He's gone when she wakes, and for a few minutes, Riza wonders if she dreamed the whole encounter. A strange dream, to be sure. Grumman, calling them out, essentially forcing them into confessing their feelings, Mustang's eyesight healed, and Havoc, promotions for everyone, another chance to make Mustang's dream of the presidency come true….
Riza blinks slowly as she comes fully awake. There's a nurse, taking her vitals.
"There we are dear," the woman says kindly. "Your blood pressure is still a little low, but that's alright, it's not unexpected. How's your pain today?"
"I-um, I don't…."
"Scale of one to ten."
"Okay, uh, two?"
The nurse crinkles her brow.
"One being no pain, ten being the worst, dear."
Riza frowns.
"Two," she repeats, and the nurse seems about to argue, when another voice echoes.
"That means about six. Her two is another person's six or higher." Riza looks up.
"Falman," she gives the man a wan smile as the nurse shakes her head, walking away.
"Hey, that's Lieutenant Falman now, Lieutenant Colonel," he grins, and she sees he is indeed sporting an epaulet with two stars. She realizes the one Grumman had pinned to her gown is still there, and she marvels at the sight. If that was real….
"Thank you for coming," she smiles tiredly at her comrade and tries to neaten her hair with her fingers, grimacing.
"Of course. Well, the General insisted."
She frowns.
"Which….General?"
"Mustang," Falman grins. "Grumman decided Brigadier didn't quite cut it and busted him up to full General this morning. Yeah," he says, when he sees her surprised face. "Three stars, big bar," he adds, referring to the epaulet design of a General in the Amestrian Army.
"General," she whispers, slightly awestruck.
"He and Armstrong both. They're the top ranking officers in the whole operation now, aside from the Fuhrer-President." He takes a step closer, then rummages in his pocket. "Here, he sent a message, your eyes only." She takes it and reads.
"Ria,
The Fuhrer-President and I were both sorry you couldn't be there for the ceremony, but it all happened quickly this morning. He's sticking to his word, so far. I'll try to get away for a visit this afternoon.
-Roy"
The note confirmed her memories of the night before. He wouldn't have used their first names, much less his nickname for her. She'd really fallen asleep in his arms…
She nodded and looked back at Falman.
"Very good," she said. "And what are your orders?"
Vato shrugged. "Unless that note says otherwise, it seems like he just wanted me to keep you company."
Riza resists the urge to roll her eyes. This is just the kind of thing he's going to have to avoid doing if he doesn't want people to find out.
Smiles at Falman.
"Alright, Lieutenant. What's going on at headquarters? Catch me up."
—-
It's late when Roy enters her hospital room, and she wakes from a light doze to find him frowning at her.
"What?" She frowns back.
"I didn't send Falman down here for you to start back to work before you're even out of the hospital," he grouses, dropping a stack of paperwork on the table beside her bed.
"What else was he supposed to do here all day?" Riza asks, slightly exasperated. They'd focused on infrastructure. The damage to the underground tunnels had left sinkholes all over the city, so the roads were a mess. Fires had raged in the destruction, businesses were closed down. People needed food distribution, access to medical care. All the kinds of things she would have been doing if she'd been in the office. Falman had kept in touch with the others throughout the day by secure phone-line to ensure they weren't going over the same ground twice.
"I just didn't want you to be alone," Roy admitted, leaning down to kiss her. Riza put a hand against his chest, stopping his advance.
"And that's exactly the kind of thing we can't do," she said in a low tone, "if we don't want rumors flying."
"It's Falman," Roy shrugs. "We're fine." He starts to lean forward again, but she stops him with a hand to his chest, and he looks up at her, his tired eyes showing hurt.
"Not here, sir," she says, slightly emphasizing his title. Then, even lower, "The Fuhrer's personal guard aren't standing outside to ensure our privacy, tonight."
Roy frowns.
"Breda's outside," he says. "I think we can trust the team, don't you?"
"Did you tell them?" Riza asks.
"Of course not. We hadn't discussed it yet." Roy folds his arms across his chest.
"We probably should, then," she says, gesturing to the empty chair near the foot of the bed. Roy sighs and takes a seat.
"I don't think anyone on our team would betray our trust," Roy says confidently. "Breda, Havoc, Fury….Falman," he adds, considering.
"But there's a little thing called 'plausible deniability'", Riza argues. "Just in case this somehow blows up in our faces, even Grumman didn't exactly ask questions."
Roy frowns again.
"I guess I see your point," he concedes. "Are you going to tell Rebecca?"
Riza bites her lower lip. She'd been trying to decide earlier that day if she was willing to confide the news to her best friend. She wanted to. This was the kind of things best friends shared.
"You'd have told Maes," she says softly, and his eyes soften.
"Yeah," he says, nodding. "Yes, I would have. Go ahead and tell her."
"I still don't think the rest of the team needs to know," Riza insists.
"Riza, I think they might notice," Roy grumbles.
"Why should they?" She asks. "In the office setting, nothing needs to change about our working relationship. We've essentially agreed on that."
"And these are people we regularly see outside the office," Roy points out. Then, he sighs. "You're right, though. Plausible deniability."
"We don't have to tell them. We won't be affectionate in public. It might be evident that we've grown closer, but none of them need to know how much closer."
Roy nods.
"Okay," he sighs. "This might be more complicated than I initially thought." He sits forward, putting his head in his hands with a yawn, and Riza has a moment of doubt.
"If it's too complicated, right now," she begins.
"Huh?" Roy looks up at her, then shakes his head. "No, no I didn't mean that." He yawns. "I'm sorry, I'm tired."
Riza can see the lines around his eyes.
"I've been listening to the broadcasts," she says, nodding at the radio on her bedside. "Your plan to control the narrative through Mrs. Bradley, to blame the Fuhrer's death on the old regime instead of implicating him…It's brilliant, and it's working."
Roy gives her a tight smile.
"Did you sleep at all last night?" She asks, concerned.
"A couple hours on a couch in the office," Roy says, stretching.
"Then go home and sleep, Roy. I'm fine."
He gives her a sheepish grin.
"Actually," he says. "It turns out my apartment building was destroyed in one of the fires, ironically enough."
Riza gasps.
"So, I'm effectively homeless, at the moment."
She shakes her head. This man….
"Kane has my apartment keys," she says. "I gave them to him before we parted ways, so he could take care of Black Hayate. Go and get them, go to my apartment, and rest. Please."
He looks at her, then grins.
"Only if you kiss me."
—-
Three days later, Roy gets an unexpected phone call at the office.
"General," Fuery says, "There's a call coming in for you."
"Take a message, Fuery," Roy groans. He's been out in the city streets all day, using alchemy to conduct repairs, and he's bone tired. There's still so much to be done. Grumman has tasked him, officially, with helping to restore the Ishbalan nation. He'll return to the East with his team, and they'll begin meeting with representatives of the Ishbalan people, helping to establish a new, independent nation, with all the support Amestris can offer. Another dream fulfilled, a chance to atone.
"It's from the hospital, sir. It's Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye."
Roy reaches for the receiver. "Hawkeye?"
"Yes, sir," she responds, and he can hear the smile in her voice. "I've got good news. They took the bandages off my shoulder, and they're letting me go home."
"Glad to hear it," Roy responds. All thoughts of rest banished from his mind, he suggests, "Tell you what, roads and such are still a little dicey around the city. Why don't I come with my car and drive you home?"
"I would deeply appreciate it, General." Roy hangs up the phone and goes to get his coat. He nearly bumps into Grumman on his way out of the office.
"Fuhrer-President, sir!" He exclaims, jumping backwards with a salute. His adjutants all rise to salute as well.
"At ease, at ease," Grumman smiles. "I've told you all, I don't stand on the formality of it all." He peers at Roy. "I'm surprised you're still here, Mustang. Aren't you still recovering from wounds yourself?"
"I'm perfectly healthy, sir, thank you."
"Even so, m'boy, after being in the field all day, to still be at the office at seven in the evening?" Grumman tuts. "Perhaps you should take some leave, a couple of days until the end of the week, then the weekend, report back on Monday."
"Sir," Roy tries to argue, but Grumman cuts him off.
"Consider it an order if you like," the older man says with a pleasant smile. Roy shrugs, figuring it isn't worth the effort to argue.
"Yes, sir." It isn't until he reaches the end of the hallways that he wonders whether Grumman already knew about Riza's release from the hospital. If he knew where Roy has been spending his nights since The Promised Day. Sneaky bastard.
—-
Riza is still a little weak from all her body has endured, but she's grateful for the familiar surroundings of her apartment, especially for the furry form of Black Hayate as he barks and jumps, joyous at the sight of his master.
"Good boy," She murmurs, bending to pet his head. "I missed you, too."
"At ease, Second Lieutenant," Roy says, kicking the apartment door closed behind him. His arms are full with two big bags of takeout from his favorite Xingese restaurant. We can order a ton and then we'll have food for, like, three days he'd pleaded, and Riza had acquiesced.
"I think I'll go have a shower before we eat," she says, standing. "Sponge baths can only do so much."
"I offered to help with that, you know," Roy leers, setting the food down on the counter and stepping closer to her.
Riza rolls her eyes, but lets him put his arms around her waist and leans into him. She tilts her head up for a kiss, then pulls back.
"I'll just be a few minutes."
Roy frowns.
"Seriously," he asks, "You'll be okay in the shower? The heat won't make you light-headed or anything?"
Riza pauses, considering, then gives him a soft smile.
"Tell you what," she says. "Let's eat a quick dinner, and then maybe you can wash my back for me?"
A smirk lights his face.
We're going to have an interesting life together.