It began innocently enough. First, a sneeze. Then a series of coughs. After five minutes of her steady throat noises, Roy looked up from his desk to find the rest of his officers staring as well.

"Are you alright, Lieutenant?"

She looked up, startled. "Yes, sir. It's just a bit of a cold." She took a sip of her tea and that was that.

---

It was evident by the next morning, however, that it was not just a cold. He watched as she stumbled into the office, cheeks flushed and sniffling profusely. When she reached out to take his finished files he handed her a tissue instead.

"Go home, Lieutenant."

She hesitated for a moment and then sighed wearily. "Okay."

He was taken aback. She really must not be feeling well, if her lack of an argument was any indication. He stood from his desk to help her with her coat and again she didn't complain.

"Do you want someone to walk you home?"

The concern in his voice was evident, but she shook her head. "No, sir. I'll be fine."

She left the office with Black Hayate yapping at her feet and he went back to his paperwork.

---

On the third day of her sick leave, he began to get restless. She hardly ever took time off work, so to miss it three days in a row signaled something was really wrong. She had phoned the office each morning, apologizing profusely to Fury who answered the phone. It was okay, he told her. Everyone gets sick.

Riza Hawkeye never got sick. Even if she did she never let it interfere with her ability to do her job. Armed with this knowledge, Roy gathered up his coat at 1700 hours and headed over to her apartment to check on her. He just wanted to make sure she was alright. When he arrived his knock was greeted by silence and so he grazed his hand against the door frame to retrieve the spare key he knew she kept there. It had always struck him as odd, really, that someone so seemingly put together as her would admit to forgetfulness. He didn't think she ever used it, but the cold metal sat there day in and day out. Just in case. She always did stress preparedness, he thought to himself.

He shushed Black Hayate as he entered the apartment, calling out to her. There was no response as he made his way down the hall and his eyes caught her sleeping form, slumped beneath blankets. Her nose was red and her breathing was raspy. She looked absolutely miserable. He braced himself against the door frame and again called to her, this time much softer. "Riza?"

She lifted her head groggily from the pillows to look at him, confusion on her face evident through her sleepy, half hooded eyes. "Colonel?"

He smiled softly, enjoying the normality of the situation. The mundaneness of it all. And even more so, her inability to separate completely from the confines of the office. Even he who spent his days wooing higher ups with fancy conversation could never revert to formalities so quick. Not in the state she seemed to be in, at least. It astounded him sometimes. Still, she didn't sound particularly upset with his slight breech of protocol (fraternization, she would remind him in the office when he flashed her a grin) as he made his way towards her bed. Her eyes, still heavy with sleep, followed him with less precision than he had ever seen from her.

"Just Roy today," he stated plainly as he crouched down next to her bed. She nodded as she set her head back down on the pillows and he reached out gently to run a hand across her forehead. He frowned at the heat that radiated off of her, worry etched across his face. He felt terrible for her. Still, he couldn't ignore the way she leaned into his touch. It was slight, so that no one else would have been able to notice it. But he noticed, as she released a contented breath and loosened her grip on the sheets. He noticed the relief in her eyes despite the haze of fever that clouded them.

"Would you like anything?" he asked quietly. She shook her head slowly as her eyes began to droop.

"Just stay here."

Perhaps it was a sign that in her most vulnerable state she always let him in.