Author's Notes: And I'm back at it! Okay, the deal is, A – F consisted of a group of interconnected one-shots and that finished, so these next few will also be connected, but separate from the last one. I've actually had the idea of these upcoming short fics/drabbles in my head for a while. I almost made it a chaptered fic, but I don't have the gas for that. I will say that this is somewhat connected to Drabble 48 ("Side of Face") in my 100 Royai Drabbles series "you pull me through time" and is when I came up with the idea for these next few. Without further ado, let's begin!


G is for Generous


Running his fingers through his hair was merely an exercise at this point to keep his fingers away from itching towards the ignition gloves in the bottom left desk drawer and burning the papers in front of him. Roy glared down at them like his eyes might be able to do the trick instead, the fingers of his left hand still in his hair and his elbow on top of the desk, head tilted to the side. No such luck though. They remained intact. And even if he did burn them to ashes, the orders printed on them would remain the same.

Bloody military hierarchy… He was more powerful than the lot of his superiors combined with the mere snap of his fingers, and yet all he could do was bow, give a sickly smile, and say, "Yes, sir, right away, sir." For the first time in year since his stint in the military, he wanted to scream.

"Colonel?"

Roy glanced up to see Riza poking her head into the office. He wondered how long she'd waited after delivering these orders to him before stepping to the door and then how long before she decided it was appropriate to interrupt him. Honestly he didn't know how long had passed since then. It felt both like a year had passed since she'd stiffly handed him the paper and only seconds of him raging internally. After waving a hand at her, his fingers still locked firmly into his hair, she stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

So, even though she didn't know exactly what the paper before him said, she knew it was important. Probably from the way he was silently fuming. If it had been trivial, he would've erupted loudly and she would've ignored him, but judging from the way he had refrained himself, she knew that he was trying to bottle something up. Damn him for having an adjutant that knew him inside and out. It was both a blessing and a curse.

"The orders from General Moore?" she prompted.

"We're to leave for South City Headquarters in two days in order to meet with Colonel Branson and General Moore himself," Roy practically recited as he pulled his fingers out of his hair. Riza, for her part, didn't even blink; she merely nodded her head. She had been expecting it, of course. They all had. A month after the meeting with a few other generals and colonels, the insurgents in Aurego bombed an Amestris alchemy lab that had caused thirty-one casualties. All of Roy's arguments about not inflaming a war went to the wayside.

Then again, he had his own suspicions about that. This bombing among all the others had been an irregularity for many reasons, casualties aside. Roy didn't want to think badly of his government or higher ups, but if he was a dark thinking man, he would've come up with the idea that perhaps the bombing had been organized in order to make a response to the insurgents seem more reasonable. It did seem too neat and the Aurego rebellion group had not stepped up to claim the attack. They hadn't denied it either though. Maybe they wanted a war as well.

"I'll get everyone ready for the trip, sir," Riza responded crisply, looking down at the folder in her hand. She marked a few things on it. "Falman has been feeling under the weather, but he's assured me it's just allergies. He should feel better in the south then. Havoc won't like having to cancel a date, but he'll be fine. It's one of your exes, so he didn't have too high of hopes."

Roy glanced at her curiously, but she didn't seem to notice. In fact, she seemed more concerned about Havoc than the fact that Roy had dated someone. Curse the woman. He did wish she would react every now and then so he could know just how she felt on that particular matter.

"Fullmetal has been ordered to join us on our expedition."

Riza froze at those words. She blinked, seemingly stupefied for once, and then raised her eyes to his. He met them solidly, but the open surprise on her face still managed to take him off guard slightly. Edward had never been on a mission with them before. They'd been in the same vicinity and crossed paths, so that each of them knew the other's alchemic power more or less, but they'd never exactly worked together on a professional level before. Roy gave them missions that sent them far and wide and if those missions so happened to coincide with their own goals and/or his, then all the more luck to them. But being ordered to work a mission together? That could only mean one thing.

"General Moore is tightening the leash," Roy explained. "Apparently I've been…lax with my subordinates. He doesn't approve. I've not been using the alchemist under my command to the best of his abilities."

Frowning, Riza clutched the papers against her chest. "Sir, Edward is…"

"Not ready for this, I know," Roy finished for her. The surprise had worn away from her face, replaced by an expression that almost looked grim. She knew what it felt like to be called upon to do her duty for her country. As did Roy. An almost fourteen year-old Edward Elric and his younger brother did not. Sure, they'd been through more hell than most, but not this kind of forced hell where you couldn't tell right from wrong. He had hoped, perhaps naively so, that he could shield them from that. "Orders are orders though."

"Sir." Riza jumped forward. "You can't–"

"I can't do anything," Roy interrupted, colder than he wanted to be. Riza halted, a flash of hurt crossing her face so quickly than anyone else besides him would've missed it. His heart leaped in that moment though. "Fullmetal will join us." He stood up, resisting the urge to crumple the paper on his desk. No, he had to be calm. For the both of them. For all of them. "But he's inexperienced in missions like these and likely will cause more trouble than help because so. I'll only be able to use him if absolutely necessary."

Understanding slowly began to blossom in her eyes, even though her face was completely still. "General Moore is giving you command of this mission."

"How very generous of him, isn't it?" Roy replied dryly.

Riza nodded her head, but it wasn't in agreement. She knew what this meant. By giving Roy command of this mission – the very thing that he had been fighting against for the past few months – the General was placing nearly all of the responsibility on the Roy's shoulders. If one little thing were to go wrong, the blame would be laid at his feet, not Moore's. It was a crude tactic. Moore knew that Roy didn't want anything to do with this, and he was taking great pleasure in forcing Roy's hand anyways. Adding Fullmetal was just an extra flick on the nose. From the start, Roy had said that any outright confrontation with the rebels would lead to disaster – and now he was being forced to lead it.

Sighing, Roy sat back down in his seat and allowed himself to lean back, if only so he wouldn't slump. "Military politics are a messy thing. We'll have to be careful about this. Any wrong word could lead to war."

"Likely that's what the brass wants," Riza pointed out.

She was right, of course. The higher ups had been itching to start something, whether it be in the south with Aurego or the north with Drachma. He couldn't understand their eagerness for bloodlust when Ishval still hung over his head so hotly. Did they not remember how bloody that eight year war had been? Roy was determined to do whatever he could to get to the top, but he wasn't so keen to stain his hands again. And he most certainly did not want to get Fullmetal involved. The kid had a lot of spirits and brains, but he lacked the gut for war. Being a State Alchemist didn't allow him the choice, but if Roy could spare him in any way…

"I won't give it to them," Roy told her determinedly.

What he really meant was: I won't give him to them. Regardless of the fact that he had been the one to recruit Edward and sign him up for the program, he wouldn't give them the last shred of Edward's innocence. Roy was not about to murder that as well. If he had to take on a little extra and damn his soul a little further, then so be it, but Edward could not afford it.

Riza gave him a look like he was being obstinate, similar to the look she gave him all those years ago when they were teenagers and he'd done whatever he could to distract her from her studies. "Do you think they'll really give you that choice?"

Despite his being in charge, would he have the option to not do as they wanted? If they told him to let loose and destroy – if they commanded it – would he have any choice? Ishval reared its ugly head towards him. He could still see the look of his former friend's face, of Heathcliff's face, pained and horrified and angry. He could still feel the gunshot knocking him back and hearing Hughes' scream his name. He could still hear the screams, if he fell into silence for too long. Would he have any choice but to hear them again if he was ordered?

"No," Roy said, "but they won't have that option either."

Because they didn't know about Riza. She wouldn't let him do that. If it came down to him or destroying another country again, ending innocent lives, she would be able to make the right decision. If he could not fight it, then she would. She had his back. It was strange how having a gun trained to the back of his head did not make him feel defeated or scared. At least it was hers and no one else's. The fact that she didn't blink at his suggestion – the fact that she understood him intrinsically – somehow made him love her more. Strange, all strange, and yet something he had come to understand about himself as well.

"If I'm going to lead this mission, it's going to require a few…underhanded tactics that I'd rather the General not know about." Roy smiled. He liked those kinds of things. Deals made behind the scene were his specialty. Both Grumman and his aunt had taught him well.

Riza was a soldier through and through though. Hiding was not a thing she did unless she was behind the scope of her rifle and only then did it come easily to her. "The General won't like that if he finds out."

Roy shrugged his shoulders. "That makes no difference to me. In his mind, there are only two options: either I fail and I fall out of grace or a war is started. He doesn't have the brain capacity to consider the third." When Riza gave him an almost questioning look, he grinned smugly at her and leaned further back in his chair, threading his fingers behind his head. "That I succeed and things come to a peaceful resolution."

"Since when have you ever been good at resolving things peacefully, sir?" The question was close to teasing, Riza's tone near sardonic. It wasn't enough to make him scowl though. Instead, it only managed to make him grin broader. He did enjoy when she got like that.

"There's a time to learn for everything, Lieutenant," Roy said cheekily. And a time and a place for everything. He was going to have to be incredibly careful with this situation and mission or everything would come crashing down around him. Every piece would have to be moved delicately, from his team, to the insurgents, to the General and other officers, and even Edward. Everything would have to be just right.

Either that or they died. No big deal, right? Roy tried not to grit his teeth while he grinned at Riza. Just another day in the military.