I don't own FMA

Edited 5/30-thanks OneMoreBite!

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"Good Morning, Sir." Riza saluted as he entered the office.

"Morning Lieutenant." He returned the salute, hung his coat, and trudged to his desk. "What've we got today?"

"A briefing on Scar's recent movements at 1030 hours, Fullmetal will be in at 1230 hours to hand in his reports before he travels East," She paused as Roy groaned, "Nothing else besides paperwork after that."

"Does it ever end?" Roy mumbled.

"Scar, Fullmetal, or the paperwork, Sir?" she asked as she skimmed over the reports they'd need for the meeting.

"All of them, Hawkeye."

"Eventually it will all come to and end, but you'd have to retire first."

"I guess that's fair. They wouldn't call it work if it was fun, right? At least I'll have retirement to look forward to. If I make it that long." He sat down and rested his head on the clean desk for a moment.

"Long night?" Riza inquired.

He picked up his head enough for her to make out a nod and a yawn. She scowled at him, and hid a yawn of her own behind her hand.

Jean walked into the office just in time to catch the tail end of her uncharacteristic behavior. He was sure he hadn't seen her yawn since Ishbal. "Tired, Lieutenant Hawkeye?" he asked.

"No, yawning is conta-ta-gious," she explained through another yawn and then sunk back into her task, only looking up when the last three made it into the office. She briefly let her mind stray to the conversation she had heard in the café, and wondered what Jean had thought when he entered the office to find she was alone with Roy.

She looked through her fringe of bangs to Roy. He was still slumped over on his desk, but she could tell from his breathing that he was still awake. After letting him wallow for thirty minutes she looked at him directly and spoke, "Sir, the meeting starts in fifteen."

Roy groaned and slowly straightened up in his chair. "I suppose that we should head over to the conference room, Lieutenant."

She nodded and put her stack of papers into a neat pile. With the documents held close to her chest she stood and followed Roy. Before they left the room she turned to Jean. "Second Lieutenant, you're in charge of making sure some work gets done."

Jean nodded in understanding. Basically she meant that he would be the one punished if they slacked off too much while she was gone.

Riza sat beside Roy in the stuffy room full of alchemists, colonels, generals, and a few lieutenants. She was quiet for the most part, only commenting when necessary. She preferred to listen to the conversation and silently slip documents that were referred to in front of Roy in case he needed to glance over it. Out of the alchemists present only he and Louis had come across the Ishbalan and survived, and as a result they did the most talking. With Alex's skills passed down from generation to generation he made sketches of Scar, so no one was confused about his appearance. By the end of the meeting the generals present had decided each alchemist had to have a weapon, something with their specialized transmutation circles on it, a piece of chalk, and guard with them at all times. Each alchemist would be appointed two guards by the end of the day. The meeting was adjourned with the announcement. They were walking out when one of the generals called to Roy.

"General Sierra?" Roy asked.

"Naturally, First Lieutenant Hawkeye and Second Lieutenant Havoc will be your guards. We will send someone to your office to lighten their loads of paperwork. Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh will be tagging along with Fullmetal during his travels until we have decided otherwise. That is all. You're dismissed."

When they got back to the office it was already 1245 hours. Edward was sitting in Roy's chair fuming about the 'arrogant bastard's tardiness.'

Riza sighed and took a seat at her desk. Jean had escaped as soon Roy and Riza had entered the office. Now she would have to stay and listen to their ritual of insults.

Roy's mouth was forming the words to a short joke, but he didn't get to speak them.

"Second Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh reporting for duty, Sirs," Maria said. She and Denny saluted the other three officers.

Edward stared at them for a few minutes. "Do you work for him now?"

"No we've been assigned as your protection, again," Denny explained.

"You'd better keep a close watch over him. He's so small he'd be easy to lose in a crowd," Roy told them.

"Who you callin' so short he'd be harder to find than a needle in a haystack?" Edward reacted as usual. He was ready to lunge at Roy when Alphonse jumped from his seat on the couch and held him back. Since Ed couldn't physically attack his superior he threw the report at him. "Here's your stupid report!"

Riza sent Maria and Denny a furtive glance a pity. She hoped they'd be able to keep up with the boys. Even if Ed wasn't hard to lose, it wouldn't be hard to keep track of Al. Knowing they were worse off than she was comforted her a little.

Roy glanced up at the clock and decided he deserved a break. "What sound good for lunch, Hawkeye?"

"I brought my lunch, Sir."

Roy looked down at his paperwork, and tried to ignore his rumbling stomach. He looked up when he heard Riza's chair slide backwards. "Where are you going Lieutenant?"

"Lunch, Sir. I'm sure your hungry, and I can't leave you if Havoc isn't with you, so where are we going?"

"Why don't we go to that place around the corner, the deli," he said, also leaving his desk. She just nodded and followed him down the corridors, across the street, and stood in line behind him.

They didn't talk while they ate. Roy didn't think much of her silence. It wasn't like it was unusual for them to be silent. They didn't need a lot of words. Both found words meaningless unless followed up with the proper actions. But something felt weird—the silence wasn't comfortable. It was thick and smothering.

Riza picked at the small pieces of potato chips left in her bag—eating a few and smashing the rest under her index finger. The new assignment was nerve raking. She'd go speak with General Sierra to find out exactly what he meant by everywhere. To the bathroom, anywhere he went in HQ, to his house? She and Jean would never get a day off.

When they returned from lunch Riza explained the new assignment to Jean and left Roy under his watch.

She was glad to find the older man still in his office. "General Sierra, Sir?" Riza saluted.

"Ah, Lieutenant Hawkeye, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Andrew returned the salute.

"Sir, I am just here to inquire about my orders."

"Yes, please take a seat and relax," he said motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

She complied with his suggestion. "When you said everywhere you-"

"I meant everywhere. If he has to take a piss you're in the same room. Break up the shifts between you and Second Lieutenant Havoc into twelve hour blocks. Is that all?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you," she stood to leave.

"Second Lieutenant Julie Mrow has been assigned to your team temporarily to make sure paperwork doesn't get back logged. Everything should go smoothly with her there."

Riza nodded and walked back to her own office. She had heard the name before, but couldn't place it.

She entered the office only to find a woman with long black hair sitting at her desk. She cleared her throat.

The woman looked up her with ice blue eyes. "How may I help you?" she asked.

"That's my desk," Riza said coolly.

"Oh, you must be First Lieutenant Hawkeye. Colonel Mustang said you would be taking the night shifts, so I assumed that I would be able to work at your desk while he's here during the day," she said standing to let Riza sit down.

Riza bit her tongue—this woman hadn't even attempted to salute her, and made it seem like she didn't know what her job was.

Julie smirked at Riza. She wanted the blonde to lose her famed cool, and look bad in front of Roy. She desperately wanted to take Riza's place—wanted to yank it right out from under her feet.

Riza unlocked the drawers she kept her little armory in and emptied the contents into her purse. She shuffled through the other drawers and added two lighters, a few pens, envelopes, a pack of paper clips, and a bottle of white out to the purse. She was suddenly glad that she had carried the burdensome bag—it had finally fulfilled its purpose.

"What time are we trading off, Sir?" Riza asked.

"1900 hours. We'll be at my place."

"Until then, Sir," she saluted and left.

"I had no idea she was so stiff," Julie laughed.

Everyone in the office looked away from her. She frowned.

It was Roy that responded, "You should watch what you say about my subordinates Lieutenant Mrow."

Julie looked away from him as if she had been slapped. How had he come to think the blonde was so great? She had heard rumors about Riza rejecting men left and right, using her gun to make sure paperwork was done, and full out stepping out of her bounds to tell Roy what to do. "I will take Riza Hawkeye's place, and make them see that it's better without her!" she told herself.

She reviewed and signed papers quietly for the rest of the day. It wasn't until they were leaving that anyone spoke to her, and even then it was only "good night" and "don't forget to turn out the lights."

At 1900 hours she gathered the piles of paperwork she had to turn in. With a glance at the clock she realized the sniper would be with him. Anger took her over as she came to the conclusion that the two of them would be spending the night together alone.

"Sir, why'd you decide without me?" Riza asked while she sat beside Roy on his couch.

"Havoc is a great soldier, but I'd rather have you watching over me while I'm most vulnerable," Roy explained. Roy was staring at her to judge her response, but got nothing from her facial expression. She was wearing her uniform. He had already changed out of his, and found himself wishing she had too. He wanted to see her in civilian clothing, but knew she wore her uniform to remind both herself and him that she was on duty.

Riza smiled inwardly at his confidence in her. She wouldn't trust anyone else with his life either.

The night was quiet and warm—she had already discarded her jacket due to the heat. It wasn't until he ducked into the hall to grab a towel that things got awkward.

"Sir?" she called.

He gave her a stern glare.

"Roy," she corrected herself.

"Hmm?" he asked throwing the towel around his shoulders.

She looked down at the floor. "General Sierra…"

He couldn't hear the mumbled sentence. He walked up to her and placed two fingers under her chin to make her look at him. "What did General Sierra say?"

"He told me to stay in the same room as you at all times," she said more clearly. A faint blush graced the apples of her cheeks as she looked away again.

Roy was stunned. Surely he hadn't heard her properly. "That's a good one Riza," he laughed it off. Surely it was a joke.

She looked up at him with a face that was more serious than the one she had been wearing when she had asked him to destroy the sigil on her back. "It was an order," she told him before looking back away from him.

Roy's mouth opened and closed. He gulped down air. If she hadn't looked so flustered maybe he would have been able to keep his cool, and make a good joke out of it, but she was hardly keeping her composure. He was suddenly glad she wasn't looking at him, because his cheeks didn't feel their normal temperature anymore. "I…I'll just shower in the morning," he told. He took his time putting the towel away in the hall closet, so that they could both recover from what had just happened. He stopped in front of the bathroom and stared at the clear shower curtains, he made a mental not to go out and buy some that weren't see through. Really if it weren't for the clear shower curtains, and the mirrors coincidentally placed so that no matter what direction you looked you could see the whole bathroom she could just sit in there while he took a shower, or he could leave the bathroom door open and she could wait right outside the door. His mind wandered to a mental image of her peaking into the bathroom while he showered. Just the thought of her watching him gave him a thrill. He stopped and berated himself for thinking about her inappropriately. He couldn't let himself think like that, because once he accepted it he wouldn't be able to deny it.

Riza was watching him. He shivered. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

He looked up at her frozen. "No…well, yes. I will have to change, and you know, use the restroom." In his head he added, "And take a cold shower."

"What if I search the room, and then while you change, or do whatever you need to keep the door opened, and I'll wait outside," she suggested.

Riza looked up from her book to Roy. His breathing had finally gone into the rhythm that she knew meant he was sleep.

At first she had just watched him—his figure barely discernable in the dark room—as he tried to fall asleep. Then, he complained that it was nerve raking to have her staring at him. She had gotten out her book and then, with his permission, turned on the lamp, so that she didn't have to strain her eyes to read. He turned away from the light and fell asleep quickly after that.

She had been surprised to find a copy of the second book in her mailbox that afternoon. It wasn't scheduled for release for two more weeks. She looked over the note. It said thank you in a hand she didn't recognize. She didn't know if she even wanted to know who it was from, but she was enjoying it so far.

She had already gotten past Elizabeth's escape from her torturers. Riza was biting her nails wondering if Elizabeth would get out of Drachma. She knew Elizabeth wouldn't just wait for Joseph to rescue her. Riza looked back up from the book when she heard her name.

She put her book down on the chair, ready to walk over to him, but she noticed his breathing pattern hadn't changed. She watched him roll over onto his side, grab one of his pillows, and clutch it to his side. She walked to his bed to better inspect his strange behavior.

She noticed the sheen of sweat plastering his bangs to his forehead. Her hand involuntarily checked his forehead for a fever. She didn't feel any excess heat on his sticky face, so she smoothed his hair back.

She opened a window to let the night breeze flitter in to cool down the room. He only mumbled into his pillow three more times that night. She tried to hear what he said, and would have if not for his sleeping companion.

The sounds of the night relaxed her as she read about Elizabeth's long journey through the Drachman wilderness. She was being tracked by bounty hunters. In her escape she had killed the Drachman leader's right hand man. There was a chance that she would face death in Armestris, so another war wouldn't break out.

Riza put the book down and opened and closed the hand she had been holding it with to get rid of the cramp that was forming. She readjusted her sitting position against the wall. She had moved to sit under the window when the sun had finally came up, but now her legs were going numb from being folded under her. That wouldn't do if someone attacked. She stretched her legs out straight in from of her. She had even taken out her hair clip, so she could lean her head back against the wall without discomfort.

The sound of the birds was getting louder by the second. She stretched her arms, and cracked her neck. Her watch read 0557 hours. She decided to wake him up. She leaned over him and shook his shoulder.

He hugged the pillow closer to his chest. She shook him again. "Roy, time to get up."

He opened his eyes and saw blonde hair casting a golden haze around her head from the sunlight shining through the window. "Riza, must be dreaming," he mumbled incoherently and made to cup her face. His eyes adjusted better to the light of the room and he realized if he was dreaming she would surely be in the bed with him. His mind reminded him that she was supposed to be guarding him, and he quickly changed the direction of his hand to reach for his alarm clock on his bedside table. He grabbed it and looked at the time.

"Mornin'," he said with a voice still hoarse with sleep. He unwrapped his other arm from around the pillow, a bit self-conscious that she had seen him clinging to it for dear life in his sleep.

"Good morning, I thought maybe I could make breakfast, but I'd need you in the main room for that."

His answer was in the form of rustling sheets. She followed him to the kitchen. He started to dig through his refrigerator, but she shooed him away. "I'm the one being paid, let me be useful."

He was about to argue with her, but she already had a carton of eggs in one hand and milk in the other. "Scrambled, right?" she asked him. Her eyes had clouded over in thought.

It took him a minute to remember she would know his preference from the years that they had lived together. He nodded and wordlessly got out a bowl and fork for her to mix the eggs and milk in while she was getting a pan.

Riza found the pan easily. He seemed to have put everything in pretty much the same order as they had been at her father's house. It was what she did at her apartment too.

He put the eggs and milk away, and got out orange juice while she cooked the eggs. He put two glasses of the juice on the table, and then set his head down to rest until she finished. He didn't have to wait long before a plate was in front of him.

Riza took a sip of the orange juice, pulp free, and smiled. She remembered the way Roy had talked about pulp—the same way Ed talked about milk—and laughed.

Roy looked at her and noticed she was staring at the drink in her hand. "I still despise pulp," he informed her.

Riza was washing the dishes, against his orders, when a knock came at the door. She looked over her shoulder to find Roy letting Jean inside. "Morning," she called to him.

Jean saluted out of habit and flopped down in a chair. "Too early," he commented. He eyed Roy's attire—obviously the clothes he had slept in—and his disheveled hair.

Roy sunk into the couch beside the chair and grunted in agreement.

"There're some eggs left Havoc," Riza called to him.

Jeans ears pricked at the mention of a free breakfast, and he left Roy to his own devices.

Riza motioned to the plate of left-over eggs as she finished drying the pan. She put away the dishes, grabbed her coat from the chair she had draped it over the night before, and made for the door. "Sir, would you bring me some of my paperwork home with you tonight?"

Roy gave her an incredulous look. "Why? Someone is taking care of it."

"It would give me something to do, to pass the night. Havoc, make sure to grab a pile of paperwork for me on the way out of the office today."

"Yes Sir," Jean said through a mouth full of eggs.

"I'll see you at 1900 hours, Sir," Riza called to Roy as she closed the door behind her.

Jean rinsed his plate and stuck it in the sink.

"So Chief, what'd you do last night?" Jean asked

Roy opened one of his eyes and glared at the blond. "What're you implying Havoc?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Roy was looking at him through both eyes now. "Are you two really supposed to be in the same room as me at all times, no matter what I'm doing?"

"Yeah, why?" Jean asked.

"C'mon, I've got to take a shower."

Jean grumbled about having to alchemist-sit while he waited outside the bathroom—it was going to be long month.

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A.N-I can't believe it took me so long to get this chapter out, but hey I've got a good amount here -- 13 pages. I can't remember if I've pimped out my other stories in these author notes yet so here goes: If you liek Royai I've got Random One-Shots (mainly royai oneshots) and In 100 Words (response to royai 100 themes) for you. If you enjoy Edwin go take a look at 100 Moments to Live For (Edwin 100 themes responses)Okay, I'm done with the shameless self promoting here now. Oh, I'll be finished with the school semester next week, so I should be able to devote more time to this after that.

Thanks for reviewing: OblivionEclipse, Yun Min, Mirage992, Animeluuvr8, OTP, Last.Alchemist.Standing, Riza Hawkeye 9, UnheardGoodConscience, Bizzy, Your Favourite Plushie, MoonStarDutchess, WinglessFairy25, Dailenna, Breion, Anne Packrat, OneMoreBite, SmokerBabe, and BlueRose.xoxo.

The name game: General Andrew Sierra- Sierra- the last name of the only friend of mine that understands my love for FMA, because he loves the game.