Tai: Yay! Thankyou to all my lovely reviewers! I loved your comments, espically the one about Roy going commando. It made my day. Anyway, everyone seems to agree Roy wears boxers, probably red or sexy ones.

Anywho, to recap: Roy had his lovely dream, Riza got pissed off. Then on Monday Havoc mentioned seeing Riza out to dinner with a guy. Riza called in sick and has been away from work most of the week. Tai(OC) came to keep an eye on them.

I think thats everything so far, anyway, onto the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. You should know that by now.


Chapter 7: Returned

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, it's nice to know you're still alive!" Havoc's cheery voice greeted the young woman. "So tell me lieutenant, who was that man you had dinner with on Sunday night?" Riza looked at him before walking over to her desk "My personal life is none of your business Havoc." She stated firmly. Black Hayate yipped in agreement. "Ah Lieutenant Hawkeye, it's good to see you. I hope your cold wasn't too bad." Mustang smirked, walking over to his own desk. "And Havoc is right, it's good to have you back at work." Sitting down at her desk, Riza started her work "Thank you sir, and I'm glad to see there's not mountains of paperwork that you forgot to do." She smiled. Hayate barked in response and trotted out the door past Breda.

"So Havoc, you find out who Hawkeye had dinner with?" he questioned, walking over to him. "No, not yet," Havoc sighed, "but it shouldn't be too hard." Both men ducked as two shots were fired over their heads. Havoc, who had covered his eyes in the process, parted his fingers to see a very annoyed Riza holding her gun. "I've already told you Havoc," she hissed, "my personal life is none of your business." Riza put her gun away and returned to her work, looking up every now and then to glare at Havoc and Breda. After glaring at them for the tenth time, she pulled out her gun again.

"I suggest you start on your work, rather than talk and risk getting shot." Riza growled, aiming her gun at the two yet again. Both let out an audible squeak before running to their desks and starting their work. Hawkeye put her gun away and returned to her own work. Minutes later Falman and Furey entered the room, Furey looking extremely pale. "Furey, Falman it's nice of you to join us." Mustang smiled, looking up from his work. "Ah, what's wrong with Furey?" The question was clearly directed at Falman, who shrugged in response. "I'm not sure sir, when I met up with him he was already like this." He motioned to Furey, before sitting down at his desk.

Furey let out a small squeak and ran over to his own desk and quickly started his work. The other males in the office exchanged confused glances as he sat muttering something to himself. "Well at least someone other than me is doing their work." Riza sighed, looking over at Furey. "Although, I doubt it's because he knows he has to." She frowned, as Furey looked up and his eyes darted round the room. The colour slowly returned to his face as he let out a sigh of relief. He looked over at Riza and his mood seemed to brighten. "Hawkeye's back! That means she wont be in here today!" Furey celebrated, before going back to his work.

Everyone else in the room was still confused as to what had Furey so worried. Shaking her head Riza returned to her work once more. "I suggest you continue with your work, or you'll miss lunch." She stated coldly, snapping everyone back to their senses. "Good point Lieutenant," Roy agreed, "Get back to work." He put his head down and continued to sign and read the papers in front of him. The other men nodded and returned to work as well. As Roy's mind began to drift, he thought back to Saturday. How he wished that dream hadn't been a dream at all.

He slowly began to hum and tap his pen on the desk, alerting Hawkeye to the fact he wasn't doing his work yet again. "Sir, may I suggest you get back to work otherwise you will miss lunch." She instructed coldly. Roy however couldn't hear her, he was off in his own little world, one where he and Riza were together and paperwork didn't exist. However, this world would only ever be in his head, for he still had a mountain of paperwork to do.

Two shot rang out, startling Roy out of his train of thought, making him drop his pen, scatter the papers sitting directly in front of him. All while falling out of his chair, which he'd started swinging on during his thoughts. "Sir, I suggest you stop daydreaming and get back to work." Riza repeated, putting her gun away. Roy sighed and stood up, picking up his chair, pen and papers to continue with his work. He was glad she was back at work, but he could do without the shots at his head that scared him out of his chair.

At about 12pm the other occupants of the room finished their work and the men slowly left. Riza however remained behind. Roy looked up from his work, which appeared to be finished. "So, who did you have dinner with on Sunday night?" He asked, standing up and stretching. "That's none of your business." She replied, glaring at him. "You should get back to your work if you want lunch." "Already finished." He sighed walking over to Riza's desk, "and now I want to know whom you had dinner with." She looked at him, surprised. "Why exactly do you care sir?" she asked curious. Roy thought for as moment before answering her "Because Lieutenant, " he stated, "If the man you had dinner with is in fact your boyfriend and he dumps you, you would be upset." She scoffed at this remark. "And grief effects my performance which effects you, correct?" she asked rolling her eyes.

He looked at her the paint of what she'd just said showing in his eyes. He wanted to tell her she was wrong and he wanted to know so he could stop her from getting hurt. Riza however ignored the glimmer of sadness in his eyes and stood up turning her back on him. "The man I had dinner with was my brother, he was in town for a few days and wanted to catch up. Anything else you want to know about my personal life, colonel?" she spat the last word as she reached the door. Roy stood there stunned; she'd never talked to him like that, not that he could remember anyway. Receiving no reply, she walked out of the room, brushing past Major Armstrong in the process.

Roy still hadn't moved and was only snapped out of his thought by Major Armstrong knocking on the door. "Colonel, is everything alright?" he asked concerned. "Hawkeye seemed upset about something." "Everything's fine Major." The colonel sighed, sitting back down at his desk. The pair waited in silence for what seemed like hours. "Is there anything else major?" Mustang asked. "No sir, I apologise for interrupting." Armstrong replied walking out of the room. Once Mustang was sure the major was gone, he let out a long sigh. Getting in a tiff with Riza wasn't something he wanted to do. He sat rubbing his temples, unaware of the eyes watching him.

Meanwhile Riza had headed for the opposite side of headquarters, looking for Lieutenant Ross. Instead she found Hughes, who was bugging Sciezska with a new photo of Elysia. She considered turning around when Sciezska spotted her. "Ah Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, I wish I could stay" She began "but… Hey look! There's lieutenant Hawkeye, I bet she hasn't seen your new photo yet." Sciezska pointed down the hallway towards Riza, and Hughes turned his head. "Ah Lieutenant, you just have to see this photo!" Maes called, "it's of Elysia in her new dress."

"Great, just great." Riza sighed through gritted teeth. Meanwhile Sciezska had taken off in the opposite direction. As the Lieutenant Colonel continued to blabber on, Riza tried to figure out what was different about him. "Doesn't the colour purple just look amazing on her?" Hughes continued, "I was thinking about getting her a purple skirt as well and –" "Ah sir, if you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing a miniskirt?" Riza questioned, interrupting him. Hughes looked at her, "Do you want to know the details or not?" he asked quietly. Yes, all six men involved in the game knew they shouldn't of been playing poker in the office, but they were all bored. "I don't think I want the details." Riza replied, looking at the expression on Maes' face closely.

He shrugged, "I lost a card game and this is my punishment. It's only for the rest of this week thankfully." Riza shook her head. At least it wasn't like the last time the boys had played cards; Riza had forced Mustang and the other men to never to speak of it again. It was something she wished she hadn't seen. "Anyway sir, I have to get going." Riza said quickly, turning around. "So soon? Alright, Tell Mustang I'll be down to show him my new photo after lunch." Hughes smiled waving goodbye to the young lieutenant. As she walked back to the office, memories flooded her head. Memories of her and Roy, of everything he'd ever done for her. He'd always treated her differently, and she never thought anything of it. After all, she was a woman, and he treated all women differently. "He couldn't really just think of me as another woman could he?" she asked herself, reaching the office door.

Rather than walking into the office, she waited at the door. Finally deciding it was too quiet for him to be working or sleeping, she looked in at the colonel, who was staring at his desk. He looked as though he was having a battle with himself that would never be solved. She sighed, turning and walking back down the hall. "If only he knew how I really felt."


Tai: Aww, how sweet. Anyway there is a lot more to Thursday, this is just one part. Anywho, random question time!

Random question for this week is: What and where do you think Riza's brithmark is?