"Lieutenant, you're the only one that will be honest with me... What kind of man have I become?" My hand froze as his words processed in my mind.
"You're going to have to be more specific, Colonel. I don't quite understand what you're wanting to hear." I replied cooly, beginning to sign his name on the large stack of papers he still intended to neglect.
"Don't give me that bull, Lieutenant. You know exactly what I'm asking." He said bitterly. His tone surprised me, so I glanced up to see a strange mask of composure on his face.
"Well, Colonel, you're loyal to your country, your team, your principles. That would make you a good man, sir." I watched his face carefully as I spoke, immediately catching his facade waver just a fraction of an inch. I pondered what I had said to him, wondering what had bothered him.
"My principles?" He laughed sarcastically to himself, "What principles, Lieutenant? Everything I've ever stood for was taken the same night Hu-" His voice cracked and I didn't wait for him to finish his sentence; I knew he wouldn't.
"That wasn't your fault, sir. You can't blame yourself for things that are beyond your control." I was there when he got the call informing him of Hughes' death. I watched his face as it he took on the mask of the most broken man I'd ever seen. I knew then that he would always blame himself.
"How can I not? I was on the damn phone with him, Hawkeye! I was the last person he tried to contact, and I couldn't do anything to help him!" He stood up, raking everything off his desk angrily. I stood up quietly and crossed the room, stopping in front of him.
"Colonel, you're going to bring justice to him. His loss won't go unrequited." He paused for a long moment before looking up with the most painful and utterly heartbreaking obsidian eyes.
"And how can you know that, First Lieutenant?"
"Because, sir, I'm on your team." The faintest smile threatened to dance across his lips, and I couldn't help but to answer his smile with a small one of my own.
He abruptly turned to the window, gazing out of it, just as I had seen so many times, but this time was different. He was pondering something... Something I'd never seen him ponder before. I stayed silent, not wanting to intrude on his privacy, and made my way back to my desk to work on his infinite piles of paperwork.
"Lieutenant," He started, "would you mind closing the office door. It's a little drafty in here." I nodded and complied without question, though I was slightly curious about why he would ask such a menial task of me, instead of doing it himself.
As I sat at my desk again, starting to work on the stack of papers again, his voice, barely any quieter than it had been before, rang in head.
"If you could change any of the military's laws, which one would you pick, Lieutenant?" I pondered his words, easily hearing the double meaning, but for once, not entirely sure which meaning he had intended.
"Do you mean laws for the civilians, or for the officers, Colonel?"
"For officers, Lieutenant." I was silent for a few moments hoping he would offer me more than this, but it was clear he had no intentions of doing so. There was an even longer pause as I thought about his words. For once, I had no idea what kind of answer he was looking for, and I think he realized this because he sauntered his way over to my desk.
"I'm waiting, Riza." I immediately looked up at him, taken aback at his sudden use of my first name. I studied his face intently, but he was sure to give nothing away, and I found myself at a loss for words again.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Colonel." I stated simply, and he didn't hesitate in the slightest with his response. Clearly he could read me as well as I could read him.
"I want you to say the truth, Lieutenant." I let out a soft sigh composed of half relief and half frustration.
His eyes consticted the slightest, as if he were debating with himself about something. I was extremely perplexed as he brought one of his hands up, ghosting it across what little skin my military jacket exposed on my neck.
Instinctively, my eyes rolled closed, not before I caught a glimpse of a cocky smirk playing on his lips, and shivered in response to his touch.
Though my eyes were shut, I could feel him leaning closer. I felt his heat radiating in proximity, making a heat of my own flood my cheeks. There were no words now, but I understood every question his body asked. I assumed mine answered with the response he was looking for because I could feel him getting closer, and though I knew I should, I couldn't find the will power anywhere within me to stop him. It seemed like the longest seconds of my life before his lips met mine, moving in graceful synchronization; those next few precious seconds, being the shortest in my life, ended much too soon, as the Colonel pulled away.
"You can open your eyes now, Lieutenant." I could just hear the arrogant grin that would be plastered on his face. Slowly, I opened my eyes, looking up at him, not entirely sure how I should respond to his actions.
"So, Lieutenant, tell me... Which law would you change?" God, he was such a damn womanizer.