"As you know, this means war."

[light__of__day]

Only one thought had gone through Riza's mind when Ed had returned to the Nexus in a state of pure, cold, rage. She carried out with that thought without a word, and had retreated to her room to quickly change; then out came a heavy box from the back of her closet shelf, and the gun within was loaded for the first time since she couldn't remember

Comments

[superman_dead]

Edward scoured the article in the paper with the terrorists' demands for Fullmetal silently, searching for some sign, maybe some coded message about where the hell he was supposed to go to 'turn himself' in.

Nothing.

Goddamn stupid terrorists. How the hell was anyone supposed to answer their demands if they didn't know where to go?

He tossed the paper into the nearest trash with a bit of a snit, and glanced at Riza. "Got any connections in the military we could check with that won't get us in trouble for being AWOL? The assholes didn't leave any sort of word on where to go."

[light__of__day]

She studied him for a heartbeat before nodding. "We need to get to East City. If we use the PIN, there's safehouses there we can use for a base, and I can call my grandfather. I need to do that anyway, since I need more guns and ammo. We could call Havoc or Breda, but I'm not sure where they are right now, and if nothing else, Grandfather can dig up the info we need one way or another." She quirked a faint smile. "I'll be in a lot of trouble with him for being AWOL, but only to the point of getting an ear-blistering lecture on worrying everybody."

[superman_dead]

"Better a lecture than a court martial," he replied. "All right, calibrate the PIN for out there, then. A safe place to go back to before we go to the Nexus to take care of injuries would be good, anyway." That, and to explain the Nexus to Al so he doesn't go in totally unprepared, but hey, details.

[light__of__day]

"That's what I was thinking." She studied the PIN, having had a quick crash-course in how to operate it before leaving the Nexus. Coordinates. Joy.

The PIN provided some coordinate options, and she went with one outside the city to be safe. She had no idea how accurage such long-range coordinate estimates would be and the idea of ending up inside a wall instead didn't appeal to her.

"We'll arrive outside of East City, at least this time," Riza said.

[light__of__day]

"Two hours," she repeated. "He needs time to get the information and the weapons and get here, all without raising eyebrows or questions. In the meantime, if you prefer, we can discuss possible strategy alternatives to impliment or tweak as needed depending on what we learn."

[superman_dead]

Edward snerks. "Strategy? I was thinking I'd go in and just kill all the bastards, myself." He looks pretty damn serious about that, too.

[light__of__day]

Riza closed her eyes and fought the urge to facepalm. "Yes, well, it's a bit of a trick to do that when we don't know where they are to begin with, or how many of them there are. It wouldn't really do to go into a fight horribly outnumbered."

[superman_dead]

"Which is information I'm hoping our two hour wait will bring us," he replies easily. "And I've faced worse odds. I brought stones along for a reason. I don't care what kind of weaponry you have, you're gonna die if the ground suddenly opens up under you."

His is an eeeeeeeevil smirk, apparently.

[superman_dead]

Edward hmms quietly, focusing on the ceiling again.

After a pause, he finally speaks up, voice quiet. "I can't feel him. Haven't been able to since I ended up in London. So I can't even know if we're too late or not."

[light__of__day]

She stared at him, silent for a moment, then walked over, stopping in front of him. "We're not," Riza said, her tone firm. "Because we both know any other answer is unacceptable. We're not too late, and there's no room to entertain any other thoughts or doubts."

[superman_dead]

Edward flicks his gaze in her direction, and manages a weak smile after a second. "Yeah. I know. It's doubtful we're too late anyway. We have a few days yet. They want Fullmetal to show up, it'd be stupid to kill their bait prematurely."

[light__of__day]

Riza's gaze didn't falter; her tone was almost stern. "We will get him back. Safe and sound," she repeated, trying to kill whatever damped out that earlier fire.

[light__of__day]

Riza blinked and looked at Ed. What'm I supposed to do with grenades anyway?

"I look forward to it. Now if that's all, I need to get back to the office and warn the missus to expect a shocker of a surprise, and to make sure the puppy's all clean and waiting," he said as he reorganized his robes to prepare to go outside. "And I'm sure you two are eager to get on the move. Good luck."

[superman_dead]

He smirks at her- A lady always brings protection, dear.

"Thank you, General," he says, nodding at Graman.

[light__of__day]

"I'll see you both later," he said as he moved to the door, already adopting the shuffling gait. As Riza opened the door to let him out, he paused just long enough to give her a final crack to the head with his cane, not saying a word as he continued on.

Riza shot a look after him and shut the door, bolting it again. "Well, if you want, you can stay here and look over the documentation while I make a trip out to the storage and get the rest of the supplies," she told Ed, holding up the key.

[superman_dead]

Edward smothers a laugh, then gives Riza a smug grin. "Clearly, you're easily kept in line," he teases, the nods. "Yeah, you go do that. I'm gonna see if I can figure out where the hell those guys are keeping Al." He eyes the files critically.