First, thank you to the person who noted this was in the wrong language section! That should be fixed now! Second, thanks so much for the reviews, faves, kudos, follows, etc, etc! It really makes me feel awesome! I posted this, what? A few days ago. Yeah I've got 9 chapters and an idea for a sequel of sorts when I'm done. This is probably my most favorite fic I've written yet (and I think I wrote around 30 for Hetalia back in the day.) Anyway, as always, if you like what you read, let me know by leaving a review :) Thanks!

When Roy awoke, he felt warm. It was strange, because he was not used to feeling so comfortable out in the field. However, the sheets felt clean and so did the air, and he knew he wasn't anywhere near where the battle had been because he wasn't breathing in straight smoke. But, like many things that didn't last long.

He coughed as the stale taste of a cigarette filled his lungs and he pried his eyes open. He looked right up and over at Havoc, who was reading a newspaper and smoking a cigarette in the white, clean room Mustang found himself in.

"Are you fucking insane? Smoking in a hospital room?" Roy croaked out, irritated already without even having been awake more than a minute. Havoc jumped at the sudden noise and looked down at his Colonel before smiling brightly.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Bout time you woke up."

"Put that shit out."

"I've been sitting here for forever waiting for you to finally wake up. Damn man, you can sleep."

"That's an order, Havoc."

"I mean, you've been out for two whole days. Guess that last fight took something outta ya."

"I swear to fucking-" Roy stopped himself and sat up as his memories came into collision with the realization he'd been asleep for two whole days. "I've been out for how long?"

"Two days," Havoc replied and gave his cigarette one last puff before finally putting it out. "You owe me a new one."

Roy wanted to tell him how absolutely fucking wrong that last statement was, but decided against it to instead find out more information about his condition. And it was then that he remembered his First Lieutenant, crumpled and bloody in his arms, laying on the dusty ground of the battle field. He feared he remembered her dead before he finally realized she'd been alive, but taken from him, and then he woke up here.

"Riza." He swung his legs over the side of the bed, only to have both Havoc and his dizziness push him back down. "Where's Lieutenant Hawkeye?" he asked, looking at Havoc with dangerous eyes.

The soldier found himself scared for a moment, wondering if Roy thought he'd done something to her. He held up his hands in surrender, hoping the Colonel wouldn't light him up. "Hey, hey, just relax okay? You look pretty winded."

"Where. Is. Hawkeye?" Roy asked again and saw Havoc's face dissolve into a sad frown. He felt cold shock move through his body like a lightning bolt. No, she had to be alright. There was no possible way she wouldn't be alright. She was Riza. Lieutenant Hawkeye. The sniper. His bodyguard. She had to be alright.

"She's alive," Havoc said slowly, trying to choose his words carefully, and Roy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "But it's… not looking good, sir. She was pretty fucked up when they brought you guys in. She was shot in the shoulder. Got right out of the way quick too, because it was aimed for her heart. Damn she's quick. But she hasn't woken up."

"I need to see her," Roy said earnestly. Havoc wanted to tell him to rest. He looked rather pale. But, he also knew that he was not going to be able to order his Colonel around. So instead, he just helped the man stand and guided him out the door. He noted Roy was a little weak on his feet, but quickly fell back into step. The doctors had been right. Colonel Mustang just needed a lot of sleep, but otherwise he was fine.

"Where are we?" Roy asked as they walked down the long hallway. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't be sure.

"The Capital."

Roy turned around, stopping so quickly that the other man nearly fell over. "What?"

"Yeah, they stabilized you two and then brought you back," Havoc said. "Don't worry, the fighting is done. The insurgents were pushed back, and they're just cleaning up the area now. They needed to bring Hawkeye to a real hospital, and knew that you wouldn't want to be too far away. They said they could barely pry her out of your arms when they got to you. But yeah, they opened the hospital just for you two."

Havoc rambled on about the trip back to the Capital, but Roy was coming to realize why the hospital felt so empty. Because of all the fighting and the change in leadership, a lot of the services in the cities had been shut down, and that also included the military hospital. Riza must have been in pretty bad shape to get them to open up shop just for her.

They finally reached the door to another room and Havoc pushed it open. Roy burst inside, and found his breath caught in his throat as he looked over the small woman in the bed. Like a ghost, he seemed to float numbly over to her side and sank into the chair. He grabbed her hand, which felt too cold, and watched her breathe steadily up and down, up and down.

She looked… terrible. She was connected to an oxygen machine and was bandaged all over her head and shoulder, and down her right arm. It seemed like every single wire in the world was coming out of her and leading to god-knows where behind the bed. She looked so small in that bed, smaller than she ever had before, and Roy wondered if she'd always been that thin, or if being on the battlefield had caused her to lose weight. How had he not noticed? It was his responsibility to notice those kinds of things and he had failed her.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he looked up to see Havoc looking down at him with a look of pure pity. Roy had never admitted it, nor had Riza, but the entire squad knew there were very special feelings between the man and his Lieutenant. Romantic? They couldn't quite tell, but they were closer than any two people could be.

"They do think she's going to be okay," Havoc assured him. "Might be a long recovery, but she'll be alright."

"No," Roy shook his head and Havoc opened his mouth to protest, but Roy beat him. "It won't take long. She's a fighter, and she also won't want to stay in the hospital too long."

"You two are so stubborn," Havoc laughed. "A match made in fucking heaven." He paused and his eyes lingered on the frail woman in the bed. He felt uncomfortable, both because he hated seeing Hawkeye in that kind of shape, and because he felt like he was intruding in a moment between the other two. "You should go back to your room and sleep some more."

"I'm not tired." That was a lie, but Roy wasn't going to leave. He looked up at Havoc and nodded his head towards the door. "If you have things to do, you can go. You don't have to babysit me."

"I don't have anything to do!" Havoc replied and Roy glared.

"I know for a fact that you had an entire stack of paperwork on your desk that needed done when I left," Roy replied, agitation showing in his voice. "And I also know you likely haven't touched any of it."

"Alright, alright," Havoc laughed. "But do get some rest."

"Yeah, I'll be out in a bit." Havoc left and Roy returned his gaze to Riza, who hadn't moved.

He'd lied again to Havoc. He never went back to his room. He stayed at Riza's side, sometimes leaning back and dozing, sometimes laying his head down on the side of the bed and sleeping. But, he never moved, and kept a firm hold on her hand.

It was so early in the morning when Riza awoke that the sun had not risen, but the dark blue glow of first light crept into the room. A doctor had wrapped a blanket around Roy, who had one arm under his head on the side of the bed, and the other hand was clutching Riza's. That was the first thing Riza felt when she regained her senses-a soft, comforting weight on her hand.

Had the lights in the room been on, or the light outside too bright, it would have been impossible for her to open her eyes. As it stood, prying her eyes open took quite the effort, but she eventually was able to do it, and glanced curiously around the room. It was a hospital, and it seemed familiar, but Riza was too tired to wrack her brain to figure out why.

Instead, she turned her head to see a mop of black, straggly hair and a hand clutching her own. She knew immediately that it was Roy and she felt her heart swell with emotion she couldn't place. She opened her mouth to speak, but found she was blocked by the mask covering her face. She considered taking it off, but decided against it. Instead, she used all the strength she had to squeeze Roy's hand and shift into a more comfortable position on the bed.

While the hand squeeze had been tight, it was the movement of the squeaky hospital bed that got Roy to awaken. The pre-dawn light had grown a little brighter, and it was easy to make out faces and shapes in the private hospital room. He sat himself up and pushed his shoulder blades back, cracking his back in a satisfying way. He used his free hand to secure the blanket around himself and looked at Riza, who gazed back with tired amber eyes.

"Riz-Hawk-Lieutenant!" Roy finally decided on as jumped with surprise when he found her awake. He felt the urge to hug her as close as he could, but not only was that completely inappropriate, the hospital bed and wires prevented him from doing so. Instead, he squeezed her hand. "Thank god you're awake."

Forgetting her mask, or not caring that it was there, she tried to speak, but Roy shushed her. "You're okay," he said in a gentle voice that Riza had only heard a handful of times. Damn, this must be serious. "We're back in the Capital. You're going to get all fixed up, and then we're going to get back to work."

She smiled a little at this. The idea of work sounded nice. She would nag him about paperwork, and then make sure it all got done. She hoped her dog was alright. She also wondered about the outcome of the war. But, although she could convey many things with just a glance at her Colonel, full sentences about her innermost thoughts were not among them.

"You should sleep more," Roy said. "I know you just slept a lot, but you need your rest. I want you better as soon as possible."

Riza lifted her hand and pointed at him. It took Roy a moment, but he knew what she was saying.

"I'm fine, really. I was out a few days because of the energy the battle took," he said. "But I'm fine. Havoc wouldn't have let me stay here with you unless he was sure. Then again, I don't entirely trust Havoc's judgement… But don't worry, really." Riza couldn't help but smile a little and Roy smiled back.

The woman closed her eyes and she was immediately asleep again. Roy watched the rise and fall of her chest before settling into a much more relaxed sleep, now that he knew Riza was okay.