I like having Liz on her own:3
(Age 15)
I sighed as I finally gave up on getting Edward down to eat dinner with me in the mess hall. He refused to leave his room. I honestly felt horrible about how I reacted to Havoc in comparison to what Edward was dealing with. Not horrible enough to be the first to apologize or cave, but still pretty bad. Edward was helpless to save little Nina. He was helpless to protect Al in the fight with Scar. I could easily sympathize with him. Not only because he's my twin, but also because I was in the exact same situation when we tried bringing mom back. The difference being that no one was killed. I may feel guilty and at fault for many things that happened that night, but I don't have a trace of guilt as far as death goes. Not like Ed feels.
"Al," I said after I had already left the room, with my head popping back in, "I'll be in the mess hall, I need something to drink to calm me down. Tell him where I am if he has needs me." I ordered, my eyes finding the hunk of metal that lay next to my immobile brother. Those were all the shards of him. I can't fix him because of he and Ed's unique connection due to the blood seal, but I can transmute non-related metal so that none of it is lost. I removed my head and closed the door without waiting for a reply. I turned on my heel and began walking in the direction of the mess hall. I hope they have some herbal tea and honey.
I heard footsteps echoing through the hall behind me, but I didn't pay them any min until an attached voice joined them. Directed at me, Havoc's voice called, "Beth! Beth, wait up!" I gritted my teeth, but refused to respond to him in any other way. Not until I got some Herbal Tea, anyway. My nerves were absolutely fried here.
"Havoc!" I heard Fuery cry desperately, "Don't run so much! This radio makes it hard for me to keep up!" I quickened my pace a little, hoping to lose them in some turns of the halls. Havoc seemed to have his attention on me, however, and by his footsteps, was still following me.
"I never asked you to keep up! But if you're coming, you better pick it up!" He snapped behind him, still trailing me. I turned left sharply, and sprinted to the end of the short hall before me. I hoped to turn the next corner before Havoc saw me. He did see me, and cursed under his breath. I was too far away, but I think he said something along the lines of 'all the way over there?'
Fuery was oblivious to the little chase between the two of us and still tailing Havoc. "We were headed to the mess hall together! We were going to so sit, relax and eat. I don't want to chase around your assignment just because you pissed her off! Can't you walk like a normal person after what happened today?!"
I stopped and blinked. So Fuery wasn't so oblivious. And he just referred to me as his 'assignment'. The little bastard. My hesitation was only momentary, as I quickly began walking again. I really didn't want Havoc to catch up with me.
He-He's, I don't know what he is. All I know is that I don't know what or who he is. I thought I admired him and even had a small crush on him because he was interesting. But the problem is that I have no clue how long I've been his assignment. Was it before the car ride to Tucker's? After? Right before the note? Any way I look at it, I was only an assignment to him when I poured my heart out to him. He might have cared, he really might have wanted to hear it. Or, as the gut-wrenching feeling in my gut keeps telling me, he was just trying to figure out why a fifteen year old girl is important enough to have someone be assigned to keep her safe.
Relief flooded around me as I reached the mess hall. The smell of food surrounded me as well, but none of it appealed to me. I had no appetite right now. I just came for some Herbal Tea to settle my nerves. I had already had dinner tonight, with Havoc. I waited in line for a few minutes to ask about the tea. A nice lady in the back brewed up a fresh pot and poured me a cup. I smiled and thanked her quickly before sitting in the corner of the mess hall by myself. I hoped I wasn't too visible, but it seems that my hope isn't worth anything to the universe.
"Finally I caught you, Beth." Havoc breathed out as he took the seat directly across from me. I suddenly found my herbal tea very interesting, cupping the mug with both hands and looking at my reflection in the placid tea. My hair was stiff, but dry, due to the rain and I had some dirt smudged on my face from the struggle with Havoc on the ground. My eyes looked tired, felt tired, and overall, I looked sad and broken, befitting to my title.
My reflection, which I was using to avoid eye contact with Havoc, was disrupted by ripples when a heavy object was roughly set on the end of the table. My gaze quickly found the source: Fuery's radio. He had set it on the table to sit down to my left. Unlike Havoc, who I had ignored completely, I turned to face Fuery, forcing a pleasant smile for him.
"Hey Fuery." I greeted, sipping at my tea. I could feel Havoc's tension from across the table, but I forced myself not to take note of it.
Fuery waved a dismissive hand, "Please," he replied, "Call me Kain outside of work. We could be considered a bit more than acquaintances, right?"
"Uh, yeah. We're more than acquaintances, but not quite friends. I guess I understand your reasoning," I almost laughed, but it ended up as more like a half-scoff instead. "Call me Liz then, Kain." I added. For a split second, I considered having him call me Beth, but couldn't bring myself to ask him to.
Kain smiled in return and started chatting at me. It would have been with me, but I was kind of zoned out. I just nodded, 'hmm'ed and agreed when I heard something that vaguely sounded right. I could still feel Havoc's tension, and it was driving me nuts. If he couldn't relax or calm down, he needed to leave!
"-Hawkeye tripped Mustang and shot at him, but he dodged all of the bullets and backed up. That's when Major Armstrong came in and started fighting him." he chatted on. I realized he was talking about the fight with Scar today and interrupted him to ask a question.
"Uh, Why did she trip him?" I inquired. I took a sip of tea and stole a glance at Havoc. He was holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth, flicking his lighter. He was just fiddling with it, though, as he wasn't pressing hard enough to make a flame. His eyes were fixed on me, and he looked tired. I couldn't keep his gaze, it made me feel uncomfortable, so I looked back at Fuery, who had finally begun to speak.
"Oh, it's because of the rain. He was getting cocky about his flames and forgot he's useless in the rain." he replied offhandedly. The way he spoke made me realize I hadn't really been looking at Havoc that long, it just felt like I had. Having noticed the noise of the flicking lighter, it began to wear on my nerves.
"Hey!" A new voice snapped defensively, "I'm not useless on rainy days! I'm just..." He paused, searching for the right word.
I intervened, proposing, "Useless?" He cut his eyes at me angrily, but he didn't look very threatening, as he was still wet from the rain. He had stayed longer than anyone else, getting all of the reports in correctly. Despite what I say about him in anger, Mustang does his job well.
But right now, his lack of frightfulness was downright funny. A small giggle bubbled out of me. Fuery snapped his head at me, and saw my expression. Another giggle followed, which paved the road to laughter. "You-" I said through giggles, slowly calming down, "don't look-threatening at all!"
He huffed in response and sat on my right with a plate of food. "What brings you here, Broken Flame?" He asked civilly.
I sipped my tea again, and lifted it up. "Getting some Herbal Tea to calm my nerves." I smiled sadly, "I've had a bit of a rough day today."
Mustang nodded, "And FullMetal?"
I looked away, sipping at my drink once more. It was almost gone. "If I've had a rough day, he's been through hell again." I commented. He's got it a lot worse than I do, that's for sure.
"Again?" Havoc asked, leaning slightly forward to join the conversation. His eyebrows were furrowed, as if trying to figure out what 'hell' he'd been through.
"Havoc, I don't thin-"
"You know damn good and well what we've been though. You know all of it, you bastard." I snapped heatedly, standing up. He also stood up, reaching out to me.
"Beth, I didn't mean-" He tried to explain, but I wasn't in the mood for petty, half-assed explanations. Not from him, anyway.
"My name is Elizabeth! I'm not Beth! Stop speaking to me so casually, as if you're a friend of mine! You proved that you're not." I ranted. Right now I was thankful I had chosen the corner of the mess hall, and that there weren't a lot of people. I couldn't handle a scene right now, even if I was probably making it myself.
"Fine!" he snapped at me, his cigarette falling to the ground, "You win, Elizabeth. Tell me what I should have done differently." His hands dropped to his sides and he looked defeated. But he was still too proud, stupid, or ignorant to apologize.
"You're such a dumbass!" I snapped back, "I asked you outright if you'd tell me if you had an assignment that had to do with me. You said you would! And did I hear of it? No! I gave you a perfectly good opportunity to tell me, but you didn't!" I felt exhausted, and couldn't keep up with my anger any longer. I forgot to grab my tea cup as I turned to leave, but I said one last thing, "You lied to me." I must have looked just as defeated at he did. Just as tired. I really am broken, aren't I? I get too angry or too sad and too reliant or too independent. All at the wrong times.
(3rd Person)
Mustang sighed as he watched the defeated girl finally reach the mess hall door and leave. It had already been decided by her brothers that she was to remain here during their return trip for repairs. They thought that having her see everyone and everything that they left behind would be really rough on her. Mustang thought differently, but said nothing because they probably wouldn't take his opinion into consideration. He then turned to Havoc, a bit disappointed in his reactions to Elizabeth.
"Havoc," He began, "now I understand why you have such trouble keeping a girlfriend." he said remorsefully.
"What?" Havoc cried, confused at the sudden blow to his already deflated ego.
"Fuery," Roy ordered, "you're to relieve Second Lieutenant Havoc of his protection duties."
"Wait, stop!" Jean pleaded, "I gotta figure out how to fix things with her, she's really pissed. I can't be relieved yet!"
Mustang shook his head and smiled coyly at the second lieutenant, "This is a direct order, Havoc. You're not to talk to Elizabeth Elric because of any assignment or anything else to do with work."
Havoc slowly realized the favor that the colonel was handing to him and a small grin broke out onto his face. He started running to the door, but stopped after only reaching a few feet. He turned back to Roy and called out, "Thank you, Sir!" before starting to run again. He was hoping to catch Elizabeth before she reached her room. She could easily lock him out if she was already at her room.
Now he stood with his foot in the crack of the door, with only half of Elizabeth's face within his view. He assumed that Edward and Alphonse were in there with her, and they were, but he had no way of knowing that until Edward's voice called from behind the door, "Liz! Who's at the door?"
Her eyes never left Havoc as she replied with only a heartbeat's hesitation, "Havoc." The man in question felt a surge of annoyance towards both Elizabeth and Fuery, who were on a first-name and nick-name basis with each other, while he and she were on a last-name and full-name basis.
"Really?" Edward asked, his footsteps approaching the door. Elizabeth's face disappeared from Havoc's view and was replaced by Edward's. Edward also opened the door for him and allowed him inside the room. "Hey, Havoc! Come on in." He welcomed as Havoc entered their room. There were only two beds, one for each of twins, or so Havoc assumed.
"Uh, thanks." Havoc replied, still taking in the room. There weren't many extra things, it was a basic, military-issue dorm. They didn't have any pictures, nic-nacks, or decorations up at all.
"Listen, man," Edward said to Havoc, placing his left arm on his shoulder, "Thank you for holding Liz back. She would have busted in there and got herself hurt. Thank you for keeping my little sister safe." He smiled happily, despite being short an arm and having his brother immobile. It amazed Havoc that he could focus on just about the only good thing in this situation, but also relieved him.
Elizabeth gritted her teeth angrily, and Havoc noticed. "Why did you come here, Lieutenant?" She asked bitterly. Edward, who was standing next to her, bumped shoulder with her warningly. "Quit it, Ed. I want to know why he followed me from the mess hall." she scolded in return.
Suddenly being put on the spot, Havoc blinked in surprise, but still managed to answer after a few seconds. "I was coming to tell you that I, uh, have been relieved of my assignment." he replied, not elaborating any farther. His answer disappointed Elizabeth, and it showed slightly as well.
"Oh." She responded deflated. She'd been hoping for an apology or some sort of reconciliation attempt. "If that's all, then go home." She added, with the icy tone returning.
"I'm going, I'm going." He reassured. Without thinking about asking her, Havoc blurted, "I'll be at the cafe at five tomorrow, right after work." His sudden outburst surprised Elizabeth, even Edward. She nodded in response, acknowledging his offer, but not giving a definite answer.
Havoc walked out of the door, and Elizabeth went to shut it behind him. Before it closed, however, he asked, "Well?"
Elizabeth closed the door on him and paused for a few seconds. Right as Havoc turned to walk away, a bit disappointed, she called through the door, "I'll think about it."