I've re-written the first chapter, hopefully it makes more sense now XD Italicised paragraph is a flashback.. a really long flashback.. haha..

Chapter Two | Ace in the hole

"Important…" mused Havoc. "Im-por-tant… Important?" He rubbed his chin, and glanced out of the window. It had just rained, leaving even the blood-stained military looking cleansed. The crisp November weather made the outside colder than the inside of the building, so windows became foggy as water vapour condensed against them. "What could be so important?" He ran his finger along the windows down the hall in thought, "A promotion?"

He suddenly felt a slap on the back and turned round to find Breda. "Hah!" The Lieutenant clasped a hand on Havoc's shoulder, "Don't kid yourself, Havoc, I've had enough laughs for today."

"Wha- how'd you know I'm not getting some important mission?"

"'Cause…" Breda stopped his explanation, and took out a cigarette, offering it to Havoc in which he accepted as they strolled to see the Colonel.

Breda exhaled slowly, a thin stream of smoke exiting his lips. "Don't you know what day it is today? (He didn't wait for Havoc's reply) The Academy's sending some 'potentials' for work shadowing, and you know how some of the higher ups like to piss off Mustang – dump a bunch of newbies for him to babysit, while…" Breda didn't finish off the sentence, as he spotted a general at the end of the corridor approaching. He waited for the man to pass them. "So yeah, while Mustang is in on something with Hughes."

"Ah. Yeah I noticed. Seems pretty big."

The two dropped the subject, knowing better to dwell in any situation that the Colonel didn't inform them of before hand. They didn't show it, but all of Colonel Mustang's subordinates respected him and his wishes greatly, despite him being a conniving, procrastinating, girlfriend stealing, window-cleaning man.

They reached the outside of the office. Breda glanced at Havoc, who wore his trademark deadpan but also 'What-the-hell-now?' look with a cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth. He smirked. "Hey Havoc, pass me your cigarette."

"Hm?"

"Don't want Mustang catching you with that right?"

"Haha."

"Hahahahahaha!" laughed the man behind the human-wall of retainers, applauding. "This is rich! Oswald, Oswald my man… yer ratted on us? When d'ya find the time ter do that?" His hands stopped clapping. "Hmm…you impress me Ozzy, you really do."

Oswald, all beaten up and sore, stared at the three men clad in black from head to toe, and the man who he could spot anywhere; Jean Havoc. Why was he here? Why were they here? He didn't know if he should feel relieved or not. Whether he went with the men who had his wife's life or the military, he would die either way. But… if he was with the military, Penny would indefinitely be spared, no matter what they find out about him.

"Don't just stand there Havoc, shoot 'em!"

Recovering from the shock of seeing Oz and his wife there, Havoc aimed for the suspects he was briefed on. Before he could even fire his first load, someone snuck up behind him with bricks, but was then shot down by one of the other two military personnel.

The next few minutes were a blur to Oz. Firearms were shooting everywhere, and at some point someone had set off a smoke bomb. He crawled across the floor as fast as he could, not caring whose feet was whose as he struggled to get to Penny. He knew someone had tried to cut his tendons but missed and sliced his calf, but he didn't care. He knew his head was bleeding from a drop-kick that was meant for someone else, but he didn't care. In what was five minutes, a harsh battle was won for one side, and was lost for the other.

"P-Penny!"

There she was, still tied up, knees drawn to her chest and curled in a ball on her side, eyes streaming with tears. Somehow, none of the bullets had hit her and amidst the fight between the drug dealers and the military, she was forgotten. Oswald removed the cloth in her mouth and embraced her.

"Penny. I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"

She was out of breath from screaming whilst having to bite the cloth, and her throat and eyes were dried out. But, she pressed her body against him, hugging with all her might. "I love you."

Her eyes of relief and love turned to shock. Hearing the scream of a man coming up behind them, Oz pushed Penny to the ground, covering her with his body. A blade penetrated his tough skin and muscles in his upper abdomen, and he gritted his teeth to stop himself screaming, as it would scare Penny. If only just that would stop her screaming too.

"Oz! Oz... You're hurt... You're hurt!"

"I-I'm fine, Penny."

The man that attacked Oz suddenly hit the ground. A clear hole, only 1 centimetre wide, from the front of his head and straight to the back could be seen. It was if someone had stabbed him with a giant needle. It wasn't a bullet wound, as a bullet could not create such a clean hole, but it was definitely a blade of some sort. The man on the floor was unrecognisable now; blood was spurting out of his brain, soaking his face. Penny gasped at the sight.

"Oz…Oz?" She looked at the man on her lap – he had passed out.

The smoke bomb was beginning to fade, and the sound of metal against metal was gone too. Only a single gun could be heard, but what it was defending against was still unknown.

A searing pain.

Penny gasped for air. She gasped for air but found none of it was reaching her lungs. She felt her chest. Wet. Wet with red. Red with blood. Blood, leaking from her chest. Her left lung had been hit. Her eyes floated to the ceiling, asking for some help from above. All she saw was three figures, engaging in some sort of fight, and a fourth in the corner, rising to stand slowly.

One of the two men with Havoc bellowed with pain, clutching his side. He yelled to his accomplice, "Get him, dammit, GET HIM!"

"Get him." Growled Mustang. "Please get him here, First Lieutenant, he is late."

"Patience, Colonel, he'll be here."

"He better be, I have a meeting- ah." Havoc shuffled in awkwardly. It seemed to the Colonel that he had been standing outside for a while, judging from the sheepish look on his face. "Look who decided to show up."

"Cut me some slack, Colonel," said Havoc, rubbing the back of his head, wearing a cheeky grin. He coughed, and did a quick salute as he sat down on the couch by the Colonel's desk. He propped his right leg over his left knee, and swung an arm over the back of the seat.

"Hm. Well, it's because I give you too much slack that you're getting this job." Mustang held out his hand lazily, in which the Lieutenant dutifully passed him a brown envelope. "We've been sent a prospective candidate to join the Eastern quarters, fresh from the Academy." Mustang noticed Havoc's straight smile droop slightly, and chose to ignore it. "And you're going to attend to this person for three weeks."

"Three weeks!" If Havoc still had his cigarette, it would have hit the floor, as his mouth was gaping open.

"Three weeks." Mustang's lips curved to a small smile, and his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Special case, it seems. It should do you some good, looking after someone, being a 'senior'."

Havoc retorted bluntly, "I'm not good at looking after people." This was said factually as if it could never be changed. It was true, he tried once, and it failed epicly. He was a solo-man, (unless girls considered) and even if he were to 'look after' someone, it would always be at a distance. Being a guardian, a father, a brother, had long since been established as impossible tasks in his mind. "Do I really have to babysit this chump?" In all honesty, Havoc was just saying this. He knew he didn't have a choice, but he thought he'd give a try and milk his way through this. "Colonel, whoever the newbie is, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want-"

Havoc paused. Mustang had that stupid grin on his face. Not a 'Yeah, yeah' stupid grin. It was an 'I know you're doing something stupid and you don't even get it yet' stupid grin. Even Hawkeye rolled her eyes!

"W-What?"

"The 'newbie'," started Mustang, lifting a finger towards the door, "Is standing right here."

Whisking his head around, Havoc stared at the person stood by the door. The 'newbie's' arms were crossed, with an un-amused, partially bored expression. This person, with a crop of messy brunette hair and green eyes lifted a hand in response. "…Hi."

Mustang snorted a laugh, and beckoned the new person over. "Sit down, Ace. And excuse my subordinate's rudeness."

Staring with disbelief, for not noticing this person's presence, Havoc examined the newbie. He decided that the candidate was skinny for his age, and not particularly tall. The messy hair framed his baby face and the military uniform sagged at his shoulders. But when he walked, it was smooth, each step taken with care, almost gliding across the floor as he sat on the couch opposite him.

Mustang stood up, hand directing to Ace, then back to Havoc. "Havoc, Ace. Ace, Havoc."

"Ahem," coughed Hawkeye with slight disapproval, "perhaps a proper introduction, Sir?" She was always one for order and courtesy, and despite being in the room for no less than an hour, even Ace had gathered that the Lieutenant must be the one keeping this man in check.

Mustang rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Alright. Ace?"

"Uh…" The newbie stood up, putting forward a hand to Havoc. "Nice to meet you. My name is-"

"What the hell?" thought Havoc. "How did I not notice this dude? He must be a hawk – no, that's Riza – A ghost! A ghost! Havoc... you're losing you're touch. You're too relaxed. You let a newbie get one over you. Man…maybe you are a slacker Havoc. And nothing's worse than being called a slacker by a slacker." He looked over towards the Colonel, who had surprisingly, a serious expression over his face. "Well... whatever. Whatever the man says, goes, I guess."

"But," finished off the newbie, with a very serious-work-ethic tone of voice, "just call me Ace. The name kind of stuck."

Snapping to reality, Havoc instinctively shook the hand and nodded. "Mm. Nice to meet ya too."

"Great!" exclaimed the Colonel. "So you agree? Perfect."

"Geh." Havoc just realised what he just did. "Damn my gentlemanly instincts." "But Colonel,"

"Wait till next time Havoc, I'm a busy man." Mustang threw his coat over his shoulder, and exited quickly with the Lieutenant following close behind. "Oh." He popped his head round the corner of the door, "Just show Ace here what you can, the ropes... and all that." And with a wave of the hand he was off like the wind, chuckling to himself down the corridor.

Havoc's shoulders sagged a little, like some great weight was put on him. He straightened up, scratching the back of his head.

"The hell, man…"

"Man…" groaned Havoc. The world seemed to seep in as blotches of colour in his vision, as opposed to the previous blackness he felt when he went out. Realising where he was, and what was going on again, he got up slowly. His hearing wasn't properly back yet, so he was cautious in the case someone attacked him.

No one did.

The place was empty of living people. Around him, were the corpses of the drug dealers. The stench wasn't as bad as it looked for now, as they were still fresh. But the sight wasn't pretty. Blood was dripping from the ceiling, most likely from cut arteries. Some gasps and dying breaths were audible, but Havoc knew, and they knew, they weren't going to make it. He had failed their mission. The goal was to sustain, not kill. What the hell happened when he passed out? His eyes scanned for his comrades. They weren't there. They must've survived. He wanted to look for the boss, the man that spoke with authority when they first got to the scene, but Havoc had no idea what he looked like because he was hidden behind his lackeys. But wait. When he was drifting to consciousness, he heard one of his comrades say "Get him." So, someone was left alive to capture?

Havoc checked for his guns. They weren't there. Figures. Someone took it when he was out. Whether it was the enemy or comrade that took it worried him. Stepping through the corpses to look for a weapon to defend himself, he suddenly felt a tug at his leg. Instinctively, he kicked it away.

"You…"

A…woman's voice? Suddenly the very moment before Havoc was hit by the bricks came back to him. Oz. Oz and Penny!

"You...bastard…"

Detecting the source of the muffled voice, Havoc crouched down and turned over the woman with care. Her lungs were hit, and it was amazing she had the energy to talk, let alone move her arm. She was slowly panting for air, but failing. Her body was growing limp and cold, and in his arms, Havoc could feel the little life in her leaving. It was horrible. She was just as beautiful as Oz had described her.

"P-Penny? Don't talk, I'll get you to a… Where's Oz?"

He looked to his left. Oz was facing the floor, a red figure. He must've died earlier on in the battle. The blood was a crusty crimson layer, like rust, covering the magnificent tattoos the man prided himself of.

"No…"

Havoc's face screwed up in a mixture of regret, sadness, and fear. Even his voice was wavering, but he had to pick up the pieces, he had to. Even though he knew it wasn't his job to, even though Raven will probably whine at him for not being in on the action when needed. Well really... what did he know at that time? Havoc was confused, and just did what he felt was right.

"Penny?" What could he say? She was dying. "Is there anything... You.. Erm.. Want to say?" His lips twisted to a terrible sarcastic smile. What was he doing?

Still panting, she weakly lifted her arm and stabbed Havoc's with a small, blunt knife. "Bastard…the Military…scum…"

He gritted his teeth, it was the first time he'd seen someone die so close. The pain was not from the wound, it was from the heart. It shocked him that his best friend was dead, it shocked him that he was holding onto his best friend's wife who was dying. It shocked him that… everyone he worked with in the military has probably been through a similar experience, and despite the pain, he knew this was necessary. This was a lesson to be learnt. He was grateful for his life, and grateful that he can live to make a change.

Change. That's it.

"What can I do for you?" His voice a whisper, he wondered if this was a naïve thing to do.

She opened her eyes, just barely, took one miniscule breath, and grabbed Havoc's top with a weak grip. "Military scum. Take responsibility."

He nodded.

Then she was out. Out like a light, out of this world, going where his best friend and her husband were going to. Havoc didn't know where. He just hoped it was a nice place. It had to be… right? The smell had finally got to him. Almost hyperventilating, Havoc stood up, wobbly at first, but headed out, not turning back. When he passed the corner, all the images, the smells, the exchange with Oz's wife, the look of Oz's face, everything got to him, and took form as a messy pile of vomit.

Please Review :) Hope its making some relative sense..

ps: To divide the 'scenes' I usually use * * * but for some reason it doesn't show up.. so I'm using the bar-thing. Anyone know why?

Ace in the hole: An ace in the hole is something other people are not aware of that can be used to your advantage when the time is right.