lame when it came to a skirmish like this one. Here, he could tell that their skill came from ambushing their targets and overwhelming them. There wasn't any true skill amongst them save maybe Ryo. Two Guns had yet to see how much better he had gotten compared to the guy.

Standing up again, Ethan fired on another man about to toss a throwing knife in his direction. Seeing someone coming at him in the corner of his eye on his right at a rate too fast for him to turn around, Two Guns brought up his elbow and made the guy eat it. He had been trying to get a metal wire about Ethan's neck but had failed miserably now that he was on the ground, spitting up blood and teeth. Using his right arm, Ethan finished the man of in bringing the same elbow down to meet the guy's skull. It didn't kill him but it definitely knocked him out cold before Two Guns turned his attention back on the skirmish.

His hazel eyes turned towards who he thought was Gun to see how she was doing in case she needed his help. He never doubted a lady Turk's skill for a second. If anything, he always thought they were more lethal than the men at times.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena turned her attention back to the men around herself and Two Guns. They could get out of this. Turks tended to have a natural survival instinct for these kinds of things, and even if they got badly injured, they would bounce back pretty easily. Sure, Elena healed pretty quickly, but she still couldn’t shake that bad habit of hers to get herself into bad or dangerous situations. That’s happened enough already today...this is as far as it goes, she thought to herself, completely determined. These guys weren’t going to get the satisfaction of beating her; she was going to prove their assumptions wrong.

Besides, if Two Guns was the Turk she remembered him as being, he would have her back as much as she had his. All of the Turks were the same in that regard; they all cared about each other and would watch out for each other in battle. Hell, she even cared about Reno. If that wasn’t loyalty then she didn’t know what the hell was...

Not knowing that Two Guns had mistaken her for her sister, Elena focused back on the fight as another one of the guys came towards her, brandishing a fairly long knife in his hand. She ducked down and to the side slightly as the guy lunged forward with his weapon, and placing one of her hands on the ground, swiftly swept the bulky male off his feet with a leg sweep. The sweep was one clean movement on her part, where her feet landed back on the ground and she was back on her feet quickly. She kicked the knife out of his hands, making it spin as it made its way across the ground, vanishing into stones and rubble from the ruins.

Taking a step back, Elena returned to her fighting stance, a smirk curling her lips. Funny, how these guys all had weapons and probably thought of themselves as great fighters, but Elena was handing their asses to them with her bare hands. A small chuckle left her lips at the thought. Pathetic.

The guy she had knocked down didn’t look very happy as he stumbled back to his feet a little unsteadily. He was glaring at her, and she had clearly hurt his pride judging by the look on his face. That made her smile widen a little more. Good. She had her handgun tucked away inside her suit jacket, but she wasn’t going to pull it out unless she really needed to. She preferred hand-to-hand combat to guns anyway, even if she was a talented gunwoman and marksman as well.

The guy before her was now angry beyond belief, it seemed. He just lunged for her this time, seemingly without even thinking first. Blind rage. Before the guy even got close, Elena had turned in a spinning side-kick, her foot connecting with the guy’s face, and a satisfying crack was heard as his jaw presumably broke. She hadn’t gotten into a big fight like this for a while now, and she had to admit that it felt good. Hell, it always felt good to work beside a fellow Turk, even if they were an ex-Turk now, and come out victorious. They hadn’t won just yet, but the men’s numbers were lowering fast and the one’s that remained looked either less sure of themselves, angry or both.

She turned around in time to see one of the other men sneaking up behind Two Guns, a large chain swinging in his grip. Reacting quickly, Elena moved a few steps before leaping a short distance in the air and landing a well-aimed kick to the pressure point on the male’s neck, followed by a series of a few short and quick blows to his chest, head and kidneys. The guy collapsed in a heap on the ground, and by this point Elena and Two Guns were practically back to back with each other. “I don’t think these guys are...quite getting the message,” she said, her head tilted back slightly in Two Guns’ direction. If there was another thing that could separate Elena from her sister, it was her voice. Her voice was ever-so-slightly higher than her sister’s was. Elena also had a slightly prettier face, with her dark eyes and smooth features.

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NOTES !? haha, yay! XD sorry if this post is a little bleh, but...16 POSTS LEFT NOW !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? two guns !?
WORDS !? 708 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

(OOC: 16 left?! Yay!)

Two Guns was definitely confused about the female Turk. He had thought she was Gun but something wasn't quite right here. He'd have to figure that one out once he was out of this sticky situation. It was a stroke of luck that a Turk would happen upon the scene. Maybe her job consisted of finding these creeps? It was an honor to be fighting alongside a Turk once again. There was no better people he'd rather team up with when in such a predicament. Like her, he'd have her back and make sure no harm came to her.

As he disabled another man, he could see in he corner of his eye how the girl was holding out. From what he could recall, Gun wasn't as good when it came to martial arts. This had to be someone else but they looked alike despite the slight differences. He had no idea that it was Elena, Gun's younger sister. It wouldn't be a real surprise to him in that case though. It was a given that Elena was aiming for Turk after she had been rescued in the past by the Turks.

It was good to see that he didn't have to worry too much about his new friend. She easily showed those gangsters who was boss. It was always deeply amusing to see a lady kick a cocky guy's ass. The Turks had plenty of those and he deeply respected them. It took a lot of skill to get into the Turks. Women had it especially tough to get into their ranks and those who did never ceased to surprise him. Ethan didn't mind it, it was more relieving to know he could rely on their help as they could his.

The numbers of their foes was decreasing dramatically between the two of them. It was clear here who was superior and it wasn't the mobsters. The two Turks, the will to survive was always rather strong. They wouldn't allow the enemy to take them down without a fight. Ethan had no intentions of losing, especially now that he was fighting alongside someone else. He wouldn't fail them, whomever they were. He still thought of Gun but there were things that made him wonder still. Once the skirmish was over, he was sure he'd find out soon.

Having just shot a guy point blank in the face whom had attempted to swing a bat at him, Ethan found himself now back to back with the girl. He trusted her completely with his back turned to her as he was certain she trusted him. That was the thing about Turks too. It was trust that helped them work together without fear of being stabbed in the back. True, there were people that did that but the Turks never did their comrades harm. Those that did usually never made it into the Turks. It was what helped separate them from SOLDIER.

Hearing the woman speak, he noted how much lighter her voice was. This definitely wasn't Gun. Gun's voice was deeper sounding and as he side glanced at the girl, Gun's features weren't as pronounced as this lady's. Yet, there was a similarity between the two. "So you're not Gun..." he stated, trailing off as he surveyed the remaining gangsters before them. "Get down, I'll handle this." With that, Two Guns gave his weapons a twirl again. He didn't know why he did this but it was a habit he couldn't break.

He hoped the girl listened to him. He wasn't saying it to insult her like she was useless but make their job a little easier here. "Eat this!" Holding out his guns, one on his right, the other the left, Ethan fired his guns rapidly, turning int a circle as he did so. Even with his hands facing opposite ends, his precision was rather frightening to the eyes of the beholder. There was a reason why his nickname and alias was Two Guns after all.

Once he was done turning about in a full circle, firing rapidly which he managed to take down all but two enemies, he released the empty clips in the blink of an eye and pushed in new ones. Reloaded, he now set his sights on the remaining two men. Having lowered his arms, it was a signal that Elena could stand up fully once again without the threat of getting shot by mistake. "And then there was two!" he murmured.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena’s thoughts were almost solely on the situation at hand, but as she was fighting, she couldn’t help but turn her thoughts a little onto Two Guns. She didn’t know anything about him personally, and instead only his reputation as a Turk, so she was completely unaware about his history and that he had in fact worked for Don Corneo. There weren’t words for how much that man sickened Elena. Treating woman the way he did… It was just wrong, and completely sick. Not to mention the guy was hideous. So go figure that he had to have women captured to get any.

It was definitely making Elena feel a bit better, beating these guys into the ground, especially knowing that they were just as twisted and sick as they had been back a few years ago. Hell, it would have still felt good having the upper-hand like this even if they weren’t who they were, considering they had just sneered at her the moment they had seen her. Sure, she was kinda short and all, but size wasn’t everything, and she was living proof of that. She stood as tall as her more petite frame could, back to back with the taller Two Guns.

“So you’re not Gun…”

Elena shook her head, before opening her mouth to speak. “Name’s Elena,” she said shortly. She wasn’t sure if Gun had ever mentioned her to the other Turks, or if they had ever heard of her reputation as a prodigy at the ShinRa Military Academy. Come to think of it, she had never thought to ask Tseng, Reno or Rude before, either. She didn’t think that her sister was the type to talk about her personal life at work, or at all for that matter. Gun had been, and probably still was, more serious than Elena was, even now. Quite shocking, but it was true. Elena almost looked kind of calm and laid back beside her sister.

“Get down, I’ll handle this.”

Normally, Elena would have liked to protest, but she decided it was better just to listen and so crouched down. If Reno had said something like that, then no, she would have protested, but she held a bit of respect for Two Guns already and she figured it might be better to just listen to what he said. After all, guns were faster than hand to hand combat. She watched as he took out all but two of their enemies, getting to see first-hand just how talented Two Guns was with his firearms. It was most definitely impressive, and that feeling of respect grew a little more.

“And then there was two!”

Elena glanced up at Two Gun’s, moving so that she was standing at his side, and they were both facing the two men that were left. “You take one and I’ll take the other?” she suggested, her voice low so that it didn’t carry far. It was always great to fight alongside a fellow Turk, but she had to admit, that she and Two Guns made quite the team. She would have to ask if he ever planned on re-joining the Turks, because they could definitely use him, and it would be nice to have more Turks around again. She hadn’t been a Turk when all of the rest of them were still there.

One of the guys peered at Elena, his eyes slightly narrowed, before a look of recognition crossed his face. “I thought I recognised you,” he said, a twisted grin appearing on his face. “You’re one of the girls that was kidnapped for the Don a few years ago! You and that Kisaragi girl.” Elena grimaced visibly at that. She didn’t like thinking about that time at all… However, it had resulted in the first time that the Turks and AVALANCHE had ever worked together, in order for them to get herself and Yuffie back. Scowling, Elena muttered to herself, “You know what, screw it…”, quickly pulling out her handgun from the holster inside her suit jacket, and making clean and perfectly aimed shots at both the guys foreheads, hitting them both. Her area of expertise may not exactly be with firearms, but she was a damn good shot.

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NOTES !? crap post is crap, and sorry it took so long =/ but, hee, this thread is so much fun <3 XD !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? Two Guns !?
WORDS !? 697 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

Two Guns raised an eyebrow and blinked when the woman Turk told him who she was. Her name was Elena. Last he knew, hadn't that been the long haired, brown eyed blond the Turks saved some time ago back in the AVALANCHE versus Turks era? If so, it was of no surprise she managed to make it as a Turk. She was that prodigy of that academy. Well, she certainly had the skills to make it this far. His respect for her was stronger. Although back then, she had longer hair than she did now. No wonder he mistook her for Gun seeing as Gun always had her hair short.

He had to give Elena credit though. Her fighting skills surpassed Gun's and she definitely had much cleaner cut hair from what he knew of. "Nice to meet ya, Elena."

Once he had taken down the vast majority of the gangsters, Two Guns was relieved that Elena cooperated with him. It made his shooting less stressful knowing his new friend was out of range. Sure, his accuracy was one to admire but there was always that chance for mistakes. He didn't want it to happen and he accidentally kill someone because of a slip up. True, he never did screw up but he liked to be safe than sorry. After all, their enemy was the gang and not one another. He didn't need to be arrested for accidentally killing a Turk either. Turks took care of their own and were especially hard on those that killed one of their own. The way of the Turk was very strict when it came to looking out for one another but in that sense, made them the best make shift family Ethan ever had.

Down to just two men, Ethan waited as Elena stood up again. The pair of them looked calmly back at the gangsters, sizing them up. Since he had finished reloading, Ethan was prepared for another go. Neither guy would reach them by the time he had his guns raised and they both knew it. Two Guns side glanced at Elena as she spoke in a low tone of voice. She was suggesting he take one while she took the other. "Sounds good to-"! he was cut off short when one of the two men spoke up.

Looking over at the man, he heard what he was saying. Elena had apparently been kidnapped by Don Corneo in the past. Two Gun's dull hazel eyes seemed to grow suddenly frigid and icy. He despised the Don simply because of the way he treated women. Ethan looked then at Elena. Judging by the look on her face, she hadn't been too pleased about the reminder either. Thinking of shooting the guy, Two Guns was quite surprised with what happened next. Instead of him being the one to shoot, Elena had muttered to herself and whipped out her own gun.

In one fluid motion, she took both men out with shots to the head. It happened almost as fast as Ethan would have done it. Blinking, eyebrows raised, than forgot about the old hatred for the Don seeing how Elena handled that situation. In fact, it shocked him, pretty much. Of course, he didn't think the lady incapable or anything like that. He was just surprised that she went ahead and did it. She certainly had some spunk, this Elena. That and she was a very good shot. Ethan admired that in the women Turks. Actually, any woman that used a gun had his respect.

"Whoa, now that's what I call some nice shots!" he stated. It was obvious by his tone of voice that Elena had his respect and admiration for having done such clean shots like she did. "The guys didn't even see it coming!" he added.

Holstering his hand guns, Two Guns finally turned to face the lady Turk. Getting a better look at her, not a perverted one of course, he noted how she appeared to be much better in the looks department than Gun. Keeping his mind from straying, Ethan spared her a smile. "Thanks for the help back there. I didn't think I'd be bumping into a Turk."

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena was always in her element on missions. Missions and fighting were what she was best at. Sure, she was good at the researching part of her job too, but she had been training in martial arts and weaponry from a young age, thanks to her father being a teacher at the ShinRa Military Academy. Some people that didn’t know her or hadn’t seen what she could do had always said that she only got those Elite Emblems because of her father’s status in the school, but she had worked damn hard for those Emblems, and she deserved them. Fighting and missions were just second-nature to her now, and she usually stuck to protocol, but today had been…a little different.

She could remember when she had first joined the Turks, how nervous she had been. And the more nervous she was, the more clumsy she got. Hence for her fumbling with and dropping her gun, and even falling over, on her first mission, being sent after AVALANCHE. Her clumsiness was part of why some people at the Academy hadn’t believed that she could make it, and she knew her father had felt pretty much the same way. Gun was the perfect one. She was smart, a quick-learner, and more sturdy on her feet than Elena had ever been. True, Elena wasn’t quite as clumsy nowadays, but she still had her moments, as well as that horrible knack of hers for getting into trouble.

Elena breathed harshly through her nose in annoyance after shooting the two remaining men. She wouldn’t deny that had felt good to do. They were creeps. Edge is better off without them. She supressed a shudder and kept her back straight, and her face set. She never particularly liked killing people, however, what these guys and the Don had done to women… No, it just made her feel sick. There was a single ounce of regret in her mind about what she had done.

“Whoa, now that’s what I call some nice shots! The guys didn’t even see it coming!”

Glancing up at Two Guns, Elena blinked for a second. In her anger at the two gangsters, she had almost completely forgotten about the ex-Turk’s presence. Her cheeks flushed the smallest amount, tinted slightly pink, at both remembering his presence and the compliment he was giving her shooting skills. Praise was…something not all that common to her. Sure, she got it sometimes, but never from the people really wanted the approval and praise from most. But even a bit of praise like that coming from Two Guns meant quite a bit to her, especially considering guns were his area of expertise. She dipped her head in a small nod, her dark brown eyes looking up at him. “Thank you,” she said shortly, holstering her gun again and moving a bit of her short blonde hair out of her face.

“Thanks for the help back there, I didn’t think I would be bumping into a Turk.”

She shook her head, smiling back at him slightly. She was going to be friendly of course, but she didn’t even know him at all. The Turks from the ‘older days’, before Meteor and everything, she didn’t really know any of them, with the exception of Gun, of course, but in her eyes, she had been aiming to be like them; be just as good as them. Elena was more confident and comfortable with the way she was now compared to back then and her insecurities to do with her sister. It seemed as though she had gotten what she had aimed for. After all, if someone as skilled as Two Guns praised her skills and marksmanship, then that had to stand for something, right? She liked to think that she had gained the respect of the rest of her co-workers too, but she still lacked it from the one person she wanted it from now – Tseng.

Straightening her suit a little, Elena glanced at the men on the ground, her lips twisting slightly in distaste before she looked back up at Two Guns. “Maybe it was lucky you did,” she said, before she realised how that could be taken and she quickly tried to backtrack. “Sorry, I didn’t…I didn’t mean that like -” She stopped herself from saying anything more, a few of her fingers resting over her now closed lips before she could say anything else and embarrass herself any further. The blush on her cheeks got the slightest bit brighter, and she turned her gaze a little awkwardly off to the side. She felt like an idiot, and could only hope that she hadn’t insulted him any.

Clearing her throat a little, she forced the blush off of her cheeks and tried to act like she wasn’t phased all that much. “I was sent to find these guys…to scope things out. True, things haven’t exactly gone to the plan of my mission, but this would have been the eventual outcome of the next one.” She looked at Two Guns again. “They were making quite a bit of trouble around Edge, and for ShinRa.” Her gaze went again to the guys that she had shot. “They deserved what they got.” Elena would feel so much better knowing that these creeps were out of the picture and could never hurt another woman again. A thought occurred to her then, and her dark brown gaze flickered back to the ex-Turk. “What were you doing here anyway?” she asked.

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NOTES !? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I love this thread lol XD !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? two guns !?
WORDS !? 909 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

Ethan: Two Guns
"It's said the second you look into my guns' barrels, you're already dead."

Two Guns had no idea that Elena could be clumsy. From what he saw today, it looked to him like any respectable Turk. Even though she looked like Gun a bit, there clearly was a difference in their skills. Elena outshined Gun in terms of physical combat. Where Gun wasn't bad, she wasn't the best and this girl made that quite obvious in showing what she could do.

When he gave her the compliment, he really meant it. It wasn't often someone else would make such clean shots like that. Well, aside from himself or Gun. Shotgun's rifles were great but she had to be in a more dangerous, closer range to make the shots and her shotguns were more messy than a hand gun would be. It was obvious that he had surprised Elena a little bit. Her face seemed to turn slightly pink in response. Was it modesty?

"You're welcome. It's not every day I see someone make such clean shots like that other than myself." He was speaking the truth. Well, Gun was great herself but he wasn't sure about her speed when it came to that like how Elena did. When it came to speed and precision, Ethan was on the top of that game every time. Seeing someone else do it was interesting to see since not many others could show such skill.

Eventually, Elena straightened herself out before glancing at the gangsters laying dead or unconscious all around them. Hearing her words, he didn't find any real insult. "It's alright, it's not like I'm dumb enough to think I would've handled it all by myself."

He admitted to himself that he had made a foolish mistake. Where he did take out the majority, it was after Elena came and helped him out. If all the guys rushed him at once, he probably would've been in for some real trouble. Putting his guns into their proper holsters, he didn't notice Elena's struggle with herself and her embarrassment. At least, not until he had looked over at her again. Only then did he notice that she appeared to be flustered. "It's alright, I knew I was takin' a risk anyway."

Ethan listened as Elena cleared her throat and went on to explain her situation. She had come here to deal with these gangsters. According to her, they had been causing trouble with Edge and ShinRa as it was. Ethan was keen enough not to ask her what they had to do with ShinRa.

Most of the time, things were classified, it was just better to not question further about it. He was just relieved that he had some back up. He didn't think he would've needed it but he wasn't dumb enough to think he was invincible. He was also glad this lady didn't get hurt trying to help him out. It was his problem, those gangsters. After all, he had been the one who deserted them in the past. It wasn't hard to tell that they still festered negative feelings toward him for doing so. He was someone they had thought they could rely on only for him to have turned his back on them.

He had to agree with Elena, they certainly did deserve what they got. Most of these guys had been perverted and cowardly. They weren't all that different from the Don, himself. In fact, they were so bad, Ethan still got disgusted thinking back on what they could've done to the ladies Don Corneo didn't choose. It was obvious that more than one must've done harm. Pity Two Guns didn't have the experience he did now or hadn't been outnumbered then. He would've done something if he could back then. He blamed himself for having not and often went out of his way to help a lady who needed it.

Then came the question about what he had been doing here. Looking around at the morons, he showed no trace of what had been on his mind. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that he had killed most of them. When he left them, he didn't at all have second thoughts about it unlike how he did with the Turks. The Turks had been the best thing that had ever happened to him. There wasn't a day that passed him by where the Turks didn't come to mind. He wasn't sure though if he'd be accepted back. Seeing Elena here, he wondered if maybe it was a sign. His reasoning behind that was he had been thinking about them quite a lot lately. Having had the chance to fight alongside one, albeit a new Turk, it awakened the old feelings he used to have when with them. Honor and pride were what he felt. Maybe it was time he returned? Would they take him back though?

"They were my old gang. I used to be one of them until I left them for the Turks. I was tired of their politics and them usin' women like they did. They've not forgotten about it and were keen to try and teach me a lesson for deserting them."

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena tucked her hair back behind her left ear for she now had a lack of something to do with her hands. Part of her missed the long hair that Two Guns would probably remember her as having, but she had originally cut it short when she had joined the Turks so it would have been less of a bother to deal with. She had been thinking of maybe growing it out for a while now, but she still wasn’t sure. Two Guns probably just remembered her as that clumsy and idiotic young girl that had managed to get herself kidnapped because she had been too stubborn to call her sister, or anyone else for that matter, for help when she had spotted some dodgy activity.

Of course, she had been saved by the Turks, and...that made this encounter all that more embarrassing. Sure, Two Guns had complimented her skills, and she was grateful and flattered by it, but she almost felt like that young girl again. The one that wasn’t sure of herself, that was clumsy, and that just got herself in trouble or got in the way. Of course, she wasn’t like that anymore, with the exception of some occasional clumsiness and the getting herself in trouble part... But now she had also made a bit of a fool of herself, or so she thought, at least. She hadn’t thought before she had spoken, and had stumbled over her words like a fool. My sister wouldn’t have made a fool of herself like that...

“You’re welcome. It’s not every day I see someone make such clean shots like that other than myself.”

Elena smiled, dipping her head slightly again. It really was flattering to get such comments from someone as skilled as Two Guns. She may not have known the Turks personally when she was younger, but she knew their skills and what they could do very well. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she kept her gaze on him. “I’m not surprised you don’t see it every day,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re very skilled... I could only hope to be so good.” To her, it was the truth. She wasn’t anywhere near as skilled as Two Guns, and basically no one else was either. He was the best gunman that the Turks had before, and in the whole of ShinRa.

“It’s alright, it’s not like I’m dumb enough to think I would’ve handled it all by myself.... It’s alright. I knew I was takin’ a risk anyway.”

She nodded, even though she still felt like an idiot. In her mind, she wasn’t going to live that down, and so decided that she would try and stop herself from making a fool of herself in front of him anymore than she already had. Elena remained acting unphased by her slip-up, although her fingers played a little nervously with the material of the sleeve of her suit jacket from where her arms were crossed. “You don’t need to tell me about taking risks,” she said, laughing slightly. “There’s plenty in this line of work...” But of course he knows that... Elena almost felt she should just stop talking now before she done or said anything else embarrassing... It was only a matter of time, whether she was trying to watch herself or not.

She paused, her gaze going from where it lingered on their surroundings, back to the taller ex-Turk in front of her. “Um, can I ask...do you miss it? Being a Turk, I mean.” She had wondered before, about all the Turks that had left. She cared about Tseng, Rude and Reno, because they were the only other Turks around when she became one, and then they had only had each other and Rufus after Meteor. Elena sometimes wondered how she would cope outside of the Turks, if she ever wanted to lead a ‘normal’ life. But she hadn’t been raised for that kind of life. She had been raised around fighting and the military, with ambitions to be a Turk like her sister. She probably wasn’t cut out for the ‘real world’ either.

“They were my old gang. I used to be one of them until I left them for the Turks.”

At first Two Guns hadn’t shown in his expression to give it away, but when she heard the answer, Elena blinked, eyes going slightly wide. Two Guns was...? If the words hadn’t come directly from his mouth and someone else had said it, she wouldn’t have believed them. Wouldn’t have wanted to. She could easily have guessed that he came from a gang background, like Rod as well, but she would never have guessed that it had been this gang he had came from. Too many thoughts were going through her head at once, and she couldn’t really make sense of anything of them. Before she could really show much of a reaction, however, Two Guns continued to speak.

“I was tired of their politics and them usin’ women like they did. They’ve not forgotten about it and were keen to try and teach me a lesson for deserting them.”

Elena never expected Two Guns to have treated women like the rest of the gang had, so what he said about that came as no surprise. She now felt slightly awkward with this new piece of information. She hated Don Corneo and his gang with a fiery passion, and to think that an ex-Turk that she respected had used to be a member of the gang... It was a little confusing. Of course, however, it was perfectly clear that Two Guns wasn’t like the rest of them at all. If he had been, he wouldn’t have been allowed in the Turks, or the other female Turks would have dealt with him years ago. “Good thing you left them then,” she said slowly, unfolding her arms so that the fingers of her right hand were fiddling with the cuff of her left sleeve.

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NOTES !? hooray for posting in college! XD lmao, I’m still lol’ing at our idea! It’ll be hilarious when we eventually get to do that XDDD sorry if this is a little crap btw lol writing this inbetween parts of class. !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? two guns !?
WORDS !? 994 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

(OOC: I'm trying to reply before college myself XD I have it from 12 to 3:50. Yeah, the idea is darn funny lol It will be amusing.)

Ethan double checked to make sure his guns were safely in their holsters. It wouldn't do him or Elena any good if he accidentally dropped them. Sure, he wasn't using his guns but if they hit something good when being dropped, they could still fire bullets at somebody. Once he was done checking and certain they wouldn't slip, he looked back over at Elena. She was complimenting his skill now.

"I guess you're right, I've yet to meet anyone better than myself." It had been true, he hadn't encountered anyone better than him in his expertise concerning two hand guns. He didn't get it from sitting around though. Two Guns earned the skill, he had originally a natural talent for it but took it and brought it up to the next level in what he did. Having worked hard for it, Ethan's dedication had eventually paid off with flying colors. "That sayin' means something. Practice does make perfect."

Ethan was living proof of that. Hearing what Elena said next about risks, he nodded. Yes, he knew it enough too that the Turks risked their lives every time they went out on a mission even if the danger wasn't obvious at the time or even appeared to be any at all. "Yeah, you're right.." He should've known that she would say something like this. Well, can't blame it for slipping his mind, it had been a long time since he had been a Turk. Of course, he's not that old but it had been years since he was a Turk last.

It wasn't long before Elena questioned him about missing the Turks. There wasn't a day that went by without him remembering those times and the friends he made back then. "At first, I didn't miss risking my life...but it's not easy gettin' used to normal life again." He was speaking the truth, normal life had been too simple and carefree compared to life as a Turk. "There's not a day where I don't think about the Turks and the friends I had then."

Two Guns didn't realize he had surprised Elena. It wasn't like he was one of Don Corneo's men anymore. The Don was long dead and his men, it looked like all of them here were now defeated. He didn't have them to worry about anymore, stabbing him in the back like they did to traitors so many years before. The silence after he had said that made him wonder as he looked over at Elena. Her eyes looked wide a bit in surprise. She didn't know that?

Then again, as a Turk their files and personal history were generally erased from all known files. He was surprised though that none were at least still kept in the classifieds of the Turks bout past Turks. It even made him wonder if she was thinking he would be like his gang. Ethan never sank that low, sure he was in with the wrong crowd but he wasn't the type to ever do that. He hoped she wouldn't clump him together with those fools. It was a relief when Elena finally stated that it was good that he had left them.

"Yeah, it was one of the best choices I ever made. The Turks was another great choice." He meant it too. If it hadn't been for the Turks, the Don probably would've had him killed off a long time ago. Then, there would've never been a Two Guns. Looking at the bodies that littered the ground, Ethan looked to the unconscious men that had been more luckier than their allies. Or were they? Interrogation and prison weren't as good in Ethan's eyes as death probably would be. Not with what ShinRa probably had in store for them.

"...Need help draggin' these idiots around?" he inquired, pointing out the gangsters that were out cold on the ground nearby. Ethan didn't mind giving Elena a hand here. It wasn't like he wouldn't return a favor.

"How's it like with the Turks anyway? Reno and Rude still around?" he asked Elena. Those two had been veterans long before he had joined up with the Turks. He didn't think they were the type to desert the Turk life. Those two, if anyone had Turk pride, it was them.

Tseng, he doubted would ever leave the Turks. The guy was just as dedicated as Veld had been. It was because of Tseng, a man with morals like Veld, that Veld had been able to leave the Turks behind and live somewhere out in the real world and lead a normal life once more. That was what Ethan liked about the Turks too. They didn't kill their own unless they really did something that was unjustifiable. They backed one another up no matter what happened. He missed that life.

'Maybe I can go back?' he wondered.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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“I guess you’re right, I’ve yet to meet anyone better than myself... That sayin’ means something. Practice makes perfect.”

A small chuckle left Elena’s lips. “Oh so modest,” she said, smiling at him jokingly. Despite what some people (Reno) may think, she could laugh a little and joke, even if it wasn’t very often. She was getting a little tired of working so hard for Tseng’s approval lately, however, and so had decided to...not quite relax, but something along those lines. Take a break from trying to impress him or gain his trust, because nothing seemed to be working, when she had been trying for years. It was rather depressing, when she thought about it. She hadn’t even seen all that much of him lately anyway. She nodded at the latter of what he said. Practice really did make all the difference – she knew that from her martial arts training. She may have been kind of short, and had a petite frame, but with all the hard work she put into her training, she came out on top with five Elite Emblems and being by far the best of her class.

“Yeah, you’re right...”

Elena wondered if she had said something wrong or a little too much when Two Guns trailed off the way he did. Her barely noticeable fidgeting still hadn’t ceased yet, and she tilted her head slightly to the side as she looked at him, a little bit of her hair falling out from behind her left ear again, as she pursed her lips her lips slightly. She was tempted to say something, but she let it be for now. If he wanted to say anything more, he would.

“At first, I didn’t mind risking my life...but it’s not easy gettin’ used to normal life again. There’s not a day where I don’t think about the Turks and the friends I had then.”

“Hmm,” she said, in a manner of agreeing with what he was saying. “Training is...all I’ve ever known my whole life. I don’t even know what ‘normal’ is in the first place, really. But, I suppose that’s what comes from having had a teacher at the Military Academy as a father.” Elena could easily say that she probably wouldn’t have lasted as long as the other Turks had in the ‘real world’. Fighting and missions were what she knew, and what she wanted. She may not have been a Turk back then when Two Gun’s had been, but she had known how close they all were.

Sometimes though, within the Turks they had right now, Elena felt like the outcast. She was the odd one out – clumsy, not as skilled as the others, and she hadn’t been around for very long. Elena had no one to blame for that but herself, however, as she had once refused to be employed by the Turks whilst her sister was still one. If it hadn’t been for that sibling rivalry, Elena would have been a Turk much sooner. But instead, her stupid rivalry with her sister, her own insecurities and her stubbornness had caused for her to decline the offer of employment. She only got offered it again when Reno had gotten injured fighting AVALANCHE, so they had been low on numbers.

Ever since she had first joined the Turks she had felt like she didn’t fit in as well as the others, but she couldn’t blame them for that, because they had known each other a lot longer and she was just the ‘new kid’. It stung to think about, but sometimes she didn’t feel like she was really part of that ‘family’ that the Turks were to each other. It seemed Reno only viewed her as an annoyance, and no matter what she done she couldn’t seem to get Tseng’s approval or trust. Rude cared at least a little, she knew, and she hadn’t really spoken to Cissnei properly yet. Despite all of that though, she did care about them, even if she wasn’t exactly the best at showing it. “I couldn’t imagine my life without the others now...”

“Yeah, it was one of the best choices I ever made. The Turks was another great choice.”

Elena nodded. “The best choice.” She paused for a second as she thought. “I was there when he died, you know. Don Corneo, I mean,” she said. Even if he was an ex-member of the gang, nothing much had been known to people outside of ShinRa about what had happened, except that the Don was dead. “Him and his men – a few of these guys, actually – kidnapped me and another girl when I was in Wutai. The other girl, Yuffie Kisaragi, was a member of AVALANCHE at the time... You know all this resulted in AVALANCHE and the Turks working together to get me and Yuffie back?”

It had been an odd sight to see, from where she had been strapped to the stone eye, while Yuffie had been strapped to the other eye. She wasn’t going to lie and say that she wasn’t grateful when she saw Reno, Rude and AVALANCHE, however. She was just relieved that she had gotten help, because she didn’t even know if ShinRa knew what had happened to her at the time. The Don made her stomach turn, and feel sick, especially when he was trying to choose between her and Yuffie. When he had threatened to pick her, Elena had yelled and tried to struggle against her bindings in vain. She could admit it; that whole experience had scared her. She had never felt that helpless before then.

“...Need help draggin’ these idiots around?”

Elena smiled at that, grateful for the offer. “The clean-up crew can deal with...that lot,” she said, waving her hand vaguely in the direction of the men that were lying dead on the ground. “Those two...” She pointed at the two men she had fought near the alleyway at the side of the building she had been hiding in. “...are just stunned and unconscious. They can go in for questioning. You can help me get them back, if you want.” Absently, she thought to herself that she didn’t want to have to deal with those interrogations. Some interrogations could get messy, and it was usually better left to Tseng, Rude or Reno. Elena remembered that the first time she had witnessed a serious interrogation, she had felt like she was going to be sick.

“How’s it like with the Turks anyway? Reno and Rude still around?”

Laughing a little, Elena nodded. “Of course they’re still around. I don’t think they’ll ever leave.” Although sometimes I wish Reno would... Her lips twisted slightly as she thought about how to answer his question. “It’s...been interesting, that’s for sure.” She chuckled slightly, before continuing. “Although I imagine much hasn’t changed since you were there, because Reno’s still pranking, Rude’s still silent, and Tseng’s still...serious.” Tucking her hair back behind her ear again, she lifted her cellphone out of her pocket so that she could call HQ in a moment to request a clean-up crew be sent out. “Cissnei came back not all that long ago, as well –”

She was cut off as her cellphone started to ring in her hand. Looking at the display, she saw who it was that was calling and groaned inwardly. “And so did he,” she finished her sentence, lifting the phone up so that Two Guns could see who it was that was calling. Finally answering the phone before it could stop ringing, Elena flipped it open and placed it to her ear. “Rod, you do realise that I could have been in the middle of a mission? Luckily for you, I’m finished. ...No, don’t give me that. Ro - ....No. Are you not hearing me? No, don’t you – don’t you dare!” She placed a hand on her forehead and sighed in frustration. “If I find anything out of place or missing, you’re dead.” She snapped the phone shut and looked up at Two Guns. “I swear, between him and Reno, I’m going to have grey hair in no time.”

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NOTES !? once again saying it.... I.LOVE.THIS.THREAD. XD and omg, SO MUCH MUSE O: lolz, I had to include Rod somehow <3 !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? two guns !?
WORDS !? 1345 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

Ethan: Two Guns
"It's said the second you look into my guns' barrels, you're already dead."

Ethan had merely gone into thought for a short moment. It had nothing to do with what having been said, well sort of. If anything, it made him remember the stupid risk he took in jumping in front of a train for the thrill of it. Any normal person would've looked at him like he was crazy. People like himself, like Rod for instance, would find it highly amusing. Risks like that were nothing to them. Ethan and Rod normally risked their lives long before taking up the Turk profession.

He let Elena at least know he knew what risks were. Oh boy did he know it. It had been his life, even the train incident. Two Guns just couldn't stand the free life. There wasn't enough going on to satisfy him. There was something more he was searching for and that was the thrill of the action. He could only get it in a job similar to the Turks. However, he'd rather go with the Turks again and not the low slum life once again. Ethan had enough of that sort of life to last him a life time. He didn't want to have to see someone else like Don Corneo doing the things he did. The mere thought of someone maybe being like his former boss disgusted him. Hopefully, there wasn't anyone else like that perverted slob. The Planet could do without one.

Two Guns looked back at Elena as she went on to discuss what life had been like for her. Apparently, all her life she knew nothing else than training and this line of work. Well, they weren't that different but even Ethan knew he had at least some freedom before becoming what he was today. Elena probably never had that sort of freedom. "Even as a young child?" he asked her, unable to help himself. He was curious of that kind of life. If this were someone related to Gun, it would explain a lot to him as to why Gun acted the way she did.

"It's been damn boring without seeing any of them!" he admitted. Ethan even considered finding Rod a few times. He and the hothead usually related to one another easily considering their backgrounds. It was because of their past that the two were reckless and both had been known for it aside from their skills. They gave Tseng and the former president trouble in their day. Of course, nothing serious, just their mischievous side was enough to drive those two nuts. Even Shuriken, Cissnei, had a time and especially when they were in the same company as Reno. The three of them were a nightmare to those more serious than they.

He looked up at Elena when she mentioned Don Corneo, how she had been there when the fat bastard died. Curious to hear how it had been done, he listened. Apparently, the Don had captured her and a girl named Yuffie. A girl whom had been with AVALANCHE. That name again, Two Guns remembered how nasty ties with AVALANCHE used to be in the days of Elfe. Yet, the way Elena described it, the Turks and AVALANCHE had been forced to cooperate.

"That's...strange. Having known the original AVALANCHE, I'm not sure what to think here." He was being honest. Ethan remembered AVALANCHE as the enemy. The thought of working together with them wasn't something he would ever adjust to easily. He hated them for the things they did. They tried hurting people to gain the things they wanted. True, the Turks weren't all that much different from them but at that time, they had been in the right to stop them. Harming others to gain such goals for the Planet was just crazy.

When Elena finally responded to his offer, Ethan smirked. "Alright then, I'll help you out. It's the least I could do." As for the dead lot, he figured that would be the case. The Turks were quite able when it came to disposing of bodies. Walking over to one of the unconscious men, he listened as Elena told him about Reno and Rude. The two, as he had thought, hadn't left and were still there. Those two guys just loved their jobs. It made Two Guns smile. How predictable!

"Now that you mention it, I don' think there'll be a time where we'll her either left!" he said with a chuckle. Tseng, Rude and Reno were still the same as ever it seemed judging by what Elena was saying. Cissnei had returned too. It made Two Guns raise an eyebrow in curiosity. She had been the free bird out of them, the one who had longed for a free life and would've enjoyed the normal life a lot better than he or any of the other retired Turks.

They were interrupted by Elena's cell phone setting off. Watching her lift the phone, to check who was calling, Elena made a comment about someone having returned. Raising an eyebrow curiously, he looked at what the phone was saying on the screen. 'Rod' had been the name it was displaying as it rang. Already, Ethan was smiling to himself in amusement. Rod had quite the way of getting on people's nerves. Ethan had to be one of the very few who tolerated the guy and actually got along fine with him. The two had been best buds practically. As he listened to what Elena was saying, it made him wonder what Rod was getting into.

"Uh...what did he do?" he asked her curiously. Judging by her reaction, Ethan was able to tell she wasn't the type that enjoyed too much joking around. With Reno AND Rod, Ethan could see why.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena had taken a few risks of her own in her life. Like, for example, going after those Ravens by herself all those years ago, when she wasn’t even a Turk yet, and then it resulting in her being kidnapped and held hostage. She thought things through most of the time now, but back then, she had been fixated on becoming better than her sister, so had thought to herself that that had been her chance to prove herself. But, of course, things hadn’t worked out like she had wanted them to. Nowadays, she thought things through a lot more, and of course her sister wasn’t around anymore either, so that eliminated the rivalry. Unless her sister decided to come back, that is.

“Even as a young child?”

Nodding her head, Elena sighed slightly. “Not the easiest way to grow up, but it was all I knew,” she said honestly. With her father being a teacher at the Military Academy, there had been a lot of pressure on herself and her sister to do well. Gun had made it look easy, however, and their father had favoured her because she was so talented, even training her himself, since his area of expertise had been firearms also. Gun had ended up surpassing their father in skill eventually, which left Elena with a lot to live up to. “It was…difficult. But I wouldn’t change it if I could, because without that then I wouldn’t be what I am today.” It was true. Even though she resented her sister because of their rivalry, it was that very rivalry that made her strive to become better and without it, she probably wouldn’t have tried so hard.

“It’s been damn boring without seeing any of them!”

She laughed a little, before opening her mouth to speak. “I imagine it would be,” she said. She had to admit, as much as Reno, and now also Rod, drove her crazy, it would be perhaps too quiet without them around. Almost dull. Everyone would get a hell of a lot more work done, she was sure, but…in the end, they were the ones that brought some life into the place when things got quiet or boring, even if she found it annoying. As much as they could make her annoyed and press all her buttons, Elena still cared about all the Turks; every single one of them. They were the only people she really had left apart from her sister, and she hadn’t even spoken to her sibling in years.

“That’s…strange. Having known the original AVALANCHE, I’m not sure what to think here.”

Elena nodded in understanding. She hadn’t been entirely sure what to think either, when she had seen that AVALANCHE and the Turks had been working together. “If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have gotten me or Yuffie back,” she said simply, shrugging slightly. “The AVALANCHE then and now aren’t as bad as the original. Sure, they were still sabotaging ShinRa, but they weren’t harming innocent people. AVALANCHE is…pretty much no longer a group now. Or, I should say, they still are but they’re not terrorists. If it wasn’t for them, Meteor would have hit and Gaia would have been destroyed.” Everyone would be dead if it wasn’t for AVALANCHE and Cloud, and Elena could appreciate that. They had saved the planet, and she was grateful to them for that.

“The Don…” she continued, back on their original subject. “ShinRa had been after him at the time. Reno and Rude ended up making him fall off the mountains in Wutai, where he had me and Yuffie tied up…” Her voice trailed off a little as her dark brown eyes broke the contact they had held with Two Guns’ own eyes, shifting off the to the side slightly. That whole situation had made her scared, because she had felt helpless and she didn’t know if anyone was coming to help them. Although…she remembered Reno’s words of ‘It’s our job’ being his reasoning for coming after the Don, so she had to wonder if that had really been the case, or if he had actually cared any.

“Now that you mention it, I don’ think there’ll be a time where we’ll hear either left!”

A small smile tugged at Elena’s lips. She had to admire Reno and Rude’s dedication to the job, as well as Tseng’s. All of them were so loyal to ShinRa, to the Turks, and to Rufus, and they had still stuck it out even through the hard times, including after Meteor, herself included. Reno, Rude and Tseng had been around in ShinRa years before herself, and she only hoped to have even half of their dedication to their jobs. She could never see herself leaving the company as long as she lived. This had been all she had known, really, lifestyle-wise, and it would be too difficult to adjust to anything else besides being a Turk. All of the Turks had been loyal to the company, and to each other, but Reno, Rude and Tseng had been the only ones not to leave.

Her nose wrinkled in annoyance as she had hung up on Rod. She didn’t know him all that well yet, but apparently that didn’t stop him from acting like a clown and annoying her almost every chance he got. He was certainly a character, she would give him that much. Elena could also clearly see where Reno had influenced Rod, both in behaviour and with weapon choice. It had also taken her aback a little when she had first met him how Rod and Reno also looked a bit alike.

“Uh…what did he do?”

Elena looked back at Two Guns when he spoke. She looked down at the phone in her hand before sighing. “He wouldn’t say exactly what he was doing... Just giving idle threats and hints that he was in my office, and might give it a ‘make-over’.” She dreaded to think what the hell he would do to her office. If whatever it was made a mess, she would be personally making sure that he cleaned every bit of it up himself, however. “He seems to have taken it upon himself to annoy me every chance he gets,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Although that’s probably because he would get more of a reaction from me than anyone else...”

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NOTES !? sorry this took a while! >< !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? two guns !?
WORDS !? 1101 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Ethan (Two Guns)]

Ethan: Two Guns
"It's said the second you look into my guns' barrels, you're already dead."

Ethan listened to Elena as she explained her situation. How that it hadn't been the easiest thing but it had been all she had known. Hearing that, Two Guns felt somewhat bad. Where he ended up in the crime life in the past, his childhood at least hadn't been that rough. Ethan at least got to be a kid when he was a kid. He did have some issues with his family but who didn't? Almost everyone had a problem with their families. They were all human. If there had been one with absolutely no issues, then it was an unhealthy thing. It meant that they were holding secrets from one another. Ones that were also fighting a hell of a lot meant they needed to get away from each other. Either or was an unhealthy family.

Hearing what she said about it, Ethan guessed that had been a good thing then. It made her what she was now. He just hoped it didn't cripple her in other things though. It would be a pity if it did. Two Guns, even though he had just met Elena compared to the past, could already tell she was a good person. Definitely better than Gun who was always stuck up. Despite Gun's attitude problem, all the Turks respected each other. They would defend one another through thick and thin. They were a family despite not being related by blood.

"I guess you're right abou' that. I wouldn't be here today either if I hadn't been through the Don first." He considered that at least that had been good about his being one of Don Corneo's men. It gave him a good enough title to bring attention to himself from the Turks. As soon as he had left the Don, the Turks recruited him. His fame as a good shot had been enough to grab their attention. He was happy they had wanted him and he had accepted the offer. If he didn't, he wouldn't be here probably.

When the subject turned to AVALANCHE, Ethan listened to what Elena was saying. It sounded like a load of crap to him but he guessed she was telling the truth. Elena didn't seem to be the type to lie about something like that. Two Guns would take her word for it then. If it meant they had turned for the better, then by all means let it be so. Ethan preferred not to duke it out with them again if he could help it. The whole Elfe business had been quite hectic.

"Huh, guess I'll find out for myself then if we ever come across them." If Elena caught on to what he was implying, she'd realize he was thinking of returning to the Turks. Life seemed better that way even though he tended to struggle with politics and protocol. At least he wouldn't be struggling as much as he did with normal life or bored out of his mind. Boredom hadn't been a very healthy thing in his case. It had caused him to literally jump in front of a moving train.

Then, things turned onto Don Corneo again. Two Guns couldn't help but find it a fitting death for the Don. Falling off the Wutai mountainous statue sounded like a very good thing. He felt he deserved it considering the dirty and nasty things he did in the past to others. "Glad they took him out then. It's abou' time he paid for the things he did." The way Ethan said it, it came off as firm but casual. A hint that he hadn't respect for the blond mafia boss he once worked under. The memory disgusted him.

Seeing Elena look away, he guessed it was a subject she'd rather no longer discuss. Having been tied up, Ethan guessed she had a right to not want to. Knowing the Don, he probably wanted to choose between the ladies and kill one of them. It only seemed like it. He didn't dare ask Elena further on the subject. "I always hated what that scumbag did to ladies, it wasn' right." He meant that too. Ethan always hated to see a new batch of women come into the Don's mansion. They were always exploited.

It went quiet between them for a moment. Not being great with words to begin with, Ethan didn't want to try and say something then. If he did, he was afraid it would come out as insulting or demeaning. Two Guns always had that problem and especially with higher ups or politicians. He especially had a hard time even talking to the former President. Having been in a crime world, it was hard to stick to protocol. Having gone to the normal life, what little he had learned during his time with the Turks in terms of protocol had flown out the window.

As for the Rod subject, Ethan really wondered what the gingerhead was up to. Rod was like Reno, he would get into all sorts of things. Not that Ethan was any different. If anything, he was more serious than Rod but good tempered enough to have the same potential in causing mayhem. Listening to what Elena was saying, Ethan could already guess what that entailed. Rod was certainly going to do something to Elena's office. There was no doubt in Two Gun's mind. Rod would definitely hold true to his word when it came to things like this.

"Oh boy, sounds like he means business!" he stated. Knowing Rod, he would leave Elena quite a thing to deal with whenever she got back. What though, he probably will never find out. What Elena said next, he guessed Rod would be the type to annoy someone every chance he got. Especially if they reacted amusingly to it. Elena even admitting it was because of that made him see it now. "Yeah, he's the type to do it if he knows you'll react that way."