Author's Note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU.


For Sale

Roy was not amused. He actually rather hated this, but there really wasn't anyone else who could deal with this particular problem. At least he wasn't stuck going to the slave market alone. Both Maes and Gracia had been coming with him. Gracia's presence was a godsend. She made things much less awkward when they ended up with female captives. Since things had gone crazy in Amestris, Roy had been keeping an eye on the slave markets in order to try and rescue anyone he could, and especially anyone who might be able to help fix things in Amestris at some point.

It had worked pretty well so far. They had managed to rescue about a dozen people all together from slavery in the past three months. That might not seem like a lot, but the truth of the matter was there weren't a lot of Amestrians being caught by the slavers. More than usual, but still not a lot. Though some of the people who had been caught were proving to be quite interesting. Edward and Alphonse Elric for example. The boys might technically still be children, but they were better alchemists than many adults Roy knew. With them had been Winry Rockbell and her grandmother. Pinako Rockbell was now introducing the innovations of automail to Xing, and the four of them had settled in to their new life fairly well.

But Roy was still worried. He didn't have a good intelligence network back in Amestris, and he hated not knowing what was going on there. Especially since he hadn't had a chance to contact Riza at all before he'd left. He hoped that she was all right. Roy had been very careful about letting people know just where he had learned alchemy, so she should be safe enough on that front. If the current government ever learned about the secrets Riza carried, she would be in a great deal of danger. Even if they didn't, Riza's options would be rather limited now. He had hated leaving her behind, but he had needed to get out of the country quickly, and there hadn't been time to see Riza or even contact her.

With a sigh, Roy set his face into a mask to hide how he really felt about these damn slave auctions. If it were up to him, the things would be banned. However, Roy might be related to the royal family, but his foreign blood would forever prevent him from playing more than a minor role in the government. In truth, Roy had preferred living in Amestris. But then that was before the government there had showed its true colors.

"I know you don't like this, Roy, but do stop looking like human storm cloud," Maes' voice jolted him out of his thoughts. "But at this rate you're likely to scare our people to death before we can rescue them."

Roy sighed. "Sorry, Maes. Let's just get this over with."

The two men headed on into the building that housed the capitol's slave auctions. It didn't take long for one of the staff to recognize Roy as nobility and whisk the two of them off to a private gallery and had called in the newest shipment of exotics. Roy did his best to keep his face blank as the people were paraded before him. It was hard. Most of the people that he was shown had already given up. They had accepted the fact that they were now slaves, and that more than anything made Roy worry for Amestris. Even just last year, most of the people captured by slavers from Amestris would have fought and been much more defiant.

"We have a few more women, sir, that all would make lovely companions," the auctioneer beside Roy wheedled.

Maes motioned for the man to bring them in. Roy went absolutely still, his eyes locked on to one particular woman. Her blond hair was longer than he remembered and her eyes were a little more haunted than they had been before, but he knew her. She wasn't the prettiest of the group she was in, but she was his Riza. He was practically trembling with rage.

"Her," Roy growled. "I want her."

The official practically ran to get the paperwork. Roy ignored him, and let Maes deal with the transaction. His eyes remained locked with Riza's. Her expression might be smooth, but her eyes reflected anger, fear, and hope. More than anything, Roy wanted to gather Riza up in his arms and not let go. However, he knew that it would be better not to call attention to her just yet. Maes thankfully did not take long haggling over the price, and soon enough the three of them were on their way back to the townhouse Roy had taken up residence in.

Riza was quiet on their way there, and so were both the men and Gracia. Technically, she was still a slave, and there were rules about how a slave could act in public. Riza wasn't going to a slave for long, but that didn't mean that avoiding trouble right now wasn't a good idea. Roy really didn't need to draw any attention to his current activities. They weren't exactly illegal, but it would be best if no one outside of his conspirators knew about them.

However, once they were safely inside, Roy yanked Riza into his arms and held her close.


Theme: Hug