Hey all back for chapter nine; I'm hoping to finish the story this time around. Hopefully another huge story like DF won't get me sidetracked until it's done.

Chapter Nine: Locked On.

Black Hayete looked on as the women and Havoc went through his mistress' closet looking for something suitable for her to wear on her date for the evening.

Ordered by Mustang, Jean sat back and watched to make sure they didn't attempt have Hawkeye scantily clothed "as if she was a piece of meat," as Mustang so nicely put it.

So far Hawkeye didn't seem to have many choices in clothing for going out. If it wasn't a uniform it was a pants suit, and if not a pants suit then it was Havoc. The few button up shirts she had weren't suitable, and there was no way she was going to wear a pull over shirt on a date.

"We should have done this sooner," Winry said looking at the last item.

It was a pair of what appeared to be Mustang's sweat pants.

The other women nodded in agreement. This was ridiculous. They couldn't understand how an attractive single woman like Hawkeye didn't have any "Look at me!" clothing. Those were clothes that belonged in every single woman's closet no matter how often she actually wore them.

"I never have any use for dress clothes," Hawkeye pointed out. "With the hounds on my tail every five seconds it's hard to even get some one to look my way."

Havoc's eyebrows quirked. It's not as if Hawkeye would allow anyone to take her out anyway. She was to skittish, thanks to all the stereotypes' about men the manboy's had led Hawkeye to believe, She'd never stray to far away from them.

"You'll be the old lady with hundreds of cats if you keep going down this road." Sciezska laughed.

This comment made Black Hayete raise his head. His mistress was a one dog woman and he'd be damned if he allowed cats to come in and take over. He remembered back to a time they'd passed by a pet store and there was a small brown, black, and white beagle puppy Hawkeye had stopped to look at in the window. His first reaction was to get her as far away from the window as possible. There would be no expanding in the family, he vowed.

"Hayete's not to keen on that idea," Gracia giggled. Had the dog had a human face it'd probably be scrunched in disgust as if it smelled something foul.

Hawkeye waited until all her clothing was back where it belonged before sitting down on the bed next to Havoc. She didn't want to be an old maid living with only her dog, even if she knew it wouldn't be true.

"We could go shopping," Winry said taking a seat on the floor next to Hawkeye's feet.

"Or you could call it off," Havoc said, which to him sounded like the best idea they'd be able to come up with.

"Oh be quiet," Gracia told him. "You're just speaking for Roy."

"We're going shopping," Sciezska said. "And while we're out you're going to go back and give a great report to Roy."

"He'll know I'm lying," Havoc said getting up from the bed.

"Smoke while you talk and make sure you look him in the eye," Hawkeye said. "If you look like you don't care. He won't either."

Havoc shook his head and bid them goodbye. He knew he was putting himself on the line by going back to Mustang and reporting all was well but he's do it for Hawkeye. He was quite sure she wouldn't go out in anything that was to revealing. You could barely get her into a V neck shirt, let alone a skimpy piece of clothing barely contrived of enough material to make a dish cloth.

--

Mustang sat outside on the roof of the apartment across the street from the man who was to be taking Hawkeye out for the evening. He was more than ready to pick up and leave if the rival male made any sudden moves. He'd been on his tail all day, watching, waiting for him to make the wrong move. He so badly wanted for the chance to corner him in a dark ally and depending on how the night went; he'd surely have his chance.

He was more than aware of how to kill a person and get away with it scot-free. You'd definitely have his name in mind if the man came up missing. Word had to have gotten out all over Central that Hawkeye was dating, and the man pursuing her wasn't dead. He'd even contemplated making an example out of this guy, but let that idea go.

There's no way he'd get passed Hawkeye's accusing stare every time she looked at him if he did such a thing. So he'd decided to do something just as scary and stalk the man.

"Havoc's back," Armstrong's voice came in through the two way radio's they'd been using to keep in contact with each other.

"Send him over," Mustang responded never taking his eyes away from his binoculars. Any movements that happened inside the apartment he wanted to see them.

"Hey," Havoc said causally as he took a long drag of his cigarette. He tried to look at relaxed as possible. He knew that if he gave away any emotion other than calm Mustang would pick up on it like blood hound on a fresh trail.

"Everything go well?" Mustang asked, peeling his eyes away to look Havoc.

"As well as to be expected," He said not meeting Mustangs eyes but instead looking over at the apartment building. "You know Hawkeye she stays covered."

Mustang nodded, some what excepting the answer. There was something that told him Havoc wasn't telling him everything.

"So what's she wearing?" Mustang asked casually, and just as he suspected Havoc stayed quiet.

The tall blond man cursed to himself. They hadn't gone over a general description of what Hawkeye might pick up while they were out.

"I knew I should have sent Kain," Mustang grumbled.

---

"What do you mean you messed up," Hawkeye asked shifting the bag she was carrying in her right had to her left, as she turned the phone on speaker.

The other three women could clearly hear him as he explained how Mustang had managed to trap him.

"You did something wrong." Hawkeye sighed. "Did you smoke?"

"Yes," They heard him respond. "I was calm and everything."

Hawkeye shook her head. There had to be something he didn't do. She always managed to get away with the lies she told Mustang. Not that she lied often but she'd known him long enough to know how to get away scot-free.

"You stared him down right?" Sciezska asked. She remembered that being on of the lying techniques.

"Well uh," He responded. The girls groaned. He'd thrown aside the most important part.

"Uh huh," Hawkeye said. "Don't worry I won't get you in to much trouble."

"Nothing to short," He said. "I trust you guys."

"Right,"

"Oh and yeah," He began to laugh uneasily. "I told Roy you threatened to shoot me if I didn't leave."

"Thanks for letting me know you lied on me," Hawkeye deadpanned. "He's going to ask."

"I know," He again bid them farewell.

"That went smoothly," Winry quipped. She latched onto Sciezska's arm and kissed her cheek.

Gracia agreed.

They quartet traveled through the city on foot looking for something suitable for Hawkeye to wear. They were having a hard time. They knew Hawkeye was hard to please but they didn't think it would be so difficult.

Hawkeye sighed as the Winry came over with a skirt.

Hawkeye sat in a chair waiting for her lunatic friends to being her more ugly choices in clothing. She was a simple gal; a skirt with nothing on it would have been amazing but no. They decided the make things difficult and bring her things like the one Winry held currently. It was blue with a huge ugly yellowish orange flower puffing out of the side.

"That's hideous," Sciezska interjected before Hawkeye could. She was thankful for it; she didn't have the heart to tell Winry that the sixth skirt she bought over was a disaster.

Finally Gracia managed to bring over something that was to Hawkeye's liking.

A nice cream colored skirt. It was simple, just the way she preferred them. It stopped below the knee and had a nice comfortable look to it.

"I'll try it," She said.

Sciezska and Winry's head snapped around toward her. There was no way in the world she was talking about this ugly piece of merchandise.

"She's talking to me," Gracia said handing the skirt to Hawkeye.

"Oh man," Sciezska laughed uneasily. "I was really worried there for a second."

"I got this for you," Winry told the browned haired woman. Her eyebrows quirked together as her lover began laughing as if she'd just told the funniest joke in the world.

"There's no way," She said between breaths.

Winry scoffed and stalked off, she thought the skirt would look good on Sciezska. She got even more annoyed when the other woman's rib cracking laughter on the other side of the store.

"That skirt was terrible," Sciezska laughed out after she managed to get a grip on herself.

Gracia grinned at Sciezska, the younger woman was right. She was waiting for the blow up that was coming. Winry would get annoyed by the laughing and eventually tell her love she was sleeping on the couch.

Hawkeye came out of the dressing room and showed the two women who were nearby by how it looked.

She liked the light cotton skirt, it flowered with her as she walked, and it was light weight.

"Here" Gracia said handing her a shirt that matched perfectly. "Now to find you some shoes…

"No heels," Hawkeye mumbled. "I can barely walk in heels."

"I've got you covered." Winry said. "Let's go."

---

Next chapter will be here soon, I promise.