Fever

Disclaimer: Think about it "Fan" fiction. If I owned it, I wouldn't be a fan…I'd be a writer.

Author's note: Its currently 85 degrees inside my house, and I think I'm melting…pardon if Roy does a little of the same. ;)

Note to self: don't work on things called "Fever" when its 85 degrees.

Chapter 5 – Red Dress Fantasies

Riza's mood greatly improved over the next week. She was seen smiling and humming little tunes under her breath. Roy couldn't help but smile at her. Her mood was practically contagious. The entire office seemed bright and energetic. Roy couldn't remember the last time she was so happy. It was on Friday that he finally couldn't help himself. "What's got you so happy?" he asked with a smile to his Lieutenant.

She smiled happily at her little secret. "Oh, nothing."

He gave her a sly smirk. "Well that must be some fantastic kind of nothing. You sure you don't have a date or something?"

"The only date I have is with a red dress." She said mysteriously.

Roy raised an eyebrow at her comment, but decided against pushing her for details. 'There's no need to pry.' he thought, 'Not when she's this happy.' Her remark played back through his head,'The only date I have is with a red dress.' He smiled uncontrollably. 'I bet she'd look pretty hot in a--' he stopped before he allowed himself to finish the thought. 'No, I can't think of her like that. If I start thinking of Hawkeye as more than just a soldier…things could get messy—not like I'd actually fall for a girl like her…so stiff and all, but damn, she'd look hot in—STOP that!' He tried to get back to his work, but the more Roy tried to not think about her in a red dress, the more he thought about it. Eventually he found himself giving into to a few of the fantasies and actually considering not just how good she'd look, but actually what the dresses looked like and what they'd look like on her. After a while he even started to wonder where she was going in those dresses, first it was places like the movies and clubs, but eventually it became lavish ballrooms. Then the fantasies took on a life of their own and not only was his fantasy-Riza dressing like she never would in work and going places he couldn't usually picture her going, but now she had a date on her arm…and it just wasn't anyone—it was him. Suddenly he was jarred out of his reveries with a hand on his shoulder. "Sir?" He couldn't help but jump a little when he saw that it was Hawkeye speaking. "You were murmuring." She said. "Did you need something?"

He shook his head quickly, "No! I was just thinking." He felt his temperature rise. It was embarrassing enough to be having fantasies about one of his subordinates, but it was even worse being caught by the one he was thinking about. He felt his body burn…especially his shoulder. He felt as if he were about to blush out into a fever.

"All right." She said simply and went back to her desk. He turned back to look at his paperwork, but his mind continued to wander. This time, he made sure it was far away from the fantasy-Rizas he'd cooked up. He glanced at the clock, 5:00. 'Only an hour before me and Hughes hit the town.' Tonight was going to be their night out, and Roy was looking forward to it. It felt like it'd been weeks since he'd seen his friend and he was anxious to play catch-up. Roy glanced over at Riza happily filling out paperwork at her desk. Roy also wanted to ask Hughes if he knew anything about Lieutenant Hawkeye's strange change of disposition…if anyone would know about her reasons, Hughes would. He wasn't in intelligence for nothing.

"Hey Roy!" Hughes said as he stuck his head inside Roy's office. "I'm going have to cancel on you tonight."

"Why!" Roy asked getting slightly annoyed. This was the second time in two weeks. It really wasn't like Hughes.

"I've got a date with a lady in red." He said with a wink. With that said he walked quickly on his way down the hall.

Roy rushed to the door in attempts to get a real answer out of his friend before he left. "I thought your anniversary was next week!" he called down the hall.

"It is." Hughes replied back mysteriously. This was about all Roy could stand. Suddenly Hughes' words echo in his head, 'I've got a date with a lady in red…' Riza's words followed after, 'The only date I have is with a red dress' These couldn't be just a normal coincidence, could they? 'First Hawkeye makes a mention of a red dress,' Roy thought 'then Hughes cancels on me for the second week in a row for some "Lady in Red"? This is more than a coincidence' he deduced, 'Time for a little investigation.'

I'd have to say this is one of my favorite chapters...probably because I love how Riza caught him fantasizing about her ;). Until tomorrow.