A/N- I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. I have been crazy busy. The next chapter will also be late for the same reason.
My grateful thanks go to chapter 12's reviewers: Red Walrus, Kristie94, StarCatcher1858, and artFULLYoutuvit. StarCatcher1858 gets extra smiles for adding this story to her favorites. Amplyfiedsmile and theflamefangirl: thanks for subscribing. Achino-Alien, I am honored to have been added to your favorite author list.
I've glanced at the raws for 105. (Sigh of relief.) If I were the creator and owner of FMA, I would have better understood what happened!
Kain Fuery was fiddling with a transistor when the phone rang. He was a careful man, because he did work that required secrecy in order to protect his clients. His phone line was not only secure, but if anyone ever checked his phone records, neither the list of incoming nor of outgoing calls would reveal much of interest- or even anything true.
He carefully put the delicate chip down and pushed his glasses back up his nose. The clever geek had also rigged the telephone to show who was calling. This call was from an unknown caller and was from a payphone in West City. He considered this situation. Very few people had this particular number- it was only for close friends and his best clients- and none lived in West City. Ah. Roy Mustang's band was touring and was probably out that way. Kain picked up the telephone handset.
Roy began talking immediately, because he realized that Kain might have guessed whom it was but would not be sure. "How are you doing, Kain? It's Roy. I hope that I am not interrupting anything big."
"I'm always glad to talk to you, Roy. How's the tour going?"
"Things are going pretty well. The Drachmans seemed to be into our music. The people there are friendly, and they are pretty much like Amestrians. The cities look really different from ours, though. You can tell that it's a whole different culture and aesthetic." Roy cleared his throat. "Excuse me. I've got a little frog."
"Are you sure it's not a little hoarse?" asked Fuery. If the phone line had not been secure, Fuery would have said, "Cold or allergies?"
Knowing that he could speak freely, Mustang began to talk in that in that intense manner of his. After they finished talking and had hung up, Fuery leaned back in his chair and smiled both happily and nervously. Kain may have been quiet and shy, but he had a taste for adventure. How had Roy Mustang had gotten mixed up in the latest national scandal? This was going to be dangerous, but it was also going to be major fun.
Roy had related his adventures of the past few days. When Kain had said that he wanted to help, Roy explained to Kain how he wanted to eventually try to record conversation that would exonerate Mrs. Breda, unless Kain had a better idea. First, though, they had to contact General Grumman. Roy and Riza had discussed how they could convince the general that they really were Riza Hawkeye and people trying to help her. Being that Riza and her grandfather were not only estranged but also had never really known each other, this was not so easy. Finally, Riza thought she remembered a song that her mother had sung to her as a toddler. Riza recalled that her mother had said that she had learned it from her father, Riza's grandfather. It was an odd little song, and it should make Grumman trust Fuery. Roy had decided to contact Fuery first, because Roy, though he knew nothing about the military, thought that it might be difficult to get to speak directly to the general. Not only did Fuery add a layer of distance between Riza and her pursuers, but he also would be able to devise a direct and undetectable line to Grumman.
Fuery put the transistor and its fellow components aside. He was ahead of schedule on that project, and a life might be at stake with this new job that Roy had brought to him. Not that he wouldn't drop whatever he was doing for Roy Mustang anyway …
There were four women named Maya Ostrova enumerated in the latest Drachman census Tammy discovered. One was in her fifties and a second in her sixties. The two remaining Maya Ostrova's were in their twenties, and both were accounted for. Her Maya Ostrova was not a real Maya Ostrova. Tammy swore.
Now she knew that the Maya Ostrova she had suspected was worthy of suspicion. It would be quite a coincidence if the firecrackers had nothing to do with the disappearance of the girl. She might not be Riza Hawkeye Breda; she could be a girl who didn't want her parents or a boyfriend to find her. But, if that were the case, why did she disappear right then? The firecrackers must have been a distraction so that she could leave. How the hell did I fall for that ploy? She must have had help Tammy reasoned.
Tammy had interviewed all of the girls from the fourth floor of The Oasis. None of them had admitted to even having met Maya, except for Sophia Vorvada. Vorvada had not been at the hotel at the time of Maya's escape. To Tammy, this had meant that she could have been Maya's helper. However, Vorvada's allegation of having worked late panned out. Tammy had also interviewed each person at the Amestrian Embassy. Everyone had an alibi for the time of the distraction. All diplomatic personnel had been invited to a command performance of the Drachman Ballet, and those who hadn't attended had been either sick in bed or on duty. The workers of the housekeeping and support staff could also prove where they were. She had also checked all Amestrian customs records. None of the people who had entered Drachma after the accusation against Riza Breda seemed to have any connection to the wanted spy.
If the person who had helped Mrs. Breda was a Drachman, Tammy was shit out of luck. Drachmans were basically off limits. She'd managed to talk to a couple of the Drachmans who'd had contact with the Bredas including two in the courier community and several of the native embassy staff. No one knew a damned thing, if they were to be believed. She'd taken the blurry photos from her watch camera to the two best-known forgers in the area. They'd denied having seen that woman or Hawkeye Breda. She had no authority to "persuade" them to talk.
So, where would Maya Ostrova have gone? That would depend on her true identity. If she were just some Drachman girl who thought someone had a detective investigating her, she would probably have gone to some other city. If she were Riza Hawkeye Breda, she'd try to get to a country that had no extradition pact with Amestris. That would be Xing or Aerugo. It would not be so easy for her blend in in Xing, so Aerugo it is.
Whoever had helped Mrs. Breda was clever. The ingredients used to make the firecrackers were just every day items that couldn't be traced. How would two- or more- clever people try to get to Aerugo? Would the dare try to travel through Amestris? Tammy picked up the phone to contact customs yet again.
At first Riza had felt embarrassed about dancing around to the music. It had begun at that first concert with a tapping of her foot and had progressed into a kind of swaying to the beat. There had been dancing at many diplomatic parties, but those dances had specific steps: waltzing and fox-trotting and the like. Those dances had nothing in common with the way that her body was moving to the music of No More! She felt as if she were releasing her bad feelings, shaking them out of her. In her old life- it was in the past and would never resume- she would have exercised or gone to target practice when she suffered from stress or anxiety. This kind of dancing had a similar affect on her. And, even though she felt outrageous and even foolish, no one was watching her. Everyone was dancing in the same crazy way. People at the concert jumped up and down, they swayed, they did a thing with their heads that Havoc had said was called head banging, and they moved in some random but true way that their bodies seemed to do on their own.
During the first couple of concerts, she had stayed back stage, afraid to join the audience. These audiences had nothing in common with the audiences she had sat in at classical music performances. Sat was the operative word. These people did not sit. They stood, sometimes even in their seats! They left their seats and ran up to the front of the stage. They did a bizarre flailing thing with their arms that she couldn't figure out, so she had asked Roy about it.
"They are pretending to play guitar. It's called air guitar," Roy had explained. It was all so alien, but it was fun, Riza thought. It almost helps.
During the second concert in Amestris, she had ventured out into the audience, feeling the need to absorb the energy closer up to the fans. It was chaotic, and it was what she needed. The masses and the movement make me feel safe- for a while.
Tonight, as she was gyrating amidst the bedlam, she felt a tap on her shoulder. A boy with red hair- maybe it was because she also had red hair, fake though it was, that he offered it to her- was holding out a crude-looking cigarette. Omigod! I know what this is. What should I do??? I have to act like it's nothing unusual. So, she smiled, took the joint, and drew a little of the fragrant smoke into her mouth and lungs- and started coughing like her lungs would explode.
Roy laughed like a maniac when she told him. They had entered their latest hotel room, and he had collapsed onto the bed in hysterics. "Oh, I wish that I had been a fly on the wall to see that!" He could barely choke the words out. She shocked herself by grabbing the free pillow and pummeling him with it. He curled up into a fetal position to protect himself from her assault, gasping for breath between his guffaws.
Who could have predicted any of this? It's stranger than fiction. In the last week-and-a-half, I've become a widow, started running for my life, smoked illegal drugs, and am sharing a room with a man that I just met. A man that I just met but somehow feel comfortable with. She had stopped smacking Mustang and was staring at nothing. Roy sat up on the bed and waved his hand in front of her face.
"Earth to Riza. Come in, please."
"Stop it! Shut up! You have no manners! It's not nice to laugh at people!" she shouted, obviously not angry at all.
He was still snickering, so she swatted him one more time with the pillow before stalking off to the bathroom, shaking with silent laughter.
In the bathroom, she snorted and sat on the edge of the bathtub. She didn't want to think about things. She knew that she should think- needed to think things out. But when she thought about things, the pain and confusion made her want to stop. When she managed to avoid thinking, she felt guilty. There was no winning at this.
With all that has happened, how can I manage to have fun? It's all too incomprehensible. I lose my husband, my life style, and could lose my life. I gain a sweet, smart, funny, and, oh yes, good-looking knight in shining armor. I'm living a totally different life style, and I kind of like it.
Oh, Hey, I miss you and everything that I had with you, but I feel so alive. Everything in our lives was great, but it was so routine until…well, until it wasn't. Now, my life is all adrenaline and noise. And yet, I have comfort. I hope it's okay with you that I take comfort from Roy Mustang. I'm strong, but I'm not that strong that I don't need comforting.
Back in the bedroom, Roy had flopped back down on the bed, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. His laughter had dissipated quickly. What the hell is wrong with me? Am I insane? Before Riza had gotten that far away look in her eyes, he had nearly grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed with him. She had looked so bemused that he had really wanted to hold her and tickle her until they were both out of control with laughter. Luckily for him, her mind had traveled to a serious place, and he had restrained himself. She's just lost her husband, and I'm ready to make a pass at her. She'd never let me help her if I did that. Hell, she'd hate my guts. He had said, "Earth to Riza," but he was the one that needed to come down to Earth.
"Hello."
"Umm, hello. This is Kain, a friend of Roy's. Is he available?"
"Oh! Kain. Roy is out, but this is Maya. I think that Roy has told you about me."
"Yes he has. How are things going?"
"Pretty well, I guess. Considering. Could I give Roy a message for you, Kain?"
"Umm, yes. Thank you, Maya. Please tell Roy that things are going well with me. I was able to, umm, visit my grandfather, and he is just great. He said that he'd help me out, umm, lend me the money. He said that he knows that the problems between us were not my fault, and he, umm, loves me, " Fuery told her. The young genius was always nervous when talking to people whom he did not know well.
"Also," Fuery continued, "he said that he had heard about the, umm, slander against me. He never believed it for a second, and he has thoughts about how I can prove that it's all lies. I don't think that he'll let me down. I really think he means it."
"That's wonderful news! I will be sure to tell Roy. He'll be happy to hear that things are going well … for you," Riza replied. I wish that I could thank him.
"Yes. It is great news. Anyway, I'll keep Roy updated about my projects."
"Good luck, Kain. Take care."
"Bye, Maya."
If I'm really lucky, one of these days I'll get to meet Kain Fuery and my grandfather and thank them appropriately.
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"Okay. So, Kain's made contact with General Grumman, and Grumman wants to cooperate. And he said that he thinks your grandfather is trustworthy?" Mustang wanted to be sure he understood exactly what Fuery had said to Riza.
"Yes. He said that he didn't think that Grandfather would let him down," Riza replied.
Roy thought for a few seconds and then nodded. "Kain once told me that he was working on a voice analyzer that would be able to determine whether or not a speaker was lying. I think that he was telling you that he evaluated your grandfather's speech."
"I've never heard of such a thing!"
"When you meet Fuery, you'll understand. That big brain of his never stops working, even when he's asleep. He's dreamed some of his inventions! He is even working on plans to build a robot!"
"Robot? What's that?"
"It's an artificial- mechanical- person that will be able to do simple tasks like factory assembly line work. Fuery is shy, even timid, but once his mind is engaged, he knows no limits. You'll really like Kain. He's kind, and he always thinks the best of people. It's kind of ironic that most of his work involves people who do not trust."
Can I let myself believe that this will work?
As if he could read Riza's mind, Roy spoke again. "We shouldn't get too excited about this. There is still an awful lot that could go wrong. However, we now have Plan A and Plan B. Our main priority has to be to get you to safety. However, we now may also have a line on proving your innocence.
"We still have to be very careful. We don't know what that Amestrian agent in Drachma- Tammy?- has been up to. If she decided to pursue investigating you, she may have figured a lot of things out by now. I won't feel comfortable until you've made it to Aerugo. We still have three days until we get there," Roy cautioned.
Riza nodded. She decided that she would keep her gun tucked into the back of the waistband of her jeans. She didn't ever want to have to shoot any living thing, but maybe the unused gun would be enough of a threat if things fell apart.
Riza was wandering through Discount Mart. She had awakened with cramps and had realized that she was not prepared for that not-so-special time of the month. On her way from the personal products section to where she hoped to find a box of her favorite (not to mention soothing) herbal tea, she passed through the men's clothing department. A charcoal gray military-style jacket caught her eye. It was nipped in a little at the waist and had cool-looking epaulets. She put the basket that she was carrying down and fingered the fabric. It was of a pretty decent quality, and the jacket was well tailored. This would look really cute on Roy! It appeared to be his size… She laughed- the thought of Roy being in the military was pretty absurd, but she could just about picture him in this jacket.
Something snapped her back into reality. Who do I think that he is? He's my fake boyfriend. No. Not even that! I'm his fake groupie, and I have no money of my own. She placed the jacket back onto the fixture, picked up her basket, and went looking for the tea.
Tammy smiled at the papers on her lap. Maya Ostrova, a Drachman citizen on a student visa, had crossed the border into Amestris at one of the western customs checkpoints. The smile disappeared as she pursed her lips. The only record on Maya Ostrova was the list of people who had crossed at the checkpoint and their immigration status. There was no record of destinations or contacts within the country. I hope those customs jerks have saved a lot of money. Not recording contact and location information has got to be a breach of procedure. If I can confirm that it is, I'm going to get those nincompoops canned. Two losers were not going mess up her career.
But, perhaps there was still to be something to learn from the list. She stared at it:
Clayton Z. Tobias- Natural Born Citizen of Amestris
Vato Falman - Natural Born Citizen of Amestris
Jean Havoc- Natural Born Citizen of Amestris
Maya Ostrova- Citizen of Drachma under Student Visa
Roy Mustang- Natural Born Citizen of Amestris
Zachary T. Morian- Natural Born Citizen of Amestris
My fake Maya Ostrova is tucked in among several Amestrian males. I think that it would behoove me to find out more about those guys. Who are they, and where are they? And do they a have a special friend with them?
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A/N- The word "robot" was coined in about 1920. Even though this story is AU and takes place in an undefined but more modern era than the real FMA, I thought that I'd throw in that shout out to the real FMA's time period.
Thank you so much for reading. I continue to beg you for reviews despite the fact that I am not worthy. Be happy and well.