Summery; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.
Extra Warning: Very mild lime.
Hits: 28. Reviews: 0. What's up with that? I don't mind if people don't review, but it gets me when I keep getting numerous hits and no reviews! Whether you like it or not, please review and let me know. It's a little discouraging. Anyhow, here's the next chapter!
Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.
"Damn…what a day," Havoc groaned, slouched on the barstool in his favorite place to drink, a half-emptied glass in his firm grip. "I'll never understand women. I shouldn't have joined the military – all I meet are the ones who hate me."
"Troubles in love?" a woman's voice asked from behind him. He jumped in surprise, and turned around to see who was talking to him. A voluptuous and slender woman smiled back at him, her crimson lips, black-brown hair and black eyes standing out against her light skin.
"He-hello," he stammered, and spun around slowly as she moved to sit next to him.
"Mind if I sit?" she checked, before ordering herself a drink and continuing to smile at the stunned Major. "You're a Major, I see. An Alchemist?"
"No, just a soldier," he shook his head, and she pursed her lips.
"I see. Well, the uniform suits you, if I may say so," she grinned, and he blinked. "Now, what's a good-looking officer like you doing here drinking alone?"
"Well, you said it – troubles in love," he sighed, sighing heavily as he took another drink from the glass. "I joined the military thinking it'd be a great way to impress the women, but I'm always getting shown up. And the only two women I work with are the kind you don't mess with."
"Really?" she asked interestedly. "Who are they?"
"Riza Hawkeye and Kirstin Dewfall – she's an Alchemist," he added, not noticing the woman's eyes narrow at the mention of Kirstin. "Riza's head-over-heels for our boss, even though she'll never admit it, and Kirstin is off in her own world."
"Aw, that's a shame," she said sympathetically, placing her hand on his arm. Her light touch sent shivers down Havoc's spine. "By the way, my name's Sarena. And you?"
"Havoc – Jean Havoc," he said, swallowing as she leaned in closer to him, looking up at him seductively. He gulped when he realized when he could see down the deep cleavage of her short crimson dress, and took another swig of his drink while looking at the ceiling.
"So, this woman – the Alchemist – doesn't give you the time of day?" she asked curiously, and he shrugged.
"No – she barely sees that I'm there."
"What a fool of a woman," Sarena shook her head mockingly, and his blush didn't go unnoticed by the woman, who smiled coyly at him and leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Well, Jean Havoc, I could show you how a woman should treat a man like you, if you'd like."
"Oh, I don't kn–"
"Finish your drink, and I'll meet you outside," she interrupted, running the tip of her tongue enticingly along her lips as she stood. She placed some money on the counter and strolled out of the bar, her hips swaying suggestively. Havoc stared after her for a moment before gulping down the rest of his drink and hastily paying for his own drink. One part of his mind was warning him about something, but it was overpowered by both the rest of his brain and hormones, which was thanking his lucky stars in surprise.
"I'm so glad you came," she said alluringly, as she flipped on a low light. Havoc followed her into the small apartment and had barely managed to close the door behind him before she was pressed flush against him, her breasts rubbing against his torso. "Now, where shall I start?" she asked softly, almost as if speaking to herself. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him frantically, her tongue exploring his mouth hungrily. Havoc returned her ardor eagerly, his hands quickly freeing her of the tight dress. She giggled in his mouth before pulling him with her, and laid him down on the bed underneath her.
"Ohh…" he moaned huskily, as she ripped his jacket and shirt off, sliding her nails lightly along his torso until they rested just above his belt buckle.
"Take it off," she ordered, and he shivered in pleasure as he hastily undid his buckle, fumbling at the clasp. However, Sarena pressed her lips to his collarbone, her hands exploring his lower regions as she sucked on his skin. Havoc moaned at the sensations going through him, and suddenly felt something odd happening.
"What…my strength…" he thought weakly. Before anything else could happen, though, the door abruptly slammed open, and Sarena shot upright as Kirstin rushed into the room, followed by several soldiers.
"Hold it, you little whore!" Kirstin ordered, pointing a gun at the woman. "I knew you'd find someone else soon enough."
"Can you blame me for being unable to pass up such a scrumptious target?" Sarena asked innocently, getting off the dazed Havoc and standing without shame in her lingerie. "Besides, when he told me you don't give him the time of day, I couldn't waste such a perfect opportunity. You didn't want him to be a target, but your plan didn't work so well, did it – Shadow Alchemist?"
"I caught you, didn't I?" Kirstin replied, her grip unwavering. "I'll thank him for being such an idiot later – I sensed you were somewhere around here. Talk about luck when I saw you coming out of that bar. Now, don't move!"
"You don't expect me to actually listen, do you?" she asked in astonishment, suddenly moving quicker than any of the men believed possible.
"Damn witch!" Kirstin swore, and the entire room was abruptly swallowed in blackness. Flashes from muzzles went off briefly, but Kirstin ended the alchemy in a moment, finding herself knocked to the floor. "You idiots!" she yelled, seeing the woman had gotten away. "I told you not to do anything without my explicit orders! Go – search around the area quickly! If you find her, call me immediately!"
"Ma'm!" the men saluted and ran out of the room, leaving her rubbing her head ruefully before turning to Havoc, who was rushing to get fully dressed once more.
"Stop," she said quickly, and he froze. She strode up to him, and placed her finger on the area Sarena's lips had touched. A pale bruise was on it, but there was no pain when she pressed into it. "You were damn lucky, Havoc," Kirstin informed him. "That was the same woman who's been murdering men in the State for months now. Come on – get dressed and we'll get to Headquarters. I have a report to make, and I can explain there."
"What about the –"
"They won't find her," she waved her hand dismissively, before her calm gaze hardened briefly. "And if any of them do, she'll kill them anyway. Let's go."
"S-sure," Havoc nodded and rushed after her, pulling his jacket on as he ran out the door.
"So, she got away again?" Mustang asked calmly, and she glared at him.
"I told you I was better off by myself," she retorted. "That damn bitch uses her alchemic symbol on her body to release particles in the air that entice men. Of course they wouldn't be any good against her!"
"Calm down," the Flame Alchemist said, but she crossed her arms stubbornly.
"And then she uses it to absorb the life out of men to restore her own youth and powers," Kirstin continued, obviously upset. "I almost had her! Now she's going to kill again until I can catch up to her!"
"Are you all right, Major?" Mustang asked Havoc suddenly, who nodded in surprise.
"Yes, sir."
"Black Widow indeed…" Mustang paused in his musing to glance sharply at Kirstin. "Losing your cool isn't going to help the situation any, Sergeant Major. Calm down before I lock you up in the barracks for the night."
"Sir," she muttered, and sat back down from her pacing, but still couldn't keep her fingers from shifting nervously on her lap.
"As you've probably gathered, this woman is responsible for the deaths caused in the State these past few months," Mustang said calmly, turning once more to Havoc. "We codenamed her Black Widow, but apparently she's an Alchemist of some sort as well. The Sergeant Major has been on the case when it started, and tracked her here when Armstrong decided to transfer her. If I can ask, Kirstin – how did you get involved in this?"
"Complicated," she said curtly, glaring back at her superior. "Frankly, sir, it's none of your business. The Colonel knows where I stand in all this, and that's all I had to give in order to be in charge of this case squad – not that it's much of a squad," she added, the barest hint of a sneer in her voice.
"Fine, then," Mustang nodded, leaning back in his chair. "We do know that she doesn't leave any victim alive, right?"
"Yes."
"Then we'll use the Major here as bait," Mustang grinned suddenly, seeing Havoc's expression. "You'll be together twenty-four hours of the day, seven days a week, until this woman is caught and killed, understood?"
"But – Brigadier General – !"
"No buts," he said sternly. "If you want to stay in charge of this thing, you'll do as I say."
"Sir!" Havoc began pleadingly, but Mustang merely glared at him to shut him up. "Yes, sir."
"This is ridiculous!" Kirstin protested, extremely pissed off. "I don't need some idiot getting in my way while I'm tracking her!"
"Then I'll assign him as your driver."
"Isn't that a little suspicious?" she pointed out sarcastically. "Or do you often have majors driving sergeant majors?"
"No," Mustang conceded. "All right then, Lieutenant Colonel, the Major here will be your driver when you need him."
"W-wha-huh?" she spluttered, completely caught off-guard at the sudden promotion. "I don't want a promotion!"
"Ah, yes, I remember you did everything possible to avoid one when you were reassigned to Armstrong's troops," Mustang remembered fondly. "You just keep doing what you've been doing, Kirstin, and let me worry about anything that may come up."
"This is ludicrous," she mumbled, slouched over in the seat next to Havoc as he drove through town. "I can't believe I have to move, either."
"Hey, I do too."
"Out of the barracks!" she snapped, and he suddenly swerved when he was blinded. Shaking her head she released the transmutation, and he sighed in relief. "I had bought my own damn place, Major, and I just wasted all that money."
"Well, at least Mustang is paying for this place," Havoc offered, and she snorted. Mustang had decided it was best that they get a new apartment instead of using Kirstin's old one – they figured Sarena wouldn't come after them if she knew it was an obvious trap.
"How gracious of him."
"So, how come she doesn't seem to like you?" he asked. "I noticed it kinda seemed personal between you guys."
"Of course it is," she told him sharply. "I'm hunting her down, for heaven sake. I'd be just a little pissed off at the person hunting me, ya think?"
"If you say so," he shrugged, still getting the feeling it was something deeper. Glancing down at the directions Mustang had given them the day before, he double-checked the number before pulling over. "I think this is place."
"One bed?" she shrieked, and Havoc covered his ears in protest. It was a two-room apartment, with a small bedroom off to the side with a bathroom connected to it, while the rest of the space was occupied by a combination of a kitchen and living room, with a small couch and radio set alongside a bookcase filled with apparent research materials. "I'll kill the dirty bastard."
"If the military's paying for it, you'd have thought he'd be a little less cheap," Havoc agreed with a sigh.
"You'll be sleeping on the floor."
"What? Hey!" he protested, and winced as she slammed the bedroom door shut, bringing her bag in with her. "I'm never going to look at another woman for as long as I live," he vowed fervently, eyeing the couch with a hopeful.
"So, when can I expect a Havoc Junior?" Mustang began jokingly, before finding himself hanging out the window by strands of black light. "All right, all right!"
"Thank you," she said primly, dumping him on the floor. "It's been three days already – I wouldn't be surprised if she skipped town."
"You know this woman better than anyone else – except perhaps Archer," he added. "Can you honestly say she's gone, and left Havoc alive?"
"No," she admitted reluctantly.
"You might want to consider letting him sleep on the mattress for once, Kirstin," he lightly added. "He'll break his back at this rate."
"That's not my problem."
"I've made it your problem," he informed her. "Any injuries the Major sustains while in your charge will be on your record as assault charges, and the medical expenses will be docked from your pay."
"You fucking bastard!"
"Now, now, calm down," he said soothingly, waving his hands in defense while rolling his chair further back from the window. "I'm sure you two can work something out, am I right?"
"Not before you're dead," Kirstin growled, but clenched her fists at her sides when pink sparkles suddenly filled the room. "Oh. God."
"I have arrived!" Armstrong announced, dancing into the room with his sparkles flying around him. Feury was already blinded by them, and Havoc was napping in his chair. Riza pointedly ignored them, while Falman and Breda had on sunglasses.
"They seem a little more bright than usual, don't they?" Breda whispered, and Falman shrugged.
"We haven't seen him for a while."
"Co-colonel?" Kirstin stammered, and shot the smug-looking Mustang a glare.
"I didn't tell you he was coming? I must have forgotten," the Flame Alchemist said innocently, fooling no one – except perhaps Armstrong, who had grabbed Kirstin in a death-grip of a hug.
"Colonel…I can't breath!" she gasped, and he dropped her to the ground the next instant.
"I understand you've been giving the Brigadier General some trouble, Lieutenant Colonel," Armstrong said sternly, suddenly back into military mode. Kirstin choked on her protests in rage, and Mustang stepped in smoothly.
"I asked the Colonel to come here to set you straight on some matters before returning to East Division," he informed her. "He mentioned he had some new information for you, so I'll leave you two here for a moment. Let me know when you're done, Armstrong."
"That bad, huh?" Havoc noticed sympathetically, as she staggered into the apartment several hours later. He closed the door behind them, and winced when she didn't even glare at him. "That bad."
"Can you please shut up?" she asked quietly, going into the bedroom and flopping onto her back with a sigh. "I can't believe it…Mustang is the reincarnation of evil, I swear he is. How do you stand that man?"
"It takes practice," he shrugged, coming into the room and taking his jacket off. Glancing at the woman who looked about to pass out with her eyes closed, he moved to the edge of the bed and stared down at her curiously.
"Waaah!" she yelled, jumping up in surprise when she opened her eyes.
"Ow! Damn it!" he cried, holding his nose. Her skull had collided with his nose, making a rather-interesting 'thud'-like noise.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, rubbing the top of head.
"Well, that looked like it was going to be the only chance I was going to see you without a glare on your face," he said, and her face suddenly looked surprised.
"Huh?"
"Every time you see me, you glare at me," he pointed out, and she shrugged. "I can understand that you aren't happy about the situation, but the least we could do is try to be civil to each other, right? How about we call a truce? Maybe if we do, Mustang'll get off your back a little. Eh? Eh?"
"Fine, truce," she said dully, and shook his hand before pulling it away again. "Happy now? Can you leave me alone so I can get some sleep?"
"Sure," he nodded with a resigned sigh, and began to head out of the room. Before he could close the door, however, she stopped him.
"Havoc."
"Yeah?"
"You can…you can use the bed too," she stammered, turning pink. "But if you try anything, I'll break every bone in your body, no matter what Mustang said."
"Deal."
"Kirstin? Are you asleep still?" he called softly, opening the door a crack. It was almost eleven at night, and she had been asleep – as far as he could tell – since almost five. Seeing her laying on her side breathing deeply, he shook his head in wonderment. "How can someone sleep that long like this?" he thought, noticing she was still fully dressed in her uniform. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he slid out of his slippers before noticing her boots were next to him. Checking to make sure she was sound asleep, he untied the laces and quietly pulled them off her feet. She shifted in her sleep, but didn't wake up.
"Whew," he sighed in relief, and yanked the covers over him, unconsciously checking to make sure she was still covered as well before rolling on his side and falling asleep.
Tiny bit of fluff. Their relationship is going to keep on growing. I mean, you can't help but at least learn to get along with someone you're stuck with for the most part, right? Please review!