So, new chapter! Can't say when the next one is, but just as a warning, I'm planning on going over the previous chapters just to get the flow a bit better and fix some mistakes during the next few days, but it will have no effect on the story. However, you get warnings about updates on the app, but not on email when I do, so I thought I should just tell you so as not to create any confusion ;)

Chapter thirty

When Roy came back into the office, Maes practically came swooping down on him, placing an arm around his shoulder, as he led Roy to the inner office. As soon as the door was closed, Maes sighed. "Roy, you had me all excited, and then it was just that Hawkeye needed a friend after her ex told her that he was engaged?"

Roy sighed. "Seems like Ed is dead set on making me feel awkward and tell you myself... Yes, I spent the night to take care of her... But things got ... complicated... And then we figured it out, so now we're... well, we're not dating because we have yet to go on a date, but she's my girlfriend."

Maes's eyes went wide, but then they filled with worry. "Roy, are sure that this is a good idea after those news?"

"Don't you think I made sure that this didn't have anything to do with her ex before starting a relationship with her? There's far too much at stake here for me to just stupidly act on a simple crush. I wouldn't have minded to wait for years even, if that's what it takes, but she's impatient and I trust her. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up marrying her. It's like you said it was with you and Gracia."

Roy had expected hugs and grins.

Not hugs and tears. "That's amazing, Roy! And you love those boys and you can be a real family and I need to buy you a camera as soon as possible and that's so cute!" he exclaimed gleefully.

And then he pulled out of the hug before Roy could say anything other than wheeze slightly at the strength of the hug. And Maes grabbed his shoulders and practically glared at him. "But you didn't get intimate while the kids were there, right?" he asked sternly.

Roy pushed his hands away. "Of course not, Maes! I'm not just some horny teen, and neither is Riza! I cared about the boys long before I even met her."

Maes went back to smiling brightly. "Just had to make sure, you know."

Roy sighed. "She hasn't even seen the scars, so don't get ahead of yourself."

Maes frowned at that. "Does she know about the explosion at all?"

Roy sighed. "No. None of them do. They know that Nan's my only living family and I mentioned to Ed the other day that I lost my parents when I was young, but that's it..."

"Roy, you can't seriously be afraid that they'll look upon you differently for what happened that day?" Maes asked, his frown only deepening.

Roy just looked at him. "Of course not, at least not like the way the other kids did at school," he said in frustration before he sighed again and walked over to his desk, leaning his lower back against it, his palms flat on the wooden surface behind him. He used the few extra seconds to figure out how to say it. "Maes, talking with Riza and the boys is sometimes like walking on a very, very thin rope. Either you do it right, or you fall. You fall to the left, and you have a pissed off Edward jumping down your throat because he's still actively and instinctively searching for a way to confirm his fears that he's a freak that everyone will leave sooner or later. You fall to the right, and something is misinterpreted as self-centredness when all three of them really need to be taken care of by someone who doesn't behave like a selfish bastard. I don't want to remind them about the people who hurt them, and telling them what happened could make it seem like I'm A) being uncomfortably close to almost patronising to Ed by "relating to his trauma" just with how badly people have reacted to seeing the scars in the past. Not to mention the whole "dead parents so I completely understand everything you're going through" vibe it would give off for both boys." Roy looked down. "Also, I don't want to seem like I want them to pity me, because that's the last thing I want. They need to feel appreciated and treasured, and by telling them about it, I could end up pushing them away."

It was Maes's turn to sigh. "I get it, Roy, but by not telling them until later, you'll probably end up seeming like you don't trust them."

Roy looked down, feeling his stomach clench slightly. "I know. I'll tell them later today. The longer I postpone it, the more likely it is to be taken the wrong way." He took a deep breath as if he was bracing himself, before he straightened up and walked to the door, pausing just before he grabbed the handle and looked back at his best friend who was looking just a bit smug and worried at the same time. "Thanks, Maes," he told him, smiling a bit, before determination kicked in. "Now let's get things ready for catching that bastard Yoki."

Riza was sitting next to Roy, both of them with a pair of headphones each, Ed and Al having just left the office. Hughes and Fuery were sitting opposite them with their own headphones, and the entire office was completely silent. None of them were speaking or moving, they were just staring anxiously at them, Havoc and Breda standing there with their guns ready should they need to run in and save the boys.

Her insides were twisting themselves with worry, even though she knew that the chance of Yoki hurting Ed and Al while inside the station was very slim. They had decided to have Ed wearing the microphone as Al was far more likely to be suspected of being the one with the cold feet, should Yoki become suspicious of them. They were waiting with the cameras until they knew just how much he didn't trust the boys.

"Hey, Al, d'you think they're snogging again?" came Ed's voice casually through the headphones.

Riza gasped silently, knowing that she was blushing and she didn't dare look at any of the others.

"Brother! Don't say that! It's impolite!" Al immediately answered.

"Doesn't make it any less true now, does it?" Ed asked snidely. "Now come on, we're here, could you open the door?"

There was the sound of a door being opened and then shut behind the two brothers, and then a third voice spoke up. "There you are, dear boys!" Yoki said cheerfully, and Riza knew immediately that she didn't just despise the man.

She hated him.

She hadn't actually met him, and his voice alone was enough to make her want to point a gun at him.

Adding in the fact that this man was a dirty cop who wanted to use her boys and kill them if they weren't useful to him, and she wanted to pull the trigger.

Roy suddenly reached over and took her right hand in his left and soothingly stroked the top of her hand with his thumb.

She squeezed it back, appreciating the slight comfort it brought to her current state of complete and utterly nerve-wracking tension.

"You're looking angry, Edward, are you having doubts about our arrangement?" Yoki asked with that disgusting tone of his, and Riza felt her stomach clench in a mixture of fear and rage.

Roy had tensed beside her too, his hand just gripping hers now as if he was afraid to give the boys away by moving.

"Oh, no, definitely not!" Ed responded angrily. "Seriously, I'd be more than happy to give you anything to mess with that horny bastard right now! He spent the entire night just snogging our foster mother without any of them asking about how WE felt about it!" His voice was full of rage and Riza was getting seriously worried, not even caring about how embarrassing this was to listen to.

"Oh, so Mustang and Hawkeye are dating now?" Yoki asked, obviously finding it highly interesting.

"More like screwing themselves silly in the bathroom while me and Al were making breakfast..." Ed growled.

Riza was shocked and felt like breathing had just become a lot more difficult.

"And now those two can hardly keep their hands off each other, they're even snogging in public, Mustang pulling her inside his office for some privacy as they "discuss the case"! So, yeah, whatever marginal loyalty I had to him disappeared the second we found them snoring on the couch, DCI Bastard lying there with her lipstick all over his mouth and a hand on her ass."

Riza had no idea what to say or do or think right now. No clue.

None.

Yoki tutted. "I'm sorry to hear that, boys... I suppose a few gifts in your situation would help keep your mind off such dreadful matters."

"Yeah. I managed to get some information on Mister Hughes, though," came Al's voice all of a sudden. "Apparently he's really good at his job, so you need to be careful, Sergeant Yoki. He's DCI Mustang's best friend actually, so getting close to him through Mustang's relationship with Riza is going to be really easy now and we can gather more information on Hughes's investigation without as much work."

Riza felt chills go down her spine at the way her sweet Alphonse could talk so convincingly about using her, Roy and Hughes, even if they had agreed upon having the Elrics tell Yoki about Roy and Hughes.

"Oh, that's very good! I like your way of thinking, boys. Now you just work on getting close to Hughes and then I'll see you again in eight days at around ten past nine?"

"So Monday in two weeks?" Ed asked just to clarify.

"Indeed, Edward... Now here's a little something for your... assistance..." Yoki told them slyly.

"Thank you very much, sir. I hope you have a nice weekend," came Al's kind voice.

"You too, boys, I'll see you later."

And with that came the sounds of the door being opened and closed as Yoki left the boys.

Twenty seconds later, so did Ed and Al, the boys not saying anything as they walked back to the office, Riza standing up and heading for the door, not daring to look at her colleagues after what Ed had just said about her and Roy.

The second the door closed behind the Elrics, Ed burst out laughing while Al ran at her, blushing, hugging her tightly around the waist, and she hugged him back, Ed still laughing his head off.

"BWAHAHAHAH! Your face!" Ed laughed, pointing in Roy's direction. "Hughes, you need to take a picture right now!" he added mirthfully, doubling over. "Never thought your face could get that red, Old Fart!"

Ed just continued laughing as Al pulled out of the hug and went over to Hughes, holding out what looked like a box of breath mints. "Those are gold coins, Mister Hughes," Al said as he placed it inside the evidence bag that Hughes was holding out for him, before he turned to Roy, looking down at his shoes. "I'm really sorry about that, Roy, I know it went a bit too far."

Roy was most definitely blushing, but he still knelt down and pulled Al into a hug. "You two still did good, though. You certainly were convincing."

"Al was always the star of whatever plays his drama teacher set up," Ed explained, barely having collected himself, taking a few deep breaths as he straightened up, still grinning, but now it was turning into a smirk. "Besides, you should be grateful, I just gave you an excellent excuse to snog in public, so you're very welcome."

"Brother!" Al exclaimed.

Ed smirked. "I'm right, though, aren't I? Now it would actually be suspicious if the two of them don't show their affection in public." Then Ed made an artistic bow, looking straight up at Riza with a humorous glint in his eyes, but there was something else in there too.

A genuine wish for her to be as happy as possible.

Riza strode forwards and hugged him tightly, feeling her worries lessen slightly.

Roy had indeed followed Ed's advice after the meeting with Grumman at lunch, conveniently hiding behind a shelf with Riza, but "somehow" still being discovered as they stood there with their lips locked together and with their arms around each other.

...After all, they couldn't let any suspicion fall on the boys.

So now the whole station knew that Roy was Riza's boyfriend, meaning that a lot of people thought that Riza's transfer was because of Roy's lack of non-hormone-based judgement.

Which was why he and Riza had opted for going down to the shooting range at the busiest time of day, earning plenty of scoffs and murmurs.

...And a couple of yelps and nervous faces as Riza made a smiley face sticking out it's tongue on the shooting target.

And Ed and Al were up in the office reading university-grade textbooks on the properties of plants.

Roy still didn't forget about the last post on the programme before they could call it a day.

And so, while they were driving back to the flat, Roy decided to take a detour to the train station. "Before we go home, I have something I want to show you three," he said heavily. "I don't know if I should have brought it up before, but I'm doing it now because I don't want to risk having it look like I don't trust you."

Riza reached out next to him and placed her right hand on his arm. "Roy?" she asked in concern.

Roy just sighed. "As you all know, Nan's my only living relative. My grandfather died five years ago and my maternal grandfather died seven years before I was born, my grandmother when I was two." He paused for a couple of seconds. "...So... have any of you heard about the Train Station Bombing?"