Flames of Power
A/N: So, this is going to be the first in a long line of one-shots. I'm doing this mostly for your (the readers) enjoyment. At the moment, I'm working on a gigantic project of mine about chimeras. It will be FMA related, and better yet, it will be Chimera!Roy, because like NO ONE writes those. It should be deep and epic, and I won't be posting it until the first of the year, 2013.
Anyway, what I wanted to say was that this is almost like an apology to y'all. I'm sorry that I won't be updating any of my other stories, probably, for a long, long time. My main focus will be my big project, and these one-shots. Several of these one-shots have already been finished, or at least nearly finished, so it won't be such a stretch to work on those and my story... so yeah, that's what I'll be doing.
This will be updated every Monday. I've already got a schedule written out that I will try to keep to, that goes all of the way through until December 10th, so if I miss one, I have no excuse. Sorry! Even though it's already late... so I'm a little busy, sue me! ...Except don't. I'm a lowly high school senior who can't even afford to properly go to college. :( None of the others should be late... Promise...
Most of these one-shots will be about Roy, because Roy is my buddy, so I wouldn't expect much else if I were you. Some will be AU, some will be written in animeverse, and some in mangaverse. Some will be parental!Roy-ness, some will be Royai, some will be brotherly!Roy-ness... this thing will have variety. Expect variety.
Kay, that is all.
ONE-SHOT 01: First Date
Summary: All Roy wants to do his protects his daughter, but some douchebag is making it awful hard to do that. Fem!Ed. Parental!RoyxEd
Rating: K+ - T
Roy was normally a calm and collected person—he went with the flow, and not much bothered him if it came as a shock.
Apparently, that 'not much' didn't entail to anything that had to do with his daughter—erm, his youngest subordinate.
It was a day like any other day. The sun shone, the birds chirped, and Fullmetal still acted as though she owned the whole place, striding in with a confident smirk not unlike Roy's own.
The girl was abnormally happy, though. Roy noted that much. Her smirk slipped more than once into an excited smile the moment that she thought he wasn't looking, even though he secretly had one eye on her as she sat, waiting for him to read her report. She hadn't slammed the door open or closed when she came in, and she had only yelled a little when Roy teased her about her minimal height.
Something was up. And Roy didn't like it.
Finally, after the chance to watch her had gotten ridiculously long and she couldn't have been completely oblivious, Roy pulled the sheet of paper out from the top of his pile of paperwork and started reading, tumbling through the parts where Edwina's apparently excited attitude had jumbled the words into a big mixing pot and dumped them onto the page in the most nonsensical manner possible.
He was halfway through the report when Edwina started bouncing. The couch dipped a bit under her weight and then sprung up, squeaking every other second and slowly driving Roy absolutely bonkers.
"Do you mind?!" Roy demanded after a while, glaring at the girl who had given up on her smirk and just smiled his way.
"No," she said.
Roy scowled, not looking away. "What's gotten into you today?" he asked her.
Edwina flinched and blushed, but her smile didn't dampen any. "Nothin'."
"Mhmm." Roy continued glaring at her to see if she would fold, but she didn't. He shook his head. "As long as I can't read your report anyway, where's Al?"
Ed shrugged, scratching a hand through her bangs. "The dorms. He's waiting for my date to call because he's been calling all the time and Al's getting kind of annoyed by it—" Ed slapped a hand over her mouth, offering a wry grin to the man.
"Date?" Roy asked, amused. That's what Ed had been afraid to tell him? About a little date? "You're going on a date?"
Ed nodded sheepishly, tucking her hands beneath her thighs as she watched for Roy's reaction.
Slowly, it dawned on him. Ed, his little girl, was going on a date. One that he'd only been informed of by accident. He had no idea who the ne'er-do-well was, or what exactly he had in store for Edwina! He barely spluttered out his next words, "you're going on a DATE?!"
Ed flinched again. "This is why I didn't tell you! I knew you'd act like this!" she said. She crossed her arms, muttering "douche" to herself.
Roy forced himself to calm. He sighed, burying his face in one hand. "Who is it?" he asked.
"Like hell I'll tell you! You'd go and find him and castrate him right now!" Ed cried.
Damn, that girl knew him too well. He clenched his fists and sighed. "Do I know him?" he demanded.
"No. He asked me the other day when Al and I went to the park."
"And you just said YES?! Without knowing anything about him?" How stupid could that girl be?
"I was going to turn him down, but Al said that I should go have fun! I didn't just agree on a whim, Mustang! Goddamn!"
Roy stood, fisting his hair. "When is it?" he asked.
"Tonight, why?"
Roy's scowl melted momentarily. "I'll be there to meet him," he decided icily.
"No, you won't! You're not my fucking father, Mustang! I can take care of myself!" Ed snarled. She stood as well. "You know what? I'm going home! Go ahead and finish my goddamn report by yourself! I don't care what you have to say about it!" She spun on her heel and kicked the door open, fuming. She slammed it shut directly after, marching back down the hallway.
Not a minute after, Hawkeye opened the door, peeking in. She glared at her superior. "What did you do, Colonel?" she asked.
Roy glared at her momentarily. "She's going on a date. A fucking date!" he snarled.
Hawkeye sighed and rolled her eyes. "Colonel, she's a big girl now. She can take care of herself." She frowned.
"She's fifteen, dammit! That's way too young to be going on dates!" Roy defended himself.
"Because I'm certain that you were completely innocent at fifteen, sir."
"She's a girl! A little girl! It's different!"
Hawkeye shook her head, smiling. "You want to keep your eye on her? Go on. You don't know when the date is. Just bring some paperwork with you."
Roy paused, watching for her bluff. "Ahh…" he gulped and nodded. "Thanks, lieutenant." He uttered. He grabbed his coat, a pile of paperwork, and went out to his car.
Roy waited outside of Ed and Al's dorm for probably two, maybe three hours. He obediently signed paperwork, but his eyes kept flickering up, waiting for some delinquent to stroll up to the door and push his way into their dorm. He'd be bigger and stronger than Al, swifter than Ed… surely he'd hurt his children.
Well, if the asshole dared try, Roy would be sending a jar full of burnt ashes to his parents.
It was six—he was about half-done with a pile of paperwork that really should have taken an hour total—when a little blue car parked by the sidewalk. The owner honked loudly.
That was about when Roy realized that this douchebag—whoever he was—was Edwina's date.
'Oh, no."
There was no way that the little dickwad who wouldn't even go to the door to pick up his date—awkward as it may have been—was Edwina's date. There was no way that Edwina had been caught in this delinquent's eye, nor that this delinquent had caught Edwina's eye. Ed was smart. She could see the goodness (or lack thereof) in people. There was no way that she could have been fooled by this player.
After a minute or so of patient waiting, the door of the car opened and out wandered a big teen, with broad shoulders and an ugly face. The teen wasn't dressed in anything better than a polo, jeans, and tennis shoes. Disrespectful little punk. This was the Fullmetal fucking Alchemist, for god's sake!
Apparently, Edwina had known that the honk was her date, because she clipped out in low high heels that Roy hadn't had any clue she owned or liked. She, too, had chosen to tone it down a bit, though not quite as much as the bastard in front of her. She, at least, had the decency to wear some good pants and a nice blouse that Roy instantly recognized as one of Hawkeye's from her teenage years.
The boy greeted her, and she enthusiastically replied. The boy put his arm around her waist and immediately started tugging her toward his car.
Oh, fuck no! Roy would go to hell, destroy Satan, and bring back his head on a stake before he allowed Edwina into that boy's car!
The boy touched her chin and lifted it up a little, bringing his face slowly to hers…
"That's it…" Roy couldn't contain himself. He grabbed the door handle and yanked the door open. He could have burned that little fucker's lips right off! And he would have, if Ed wasn't right there in the line of fire. "You stay away from her!"
Ed spluttered and scrambled away from the boy, her face as red as the ripest Aerugan red apple. She glared at him. "M-Mustang!" she growled.
Roy glared in reply, and she shut up. He turned to the ne'er-do-well who would dare try to touch and kiss his little girl. "What do you think you're doing?" he snarled.
"Uh, just picking up my date," the boy replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. His voice was rough and gravelly. Roy didn't like it.
"And since when exactly did picking up your date mean attempting to seduce her?"
"Who are you, and what the fuck do you care?" the boy asked.
"You watch your mouth around your elders, punk," snapped Roy, his black eyes burning.
The boy scoffed.
Edwina finally managed to regain control of herself, looking at her commander sternly. "What the hell, colonel? I said no!"
"As if I was about to let you run off with some strange boy that neither you nor I even know!"
"It was one night, bastard! One night to actually enjoy myself! Or am I expecting too much, after everything that I've done? Why don't you just leash me to your wrist so I can follow you like a good dog?!"
"You keep finding fuckers like this kid and I'll do exactly that!"
"Aarrrgh!" Ed lost her cool right there, exploding on her colonel. "I'm not your goddamn daughter, Mustang! And you're not my father. And with all of the good that came out of mine, I'd prefer it if you stayed that way! So, quit trying to be Hohenheim and let me live my own life!" she commanded.
Roy winced.
Ed slipped her arm through her date's arm and dragged him toward the car. She didn't even look back at Roy, who stood there still, dumbfounded. "C'mon, Ben. Let's go! The sooner we get away from that bastard, the better!"
When the boy, Ben, climbed into the front seat, Roy shook himself of his stupor. Just before Ben's door slammed shut (what, the bastard didn't even have the decency to hold Ed's door open for her?), Roy called out, "if you hurt her, I will throttle you! I will come into your bedroom and I will burn your fucking eyes right out of your head! Go ahead; try! Don't think I won't!"
Ed looked towards him, before climbing into the car. Roy's heart lifted straight to heaven when he saw Ed's lips curve up in a tiny smile, directed at him. And, if only to preserve that smile forever, he would gladly carry out his threat.
He realized something, though, as the car inched away from the curb and sped down the road toward their destination. He realized that he must have been to hell, and it faintly occurred to him that he might still have that stake. Maybe he could use it to his advantage.
Roy didn't receive a call that night. He hadn't really been expecting one, but oh how he'd hoped…
Not that Edwina had exactly been elated with him right then.
But still, she could have at least called to say, "Hey, thought you might want to know I'm home," or "please don't carry out that threat, I think I'm in love," (Roy's skin crawled at that thought and he almost gagged), or "you can go ahead and kill that fucker, please do it Roy, I don't want to hear about him ever again…"
But there was no call. Roy almost considered calling Al to see if Ed was home yet, but he didn't want to disturb the boy, or accidentally wake his sister.
So, he waited.
He waited a long time. So long, in fact, that the sun had risen three times before Roy got any sign from the teen how it went.
It was a dreary day that day—the exact contrast to the day that Roy had been told. It was drizzling, and no one was out roaming the streets. It was Monday.
Roy looked up from his paperwork when the door clicked open gently. His eyes widened as he watched Fullmetal gently open the door, step in, and close it just as quietly, her head bowed low. She scurried in, back in her usual garb, but didn't dare look up at Mustang.
Roy gave her a few moments to collect herself by solemnly looking down and continuing to scratch on his paper. When she didn't do anything, however, he looked up at her. "Ahh, Fullmetal! There you are! I was wondering when I'd see you next," he said with a nonchalant shrug, "maybe I should have looked down…"
"Don't." Ed muttered, rubbing an eye with her auto-mail fist. "I'm really, really, really not in the mood today, Colonel. Just thought you might wanna know that I wasn't kidnapped or anything. I'm fine."
Roy nodded, resting his chin on one hand. "Yes, that would have been a pleasant thing to know. Knowing sometime on Saturday would have been fantastic. Friday night even better."
Ed shook her head. She turned around to make her leave, but Roy quickly stopped her.
"Now wait just one moment, young lady. Come in, sit your ass down! I want to know how it went. Please, give this old geezer a clue."
Ed snickered a little, apparently appreciating the effort to cheer her up, "you said it first." She calmed and sat on the couch, watching as Roy stood and went to stand near her.
"Erm… well…?" asked Roy innocently, his eyes trained on his little girl.
Ed puffed out her cheeks and slowly released the air that she'd stored. "Ah… it was alright. It was… it was okay."
What, no 'fantastic'? No 'best night of my life'? It was just 'alright'? How could any date be just alright? "Oh? Do you still like him? Will there be a follow-up?"
Ed solemnly shook her head.
Roy's face immediately dissipated, slipping into a neat mask of anger. "What do you mean?" he thought for several seconds, trying to think of why Ed wouldn't have a follow-up… she was a beautiful young lady, her eyes like molten gold, her hair silky and perfect. It couldn't have been Ed's fault. "What did you two do?" he asked. Maybe she was just too embarrassed to say that yes, there was another date.
His face twisted into a mask of horror. Maybe… maybe something had happened. Something rated R. Roy could have gagged right there, but he forced himself to stand still. Maybe there wasn't much contact. Maybe they snuggled. Maybe there was just lip on lip contact.
But then, maybe there was more, spoke the devil inside him. Maybe there was bare skin on bare skin. Maybe that boy has taken your daughter. Maybe he's made her his?
Roy gagged this time, stroking his throat and forcing himself to swallow the rising bile.
"N-nothing." Ed must have noticed Roy's stricken face, because she glared at him, "nothing like that, pervert! He just…" she shook her head and looked away, shifting as if she were in pain. "…Really, really wanted to."
Roy swallowed. He moved closer, stopped at her side, and crouched. "Did he?"
"No. No! I didn't let him near me! But he kept touching and trying, I just… I walked out of the theater and headed home."
"You went to a dark theater?" asked Roy. "Surely you're smarter than that."
"I know, Mustang, but apparently not!" Ed scowled. She glared at him. "Go on, say it! Tell me how you told me so, tell me how you knew this would happen!"
Roy half wanted to. Really. It would teach her a lesson. But, he couldn't. "I'm not going to do that to you, Ed," he purred.
Ed paused, and then smiled. "A-and you know what the best part is? Not long before I left, this other whore walks in wearing some skimpy as shit dress that's ugly as fuck and you could tell she was just wearing it to show off her big boobs and her thighs and everything, and she sits down by him, and he doesn't even hesitate to turn on her and start kissing and touching her! And here I am, sitting there on his other side trying to watch anything but them and trying to ignore them but goddamn she was loud! But they were acting like I wasn't right there, like no one was there! I mean, who the fuck does that?"
Roy pulled himself up and sat at Ed's side, wrapping an arm very firmly around her shoulders. She leaned against him, turning to him a little.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you…" said Edwina into his lapel.
"It wasn't your fault," Roy sighed. Ed had only been attracted by a big teen who was maybe a little nice to her. It happened, what with all of the douchebags running rampant in her life. "I'm just glad that you're safe."
Ed laughed. "He couldn't have hurt me." She mellowed and sighed heavily. "Are all guys just like that?"
Roy paused, peering down at the girl he held. This was too perfect. There was no way that she was being serious. But Ed's golden eyes were so curious, so innocent as she looked up at him, so wet. He tightened his hold and grinned on the inside. "Yes."
Ed's face went from curious to stricken. She looked away from him.
"Yes, every single one of us are pigs. Except maybe Alphonse, but I haven't seen him outside of the armor, so I guess I don't know. All that us men want is to get into a young lady's pants. And don't you dare think differently. Trust me. I know. Some of us are just better at hiding it, better at controlling it."
Ed huffed and frowned, shaking her head. "Yeah," she sighed, "right."
Roy squeezed Ed's shoulder and stood. "Well, it doesn't matter now. He can't hurt you." He purred.
"Mhmm." Edwina ducked from Roy's arm. She shoved her hands into her red coat pockets, watching the man. You aren't going to, like, carry out that threat, are you? That'd be embarrassing…" she pouted.
Roy tapped his chin in thought, peering at the little girl that he would give his life for. "Maybe not that exact threat…" he decided furtively.
"That's all I ask."
Roy grinned to himself, dropping into his chair. "You're dismissed, Fullmetal."
That Wednesday, the front page story of the East City Enquirer was about a boy who had been attacked and slightly injured in an alley. He was knocked unconscious, but awoke in his bed. While at first he'd thought it was a nightmare, IF YOU DARE TOUCH MY DAUGHTER EVER AGAIN, I WON'T GO SO EASY ON YOU was written across his wall in powerful red permanent marker.
According to the article, the family was choosing not to press charges if they ever found the attacker, by request of the boy. And when pressed (by both Edwina and Hawkeye), Roy valiantly denied ever having anything to do with it. For his sake, neither chose to point out the mischievous glint in his eye, or the fact that the address of Ben's house was tossed on the floor near the trashcan near his desk, angrily crumpled.
Though Edwina would never admit it—not to his face, she did have her pride to think about here—she couldn't have been more glad to have Roy looking out for her. It was like, she had admitted to Alphonse a few nights after the fiasco, having a father again.