A/N: This chapter is dedicated to everyone who supported "The Inspection" in any way, shape or form.

This is the second part of a series, if you haven't read "The Inspection", it's probably best you do that before proceeding with this.

Disclaimer: FMA is not mine.

Chapter 1

Cute was not a word that was normally present in Roy Mustang's vocabulary. As a word he hated it, seeing as it was rarely accurate and continuously conjured images of fluffy wide eyed animals that he personally found rather sickening. Plus it was a word that many of the brainless airheads he used to date used, which would naturally put anyone off the word. But this morning, it was only word that could be used in the circumstance, even thought he would never admit it out loud. No, the strong flame alchemist Roy Mustang would never taint his reputation by uttering the word cute. The fact that it was being used to describe the best sharpshooter in the Amestresian military was also a deterrent. But the sight of seeing his lover Riza Hawkeye curled up around her dog fast asleep and sucking her thumb could only be described with one word. Roy grinned to himself as he fumbled around in the kitchen. Yep, his girlfriend was defiantly so cute.

"Morning." A sleepy voice addressed him from behind. He turned and smiled at Riza as she yawned and stretched. Standing there in her light blue pyjamas with her hair all messed up from sleeping she had turned from being cute into being stunningly beautiful in less than a minute. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her close.

"Morning beautiful." He said with a smile. She laughed and wacked him on the chest.

"Shameless flatterer." She muttered without letting go.

"Nope simply stating the obvious. What do you want for breakfast?" He asked kissing the top of her head.

"More sleep." She mumbled, stifling a yawn as she did so. He pulled away from her to gaze into her eyes. He pushed her bangs put of her face before asking

"Are you feeling okay?" She smiled at his concern and leaned in and kissed him lightly.

"Yes I'm just tired." She replied, turning away to walk back towards her bedroom. Before she had even taken two steps, Roy had his arms around her once more. Slowly he began to kiss down the length of her neck, causing Riza to sigh with pleasure. Roy smirked at the reaction he had created.

"You know what I want for breakfast?" he whispered in her ear. Riza laughed and smacked him on the upside of the head. He whimpered and dropped his head onto her shoulder.

"We will be late for work." She stated, attempting to struggle out of his hold.

"Late but happy." He whined piteously, causing Riza to roll her eyes.

"Honestly Roy, did you not get enough last night?" She snapped, getting slightly annoyed with this conversation. Roy however didn't seem to realise what her tone meant.

"I can never get enough of you." He mumbled into her shoulder. Riza sighed, feeling slightly annoyed that the line made her want to give in to him. But they really were going to be late for work already. Finally managing to disentangle herself from Roy she kissed him quickly and retreated into her room to dress. Roy watched her go, not even bothering to keep the smile off of his face. He turned around and begin to make coffee, seeing as there was little time to make anything substantial for breakfast. He gazed out of the window while waiting for the kettle to boil. He loved mornings. Roy almost laughed at himself as the thought popped into his mind. If someone had even suggested that to him four months ago he would have laughed in their face, seeing as on his worst days he was lucky if he made it into the office before twelve. Roy liked his sleep, so sleep and mornings did not go well together. However, there was something about opening his eyes and seeing the woman he loved asleep next to him that made them somewhat more appealing. He smiled as he felt a sudden pressure against his back. Being so lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Riza who had already dressed and was now leaning against his back.

"Go get ready." She stated, her voice muffled. Roy tuned around, took her in his arms and countered

"And why should I?" Riza raised an eyebrow before glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall.

"Because in almost an hour you have a meeting with Edward." She commented dryly. Roy groaned loudly. What had he been saying about loving mornings?

"So explain to me again why we are here?" Edward Elric looked across to the suit of armour that was walking next to him. Alphonse sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"You know why brother. You are under the Colonel's jurisdiction; therefore whenever he asks for your help, you have to obey." Incoherent mutterings could be heard from the blonde alchemist. Alphonse wasn't sure exactly what he was saying but distinctly heard the words "dog" and "bastard". Alphonse sighed once more. This was definitely going to be a long day.

Roy sighed and leaned back further in his chair. Aside from the meeting with the Fullmetal Alchemist, there was little for him to do this morning, which he wasn't going to start complaining about. He was just about to attempt to adjust his chair to the perfect angle so that he could reach his paperwork, see out of his office door without craning his neck and still be perfectly relaxed when he was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Mustang here" he said, picking up the receiver.

"Roy! Thank god I caught you. Ed's not there yet is he?" Said the voice at the other end of the line.

"No Maes, you caught me in time, what wrong?" Roy stated, hearing the urgent tone in his voice.

"Two things actually. The first being that I've received some new intelligence concerning the serial killer that's attacking women." Roy cringed as he heard the statement. However, Hughes continued speaking

"I've given the work to Havoc, he should be brining it over to you now. I Just decided to warn you as the as these files are rather...gruesome, to say the least." A knock at the door drew Mustang's attention and he looked up to see Havoc in the doorway, a stack of folder's in his arms. Mustang motioned his Second Lieutenant into the room as he continued his conversation with Maes.

"Thanks Hughes. Now, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?" Roy added, picking up his coffee cup and taking a sip.

"Oh, yes, down to business. When are you going to propose to Riza?" Roy's throat convulsed in shock, causing him to spit out his coffee over his newly cleaned desk, leaving him to simply gag as he struggled to breathe. Havoc stared at his superior, not really sure what to do. But as Mustang's face turned a violent shade of red, he made a quick decision and strode over to his commanding officer and begun pounding him hard on the back until Mustang was able to breathe once more. Havoc rushed out of the office having received a glare from Roy, before the Colonel picked up the phone once more. Hughes was still speaking.

"...Because really it is high time to get yourself a wife and considering how Riza seems to be the only woman...well only person who is ever able to keep you in line it's naturally the best...

"HUGHES!" Roy yelled down the receiver, thumping his fist down on the desk as he did so. He lowered his tone slightly before continuing.

"I've only been dating Riza for three months. What kind of person proposes to his girlfriend after three months?" Hughes laughed at Roy's remark.

"Roy, considering your history with women, it's a miracle you managed to stay with one woman for a month, let alone three! For you three months is the equivalent of about five years for a normal person." A vein in Roy temple started to twitch at this statement. Why did Maes assume that just because he was married that the rest of the population had to do so to be happy?

"Hmmm..." Hughes stated, bringing Roy back to reality. He didn't like the tone of voice his best friend had adopted.

"What?" Roy asked suspiciously.

"Well, considering I just asked you when you are going to marry your girlfriend and the only thing you came up with was that you have only been with her for three months, when most men would have already run screaming at the thought of such a serious step...

"Hughes..." Roy warned, not liking where this conversation was going. However, his friend pretended he hadn't heard.

"Adding to the fact that this is you we are talking about whom, up until Riza of course, had a longer relationship with a jar of coffee than a woman...

"Hughes..." Roy said once more, a bit louder this time, but his protest went unnoticed.

"One could only imagine that you have at least thought about the idea, which means that you Roy Mustang are seriously thinking about throwing in the towel and making a COMMIT..." Roy slammed down the phone before Hughes could even finish his sentence.

"Colonel, please don't take it out on the phone. I don't want to have to write another report on accidental damages to office equipment." Roy looked up and smiled as Riza walked into the room, saluting as perfectly as always. He waved off the gesture and she walked into the room. Noticing the pile of folders on his desk she turned to him and asked

"Are those the recent reports on the serial killer Sir?" Mustang nodded in reply. Riza reached out towards the folders, but before she could pick one up and open it, Roy slammed his hand down on top of them. Riza stared up at him in amazement.

"Sir?" She questioned in shock.

"Don't look at them." Roy replied sternly. Riza frowned, still completely confused.

"Why not Sir? If we are going after this killer its imperative we have all of the information." Hughes' words were still ringing in Mustang's head. He didn't want her to have to look at these files.

"I know that, but it's better if you don't see them" he stated, attempting to keep the situation light. Riza's look of confusion was swiftly replaced with a frown

"Why can't I see them Sir?" She stated her tone icy. Mustang looked down, unable to meet her eyes. He knew that she was angry now, but he wasn't going to back down easily.

"This material is not for your eyes Lieutenant, that's all. Now is there anything else you wanted?" Riza stood muted for a moment, unable to process what was happening. How dare he! Her mind screamed in rage. Why am I suddenly being treated as if I'm fragile? I've seen worse than a few pictures of corpses before, he knows this! While she was angry at the way he was treating her, she was also hurt. She had always been perceived as inferior in the military just because she was female, yet she found that under Mustang's command that wasn't a problem. She was equal to all of her fellow subordinates.

"No Sir." She commented quietly before swiftly leaving the room, not trusting herself to look him in the eyes. Roy watched her go before he sat back down heavily in his chair. He hadn't missed the hurt that was laced into her last statement. He didn't understand though. He was just trying to protect her, in the same way that she always protected him. He sighed heavily. He really really hated mornings.

A/N: what do you think? Let me know in a review!