Thrive

I want to thrive and not just survive.

Grumman arrived in Resimbool during an early morning in March. The wind was brisk, but it wasn't enough to warrant a jacket. Although Fallman and Breda had escorted him to Resimbool, it was Harvard and Riza that met him at the train station. Riza didn't offer much of a salute. Harvard stood at attention, holding a file under his arm. Grumman stopped and smiled gently at Riza. "I'm glad to see you're still holding up well."

Riza nodded. "It's been difficult for us. I let Roy stay at Winry's so that Ed can help him, but I've been with Harvard working on the investigation. Did you manage to retrieve the bullet?"

Grumman nodded and handed her a small envelope. "It's coated in blood; I don't know how much you'll be able to see as far as serial numbers."

Sliding the envelope into her pocket, Riza gave him a gentle hug. "He's doing well with his progression. He's healing quite nicely. I think keeping him here in the country is safer than being out in the open for now. He's convinced that the automail won't help him."

"Automail?" Grumman asked skeptically. "What do you mean?"

Harvard took the lead and navigated them through crowds of people. She turned to Grumman and spoke softly. "He was shot in the left shoulder, high enough to not cause much damage to his heart, but low enough to paralyze the nerves in his left arm. Since he would never regain feeling in the arm, we decided it would be best to give him automail. At least that way if it came down to something, he wouldn't be totally useless. Besides, who wants to wave a dead arm around?" She sighed. "He's been adjusting hard to the change. But I won't leave his side. I refuse."

Harvard stopped and turned to them. "Did you want to tell him what else is going on?"

Riza smiled brightly. "Ruth is teething."

"Ah! My great granddaughter is growing up so quickly! And you got married! I'm so happy!" Grumman had been out of the loop for some time, so it was only right he learned now. The older man stroked his beard. "How will Roy be with speaking before the public?"

"Hesitant. Not unless I'm protecting him. If you need him to speak, he will, but not without me at the podium with him." She smiled. "No offense, Harvard, you did an amazing job protecting my daughter and I."

"None taken, Ma'am. We need to get to a safe place where we can discuss the details of the investigation."

Riza nodded. "I know just the place."

Winry set down a tea kettle onto the table, along with some glasses for them to drink from. Grumman graciously nodded thanks. Riza and Harvard both sat across from him, staring intently at the tabletop. Harvard was the first to speak. "This is in regard to the investigation."

Grumman nodded. "Where is Roy?"

"Out front with Ed, Maes, and Nina." Riza replied, pointing to the file. "Roy said he caught a glimpse of the shooter. He said he recognized them."

"Recognized them?" Grumman asked.

Riza nodded slowly. "He was wearing a state alchemist's uniform."

Grumman gasped. "Do you suppose that Olivier sent someone to eradicate him from the running?"

"I don't think so, that would be too easy." Riza whispered. "No, I suspect that this was from someone else; someone a little more nefarious and in possession of a rather high-caliber weapon to do that much damage with a single shot. I'm thinking it was the man who kidnapped me."

Grumman curiously watched the scene play outside the window. Roy was tossing a ball for the kids to chase. He had to admit, after a few months of working with it, Roy seemed to be handling automail just fine. He seemed to be pretty happy, playing with Maes and Nina. Den ran around his legs, barking playfully while Roy used his left hand to throw the ball. Ed considered it 'training' for how to properly gauge his strength, so he didn't accidently destroy the ball. It seemed reasonable, actually, if you looked at it differently. Grumman suspected Ed was just using this as a chance to get the kids to stop begging to play with Uncle Roy.

"He seems happy," Grumman observed.

Riza nodded. "The peace is doing him some good. He still isn't allowed to hold Ruth, until Ed deems him ready. He's working hard to get to that point. It's a minor setback in his campaign, but he's still been going to the rallies and speaking on his behalf. He won't back down." Her voice was cold and distant. "I'm afraid being in this position will put him in danger. This is twice now."

Grumman nodded. "It comes with a lot of power, people envy that. But he'll have one of the best security teams in the country. He'll have you protecting the little ones at home, and he'll have Havoc behind him in the ranks. You know as well as I do that Havoc is the next best sharpshooter sans yourself."

She nodded in agreement and turned to stare at Harvard. "You're new here. Regardless of circumstance, you'll still need to earn your trust. That group of people that kidnapped me, that doctor made it out of the tunnels alive." She sipped gingerly at her tea and waited for Harvard to speak, but the man stayed silent. "I want you to know that I trust you, and if the furor trusts you, then I suppose I can as well. But you've got some time before you can earn my husband's seal of approval. You hesitated on the battlefield, and he will view that as a weakness."

"Havoc hesitated as well," Harvard observed. "Yandi mentioned that Havoc didn't take the shot once the General was down. He could have easily killed whoever did it."

"Cementing my theory that it was someone that he knew," Grumman commented. "It was someone that took him off guard. Someone he wouldn't suspect."

"There are many people he wouldn't suspect," Riza quietly added, pouring some more tea into her glass. She looked out the window quickly, a small smile forming on her lips when Roy fell backward and held onto Nina, laughter rising through the air. "I would be considered one of those people. Ed, Nina, Winry…they'd all be those people. Even Harvard. The people he calls his confidants made it this far for a reason. He trusts us all implicitly, with his life. And we failed to protect that."

Grumman sighed and reached a hand out to touch hers, smiling a little when she felt the cool metal of her wedding band. "He gave up a lot to come this far; he gave up you as his second in command. That was hard for him. He loves you, though, and he would never ever view you as a failure. You did what he asked you to do. You protected Ruth."

The elder woman sighed and looked away. "I understand that, but what good is protecting Ruth if I can't protect him? She'll need her daddy at some point."

"Elysia seems to do a fine job surviving without Maes," Harvard observed, immediately regretting his words. "Jesus, I'm sorry. I forgot that was a touchy topic for you."

"Yeah, it kind of is." She stood from the table and folded her arms, leaning against the window sill so she could watch the kids playing outside. "I'm starting to think that perhaps he'd do a much better job ruling a country out here."

"It's not a matter of ruling as much as it is guiding." Grumman corrected. "He raised Edward. He's a great person altogether, if you can get passed his ego. There's no reason he couldn't win this election, regardless of the past events. He's noticed the mistakes he made in Ishval; he's working on fixing them. That's more than anyone else can say. I'm starting to suspect that having automail is a requirement to be a state alchemist."

Riza looked up, startled. "His re-evaluation is coming up."

Grumman nodded and idly sipped on his tea. "It is. He'll need to do it before going into office."

Harvard eyed them both suspiciously over the teacup. "Does this mean that he can't fight without his arm in working order?"

"No," Riza murmured. "There's one thing he never let onto the general public. He's ambidextrous, but that doesn't mean that he can control the attacks as well with his left hand. Roy fights with his right hand. His movements are so quick and fluid, most people assume it's the left. I assume that's why he was shot in the left shoulder."

"They were aiming to kill, not paralyze." Harvard added.

Riza shook her head. "That was a high-caliber weapon. If they wanted to kill him, they didn't even really need to aim. They shot him on purpose, but they were aiming to paralyze. It was someone who didn't want him using that hand again – someone that had a basic understanding of the human anatomy and nerve clusters."

"How does his alchemy work, anyway?" Harvard questioned.

Since Grumman trusted this man, and he was already part of the team, she suspected it was okay to tell him. "His right hand glove is made of ignition cloth. When he snaps his fingers, it creates a spark. He uses the transmutation circle to ignite the flame and control it. From there, it takes quick alchemy and arithmetic to figure out how to control the flame and pinpoint his accuracy. It's much more complicated than that, but that's a simple explanation. The thing most people don't understand is that while his alchemy may not be useful in the rain, destroying his gloves cannot stop him. During the fight in the tunnels, in the abandon labs, he carved a transmutation circle into his hand. All he needs is a starter."

"He's a powerful man," Harvard mumbled, watching her arms fold over her chest. She was staring longingly out the window. "You've loved him for a long time, haven't you?"

She nodded. "Since we were children; my father trained him in the art of flame alchemy."

Harvard nodded slowly and watched her. "You two make a great team. I'm sure that when he wins, you'd be the most amazing woman to be by his side."

"Thanks for the kind words," She mumbled, pushing off of the wall. "But, I don't expect them from you."

Harvard nodded. "I'll stay in here and brief the furor. You can go do what it was you needed to do."

Riza nodded. "Thank you, Harvard."

Winry leaned over the blanket that was laid out on the floor, her blonde locks falling over the infant's body, causing Ruth to wiggle with delight. The infant was smiling happily when Winry handed her the rattle to play with. Clutching it tightly in her hand, the baby began to shake it around.

Riza smiled from the doorway. "You're a great mom."

Winry turned to Riza and smiled softly, blue eyes bright. "I miss having babies around here. Maes and Nina grew up so fast. And being twins, they were a lot more complicated to handle. But Ruth, she's a cutie. I like her." Winry smiled. "I just can't get her to laugh."

The elder blonde crossed the distance and knelt next to the blanket, leaning over her daughter's small body. "I'm. Gonna. Getcha!" She mumbled as she tickled the baby's sides. Ruth squealed with delight. Her shrill laughter filled the room for a long time while Riza tickled her. "I knew you'd like that. Mommy's know this stuff." She gently picked up Ruth and held her in her lap. "Wanna go see daddy?" Ruth's expression didn't change. She seemed to be observing. "I'm gonna take your silence as a yes. Thank you for changing her and getting her dressed, Winry."

Winry nodded and stood, following the mother and child. "It's no problem. I'd love to watch her more often."

"Roy suggested having you and Ed raise her…back before I quit the military. He said you would have done an amazing job. I said I couldn't do that to my own child with good conscience; especially knowing that you had your hands full with Maes and Nina." She paused before going outside to sit on the steps. "Thank you for everything you've done for us, Winry."

Winry shook her head. "Thank you for bringing my husband back alive."

Riza gave a small smile. "You need to thank the big man for that; I had nothing to do with it."

Winry went back into the kitchen to make lunch while Riza went outside to sit on the steps with Ruth. Winry had put a pink sweater on her, mostly because it was brisk and she didn't want the baby to catch a cold. Ruth sat happily in her mother's lap, arms flailing about wildly. Riza stared down at her and kissed the top of her head, letting Ruth hold her fingers. "Do you want to play with daddy?"

Roy's head shot up when he heard the word daddy uttered from those lips he knew so well. He didn't move to go over to them. It was the first time he'd seen his daughter since getting the automail put on. He knew something had changed in his wife if she brought the baby out to see him. Ed nudged him gently. "Go on. Go see her."

With a wide smile, Roy started to walk towards his family, kneeling on the ground in front of his wife and daughter. "Hey there, little one. Do you remember me?"

Ruth's toothless smile was so wide, Riza almost recognized it as Roy's. The little girl held out her arms in a fist. Her eyes full of tears. "She wants you to hold her."

Roy didn't move at first. He stared at Riza for a long time. "May I?"

Riza looked over his shoulder to Ed, who gave a nod. She smiled and handed Ruth to him. "You may."

He carefully held out his arms while Riza placed the child into them. "Do I have to—?"

"No, she's old enough now that she can sit on her own." Roy carefully shifted the child, earning a small smile from his wife. She was trying hard not to help him. As soon as the cold metal came in contact with Ruth's feet, however, the infant started wailing. Riza stood up quickly.

"Oh God, I hurt her! I knew it was a bad idea!" He went to hand the infant back, but Riza placed hand against Ruth's back and rubbed it gently.

"She's just shocked because of the cold feeling. She's not used to it yet. Remember, our baby can't tell us things yet, so we just have to figure them out." She smiled and kissed the top of Ruth's head again. "She loves her daddy, see?" As the infant stopped crying and snuggled against his shirt, her eyes closing softly, Riza couldn't help but smile. "He's protective of her."

"Someone has to be," He replied softly. "Thank you for allowing me to hold her today. I'll keep working at this so I can take care of her again."

Nina and Maes came running over, poking at Roy's legs. "Can we play with Ruth?"

His eyes got dark suddenly. He didn't want to give up the time he had with his daughter, especially knowing this would only happen once in a while until he could use his arm correctly. He frowned reluctantly and handed her back to Riza. "They want to play with her."

He went to walk back over to Ed, but Riza's voice stopped him. "Play with your daughter for a little bit, Roy. She's been waiting to see you."

He never did tell her about the wide, goofy grin that he got. Ed saw it, but no one but he and Ed knew about it. Roy smiled and turned to his wife. "Thank you!" He screamed, almost as if he was a child given a toy on Christmas. Kneeling in the grass beside the children, he played with Ruth, smiling happily.

Ed sat beside Riza on the steps. "He's making considerable progress."

"He'll need to be re-evaluated for his State Alchemist's title," Riza murmured softly. "Will he be able to fight as well missing his left hand?"

Ed nodded. "He'll be alright. Right now I know how important it is for him to see his daughter, so I've been helping him with his arm strength first. We'll work on attacking later. I just hope he realizes that I'm no longer an alchemist."

"Ah, yeah, that might be difficult for him to understand, but I think he'll be okay." She rest her chin against her palms and watched him, a small smile on her lips. "He's happy. I missed seeing that stupid grin."

"He loves her." Ed commented. "He's worked for months just for this moment."

"I know, nothing motivates him quite as strongly as family." Riza commented, smiling when he looked up at her. He smiled back and went back to talking to Ruth, excitedly running around her like a child with ADHD. "You do know that you and Winry are his only family besides Madam Christmas, right?"

Ed nodded. "I've always viewed him as a dad. He protected me and took care of me. You and he did a lot for me when you didn't have to. You're always welcome here. I'm sure Winry won't mind."

"She wants another baby. I don't think she's going to let us leave with Ruth." Riza mumbled softly.

Ed looked up at her. "She'd better, because she already has another baby."

Riza turned a startled glance at him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh! So she didn't tell you she was pregnant again? Hrm. I guess that there's probably a reason for that. She told me just before I went out to Central to get the General over there." He smiled and looked at his kids. "I'm excited. I never knew being a father could be this fun."

Riza nodded. "It took me some adjusting, but when I did...I wouldn't give up Ruth for anything."

"That's good, because I doubt she'd want to give you up." Ed whispered.

Ruth's shrill laughter echoed through the air when Roy tickled her. Riza smiled softly at the sight. "Perhaps he's a better daddy than he is a leader."

Two continuity errors (I'm borrowing these from the original series, since I don't remember them mentioned in Brotherhood.) Roy's eyes are blue. This is shown in episode 13, inadvertently during the Dog Rant. Also, he snaps with his right hand. But, I'm gonna keep going with the left. ;) There's a reason for that.

I've got my direction back, so expect some sense and stuff revealed in the next few chapters. I have a plan for 26 altogether, still unsure if I want to continue through Ruth's growth or not. But let me know in the reviews if you guys want to see Ruth grow up, because right now, I'm only writing a little bit after the elections. And for some reason, the thought of Roy with automail is the most sexist thing I've ever done. Just saying.

Someone had asked about Breda and Fallman - I find it difficult to write them because I don't remember seeing them a whole lot in the series, but I'll try to work them in later. They're still in Mustang's unit, but he keeps them at home to hold down the office when he's away lol. I also want to go on record to say that this is going to be the longest story I've ever written. My second being 16 chapters. This one is going to have 26.