We All Fall Down
Same disclaimer inserted here.
AN: Wow. I really didn't expect to get any reviews on my last chapter, but sorry to say it was intended to just be a one shot. Many, many thanks to all ya'll for the kind words. This is another songfic, but it takes place after ep.25 so expect small spoilers.
Now on with the story.
Riza Hawkeye woke with a jolt, from a restless sleep. It had been a few days since her good friend and fellow soldier, Maes Hughes had been killed, and she was still having trouble sleeping. Foggy eyed, she glanced at her alarm clock.
4:45 A.M. it read. Her alarm went off at five.
May as well get up. she thought, stretching in bed and accidentally kicking Black Hayate, who was laying across the foot of the bed.
"Sorry, Hayate." She said, getting up and stretching again. "You want to go out?"
He jumped off the bed, stretched himself, and followed her to the back door. She clipped him to his chain and let him go.
"You behave. I'll let you back in after my shower."
He woofed and went about his doggy business. She smiled and went back inside.
After her shower, she went about her usual morning routine. Shower, let Hayate back in, they both have breakfast, then she dressed for work. As she put the finishing touches to her uniform, a loud clap of thunder rattled the walls, followed by the sound of heavy rainfall.
"Guess I'm driving this morning." She said grabbing her keys from the hook beside the door.
"Hayate, Stay." She said. He began to whine as she shut and locked the door, then he began to howl. She heard him and sighed. He wanted to go with her this morning. Sighing again, she went back and let him out.
"Will you behave if you go with me?" She asked. He sat down; waiting as she relocked the door then was right at her heels as she ran to her car. They quickly loaded up and left.
The drive was slow due to the rain.
"How about some music?" she asked her companion. He woofed his agreement and she turned on the radio.
"Now here's a song for anyone who's down and needs picking up." The DJ said.
"Just what I need." She said as the song began
She says, you know the monkey bar rules
As she kisses away his playground bruise
You don't have to skip a bar each time
To make it to the other side
She picked him up from out of the sand
Then tied the shoe lace that read, Superman
We all fall down
It's the getting back up that really counts
We live and we learn
To help someone up when it's their turn
In life there's only one guarantee
Your feet won't always be on the ground
'Cause we all fall down
'Why are they playing a song like that on the radio?' Riza thought.
She says, I know what you're going through
As she talks to the door of her daughter's room
Your heart feels like it's broken in two
But, Baby, I'm here for you
The door opened and she stepped inside
She put her arms around her and said, It's ok to cry
We all fall down
It's the getting back up that really counts
We live and we learn
To help someone up when it's their turn
In life there's only one guarantee
Your feet won't always be on the ground
'Cause we all fall down
The chorus caught her attention this time.
He's forty-five and his job is gone
Cleans out his desk and heads on home
Sees his kids out playing in the yard
It's been a while since he's been hit so hard
He's as scared as a man can be
He tells his wife and she says, Honey, Look at me
We all fall down
It's the getting back up that really counts
We live and we learn
To help someone up when it's their turn
In life there's only one guarantee
Your feet won't always be on the ground
'Cause we all fall down
Riza pulled into the employee parking lot as the song ended.
We all fall down
We all fall down
We all fall down
'But you got to get back up.' She thought as she and Black Hayate got out of the car and walked up to the office. They walked pass a window and she noticed it was still raining heavily.
"I wonder if Roy will even come in today?" she said to herself, "or if he even left last night?" remembering that he had stayed late doing paperwork. She shrugged and keeps walking.
At the office, she unlocked and opened the door, only to find it trashed. Horrified, she looked around for any sign of forced entry. Hayate ran over to a prone figure. That figure being Roy Mustang.
"Colonel!" she yelled, rushing to his side. He looked up briefly, and then laid his head back on the ground.
"Hughes and I had a party last night after the paperwork." He mumbled. She pulled him up so he was sitting on his knees and she could see his face. He had a look that said he admitted he was lost and down on his luck. And ready to give up. She knew this reminder would do him in.
"Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes is dead. He died a few days ago." She said. She then noticed two and a half bottles of hard liquor on the ground beside him and he reeked of alcohol.
"Yea. That son of a bitch." He said, looking at the floor chuckling. Riza's eye brows narrowed.
'How dare he talk about a fallen soldier like that?' She thought. Roy continued.
"He said he was going to help me get to the top. We were going to make this world a better place with an army that everyone could be proud of. He was supposed to watch his daughter grow up, wanting to be just like her daddy. And show us millions of pictures of her, then bragging on how much he loved her and his wife. But now he can't. Damn it Hughes, you were suppose to be here for me. What in hell made you think you could do something like that alone. I could have been there. How dare you die on me, Hughes. You Bastard." He finished, covering his face to hide the tears and falling forward to hit the cold floor again. He wanted nothing more than for it to swallow him up. But instead of a cold floor, he fell into the warm embrace of his subordinate. She laid his head against her shoulder, right at her collarbone, and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"Sir, you're not only hurting yourself by holding all of this in. It hurts me to see you like this. I heard a song on the radio this morning. I didn't understand what it meant until just now. It said that we all fall down, but it's the getting back up that really counts. That we live and we learn to help someone up when it's their turn. That in life there's only one guarantee. That your feet won't always be on the ground. Cause we all fall down." She paused for a moment to catch her breath, "If you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you. I'll always help you back up."
"This time you may have to pick me up." He said, weakly chuckling. She was about to ask what he meant by that, but he suddenly got very heavy. Meaning he had just passed out.
'Well, I'll try, Roy.' She thought.
She really didn't know where she got the strength to move him, but she was able to drag him from the floor to the office couch. There she unbuttoned his uniform jacket, loosened his belt, and removed his boots. He woke up long enough to ask if he could use her lap as a pillow. Normally any request like that would land him in the hospital, but on his current condition she happily complied. She covered him with a light blanket, grabbed her latest romance novel, and sat down with him. She looked at his sleeping face.
'He looks much more relaxed now.' She thought, her eyes moving from his sleeping eyes to his lips. 'What the hell, he'll never know.'
She moved down and brushed a light kiss on his lips.
"I'll always help you back up, Roy." She said.
"I know." He replied. He heard her grasp." Maybe next time that can last a little longer."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Roy didn't have to open his eyes to know it was Havoc laughing. This could get them on trouble, but he trusted that Hawkeye would silence him.
"This is so rich. I got to tell Fuery." He said.
"Havoc, do you have any kids?" Riza asked.
"No, why?" he replied.
"Do you want any?"
"What is that suppose to mean?" he asked. She gave him a wicked smile.
"HAYATE, GET HIM!"
Havoc's screams all over the building assured them that he would keep their secret. At least, he would if he wanted to keep his 'family jewels'.
Well again, tell me what you think. Good. Bad. Or Trash.
Oh, one more thing. I don't hate Havoc. He's just fun to pick on.