Well, its time for another anticlimactic end to a cliffhanger.
…
The sergeant went up to her and gave Riza her guns back. "Sorry about that, it wasn't my idea." He said.
"It was Roy's."Schultz added.
Riza looked surprised as she took her guns. "The General's?"
Schultz nodded. "He wrote down instructions in a folder and gave it to Sherman who was there to talk with him about the ideas I had about dealing with Rebound when he returns."
'Well, if Roy trusts them. . .' Riza thought.
"Well, we can just sit here and stare at each other or we can go back up Mustang. Sergeant, you stay here. Hawkeye and I are going to change and go to her apartment." Schultz said.
Sherman grinned and held back a laugh.
"What? . . ." Schultz realized that what he had said could be taken differently and sighed, annoyed. "Screw you." He muttered before leaving the room.
Riza followed him out. "You know what's going on then?"
"Yes. Do you have a change of clothes in your locker?" Schultz asked, heading towards the locker rooms.
"No."
"We'll have to find you a change of pants at least."
Riza wasn't sure what to say to that, so she said nothing at all.
…
After the MPs left with Riza, Roy waited a moment before leaving the office, going into the locker room to change. 'I hope my plan works. I'll have to move quickly.' He thought. Luckily, he had put his tuxedo for the party in his locker. He needed to change out of his uniform if he was going to the party to hunt down Rebound, because if Rebound knew he was there, he would just blow up the apartment building no matter what.
After changing, he drove his motorcycle down to Riza's apartment. Once he was there, he dismounted and went into the lobby, deciding he'd meet up with Schultz and Riza later and have them investigate the surrounding buildings. He walked into the lobby and almost immediately ran into Annie. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"You invited me to come here with you. You were late, as usual, so I came without you."
"Well, you look nice."
"Oh, really? Thank you." She blushed and straightened out her long, green dress.
Roy decided not to alert her to the danger, figuring she would panic. "How about that guy who funded all of this? Have you heard about him?" He asked.
"I heard he was here earlier today, but that he couldn't stay for the party as something had come up. I think it had to do with his family. Someone else said they saw him go down to the basement for a short while. They knew it was him because of the burn scars on his face." She replied.
Change of plans. "Come with me."
"Okay." Annie said slowly as Roy grabbed her and led her away. He quickly found the door to the basement. "What's going on?"
"If I'm right, you'll find out in a moment." He told her.
They went down the stairs and into the open space of the basement, except for some support pillars. "What are we looking for?" Annie asked.
Roy went up to one of the pillars and looked around it. "These."
Annie came over and saw a bomb strapped to the pillar. "W-what – who – why . . ." She stammered.
Roy clapped his hands and turned the bomb into a clock, then he slipped on his gloves. "Start disarming the bombs like I did and I'll make sure they don't explode while you do so."
It took a moment, but Annie jumped into action. She pulled out a piece of chalk she always kept on her and started drawing transmutation circles around each bomb, before turning them into something harmless. While Roy watched. Keeping the air away from each bomb so there could be no spark to set the bomb off.
When they got every bomb, they headed back upstairs to the lobby. "For once I'm the hero and on one even knows it." Roy said.
"Hey! What about me?" Annie demanded.
". . . I'm going to wait for Riza to show up to tell her her problem has been solved." Roy started to walk away from her, then paused and looked back. "Good job Annie."
"I didn't know there was something wrong until you showed up." She said, humble now.
"Don't short string yourself." Roy said with a laugh and went outside to wait. A man offered him a smoke and although he never really smoked in a long time, he accepted it, thinking he deserved it and needed one. Roy unbuttoned his jacket, undid his bow tie, and leaned against the wall by himself, relaxing.
…
It had taken awhile to find Riza some non-military issued pants, but finally they pulled up to the building in Schultz's car. They got out and walked over. Neither looked like they were dressed for a party. Riza had her black turtle neck on.
"What the fuck?" Schultz said when he saw Roy outside the building.
Riza reached Roy first. "Since when do you smoke?" She asked him.
Roy raised an eyebrow at her. "I smoke on rare occasions." He looked her up and down. "I hope that's not what you're wearing to the party. Then again, it matches your date." He added as Schultz joined them.
"Isn't there a terrorist we're suppose to be looking for?" Schultz pointed out.
"Oh shit! I completely forgot!" Roy spat out his cigarette. "No, wait. That's right. I already took care of that." He added coolly as he rubbed his chin, smirking.
"You . . . took care of him? By yourself?" Riza didn't believe this.
"Yes- well, no. One; he wasn't here. Two; Annie helped me." Roy said, then explained, before finishing by saying, "You should have more faith in me lieutenant or at least try to sound less surprised."
"Yes sir." Riza replied.
Roy buttoned up his jacket and fixed his bow tie. "Well, I shouldn't keep Annie waiting. You two go ahead inside and join the party."
'Don't believe this.' Schultz thought and looked at Riza. "Is this how he normally acts?"
"Yes. It is." She said with a sigh. It was more of a sigh relief though. Everything was fine, for now. In the lobby which was where the party was taking place, Riza kept to herself and didn't really mingle with anyone.
"So how far back do you two go?" Schultz asked her with a glance at Roy.
"Way back. My father taught him alchemy."
"You two are luck to have ended up together then."
"I suppose so."
"Sergeant Sherman is the only man on my team that I've know during the Ishbal war. He's my closest friend."
"It's the same with me and the General." Riza replied.
"He's certainly . . . different from my sergeant, that's for sure. I just can't name it." He said, watching Roy for a moment. "Guess its just their personalities. Now those are worlds apart." He chuckled slightly.
…
Roy took his time in finding his way back to Annie. "Annie, I think we should break up."
"Oh thank God."
"Wha- What?"
"I completely agree. In fact I planned to break up with you when we got home." Annie laughed, relieved.
Roy joined in half-heartedly and awkwardly. "I just want to focus on teaching you." He said.
"Exactly! Me too!" Annie sighed, even more relieved.
"Yeah." Roy scratched the back of his head and walked away.
…
Riza went up to the front desk where the lobbyist and a hired bartender handed out drinks. She ordered a glass of water. It'd give her something to do instead of just standing in an awkward silence with Schultz. The lobbyist made a comment about how awful Riza looked in the outfit she wore, but Riza shrugged it off and walked away, knowing Roy would most likely come over there and she didn't want to catch him at his womanizing ways.
But she didn't have to worry. Roy avoided Riza and was in the opposite side of the room, talking with a bunch of young women whose attention he had attracted. He had immediately slipped out that he was single. 'Well, it is true in a way. What am I talking about?! No I'm not. I'm with Riza. She is all I'll ever need.' He thought, but stayed with the women, enjoying himself.
Riza, however, noticed the group of women and started to wonder over, curious about what was going on. Then she saw Roy and stopped in her tracks. She would've felt better if he was talking to a girl one-on-one, but she just rolled her eyes and scoffed, turning away and walking off. Riza tried not to blame him. He had to act like he was his usual self after all. She stopped and sipped her drink. She wished now more than ever that she was wearing something else, something that'd attract men's attention, Roy's in particular. Maybe then he'd think twice before acting like he didn't care around her.
"Are you alright?" Schultz asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You look like, and are acting like, my sergeant when I've done something stupid. And I'm pretty bad at what I did to cause it."
Riza jumped a bit, almost spilling her drink all over herself. She hadn't realized Schultz had been following her. She turned to him. "Oh, no. You didn't do anything. It's the General. I expected him to act better, but I should've known better. I just feel bad for his current girlfriend." She said.
"You shouldn't feel bad. She'll end up dumping him or he'll dump her, either way he'll move on to some other girl; rinse and repeat. Such is the mating cycle of Roy Mustang, or so I've heard."
Riza laughed at that and found she felt a little better. "There is a lot of truth in that." She agreed.
Schultz laughed as well, then removed his hand from her shoulder when he realized he had left it there. He smiled and shook his head. 'Its sad to think that in one way I pity him, yet in others, I envy him.' Schultz thought. He continued to talk with her until she called it a night.
…
A longish chapter to follow a smallish chapter.
I like to toss my jokes into my characters, such as the mating cycle of Roy Mustang. I thought of it and just tossed it in for farts and giggles.