AN: Hi guys! I'm so glad some people still want to read this after I was unable to post for awhile. Some of you said the other chapter was kinda boring. Yes, I know that's true. Sorry. Don't worry though. Hughes makes up for it. Those of you who read before know exactly what I'm talking about. Evil grin. For you new people, we (meaning me and old readers) refer to these chapters as 'office chapters' and the ones with Roy and Riza are called 'Royai chapters' I have no idea if you care or even need to know that... but… so we are all on the same page, I decided to tell you. Don't ya just feel so loved?

charriXD: Sweatdrops. It was just a minor typo. Thanks though. I fixed it for you XD.

Warning: Havoc may be OCC, like I said I don't know him. So I don't know how he'd react to this situation. I apologize in advance if he is OCC.

The Way to a Man's Heart isn't by Crushing his Ego Chapter 24: If There's a Will, then there's a Way, and That Way, is Blackmail!

"Did you get that cleaned up yet?" Hughes asked Armstrong as he made his entrance into the office.

Armstrong was sitting on the floor, on his hands and knees, trying to scrape some of the crud off the floor with his fingernails. "Armstrong?" Hughes asked as he and Havoc walked into the room, carrying a new window.

"Yes?" Armstrong replied as he glanced up. Hughes was mere inches away from him.

"Hughes, watch out!" Havoc shouted when he saw the disaster waiting to happen.

"For what?" Hughes asked questionably and was about to take another step. Then he felt it. His foot hit something behind him, something large, he tried to stop himself, but he lost his balance and fell backwards. "GAHHH!"

Crash! The window now lies on top of Hughes. In tiny little pieces. Havoc, feeling defeated, dropped his end of the frame.

"Not again…." the blond Lieutenant whined putting his hand over his face with an 'Oh God not again' expression. The 'large thing' Hughes had fallen on was Armstrong's massive leg.

"How did that happen?" Armstrong asked as he looked behind him and saw Hughes lying on his back, half of the broken window on top of him, and half on the floor. Hughes' leg was draped across Armstrong's, more or less describing the situation.

"Don't worry about it," Havoc replied as he stared at the shattered pieces of glass that made up the window. "I guess I should head back to the store. Don't worry, it won't take long. They know me!" he snapped somewhat irritatedly and turned to leave.

"No wait," they heard Hughes' voice as he tried to push the big window frame off his chest.

"Hm?" Havoc turned around and glanced down at Hughes. He wiggled his cigarette in his mouth. His expression was dull and calm. He stuck the lit stick of tobacco in his mouth sometime when no one was watching.

Hughes stared at the wiggling cigarette. It just wiggled up and down as Havoc waited form a response. Hughes' eyes followed the bouncing cigarette.

"Sir?" the sandy-blond hair man asked after a few moments of Hughes' head bobbed in an up and down motion.

"FOR GOD SAKES! PUFF ON IT MAN!" Hughes shouted and collapsed backwards on the floor as if the agony from waiting for a puff that would never come was just too much for him.

"Huh?" Havoc started at him questionably.

Armstrong then lifted the big widow frame off Hughes' scrawny body. Hughes regained himself and sat up. He then began wiping some of the pieces of glass off his uniform. The sound of small pieces of glass falling on the floor is all that was heard as Havoc and Armstrong stared at Hughes, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.

"Ouch," Hughes said with a bit of a whimper as he looked at his pointer finger. "I cut my finger!" he whined as he stuck his pointer finger in his mouth.

"What were you going to say, Major?" Armstrong asked. His mustache twitching as he spoke.

Hughes pulled his finger out of his mouth and looked over it for a second. Then he snapped up attentively. "Oh yeah! Armstrong, I noticed you're not having much luck trying to clean off the floor."

Armstrong nodded and looked at his hands. His fingernails were filled with black tar and were taking a nasty beating on top of that. They looked like the ends of jaded rocks, all broken and uneven.

"Yeah, so?" Havoc asked as he stared down at his friends, the dull expression had returned to his face.

"Well, we need a scraper!" Hughes blurted out.

"I can pick one up at the store," Havoc replied and was about to leave again.

"No, you idiot!" Hughes replied as he lunged forward and grabbed Havoc's pant leg as he tried to walk away. Havoc turned to look back down at him. "Why not?"

"Because that's no fun. Besides that would cost money. We could get one right here for free."

"Where would we acquire one?" Armstrong asked in his normal tone.

"From the mess hall kitchen!" Hughes replied still clinging to Havoc's leg.

"You're crazy," Havoc replied as he tried to walk away again. Hughes yanked on his pant leg, almost pulling him down. "Hey," Havoc snapped with surprise suddenly as he stumbled backwards, almost falling on Hughes.

"Come; sit down here with me... Young Grasshopper…" Hughes said in a comical yet serious way as he yanked on Havoc's pants again, pulling him down and causing him to land on his butt next to him.

"What?" Havoc asked as Hughes turned so he was face to face with Havoc. He leaned in close so his face was only a few inches away from Havoc's. It held a very serious expression.

"Uh... sir?" Havoc asked nervously as Hughes continued to stare at him. He can't be… can he? No, he's married! Havoc thought to himself. Armstrong sweat dropped behind them. That was the biggest amount of emotion he showed in well…. as long as we've know him.

Hughes continued his quiet serious staring for a minute more. Then he quickly swiped his hand across Havoc's jacket. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Hughes then leaned back with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Uh…?" Havoc said questionably. Trying to figure out what just happened.

"Heheheheheh…" Hughes crackled somewhat evilly. He pulled his arm out from behind his back, the same arm he swiped Havoc with. "Hehehehehehe," he continued as he waved his hand in the air. A familiar looking box grasped in his hand. His devilish grin grew and stretched from ear to ear as his glasses lit up with evil light.

"Huh? What?" Havoc asked as he began feeling around all the pockets on his uniform, "HEY!" he snapped when he found out Hughes had stolen his precious cigarettes.

"This is a great lesson I pass down onto you, Young Grasshopper. If you can't get someone to do what you want them to with words. Do it with blackmail," he smirked.

"Blackmail?" Havoc replied questionably. His face flashed an angered expression as he snapped back at Hughes, "But… but…" he couldn't think of anything to retort.

"Hey, at least I'm not commanding you to do anything. I'm a major. I rank higher then you, remember?" Hughes said with a friendly smile.

That's exactly why I couldn't think of anything. Havoc thought to himself as he glared at Hughes.

"Hey, how come you don't treat me with the same respect you treat Roy and Riza with? You act scared of them," Hughes said as he looked at Havoc with a questionable expression.

Because they mean business when they say it. You'd just steal my cigarettes and a spatula from the kitchen. Havoc glared.

"Hm?" Hughes said still wondering. Havoc didn't reply.

"I think we should get to work again, boys," Armstrong said, trying to break the silence and tension in the small office.

"Right," Hughes shot up, standing up straight, his hands and the cigarettes behind his back. "So Lieutenant, will you accompany me to the mess hall?" he asked as he stared down at Havoc.

Havoc just glared back up at him, then swallowed all his anger and stood up, too. He sighed and looked at Hughes again, "Yes, sir."

"Good man, let's go," Hughes said as he and Havoc left the room. Hughes' head popped in a second later, "Oh Armstrong, clean up this mess, would you?" he asked. "This office isn't going to clean itself you know, thanks bye," he said as he waved and closed the door behind him.

"Hm?" Armstrong said as he looked from the closed door and around the destroyed room. "This looks like a time for!" (MR. CLEAN! MR. CLEAN! …Not really…) he shouted proudly as he grabbed his shirt, "The great Armstrong line! Hard labor such as this has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" he bellowed as the strange light shown down from heaven and he grabbed the nearby mop.

The scene switches back to Roy and Riza. They are still in the same building. Riza is at the moment trying to figure out a way to get Roy out of the hole.

"Here, grab this!" Jazz said as she handed part of a broken board down to the three men. It wasn't very long, they'd have to jump up to reach it, but at least it was an idea.

"Here let me do it," Riza said as she bent down and took the board from the small girl. "They're pretty heavy. They'd pull you down there with them," she said as she smiled at her and took the board.

"Ok," Jazz replied as she retuned Riza's kind smile with a cute grin of her own.

"Here, sir," Riza said as she leaned over the side of the hole.

Roy jumped up and grabbed the end of the plank. "I've got it!" he yelled as he grasped the wood.

I can tell. Riza thought to herself as she struggled to pull Roy up. She was a little afraid she'd fall in herself. She pulled hard. The muscles in her arms and back began to tense and ache from the stress and pulling.

"It's working!" Jazz shouted with a smile as Roy was hoisted into the air.

"Hey, wait for us!" Dino shouted as he and Big Red headed for the wood.

"No wait!" Roy snapped but it was too late. Big Red and Dino lunged toward him. They jumped up and grabbed the plank with their big hands.

"EH!" Riza said with surprise as she felt a jolt. She was pulled downwards suddenly. Jazz grabbed Riza around the waist, trying to help hold her up.

Snap!

Just before Riza fell forward the plank of wood snapped under the three men's combined weight. Riza and Jazz fell backwards from the force and Roy, Red, and Dino fell back down to the floor.

As Riza felt her head hit the dirty floor an annoyed look flashed across her face. This is going to take forever.

Then they heard Big Red whine again, "Owww, I got another splinter."