Chapter 1

Riza Hawkeye leaned back against her gray desk chair, lifting a hand to fix the thin blonde stray hair that had fallen across her eye. The silver clock on the wall ticked in an endless rhythm, the only sound dominating the lonely silence of the office. Stacks of papers lay across her desk, as well as a few broken pencils.

Her amber eyes drooped slightly, begging for sleep. Catching herself, Riza snapped her head up and grasped the edges of her desk in front of her, trying to clear all thoughts of rest from her mind.

Looking above her at the clock on the wall, she could see that it was only twelve in the afternoon. Groaning inwardly, she rubbed her eyes, wishing she were back at home in her own bed. No one should have to go to work on a Sunday without a reason.

However, of course, the Colonel had waited until the last minute to attempt to fill out his paperwork, and she had gotten a mildly frantic call from him at three o'clock the previous night, for he had just gotten back from wherever the hell he had been drinking all night, and remembered that his papers were left in stacks undone on his desk.

Why in the hell did she agree to come in to work and help him finish them? It was the Colonel's own fault that his papers had not been completed. He always did things like this- waiting until the last minute to complete projects and then dumping it on someone else.

She turned around at this thought and glanced behind her. There were no sounds of footsteps in the hallway yet; no sounds of the Colonel's childish whistling as he came from his supposed "bathroom break." Too bad it had been almost a half hour since he had left- and Riza had been stuck doing twice the amount of work she had to do.

A wave of anger swept over the Lieutenant and she rose from her chair, letting it scrape back against the floor loudly. Slamming her pen down on the desk with a cracking sound, she grabbed her uniform jacket off of the coat rack by her desk and quickly thrust her arms into the sleeves and buttoned it up.

To hell with all this unnecessary work- if the Colonel needed her help, then of course she would never hesitate to help him. However, if he was just going to dump the whole work load on her shoulders and leave her to go gallivanting around the deserted military base, then she deserved a break as well. Maybe she wouldn't come back for a while, either.

With a determined sigh, Riza made her way towards the office door, and reached her hand towards the smooth metal doorknob.

A sudden shadow could be seen through the small space at the bottom of the door, and Riza sighed in frustration.

"Back from your bathroom break, Colonel?" she asked angrily. "So nice of you to come back and help me with your work."

The shadow shifted to face her from the other side of the door. They remained there for a moment, and suddenly turned and ran from the door and down the hall.

"Hey!" Riza cried. "Come back here! This isn't funny Colonel!"

She grasped the handle of the doorknob and yanked the door open quickly.

Riza was shocked to suddenly find herself staring into the colonel's onyx eyes. She gasped in surprise and stumbled back away from him, grasping the edge of her desk for balance.

"What's not funny?" he asked, with a confused look on his face. His eyes drifted down to her coat. "Where are you going?"

Riza frowned and straightened herself. "I was about to take a break, if you don't mind. I didn't come here to do all of your work for you while you go off on your own somewhere, and then have you scare the hell out of me." She said sharply; her eyes suddenly focusing in on the objects in his hands.

Oh, how she wished she could stop time and take back her words.

In the Colonel's hands were two cups of coffee, their steam rising slowly into the air between them.

Roy furrowed his eyebrows slightly. "You think I just left you here to finish my work for me?" his voice held a hurt tone as he held out one of the cups of coffee towards her. "I treat my officers better than that. I apologize if the place down the street was crowded."

Riza tried to speak, but his eyes flashed suddenly, signaling to her that their conversation was over. She took the cup of coffee guiltily, and the colonel brushed past her, heading towards his desk.

Hawkeye kept her back to him, feeling her cheeks redden. She had been so stupid to assume the Colonel had abandoned her with his work.

"Go home." Roy said in monotone, not once looking up at her as he lifted a pen from his desk and gathered together a group of papers. "Sorry to have kept you here unnecessarily."

Riza turned around to say something, but obediently stopped herself. There was no use arguing with the colonel now. She had been a jerk, and she deserved to feel terrible. Turning towards the door, she once again reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, closing the door behind herself.

Roy looked up at the door after it had closed and the Lieutenant's footsteps had faded down the hallway. His eyes drifted back down to the papers in front of him, and his eyes widened, seeing that they were already done. In fact… all of the papers on his desk were completed; the red seal of the military branch were stamped neatly on each one, as was his stamped signature in their appropriate places.

With a sigh, he rested his head in his hand, and looked up towards the door once again, before rising from his chair to stop the Lieutenant from leaving.

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Riza kept her brisk pace as she walked down the empty hallways, heading towards the stairs. She hated herself sometimes- never thinking before she spoke. Although she possessed few weaknesses, her inability to speak compassionately in times of need had often dominated her better judgment.

She slid her hand slowly down the railing as she made her way down the steps towards the exit at the end of the stairs. At least she had finished his work for him; now he could go home and get some rest like he deserved.

A creaking door suddenly ended her thoughts, as the noise reached her ears from the bottom of the stairs. Narrowing her eyes, Riza glanced behind her once, and returned her sights to the darkened stairs ahead of her.

Instinctively, she pressed herself against the wall of the stairway and reached a hand behind her back to once again rest on her gun. Immediately, her mind flashed back to only a few minutes ago when she had come across that shadow on the opposite side of the office door. She had completely forgotten to mention that to the colonel.

Another slight creaking noise reached her ears, this time sounding closer to the bottom of the stairs that sat in shadow. One solution came to mind, as she removed her gun from its holster. If there was someone inside the base at this hour, when it was closed to everyone, then that someone was up to no good. A firm determination tugged at her heart at the thought of protecting the colonel. The best thing to do was to investigate what lay below her, leaving Roy in the safety of his office.

Shifting her weight to accommodate her position, Riza slowly began to make her way down the stairs, angling her gun into the shadows where anyone could be hiding to attack. She wasn't going to let anyone get past her to harm the colonel.

A quick shuffling of feet on the floor froze her in place and she shrunk down on the stairs, trying to not be seen. A shadowy figure appeared in the recesses of the downstairs level then, and although she had been thoroughly expecting an intruder, a chill managed to run down her spine.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye! Are you still here?"

Riza's eyes widened as the Colonel's voice drifted towards her ears. She could hear his office door open and close, and his footsteps rapidly approached the stairs. The figure below her turned to face the stairs and rushed forward to make their way up the stairs at the colonel.

Riza rose from her place on the stairs. "Get back sir!" she cried, firing her gun.

The figure slid to a halt just before they reached the light, falling to the ground as they barely dodged the unexpected shot. Frantically, they scrambled to their feet and took off down the hallway, and into the darkness.

"Dammit!" she cursed, running down the stairs after them.

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At the sound of the gunshot, Roy's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat, startled by the unexpected gunfire.

"Lieutenant!" he shouted, breaking into a full-out run towards the stairs. Fumbling his hands into his pocket, he grabbed his pyrotechnic gloves and forced them on just as he reached the stairs.

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Riza felt the air whip her hair back from her face, as she whizzed past the empty offices of the hallway. Using her free hand, she reached onto her belt and ripped her small flashlight from its holder, clicking it on to light the darkness before her.

The person ducked into a nearby office, and Riza did the same. Resting her back against the doorframe, she checked the gun's roulette to make sure she had enough bullets, and clicked it shut. Keeping an ear out for the assailant, she tried to catch her breath, all the while cursing the darkness. She had always hated the basement level of the military base because it always seemed so dark, but of course now she had a reason to hate it even more.

At the sound of the person running out from the office, Riza whipped her gun around the corner of the doorway and shot twice at their retreating form.

The person dove aside and surprisingly turned to her and pulled out a gun of their own. Riza barely had the time to react and threw herself against the opposite doorframe of the office. The first bullet hit its mark where her head had been moments before, sinking deep into the doorframe a few feet above where she now crouched on the ground.

The person was clumsily fumbling with their weapon, trying to load a new round into the gun; obviously unprepared for their brawl.

A hollow snap echoed down the hallway, and moments later a blazing flame torched through the air. Riza's breath became caught in her throat as she realized that the colonel had come after her instead of staying put in his office. Chances were that he didn't know his attacker possessed a gun.

Her thoughts turned into one clear word as she ran from her place just as the attacker cocked their gun.

Protect.

However, their assailant realized what true danger they were suddenly presented with, and turned to run down the hallway.

With all of her skill and strength, Riza raised her gun and aimed her shot at the fleeing attacker. The first hit the wall just above their head, and the second landed victoriously in their right shoulder of their upper back

With a cry, the person stumbled forward, their body crumpling on the ground as they grasped their shoulder in pain. Just before Riza made it down the hallway, a bright light shone from around the fallen person in the shape of a circle, and thick gray smoke rose from the ground, tracing the shape.

Moments later, the person was immersed in the fog, and disappeared.

Riza could feel her heart threatening to beat out of her chest, as the realization of what had taken place finally hit her. Dropping her gun, she fell to her knees on the cold hard floor and hung her head. They had gotten away.

Roy could see his Lieutenant fall and rushed to her side. "What happened, Hawkeye?" he cried, bending down to her. "Are you hurt?"

Riza shook her head, letting the stray pieces of her blonde hair fall into her eyes to hide her shame. Suddenly flipping her hair out of her eyes, she directed her amber gaze into his.

"I'm glad you're okay sir."

Roy's expression turned soft at the sound of his Lieutenant's voice. He regained composure quickly, and rose to his feet, offering her his hand.

"Let's get out of here." He said. "We have much to discuss."

Riza looked up at him and hesitated for only a moment before slipping her hand into his, allowing him to help her to her feet.

There was much to talk about indeed.

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Authors Note:

Thanks for reading my first chapter… hopefully you'll stick with it and see where the story goes. Unlike some people, I will keep updating no matter how many reviews I get, because I like writing what I do. However, please keep your comments polite and I'll keep posting.

Thanks again!