Hey there, I'm back with another multichapter royai fic! Sorry to everyone hoping for updates on Through Eyes of Flame. I couldn't get this idea out of my head and had to write it. I'm hoping this won't be more than three to five chapters, but we'll see.

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"What are you thinking about?"

Hawkeye looked up at her superior officer when he spoke and she shrugged, returning her attention to the gun in her lap.

"Nothing, sir. I just hope we can wrap this up soon."

Mustang nodded. He was very much in agreement on that.

He looked away from her, scanning the dark street ahead of them. It had gotten late as they sat there, staking out the presumed residence of a Cretan Mafia lord who had recently been causing havoc in Central. It was high time their streak of theft and murder was ended and Team Mustang had been assigned the task.

"Yeah," he sighed, stretching out. Sitting behind the wheel for so long was making him awfully sore. "I hope so too." He paused in thought, folding his arms over the wheel and resting his head on them. "Lieutenant?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever thought of what it would be like if we never had to do this sort of thing?"

"No, sir. It's our job."

Roy grumbled and shook his head.

"N… No, not that. I mean… What if you never followed me into the military? What if you never had to risk your life for me? How would things be different? For us?"

Riza stopped fidgeting with her gun and froze, taking in a sharp breath. That was an unexpected turn of conversation.

"No, sir," she said, as serious as ever. "Protecting you, serving this country… It's what I was meant to do. What I want to do. I may have regretted it a bit in the past, but I haven't looked back since."

He was half expecting her to say something like that. She'd said it before. But she didn't answer the question that had been on his mind for a long time, years even. How would things have been different for them?

"Yes, but you didn't answer my last question," he replied, moving to look at her again, meeting her confused gaze. "What about us? We could be… together, without worry. It's something I've certainly thought about. Haven't you?"

Riza took a deep breath, holding Roy's serious, warm gaze as her mind reeled. Of course she'd thought about that. It was no secret between them how they felt for one another, but this was not the time or place to be discussing such matters.

"I-"

"Suspect was spotted heading South down Forty Fifth," Fuery's voice came over the radio in Roy's car, interrupting Riza and making them both jump in surprise.

"That's not too far," Mustang said, clearing his throat and firing up the engine to give chase. "I think we can catch him. And Lieutenant? We'll finish this discussion later."

Roy peeled out onto the thankfully deserted road. The engine roared as he sped through the city. In minutes he caught up to the criminal's vehicle, a fancy, expensive looking thing. If the man wanted to be discreet about his profession, he certainly was failing at it. Suddenly the criminal's car sped up, the driver having spotted Roy due to his reckless driving. The chase was on.

Roy sped after them, rounding a corner too quickly. The tires squealed and the car lifted up on on two wheels for several moments before slamming back down, jostling Riza in the passenger seat.

"Ugh, I should have driven," she muttered, adjusting herself in her seat.

"What was that?" Roy yelled over the sound of the engine.

"Nothing, sir!" she called back, gripping onto the safety handle on the door as Roy rounded another sharp corner.

"Shit, lost them," Roy said as he turned the corner and found nothing but an empty street.

He turned down another road, hoping to cut them off, but that proved to backfire. The criminal had apparently thought to do the same thing and the car came careening at them out of nowhere. Roy had no time to react. He yelled and swerved, but a collision was unavoidable. The criminal's car smashed into the passenger's side of Roy's car and they spun, hitting the side of a building. Both vehicles hissed and sputtered as their engines died, the street becoming quiet once more.

Roy groaned and coughed, squeezing his eyes shut from the pain shooting through his shoulder.

"Lieutenant?" he croaked out. "Are you all right?"

He struggled to move so he could look at Riza and became increasingly worried when she did not respond, even after he called her rank a few time times. Finally, he managed to unwedge his arm from between the bent door and steering wheel and turned to face her.

His eyes grew wide and he completely forgot about the pain in his shoulder when his eyes fell upon his lieutenant. Her head was bleeding profusely, dying her beautiful blonde hair crimson and pink. The blood spilled out over her face, leaking out her nose and from cuts all over her face and neck. Her uniform was ripped where the door had been crushed into her, though the only serious injury seemed to be to her head.

"Lieutenant!"

With a rush of adrenaline, Roy maneuvered out of the car and stumbled to her door, wrenching it open, arms immediately winding around Riza to pull her out. He lay her gently on the ground, still cradling her upper body as he knelt beside the car.

"Lieutenant, please, open your eyes!"

Despite his shouting and shaking her, she remained unconscious, her blood soaking into his jacket where her head lolled against his chest. He grit his teeth, fighting back tears. This mission was supposed to be easy. They weren't supposed to be in any life threatening danger. His recklessness in trying to apprehend their suspect is what got her injured. This was his fault.

He held her closer and continued desperately shouting her rank as sirens blared in the distance.