"No trace of her, sir." Havoc reported sadly to Mustang.
"You checked everything?"
"Falman's team didn't find her outside; Hawkeye's team is checking rooms and hallways for a second time and my team has thoroughly searched the basements. There's no sign of her." Havoc sighed and looked down at Kino holding to his pinky finger.
The poor kid had walked everywhere with him to search for his mother and insisted on clasping to his little finger the whole time. Now he looked up at Havoc with slow-blinking sleepy eyes at two in the morning.
Mustang ran his fingers through his hair, "I don't want to leave her where ever she is," he paused, "dismiss the search; we'll start again tomorrow so let's hope she's safe and comfortable."
Behind him in time to over hear his commands, Riza took orders but Havoc hesitated.
"What about Kino?"
Mustang waved as he walked away, "Let him bunk with you for tonight."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Havoc came out of the dorm bathroom in pajama pants and walked to his bed assuming Kino was the lump in the unmade covers. When the blankets flattened under his hand, he searched over the room. He found Kino already asleep in the bottom drawer of the dresser on top of his shirts and a spare towel for a blanket.
He was a little surprised at the acknowledgment that he didn't want him sleeping there. He was counting on having to share the bed but apparently, Kino didn't. Moreover, the drawer didn't look that comfortable with the awkward way he was curled inside.
The smile on Havoc's lips reflected in his sky blue eyes as he briefly remembered Kino encouraging the team as they searched.
"Come on men," he imitated Mustang, "We have to find Mama! Work together, be together, love together! "
"Kino," Havoc began among the noise, "I don't think unity is the problem."
"Unicorns?"
Havoc chuckled, "No, motivation is needed right now."
"Okay," Kino grinned and began shouting to the team, "Come on dudes, moot oblivion! Moot oblivion!"
Havoc shook his head as he quieted his mirth. You have to admit, Havoc thought, the kid is frickin' cute.
He shrugged to himself, bent down to the bottom drawer and tucked his arms under Kino. He picked him up easily and set him on the bed near the wall, turned off the lamplight and slid into bed next to Kino. He settled in and closed his eyes when he felt Kino snuggle against his side.
"Thank you d…"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
All in Eastern Command woke with a groan, Mustang had ordered the search to continue with the same assignments, same places, and same teams; just as yesterday.
"Whoa," Kino exclaimed as one of the men lifted a heavy box, "you're strong! Good man!" he quoted Mustang again and Havoc chuckled.
"Sir!"
Havoc whipped around hopefully to be disappointed by the sight of red hair.
"Hi Sirkis!" Kino waved with the hand that didn't hold to Havoc's little finger.
Havoc didn't like the sight of Sirkis but tolerated his presence since he persisted on staying to help. He was assigned to Falman's group so Havoc never talked to him; now it seemed he would have to today.
"Lil' buddy!" Sirkis exclaimed in his peculiar accent of over pronouncing his vowels. He ruffled Kino's hair then turned back to Havoc.
"Sir Falman dude sent me to search here. I think he thinks I'm annoying." He pulled a cheesy grin. "Jus' kiddin', I'm not so good with the sun so I requested to search 'ere instead. He figured that I could switch with someone."
Havoc tried not to show his annoyance with this obvious teenager. "What problems to you have with sun?"
Sirkis twisted his earring as he explained, "If I stay out in sunshine too long I turn as red as my hair." He laughed.
Havoc sighed, "Fine then, switch with…Erel there with the brown hair."
"Right sir dude!" He waved.
"Yay!" Kino grinned widely up at Havoc, "Sirkis is funny, so maybe the dudes will get more…moot oblivion?"
Havoc chuckled again, "Motivation," he corrected.
"SNAKE!"
"AHHH!!"
"Jus' kiddin'!"
Some of the men near by, Havoc saw behind him, had jumped too and were now watching.
"What the crap did you throw at me?"
"I don' know but it was wet, slimy, long and it stank too."
"What?"
"Jus' pullin' your leg, man; it was a rope."
Havoc was about to shout at Sirkis but he immediately went back to work so there was really no point. He rubbed his face with his free hand while Kino laughed. This was going to be a long day.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Mustang allowed a lunch break that afternoon and Havoc had his and Kino's food when they went to sit with Falman, Breda, and Fuery. The three greeted them as they sat at the opposite side of the table.
"Havoc," Breda whispered secretively as he looked around, "I heard that Mustang has an announcement for everyone during lunch; that's why we're all in here."
"Really?" Havoc questioned, "About what?"
"I don't know." Breda shrugged.
"Lil' buddy!"
Havoc turned around from his friends to see Sirkis running towards them with food in his hand. He turned around and groaned.
"Bothersome, isn't he?" Falman shook his head.
"He kept psyching people out. No body wanted to work near him." Havoc complained.
"You don' mind if I sit with you dudes, right?" Sirkis sat next to Kino.
"Hi dude!"
"'Sup son," Sirkis kissed his head.
Havoc stiffened. Son? There was no way he could father Kino from River, that wasn't right and she wouldn't do something like that either. Wait, was this another joke? Was he trying to be funny again? This boy is sick! Havoc gazed at the others; they must've been thinking the same thing by the looks on all their faces.
"I need all of your attention," Mustang called atop of the makeshift stage at the far end of the cafeteria. Riza rolled in a projector in front of the stage as everyone quieted.
"I want to be straight forward with you about your complaints. I will not allow them after what you did the first day she came here. Yes, I hope you all feel guilty about it and if you don't I make you feel it. Hawkeye,"
The square of light flashed onto the wall to Mustang's left and she set a picture transparency onto the glass. The picture showed River's arms; red and bruised. Her wrist was entirely dark brown all the way around.
"This is what one of her arms looked like; the other didn't look any better. Her legs were similar too. Your hands made these bruises."
Riza changed the picture to her scalp; also red with a small swollen cut on the back of her head from impacting with the floor.
"This was from you pulling her hair and dropping her. I must emphasize that you did this."
The picture changed again to her side; brown and purple where her skin was pinched and pulled.
"You did this to her." The projector turned off, "I don't want to hear any complaints about staying up all night and being so sleepy during the day. I don't want to hear about how miserably dirty you are during breaks because honestly, I don't care. You owe her some respect after what you did to her because you all tried to kill her."
Mustang glared at the crowd as the silence settled into their thoughts.
"What the h--- did you all do to her?!" Sirkis stood up on the table; his face red. "Why'd you hurt her? I'm gonna kick all yer a--es!"
Havoc grabbed his belt and pulled him down. To the audience, Sirkis suddenly disappeared and they watched Havoc drag him out of the room.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Let me go! I've got something to say to those bas-!"
"Will you stop?!" Havoc shouted back.
"No! I'm gonna kill them all!"
"Need help?" Edward peeked around the corner.
"Are you askin' 'im or me?" Sirkis glared.
"No one is going to start anything under my command." Mustang walked into the room. "How do you know the White Alchemist?"
Sirkis sighed and Havoc let go.
"She helped me, duh," Sirkis rolled his eyes, "I met her in a bar and she healed the cut in my eye from flying glass."
Edward lifted an eyebrow, "Flying glass?"
"Yeah, you know, accidents happen."
Mustang put a hand on Sirkis's shoulder, "Will you help us still?"
"Yes," Sirkis nodded, "She's important to me and I'll help among idiots if I have to."
Mustang smiled, "Don't worry about the others because I'm sure that they feel bad enough."
Sirkis shrugged but then grinned. Mustang could feel the motivation grow inside this young man and felt great in knowing it would. Sirkis became part of the military to help defend people like the White Alchemist. He had read his record to find out that Sirkis was relatively new to the military but he was hired in knowing he would do great things.
Sirkis straightened and threw a fist into the air. "I'm gonna do my best to find Virgin first!"
Silence.
Edward closed his eyes in irritation. Wow, he thought, he just totally blew it.
"Excuse me?" Mustang's eye twitched.
"What?" Sirkis looked confused at the disturbed expressions. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Did you just call her Virgin?" Havoc choked.
"Yeah," Sirkis chuckled, "the pretty girl is so funny. She's so sexy and she's somehow still a virgin."
"Dang straight!"
They all turned around to see Kino come in, "Mama is so sexy."
"You are a bad influence on Kino." Havoc picked up Kino and walked out of the room.
Sirkis rolled his eyes again and chuckled, "What? You don't think it's cute how he says 'sexy'?"
"No!" Mustang and Edward shouted in unison.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Kino," Havoc rolled over to look at Kino laying next to him. He had a question that had been bothering him though out their unsuccessful day. It was horrible and the awful hole of guilt in his stomach wasn't allowing him to sleep. He really worried about River. Would they ever find her? If she wasn't here, where in the world could she be? Or was she even in this world. Havoc swallowed to shove the worry down but it didn't help. If they never found her, what would happen to Kino? He didn't seem that worried since he was confident that all the adults would be successful. Poor kid, poor River; she probably missed him too. Havoc wondered if River was looking for them too-wherever she was.
"Yeah," Kino answered softly.
"Tell me about last time River disappeared," Havoc chewed his lip hopefully.
"These bad guys were after Mama," Kino cuddled closer to Havoc, "Jake tried to help us but they hurt him bad with the shovel that he fell asleep. All of us were scared and Mama stepped in front of us to protect us as the bad men came closer. Then, all of the sudden, there was white light and a big BOOM and she was gone. The bad men were scared and they ran away. Poor Merale, she was crying."
"What did you all do?" Havoc directed gently.
"We woke Jake up with water so he could help us and we looked all around on the ground but she wasn't there."
"Where did you find her?" Havoc was anxious and tried not to be angry with Kino.
"She called to us from the hotel roof." Kino smiled.
Havoc's eyes widened. They hadn't checked the roof of the base! It's been two days and it's really cold outside!
He threw off the covers and went to the door.
"Wait!" Kino jumped off and ran to Havoc.
He turned around and squatted in front of Kino, "Do you know where Mustang is sleeping?"
"No,"
"Then do me a favor," Havoc tried to stay calm but his adrenaline was stirring him up, "run down this hall and knock on the fifth door from here, the blonde lady, Hawkeye, will answer. Tell her I've gone to search the roof and to tell Mustang. Everything will go from there, now tell me what I told you."
Kino repeated the directions and took off in the other direction from Havoc.
His bare feet slapped against the tile floor as Havoc took off in a dead run. He ignored the wind on his chest and scream of his calves; he had to get to River! He kept her sweet face at the forefront of his mind to keep the pain at bay. He turned this way then later that way, bolting through the halls with adrenaline as his wings. He hoped he wasn't late. Finally, he made it to the stairs; he leaped two at a time up the spiral staircase. He got to the door and turned the rusty doorknob that never locked and swung it open.
There, a few feet in front of him was River. She laid on her side with her back to him and didn't respond to noise from the door.
"Oh no," Havoc exhaled and his breath puffed in a misty cloud, it was cold. He ran to her side and touched her blue arm. She was freezing; she had nothing on but the white robe from the hospital. Havoc gathered her into his arms and ran inside. He ran down the stairs one by one in quickstep, all the way trying to get her to wake.
"River? Hey, wake up so you can get warm. Kino's been missing you-you can't say hi to him if you're sleeping. River, River, please wake up!" Havoc stepped off the last step, stopped, and knelt down on the floor. He shook her slightly as he panted in a sort of a panic. "River, come on. Wake up, please."
He cuddled his face to her neck and listened, her heart was still beating. He slightly cupped his mouth over her smooth skin and breathed his warm breath to her skin as he rubbed her arm with his hand. He adjusted her upright and hugged her. She was so cold. He rubbed her back like scraping two sticks together; friction could bring some heat to her.
Havoc stood up but held her to his bare chest and kept rubbing though his arms were stinging. "Please, come back, River." He had to get her to the hospital; he wasn't going to be able to get her conscious by friction alone. He lifted her legs up so they wrapped around his waist and he scooted her up higher so she slumped over his shoulder; like a parent with a sleeping child. Then he hit the ground running to the hospital wing.
/\/\/\/\/\
River's skin stung but she smiled knowing that's what happens when fire melts ice. She no longer felt the hardness of concrete nor the hurt and loneliness of being lost. She felt safe and warm in the softness that enveloped her. She snuggled closer to the fire with a gentle smile as the drums beat in harmony to each other. No, not drums, heart beats; hearts don't beat in death. Blood isn't fire in cold death. Red isn't the color eyes see in the darkness of death. These lively beats were the warmth of beautiful life….but why were there two?
River slowly opened her eyes to a soft peach color but as her vision adjusted, she found that she stared at a shoulder. It was too muscular to be Kino's…Her heart stopped; or was it beating so fast that it sped past time giving the illusion that her heart stopped? However, she did know by the feel of this body she was underneath, it was a man.
Her face flushed bright red and she felt hot. What was she to do? Who was this? What were they doing on top of her? She felt her blood run cold as the shoulder against her face flexed and moved off.
Havoc's blue eyes came into view with some mixed emotion that she didn't recognize. River exhaled in sudden realization that she wasn't breathing properly.
"Are you, uh, warm now?"
River felt the vibration of his voice on her chest and she couldn't speak.
"River?" Havoc's eyebrows crease with worry, "Are you alright?"
She nodded after the gears in her head un-jammed. She didn't trust her voice yet.
Havoc smiled and turned toward the side, "Kino, she's awake."
River looked to the side too but didn't see him until she looked back at Havoc. Kino climbed up to Havoc's shoulders and smiled happily behind him.
"Mama! You're awake! Are you warm enough now?"
River finally blinked and her eyes stung a little. She nodded; still hyper aware that Havoc was still "warming her up".
"Jean's a hero!" Kino laughed, "He was all scarred about you when me, Mustang, and Hawkeye found him."
"Jean?" She croaked and her voice shook from the bubbles in her stomach.
Havoc smiled, "That's my first name."
"Hey Jean," Kino wrapped his arms around his neck and lay his head on Havoc's shoulder, "since you rescued Mama, can I call you Daddy?"
Havoc felt his cheeks get hot and he dared a look at River from the corner of his eye. She forced a smile through her colored cheeks.
"Uh," Havoc stammered, "why?"
Kino rubbed his face lovingly into Havoc's neck, "You and Mama are best together."
Havoc turned his face to River as her smile faded to a stunned expression. He didn't know what to say or if to say anything at all. As he stared into her once again lively green eyes, his insides stirred and he felt time freeze. There was no one but River.
A smile played at the corner of River's lips but it never showed since she melted under the blue sky of his eyes. The fire between them burned but there was no pain. The only pain there really was, was the hidden fact that this moment would break. However, there was no one but Havoc.