Ugh, sorry for the wait guys. No I did not die. I hope none of you try to kill me though. I am leaving for Disneyland next week, and so I've been kept kind of busy making sure plans are all in order. It'll be the first time I've ever gone! Now let's see... I shall answer some questions and then release you to read. I might answer reviews later... but I want to get this up first.

Q: Can I have a chess set like that?

A: I don't know, buy me a new wood saw and I'll see what I can do.

Q: Who is Roy's queen on the chess board?

A: I completely forgot to put that in, and now feel like a complete idiot. It is Black Hayate. Both Ed and Roy have dogs as their queens.

Chapter Ten

Alphonse sat on the railing that wrapped around the large porch of the Rockbell home. His legs swished in slow, rhythmic motions while his hands gripped the railing to keep him sat. Den sat on the grass, well below his feet. He barely even noticed the dog, tanks to the degree of which he was consumed in his thoughts.

"Al?"

Al turned his head to look back at Winry. She looked tired, having been up all night working on a new automail model for Edward to give him when he returned. He didn't know the reason for her obsession over it, she'd merely passed it off as "creative and flighty genius" or something to that nature. "Something wrong?" He asked her.

She bit her lip, and shoved her hands into her Capri pants pockets as she walked forward. "You're worrying about Ed, aren't you."

"Who isn't?" Al smiled wistfully at her. "For one reason or another, a lot of people are worried about Ed. What he might be "planning," where he is, how he is."

"He'll figure this out." Winry smiled assuredly. "Mustang and Hawkeye are behind him to help as much as they can."

"Which isn't that much, but at least it's something." Al sighed.

She nodded and gazed out towards where the town lay. Many pitched army tents blocking the view. "They really think he'd be foolish enough to come here, don't they."

"Seems so. I talked with the camp commander yesterday evening after dinner. Apparently we have no choice but to comply, and I doubt contacting Mustang would do any good to remove them. This is a logical move." Al said as he watched the khaki obstructions to the scenery. "At least, if brother was a fool it would be."

"Come on, it's time for breakfast." Winry sighed and offered Al her hand.

Together the two of them returned inside, leaving the scene behind.

Central

Mustang made for the front doors of Headquarters while listening to Hawkeye chatter on to him about the latest news of the troops sent out to intercept Edward.

"-but they found a dead body about a twenty minute drive to the border. It's yet to be identified but they appear to believe it's a bounty hunter."

"A bounty hunter? He's got that lot chasing after him now too?" Roy groaned inwardly. Some bounty hunters were pathetic these days, he'd killed a few himself when they'd been looking to bring his head in. But that time was long past. There were some though that he knew had reputations. He hoped that whatever the price was on Ed's head, that it wouldn't be enough to attract the best of the bounty hunter circle.

"Do you think he made it across the border to Ishbal?" Hawkeye asked as they turned down one hallway.

"Hard to say." He admitted. "He could have very well decided to head south for all we know. But if he is in Ishabal… we can't cross the border to hunt him down without jumping through a few political hoops."

"Ed's probably the only one who'd be able to jump through them successfully. As he's said, they're not fond of you over there."

"They put up with us because they have to." Roy agreed and smirked a bit wistfully, "and he's always been able to bullshit his way through something if he has to."

"Have you ever noticed that Ed probably has just as much political power as you do?"

"Of course, which is one of the reasons I'm glad he came back."

Roy was no fool. He knew very well the weight Edward's name carried in this world. The man was a hero, and people flocked and gathered about heroes. Even if he'd been framed, there'd still be those masses who would never think ill of him. And in places such as Ishbal, Edward would be welcomed over him. The sooner Edward was cleared, the better. He needed the blonde alchemist beside him, as he always had.

Hawkeye allowed them to fall into a pensive silence. She too was glad Ed had been sent back to them for that reason. And it was a major driving force for her to help Edward get enough information so that he could get his name cleared of all charges. Mustang and Edward were strongest when together for many reasons, together, she had a feeling they were capable of becoming untouchable. Especially when it came to political matters. It worried her that they'd been ripped apart like this.

"Do you want my gun, sir?" She finally spoke up as the two of them strode through the front doors of Headquarters, and now towards the courtyard.

"I'll pass." Roy waved her request off. He'd only need some well placed words and maybe a few good snaps to cure his annoyance at these men. Nothing he'd need a gun for.

Striding forward ahead of her he ignored the salutes given to him as the men quickly came to attention. He only made sure they were there. The only ones he tended to let get away with not showing respect at all times were the members of his personal team.

"Well?" Mustang growled out as he came to stand before them, looking rather frosty in demeanor.

"We failed to get him that time, sir. But it will not happen again!" One of the men towards Mustang's right spoke up quickly.

"That is not your only failure." The words seemed to slip easily from his mouth as he let himself ease into what he was about to do. His black eyes glittered round at all the six men who he'd still not given permission to relax yet. Even if he had, he doubted they'd be anything but "at ease." He rather would have expected them to act just a bit more like jackrabbits than they already were. Cornered jackrabbits staring a hunting dog right in the face.

Roy waited for several minutes, his displeasure growing as none of them made any connections, or attempted to ask for clarification if they actually were this stupid. And to think, two of the number were State Alchemists. Who the hell was in charge of license renewals right now? Obviously they needed to start giving intelligence tests along with the alchemic ones.

"Who's the team leader?!" Mustang asked snappishly and resisted the urge to start tapping his foot impatiently.

"I am, sir." One man nearer towards Mustang's front said with a twinge of wariness in his voice.

Roy fixed his gaze on the man, and locked in on his first unwilling victim for round one. "What were the orders given to you by Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"To apprehend the Fullmetal Alchemist and bring him back alive to stand trial for crimes committed against the State." He recited promptly.

Mustang flipped a look over his shoulder at Hawkeye. "Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir." She said firmly, more than ready to play her part.

"And I suppose that now shooting with the intent to kill is a common practice to bring someone back alive?" Roy asked, turning his gaze on the team leader once more.

"Sir, he was a danger! He blew up several things in town, including their train station! We had to take appropriate actions to protect the public." The team leader fumbled.

Roy felt the rage surge through him, but he aptly kept it from showing. This man was ready to lie? Straight to his face no less. How charming. With a great deal of self control, Mustang let his gaze slip to the others of the team. "Is this what happened?"

Mutely, they all nodded.

So, it seemed they'd all decided to get their stories straight with each other. Pity for them, he could tell when he was being lied to. He didn't need to have known thanks to Edward what had really happened. He hadn't gotten as far as he had by being as dumb as them. "You disobeyed a direct order, and then have the gall to lie to me about the destruction of the train station. I'm not even going to go into the details of the trouble you've caused for me. Having Fullmetal turn against the State was bad enough a blow, but you six, are a disgrace." His voice was a cold low tone, but they could hear every word.

"Sir, it was for the best! Ful-"

What it was about Fullmetal he'd been about to say, was lost as the team leader crashed into the man next to him clutching at his swelling jaw.

Roy didn't even bother to shake his hand out. "How I miss eight years ago. Anyone doing something so embarrassing to the State and defiant would have had the foresight to defect. Since it seems I now have a bunch of idiot pansies on my hands, I'll have to take a different route of action."

The blast was instantaneous as the snap occurred, the flames flared red and orange as they swirled up into the high air with chunks of the courtyard cement. The searing heat that ensued nearly set Hawkeye's hair smoldering if Roy hadn't stepped in front of her to block the heat wave. He had more resistance to heat than the average person.

"Sir…" Hawkeye finally asked in what was most unmistakably a nervous voice. The flames had gone for nearly a full minute.

Roy's eyes were hard, and showed none of the warmth of the fire he courted. "I'm controlling it, they'll still be somewhat functional after this." He said, "besides, as Ed so often has implied, I'm a cold hearted bastard. I see no reason why I shouldn't be one for right now."

Riza made no reply as suddenly the flames flickered and died down, along with the heat.

In the now demolished and charcoaled courtyard, lay the six team members. The militia men were near unrecognizable as they lay there in tattered remains of their uniforms, hair burned off along with a great deal of skin. The two alchemists had fared better, and Roy was loathe to realize they'd probably used alchemy to try and keep them from suffering much damage.

"If they live, then you may punish them before discharging them." Roy told Riza, motioning to the militia men before rounding on the alchemists. "Trying to test alchemy prowess with me? Think I'll let you get away with only minimal punishment? Do you think you're that special? You might have survived… but I don't think you will this time."

Another snap.

This time, it was no mere wind tunnel of fire.

Had Edward been present, he would have likened the blast to that of a hydrogen bomb.

Roy blocked Riza from the blast, as well as himself, but the courtyard, much of the grounds past it, and a side of a storage building were blown away. The ground shook from the tremors, and the lights flickered inside Headquarters. Some of the windows had shattered, causing the people who'd been watching from them to duck for cover.

"Perhaps, you overdid it?" Hawkeye asked meekly as she observed the damage.

The two alchemists were no longer in existence. Along with quite a bit of the debris that should have been left.

"No." Roy shook his head. "I did not overdo it this time."

Hawkeye blinked up at him, as if seeing him in a new light. He was really taking this seriously, and today's demonstration would help keep him in everyone's minds as someone they shouldn't mess with. Normally Ed was the one who made a big show of things, but he never did it with such a calm outlook. Mustang had thought his move through, and went big.

The more she looked, the more she could see them reflected in each other. She only wished Roy would see it now too.

At least now she doubted they'd have to worry about someone even risking killing Edward. But she had to admit, suddenly she didn't feel like a mere pistol provided her with much protection when compared to how Mustang could fight when he wanted.

Mustang turned from the scene and began to stride back up to the front doors. They opened for him as several nervous looking uniformed men hauled at the handles. "Thank you." He said in a neutral tone and turned his gaze on one of the secretaries. "Call to have maintenance start fixing the grounds."

"Yes, Fuhrer Mustang, sir!" She replied immediately and quickly got to it.

Roy made his way back to his office, his entire way heralded by saluting men and women. It had worked, the lesson of obeying orders had been learned.

"Sir? That was… scary." Havoc said weakly as Mustang reentered the lobby of his office.

"Good." Mustang said shortly, with a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"If people had known you could do stuff like that, they should have pushed you into the Fuhrer position years ago." Breda remarked.

Roy laughed shortly, "and have missed the fun things that happened? I think not!" His gaze suddenly darkened. "But I had that one under firm control. I could have blown up Headquarters if I had let it get out of hand."

The faces of his men paled, to which he smirked fully.

"Don't worry, Ed's the one who'd be prone to losing control. Not me." Mustang cast a look towards the chess board where Ed's likeness was carved in white. More fitting than anyone could ever know, and he smiled softly, not even realizing that he was. "I hope he's okay."

He let himself into his office and shut the door after telling the men he didn't wish to be disturbed. He had paperwork to finish.

Sitting in his chair he pulled the last of the dwindling stack towards him and picked up a pen. Tapping it lightly end to end on the mahogany desk he stared at the first sheet of heavy paper. It was a request for a State Alchemist intervention in a town that seemed to have found a few chimeras. The creatures had been picking off from flocks of sheep.

"Tedious." Mustang mumbled under his breath and thought for a moment. Normally, he'd send Edward on the tedious missions, just to annoy him. That, and tedious missions like chimera dispatch wouldn't take him long. Other alchemists it could take days. He no longer had his Fullmetal alchemist to call upon though.

He set the paper aside.

When at long last he had finished he leant back in his chair with a languid stretch and a short yawn. Folding his hands behind his head he twisted his chair so he could gaze out the window.

Black clouds were rolling in from the east.

As Roy watched his thoughts drifted to Edward. He wanted the alchemist home, this was worse than when he had been in an entirely different world. Now Ed was here, and the thought of still not being able to see him was frustrating.

More than frustrating, if he were to be perfectly honest with himself.

He'd known he felt more for Edward than just a closeness of friendship, or whatever their strange relationship could be called. He'd known for years, and so he knew that he was concerned for the blonds safety on more than one level.

"Edward, I swear as soon as you're back I'm not going to be a coward anymore." For some silly reason, saying it seemed to give him more resolve on the issue. Almost as if speaking the words aloud would not allow him to back down.

As he heard the knock on his door he quickly sat up, and locked all those thoughts away. He didn't want anyone figuring out, or trying to figure out, the reason for that sad starry eyed gaze he got when he thought of that angelic blond in such terms.

"Come in." He ordered through the door, in his normal, almost bored sounding voice.

It seemed it was back to work once again. He didn't mind it so much anymore since Ed had been forced to flee. Truly, comparing their situations, he had the up side of the coin right now.