Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters.

Summary: An alternative Royai fanfic. This story takes place during the war. Roy and Riza have never met, and to top things off Riza is living with the Ishvarans as their liberater. What will happen when Riza leads a covert mission to capture the famous Flame Alchemist?

On the last Chapter:

"He's my father..." Riza said so quietly Roy had to strain to hear her.

Roy's eyes widened. "...I remember now..." Riza's eyes met his as he went on. "Sensei...you...I can't believe I forgot...you look different."

Riza looked away. "My hair is longer that's all." Riza said. "We can talk about this later. I'm tired, and you need to sleep too." Roy waited only a little longer soaking in the new information. Riza was his teacher's daughter. He remembered now, but why had he forgotten. The day Sensei died was the last time he saw her. Roy joined the military, and he lost track of her. He recalled vaguely Sensei saying: "I leave my daughter to you...I'm sorry Riza..." His last words. Not only that but he also said that Riza knew the secret of his alchemy.

Roy smiled and left the room, leaving Riza to her thoughts.

Misson Four: § DDay §

Today was D-day, or so Roy had called it. It was time to put their plan into motion. It was simple really, Roy and Riza made up a story about how they met up, and where they were kept. They did their best not to leave anything out, like how Aiden helped Roy to recover his gloves, and assisted in their escape. Riza just hoped that Roy was as good at acting as he had claimed.

She took a deep breath and walked into the tent meant for, what Roy called, the Council's rendezvous.

For Roy, the silence that had engulfed the living room was unbearable. Riza had left early in the morning to talk to the Council. This left Roy and Aiden to talk in the living room. At least, it would if Aiden weren't asleep. Roy twitched slightly at the light snoring coming from Aiden's general direction.

After an hour and a half, he just couldn't take it anymore. Roy grabbed the closest object, which happened to be a half-eaten sandwich, and threw it at the teen. Aiden jumped upon impact. He blinked through the mayo to see Roy's blurred face. He didn't look happy.

"What did I do?" Aiden asked, annoyed greatly by the presence of the condiments on his face.

"You snore." Roy replied, equally irritated.

Aiden blinked twice. Then he did something Roy didn't expect, he laughed.

"What's so funny?" Roy growled still irritated.

"It's just...nothing..." Aiden smiled at the ceiling. After a long pause his face became serious. Aiden wiped the mayo off of this face, and his smile reappeared. It was faint but still there. His face was knowing, like he knew something was comming. Roy shook the feeling.

"You know..." Aiden's voice broke the quiet. "I remember the first time I shot a gun..." Roy looked at him curiously. "I was so bad that Riza told me that if I could hit the target in the middle that I could have my choice of one of her guns..." ((a/n:this is important later, remember it))

"What made you think of that?" Roy asked slowly.

"I...don't know...Hey, if I tell you something...private...will you promise not to tell?" Aiden turned to hide his eyes from view.

Roy lingered briefly on how he finally seemed to act his age. Aiden's mature behavior in tough situations often made Roy forget his adolescence. Though his wisdom betrayed his age, he could always see the good in everyone.

Roy nodded. "You have to say you promise." Roy resisted the urge to laugh at his behavior.

"Ok, I promise." Roy smiled.

"Promise what?" Aiden persisted.

Roy sighed. "...I promise that I won't tell your secret whatever it is."

Satisfied, Aiden cleared his throat and began, or at least tried. "Uh...well you see...I..." Aiden cleared his throat again, fumbling with his words.

"Well...?"

Aiden took another deep breath and almost yelled. "ITHINKI'MINLOVE!"

"...excuse me?" Roy blinked. "I didn't catch that."

"I-"

"Hang on, say it slowly, so I can hear."

Aiden gulped. "I...I think I'm...in love..." He looked away from Roy.

"Hmn? With who?" Roy questioned calmly. Aiden mumbled a name under his breath. "Could you repeat that?"

"...Riza..."

Roy's mind went blank. "...How old are you again...?"

Aiden's face faltered. "Seventeen..."

"Seventeen...? I thought you were fifteen..."

"Look, you're not going to tell right?" Aiden asked bringing Roy back to the topic at hand.

"No." Roy tried his best to smile. "I promised I wouldn't didn't I?" Roy knew Riza did care about him, but she couldn't like him that way. He was just a kid after all. Still, Aiden could get hurt if he told her.

Roy was shocked to find himself thinking like he was. What's wrong with me? Sure Riza's...nice-looking, but...Wait! Why am I even thinking about this? I don't even know what I'm trying to say...er...think.

Aiden seemed to notice the far-away look in Roy's eyes. "Do you like her too?"

Roy wasn't one to be too concerned about what others thought. "She's definately attractive enough, but she has a really demanding personality." Roy scratched the back of his head casually. "She's just not my type."

Aiden shrugged. Roy cocked an eyebrow. "What was that for?"

Aiden's smile stretched accross his mouth again. "Do you think I'll get into trouble if I'm spotted by the military?"

"Not if you're with me." Roy pointed to his chest proudly. "They know better than that...Anyway are you going to tell her you like her?"

"Tell who you like them?" Roy turned around to see Riza standing just a mere five feet away. Aiden was very uncomfortable about his situation. Roy on the other hand was casual on the outside. Too bad the inside isn't as relaxed.

"You have dirt on your face..." He commented.

Riza put her uniform, which had been hanging on her arm, down. She bent down and picked something up. Before Roy could react she had smudged an equal ammount of dirt on his face.

"What was that for?" Roy yelled when he recovered from the shock.

"You need to look like you've been traveling for a long time when we arrive at Central." She had already walked over to Aiden and put some dirt on his face. "You'll also need to put some rips in your clothes, make it look as realistic as possible."

"When do we leave?" Aiden asked while working on making a hole in the shoulder of his shirt.

"Soon." Was all Riza's only reply.

"You glad to be going back to the miliray, First Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Roy asked smugly.

Riza ignored his tone. "I'd rather not be an ally to a monster, but this is necessary."

"When I'm Fuhrer, I'll make sure this corruption is taken care of...Also..." Roy said dramatically. Riza and Aiden looked at him curiously. "I have made it my mission...that when I do become Fuhrer, I will make it law that the new uniform for females...includes a miniskirt."

The reaction was almost instant. Aiden laughed nervously, watching Riza. She only sighed at his joke, far from what Aiden had expected. Something had changed about the way they acted toward eachother. Aiden abandoned the thought.

"Let's go, I'm ready to get out of here." Roy stood up and stretched. "Do we have everything Lieutenant?" Riza didn't react any differently when he called her Lieutenant like Roy thought she would. Aiden on the other hand gained a slight buzz. Maybe it was because he was realizing that this was real and not just one of his daydreams.

"Everything is accounted for." Riza pulled a list from her pocket and checked over it for what had to be the twelfth time since she made it.

"Actually, you forgot something." Roy smirked.

"And what would that be?" Riza suspected it was something stupid by his tone of voice.

"I outrank you so you may as well start calling me Sir." Riza knew, he was right, but he didn't have to be so arrogant. She decided it was best to play it cool.

"Everything is accounted for Sir." Roy was lost now. He was sure that Riza would be annoyed by that. Nothing he tried worked. This woman was tough. Was there nothing he could do to shake her, he would make it his mission to find out how to push her buttons.

Riza and Aiden packed all of the necessities, which wasn't all that much considering they could reach West City in about five hours. Roy sat on his bed. He didn't have anything to do really. He didn't have anything with him besides his gloves, and he could put them in his pockets. Roy didn't like having nothing to do. Sure he would avoid his paperwork, but he always found something to do while avoiding it.

There was a knock at the door. Roy called for the person to come in. Aiden came through the door, and took long strides up to Roy. He looked troubled. "What's with you?" Roy urged.

"Sorry to bother you Sir, but I need you to make one more promise..." Aiden concentrated on the hardwood floor.

"What kind of promise?" Roy had gained a small soft spot for the teenager.

Aiden lifted his eyes and stared out of the window. "I need you to promise...that if...if anything happens to me...you have to make sure Riza's safe, so she can save-"

"No one's going to die." Roy interrupted. A long silence followed.

"Do you promise to protect her?" Aiden demanded.

Roy was taken aback by his behavior. "...I promise...but I also promise nothing will happen to you."

Aiden didn't seem to hear Roy's last statement. He merely nodded, and left.

Roy was beginning to suspect that Aiden wasn't telling them something. He tried to push the thought aside, and when he couldn't he just told himself that he was trying to dramatize the situation so that he could feel like a real soldier. Roy sighed, and turned to the window. One good thing about the desert; Roy mused, It never rains.

Once they were all packed, Roy and Hawkeye got into uniform. Roy stretched out in the back seat. Riza drove, since she was the only one who knew how to get back to West city from the mass of tents. Aiden sat in the front next to Riza. His right hand was in his pocket. Riza pulled on her goggles, Aiden and Roy followed suit. (a/n: I think I told you all before, but they're in a jeep, so they need to wear goggles to keep the sand out of their eyes)

Roy expected the trip to be long and boring. Nothing out of the ordinary, except maybe the sand in his mouth, hair, jacket, and every other place imaginable. At least he got the back to himself. He just hoped they didn't run into some soft sand.

Riza's thoughts on the trip were a little different. She was trained to 'expect the unexpected', as she liked to say, not out loud of course. It sounded a little cheesy. (lol, expect the unexpected, CardCaptor Sakura!) Basically things could go from 'no problem' to 'Oh crap' in a matter of seconds.

Aiden was fidgeting in his seat. A sense of forboding was choking the air around him, and he seemed to be the only one who noticed. He wasn't paranoid, at least that's what he told himself. He just knew something bad was about to happen. It wasn't paranoia, he just wanted to be prepared.

Hawkeye started the jeep. The sudden action made Aiden jolt in his seat. The only effect it had on Roy, however, was that it cheated him out of his comfortable position. Riza shot Aiden a questioning glance. Aiden turned away from her, his hopes of his panic going unnoticed shattered.

The jeep moved forward. Riza's goal was to get to West City before sundown. The plan was, get to West City, and get to the Military HQ asap. It didn't matter what time it was, however, they didn't want them to know where the camp was. Unfortunately they didn't know how to reply when they were asked where it was located.

The ride would have been comfortable, if it weren't for the sand. Once or twice during the first hour, Roy had attempted to fit his whole face into his goggles. His endeavor was unsucessful, to say the least. Luckily they didn't have to deal with the heat, becuase of the canyon that surrounded them on either side.

Can nothing make this ride more interesting? Roy silently mused, after traveling for three hours on a lifeless trail. He couldn't see anything anymore. Night's cloak had settled over them, making his vision obscured.

Just then a gunshot echoed off the canyon walls. The jeep stopped abruptly, almost throwing the boys out. Roy recovered quickly and instinctively pulled his gloves on. Aiden pulled his gun from the holster hidden in his jacket, while Riza's eyes scanned the top of the canyon.

There, a distance from the jeep, was a small group of men. About four or five of them, all posessing a gun. The man in the front, who appeared to be the leader, smirked at them. The others had their guns up and pointed at the group. Aiden put his gun away.

The leader approached slowly, while the others followed. The men surrounded the jeep, never once lowering their guns. Roy watched helplessly as they encircled their small transport.

The leader spoke up. "Ok, give us a' yer loot, an' no un'll git hurt." The man was tall and bulky. He had a reddish blonde beard, and disgustingly yellow teeth.

"We have no money." Riza stated simply. It was the truth, they were almost to West City and they had no need for it.

"Really...well little lady...I'll take yer werd fer it." His men blinked in suprise behind him. "But..." He began menicingly. "I can' let ya go ter Wes' City witha Ishvarran...They pay big money fer dem in town." He made a motion with his hand and all of his followers aimed their guns at Aiden, who was shifting nervously beside Riza. His eyes never wavering from the leader's gaze.

This was Roy's chance, all of the guns pointed at Aiden. He snapped his fingers and all of the men on his left were blasted backward. He snapped again, but this time it was against the men behind him and the men to his right. The only one left was the leader.

Another gunshot sounded. Roy turned around panicked, but let out a sigh of relief to see that Riza had her gun out. He looked to where she was aiming and saw the leader, who was now lying motionless on the ground to the right of the jeep.

Riza tried to hide her sigh of relief she had been holding for quite some time, and started the jeep again.

Riza had just begun to drive forward when the final gunshot rang out into the night air. This moment, Roy and Riza would remember for the rest of their lives. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Riza stopped the jeep. Roy turned to see the leader lying on the ground with a gun in his hand. An insane smile playing on his lips. Roy snapped, and he disappeared into an inerno. When he turned back around he saw that Aiden had removed himself from the jeep. He now staggered around in the darkness. Riza immediately left the vehicle to go to his side.

Roy jumped out as well, rushing up to him. Upon inspection Aiden had a bullet hole cut deep into the left side of his neck. He was bleeding badly, and Riza knew he wouldn't make it, but she had to do something.

Some time later Aiden's head lay on Roy's military issued jacket, and fire blazed beside him. The bleeding had stopped, but he had lost too much blood. He would die soon. Riza looked down at him helplessly. Aiden's eyes were dark and lifeless, except for the dim reflection of the fire.

He breathed carefully, so as not to disturd the bandage around his neck. "Riza..." He rasped. Riza was suprised when he called her by her first name, instead of General or Hawkeye-san. She hid her shock and nodded for him to go on. Aiden reached into his pocket. Riza was going to stop him, but he went on despite her warnings.

When his hand reappeared it held a simple paper target with many holes on the outer rim, but what caught her attention most was the hole directly in the middle. Aiden saw the recognition in her eyes and smiled slightly, and that's how Riza would always remember him; smiling for her, even at the end. Aiden's smile faded, and his eyelids slowly slid down, and the hand that held the worn target fell limply to the ground.

Riza and Roy stood beside a mound of freshly turned earth. A coffin sat in the middle that Roy had transmuted using some chalk Riza brought along. A tombstone, which was also transmuted, sat at the far-end of the hole. Roy walked up to the hole and made a transmutation circle. When he activated it, the rock from the canyon floor turned into a smooth, white colored stone and moved over the grave.Leaving only a small square indent and lid to cover it. There was no inscription on the stone, except for Aiden's name. Riza made up her mind that, someday, she would come back and put something on it.

Roy moved back to his origional position behind her. He was friends to Aiden as well, but Riza was much closer, so he thought he would give her space. Riza absolutely refused to cry. She thought that if she did that it would make her seem weak, and Riza Hawkeye was not weak. Riza moved closer to the grave and pulled out her silver handgun, the one Aiden had always admired, and layed it down in the square indent. Then she put the stone cover over it.

Nature always had it's way of keeping things balanced, in Roy's opinion, and this was no exception. The clouds darkened, making the night even more dreary than it already was. And since Riza had made up her mind not to cry, the sky cried for her.

Sorry I haven's updated in forever, but it took me forever to write this. I had a hard time. I don't like it when people die...Please R&R

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