Restraint
Royai. Roy/Riza. Three-part ficlet. Parts one and two work for either anime or manga-verse.

Thank you to my lovely reviewers, alerters and favourite-ers; 2artemis2, Dierdre D'Nai, Grey's Princess, harmlessghost, nickellye, little_miss_clueless and VeekaIzhanez

How far do I have to go to get to you?
Many the Miles
But send me the miles, and I'll be happy to
follow you
-Sara Bareilles, 'Many the Miles'

DURING

She'd been working as his first lieutenant for a week. One whole week, and all she'd said during that time was, 'Yes sir' and 'No sir'. It was breaking his heart the way she never met his gaze, and he had begun to spend so much time trying to catch her eye that he never got any of his own paperwork done.

Did she even realise how much she was hurting him?

Out of the corner of his eye he watched her take the clip out of her hair. When had it grown so long? And twist it back up onto his head.

Some of his superiors had suggested alternative officers to act as his immediate lackey. Why take such a talented sharpshooter from the field? They had said. But he had insisted and so now here she was. He'd worried at first that she would resent him for shutting her away in an office, but the third day he had followed her down to the shooting range and watched her take out target after target. She had looked relaxed, almost, happy. But when he asked her if she wanted to go back she had merely said said; 'No, sir.'

And so now he was craving for her to say something else to him.

So he waited for a day when all of his other subordinates were out for their lunch breaks, and she had stayed behind for a moment, then he closed the door as she stood up and blocked her way.

"Excuse me, sir," she said, looking at the floor.

"Riza," he said.

"That's not appropriate, sir," she said, "You should refer to me as 'Lieutenant', sir."

"And you shouldn't be the one to give me orders," he said, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Is that dissention, Lieutenant?"

"No sir," she said, sharply, quickly.

He sighed, and took her hand, but she tensed and turned her head away. Nevertheless, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the top of her head, breathing in the sweet smell of her hair. She reached up a hand to touch him on the shoulder but pulled it away almost as soon as her fingers touched his uniform.

"There are rules, sir," she said.

"That can't be why you joined up," he said, "You know how I feel and I thought..."

"I thought that I was just another girl to play with, sir," Riza said harshly. But she was lying.

He sighed again and let go of her hand reluctantly, but to his surprise she grabbed it back and turned her eyes to him for the first time since they had returned from Ishbal. He had forgotten how her Amber gaze made him go weak at the knees and ignited such a burning desire within him to hold her forever.

"I'm in this for you," she said quietly, "That's the only reason I signed up. Because you're going to get yourself killed one of these days, Roy Mustang, and I don't want to be sitting at home like some helpless housewife when you do."

Riza let go of his hand.

"May I pass, sir?"

Roy stepped aside and she went to open the door, pausing with her hand on the handle. He watched her take a breath to say something, and he just knew that it would be about the rules, and about not letting them know how much he cared for her, or something like that.

"I know," he said.

Riza nodded and walked out of the office as he took a great, gulp of air, willing himself to not show his captivation, or his addiction. It would be the biggest challenge of his life, pretending to resist her.

RESIST: Trying to be strong in the face of desire.

I'm pretty proud of this one as well. And it addresses something that I've sort of wondered; if Riza is such a great sharpshooter, why did they let her move to a desk job?

Please review. Reviews make me happy.