Living on Borrowed Time
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: Finally! They're going after the Red. Just to remind you, the Red's leader's name is Flynn.
Chapter 23 – BetrayalHawkeye and Mustang were busy most of the day making preparations for their confrontation with the Red. It was strange; neither had originally made plans to go after the Red…at least not openly to each other. It had somehow just become some unconscious understanding between them. Neither had openly said what exactly they were going to do once they confronted the band of men either. Were they going to shoot them? Were they going to apprehend them and turn them over to the authorities? Riza wasn't quite sure. She didn't really want to go in and shoot unsuspecting people, but she didn't really want to let them live. They'd killed her, didn't they too deserve to die? A murder for a murder, wasn't that how that obsessed law of the alchemists was supposed to work? Riza wasn't sure. There had only been one time that she'd actually shot someone without being shot at first…back in Ishbal, it had just been a young boy, but the image of his face with the bullet hole staring out at her from the center of his forehead was enough to make her think twice about shooting these people. Of course her policy was usually 'shoot, if shot at.' and technically she had been shot at. Still, this felt like murder, she wasn't shooting in defense, they were going in and—well she wasn't really sure what they were going to do. The question welled up in her throat and she tried to ask Roy, but the words just got caught in her vocal cords and they wouldn't come out. Whatever they ended up doing to those men, they would deserve it…at least that's what she kept telling herself.
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The night felt heavy. Humidity hung in the air around the two companions as they sneaked around the backside of the old meat packing plant. Riza was surprised to find out from Roy that the Red was still operating out of the same place. It seemed careless to her, but then again these men weren't the brightest bulbs in the box. As the back door came into view Hawkeye could immediately see something was wrong. The door was propped open slightly. Upon further inspection Hawkeye could see what was acting as a doorstop, it was a human body. Her breath caught in her chest. Something was really wrong. Mustang didn't look twice at the body, he simply stepped over it and cautiously made his way inside, his gloves at the ready. Hawkeye took a deep breath and pulled her gun from its holster. The cock made a reassuring click as she disappeared into the building behind Mustang.
Several more dead men were laying about the halls of the building. Hawkeye counted 7 bodies from the time they'd entered the complex and she was beginning to get nervous…who could have gotten here first? Seven men, that meant that there were only 3 of the Red left alive. Flynn, the leader had to be among the three, she couldn't see him among the bodies. Sweat trickled down her back, she felt like she was walking into a trap. Mustang's body was pressed close to hers as they made their way to the main room where Riza had been held for most of her capture. As they got closer to the room, they could hear voices.
"How could you have killed her! Your orders were to capture her and use her as bait for Mustang!" a man yelled, his voice thin and shrill.
"I don't take orders from anyone do ya'hear?" the second man shouted back.
At the mention of Mustang's name the two spies ear's perked up. They hid behind two crates of grenades…just where she'd hidden the first time. Cautiously, Hawkeye gave a quick glance behind her…she'd learned the last time.
The men continued to argue. "I don't care what you told me. That woman wasn't worth it." The second man said, "She was a pain in the ass, and if you'd just given me the money you'd promised me, I wouldn't have shot her!"
"You were supposed to kill Mustang!" the first man shouted.
The plan was unfolding just as Mustang and Hawkeye had suspected. Someone had tried to use her as bait to kill Mustang, but some how the message had never gotten to him.
The first man continued, "Mustang was my only competition, all you had to do was kill him, and let me come in and rescue her."
"Why don't you kill me and just get it over with then!" the second man shouted. It seemed that he'd had enough of listening to this emotional man rattle on and would rather die like his comrades than have to endure any more.
"Killing you would be a blessing." The first man said. "But I'm going to make you suffer. You took away the only woman I ever loved, now you'll suffer like she did." A strange splurting sound rang out and the second man groaned.
A lump was forming in Hawkeye's throat. She knew who that man was on the other side of the crate, and she was just now realizing that it wasn't Lt. Havoc. That night she was shot…she'd been so sure it was Havoc. The blonde hair, the blue eyes…the cigarette. The man had all the earmarks. Hawkeye couldn't help but think back to a few weeks after she'd met Eli…
It was the day before he had a major inspection and he was terrified he was going to fail. She'd dropped by his office to wish him luck only to find him chain smoking just outside the office door.
"I can't believe you smoke." She'd said to him. "It's a disgusting habit."
"I don't do it often…only when I'm stressed out." He'd replied.
The phrase echoed in her head "I don't do it often…only when I'm stressed out." Of course he was smoking that night, what could be more stressful than planning a murder for hire?
Tears pricked the edges of her eyes…how could she have fallen for that act? Her heart seemed to be wrenched out of her chest. It wasn't that she'd loved him, but she had thought he was her friend. 'He said he loved me…' she thought. Before him she'd never thought anyone could love her…his betrayal only seemed to prove it. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her heart and proudly walked out from behind the crate.
Sure enough, on the other side of the crate was Eli, Flynn and two dead guards. Flynn was tied to a chair just a few feet from Eli, he was bleeding from his side and Eli was holding the bloody knife.
"Riza!" Eli breathed. His entire face seemed to brighten and he started to walk toward her, the knife he had been using to torture Flynn with was still in his hand. Hawkeye raised her gun and gave him a cold stare.
At the sight of the gun Eli stopped, but his face was still full of hope…and something else. "Riza, is it really you?"
"Yes." She replied coldly.
"But-how?" Eli said. The question seemed just a formality. His face said it all, he didn't care how she came back…the fact was that was still alive and he was happy.
"I brought her back." Mustang said as he stepped out from behind the crate.
"Mustang!" Eli shouted in surprise in rage. His face had been so full of hope as he'd looked upon Riza, his face had been so full of …love. But upon seeing his rival everything changed and hatred seemed to emanate from his body. "What are you doing here?" he demanded of Mustang.
"We came to take care of the Red." Mustang answered, "But it looks like you've done that for us."
"I had to take care of them." Eli said, "They killed her." He looked back at Riza, his eyes pleading with her.
"Why did you do it?" she asked, her face still stone. "Why did you set me up?"
"I wasn't setting you up." He replied his tone apologetic. "I was setting up Mustang."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because he would always come first in your life. Don't you see? Without him we could be happy. I love you." Eli said.
"No you don't." Mustang interjected. "If you really loved her you'd let her make her own choices instead of having me killed off to fulfill some fantasy of yours."
"What would you know about love!" Eli screamed at him. "I've seen you. You walk around town flashing that smile at every woman you meet and they melt for you. Not Riza, she loves me, and I wasn't about to let you have her."
"I don't." Riza said quietly. Both men's heads turned. Just as quietly, she repeated herself, "I don't love you."
Eli's face seemed to break, as if the last little hope he'd been hanging onto in his life had suddenly been torn out from under him. "W-what?"
"I don't love you." She repeated. "I should have told you long ago. It was a mistake. I should have told you."
Eli seemed momentarily overwhelmed, he almost looked like he was going to collapse from the shock. Suddenly his features contorted into an expression of absolute hatred. He turned to face Mustang. "This is all your fault!" he screamed, his grip tightened on the knife. "I had it all. She was perfect! She was mine but you-you were always keeping her from me! If you would have just died!" Eli rushed at Mustang, his knife at the ready. Eli was barely a foot away from Roy. Just as Roy was about to snap his fingers and engulf his assailant in flames, there was a shot and the man fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his head. Mustang turned to see a stony faced Hawkeye holding the smoking gun that had just killed her former lover. Her expression remained unchanged as she lowered her gun and stared directly at her commanding officer.
Mustang gave her a look that almost asked, 'Why?'. Knowing what he was thinking she gave him the only answer she could, "It was like he said, you'll always come first in my life. I couldn't let him hurt you."
The explanation hit him in the stomach as if he'd kicked by a mule. 'She'd do anything for me…she killed the person that offered her the world…for me.' For the first time in his life Roy Mustang got a glimpse at what true love really was.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." She replied, her expression unchanging. Despite her words, he some how knew that they were a lie. She wasn't fine at all. Gently he took her in his arms and wrapped her in a tight hug. After a moment, she let out a choked moan. Roy could feel the shoulder of his shirt become a little wet. Hawkeye's gun fell to the floor, the clattering sound reverberating off the concrete walls. A murder for a murder…a betrayal for a betrayal.
Okay! Wow, that felt like that was a long time coming. Anyway...just to clarify a few things. Eli hired the Red to capture Riza and they were supposed to send a message to Mustang who would of course come to rescue her. They were supposed to kill him, but when Eli came that night to find out if they'd captured her and if they'd sent the note he was really pissed off to find they'd beaten and raped her. Flynn chased him off (b/c he was pissed off for not being paid and he wasn't crazy about working for someone in the military anyway) and he shot her b/c he was pissed. He had one of his lackey's dump her body on the front stairs as a warning to Eli telling him that if he came to harrass them, or turned them in, he'd end up dead too. After getting the ring from Mustang he was finally so overcome with grief that he went to the Red and slaughtered them all. He was going to make Flynn suffer for what he did so he stabbed him and was going to let him bleed out slowly, but Riza interrupted. The whole reason Eli did this was b/c he thought that if Roy was dead Riza would marry him. He thought that she loved him (which she didn't). So when he tried to kill Mustang out of anger, she shot him.
Eli was a good guy, he just did the wrong thing for the right reasons. As for the story, I'm still not done ;) I'm sure at least a few of you are wondering what he gave up and how/if Riza will be able to go back to the military.