A few hours later, Cassie showed up to Central Command like nothing had happened the night before. She was surprised to see Hawkeye walking towards her.
"Lieutenant," Cassie greeted her. "I thought you were taking time off."
"Yes, I was just dropping off paperwork with the Colonel." It was obvious that the people nearby were eavesdropping. News about the Maria Ross incident had spread quickly.
"Well, you deserve some time away from that pain in the ass."
"Lieutenant, that is your current commanding officer," Hawkeye scolded. She was scrutinizing Cassie trying to figure out if Cassie was acting a part for the mission or speaking honestly. Cassie grinned at the woman.
"Yes, my pain in the ass commanding officer." This got a hint of a smile out of Hawkeye.
"Just please make sure he gets his paperwork done and that he doesn't wander off to some bar. That's all I ask." Really, all Hawkeye wanted was Cassie to keep Mustang from getting too involved in the plan.
"Yes, sir!" Cassie saluted. "Paperwork will be done even if it I have to force him at gunpoint." Hawkeye shook her head and continued walking past Cassie. The soldiers who had been eavesdropping quickly jumped back into conversations and shuffling papers. With a sigh, Cassie continued walking towards the Colonel's office.
A couple soldiers were standing outside of Mustang's office whispering to each other.
"Good morning," Cassie said. The two jumped to attention when they saw her.
"Lieutenant Keynes! Are you here to see the Colonel?"
"Yes, is he busy?" The two soldiers looked at each other with concerned expressions. However, neither had to say anything because Mustang's voice carried out of his office.
"Oh, Elizabeth"
"Always the lady's man," Cassie sighed. "Well, I'm taking this as a blessing. He's too busy to give me work to do." Cassie put her belongings down on a vacated desk and sat down. She grabbed a book from her bag, kicked her feet back, and started to lazily read. Her focus, however, was on the Colonel's phone conversation. She did that for a while and everything sounded like it was going to plan until the door to his office suddenly opened.
"Lieutenant Keynes, I'm stepping out for a bit. There's some paperwork on my desk that you need to finish for me." He started briskly walking down the hall.
"Colonel! Lieutenant Hawkeye said you can't leave until it's done!" Mustang kept walking down the hall. This was bad. He was deviating from the plan. "Where are you going?"
"I've got a date! There's a damsel in distress waiting for me so as your commanding officer, I'm delegating the paperwork to you. Bye!" He cheerfully called. Cassie's eyes narrowed when he mentioned a damsel in distress. That could only mean something bad was happening. The soldiers were all looking at her, so Cassie continued the show.
"This is why I transferred up north, you asshole!" she yelled as she stormed into Mustang's office and slammed the door. As expected, one of the soldiers knocked on the door moments later. She opened it and glared at him.
"Um, ma'am, sorry but would you like some help with the paperwork?" He asked meekly. Cassie's face softened.
"That's sweet but I'm not doing his damn job for him. I'm going to mess around with his things, take a nap, and leave for the day. If anyone comes looking for me or Mustang, just tell them we're busy, thanks!" Before the soldier could say anything, she closed the door and locked it.
Quickly and quietly, she opened the window and dropped down to the ground below. She knew that Hawkeye was stationed in a nearby tower, so once she got a bearing on her surroundings, Cassie started running towards it. Luckily, there was no one nearby to see her as she burst into the tower and sprinted up the stairs. She heard what sounded like an explosion followed by a woman yelling.
"Shit, what did Mustang do?" She muttered to herself. She got to the top of the tower ran into the room as Mustang was talking to Hawkeye. She noticed a small shiba inu standing in the room and Sergeant Fuery peering out a large hole in the tower wall.
"Fine, I'm an idiot," Mustang said to Hawkeye.
"Finally," Cassie said between breaths, "you admit it." Mustang turned in surprise at her appearance.
"I told you to stay at Central Command! You were supposed to be my cover!"
"And I told her to make sure you didn't leave no matter what!" Cassie could not tell if Hawkeye was angrier with her or Mustang.
"Colonel!" Sergeant Fuery called. "The target is on the move!"
Mustang and Hawkeye immediately reacted and barked out orders to Fuery and the dog who Cassie learnt was named Black Hayate. Mustang turned to Cassie. She was expecting him to send her back to Central Command.
"Keynes, you're coming with us."
"Good, I've been sick of doing nothing." Mustang scoffed at her comment as he three of them departed down the stairs. Mustang was in front with Hawkeye immediately behind him and Cassie in the rear.
"Colonel," Hawkeye said softly.
"What is it?"
"Thanks for saving us back there." Cassie felt like she was interrupting an intimate moment and tried her best to act oblivious to their conversation.
"Tell me later. Let's just stay focused on the mission for now" Mustang responded in a nonchalant voice.
"Sir." While Cassie could only see a sliver of Hawkeye's face, she swore the woman was smiling.
Once outside of the tower, they turned around a corner to where a small black car was parked.
"Shotgun!" Cassie said jokingly.
"No." Mustang answered abruptly as he and Hawkeye got into the front. Cassie slid into the back and was just starting to close the door when the Colonel drove away.
"So where are we going? Who should I be prepared to fight?" She asked.
"There are a lot of unknowns in this situation." The Colonel began saying.
"Oh, please tell me you at least know where we're going."
"Of course we know that!" He snapped. Hawkeye sighed from the passenger's seat. "First, we're picking up another team member."
The car swung around a corner and came to a halt. Outside, Cassie could see Falman standing next to a man in all black. The man faced them she saw through the hole in his mask that it was Jean.
"Get in," Mustang ordered. Jean ran over to the car and reached for the door when suddenly, a large suit of armor came running up. It had been years since Cassie met the Elrics, but Alphonse was easily recognizable, to say the least.
"Are you trying to go after Mr. Hughes' murderer?" The kid asked. Everyone in the team looked to Mustang.
"You in?" He asked Alphonse with a serious look on his face.
"Yeah."
"Well, we're going to need a bigger car." Cassie commented.
"Cassie, you're the fastest on foot and have the greatest endurance. Follow on foot."
She could not argue that even if they were not pressed for time. She had set a record on the physical exam for joining the military. She quickly got out of the car so Jean and Alphonse could squeeze in. Cassie took off her heavy coat. As much as she hated parting with it, it was not ideal for a workout in this climate.
"Sorry, Lieutenant Keynes. Oh, and it's nice to see you!" Alphonse said.
"It's nice to see you too, Alphonse," she replied as she leaned into the car and tossed her coat on Jean's lap before he closed the door to the car. Frankly, she may have gotten the better end of the deal because Jean looked miserable pressed against the boy and the door. Hawkeye took off and Cassie began running after the car.
She stayed a bit behind the car until she noticed the Colonel slow down to be driving parallel to a person running. The man was in a body of armour with only one arm which was brandishing a cleaver. Cassie sprinted forward to be right behind this odd newcomer.
"Hey, who's this?" She panted. Depending on how long this chase went, she may find out the true extent of her endurance.
"Barry's the name, chopping's my game!" The man said cheerfully as he turned to look at her. "And who might you be?"
"She's part of my team. That's all you need to know" Mustang answered. Cassie wanted to snap at him for answering but she needed to save her breath.
Mustang turned his attention to Hawkeye, but Cassie could not hear what she was asking him. She kept running alongside them while staring at Barry. Something was off about him. All of a sudden, she noticed the car swerve towards her. She and Barry screamed and jumped closer to the wall.
"Watch it, Mustang!" She yelled. She could see the occupants of the car speaking but could not make out the conversation still. She decided to pay attention to Barry still and noticed he was looking up at the rooftops. She was surprised to see a wild looking man running on all fours like an animal.
"What is that?" She asked.
"My body! That's what we've been chasing, sweetheart!" Cassie's eyes widened. Was this Barry guy like Alphonse? He must be.
The chase continued on as the sun began to set. Finally, the car slowed down as the approached a building and everyone got out.
"That was horrible," Jean complained as he stretched his back. Cassie was bent over catching her breath and looked up to glare at him.
"You don't get to complain." She reached over and grabbed her coat from him but did not put it on. She was too sweaty for that.
"Out of breath there? I guess you're in worse shape nowadays." He teased her as they followed the rest of the team to peer around the corner at the entrance of the building.
"My body ran in there," Barry told the group. "It seems to think it can hide from me." The team regrouped around the corner.
"The third laboratory. So this ties them directly to the military," Mustang commented. "That's all we need for now. We're pulling back." Cassie opened her mouth to complain about the fact that he made her alongside the car for miles just to call it a day. However, Barry beat her to the punch and started running towards the building.
"Well, you have fun with that!" He said as he ran.
"Dammit, Barry! Get back here!" Jean called after him. Cassie scrutinized Mustang. The Colonel had oddly not reacted immediately. "That psycho stormed the building." Jean told everyone as he watched the entrance.
"Yeah, it's our lucky day." Mustang responded. "Follow my lead."