Riza sighed as she stared out the window. Today had been stressful, but overall the whirlwind of events in the past ear had died down. Amestris was as peaceful as a nation recovering from a near apocalypse could be. Repairs were going on all over the country, and lately there had been much work for all military personal. She, the colonel and the rest of the subordinates were pinballed around the country, supervising reconstruction and signing wavers and releases. They had only recently returned to central, and were once again bogged down with massive amounts of paper work so that for once Colonel Mustang was not the only one staying late.
She turned as a sigh made it's way across the room, and she looked over at Havoc who was sitting in his wheelchair at his desk. He had recovered significantly after the encounter with Lust, and although he still did not have very good control over the lower half of his body, the doctors did say that he might be able to walk again with sufficient aid. Still, he had planned on staying inactive, but Mustang and Breda had convinced him to return to the office to help with the paperwork.
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She glanced over as the Sergeant Major ran over to her, clearly out of breath. "First Lieutenant Hawkeye!" He called, stopping short and saluting. She turned her head to him, not moving from her position. "What's happened, Sergeant Major?"
Fury spoke quickly. "I heard that you'd be here, First Lieutenant… But what's happened to yourself?"
"The colonel has been inside the headquarters last night and won't come out."
"Eeeh?" Fury exclaimed, becoming nervous as he often did. "He didn't dispatch people to spread rumors?"
"There are none."
He looked at her, fear written clearly across his young face. "…First Lieutenant. The people from the personnel department of affairs came to the barracks this morning. I've…" His voice broke off for a moment before continuing. He swallowed. "I've been ordered to serve at Southern Headquarters."
"Her head snapped up in surprise, her normally cold demeanor replaced by an astonished one. "What did you say?"
"It's not just me," He continued. "Second Lieutenant Breda is going to Western Headquarters. And it seems that Warrant Officer Falman will be posted at Northern Headquarters."
She could do nothing but stare in astonishment. They were being torn away from one another. The only group of people they could trust… Fury spoke up again. "Has anyone come to talk to you, First Lieutenant?" He asked anxiously.
"I still haven't heard anything…" She said. As the words left her mouth, she and Fury looked over to see pair of men approaching. They stopped directly in front of the two. "You're First Lieutenant Hawkeye?" He asked pleasantly.
"Yes." She replied, a bit quickly.
"I'm Yankolev from the Personnel Affairs Department." She and Fury saluted, both fearing the worst. The second man spoke up. He glared at her with contempt and handed her an envelope. "I am the Fuhrer's personal assistant, Storch. Take this." He said, shoving it into her hands.
"It's a reassignment order?" She said softly, daring to hope that it wasn't.
"That's right,"
She looked at the envelope, nervous to see the contents, but eventually opening it slowly. "I will see it," She said. Fury watched her nervously as she pulled the letter from its package. She read it over slowly, eyes widening. She read it again to make sure she had read it correctly. "You cannot refuse." Storch said, looking annoyed.
"Where have you been thrown, First Lieutenant?" Fury asked nervously.
She paused. "'Starting tomorrow, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye will be stationed at Central Headquarters…'" She saw Fury's face light up with relief. "As a personal assistant to the Fuhrer."
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It was hard to believe that it was actually over. All of them had been reunited and served under him once more, but heavy prices had been paid and scars were still healing. Pain still was fresh in her mind from all that they had gone through.
The door swung open into the office and Roy entered, followed closely by Breda who walked past him and sat down across from havoc and picked up his paperwork. Roy stood in the doorway, hand still on the doorknob. "First Lieutenant," He said. She turned and saluted him. "With me," He said, and turned and walked out the door.
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What was even harder to believe was that it had all begun with two children. The Elric brothers, to be precise. It was when she had met them that mysteries began to become unraveled and horrors exposed.
She had still been a Second Lieutenant then, the only one stationed under Mustang, only two years after the ending of the war. He'd received information of the two brothers from the country town of Rizenbool wanting to become state alchemists. It had been a shock to them both when they discovered that the two were children. Of course, she had always been better at hiding her emotions, so she had left it to the colonel to sort out his surprise with the driver of the wagon that they were riding in to get to the Elric's house.
It was when they had come to the house though, that had shocked them the most. The entire floor was bathed in blood. He had recoiled, realizing quickly all that this meant. Some horrible transmutation had gone on in there.
He had called to the driver and insisted to know where the Elrics where, and had lost no time storming off to the Rockbell house to find out what the hell had happened there. He'd been rude of course, but she had come to expect that from him when events like this took place.
Ed's face had torn her when she first saw him. He looked like he was a dead, eyes blank, and a vacant expression covering his entire face. He was sitting in the wheelchair behind a large suit of armor, which she had later realized was his brother.
She'd gone outside of the room to sit and wait patiently while Roy had talked to the old woman. She'd been sitting quietly, awaiting the verdict when the granddaughter of the came through the door carrying a tray. She'd offered Riza a cup of warm tea before sitting down beside her. She saw so much of herself in that girl; the pain of loosing parents to war, the fear of losing close friends. She'd told the girl she didn't enjoy or like the military either, which had led the girl to ask why she was in the military anyways. She still remembered her answer, she reminded herself of it still when she had doubts.
"There is someone I need to protect. It was not because I was forced by anyone, but it was my own free will. It is my own choice to pull the trigger for the person I must protect. Until the day that person accomplishes his goal… I will pull this trigger without doubt."
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He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as he walked down the hall. "How long has it been, Lieutenant?" He asked casually.
"Excuse me?" She said. It wasn't often that he would ask her something in casual conversation, unless he was trying to get out of paperwork.
"You've been with me longer than any of my other subordinates, correct?"
"Yes, sir, I was the first to be assigned under your command." She answered in a monotone. "May I ask why you are questioning?"
He shrugged. "No reason, really. I was just thinking that we've been through a lot."
"Yes."
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Hughes was dead.
Found dead in a phone booth, dead from a gunshot wound. His eyes lost some of his spark that day.
She hadn't known Hughes as well as he did, but she still considered him a very close friend that she deeply admired. True, he'd had his quirks, but so did others. She knew him as a deeply loyal and committed friend, someone she knew she could lean on if she should even need it.
And now he was gone. The funeral was one of the most heart wrenching experiences she had ever undergone. She'd nearly broken down herself when Elycia had cried out for them not to bury her father. Major Armstrong was also in tears, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from doing the same.
He'd stayed by the grave even after the ceremony, so she had approached him, wary of how he may react.
"It's gotten cold. Aren't you going to go back?"
'Yeah, I will." He paused, eyes scanning the grave. "Alchemists are horrible people, First Lieutenant. Right now…part of me is desperately trying to develop a theory on human transmutation. Now I feel I understand what those boys felt when they tried to transmute their mother."
She'd looked at him, concerned. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," He'd said quickly, pulling on his hat. "Oh no… it's raining."
But it wasn't… the air was cool, but there were no clouds visible. "It isn't raining," She began, but he spoke again, sadness evident in his voice. "No. It's raining." She saw a single tear on his cheek. "…Yes it is. She said softly. "Let's go back, it's getting cold."
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"It's strange to recall it all, everything we've done." He said, pace slowing now. "It's painful. But it's over."
She nodded. "If that's what you want to talk about, sir, I-"
"No, that's not it." He didn't say anything else, so she just followed him down the hall.
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They'd been transferred to Central again a few years after Edward had become a state alchemist. He'd asked her to follow him, and of course she's accepted. Her reasoning was something unspoken between them.
It'd been on her first night off there that the first major clue that led them along the painful path to the final mystery had presented itself in the form of a soul inhibited suit of armor that had once been Barry the Chopper.
She'd gone out shopping to fill her empty apartment for a while so she wouldn't be hungry. Her hair was down and she was in casual clothes, and with the bags of groceries in her hands, few would have guessed she was a militant.
He'd been waiting in a dark alley, just like any strange man would have, trying to pick up an unsuspecting woman. She really had no desire to kill anyone that night, so she had ignored him at first, dismissing his offer to escort her. She hadn't really expected him to leap out at her though. But he did, so she had reached into her bag of groceries and pulled out her handgun and shot him.
He was surprised, and she couldn't blame him. Most women walking along the street didn't carry handguns in their bags. He'd tried to scare her by showing her that he had no body, but, although she had been startled that some one other than Alphonse was in a position like that she shot him again anyways. He'd fallen over stunned, demanding why she wasn't scared. She'd stated simply she knew someone like him, and he'd let out that he had met Alphonse before. It would have all been so easy if he'd left it at that, allowing her to call the colonel and pick the two of them up, but of course, he had to make things difficult by claiming to have fallen in love with her.
So of course, he'd been all over her for the rest of the evening, begging her to cut up random strangers on the street.
And then he'd come, and she didn't think she'd ever seen him so pissed off before.
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"So you've stayed with me the whole time," He continued, sometimes glancing over his shoulder to look at her as they continued to walk around the building through the halls, every once in a while acknowledging a comrade or two who happened to be passing by.
"Yes."
"I've been wondering why."
"That's not really something I want to discuss," She said. "Now isn't really the right time, sir. It's inappropriate." In truth, she had never really told him all the reasons that she followed him without fear or doubt. Most of it was admiration, she knew he was a great man with potential, her father had been right in what he saw in him. There may have been another reason buried within her, but she didn't want to acknowledge it yet.
"Is it so wrong for two colleagues to talk about personal matters?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips. She shook her head. "Not when it's interfering with the work schedule. We both have a lot to do."
"Then, I say we'll take a break."
"Sir, I have a lot to do, so I'll let you-"
"I order you to take a break, First Lieutenant."
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It had been her idea to use the codenames under the pretense of a flower shop. He'd stay in the office to keep attention from being drawn to himself and give them time to communicate. It had actually been fun, acting like one of his many girlfriends who were so completely opposite from herself. She wondered what in the world he could have possibly see in them, but those matters would have to be saved for another time.
All was going well, 'Jacqueline' had gotten herself into a bit of trouble, but she'd ended it with a shot to the annoying 'customer's hand. Everything was proceeding perfectly, until it had arrived. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, a great sac of fat that attached itself to her and asked permission to eat her. Doing that had knocked the headset away from her and she and Fury were cut off from the Colonel.
This of course, had prompted him to come and rescue them. She'd scolded him, but in reality, she was somewhat thankful he had arrived to protect her.
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"Would you come to the café down the street, Lieutenant?"
She sighed. He had forced her to take a break, and now was asking her to accompany him somewhere. This was unusual, even for him. There must be something behind it, she thought. Something could be happening again. Her heart sped up. She wanted nothing more than to prevent anything like that from happening again.
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She wanted to die. She wanted to give herself into the arms of death and leave the world. She'd failed. She couldn't protect him… She didn't… she hadn't been by him. Tears threatening to overwhelm her, she had collapsed, feeling the cold cement seep into her bones. The woman was still there, still smirking and grinning after delivering the news of his death, even after being filled with innumerable amounts of lead.
She heard the sounds of something going on around her, the faint swish os steel as it was pierced. It registered in her mind that Alphonse was still there protecting her, shielding her with his body. He was telling her to run, but her mind wouldn't respond. She'd failed, she wanted to die. She wanted those cold claws to pierce her heart and let her die beside him. She'd told Alphonse to leave, begged him to live on, but to leave but he was still there. He was telling her to get up and run, that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She was still crying, she felt the hot tears stream down her face. She couldn't move.
And then she heard him. His voice laced with pain and poison, fear, hate, but mostly determination. Her eyes opened wide and she cried out for him, calling desperately. He was alive, she hadn't failed.
Alphonse protected her as he burned his enemy, blasting her into oblivion, watching her disintegrate. And it was over.
She'd run to him and knelt beside him, resisting the urge to hold him and comfort him, but resisted knowing he wasn't in the condition for this. He told her he was glad she was ok, and she nearly broke down and sobbed, begging him to think about himself. Instead he'd asked for a doctor for Havoc.
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"Lieutenant…"
He was looking at her from across the table, eyes trailing up and down her uniform. She realized she had been reminiscing, and snapped back to attention. "I'm sorry sir." He sighed. "I wish you wouldn't apologize over such small things."
She didn't look up and sipped her tea. "Do you remember when we first met?"
She set her mug down on the table. "Of course, Colonel."
He grinned. "You were my rival then, weren't you. The first day I knew you, you beat me in a slingshot contest." She smiled faintly at the memory, recalling the look of shock on the young boy's face as she destroyed his shot. "And you always brought me cookies," He continued, smiling wider. She nodded. "Do you still bake, Lieutenant?"
"Every once in a while, " She replied, picking up the hot tea again. "When I feel in the mood for cookies."
"You haven't brought me any," He noticed, looking despondent. "I didn't know you would want any," She replied coolly. "And you never asked."
"You always showed me up in front of your father, too." He said changing the subject. "You were so competitive then. You don't try to best me at everything now."
"Because I know your limits and mine, sir. For example, I know that I could easily best you in accuracy, however, your alchemic skills far exceed anything I would be able to do. Your hand to hand combat skills are also exceptional."
He didn't answer, just leaned back in his chair and sighed.She remained silent, and looked back at the table. "Lieutenant, can I ask you something?" She raised her eyes to meet his gaze. "I suppose so."
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He'd gone to the hospital of course, badly damaged and run down. She'd gone to visit him and Havoc and the first thing he'd done was scold her. She knew she deserved it, she'd lost her faith in him so easily. She bowed her head and allowed him to berate her for what she did. But then he said he would let her stay by him. She nodded. And then of course Havoc opened his big mouth to defend her, saying the Colonel was just as much of an idiot as she. His boldness had always surprised her, and she admired him for it.
She stood by and watched as the two injured men griped at each other about who was in more pain wand why neither of them could have a room to their own with a beautiful nurse. She couldn't help but shake her head in disapproval and remind them that they were together since it was easier to guard them that way.
Alphonse and Fury had entered the room soon after and offered to take her shift, but she declined. She wouldn't fail him again.
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"You've been by my side for a long time now." She nodded. "You haven't questioned my decisions and you follow me loyally. I never have to question whether or not you'll be at my back because I know that you are always beside me."
There is someone I need to protect.
"I feel I can trust you with any task I give you, and I know that you would not only complete it, but pass my expectations exponentially." She looked him over, looking for what he could possibly be heading with this. He'd never come out so straightforward and complimented her so highly before. "I know you can protect me, and I have always wanted to thank you."
It was not because I was forced by anyone, but it was my own free will.
"I know you will continue to follow me, I know that I don't ever need to ask."
It is my own choice to pull the trigger for the person I must protect.
"But, there is something I need to ask. Something I could never do unless I know that you are really willing. I know you would follow me anywhere. I know that you would stay by me until I become Fuhrer. But, I need to ask you now, if you would follow me past that." He had moved from his chair across from her. She felt her face heat up as he knelt on the ground in front of her. "I need to ask if you would stay with me for the rest of my life."
Until the day that person accomplishes his goal… I will pull this trigger without doubt.
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-sobs- it's the end! Im so so so sorry its up later than promised, but was being evil. At least there is the epilogue to look forward to. Thankyou so much all my reviewers! You are all the best people of all time who are so much cooler than anyone else! You get an enormous cooler filed to the brim with e-treats of your choosing!
Anicka , ChibiBotan88 , dingi , Warm-Ice , Solaris12 , lindtchoco , PrincessLuckyCML , jon58840 , Me And My God Complex , OtakuAnime131 , The Stone Wolf Alchemist , Tressa , gundams forever , rika12301 , Ritsuko Akagi , Eye of the Hawk , Waterlilies , Dailenna , inuyasha's lil sister , Vespera , TearShield Alchemist , gun-alchemist01 , Cles , Evilyuffie , Shadow Dreamer 27 , dreximgirl , windxalchemist , Commander Zucchini , -EFC- , thousandbirds , SnakeCharmerFoxx , Priestess of the Souls , rizahawkeye21 , Laceisoverrated , Pharaohs Queen
Yawn… review, ill tell you when im posting the epilogue and you get your name on the big list at the end, don't review… I'll do something bad to you. I don't know yet.