Hey guys~ Sorry this chapter took so long… I was out on vacation and I had a bit of a writer's block. ^^;; Anyway, here's the next one, R&R~
I don't own FMA.
-Normal PoV-
Riza had recently chided Micha about her appalling grades. She failed a few quizzes and had some home works that weren't passed. The strict Lieutenant made her niece take a leave from the office until she gets her grades back up. The very next day, Hawkeye prepared Micha's papers for her and picked her up early for her to finish it all up.
"Did your grades get that low?"Havoc asked.
"You could've asked me to tutor you!" Johnny exclaimed. "I shall help you study for your Trim exams."
"Me too." Daniel added.
"That's not all he'll help her with." Breda whispered to Havoc, earning a snicker from the blond.
"Same here!" Feury added worriedly. "I didn't know you stopped submitting your home works in order to finish up our work. Prioritize your studies!"
"Thanks for the concern, guys. Don't worry; I'll have my grades back up to A's in no time." She winked at them.
"You'll answer to all of us if you don't, Cadet." Mustang spoke in a very authoritative voice.
"Yes, sir!" Micha gave him a salute and laughed. "I just hope you guys won't forget me." She giggled teasingly.
"Of course not!" Johnny cried out quite a little too hysterical.
Micha let out a small laugh, gave them another mock salute and then headed out the door.
The office was relatively quiet without the young cadet. Young Major White kept busy with field assignments, Lieutenant Hawkeye keeping the men at bay and we also have, the Ishvalen war hero—Colonel Roy Mustang—still procrastinating behind his desk and distracting himself with thoughts of his girlfriend, Riza Hawkeye. He looked at the Lieutenant with such a dreamy gaze to the point that it looked like he was a young teenager bit by the infamous love bug over and over again.
"Please stop daydreaming and get back to work, sir," said Hawkeye flatly. "You don't have it as easy anymore. Cadet Hawkeye's on leave, remember? A week's worth of work has been piling up."
Roy looked at her bemused for a while then recovered himself. "Has it already been a week?" He asked.
"Yes, sir, it has. Like I said, your work has been piling up again," Hawkeye looked up from the current report she was writing and held on to his dark gaze for a moment then sighed. "It's going to be my day off tomorrow, sir. Please let me rest easy on knowing that you finished your work."
"That's right! It's your day off tomorrow!" The Colonel grinned. "Do you know what's going to happen after your day off?"
Riza lifted a brow and looked at him suspiciously, "I go back to work?" Mustang smirked at her answer. "Sir, what… are you up to?"
He laughed then smirked at her… again. "And they say that men always forget these types of important dates. Look at your personal calendar."
Riza did as she was told but she didn't dare look away from her commanding officer-slash-boyfriend. The Lieutenant flipped the pages of her personal planner and stopped on the said date. There was huge and colorful lettering on the date box that said, "Your First Monthsary, Auntie Riza~!" with little hearts and rainbows and other girly things written and drawn all over. She was taken aback when she saw this. Since when did Micha put this? Thought Hawkeye. Then again, I almost never look at my personal planner. It's not like I have much of a life other than work…
"Looks like Micha remembered and you didn't." He whispered closely and seductively to her ear.
Hawkeye sat there frozen. Of course, how could she forget? She memorized his schedule, meetings and appointments, and yet, she forgot a special and important day for the two of them. Tomorrow was their first monthsary. She scrambled for an excuse.
"I… ummm…" She couldn't think of anything. Roy pecked her cheek and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Do not fret, love. I just wanted you to know that I'm lucky to have you." He said sweetly. "What do you want to do for our monthsary?"
"Roy, we have work on that day." She said airily
Mustang faked a few coughs and sneezes. "Ugh… Hawkeye… I'm feeling kind of hot." He joked.
Riza shot him a look. "Our goal is more important than that day. We can spend it some other time…" Hawkeye explained.
"True, but what is that dream going to be if I don't have you? It will all be for nothing, Riza." Mustang turned her face to meet his. She wore a sincere and a quite happy expression. They were about to kiss when something disturbed them from their own little world.
"Hey, Colonel!" A short(take note, it's in bold), Fullmetal Alchemist banged on the door. "COLONEL! I need a word with you!" He shouted loudly.
"Damn that runt…" Roy cussed under his breath. Riza stifled a laugh then went to answer the door but gave enough time for Roy to settle in his big, leather seat.
Edward Elric, followed by his little brother, Alphonse, barged in the room.
"What is it, Fullmetal?" Asked Roy calmly.
"Why am I hearing rumors that I'm being discharged as a state Alchemist?" Edward complained angrily.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Roy answered flatly. "Though I have to say that you are behind on your paper work and reports about your field work.
"Screw those papers." Edward cussed.
"Brother…" Alphonse chided him. The whole room fell silent and then they heard a high pitched meowing. All eyes fell to Alphonse's armor. The poor fourteen-year-old blushed and covered his chest armor with his arms. "Thi-This is nothing! I-I have to go. Please excuse me!" He ran out the door leaving the three military personnel in the office—dumbstruck.
Micha sat on the floor in the living room. Her books, notebooks and handouts were scattered all over the center table and some on the floor. Hayate slept next to her as the young girl studied and memorized her notes.
"Auntie Riza…" Micha called from the living room.
"Yes?" She answered while cleaning some fish.
"What're we having for dinner?"
"Baked Salmon." Riza replied. Micha fell silent for a while.
"Is Mustang coming over?" She finally spoke up. Riza walked to the living room and watched her niece.
"Yes, he is. If you want, we can stay in the patio so we won't disturb you."
"Ah, I knew it. Bake
d Salmon's one of his favorites…" Micha looked up from her text book and smiled at her. "It's ok. I'll move up to my room. It's your monthsary on the day after tomorrow."
Riza chuckled. "Yes, I know. When did you draw all over my planner?"
"Oh… that…" Micha grinned a lopsided grin. "I was bored… and I saw it open. It was practically screaming, 'Write on me! Write on me!'." Micha added comical hand actions. This made Hawkeye laugh.
"What time is he coming over? I need to take a shower and get dressed—unless… you guys want to be alone for dinner." Micha mumbled.
"No, no. You're very much welcome to dinner." Riza smiled at Micha. "Besides, the social workers will take you away from me if they find out I'm not feeding you right."
"Why not? At least you can be alone with him…" Micha teased.
"If he wants me, then he better have you as well… Package deal." Riza said with a grin.
"I think you're a package in itself without me." Micha whispered as she lowered her head.
Riza didn't like where this conversation was going. "Clean your things up, and take a shower. Roy'll be here by seven." She changed the subject. Micha simply nodded her head and started clearing up the center table. Riza walked back to the kitchen and continued to clean the fish. Riza heard Micha walk up the stairs and closed her door.
Micha came down quickly wearing warm looking clothes and her boots.
"Where're you going?" Riza asked as she looked at her outfit. It was obvious that the girl had plans on going out of the house before dinner.
"Just down two blocks to the convenience store," Micha answered.
"And may I ask why?" Added Riza cynically.
"Because I feel like eating a chocolate bar…" Micha mumbled, seemingly quite embarrassed. "Would you like one too?" She grinned.
Hawkeye let out a sigh. "Sure. You know my favorite." Riza smiled then it turned into a stern face. "Be careful out there. We haven't caught the gang yet, and Courtney's been bailed by her parents. Bring Hayate with you and—"
"Yes," Micha interrupted. "I have the knife you bought me strapped to my boot, I have my clip on, and I'll bring a bottle of water—I'll be fine, Auntie Riza." She smiled.
"Don't take your chances!" Micha couldn't tell if this was her Lieutenant or motherly side coming out. "They will certainly out number you and we know they're armed." Riza unsaddled her gun that was hanging from its holster near the door. She loaded it before handing it to her niece. "I don't care if you can't aim properly. Just make sure you hit them then run as fast as you can back home screaming. I'll be by the porch with my riffle by then." This figure was serious about everything she said. Micha had a hard time keeping her gaze on to hers.
"Ok…" Micha whispered then took the heavy piece of ammunition into her small hands. She carefully slipped it in the right pocket of her trench coat and fixed it so it wouldn't look too obvious. A young girl like her with a gun this time of night is quite suspicious. She offered her Aunt a reassuring smile then faced the door. "I won't be gone long… Don't worry." Micha took Hayate's leash and headed out the door and closed it behind her.
It's already the beginning of fall, and the air was starting to get chilly. A certain Roy Mustang strode down the streets with a mixture of looks in his face. He wanted it to look more like a leisurely stroll, instead of a walk to a date's house. Roy had his hands in his pockets. His right hand brushed against his pair of ignition gloves, feeling the rough cloth on the back of his fingers.
He walked passed a young looking couple. They were smiling and simply enjoying each other's company. Publicly showing the world of their affection for one another, they had their arms linked and the smile on their faces just told their whole story. These two are lucky… Thought Roy. I wish I could walk around with Riza like that. He imagined himself and his lovely girl in that young couple's shoes. Roy couldn't stop the smile from greeting the night's air. He longed to have that day come to a reality… even before he found out of her feelings towards him.
He stopped at a small flower stand next to a small convenience store. Roy was now only blocks away from Riza's townhouse. This flower stand was owned by an old lady that he came to know very well. When he would take out his other dates, this was the place he would buy his flowers. He noticed that Mrs. Bakerfells wasn't the one manning the store like she used too.
"Hello, there, sir. Would you like to a bouquet for the lovely lady waiting for you, maybe?" Smiled a middle aged lady at him.
Roy smirked then faced the clerk. "Just why do you think that I'm going to meet up with someone?"
The young lady grinned then finally replied, "You're the infamous Colonel Roy Mustang. You have a well reputation for breaking a mighty fine number of hearts."
Roy wore a cocky grin. "Madame, I don't break hearts, I simply—"
"Bed hop?" The lady smiled innocently.
Roy was taken aback by what she said. He blinked a few times before saying, "Excuse me?"
"You're excused. It's chilly out today; you wouldn't want to get wet, now, would you?" She said sickeningly sweet.
Roy had a bad feeling in his chest. Something bad was going to happen. "Right… Good evening…" Before Roy could walk away, a pail of cold water was dumped on him from the third floor of the building. He was completely drenched. The young lady pointed a gun right between his eyes. Roy clutched his gloves, they weren't that wet. Roy pulled out his gloves with haste as well as a plea that it would work, but as he did so, a potato sack was thrown over his head and he felt hands tie his hands behind him. He dropped the gloves down into a puddle at his feet.
They pinned him to the ground and tied his ankles as well. He tried to make some noise, but they hit his head and tried to knock him out but before he completely lost his consciousness, he heard a familiar and vulgar voice saying, "Why, look what we caught, boys! If it isn't the bed hopping, Flame Alchemist: Roy Mustang." Roy lost his consciousness right after and he let his head fall down on the cold, wet pavement.
Micha waited for Hayate to finish his business before proceeding to the convenience store. She held on to his leash and watched the starry night above. The young girl inhaled the cool and fresh autumn breeze then sighed. How lovely is the night! She thought. You will never see or feel a night so beautiful in the whole season of autumn… I just can't wait for winter. Hayate interrupted her thoughts as he jumped out of the brush. He barked happily at Micha a few times. The puppy stopped when Micha offered him a smile and said, "Let's go buy those chocolate bars, boy."
The two walked in silence until the store was in sight. Hayate seemed to have caught a scent and started barking menacingly and broke the cool, quiet atmosphere of the street. It was most unusual, the streets were deserted and it was too early for them to all be in bed.
"What is it, boy?" Micha kept on walking until she had her hand on the glass door and pushed it open. This was the only store that Hayate—or any dog—was allowed to enter (besides the groomers, of course). The owner, Mr. Robinson, was a kind old man who loved the company of others and even more adored the company of canines.
Micha entered the store, and Hayate seemed to have halted from barking, instead, he started low growling noises and looked out the window. He seemed restless and whimpered a lot when Micha tried to force him into the store further, especially when the young girl tried to pull him passed the counter.
"Hayate, stop it." Micha chided the puppy. "Mister Robinson?" She called. "Hello?" No one responded and the whole store was deathly silent. She felt something very wrong has happened. Micha gripped the water bottle in her left hand and slipped her right hand into her pocket and held on to the gun her Aunt gave her. Micha walked around the whole store and felt no one's presence so she left. The only thing that she noticed that was in disarray was that Mr. Robinson and the other store clerks weren't there and a strange scent of iron filled the place. As soon as Micha opened the door, Hayate ran out and stared at a puddle in front of the flower stand that sweet Mrs. Bakefells owned.
A puddle? Micha questioned herself. It hasn't rained in the last two weeks… Micha scrutinized the scene very carefully and came closer. Hayate stepped out of the way. Micha saw something very disturbing… She covered her mouth in shock. It was the Colonel's ignition gloves, soaking wet. She felt like a dagger stabbed her heart. She picked up the gloves, and ran inside the store, desperately looking for a phone. She saw one behind the counter, resting on a phonebook. Micha jumped the counter, but she felt horribly wrong when her boots sounded like it hit a puddle of liquid instead of the cool marble floor.
Micha dared to look down… She was standing in a pool of a crimson liquid. Her burgundy eyes widened with horror and fear. Now she knew where the smell of iron was coming from… She followed the stream of blood and saw Mister Robinson's body swimming in it.
Riza was stirring the soup when the phone rang. She walked towards it calmly and answered. "Hello?"
"Auntie Riza!" Micha's voice was shaky and she sounded very scared.
"Micha? What's wrong? Are you crying?" Riza was instantly alarmed and worried.
"They killed Mister Robinson, they killed Mister Robinson!" She cried on the other line.
"What?" Riza shouted. "Are you ok? What happened? Are you hurt?"
"No…" Micha sobbed.
"Stay where you are! I'm coming!"
Riza almost slammed the phone down but she heard her niece tell her, "Auntie Riza… They kidnapped the Colonel."
Riza slowly lost her grip on the phone and finally dropped it. She was in shock…
"Roy…" She whispered.
Johnny was in his room, reading a good book by the fireplace while occasionally sipping his Earl Grey tea. Since his parents returned from their visit to Creta, he has been sipping tea instead of coffee because as it seems, his parents have taken a fancy for the hot liquid. The young lad didn't mind, as he always thought that tea was more of his cup of tea… He laughed at the thought then flipped the page.
The shrill ringing of his private phone line almost made him spit the tea out. Instead, he shut his book, laid the tea cup and saucer down on the side table and rose to pick up the phone.
"Hello? Ah, Micha…" He had quite a smile on his face. It was a call from a dear friend of his. "Wait, calm down, you are going too fast…" The smile started to slowly disappear. But a look of horror engulfed his face once he heard her tell him, "The Colonel's been kidnapped."
Johnny made the scene and rushed in the store. He saw bloody boot prints that led to a corner of the store. Micha was curled up in the corner of the shop, a good distance from the corpse. He rushed to her side and helped her up. He gave her a reassuring hug.
"Don't worry. I called in everyone else." He comforted her.
"They killed Mister Robinson…" Micha sobbed. "They took the Colonel too…"
Johnny saw how hard Micha's grip was on the Colonel's gloves. He led her to his car and sat her in the passenger's seat. It wasn't long before Lieutenant Hawkeye came in her uniform… fully armed. Havoc, Breda, and Fritzer's car made a screeching halt. The men jumped out of the car and were followed by a few more soldiers for back-up.
"Where's Feury?" Hawkeye asked the men.
"He went to get the Fullmetal Boss and his brother," Breda answered.
"Where's Micha?" Daniel asked Johnny. The young Major looked over at his car. Micha sat in the front passenger's seat with her coat draped over her shoulders. Her knees were propped up as she hugged them tightly.
"What did she see?" Havoc asked quietly.
"Too much…" Johnny replied.
Edward and his brother finally came, with Feury behind the wheel. Micha was out of the car, and sat on the sidewalk while Johnny asked her a few questions. Hayate was trying to give Riza some comfort by nuzzling her leg. She was tense and very worried. Not only that, she was also enraged. Enraged that she failed her duty as his body guard and to make matters even worse… He was kidnapped only two blocks away from her home while she was what? Stirring soup!
Falman tried to explain the whole situation to Ed and Al whilst Havoc and Breda secured the area. Daniel found the couple that Roy had passed and asked them a few questions as well.
"So let me get this straight… Your hunch is… The Colonel was dumped with a bucket of water from the third floor, bagged with a potato sack, knocked out and was thrown in a car in front of a convenience store at six forty in the evening?"
"Affirmative." Falman answered. "There were loose potatoes in the vegetable area of the said shop, void of its sack."
Edward guffawed at the statement.
"Brother, what's so funny?" Alphonse asked innocently.
"Come on, how pathetic can that statement be? He got drenched, bagged with a potato sack, then knocked out and then they threw them in the car… he didn't even put up a fight!"
"They did their homework." Johnny interrupted. "They knew he was going to be here at his exact time and that he had a weakness for water." Micha silently trailed behind him.
"Everyone knows that." Ed mumbled.
Riza was fuming next to Falman. Their commanding officer is missing, soaking wet, and all this little brat could do is laugh at how pathetic that sounds? Riza was disgusted but before she could give Edward a good beating, Daniel came in to give them some new information.
"Guys!" He looked at everyone and all eyes were on him. "I think I know who did all this."
Roy woke up when a cold bucket of water was thrown on him. He was blind folded and suspended in the air. His two hands were holding his weight up with chains, far apart from each other. His feet dangled in the air. Roy felt the cool draft come in and slapped across his face and bare chest. He coughed a few times and groaned. The area they hit him in was now sore. Mustang shivered involuntarily.
"Good, you're awake," that voice sounded so familiar to him. He just couldn't put his finger on it. "Do you know how much research I had to do to get you here? How many people I had to threat, kill and maybe… sleep with just to know what time you would be going to your dear, honey's house? Well, just knowing where she lived was already hard enough."
"Who are you? Why did you do all that?" Roy demanded.
"Me? I'm offended, Roy, you don't remember me?" He felt her seductive touch wrap around his shoulders. "Why, you were the one…" She whispered lustfully in his ear, "who told my own boyfriend to tie me up."
"Courtney?" He yelled.
"That wasn't nice, you know. He officially put us on a cool down stage." She spitted out bitterly.
"It wasn't me who made Daniel break up with you." Roy said. "Besides, he probably broke up with you because you're too much of a slut."
"Shut up!" Courtney yelled at him. "I am not a slut. I am just too sexy for any of you and we did not break up. It's just a cool down. "
Roy smirked. "Please. I've dated prettier girls with bigger boobs than you." He taunted.
"Boobs don't make a woman," retorted another girl. Her voice seemed to have echoed throughout the whole room. She must've been either really far, or the room was really big and spacious. The place fell silent for a while then he heard footsteps fading away.
"We'll be back later," Courtney said. "Don't try anything funny. Someone will come in to dump water on you regularly…" Roy heard her maniacal laugh then a shiver went up his spine.
Roy started to lose track of time. He wondered and started to worry about Riza waiting for him in her town house. Surely, if he didn't arrive in two hours, Riza would've already called or went to his house. When they do find out that he's gone, he just needed to hope on his trusted subordinates and Johnny to call the shots because he had the most authority among them all. Roy also recalled that Edward and his brother were in town. If they were to take part in this operations mission, Roy was more than sure that Ed was going to break his Automail again.
Roy seemed to have fallen asleep when someone dumped a cold bucket of water on him. He coughed and shivered a few times. Whoever dumped the water on him didn't say a word and simply left him there to his misery once again.
After that little wake up call, Roy tried to figure out where he was, despite the blind fold. He still had his other senses open. Roy listened hard, and heard a few voices. They sounded very distant to his area. In addition to that, Mustang also heard the cold wind blowing on the roof and a very faint sound of waves crashing into the pier. I must be in a ware house… one near the docks… He thought then tried to remember the area in which they caught Courtney and the other men. But they aren't stupid enough to be in the same ware house… then again, they're just low life scums… Roy invisibly rolled his eyes then thought harder whilst a figure was lurking around, studying him without his notice…
Roy felt some movement in the space surrounding him. The movement was fast, quiet and very feline like. Roy couldn't help but feel tense, though his hunch was just that it was nothing but a mere stray cat. He heard a soft meowing then let out a sigh. It was just a cat. Roy thought. I don't have time to fear the supernatural. There is always a scientific and logical explanation for everything… Hell, there will be more reason for me to fear the people who brought me here rather than anything else… well, there's always Riza to fear. I'm sure she'll yell at me for being captured that easily.
Mustang felt something quite heavy jump on the chain that held his wrist up. A soft and furry tail brushed on his face. Roy instinctively tried to shoo it and silently told the cat to go away. He felt a small had removed his blindfold. His eyes flashed open and met a pair of curious hazel eyes. A girl? He thought. That girl he was looking at meowed at him. She's weird… Roy took note.
The zany girl jumped down from the chain. Much to Roy's surprise, he was dangling at least a foot or so in the air. He was indeed in a spacious room in a poorly lit warehouse room that led to different halls. The girl gave him a very inquisitively look. As if she has never seen anyone like him in her whole life. Roy felt quite awkward.
Mustang cleared his throat and said, "It's not polite to stare…"
The girl simply cocked her head to the side in confusion. That's when Roy noticed a tail come from behind the girl's skirt. His eyes widened and took notice of the ears on her head. They were moving and very cat-like. She had some thin whiskers on her cheek as well.
"Do you… know what I am?" She spoke in a soft and gentle voice. "You have noticed my ears and tail, yes?"
Roy swallowed the saliva that was accumulating in his mouth. What on earth are these people up to? I thought they were just some other rowdy gang! Mustang thought. "Yes. You're a chimera…"
There was a sparkle of new hope in the cat-like girl's eyes. She instantly rushed closer to him with her fingers laced together. "So you're an alchemist? Do you know others like me? Please, Mister Alchemist, tell me—Am I beyond repair?" She spoke fast with a shaky voice. Her pleading Hazel orbs started to look glossy.
Roy studied her face, her ears, her tail, whiskers and everything else. That's when he noticed that she and Micha were a splitting image of each other. This girl also had full bangs, though instead of being until her neck, it flowed until her thigh and instead of having raven locks like him, this girl had navy-blue hair. She was much paler and her eyes were a different shade. Even their choice of clothing, was very much alike. This girl wore a gothic Lolita style dress. One that Micha would surely wear on occasion.
"Do you? Do you know others like me?" Her voice cracked his image of his cadet and snapped him back to this chimera talking to him.
He suddenly remembered poor Alexander and Nina, their lives, binded together by the poor girl's insane father. Roy suddenly shut the memory out and thought of what pain this girl, standing right in front him went through. "Yes…" Mustang finally replied bitterly.
Her whole face lit up. "Really?" She asked excitedly. "What animal? A girl? Or a boy? Oh, please, you have to introduce them to me! I thought I was the only one when—"
"Please." The girl kept quiet. Mustang let out a sad sigh then finally said, "you won't be meeting them… only… only in their grave." The Colonel lowered his head.
The young chimera also did the same. It seemed like all hope was lost for her…
"What's your name?" The girl asked in a whisper.
"Roy. Roy Mustang. And you?"
She looked at him hesitantly then said, "I don't really know… All this time, they have just been calling me, Neko."
"Neko?" Asked Roy. "You mean, the Xingese term for 'cat'?"
"Well, I am part cat." She whispered.
"That simply won't do," Roy shook his head. "Don't you remember what your real name is? Not at all?"
"I think it was… Eloise?" She whispered unsurely as she turned her back at him. "That's right!" She perked up. "It was Eloise!" She spoke to herself.
Roy was puzzled by this girl's weird behavior. She really reminded him of Micha. Wasn't that strange? Of all people to be reminded off! He smirked at himself. He knew he cared for her, but why can't she remind him of Riza instead? He let out a chuckle.
"Ne, Mister Mustang, you can call me Eloise on one condition…" Eloise spun around and faced a Bemused looking Roy. "You can call me Eloise if and only if…" She leaned closer to him and said her requirement. "If you will be my first friend." At that very moment, he thought he saw Micha's face, instead of Eloise's.
And that's the end of it~ ^^ I hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make this an all Royai chapter, but it's kind of hard because well… as you can see, Roy gets kidnapped and made an unusual acquaintance. ^^; Please do drop a review my way before you click that 'back' or the 'X' button. They make me happy.
Oh, and please, tell me what you want to see, expect, or whatever for the next chapter. You can also request. I'll squeeze that in the next chapters. I have placed up a poll. PLEASE do respond to it. I want to know and see results from you all. Thank you very much!