Chapter 6: Spies Among Us

The next morning when Riza entered the Colonel's office she found him on the phone. "Yes of course…That sounds great…I'll be there around eight. Uh huh, okay Sila, thanks. Bye."

Riza was engulfed with resentment 'Who does he think he is!? Did he just task Sila to the officer's ball? He's supposed to be finishing up those reports, not flirting with his subordinates!' "Sir! The General was asking for those reports, sir" she said angered.

"Here" he said tossing the file of signed documents across his desk. "They're done."

"When?"

"Come on Lieutenant, I'm not THAT much of a procrastinator. Plus, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Riza thumbed through the papers she spoke "What about sir?"

"Havoc."

Frank arrived at his date's house to pick her up and escorted her to the ball. She looked lovely. It had been a while since Frank had seen her, but he didn't feel any excitement, just relief that she would be a jewel to present to his superiors.

The night of the officer's ball had arrived and everyone mingled on the edge of the dance floor. Havoc handed Hawkeye a glass of punch and the two of them blushed. Mustang seeing Hawkeye's pink cheeks suddenly asked Sila to dance. The couple glided pretty well across the floor considering how klutzy Sila was. Mustang complimented the sprig of flowers in her hair and she laughed a little telling him that they were fake. Her laugh caught the ear of Lieutenant Colonel Archer.

He turned slightly to inspect and nearly dropped his punch when he saw Sila in the arms of that Mustang fellow. 'What is she doing here? Why is she dancing with him? My spy reported no treachery on her behalf, but she's dancing with my competition! Nay, my enemy!'

Sila and Roy finished their spin and went to get some punch of their own, They joined Roy's subordinates Breda, Falman, Feury, and the ladies form the local town they had asked. The Fuhrer and his wife were also in attendance and Frank was keenly aware of it. He wanted nothing more than to grab Sila by the wrist and drag her out of there, forcefully if necessary and question her taste in dates on the steps of the grand hall.

Frank restrained himself aware of all the eyes that would be on him. Mustang handed Sila a glass of punch and heard the laugher of his Lieutenant. He turned and saw Riza giggling, putting one hand over her mouth and the other on Havoc's shoulder. Roy wanted nothing more than to grab Riza by the wrist and drag her out of there, forcefully if necessary, and question her taste in dates on the steps of the grand hall. He refrained not wanting to make a scene. 'Riza looks radiant' thought Roy.

The gentlemen of Roy's group got together as the ladies went off to powder their noses. Breda, Falman, and Feury gave Havoc friendly nudges and smiles about how lovely Riza turned out looking.,

Frank went to the punch table just as Mustang was helping himself. The two men stopped and glared at each other. Frank spoke first in a slow and cautious tone. 'No need to make a scene… "Good evening, Colonel."

"Good evening, Lieutenant Colonel."

"I see you were having quite a dance with Captain Wellbrick."

"Well I didn't ask her here just to drink punch with her" said the cocky Colonel.

Mustang swore he could see Archer's pupils shrink. "I see. So you escorted her here."

Frank looked over and saw Sila having a good time smiling along side Lieutenant Hawkeye. Havoc and Archer made eye contact, held it for a moment then broke it off. "Yes I have" said Roy with a smirk. 'Bastard. hahaha. I don't know why this irks you – you're the one who kicked her to the curb.'

Archer was determined not to make a scene, but couldn't help but say "Another man's trash is another man's treasure I guess." Before the Colonel could respond Archer said "Enjoy your evening Colonel" and walked back over to his date who was conversing with the Fuhrer's wife and the Fuhrer himself.

Roy was annoyed but shook his interaction with Archer off. 'He's not important…' Archer's group laughed including the Fuhrer, and Roy reconsidered his thought. '…maybe he's not so insignificant after all. Maybe even competition." Roy's day dreaming was interrupted by Sila's hand on his arm.

Sila looked at Roy and said "Hey. A couple others want some punch too. Let me help." The rest of the evening passed by and Archer and Sila avoided each other. As Roy berated Havoc to the amusement of the other officers Sila went to powder her nose.

As she made her way back she bumped into Archer in the large empty hallway. They stopped and looked at each other unsure of what to say. Something strange had been happening between them lately and Sila couldn't ignore it. Archer spoke first. "You look marvelous, Sila."

She said "Thank you Lieutenant Colonel, you look rather dashing in that uniform. It fits like a glove."

"Your white gloves are a nice touch."

Sila smiled and said "I keep feeling like I'm going to drop my punch cup because of them."

Archer didn't see the humor in it. 'If she dropped punch on that gown it would have been an embarrassing situation.' Archer smiled for her none the less. He liked seeing her happy. 'I think I love you.' "Why Mustang?" he asked for once that evening not holding back his disgust.

Sila wanted to tell him it was just to make him worry or just to irritate him, but she couldn't…some part of her felt bad. He had been good to her professionally and it wasn't fair to play with his feelings. 'He honestly didn't know I had such a crush on him. Maybe he didn't want to force me to go with him? That sounds a bit too altruistic, but at the same time hurting him won't change him. If I betray Archer it will only put me in a more precarious situation…' "Because…well…he asked."

"So you would have gone with anyone?"

Sila became irritated and said "Well not just anyone. Not Havoc. I do have standards you know." She crossed her arms and looked away. "He's been very nice to me."

"I know" mumbled Archer going over in his mind all the things his spy told him about her activities. 'Mustang has been pursuing her for quite a while.'

"Huh?" said Sila responding to his mumble.

"Nothing. It was a pleasure seeing you Sila. I'll speak to you on Monday then?"

Sila was surprised at his abrupt ending of the conversation. She said "Thank you and you also" a little confused.

Archer walked on towards the men's room and Sila back towards the ball. She couldn't resist looking back over her shoulder at Archer and saw that he was looking back at her. They both quickly turned back and continued along their way. When Sila returned Roy was dancing with Riza and neither of them looked too thrilled. 'They look like two siblings forced to dance with each other at a wedding.' Sila's eyes scanned the crowd and she noticed Havoc was missing.

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Riza and Roy spoke quietly while they danced. Roy whispered "Can you confirm Wellbrick's confidence?"

She replied "It's getting more difficult to tell. I think her initial anger has burned off and she's trying to protect herself now."

"Understandable. Unfortunate, but understandable. She can't strike against him if she can't rely on someone else to protect her."

Riza was afraid the Colonel was going to stick his neck out for Captain Wellbrick, who was still an unknown quantity in the struggle against Archer's contingent. "May I remind you, sir, that we don't know enough about her yet to take that kind of risk."

Roy sighed knowing Riza had read his mind. "I don't think she's that much of a risk. We know what she's been up to."

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Archer entered the men's room and noted the smell of a burning cigarette. He walked up behind Havoc who was standing with his back to the door. Archer said "You know this is a nonsmoking building."

Havoc turned around with the cigarette in his mouth and grinned.

Archer said without any flair "I am terminating your orders. You no longer need to follow the captain. If there is anything further you need to tell me we will meet in the usual place" and he left the room.

Havoc was disappointed. After all, he liked following Captain Sila Wellbrick. He liked Sila. Mustang tolerated the use of Havoc because he too was curious about Sila.

Of course it was supposed to be a secret but regardless, Roy knew about Havoc and Archer's arrangement from the beginning. Mustang thought 'I have to admit it was clever of Archer to use Havoc to spy on her. Everyone already knows Havoc has a thing for her. No one would think it strange if he was seen going where she was. Very clever indeed. Good thing Havoc is so loyal to me and divulged his involvement from the beginning.'

Archer found his place back with in the Fuhrer's good humored circle. Havoc returned to Riza and took her hand to dance. They spun around the floor and Roy took Sila's hand and whirled her around.

"Frank darling, please, let's dance. It is a ball after all" said Archer's escort.

He obliged "Of course my darling." At the end of the night each couple made their way home. Havoc escorted Riza to her front door and they both agreed on seeing each other again outside of work. Since they were both Lieutenants it was acceptable. Archer made sure the lady he was with got safely to her destination then walked back to his car and was driven off.

Mustang walked Captain Wellbrick to the door of her apartment. She thanked him for a fine evening. "Not a problem Captain. The pleasure was all mine" he responded.

Sila felt awkward as if the Colonel expected something, but what, she couldn't figure out. She nodded and curtsied then pulled her key out of her small satiny satchel. "I'll see you Monday, Colonel." Sila put the key in the lock and turned. She looked up to give Roy a goodnight smile and she saw a confused look on his face.

Roy quickly straightened himself and said goodnight.

'What was that all about?' thought Sila as she placed her bag on the small table.