Okay, this is how it breaks down: the detectives, the victim, plot, and all the obscure references to the people you've never heard of-mine; regular characters, the city, and all that other crap-not mine. All that crap belongs to the company...or something like that. So, let's get going.
Riza
awoke to a small, familiar sound. It was cloth sliding on metal, a
knife being unsheathed. It was a moment later, when she realized she
was supposed to be alone, when she began to panic. She continued to
breathe deeply in a simulation of sleep. She cautiously opened one
eye, found it was too dark for her to be seen, and sat up. At once
she saw a shadow, no a silhouette, of a man. Although it was dark,
she could feel him staring at her, the hatred in the stare. It was
terrible. The heat of the fury behind the stare, and so many details
of that silhouette that she knew so well, told her who he was
immediately. She knew who he was and why he was here. "Think,
please. Do you really want to do this?"
"No, of course I don't
want to do this! I have to do this. Can't you understand that?"
he asked in that voice she had heard for years.
"Roy, I
understand, but…just tell me this. Is it a matter of vengeance or
honor?"
"Dammit, Riza! Why can't you just beg for your life
like a normal person?"
"Answer my question Roy. Why are you
doing this?"
"You've been an amazing officer and a better
friend until now. Hell, yesterday, I thought of you almost like a
sister. Then I found out what you did, and it destroyed the whole way
I look at the world. I needed you to be a good person, then you do
this. I'm doing this for Arika, but I'm doing this for myself."
He fell to the floor. "I just don't know anymore. I mean what the
hell?"
"I've killed so many people…"
"Don't feed
me that crap! You can't blame the military this time, not with me!
I know you, you kill for the job. This wasn't for the job, I need
to know why!"
He was so sad, laying there on the floor. She had
lied to the cop. Hell, she had lied to the cop twice. Maybe Roy
deserved to know. "I couldn't do my job!" she suddenly blurted.
She hadn't meant to tell him, but it was out now.
"What?" He
was so confused, so cute.
"I couldn't do my job," she
admitted, defeated.
He took a deep breath. "What was your
job?"
"I was ordered to execute an assassination."
"By
whom?"
"I can't tell you, Roy, I just can't."
"So,
if Arika wasn't the target.…"
It was slowly dawning on him,
and she was glad it was dark. She couldn't bear the thought of him
seeing her cry. The memory was just so painful. She could remember it
perfectly…
two days ago
Riza stood in the office of Fuhrer
King Bradley. She didn't know why she had been summoned here, but
she was uncomfortable just being here. Somehow, it felt like she was
betraying Roy just being here. He was staring at her with that eye.
It was…creepy was the only word for it.
He began to speak.
"Lieutenant Hawkeye, I've called you here because you are an
exemplary soldier, and I need you for a very important mission. I
have information from a very reliable source that a soldier in my
army is planning a coup. I want you to help me rid myself of
him."
"Are you asking me to kill someone?" she asked, sure
she knew the answer.
"Not asking, ordering you to kill. You've
killed in the line of work on many occasions, this is no
different."
"Who's my mark?"
"A man you've worked
closely with for many years. His name is…."
present
She
could feel him staring at her again. Not with rage this time, but
sheer stupefaction. He couldn't believe her. She was almost certain
he didn't.
He spoke up. "Then, why would you kill Arika? I
still don't understand."
She sighed. "You two walked into
the alley outside my apartment window…."
two nights
earlier
Riza sat in her apartment, leaning out the window. She
had her scope trained on her best friend. 'Wow, that's kinda
pathetic. My boss is my best friend.' She shook her head to clear
it. He was her friend, but this was her job. This had been her job
for years, and it would be her job for many years to come. She had
been given an order, and she would carry out that order. She went
back to her pistol, to which she had attached a rifle scope. A rifle
would have been better, but she needed something that wouldn't make
a lot of noise. 'No, I'm just distracting myself.' She held her
breath and prepared to pull the trigger. She couldn't do it. She
was putting the gun down when Black Hyate barked. She had been so
focused, so prepared, so tensed, the shock made her pull the trigger.
"Dammit!" she shouted. She pulled herself back in through the
window and closed it. When she looked back out, the woman Roy had
been with, 'Arika wasn't it?', was on the ground and Roy looked
like he was shouting. "Dammit," she whispered.
present
"Now
you know."
He paused for a moment, thinking. "It was…an
accident?"
She looked down. Maybe the ground had the answers
written in its dirt. "Yes."
"And you feel guilty,
right?"
"The guiltiest I've ever felt after shooting
someone."
He was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, it
was with indignance. "You were gonna shoot me?"
She grinned.
"An order is an order, right?"
"Wait, Bradley knows about
the master plan?"
She sighed. 'Why does he have to call it
that?' "Yes, he knows about your master plan."
"So, can I
blame the dog?"
"You can blame the dog, if you stop calling
him the dog."
"Alright then, we'll get you released in the
morning." He turned. He was walking out, when he turned back and
called "Hey, Riza?"
"Yes?" she answered.
"Thanks. For
telling me and for lying to the cop."
"Thanks for hearing me
out before stabbing me," she called back.
"Glad I did." He
left without another
word.
echoy voice Now you know! end echo effect Sorry. But, yeah, that's that for now. I'll finish and tie up the loose ends soon.
