Riza felt dead on her feet as she walked into their apartment. Roy tossed his car keys into the bowl by the door behind her, but she didn't move any further inside. Unsure what she wanted to do, she just stood there, hearing him move around her.

Hayate walked to greet her by the door, wagging his tail at Riza. She watched her pup, noticing how his tongue stopped lolling from his mouth and his tail slowed. Whining quietly, Hayate approached and nudged her shin with his nose.

"Riza?" Roy prompted. He'd probably noticed her just staring down at her dog.

Crouching low, Riza scratched behind Hayate's ears without a word.

She hated to worry him, but Roy obviously was. He was hovering watching her interact with Hayate, unsure what to do. Riza didn't know what to do either, so they were both in the same boat.

Past experience was telling her to bottle this all up inside of her and forget about it. If she shoved it deep down inside of her with everything else, then her father couldn't hurt her anymore, right?

But… That was the problem today. She'd taken one look at him and been teleported back to her teenage years. Suddenly, she was back in that house and hiding from him while he was on the rampage, looking to take his anger out on her. If she talked about it, maybe that wouldn't happen again in the future…

From what Roy told her, she doubted she'd ever see her father again. Then again, before today, she'd felt the same way. He'd popped up without warning and she'd been caught off guard. She was ashamed at her behaviour. She'd seized up and frozen, instead of fighting back. She should've fought back. In her head, over the last few years, she was so sure she would if she ever came across him again. Riza had vowed she would, no longer wanting to be just a verbal punching bag for her father. But today, she'd failed. If she didn't talk about it with someone, it would happen again, and Riza didn't want that.

Roy had asked to talk about it when they got home but now it was here, she was terrified. She didn't want to relive it but was angry of feeling so scared all the time.

"Why don't you come have a seat?" Roy gently coaxed as she rose from her crouch.

Yes!

"I think I'm just going to go to bed." She cringed at how hollow her voice sounded.

"It's five thirty," Roy reminded her.

Her hand paused on the door handle to their bedroom. She didn't care. She didn't want to face the world after today. Forgoing a reply, Riza stepped through and closed the door behind her. She reached for the remote and closed the curtains, welcoming the dim light. It matched her mood. Getting changed was mechanical but she got there. Burrowing herself underneath the cover, she pulled it up to cover her mouth and stared at nothing, her back to the door.

She wanted to talk to him about it…

She wanted to hide away in bed forever…

She wanted to scream and rage about her father…

Her body was numb as she lay there.

The bedroom door opened, but quickly closed and Riza steeled herself for the upcoming conversation with Roy. Tears sprang to her eyes because she knew she was worrying him. She didn't want to do that, but she couldn't face her failure in herself right now. She couldn't talk about her childhood. Not while images of hiding in dark cupboards around her father's mansion flooded her mind.

Maybe she did want the curtains open –

There was a sudden pressure on the bed next to her, making her jump. A wet nose sniffed at her ear, whining quietly as Hayate pawed at her shoulder. Glancing behind her, she noticed it was just Hayate in the room with her. Roy wasn't there. Lifting the cover, she invited her pup into her cocoon and cuddled him close, squeezing her eyes closed tightly. Hayate curled into a ball and let out a soft sigh, coming to rest with his head buried underneath her chin. It was his favourite way to sleep next to her.

The door opened again quietly and Riza didn't open her eyes at the sound of glass hitting wood gently. A hand was pressed against the top of her head, the thumb moving to stroke her forehead.

"Oh, Riza," Roy mumbled sadly. She bit the inside of her cheek, willing herself not to cry. "I'm sorry," he breathed. "I'm sorry he still affects you this way after all this time."

As silence fell and Roy continued to stroke her forehead, Riza cast her mind back, trying to remember if she'd ever told Roy fully what happened in her childhood. She didn't think she had. He knew her father kicked her out because she wanted to go into music, but he didn't know the extent of his cruelty. Only Izumi and Rebecca knew that much, and that wasn't fair to him. No wonder he sounded so concerned.

There was a buzz from somewhere, and Roy pulled away. She almost whined at the loss of the contact. Footsteps sounded on the carpet and the bedroom door opened, a muffled greeting sounding from him as he answered his phone.

Riza pried her eyes open, blinking in the darkness. His dress shoes lay discarded next to her side of the bed. He must have kicked them off. His tie lay carelessly across her bedside table, next to a glass of water he'd brought through for her.

"Riza?"

She'd completely missed Roy re-entering the room, too lost inside of her own head. Riza almost rolled over, but Roy popped into her field of view beside her. He offered her a sad smile, but she also saw a brief flash of anxiety as he swallowed. "That was Maes on the phone. I've got an important call in a bit that I really need to take."

She said nothing. She desperately didn't want him to leave, but she wouldn't hold him back if he was needed elsewhere.

"I…" A deep sigh left him. "I really don't want to leave you alone," he admitted. The hand returned to stroking her forehead.

"I'll be okay." It came out as a whisper, sounding so false. Hayate snuggled further underneath her chin. "I've got Hayate."

"That's not the point."

It wasn't, Riza understood that, but she couldn't hold him back. He had a life outside of her too, and she'd been through this before as a teenager. She'd never expected it would come around again as an adult, but here they were. She'd get through it like always, retreating into herself for the rest of the day and seeing if she had the strength to get out of bed tomorrow.

"I'm just going to go to sleep," she mumbled, closing her eyes again. Roy's ministrations with his hands were making her tired anyway.

"Okay," he sighed. It sounded like he was accepting defeat and it made her heart hurt.

But she still couldn't bring herself to talk about it. Not yet.

"Hello?"

"Rebecca? Hey, it's Roy." He closed the bedroom door quietly behind him. Riza was already asleep and he didn't want to disturb her peace.

"Oh, hey Roy. How are you?"

"I'm all right. Listen, I've got a bit of a situation here."

"Okay, what's up?"

"It's about Riza." He took a deep breath as he walked towards his couch. "She saw her father today."

There was short silence on the other side of the phone, causing Roy to bite his lip.

"Oh, shit."

"I know. It was… bad."

"Is she okay?"

Roy bit his lip harder. "No. I'm worried about her. We got home from the funeral – we saw him there – and she's retreated in on herself. I've never seen her like this before."

There was another brief silence, followed by a sigh from Rebecca.

"She does this," Rebecca revealed. "I've told her time and time again to talk to me, but she'll ignore the world for a few hours, or the rest of the day, then she'll come out of it."

"That's not healthy."

"No, it's not, but this is Riza we're talking about." There was no malic behind her tone, just worry. "She does things differently from everyone else."

"What should I do?"

"Give her some time. She'll come back to you soon. It's… It's not happened often. The last time I was aware of was a few years ago. I was with her and she saw him. I don't think Berthold saw her, but we were out shopping while on holiday out east and she ran like a bat out of hell. I spent an hour trying to find her. She was in the hotel room, asleep."

Roy let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. "I'm so worried about her," he admitted. "We came home, and she went straight to bed. She's already asleep."

"Roy, she'll be okay. She's strong."

Roy knew she was, but it didn't alleviate anything for him.

"Has… Has she ever spoken to you about it?"

"She has," Rebecca revealed after a long pause. That made him feel a bit better. At least he knew he could call on Rebecca again if Riza wanted to talk about it, but not with him. "She's told me everything. Has she told you?"

Roy shook his head, forgetting Rebecca wouldn't be able to see him. "No."

"It's understandable, given her character. It… wasn't good. She said she never wanted to relive it, but I know she did when she saw him that day out east, and she probably did today."

Briefly closing his eyes, Roy digested what Rebecca said.

"There's a favour I need to ask you," he began, feeling bad for even considering it. If Rebecca couldn't come, then Maes would just have to wait. "Maes called me. I completely forgot I had an important business call this evening. It was supposed to happen at the bar, but I've managed to convince Maes to wire me in from here. I just… I don't want to leave her alone if she wakes up while I'm busy with it. I wish I could ignore it, but this needs to be dealt with today –"

"Do you want me to come over?"

"Would you mind? I really don't want to leave her alone."

"Absolutely not." There was activity on the other end of the phone as Rebecca moved about. "I'll be over soon."

"Okay. Thank you so much."

Roy hated himself. After disconnecting the call, he rubbed his face tiredly with his hand. His heart constricted inside his chest, thinking about not being there for Riza right now. Granted, she was asleep and probably would be for a while, but that wasn't the point. He could only hope he be finished in time before she woke up.

"What's wrong?" Maes asked, as soon as he saw Roy through the video feed. Roy had set it up in his studio in his apartment while he'd waited on Rebecca's arrival. Now, the brunette was sitting on his couch and watching television, waiting to be there for Riza in case she woke up.

"Nothing," he replied curtly, unintentionally sounding angrier than he should of. Maes didn't deserve the brunt of his anger, and it was more frustration with himself than anything else. "What needs to be done?" Roy asked, softening his tone.

Maes eyed him for a second, concern overtaking his features, before he launched into the conversation, not wasting any time.