Yay! I only need about 2,400 words until I get 10,000! It's kinda funny, all of my documents are labeled Royai and a number. This is number 7. I wonder how long I'll continue this story for. I mean, I wanted to write something really long, but I can't see exactly how long. If enough people like it, I'll probably keep with the story after Roy and Riza get back from Aldeca. Granted I, don't have any ideas about what happens after that, but I'll start thinking about it if you want me to. : )

Disclaimer: Hiromu Arakawa owns FMA... Now all I need is a plane ticket to Japan and a time machine.

—

Roy looked at the sun and sighed. It was almost noon. 'I hope they don't shoot at me for being late...' Roy approached the warehouse, and was greeted by two burly guards. They raised their rifles and Roy threw his hands over his head. Then the man ,Cannon, exited the warehouse. He looked over Roy and shrugged. "Better late then never," He motioned for Roy to follow him inside, "Let's go." Roy nodded grimly, and followed. Cannon walked to the far corner of the room and pushed aside a few crates to reveal a trap door. Roy took one last look around the room before he went underground. 'I hope Riza is able to get down here without any problems...'

—

Riza's brow knitted together as she scanned the area. So far, she had counted a total of 15 guards circling the parameter of the building. Two remained at the entrance and, the others walked in groups of three that alternated as they patrolled. The warehouse was surrounded by plenty of trees, so Riza had cover if she needed it. Riza was kneeling and had most of her weight supported by her left arm. She let out a small cry as she remembered the wound Lust had given her. Riza quietly tore off her sleeve and examined the wound on her upper arm. It wasn't too deep, but placing her weight on it had made it begin to bleed again. She tied her sleeve around the cuts, it would do for the time being. Riza hid behind a large bush when two groups of guards paused uncomfortably close to her position. "Hey," said one man, "how long do we gotta look for this person?" Riza tilted her ear out further so she could catch more of the conversation.

"I donno, until we find em I guess." Riza lowered herself carefully. 'This isn't good. I'll never be able to get in there to help Roy at this rate.' Riza didn't even breath when the guards began to walk in the other direction. When they were completely out of her sight, Riza peered around the side of the bush, and spotted a small vent that led inside the warehouse. She checked to make sure the coast was clear before she sprinted to it. The vent was way too far off the ground for any normal person to reach. She tried to climb up, but only ended up hurting her arm. "Need help?"

Riza jumped at the sound and readied her gun. "Whoa, miss, I didn't mean to scare you!" It was one of the boys she had spoken with the previous day.

"Are you going to turn me in?"

"Hell no. These guys are bastards and they pay horribly. Your with the military right?" Riza looked the boy over, trying to determine whether he was being sincere. She nodded, and he went on. "Something real weird is going on here and I want out. If I help you now, you gotta promise to shut these guys down."

Riza shook his hand. "I promise." He smiled widely.

"Okay. Get on my shoulders." Riza gave him a look and he sighed. "I'm gonna lift you up to the vent." After some difficulty, Riza managed to get into a sort of standing position on the boy's shoulders. She pulled off the vent cover and let it fall to the ground."Be careful, miss, and watch out for Cannon, that guy is the worst of them all." Riza nodded a thanks, and slipped in the vent. The boy turned around and let out a low whistle when she was out of sight. "Damn, that is one hot woman."

"Your not a very loyal person, are you?" The boy spun around just as a spiky, long haired man knocked him out cold.

—

Roy was nearly dead with boredom. He had been told to guard the weapons storage locker and there were two other men with him, so he couldn't just sneak off. Roy looked at the men. "I have... to, um... take a piss." They waved him off, and Roy strode away gratefully. Roy fumbled around with the pistol Cannon had given him as he walked. Though it wasn't the most pleasant reminder of a person, firearms alwaysmade Roy think about his Lieutenant. 'I'm such an idiot. I don't know why I didn't see it before. How could I have over looked it? All of the times I stared at her in the office when she wasn't looking and when I specifically asked for her to join me on all of the missions I was assigned.' Roy laughed at himself bitterly and spoke aloud quietly. "I'm in love with her..." Roy stopped when he spotted a heavily guarded door in his path. He casually walked up to the men guarding it. "Hi, I'm new here." The men gave him a glare almost as scary as Hawkeye's when she was really pissed. He shrugged it off and continued speaking. "So what's in there?"

"It's boss's office."

"Oh, thanks." Roy smiled and waved as he walked off. It was time that he had a bit of fun. And with that, Roy stepped in to an empty room near Cannon's office and pulled out his ignition gloves.

—

Riza tried her best to squeeze through the vent, but her chest was making it a bit difficult to move. The air in the vent was laden with more dust then Roy's 'finished' paperwork pile, which forced her stifle several coughing fits. Riza would have jumped for joy if she could've when she saw an opening in the vent. She punched it open and let herself fall into the room and, luckily, it was empty. There were papers scattered everywhere throughout the small room. She found several lists of names thrown on the desk. Some names were scratched out and others had question marks written next to them. Riza took out her gun when she heard yells from outside of the office. Someone yelled 'Fire!', and Riza heard footsteps run away from the office door. She took the diversion as an advantage and began going through papers.

Roy grinned at his handy work while men ran in and out of the room trying to stifle the flames. He expertly slipped away from the chaos and made his way back to the office. Roy knocked on the door to make sure that no one was in the room. Hearing no reply, he opened the door and ran in before someone noticed. His fingers tensed and he prepared to snap when he felt cold metal on the back of his head. "Sir!" Roy spun around and was face to face with his Lieutenant. She was covered in dust from head to toe. He laughed and wiped her face off with a piece of cloth. She swatted his hand away after a minute and frowned at him. "You have to go now, if we're spotted together-," Two guards were running down the hallway and they had already seen her. Riza grabbed Roy's hand, shoved her gun in it, and raised it to her forehead. Everything was moving to fast for Roy to realize what she was doing.

"Good job," said one of the guards, "You caught the intruder!" One of the men took Riza by the arm and dragged her out into the hallway. He threw her roughly against the wall and looked her over. "I wonder if the boss will give me five minutes alone with her..." Roy's face turned dark red with rage, but Riza gave him a 'don't you dare move,' glare. He obeyed her, but kept his fingers in snapping position. "Hey," said the guard to Riza, "what's your name?" She grimaced at him.

"Go screw yourself." The man's face flashed with anger and he kicked Riza hard in the stomach. She struggled to maintain her footing, and before Roy could burn the man to a crisp, Cannon joined the group.

"Now is that any way to treat a lady?"

"But the little bitch just-," Cannon shoved the man out of the way and helped Riza support herself. He wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her close to him.

"Now what's a cute girl like you doing spying on us?" Riza smiled sweetly at Cannon. Roy nearly died when she moved her head closer to his. 'No! She's not going to do that, is she!'

Riza stopped about an inch away from his face and her smile dropped. She sucked all of the saliva out of her mouth and spit. Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor. Even Riza was a bit surprised, but there was only one person that she would let that close to her. Cannon tossed Riza aside and wiped away the spit. His eyes were frighteningly calm when he looked down at her. "Put her in the detention room." Cannon left, and the two other guards picked up Riza. Roy followed them to the room that they threw her in.

"Don't worry I'll stand guard." Roy choked as he spit out the words, "I won't let my prisoner get away." They looked at him questioningly. "Come on... let me have a bit of... fun." They pat him on the back and walked away. Roy sighed and walked in the room, shutting the door behind him. Riza was breathing heavily on the floor. He knelt down beside her and stroked her neck. "I'm sorry Riza, I should've-," She sat upwearily and put a finger to his lips.

"I found out what's going on here, or at least the gist of it. Cannon is giving the homunculi his new members in exchange cash. I think the homunculi are-," Roy pinned Riza down on the floor and straddled her when he heard the door open. Riza's heart leapt, but she understood why he had done it so she pretended to struggle. Cannon stepped in and slapped Roy across his head.

"You can do that on your own time. Now go stand over by the door." Riza stood up and straitened out her cloths. "Now," he looked at her, "tell me your name and your mission." Riza stared at him with her soldier like expression. "Fine have it your way." He went over to Riza and spotted her bandaged arm. He took it and gripped the wounds tightly. His eyes blazed with anger. "Tell me now!" Riza stood against the wall and ignored the white hot pain surging through her arm. She would no give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out, her pride would not allow it. Roy had to grab his own arm to prevent himself from strangling Cannon. A single tear made it's way down Riza's cheek, and a man burst through the door.

"Boss! Envy's here and he's real pissed!" Cannon nodded and let go of Riza. He turned to Roy.

"You've got five minutes before I send some more guards down here, have all the fun you want." Roy put on a fake grateful smile, and Cannon jogged out the door. Roy locked the door and ran over to Riza. He helped her sit up slowly.

"Are you all right, Hawkeye?" She noddedas sherested her head on his shoulder. His kissed her forehead and looked longingly at her lips. 'Not now... I have to wait.' He smiled warmly and walked to the far corner of the room. Riza's eyes followed his movements as he knelt and began to draw something on the wall. He stepped back to admire his work.

"What is it?"

"When you know shrimp alike Ed, you pick up a few tricks!" He placed his hands on the chalk transmutation circle. A flash of light erupted from it, and a staircase leading outside was formed. "I'll meet you back at the car in a few hours, okay?"

"Be carful..." Roy nodded and Hawkeye climbed up the make-shift staircase. Roy messed up his hair and cloths to make it look like he had 'had some fun,' with Hawkeye. Just as he stepped out of the room, two new guards approached. He grinned widely at them and saluted as he walked off. 'What the hell is going on here? Wait... Hawkeye said that they were getting people from Cannon... No, they can't be trying to make another one of those vile things, can they!'

—

"Where's the list?" Cannon dug around in his pockets and withdrew a single slip of paper. Envy took it and his hand shook as he read the two words written on the paper, 'Fuck you.' Envy threw his hands around Cannon's neck and thrust him against the wall. "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Cannon laughed. "Your not allowed to kill me until the mission is done, remember?" Envy reluctantly let go of Cannon.

"We're pushing up the operation date. You have one week to take Eastern command, and get me at least 35 live bodies."

"Don't worry, I have no problem with getting rid of some military dogs. Matter of fact, I caught one snooping around earlier."

Envy grinned widely. "Was it a girl?" Cannon nodded. "Give her to me, Lust will be happy to see her." Cannon lead Envy to the room that, until a few minutes ago, held Hawkeye. He kicked open the door and saw the staircase. "Where is she?"

Cannon peaked in the room and shrugged. "I guess she was an alchemist, too bad." Envy stomped out of the room and pointed at Cannon.

"I'll be back in seven days. If you don't have enough people, I'll use you and your group."

—

By dusk, Cannon had told all of the men to go home and to return the next morning. Roy made his way back to the car and found Hawkeye asleep in the back seat. He drove them back to the hotel and carefully lifted her out of the car. He carried her to their room and placed he on the bed. As Roy turned to leave, Riza's eyes fluttered open. "...Roy?" Roy sat down on the side of the bed next to her as she sat up. He tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.

"Let me take a look at your arm, Riza." With a little effort, Riza raised it up to him. He gingerly unwrapped the blood-soaked cloth and tossed it aside. "We need to clean it up, I'll go fill the bath."

Riza called out to Roy while he was in the bathroom. "Do you think they'll try and make it? ...The red stone, that is."

"Probably."

"Like when they tried to have Edward make it?"

"It's possible, but they would need a very strong alchemist to create the stone." Riza felt the color drain from her face.

When she spoke it was barely a whisper, "Roy Mustang... the great Flame Alchemist..."

Gasp! Dun-dun-dun!

Wow... the middle of this chapter wasn't nearly as much fun to write as the battle scene in the last one, but I had to put all of this stuff in here eventually. I want to make the next chapter kinda fluffy. Agh! I dropped my sushi! T.T

I wish that the 1,200 people viewing this would take one minute to give me a review. Hate it, loved it, have any suggestions- let me know!