The truth was, it has only been a few years that Riza Hawkeye finally accepted the fact that she was in love with Roy Mustang. Her feelings for him were more than just simple loyalty to her superior. Actually, it would have been hard to believe to say that someone willing to risk their life for another, was not, at the very least, in love with that person.
Riza Hawkeye had spent over ten years beside Roy Mustang. She had, without a doubt, devoted her life to help him reach the top. The first time he had told her his dream and ambition, she silently listened and decided that her goal in life would be to see his dream come true. But they were both young and reckless. It would have been a lie to say that she had never once doubted their success. However, Roy's perseverance never wavered and Riza's trust in him strengthened. After a while, she whole heartedly started believing that Roy's dream of becoming fuhrer and changing this country for the better was possible.
One thing that Riza Hawkeye told herself before chasing after this man's dream was to never fall in love with him; for she knew that if she did, she would only get hurt.
And that was true.
Roy Mustang was a notorious bachelor known throughout Amestris. Not only was he the youngest high ranking military officer, but he was also the infamous Flame Alchemist. There was nobody who did not know his name. Who would not want to date a man that had good looks, money and fame? On top of it all, he was still single. Nobody knew why he wasn't married yet but just believed that he liked to be free and fool around. In addition, his actions completely supported that idea.
Riza Hawkeye was always the first to arrive in the office, then came the others and then finally the colonel. She was always early, preparing everybody's paperwork for the day, checking the colonel's schedule and meetings. The others usually came on time, except for Havoc, who would, most of the time, run a bit late. But it was never as bad as the colonel.
It was already fifteen past eight and everyone had arrived and were already working on their paperwork, except for the colonel. Hawkeye knew that he was always late on Mondays. So she just quietly sat at her desk doing her work and all at the same time keeping an eye on the clock to see how late he would be this time.
Moments after, Havoc broke the silence and asked "Isn't the colonel later than usual today? It's already a quarter to nine and he still hasn't arrived," then he snickered and added, "I bet he's still in bed having fun with his latest catch." All the men chuckled at the idea because it could actually be true.
"Silence Havoc. The colonel's personal life is none of our business. Whatever is keeping him from coming to work on time is his problem and he should be responsible enough to fix it himself," Hawkeye warned him with a voice that left no space for a retort.
"Yes ma'am," said Havoc.
But the truth was, Hawkeye was also having a hard time dealing with the colonel's tardiness. She was always trying to convince herself that he had just forgotten to put his alarm on and slept in by accident. But she inwardly knew that the others were closer to the truth and she would ever be.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the opening doors. The colonel marched in with a smile. "Good morning everyone," he greeted casually. Everyone knew he was in an awfully good mood this morning.
"Sir, you're an hour late. Would you care to explain what was stopping you from coming in earlier?" asked Hawkeye.
"Chief, I bet you were still with that chick you hooked up with Friday, right? Let me guess, you guys spent a steamy night that lasted till this morning right?" teased Havoc.
Mustang just stared at him, then turned sideways and gave him his infamous smirk. All the men cheered and laughed. Mustang's face said it all.
"So, how was she?" Breda asked.
"Hey now, I'm not gonna get into details. There's a lady in the room you know. It would be rude of me," said the colonel.
Then everybody turned their eyes to meet Hawkeye's death glare, which left them all silent. "Get back to work everyone," was all that she said. What else could she say? The man that she was in love with was obviously oblivious to the fact that she had feelings for him. And there he was, talking about his sex life to all the other men. She couldn't help but feel betrayed and hurt every time he came back with more stories to share about his most recent dates. After all, she had given him everything, but received nothing in return.
It's understandable, she told herself, I'm not the kind of girl men are attracted to. She was a military woman, a scary one too. Men were too afraid to even consider her as a woman. Her looks were average and she didn't have the time to flirt with others, not that she wanted to. She just wasn't like a normal woman her age, going around looking for boyfriends. She didn't have the time for that. It was wrong of her to feel hurt because of the colonel. He was allowed to act like any other man. It wasn't his fault, it was hers.
Each time her heart would hurt after hearing him talk about other girls, she would scold herself and burry her feelings. She had no right to be jealous. Throughout the years she had built a barrier around her heart and had gotten used to it now.
The next day she came in earlier than usual. She went down to the front desk to collect everyone's paperwork for the day. As she scanned through the pile to assign them properly to each desk, she saw a file for the colonel about a 'recruitment'.
As she stood in front of his desk reading that file, she slowly became more and more tense. It was a recruitment form for soldiers to go onto the field. But it wasn't just any battle. It was a fight against a well known group of revolutionaries called the 'Iods', which consisted of bandits, mercenaries and trained soldiers. They were large in number and skilled at fighting. All in all, they were very dangerous. Their base was close to the west borderline of Amestris and that was where they started their fight against the military's west HQ. Hawkeye had heard about it, but she didn't know it would result in such a serious fight. It was almost like a small scale war.
She didn't have time to think anymore as she heard footsteps closing in. She quickly took the file and put it in her drawer. She could definitely not let the colonel see it.
As the day went by, she couldn't help but think about that recruitment paper. All the men in the office were surprised at how absentminded she was today.
"Are you alright lieutenant? You seem to be bothered by something," asked the colonel, concerned.
"Ah, yes I'm fine sir. Thank you for asking," said Hawkeye after snapping out of her thoughts. Damn, I can't believe I seemed that distressed, she thought, I have to concentrate and forget about it for now.
Everything after that was normal like any other day. One by one the men left the office at the end of the day, until it was only the colonel and the lieutenant left.
The colonel stood up and started preparing to leave. "Are you coming?" he asked.
"No, I still have some things to take care of. You go ahead sir," she answered.
"Alright then, have a good night Hawkeye. Don't stay too late. I'll see you tomorrow," he said.
Hawkeye just nodded and waited until he was far enough from the office to take out that file. She put it on her desk and stared at it.
She knew why they wanted to recruit him. He was the Flame Alchemist after all. This war could easily turn in favor of the military if they had him. But no matter how much she wanted the military to win, her desire to protect the colonel was a first priority. The colonel was fine now. He had finally recovered the Ishbal war and it has taken years for him to be able to get over it and forgive himself. She couldn't let him go through that pain and suffering again. If he fought in this war and ended up the same way he did after the Ishbal war, she didn't think he would have the will to continue pursuing his dream. She couldn't afford to take the risk and she swore that she would do anything to protect him.
She looked at the paper looking for the person who had given this order. Near the bottom of the page, she found the name: General Marcus Hall, of Central Headquarters. As she saw that, she was almost too happy to see that she wouldn't have to go anywhere far to meet this person. She quickly made her way out of the office and went to look for this general. Luckily, the person working at the front desk was still there.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a General Hall. Could you tell me where his office is located?" she asked.
After getting the directions, she walked quickly towards his office hoping he would still be there. As she approached his door, she was a man coming out. His badge showed that he was a general, so she assumed that he was Marcus Hall.
She snapped into salute and said, "General Hall, sir. I am first lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and I am here to request an audience with you regarding an important matter, sir."
The general, surprised by the unexpected visit, was amused by her bold request and said, "alright, since I still have some time to spare, I'll hear out your request. It does look pretty important to you. Come on in." He reopened his door and offered her a seat in front of his desk.
"Thank you, sir." Hawkeye walked in and sat in the chair in a perfect strait position.
The general gave a kind smile and chuckled. "Its just as the rumors said. You do look like the perfect soldier. You know, you have quite the reputation in the military. Not only are you a woman, you're also our best sharpshooter. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not looking down on women. I'm actually quite impressed and I know that many other women in the military look up to you," he complimented.
"Ah, thank you very much for the compliment sir," said Hawkeye a bit flustered. She didn't expect to get complimented, by a general no less. She looked strait at him and asked, "permission to speak sir." The general gave his approval.
Hawkeye knew he was a kind man after listening to him speak. Maybe she had a chance with this. She started, " Actually sir, I'm here to speak to you about colonel Mustang's recruitment to the west front." The general became more serious and listened closely. Seeing he was now giving her his full attention, she continued, "I do not recommend sending the colonel out on the field again. His mental stability isn't as strong as it used to be after the Ishbal war. It has been hard for him to recover after that war and I'm afraid we might lose him completely if he joins this fight. However he is a very good tactician, I must say, and he could very well help out our forces from here."
The general seemed to be in deep thoughts after hearing this, then he said, "I didn't know the colonel was that affected by the war. I was a terrible war. I'm sorry to hear that he had a hard time moving on. But now, what we need is reinforcements to our forces at the west front. The Iods are fending pretty well and we need man power more than ever. What do you suggest we do if we don't recruit the Flame Alchemist?"
Hawkeye knew this was coming, but was hoping it hadn't come. "I volunteer to take his place, sir. I know there is a need of sharpshooters. What our forces could use right now are soldiers capable of searching the parameters and spy on the enemies to figure out their plans. This would be a faster way for us to corner them and hopefully end the fight without too much casualties. I have been trained and have experience doing these kind of jobs and I could also help out the other snipers already on the field." Hawkeye hoped that her speech was convincing enough. If he could accept her offer, then the colonel would be safe from danger and could continue climbing to the top. She could accept doing the dirty work, only if she knew Mustang was free from it.
Every passing second seemed like eternity as Hawkeye waited for a response from the general. He was in deep thought and seemed to really consider her deal. Finally, he looked at her and said "alright, I'll cancel his recruitment and have one made for you. Your plan seems like a good one and it might just work. We should try to quietly end this war than to overwhelm them with power. It would only result in a catastrophic war like the one in Ishbal." He smiled, and then added "the colonel is lucky to have such a devoted subordinate as you."
And that was it. Riza Hawkeye was going to replace Roy Mustang in the upcoming war.
A.N.: This is my first time attempting to write something. So maybe there are a lot of errors or just weird phrasing. Tell me if there are some please, so I can correct. I'm not sure if this is gonna be a success. but I just wanted to write some thing about roy x riza. I've actually been itching to write a story about them. Hope you guys like it somewhat...