Roy snuck his way in. I'm not sure how; but he did. Ah well, it's Roy so I can forgive him. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 2

Kimblee was bored. He'd been awake since Archer awoke and got ready for work, but pretended to sleep on the couch. It was more fun watching the other man go through his morning routine than to interrupt it. After all, if he knew the routine, he'd know the best ways to mess with it later. Kimblee made note to visit Archer before work one day and mess with him (not to mention steal his breakfast; it had smelled delicious). Archer was too uptight and one could see that much just from his morning routine.

Kimblee heard the alarm ring once. The man had gotten out of bed and reset his alarm clock before it had a chance to ring twice. The sound of running water could be soon very shortly after and Kimblee wondered how Archer managed that. He usually was too groggy in the mornings; in fact he was groggy while listening to the water from the couch. It was only his confusion about how quickly the alarm was shut off that kept him awake. He must have dozed off for a bit for real, though, because the next thing he remembered was water running in the kitchen as Archer washed his breakfast dishes. (So much for stealing any breakfast...) The man had his coat on and was out the door right at seven thirty.

Kimblee crawled off the couch at around twelve and started rummaging through shelves to look for cereal or something that didn't require turning on the stove to fix. He found success in a box of bran flakes after about twenty minutes sorting through oatmeal and grits.

Which he blew up into a thousand tiny flake bits before whistling his way out of Archer's front door.

The Crimson Alchemist stretched his arms up over his head before rolling his shoulders and yawning all in one smooth motion. He still had at least another five hours to kill before the office was empty and he could roam around the base freely. Though, if he had it his way he'd just run around there now out in the open. It wasn't his fault the other alchemists like the Flame and Strong Arm had no back bones. They had no appreciation for the finer things like extinguishing a living thing slowly on a battlefield.

But then there was Archer. Now, the man was a neat-freak, ass-kissing freak, but you could tell there was something more when you looked him in the eyes. Archer liked war. He liked things that involved killing, battles, and the fiery explosions that created heroes and generals. Archer was like General Grand, but with more tact and skill. The man couldn't actually fight himself, so he was less likely to lose his head in the battle and concentrate on commanding troops. That meant he could do more of the important things – like letting Kimblee blow everyone up instead of trying to do it himself.

Things were always more pleasant when you weren't competing with your commanding officer for kills. That was just common sense.

"Major, could you do me a favor?"

"Sir?" Major Alex Louis Armstrong turned to look down at his new co-worker. He knew it was for the best, but his placement in the man's care still left him feeling odd. Archer was, for lack of a better description, a monster. The fact he had left Dublith with Kimblee and Tucker in tow was proof. It was a shame he could not inform Mustang about that without throwing his cover. Mustang would never let something like that slide even if he was trying to stay covert with his own investigations. As much as it left a bad feeling in his gut, it was for the best if Mustang found out about Kimblee and Tucker when the rest of the military did. "What do you need, sir?"

"Would you please file these papers for me in the records room? I'd send one of the sergeants but they're all occupied at the moment." Archer spoke without looking up from his desk. Better to give the Major something to do and get him out of the office before he could go on about his family or rip off his shirt. The bits of fabric were always a pain to clean up from the floor. "And while you're down there, see if you can't get the reports for that harassment case that came up in unit four yesterday. We're supposed to have it reviewed by Friday and I haven't had a chance to get it myself yet."

"Harassment case, sir?" Armstrong hadn't heard anything about any major harassment cases that would require the court marshall investigations department.

Archer shrugged. "Something about rape. It's been kept pretty quiet as I understand it involves a few higher ups."

"Ah, yes sir. I'll get those right away."

Archer returned the salute before watching the bulky man head out the door. Archer let out a sigh and leant back in his chair. If patterns continued, he had about an hour to finish all his work before Kimblee bust into his office demanding to be entertained. The man had his uses, but this edgy need-to-be-doing something attitude of his was starting to wear thin on Archer's nerves. There had to be some way to keep the man occupied without sacrificing Tucker's lab to explosions.

"Archer. What's the meaning of this?"

"Ah, Colonel Mustang. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Archer smiled politely as the man walked into the office with a stack of papers that he very rudely slammed on his desk. His eyes shifted down to read the cover of the report and smirked. "Is there some problem with that report? I reread it twice and everything seemed in order. It just needs your signature in a few places to confirm a few inquiries."

Roy Mustang glared down at the man sitting behind Hughes' desk. That greasy, pale bastard had some nerve just sitting there smiling like nothing was wrong. How he ever got promoted was beyond this colonel. Mustangs fingers itched together and he found himself heating the air around him reflexively. There were no flames, but the threat of them was in the air. "I want to know why Hughes' investigation is being dropped."

"Colonel, I know the passing of Brigadier-General Hughes has been hard on everyone, but there isn't anything left to investigate. There's no further evidence to investigate and we have other matters that need attending and man power." Archer's voice was smooth and calm; a distinct contrast to the nerves that were clearly twitching on the Colonel in front of him. He breathed in the slowly warming air and almost smirked. It wasn't everyday you got under the Flame Alchemist's skin; he was usually level headed. "Unless something new shows up, the case needs to be put on hold. However, if my commanding officer seems to believe that the case needs to remain open, perhaps he has some information?"

"Gathering information is your job." Mustang calmed himself; he knew a bait when he saw it. "I suggest you look harder and I expect another revised report in a week."

"Of course, sir." Archer stood and saluted before Mustang walked out and slammed the door. The man was so touchy and the air was still moist with heat. "What are all of you looking at?"

The rest of the office started up with their work immediately after the snarl. The investigations department was full of voyeurs. Archer took the stack of papers tossed on his desk and tapped them back neatly into place. There was no need to redo the paperwork; he'd just return it in to his superior at the end of next week. It's not like new information would just fall into his lap. Mustang would just have to learn his friend was dead and get on with it. How on earth would they learn to work together side-by-side otherwise?

Kimblee smirked at the lad wriggling under in his hand. He tightened his grip around the small throat and smirked. So the pick-pocket thought he could get away scott free for attempting to rob a state alchemist, did he?

The alchemist had been minding his own business walking down a street in central enjoying the occasional look of confusion from civilians and military personnel alike. Most didn't recognize him, or wondered why he was wearing his uniform when he had time off in the middle of the afternoon; far past the lunch hour. And then some brat decided to bump into him, or so what it looked like. Kimblee felt the wallet lift, but he had been faster. It was simple enough when your opponent was unskilled. God above he missed Ishbal; now that was some real fun. "Ah? But I thought you wanted to play with me? That's why your hands were in my pockets, right?"

"Plea...srgh." The boy choked out as he kicked and pulled at the hand around his neck. He knew trying to steal from a military officer was dumb. He just didn't know how dumb. Though, he had expected to have been arrested, not strung up by his throat in an alley far from the street and any by-passers.

"I can't hear you." Kimblee pinched the throat tighter with a sly smirk. The youth's face was turning blue and his eyes were dilating in the fear. He was young, but old enough to know better about what he had done. His eyes were green and hair pale. Kimblee would have to remember the details for when he told Archer about this. Surely the other man would be interested in the slow suffocation of the scum of Central. Even more so since this boy's particular death would probably end up on his desk as a case to investigate either for his youth or cause of death. "You'll have to speak up."

All the lad could manage was a few breathy groans and Kimblee continued to smirk while watching the colors change under his skin. Though, watching a boy squirm and struggle was only so much fun for long. The man let out a relieved sigh as he was dropped and the officer clasped his hands together with a pleasant smile. He suddenly was very scared again when both hands were pressed into his chest. The man leant in close to his ear and he thought he could feel his breath stop. "Did you know that all the components you need to build a bomb are in the human body?"

"Is that blood on your uniform?" Archer sunk into his chair and dragged a hand down his face. Kimblee had shown up on cue at six o'clock in the empty office with an overly pleasant expression on his face. If Archer didn't know him better, he'd think the man had gotten laid. But the blood spattered in various places told him something much more orgasmic had happened. There was even a few drops above his eyebrow on the left side. "Never mind. Just tell me what street so that when the report shows up on my desk I can mark it 'unsolved' and be done with it."

"It was just a pick-pocket." Kimblee was grinning inside. The first half of the day may have been boring as sin, but the second half was definitely better. And not being scolded for his behavior was even better. "You done with work yet?"

"Almost, why?"

"Let's go get a drink." Kimblee started unbuttoning his top-coat to let some air flow through his clothes. Archer's office was rather stuffy today. "Do you have the heat on or something?"

"Hmm? Sorry, Colonel Mustang paid me a just a moment ago. He must have been heating the air to keep a hold on his temper." Archer could feel the small smirk fall onto his face. Getting that man all heated up had been fun. "In any case, are you paying? You did drink me out of a full bottle of scotch last night."

"Well, I might just be in a good enough mood to treat." Kimblee smirked and cocked his hip out to put a hand on it. "You'll have to tell me where you bought it or suggest a place with some privacy."

"Why? It's just a drink." Archer opened a drawer to put some papers away. "I doubt if anyone cares that two officers are going out drinking together."

"You want everyone to know about the guy I blew up today? Wow, you have some confidence there, sir."

Archer rolled his eyes and grabbed his coat. "And why would I want to hear about that?"

"Because you like it."

"I like war."

"Death is death." Kimblee almost pouted at the indifference in attitude. He followed the man outside of the office regardless. He was still looking for some sign the man was interested. He couldn't have been wrong about that. Archer liked hearing his stories; Kimblee was sure. "Besides, don't you want the full details so you can sound smarter on the report when you do that whole 'it looks like this was caused by' thing?"

"Owen's Bar on Fifth usually has a few private booths if you're insisting." Archer shrugged into his coat and held back the yawn. "But we are not staying up late like yesterday. I almost didn't wake up this morning."

Kimblee balked. "What are you talking about? You were up at the first annoying alarm screech."

"So you were awake. I figured as much."

"That didn't answer my question."

"The alarm's only a precaution. Normally I wake up before it goes off."

"You're a freak, you know that?"

"Coming from the man who blew up a pick-pocket today without a second thought."

"But that was fun."

"I'm sure."

Kimblee laughed anyway at the straight-faced response and threw his arm around Archer's shoulder as they walked down the hall. He was starting to like having a drinking buddy.