The process to become Fuhrer - or President, as was now being used - had become a lot more complicated since Grumman had simply stepped into the role by being in the right place at the right time. Now you got voted in, not like the democracy that both Roy and Riza had hoped for, but a series of councils had to agree on an appointment for it to pass. Each region had an elected council, and each council voted on who they wanted to be President, and then the Military voted, followed by it being ratified by Parliament.
It had been - frankly - a pain in the ass to deal with.
They'd all worked so hard to get to this point, but the last few months, ever Since Grumman announced his retirement, had been the hardest. Not even the heads up Riza had been given felt like much of a head start. The entire team had pulled all nighters, travelled long distances, lived off a diet of caffeine and fast food - and in Havoc's case, cigarettes, and they had all put their entire lives on hold to reach this moment.
The General was sequestered away with everyone else in High Command, leaving Riza to wrangle his staff, all of which were full of nervous energy. None of them were getting any work done, something that normally would have annoyed her, but now, at the crossroads, she let them do whatever helped keep them calm.
There would be plenty of work to do later, regardless of the outcome.
"Any news?" Havoc asked, after he came back into the office. The acrid smell of cigarette smoke clung to him and followed him back into the room. How many had he chain smoked in the fifteen minutes he'd been gone? Riza wasn't sure she wanted the answer, so she left the question unasked.
"Nothing yet." She confirmed, and his shoulders sunk in disappointment. "It could take a while."
"Don't see why, it's not like there's any other option, is there?" He sunk down into the seat at the desk opposite her and pushed some paperwork around his desk.
"They could still decide to ignore the results from the regions and appoint someone else, or it could just deadlock and we'll all go back to square one." Riza pointed out. Only it wouldn't be square one for them, not really. If the General didn't get the vote of confidence from the military, then he might never reach the top. That thought had kept Riza awake at night since the campaign to get him the Presidency had began, regardless of the outcome, this was it.
"Fuck." Havoc said, and summed up her feelings in one succinct word. "You want a coffee or anything? Waiting around is killing me."
"I'm fine, but go ahead." Honestly, Riza thought that if she had one more cup of coffee she was going to throw up.
"Hey, Breda, Fuery, you want a coffee?" Havoc asked.
"Didn't you just take a break?" Breda asked.
"Well… yeah, but Hawkeye said it was fine."
"She did?" Breda asked, and glanced over at her skeptically.
"It's fine. None of us are going to get any work done until we know what's going on. If getting coffee keeps him out of trouble, then I'm not going to stop him." Riza said.
"Okay, then I'll take one." Breda said.
"Me too." Fuery chimed in.
Havoc left (again), and returned with coffee. Quiet conversations broke out, and disintegrated under the weight of waiting.
The room was silent, except for the the tapping of Breda's pen against the desk, when the General returned. They all jumped to attention, and Riza knew what had happened the second she saw him, she saw it in the line of his shoulders, the tiny almost not there at all smile, his straight back, but mostly, it was in his eyes and the way he looked at her.
They'd done it.
Without asking the question, Riza smiled brightly, something she rarely ever did anymore. That was all it took to tell the rest of the Team that they'd won. This thing - the General's Presidency - had finally been achieved.
"Oh thank fuck for that," Havoc said, and the tension in the room broke. Even Riza found herself laughing, although she kept a lid on the hysterics - unlike Fuery.
"Thanks for that, Havoc." The General said, dryly. "I've got a speech to make in an hour. After that, you can all go home and get some rest, the real work will start tomorrow."
"Shouldn't we get a head start on that?" Breda asked.
"Probably, but I think you've all earned an evening off," The General said. "And I'm worried Catalina will stop by and cause a domestic if Havoc doesn't go home tonight."
"Oh ha ha." Havoc said.
The atmosphere of the room had changed dramatically, relief and joy was emanating from all of them. Riza hadn't actually stopped smiling, although now it was less bright and more subdued.
"Alright men, continue doing whatever it was the Captain had you doing, I need to have a word with her in my office."
"So, not much then?" Havoc said.
"Captain, were you allowing them to neglect their duties?" The General - President Elect - asked, full of fake shock. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"Well. It has been very tense around here, but now that we got the result we wanted, I'm sure they'll go back to their paperwork." She shot them all a look that could loosely be translated to 'hurry up and get back to work'. They'd all seen the look before, and begrudgingly went back to their desks.
Riza followed him into his office, and closed the door with a faint click. Then she was in his arms, and he was holding her tightly. He smelled of cologne and sweat, and she clung to him just as tightly, ignoring that they were at work, and it was highly inappropriate. They'd earned this moment, this victory.
"I never want to do that ever again." Roy mumbled against her hair. "Arguing my case after the votes from everywhere were in. I swear half the generals hate me."
"Probably." Riza said, but it came out slightly muffled against his shoulder. "But you're about to become their boss, so I think you won."
"We did, didn't we?" She felt his lips quirk up into a smile, and she squeezed him tightly before she let him go.
"Congratulations, sir." She said, proudly. "You did it."
"We did it, Captain, I'm going to keep saying it until you believe it." He said. "Or at least acknowledge it."
"Fine." Riza stopped herself from rolling her eyes at him. "We did it."
"That didn't take much convincing."
"I'm in a good mood." Riza pointed out.
"Good, that will make this easier." He said. For a man who had just become President-Elect, and had just taken the first steps towards his end game, he looked very nervous.
"What are you talking about?" Riza asked.
"This." Roy crossed over to his desk and pulled out a small jewelry store box, and didn't speak again until he was standing in front of her. "You once promised to watch my back, and that's about to become more important than ever. We - I - am going to make enemies, and face decisions that I have no idea about yet. I asked you to watch my back that as my adjutant, but now I'm asking you to do it as my wife."
"Yes. Of course." Riza answered without hesitation. "Nothing would make me happier."
Their kiss was happy, soft and tender, and joyful. Both of them smiled against each others mouths, and Riza fought back the girlish giggle that was threatening to escape. "Were you really nervous about that?" She asked, nudging her nose against his gently.
"It's not every day I propose to you, is it?"
"No, but there was never going to be a different answer." Riza smiled happily. They still has so much work to do, but for now they had these victories and each other. The rest they would work on tomorrow.