Crossing A Fine Line

Summary: When Riza's mission leads to her disappearance, what will Roy do to get her back? Will he even make it in time?

Chapter Eight: Bed Sheets and Clothes Lines.


Hey! Wow, I updated fast. Yay, go me! Anyway, thanks for the lovely reviews, they are so kind. Enough of my yammering here's chapter eight.


Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or any of its characters.


Riza looked in the full-length mirror and sighed with irritation at her reflection. Her struggle with the three men tore and dirtied her clothing. She suffered numerous scratches on her arms, her lip was cut, and her knee was scraped, which was noticeable through the large hole in her pants.

She slowly reached up and touched her black eye, "Ow," she said as she pulled her hand back. Her anger rose, causing her to punch the mirror. She shielded her face as it shattered and shards of glass flew everywhere. The warm blood flowed from the new wounds in her hand and ran down her arm. She looked at it and rolled her eyes, "Smart," she sighed before walking over to the bed and tearing the end of the sheet. She tied it tightly around her hand, trying to apply as much pressure as she could to her wounds.

The thought of being able to escape again seemed impossible. She had been lucky the last time, but after the lecture Haddon got for his mistake, she doubted he would do it again. She walked over to the window and looked out. She laughed as she thought about jumping, but that was just suicide. She had hoped she'd never see this place again, but it was a little late for wishful thinking now. She couldn't help but wonder if Mustang was ok, she did all she could to protect him, but she knew in her heart he didn't have a chance. She rested her head in her hands and took a deep breath of night air. She furrowed her brows as she remembered something and slowly stood up. She looked up and noticed the clothesline again. She quickly looked over at her bed and a smile formed on her face.

"Let's go, she'll be fine for a little while!" Dallas called to Haddon and Yates in the other room.

Riza looked to the door, smirking when she heard the other door shut.

"Yeah, I'll be just fine," she said before looking at the bed sheet on her hand, "Don't worry about me."


The door of the bakery slowly swung open to reveal Armstrong, Havoc, Ross, and Forest. Forest was knelt down at doorknob level with a pin in her hand. She had used it to pick the lock.

Havoc smiled down at her before entering the bakery, "I think we need to keep our eye on you," he joked before looking around.

Ross shook her head before following him inside, Amy and Armstrong not far behind. They all looked around, but couldn't seem to find anything. The air was stale, which told them the bakery had been completely closed up for at least a few hours. Amy walked up to the register and pushed a button. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the drawer popped open. When she finally regained her composure, she looked in it and tilted her head.

"It's empty," she said before reaching her hand in, trying to find a trap door or something, "There's nothing in here."

Ross walked over to see what she was talking about, "What do you mean it's empty?" she asked as she too inspected the drawer, "He's the only baker in town, you would think that he would be fairly popular," she said as she looked around for a safe or any trace of the money.

Havoc thought for a moment, "Then maybe he was robbed," he suggested as he looked to the girls, "It's the only other possible explanation."

"Hmm?" Armstrong said as he inspected a door on the other side of the bakery. He jiggled the handle, but it was locked, "Hmmm."

Amy continued to look around the store for any sign of…anything. The store looked as if it had been vacant all day. If what they heard about the baker was right, he liked to close the doors and go straight to bed. He didn't sweep or restock shelves till morning. There was not a speck of dirt, the shelves were loaded, and there were no footprints beside there own…and those of four others. Amy caught site of the other sets of footprints and kneeled on the floor. She counted something on the floor, and then counted everyone in the bakery.

"There are eight sets of foot prints, but only four of us," she said as she turned around and looked at the others.

Havoc walked over to her, "Which means there were four other people here besides us," he said in a sort of 'duh' tone, "So?"

Amy looked back at the floor, "Excluding the baker, he wouldn't be wearing shoes, there were three other. Men I think," she said as she examined the footprints.

Havoc shook his head, "You said four, and if the baker doesn't count…" he started, but was quickly cut off.

"The other set of footprints were made by military boots," Amy interrupted as she looked up at Havoc.

Ross walked over and kneeled beside Amy, "They appear to be going," she followed the footsteps with her finger and stopped when she was pointing at the door beside Armstrong, "That way."

Amy and Ross got to their feet and followed Havoc over to Armstrong. Amy reached up to pull a pin from her hair, but Armstrong was less patient. He hit the door with his fist, causing it to pop open.

Amy lowered her hands to her sides, "That works too," she said as she wiped them on her pants.

They walked into the room and were surprised by what they saw. The baker was lying on the floor, battered and bruised. They had broken two of his ribs and one had punctured his lung. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth and dripped into a large puddle on the floor. His eyes were wide as he stared vacantly at the ceiling. Amy gasped and placed her hands over her mouth. She leaned over and buried her face in Armstrong's arm. He looked down and wrapped his large arm around her tiny body as she sobbed. Havoc and Ross stood in silence as they closed their eyes and bowed their heads.


Riza finished tying her sheets together. It wasn't long enough to get her to the ground, but close enough. She climbed up on the windowsill and tied one end to the clothesline. She pulled the sheets to make sure that it wouldn't come undone and then threw the other end out the window, allowing it to hang down. She looked back into the room to see if she had forgotten anything. She wished she knew where her uniform was, but she had a feeling that Dallas had it.

She looked down at her boots, "I better take these off, they're way too heavy," she said as she removed her boots and tossed them out the window. They hit the ground with a loud thud. She pulled the sheets once again, "Here goes nothing," she sighed.

She wrapped her arm up in the sheet, so if she fell, it would catch her. She wrapped her foot up in it as well. She slowly climbed onto the rope, allowing it to stop swinging before she started her descend. She slowly made her way down the rope, she hadn't realized it, but she wasn't breathing. It was a long way down and the last thing she wanted was to fall. She reached the bottom of the rope and unwrapped her foot. She used her hands to keep going down until she was at the very bottom. She knew if she let go, she would fall about two stories…right into a dumpster. She couldn't bring herself to look down, so she closed her eyes and let go. She landed on something soft with a small 'oof'. She opened her eyes and nearly screamed.

"Papa was right, women really do fall from the sky," Dallas smirked as he walked up to Riza in Yates' arms. Riza looked at him questionably, "Yeah, weird how we knew right? Well you see everybody tries that trick."

Riza's eyes narrowed on him. She brought her foot up and kicked Yates in the side of the head.

He looked down at her and laughed, "Was that suppose ta hurt?" he asked.

Dallas walked up and brought his face next to Riza's, "As soon as we notify the military about killing their colonel, they'll take us more serious. We'll up the ransom…and the due date," he poked Riza's nose with his finger, causing her to pull away, "You're way too important for us to lose now Sweetheart." She turned and looked him in the eyes. She smirked before spitting in his face. He closed his eyes as he brought his hand up and wiped his face, "Spit all you want, I still win," he laughed before turning and heading back to the apartment.

Haddon and Yates followed behind, leaving the boots lying in the alley.


The four stood in silence for a few minutes. They didn't know what to say, and their only lead was currently lying on the floor dead. Ross opened her mouth to say something, but quickly changed her mind and looked back down at the floor.

The old man coughed, causing everyone's heads to shoot up and look at him. Ross ran over and kneeled on the floor next to him, "Sir?" she asked as she brushed hair out of his face.

His eyes slowly moved to look at her, "Y-you're (cough) with her," he said, his voice in an almost whisper.

Ross's eyes widened, she wasn't sure, but she figured her had to be talking about Hawkeye, "Yes, we are. Do you know where she is?" she asked frantically, motioning for Havoc to go get some medical help.

The old man held his arm up at Havoc, "Don't leave (cough)," he called, causing Havoc to stop and look at him, "I'm going to (cough) die anyway." He looked back at Ross, "She's gone, but I heard gun shots," he said slowly, "Just up the road," she said as he motioned out the window.

Ross nodded, "At least let us get you some help, please," she begged.

The baker shook his head slowly, "Save her," he whispered as he grabbed her hand, his hands cold and clammy, "Don't let them die," he pleaded.

Ross nodded, "We'll save them," she assured him.

His head lulled to the side, his eyes vacant once again, and his hold on Ross' hand loosened. Ross sniffled a little before running her hand over his eyes and closing them. There was silence once again as they stared at him.

"Let's not let him down," Armstrong said as he looked around at the others, "He wants us to find her and we will."


The four of them ran as fast as they could down the dark street. They all couldn't help but feel a little bad for the baker, but there was really nothing they could do. They couldn't really see much, but the light caught something and made it flicker. Amy saw the light out of the corner of her eye and stopped running.

"Colonel?" she asked quietly as she walked over to the side of the road, "Is that you sir?" she asked as something slowly can into few. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was indeed the colonel. "Colonel!" she yelled as she ran to his side and kneeled down beside him.

She began to cry as she watched the blood slowly flow from the side of his mouth. The other three ran up next to her and looked down at him. Amy wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand before reaching over and looking for a pulse.

"Is he?" Ross asked quietly.

They all waited for Amy's reply, and watched in wonder as she grabbed Roy's wrist. She placed two fingers on it and waited. She turned and looked up at all of them, the tears flowing even more. Ross began to cry and covered her face with her hands. Even and Havoc and Armstrong had a hard time holding back tears.

"He's…" Amy began, but was quickly cut off by the sound of three cars squealing to a stop.

A man in uniform got out and approached them, "Are you responsible for the shooting?" he asked before looking down and noticing Roy. "I'm sorry, I assumed," he began, but stopped and snapped his fingers, "Get this man out of here," he ordered as his men ran over and picked Roy up.

Amy got to her feet, her hands covered in Roy's blood. She stared at them as her tears fell and mixed with the cold, red, liquid. Havoc walked over and held Ross as she cried in his shoulder.

Armstrong looked over at the man in uniform as one of the cars squealed away, "Where are you taking him?" he asked simply, his eyes shining from the few tears that refused to fall.

"The hospital up the street. You are all welcome to ride with me if you'd like," he offered, "But first, I'd like to know what happened here. It looks a little suspicious to me," he said as he looked to Amy, as if she had done something.

Amy's eyes widened with shock, "I didn't…" she said slowly as she shook her.

Havoc looked up at him and narrowed his eyes, "Look, our friend was kidnapped. They kidnappers must have shot him when he tried to save her," she suggested, a little irritated that the man automatically accused Amy.

The man walked over and grabbed Amy's wrists, he looked down at her hands and smirked, "Is this his blood?" he asked before looking her in the eyes.

Amy nodded nervously, "Yes but…" she began, but was quickly cut off.

"So you killed him then?" he asked quickly, not paying attention to the death glares he was receiving from the others.

Ross pulled away from Havoc and looked at the man in disbelief, "She didn't kill him, we found him like that," she insisted, trying desperately to help her.

The man shook his head, "I think I asked you a question," he said as he ignored Ross, "You killed him then?" he asked again, a little more stern this time.

Amy shook her head, "No," she said weakly, "I-I didn't," she insisted.

The man laughed a little before spinning her around and cuffing her hands behind her back, "I guess we'll let the judge decide that," he said before pushing her toward the car.

"Let her go!" Ross yelled as the other three followed, "You can't arrest her, she didn't do anything," she insisted.

The man put Amy in the back of the car and motioned for his other partner to take her away, "Do you want to join her?" he asked Ross as he turned and glared at her.

Havoc placed a hand on Ross' shoulder, "Calm down, yelling isn't going to get us anywhere. We'll go see how Mustang is doing. Amy didn't do anything, she'll be ok," he insisted before looking to the man, "Take us to the hospital."

The man nodded and headed toward his car, Ross and Havoc following close behind. Armstrong stared at the car Amy was in and watched it drive away. His mustache twitched for a moment as the car turned the corner.

"Hmmm," was all he said before walking over to the car and climbing in.


(FLASHBACK)

The Fuhrer was doing some paperwork. He heard a knock on the door and looked up, "Come in!" he called.

The door slowly opened and Colonel Mustang walked in, "You wanted to see me sir?" he asked curiously.

The Fuhrer smiled before standing up, "Yes, come in, come in," he said as he motioned for him to come inside and sit down in the chair in front of the desk.

Mustang closed the door and walked over. He nodded before sitting down in the chair and looking at the Fuhrer. He seemed to be a little nervous.

"Did I do something wrong sir?" he asked, trying to look around the large stack of papers in front of him.

The Fuhrer laughed before pushing the papers out of the way, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I just needed to speak to you about one of your coworkers," he said as he put his hands together and sat them on the desk.

Mustang rolled his eyes, "Great," he sighed, "Honestly Sir, I told Havoc not to put the rat in Hawkeye's desk, but the boy has a mind of his own," he said defensively.

The Fuhrer laughed a little and shook his head, "It's not Havoc, though I know who I need to see next," he said as he got to his feet and walked around the desk, "It is, however, Hawkeye I need to speak with you about," he said as he put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth.

Mustang gave him an odd look, "Hawkeye sir?" he asked curiously, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

The Fuhrer nodded with understanding, "That's because nobody knows yet. Hawkeye is up for a promotion, but I wanted to make sure that she can handle herself," he said, not looking at Roy.

Roy smiled a little, "Sir, she's a good great soldier. I'm sure she can handle whatever you throw at her," he said, a bit of humor in his voice.

The Fuhrer nodded once again, "Good," he said before returning to his desk and sitting down, "There is a string of rapes and murders in a town…quite far from here," he said as he picked up a document and studied it, "There are three men that wander around the streets at night and kidnap innocent women. They rape and murder them," he said before clearing his throat, "Nobody has been able to catch them, and everyone who tries, turns up dead. I think it's the perfect mission for the Lieutenant. She'll lead a small group into the city and catch those rats. The group will be hand picked by me, so there is no need to worry," he smiled as he motioned to himself.

"Good," Mustang said relieved before getting to his feet and heading for the door, "No need to worry about her being able to handle herself Sir, I'll make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble," he laughed.

The Fuhrer looked up at him, "You're not going Colonel," he said quickly before looking back down at his paperwork

Roy stopped and turned around, "But Sir, we always go together," he insisted, "If you want her to make sure she can handle herself, don't you think you should put her in a familiar situation?" he asked as he approached the desk.

"I'm sorry Colonel, but she must learn to work without you," The Fuhrer apologized, "She'll be doing a lot of that when she gets promoted and moved to Central," he said, not looking up at him.

Mustang's jaw dropped, "You can't be serious Sir?" he said, "I need Hawkeye here, you can't move her to Central," he insisted.

The Fuhrer sighed, "I'll be sure to get you a replacement assistant," he assured him, "But Hawkeye must go," he said, as if that was the bottom line.

Mustang looked a little upset by the Fuhrer's actions, "Fine," he said bitterly before slamming his hands on the desk and heading for the door.

He grabbed the knob and opened the door, "I think it best if you leave town till she comes back. I don't want you to get the sudden urge to join her," he said, still not looking at Roy.

An anger cross appeared on the side of Roy's head, "Yes Sir," he said through his teeth.

He walked out into the hall, slamming the door behind him. The Fuhrer frowned before looking up at the door, "If that boy doesn't tell Hawkeye how he feels soon, he'll regret it," he sighed, "And all that frustration will make him even harder to work with."


((Present))

Riza sighed as she looked out the locked window, "I need to get out of here," she said to herself. She placed her hand on the window, "Hold on Sir, you can't die on me now," she whispered as a single tear slid down her face.


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