Laughter echoed as Mustang spit blood out of his mouth. There seemed to be no part of his body that didn't ache; his face and jaw from the blows he received, his arms and shoulders from the way they had been restrained behind the wooden chair he'd been in for the past few days, his abdomen due to the beatings he'd been given, and he was sure he had dislocated his knee attempting to get free. That, and his whole ass was numb.
He should have been smarter than this. In retrospect, it was obvious that the anonymous tip they had received was the beginning of a trap. While most whistleblowers wanted a secluded, secure area to pass the information they brought about, meeting miles away from any hint of civilization was extreme to the nth degree. And of course, he had ignored all of the warning signs in his desperation to get the smugglers off the streets.
Mustang was grateful that his lieutenant was more level-headed and vigilant about the potential trap than he had been. Even if that vigilance amounted to very little when they walked into the ambush.
Mustang glared at the unseen figure chuckling in the shadows. He hoped that today the interrogation was going to ask a few more questions and spend less time throwing their fists and feet into his body.
The chuckles from the figure in the dark slowly trailed off as the figure stepped out from the safety of the darkness. Mustang couldn't keep the scowl from his face as he recognized the head of the smuggler's ring. Adam Barclay.
"My, my colonel. I must say that you should stop going to the dentist you've been seeing recently; he hardly can do his job correctly. Just look at how much blood is coming out of your mouth. Perhaps you should get someone to look at your gums. We wouldn't want such a nice smile as yours to fall out."
Roy fought to keep his face from forming a sneer. He didn't need any more blows to the face due to his determination to keep the façade up. He had already noticed that a couple of his teeth were loosened from previous blows.
If he could come out of this with his smile intact, that would be preferable.
"I thought we could do something a little bit different today, since our usual methods of interrogation don't seem to be revealing the answers we would like for either of you."
The smart-ass part of Roy's brain was answering that it was because they never bothered to ask any questions while interrogating him. But the other, more rational side of Roy's brain made note of what Barclay had just said. Either of you. Plural.
The lieutenant.
Roy was unable to keep the growl from being let loose in his throat. If they hurt her in any way, he would be doling out hell for any man who dared lay a finger on her.
But that was the worst part. He didn't know if what Barclay was telling him was the truth. He didn't know if she had gotten away after his vision was blocked by the sack that covered his head once they had wrestled him to the ground. She had still been fighting tooth and nail their abductors the last he saw. He never was aware of her being shoved into the van with him before he was carted away to wherever this was. But that didn't mean she did get away, there were at least two other vehicles they could have thrown her into and taken her wherever they wanted. Roy wouldn't have any idea where.
They could've done anything to her.
So focused on following the rabbit trail, Roy almost missed what Barclay was asking him.
"—Isn't that right Mustang?" Barclay had moved from where he had been at the edge of the light to rest in a chair a henchman must have brought in for him. A table that had not been there before was laid out between them. A set chess board stood on top of that.
Barclay looked up from where he had been studying the board to look at the confused look on his captive's face.
"Chess. I've been told that you are somewhat of an aficionado when it comes to the game. You play weekly with your commanding general over in East City, don't you? Haven't won a single game in the year you've been playing him. Tsk, tsk." Barclay looked up and over at Roy. "My informants must be misinformed about your tactical brilliance with a track record like that."
Barclay lifted the king from the board and looked across it to Roy's face, attempting to see what he could read off of it. Roy schooled his face and stared back into Barclay's eyes, refusing to allow the fact that this smuggler had inside information rattle him. If there was a mole inside of Eastern Headquarters, Roy guaranteed the individual would be found. As soon as he got out of this chair and landed his fist on Barclay's nose.
"Perhaps they're wrong. How about you and I share a game so I can see for myself?"
Barclay gestured to someone behind Roy, and Roy found that his hands were uncuffed behind his back. The momentary relief he felt in his shoulders and on his wrists was short-lived. It took the unseen man behind him less than a second to secure his wrists to the table in front of him. The handcuffs were looser this time. Loose enough for him to be able to play the game, but not loose enough that he would have the opportunity to wrench himself free.
Roy wiggled his fingers and regained some of the sensation he had lost in the time they had been pinned behind his back. By the time he finished that, Barclay had already moved his first piece. Gently Roy fingered the smooth black polish of his pawn before moving it forward.
There was no words spoken between the men as they played back and forth, capturing pieces and avoiding capture. It had only taken a few moves for Roy to understand Barclay was more strategically inclined than his external demeanor alluded too.
Although, Roy worked under the same mask to cover up his own movements in the military, and one didn't head a smugglers operation without having strategic prowess of his own.
Barclay was contemplating his next move when he broke the silence between the two of them.
"You're not an easy man to understand, Colonel Mustang. Most of how people understand you seems to stand in contrast how I've seen you behave. Many have said that you're lazy and unwilling to actively work, but you never hesitated to jump into the field when the opportunity came to arrest me. Something most commanding officers would willingly let their subordinates to take care of." He decided the move he was going to make and took out another of Roy's pawns.
"I think it's clear that you're a man of action. The office work is tedious, boring. There is no challenge to what you do. You're an alchemist, always searching for the next big challenge to take on, always wanting more. Signing papers all day is beneath you. That's what I think."
Barclay leveled his eyes to look across the table at Roy. Roy stared into his eyes for a few moments before looking down to decide what his next move was going to be. He wasn't going to give Barclay the satisfaction of knowing that he was partially correct in his deductions. Signing papers all day wasn't stimulating at all.
"You're the type of man that's always thinking about something. Right now, you're probably wondering what a chess game is going to lead too. And I'll get to that, I promise, but I first I have a question for you."
Roy abandoned his search for his next move. His hands dropped to rest against the table and he stared at Barclay. A cold sweat broke out across the back of his neck. What sort of question was he about to receive? If Barclay could see through to a portion of the reason why he was 'lazy,' what else could he see through?
Barclay on the other hand suddenly had no interest in making eye contact with his prisoner. He had picked up one of the pieces he had captured from Roy earlier in their game and studied it closely. There was an easy and content smile on his face.
"Your lieutenant is a beautiful woman, isn't she? And strong. She managed to seriously injure a few of my men before sheer numbers overwhelmed her. She's got spirit, doesn't she? But of course you knew that, you are in love with her after all."
And there it was. It was exactly what Roy had feared. But he was given no time to deny what was said before Barclay continued speaking.
"It's no wonder you spend so much of your time discussing your dates and playing the womanizer. It diffuses the attention from your extra-curricular activities with your secretary. A brilliant move on your part Colonel."
Somehow, Roy was able to grind out his words even as every muscle in his body clenched.
"There is nothing of the sort between the lieutenant and I. We have a purely professional relationship, and I assure you that whatever you're implying with 'extra-curricular activities' has not and will never happen."
Barclay laughed at Roy. Not the light chuckle he had given earlier in the day, a heartfelt belly laugh that shook his whole frame. Tears sprouted from the corner of his eyes by the time he regulated his breathing and calmed down enough to speak mostly calmly.
"If you truly think that, you are blind. The sheer panic when my men ambushed and separated the two of you was enough to convince anyone of the truth behind your feelings. Feelings such as those can't be repressed for too long. Eventually something comes of that."
Roy stared intensely at the man who had done so much to them. Who had abducted and separated them, imprisoned them without any clue as to where they were or what time it was. The man who was running illegal guns and potentially other things into and out of the country.
"Then you don't know Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye at all."
As if he spoke the magic words, the door behind Barclay opened and two quick gunshots were given before anyone had walked into the room. The guards that had been standing behind Roy fell to the ground clutching where the bullet had entered their flesh. Roy watched as Barclay's eyes widened and he whirled around attempting to draw the gun out from underneath his jacket.
By the time he turned around the lieutenant had the barrel of her gun pointed directly at his heart.
Roy couldn't help the way his heart soared at the sight of her. Even though she was bruised and dirty, with her hairclip missing and the look of cold fury she had on her face, she was the most beautiful sight in the world.
"Speak of the devil," Barclay muttered to himself.
"Drop your gun to the ground and kick it over to the wall," she said evenly. "Then get on your knees. Slowly."
Barclay did as she asked, sending the gun skittering across the cement floor and inking to his knees. His hands rose and his fingers laced together behind his head.
"What a presence. It must be an experience with you in the bedroom."
There was a flash of something in the lieutenant's eyes that Roy pretended not to catch. While still keeping her gun trained on Barclay, Riza walked forward and took out some handcuffs from her pocket. Roy was dismayed to notice that there appeared to be some blood around the silver rings. His glimpse was cut short when Riza secured them tightly around Barclay's wrists, perhaps a little tighter than she would have normally secured them.
Roy couldn't help but smirk at the small cry Barclay gave.
After Riza successfully restrained Barclay, she turned to the two other men she had shot before she even entered the room. She padded around in their pockets until she found the keys she was looking for. She then set to work on releasing her superior from his restraints.
It took Roy a little longer than he would have liked to admit to stand up, and his muscles and joints ached at their use, but he was relieved at the change in position. He stretched in attempts to ease out the kinks, but his bruised ribs reminded him that it was a bad idea and he clutched at his abdomen.
"Are you alright sir?"
Roy let out a huff of amusement as he watched the woman who'd rescued him secure the men she had shot with the cuffs she had just freed from Roy.
"Nothing that a few painkillers and a day's rest won't handle."
She hummed and stood up to examine his face in any case. Her hands reached out, hesitated for a moment, before resting on his face as she turned it to get a better look at the bruising there. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line as she took it all in.
Roy raised his own hand and gently touched around her swelling cheek, probing for any broken bones there. She winced when his fingers got too near the bruise, but she didn't say anything. She dropped her hands to her side and took a step back. Roy's hand floated in midair for a moment or two more before he dropped it down to his side. They looked at each other for a moment or two before Riza saluted.
"I believe I saw a telephone in one of the rooms I passed on my way to rescue you sir. If you are capable of cleaning up in here, I'll place the call to Headquarters and organize the extraction."
Roy nodded and watched as she made her way out of the room towards wherever the phone was that she had found. She paused on her way out of the room and glanced back at the table with an unfinished chess game on top.
Without a word, she changed direction and moved one of Roy's knights across the board. Roy and Barclay watched as she nodded at the move she had made before looking at the two men.
"Checkmate."
She was swift after that to leave the room to find the telephone she had spoke of.
Barclay whistled lowly after she left the room. Despite the handcuffs around his wrists and the fact he was about to potentially spend the next few years in prison, he was smiling as he turned to look up at Roy.
"Right. Because you have the strength to resist that."
Roy swallowed. Perhaps maybe Barclay was right, and feelings like his couldn't be bottled up forever.
Not that Roy was going to admit it out loud.