Useless One

Riza awoke quickly and tentatively. She wearily opened her eyes as she rolled onto her left side trying to get her aches out. Surprising her, was the two boys staring intently at her. She sat there for a second with a blank look on her face, first wondering what they were doing in there and then if they were there at all. When they saw her awake they scrambled out of the room and ran down the hall.

Maybe she should lock her door from now on, she thought. She sat up, her legs over her bed remembering the days when she would have a dog lick as an alarm not two inquisitive boys. Hayate at the moment though was probably outside soaking up the sun. Riza walked over to the door and locked it stretching the whole way. It had been at least a day since the whole ordeal at the fort. Riza had no actual idea how long since she had slept since she had come back to the Smith's. She pulled out a blouse and looked at it hanging innocently on the hanger wondering tiredly how to put it on.

After a few moments of pulling the robins egg blue blouse over her tender skin and buttoning it, she put on a knee length skirt completing her ensemble. After doing such a strength consuming task she realized that she didn't feel like walking about. She went over to her bed and sat down on it looking out the window. Summer was at the end of its peak and soon it would be descending into fall. She could feel the heat reverberating from outside. One wouldn't think there was a thunder storm recently.

Her tired wanderings were quickly interrupted by the sounds of footsteps from outside her door. It sounded as if there were the boys and most likely Warren. The door knob shook a few times.

"She locked it!" said Tommy. Even though at the moment she didn't really want to have company Riza got up with a sigh, it would be impolite to just ignore them.

"You sure she was awake?" said someone who wasn't Warren. The voice had a sarcastic tone and she could almost smell cigarette smoke.

Riza jumped over to the door, unlocked it and flung the door open. "Lieutenant Havoc!" she exclaimed at her surprised comrade.

"I guess she was awake," Havoc said down to the boys, "Nice to see you Hawkeye seems you've kept yourself busy." Riza leaned against the door frame out of relief. She hadn't seen any of her co-workers from Central in what felt like years.

"Nice to see you too Havoc," she said smiling brightly.

"Whoa," Havoc took a step back and said to the boys "Does she smile often?"

"Of course," said Ben, "Riza is a very kind person."

"What has the world come to?" Havoc mumbled to himself. "Anyway Hawkeye I was just sent here to check up on you and to inform you to start packing" he said nervously.

"Packing?" she said confused.

"Yes are you well enough to do that or am I going to have to pack for you. Your leave is over and we're going to return to Central. I think the main office has gotten everything arranged even a list of apartments for you to choose from. So can you pack or not."

"Yes I can pack." She said shocked, leaving? This wasn't sudden at all.

"Good, I need to get back to the fort and leave you to your packing!" he said quickly and rushed away.

After all of this time never had anyone told her what was going on. She had despaired about not being able to return to Central and now she was ordered to return. Her life seemed to be controlled by a cruel trickster. What had she done to deserve this?

"Wait up Lieutenant!" Riza said starting after him. "Who ordered you?" Havoc just kept walking down the hallway to the kitchen door, "Was it Mustang? Is he here?" Havoc remained unresponsive and continued through the door. Riza jogged to catch up. When she made it though the door Havoc was nowhere to be seen the only people there was Warren and Molly, "Where is he?" She asked them. The both pointed to the door leading to the front exit. Riza took out her gun that was always hidden on her person and ran to the outside and caught Havoc as he was getting into his car. "STOP Havoc!"

Havoc stepped out of the car with his hands up "Geeze Hawkeye, you've gotten crazy." And then added, "ier." He shut up after a bullet whizzed by his head.

"Havoc I'm tired of being not told what's happening and having no control over my life situation." She lowered her gun and stepped down from the porch to Havoc standing frightened. "Havoc I order you to tell me what is going on."

"Umm."

"Don't tell me you've been promoted higher than me." Riza said jokingly.

"Hey I take that as an offense," Havoc said speaking up. She aimed her gun back to his head. "Okay, I haven't been promoted but someone else soon will be, the Colonel will soon be Brigadier General, military controller of foreign affairs."

"So he is here?" she said lowering the gun.

"Yes at the fort, he just wanted me to check up on you."

"He couldn't take enough time out of his own busy schedule to see me. I've only served him since Ishbal and this is the thanks I get." She said looking away angrily.

"Hey your problem, not mine," he said indignantly "if you want to, take it up with him."

"Great idea Havoc," she said with a cold smile that would frighten anyone. "I will speak to him." She holstered her gun and went to the passenger side of the car. "Let's go Havoc."

"Wait a second Hawkeye I was told you're supposed to stay in bed." Havoc said concerned.

"That doesn't matter Havoc." She said forcefully and sternly. Riza looked at Havoc, her eyes unmoving, serious at Havoc.

"Glad to see you feeling well Hawkeye," Havoc said putting the car in gear before driving off.

   

The car pulled up to the front of the main building and Riza sighed in her seat next to Havoc. "So what are you going to do punish him?" Havoc said jokingly, when Riza only looked down at the mats on the floor he added more seriously. "Hawkeye I know for a fact that he didn't place you here because he wanted you far away. The Colonel always has his reasons."

She looked over to Havoc, "but the problem with that is I always know his reasons" she opened the door to the car and stepped out. Before she closed it she said in a low whisper facing away from Havoc, "Because they're my reasons too." She walked into the building holding her head up as if she was in a uniform. She went up to a soldier who was sitting behind the front desk and said, "I'm here to report important information to Colonel Mustang, I assume he's in the top office." The soldier nodded pensively as Riza walked off towards the elevator.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" said a solider walking up behind her. She turned to face the soldier and he saluted before continuing on "pardon me but I was informed that you were supposed to be on bed rest for your remainder stay in Eureka." The elevator rang announcing its presence.

"Sorry," she said blankly, "it seems you received the wrong information." She turned around and stepped into the elevator.

"But the Colonel told me this," he said as the doors started to close.

"No surprise," she said and the doors shut. The elevator climbed up the few floors to the top where she had been recently. She walked down the hallway that caused so much pain on her part. She walked to the ensigns who were standing in front of the door. They immediately recognized her and saluted.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye what a surprise, are you well?" one of them said "If you wish to see the Colonel he's busy right now."

"Then would you please go in and tell Colonel Mustang that I'm here to see him." The two looked at each other, "I can assure you that he wishes to speak to me." When they still looked apprehensive Riza gave up and walked past them "I'll announce myself."

She walked into the secretary's room trying not to make a sound. Mustang on the other side of the door seemed to be yelling at someone, most likely someone on the other side of a phone. Riza slunk through the door quietly; he wouldn't notice her coming in. Roy had a way of zoning out everything around him when he was talking on the phone. She stood by the door and waited for him to finish. He had the shades drawn and only a desk light on. The room was very depressing. She noticed there weren't any bloodstains on the floor. Roy must've used alchemy to clean the carpet.

"WHAT?! I worked my ass off on that damn treaty with all of those parliament stiffs and they just go and violate it. You can't say they just got off. In the past they've used mercenaries to do their dirty work. We have intelligence on their government and this terrorist group fraternizing." Mustang stopped his fuming enough to listen to the other person, "So just because they mercenaries they can wage a war, what if they keep picking on our boarders, we'll have no more country. ARAEGO SHOULD FACE CONCEQUENCES." With that last phrase he slammed down the phone and Riza spoke up from the door.

"Sir, please don't be so hard on the phone." She said with a soft expression.

"Hawkeye?" the Colonel said a bit shocked. "What are you doing lounging against the door, slinking about?" he said in a light tone, "being unprofessional has never been your strong point."

"Well these past few months I've had a lot of practice," she said in a-matter-of-fact tone, but added icily "thanks to you Colonel."

"Much welcome to you," he said leaning back into his chair. "So glad to see you feeling well, you've been up to a lot of mischief lately." Riza tried to calm her fury, every now and then Roy could be a bastard. More like on a daily basis but, he had never acted this way to her. He continued on, "you and your night of play sure have helped the country and yours truly."

"I've heard soon to be Brigadier General. So Sir, what pleasure has this newest sick game given you?" She said looking at the shuttered windows. How did their relationship take such a nosedive? They had been perfect, working like they had been for multiple years.

"Whoa Hawkeye turn down the ice," he said holding his hands up, "I surrender, what's your issue?"

"What's the issue Sir?" she said only expressing her surprise through her eyebrows, "God damnit Colonel if you don't know what the issue is then I don't know if you should be controlling this country." Now it was time for Roy to be surprised. "Never have I acted selfish, your goals have been my goals, your problems my problems, your troubles have been my troubles and your traumas have been my traumas. Except since I let you get hurt everything has separated." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and then continued on, opening her eyes before speaking. "General Hughes is gone, Armstrong has left the military and the Elrics are in a different world. Those people who were rungs on your ladder have disappeared." Her scolding tone changed to hopeful "But, I'm still here, one rung, but I can still help you climb. I know I can, I've been here since you first decided to ascend." Her voice started to crescendo rallying with her cause. "But Sir, Colonel Mustang you've treated me horribly, you've stomped on me and I don't know if I can support you anymore." She stopped talking and looked at Roy who was now standing behind his desk face unreadable in the dark. "Except I know that I can support you still and amazingly I still want to be on that ladder, I know you'll make it to the top."

Roy looked down at his desk in the silence and then walked over to where Riza was standing near the door.

"Sir, I will never criticize you again, but I just want to know why. Why did you send me here was it for your own personal gain or for me to recover. I have no problem with doing your missions, I've done them before. It's just that you usually tell me." Now that Roy was only four feet away she softened her tone.

"Hawkeye, how can I explain such a complicated thing," Roy started nervously scratching the back of his head. "The thing I wanted to actually do was—,"

"Actually Colonel," Riza said interrupted softly, "I don't need to know something much more important has come up."

"What?" He asked shocked.

"When was the last time you took off your eye patch?" She said strictly, "If I remember correctly you seem to never take them off and let your face get air." She held out her hand waiting for him to hand it to her. When he looked questionably at her hand she just walked up to him and took it off his head herself. He grabbed his eye impulsively trying to stop her but he was too late.

"Hawkeye!" he exclaimed clutching the bald left side of his face, "That was uncalled for!"

"Yes I am very sorry Sir." she said inspecting the patch, "It seems like you have actually been wearing this eye patch for quite some time. And now doesn't it seem much freer? Since the room is so dark you can take your hands off of your face."

He slowly lowered his hands from his face reviling his pink scared up left cheek and damaged eye, "I guess it feels nice to take that hot patch off every now and then." He said shrugging.

"Now Sir what would you do without your faithful First Lieutenant?" she asked handing his patch back to him.

"I'd do nothing," he said shrugging putting the patch into his pocket.

"Yes, you would be one useless Colonel."