Any feedback on this chapter would be appreciated since I spun the story in a slightly different direction than I originally planned. I like this idea better anyway. Forgive the summary change and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA! I just wanted to play with my favorite characters!

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Chapter 2

How it Began

Monday morning came fast and hard. Roy had spent most of his weekend catching up on all the lost sleep, and when he wasn't doing that, he was staring at the fireplace and drinking the strongest coffee he could make. The woman he made a date with for that previous Friday had called many times, but he didn't answer. Didn't want to. He didn't care if she was going to be mad at him or not; he had no intentions of rescheduling. It would have been a one-time thing anyway.

He tried not to admit it to himself, but a large part of his thought process over the weekend was dedicated toward Riza, analyzing and memorizing every word she had said on Friday night. When he wasn't losing himself in those thoughts, he was pondering over the murder with a crease in his forehead that grew deeper with every passing moment. Nothing about that made sense or even fit together, except for the note in the alchemist's pocket and the scorch marks that decorated the inside of the house.

As Roy was donning his uniform, he found himself hoping that Hughes would gain some sort of lead on the case today. He knew the coroner or his best friend couldn't worked all weekend on it, but identification would at least be a good place to start. Besides, as dangerous as this case could be, it would be nice to get out of the office a little bit. He didn't know how much longer he could sit there in monotony and pretend like it was okay. Especially where Riza was concerned. It was getting harder and harder to have her work in such close proximity without doing what he wanted to do to her.

He took a deep breath and cut off those thoughts. She would never let him touch her like that, and certainly not in an office setting. Damn, he'd been so close to cracking her shell on Friday night. Even as illegal as it was by the laws of the military, he would risk being with her. He'd risk everything for her. But he said the wrong things, reacted the wrong way, and she'd pushed away again. He didn't blame her; he'd pushed away before but that was before he understood just what it was he felt for her. Someday he'd figure it out; he was on the verge of irrevocably belonging to her. She just had to let him.

Always reliable, Riza was waiting for him in the cozy old lobby of their apartment complex building. She stood upon seeing him exit the elevator and slid her gloves onto her fingers, buttoning up her winter jacket so that it was even tighter around her. He admired the way the fuzzy lighting burned against the blonde in her hair and shone in her eyes.

She gave a quick little salute. "Good morning, sir."

He nodded, relieved that she was standing there in perfect condition, looking more decent than he wanted to admit, though it killed him to have to use formalities. "To you as well, Lieutenant Hawkeye. I trust your weekend was enjoyable?"

Her hands found their way into her pockets and she fell into step beside him as he headed for the main entrance doors. "Yes, sir, and yours as well?"

"Could have been better." He didn't look at her but his heart jumped a little in his chest just thinking about it. Damn it, it could have been the hell of a lot better. He'd been holed up with coffee for two days moping about things he couldn't have. It wasn't one of his shining accomplishments, in fact it was rather embarrassing, but he'd never admit it to anyone that he could be so easily distressed over a woman.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said softly. He might have been imagining it, but Roy was sure that there was a hint of regret in her voice. Quickly, the notion was dismissed; wishful thinking was only going to run him around in circles and he had more pressing matters to consider.

They didn't say much more as they took their chilly morning walk to Central Command. The snow that had fallen the night before was scraped off the sidewalks, making mountains of white slush piled up against the buildings. It was the most snow that Central had ever seen in its history, having a new snowfall almost once a week.

Roy wrinkled his nose. Even though the snow wasn't quite as hindering as rain, it was still made of water. He didn't like it. When he snuck a peek at Riza from the corner of her eye, she was almost smiling. His eyes followed her gaze to see a group of five or six children up ahead at the small park throwing snowballs at each other. Upon seeing her expression the question popped out of his mouth before his curiosity could be stopped.

"Do you want kids?"

She looked up at him in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Do you want kids?" He kept his tone neutral, even though he was strangely eager to know.

"I haven't been able to think about that," she told him, her voice ringing with sincerity. He nodded because he understood; being in the military left hardly any time to have a personal life, let alone ponder the future in great detail. "What about you, Colonel?"

He was about to tell her that he wasn't adverse to the idea when a snowball came out of nowhere and pelted across his face.

"Sorry, mister!"

Roy raised a hand and waved irritably at the apologetic kid and kept walking. Riza kept pace with him, but she had a gloved hand covering her mouth.

"Not a word," he said with agitation, wiping at his face.

She tried to straighten her face as she removed her hand. "Of course not, sir."

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"Hawkeye, the Colonel's passed out again," Havoc said as Riza entered the office with a newly washed coffee pot ready to be used. The rest of the men in the office looked up at her to gauge her response.

She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice; God knows she loved each and every one of them, but they could be such unhelpful babies. "What do you want me to do about it?"

Breda seemed to be at a loss for words. "But. . .but. . .but he always. . .and you. . ."

"I am his subordinate, not his babysitter," she said as she set the pot down where it belonged. She dreaded being in his office alone with him because it would be the closest thing to private since Friday night and whenever she looked at him she still felt the ghost of his lips against her ear. Her stomach fizzled at the thought of it, a sudden wave of heat rolling through her as she remembered. However, it looked like there wasn't going to be a choice.

She looked at the men in the room hard as she started the coffee pot. "Wait a minute, let's not all rush in there at once," she said as they ducked their heads and scratched their pens against the files they were working on. A sigh escaped through her lips and she was just passing her own desk when the phone rang. She reached for it and put it to her ear, voice curt and businesslike. "Colonel Mustang's office."

"Hey, Hawkeye! It's Hughes!"

"Lieutenant Colonel. What can I do for you?"

"Is Mustang there? I've got some intel on that murdered alchemist from Friday."

"Just a moment," she replied, pushing the speaking end of the phone against her shoulder. "Fuery, go wake the colonel. Tell him he has an important phone call."

The young man looked up from his work. "Me? O-okay, sure." She smiled her thanks at him as he stumbled over to their commanding officer's door and entered the room. Riza pulled the phone back up to her ear.

"He should be on in just a moment, sir," she told Maes.

"Thanks, Lieutenant," he replied happily, even though the subject matter couldn't have been all that cheerful. "Say, are you busy tonight? Gracia and I would love to have you over for dinner!"

She blanched and was struck speechless for a moment. Why was it that this man always surprised her? "I'd love to," she said after a stretch of silence, feeling her heart swell while keeping the emotion from her face. No wonder Roy kept Maes around.

"Great! I'm sure if you talk to Mustang, you two could carpool," he continued on. Just long enough to make Riza's stomach sink slightly and fill up with butterflies at the same time. So the colonel would be there, too. Of course he would; why should she have expected anything different? Roy was Maes' best friend and vice versa.

"Yes," she said, straining to sound unaffected. "That's a great idea."

Another line picked up, and Roy's voice came through scratchy and low. "What is it, Hughes?" He sounded exhausted and as Riza put the phone down in its resting place, she felt her eyebrows furrow. Why was he always so tired? Did he ever get any sleep outside of the office? She wished she knew, that she could ask. But that would start to open those festering cuts in her heart that Roy Mustang had burrowed into in the first place. She didn't need it and neither did he.

Fuery came back out of the office and shut the door behind him, looking relieved. Riza supposed that Roy hadn't been as scary as Fuery thought he'd be, but she wished that the men weren't so timid about approaching him sometimes. He was their superior officer so it was understandable, but he was also lax as far as keeping his subordinates in line. He would never admit it, but Riza knew how much he genuinely cared for each and every one of them.

"Thank you," she told Fuery as he took his seat.

He smiled and nodded at her. "No problem, ma'am."

She returned to her work with the rest of the men and a few moments later, Roy came out of the office, sliding his arms into his coat. Everyone but Riza looked up at him; she tried her best to remain unaffected like she had been for the last several years of her life as his personal bodyguard and assistant. It was inevitable that she'd feel his stare when his eyes turned to her; she'd known him since she was eight - to be unfamiliar with him would make her unfamiliar with herself.

"Lieutenant, we have field business to attend to," he said, his voice gravelly with a touch of laziness and an undertone of anxiety that only she could hear.

"Yes, sir," Riza responded without any further explanation. She gathered up her coat and checked her guns in their holsters at her waist and her back as Roy turned to the rest of his men.

"If we aren't back before office hours are over, clean and lock up." His voice was abrupt. Whatever Maes said on the phone must have really gotten at him.

"Sir," the men said, saluting him informally from their seats at their desks.

He maintained his gruff composure and stalked out of the room. Riza sighed as she checked his office; sure enough, his white gloves were resting there on the desk. She quickly snagged them and shut the door behind her. After nodding at the men, she followed Roy out the door, stuffing his gloves in her coat pocket.

It was impossible to tell how dangerous a simple field mission would be when he gave her no prior information, but she would always put his safety at the forefront of her mind.

His alchemy gloves were a must.

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Maes Hughes was waiting for them in the car parked just outside the gates of Central Command. In an unexpected manner, Roy yanked open the door and gestured for Riza to climb in first. She did so without pausing or showing her surprise, but her heart jumped a little at the thought. Since when did she go first?

"Hi there, Hawkeye!" Hughes crowed, smiling widely at her as she settled into the seat at the far window.

She nodded at him. "Hello, sir."

"I already told Gracia that you accepted the invitation and she's just falling over herself," he continued as Roy slid in and shut the door behind him. Riza felt her neck growing hot beneath her collar as he soaked in the conversation. "Food is always better with company anyway, and she's sick of being the only woman when I bring home friends from work." He laughed and his eyes sparkled. It wasn't hard to see why Gracia would want to marry him; someone so strong and full of life. They'd be very happy together.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it," she replied sincerely. The car jolted into motion and they began moving, the driver military personnel who remained impassive to the three officers in the back.

Roy remained nonchalant and closed his eyes as he fixed the sleeves of his jacket. "Am I missing something?"

"Business?" Maes teased, winking at Riza through his lenses. She smiled slightly.

"Anything that concerns my Lieutenant during working hours is my business," Roy replied in a very strict voice.

"Oh, lighten up, you Debbie Downer. We were just talking about dinner."

The colonel paused. "Dinner?"

"Yes, sir, the Lieutenant Colonel and his wife have invited me to dine with them tonight," Riza spoke, a little miffed at the strange tone in his voice.

Maes chuckled as Roy nodded. "Very well. We'll share a cab to his home this evening."

"Yes, sir."

"You really are a piece of work, Mustang," Maes said in good humor. "Relax for a moment."

"How can I relax when there's the possibility of another flame alchemist roaming around?" Roy sighed and reached into his pockets as if looking for something. He froze and his eyes widened. "Damn it."

Riza couldn't help the smile as she pulled his gloves out of her pocket. "Looking for these, sir?" The smugness in her voice was an added touch she didn't expect but really, the look of surprise and then satisfaction on his face as she extended the gloves toward him were worth it. Anytime she proved useful to the colonel was a good moment and as he took the gloves from her, he smirked a little. Her heart fluttered, but her face betrayed nothing.

"Hm. I don't know what I'd do without you, Lieutenant," he said, that barely perceptible smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth crookedly. He pulled the gloves onto his hands and flexed them briefly, his eyes lingering on them because they were crucial to him. Riza repressed her smile and leaned back against the seat.

For the entire car ride, Maes mostly blabbered on and on about Gracia and the wedding plans. Riza stared out the window and when she wasn't ignoring the word vomit, she was trying not to laugh at the exasperated expression on Mustang's face, or his curt, irritated answers to Hughes' questions. She would always enjoy listening to them banter; it was like they were brothers.

Riza herself had never seen much familial affection in her life. What she remembered of her mother were blurry images of lengthy legs and a laugh that peeled like a bell on Sunday morning. Her father had been a cold-hearted, isolated man who praised his books more than he voiced his concern for her. As a result, she didn't know how to express emotions properly without seeming like she cared too much or not enough. It was easier to put on the mask and pretend that she was untouchable.

But watching Maes and Roy engage in conversation made her feel a warmth in the atmosphere that melted back the edges of the mask just a bit. That over enthusiasm, the underlying hint of irritation, the chuckles, the teasing. It was all so subtly affectionate that Riza almost wanted to join in and converse with just as much gusto; however, she didn't know how. And though she liked Maes, she was still too wary to cut loose the way she could relax with the Colonel.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the driver finally pulled the car to a stop up in front of the same country house that the three officers had visited that previous Friday. Bands of material were strapped across the top of the door, warning against intrusions and the sky was as gray and dismal as the ashes that trailed out into the porch. Flurries began to drift down from the clouds and when Riza stepped out of the car last, she shoved her hands in her pockets. The wind grew strong, struggling to tear her hair free of its clip.

She fell into step behind Roy as he made his way toward the home while Maes gave directions to the driver; it appeared that Maes was going to go in and check Roy's word after he investigated. It was inevitable to note that Roy looked much better now than he had when they'd left the office, even if he had put on the air that Maes annoyed him.

"We're here to sift through whatever couldn't be seen in the darkness on Friday night," Roy informed her as he reached for the doorknob and twisted it. "There are just a few clues that they need us to reinforce concerning the assumed events leading up to the murder. We've got back up watching the house from out of sight in case anything happens."

"Yes, sir," Riza responded in time, following him into the home. The second she stepped foot over the threshold, the lingering smell of blood and scorched wood clung to her nose and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Instinctively, she withdrew a gun from her holster and unlocked the safety.

"Careful, Colonel," she muttered, her shoulder brushing against his as she took the lead. "Something's not right."

He nodded and tugged at his gloves. "I feel it too."

"I'll check upstairs."

"The cellar is mine. Call for me if you see anything."

She moved toward the staircase with soft footsteps, the sound of her coat swishing around her like a whisper. The door to the cellar creaked from the next room and she knew that Roy was descending down the steps into the darkness. Her finger poised, she began her ascent up the staircase, careful not to touch anything or make a sound.

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Roy kept his hands unsheathed from his pockets, his fingers twitching in case he needed to snap without a second to spare. His eyes swam in the darkness as he tried to make out shapes, but he had no form of light. He hoped that the sinking feeling in his stomach - that bad taste on his tongue and the goosebumps on his arms - were nothing more than a product of his overenthusiastic imagination. The fact that there was already trouble brewing with this case was bad enough.

A small scratching noise reached his ears and instinct set in; he pressed his back against the wall and raised his hand in front of him, ready to snap.

"Who's there?" he said in a calm voice. If no answer came, it was safe to assume that the noise was caused by a rat or some other rodent. But he felt eyes boring into him and he knew. He knew.

"You're as perceptive as they say," a voice said with amusement, slithering out of the darkness. It was female, which surprised him, but even the amusement could not hide the sharp ice that protruded from it. "I'm impressed, Colonel Fire Fingers."

"So you know who I am," he replied, his voice cool, the smirk curling his voice. "Excellent. I suppose you wouldn't mind returning the favor?"

There was a blinding white flash and then the entire basement was lit like daytime, bleaching every surface in sight. Roy squinted into the room, his eyes finding the curvy figure of a woman. She sauntered toward him and stopped five feet away; he couldn't see anything about her. The light was too bright, burning behind her, a mask and dark clothing covering her form.

"That's not important," she said with a light laugh. "You, however, are. Surely you know what I'm here for, Colonel."

"You're housewarming gift upstairs failed to elaborate on that."

She tossed her hand in the air. "That alchemist was getting in the way of what I need. He made me mad, so I ended him."

"He wasn't even a state alchemist," Roy said, recalling that they had found no silver pocket watch despite their inability to identify who he was. So as not to look too suspicious, he cautiously took in his surroundings and evaluated his situation while he spoke. "Surely someone of little note in the area wouldn't have been that serious of a problem for you."

She laughed again. "You're already overestimating me. No wonder they made you colonel so young." Her voice was still like ice, but the familiar cadence of a flirty quality entered her voice and he was instantly repelled.

"It's wise to expect more than it is to expect less," he said, trying to buy him some time. Damn it, where the hell was Hawkeye? Did it really take that long to check out the three or four rooms in the top story of the house? "You still haven't told me what you want."

"Hm. You are a strong, assertive man, aren't you? I bet your woman likes that; you look very attractive like this," she purred, stepping uncomfortably closer to him. The heat of his anger began to melt away his cool-under-fire demeanor as the woman taunted him and mentioned who he knew was Riza. "I want you, Colonel."

"I'm not easily seduced," he responded, his fingers twitching at his side. "What do you want from me?" He knew where she was going with this; it was always the same thing and she would be no exception. She was a woman who clearly had an agenda and if she was murdering to get what she wanted then she was already someone not to be taken lightly. Her actions showed determination and a goal and it would be Roy's job to stamp it out.

"Everything," the woman said sweetly before her voice turned hard. "I want your body, your mind, your secrets. I want to swallow them until they are a part of me and there is nothing left of you. Give me your flame alchemy secrets and I will leave your subordinates alone."

Just as he was about to spit at her and snap his fingers, a shot rang out from the top of the staircase and the woman jolted to the side, stumbling before she hit the floor. Blood spurted from her shoulder, but instead of pain coming off her lips she growled in irritation.

He snapped at the woman as another shot rang out but the enemy was fast; she leapt up from the ground and sprinted into another room in the basement.

"What the hell took so long, Hawkeye?" he demanded as he chased after the woman.

Riza's boots squeaked as she followed him, gun at the ready. "I thought you could do with a little excitement, sir, after all that paperwork." He couldn't help but smirk at the sassy tone in her remark.

"Stand back," he said, throwing an arm out to stop her as he extended his other and snapped. The room the woman had run into exploded in a vast orange bubble of flames and heat engulfed both of them, drawing forth sweat on their brows. Once the fire died out, his shoulders relaxed; that had to have taken care of her.

He stiffened and felt Riza tense behind him when a laugh rang out. "Missed me! It's a shame you're fighting back; no worries, Colonel. I'll be back for you when you least expect it."

"Like hell," he snarled, lunging at the room. Who did this woman think she was, taunting him like that? She didn't know him and he didn't know her and she sure as hell wasn't getting what she wanted. Not in a million years. He promised himself and Riza that flame alchemy would be between them and that no one else would ever harbor it's destructive powers. He'd never break that promise, not after witnessing it's strength and definitely not after gaining and keeping Riza's trust.

"Colonel!" Riza shouted, her voice strangled, as he ran into the room. He paused in surprise when he found himself staring at the masked woman. She sounded like she was grinning.

"Goodbye, Fire Man. I really hope that this doesn't kill you."

The blinding light in the room vanished and a single hole in the ceiling punched through the abrupt darkness. Roy cursed loudly as Riza called out to him again. He was about to respond when a loud sound thundered and the walls shook. The sounds of things crashing around him filled his head for a moment before the ceiling collapsed and his consciousness failed him.