Into the Fire

September 15th, 2011

Riza Mustang sat with her husband in the waiting room outside of the doctor's office. She thumbed through a magazine rather impatiently, watching her husband tap his foot and fold his arms over his chest. She was just as scared as he was, and the results of today could make or break their future. She reached a shaky hand out to press it gently against his knee, calming his shaking. "It's going to be okay."

"You say it," He began, staring at all the other people in the waiting room. "But he's an hour late, and I'm already freaking out. What if it's not okay? When is it ever really okay?"

She'd never known him to panic like this, so she set down the magazine, calmly took a deep breath, and stared at him. His eyes met with her honey brown ones, and she smiled, placing her hands on both sides of his cheeks, pulling him down into a kiss. "If it's not okay, then there are options. It's not the end of the world."

He let out a soft sigh and looked at her with bright onyx eyes. "Yes, but I feel like those doors with the options are slowly closing behind us. We're not even able to show anything for this fight."

She sighed and pushed her hair back, shaking her head. "Don't you have other things you could be worrying about? Like the company baseball game later today?"

"I hate baseball." He grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Riza questioned with a smirk.

As if a child scolded for being wrong, Roy raised his voice slightly. "I. Hate. Baseball."

"And you hate work. And you hate when I'm sick. Let's not forget that you hate cabbage, either, since you make it a point to mention it every night when I make dinner." She turned to her husband and stuck her tongue out. "Because you haven't learned after five years that I know you don't like cabbage."

He huffed and folded his arms again. Several patients turned to look at them, but Riza just gave a soft smile while Roy scowled. The door across the hall opened and everyone turned to look, but Roy knew before he even heard those words that they were going to be next. The nurse spoke Riza's name, and ushered her into the examining room.

When the door was safely closed behind the couple, the doctor took a seat and looked at Riza, asking her to sit on the table. "I was told this was an emergency?"

Riza nodded rather sadly and folded her hands together against her knees, her eyes darkening suddenly. "I woke up this morning with cramps, and before I knew it, I was bleeding. I couldn't stop it." Roy placed his hands against her shoulders for support, kissing her hair softly. "This is the tenth time in five years."

The man in the lab coat nodded and looked up at her, fixing his glasses and clicking a pen. "How long ago was it?"

She looked up at Roy for verification. He would have been leaving for work. "Six," He replied sadly. "Is there anything we can do?"

The doctor tapped the pen to his lip and looked to the couple, shaking his head slightly. "There are treatment options. I would highly suggest taking samples and seeing where the problem is. It's possible that it's neither of you and its just bad timing. Your wife's health is in excellent condition, I don't see why there would be a problem conceiving. We'll take samples from both of you and send them off for testing. It should be a day or so before I hear back from the lab. In the meantime, Mrs. Mustang, please take it easy and don't overexert yourself. We'll discuss further treatment if necessary."

She nodded and slid from the table, looking to Roy. He seemed to be taking it harder than her, but she didn't ask him any questions. "Thank you, Doctor Alan."

Roy led her down various halls, quietly thinking to himself, trying not to burdon her with questions. He closed his eyes for a moment and stopped, turning to her. "It's not your fault." Wrapping his arms around her body rather tightly, he closed his eyes and buried his head against her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Elizabeth."

Taken aback, Riza gently wrapped her arms around him, her mind reeling with scenarios. He honestly felt like it was his fault that they couldn't have children? She turned her head and moved her left hand to touch his head. "I know." And in a maternal way, she started to rub his back slowly. He seemed to be content there, even though she was sure they looked like idiots. Especially her, with this taller man hunched over her like she was a bug he couldn't see. Her eyes began to water, but she didn't cry. She knew he would prefer her to be stronger. "At least I didn't grow attached to her…"

There was a pang of regret in his next words. "Alice never stood a chance," He whispered sadly. "You had pneumonia, she would have died anyway."

"Yes, but I was six months along at the time, and that's what killed me." She quietly observed, pulling away from him. "We should go home. You need to get ready for your baseball game." She took his hand and started to pull him through the hallways, wanting to avoid contact from anyone for the time being. She'd go to cheer on his game, but there wasn't much chance of her being happy about it. "Roy."

He stopped and stared at her. "Yes?"

"There will be other times, right?" She questioned, looking up at him with her eyes squinting in the sunlight filtering through the windows of the clinic.

Though he hesitated, the older man nodded slightly. "Yes, there will be other times. But…we should consider the options, as sad as it sounds. What options are there?"

She tapped her finger to her lip, before using her other hand to hold up one finger. "Surrogacy."

"No," He commented quietly. "You want this as bad as I do, it has to be you."

She sighed and turned to him. "But if I can't have a baby, then I don't have a choice, now do I? You've effectively ruled out the last three options with just one statement."

"The other three options are?"

"Adoption, fertility specialists, and invetro." She blinked and looked down slightly. "Invetro seems like it would be scary to go through, but it's the least harmful. Fertility treatments come with an added risk of multiples…and adoption is out of the question because you want the baby to be ours." Her amber eyes caught with his, saw the torment that weighed on his mind. "You're really worried about this."

"Of course I'm worried, it took me two years to convince you to have a baby with me, and that was after six miscarriages," He closed his eyes and ignored the stares of the receptionist. "Did you agree because you feel it's your duty as a wife, or because you actually wanted one?"

Staring down at the floor, her eyes clouded over. "America declared war three days ago. Your unit will be shipping out. I know you haven't told me yet, but Grace told me." She looked up at him, hiding the pain and sorrow. "You were going to tell me, right?"

"Yes," He whispered breathlessly. "I was going to tell you but I didn't think you needed the added stress. Elizabeth, don't change the topic!"

Sobering up quickly she turned to the receptionist with a murmured sorry thrown over her shoulder. She explained to the lady behind the counter that she needed to get samples done for fertility testing, and thumbed behind her at Roy. The receptionist laughed at him for a moment, then blushed and looked to Riza again, leading her down a hallway. Another nurse led him down a separate hallway.

A loud crack echoed through the park as the ball flew through the air. Hughes shouted enthusiastically as Kain ran around the bases. Roy sighed and sat on the bench, looking to Hughes quietly. They were the last to hit, so he had time since Fallman and Breda had to go yet. Technically Hughes should have been an opposing team, but somehow he worked his way into Roy's. "So she lost the baby."

Hughes stopped hollering and turned to Roy, deadpan. "Did she? I'm so sorry. This is what, try fifteen?"

"Ten," Roy quietly replied, looking to the team as they pitched. His arms were folded over his chest, his legs crossed, back pressed firmly against the back of the bench. Hughes was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands playing with the brim of his hat. "We started keeping count for some God awful reason. I know I swore to never place blame, but part of me wonders if it's me."

"Hey, don't think like that," Hughes mumbled, clapping Roy on the shoulder. "The important thing is that you stick together. If we really are shipping out next week like Major Armstrong said, then you don't want to leave on bad terms and come home to a Dear John letter."

As much as he hated to admit it, Hughes did have a very valid point. He looked to the pitcher again, yelling out an insult before turning back to Hughes. "I'm not going to be here, and it's going to kill her having to see Grace go through a pregnancy. I don't think that's fair to her; especially since her FRG are essentially our whole unit – and Breda and Kain aren't married."

"Yes, but that's why it's called a Family Readiness Group, because it's open to anyone outside the realm of husbands and wives that are family. Kain's mom is leading the group, actually." With a sideways glance over at Roy, Hughes left out a sigh. "I know it's going to be hard on her, but there will be other women there, and Fallman's wife is infertile, so it's not as though Riza will be alone on the subject…it's just hard to talk about."

"We don't know that she's infertile, we just got tested today. I think it's me, honestly." When his name was called, he gave one last look to Hughes and bit his lip. "Could this have been a mistake, Hughes? What if I wasn't supposed to marry her?"

"She gave up her career for you. I think it's too late to start doubting it now." Hughes replied shoving him off onto the field. "Hit a home run."

"I will not hit on a hobo!" Roy screamed back.

Hughes shook his head. "Get your hearing checked, old dog."

Grace chewed on a hot dog while watching the game, shouting as enthusiastically as Hughes was whenever someone hit the ball. She laughed when Kain finally made it around the bases, screaming something about him being the fastest at everything. She turned casually when she heard Riza asking her a question.

"Did you decide on a name?" Riza repeated, watching the game. Her knees were drawn together, but her legs were spread apart. She was watching as her husband sauntered up to the bat. "I always was partial to Christine."

"Alicia." Grace replied with a soft smile. "Alicia May Hughes."

Riza smiled sadly. "I get it. Alicia after your mother in law, and May as in Maes. Clever."

"We thought so, too." Grace finished her hot dog and looked at Riza for a moment. "How are you guys doing on that front? Any progress?"

"Miscarried this morning," Riza replied quietly, smiling as her husband hit the ball hard enough to run the bases. She stood quickly and shouted at him. "Come on, Roy! You better come home, or your ass is in the street tonight!"

"Don't you think that was a little unfair?" Grace laughed, regardless of feeling saddened by the topic.

"No, what would be unfair is if Maes can't manage to steal home base." Riza smiled and watched Roy run around the bases, sliding into home just as the runner caught the ball. She knew that getting the mud stain out of his uniform later would be worth it when he bragged about how he helped win the game. "We sent for fertility testing today. Hopefully I get some answers soon. This has been wearing a giant hole in our relationship. He can't look at me without blaming himself."

"He needs to stop blaming himself, because it's not his fault." Grace sighed and watched Hughes stumble up to the bat. "He's going to fail miserably. He's no good at sports."

Hughes turned to the stands and screamed; "This one's for little Alicia! Daddy's gonna make you proud, baby girl!" And then missed the ball…all three times.

Grace shook her head with a slight sigh and looked to Elizabeth again, ignoring her husband as he screamed that the play was a foul. "Are you going to be okay if the unit ships out?"

"I don't have a choice." Riza sighed. "Since the attack, there's nothing I can really say. He should have been there helping to look for bodies. He still could be."

"That wasn't his call," Grace frowned and gently brushed a hand through Riza's hair. "I know you're really beat up about all of the last few events, but have you considered that maybe three days ago is the reason you lost the baby? He was out of contact in the middle of New York for almost two hours, that couldn't have been healthy for her."

She had considered that, but she never actually brought the idea up to him. She didn't want him thinking that it was his fault that they lost the child. She was only three months deep, so she knew it wasn't a huge loss, but each time it slipped through his fingers, it made him break just a little more. She knew there wasn't much longer before she lost him. "They were talking about it in the office today. They said that they're sending at least ninety troops overseas to begin with, just to see where it goes. I know he heard them talking. I imagine that's why he was so upset in the waiting room."

"We're all having someone sent over," Grace replied, watching the men come up the bleachers. "The point is, it's nobody's fault, and if he blames you – I'll hurt him myself."

Both women stood to meet their husbands. Riza leaned over to brush some dirt off Roy's cheek, and flicked his hair to shake the dust loose. "Congratulations on your game winning hit."

Roy smirked and kissed her head. "Thank you, Queen." He turned to Hughes. "You on the other hand, could have done so much better than that hit. What do you even call that?!"

Hughes didn't answer him. Instead he grabbed Grace's hand and pulled her down the stands. "We're going home. You have much to discuss with the wife," Hughes smirked. "Sorry about throwing you under the bus!"

Confused for a moment, Roy turned to Riza. "Oh God, you're angry. I know those eyes. You're mad at me."

She moved her hands to her hips and glared at him. "Okay, maybe just a little bit. But I'll get over it." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's go home, okay? It looks like it's going to rain. We'll talk about this some other time."

He nodded and walked with her down the bleachers. "Hey, Riza?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

He couldn't sleep. He noticed that there was a soft patter of rain against the window sill, and he could hear the rumbling of thunder in the distance. Hayate scampered up to the bed and lay at the foot of it, watching Roy. Roy frowned and put his arm around Riza's body, pulling her tiny frame closer to his for warmth. "Are you awake?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" Roy questioned.

"Why didn't you stay in New York?" Riza asked, turning so she could lay her head against his bare chest. "Was it because Grace called you?"

"I was already getting off of the train when I heard the radio and sirens. I was home before it even happened, but my command was put under lockdown so I couldn't call to tell you," He whispered, holding her closer to his body, trembling slightly. "It's been really hard, hasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think we'll ever be parents?" Roy questioned, kissing her hair.

She looked down, bringing her fists up to his chest, closing her eyes. "Some day, after we atone for our sins, I'm sure we'll be blessed. But right now, you've got a war to fight."

"Promise me you won't leave me when I'm gone. I don't want to have to come home and find you gone. My heart would break." He held her a little too close, so she pulled away slightly. He took this as a bad sign. "Elizabeth, please."

"I'm not going to leave while you're gone. Get some rest. You have a busy day tomorrow."

This story is going to be very heavily driven by reviewer response. I say that because there are still huge factors I haven't decided on. So I'm going to put a question at the end of each chapter, and depending on what I get the most responses on, I'll use.

This is an AU work of fiction that takes place in the present time. The reason I did this is because I've had this idea rattling around in my brain for a year now and wanted to work it out into a story. I've been really hesitant about posting it because I know 9/11 is a really sensitive issue. I will not make a joke out of any of the topics in this; all of them have affected me in real life, so I'm writing out my feelings in a peculiar way. My dad and brother are both serving in the military, and I myself had an interest at one time, so I expect to be pretty on-par with military terms.

As for the "She gave up her career" statement that Hughes made, that will be explained in the next chapter. There will be two questions at the end of this chapter;

[One] Should they have a baby?

[Two] Should Roy be able to use alchemy?

As per my typical style, five reviews is sufficient to keep going, but I'm expecting a little more than that. I usually won't go with an even number for votes. But, yes. Read and review.