Hello again. It's time to get a good look into Roy's mind on all this. So without further ado...

On with the show...

Chapter 4

Roy had been reading the same report for over twenty minutes. He'd finished it in the first five but as long as he looked busy Hawkeye left him alone to day dream. He was considering what to do about Ed. Although she wanted to keep her identity a secret, Roy still believed his crew deserved to know their co-worker was alive.

Not only that, but Havoc had become extremely annoying. Apparently, he'd gotten it into his head to ask the sexy Edna Elric out on a date if she ever came to town. He knew the man meant well but from what he'd seen a few days earlier Ed still clearly acted like a man. Plus Roy doubted dating had ever entered her mind both before and after her transformation.

He felt like such an idiot for how he had acted. He hadn't really thought about it until after Ed had locked him out of her house. He only realized on the walk home that he'd been acting similarly to how he might toward a young single woman. It had just been his natural instincts to help her get settled in for the day. He would have done it for any woman.

He tried to imagine how he might have acted if Ed had come to Central in his previous body. Well...for one he still would have helped him find a place. He had no problem doing reasonable favors for any of his subordinates. Even if they left his command, Roy's staff looked out for each other.

He wouldn't have taken the luggage though or gotten the furniture. He also very much doubted he would have offered to go shopping or pay for that matter. A young man could take care of himself after all. Not that Ed couldn't take care of herself but it was still different. A single woman living alone in a new city was like a four course meal for perverts. She needed to be careful.

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair just as Hawkeye entered the office. She came over and frowned at his slouched posture.

"Sir," she said pulling his attention to her. Roy instantly sat up at the sight of his lieutenant.

He cleared his throat. "Yes Lieutenant Hawkeye," he said as he grabbed the file again and tapped it against the table.

"The crew were looking to start off the weekend with a few drinks down at the bar and were wondering if you would like to join them," Hawkeye informed him. Roy nodded his head.

"I'll think about it," he replied. Not that he didn't mind going out with the men but tonight he had planned on escorting a red-head by the name of Jacqueline.

Hawkeye watched him a few moments before adding. "It seems Havoc also invited the young blonde we met back in Risembol. Evidently, she's been living in Central a few days now and they bumped into each other." Hawkeye watched with a raised eyebrow as her commanding officer stiffened.

"Did he really?" Roy said coolly. Damn that Edward. He was certain she wouldn't have agreed to accompany the second lieutenant if she knew his true motives. "Well I guess I'll go then." He finished reading the report in his hand and signed it quickly before standing up and grabbing his coat. Jacqueline would have to wait for another night.

His crew was overly enthusiastic about Roy joining them on their walk down to the bar. It was a usual spot for the military personnel that worked at Central Headquarters. A short walk from the main gate, it had a large counter and plenty of tables for the men and women clad in blue that frequented it.

After a short while, Havoc left and returned with Ed in tow. Roy groaned into his glass at her state of dress. Good 'ol Fullmetal had opted to wear her typical leather pants. When he was growing into a young man, Roy had often heard the female interns tittering about how sensual Edward looked in leather. Now as a woman, the material slipped over her curves like velvet and hugged her ass in a way that made most of the men in the bar turn head. At least she had put on a plain canvas jacket that covered her breasts.

The rest of the boys greeted her with much the same gusto as they would any of Havoc's dates. But Ed didn't seem to mind. In fact she took it in stride to wiggle her way back into the group with snappy comments and jokes that had Falman commenting on how much Edna acted like her cousins.

Roy sat at the bar and watched as she accepted beer after beer, slowly but surely starting to get sloppier as the alcohol started to take effect. Ed had always been a light weight.

Havoc collapsed down onto the bar stool next to Roy. "Colonel," he slurred out. "You haven't joined in the festivities. Edna's fantastic. She reminds me so much of the boss it's scary, but she's like really hot right?"

Roy looked at Ed who had gotten into an arm wrestling match with Breda, and, to everyone's amazement, was winning. Ed's female body was of the hour-glass variety with perky breasts and an ass to match. Not that Roy had been looking, but Havoc was correct that Ed looked pretty. Beautiful even if he objectified her as just another woman and not his cross-gender ex-subordinate.

Havoc pulled out a cigarette and attempted to light it but his fingers kept slipping on the lighter. He finally gave up and just sat there with the unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. "I think I might ask her back to my place after. You think she'd go for it?"

A snap caused Havoc's cigarette to flare up and burn to ash in moments. The second lieutenant flailed his arms as he jerked in surprise and fell off the stool. He looked up at Roy and all of the alcohol and arousal he had been feeling fled him in a moment. Roy was shaking and he glared down at Havoc like someone might glare at something unpleasant that had dirtied their shoe.

"You are not to touch her. That is an order from not only me but from Alphonse too," Roy told him in a deadly calm that was almost scarier than if he had yelled. Havoc nodded slowly.

Roy looked up to see the rest of his subordinates staring at him in shock, Ed having slipped away. He straightened up and fixed his uniform jacket as he addressed them. "I expect all of you Monday morning. Have a pleasant weekend." He strode away from them to see if he could find Ed. She had had far too much alcohol to be walking home alone.

He spotted her by the bar helping herself to some rum with a man Roy recalled as being part of Hughes old special task force. Ed had shed her jacket in the heat of the crowd and her thin black tank top was doing little to hold in her chest. The man had snaked an arm around her waist, clearly enjoying the view as his eyes kept dipping south to glimpse her cleavage. She giggled at something he had said and rocked into him as she lost her balance. Roy stomped over and glowered at the man whom quickly said good bye to Edward and beat it.

Ed turned to look at Roy with a grin on her face. "Hey Mustaaaang," Ed sang out. "You missed it. Jeff there just told the best joke about a priest and a baseball." She giggled.

"You're leaving," Roy said and placed a few bills on the table to cover her drink before steering her toward the door.

Ed shrugged him off. "Don't be such a party-pooper. I'm fine."

"No you are not," Roy said as his temper started to wane. Why did Ed never just listen to him?! "That man was about ready to grope you and you didn't even realize it."

Ed jut her chin out. "Yeah well if he did, I'd have kicked his ass. Not the first time some creep tried to attack me."

Roy growled and pushed Ed out the door and onto the darkened street. "You just don't get it do you. You are a girl now. You can't just go to a bar dressed like that. You might as well paint a target on your ass." Ed opened his mouth to talk back but Roy bulldozed right over her. "Not only that but Havoc was trying to tap said ass. I bet you came here without even realizing what you coming to a bar with him meant. He thought you two were on a date."

Ed's face lit up red. "I thought he just invited me here as a friend." Ed scowled at Roy. "And the hell is wrong with how I dress? You aren't my commanding officer anymore so fuck off!"

Ed turned to leave, and Roy started to follow her when a hand reached out and touched his arm. He glanced behind him to find Hawkeye giving him a worried look. "How much did you hear?" Roy asked.

She pursed her lips. "Enough to confirm my own suspicions. Ed's not dead is he sir?" Roy shook his head in response. Hawkeye squared up her soldiers. "I'll go after her then. I know you're trying to help Roy, but Ed is going to a need a woman to show her how to be one." She strode past her commanding officer and after Ed's retreating form.

Roy watched her disappear down the road and his body sagged visibly. The hell had he gotten himself into?

Edward was on a rampage as she walked home. She almost wished someone would attack her just so she had a reason to let out all this pent up frustration. Who the hell did Roy Fucking Mustang think he was?! Sure she hadn't realized Havoc's true intentions but so what. It's not like he was the kind of person to push if she had said no. She'd been having such a good time too. It had almost been like she was back in her old body enjoying some R&R with her co-workers after returning home from a mission.

"Son of a bitch!" Ed cried out suddenly, clapped her hands, and transmutated the street light before her into a pile of molten metal. She frowned at the mess before clapping her hands again and turning the metal back into a street light with a few artistic flairs. The act of doing any kind of alchemy took her mind off her anger and helped to calm her down slightly.

"Edward?"

Ed jumped and spun around to see Hawkeye standing there. She looked up at the street light and then at Ed.

"It's Edna actually," Ed said, worried in her drunken haze if she had blown her cover.

"No I think its Edward," Hawkeye reaffirmed. "I had guessed as much back in Risembol, but now I'm certain of it."

Edward glanced around to see if anyone was listening but the sidewalk was deserted. "It's me," she admitted. "Are you mad?"

"No I'm not angry. I'm just surprised." The older woman came up and gave her a good look over. "I was upset when I thought you were dead. Although this is a shock, it's better to know you're alive." She smiled softly. "You're going to have to explain what happened later, but for now I think we should get you home. I know you're mad at Colonel Mustang but he did have a valid point. You make a very pretty girl Ed and you need to be careful. There's a lot of perverts out there."

Edward huffed as she fell in step next to Hawkeye and started to walk toward home. "Like Havoc," she guessed and Hawkeye laughed.

"I think the Second Lieutenant is fairly harmless," she told Ed. "But women shouldn't walk home alone, especially while drunk. Did you know that one of the men accompany me every day? They take turns to make sure I am safely through my front door each evening. It's not because they don't think I could take care of myself if faced with an assailant. It's because walking home alone makes me a target, and they would rather I not have to face an assailant at all."

Edward listened to all of this carefully. It made sense. Maybe she had acted recklessly without realizing it.

"I'm sorry," she said at last. "I guess I caused a lot of trouble for everyone."

"You just have never had to think like this before Ed," Riza said. "It's an unfortunate side effect of being a woman. But don't worry. There are some perks. I think me and Gracia can show you. I know her and Elisia would love to see you again."