A/N: Hey all, this is my first ever fanfic. In fact, this is the first item of fiction that I've written in ages! Please R/R, be gentle, this is my first time!

Disclaimer: There is no way I'm smart enough or cool enough to own Fullmetal Alchemist. I can only dream.

10/1/07: If anyone wishes to beta-read this, please let me know as it really is needed!!!

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She woke with a start and slowly opened her eyes. How long had she been here? Where was here? She tried to sit up and her sharp intake of breath was quick to follow. Biting off a curse, she decided to rest where she was and take an account of her now obvious injuries. There was a sharp pain in her right shoulder, throbbing with her heartbeat. It was almost as if they were keeping a slow and steady rhythm that the rest of her body was trying to join in a painful melody. Her left hip was pounding out its own beat and seemed to be keeping in time with her excruciating headache.

She chanced a quick look around at her surroundings only to be sorely disappointed by what she found. It looked like she was in an abandoned building, yet to be completed. It must have been on a grand scale because the room she was in was only a small part of it. She seemed to be in the corner of what might one day become a closet. From where she was sprawled on the cold floor that was the extent of what she could see. Closing her eyes against the worst of the pain, she could hear the crinkle of heavy plastic billowing in the chill wind. Rain was coming and it would be here shortly. What was that? She heard something else underneath the constantly howling wind. It was slow, steady and barely audible. Footsteps. She quickly reached to the small of her back to find the gun that was always there. It was cool to the touch but was reassuring to her as she began checking how many shots she had left. She slowly sat up and propped herself against the wall behind her. It was all she could do to see through the black pain induced haze before her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her nerves and looked around her for a better hiding place. Somewhere where she could see who and what was coming. She didn't know why or how she got here. She didn't know who gave her these painful injuries. All she knew was that she was going to make it out of here alive. There was someone she had to protect. Someone that she would never see hurt again. Someone that drove her crazy by not doing his paperwork. Someone that she loved with her now painfully beating heart.

Looking to her left, she sees a pillar and quickly, despite the pain it caused her hip to move, she dove behind it. The footsteps came to a stop outside the doorway. There was no door to open and there was nothing in the way of her pursuer save a two-foot thick slab of concrete.

X

He was not going to lose her again this time. She was wounded and he fully intended to take his pain out on her. She had shot him. That little… A flash of royal blue caught his eye. Deftly and silently, he made his way over to the left side of the room. There was a doorway that lead to what looked like the beginnings of a closet. To his right there were a set of pillars, but there was no way a full-grown woman could hide behind one of those without being seen. He focused his attention back on the area of the room that he witnessed the flash of blue. That blue could only indicate the uniform of the annoyingly resourceful woman that he was after.

Despite the fact that rain was starting to pour out of the heavens and the once mild air was now turning too cold to be without extra clothing, he was going to take his precious time killing her. That's what you get for shooting me, he thought to himself. Stupid… He heard the smallest intake of breath behind him, as if someone was wounded and in pain.

X

He spun around faster than she could have anticipated. She had underestimated him. She would pay for that. The loud report was heard throughout the room and into the dark and rainy night. She cried out as new pain blossomed in her side. The sheer force of the bullets impact spun her to her right. She saw black before she ever hit the cold concrete floor.

X

He heard the sound of a gun being shot even outside in the pounding rain and the very pain-filled female scream that followed. No, this is not happening. I will not let her die! He took off running inside the building in the direction of the scream. The direction of the woman that he loved.

X

She awakened and tried to open her eyes and found that it was more difficult than she ever expected. Why couldn't she open her eyes? Her heart rate jumped up as she realized she couldn't move her right arm. Panic flooded her veins and she tried to fight the darkness and the restraints against her. It was painful. She'd never been in this much pain in her life. Where was she? Where was he when she needed him? She couldn't move her body. It didn't want to respond to her brains commands. Her respirations increased at an alarming rate. She tried harder than she had ever tried to do anything in her life, to move. Why couldn't she move? What was going on? Was she dead and in hell for all of the lives she had taken? If it was possible, she panicked even more and rebelled against her now painful restraints. She felt pain flood back into her shoulder, hip and side. A sharp pain that sent fire through her blood. She tried to gasp but found she was unable to open her mouth. She couldn't breathe. She was going to die again in this dark void. This hell she was creating.

"Stop it." It was a pain-filled command. "That's an order, Hawkeye."

X

Her breathing calmed down but her heart rate mysteriously jumped even higher. She stopped thrashing around in the bed, opening the wounds that the doctors had only just sutured. It would seem his voice had a calming effect on the stoic Ms. Riza Hawkeye. Roy smirked half-heartedly. Looking at her pale and agonized features, Mustang felt a pang of sympathy and regret. If only he had gotten there sooner. If only he wasn't so useless in the rain.

He knew now that it was going to rain. Why didn't I bring Havoc's box of matches? He was useless in the rain and of all times to be useless, this was not one of them. He needed to find Hawkeye. He needed to find her fast. It was unlike her to run off on her own like that. She was supposed to be behind him, as his back-up, not on the front lines. He never thought the threat against his life would be serious or that she would be affected the way that she was. He heard sounds of fighting in a derelict building to his left, jarring him from his current train of thought and bringing him back to the present. Turning to enter the structure, he heard gunshots and the surprised cry of a man. He smirked to himself and mentally made a note to congratulate Riza on the ass kicking that this jerk was at the receiving end of. He walked around the perimeter, trying to find entrance. Minutes ticked by as he tried, to no avail, to find his way inside. He was hoping Hawkeye would walk up to him at any minute and they could get out of this oddly cold and rainy weather. This was taking forever, how did they get into this bloody place to begin with? Idiots! More gunshots and this time Mustang heard what he hoped to never hear in his lifetime, the heartrending sound of Riza's cry.

Running as fast as he can, Mustang bounds up a set of stairs that he can now see through the pouring rain. Calling out Riza's name as loud as he can and then falling silent to hear her reply. He hears nothing but the blood pounding in his own ears. Not having a clear idea as to where the fight actually took place, he intuitively homes in on Riza's location. Coming to a doorway on his right, Mustang instinctively slows down and pulls out Hawkeye's secondary firearm that she had only given to him mere hours ago. From his line of sight he can see both Riza and her opponent. Both are as still as death. He rushes to the bastard that did this to his Riza and shoots him twice in the head to make sure of his demise. Turning on his heel, he drops down at Riza's side. He quickly takes in her pale features and the blood pooling about her delicate frame. He checks for a pulse and finds a small flame of life, it's faint, but it's there. He rips off his black State issued jacket and drapes it over her still form to keep as much heat in the body as he can. Quickly ripping off the bottom of his shirt, he pushes the fabric against the wound in her side trying so desperately to staunch the flow of her precious life's blood. Reaching down, he scoops her into his arms and runs her as quickly as he can to safety.

"S-Sir?"

Mustang jumped at the question in the overly quiet room. The doctors told him she would probably be asleep until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. They didn't know how dedicated this Lieutenant was to her Colonel.

"Yes, Riza?" Mustang pulled his chair closer to her bed so she wouldn't have to raise her voice. At least that's the reason he gave himself, why would he need to get any closer to her?

"You seem upset." It seemed to pain her to talk.

"I am slightly upset. I mean, my favorite Lieutenant did try to get herself killed a few hours ago." He smirked.

"I'm sorry, Sir." Her beautiful red tinted eyes closed in a futile attempt to mask her pain.

"How are you feeling?" He was genuinely concerned.

"Well, I feel like I've been shot," there was a long pause, "a few times."

"You have been. A few times. You have three serious gunshot wounds, not to mention various other injuries. It even looks like you fell down a flight of stairs or something." He took a hold of her hand.

"Yeah, I remember that part, it certainly didn't feel very good at the time. I think that was when he shot me the first time. Um…S-Sir?" She looked down at their intertwined hands, refusing it seemed to look anywhere near his eyes.

"Yes, Hawkeye?" Roy moved closer.

"I remember pulling the trigger before I blacked out…um…did he get away?" She uncharacteristically bit her lip and then yelped in pain as her dry lips cracked and blood trailed down.

"Here, let me get that for you," Mustang said grabbing a tissue and wiping her tender lips, "and no, he did not get away. You did shoot him, but I didn't take any chances. He took two more bullets to the head to join the first." Mustang smiled.

"Good, I'm glad. Sir, can I ask you a question?" She visibly relaxed only to tense up again almost instantly.

"Yeah, Lieutenant?"

"Will you…um…I need to go back to sleep and I was wondering if…" She trailed off as her eyelids began to slowly get heavier. She tried not to yawn in the middle of her oddly uncertain question, but her body was trying to give her the hint that it needed some rest.

"I'll stay here and hold your hand Riza. Nothing could make me leave your side right now. Nothing." He knew she would never want to ask that question aloud. Her pride had already suffered enough this night with her near defeat in a shootout, of all things. Though there was no one else in the room, Mustang couldn't allow her to 'shame' herself by asking such a childish question. Since when did I become Mr. Empathetic? I guess I just know that deep down I wouldn't want her to leave my side if I were this injured and in the hospital.

"Thank…you…"

"Good night, Riza."

X

Havoc and Fuery found each other in the hall and decided to walk together to Lieutenant Hawkeye's hospital room. They never thought they would be visiting her after a serious injury, though it wouldn't surprise them in the least if it was in defense of the Colonel. Though he wasn't able to light it, Havoc still had his customary cigarette hanging at a jaunty angle from his mouth. He looked over at Fuery and saw the flowers in his hand.

"What are those for?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"They're for the Lieutenant. Who else would they be for?"

Fuery reached the door first and opened it only to slowly step back and close it again quickly and quietly.

"What was that all about?" Havoc queried.

He didn't wait for a response. Looking in through the window, he saw the Colonel leaning over Hawkeye. He had her left hand in his grasp and was slowly and lovingly running his free hand down the left side of her bruised face. It looked like he was talking to her but she was clearly still asleep.

Afraid to interrupt, thus incurring the fiery wraith of their Superior Officer, Havoc and Fuery backed away. Havoc grabbed the colorful array of flowers out of Fuery's grasp and found a cute nurse to flirt with. He was going to get something out of this trip.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. I'm trying to get myself back in the game of writing, I've let it go for far too long.

Please review, all aspiring authors everywhere wish for people to help critique and praise their work! Just be gentle! Thanks to all those so far that have added this to a favorites list or given a review!!