Hey, HeartlessRockstarXIII here. Came up with this last night, and it wouldn't leave me alone till I wrote it... just like most of my stories... Roy and Riza are my favorite cannon couple for FMA:B. They just work so well together! :) Well, I won't drag on too long, promised myself I would work on that. Without further ado, the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA:B or it's characters. I just borrow them when no one is looking... XD

On with the show!

A middle-aged man sat in a smoky room nursing his third glass of brandy. He had a rough day at the office and had come to the basement tavern of this building, just like every other night, to relax his troubles away by drowning them in hard liquor. He couldn't clearly see the bartender, but was about to order another drink. The patron next to the black-haired man got up from his seat, and he finally got to see the face of the waitress tending bar that night.

'No... It can't be... Is that...?'

A middle-aged woman was tending bar in The Royal Blue Tavern, like she did every night. She had been taking orders, and had stingy tippers, as per the usual. The woman was contemplating going home early, until the patron blocking her view of the black haired man at the bar moved.

'Oh. My. Is that...? No, It can't be...'

The man and the bartender with the golden hair locked eyes. Hazel looked at brown, but only for a moment. The two looked away from eachother. The man got up from his seat and walked toward where the woman was standing.

"Lieutenant, is that you?"

"General Mustang... It's good to see you sir. I'm not a Lieutenant anymore though... I've since retired... You're looking well. How are things?"

"As good as can be expected in the middle of a war... How long have you been working here? I'm here all the time, and I don't think I've ever seen you."

"I just started here a month ago sir. I was working at another bar back out east, but I felt it was time to return home, to Central."

The General stared at his former Lieutenant. How long had it been since he'd seen her? And now she was tending bars instead of training snipers. He had to stifle a laugh. Never in a million years would he have immagined Riza Hawkeye bartending, especially in a dive like this.

The Lieutenant stared back at her former commanding officer. He looked alot older than he used to. She guessed age and stress were starting to affect him. It had been a long time ago that they had last seen eachother, she supposed he couldn't keep those prettyboy looks forever. Riza wondered if he was any closer to becoming Fuhrer.

"Gen-"

"You know you don't have to be so formal anymore, right, Riza?"

"Bad habbit si- Roy..."

"Bar looks like its ready to close. I noticed your car's not in the parking lot. Would you like a ride home?"

The owner of the bar walked over to the two.

"Riza, why don't you get the heck outa here already? Ya worked hard tonight, and ya got a classy gent lookin to escort ya home. Why in the hell are you still standin there!?"

Riza and Roy blushed a deep crimson color at Felica's remarks.

"Are you sure you can lock up on your own Felica?"

"Honey, don't you worry your pretty little head. I got it covered. Now shoo! Don't keep 'im waitin'!"

They didn't need any more permission or persuasion. Roy tipped his hat to the woman and proceded to escort Riza out of the bar and to his waiting car. He noticed a slight limp in Riza's step, but didn't say anything.

As they drove they remained silent, the only exception being Riza giving Roy directions he certainly no longer needed. Arriving at her appartment, Roy let the blonde bartender out of the passenger's side, and walked with her to the door. Riza turned to the Brunette.

"Si-Roy, would you like to come in?"

"Um...sure..."

They walked into Riza's apartment and sat down at the table.

"It really is good to see you again, Riza."

"It's good to see you too, Roy."

"So, what made you leave the military...?" Roy asked, eyeing her right leg.

"An injury to my leg. I wasn't ready to go through automail surgery. I have no idea how Edward Elric made it through, especially at his age. And I'd have been useless to you or anyone else like this."

Riza pulled up her pant leg to reveal a brace she has to wear to keep her leg steady enough to walk, and to help it move. Tears began to well up in Roy's eyes, and Riza gave him a nod to tell him it was okay to put his hat on to hide the tears. She remembered what a proud man he is, having done the same thing only once before, at their friend Maes Hughes' funeral. Roy hated seeing Riza like that. The woman surely didn't do anything deserving of an injury like that in her lifetime. Riza moved her hand to rest on the General's and gave it a firm squeeze.

A few momnets passed like that before either spoke.

"Riza, please, tell me you're not living here alone with your leg like that..."

"Roy, I'm fine."

"This is very spur of the moment, but I have to ask. Let me take care of you, Riza. Let me help you..." In a barely audible wisper he added, "Please. I owe you that much..."

"Roy, what are you saying?"

"You know what I'm saying Riza. Let me move in here, or you could move into my house with me, whichever you perfer. I want to help you. You must be in so much pain trying to do everything yourself. I hate seeing the woman I love like this..."

Roy's eyes widened as he realized what exactly he'd said.

"Roy... Do you- Roy, I love you too. Always have, always will. That's why I stood by your side all those years in the military..."

The black haired man stood up, walked over to the still seated blonde, and placed a chaste kiss upon her forehead.

"So what do you say? You wanna give this a try?"

"Sure Roy. Let's give it a shot."

Riza stood and embraced her former commanding officer. A single streak of tears rolled down her cheeck as he held her close to his body, silently supporting her. Roy placed another kiss on the top of her head. He then picked her up and carried her to her bed.

Laying her down gently, he turned to leave, only to be stopped by a calloused hand grabbing firmly at his.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Roy chuckled and replied, "Only going to hang my coat at the door. I'll be back."

He returned a few minutes later to find Riza already asleep. He rolled down the covers on the other side of the bed and laid down, lightly draping an arm over the sleeping form next to him.

Riza spoke in a sleep-laced voice. "Mmm... Glad you made it back..."

As sleep laid claim on both of them, Roy spoke.

"Always, Riza. Always."

Ok, now that this is done... I gotta work on these corny ass endings... yeesh... Unless of course you guys like this corny crap, then I'll keep writing it. :) As always, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see ya next time. :)

HeartlessRockstarXIII Signing off~