Chapter 1: Laws Rewritten
Hi, everyone! Call me crazy, but I suddenly decided to start a new fanfic despite all the crazy college shenanigans that have dominated my time lately. I got really obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and I'm already obsessed with Doctor Who, so I suddenly had the idea to write this crossover.
For those of you who know me, HI AGAIN! For those who don't, I'm Maralexa, and I won't get into a boring profile here because there's already a boring profile option for that. Hopefully you don't actually think it's boring, but anyway…I'll shut up now.
Enjoy, read, and review! I love reviews. If you review before the next update, I always respond to reviews in the next update. It's a thing I do in hopes of encouraging more reviews, because who doesn't love having their feedback appreciated? It lets everyone know that I do read and pay attention to all of them, and REVIEWS ARE COOL. And bowties are also cool.
Without further ado…ALLONS-Y!
"Hello, General."
General Roy Mustang stopped in the middle of unpacking his new office in Central, turned to the sound of the familiar voice, and instinctively saluted. "Fuhrer Grumman. Good to see you, sir."
"And you," Grumman responded, motioning for Roy to drop the formalities. "I gathered from your report that your work in the East was successful," he went on. "It's good to have you back in Central. Did you and your team have a nice trip back?"
"You could say that," Roy said, deciding not to jump into the overused train ride complaint.
"Good to hear," Grumman said, his eyes twinkling. "You are truly an asset to your country, General. You serve our people well."
"Thank you, sir, but I'm only a part of the bigger picture," Roy said automatically, though the compliment meant a lot coming from this man.
"Take some credit, General. This country would not be here without you." Before Roy could object, Grumman waved him off. "Now, onto more pressing matters. Are you settled in? Finished unpacking?"
"Nearly, sir. I just arrived this morning."
"When was the last time you had a break?" Grumman asked him.
Roy paused a moment, reflecting on the previous year. Since he went to the East to help rebuild Ishval, he was often caught sleeping on his desk, in a library, in the car… Riza had to wake him up more times than he could count. They accomplished a great deal in the East, but rest wasn't a priority at the moment. "I don't have time for a break," he finally answered. "We have a country to rebuild. Which reminds me…how have things been here in Central?"
"We have made great progress," Grumman said, smiling. "Many of the laws have changed."
Roy glanced back at his desk, piled high with paperwork. "Law changes, huh? I'm guessing that's what those are."
Grumman nodded. "A man of your rank must familiarize himself with the laws of our country. But before you go into that, you need to take a break. Get some rest, settle down, and for the love of Pete, find a woman!"
Roy couldn't help but laugh a little. He really had missed his commanding officer's good-natured sense of humor. "Thanks, sir, but I'll have to pass on that. Joking aside, there really isn't a woman out there for me." Not one I can legally marry, anyway, he silently added.
"Well, if you're sure. You have a lot of reading to catch up on, then, General. I think the document on the top may be of particular interest to you." With that, Grumman waved goodbye and strolled out, followed by a pair of disoriented bodyguards who clearly have trouble keeping up with him.
Shaking his head, Roy went back to unpacking the office, though the Fuhrer's words had sparked his interest. What was so exciting about law changes? He knew this man long enough to recognize he was up to something. Roy had learned from the best, after all. After a moment's pause, he decidedly went to his desk, sat down, and studied the document Grumman had indicated. After scanning legalese for a few minutes, his eyes hit a key word. He quickly read through the rest, holding onto the hope that this was indeed what he thought it was…
"General Mustang?" Riza Hawkeye, recently promoted to Lieutenant General, stepped in the doorway and saluted him. "The Fuhrer told me you wanted to speak with me, sir."
Roy tried to conceal a smirk. That clever man, he thought, trying to picture the look on Grumman's face as he orchestrated this. "Right. Come in," he said, assuming a business-like demeanor.
Riza approached his desk, eyeing the mountain of paperwork. "Do you need me to motivate you, sir?" she asked, patting the gun on her hip.
"That won't be necessary," he said, standing up and coming around to meet her. "I have a different question for you." Without warning, he placed one hand on her back and used the other to sweep her off her feet. "I've been waiting to ask you this for a long time."
Riza's face flushed bright red and her eyes widened in shock. She knew this look; it was his womanizing face, and this was hardly the time and place for it. "Cut it out, sir!" she gasped, squirming a little. Had he gone mad? He should know better! Especially in the open like this! When he wouldn't immediately let go, Riza shoved his chest, grabbed his arm, and flipped him in one fluid motion, holding his arm behind his back in a submission hold.
"Ow," Roy groaned, mentally assessing whether or not anything was broken. Of course, nothing was—she would never do that to him. "Damn. I forgot how strong you are. No wonder I fell in love with you."
Riza was about this close to slapping the smirk off his face before it dawned on her that she had just flipped her commanding officer. Regardless of everything they had been through together, she was still his subordinate. True, his actions were out of line, but hers were as well. "I apologize, sir," she said quickly, releasing him from the arm-lock, standing up, and brushing herself off.
"No, no, it's my fault," Roy said, doing the same. "I probably should have picked a better way to break the news to you. I can be a little too creative sometimes."
"News? What news?" Her mind was reeling. By this point, she came to the conclusion he was not drunk. Was he resigning from the military to be with her? She would follow him, as always, but not without doing everything in her power to convince him how idiotic that would be. She loved him, of course; she always has, but his duties to Amestris were far more important than their love for each other. They couldn't have both, so she accepted a long time ago that his duties came first. She was content with working as his subordinate as long as she could be at his side, no matter what. She convinced herself every passing day that this life was enough for her. She quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind and studied his face. That face, those eyes…she had read them for years, but even she couldn't explain why he seemed happier than he had ever been since the day she met him. If he was truly leaving the military, he would be a moron to look this ecstatic. No, this was something else. One possibility crossed her mind, but it couldn't be. It was something she'd dreamed about for years, but never expressed aloud because, realistically, it would never happen.
All of this crossed her mind in a matter of seconds. As she thought it through, Roy picked up the document and held it out to her. "Read this."
Riza was no more a fan of legal writing than her commanding officer, but she did as she was told. After a few minutes, her eyes found the word. Anti-fraternization. Her heart skipped a beat as she continued reading, and she almost dropped the document as she read the confirmation that the military's anti-fraternization laws have been abolished. Her eyes met Roy's, and as the truth sank in, she realized why his whole aura was glowing.
Roy watched her demeanor slowly change as she read it, and when her eyes met his, he knew the answer to the question before he even asked it. When a man asks a woman this question, they usually have a few years' dating experience under their belts. They go on countless dates together, exchange gifts, kiss often, and talk about the future before raising the big question. Roy and Riza have done none of these things—at least, not on the record. Despite this, neither could imagine being with anyone else. They fought side-by-side, had each other's backs, protected each other at all costs, and knew each other better than anyone else in the world. They had more signs, signals, and codes than they knew what to do with, and they trusted one another with their very lives. When Roy got down on one knee and gazed lovingly up at his subordinate, his best friend…he knew he didn't even have to ask.
"Riza Hawkeye…will you marry me?"
Riza Hawkeye had only truly cried twice in her lifetime. When no one was looking, not even Roy, she cried at the death of her father. When she thought Roy had died at the hands of the homunculus, Lust, she shed more tears than she cared to count. That day, she felt as though half of her was ripped away, leaving her with nothing left to live for. Now, as she looked into that man's shining eyes, glowing as warmly as the flames produced by his alchemy, the tears threatened to make a third appearance. "Did you really have to ask?" She knelt down in front of him, a silent signal that no matter what, she wanted to be by his side and on his level. "You moron, of course I'll marry you," she said, pulling him into an embrace. She rested her chin on his shoulder, finally letting the tears fall now that her face was hidden.
Roy felt the teardrops hit his jacket, and he slowly pulled back. "Hey, watch it. You know I'm useless in the rain, Lieutenant General."
"You don't usually admit it out loud, General," she teased, wiping her eyes. She paused at a knock on the door, though she didn't have time to compose herself before Kain Fuery, recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, stepped in. "You're popular today," she remarked, to which Roy simply smirked.
"Sir, some of your things got mixed up with mine," Fuery said, holding a box, which he ended up dropping upon seeing the scene in the office.
"Hey, some of those are breakable!" Roy objected. Realizing Fuery was likely not yet aware of the law change, he hastily added, "And don't get any ideas; we were just—"
Before he could say any more, Fuery proclaimed, "My OTP is canon!"
This wasn't exactly the reaction Roy was expecting. "Your what?"
"My OTP," Fuery said excitedly. "We've been shipping you two for years."
"We?" Roy asked at the same time Riza said, "Shipping?" Neither were entirely familiar with Fuery's tech lingo.
It wasn't long before the rest of Team Mustang, all three of whom were promoted to Brigadier Generals, assembled in Roy's office.
"So it finally happened, huh?" Havoc asked, taking the cigarette out of his mouth long enough to laugh. "Congrats, General."
"You were all listening in, weren't you?" Roy asked.
"Whole time, sir," Fuery responded. "It was the Fuhrer's idea, though."
"So bringing my stuff in was just a front," Roy deduced, crossing his arms. "You'd better replace everything you broke."
"It was worth it," Fuery said, though his eyes were apologetic.
"Wait, you all knew about this?" Riza asked.
"We were in on it," Havoc admitted, shrugging. "We even bet on how the Lieutenant General would take it."
"Which I won, by the way," Falman said pointedly. "I bet she would flip him."
"I was kind of leaning toward a punch in the face," Havoc said. "I was damn close, too."
Fuery sighed. "I was really hoping for a kiss or something."
"Cute, but not realistic," Breda said. "I was so sure she'd yank her gun out."
"You were all wrong, though," Falman told them. "Pay up."
Roy could only watch in bafflement as his team grudgingly counted through the money in their pockets and handed it over to Falman. "I can't believe he told my team about the law change before us," he said, bewildered, though not entirely surprised. This whole plan reeked of Grumman. It was his style, after all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or any of the characters. Gosh, that would be awesome if I did.
AN: So there's Chapter 1, guys! Let me know what you think by shooting me a review, or simply by following/favoriting it so I know enough people like it to keep going. I can't promise frequent updates, but I pledge to never leave a story unfinished, even if it takes an uber-long time to do so. Thanks for reading! :D
