Nothing but Trouble
Injury and Opportunity
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Sadly I don't own FMA anime or manga, so there!
Anyway, here's chapter two of this story. I hope you enjoy it!
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"So you're probably wondering what's going on," she said.
"Yeah, I am," he told her before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Well," she began. "I was hired by a client to follow her husband, who she suspected of adulterous acts. She's such a wonderful woman and she didn't deserve the kind of betrayal I saw. So I beat the crap out of him because he deserved it!"
He could have sworn he saw her grow fangs and her eyes glow red.
Then she turned sad.
"I hate scumbags like that. I make sure they get what's coming to them…"
She trailed off and let out a little sigh.
"Be…ca…"
"Anyway, the detective agency is the fire floor and upstairs is home," she said, changing the subject.
Havoc let his gaze roam across the kitchen. She kept it clean and orderly.
"You sure do keep it clean here," he commented.
Beca started laughing.
'Did I say something funny?' he wondered.
She saw the look on his face and laughed even harder.
"I couldn't keep a bird cage clean if my life depended on it. My friend cleans up for me. I don't want to waste my time picking things up…"
'She's…different, but that's not bad,' Havoc thought.
Beca cleared her throat, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Now that I've explained myself, can you promise me that you won't reveal my secret identity?"
"What are you? A frikin superhero?" he joked.
"No, just a defender of women's pride!" she said with a raised fist.
Havoc raised an eyebrow with an amused expression on his face.
He didn't know what it was with this woman. Usually, he'd get to flirting with a pretty girl right from the start, and a little desperately, he had to admit.
But with her, things seemed to happen easily, naturally, and he liked this difference. He didn't have a good track record. He always got rejected. There had been Grace, the girl from the flower shop, but Mustang took her.
And he'd thought she was just playing hard to get. There had been a nurse that he'd liked who had looked a little interested, but he was rejected as soon as she saw Mustang. Armstrong's little sister shot him down cold because he wasn't freakishly muscular!
'There's no way she'd go for a guy like me…' he thought with a sigh.
"Havoc sure does seem bummed," Breda whispered to Fuery.
"Definitely woman problems!" Falman said from behind them.
"And how do you know that?" they asked.
"Bad question…" Fuery mumbled.
"Yeah, he always has woman problems…" Breda said.
Falman sat down behind them.
"I wonder who's rejected him this time…" he said more to himself than to the others.
Havoc was in such a daze that his cigarette fell out of his mouth. Falman, Fuery, and Breda watched and waited. It took about ten seconds for Havoc to notice the cigarette burning him.
"Ah!" Havoc yelled, jumping up and stomping on the cigarette, which had fallen onto the floor.
Beca sat the bag of groceries down on her table and began to put them away. After Havoc left, she'd decided to do some shopping.
Havoc was an interesting character, different from the rural men she had been raised around. The city was definitely different, better than she'd imagined it'd be.
After putting some fresh fruit into a bowl on the table, she went to the window and looked up at the clouds. The weather was nice yet again. That was a few days earlier. Now she sat in the space she called her office, thinking back.
She seemed to keep running into him more and more lately. Ever since she'd met him, she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was strange, something she'd never really experience before.
He was handsome, polite, heroic, and he didn't flirt with her shamelessly. All of these were great, but not what she liked the most.
Her favorite thing about him had to have been those amazingly blue eyes.
When she looked into those eyes, she couldn't think clearly, couldn't breathe.
She lost herself in his eyes.
"Ms. Hicks," her boss, Doctor Hoff, called.
She didn't hear him.
"Ms. Hicks," he repeated, a little louder this time.
"Hmm?"
She suddenly noticed how spaced out she was and blushed.
"I'm sorry Mr. Hoff. You needed something?"
He wouldn't commented on her distracted state, but he was in a hurry.
"We have a problem," he began. "A few soldiers were injured and they're being brought here soon. I need you to be ready. Go round up the nurses on duty while I get prepared."
"I understand, sir," she said as she stood up and hurried out of her office.
Two nurses were on duty, Marie and Grace.
"Marie, Grace!" Beca called as she rounded a corner. They had gone to get a cup of coffee.
"What's wrong?" Grace asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Doctor Hoff says there are injured soldiers being brought in now. We need to have everything ready for when they get here!"
They hurried to the empty rooms and prepared the beds and everything else. The door opened as soon as they finished.
Dr. Hoff came in followed by at least fifteen injured soldiers.
"Doctor!" Beca said, surprised. "You said it'd be a few, but this is well over ten!"
The doctor helped them get the injured to the beds.
"I myself didn't know it'd be this many," he replied.
Some of them limped in weakly and others were on stretchers. Among them, Beca noticed, was a familiar man with blonde hair.
"Havoc!" she called, hurrying over to him.
The room was filling up quickly. She had to get him to the next one. She pulled his arm across her shoulder and supported him, helping him get to the next room and to a bed.
Beca helped him lie down and hurried to a phone to call a few more nurses in to assist. There were far too many injured for the current staff to tend to.
Among those in the second room were Havoc, Fuery, Breda, and Falman.
She was confident she could take care of them on her won since the others had injuries that were more severe.
It was late and here she was, still at work. She was having a drink of coffee when she heard Havoc groan.
Sitting her cup down, she got up and hurried to his bed. She placed her hand on his head and left, coming back with a bowl of cold water and a washcloth.
After getting the cloth wet and wringing it out, she placed it over his forehead.
He opened his eyes and looked up at her.
"Fancy meeting you here," he said quietly with a smile.
She returned the smile for his benefit.
He groaned and put a hand on his side.
"I should change your bandages and get you some pain pills. I'll be right back."
She left again and returned with bandages, a small cup of water, and a couple of pills. He sat up weakly and she helped him out of his shirt, which he wasn't supposed to have on.
She sat down next to him and proceeded to remove the bandages. Slowly, carefully, she removed the bandages before gently replacing them. She hurt him as little as she could.
He was still in pain, but he had to admit that feeling her soft hands against his skin made being injured worthwhile.
She finished and then handed him the pills and the cup. He swallowed the pills and water obediently and then lied back down.
She sat there, silent. Minutes passed by.
"Havoc…" she said quietly, finally speaking. "Can I ask you something?"
"You can call me Jean," he mumbled. "What do you want to know?"
She looked into his eyes.
"What happened to you guys out there? How did you all get so injured?"
Havoc waited a couple of minutes before answering, trying to collect his thoughts.
"I can't really say," he answered. "It happened so suddenly. We were told that there was an oncoming task force that would be attempting an assault on headquarters."
"Who would be so crazy?" she asked.
"Not sure yet. We've never really had good ties with the north, though."
"That's true," she commented.
Beca stood up and walked over to the window and opened it about halfway.
The cool air rushed in, soothing her skin which had gotten a little too warm.
Havoc watched as the wind ran its fingers through her long black hair, as soft long strands flew over her shoulder.
He could not place words to the scene, but it was still something poetic.
Seeing her soft skin bathed in the moonlight brought a song to his mind. He was sure he'd never head the song before, but it called to him and it felt so familiar.
She stepped away from the window and went to the bowl of water and picked up the cloth.
"There was a bright light and a loud noise. That's the last thing I can remember before I started to come here."
She dropped the cloth and looked at him.
"Some kind of explosives?"
He nodded.
"We're not going to war, are we?"
Havoc looked towards the window.
"I can't be sure, but I don't think so."
He looked back at her and saw her pick the cloth up again.
"Besides, even if we did go to war, I'd protect you with my life."
Her eyes widened and she could feel herself blush. Even though it was dark, he could see her face redden. She wrung out the cloth and placed it over his head.
"You need your rest. Get some sleep…Jean."
With that said, Beca left the room. Havoc watched her leave, watched her until the door closed behind her. On the other side of the door, Beca had a shaky hand placed over her rapidly beating heart.
She remembered his words. They echoed in her head.
'I'd protect you with my life.'
"Jean," she said quietly.
His name on her lips brought a blush to her face.
In the darkness, she smiled.
