Watching in stunned fear, I did everything I could to not make a sound. Not a peep. There was no telling what the giant man with that had thrown the girl over his shoulder would do if he saw me sitting here on these steps. I wasn't really curious to know either. I came down here on a dare. A simple dare to come down here and prove that it wasn't haunted, just a dark lab where they do scientific stuff. That is what they do in a lab? But, anyway I had came, I saw and I now realized that I was no longer going to do dares. They were dangerous. Too dangerous.
I stood up slowly, doing my best to be unnoticed by the big scary man and hopefully the girl wouldn't scream out to me for help. I wanted to help her, but I didn't know what I could do. The man was big and probably really strong and I was just a dog of the military you never left Central. I would be no help and she seemed no him and he looked familiar. I had seen him somewhere before, I just couldn't remember where.
". . . Greed. . ." I heard the girl mumble to herself again and then her eyes slipped over to mine. Greed! He was. . .he was a Homunculus. Not caring about being heard, I turned around quickly and ran up the stairs, but I didn't get very far before I fell, tripping on a stair. My heart race started to quicken, but I didn't waste no time standing back up and racing to the top. I didn't once look back, so I didn't know if I was being chased by the big scary man and I didn't hear the girl scream for help. So I'm guessing I was able to get away unnoticed.
I smiled wide when I saw the light from the open door and jumped quickly towards the exit, leaping off the step and soared through the open door and falling flat on my face. Ow. I was going to be so bruised after today. This was the last time I ever listen to Havoc about doing anything. I always got hurt when I did.
"Oh shit! Lace you okay?" I groaned and rolled over on my back and squinted, waiting for my eyes to get adjusted to the bright lights that were different from the darkened lab. After a few more blinks my eyes adjusted to the light and I could finally see again without having that awkward pain that would later bring a headache. I sat up slowly and glared at my best friend who was smiling sheepishly by the closed door that lead down to Lab 5.
"Do I look okay to you?" I grumbled and he laughed, holding out a hand. I grabbed it thankfully and let him pull me to my feet. I quickly started to dust off my jacket, hoping I could get it too look like I did not just fall down a few flight of stairs and up them.
"Actually no, you don't. You're bleeding from the forehead." Havoc mumbled, holding a hand up to my face and touching my forehead lightly. I winced and his hand shot back and he chuckled but quickly apologized. "Wow Lace, what'd you do down there?"
I slapped his chest hard and that only caused him to laugh. "It's not funny. I couldn't see where I was going when I was going down the stairs and I had my hands on the walls feeling for a light switch. I never found one and I lost my footing in the dark and fell down the stairs." I took a deep breath and continued to wipe away at the dirt on my jacket and pants. "Oh! And get this. I saw. . .Greed."
"Greed? You mean you were greedy of something down there?" Havoc mumbled and I looked up to see why. He had a cigarette in his mouth and was digging in his pockets for a lighter. I rolled my eyes and pulled the little white stick from between his lips. "Like you are being greedy now! Give that back, you quit remember."
I continued to hold the deadly cancer stick out of his reach. "As should you. Do you know how deadly these little things are and you're just bringing your death to you closer than it already is!" I held the white stick up in front of my face and snapped it in half. "You don't need it."
Havoc's soft brown eyes turned into a quick glare and he dug in his pockets once more. "Damn that was my last one. You owe me Longheart! You know how expensive it is to get just a carton of those?" I shrugged my shoulders and grinned.
"Another reason for you to stop smoking!" I clapped my hands together and grabbed Havoc's hand and pulled him away from the door that lead to my own personal hell. I pulled him so we left the small warehouse that lab 5 was located in and dropped his hand when we were outside. I still couldn't figure out how he knew about the lab and hat it was down there. It just seemed strange. Really strange.
"Anyway, what were you saying about Greed, before you so wrongly stole my cigarette?" Havoc's shoulder bumped mine as we walked towards our main building. I did my best to keep my head down so no one would notice my bloody forehead. I was hoping it was close to the same color as my hair, so they wouldn't look too closely.
"What?…Oh. I saw Greed. You know the Homunculi. He came down there and kidnapped some girl." I whispered lowly, hoping no one would hear. I looked around paranoid as Havoc and I stopped walking. His brows furrowed together and then his eyes widened in realization at what I just said.
"You were down there with a Homunculus?? What were you thinking? Why didn't you run away? Did he touch you? See you? Are you okay?" Havoc's words ran together and his hands grabbed my face examining it, lifting it this way and that. I smacked away at his hands but he ignored that and continued to make sure I wasn't hurt in anyway.
"Will…you let go of me!" I smacked away at his hands again and he finally released my face. I took a deep breath and glared at him. He stood relieved in front of me and that only pissed me off more. "Don't you ask me what I was thinking either! I went down there because you dared me to."
"You shouldn't of listened to me! You never do anymore." Havoc replied and smirked. I growled and crossed my arms and stomped my foot. "Aw. You're so cute when your mad! Come on Lace, I guess we better report what you saw. I was hoping we'd be able to get away without having to tell Mustang. There is no telling what punishment he'll have for us. We'll me. You'll just have to do his paperwork probably."
"Great. Now I'm going to have to listen to Riza go on another rant on how stupid I am or how I need to be more like. . .you know." I grumbled, stomping away. Havoc fell into step behind me and we went straight up to the office where Colonel Mustang was bound to be. He always seemed to be in his office lately and he seemed to always notice when I disappeared from the office. It was really strange actually.
No one was really doing anything in the office and I wasn't surprised to see that. I was usually the only one who ever did. I found doing paper work comforting and very safe, it was behind closed doors and I barely had to worry about getting attacked by anyone. It was nice.
I glanced around the office, my eyes searching for the Colonel, but he wasn't there. I walked to the small table where Riza sat, cleaning her gun. She didn't look up when came up next to her.
"What can I do for you Lacey?" She muttered, moving the small metal pieces around the table and doing different things to clean them. It reminded of the countless times I saw her and my sister together and they were doing the same exact thing. I never got the idea of cleaning a gun or how to do it for that matter.
"I'm looking for the Colonel." I muttered, making sure my bleeding forehead was covered. She didn't look up, but picked up a folded cloth from the table and started to wipe at the sleek metal.
"He's in his office talking to Edward." I nodded my thanks and walked over to the door that lead to his private office. I knocked on it lightly and the hollers that were taking place inside stopped instantly and there was a small bark of invite. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open and slipped in and closed it softly behind me.
"Colonel, I'm sorry to interrupt but I have something important to discuss with you. It might interest you, I'm not actually sure. It might actually interest Ed more than you." I smiled nervously up at my Colonel who was staring at me amused from behind his desk. I glanced at Ed oddly who was standing in his chair pointing at the Colonel.
"You weren't interrupting anything. Ed was just being childish. Go on with what you have to say." Colonel Mustang smirked, side glancing at Ed and then looking back at me full on.
"Um. . .well. Havoc and I were. . .well. . .okay I'm just going to come out with it. I saw Greed and he was caring some girl out of Lab 5. I don't know if that is normal or not, so I thought I'd just come in and let you know. Now you do and you can continue with whatever you were saying to Ed here." I grinned nervously and started to back out the door and leave without having to listen to anyone scream and go on about nothing important. Okay, maybe this was important, I just didn't want to be in here when the screaming took place. I remember Ed, he had a good little temper.
"What?" The two chorused together and then took the moment to glare at each other. I stopped walking backwards and nodded slowly. I wasn't going to be able to escape this one. I could tell I really fucked up this time. Damn you Havoc. Damn you and your ability to get me to do those stupid dares! Well this was the last time!
"You saw a wanted Homunculi down in a Lab that no one is supposed to know about?" Roy spoke sternly and I nodded slowly. This wasn't going to end well. "What the hell were you doing down in that Lab anyway? How did you find out about it?"
"I don't know. Jean and I were just walking around and we found the warehouse and the door and he said he heard rumors about a place being haunted and he dared me to go down there. I'm really sorry sir, I'll take any punishment you throw at me willingly." I said quickly, hoping that maybe I wasn't going to get kicked out of the military. I didn't know what the rule book said about sneaking into a room that is supposed to be top secret. I never really looked at the book.
"Well what happened to the Homunculi?" I started to wring my hands in front of me and my eyes flickered from Ed's wide eyed trying to catch a fly with his mouth's expression and back to Roy's stern 'I'm in charge' face. I don't know what to say or what would be the right thing and the throbbing pain of a headache that was deciding to make an appearance now, was not helping the situation at all.
"I don't…know." I attempted with a shrug of the shoulders and the expression that crossed both of their faces made me say more. "Okay there was a loud boom and the wall broke and I ran to the stairs because the girl that was in the cage told me to. And I am so grateful that I listened to her. Other wise I'd probably be on it's other shoulder and he would have been carrying me out of here. But I took my first chance to book it out of there. I couldn't take on a Homunculi alone and now I totally regret it because who knows what happened to that girl. I'm so sorry. I knew I should of done a better job, but I didn't know what to do and I-" "Stop Lacey!" Roy cut me off rudely and I instantly shut up, ignoring the blush that rose to my cheeks. I glanced up and he was string intently at me and his stare was making me uncomfortable. He sighed to himself and then glanced at Ed. "Go ahead and see if you could find him anywhere or anything to get a lead on them."
"Got it Colonel." Ed jumped up from his seat and walked quickly to the door and stopped in front of me. He smiled up at me, his honey eyes full of worry. "You okay Lacey? You look kind of pale."
"What? I'm fine…just have a headache. I fell…a lot today." I smiled and shook my head, making sure my hair still covered the blood. Ed eyed me carefully and I took a deep breath. What is it with people staring today? Don't they know how uncomfortable it could make someone feel?
"Okay." Ed shrugged his shoulders and opened the door and exited. I heard him asking Riza where Al was and her small response and then the door closed. I glanced back at Roy, wringing my hands once more.
"I'm really sorry about this Colonel. I didn't mean to put a damper in your day. I'll fix this, you don't have to worry about anything. I'll fix it all!" I smiled widely, hoping it sounded convincing and I would do everything I could to fix it.
"Don't worry about it Lacey. You go get some medical needs. I noticed the bloody forehead since you entered the room. It's not your worries anymore. I got it taken care of." Roy stood up from behind his desk and I smiled in thanks and brushed a lone curl behind my ear.
"Thank you Colonel, but I'm fine really. I can take care of it no problem."
"No you're not. Go now, get medical needs and then we're talk. I believe there are plans of going out tonight. You should go. You need a break." He took a few steps till he was in front of me. He gave me that smirk that had knocked so many girls off there feet and I could feel me going weak in the knees. "And it's never the same going out without our favorite little Red head fire ball." I grinned, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks. I nodded slowly, completely dazed by his stare. His smirk widened and he opened the door to his office and placed an arm on my lower back. "So go get cleaned up and make sure you're okay?"
I nodded again, not able to remember how to form coherent words. He lead me out of his office and then gave me a small smile before going back in and closing the door to his office. I couldn't stop grinning as I walked out and slipped out of my blue Military jacket. Havoc eyed me strangely and then at the closed door and he glared.
"You okay Lace?" He grumbled and I nodded going to stand next to him, still grinning like an idiot. "Maybe those falls did more than I thought they would. Come on, let's go get you help."
I let Havoc pulled me out of the room, caught in my own little daze. I didn't notice when he plopped me down in a chair or when he started to dab at my cut on my forehead with a cotton ball. All I could think about was the way Roy smiled at me and invited me out with them tonight and that got me wondering why Havoc didn't invite me.
"Hey Jean, why didn't you tell me about the plans with every tonight?" I glanced up at him as he slowly brushed my hair out of the way and applied something cold to my cut.
"I haven't asked you in forever because you never go anymore. You talk about how deadly drinking is and that I'm just going to end my life that much faster, especially with my smoking." He replied quietly and threw then grabbed a small band aid and placed it on my forehead and brushed my hair back to how it was. "I didn't want you to get mad or be worried, so I didn't bother." We stayed silent for a few moments and he stared at me, before clearing his throat and looking away.
"Oh. Well Roy invited me to go and I said I would." I said happily, grinning up at Havoc. He smiled too, but it looked painful and force. I eyed him strangely and stood up.
"That's cool! We're going to check out this new bar too. It's called the Devil's Den I think. You'd probably really like it!" He cheered happily, but I couldn't help but think his eyes were screaming otherwise.
"The Devil's Den? It sounds so…so…" Havoc stared at me and I knew what he was waiting for me to say. "Like so much fun!" I finished with false excitement and Havoc nodded slowly, doing his best to hid his laughter.
"You know you don't have to go." Havoc laughed putting away the small first aid kit.
"No! I want to! This could be fun!"
And I hoped it would be.
Because I did not need another bad night.
I've had enough of those in the past.