PLEASE READ THIS NOTE: This story calls for major disclaimers. Of course you all know who owns FMA, but what I mean is that this story is NOT a stand-alone, and is inspired by and dependent on someone else's fic: The amazing Minerva Aemilius' fic Soulbound (Author: 3387562, Story: 8521789). Go read it. Right now. GO. If you've already read it, then re-read it. This story is based on hers and was written by her permission. PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ HERS. Reading this story first would spoil some of the terrificness, and that would be sad. I may add a second chapter to this, but probably not. It's just a little scene I thought up after I had read the above mentioned fic. Thanks for reading! Oh, and I apologize if the ending is a bit abrupt. That's what Minerva Aemilius' fic is for!
"Colonel!"
The bullet never hit its target. It hit something far worse.
"LIEUTENANT!"
With the echo of the gunshot the sound of utter rage filled the air, followed closely by what seemed to be the fires of Hell itself, unleashed upon the Flame Alchemist's foes. Within moments all were reduced to charred remains and piles of ash. But the damage had been done.
"Lieutenant!" He repeated, scrambling over to her fallen form. His mind screamed: This could not be happening.
It was only mere moments since they had burst in the room together, on an average mission, and been ambushed. The bullet had been meant for Roy's heart. And as Riza shoved him out of the way, it hit home.
The thunder of his flames echoed eerily in her ears, ringing and drowning out what he said next as he rolled her over to face him. She tried to answer, but no sound came out. She could feel every heartbeat, pounding in her ears, as if it was her last.
He tore open her blood stained jacket, drew his knife, and cut her quickly darkening turtle neck undershirt away from the wound. Now was no time for modesty or hesitation, he had to save her.
There was so much blood. His pristine white gloves were soon stained redder than they had ever been as he desperately tried to stop the hemorrhaging wound. The bullet seemed to have missed her heart, but possibly, the Colonel feared, pierced her left lung. He had seen this kind of injury before, in Ishval. But he had never seen anyone survive.
"Colonel…" Riza coughed under his hands.
"Shh," Roy responded immediately. "Work with me, I've got to stop the bleeding." His movements were frantic now as he tore off his own jacket to press against to the wound. "HAVOC!" He called, "FUERY!" But he knew that no one could hear him.
"Colonel…" His Lieutenant whispered again. As he looked back to her he was nearly overwhelmed by just how much blood she was losing. "I-It's alright…" She forced out underneath his hands, choking on her own breath. "I…"
"No." The Colonel all but ordered "No, you're not going to die."
"I'm sorry, sir." She finished despite him.
"I will not allow you to die for me, Lieutenant!" Roy shouted, putting more pressure on her wound. He knew he could not cauterize it. Not this time.
Riza moaned in pain under his hand. "D-don't." She panted, "You have to… to let me…" Her breath was running short.
"You can't give up, Riza." He insisted, calling her by her first name. "I'm not giving up on you!"
Where was everyone else? The pure panic in Roy's head was so loud it was a wonder they could hear it from miles off. There had to be a way to fix this. Think!
"It was always going to end like this." Riza whispered. The pain was lessening now, as her entire body began to go numb. For one so grievously wounded, her voice bore an uncanny peace. It frightened her superior officer more than he could say.
"It's not over, Riza. Stay with me." He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and cradled her, still keeping pressure on the wound with his right hand, and leaned closer. Memories played over in his head searching desperately for any alternative he knew. Anything that would keep her from death. He glanced back up at the door, as if by sheer will power he could conjure up the rest of his team, along with an ambulance or even a philosopher's stone.
For a moment he remembered the story Edward had told him about using one's own soul in the place of a philosopher's stone. He did not know what kind of risk that took, but he would gladly attempt it for Hawkeye, if only he knew how. Think! He insisted to himself again. What would Edward do?
It was a question he did not often ask himself, and if he had been anywhere near his right mind he would have scolded himself for it, but this was no time for wit or for scorn. He needed all the help he could get.
Riza's whole body convulsed as she coughed, buckling under his hands. She grit her teeth and tried to stop the blood now pooling into her lungs from rising. She leaned her head against his arm but said not a word.
"Come on, Riza, stay with me. You can make it until help comes." He reassured her, and cried out again, "HAVOC! FUERY! FALMAN! BREDA!"
Riza did not respond.
Roy looked back down to the woman in his arms, and in an instant the truth of the situation slammed itself full force into his mind. She was dying. She would not make it. No one was coming. He could not save her.
Mustang would later be loath to admit it, but the thought of attempting human transmutation did in fact cross his mind, but only for a moment. He knew it was the devil's bargain. He knew that once death took her there was no getting her back. He could not let death have her. He had to keep her here, with him.
He would fight off death itself with his bare hands if he had to, but it would not take Hawkeye. He remembered the doors he had seen, the gateway. He could not allow her to pass through.
"Riza!" He called as he got an idea and tried to shake life back into her unresponsive form. Riza moaned in reply, wishing that he would just let her alone, let her die in his arms.
"Riza, listen to me." Roy commanded. A moment later and he had laid her back down and had his knife in his hand again. "I need you to hold on, just a little longer." Without hesitation he cut into the flesh of his own arm. "That's an order, do you understand?"
After an eternity of a moment, Riza forced her eyes open once more to see what he meant. In an instant, she knew what he was doing. Human Transmutation. Her eyes went wide, as at once she tried to push him away. "No!" She shouted as best she could. "You can't-"
"It's alright, Riza." Mustang bit his lip as he cut another line into his arm, which now dripped heavily with blood. "This will work."
"I-I can't let you…" Riza coughed. She was coughing up blood now, staining her mouth and chin. She would have allowed herself to die, but the pure fear that Mustang's actions brought her was keeping her fighting. Her left arm, which had lay limp and useless until now, found its natural path down to her holster.
"Don't." She coughed pathetically, drawing her gun and resting it on her stomach as she weakly attempted to raise it to her superior officer's chest. "Please, Colonel." She did not want to do this. She did not want this to be the final act of her life; to die saving the Colonel, and then kill him with her own hand.
Mustang paid her threats no heed, even as the cold barrel of her revolver pressed itself to his chest. He had to finish the array. He had only seen it once or twice before, but it was simple enough. The last line, the curling one, was the hardest.
Riza had no strength left to pull the trigger. Tears found their way down her cheeks as she coughed again. Death was coming fast.
The moment Roy was done he threw down the knife and wrapped Riza in his arms again. He took her hand in his own and gently removed the gun, which was still pointed at his heart.
"No…" Riza moaned in weak protest. He took her hand and showed her what he had done to his arm. It was not the human transmutation circle that she had seen before, but it was familiar. She recognized it at once as the rune that had bound Alphonse Elric's soul to a suit of armor.
"Only your body is dying, Lieutenant, unless you choose to go with it." He told her. "If I can keep you here long enough to fix the damage, there's a chance we can both live through this."
Riza shook her head as Roy clapped his hands together in a position of prayer to create a circle, just as Edward always had. "No human transmutation." She ordered weakly, the words coming out as a broken sob.
"But it's reversible. Remember Edward's arm?" he insisted, tightly gripping her hand again as if his very grasp could keep her spirit with him.
The thought of Mustang losing an arm for her sake was absolutely revolting, no matter if he got it back or not. But Riza's mind was barely functioning now, and the light was fading.
"Lieutenant," Mustang called seriously. "Do you trust me?"
Riza closed her eyes and allowed her head to nod, mentally cursing herself if this caused him any permanent harm.
Without waiting for more confirmation, Mustang slapped his hand onto the circle he had made.