"Al?" Fury's voice was soft and timid and he walked over to the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. He immediately pulled it back as huge tears welled up in the boys' eyes and he shrunk away from the seemingly gentle touch.

Alphonse sniffled and curled up into a ball, the coat Riza had covered him with smelling like sanctuary. He wanted to say no, but the words weren't coming, small whispers of breath along the rims of his lips. But the hand was gone and the soft voice disappeared into humming, as Fury worked at his desk.

Eventually Al sat up, wincing at the pain, tears coming back to his eyes that he blinked back. "C-can I have some clothes?" he tried, leaning against the headboard, barely able to see Fury working at his desk, but his words were too soft, and weren't heard over the dull scratching of Fury's pen against paper.

Fury turned around at the wisp of sound, not sure if he heard anything. "Al?" he murmured. "Did you say something?" The boy was sitting up now, his back rigidly flat against the headboard. The boxers were like a skirt on him, much to large, and he still clasped at the blue coat around him with clumsy fingers.

Al nodded, swallowing hard, and then shook his head.

Fury frowned and turned around so he could watch Alphonse. The boy's fingers had strayed from grasping the coat and were absentmindedly stroking the kitten that had meandered back into his lap.

"So cold," Al whispered to Fury, looking up at the man, seeing his poor visage reflected in the man's square-rimmed glasses.

"Do you want a thicker jacket?" Fury asked, looking at Riza's light coat pooling over him.

Al shook his head hard and started trembling again, pulling the jacket tight around him. "N-no," he mumbled, puffs of breath coming between his lips after each exhalation. "I want warmer clothes."

"I don't have any clothes your size," Fury tried to explain, opening the drawers for him. Uniforms in one, underwear, neatly aligned in another. In the last drawer he yanked open, a girls' dress flopped out, along with a t-shirt and some other jeans. "My niece's," he said, smiling at Al, trying to figure out what the look on his face was.

"Those jeans are warmer than your boxers," Al said softly, moving from the headboard to the edge of the bed, looking at them. "I want to wear them." Al sighed deeply, pulling his knees to his chest.

"O-oh, okay," Fury stammered, not sure what to say to that. "Do you want me to dress you?"

Al shook his head hard, not wanting to be touched. "I'll put them on," he said, looking at Fury expectantly. Not knowing what to do, Fury just handed him one of the girl's tops and the pair of jeans and watched Al as Al watched him.

"Aren't you going to turn around?" Al mumbled, a sudden blush on his face.

"Oh, oh yeah," Fury stammered, turning around so Al could dress himself.

Al's fingers numbly buttoned up the lacy shirt. He pulled the pants on, buttoning them, tracing the embroidery around the hems of the denim. Finally, he coughed lightly, trying to tell Fury he could turn back around. The boy'd let his hair down and Fury was surprised how much like a girl he looked. "Warm," Al said simply, clambering back to his perch on top of the pillows with the kittens, still holding onto Riza's jacket. Eventually, he let the jacket drop to the bed and curled up with it, holding Jeremy and Lily to him.

If it was a question of trust, she could deal with it, Riza told herself. They had the military parade to deal with as it was. She could distract Roy with enough paperwork to make him forget all about Alphonse. She was strong enough to deal with this.

"How many men have you decided on for the parade?" Riza asked, walking tall into the office, not letting doubts nag at her stature.

"It doesn't matter," Roy said with a yawn. "You're the one planning the parade."

"That's not true," Riza said, pointing to the paperwork in front of him.

Roy flipped through the papers and pointed out several blank areas that had been filled with Riza's handwriting. "All you're asking for from me," he said simply, "is a verifying signature. You've filled out all the areas and planned everything."

"So I did..." Riza said softly, going through the papers, remembering the long nights she had spent, knowing how important this would be for Roy's public reputation. "Oh well. We'll be able to have the parade soon, then."

"It's set for Friday, according to what you've written," Roy said, looking at her. "Hawkeye, are you feeling alright?"

She shook her head then nodded, wishing she didn't feel this disconcerted. Detail was something she was good at, so she should be able to remember what date she had set the parade for.

Maybe she was just distracted.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Fuhrer," she said eventually. "Just haven't been sleeping much."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Roy said obligingly. "Oh, and when is Alphonse moving in with me?"

The words stung her hard, but she smiled at him. "Oh, well, a space opened up in the dorms, so we didn't even have to move him into your house."

Roy nodded. "It's probably better for him. Give him a bit of independence."

Riza nodded to that and gathered up the paperwork. "Well, I better file this," she said curtly, knowing Al needed anything but independence at this point.