Purely fiction. :) Yes, I like writing stories about minor characters. I think that they deserve more LOOOOVE :D at least, from me.
*If Roy and his team were all present during the battle of Central...
"Fuery!"
Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang's strangled cry rang through the din of the raging battle in Central.
"Fuery! Fuery! Damn!"
He ran across the facade behind Central's main gate to where he saw Master Sergeant Kain Fuery got hit by a bullet a while ago.
Roy ran fast, in spite of knowing that the shot Fuery took was far from fatal.
"Stay down!"
Roy pulled Fuery into the cover of a Briggs tank before he could sustain any more damage. Roy knelt beside his wounded subordinate. Kain's face was strained with the effort of enduring the pain as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.
"Sir..." whispered Fuery.
"Stop mumbling and do something about THAT." said Roy, unaware that the color was slowly draining from his face.
"Y-yes, sir.."
The Flame Alchemist stood up, chancing a glance towards the gates where Central troops were slowly advancing on them. He snapped his fingers casually, sending a cascade of fire down to the enemies. He didn't bother to look to see if the fire blew anything or anyone up.
He knelt down again in front of Kain Fuery.
He checked if Fuery had made any progress with fixing and applying first-aid to his bleeding shoulder. But of course, with one hand incapacitated, Fuery was not making much progress.
Roy snatched the bandage away from Fuery's hand, much to the young master sergeant's surprise.
"Why are you here anyway?" said Roy, looking at Kain. "Tell me, where did I order you to be?"
He saw Kain Fuery cower under his angry eyes.
"You ordered me to stay where I am, sir." said Fuery, looking sideways, seemingly unsure if he said the right thing.
"And yet you are here. Why?" inquired Roy.
"I.. I do not know, sir." said Fuery. "I guess I.. I wanted to fight too, sir."
Roy tried to drown the angry words waiting to jump out from his mouth, but was unsuccessful.
"You stupid, bloody idiot! Do you want to die?! If you won't listen, Fuery, then might as well get yourself killed!"
He seized Kain's collar and pulled the wounded man towards him.
"You think you're ready to risk your life out here?" lashed Roy.
Kain shook for a while, then slowly tilted his head upward to face Roy's.
"Sir, I am here for you, sir! I can fight, too!"
Roy was quite taken aback when Kain looked at him straight in the eye.
He had expected tears from the gunshot that his master sergeant sustained.
Yet, there was none.
The Flame Alchemist could see Kain's solid determination. It was something he liked about MSgt. Fuery. Even though he was physically weak, his unwavering will makes him stronger.
Roy's gaze stood transfixed into Kain's black eyes. Unspoken words raced across Mustang's mind.
Sure, Fuery was clumsy. A bit stubborn too. He doesn't fight well.
But something else caught Roy's attention the most.
It was funny, really. How Roy would laugh when Kain would jump and screech when someone (usually Breda) sneaks up on him when he was working with his gadgets. How he'd silently mock Kain's abysmally horrible combat skills, in spite of finding it worth watching, so to say..
How Roy would find Kain's nervousness when they are face-to-face adorable.
"..What?! Adorable?"
Roy shook his head to chase the thoughts away.
..the reasons were really innumerable.
He was the reason why Roy turned a blind eye on 1st Lt. Hawkeye's subtle hints of affection.
The reason why he never ordered Fuery out on the field if he could help it.
The reason why Roy Mustang always kept Kain Fuery behind his back where he would be safe from harm.
It was the first time that Roy ever felt this way. This.. feeling used to confuse him, but he decided that he doesn't need any reason or explanation why he felt like that for Kain.
If he felt that way, then he might as well get on with it. Because for the person you find special, you don't need no excuses. No anything.
You just do love them.
"I made up my mind. No need to think it over."
He'd always whisper that silently if ever he felt like it was wrong. However, there was always a little spark of uncertainty even in his thoughts.
Ah, he remembered when he first laid eyes on Kain Fuery.
Back then, Roy didn't find Kain special. He marked him as totally forgettable.
Cropped hair. Large, square glasses.
An aura of kindness.
A smile that never seemed to leave his lips.
Gradually, Roy saw Fuery's potential, and thus Kain wasn't forgettable anymore.
Well, he had to admit it.
It was the smile that made Fuery unforgettable.
Now, looking at Kain made Roy proud, to say the least.
Roy patted Kain on his good shoulder, and helped him up.
"Go there." said Roy, pointing up at a window. "Hawkeye is in there. Go join her, you can snipe, right?"
He had to make sure that Kain stayed at a safe distance. Away from this battlefield. But not too far, or he might just lose him.
"Yes, sir Mustang, sir!" said Fuery, straightening up.
Roy looked around them. The air was calmer than before. The sounds of the batlle seemed distant. When he was sure that it is safe to move, he pulled Kain close to him.
Kain gasped, more out of surprise than of the searing pain on his shoulder.
Roy ordered Kain to run with him to a hedge beside a wreckage of a lion statue. The Flame Alchemist watched their backs as they ran, making sure that Kain won't be injured anymore.
He pushed Kain towards a small hole on the wall which leads inside that god-damned building.
"King Bradley!" shouted a voice.
Roy turned his head fast. Sure enough, the homunculus knows as Wrath was at a distance, killing those who tried to stop him with his two blades.
"Sir, the homun--.." said Fuery.
Roy pushed Kain in and said "Go! Stay with Hawkeye!"
Kain stood there, looking intensely at Roy. He then pushed his glasses up and gave Roy a quick salute.
Mustang saluted in return, then turned his back on Kain.
"I won't listen sir! Insensitivity... I'll go with you, sir, for Amestris."
Kain tore past him, positioning himself behind the tank, pistol in hand.
"Fuery! Kain! Kain!" shouted Roy.
But everything turned nightmarishly wrong from there.
Wrath saw Fuery.
Fuery saw Wrath.
Kain fired at the homunculus. Wrath effortlessly dodged the bullets.
Roy's mind won't stop whirring. He wanted to attack, and yet to protect.
Wrath quickly closed the distance between himself and Fuery. Roy started running towards them, his heart beating uncontrollably fast.
Kain made no attempts to retreat though. He continued firing even though he knew it was futile.
Roy stopped running. He stood rooted to the ground, sure of what will happen next.
The Flame Alchemist raised a hand.
But it fell limp as he saw Wrath slash Kain.
For a moment there, it was as if Roy felt Kain's pain too.
Roy shouted Kain's name as the young sergeant slowly fell to the ground; his blood pooling around him fast.
Lt. Col. Mustang felt his lungs tighten. He can barely breathe.
Tears fell uncontrollably as he saw Fuery's mouth move.
"Your pawn goes first, King Mustang."
Suddenly, Roy felt something at the side of his torso.
Bradley was by his side, grimacing.
He had just stabbed Roy.
The homunculus laughed. "You decided this, Mustang."
Roy closed his eyes and let himself fall to the ground.
To the ground...where he belongs.
A moment of being unaware, and he was dead.
"CRAAAAASH!"
Roy opened his eyes abruptly, blinking at the sudden sunlight.
He looked around and saw himself inside his bedroom.
"A dream?"
Indded, it was a dream. A nightmare.
Roy, still groggy, looked out his bedroom window.
The crashing noise he heard that woke him up appeared to be a truck which collided with a military vehicle. He saw uniformed men and what seemed to be the truck's driver arguing at the middle of the street, disrupting the traffic more and drawing looks from passers-by.
Roy walked towards his bathroom door.
On the way, he passed by a photo of himself, Hawkeye, Breda, Falman, Havoc, Armstrong (what was he doing there?) and Fuery.
He picked the frame up and glanced at it.
It was the first time he really paid attention to that photo.
He cast his mind around to remember his nightmare.
He looked down at his ungloved hands. Roy felt powerless and vulnerable.
He slowly walked back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed.
The photo he was holding was the first ever photograph of him with his team.
The first time he had captured a memory with Fuery.
They were all smiling, even Fuery did, though a little nervously.
Roy brushed the back of his hand to his eyes.
"Great."
He had shed real tears while he was sleeping.
Roy is on his way to believing...
...that this really is true.
A/N: Well, it may be a crack pairing but what the heck. It can happen. Fuery (the pawn) deserves more loooove. And yeah, it is up to you to figure out the little hints and symbolisms here. I love Alphonse. and Mustang and Fuery and Hawkeye, Hughes, Armstrong(the woman. :)) aaaaaand Greed.
I am so back.
-Leon.