I do not own FMA or its characters. Spoilers for Hawkeye and Mustang's past. This is AU.

Change of Command

Jean Havoc had to admit he was a little concerned when he found out they were being reassigned. Ishbal had been a nightmare from the start, but at least he and Hawkeye had been kept together. When the orders came for them to be reassigned to the same unit, he was relieved, but Hawkeye's nervousness had simply increased. Hawkeye had been edgy ever since arriving in Ishbal, but he always was worse when they were being moved around. Jean didn't know what secret the kid was hiding, but he never liked working with new people, and superior officers always made Hawkeye edgy.

Still, there was nothing he could do about it except keep an eye on his friend, and so they reported for duty at their new campsite. The pair was directed towards two dark haired men sitting by the campfire.

Havoc saluted. "Havoc and Hawkeye reporting for duty, sir."

One of the men's head shot up at that, and Hawkeye took a sharp breath. There was a flicker of something in the man's eyes, but he rose and smiled at them, holding out a hand.

"Major Roy Mustang. Feel free to set up your tent and get settled. Dinner's in a few hours, and we're not expected to have an assignment until tomorrow."

He shook Jean's hand and then Hawkeye's, and Jean would swear that their hands lingered in each other's longer than necessary. Hawkeye seemed completely at ease with the man which was something he'd never seen before. Even when it was just himself and Hawkeye, the young man typically kept up his guard.

As they set up their tent, Havoc finally asked the question that had been bothering him since their introduction their new commanding officer.

"So, what's the deal with you and the major?"

"My father was his alchemy teacher. We grew up together." Hawkeye bit his lip. "He's closer to my sister than he is to me really."

"Sister? You've never mentioned her before."

Hawkeye shrugged. "There's not much to tell."

"Come on, Rick. How old is she? Is she pretty? Will you introduce me to her?"

"She's about my age. I don't really know if she's pretty. She's just my sister." He seemed to be blushing. "I suppose I could introduce you when all this is over, but she's fairly devoted to Mister, I mean Major, Mustang."

Jean sighed. "Ah well. There's plenty of girls out there."

It wasn't lost on him that Hawkeye disappeared later that evening as did Mustang. But despite the prior relationship, Mustang didn't seem to be favoring Hawkeye over any of the other guys. In fact, Jean was pretty sure Mustang was the reason Hawkeye had joined the military in the first place. Not that he could blame him. Roy Mustang had to be the best CO he'd had to date. The man hated this place as much as the rest of them and made very little of the fact that he outranked them. Oh, he expected them to follow his orders, but he never made them stand on ceremony. The only time things ever got formal was when there was an inspection by the brass.

Still, there were some things that worried him about his new CO. They had barely been with the new unit a week when orders were delivered to destroy a town on the edge of the area they patrolled along. They were joined by the Crimson Alchemist unit for the mission. It was Havoc's first time actually seeing their CO's alchemy in action. What they had found was not the enemy stronghold they had expected but what appeared to be simply a village. Crimson had launched right into an attack, but Mustang had just stood there horrified until Crimson had taunted him. And then he had snapped.

Hawkeye's face had gone blank as fire poured over the village, but he had calmly shot any who presented a threat to the alchemist. But what really struck Jean was the look in his commander's eyes which he could see clearly through his scope. The man appeared to be in physical pain over this.

Afterwards Mustang was withdrawn and abrupt. They returned to the campsite in silence, Mustang disappearing once they arrived. Havoc caught sight of him later, perched on one of the dunes above the camp. When he didn't return for dinner, Hughes and Hawkeye traded glances, and Hawkeye rose to his feet.

"I'll talk to him."

Hughes frowned. "Be careful, Rick. He's not at his most composed right now."

"Trust me, I understand. Who better?" Rick smiled. "He won't hurt me, Maes."

He and Hughes watched as Hawkeye trekked up the dune to sit beside Mustang. Hughes sighed.

"What was that about?" Jean knew there had to be more to this.

Hughes just sighed again. "Rick's father was Roy's alchemy teacher. He was the one to come up with flame alchemy in the first place. He was also unwilling to teach it to Roy when he learned Roy was interested in the military. It was Rick's sister who gave him the research once their father had died. I think both Rick and Roy blame themselves for the destruction it has caused."

He just shook his head. "Neither of them are responsible for starting this war or issuing the orders. They just follow them. If they didn't, they'd be just as dead as the Ishbalans."

Jean knew soldiers who had learned that the hard way.

"You know that, and I know that, but I'm not sure they believe it." Hughes shook his head. "Hawkeye will keep him from doing anything stupid, and Mustang will do the same for Hawkeye. They just have to keep reminding each other of what they have to live for."

"The sister?"

Hughes nodded. "In part. And each other. They're the closest thing to family the other has."

He yawned. "All right. If they're in good hands, then I'm going to bed."

Ishbal was still hell. That hadn't changed. But if he had to be here, Havoc would admit that this was not the worst group of people to be stuck with.

Theme: Superior and Subordinate