DISCLAIMER: All recognizable material belongs to the great cow Arakawa.

Pairing: Maria Ross and Denny Brosh

Prompt: Reunion

Rated: K

His heart pounded in his ears, every breath shaking him to the core. His arms trembled as they lifted above his head, on the wrong end of too many barrels. He kept his green eyes fixated ahead, steeling himself for what was sure to be a disappointment.

She was dead. He knew that. The Siren on the radio was just that; a decoy, something false to give him hope, only to destroy it. It couldn't possibly have been her.

But still. He couldn't resist the flicker of hope that sparked in him, that tiny voice that whispered not to give up on her.

Denny pressed forward determinedly.

In the midst of the rebellion, Maria had poured her focus solely into the efforts to aid Mustang. Her thoughts had been centered on justice and overthrowing the corrupt powers within the military. However, one solitary face through the window had tossed everything out the door.

The former soldier had almost forgotten. Her partner, her friend… perhaps something more, if she'd let herself dwell on it. It had been too long since she'd seen him, and he thought she was six feet under.

She assured the guards he was safe to let through, feeling her heart swell at the impending reunion between them. Maria could only hope he would be as overjoyed to see her again as she was him.

Maria held her breath.

The moment their eyes met, Denny lost all self-control. Forgetting the firearms aimed at his person, forgetting propriety, forgetting himself, he launched his body at her, tears streaming down his face.

Maria's eyes widened at the way Denny had seemed to turn himself into a projectile, hurling towards her. She barely had time to brace herself before he barreled into her, knocking them both to the floor. His arms squeezed her against him, her head finding itself in the crook of his neck. She could feel his body trembling; she pretended not to notice, for his sake, that he was crying.

She returned the embrace, burying her face deeper into him. The woman laughed quietly at herself; had she really been worried how he would receive her?

Without pulling away, Denny took a shaky breath. "I thought… I thought-"

"I know," she murmured, realizing it must be hard to put it into words. "I'm sorry."

He pulled back just enough to look at her, and her gaze met his. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before she noticed his eyes had closed. Without giving her any time to react, he had leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Maria's eyes widened in shock, but just before she'd collected herself enough to respond, he pulled away, his face bright red.

"S-sorry…" he stuttered, ducking his head slightly. A look of disbelief crossed his face when he heard her chuckle.

She gave him another brief hug before pulling them both to their feet. "We'll have time for that later," Maria promised. "Right now we need all the help we can get. Will you join us?" she asked, not letting go of his hands.

After the initial moment of shock had worn off at not being rejected as he had assumed he would be, Denny positively glowed. He nodded enthusiastically, grinning widely. "Of course."

And while he really was dead set on helping however he could, in the back of his mind he was eagerly awaiting that 'later' she'd mentioned.