AN: Only a couple of chapters to go! I think there will be three or four more left to post and I aim to get them all written this week so I can finish this novel off xD Hope you enjoy!

Berthold sat on the chair Roy had just vacated. Again, she wished he hadn't left even just for morale support. However, this was between her and her father and it was long overdue. The air needed to cleared and things were in dire need of being discussed. And yet, Riza still found herself watching him defensively. It appears years of neglect would do that to you. In response to this, only one word left her mouth.

"Why?"

Berthold sighed deeply, running a hand over his face. "I did it to protect you. I did everything to protect you." A surge of anger went through her. She would have been protected here with her own kind. Not half way across the country where her father was in no state to raise her never mind help her. "Before you get angry I realise I did not do right by you."

"Yeah, no shit," she muttered darkly. The comment made him wince. Good. It was petulant. It was unnecessary. But she had suffered for years because of him. Her initial thoughts of possibly wanting to patch things up slowly drifted out of her mind upon coming face to face with her father once more. Anger simmered just under the surface, threatening to boil over should she be pushed too hard.

"However that had always been my intention. I was a fool to think I could shoulder your burden for you alone. I was still so lost in my grief over your mother that it increased tenfold. I took on your grief too and it constantly felt like I was suffocating. Whenever I looked at your face, I saw her. Whenever I heard your voice, I heard her. Every waking moment was a literal nightmare."

Riza sat in silence as she listened to him. His words washed over her, making her own chest constrict painfully. That anger slowly burned to an ember.

"I am not trying to make excuses. I could see what was happening before my eyes, yet I did nothing. In short, I feared facing you because I would see your mother again, but in you. I was a coward." He huffed, his laugh devoid of humour. "I still am.

"I don't expect forgiveness. I simply feel lucky to explain myself to you." He ran a hand over his shaggy beard, tugging at it. "I don't think I will stick around here. It has been… hard. Being back here brings back memories I would rather keep buried." He laughed humourlessly to himself. "Like I said, I am a coward."

"Where will you go?" Riza asked, her voice cracking slightly. She swallowed hard, forcing down her emotions. This man had neglected her for years and yet here she was almost ready to ask him not to leave her. It might be a childish wish for him not to leave her, but it was there nonetheless.

"I don't know," he exhaled in a rush. "Probably back east."

"Don't go," she blurted out. Internally she cursed herself. This man had neglected her for years, taken her away from her home and the people she had loved… Despite that, her feelings towards the man sitting across from her had shifted monumentally. Just by looking at the man, Riza could tell this was the biggest regret of his life. He didn't have to say the words. They were etched on the lines on his face. A face that looked twenty years the senior of what it should be. Grief had not been kind to Berthold Hawkeye. Grief that he had shouldered for the both of them. Again, Riza's chest constricted painfully.

But he had done it all to protect her. He had shouldered the burden of her mother's death for Riza. He had removed her from the situation that was making her mostly catatonic.

Berthold Hawkeye had effectively saved her life. At a price, but he had loved her enough to take on the grief of the two of them if it meant Riza would live once more. He had made that sacrifice.

Her father stared at her after she spoke. Silence reigned uncomfortably as he did so, making Riza shift in her seat.

"Please don't leave. At least not yet," she whispered.

"Why?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

"I don't know why!" she exclaimed louder than intended. Berthold looked taken back by her outburst. "I don't know," she repeated, a helplessness overtaking her tone. "Just… Can you wait until I figure out what I want? Things have been too hectic round here for me to think about everything."

Berthold deliberated for a few moments. "Okay. I won't go. Not if you don't want me to. But I swear to you Riza, I will try and make things up to you. I know nothing I do will ever take back what I did to you growing up, but I will try my best until I can no longer."

"I don't want anything like that. I don't want you to run around trying to make things up to me." Riza paused. "I just want a father."

Berthold nodded. "I can do that."

"That's all I have ever wanted." Riza instantly felt bad this time upon seeing him wince. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound harsh –"

"No," Berthold interrupted her with a sad smile. "You are well justified. It is the truth after all."

This was a start. It wasn't perfect and Riza wasn't sure if it ever would be again. However, after hearing and reading her father's side of the story the thick walls she had built around that part of her life had begun to crumble slightly. The hate she had harboured towards him before was gone. In its place was regret, sadness, and pity. As she had said to Grumman what felt like months ago, it was time to let the past be the past. She should be looking to the future, one with her father in it rather than Berthold dying alone filled with regret. Riza would give him that second chance because in all honesty, despite everything, she didn't want him to live like that. He deserved a second chance. A chance to finally make things right, especially after that sacrifice he had made.

Roy was busy working throughout the afternoon but every time the main door opened in the hospital he glanced up to see if it would be Riza walking through the door.

The only person who caught his interest was a particularly dishevelled looking character whose eyes darted around the room. He was a vampire, but not someone Roy recognised. The man approached Roy without hesitation. Glancing around the room, the raven haired man noticed he was the only one who had paid attention to the newcomer's entrance.

"Where is Grumman?" he asked breathlessly. Where had he come from? Roy had certainly never seen him around the settlement before. While eyeing the man critically, he huffed in annoyance. "This is important!"

Satisfied he posed no threat but not quite ready to trust the stranger, Roy nodded. "He is this way," Roy gestured, leading the man to Grumman's room.

"Ah, Anderson. Welcome back." Grumman greeted. He was alone in the room. Berthold had been the older man's shadow for the last thirty six hours so it was odd to walk into the room and not see Riza's father sitting in the arm chair against the wall to their right. Something clenched in Roy's stomach. He only hoped that conversation was going well.

He had wanted to stay but decided against it. That was something father and daughter needed to work out themselves. Roy wasn't sure he would ever forgive Berthold for what he did to Riza. Despite having the best intentions, it left her with a loveless and difficult childhood.

"Did you find out what we discussed?" Grumman asked, drawing Roy back into the room.

The man nodded, his long brown hair bouncing with the movement. It fell just past his ears, swishing with every movement. It was stuck to his scalp with the sweat. How far had he travelled? "I did."

"Roy?" Grumman called as the man moved to leave the room. "You may want to stay for this."

Twisting back around to face the two men, Roy looked at them in confusion. "Why?"

Gesturing to Anderson, Grumman began his explanation. "I sent Anderson here to New York to find out what happened to your parents."

Time slowed for Roy. He sucked in a breath, anticipation and fear at what he might here in the next few minutes shooting through his veins. This was most unexpected.

"And?" His tone was sharp and blunt.

Anderson looked between them both before beginning to talk.

"Anderson, do not leave poor Mr. Mustang hanging like this. They were his parents. Answer him." Grumman's last sentence was a bark, an order for the man to talk. To be honest, if the man didn't speak soon Roy might just throttle the information out of him.

"They were killed in Central Park."

"Yes, we know this," Grumman replied, gesturing for the man to continue. "And?"

"I asked around the packs in the area. Apparently around that time they had some bother with the vampire clans. More specifically the Human Feeding Clans. They were targeting all species, not just humans, and leaving the bodies in broad daylight." Anderson wrinkled his nose. "I have never heard of vampires feeding on other species before.

"Get to the point Anderson."

"Right. Well, all this commotion got the police and even the FBI involved. It was careless behaviour but apparently they thought themselves too good to hide from human society. Hunters were beginning to swarm into the state so the packs all came together to try and deal with the situation. Unsure of whether it was a lone feral vampire or a clan, they began to investigate themselves."

"You better be getting somewhere with this and fast Anderson," Grumman warned. Roy wanted to tell the vampire something along those lines too, but in less polite terms. But he was frozen in place. For a year he had searched for answers. Things had slowed right down here and there, what with all the drama that had become his life of late. But it had stuck in his head for months. Guilt ate at him whenever there was a day he hadn't done anything to take a step closer to finding out the identity of their murderer.

"I am," he stressed. "Anyway, one night a couple of the wolves from the Manhattan pack were out near Central Park to scout ahead and report back any suspicious activity. One stumbled across a young woman leaving a nightclub. She looked distressed and had the scent of a wolf, but it was strange."

"How so?" Grumman asked, his expression intrigued.

"It was as if her wolf had been supressed indefinitely. It was mixed in with a strong human scent, which intrigued her."

"I wasn't aware we would be able to smell that on someone."

"Neither was I," Anderson answered. "But apparently the woman said she could. The wolf followed her into the park where she changed. Keeping an eye on the girl, they had both stumbled across two bodies."

His parents.

Roy's throat closed all together.

"They had been drained by the same vampire that had murdered those before. It had been a lone, feral vampire after all that had been causing all this trouble. It dumped the two bodies in the middle of the main path for all to see once the sun rose."

"Anderson, this is the man's parents were are talking about," Grumman barked once more. "Please show a little more respect."

"Right. Sorry." His face was sheepish at least, but Roy didn't even notice. His gaze was on the floor, but unseeing. "The new wolf took off like a shot and the New Yorker struggled to keep up. It was hell bent on something so she followed. Once she arrived, the blonde wolf had torn out the throat of the vampire then proceeded to bite its head clean off."

Blonde wolf. Riza.

"It had been grisly, apparently." Anderson swallowed, looking slightly nauseous at the description of the events. Something told them that the young man had received an even more graphic description. "The new wolf settled upon the vampire's death. It was as if it had changed just to kill the murderer."

Everything in Roy's world came to a stop. His breathing, his heart, his ability to see. It all froze in time.

Riza hadn't killed his parents, no. But she had avenged them. She had killed the vampire that had murdered them.

"A blonde wolf, you said?" Roy whispered with his gaze still staring at the linoleum floor. He didn't even look up to face the other two men in the room.

Anderson nodded. "Yes. Golden fur. The woman followed it after the attack throughout the night to make sure it didn't cause any trouble. But after the attack she settled and wandered through the park keeping to the secluded areas."

"Roy?" Grumman asked cautiously but the raven haired man didn't even hear him. Far away, he heard a quiet protest and the shuffle of movement. A hand was placed on his shoulder and Roy jumped in response. Meeting Grumman's gaze, the shared a look of understanding. "Are you all right?"

Roy didn't know what to answer. Finally knowing the truth he felt elated. The thought that his parent's murderer wasn't out there still living brought great relief. He knew he should have felt bad about that thought, but he didn't.

"I… I think so."

"Take all the time you need. Mr. Anderson will answer any questions you might have." Grumman shot the younger man a look and he nodded in response. For the first time since meeting him not only twenty minutes ago, the man looked eager to help.

"The two people the wolf found…" Roy began, trailing off as his train of thought left him. His brain was still stuttering and trying to process the information that had been revealed.

"Yes?"

"Did they suffer?"

"I… I don't know. The New Yorker didn't tell me. She did reveal that it was odd there hadn't been much of a struggle between them and the vampire though."

"Why was that odd?" Grumman asked. He was lost in thought, a hand poised on his chin.

Anderson blinked at him. "Werewolves and vampires are typically evenly matched in a fair fight. The Human Feeder must have poisoned them with wolfs bane or some kind of injection to slow them down."

Wait… "Werewolves?" Roy stuttered.

Anderson nodded. "Yeah. The two bodies were werewolves. Husband and wife. Both part of the New York Clan. Or they had been. They were visiting…" Anderson continued his inane explanation but Roy tuned him out.

His parents had been werewolves?

Then… How come he didn't change until recently?

So many more questions began to swirl around in his mind. Ones that he desperately wanted answered but could wait for another day. One revelation at a time would do for him after the week he had just had.

"Anderson," Grumman interrupted the man as he noticed Roy was no longer paying attention, too lost in the revelation. "I think that is enough for Mr. Mustang today. I will call on you if we need more. Thank you for finding all of this out for us both. I am sure Mustang would thank you too but… Well. Thank you."

Anderson nodded and left the room quietly.

Roy walked through the forest in a daze. Grumman had dismissed him shortly after Anderson left, seeing as Roy wan in no mood to discuss anything. He was aiming to return to their cabin, but his route had been arbitrary and he had drifted towards the training fields rather than towards the main settlement.

He felt lighter. A great weight that had been crushing on his mind had been lifted upon finally finding out the truth about his parents.

The sounds of someone else walking through the forest reached him. Instinctively, Roy turned to face the noise, his stance turning defensive. However there was no need as Riza appeared to his left. She smiled tiredly at him, offering a quite hello.

Roy paused. This woman had avenged his parents.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern etched on her face. Instead of answering, he enveloped her in a hug, clinging onto Riza tightly. He took a deep breath, breathing in the scent that was wholly her. "Roy?" she asked, her voice taking on a mildly alarmed tone.

"I am fine," he reassured her quietly.

And he was. For the first time since losing his parents, he felt at peace.