Thank you for lovely reviews, you're too good for me! :) And once again thank you for yourlifeinwords for beta reading!
It was odd to work without her. Riza always made sure everything was done on time and reminded him of important meetings. She hadn't been gone even a day yet, and still they were starting to fall behind the schedule. She had left early in the morning, just passing to say goodbye to everyone before leaving. She should be in Resembool by now, he thought, looking at his watch. It was already a six a clock, time to finish up. They probably would have stopped earlier if she would have been there.
Roy sighed. He missed her already. It was hard to act like he didn't care about her as much as he did. His eyes had started to linger on her more than was appropriate. Especially now that he would soon be able to do what he once promised. She was almost his. He had even started to wait for the working hours which he could be with her. Stupid really, he hated the office work. But when Riza was there, it somehow didn't seem so bad.
"I think it's time to go home! We can continue the work tomorrow," Roy finally said, noticing that his men were as tired as he was, and hadn't really gotten anything done. "Yes,sir!" Breda and Havoc shouted together, and then their professionalism turned to smiles. They both were happy to finally get home.
It was then that Roy realized that one of his men was missing. "Where's Fuery?" he asked from Breda, who was finishing his last paper before leaving. "Fuery went to have coffee about an hour a go, but he hasn't been back after that, sir," Breda said. That was odd, Roy thought. It wasn't at all like Fuery: he was always on time.
But before he had time to say anything, the office doors opened and there he was. Fuery was breathing heavily, like he had run all the way from cafeteria, and his eyes were looking frightened. Roy could almost swear he was on the edge of tears. Something bad had happened. "What's wrong?" Roy asked worriedly.
Fuery took a deep breath before he started to talk. He tried to speak officially, but his voice was trembling. "There has been a train accident, sir! It seems there have been many casualties, some say forty. One of the wagons was completely destroyed in the accident. It was transporting some dangerous chemicals, which exploded in the accident..."
Roy could feel the fear hit his stomach. There was something even worse coming, he could feel it. Of course it was big news when something like that happened, but it didn't explain why Fuery was so upset. There was something else too. Then the realization hit him.
Riza had taken a train to Resembool. No, surely it couldn't be the same. It couldn't. He could sense the thickness in the air. They all were afraid of the worst. "Which train it was Fuery? Which train?" he shouted, not even realizing he had raised his voice. Fuery seemed to want vanish in the air. He lowered his eyes, and Roy saw a tear rolling out of his eye. "It's the same Hawkeye was in. It seems... It seems she was in the wagon that was completely destroyed," he said quietly.
Roy could hear how the papers in Havoc's hands fell to the ground. He saw how Breda sank in his chair and buried his head to his hands. Fuery didn't raise his gaze. Roy just stared at everyone. He couldn't move. No, there was some misunderstanding. This couldn't be right. Not Riza. Not now. "Are you sure Fuery?" he asked, hoping this was some cruel joke. Fuery nodded.
"No," Roy said, and refused to believe his words. "There is some misunderstanding. Who told you this? I want to see him right now!" Roy took steps towards Fuery, until he was standing just inches away from him. "It was Lieutenant Reece. He works under the Fuhrer," Fuery said as his eyes met Mustang's. He seemed scared of him, but Mustang didn't care. He had heard what he wanted, and stormed out of the office. Three devastated men looked as he went, confused about how to act.
Roy ran all the way to the Grumman's office. He ran past many people, some said greetings, but Roy didn't register. Many looked after him, confused of what had caused such haste. But he didn't care: he just needed to talk to Reece. He needed to know the truth. He needed to know Riza was okay, because she had to be okay. She was his everything. It couldn't end like this, just couldn't.
When he finally got to the office, he saw a man talking to the Fuhrer's secretary. He instantly spotted the man as Lieutenant Reece. "Is it true? Where did you get the information?" he said to the perplexed lieutenant, who didn't really seem to understand what was going on. "Excuse me sir, I don't quite follow what you mean?" he muttered, wondering what has caused General Mustang to yell at him. "How can you say she is dead? She just can't..." he shouted, but the power of his voice seemed to fade towards the end. He could feel the stupid tears forming in his eyes. He wouldn't cry. There was no reason to. She was fine; they just didn't know how strong she was. She had survived, like she always had.
"General Mustang, please stop yelling at my people. Come in, we need to talk," said voice behind him, and Roy saw the Fuhrer Grumman standing in front of his office door. Normally Roy would have apologized for his outbreak, but today he didn't really care. He just needed to know Riza was safe. He walked into his office and sat down to the chair Grumman had pointed out. Grumman closed the doors and asked his staff to take a break.
"I know you're sad because of what has happened, but you can't act like that. You're going to be the Fuhrer, you know..." Grumman said giving Mustang a sad smile. "This is a great lost to us all," he continued and looked thoughtful. Roy just stared at him as Grumman sat down opposite to Roy. Why was the man talking about lost? There was nothing lost yet.
Grumman waited Roy to say something, but he didn't say anything. After a moment of silent Grumman sighed, and continued, "I know I never told you or Hawkeye, but Riza was my granddaughter. I thought I had time to tell that later. But now she will never know." Roy barely registered what Grumman had said. Grumman had made a great revelation, but all Roy could hear was how he talked like she was already dead. And he couldn't take it anymore.
"Why are you speaking like that? Like she is dead..." he said, carefully, like he was afraid of the answer Grumman would give. "Because she is. Nobody survived from her wagon. And there is no doubt that she was in there. Her luggage was found from the wagon, or at least what was left... I'm sorry Mustang, but we can't deny the truth," Grumman said slowly, wanting Mustang to understand. But he could see from the look Roy gave to him, that he wasn't ready to believe.
"Where had it happened?" Roy asked, demanding to know. He had stood up from his chair, and looked like he was leaving. "Ten miles before Resembool," Grumman said, shaking his head in disbelieve. Why was he so stubborn? "Thank you, sir," Roy said, and then he was out of the door. Grumman stayed in his office, and didn't try to stop Mustang. In a way he understood him, and Grumman knew Roy needed time to understand.
Roy stormed back to his office, where his men were waiting for him. "I'm going to the accident scene. I'm going to find her by myself if I have to!" he said, looking to Breda, Havoc and Fuery, daring them to argue with him. But they didn't.
"We're coming with you sir!", Havoc, Fuery and Breda said in one voice. Once again Mustang was surprised at how loyal his men were, or how close their team was. Riza was almost as dear to them as she was for Roy. "Let's find her then!", Roy said. The men nodded and before they knew, they were in the car and on their way to the site.
