Dear Faithful Readers- Good Lord, I've done it again. You will all hate me by the end of the chapter. (Ducks for cover from horrified Royai fans). And don't give me that look Erinn; Sisi. It's all necessary for my demented and twisted plot!! -Rissy
Chapter 11
Major Armstrong and his subordinates didn't need babysitting like Roy did. It meant leaving faster at the end of the day for Riza, but it also meant long periods of time spent working with absolutely no comic relief whatsoever.
Sighing as she set down her pen and looked over at the clock on the wall. It was only 8am. Just then, as her eyes continued to wander around the oddly empty office, the phone at Armstrong's desk rang. Curious, she stood and went to answer it.
"Major Armstrong?"
Riza almost dropped the phone.
"Major Armstrong?"
For a moment or two, Riza considered hanging up but that would have been unprofessional. "May I ask who's calling?" asked Riza, as though she didn't know.
"It's Colonel Mustang- wait, Riza?!"
"This is Lieutenant Hawkeye," Riza confirmed monotonously. "But I'm afraid the Major is absent this morning- I believe he went to visit his sister at the Briggs fortress yesterday afternoon, but he should be back in ten minutes or so."
"It doesn't matter," said Roy quickly. "I only called here because Maria told me-"
"Of course, Maria would have…" Riza mused offhandedly.
"…Riza, why didn't you come back home after- after it happened?"
Riza's face hardened slightly, and though Mustang couldn't see it, he easily picked up on how tight her voice had become. "I did," she said. "I even followed you to the North when I was told that's where you'd gone. But the next I heard of you, Armstrong was saying how you'd found yourself a blonde Lieutenant who was calling herself Hawkeye. I don't know how you got my Grandfather to agree to it and I don't care… You know, sir, I understand getting a replacement when you thought I was gone- of course I do- but replacing me with some woman and practically handing her my entire identity? Pretending like I never left? I don't think anyone could understand that."
From where he was standing at the door, Major Armstrong backed away silently.
"Riza, I never wanted to replace you like that!"
"You could have fooled me," said Riza plainly.
"Listen, Riza. It's hard to explain, especially since I have no idea how much you know about the situation in Central, but I didn't call her that for my own selfish reasons. I need you to come down here so I can talk to you face-to-face, okay?"
Riza frowned slightly, "I'm afraid that's not possible, Colonel Mustang, and if that's all you called for-"
"That's it then? I don't even get a chance to explain?"
"I have work to do, sir. Good day."
Riza hung up the phone –despite his protests- and returned to her chair, attempting to continue with the papers in front of her for a few minutes before giving up and burying her face in her arms miserably. Armstrong took that opportunity to enter the room.
"Dear Lieutenant, what can be troubling you so?" he boomed sympathetically.
Riza bolted to her feet in horror, immediately greeting him with a clumsy salute. "Forgive me, sir! I lost myself for a moment!"
"No problem, Lieutenant Hawkeye," said Armstrong. "Tell, me- has anyone called the office in my absence?"
"N-no one of any great note, sir."
"Really?" said Armstrong, in a tone that Riza couldn't quite place. "Because Lieutenant Ross just called from Central Headquarters- she seemed convinced that Colonel Mustang was going to be calling here soon."
Riza's eyes flashed in realisation- he'd heard.
"Well, there's only one thing to do, Lieutenant. I will have to send you down there to speak to him on my behalf!"
"Why can't you just call him, sir?"
"The lines might be bugged," he replied readily; then he challenged her, a dark twinkle in his blue eyes, "Have you got a problem with that, Lieutenant?"
"No, sir, but-!"
"Good," said Armstrong, straightening a little. "You may leave immediately. I wish you a good journey, Lieutenant."
Riza saluted again, resignedly. 'Damn…' she found herself thinking. 'Does the Colonel always have to get his way?'
Armstrong watched her open the door with a grin. "Try to listen to his reasoning before you shoot him, won't you?"
Riza kept her face empty. "I am seeing the Colonel on your business and on your business alone, Major. You shouldn't forget that… I won't."
-
First Lieutenant Elizabeth Hawkeye entered Roy's Central office the next day with the full intention of remaining strictly professional. Her case, however, was not helped by the fact that the moment she walked through the door she found herself captured by him in a tight and passionate embrace.
"Sir," she said, shifting uncomfortably but he didn't move except to bury his face deeper into her neck and she protested no further. She was surprised, though, a few moments later, when she felt wet tears against the pale flesh of her bruised neck and she blinked- the Hawkeye equivalent to swooning or fainting in shock. "Sir?"
"Riza you look terrible," he told her eventually, drawing her out to arm's length.
"Thank you very much, sir," she replied dryly, shaking her shoulders a little- a cue for him to remove his hands.
He didn't- momentarily distracted by thinking of the last time she'd done that, and that she'd been topless at the time. "Riza… Riza, I'm-"
"Sir?" This time it wasn't Riza who spoke, but Corliss, who was sitting at Riza's old desk and trying not to look too harshly upon Riza, whose presence in the room she clearly disliked.
"Oh, of course," said Roy, looking over at her. "Riza, this is Corliss."
"Corliss Hawkeye," said Riza monotonously, plucking his hands off his shoulders herself.
"Yes," said Roy. "But I swear to you that she was never supposed to be a replacement. She's… Corliss Hawkeye is the homunculus I created- Desire."
"Homuncu…? Of course…" Without warning, she reached up and slapped him. "How could you be so foolish as to actually attempt that transmutation?!" She grabbed his left arm and pulled off the pyrotex glove that covered it, revealing the metallic hand beneath. Clenching the glove in her fist she, unbelievably, began to cry hot tears of furious hopelessness and misery.
"Don't cry," he begged her desperately and his arms came around her as he gave her a gentle kiss on the mouth, which she returned for a fraction of a second before turning her head away.
"I'm sorry. I- I came here because Major Armstrong ordered me to- He wanted to know how you were doing… Well, really I think he just wanted me to have to talk to you…"
"Wait- So you're going to leave me again?"
Riza's body shook softly as the tears continued to flow down her cut and scraped cheeks, marking vague trails down her pallid, pasty white cheeks, "you've strayed too far from the path this time, sir. That transmutation could have killed you- laid waste to everything we've worked for all these years."
"But I did it for you, Riza!"
"I know… That's why I'm leaving. I'm no good for your mission, sir- nothing but a distraction. I can't risk being the reason your noble dream comes to nothing."
A low growl escaped Roy's throat as he put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly and drawing a small whimper from Riza as he added pressure to a bruise hidden by several layers of fabric. His hand immediately dropped when he saw that he was hurting her. "Riza," he said, reaching out to her now with his gently pleading eyes, "you know I'd never have made it this far without you."
Riza crossed the room to look down at the homunculus where she sat, "I don't know much about you, Corliss, but I'm trusting you to protect the Colonel for me." She flashed him a sad look over her shoulder, wiping the tears from her ears. "I'm sorry, but I can't anymore."
The hate immediately drained from Corliss' own pale face- she could feel this woman's pain- feel it as clearly as though it were her own, which –in a way- it was. "I will," she said, and she stood to wrap her arms around Riza carefully, knowing exactly where not to lean too heavily and where all the worst of her wounds were. The memories were fresh in both of their minds. "You can count on me, Riza."
"I'm glad." Riza released herself and turned fully to salute Roy, who was staring at them, speechless, his usually stoic features showcasing a cheerless blend of shock and despair. "Good luck, sir," she told him, eyes dry at last and her voice oddly level. "Our paths shan't cross again."
