Roy Mustang had always been a charismatic man, remaining persistently in the memories of anyone he met, whether it was good or bad. Most people thought of him as his title showed. He was The Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang, The Hero of Ishbal. But there were people who saw deep into his eyes, and saw the burning conviction in them, the ambition that blazed within his soul.
Even out of those who saw that, most were impressed by his strong devotion. But there were the few that absolutely hated his guts, the ones who were afraid of that strong desire etched into his very being. These were normally the people in the military with similar, power hungry goals to become the Führer. And to his abnormally bad luck, they were usually also those with higher rank than them.
And so, when General Hakushyuu had visited him, his cold eyes filled with loathing and thin lips curved into a scheming smirk, Mustang prepared himself for the worst, still giving a perfect salute to the general. He valued his place in the military and had no wish to get kicked out because he didn't salute to some annoying general.
But when the general had revealed what mission he was sending him on, Roy had felt horror run through his veins like ice.
He was going to infiltrate the headquarters of a large gang of well known, bloodthirsty mafia, a place filled with hundreds of men, and he was to get all of their important documents and kill every single one of them. He was fine with that, he really was. The mission would be a pain in the arse, and would be hard to pull off, but it would be possible. If the general hadn't added an extra word at the end, that is.
He was to do the mission, completely and utterly alone. There was no way that he would be able to pull that off.
Hell, he doubted that even the Führer could pull off such a mission.
As he saw the sickening smile on the bastard's face, he knew that the general must have known that it would be impossible from the start, that Roy would most likely be killed or he would be forced to flee, either way failing the mission.
Roy protested as politely as he could make himself be to such a man, but the man simply ignored every word that came out of his mouth, condemning him to a painful death alone, unable to fulfill any of his dreams.
What the general wanted to see was the hopeless despair on the colonel's face. He wanted to see the horrified face of Roy Mustang as he stomped and trampled on his dreams and goals right in front of his face. He wanted to see the Realization in his eyes as he figured out that he wouldn't be able to say no.
But when the general saw nothing of the sort on the man's face, he became aggravated, his eyes lashing out at the man, waiting angrily for any type of response so that he could enjoy the man's pain.
But there was only that same, calm, collected, and refined expression on his face as he carefully surveyed the situation with those calculating eyes of his.
The general frowned, resentment bubbling in his chest, but he convinced himself that he would be able to see the destroyed look on his face later, when either he was lying there bleeding to his death, or, better yet, as he humiliated him for failing a mission and turning his back and running form a fight ordered by the Führer himself.
And so Hakushyuu managed to plaster a fake smile on his face and he turned on his heel and left, not able to wait for the scolding that he would give to the other man.
…
Mustang quietly allowed his walls to collapse the moment that the general had left.
He was either going to die, or get demoted. This wasn't good. He couldn't afford to die, not yet. But nor could he allow himself to be demoted.
But actually doing the mission was impossible, there was no way that he would be able to clear such a mission, not without any backup personel.
He sighed, resigning himself to his fated demotion and slowly went to do the impossible mission.
…
There was a crowd forming in the middle of central, where, apparently, The Flame Alchemist was getting his ass handed to him by a general.
"Now, now, Colonel. You're an alchemist for pete's sake. You can't even clear one mission that the Führer gives you? Now that's pathetic."
And Roy simply continued to stare at the cracked ground, his head lowered in the customary military bow.
His ribs ached as his newly collected slash wound throbbed in his chest. The bow was twisting his healing skin in ways that it shouldn't be, making a flaring pain rush through his body in waves.
The colonel stayed mute and silent as the general continued on with his rant, rubbing his failure in the man's face.
"The Führer gave you these orders believing that you could carry them out, colonel. But you turned and fled with your tail between your legs. To think that a colonel is acting so cowardly, it's unbecoming."
The smirk on the man's face could power half the nation, it was gleaming like the man's eyes as he pushed around Mustang, relishing in the power that he held over the man.
The crowd around them murmured, sparing glances at the figure of the colonel to the general's smirking face.
They frowned, trying to catch a glimpse of Mustang's face, but his silky smooth hair slid down his shoulders and hid his face from prying eyes.
His military uniform was torn in multiple places, marks of blood still slightly visible on some. Twisting around his hands and heck, barely visible, were ribbons of bandages, tightly wrapped to hide his fresh scars, joining the already large arsenal of scars he had littered on his pale skin.
Roy's hard gaze cut through the concrete ground like it was butter, barely managing to contain his urge to punch the other man in the face.
The crowd whispered about his failure, glaring at him as if he had done them harm somehow by running for his life.
Some of these cruel words reached his ears, only fueling his rising anger.
"... ran from the enemy? I never knew Colonel Mustang was such a coward."
"... he's so much stronger than us, yet he ran? Such a blatant chicken."
"... he asks us to put down our lives, but he himself will run when his life is on the line? How cruel!"
"... I heard that he staged the entire overthrowing Bradley thing just because he wanted to become the Führer."
"... so heartless!"
As more and more harsh words streamed to his sensitive ears, he grimaced, snarling at the ground.
The torrent didn't stop, torturing him as they stabbed and sliced at him, wearing down his resolve.
Suddenly, a familiar voice cut sharply through the din, the crowd's murmurs quieting down as they turned towards the approaching figure, parting for it like the Red Sea and Moses.
"What the fuck is going on here?!"
Instantly, the general was by the figure's side, plastering on a fake, happy smile.
"Why, aren't you that famous prodigy alchemist? The Fullmetal Alchemist! It's such a pleasure to finally meet you!"
When Fullmetal had joined Mustang's team, many people had felt a large jealousy, wanting the prodigy on their own team instead of Mustang's.
General Hakushyuu was one of these people, and would do anything if it meant winning the Hero of the People over to his team.
Up until now, Roy had done his very best to keep Ed away from the general, since with all of the swears that Ed constantly used to describe him, the general would only be given more fuel for his attacks.
"I've heard all about you! Your alchemic skills are so good! Although it seems like it's going to waste with you being on the team of that coward over there…." The general spoke again, snarling at the end, causing the crowd to throw more insults in his direction.
To his surprise, Ed simply murmured a quiet thank you to the general instead of puffing up in pride like he expected him to.
Then, even more surprising was the way that he completely brushed off the general and walked over to his lowered figure, still bowing at the ground.
"Colonel, I think that's enough with the bowing." Ed's voice was cold and hard, but there was rare respect in his voice as he spoke to his commanding officer.
Gaping, Roy straightened. Not only had Ed just completely ignored the general, he had just commanded a colonel to stand straight.
The entire crowd around them stared with wide eyes at everything that was going on, some pulling cameras out to video tape what seemed like a heated confrontation.
"Now what's this I hear about you running like a headless chicken from the mafia Bloody Rose?" This seemed to snap the general out of his shocked stupor, quickly bustling over to stand towering over the two alchemists.
"This coward ran with his tail between his legs from the mission! He's an alchemist too, he should have been able to do this but no….. He fucking ran!" The general's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he looked down, ready for Ed to scold Roy.
Roy sighed, mentally preparing himself for the outburst that was sure to come.
But it didn't. And when there was only silence he glanced at Ed, unable to predict what in the world would happen next.
"Now, tell me general," Hakushyuu snapped to attention, a smirk spread across his lips. "How much backup went with the colonel."
The grin slid off of the general's face as his face went pale. Roy felt his jaw going slack as he simply stared at the sight in front of him.
"I- uh, of course, he's an alchemist, so he should be able to completely handle this on his own!" By this point the man looked nervous, his fingers fidgeting with the dull stars on his uniform.
"Now let's see. How many members were in the Bloody Rose again? 5000? 6000?"
One very brave and helpful soldier from somewhere in the crowd yelled out an answer.
"It's 6500 people, sir!"
With Ed's back to him, Roy couldn't see his subordinate's face, but, judging from the expression on the general's face, it was murderous. Roy felt something welling in the back of his chest. This was…. It was….
"6500 people to one single person. Not good odds, don't you think? I would say that even I would have called for a hasty retreat if I had been sent on such an impossible mission. Now, why would a general, knowing all of these facts still send an important, valuable alchemist on that mission, knowing full well that he would die? That's horrible leadership, if you ask me."
The feeling grew in his chest, pulsing in his chest, next to his heart. The sound echoed in his ears as he stared at his subordinate, his shimmering gold hair waving in the cool breeze.
The general looked absolutely frightened, horror sinking into his face, eyes unable to leave what must have been blazing, molten gold eyes of the younger alchemist.
A grin blossomed on Roy's face as he stared at the scene in front of him.
"General, I don't think that it'll be the Colonel who'll be demoted today, I think it'll be you."
If possible, Hakushyuu's eyes widened even further.
"With all due respect, I don't understand how you made it to general in the first place, the Colonel or I could easily beat you in a fight."
"Y-you! You can't do that!" The general cried desperately, fear shining on his face.
Ignoring him, finally, Ed turned around to face him.
Roy sucked in a breath, almost choking on empty air. His golden eyes were ablaze, his face filled with determination and anger.
"Let's go back to that base….." Ed sighed resignedly. "...sir….."
All the jaws listening into the conversation dropped, unable to process what had just happened.
Roy stared, shocked, at his subordinate standing in front of him, a small blush on his tan, squishy cheeks.
Ed…. acknowledged a superior?! And that superior was me?!
When everybody simply continued to gape at him in astonishment, Fullmetal grabbed him by the wrists and dragged him out of the courtyard and out into the sunny gates of Central.
The sky was a deep, shimmering blue, not a single cloud in the sky to disturb the view.
The sun was shining, calmly spreading warmth into the air along with beautiful, breathtaking colors.
The breeze was warm and comforting.
The trees were at their peak around him branches shaking slightly in the wind, leaves rustling a quiet melody. All around them, flowers stretched up in their roots.
The world was straight out of a fairytale, nature in full blossom.
But all that Roy could see was the melted gold embedded in the silky smooth hair, woven carefully by worn, but small, experienced fingers.
He couldn't take his eyes off of the gorgeous way those eyes would stare, embarrassed, at the cracked cobblestone floor.
But most of all, Roy couldn't help but gaze at those pretty pink lips, pouting as he glared holes into the stone.
And in that fairytale, Roy made sure to kiss the princess; his princess.
…
Roy felt the warmth in his chest explode, and he flew, high above Central, high above Amestris, diving in the sky with his small golden lover.
He was lucky he had such amazing people in his life.
He was so, incredibly lucky.