A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers and supporters! Please enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 10

"Wow... that is the damn cutest story I have ever heard!" Marguerite cried, causing Riza's face to flush slightly at embarrassment.

"I told you so. Tall dark and smouldering is completely head over heels in love with you Rizzy. He would have ruined his career for you. That is if you had let him. Just shows the two of you are meant to be together. " Roxy stated, taking a small sip of her drink.

"Yes, but it took a considerable amount of planning to get the two of them together in the first place. They are both ridiculously stubborn." Maria stated with a grin, causing Riza to glare at her. It was Sunday evening and the four of them were sitting in Riza apartment. Riza had quickly become fast friends with both Marguerite and Roxanne, and it appeared that Maria would soon follow suit. They were all getting along well. Marguerite drained her glass and sighed.

"I need more cosmo." She stated, grabbing the jug that was on the table. Roxy raised her eyes in alarm at the volume of alcohol her friend was steadily making her way through. She turned to Riza.

"Sure you don't want any?" she asked. Riza shook her head, smiling.

"No, I'm fine; I'm not a big drinker."

"That sort of surprises me." Marguerite said, settling back on her chair, a now full glass in her hand, "I mean, I swear if I was in the military I'd need the alcohol to cope!"

"Alcohol lowers inhibitions; it's not a good idea to rely upon it as a soldier." Maria stated. Roxy sighed.

"Unfortunately, that occasionally helps in our line of work." She commented sadly. Sensing the mood change she glanced up and smiled.

"But it's not all that bad. You've got do what you've got to do right? I mean, we all do things that we don't like all time because we need to." She stated.

"Yup, I'm with you on that." Marguerite added.

"All in the name of duty." Maria stated, agree with two.

"Yes. For duty." Riza stated quietly more to herself than anyone else. A small smile worked its way across her features at the words as her mind reflected upon a promise she had made long ago. Roxanne frowned.

"Why do I have a feeling those words had a double meaning?" she asked slyly. Riza jumped, not expecting her to notice. She shrugged not meeting her friend's eyes. Roxy laughed.

"You are such a hopeless romantic!" Riza frowned.

"I am not a hopeless romantic" she stated indignantly.

"Oh come off it Rizzy, we all know you are. You just hide it under that cold exterior." Marguerite stated with a grin. She glowered at her friends, causing them all to laugh. Riza smiled at their reactions. It was comforting to be around people who understood her so easily.

On the other side of town, Roy mustang sat on a stool by the bar, a vein in his head twitching noticeably. Well, noticeably to everyone apart from the man currently sitting next to him, who also happened to be the source of his aggravation.

"Maes." He stated through gritted teeth, "Would you kindly shut up." The lieutenant Colonel pouted.

"But I'm so happy!" Maes whined. Roy sighed, his frustration only increasing.

"I understand that, but do you think you could possibly be happy without having to tell me how happy you are every three seconds?" he asked, a slight pleading edge to his voice. Maes frowned and turned back to his drink. Roy almost sighed in relief as silence descended between the two. He looked around the bar casually, attempting to ignore his friend who was now staring at him with a manic grin attached to his face. As he passed his eyes around the bar, an attractive woman with long blonde hair caught his eye and smiled. He looked away. Now he had the most beautiful woman in the world, he had no need to even respond to the looks other women gave him. Roy's thoughts were interrupted as he was almost knocked from his chair as a Maes grabbed him from behind, pulling him into a violent embrace.

"Maes!" he almost screamed as his friend clutched him tightly

"Oh Roy I'm so happy!" his friend cried, attempting to keep tears of joy from flowing down his face. Roy resigned himself to being strangled and silently wished for the evening to end.

"I hate Monday's" Roy growled to himself as he stared at the mountain of paperwork that had accumulated over the weekend.

"Hey chief, you do realise that the phone's been ringing for about ten minutes right?" Havoc asked.

"Yes I am aware of that Second Lieutenant." Roy replied as he pulled a few sheets of paper towards him and began signing them without really reading them.

"Aren't you going to answer it Sir?" Fuery asked timidly.

"No." Roy replied shortly. He knew exactly who was on the other end of the line. It was the same person that had been calling him for the last hour. He would have to survive the whole of his lunch hour with Hughes as it was, he did not need any more conversations. His subordinates all exchanged an exasperated look as they attempted to concentrate on their work despite the shrill ringing of the telephone. Roy gazed at the mess that had once been his desk and wondered what on earth all of these documents were for. He decided to ignore the daily stack of paperwork in order to concentrate on what may prove to be more interesting material. He reached out and picked up a folder that was lying on the corner of the desk. He opened it, and began reading the content. A frown began to work its way across his features, one that only got deeper with the more he read. He looked up as he heard the door click open and First Lieutenant Hawkeye walked in.

"Hawkeye, in need to speak to you now." He called. Riza frowned at the rather brisk tone he used, but walked into his office, closing the door behind her.

"What is this Lieutenant?" he asked, gesturing towards the folder. Riza hesitated. She imagined something like this might happen, although she hadn't expected Roy to be this annoyed.

"They are statements regarding the serial killer case Sir."

"Yes I can see that Lieutenant. However, you didn't mention any statements when we returned from our investigation. When exactly did you manage to get these?" Roy asked, attempting to keep his voice as neutral as possible. He wasn't angry that she had managed to get the information; on the contrary, what he had read was extremely helpful. It was more of the fact that she had neglected to inform him that she had retrieved them. Considering that they were from employees of the sugar bowl, he also couldn't help but wonder what she was doing when she had obtained them. Noticing Riza's hesitation in answering the question, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Then it dawned on him.

"That's why you were out all day Saturday." He stated. Riza lowered her eyes, unable to meet his gaze.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Roy cried. "Do you realise how dangerous that was? You have no idea who these people are; they could be accomplices to the serial killer!"

"I thought I was doing my job Sir." Riza stated, attempting to keep her temper in control. Did he think she was incapable of gathering information?

"I don't remember spending your days off with common prostitutes being part of your job description." Roy snarled in return. Riza's eyes narrowed as anger coursed through her veins. How dare he say that! Before she could retort in any way, Roy had started speaking once more.

"On top of that, you neglected to tell me what you were doing. What if something had happened to you?" Riza couldn't take it anymore. He was coddling her again, not to mention under minding her capabilities as an officer.

"It would have seemed suspicious if you had come with me Sir. I was continuing our investigation and I do not have to inform you of every move I make." Riza stated through gritted teeth.

"I beg to differ Hawkeye."

"Stop doing that!" Riza yelled, startling both herself and Roy by her exclamation. She was normally so in control of herself, but he had pushed her over the edge.

"Stop confusing our working and romantic relationship! I don't have to tell you every move I make and I don't need you protecting me!" A hurt look crossed Roy's features, making Riza cringe slightly. The words were far too harsh, she hadn't thought about what she was saying before she said it.

"I think you are the one who is doing that Riza." Roy stated softly, "You push me away; you keep me in the dark. You still hide behind our working rules even though you don't have to anymore." Riza stared at him, the words striking her in a way that she wasn't sure was possible. Did he really not understand her? What right did she have to burden him with every small problem, everything she kept inside? He had enough to deal with; he didn't need her worries and insecurities to bother him. But at the same time... did he really love her enough to want to know? She shunned that thought from her mind. It wasn't possible. He loved her, she knew that. But she had no right to burden him.

"If you question my methods as an officer Sir, then perhaps you should consider finding yourself a new aide." She whispered, before turning and swiftly walking out of the room, allowing the door to close behind her. Roy stared after her. What on earth had just happened? He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. What was he meant to do now? As he gazed around the room for inspiration, he noticed a small pile of paper's on the right hand side of his desk. He cursed and grabbed a pen, frantically signing them, wondering if this day could get any worse.

Riza fought the tears that were threatening to fall. Now was not the time to get emotional.

"Hey, Hawkeye, someone from the front desk brought this for you." Havoc called. Noticing her expression, he frowned.

"Is everything alright?" he asked worriedly, crossing the room to meet her. Riza steeled her emotions and turned her neutral face towards Havoc.

"Yes of course, I'm fine. What did they bring?" she asked.

"I left it on your desk." Havoc stated, still peering at her carefully. He was almost certain that she was definitely not fine, but he knew better than to press the issue. Riza gave Havoc a small smile before walking to her desk. She was puzzled to find a square black box sitting there. She continued to stare at it, not quite sure what it was. There was no card or return address, nothing that would give any clue where it had originated from. Seeing no sign of tampering of any dangers Riza slipped her fingers underneath the flaps and took off the lip. She almost dropped it in shock. The box was filled with white rose petals. Her heart began racing as she saw a card placed right in the centre of the flowers, a satin blue ribbon framing the edges. She reached out a shaking hand and turned the card over, knowing there would be something written there.

Spending your time with little whores now you pretty little bitch? Tut tut what will he say? But then again, you're not telling him about crawling around in the dirt with that filth are you? Don't worry my dear Lieutenant, all that will soon change when I get what I want.

Riza resisted the urge to scream, pulling the card to her chest as if to block out the words. Whoever this was, they were now not only following her, but knew how she spent her time. And they wanted something. That must be Roy; there was nothing else that they could gain by threatening her. Riza was breathing heavily, trying to calm herself. This was really scaring her now. The flowers were coming more frequently, and she had no more clues to who this person was.

"Well now, aren't you popular?" Riza whipped around, dread pooling in her stomach. Roy was standing before her, his eyes filled with anger and pain. His eyes widened and he saw what she was clutching. Riza opened her mouth to say something, but Roy simply walked past her, marching out of the office and slamming the door shut behind him.

Maes stared over at his friend from the seat opposite. He really didn't understand him. Everything had gone perfectly, yet here he was sitting at the table staring into his coffee mug as if he was about to go to a funeral. There was only one thing that could have happened.

"What did you fight about this time?" he asked wearily. Roy started from his thoughts and looked at his best friend as if he had just noticed he was there. He sighed in a melancholy fashion.

"It's nothing Maes. Well, nothing out of the ordinary." Hughes frowned at the statement. Nothing out of the ordinary? That didn't sound good. Of course, he knew that Riza and Roy had ridiculous arguments, but who didn't? He was married and he still had the occasional disagreement. But the point was that all you had to do was talk about it, apologise and move on. Every healthy relationship had its ups and down. But then again, this was Roy and Riza. He had a tendency to take everything she said to heart, and she was hardly the most open person in the world. Yet even someone passing them in the street could see how deeply they loved one another. There were just some things that the two of them needed to work through. He looked at his watch and sighed.

"Well, whatever it is buddy, I'm sure you two will work it out. You always do." He stated giving his friend a reassuring smile. Roy smiled half heartedly in return, hoping that that was the truth.

Riza was pacing Roy's office nervously. He had left the office that morning and he hadn't returned. His lunch break was now almost over, so he had to return soon. He had too. Riza attempted to stop pacing, but she couldn't. Her nerves were still shot from the package this morning. That and the fact that Roy assumed an admirer had sent her the flowers... Riza's thoughts were cut short as the door to the office clicked open and her superior officer walked in. He raised his eyes to meet hers and froze for a moment. Then he silently walked over to the desk and dropped a bag on the table. Riza frowned to herself. He had been shopping? She stopped that train of thought abruptly. It was not what she needed to be thinking about. An awkward silence fell upon them. Riza shuffled her feet nervously then began.

"Roy... about earlier I'm sorry. I was just... stressed. I'm sorry." She muttered, not meeting his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him move until he was standing in front of her.

"You're lying. I can tell. There's something you're not telling me." Riza didn't deny it. She hated lying to him. Roy sighed in frustration

"Fine, forget this morning. If you're not going to tell me then that's fine." Riza cringed at the anger in his voice.

"Roy, I don't know where the flowers came from, I promise." She said, bluntly turning the conversation to what was really bothering him. Roy sighed closing his eyes. He didn't want to have this conversation. He hated fighting with her, but he didn't understand her at times. Riza had never been one to let people in easily, but he thought that she would trust him enough to let him in. In fact it hurt that she still didn't trust him enough. If she couldn't trust him then there was nothing he could do for her, despite the fact that there was obviously something bothering her. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Look Riza, if you can't trust me with whatever's bothering you then at le..." was cut short when without warning Riza stepped forward and threw her arms around him, burying her head into his military jacket. Roy was so stunned at her action that he didn't know what to do. He knew that while she appeared self assured and confident, she held a lot of insecurities within her. She kept them at bay, even towards him, making sure that people never saw anything but her perfect soldier act. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. She shivered in his arms causing him to worry.

"Riza, you're shaking, what's wrong?" he whispered. She didn't reply, but only clutched him tighter. There was silence for a moment as Roy gently rocked her, attempting to keep her calm.

"I don't know who sent them to me, I'm not lying." She said, her voice muffled by the heavy fabric of his coat.

"I know, I'm sorry." He replied, kissing the top of her head. He was attempting to remain calm and not let her hear the panic in his voice. Something had scared her. And if it had scared Riza, it was definitely worth worrying about. He moved back slightly, allowing him to reach out and tip her face up to meet his gaze.

"You look tired." He whispered softly, caressing her cheek as he did so. Riza nodded, leaning back towards him once more. They stayed like that for a moment before Riza reluctantly pulled away.

"We have work we need to be doing." She stated. Roy smiled at the familiar sentence, but his face turned serious as he regarded her once more. Seeing his expression she smiled slightly.

"I'm fine Roy, seriously" he moved forward to protest when the phone rang. Roy shot the offending object an aggravated glare before turning his attention back to Riza. She looked back at him sympathetically before saluting and heading out of the door. Roy sighed as he picked up the receiver, attempting to suppress the feeling that something important had just gone unsaid.

A/N: Please review.