I wrote this story a long time ago; in fact, it was one of my first. Now that brotherhood is finished...(spoiler)...

I actually saw the part where they framed Maria for the murder of Hughes. I find it funny that we both kind of had the same idea. Geez, poor Maria, she's the series punching bag.

(end spoiler)

I touched this one up a little after I got another review out of the blue. :P
Such bad grammar! DX But it's okay now.

Chapter 1: Accusation

Monday mornings were never any good, everyone was tired. They went from enjoying their weekend, to being forced into the same old stuffy uniforms(which was never pleasant). Another five days of being stuck behind a desk and they would be free again; the vicious cycle never stopped. At least everyone had the pay-week weekend to look forward to. For now, they were stuck as colonel's, lieutenants', and sergeant.

Most of the soldiers weren't particularly lively on this day, like Sergeant Denny Brosh. He was not up to par, on that day especially. The weekend was far more taxing than usual. It wasn't from a hangover, Denny felt that would have been an improvement. It was Second Lieutenant Maria Ross; the woman he absolutely adored. On Saturday, he saw her with another man. She entered a room in the military dorm and left nearly an hour later. He suspected a one night stand and was inevitably he was shattered, heartbroken even. He bit back tears of frustration as he bit on to a handkerchief while in the cold, cold halls of the nearly abandoned building.

If that wasn't tops, he was familiar with the man she was seen with, quite familiar. '

Why did she pick someone so young?' he thought, groaning to himself.

Mustang's door opened in enough time to hear the belligerent groan. "Something wrong?" he asked between sips from what appeared to be a rather large cup of coffee. Denny stuttered, not knowing if personal issues should be brought up at work. "What seems to be the trouble, Sargent?" Mustang asked, now looking rather interested in Denny's problems.

Denny looked up at him and then shook his head. "Huh? Nothing of interest sir."

Roy eyed the potted plant conveniently placed at the side of the door. Slyly checking down the hall, to make sure no one was looking, he dumped the cold coffee into the ugly plant. He extended the invitation to Denny to enter his office. "I can't stand working with people who are depressed, it's really draining. Let's see what we can do." Having information, no matter how trivial, was valuable to him.

He knew Mustang rather well and could tell he was only fishing for gossip. But Denny didn't care anymore, he needed to vent. "Unless you can turn back time, there's not much anyone can do," he said and hung his head in despair.

Mustang led him through the door to his office. The staff was hard at work on the first day of the week, as always. It seemed to be more of Riza's doing than Roy's. Everyone but Havoc was in good spirits that morning. Havoc had a mean scowl on his face with his arms tightly folded over his chest. His cigarette was sturdy, clenched between his canines. Maybe he was having girl trouble as well; Roy did have a bad habit of stepping on people's toes in that way.

The colonel sat back in his chair. He grabbed a nearby pen and began twirling it between his fingers. "Alright, let's hear it."

"I saw Maria with another guy on Saturday; I'm positive they were together that night. I really thought I had a chance too," he sighed. "I know she's a grown woman who can make he own choices, but the guy who she was with was so much younger than her."

Havoc cracked his knuckles, "Learn to deal with it!" he demanded while pounded his fist on the table. "We all have our troubles with women; they 'like you', they 'sort-of like you', they'll 'only like you if you quit smoking'. It's the only bad habit I have and I'm perfect in all other aspects!" His voice continually got louder whilst approaching the end of his sentence. "No matter what you do, the only thing she wants is the thing you can't do! AHH!" Havoc grabbed the sides of his desk and jostled around violently on the spot. He laid his elbows down on his desk and covered his head with his hands. "I want to go home," he sulked, like a child.

Roy rolled his eyes with a mild look of 'not this again'. Reluctantly he reached into his desk and pulled out a little rubber balloon filled with sand rather than air. "Havoc!" he said and tossed it to the disgruntled member of his staff.

He squeezed the poor little stress ball tightly, "Its not working," he said and squeezed harder until it bubbled out from between his fingers. Upon doing so he calmed down immediately."...Squeeze, huh," he said and chuckled, "This does work...I wonder if there's a patent on this kind of thing." He continued to squeeze and mutter to himself.

Denny watched Havoc torture the little ball and wondered if it would ease his own troubles. "Can I try?" he asked and reached out a hand.

Havoc shook his head, "No can do," and turned sideways in his chair.

"

Don't mind him," Roy coaxed, "He's trying to quit smoking and it's been this," he referenced Havoc mindlessly playing with the ball, "since Saturday night. Everyone has their tiffs with women, there's no reason to be depressed for days on end. You've got to move on." Roy was handed a new coffee from his right hand lieutenant, "Thank you."

Sergeant Brosh was still saddened by what he saw on Saturday. "I guess it wouldn't have bothered me so much if I didn't know the guy."

Roy was intrigued, you could tell from his cocked eyebrow, "Knew him, you say...who?"

"Uhh, she may be upset if I said anything. I don't know if anyone was suppose to know." Denny battled it over in his mind.

"Nonsense, she's not here, I doubt she'll care." Mustang once again coaxed him but paused, "He's not here...is he?" he said as he sipped his new cup of coffee.

"...It was Edward," he blurted.

Roy nearly spat his coffee halfway across the room, Riza blocked herself with a file. "What!" they all exclaimed.

"...what..." Havoc said with a hollow voice, a small popping noise followed. Everyone turned their attention to Havoc. He had clenched his fist so tightly the stress ball broke. "I can't take it!" He stood up from his chair and knocked it over. "Even the kid's getting laid! It's not bloody fair! I hate you all! I'm going home!" With that said he stormed out of the room brushing his hand off all the way out, trailing little bits of sand along the way.

Roy leaned forward at his desk and suspended a weary chin across his hands, "I suppose that was a reasonable reaction. Are you sure you saw Edward?" The colonel received a 'nod' for his question, "Unexpected," he said while everyone sat in silence. No one would have expected something like this from Maria.

"You're certain?" Falman questioned. He always found Ed to be a nice boy, foul tempered, but nothing like this.

"I saw her going back to his room the night of banquette. His arm wrapped around her waist, talking and laughing; what else could it have been?" He began to get all choked up, "When I saw her leave she was out of breath, sweating, tucking her shirt in, fixing her hair, her coat was off and all signs point to one thing," he spoke rapidly. The handkerchief was now in two pieces, he had pulled it from betwixt his teeth with an unreasonable amount of force; shockingly he broke no teeth. "I really thought I had a chance too!"

"Such detail. This must have hit you pretty hard." Roy sipped his coffee again. The coffee the new girl didn't taste good, so he was forced to get his own. He didn't have the heart to tell her it tasted lit swill, he was hoping to 'bed' her someday. Riza's coffee was delicious but he knew he would never get it

first thing in the morning.

Denny nodded then shrugged, "I always thought that Edward was with that little blond girl, Winry."

"As did I..." Roy stood up and stared out his window. "Looks like I'm going to have to speak with Mr. Elric. Don't worry; I won't mention your name Brosh." Roy glared off into the distance in his usual manner. "I'll get the truth out of him. Leave it to me."

Denny sighed and smiled, "I really hope this is just one big misunderstanding. Thank you sir." He saluted and took his leave. It was nice of Roy to go out of his way for a mere personal matter. Denny feared the worst '

Maybe I should have told him it was a hangover, maybe he would have given me the coffee he ditched. This sucks. A lot.' He continued on down the hallway and away from the office he was interrogated in.

Hawkeye scanned the room; everyone seemed to be deep in thought. "We're...going on the assumption his story is true?" She had her arms folded around some papers and files, readying them for the inevitable. "This doesn't seem characteristic of the Fullmetal Alchemist, sir."

Roy took a deep breath, "No...Hawkeye, you know where Second lieutenant Ross was on Saturday evening."

Hawkeye thought to herself for a moment. "We were together nearly the whole night. I recall her mentioning she needed to leave quickly. Edward wanted a ride home, he wasn't feeling well. She took him back to the dorm and was back within an hour." There was a pause, "...I think this is something different."

Roy's expression changed to serious, "Maria's placed away from the banquette long enough to assault Edward. We very well could be dealing with statutory rape."

Riza's eyes widened. "...That's not plausible. But in any case, I'll see if I can find any other information. Still, I don't think that she would do something like that."

Breda shrugged. "The stories match up then. Sergeant Brosh saw them go into his room together and she left an hour later."

Fuery straightened his glasses. "We should really talk to Edward if we really want to start accusing people of such a grizzly offense," a judgment of 'statutory rape' meant she would lose her position and get slapped with a fine.

"Good,"Roy nodded, "Riza, how was Maria acting when she returned to the Banquette? I recall her driving you and a few others home."

Riza blushed, "Oh...that's how I got home," she stated in a way that showed she had too much of a 'good time' that evening to recall anything.

He sighed, "Hmm...we'll just have to rely on what Edward has to say I guess."

There you have it, a polished first chapter. :)