Thea and Cyril had been trying to get her to stay until mid-week, and it all seemed so appealing. She'd have a few days to fish with her father, enjoy Izumi and Sig's company, feel like a normal civilian.

Being home made her want to put off the discomfort of Central and all her conspiracy theories.

It made her want to go back to East and take care of Roy. She'd had the urge to massage his feet and cook him dinner and really discuss they're future as a couple together.

So, she did the sensible thing - took the first Sunday train out of Dublith and holed herself up in her apartment at Central until Monday morning came. She'd been at Central Headquarters since it opened, and was waiting outside of Hughes office. She knew she should have called, but here she was.

As Maes walked toward her, his look of surprise shifted to happiness then to a knowing grin, then back to happiness. She stood, and Hughes saluted. She quickly waved her hand, quickly giving him the signal to stop.

"Hughes."

"Mastodon." Maes said. While his voice held all the formalities that were expected, his eyes were playful. He opened the door for her, and the pair walked past attendants into the quiet of his office.

"Nice of you to show up unannounced," he added, offering her a seat. Iamar laughed, crossing her legs as she sat before him. She put a gloved hand in her pocket, fiddling with the new box of cigarettes inside.

"I would have called. But you know how parents can be. When you do visit, they act like they haven't seen you in years. Then they want you to stay another day. Then when the day is up they want you to stay the week. I just had to get out of there. So I came straight here."

"Well I'm glad my little princess isn't at that age where she leaves me for weeks on end!" Maes began opening the top drawer of his desk. He pulled out one of many photos of his beloved family. The desk was already a shrine dedicated to Elicia and Gracia, but he had millions of photos in his drawers on top of the files he should have been working on.

"She's gonna be three soon, right?" She asked, snatching the photo out of his hand. Iamar liked kids, but she was often afraid of them. She was worried they'd see her and think she was scary, or ugly. It wasn't everyday you see a bald and heavily tattooed Ishvalan woman who was in the military. And kids had a habit of parroting their parent's opinions, although they never had the capacity to agree or even disagree.

Hearing kids say adult things hurt her feelings, so she avoided them whenever possible.

Elicia was different, of course. She was very sweet, like most kids were. She also had parents who genuinely liked Iamar. So there were never any hurtful words. Iamar had known Elicia since she was very small, and was the one kid she liked without fear.

Didn't make Hughes' rampant and loud worship of her any less annoying, though.

"Yes! She'll be three in two weeks! You should come see my little love bug! My sweet angel! And my Queen Gracia-"

"Hughes,"Iamar said with a raised hand,"I get it." Hughes still had a big smile, but nodded. Iamar gave the picture back. He took it gingerly in his hands, looking down at the photo.

"I'll be so excited when you and Roy get married. It'll make your position as God-mother official," He said coyly, patting the photo and then putting it on the desk. Iamar let out a loud groan, pulling her cigarettes.

"I can't marry my subordinate Hughes. We'll both go to jail, and then Elicia won't have any god-parents."

"Well, when Mustang is Führer, I'm pretty sure he'll change that anti-fraternization law around a little." He winked and put the photo tenderly back into its designated spot.

"But you didn't make the trip here to discuss Roy or Elicia, right?" Iamar peeled the plastic off her cigarette box, threw it in the trash. She contemplated opening it, but didn't.

Nothing particularly stressful was going on yet, no need to waste a good cigarette.

"I heard about Central Library is all. Wanted to check on the Elric boys." She stated. She put the cigarette box back in her pocket.

"They're fine, actually. They found a girl who used to work in the library, Sheska, and she's giving them the info they need." Maes said, leaning back in his chair. He knew she was there for another reason. But he was making her come out and say it herself. Maes was in an intelligent man, always had been, and he could see half truths and ulterior motives faster than most.

"That's good, that's great," Iamar laughed, sitting back as well. There was a quiet in the room, with both soldiers smiling at one another.

"You know, if you wanted in on the investigation, all you had to do was ask."

"They're my subordinates, and my friend's old students. It was just surprising is all."

"No, that's not all," Hughes eyes narrowed, that small smile was still on his face. His voice was dead serious though.

"You think something's up. I know you. If you just wanted to check on them, you would have just called me. Maybe even seen them yourself. You wouldn't come to me directly. You hate Central, and you guys are handling a big case over at East. If you were looking for an exciting case, you could have stayed there."

Iamar laughed again, raising her hands in defeat. He was spot on, as usual. But it didn't bother her a bit. Hughes was a trustworthy man, and her insider to the goings on at Central. Armstrong was a good man as well, but didn't care for the politics that ran Central. He was her senior by only two years, but happily remained at the position of Major.

Whereas Iamar saw politics only as a small annoyance, Armstrong despised them. He was a man who valued honor, and genuinely saw none in the petty games of political gain. This was not to say that he didn't serve as a useful pair of ears for either Hughes or Iamar.

"Honestly, yeah, you got me. I just wanted to come here, see what was happening. If I'd called ahead of time, I'd know the boys were fine. You know how I get - paranoid about everything. And I trust you, I know you'd keep me in the loop if anything suspicious or weird was up."

Hughes nodded at that, eyes still narrowed. He pushed the phone through the wall of family photos towards his companion.

"How is the Scar case coming?"

"I was only supposed to help with the transport of Tyler and Nina. Scar is Mustang's case. The day I left for Dublith, he left to go look at a lead they got from an anonymous tip. Why do you ask?"

He leaned forward, hand still on the phone.

"Before Scar moved East, he did heavy damage to the higher-ups here in Central. There are a lot of empty positions now that Scar's decimated the upper ranks," he said. Iamar stared back him, with wide red eyes.

"You think they'd transfer Roy over here? " She couldn't help the smile that spread over her face. After the war, the idea of being Führer was unappealing to her. She wanted to retire altogether. But she saw in Roy, the charisma and innovative spark that made for a blossoming political career. So, she dedicated herself- as many of those close to him did- to making sure he became Führer.

But moving him to Central now? He's so young! Iamar balked at that thought, the four year age difference now feeling like four hundred years.

Bad choice of words. He's made it up the ranks so fast already though...

"Would it be wise to transfer him here so soon? He's made it so far so fast. There was so much opposition from the guys here when he was promoted."

"I was thinking the same. It'd move him closer to his ultimate goal. He's still a hero in the general public's eyes. It'd be a good move, a strong one. But only if he had a strong wall of support. The general public doesn't know politics like you or I, so their support would only keep him here for a time. Sooner or later, his new enemies would find a way to push him out."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Retire and marry the guy!" Hughes laughed. The laughter died a messy death in the face of Iamar's withering look.

"Kidding, of course. But I suggest you use this phone to call in a favor from Grumman. He's been trying to cart you off to this branch for a while. You're a great soldier, and you've got a great image: the self-effacing war hero who regrets the damage she caused during a civil war, but went above and beyond to serve her country. The daughter of a doctor who was damned near the creator of medicinal alchemy and a Lieutenant General. A feminist role model if you're into that kind of thing! You were recruited to serve on the Royal Guard by the Führer himself for Christ's sake, but turned it down because you said 'you weren't good enough to serve by his side'."

"Eh." Iamar added. She admitted, she had a good reputation in the Military, and was regarded with respect in terms of the public- as long as she was in uniform.

Or in Dublith. But still.

In her opinion, she was the last person anyone should look up to. And her mother often seemed anything but proud of her stint as the 'Devil of Ishval'. Often she felt more traitor than hero.

She didn't look like most Armestrian citizens after all. She was Ishvalan by blood, no matter the distance of relation. And she killed a good deal of people who could have very been her relatives.

Not that much of a role model if you ask me.

"No 'eh'. There was always a position here for you in Central. So, if you were to be transferred, Roy would be coming here with a great head start. The public endorsement and private protection of a war hero would make sure he was treated well. Your relationship is a tight-lipped secret-"

"Not really. You can ask almost anybody about that big duel we had."

"Of course, I arranged it after all. Made a lot of money off of that too, but that can easily be explained away. It was a duel you won after all. Your prize was to go on for the remainder of your career as Roy's friend and superior. If you were to asked any soldier who'd been there, they'd say you crushed him and never looked back. I didn't even find out you guys began dating after that until Roy told me two years later."

"It wasn't two years was it?" Iamar asked with wide eyes. She knew Roy and Hughes were tight, so she just figured Hughes always knew.

"Might as well have been. Roy had a crush, you beat him in the duel. He seemed upset, told me he was going to spend some time in his aunt's bar, pick up some girls and take some time to himself. It was the longest crush he'd had, so it made sense. I didn't know until I told him Gracia was pregnant. The only one who knew was Riza, and he never had to tell her."

Of course he didn't. Iamar smirked at that, although it wasn't sarcastic or rude in it nature. She'd known Roy and Riza had a relationship all their own. It'd been partly the reason Riza enlisted. But the romantic aspect fizzled out spectacularly during the war. They remained close though, if not closer than ever. It was odd, hard to explain.

It never really bothered Iamar. Riza was never resentful or spiteful in the years since they began dating. In fact, they became friends.

They both loved Roy, he loved them both. With Riza, it was simple. They just loved one another.

With Iamar, the difference was as obvious as day and night. So the three soldiers found a balance, worked with it. Iamar worked indirectly to protect and help Roy advance to where it was he wanted to go. This, of course, meant she couldn't be by his side on the job. This was a job that Riza filled in for her, keeping from physical and immediate danger. And keeping him on task, as well as keeping his drinking at bay. Roy, in his own way, worked to protect them both.

There was a polite cough, bringing Iamar out of her thoughts. She blushed, and Hughes continued.

"Anyway, the knowledge of your relationship doesn't go past your own circle of friends. So you'll both be fine. But it will have to be played down even further should he transfer."

"If we downplay it even further, we'd have to break up," Iamar snorted. Maes gave a half-smile. She knew he wouldn't touch that half-joke with a ten-foot pole.

"You two put on a good face, that's for sure. Your poker face is much better than Roy's though. Which is good, he'll need it. In the mean time, you can stay here, work on this case with me. I know you have no plans on letting me work alone anyway. And you won't have to shuttle back here for Elicia's birthday. So, call Grumman, and let's get this thing started," Iamar nodded, taking the phone from Hughes. She dialed the number East, waiting for the operator to pick up.

The news of Roy being considered for transfer to Central had blind-sided her. With the new information in tow, that budding sensation of fear - the same she'd gotten when Christmas appeared on her doorstep - was back.