AN- hmm, seems my first real cliffhanger went over well. everyone really does NOT want to see Riza die...i aint saying nothing XD. i made up the way to kill homunculi, in case you didnt notice, 'cause at the time they hadnt reached that part in the show. i made it as plausible as possible, tho.
REVIEW, PLEASE!
'The Ultimate Shield'
It had been a very long week, Roy couldn't help but think.
Another Friday was reaching its end, but there was none of last week's dating drama: there wasn't enough time! Every spare moment for Roy and the others had been spent on research—Hughes had been pulling long hours trying to find another copy of the file on homunculi; Fury, Breida, Havoc, and Falman were all running around trying to keep the investigation secret; Armstrong was looking through records on the higher-ups that Riza had managed to unearth, trying to see if there were any connections somewhere in the chain of command. And Roy? He spent hour after excruciatingly boring hour sifting through files Riza brought him. Since she was grabbing anything that had even the slightest to do with homunculi, the Philosopher's Stone, or King Bradley, there were a lot of files to be sifted through!
The last few dregs of a weary late afternoon sun, weakly shining for the first time in three days, were lost on Roy, who sat with his back to the window. He tossed yet another binder into the 'reject' pile (which by now was a very large pile).
Nothing in that one…nothing in any of these! Dammit, this is such a waste of time!
Roy was going stir-crazy. He was definitely not the type of person to sit back and wait when he could be taking action. And, yeah, he knew that it 'was wise' to hang back, play it safe for a while, keep your cool…but God damn it…playing it safe took too much time and got you no closer. Roy didn't want to sit here reading through dusty old reports that had nothing to do with anything, he wanted to be kicking Bradley's ass!
The goal that he'd been affixed upon for years and years was within reach…it was so tantalizingly close...and yet….
With the week drawing to a close, Roy felt like he had gotten exactly…no where.
He threw up his hands in defeat, groaning. If I see one more goddamn file, I'm gonna kill someone…shit, I'd rather being filling out forms again!
The door to his office banged open, and Riza walked in, struggling to carry a stack of files that must have weighed as much as she did. Roy cursed, wondering if jumping out a fourth story window would kill him, as Hawkeye dumped the load onto his already overcrowded desk.
"Holy fuck, Lieutenant, are any of these damn things actually relevant?" he demanded.
She nodded. "Yes sir, all of them are in some way or another…."
"Right, let me rephrase that…will any of these damn things actually get us anywhere?"
A hint of a smile creased her lips for a split second. "Probably not, sir."
"Then why are we wasting our time!?"
She carefully slid a folder out and brought it over to her desk, flipping through it. "Because we need to be as informed as possible before we make our next move."
"Hmph…" Roy grumbled under his breath exactly what he thought about being informed. (Riza decided it would be best just to ignore him—it usually was when the colonel stopped making sense.)
The phone rang, and Roy grabbed it. "What?" he barked into the receiver. He listened for a minute, then said curtly, "Understood," and hung up. He stood up and stretched, looking more irritable then ever.
"That was Hughes. He hasn't found anything, and the brass's starting to get suspicious. He's gonna have to give up his end of the search, for now, anyway."
Riza nodded, slowly. "We need to be careful…King Bradley no doubt has an extremely well-established spy network in place."
"Dammit!" The colonel cursed again and kicked at the foot of his desk. "If only we knew exactly who we could trust…!"
He sat back down at his desk, still muttering to himself. Silence, all too familiar a guest by now, settled over the room. The two of them sat there, reading file after file, and finding absolutely nothing. Roy's brow furrowed at one point as he marked something down.
"Hey, Hawkeye, was this document on human transmutation mentioned in that big research report on the Ishbalan Rebellion?"
Riza checked. "No sir, it wasn't."
"Oh, never mind then…" He looked back down at the file without really seeing it. His head was starting to throb again. Whether or not the document had been mentioned didn't make a difference, really. He'd only asked because he'd had this nagging suspicion all week long….
Never mind the silence. He was, sadly enough, used to that by now. No, what was bothering him was the lack of, not disrespect, but…more like the lack of warning usually found in Riza's voice—all the little hidden meanings typically found sprinkled in her speech. They weren't there today…hadn't been there for a while, really.
Although his first lieutenant never openly disagreed with him, her tone of voice or her wording had always made it all too clear when she thought he was being an idiot. Roy took more orders from her then he gave. Or at least, he used to….
But that was gone now. Hawkeye didn't question him, whether openly or subtly; instead, she simply accepted his orders the way she was supposed to…the way a proper subordinate was supposed to.
Subordinate….
Roy hated that word. He hated everything it stood for. He hated that it was what Riza considered herself…the subordinate of Colonel Roy Mustang. He hated that everything between the two of them had changed…her manners, her behavior, even her tone of voice was different when she talked to him now!
Whenever Riza was talking with a higher-up she didn't like, Roy had noticed early on, her voice became much more distant, and her eyes would stare, not at the officer himself, but at some far-away point right behind his ear. Roy got the sense she wasn't really listening, even though she said 'yes sir' and 'no sir' and nodded in all the right places. It was like she was zoning herself out because whatever was being said was not important enough to waste attention on….
That was how she talked to Roy now.
Sometimes, when she was busy, he would watch her for a while. He'd always done that, provided he was certain she wouldn't catch him at it. Before this whole mess, she'd glance up every so often to make sure he was doing what he was supposed to, and Roy would jerk his head back down, heart thumping, hoping she hadn't noticed him staring even as his face flushed with the idea that maybe she had. Nowadays, though, that was one thing he didn't have to worry about…she never looked up. She kept to herself, head always down, always staring determinedly at whatever was in front of her, refusing to let her attention waver for even a second.
Is this always how things are always gonna be between us now? he wondered. Damn, I hope not. I really hope not….
He was snapped out of his gloomy thoughts by the sound of a partially-muffled yawn. He glanced over to see Riza rubbing her eyes, and he checked the time. Holy hell, it's late already.
"Hey, Hawkeye, you should go home and get some rest. No sense in pulling an all-nighter over this crap."
She started to protest, then changed her mind and stood up.
"Yes sir. I'll see you in the morning then." Riza quickly gathered up her things, feeling awkward--it was unusual, her leaving before the colonel.
Roy waited until she left, then went over to her desk. Neat as always, even with all the files lying around…
He inhaled, her scent still lingering, feeling more or less like a stalker. God, this was pathetic. But he couldn't help it…she'd been so close…not getting the girl was getting old. Fast.
But, this was how it was…he snorted, remembering where he'd been this time last Friday…sitting in some rancid-smelling bar with a slutty ditz for company. Damn…what I wouldn't do for a time machine right about now!
But he didn't have the luxury of going back and fixing everything. Wasn't that the lesson Ishbal had imprinted in his head? He didn't have that option. Hell, what did he have? A fancy title and an empty apartment…a desk covered in files and nothing to look forward to but a night of unending tedium and the hazy, distant promise of a fight that would most likly be to the death…
Oh, screw it…he though, tiredly. Might as well get back to whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing.
He couldn't quite bring himself to move, though. He just sorta stood by Riza's desk, thinking, his thoughts muddled and warping in on themselves.
Yeah…it had been a very long week.
It looks like rain.
Riza noted that the sky was turning grey again, and hoped she'd make it home before it started pouring. It'd been raining a lot lately; several of the smaller towns outside the city were flooding pretty badly. Central, being on higher ground, wasn't in any immediate danger, but the entire city was damp and dreary; the streets were muddy and the passing cars sent water splashing high.
All in all, not exactly the nicest of weather.
A crack of thunder sounded just then, and she picked up the pace, not wanting to get caught in a thunderstorm without an umbrella. The streets were deserted—the late hour combined with the weather had ensured that most people would be staying indoors if they could. Another boom came from up above; Riza decided to take a short cut home in an attempt to beat the rain, and turned down an alleyway that branched off the main street.
She yawned again, more worn out then she realized. The past week had been so mind-numbingly dull…add the boredom to her issues with the colonel, and get one soldier who was extremely relieved the week was over. She wondered absently if the upcoming week would be any better…
Wait!
The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up, and she stopped. She looked behind her, one hand on the butt of the gun strapped in her side holster, adrenalin already kicking in. Just now, there'd been unfamiliar footsteps…
A low mist had settled over the city, plunging the path into semi-darkness and making it hard to see, but Riza wasn't a decorated sharpshooter for nothing. She examined every crevice and corner in the alleyway, her razor-sharp eyes scanning for whoever it was that was following her. She didn't see anyone…but her soldier's intuition all but screamed in her ear.
There was someone following her…a very unfriendly someone.
She focused on a particularly dark corner, one where no light was able to penetrate the shadows. She was reasonably sure that was where her follower was, but she wasn't sure if she should fire or not. Experimentally, Riza turned and made as if to keep going—
Movement from behind her-!
Whatever doubt she'd been feeling vanished, and she whirled around, gun drawn and the safety switched off.
She didn't have even have time to pull the trigger, though; her opponent was suddenly right in front of her, moving with an amount of speed Riza hadn't thought possible. It was only because her instincts were so good that she managed to dodge the fist that came flying out at her, jumping away a second before it landed. Her assailant's hand smashed into the wall behind her instead, and her eyes widened as the bricks crumbled as easily as if they were made out of cardboard. She fired three shots point-blank in response, but the figure moved so quickly that none of the bullets so much as left a scratch.
"C'mon, I thought you were a good shot." Riza started at the husky male voice that issued from the darkness. "The only reason I came was 'cause I heard it'd be a challenge. I don't usually like running errands for those bastards." He snickered softly, almost to himself. "But I don't want to have to worry about military dogs on my tail, either, and rumor has it your boss is getting feisty."
"Who are you?" Riza demanded, keeping her gun focused on his shadowy outline.
"Ehh?" The figure snickered again. "For one day and one day only, I guess you could call me a messenger boy. And my message is this: Colonel Mustang needs to stop sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."
Bam!
Riza fired again, gritting her teeth when she heard the muffled thud that meant the bullet had hit the wall.
"Hey, c'mon, woman, don't get mad at me," he yawned. "It wasn't my idea."
"Then whose idea was it? And why are you carrying it out?" Riza could feel her hands shaking slightly and she didn't like it. It was never a good sign, getting flustered by an opponent's words….
"Because…it sounded like fun."
"Fun!" Hawkeye repeated, incredulous.
"What can I say, I'm greedy. I want excitement, I want a rush. Plus I've never gone up against a sharpshooter before."
Riza frowned. "Whatever it is you're planning, it won't work."
"Fine by me."
"…?" Riza blinked, taken aback.
"Like I said, I'm only in this for the fun. I could care less about the others and their little plan. Mustang butts out or he doesn't, it's all the same to me; being tracked down by you guys'd be annoying, but not exactly deadly, heh. My only concern is how it'll affect yours truly, and frankly, even if he does keep nosing around it won't mean a damn thing to me in the long run, so my attitude is who gives a shit."
Riza fired again, although it was more of a warning shot and she wasn't surprised when it missed. "Come out so I can see you," she ordered.
"Bossy, aren't you?"
The lieutenant narrowed her eyes in frustration. "I said, come out."
"Well, when you put it like that…yes, ma'am."
He sauntered up, hands over his head. He was wearing a sleeveless jacket with fur lining the collar, over an extremely tight purple muscle shirt, and leather pants. His body was very lanky and muscular, giving him the appearance of a wolf, lean and brutal. His teeth almost looked like fangs, adding to the effect, and his hair was black and spiky. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but there was no mistaking his sneer. And, on the back of his left hand was an oriborus tattoo…the mark of a homunculus.
Riza felt her pulse quicken. This was not good.
It looks like the colonel's going to be able to find out whether or not that file's correct after all, she thought grimly.
The homunculus yawned again, and scratched his head. "So, you really a good shot? Or was that all a load of crap?"
For an answer, Riza fired again, and this time the bullet grazed his arm. He looked at the bloody line it left and grinned.
"Well, guess that answers that. Most people can't touch me," he bragged.
"Fascinating." Riza was only half listening by this point, the greater part of her mind being set on finding a way out of this. Homunculi couldn't be killed, but maybe if she could figure out a way to distract him somehow…
"Hey, 'r you even listening?" The homunculus's sneer grew, but his tone of voice went cold. "You know, Sloth told me you were smart, but if you're gonna ignore me, then she was wrong. And it'd be such a disappointment if you weren't worth the time; I'd be listening to that witch for no good reason."
Riza eyed him. She'd already figured out that he was the type of opponent that didn't care about the consequences of anything…those types were always the most deadly, when it came down to it. But now, with the change in his voice, it was also extremely apparent that he was nursing a real bad temper underneath that sneer. She felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face, and cursed silently.
Here she was, trapped in a relatively unused alleyway with an angry homunculus. Sure, she had her gun, but from the look of it- the gash on his arm had already healed- that wasn't going to be much of a help. Hawkeye never deluded herself. She knew that unless something closely resembling a miracle came along, she was in some serious trouble.
The homunculus took a step towards her, and she fired again. The bullet imbedded itself in his shoulder, but he didn't seem to care all that much. There was a small flicker of light around the wound, and in a second it had vanished altogether.
"How long you planning on keeping that up, anyway?" he asked, derisively. "In case you haven't figured it out, killing someone like me is almost impossible…anyway, you sure as hell aren't gonna do it with a puny gun."
What….
There was no mistake…he'd said almost. It was almost impossible to kill him. Then did that mean the file was correct after all?
I have to inform the colonel…!
Of course, if this guy killed her, that would be rather impossible…thinking fast, Riza decided to distract him long enough to make her escape, and then get back to Roy as quickly as she possibly could. That was the plan, anyway…but the homunculus didn't seem to want to follow it.
"Alright, this is getting old. I'm sorry 'bout this, really I am, but hey. A guy's gotta have some fun every now and then, right?"
He sneered. Riza raised her gun again, but faltered when she saw what was happening to his fists: they were turning…blue?
It almost looked like he was turning his arms from the shoulder down into stone. She tried shooting at the tattoo, but the bullet literally bounced off of his 'skin' without leaving so much as a crack.
And then, it dawned on her, who this creature was. She remembered reading in one of those musty old documents back at Headquarters, about a certain homunculus so violent that his own brethren, the other 'false-humans', had sealed him up in an old laboratory. Only, very recently it seemed, he'd managed to escape.
She remembered bits and pieces from what she'd read….this homunculus was said to be ruthless and bloodthirsty, with no regard whatsoever for anyone else. However, unlike the other homunculi, he didn't go around killing and manipulating others for any particular reason….he just killed when he was bored, or if he got something out of the death. Supposedly, while there was no love lost between him and his fellow demons, he had a loyal band of mercenaries who would fight to the death for him. He had the power to turn his body into what he always called 'The Ultimate Shield'—nothing could pierce it. And…-Riza strained to remember- and his name was Greed, for obvious reasons. That was all. There'd been nothing written, as far as she knew, about how to stop him. From what she'd read, if there was a way, no one had ever lived long enough to share it with the rest of the world.
Greed, perhaps seeing the look on Riza's face as she realized what she was really up against, snickered softly.
"See, you're not really that bad…if I was a normal guy, I'd be bleedin' on the ground right now. What your problem is, is that you don't know how to fight against homunculi. And, hey, that's not your fault, you've probably never had to fight one before. Am I right?"
Riza didn't bother to answer; she was furiously trying to come up with a way to defeat him, or at least get out of there alive…
"And, see, I never did like fightin' people who're completely helpless. It ruins all the fun. Plus, from what I've heard, you've got real potential there." He grinned, brutally. "So how 'bout I help you out: you stand there, and I'll show you how a pro works!"
He leaped for her, fingers outstretched. She managed to dodge the initial assault, but then he swung around, his fists flying with deadly accuracy…
Riza, knowing that one full hit would be more then enough to crack her skull open, started firing at him, trying to slow him down.
It didn't work.
He kept punching at her—a person not fortunate enough to have the training in hand-to-hand she'd had would have been dead at the start—missing her head only by sheer inches…with every punch he came that much closer to finishing her off….
Hawkeye ducked one of his fists only to see the other come flying at her…twisting around, she tried to duck a second time, but Greed managed to graze the side of her face. It was slight contact, really; with anyone else, Riza wouldn't have batted an eye. But this wasn't anyone else, this was Greed, and as a result, it felt as if she'd been hit over the head with a brick.
Unnh…
She stumbled backwards, the area where Greed had hit her already swelling up. Her head was beginning to throb unpleasantly, and her vision blurred slightly for a few minutes. Greed took advantage of that, and, grabbing her by the arm, slammed her into the wall behind her. She couldn't help but cry out slightly as the back of her head smashed into the bricks.
The lieutenant's vision went fuzzy again, and she struggled to keep her wits together, well aware that to lose focus now would be a death sentence.
She opened up with another barrage of bullets as he closed in on her, but he simply hardened whatever part of the body the bullets were coming at, and not one did anything besides fall to the ground, useless. Still, she tried, hoping that at least one bullet would manage to stun him, even for a few seconds…hoping that she'd at least have a chance to warn the colonel before Greed caught up with her again….
Blam…blam…blam…click!
Riza felt a jolt of panic- it only lasted a second, but it was there nonetheless. Her gun was out of bullets, and she had no time to put more in! Not that it would have helped, but without a working weapon in her hands, she felt so damn helpless…
Greed put his hands on the wall on either side of her, trapping her against it. In desperation, she reached for another ammo clip, but Greed simply laughed and grabbed the gun out of her hand. He squeezed, and with a crack, he crushed it like it was nothing. Riza stared as pieces of what up till a few seconds ago had been a working weapon fell to the ground.
"Didn't I already tell you?" he hissed, leaning in close. "You can't kill me that way."
Riza's mind was a blank. This wasn't looking good. And the worst part was, if she died here, she wouldn't be able to warn Roy…what would he think if she didn't show up for work tomorrow? Would he be worried? How long would it take him to notice?
Greed was watching her, looking curious. "You know…" he commented, "You really are different. Most people are begging for their lives right about now."
"There isn't a point in begging," she snarled at him, "if nothing will come out of it."
Greed laughed. "Yeah, but see, most people can't quite accept that." He grinned at her. "I like it better this way. Less screaming. People whining all the time really get on your nerves after a while."
Riza didn't answer. Slowly (very slowly), she was reaching down, trying to slip a second gun out of her pocket…she prayed Greed wouldn't notice, that he would keep talking….
"But, seriously, this sucks for you, huh? I mean, it's not really even your fault. The only reason the others want me to kill you off is because you're closest to Mustang, or so they say. Although, if I were you, I'd haunt him for the rest of eternity, seeing as how he's the reason you're about to die."
Riza ignored him, or at least tried to; she knew he was trying to rattle her, trying to make her do something stupid and rash. Her hand closed around the cool metal handle of her gun…
"Heh, but I guess a loyal lapdog like you would never even dream of doing that…besides, if you wanna flip it around, you're the guilty one anyway."
Riza gritted her teeth, ordered herself not to listen, but the homunculus's sneering voice was impossible to block out…
"I mean, you're his subordinate, he shouldn't have to worry about you all the time. And since you're being 'disposed of' to make him miserable, well…it seems to me that if you weren't so close to him, he wouldn't have to suffer like he's gonna."
Riza froze. The blood drained from her face, much to Greed's delight.
"Oh, whoops, looks like I hit a nerve. Lapdogs don't like it when they're the reason their master's so unhappy, I guess?"
She felt uneven, disjointed, almost….
"Well, from what I've heard, the two of you aren't much more then a state alchemist and his pet anyway. I guess Sloth got it wrong, I don't see The Great Flame Alchemist worrying too much over you. He's too much like Pride…all he cares about are his own damn goals." Greed laughed again. He looked at Riza's pale face and smiled 'sympathetically'.
"Aw, but don't worry about it. I'm sure there are plenty of guys in whatever fucked-up afterlife there is that'll be intrested in you…" His eyes slowly left her face; his hands clamped onto her waist. "I know I would be. Then again, I'm the type of guy who wants every hot chick he sees, so."
One hand began to trail lower…
Riza growled, and whipped out her second gun. She didn't even bother shooting at him—instead she brought the butt down over Greed's head so fast and so hard he lost his grip.
"Agh…! You little bitch!" He was up again in an instant, but she'd already jumped past him, and was now running back down the alleyway.
Hawkeye could see him chasing after her out of the corner of her eye, and gritted her teeth. Headquarters was a good five blocks away—she'd never reach it in time. Not to mention, if she led this monster there, other people would get hurt…the colonel could get hurt!
She turned a corner, and an idea popped into her head. Directly in front of her was an old abandoned building, with the warped wooden door hanging open and creaking in the wind. Riza darted inside; at first she moved to slam the door shut, but on second thought left it open. Then she plunged deep into the shadows, keeping her gun aimed at the door just in case.
For a few minutes, the only sounds were the wind blowing in through a cracked window, and her muffled breathing. Then she heard footsteps, and Greed stepped up to the door and looked inside.
Riza held her breath, waiting and praying for him to keep going. For one horrible second, time seemed to freeze in place as he took a step inside…but apparently something changed his mind, because he looked behind him, scowled, and went back out. Riza counted to ten, then to fifty, waiting for him to come back. When he didn't, she let out a small sigh of relief.
She made her way to the door, moving cautiously incase Greed was lurking outside. When she passed a broken window, however, raised voices from outside made her stop in her tracks.
"Why the hell are you here? I don't like being spied on, you know."
"Kindly keep your voice down, Greed."
Riza's brows furrowed in surprise. That voice….
"Look, Sloth, you told me to take this girl out, and that's what I'm doing. I don't need you babysitting me, got that?
"You were taking far too long. The girl's a simple human, you shouldn't be having such…difficulties."
(Riza shook her head slowly, wondering…she had heard that voice before, she was sure of it…but where…?)
"Screw you."
"Indeed." From the woman's tone of voice, she didn't sound too frightened. "Where's the girl now, Greed?"
"Hell if I know."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
The woman, whoever she was, had a voice like ice from the beginning, but now…now her voice was not only cold, but dangerous as well…
"Well, I suggest you find her."
"Y'know something? I'm not sure I feel like taking your orders anymore."
"I'm afraid it isn't your choice, Greed. It never was."
"Oh really? Well, go ahead, try and boss me around. See where it gets you."
The woman--Sloth, Riza thought--sighed slightly. "Very well. If you insist on being difficult."
Riza waited, but nothing else followed. When she looked outside, the alleyway was empty. After an uncertain pause, she decided she'd better get going before someone came back, and took off towards Headquarters again. Her head was still pounding, and blood was trickling down her forehead from a swollen gash, but she ignored that. Her mind was on something else.
That woman…I know I've met her, but where…? Who could she possibly be?
Up on a near-by rooftop, Juliet Douglas silently watched Riza make her way back towards Headquarters…up there, the only sound besides the wind was the steady drip drip drip of blood oozing down her hands…AN- i still need an answer to my previous question, btw. no clue when i'll be able to review again, as my parents have lost their minds over some stupid school issues. if need be i'll just sneak on, but still.
A Semi-Funny Story incident--while typing part of this at like, midnight, i accidently made a serious typo that i didnt notice for like, 1/2 the night. luckly i caught it, 'cause otherwise Riza's line "we need to be as informed as possible before we make our next move" would still read "we need to be as informed as possible before we make out". i think my inner-royainess is trying to tell me something...
REVIEWS, PEOPLE! (a giant thanks to everyone who has, btw)
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EDIT: 6/29/07- Still fixing the chapters, even if it takes me months to get around to it.