i am warning you, there is some fluff down there at the bottom. well justified fluff, but yeah... oh and a badder word

Riza knocked on the door and was met by Alphonse.

"Oh, Lieutenant Hawkeye! What brings you by?"

"Well, Edward is finally out of the hospital, so I thought I would stop by and see him. It's been hectic at the office so I never got a chance to see him."

"Yeah, but we appreciated the calls. Ed, the lieutenant is here." Alphonse said, turning as Riza walked in.

Riza went around Al and found Edward sitting on the couch, reading some alchemy books. He looked up and Riza blinked.

"I didn't know you wore glasses, Edward."

"I don't. Because of that stupid serum and the stuff that happened afterward, I ended up with old man eyes." Edward growled, clenching his only fist. "Damn that doctor! I had perfect vision and then he made me get old!"

"It's not the end of the world." Riza said with a smirk. "Oh, I brought pie."

"What kind?"

"Cherry."

"Awesome! It looks great… Did you make it, Lieutenant?"

"Despite my looks, I can make food." She said with a small smile.

"Would you like me to cut you a slice, Brother?"

"That would be nice. I'm still trying to get the taste of hospital food out of my mouth."

Alphonse took the pie over to the kitchen table as Riza looked at his hollow automail base. Edward looked at it and then at Riza.

"My automail rusted out when I 'grew up', so Winry is here making me a whole new one. She'll have to replace the inside too… I see that bastard didn't come with you."

"In all honesty he doesn't even know I'm here."

"Oh well, I'm sure he won't be coming."

"I'm afraid not, Ed…"

Edward just chuckled humorlessly. "Well, that doesn't really surprise me."

"Yes it does. Don't act like it doesn't. Both you and the Colonel are really bad at making this seem blasé. Excuse my expression, but you suck at it."

"Ouch…"

"I went to Dr. Striker to ask what may be wrong with Roy and he said he has gotten himself a guilt complex."

"A guilt complex, huh? I know how that is."

"This is true… then you'll understand a little more than I about Roy's behavior towards this situation. He believes his predicament was his fault and thus, you almost dying was his fault as well. He feels responsible for almost killing you when he was there. It's pride as well as guilt."

"Guilt is created from the fighting of virtue and pride, you know."

"Here you go, Brother." Alphonse said, giving Ed a plate and fork.

"Thanks, Al. Can you go tell Winry that there's pie here if she wants it?"

"Mmm!"

Al ran off as Edward dug into his pie and then pushed his glasses up.

"The only bad thing that came out of all of this is this eye thing, but Al says it makes me look smarter."

"You know Roy won't accept that."

"Yeah. What an idiot… Shouldering all that on himself when it wasn't even his fault in the first place. Could have just as easily been me or you."

"Of course but I think…"

"What?"

"Well, I hate to say it like this, but I think his childish thinking didn't leave."

"Of course not." Edward ate more pie. "He had a traumatic second childhood. No one could forget that. It would overshadow even the most loving of first childhoods. And even though he was a baby, his pride was still there. That bastard…"

"What do you mean?"

"Even when he was a baby, that bastard tried to tell me no. I told him what were going to have to do to get out and he questioned me."

"Questioned you?"

"Yeah. I said, 'Roy, you're going to have to try and move these flames for me. That's the only way we can get through.' And that ass looked up at me, blinked, then furrowed his eyebrows at me and turned his head. When I explained everything, which he seemed to understand quite well for a tiny baby, he then looked me straight in the eye, said 'Dah.', and turned away from me."

"He could understand you?"

"Seemed like it. He obeyed pretty well after that when he saw all the flames and it freaked him out for a second. What a cocky kid…"

"Ed, can I ask an odd question?"

"Sure."

"Dr. Striker said that Roy's mind would be effected by the regression but he also said yours would be effected by the progression."

"It did a little, yeah."

"Then… how do you view Roy now?"

Edward finished his pie and straightened his glasses as he thought.

"Well… I can't really put my finger on it. I'm not really used to just telling people how I feel; just as Al or Winry. The Colonel always seemed to get what I was feeling without having to really say anything, which was one of the few things I do like about him. At first he was more of a pain in my ass, but he cared, I guess… Now… the same feeling is there but it's different. I really can't describe it."

"I ask this because my view of him has changed just as his view of me has changed. Dr. Striker said that I may have to talk to him with the concept of a caretaker, like I was when things were going bad. To have seen him so vulnerable, I can't un-see it and now I see it plainer than ever. I can see it in his eyes when he has been defeated, when he's strong, when he's weak. It's not a guessing game anymore and I think he knows that too. When he regressed, he laid every card he could have possessed on the table, putting complete and utter trust in his subordinates. I think exposing himself has made him…"

"Embarrassed." Ed and Riza turned to Winry, who was coming down the stairs. "I don't know what happened here but you practically described Ed."

"What did you say?"

"Can it, Four-Eyes." Winry snapped.

"Ah, I have your soul, Brother!" Alphonse yelled, pushing something back into Edward.

"She called me Four-Eyes…" he mumbled.

"From what it sounds like, he just needs you to be there as you always have. You said that he laid out all of his cards for the world to see, right? Well, he's trying to turn them all back over, little by little. He is wanting everyone to go about their business, leaving him to pick up his own pieces, not watching him every step of the way."

Riza smiled. "That makes sense. It sounds like the Colonel."

"It sounds like Ed, but the Colonel is like a bigger version of Ed." Winry said with a giggle.

"Who are you calling smaller than that regressing baby wah-wah, Bastard Colonel, huh?"

"O-kay, whatever. I'm getting pie!"

Riza smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're doing well and I will check on you boys until you're back in the office."

"Sure thing." Riza turned around to unlock the door. "Oh, and Lieutenant? Tell that bastard that he can't avoid me forever."

"I will do so."

Riza went back to the office to get a couple of different things when she noticed that the light was still on in Roy's office. She turned her head at that, grabbing her gun and loading a bullet in the chamber just in case it was an intruder. She slowly opened Roy's door and looked around, not seeing anyone there. A loud snore caught her off guard and if she hadn't been an experienced gunman, used to odd noises going off when least expected, she would have shot her gun. But, she walked over to the couch that was there and saw that it was just Roy. He didn't seem to be having a restful sleep.

Riza put her hammer back in place on the gun and then touched Roy on the shoulder. He moaned and opened his eyes.

"Hawkeye."

"What are you doing here so late, Colonel?"

"I can ask the same for you…"

"I came to grab some paperwork I left… I thought you had gone home."

"I left."

The way he said it made Riza aware that something was amiss.

"Is there something wrong with your apartment, sir?"

"What? No… I just want to get all this paperwork finished."

Riza chuckled and sat beside her superior.

"Sir, you've never wanted to work late to get your stuff done. I know you better than that… What's wrong?"

Roy sighed, putting his face in his hands.

"I can't sleep… Every time I close my eyes, I freak out and wake up, making sure I'm the same as I was when I was awake. I have this fear that I'll wake up younger… When I go to my house I see myself laying in the floor with blood coming out of my mouth and nose and all I can do is sit there because I'm weak as hell, dying. I see Edward carrying me like a kid all the way back home…" He leaned over on Riza's shoulder and she had to fight not to leave. This must be where I am in caretaker mode. she thought as she sat as still as a statue.

"What's worse is that I see you in that silk nightie that you were wearing when I stayed at your house. I remember feeling embarrassed and I remember when I forgot you. The look of horror on your face…"

"You caught me on an odd night. I usually don't sleep in that particular one. I have one that's a little thicker. As for forgetting, it was scary but you came back to us, right?" she said, putting her arm around him.

"Not fast enough." He seethed, pulling away from her and standing. "I couldn't help Fullmetal or save you or do anything. I was a damned baby! And don't say that what did I 'helped'. I friggin patty-caked Fullmetal and I to safety with sheer luck! Edward was taking a chance on me but we both could have died… Yet I was helpless in Fullmetal's arm…"

Riza got up and caught him before he paced back, looking up at him.

"Colonel, you couldn't help any of that. Edward knew, I knew; we both also knew what we were getting into when we went after you. We had a feeling something weird would happen when we got there. That it happened to Edward was the only thing we didn't anticipate but you're safe now. Why can't you accept that?"

"Because I can't escape." He said, grabbing her arms and looking into her brown eyes. "Riza, I can't escape the memories of that time. They haunt me and plague my mind! All the flickers, the changes, the way people stared at me, the lying, the feelings, everything is in my mind and it will not stop." He hung his head and she could hear him sniffling. "They won't fucking stop."

Riza licked her lips and knew what she would have to do. She knew what she would find when she lifted her superior's head up, but she was still unprepared for it. His black eyes were rimmed with red, tears streaming down his cheeks, a look of hopelessness in those deep eyes. She thought she'd seen the last of that look after the Ishvalan war and it was hard not to treat this as that had been. She grabbed Roy and embraced him harder than she remembers ever touching him.

Surprised by her sudden affection, it took Roy a minute to wrap is arms around her body but it took his memories a second to realize that everything would be alright. He knew he could always trust this woman; with secrets, with goals, with loyalty… and with love…

"Riza… I'm scared." He whispered.

Riza smiled and pulled him closer. "I know." But I'd never tell a soul.

so here's the issue: this indestructible pillar of a man was traumatized over and over again for five months (maybe?). every time he did something or took something, his life came crashing down. turning into a baby, forgetting himself, losing his pride and then he almost got everyone killed (albeit, not his fault at all). but he is the great roy mustang, he shouldn't need saving. the pride, the guilt, and the fact that he literally can't forget any detail that happened to him while he regressed (and lack of sleep), the man deserves a good cry to clean his soul and clear his mind for a second. so there...

oh and the patty-cake reference is from a commenter. you know who you are. i thought it was funny.