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Riza was checking her makeup in the car mirror while Roy couldn’t stop looking at her dress. It was a satin black dress with thin straps and a high slit on one side to allow her better access to her gun. She’d have to be careful how she crossed her legs so it wouldn’t be revealed to the suspect, but she was smart enough to not let that happen.
“Eyes up, Mustang,” she said as he quickly returned his gaze to her face, where she was still touching up her makeup, though he caught her gaze in the mirror and saw a teasing look in her eyes.
“Just make sure your guns secure,” he said, trying to recover.
“Don’t worry, it’s secure,” she smiled as she looked back toward the mirror.
“Alright, you both should be ready,” Hughes said as he handed Roy a comms unit. “We’re trying to get back these stolen documents that are being passed off to the buyer tonight. The seller is supposed to be going on a date tonight at this restaurant. I got you both a reservation, your names are Elizabeth Sharp and Ron Colt-”
They both cut off Hughes with a groan.
“What?” He asked.
“You always come up with the worst names.” Roy said, rubbing his temple.
“I do not!” Hughes said, defensively.
“Then why is my last name just another name for a horse?”
“Well if you think you can come up with a better name, why don’t you-“
“Steven Porter.”
Hughes was silent for a moment as he thought it over. “The reservation is already under Colt, you can’t change it.”
“My mother must’ve hated me,” Roy groaned.
“Good backstory at least,” Riza said and he nodded.
“ Anyway , if anyone asks, you just got engaged and are celebrating tonight.”
Roy glared at Hughes through the rearview mirror while he just smiled at him. Roy knew their conversation from earlier that day definitely factored into this coverup.
“I do not hate Olivier because she dated Riza,” Roy said. “We hated each other long before then.”
“But you were jealous of her though,” he said.
“No, I have nothing to be jealous of.”
“So you weren’t jealous over her beating you for most arrests as a uniformed officer?”
“No.”
“Or that time in the academy where she beat you in most pushups?”
“Why are you-”
“Or when she got your B&E moved to her precinct because she noticed that technically the apartment was just outside of our area by a few feet?”
“I wasn’t jealous, I was mad.”
Especially since the only reason she found out about the case was because Riza had mentioned it to her in passing and she took it from there. Riza then tried to apologize to him all day but he was too mad to even look at her. She had to end up dragging him out of the precinct and to the hot dog cart on the corner to even get him to talk to her. That was when she opened up to him for the first time in months and told him about her relationship with Olivier. How it wasn’t going well and that she was planning on breaking up with her at some point.
Though the part he paid the most attention to was her saying she wouldn't date anymore cops because it made things too awkward.
“And,” Hughes said, pulling him from his thoughts. “You weren’t jealous of her when she asked Riza out before you?”
“Are you just trying to piss me off today?” He asked, resting his head against his fist and glaring,
“No, I’m just saying a few months ago you told me you still liked her and now you're acting like you never had feelings for her.”
“Maybe I didn’t,” Roy said as he ran a hand through his hair. “I might’ve just gotten confused and only liked her as a friend.”
“Roy, you told her before you went undercover you liked her.” He ran a hand down his face at the memory, the look in her eyes after he said it was still something that haunted his nightmares. “And then proceeded to tell her you still had those same feelings when you came back.”
“And she didn’t feel the same way. She was already in a relationship and it was wrong of me to do that.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Rebecca asked as she walked in and refilled her cup of coffee.
“Nothing,” Roy said with a pointed look at Maes.
Rebecca looked between them two of them and studied their faces.
“Are you guys talking about how Roy’s into Riza?” Rebecca asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
“We are! Thank you for agreeing with me, Rebecca.” Maes said.
Roy slowly exhaled as he tried to keep his anger in check. “How do you know?”
“Because you’re painfully bad at hiding your feelings for her.”
“I am not.” He grumbled and Hughes laughed. “And besides, she doesn’t like me. She told me she doesn’t want to date cops again because it makes working together awkward.”
“That might’ve been what she told you, but I know her better.” Rebecca said lightly, dangling the bare right in front of his face.
“Did she tell you she likes me?” Roy asked, careful to not let on his hope too much.
“Not with words-”
“I’m leaving,” Roy stood up to go.
“Just wait,” Rebecca said and he sat back down, considerably more annoyed than before. “She didn’t say directly that she likes you but the way she talks about you it’s not hard to figure out how she feels about you.”
“Yeah sure,” Roy said as he stood up again and walked toward the door. “I’ll believe that when pigs fly.”
“If you need to call for backup, the code word is orchids.” Hughes said and Riza nodded as she closed the tiny purse she was carrying.
“Got it,” Riza said as she started to leave the car and looked back at Roy, giving him a raised eyebrow when he stayed in the back seat.
“I just need to tell Hughes something, I’ll be out in a second.”
She nodded and closed the door.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you?”
“For what?” Hughes asked, looking at him through the rear view mirror.
“Having Riza and I pretend we’re engaged.”
“Oh that, yes I do feel clever.” Hughes smiles and Roy, lightly, hit his head against the headrest in front of him. “But it actually wasn’t me, Grumman thought it’d be a good cover if you two were in a romantic relationship of some kind as it would make more sense why you’d go to a ridiculously expensive restaurant.”
“I guess,” he said as he ran a hand through his hair.
“But also Grumman agrees with me and Rebecca that you two would be perfect together.”
“Oh my God.” Roy mumbled.
“Everyone agrees, you two just need too-”
“I have to go, my fiancé is waiting for me.” Roy said, cutting Hughes off who had a smug look on his face at his comment. “When we get back to the precinct our friendship is over though.”
“Yeah yeah, have fun lover boy.” Hughes said as Roy exited the van. Riza was standing there, pulling the silver shawl tighter around her shoulders to make up for the chilly night.
“Ready?” He asked.
She nodded, extending her arm out for him and he took it. Guiding them both into the restaurant.
—
As they waited patiently in the lobby for their table, Roy kept an eye on the suspect and his date, a pretty redhead, out of the corner of his eye. Their plan was to watch from afar and catch the handoff in action, getting the documents back and the buyer and seller.
So that’s what they’d do, look like a happy couple from a distance until they needed to strike.
“You know your name could be worse,” Riza whispered to him, her arm still around his, which made it hard for him to focus on the task at hand.
“Yes,” he said sarcastically with a smile. “Because who wouldn’t want to marry someone named Ron Colt?”
“Apparently Elizabeth Sharp would.” She said with a smile in her eyes as he laughed, memorizing the way her eyes smiled at him.
Suddenly the redhead started to walk toward them.
“Suspects approaching us,” he whispered quickly.
Riza moved closer to him, pressing herself against his body fully while she ran a finger along his jaw and stared up into his eyes dreamily. He swore his heart stopped for a minute.
“Excuse me,” the woman said, jolting him from his thoughts as Riza turned to look at her, flashing her a wide eyed innocent look that she only ever pulled out for missions like this. “I’m so sorry to bother you but I just love your dress so much!”
“Oh, thank you,” Riza said as she pulled away slightly from Roy, which he immediately missed, to talk to her more.
“It’s just beautiful, I’ve been trying to find a dress like this for months. Where did you get it?” She asked excitedly.
“It was actually a gift from my mother,” Riza said flawlessly. The dress was actually on loan from Rebecca’s closet, who said to both of them that if anything happened to the dress they’d both suffer. Though he was certain Rebecca chose this dress specifically to make Roy suffer for brushing her off earlier.. “I only wear it for special occasions, so I don’t get to wear it as much as I’d like.”
“Oh, are you celebrating something tonight?” The red head clasped her hands together.
“Yes, we actually just got engaged!” Riza said as she moved her arms to wrap around his chest, making him move his hand to wrap around her waist, as she hugged him tightly and flashed her a big smile. He smiled too, though it wasn’t for the cover.
“Oh my, congratulations!” She said and Riza mumbled a thank you as she and the redhead slipped into a conversation about fashion and makeup. The suspect then approached them, which caused Roy to tense for a moment until he saw it was to stand next to his date.
The suspect wasn’t much for conversation though, which was fine by Roy since he could very easily keep an eye on him and the bag he was carrying that most likely had the stolen documents.
“Excuse me,” the hostess said as she tapped on Riza’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to interrupt you but your table is ready, Mr. Colt.”
“Thank you.” Roy said as he started to lead Riza away, she said bye as she followed Roy to the table. Once they were seated and out of earshot from the hostess, Roy turned to her.
“Nicely done back there.” He said as he looked toward the front of the restaurant to keep an eye on them.
“It was nothing,” she said with a shrug as she placed her napkin on her lap. “Luckily I went shopping with Rebecca for this dress so she told me everything I needed to know.”
“Well, it should be smooth sailing from here, we just have to find their table and—“ he stopped as he watched the suspect and the redhead approach them again. This time though, it was to be seated right next to them.
“I hope you don’t mind,” the redhead said. “I asked if we could sit next to you two!”
“Oh no, it’s fine,” Riza said with a smile as the redhead sat down at the table. Roy watched as the suspect placed the bag across his chair before sitting down as well.
“So,” the redhead said as she turned toward both of them. “Tell me everything about you two.”
“Uh,” Riza looked at Roy and she looked just as worried as he was. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, how did you two meet?”
“Oh, at a party.” Riza said quickly. “A mutual friend introduced us.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. How long ago was it?”
“Two years.” Riza said.
“Wow, that’s a long time to wait.”
“Oh, I’d wanted to propose for a while,” Roy said as he sat up. “I just wanted to find the right way to do so.”
“Oh,” the red head said. “Then how did you know she was the one?”
“The one?” Roy asked, panicking as he tried to think of something to say about Riza. The problem was there were hundreds of things he loved about her, but suddenly he was drawing a blank and all he could see was Rizas face. Her beautiful face with her large amber eyes that were currently telling him to hurry up! “Uh… her face!”
He realized what he said the moment it left his mouth, leaving both Riza, the suspect, and the redhead to give him a confused look.
“Uh her face is beautiful, along with the rest of her regular physique, that her face is attached too, is… nice.” He knew Riza was trying very hard not to roll her eyes at that very moment.
“Sorry,” Riza said as she took his hand with a soft smile. He’d only see that smile in brief moments when she didn’t think he was looking and it was much softer than any smile she’d given them all night. “He gets a bit flustered when put on the spot.”
He smiled at her as she looked at him again and he knew there was no way he was ever going to live that down. She was going to tease him about it on the way back to the precinct and tomorrow morning. But he didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, my Bobby gets like that too.” The redhead said as she took the suspects, Bobby’s, hand in hers from across the table. “But what about you?”
He looked at her now, with a raised eyebrow, wanting to see what she’d come up with.
“He makes me laugh.” She said, without missing a beat as she looked down at the table, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she smiled.
The teasing look on Roys face fell instantly, he stared at her like a deer in headlights as she met his eyes again. Any teasing or annoyance from before was gone now, instead replaced with a loving look that made him question if Rebecca was right or if she was just a really good actor.
“And there’s no one’s opinion I value more than hers.” He added quickly and he saw the smile on her face grow ever so slightly at the compliment.
“Aw,” the redhead said as they broke their eye contact. “That’s so romantic.”
“Uh, thank you.” Roy said slightly flustered over the observation. He hoped the comment didn’t give Riza the wrong idea about what he said. She knew he valued her opinion but he didn’t want her to think it meant something else.
“He may be bad at talking to others sometimes but he can be very sweet when he needs to be,” Riza said as she reached across the table and lightly took his hand in hers, which he held back.
“That’s an easy fix,” the red head said. “She does the talking and you just stand there smiling.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Riza said, pulling her hand away as the playful tone returned to her voice. “He already does that now.”
He gave her a tight smile as she took a sip of her water and he knew the moment was over. They were back to their usual selves and this night would go unmentioned. She’d go back to her apartment and take care of Hayate while he returned to his empty one. Though he was probably going to think about that smile and the way she held his hand for the next week. But he wasn’t going to tell Hughes. He’d read too much into it and swear she liked him back.
The rest of the meal went smoothly, Riza was able to take over the conversation effortlessly and could tell the unsuspecting couple their love story. Most of it was embellished but she managed to slip in a few genuine moments. Them sitting together on a roof, though the stakeout was replaced with a meteor shower, the time they snuck out of work early to celebrate her birthday by going to see a movie, and the incident from a few days ago where she got a paper cut and he fell running to get her a bandaid. Which Hughes grilled him for when he came over for dinner later that night.
“And how did he propose?” The redhead asked and Riza smiled, clearly trying to think of what to say.
“Hot dogs,” Riza said suddenly and it was now Roys turn to give her a confused look. “We went to lunch at a hotdog cart near my job. We were just standing there, talking about whatever and he suddenly just proposed.”
“Just out of the blue?” The woman asked.
“Kind of,” Roy cut in and Riza looked surprised. “I’ve been planning to ask her for a while and was planning something big. But I just realized I didn’t want to wait any longer, I knew I wanted to be with her forever.”
A tight feeling settled over Roy’s chest at his words. He didn’t want to admit it, especially to Riza, because he knew that once he said it he couldn’t take it back. But when he looked up at Riza he saw the soft gaze from earlier was back, the tight feeling in his chest vanished and Roy wished they could stay as Ron and Elizabeth forever.
“Well, let’s see the ring!” She asked, moving forward to take Rizas hand while Riza looked panicked, trying to think of something.
“She doesn’t have one,” Roy said quickly. “Because it’s not finished yet. She mentioned to me how she always wanted this ring from her favorite movie, so I decided to have it custom made for her. Which is also why I was waiting so long to ask her.”
“He proposed with a twist tie from the hot dog cart. I didn’t want to lose it so I left it at home.” Riza said, a slight pink color rising in her cheeks.
“Aw,” the redhead said. “That’s so sweet!”
“Thank you,” Riza said as she reached her hand across the table to take Roys in hers and squeezed. He knew it was just her saying thank you, it was just for the roles they had to play. That’s what he kept telling himself anyway.
“Sorry to cut this short,” the suspect said as he checked his watch. “But we have to get going.”
“Oh right,” the redhead said as she stood up. “It was nice meeting you both!”
“You too!” Riza said, with a bright smile.
“I’ll meet you outside,” the suspect said to her. “I just want to say bye to the chef.”
The redhead nodded and walked toward the lobby, waving to Riza who waved back. The suspect took the bag with him as he walked back toward the kitchen.
“Is the trade off happening in the kitchen?” Riza asked, looking at the suspect as he disappeared behind a corner.
“I don’t know, I’ll follow him.” He said as he started to stand up.
“What and leave your fiancé with the bill?” She asked teasingly.
He gave her a look as he pulled his wallet out. “You’re having too much fun with this whole thing.”
She shrugged her shoulders as he walked back toward the kitchen. He peered into the kitchen and saw the suspect and chef were talking but he wasn’t being handed the bag.
“Any updates?” Riza asked as she came up next to him.
“No, I think they’re just talking.”
“So this isn’t the drop site then,” she sighed. “The girlfriend did say they were going to see a movie after this, maybe the drop sites on the way?”
“Maybe,” Roy said, not looking away from the suspect. “Did she mention the theater?”
“I don’t think so, but she did mention it was an old film. So if we just find whatever place is showing old movies, we might get a route.” Riza said as she pulled her phone out and began looking for movie theaters.
“I think Hughes mentioned something about taking Gracia and Elicia to a drive in theater to see an old musical. Maybe it’s the same place?” Roy said as he looked at her.
“Maybe, do you know what drive in it is?”
“How many drive-in theaters are there in Central?” He asked, Riza gave him an annoyed look as she showed him her phone of at least ten drive in theaters within driving distance of the restroom. He sighed. “I think it was the Angelical or something.”
Riza nodded as she looked back at her phone while Roy looked into the kitchen and saw the suspect was starting to leave, which meant they were seconds away from getting caught. Riza was still whispering about the theaters when he spun around and lightly placed his hands on her hips.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly as he lightly pressed his lips to hers, she seemed surprised but then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer as she deepened the kiss. Instinctively he moved his arms to wrap around her waist and pulled her closer, causing her to sigh into his mouth.
“Oh,” they both heard and pulled apart, the suspect was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen, right the case . “Sorry I didn’t mean to ruin the-”
“It’s fine, we didn’t know you’d be back here. We were just trying to find a place to be alone.” Roy said, awkwardly.
“Oh no it’s fine,” the suspect said as he walked past them. “Congratulations again.”
They both mumbled thank you as they watched him walk away. As he rounded the corner, a small part of him was tempted to resume the kiss but he felt Riza start to lightly push him off and he moved away.
“Sorry, I couldn’t-”
“No it’s fine, it worked.” She said as she pulled a handkerchief from her clutch and handed it to him, making a gesture toward her lips. He nodded and wiped whatever lipstick got on him off, mourning the loss of the pink shade.
“We should get going, we have to follow them.” Roy said and Riza nodded.
—
After they left the restaurant, they followed the suspect to a park where he left the briefcase and then returned to his car.
“He’s not going to wait for the buyer?” Hughes asked.
“No, it’s too suspicious,” Roy sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “Do you think we can get the seller later?”
“Maybe, he’s pretty well known.” Hughes sighed as he watched the car start to pull out.
“No,” Riza said, as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Follow him, me and Roy will wait for the buyer here.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay together? What if we need back up?” Roy asked.
“We’re both more than capable of taking the buyer down.” Riza said as she stepped out of the car. “Now come on, hubby. We’re taking a walk.”
After she closed the door Hughes turned around to face Roy with a smug look on his face.
“If you say anything I will give Elicia a bunch of sugar the next time I see her and then leave you to deal with it.”
“Fine,” Hughes grumbled as Roy started to get out of the car. “Have fun on your date, hubby.”
The van door closed behind Roy and he glared at Hughes as he drove off to follow the seller.
“Come on,” Riza said as she grabbed Roy’s hand and dragged him toward the park. Once Roy caught up they started to walk arm in arm, trying their best to look like a couple out on a night stroll.
“Do you see the bag?” Roy asked as he scanned the park for anything suspicious, but all he saw were a few people out for a stroll and one on a run.
“No, but he’d have to place it somewhere discreet that no one would notice. Like over there on a park bench. ” she said, tugging his arm down a different path suddenly where she saw the same bag. “That way people will think he just left it and didn’t come back.”
She steered them behind a tree that overlooked the park benches, where a black bag was waiting.
“Nice job,” he said as they moved out of sight.
“Thank you, now we just have to stand here and wait.” She said as she pulled the shawl around her shoulders tighter.
“Do you want my jacket?” He asked and Riza just gave him a look. “I’m serious, it’s freezing and you’re wearing a thin dress.”
She sighed. “No, I’ll be fine. It’s not that bad.”
He nodded and looked back toward the bench. They stood in silence as Roy contemplated what he should do. He should obviously talk to her about the kiss but would that make it awkward or ruin their friendship? Maybe it was just better to leave it in the past and not address it again, but he shouldn’t just assume she wouldn’t want to talk about it. That would be worse somehow, if the kiss meant nothing. But it was all for the mission, tomorrow they’d go back to being coworkers and nothing but that.
“What’s wrong?” Riza asked as she took her eyes away from the bench and looked at him.
“Nothing.” He said quickly.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“I’m fine,” he said, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.
“Are you thinking about what you said at the restaurant?”
“What?” He turned his back to the bench and faced her now fully.
“What you told the women at the restaurant, about how you knew I was the one because of my face?” She asked with a smile and he rolled his eyes. “And how it was attached to the rest of my body?”
“Laugh at that all you want because I think you’re forgetting something important,” she raised a brow at him. “Hot dogs?”
“That’s completely different, I was able to cover my tracks quickly.”
“Yes but I had to help you make it sound romantic, what type of guy just proposes to his girlfriend at a hot dog cart?”
“Apparently Ron Colt does.” She said with a smile.
“Why were you even thinking of hot dogs? You were doing so well and then the first thing you thought of in response to a proposal was hot dogs?”
“I don’t know,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, timid suddenly. “I was trying to think of stuff we’d done together but I had already gone through so many things. Then she asked how you proposed and the first thing I thought of was when we got hot dogs together.”
The memory of Riza dragging his desk chair to the hot dog stand popped into his mind, the thought of her going so far just to try and make it up to him.
“Shit, the buyer’s looking at us.” Riza said as she looked over his shoulder. Riza cupping his cheeks and whispering sorry before he could process anything and then suddenly her lips were in his again.
He didn’t know how he ended up in this situation of getting to kiss Riza twice in one night but he wasn’t going to question it. He lightly placed his hands on her hips, trying to savor it as much as he could. Though it was short lived as she pulled back and drew her gun.
“Central PD, drop the documents.” She said firmly and Roy quickly followed her, pulling his gun out.
The buyer dropped the documents and put his hands in the air as Riza walked over to him to handcuff him. He started to lower his gun.
“Nicely done,” he said, still feeling the tingle from the kiss on his lips.
“You as well.” She said as she started to walk the buyer to the street to wait for backup.
—
The next day Roy stood outside the filing room, trying to prepare himself to see Riza. After last night Hughes said he’d handle the interrogation and for both of them to go home. When he got into work that day Hughes told him that Riza needed his statement and was waiting for him in the filing room.
He just nodded, he knew last night was only for the mission and nothing else. But he still didn’t know how to go about being around her again after kissing her. It felt like the world had changed completely yet nothing would change. He sighed and opened the door.
“Hey,” Roy said cautiously as he stepped in and closed the door, Riza was standing over an evidence box as she looked up at him. “You asked for the statement from the stakeout.”
“Right,” she said as she rounded the table and took the paper from him, reading it over as she walked back to the box. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” he said, knowing he should leave but not wanting to.
“Is there something else you need to talk about?” She asked, looking up from the statement. There was a look in her eyes that he couldn’t quite read. He didn’t know if she was intentionally baiting him or if she was just genuinely curious.
“No, nothing…” he trailed off and sighed. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the kiss.”
“Which one?” She asked and his cheeks flushed at the memory of the second kiss from her.
“The first one.” He said, clearing his throat as he moved closer to her. “I wanted to apologize about kissing you, I panicked and it was the only thing I could think of.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” She leaned against the table. “I should also apologize to you as well.”
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“I kissed you too,” she clarified and he nodded. “I also panicked and didn’t think.”
“You’re fine,” he’d already come to the conclusion that Riza had just kissed him because he’d done it first. There was definitely no way she’d kiss him out of the blue like that in any context. “So I guess we’re good then.”
She nodded and he started to turn to leave.
“Actually,” she called and he turned back to face her; she looked nervous as she moved toward him. “There’s something else about the kiss.”
“Oh, what is it?” He furrowed his brows.
“I don’t feel bad for kissing you,” she admitted and Roy’s heart stopped beating. “I mean I feel bad for kissing you in that way but I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while.”
“Oh,” he said, his brain short circuiting on what was happening. “That’s um, uh, good.”
“Good?”
“It’s good to know that actually, I mean.” He said, trying to recover. “Because I’ve wanted to kiss you too.”
“Oh,” she said with a smile and Roy was certain the world stopped spinning.
“Yeah,” he said as he stood there, unsure of what to do now.
“You know,” she took a step toward him. “Both our kisses got cut off last night. So we never got to finish them.”
“That’s true,” he felt Riza take his hand and he swore electricity surged through him.
“If you want too, we could finish the kiss.”
“Which one?” He asked, knowing it wasn’t what he was supposed to say but not being sure what else to do.
She laughed lightly and gave him one of those rare soft smiles as she drew patterns into his palm with her thumb. “Both.”
He nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck as she rose on her toes slightly to meet his lips. The moment their lips met he felt the same electricity from before surge through him and it finally restored whatever circuiting issue he’d been having. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her closer to him and hoping to never let go.
Eventually though she pulled back and he opened his eyes to see her still smiling at him, with slightly swollen lips. There were so many things racing through his mind. The fact that he kissed her twice last night and how she wanted to kiss him again, the fact that she admitted she’d wanted to do it for a while and asked to kiss him again.
But it was that realization that made him say this instead of something actually decent. “Hughes is never going to let me live this down.”
“What?”