A/N: Roy's back! Sorry about the last chapter being kind of a little flashback type of scenario. I wanted to write that to get a better hold of Dante's character and the upbringing of Damia and Bernard (Envy). I'm going to try to make the training chapters not be too slow and I'm going to try to focus them more around the relationship between Roy and Damia and what they confide in each other.
Although she woke up Monday morning quite tired, the weekend excursion in Galicja was a success. Damia immediately brewed two cups of coffee for herself and ate an apple before changing into her uniform, grabbing her usual pumpernickel bagel to eat on the way, and heading toward the base. All this time, Bernard was still sleeping in the corner on his mattress. Luckily for him, if he had anywhere to go like filling in a shift at the local deli for some extra money, it was later on in the day. At least Damia knew that this day would not be too difficult, as according to protocol, the first day of training a new soldier mainly consisted of an in-depth tour of the base. She stuck her hand in her pocket and breathed a sigh of relief that she did in fact remember to put Roy's fake pocket-watch in her uniform after returning home the previous night. Sometime that week the opportunity to switch the real and fake pocket-watches would have to arise. It was simply the question of whether it would be sooner or later.
When she arrived at the office, Roy, Riza, and Falman were already there. Falman appeared to look as if he had heard too many questions since arriving. Roy must have came across him on the way to the office and decided to ask him some things. Riza, on the other hand, was calm and staid, awaiting some sort of direction as she stood by the new desk designated for her.
"Do Havoc and Breda come in at the last minute every day?" Damia heard Roy ask Falman as she separated some papers into piles for her junior officers. She gave Falman's work to him and placed the other sets of papers on the appropriate desks. For Riza, she provided a book of expenses and budgeting along with an overview of positions and interactions among rank, office jobs, and combat jobs.
"Yes, but they're always on time," Falman replied, almost with a flat sigh. To change the subject he said to Damia, "Thanks again for the dinner voucher, Colonel. My wife and I had a wonderful Saturday night."
With a bit of a yawn, she smiled and said, "That's good. I'm glad."
"You seem tired," he added. "Busy weekend?"
"Yeah, I visited some friends," she replied. It was not exactly lying. "They live far away. I'm all right, though. I'll be near-perfect once the coffee kicks in."
Before anyone could say anything more, Breda and Havoc entered. Roy, not facing the two just-entered soldiers, rolled his eyes. He already found both of them unpleasant and Breda especially gave him a bit of a hard time on Friday. The only consolation was that neither Breda nor Havoc got the idea of taunting him with their own version of the "Baby-faced Balloon Head" jab that Zolf Kimblee had used throughout their school years.
"Great!" Damia said and clapped her hands together once the entire unit was present. "Now that everyone's here, I can get started with Roy. As usual with my planned absence, I designate highest rank to Lieutenant Falman. The work I have received for each of you is on your desk. Hawkeye, for the time being, you can serve as office manager. Right now, take a survey of what we have here and write down what you think we may need and what you have any sort of criticism about. Be as picky and precise as you deem appropriate. According to your paperwork, you had succeeded in economics and business courses, yes?"
"Yes, sir," she said, nearly with some enthusiasm.
"Good. I gave you all the information you need to know about the budgeting and spending system in place for the unit along with an intensive overview of military interactions. A sort of manual."
As Damia began to head toward the door with Roy, Breda spoke with a smirk on his face, "And Damia, are we gonna have something else to do with Hawkeye …?"
"You know what to do," she answered.
"Dodgeball?"
"Yup,"
Breda laughed. "All right, now we're talkin'!" After Damia and Roy left, he exchanged smirking glances with Havoc. One week of dodgeball with Riza Hawkeye followed by another week to play the little game with Roy Mustang … neither could ask for more amusement.
"Um, what's dodgeball?" Roy asked after they left the office. Breda could not possibly have been talking about the schoolyard game.
"Nothing of your concern right now," Damia replied. "All you have to worry about this week is getting to know the base and the rest of training. Today I'm giving you a tour but be prepared for a lot of alchemy and sword work this week. We'll go over target shooting too but mainly alchemy and fencing. I know that the Academy Summer Program focuses more on shooting than swordsmanship so you're going to need help with that."
Some sniggering escaped Roy's lips even though he tried to contain it. He was pleasantly reminded of Damia's test with Riza.
"Don't think I don't know what you think is so funny," she said firmly as she stopped in her tracks and faced him. "I have no responsibility to you to explain the circumstances of testing another soldier. Perhaps if you ever lost an arm or a leg you'd have some degree of understanding what it is like for me to be unable to use alchemy. In fact, both an arm and a leg since I couldn't use a sword." She shook her head. "Why am I getting defensive over you?" she asked herself out loud as she continued on her way. "You're not worth it …"
"What the hell do you mean by that?" he asked bitterly, responding to her final comment. "Damn it, you're all over the place. One minute you demean me, then you're nice to me, but in the end you're just like your entire unit, aren't you?! And by 'the unit' I mean Havoc and Breda. Is this how you made colonel – messing with peoples' minds and driving them nuts?!"
Damia continued walking. "I assume you know this building pretty well. This building is the main one and it's only used for offices and the library. I'll show you what everything else is outside. It's important to know where to go, what's there, and where never to go."
Damn her, she's avoiding everything, Roy thought as he followed Damia out of a door. And this is the unreliable partner I'm stuck with …?
Just when I start to think this kid isn't so bad, he has to piss me off, She thought. What an example of Amestris he is. He even looks ethnically exactly like the original Amestrians, before the country became a conglomeration of conquered city-states. What else should I expect from this blasted country …?
She brought Roy around to various areas of the base, such as the arena and the different training areas. The tour was all silent except for Damia's voice saying what each area was and what it was designated for. It was not until she brought him to a sign that read 'Security Clearance Required' that the two began to converse more.
"And here," Damia said sternly but with a bit of a puff of air as she stopped walking. "Here you do not go past. Even if a superior officer gives you an order to go beyond this sign, consult your manual and consult your applicable immediate superior to legally find some way as to why you are not qualified for the order."
"What's the big problem if it's an order?" Roy asked curiously. "If it's an order then you'd get a temporary license meeting the required Security Clearance, right?"
Damia's voice was softer now and she spoke in a tone of uneasy somberness. "I don't know. Luckily I have never been in such a position to give or receive this type of order. But promise me that if you are told to go beyond here that you will notify me immediately."
"Sure," Roy said, puzzled.
"It's not a 'sure' but a solid 'yes' that I need from you, Roy," she said, looking into his eyes. "Promise me."
"Yes, Colonel, I promise," he said. A beat passed before he added, "I know you'll probably say that it's none of my business, but why is this such a big deal?" He quickly continued, hoping this addition would prevent a possible biting comment from Damia, "After all, as partners we have to feel comfortable enough with each other to ask such questions."
Damia put a hand on Roy's shoulders. "Let's get away from this area. Thank God it's quiet around here today. We can speak softly as we walk."
They began to head toward the direction of the training areas. The two walked side-by-side, quite close together, and conversed in hushed speech.
"A few years ago, before I had my own unit, a colleague of mine – friend, too actually – received an order to deliver something past that sign. She was given this order by a superior, but not by our immediate superior. I don't know who gave her that order but … but she never came back."
"Maybe she was transferred?" Roy asked. Damia's tone and demeanor was eerie, as if she was seriously telling a ghost story, and it was beginning to send a chill down his spine.
She shrugged. "It's possible but I highly doubt it. For starters, our immediate superior had no information on the loss of the soldier except that she was no longer in the unit. Then, add to that the general system of the way base assignments are in the military." She felt it was safe enough to speak a bit louder. The information she was about to provide was pertinent to tour information. "You see, Amesitris has six bases: the two main bases located around the two central cities, such as ours, and a base near the boarders of our country and each of our neighbors, Galicja, Romana, Norda Province, and Gael Province. The Galicja and Romana bases deal mainly with political situations, while the Norda and Gael bases tend to be used for training and economic regulatory issues. The two central bases, outs and the Western Central base, are mainly composed of combat soldiers, which is why we have the State Alchemists." Her voice softened again. "From what I know, only the two central bases have weird areas like where we just were. Also, soldiers whose home bases are boarder bases legally cannot be transferred to a central base."
"Could you or I get sent to a boarder base?" he asked.
"Technically yes, but only under necessary circumstances," Damia replied in a normal volume. "For instance, let's say that the Galicjans invade. Because I am not only an alchemist, but a Galicjan language speaker, I could get a transfer to the Galicjan boarder base until the conflict is resolved. But even if such an invasion occurred, just because my home base is here at East Central, most likely I wouldn't be moved at all."
Roy was confused. He uttered out how the procedure hardly made any sense.
Damia shrugged. "We're in the military. Nothing is supposed to make sense," she said matter-of-factly. A few silent moments later, she stopped in her tracks, put her hand on Roy's shoulder, and gestured for him to stand a little closer to her. "One more thing," she spoke, almost in a whisper. "Fuhrer Bradley only frequents the central bases … and he usually stays East Central."
"What does that mean?" he whispered.
"I'm not sure," she replied. "Start walking again toward the alchemy training areas." They started to move again and she added, "I'm relieved that everyone's been in their offices today because it's Monday. I feel much better having explained the system to you."
Roy smiled. It felt good and made him feel important to have been given such information. "Damia," he said. "Let's try not to snip at each other anymore."
She nodded. "I agree. You know, I think we need each other. This is why I'm very interested in doing alchemy with you. In all honesty, you're extremely talented for your age. I think over time we can come up with some great tag-team strategies."
"Yeah," he said and scratched his head. "But wouldn't I slow you down? You don't need me, not with what you can do."
Damia shook her head and laughed. "Are you nuts? Of course I need you! Sometimes it's very dry and I have less to work with. Even if I make electricity out of water molecules, I need that moisture to build off of. So, of course I need you, Roy! Think about it – we're both quite powerful on our own, but together, when we can balance out each others' weaknesses … just imagine what we could strive to be!"
A grin formed on Roy's face.
Fuhrer! He thought.
Instead of his true thoughts, he censored his goal to a word that could, or could not; imply the same degree of success, "Unbeatable!"
They had reached the entrance gate to the alchemy training area. "Not quite," Damia said as she took out a ring of keys and began fingering through them for the proper one. "I don't like thinking that anyone is immortal. It's too easy to set yourself up for failure that way. There's a fine line between confidence and conceit that has to be danced around. Everything in the world possesses mortality – you just have to find exactly where it is and hone in on that spot on your enemy. For yourself, you must be aware of your own weaknesses but use your strengths to out-power them. So, Roy, we can never be unbeatable." The corner of her mouth twisted into a satisfied, impish half-smile. "But formidable? Absolutely."
Her little lecture made sense to him and was quite practical. Surely, he would learn a lot from his new partner and he was glad to have those building blocks placed before him.
"Do you want to have lunch first, or do some alchemy?" Damia asked once she found the right key.
"Alchemy," Roy answered, smiling and already taking his gloves out of his pocket.
She opened the gate. "All right, let's go!" she said eagerly.
As they entered, Roy put on his gloves and looked ahead of him at the vast practicing area before him. How exciting it was to be there! After Damia locked the gate behind them, she led him toward an area to begin seeing what they both had to work with. This was going to be a very interesting, even fun week of training and Roy was eager not only to learn but to get to know Damia better. It occurred to him to perhaps ask her what she meant earlier in the day, comparing losing alchemy to losing an arm or a leg. He truly wanted to understand her with all of her quirks and odd way of laying out words.
Nah, not today, Roy thought. Some other time.