Backwards🪭↩️

4

Riza was fuming! She came into work and opened the door to the colonel's office and found no one there. Not a soul. Not even Edward or Alphonse was lounging on the couch that was there. She clenched her fists and kept her composure as she turned out of the office and looked at the rest of the subordinates.

"Any idea where the colonel is?" she asked them.

Everyone looked up and Jean looked around as if something had startled him.

"Hey, yeah, where is he?"

"You didn't realize he wasn't in?"

"Well, he's usually here before us and sometimes he closes the door and doesn't come out until lunch time, so we assumed he was held up in the office with paperwork." Fuery said, holding a stack of papers.

Riza made a face at the lack of observance that her coworkers had and went to her desk. She picked up the phone and dialed the colonel's number. She waited as the phone rang and tapped her fingers on the desk.

"Colonel Mustang." he said in the phone sleepily.

"Colonel, this is Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Mmm." he said.

"Is there a reason you're not here?"

"I already called in sick to the Fuhrer, Hawkeye. I don't need you harping on me like some damned gorilla. I'm not a child."

Riza blinked for a second and then leaned on her elbow on the table.

"Well you could have at least let us know too, sir. I don't want you slacking."

"Damn it, Riza, stop acting like my mother! I'm not feeling well, deal with it. Goodbye."

He slammed the phone down and Riza looked at it in confusion and frustration. He'd never spoken to her like that unless she were in danger or if she tried to help him and he was danger. Something was odd...

"What'd he say?"

"He said that he was sick and had already called in to the Fuhrer..."

"Sick? That's never stopped him before. Remember when he came here with pneumonia the one time? We had to literally push him out the door to make him leave." Breda said with a laugh.

The others laughed too but Riza was very worried. She'd have to stop by after work and see if he was truly alright.

***************************

Riza knocked on her commanding officer's door and waiting in the cool night air. It was going to be a bit nippy tonight, possibly icy rain by the way the clouds looked and early darkening of the sky. Roy didn't come to the door and so Riza knocked on it again, waiting for him to open up. She finally heard the lock on the door knob unlock and Roy pulled the door open, it stopping from the chain connecting the door to the wall.

"Colonel?"

"Yes?"

"It's me... can I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess."

He closed the door and undid the latch, opening the door so she could go in. He turned on the lamp and Riza looked around at the dark room.

"Why are you here? I thought I told you I was fine without you?"

"You did but I just wanted to make sure you were really alright. You say that things are fine but half the time you're really bluffing."

He shrugged and went to the couch to lay back down.