Riza Pov
The coffee tasted like shit today. Good batch. The noise was low this early before dawn. Perfect to get my paperwork handled before the noise can annoy me.
I shuffled through various reports. All had been quiet, for the most part. A few small incursions and the occassional rogue agent, or maybe test case, were all we saw these days. The noisest reports only came from up north, but even those were only because of Olivier's impossibly high standards. I respected the woman, but she could use with only two poles up her ass, instead of three. Swear I saw her make a man stand so straight, it fixed his spine.
My eyes scrawled over various details. Most were repeats of the prior days, or a mixture of reading and reviews that all amounted to nothing important at all. Maybe I should have been glad for that, but for some reason, it left this pit in my stomach. I had felt that ache once before, and I didn't like what that implied.
I set down my mug, standing and adjust my lamp. I had a simple office and desk, but Roy had been kind enough to make sure the chair better supported my back after I had given birth to Maescie. He was an overly protective fool ever since, but that was part of his charm.
My eyes darted outside for a moment. The autumn kept central at a chilly temperature, but the snow hadn't begun falling just yet. The stone streets were illuminated only by the starlight, however, as the gaslamps were turned off after two a.m. It helped preserve things as little good happened that early, and I didn't complain. Kept things quiet.
Roy would be at home right now, lilely with Maezcie asleep curled against her Papa's chest. She had turned three a couple months ago, and she was growing fast. It didn't help that frequent visits from her 'cousins' Ed and Al over the years had given her a dose of Ed's hotstreak, but it also helped us push her more into the inquisitive. She had Roy's brilliance inside those cute little brown eyes, just waiting to be grown.
I sighed, relaxing as I turned back to the sheets. Just a few more and I could turn these in for the night. Roy always fussed over me staying out late, but he never pushed too hard. He knew how much work meant to me. Even during my pregnancy, I had tried up until the third trimester to attend daily training, much to his frustration. Maybe I enjoyed the way he fussed over me, just a teensy bit.
That was when it caught my eye. There were reports I had noticed across the various files, scattered and random. However, reading over one description made them all feel grimly similar. "Signs of grey, dried grass, and dead soil." I turned the file over, eyes narrowing as a photo caught my eye like a flash.
I scratched my neck, feeling an odd irritation grow. In a lineup of Olivier's men, all stood in the snow behind her, was someone strange. Pale, ashy skin that was stretched too tight on a muscular frame, nearly as tall as Buccaneer and about as stocky. He wore a gasmask, which wasn't too strange with the symbols marking the uniform, but what drew me was the ground. He stood on snow, but just beneath it I caught a glimpse of...
Fingers tightened for a moment, anxiety started to pump in my chest with a rapid urgency. "Grey, dried grass." Hands became a flurry across the files, grabbing and compiling would I could in a hurry from the cabinets. I was so fixated, I didn't hear the door creek behind me, but I heard the floorboard.
I turned, sidearm drawn and firing through the door where the combatants head would be, by estimated weight and sounds. I heard a grunt and a wet squish behind the door, a breath calming me. For a moment, I worried I had misjudged.
Then, a sound burst out that sends chills to my very soul. The red popping of alchemical lightning. "That wasn't very nice." A childlike voice spoke as the door pushed open further. "So noisey at this hour."
"Who are you?" I stared shakily into those wailing red eyes. I could feel something wrong inside, sweat trickling down my face more than it should. There were tears forming, my heart was beating like a drum. I could barely even see before the sound suddenly stopped, my hand shaking violently on my handgun as they had vanished.
"Answer me!" I shouted, delirious with this panic thumping in my chest. Where had all my training gone?! Why were the shadows in the room moving?! Where were the other guards stationed here, I hadn't sent them home! Why did everything feel so hot?! Why, why was there a homunculus-
"We are Coming."
...
Roy Pov
"Five more minutes..." I grumbled as little Maezcie kept patting my face.
"Papa, papa!" She whined nervously. She did seem strangely anxious today. I sat up, hand reaching for my dark lenses glasses as I wrapped the other arm around our little girl.
"Maezcie, maezcie. Sweetheart, it's not even dawn yet." I murmured, judging that by the lack of heat of my neck fron the window, but it could be cloudy.
"Mama! Mama not home!" She shouted tearily.
"Mama works late Maezcie, you know that." I pet her head, a little confused. Had she had a nightmare?
"No no! Papa mama be home by now!" She started kicking, struggling in my arms. I knew it had to be something more.
"Get papa's gloves." I said, standing and quickly tossing on my clothes. I handed Maezcie off to Jean, knowing she felt safe with him next door, I took off as fast as I could. I had memorized the halls and streets of Central, so even blind I-
"ROY!!!!" I heard Riza scream out. In that moment, I saw Hughes, gripping a telephone, bleeding out in a phone booth. In that moment, I felt every muscle in me brace, ready to bleed if that's what it took.
"I'm COMING!" With a clap and a slam, I moved the very ground under me. I used it to see everything for miles, training with the brat finally paying off. I saw her, crawling away from something in a back alley two blocks over. The ground surged and dragged me under, launching me out moments later in front of my wife. I couldn't see what was there, but I knew where it was. "GET AWAY FROM MY LIEUTENANT!!" I roared.
With a violent set of snaps, the space near where this thing was ignited. I felt the blast go off too close, knocking me backwards and searing a large section of the ground into rubble. Thankfully, my entry had shielded Riza from the blast. I landed beside her after a rolling sldie.
"Roy..." She coughed as I pulled her against me. I pressed a hand to the wound in her side. Non-lethal, but the bleeding was bad. She was in shock and panicking, so without treatment, she only had around thirty minutes.
"Bite me." I offered my one finger, which she sank her teeth into. I snapped my fingers in the other, making her bite down as she held in the scream whilst my alchemy seared shut the wound. It gave her hours instead of minutes.
"No, no, No, no." There was a girlish voice coming around the other side of the rubble. I placed a hand to the ground, a pulse of feeling only showing a black mass of something. I knew exactly what that meant.
"Homunculus...!" I growled angrily.
"The Flame mustn't die just yet, no, No, no, No." It sounded like a tantrum, stomping feet on powderized brick that sent shockwaves through the alley. I grit my teeth, putting Riza behind me before clapping my hands, ready for whatever came.
But nothing came. Riza's hand held onto the back of my uniform firmly, but after a few moments, it finally calmed. She collapsed a moment later, falling slowly as I turned and caught her. I breathed quietly in relief, squeezing her closer. We had to get to hospital. We ha-
I stilled that thought. Opening my mouth if they were going after my lieutenant meant they were likely entrenched like last time. I grit my teeth, making a mad dash for the nearest hospital as I made plans.
Not exactly how I wanted to plan my next trip to Resembool, but the boys had to be informed.