-Chapter 11-

Dance of the Damned

A/N: Hello, all! Thanks for waiting so patiently for this chapter, I so hope that it was worth the wait. So much has happened. My mother had to have a total knee replacement surgery and I was her sole caretaker, then she fell and literally busted her head open. All is good and well now, I just wanted to explain the wait. I also originally had this chapter written VERY differently, but I was unhappy with it so I decided to change it. I think this one fits a lot better. Anyways, stay strong with everything that's happening right now, and as always, I love you guys. Despite all of this I STILL don't own FMA...unfair! XD

The night had finally come for the military ball. It was as if the sky itself knew how much of importance this night was. Stars were sprinkled beautifully across the sky that gave the people beneath a mesmerizing canopy to behold. Even the air was lovely. Humidity was low so a nice breeze was flowing through the air. It was like something out of a romance novel.

Riza was at home, scrambling to get ready. She was trying her best to look as feminine as possible. After all, tonight she was just her superior's bodyguard, she was also his...date. All she wanted was to look her best for him, and herself. She wanted to prove that Eva was right. As she applied a light layer of soft pink lipstick to her lips, Hayate watched her in amazement. The pup may not of known what she was doing, but he was nonetheless enthralled by it.

As Eva had instructed her, she wore her hair down. It felt a little foreign to her, but she didn't hate it. Softly on her eyes was a little bit of grey eyeshadow, which made her eyes stand out more than she had anticipated along with the brush of mascara she added. Small diamond stud earring graced her ears—not real of course, but it looked the part. As she went to grab her silver clutch that perfectly matched her shoes, she heard someone knocking on her door.

She let out a sigh of frustration. Who was this? What did they want? She was supposed to meet Roy at the ball in ten minutes. Whatever it was, she hoped to deal with it quickly. Tonight was far to important to her. Hayate barked at the door until she finally twisted the knob and opened it. When she opened the door, she found herself smiling.

"Hello, date." Roy said, returning her smile. He was dressed in his Fuhrer uniform an he'd never looked more handsome. His dark hair was slicked back to look more professional than how he normally wore it. In his hand was a single red rose that he handed to his date—just as he did when they'd had lunch together in his office. "Wow, you look really beautiful." he said.

"Hi." Riza said softly, taking the rose and smelling it gently, her cheeks red and blushing. "And thank you." She caught herself. "You don't look so bad yourself."

Roy and Riza smiled again, as they did, Hayate bounded up to him at the door. Once he was there, he sat on his hind legs expectantly. This caused Roy to chuckle and he reached into his pocket to pull out a small dog treat.

"Don't worry, buddy." He said to the good boy. "You know I'd never forget about you too."

As Roy knelt to give Hayate his treat, Riza noticed that he had his hand braced on the wall to help him stay steady. It was small, but it was still odd to her. Roy may have looked all well and good on the outside, but she knew he wasn't feeling well inside and he was doing all he could to hide it. Even his voice sounded calm, almost too calm, like he was putting on an act. But if he didn't want to acknowledge all that was going on, she wasn't going to call him out on it.

"What are you doing here, sir? I thought I was to meet you at the hall." She asked.

Roy just cocked his head to the side and gave her a grin that made her weak in the knees. "Call me Roy tonight, please." He asked of her, and she nodded at him. "And besides," He said, scoffing playfully, "what kind of date would I be if I didn't pick my lovely lady up?" He asked her. "After all, I did ask you to this soiree. I'm just keeping my end of the deal."

"Right." Riza said. "What was I thinking?"

Roy then extended his arm out to her to link hers with his. "Shall we?"

Riza felt a wide grin spread across her face and she took his arm and they made for his car.

Was this real? Was she dreaming? It all of a sudden felt like she was floating on a cloud, and she never, ever wanted to come down. No, she didn't even want to consider the fact that this all could be a dream, so she didn't even let her mind entertain the idea. She was out on a magical date with her very own prince charming.

XXXX

When the pair made it to the hall, there were lights strewn about everywhere. A large fountain was out in the front, where various guests were chattering before going inside.

Riza seemed entranced by the lights, she had never seen a place look so beautiful. Her eyes were lighting up brighter than the lights themselves. All of the colors and hues made this night feel all the more like something magical.

Roy didn't seem to pay the lights any mind, all he was doing was looking at Riza. She looked so happy and amazed. Her happy like this, he wanted to freeze it in his memory forever. The longer he he watched her, the harder he fell for her...

And the more it hurt.

Suddenly, Riza turned to him. "Are you ready to go inside?" She asked, looking more and more excited.

Roy quickly changed his sad demeanor to something more...cheerful. "Of course."

Riza entered the hall on Roy's arm. Inside was just as lovely as it was outside. More colorful lights sprinkled about. Round tables with fancy white tablecloths were scattered around the floor, arranged with plate and utensil placements. Towards the back of the room was a small staircase that lead to a podium. No doubt the one that her superior was going to be sworn in on.

Wait, tonight he wasn't her superior—he was Roy. He was her date. No ranks, no pleasantries, no faking. Tonight she was Riza, and he was Roy, and the two were each others dates.

The pair were greeted as they walked in by a waiter carrying a tray of glasses of champagne. "Would you two care for a glass of champagne? It's the finest in all of Amestris."

Riza and Roy looked at one another and chuckled. This was something they would happily partake in. Roy took a glass from the tray and handed it to his date before taking his own. The two thanked the waiter.

Now that they were finally here, it was clear how important all of this was. It was filled to the brim with people. All people here to see Roy get sworn in as their new Fuhrer, unknowing of what had truly happened to the prior one.

Riza took a moment to take all of this in, she closed her eyes and listened to the soft classical music playing over all the small talk people were making. Roy was relieved that her eyes were closed because it was then that he felt a hard surge of pain in his chest.

Please not tonight!

He felt himself falter a little bit but was able to gather himself before Riza opened her eyes again. Willing his body to cooperate with him, he was able to recover, at least for the moment. Riza glanced over to him.

"Champagne hitting you already?" She asked with a slight giggle. She was already feeling the effects of it a bit herself.

Roy nodded weakly. "Y-yes. That's it." As Riza looked around, he pounded the entire glass and placed it on a passing waiter's tray. He had to relax, maybe that would help the pain. "Shall we...mingle?" He asked, clearing his throat.

The two made their way over to Alex and Olivier Armstrong. The former was in his standard military uniform and the latter was in her general's suit—to no one's surprise. No one had expected to see General Armstrong in a dress. That would be more crazy than a blizzard in July. You could tell though, that her brother's muscles were just dying to burst out of his uniform.

"Armstrongs." Roy said politely with a small nod.

The General rolled her eyes and groaned in disgust. "Oh, God, stop you make you sound like we're an old married couple." She complained. "You two certainly look nice tonight." She said. Roy wasn't surprised at the compliment, but Riza was noticeably thrown.

"Oh...thank you so much, General." Riza said, still trying to shake off her shock. "You both look very nice as well."

Alex rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Aw, well thank you."

Roy felt his chest flare again. He was able to keep his body from reacting, but he clenched his eyes tightly for a second. General Armstrong was the only one to notice, Riza and Alex were too wrapped up in their conversation to pay it any mind. She and Roy shared a look with one another, but she could tell Roy's eyes were saying, 'don't say a word, please'.

After a moment, Alex noticed his sister's look of concern. "What's the matter, sis?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

General Armstrong was worried about Roy but she didn't want to compromise his trust, so she composed herself. "Uh...I, uh, don't have a drink in my hand. That's the problem." She lied. "Excuse us." She said with a nod, and then she and her brother went off to get their drink.

Out of nowhere, Roy felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He staggered back a little bit, grabbing onto Riza. He placed a hand on his head.

Riza finally noticed his struggle and helped steady him. "Hey, hey are you all right?"

Roy nodded his head incessantly. "Yes, yes I'm fine." He insisted. "I just need a second."

"I'm going to go get you a glass of water." Riza said, she saw a waiter only a couple feet away with glasses of it.

While she was out of sight, Roy reached deep into his pocket and pulled his pills out. Screw this, he thought, and took triple the standard dose. Heart affliction or not, he wasn't going to let anything ruin this night for Riza.

By the time she had made it back to him, Roy had already seemed a little better, although she couldn't fathom how or why. "Drink some of this." She still insisted, holding the cup to his lips. After taking a couple small swigs from it, Roy pushed it away.

"I'm really okay, Riza." He told her, truth or not. "I just drank the 'best champagne in all of Amestris' a little too hard. I'm just fine."

Riza just looked at him, unsure. Roy was known to be able to put away the booze no matter the proof it was or how strong it claimed to be. She knew his dizzy spell was his heart affecting him. But on the other hand she knew his was trying like hell to hide it from her—she wasn't sure what to do. Again, she decided not to press it, maybe it really was the alcohol, wishful thinking as that was.

Roy just looked at her with a small smile, that looked sad at the same time. He took her hand to try and relax her, and tell her he was okay. He held it against his cheek for a moment and nuzzled it once. Riza just found herself returning that same sad smile. All she wanted to do was take all of his pain. If she could, she would in a second, as much as he wouldn't want her too. In that moment, she was able to see why Fullmetal did what he did when he killed himself. Roy dying was a deep seeded fear with all of them, and if she could make it go away herself, to take him out of danger, well, there was no question of it.

The music that was playing seemed to slow down to a classical number that was primarily violins and piano, it was soft and with all the lighting, it made it all the more romantic, so Roy took advantage of it. Extending his hand, he looked at his date.

"Dance with me." He said simply, his voice was serious but loving at the same time. Although they both knew he wasn't as okay as he was claiming, he wanted to put that off of his mind, and even more so hers.

Riza felt herself gazing around the room at all the prying eyes. Roy was the guest of honor after all, so it was to be expected. "But..." She began nervously, "people will see it. They'll be suspicious, won't they?" As much as she wanted to take his hand, she didn't want to compromise him in the process.

Roy decided to take her hand regardless and pulled her closer to him gently. "I'm your boss..." he told her in a kind, soft voice. "It's an order."

Riza gave in. Her hand in his, the two walked out onto the dance floor and held one another in a formal dancing way. For all they knew, it was just the fuhrer dancing with his bodyguard out of respect, or obligation—whatever it was they wanted to think. Their bodies swayed back in forth in slow pace with the music. Both of them just closed their eyes and rested their foreheads against one another.

This was heaven, Riza thought. Eyes still closed, she just decided to lose herself in the moment and to him.

"Thanks for deciding to come with me tonight." Roy told her, still swaying.

Riza felt herself smile a little and looked to him, her hair falling over her face. "Who am I to deny a request from the Fuhrer?" She asked, trying to sound playful. Which wasn't that hard, in the moment the champagne still had her feeling a little warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe it wasn't the drinks at all that made her feel this way, maybe it was just...him.

"I mean it." He told her, pushing her hair away that had fallen in her eyes, his tone was more serious than hers was. "Having you as my lieutenant all these years...I wouldn't be where I am now without you. I guess what I'm trying to say is...ugh I just want you to know how much you've always meant to me..." He ran his thumb across Riza's blushed cheek. "...And how much you always will."

Riza brought her hands and put them around the back of his neck, one hand running her fingers through his hair. "Roy," She began, now sharing his serious tone, "you had me the moment you said 'hi' to me at target practice all those years ago.

Roy let out a small scoff and looked away, smiling. "You're the one that said 'hi' first. You were like a magnet." He then looked back to her with a wide smile and laughed.

Both of them knew the real story. It was Roy who was the one like the magnet. As soon as he saw her the first time, he knew there was something special about her—and, God, was he right. Something inside him willed him to talk to her, and his life had changed so much since, for the better. She just made him...better.

Riza giggled at her date's words and decided to concede for now. "Of course." She said. "How could I forget?" Sighing in content, she just held him closer and rested her head against his chest. The moment between them was shattered when she heard how hard and fast his heart was beating. It was clear now, he had been hiding his pain from her all night—but he couldn't do that anymore. When she went to look up at him again, she heard him let out a harsh and pained breath. His eyes were shut tight, trying to stave the pain off. He started to feel a little off balance again and started to wobble, but Riza steadied him. His face was flushed and she brought a hand to his forehead, all of a sudden he seemed like he had a high fever.

"God, you're burning up. We have to get you out of here. I'll think of something to tell them." She said, taking his hand and turning to leave.

Roy didn't budge and stopped her from leaving. "I can't." He told her. "I haven't bee sworn in yet. I can't leave until that happens."

Riza whipped around to look at him. "Are you serious? We need to get you some help."

"No, please!" He said, a little louder than he meant to.

Up at the podium, General Armstrong was beginning her speech. It wasn't a long one, but he had requested that she be the one to swear him in at this affair, and she had to say a few words. Even though Riza was unaware of her knowledge of Roy's state, the General knew she had to get things moving because he was feeling ill. She hadn't just heard the exchange between Roy and Riza, it was just like she knew.

She just knew.

As she spoke about the prior Fuhrer and then of all of Roy's accomplishments, Roy took this time to try and get through to Riza.

"Listen," He said, "Armstrong is already getting the ceremony under way. I'll leave straight after she swears me in, okay?"

Riza looked to him with sad eyes. His health and safety was all that mattered to her, but she saw his point. She knew why he didn't want to leave yet. If they were to, rumors would begin to circulate about it immediately and Roy would be what he never wanted to be—the topic of conversation. But even more than that, she knew the real reason why he wanted to stay. As he had told her all these years, being Fuhrer was all he ever dreamed about and now, against all the odds, he had made it here. This moment was far too important to walk out on for him. And if it was important to him, then it was important to her too, and if they stayed and he was able to get sworn in, then, at least when he died...

At least he would die officially as Fuhrer.

"Are you sure?" Riza whispered in a tearful voice to him.

Roy nodded back at her. "But I can't do this without you." He told her, his voice was shaky from the pain. "I need you, Riza. I need you to help get me...through this."

Riza was thrown by the desperation in his voice. She walked back quickly over to him and began to rub his chest again, she didn't have a lot of tie before Armstrong's speech was over, so she took the time she did have to try and soothe him. "I'm not going anywhere." She said in a firm, yet loving voice.

From the podium, the two could hear the end of Armstrong's speech. "...Fuhrer Roy Mustang!" She concluded, gesturing to where he was on the dance floor, a spotlight aiming square on him and Riza. Applause erupted in the room. Roy looked over at his lieutenant, he looked scared. More than anything he didn't want news of his illness to get out, and it was coming down to the wire here. If he could do this, maybe he could rest easy for what time he had left.

Riza took his hand and squeezed it tight. "You can do this." She assured him. "I'm right here."

Roy barely nodded and began to make his way up the stairs to the podium and Armstrong. He did his best to shake the pain away from his face and gather himself, and the only reason he felt he could even try was because Riza was beside him. She gave his hand another reassuring squeeze.

He could do this.

The Fuhrer had managed to plaster a smile on his face for his audience. Pushing the pain away from his voice, he began to speak. Amazingly, he'd been able to sound convincing.

"Wow..." He said. "I didn't expect such a crowded turnout. Guess I'd better not disappoint, huh?" He joked listlessly.

Riza was watching him very carefully, ready to jump in when she was needed, although she was distracted momentarily by General Armstrong pulling her aside for a moment.

"You need to get him home." She said simply, watching Roy herself at the moment.

Riza felt her eyes narrow. "What?" She was thrown.

"I know you can see it." Armstrong told her. "He's having one of his 'episodes'."

Riza shook her head in disbelief for a second. "Wait...you mean...you know about it?" She was stunned. As far as Riza knew, the only people that knew about Roy's heart was her, the boys and Greed.

Armstrong just nodded at her with understanding. "Have him tell you about it when you two get a chance. But for now, he needs to be in bed. Although where he really needs to be in in the ICU. We both know that won't happen."

Riza still felt her head spinning, but she couldn't deny Armstrong and her kindness. "Thank you." She said simply.

"Just...take care of him, okay?" Armstrong said, her voice reflecting the fear she was feeling. Whereas she didn't feel feelings of love for the man like Riza did, she still felt a deep connection to him, and she didn't want to lose him now either.

"Always." Riza answered and finally stepped away and back to being at Roy's side. Her standing so close to him didn't arouse any suspicious looks, for all they knew she was just being protective of the new Fuhrer. Beneath the podium, she discreetly took his hand in hers to assure him he could make it through.

From behind them, Armstrong was able to see the two holding hands. To herself, she smiled. They thought they were so sly trying to hide the way they felt about one another to everyone around them, but she had known from the jump—she was just relieved they finally realized it themselves.

As Roy went on with his words of wisdom, Riza could see him start to falter a little bit. To try and hide it, she placed her hand on the small of his back as an attempt to try and steady him. But she could tell was in a lot more pain than he was showing, he was gripping the edges of the podium so tightly his knuckles were white.

It was then that all the lights, all the eyes on him and the pressure was too much or Roy. Dizziness was fast filling his head and knew he was nearing passing out. His words began to slur and once they did, he felt himself beginning to fall. Riza caught him to the best she could, getting a little extra help from the General who was still behind him. The crowd let out a collective gasp at their Fuhrer's sudden dizzy spell.

Riza just held her grip on him and got him to stand steadily. She had forced herself to let out a fake laugh. "Hahaha looks like our new Fuhrer decided to hit that champagne a little harder than he had intended too, huh?"

To her relief, the audience seemed to buy her excuse for him and laughed as well.

Roy managed to shake it all off for just long enough to address his peers once more. "Ah, yes." He said with a weak laugh. "Looks like I should head home and get some rest, right? Thank you all so much for coming. Please, stay as long as you like." That was all he said before he darted down the stairs before Riza could follow him.

He had heard her saying something on his behalf as he exited the door, all of the people around him giggling and congratulating him. Luckily for him, no one was outside because they were all in the hall. Staggering, he made it to the far side of the fountain, he couldn't walk anymore, he fell to his knees and began coughing violently. "Fuck!" He screamed loudly. He'd ruined this night for Riza, exactly what he didn't want to do. At his outburst, his chest flared sharply. He collapsed completely on his stomach and felt his consciousness fading once more, blood trickling down the side of his mouth. Faintly, he heard a familiar voice calling out.

Sir? Sir!?

It was Riza who had come around the other side of the fountain and found him lying on the ground. "Oh no..." She said softly, and quickly made her way to him, she was able to sit him up against the fountain. His eyes were heavy and trying to stay focused on her. Quickly as she could, she ripped open his suit jacket and unbuttoned the shirt beneath it, rubbing his chest as soothingly as she could at the moment. "Shh...it's okay. Just try and listen to my voice."

After a few moments, he seemed to snap out of it for a minute. A confused look was on his face. "Riza?" He asked weakly. "Where are we?"

Riza just continued stroking his chest and trying with her other hand to get him to look her in the eyes. "We're outside of the military ball. Don't worry, everyone just thinks you had a little too much to drink. No one knows anything about all this."

Roy sighed hard in relief and his body and heart rate seemed to calm down a bit. "That's good." Was all he was able to spit out at the moment. "That's...really good. Thank you."

Riza just smiled softly at him, "Just sit here for a few minutes until you can make it to the car, okay?" and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and began to wipe away the blood on his mouth, but before she could, he grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"I'm serious." He told her, petting her hand with his thumb. "I don't deserve you." He then released her and let her wipe the blood away.

"Then that makes two of us because I feel I don't deserve you either." She told him.

"I want nothing but happiness for you, Riza." He said.

Riza leaned into him a little bit. "Believe it or not, my happiness is with you. It always has been."

Roy just took his hand and placed it on the side of her face. "I love you." His voice was weak and strained, but he had finally found the courage to say those three words to her.

Riza looked away briefly, trying to hide herself wiping tears from her eyes. "What took you so long?" She said in a mere whisper. Then she felt him pull her in to kiss her, and she embraced it. Tears fell heavy as she kissed him, wondering deep down how many more kisses she had with him now. Once the kiss ended, she went on. "I love you too...more than I've loved anything."

They kissed once more and Riza then pulled away. "Let's get you home, all right?"

Roy nodded his head and accepted her hand to help him get back up. Before they made it to the car, he just grabbed her tightly into a hug. "I'm so sorry." He said, his voice breaking. Riza just grabbed him back and began to sob softy. Roy just kissed the top of her head, resting his on top of hers. Fighting his own tears from falling too.

I'm so sorry.