A/N: We interrupt the fun, chaotic mess to bring you a little hurt/comfort because this was the only story that felt RIGHT when thinking about Maes.
"Hey."
If Roy was surprised by the unseen voice, he didn't react. "You didn't have to wait up for me."
Riza shrugged from her seat at the couch. "Going back to the barracks didn't sound so appealing."
Roy nodded, despite knowing the truth. He had been out drinking with Maes, as he did every Friday night since their return from Ishval. Without fail, Riza was always awake when he returned to his apartment, cautiously ready to judge his emotional and physical state. "You really don't have to wait up, Riza. When I promised not to drink myself into a stupor anymore, I meant it."
They were both struggling to adjust to normal life. Their time in Ishval had left deep scars and the unprecedented challenge on how to return to anything resembling normalcy dominated their lives. In the six months since the end of the war- and four months since Riza accepted her position as Roy's adjutant- they had channeled their emotions into three distinct methods of coping- shooting for Riza, drinking for Roy and indulging in each.
Roy knew, however, that both of his methods of coping were problematic at best. He should have never fallen back into bed with Riza, but once he had, he knew it would be impossible to give her up. He craved her and found that her presence alone was enough to chase away even his worst nightmares. To ease his mind, he justified their affair by constantly reminding himself that whatever there was between them was not one sided- she needed him too.
The drinking, however, had quickly spiraled out of control. After almost being arrested by military police for starting a bar fight, he had promised Riza to control himself. He kept his word, for both her sanity and to prove that her trust in him- for she never asked him to stop going out completely- was deserved. Even after proving he'd keep his word, she still waited up for him, just in case his demons resurfaced on his venture home.
"Come to bed?" Roy asked.
"Sure," Riza agreed as she got up off the couch and followed him into the bedroom.
They slid underneath the covers and Roy moved to pull Riza into his arms. She came willingly, tucking her head underneath his chin and entangling her legs with his own.
"Goodnight Roy," Riza said with affection.
"Night, Riza." He kissed the top of her head as she hummed with satisfaction.
The two had just drifted to sleep when a loud knock on Roy's door jolted them abruptly awake. Before they had a chance to reach for their respective weapons, a familiar voice rang out.
"Roy! Roy! Are you up?"
"Ugh," Roy groaned, sitting up. "It's Hughes. What the hell is he doing here?"
Riza reluctantly opened her eyes. "He's not going to go away until you answer."
Knock, knock, knock. "Roy!"
"Give me a minute, Hughes!" Roy called out. He turned to Riza. "I'm going to see what he wants. Just hide in here, okay?"
Riza nodded at Roy as he exited the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Roy opened the door to find Hughes still in his clothes from the bar. "What do you want, Hughes?"
"Can I stay the night with you? I locked myself out and no matter how hard I knock, Gracia won't wake up. Our bedroom is on the second floor and you know she sleeps like the dead."
Roy grimaced. "I can't imagine how she couldn't hear you. You're so loud you could wake the dead."
Hughes shrugged as he stumbled past Roy and into his living room. "I'll take the couch."
"No you won't. Get out, Maes."
"Oh come on, Roy. You won't even notice I'm here." Maes sat down and patted both his hands on the couch, perfectly content with his spot for the night.
"Maes, please," Roy paused, debating his next move. He let out a sigh. With Hughes, the truth was always the best option and Roy didn't need to reveal the entire truth, after all. "Hughes… you really can't stay here. I have a girl over."
"A girl? We left the bar less than an hour ago. When did you have time to pick up a girl?"
Roy looked over his shoulder to the closed bedroom door. "Well, to be honest, she was waiting for me to come home."
"And you kept us out until last call? I knew you could be insensitive but..."
"Hughes this isn't the time," Roy said as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, I'll call you a cab and give you money for a hotel since I'm kicking you out, okay?"
"I can't believe you're picking a girl over me!" Hughes said, as he drunkenly waived his arms in the air.
"Does it really surprise you?"
"Yes! We're basically brothers. Do you think I really care if your booty call is over? Just try and be quiet."
Roy groaned and closed his eyes. A sober Maes was as persistent as the ocean. A drunk Maes was an immovable rock.
"Please, Hughes… just this once can you cooperate? I'll owe you. "
"No! And while I'm at it, that girl should be thanking me. It would be kind of difficult to keep your dick hard if you had blown your brains out in Ishval like you planned, don't you think?"
"Hughes," Roy growled. "That's not the point-"
"You were going to do what in Ishval?"
Both men turned to find Riza standing in the doorway, eyes wide with concern. She had pulled Roy's robe over her cotton nightgown and her hair was still tousled from sleeping. There was no way Roy could possibly explain her presence as anything other than what it is, particularly after the details he had already provided to Hughes.
"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Maes stuttered, growing pale as he realized what he had said. "Your Roy's booty call?"
"Something like that." Her voice was sharp, leaving no room for nonsense.
Roy stood there for a moment, his gaze going back and forth between his two biggest confidants. Both of them had just learned the biggest secret he kept from each of them. All at once. Together.
He needed another drink.
Riza's lips were pursed together in deep disapproval. She glared at Roy, and then Hughes who was still gaping at the illicit couple from his seat on the couch. Roy swallowed audibly and turned to look at the floor.
Hughes spoke before Riza had the chance. "I can't say I'm surprised to see you here, Hawkeye. I never believed Roy for a second when he denied having feelings for you."
Riza sighed and tucked a lock of her short hair behind her ear. "You tried to kill yourself in Ishval?" she asked, giving no acknowledgement to Hughes's words. Her gaze never left Roy's direction.
"How about we make some tea and then Roy can properly answer all of our questions? He seems to have found himself in quite the predicament." Hughes said. He knew Roy was overwhelmed with the sudden, dual confrontation. "Sounds good?"
Both Roy and Riza nodded. Riza headed towards the kitchen and began to make a pot of tea with enough familiarity for her surroundings to make Hughes raise an eyebrow. Clearly this was not a one-off thing between them.
"Camomille," she said as she poured them each a cup. "We don't need caffeine at this hour."
Roy nodded again and silently took the cup she offered. He sat down at the dining table and Hughes and Riza followed, sitting on the opposite side of the table facing him. He felt like a young child, about to be scolded by his parents.
"So, whose first?" Roy said, braving his first sentence since Riza had revealed herself.
Riza did not hesitate at her chance. "When did you try to kill yourself in Ishval?"
"It was before we ran into each other," Roy said glumly. "I was at my lowest point. Hughes managed to stop me and I can honestly say I've never thought about doing it again. Well, not seriously anyway."
"Why?" The single syllable projected a vast array of emotions. Riza's worry, anger, fear, regret and hesitation were all laid out in one short breath. She noticed Roy was trembling and she reached across the table for his hand, gently taking it into her own. She ran her thumb across his knuckles in a sign of comfort and solidarity. "Why?" She asked again, her voice now soothing.
"We ran into an old academy buddy, Heathcliffe, who had been expelled for being Ishvalan. Hughes had to kill him when he attempted to kill me. The same day, I was ordered to burn down another village. It takes a toll on a man, you certainly know, but there is something extra miserable about being able to kill 500 people with one snap of your fingers."
Riza pursed her lips. Yes, she knew how miserable it was to be a killer. Her own trauma with Ishval was part of the reason she had allowed the walls of professionalism surrounding Roy to come crumbling down- only a monster could deservedly comfort another monster- but sometimes she did forget that while she had killed hundreds, she had only been expected to kill one person at a time. Roy had wiped entire towns off the face of the earth in an instant.
"You were just doing what you had to do," Riza said.
Hughes sat there in silence, watching the tender exchange between the two as Roy revealed his deepest secret. Their care and concern for each other lay illuminated on the table as Riza sought comfort in Roy's explanation.
"I know that now," Roy answered softly. "I have Hughes to thank for stopping me and helping through everything. Shortly after, we ran into you and I knew that staying alive was my only option. I can't protect you if I'm dead. But you asked for the story so…" His voice trailed off.
Riza smiled softly, clearly satisfied with the answers he had provided. Roy then looked over at Hughes, readily waiting for the next question in this impromptu interrogation.
"My turn." Hughes cleared his throat. "I'll start with the obvious. How long has this"- he motioned between Roy and Riza- "been going on? And does anyone else know?"
Riza looked to Roy for his lead and was grateful when he took it. She did not let go of his hand.
"Not terribly long," he admitted. "Few months."
Hughes now turned to Riza. "Is this why you took the job as his adjutant?"
"No," she answered honestly. "I hadn't seen Roy in a month when I was summoned to his office."
"So what is this thing between you two? A relationship? A fling? Some weird friends with benefits arrangement?" Hughes doubted it was the last option, but presented it to the guilty couple nonetheless. He was truly curious. Hughes knew Roy had feelings for Riza from the moment he met her in the desert. The way his best friend's face fell when she revealed herself in Ishval was enough to give it away. Riza, however, had less of a tell and was appeared to be a total stickler for the rules. Hughes, a self-proclaimed people person, was genuinely surprised to find Riza had gone along with this affair.
From the table, Roy and Riza exchanged a glance that held within it an entire conversation.
"I'm not sure," Roy said simply. "It started as comfort. To forget about Ishval. To take a break from feeling numb. Riza's familiar. She's both connected to the happy, innocent part of my life and able to understand and directly relate to the darkest, ugliest parts of me. We aren't fucking just to fuck, Maes, but its almost better we don't give it a label."
Hughes understood. Their story was a complicated, tangled web and by refusing to give it a label, it protected them. Left them with a sense of propriety despite all the foolishness of their coupling. After all, it was easier to deny to others, easier to play the part, if they never acknowledged the love that was there. Hughes was all but certain that love was what this was. Whether they would realized it themselves was a different story.
"I won't tell anyone. Not even Gracia," Hughes said after a while. He watched as both Roy and Riza seemed to let out a breath they did not know they were holding, their shoulders instantly sagging with relief. "Just promise me that you will be smart about this. You two deserve a little happiness, no matter how much you try and deny it. I'll always be here to protect you however I can- even after I transfer to Central in July."
"Thank you, Maes." Riza's voice was small but full of intention. "For everything you've done for Roy."
"No need to thank me. I haven't done anything he wouldn't do for me." Maes took a sip of his tea before looking over at the clock. "I think it's about time I go to sleep. I'm starting to sober up and if I'm not asleep by the time my hangover hits, I'll be unbearably irritable tomorrow and I can't do that to my darling Gracia. If you need me, I'll be on the couch."
This time, Roy did not protest as his best friend settled himself in the living room.
"I should be going," Riza said, trying to reestablish any amount of professionalism she could.
"Oh no you won't," Maes said across the room, throwing her off guard. "Sneaking back into the barracks at 3am isn't a good look for you, Lieutenant."
Riza frowned, knowing that Maes was correct. Nevertheless, openly joining Roy in his bed, in front of his best friend, was far beyond any realm of comfort.
"Riza, go lay down. It's okay," Roy said, as if reading her mind. "Cats out of the bag, so we may as well get as good of sleep as we can."
"I guess you're right." Riza nodded, relenting as she headed back into the bedroom.
Roy then turned to Maes once he was certain Riza was out of earshot. "Don't judge her too much. If anything, judge me. I'm her superior. I should know better."
"Judge you? Why would I judge you?" Hughes seemed genuinely surprised at Roy's plea. "You deserve to be happy too, Roy."
"Yes but we are still breaking the law. Happiness or not, that's a fact."
"It may be," Hughes said, thoughtfully putting his hand on his chin. "But if everyone followed the rules, nothing would ever change." Roy knew exactly what Hughes was implying, but his best friend continued before he had a chance to reply. "Besides, if anything this should just be more of an incentive to climb to the top as quickly as possible."
"Oh?"
"After all, every Fuhrer needs a wife. Hurry up and make it to the top so you can go get yours."