Royai Collection
Chapter 52
Perfect
"The new neighbors have a dog?" Maes Hughes asked as he watched the sunset over the house next door and the man he was referencing play fetch with his puppy in the back yard.
"Yes!" Gracia said. "He's adorable! Black Hayate is his name."
"That is a terrible name for a dog." Maes said and continued to study the guy as he rewarded the puppy with a treat that looked more like half a steak than a biscuit. The couple, the Mustangs, had moved in last week and he had been working too late to be able to do proper surveillance. Gracia was doing her best to get him tidbits of information to ease his worry about the new people living beside them but it just wasn't good enough. He watched them whenever he had the opportunity, how had he missed the dog?
"Elicia loves him!" Gracia said and continued to fold the laundry on their bed. "You'll get to meet all the Mustangs this weekend at the cookout, don't worry."
Maes frowned. The weekend was a long way away and his need for more information was eating away at him. He ran regular background checks on everyone in the neighborhood at work, he didn't want any questionable individuals around his wife and daughter while he was working 60 hours a week. Being in military intelligence he was able to write it off as personal security, even if his secretary rolled her eyes at that. What irked him was that he couldn't find any records on these two except for a marriage certificate and a post office box in Central. In fact there were very few Mustangs on record, the only one in the capital was a bar/brothel owner who had no children. So where were this guy's parents? When searching Riza's maiden name, Hawkeye, as property records only lead to a dead man. Gracia made them sound like the perfect couple and from what he could observe through the window at night, they were obnoxiously in love. They weren't newlyweds, they were married for six years! Who the hell had that much sex after six years! "Oh look, he's dancing with the puppy instead of his wife."
"Why does it bother you so much that he is so romantic?" Gracia asked.
"It's just...odd." It wasn't that it was romantic, it was ridiculously perfect. Roy Mustang could sing better than most singers on the radio, better than most he had heard in musicals and at the casino floor show. He heard him every night, because the man sang in the shower and left the window open to help with the build up of humidity. As if that wasn't enough, he had been spotted dancing with his wife in the living room and the back deck. Not just an awkward sway back and forth, fluid and impressive ballroom dancing. Where did he acquire those skills? Who paid for his singing and dancing lessons? That was something that most people were subjected to as a child, and that cost money. Parents with money had to pay taxes and would have been in the governments records somewhere. He suspected Mustang wasn't their real name. "You said he's a writer?"
"Yes, he writes under a pseudonym." Gracia said and walked over to her husband who just could not get over the fact that their new neighbors could be that in love or have no apparent flaws. "He won't tell me what it is or what genre, I asked. He wants to stay private as possible. He must be famous."
"Must be if he could afford that house." Maes mumbled and leaned against the bedroom window as Roy was caught spoiling the dog and his wife emerged from the house to scold him. Then there was his wife, Riza. She was coming out on the deck now to call them both in for dinner and was greeting her husband with a kiss as if they didn't just see each other five minutes prior. She was some kind of consultant, of course that was secret too. However he couldn't help but notice she was the one who always caught him 'spying' on them, sharp eyes that made him feel like he was at a disadvantage here. Him. A Lieutenant Colonel in military intelligence. He was hidden in the shadows of the curtains but somehow as the Mustangs went back into the house, she glanced up and locked onto him. "She always spots me."
"She's a beautiful woman. I'm sure she's used to being watched like a hawk by men." Gracia said and finally got her husband's attention.
"It's...just that they seem too perfect. Like this is some kind of show." Maes said and turned away to give his wife a hug. He never wanted her to even imply he was looking at another woman for that reason. She was right though, both the Mustangs were gorgeous and could have been models. Who were these people?
"Maes, that is ridiculous coming from a man who spends most of his day showing people pictures of his wife and daughter. Bragging on the simplest things." Gracia said and kissed his cheek. "I know you're on edge after that fiasco with Shou Tucker, but what are the odds of another murderer moving into his house and doing those horrible things all over again?"
"I missed that." Maes mumbled. "Right under my nose, I should have known something was wrong when his wife disappeared. I should have..."
"Honey, please." Gracia said and ran her hand through his hair and across the stubble on his cheek. "You can ask them all the questions you want this weekend. Interrogate them yourself, without them even knowing it. Just like you always do. Stop spying on them and come down for dinner."
"You're right." He said and kissed her forehead. She was right, what were the odds of that happening again?
"Oh! I forgot to tell you, Roy does all the cooking! He's going to be bringing some gourmet kebabs over for the grill this weekend!" Gracia said.
Maes took a deep breath and forcibly kept his eyes from drifting back to the neighbor's house so he could go enjoy dinner with his family. Something, however, was just not right with the Mustangs.
The Mustangs were fucking perfect. So perfect that Maes wasn't sure if he felt like he was inadequate as a husband or if he was in love with Riza Mustang's husband. Roy was absolutely incredible; he understood a broad range of topics thanks to his occupation as a writer, could converse intelligently or be casual and laugh at dumb puns and he really was an incredible cook. It pained him to ask the question that had been nagging him, fearing he might lose access to this interesting and engaging new neighbor, but it wasn't in his nature to leave questions hanging. "Roy, why did you move here? You have to know why your house was vacant for so long."
Roy turned his BBQ skewers over so the flames could char the fat on the edges of all the beef cubes. "That's exactly why I wanted to buy it. I needed inspiration, I needed to research what it feels like to be a man like that for my next novel."
Maes wasn't expecting that. The guy bought a house where a murder was committed to be more accurate for a book? That was so damned dedicated it made him feel like he wasn't living up to his own professional standards even if he was currently gathering information on his new neighbor. Selfishly he reacted to the news, wondering if this was just a short term stay on Mayflower Street. "So does that mean you'll be looking to move on once your book is done?"
"Trying to get rid of me already, Hughes?" Roy asked with a grin and dropped a small piece of meat for Hayate who was beside his foot the entire time. The pup caught it and wagged his tail.
Maes had to laugh. It was a cover to come up with an adequate response so quickly. Roy kept him on his toes, that was for sure. "No, it's just a big house and I couldn't help but think when you moved in that it was a little big for just a couple and a dog. I was wondering if Elicia might be able to look forward to having some friends her age next door."
Roy cleared his throat, trying to act embarrassed that his plans might have been seen through. "My wife just let me get a puppy, I think I'll be happy with that for the time being. I am hoping this new book will be successful and turn into a series, then maybe we can think about settling down. After I prove I am not going to ruin the puppy by being lax on discipline, that is."
Maes looked over at Riza and Gracia as they mingled with the other neighborhood guests. Maybe he was looking into this too much. These two were just a nice couple, a couple their age, who got a good deal on a house that had a bad history. Perhaps he was too suspicious, Roy seemed like a really cool guy.
"So why was Gracia grilling me about kids?" Riza asked as Roy finally made it to the bedroom after taking his shower. They has mingled at the BBQ most of the night, Roy apparently got chatty with Maes. "And also questioning me about how long it was going to take for you to write your book. If I wanted to know about the school system. If it was my job or yours making us put off having kids? If we were having so much sex because we were trying to conceive."
Roy bent down and pet the puppy who was laying on his dog bed. He heard Riza tell him to go lay down and he obeyed, but damn if he didn't want to pick up the adorable fur-ball play with him a little while. "Everything about Hughes, everything in his file, points to him being a man who needs answers. He asked and I gave him an answer, why is that a problem?"
"It wouldn't be if you weren't already begging me to keep the puppy once this mission is over." Riza said and watched Roy sit down and call Hayate over to his lap. God, he just would not leave the dog alone. "Roy, you know our life doesn't allow for a dog. I only agreed to this because he was a stray and you somehow convinced me that he would help our cover."
"Why did you think that was a good idea?" He asked. "You knew it wasn't but you still didn't fight me. You wanted him too."
"This is a mission." She reminded him. "You are to go through this house and find Shou Tucker's research notes. We are here to determine if Hughes is compromised, if he knew about what was going on here and if he may have sold those notes. Then we destroy the house. Then we find Hayate a good home and move on."
"I know, dear." Roy said and put the puppy down so he could crawl into bed with his wife. He crawled over her to get to his spot but paused and hovered over her a second. "So Gracia really asked about the sex? Did you tell her you can't resist my shoulder holster?"
"Is this why you used our real names?" Riza asked, ignoring the sex question. Maybe the holster was not helping matters, but it was nice to be in a relaxing setting where they didn't have to be on edge all the time. Maybe he wasn't the only one enjoying this cover a little too much. "Are we the Mustangs because you really do want this to be our life? Suburban home. Neighborhood BBQ. Puppy and kids?"
"I used our real names because Hughes works intelligence. He's good. He would do background checks and none of our aliases are even close to being that solid, having that much history and dead ends, to withstand an investigator like that. At least our real names have longevity, cleaned up but it goes back far enough to make him curious not start a manhunt. And when this is over, the house will burn and so will our names. We'll officially be dead. Does that sound like I was planning a future for us, because it doesn't sound that way to me."
"Then why are you getting defensive?" She asked and reached out to touch his cheek as he moved off her and into his spot beside her. Something wasn't right. "Enough about work, what is bothering you?"
"We're not saving the world or anyone, we're only saving the government's ass." Roy said and looked over at the puppy. "Maybe when we first started this job, after the war, when we had so much to make up for and were still naive...maybe when we were handling genuine threats against real people...maybe."
"We're more advanced than that now." She said. "Now we're trusted and high enough up that we can handle sensitive issues like Tucker and investigate a Lieutenant Colonel."
Roy shrugged and got under the blankets. "You're right, I'm just being cranky because my birthday is coming up. Feeling old. Wondering what I'm doing with my life."
"So working with your wife isn't good enough anymore?" She asked and ran her hand through his hair. She understood what he wanted, but she had to make him talk it through to see for himself it wasn't their life. "You loved your job when we were just flirting and walking a fine line of fraternization."
"I love you." He corrected her. "I love working with you. I've never loved this job. It was penance."
"So what? You think you'd have been happier if you stayed in the regular army? If you were some officer sitting behind a desk signing paperwork all day?" She asked. The irony of him choosing 'writer' as an occupation was not lost on her, considering she was the one who always filed their reports when they went in to be debriefed.
"I'd like to experience this world we've worked so hard to save." Roy looked at her and said. "With you."
"And a puppy." She added and saw him smile, a sincere smile that told her he was truly getting worn down by their lifestyle; this life they had embraced for almost eight years, alias after alias. So many fake identities and lives, so much blood on their hands still...and no end in sight. They had each other, but who were they? They weren't the idealistic fools shattered by a war anymore, they were a married couple who had no idea what they would do on a real date or how they would buy a house if the government didn't do it for them. Truth be told, she really did want to give that puppy a home but they didn't have a home. Their home had been each other for so long, always moving and covering up any traces that they had even existed.
"I saw it when you picked him up and put him under your coat to dry him off. Little stray pup, shivering in the cold rain by himself and nobody even giving him a glance. I know you wanted to save him and it hurt because...we would never be that home for him. We have a dangerous life and no room for a puppy, no certainty that tomorrow we would even be alive to feed him. We found someone we both want to save and we are powerless to give him what he needs long term, so we have to give him up. Well, I never want to see that look on your face again and I'd rather give up this shitty job than that puppy. I'd rather save him that save the government the embarrassment of some scandal surrounding a rogue research scientist who killed his wife during an experiment."
"Roy...we can't leave this life. There is only one way out." She reminded him.
"It's a good thing the Mustangs are scheduled to burn with this house, isn't it?" He asked and leaned over to kiss her goodnight before turning off the light.
Riza took a few minutes to think about it all. She wasn't surprised or insulted that Roy had integrated this exit strategy into his mission plan, she was impressed as always. She was more disappointed in herself for not seeing he was unhappy or more so for allowing herself to be so transparent. "Is this what you really want?"
"A real life with you? Absolutely." He said and rolled over to kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear, "We've already done enough of the government's dirty work, this is not what we set out to do. Let's do what we think is right for a change instead of what we're told is right."
She smiled, it felt right. "We'll talk about it. Focus on the mission for now."
