Sorry it took me so long to update, but we had a storm the other day and I was afraid to stat writing and have the power go ou. It's happened to me before and I've lost pages upon pages of material. Anyway, I'm almost done with plot building and will soon get with the romance.

Chapter 5 - A Sucessfull-Failed Rescue

The trucks pulled up to the outskirts of town, the soldiers with their guns by their sides sat quietly as they awaited their arrival in Lior. Havoc's foot tapped impatiently; he knew that his chances were slim to none, but it was worth a shot. He would prove himself on the battle field and win at the very least her respect; then he would go from there. Havoc knew very well that he couldn't make someone love him, he was just hoping he didn't have to stalk her till she changed her mind.

He would never do such a thing, no matter how many times he got dumped; it was just way too creepy, even for him. Though it was tempting. He snapped out of his little daze and looked out the back of the truck; the temperature had gone up significantly in the last couple of days, so they must be nearby. Havoc was young, well 28, close enough by his standards; he was in good shape and he wasn't all too hard to look at, his only true flaw was the smoking. If he could find someone who smoked too or even someone who didn't mind, he would be set.

Considering Catherine's upbringing she would more than likely be a Nazi when it came to cigarettes. So his hopes there were shattered. His only option now was to try and quit. He wanted to get married and settle down, none of this trying to get a date thing; having a loyal and beautiful, wife at his side would be plenty. A an hour passed and they finally pulled into Lior, the streets were bare, aside from the soldiers, the whole city seemed as though it was abandon. Havoc stepped out of the truck along with the other soldiers. He peered around, he spotted a mother rocking her newborn baby through the window of a house. They looked so happy. Havoc then remembered the scene where he went to go fetch Fuery and Rose...

Havoc's heavy fist pounded against the door as he awaited an answer. Remembering that Hughes's had a little girl he quickly put out his cigarette and exhaled smoke. Only a few seconds passed when Gracia answered the door. "Hey." He raised a hand in greeting.

"Lieutenant Havoc? How can I help you? Come in." She opened the door and extended a greeting.

"Thanks, but I'm only here to gather Sergeant Fuery and 'The Holy Mother'." He looked over Gracia to see Fuery rounding the corner with little Ravi in his arms.

"Hey, I thought I heard your voice, what's going on?" Havoc hooked his thumb behind him.

"There's a disturbance in Lior, we need you and Lior's leader to get to H.Q. immediately--" Havoc paused and examined Fuery. "...Why are you holding a baby?" Kain smiled and nuzzled up against him.

"He's my son." Havoc was stunned, he looked at the baby and approached him.

"When did this happen?" Kain held the baby snugly.

"Three months ago." The tall blond leaned down to eye level with the child.

"Oh yeah...how come I wasn't informed of this baby?" He seemed a little hurt, he worked along side Fuery day by day, he figured he would have gained his trust enough to be told about something like this.

"Well, I only found out about him this morning." Havoc's mouth dropped open. "You remember Rose, the girl I told you about that I met in Lior? Yeah, apparently she was pregnant a month before I left for Central again." Kain said, a twinge of pride in his voice. Havoc found it hard to believe, if he hadn't have been seeing it, he never would have believed it. Fuery was the youngest out of Mustang's staff and yet he was the first one to be a father.

"Wow...so Rose really did exist after all." Fuery fumed.

"You thought I was lying!" Fuery seemed upset. Havoc rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, the way you were going on about her, she just seemed to good to be true." He folded his arms. So where is she?" Rose entered the hall from the kitchen.

"Kain? What's going on?" She seemed worried. Jean looked at the woman, she was beautiful, he brown hair accented by her pink bangs, her deeply colored eyes and trim figure; she was the true image of beauty. "What's happening in Lior?" She asked with deep concern.

"Uh, there's been a terrorist attack and they're holding a hostage. Um, are you the holy mother?" Kain piped up.

"Oh yeah, Rose." He turned in her direction. "This lieutenant Jean Havoc, he's one of the guys I work with." Rose smiled.

"Nice to meet you." She nodded her head. Havoc inwardly freaked out. Not only was Rose real, she was gorgeous AND she was the 'Holy Mother' of Lior. He quickly gathered his thoughts. "Shouldn't we be going?" Havoc finally snapped out of his daze.

"Sorry...this was just a little too much to take in all at once. Let's get going." Gracia smiled, it was good to see the Mustang wasn't working his crew to the point of exhaustion.

"I don't mind keeping an eye on the baby while you're away. Elicia could use a little company anyway." Rose nodded.

"Really? You don't mind? Thank you so much." Fuery handed over the baby.

"See you later little guy." He gave the baby a kiss on his soft little head. "Bye Ravi." Rose repeated the same actions and left behind him. Havoc gave the little baby a tap on the shoulder.

"See ya kid." He folded his arms and followed out the door behind Fuery and Rose. Quickly catching up to Fuery he grabbed him by the shoulder. "I'm so sorry, I should have believed you." Fuery only smiled and nodded as they continued walking.

Havoc shrugged it off. Kain was a father; that alone was enough to shake him. He only hoped these guys weren't too strong, if they we strong enough to subdue Catherine, they obviously had some kind of force behind them. He figured that if she couldn't get her hands on a piano, she wouldn't be of any danger to them. Approaching the church they could see a few scouts up on top in the bell tower and a couple guarding the door.

The 20 man squadron, within witch Mustangs crew was included, spread out and surrounded the church. Mustang walked up behind Havoc who was about to move into the newly opened church doors. Placing a hand on his shoulder. "Not yet." Havoc couldn't believe it, Mustang really was trying to steal his chances. He gritted his teeth.

"What for?" 'I bet you want to go in and rescue her. You jerk' He only thought the second part. Mustang smiled.

"Everyone deserves a second chance. We'll let you be the hero." Havoc inwardly retracted his statement. The Colonel was helping him? This was quite a shock, it seemed his week was quite irregular indeed. First the bit with Fuery and now this, strange was to say the least.

After apprehending the main terrorists all that was left was to round up the lackeys and seek out the hostage. This is where Havoc came in. Roy made eye contact and nodded. "Alright." Havoc grinned and picked up the flashiest gun he could carry. Making his way through a few of the hallways he managed to tackle and subdue 18 different radicals all along the way there was this strange smell, it seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

Finally reaching the room where Catherine was speculated to be being held he booted down the door with all his might he saw her there, tied and bound to the chair. Two rather scruffy men were trying to accost her, they were touching her hair and one was rubbing her cheek. Rage flared in Havoc's mind.

"Let her go dammit!" He yelled and with great speed he rushed to Catherine's side and took out the two ruffians. One was knocked out with a hard steel toed boot to the head; the other received a rather rough clip in the head with the butt of Havoc's gun. Turing to the semi-conscious lumps on the floor he picked them up by the back of their shirts and headed for the window. Scanning the ground he could see a truck with prisoners in it.

With a wicked grin he threw them down and they landed with a thud on the top of the truck. "Two more for ya'! The military guard gave a smile and a wave acknowledging Havoc.

'Now for the daring rescue conclusion.' He turned only to find Catherine not only standing up straight but she was removing the ropes from around her waist. "Ha, wa...th...You could have gotten out anytime!" He stared on in disbelief.

"Well yes." She smiled and folded her hands in front of her. "It's just that if I tried to defend myself...I'd have to touch them, and they smelled like they hadn't bathed in weeks." Havoc couldn't help but smile; she was to demure for her own good. At least she was safe. "Besides, these ropes were incredibly weak." She picked one up and tugged on either side causing it to snap in half. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh well, I guess they didn't come well prepared." He gave a sigh. "Anyway, let's get back to everyone. I bet Major Armstrong will be happy to know you're alright." She nodded, smiled and exited the room. Havoc gave the ropes and chair one last look, and out of sheer curiosity he picked up one of the longer pieces of rope and tugged on it a little. Nothing. He pulled with all his might and the rope didn't budge. "...the hell..."

"Mr. Havoc." He turned to face the door, hiding the rope behind his back. "Are you done?" He nodded, dropping the rope to the floor.

"Uh, right, lets go." So much for his daring rescue, she just didn't want to get dirty; Havoc couldn't help but feel he wasted his time. As if from hell, another scruffy man jumped from out of no where.

"You want to defend that bitch Rose! Then you'll burn in hell!" He had a detonator in his hand, the lever was up and ready to be ignited. Havoc took a step back.

"Hold on a sec." Catherine ran up to Havoc and took his arm.

"Havoc." He could see she was frightened. The man had a wild look in his eyes and was almost slobbering. He looked terrible and had this savage aura about him.

"Just calm down..." Havoc bit his lip; he was no negotiator, he was a combatant. Catherine cringed and covered her ears. With that sudden movement the man quickly pushed down on the trigger.

"Buh bye!" With loud bangs sounding in the distance he jumped out the window to safety. There was another explosion, this time it was right above them, it cause the half the room to collapse.

"Come on." He grabbed her hand and quickly ran out of the room and proceeded to go down the hall. The walls were almost completely covered in fire. "Kerosene!" That was what he was smelling before, the terrorists must have know they wouldn't be able to outgun the military, but burring them would be just as good. Catherine tripped and skinned her shoulder.

"Ow." Havoc gritted his teeth.

"We don't have time for this, hurry." With that he picked her up in his arms and ran, all the while trying his best to navigate his way out of the church.

"Down that way." Catherine pointed down another long hallway. "The exit is down the stairs at the end of this hall. HE nodded and sprinted with all his might down the hall. Only halfway through the corridor they could both see off in the distance that the stairs were on fire and the main entrance was buried in rubble. Catherine began to cough and her eyes were drooping.

"Don't you pass out on me, we'll get out of here." He tried to encourage her. 'This doesn't look good.' He looked back the other way, there had to be some other way out.

"Are they still in there?" Roy tapped his foot impatiently. The doors of the church were wide open and what little water they had was being used to try to control the fire. Then they saw a figure walking through the flames carrying someone in their arms, they seemed to be draped lifelessly there. "They made it!" Roy gave a sigh of relief at the two figures approached the door.

I hope my lovely reviewers stick with me, I really appreciat the support.

Sorry this chapter was so long, the next one won't be as painful. :)