A/N: thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, supporters and readers! I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 14

Edward slammed his hands together, his automail arm becoming a blade in a flash of blue light. Alphonse moved to stand beside him, fists raised in anticipation.

"Winry" Ed hissed out of the corner of his mouth, "I need you to run."

"What?" The blonde teen gasped, her eyes fixated upon the figure advancing towards them.

"Go to headquarters, it's not far. Find anyone, someone. Run now, before he sees you." Winry took a shaky step backwards. While she knew she was going to be of little help to them here, she really didn't want to leave them to face this alone.

"Winry, please." Al's small voice tugged at her heart strings. With one final glance at her friends, she turned on her heel and ran down the alley. Ed's familiar yell filled her ears as she hurtled through the streets. Tears sprung to her eyes as she made her way as fast as she could towards the military headquarters.

"Please be safe." She whispered to herself, her voice lost in the evening wind.

"Riza, would you slow down!" Riza heard the voice, but refused to pay any attention to it. Her mind was fixed on reaching Roy before Greg could. If he was really as violent as Roxanne and Marguerite stated, he would be needing her protection. Damn it, if only I was with him now! She thought to herself as she continued to run. At least that way she would know without a doubt that he was safe. Her face drained as she realised there were two sets of feet running after her.

"You two need to leave now!" she called over her shoulder, keeping her pace the same.

"What! Hell no!" Riza wanted to scream at Marguerite's stubborn nature. This was not situation that civilians should be involved in.

"You could get hurt, I can't let you!" Riza replied, pulling her gun out as she spoke. Headquarters' white walls loomed up ahead as she spoke. Turing abruptly down an alley, Riza swiftly flew through a well known short cut, partly to get there faster, and partly to prevent her friends from following her trail. Her trained eyes assessed each shadow and corner as she continued to race through the streets. Yet nothing caught her eye. He can't already be at headquarters can he? She thought to herself. It was then that a crash echoed loudly in her ears. Spinning on her heels, Riza gripped her gun tighter as she silently made her way towards the sound.

"So how are you going to do it Roy? In a restaurant? Under the stars? Oooh, so Romantic!" Roy grimaced as Hughes started hopping up and down in excitement. He was almost expecting a pair of white floppy ears to sprout from his head any second. It would have completely his mannerisms perfectly.

"Maes, would you please calm down." He murmured, glancing nervously from side to side to make sure that no one was staring at them.

"How can you ask me to calm down Roy? My best friend is finally going to marry the woman of his dreams. And more importantly, it is all because of me!" Roy glared at him.

"Maes, how is any of this because of you?" He asked, feeling slightly put out. Hughes regarded him strangely.

"Who was it who got the two of you together in the first place? Who was it that found the loop whole in the fraternisation law? Who was it who told you to propose? Who was it who helped you find the perfect ring?" Roy sighed in defeat.

"You Maes." He grumbled, unwilling to give his best friend all the credit for something that he really did feel was something that he should be proud of. Maes grinned happily.

"Exactly! Finally my mission is complete!" He cried, punching he air in triumph.

"Mission? Maes, what the hell do you mean by mission?" Roy yelled in reply. However, before Hughes could say anything further, a voice interrupted them.

"Mr Hughes, Colonel Mustang!" Both men turned to see a familiar blonde girl careering towards them. Hughes frowned.

"Miss Rockbell, what's the matter?" he asked her distressed state obvious even from a distance. Winry skidded to a halt before them, breathing heavily. She turned her face towards Maes, tears making watery tracks down her cheeks.

"Ed and Al are being attacked! I think it's the same guy from last time. He said he was on his way to find you Colonel." She cried, sobs cutting off her sentence. Hughes and Mustang exchanged a look before Maes was by her side.

"It's alright Winry. Now, we need you to take us too them. Can you do that?" he asked, his voice gentle but urgent. Winry sniffed and rubbed her eyes of stray tears before gazing back at the two of them. Her face was now firm and determined. She nodded once then turned and began running in the direction she had come from. Without a word, Maes and Roy followed.

"AL!" Edwards scream ricocheted through the alley, only to be cut off as his brother was slammed into the wall. The guy was strong and remarkable quick despite his size. The cramped conditions made it difficult to perform alchemy, making this fight far more tricky than the Fullmetal alchemist had anticipated. With a roar of fury, Ed rushed at the guy, swinging his blade rapidly. He jumped out of the way of the man's fist and skidded to a stop on the other side of the alley. The thick set man turned and snarled in Ed's direction, a large cut on his forehead bleeding profusely. Ed grinned. While the cut was mostly superficial, head wounds always bled heavily. This meant he would soon feel the effects of blood loss, not to mention how it would obscure his vision. He odds were now slightly in his favour. The man launched himself at Edward, catching him off guard. Ed nimbly dodged, but it was a close call.

"You are exceptionally annoying young alchemist. I can't wait to crush you and...AHHH!" Ed's eyes widened as two shots flew out of nowhere. The man fell to his knees in pain as the bullets imbedded themselves in his lower leg. As he fell to the ground, Ed saw the silhouette of a familiar soldier at the other end of the alley. Riza Hawkeye raised her eyes to his.

"You alright, Edward?" she questioned. He nodded, still slightly shocked at her appearance. The man turned, his face twisted in agony as he gazed at Riza.

"You." He hissed, his teeth clenched in pain, "I'll kill you."

"I don't think so somehow." Despite Ed's relief, he couldn't help but groan at the familiar voice. Of all the people Winry could of run into, why oh why did it have to be that bastard? He was going to be reminded of this for years to come. Roy walked to where Ed was standing and smirked over at his First Lieutenant.

"Nice work Hawkeye." He stated proudly. Riza simply nodded her gun and her eyes still trained on the man struggling in vain to get to his feet. Roy glared at him.

"Don't pretend that you're able to stand. It's over." He stated harshly. As if they had heard his words, the unmistakable sound of military boots was heard. Hawkeye moved out of the way to allow the officers through.

"See, I always knew you were a weird one. Perverted freak." Riza turned and glared at Marguerite who was glaring daggers at Greg as he was arrested and hauled towards a dark van. Roxy moved to join her friend.

"Good work Rizzy." She stated proudly. Hughes turned and stared at the two for a minute

"Rizzy?" he questioned. Roy frowned at the two women.

"This is a military crime scene, not a place for civilians." He stated. Roxanne raised her eyebrows.

"If it wasn't for us, you would have been scraping that little guy of the floor. No offense sweetie." She stated smiling gloriously at Ed. Edward was far too dazzled by the attention that Roxy gave him to care about the little guy comment. Winry frowned at Edwards conduct, causing Al to shy away from her slightly in fear.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Riza turned to see an officer addressing her. "We are going to need a statement. Will you be able to meet us at Headquarters?" Riza nodded and the man saluted once before taking his leave. Marguerite grinned and skipped over to Riza, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, look like some people owe Riza a thank you." She stated, her gaze automatically skipping to Roy. Roy blanched slightly at the intensity of the woman's glare. He cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course. That was an excellent job Lieutenant. In fact, I think I need to thank you...personally." he implored, his eyes begging her to understand that he wished to speak to her alone. Riza on the other hand simply saluted.

"Thank you for your praise Sir, but that is not necessary. Now, if you will excuse me, I am needed at Headquarters." And with that she turned and walked away. Roy stared after her, his posture slumping in defeat.

"Damn... it's gonna take one hell of an apology to get her good books again." Roxy stated. Maes grinned at the dark haired woman.

"Like a diamond ring." He teased, to Roy's absolute horror. The two girl's mouth's fell open in shock. Suddenly they both turned and screamed at each other, their eyes a light in excitement.

"Are you serious? You're going to propose!" Roxy cried. Hughes nodded enthusiastically.

"He sure is!" he replied, almost as if this was his engagement they were discussing.

"Oh a wedding, I love weddings!" Cried Marguerite.

"She's gonna say no." Edward stated bluntly. Hughes, Marguerite and Roxanne turned to reprimand him, but they needn't have bothered. Winry had already smacked him hard enough to have him seeing stars.

Riza meandered back to headquarters' slowly. Her thoughts were in turmoil. What had Roy meant when he had asked to speak to her privately? He didn't want her anymore, so why would he need to speak to her. He probably just wanted her to take the things she had left at his apartment back. As she turned the corner, she noticed something golden in her peripheral vision. She halted and turned slowly. All at once, something was clamped over her mouth. She struggled, fighting against the grip, but she found her body getting weaker. She clawed at the hand as her vision started to fade and her mind wished for slumber. However, before she allowed the darkness to envelop her, the hand left her mouth and she was lowered onto the floor. She gasped as familiar features swum into view.

"You..." she whispered, her eyes fluttering shut.

"Yes, me" hissed a malicious voice as the shadows suffocated her senses.

A/N: please review.