Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, the ending would not require a razor. For heaven's sake, Bones...
Preparation: Part 1
The bar wasn't exactly high class, but it wasn't the lowest dive in Dublith, either. A small live band played a slow jazz tune from the low stage in the corner of the room, setting a somber atmosphere that suited this particular crowd well. A haze of smoke hung throughout the room, sustained by a few tendrils of white smoke trailing up from a few scattered tables. Only one lit cigarette rested in an ashtray on the bar, placed in front of a raven-haired woman in a very short black skirt and black belted jacket that draped around a silver low-cut blouse. Sharply-pointed silver high heels tapped the metal foot rest bar in time with the slow beat of the music. Her attire was sufficiently scandalous to suggest she could be a "lady of the evening", to put it politely, and her comely shape and long exposed legs supported the idea. A slender hand reached for the cigarette and brought it to her deep red lips to draw on the filter, the tip briefly flaring brighter.
The outfit had been procured by Lust, the Sin insisting that it drew the eye away from her face to focus on other assets that would be less recognizable.
Hawkeye refused to speak to him for an hour.
The well-disguised Riza Hawkeye tapped the ash from her cigarette into the tray and took a sip from the cocktail by her hand, the butt dangling from between her fingers. Not a smoker herself, she had developed an immunity to the stuff from her association with the addict Jean Havoc. Pointedly ignoring the stares of all the men in the bar, she stared into her drink silently.
"Wow. I never expected-"
"Don't say a word, Loa." Hawkeye stabbed out the cigarette more firmly than needed into the tray.
Behind her, the hulking bovine chimera raised his hands in surrender, trying to look innocent yet not able to resist a smirk at the same time. "I'll be good, I promise."
Hawkeye ran her fingers through her black hair, wearing it down and free. She withdrew a few cenz and tossed them on the counter, pushing herself off the barstool and standing next to the man with an air of reluctance. "Let's just get going," she muttered unhappily.
Loa offered an elbow and after a moment's hesitation, she grasped his giant arm with her left hand, playing the part of arm candy. "I'm stealing whatever clothing Martel has," she murmured to him softly as he opened the door for her and led her out. "This will be the death of me in this cold."
Loa's white, wispy mutton chops twitched in repressed humor. "Lust will be disappointed."
"When I asked for fresh clothes, I assumed he had enough sense to know what clothing meant," she huffed.
He glanced at her right arm as they made their way deeper into a shadier part of the city, closer to the Devil's Nest. "Your arm must be healing well to be out of the sling now."
Hawkeye fisted her right hand and bent and lifted her arm in a careful and slow rotation at the shoulder. The bandage over the wound shifted yet held its place with the movement, remaining invisible under the black jacket. "I still can't do much with it, but I am so much better than when you saw me a few weeks ago. Martel performed a medical miracle."
"Nearly cut to the bone, you were lucky," he grunted, guiding her down a narrow and dimly lit side street.
"Luck isn't so exhausting." Hawkeye eyed the few people that lurked- yes, lurked, there was no better word for the shifty-eyed men standing against the walls for support and women standing about as scantily clad as she- along the way. "I'm glad they sent you to take me to the Nest." The sharp clip of her high heels echoing down the street sounded too attention-grabbing to her ears, but that was probably a projection of her own discomfort in the detested outfit.
"Mmmm. I'm not the only one. You are too wanted." About halfway down the street, he abruptly stopped in place. Hawkeye looked up at him curiously, but he continued to face forward, seeming to be waiting for something. Before she could open her mouth to ask, a woman appeared before them, landing as light as a feather from her jump from a roof above.
"No one followed you," she reported, hand on her hip. Now that she was up close to Hawkeye, the snake chimera looked her up and down with a smirk. The former blonde rolled her eyes up to the night sky and sighed softly, as if asking some greater power for strength.
Perhaps to spare the woman more discomfort, Loa started off again towards their destination. In a matter of minutes, the trio walked down the steep steps into the underground bar.
The girls had been sent home early and the Devil's Nest cleared out so the information could be exchanged in confidentiality. Greed leaned back in one of the leather couches, feet propped up on the table in front of him. Hearing the door open then close, the relatively old Sin turned his face enough to catch the movement out of the corner of his eye, his free hand coming to push his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Well, it's about time," he greeted with a smirk, his words holding a double meaning.
Silver heels clicked down the few steps into the interior of the Nest, Hawkeye visually investigating every detail of the room. The only occupants were herself, the most trusted chimera, and Greed. Loa and Martel took spots along the wall while Dorochet sprawled out on a chair to Greed's left with a leg dangling over the arm, out of the way yet maintaining a presence. The cloaked form of Bido sat up at the bar, sipping from what appeared to be a Long Island iced tea. Without waiting for an invitation, Hawkeye took a seat on a broad red leather chair in front of the Sin, crossing her legs neatly at the ankle.
The homunculus' shark-like grin was a bit disconcerting, but he seemed... normal... enough.
Hawkeye spoke first. "Good evening, Greed. Have you heard from Lust recently?"
Greed's smirk fell a bit and the small shake of his head was her answer. "I figure the bitch'll keep him on a short leash for a while. If he comes, he comes," he shrugged nonchalantly. "This was the date you planned on."
But not one to keep the 'down' façade, the smirk returned and a tattooed hand removed his glasses to reveal sharp violet eyes. "He'll have to prove himself trustworthy and she's twisted enough to come up with some kind of favors he has to perform to be back in her oh so wonderful graces."
"Favors," she sighed softly. Perhaps he would be ordered to kill someone. Espionage work frequently called for sacrifices, but there was no way to tell how that would affect Lust. "Let's hope he can endure it. His job is harder than mine. That is, if they didn't kill him the moment they laid eyes on him. But I won't think about that."
"Good idea. So! Can I offer you a drink?" And it was back to business as usual with a grin.
She shook her head. "No, thank you. I'll be asking for a lot from you soon enough." Hawkeye took a breath and plowed on ahead, holding the homunculus' gaze steadily. "Greed, I hope you've given my proposition a lot of thought. There are a lot of risks involved, but the results should be entirely beneficial to you, to be rid of Dante and all the other Sins. If you have decided to go ahead with this, I have a list of supplies I'll need that I know only you could get for me."
"Oh I've thought about it many times. Thought about how much you're really asking of me." The glasses were set upon the table and Greed reclined further in his seat, arms resting along the back of the couch. "I'm a greedy bastard, have a lot of things here that are mine and mine alone." He watched her every motion for some kind of reaction. "But the way I see it, even if I gave you all these things and you fail, it's no skin off my back. No one knows of my involvement, and I gain either way an entertaining event or Dante and her puppets demise."
A small knot of tension released around her heart. Something was going right. "Thank you, Greed. I wish I could say I could repay you, but even if this works out I'm not going to be in a good place with the world. I can't even guarantee you protection. I won't be in the military any longer."
Dorochet couldn't hold back a short, barking laugh at that, head rolling back on the chair and back up to sneer at her. "We are very familiar with the ways of the military. Even if you get rid of Pride, it's still filled the the same people."
Hawkeye nodded gravely. "You're right. I'm hoping the civilian government has enough sense to put in a good system of checks and balances, but humans are humans and there will always be corruption anywhere, no matter how high the ideals of the people or government."
That's what I'm trying to do now. Provide a check to bring out a balance this country has never seen before.'That was Mustang's life goal, and now it seemed Hawkeye had inherited it, albeit unwillingly.
"As I explained before, it's not going to be as simple as killing Pride. Most of my work will be in encouraging the people to establish a democratic civilian government and replace the defunct parliament. What's really holding them back is fear of the repressive regime. Once General Grumman has taken control, he will allow the citizens to-"
"Wait, why do you trust him? Once he has power, what's to stop him from simply keeping it?" Martel interrupted from her stationed place by the exit.
"He's my grandfather," Hawkeye answered candidly, facing her. "I met with him a week ago and received his agreement. He could have turned me in then but didn't. Also, he's well aware he'll be the next famous assassination if he betrays the people."
"Lust will kill him," Martel snorted.
"Probably, and I wouldn't stop him, or anyone else from doing so." Hawkeye looked unwavering in her startling declaration.
"So tell me, Riza," Everyone was on a first name basis with Greed, so he was the same with everyone else. "What exactly do you need?"
Hawkeye slid a hand inside her jacket and pulled out a folded slip of paper, sliding it over the surface of the table toward the homunculus. "The first on the list is a printing press, one hundred pounds of ink, printing plates, and five hundred reams of paper. Second, I have a list of names of democratic party leaders and speakers, as well as the very few parliament members who have been against the martial law since it was imposed. They need to be contacted and encouraged to start on formal town hall meetings to prepare for a regime change. We'll need the Fuhrer's schedule for the next upcoming months, including his family and Colonel Douglas. I also need food, water, clothing, and hygiene supplies to last about a month in winter, some larger caliber weapons, ammo, maps of Central, including a topographical map, a layout of Dante's home, a map of the underground city... and volunteers to fight the other homunculi."
Her gaze shifted to the ex-military members in the room, settling on Greed in the end, feeling tense. The last request was the most delicate. If he joined in the battle himself, that was something that could affect him directly. He would get injured, or worse, and to someone like Greed, that may be too much of a risk.
Before he was turned off the daunting idea completely, she reviewed the plan in person. It would be more convincing than the letter she had sent along with Martel and Loa when they left the pawn shop basement.
"We'll start with a public propaganda movement. That's where the printing press comes in. All anti-martial law propaganda and literature have been banned as an act of terrorism, so no democratic leaders are free to distribute information or organize town hall meetings. If we went right into removing Pride, and if by chance my grandfather does not actually manage to take control, this nation would not be in a position to hold a steady defense against the hostile nations surrounding it and still manage to keep peace within. There'd be no chance of the government returning to the control of the people. Amestris itself may completely collapse. We can't just help Dante destroy us all.
"The propaganda machine can start spreading the feeling and desire for change. The Christmas holiday coming up soon will help, it's a time we all want to feel safe and have 'peace on earth'.
"In the meantime, Lust will be gathering information from the other homunculi and Dante about their plan of attack. He'll look into the human remains of the others as well. I'll go out in search of them and gather them as best I can once I get that intel. If there's any way I can throw a wrench in the works of their goals to make more death, war, and stones, I'll pass along the right information to the right people to slow down these efforts as much as possible. Maybe the Fuhrer has the power to create firestorms of civil unrest with the right triggers, but there has to be a way to slow things down. Somehow.
"Then we will strike at the right time with an attack force to remove Dante and the homunculi threat. We'll throw in everything we have at once, this will be our one chance. It's all or nothing.
"It will take some time before we're ready to spring our trap. I'm going to be doing a lot of traveling, so I could use some money as well. My bank accounts have been frozen by the government." Hawkeye was doing everything in her power not to show anxiety. If she, of all people, did not show confidence in this plan, then there was no reason anyone else would either.
With growing curiosity, Greed took the paper and thumbed it open even as she listed off everything that was needed. "You sure don't ask for a lot, do you?" The smug look the older Sin constantly wore seemed even more prominent now that his help was needed. The paper was folded again and held loosely between two fingers of his free hand. The decision would be signaled by how he treated that very important list and he had yet to make up his mind.
"There is one other thing, something that could perhaps make this so much easier." Riza paused, eyes locked onto Greed's sunglasses. "What can you tell me about Dante's unrequited love, one Van Hohenheim of Light?"
"You come here asking for supplies, money, men, and now information."
The woman nodded gravely. She was in no position to request anything, much less the extremely difficult to acquire list of demands. "I understand it's a lot. There's no way I can get those things myself, or though any other person. I come to you because I feel you are capable of producing a miracle." She paused, thinking of how to word this next thought. "Like I said before, it would greatly benefit you and your men. I don't see any way I can repay you for what you've done, but I'll do my best. Lust and I will be in your debt."
"Hohemheim of Light, that's a name I'll never forget. She cursed the bastard on a regular basis. Apparently he dropped her without warning. Can't say I blame him, but I doubt you're here for a history of Dante's fucked up love life." There was a bit more anger in those words that Greed normally allowed. Somehow, the topic struck a nerve. The rapidly melting ice clinked in the glass as the Sin poured himself another drink, emptying the nearby narrow flask into the glass. Finishing, he sat comfortably in his seat once more, feet propped upon the table he had just used.
"He hasn't been around in a while, but he's still out there. He's a powerful alchemist who is probably the only one who can take Dante step for step. The sons may have a shot, but they don't know her like he does. Now." He paused for effect, eyebrow lofting and grin broadening. "If you want to contact him, I'm sure we could work out something." Almost playfully, he slipped the paper behind his ear before bringing his drink to his lips.
"If you could get in contact with Hohenheim in time, it would no doubt ensure our success. Even if we can't succeed in getting rid of all the other homunculi, they'll be far less dangerous without a leader."
Martel spoke up from the spot of wall by the door she had taken position against, leaning back casually against the aging paint with her arms folded and legs crossed at the ankle. "It still sounds like the best and most solid plan yet to getting rid of all the bastards," she growled. "I for one am willing to throw myself into the thick of it." The other chimera in the room nodded and voiced unanimous agreement. The desire to get revenge for the betrayal they suffered was enough motivation; saving Amestris was secondary. "If Greed agrees, we'll all join in," she finished.
Shrugging his shoulders, Greed settled a bit more comfortably in his seat. He was enjoying this talk due to the fact that Hawkeye was stroking his ego quite nicely. "Miracles, huh? Either you've heard more about me or you're just desperate and will say what it takes to butter me up." There was an chuckle in his voice, his amusement apparent.
The Sin took the paper from its resting place and opened it again, eying the list and giving in to his mental debate. When the silence stretched out a bit too long for comfort, he folded it again and held it between his first two fingers, lifting his arm to give it to the nearest chimera beside him. "Take this and get started. This sounds like too much fun to pass up." His smirk then turned to Hawkeye. "I just have to make sure I'm there to see her face when she falls."
The small lines of tension around her mouth and eyes relaxed and disappeared within seconds of hearing his final judgment, her shoulders relaxing with a soft exhale of relief at the same time. She smiled, an unguarded, genuine smile. "Thank you Greed. Thank you so much."
The dog chimera that had accepted the list from Greed's hand passed through the door Martel was guarding, bent over the paper with knitted brows and muttering complaints to himself of how hard this was going to be, slamming the door a bit harder than necessary behind him. Martel undulated her spine to push off the wall and gestured for the false midnight-haired woman to follow her. "C'mon," she smirked. "Let's get you into something more comfortable."
"Gladly." Hawkeye jumped up and turned to follow her.
The door to the back corridor opened before Martel had even touched the knob. Hawkeye's eyes widened to witness Lust stepping through the doorway, a hand slipped casually into a pants pocket and a sly smile upon his face.
"Heeey, I was hoping I'd get to see that outfit again before you rushed to change."
He was alive. The breath caught in her throat and all she could do was stare at him in shock.
"I made sure to lock your sewer route door, Greed. I heard wet weather's coming soon and I didn't think you'd appreciate a flood making its way through the cracks in the seal. By the way... why in the hell did you have to put the door there? That line empties from the entire street."
The older homunculus just shrugged, appearing as if he had been expecting him all along. "Humans wouldn't look there and it was the easiest place to work with in the time we had." He eyed the Lieutenant appreciatively. "I'll admit, Lust, you do have a nice taste in clothing. A shame to hide all that."
"You look now, but keep your hands on your own girls, Greed. This one's mine." Lust didn't hide the fact that his gaze moved up and down along her form as he stepped closer, stopping inches directly in front of her. "I prefer the blonde hair, though. But, sadly, couldn't keep it. The disguise had to be believable. So, what did I miss?"
The shock dropped away to make way for ecstatic relief and she lifted on her toes to press a surprise kiss on his warm, dry lips. When she stepped away, she took a moment to really look at him and smile. The stress he had to have been enduring didn't show in his eyes, and that warmed her heart.
Hawkeye looked over her shoulder to the older homunculus still lounging on the couch. "Greed agreed to provide all the materials we'll need to pull this off. You two catch up, I'll be back soon." The woman slipped away before Lust could protest.
Lust greatly enjoyed the kiss but sighed dramatically with the loss of the outfit He let his violet eyes watch her exit in its entirety. "Very, very nice." Of course he made sure to speak just loud enough where she could hear him. Once she was gone, the Sin plopped down into the seat across from Greed that Hawkeye had abandoned, making himself comfortable as well.
"So, you agreed. I thought you would." He grinned and grabbed the other's drink the moment it was lowered to the table again.
Greed twitched briefly then simpered with small shrug of his shoulders, the white fur lining of his vest brushing his jawline. "You knew I'd want a chance to see her fall after everything she did to me. She deserves to rot for it all. I provide the materials and some of the required people while you work on the inside. Must say that I think you got the ass end of this job. I'll gladly work behind the scenes until the moment the trap springs. Bait yourself all you want, kiss their feet, just don't let them pull you in. Even if you try to keep your own thoughts and values, they'll still try to drag you into their way of thinking and- dammit, Lust! Don't drink all of it unless you plan on fixing me another!"
Lust finished the last bit purposefully, eyes open and cut to the twitching features of his brother. "Don't worry." He spoke after lowering the glass and remaining ice. "I'll do it, I'll do it. Your drink tastes like shit anyway." He stood before another comment could be made and jumped over the bar by Bido, intending to make his own drink.
Hawkeye noticed Martel had a smooth, curvy way of walking that actually resembled the slither of a snake and wondered how she moved before the special ops soldier was dragged into a laboratory. Her thoughts were interrupted when the chimera abruptly turned into a room on the left of the concrete and metal corridor. She stopped before following her in, since at a glance she knew it was Martel's private room. In no way did it appear feminine or decorated, but the discarded bra on the cot made a clear message. Added to that, a propaganda poster of the Fuhrer on the wall had half a dozen survival knives embedded into it and two crates were stacked against it, one open and displaying an arsenal of firearms. A heavily armed woman; definitely Martel's room.
Martel bent over a footlocker and rifled through it, tossing rejected garments aside. After all she had been through, wrinkly clothes meant nothing. Soon she rose with a pair of military camouflage cargo pants and a tan PT shirt, giving them a single hard shake to ease a few of the wrinkles. "Here, you can have these," she said, laying them out on the bed. "What size shoe?"
"Eight."
The chimera was already on her belly and sliding boxes aside under the bed. One slid out and stopped neat Hawkeye's feet. "Eight and a half," she announced. In one motion the other woman rolled to her back and flung her legs up, using the momentum to fling herself to her feet. Standing arms akimbo, she smiled to the Lieutenant. "It'll have to do until we can steal you all the things you need. I'll find a field jacket for you from one of the storerooms before you go."
Hawkeye scooped up the box and gave the other blonde a grateful smile. "And you save me yet again. I'll forever be in your debt, Martel. Thank you."
Fully dressed in the borrowed clothes, Hawkeye entered the bar feeling much more like herself. The boots fit just fine for being half a size too large and everything else felt very comfortable. The short sleeved shirt did expose the white bandage wrapped around her upper right arm, but as Loa had noted, she was moving with the injury quite well, considering. She shut the door behind her and slid into the roomy seat beside Lust with a pleased expression.
Lust's arm immediately slipped around her waist. Leaning closer, he nudged her cheek lightly with his nose until she turned her gaze to him, then extended the previous kiss they had shared. "Just make sure you save those clothes. We could use them later."
Greed rolled his eyes. "So I've heard of this relationship of yours. A human and a homunculus, who would have thought? Kind of odd, but whatever gets you off. But again, I still say she's hot, human or not."
Something had definitely changed about her. The man she had chosen to sacrifice her life for to push to the peak of success, whom she had served under many years, and with whom she had shared a deep and secret love, had been murdered. Soon after she had met his homunculus, and not too long following that tumultuous introduction had begun to have tender feelings for him. All too soon after that, she was nearly killed by her boss, the Fuhrer of the nation, and ever since had been a hunted woman. The life she had always known had ceased to exist.
With all her cares and priorities revolutionized, Riza Hawkeye was forced to face a new life with new eyes, or die along with her old world.
Instead of shying away, she returned his kiss without hurry or much self-consciousness. Simple comforts like these hadn't been possible for weeks. "In your dreams, Lust, and that had better be where it stays."
Purring softly, Lust turned to nuzzle into her cheek and press his lips against her soft flesh several times. "You don't know how much I've missed you." He whispered into her ear. "Being stuck in that house... there's really not much to look at, so I've had to use my imagination and that outfit was straight out of my dreams."
Greed sipped his drink to hide the soft growl, his eyes averting at the same time. "I may know where Hohenheim is, so I'll go myself instead of sending someone."
The woman closed her eyes softly and leaned into the affection, memorizing the feel of his lips and the vibration of his voice within his ribcage that moved into hers when he spoke. There was no telling when they could see each other or when she would ever experience things like this again, so every moment was grasped and held closely to her heart. Even his annoying lewdness. She didn't look up until Greed mentioned the name of Hohenhiem. "Do you? How soon can you find him?"
"Yeah. Given travel, maybe a week at most." He replied before finishing the rest of the liquid then eying the bottom of the glass as if it had committed some unspeakable offense. With a huff, the older Sin placed it upon the table with a small clank and forced himself to lean even further back in his seat. If he was trying to look relaxed, he was far from succeeding. "We have... links in the past, so to speak. I may know where he's hiding out. But if he's not there, it'll take longer."
She barely nodded, not wanting to hinder the affection Lust was showering upon her. "That will help with our narrow timetable. If we can get Colonel Douglas' schedule, we'll be better able to track the Bradley family and that would give us more room to maneuver."
He pulled back just enough to shake his head then rest his forehead against her cheek. Lust closed his eyes in thought. "I have another memory of her, Sloth, but they're not mine so they must be Mustang's. He... didn't know her either, but I see a... picture? With two small children. Maybe a file of some sort."
She shuddered. "Sloth. Douglas worked just as hard as any of us, but she didn't talk to anyone beyond what her profession demanded." She frowned and thought hard. "Homunculus... Someone who..." One could almost see the pieces falling into place in her mind as her eyes widened. "A woman... could it be the Elric brother's mother?"
Relaxing, Lust turned in his seat and leaned back, hands resting behind his head. He exhaled a breath and closed his eyes once more, trying to get a clearer image. "It'd make sense. They tried human transmutation and they didn't create me, Greed, Pride, and Envy's far too old. Gluttony... Dante spoke about trying something with the Gate... That leaves Sloth and Wrath..." He ticked the various names off on his fingers, tapping the back of his head to keep count.
She leaned back into the somewhat uncomfortable seat with him and laced her fingers over her belly, nodding as he marked each one. "And who is Wrath? If you can write down all you know about them so far, especially weaknesses and strengths, that would help match each Sin to someone that can counter that."
Lust nodded. "Wrath..." He spoke with a tone of exasperation. "He's the 'youngest' of the group. Older than me by actual age, but he's a kid in form. Annoying as hell and an angry little bastard... a given considering the name. Do you remember the woman who lived in the apartment beside us? She was only there for about two weeks, the one with the little yapping dog that tried to bite people on the ankles? That's Wrath. The dog, not the woman."
A small frown tugged the corners of her mouth, her eyes growing distant. "A child? There shouldn't be much threat from him, depending on what his ability happens to be. But that would mean a grieving mother or father..." She trailed off, her tone saddened. Somewhere out there was an alchemist parent that had lost his or her child, and Hawkeye and her allies would may likely have to kill what someone had had sacrificed to bring back; a child that would, in a sad and strange way, most likely have to die twice.
"Sorry... just not my field of... expertise." His statement faltered, focusing upon her and the sad story.
Greed finally broke in on that. "Talk to the Elric brats. They've had contact with him. They know more about him. We tried to grab the kid first, but Envy and Sloth snatched him up first." He shrugged, arms crossed over his chest and fingers tapping his bare upper arm.
Hawkeye shook herself from her empathetic reverie and took a breath, nodding to Greed. "They're impossible to track usually, more inconstant than the wind, so hopefully I still have a friend in the military that knows their general whereabouts to arrange a run-in. Maybe we can find Wrath's... or at least get more of an idea of what we're dealing with." Ignorance may be bliss in this case for the alchemist involved. It was likely she was allowing herself to be too emotional in these circumstances.
Turning back to Greed, "I've already met with a few military personnel and have their cooperation. You and your chimera friends have limited amnesty from just those few during the fight. When it's all over with, we can further discussions and see what we can work out. I-" Her eyes cut to Lust. "-didn't mention who Lust was, but I did say he was on our side. If it's at all possible, it may be best to avoid exposing you, even to our friends and allies."
Leaning in, he gave her a small smile as he placed a kiss upon her cheek. "I know, it's okay."
"So, we'll be able to move a bit more freely than we would normally. That'll help." Intrigued by this, he leaned forward and folded his arms to support him against his knees. "You may need to give me the names of some of these contacts, just so I know them."
The hand on his arm tightened, the former Lieutenant giving Lust a sympathetic look before once more focusing on Greed. It wasn't fair that he would have to hide for years to come because of his familiar face while his brother could possibly walk about the streets a free man.
"So far, Second Lieutenant Havoc, General Grumman, and Major Armstrong. More to come, but tell everyone to stay out of their way and be on their best behavior towards them if your paths should ever cross. While we may have a working agreement, old friends will trust each other more than new ones."
An arm was moved from its position then used to prop his chin. "Yeah, yeah... I'll be on my best behavior, don't worry about me. Worry about your little boy toy here who's in the middle of it all."
"Yes, but," she said in a quiet, light tone of voice. She lifted her face up to the man at her side and couldn't help but smile. "I'm not worried. He has a good head on his shoulders."
Lust's grip tightened on Hawkeye and another soft smile crossed his lips. "The fact that you trust me... after everything..." But the words fell away and he was unable to finish. Instead, he pressed his forehead to her temple.
"It's been a long train trip to get here and my arm is aching. Do you have a spare room were we can get some rest, Greed?"
Greed turned his head away, the constant lavish affection clearly beginning to really pull on his nerves. He cleared his throat and lifted a hand, pointing to the hidden hallway and obviously the rooms that lay beyond. "Yeah, just take your pick. You'll know which are already taken."
Taking their cue to leave, Hawkeye stood up from the chair with a hand outstretched to Lust.
"Thank you for everything. We'll get out of your hair now."
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