Author: RealityBreakGirl/aquietlearningcorner
Word Count: 11883
Rating: T
Prompt: FMA Big Bang 2021
Warnings: Child abuse/neglect
Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang, Jean Havoc, Heymans Breda, Vato Falman, Kain Fuery, Black Hayate
Pairing: Royai
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family
Chapter: 4 of7
Summary: Tasked by Fuhrer Grumman to investigate a suspected alchemic incident, General Mustang's team finds themselves stranded in Hawkeye's hometown. Needing a place to stay, they find themselves taking shelter in her childhood home. However, her past can't stay buried there, and as revelations come to light, they also bring embers of danger with them. Sequel to Embers in a Wounded Heart
Chapter 4
The next few days continued in a similar vein, with steady rain, but with no lightning storms. Just buckets of rain falling each day. How this was happening and how the storms hadn't rained themselves out yet, no one really knew. It just rained constantly, and everything was getting flooded and soggy.
Everyone stuck pretty close around the house and to each other until, once again, they were running low on supplies. A trip to town would have to be made, pulling the cart and walking in the rain and mud. No one really wanted to do it, and so they had stretched their supplies to nearly their limit, before even Hawkeye said that there wasn't going to be much else, she could do with the food they had. Reluctantly, they had made plans to go into town to check on things and replenish their supplies.
Mustang was going to go, of course, because he needed to make some phone calls into Headquarters to report in, and see just what was going on, Havoc was sure. Falman was, as expected, anxious to see if there were any archives in town where he might find more information on Hawkeye's house. He was certain that there had to be an entrance somewhere, he just had to find it. To no one's surprise, Breda was going because he said he was going stir crazy being locked up in the house all of the time, and getting out, even if it meant getting wet and muddy all over again, was preferable to staying put when the opportunity to go presented itself. Havoc hoped he still felt that way when he was busy demucking his boots.
The rain had actually slowed down a little bit, and Fuery felt safe enough with that and the lack of thunder and lightning for the past few days, to work on connecting the phone line. He thought about going with everyone else, but this seemed like a better use of his time, and Havoc found he couldn't argue with that. Havoc's legs were still hurting him, and he honestly didn't want to walk all the way into town at the moment, so he volunteered to stay behind with Fuery. Hawkeye frowned at that and decided that it would be a good idea if she stayed behind, if Fuery was going to be up on the roof working, and Havoc was going to be in the house. She could keep an eye on both of them and help out if needed.
The plan was agreed upon, even if Havoc could see that Mustang didn't exactly look thrilled with leaving Hawkeye behind. After last time, everyone wanted to be more careful, something that everyone could agree with. They had all stayed armed since that day, Havoc making sure he had a backup gun on him too. Hawkeye was, of course, armed the most out of all of them, to no one's surprise. They were about as safe as they could be. Still, Havoc kept watch on Hawkeye, especially after the other left.
Hawkeye and Fuery got straight to work, Hawkeye showing Fuery the best route to get to the roof and told him of the sturdiest trees if he needed them. Wanting to make himself useful. Havoc went to work in the laundry room, taking care of the clothes that were in there, figuring even if his legs were hurting him, he could still do something. He could hear Hawkeye working on cleaning, apparently still having standards for this old place, although he had no idea why.
For a few hours everything seemed to go well. They all worked on their own thing, Hawkeye going out every so often to check on Fuery. The rain seemed a little lighter than it had been, giving them, all hope that it would ease up soon. Havoc wasn't sure if the sun he saw was real, or wishful thinking, but he definitely wanted things to dry out so repairs could be made, and they could get out of here.
It was fairly quiet, the light rain pattering, and the radio playing softly when suddenly Havoc heard what sounded like a cry and then the sound of something crashing down. His eyes widened and he rushed out of the laundry room, Hawkeye just a little bit ahead of him. They both bolted out of the door and looked around, until Hawkeye cried out "Fuery!" and started at a dead run, Havoc hot on her heels.
Fuery was laying on the ground, not moving, an arm clearly not laying right. They rushed up to him, Havoc's heart clenching as he feared the worst. Riza knelt by him, headless of the muddy ground and felt for a pulse.
"He's alive," she said, "and he's breathing. That arm is definitely broken."
Havoc looked up. The tree above them had a few broken branches and he could see rips from Fuery's clothes on them. "Looks like he tried to catch himself, or at least slow his fall."
"It probably saved his life," she said. "that's not a small fall." She was running her hands over him, checking him over. "I don't think there's any damage, but we still need to be careful. We need to get him inside out of this rain."
"Alright," Havoc said. "Where to?"
"The couch. It's the closest and I don't want to risk stairs," Hawkeye said. "We need to do our best to make sure that his neck and back stay straight. The ironing board. Go get it."
"Right," Havoc said, and took of inside after it, returning only moments later with the stiff board in tow.
Following Hawkeye's directions, they worked together to roll Fuery into the board and get him inside the house and to the couch. The man didn't stir while they moved him, which was more than a little worrying to Havoc. He headed after the first aid supplies, Hawkeye telling him exactly where they were. Of all the people on the team, she had the best medical skills, and he stood ready to assist. She checked Fuery's eyes, kept a watch on his pulse, and splinted his arm as best she could. But it was clear to Havoc that she was still worried about him.
"He needs the doctor, but we don't need to move him." She looked up at Havoc. "You need to go to town, get the doctor, and get the others."
"Will you be alright?" he asked, skipping past the part where he protested leaving her alone and she reassured him that she would be alright, and he mentioned that Mustang wouldn't like it, and she countered with Fuery's life being on the line. They all knew where that argument would end, and there was no reason to even start it. It was better to just move on to the practical.
"I'm armed," she said. "I have at least three guns on me at all times, you know that. You're the fastest of us, and I have the most medical experience. Take Hayate with you as extra protection and go—we have no way of knowing if Fuery has any internal injuries."
"Right," Havoc said, serious. He reached to make sure he was armed, called the little dog with him, and headed off like a shot for town.
Havoc had always been the fastest on the team. His long legs helped him out a great deal, and he could take long, lopping strides. He was good at sprints, and he was good at long distance. That had, of course, changed, when Lust had stabbed him through the spine, but ever since regaining the use of his legs, he had been working on building it back again. He had gotten quite a bit better. He wasn't sure if he could beat Hawkeye right now or not, but what he did know was that she was the best bet to be with Fuery if something went wrong.
So, Havoc ran, headless of the mud, Hayate at his side and his gun in his hand, towards town and the doctor.
He had no idea what the others had found in town, or what he had just left his teammates too.
A soldier running into town, mud all up his uniform, with a dog at his side was sure to gain a few looks, especially when he was clearly heading somewhere with a purpose, but Havoc paid the townspeople no mind. He remembered where the clinic he had seen was, and headed towards it, passing my old Mr. Nelson who tried to wave him down. He ignored him, instead heading straight for the clinic and pretty much bursting in the door. There were a man and a woman in there who looked up at him in surprise. Havoc leaned heavily on the door, soaking wet, muddy, and with an equally wet and even muddier dog by his side.
"Need… your help, Doc…" he said, gasping for breath. He really needed to lay off the cigarettes more. "Man fell… from roof. Unconscious…. The Hawkeye place…"
The doctor wasted no time in grabbing his coat and hat, taking his bag, and telling the nurse to bring the wagon after him, just in case. He was clearly taking his horse, and he wasn't going to wait on anyone, which was fine by Havoc.
"You can ride back with me," the nurse said. "We'll get there quickly. The buggy is made for quick travel."
He nodded. "Fine by me." He was still out of breath.
"I'll go prepare it," she said, grabbing her own coat and bonnet and heading out the back door.
Havoc stood there, panting, and felt about ready to just sit down where he was, when a hand landed heavy on his shoulder, and he jumped. It was Mustang, which explained why Hayate didn't make any noise, and he was looking at Havoc with concern and alarm.
"What's happened?" he said.
"Fuery fell… off the roof, sir." He said, still panting. "Hawkeye sent me for help."
Mustang's eyes widened. "His condition?"
"Unconscious. We got him inside. Arm's busted." Havoc said.
Before more could be said, Breda and Falman came hurrying up to them.
"What's going on?" Breda asked, knowing that something had to have happened for Havoc to be there looking as out of breath and muddy as he was.
"Fuery fell off the roof," Mustang said. "Hawkeye sent Havoc for help."
Both Breda and Falman looked alarmed.
"Doc's on his way…" Havoc said, just starting to regain his breath. "The nurse said we could ride in the wagon with her."
"You might want to get a horse instead, sir," Breda said. "Falman discovered something."
"I looked through the archives that they kept at the library," Falman explained, "and the archives at city hall. There was an outside cellar door there at one time. Right here, near where the man that the captain hired showed us the strange marks."
"Wait—" Mustang said. "You mean there might be a way in there? And if whoever it was stole the papers from the file, that means they either want information or are trying to keep it from getting out. And—"
"And Hawkeye's there, all alone with an injured Fuery." Havoc finished.
Breda cursed, but Mustang didn't even waste the time. He headed off towards the livery stable, and Breda rushed after him. Havoc moved to, but stumbled, Falman barely catching him.
"Whoa—you alright, Havoc?" he asked.
Havoc cursed. "I've pushed myself too far." He shook his head. "No, go. I'll catch up on the wagon."
Falman shook his head. "We'll catch up on the wagon," he said, already hearing it coming around the corner. "And if we need to, we'll pick up Breda and the General too."
The nurse let them both climb aboard, as well as Hayate, and headed out of town as quickly as she dared. Breda and Mustang were only a little way in front of them having gotten horses. Breda fell back to ride alongside them for a moment, telling them that Mustang was going to go on ahead of the wagon and try to catch up with the doctor in case something was wrong. Breda was going to do his best to catch up to the General. Falman and Havoc would be the backup that came a little bit behind them. Both men nodded. They understood. Breda asked the nurse, who was still driving the buggy at astonishing speeds, if she was alright with this.
"I'm a nurse," she snapped back at him. "My job is to save lives, and there's a life that needs saving there—maybe more than one when this is all over. I'm going."
Breda nodded, and then sped up, chasing after Mustang.
Although the buggy was going at a good pace, it was still a buggy and it took longer than a horse. Havoc wished he had some way to make it faster, but he didn't. All he could do was hold on and wait. He rubbed his legs, trying to work any cramps in them out. He was determined to be at his top game, or at least as close as he could be.
When they rolled up to the house, the front door was open, prompting both he and Falman to unholster their guns. The doctor's horse was tied to a post, but Mustang and Breda's horses were loose in the yard. Falman jumped down out of the wagon before it came to a stop, and Havoc wasn't far behind him. "Stay here," he said to the nurse, "until you're given the all clear."
"Right," she said, keeping a grip on the reigns.
Havoc hurried in the door, not hearing any shots, or shouts, but kept his gun at the ready. When he came inside, though, what he heard was Fuery's voice. He made his way into the living room where he saw the doctor near a slumped shape on the floor. Mustang and the others were gathered around it, listening.
"I'm sorry, sir…" Fuery was saying. "I tried… he came in here… out of nowhere. He threw something at Hawkeye… it smelled sweet. I think it was a gas or something." His breath hitched in pain. "She tried to fight, but it got to her… I tried… I tried to stop him… I'm sorry. I couldn't get any further. I'm sorry!"
"Which way did they go?" Mustang asked, a growl in his voice.
"…out the back…"
Mustang wasted no more time, up and heading out the door.
Havoc followed, calling back. "Falman, tell the nurse to come in here! Stay with them!" he said. He followed right behind Mustang, who had stopped at the backdoor, looking around.
"Where did they go?" he growled out, his eyes scouring the ground.
It took Havoc a moment to realize it, but it had stopped raining, and that would, hopefully, make it easier to track them. If Hawkeye was even a little bit conscious, she would be fighting for all that she was worth. Riza was a fighter, after all.
Hayate nosed at Havoc's knees, and Havoc got an idea. "Breda—go grab something of Hawk's. Hurry!" he said.
Breda, who had just come out to join them turned headed straight back into the house, coming out nearly immediately with something from the washroom. Havoc took it and knelt down, holding it out to Hayate. "Hayate—track" he said. "Find her. Find Hawkeye."
Hayate snapped to attention, sniffed the piece of clothing, and immediately turned to track. Within a second, he had her scent, it seemed. He sniffed around a little more, and then headed off in a particular direction, clearly on the trail of something.
"I hope this works," Breda muttered.
"It will," Havoc said, stuffing the pieces of clothing in his pocket. "She's not been out long, and the rain would have taken care of other scents. Whatever he's got now, it's got to be recent."
"Let's move!" Mustang snapped out. His gloves were already on, and he was clearly ready to fry whoever it was that took Hawkeye.
Havoc couldn't really blame him.
As Hayate started hurrying along, Havoc could see signs someone of coming through—and signs of a struggle. Hawkeye, as predicted, clearly wasn't just giving in. But there wasn't as much struggle as he expected to see, and that worried him.
It worried him more when they came across a place where they found her guns lying on the ground. Mustang cursed but bent to pick them up. "Hurry," he said. "We don't know how far he went or how much of a head start he has on us!"
And we don't know Hawkeye's condition. That was the unsaid but prominent thought in all of their heads.
They went through a patch of woods, where the signs of a struggle were easier to see. Hayate moved faster than they did through the underbrush and the bushes, but the three men forged through, trying to make their way through the woods and keep up with the little dog. He was focused in on tracking Riza down, and Havoc couldn't blame him. He loved her just as much as they did, that was for sure.
Finally, they emerged into a clearing, and almost immediately, Havoc spotted her. She was being half-drug across a field full of grass and marshy-looking land. The man who had her was pulling harshly on her, trying to tug her through the muddy land. Hawkeye was clearly not herself, not doing any actual fighting as much as basic resisting. If she was completely with it, the man clearly wouldn't have had any chance at all. But he must have drugged her like Fuery said, because she wasn't fighting to the fullest extent of her ability.
He had one of her arms thrown over his shoulders, and a hand around her waist, gripping her belt. He was trying to pull her along with him, but she was stumbling and throwing them off balance. He hauled on her, trying to get her to come along with him, and she resisted, managing to half wrench free from him. He kept a hold of her arm, but finally fed up, he backhanded her across the face, hard. She dropped, limp, at the same time Mustang roared out her rank.
"Captain!"
Breda cursed beside Havoc, drawing his gun, and Havoc whipped up the rifle he had picked up in the washroom earlier. Surprisingly, Mustang didn't do anything but tense up. The man—his hood had fallen away now—looked up at them in shock, revealing himself to be the groundskeeper that Riza had hired to look after the place. He ducked down into the grass even as Breda fired off a shot. The grass was tall, and it hid him and Hawkeye both from view.
"Why didn't you hit him with fire?" Breda asked, all of them tense as they tried to watch for any sign of the man, Johnson, or of Riza. It was too risky to try to shoot at them without knowing if they were going to hit Hawkeye.
"I can't," Mustang said. "This area is swampy. There're gasses under the surface that don't react well to fire. The rain's helped to bring them up. They're in the air, and an explosion would not be a good thing."
Havoc winced at that. No, that wouldn't be a good thing. The ground was saturated, and everything was soaked, but an explosion was an explosion, and it wouldn't be a good thing at all. It could just as easily hurt Hawkeye or come back and hurt them.
"What about some of that Elric-type action?" Breda asked. "Make the ground move or push the ground up or something?"
"Between the water table being too high right now and the trapped gasses, it's too risky." Mustang said.
Their options limited, they all fell quiet listening for any sort of clue as to where the two might be. There were small movements in the grass, and Havoc kept an eye on them, looking through the scope of the rifle to try to get a better view.
"Do I have your permission to shoot if I see something?" he asked quietly.
"Granted," Mustang said just as quietly
They waited, and nothing happened. Just the wind blowing through the wet grasses. Finally, tired of it, Mustang called out. "Johnson! We know you're there! Come out! Let the captain go!"
There was a little movement, and Havoc shot near it. The grass near it suddenly skittered away and then there was nothing for a few seconds, at least until Johnson suddenly popped up, Riza held tightly to him, a knife at her neck. She only looked partially aware, and all of the men tensed.
"Don't make another move!" Johnson said. "If you do, I'll kill her!"
Riza was just with it enough to bring her hands up to his to try to pull them away, but not able to get any strength to them. Through his scope, Havoc had a good look at her face, and he could see the terror in her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to shoot Johnson right then and there, but he wasn't as good a shot as Hawkeye was, and he wasn't sure he could avoid hitting her, especially if Johnson moved.
"Let her go," Mustang said, "and surrender. If you do that, this will all go better for you."
"No," he said, gritting his teeth. "She's my ticket into what I need. Or at least, her back is."
Havoc cursed.
"So, I'm not going to let her go!" Johnson continued.
"Hey—where's the mutt?" Breda muttered, but Havoc didn't have time to think about where Hayate was now.
He glanced over at Mustang, who looked both horrified and incensed.
"How does he know that?" Havoc asked, unsettled by this knowledge.
"…He must have heard the story," Mustang said. "He was in the house then! And none of us realized it." There was anger and loathing in Mustang's voice, but it was clear that he was not going to focus on it now. Instead, he kept his eyes fully fixed on Hawkeye and Johnson.
"If you do anything to her," Mustang called out. "I promise, you'll get an up-close demonstration of Flame Alchemy." It was clearly a threat, and one that anyone with any sort of sense would be able to see Mustang was ready to act on. This was no bluff.
Johnson shook his head, already starting to back away. "No. This is what we've been looking for! The key! The key to it all—and you've had her right by your side this entire time! We knew she had to be connected somehow, considering who her father was, but we never dreamed that she was the key to the whole thing! Just imagine, you had the source of flame alchemy right next to you! And there's more isn't there? There's something more to this that you're not telling. Not that it matters. With what her back will tell us, we'll be able to reconstruct everything fully and once we do, the full power of flame alchemy will be ours! And I'll have brought it. I'll have brought the key! It will be all because of me!"
The man was clearly cracked, but he was letting out some important information too. "We," "us," words like that, that were pluralled. He was part of some sort of group. And it appeared to be a group that was after flame alchemy. Havoc guessed they had been pursing it for a while, trying to find the key to the power and going through Riza to do it. Chances were, he wasn't someone very high ranking. But this was going to definitely put him on the map, and he was banking on that.
Unfortunately for him, they weren't going to let him do that. Not only was Mustang ready to take him down, but after seeing Hawkeye's breakdown and the lengths she had gone to, to ensure that no one was ever a flame alchemist again, at least not by her father's work, or her own hand, neither Breda nor Havoc were willing to let this happen either.
That was about the time that Havoc realized that there was movement coming up behind Johnson, and he remembered Breda's comment asking where Hayate was. Hayate was a trained military dog, and highly loyal to Riza. This man was clearly threatening Riza. It seemed that the little dog had decided to take matters into his own hands, or paws as it was.
Or, perhaps more accurately, into his own teeth.
Johnson was still waxing on about how he was going to be praised for bring the key to flame alchemy to whatever this group was when Hayate burst out of the grass, jumping in a high leap straight for the arm that held the knife. His teeth sunk into the man's arm, and the man screamed in pain. It loosened his grip on Riza just enough for her to manage to slip away, although she did little more than fall that they could see.
Johnson was trying to shake and beat Hayate off of him, and that was when Havoc took his shot. It wasn't a clean one, but it did manage to get Johnson in the shoulder. He jerked back, and Hayate let go, his growls clearly heard. The three men rushed forward. Johnson, panicked and injured, took off, fleeing the scene.
All of them wanted to pursue, but Riza was their top priority now. They rushed to her location, where she was collapsed in the mud, her face half-buried in it, trying to sit up. Mustang lifted her out of it, brushing the mud away from her face, getting it out of her nose and mouth so she could breathe better, and wiping it away from her eyes. It was mostly covered by the smell of the mud, but the scent of some sort of chloroform or the like could be sensed under it.
"Riza! Riza!" Mustang was holding her now, Breda standing guard over them while Havoc canvased the area to try to make sure that Johnson wasn't going to pop back up.
"Want us to run him down?" Havoc asked.
Mustang shook his head. "No. I don't want to send one of you alone, and we need to get Hawkeye back to the house. We'll have to go after him later."
"How is she?" Breda asked.
Havoc risked a quick glance back. Her eyes were fuzzy and not focused well, but her gaze was on Mustang, and it hadn't left. There was deep emotion in her eyes, and it looked to Havoc that a large part of it was fear. No, they couldn't just leave her here with one of them while two went looking for this guy. He was too dangerous. They needed to make sure that she was protected, especially after everything that he had said, even though that was also a problem.
"I'm not sure," he said. "Let's get her back to the house, have the doctor check her over, and head into town. We'll get the sheriff and then go after Johnson."
"Right," Breda said. He holstered his gun. "Here. Put her on my back and we'll get going."
Carefully Mustang and Breda maneuvered the half-conscious Hawkeye onto Breda's back while Havoc kept his gun at the ready, covering them. Then, once she was settled and Breda had a good grip on her, they set out back towards the house at as quick a pace as possible. Havoc kept his gun at the ready, and Mustang his gloves, but they didn't encounter any problems as they traveled.
As they drew closer to the house, Havoc could see a few men gathered around it, most of them armed. Not sure what they'd just come back into, Havoc stood ready with his rifle, just in case, even as Breda and Mustang tensed as well. But one of the men turned and, seeing them, waved at them calling to them.
"Mustang! Do you have Riza?" the man called.
"Thompson?" Mustang said in surprise.
"Yeah. Saw Doc riding out towards this place, and then you and your men after. Figured something was up, so I got some of the men together and we rode out here." Thompson said.
Mustang had kept moving, so Breda and Havoc had as well, heading straight for the house. Thompson met up with them, opening the door so that Breda could carry Hawkeye inside.
"Good. We're going to need your help," Mustang said without preamble
"Whatever we can do," Thompson said.
Another man directed them towards the living room. "Doc's in there. She hurt bad?"
"Dunno," Breda said.
"Up the stairs," the doctor had appeared. "I'll look her over in her bedroom."
Breda headed up the stairs with Hawkeye, but Mustang stopped to talk to Thompson, and Havoc stayed close.
"Do you know Bennett Johnson?" Mustang asked
Thompson nodded. "Yeah. Squirrely guy. New. Doesn't talk much."
"He's been stalking us in this house. He's gotten some information that he shouldn't have and found out some personal information about Hawkeye."
"And that's why he kidnapped her, got it," Thompson said.
"We need to stop him," Mustang said. "He indicated that he was working with someone else. We need to get to him before he can get that information out."
Thompson was nodding. "We can get some men out to his place. But it didn't look like you were coming from the direction of his place."
"Where does he live?" Mustang questioned.
"The old Steadman place," Thompson said. "It was up for sale, and he took it."
"The Steadman place is in the opposite direction," Mustang said. "He must have another place somewhere he uses as well."
"I'll send Dave Macken back to town to get the sheriff and some other men. The rest of us will accompany you and your men to see if we can't track him down," Thompson said. "John Stitue and Bert Oslow can stay here in case he doubles back."
Mustang nodded. "Just be warned, we're pretty sure he had an interest in alchemy and may already be familiar with some forms of it."
"Gotcha. Let me tell the others." Thompson said.
He turned to leave, and before Havoc could ask anything of Mustang—or comment on how well Mustang seemed to know the area—Mustang was already moving on to the next order of business.
"Falman!" Mustang called out.
"Sir!" Falman replied.
"Stay here. Hold the fort. Keep an eye on Fuery and Hawkeye. Breda!"
Breda was already coming down the stairs. "Yes sir!" he responded.
"You and Havoc, you're coming with me."
"Yes, sir!" both Havoc and Breda responded.
Havoc desperately wanted to know how Fuery was doing, and an update on Hawkeye, but there was no time for that. It was too important for them to find Johnson and stop him. Within minutes they were heading out, Thompson already having instructed the other men. He and a group were ready to head off with all of them, and Havoc welcomed the back up. Mustang took point, Hayate still with them. The little dog was clearly ready to work, and clearly angry that Hawkeye had been wounded. Breda kept giving the dog the side eye, but Hayate only seemed concerned with staying by Mustang's side.
Mustang didn't even stop to see who all was there. "This way," he said, and led the way. Havoc and Breda were right behind him, and the men of the town followed. There were about fifteen all together, and they all headed off in the direction that Johnson had gone: Back across the field, through the patch of forest, and into the other field.
"I forgot how much land the Hawkeyes owned," Thompson said.
"This is all still the captain's land?" Breda asked.
"If you mean Riza Hawkeye, then yeah," Thompson said. "Her family has been here for generations. They were really prominent once, owned most of the stuff around here. But over the years they declined. Most things have fell into ruin, but none of them ever sold any of their land. Looking back at it now, I have no idea why Berthold didn't sell parts of it. It would have more than kept him and Riza fed and in good money."
"Because he was a neglectful, abusive man," Mustang said, "and all of us were too stupid to really realize it until we were grown."
The men in the group fell silent for a minute, until Thompson finally responded with a "…yeah. I guess that's true," and Havoc had to wonder at the backstory there.
They stopped in the middle of the field, right where they had rescued Hawkeye. "He got this far before we managed to catch up with him," Mustang said. "Any idea where he might have gone?"
The men murmured among themselves, and a few ideas were thrown out, but no one seemed to have any sort of solid ideas. Most of them were discarded fairly quickly, especially considering that a lot of the land around here still was Hawkeye property and there was no one who really knew much about it, as it had been private for years.
"This is useful," Breda muttered.
"Whatcha gonna do, Boss?" Havoc asked.
Mustang knelt down next to Hayate. "Hayate," he said. "Attention."
The little dog barked and stood straight and stiff, still and ready to take a command.
"Track." He said. "Enemy. Find."
Hayate gave a bark and began to sniff around.
"Ya sure this is gonna work, Mustang?" one of the men said. "He doesn't look like a tracking dog."
"Yeah, and the ground is saturated," another pointed out.
"Black Hayate is a highly trained and decorated military animal," Mustang said. "Captain Hawkeye trained him herself, according to military standards, and he passed top of all time. On top of that, he's extremely loyal, and Johnson hurt Hawkeye, his owner. He's determined. He'll find him, if it's possible."
Hayate let out a little bark, as if to prove Mustang right, and headed off through the grass. The men followed behind, trailing slowly behind the pup until he seemed to catch something stronger. Then the pup gave another bark, and took off, the men hurrying after him as fast as they could. He seemed to have something hot, at least if Havoc's experience with tracking dogs meant anything, following it around across the rest of the field, and then through more woods until finally they came to a small clearing where a small cabin stood.
Havoc didn't like the looks of it. It was ramshackle and didn't look terribly sturdy, but it was definitely defensible, and that possibility was a problem. Hayate had stopped just before the clearing, and the men all crouched in the bushes there too. Thompson looked at Mustang. "Alright—you're the military man here. What's the plan?"
Mustang was looking at the shack. "Havoc," he said.
"Sir?" Havoc responded.
"Get around to the side. Get in a good position to be able to take him out if he comes out and it's needed." Mustang said. He looked at Thompson. "You got any who could do the same from the other side?"
"Yeah," Thompson nodded. "Ersist, Neason, Ford, Caspian—you guys surround it too."
Four men nodded.
"You've all got a minute to get into place," Mustang said.
"Yes, sir," Havoc said, and he headed out, the other men taking off as well. Havoc found himself a good place and got settled in and made sure that he spotted the others so as not to catch them in any crossfire. Then, he waited.
Mustang and Breda stepped forward.
"Bennett Johnson!" Mustang called out. "Come out and surrender peaceably! We know that you're in there!"
There was a beat and then—
The ground rose up and came straight at Mustang.
Havoc kept his eye on the doorway, but out of the corner of his eye he watched. Mustang didn't even flinch, he just clapped his hands, knelt, and a wall of his own rose in return, overwhelming and stopping the ground that had just been sent out. He clapped his hands again, and the ground went down.
"You think your second-rate alchemy can stand against mine?" he said. "Don't kid yourself. Come out before you get yourself killed."
The door slammed open, and Johnson came out, gun at the ready. Mustang snapped, and the air in front of Johnson exploded, sending him flying back. Havoc moved, Breda moving at the same time, the other men a beat behind them. Breda slammed into Johnson, slamming him into the ground and pinning him to it. Havoc joined in, holding him to the ground. Someone shoved some rope in their faces, and they quickly worked to tie Johnson up. The man was screaming at them the whole time, demanding, insisting that they would fall, and state alchemists would fall the farthest.
"Shut up!" Breda snapped at him, handing him over to the men who pulled him out of the cabin. He looked up at the cabin then and froze. "Boss," he said. "You wanna get in here."
Havoc looked up and his jaw dropped. All over were reports and instances of alchemy, with a focus on flame alchemy. Pictures, reports, all sorts of information that he couldn't begin to understand were all over the walls. All of it was related to Alchemy, that much was clear to see.
Mustang stepped in, looked around and frowned, eyes narrowing. He clearly wasn't happy about this, and Havoc could understand why. But he didn't say anything else, not with all of the civilians around. Thompson walked in and looked around, whistling.
"Woah. You weren't kidding about him," he said.
Mustang turned abruptly around, clearly blocking Thompsons's view. Thompson, for his part, didn't try to see around him, understanding that he wasn't supposed to see what was there.
"I need something else from you," Mustang said. "From someone you can trust."
Thompson nodded. "You need someone to guard this place," he said. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. And we'll get this guy to the sheriff too." He put a hand on Mustang's shoulder. "You wanna get back to Riza, I know."
"I have lots of responsibilities," Mustang said. "This is one of them. But if it can be guarded then we can come back and properly look through it. Especially when we're… less muddy."
Havoc glanced down at himself, at the mud on his boots, pants, and even shirt, and then looked at the others. They were all covered in mud.
"Right," Thompson said, looking back up from his own muddy clothes. "That makes sense. I'll take care of it. Seriously, Roy, go check on her."
Mustang gave him a nod. "Breda. Can you stay?"
"I'll secure it," he said. "You two go on back."
"I'll take care of making sure Johnson gets to town," Havoc said, knowing that it was something else Mustang would be concerned about.
He seemed a bit relieved and nodded. "Alright. When you're both finished, report back to the house."
"Right."
"Got it."
They left the shack, Havoc stepping over towards the men who had Johnson while Breda started talking to the other men about some items he needed. Havoc watched for a moment as Thompson took a second to talk to the other men, and then he and Mustang both headed back towards the house.
The rest of the men split up, and Havoc walked with the group that was heading towards town with Johnson. It was quite a long walk back from where they were, especially if they wanted to take the paths and roads and not just cut through the land itself, which would make everything more muddy and more difficult. Johnson kept trying to resist and kept talking most of the way. Eventually he stopped both, seemingly growing tired, and apparently figuring out that it would be better for him to shut up rather than to keep talking and give away more information. Havoc was grateful not to hear his crazy rantings anymore, but it was too bad that there wasn't more intel to easily grab from the guy.
The Sherriff had made his way out to the Hawkeye place by the time Havoc and the other men got to town, but one of his deputies was in. He took official custody of Johnson, locking him in the jail and using the dusty and obviously not often used handcuffs that would keep an alchemist from doing alchemy. Satisfied, Havoc left him there, intending to head back to Hawkeye's house. His legs were absolutely killing him by this point, though, and so he sat down on some crates for a moment to rub them.
"Hey, son, are you about to make your way back to the Hawkeye place?" a voice called out to him.
Havoc looked up to see Mr. Nelson standing there and gave him a grin. "Yeah, just taking a breather." He looked at his legs ruefully. "Just an old injury acting up. The past few days have been hard on it."
Mr. Nelson nodded. "I understand. Well, you're welcome t' ride with us. The Misses is insistin' on takin' some food over there and checkin' on everyone. We're gonna take some supplies, too. I'm sure you're all runnin' low."
Havoc nodded. "I'd be much obliged, sir, to ride with you and your wife."
"Good. Give us 'bout ten more minutes. Come inside the store 'nd have some coffee while you wait." Mr. Nelson said.
Havoc got up, albeit a bit painfully now that he had sat down and followed Mr. Nelson into the store. He followed his directions back to the home behind it where Mrs. Nelson was in the kitchen, bustling around, packing up dishes. She smiled when she saw Havoc, waved him to a seat, an in a matter of moments had a cup of coffee sitting in front of him before she went back to packing up the food.
"Can I help you?" he asked her.
Mrs. Nelson waved it off. "No, no, dear, you just rest up. I saw you come runnin' into town earlier, heard the hullabaloo that followed, saw the men running off, saw you come back. You need to rest. Just take a few minutes to rest your body, dear."
Havoc knew a losing battle when he saw one, and so he acquiesced, watching her make her way about the kitchen. From the looks of it, he would just be in the way if he tried to help anyway. This was a woman who was a master of her kitchen, and to help her without knowledge of how she did things was to just be a hindrance.
They were ready to go within the promised ten minutes, and Havoc rode up with them while Mr. Nelson drove. He filled them in on the barest of details of what happened: How they had discovered that someone was sneaking into the home, how paperwork had gone missing, how Johnson had overheard sensitive information and personal information about Hawkeye, how Fuery had fallen off the roof, how Johnson had kidnapped Hawkeye in what they believed was an attempt to get more information, how they had rescued her and then gone after Johnson, how they had captured him and found his hideout with information in it they needed to go through, and how he helped to bring Johnson to town.
Mrs. Nelson just became more and more determined to look after everyone there as he spoke. Havoc could see it in her eyes. His own mother frequently got the same look in her eyes. Mr. Nelson's jaw was set, clearly not happy about what had happened, and he had a few strong opinions about it.
When they pulled up to the house, it seemed to Havoc that more people were there. Havoc got down, anxious to check on everyone, but not sure at all what was happening here. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson shooed him on, saying they'd take care of what was in the wagon themselves.
Havoc made his way inside, where Mustang was talking with the Sherriff. Fuery, it seemed, was not in the living room anymore, and Hawkeye wasn't there either. Falman wasn't in the room, but Havoc could hear voices from out back that sounded like they were doing some sort of work. Breda was standing near Mustang and the sheriff, obviously back from securing the location. They turned to look at him. As he got closer.
"Havoc, report," Mustang said.
"Got the prisoner back to the jail. Handed him over to one of the deputies who locked him up. He and a couple of others are going to process him, make sure he doesn't have anything on him that's dangerous." Havoc said. "Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are also outside, about to bring some food and supplies in."
Mustang nodded. "Good. Breda's got the location of the shack secure, and the sheriff has drafted some men to be guards. We're also got guards around the house Johnson was living in."
"Falman's out back with some of the men, digging to see if they can find that entrance," Breda said. "If they can, it'll answer a lot of questions."
Havoc nodded, and then his voice softened. "How are Hawkeye and Fuery?"
Mustang took a breath in and let it out, running a hand through his hair. "The doctor says that Fuery was lucky. It looks like he broke his arm in two places and has a concussion. It's going to take some time to heal, but overall, he will recover. He wants to get him back to his practice, though, to give him a more thorough look over, just to be sure that there aren't any problems with his neck and spine."
Havoc nodded. That made sense. A fall like that could kill a man, easily. If Fuery walked away with only a broken arm and a concussion, then he was getting off easy. Havoc was, understandably, quite worried about Fuery's back. He knew what it was not to have the use of his legs, and he didn't want that for the young man. They were fresh out of philosopher's stones to heal him with.
"As for Hawkeye, she'll recover as well. She has a nasty bruise from where Johnson hit her face and swelling as well, and some other injuries from resisting. He used a powerful sedative on her, although it didn't knock her out as much as he wanted it to. She's going to be groggy from that for a while. She's mostly got to sleep it off." Mustang said, and there was a note of relief in his voice. "All in all, it looks like they're both going to be fine."
"That's good to hear, sir," Havoc said, although he knew that it didn't touch half of what all of them were really concerned about. They had all seen how she had reacted to being in the basement. They all realized the lengths she went to, to keep her tattoo a secret. They all saw how much it had affected her to show it to them. And now a stranger had knowledge of it and had tried to kidnap her for it. That wasn't going to put her in a good place emotionally or mentally. And, if her father had drugged her before to put on the tattoo, was this drugging in conjunction with getting the tattoos secrets going to leave her with some issues too?
Havoc wouldn't doubt it.
"Do you mind if I got up to check on them?" he asked. "Or do you need me to do something?'
Mustang shook his head. "No, go on. It'll be good for them."
Havoc nodded and headed for the stairs, trying not to hobble up them. He could hear more voices up there, sounding like the doctor and the nurse, and maybe a few others too. Seeing as they seemed to be coming from Hawkeye's room, he decided to check in on Fuery first and see how he was doing.
The young man was lying in a bed, his head and neck stabilized, and Havoc had an uncomfortable remembrance of that being done to him as well, before they knew for sure what was wrong with him. His eyes were closed, but his face was in pain, and he didn't seem to be sleeping.
Havoc knocked lightly on the door frame. "Hey, Sarge, you awake?"
"Unfortunately," came Fuery's reply, and he opened his eyes to look at Havoc.
"How are you feeling?" Havoc asked him.
"Terrible, thanks," Fuery replied. "My arm is killing me, my head is pounding, and my back hurts."
"But you are feeling, right?" Havoc pressed.
Fuery opened his eyes again and focused on Havoc. Understanding dawned in the other man's eyes.
"Yeah," he said. "I feel everything. Hands, feet, arms, legs, all of it," he said. "I definitely feel my broken arm."
Havoc laughed "I bet you do," he said, but he knew there was relief in his voice.
"Can you fill me in on what happened?" Fuery said, his voice going a bit soft. "No one will tell me anything—but I think that's because most of them don't have the information to tell me."
"Sure thing, Sarge," Havoc said, and he pulled up a stool alongside Fuery's bed.
The younger man was still feeling guilty about not being able to do anything to really help Hawkeye, that much was obvious. He had risked injuring himself further by moving off of the couch to try to help her and stop the man, but he hadn't been able to do anything about it, except point the others in the direction that she had been taken.
Havoc sat there and explained in detail what had gone down to Fuery. He was upset to hear how the man had hit Hawkeye, and the way that she had just gone down. He was, however, quite happy to hear that Hayate had gotten him, and that Havoc had shot the man in the shoulder. He was also glad to hear that Hawkeye was going to make a full recovery although he, like Havoc was clearly worried.
"And… how is she doing, sir?" Fuery asked, his voice soft.
Havoc glanced at the door, and then ran a hand through his hair. "I've not been in there to see her yet, but, even as strong as she is, this is going to be hard on her, I'm sure."
Fuery frowned. "After what we found out and what she told us, I can't help but be worried. It was like her worst fears coming true."
Havoc nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I can't imagine that the drugging helped either."
Fuery hummed. "Yeah, not when well, what she told us used to happen to her happened."
Havoc let out a breath. "Something tells me it'll be best to let the boss handle most of that one, but I think we're still going to need to stand by her. We'll need to prove to her that we're still here too, and that we've got her back."
"Yeah," Fuery agreed. "I can't imagine… It had to bring back some trauma."
"You know it did," he said. "And she's carried it deep for a lot longer than we ever knew. Boss holds some guilt about it as well. So that's where we'll have to step in, to make sure they're both not drowned in it."
Fuery lifted up his good arm and held it out to Havoc. Havoc reached over, clasping it. "We'll look after them both," Fuery said. "That's what a team is for."
Havoc couldn't help the determined grin that came over his face. "You know that's true. That's what we're going to do."
He stayed and chatted with Fuery for just a while longer, talking about what was coming next for Fuery. He knew that he was going to be transported back to the doctor's office and that he was going to have other tests run on him to be sure that he wasn't more injured than they realized. Fuery didn't mind that so much, as he understood and really would rather be safe than sorry. But he also didn't want to be away from everyone right now, concerned about Hawkeye and the whole situation.
Still, eventually the younger man did grow sleepy, the pain medicine that the doctor had given him trying to take over again. Fuery tried to fight it, but Havoc encouraged him not to. He needed all the rest that he could get, even if it was just his arm and head that were hurt. Fuery finally acquiesced, and Havoc left him falling asleep in that room.
Havoc made his way down the hall towards Hawkeye's room. He didn't hear anyone in there, now, and he knew that there was a good chance that she'd be asleep, but he needed to at least look in on her and see that she was whole with his own eyes.
He could still hear noise and talking from downstairs, although nothing sounded urgent yet. He was pretty sure he heard Mrs. Nelson's voice sending everyone out of the kitchen and fussing about the amount of mud that they were bringing inside the house. Havoc smirked. Well, maybe she could help them clean it—or set the other men to work doing it. Even if she didn't Havoc would make sure that it was clean for Hawkeye, even if he had to do it himself.
He stopped at her door. It wasn't completely shut but left ajar. It was enough to be able to give her privacy, but to still allow someone to keep an ear on her, or to hear her if she cried out for anything. He knocked on her door, not too hard, but enough to be heard, and waited. Hopefully, she'd answer.
"Come in." Her voice was groggy, exhausted, and sounded pained. Havoc didn't like any of that, even though he expected it.
He pushed open the door, enough to look around it. "Hey, Ri. Up for a visitor?"
"No," she said, but she beckoned him forward anyway with a slight smile on her lips.
She didn't look good. She was a pale, except for the side of her face that was already changing colors and looked a bit swollen. There were cuts on it, near her eye, and he could only guess that it came from the hit that she took. That alone was enough to make his blood boil, but there wasn't much that he could do about it now. He had already shot the guy in the shoulder. Part of him didn't think it was enough, but that was personal feelings and knowing the whole story.
"How ya feeling?" he said as he came in, sitting himself down on the edge of her bed, although he did it very gingerly. He wasn't sure how she was feeling, but he also didn't feel like he could keep standing for long periods of time, at least not without moving.
"Pretty bad," she said. "My face hurts a lot. I'm sore. I'm… drugged. And…" she hesitated. "…I'm… upset."
It was clearly an understatement, and he knew it. But neither of them was going to talk about it too openly with so many people here.
"Yeah," he said. They were quiet for a moment, and then, he stood up, went over to her door and closed it. "Riza…what happened?"
She was quiet for a moment, emotion playing over her face. It was always harder for her to keep her mask up when she was drugged or addled. It wasn't the first time that she, or any of them, really, had been a bit compromised, but it was still hard to see.
"After you left, Fuery started coming around. I was trying to tend to what I could on him, telling him to stay still when I heard footsteps behind me. He must have spent a lot of time in this house, because he knew how to make his way past the creaky places. Fuery's eyes widened, and that was when I knew that someone was behind me. I turned around, pulling out my gun as I did, but he threw something at me, a capsule of some kind, and it exploded. I stepped backwards, but the fumes were already on me. Whatever I was, it was fast acting, because I started to feel the effects nearly right away. And Jean," she paused, meeting his eyes. "Things like that, they don't affect me quickly or at normal doses. Whatever it was, it would have knocked anyone else out immediately."
Havoc's face tightened at that. It wasn't a good thing, that was for sure, and he didn't like the implications of it.
"Things are a little hard to put in the right order after that. I felt woozy and off balance. I couldn't react well or fast. I couldn't think. I tried to shoot at him, but he knocked the gun out of my hand. It must have landed near Fuery, I think. I heard him calling out as I tried to fight back and failed. The man grabbed me around the arms and pulled me away with him. All I remember was confusion and noise and shouting for a few moments there, and then I was being shoved outside onto the muddy ground. He picked me up, and started pulling me along with him, dragging me by the arm."
She paused, shifting, trying to make herself more comfortable, but obviously not succeeding. She settled back down again, but she pulled her arm out from under the blankets. "I think he bruised me there too."
Havoc reached over to her sleeve, and gently pushed it up, looking at her arm. There were traces of a forming bruise there, and he frowned. He didn't like it, and he knew that Mustang would be furious.
"I managed to regain some of my senses when we were halfway across the field, and I stared trying to resist. He pulled on me harder, pushing me and prodding me along. I made it as hard as I could for him, but I wasn't able to do much. At one point I ripped off the mask he was wearing and saw that it was Johnson. I think I asked him why, because he started ranting about… things."
She looked back up at Havoc, and her eyes were scared. It made Havoc's heart twist inside of his chest to see her look at him like that, and he couldn't help it. He gave her hand a squeeze.
"I don't remember all of it, not clearly. But Jean… he knew about my tattoo. He knew about flame alchemy. He said he had seen the tattoo and the burns, and that he would be praised for bringing me back. He saw me as a prize, and clearly wanted to use me to further himself. He said… he said that there were people who would be able to reconstruct the circle."
Her voice had a shake in it, she was clearly rattled and upset by this, and Havoc found that he couldn't blame her in the least. This was something important. Even if it wasn't, just the emotional distress that it brought because it was important to her meant something to him.
"Yeah, he was talking something about how taking you with him was going to be a good thing for him too, when we caught up with you," Havoc said. "But more on that later. What else happened?"
Hawkeye gave a slight shake of her head. "He just kept pulling me. I tried to go for my guns, but he stripped them off of me, threw them down. I used the woods to resist more, pulling on trees and bushes and whatever else I could to try to slow us down. By the time we got to the field, I was digging in my heels, and he must have gotten tired of it, because I remember him hitting me so hard that I think I blacked out for a moment."
She let out a breath. "When I came to my senses again, he was pulling me up, a knife at my neck, and all of you were there."
There was an extra fear in her eyes, and Havoc could understand it. Hawkeye had been extra protective of her neck since the Promised Day, and no one could blame her, really. Having it sliced open and bleeding out to force the man you love to sacrifice himself would be traumatic for anyone, really. Havoc was sure that she was going to be extra guarded for the next little bit.
"I remember you all appearing, and I remember being brought back here, although it's all rather fuzzy. The doctor was already here, and I think Breda took me upstairs? But after that, I have no idea what happened." She looked at him, anxiety in her eyes. "What happened to Johnson?"
Havoc could hear the unspoken questions in that one question. What happened to Johnson really meant did anyone else know what he knew, was anyone else listening to him, how many people knew about her tattoo now?
"I managed to shoot him in the shoulder," Havoc said, "after Hayate surprised him into dropping you. He ran off, and we didn't know just how dangerous he was, so we came back here. Apparently, our hasty exit from town had caused quite a stir, so there were men from the town already here, to see what was going on. We explained that Johnson had been skulking around the house, gotten his hands on some sensitive information, found out some personal information about you, and had kidnapped you, although we weren't sure of the ultimate purpose of that."
Hawkeye had been looking a bit nervous, but she seemed to relax a bit as his words. It seemed that the excuse they and given was good enough for her. She nodded at him to continue. Havoc did, filling her in on how she had gotten back and what was currently going on, as well as Fuery's condition. At one point, when talking about Hayate, he heard a thump thump thump from the other side of the bed and realized that the little dog was in there, guarding his mistress. That honestly made Havoc feel better about leaving her up here alone.
He finished, and she sighed, still looking anxious about the whole deal. He couldn't blame her, but it still pulled at his heart. Havoc reached up and gently brushed her bangs away from her face. "Hey, Ri. Listen, no matter what happens, we're here with you, okay? We'll do our best to make sure it's all okay."
"I know," she said. "But I still can't help but worry." She paused. "It scares me, Jean. It scares me to my bones. It scares me so deeply that I can't even—"
She paused and took in a shaky breath, not quite able to find the words to continue.
"I can only imagine," he said, and he leaned over to give her a kiss on the forehead. "We're here for you, though. We're not going to let anything happen to you."
Riza bit her lip but nodded. "Thank you, Havoc," she said. 'I really do appreciate it. I'm sure Fuery does too. You'll keep me updated on what's going on?" she asked him.
Havoc nodded. "Me, or someone else," he said "But we'll make sure to keep you two in the loop as much as we can. Fuery's gonna be a bit harder, unless he got that phone connected. Though."
"I heard someone on the roof earlier," Hawkeye said. "So, you might check and see if someone else managed to get the phone working and hooked up. Someone in town has to be able to do it, after all, and maybe whoever it is came along and took care of it."
"Yeah, or someone sent for him," Havoc said. "After all, having a phone would be a great asset to an investigation."
"Always is," Hawkeye agreed.
"I'll check on that, then," Havoc said, and slowly stood up, wincing as he stretched out his poor, overused legs. They were killing him, and they would only get worse as the day went on. He was lucky that the rain had stopped, though. That would have made all of this unbearable, he was sure. He stretched, and then noticed a little something and reached for it.
On her dresser, that stuffed yellow rabbit was sitting. He picked it up, and then reached over to her, tucking it into bed with her. "There you go," he said with a grin. "Between this guy and Hayate," there went the tail thumping again, the little guy clearly paying attention to things, "you'll be well protected." He reached down, putting a hand on Hawkeye's head again. "You need anything? I can bring you something if you do."
Riza shook her head. "No," she said. "I think that I just need to sleep this off," she said. "It's starting to get to me again."
"Then rest, Riza. I'll be back later to check on you, or someone from the team will." He said, taking his hand back.
She gave a light hum and nodded slightly, and he left the room, leaving the door ajar, as he had found it.
Havoc ambled back over to Fuery's room before he went downstairs, to check on him and see if he needed anything. The young man, who appeared to be sleeping, was apparently just dozing, because he asked how Hawkeye was doing. Havoc gave him a brief update, both on her physical and emotional state. Concern shone in Fuery's eyes.
"I should have grabbed her gun and shot him," he said, lamenting not being able to stop Johnson from taking her. "Or done something. Anything."
"Don't beat yourself up about it. Honestly, she's feeling guilty because she's afraid you could have hurt yourself worse trying to save her," Havoc said. "You two are going to worry yourself in circles about each other. You did what you could, alright? No sense in beating yourself up over what could have been."
Fuery gave a noise of agreement. "Yeah, I suppose." But Havoc could see in his eyes, that he wasn't letting go of it just yet, and he couldn't really blame him. Havoc wouldn't be able to immediately let go of it either.
"I'm going to check out what's going on downstairs. You need anything before I go?"' he asked.
Fuery tried to shake his head, and then stopped, his neck still immobilized. "No, I'm good. The doctor doesn't want me moving around much, so I'm trying not to eat or drink a lot because I don't want to deal with the bathroom right now," He pulled a face, and Havoc laughed.
"Can't blame you on that one," he said. "Alright, I'll check on you later."
"Keep me updated!" Fuery said.
"Will do—oh. Not that I expect it, but before you fell did you manage to get the phone hooked up?" Havoc asked, remembering just before he walked out the door.
"I was pushed," Fuery said, "that I remember, and no. I was almost there, but before I could finish connecting the line I had run from the inside, someone, I'm guessing Johnson, pushed me off the roof. I'm just glad it was in the direction of the tree, because I tried to catch myself on it as much as I was able to. The doctor said that probably slowed my fall and helped keep it from getting any worse." Fuery paused. "As much as I don't think Johnson would have cared if I had died, I also don't think he was actively trying to kill me."
"That actually makes sense," Havoc said. "If you were dead, I wouldn't have run to town for the doctor. I'm not sure what we would have done, but Hawkeye and I wouldn't have split up. But with you injured, someone had to stay here to look after you."
"Yeah," Fuery said, and looked a little pale at the thought.
Havoc reached over and put a hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm glad you're still with us, Fuery," he said, wholeheartedly meaning every word.
Fuery gave him a smile back. "Me too, sir."
Havoc withdrew his hand and moved back towards the door. "Alright. I'll come back later. Yell or something if you need anything."
"Will do, sir." Fuery responded.
Havoc left the room, leaving the door ajar like he had Hawkeye's. He stood there a minute, taking a breath. He hadn't had a breather since Fuery fell, or, rather, was pushed, off the roof this morning, and he could use a minute to himself.
It had been a crazy day and it was a lot to process. The day wasn't even over yet. He still needed to find out what was going on outside, see about the phone, and, at some point, clean Hawkeye's floors for her. She would not be happy to see the muddy state they were in. It was a silly thing, maybe, but it was something concreate that he felt he could do for her. There was precious little he felt like he could do for her right now anyway. Not with her secret on the line.
And what was going to be done about that? Even if he didn't tell the townspeople, there was a good chance it would come up in investigations. He was sure that Breda and Mustang both had already thought about this. After all, Breda was their strategist, and Mustang was, well, Mustang. He was always thinking steps ahead of the game, even when he didn't have all of the information or pieces. Honestly, the biggest screw up that Havoc could remember him taking was when he tried to see if General Raven was on their side and instead exposed their whole team to the council and Bradley, which resulted in them being split up. But to be fair, who could have anticipated that? Havoc didn't think that anyone could have, so he didn't really blame Mustang for that one. It was totally and entirely unexpected.
And yet Mustang had still found a way to turn it all around for them—with a little help from Havoc himself. He wished he could have seen the look on Mustang's face when he heard his voice over the phone that day.
With a soft sight, Havoc pushed himself up from the railing that he was leaning against and turned to amble his way downstairs. There was still work to be done, obviously, and no one was getting to either Fuery or Hawkeye with this many people in the house. Not that they wouldn't all be keeping an ear out anyway, but still. Besides, he could hear the nurse in the bathroom, clearly running water and preparing something, so they would both be looked after.