Lascivious

Chapter Two

Riza returned to work immediately. She felt shaken still, but she hadn't been injured and wasn't about to take a day off for emotional duress. Like Roy had told her, she needed to keep moving, and she had to stay strong. He would need that from her now more than ever.

In the Colonel's absence, Riza, as the highest ranking of his subordinates, had overseen managing most of the team's work ("And how is that different from normal?" Breda had quipped when she had informed them), but no matter how smoothly things ran, there was an undeniable emptiness with Roy and Havoc gone. It was by no means alleviated by the knowledge that only one of the two would be returning.

Something was different today though, and Riza could sense it the moment she walked into the office.

"These just came in," Fuery told her, and she knew instantly something was deeply wrong.

Sliding the paper of out the manila folder, she read her orders.

"We've all been reassigned." Fuery told her, "I'm going to the west, they're sending Falman up north, Breda to the south..."

"And that's not even the weird part," said Breda. "Last night, Mustang was released from the hospital. Completely healed."

That was impossible. It was a miracle he had even lived in the first place and it should have taken months for him to fully recover. Riza had been there; she had heard the doctors say it.

Breda went on, "He was promoted to Brigadier General immediately and assigned a new office in Central Command. One a lot closer to the Fuhrer's office than this one. The word is that he may have finally made it into the inner circle of Command."

"I just wish he wasn't leaving all of us in the dust," Fuery said mournfully.

Riza should have been thrilled. He was so close, so close to everything they had worked towards for so long. But something seemed off. Why now? And why had he said nothing about his promotion to her? Why were all the members of his team, handpicked by Roy himself, being transferred? And why her assignment?

"So where are they sending you?" asked Fuery. "Back to Eastern Command?"

She just shook her head and handed him the paper.

First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, you have been promoted to the rank of Captain and are to report back to Brigadier General Roy Mustang, where you will continue to work under him with his new team.

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The Brigadier General looked very comfortable kicked back in his seat. He glanced up, "Lieutenant Hawkeye," he said smoothly, but there was something about the intonations of his voice that seemed off. "They didn't tell me you'd be hot."

Casual flirting wasn't exactly unusual for Roy but Riza's hand couldn't help but brush against her gun holster.

"Sir," she began, "are you certain that you're ready to leave the hospital? You underwent a lot of stress and I'm not sure how well you're handling-"

She was cut off when he kissed her. For a moment, instinct took over, and the familiarity of Roy's lips against hers. But it was only a moment and in the next, Riza's hand had slipped into her holster, and in the moment after that she had a gun pressed against his chest.

"Step away, sir," she said coolly, but to her surprise he only laughed.

"Damn," he said. "Figured it out that quick? They didn't tell me you'd be smart either; I was hoping we could have little fun before you caught on," he sat back down at his desk. "Or is that not the way things are between the two of you?"