Another chapter. I hope I'm not boring you guys with this stuff; I hate to read boring fan fiction (although I'm never come upon any myself, but I know if I found one I wouldn't like it to be boring.) I wouldn't want you guys falling asleep at your computers. But in this chapter the office gets involved. Remember; this is an alternate universe so Roy trusts his subordinates a little more with personal matters than he does in the show. By the way, everyone has gone up in rank; I just don't say their ranks here. I might later. I also introduce Riza's replacement, which will cause trouble in later chappys. Have fun and like always; please review. Hayate still holds true to his word; flame me and your shorts will become doggy doo in less than a week. The munchkins were useless in bringing me the rights to FMA… so I still don't own any of the characters.
Chapter Three- I told you it would get out of hand
"I will. I'll get all that done before you wake up. Good-bye Riza." he said as he closed her bedroom door and grabbed the spare key out of the drawer before locking her apartment door and heading off to the office. How am I gonna explain this? Riza gets a mysterious discharge from the military, then I come back from the trip I said I would never come back from, and then when people see her the way she is, they're gonna know what happened. I have to get this out in the open with them before rumors begin to pass around. He went straight to the headquarters therein Central where the secretary greeted him in her usual flirty manner. Normally he would encourage these actions and play along, but this time he wasn't going to. I have a pregnant… I don't know what to call her… well, I have Riza to worry about. I can't think of other women right now. He thought to himself. He gathered his mail and headed towards his section, passing by Intelligence to grab Maes' collar and drag him along. He was the only other soul who had any clue that Roy and Riza were involved with each other out side of work. He entered his office, calling for each of his direct subordinates to meet him in his office in ten minutes for a staff meeting. He introduced himself to Riza's replacement, a tall brown-headed man around the age of 25. He wasn't an alchemist, but he was good with rifles and handguns. At least they know to send a sharpshooter in her place. Each of his men entered the room quietly; Falman got there first and sat in the other chair in front of Roy's desk next to Maes. Havoc and Fuery came next, standing behind Falman, involved in their own deep conversation. Armstrong and Breda came in last, closing the door behind them; Roy asked his new subordinate to leave the room for a moment while he informed the others of his situation.
"Ok guys. I need you to tell me what's been going on in the past three days I haven't been here." he asked, opening his question to anyone who would answer.
Fuery spoke up first. "We were warned not to divulge any information."
"But I'll tell you what I know." Maes said. "Colonel Riza Hawkeye was given an honorable discharge from the Amertris Military for personal matters not stated in her file. She gave an eastern city address as contact information, then left this morning on a train to the east." he finished, knowing Roy didn't like what he was saying.
"Ok. That explains a lot. Havoc; when did she come in to get her things?" he asked, looking at the man.
"Yesterday morning, around 7:00. You don't get in until 8:30 normally, so I think she did that purposefully so you wouldn't run into her." he answered, putting out the butt of his cigarette.
"Well, now I know what happened here. I should tell you what's going on out there, as long as you can keep this in between us. No one is to know anything I tell you and if you hear rumors, let them go. Only you guys should know the truth." Roy said, taking a deep breath and standing up, leaning down on his desk. He looked up into the eyes of the six men sitting in front of him. "Hawkeye… Riza's pregnant. That's why she got discharged." He let the men gasp and look at one another, but Maes looked him dead on in the eyes.
"Pregnant, Roy? I told you it would get out of hand…" Maes shook his head, sighing and putting his head in his hands. The other men looked at them with wonder showing on their features.
"Do.. do.. do you know who the father is? Has she told you?" Fuery asked hesitantly. Roy smiled a weak smile at the man, knowing he didn't mean any harm by asking.
"It's me. I'm the father." He answered, sitting back down in his comfy chair and rubbing his temples. They gasped again, but Maes spoke up.
"Didn't I tell you that when all this started you should be careful? You might have to face an inquiry here and you could lose your rank and position." he said.
"I know. I've already thought of that. The laws of the military do not bind her anymore, so I can help her with the child. If I do face an inquiry here, I've got it planned out that we both tell them the child isn't mine in any way and that we never had a relationship outside of work. But I'm going to help her raise that child as if it were my own, though. That's all those morons need to know." Roy responded, looking at Maes hopefully.
"That could work. I might need to make some alterations to some paperwork dates, but that's it. I can see that excuse working if you do get an inquiry." he said, looking up at Roy. "So how far along is she? It can't be much more than a month because she didn't look very different when I saw her Monday."
"You'll be surprised what that woman can hide. She's a little more than four months into it." he said smiling at his men. "Well guys, it looks like I'm gonna be a father." They stood up and congratulated him, patting him on the back and telling him to give Riza their best wishes. They promised to not tell anyone and eventually left the room to carry on with their duties.