Chapter 8: Falling Apart and Falling Through

On Monday Archer got up early showered, skimmed the morning paper with a cup of coffee then went in to the office.

Sila woke up early as well in her apartment, made her bed, skipped breakfast and dressed in her uniform. She smoothed out a few rumples in her jacket and looked at her hair. She was going to tie it back, but left it down.

Before Archer walked out the front door he was sure to straighten his collar and adjust his shirt to ensure the perfect amount of his white collared shirt showed form underneath his blue uniform. He arrived in the office early and decided to leave his door open to see when his other officers arrived. Galit and Sila arrived together. He heard them coming but did not look up form his desk. Frank continued to skim his documents. His eyes read the page, but his mind was reeling. 'What was I thinking? Why did I do that? That's it, no more love nonsense. It is distracting me, not just satisfying me.' "Captain Wellbrick?" he called through his door. Galit explained she was already in her office, but she would get her.

Archer thought about what he would say and all his arguments against an affair with Sila Wellbrick. She came into his office as he wrote down his talking points. Galit closed the door behind Sila. When Archer looked up he forgot his points '…This is why I wrote them down!' "Sila have a seat."

Sila walked forward and sat in front of him. He lifted his pad and when he opened his mouth to speak he found her smiling at him. The warmth of her smile melted the words he was going to fling at her and again he found himself in the speechless mode of the other night. He stood and walked around in front of her. He knelt down in front of her and put his head on her lap.

Sila was shocked he would do something like this at the office, but put her hand on his head an stroked his hair regardless. "Lieutenant Colonel—"

"Sh!" he closed his eyes, stroked her calves and smelled her perfume.

"Uh…sir" she said gently "I don't want to get you in trouble. You shouldn't be dallying with your subordinates. It's against regulations" she nearly whispered.

"Too late."

"What? Look, what if Fuhrer Bradley shows up. Galit can't tell him you're too busy with me to see him!"

'Bradley? Shit. I have that meeting with him today to discuss a possible conflict.' Archer stood quickly, dusting of his knees. "I'm glad one of us has our head on straight."

Just as Archer sat back down at his desk the door opened and the Fuhrer and his secretary waked in.

Sila bulged her eyes at Frank who remained cool and clam. Archer dismissed Sila and welcomed his other guests.

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For Breda, Falman, and Fury the ball had been a great success. Havoc, on the other hand, did not succeed in making Sila jealous and lost his orders to follow her. On top of it all he figured out he really wasn't interested in Riza. During his attempts to make Sila jealous he inadvertently captured Lieutenant Riza's heart. She had not arrived yet, and Havoc nervously wrung his hands waiting…looking at the door…listening to the guys laugh…

"Havoc, hey Havoc!" Fury waved his hand in front of Havocs eyes, snapping him out of the anxious trance. Havoc frowned at his friend.

Falman said "What's the matter? You and Riza looked great together at the ball."

Havoc sighed and said "She thought so too." He hung his head in his hands and said "I didn't know what to do so I agreed to see her again!"

Breda said "Well…at least you like her."

Havoc got irritated, stood and looked at his friends with his back to the door. Havoc said "What don't you get?" he waved his arms around wildly. The door behind him opened as he yelled "I don't really like the Lieutenant! I just waned to make Sila jealous!"

Once the words left his mouth he gasped knowing someone was behind him. Havoc could feel their eyes boring into his back. The nervous looks on his buddy's faces made it only too clear who came in.

Havoc knew he couldn't salvage the situation. He scratched the back of his head, pasted a smile on his face and reached for a pack of cigarettes that weren't here. He turned to face the music and found the both Mustang and Hawekeye were there.

The Colonel glared hat him with flames in his eyes, but Riza's pain was all he saw in her eyes. The rest of her was stone, but her eyes spoke of confusion and embarrassment. The Colonel said "Let's get this debriefing started" tossing a file on the table. "I need to bring this to the attention of the Fuehrer when we're done."

Havoc tried to catch Riza's eyes to tell her she was great, but just not for him. He couldn't, she would not look at him.

After the debriefing Hawkeye made a speedy exit out of Colonel Mustang's office. She wasn't sure of where she was going, but her feet were taking her fast. 'He was being false? All that time? All those things he said do me? That's what you get for following your heart Riza!'

Anger boiled in her stomach and she decided to blow off some steam. Riza already wearing her ear protection wiped her eyes then pulled down her goggles.

She pulled on her fingerless gloves and pulled her firearm from the holster with speed and efficiency. She stood posed with the gun in her hand, pointing it at the target.

She clenched the cold metal piece in her hand, feeling the weight of the weapon in comparison to the weight in her heart. She relaxed and put the gun back in her holster.

She looked at the hanging target shaped like a man and imagined a few different men she wouldn't mind shooting. She chose one, drew, then fired off a few bullets. She inhaled the scent of burning gunpowder and smiled at the sight of the smoking barrel. The target was recalled and while it was replaced she checked her gun with routine maintenance. She was ready to fire away when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She spun instinctively until she had her intruder in the cross hairs. "Lieutenant Colonel Archer?" she said.

He barley blinked an eye and said "Yes Lieutenant Hawkeye, at practice again, eh? I guess that's why you're such a crack shot. "

Archer then set himself up at a booth three spaces down. Riza said "Yes, sir". She was surprised to see Archer at target practice. The rumor was he was a terrible shot and he never picked up a gun on the battlefield. Riza knew he must know how to handle a gun if he made it through academy, but wasn't clear on his skill level.

Archer put on the appropriate gear and picked up a handgun which was a similar model to Riza's. He slowly brought the gun up and fired at his target in rapid succession. Riza continued to practice on her own occasionally throwing glances at the targets withdrawn from Archer's booth. 'He's not such a bad shot. Not bad at all. Better than Mustang, that's for sure.'

Riza continued to fire, and relieved herself form her humiliations at Havoc's hands. She imagined Havocs face on her target and fired, demolishing the face and allowing a spare bullet to pierce where his heart would be. She turned to reload and saw none other than Jean Havoc making his way down the hallway 'Is he nuts? Why is he coming here to talk to me? If he knew what was best for him he would give me my space.'

Havoc did not walk all the way down and thus did not see Riza. Havoc quietly made his way to Archer's side. The Lieutenant Colonel had changed his stance to a single hand technique.

Havoc was asked to wear ear protection and goggles in order to enter the firing ranges main floor. The two officers exchanged a notepad and pen. Hawkeye tried not to notice the two men, but found it hard.

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Ed and Al soon heard from Havoc's colleagues about Hawkeye's heart ache and felt the fear inherent when they imagined what she would do to take her revenge. Al asked Fury "What about Sila?"

"Huh?" said Breda.

"Well we know Havoc is dead meat, but will Lieutenant Hawkeye be angry with Sila?" asked Ed.

"Why? She didn't do anything" said Breda.

Falman put his head down and said "It doesn't matter." He looked up at his friends and said "But women are strange that way. You never quite know what makes them angry. I'd say Sila has something to worry about."

Fury balled up his fist and said "We've got to protect her!"

The others nodded in agreement.