Chapter Five

Their fears turned out to be unfounded and both Roy and Riza easily fell back into their rolls well. Her heart still fluttered whenever he was near although now she acknowledged the flutter as hope for later instead of the longing it used to be. It was much simpler to hide their true feelings than they'd realized because all they'd done was swap what they were hiding. Before, they'd been hiding from feelings thought to be mutual but unspoken and never allowed to be shown. Now, they were just hiding the fact that they'd been correct all along and were no longer hiding it in private. If their teammates had noticed they hadn't said anything so far and Rebecca had been oblivious as well.

A few months after their trip to Resembool, Roy sat at his desk staring at a stack of paperwork. His girl sure knew how to ruin a perfectly good day. Despite the stack staring back at him, he smiled. His girl. That was still something he was getting used to. They'd been meeting as clandestinely as they could which meant not too frequently. They used their aliases and Roy continued to maintain his reputation by putting word out that he was taking other women out for dates. All the while, they'd find a way to get to each other's apartments without being seen or noticed. Sometimes they had sex. Sometimes they just cuddled and enjoyed each other's company. Either way, Roy had never been happier and he knew Riza felt the same.

At the moment, they were the only ones in the office so he sat back in his chair and smiled lovingly at her while he could. She was amazing and she was all his. As if sensing his eyes on her, she glanced up at him and smiled back at him even though a small part of her wanted to scold him for being so open.

"Don't look at me like that," She whispered. "Anyone could walk in here."

"Can't help it," Roy whispered back and crooked his finger to her.

She stood from her desk and grabbed the pad of paper she normally used for notes just in case someone did show up and closed his office door behind her. Dropping the notepad on the corner of his desk she let him pull her into his lap and accepted the kiss he pressed to her lips. They routinely swept the office for bugs and cameras both for their own sake and simply to protect the work they did and knew times like this were rare opportunities to take. Roy wrapped his arm around her back and as much as he wanted to dip his hands into her clothes to feel her skin he didn't. They'd agreed if they took time like this at the office it had to be very tame just in case they had to break apart quickly. A missed button on a uniform would definitely be noticed even by the most novice of soldier. That didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the feel of her against him though and he gripped her butt in both hands and squeezed which drew a very subtle moan from her mouth. He slipped his tongue in her mouth to tangle with his own before she reluctantly pulled away.

"It's been too long," Riza whispered against his lips.

"I know. I need you so badly," He pulled her further into his lap to grind his hard erection against her just for a moment.

"Only a few hours to go," She whispered with a much tamer kiss to his lips. He whimpered when she pulled back and smiled down at him. "I just heard the other door open. I think the guys are back from the shooting range."

"Ok, but we'll pick this up later," He reluctantly let her stand from his lap and rolled as far forward as the chair would allow to cover the rock hard erection he currently sported. Riza leaned down and pressed a kiss to his temple.

"I'll help you with that later, my love," She whispered against his ear and then grabbed a pen from his desk to scribble on the notebook. Before she exited, she glanced back to make sure he was ready and with a pained nod he let her open the door to their now full office. "Our next meeting is in twenty minutes, sir. I'll grab the files you'll need shortly."

"Thanks, Captain," He replied with a smirk. None of the others even looked up as it was never a rare occurrence for her to emerge from his closed office.

Fifteen minutes later, files in hand, Roy closed his office door to head to his next meeting when an explosion from outside rocked the building. Immediately on full alert, the team stood with confused looks on their faces.

"What was that?" Havoc asked.

Before anyone could reply, the phone on Fuery's desk rang. He picked it up and handed it to Roy.

"It's the West gate commander sir," He said as he handed it over.

Roy listened intently and advised the West gate commander they'd be on the way. He handed the phone back and looked to his team who were ready to take direction.

"There was an explosion at a nearby office building and they're not sure the cause. Help is needed to rescue the civilians inside. Fuery, get Armstrong's team out there to meet us and as many other soldiers as you can. Also, see if you can figure out whatever you can about the building itself then come find us. Falman, reach out to the hospital to get a paramedic crew on standby. The rest of you lets head out," Roy commanded to his team.

The team immediately set out to fulfill the duties given to them. Roy led Riza, Havoc, and Breda towards the West Gate entrance where they were met by Armstrong and his team. Roy explained what happened again and what each person would be assigned to do.

"Was this done on purpose, Roy?" Armstrong asked under his breath as they headed out the door.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure we'll be assigned to figure that out," He replied equally as quiet.

When they arrived, the office building was in shambles with the roof completely gone and the studs of the building the only thing that remained towards on the upper floors. The first floor was mostly still standing with the exception of the windows and small portions of the walls. Civilians were wandering the area with confusion and fear. Some were holding hands to wounds while others were just frozen in place.

"Alright, soldiers!" Roy exclaimed as he turned towards the immense group of soldiers that had gathered behind him. Armstrong stood at his side while Riza, Havoc and Breda stood just behind his shoulder. Three ambulances pulled up from around the corner and sped to a stop as the crews jumped out to begin triage. "Your orders are to find and help any civilian you can. Work with the medical team that just arrived to tag each person you save however they need. Be careful."

The group of soldiers headed out and each approached a civilian to determine the severity of their wounds. Roy turned to the rest of his team and Armstrong who still stood by his side. Roy took the moment to take a calming breath. Every eye in the Amestrian military would be on him today especially because of Riza. No one knew about their relationship except Ed and Winry, but there had always been rumors.

"Armstrong, will you head towards the building and do what you can to move debris to find any trapped civilians? Havoc and Breda go with him to help, but be careful and let him go first," Roy requested and all three men nodded and headed off which left him alone with Riza. The desire to reach for her and grip her hands almost knocked the breath from his chest. "I need you to help with the civilians, but also keep your eye out. I don't know if this was intentional or just a freak accident, but I trust your eyes more than anyone."

"Yes, sir," She replied already looking to the roofs of nearby buildings for a sniper.

"Be careful. Please," He whispered to her still resisting the urge to reach for her. She was clearly fighting the same thing as her hands were fisted at her sides.

She nodded and headed towards the building behind Armstrong, Havoc and Breda. He watched her walk away then turned to talk to the paramedic who'd approached him.

"We have more ambulances on stand by at the hospital so we can run any emergency patients over and bring another right back to take its' place," The paramedic was explaining.

As he listened to the paramedic, Armstrong exited the building with Havoc and Breda right behind. Each carried a civilian and headed towards a group of paramedics who'd just finished assisting other people. As soon as they'd exited, the building let out an obnoxiously loud groan causing everyone gathered to stop in their tracks. Roy glanced around the area silently counting every soldier in his head and when completed, his heart stopped. Riza wasn't anywhere in the area. As panic gripped his chest, his heart began to beat erratically as he finally saw her. She was inside the building on the first floor with a female civilian who was limping with Riza's arm around her waist. Before he could even open his mouth to scream her name, the building groaned again and Riza's eyes looked up. He watched in horror as fear then a fierce determination passed across her face. She lifted the woman into her arms as best as she could and began to run, avoiding the debris as best she could. As the building gave one more final groan, with Riza and the woman not yet out of the building, Riza set the woman on her feet and pushed her out as part of the ceiling and walls collapsed on top of her.

"No," He whispered under his breath and headed towards the building with Armstrong, Havoc, Breda, and a recently arrived Falman and Fuery on his heels.

They could just make out the top half of her body sticking out from the rubble, but she was out cold on the ground. Her legs were both pinned under pieces of the roof and walls along with one of her arms. Armstrong immediately worked to lift all the debris off of her while Havoc and Breda gently gripped her under her arms to pull her free. The paramedic Roy had been talking to dropped to his knees as soon as she'd been freed with another paramedic on his heels with a stretcher ready. He reached out and checked her pulse with a nod to the men who eagerly waited.

"I've got a pulse, but it's thready," The paramedic said and turned to his companion and gestured to the stretcher. "Come on let's get her back to the hospital immediately."

Roy helplessly watched as the paramedics gently placed her on the stretcher, strapped her in and headed for the closest ambulance. He couldn't follow her and that killed him.

"What's her full name so we can bring up her file?" The paramedic asked.

"Riza. Riza Hawkeye," Roy replied as dread took hold. Not getting into the ambulance with her was killing him, but he knew he couldn't. This was his chance to show the military that he was meant to lead this country. She'd never forgive him if he blew their cover now with this opportunity and disaster on their hands. "She's A positive and we're her family. Her parents are dead."

"Ok. We'll get her to the hospital and we'll be back," The paramedic nodded and headed for the ambulance that Riza had been loaded into.

Roy intentionally turned from the ambulance as the doors closed so he wouldn't get a last-minute urge to blow everything and follow her. His team watched as the ambulance sped away then gave Roy their full attention.

"She'll be fine boss," Havoc said and gripped his shoulder. "What can we do?"

"Can't you guys use alchemy to stabilize the building or something?" Breda asked.

"I don't want to risk any of the people that might still be in the building," Roy replied as he looked out at the crowd. There were lots of people watching the scene in horror and suddenly Roy had an idea. "Fuery, what did you find out about this building? Do we know what type of office building this was? Like a law firm or something?"

"There's a realty company on the first floor and the upper floors were a law firm," Fuery said. He looked around the crowd and pointed to a woman in a pant suit with a piece of gauze on her forehead and a man in a ripped and rumpled suit. Both looked shell shocked and numb as they watched everything going on around them. "She's the head of the realty company and he's one of the lawyers in the firm."

"Ok, here's what we'll do," Roy said with a new determination. "I'm going to go talk to them and see if they can tell if all their people are out of the building. After that, Armstrong along with Havoc and Breda will do a quick search on the first floor then we'll use alchemy to stabilize it. Falman, Feury go find Ross and Brosh and help them with the civilians."

The group dispersed and Roy approached the two Fuery had pointed out.

"I'm Brigadier General Mustang. Can you both help us try and figure out if all of your people are out of the building?" He asked.

The woman, Lilian Spencer, glanced around the crowd as did the lawyer, Richard Hargrove, and both turned back to Roy.

"I believe all of mine are accounted for. At least the ones alive," Richard replied. Despite the lawyer he was tears were streaking down his cheeks as his eyes passed over the area where they'd begun laying the dead. Being on the upper floors they'd likely suffered more casualties. "We have three partners including myself and I see the other two along with all our assistants. I don't see all our paralegals manager and his team or the HR manager and her team, but they could be in one of the ambulances or over there."

"We didn't have too many in the office today. Most were out showing houses," Lilian said as she glanced around the crowd. "It was just myself, our receptionist Joan who's sitting on the curb there and one of our realtors Annie who had a couple in for a consultation. I see Annie over there being loaded to that ambulance and the couple she was talking with are being treated by the medic just next to it."

"Thank you both. We'll be doing one more sweep of the first floor as carefully as possible then we'll use alchemy to stabilize the building," Roy explained and turned to head towards the where Armstrong was waiting. Roy relayed what he'd learned and then the large soldier headed into the building with Havoc and Breda on his heels.

Roy stood watching as his heart beat erratically in his chest as he watched his friends head into the building that had just collapsed on Riza.