Click.

Havoc snapped the silver identification bracelet from her hand, and dropped it next to the skeleton that lay silently slumped against a wall. He grabbed her hand, and, to her surprise, pushed her into the bin. She landed with a thump, and rubbed her eyes. As she opened the, she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her- Edward. He put out his hand, and she took it, smiling. She turned her head and nodded to Lieutenant Havoc.

"Thank you,"

He smiled, and waved her on, looking around him to check that no-one was around. She turned her head back to face Ed, and followed him through a small opening in the bin, along a cold, narrow tunnel.

"Where are we going, Ed?"

"Somewhere where you can be safe,"

They both crawled along the tunnel silently for what seemed like only a few minutes, until they reached an opening at the end, light shining through it, blocking their vision temporarily. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness so the light came as a shock to their eyes.

Ed crawled forward and jumped down, and she followed soon after. Her feet landed on a cold, hard pavement, and she brushed herself down quickly, and looked up to see Ed talking to a old, bearded man who was mounted on a brown horse. The man had hazel, caring eyes. She walked over to Ed and the man, and they both turned to face her. Ed whispered something in the man's ear, and he nodded, looking at her. He leant forward to shake Ed's hand, then he put his hand out in front of her, and she shook it. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand, and hoisted her up onto the horse so she was sat behind him.

"Ed, I can't thank you enough for this," she whispered, giving Ed and apologetic look.

"Not a problem, anything to help a friend,"

"So, you're not going to tell Roy about this then?"

Ed nodded glumly. "Its safer that he doesn't know, for your safety and his. If he knew…"

"…He might come looking for me, believing that I killed Hughes," she finished sadly. Ed looked up at her sadly, and shook her hand.

"I'm sorry, that's just the way it has to be," Ed smiled, and waved as the man lightly kicked his heels into the horse's side to get it moving.

Ed sighed, and when the horse was out of sight, slowly walked away.

"Good luck…Lieutenant Hawkeye…"

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Riza jolted up in her bed, and looked at her surroundings. She was in a small box room, with pale blue walls. The only possessions in the room were the bed in which she was sitting, and some boxes piled up, with clothes carelessly flung over them. She sighed, and put her hand to her forehead, which was hot and sweaty. She breathed another long sigh, and looked down at her watch. 6 Am. Time to get up. She pulled the covers from the bed, and jumped out.

Just a dream. That's all…

Riza walked over to boxes, and picked up a pile of ready-prepared clothes from the top of one of the boxes. She opened the door, and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for what was going to be another difficult day…

"Good morning, Elizabeth, I see you're up bright and early, as usual!"

Riza laughed, and smiled at the man. He was small in stature, with messy brown hair and deep blue eyes. He was in his late fifties, and it showed. But although getting old, the man's face showed youthful enthusiasm.

"Good morning Henry, how did you sleep?" asked Riza politely, tying a apron behind her back.

"Very well, thank you for asking, Elizabeth, haven't had that much of a good night's sleep in a long time," the man chuckled heartily.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have a favour to ask of you,"

"Oh?" Riza looked up.

"I have some errands to run today, business and what not. It will mean that I'm going to be out of town for a good few days, possibly a week or so, and I need someone to look after the shop while I'm gone. You've been helping me out for almost two years now, and I know you're responsible enough to look after it for a while, so if its not too much of a burden…"

Riza put her hand on the old man's shoulder, and smiled at him warmly. "It's fine, I'd be happy to,"

The old man smiled back gratefully. "You're sure you can handle the shop for a week all by yourself?"

Riza nodded, and patted his shoulder, and continued tying her apron. "I should be fine, if I have any problems I'll just call for some help from Beatrice across the road if need be, but I'm sure I can manage,"

"Thank you so much Elizabeth, it means a lot to me!" the man laughed happily. "I'll be leaving in about an hour, and I should be back by next Tuesday, but if I'm going to be any later, I'll make sure to give you a call or a telegram. I'm so sorry for the short notice…"

"Its fine Henry, I owe you so much already for taking me in all this time, its my duty to pay you back. Well, I'd better leave you to get ready then, and I'm sure there'll be customers waiting…" Riza stretched her arms in front of her, and turned to walk into the front of the shop.

Riza rested her head in her arms, and closed her eyes. Henry had left about six hours ago, and there had been little activity in the store today. The only customers had been Mrs Edmond who wanted some medicine for her son who had the flu, and George and Ella, the elderly couple who came in everyday to buy their lunch, although Riza was sure sometimes they came in just to chat to her.

It had been two years since that day. Two years since Havoc and Ed had broken her out of the prison cell which she'd been kept as a wrongful prisoner in, and sent her away to the small town of Ardery, days away from Central. The journey on horse with her escort had taken five days, but on some occasions they'd stopped to get food in local towns. The whole time Riza had to wear her hair down, and she always had to wear a dusty brown coat, so no one would recognise her.

When Havoc and Ed had broken her out, they put some old prison clothes on a skeleton and Ed used his alchemy to make it look like it had been Riza's body, and that she'd been laying dead for weeks. Ed and Havoc spread a false rumour that Riza had tried to escape and had been captured and killed by Scar. The plan worked, and Riza escaped successfully, avoiding her execution, which had been due to take place the next day.

The murder of Hughes's had shocked everyone in the Military, and even more shocking were the claims that Riza had been the killer. Ed came up with the theory that Envy, the shape shifting Homunculus was the culprit, but the Fuhrer took Riza away to a prison cell anyway, and she was sentenced to death.

All of her Military comrades had been present at her trial, including Colonel Mustang- the Flame Alchemist. Roy. Riza smiled sadly. That had been the last time she'd seen her superior officer, her last glance of him was when the bodyguards dragged her away as she kicked and screamed, shouting that the trail was unfair and there was no evidence. As she was pulled away, she turned one last time to see Roy looking at her sadly, his face a mix of emotions. Sadness. Helplessness. Anger. Riza wasn't sure if the anger was because her trial was unfair, or whether he believed that she'd killed Lieutenant Hughes, his best friend.

After the trial, Ed had told her Military comrades about his Homunculus theory, and they agree to help him. But Roy wasn't told. Ed had told her that it was best he didn't know that she was still alive, that he didn't know of her whereabouts, incase he blamed her. Riza agreed to the terms, she didn't want Roy to get hurt. If he did believe her story, and knew she was alive, he could be at risk from the people who wanted her dead. So her comrades promised to keep their mouths shut.

Fuery had promised to take care of Black Hayate for her. Riza sighed sadly. God, did she miss that dog. She missed his company, but was grateful to Fuery, knowing that the dog was now in good hands.

But the thing that bothered her the most, the thing that had stuck in her mind all these years, was her Colonel. What did he think of her? Did he truly believe that she had killed Hughes, that she had murdered his best friend? He hadn't said a word at the court trial, the whole time he remained silent, staring at the floor. When it was announced that she was to be put to death, Roy looked up, and she was dragged away.

Riza prayed that he didn't hate her, that his heart wasn't so full of rage that he was blinded from the truth. Part of her had hope in him; part of her believed that he would never believe that it was her. But then part of her worried that he hated her because of it. That was the part that kept her awake at night, and gave her nightmares when she slept. Ever since the escape, she'd dreamt of that fateful day.

Henry, the owner of the shop she worked in, had welcomed her with open arms. He knew that she was on the run from the Military as she had been falsely accused of a crime, but he didn't know what. Riza was incredibly grateful to him, and to pay back for him looking after her and letting her stay in his house and eat his food, she worked in his shop 5 times a week, and on weekends too if he needed the extra help.

Riza's eyes snapped open suddenly at the sound of thunder outside. She'd fallen asleep, how long had she been asleep? Riza glanced down at her watch lazily, and jolted upwards when she saw the time. 11pm! That late already? Riza prayed that no-one had come into the shop to buy anything whilst she'd been asleep. The store was supposed to have closed two hours ago! Riza leapt out of her chair, and looked along the aisles to see if anyone was in the shop. It was empty. Riza sighed, and slowly walked over to the door. She turned the sign on the door to closed, and made her way back to the till. She slouched down onto the chair, and put her head in her hands, looking out of the window at the pouring rain, and the crashing thunder.

Riza smiled, remembering how Roy had hated the rain, and fell asleep on the till again, this time dreaming peacefully of a time when she was happy, and not on the run….

"Excuse me?"

Riza awoke at the sound of a voice, and rubbed her eyes. She'd only been asleep for about half an hour this time. What time was it? Riza looked at her watch, she was right, half eleven. What was a customer doing in the shop at this time of night, the sign said closed.

"Sorry to wake you, can I have a pack of forty please?"

Riza pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and sat up, stil half asleep.
Hmmm….she didn't recognise the voice as someone local, it must be a tourist. But Riza could have sworn she'd heard that voice before…

"Sorry, we're closed right now…."

Riza looked up at the customer, and stopped mid-sentence as she saw a painfully familiar face staring back at her. His jet black hair was wet and sparkling from the downpour outside, and his familiar blue uniform was drenched too.

Riza's eyes widened, and she slowly stood up, still in shock.

"I've finally found you….Riza…." smiled a soaking wet Roy Mustang.