Riza showed up for work early that morning. Since Roy was always there before she was, she decided that he could go ahead and give her her assignments early.
As she turned the corner to HQ she felt something cold and wet hit her cheek, then her hand, then her nose. Quickly she pulled out her umbrella. 'Great,' she thought. 'Now Roy will be in a bad mood. He always gets cranky when it rains.'
Umbrella in hand she crossed the street. After the car in front of her moved, she saw two men in dark military cloaks obscuring something lying on the sidewalk. They were crouching next to the ground and muttering words that Riza could not hear.
Splashing through the rest of the street and up to the sidewalk, Riza caught more of their conversation.
"No pulse," said one man. "Not that I can feel anyway." Riza recognized him as Lt. Fury.
"Dang, what did this man get himself into?" Havoc wondered aloud. "What are you standing there for, Fury? Get the doctor or nurse or something."
"What happened?" Riza approached Havoc.
Havoc's eyes were starting to become glassy and wet. "We,... we found him on the steps here..." he stammered.
Riza moved Havoc aside with a shove to see just who it was who was dead on the stairs.
Black hair and unseeing matching coal eyes greeted her.
Roy.
It was Roy.
She knelt beside him.
Rain was collecting on his face and running down his nose like false tears. A memory of Hughes's grave forced it's way into her head.
Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled out a handkerchief and whiped away the water droplets.
"He hates rain..." she muttered. Turning to Havoc she yelled, "Get him inside! Help me get him inside!"
Havoc hung his head. He knew nothing could help Roy now, but he obeyed Riza. He had seen her upset and angry too many times and knew better than to disobey her.
Leaving her umbrella abandoned on the side walk, she gently cradled Roy's head and shoulders as she and Havoc carried him out of the rain and laid him on the table in the break room.
Riza noticed a dark red stain of blood flowing from Roy's chest. As huridly as possible, yet still gentle, Riza stripped of Roy's coat and tore open his shirt. There were two bullet holes. Each flowing with bright red blood. "It's bright," she muttered to Havoc.
"Then he's still alive." Then lowering his voice so she wouldn't here he added, "for a little while."
Lt. Fury stormed into the room with a white haired older man in a white coat and a bag of doctor's tools.
The man turned to the Lieutenant. "It's worse than you told me. There's no time to get him to the hospital. I'll have to operate here.
Handing a pair of gloves to the three subordinates, he stated, "You'll have to help me.