Title: A New Dawn

Author: S J Smith-Evil_Little_Dog

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: Don't I wish I owned something of this.

Summary: Scar wakes up to a proposal.

When he woke up after the battle, the scarred man couldn't understand where he was. Ishvala's words told him wherever he was, it wasn't the afterlife. His heart still beat, his lungs still worked, he could see. He tested his limbs, and, despite a faint weakness he realized had to be because of being unconscious for some time, everything seemed to work fine.

He realized he was in a bedroom, far more opulent than he'd ever experienced before. His nose twitched at the scent of flowers, their perfume sweet and rich in the still air. He could see a slice of sunlight – curtains covered the windows, but one set wasn't quite pulled all the way closed. Taking a deep breath, he tried his legs, biting back a groan and how tight the muscles seemed. Persevering meant he could throw them over the side of the bed, and his bare feet touched a thick rug on the floor.

Standing was a chore all by itself, and he had to put his fingers on the mattress to keep his balance. His head spun, and he closed his eyes against the room's rotation, barely hearing the sound of a door opening behind him.

"You're awake," a rich, slow voice said.

He counted himself lucky that he didn't startle. If he had, he knew he'd have wound up on the floor, and this shirt he wore, though long, barely reached his thighs. The cool breeze drifting under it let him know he wore no underclothes, and showing off his genitalia to an Amestrian woman was not something he planned on doing. Keeping his hand on the mattress, he turned to face her.

Her blond hair shielded one eye, but the other did just fine, piercing him where he stood. Her lush mouth turned up only slightly as she finished her appraisal. "Well? Cat got your tongue?"

"Thank you," he said, not surprised his voice sounded strange and scratchy, completely unused as long as it had been. "You took care of me. Why?"

She swept into the room, her sheer presence seeming to take up most of the area within. "Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"And which enemy is it we share?"

Olivier Armstrong smiled then, a broad, dangerous grin. "Life in general, my friend. Besides, I can't exactly let the man who took down Fuhrer King Bradley go free, at least with some sort of supervision. There are a lot of things wrong with Amestris right now, and we'll need a way to right them. Mustang's going to do that on his end, but he'll need help."

"You're offering to give it to him?" He didn't hide his polite disbelief.

"No, I'm offering to sweep up the mess he leaves behind. To say it plainly, he's in my way, but he'll be busy for the next few years, working in your country."

"So, you want me to spy on him?"

"No, not exactly spy," Olivier said. "Just pass along anything you think I might need to know. I want to be president of Amestris some day, and to count you as an ally would be something I would find advantageous."

The scarred man crossed his arms. "And what's in this for me?"

Tilting her head up, she looped a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Mutual cooperation. Whatever I have that I can offer you, I will."

He raised his eyebrows, giving her the same long once-over she'd given him. "Whatever you can offer?"

Her smile changed, becoming sweeter. Maybe sultry. It had been a long time since he'd had any interaction of this type with a woman. "We'll talk more about that when you're completely recovered."

He smiled back. "I will hold you to that, Major General Armstrong."

~ end ~