WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT I'M ALIVE!
Gosh, I'm so sorry for the 3-month-long unannounced hiatus. I have one word to explain myself: college. A lot went on, so… yeah. But here I am, I'm aliiiive!
AND A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO PUT ME ON THEIR ALERT/FAVE LISTS, even though I currently suck at updating. Now, without further ado, here's a long due fic for all of you!
Set post-manga/Brotherhood. Spoilers for Chapter 108/Episode 64.
"Looks like you're going back to Mustang," Major General Olivier Armstrong said in her usual ice cold tone. Her eyes shifted from the military documents laid on her desk to the officer standing in front of her. "And yet another one of my men go to that… that—" she heaved an exasperated sigh, both for being unable to put her frustration with Mustang into words, and for the frustration at Mustang itself. "First Miles, now you. Who's next? Alex?"
"Uh…" He trembled at her words. For some reason, being around Major General Armstrong always seemed to make the temperature drop—if that was even possible, considering how cold it already was up in Briggs. Her intimidating presence and the wintry climate of the North did not add up to a work-conducive environment. At least not for Falman, who was so used to the warmer weather of Central and East City (and the equally warmer attitude of his previous commander).
"No, actually, I wouldn't mind if he took Alex. In fact, I'd be happy!" The lady general smirked. "That aside… you're going back to square one. If you do as well as you did during that Promised Day fiasco, then surely you won't miss the train of your career for a second time, and you won't end up scraping icicles again." She stood up and looked straight into the officer's eyes. "With intelligence like yours, you might just go places." She handed him the documents regarding his transfer. "Second Lieutenant Vato Falman, you are dismissed."
Falman snapped into a salute as the general dismissed him, and after her nodded acknowledgement, he turned on his heel and left the Ice Queen's office. As he took his last walk through the Briggs fortress, he glanced down from the icicles still forming on the ceiling (which he was feeling tempted to scrape—by force of habit, more than anything) to the transfer orders in his hands. And for the first time in weeks, Falman felt happy.
Back to square one it may be, but it's better than losing a turn.
Several heads gathered around a radio, which has emitted nothing but static buzzing. After a few tweaks of screws, adjustments of wires, and turns of the dial by a bespectacled young man however, the static buzzing turned into voices, introducing themselves as reporters from Radio Capitol. "Ah! It's fixed! Fuery, you're amazing! Thanks!" said one of the men around the radio. Others nodded to express their agreement.
As the military men went back to their work, the radio audible from their positions, a couple of officers entered their workplace, in search of the young sergeant major. Fuery stood up and held his hand to a salute. "Sergeant Major Kain Fuery, am I correct?" the officer asked, as he took out an envelope marked with the military seal.
"Yes, sir," Fuery replied. Seeing the envelope, he couldn't help smiling. He was certain he knew what was inside the envelope, but he also couldn't help asking, albeit hesitantly, "…are those transfer orders, sir?"
The officer looked slightly surprised at Fuery's inquiry, but answered him nonetheless. "Yes. You're being transferred to East Headquarters now."
Not Central? Fuery wondered as he received the documents. With permission from the officer, he opened the envelope to see the contents. Upon reading his orders, Fuery smiled. "Thank you, sir!"
The bell at the front door of the store chimed, prompting a tall blond man to head to the front of the store. "Anything I can help you with, sir?" he asked coolly, an unlit cigarette dangled lazily from the side of his mouth. His welcoming smile changed into an expression of surprise upon seeing a familiar, red-haired soldier inside. "Breda!"
"Special delivery for Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc," Breda smiled, handing him an envelope. The surprise did not fade from Havoc's face. For one thing, it has been some time since he last saw his friend—the last time was after he had been summoned to Central for the Philosopher's Stone to be used to cure him. And now he's calling him a Second Lieutenant again?
"For me?" He asked, though it was pretty obvious. "What's this? I hope it's a magazine with pretty girls on it," he said half-jokingly as he opened the envelope. Seeing nothing but papers, he frowned. "Aww man, you're no fun," he snorted. Havoc took out the papers and scanned is contents. Breda only watched him amusedly.
"Wait… Seriously?" Havoc exclaimed as the contents of the documents finally sunk in to him. He read and reread the papers, unable to believe his eyes.
"Welcome back, Second Lieutenant Havoc," Breda smiled. "Hope you're better now, after your year-long sick leave."
"Seriously?"
"Didn't he say he was going to wait for you at the top? He's a couple steps closer now, so it's about time you start catching up. No reason to hold back, now that you've got your legs as good as new."
Havoc let out a hearty laugh. Of course. "Leave no man behind" is his rule, after all.
A round of gunshots was heard from Eastern Command's firing range, where a certain dark-haired woman was doing some target practice. "Second Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina?" a familiar voice said, her voice competing with the loud sounds of gunfire. Rebecca, upon seeing the source of the voice, immediately stood up.
She made a hasty salute before lunging at the female officer who came to see her. "Rizaaa!" she cried. "It's been so long since I last saw you! How are you? Are your wounds okay now? Well, considering that you're here and you're in uniform, I suppose you're doing great! Oh, and you are Riza Hawkeye after all, so of course you'd be more than okay."
Riza could only chuckle at her friend's excited reaction. "It's good to see you too, Rebecca," she smiled. "I'd love to chat, but I came here for business." Her last statement brought a small frown to the second lieutenant's face. "Well, there's someone in Central Command who's looking for a capable adjutant. Then I remembered how you were always telling me you're going to find some great guy in Central, so I told him you'd be perfect for the job. When he heard your name, he said, 'Oh, Rebecca? Yes, yes, that would be very nice.'"
Rebecca smiled. "Aww, Riza, you're such a great friend!" she said as she took out the documents from the envelope Riza handed her. Her eyes quickly ran through the words on the page, seemingly widening at each word she took in. "Huh? Wait. You're joking, right? There's got to be some mistake!"
"You asked how come I got to work for Mustang, then for the Fuhrer, so now I thought I should give you a chance at working for the Fuhrer too," Riza replied, smiling. It was one of those smiles that fell between feigned innocence and unintentional mischief.
Rebecca didn't share the same seemingly happy expression though. "Grumman? Again?" she whined. "Riza, you're so meaaaan!"
"Hmm? I thought you'd be okay working with him again, since you've worked under him before?"
"You don't know what it's like to work under him, Riza," Rebecca shook her head in mock horror, "You don't know anything."
Riza raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? He was very nice to me," she smiled. "Quite the gentleman."
"I'm sorry, Brigadier General Mustang, but that's how it is," Grumman said triumphantly. Roy was seated across him, a look of defeat on his face. The Fuhrer just won another round of chess, adding another loss to Roy's already heartbreaking statistics. "As much as I'd love to have you here in Central, someone has to take the post I vacated in East. I'm pretty sure you'll do well in Eastern Command, though, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"I… don't know what to say, sir," Roy mumbled. Should I be thankful for being given a higher commanding position? Or should I ask to stay in Central instead? Being in Central means I'm closer to the upper brass… but being a commanding general isn't bad either!
Grumman smiled. "Just say, 'yes, sir!', and it's all cleared. Well, either way, you're still going to be transferred there. It's for the better. You get to be a commanding general and you'll be able to focus on your Ishval policies. Eastern Command is much closer there than here, after all."
"Ah, you're right about that," Roy replied thoughtfully. "If I may ask, sir… am I the only one transferring back to Eastern Command?"
"Oho, well… I've thought about it. If you transfer to East, and if you're going to work on Ishval, I'll have to give you a good set of officers for your staff," the Fuhrer presented a stack of folders to him. "I don't want to impose these people on you, so I'm leaving the evaluation of these officers in your hands."
Despite not seeing the contents of the folders yet, Roy already felt like a rock was dropped inside his stomach. The anxiety welled in him. While he had no problem dealing with subordinates, it was a fact that he hasn't worked with an entirely new staff since… probably since he started working with Hawkeye and the guys.
He sighed silently, as if hoping that he would exhale the worries along with the air. He took the folders and looked through the files wordlessly, trying to be as straight-faced as he could, to hide his possible (but not hopeful) disappointment. This was a futile attempt though, because he found in the files just what he was wishing for. The first folder belonged to Sergeant Major Kain Fuery. Seeing the sergeant's young face on the photograph on his profile brought a smile to Roy's lips. As he looked at the next few folders—Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda's, Second Lieutenant Vato Falman's, Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc's—his smile grew. But as he reached for the last folder, he took in a deep breath. He already got back his pawn, rook, bishop, and knight…
"I didn't want to sign her request for a transfer at first," Grumman confessed, "But then I realized that despite being Fuhrer, there are things that are just beyond my control." Roy could've sworn he saw a twinkle in the Fuhrer's eyes (even behind those round spectacles) as he grinned.
He opened the last folder—First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye—and he sighed in relief. He didn't need to read any more of the contents of their folders. Just reading their names, just getting a glimpse of the faces on the photographs, just knowing it was them was enough of an evaluation for him. Closing the files, he smiled and turned back to Fuhrer Grumman.
"Thank you, sir."
In the crowded mess hall of Eastern Command, several soldiers' eyes followed Brigadier General Mustang as he hovered from table to table in search of someone he could sit with. Why a general and State Alchemist such as himself would actually choose to dine at the jam-packed cafeteria was beyond them. Nonetheless they continued to observe him as surreptitiously as they could. One soldier watched him with her full attention though, and as he noticed her eyes on him, he smiled and made his way across to her, as fast as he could in the crowded hall.
"Hello there, Lieutenant. Is this seat taken?"
Lieutenant Hawkeye smiled in response. "No, sir. Go ahead."
"You seem awfully happy today," he noted, as he set down his lunch tray and took a seat across Hawkeye. He smiled, and in his usual sarcasm—that Riza knew meant no harm or insult at all—asked, "Did something bad happen?"
"If having to deal with your paperwork again is a bad thing, then yes," Riza replied in the same tone. She chuckled at her superior's upside-down grin. "Kidding aside, I'm just glad that things are back to normal."
End. It might not be obvious, but I tried to make a sort of… parallel between these scenarios and a certain part of the manga/Brotherhood story. :) Can you guess? :))