Chapter Four

Feeling a tug on his robe, Dev looked down to see Ahaava, Uzziel's granddaughter. The nine year old smiled up at him. "What's up?" he asked.

"Is that the actress everyone is talking about?" She pointed to Mustang's sister who was center stage – or at least in the middle of the room in the Ishbalan center – along with Mera and the jerk.

For a moment he was surprised the little girl was talking to him. While he'd known Uzziel half his life, the priest's grandson and great-granddaughter lived in another encampment and he hadn't seen them often. Children, on the whole, usually avoided him, afraid of the hooks he had before Winry made him a new hand. The automail hadn't really changed that reaction much, making Ahaava's question that more unusual. "Yes, that's Jun."

"Aunt Mera looks pretty dancing with her," Ahaava decided. "The guy is very pretty."

"Uh…" Dev glanced around, trying to see if Mattan or Uzziel was around to hear Ahaava's proclamation about Mustang. "Is your dad here?"

"Over there with some boring old men." She pointed to a corner of the center where Mattan stood with his father and grandfather and a trio of hard-core priests, who were vocal opponents of using any help from Amestris to rebuild. They made Dev nervous, as he wasn't sure they could be trusted no to kill Roy and kick off another civil war. "Can I see your hand? Dad says you have a metal hand."

Dev snorted before extending it to her. He'd never seen a kid eager to see his hand, especially a girl. "It's automail," he said, trying to divert his attention away from where Mera and Jun were dancing. It was hard to pay attention to a kid when beautiful women were gyrating about, Ishbala forgive him his shallowness. He really would rather watch the women than talk to a kid.

"How does it work?" Ahaava asked, pulling his fingers into the open position.

"No clue. You'd have to ask my mechanic." Too bad she wasn't out there dancing with Mera. Or Miao-Yin, or, for that matter Riza. Ishbala, Mustang was a lucky man. "I think she's around," Dev said, casting about to see if he could spot Winry, Al and Ed. He knew they had come to hear Jun, if for no other reason than Al had a crush on the woman. Dev didn't blame him. It didn't matter that Jun was nearly his mom's age. Too bad Mustang kept dancing into view, ruining the fantasy that it was Dev in between Mera and Jun. Well, he had danced with them both since Li-Ying and Miao-Yin decided that he needed to make dance part of his physical therapy. It was working. He hardly needed his cane any more except on icy or uneven ground.

"What's a mechanic? How do you make the fingers move?" Ahaava tried to peer inside his knuckles.

What an odd little girl. "A mechanic makes automail and I think about the movement and the fingers move…sort of. I can't work it well yet."

"Ahaava, don't bother him!"

Dev looked over to see Mattan heading his way, the rest of the priests in tow. "It's all right. She's not bothering me. Your daughter is really interested in my automail."

The priest snorted. "Anything science and she's interested in it."

"I don't mind. I'm used to people looking at it. At least she wants to know how it works. Too bad I can't tell her. I was looking for my mechanic. She's here somewhere and would love to talk to Ahaava about it, if that's okay," Dev said quickly knowing many of the priests in Mattan's order, the warriors, were the most xenophobic of his people, for good reason.

"I don't. We're just here listening to the music, letting them get to know the locals." Mattan nodded to the older priests next to his father and grandfather, while gesturing toward Roy.

Dev nodded. By mutual agreement, they decided to let the visiting priests meet Mustang before telling them who he was. None of them seemed to recognize him, and it had been Aris's and Dev's original idea to let them get to know him as he really was. After all, these priests had all voted to put Mustang to death before losing the vote. Of course, Dev hadn't expected Mustang to join in with his sister and her band of pacifists and make a dancing fool of himself. However, it might be a good thing, letting them get to see a lighter, non-military side of Mustang and, to Dev's perpetual disappointment in his quest to find something Mustang sucked at, the man did dance well enough to blend into Jun's troupe.

"I don't see where Winry is though," Dev said, thinking she was probably off in a back room doing unspeakable things to the shrimp. He might like Ed – a lot really. He was an interesting friend – but he didn't want to think about Winry and Ed. Nothing would change the fact Winry had been Dev's first love, even if he had messed it up. Dev almost wished that he hadn't. Getting dumped might be better than knowing he'd been an ass. Of course, the few Ishbalan friends he had would have probably deserted him if he hadn't left her, leaving him almost pointless in his job as liaison between the younger Ishbalans and the new government.

"Aw, I wanna know how it works."

"I'll be sure to tell her that. She'd love to tell you all about it until you don't want to hear any more," Dev said, ignoring Mattan's chuckle. "And we're about to get a visit from a dignitary." He pointed to Jun, who headed their way with Roy and Mera in tow.

"Ahaava, go find your mother," Mattan said. She opened her mouth to protest but one look from her father and she scurried off.

Dev figured he didn't want her around if something happened between Mustang and the priests. "You guys finally tiring out?" he asked, hoping to head off any tension, not that he had a prayer in hell of doing that.

"Someone has to get to work. He's been taking too many days off with pneumonia or some nonsense." Jun slapped Roy's back and he scowled.

"Have you been enjoying the show?" Mustang directed that to the consul of elder priests. He knew in general who they were, thanks to Aris, but Dev doubted he knew them by name or that they wanted Mustang dead.

"Yes, though I didn't expect to see so many non-Ishbalans in our center," Shelar said.

"That's the purpose of the center," Jun said. "And of my group, bringing people together. It is harder to hate someone if you understand them better."

Dev couldn't tell how the older priest took that bit of wisdom, but the pinching of his face probably didn't bode well.

"It's exciting to be a part of it," Mera said, gesturing around the center. "And it looked like everyone is enjoying it."

Her father, Kennan, nodded. "I'd say so."

"Good. I enjoyed talking to you guys earlier," Mustang said, "but you'll have to excuse me."

Dev stared at him. When the hell did Mustang have time to talk to the priests? He'd only turned his back a few minutes to talk to the Elrics and Winry. Mustang went to the dressing screen in the corner that some of the professional singers had been using to do costume changes.

"That man isn't sane," Shelar said, and Dev nearly choked. Mustang really had spoken to them if they knew that.

"You can say that again. If there's anything you need me to do, Uzziel, Kennan, let me know. Otherwise, I'll pick up another set here in a minute," Jun said.

"Whatever you'd like to do. We're really enjoying it," Uzziel said, beaming like a school boy at her.

"Oh, good. Come on Mera." She put her arm around the other woman. "She's going to solo for us," Jun told Kennan.

"I'll be looking forward to that," he replied and Mera beamed.

"Thanks Dad."

Dev watched the two ladies walk off but Kennan interrupted the view when he said, "Get his attention for me, Dev." He pointed to Roy.

"Hey, Jackass!" Dev called across and Roy's head popped up over the dressing screen.

"What?"

"Do you have time to talk to us before you go?" Kennan shot Dev a sour look.

"Sure. Just let me get my shirt on," Roy said.

"There is something we need to tell you about him," Uzziel told Shelar and the others.

"Oh?"

Before Uzziel could explain, an explosion rocked the center. For a moment, Dev thought the building was going to come down, but through the screams, he realized the explosion was from outside. Mustang raced out from behind the screen, pulling his Military jacket on as he went.

Dev ran after him, his bad leg shrieking in protest, but he didn't slow. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Elrics following them. Kennan and the priests were right behind him. The slummy Ishbalan housing complex down the street was in flames. As Dev watched Roy run inside the building, he heard sirens in the distance.

"Brother, no!" Al grabbed Ed's arm as the whole front of the apartment complex spewed flames. "We can't get in there."

Dev didn't want in there. He had no idea why he was even standing in front of a burning building. His bladder was only two seconds away for going into business for itself.

"We have to do something!" Ed protested.

"Running into a burning building isn't going to do it," Winry said, making Dev wonder when she'd joined them. She pointed to the upper level. "Maybe a slide if anyone is trapped on the second floor."

"We could do that," Ed said.

"Something's happening," Dev said as the flames died down in front of the building. He heard Kennan or maybe Mattan swearing behind him. Someone was sobbing, several someones. The door slammed open and Mustang carried an old woman outside. She was doing her best to rip him apart. Behind them were several more people, pushing to get through the door. Dev ran forward with his friends, not sure how long Mustang could hold back the flames.

Dev held a hand out to the old woman. "Come on, grandma, he's got you free of the fire."

"Do you know who he is?" she coughed as Mustang let her go. "He probably caused it."

"He didn't. Come on, help's coming," Dev said as Ed tried to push past Roy.

Roy stopped Ed. "No, you don't. I can't control the flames as precisely as I once did. I can't see half of what I need to," Mustang said, ripping Al's scarf off from around his neck. He buried it in the snow to wet it down. "You two stay out here, sublimate some snow. Make it rain."

"There are kids up on the second floor," one of the rescued Ishbalans said. "Did they get out?"

Dev suddenly realized the screaming wasn't behind him. It was from inside. Mustang was already going back in. Sweat dripped down his torso seeing the panicked faces pressed to the glass of an upstairs window. Ed clapped his hands, dropping to the ground. A slide ripped upward from the transmuted ground, positioning itself under the window. Hearing people screaming, "Slide!" Dev joined in, in Ishbalan, but the young kids were too terrified or unable to open the window.

Al planted his hands into a snow bank that slowly dwindled, turning to vapor that recondensed over the roof when the heat hit it. An older teen joined the little kids at the window, yanking it open.

"Get out there," Mustang's voice, thick and choked, thundered over the roar of the fire. "Just slide down."

Three of the littlest kids didn't need to be told twice, hitting the slide hard and fast. Dev, Winry and the Elrics helped pick the kids up, getting them swiftly out of the way of others on the way down.

"I can't do this," the older boy who had opened the window said.

"You have to," Mustang argued. "The floor is giving way!"

"Come on, we'll catch you," Winry called, but the boy shook his head.

Mustang shouted, "Ed, Al, give me a net."

The brothers ripped off their coats and transmuted them into a net tied between the slide and a tree.

"Hurry up," Dev called up. "Ignore the fact it's alchemy!"

"I can't jump either!" the boy cried. "It's too high!"

"Wanna bet." Mustang took two steps back then hit the boy running, knocking him out the window using his shoulder.

That's when Dev realized Mustang had something cradled against his chest. The boy shrieked all the way down, Mustang tucked up as he followed. A loud crack shattered the air as the floor collapsed, sending gouts of flame out the window. Dev missed the flaming tatters floating in the air, settling on his robe between his shoulders, as he moved in to help the terrified young Ishbalan off the makeshift net. Ed tried to help Mustang up. The general freed one hand up from the bundle on his chest, waving that hand oddly at Dev. Figuring Mustang wanted something, Dev moved closer, seeing the bundle was a baby. The infant coughed then wailed. Mustang choked as well, suffering from the smoke. Winry took the baby from him.

"Get everyone back," Roy rasped. "I can't keep this from burning down, but I can keep it from spreading."

"We'll do what we can," Ed said.

"The fire trucks are here," Al pointed to the roadway.

"And ambulances. Let's get you and the baby there." Winry ignored Mustang's protests, assuring him he could see and control his fire from the back of an ambulance as well as he could half dead on his feet just a few yards closer to the building.

Dev watched them go, then helped Alphonse, who had started to examine the kids Roy evacuated from the second story to be sure they were all right. Unable to help them, Ed joined in with the firefighters, transmuting snow to vapor, then finally helping with the hoses.

"We should have the medics look at them," Al said. "I'm still just beginning my training."

"Right. Follow me," Dev told the Ishbalan children. A little girl curled her finger around his hand. The boy Mustang had shoved out the window followed on trembling legs.

Dev saw Kennan, Uzziel, and other priests also descending on the waiting ambulances. His mother knelt on the ground, examining the flesh just above a docking port for an automail leg embossed with dragons. Next to her, Winry examined the scorched metal.

"Mom, these are the kids who were in the building. Al and I looked them over, but we think someone else with more experience should too, as soon as you're done," he said, watching Mustang holding an oxygen mask over the baby's face, the infant cradled in one arm. His own mask hung haphazardly over his mouth and nose.

"I'm fine. Go look at the kids," Mustang said through the mask. "They should take the baby to the hospital now."

"I can transfer her to another ambulance," a medic said. "But you should go too, General Mustang."

"I am fine. Take care of the kids." Roy pulled the mask off. "They should be able to handle the fire now. I've kept it from spreading."

"You look exhausted," Uzziel said.

Roy nodded, dragging out the back of the ambulance, brushing past Winry and Hala. "I'll be in the center. Come get me if the fire gets out of hand."

"We will," Dev assured him, watching the alchemist stagger back to the Ishbalan Centre, ignoring his audience. Hearing his mother asking him for help, Dev turned back to the business at hand.

XXX

Maybe he should have gone to the hospital. Riza would kick his ass when she caught up with him. Roy couldn't quite find a place to get comfortable in, settling for stretching out on a couch in the centre's reading room while Talya fetched him water and handkerchiefs to cough up soot-stained gunk into. His whole respiratory system felt scorched, and the telltale hint of oil rode his upper lip. People had died in that fire. No, explosion, and he had already put in a cough-ridden call to Armstrong and Hughes to alert them to the possible sedition.

"Are you sure you won't go to the hospital, sweetie?" Talya brushed his hands back.

Roy rubbed his eyes. The glass one felt like it had been coated in sand. His socket throbbed. "I just need to rest."

"Drink all that water. You're no doubt dehydrated. Your sister is helping everyone outside. I should go get her and make her take you to see a doctor. You've always been a stubborn ass." Talya put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Love you, too, Tally."

"Uh-oh." Tally nodded toward the door where Uzziel and Kennan stood with the priests Roy didn't know. He only knew they hated him. Dev and Hala were behind them. "Priests are never fun."

"You like Dev," Roy reminded his childhood friend.

"Only because that child is a tall, good-looking, drink of water," Talya corrected him. "Need me to stay with you?"

"No, I could probably use more water, though."

Talya didn't look happy about the dismissal, but she went off to get him another glass. Roy struggled into a sitting position.

"I needed to talk to you, Uzziel, Kennan." Roy eyed the men with the two older priests, but they offered no introductions. They hadn't earlier either when he and Jun spoke to them briefly.

"It was a bomb, wasn't it?" Kennan asked.

Roy nodded wearily. "Definitely."

"How can you be sure?" one of the unnamed priests asked.

"I'm more than familiar with them," Roy replied. "I think they made a mistake in making the bomb. They died in the fire."

"People died in that." Dev glanced back at the door he had just come through. "You're sure?"

"That smell, sort of like a roast? Trust me, I know that smell," Roy said and Dev's dark skin turned a pasty shade as he gagged. "I had to report it to my superiors."

"Of course," Uzziel said then added a few swear words in Ishbalan. "How soon will they be here?"

"Not sure but soon," Roy said, then broke down into coughing.

"You really should go to the hospital," Hala said.

"I'm fine. My eye hurts though. I should go home soon and take it out."

Dev walked through the door and into the area that still housed their makeshift offices awaiting the completion of their new on-base office. He came back out with a specimen jar from his and Aris's supply chest. He had one of Roy's eye patches dangling from his automail hand. "Here, go put it in here."

"Thanks. If you'll excuse me." Roy disappeared into the rest room and plucked out the glass eye. He hated staring at his face with the empty socket 'looking' back at him but he forced himself to study it. Unsurprisingly, the tissue was beefy red and swollen, and the glass eye turned the water he put in the specimen cup gray from ash. His wish that the strange – and rather obviously hostile – new priests would be gone by the time he got back out to the main room went unfulfilled.

Talya had given Dev Roy's glass of water, fussing over the young priest. The musician would have been a great mother, though she would have to have been actually female in the first place. Roy went over and clapped a hand on Dev's shoulder. "Have you calmed down any?"

"I'm better off than you," Dev replied, giving him a long look.

"Good. I didn't want you to get home and have a panic attack when you took off your robe," Roy said.

"Huh?" Dev's nose wrinkled and Roy took the glass of water from him.

"Your robe caught fire."

Dev nearly knocked him over, jumping up. He tore off his robe and saw the hole burnt into it. Dropping the robe, he gagged, then raced for the bathroom, hand over his mouth.

Roy turned to Hala. "Yeah, I didn't think he was okay."

"I saw the damage but was waiting until we were alone," Dev's mother replied. "But that might not get to happen. I should probably get to the hospital. They might need help with all the smoke inhalation cases coming in from this. You should be one of them." She nailed him with a perfect mother talking to petulant child look.

"This is not the first time I've been exposed to a little smoke. I'll be just fine," Roy replied and the newcomer priests mumbled amongst themselves.

"You are even more bullheaded than my son," Hala huffed.

"I am. I admit it. Speaking of your stubborn son, you might want to check him for burns. You know how his sensations aren't entirely intact. Did you see that the fire scorched his shirt, too?" he asked as Dev made a reappearance, still pale.

Hala shook her head. "Son, take your shirt off. I want to check out your back."

"What the hell?" Dev yanked the shirt off, examining the hole burnt into it. For a moment Roy thought he was going to turn and run back to the bathroom. "How the hell didn't I notice I was on fucking fire!"

"I put it out," Roy replied.

Dev looked at him as his mother ran her hands over his scarred back. "Was that what you were doing after you jumped? I thought you were just being commanding."

"I figured you've had enough of fire for one life time," Roy said.

"I'd say he has," Kennan growled, staring at Dev, then seemed to realize what he was doing. "Sorry, I didn't mean…I knew you'd been burned. I just didn't know how extensive it was."

"It doesn't get any prettier the rest of the way down," Dev grumbled.

"You're pretty enough," Talya said coming over with a glass and Dev rolled his eyes. "Here, ginger beer. Jun keeps it around. It'll settle that stomach for you. I fixed it up a bit."

Dev took a drink and coughed. "A bit? I think there's a half a glass of desert rose whiskey in here."

Talya waved him off. "It'll relax you."

"Or knock me out." Dev looked over his shoulder. "Am I okay, Mom? It doesn't hurt."

"You have a little redness between your shoulders. Sit tight and I'll get some aloe. You'll be fine, better than Mustang is," Hala said, patting her son's shoulder before heading into the back where the supply chest was.

"Dev, go on home," Uzziel said. "There is no need for you to sit through a military interrogation. If Mustang's men need to talk to you, they can do it tomorrow. Kennan, Aris and I can handle this."

"Technically they're Hughes's men, and if they need Dev today they know where to find him," Roy said. "I better call Havoc to give me a ride home."

"Please, I called Riza ages ago," Talya said. "She's probably outside trying to weave her way through the madness."

"Oh. I should go look for her." Roy sighed. "It is really hard dealing with fire when you can't see half of it."

"You managed," Kennan said. "You also managed to save several lives so thank you for that."

The other priests looked almost confused as to how to react to that. It fell too far outside of their expectations for him, Roy realized.

"This is one of the reasons I learned this alchemy," Roy reminded them.

"Could you take Dev back to his place?" Hala asked.

"No, we lost power. They said it wouldn't be on until tomorrow," Dev said. "I was going to ask you if I could stay on the couch, Mom."

She nodded. "Of course, but I'd rather not have you sitting around by yourself after being on fire again. I have to go to the hospital."

Roy reached over and clamped a hand on Dev's arm. "Put on a jacket. I'll take him home with me."

"Good. Your niece is there, right? With those acupuncture needles? He'll probably be stiff after running around out there."

Dev sighed. "Don't fuss, Mom. Come on, Mustang. Let's go find your wife."

"If you need me, call," Roy said to Uzziel and Kennan. He hoped they wouldn't. What he didn't want to say was he didn't want to be alone any more than Dev did. Ishbalans dying in flames stirred up things Roy didn't want to face. He headed out into the smoke-filled cold, hoping Riza was, in fact, out there and would take him out of this place.

XXX

The one type of woman he'd look at while at work was the secretaries. They wore such wonderful pumps, making their breasts and buttocks more prominent. He didn't often get to see them. They didn't come to the patient rooms where he worked, but occasionally he'd catch sight of them in the cafeteria or in the parking lot.

Miss Phillipa Penny wore her heels higher than most, even in weather like this. She had legs he wanted to lick his way down, not that she would ever look at a medic like him. She had her eyes on the big money, the hospital president she worked for. He was surprised she even bothered to come down to the cafeteria at all.

She was on her way home so he started to follow her out.

"Medic Pandur, where are you going?"

He turned to face Dr. Yates. "On break."

"Sorry, you'll have to take it later. There was an apartment fire. We're going to get a little busy," Yates said. "I need you to get down to the ER."

He sighed, watching Miss Penny go out the door. "Yes, sir." Oh well, there would be other days to make her his. Days when the town wasn't already jumpy. Yes, a quiet winter night was better suited to his plans anyhow.