Quits.

Jean got to know Riza when they were still cadets in the Amestris Military School. She was younger then, with a spunk and attitude that none rivaled. Not to say that she was a black sheep, no, she was not that. It was made clear to the training officers that she was the grand-daughter of General Hawkeye, but no concession nor 'special' treatment was given to her. Riza slept in the bunk with the other female officers, ate the same savorless food with the rest in the canteen and worked out as much as she could despite the fact that majority of the gym's users were males. She ignored the lewd glances and whistles (for none really could confirm her relationship with General Hawkeye), shut her ears to rumors about her motives ("What is a female doing here? Is she a spy? Or distraction to make us fail?") and rejected her suitors outright with no answers given.

She was the only female training to be a sniper amidst the hormone-raging males, it was expected.

Most of the time, Riza acted like a man. She did not allow herself the notion that she would be given the treatment nor respect of a lady, a female. She did all her exercises, studied all that was required (and beyond), and stayed back at the grounds to train by herself. She scarcely talked, and when she did, it was all business and formal.

Soon, her male counterparts began to realize that Riza Hawkeye was serious. Serious about being a sniper (for only ten of them could make it to the next level while the rest would be relegated to another department, another rank, and another future), and serious about kicking them out. So the guys in turn, started to take her seriously too. At the end of the year, none teased nor crack crude jokes about Riza anymore. They saw her potential, saw the hard work she put in, and their respect came, partly out of admiration (she never missed her aim) and partly out of jealousy-tinged fear (that she had became a menace, a threat).

And it was true. When the exam came, Riza was the only one who passed with full marks, be it theory or practical. And during her year, only six of them made it to the next level to be 'consigned' as potential snipers for the Military. People started to distance themselves away from Riza, even her female military mates. Rumors began to spread about her, saying that she was not normal, something was not right with her behavior, and what was it with that look in her eye? Riza ignored all of these, as if she had a more important goal in mind, and all these were just distracting, useless flies.

But there was something about her, an air of hope and optimism around her that shone brightly like a sun, or at least that was how Jean felt. Even though Riza was misunderstood and 'ostracized' by the rest, she showed neither disappointment nor hurt. She went on with her daily life as normal, and there was even a small smile on her face when she thought no one was looking.

Jean loved that smile. He wouldn't say that he liked her as a lover, no, that kind of floaty, clingy feeling was beyond him at that time. But seeing the corners of her lips slightly turned upwards, made her face look kinder and softer and sweeter, and that made Jean felt weird all over.

But he thought no more than that; he didn't delude himself with lofty thoughts of secret, undying one-sided love for her. It was just a kind of pull, an indescribable magnetic force around her that seemed to pull him to her. What exactly it was that attracted him to her, Jean had no answer. But he liked her as a buddy, as a fellow trainee, and he did no more than to observe her from his side, with the silence and stealth of a curious, hungry cat.

And he dated, various women from the military as he continued with his hell-like training. As snipers, there were not much teamwork. A sniper acted alone on his strategy and nerves and confidence level and thus, the six trainees were together and yet not. Each of them went about their own training, thinking mystified thoughts in their own heads, only coming together for certain theory courses and reporting to their individual officer. Such a lifestyle was lonely, and stressful in a certain sense, but Jean liked it. He loved his freedom, his privacy, and considered himself sort of an oddball since he shunned contact with the rest as much as he could. He didn't like others prying into his world, his family background, shooting him with questions about this and that and reload! Another round of blazing shots filled with fiery, prodding questions.

Of course dating with other female cadets was against the rules, but no one bothered with a trainee. For all he knew, he might drop out from the training halfway and having a girlfriend by his side was the next best thing along with cigarettes. His only indulge, one that would make him feel heavenly was a smoke after sex. It was not easy to get the women to sleep with him, and neither was he the sort to prowl around for willing sex partners, but it came as a natural thing, like a procedure after dinner, drinks and kissing.

And he was happy with that; the women did not ask for a relationship and he needed an outlet for his stress other than just smoking. Sometimes he would sleep with the same girl again, but not more than thrice. It was his rule of thumb, not to arouse any 'fatal' emotions nor have them too attached to him. Some would ask questions, but he would not answer (other than with his body, the thrusts, the kisses).

Then came one day, when things would change for him, and her.

"Havoc, there's an emergency meeting now," Riza tapped him on the shoulder. Jean turned his head around, a little light-headed from the cheap vodka and frowned.

"How did you know I was here?" He shook his head a little; was that really Riza Hawkeye standing in front of him?

She did a quick assessment on the woman beside him; long wavy hair, with a tight-fitting dress that revealed her bountiful cleavage and her face was red. Not exactly pretty, but a sex-kitten. Riza picked up the bill for him, used the receipt to wipe off the lipstick mark on his cheek, dragged him up and away from the bar. All these happened within minutes and Jean was too groggy to refuse or retaliate. But he repeated his question again, to which Riza instantly poured a pail of water over his head. He had no idea where she'd gotten the water, but it sobered him up instantly.

"Meeting!" And she rushed down the dark alley without him.

Jean stood there for a while, shocked at her small cry of desperation and the look on her face. He couldn't remember it very well, with the after-effects of alcohol in his bloodstream and the anger rushing around in his head. But he was stunned (for it didn't seem to him that she would lose her cool over something so minor), and quickly followed her while trying to dry his dripping, messy hair.

It turned out that there was a small unrest, a mini rebellion in the eastern part and the military was going to send all six training snipers there the very next day. It was part of their final training, and whether they could graduate depended on their performance and whether they could get back alive. Jean doubted the scale of rebellion, while Riza said nothing and sat with her fists tight on her thighs. When the meeting was over, everyone quickly got to their rooms (for now they stayed alone, too) with a glum, black face. Except for Riza and Jean.

"So... we're going to get ourselves killed," Jean shrugged his shoulders.

Riza did not reply but sat there silently. He took it as a cue for him to continue, "By the way, thanks for just now. I, er, hope, er, you'll-"

She turned around, looked right into his eyes (and the color of her irises was the first thing he truly fell in love with, he later realized) and said coolly, "I thought you might not have the manners to say thanks. I won't say anything, but you should stop it for your own good."

Jean was taken aback at her words; so straight forward, so cutting, so cold. But he managed a weak, bland smile (the smile he'd perfected for inquisitive females) and responded calmly, "We're going to be paired together for this mission, you know. I suppose they think we might not make it out there alone."

She looked at him for a bit more while, and a shudder zapped down his spine. He could see his own reflection in her eyes, and it was as if she was searching for something, something in himself that he didn't knew and it unnerved him. All of a sudden, he felt very naked before her eyes (for she was now a threat to him) and it (surprisingly) gave him an hard-on. Then she smiled, got up and walked off.

Jean cursed and headed for the nearby washroom.

"Shit!" Jean cursed out loud, ducked behind the tree while another bullet zoomed past his head. This was no mini rebellion at all! He had no idea where the villagers got their ammunition from, but six snipers and a small troop of infantry soldiers did not seem enough to him. As if on automata, his fingers reloaded his dirty rifle while he peered ahead for the next target. He did not want to harm these innocent, ignorant villagers, but neither could he forsake his life for such a meaningless rebellion. The next batch of troops would come soon, and he and his fellow trainees only had to hold out for a bit more while before real help would come.

"Riza! Your right!" He spotted a mousy-looking man aiming his pistol at her.

Few more shots resounded through the woods. "You don't have to yell, I saw it a long time ago!"

He grinned to himself at her reply and aimed another shot at the last villager's legs; he didn't want to kill them, injury was the best solution. "Riza, let's move NOW! Back! Back!"

She quickly nodded, scanned her surroundings one more time and dashed back with her rifle in hand and ammo dangling around her waist. Jean wanted to turn and run, leading her back to their base when he caught something from the corner of his eye. Too many thoughts banged around in his head, and before he knew it, his legs brought him to Riza's side and he shot at the man.

All he could recall was the relief he felt when the man fell, and the sudden gush of warmness in his left shoulder. The pain came too quick and fast for his brain to register and he fainted from shock with her screams in his ears. When he woke up, he was in the hospital with a bandage around his left shoulder and a broken leg.

"How the hell did I break my leg?" He scratched his head with his right hand while trying to recall the disjointed events.

Riza sat beside him, in her graduate uniform and remained silent while she looked down. Jean peered at her face for a while and wondered what was going on when she suddenly spoke.

"You fainted from shock. I had to drag you back to base. But you were kind of heavy and you rolled down the hill... and I think your leg hit against some rock."

His lips parted; partly from her recount and her tone of voice. It didn't had that haughtiness nor confidence; it was small, quiet and lovely. Suddenly, Jean couldn't see her as a fellow sniper anymore, but as a very attractive woman. One whom gave him a hard-on then, and one whom he thought had beautiful eyes and face.

"Sorry. And thanks." Riza then promptly clamped up from embarrassment.

Jean gazed fondly at her for a while and came to the conclusion that he was really, really attracted to her. She had an unknown side of softness that had just revealed itself to him, and it sucked him right in like a whirling black hole.

"So you've graduated, and I'm sitting on this hospital bed with my shoulder and leg in pain. I think you owe me more than just an apology and thanks," he put on an upset face and said.

She looked up and caught his eyes, "Then what do you want me to do? I know I owe you my life. Say it."

Jean pondered for a while, "Cigarettes. And a nice long kiss from you."

"What!" Riza got to her feet and glared at him; was he trying to take advantage of her!

He shrugged his good shoulder and looked away, "If you don't want to do it, it's fine. I suppose I'll still graduate once I recover... But I don't know whether I'll still be as agile and nimble as before..."

The silence hung between the two snipers like a heavy curtain, and Jean thought he might have gone overboard when her voice yanked that curtain away. "I'll do it, we're quits then."

And with that, she plopped herself onto the bed and jammed her mouth onto his lips, not moving. Havoc was shocked, and for five seconds, he didn't move too. He couldn't believe that Riza Hawkeye, the Ice-Maiden was doing this (even though it was blatant to him that she had never kissed before) and he was going to be her first. Her virginal kiss, was going under his belt.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her brows were frowning. But that image of her, in dark blue military uniform with her blond hair pulled back neatly, sitting beside him and trying to kiss him warmed his heart so much that he knew he would fall in love with her if he was not careful. But he couldn't care less.

So he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, gently pulled her in (which elicited a squeak from her) and with their chests flushed together, Jean began to suck on her lips softly while his fingers caressed the exposed portion of her neck and ears. Her rigid posture soon went away and he tighten his hug, tilting his face and parted her lips. They kissed like that for a long while, with his tongue teasing her pliant one while he could feel her breasts heaving up and down against his chest. Her clean scent, her warm body and the kiss made him heady and breathless. When he pulled away for air, with his hand resting on her shoulders, Riza was panting a little and turned her flushed face away.

"I've-" she cleared her throat, "I'm going to get your cigarettes."

Jean stared at the closed door until her footsteps disappeared. "Shit," he cursed. There was no turning back now; he had thrown his heart away and it was now sitting in a boat, floating up and down in the unsearchable buoyant seas. He looked down and saw his erection, hard as steel poking through the sheets while another shudder ran down his spine.

He cursed again.

I'll most probably follow this up with another ficlet. I kind of like this. :D