Blind Ambition
Chapter IV "Promotion"
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In a full state of panic, Riza shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to come. She began to hyperventilate, her attacker's actions simply awoken some forgotten and traumatizing memories that took Riza months to get over.
Suddenly an outburst from the copy cat sent Riza driving out of her past memories and into the past. Opening her eyes, Riza frowned as she watched something leap onto the man's chest, sending him crashing onto the wet pavement and howling in pain. Blinking out the rain water from her eyes, the blonde smiled and her heart nearly leapt up to her throat in gratitude as she watched Black Hayate chewing away at her attacker.
Now was her chance to get out of this twisted trap. With her arm sticking out of one gap, she used it as leverage to push herself downward. Thanks to the rain it was no problem sliding out from under the concrete hand.
"Damn bitch! Get off me!" The copy cat howled as he tried to get the black dog's teeth out from his shoulder. Seeing his actions useless, he reached for Black Hayate's head, the circles on his arms glowing slightly.
Recognizing his attempt on alchemy, Riza quickly inserted her spare clip into her weapon and shot the man in his leg before he could touch her dog. Black Hayate finally let go of the alchemist and took a slow step back, growling dangerously while exposing his sharp white teeth.
The man grabbed his leg and surveyed the damage; it was just a simple flesh wound. He looked up at Riza and snickered. "Think this will stop me?"
Eyes narrowing, Riza rose her gun and aimed for the man's heart. Half of her wanted to kill the man instantly for what he tried to pull, but another half of her wanted to simply turn him into headquarters for questioning. Her attention faltered somewhat when she glanced down at Black Hayate, seeing him sit right next to her feet.
Seeing his last chance, the man jumped on his feet, ignoring the flashing hot pain in his thigh, and charged at the blonde soldier. He knew she had seen too much and now her death was a primary necessity. Catching her off guard, he grabbed her face with both his arms, activating all of the transmutation circles that were tattooed to his arms.
Riza cried out immediately after the alchemists arms were on her face. She didn't know what he was doing, but whatever it was it was painful as all hell. It felt as if her bones were slowly being pulled out of her face. Her vision instantly began to swim, but she still managed to lift her gun and shoot the man on his already wounded shoulder.
However, the alchemist ignored all of the attacks he was under, he could feel the dog jump onto his back again but killing Riza was all that he could afford to do. Naturally killing a person doesn't take long, so he should be ok.
The pain in her head was becoming too much, it seemed like the more she fought the more painful her face felt. But she couldn't die now, not after everything was going so perfectly. She couldn't leave Roy. Another wave of agony tore through her thoughts, blood began to seep out of her ears and nose. On the brink of death, she still had one more idea, one bullet to his head should be more than enough to silence him instantly and halt the alchemy he was performing on her.
She aimed her gun as best as she could but before she could pull the trigger she was suddenly falling onto the ground. Landing painfully on her backside, she shook off the pain and dizziness. Looking up, she saw the alchemist tossing Black Hayate aside in anger before clutching his bleeding arm.
"Die already, bitch!" He hissed as he reached for Riza again.
Raising her gun, Riza pumped lead into both the man's arms and other leg. Screaming out in pain and frustration, the man slowed and fell uselessly onto the ground. He may have been an excellent alchemist with great speed and strength, but he was still human.
Climbing to her feet, Riza used the butt of her pistol and sent the cold metal crashing down onto the man's temple, knocking him out instantly. But to make sure he was truly unconscious, she shot him again in his calf. Seeing him remain absolutely still, Riza finally felt at ease and collapsed onto the floor, her back leaning on a wall. Black Hayate appeared at her side, whimpering and licking her face.
Smiling, Riza hugged her dog dearly. Amazing how he saved her twice. Looks like she'll have to feed him double now in gratitude with additional bones and treats. Then she frowned, wondering why he was around. Last she remembered he was no where to be found, she guessed he had returned home, away from the cold and rain. Black Hayate sat down and gave a high pitched park.
"How did you get here?" Riza asked softly, not really expecting an answer.
But she did raise Black Hayate well, and he seemed to understand her question. He turned around and ran off for a moment before coming back with a small mud covered bone in his mouth, giving Riza her answer.
She chuckled weakly, petting her dog on his head. What a story to tell Roy and everyone else at Headquarters. She was nearly killed but was saved from her dog, whom was desperate for a late snack and went off into the rain to dig up one of his bones.
"Riza?"
Bringing her head up at the sound of her name, Riza smiled tiredly and climbed top her feet the moment she saw Roy's figure step out of the shadows. But seeing her in such a state caused his eyebrows to rise and his pulse skyrocketing. He leapt forward and grabbed her in a fierce hug.
"What happened?" He exclaimed. He pulled from the hug and examined Riza's face. He touched her softly, hoping not to hurt her. But once he laid a finger on her jaw, Riza winced. "You're bleeding!"
Nodding, Riza gestured to look behind her. Frowning, Roy looked over her and his eyes grew wide.
"He's one of the copy cats." She whispered. Finally feeling at peace and safe with Roy around, she suddenly felt extremely tired.
Looking down, Roy examined Riza more closely. Besides the blood, bruise, and scratches on her face, he noticed her ruffled clothing and her unbuttoned pants. Putting two and two together, his eyes narrowed to slim slits.
He let go of Riza and nearly jumped on top of the knocked out man. Roy grabbed his neck, lifted it and shook it, jarring the man back to consciousness.
"Wake up!" Roy demanded. Once the man's opened, Roy punched him squarely on the nose. Hearing a crack, the man howled in pain as blood exploded from his nose.
"Roy!' Riza screamed out, sprinting towards him as he continued to punch the man in the face. "Stop it!"
Ignoring her pleas, Roy stood up and issued Riza away. "Stop it!" She cried again. "He didn't do anything, he didn't have the chance."
Roy exhaled deeply, he felt himself being able to breathe a lot easier. "He didn't do anything?"
"No." Riza whispered weakly. "Can we just dump him off at Headquarters?"
Roy nodded. "I'll keep watch of him, you call for backup."
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"No way!" Fuery bursted out in shock. "Black Hayate saved her!"
"Twice, I heard." Havoc grinned, lighting up a fresh cigarette.
The next day, news about the capture of one copy cat and Riza's battle duel spread like wild fire all through headquarters the next day. Breda, Havoc, and Fuery all sat at their desks while Falman told them each the stories that he heard.
"And that's not all." Falman grinned. Leaning forward, he issued the guys to lean in. Whispering, he said, "There's also news that someone walked in and saw the Brigadier General kissing Lieutenant Hawkeye."
Breda spit out his coffee, Havoc's cigarette fell form his mouth, and Fuery's jaw dropped to the floor. "Our Brigadier General?" They all asked in unison.
Falman nodded. "He really saw them.""Wow." Fuery said in awe. "That's…awkward."
Breda chuckled. "Of all girls Roy had to go for. It had to be Lieutenant Hawkeye."
"Hey, at least he didn't go for my new girlfriend." Havoc grinned broadly, picking up his fallen cigarette and placing it back into his mouth.
"Still." Falman cried. "Do you think their relationship will change anything?"
"Who knows?" Breda shrugged.
"Guess we'll all see within time." Fuery replied. Nodding, all men instantly dug into their pockets and pulled out loads amount of cash, making new bets about Roy and Riza's relationship.
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Riza was jarred from her sleep when she heard the doors close. Opening her tired eyes, she looked to her left and found Roy standing right next to her. Wincing, she attempted to sit up and salute but Roy kept his arm firmly on her shoulder, holding her down.
Sighing, he sat down on the edge of her bed. "You shouldn't get up. You need to rest."
Riza shook her head. "I'm fine, Brigadier General. I'm just a bit sore."
"Still," Roy replied, his hand pushing his hair back. "I'd feel better if you stayed here for the day and rest up. Are you sure that—"
"Sir, I'm fine." Riza reinsured.
"He didn't…what I think he did, did he?"
Riza sighed, but smiled weakly afterwards. "No, he didn't do anything. He didn't get the chance too."
"Good." Roy stood up suddenly, a wide grin on his face. "I was just worried that—"
"Don't you have work to do, Brigadier General?" Riza narrowed her eyes. "I may be stuck in the infirmary, but you should be organizing a patrol squad for tonight."
Face faltering into an innocent smile, Roy stood straighter and smoothed out the wrinkles from his pants. He leaned forward to kiss, but Riza stuffed her pillow on his lips.
"We're still on duty, sir."
Smiling, Roy moved the pillow aside and kissed Riza on her forehead. "That's what I love about you."
As Riza blushed furiously, Roy turned back before he left the room. "One other thing I forgot to mention." He opened the door and walked out, but stuck his head back into the room while holding the door open. "Because of your excellent work, we've been able to find out about these copy cats, so you can take the week off, and no buts about it. Got that, Major Hawkeye?"
He quickly exited the room before Riza could refuse the vacation time. Putting two and two together, Riza smiled warmly at the thought of her promotion. Still, in that week she could just imagine the chaos Roy's office would fall into if she weren't around to keep him in working order. Well, they still had their postponed dinner for tonight; she could talk to him then.
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