Roy parked his car up in the Central Command car park, rubbing his eye tiredly. After last night's conversation with Dower he had been too worried to sleep, and ended up whiling the hours away sipping coffee and thinking. As a result, he was now sleep-deprived, worried, fearful, and various other emotions. Happy, however, was not one of them. He entered the large double doors and made his way up to his office, stumbling a bit when sleep threatened to catch up with him.

"Colonel, you look terrible." Falman commented, concerned. Roy lifted a hand up resignedly.

"No problem Falman, I'm fine. Plus, Havoc looks worse." Roy said, gesturing towards the crying mass on poor Fuery's shoulder. Fuery patted Havoc comfortingly, then turned to Roy.

"He just got dumped by a girlfriend he acquired two days ago." Fuery explained.

"She-she said I was useless!" Havoc sobbed piteously, acting like it was the end of the world as they knew it.

"Shape up Havoc!" Roy ordered, slapping Havoc across the head, hard. Havoc looked dazed for a moment, then nodded.

"Right. She wasn't a very good girlfriend, anyway..." He said.

"Why's that? A minute ago you seemed to be sobbing piteously like she had been brutally killed somehow." Roy pointed out curiously.

"It's always hard to lose a girlfriend, Colonel! But of course, you wouldn't know that, seeing as though you've never been dumped in your entire frikkin' life..." Havoc trailed off darkly.

"Moving on?" Roy reminded.

"Yeah... She didn't want to actually talk about us."

"What did she want to talk about then? This woman doesn't sound like any typical woman." Roy asked thoughtfully, folding his arms.

"She wanted to talk about any workplace romances that occur around me, for some reason." Havoc answered. Roy lifted his eyebrows, worry taking over him. No, please let it be an innocent topic she chose... Please...

"She seemed especially eager to learn about your romance life, Colonel. She seemed pretty interested in Lt. Hawkeye's too..." Havoc replied, then almost jumped out of his seat when Roy slammed his hands down in front of him. His hands gripped the table as looked at Havoc.

"Havoc. What was this woman's name? Tell me!" Roy demanded forcefully.

"V-Vanessa Lyvend... Why?" Havoc replied curiously. But his question wasn't heard by Roy, who, quite frankly, had other thoughts on his mind. No... No! They'll really stop at nothing to find out about Riza and myself! She's undoubtedly in league with Dower! Roy's pupils dilated as he thought.

"Colonel, are you okay?" Breda asked. Roy nodded shakily.

"Riza." Roy said.

"What about her?" Havoc replied.

"Where is she?" Roy asked, a demanding tone to his voice.

"It's her day off today, Colonel, remember? It's Friday." Fuery answered. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, but his question fell on deaf ears. She's... She's not here. At least the military itself can't do anything to her.

"Where's Fullmetal then?" Roy asked, straightening up.

"He was in the library when I last saw him." Falman answered.

"Thanks." Roy thanked, then exited his office hurriedly. Next to Riza, Fullmetal's the next best person to confide in. He knows about this stuff, firsthand. Roy started running, desperate to reach Ed. He ran down three flights of stairs before appearing in front of the military library doors. Carefully opening the door, he let himself in. Roy looked around for the alchemy section, and, sure enough, he found the Fullmetal Alchemist absorbed in a thick book.

"Fullmetal, come with me." Roy said, and placed a hand on Ed's shoulder, startling the young alchemist.

"What the bloody hell was that for, Colonel Idiot? Next time, warn me when you're behind me!" Ed hissed, barely remembering to keep his voice down in the library. But Roy wasn't going to tolerate any of Ed's protests, yells, shouts, insults, or anything else that wouldn't help him this time.

"Put the book away, Fullmetal, and come with me." Roy ordered.

"No." Ed said simply, turning back to his book.

"That's an order, Fullmetal."

"I said NO."

"Edward." Ed looked up from his book and into Roy's obsidian eye, startled at the use of his first name, and found desperation, sadness, fear, worry and hopelessness in them. "Please."

"...Alright." Ed agreed, getting up and putting his large book in its correct slot. "Lead the way, Colonel." The two exited the vast library, then traveled down two flights of stairs until they reached the bottom floor. Roy walked down the long darkened corridor with Ed in tow, and opened the door to the basement. Crates were stacked everywhere, making the ability to manoeuvre Roy turned the light on, and scanned the area for any eavesdroppers.

"You really don't want to be heard, do you?" Ed said, but Roy didn't pay attention to him. Stepping forward, he brought his hand up and snapped his fingers, burning all the crates into piles of ashes.

"Good. Nobody's hiding in here. We're alone."

"There could've been food in those boxes!" Ed yelled, staring at the ashes, horrified that they could've contained delicious foods. Roy shook his head, however.

"They were empty. This room is simply for empty crates, and empty crates only."

"Right. And why do we have to be alone?" Ed asked. Roy sat down, his head in his hands. Ed stared at him. He had never seen Roy look this defeated...

"We have to be alone because I need to tell you something. Urgently. Riza's not here, and you're the next best thing." Roy said.

"What's happened?" Ed questioned, a hint of urgency in his own voice now.

"I got a call yesterday. From none other than Robert Dower."

"Who?"

"Second in command of the entire country of Amestris." Roy answered.

"Right. And?"

"I don't want you to breathe a single word of this conversation to anybody. And I mean anybody. Not even Alphonse." Roy said. Ed furrowed his eyebrows.

"Do I have to? Because Al and I share every single bit of information with each other, apart from when it puts the other in danger." Ed asked, reluctant to obey Roy's request. Roy nodded.

"Yes, Fullmetal. You have to. You said that you only withhold information when telling would put the other in danger? Well, if you told Alphonse, the enemy may overhear, thus putting Riza in danger. You know how it is, Fullmetal, to be worried and scared for someone you love. That's why I chose to confide in you with this. So please, Fullmetal, keep this information to yourself." Roy explained, looking Ed straight in his golden eyes. Ed looked back at the man, worried about his suffering.

"Okay." Ed accepted.

"Thank you." Roy thanked. "Dower phoned me yesterday, at my house at one in the morning. He told me not to interfere with his plans, and then reminded me of the anti-fraternization laws, and reminded me of Riza, saying that if I interfered," Roy lowered his voice, so Ed had to crouch down to hear him, "She'd be in danger."

"YOU'RE KIDDI-"

"FULLMETAL! Lower your voice!"

"You're kidding me?!" Ed blurted, shocked.

"No..." Roy answered. Ed stared at him, shock and concern turning his features into a horrified grimace.

"You've dealt with this kind of thing before, Fullmetal. So has Riza. You both know what it feels like, to worry about a loved one in danger. I would've told Riza about this, but..."

"But you didn't want her in any more danger than she already is." Ed finished quietly. Roy nodded.

"What are Dower's plans?" Ed asked, after a brief moment of silence.

"Rumors around the military are saying that Dower plans to persuade the president to start another war like the Ishvalan Civil War, with a neighboring country." Roy informed bitterly. "And the military rumors are usually correct."

"It's hard for you, isn't it?" Ed said, and unexpectedly placed a comforting hand on Roy's shoulder.

"I know what it's like for Riza now. Everyday, to constantly be worrying about my safety." Roy muttered sadly. "And this predicament is all my fault."

"How's it your fault? You didn't ask for Dower to do something like this." Ed asked, confused.

"I could've left the country as being lead by the military. But I said to turn it into a democracy. I introduced the Assembly. I made a man like Robert Dower become what he is today. I put Riza in danger." Roy said, his eye stinging with unshed tears. Ed stared at his superior, not knowing what to actually do. He had never seen Roy in such an emotional state. He didn't know what to do, he only knew how to insult the man, not comfort him.

"You-you didn't want this to happen! You only wanted to make the country right, and to put it in a position where no one like King Bradley could rise to power again." Ed pointed out.

"But someone has. Or rather, second in command. And his plans will likely take place, what with his menacing tones, slippery personality and general evilness." Roy said.

"You'll help me, Fullmetal, won't you? You're the only one I can turn to. You've been in predicaments like this before, and came out on top. Help me to come out on top too, with Riza." He requested, then clenched his fists. "Either we both come out on top, or we both go down... Together." Roy stated, and looked at Ed. Gold met black, and Ed nodded.

"Of course I will."

The two sat in silence as Roy thought about his loyal lieutenant. Riza, ace sharpshooter, loyal lieutenant, friend till the end. And hopefully more.

"It's hard being in love, isn't it, Fullmetal?" Roy said, staring at the cold floor thoughtfully.

"I suppose so."

A/N- I updated so quickly! Ermahgad! IN TWO WHOLE DAYS! YAY!

Sorry about the sort-of-filler chapter, I needed Ed to be filled in. And the Havoc part was meant to be a comic relief part... And then I decided that comic relief at this time wouldn't be right for the story. So I invented a whole new person! YAY! And a whole new room! YAY!

And sorry about the OOC Roy, I just thought that he'd be in a state after last night's events. He'd only lose control if it was Riza who was in danger, canonically and in the fanbase! Ermahgad, the canon Royai is so obvious it's unbelievable! I've never seen such a canon pairing, apart from when it's official that they're a couple, like Hughes and Gracia! *Fangirls about Royai*

Ahem... Anyway, tell me what you think in your reviews!

And... Serpents cross- I've corrected it, thanks! Just in case anyone else spotted it (probably did) it was 'Help me life this table' instead of 'Help me lift this table'.

Bye bye!

Random Useless Fact You Probably Already Knew:

Alphonse Elric loves cats!