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RachLA: I hope so!
My wake up call consisted of a door being swung open square on my head. Needless to say, it was rather unpleasant. "Oh, sorry Lieutenant!" I heard a boyish character apologized in a surprised voice. I opened my eyes and rubbed my head where the door had made contact with the flesh. Groaning, I staggered into a stand. The military officer at my doorstep saluted quickly.
"I'm Sergeant Haden Len! I was sent by General Quinn's second-in-command to notify you that as of today, you are legible to restart your work!" Just then he must have actually looked at me, because he took a step back and asked, "A-are you alright, Lieutenant, sir?" I looked down at myself.
I was still wearing my dirty, half-burned dress from yesterday's party, my hair must have been mussed out of my up-do by now and was most likely sticking out all over the place, I felt dark circles under my eyes, I was having quite some trouble standing, and my expression was probably looked pretty close to one of a late-night drinker's. I frowned and pulled a slip of paper from the shelf by the door. It was the invitation to the dinner party. I handed it to the Sergeant to explain my appearance.
His eyes widened at the recognition of the letter. "Oh, okay, sorry Lieutenant. I can take that to the General's office as explaination if you want to take the day off..." he trailed on. I shook my head. There was no way I could take another day off- I had stuff to catch up on. "Just take it as explaination for behavior, soldier. I'll be there." I waved him off and shut the door.
Dragging myself to the washroom, I sank into a bathtub full of warm water just to lay there for a few minutes. Deciding that I had to actually wake up, I started draining the water and turned on the shower-head. After my fifteen-minute shower, I put on my military uniform, quickly brushed my teeth, grabbed a bagel, and caught a taxi to work, since I seriously doubted my driving ability at this point.
Upon entering the office, it seemed like word had already gotten around about me having been at the dinner party- everyone was passing me looks and whispers, most likely spreading a few rumors I'd never hear about. Ignoring them, I took a seat at my desk in the general's office, getting a start on the paperwork I'd missed. It was tedious and tiresome work, but it had to be done, and so, by the end of the day, it was.
I was lucky enough to have returned to work on a Friday, the last day of my strand of continuous work days. After the general had dismissed us, I dropped my head on the desk, worn out by absolute nothingness. Everyone had left except the first-lieutenant. After grabbing her bag, she looked over at me. "Need a ride, Morst?" she inquired. I picked up my head, scratching it. "Yeah... thanks," I murmured, getting myself out of my chair to receive a generous ride my house.
I sat on the bench of my house, staring off into the darkening and barren street. "Well, you look about to drop dead." a scarily familiar voice called from the edge of the sidewalk. I tilted my head to the side, giving the all-to-familiar man a dull look. "We're even now." I muttered to him. He gave his infamous cocky half-smile. "Yeah, sure. I refrain from killing you, you keep your mouth shut to the police, I wrap your arms, I explode a building on you. Even, except that I've also kept quiet." "Yeah, the next time you feel like exploding a building on me, you keep that in mind and maybe you'll go through with it." I responded, standing up and entering my house, slamming the door behind me.
Kimbley's POV~
Keep that in mind and maybe you'll go through with it, my ass. She had a point, though. I was on the roof! How was I supposed to know she was right underneath that stupid chandelier? If I'd known, I probably would have taken down something on the opposite side of the building, then she would definitely still owe me one.
Why am I even taking this seriously? Any other time, I would have just blown their face off upon meeting. What's so different about this officer? Whatever. I'd tried to forget, and before that party, if I hadn't have spotted her, I might have stood a chance at succeeding. This whole thing was based off of a series of unfortunate coincidences, and they were throwing me off my regular demeanor. It was just annoying. How was I supposed to keep my cool when I didn't even feel like myself? Drama sucks.
Sophia's POV~
Today, my house burned down. Not even kidding. After the police were finally convinced that was I wasn't it wasn't a drug lab explosion, they started looking into how it happened. I wasn't home- I was at the hospital for a check-up on my arm. You can probably bet on what I think happened. It seemed pretty obvious to me- Kimbley blew up my house.
"Keep that in mind and you just might go through with it, how stupid can you get? You don't just say those things to criminals and expect them to not blow up your house!" I shouted, pounding my fist on the desk in the dorm I was staying in. After my house was gone, I started living in the military's living quarters. At least then I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel.
I sank down to the ground. My home was gone, my only source of true security. I hid my face in my hands. I was not going to cry. Soldiers don't cry when they're houses are gone. They might cry when comrades die, or when they lose their family, but not when a building goes down. What more did I have to lose? All family I had was either dead or many, many miles away. Friends didn't come easily for me- I had no time for such things. There was no one who could know, no one I could talk to, and no one I could go to for a sense of security.
I picked up my head. This is pathetic. I'm a soldier, for crying out loud. I don't dwell on my troubles, I overcome them. That's the way of the military. I stood up and sat down at my desk. I brought paperwork I had to do back to my dorm so I wouldn't have time to think. Work, work, work, and keep your mind off of absolutely everything; another way of the military. It was about midnight when I turned off my autopilot to redress, shower, and sit on my bed, staring off into space. As long as I don't end up in a bar, I'm doing pretty well. I thought to myself with a half-fake smile. Explode one more building on me, Kimbley, and I'll have a second good reason to kill you.
It was always evening when I needed a walk. I didn't really have another source of entertainment or time-wasting, so a walk was all I could really do. Well, besides reading, but reading military records and history was not my idea of entertainment. It was also always evening when I ran into him, which was the other reason I decided on a stroll through the city.
However, after about half an hour of practically scouring the city looking for the wanted criminal, I took a seat at an outdoor table of a restaurant. I ordered only a cup of coffee, which would keep me up to finally get through all the paperwork. Then I'd just lug my sorry self into work the next day and pray I won't fall asleep. The Lieutenant would wake me up, I hope. Then I had the rest of Saturday to catch up on my sleep.
Taking a sip of the warm coffee, I saw someone pass by in a white tux. I knew that tux. I jumped out of my seat and over the short fence separating the restaurant from the street, shouting, "You in the tux! Hold up!" The man paused and turned around. I couldn't see his face because of his hat. I paused in front of him. "Take off the hat." I muttered. The man did so. I hung my head. It was an old man.
"You need something, miss?" he inquired. "Sorry. I'm with the military. You looked an awful lot like a wanted criminal." The elderly man gave a laugh at that. "Well I assure you, my record is quite clear. Have a good day, officer." he replied and started walking down the street.
Disappointed and already feeling like an idiot, I returned to the restaurant to see that someone was already in my seat with their feet kicked up to the table, their arms crossed behind their head and they looked as if about to fall asleep. I cleared my throat. "Excuse me, sir. That's my seat." I growled, annoyed. The man opened two caramel-colored eyes and smirked.
"My apologies officer, that was rather rude of me." Officer? Wait a second... My eye twitched. For certain, it was Kimbley. He was wearing street clothes, and his hair, instead of being tied back, was let loose, making him unrecognizable without the help of his eyes, voice, and the word 'officer'.
I closed my eyes, slapped down money for the coffee, and punched Kimbley across the jaw. His head was turned slightly from the impact. He realigned his face, rubbing the place of my strike with the back of his hand. "Hey, now what was that for?" "You know damn well what that was for!" I shouted. It'd attracted the silent attention of the rest of the restaurant's guests. Kimbley's face didn't alter. "I'm afraid not. Enlighten me." "Oh, I don't know, maybe for burning down my house!" Kimbley tilted his head, a smug look on his face. "Let's see. A house, huh? Nope, doesn't ring a bell, sorry." I swung another punch at his face, the opposite side this time.
"Don't play stupid! You had every reason in the world to go and take down my house!" Kimbley caught my wrist, a frustrated look in his eyes. "Let's see, officer, did you ever stop to think how in the world I would know the location of your house? I'm an escapee, not a stalker." he growled at me. That was a new thought. I flicked my wrist out of his grasp.
"And by the way, here's something else. Why in the world would I go through all the trouble of getting you out of some sticky situations just to turn around and burn your house down? Sounds counterproductive to me." he continued, returning to the position I'd first saw him in. I blinked. He has a point... "Fine, if you weren't the one who burned down my house, then who did?" Kimbley shrugged with a yawn. "How am I supposed to know? Probably some bored guy who decided to take down someone's house, and it just so happened to be yours." he muttered, closing his eyes.
I crossed my arms in front of me. "Explode my house or not, I still want you out of my seat." Kimbley yawned again. "Why don't you just bring over another chair?" "Because my coffee is over there." As response, he opened one eye and slid the coffee over to me. I sighed and pulled a chair from an empty table, beginning to take silent sips of the cooling liquid.
Eh, he's right, he doesn't even know where my house is, and I seriously doubt he'd go and take down my house just to get even with me. Great. That means I still owe him one. Geez Kimbley, why do you have to go around saving my life all the time? After a minute or two, I almost thought Kimbley had gone to sleep, but I knew better.
"Hey, why weren't you executed?" I asked, suddenly interested. "I have no idea." was his immediate, wide-awake response. "Then what happened at Lab 5?" "People wanted me dead. The building exploded. The rest is top-secret." he replied, using his right had for gestures for words such as 'people', 'dead', and 'explode'. "So you have no idea what the Elrics were doing in there?" I inquired. "Of course I know. Just because it's top-secret doesn't mean there aren't still people on the outside who know a thing or two about it." "But you were there, not on the 'outside'. So that means you might know more than just a thing or two." "And I do." I sighed in defeat and settled for coffee. The topic of Lab 5 was a quite interesting one to me, but few people knew any more than that the Elrics were in the so-called abandoned building, and that it exploded. Anyone who knew anything else kept their mouths shut tight.
"But if you really want to know some more," he continued. I looked up at him. His eyes were open and looking at my face. "There is a certain Lieutenant with a pretty loose mouth, if you press her about it enough." "What's the name?" I asked immediately. "Let's see, I believe it was... Oh yes. First-Lieutenant Maria Ross." Ross? How in the world would she... "Her partner, Sergeant Brock, too. They both went into the building right before it exploded, heard a few things, saw a few things... maybe you'll get them to tell you some of the details. If you're lucky, you might even catch one of the Elrics before they're off again." he suggested. I narrowed my eyes. "Why are you letting me on for all of this?" I questioned. Kimbley shrugged. "To be completely honest I have no idea. But hey, why not?"