Title: Breakdown
Author: Sage SK
Started: 8/30/2011
Finished/Revised: 9/3/2014

Comments: I had this sitting around for a few years. It was part of what was supposed to be a bigger series (mine and Kristen Sharpe's Glitch series), but it never really got anywhere. I decided that this worked as a stand-alone ficlet.

Er... I normally don't write anything this angsty as I prefer to pick on Roy rather than make him wallow in agony.

Consider this an alternate take on what happened in Ishval. This won't be extended.

Major Roy Mustang staggered into the safety of his military compound, away from the sound of gunshots and explosions. Away from the screams of shock and agony.

His hands were drenched in blood. The blood of the very team that had accompanied him into the battlefield. Accompanied him on a suicide mission that had left them all dead. The team he'd tried to save.

As he walked, his mind started to wander. Wander back to his mission. To the orders given to him and others just like him. Orders that no longer made sense to him. Orders that he would no doubt question from here on out. He'd question the purpose behind them. He'd question the morality of his superiors.

But, right now, his fogged mind screamed two things: "Why?!" and "They will pay."

Yes, they would pay dearly. With their lives if at all possible.

He didn't recall anything beyond that. He didn't recall storming into the tent of his superiors. He didn't recall their startled expressions. Their demands of what he was doing there. Of his face twisting into a snarl as he snapped his fingers, sending a fireball over their heads.

"You knew!" he screamed. "You knew this would happen! You killed them!"

He snapped his fingers continuously, blinded by his own anger. His mind so clouded that he couldn't calculate or even see what he was hitting, his berserk attacks missing his ridiculously lucky targets.

He had then been tackled and restrained by the arms, his fingers bent back enough to prevent any more alchemic attacks. He had kicked and screamed as the adrenaline wore off.

Now, he sat there, heaving in broken breaths.

"You knew." He looked up as tears flowed from his eyes. "Why?"

And, that was the only word he would say after that.

END