Thank you for the reviews, everyone! I didn't expect to get as much as I did in such a little time. I was expecting probably two days to get at least five. Thank you so much!

Throughout the day, Hawkeye remained quiet and bitter and there seemed to be an unfriendly and unapproachable aura around her. She spoke to no one, except when needed to. At first, Jean thought it was just… feminine problems. But he waved the idea off since it wasn't the usual time of month that Hawkeye would be going through.

Then as he was observing Hawkeye, something struck Jean as odd: the way she acted with Mustang. She ignored his comments and his requests, only complying with him when he ordered her to, which she did grimly. But even then, she never looked at him or spoke to him once, just simply nodding or shaking her head curtly. How weird. Jean knew that the Colonel and the First Lieutenant were pretty close and were hardly ever mad at each other, but with the way Hawkeye was acting, it seemed that Mustang had done something to piss her off a lot. He wondered if anyone else noticed this, too.

As soon as Hawkeye went to get more paperwork, Jean whispered, "Psst. Hey, Breda!"

"Yeah?"

"Does it seem like Lieutenant Hawkeye's been acting weird today?"

Breda looked thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, I suppose she has. I wonder what's gotten into her."

Fuery, overhearing their conversation, decided to have a say in it. "Maybe she didn't get enough sleep last night. I heard that some people get cranky if they don't." Jean and Breda just looked at him strangely in response.

"Or maybe," this time it was Falman who spoke, "she's… you know." Breda and Fuery's eyes widened as realization of what he was talking about dawned on them. They nodded their heads vigorously in agreement.

Havoc shook his head. "Nah. Even so, she wouldn't be this strict or pissed even if she was having that problem."

"Maybe she just has a harsher case of 'it.'"

"No… I don't think so. Have you seen the way she's treating Mustang?"

"Yeah, it's like she's giving him the silent treatment."

"Or the cold shoulder even. She ignores everything he says."

"Why do you suppose so?"

Breda gasped and everyone looked at him, his eyes wide as if he had just discovered something shocking, which, in a sense, was. Everyone leaned towards him like he was going to tell a big huge secret. "Maybe… Lieutenant Hawkeye…"

"What? What?" Fuery asked anxiously.

"Maybe she's… been possessed by a ghost!" They all stared at him dumbly and Jean slapped the back of his head.

"Oww… what was that for?"

"What do you think?"

"Well, it could be possible. But wait, maybe something major did happen to her."

"Like what?"

"Maybe she's pregnant…"

"What!" They all stared at him, mouths agape.

"…with Mustang's kid." If it were possible, all of their eyes would've popped out already.

Fuery was the first one to recover and laughed nervously. "No way. That can't happen."

"Oh, really? You know how the lieutenant is always with the Colonel?"

"Yeah… she never leaves his side."

"Exactly. Don't you think they have a little thing going? And what about those nights where they would stay in to finish their paperwork? It's probably an excuse to be with each other. Alone. Who knows what they could be doing in here?" Jean and Falman considered this to be a plausible idea, but Fuery still refused to believe it.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye has much more sense than to do that, even if she and Colonel Mustang are together."

"Remember when you said that she went into the bathroom and she stayed there for, like, ten minutes?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she probably took the test then and found out she was pregnant."

"Then why is she such a bad mood today?"

"You know mood swings are common with pregnant women. Maybe it's a little harsher than with the other one."

A simple "oh" was Fuery's response, and after a quick evaluation of all the reasons, he, too, found it believable that Hawkeye would be pregnant. Jean was about to point out that it looked like Hawkeye had been crying, when said woman came through the office doors with a pile of paperwork in her hands. She gave them a stern looked then barked, "Why are you all gathered there? Get back to work!" They all obeyed and not another word was uttered after that.

Thinking back to the conversation, Jean thought that Breda could be right. But if it were true, why would she be crying, he wondered. If she really was pregnant, shouldn't she be happy? Wasn't it every woman's dream to raise a family? Sure, Hawkeye wasn't like any other woman, but she still was one, and Jean believed that deep down she had that dream, too. And also, the fact that she was acting so pissed and angry was a little weird. It would make sense if she was having a mood swing, but mood swings tend to come and go. But if Hawkeye was having a mood swing, it wouldn't carry on throughout the day, right? Then that would mean, that the idea of her being pregnant isn't true. But then there could be exceptions and… urgh! It was just so confusing! Jean sighed and decided to forget about it and continue his work.

The rest of the workday went on, although it was quieter than normal. And when it finally ended, everyone seemed to be glad about it and breathed a sigh of relief. Fuery and Falman left as soon as the workday was over; they had been long done with their paperwork. Breda soon left after them. Then, after straightening her desk and gathering her and Hayate's things, Hawkeye left without a second glance to the Colonel or Jean, much less a goodbye. That was another thing that Jean found strange. Hawkeye always waited after the Colonel was done, unless she had a personal appointment she had to attend to. And Jean doubted that she had one today.

Jean opened his mouth to ask the Colonel if he had noticed Hawkeye's strange behavior, but then stopped. Of course the Colonel had noticed. His favorite subordinate and close friend was pissed off and ignoring him. How could he not notice? Instead, Jean prepared to ask if Mustang knew why Hawkeye was in a bad mood.

"Hey Colonel!"

"What?" Mustang growled out. Jean gulped. It seemed that Hawkeye wasn't the only one in a foul mood, so he decided to forego the question.

"I… uh… I'll be going now, sir. Permission to leave?" Mustang grunted in response, and Jean took it as a yes. He tidied up his area and left quickly. That bad mood could be contagious.

Jean walked out Central Headquarters and started his normal route home. Along the way, he stopped by a café and ordered something to eat, since he didn't have any lunch. After flirting with the cute waitress and finally getting a date from her, he left in a happy mood. As he walked the streets, he spotted Mustang up ahead. Knowing Mustang, Jean knew that he would spoil his happiness somehow. Not wanting for that to happen, he changed his route and went to the park, where he took his time strolling back home. Then he heard some sniffling and a very familiar voice nearby.

"That bastard… why did I even trust him…"

Hmm… definitely a girl's voice, but whose? That voice was really, really familiar. Somewhere in his mind, Jean knew who it belonged to, but he just couldn't place it.

The girl laughed bitterly and Jean looked toward the direction of the voice. "…oh, who am I kidding?… I knew it would happen… it's to be expected from a womanizer…"

A womanizer? Could it be Roy Mustang this woman was talking about? Could this be Charlotte? Did Roy break up with her already? Jean listened to her talk again. Nah. She didn't sound like this, and she didn't seem like the type who would cry over a man.

"…he promised me, Hayate…"

Hayate? Wasn't that Hawkeye's…? Jean's eyes widened as he realized it was Hawkeye he had been listening to the whole time. It was a little difficult believing that Hawkeye actually had a love life based on the way she acts at work. But like he said before, she was still a woman and therefore capable of loving a guy. Even so, he felt his heart drop and all his sympathy went out to her. He wondered what this guy had done to her to make her feel so sad. Feeling like he had to do something, Jean stepped out of where he had been listening and in front of Hawkeye.

"Huh? Havoc?" She looked up at him from the bench she was sitting on, surprised, with tears coming down her face. She wiped them away and her eyes turned angry. "What are you doing here?"

He let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head, asking himself why he was there in the first place. "Well… I was walking through here, and then I heard you cry. You started talking and I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying. And I don't know… I just wanted to know if you were okay and if you wanted to talk or something. You know, if you want to."

Riza's eyes softened and a simple "oh" left her lips. She gave him a small smile, then looked down at her hands. Jean sat down beside her on the bench. "So… what's wrong? What's this guy done to you?"

Riza sighed sadly, shoulders drooping as she played with Hayate's leash.

"He hurt you that bad, huh?"

She nodded in response as she tried to keep in the tears welling up in her eyes again. "I…I saw him with another woman today."

"Is that why you were crying today? And acting unusually pissed?"

She nodded again. "Yeah… Wait, how did you know I was crying?"

"I may not be the sharpest person in Central, but I can still notice a few things here and there."

She gave a small smile.

"You must like this guy a lot, maybe even love him, if he made you, the Riza Hawkeye, cry."

Riza bowed down her head, her bangs obscuring her eyes. She said in a small voice, "Yes, I do." Then they both sat there with Jean not knowing what to say to her. He never really dealed with anyone he truly liked cheat on him. Maybe it was because he didn't truly care for the girls he dated. Or maybe it was because the girls he met never cheated on him; they just dumped him before dating someone else, most likely Roy Mustang. Either way, Jean didn't know how it felt and therefore had no way to console Riza.

He sighed. "Honestly, Riza… I've never known what it's like to be cheated on, but judging on how you feel with it, I know that it's not something I want to experience. I'm really sorry that this happened to you. I really and truly am sorry." A few moments of silence passed between the two as they both watched Hayate run around chasing a butterfly. Jean smiled at the carefree attitude of the pup before he continued on. "Riza, if this guy hurts you so much, don't stay with him. It might hurt a lot to leave, but it will hurt you more to stay and have your heart played with. If this guy can't be good enough to stay with you, then he doesn't deserve to have you."

Riza looked at him, somewhat surprised that he would say something like that. She offered him a genuine smile, the first one she'd had since noon, and Jean couldn't help but think, She looks beautiful when she smiles. A blush crept over his cheeks as soon as he thought that and he tried hard to fight it. Nevertheless, Jean smiled back and said casually, "You look pretty when you smile; you should do it more often." Riza gave a small laugh and they sat there side by side in comfortable silence.

"Thank you, Jean." Riza suddenly said in a quiet voice. "Really, thank you."

"No problem. I just hate to see a fellow comrade upset." Jean was about to comment on how it was his job to keep everyone's spirits up, when a thought popped up in his head. "Hey, Riza. Who is this guy, anyway? I'm just asking."

Riza seemed to stiffen at the question and she abruptly stood up, calling Hayate over. "Oh, it's, um, getting late. I have to feed Hayate now. He hates it when he doesn't get his dinner." Jean looked at her, confused at her sudden change. He stood up, too, and grabbed her hand as she started walking away. He knew that she was trying to avoid the question, but why? There were hundreds of men in Central, and it was unlikely that Jean would know the guy she was dating, so why didn't she want to answer it? "Riza. It's just a question; it's not like I'm going to hunt him down and beat him up."

"Then what does it matter if you know who it is or not?" she shot at him.

"It doesn't."

"Then just drop it." Riza twisted her arm to get out of Jean's grasp, but he wouldn't let her go. It was obvious that she didn't want him to know whom she was dating, but why? Was the man abusing her? Or was it that he knew the person…?

"Riza…do I know this guy?" She twisted some more and even Hayate started to growl. She reached for her gun when Jean asked, or rather demanded, again. "Do I know this guy?"

She turned on him and Jean could see tears running down her face. "Yes! You know him!" She yelled at him exasperatedly. "You know him really well! So well, that I'm shocked you don't who I'm talking about or that you didn't know why I was so upset today." Jean looked at her, helpless at her rampage. "Since you guys are such good pals, it's surprising he didn't tell you his dirty little secrets, or else you'd know about us and him cheating on me. Then you wouldn't be here, feeling sorry for me. You'd be out in some old bar, laughing at me."

"Riza…" Jean had finally loosened his grip on her. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and said, "I have to go home now. Goodbye, Lieutenant Havoc." Riza walked away, pulling Hayate with her. Jean stared after her, feeling so… helpless and sad and terrible. Whoever this guy was caused Riza a lot of pain, and Jean had an inkling of who it was.

Whoah. Longest chapter I've written so far. More than 2000 words. I'm proud of myself.XD I think you can already guess who this guy is, but for those who don't know yet, you'll have to wait for the next chapter, which will be coming out... I have no idea when. Umm... I hope you enjoyed it.

Um... a little thing. You guys should check out Perspectives by shadowriter55. It's a TOTALLY AWESOME story! REALLY REALLY AWESOME! It's one of my favorites, too.

Read and review! It's what keeps these fics going.