Title: Testify
Author: Kyo-chan
Series: Post-Original Series/CoS (Elements from FMA:B)
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Roy Mustang
Summary: Roy knows that the only way to save Al from his choices is to take the stand. The rest is up to fate.
Word Count: 1,262
Notes: #6, the last in this pre-story. There are only spoilers if you haven't seen the end of the first series or Conqueror of Shamballah.
AU: Dead is the New Alive
"State your name and rank for the records."
"General Roy Mustang. State Alchemist certification of Flame Alchemist."
He could feel their eyes on him more than he could see them. He wasn't used to being in this part of the council room, the center of attention, the one under the bright lights while the observers watched from the shadows. He could see nothing more than their vague outlines in the darkness, but he didn't even try. His dark eyes were trained forward, posture rigid, gloved hands folded neatly in his lap. He was the picture of the perfect soldier. Confident, stoic, credible. Even if he didn't feel any of those things, he had no choice but to make them all believe that he was.
"General Mustang, do you take oath to give the truth, with all statements factual and unbiased? To swear your loyalty and honesty to the state and the preservation of justice?"
His hand snapped up in salute. Reflex. "I do take oath."
"Why have you come before the council in this trial?"
"I have come forward to testify on behalf of Major Alphonse Elric, Soul Theory Alchemist. I believe that his crime against the state was the result of trauma and grief, an emotional reaction and not a direct action against the law."
"And you are aware that Major Elric was caught attempting to create a Philosopher's Stone?"
He pushes past the bodies of soldiers moving to apprehend his subordinate. Some of them manage to keep their hold on the boy, but he's fighting too hard. Some of them are going down, and the crackle of alchemy is in the air along with the pungent smell of something that makes him shiver in visceral fear. It's hard to hear Al's voice cracking, straining, screaming. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, but if he's allowed to get his hands to the floor, he'll do more than just hurt. He'll destroy.
"I am."
"General Mustang, if Major Elric had succeeded, countless lives right here in the city of Central would have been consumed in its creation. He would have been responsible for more counts of murder than he would have had the lifetime to serve for. Do you know what the penalty for creating a Philosopher's Stone is for state certified alchemists?"
"Execution," Roy answered calmly, matter-of-factly. "But by your words, that is a penalty for creating one of the Stones. No one is more relieved than I am that he did not succeed." He could just imagine staring at the barren land that would have been his beloved capital city. Devoid of life the way Ishval had been when the Amestrian forces pulled out and the way Liore had become when the Stone had been made there. He didn't think he was lying about being the most grateful that Al had been caught. The only one that may have been more grateful hadn't lived to know the crime Al had been about to commit.
And that was the entire problem.
"Regardless, General, that still leaves his credibility beyond questionable and you are well familiar with the reports that he is not mentally stable. He presented a risk to the entire country he is sworn to protect. Are we to do nothing?"
"No, Sir. I move to place him into psychiatric confinement based upon my early statement of severe emotional trauma. He was not in his right mind when he attempted to perform the transmutation."
"I have to get him back! He wasn't supposed to be there!"
Al's eyes are tortured, all that calm he'd shown in the moments before his arrest shattering right before Mustang's eyes. He sheds the tears that the general cannot, no matter how much grief they share. The array is intricate and beautiful. He remembers seeing something like this on the basement floor of a country home. Such elegant alchemy twisted in the darkest of ways. He's trying to bring back something he lost. Isn't it always about something lost? His own heart aches with loss, and for a moment, he finds himself wishing Al had done it, given them back the things that they longed for.
"It is our understanding that you are close to the boy? Does your testimony come from emotional attachment to Major Elric or actual fact?"
"Sir, with all due respect, I led the manhunt that ensued when the Elric brothers were suspected of involvement with the insurgence in Liore. My duty to the state overrides my emotional attachments to any of my subordinates."
He remains silent and still throughout the entire service. He vaguely remembers being asked to speak a few words about his Lieutenant, but a shake of his head is a respectful decline. Nothing he wants to say about her is anything he wants these men to hear. Her deeds and service have always spoken for themselves; the words that would have tumbled from his lips are too deep, too close to his heart. And he cannot afford to break. Kimblee is a seemingly indifferent wall at his side, and the rest of his men are at his back. He allows none of them to see him home that night, barely remembers to take Hayate out or feed him, and in the end, comes undone at her side of the bed.
The next morning, he reports in as if nothing has happened, but a part of him has gone into the ground with her.
Roy continued without hesitation. "That being said, the Soul Theory alchemist has been a vital source in my unit since his assignment to my command. Also, his actions and behaviors even before he returned to Central have always been for the good of his people, just as the Fullmetal Alchemist once served. It was not until his brother's death that Major Elric has shown any signs of defecting. Therefore, it is my request to the heads of the council that he be confined, not in prison, but within the psychiatric unit of our medical facilities. From there, we can monitor his progress and offer him the proper trauma treatment due a soldier of his caliber rather than waste his potential by death or imprisonment."
A long moment of silence ensued, the weight of it so thick in his throat that he wanted to cough, to clear his throat, but he remains ever still. Unchanging and unshakeable. A beautiful lie that he knew how to carry across all too well, had too much practice with. In this room full of shadows and judgement, he felt truly alone and the loss never ate away at him so much as it did right in that moment where Alphonse's fate hung in the balance. It would be all over if he failed this time. He would have next to nothing left, and a man that had nothing could offer nothing to anyone else.
"The council has heard your statement and will adjourn to discuss this testimony along with the rest of the case. Your time is appreciated and we will notify you regarding the final verdict for Major Elric's trial."
Once more, the salute was a reflex. Everything felt automatic, as he rose up from his seat and his boots echoed across the smooth floor to the door. He didn't look back, didn't try to seek Al's face in the darkness. The air had a sense of finality to it that he was too tired to fight. Only a part of him would return to everything that was normal, all his responsibilities. It would have to be enough.