Chapter Fifty-Seven

When Roy and Edward reached the man's office complex inside Headquarters, everyone was already there, even Breda, who usually wasn't required to show for another hour at least. At the sight of their commander strolling in through the doorway, relief broke out onto many of the faces.

Yet Roy went instantly to one person in particular, "Fuery," he began as he laid a hand on the small man's shoulder, "damn good job."

Fuery seemed to instantly glow from the inside out, pride seeming to give him height as he beamed at the praise. "Thank you, sir."

Edward watched the entire interaction with a feeling of prideful approval, shooting a fond smile at Roy.

Roy nodded, and clapped the man's shoulder before stepping away and towards his private office.

Riza and Maes instantly followed him in, shutting the door behind them.

Edward had floated in with them, and now moved to settle in his usual spot on his usual couch as he keenly watched Roy move a bit slower towards his desk chair, now that they were out of public view. "You okay?" He had forced Roy to take the elevator this time, and they'd taken a taxi here from their home, yet he still worried.

"Fine, dearest." Roy reassured him with a smile, as he turned to settle into his chair. His gaze not leaving Edward, as he met the worried look on the ghost's face. "The uniform is just a bit tight on the stitches is all."

"That answers that, then." Maes declared cheerfully, and followed the direction of Roy's eyes to where he could only assume Edward rested on the nearby sofa. "Good morning, Edward."

"Morning, Edward." Riza echoed in kind, a smile slipping onto her face as she too looked towards where she believed the ghost to be.

"How come he gets a 'good morning' and I get stuck with only salutes?" Roy complained as he began to take in the mountain of paperwork that had piled up on his desk with a look of growing distaste on his face.

Riza ignored him, while Maes merely laughed.

Edward shot Roy a reproving look that went unseen even as he responded to the welcomes of the two, despite the fact he went unheard by them.

"Armstrong is out keeping tabs on Grand currently." Maes began before Riza could speak, venturing over to where Roy sat. "I'm relieving him later this afternoon, since the girls are gone." And though he tried to keep the tightness of the loss he felt at his wife and daughter having been sent into safe keeping out of his voice, he wasn't altogether sure he succeeded when out of the corner of his eye he caught the sympathetic look Riza sent him. "His last phone call to check in reassured me that the Brigadier General has still not left the laboratory."

"Perfect. Just where I want the treacherous snake." Roy stated airily. "We'll need to put someone to watching the prison side of things as well. Not that I believe he'd dare step foot in the place, far too beneath him to be seen exiting it, but it'd due to be overly cautious."

"I'd suggest Falman." Maes offered out as he perched on the edge of the sofa he believed didn't contain Edward. "He'd be calmer than Havoc if suddenly surprised, and that one bakery he likes isn't too far. Easy enough if spotted for him to claim he was just enjoying a walk before putting away another fattening pastry. He's getting to that age where he doesn't keep his figure by sheer metabolism."

Riza gave a nod of agreement, but remained silent.

Roy had nothing against the suggestion, he well knew Falman's temperament and capabilities, but he knew that this wasn't solely his decision any more, and he looked to Edward. "My dear?"

Edward tried not to smile, and likely would have flushed if he were able to. As it was, however, he looked at Roy with a softness in his gaze. "You all know him better than I, and you're right, the prison does need to be watched. If you believe Falman is the right choice for the task, then I approve."

"It's settled." Roy sat back in his chair with a thoughtful slip of a smile. "I'll speak to him shortly about it."

Maes was beginning to smirk as he glanced between the other couch and Roy a few times, but he kept his suspicions to himself for the moment as he turned his attention to other matters first. "Want me to keep an eye on the Fuhrer? With the girls gone, he has nothing left to threaten me with."

"No!" The quick denial coming not only from Roy, but from Edward as well.

Roy caught Edward's panicked look, and held a hand up towards the ghost before turning to his surprised best friend. "Bradley is far more dangerous than you realize."

"My father all but warned me that you and I shouldn't be apart when he's around." Edward added in with unsettled quietness.

Roy wasn't wholly unsurprised by the knowledge, yet he hardly needed Hohenheim's opinion to have settled his mind about the matter. He'd face Bradley with Edward at his side, because he knew Edward would allow no other scenario. Yet he still was more than happy to volunteer the information for Edward's peace of mind. "And when Van Hohenheim warns you about the Fuhrer, you take the warning to heart. Even I won't face him, knowing what I know now, without Edward there to aid me."

"More things you won't tell us?" Riza asked sharply, her expression barely concealing the aggravation she still felt at it.

"More things to keep you safe." Roy corrected just as sharply, sending a narrow-eyed look of warning her way. "When you finally are privy to the whys, I daresay you'll thank me for keeping you at a distance."

Maes shook his head, but not in disagreement. "If you tell me no, at this point? I'm willing to keep going with you on faith here. Now this is something involving Hohenheim and his ghost son, too. I'll admit to being fine with just accepting that this is probably more fucking weird and dangerous than I could ever imagine."

Edward felt relief settle inside him at Maes's acquiescence, yet couldn't help but nervously agree. Everything had gotten incredibly dangerous the moment his father had come back into the picture, informing them what they were really up against.

Riza let out a small sigh, before dipping her head in a subtle nod. "Well, if you won't allow us to go sneaking about, given the fact the Fuhrer is watching you like a hawk, might I suggest you employ someone he'd never suspect?"

"If you think I'd be able to sway any of his personal staff, you can save it." Roy knew there was no way that would ever work out in his favor. He doubted a homunculus would surround himself with anyone who might compromise him, and for all he knew, some of them might be homunculi as well.

"Roy, we're not the only ones who know about Edward." Riza revealed, and at the look that came swiftly to her superior's face, held up a hand with a growing smile. "It seems that in the years before you met him, Edward would try and interact with the cleaning staff. It never made sense to me, before I met Edward, what they were whispering about when they thought I couldn't hear. But now?"

Edward grinned, although it did falter when he realized he hadn't actually seen any of them in a long time. Being able to leave this office had changed all of that.

Roy momentarily set aside the subtle worry he felt that the Fuhrer might overhear such things too and begin to make associations. Back when he and Edward had first met, the ghost had mentioned something about interacting to a point with the cleaning staff, but he'd not thought until now the potential ramifications. Or, the benefits. If there was one thing he knew with certainty, it was that most people paid no mind at all to cleaning staff. They could go anywhere, everywhere, and no one in the Military would think twice on their presence.

Except him.

Slowly, a smile began to form, answering the one Riza was confidently sporting. She was right, the Fuhrer would never suspect a member of the cleaning staff of Headquarters of keeping tabs on his whereabouts. "I think I should meet with some of them. Wouldn't you say?"

Maes however, cleared his throat to signal his impending interjection. "And how can we be assured that they won't just go running to the Fuhrer, thinking it'd be safer for them?"

"They'd never betray me." Edward denied the thought of any of them doing such a thing. "It might be hard to understand, but they respect me. Fear me, in their own way. They've never wanted to do anything to antagonize me, and if they know that Roy is under my protection, they won't double-cross him."

Waiting until Edward was done, Roy then retold the words so that Maes and Riza could hear them as well. "I think they're a lot more intimidated by the thought of making an enemy of the spirit world, than the living world."

"I can honestly say I share their feelings on that." Riza admitted tersely, but not unkindly. Half turning where she stood in order to partially face where she believed Edward to still be, she spoke again. "Are there any you… interacted with more frequently in the past?"

"Any of them would do, really." Edward admitted to her, unheard, but knew Roy was listening and turned to look at him next. "Although you may be well served in asking Greg up here. Last I was privy to any of their happenings, he was head of the cleaning staff."

Roy nodded and met Riza's waiting expression promptly. "Call down to their offices, ask if Greg is available to come up here. Make something up. Edward and I will meet with him, see what we can arrange."

"Will that be all then?" Riza asked, having hesitated in her move to turn and leave.

"For now." Roy agreed, "time to get this day on a normal track. Just because things need to move faster now is no excuse for us to get behind on other matters. We'll all only have more to do after I make my move."

Riza nodded and turned crisply on her heel to leave, but cast a smile down towards where she believed Edward to be as she left.

Maes looked after her departure, waiting until the door closed behind her before looking towards the opposite couch with a knowing smile. "Congratulations, Edward. When's the wedding?"

Edward spluttered in a strangled-sounding way.

Roy burst into laughter, but sent a reproving look towards his best friend. "Maes, please don't break him. Or my bank account. I'm a bit low on funds after buying his old house to be buying a ring."

"That wouldn't be the case if you weren't so cheap as to not dip into your share of the winery." Maes pointed out wickedly.

Roy jabbed a finger towards his office door. "Out!"

Maes practically skipped from the office, but not before calling out another congratulations to them.

Edward had his face buried in his hands as the door shut behind Maes, and a low groan of embarrassment escaped him along with a bit of resigned laughter.

Roy chuckled quietly and stood from his desk to come around it and walk over to join Edward on the couch. "I'm afraid that he might be rather relentless about that. He's waited a long time to see me even fall in love with anyone."

Edward drew his hands away from his face as he shook his head, smiling at Roy. "Setting aside for the moment that it is far too soon to be considering such things, I don't want a ring. What would I even do with one? I can't wear one, it'd fall off in minutes."

"Then maybe you should propose to me." Roy winked and as he stood from the sofa reached out a hand to brush at the silver, incorporeal hair. "I might even say yes."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Roy Mustang." Edward told him while trying to fight back a smile and swatting at Roy's hand. "As far as I'm concerned you still owe me a first date."

"Then I shall have to remedy that." Roy determined with a grin at the mere idea of finally taking Edward on a date. Granted, it wouldn't be the sort of date he'd become familiar with orchestrating, it would be better. This time, he genuinely cared for and loved the person.

Edward couldn't keep the smile back any more, not once he was faced with Roy's clear delight at the prospect. That he could make Roy so happy, with something so simple… it was as humbling as it was flattering. "Well we're not doing any such thing until you've finished going through all those files."

"Will you help me again?" Roy solicited as he moved back to his desk, darting a look over towards the ghost.

It was a near miss that Edward didn't roll his eyes, but his smile nevertheless remained as he nodded and floated up from his spot on the couch. "Pass me a stack and a pen." He requested as he came to rest at a corner of Roy's desk, settling himself into hovering at it with his legs folded up underneath him.

Roy quickly rummaged through several of them, and finding them not beyond what knowledge Edward would have to make judgment calls on, he slid them over along with a pen. "Your relationship with the cleaning staff here... are you certain you're okay with my trying to involve them in things?"

For a time, Edward didn't answer, instead busying himself with uncapping his pen in an overly precise motion as his silver eyes stared hard down at the first of the files now waiting for him. Past that, he didn't move, and nor did Roy, until at length he said quietly. "Everyone is correct in thinking that they could keep an eye on the Fuhrer for us without attracting undue attention. But it doesn't keep me from worrying. The Fuhrer isn't exactly human, and the situation facing us isn't ideal on any front. I can't balk at you doing what you must to stay alive." And he raised his gaze to Roy's, "but understand that they're not Maes, or any of the others. They may not go running to him to tell him your plans, but if caught, they'd likely give you up. And die at his hands anyway."

"I'm aware of the risk." Roy admitted somberly, "that's why, before I ask them anything, I wanted your permission first. Just between us, with none of the others here to have an opinion on whatever you might say. If they fear you in their own way, am I in truth really giving them a choice? So what is your choice."

"Ask them." There was no hesitation, no pause in Edward's mind. "I'm willing to try for a bit of hope that the Fuhrer believes you're far too noble, or far too cocky, to ask for anyone's help but those of your own team. And besides," the corner of his mouth pulled downwards in the coming admission, "they're far more likely to stay alive if you're in power."

"We all are." Roy couldn't help but mutter darkly, giving an absent nod and turning to begin sorting through more files. "If your father is to be believed."

Edward's mouth thinned into a narrow line, and gave the pen in his grasp a quick twirl between his fingers before setting it on the desk. There were things he hadn't told Roy yet, couldn't tell him yet… Roy had enough to focus on without being burdened with things that could wait."My father may conceal the whole truth at times, but he'd not outright deceive me. Despite how I feel about him, I at least know that to be true."

"And how much are you concealing from me?" Roy aptly asked, though with a distinct lack of anger, merely concerned curiosity as he watched Edward.

Edward met his gaze levelly, and wholly without regret as he replied, "perhaps not enough."

"Because you're trying to protect me?" Roy guessed with the same, unassuming curiosity.

"Because I don't want to burden you with things you can do nothing about." Edward corrected and as a knock sounded on the office door, he gave Roy a thin smile. "Not right now, not when the Fuhrer wants you dead."

An answering, bracing smile slipped onto Roy's lips as he gave a short nod and reached a hand out to brush his fingers through the subtle glow of the back of Edward's incorporeal hand. "Just remember that you mean everything to me. I'll always take on more burdens for you, no matter what I'm already facing."

"I know." Edward told him with immeasurable fondness weighting his voice, yet he didn't back down, and nor did Roy press him to. Instead the man's hand drew away, and after a last shared smile between them Roy looked away to call out for Falman to enter.

"Sir." Falman had approached the desk with a salute, but still cast a concerned look onto his colonel, professionalism be damned.

Roy met the look with only a faint twitch of humor, because in truth, he'd always be glad he'd done so well by his team that they would worry over him. "I'm fine now." He answered the unsaid question, before turning to the matter at hand. "But I didn't have Lieutenant Hawkeye send you in here for that."

"No, sir." Falman agreed readily, though was grateful for the reassurance anyway.

"I need you to begin surveillance on the prison." Roy stated without preamble, voice and expression serious. "If the Brigadier General is seen entering or exiting it, you're to observe and report it back to me, but under no circumstances are you to interfere with anything."

Falman nodded in understanding. "Yes, sir. It's been some time since I've done surveillance, but you can rely on me."

"Doubt never crossed my mind." Roy offered a faint smile of approval before following up with, "this should go without saying that what I am asking of you is not without potential danger."

"No offense, Colonel," Falman began in smiling rejoinder, "but when is anything you ever get us involved in considered safe?" And as a slightly amused, but reprimanding scowl crossed his commander's face, he saluted. "Consider this mission in good hands, sir."

"Good luck." Roy dismissed, and with that, Falman left the office, one more chess piece in play.

Edward, who had observed the whole thing silently, now gave Roy a piercing stare. "Do I want to know what sort of dangerous things you got them up to in the past?"

Roy cleared his throat a touch nervously and promptly picked his pen back up while turning back to his paperwork as if it were the most fascinating thing to ever cross his desk. "He was exaggerating, dearest."

Edward gave him a look of deadpan disbelief before shaking his head slightly and turning back to his own stack. "Keep telling yourself that."

They were left alone to work through the accumulated paperwork for almost an hour before another knock sounded at the closed office door. This time when Roy called out for the person to enter, it was a man he didn't recognize.

"Greg!"

Edward, however, seemingly did know this man.

Greg was a stout-looking man with a slight stoop to his posture, brown hair that was cropped short against a receding hairline, and beetle black eyes that glinted a touch nervously as he stepped fully into the office.

"Close the door, please." Roy requested, already having laid his pen down and steepling his fingers before him on the desk as he took stock of this man.

Greg was quick to comply, before turning back to face Colonel Mustang. If he was being entirely honest with himself, he couldn't quite place what he was more nervous of, the Colonel, or the being he knew to haunt these four walls. "How may I be of assistance, Colonel?" He managed to ask in a steady enough voice. "I'm afraid your Lieutenant was sparse on the details."

Edward was already up and drifting through the air to begin circling around Greg with a cheerful smile. "I haven't seen this guy in almost a year. He's starting to lose his hair!"

Roy gave the ghost a torturously amused look before focusing in on Greg. "My lieutenant tells me we have a mutual acquaintance." And he didn't wait for the confusion to fully settle onto the man's expression before continuing, "his name is Edward, and you know him as the ghost that haunted this office."

The effect was instant.

Greg paled significantly, unconsciously backing a step. "I'm sure I have no idea wha – "

"Denial won't work." Roy quickly cut in, a faint smile crossing his lips. "I consider myself an honest man, I hope you consider yourself the same, so let's forego the denial and be frank with each other. I didn't bring you up here to deny what the ghost has already told me. You see, I need something done, and he's assured me that you and your staff might be the ones to do it."

"You…" Greg trailed off as he peered intently at the Colonel sitting behind the desk, "you've spoken to him?"

"Unfortunately." Roy acknowledged firmly, his expression pulling tightly a moment before he smoothed it out. The days where he naïvely believed he could keep Edward a secret all to himself, save maybe his mother and perhaps Maes, had passed.

"What do you mean, unfortunately?!" Edward squawked as he whirled in midair to glare at Roy. "Some boyfriend you're turning out to be."

Roy couldn't help but laugh, and shot a grin at Edward. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Edward gave him a level scowl that promised there would be retribution for this later, yet he let the matter drop when Greg suddenly spoke up again.

"He's here now? You can hear him?" Greg nearly stumbled over the words in his haste to speak them, and took a step towards the desk without entirely intending to.

Not caring to allude to the fact that he could see Edward, not just yet, Roy nodded slightly. "He's rather loud at times, especially when he's annoyed with me."

"Just you wait." Edward muttered lowly.

Greg began to feel his nerves settle a fraction, and he hesitantly walked further into the office, although apprehension was still visible in the set of his shoulders. "Is he the one who attacked the Brigadier General in his office? Or does Headquarters have more than one ghost."

"Oh that was him." Roy confirmed with more than a little humor at the fact. "He's not too fond of the man, and in the interest of continuing honesty, neither am I."

"But why now has he started attacking anyone?" Greg couldn't help but ask in his confusion about the matter, for it had honestly unsettled all of his staff.

"Because of me." Roy answered quite simply, and as he saw the man pale, he quickly continued in an effort to head off any outlandish suppositions that could be drawn from his words. "He's protecting me, that's all. But that isn't why the ghost, Edward, and I asked you to come up here."

"Then what is, Colonel?" Greg had begun to frown.

At this, Roy leaned back in his chair, linking his hands across his stomach as he considered Greg closely. "We need you and your staff to, shall we say, linger more often than not wherever the Fuhrer might go while here at Headquarters. Just that."

Greg considered himself a simple man, although hardly a fool, and his eyes narrowed at the request as a cold chill snaking down his spine and settling in his gut. "You want us to spy on the Fuhrer."

It wasn't a question, but it wasn't an accusation either.

"You may decline, of course." Roy told him levelly, expression serious. "However, it would be in your best interests to assist. And I do not mean that as a threat. You'll receive no backlash from me, nor the ghost, if you decline."

Greg considered the matter, and the man sitting in front of him in silence for a time before saying softly, "and if I go to the Fuhrer about this?"

"Then you do." Roy wasn't entirely worried about that though. After all, Edward had assured him that Greg and the others of the cleaning staff would never double cross him. Not if it would mean bringing down ghostly wrath from beyond. But it did give him an opening to impress his desires in all this subterfuge without coming right out and saying it bluntly. "At this point I doubt it's a secret to him that I'd delight in burning him alive."

Edward huffed with displeasure, "you're not the only one."

Not entirely certain whether or not he'd gone pale, Greg felt the nerves grip tightly at his chest again. He'd not forgotten who he was speaking to, but for a moment he had forgotten that the Flame Alchemist should terrify him and any other sane human being. "I can't order my staff to put their lives at risk."

"What I make to you is an offer, not an order. Courtesy dictates that your staff receive the same." Roy countered lightly, but tone firm all the same.

"And what then do we get for sticking our necks out for you?" Greg couldn't help but wonder, and wonder just what he was seeing the beginnings of… although it wasn't the beginning at all, was it.

Roy gave a thin smile, good, he wasn't dealing with an idiot. So he'd not treat him as such. "What is it, precisely, that you want? Negotiations aren't uncommon in this sort of thing."

Greg sucked in a quiet, bracing breath, trying not to let his nerves get the better of his body as he cast a darting look about the office before centering back in on the Flame Alchemist. "If we do this, you give any of us who participate overtime pay. You want us to play informants, we'll need more than our usual salary. And if you succeed with this treasonous plan I don't want to know the details of, you keep our involvement a secret. I won't be looking over my back for the rest of my days."

Edward couldn't help the slight smile that came over his face as he settled on the edge of the desk, just to the side of Roy's line of vision, but able to see Greg clearly all the same. "Am I naïve for thinking he'd just ask for the money?"

Roy didn't answer Edward, but he did answer the demand put on the table for him. Truthfully, though he'd keep this between Edward and himself, it was refreshing to just deal with someone wanting money. And the silence? That was already a given. No, he may not be dealing with an idiot, but he was dealing with someone who'd never done anything close to negotiating at this level of danger before. Yet, negotiations were negotiations, and as much as he'd be fine accepting Greg's terms, that wasn't how things were done. "Consider the secret kept. However you'll only receive eight more cenz per hour."

Edward whipped around to level a somewhat impressed look at Roy. "Should I be surprised that you apparently know everyone's pay rate?"

Roy's eyes as they flicked to Edward twinkled briefly in amusement, but his face smoothed out just as quickly when he shifted his full attention back to Greg who was looking a little shocked. And not happily so. Inwardly, he sighed. Even Edward seemed to know the basics of this sort of thing. "Your answer?"

"No! I won't, we won't! Not for – !" Greg blustered, growing a touch purple in the cheeks. "Twelve more cenz at the minimum."

Roy kept himself from both smiling and giving a sigh of relief. Finally. It wasn't quite a full negotiation, but it was something. He'd take it. After all, he didn't want to frustrate the man into leaving. Edward would probably find something to hit him with for that, and he'd lose extra assistance. There would perhaps be time later to continue working on Greg's negotiation skills. "That will be fine. Take the offer to your crew, along with my regards." He paused for a moment before adding with a slight tilt of his head and a thin smile. "And the ghost's, of course."

The reminder of the ghost caused Greg to draw himself in a bit straighter, a cold frisson shooting up his spine and causing the short hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight. As much as he knew that crossing Colonel Mustang was a deadly idea, crossing something supernatural and aligned with Colonel Mustang? There'd be no prayer that he felt would be able to save his soul then. "Yes, Colonel Mustang."

Edward floated from the desk to land on the floor just in front of it, only paces from where Greg had been as the man turned and hurried from the office. "How do you know how much money everyone makes?"

Roy waited until his office door had closed before he spoke. "It pays to be well informed about who I might be paying in the future." He merely said and looked Edward's way to meet the silver gaze that was turned on him. "Now we wait."

Edward gave a slight nod and moved to settle back along the side of the desk where a stack of paperwork waited for him still. "Out of curiosity, if things had been different and I'd ended up working for you somehow, how much would you pay me?"

Roy cracked a grin and picked up his pen again as Edward did similar. "How could you ever ask me to put a price on you, dearest?"

Edward rolled his eyes, a smile slipping through all the same against the expressionless façade he had tried to maintain. "So immediate demands to move in with you then?"

"At the very least." Roy agreed softly as he looked down, unseeing, at his current file. "Circumstances are irrelevant, if it's within my power you'll never want for anything."

Edward's smile turned lopsided in affection. This ridiculous, love-struck idiot. But it was his ridiculous and love-struck idiot. "Pony." He reminded the man in good humor, and as a laugh escaped Roy he grinned and turned to his own share of the paperwork. "But I'll settle for a first date."

Roy knew it wasn't entirely ridiculous that he was growing nervous about the thought of taking Edward out on a first date. Because despite knowing that Edward would very likely still love him even if they just sat at home and chatted all night, it was still the first date he'd ever approached where it was with someone he loved. He wanted to get it right. "Maybe I'll get you a pony when I retire."

Edward laughed quietly, but didn't respond. Instead he focused in utterly on getting through the files that Roy had passed off to him. If it would help in getting Roy out of here any earlier tonight, he was all for it. Both for the fact that he wanted that date, and for the fact that despite Roy's reassurances that he was fine to return to work, he'd prefer if Roy's time here was kept as short as possible for his recovering health.

Together they began to power through the files on the desk. Working together at it so seamlessly that by the time Riza popped into the office after a brief knock to the door, the stack of papers and folders had nearly halved.

"Edward's been helping you?" Riza stopped dead in the center of the room, surprise and understanding crossing her face as she saw the clear delineation of two stacks of paperwork. "That's how you've been getting your paperwork done so quickly all this time?"

Roy had set aside his pen, and now he looked up at her with an amused expression. "Not the entire time, it's only been lately that I've been able to trick him into helping me."

Edward shot him a withering look, but smiled and kept working with a shake of his head and a muttered, "actually I'm pretty sure it was something closer to pity that made me start helping."

Roy ignored him, "he's actually quite good at military matters. Have you had any issues with any of it coming back?" And as Hawkeye shook her head, he smirked. "See? He's pretty good for an unpaid assistant."

"Oh see if I sleep in your bed tonight." Edward remarked idly, a smile playing across his lips as he finally looked up at Roy with amusement glittering in his silver eyes.

Roy shot him a horrified look, only to realize that Edward was playing with him and his expression quickly melted into relief and then delight. "You think I'll want you in my bed tonight, do you?"

"Sir," Riza broke in with a look equal parts scandalized and amused resignation, "if you could stop harassing Edward and focus a moment, please."

A laugh escaped Edward, and he passed over the latest file he'd been working on into the hand Roy reached out.

Roy glanced Riza's way with a bit of a smirk before casting his gaze down to find the signature line on the report given him. "What is it you need, Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"Since you're working so hard," she raised an eyebrow sharply at him, not too sure of the validity of that now that she knew he'd been having help, "the boys and I were all going to go out to grab some lunch and I thought we'd bring you something back."

Roy glanced at the clock, blinking in surprise as he saw it was almost noon and he'd not even noticed. "Yes, thank you." He looked back at her to give her a genuine smile. "I hadn't even thought about food."

"Doubtless you had other things on your mind." Riza remarked blandly, though the corners of her mouth quirked upward momentarily. "Did your meeting go well with that Greg character?"

"I expect to know the result before my day is out, but it did not go poorly." Roy admitted with a slight shrug and sat back in his chair to consider the far wall with a slight frown. "But either way, I do believe Edward is right, they won't go running to tattle on me. Not now knowing that Edward is on my side."

"Out of curiosity," Riza began with a bit of a frown, "what will you do if the Fuhrer finds out and comes after you sooner than you expect him to?"

Roy's expression pulled grimly, and he sat forward again with a bitter expression as he met her gaze. "The thing is, Lieutenant, I always expect him to come after me every moment of every day. But right now there are matters he is attending to that are more important to him than me. Right now, someone like me doesn't even register as a threat, no matter what I get up to." And it was true, what threat could a homunculus possibly feel a mere human presented? Even one who is an alchemist. But he'd relieve the Fuhrer of that oversight. Violently. As many times as necessary. "He won't come after me just yet."

"What could possibly be more important to him than you preparing to overthrow him and seize the country?" Riza frowned sharply, and while she doubted she'd get an answer to her question, she still had to ask it. She felt better for asking it.

"I'll take whatever the largest sandwich is on the menu of the place you all end up going to." Roy redirected calmly, but with a note of finality ringing clear in his tone. "And a drink. Surprise me."

"Yes, sir." Riza acquiesced, a resigned smile pulling at her lips as she saluted, then turned to leave.

Roy waited until she reached the door before calling after her, "Riza…" and as she looked back at him, he offered a thin smile, "I promise you'll understand when this is all over."

"It just better be over with you still alive, or I'll never forgive myself." She replied back quietly, and let herself out of his office.

Edward had watched her leave, but when he felt Roy's gaze on him, he looked over to meet the man's eyes.

"I know," Roy answered the unsaid remark, and smiled as Edward rolled his eyes. "But that does bring up the thing I still need to talk to you about. I'd planned on talking to you this morning, except I might have gotten a bit distracted."

Edward couldn't help the grin that cracked onto his face before he managed to stuff it behind an almost shyly happy smile, fairly sure that he'd be blushing right now were he flesh and blood. "I can't imagine by what."

"Oh, just some unfairly attractive young man confessing undying love for me." Roy waved a hand as if it were a matter completely benign and unimportant.

"Well," Edward's eyes twinkled, "the undying part I'm not sure I can claim, being dead and all."

Roy snorted but didn't launch any protests regarding his opinion on Edward's state of being. "Tomorrow morning will you go over the blueprints with me, help me draw up a plan of entry? As soon as these stitches are gone…"

Edward nodded, not needing it to be said. He knew what Roy intended to do, and as much as there'd been a time where in the back of his mind he'd always wondered why Roy had been waiting so long to make his move, now that he realized just how close the moment was… the nerves were a solid ball in the pit of his being. "You wouldn't be able to stop me."

Roy nodded in agreement and in approval. "Then tomorrow we will make our plan," and he knew his word choice, 'our,' hadn't missed Edward's notice if the ghost's expression was anything to go by, and he smiled. "But for today, let's just be. You and I. And maybe a game of chess while I eat? You haven't trounced me in weeks."