A.N.: No specific POV for this chapter. Enjoy!

"Make sure the explosion goes off right in front of the first car," a female voice said through a headphone.

"Roger that," a man replied.

The said woman was hiding behind a wall in an alley beside another man, watching as the two military cars approached. As they rounded the corner of the street, the woman counted the distance in her head. 3, 2, 1, now!

An explosion went off in front of the first car, blowing off one of the front wheels with it. The car flipped on its side and crashed into a streetlight. The other car behind didn't stop in time and swerved right into the first one.

"Nice. Let's get down to business!" the woman said.

The man and the woman rushed out from the alleyway while shooting at the men who were trying to get out of the cars. The ones in the first car were most probably injured and trapped in it. However, the men in the second military vehicle opened the doors and used them as shields as they fired back. Unbeknownst to them, two other men came out from another hiding spot and shot at the officers from behind.

"I'm going to retrieve him. Cover me!" a man said to everyone through his mic. The burly man rushed to one of the opened doors where an officer had been shot in the shoulder and kneed him in the head to knock him out. He reached inside and yanked the front of the shirt of a passenger in the back seat, lifting him up with ease.

"Come with me!" he yelled at the man he had just rescued from the car. Without waiting for an answer, he bent down, lifted the soldier he had just knocked out and dragged both of them away from the car. "I got him!"

"Good! Now everyone follow the plan and meet up at point B! Go!" the woman gave her orders.

The two men from the back escaped with the rescued guy and the unconscious soldier through an alley as the woman and the another man continued to cover them until they were out of sight and ran away themselves.

"What's going on? Who are you guys?" Victor Brandt asked as he was roughly pushed into another car by the big man. He grit his teeth in pain from the not-so-gentle treatment. Shit, my wounds are gonna reopen if this continues. The fallen soldier was tossed inside beside him.

"Shut up! We're saving your sorry ass!" The other guy that was now driving said. Victor looked at the two men seated in front and almost felt the urge to cower. They looked at him with disgust and hate. He sat in silence diligently as the car sped through empty streets. They came to a stop at the back of an old building.

"Get out," the driver told him. Victor did as he was told and followed him into the building. They were climbing the stairs inside the building, but it was proving to be very challenging for him.

"You better not die on us now Victor," the big man said with a smirk. He was carrying the still unconscious soldier with ease.

"I won't." Victor said through his teeth as the glared at him. The man chuckled in return and continued up the stairs.

When they reached the top floor, he saw a man and a woman sitting on some crates. They both looked up, guns pointed towards them when they entered, but immediately lowered them when they recognized who they were.

"Bandage his shoulder. We don't want him to bleed out to death," she said about the military soldier.

The woman stood up and slowly walked towards him. He felt a shiver run up his spine as he saw the menacing look in her eyes. She had the lower half of her face covered with a scarf so he couldn't see her whole face. She stopped in front of him and the room stood still. The other three men watched silently.

"You idiot," she said almost in a whisper.

"What?" Victor asked. Did she just call me an idiot?That was a mistake on his part. Her eyes flared with rage as she punched him in the face, making him fall backwards. His hand were still handcuffed, thus limiting his motions.

"What the hell was that for!" Victor yelled. The woman grabbed the front of his shirt and punched him again and again. By the time she stopped, Victor remained on the floor and didn't dare to speak another word.

The woman stood up straight and sighed heavily. She finally pulled down her scarf. Victor stared at her with wide eyes.

"Sakel? Wha- How? What are you doing?" Victor asked in disbelief. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the men glare at him and some of them looked away in disgust.

Sakel was also having a hard time holding herself back from beating him up. "Do you even realize what you did?" she spat venom in every word. She could hardly look at this pathetic excuse of a man. Victor's eyes wavered slightly but he didn't seem to catch on to what she was talking about so he stayed quiet.

"To think that you're his twin brother. You're nothing like Thomas," she said with hate. That made Victor angry and he struggled up to a sitting position.

"What the hell do you know about Thomas! He's my brother and he was killed by that monster!" he yelled back at Sakel.

"You know nothing Victor! You know nothing and yet you've managed to completely ruin Thomas' reputation!" Sakel yelled back. She let out a frustrated growl and prowled around the room to prevent herself from killing the man in front of her.

"What are you talking about?" Victor asked in a low voice, suddenly aware that he was probably missing out on something important. "How do you know my brother?"

Sakel turned to him slowly and he could see the anger and the pain in her eyes.

"He was a formidable soldier, the top of his class," she started. "We were all together in the academy. He truly waned to serve his country and he was so happy when he got to work under Fuhrer Bradley. But that didn't mean he was a blind follower. He was far from that. He didn't always agree with Bradley's ways, but as long as no harm or injustice came to the people, he had no problem serving under him."

She stopped and everyone paused as if they were all lost in their thoughts. Victor looked back and forth between them, desperate for more information.

"So what? Are you saying he liked Mustang?" He could hardly hold back his disbelief. He felt like his world was coming apart.

"I was there during the coup d'etat. Bradley abandoned his troops that day. God knows where he went. All I know is that he wasn't there to lead his soldiers. The whole place was falling apart. Even then, Thomas stayed there to defend HQ because they had been ordered to do so. I was further away but I tried to call out to him to tell him to get away from there but he couldn't hear me." Sakel paused a bit. "A large pillar was falling down right on top of them and I thought for sure he would be crushed beneath it. But Major Armstrong stopped it with alchemy as he was passing by and that had saved him. I was so relieved," Sakel laughed sadly to herself. She didn't continue speaking.

"He's dead." Victor said, breaking the silence. "His body washed up in the river and I dragged him out."

Sakel stared at him in shock, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"There were two gunshot wounds on his chest," he continued.

Sakel crossed the room in a few strides and yanked him hard by his collar. "Where is his body?" she demanded. Victor remained stunned for a few seconds. He didn't understand the desperation and anger in her actions.

"I- I buried him in the town where we were born. Beside our parents," he finally said. He watched as the look in her eyes changed to relief. Their eyes remained fixed until Sakel seemed to realize something and let go of him. What the hell is wrong with her? Victor thought. He had not missed the look of despair and grief on her face. She must've been close to Thomas.

Sakel walked to the door leading to the stairs and went up to the roof.

"Now you've done it," the big man said. Victor turned his attention to the remaining three men in the room.

"I guess Thomas didn't tell you, but Carolyn was his fiance. They were going to get married this year." The man that had initially been sitting beside her said.

Realization hit him like a bucket of cold water. Why didn't he ever tell me about her? Victor had spoken to Thomas a few times, but they had never really talked much about their love life. He knew Thomas had been dating a girl for a long time, but he didn't know he had proposed to her.

"She saw him get shot twice before he fell down. She couldn't see where he had fallen, but she had looked frantically for him until she heard you had come back." The man was now looking at him with a cold glare. "She realized you weren't him when you didn't even recognize her when she stood in front of you. She's been watching you until now. Watching you doing stupid things over and over again, tarnishing Thomas' name. She's been watching you with an unnatural obsession. All because you have the same face as him, the same voice, the same body. She hasn't been able to grieve for him because of you."

Victor was looking down at his hand in distress. He was finding it hard to breathe after knowing the truth. "But- I didn't know-"

"Exactly!" the other man who had been the driver finally yelled at him. "People were saying that Thomas was acting strange, but we knew about his twin and we knew that you weren't him! But we had to act along because she begged us. We were his best friends. Then you came along and screwed everything up."

"Thomas wouldn't have ever done something like this. We don't know the details, but we know you were behind Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye's disappearance. Thomas would never have hurt another person intentionally," the big guy added.

Victor couldn't help but cry on the floor. He had done everything thinking he was avenging his brother, but turns out he had done nothing but ruin the good image of his beloved brother. "I'm sorry," he repeated over and over.

The big man sighed loudly. "He was like a brother to us. When we heard you had been arrested, we felt obligated to help his brother out. We want you to leave the country and never return."

Victor looked up in surprise, but he knew that was the only way out so he didn't retort.

"You picked the worst person to target you know that?" the men had grim expressions on their faces.

"Why are you guys helping me? I know you're doing it for Thomas, but do you know what will happen to you all if you get caught?" Victor asked with a newfound fear. He knew he was up against the Flame Alchemist and the most powerful man in the country. Despite knowing the true story behind his brother's death, he still held a deep grudge against Fuhrer Mustang because he had been the one to instigate the whole revolution.

"We're putting our lives on the line and we know it. We owe Thomas at least that much." The driver said quietly and everyone nodded. "Don't even think that we're doing this for you. You're lucky Thomas loved you so much."

"Everyone get up here!" they heard Sakel call for them from the roof.

The big guy carried the military officer to the roof, while the driver yanked Victor by his handcuffs to make him follow him and they all headed for the rooftop.

Sakel crouched by the edge of the roof and look through binoculars. "They're close," she said.

"What? How?"

"They've got tracking dogs. In a few minutes, they'll have this place surrounded." She got up while backing away from the edge so she wouldn't be seen. "We have to leave now."

The guy that had been with her in the beginning grabbed her arm. "You have to leave alone right now. Follow our escape route like we planned and you can get away. We'll find another way out." Sakel looked at him in disbelief, but they were all nodding their heads at her in agreement.

"Are you crazy? You'll get caught! We have to leave now! Together!" she countered angrily.

"Carolyn! Listen to me! They have tracking dogs and I'm sure they know Victor's scent. We can't go with you because it'll only be a matter of time before we get caught. But you have to escape no matter what. Do you understand? Go get Nate and leave!" Sakel stood rigid and didn't move. "You have to protect the little one. You know where Thomas is now, so go. Tell him hi for us and that we love him. If we get out of this, we'll come find you. Promise."

"Andy, Max, Pete, don't do this. Please. We just have to find another way out." Sakel begged them, but Max, the big guy walked to her and dragged her towards the stairs.

"You heard him Carolyn. Think of baby Nate and leave. He needs you to look after him. You can't make him an orphan. Now go!" He gave her a big hug. The other two men rushed to give her a last hug.

"Promise me you'll get out of this you guys. Nate needs his uncles." The men gave her a smile before she turned and left.

"Who's Nate?" Victor asked in confusion, dreading the answer.

"Your nephew," Pete, the one who had driven them here, answered drily. "There's no way in hell we're letting him grow up without his mother."

Victor felt his knees give in and he fell to the ground. I have a nephew. This day was not getting any better for him. That meant that she had already been pregnant when he had come back one month after the rebellion. By the time Mustang and his team had come back from their mission to rebuild Ishbal, she had already given birth to his nephew and had gone back to work to keep an eye on him again.

Victor had no time to lament because the military officer suddenly got up and dashed for the stairs. Pete, who was closest to the door, threw himself on him and brought him to the ground. Max quickly went to help tie the officer's hands behind his back tightly.

"I've seen you guys before! You traitors!" the officer cried out angrily.

"Sorry but it's complicated. We have no choice but to keep you with us for a while in case we need a hostage. If it's possible, we prefer not to harm you in any way." The last sentence was more of a warning.

Max then went to pick the lock of Victor's handcuffs to release him. "We'll need you to work with us if you want to leave here alive." Victor nodded.

Riza ran back to the office, rifle in hand, to get her coat and to tell the others about the news. She burst into the office, scaring the wits out of Fuery and Falman.

"Hawkeye? What's going on?" Falman asked, standing up with alert.

"There was an explosion and a shooting. I think it was the cars that were carrying Victor Brandt to the prison. Someone's trying to rescue him and I'm going with Colonel Griffin to the scene," Riza informed them hastily while she put on her coat.

"We're coming with you!" They both said without hesitation. Riza saw their determined looks and nodded in approval. Falman and Fuery knew the Fuhrer would never forgive them for letting her go alone and they knew they didn't stand a chance from stop her from going, so that only left them with one choice.

"Fuery, can you go to the communications department and get in contact with the Fuhrer? Make sure he stays far away from this. We'll also stay in contact with you," Riza said.

Fuery stole a quick glance at Falman, then nodded. "Yes ma'am!" He saluted and gave them both a headset that he had made. "If you put these on, I can keep in touch with you two."

"Falman, we'll be joining Colonel Griffin in this operation. We can't let Victor get away." Falman looked at Riza with worry but followed her nonetheless. He wasn't sure if she was mentally ready to face Victor yet, so he would have to keep a close watch on her.

Falman drove and followed behind Colonel Griffin's car as Riza was preparing her rifle in the back seat. "They've dispatched tracking dogs and have found their hideout. Currently, they've confirmed three men, a military officer taken as a hostage and the prisoner that they've rescued. I assume that's Victor," Fuery's voice came through their headsets. Fuery made sure Falman and Riza were on a private line with him at all times, but he could also connect them to the rest of Colonel Griffin's team if needed.

"Did you get in touch with the Fuhrer?" Riza asked.

"I got in touch with his security team, but I haven't spoken directly to him yet. The Fuhrer and the generals are quite far from the scene, but the security has tightened and they have been taken to a safe place."

"Good. Thanks Fuery. If you get in touch with him or Havoc and Breda, make sure to tell him to stay put," Riza instructed. Both Falman and Fuery were surprised to hear her say that. It brought a smile to their faces to see her behave like she normally did around them. Everyone in their team knew who the 'real boss' was. Falman looked through the rearview mirror to see her focusing on her rifle, oblivious to her previous order. I guess there's still only one person who's not afraid of giving Fuhrer Mustang orders, Falman thought.

Within a minute, they stopped at the side of a street. The MPs had done their job and had evacuated the whole area so no civilians were in sight. Riza and Falman joined Colonel Griffin as he met up with the other officers already on site.

"Give me an update," he said to the First Lieutenant in charge.

"They're on the roof of that six-story building over there. We've spotted one of them near the edge of the roof once, but some of my men has confirmed three of them. They also have one of ours as a hostage and the guy they've rescued from the transfer to the prison."

They rounded the corner of a building and saw which building they were in. Most of the officers on site were hidden behind other buildings. They didn't want to alarm the men on the roof by the amount of officers dispatched.

"And what's going on on our side?" Colonel Griffin asked after he got a good look at the building.

"We don't have many options since they have a hostage with them. We're trying to see if we can negotiate with them, but they still haven't responded," the First Lieutenant explained.

"What about our sniper? Can we take them out?"

"That's another problem sir. There are no buildings in the vicinity that are taller than five-story. We can't get a clear shot since they're avoiding the edge of the roof."

Colonel Griffin groaned with frustration.

"Do you have a map of the city sir?" Falman surprised the two officers with his interruption.

"Yes we have one right here," the First Lieutenant brought them to a map that was spread out on the front of one of the military cars. He pointed to a building on the map. "This is where we are. Within a five hundred metre radius, there are no buildings taller than this one."

"Damn them! They really thought this through," Colonel Griffin cursed them.

Falman pointed to two buildings on the map. "This one's a seven-story building and this one's a ten-story."

"That's too far. We can't guarantee that our sniper's going to hit the target," the First Lieutenant informed.

"We have one that can." Falman looked at Riza. All eyes were on her as she stared at the map, looking at the positions of the buildings.

"I can get a good shot from there." She pointed to the ten-story building.

"That's about a thousand metres away!" the First Lieutenant exclaimed. The Colonel lifted his hand to silence him.

"Do you think you can get a clear shot Hawkeye?" Colonel Griffin asked in a serious tone.

Riza thought deeply. I was able to hit dead center from eight hundred metres yesterday. I should be able to hit from a thousand. She knew she didn't have the time to doubt herself. They didn't have that many other options and they had to act fast before the situation escalated. Somehow she just knew she could do it.

"Yes sir, I can," she replied with a determined look.

The Colonel smirked in approval. "Then get to that building as soon as you can and set yourself up. We'll be counting on you Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye."

"Yes sir." Riza and Falman saluted before going back to their vehicle and driving away.

"Sir, are you sure that's a good idea. It's a thousand metres away. One thousand," the First Lieutenant insisted. Clearly this plan was not sitting well with him.

"She's not just any sniper. She's the infamous Hawk's eyes. If there's anyone that can hit a bullseye from that distance, it's her," the Colonel answered simply.

Falman had already memorized the whole area and drove to their designated building without trouble. It was a hotel and they easily got access to their roof. As they went up the elevator, Fuery contacted them.

"I have the Fuhrer on the line. I'll put him through." There was a bit of static before Roy spoke to them.

"Hawkeye," he called.

"Yes sir," Riza answered as they exited the elevator and headed to the stairs leading to the roof.

"What are you doing out on the field? You should be at Central HQ where it's safe!" Roy exclaimed with agitation.

"Sir, I suspect that the man they rescued is Victor Brandt. We can't let him get away. It's a good thing I came because the only building we can snipe from is a thousand meters away," Riza explained calmly as she walked towards the edge of the roof facing the direction they wanted and settled down.

"Hawkeye, I don't think it's a good idea that you're out there. If he got rescued, it means that he has more people working with him. We don't know how many they are or what their plan is. It's not safe!" As Fuery and Falman listened quietly in the background, they could tell Roy was quickly losing his patience and was very distraught about her being out there. "Return to headquarters immediately! That's an order!"

Falman watched as Riza tensed and clenched her jaw tightly. Nobody spoke for a few seconds. She seemed to be debating the situation in her head.

"Hawke-"

"I'm sorry sir," Riza interrupted him, "but I'm afraid I can't return to headquarters right now. I have to do this. I need to do this. I will accept any punishment for my insubordination after the mission is over." After she finished her sentence, she removed her headset and gave it to Falman, who looked very uncomfortable being stuck between them. Riza proceeded to position her rifle and install herself comfortably.

"Fuery! Who's with her right now?" Roy yelled frantically.

"I am sir," Falman answered quickly.

"Falman, don't let her out of your sight! They might come after her so make sure you guys stay safe!" Roy ordered him.

"Yes sir! Don't worry sir, I'll watch over her," he tried to reassure the Fuhrer, but the pressure on him was making him nervous. Falman had never been much of a field officer, so the whole situation put him out of his comfort zone.

"Falman, I need you to be quiet for a bit," Riza said so quietly that he had almost missed it. She was peering through her scope with high concentration.

Falman backed away a bit from her and turned around to whisper. "Sorry sir, I can't talk right now. Hawkeye needs to concentrate so I have to keep quiet." He heard Roy groan with frustration.

"Falman, I'm coming there myself. Make sure you two stay out of trouble until I get there," Roy said.

"I'm sorry sir, but Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye has ordered us to make sure you stay far away from there," Fuery said nervously.

"Well if she's disregarding my order then I'm doing the same. I'm coming and that's final." Roy disconnected his line.

"What do we do now?" Fuery asked Falman.

"We can't do anything. I don't think I'll tell her though. She needs all the concentration she can get," Falman whispered. "I'll stay on the line and keep you updated."

Falman quietly went to sir beside Riza and took a pair of binoculars to look.

"They were right. There's three men, one hostage and Victor." Riza said calmly without moving an inch. "I've check the other buildings around and there doesn't seem to be anyone else with them. The other floors of their building seem empty too, so it's pretty certain that that's all the men they've got."

Falman scanned the area trying to confirm what she had just told him. But as he got a view of the rooftop where the men and Victor were on, he saw one of the man approach the edge holding the hostage in front of him with a gun to his head.

"Falman, find out what's going on," Riza said.

"Fuery," Falman started, but Fuery was already one step ahead.

"You're connected Falman."

"Thanks," Falman said. "Colonel Griffin, this is Captain Falman and Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye. What's happening right now?"

"They've finally come forward for discussion, but it seems like they don't like our offer. They want to get away freely in exchange for the hostage. That hardly seems fair. They already killed one of ours," Colonel Griffin explained in annoyance.

"We're in position and ready to fire," Falman said and eyed Riza. She looked up briefly and nodded her head. "They're asking to get away in exchange for the hostage," he told Riza.

"Ask them if it's possible to inflate a big airbag to catch someone if they fall from the building," Riza said.

"Sir, do you have inflatable airbags to catch someone falling from the building?"

"Yes we've just finished installing it on the ground. We were able to do it because they stayed in the middle of the roof and couldn't see what we were doing," the Colonel said. Falman nodded his head towards Riza.

"I can shoot the man to make him release the hostage, but then he has to jump down. The hard part is to get that message to him without letting the kidnappers know," Riza said.

Falman explained Riza's plan to the Colonel and after a few minutes, he agreed to it. "Give us a few minutes to prepare the message. We'll make it happen."

As the people on the ground tried to negotiate with the man holding the hostage, two officers hid behind the curtains of a window on the fifth floor of the building across. They used a mirror to try to get the attention of the officer taken as a hostage by flashing the light in his eyes. After a few tries, the hostage saw them. They proceeded to put up short messages explaining the airbag directly below and how he would have to jump off the building. The hostage nodded discreetly in agreement, understanding the plan and knowing there was no other way out of this.

"It's all ready. Whenever you're ready Hawkeye," Colonel Griffin gave them the green light.

"It's all set," Falman told her.

Riza took a deep breath and focused on her aim. She had to calculate the wind, the humidity, the trajectory of the bullet she was using and the fact that she was using a new rifle was a whole other level of difficulty. She had gotten the feel of it yesterday and hoped she could be as accurate as she was the day before. It'll be fine, she told herself. She released her breath and pulled the trigger.

Her bullet hit the man's hand, effectively making him drop his gun. He wailed in pain as the let go of the hostage to grab his injured hand with his other one. The hostage quickly stepped up on the ledge, took a quick look at the ground and leaped off the building. He landed right in the middle of a giant airbag. Riza saw the men on the roof panic.

"Perfect shot Lieutenant Colonel," Falman commented, as he looked though his binoculars. Riza smirked and quickly got up. "Where are you going?" Falman asked with alarm.

"We need to get over there. The men are going to try to escape," Riza said and walked away quickly towards the stairs. Falman scurried after her miserably, knowing he could not stop her from going.

Falman drove at top speed and got there in a couple of minutes. Just as they were getting out of their car, an explosion went off on the side of the building. Officers on the ground were running away from the fire and the smoke coming out of the building. This is a distraction. They're planning their escape right now.

"Falman! Go find out what's going on right now!" Riza said to him loudly. Colonel Griffin and the First Lieutenant from before were taking cover behind a vehicle a little further away to avoid any falling debris. Falman nodded before he dashed off towards them. Seeing that Falman was distracted and not in harm's way, Riza quickly headed for the building.

She swung her rifle around and hung it on her back by the shoulder strap and took out her handgun. The explosion had unhinged the door on the side of the building, but it didn't look safe enough to enter. With the smoke everywhere and the soldiers in a frenzy, no one noticed as she quietly approached form the side. She ran through the smoke and got to the other side through an alleyway. She rounded the building all the way to the back and saw a car parked there. They didn't come back for the car.

The back of the building had another door she assumed they had entered from. She tried opening it but it was locked, so she aimed her gun and fired twice. The door easily opened afterwards and she carefully went inside. She was directly in the stairways and looked through the little glass window of the door connecting to the room of the ground floor. The entire room was filled with smoke and she was glad this door was keeping it away from the stairway.

The stairs led upstairs but she saw that there was also a basement. Should I go down now? She decided to check the upper floors and the roof first in case she spotted them. Quietly she went up each floor and peered through every room, but none of them were present. With only the roof left, she went up the last flight of stairs and stood behind the door. Unlike the other doors, this one didn't have a glass window to look through. I'll just have to take a chance.

With her handgun ready, she opened the door quickly and aimed. No one was in sight. She inspected every inch of the roof, but they had left no evidence of their presence apart from the blood stains from the gunshot wound she had delivered. Where did they go? She went to the edge on the side of the building, trying to see if they had somehow fled to the one beside it. As she inched a bit closer to the front, she saw Falman looking frantically for her on the ground. He looked up just in time to see her head duck back to hide from him.

Is she on the roof? How did she get there? Oh my God the Fuhrer is going to kill me for this! Falman thought to himself. He was positive his hair would whiten even more after this day. "Fuery! You there?" he asked in a panic.

"Yes sir," Fuery answered.

"Hawk- Hawkeye's on the roof of the building! I turned around for a second and she disappeared! She went in herself!" he confessed.

"What did you say?" a loud angry voice came through. Falman visibly whitened as he recognized the voice.

"I- I'm terribly sorry sir. She told me to go find out what was going on and before I knew it she disappeared. I saw her on the roof for a split second. She's by herself but she looked fine," Falman desperately tried to explain to the Fuhrer.

"Sorry Falman," he heard Fuery's small voice come through at the end. Falman sighed heavily. I'm too old for this.

Roy clenched his fists tightly as he heard that. "Havoc, drive faster!" he said from the backseat. Breda and Havoc were in the front, accompanying the Fuhrer to the crime scene.

After Fuery had gotten in touch with them, Roy could not sit still and invented an excuse to leave the generals. Only General Armstrong had seen through his lie and she already had an idea of what had gotten him so disconcerted. After Riza had refused to follow his orders, he could not ignore the distress he was feeling and decided to come after her despite all the opposition from his security team. He allowed only Havoc and Breda to come with him.

They arrived to a scene of disarray. Soldiers and firefighters were working together to put out the fire from the building and the ones beside it. However, since the main frame of the building was made in cement, only the front of it seemed to be in flames. There's probably a wall inside the building preventing the fire from spreading to the back. It was spreading fast though and the buildings around could catch fire if they didn't control it now.

"Falman!" Roy called out to him. Everyone around him turned to look who had spoken and when they saw the Fuhrer, they snapped into a salute. "Give me a report," he said, ignoring everyone else.

"Yes sir! Hawkeye successfully shot the hand of the man that was holding our officer hostage and we were able to get him back safely. We rushed back to the scene because she said they would be escaping and she was right. The moment we got here, an explosion went off on the side of the building and a fire started burning the front of it."

"Have you seen her again?" he asked.

"No sir, not since I saw her briefly on the roof. I assume she found no one there and has started coming down, but she has yet to come back," Falman explained.

Roy tuned to Havoc and Breda. "Go find out if anyone's seen her," he instructed and nodded to Falman to do the same. They had no idea where she had gone or how she had gotten inside the building.

"Fuhrer Mustang!" Colonel Griffin saluted.

"Colonel Griffin I presume," Roy said.

"Sir, it's not safe here. You should be escorted back to headquarters," he said.

"I'm looking for Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye. Did you see where she went?" he asked him coldly. Roy could not help but blame this man for having allowed her to join the mission.

"No sir. I have not." Colonel Griffin gulped visibly. Roy could see the alarm in his eyes.

"I'm not leaving without her." Roy said and turned back towards the building. "Make sure your men control this fire. Don't let it spread any more than this."

"Yes sir!" the Colonel was relieved to be able to get away. They were a bit short on number and were waiting for more firefighters to show up to help put out the fire.

There must be a back door. She must've crossed to the back. Roy was already planning a way through when he saw Breda run back to him.

"Sir! Someone saw her go through that alley. There was only a bit of smoke before so it was easy to go through," Breda pointed to the alley that was now victim to a raging fire.

Roy pulled on his gloves and said, "I'm going."

"What? Sir, we should go around the other buildings to reach the back side," Breda responded.

"That'll take too long," Roy said and walked forward.

"How are you-" Breda was about to ask but Roy lifted up his hand and snapped his fingers. A large fireball erupted and pushed the building's fire back. He made a clear space in the alleyway for him to pass and ran right through it.

Fighting fire with fire, Breda chortled. He knew Roy had always been reckless whenever Riza was involved, but this was the first time he had seen him use his alchemy this way. He was about to follow after him, but as he approached, the fire from the building engulfed the alley again and blocked the passage. Damn it! He looked around and saw Havoc and Falman running towards him.

"The Fuhrer went to the back of the building! We have to get there fast!" he told the other two. They had understood what had happened without asking for more details. Alchemists always had their own crazy ways in dangerous situations. The fire had already spread to two other building on either side so they had to make a big detour.

Roy dashed through the flames while holding his breath. He had to snap two other times to make it through without getting burned. Went he got to the back, the air was cooler and the fire had not yet touched any part of it. I knew it. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a lot of experience with burning buildings. He approached the door and saw that someone had shot at it twice at exactly the right places. She came in from here.

He peered inside and listened for any footsteps. After he deemed it safe enough, he entered and saw the stairways leading up and down. If she's already been up to the roof without any problems, then that means they're not there. She must've gone downstairs then. As much as he would've liked to be silent, his fancy shoes had a wooden sole that prevented that. I wish I had my combat boots. He had to descend even slower so that the heels of his shoes didn't make a loud noise at every steps.

After the roof had been cleared, she knew they had went to the basement. She descended as quickly as she could while staying silent. When Riza reached the ground floor, she checked outside to make sure the car was still there, then she crouched and tried to listen for voices or echoes that could indicate their presence. However, the burning building was making too much noise and it was hard to hear anything. She descended quietly and slower until she reached the first basement floor. It keeps going down, she noted. She tried looking in the room through the glass window but it was too dark. If I open the door, they'll know I'm here.

As she was debating whether she wanted to enter or not, she saw a light flashing in the room. She turned the doorknob slowly to not make any sound and slipped in the room. She crouched behind the first furniture she saw and waited for her eyes to adjust a bit, but there really wasn't any light.

"Did you hear that?" she heard a voice whisper.

"No. You're being paranoid. Hurry up and find the passage," another voice whispered anxiously. She recognized that voice. She knew it was Victor. He's here. She peered over the furniture she was hiding behind, confident that they could not see her since they were using a flashlight. The room seemed like a big storage, with things littered everywhere. It'll be hard to move around in here. Not only was it too dark to make out little details of the room, there were objects strewed everywhere. One wrong move and they'll know I'm here. She watched them advance and she slowly and carefully did so too, so to not lose sight of them.

"Where are the other two?" Victor asked.

"They went another way. Keep quiet or I'll make you shut up," the other bigger man said. Riza heard Victor scoff. So they don't get along. She could use that to her advantage. Her priority was to get Victor first.

"Here it is." She could hear them opening something, but could not see what it was. "These are old tunnels. We don't know who built them, but we found them during a mission. It leads outside a few kilometres aways from here. We just have to turn on the lights." Riza waited a bit, then saw some light flash on them, probably coming from the underground tunnels. How does it have electricity?

"Great, now let's go!" Victor insisted. With the light flashing on them, she could confirm that it was Victor and another bigger man beside him. She waited until the big guy was halfway down before she stood up and took aim.

Victor screamed out in pain as Riza shot his shoulder.

"Someone's here!" Victor said to the other guy. "Wait you asshole!"

"I'm not getting caught here! Hurry if you want to escape yourself! I'll be going first," the other man said from the tunnels.

Riza smirked, she was hoping he'd get abandoned by his friend. Victor scrambled on the floor, trying to get down the ladder into the tunnels. Riza dashed towards him as quickly as possible while dodging the obstacles in her way. By the time she got there, he had already went down and had run somewhere. She stuck her head down to see if there was anyone in the tunnel. When she deemed it safe, she went down herself and landed on the hard compacted dirt. These are old tunnels. I wonder what they're for.

The tunnels went both ways, but she looked on the ground and saw some drops of blood. She followed the blood trail quietly, with her gun raised and ready to shoot. She looked back from time to time to check if there was nobody behind her. The tunnels were eerily silent compared to the sound of raging fire upstairs. For some reason, it felt like a deja vu. I've done something like this before. Some memories came up about Roy and she knew she had followed after him in some tunnels before. Focus Riza. You can think about it later.

As she came closer to a rounding corner, she saw a smear of blood on the wall, probably where he had leaned on for a bit. She took cover behind the wall and peeked her head over the wall to see. As she did, a bullet whizzed by her and she quickly ducked back behind the wall.

"I'm not going to prison!" Victor said loudly. "I'll shoot you if you come over here!" They gave him a gun? Riza thought in annoyance.

"Victor," she said. Her voice easily carried down the tunnel with the echo.

She knew he realized it was her when she heard him laugh.

"Oh Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye! I can't believe you came after me. Are you alone?" When she didn't answer him he continued. "I guess you are. Did you get the Fuhrer's permission? I'm sure you didn't because he would never allow his precious woman to come down here alone."

"Victor, surrender quietly and you won't get hurt," Riza said.

"I'm already hurt!" he yelled. "You have no idea what happened to me, what I thought I was doing this whole time! You have no idea what's going on!"

"Then surrender and we can talk about it," Riza said again. She knew it wasn't going to work, but she had to get him to calm down somehow.

Victor chuckled sadly. "No. It's too late. The Fuhrer will never forgive me. But I don't want him to either." He still hadn't forgiven him for having started the revolution. If it hadn't happened in the first place, then Thomas would still be here today. With his son, Victor thought sadly. His anger flared up inside of him again. "I'm not going back." He pushed himself off the wall and ran away.

Hearing the quick footsteps getting further away, Riza started running after him too.

"Do you even know what kind of man you're following Hawkeye?" She heard Victor's voice echo through the tunnels.

"He's the man who ordered us to get rid of you. He's the Fuhrer now so he doesn't need you anymore!" Victor snickered.

Your mind games don't work anymore Victor. Riza ignored him and continued through the tunnels, trying to follow his voice. However, she arrived at a fork and didn't know which way to go. The echo was misdirecting the direction that his voice was coming from and the blood trail had already stopped. I guessed he patched himself up.

"Think about it Hawkeye. You heard what he said in the recording. It wasn't a lie. You know it was his voice. You knew too much about him. You knew his weaknesses."

"Shut up Victor! This is not going to work anymore! Come out!" Riza said angrily. Even though she had tried for the past several weeks to convince herself that Roy was the same person from her childhood, the same man that could never hurt her, sometimes she still had her doubts.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Hawkeye, you delude yourself. If you continue doing that you'll only get hurt. I'm telling you that the order came from him. Why do you think he's so desperate to catch me? It's to hide the evidence. I'm the last witness to his crime. The others have already been caught and I'm sure he has his ways of silencing them. Just think about it!"

Riza was thinking, but she didn't know what was real or fake. Both side could be true. Both side could make sense if she wanted it to.

She heard footsteps behind her and quickly whipped around and aimed her gun. The relief was clear on Roy's face when he saw her. He continued to approach her with a small smile on his face, but stopped when she hadn't lowered her gun and raised his hands up.

"Hawkeye, it's me," Roy said tentatively. The perturbed look on her face told him that something had happened. "Put the gun down."

Riza continued to stare at him and didn't move an inch.

"Riza," he said softly. "What happened?"

"Did you order Victor to have me killed?" she asked him bitterly.

Roy's eyes immediately flashed with fury. "Of course not! I would never give out such an order. I would never hurt you. I don't know what he told you but he's trying to trick you with lies. He's playing mind games with you." Roy looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Please trust me. I would never lie to you," he said. He could see her eyes become less hesitant.

"I want to. I really do," she said, but remained poised to shoot.

"Think of all the times we've been together. Think of the time we spent as children. I'm still the same person," Roy said calmly, then grinned at her. "You bossed me around as a child and acted like my babysitter as an adult. It's what's saved my life many times and gotten me to the position of Fuhrer."

His face became serious as he added, "I know they made you listen to a tape with my voice in it. That was me." Riza frowned at that. "But I wasn't talking about you. I've thought about it for a long time, trying to figure out where it had come from. I was talking about our office couch. The one you named Margaret remember? Well, she broke not too long ago and I said I would replace her. Somehow, Brandt recorded it and pieced some parts together."

Margaret? That name did seem familiar. Riza could remember them pestering her to name the new couch and she had just blurted out the first name that had come up. She sighed slowly and relaxed her shoulders a bit. Maybe he's right. I've known Roy longer than anyone else. I should trust him.

As she started lowering her gun, she saw the look change in his eyes as his right hand lifted quickly in front of him and prepared to snap. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as she tensed and gasped, but her breath remained stuck in her throat. She lifted her gun back up and fired at the same time as he snapped. The bullet lodged itself in his left shoulder. She watched his face contort and he cried out in pain. His spark flew past her and she felt the heat of his flames erupt behind her. She turned around to see Victor consumed by flames. He fell to the ground and rolled around trying to put out the fire.

Riza looked back and forth between Roy and Victor and realized what had just happened. What have I done? The sound of the flames were loud in her ears and her head was pulsating. Her vision blurred and she felt like she was going to faint. She fell to her knees and dropped her gun. Riza stared at Roy wide-eyed and clutched her throbbing head. She saw him looking back at her with alarm and saying something, but she could not hear anything.

'I think that's a wonderful dream', she remembered saying that at her father's funeral after Roy had told her about his visions for the future. She remembered feeling proud of him and wanting to trust him with the secrets of flame alchemy. She had entrusted him with her own dreams.

'There is someone I need to protect', she had told Winry once. She had made that promise the moment she had joined the military. Her goal was to protect the man that would make her dream come true.

What have I done? Why did I shoot him? Riza was gasping for air as she tried to control her raging emotions.

"Riza!" Roy said loudly as he reached her side and crouched beside her. Her eyes were fixed on the ground as she held her head between her hands. He could see her mouth move sometimes as if she were talking to herself, but he couldn't understand what she was saying. He tried to call her but she didn't seem to hear him either. He shook her shoulders and lifted her chin so she could face him. "Damn it Riza, look at me!"

Her eyes finally focused on him, but they were full of remorse. "Sir," she mumbled.

"Hawkeye, are you okay? Is your head hurting?" Roy asked frantically.

Riza looked around, not really knowing what she was searching for before she landed on his shoulder. Blood was gushing out of his wound every time he moved. Riza moved her hand to cover his wound.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she kept on repeating.

"I'm alright. It's just a scratch. It's not deep." Roy reassured her, but she didn't seem to hear him. He pulled her close to him. "I'm just glad that you're alright Riza."

Quick footsteps were heard and Roy turned his head to see Havoc and Falman coming from the same tunnel he had just come from.

"Sir!" Havoc called out, "Are you two alright?"

"Yes, we're okay for now." He looked back to see Victor passed out on the ground a little further away. "We caught Victor."

"We caught another man and tied him up. Breda's with him right now waiting for reinforcements," Havoc said. "How's Hawkeye?"

Roy looked down, but saw that she had passed out. "Hawkeye!" he called her, but she didn't wake up.

"Sir you're injured!" Falman noticed as Riza's hand fell from his shoulder.

"It's fine. We have to get her to a doctor fast," Roy said as he stood up with Riza in his arms. He grunted in pain as more blooded flowed from his wound. "Falman, tie him up and wait for reinforcements."

"Sir, I can carry her," Havoc offered.

"No I can do it," Roy insisted and started walking.

"Chief! If you lose more blood you'll pass out too. If that happens, you'll drop Hawkeye and she'll get hurt in the process," Havoc argued. "She won't like that."

Roy didn't know if the fact that Havoc was thinking more about Riza and was disregarding him irritated him more than the fact that he knew he was right, but he stopped and sighed before transferring her to Havoc's arms.

"Sorry chief, but I can't risk letting you drop her. She won't like waking up with bruises," Havoc grinned.

"I'm glad to know you care deeply about your Fuhrer's wellbeing Havoc," Roy said sarcastically.

"I do. That's why I'm making sure she stays safe. That little scratch on your shoulder is nothing," Havoc gave him a knowing glance.

Roy huffed as he put pressure on his shoulder and walked quickly to the exit. Going up the ladder with an unconscious person proved to be very tricky, but other officers were already at the entrance of the tunnels and helped them bring her up. The medics rushed to the Fuhrer to treat his shoulder but he ordered them to check on Riza first. He only allowed himself to get treated once they were inside the ambulance with her.

Riza woke up groggily. She looked around the room and saw Roy walking towards her. He smiled at her as he sat down on the chair beside her bed.

"How are you feeling Hawkeye?" he asked.

"What are you doing here sir? Where am I?" she asked. She had initially thought that she was in her room, but quickly retracted that idea when she didn't recognize anything.

"This is the hospital. You fainted and was unconscious for two hours," Roy explained.

Riza frowned and stared at the ceiling. She tried to recall the events leading to this moment. When they came back to her, she gasped and turned towards him. She saw that his left arm was in a sling and his shoulder had been properly bandaged. She shot up in bed and looked at him with guilt.

"I- I would never have fired at you-" Roy held up his hand to stop her from continuing.

"Hawkeye, I know you didn't mean to shoot me. And even if you did, I don't think you would've missed that badly." Roy pointed to his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were trying to kill me and I instinctively shot you."

"If you thought I was going to kill you then why did you only aim for my shoulder?" Roy ask calmly, but she could see the fire in his eyes. He was not happy about that.

His comment had surprised her too. She didn't really know why she had aimed at his shoulder instead of his chest. "I guess I just can't bring myself to shoot you when you haven't strayed from your path. It's not what I promised to do."

Roy was still not pleased by her answer. He ruffled his hair and sighed in frustration. "I'm not worth it. You should protect yourself as best as you can. If you feel that your life is being threatened, don't hesitate to shoot. I couldn't even even protect you."

"It's not your job to protect me sir. It's mine," Riza said.

"I know it's not, but I need to protect you at all cost. I want to," Roy said with determination. They stared at each other for a few seconds, none of them daring to move.

Riza finally smiled a bit. "You've always been like that sir. You keep on putting yourself in danger to go save others. It makes my job much harder that way."

Roy stared at her attentively. "What is it sir?" Riza asked, feeling a little uncomfortable to be under his scrutiny.

"Did you... get your memories back?" he asked. He had noticed the difference in her way of speech and that had made him hopeful.

Riza frowned and looked down at her hands. She thought for a bit, then nodded. "Yes, I think I did."

Roy beamed and couldn't help himself from giving her a one-armed hug.

"S- sir!" Riza stuttered in surprise and at their proximity.

"I'm so glad you're back Hawkeye," Roy said. The way his breath tickled her neck made her cheeks flare up. They had never been this close, not since their childhood.

"I'm sorry to have worried you sir," Riza managed to utter.

When Roy released her, he noticed her blush and grinned. He had never seen such an adorable look on her face.

"Are you sure you're alright though? Your head is not hurting is it?" Roy asked with concern.

"No, I'm fine," she assured him. Riza was more bothered by the Fuhrer's injury. "But what about you sir? You lost some blood. You should be resting. Why aren't you in bed?"

Roy realized how much he had missed her fussing over him. He chuckled and said, "I'm fine Hawkeye. Really, I am. I didn't lose that much blood."

Riza still had a worried frown and looked unconvinced. She looked down and said, "Sir, I shot you. I deserved a proper punishment. No one can go unpunished for harming the Fuhrer."

"No." Riza looked at him almost in anger. "You're the only person that I've given the permission to shoot me."

"Only if you strayed from the right path!" Riza argued. "I had no reason to shoot you."

"But I can't punish you, because I love you."

Riza thought her heart had stopped. She stared at him with wide eyes. Did I just hear what I think I did? Roy looked completely serious. I must've heard wrong.

"I love you Riza." Roy repeated. He knew her thoughts were working at the speed of light trying to figure out what had just happened, so he said it again to make sure she heard it right. He had decided a while ago that he would not waste any more time. He would not miss the chance to confess his love for her again.

Roy smiled as he saw her face redden. "But sir, we can't! The fraternization laws-"

"I removed them," Roy cut her off. She looked at him in surprise.

"You know what? I do feel like laying down in bed. I feel tired." He lifted her bedsheets and slid into the bed beside her, forcing her to scoot to the side to make room for him. By then, Riza's face was bright red and she was speechless. He sighed contently after he had gotten himself comfortable and searched for her hand. He intertwined his fingers with hers and turned his head to the side to face her.

She looked at him in bewilderment, but didn't back away. Roy smiled at her as he inched his face closer.

"I have to say, your face looks much lovelier from this distance," he teased. Their faces were only ten centimetres away.

Riza had never imagined that Roy would ever return her feelings. Never in her wildest dreams. This man was the person she had loved for many years in secret and had learned to bury her feeling for him in order to protect him. She felt her heart beating faster as she stared at him and saw his sincerity. She had never seen such a serene look on his face.

Finally, she laughed and Roy could swear it was the most enchanting sound he had ever heard. Riza leaned in to kiss him.

A.N.: Lots of shoulder wounds in this one lol. And I couldn't help myself and added some fluff near the end. I hope this chapter satisfied some of you. I'm sorry again for the long wait. I never had time to write. Please leave a review ;)

P.S.: The story will be completed within ten days.