My sacrifice
Chapter two: Waking on the run
Here's the next chapter. Duh! It's not the Easter bunny! Well...let's hope
Heavy, tired, burgundy eyes opened oh so slowly, the incredibly bright light from the early morning sun's rays shining somewhat harshly into sleepy amber irises through the paper thin, white curtains, which closed over the small square window to the side of the bed. A small, gentle, breeze sent cool puffs of wind under the open frame, ruffling the curtains and seeping under the linen of the bed. A soft moan escaped parted, slightly chapped, lips as the light body rolled over in the warm covers, hiding a blonde head under the heavy duvet that covered her unhealthy weary body, the light crème colored cotton sheets wrapping tightly around the person. Rolling inwards slightly, she stretched out her slightly stiff limbs, like a cat waking from a nap, her arms and legs stretching outwards, to finally fall back into the position they were in before the move. Groaning lightly, a small, slightly calloused, pale hand lifted the corner of the thin off white sheet to peer out into the small, sun light, room that she was in: the small wooden night table beside her holding a few personal items, a shaggy, sun bleached, fawn colored rug placed half under the bed, barley visible from her horizontal point of view, the dark, slightly faded hardwood door at the other end of the room cast in shadow, the ray's of light couldn't seem to reach that depth of the sleeping area, the small, polished wood dresser, standing ominously at the corner of the room, cast in dark shadows, only seen by the glare of the polished bronze handles, the small, but packed, wooden book case near the bed, against a pale, sand colored wall. That was her room alright, pale and empty as always. But how did I get here? Last I remember...
"That isn't the time! Ah! I'm going to be late!" Riza almost yelled as she shot up from her small, tattered, mattress when she noted the time on the small metal clock, that sat silently on the dark wood night table beside her bed, wincing and gripping her right shoulder slightly as she jumped out from her pale thin sheets as fast as she could, stumbling as she got caught up in the light material that wrapped around her legs, making her fall heavily to the sun bleached wood floor, dust flying up angrily before falling back on the ground insulted.
Pausing, only for the briefest of seconds, she off handedly noted that she was still in her military uniform, minus her boots, which were sitting on the ground at the foot of her bed, the caps peeking out from the covers she had just thrown, and jacket, that was hung up on a chair at the other end of the room, the stars on the shoulders beaming proudly in the sun early beams.
Not having the time to care that much about such trivial things as missing clothes, she quickly shed her attire, letting it heap in piles to the ground as she made her way, at a jog, to the wash room, down the pale, brown painted hall that lead from her small bed room to the bath room. She only had a half an hour at the most before the train left for Frïontal and nothing was ready: not her bag, her clothes, not her!
She barley spared a glace at herself in the full length mirror that greeted her silently in the small pale blue painted washroom, when she ran in, her feet skimming the white shag carpet, jumping into the cold water, not giving it a chance to warm up; she didn't have the time at all to care about the numbing cold that pounded on her pale skin or that was wrapping it's self tightly around her, freezing her progressively. Barley ten minutes passed before she was out of the, somewhat, heated shower, almost running as she towel dried her hair, with one hand, her house coat on tightly around her dripping body, her bare feet whispering soundlessly on the faded hardwood, droplets of water hitting the path she had just taken . Not paying any special attention to where she was going, too caught up in what she had to bring with her, she rammed head first into something hard that stood in her way, forcing her to stumble backwards.
Grumbling lowly, her wet golden hair covering her deep auburn eyes, obscuring her view, she shook her head, placing a hand on her brow to stop the sudden rigging, and mumbled lowly under her breath as she stepped around the obstacle without looking up.
"I really have to get to know my apartment better. I can't damn well go running into every thing I own. It'll cost more in a week then I earn in a bloody month!" She murmured darkly as she placed the washed out yellow towel she had been drying her hair with on her head, sending her sight into total darkness when the material fell in front of her face, placing a small, chilled, military hand on the pale wall to steady herself as she made her way forward.
She was almost to her room before she heard a deep voice from right behind her, talking as if into her ear, hot breath on the back of her neck making her shiver slightly.
"Well isn't that the warmest 'good morning' I've ever heard!"
She reacted on sheer instinct as she directed her left foot in a half spin kick, which should've landed in the person's face, had the person not grabbed her leg and pulled her into their well sculpted body, the towel falling away from her eyes, clearing her vision.
When the initial shock of the contact with another body had passed, her clear, dark eyes rose up to meet a pair of the deepest, darkest irises she had ever seen. She gulped down, forcing a slight uneasiness when the situation finally made its way to her, just-woke-up, cold-shower frozen, slowed brain. She was standing, well to be fair was leaning, against her colonel's strong chest, one bare leg held up at mid thigh by his unbelievably warm hand, her own arms locked around his neck for support, his hand pulling lightly on her leg, forcing her to stay against him, leaning on him for support.
"Hum, I much rather this way of saying good morning, Hawkeye. Don't you?"
That damn irresistible boyish grin was plastered on his pale face, the skin looking as if it belonged on a Xing doll, as he held her in place, the astonishingly warm and soft hand on her thigh gently caressing the cooling flesh there with a thumb. Her eyes went slightly wider when she realized what was happening between them. She cleared her throat startling herself at the same time as him, the sound breaking the silence that had enveloped the house.
"Colonel Mustang, I must ask that you release me at once...sir." She hissed out quietly between her clenched teeth, remembering to add the all important "sir" to her sentence, even though she wanted to shoot the man who held her.
He only grinned impishly, swiftly tipping her backwards, and downwards, making her give a faint, soft squeak as her raised leg wrapped itself around his waist tightly, her arms bringing her closer to him so not to fall, her wet hair hanging and dripping silently behind her, wetting dark flooring.
Time seemed to slow down to a painful speed for a moment, as she held herself in place on him, her face almost buried in the collar of his white dress shirt, her chest brushing against his, his own unique smell wafting up her nose to tickle her only half awake brain, the spicy sent serving to wake herself up, the cold water from the shower having only numbed her further. Shit what's he saying? She thought abruptly, catching a few words he had been telling her.
"...freezing you should go get dressed before you catch cold. I'll go wait for Havoc down stairs. He was suppose to be here half an hour go. Lazy slacker."
He swung her back strait with all the seriousness of a business man, giving no indication of what he had just done to her, though there was a glint of mirth in his eyes that told her that he knew exactly what he had done to her.
If only he could always be half as serious as he is womanizing, my job would be so much easier, she thought sadly. A sharp pain in her shoulder made her dark eyes go wide and a sharp intake of breath murmur pass her pale lips, a hand, which had dismantled and put together so many guns, fastening onto the paining area the house coat hid from his view, even though he had his back to her. She saw him turn back around to watch her with a confused appearance on his pale face, a thin, black, one eye brow raised over a dark almond eye. She shook her head slowly at him lowering her hand back down to her side, turning her back to him, heading back into her room without another glance, even though she could feel his gaze follow her until the dark hardwood door closed behind her.
"Shit," she muttered softly as she locked her door and shed her house coat rapidly, "that damn colonel... Wait," there was a pause as her mind suddenly caught something," what the hell is he doing at my house?"
The though occurring to her as she pulled on a fresh clean uniform from her closet, Standing in front of the dresser clad only in undergarments, the clothes that were to be packed laying in piles on the top of the dark wood, waiting to be put away. She shook her head; she was just going to have to ask him about that later, after they were on the train and heading to their destination seated in the somewhat comfortable seats.
In under a minute she was dressed and packed running down the hall to the top of the stairs, gripping the banister as she skimmed down the flight of steps, her socked feet barley touching the old creaking wood, her boots hitting together, held in her hands tightly, her open jacket snapping in the rush of wind passing her. She looked around rapidly, her eyes scanning everything in the house to make sure there was no danger of destroying the home while she was away. Guessing that Buraha was already outside with Mustang and Havoc; she could hear the car coughing through her windows she headed towards the entrance. After a sweep of the house going towards the entry, and the holstering of several guns, she was out the door, a black bag slung over one of her shoulders, her keys in one hand and another holding the large strap to another bag resting on her other, slightly slumped, shoulder, as if it had problems holding up the carrier.
The two men stopped their conversation, Havoc looking up from where he was kneeling on the side walk, scratching Black Hayate's white stomach, the dog on his back, a bone, that the blond man had brought with him, hanging out of the pup's, upside down, mouth, moving slightly as he chewed on it. The flame alchemist watched as his lieutenant locked her door, letting her boots drop to the ground and slipping into them, his eyes tracing her weary body as she trekked down the few steps and the short walk way towards them, her body seemed less awake then it had earlier that morning.
Beside him, both Hayate and Havoc had stood rigidly, the man saluting as the dog sat strait up, letting the bone by his front paws, both looking at the woman approach in full alert.
"Morning lieutenant Hawkeye, feeling any better this morning?" Asked the blond man after she had waved off his salute with one hand, stopping before the three males.
She looked at him, confusion in her deep brown, almost red, eyes, her gaze slightly narrowing as her head cocked to one side a little, her loose fair hair falling over one eye making her look somewhat more tiered that she had looked a few minutes before. The lower ranking man shook his head, a quiet way to tell her never mind. Mustang, who had pushed off the car when the woman had been questioning Jean with her gaze, placed a gentle hand on her small shoulder, reliving her from one of the heavy bags that decorated her frail looking body. His eyes opened slightly wider, again an eye brow rising to arch over a dark almond eyes, weighing the bag, letting it drop down a bit, only to rise it up again, before grinning softly.
"Don't tell me, your gun bag, Hawkeye?" He stated as he handed it off to Havoc, standing behind him, who wasn't ready for the weight, making him tilt forward slightly, the bag hitting the ground with a dulled thumping sound of metal on material on asphalt.
"I'm suddenly glad I don't put the ammunition in the guns before I pack them. Havoc do be careful before you break something, or, by off chance blow someone's head off." Stated the lieutenant as she looked down at her watch, not even looking at the man, catching her bottom lip between her teeth when she saw the time. "We have to get going sir." She stated hooking Hayate to his chain, before looking to her commanding officer.
"Hey Lieutenant Hawkeye! Riza! Wait a sec!" An urgent voice called from down the deserted street, ringing loudly through the empty road, the sound bouncing off the homes too amplify the tone.
The three dressed in military outfits looked to over to see a woman with wild red hair running towards them at top speed, her hands waving over her head in grand patterns to insist that they wait.
"Is that Sheska?" Asked Roy, his pale face twisted in confusion as he watched the woman run towards them, wincing as she tripped on a crack in the side walk, landing face first on the rough cobblestone side walk with a crunching sound as her glasses got knocked off her nose to hit the ground and slide away.
He watched as Riza quickly made her way to the other woman, letting go of Hayates leash, helping her back up. He watched as her body moved, looking at the small twitches and the winces in her face as she pulled the librarian back to her feet, steadying her. For a second, no more, maybe less, he was sure she had closed her eyes in pain; bit her lip to stop a cry, doubled oh so slightly, a hand rising half way up. When he blinked, it was gone, she was her normal Riza self, sighing as she picked up Hayate's leash, handing it to the other woman who was brushing her self off.
"I appreciate that you can take Hayate while we're gone Sheska." The lieutenant's soft voice broke into his thoughts.
She sounds so much gentler in the morning. He thought with a soft grin pulling at his lips as he watched her turn back towards them, her hair whipping around in the soft early morning wind.
"I think that we should really get going, Sir. We're going to be late if we dilly dally like this for much longer and I don't think the train will wait for the likes of us." She was holding the door open for him as she spoke and by the looks of it, she was ready to run to the station if they didn't move fast enough to her liking, or shoot one of then, whichever was fastest.
Riza watched as her commanding officer approached her slowly, his pace calm even though they were only five minutes before the train left and it was a ten minute drive. She was about to turn away to go over to the driver's seat, leaving him with the open door, but a hand gently gripped her shoulder pulling her back wards slowly, towards a newly opened back entrance.
"Now lieutenant just sit back and relax a bit," Roy's voice said as he slowly, gently, pushed her down into the leather covered back seat of the car," Havocs a good driver, he'll get us there in time, won't you lieutenant Havoc?"
The man in the driver's seat stiffened for a moment before turning around to look at the two, the woman sitting in the seat, almost behind him and the man who was leaning down to watch him, both waiting for an answer.
"Well if fire boy could sit down we can get moving." Stated the driver through his tooth pick, a devilish grin painted on his lips.
Within minutes the black military car skidded to a halt in front of the train station, the engine coughing and sputtering before dying, the back door flying open and a pissed looking Hawkeye stepping out of the car slamming the door behind her.
"When I said 'we needed to get there fast before the train left' I didn't mean going so fast that we almost ran over three elderly people four dogs, a cat and some kids! She called into the car through the open window, right into Havoc's ear.
Inside the car, the colonel sat silently, his dark almond eyes wide and fixed on an unknown point in front of him. It took him a few seconds before he snapped out of the shock and realized that they had arrived at their destination; his eyes opening and closing before he turned too look at Havoc who was getting out of the car, rubbing an ear.
"Havoc," The colonel said as he stepped out of the car, taking his bag from the man as he handed it too him, "in the future Hawkeye drives when we're late."
Before the other man could respond with one of his snide remarks, a booming voice rang through the station, making them turn their heads, only to see Armstrong standing in front of Hawkeye, whose back was to them, the two having been speaking before the man had spotted them.
"Major Armstrong came too see us off?" Asked the second lieutenant as he stepped onto the train, placing the bags on the floor before jumping back out to stand with the others.
"No lieutenant Havoc, I and warrant officer Falman were sent to join you in Frïontal." Stated the man proudly after having saluted to the colonel, who had stopped near him.
"Glad to have you with us major." Said Mustang, his eyes trailing on his aide as she entered past the train door, disappearing behind the sheets of metal.
"I'm guessing the lieutenant isn't feeling any better then she was yesterday after noon." Stated Kain as he cleaned his glasses on the edge of his uniform.
Roy sighed as he passed his hand through his black disheveled hair, shaking his head lightly.