Sunset

"And you are?"

Riza sat upright against her headrest, a book open in her lap to page two-hundred and forty-two and forty-three. Light from the bright orange sunset just out side the window across from him seemed to make her skin glow as if she were fire-side.

He took a few steps forwards to the side of her bed and held out his hand.

"Roy Mustang."

She smiled at him, taking his hand. "What brings you here today Mr. Mustang?"

"You can call me Roy." He sat in the little wooden chair that always stayed by her side. She motioned for him to continue. "Have you ever met a man named Berthold Hawkeye?"

Her eyes went blank for a second and she rubbed the patch of missing hair hidden on the back of her head. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was there.

"No, why do you ask?"

Roy lowered his eyes and took in a deep breath before answering. "I thought you might know him, being that you share a surname."

Riza blinked a gave a little chuckle. "That's right. Things tend to sling my mind." There was only sorrow in that smile.

A similar smile formed on his own lips. "That's all right." He whispered.

"Is there anything else you're here for?"

Roy nodded and turned to open the door. Black Hayate came bounding in and jumped into her lap.

"He sure is friendly!" Riza managed to say as the dog's tongue affectionately lapped over her face. "What's this little guy's name?"

"Black Hayate."

"He looks like a Hayate." Her voice muffled with her face in his fur. "Is her yours?"

"Well that's the problem," Roy started. "I found him but I can't take care of him. Would you like to keep him?"

Riza's face lit up with pure joy. This was probably the best thing she could remember ever happening. "Of course! Thank you so much, Roy!"

The light in the room began to fade, Roy reached over an turned on the lamp next to her bed. "I have to go now."

She didn't notice him leave.

Roy knocked twice and opened the door.

"It's about time you arrived!" Riza snapped.

He thought he would be used to these outbursts b now. She must have been pacing because she held the phone receiver and the cord was wound around the chair and bedposts.

"I called a good half-hour ago!"

Roy sighed. The sunset shone like fire.

"Sorry, I ran into a terrible traffic jam." No, she hadn't called him. He briefly wondered who she called by mistake. "What do you need me for?"

"What do you think, Mr. Pest-Control?" Riza let out a frustrated sigh and pointed an accusing finger at Black Hayate. "This stray found his way into my room!" The dog tilted his head at her.

He knew he had hoped for too much. Roy picked Hayate up, who wore his old dog tags indicating that he was not a stray but her pet.

"Sorry about this."

Yes, he hoped for too much.

A dim orange filled the room, making the impression that everything had been painted the color. Roy sat at the wooden chair next to her bed as he usually did at this time of day. It was the only visiting hour that he wasn't busy working.

"I had a dream last night," He started and Riza bookmarked page two-hundred and forty- two and forty-three, closing it shut to listen to him. "I ran towards a woman, the most beautiful in the world, but I couldn't catch her. She warned me not to follow, that it was dangerous for me, but I had to. I just kept running…"

Riza studied his face carefully. "Do you love this woman?"

Roy's face contorted. "Yes." He finally managed to whisper.

"Do I know her?"

He refused to let her see his face. "She lives in this building." Even in this state, Roy felt it would harm her.

"I have dreams sometimes." This surprised him for some reason. "I'm a soldier in my dreams and I'm always by this man's side. But I can't remember his face or name. and there's a boy too. He's also a soldier but I feel like I have to protect him. He has a younger brother.

"An evil man is there too. He wants to hurt us. The man with the eye patch… " Her eyes narrowed. "A-and the woman in black." Riza's hand went to her temple. "But we were… they tr-tried to to… "

Roy reached out and gently took her hand. "It's okay, you don't have to try so hard."

"But the man I was with! He was special. I-I… " Roy soothed her back down under her covers.

"I couldn't live without him." She mumbled absently, her eyes gazing through the ceiling tiles.

"I know." He knew all to well.

Roy came through the door, two knocks as always, with Riza right there to greet him. "Roy!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.

He staggered back. Was she… ? "Riza? Do you remember?"

Her eyes reflected the orange light more than usual. She nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

-Two Months Ago-

Roy had him, about to finish him. Finally, after so long. His middle and index fingers rested on his thumb, ready to make the final motion to end it.

Click. It was a sound he was so familiar with.

"What's the meaning of this, lieutenant?" His eyes moved as if he would be able to see her if he did, yet he couldn't without turning his head. People were animals too, any sudden movements could set her off.

"That's enough Colonel, I'll take it from here." What was she doing ordering him? What did she mean, she'll 'take it from here'?

"One more flame and it's over." Roy spoke slow and even. "I have no intention of letting you dirty your hands." The next came as a firm order: "Lower your gun."

'I can't obey that order, sir." Why did she have to be his best as well as his most difficult subordinate? "Please put down your hand." She patronized him!

"I'm not joking!" Why was he getting so mad? "I said, lower your gun!" In his rage, he didn't notice the light of Ed's alchemy before a portion of the floor sprouted up from under him.

That little bastard flew through the air only to be caught by Edward.

"Fullmetal…" He warned. "Hand it over!" But Ed only stared at him in shock. "I'm only going to say this one more time, hand it over."

"No way!" He did not have time to deal with Edward's child-like behavior.

"That thing" Roy spat. "needs to die as painfully as possible for what it's done! Hand. It. Over!"

"I said, no."

Roy tried to calm himself, but with no avail. "Hand it over, Fullmetal!" Screaming now, he could see the blood in his eyes. "If you don't, I'll incinerate your arm right along with it!"

"Go ahead and try!" Roy's eyes narrowed further and pushed his two fingers against his thumb. "I'll take you on-!"

"Good!" Snap.

Bang.

Ed didn't have a plan for what started to happen. He did not expect Mustang to actually attack him!

He dropped Envy as he snatched his hand away from the inferno as it raced past. The intense heat shot up his metal limb, burning his shoulder.

His eyes locked onto Mustang the second he recuperated, but Mustang was falling forward. The Colonel's eyes were blank.

Edward's heart skipped a beat. The world stopped spinning. Time stopped for him. His eyes moved, seeming to work slower than usual, up to Hawkeye. They widened not unlike the crazed look that entered hers'.

She did it.

Horror spread across her features like wildfire. Her ever-steady hands began to shake. A guttural sound came from her throat like a cry.

Then he saw it. That desperation. She would pull that trigger again.

Ed pushed off the ground with so much force that he stumbled as he formed a short sprint.

But now the world was going to fast and he was the one that moved to slow. She thrust the gun barrel under her chin, her eyes never left his body. She didn't even see Ed.

His body hit hers.

BANG! The sound rang far to loud in his ears and for a second he thought he must have been hit. Ed didn't dare to lift his face from the floor until he felt the warm, sticky, liquid spill around his face.

Hawkeye laid on her side, motionless, blood seeping from the back of her head.

Edward reeled back, jerking his right arm away from where it previously laid at her waist. The arm hold her gun had been under him and it stuck out of her body at an odd angle, probably broken.

"There's a pulse." Scar confirmed Mustang to be alive.

He stayed frozen to the spot until he heard Scar again. "She's alive too."

His coat was off in seconds. He wrapped it around her head, trying to staunch the bleeding.

Edward never hated Mustang more.

"I'm the one who should apologize." His voice shook. Riza had miraculously survived but at a large cost. The bullet still sat, lodged into her brain, impairing her mental state. Most of the time she just couldn't remember things, but other times it became much worse.

They couldn't risk taking it out. The slightest movement of the bullet could kill her.

It was all his fault.

The worst thing he could do for her was cry, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him to she wouldn't see.

They simply stood there, crying in each other's arms. How ironic that now, it such terrible circumstances, that could be allowed to do so?

Her cheek brushed his, not long after they found the other's lips.

For a moment Roy forgot about it all. Taking joy in that one thing they both wanted for so long, the world drifted away.

Reality no longer served Roy as a refuge.

Riza pushed him away, so hard that he hit the wall behind him. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She reached down at her right hip, where her holster used to sit, and then straightened her arm out at him. Her fingers curled as if around her gun. She took a step back and knocked into his wooden chair, toppling over it.

"Riza!" If she hit her head. . .

Roy rushed over to her side but she only glared at him, her finger gun pointing at him. "How do you know my name?" Riza demanded, trying to step further away from him only to bump into her bed. Her eyes quickly darted to it. A look of confusion spread across her face.

Confusion quickly turned to anger. She whipped her gaze back at him. "Where the hell am I? What did you do?"

Her breathing grew at a far too rapid pace. Her eyes darted at random objects in the room. This was bad, the worst.

"Riza, please calm down." He held his hands out as if it would help.

Riza's right eye twitched. She squinted like she was in pain. Her hands clutched her temple and she started screaming, tears streaming down her face.

He started towards her, but stopped.

No. He couldn't do anything.

Not anymore. He could only make things worse.

So, then, nothing really had changed, had it?

Roy walked out of the room, leaving her to the doctors.

His silence didn't last long. Edward heard about what happened, he always did. As always the boy ran up to him, grabbed him by the collar and pushed against the nearest wall. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Roy's eyes were of a man long dead. Ed glared and let go.

"Can't you at least make her happy?" He spat and stalked off.

Roy slid down the wall, hiding his head behind his knees. "I can't." The words choked their way out of his dry throat.

"And you are?"

Riza sat against the headrest, her book open in her lap to page two-hundred and forty-two and forty-three. Light from the sunset just out side the window made her skin glow as if she sat next to a fire.

He entered the room, taking a seat in his little wooden chair.

"Roy Mustang."

Riza leaned forward, a questioning look on her face. "Mr. Mustang, why are you crying?"

End

So that two months ago scene was part of ch 92 or 93 Beyond the inferno, or episode 54 of Brotherhood.

I couldn't sleep one night and i came up with this, hence why i should not drink caffine before going to bed.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please Review!