AN: i'm sorry and rip me

(thanks so much for the request anon! i've actually got three chapters already in my mind for this angst fest lmao)

enjoy!

prompt: injured / rescue mission

Riza hobbled around a corner as she threw herself haphazardly into a dark corner to hide. An alarm was going off in the distance – distinctly sounding like a fire alarm – and there was the sound of footsteps and shouts as people panicked and left the building.

Typical. The group who'd kidnapped her were now panicking and fleeing, leaving her behind.

It could've been worse. She could've still been tied up in that dank cell with no source of light. Just before the chaos began, they'd retrieved Riza from said cell to interrogate her about the Flame Alchemist. As the alarm sounded and the men holding her upright looked around, confused, she knocked them out and ran. It had been difficult with her injured leg. She couldn't be sure, but it certainly felt like something was dislocated. It was agony to walk on, the pain almost greying her vision with every step.

Just one foot in front of the other, she'd told herself as she ran – see shuffled – away from her captors as best she could. Find somewhere dark and hide, then you can rest.

She waited for about half an hour. Riza saw no one, heard no one. The alarm still blared in the distance somewhere, but the sound of footsteps was gone, and the shouts had long since quietened.

Unsure whether she'd been left behind or not, Riza waited a further ten minutes, straining to hear anything to signify her captors were still about.

As she rested Riza stretched her injured leg out in front of her. It was agony to move. The bastard had kicked her hard enough in the knee that she was sure it had popped out of place. That had been around a week ago. Riza had set it herself – she'd had a lot of time alone in that cell – and managed to pop her knee back where it was supposed to be. It was still agony.

Not to mention the steady trail of blood that dripped out of a wound on her side. As she escaped her captors, one had lashed out with a knife in the hopes he would hit her – they did. The knife caught her waist and sliced through her thin shirt and cut through her skin. There was a large stain already on the dirty cloth. Her state of cleanliness would do nothing for that wound and sepsis was a real concern right now. Plus, she'd caught a glimpse of that knife as she turned sharply to angle her body out of the man's reach. It had been rusted to hell.

"Shit," Riza muttered to herself, wincing in pain as another wave of it crashed through her body. She clenched her jaw against it, her teeth grinding together as she rode through the wave of pain. Her side and her knee throbbed as one in time with her heartbeat. The blood continued to steadily flow out of the wound, coating the fingers covering it.

Deciding there was no one around, Riza ventured out of her hiding place carefully. With one hand gripped over her wound, the other against the dirty wall to keep her upright as she walked, Riza eventually found her way into the main room where she'd been interrogated. The alarm originated from this point and Riza winced in pain at the volume.

What really caught her attention though, was a table on the left wall. On top of it, was a phone.

Hope surged in her chest.

In her haste she stumbled and landed on the floor painfully. Her injured knee struck the ground first and the next thing Riza knew was unconscious.

Only to jump awake a couple of hours later. She knew a few hours had passed because the sun was setting outside, just barely visible through the glass near the roof of the building. When she'd first entered the sun had been pouring through the window, angled to the right, suggesting it was late afternoon. Now, dusk was settling in, turning the summer sky burnt orange.

Riza groaned as she rolled onto her back, having landed on her side. Thankfully, it was her uninjured side. It appeared the universe didn't completely hate her today. It only hated her a little bit.

Moving to a half sitting position took a tremendous amount of effort. The alarm still blared above her head making Riza even more irritable, however there was nothing to be done. What she couldn't understand – especially if a few hours had passed – was why that alarm was still going off. If someone had broken in, surely, they would have found her by now? Come across her unconscious body? If it was a fire, why had nothing reached the main room yet –?

As if one cue Riza noticed movement coming from a doorway. The thick, wooden, doors were shut tight, however there was a trail of something entering the main room from underneath them. It was dark and coiled up into the air before dissipating.

Smoke, Riza realised, with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

There was no way she would escape from a fire with this wound and her leg. Her head was already beginning to spin, and blood still oozed from the cut. It refused to clot, leaving Riza lying in a puddle of her own blood. Her now ruined work clothes were stained with it, leaving the taste of bile in the back of her throat.

It was time to move. Now.

Dragging herself across the floor was a painful affair, however she eventually made it. Unable to stand, Riza pulled the phone by the cord, causing it to clatter to the floor. In a hurry she dialled the number for her office.

"Mustang," the General greeted her, and Riza almost burst into tears at the sound of it. Partly because she'd missed her husband so much and feared she'd never see him again. The other part was because he sounded angry, broken, miserable, and exhausted. She let it wash over her entire being, soothing her fears and racing heart, almost letting the floodgates of emotion open, but she'd kept them firmly closed for a reason.

Riza had no real way of telling how much time had passed. The men had kept her in isolation and the cell had no window. When she'd been dragged out for her interrogation and "interrogation" – see beating – there had been no real glimpse of the outside world, except from when she'd been in this room and looked out the window.

It felt like a few weeks though.

Too long apart from them.

"Roy," she whispered, unable to hold back the emotion building in her chest. She sounded as broken as he did, however relief was mingled in there too after just hearing his voice again.

She'd missed him so much. Both Roy and their son, Maes.

Riza had tried not to think of them both while being held. If she did, she would surely break down completely. She'd been a tightly wound string or weeks. One wrong push, one thought of her husband and her son, would break her. So, Riza had pretended. She'd pretended that it was before the Promised Day and her and Roy weren't married. She'd pretended she didn't have an incredibly bright and adorable five-year-old sitting at home, worried sick and wondering when – or if – his Mummy would come home.

There was silence on the other line for beat. "Riza?" he gasped, inhaling loudly.

"It's me," she whispered, crying quietly as she closed her eyes, letting the sound of his voice wash over her again. It was a luxury and something she hadn't allowed herself to crave over the last few weeks. She'd kept that buried deep in the back of her mind, so far down that even her memories of Ishval had begun to crush it, beating it into submission.

"Where are you?" he barked. There was a flurry of activity on the other side of the phone as he issued orders and the men shouted information to each other. That was why Riza didn't hear the crack of the wood as the fire begun its assault on the doors to the main room. She heard Roy shout at Fuery to trace the call. "Stay on the line," he ordered. "Fuery is tracing it right now. Are you all right? How are you even phoning here?"

"Roy, please," she sobbed, unable to hold back any longer. "Please, help."

"I will, I promise," he replied as he audibly swallowed. "I swear on my life. Help is on the way. Do you know where you are?"

"No, I don't. I didn't see."

"Are you okay?"

"No," she whispered.

"Okay, what's wrong? How can I help?"

"My knee… It's dislocated. I have a wound on my side. Knife wound. It won't stop bleeding." Roy sucked air in through his teeth and he exhaled in a rush. Riza could almost picture him running a hand through his hair.

"Anything else?" Fear and worry clouded his tone.

"It won't stop bleeding," she repeated fearfully.

"Okay, okay. Don't worry. We'll have a medic with us." He barked a few more orders and Riza lay back against the wall to get comfortable. Her knee continued to throb while her wound pulsed painfully. It was almost as if she could feel the jagged edges of the wound. The thought made bile rise in her throat again. "How long has it been bleeding for?"

"A couple of hours, I think."

"Fuck. Okay, just stay on the phone and stay conscious. I won't leave you. I promise." His breath hitched.

"I'll try," she responded meekly. It was getting so hard to try and keep her eyes open. The world spun and Roy's voice was beginning to fade in and out. It was difficult to concentrate on it, but she forced herself to. For his sake, and for Maes'.

Maes… Her son…

"Is anyone near you?" Roy asked. It sounded like he was running, but that couldn't be possible. Surely not? He sounded out of breath and there was a faint whooshing sound, like wind passing by quickly. Was he outside?

Vaguely, a memory popped into her head about Fuery developing a new way to communicate to each team member. It was through an earpiece which acted like a phone. They could talk to anyone, anywhere. He'd been working on it tirelessly for years.

Riza huffed a laugh to herself. The kid had finally done it.

"No," Riza mumbled, closing her eyes. They both opened at different times, her left eyelid trailing behind the right. This wasn't good. Think of Roy. Think of Maes! "Everyone is gone, I think."

"Riza?" Roy called, panicked. "Stay with me, please," he begged. "We're coming. We're – we're on our way. Fuery traced the call. You're in a warehouse about five miles from HQ. We'll be there in ten minutes. Please, hang on until then!"

"I will," she promised, but even she could hear the falseness in her tone.

"Don't you dare pass out on me, Riza Mustang," he barked. "Don't you dare." His breath caught, then it broke, breaking something inside Riza too and her sobbing grew louder. "It's… It's your turn to do the dishes tonight and you know how hopeless I am at it," he choked out a laugh. "Maes always makes fun of me for it," he chuckled through his obvious tears. Riza just cried harder. "I need you to fix it and –" Roy cut himself off, composing himself.

"Four miles out," Riza heard Havoc murmur quietly on the other end of the phone.

"I need you, Riza. Maes needs you," he choked out. "Don't leave us, please. We can't do it alone."

"I…"

"Riza?" he called, alarmed.

"I'm here," she murmured, sitting up straighter.

Think of Roy. Think of Maes.

"Is that… Is that an alarm?"

Riza nodded. "There's a fire in the building," she mumbled. "It's –"

As if on cue, the wood splintered and Riza was blasted with such a sudden heat she gasped and dropped the phone to the ground. It clattered to the floor, leaving Roy yelling her name into it, the call unanswered. The flames spewed into the room through the doorway, liking up the walls as the splintered wood cracked and debris flew across the room towards her. Luckily, it was large enough that it only skittered halfway across the concrete.

"Shit," Riza whispered, trying to move back further from the heat, but there was nowhere to go. She was already up against the wall.

This is it.

She was transported back to Ishval with the heat, to her childhood home with the sight of the flames. The scars on her back ached from the memory. It felt like the fire was consuming her already, but it had only just breached the doorway about fifteen metres away.

"Riza!" she heard Roy scream.

She scrambled, lifting the phone.

"I'm here," she whispered.

"You're – You're –" A choked sob left her husband. "Don't do that to me! What happened? What was that noise?"

"The fire is in the main room," she replied, voice turning monotone. Accepting her fate. While staring into those flames, her stomach dropped as a tear trailed down her cheek. Her sobs had quietened, stopping all together.

"Riza –"

"It's breached the door. There's no other entrance."

"I'll make one," he growled.

"Sir, there!" Havoc cried.

"Hold on, we're coming," he called, sounding like he was running again. "What side are you on?"

Riza swallowed. "The north side," she replied. "I can see the sun setting."

"Stay there."

"It's so beautiful, Roy," she murmured, feeling herself drifting. Good. If she was going to be burnt alive, she didn't want to be conscious for it. If the blood loss was about to claim her, then she was happy. More tears leaked from her eyes as she thought about the scene Roy would be arriving to. Her, dead on the floor just as the fire began to consume her body.

Thinking about Maes made her begin to sob again, so much louder than before. The receiver fell from her gasp as her hand rose to cover her mouth.

"Riza? Riza!"

Her baby. Her son…

"I'm sorry," she whispered to herself, too far gone to remember that Roy wouldn't be able to hear her from this distance.

She should be used to all consuming fire. After all, she'd been consumed by Roy's flames a long time ago. They curled around her heart, heating it, and bringing warmth and comfort back into her life.

Her baby boy popped into her mind's eye, blocking out the flames as they crept closer with their destruction. The heat was oppressive and Riza broke out in a clammy sweat. Her precious, baby boy. Her son, who was the brightest in his class at school and was so kind and caring. He was a miracle – their miracle – and she wouldn't even get to say goodbye. She wouldn't even get to tell him she loved him so much and was so proud of him.

Riza supposed it was fitting, getting a fate like this, after everything she'd done in Ishval. After all, Riza had robbed mothers of moments like the one she was agonising over in that moment. Only then, did the true gravity of her actions hit her. Her whole life she'd carried that burden, the weight of it almost snapping her spine in two, but now, as a mother herself…

Yes, this was a fitting end for the monster that was The Hawk's Eye. This was no more than she deserved.

Her son though… He was so good, so kind, so pure and untainted by his parent's past.

He didn't deserve this.

There was always that fear that once he was old enough, and they begun to discuss Ishval in school, Maes would discover just how awful his parents were. Both she and Roy wanted to be the one to tell him what happened, but he was too young. She didn't want her baby to grow up to resent them. That would break her. But it was only right. That was her punishment for her sins, not burning alive here in this hell hole, bleeding out on the floor.

Think of Roy. Think of Maes.

The wall next to her blasted open, debris and dust flying everywhere.

"Riza!"