Title: Dancing with the Turks
Author: Ladyofshadow
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word count: 884
Summary: Tseng and Elena pull guard duty on Rufus as he attends an event with ballroom dancing.
Elegant twirls of chiffon and lace decorated the ballroom as the rich and elite gathered for a night of frivolity.
Tseng stood stoically beside Rufus who was eyeing the festivity with an air of boredom. His bodyguard had no doubt that his father had ordered him to attend so that Shinra displayed its face in the social hierarchy. It was a foolish thing to do in his opinion, given that several assassination attempts had been made on the Shinra heir earlier in the week.
He took a glass offered to him by Elena and gave a thankful nod before he sipped its contents.
Elena drained her glass and muttered, “How much longer do we have to stay here? All this dancing is making me dizzy.”
“We’ll stay until we see another upper class family take their leave,” Tseng replied. “Unfortunately I believe the amount of alcohol imbibed by a majority of the partygoers will distort their sense of time.”
“Great,” Elena said, slamming the glass down on a passing tray before she took another. The server startled at the force, but smiled pleasantly to the moderately irate woman.
“Just relax,” Tseng said, “it could be worse.”
A primly dressed young woman approached Rufus and gave him the once over before she extended her hand. “Rufus Shinra, I expect a gentleman to ask the lady to dance, but since you are shyly sitting in this corner, I shall take the initiative. May I entice you to dance?”
“Of course, my Lady,” Rufus said. “Forgive my rudeness for not asking you sooner.”
“Sir?”
“I’ll be fine Tseng, it’s just a dance.” Rufus stood and bowed politely to the woman before he led her onto the dance floor.
“A trap?”
“I’m not sure,” Tseng said quietly to Elena. “Let’s follow him to make sure.” He extended his hand to Elena and bowed.
She nearly choked on her second glass of wine. “You’re not serious?”
“This is the only way to ensure his safety,” Tseng said, disengaging the wine glass from her hand. “Just follow my lead. You do it in the field and I have confidence you can do similar on the dance floor. Besides, I’ve noticed you calculating the steps in your head as if it were a strategy to be formulated.”
Elena raised an eyebrow. “You were watching me? I thought your job was to watch the boss?”
“I can multi-task,” Tseng said. “Now come along, they’re entering the fray.”
He pulled her close and gently clasped her hands. He murmured the steps softly to her and was pleasantly surprised by her grace. Her skirt fluttered delicately above her knees and Tseng noticed the lighter fabric tailored for this event did wonders to accent the feminine features that were normally hidden beneath the Turk standard uniforms.
“Where did you learn to dance, Tseng?”
“Where did you get that perfume, Elena?”
He felt Elena stiffen. “…Tseng.”
“I know, Reno is not to hear a word of this or he’ll never let you live it down,” Tseng chuckled.
He watched her relax and the discomfort between them was gone. Another couple edged against them and Tseng pulled her closer, their cheeks touching for a brief moment. He caught the raised eyebrow of Rufus across the room and rolled his eyes at the way his boss stared at them, the curiosity evident in his features.
“Southeast corner,” Elena said into his ear.
“I see them,” Tseng whispered. “Keep close.”
He wrapped one of his arms tightly around her waist as they took long strides across the floor, swaying to the orchestra’s bittersweet melody. Her hand slowly trailed down his arm, fingers trembling at his waist band before they dug into the fabric.
He loosed her from his grip for a twirl and his weapon was pulled from the hidden holster. Elena pressed its shaft against another dancer’s temple, while holding fast to Tseng’s hand.
“Cease your activity and drop your weapons,” she said.
Tseng drew a gun from his shoulder holster and pointed it at the woman beside Rufus. “Sir, please disengage from the Lady and alert the guards of this facility that we have exposed the assassins.”
The music stopped and the hurried whispers of the inebriated elite filled the ballroom as the assassins were secured and disarmed.
“You two certainly put on quite the performance,” Rufus said. “It certainly relieved my boredom.”
“Mr. Shinra, are you trying to say that the appearance of assassins was the high point of your evening?”
Rufus smiled to Elena. “Actually the sight of you two dancing was a treat.”
“Sir, with all due respect, it was for your protection,” Tseng said, “and I doubt it will ever happen again, given the circumstances.”
“Right, of course,” Rufus said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. “It’s a good thing I recorded this event, then.”
Elena blanched.
Tseng closed his eyes for a moment to maintain his composure. He envisioned Rufus rewinding the tape and then putting it in slow motion to capture the more intimate moments of their dance. He banished that thought from his mind and rationalized that Rufus was going to review the tape for security purposes.
However, an ominous sparkle in Shinra’s eyes and the slightest evidence of a smirk did not bode well for his rationale.