BWinner's note: This chapter admittedly went in an ENTIRELY different direction than I had initially imagined. I had some time to reflect on previous fan fics of mine and decided I tended to jump the gun on many of them and speed up the story to get to the "juicy" bits. Roy and Riza deserve better, much better in my opinion and so I've fleshed things out more than I had planned. Hopefully you all think it'll be for the better

Breaking Point– Ch.2

Roy felt the bed sink beside him as Hawkeye took a seat. Carefully he propped himself against the headboard and turned toward what he assumed was her general direction. For a minute all he did was listen, listen to the sound of her breathing as he composed himself. Roy knew he was stalling, but all he could do was try to extend this moment because he knew that whatever came from this conversation things would be forever changed between the two of them. The thought terrified him.

"Lieutentant, I – "he stopped himself. Just how was he going to address this? It wasn't as if he could unload all of the confusing thoughts in his head to her, and it occurred to him he had not thought this through. Roy considered himself lucky he could not see her face right now, for he was sure she was giving him the most intense expectant stare. Losing his nerve, he decided to go on the offensive, and distance himself from the woman in the room.

"I need you to answer me truthfully, why are you here?"

"I thought I made myself perfectly clear before, I'm your body guard. With you compromised we can't take the risk that someone might come for your life." Her tone was very clearly offended. Of course, it was.

"You realize that could have been accomplished by having me remain in the hospital with a guard outside my door…" he shouldn't have been sounding this stern. "You also realize the questions and suspicions that will arise with people knowing it is just the two of us here. We may both be military but it could still be considered highly inappropriate for a lower ranking female officer to be looking after her commander without supervision."

"With all due respect, Sir, why are you bringing this up now? Why let me bring you here in the first place when you could have voiced such concerns days ago?" That tone had gone from offended to impatient now.

Damn it. There was no one to blame for his incompetence in this instance. Roy had worked himself into a corner far sooner than he would have liked.

"Because I didn't think it would be this hard!" he shouted before he could stop himself. Taking a moment, he tried to compose himself. "I can't be around you with all of the confusing thoughts and emotions going on in my head right now. Things have changed for me Hawkeye, in many different ways. The last few months have been especially hard on me. You just - you can't be the one to be here, and I really can't explain why."

Anything and everything he had intended to say to her withered away in his cowardice. He had fully intended to level with her on his feelings but found that impossible to do without compromising his role as a leader and driving his lieutenant away. There was also no way of addressing his feelings in this moment without pegging the woman into a corner due to the heightened emotions in the air, and the last thing he wanted was a dishonest answer because she felt pressured.

The silence remained uncomfortable for a long moment before Hawkeye finally responded. "I have no idea what happened to bring this on Colonel, however, if that's an order then I will get a hold of a replacement for myself." Her tone was flat.

"It is," Roy affirmed quickly.

"Then if there is nothing else you need, I have some phone calls to make." With that statement he heard the door close and he was left in silence once more.

If he couldn't sleep now it was his own damned fault. That was about as disastrous as it could have been, he was now a king left without a queen. 'Why now?' was all he really felt like asking himself. For years the two had worked together and he hadn't given any significant thought to pursuing his Lieutenant. He knew that the war had been a perfect distraction, but perhaps what also helped was being so close to the top brass. Back then it would have been near impossible to sneak around without the rumor mill running in full force. This time of peace, even despite the chaos of restructuring the military, had left him with a false sense of security. Thanks to his weakness Roy wasn't even sure he had her friendship anymore, much less a relationship with her.

The night passed agonizingly slowly as he mulled over these details in his head. So, when he heard a banging on his front door he was entirely unprepared for it. Rubbing his heavy sleep deprived eyes, he sat himself up once more; slowly and carefully he swung his legs over the bed and felt his way to the bedroom door. Graciously over the first couple of days in an attempt to make using the washroom easier, Hawkeye had removed anything that could have been an immediate obstruction for him. It didn't take long for him to realize that Hawkeye was already awake as he heard her pause whatever task she had been doing in the kitchen and answered the door. Roy listened intently, not wanting to make his presence known yet.

"Thank you for coming Breda, I'm sorry again for calling so late at night," her voice was soft, but still professional if anything.

Breda? Well he supposed that made sense. Hawkeye wanted him protected and he knew Falman and Fuery didn't exactly fall into the category of a fighter. Roy also knew the young man was smarter than most realized, having graduated at the top of his class in the academy, so Hawkeye had also ensured he wouldn't be able to slack on his studies.

"It's alright Hawkeye, you can't help having a personal emergency." He sounded almost exasperated, but who could blame him with how late Hawkeye must have called last night.

"Well, I'm sure you know what's more or less expected here. For the most part he can feed himself, though he does need someone to prepare meals. He's getting better at dressing himself, but again you'll need to pick out clothing for him. Of course, I also devote at least an hour to his studies of the Ishval culture, you absolutely cannot slack on that," she stressed.

"Understood, understood. Should I wake the boss now?" His tone was almost flippant and Roy was sure it annoyed Hawkeye to no end.

"There's no need, your banging on the door did fine work of that," he called from the hall.

He continued to feel his way along until he felt a hand significantly larger than Hawkeye's grab his elbow and guide him to the table. It was an odd sensation given how delicate her touch had been over the last few days, but he supposed more than anything he was grateful for the help. Carefully Roy sat, but stayed quiet now, unsure of how to address the Lieutenant.

"Good morning, Sir," she was trying so hard not to sound unsure of herself. "I've made a simple breakfast, and there's coffee prepared. I've also briefed 2nd Lieutenant Breda on what we've been working towards here so I'm sure you'll be in capable hands. If there's nothing else I'll be on my way with your permission."

"No, there's nothing else." He came across colder than he intended, but he knew in the presence of another military member he couldn't show any emotional attachment in his voice.

He heard her lift her arm and could only assume he was being saluted. Without another word he heard the door open and close once more; his heart felt like shattering with the sound.

TBC…

A/N: MASSIVE CHAPTER EDIT. I'm part of a writing forum on this site and I submitted the original confession from Mustang in this chapter for review and advice... the consensus was that he was being a bit of a selfish prick to Hawkeye, and re-reading this chapter over and over, I agree. If some of my old readers choose no to follow from this point I completely understand, but this fic has morphed way beyond what I thought it was going to be, and admittedly their interaction now better suits the story I am trying to flesh out later.