A/N: Back with a little one-shot for Tumblr artist Kinschi's birthday (which was Friday I was late alkdsfjf). I figured I would post it here in case anyone else wanted to read!
A bit of background: It's based on some art she drew of a werewolf!Riza AU. I played around with lore, and tried to intermix it into the FMA universe! Unlike the classic lore, she changes at random and didn't figure out what the trigger was until later in the AU. Roy was there the first time she turned, and they managed to keep it from the team for months. She looks a little different physically, where her ears are a little pointed and her teeth are sharper, which she hides by keeping her hair down/not smile often, respectively. This one-shot in particular is based off a conversation we had about the AU, where the Homunculi are aware too and use that to their advantage. The ending is a
"Colonel… wake up."
Roy considers feigning sleep for a while longer if it means that she'll remain beside him. In doesn't immediately occur to him to question how she had gotten into his apartment, or why she was there in the first place. He doesn't remember falling asleep with her, nor does he remember falling asleep there for that matter. Her voice lacks any hint of urgency, though, and he allows himself to begin to drift back to sleep.
Riza huffs and she resorts to tickling the tip of his nose with what almost feels like a the tip of a branch. "Hawkeye, stop," he swats it away and attempts to mask the smile that's brimming beneath the neutral expression he's trying to maintain. "Just a few more minutes please."
"But in a few minutes, I may very well be dead," she protests. "You really should get up."
Her words immediately sober him and the playful manner he has temporarily adopted disappears, and he propels himself into a sitting position. Riza is crouched beside him, seemingly unaware of the impact her words have on him. She tilts her head when they lock eyes and her mouth splits into a grin. "I'm glad you've decided to get up, Colonel."
Before the scattered reply to her prior statement makes its way past his lips, the feeling of the ground beneath his hands stops him. He breaks eye contact with Riza and turns away to watch as his fingernails dig into the concrete floor he's found himself sprawled across. He's wracking his brain now, trying to puzzle together how they've both ended up where they are -a room seemingly augmented with steel- but the further into his mind he digs, the more muddled and foggy his memories are starting to become. His eyes fall to his uniform -not pajamas- that he's still wearing. Growing more perplexed by the second, he reaches up to tug at a discoloration on his uniform he's discovered and, realizing that it's a wet, pulls his fingers away. The scent of iron wafts to his nose makes the connection in his mind faster than his eyes. Blood?
He looks back at her again, and it's like he's seeing her for the first time. Or rather, it. "Who are you?" he demands as he clambers to his feet and into a crouch. "And where is the Lieutenant?"
She cocks her head to the other side. "I don't know what you're talking about," the imposter states as she offers him a hand to help him get up. "Sir… It's me.."
"No." He yanks his hand out of her reach. He knows Riza better than he knows himself. "I know her. And you are not her."
Its lips pull into a pout. "Is it because of this?" It reaches up with both hands and touches the tips of its ears. A fountain of red sparks dance around its fingertips, and the once rounded edges of its ears shape into a sharper point. And Roy's heart stalls. Whatever this is, whatever its intentions are, are suddenly trumped by his realization. He has heard from the Elrics about this particular monster - one that changes its shape and steals faces. And if it has chosen to take that particular form, then it and the rest of the Homunculi know.
They know about what's happened to her. "I forgot that she looks a little different now..."
Roy's hands are in his pockets by the time it finishes its musing and an icy cold chill settles in his bones when he doesn't immediately find his ignition gloves. His eyes fall away from it for a moment as he searches his breast pocket and then the pockets of his pants. The unfruitful search ends prematurely when it cackles, and his eyes are drawn to it again.
"Looking for these?" It dangles his gloves between its fingers now. When it sees that his eyes are boring into them, it tilts its head and gives its hand a little shake. "You know, you really shouldn't leave these where someone can get to them."
"You've disarmed me," he says impassively, despite the fear that's beginning to stack inside of him. "And you've taken the form of my Lieutenant, who is still unaccounted for."
Its mouth twists into a grin. "You're more concerned about your Lieutenant than yourself? For all you know, you could be barking up the wrong tree. She might be dead and you've just wasted your breath-"
Roy doesn't hesitate, darting forward to grab it -still the faux vision of Riza- by the collar.
It doesn't matter anymore that he isn't armed. He'll do whatever it takes to find her, even if it means- It drives its knee into his chest, and he feels a shooting pain that radiates throughout his body as the ribs it contacts shatter beneath impact. His vision immediately goes dark and his knees buckle. Before he hits the ground, however, it grabs a fistful of his hair and slams him back onto the cement.
His ears are ringing and every ounce of air has vacated from his chest, and Roy desperately tries to overcome the agony to catch his breath. He can hear it cackling and he digs his nails into the ground to find some form of purchase as he focuses his eyes on the darkness, begging his body not to succumb.
"Pull a stunt like that again and I'll make sure she dies."
It's a sloppy way to get a confession, but it's a confession all the same. At the very least he can grasp onto that to mitigate the terror that has taken root inside of him.
"Listen to me," it grinds out. He feels something compress his chest and his breath hitches as it slowly presses its foot on his sternum. "And listen well, Colonel Mustang. Your meddling has caused quite the upset among the military ranks. So much so that you've become too big a threat to our plan."
Despite the ever-increasing pressure against his chest, Roy's vision begins to slowly return. Beyond the dark haze, he sees its lip curl. Sparks ignite the air around it, and he watches as Riza's form melts away and replaces itself with a smaller, indeterminate shape - one that he roughly recognizes as from a crude sketch Edward had presented to him a month before. His head falls back and he doesn't watch the rest of its transformation, because its presence confirms his prior fear. "So you're going to eliminate me?" he wheezes.
"Something like that." His eyes roll forward and he finally looks it in the face. The Homunculus shifts its weight slightly and allows Roy to catch his breath again.
"Leave the Lieutenant out of his," he rasps. "She's only taking orders from me. Whatever you're going to eliminate me for, she has no part in it."
It digs its heel into his chest and begins to grind it, and a burst of pain tears through him. "You're a fool to think that she plays no part in this, Colonel. If anything, she's become as big a threat as you. I mean, haven't you seen the monster she turns into?"
Roy slams his hands into its calf and tries to shift his weight to throw it off of him, but Envy hardly budges. "You know, it's been pretty fun watching you two chase your tails, trying to figure out what the hell's going on," it continues without pause. "And yet you still weren't able to put two and two together and realize that the thing that bit the Lieutenant was just a military lab rat."
Roy momentarily pauses his struggle to break free as its revelation begins to slowly sink in. It doesn't hesitate when it sees the horror-stricken expression that has crossed Roy's face and it proclaims, "That's right! After the Ishvalan War of Extermination, the military figured that most of its soldiers weren't good enough to fight. They possessed a silly little thing you humans call your 'humanity,' which you claim separates you from beasts. So they came up with a solution for that, and the one from a few months ago - the one that bit your Lieutenant - was one of the first!
"They worked out a few kinks after those were made, of course," it continues. "What with the inability to control when or why they would change - mostly with newer generations of chimera. Though no matter what they did, they never could figure out why their bites were infectious and they could never replicate it in anything else. But man, talk about a disaster waiting to happen! And then for your Lieutenant to stumble into all of this?! Does she hide herself when she feels it coming on? Does she make you chain her up so she isn't a threat to you? Or doesn't she tell you every time it happens because she's terrified of killing you? Because can you even begin to imagine the terror?" The Homunculus wraps its arms around itself and shivers. "The feeling of slipping further from who you are... Just knowing that you're seconds from turning into a mindless monster that's capable of killing everyone you love? Fearing waking up one day covered with their blood?! How could you even continue to live with yourself knowing that-"
"That's enough, Envy!"
It bites its tongue of its own volition and, after a few moments of surveying Roy's face, it begins to chuckle.
Roy's eyes narrow to slits and he snarls. "What's so funny?"
Its eyes drift down Roy's body, and he becomes acutely aware that his hand is raised and that his thumb and middle finger are pressed together. Though the fabric of his ignition gloves is not there, he slips his fingers across each other and wills the air around the Homunculus to ignite. It doesn't, of course, but the mental image of its eyes melting out of its skull is appealing enough for him to try. It presses its hand against its mouth and erupts into a fit of laughs. "Your -hypocrisy- is hilarious," it squeals between breaths as it stumbles back. "You say that you care and yet you can't even be bothered to understand any of it!"
Roy is on his feet within moments of its accusation. His mind is reeling, craving its destruction. He doesn't care that he is at its mercy. He doesn't care about the rhetoric it continues to spew, whether it's right or wrong. At this moment, he only cares about the puddle of melted fat he will reduce it to the moment he is able to conjure his flames. His mind lags behind his body, however, and the shrill ring of its laughter in his ears consumes him. Roy finds himself within arm's reach of it, his hands formed to loop perfectly around its neck.
The Homunculus dips out of the way and laughs. "If you had been bothered to ask her, you would be more horrified about what I said just then! Instead you've taken the easy road - the path of least resistance where you've done nothing but lend a shoulder to cry on! Did you know that nine of the ten subjects shot themselves because they couldn't bear to live like that any longer? Three of them did it after they woke up and found their families torn to pieces! And the tenth," it continues giddily, "The tenth was driven mad by it. He hadn't returned to his human form for years because his mind just snapped. So ask her about the fear? Repeat to me the exact words she uses because I want you to hear them from your own mouth."
"Enough!" Reason enters Roy's mind, and he lifts his thumb to his teeth. All he needs is organic ink… He breaks the skin of his thumb and uses the bleb of blood that forms to begin drawing a hurried alchemic rune on the back of his other hand. However, before he is able to complete it the Homunculus grabs his forearm and lifts him off of his feet, slamming him back to the ground. Stars explode in Roy's vision and the instantaneous numbness that takes shape in the back of his head the moment of impact extends throughout the rest of his body.
The Homunculus's cackles, the one thing he hoped to grasp onto to maintain consciousness, have stopped. Despite the darkness that still owns his vision, he tries to roll onto his knees. He is met with a blunt force on the side of his neck, and he crumbles to the ground. The Homunculus does not relent, redirecting the heel of its foot into his side. He doesn't bite back the cry of pain that comes when it digs into the ribs it had fractured.
It slams his jaw shut and jerks his head around, and a fresh explosion of stars spots his vision. The Homunculus waits until the spots recede somewhat and Roy is able to focus his eyes before it addresses him again. The delight it had shown moments before has left every feature of its face, and it appears more annoyed than anything. Tipping his head so it can look him squarely in the eyes, it says, "You're wasting all of your energy on me, Colonel. You should be saving it for when you're trying to keep yourself alive." Reaching behind its back, it produces something metallic and drops it in front of Roy's nose.
Roy's mind lags behind his eyes for a few moments. When he registers that it's a gun, his hand shoots out and he claws it close to his body. His eyes are still adjusting, but never leave the monster's face, searching its expression for its purpose. Instead, Envy cocks its head and watches. The curiosity that temporarily mesmerized Roy is overtaken by urgency and he redirects the weapon and aims it at Envy.
The Homunculus's lips draw back. "I wouldn't waste your only bullet, Colonel. There are more worthwhile things to consider."
"What are you talking about?" His finger depresses the trigger ever so slightly. "If I can quicken your death by even a single bullet, then you know I damn will."
"But what'll happen when you're unarmed again?"
Roy's hand begins to tremble. He wants this. He wants to accelerate its demise and now that the opportunity is here, he's begun to develop tunnel vision - vision that has hear on the other end of the series of events he will create if so be it. He realigns his thoughts and thinks only of her, and how she needs to hold on, wherever she is. Her solace is his sanctuary, and he will do whatever it takes to achieve it - even if that means sacrificing himself along the way.
"Before you follow through," it continues as it reaches behind its back and produces what appears to be a leafy stem. "I want you to consider this." It twirls it between its fingers. "It's called 'wolfsbane.' When the alchemists conducting the experiments, they used herbal remedies to try to speed up the healing process of some of their subjects. Turns out, this particular plant destabilizes their already unstable genetic makeup when it's concentrated, and it forces them to change. So just imagine what happens when you slam an entire syringe into one of them?!"
The realization hits Roy with the force of a locomotive, equivalent to the blows Envy has dealt him. Forced. Roy has only been able to imagine the pain until this moment - the self control it takes to lessen it as much as she could when the urge becomes unbearable. But to know that she had no choice - that her body betrayed her - is mind-numbing.
"Now you're seeing what I'm getting at. You and Lieutenant Hawkeye know too much about our plans, and now it's time you paid. So what better than to let you eliminate each other?" It drops the stem and lifts its hands. "It only seems appropriate."
"Where is she-" His roar is silenced with a single kick to his chest, and the crippling blow leaves Roy flat against the ground.
"Like I said, make sure you use that bullet well, Colonel. There are only two options at this point."
For the third time in the span of minutes, Roy must rely on his sense of hearing to 'see' the Homunculus. And at that moment, he hears its feet padding away from him. Despite the deficiency of oxygen in his lungs, and little strength left, he musters enough words to demand its return. To plead for her sanctuary. To end his life in favor of hers. But his only reply is the monster's distinct laugh, growing dimmer with every moment that passes until it vanishes behind the slam of a steel door, leaving him alone with himself.
Or at least, that's what he believes.
Through his clearing vision, he sees a blur of brown and old gold moving toward him. His palms scrape and clamber against the ground as he tries to lift himself, and at last her perseveres, finding some support against one of the chamber's walls. The stimulation is enough to hasten the return of his sight, and he can see clearly the second body Riza abhors. Her eyes lack the intelligent spark they would otherwise possess, and he knows that his attempts to reach her may prove as futile as the rest, especially knowing the spell her mind and body are under. Still, it doesn't stop him from trying.
"Riza," he tries first, with an air of authority as he lifts his arm so that he can have something between them while he appeals to her. "I need you to listen to me-" She lunges and he dives out of the way. Before he can struggle to his feet she's on top of him, and his hand barely makes it to her throat to hold her back. Her jaws snap shut inches from his nose and he feels the spray of slaver and blood on his cheeks. Feeling like his arms will give at any moment, Roy gives her another push, swinging his leg out to catch her front leg. He rolls out from beneath her when her balance shifts, clambering to his feet in time for her to regain her stability. He lifts his hand and poises his fingers like he's about to snap and she recoils.
Granted a moment of respite, Roy reaches up with his other hand and drags his fingers across a spot of wetness on his cheek. Blood. It's a subtle reminder of the incomplete transmutation circle on the back of his hand that he had abandoned minutes before. It doesn't feel like much, but at this moment, alchemy is all he has. He flicks his hand and she retreats a few steps, ears pinned flat against her head and her teeth bared. Her recognition is what saves him, ultimately, but he knows that buried deep down is the knowledge that he will never follow through. Never again. It's a filthy tactic, but one he must employ if he is to buy enough time to liberate them both.
Keeping his eyes locked on her, he begins to lightly trace the transmutation circle they both know all too well onto the back of his hand. The details are muddled and the lines aren't as well-defined as they could be, but it should be enough. He doesn't pull his eyes from her until his finger rests at the tip of the salamander's tail. Roy figures he only has one shot with this, and he prays the temporary circle will be enough. A flick of his finger finishes the tail, and he slowly lowers the taskless hand to his waistline, looping one of his fingers through the weapon he had slipped into his pocket. The weapon is in his hand for a moment before he redirects and slams it into the ground - and it shatters. Roy collapses onto his knees and his hands dive into the mangled bits of metal to search for it -the primer. The thing he needs to create a spark. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the jacket fall away, and he can feel golden eyes boring into him. Even when she's bearing down on him, he does not look up from his task, stopping only to reorient it in his hand when he finds it.
A spray of sparks erupts from it when he flicks it across the cement and he commands the molecules around him to submit. The wall of fire he summons divides them, and she is forced behind it. He can feel golden eyes boring into him beyond the flames, measuring their height and heat, and deciding whether it would be worth clearing them to reach him. The interlude gives him the opportunity to think, but his mind has stalled. The controlled blaze has cast light and shadows across her face, and he sees for the first time the toll her forced change has condemned her body to. The blood he thought had been confined to her muzzle drips freely from her mouth, her ears. Beneath her eyes. It's a sign he is all too familiar with whenever she grasps fruitlessly at her humanity - it's the sign of an inner struggle.
She takes a few calculated steps toward the fire's edge, and Roy does the opposite. "Riza… I know you're there," he appeals to her again. "I know you're fighting!"
She dips her head and her lip curls. Nothing. He sees nothing to indicate that his voice has reached into the darkest depths of her soul, to reach her. Instead, his voice only seems to aggravate the 'monster,' and she hastens her approach.
He secures his grip on the primer and prepares another transmutation in his mind when his back hits something solid. The shock is jarring, and the primer slips from between his fingers and falls onto the ground. A connection sparks to fruition in her mind and the association between the primer and the flame is forged, and her advance accelerates. Roy has time only to cross his arms over his body before she slams into him and sinks her teeth into his shoulder. He instinctively pivots, tearing her teeth, and part of his jacket, away. She strikes at the same spot, having realized by the taste of the fabric she has failed to break skin. He lifts his arm to shield his face and his eyes slam shut, bracing himself for the impact that never comes.
Instead, her shadow retreats. Roy's eyes open to chase it and he sees her standing in a broad-based stance in front of him. The malevolence that had clouded her eyes before has begun to recede, and . But that isn't the thing that makes his stomach flip-flop with hope. Rather-
Her legs give out from under her and she crumples to the ground with a high-pitched howl. She curls into herself, twisting and turning as she digs her nails into and tears through her face. She repeats this process again and again, drawing more blood and shredding more skin with every stroke as her human mind struggles with its awareness of her terrifyingly unfamiliar body.
"Stop… Stop it!"
His cry falls on deaf ears and she continues her relentless barrage, ripping and tearing away every bit of flesh she can reach. Gone. Until everything is gone, he realizes, she won't stop. His hand shoots out and seizes her arm, jerking it away before she can do anything further. She twists and snaps and her teeth fall just short of tearing into his arm. A heartbeat after the her strike, her entire body suddenly goes rigid, and her eyes widen. The terror that has seeped into her eyes takes on a new form, and he can see the horror transcend the awareness of just her body as the realization that he is that close to her crashes down around her. The revelation takes hold of her and she staggers to her feet, only for her legs to betray her again. A foreign whine reverberates through her throat as her body begins to tremble, and she turns her head away, looking for something -anything- that can separate her from him.
Roy reaches for her. "Riza…" She flinches and he freezes, holding his position until she faces him again.
He looks directly into the familiar brown eyes he has long loved, and carefully takes her face in his hands. Her body grows rigid. "It's okay," he soothes. "We're okay." Her trembling slowly begins to ebb, and she carefully leans her head into his touch as her eyes sink closed. His thumb passes across her cheek and the quickened breaths she has been taking until now have begun to slow.
"It's all over," he says softly. She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. Taking care not to disturb her, he slowly releases a hand from her face and carefully rests it over his aching ribs, bracing them so that he can do the same. He bites his tongue and suppresses the urge to hiss when the resulting pain leaves him with lungs unfilled. But Roy pushes past it with the hope that her mind's clarity will soon lead to the return of her body the most paramount thought in his mind. And until that moment comes to pass, he will refuse to rest.
"It's all... over."
"Can I see your hands now?"
For a moment Riza hesitates, keeping them curled against her chest the way a child would who is hiding something. He can feel the fearfulness undulating off of her, terrified of the answer she might receive. She takes a breath and wills her eyes up to look into his.
He swallows the swell of emotion in his throat and forces a smile. Roy always prided himself on being able to fool anyone whose path he crosses, all except one. But recently, he's had to learn to fool her too. To keep steady his heart and fake a smile . Because four days, thirteen hours, and twenty-six minutes, since he has been counting, have passed, and he has yet to see her real face again.
He tries to keep at bay the doubts and fears that plague the darkest corners of his mind, reminding himself that Envy said that the concoction she received had been concentrated and the syringe full. He urges himself, and indirectly urges her, to believe that it's still burning off: that it's still circulating through her bloodstream.
Her golden-brown eyes search his face, looking for the lie he prays he has masked adequately and, much to his relief, she relents, and slowly uncurls her fingers.
This time the smile is genuine, and he carefully passes his fingers down hers until they explore the whole of her palm. He can no longer feel through her fur the heavily pigmented mounds of flesh that had once been pads. To be sure, he holds her hand between both of his and presses down harder until he's confident that they are gone. Her fingers are longer too, closer to the length they had been before. On top of that, he adds as he pushes the fur around and peers down at the pale flesh beneath it, she's able to stand on her two feet - something she hasn't been able to do since she was human.
It's progress, he thinks wistfully. Barely, his mind adds as a bitter afterthought. He has the theory, but has no way to test it other than slowly noting everything he sees as each day passes. The progress is slow, but terribly steady, and he knows how restless she's becoming. The hideaway Fuery has provided them is both his blessing and his curse, serving to give him the time to formulate something but at the same time serving as a reminder that he is no closer to figuring this out than he was before. Instead, he finds, he has tens of questions more than answers. It makes Roy wonder if the Homunculi had planned this from the beginning - planned the grueling aftermath of the 'would-be' attack that ultimately failed. It certainly fits with the rumors of their disappearance and the consequential 'appearance' of a 'monster' no one else has apparently seen that the team has been feeding him every time they are given the opportunity to...
She pulls her hand from his when the building's foundation groans, and the Roy's introspective thoughts are abandoned in favor of preserving them both. It takes minutes for their hearts to slow, and his hopeful conclusion that there is progress is all but acknowledged. Because he can see by the way she avoids looking at her hands, her body, his face, that she has already drawn a conclusion of her own: that the progress is hardly enough to leave as the military continues to mill dangerously around the cover they have taken.
But until the moment they figure out how to return her body to what it once was, they will remain sitting ducks at the mercy of real monsters, constantly unnerved by every creak and rustle they hear until he sees her face again… or until they fall victim to the Homunculi's divination.