DISCLAIMER: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist Brotherhood nor do I claim to. I just like the show/manga and wanted to write a little something for it.
_[ STORY ]_
Havoc was finishing his lunch when Major Armstrong walked up to him, "hello," the alchemist greeted.
"Hey, what are you doing here Major?" Havoc asked, "have a seat."
"Thank you, I came to bring Mustang some paperwork from General Grumman I mean Führer Grumman," Armstrong corrected, "in regards to the Festival and transfer next year."
"Nice, well the Colonel is in the office…"
"I already went by, and he was not," Armstrong interrupted, "with it being the lunch hour I thought he would be here, but alas he is not."
"He said he didn't want lunch and had stayed in the office," Havoc said, "maybe he went somewhere, and you missed him. I'm done with my food so we can head back now I just got to grab coffee for the Colonel."
Havoc rose from his seat, Armstrong made to follow as the lights cut out the few people gathered grew silent.
Minutes ticked by, "the backup generated should have kicked in by now," Armstrong said.
"The backup generator was what just cut out," Havoc said digging his lighter from his pocket, "let's swing by the Armory and get some flashlights we can pick up Riza as well then head to the office to grab the Colonel. Maybe we'll run into him along the way."
"I must say this is one nasty storm, are they always this bad in East City?" Armstrong asked following the 2nd Lieutenant.
"Nope, I wouldn't be surprised if this was some aftershock of the 'Promis Day' in the slightest. I heard South City had quite the heat wave, worst on record in forty years."
Comments such as this passed between the two men, as they made their way to the Armory, a bit of gray light filtered through the windows adding in their journey, but they soon came upon a dark corridor.
"This walk freaks me out when there is light," Havoc said.
Armstrong left the comment; he could understand the area was cut off from natural light it made one uneasy. They arrived at the Armory door light flashed behind it, Havoc put his lighter away and walked in.
Hawkeye was bent over rummaging in a drawer, a flashlight between her teeth, "hey Riza," Havoc called, holding his hand up to block the light beam from his eyes.
Hawkeye looked over; she waved before finishing off what she was doing; withdrawing the flashlight from her mouth, she turned to Havoc, "Major Armstrong what are you doing here?"
"I have paperwork for Colonel Mustang," Armstrong said ducking into the room behind Havoc.
"Speaking of did Roy stop by?" Havoc asked moving over to a shelving unit, "the Major said he wasn't in the office."
"The Colonel has not, I swear if that man is skipping out on work again he's going to regret it," Hawkeye threatened.
"Jackpot," Havoc said pulling a pair of flashlight from the shelf, "go easy on him Riza, it could be a matter of bad timing, " he added tossing one of the flashlights to Armstrong.
"Maybe, well we better get him and get out of here," Hawkeye said moving past the two men, she locked the door once they exited.
Havoc and Armstrong followed the woman; conversation drifted between them once more, well Hawkeye remains silent. She had a feeling something was wrong her gut had been telling her for a few days, she initially chalked it up to the storm, but when they said Mustang was off doing something unsupervised her mind didn't go to him wasting time, but him being in trouble.
'Why would I think that,' Hawkeye said to herself, 'everything is fine, he is fine,' she continued picking up her pace unconsciously.
As the trio moved to the second floor they ran into a few others heading for the exit; Hawkeye gave them her flashlight as they had been using lighters to get around the dark hallways as almost no light filtered in from the windows.
The walked into the office, Hawkeye beelined for Mustangs private office well Havoc grabbed his coat and wallet from his desk, "damn it's cold in here," he said, "hey Riza you want me to grab your stuff?" he called to the woman, but she had already entered the room.
"HAVOC!" Hawkeye called, "get in here," she demanded.
"Riza what's...bloody hell!?" Havoc started as he rushed to the office, his light flashed over the room before resting on Hawkeye landed over the seated form of their superior officer.
Havoc moved to join her when a strong gust hit him; he flashed his light over to the window, "why is that open?" he muttered closing it. Havoc shined the light back to Hawkeye who was gently shaking Mustang and calling his name, Havoc couldn't help but notice how pale his friend looked and his lips where a shade of blue he very much aware of was not to be a natural hue.
Mustang stirred slowly under Hawkeyes hand, once awake he noticed two things, one it is far colder than when he fell asleep and second when he attempted to open his eyes there was a bright light in his face, he snapped them shut. "I was blind once I do not wish to be so again," he said as best he could, his voice was hoarse.
"Roy old pal, you freaked us out there," Havoc said moving the light.
"By the almighty is freezing in here," Mustang said wrapping his arms around himself, as he became aware of his body shaking.
Hawkeye took her uniform jacked off and placed it across his shoulders, "come on Colonel lets get you home," she said helping him to his feet.
They moved from Mustangs office into his team's workspace; there he became aware of another presence, "Major Armstrong when did you get here?" Mustang asked.
"Never mind that," the alchemist said, removing his overcoat, "take this it's much warmer."
Armstrong took Hawkeye's jacket and replaced it with his own, Mustang instantly wrapped it tight around himself, "thank you, Major."
With that the four of them made their way to the exit after Hawkeye had collected hers and Mustang's winter gear, the First Lieutenant hovered nearby as they walked, Havoc taking the lead and Armstrong bring up the rear; when they arrived they found an older gentlemen locking the door, "hello youngins," he greeted pocketing the keys.
"Hello Sir, we need to get by if you don't mind," Havoc said.
"Sorry, the storms to bad I can't let you lot leave," he said, "not out into that frozen hellscape."
"With all due respect our friend can't stay here he's in bad shape," Havoc started, before leaning closer and whispering, "the fool opened a window and near froze himself."
"Oh you need some place to defrost, I got just the spot a few others got stuck here too, follow me," he said walking down another hall.
Hawkeye looked out the window on the door, before turning to Havoc, "he's right it's too dangerous to leave now," she said, "go ahead and follow him."
Havoc gave a node then headed off down the hall; Mustang had taken the break to lean against the wall with Armstrong's coat he started to warm up and was having trouble breathing, every time he did the pain flared reminding him of its presence.
Taking as deep a breath as possible Mustang pushed off the wall to follow his Second Lieutenant, he tripped on what he didn't know be he found a strong arm wrapping itself across his abdomen to catch him and digging into his wound.
A scream ripped it's way from Mustangs lips, making Hawkeye jump and Armstrong almost drop the Colonel, Havoc and the older man raced back to the trio, "what the hell was that?" Havoc asked.
Armstrong gently lowered Mustang to his knees before letting go; Mustang clutched his injury black playing at the edge of his vision. "I'm...alright…" he breathed a few moments later he attempted to stand, but nearly fell Hawkeye steaded him and they managed a few shaky steps before Armstrong picked him up bridal style, much to his protest, but it fell on deaf ears.
The group made it's way deeper into the building, "there is a boiler room that keeps the pipes from freezing during winter, it should keep us warm well this storm rages on," the team's guide said.
"Thank you for this by the way names Jean," Havoc said glancing over his shoulder.
"Charlie, a pleasure to meet you, I can hear the worry, don't fret kiddo, from what I've heard you friend is one tough nut," Charlie said opening a dual metal door into a warm area with a descending staircase.
The comment took a moment to click with the Second Lieutenant; he gave the older man a strange look as they moved into the boiler room.
_[ TO BE CONTINUED ]_
Note: Sorry if this chapter ended weird, but I didnt want you all to be stuck reading a huge block of text. :P