Chapter Seven: A Clue.
A ROYAI STORY.


The tower seemed to glower down at them in a painful silence. Riza remained on guard as Falman attempted to put together their radio: Kain had shown him how to assemble it many times, but it was still rather complicated for Vato. He wasn't a technician.

Riza's amber eyes scanned the streets below for anything unusual.

Nothing.

But she could feel it.

Likewise, on the other side of the plaza, in a large apartment building where Kain and Breda made contact with Hawkeye's team of two: "Falman, there's been nothing so far. Over."

Falman replied, "Same here, Fuery. Check in again in the next half hour if you don't hear anything. Over and out, Sergeant Major."

Their luck had seem to run dry for the moment. No word or sign of the attacked family.


Towards the center of the plaza, going towards an alley were Jean and Katrina: dressed in casual attire as requested. Jean found a pair of old jeans and a plain, white button-up with rolled up sleeves. Vee wore her normal outing clothing: a top that showed an inch or two of midriff, and cargo pants, with her sneakers.

Vee gave a calm look to Havoc before he lifted off the manhole cover to step into the eerie darkness. First went down Vee, then Havoc.

To say the least, it was smelly. The stench wasn't as bad as some things: Katrina had cleaned the latrines for the men's room before, and it wasn't pleasant at all. Havoc had been in the garage of his own home when his niece and nephew, a mischievous pair, threw a stink bomb at him and locked him inside.

Not fun.

In this dusky gloom, Katrina could see everything. She smiled at Havoc, "I haven't really seen you clearly before. Nice hair, Havoc."

The Second Lieutenant groaned, "I can't see anything, and you can see clearly… uhghhh… Thank you, anyhow.. Katrina."

She giggled, tugging at his hand, "Just stay with me an' you'll be alright."

In the dark, he gave her an inquisitive look, "Didn't you bring a flashlight?"

She then sighed herself, tossing her silvery hair aside before reaching into her cargo pants' pocket, "Yes, yes, just don't shine it at me, pretty please."

"Will do," he nodded as he reached for the flashlight, shining it around the floor.

To his left was the flowing of sewage, waste water, and an occurrence of other liquids. They both wrinkled their noses, looking at the murky water as it floated by; they turned their attention to the ground.

The was a track of hairs, red and blonde. The red was perhaps three inches, but was vibrant; the flaxen threads were about six inches longer each, more or less.

Vee looked to Havoc, "They were smart enough to leave a track starting here, at least… It'd be harder above ground because people would've walked all over it and it wouldn't have led us anywhere except a dead end…"

Havoc scratched his head, "Couldn't it also be a trap?"

The platinum-blonde shook her head, "Sometimes we've gotta take our chances."

The two continued to follow the blonde and red hairs carefully, noting every detail: the step of the perpetrator, where the hair landed, and et cetera.

The trail ended up splitting into two: One going down the left, one to the right, leaving a middle trail that went further down the sewer's path.

"I'll take the left. You, the right. You call me if something's up. I'll come running, Godspeed, Jean."

"Roy said you weren't supposed to call me by my first name. Informality and such and such."

"Well, Roy-boy has bigger portions on his plate. Besides, we're still on our 'date'," she handed him one of the headgear sets: one for him, one for her. The two put them around their necks, then hurried off in separate directions.


Author's Note: Please don't forget to review. Hugs and kisses, my dear readers. (Heart).