FMA: Truly a Shame
Title: Truly a Shame
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (manga/Brotherhood)
Word Count: 251.
Rating: PG (brief violence, creepiness)
Summary: "Why don't you join our side?" Pride has an offer for Lieutenant Hawkeye.
Warnings: SPOILERS through to chapter 71 of the manga and episode 37 of Brotherhood.
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and all associated characters, settings, etc., belong to Hiromu Arakawa-san. The only profit I make from this work of fiction is my own satisfaction and, possibly, the enjoyment of others.
Author's Notes: Written for the April 18 prompt at 31_days - "not my kind of bribe".
Her skin crawls beneath her uniform. She can feel the tendrils of solid shadow creeping along the cloth, slowly wrapping around her limbs and holding her still. She has rarely been this terrified - the colonel, she needs to warn him, the monster’s guise has been only too perfect and he will never guess the truth by himself, she can’t die here - but from some reservoir of determination she didn’t even know she had she finds the strength to laugh at the homunculus’s offer.
“You must be joking,” she manages, a smile that is more a flash of teeth than anything else crossing her face. “What you want are convenient pawns, not allies.”
The homunculus - Pride - chuckles. The sound is all the more unnerving because she can still hear the voice of the little boy within it. “What a shame,” it murmurs.
The shadows suddenly constrict around her. She holds in her flinch as one slices her cheek. She can feel the blood dripping from it as she snaps, “Your threats are useless.” The shadow hovers. Is it surprised? “What would you gain by killing your hostage now?”
The shadow lingers for a moment, then pats her cheek patronizingly. She shudders as it slowly unravels from her. “You’re quite right,” the homunculus says lightly. “But I wouldn’t speak of this to anyone if I were you. Remember, Lieutenant Hawkeye… I will always be watching you… from the shadows.”
Riza whirls, too late. The alley is empty except for her.
And the shadows.
END