Title: Four Days, One Chance!
Genre: Action, Romance
Pairing: Riza/Roy
Rating: Pg-13, possibly R with later chapters (for adult situations, war time violence, gore, and swearing)
Disclaimer: I don't know what you talkin' 'bout, son.
Four days had passed without any sign of the target. First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye was a patient person, but pushing five days of staying hidden was wearing on her. The mission, as told to her by Major Mustang, was supposed to be a simple quick in, quick out one: while he led their unit on the ground to take some important hostages, she was to take out a key Ishbalan leader, in effort to diminish the enemy's will to fight. It was a sound plan, one that had already been used to great success a number of times in the past. After all, that was a key reason Snipers were used. What no one saw coming was the well organized resistance; was the sudden trench war in the middle of the street. Riza had watched it all unfold from her perch high in a tower spire of an abandoned Ishbalan temple.
She was in fear the entire time. She knew it was worse for everyone on the ground, and tried her best to cover whom she could. It was hell for three days straight. It wasn't until a day ago things had come to a stand still, leaving Major Mustang and his men cornered while slowly being picked off.
"So much for holding the initiative on this mission." She muttered sarcastically.
"Sir?" Came the whisper of her spotter.
She waved him off, telling him it wasn't important. This was his first assignment out on the frontlines with her. So far, he had demonstrated a lot of talent, but now that it all had turned into a waiting game, his greenness was showing through. He kept talking, which wasn't helping her delicate patience at the moment. Her legs were falling asleep from laying on her stomach for so long, again not helping. She shifted her weight from side to side in efforts to relieve the discomfort. If only the damn man would come out, or another target of opportunity would present itself, she could finally move!
"Sir, to the right, where Major Mustang is."
"What's there?"
"Looks like a few Reds are trying to sneak behind the unit."
She immediately swung her rifle and scope to where her spotter indicated. Sure enough, a few brave Ishbalans were attempting to get the best of the Flame Alchemist and his men. Adrenaline rushed her, not while she was watching! Her shoulders tensed up, she nuzzled her cheek into her gun to better view through the scope, a few smooth breaths came from her mouth, all of this was her sacred ritual before shooting.
"Wind direction?"
"North, north-west." Responded the spotter.
Perfect, the wind would guide her well this shot. There were four Ishbalans hugging a wall of a building located behind Mustang's troops. One slowly stuck his head around the corner to check his location. He must be the leader, ah, yes, he's giving the other's orders now. He's my target. One last slow breath as she took aim, watching as the man raised a weapon, taking aim as well. She thought about the irony before she took her shot. The Ishbalan was attempting to take a leader out, to 'diminish the enemy's will to fight' just as she was doing the same.
The leader slumped where he stood, red trailing his fall down the sand colored wall. The three others who had been with him shrieked before scattering. Riza watched them to follow their path back to their hideout. Perhaps they would lead her to the man she was after. Light flared in her scope suddenly causing her to jerk away from it.
"Damn, I heard stories and've seen glimpses … but that's an awesome sight." Her spotter said in shock. "They don't call him the 'Flame' for nothing." He lowered his binoculars and grinned.
Riza rubbed her eye quickly before resuming her watch through the scope. Frustration seeped into her mental state. A quick check … sure enough, three still on fire corpses littered the pathway. Obscenities pooled in her mouth for Mustang. He just took her only chance of getting down from that wretched tower, curse him and his alchemy. Swinging her scope to locate the Major, her breath caught as his face appeared looking directly back at her. He signaled the "OK" sign with his fingers, before giving orders to his men.
"Where do those flames come from? Man, I wish I could do that, save me some money maybe."
Riza sat up from her gun after taking another calming breath. Really, she normally wasn't this touchy with everything. "Why is that Second Lieutenant?" Good, her voice was even.
"All that money wasted on matches." He brought his hand in front of his mouth where an unlit cigarette hung limply and snapped. "Save me time too." He chuckled a bit and smiled back at her.
"Something tells me you wouldn't have to worry about that."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"The lack of a head in-between your shoulders after your first attempt."
The Second Lieutenant choked a bit and stared at her before sighing. "You can be a real ice queen when you want to be, you know that? First, threatening to shoot me for asking you out, now this. Tch, real lady like of you." A playful smirk crept onto his face.
Riza's patience was dangerously low now. Even though she knew he was joking, it didn't mean she would let him get away with it. "Second Lieutenant Havoc-"
The entire building shook as a shockwave from a near by explosion bounced off it. The two jumped to their scopes to locate the source. Her heart was pounding in her throat as the last location of her unit was now swallowed in smoke and debris.
"Shit, Ishbalans are starting to swarm. That explosion looked to be from Major Kimbley's unit coming to back up Mustang."
Riza only half listened, she was searching the sudden rush of Ishbalans for the leader she needed to take out. They were almost on top of Mustang's area, and with the smoke still blocking her sight of the troops she had no idea of how many were alive or injured. She had to keep the Ishbalan's busy somehow.
Chaos was a mild term when used to describe the streets. People were everywhere. Screaming, cursing, gun fire, explosions, all one jumbled orchestra of pure noise trapped behind a curtain of debris filled smoke. Choking on the sandy smoke was Major Roy Mustang, desperately trying to hold his unit together.
"Sergeant Daniel! Take four men and dig down behind that building to the west. You," he pointed to a man gripping his rifle so hard he was shivering, "stop being worthless and take another four to the east. We're going to bottle-neck them."
"Sir?"
"Do you understand what I'm saying? Watch it" He uttered a low growl as he pushed the man's face to the ground, snapping immediately afterwards. In the not so far off distance, a wall collapsed on a group of rushing Ishbalans. He picked the scared soldier up off the ground, looking him in the eyes. "We're all going to die if you don't get a hold of yourself. Now move!"
With his men in place, he gave the order to fire. Red's fell everywhere. Some tripped over the downed fighters opening themselves up to Mustang's central unit of gunmen. He watched their back to make sure they couldn't be surprised from the rear, flame exploding now and again down the street way. Mustang's unit began to push the rush of fighters back as fewer and fewer Reds made the attempt to attack. Roy gave the order to regroup closer to the point of the Ishbalan's entry. Everyone was in the middle of the square now, setting up shields to protect from enemy returned fire.
From the corner of his eye Roy caught a stray man running towards him wielding a large, bloody combat knife. There wasn't any time for Roy to snap. The man was already too close. Roy's mind slurred. It was happening so fast that he still brought his hand up to snap anyway. A second later the attacker's head whipped backwards, eyes rolled into their sockets as blood sprayed in all directions. The body collapsed in a heap to the dirt ground. The only evidence of what had happened was the hole centered between the eyes. The mark of a sniper.
Roy, soaked with blood and heaving to catch his breath, turned to the tower where he knew the only person capable of that shot was hiding. He smirked at her in thanks. He turned to give more orders. There was a earsplitting explosion from his left--then the world went black.
A/N: So! How goes it? Tell me what's wrong I will fix it. I reread these things so many times, I lose my mistakes after a while and can't find them to fix them. On another note, this is an older piece I scribbled down one night after watching a Black Hawk Down marathon on the history channel. It was then followed by a show detailing Snipers! It was a sign I tell you! A sign! People might be going "Woah! Wait, Havoc? What the..." But let me assure you, I'm not doing it for the fan base. Those History Channel specials got me thinking about the set up with FMA. Havoc really is a random guy to have in Roy's group. You only ever see Havoc with guns, and is always backing up Riza. So! I thought about it and realized it would make sense that Havoc could have been Riza's spotter (as snipers actually work in PAIRS instead of solo). Please review! It keeps me going, and as I hate it when other authors stop writing good stories, don't let me become one! It's up to you! XD lol