Disclaimer: FMA, unfortunately, is not in my possession. How sad.
Consolation. Royai
Mustang stared at the receiver in his hand. He was frowning. Something was definitely out of ordinary. He could tell this from her voice. She might've tried to hide it, but she probably knew that he knew as well.
There was no time to waste.
"How come that he always has such good timing?" Riza hugged her pet, but was thinking about somebody else. The phone call from the colonel made her feel assured. He obliviously reminded her that he was there, within the reach of the hand. She felt grateful for that. Now she wasn't afraid to face even a whole army of Prides, because she knew she wasn't alone in this fight.
Riza sighed as she stood up. Assurance was one thing, but the colonel probably figured out something was wrong. She couldn't lie to him, even if she wanted; he'd always tell when she was telling the truth and when not. But maybe just this one time she managed to fool him.
She went to the kitchen and made herself some tea. She sat with a mug in her hands by the kitchen table. Black Hayate entered the kitchen and placed himself by her feet. Riza smiled at this. The dog was no worst in sensing discords that the colonel.
She looked outside the window and gazed at the stars on the dark sky. The Homunculi were moving quite quickly. Fortunately, the colonel managed to demask much of their plot, but there was still a great part of it which remained in the shadows… She shivered at the word. Shadows…
I'll be watching you from the shadows…Crap, she needed to get a hold of herself. True that she had no special abilities. She was just a good shooter, but bullets wouldn't work against Homunculi. She gained that knowledge in quite a painful way when encountering Lust. Moreover, she didn't take after her father any alchemical talents. Frankly speaking, if only Pride wanted to, he could've killed her on the spot. And he wouldn't meet much resistance, at least not of the kind that could do any harm to him. Are all those the reasons why she felt so uneasy?
"Gather yourself," she whispered into the space. No need to worry. Still…
She suddenly felt extremely weak. She couldn't do anything against Homunculi, so how could she protect the colonel? Is the promise made so long ago going to be broken by her weakness?
Riza jumped at the sound of the doorbell ringing. When she realized it was nothing dangerous, she let out a deep breath of relief. Careful not to step on Hayate, she walked to the front door. She looked through the peeking hole and her gaze dropped to the ground. So, after all, she wasn't a good liar…
She opened the door.
"You lied to me," those were the first words to escape his mouth.
"When, sir?" she raised her eyebrows.
"Stop it this instant. I know something's happened. Tell me what it is."
Riza let him in and closed the door behind him. Roy stopped in the hall and turned around to face her.
"I'm waiting, lieutenant."
"Sir, you shouldn't've worried. Really."
"Tell me!"
She sighed and gestured towards the room. "Fine. Come in, sir."
Five minutes later Roy was given his own mug of tea and Riza began explaining:
"I've been to Bradley's house. And I discovered something there."
"What is it?"
"It's about his son, Salem. He's…" she paused for a moment, "he's a Homunculus too."
"What?!" Mustang looked at her in shock. "How do you know?"
"He revealed his identity to me. He told me that he is Pride, 'the Original Homunculus'. I don't know what it means, but those are his words."
"This explains a lot," he looked at the few scratches on her cheek and hands. "How did you manage to get out of there?"
"He let me go."
There was something in her voice that alerted him. The same sound that he heard on the phone. Riza suddenly shivered and he figured it out.
"Did he threaten you?" he asked seriously.
"No…" she shook her head. She wasn't going to tell him that.
Roy, on the contrary, nodded at this.
"He did," he stated. "What did he say?"
And that was exactly what annoyed her of him the most. He knew her too well to be foolled. Damn him to hell.
"Really, sir, I think this should stay out of your concern," she changed her tactics. "It's nothing much."
"We know that you are already in danger," Roy folded his hands in front of himself and rested his chin on them. "If Pride threatened you, it means you are even in greater danger. Damn!" he cursed, annoyed.
Riza looked at her feet.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said quietly. "I'm being a hindrance…"
There was silence between them for a longer moment.
"I want you to stay as much in the shadows as possible," said Roy finally.
Shadows. Again…
"I can be useful to you even in my current position, sir" she replied firmly.
"I don't want anything to happen to you. You won't make any reckless moves. Just act as a good Fuhrer's aide would."
She knew what it meant.
"Are you excluding me from the plan, sir?"
"For the most part, yes."
"You can't do this."
"I assure you that I can."
"You know you need me, sir."
"Exactly. I need you. Alive."
"You need me for the plan. You can't handle everything yourself, sir. It would be too risky, for you and for that plan as well."
"Maybe. But I still put your safety first."
Riza sighed. "I can handle this myself, sir."
"Bullshit. Your weapon doesn't work against them. How could you defeat them yourself?"
"I'll think of something."
"Like what, for example? You'll make Black Hayate bark at them?"
The dog trotted up to Roy's legs at the sound of his name. Mustang eyed him, as if judging if he could be of any help to protect Riza. The examination must've gone bad, because then Mustang averted his gaze to his lieutenant and quirked an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.
"Well, maybe something else."
"You know that there is no 'something else'. I know you know."
"What do you mean?" she blinked, perplexed.
"You were scared."
Those three simple words hanged between them in a short silence. Riza swallowed and tightened her grip on her mug. There was no point in denying it.
"How do you know?" she asked quietly.
"From your voice," Roy was persistently looking at one spot on the carpet. "When you answered the phone, your voice was filled with angst and fear. Only when you recognized it was me did you calm down a little. I know you well enough to figure this out, you know."
Her shoulders dropped. "You're right…"
"But don't be afraid," Roy finally looked at her. His black eyes contained unxpected calmness. "You're not alone."
Riza managed a faint smile. "I know that… It's just that I realized exactly what you've said, sir. That I have no efficient defence against them. And if so, if I cannot even protect myself, then how could I protect you?"
"Even if you can't protect me against them, I still need you. As always."
His tone radiated with assurance and sincerity. So much that she suddenly felt a lot better.
"Thank you, sir," she said quietly.
"Remember, lieutenant," added Roy, looking her in the eye. "If there is something that bothers you, you know where to find me."
Riza nodded.
After a moment of silence Roy stood up, placing his now empty mug on the table.
"I should be going now," he said. "It's getting late. And a man walking out of your apartment in the middle of the night could be a juicy rumour for your neighbours, couldn't it?"
"Your reputation is so bad, sir, that I don't think you should worry about mine," she mimicked his tone.
"Heh," Roy smirked. "And I believe I should. After all, a man always takes care of his woman, isn't that the case?"
Click. "Mind your words, colonel."
"Of course, of course. I'm sorry."
Still, they were both smiling widely when they reached the hallway.
"I'm…I'm grateful that you actually came, sir," Riza dropped her gaze. "Thanks to you, I feel much better now."
Roy looked at her. She was still smiling faintly, watching her feet. She looked quite calm, but it could be only temporary.
Riza blinked in surprise as Roy approached her and hugged her friendly.
"Remember," he whispered into her ear. "No matter what happens, I'm here."
"I know," she nuzzled her head against his chest like a girl, comforted by both his touch and his words. "Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome."
When he felt she had calmed down for good, he let go of her. Riza had a small blush on her cheeks. She probably didn't intend to show him her weakness.
"Oh, and lieutenant," Roy turned around when he was already in the doorway. Riza looked at him. She smiled gratefully as she heard what he had to tell her.
"I've never thought of you as of a hindrance."
When he left, she watched the door for a long time.
"Thank you, Roy…" she whispered with a calm smile.
A/N: How d'ya like it? I hope they are In Character. Because if not, pff… Well, who cares? The scene is cute, so let's just be happy with that.
As always, leave a review!