Thursday, October 10th
Riza didn't sleep well that night. Her dreams were filled with more confusion and terror. She couldn't make sense of it during her dreams, and she couldn't make sense of it when she was awake.
She was barely able to keep herself from falling asleep that morning. She decided to stick with some coffee, which wasn't as good as her tea, but it would keep her going through the first few hours of work.
When she got to work, she saw Mustang's car before she saw him. He always had the flashiest spot: right on the front row, all the way on the left, which was right where the front doors were. She winced as the sunlight reflected off of the car's shiny coat, feeling bad that he had gotten there before she had. That almost never happened.
"Dammit. Get on the game, Riza," she muttered to herself as she walked through the parking lot and straight through the front doors, her work heels making satisfying clicks that made her feel much more confident than she was.
When she got up to the room, she felt as if it was one of those moments in the movies, where someone would walk into a room and the music would stop and everyone would stare at the newcomer. Except there was no music, and instead of a room full of strangers it was her fellow coworkers. Still, she felt extremely unwelcome.
"Get to work," she said sternly. They nodded, but continued to glance at her with bewilderment. She did a quick self-check. Her hair was in her usual style, and her clothes were in top shape. So what the hell was so strange about her? She was fairly certain that she had fixed her coat in a way that no one could see her hickeys, but she still reached up uncertainly to touch her neck.
Then she glanced over at Mustang. He was sitting at his desk; his feet propped up, his eyes roaming over her lazily. She tried not to blush and instead saluted, which made her coworkers remember that they were at work and that she was a fearless sniper with an amazing aim.
"You're late, lieutenant." He said, and although she knew he was teasing her, his eyes were dark and his mouth was in a firm line. He was pissed off and she didn't know why.
"I apologize, sir," she said. "Traffic was a pain."
He saw through her lie immediately. He lowered his eyes, staring blankly at the wall beside her. But instead of commenting on it, like he usually did, he let it slide. "Get some coffee," he said shortly.
She obeyed him, and made sure to make it just how he liked it, still wondering what had happened between them. Why is he so mad? Nothing unusual happened last night, so why is he taking it out on me?
When she got back into the office, he was on the phone, his fingers pressed to his temples. She smiled to herself, and then quickly wiped it off of her face. Whenever he made that face, she knew that Hughes was on the other line and ranting about things that weren't as important to Mustang as they were to Hughes, like his wife and daughter. When Mustang looked up, his eyes met hers, and he saw her smile. His eyes lightened a little as she set his coffee down on the desk and waited patiently.
Mustang took the coffee from her, and then took a long sip before licking his lips and setting it back down on the desk. She watched him with amusement as he tuned out Hughes, and then leaned back against his chair and sighed. "Listen Hughes, I'm pretty sure you have something to do right now, so why don't you call me back later when we're not on a private line, since I'm sure this is a personal call." Then he hung up on him.
She saw her coworkers grinning out of the corner of her eye. Even though Mustang pretended otherwise, they all knew that Hughes was important to him. However, she did not partake in her coworker's knowing smiles. She had more pressing concerns.
Cautiously, she approached him. "What's on your mind?" She asked him quietly, so that the others could hear them. He glanced at her, and then stood up, dragging her by the arm out into the hallway. She could feel the other's curious stares on them, but decided to ignore them.
As soon as they were out in the hallway, she did a check. No one was around, thank God. Then she glanced down at Mustang, who was rubbing his eyes.
"He got another one last night," he said after a long moment. "He got another one. Goddamn it, he got another f-"he cut off at the last second, burying his face into his gloved hands. She didn't want to show it, but she relaxed slightly, knowing that he wasn't mad at her, before straightening.
"Scar is a killer," she said quietly. "But he's different. He's not bothering to hide it at all, and he's purposely targeting State Alchemists. Like you," she said, and softened her voice at the end. "I've got your back, Colonel, but I can't keep an eye on you all the time. I've got things to do too. I'm always worrying about you Colonel, so please just let that be enough right now, okay? Don't go wandering around looking for a man whose killing State Alchemists for fun, because your death isn't going to matter to him, and it's going to matter to everyone else. Leave that stuff to the big shots."
He let out an aggravated sigh. "But the big shots are sons of bitches that can't do their jobs right, so it's all up to me. And don't baby me, lieutenant. I'm not throwing myself to the dog here. I know what I'm doing." Despite his words, she could see the look in his eyes that made her uncertain of him.
"You better," she growled, but grinned a little and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't react at first, but then she felt him smile against her shoulder and reluctantly hug her back.
There was a long pause, and then she spoke. "Remember, you still have Edward Elric. He may be a pain, but he's good at his job."
His smile, which had gradually faded, appeared again on his lips. "I know, lieutenant. Don't tell me how to do my job."
They managed to talk again during lunch. It was short and professional, but she couldn't help but feel better.
Nothing really happened until later that afternoon. It had been around 4:35, and Mustang had received another phone call from Hughes. The colonel decided to listen to this call and gave his paperwork to Riza, who gladly filled them out and filed them, grateful for something to do that wasn't awkward or confusing.
She had been in the Delivery Room, checking for more paperwork for Mustang to do, when General Grumman came in and scared her.
"Hello Riza," he said quietly, a small smile on his face. Riza nearly jumped out of her skin, but instead of letting that show she simply turned to face him and swiftly saluted. "At ease," he murmured, and then widened his smile. "How are you?"
Riza tried not to sigh. Grumman was one of those people who acted like everyone's really cool relative who actually listened to what you had to say and gave you good advice. She wanted to tell him about Mustang, since he might have some good insight, but she bit back her words. She couldn't risk it, especially since he might hold it over her or tell someone important.
"I'm fine, sir. Just checking for paperwork to do, sir," she said coolly. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but why are you here?"
General Grumman took a deep breath before replying. "I have been called here by the Führer for a meeting. He asked me to meet him in his office, but when I got there, he wasn't there. No one knew where he went, so I figured I would just wander around until he came back."
Riza's face remained expressionless, but she was trying not to smile. She loved General Grumman because he always loved to mess with the Führer and his plans, although he never did anything directly. Finally she broke and smiled, although it was gone after a millisecond.
"Anyway, Riza, have you heard about Reole?" General Grumman asked, changing the subject.
Her eyebrows knitted together. "Isn't Reole a town in the east?"
General Grumman nodded. "Yes, it is, and it used to be a peaceful town, but a new religion has popped up there recently. Letoism."
"Letoism? I've never heard of that religion, sir."
Grumman nodded gravely. "It's a religion that has become wildly popular in Reole as of late. It doesn't seem too bad, but I've heard some stories of people rising from the dead and miraculous feats. The people of Reole credit their imaginary sun god Leto, but no god can do things like that."
She listened, curious now. "Well, sir, the only options are, one, alchemy is responsible, or two, everyone is faking it, or three, there really is a sun god who is doing all of this. And I don't think that it is option number three."
"That's what I said as well. But I think we need to send someone out there, just to do a quick check up on Reole and make sure everything is okay."
She nodded. "I'll look into it, sir. Do you have anyone in particular whom you would like to send to Reole?"
Please say the Elric brothers. Please say the Elric brothers. Please say the Elric brothers. Please say the Elric-
"I'll leave that up to you, Riza. However, if I may make a suggestion, I would advise sending the Elric brothers."
Riza tried not to let out a screech of delight. Thank fucking God! I can finally get those damn kids out of my fucking hair! "I'll see what I can do, sir," she said. General Grumman saluted, and she saluted back before grabbing Mustang's paperwork and walking out of the Delivery Room, a smile of triumph on her face.
When she got back to the office, Mustang glanced up at her. He wasn't on the phone anymore, and he looked like he had a headache. He noticed her grin. "Is something amusing, Lieutenant?" He asked.
Her happy smile turned into a sly one as she set the papers down on his desk. "Oh, nothing sir, but I do think we need to look into Reole." His eyebrows shot upwards, and he squinted at her, but didn't say a word. She walked confidently to her desk and sat down, ignoring the curious glances from her fellow coworkers.
After a few minutes, Mustang called her up to his desk. "Bring the Elric brothers in tomorrow," he murmured quietly. "We've got a task for them."
So sorry for not updating sooner, but writing fanfiction has been on hold lately due to school and all that other junk. This also might not be one hundred percent accurate, since I haven't watched FMAB since Christmas and my memory is pretty bad, so I'm kind of just rolling off of whatever the Wikipedia page says. I will try to update once a month though.
-Lilith