Living on Borrowed Time
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's note: Woo! I was starting to think people had forgotten me Hold onto something, this chapter is more than a little bumpy!
Chapter 18 – Inside Out
Roy Mustang awoke half an hour later feeling rather dizzy and sick. His world felt pulled inside out and his eyes were watering. The smoke from the transmutation had settled in his lungs and he coughed for a few moments. The inside out feeling had made him feel disoriented and for a moment or two he didn't even recall the amazing event that had just happened…that is he forgot until a small moan from the corner of the room brought all the memories rushing back to him.
He leaped to his feet, but his knees creaked noisily beneath him and he couldn't move as quickly as he'd planned. He felt tired and stiff…but that was to be expected. Just across the room the naked body of a young woman was laying on the floor…unmoving. Roy held his breath, terrified that something had went wrong. What if her soul hadn't attached itself to the body? What if it was just an empty shell? Or what if the soul was there, but the body had failed to come to life!
His unconscious prayers were answered when the woman's blonde head moved slightly to the side, and her mouth let out a small moan. Roy's heart leapt to his throat. Could he have really done a successful human transmutation? By all logical accounts it really shouldn't have worked…but then again, the idea of ghosts was far from logical, but she had been one. Unable to contain himself any longer he rushed to her side. "Hawkeye…" he breathed, cradling her head in his lap. Slightly embarrassed that he didn't notice it at first, he happened to realize that she was nude. He averted his eyes and reached for his trench coat that was hanging off the edge of his bed. Carefully so not to disturb her head, he covered her new body with the black coat. The head in his lap moaned again and at last her new eyes fluttered open. They raced around wildly in a random fashion, much like an infant's first glance at the world. After a few moments it seemed that she was beginning to realize what was going on. The woman looked up at her savior and spoke the first word of her new life, "Hi."
He smiled so wide his face ached, "Hi yourself." Her voice was the same, the eyes were the same, the hair was the same…it was almost as if her life had never skipped a beat.
Hawkeye tried to sit up, but then realized that there was only a trench coat covering her. She immediately realized that she must have come into being completely naked and the thought that her commanding officer had seen her bare body was enough to make blood rush to her face. Commanding officer…that's what he was again. There was no longer 'Roy', only 'Colonel'. Trying to shift her thoughts from anything else she said, "I seem to live and die in these things."
"Hmm?" Roy questioned, clearly not realizing what she was referring to.
"Black trench coats, I seem to live and die in them."
Roy smiled, "Yeah, I suppose your right. Let's see if I can find you something else to wear…something a little less morbid."
"That'd be nice."
He started to rise to get up, but didn't want to just leave her on the floor. "Can you sit up?"
"I don't know." She tried to lift the front part of her body, but she just didn't have the strength.
Roy could see immediately that she wouldn't be able to do it, so he reached for a pillow for her to lay her head on. She smiled at him in silent thanks and watched as he got up and started to make his way toward his closet. Suddenly from nowhere, a little black streak came reeling into the room. The shock of the intruder made Roy trip and fall. After a few moments he realized just what the black streak was. He turned back toward Hawkeye to see Black Hayate eagerly licking his master's face. Roy couldn't help but smile. Before the transmutation he'd tied the dog up in the kitchen, judging by the frayed rope dangling from his collar Black Hayate had chewed through the obstacle to get to his master. He would do anything for her. 'And he's not the only one', Roy thought absentmindedly.
Getting back up, Roy felt a stinging in his hand and was reminded of his earlier sacrifice. While Black Hayate kept Hawkeye busy, he went to the bathroom and bandaged his hand. After an hour or so, after Roy had found Hawkeye something to wear and she'd been able to summon enough strength to get dressed, the two (and Black Hayate) sat in the kitchen.
"Sorry about the shirt." Roy said. Handing her a cup of hot tea. "I suppose I should have kept some of your clothes from when we packed up your apartment." In truth, Roy wasn't really that sorry. Staring at her from across the table it was everything he could to just stay seated. Riza's long blonde hair was falling messily around her shoulders. The neck of his button up shirt was a little too wide and it kept falling off one of her shoulders. The shirt wasn't quite long enough, and so Roy had to give her a pair of his boxers to wear. 'Don't worry, they're clean.' He'd said.
'Of course they're clean,' she replied, 'I watched you wash them.'
"It's no problem." Riza replied, meaning the shirt. She was lying of course. She felt rather exposed. Just a thin layer of cotton separated herself from his eyes, just the thought made her feel a little inside out.
"So how does it feel?" he asked.
Her eyes widened, slightly wondering if he knew what she was thinking, "How does what feel?"
"Your new body. Is it up to code? I'd hate to think I didn't put you back the way you left." He said smiling.
"With the exception of the bullet holes, everything feels the same." She said smiling back.
"Good." He finished. The table grew silent as the two sipped their drinks. Things felt different. The inside-out feeling hung over them both. Roy was still clinging to the feelings he'd had while her soul was around, while Riza was trying to adjust back to the way things used to be…when they'd been co-workers. Suddenly, something made her jump. It was Black Hayate, he was licking her leg. Smiling, she scratched him behind his ears.
"He really loves you." Roy stated.
"I love him too," she said looking up. An awkward silence tried to push its way between the two. There'd been something that had been sitting in the back of Roy's chest since the beginning of this whole thing and slowly he was trying to work up a way to ask her about it.
"That day, out on the steps…you said—" he started, trying to pick just the right words.
"I don't really want to talk about it." She said, cutting him short. "It was out of line. I shouldn't have said anything."
"So you didn't mean it when you said—" he started, but was again cut short. Only this time, it was the doorbell that stopped him. His heart leapt into his throat. 'If someone saw her, there's no way I could explain it!' "Hide!" he whispered to her urgently.
She looked around the room frantically, "Where!" she whispered just as the doorbell was rang 2 more times in quick succession.
"Here, just—" he started, as he took her by the arm and clumsily put her in the hall closet, just a few feet from the front door. Roy took a deep breath and answered the door. Who he saw was a surprise to say the least.
"Reigns? What are you doing here?" He asked. Roy hadn't seen him since the funeral and he looked ten times worse now. It looked like he hadn't slept all night; black bags sagged underneath his eyes.
"Where is it? General Grumman said it wasn't with her things. He said you must have it." Reigns said, his voice harsh and gravelly.
"What are you talking about?" Roy asked completely confused. Reigns looked like a mad man, his sandy hair falling in his icy blue eyes. The moment Riza heard Eli's voice at the door, she knew what he'd come for. 'Please don't say it Eli! Just turn around and leave!'
"The ring damn it! I want her engagement ring! What did you do with it?"The statement kicked Roy in the chest like a spooked horse. 'She was…ENGAGED?'
"Where is it!" Reigns shouted at him.
Still dizzy from the statement Roy shook his head to clear his thoughts, "I-I think I've got it in my room—wait here." Feeling more than a little inside out, Roy closed the door in the frantic man's face. Still trudging through his jumbled thoughts he made his way to his bedroom. He'd put the ring in the nightstand that day, after realizing he accidentally put it in his pocket. He'd meant to give it to the General at the funeral, but the whole thing had slipped his mind while he was trying to prepare for the transmutation. Slowly, he walked back to the front door. Before opening the door, he took one last look at the ring, 'I'd do anything for you'. The line made his stomach knot. He opened the door and without a word handed the ring to Eli. Eli's eyes started to water as he looked at the small gold band. The two men exchanged glances, and without a word Roy shut the door in Eli's face. What was there to say? The ring said it all.
Hope, I didn't tick off too many people by just stopping here, but believe me, the next section is enough to start making you throw pottery from complicated little story lines. Besides, I figured it best to update before anyone started to chuck something harder than a little book at me ;) Enjoy and please review!