In no way, shape or form do I take credit for creation or ownership of the Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) series. The original manga is the property of Hiromu Arakawa and the anime is the property of Bones animation studio.

Riza was almost prepared to leave for the day and was feeding Black Hayate before she walked out the door when a flurry of knocks came from her front door. Smiling to her faithful companion, she patted his head as he started eating. "It seems that I've got another escort waiting for me for work this morning, huh, Hayate? Who would have thought that I'd ever be so popular?" He barked at her once in response, followed by a few happy pants before he buried his face in his bowl once again, gratefully devouring his breakfast.

"Coming, Jean!" She called as she stood, placing the bag of dog food back in her cabinet before exiting her modest kitchenette. Grabbing her jacket of the back of her couch, Riza buttoned it quickly as she walked to the door.

She opened the door not to see the smiling face of her academy buddy, but the smirk of her superior officer she had known since childhood as he leaned against the doorjamb. Riza quickly got over the shock of seeing him awake so early and merely settled for being happy that he had been reunited with their team. "I'm sorry Hawkeye, were you waiting for someone else? Or did my name change and I missed the memo? We all know how bad I am at reading my paperwork," Roy Mustang said in a teasing voice.

Riza chuckled lightly as she exited her apartment, locking the door behind her. "No no, it's nothing like that, Sir. Havoc and I merely had a one-time walk to work together yesterday and I was wondering if he had returned unannounced to pick me up again. …I wasn't expecting you to be awake this early." Riza glanced at the wristwatch she wore beneath her sleeve on her wrist to make sure she was running on time, seeing that she was characteristically early as always. "It's usually at least another hour and a half before you arrive at the office, Sir."

"Well, that's because Gracia woke me up to the wonderful scents of breakfast, and with Elysia jumping on my bed, I didn't have much choice but to get up." Noticing that they were still just standing outside her door, Roy motioned for her to precede him down the hall. "Shall we?" Riza nodded at him and they set off for the office together.

"So, you're staying with Gracia, I take it?" Riza inquired, despite already knowing the answer. "I'm hoping that means their home was undamaged in the attack. It didn't seem like too much made its way toward our area of the city."

Roy nodded. "Thankfully, they were both home when it started and stayed put after barricading the doors. The waves of attack got close to their house, but never made it there. There was a bit of fallout from that plane in their yard, but it's been dealt with already. I see that just a few minutes away, your area of the city is virtually untouched."

"One of the few areas that were so lucky, unfortunately. It's going to take a long time and a lot of work before things are back to normal for most of the citizens of Central."

"Well, one of the forms that was in my stack of work we finished last night indicated that in addition to more troops, as many State Alchemists as could be reached are returning to the city to assist with the repairs, so that should help speed things up, at least a little."

Glancing over, he noticed that Riza was staring at him with her eyebrows raised. "What? I do read some of my paperwork."

Riza let out a little breath, not quite a full sigh, before answering. "I would prefer you read all of it, Sir."

"But it's so tedious," Roy whined. "If I read every slip of paper that came across my desk, we'd never leave."

"With all due respect, Sir, if you'd actually work during the day, you'd be able to finish your work and leave on time. The others get lucky because they don't have as much to do as you, so they can slack and still get done in time. Trust me, I've spent over a year and a half doing the paperwork for the head of the office, whom is now you again, Sir, and I assure you, the daily load can be done in a day, without staying late."

Roy stopped walking for a moment and turned to face Riza, tilting her chin up with his finger as he looked her in the eyes. "But if I did that, how would I get to spend time with you, Riza?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. It had been years since he'd called her by her given name when speaking to her, always addressing her by her surname when they were in uniform, and the few times he got to see her in their free time. He noticed that just barely, the bridge of her nose pinked, indicating that she had noticed the difference in addressing her as well. Excluding a few times where she had been addressed by the pseudonym "Elizabeth" over the phone while on a mission, he had been calling her Hawkeye for an awfully long time now.

Riza stared at him calmly though, as she usually did while in uniform, "You could always take me to dinner, Sir." She fought the smile that threatened to break out, barely managing to conceal her amusement at his startled face as he dropped his hand away from her chin.

Glancing at her watch again, Riza began walking once more. "Sir, we're going to be late if we continue stopping like we've been doing. After all, we've got work to do."

"Late for you is still early. Come to dinner with me," Roy said suddenly after he caught up with her.

"No," Riza said calmly, her serious façade never slipping.

"Why not?" He asked in disbelief, the surprise and confusion was evident in both his face and his voice as he spoke.

"Because, Sir," Riza said, her tone the same one she used when she explained why he couldn't toss his work in the trash and burn it all, "you've only asked because I just brought up the idea to you. It's rather unoriginal of you, Sir. You hate being outwitted when you think you're being clever."

Looking at her pitifully, Roy brooded the rest of the walk to Central Headquarters, the desire to cross his arm petulantly strong and hard to resist. Riza had almost as hard of a time not cracking a smile at his behavior and at the fact that regardless the circumstances, he had just asked her to dinner. Silently, she assured herself that she would accept his offer next time, even if she did make Amestris's most desired bachelor squirm a little first. After all, how often did any woman get the chance to see Roy Mustang when he wasn't assured his date before he asked for it? It was a truly amusing spectacle to behold, Riza thought evilly; he was so befuddled and was only a hairsbreadth away from pleading as he'd asked for her reason why not.

As they entered the office, they were greeted by Havoc as he was leaving, his coat tossed over the back of his chair carelessly, leaving him in the dark shirt he customarily wore beneath it. "Good morning, Taisa, Chuui," he said as he saluted informally on his way out the door.

Riza nodded her return greeting, while Roy spoke for the both of them. "Good morning Havoc, I assume we'll see you at lunch for a report on today's activities?" Idly, he wondered if Havoc was always as early as Riza, or if this was one of the many things that seemed to have changed in his absence.

Havoc smiled, the cigarette held in his lips bobbing with the motion. "Yes, Sir. I'll see you guys for lunch. Try not to get me too much paperwork today, Ma'am. I'd like to have a nice, leisurely afternoon in charge of the office, complete with as little work as possible."

Riza affectionately rolled her eyes as he left, making her way around the office to pick up the documents she had to deliver from each desk. "Sir, I just have to run these back to the dispatchers and the filing department, I'll be back in a few minutes with today's new work. Would you like me to get you your coffee while I'm gone?"

Taking his seat at his desk, Roy nodded. "Yes, thank you, Hawkeye." He thought for a moment, then amended his statement. "Actually, don't make extra trouble for yourself. Will you just bring me some tea? Like the kind you drink?"

Riza stopped for a moment in the doorway and looked at him curiously before nodding and addressing him one last time. "Alright. And Sir, please do try to remember that we'll be out in the city all afternoon. It would behoove you to start on your work left-over from last night, so that we can leave at a reasonable time tonight, Sir."

Grimacing, Roy nodded pitifully at her, acquiescing. "I'll do my best."

"Well, that's better than I was hoping for, Sir," Riza said, gracing him with a small smile as she departed, her arms filled with paperwork from yesterday.

In the time that Roy was waiting for Riza to return, Breda arrived, throwing a confused look at Roy as he entered before remembering to salute. He groggily said "good morning" and made his way over to his desk, laying his head down on the clear surface to catch some more sleep before Riza arrived with their work.

Roy was awfully pleased with himself by the time Riza returned. Aside from greeting Breda upon his arrival near the end of his wait, he'd managed to stay almost completely focused on his work, letting his mind wander only once or twice about getting to be outside this afternoon instead of behind his desk. It was probably one of his most productive hours in his office to date.

Seeing his subordinate return, he became even more pleased when he noticed the small stack of paper under her left arm, her right hand holding two teacups on her first two fingers. Nodding to one another, he continued reading the paper he was looking through while she carefully placed the cups on her desk before sorting through the stack of papers, walking around the office and distributing them to the necessary desks as she went.

When she approached the sleeping Breda, Roy couldn't help but look up to watch. Too many times had they been threatened with gunshots for slacking for him not to be curious. Instead of something so drastic, she merely placed her free hand on his back, the gentle touch rousing him from his light sleep.

"G'morning, Ma'am," he mumbled sleepily as he took the thin stack she held out to him. After a few moments of yawning and stretching, Breda set to work, leaving Roy in further shock. Had things changed this much since he'd been gone, or was this morning special?

Still distracted, he watched Riza as she walked back over to her desk and picked up one of the teacups, blowing lightly at the top as she approached his desk. "Here you go, Sir," she said as she handed him the porcelain cup, the liquid still steaming mistily into the air above the cup. She stood at his side, paperwork still in hand, waiting for him to try the beverage, it seemed.

Casting a look up at her, he brought the warm drink to his lips and took a tentative sip, finding it just a little sweet, but actually quite delicious. It reminded him of the lemon tea his mother used to make in his youth, and was much better than the bitter coffee he drank each day to get him started with enough caffeine to function. "Mmm… this is wonderful," he said, breathing in the steam rising from the cup. "What did you put in it?"

"I squeeze in orange juice when the tea is steeping, Sir, then add just a little bit of sugar."

"Where ever did you get the idea for that?" Roy asked, genuinely curious. He never would have thought to put orange in tea. He certainly liked it, he thought as he took another sip.

"Actually, Sir, I got the idea from you, years ago," she replied as she finally placed the stack of paperwork on his desk. Seeing his confusion, she elaborated. "You once told me at breakfast about the tea that your mother made, but all we had in the house were oranges, so I tried to duplicate it with those. Tea by its nature is a little too bitter for my tastes, hence the sugar." Glancing at his desk, she noticed the stack of finished work and smiled before continuing. "If you like, Sir, I could make you some each morning instead of your usual coffee."

"Thank you, Hawkeye," Roy said, noting the smile over his finished work proudly. "I think I'd like that." Riza nodded and was about to turn away when Roy reached out and stopped her with a hand on her arm. "About earlier…"

"Sir?"

He gestured to Breda with his free hand. "You calmly waking him up instead of the usual threats and guns, is that… the usual way things go now?"

Riza, staring at the hand still holding her arm, pulled her gaze up to Roy's at his question. "Actually, Sir, in recent months, work around the office has been pretty steady. We've had a few bumpy spots along the way, but the men have had better work ethics than ever in the past few weeks."

Roy frowned. "Am I really that bad of an influence?"

Riza blinked a few times in confusion as she looked into his good eye, the onyx orb staring her down. "I never meant to imply that, Sir. I was merely commenting that drastic efforts at motivation are no longer as necessary as they once were." For a moment, she considered her next words before she spoke again. "I think… that it wouldn't be all bad for the office to be lively like it once was again, even if I have to pull late nights to help get the paperwork done once more." Roy was about to say something, but Riza cut him off smoothly, continuing to speak. "I meant what I said, Sir. We're all glad to have you back with us."

"Hawkeye, I—"

"It would be best if you got back to work, Sir. The paperwork load for today is moderately light, but there are still things from last night that need finished. However, I must admit that I am pleasantly surprised by the amount you have already completed."

With that, she bowed her head in a nod and escaped to her own desk, sipping her tea as she read over the top form on her own stack of work.

Frowning, Roy decided that he would corner her later about the office situation. If things truly ran more smoothly without his presence… well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

I'm trying to stay on an every-other-day schedule for updating this, but with the exhausting pandemonium of the night shifts on a weekend, and the fact that certain parts of the next chapter are fighting me, it may be late. I'm going to try to have it ready for late-night monday, early-morning tuesday, but no promises. It's by far the longest chapter yet, and it keeps growing with each time I go through it and fix things. -K