A/N: When my momsy was a surgical nurse in Yakima, Washington she helped a lot with amputating. You may ask what is amputating doing in the breadbasket of Washington. Well actually a lot of people get caught up in their machines, ooo what a terrible fate. This may not make sense now but it will later in the chapter and it's just a little blah.
Out of Town
The warm sunlight fluttered over Riza's face waking her up. She sat up slowly wiping the sand from her eyes and hopped out of bed waking Hayate up. When she checked the clock it was nine, she had slept in about four extra hours. Oh well, it's not like she could've done anything. She attempted to take a shower but had to dance from the hard water pressure on her burns, like when she had sunburns, she was only able to wash her hair. After getting out of the shower she put on the cooling ointment and started to look for a sun dress in her wardrobe, there wasn't one. When she looked around she found one hanging promptly on the dresser, Molly must've placed it there. She slid the dress on and it was only a bit shorter than usual but there were no major size differences since Molly and her were about the same size. The Blue and brown in it complemented her nicely she thought as she made her way to the kitchen.
"Ah you found the sundress fine," Molly said as Riza walked into the kitchen. "Does it fit you fine?"
"Yes and thank you." Riza said she noticed that Molly was making sandwiches "Already fixing lunch?"
"No, when we go to the movies we have a picnic."
"Would you like me to help?" she said starting to go grab an apron.
"It's fine but would you go outside and watch the boys? They're getting apples for the pie, sometimes they get off task."
"Alright," Riza said, she quickly went back to her room grabbing her guns, so she could clean them, a hat and some sandals. When she caught herself in the mirror she thought she looked like a country bumpkin with a sundress and a hat on.
When she and Hayate went outside to the orchard she saw that the two boys were throwing apples at each other instead of picking them.
"Riza!" Tommy said running up to her "Are you going to play with us?"
"I'm supposed to make sure you won't play." She said sitting down on a chair.
"But that's no— OWCH" An apple had flown through the air and hit Tommy on the arm, Hayate picked up the apple and brought it to Ben ready for him to throw it.
"Quit wasting apples," Riza said in a sharp tone. "Or do you want to have a pie with dirty squished apples?"
"Yes Ma'am," Ben said pertly from behind the tree. "Are you going to reprimand us, maybe with you're guns?"
Riza couldn't help smiling; she had missed the boys' immaturity. Somehow taking care of them reminded her of days in the Colonel's office with Havoc, Falman, Breda and Fuery. "No I'm cleaning it while you two pick apples and if you don't pick I shall have to use my gun." The boys immediately snapped to business and started finding good apples and Riza sat down and started to clean her gun. When she finished the boys were trying to get a large juicy apple from the heights of the trees.
"Let's go get a pitchfork from the barn!" Ben said.
"It wouldn't matter anyway because it wouldn't reach. I say we climb."
"RIZA!" whined Ben as he ran over to Riza. "How do we get that apple?"
"I don't know," Riza shrugged.
"Could you shoot it down with your gun?"
"It would be hard."
"No she couldn't Tommy she would have to shoot the little stem and that would be near to impossible, and are you even that good Riza?"
Riza stood up with her gun and started to walk back to the house, "Wait there for a second." She said calmly. She walked into the house and to her room where she had her magazines. Shed grabbed one and loaded it as she walked through the kitchen where Molly was making the potato salad.
"Are they acting that badly?" Molly said worried.
"Don't be alarmed if you hear some shots," Riza said when she walked through the back door. She walked to the orchard and Tommy was pushing Ben in front of him.
"He said you're bad not me!" He said sacrificing his brother.
"I'm not going to shoot you," she said in-a-matter-a-fact tone. She walked over to the tree readied the gun and she only took a short second to aim and then shot. The echo of the bullet exiting the gun was followed by the thump of the apple hitting the earth. The two boys stood where they were as Riza went to pick up the apple. She examined it for a second and tossed it behind her saying "Wormy." She went around the orchard until she found another apple that looked good and was out of reach, she shot it down like the first apple this time she ran and caught it before it hit the ground. "Here now," she said holding it out and Tommy came up grabbed it and put it in their basket.
Ben picked up one side, "Tommy I think that's enough apples for Mom's pie"
"Me too," Tommy replied while making his way back up to the house. Riza sighed and followed them.
Riza spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen helping Molly with the picnic. Molly told them that Warren would be meeting them at the field where the projector would be set up, the first movie would start around 6:30 and then there would be a second one later at 9:00. Molly laughed about how they would have two cars, theirs and Warrens, at their picnic site when most people wouldn't even have a car being in the country. Later in the afternoon Mrs. Smith, Riza and the two boys hopped into the car and started heading over to the field where the movie would be shown.
When they got to the field there were about thirty other picnic blankets set up behind the large silver screen that was hung up between two trees. When they parked by the spot that they would be sitting at Riza started helping Molly with the picnic while Tommy and Ben went to play soccer with their friends, who were also there to see the movie. Hayate also joined in with the young children chasing the ball sometimes even grabbing it and running away.
"There are some people here who I don't know," Riza said looking around at some of the more shady people.
"Well it's rare for us to see a movie and everyone loves a movie. It's a time for us all together with our fellowman from Eureka and other towns near and far away." Molly said smiling at Riza who looked concerned. "Here you've been helping me all day and weren't you supposed to relax? How about you go over and keep an eye on the boys?"
"Alright, you'll be fine setting this up?" she said getting up.
"Of course I'm the woman of the house this is what I do!"
Riza walked over to the place where the boys were playing soccer carefully weaving between other people's blankets. When she got closer to the large group of boys and girls, the ball got kicked out of the game and out near Riza onto a stranger's blanket.
"Riza!" Tommy yelled, "Could you pretty please go get the ball?"
"Yeah and give it to our team!" Ben yelled also, but got an elbow into the chest after making the comment. Riza paused for a moment and then changed course to get the ball sighing. She walked to a group of men, on a large blanket, who were talking amongst themselves while eating. The ball was on the edge of their blanket.
Riza walked up behind one man and tapped him on the shoulder and asked politely "Excuse me sir could I retrieve a ball from your blanket?"
"Sure miss," he said nodding. He had a blond moustache, was wearing sunglasses and a hat. He smiled friendlily and had a warm air about him. Riza nodded in response and walked around the blanket to the ball.
She quickly grabbed it when one of the men started to say, "You can retrieve my—," when he was hit by his fellow picnicker. Riza responded to his comment by only furrowing her brow trying to tell herself that he might've finished with something else and he was probably drunk.
"Don't mind him," the moustache man said, "we're from out of town so please don't think bad about us miss."
"Yes, Goodbye." She walked back to the boys not thinking anything more about the picnickers from out of town.
By the time the children finished the game there was about 45 minuets until the movie started. When they returned to Molly, Warren was already there and they started their meal. Tommy and Ben told Molly about their amazing game and their moments of glory in the game. Molly like a good mother listened closely and praised them for their achievements. Riza meanwhile talked with Warren who told her about the amputating surgery he got to do a few days ago to a farmer who got his leg caught in a farming machine. The two conversations eventually melded together once the boys were done talking about soccer and Warren's description started to become gory.
Desert came around and everyone enjoyed the apple pie. "Warren you want to know something cool about this pie," Tommy said.
"What?"
" Riza shot an apple for the pie down. She's a good shot no joke! She shot two actually but the first one was wormy."
"Tommy, don't eat with your mouth open," Molly said.
"Really?" the doctor returned Tommy's comment by raising an eyebrow at Riza. "I thought it tasted a bit gunpowdery," he said in a joking tone.
"Dumb luck," Riza said shrugging. "Molly this is a really good pie it reminds me of an old friend's wife's pie. This may sound odd coming from me," she said embarrassed, "but maybe you could give me the recipe. Then maybe I might compare it later."
"Yes that sounds grand! This reminds me of the time I swapped recipes with Melissa! She was a very good baker right Jim?"
"Oh yes, anything with grown in an orchard she could bake," he said smiling to himself remembering his dead wife, "couldn't boil water though."
"When I first came here Melissa taught me how to bake and I taught her how to cook." Molly said to Riza. "She did learn how to boil water and even cook something in it. I think her greatest achievement was her crisp though." Riza and the boys listened knowing that they couldn't make any comments.
"I agree," Warren said eyes bright in reminiscing.
"I never did get that recipe though," Molly said her tone saddening.
"Really? But I thought you made crisps all the time in winter."
"Not hers though."
"Hmm," Warren said rubbing his chin in thought, "I believe I know where all of her recipes are maybe tonight I can run it over to your house."
"Would you do that? But I don't want you to go out of your way feel free to deliver it anytime. You're always over at our house anyway."
"Mom, Mister Jim hush the movie's staring!" Indeed the sun had finally set and the projector man behind all of them turned on the movie. Molly and Riza quickly picked all of the dishes up, any extra food on the dishes went to Hayate. Warren went to throw away all of the trash. Then the six of them all settled down to watch the first movie all happily seated on the picnic blanket.
When the movie finished Warren and Riza started discussing the movie compared to some of the ones in Central. She started asking what type of movie the next one was going to be but Molly shushed them and pointed to the boys and Hayate who were fast asleep on her lap. "I guess we better get going," Molly whispered into the boys' ears. They opened their eyes sleepily and got up, Riza also got up. "Riza my dear, this is such a rare opportunity if you want to stay I'm sure you can," Molly said.
"Yeah I'll take you home," Warren said smiling sincerely from the ground.
"A movie's no big deal," Riza said dusting her self off "I'll help you with the boys."
"At least for me I want to know what happens in the next movie and if you stay here then you can tell it to me later," Molly said also smiling.
"I guess I'll stay, as long as I'm not imposing on you Warren? It looks like Hayate's ready for bed too." Riza said sitting down
"Not at all, now Molly," he said standing up and helped her get the boys in the car "gets those boys home safely and no late partying!"
Riza thoroughly enjoyed the next movie which was a mystery. When she was in Central she never went to movies in less begged to go. She thought it was a waste of time and money. Now here she was with Warren in a field watching a movie under the stars. It was much better than the packed smoky theaters back at her home. When the movie stopped she stood up a bit sadly and got ready to go back to the Smith's house. There were only a little bit of people left, even the group of men had left.
In the car she made small talk with Warren on the way home, "I never thought that Jackem killed her I thought he was the one who was innocent."
"I knew it all along," he said triumphantly.
"Hey this is the wrong way," Riza said noticing a wrong turn.
"I think I know how to get to my own house."
"Why are we going there," Riza said confused.
"Recipe."
"Oh,"
"So when you lived in Central did you go to a lot of movies?'
"Not a lot"
"I bet your boss did though."
"Twice a week I think and always with a lady friend." She said sighing thinking of the womanizing Colonel, "he used military funds to go to movies once! I was looking over his signed paperwork one day and noticed ten movie tickets approved and movie tickets are not cheap."
"He did that type of stuff?" Warren said chuckling.
"Don't even get me started on the restaurant bills." She said crossing her arms and looking out into the night.
"Did you ever go on a date to the movies?"
"Hmm," Riza thought on her few dates in Central never once had she been asked to go to the movies, "Guess not. You could count tonight as one." She said without thinking. He pulled into the driveway for a tiny cottage in the middle of nowhere.
"Come on in I don't want you freezing out here. I don't think it'll be any warmer though." Even though it was dark Riza could see well enough that there were about three trees within the wooden two-rail fencing surrounding the white house with blue trimming. The driveway and walkway to the house was both cobblestone. There were two windows beside the door in the front of the house, beneath each window were flowers. Even though the grass in the yard was cut and the flowers beneath the windows were weeded she felt as if the house was forlorn or abandoned.
When they walked in Riza was almost shocked to see that there wasn't any real furniture in the house Warren flipped on the lights "I need to go upstairs you stay here 'kay?" She seemed to be in some sort of living room because it was quite large. In the corner there was a rocking chair and small table beside it on the other side of the room there was a larger table with a lamp and picture on it. She could see shadows on the walls of where furniture might've been in years past. She wandered over to the larger table to look at the picture. It was a picture of Warren and another woman covered in flour smiling in a sunny kitchen. This was the first time Riza had ever seen his wife. She had dark brown hair reaching a little past her round chin. She was smiling brightly dimples showing in her cheeks and her green eyes showing suspicion were focused on Warren who was ruffling her hair smearing flour into it.
Riza didn't hear the doctor come down the steps and look over her shoulder quietly. He said in a quiet voice, "I'm kind of pathetic aren't I?" Riza put down the picture quickly and turned her back on the couple quickly.
"I'm sorry Warren I didn't mean to pry."
"It's okay; if the picture's out in the open then you have every right to look at it," he said shrugging. "Come on let's go."
On the ride back to the Smith's house it was very quiet until Warren started to talk, "I must seem very pathetic to you. I smile all the time but never mean it, or at least I used to. I can even stand to look at a respectable picture of her. Before when I lived with my wife every thing was so damn happy and if I don't act happy then people worry about me."
"What about at Central?"
"That's where I could actually act natural; people didn't know me they didn't know what I'd seen. It took me a long time even to smile again. It didn't help me being a surgeon where there was death everywhere." He pulled into the Smith's driveway but continued talking, "The place where I thought I could never smile was the place where I found it again. Just because of you," he said patting her hand, "Soon you'll be leaving and going back to Central and I want to know if you'll ever return here to Eureka."
Riza tried to keep a calm mind about her but it sounded as if Warren was making a move on her she tried to think of something to way what she actually sputtered out was, "W-Warren I don't know how to say this b-but I ca—."
He interrupted her "Let me finish Riza, if you ever got the wrong impression then I'm sorry. But I'm glad to have met you and I hope that Colonel of yours knows how lucky he is. Unfortunately your path and mine are parallel, they will never intercept no matter how hard we try. I just hope you can become as happy as I was soon and not have the same fate." Riza sighed in her head in relief. "Don't worry about me I've had enough happiness for a lifetime but what made me happier was that you are my friend and that's all you can do. Thank you Riza Hawkeye." He said patting her on the head.
Riza nodded and got out of the car and turned back "Good night Warren." and she shut the door and started walking up towards the house.
"Hey Riza!" he shouted from an open window in the car, "Why do you always call me Warren?"
She turned around and yelled back, "A habit, it would be hard to change now."
Sergeant Angelina Berry had only 15 more documents to summarize until she could go back to her nice bed in the soldiers' dorm. It had been a long night and she stopped to get a sip of coffee. 'Great', she thought, 'all out'. Now Angelina had to go over to a neighboring building to get some more coffee. She thought about going the rest of the night without coffee but dismissed it because she knew without that caffeine she would fall asleep on her typewriter.
She grabbed her coat and reluctantly trudged the steps up to the surface world. Except when she came into the hall she saw people in one of the offices with a flash light. 'Why would a soldier use a flash light in an office with electricity?' she thought.
"Why do we have to search this office?" a man in the office said, "It's definitely abandoned."
"The boss doesn't want any people hiding away." Another person said. Angelina even though being sociably inept knew every last soldier in the fort by name, looks and voice. These people weren't anyone that Angelina knew. She quickly hid back behind the door and kept her ear against it. She turned the light out in the stairway so that they wouldn't suspect anything. Feverishly she tried to think of what she should do. Who were these people?
"Definitely glad most of the soldiers are off with that wildfire," one of the men said, "Our boss was a genius to think that up."
"Taking this fort was like taking candy from a baby." The other man said. They were getting closer to Angelina's door.
"Don't you think that saying's a bit cliché?"
"What does cliché mean?"
"Overused and stupid." He said in a droll tone.
"No it doesn't and if I want to use a cliché saying I can! Now shut up go check that door down there" Angelina froze if they checked the door not only would she be seen but they would go down the stair way to check out all of the documents in the room. She quickly locked the door and prayed that they wouldn't look into it any further. But after reading all of the spy reports she was curious to try and fix this together.
"Ah come on it's probably a closet."
"Check it anyway!" he yelled.
"All right, all right." She could hear the man's loud footsteps getting closer and closer until a loud dong came from an old clock in the fort.
"Damn! Is it two already man we have to get to the main building for guard duty." Now the footsteps were heading out of the building and down the street. Angelina thanked her lucky stars and ran down the stairs still too worried to turn the lights back on. The quest for coffee was long forgotten and Angelina didn't need it since fear was enough of an adrenaline rush.
From what the men said she could piece together that the fire was caused to distract the people and send most of the fort's soldiers to help with that. There were foreign men there serving a boss so they must be terrorists. The fort had been taken over! She rushed over to the phone but then remembered it was hooked up with the other phones in the fort and most likely they were bugged or cut off. The only choice for contacting the outside world would be to use the old telegram that was outfitted for the old line that originally came from the room. She quickly sent a S.O.S signal out to the western HQ and then was about to leave when she remembered to lock and organize her whole room.
"I don't want them to think I'm a slob," she said before exiting through the old emergency exit. It led out into the neighboring hill and then opening on the other side of the lake and an old path was there for her. It took her all morning to reach the town of Eureka. When she got there she immediately knew who to contact. Served in the Ishbal war, helped with numerous cases and outbursts in central, and helped destroy mutiny in the military, helped save the country at the bombing in central, one of the best shots in central and loyal subordinate to the Flame Alchemist. The only person who could help her was First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. Remembering as holiday party a few years ago was at the Smith's, Angelina tiredly kept running to the Smith's house.
On the road she met Miss Hawkeye walking with her dog, Angelina was surprised to find her wearing a sundress but was relived to have found her none the less.
"My god, Sergeant Berry what happened to you?" Hawkeye said looking shocked.
"First Lieutenant I need your help."
A/N: Ahh a nice cliff hanger always does people good. This chapter was my Christmas present to all of my readers. And if you're some other religion pretend it's your birthday.
Anywho I'm still planning to finish before the years out and I think I will! Next chapter will most likely be out after Christmas.
I think this will be my last Author's note until the end of the story TT. I wish you all a happy Christmas! Hope you get what you want.
OvEr and out!