Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. All I own is an Inspiration Fairy that had spent some time on vacation and decided to drop by just yesterday. She bit me and I got an idea for writing. It's just a quick oneshot.

I want to say thanks to Poly-chan, who did an emergency (and very good) beta-work for me on this story.

Watching over me

The heat. The scorching heat. The desert sun was unbearable, but it wasn't sunny anymore. It was dark outside, and the only light in the room came from an old gas lamp. He turned to the side to look at the lamp but felt both his neck and head hurt. Even the slightest effort made his body hurt. He felt exhausted, like all his energy had been drained by the fever.

"We have to wait and see how he does overnight. He's been medicated already. It depends more on him than on the medication."

Mustang turned his head to the other side, annoyed at the light of the lamp. He didn't even pay attention to the Ishbalian doctor talking on the phone by his side.

Brigadier General Mustang had been coming to Ishbal at least twice a month over the last half year to inspect the constructions there. The army had allowed Ishbalians to return to their land and was now building schools and hospitals there. The plan was to make the Ishbalian people capable of living out of misery. By giving them the infrastructure, the government hoped they would be able to live well without help of the capital. Ishbal would be prosperous, and their people would be proud of themselves again. Mustang thought that Amestris owed them this much at least.

However, the desert concealed more perils than a few poisonous snakes and the heat itself. Some viral diseases were so typical of that area that the Ishbalians had already developed immune defenses against them. Foreigners on the other hand, were as susceptible as the young children - which accounted for over seventy per cent of the cases among Ishbalians.

"We're doing everything we can," the doctor continued speaking. "If he were to die it would be an awful loss to all of us. Trust me. No one here wants that to happen."

The doctor hung up and left, leaving the patient alone to rest. The light of the lamp was still on, but Mustang didn't care. He drifted off into a world of weird dreams, probably a product of his fever, and couldn't even acknowledge the room he was in. Time went by and his temperature started to go down slowly. It was still dark and deadly quiet when Mustang opened his eyes, feeling a little better, and looked around. Something had woken him up, although it hadn't been any noise. There was a man sitting on a chair, apparently watching his sleep.

Mustang thought it might be a doctor or some soldier, but the man didn't dress as either of them. He wore slacks and a jacket over a nice shirt, and glasses. Roy sat up with tremendous effort to look at his visitor, but froze when he heard the man speak.

"You can see me? But you're getting better, aren't you?" the stranger asked, obviously concerned.

Roy knew that voice well, but couldn't believe it. He stared at the man's face, finally recognizing him.

"Hughes? What…?" he asked surprised, the words getting lost on the way.

"Oh, you didn't really wake up… That fever took its toll on you, that's for sure," Hughes spoke in a somewhat relieved voice.

"Am I dead?" Roy almost stopped breathing.

"No, you're just not exactly conscious. But you're alive. The doctor said you should make a full recovery."

"But why… Oh, damn. I'm delirious," Roy groused, lying down on his bed again.

"I hardly think that's the case. Your fever is down. You got me worried, though. I was afraid you were going to join the other side earlier," Hughes continued.

"The other side?"

"Yeah, you know… my side. By the way, I'm sorry I couldn't warn you about what was going on in the army. That homunculus got to me first."

"Lust? Damn," Roy said, rubbing his eyes as his stomach dropped. That couldn't be real. Hughes had died, and he couldn't be there. But still, Roy couldn't bear ignoring a hallucination of his old friend.

"I'm so sorry, Hughes. If I had known you were in danger, I'd…"

"Don't be sorry, that wasn't your fault. I'm happy that you caught up later. And Ed and Al… Man, they went through a lot. I wish I could have done something to spare them from all this, but… Well… Everything went well in the end. That's what matters I guess," Hughes said with a slight smile, before his features turned serious again, as he remembered something else. "Just promise me you won't ever get hell bent on revenge like you did. You scared me, man."

"Things weren't easy at that time," Roy said in his defense, although he did feel bad. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right."

"What are you doing here?" Mustang asked.

"Keeping an eye on you. You were in serious danger of dying, you know. I was hoping you wouldn't, but I decided to stay in case you did die. It's easier to accept it if you have someone waiting for you. I had some people, so I thought you should have someone too, if that was the case. Good thing it wasn't."

"You're not stuck here, are you? Like some ghost?"

"No, I'm free to do as I please. I can't be here all the time, but I come every once in a while. I visited my girls just last week. Lieutenant Hawkeye was there visiting them too. Elysia convinced Riza to teach her how to ride her new bicycle. It was really cute to watch," Hughes said with the silly smile he used to have when talking about his daughter. "Riza is good with kids, actually."

"I always thought she would be."

"You really should go public with your relationship. How long are you planning to hide it, anyway?"

"Hughes…" Roy mumbled. Maes had always tried to give him advice about his love life.

"Don't complain! It's not like I can easily talk to you about this any time I want, so this time you listen to me. Keeping a secret relationship is not healthy for either of you."

"How do you even know about Riza and me?"

"Oh, come on. It's been almost a year now, and everyone in your office knows. Even Sergeant Fuery, and he's one of the most innocent people I've ever met."

"They can't possibly know about us, we've been caref-"

"Sorry to tell you this, but it didn't work…" Hughes said with a sarcastic laugh, apparently pleased. "Listen. You're asleep now and when you wake up you won't see me anymore. So let me tell you something. Talk to Grumman about this. He'll help you."

"Grumman wants me to marry his granddaughter."

"Have you ever asked him what his granddaughter's name is? Try it. You'll be surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh…" Hughes said, looking at the door. "The doctor's coming. It was nice talking to you. Get better soon and don't worry about me. I'll be watching over you," Hughes said, reaching out to give Roy a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Hughes…"

There was a noise and Roy opened his eyes. The Ishbalian doctor had opened the door, and the creaking noise of the old hinges had been enough to bring Roy back from his dreams.

"Oh, you're finally awake. It's been a couple of days since I last saw you conscious," the doctor said.

Roy sat up on his bed, looking confused at the empty chair by the side of his bed. He had been dreaming about his old friend Hughes, but it felt so real he could almost think Hughes' spirit had actually been there. He looked at the gas lamp on the nightstand again. It was the only light source in the room. The sun would rise in another hour, the doctor told him.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye arrived from Central just yesterday night. She'll be relieved to see you're awake," the doctor said with a smile.

Mustang tried to stop thinking about his dream and focus on his work again. He wanted to get back to it as soon as possible, but as he wasn't allowed to get out of his bed, he decided that Riza should be able to help him.

Hawkeye was indeed relieved to see him when she walked into the room a couple of hours later. She closed the door behind her and sat by his side on the bed, placing a hand on top of Roy's suntanned left hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Much better. Thank you for coming."

"Of course I came," Riza said. "I was really worried about you. I was visiting Gracia and Elysia a few days ago, when an officer came to tell me you had fallen ill. But then they wouldn't allow me to leave the office because of some work you hadn't finished…" she continued accusingly.

Mustang immediately remembered of his dream. In it, Hughes had told him that Hawkeye had visited Gracia and Elysia. It was just a coincidence, he thought. It would be easy to prove that to himself.

"You didn't happen to help Elysia with her new bicycle, did you?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"She asked me to teach her how to ride it. How did you know? I didn't even know she had gotten a bicycle before I went there," Hawkeye asked.

Mustang had to try hard to hide his surprise. He was almost sure she would say something that would totally contradict his dream.

"Gracia told me she had given her a bicycle," he said disconcertedly, before changing the topic.

Hawkeye apparently didn't notice his sudden surprise, as they started talking about the buildings that were being constructed, and Riza soon had to leave him in order to take care of the things Roy couldn't do for now.

Mustang found himself alone in his room again, staring at the empty chair. Could that be a coincidence? Before that dream he had no idea Elysia even had a bicycle. And Hawkeye had been visiting them just last week? How long ago had it been since the last time Riza had found the time to do that? Three, maybe four months? He looked down and rubbed his forehead as it hit him that it was too much to be a mere coincidence.

Feeling overwhelmed with a mixture of relief and happiness and a little of guilt for not believing earlier, he turned to look at the chair again.

"Thanks, Hughes," he said using his sleeves to dry his watery eyes.

"No problem," Hughes said with a smile, despite the fact that Roy couldn't hear him. "Take care. I'll be here if you need me."

With that the man left, disappearing to some place else. His friend Roy was safe and sound and he didn't have to worry for now. He just hoped Roy would follow his advice and talk to Grumman. Too bad Hughes probably wouldn't be there to see Roy's surprised face when he found out that Grumman was Riza's grandfather.

A/N: So, what did you think? I got this idea from a song someone recommended to me. Please leave me a review with your opinion. Also, I'll soon be back with another long story. Keep your eyes peeled. Thanks a lot for reading and see you next time!