Losses and Sacrifices Chapter 1

Soft light filtered in through the partially drawn curtains, as Serena's consciousness slowly drifted to the surface. She rolled onto her side, and put her arm out to reach for the familiar warmth of her beloved husband, but to her surprise, all she felt was cold bed.  Which she found odd, since she always woke up first. She untangled herself from the blanket, 'it must have been that nightmare again…' she thought, thinking that's why she was so wrapped up. She walked out of their room, down the hallway to the kitchen to see Al in the military blue pants and the tight-fitting black top, a towel hanging over his shoulder drying his hair. 'I must have slept in for a while, if he's already had a shower.'

"Hey Honey, you're up late. What'd you do, stay up all night?" he said with a humorous tone in his voice. "No, you know I didn't, I was asleep before you, idiot. And don't mock me!" she replied grouchily. "Okay okay, sorry." He gave her an odd look. "Need coffee? I made some a while ago, so you'll have to boil the water again."

She contemplated having a coffee, she really needed it, and some breakfast. But at the thought of food, a wave of nausea enveloped her. "I…" her face turned pale, and she dashed off down the hallway again, this time taking the door on the right. "Serena?!" cried Al, and he chased after her. He found her kneeling over the toilet, puking violently. He rushed to her side, and held her hair out of her face. Once she was finished, she shuffled over to the sink and rinsed her mouth out about five times, and brushed her teeth as many. All the while, Al clung to her worriedly, like a little child, not letting go of her sleeve and keeping his hand on her back. Finally he asked, "Are you alright? Are you sick?" she looked at the expression on his face, he almost looked scared. And she knew why; when his mom Trisha was sick, she would sometimes just randomly throw up. She had reminded him of his mother, and dragged up all the painful memories.

She smiled and said gently, "I'm fine Al, I just feel a little sick in my stomach, I probably just ate something bad last night, that's all." His expression softened, and you could see his whole body relax. "You could stay home today if you want. Miss Riza will understand."
"It's not her that I'm worried about, it's Mustang. He'll have a fit if I skip out on work. Honestly, Riza says he just cares about us, but I'm not sure if he's parental or just abusing the fact that he can order us around."
"I'm sure he means well. He does feel bad when we get hurt." He said in a defensive kind of tone. She leant against the sink. "No, he seems to feel bad. He's probably just disappointed that he couldn't do it himself." "but--" she cut him off after looking at the clock. "Jeez, Al we're gonna be late!"

Rushing up the stairs that led to Central HQ with half a piece of toast in her mouth, Serena had the sick feeling in her stomach again. "Ugh…" she groaned, and wrapped one arm around her middle, but let go so she could continue trying to do her hair. 'Heheh, master of multitasking.' She thought smugly once it had passed. She landed on the top step one second just before Al did; she ate the last bite of toast, jumped in the air and exclaimed victoriously, "HAHA!! Beat you again!"

Al was bent over, huffing, out of breath, but soon was breathing normally. He stood up straight, stared at her and smiled lovingly. "You always do. Hmf, you've got crumbs on your face." She blushed and went to brush them away, but he reached out and bet her to it. He lent in, put one hand behind her head and one hand around her waist, pulled her closer and kissed her gently. A tingly sensation filled her inside, and she ran a hand through his hair, kissing him more fiercely. No matter how long they had been together, this would never fade; he always made her feel like the entire world just fell away when he kissed her.
"Ahem." A person behind them cleared their throat. They immediately parted but intertwined hands behind their backs, blushing to an even deeper pink. She wiped her mouth and licked her lips clean. 'Yummy…He…*blush* he's wearing vanilla lip balm…' They turned and saw Ed, with Ree a step behind him. "What, don't you do enough of that at home?" asked Ed, eyeing Serena annoyingly. She and Al blushed harder and Serena said defensively, "Shut it BLONDE! Don't make me call you a midget…" Her voice trailed off when yet more nausea hit her. "Don't you da--ah!" he cried, when she shoved him towards the door. "C'mon, we're late enough already." She said, trying to shut him up.

They stopped at the front desk and punched their timecards, then went down the hallway to the right, making turns every now and then. Finally, they made it to the Colonel's office. Al knocked on the door, and opened it, holding it for the others. They assembled in a line in front of his desk, just like they did every morning.
"Morning Colonel Mustang" said Al and Kiree.

"You're late." He said, not even bothering to look up from his work.
"We slept in sir." Said Al politely. "That's barely an excuse. Maybe you should get an alarm clock. Or maybe a bedtime." "Shut it or I'll steal those damn gloves of yours and burn you in a place that men REALLY don't want to be burned." Serena said, sounding serious. Today, feeling how she was, she would do it. Roy finally looked up, gaping at her for a few seconds. He swallowed then sat up straight and composed himself. "Watch your tongue. You know better than to talk to a superior officer like that." He said stiffly, Serena just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Ed, Al and Ree all stared at her. Ree went to grab her sleeve, and ask if she was alright, but Serena jerked away.

"Hmf, superiority complex much, Pyro? What's wrong, not enough sleep? Oh that's right; you were up all night with your new girlfriend, weren't you?! Where did you find this one, your usual corner? That's where you probably find all your other whores!" He slammed his fists down on his desk and everyone jumped. "OUTSIDE!" he stood up so fast, he nearly toppled over the chair and sent his paperwork flying over the desk, and swung his arm around to point at the door. "NOW! I'll deal with you when I'm done here!" he shouted. "Go screw yourself colonel BASTARD! I'm sick of your shit!" she shouted back, and stormed out of the room and slammed the door, but it swung back open again, just as she disappeared back down the hallway.
Riza walked up from her desk at the other end of the room. "Sir--" Roy cut her off with a sharp tone in his voice. "not now, lieutenant." He said while he gathered up his scattered paper. "I was going to ask if I may go look for Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Sir." She said harshly. He paused and looked up at her, put his chair back in place and sat back down. "*sigh* if you really are that concerned about her, you may go look." As Riza walked away, he realised why she sounded so harsh. "Riza!" he said trying to catch her in time. She paused in the doorway, and turned to look coldly at him. "I was home alone last night…*blush* just so you know." He looked down, and her expression softened, she smiled gently. She was going to say 'good.' but then remembered that other people were there and returned to her usual formal tone. "I don't see how that's relevant sir." And walked out. He went back to debriefing the other three. Fuery, Havoc, Falman and Breda went back to work as well.

Trying to get away from that horrible office, everything went blurry as Serena's eyes stung with tears. She scrubbed them away with the sleeve of her blue military jacket. She hated the military, and hated wearing the uniform; she only worked there because Al, Ree and Ed did. She turned into the uni-sex bathroom, stripped off the blue jacket and ditched it at the ground like it was worth nothing to her. She went into one of the dry showers, and sat on the little shelf against the wall. Serena knew that they cleaned the showers every couple of hours, so she didn't worry about it being dirty. She didn't like co-ed anything, she thought they knew that and wouldn't look there for her. 'That's if they care enough to look…' she thought dismally.

But for the third time in four months, there was maintenance being done on the girl's bathroom. So after half an hour of looking everywhere else, Riza looked anyway. Serena heard the door open and clamped a hand over her mouth, and then heard the rustle of fabric. Riza looked at the shoulders, 'Four stripes, two stars…it looks about the right size…this is her jacket. I'd better get the others.' she thought. Serena heard the door close; the last of her self-control depleted trying to keep quiet for even that short time, buried her face in her arms and went back to crying.

Riza rushed to find the other Elrics; in that state, Serena wouldn't listen to anyone but them. She found them walking out of Mustang's office. "Finally!" said Ree, then she spotted Riza. "Riza!" and saw that she was holding Serena's jacket "Did you find her?!" she nodded, and said "She's this way, c'mon."  She beckoned for them to follow her.

They followed her to where Serena was hiding out. They walked in quietly, Ree first. She opened the stall that the noise was coming from. She stood in the doorway, Serena jumped a little when Ree touched her on the shoulder. She looked up at her, "R-Ree?" she said croakily. Ree leant closer to her and brushed her hair from her eyes. "What's wrong sis?" Serena's eyes teared up again, "I…I don't know…I just can't stop crying" she leaped into Ree's arms and cried harder. Ree muttered softly in Serena's ear "Shhh, don't cry sis…it's alright." Serena nodded and tried to dry her eyes and get her breathing back to normal. She stood up off the little bench and took a few steps out into the room but fell back down on her hands and knees. She puked on the floor, and everything went blurry, she fell over on her side, unconscious. Riza gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth, gripping Serena's jacket tighter. "Serena?!" exclaimed Ed and Ree, Al rushed to her and turned her onto her back and shook her by the shoulders, "Serena?!  Honey, wake up!" he said sounding panicky.

"WAKE UP!"