At first, they amused themselves by keeping track of who scored most and raised a betting game on who will win… but after a while all humor vanished. Tension became extremely evident in the air and worse, they they're the ones who suffer the aftermath of every encounter.

Havoc, who rejoined his buddies in the other room, dragged at his half-finished cigarette. Luckily, Hawkeye wasn't around so he and the boys are temporarily free from the bondage of Hawkeye's rules.

"At least the colonel will be normal today… I don't think Lt. Hawkeye is going to work."

"Actually," Havoc began, puffing some smoke as he spoke, "she's not going to be here in quite a while."

"She was transferred?!" An extremely surprised Breda asked. "She didn't say a word!"

Havoc was shaking his head. "No, silly, she filed for a vacation..."

"She did what?!"

As if on cue, a fuming Roy Mustang stormed into the room. "Havoc!" He barked, "where is Lt. Hawkeye?!"

Every soldier in the room who immediately stood at attention when Mustang came in looked at Havoc, who was courageously fighting the colonel's flaming anger with a little coolness. "She filed for a vacation sir."

"Huh? A vacation? Says who? I didn't sign any…"

"Yes you did, sir."

Mustang frowned. "I don't recall any…"

"The paper you signed yesterday, sir. The one from Eastern Office."

The colonel raked his throbbing brain for any information regarding the said paper… and then it hit him, the one he dropped on her desk. "I thought it was…"

"You did not read it, sir?"

He couldn't answer. He obviously didn't. Lt. Hawkeye tricked him! He thought it was from… "Havoc, I order you to find that document. I need it on my desk by 1300 hour sharp."

"Sir?"

Mustang had left the room. All eyes were affixed on a heavily sweating Havoc, "Gawd… I don't even know where Hawkeye hid that thing…"

"It pays to do your job, doesn't it?" Fuery said, pulling a folder from one of the drawers of his desk.

"Fuery! You're my savior!!"

x0x

Riza was running after a very lively Elisha when the phone rang. Since Glacier Hughes had left for the market, she decided to answer the phone.

"Hughes?"

She immediately recognized the voice and panicked. "Um, hello…?" she said, adopting a high-pitched voice.

"May I speak with Maes Hughes… please…"

Riza bit his lip. "Sorry sir, you've dialed the wrong number."

The line was cut. She replaced the receiver and sighed with relief, and then the phone started ringing again. Riza cursed, but was suddenly reminded of Elisha so she bit her lower lip instead. This could be the colonel, she told herself while staring at the ringing phone. This could be the colonel… what should I do?

Elisha, Lt. Col. Hughes beloved daughter, walked toward her direction and reached for the receiver. "Hello?"

Riza could feel the fast-paced beating of her heart.

"It's for you." The cute girl handed the receiver to her and resumed playing. It took a while before Riza managed to say 'Hello"…

"Hawkeye!!"

It was the Lt. Col.'s voice. "Sir, please don't scare me like that!"

The jubilant voice boomed. "Well, well, well… and for a while I thought you were fearless!"

"Sir, Col. Mustang called…"

"I know. He called me here, too. He said that the number to my house, which I personally gave him, was wrong."

"I was the one who answered his call… and I said he got the wrong number."

Hughes laughed. "Oh, that's a good tactic."

"Did he suspect anything?"

"No. The poor blockhead is absolutely clueless. Anyway, don't answer any calls from now on, okay?"

"Sir, may I ask why he called in your house and not in your office, considering it's 10 in the morning and you're supposed to be working?"

"I'm supposed to be at home today, dearie." He said. "It's my wife's birthday. Unfortunately, I'm badly needed in the office so I can't skip work."

Riza nodded.

"Just relax, okay… he's not going to find out about this."

"Thank you very much sir, for letting me stay here for a while… I really don't have anywhere else to…"

"Just relax… and take care of my Elisha for me…"

"Yes sir."

"And Hawkeye, I just want to remind you that you can't really hide from him forever… Think ahead, so you'll be ready when he finds out."

"Yes sir."

x0x

Mustang stared at his signature affixed at the bottom of the page. He couldn't believe Riza was able to trick him that easily. "An important document from Eastern Office, huh?" He sneered.

"Do you believe me now?" Havoc asked, looking over the colonel's shoulder and absorbing every information written on the paper held by Mustang.

"Yes, I believe you…" Mustang cleared his throat and eyed the lieutenant invading his personal space. Havoc recognized the cue and quickly took a huge step backward.

"I have a mission for you, Lt. Havoc."

"Yes sir."

"Find Lt. Hawkeye and bring her here."

Havoc gasped. "Sir?"

"This," he pointed at the paper on top of his desk. "…is not valid. She tricked me into signing it…"

You should've read it in the first place… Havoc wanted to object, but there's no way he'd win against the colonel, the boss, the nut who seemed to possess some feelings for the frigid lieutenant. Okay, now it's obvious. Whether the rumor was simply invented by some adversary of the colonel is out of the question. This uniformed blockhead before him is undeniably guilty as charged.

x0x

Maes Hughes was stunned to see Lt. Jean Havoc by his doorstep. When Maes answered the door he thought it was the pizza delivery boy, after all, his visit is truly unexpected. Operation Red Champagne is officially over and the man didn't have any reason to be here… but he's here… and he discovered their secret.

An uncomfortable silence hung in the dining area. Jean kept switching his gaze from Maes to Riza, who both looked like scolded puppies and couldn't look at him in the eye. The purpose of his visit was to inform Maes about the colonel, his weird antics, and the mission he had given him just this morning; it didn't occur to him that his mission would be completed upon getting there.

The pizza he had ordered is taking too long… and no one in the dining area dared to breathe a single word. Maes stole a glance at Riza who was occupying the seat next to him, and then he looked at Jean who had been staring at him for quite a while.

"Okay, staring game's over." Jean finally said, throwing both hands up in the air. "I'd like to know what's going on…"

Maes cleared his throat. "You see, Jean, Riza…" he was interrupted by Riza Hawkeye who decided to explain the entire situation herself. "I filed for a vacation and then asked Lt. Col. Hughes if I could stay here for a while… since I really don't have anywhere else to go."

"Then why take a vacation?"

Riza bit her lip. This is the first time for Jean to see Lieutenant Frigid's composure crumble into pieces, and he's sorry he had to be the reason, but he badly needed his questions to be answered. "Lieutenant..?"

"Mustang was being unreasonable." Maes answered.

"He wanted me back in his office." Riza said, her voice wavering.

Jean's frown deepened. He couldn't understand a single thing. "If he's giving your job back then why…"

"Because I'm trying to avoid him!" Riza screamed. "I don't want to be an obstacle in his career! I don't want to be the reason for his downfall. Can't you see, Havoc, they're using me to take him down… and should they become successful I know Mustang will hate me for the rest of his life!" Something cold and wet tickled the corners of her eyes and Riza wiped it dry with the back of her hand. "His career meant everything to him… I can't let… that… happen…"

Silence.

Jean reached for his handkerchief and handed it to the sobbing lieutenant. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. "…for being insensitive."

Riza, with a small smile on her face, snatched the handkerchief from Jean's hand. "Don't you dare tell them about tonight!" Her warning was decorated with blood so thick that Jean felt a cold shiver run up his spine. Oh well, at least their lieutenant is back.

A soft rapping on the door broke the tension in the air, and Maes suddenly remembered the pizza he ordered for his visitor. "That could be our dinner." He said before leaving Jean and Riza in the dining room.

"Anyway, why did you come here?" It was Riza's turn to ask.

"The colonel ordered me to look for you."

"He did?"

"Yes. I did."

All hair on the nape of her neck stood on end upon hearing that voice. She dared not look behind. The panic on Jean's face, plus the sound of that voice, was more than enough to confirm her greatest fear.

"Congratulations, Lt. Jean Havoc. You found my missing lieutenant."