two weeks later

As you make your usual commute to work, you hear shots ring out from the next street over.

A scream fill the air, which causes you to run over to where the commotion is to see what's happening.

As you reach the next street, a crowd is already starting to form around two people in the street. There is a man holding a struggling teenage boy at gunpoint, yelling obscenities at the onlookers.

"WHERE ARE THOSE MILITARY BASTARDS NOW? COME OUT, YOU FUCKING COWARDS!" The criminal with the gun tightens his hold on the boy, who is now clawing at the arm around his neck and thrashing more violently than before.

"BETTER SHOW UP SOON OR ELSE THIS LITTLE BOY IS GONNA GET A BULLET IN HIS HEAD!" the man cocks his pistol and presses the muzzle against the side of the boy's head, letting it become almost hidden by the boy's thick black hair.

"COME ON, I FUCKIN' DARE YOU!"

The boy screames again, causing hushed whispers to spread through the crowd. *I hope the military shows up soon* *isn't this the Flame alchemist's sector?* *why isn't anyone doing anything?*

The man waits, and after seeing no military personnel, clicks the safety off of his gun. The boy shrieks and tried to move his head away from the pistol, but the criminal keeps it pressed firmly there.

"THREE," some people in the crowd next to you cover their eyes. Oh god. He's actually going to do it. This lunatic is actually going to kill a little boy. Your stomach churns at the thought of seeing someone's brain being blown out.

"TWO," you close your eyes. This is too much. He can't do this. *he can't do this* The adrenaline coursing through you middles your thoughts. He can't do this.

"ONE," a shot rings out in the street. You hear a cry, and a body thuds to the ground. Your stomach churns at the thought of seeing a bloody corpse, and you keep your eyes firmly closed. But almost immediately after the thud, people in the crowd start cheering. Cheering?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" You hear a new voice say, and snap your eyes open. It sounds familiar. Where have you heard his voice before?

A man in a striking blue military uniform steps out into the open. From your viewpoint, you see the criminal on the ground, scrambling to pick his gun up with one hand. The other is gushing blood.

"So you finally showed up, Colonel," he snarls, and stands back up with his weapon. Another shot rings out, but this time it hits the criminal in the knee. But the alchemist in the street isn't even holding a gun.

A blonde woman steps next to the colonel with a rifle, and whispers something into his ear. So she must be the shooter.

"Stand down. It's over now," the Colonel says, and turns to the blonde woman so she can give him a pair of handcuffs. She hands the cuffs over, expressionless and still holding onto her gun.

The Colonel walks over to the criminal, and begins restraining him, getting blood all over the white glove on one of his hands. They both stand up, the colonel helping the criminal to stand on his shot - out kneecap. The woman's eyes scan the crowd, and she begins clearing a path though to where a car has pulled up to the curb.

"Everyone please move," she repeats, and gestures for people to get back. The Colonel supports the hobbling criminal as they move in the cleared path. The injured would-be shooter looks at the parting crowd to his left, while the colonel looks ahead. The blonde woman slings the sniper rifle across her back, and exchanges it for a black pistol.

You feel people pushing into you as they step back, but manage to retain your viewpoint of the situation. You can clearly see the expressions on everyone's faces as they move the criminal into the car, and close the door. Your heart keeps pounding in your chest, and you take deeper breaths in order to calm yourself down. It's over now. You can stop worrying.

It's over. The past few minutes for you seemed like they were hours. Wait- only a couple of minutes? A deadly hostage situation taken care of in only a short matter of minutes? This has so far been the most insane experience in your entire life, and it was resolved in a matter of minutes? Was that even possible?

The woman walks to the Colonel, and seeing the two standing together, you could swear you've seen them before. Where? This is the first time you've been even minorly involved anything like this. You've only ever seen soldiers patrolling around Central command, and in this he newspapers. Remembering two distinct soldiers seems unlikely, unless, have you met them at a party outside of uniform? Maybe they were at your cousin's solstice party. Your cousin knows some military guys.

The woman's eyes glance over the crowd once more, and she narrows them, frowning, at a spot directly to your right. You see motion from a larger man, subtle enough that it would be covered by the rest of the crowd in front. A strange feeling in your gut causes you to step aside, just in time for the man next to you to make his swift move.

In an instant, the blonde woman jumps onto the Colonel, tackling him to the ground. A second later, a gunshot comes from the man to your right, going through the billowing fabric of the woman's uniform. The people in the crowd realize what happened, and everyone scrambles to get away. You get away, and quickly look back to the scene unfolding.

"Stay down Colonel," the woman says, ad she quickly regains her footing, now holding two pistols.

"Lieutenant!" The Colonel screams, and tries to make his way to her side. She puts her foot in front of him, and keeps her guns trained on the shooter.

"Colonel, put your gloves on and stay behind me," the Lieutenant replies in an authoritative voice, not even looking down at the man behind her. The Colonel ' expression turns to steel, and he quickly slips on another white glove; one not stained with blood. He stands and walks next to the Lieutenant. Her eyes flick over to his, and he gives a slight nod.

Why would he put on fancy gloves at this point? It would honestly be more useful if he had a gun like his adjunct. Many of the thoughts running through your mind now involve the notion that this woman is most likely the only reason the colonel is alive.

The criminal and the Lieutenant remain in their standoff, neither completely willing to shoot until they're sure the other's gun won't also be killing anyone. "What now, Colonel? Your little secretary and I can't do this all day," The criminal mocks.

The Colonel's expression goes from steely to fiery. "Don't insult my Lieutenant." The man's voice is hoarse, and he raises his gloved hand.

"Colonel, stay calm," the Lieutenant replies in a warning tone, without taking her eyes. Her superior narrows his already slim eyes at the lone gunman in the alley.

"Oh ho ho. Colonel's got a sensitive spot, then? Is she just a secretary, or is she a girlfriend too then?" The criminal tans further, causing the colonel clenched his jaw, and moves his hand further up, aiming it as if it was a gun. Was this guy insane?

"You wouldn't do that, Colonel. There are too many people who could get hurt," the criminal says, trying to keep the same taunting expression; but you see his lips twitch downward. He's scared of something. What can't you see here that everyone else can?

"Don't test me." The Colonel's hard expression remains, and he brings his other hand up in front of him, "I'm giving you one last chance to give this up and come along with us quietly. If you refuse, I'm afraid it won't be too pleasant for you." The harsh words coming out of the Colonel's mouth match his cold expression, sending chills down your spine. That was a clear threat, one that the colonel would no doubt follow up on.

"Sorry, but no thanks," the gunman points his gun down, and fires a shot, quickly followed by the Lieutenant, who crumpled to the ground, clutching her thigh.

The gunman clutches his chest briefly, before ripping his shirt open to check on the bulletproof vest underneath. He looks at the Lieutenant trying to stop the flow of blood, and he frowns, "How the fuck did I miss two shots in a row?" He raises his pistol again, training it on the colonel this time, "I guess this time's a charm."

Before he has a chance to fire, a snap resounds through the alley, closely followed by a massive orange ball of fire. The criminal becomes engulfed in an instant, dropping his gun. But as soon as it happened, the flames are gone and the heat leaves your face. The Colonel snaps again, and a circle of flames surrounds the charred, gasping man now crumpled on the street.

Was this alchemy? How did this state alchemist just snap and produce flames? And the amount of control the colonel had over his fire was astounding. There was not a single flame out of place. All doubts about this man you held in your mind before are gone. He wasn't crazy. He was scary, and you shudder at the thought of being on the receiving end of his alchemy, like the shooter had been.

"Now maybe you'll have the sense to stay quiet and complicit until we get an ambulance down to escort you to the prison," the Colonel walks over to the whimpering, charred lowlife in the center of the Flame circle, " I told you not to do anything to my Lieutenant."

The criminal gasps for air, wheezing out as he attempts to speak, "Colonel... R... roy... mustang..." he begins struggling to sit up, "f.. fuck... you." He manages to get his back off of the ground, and whirls around towards the colonel.

Another gunshot sounds out, and the criminal drops the weapon you didn't realize he had reclaimed. The Lieutenant grips her pistol, her hands stained crimson like the growing puddle beneath her leg. She drops the gun, and goes back to clutching her thigh.

The Colonel runs over to his subordinate, and kneels down next to her with a scared and panicked look on his face, not caring about the puddle of blood staining his uniform.

"Riza! Riza, don't worry. There's got to be an ambulance on the way for you. You'll be okay," The Colonel's expression softens to one of worried concern, and you realize where you've seen the two officers before.

This was Roy and Riza. The two lovers who you saw at the fountain. The ones who seemed so passionate about each other, but would always stay apart due to rules and regulations. Visions of their emotional night flash through your mind, and you have a hard time comparing them to the stoic soldiers they were today. Roy had legitimately scared you with his power and fury, but that night at the bar he seemed like just another dumb womanizer. And Riza, who you saw wonderstruck and happy at the fountain, shooting two men and even taking a shot herself. It was almost like the two had a switch they could flip that would make them seem like real people or military machines.

"I'm fine, Colonel, you need to worry about yourself. Are you hurt," Riza wheezes, reaching her hand out toward him.

"Ri- Lieutenant, you were just shot. Stop worrying about me. You take priority right now," Roy looks into her eyes, "Let me help with your wound." He takes his hands beneath her thigh, and Riza winces.

"Make sure the shooter doesn't pick his gun up again," Riza commands, her voice still light, "I might have more than one bullet go through me if you don't."

Roy's concerned expression remains for a few more seconds, until he sighs and let go of her. Roy walks over to the bleeding shooter, and stays there, occasionally stealing a glance the Riza. These two really did have to be careful about the fraternization law, because if any superiors saw them like this, they would be put on trial for sure.

The crowd surrounding the scene doesn't dissipate until two ambulances come to load the injured patients in. More soldiers come, and order everyone to leave as they begin to fence off the crime scene.

One pushes you away, and you steal one more glance at roy climbing into the ambulance with his lieutenant. As you walk away, you try to organize your thoughts regarding the couple. The way the two acted today was no doubt a show of their affections and how smoothly they work together. You think about what might happen to the two as you arrive at your work building.

But as soon as you walk in, thoughts of the couple dissipate in favor of what you're going to tell your boss, and how dull your workday is going to be. You frown, but then remember that you know a secret that nobody else does. One that may help you get through your banal day and keep your sanity around your boss. Even if the secret may not cause anyone else happiness, you find delight in knowing about the relationship between Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.