"Sir, you are lucky as hell no one else knows about you two..." Havoc braked the buggy and stared hard at Mustang. "How long do you think it's going to be before someone WAY up there finds out? And when the hell are you going to get your OWN car?!"

"Knowing my luck, they already know. And I'm not--because you're dependable." Mustang smiled and pulled on his hat. "Thanks for the ride, Lieutenant."

"But--" Havoc's reply was cut off by the slamming of the door. "DAMMIT!!" The lieutenant cursed to himself and the horn.

Riza Hawkeye was still recovering from her wounds--which meant she was not technically in the military, but she wasn't out either. Their trysts could be as public as they wanted them to be and higher command couldn't do a damn thing; they kept quiet, though. They both knew that she had maybe nine months at the least, a year at the most before she was expected to go back to full duty, but neither cared. Live for the day, Mustang had said when he and Riza first made love. Just thinking about stripping her down, slowly covering her mouth with kisses while she undid his pants gave him a huge erection; he put his folder in front of it to conceal the bulge from the public.

It had been four months ago when he had taken her home after the doctor checked her out. She would make a full recovery physically; mentally, she was never injured. Mustang had taken her to her apartment and she invited him in for coffee and things evolved from there. Two days and two very sore sets of legs later, Mustang left to go back to work--lucky it had been the weekend. He had come back later that night after surrepitously doing some research on whether or not she would get into trouble; he already knew that he would be ear deep in trouble if he was caught.

But WHEN Riza returned to active duty, she would be questioned and examined on her physical health. If the sheepskin failed... Regardless, that was a year into the future; anything could happen. One of them could get out of the military, both could find that they don't give a damn about what higher thought... any number of things.

Mustang walked to the door, which was opened a crack. It usually was; Riza had just moved into this townhouse and had not yet figured out the autolock mechanism. Riza would be upstairs and, with her acute senses, be frantically throwing clothes under the bed, in the closet, anything to get them out of sight. Not that he cared; it was endearing that she would go to such lengths as to be cleanly for him.

But something made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The telephone call earlier, on a private line, a shaky, seemingly scared voice. "Roy, you should come over... sooner than later, honey. We need to talk."

Is she pregnant? Did we do something and forget protection one time other than the first time? Roy recounted the last few times they had made love. No, no, he distinctly remembered putting on the sheepskin...except for that one other time in the shower... but she had just finished her cycle... supposedly she couldn't get pregnant... His head was a whirl of emotions. If she WAS, what would happen...? The military would no doubt ask who the father was since she was unmarried. If she was--and she would be-- forced to point the rightful finger at him, they both would be in a horrible bureaucratic mess.

On the other hand, a little Roy or Riza would bring much needed to joy to his life. He could just abandon his ambition for the Presidency and be free to raise a family with the woman he loved. So what if they were both kicked out? The military could not revent them from getting other jobs. Riza had always wanted to be a teacher... she would make a lovely one.

Something absolutely random popped into his head: a metallic sound as she spoke shakily into the phone... somewhat like... "Oh God, RIZA!" The sound in the background had been a sword being drawn. As Roy dashed up the stairs, he tugged on his reactive glove and pulled out his pistol. Even during love sessions, his--and her--pistol had been in reach. These were still dangerous times...

The stairs were fashioned so that one would climb to the top of them and be facing the wall; Roy would have to turn to his left and walk down the hall to get to Riza's bedroom. He walked backwards up the stairs, using the wall to his advantage so he could not be caught off-guard.

A figure stood in the shadows; Roy realized that the only light came from the open door--Riza's bedroom-- where she had not yet put up curtains. Roy saw two sets of legs; one female and one male. The voice was chillingly familiar... "Stop right there, Mustang."

The hair on Roy's neck stood straight at attention. "President Bradley?!"

The Fuhrer President walked forward out of the shadows, Riza held in front of him by her throat. "Put that thing down, Colonel; someone might get hurt." As if to emphasize the point, Bradley poked the point of his sword into Riza's side; she gasped. It was then that Roy realized that her hands were bound in front of her, sandwiched between her and Bradley's bodies.

"What do you want?" Roy deliberately left off any titles.

"You: broken, bleeding, in other words, DEAD." Bradley spat out. "It is by my good graces that you lived while you were in the hospital; Father and all my brothers wanted revenge for our sister... You were supposed to be our sacrifice, but you and the Fullmetal Runt spoiled that."

Sister?! That must mean...Lust...?! "You're a Homonculus...?!"Roy kept his pistol on Bradley's head, knowing that if he chose to, Bradley could lift Riza to intercept the bullet for him. "Let Riza go then; she has nothing to do with this."

"Very well then; I may be a Homonculus, but I AM a gentleman." True to his word, Bradley pushed Riza forward. "Be careful of her..." he cautioned, as a father would to his daughter's boyfriend. Riza stumbled onto her back; aside from being tied and a miniscule cut in her left side, she was unharmed. "I would not harm her--she was merely bait. Should you survive this, you may find out why I didn't."

Keeping his pistol trained on Bradley, Roy stepped forward to grab Riza, who was pushing away from Bradley with her legs. "As soon as I cut you loose, go. Get out, get to safety. And this time, listen to me." he whispered in his ear.

As he pulled her up to cut her bonds, Riza mouthed into his ear. There's three extra magazines in the bedroom if you need them.

"I only need one." Roy said out loud, eyes still on Bradley, who had not moved from his spot. "Go, Riza, find Jean. If I'm not down in five minutes, don't come up here." Taking his eyes off Bradley for a millisecond but keeping his pistol in that direction, Roy kissed Riza passionately on the mouth. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"GO." Roy pushed Riza to his left, towards the stairs; Riza limped down, holding her side.

"Now let's settle this, Mustang." Bradley spoke finally.