"They're a hell of a lot easier to handle than those Schwarz sonsofbitches. And I can actually stand Strife and his merry band for more than two seconds."

Mostly. He'd gotten used to them, anyway. But it was easy to forget that Elena had never really even met this version of AVALANCHE, technically. She was probably more familiar with the original group.

"Anyway." Reno flicked a stray lock of hair out of his eyes with an absent finger. "I dunno how it's gonna go down, but I'm sure we can afford to separate you from Highwind."

As long as he stayed with Rufus, he didn't give a damn about much else.