"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

[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.

[light__of__day]

She shot him a light glare in response. "Try it and I'm throwing something at your head," she warned as she picked up her bag and stepped over to him and cupped his cheek wit her hand to give him a light kiss. "I won't be long."

[superman_dead]

Edward smirks, slipping an arm around her waist and kissing her back, possibly a bit rougher than necessary. "Hurry back," he tells her, releasing his hold on her.

[light__of__day]

Riza froze, startled by that, and stared at him for a moment, her cheeks just a shade redder.

Give her time to figure out her opinion on matters and the deer-in-headlights flusteredness won't be an issue anymore.

"I- I will," she said, her voice quieter as she took a step back, then turned to leave.

[superman_dead]

Edward smirks, leaning in and nipping at her neck briefly before she turns away. "You're the one that said no," he reminds her, turning back to the files.

He waits until she turns, then reaches over and smacks her ass. "And that's what you get for it."

He's just looking at the files! Really! :D

[light__of__day]

She closed her eyes at that nip, fighting down a shiver. Evil.

Then she spun around, giving him an incredulous, indignant, wide-eyed look. You hit me.

"Get for..." She trailed off. "That- but- that- it..." Riza huffed a bit and narrowed her eyes, hauling her composure back into the game. "This is hardly the time or the place to get distracted like that anyway," she retorted, and peeked outside to make sure no one was watching the doorway.

[superman_dead]

He smirks, turning to sit down at the table and start leafing through the files Granam had brought them.

Hardly the time or place, true, but it would've been an interesting distraction from the desire to kill someone while they were waiting for the old man to get there.

[light__of__day]

Riza left the safehouse, her cap pulled low and her jacket collar turned high, and made her way through the back alleys of the city. It had been several years since she lived out there, but she still remembered every twist and turn like the back of her hand

[superman_dead]

Edward had indeed come up with a few leads.

He spent most of the time she was gone pacing around, stopping and glancing over the files and the maps, then resuming the pacing.

It was hard to think past the ice cold in his veins, past the fact that they had Al- the thought was blinding him, and blocking out most rational thought.

(Stop. Think.) he ordered himself, returning to the table and staring down at the maps of Central, at the files and reports

[light__of__day]

Riza hung back from the safehouse to make sure no one was following or watching her. She walked to the door, neither running nor dawdling, and with a fluid ease, opened the door and slipped out of sight of the street, shutting it quickly and setting the bag on a chair as she turned around.

"Find anything while I was gone?"

[superman_dead]

Edward looks up at her, a feral grin on his face. "I have. I know where they are."

[light__of__day]

"Where?" she asked, walking over, already reaccustomed to the additional weight and positioning of the guns at her sides and back, moving with an easy grace. She looked down at the map as she stopped beside him.

[superman_dead]

Edward points to one of the more run-down areas of Central, right along the edge of a more heavily-populated, lower-class neighborhood. "There. Take a look what's around there. Some old factory warehouses, most of them out of use, some of them condemned. Take a look what's just a few blocks from there. A hospital. I checked, that hospital's still in use. It's a low-income place, but still in use, still full of ready-made, hard-to-evacuate hostages."