At some point this idea must've seemed perfectly reasonable to not only her, but to her superior, and more importantly, to his superiors.
They'd been tracing a weapons smuggling ring for the past month, inching closer and closer to the person at the top. They'd hit multiple frustrating dead ends, until they'd come across one that looked like it might pay off. It wasn't a trail back to a person, but to a place, a suburban district of a small city towards the north.
It had been decided that the softly, softly approach would be the best option. Going in undercover in order to gather intel before making a move. After all, they weren't sure exactly who it was that they were after, just that they happened to live in this one particular neighbourhood, and they didn't want to spook him (or her) by going in guns blazing.
They'd talked about different ways to get in, the possibility of being military recruiters (too obvious), handymen (with the exception of Fuery, who had some electrical knowhow, none of them would be able to pass as handyanything), and had even thrown around the idea of infiltrating the local schools and businesses, but there was no guarantee that it would work.
Of course there was no guarantee that this would work either.
This being herself and Colonel Mustang pretending to be newlyweds, recently moved to the area.
"The house does look nice." Riza commented from the passenger seat. They were parked in the driveway of a quaint, suburban house, which had even come with a white picket fence. It was the sort of place you'd see at the pictures, an example of an idealic home.
Honestly, she'd have preferred something a little less… perfect looking, but the Riza (short for Theresa in this case) that she was pretending to be had always wanted a lovely little house like this.
"I didn't think you wanted a white picket fence." Roy leaned over and rummaged around in the glove compartment for something.
"No, but there are worse places to spend a week." She could think of several. "What are you looking for?"
"Oh, these." He pulled out a small ring box, and Riza tried to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him holding it out to her. He flicked it open and nestled inside were three rings. "We need to look the part, after all."
The engagement ring was pretty, but too large and impractical for her personal tastes. It was the matching simple gold bands that had caught her attention. She tried not to think about it too much as they both slipped the bands onto their ring finger, making them fictitiously married.
"Ready, Mrs Martin?" He asked.
"As I'll ever be."
She exited the car and retrieved Hayate from the backseat. He wagged his tail happily as soon as he was out of the car, and proceeded to sniff around the front garden. "Oh, darling!" Riza called out, her voice softer, her smile bigger, and she pretended she didn't notice the way his eyes widened slightly.
"Yes, dear?"
"I'm just going to take Hayate out for a walk around the neighbourhood, he's just been cooped up for the entire drive. You don't mind, do you?" More accurately, she wanted to case the neighbourhood, and maybe part of her wanted to put some distance between her and Roy.
"But, sweetheart," He teased. "I wanted to carry you over the threshold."
Oh, now he was just being ridiculous.
She laughed, "Maybe another time, honey."
Riza retrieved Hayate's lead from her purse and clipped it to his collar before she took a gentle stroll around the neighbourhood. The further she got from the house, and Roy, the clearer she could think about the mission. It was clear, after only a few minutes of them being married, that the problem wouldn't be finding the smuggler, it would be keeping the boundaries of their relationship in place.
The day went quietly. Riza stashed guns in unexpected places, such as the grandfather clock in the dining room, and under the sink in the kitchen.
She tried not to watch Roy too closely.
The neighbours came home, and she noted down the times in a notebook;
House 3 - 18:02
House 6 - 18:37
And so the first day went.
The bedroom was dark, and they had been lying there for what felt like hours. Roy shifted, and fidgeted, while Riza tried lying still in the hope that sleep would come. Some nights it didn't, but not for this reason. For being so close to him, to be able to move millimeters and brush her fingers against his skin. It was so tempting, she had to fight to keep herself from doing it, and had to keep reminding herself why she couldn't.
There was the goal. For Roy to reach the top and change everything rotten about this country. He couldn't do that if he got caught with his subordinate.
Touching him could ruin everything they wanted, because she knew if she started that she'd never be able to stop.
Riza squeezed her eyes shut and hoped sleep would take her soon.
Somehow in the night, they'd shifted so that their limbs were partially entwined. She blinked awake slowly, smiling at the sight of him, his hair messier than usual, sticking up at all sorts of angles. He looked carefree, and frankly down right adorable. It was a nice sight to wake up to.
She watched him carefully, loathe to wake him up, or move out of his sleep created embrace. They shouldn't do this, she shouldn't allow it, but he was still asleep and she could wrap this moment up and keep it to herself.
In a different world, she'd wake him with kisses and laughter. She'd weakly protest that they'd be late for work as he tried to convince her to stay in bed for just a little while longer. In a different world, where they'd never gone to Ishval, where she hadn't shared her father's research with him, where they could be young and in love.
It wasn't that world though. It was this one. The one they had made for themselves with a series of ill thought out decisions and horrific circumstances.
She slowly untangled herself from him, and slipped out of bed.
"Riza….?" He asked, voice thick with sleep.
"It's time to get up. I'll hit the shower and then make breakfast." She said, but didn't turn around to face him. "We should try to talk to the neighbours today. See if we can get a feel for them."
"Sounds like a good idea." Roy said, and then he sounded concerned; "Everything okay?"
She glanced over her shoulder, "Yeah. I just didn't sleep well. You hog the covers."
"I do not!" He sounded indignant and so put out, that she had to laugh. A short laugh, more of an exhale than anything else, but it did the job and he stopped looking so concerned. "Did I?"
Riza just smirked in response before she headed to the bathroom.
A lot of undercover work is waiting, watching, and a heavy dose of luck, and Roy had managed to stumble onto the latter. He'd charmed the neighbour; her name was June, into inviting them to her dinner party that evening. According to him, she'd been delighted to invite the new neighbours. Riza was just glad that they were getting somewhere.
She'd worn a dark red, sleeveless, high backed dress, that came down to just above her knees. The skirt was flared enough so that she could move quickly if she needed to, and it covered her back, which were her only practical concerns about the outfit.
"Oh wow." Roy breathed.
Riza spun around; she'd been getting ready in the bedroom, while he changed in the bathroom, and she hadn't heard him come in.
"Sorry, you just look so beautiful." He said. "It took my breath away."
She could feel her cheeks burning, but rolled her eyes regardless. "Oh god, are you going to be like this all night?" She asked, exasperated.
She crossed the small distance between them and helped him with his tie, as he smirked at her. "Would you prefer I act more like Hughes and just go on about how wonderful my darling wife is?" He teased.
Her hands tightened around the tie, and her deft and practised hands became a lot less gentle. "Well, darling, we are married, and isn't that how married people act?" She asked. "You can sing my virtues, and I'll roll my eyes and claim you've had too much wine."
"Honestly? Hughes and Gracia are the only happily married couple that I know," Roy admitted. "Maybe we should act a little like them."
"We're supposed to be getting information out of these people, not giving them an emotional case of diabetes." Riza pointed out. She'd finished his tie, and brushed nonexistent lint from his shoulders. He always did dress up very well, she had to admit.
"The Hughes route a bit too much?" His hands slipped to her waist, and she looked up at him with a warning in her eyes.
"A bit." She agreed. "How about we just be ourselves, or a close enough copy. Just act as if you would if we were married."
It was probably the wrong thing to say. She'd been trying to keep the walls up between them, not bring them crashing down. If they were married, she'd be kissing him right now, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to do exactly that.
"Riza…" His voice was quiet, and it sent shivers up her spine.
"Yes?" She could close her eyes now, lean a little bit towards him, her hands were still on his shoulders, and his were at her waist and all it would take is those two things and she'd have what she wanted.
But it would ruin everything.
She looked down, and took a step backwards. It broke the spell, and his hands dropped from her waist, although the ghost of his touch remained.
"We should go." She said, and when she looked at him, she locked her emotions away and hope he couldn't read her like he normally could, that she'd hidden the want, the desire, and the hurt away.
"Um. Yes. We should."
Riza had never been to a dinner party. The closest she'd ever come was the occasional Saturday night at Rebecca's, where they ate Xingese food and complained about work, and men. Well. Mostly Rebecca complained, and Riza listened. This was not like that at all.
It didn't take long to realise that she had very little in common with the women, who lost interest once they realised she wasn't willing to be baited by their catty comments. She glanced at Roy, and caught his eye briefly as he chatted about who only knows what with one of the husbands.
Riza walked through the rooms of the house, looking at the photographs on the wall. An old farmhouse, children in school uniforms that were too big for them, birthdays and other celebrations. They all looked like they were taken in a different house, smaller rooms maybe? And certainly different decor, it was old fashioned and reminded her of her father's house, where they could never afford to redecorate so everything looked dated.
"Theresa, is everything okay?" June asked. She was a pleasant woman, a little older than herself and eager to please everyone. She didn't strike Riza as smart, but as just… nice. If that could be used to describe a person.
"Oh yes, sorry, I just needed…"
"To get away from them? I understand." June smiled. "They can be awful, but William likes their husbands so I feel obligated. You know how it is with husbands friends."
Riza thought of Hughes and Gracia, who weren't trouble to be around at all. "It can be difficult." She lied smoothly. "You have a lovely home, June." She changed the subject seamlessly.
"Oh, thank you. We only moved here a month ago, before that we lived out in the country in my parents old home. We never had much money, you see, but when William got a promotion at work, we were able to move. The kids miss their old home, but the schools here are better." June explained, she was proud of her husband's achievements, but Riza's alarm bells were ringing. It was likely it was nothing, a false start in their investigation, but it was a lead.
"You're very lucky," Riza smiled as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from your guests, and I must make sure Roy isn't boring everyone with his stories."
"So you think it's William?" Roy asked.
Riza had explained what June had told her once they were back at their temporary home. They were sitting in the bedroom, Roy on the bed, and Riza sat at the dressing table and brushed her hair, watching him in the mirror.
"I think it's possible. Or at least worth investigating, I can call it in and ask Breda to check his employment records." She watched Roy nod, and flop down onto the bed, and she had to hide a smile. "If you're tired, you should get ready for bed."
"I'm fine." He waved her concern away.
"Oh yes, of course." She continued to watch him in the mirror, and let him lie there until she'd brushed out her hair. "Well, regardless, I'm going to get ready for bed."
Riza walked past him on the way out of the room, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "What-"
"I kept thinking, earlier, about what you said."
"Which part?" She kept her voice calm, even though his fingers wrapped around her wrist felt like fire against her skin. They rarely touched, nothing more than a hand on the shoulder, nothing that would seem unprofessional.
"The part about how we should act as if we were married." He stared up at the ceiling. He didn't want to see her reaction, and Riza bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from sighing. Oh Roy, ever the romantic. "And I kept thinking about what that would be like. Not this sham, but if it was real. If you were what I could come home to every night, and wake up with in the morning, if it was you -"
"That's enough, Colonel." Riza said, gently. Her entire body ached with sadness, and unfulfilled desires. Not just for him, but for a future they'd never have. "You know we can't. You know why we can't."
He let go of her wrist and nodded, "I just sometimes wish…"
"I know, sir, I do."
What Riza wanted to do was hold him, and kiss him, and promise him that one day they could have everything they wanted, but instead she left the room and locked herself in the bathroom. Her eyes stung with tears, and she showered under scorching hot water until she couldn't feel them, or the touch of his hand on her wrist.
By the time she went back to the bedroom, the lights were off and he had faced away from her, and was pretending to be asleep. She changed in the darkness, her back to him, and then slid into bed beside him.
Riza didn't sleep much that night, and she suspected that he didn't either.
The unmistakable scent of baking, tinged with lemon and sugar, had filled the house.
Roy had done his best to avoid her all morning, something that Riza had initially been thankful for - the guilt, embarrassment and mixed emotions that caused him to withdraw were not, after all, one sided. Now, however, it was early afternoon and she was fed up of it.
Honestly, it wasn't just Roy avoiding her that she was fed up. She was fed up this mission, fed up of the fake marriage that reminded her of everything she couldn't have, fed up of the sickly sweet cookie cutter neighbourhood, and she just wanted to finish the job, fill in the paperwork and go home.
Riza boiled the kettle before adding the finishing touches to the lemon drizzle cakes. She set a cup of coffee on the kitchen table, and a generous slice of cake on a plate next to it. It was a peace offering, of sorts, a way to try to soothe his bruised ego and tell him that she wasn't angry or upset with him.
The other cake got boxed up.
There was a note by the coffee cup, telling him where she'd be, but she didn't anticipate any trouble. William - their suspect - wasn't home, and Riza couldn't sit around in the house any longer. Not to mention, it was polite to thank someone for having them over.
That was why she was next door, eating lemon drizzle cake and drinking tea, when everything came to an anticlimactic end.
They'd been half way through their second cup of tea, June had been telling her all about William's job at the weapons manufacture in the nearest city, when the doorbell rung. Riza was surprised - obviously so - when Havoc and Breda were shown through to the living room.
William had been caught in the middle of a smuggling bust.
All their planning, all of their heartache, and it all just seemed so unnecessary.
Once they were in the car, on their way back to East City, their way back to normalcy - whatever that actually meant for them - and far away from the few days in suburbia they'd just endured, Riza finally felt like she could relax.
"Sir, don't take this the wrong way, but next time you have to be married to someone, can it be Havoc?"
"You didn't enjoy our time together, Lieutenant?"
"I think I would've prefered watching you two play house more." She answered, deftly avoiding the question.
The Colonel let the silence hang in the air for a while, an easier silence than they'd had recently.
"It wasn't our finest moment, was it?" He asked.
"No, I think we have too much going on for that to have been easy." Riza admitted. "But we got the results we needed."
"Did we?"
"With the case, sir, yes." Riza said. "As for everything else. We'll revisit it once you reach your goal. We can't do it before then, we don't want to jeopardize everything we're both fighting for, do we?"
He was silent, and Riza gripped the steering wheel tightly until he spoke; "No, I suppose not. Thank you for keeping me in line, Lieutenant."
Her hands relaxed.