It was a conspiracy theory that Mustang kept to himself. Such a notion could easily get him committed, or fired, without question. As far as everyone else was concerned, Mustang was moving on for the sake of his career and his sanity, but in actuality he was beginning a whole new investigation, going on nothing more than Erika and Riza knowing the same insignificant fact about him.
Somehow, Riza was still alive. In fact, she was right under Mustang's nose.
For some reason, Riza was pretending to be Erika.
It was actually rather difficult to see with the naked eye, Riza was an excellent undercover agent. She fully committed to the role: adopting new mannerisms, altered the pitch of her voice, and even came with an elaborate backstory. But for the one person who knew her best, it was only a matter of time before the connection was made. The way she carried her books close to her chest, the way she raised an eyebrow when he tried to get out doing work, the way she laughed... these were the things he loved most about Riza. He had convinced himself that these things were gone from his world forever, but they had re-entered it quietly.
There were a million explanations for this: she was suffering from amnesia, she was testing him, she was mad at him. Whatever the reason was he didn't care, he just needed some kind of proof to confirm everything. Even if the charade continued, he just needed her to admit her real identity to him.
In the meantime, it was a relief to know she was alive and with him.
"You've been working a lot of late nights this week sir," noted Erika as they were walking to his car one night.
"We both have," he said. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience, I know being my assistant leaves you very little time for a personal life."
"I don't mind sir," she said as they reached the car. "I'm actually very impressed with the progress you've been making. You've been so diligent and it's admirable of you."
"Why thank you Erika," said Roy as he took the driver's seat. "It's nice to be appreciated."
They drove the rest of the way in silence. With anyone else, it would be awkward. But when you're with someone who has followed you to hell and back again, you're comfortable with silence. This only encouraged him to follow through with his plan even more so. Granted, it was risky, but ultimately it would be with it in the long run.
But it had to be subtle.
"So," he began gently as they pulled up to her apartment. "I'd like to try and thank for all your help recently."
"There's really no need sir, it's my job."
"And one you do very well," he added. "But still, you've gone above and beyond your expected duties and I know I'm not the easiest person to work for, and I think you've earned the right to have a little fun."
"I suppose I can't argue with that logic," she said with a smile. "What did you have in mind?"
"One of the committees working on the Ishvalan rebuild is hosting a fundraiser this weekend, and I'd be honored if you would accompany me there," he said. "It's a black tie event and I haven't really been to one without… by myself and it would mean the world to me to have you there. It's supposed to be a pretty good time."
"I don't know," she started. "I mean, champagne, charity, small talk… sounds pretty unsettling."
"I know the whole ordeal sounds exhausting, but I promise to make it worth your while,"
"You don't have to convince me sir, as your assistant it's my duty to go where you go."
"Well, that's just it," he said nervously. "I don't want you there as my assistant, I'm asking you to go as my-
"Friend?"
"-date," he said at the same time, his face turned red when he realized what had happened. "Um, yes, my friend, exactly. I mean it's a good time for a good cause and I want you there, but only if you want to be there. I don't want you to think of it as work. I mean, I guess I thought, well…"
"Roy," she said gently and she put her hand over his, mostly to stop his sputtering (which it did). "Er, Brigadier General, I'd be honored."
"Perfect! Thank you, I mean, yes, I mean-."
"I'll see you tomorrow," she laughed. "You can tell me more about it then, sir. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
"Sooooo, how are you this morning chief?"
"Fine, and yourself Havoc?"
"Obviously not as well as you," said the lieutenant. "Words travels fast around here ya know, you sly dog."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about,"
"Rebecca told me you finally got a date to the event on Saturday,"
"Oh did she?"
"Yup. Gotta say, I'm proud of you Mustang. Erika's quite the catch."
"It's not like that Havoc,"
"That's not what Rebecca said," Havoc smiled slyly as he leaned on Mustang's desk. "Mustang, it's okay to admit that you like her. She's great. It's nice to see you happy, ya know it's been awhile."
"Don't you have work you should be doing?" Havoc could sense he was tense.
"There's no need to be so defensive, ya know," said Havoc. "I'm happy for you. Hawkeye wouldn't hate you for moving on-."
"Havoc, honestly you don't know what you're talking about…"
"Sir, forgive me if I'm crossing the line but we all knew how you felt about Hawkeye. Believe me, I've gone drinking with you enough times to know what I'm talking about. Even if you won't say it, you loved her. And what you two had it was real, and it was real complicated. And you think that by having these feelings for someone else it somehow takes away from what you had but I promise it won't. Because she loved you and she'd want you to be happy."
He left on that note, leaving Mustang to think about why he was really doing what he was doing. It was clear people were still discussing him and how he was handling the incident. They were still worried he was unstable. They believed it would affect his abilities as a leader. They thought he was in love with Riza Hawkeye. Well, that part was nothing new.
But his judgement wasn't clouded by trivial rumors, no, he wasn't doing all this because he was some hopeless romantic. No, he was… he was right about this. Gossip and suspicions concerning him and his captain aside, he'd do the same for anyone. He was sure of it.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.