Chapter 1: My Tears Are Becoming a Sea

Hawkeye

Riza was in no way enjoying being the Fuhrer's new personal secretary. As if losing Roy wasn't bad enough she had to watch the smug bastard gloat about it every day. She chuckled a bit at her use of language, Ed certainly had rubbed off on people, in more ways than one. With that thought she let out a sad sigh as she plopped a packet of chai tea into the Fuhrer's favorite teapot. She had grown tired of watching Bradley smirk at the power he had over the country. As his power grew so did his grin. His grin had grown exponentially after last month's tragedy. He had made it very clear to Mustang and those under his command just how badly reckoning with the leader of Amestris could end. The people of Amestris, some military personal included, once held a great hope for the future of their country. As long as there were those who opposed the corruption and who would fight to the last to see it overturned, there was hope. Now most of their hope had dried up. Riza begrudgingly knocked on the Fuhrer's door to deliver his tea.

"Come in," he called from behind the door. Riza took a second to compose herself and her expression. With teeth gritted she opened the door.

"Sir!" she saluted the foul monster of a man who sat before her.

"At ease lieutenant," He dismissed her pouring himself a cup of tea. Riza resisted her urge to punch the man in the face. To think the man would just sit there acting as though everything was back to the weird state they had recently considered 'normal'. It would never be back to normal. She would always see the look of some twisted form of excitement that was in his eyes on that sunny day last month. It was really an anomaly that that day was sunny. Of all the weather conditions, sunny was the last thing she would expect to associate with such intense misery.

"Lieutenant" the voice shook her from her thoughts.

"Yes sir!"

"I forgot earlier that I wished to inform you of a change in personnel tomorrow." He stated gruffly, "My nephew will be assisting you in your secretarial duties. I have taken it upon myself to ensure the boy has a good start on his military career." Riza almost spoke as a sign of understanding, before she remembered her place.

"Yes sir!"

"You are dismissed lieutenant." She let the door fall shut behind her as she left the office. Only two hours left in the day she reminded herself. Today would end, that she was sure of. However she was unsure if the rain falling in her heart ever would. Amidst all of these thoughts she couldn't help but wonder how Roy was holding up.

Mustang

Mustang had decided to slowly rip the edge of his paperwork into fringe. Just like his paperwork he felt frayed and torn, as cheesy and poetic as that may sound. He had passed the mark of 'tired' three weeks ago. He was genuinely surprised he was still somewhat functioning. He missed his men who had been carted off to every far point in the country of Amestris. He missed Hawkeye more as she remained, trapped beneath the Fuhrer's careful watch. Surprisingly, most of all he missed the short tempered alchemist that had so often kicked his door in only to call him a colonel bastard. He missed being the colonel bastard and he missed those golden eyes that held such an immense fire. A little over a month ago his worries were simple: make sure Havoc doesn't set the office on fire with his cigarettes, hope that the Elric brothers make it back from their latest mission mostly intact, and of course continue to climb to the position of Fuhrer. The most ironic thing of this whole situation was that the Elric brothers had made it back unscathed. However, Havoc had managed to accidentally start a small fire on his desk. His climb to become Fuhrer isn't looking that great at present either, though he wanted it now more than ever. He was livid with anger and pain at the recent doings of the current Fuhrer. The state was corrupt all the way from the bottom to the top. He felt as bad for the country almost as much as he felt bad for both Elric brothers. Now his worries were more complex: what was his place in a government corrupt as this, how we're all of his men doing now that they had been separated from them, and most important of all how was Alphonse Elric. He did not even want to ponder what must be going through Alphonse's mind at a time like this. The thought made him cringe as he returned to the mutilation of his pile of paperwork.

Alphonse

They all seemed to think he was taking all of this surprisingly well. They couldn't be more wrong. He had never yearned more for the escape that sleep promised. He wasn't sure he could handle another night alone with his grief, accompanied only by the rattling of his trembling armor. Hawkeye had invited him to stay at her house for a while, but he had refused. None of them seemed to be able to process the gravity of the situation. Or perhaps it wasn't as important to them and they have already moved on. The droning of phone interrupted his thoughts. Winry was calling again, that he was sure of. He hadn't exactly told her yet. Somewhere deep down he knew that was selfish of him, but he couldn't figure out how to do it. After all, what if after he told her, she moved on and he was the only one who still cared? Or worse, and much more likely, what if she cried and blamed him for the rest of his life? This thought made him shudder…..Al was hesitant to return to Resembool, too many pleasant memories that now haunted him. Though he now felt as though staying alone in the military dorm was worse for his mental state. Perhaps he should reconsider going back home. Yet, how could he face Granny and Winry? They would expect him to have accepted the reality of the situation by now, wouldn't they? He took a deep breath with the lungs he did not have in an attempt to smooth over the whimpers echoing from the depths of the armor. He began to sob once more. How could they all expect him to accept something so ridiculous? Alphonse could not and would not accept the grim truth. For, how exactly was he supposed to accept that his older brother was dead?

The Next Day: Hawkeye

Riza had decided to stop by and check on Roy, regardless of what consequences could follow. Roy always got to work around the same time as her, about an hour before anyone else arrived. Not that that mattered now that they had all been separated. She knocked lightly on the door to Roy's office. After a second or two of waiting she let herself in. She was appalled at the sight before her. The flame alchemist was sleeping on top of his paper work, hair disheveled and uniform wrinkled. Had he even gone home last night? Her eyes wandered to the rest of the desk and she sighed when she spotted a half empty bottle of Roy's favorite whiskey. She unholstered her gun and clicked the safety off. At the noise Roy was startled awake.

"Lieutenant, I swear I was just taking a short break before diligently finishing the rest of my paperwork!" He called in his half-awake stupor.

"Sir," she smiled glumly at him, "can you really not take care of yourself without me here?"

"Sure," he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and then smirking at her, "If admitting that is what it takes to get you back." She laughed a bit at that, albeit a bit solemnly, as she busied herself with gathering his paperwork into a neat stack.

"Riza." Roy's voice cracked with overwhelming pain and though he was speaking to her he pointedly avoided looking in her direction.

"I miss him too." She said placing a gentle hand on his cheek, leading his eyes back up to hers.

"Damn it," he swore, jolted out of his grief, "He of all people never deserved anything like that. It should have been me. And I swear on my life that those fuckers will pay for what they've done!" He struggled to regain control of his breathing.

"I'm worried about Alphonse," she said eyes fixed on the floor, "It's not ok for him to be alone this often after what happened. We should go check up on him tonight and see if we can talk him into heading home." Roy nodded in agreement while grabbing one of the underused pens from inside his desk. He glared at his paper before looking up at her with a guarded expression.

"I'll see you then Lieutenant." He dismissed her. Riza couldn't help but frown as she walked away. They were all taking this hard, but Roy more so than she would have expected.

A/N: I don't really remember writing this? I feel like I used to be better at writing? I don't know? Also don't know if I'll write more, and If I do, do not expect chapters this long. Thanks for reading!