A/N: Wow, thank you so so much for all of your lovely reviews! I'm really glad you are all having as much fun reading this as I am writing it.

Chapter 4

Riza started awake with the shrill ring of the alarm clock cutting through her disturbed dreams. She grimaced at the piercing noise, slamming her hand down on the top of the clock, the sound ceasing abruptly. She automatically flopped back down on the bed, barely able to keep her eyes open. She had spent the night on edge, pointing her gun at shadows and jumping at unexpected sounds. When she had finally managed to convince herself that it was safe for her to sleep, it had been almost six thirty in the morning. She forced herself to sit up and struggled into the bathroom. She groaned as she caught sight of her appearance in the bathroom mirror. Her face was far paler than usual and dark circles hung round her eyes. It was blatantly obvious that she had hardly slept. She sighed and turned on the shower, hoping that the cold water would improve her condition, or at least make her more alert. She sighed contentedly as the water hit her skin, feeling a small part of the fear of the night before seeping away.

Edward didn't understand it. He was the youngest state alchemist in the history of Amestris, had faced countless enemies, both human and non human and even single handily removed the corrupt leader of an entire city. So why did the fact the girl sitting across from him was holding a rather large wrench scare him more than all those things put together? Sensing his eyes on her, Winry looked up and shot Edward a glare, causing him to hastily stare down at the floor.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked her tone icy. Ed sighed. He knew if he told Winry the truth she would only worry. He didn't want to burden her like that.

"Edward!" His head shot up and he met her eyes. He sighed.

"It was just an accident." He muttered. Winry frowned angrily down at him for a moment. She sighed and dropped into the seat next to him, picking up the new arm she had for him. She began using the wrench to tighten the connections as she spoke.

"An accident. An accident that caused you not just to dent your arm, but to damage it so that it is completely beyond repair. On top of that, for some reason that you can't tell me, you're not allowed to come back home, so I have to travel down here and you expect me to just except that this was all because of an accident!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry." Ed mumbled, not able to meet her eyes. Winry gazed at him silently for a moment before turning her attention back to the automail on her lap. She sighed.

"Well, let's give you back your arm then." She replied heavily, burying her anxieties in her work once more.

Riza breathed in the cold air as she left her apartment, Black Hayate at her heels. She was hoping that the fresh air would heighten her senses slightly, but so far it wasn't working. She was dreading work this morning. With her ability to concentrate severely impaired, she would be of little help to the investigation. On top of that, after hanging up on Roy last night, he was bound to be angry with her already. She sighed internally as she opened the door to the kennels. Adrian looked up from behind reception, but frowned at her appearance.

"Are you alright Lieutenant? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Riza attempted to smile as she handed black Hayate over to him.

"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well that's all." She stated flatly. Adrian grinned at the dog in his arms.

"Hey there Hayate." He turned his attention back to Hawkeye, his face becoming serious.

"I think you need to look after yourself more, they're working you too hard if you can't even sleep well. I'm surprised that boyfriend of yours doesn't give you more time off." Riza couldn't help but smirk at the comment.

"If he gave me time off he'd have a hell of a lot of paperwork to fill out. Even I'm not worth that." He laughed and bid her a good day as she left the kennels. Her smile disappeared as soon as she walked out of the door.

"Well, I have to face this at some point." She muttered to herself as she set off towards Headquarters.

The phone had been ringing for a few minutes. Roy glared at it from his desk knowing that there was only one person who would continue to call for this long. He growled and picked up the phone.

"What!" he barked. There was silence for a moment then

"Well that's a lovely greeting. What if I had been the Fuhrer?" Roy was seconds away from banging his head on the desk.

"The Fuhrer would not have continued to call for this long, only you keep calling until I pick up Maes!" Roy was practically shouting down the phone.

"What's wrong?" Roy's anger faded slightly at the concerned tone in his friend's voice. There was no point trying to hide anything from Maes, he always seemed to be able to tell when there was something amiss. Roy slumped heavily in his chair, raising a hand to his head.

"It's Hawkeye isn't it? Did you do something wrong again?" Silence was the only response he gained. Maes sighed and pondered on the matter for a moment.

"Did you start going on about protecting her again? Didn't you learn your lesson from the last time?" Roy made no reply. Maes frowned. This seemed serious.

"Roy... what's happened?" he asked. "You didn't take her guns did you? Because I thought even you would remember what happened to Havoc." Roy made a noise as if he was about to speak when.

"She's pregnant isn't she?" Maes squeaked. Roy fell of his chair in horror. Groping around for the phone he grasped the receiver and yelled.

"No Maes she isn't! It's nothing like that."

"Well that's a shame; you would have had to have married her then!" Roy tore at his own hair at the statement.

"Why are you so fixated on that?" Roy moaned. Hughes laughed at his friend's tone of voice.

"Because I know it will make you happy."He said, if it was the simplest thing in the world. Roy paused for a second. Would it make him happy? He loved Riza, more than he ever thought he could love anyone. He couldn't and more importantly didn't want to imagine his life without her in it. But the thought of marriage filled him with an unexplainable terror that he couldn't shift. His thoughts were interrupted by Hughes speaking.

"Listen Roy, I'm coming in now so there is no point in talking on the phone anymore. Just try not to make the situation any worse until I get there okay? See ya!" and without even waiting for a response Hughes put the phone down. He sighed to himself. When are they going to learn? He thought sadly as he turned around.

"Bah!" he yelled falling to the floor as he instantly came face to face with Gracia. She gave him a questioning look. He smiled innocently up at her and jumped back on to his feet.

"Sorry honey, didn't expect to see you there." He stated. Gracia frowned at him.

"Are you poking your nose into Roy and Riza's relationship again?" she asked, folding her arms. Maes gave her them most innocent look he could muster.

"I'm not poking my nose in, I'm helping, there's a big difference." Gracia raised an eyebrow but stayed silence. Hughes pouted at her expression.

"But it's because of me that the two of them are together in the first place! At this rate they are going to drive each other crazy, argue, probably kill each other and destroy the office and half of Amestris in the process and then they will never get married and where will we be!" He cried, frantically waving his arms in the air. Gracia sighed and looked at her husband.

"Just don't push them too hard Maes. The two of them took so long to realise how happy they can make each other, I don't want to see what will happen if something goes wrong." And with that she kissed her husband and walked back into the kitchen. Maes frowned.

"With me here to help, there is no way that anything could go wrong!" he stated determinedly.

Riza stepped into the office, surprised to see that she was the last one to arrive. She walked over to her desk, a stack of paper work and a large cup of coffee in her hands. She sat down heavily, taking a large sip of her drink before proceeding with the day's work.

"Late night?" She glanced up to catch Havoc looking in her direction. She quickly turned her attention back to the papers on her desk.

"Not at all, why would you think that?" she stated calmly, attempting to keep her voice light.

"Because you hate coffee. You always used to say that a caffeine rush is an artificial stimulation, therefore doesn't improve concentration and shouldn't be used to do so. Yet here you are on what I can only assume is not your first cup of the day. How much sleep did you even get? By the way you look I would have said one, maybe two hours max..."

"Lieutenant, I'm almost certain you have work to do." Riza cut in, sending Havoc a threatening glare. He held up his hands in surrender and turned away, walking back to his own desk. Riza looked back down at her own work, but she could no longer concentrate. If Havoc had been able to tell that something was wrong with her, there was no doubt that Roy would notice. She glanced up in the direction of the closed door of her superior's office. She shouldn't have hung up on him last night. He was already stressing himself out with this case, he didn't need her and her anxieties making him feel worse. Besides, it was only a flower. Someone had probably left it there by accident, getting the address of the apartment wrong. She had overreacted, that was all.

"I'm jealous." Riza looked up and frowned at the odd comment.

"Of what?" Maria Ross smiled down at her friend.

"You. You and you're perfect love life. It's just not fair." The brunette said with a dramatic sigh. Riza snorted.

"Please don't tell me you're jealous of me and Roy. Believe me, there is not much to be jealous of." She said, a small smile pulling at her lips. Maria grinned.

"Hell, I'd be jealous of anyone who gets these from their man." And with that she produced six long stemmed white roses, fastened together with a blue satin ribbon. Riza's eyes widened in shock.

"Where... where did you get these." She whispered.

"They were at the front desk with your name on them. I needed to come up here so I thought I would bring them to you. The Colonel really does like to spoil you doesn't he?" she said with a laugh. Riza stood slowly, almost backing away from the flowers. Maria frowned at her friend's odd reaction.

"Riza, are you okay?" she asked cautiously. Riza swallowed, now aware that everyone in the room was looking at her. She opened her mouth to speak when the door to her superior's office was thrown open. Mustang strolled out but stopped when he saw the scene in front of him. He gave Lieutenant Ross and odd look, considering she was saluting with one hand and still holding the roses with the other.

"Nice flower's Ross. White roses are rather expensive I believe." He commented idly. Maria looked back at him in confusion.

"These aren't my flower's Sir. They're Lieutenant Hawkeye's." Riza widened her eyes at Maria's statement, cursing her friend for speaking without thinking. Her heart tore at the look in Roy's eyes as he turned to look at her.

"Really Lieutenant?" he asked, his tone quiet, hurt laced into his voice. Her eyes widened at the connection he was making. First the hasty phone conversation the night before, including the fact that she had already been awake when he called. Now the flowers arriving at her desk...she wasn't sure whether to be dismayed or annoyed at the way Roy's thought process worked.

"Hawkeye, I want to see you in my office. Now." He stated turning his back on the room and stalking once more into his office. Riza pulled herself together and slipped her impassive mask back on. She turned and walked towards Roy's office far more calmly than she felt inside. As she passed Maria, her friend gave her a questioning look and mouthed the word "sorry" at her. Riza gave her a small smile, but said nothing.

Roy was facing away from the door as Riza entered the room. She closed the door firmly behind her, feeling that her subordinates had seen more than enough for one morning. As soon as the door was closed Roy turned to face her, a mixture of anger and hurt in his eyes.

"Care to explain to me Riza?" he asked bitterly. Riza bit her lip and gazed at the floor. She didn't know how to explain this. She wanted to tell him the truth, but what was she meant to say? Even as she ran the words through her head she knew it sounded ridiculous. Someone was sending her flowers, but that's all it was, flowers. Nothing threatening, nothing to be frightened of. But there was something about the whole situation that unnerved her.

"Hawkeye!" She snapped back to reality with Roy's shout of her name. She frowned but attempted to keep her composure. She didn't want this to turn into another disagreement. There had been too many of them recently.

"Sorry. I don't know anything about the flowers. Lieutenant Ross picked them up from reception thinking they were mine. She must have assumed wrong, I don't know anyone who would send me flowers." She stated calmly, thinking this would be the end of the conversation. She was wrong.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of hint?" Riza had lost this now.

"What are you talking about?" she replied. Roy folded his arms in front of him, anger now the only emotion displayed on his face.

"You're upset about the fact that I don't get you flowers right? Or am I supposed to buy you flowers because I didn't come round last night?" he said his tone bordering on sarcastic. Riza's jaw fell open.

"What? Why would I expect you to buy me flowers if you have never done it before?" she asked, unable to stop the tone of her voice from increasing somewhat. Roy smirked triumphantly

"Which is what you're complaining about, how I never buy you flowers..."

"But I never asked for flowers!" Riza cried, interrupting him, anger radiating from the words

"Exactly! I'm just supposed to know and buy you flowers, so in an attempt to make me want to buy you some you pulled that stunt..."

"What?" Roy stopped and looked back at Riza, raising his eyebrows at her. This only made her angrier. She was seething now. The fact that he would think that she would actually do something like that to manipulate him insulted her more than him thinking she was cheating on him. She gritted her teeth together, but managed to speak.

"So you think that I would actually buy myself flowers in order to make you buy me flowers?" she asked, keeping her voice low. Roy laughed then met her gaze once more.

"No, I didn't think that you would have done that Riza, but it isn't the first time that someone has done that to me." He stated simply. Riza didn't know whether to scream or cry. She was beyond hurt that he would compare her to the numerous air heads that he had dated before her but what had hurt her the most was that he thought she was no better than them. Ultimately, anger overrode the hurt.

"Firstly Roy Mustang, I am going to remind you that unlike those brainless sluts that you have so much fun comparing me to, I do not make a habit of attempting to manipulate people. And secondly, even if I was going to send flowers to myself I would not send roses, because as you should remember I despise that particular flower!" she remarked harshly. Roy frowned at her statement.

"I thought you liked roses." He said simply. Riza's eyes widened considerably.

"Well maybe you were confusing me with one of your other girlfriends, Sir!" She stated and before he could say anything further she turned on her heels and left the room. Roy stared after her for a moment, his mind trying to process the events of the past few minutes. He turned and without thinking he slammed his fist against the wall.

"What the hell just happened!" he hissed to himself.

Riza closed Roy's office door behind he, breathing heavily. Her fellow officers cast her a quick glance before turning back to their own work, not wanting to be caught up in an argument between their superiors. Riza walked back over to her desk and hesitated as she saw the flowers were still there. She clenched her fists slightly then reached out and picked up the arrangement and headed straight over to the rubbish bin. It was then that she noticed something white sticking out of the ribbon. She paused and gently pulled the object free of its bindings. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when she realised it was a note card. Seeing nothing on it she turned it around. Her eyes widened and she let out a small strangled gasp as she read the untidy scrawl on the back.

Don't you get tired of being his loyal bitch Lieutenant Hawkeye?

A/N: As usual please review with your thoughts!