The Assignment

Chapter Five

April 5th, 1912

Ellicot

Undisclosed Location

2:00pm

The large man had returned twice now, to take his anger out on the prisoners. Both men were bloodied and bruised. Vato was concerned that his left wrist may also be broken. Heymans shared this concern though he didn't voice it. They sat huddled together, holding each other up as the man left the room.

"They are escalating quickly." Vato said with concern.

"If the team doesn't find us soon…" Heymans agreed. With a tired sigh they both slumped against the wall, ignoring for now the blood trickling down their bodies.

6:00pm

Just Outside of Ellicot

At Mustang's insistence the whole group had gotten off the train the stop before Ellicot. Luckily the two towns were close enough that across fields, it was a thirty-minute walk. Once they were close to the town, Mustang ordered they make camp while awaiting word from Jean Havoc and Riza Hawkeye.

They were going in undercover as a vacationing couple. This would give them the advantage of wandering around town seemingly aimless and hopefully not drawing attention to themselves at the town's only Inn where the others had been staying.

Ellicot Inn

Jean took the lead as they checked in, the innkeeper seemed uninterested in them beyond their money, so they considered it a good start as they headed to their room to leave their bags before going out to explore the town. Mustang had said that Breda's first (and only) report had said that they had gone to the stables, and the town hall to pull records the first full day here. While Riza declared they would be unable to go to town hall without raising suspicion, heading to the stables should be safe enough.

They intended to wander down to the stables, where Riza would gush over the horses and Jean could look for signs of their teammates, then they would walk the perimeter of town before heading to the pub for dinner because pubs typically were a well of information unintentionally. If they found nothing today, they would explore the inn tonight and then the residential areas of town tomorrow. Mustang would be sending someone for a progress report this evening in the form of a plain clothed private with a specific phrase to let them know it was him.

They began making their way to the stable now with an eye out for any clues on their missing teammates. As they started out of the inn, the innkeeper called out to them, Jean turned back to answer the man while Riza stood in the doorway.

"If'n you plan to do any exploring today, I suggest you stay away from the west side of town, there's been some trouble over there with pickpockets lately. The stables aren't far from here either, they're what the town is famous for." The innkeeper said with a smile.

"Oh yes, thank you! We'll be sure to stay away from any danger. Elizabeth had heard about the beautiful horses you raise here, and wanted to see them and well, who am I to tell her no." Jean said with an embarrassed sounding chuckle.

"Y'all must be newlyweds then." The innkeeper said with a chuckle of his own.

"Three months tomorrow. That's why we took a week off, to celebrate our quarter anniversary!" Jean said, and Riza made sure to blush and giggle before they walked out of the inn.

They waited until they were out of earshot before Riza whispered. "Nice improvisation there, if he had any doubts about us, you laid them to rest…though quarter anniversaries are not a real thing."

"Sure, they are, for certain circles. Trust me, I spent time with Armstrong, they can be a thing, and I just pegged myself as an overindulgent wealthy husband." Jean said quietly. Before frowning slightly. "Perhaps if I really was an overindulgent wealthy man Sarah wouldn't have dumped me Saturday."

"No, we don't have time for you to spiral right now. Your friends are missing, focus on that." Riza said, before Jean nodded and she sighed in relief. She didn't say it to him, but no matter who he was Sarah was going to dump him. She had been asked to validate that Roy could trust Jean as much as he thought he could. Jean was a nice guy with a big heart. Roy just wanted to be sure he didn't have a loose tongue as well.

8:00pm

Pub

Riza and Jean were disappointed to find no clues to the whereabouts of their teammates so far. They sat together in the corner of the pub awaiting their contact while listening into as many conversations as they could.

Eventually, they were approached by a thin young man with tidy haircut and normal civilian clothes. He intentionally appeared tipsy, if not downright drunk as he stepped up to their table.

"Hey there pretty lady. Why are you with this loser when you could be with me?" he opened. This was the code Roy had given them, and pointedly ignored Riza's glare when he informed them. (He grew up in a bar, he knew how drunks flirt.)

"Now why would I do a thing like that when he gives me anything I want?" Riza replied. (Coded response: We haven't found anything yet.)

"Well, that's a damn shame. If you want a real man let me know, I'll be around." He said (Coded response: Do you need back up.)

"I doubt she'll be anymore enticed tomorrow than she was today." Jean said. (Coded response: We should be fine but stand by.)

"Whatever you say. Just keep me in mind, princess." (Coded response: I'll be back tomorrow, same time.)

With that he stumbled back to the bar where he loudly ordered another round and lamented the fact that he had been turned down.

"He knows what he's doing at least." Jean murmured before noticing a couple of men from the stable sitting across the room. They seemed to be arguing quietly and were tense. They considered following the men to wherever they intended to go, just because they sort of stood out to them, but decided to stick to the plan for now. Hopefully, whoever else Mustang had sent in made sure to keep eyes on them.

Undisclosed Location

10:00 pm

They were exhausted, sore, hungry, and worried. This they admittedly to each other in quiet whispers as they huddled together on the thin matt. Together, they had drug the matt into the corner behind the door. It had been a real effort with the injuries they had sustained but it made them feel better to have two walls around them.

Heymans was squirming, he had to urinate but now they didn't even have a bucket. He didn't want to just pee in the corner like an animal. He hurt so bad that he wasn't sure how long he could wait either. Vato noticed his discomfort, and shakily stood before offering Heymans his uninjured hand. "Come on, I'll help you over there and stand guard." Vato said tiredly.

"Okay…but don't watch." Heymans said, embarrassed.

"I won't. I promise." Vato said before helping the heavier man across the room. He was pretty sure that the last visit had left Heymans with a broken ankle. There was no way they could escape on their own at this point, so they had to hope Mustang arrived in time.

Once Heymans was supporting himself on the wall in the corner opposite of their bed, Vato turned his back on him to watch the door. He tried not to listen to the other man as he waited, until he heard Heymans muted curse.

Vato unthinkingly turned around to ask what was wrong and noticed right away that there were traces of blood in Heymans urine. He turned away quickly, concerned for his companion. They needed out, sooner rather than later, or he feared they really would die.