a/n half of this took forever. half of this was speed written. so have fun with that. who knows if i got this timeline right. but i really do love this one. this idea. and chapter six, the most softly romantic royai scene i've ever written. so wait that out. reviews and notes and love is what i live for. talk to me. let me know things.
He could technically blame Hawkeye.
He was flustered. These papers were due at noon.
It was 10:53 and he'd only gotten through half of them.
Hawkeye had put her foot down asking for extensions.
And, yet she let the kid through the door.
As if Edward Elric was going to help with his concentration.
He couldn't babysit and complete the enormous load of paperwork
the higher ups had dumped onto his desk as they prepared his rumored transfer to Central.
Or, rather, tested if he was worthy of an office in the capitol.
It was all rather ambiguous. It kept him running in circles, chasing his tail,
sacrificing his pride to gravel.
It was disgusting. And, far too stressful for him to handle.
Yet, she let him in. And, she stood at his left shoulder,
watching him like the Hawk she was.
He sighed, and glanced at the new stack on the corner of his desk.
The kid even brought more paperwork. Paperwork that even burned a hole through his budget.
The worst kind of paperwork. It was basically one large bill.
He only had to glance at the front page to meet his limit for the following conversation,
and no one had even said a word yet.
Everyone was stalling.
Honestly, he'd rather go double time on his original stack
if it meant Fullmetal would leave, lounging on his couch, feet kicked up
and a customary angry grimace on his face.
The brat didn't want to be there either.
He would make this harder than it had to be
just because he felt like it. Roy didn't have time for this.
Yup, he'd rather do his paperwork.
Oh my god. Hawkeye was a genius.
It was definitely her fault.
"You need to stop destroying Amestris, Fullmetal," the Colonel muttered impatiently,
flipping through the packet chalk full of dollar signs and complaints.
"Technically I was following orders. I was protecting that town."
Edward raised a finger, not bothering to lift his head as he reclined on the arm of the sofa.
It wasn't very comfortable. He shifted then glared at his commanding officer.
He hated he had a commanding officer. But it was the game he had to play
if he was ever going to get their bodies back.
"I was doing my civic duty. Don't you get off on that stuff?"
"Edward." Hawkeye said sternly.
Ed huffed. Al's amour creaked as he shifted on the opposite couch,
hoping the two officers could see some sort of apology in his eyes without him
having to say a word and risk detonating the ticking bomb that was the Flame and Fullmetal alchemist.
"Sorry, Lieutenant. But, I was doing what I was supposed to for once!"
Edward honestly was astonished why he wasn't being applauded.
They loved following orders. And, the one time he actually did it…
"It wasn't my fault the guy became hostile." Ed whined, though still substantially angry,
"He was an alchemist too. Iron or something. He did his fair share of destruction. "
Roy rolled his eyes, flopped back against his chair and raked through his hair.
He gave his own heavy huff. The morning sun was too hot behind him.
There were still so many papers to go through and one hour left to do them.
He resigned, flipped to the back page of the form, and just signed the damn thing,
daring to roll the dice with Hawkeye's impossibly high standards.
Why did he always have to read the whole thing.
He didn't want to read the whole thing.
"You would have leveled the town regardless." Roy grumbled.
Ed finally shot up, ready for a fight.
"Would not, you bastard."
"Yes, you would."
"Would not!"
"Yes. You-"
Hawkeye intercepted, "You should be more careful, Edward."
"We're very sorry, Ms. Hawkeye." Al pleaded purely, "Truly, we are."
The Colonel didn't have much time to comment that
he would bet the remainder of their whole budget that Alphonse
barely left any trace at all in that town, or at least had the sense
to reconstruct the property he damaged.
Probably what Ed destroyed as well.
And the rogue alchemist for that matter.
There were so many of those lately. Roy groaned.
That meant more bills, more rubble, more bullets
to take for this kid while he destroyed half the country.
Edward was ready to move on in full, hoping to dodge some heat,
"Shouldn't be much of a problem. There's not much of a town
to level at our next stop. If our research is correct."
Mustang leaned forward, threw the bill aside and picked up his pen.
58 minutes. There was no way. Hawkeye was going to kill him.
"Already somewhere new, huh? How much is this going to cost me?"
The Colonel asked bitterly.
"Don't worry about it."
The Colonel grunted in exhaustion,
"Don't worry ab-"
Hawkeye tapped on the stack of remaining papers on his desk.
Keep signing, is what she was saying.
Don't fight with the fifteen-year-old, she was saying.
You're twice his age, she was saying.
"Don't worry about it," Roy scoffed under his breath.
Fifty minutes until noon. He picked up a form, didn't read it, signed it.
Another and another. He was distracted. He was angry.
He really could blame Hawkeye.
"I do have one question."
"I don't have time for this, Fullmetal"
Ed ignored Mustang and turned to his adjutant.
"Does the name Berthold Hawkeye ring a bell?"
"Yes, that was my alchemy teacher," Roy said mindlessly.
He kept signing. Forty-nine minutes. But, the silence that followed was strange.
Too strange, he thought. Then his own words suddenly reached his own ears.
"I was actually asking the Lieutenant…"
Roy's dropped his pen with a clank.
His head snapped up. His eyes were wide.
He'd screwed up. Most uncharacteristically.
Just like that. One of their most important covers blown.
He looked to her. Hawkeye's eyes mirrored his own, wide and stunned.
It had been a long time since they had heard that name.
And, never before had they let this one slip. Never.
Ed and Al looked from one superior to another,
not even knowing what to do except repeat their original question.
"Ms. Hawkeye. Any relation?" Al asked.
It was a silly question. They knew that answer. If Mustang was trained by a Hawkeye,
it wasn't a coincidence he was attached at the hip to one too.
Hawkeye looked away from Roy and to the boys.
Her face was stone once more. She gave a confident nod.
They couldn't dodge it now. They had tripped over their feet,
and the cat was out of the bag. So quickly. So foolishly.
He could blame Hawkeye.
With the paperwork and the kid and the bill
and the deadline and the lack of coffee. He really could blame her.
But, he thought better of it
when he heard her choke on her words.
"Yes, he was my father."
"Your father?" Ed and Al cried at the same time.
It was a funny thought really. Ed couldn't imagine the two much younger.
He wouldn't be surprised if they were born at the age they were now.
But, he could at least kinda see Mustang training with the Lieutenant's father,
maybe using his "charm" to swindle a young Hawkeye into a lifetime of service
Like so she would bring him tea or iron his clothes
or something his lazy ass wouldn't do himself.
Then it escalated to pretty much indentured servitude.
Maybe hypnosis, he thought, hypnosis that started early.
If he said a magic word, "foliage" or "nutmeg",
would she wake up and start screaming?
"You two suddenly make sense." Edward started to snicker
before he was met with Mustang's sharp response,
"What business do you have with Berthold Hawkeye?"
Edward sensed the change in the air, grew grumpy he was deprived of a good laugh,
and crossed his arms, resuming his base state of irritation.
"Before we hit the road, we asked around about the stone.
There were alchemists there. There's never usually actual alchemists in the East.
There's us, and you, I guess. But, that's it. We thought."
Roy had forgotten his paperwork.
Or just figured he could use this as an excuse.
A bit of a sick and unwelcome blessing in disguise. "Okay, so..."
"One old man told us about an alchemist, still out in the east but further north,
who looked into using a stone over two decades ago.
He said he was trying to bring his wife back."
Al sighed heavily at the futile task,
"He said his name was Berthold Hawkeye."
"Does that sound right?"
Ed asked the Lieutenant.
Both officers responded immediately,
and with completely opposing answers.
"No, he never-" Mustang started.
"Yes, that's right." Hawkeye confirmed.
Mustang nearly yelped, "What?"
he cried, "What are you talking about?"
Hawkeye didn't flinch, didn't look at him.
Edward faltered, "Human Transmutation is not what we're after. Obviously.
But, he might have insight on the stone we haven't heard yet.
No one we've met has connected those dots before."
Hawkeye nodded. She understood.
This could be the next step. She owed them this information,
this information she had never even told her closest confidant.
"I was young." She forced herself to speak, "But, that's all true."
Mustang grew silent. He stared at his forms.
Ed felt the room grow fragile, breakable.
His voice was soft when he asked:
"Do you think he still has any of his research?"
"Fullmetal," Mustang grumbled, "The Lieutenant's father
has been dead for quite some-"
Hawkeye once more interrupted,
"I believe I do know where his notes are on that particular subject, yes."
Riza didn't dare look anywhere else but the two hopeful boys
who would giver her reason to offer the following,
the following she couldn't believe she was offering.
"If it will help you on your journey, we could take a day trip to my home,"
She swallowed, "and I could retrieve them for you."
"Yeah," Ed smiled, "That would be great."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Hawkeye," Al gushed.
Riza cleared her throat and picked up the unfinished papers
off the Colonel's desk, taking them to her own.
She'd have to forge his signature if they were going to get this done,
if she was going to keep her mind off the fact that she'd be home soon.
Home. Indeed.
For the first time in ten years.
She had to do it, she thought.
For them, she had to do it.
But, she would certainly have to do it quick.
"Very well," she said, "We'll leave tomorrow morning."
