AN: chapter 2 is here laaaads i've literally spent all day on and off writing this lmao i can't get this out of my head

chapter 3 will probably be either sunday or monday (sorry [insert angel emoji for after you've read the chapter]) bc i have to work this weekend rip me

"Where have you been all morning?" Riza heard a familiar voice ask in the cafeteria. Looking up from her lunch, she saw Colonel Mustang standing before her with a smile on his face, but it seemed uncertain. Concerned. Strained.

I'm surprised you noticed.

As she'd walked by the office on the way back from the bathroom, she'd heard Eve's shrill voice floating out from inside, even piercing her ears painfully from outside the thick oak doors. But she supposed she may be a little biased.

"Working a case for Grumman, sir," she stated casually, returning her attention to her food.

"May I?" he asked, motioning to the seat in front of her with his tray. Riza nodded. He could sit where he liked. Subtly, she cast a look behind him to see if his lady friend was skulking around to see if they were up to any shenanigans.

As if they would be.

"Of course, sir."

And Eve was nowhere to be seen. After yesterday, Riza didn't think she could deal with the woman today. Once home she felt foolish for all her childish thoughts regarding Eve and her relationship with the Colonel, feeling slightly embarrassed at herself. They were both adults and they weren't together. Apparently whatever Riza thought had developed between them had fizzled out and died during the months of not talking about what had happened on the Promised Day.

"I was worried when you didn't show up this morning," he chuckled lightly, but there was an air of nervousness to it. Again, Riza was surprised he'd noticed –

No, stop it. This is what made you feel foolish yesterday. You're a grown woman. Act like it.

"My apologies, sir. General Grumman advised me the message would be passed on immediately in the morning." She frowned. She thought he'd been joking when he said he'd let the Colonel suffer for a bit due to his self-centredness. Apparently not.

"General Grumman approached you himself?" he asked, surprised, to which Riza nodded. "Ah, well, there was a note saying you'd be out of office today. The explanation only came when the General sauntered in two and a half hours later with a smug look on his face."

Riza rolled her eyes. He had been serious, despite denying it.

"I do apologise, sir, it was not my intention to cause anyone to worry."

The Colonel waved away her apology. "It's not your fault. Anyway, when did you speak to Grumman about a case?" Now he was curious.

"Last night, sir, after you left. He came to see if you'd made any progress with the Turner case and, I hope you don't mind, but I made a few notes of my own. I was able to determine the type of bullet and the firearm it came from."

Mustang blinked at her, impressed. "Wow. That's great work. I had meant to ask you about it but, well," he smiled sheepishly. "I got distracted."

"Yes, you did," she confirmed before she could think about what she was saying. "Anyway," she hurried on, ignoring the sharp look he gave her, lest he figure out her true feelings towards his and Eve's relationship. "Grumman was impressed and offered me to work the case with him," she shrugged.

He broke out into a huge grin that met his eyes, making them sparkle. Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't blush – "That's brilliant, Hawkeye," he congratulated, voice and face softening as he continued to gaze at her. "I'm proud of you. I always knew you could do great things in this job."

"Ah, thank you, sir." She accepted his praise with a bashful look, eyes turning back to her food before he could see her cheeks turning pink.

"I hope I don't lose you for too long," he added, smiling cheekily at her. "We've still got to prep for our move out to Ishval."

"Of course not, sir. I'll return as soon as the case is over."

"If… If you want," the Colonel stated hesitantly after a pause. "You can stay and work with Grumman for a while longer, if you wish. You could do great things –"

"I can do great things in Ishval too," she cut him off, seeing where the direction of this conversation was going. It all made sense now. The praise that he knew she could do great things and the offer to remain with Grumman for a while longer were both moves to try and keep her away from the place where her life had turned to hell. Also, Mustang had confessed to her in the past that he felt he was holding her back, that she could do so much more to help people like she'd always wanted to. Staying and working for Grumman would give her that chance.

But he went through that hell too and Riza saw how much it affected him. She wouldn't let him go it alone. They'd been in this together from the beginning and that wasn't about to change.

"I know, but –"

"Sir," her eyes flashed in irritation. "We both have a steak in this project. Bigger than anyone else," she reminded him. "I won't run away from what I've done. I deserve to be back there as much as you do. I thought you of all people would understand that. Where you go, I go –"

"Roy!" she heard a shrill voice cry. That was the last straw for Riza. As he turned involuntarily at the call of his name Riza sighed involuntarily, stood, and retrieved her tray from the table. The woman, who Riza was pretty sure would surgically attach herself to Mustang's hip if she could, was hurrying over to them, shooting an almost accusatory glare their way. Roy's head swung back around at the sound of her exhale, concern on his face.

"There you are," Eve huffed breathlessly, placing a hand on his cheek, turning his head by force, and giving him a chaste kiss. Again, she caught him completely off guard. "I've been looking all over for you!" She draped herself over his shoulders, shooting Riza a glare as Roy removed his attention from his girlfriend. Did she dare imagine it, or did she see irritation on Roy's face for a moment there? Riza's only reaction was the tiniest tightening of her eyes. They didn't narrow but it was enough to show Eve just what she thought of her blatant showing off.

How did she even get in here anyway? Riza thought to herself, still baffled that this woman managed to worm her way into military headquarters so easily. Perhaps Daddy knows people who can get her access to everything.

Riza had to hand it to the woman. Her homing instincts were on point. She seemed to know where Mustang was at all times. Which, in a way, Riza thought, was very creepy.

"Good day, Colonel, Eve. I hope you enjoy the rest of your lunch."

"Wait, Hawkeye," he called after her, and, of course, she had to stop and turn around at his command. He tried to stand only to be retrained lightly by Eve's touch.

How could he not see what was happening here?! Why was he so blind?!

"When will you be back in the office?"

"I don't know," she shrugged carelessly. "Enjoy your day, sir," she dismissed, walking away.

Right now, she didn't want to be anywhere near that place. Not if Eve was going to be there, shooting her death glares over nothing. Then no work would get done because Riza would be too distracted wondering how the woman was picturing to kill Riza in the most painful of ways.

Briefly, Riza wondered how they were coping without her, but, for once in her life Riza felt like being petty. She wanted Mustang to suffer, in a way. Nothing extreme, but it was nice to work in an office where she didn't need to chase her CO up to complete his work every minute of every day.

Riza placed her half-eaten lunch in the disposal, depositing the tray on the rack. Her appetite had disappeared for now.

"See anything Lieutenant?" Grumman asked, his voice carrying through the jewellery store that had been robbed a few days ago. This was the site where Turner had apparently shot one of his comrades, but thanks to her analysis of the bullet, all suspicion had been removed from him and he was a free man once more.

The manufacturers were good. Too good. Their bullets were almost a carbon copy of military ones, giving those analysing them extremely good reason to believe that soldiers were turning on each other. However, if one knew what to look for – the absence of a small, barely-there, groove on the inside of the casing – then one could determine that Turner did in fact not shoot his comrade.

"Not yet –" Stopping herself as something caught her eye in the sunlight, Riza approached it, crouching down to peer closely at the ground.

There was the stray bullet. And Riza would bet that it was the one from Turner's gun.

"Over here, sir," she called, putting on her gloves and picking up the bullet. Grumman crouched by her side, examining the bullet himself. "There's our bullet."

A hand clapped her on the shoulder as she placed it into an evidence bag. "Excellent work, Lieutenant. Returning here was a good call. Well done."

"Thank you, sir."

"Okay people, let's pack it up and –"

He was cut off as a gunshot sounded, cracking through the afternoon air. Instinctively Riza ducked, pulling Grumman down to lay prone on the floor with her.

It wasn't from a pistol though. It was from a sniper.

"Sir, are you –?" she began to ask, only to stop when she saw him face down on the floor, unmoving, a red patch beginning to blossom through the back of his military jacket. "No," she whispered in horror. She scrambled over to him, seeing the hole the bullet had made and pulling away the jacket to see an even bigger spray of blood on his back. The wound was just above his right shoulder. Okay, so not near the heart. That was one good thing. She pressed one hand on his exit wound, putting pressure on it while she checked his pulse with the other. It was there, but it was weak.

"Shit!"

"Riza!" she heard Catalina call out. Her head snapped up to her friend, getting ready to shout for help, but something impacted her shoulder, sending her spinning over in place and landing painfully on her back. She gasped in pain, groaning brokenly as she tried to suck air into her lungs as pain enveloped her entire being. "Riza!" Rebecca screamed again, but this time it sounded closer.

Another shot rang out, followed by a second, but between Rebecca's "oh my gods" and shouts for help, she told Riza the shooters had been immobilised.

"Stay with me, Riza," Rebecca begged, her hands covering Riza's wound on her shoulder. "Stay with me. You can't leave me, not here. I've got you. Just hold on! I've got you!"

Riza tried. She really did. But… Her brain reasoned that if she closed her eyes the pain would disappear, and she would get some peace.

That's what she'd wanted all week, wasn't it?

Riza whimpered in pain and a tear ran down her cheek, but not for her physical pain. Her brain could only think of one thing as she saw her world greying and sound began to distort in her ears.

She hadn't told Roy how she'd felt, and they hadn't discussed the topic of Them. She just wanted him to know that she held nothing against him. There should be no guilt on his end for not wanting to pursue anything further between them, or for anything he'd "put her through" over the years. She'd made her own choices and faced the consequences of them.

Riza Hawkeye had many regrets in life. One that was creeping higher up her list these days was not telling Roy Mustang, her oldest and closest friend, that she was in love with him.

Rebecca screamed her name one last time as Riza's eyes drifted closed, one last tear escaping from underneath her lids.

Roy rushed through his last piece of paperwork for the day. There was a sense of achievement in completing everything before the end of the working day, even with his paperwork. It never held his interest, so he postponed it in favour of something more exciting, however it still needed to be done.

He had no idea how Riza managed to juggle her own work and keep them all on track. Roy had struggled all day to manage everything coming through his office. It was very clear that Hawkeye was the glue that held them all together, both in the field and in the office.

By lunch time he had a tension headache that made him want to lay his head on his desk and sleep.

But, by the end of the day, he was proud of himself for what he's achieved. This was a rare event.

Too bad Hawkeye wasn't here to see it.

And if she was gone any longer, he would have to do the same amount of chasing his own tail tomorrow and that thought made him nauseous. Clearly, they couldn't cope without her.

He felt bad leaving Riza last night, but she insisted, and Eve didn't give him much of a choice. The feel of her hands roaming over his body distracted him long enough and broke down his reservations so that he just went along with it. It wasn't until they were lying in bed that he felt bad about the whole thing. Eve was asleep but Roy was left lying wide awake with his guilt. He should have stayed and helped her. It was his work after all, not hers, and she'd selflessly given up her free time to complete it for him because he'd been slacking.

He was such a bad person.

Slipping his arm out from underneath Eve's body he crept quietly into his living room towards the phone. Sitting on the chair, receiver in his hand, he stared at it, contemplating whether or not to phone Hawkeye and ask her how she got on with it. A part of him had hoped she'd have just left it for him in the morning. It served him right if she did.

But knowing his Lieutenant, that was a long shot.

Just as he was about to dial the number, he double checked the time on the clock on his mantle. It was past midnight. Apparently, the night had run away from him because Roy didn't realise it was that late.

He couldn't call her this late. Not only would he have left her to pick up his slack, he would probably either be waking her up or keeping her from sleep.

Just go back to bed and wallow in being a bad person.

With a sigh he stood and defeatedly walked back through to his bedroom, vowing that in the morning he would make it up to Hawkeye.

Starting with breakfast.

Eve insisted on walking to work with him. Of course, she had to spend over an hour getting ready for the day, so Roy spent the majority of that time waiting impatiently on an armchair in his living room. The ankle that was resting on top of the other leg's knee bounced agitatedly as he waited.

He should be at work by now making up for the lost time from yesterday.

"Are you going to be long, Eve?" he called through, tossing down the alchemy magazine he'd been forced to turn to as he tried to reign in his irritation.

"No, baby," she called back sweetly. Roy grunted and pushed himself up from his chair, trying in vain to burn off his extra energy.

"Well, I need to get to work. I need to leave now. If –"

There was a quiet clatter and she rushed into the room looking flawless as always, appearing breathless as she smirked at him. "Ready!"

"Let's go." She was obviously expecting a kiss as a greeting, but Roy was too annoyed after being forced to wait for her to get ready.

Things… were not going as he'd hoped. When he'd met Eve, it had been fun, and she'd been lovely but she was just far too clingy for his liking. Every minute of every day she wanted to spend time with him. Roy liked her, he did, and they had their fun, but he was already getting irritated and that wasn't a good sign.

His job was busy and had long hours which she didn't appreciate, that's why she came around to the office so often. He'd asked the front desk to let her up the first time – and only for that one time – but he hadn't expected her to take it as an invitation to come to his office every day. How she got passed the front desk, Roy wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he was already contemplating having a word with them.

What he needed was someone who understood that he was a busy man. He was about to be promoted – Grumman had confirmed that he would be promoted to Brigadier General before they were shipped out to Ishval to begin the reconstruction.

When he did travel out to begin the rebuilding project, in all honesty, he didn't want Eve there with him. She insisted it was fine and that she would go there with him but it was one hundred per cent too soon for that anyway. Plus, she wouldn't do well in the desert. More importantly, that was a place where he'd been at his lowest. It held no god memories for him, and he would be there to do a job and try and redeem himself for his actions in the war. Eve wouldn't understand that. She would just complain that it was too hot and that there was sand in her perfectly polished heels. She was absolutely the kind of woman who would wear heels in the desert.

Roy didn't need to hear her complain about such trivial things when he was trying to work on a project that was so near and dear to him, that he felt his whole adult life had been leading up to. She wouldn't understand.

The only person who would was Hawkeye.

And he'd glossed over her yesterday and left her to do his work for him while he went out and enjoyed himself.

Terrible person.

And now, thanks to Eve, they would be late to the office because like hell was Mustang not getting Hawkeye her favourite pastry from the bakery on Sixth Street and a coffee to go with it. He did owe her big time after all, no matter how much Eve complained that they were going to be late.

You made us late in the first place.

They strolled into the office to find Hawkeye missing from the room, but the rest of the team was there. He placed Hawkeye's treats on her desk, ready for her to come in. It was odd that she wasn't here yet. Riza was never late. Was she okay?

"There's a note on the desk for you boss," Breda informed him. "It appears Hawkeye won't be joining us today."

His stomach tightened and he approached his own desk with haste, snatching up the note and reading it under his breath.

Mustang,

Lieutenant Hawkeye will be out of office today.

General Grumman

What? Hawkeye wouldn't be here? But why? How? Was she okay? Did she need any help?

If Grumman had passed on the message, then it could easily be deducted that she was working under his command today. But even after everything that had happened between them, after almost losing her on the Promised Day, his mind turned to the worst. His pulse quickened and he felt dread coil in his stomach.

A horrifying thought crossed his mind that she'd finally gotten sick of him and moved onto somewhere where she could do bigger and better things. Of course, that's what he wanted for her. She could do so much more yet chose to remain by his side. He just held her back. He should be happy for her, she should progress and become a better soldier, but there was a small part of him that was terrified that she would no longer want to be by his side.

He didn't want that at all.

"Oh, well, it appears we didn't have to stop at the bakery after all," Eve replied flippantly, examining her nails and appearing quite satisfied that the Lieutenant wasn't in the room. The heads of his team snapped up, each narrowing their eyes at her back.

Roy frowned too. Deeply. He didn't like her attitude towards the Lieutenant. He'd noticed something was off with Eve yesterday when they were speaking with Hawkeye, but he chalked it up to his imagination. Then she'd been all over him at dinner. Not that Roy minded, but there was a niggle in the back of his mind that something was up. The way she'd acted, the way she'd spoken… It was like she was trying to stake her claim on him.

But that wasn't necessary, right? That couldn't be what it was. He and Hawkeye were old friends. There was history there, sure, one he cherished with all his heart, but there was nothing between them. He'd thought there would be something after what had happened on the Promised Day, but they'd been kept busy with rebuilding Central. Long days and short bouts of sleep left no chance to discuss anything. He wanted to, desperately, but he chickened out. Riza Hawkeye was the dearest person to him in the world and he didn't want to mess anything up with her.

So, he said nothing. As was their way.

Eve grasped his face in her hands without warning, kissing him intensely, running her tongue over his bottom lip in farewell.

But Roy felt nothing this time. Indignation burned inside him at her actions. She had no right to kiss him in this way. He hadn't been prepared at all and ever since this morning he hadn't wanted to at all.

"See you later," she smirked, twirling on the spot and almost sashaying out the room.

Roy felt his irritation spike. It was definitely like she was trying to stake her claim on him. And the way she'd spoken about Hawkeye, Roy didn't like it one bit.

Perhaps it was time to put an end to it.

"Are you ever going to get a room with her or…?" Havoc muttered under his breath after Eve left the room.

"What, Havoc?" Roy asked, frowning at his Second Lieutenant.

"Nothing, sir," he replied casually, implying it wasn't nothing at all.

"If you have something to say, Havoc, please. The floor is all yours."

With a sigh, Havoc shook his head and bent over his work.

Roy huffed in response, striding over to Hawkeye's desk. He stared at it, unsure about where to begin. It was neat, as expected from his Lieutenant.

It was tidied and empty like it wouldn't be used for some time.

Roy swallowed hard, feeling something settle painfully in his stomach.

He wanted to know where Hawkeye was, and he wanted to know now. Something wasn't right –

"Sir, this new batch of forms came in for you this morning," Fuery piped up, carrying a stack of paper in his hands. "And I noticed there are still the files from yesterday that need worked on."

Roy's head snapped to his desk, seeing that indeed, Hawkeye hadn't completed his work for him. In a way, he was relieved. She hadn't worked herself late into the night to pick up his slack. He'd already vowed that never again would he let that happen.

But what had happened last night, then? She offered to stay then he discovered that the work she said she'd do for him was left, almost untouched. His stomach tightened.

"Of course. Right. Thanks, Fuery."

"No problem, sir," he saluted, returning to his own desk to begin his work for the day. The rest of them had their heads down and worked diligently, the complete opposite to how their morning usually began.

They would banter back and forth for about half an hour or so while Hawkeye tried half-heartedly to get them on back on track, all the while hiding her own smile and dropping in a deadpanned comment here and there. It set them up nicely for the day, putting them in good spirits.

Today, all that could be heard was the scribble of pens.

It was unnerving.

Roy had been feeling that way all morning until Grumman sauntered in and explained the situation. The knot in his stomach eased, but Roy was still uncertain. He would be until he saw Hawkeye for himself.

She'd appeared irritated by Eve's sudden appearance in the cafeteria, and in all honesty, Roy had been annoyed too. He wanted to have a private conversation with his Lieutenant and this woman had somehow wormed her way between them once more, putting a stop to any kind of talk he desperately wanted to have.

Three times of popping up unnecessarily during the workday and Roy had made his decision. It was time to end with Eve. She appeared on cue in the office bang on four thirty, trying to get him to leave early for the day.

"The Lieutenant can just do what's left over for you, can't she?" she scoffed. "That's her job, after all."

Havoc and Breda simultaneously threw down their pens, having been silent during their whole exchange, and stood in place, faces angry and determined to defend Hawkeye. Even Fuery glared at her, looking up from his tinkering. They would have to get in line behind Roy. His eyes flashed angrily, and his irritation flared. This was too far.

Before he could open his mouth to retort, the door to his office snapped open and Catalina burst through, hair wild as if she'd sprinted all the way here. She was breathless, her face frantic and worried.

"Mustang?" she cried, swallowing hard. "We have a situation."

"What kind?" he asked, stepping around Eve and moving towards her. Havoc shot out from his chair, grasping her elbow lightly to keep her upright. It was only then Roy realise that she was shaking. Havoc eased her into Hawkeye's chair – the one closest to where she'd been standing.

Then he noticed the blood.

"Riza and General Grumman have been shot."