Love Me Back

Wake Up Already!

*Mustang's PoV*

The next morning, I pull into the parking lot and glance at the clock. 7:00, exactly. Thank god there wasn't any traffic. My uniform is in the back seat, and I'm beginning to think about moving it, given the fact the Riza seems to prefer the back seat. Eventually, I decide against it, and walk up towards the building.

The door is locked.

I knock and jiggle the handle. Nothing. I press my ear against the door, seeing if she's up.

There's a faint beeping, but no sound of her. Hayate's not even barking!

So...What's going on?

I reach my hand under the door, hoping that maybe she dropped a key and I can unlock the door and wake her up. My hand touches something metal and I grab for it, sending it farther away. Eventually, I find it with my fingers and drag it under the door. It's not a key.

I sigh and am about to toss it over my shoulder when I do a double take. It isn't a key, it's one of her hairpins.

I read once that you can unlock a door with one.

Maybe that's true.

I decide to try and put the hairpin into the lock. After a few twists, it doesn't work. "C'mon, c'mon," I mutter, pushing the pin into the lock and twisting again.

Click.

The door handle turns and the door opens. The beeping is louder and I realize that it's her alarm clock.

How long has it been going off?

I walk into her bedroom and the beeping is incredibly loud. It stops when I push the button on the top saying "Snooze." Since I don't really use my alarm clock, and I forgot what the manual says, I have no clue what that does.

I turn my attention to the bed.

Hayate is curled up in a corner of the bed on a pillow. Riza is fast asleep.

She looks so...pretty.

Get a hold on yourself, Roy! I shake my head. She. Does. NOT. Love. You. Back. Wake her up already!

I tap my chin, trying to figure out HOW exactly to wake her up. Maybe I'll just start cooking breakfast. That'll probably wake Hayate up, and he MIGHT start barking.

Perfect.

About ten minutes AFTER I start cooking, the puppy wakes up.

He. Is. LOUD.

The next thing I hear is Riza. "Huh? Hayate, why are you..what's that smell?"

I smile. It's working.

She stumbles out into the living room.kitchen and blinks. "Oh..Roy?" Yawn. "What are you doing here..what time is it...why are you cooking?"

"Morning." I turn to the clock and back to the pancakes. "7:15 or so."

She freaks out. "Why didn't I wake up?! My alarm clock...I set it for..."

As if on cue, the clock starts beeping again. "Could you please turn that thing off?" I ask, tilting the pan slightly so the pancake falls out onto a plate.

"Huh?" She gives me a puzzled look.

Hayate trots out of the bedroom and over to me. Riza sprints into her bedroom and shuts the door. I slide another pancake out of the pan and listen to the water being turned on. Followed by a yelp.

"Still no hot water, I guess," I whisper to no one. Hayate sits down at me feet and blinks at me, giving me the puppy face. I shake my head and continue cooking.

Ten minutes pass. Riza comes out into the living room/kitchen wearing a black turtleneck and jeans. She grabs a duffel bag from a closet and puts her uniform into it. "We need to get to work....wait." She looks at me when I come over and put the plate down at the table. "How did you get in?"

"Oh...yeah..." I scratch the back of my neck and hand her the pin. "This."

"You unlocked the door with one of my hairpins."

I nod.

She laughs. I smile, though I don't why she's laughing. I decide against asking and open the fridge. "Orange juice?"

"Sure, whatever." There is a pause while I get a glass and then, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Already ate."

"Oh."

We sit in silence for a few minutes. By the time Riza is done eating, the clock reads 7:33 and we get going.

***

"Sir!" Master Sergeant Fuery shouts, running into the office. " We recently got a phone call , with data on this." He pushes some paper across my desk and pants, obviously running far, since his office is about on the opposite side of HQ. "Another murder, suspected killer, I need water..."

I pick up the paper. There is a picture of the body, sent earlier. Multiple stab wounds in the stomach, and both arms ripped off. Yup. Sounds like her.

"We..also got...enough...on her name...and age..."

"Explain," I say, grabbing my water bottle and handing it to him.

"Brynn Athenns. A fifteen year old girl." Fuery shudders. "Already killed...six or seven. Possibly nine."

"Get more info, Fuery. We need to stop her."

He nods and runs out of the office, taking my water bottle with him. "Sir?" Hawkeye asks, looking at me from her desk. "When are we going to stop dealing with psychopaths?"

"Never, probably." I stretch and lean back in my chair. "I wonder why we don't have an actual police force. Just MPS."

"Probably because we couldn't train normal civilians in the proper amount of time to handle the things we deal with on a daily basis."

I nod. "Makes sense."

***

That evening, I'm sitting in my chair, snoring.

I say something, coming out more like, "I'm...gonna...kill...zzzz..." then anything else. Riza shakes my shoulders. "We need to go."

"Oh, okay." I get up from my chair and stretch.

"And I meant now, if you were wondering," she says, with a hint of sarcasm.

Huh?

Sarcasm?

I walk to the door and open it. She walks through and goes outside to untie Hayate, walking over to my car after untying his leash from the bench. I unlock the car and she slides into the back seat, as usual. Hayate falls asleep on the way.

The car screeches to a halt. "What the hell...?" I ask, blinking at the apartments.

In the back seat, Riza makes a sort of choking noise, like she's holding back something.