SUMMARY: Edward Elric might have grown a few inches after the promised day, but at just sixteen, he wasn't the tallest read in the pond quite just yet. After a painful scuffle, Riza Hawkeye realizes this and takes the matter in her small, but capable hands.
CHARACTERS : Edward E., Riza H.
GENRE : Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
RATING : T
WARNINGS : Rated T for descriptions of violence, injury, and adult situations and language. Light spoilers for Fullmetal Alchemist - Brotherhood, and a sprinkle of Riza H./Roy M. because I can. This fanfiction is a 1Shot and will not be continued.
ALL THE SMALL THINGS
"I told you, Al, I'm fine," Edward Elric complained, as his younger sibling fretted over him. There's a bandage or two on his face, and more than that all over his body. But Alphonse only saw the ones on the outside, and there wasn't anything stopping him from keeping his brother in the dark. "Just forget about it."
"But, brother- "
"Drop it."
Alphonse lapsed into silence following that. It wasn't often that Edward was so short and pointed with him; but that didn't stop him from worrying about him. After all, there had to be a reason for those bruises his brother had come home with, right?
And what if he's hurt badly? Why won't he tell me what happened?
But he didn't get too much time to ponder over this newest development; for Edward pushed open the door to the secretarian office just before the Fuher-President's office. There were figures burstling about, busy with their daily buisnesses, but one stuck out in the crowd, sitting at a desk just before the last enterance.
Blond, wearing a crisp and pressed navy-blue uniform, there could be no mistaking the hazel-eyed and stern-faced Riza Hawkeye. Stepping forward, Edward called out-
"Hey, Hawkeye!"
She looked up immediately.
"Oh, Alphonse- Edward? What..." She paused for just a moment when her eyes flickered to Edward and his bandages. However, she didn't instantly jump to questions; instead, she simply continued as if her pause had never occured in the first place- "...What are you two doing here? We weren't expecting you until at least this evening."
"Yeah, well... There's kinda an issue with that," Edward edged, looking away and rubbing at the back of his head, "I gotta talk to Mustang."
Riza blinked, but again, asked no questions. Instead, she gave a nod and stood up. Alphonse noted the addition of several new badages and lanyards to her usual uniform; that was only to be expected, with her rise in rank.
"I'll tell him you're here. Come with me. Alphonse- "
"Isn't coming in with me."
"Brother," Alphonse interjected, instantly, "But I want to- "
"Sorry, Al, I want to do this myself, alright? Just stay out here 'til I'm done, and then we'll go back out to Central. It'll be real quick, I promise."
He stepped forward without him, and Alphonse found himself rooted to the spot as a very bewildered Riza led him into the Fuher-President's office, behind those giant, wooden double-doors.
After just a moment, Riza returned.
"Alphonse?"
"Huh?" The young man looks up at her. Even to himself, the fourteen-year-old sounded so dejected. He tried to bring his usual cheerfulness back into his voice. "Yes, Captain Hawkeye?"
He failed. Her expression faltered and she frowned tightly.
"Did something happen?"
Miserably, Alphonse looked back toward those doors.
"I... I don't know, Captain. I just don't know."
After nearly an hour of waiting around, the doors opened again. Riza and Alphonse, sitting at her desk in silence, having been too distracted to really chatter meaninglessly, stood up immediately, and were startled to see Roy Mustang emerge, one hand on the shoulder of the younger man, a quite serious expression on his face.
"I'll take care of it. You go on back to your hotel, Elric."
"Yeah. Thanks, Fuher Bastard."
A smirk appeared on Roy's face.
"That's how you're going to thank me for saving your ass, huh? I should've known. That's so like you, pip-squeak."
Everyone braced themselves for the typical screams that always accompanied height-related insults toward the older Elric, but this time, he didn't even flinch as he headed right toward the exit, a dark expression overcoming his entire face. He left without a word and left everyone watching as he goes.
"Brother- "
Alphonse recovered first, but before he could take a step forward, Roy stopped him.
"Elri- er, Alphonse," He quickly changed his addressing of the younger brother, as he was still, in his eyes, just a child and not directly affiliated to the military. "Hold up- there's something I'm going to tell you. Hey, Hawkeye; can you get these other guys to an early lunch? Say it's on me."
An impressive minute later, and the three were alone. Riza returned to them with that same bewildered expression.
"Sir, what has gotten into him- Edward?"
Roy put a hand through his sleek, jet-black hair.
"That's what I'm going to tell you both. Look... "
+ + + - + + +
There were three of them, each uglier than the rest. The leader was the one who stepped forward, growling like a rabid wolf, and spoke in a raspy, alcohol-induced slur.
"What'd you say, kid?"
"I said you guys were being rude in there," Edward snapped, pointing toward the door of the resturant for emphasis, "And then you skipped out on your tab! What a bunch of lowlives. It's your unlucky day, too- I'm military. So you'd better go back in there, apologize and pay, before I arrest all of you."
It wasn't an empty threat, as Edward, despite having been relieved of his State Alchemist title- after all, he wasn't an Alchemist anymore, having given it up in order to rescue Alphonse from the thing called Truth- still retained his rank of Major, thanks to Mustang's belief that he could still be useful.
Edward was damned sure the flamed bastard just wanted to keep him from running off and doing stupid things without him being at least aware of what he was doing in the first place.
"Yeah? You and what army, pip-squeak?"
The teenager would later regret what he did next, charging at the three of them and instinctively pressing his palms together to smack the daylights out of the dirty drunks- only to realize, just too late, that he was no longer able to transmute.
A fist reached his chin a split moment later and he, knocked backwards, tripped and fell flat on his back, dazed.
"That's what I thought," The leader laughed, cracking his knuckles, stepping forward with his goons falling at his sides, "You're all bark and no bite. And you said you're military? Yeah, right. Your daddy's probably Private shithead, huh? And you think you can boss us around? I don't think so!"
He grabbed Edward by the collar and heaved him easily to his feet, and delivered yet another blow. And then another. And then another.
And then his goons jumped in.
When he came to in that resturant alleyway, he was beaten, bruised, and- although this he would never admit- close to tears. He hadn't hurt like that in ages, and any hurt he had gone through was well-earned through harsh battle. Not because of some drunk assholes who he'd thought he could take.
But he couldn't. He couldn't take them. He was just too small.
"...Edward told you all of that, sir?"
Riza was the first to speak, after Roy had finished telling the tale. She sounded... Restrained. Alphonse glanced at her, and saw flashes within those hazel eyes of hers. Flashes of something dangerous.
"Yeah," Roy responded, heavily, "He did. Those were the guys I asked him to tail for me- apparently involved in some illegal narcotic dealings in downtown Central. I didn't think he'd rush in like that, not for something that small, and without his Alchemy, too. You'd think he'd have some kind of sense, huh?"
The blond said nothing- instead, she sent him a well-meaning glare and looked away. Alphonse, again, noticed something; she had minutely clenched her fists. Roy hadn't seemed to notice anything at all.
"But what should we do?" Was what he asked, in a small voice. "What should we do?"
"I'm going to write a statement about what Ed said, and then go downtown and grab a bite. If I just so happen to run into those guys, well- that's a stroke of luck."
A snort from Riza. "Sir, can I trust you alone?"
"Huh- Hey! Riza!?"
His dutiful Captain had turned her back to him and rushed out of the room.
Startled, Alphonse looked up at the Fuher; only to be startled to see him start to laugh and even further startled when Roy clapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Al; want some lunch? It's all on me."
"Wha- bu- Hey! Wha- "
"Good, good! Let's go!"
Riza found her target just outside the building, sitting on a curb. He did look so very small; how couldn't she have noticed this before?... Well, perhaps it wasn't all her fault. After all, the young man had a commanding presence about him, reminding her distinctly of a certain, black-haired man in his youth. It made him seem older and taller than he really was.
"Edward."
The blond didn't look up, but she sat next to him anyway. She didn't dare touch him, instinctively knowing that the motion would be preceived as that of pity, and that wouldn't help the case she was going to make.
"Edward..."
"Fuher Bastard told you and Al, huh about what happened? Figures." Edward snapped, glaring at the cement under his shoes, frustrated and more than a bit angry, "That's exactly what I didn't want- the whole world knowing that I'm- "
"That you're weak?"
The teenager's furious eyes look and lock to her calm hazel. He has to struggle to reign himself in when he saw that she meant no offense to him, by the strange expression on her face at the moment.
Seeing that he had hesitated, Riza took her chance and spoke up again.
"I can assure you that's not the case, Edward. Roy didn't tell us because he wanted to humiliate you- he did it because he knew that, one, Al would be worried sick about you, and two, that I could actually help you get through this, and all the better for it besides."
Edward blinked. He certainly hadn't been expecting that.
"What do you mean, you can help me, Hawkeye?"
A rare, small smile from the blond woman.
"Exactly that. Let me tell you something, okay? It's a long story, but by the end, I promise you'll understand how I can help."
The scent of sweat was strong in her nostrils as she and the other soldiers toed the line that their instructor had ordered them to. Her first month of basic training for the Armestrian military had been grueling, but she was alive and fairly well, at the very least. One step closer to graduating. One step closer to the field of real battle. One step closer to finding-
"HAWKEYE!"
Riza's mind instantly hushed and she took a swift step forward. Of almost thirty people in her contigent and class, only she was female. Her instructor had seemed not to have put that to mind; and for that she was grateful. She didn't want special treatment here; she wanted to pass on her own merit and strength. That was one promise she had made to herself upon joining the military.
"ON THE FIELD! NOW!"
She bolted forward, and assumed her fighting stance, balancing her weight between both soles of her feet and extending her arms and fists to protect her face, as she had been taught just weeks before.
"HENDRIK!"
...Oh, no. Her stomach flipped. The other cadet called... She knew that particular man. Why? Well, his size and girth picked him out of a crowd or line-up so easily. He also had this strange sort of expression- almost predatory- when they first met, and had pocessed ever since. She had avoided him any way she could.
But now...
The giant of a man stepped forward, grinning a wide grin. This was going to be a short fight and everyone, chuckling around them, seemed to move forward a half-step. She suddenly felt warm and claustrophobic, and began to sweat.
It had nothing to do with the blazing sun above their heads.
"START!"
"Wait," Interjected Edward, "Your teacher actually made you fight him?"
Riza gave a quiet, tiny little nod.
"Yes, he did. I was pounded into the dirt, of course. He was my permanent partner from that day forward. Everyone else switched, but myself and him. Every day, day after day, for months, he pounded on me in front of the entire contigent. And all the instructer ever did was call our names, watch, and call him off, after a few seconds that I was on the ground."
"But- why? Why did he- ... "
The Captain was smiling that rare smile again, and that caused Edward to lapse into silence.
"I'm five foot five, Edward. A head shorter than almost all the men in the military, and in fact, most of the few other women, too. My best friend, Rebecca, is actually several inches taller than I am."
"Small," The blond looked down again, "And because you were small, they picked on you."
"At first," Riza admitted, "At first. But that was before."
"Before?"
That grin returned, and bigger than Edward had ever seen it.
"Before," She repeated, "That was before."
"Like this?"
"Move your body a bit more toward me."
"...Like this?"
"Move your knee. See? Copy what I'm doing."
"I'm trying!"
"You're doing great, Edward. Want to try again?"
"Are you going to flip me again?"
"Only if you get it wrong again. So try your best this time."
"Right... Okay! Here I come!"
Riza watched closely as Edward became a blur of motion. Before she could catch his arm again, this time he managed to slip past her defenses and catch her arm. He then executed the move that she had been attempting to teach him all afternoon long.
Pulling her arm toward him, he jabbed at her belly, just above her navel, knocking the wind out of her. Then, he pulled her arm up and around his shoulder, digging into her before flinging her behind his back and throwing her to the ground. All of this happened in just a split moment, before she had realized what had happened.
"Oh, jeez- Hawkeye! Hey- are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
Blinking rapidly to adjust her vision, Riza slowly got to her feet, patting down her uniform to get the dust off of the cloth.
"I'm fine- and you did it, Edward!
"But I- oh!" Realization struck him just then, and he was suddenly grinning uncontrollably and widely- "I did it! I threw you! You went over like a sack of potatoes- "
"Hey!" But she punched his shoulder good-naturedly, smiling herself. "Good job. Now, what are you going to do if someone bigger than you ever throws their weight around you, huh, Edward?"
"I heard you ran into some trouble with Alphonse this afternoon," Riza said, hooking her finished files into her briefcase, preparing them for delivery, "Should I be worried, sir?"
The Fuher-President responds with his usual flair; "Nah. Just some thugs at a resturaunt making a scene, skipping out on their pay. Funnily enough, they had bruises on their knuckles and matched the description Ed gave me for the men who attacked him- I brought 'em in and all that. Ed should be happy."
"That he will," Riza said, hefting her suitcase- "From my talk with him, he was worried that they might hurt someone else, after what they did to him."
Roy just chuckled, before looking up at her, with dark, cobalt eyes- "Speaking of your talk with him, Hawkeye..."
Riza looked back at him innocently enough, but he saw right through it.
"I saw Edward throw Lieutenant Brigadier Armstrong over his shoulder and straight onto his ass this evening. It was quite the sight. You should have been there."
Roy watched in amusement as a proud light entered Riza's hazel eyes before she shoo'ed it away in favor of a more professional, apathetic expression, and shrugged.
"I don't know anything, sir," She responded, lightly, "It seems Edward managed to find a way to compensate for his height, after all."
Roy threw back his head and laughed-
"So the fact that you used that exact same thing the first time you met him in Ishval had absolutely nothing to do with what Ed did, huh, Hawkeye?"
Biting back a smirk and a laugh of her own, Riza simply shook her head, and then the two stood up to leave for the night. Hey had both earned a nice, lovely evening, after all the work they had done that day.
"No, sir."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Sure, Hawkeye," Roy took her shoulder, and when she turned to look at him, curiosity in those hazel eyes of hers, he kissed her. "Sure. Whatever you say."