Authors Note: Apologies, there were a few mistakes in my last chapter, thank you Cerisabeth for spotting them. Again, sorry the last chapter wasn't the greatest, but I use them to sorta develop my ideas. Thanks so much for the reviews that have been coming in, they are my motivation at the moment! Enjoy chapter 7, and tell me what you think! :)

Chapter 7

Roy nervously picked up the phone. He was in a telephone box just outside the hospital, and he was about to talk to Edward Elric-Fullmetal-about something he thought he would never have to talk about to him.

"Hello Colonel."

"Hiya, Fullmetal," the colonel said wearily.

"You alright?"

Roy was amazed at how thoughtful Ed was being. It was so unusual, he usually teased the colonel, and was always cocky to him. Roy hesitated. "….I'm alright, Fullmetal," he replied.

"Look, Colonel. I know you're worried, but you can't beat yourself up about this," said Ed.

"Do you wanna know the whole of the situation?" he asked.

"Yeah, Ok."

Roy explained everything. He told Ed about the phone call he'd received in the middle of the night, how he'd rushed to the lieutenant's side, but may've been to late. Reliving the memories of the last few days were agony, and Roy found himself almost in tears more than once.

"Fullmetal… they said she might die," he finished talking and shuddered.

Ed was silent. "Anything we can do for you Colonel?"

Roy suppressed a smile. This was exactly what he'd been hoping for.
"Well…there is actually," Roy began nervously.

"Tell me then, and I'll see what me, Winry and Al can do."

Roy gritted his teeth. "Is there any possibility of getting into contact with that little girl from Xing who saved the lieutenant's life of the Promised Day?" he asked.

Edward didn't answer for a while. "I'm not promising anything, but we'll see what we can do," he said.

"Thanks so much Fullmetal."

"You owe me big-time. But, we don't want to see the Lieutenant die either."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Fullmetal?" he asked suspiciously.

"I dunno, yet," he answered gleefully, obviously enjoying annoying the Colonel. "But, I'm gonna talk with Winry and Al, and we're gonna come down to Central in the next couple of days."

Roy smiled slightly. "In that case, I'll see you soon, Fullmetal. And thanks so much again."

Ed smirked. "Y'know, I never expected you to fall for the lieutenant," he said. "It's nice to see another side to you, Colonel. I was getting sick of the arrogant womaniser side."

Roy glared at the receiver. "What's that supposed to mean, Fullmetal?" he asked furiously.

"Nothing…."

"You know…. I never did find out if I can incinerate someone over the phone, Fullmetal. Care to help me find out?" he asked.

"Uh, maybe not this time, Colonel," he laughed nervously. "I better go, but I'll keep you posted and tell you if we can get Mei to come to Central too. I'm pretty sure she will want to, she's probably dying to see Al. Well, I'll see ya soon, Colonel." Ed put the phone down with a click and the call ended.

Roy took the phone from his ear and looked at it as it sat in his hand. He held it, because it felt like a symbol of hope. Now, there was a larger chance that his lieutenant was going to live.


"Al!" Ed called.

Al came running down the stairs, and bent under the doorway. Even though there was plenty of head space, Alphonse still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he was back in his flesh body. It had been a few months since the promised day, since his younger brother had been restored to his original body.

"What's up, Ed?" the younger Elric asked.

"I was just on the phone to the Colonel…" he said.

"Yeah?"

Ed hesitated. He knew how much Al and Winry liked the Lieutenant. And he was happy to admit that he was worried and scared for the Lieutenants wellbeing. "Al… Lieutenant Hawkeye's in hospital," he said eventually.

His younger brother's eyes filled with fear. "She's gonna be Ok, right?" he said. "Please say she's going to be Ok, Ed!" Al exclaimed.
Ed sighed. "To be honest, I don't actually know. You should've heard the Colonel, Al. He sounded so hopeless, and like he hadn't slept in days. He…. also said the situation isn't good."

Al sighed, and Ed knew how he felt. They'd felt useless so many times during their journey trying to restore their bodies back to their original state before they attempted Human Transmutation. "Is there anything we can do to help, Ed?"

"Well, the Colonel asked if we could try contact Mei. I have to agree with him, though, it's a good idea. Xing's alchemy specialises in the medical field. She should be able to help. I mean…. She did on the promised day, right?"

Alphonse's ayes blazed with determination. "Yeah. That sounds good. I'll see if I can get hold of her. I'll try my best!" he exclaimed. "Can we go to Central to visit them?" he asked.

Edward brushed his right hand- his auto-mail arm - through his golden hair. Chuckling, he said: "Well, that's already been sorted, Al. Me, you and Winry will be going down in the next couple of days, Ok?"

Al nodded. "Sounds good. Should I try to start contacting Mei now, or when we arrive in Central?"

Ed hesitated. "…I dunno, Al… Maybe, we should just go to Central, and see for ourselves how lieutenant Hawkeye really is," he said, looking at his younger brother. "And then when we've done that, we can call Mei."

Al smiled slightly. Ed smiled back. "I'm gonna go talk to Winry, she needs to know, too."

"I'll go talk to Granny, then."

Ed crossed the dining room and walked up the stairs that led to Winry's room. Ever since the Elric brothers had come back after the Promised Day, they'd been living with the Rockbells.

Ed was standing outside Winry's door. He hesitated, then knocked. "Winry?" he asked feebly.

"Come in, Ed."

Edward slowly opened the door. His heart fell as he saw Winry smile broadly up at him. How was he supposed to tell her?

"Winry," he sat on the bed beside her, putting his hand on her shoulder. He kissed her lightly on the lips. A lot had changed since Edward and Alphonse had finished their journey: it wasn't just the fact that Al had gotten his original body back, or Ed had gotten his arm back. It wasn't even the fact that they were now living back in Resembool. No… the thing that had changed most for Ed was that he was now in a stable relationship with Winry.

"Winry…" he said again.

"Just spit it out, Ed. What's wrong?"

"You remember Lieutenant Hawkeye, right?"

"Of course I do, Ed. But why? Is Miss Riza Ok?"

Ed shook his head. "She's in hospital."

Winry's eyes widened. "But why, what's happened?" she asked fearfully.

Edward scratched his head. "Her wound from the Promised Day has reopened. She's been in hospital for a few days, and now she's in a coma."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"She might die."
Ed saw Winry's eyes fill with tears. He put his arm around her shoulder. "Me and Al are going to Central. Do you want to come visit too?" he asked softly.

Winry nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Are we going today?"

Ed pouted. It sounded like a good idea, if they went down as early as possible. "Yeah, we are," he lifted himself up from the bed. "So we better start packing," before he left her room, he turned to her and gave Winry a reassuring smile.

"Al!" he called. "We're leaving today, so get your ass into gear! We wanna be at the train station in less than an hour!"

"Ok, big brother!" the younger Elric called. "Is Winry coming too?"

Ed walked down the stairs to the dining room, where hid younger brother was sitting with Granny Pinako.

Al stood up, and walked over to him. "Granny said we can go. She said to send her thoughts and best wishes with us for everyone down there.

Ed smiled. Even though Pinako didn't like the military, and barely knew Lieutenant Hawkeye, she was still very concerned for their wellbeing.

"Thank you, Granny," he said.

Pinako took the pipe from her mouth. "Go get packed if you don't want to miss your train, Ed," she said.

Edward grinned, then he and Alphonse ran up the stairs to their bedrooms.


Roy walked back into the hospital grinning broadly. That phone call he'd just had with Fullmetal had filled him with hope once more. He almost walked straight into Rebecca, who was standing outside Riza's ward. She was holding a tiny slip of paper in her hand.

"Colonel, I found this in the flowers you gave to the first lieutenant," she handed him the paper.

Oh shit. It was the note he'd written to her that morning. He felt himself going red as he unfolded the note:

Riza,

I'm sorry for abandoning you.

The team (including me) will be visiting you later on today.

Please stay safe,

Colonel Mustang

What the hell had he been thinking? Edward's words came back to haunt him… I never expected you to fall for the lieutenant!
Roy suddenly knew what that meant. He handed the note back to Rebecca without looking at her. "Did you read it?" he asked.

"Yes, Colonel. I did,"

"Please go put it back in the flowers," he said. She turned to walk back into Riza's ward. "And tell the team that Fullmetal is coming to Central in the next couple of days, and he's going to try get hold of an alchemist from Xing."

"Yes, Sir," Rebecca turned to walk back into the ward, and Roy went the opposite way.

He let his feet carry him to the bathroom. Roy turned the tap on and splashed his face with water. Supporting himself on the sink, he looked at himself in the mirror. Below his eyes were large purple bags that showed he hadn't slept in days. He was paler, and almost looked sick. But… the Colonel wasn't surprised. He hadn't slept properly in days, he hadn't even had a proper meal since the night he was called. He'd done this all for Riza. So… maybe Ed was right….

I never expected you to fall for the lieutenant!

Roy dreaded to think of the consequences…

Authors Note: Well, that's the end of this chapter! Sorry it took a little longer to write… Please review! Hope you enjoyed it :P