Havoc stumbled his way out of the resteraunt which Rebecca had dragged him into; her arm was still entwined in his, and she was yanking him all the way down the side walk toward the intersection ahead. His vision was blurred from the many drinks she'd shoved into his system, and his mind was a buzz. He actually was thankful for the never ending noise in his head, because it helped him avoid listening to Rebecca's obnoxious chattering and ear-piercing laugh.
How is she still talking?!
Jean had been so distracted trying to bear his way through the date that he hadn't had a chance to ask her where Riza had gone...he hadn't even brought the subject up yet!
She was now helping him up her doorstep, him dragging his exhausted legs up the wooden steps and avoiding stumbling onto his ass, when he felt her shove him through his apartment door.
But he was shocked when he'd seen her enter with him.
"W-wait, Rebecca..?" he slurred, though it'd passed right through her hearing, as she continued to chatter about...about...what is she talking about..?
"So then I was just like, if you're into me then you're into me, but if you're not, then you're not, ya know..? So he says-"
Oh. So that's what she's talking about; the same story from two hours ago.
"So yeah, I'm pretty much single right now, but I don't know if-"
"Rebecca..."Havoc tried again, only to earn her raising her voice over his own, completing her story after the long (agonizing) date that Havoc was forced to sit through. He just wanted a cute, smart girl with a good personality, and hopefully with some family lineage.
But no...
He was stuck with this... this...blabbering machine.
"Rebecca," he spoke when she was done ranting about some guy that she's not dating, "That's all very interesting and all, but can we talk about Riza now..?"
She frowned at him, sending him a look before she said in an annoyed tone, "Sure, let's just talk about my hot best friend, shall we?!"
He sighed, forcing himself to mutter "You're more attractive than her, Rebecca."
Her eyes sparkled, "Really?! You think so, Jean?"
"Yeah..." he managed, remembering that Riza had the colonel as her boss, while Rebecca was stuck with the pervy old general Hakuro.
And she's always alone because Riza is getting all the good looking men, while I'm alone because the Colonel is always taking my girlfriends. We're similar...
No, this is not going to work.
"Look, Rebecca, I'm not looking for Hawkeye because I'm...interested, I need her so that the team can figure out exactly why Ed...well, did what he did. I mean, it's hard to believe he'd kill the Colonel..." Havoc trailed off, forgetting exactly where he was going with his small speech.
"I get it," said Rebecca with a small smile on her face. "I'll write you out the address, Jean, but we should sleep, first; after all, you're drunk and I'm too tired to drive anybody."
Jean sighed with relief, grabbing her a pen and paper to write Hawkeye's new home on, phone number, and any other information he might need.
"Here ya go." she sang, handing him the paper good-naturedly, "Now let's go to bed, right?"
"Right." he responded, not picking up on the implications in her voice.
Wait, we're going to bed, together..?
Rebecca removed her jacket, eyeing Jean and stroking her hands through his hair, and before he knew what hit him, the two were in his bed without anything on.
When Havoc, Breda and Armstrong met in the cafeteria that day, Havoc told them the news.
"So you got the address, huh." Said Breda, reading over the paper that Havoc had worked so hard for.
"Yeah, and I must say, it wasn't easy."
Breda offered Havoc a grin, and then set the note on the table for the three to stare at.
"So are we going to get her, or what?" questioned Havoc, losing patience with the two.
Armstrong raised a brow at his collegue. "It's not like we can just go into her house and tell her she's coming back to Central. We can't force her to come back if she doesn't want to."
Havoc thought about that for a moment, and decided that he agreed with what they were saying. However, he wasn't about to give up so easily.
"We should just swing by, tell her what we think, and give her the option to come back and help us. I mean, she's got to be wondering about this too. She can't honestly believe that Ed killed the Colonel, and for no reason at that."
Breda nodded his head, and Armstrong gave Havoc his blessing.
"I like your determination, Lieutenant Havoc; it's a trait that has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!"
Riza had just gotten into the shower when she'd heard a knock at her door. She thought about just pretending she hadn't heard it, and continuing lathering her hair with shampoo, but the knocking persisted. She sighed, hoping that it was the furnature man who'd bring her new bed to her small home. She turned off the water, and wrapped a towel around her chest, dripping wet and suds rolling down her frame.
Opening the door, she was slightly shocked at what she saw; Armstrong, Havoc and Breda all stood at her doorway.
Suddenly, Riza was embarrassed by her appearance...these men were not very mature for their ages, and with her showing up in a towel to answer her door, covered in suds..Well, it was not the most fitting appearance for these men.
Nevertheless, she had answered the door, and with her unwanted guests, she was frustrated; she'd just gotten to her new life, she'd finally left it all behind, yet these three just showed up at her door as though there wasn't a care in the world. And she had work in no less than a half hour.
"What do you want." She demanded holding a stern, steady voice despite all the efforts she'd gone through to sound like a different person.
"Listen," said Havoc, "We know that you're trying to start over, but we want to solve the case. I mean, there's just no way that Ed could kill the Colonel, especially without good reason."
This annoyed her, because it was exactly what she'd been thinking for quite some time: but she was tired of stressing over it, she was tired of being sad and she was tired of trying to think of answeres to why he'd do such a crime.
"I don't care why he did it, it's all over. Go back to work, I have to go to my new job and you're going to make me late."
She tried to slam the door in their faces, but Armstrong caught it and wouldn't let her shut them out.
"Please", begged Havoc, "I know that you want it all to just disappear, and we all do; but this isn't the way to do it. We can actually help Ed; we can find the answers, we can prove him innocent or guilty, and then we all won't have to be so curious all the time. Come on, Hawkeye, you know you want to, just help us out!"
She admitted that he was quite convincing.
No, Riza. It's not going to go back to normal, it's not going to make things better by knowing.
"I have work to do, men. And so do you." This time, she didn't bother shutting the door, because she made her way upstairs to change. She knew they didn't have the heart to follow.
Waiting tables was difficult when you were so distracted by what could have been; Riza knew she could do better than this, she knew she was a successful soldier and could have continued her job under another officer, but it would have hurt; that seemed to be what Hawkeye spent her time avoiding, lately.
And yet, she couldn't avoid thinking about it. And it was an absolute curse, as on her first day of work she'd messed up three orders and had spilled a drink.
She made her way to her new table, which held three men behind their menus. The resteraunt was fitting for the three, since it was a rugged looking cabin with unfitting blues music. Steak was the specialty meal on the menu, and Riza couldn't help but think the large man would be ordering it.
Just don't mess up again...
"May I take your order?" She recited politely, calmly flicking her gaze across the menus which blocked the men's faces.
"Yes," responded a voice, "I'll take one solved case, please."
She frowned, recognizing the voice all too well.
"Well, Havoc, so you followed me to work. This was a very amusing visit, but I'd appreciate it if you'd leave now." She said with dark sarcasm.
The three men lifted the menus from their faces, revealing the same men who'd shown up at her door earlier.
"Look, Hawkeye, just take a chance, okay?" begged Breda, eyes pleading with hers. "Just let us tell you about how Ed's been acting, and maybe you'll reconsider."
But she didn't want to reconsider. She was going to be happier without all this drama, stress, and emotional torment that came with the murder of the only man who she'd throw her life away for.
But then again, what if they were right? What if Ed wasn't the one who did it, and he was suffering? She couldn't possibly live with the guilt that would come if she knew they'd killed an innocent little kid. Edward was...
Well, they were all like family.
So she glared at Havoc for being so persistant, and softly said, "My breaks in an hour and a half. While you're here, will you at least order something so I can make a good impression? It's my first day and I've already screwed up quite a few orders."
The three grinned, knowing their work was done.
"We'll all take the steak, please." Said Havoc, handing his old collegue the menus and grinning like a maniac.
She smirked, thinking to herself; That's what I thought you'd say.
Edward laid on the cell floor with a busted ribcage and bloody hands; though this time, it was his blood.
"So, did you decide to eat what we fed you this time, kid?" The guard spat, glaring daggers on the disrespectful teen who lay in his own filth.
"Hmph, and they called you a hero; you're just a damn brat."
The guard stalked away to threaten other prisoners, while Ed stared him off.
He felt his mind going wild again, storming with questions...
"How could I- How could you...how could I kill...how could you kill- Why? Why have I done this?"
The image flashed across his mind; the Colonel covered in blood, his own hands covered in crimson, the knife in his hand, and the tears flowing down his face ceaselessly.
Suddenly, everything he'd forced himself to eat was coming out the way it came.
"W-why did you kill him?!"
A/N: I'll tell you right now, what you think is happening is not happening, what you know is a lie is a truth and what didn't happen actually did happen, or did it? Hehehe, that doesn't mean anything, but it's not what you think! (Just ignore me...)
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