The Wants of the Few
Disclaimer: I own nothing

Author's note: lol, this is probably one of my favorite chapters.

Chapter 10 – Pajama Search Party

They rode in silence each looking carefully on each side of the street looking for Elysia. It'd been almost 2 hours and neither had said a word since they'd got in the car. Roy was driving, Riza hadn't been so easy to give up the keys but after he convinced her that she was too upset to drive she gave in. 'How does he do that?' She asked herself. 'How is it that he's the only one that can get me to do just what he wants?' It was one of the things that fascinated her about him. He seemed to have the ability to know just how to manipulate someone to get them to do what he wanted. It seemed whenever she thought she finally had him figured out, he turned around and surprised her. It was something she loved about him…he wore a mask most of the time, pretended that he didn't care, that he was just another player playing the game. But every once in a while he'd take off that mask and show the heart that he pretended he didn't have. It was quiet times like that, that made her love him all the more. When he loosened up enough to take off the mask, it was like he invited her into his own private world…like it was something special that was only to be shared between the two of them. He'd done it again tonight. Just when it seemed like she had no where to turn he showed up and saved the day like some dark haired prince coming to save his princess in distress. Riza almost laughed at the thought of Roy riding up on a horse to save her. 'Mustang riding a horse. The bad puns could practically write themselves.' She thought. As silly as it seemed, he had saved her. If it hadn't been for him she'd probably still be in the middle of the street in her pajamas—it was just then that she remembered that she still was in her pajamas. She felt more than a little embarrassed. Blush threatened to rise in her face, but she pushed it back. She shifted uncomfortably and moved a little closer to the door. She could think of at least 24 military statutes that they were violating. She couldn't hold back her blush any longer when she remembered how he grabbed her when he found her in the street. It was the first time in a long time that she could remember him touching her…looking back on it, she almost wished the moment could have went on forever. He'd only grabbed her around her around the shoulders, nothing romantic by any stretch…but she'd waited so long for his touch. It didn't need to be romantic…it was something. At the very least it was the most slight inclination that he did care for her at the very least as a friend. His hands had been so warm…

Mustang could hardly see anything in the blackness and it wasn't for lack of trying. Hawkeye though, was making his search increasingly harder. For the several hours they'd been in the car; she'd been sitting fairly close to him, her shoulder touching his. The night shirt she was wearing was extremely loose and he could see directly down her top. He was trying to be a gentleman, but it was getting harder and harder to resist temptation. It got worse when the collar of her shirt began to slide seductively off one shoulder, leaving the bare skin of her shoulder bumping against his as the car bounced down the road. His eyes were beginning to blur from searching so long, and the lack of sleep wasn't helping the matter. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Hawkeye pull the collar of her shirt back into place and move closer to the passenger side door. 'Oh yeah, two hours later she moves.' He thought sarcastically. Normally he'd be more than happy to spend the night driving around in the dark with Riza in nothing but her PJs, but this was turning into a nightmare. It killed him to have her so close, but he couldn't do anything. Everything he wanted was less than two feet away from him and he was stuck driving around in the dark, searching for someone he couldn't see in the shadows. Finally he couldn't stand it. He'd been ignored by her for more than 2 hours, he was tired and on top of everything else they hadn't seen hide or hair of Elysia. Roy was fed up. "We should turn back." He said as he turned the car around. Finally Riza perked up. "What do you mean! We haven't found her yet. Keep driving."

"No."

She was appalled at his willingness to just give up. "Give me one good reason to turn around."

"I can give you five. I'm tired, we haven't found her, we've searched this area three times and, we need more people."

"That was only four reasons." She said feeling more than annoyed.

"The fifth reason is that's it's almost daylight and I'd rather not be discharged from the military because I was seen driving my Lieutenant around in her pajamas." Roy said, he could tell this was going to turn into another of their fights.

Blush rushed into Riza's face. She'd been hoping he hadn't noticed her pajamas. "Well if you hadn't been playing house with Gracia I could have taken Elysia home at 1:00 and she wouldn't have ran off to start with." She mumbled under her breath. Despite her mumbling Roy heard her comments anyway. She thought he and Gracia were fooling around…'Well that explains why she's been ignoring me this whole time.'

"My relationship with Gracia is none of your business, and as for Elysia, if you'd been watching her she wouldn't have been able to run off. Don't go trying to blame your follies on me."

"My follies? You're having a fling with your dead best friend's wife and you think me losing track of a little girl is a folly?" Hawkeye retorted. He was right, it was her fault for not watching Elysia more closely, and she really didn't have any business prying into his personal matters, but his statement had cut too close to home. She wanted to hurt him like he hurt her.

The remark had caught him off guard and he stopped the car in the middle of the street. "Get out."

Hawkeye was a little stunned, but she realized she'd hit a nerve. "It's my car."

"Fine." He said as he opened the door and got out of the car, "But if it hadn't been for me, you'd still be standing around in the middle of the street screaming in your pajamas." As he said this she'd slowly slipped out of the car and he was yelling at her over the hood. That said, he started walking off into the night. He'd walked several yards before he started talking again, this time he didn't turn around. "And for your information, I wasn't having a "fling" with anyone. Gracia ask me to stay so she could have help baking Elysia's cake and hanging the decorations. The only reason I was there when you called was because I fell asleep on the couch. Before you start accusing me of things you should really get your facts straight." He continued to walk away from her. Suddenly her heart leaped for joy and cringed in pain at the same time. She was happy to know that he wasn't actually fooling around with Gracia, but her comment in the car was uncalled for, and she hated herself for how she'd hurt him.

'How could she say that to me?' his heart ached. Not just because she'd suggested that he and Gracia were an item, but because for a few minutes while he was with Gracia he'd actually thought about it. It hurt worse because it was Hawkeye saying that to him. 'Why is it that the ones we're closest to can hurt us the most?' he asked himself solemnly as he walked in the direction of his apartment.

Hawkeye watched his receding form and her feet felt frozen to the pavement. Suddenly she regained her senses, "Colonel!" she shouted after him and ran up behind him. His head wanted to turn, to see her following him but he refused its request. She was now beside him and he could see her out of the corner of his eye. "Colonel, I'm sorry…I was out of line." He continued to walk, pretending to annoy her. It was apparent she was going to have to grovel. 'Ugh…sometimes I hate this man.' She thought. She was above begging, but after what she said she knew that she deserved what she was getting. "I'm sorry Mustang…I don't know what else to say."

"How about that you were wrong." He said, stopping, "How about that you jumped to conclusions…how about that you shouldn't have brought Maes into it."

"You're right." She said, staring at the pavement in shame. "It was a low blow to bring Lieutenant Colonel Hughes into it…I just thought—"

"Thought that Gracia and I were sleeping together." He finished for her. She nodded, "I was afraid that—" she started.

"Afraid?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"I was afraid that you were just going to treat her like another one of your one night stands…I didn't think it was fair to her."

"You know not everyone I date is a one night stand. I can make a commitment if I wanted to…if I found the right one." The last of the statement was directed at her, but she didn't notice, she was still convinced they were talking about Gracia.

"I guess I'm not really comfortable with the thought of you making a real commitment…at least not to Gracia. I know how close you both were to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and I judged you unfairly. I just couldn't help but think it seemed wrong somehow…

"Like I was trying to take his place?" Roy suggested. She nodded, staring at the pavement. 'Thank God he didn't ask me about why I have a problem with him making a commitment.' She thought, relieved. "As for my commitments," Roy continued, "I'm a big boy and I don't need you to approve who I make my commitments to." Her soldier's instinct made her nod again. "Yes sir. Like I said…I was out of line, and I'm sorry."

Her apology seemed rehearsed to him. Like her mind was on autopilot…or more like autosoldier. This aggravated him all the more. It wasn't that her apology seemed insincere, because he knew that wasn't the case. It just seemed that they were suddenly thrown back into the office and she was acting as his subordinate again…her perfect soldier mask back in place. For a little while there he'd actually hoped that they were finally past shielding themselves from each other with the masks they so often wore. He sighed heavily trying to keep his emotions to himself. "Let's get back to the car. I need a little sleep and we need to get you out of those pajamas." Suddenly he realized what he said and he blushed inside, "I mean you need to change your attire."

Riza smiled slightly at the comment, and walked a few steps behind him back to the car. She felt a little lighter now, she wasn't sure if it was that they were going to continue the search after she got dressed or if it was that she knew that he and Gracia weren't an item, though she had a small inclination that it was the latter.

Autosoldier...i love that line :)