Roy stared up at the snow as it fell on his head. He sighed and cursed it, coughing slightly. Riza had hoped he'd be feeling better by now, but apparently that wasn't so. He rubbed a tissue against his runny nose and continued walking. By now, he figured the office would be in complete chaos. Even when he was sick, it wasn't like him to take the day off. He sneezed, got a God Bless You from a random stranger walking about, and offered a shy wave in return. "I can't believe she forced me to go to work today," He moped, kicking snow as he walked. "What a vile woman."
As he came to the apartment complex that Gracia and Elysia lived in, he couldn't help but smile at the haphazard army of snowmen in the front yard. One of them was rather tall, likely built by an older child. There was another one that had a piece of cardboard taped to the stick for its hands, with a drawing of a man and angel wings and a halo. Roy didn't need to ask to know it was Elysia's. He leaned against the fence and smiled, staring at it for a moment.
"Isn't it amazing, Mr. Roy?" Elysia asked, poking her head out from behind the snowman.
Startled, Roy jumped several inches before smiling softly at her. "It's the spitting image of your daddy." He paused and looked around for a moment. "Where's your mom?"
"She said that she was gonna go to your house today, so I'm here with my friend. He's with his mommy making cocoa inside. Want some?" She asked enthusiastically, sandy blonde pigtails bobbing each time she moved. "It's really yummy."
"Ah, I'd love to, but I have to work today. I'll be late if I don't go in soon." He frowned, thinking about it. "Sorry, kiddo."
"It's okay! I'll save some for you." She smiled brightly, giving the same smile her father did. Roy frowned again, suddenly feeling saddened by the fact that Maes had been gone for almost three years now. He sighed softly and looked at the child. "You'll be six soon." Roy commented idly.
"Mmhmm. December 11th. It's a week from today. I'm so excited." She looked down sadly. "But it makes two and a half years since daddy left us." She started to draw in the snow with the toe of her shoe. "Would he be proud of us, Mr. Roy?"
"I'm sure he would. You were very special to him. He loved you lots and lots. Like, further than the moon and back. That's a long way, you know." He ruffled her hair when she came over to the fence. "Be good for your friends' mommy, okay?"
"I always am, Mr. Roy." She answered with a bright smile.
He smiled and turned, starting back onto the path. They didn't live too far from Central Headquarters, so he stopped by every so often to see Elysia. He hung his head and kept walking, kicking at the snow. "She made me work today," He continued again, staring up at the clouds, hands jammed into the pockets of his black trench. "Evil woman." He sighed and frowned. "I can't say that. I love her to death, and she is the mother of my child." He got a bright, giddy smile when he said the last sentence. "My child." He paused and thought about it, repeating it again, awe and wonder in his voice. "My child. No. Our child. My son." His smile was so ridiculously bright; he thought he could outshine the sunlight. "God, he's going to be so beautiful. Riza's eyes, my smile and hair, her personality…he'll be a heartbreaker, I'm sure. But he'll be as obedient as Elysia, so I guess I should teach him self-defense early…but Riza said no guns or alchemy. Maybe he'll just have a natural knack for alchemy and I won't have to teach him? Oh God, what if he looks like me? I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But, I am pretty handsome, and his mother is exotically gorgeous. I guess this works in his favor. Hmm."
"Do you always talk to yourself?" The voice came from behind him, from a male. The boy clapped the older man on the shoulder and laughed. "You sound pretty crazy right now, General."
Roy nearly jumped a mile before slowly turning to glare at the person in question. "Damnit, Harvard, if you ever do that again, I'm frying your ass."
"Oh, cool! I'd die by the hand of the flame alchemist! How awesome would that be?" Harvard shouted enthusiastically, skipping slightly as he walked. "So you're gonna be a daddy? No one told me that."
"She's due in March," Roy answered absently, the smile from before fading. He didn't trust Harvard, he had no reason to. But the boy did seem alright, after all. He wasn't prying for details or anything. "I'm excited."
"Really, you don't look excited, sir." Harvard stated calmly, looking over to Roy. He was tall, but lean. He seemed to have long arms, and no muscle. The boy was very quiet, and a little too young to be on Roy's team, but he took him anyway. "I mean, excited people brag."
"I have to keep her safety in mind. I'm a candidate for furor, after all." Roy commented casually, his voice dropping slightly. "I'd be devastated if anything happened to her or the baby."
The boy nodded and kept walking, his blue eyes watching the snowflakes fall around them as they walked together. "So, who was it? Was it that lady down the street? Tabitha in the office? I bet it was Christine in accounting, wasn't it? Tawny in payroll?"
That's when Roy began to lose his cool. He could handle a lot of things, including mistakes and stupidity, but this was not one of them. He wasn't going to let some rookie talk about him as if he was a player, even though he was. "No, for your information, it was the woman I'm engaged to."
The boy's blue eyes got wide and danced with life. "Oh my God, the infamous playboy Mustang is settling down!?"
Roy stopped and turned to the boy, growling almost as if he was a wild animal. "Do not talk about me as if you know me. And for the love of all things Holy, do not imply that the woman I love is a whore. She stood by my side faithfully for thirteen years. I owe that woman a whole hell of a lot more than my life." He continued on, acting as if the conversation never happened. "They didn't tell you why you were chosen to come here, did they? You just jumped at the opportunity to work with your idol, didn't you?"
The boy kept walking, his feet dragging slightly. "No, they didn't tell me the details. I figured it was best not to know."
"Please, I'm going to say this for your sake more than mine, don't idolize me. I'm not a hero by any means. If I was, Ishval would have never happened, and the woman I love wouldn't be carrying around the scars of a lifetime. If I was a hero, that little girl wouldn't have died, and that man wouldn't have lived as long as he did. And Maes, well, you wouldn't be in this company." He glared at his feet, cursing the boy mentally for killing his good mood. "You're like, what, eighteen?"
"Twenty-two, sir." He corrected. "I've seen stuff, too."
Roy scoffed. "Like what, dead puppies? Have you ever had to get the screams of the lost souls out of your head because you were forced to do human transmutation? Have you ever had to hear the nightmarish cries of the woman you love while she's being tortured to death? Have you ever had to take the shot to kill a child? No? Don't complain to me about sympathy. I didn't get here by twiddling my thumbs and praying for a miracle. People died. There were sacrifices. Brigadier General Maes Hughes died for a cause he believed in, he's a martyr for me. He died to get me information about something for his job. He died for absolutely no bloody reason."
Harvard stopped and looked at Roy. "Did you read my file before you brought me on to your team, sir? With all due respect, perhaps I should enlighten you. No, I wasn't alive for Ishval. I don't have blood on my hands like you do. Hell, I've never been framed for murder like some of your team. I've never been blind or paralyzed like you or your team. I've never known love and devotion like you speak of. My sister was raped and killed. Yeah, that was the nightmare I lived with. Those are the screams I carry around with me. I was helpless but to watch it happen. I had to hear her screaming and crying for them to stop. I begged and pleaded, but they wouldn't listen. They burned my house down and let me live while my seventeen year old sister died. Sure, that wound is still fresh on my mind, and I'm still horrified that it ever happened. But those nightmares never stop. That pain doesn't go away. It wasn't a comrade, it wasn't a friend, it wasn't an innocent person that I never met, and it wasn't a random soul. It was my sister." He choked back sobs and looked away. "I idolized you because of your strength. Your willingness to carry yourself like a soldier, regardless of the lives you took. I admired you because of that."
Roy stopped, staring ahead of him as the boy sobbed behind him. He vaguely remembered this from his psychiatric evaluation file. Now he felt like a first class ass. He sighed and looked down for a moment before turning to look at the boy again. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"No, I get it. You're the greatest man to ever live, and I'll never understand the sacrifices you made to get where you are. It's clear, I'm sure, and I know you don't like me. I'm not Hughes, and I can never be him. I've heard it from everyone, every single person in your company has said it at least once since I've been there. But I take it in stride because they're right. I'm not him. But I'm not replacing him."
The thought hadn't crossed his mind. Hughes was part of a different company. He turned slowly to look at Harvard. "Maybe I should have gotten to know you before I judged you. I've been teasing and hazing you relentlessly and you just take it all. Why? What's your goal?"
Harvard sighed and looked down again. "To find my sister's killers. But I take it because I know there's no better team to help me find the answers. I mean, you got to the bottom of Hughes' death, fought his killer, won, and still came out without losing anything!"
"Without losing anything?" Roy questioned voice gruff again. It hurt his throat to talk like that. "I lost my best friend. I lost my eyesight. I lost my fiancées beauty. I lost comrades. I lost quite a bit that day. And you weren't there on Promised Day, so please don't even begin to say that I came out unscratched. I live with those horrifying screams of pain and agony every single night. I scream out in the middle of the night, because I can't handle the sorrow in her eyes when she was laying there dying. I cry because I can't stand to hear those screams and pleads from a little girl who lost her father. I lost a lot that day."
Harvard clenched his fists at his sides. "Listen, we're never going to get along. I get it. But stop acting like losing my sister didn't hurt. It hurts, sir. It hurts a lot, and with all due respect to my superiors, I'm starting to suspect that perhaps, you don't like me at all. I'm pretty sure that if I was on fire, you'd watch me burn."
Roy smirked. "Most likely because I'd be the one who set you on fire."
"Bad analogy," Harvard stated calmly, continuing down the road. "I hate you."
"It's cool, I hate you, too." Roy grumbled, sneezing again. He rubbed his nose and continued, following the boy carelessly. "You do have a lot of tenacity. You remind me of a younger version of myself. That's not so bad."
"Pray your child is nothing like me," Harvard absently growled, kicking at the snow as he walked. "You're an ass."
"And you're not the first person to call me that. Want to hurl more insults at me, or can we come to a cease fire? Because trust me, you can come up with any insult you want, but nothing burns me quite as much as Hero of Ishval." Roy shouted at the boy as he walked ahead of him. "Stories? Yeah, we've all got 'em. We all tell 'em. You're the first person to ever stand up to me. I like that, kid. You've got guts."
"And you're an old man. I don't think you've got any right to run with the young kids like me." Harvard countered, hands in his pockets. "Go back to the nursing home."
Roy growled and scooped up some snow, pelting the boy in the back of the head with it. "I hope you get a face full of snow."
Harvard stopped, snickering slightly as he turned to Roy. "You're immature, you know that? You'd be the worst person in a leadership position, because you'd use that power to destroy our country."
"And make the women wear tiny miniskirts while doing so, yes," Roy smirked and continued walking while the boy stared in awe. "If you're going to have an ulterior motive, at least make it obvious so that when the time comes, people don't think you actually did it." He could faintly hear the whistle of snow fly by his face, followed by some obscene cuss words from someone that was far too young to be using such profanity. As the second snowball came flying, Roy snapped his fingers and melted it on the spot. "Who needs a shovel when you've got the flame alchemist?" He grinned, turning to Harvard with a laugh. "You're a decent kid," He continued, walking backwards rather effortlessly. "Stay around a while. Let me get to know you better. I like you."
"Egotistical maniac."
"Fullmetal comes up with better insults than that," Roy reminded him, still walking backwards. He spun on his heel and started to face forward, walking slower this time so the kid could catch up. "Listen, kid, I hear a lot of stories from people like you; horror from children that shouldn't be faced with these nightmares. That's why I'm here. I want to change the world. Sure, it's a big dream. It's almost an impossible dream. But that's what dreams are. We dream so we can continue to have faith in reality. If it was possible, everyone would have done it already."
"Dreams don't die, we kill them."
Roy snapped his fingers and pointed at the boy with a laugh. "Bingo, Gene Kelly. You nailed it right on the head. Don't let one person tell you that you're not good enough. You're far from good enough, you're better than enough. Don't let me be the reason you quit."
"You're like an older, jerkish brother that I never had." Harvard retorted, starting to understand a little better what Roy was getting at. "You gave me a hard time to get to know what I was all about. My ulterior motive."
"Nailed it," Roy sang, his finger dancing above his head in a 'whoop de doo' type fashion. "Can we get on with life now?"
"Yeah, whatever."
"Did you finish my paperwork yet?" Roy questioned, not even bothering to turn around this time. "Because I'm not gonna lie, my fiancée used to bitch at me something fierce if I didn't do it."
"I heard she shot you."
"A few times, yes. So you know who she is now?" Roy raised a brow, turning to look at the kid. "I'm not gonna lie, I kept it a secret for a reason. If I'm wrong about you, and you try to kill her or my child, they won't find any remains, because you'll be a charred mess on the side of the road."
"Are you crazy? I heard what you did in Ishval! I'd be nuts to stand up against you! Or have a bigger pair than Armstrong himself!" Harvard shrieked voice shrill. "Hell, you'd probably kill me before I could even get off a warning shot."
"I'm glad you're learning," The older man smiled and held open the door for him. "After you, rookie."
"Damnit, I'm never gonna live down that name, am I?"
"Not until someone more childlike than you comes in, and I doubt that's going to happen any time soon," Roy replied, walking through the halls as if he owned the place. He wouldn't lie, he was a little lightheaded, and his head was throbbing pretty erratically from the blow to the ego. He couldn't keep up with these young kids and their mind games anymore. He sighed and leaned against a wall, taking a deep breath. "She made me come to work. What a vile woman." He grumbled, sliding to the floor, eyes closed.
Harvard blinked, wondering if he was just resting until he saw the older man fall backwards. He caught him before he hit the ground and stared down at the limp body of his commanding officer. The office was three floors up, at least two halls away. He'd never be able to drag the man. And it probably would look a little strange if he had. He did the next best thing and dragged the man to a closet and left him there, going to the relay room. "May I borrow a phone and a code-sheet?"
The girl behind the desk raised a brow, but handed him the sheet anyway. She pointed to a terminal for him to use. Harvard dialed the number before he could think of what to say. "Hello, is this General Mustang's home? Yes, my name is Private Harvard…"
Riza sat up straight when she heard Roy's name mentioned. Her heart sped up to the point she thought it would burst from her chest. She'd never been called like this. The last time, Roy was severely hurt, and she had to come help him. She fought to breathe. Even more terrifying, it wasn't one of the usual suspects that called to talk to her. "This is Captain Hawkeye, how may I help you?"
"Ah, this is an awkward conversation for me. I don't know where to start. First let me start by saying that your husband is an awfully stupid man for coming to work today. Second, he's passed out in a broom closet."
Riza blinked several times. "That's nothing unusual for him."
"Yes, but he's running a fever that's well above normal. What do I do?" Harvard inquired softly.
With a resigned sigh, Riza frowned, trying to calm her speeding heart. "Let him rest until he feels okay enough to work, duh. Just…try and get him from the broom closet." Riza waited for a response from the boy, but there was just a click and a dial tone. "Well…that just happened."
"He's probably just drunk," Gracia suggested.
Harvard looked up at the person that had hung up the phone on him. Roy did not look pleased. The older man was glaring down at the younger man, his onyx eyes seemingly full of a life that wasn't there before. "Uh, hi, sir."
"I suspected that you had access to my home records. This isn't what bothers me. What bothers me is the fact that you were going to bring my fiancée down here, heavily pregnant, in the snow, and risk both of them. You have no sense, do you? Would it help if I beat you?" Roy questioned rather darkly, grimacing when he swallowed. "Because I'm tempted to just kill you and rid the world of your presence."
"I wasn't going to have her come down here; I just wanted to know what to do! I've never had someone pass out on me like that before! Are you…are you okay?"
"Oh yeah," Roy answered, his eyes dancing with laughter. "I'm fine. But if you ever try to drag my fiancée into my work life again, I will be sure to mail you home in an envelope, got it?"
Harvard swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, sir."
Roy laughed and pat him on the back. "Glad we could come to an understanding! Now, let's go to the office and get some more paperwork done, shall we?"
"Uh…yes, sir."
I'm not sure if I was more amused or shocked writing this chapter. All I know is I spent a lot of time laughing like a maniac and earning weird looks from my brother. Yep. I've lost it.
Lothmel, I've been reading a roleplaying blog for a character from another show that reminds me of Riza. She's just as well in personality, so it's been giving me some huge inspiration.
Shadow Cat, you're right about the songs. I've got both of them on my MP3 player, actually. I have the whole Awake and Alive album by Skillet. And I have actually used that Lifehouse song when doing these stories before, but it was for a different pairing in a different show. Also, in response to the above statement about people not liking you because you're anonymous, I like to engage my reviewers. Typically I'd send a message, but since you don't have an account, this is the only way I can do it. Please don't ever feel like people don't like you, I like you. And that's just from three reviews. I'm not saying that because I have to be nice, either. I'm genuinely interested - mostly because we have the same taste in music. And I likely am older than you. My age is on my profile. But that doesn't always mean I know more music. I'm just heavily influenced by music, so I have a million songs on my MP3 player.
Fmalover07, Kuromaychan, I adore the name Rowland. No offense to the reviewer, but when they told me to change the name, I scoffed. Don't read it if the name bothers you that much. Remember, you're dealing with a spoiled rich kid in the 1900's, Rowland and Ruth were very common names back then.
