It only took Roy a few more minutes to get ready, but when he turned at the door to offer Riza his arm, he saw her standing in the middle of the room, smiling and shaking her head.
Seeing his concerned and slightly perplexed look, she stopped. "I just realized that we haven't told the others that we're going to this party together. They're all going to be there." Roy's eyes widened momentarily, but his expression quickly changed to one of mischief.
"Well then, let's get going. I can't wait to see their reactions." He laughed, opening the door.
It did not take them long to find the rest of the group lounging at the bottom of the stairs. Fuery, the only one facing them as they descended, was the first to notice them. "Colonel, Lieutenant! Good evening!" He piped, his grin stretching broader with each moment.
Havoc craned his neck to look behind him from his place sitting on the bottom of the stairs. He stood up almost immediately upon noticing that his commanding officers were clearly together. Breda turned around when he saw Havoc's reaction, mouth falling open for a moment. Falman just laughed to himself at his coworkers' reactions.
Riza fought to keep a grin off her face as she responded. "Good evening, Fuery. Is something wrong?" She could feel Roy's arm moving at her side as he struggled and failed to hold back his (almost) silent laughter.
"You… ma'am, and him… to- on a-" Spluttered Breda incoherently. He took a deep breath before trying again, ignoring the sound of cenz changing ands behind him. "This is a joke, right?"
It was Fuery that answered. "No, it's not!" He chirped, happily waving his money around before realizing just how tactless he was being and shoving the money into his pockets abashedly.
Roy took a short break from laughing to look over at his date. "The bet you were telling me about?" She nodded and led him away from the men over to where her grandfather was beaming and waving them over.
"You two look wonderful." He nodded approvingly, in a manner that Roy imagined would have seemed very austere and grandfatherly had he not been grinning like- oh no, they hadn't told Maes either… "The guests will be arriving soon. I received confirmation from Hughes that the Fuhrer will be attending with his standard minimal security, so our men are the only ones that we can expect to be armed. Oh, and I can't imagine Milla will be able to come unarmed. That reminds me, I have asked that this party be strictly no uniform, no title. It saves me the trouble of remembering some of the lower level men's positions." The host rambled on until he saw that two of his men were opening the doors for the people driving down the road to the house.
He quickly gestured to them to come over to the doors and they followed obediently. As the figures that emerged from the parked car walked sedately up to the stairs, Riza leaned closer to Roy and whispered a warning. "Brace yourself."
The light streaming out of the front doors silhouetted the three officers standing in the doorway and bounced off one of the guest's rectangular glasses. It was clear that it had gotten dark enough outside that the hosts were not clearly visible until the guests were at the bottom of the three steps up to the doors.
The exact distance became apparent quickly when Hughes' face seemed to change completely when he discerned whom the couple was standing with Grumman.
"Roy! You finally did it! Now all you have to do is propo-" Called the bespectacled friend as he bounded up the stairs, wife in tow.
Roy cut him off sharply. "Shut it, Maes." He countered, reaching for his gloves, which were carefully tucked into his pocket.
Hawkeye shot Hughes one threatening glance before turning to greet his wife. Grumman had a different approach. "I keep saying that too, but they won't listen to their elders." He agreed; ignoring his granddaughter's subtly exasperated sigh. Hughes shot a wary glance at his friends before nodding enthusiastically and practically dragging his wife across the room to avoid their irritation.
Not long after the Hughes' eventful arrival, the real chaos of hosting set in. It seemed that a steady stream of people was now coming through the door. Roy was finding it a little difficult to follow the list of people coming in. As time went on, all he had time to do was catch a fleeting impression of whose hand he was shaking and dimly register the jovial comments about Grumman's inspiration for his bill.
Riza was faring a little better. She had helped her grandfather host smaller functions before and was able to deal with the constant changes. Brigadier General Grand came in with his wife, Lieutenant General Raven had come alone, Major General Hakuro had left his wife at home. Riza only took real note of the most important officers coming in. There were a surprising number of civilian couples and groups, mixed in with a significant number of lower level officers.
Major General Olivier Milla Armstrong and Major Miles, both defiantly in uniform, were among the last people to come in. "Milla! So nice to see you. You remember my granddaughter, Elizabeth, and Roy Mustang?" Grumman greeted her cheerily, eliciting a rare smile from the visitor, who turned to the other two while Grumman greeted Miles.
"Good evening." She nodded, a trace of a smile left as she greeted Riza. The early sparks of a rivalry seemed to flash as she shook Roy's hand. "I hope your men are up to their task."
Roy smiled at the light challenge. "About as ready as you two are." He shot back. The guest smirked back, putting one hand on her sword as she walked off, Miles trailing behind her after nodding to the other two officers.
The flow of people began to slow as it neared eight o'clock. It was a good thing too, because Roy was getting a little fidgety. That was, until the final guests of the evening arrived.
The Fuhrer, his wife, and his son, accompanied only by the Fuhrer's assistant, Storch, climbed the steps at eight o'clock. All fidgeting stopped as they neared and the people closest to the doors went silent. By the time the Fuhrer reached Lieutenant General Grumman, the entire front hall had gone almost silent.
"Grumman! It's good to see you again. You've met Marie, of course. And our son Selim." Grumman responded with the usual pleasantries as he fell into step with the newcomers before introducing the military couple beside him.
"I believe you've met my granddaughter, First Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkeye?" He smiled ingratiatingly as the Fuhrer and his family greeted Riza and turned to Roy. "And her colonel, the Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang?" At this, Selim's eyes brightened and his mother gasped.
"Oh! You must be one of the couples your grandfather was telling me about, Elizabeth! How sweet! Oh, I remember when King and I were young… He was so rude at first, I actually hit him!" She laughed and the others joined her quickly.
Riza smiled politely back at the older woman. "I know the feeling, ma'am." Roy gaped at his lieutenant as the others had another nice laugh at his expense.
After a few more empty pleasantries had been exchanged, Grumman indicated to the younger couple that they could leave.
They wandered into one of the side rooms to get drinks before launching themselves back into the crowd.
The evening passed quickly as they wandered around the rooms. They found a number of older military men and their wives talking off to one side of the dancers and spent a while socializing with them. Forty five minutes later, Riza had to excuse them rather hastily when Roy failed to hide his astonishment at meeting Lieutenant General Falman.
"You mean you didn't know that Falman's father was part of the upper brass?" She asked as she led him quickly out onto the dance floor.
She had quickly found that it was the only place that they were reasonably safe from being dragged into any other conversations. Roy shook his head in response. "I had no idea. But they look almost exactly alike. Do you think he'd help us?"
They danced straight through the brief pause between songs as Riza considered the thought. "I think he was a supporter of the Fuhrer's decisions in Ishbal, but I'm not certain. In any case, it wouldn't be wise to be too hasty in approaching him."
Roy nodded grimly and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they danced on, studiously ignoring Hughes' frantic attempts to take a picture of them without being jostled by other dancers, something he was failing miserably at.
Eventually, their photographer gave up his quest for the moment and brought his wife out onto the dance floor. The dancing couple had no idea that the other two sets of eyes that were watching them carefully were much more dangerous.
"This is an interesting development, isn't it?" A deep voice murmured in one corner of the room.
The voice's companion nodded, glancing up at the speaker. "That it is. If all else fails, there might be another use for Miss Hawkeye yet."
Their conversation was interrupted when Marie Bradley and General Grumman came back to the corner with drinks, but the observers had said what had been needed.
Across the room, the band was striking up another song. Roy and Riza began dancing with the other couples, talking quietly about everything except work and the events of the last few days. They had just begun talking about what breed of dog Roy should get when, for the third time that week, they heard glass breaking.
If the noise had been smaller, they might have assumed that someone had simply dropped their champagne glass and continued dancing. But the noise was loud and accompanied by shrieks of terror.
Glancing over each other's shoulders, Roy and Riza were able to see men climbing through the window frames over the shards of glass that had once been the windows themselves. Every one of them brandished at least one weapon, some of the paler ones held two or three. It only took a moment to identify them as the mercenaries working with the Ishbalans coming with them.
They stood, frozen for a moment; both scanning the side of the room they could see for enemies and armed allies as the attackers drove everyone into the front hall from the other rooms.
"Everyone sit down!" One of the men ordered sharply. Roy and Riza hastily obeyed, looking for the entire world like a terrified civilian couple. The only differences between them and the cowering couple next to them were the calculating expressions on their faces and weapons they had concealed. The men began prowling quietly through the captives, somehow still managing to maintain a tight perimeter. Riza was busy silently communicating to their armed allies to stand down and make sure to conceal their weapons when Roy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear.
"Who do you see?" He murmured, watching for anyone approaching as he tried to maintain the pretense of a man comforting his girlfriend.
"Havoc, Falman, Hughes, Cassidy, Lyn, and Cohler. I don't see Andars or the night guard." She whispered back, going along by clinging to him. She continued into his shoulder as she kept watch over his shoulder. "They look like they're planning to move us all downstairs, they've opened the door and the guy giving orders is conversing with one of the mercenaries. What do you want us to do, Colonel?"
"Your grandfather is behind you with the Fuhrer and his family. It looks like he just told Armstrong and Miles to sneak out for reinforcements. They were near a window and got the man as he came through, so it was unguarded." Roy responded. "I see Andars, Fuery, most of the night guard, and Breda. Let the rest of our party know to just keep their heads down. We'll see what they plan to do."
Riza began rapidly sending the message around her side of the room. She had just finished relaying it to the last person when she felt Roy's grip on her shoulder tighten. She could hear the footsteps of the approaching man now on the marble floor. As he approached, the man giving orders shouted again.
"Everyone is to stand up and begin walking to this door. Follow orders and you will not be harmed. We have sent our demands to the military and will only execute one person every hour until they meet our terms. If they refuse, you will all die." At this, frightened whispers began mounting and the captives rose. Roy pulled Riza to her feet and they joined the throng headed for the narrow staircase to the cellar.
They could see the Fuhrer, his wife, Selim, and Grumman being shunted by a few of the captors to the door in front of them. When Riza looked around, she saw that Mayaris had been pulled to the center of the room, where two of the Ishbalan men were berating her. The tinted glasses she wore had clearly not deceived them. Riza silently wished her old friend luck, not truly worried about her, they'd never hurt an old Ishbalan woman, but still sorry for Mayaris. Riza turned her attention back to the crowd before her as she reached the stairs.
As they passed by their captors, Roy and Riza turned their heads away, trying to hide their identities and collect as much information as they could at the same time. Both saw that every one of the Ishbalans they passed sported the tattoo Grumman had shown them and Mayaris had identified as an old symbol for their god. It only served to confirm the collective identity of these attackers.
After a few more minutes of being herded, Roy and Riza were being shoved past the shooting range in the cellar. Both noted the presence of a guard next to the gun racks in the room; somehow, the attackers had known that it was there. They continued down the hall, and were eventually pushed into a room neither had been in before.
The room was large, with a high ceiling that was clearly right below the floor above it. The columns supporting the ceiling had all been disguised as trees complete with thick, leafy boughs. Riza could see that more "trees" had been added to distort the uniform pattern of the columns and what seemed to be a small, deep pond had been added in the room. The room was obviously part of the addition Grumman had been so proud of; specially designed to simulate the surroundings for a forest battle.
"Roy, over by the pond." Riza nodded slightly at Lyn and Cassidy, who had already found Grumman and the Fuhrer. They hurried over to the group. Grumman turned when they approached, grim determination etched into every line of his face.
"Good, they haven't found you two yet. I'm sure they're after their demands too, but I'd imagine the plan is to disguise your deaths as the first two executions. Quite possibly the Fuhrer too." Mrs. Bradley cried out quietly at this, covering her son's ears. "Don't worry ma'am. We won't let them hurt your husband. Or Colonel Mustang, or my granddaughter either." He assured her, face softening ever so slightly.
"My wife and son need to hide somewhere while we sort this out, Lieutenant General." The Fuhrer insisted. Roy noted that his concern seemed almost forced as he took his wife's hand. That was when he noticed Hughes coming towards them, Gracia clinging to his arm.
"Excuse me sir, but I have an idea." Mustang offered, gesturing for Maes to hurry over. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes can help your family find a hiding place with Gracia. That way they'll both be protected."
"Make it so, Hughes." The Fuhrer ordered, holding his wife's glance for the briefest of moments before turning back to the group as Hughes led the two women and the young boy deeper into the indoor forest. "Does anyone know how many armed men we have here? It seems I'll have to start bringing more security with me."
"Sir, Lieutenant Hawkeye and I counted seventeen. There are four of my own subordinates, Hughes, the Lieutenant General has a gun, eight of the Lieutenant General's men in the building, ourselves, and yourself, sir." Mustang reported, watching out of the corner of his eye for Hawkeye's nod in confirmation. He noted that his men had all grouped around, and Grumman's remaining few were coming closer. When he saw the nod he been waiting for, he continued. "That's all we know of, sir."
"Very well, do you know how many weapons that amounts to, Colonel? You seem to have all the answers." The Fuhrer responded with a trace of his normal good humor as Hughes and the last of Grumman's men joined the group.
As Roy opened his mouth, there was a loud sound from the door. The last of the partygoers had been shepherded into the room, and the door had just been shut. It was safe to assume that it was now being barricaded, locked, or guarded. Or any combination thereof. Roy continued as they all looked away from the door.
"Cassidy, each of your team has a firearm, right?" He asked, receiving an affirmative nod. "And you have a sword, sir. Hughes?" Roy looked over at his friend, who, having returned, flicked his wrist to reveal a throwing knife.
"I have six knives with me. And a gun." He reported, slipping the blade back into his sleeve.
"Havoc and Falman each have a gun, correct? Fuery, Breda, the same?" He received four confirmations before continuing on again. "I have my gloves, and Hawkeye has two handguns with her."
"Three." She spoke up at long last, quietly correcting him. Roy shot her an incredulous look before revising his tally.
"So that means we have seventeen guns, six throwing knives, my gloves, and a sword." Mustang summarized the extent of their small arsenal. "I can have a few of my men go ask around quietly to see if anyone else had the presence of mind to come armed, sir." The Fuhrer nodded his approval before he began speaking once again. Roy pointed to Furey and Breda to send them off in search of other weapons.
"If the Lieutenant General is correct, they will doubtless send someone in to bring out one of their targets when the first hour is up. We're going to lay a number of traps for those that come in. If we can pull all of our people far enough back into the room and pick off any enemies quietly, we can reduce their numbers. We'll station lookouts in the trees around the door and a few guns to be a first line of defense in case they decide to send too many men in at once." The Fuhrer outlined his plan. Grumman was the only one that spoke up.
"I would suggest that we have a team ready to get out into the main house if there are few enough men outside the door when they open it. If the team is small enough, they can pick off more men in the main house, perhaps even come back and let us out if someone locks us back in." He suggested, gaze flickering over to where Roy and Riza stood.
"That sounds like it may work. Lieutenant General, Colonel, you can organize your men into groups. Let me know if there are any changes in plan. I'm going to try to inspire more of our men to fight." The Fuhrer stalked off, watching them closely.
"Very well." Grumman turned to take command. "Wolfe, I want you in the trees near the door. Cassidy, you go too. Make sure you're close enough to be effective with your handguns. Colonel, if you don't mind I want to have two of your men act as lookouts." Grumman barely waited for Roy's nod before continuing, "Cohler, Andars, you two each take one of Mustang's men and show them around the room. Send people to the back of the room as you go. You four can man the traps. Night guard, be ready to go out the door after the first group if possible. Hughes, I want you to come with me to help pull all of our people as far as we can from the door so they don't stampede when they hear gunfire and the traps have time to work. The Fuhrer can help with that. Everyone got their assignments?" There was a chorus of quick affirmatives before the men spread out to cover their posts. Hughes, Roy, Riza, and Grumman were left standing together when Furey and Breda came jogging up.
"Colonel, no other officers say they came armed. They all presumed that they wouldn't dare attack such a big party." Breda reported, not a trace of humor left in his eyes. Fuery shook his head vehemently behind him. Riza quickly gave them their assignments and sent them off to their posts before turning back to her grandfather.
"I suppose this means you want Roy and me be the first team to leaves if it has a chance." She surmised, looking at her grandfather expectantly.
"Yes. If all else fails, you'll be out of here and able to go for reinforcements. You will be able to fight together and be more effective than any other pair, too." They heard shouting coming from outside the heavy door as guests began passing them to go to the far reaches of the room. "Good luck." With that shared sentiment, Grumman and Hughes turned worried backs to begin their own work.
Roy and Riza jogged back over to the door and took up positions nearby so they would be able to go through if possible. Lyn and James waved from their perches in the trees nearby as they all listened to the shouting die away.
Riza quickly began undoing the snaps on her skirt and drew one of her guns, eliciting a comment from Roy. "Three?" He asked incredulously. Riza just smiled back and put a finger to her lips. Roy fought to keep from shaking his head as they settled in to wait for the door to open.
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Duh duh duh… Sorry, lots of cameos here, so it wasn't easy to write. It's not a terrible cliffhanger, but I'm going away for two weeks, so I didn't feel that I could leave you in too much pain. And I apologize for their rather lengthy planning meeting, but it was necessary for the next few chapters.
Does anyone know Bradley's wife's first name?
When Roy finds out that all of the upper brass is "black", there's one officer with the others that looks a lot like Falman, so I wrote him in. (I put the picture on my website)