Author's Note: Chapter has been revamped as of 6/11/07. Please check my profile for updates and status on all my stories.

Chapter 2

All was going according to plan or so she silently prayed. She looked down at her hands bound by cold steel, her wrists felt uncomfortable against the metal. Out of no where screeching tires and the sounds of metal on metal filled the air. That was when the monstrous man known as Colonel Archer showed up. He was headed to the Fuhrer's to stop Colonel Mustang plan. She had to do something, she couldn't let him get in the way.

The soldiers tried their best to calm the rampaging soldier down. He was obviously agitated and off his rocker as well. The soldiers explained that everything was under control and that they were to take Lieutenant Hawkeye to headquarters.

"Hawkeye, What's she doing here!" Archer's voice was cold and metallic. He opened fire on the car she was riding in, giving her little time to prepare. Those that tried to calm him yet again were met with bullets or an unforgiving steel arm.

She grabbed a gun and returned fire but Archer still managed to hit her. He took off in the direction to the Fuhrer's mansion and Hawkeye wasted no time retrieving a key for the belt of a fallen soldier. After releasing the handcuffs she quickly followed Archer for all she was worth. Her arm ached as she ran, blood soaked her jacket just below the shoulder where Archer's bullet had grazed her. She ignored the pain and pushed forward. Gun held tightly in her hands, ready to fire. She had to make it in time, please God she said in silent prayer let me make it.

For what seemed like an eternity she ran, ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Finally she came upon the gate of the mansion a crimson glow emitted from just beyond. Archer's large back came into view and she didn't hesitate to aim her gun and pull the trigger. Aiming for his "human" side she efficiently filled him with 7 bullets, everyone of them hit it's mark. He jerkily turned as though he was going to return fire but instead collapsed in a heap.

After defeating Archer she continued to run toward the mansion. Out of breath she pushed herself onward as the front steps came into her view. Her heart stopped as she noted the lifeless bodies that lay ahead, she gasped as she momentarily paused.

Ascending the steps she ran to his lifeless form, blood pooling out from beneath it. Bending over him now, she shook his body as she called out frantically. "Colonel! Colonel! Colonel!" She called out desperately and received no answer. "Roy Mustang!" She shouted out followed by quiet sobs as her voice died down from screaming his name. She clung to his side as the tears stared to fall. The ran down her face and soaked into Roy's jacket. She placed her forehead to his side as a most heart wrenching scream came from deep within her heart. Sobs wracked her body as she continued to cry. Something no one, not even Roy Mustang had ever seen her do.

Locked in the depths of her despair Riza thought she felt Roy move beneath her. Clawing her way from the haze she reached for his wrist checking for a pulse, she said another silent prayer. He was still warm and the flesh beneath her fingers felt soft and alive. She held her breath as she waited. There it was! It was very, very faint but there was still life left in him. She had to get help and fast!

She sat at his bedside in constant vigil. He had been asleep for five days it seemed like an eternity. He was in rough shape to say the least and it was surprising he was even alive. He had many large wounds over his body from the Fuhrer's sword. The most serious of wounds was where he had been impaled in the chest just above the heart. The sword dragged across his body in excruciating pain. Beyond the constant blood loss from these wounds he was then shot by Colonel Archer in the face.

Bandages now hid his handsome features. The most obvious one was the one on his face. His left eye now damaged beyond repair, a bandage wrapped around that side of his head.

Riza shifted in her chair as she noticed his body begin to stir. A gasp emitted from her slightly parted lips. Her heart lifted as she found hope that things would be all right now. Slowly Roy Mustang opened his right eye and blinked away the brightness that now invaded it. Letting the world come into focus he was unsure of his surroundings. Realizing that he should be dead left him to wonder what had happened that night at the Fuhrer's mansion.

The last thing he remembered was emerging from the mansion only to see Archer appear before him. He vaguely remembered the presence of a woman, her voice called out to him beyond her own panic. All he could see was darkness then he felt her body against his as she cried out in agonizing pain. She sounded like someone had just ripped her beating heart right out of her body. To her it felt like someone really had.

"Riza." It was barely an audible whisper as it escaped his lips. His heart sank as he realized it was her that he was hearing. She was crying. For him? His eye refocused as he now concentrated on his current surroundings. He felt a presence in the room with him one that emitted concern and a familiar comfort. Slowly he turned to see his lieutenant sitting in a rigid chair by his bedside. An expression of relief painted across her face. Reality sunk in as he regarded her expression.

The words caught in the back of her throat, unable to speak. Riza forced herself not to cry. She had to be strong for her Colonel. She had already failed him once, she would not do so again.

"Lieutenant." The word quietly slipped out of his dry mouth. "Riza." He quickly followed up, letting a little surprise and delight tinge his voice.

"Colonel!" Riza finally found her voice as she sprang closer to his bed no longer able to hide her excitement at his awakening.

"It's ok for you to call me Roy." His voice remained low, unable to gather the strength to speak any louder.

"Roy." She smiled at him almost lovingly as she let his name flow off her tongue.

"What happened?" He asked her unsure as to how he arrived at his current location.

"Sir… Roy." She corrected herself as old habits die hard. "I found you on the mansion steps. We rushed you to the hospital as soon as we could."

"What happened…… to Archer?" He struggled to speak ask the many days of inactivity started to really show.

"I shot him, sir." Her voice was low now, as she remembered that painful night. The night she though the man that she lived for had died right in front of her.

"I'm sorry." He had a pained look in his eye as he turned away from her momentarily.

"For what, sir?" Still finding it hard to kick her old habit she spoke softly in response.

"I am sorry you had to face him alone. I am sorry I could not defeat him myself." He struggled to keep his voice strong so she would not worry any more about his condition. "I am Sorry for all I have put you through." He spoke as if realizing for the first time all the terrible things she was forced to do by serving him.

"It's all part of my duty. As long as you're safe, that is all that matters. I will fight the devil himself if that is what it takes to protect you." Her voice was soft and genuine. "Even if it goes beyond my duty." She smiled sadly as she briefly remembered thinking she had lost him that night for what must have been the hundredth time since the event.

Just as Roy opened his mouth to speak a nurse stepped in to check on the patient. "Oh!" She was a little startled to see the normally closed eye was now open. "You're awake!" She couldn't hide the surprise and relief in her own voice.

"I think I will go get some fresh air." Riza stated as she arose from her chair by Roy's side, quickly she left the room so the nurse could tend to her patient in privacy.

"That's one dedicated subordinate you have there Colonel Mustang." The older nurse gave him a smile as she spoke. "I swear she has never left your side the five days you have been here." She looked at him with a knowing eye.

Roy's face showed a little bit of shock at that though. His look almost turned painful as he oddly found himself voicing his thoughts. "She's more than that. She is…. my everything." He paused for a moment as if trying to collect his thoughts. "Someday….. I hope to tell her that. When I become a man that deserves her."

The nurse couldn't hide her down-curved lips. "Honey, every woman deserves to be with the man she loves, no matter who he is. Let her make that choice."

Roy was almost taken aback at that though. He always knew that their relationship ran deeper than what was on the surface. It was almost like they shared an unspoken love. But surely he was not the man that Riza would want to spend the rest of her life with. Was he?

The nurse continued to check his wounds for infection and to see how they were healing. He was snapped back to reality as she broke the silence. "I am sure a wonderful life awaits you at the end of your road to recovery." She smiled at him in a motherly way. With that she grabbed her chart and left the room. Not allowing him the chance to talk back.

He smiled to himself as he let her words sink in. He realized that he just couldn't live without the woman named Riza Hawkeye. He silently prayed that she would be there to help him travel down that road, although he inwardly felt guilty for doing so.