Don't be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.

**********

"Jeez Maes, you couldn't have handled that any differently?" Aiden scolded.

The man had the decency to look abashed. "I know, I know, but I was excited to see her and it just slipped out."

After Maes' terrible introduction, it didn't surprise Aiden when Riza did pull a gun on the man. But the motion alarmed her and she stepped in front of him with her hands up, quickly explaining what happened that night all those months ago. Riza was, understandably, hesitant at first to believe her and then when Aiden proved Maes was himself, she was enraged.

Maes Hughes hadn't been as dead as they'd been led to believe and neither of the two responsible told Roy. They'd let him grieve and mourn for a friend - a brother shot dead by an enemy within the military. Not to mention Gracia and Elicia.

"They all think you're dead!" she raged.

The two other occupants of the room let the woman pace the floor and berate them and yell at them. They deserved it and it wasn't anything they hadn't already said to themselves. Selfish? Crazy? Liars? That one hurt and it'd been said before but not yet from the Lieutenant.

Then suddenly the woman collapsed on the couch in defeat and brought a tired hand up to her face. "We have to tell him," Riza said.

"Absolutely not."

The reply came so quick Riza had to pause and evaluate it before she looked up and frowned at Aiden. "He deserves to know." Her friend didn't respond and suddenly the woman was on her feet. "You can't keep him in the dark like this, that's torture! Have you seen what trying to find his killer has done?"

"Of course I have!" Aiden snapped back. "You don't think I've noticed how Roy's been sleeping and eating less? How he's so damn driven that he's not taking care of himself? We don't have a choice here Riza! Maes Hughes needs to stay dead until we drive the homunculi out of the military!"

Riza's eyes narrowed and Aiden blanched. "You knew," she accused. "We didn't know anything about them until months after the funeral. You were prepared for his death."

Maes stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not her fault. Sit down and we'll tell you what you need to know. Why we can't say I'm alive and why you won't tell Roy."

Riza cast them another cautious look until she nodded. She ignored the couch and stood in place as Aiden slowly began to tell her story. First came her life and when Aiden's age and the timeline didn't match up, Maes shushed her and told her to pay attention. Then the car crash came along and with that was Aiden's description of Truth and a large cement gate identical to the one the Elric brother had described. Age regression, a journal, the outright fact that the woman in front of her was from another dimension and to her they were nothing but fiction until she'd been tossed here for the sake of entertainment.

By the end of it, Riza had been staring at the floor for minutes on end, unseeing and processing the new information. Aiden had been ripped away from her family and tossed out like trash as enjoyment of a god-like being. She voluntarily entered the military knowing the war she'd witness - although it's not like she hadn't gone through it before. The woman kept her past a secret because if anyone found out she thought she'd be shunned in one way or another.

"He's not going to like this."

Maes snorted. "Roy's not going to like anything we do when he finds out. His best friends hid the fact that I was alive when he thought I was dead."

Aiden nodded, "And we're all gonna be there when you see your family again and when Roy sees you. Even if it hurts him it's for the best." She looked away from the two and stared out the window.

"It's not your decision to make," Riza countered weakly.

Aiden went to reply but Maes cut her off. "You're right, it's not her decision. It's mine. And I'm deciding to stay here and wait."

The two stared at one another until the Lieutenant sighed and shook her head. She wasn't really against keeping the man in hiding for his safety and she was all for it now that she knew what they were up against. Relatively.

"Alright, where do I fit in?"

Aiden smiled and began explaining Riza's part in her plan. They'd both be under watch but having both of them taking calls for Maes when the other couldn't was a good start.

The night continued on like that until the two women left early in the morning. The three soldiers took turns planning, listing possible events where things could be twisted if needed and where that may lead in the long run, and clueing Riza in on their codes to make sure none of them were Envy. When Aiden dropped Riza off she didn't head straight home. Instead, she drove to the address Riza had given her, the explanation being that she'd know what to do when she got there.

It was a bar. The same bar the team had been at days ago. Aiden raised an eyebrow and briefly considered going home. But there must've been a reason why Riza would send her to such a place. She sighed and walked in, ignoring the men and woman who looked up at her appearance and went back to their drinks. Surveying the area quickly, she noticed familiar black hair sitting in one of the booths facing away from her.

Aiden took a seat at a table and waved off the waitress who came by, keeping an eye on the Colonel. The man only stared at the table in front of him, occasionally sighing and scratching at his head. An hour passed and she too sighed and walked forward, stopping by the booth and then sliding in. She propped her elbow up on the table and rested her chin on her hand, quirking an eyebrow in question.

"What are you doing here?" Roy asked.

A glass was in front of him, empty of something she couldn't identify. He wasn't in uniform and instead wore a white button-up shirt and pants, but he still wore his signature black coat. His hair was mussed up from the constant fingers running through it.

"You've been staring at that same glass for an hour Roy," Aiden stated, nodding at the glass in question. "Care to tell me what's on your mind? Or at the very least how long you've been here."

She knew he'd been there long enough for a few drinks regardless of how long he stared at them. The drops of liquid on the table were proof of that. Though she didn't know how long he'd stared at each glass and it probably didn't matter. She wanted to know why he'd come back to the bar, alone.

Roy finally knocked back what was in the glass and shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

He looked up from the glass and stared at Aiden. Her lips twitched upwards in an attempt to smile and get a rise from him. He appreciated the gesture, but it didn't work. Not this time. "It's not your problem, I'll handle it."

Aiden frowned and leaned back as she crossed her arms, unknowingly raising her chest with the movement. Roy noticed, of course he did. He quickly diverted his black eyes back up to her dark green ones. "Make it my problem then."

Her voice was soft and her eyes didn't waver from his. Roy sighed and slouched in his seat ever so slightly and for a moment, Aiden was reminded of the man she'd seen in Ishval. Exhausted. Haunted.

She waved the bartender over. His drink was refilled and she was given the same, except she kept the bottle with them. They remained silent and she waited for any kind of answer, slowly nursing her drink and refilling it; she didn't want a repeat of last time. His glass had been emptied twice over before he spoke.

"In the fight today," Roy began, "I was reminded of something." Aiden didn't respond, simply nodding. "The fight was easy, very easy, and when I went to finish it I... The look Edward gave me reminded me of one I'd received in Ishval."

Her breath hitched as she stared at him, but he ignored her gaze and focused on the glass in front of him.

"He was a child, younger than even Ed. We were at a standoff and I knew the kid was scared, he was shaking. He drew his rifle and I ended him."

Aiden nodded in understanding. "So you regret taking his life. We've all done something we aren't proud of, and still we're haunted by the memories. But regretting isn't a bad thing, you know. It just proves that you have a heart."

Roy's eyes narrowed at the glass and he grit his teeth. "I still hate it. Taking lives for a war that never should have happened," he hissed. They sat in silence, each in their own thoughts.

"A lot of people regret what happened in that war and I'm no different," Aiden mumbled. "The war was needless, yes, but it happened all the same. You shouldn't be ashamed of fighting for your life no matter how you went about it. You lived, they died, simple as that." She frowned at her own drink. "Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying they weren't important. Every life is important, it's just a matter of perspective."

Then Aiden stood up and walked to the bartender, paying for the drinks. She strolled back to him and held out her hand. "Come on then," she said. "Let's get you home."

Roy almost smiled at the ironic phrase. It was he who first said that to her when she was drunk that night, and now it was her saying it to him as if he were the drunk one. He wasn't drunk per se, and though he did feel a bit of a buzz he was perfectly coherent. Still, he took her hand and followed her out of the bar and to her car.

When they got to his house Aiden followed him in when he mentioned he still had her clothes. She was still in the doorway when he came back and almost grabbed the door handle before she turned and looked back at him, gently biting her lip.

"You say you hate taking lives for the sake of a needless war, well that's how you know you're different from Kimblee. He'd never regret taking a life. You're a good man Roy," she reached across the small distance between them and placed a hand over his chest, "with a good heart."

He stared down at her in surprise. In a sudden movement, he closed the gap between them and kissed her, Aiden responding automatically. Roy smiled and went to pull back when she surged forward and wrapped her arms around him, keeping him close. She didn't want him going anywhere. The taste of alcohol lingered on their lips but neither person paid it any mind, instead focusing on the other and how they felt.

Roy's ashwood and mint scent enveloped Aiden and she gripped at the short strands of hair. His scent, presence, and warmth... It was all too much for her but she loved it. Her lips were still as soft as he remembered and the citrusy scent he'd come to associate her with was easy to smell in such close proximity. She was the reason he loved oranges so much.

There was no telling who deepened the kiss, whether it was her pulling on his hair or him wanting her closer, but it was definitely him who pushed her up against the door. She hummed as Roy's hands trailed down her sides and rested on her hips. They broke apart and their heads rested against one another as the two panted, faces flushed.

"Aiden," he breathed. His voice was deeper than she had ever heard and it sent a shudder down her spine. "If we continue... I won't stop."

She didn't care. She looked into his obsidian eyes. "Then don't stop."

He kissed her deeply and led her through the house and up the stairs, both stumbling over the top step. Their pace was hasty as they passed the room she'd stayed in and entered one two doors down. Aiden didn't have time to survey the room before she was backed into a wall and Roy's lips were smashed into hers, the door slamming shut beside them as he kicked it closed, which she barely registered in her hazy mind. His hands wandered to her jeans, fingers grasping the loops and pulling her against his front so she could feel him against her. She gasped and her head fell back against the wall with a dull thunk, and he took the opportunity to latch on to her neck. The only noise she could make was a moan that he answered with a grind of his hips.

It was a very long night for both of them.

Roy woke up with a groggy head and certainly not as much sleep as he would have liked. The first thing he felt was a warm body pressed up against him and had he not remembered what happened the night before he would have been alarmed, though that didn't stop his eyes from snapping open in order to see the head of black hair laying on his chest. Aiden had wrapped herself around him; her arms around his chest and a leg hooked over his waist. Surprise washed over him that the night hadn't been a dream and then he smiled, humming lightly. He gently detached an arm from her hold and pulled her up closer to him, brushing away a few strands of hair.

The feeling of a kiss being placed on her head had been what woke Aiden up. She breathed in deeply and sighed, tightening her hold on whatever she had. A familiar chuckling reached her ears and she opened her eyes and look up to meet the pair of black eyes staring at her. She smiled shyly and hid her face in Roy's chest which only made his chuckle turn into a laugh.

"Hey."

Aiden glanced back up and Roy took the chance to swoop in and give her a quick peck on the lips. Her cheeks burned brightly but she followed him and gave her own kiss to the man she was laying on. The kiss quickly turned into a heated makeout session that left both parties panting for air. While she was distracted with regaining her breath, he flipped them and suddenly her back connected with the bed and he was looming above her.

"So not fair," Aiden breathed.

Roy shot her a smug look, "All's fair in love and war."

A devious smile crept up her face. "Is that so? Well then..."

It was an hour before either of them left the bed. It was another hour before they arrived at headquarters for the start of the day.

Jack was the first to see her and the moment his dark eyes landed on her, a full-blown grin stretched onto his face. Aiden glared at him from behind her desk.

"Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it," she snapped.

"Ooh, wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Or should I say right side?"

She threw a knife at him as he ran out the door laughing. Just as the door shut it opened again, Riza walking through and pausing ever so slightly to glance at the knife embedded in the wall before disregarding it completely. It was just a result of Jack being Jack. The Lieutenant noticed Aiden face down on the desk and she sighed as she set down the extra cup of coffee. It was half gone in seconds.

"Riza you are a godsend," Aiden praised.

The Lieutenant Colonel's hair was ruffled and the uniform wasn't as clean as Riza knew Aiden's standards would be. The woman was apparently extremely tired if the slight dark circles under her eyes were any indication, but there was a redder tint to her skin tone so subtle that no one aside from those closest to Aiden would notice. Riza tilted her head slightly as Aiden sighed dreamily into her cup, catching sight of a red mark on her neck. Had her head not been at an odd angle she wouldn't have seen it. Well it was about damn time, Riza smiled inwardly and fixed her stance just as Aiden came back to life via coffee.

"I was sent here to inform you that today is everyone's last day in Central. So you should speak to Fuery while you still can."

Aiden nodded. "Alright. Thank you." She went to start on her work that had been delivered by Jack but Riza still hadn't moved. She quirked an eyebrow at her friend. "Is there something else?"

"I still think it's wrong; keeping the Colonel in the dark."

"You and me both. But you know why and until this blows over he'll remain clueless."

Riza sighed and shook her head as she sipped from the coffee cup. "So we don't tell him until that day."

Aiden nodded and shuffled the papers on her desk once more. "No. And you can't take any action-"

"I know. It's just hard seeing him like this while we know the truth."

Aiden paused in her reading. "You'll never get used to it. There was no choice. I had Maes killed for a reason."

"What was that?"

Aiden and Riza whipped their heads around in surprise to see Kain, shock and horror rolling from him in waves.

**********

Kain enters: *insert to be continued meme*

I have nothing to say for myself. Nothing aside from: I'm not sure if you guys wanted to read smut so I just skipped over it.