Love Through Flame and Gunfire

Chapter 5: Clara

Roy burst through the front door of the mansion after parking Havoc's cycle in the garage. His head swung around, trying to find everyone else, but he saw nothing.

"Father? Mom?"

He spun around, still scanning the room, and cursed. Where could they be? He bolted up the stairs, taking them three at a time, his hand gripping the wooden banister tightly as his footsteps thudded loudly in his ears from the impact of boots on marble. It was dark, oh so dark, and he didn't like it. It was never dark in his mansion, there were usually lights on in at least a couple of floors, especially around the holidays, but it seemed that all his lights had been turned off. The military must have searched his house, and he stifled a groan. How much would they have taken and confiscated, or worse, how much would they learn about...

He got up to the seventh floor, puffing slightly, his steps thudding heavily on the hardwood floors. "Mom?"

Loki had said they'd be here, but where were they? Had the military taken them away? All of them? His thoughts went to Riza again and his throat lumped; he shouldn't think about that, not now.

He continued up the stairs to the fourteenth floor, the diamond floor. It was a second sun for the people of Central City, reflecting the sun from the East, but it was quite beautiful for a sunset view. He looked out onto the road, maybe they were still running, or something... There was a hiss and something swooped down from the corner, striking him and laying him out on the floor. "Are you stupid? Do you know how easy it is to see you if the sun is reflecting towards Central?" Loki hissed, gesturing towards the doors.

"Hurry up and get down to the thirteenth floor." He seemed to be holding a phone in his hand, and talking into it.

"No no, don't worry about me, I'm fine Clara... Yes, I'll be there as soon as I can, bye. What am I doing? Rescue missions, you know, I might get in a steal or two, but it all depends. I'll bring you back something nice, I assure you." He hung up the phone as Roy managed to crawl over to the door. He should have thought of it; he had been born and raised here, how could he have forgotten that the fourteenth floor was as easy to see in to as it was to see out?

"Who's Clara?" he asked, getting up onto his feet on the stairs. Loki swept after him, passing him and going down the stairs. "An acquaintance," was all he said. Roy snorted. Acquaintance his ass; Loki would never pass up the chance to hit on a woman, seeing as Roy got most of them anyway. They had quickly found that Roy's suave and charming demeanor was much more desirable than Loki's witty and playful personality, though both brothers could switch when they wanted to, when they had to.

Loki led him back down to the ground floor, removed a couple of marble slabs, and pressed his hands to a giant circle. It glowed momentarily and the stone underneath formed a door. He pulled it up and gestured. "You first." Roy heeded and jumped down; he and Loki had hidden there many times from their parents whenever they had done something wrong, though their parents had humored them and pretended not to know about the secret basement.

Loki followed him down and sealed the ground and the marble again by placing his hands on the circle by the door, and Roy continued onwards, loosening the collar from his neck. It was hot down here, but hotter deeper in, so it was better to loosen clothing now before going much farther in.

The Mustang Mansion, as it was widely known, concealed a little known geographical problem; an active volcano large and powerful enough to destroy Amestris in one eruption. It was a chilling thought, sure, but that was what Mustangs were around for, to keep the volcano in check and remove the heat from any eruptions, making the slide one of cold magma. It was then transmuted to become part of the house, but the volcano only erupted once every hundred years or so, nothing to worry about.

But damn it was hot. The basement was used as an ideal training place for children. If you were going to play with fire, you had to learn that it burned. He looked out of the corner of his eye atLoki and Loki nodded, they were down here alright. Roy quickened his pace and rounded the corner. It was dark down here, being so far underground, but there was light as he progressed farther and farther in.

Finally he was there, and it was discovered that the light was produced from controlled flowing lava. His father had transmuted diamond pipes that lit the main rooms, and he saw Riza seated on a bed with her pup, Black Hayate, in her nightclothes. Jean was there as well, brooding, seated on another bed with his chin resting on arched fingers. Riza had her back to him, combing out her long hair, and Roy suddenly had an aching feeling. Loki gave him a nudge towards Riza, and mouthed, 'straighten up', before going over to another phone and dialing. Roy looked down at himself and grimaced; riding a motorcycle on soft dirt roads wasn't the best way to travel. Oh well... He drew a circle out of the mud on his clothes and transmuted, the dirt falling off in little clumps, rendering him as good as new. He sat down on the bed Riza was seated on and she gave a start, turning her head sharply, her eyes wide. He gave her a smile and she calmed down, lowering her raised brush, and threw her arms around him.

"I'm so glad you're alright..." she whispered, and he said nothing, just hugged her as tightly as he could. There were two polite coughs from behind and they turned their heads to look at the two uncomfortable fathers who were standing two yards apart. "That's enough you two..." they said in unison, then stopped and glared at each other. Jackory pointed to another room and Roy's father, Leroy, to another. Roy and Riza sighed and Roy kissed her cheek gently, shrugging apologetically, then wincing at the pain in his back. It seemed as if that was on fire as well, having been under so much strain. He'd get his mother to take alook at it later. Loki was looking at himself in a mirror, combing his hair back and frowning at himself.

"What's up with you?" he asked, and Loki looked over his shoulder.

"I'm going back into the military, but this time I'm going in disguise."

"What kind of disguise?"

"As Jean Havoc, of course," Loki said, pointing to a box. "Hand me that,will you?"

Roy gave it to him, opening the box as Loki poured something into his hair and rubbed it in. He had already gotten Havoc's hairstyle down. He took out the two lenses in the box and squinted, put them in his eyes, and blinked a few times as the color took effect in his hair. He turned around and put a fake cigarette in the corner of his mouth, adopting a procrastinating look to his face. "How do I look, Brother?"

"Not bad... you look just like Jean, now see if you can fix the voice, and the posture."

Loki cougheda few times and adopted a laid back posture, hands in his pockets. "How's this?" he asked, and Roy gave him the thumbs-up. "The only problem is that your face is just a tiny bit different, and the height doesn't match," Roy pointed out. Loki shrugged. "Height can be fixed with boots, but the face... well, I look so much like him they'll just think it's a trick of the light. People see what they want to see."

Loki picked up the phone again. "Another hospital? Again? God, that must've been one hell of asteal, are you alright? No bullet holes or anything?" It seemed to be genuine concern, Roy mused.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't talk... but besides all that, I'd promise I'd bring my lovely Clara something when I return, remember. Oh don't give me that pet name, you know I hate it. I know, I know, I'll be back as soon as possible, Clara, yes... You want to check what?" Loki looked incredulous on this side of the phone.

"B-But we haven't... ohhhh, you mean after... you really want it? I mean, after that, it won't be so easy to steal anymore... Of course I'll be there to get you out of nasty spots, of course. I know where we're meeting, I'll be there, Clara. Above the storage containment, see, I remembered. I'll be in disguise though, I'll be a tall blonde, blue-eyed, smoking Second Lieutenant. I'll be up there though, when I get what I need, then we'll break for it. Okay? Bye."

He finally hung up the phone and Roy's eyebrow raised. "Well?"

"Just my mission partner," Loki said quickly, and Roy shook his head.

"You got a girl, didn't you, Loki?" Roy asked teasingly, putting his arm around his brother's shoulders. Loki grunted.

"Maybe I did, so what?"

"Finally..."

"What do you mean, 'finally'? Just because you attracted them all when we were kids doesn't mean they'll all go to you from every corner of Amestris now!"

Roy sighed. "You need to check my mailbox at work then."

Loki's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Roy shook his head and Loki cursed. "Damn you, Roy. I don't get it, how do females fall for arrogant bastards like you?"

Roy tightened his grip on Loki's neck. "Who's an arrogant bastard!" he hissed.

"You are!" Loki grumbled. "Nobody likes nice guys anymore."

"Aw, hey... I can be nice when I want to, like around Riza!"

Loki nodded. "I say settle down with her, I doubt you'll find anyone nicer... Well, I must be off, I shouldn't keep Clara waiting too long."

He waved to Jean, who also gave him a grin and a thumbs up, before shrugging on a military uniform and striding out.

At Eastern HQ, Loki/Jean found out that all measures to find them had not gone well, even though there was a full sweep of the Mansion. Loki's anger raged when he found out that they had taken an old photo album full of pictures and were examining them for everyone's social benefit, laughing and joking. He stood up and took them, announcing that it was not needed and that it should probably be returned to the house.

After finding out what he needed to know, he packed Jean's things into a bag, hoisted it around his shoulder, and headed for storage. He opened the door with the key Jean had given him and climbed the stairs to the top of the building, where a blonde woman was waiting for him.

"Well well, what have we here?" Loki joked, and the woman turned, smiling at him.

"So it is a good disguise; you've gotten better, I guess you don't need my help anymore."

"Au contraire, I think I do need your help. I can only disguise myself as immediate persons around me, not as much else."

"Ah, so the King of Thieves has a weakness."

"Disguises and a beautiful Psiren are all the weaknesses I have," he murmured, stepping closer to her. There was a mask on her face, but he knew who she was just by the sound of her voice, the way she held herself, the way she walked.

"Now now, King, no funny business up here..." she laughed, placing her hand on his chest. He looked down at her.

"Why can't you just say my name, instead of calling me King?"

"Because it irritates you, King, and it's cute when you're irritated."

Loki sighed and kissed her cheek. "That's all you'll get from me if you call me King."

Psiren's eyes glinted and she pressed herself closer to him. "Have it your way, then, Loki."

"Much better," he said, before bending slightly to kiss her lips. They kissed for a little while before pulling apart, and Psiren traced his shoulder gently. "You still have the circle?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Do you really think I'll give up thieving so easily? No matter how much they cry and scream, my parents can't get me to think differently. And you, I see you still have yours..." He pulled down the zipper on her jacket and traced the circle on her chest.

"Are you ready to come with me yet?" she asked, her hand holding his wrist. He shook his head slowly, sadly. "Not yet, I'm afraid. I still have work to do. Why not come with me? Nobody would find us, somewhere...private." She seemed to think about it for a second before shaking her head as well and moving forward again to nuzzle his cheek.

"I said I'd rob the bank again at dawn, and I can't stay with you and make it back on time. You know how you like to... draw things out." Loki snorted. "You can't talk."

She said nothing, only sighed and laid her head against his chest.

"You'll come with me after that?" he asked, looking into her blue eyes. She nodded and reached up to finger his hair. "It's turning black again, King, and the lenses are slipping." He cursed softly and took the lenses out of his eyes, pocketing them, and took something else out of his pocket, an emerald ring. She gasped and took it from him, cradling it against her chest; she loved emeralds. "That's something pretty, now how about something helpful..." he reached into his pocket again and retrieved a pack of playing cards, identical to Psiren's old ones.

"I heard your last deck got beat up, so I stole you another one." She looked downcast. "I'm sorry the last one ripped up..." He sighed and stroked some hair out of her face. "Don't worry about it, it didn't kill me to get another." He kissed her forehead and turned. "Keep yourself safe, Clara." She nodded and said, "You keep yourself safe as well, Loki."

He nodded and grinned, then dropped down from the builing onto Havoc's cycle and rode away. She frowned and pressed her hands against her stomach, blue eyes straining to watch him ride into the distance.

Dun dun dun! I was wondering if I'd ever get to use Psiren in a fic, and here she is!

By the way, Loki's name comes from Loki, if I'm not mistaken, the Norse God of Mischief. Loki sounds like a mischevious guy, doesn't he?

- T A