A/N: By the time you read this, it'd be Christmas Eve (unless you're on the Eastern Hemisphere… then it'd be Christmas day…). Still, here's an (early) Christmas present to you all. Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all get what you want.
And as always, there's a little something for our troops overseas and away from family. We love you all, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa! Hoo-ah and ooh-rah! -salutes-
DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA... or The Sum of All Fears.
Chapter 38
I Don't Care If You Sleep In The Same Bed As Me, So Long As You Don't Do Anything
2214; Central City; Roy's Freakishly Large Estate, Especially Since He Is Single
Ed sat on his suitcase on Mustang's white marble porch. His face was supported by his palms, in which his elbows were propped up on his knees. "Where is he? I left after they pop out the beer after his li'l disquisition and he's late." Ed groaned and looked to Al, who was making some small talk with one of the MPs made to guard Mustang's entourage.
There was some movement downhill that caught Edward's attention. A silhouette in a car, discussing something with the first guard MPs (the ones who guarded the gates to Mustang's world). Ed smiled. "About time!" The car pulled up and the man stepped out.
"I thought you'd never show up, you-!" Ed stopped. "It's you guys."
"Hey, FullMetal, sir,"said Havoc, shutting the door shut. From the shotgun side, Kain Fuery emerged; from the rear end was Warrant Officer Falman. "Where's the Chief?" Havoc asked, looking back and forth.
"That's what I want to know."
"That might be him," said Falman, nodding downwards. Another car was approaching. It pulled over without even checking with the MPs. Three bodies stepped out.
"Hey, Jacoby! Breda! Graham!" greeted Jean. Graham, Breda, and Whitcomb came out. "Good to see you're coming, Ishbal," Havoc grinned, patting both MPs on the shoulder. Graham twitched a little.
"Actually, Jean," said Whitcomb. "We're not coming."
"What? Why not?"
Graham cleared his throat. "Mister Medic Tomo Wade Kinsey said I couldn't. I had to heal up, even though he did perform some of that surgery on me."
Havoc looked down. "That's a shame. You guys were supposed to be part of Mustang's escort too. I'd hate for you guys to miss out." Havoc wanted everyone, meaning everyone, who knew about it before to be in for a surprise treat at the furlough.
"Tell me about it. The first annual Mustang Leave and I have to stay at home and heal."
"And I gotta watch him. Nothing but cards and music plays for three weeks."
"Mustang Leave...?" said Havoc. "Is that what you're calling it?"
"Yup. Kinda like the Exodus Leave... y'know, the holiday leave?" 'Cept it's the Mustang Leave cuz Mustang came up with it. That's what I deemed it anyways."
"What about you, Bradykins?" asked Havoc. "Tell me at least you can come."
Breda shrugged, his arm in a sling. "The bullet went right through the bone of this arm," he said. "Funny thing, too. It heals from a fracture and then a weak later it goes and gets shot. What're the odds of that?" He glanced at Havoc. "But, there's no way that I'm going to be spending my leave in some hospital wing." Grins were exchanged.
"Oh yeah," started Havoc, looking over at Jacoby. "You won't believe who I ran into yesterday. Nick Nimitz, from high school."
"Who?"
"Navy? You remember Navy, right? His dad conducted the JROTC."
"The one guy from the school paper who kept bragging about how he'll be a big writer one day?"
"That's the one. He sorta got his wish to come true. He works with Prime Weekly."
"You're kidding. Prime Weekly, like the magazine?"
"No, the candy brand." Havoc made a face. "Yeah, of course the magazine. Navy interviewed him. You can ask the Chief when he gets here."
"If he gets here," said Ed, still sighing. "This isn't right. He sends us a letter telling us to meet at his estate at precisely ten o'clock and it's about half past already. Wouldn't you know it when he doesn't keep his word."
"He's the CINC, Ed," started Havoc. "Don't forget that. He has more responsibilities than you probably ever will." Usually, Havoc was afraid to talk down to higher officers, but he was doing this in Chief's honor, not to mention that Ed was a minor and could make it all the more easier for Havoc to correct.
Ed frowned just as another car decided to pull up. Ed already knew that it wasn't going to be Mustang due to the number of heads in the car. They emerged from it.
The first one was Lieutenant Maria Ross, who sat shotgun. The driver was Sgt. Denny Bloch, who waved at the bunch all piled up on the porch with their suitcases; the said bunch waved back.
"You scared me for a second, Denny!" Jean wailed, unsure of what to say. "I thought since you and Lieutenant Ross were here, that Colonel Armstrong would be here too."
"Nah. He's still out at Fort Chinook. Half the regiment got to the leave. The other half is still out there."
"Lucky us," admitted Fuery.
A car pulled up.
"Betcha it's anyone but him," grinned Havoc, pulling out a cigarette. Breda pulled out a hundred sens.
Riza emerged first, shotgun side.
"I fold; I take it back," Havoc replied quickly, knowing where there was a Riza, there was a Roy.
Roy exited next, turning the car off. "Listen Riza, all I'm saying is that I'm alive. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what happened on the train. I know I screwed up."
"Save it," she muttered, slamming the door shut.
"Riza. I am trying to explain to you why I did not tell you about the train incident," he started again, going around to the trunk of the car along with her. They both spoke in whispers, the bystanders noticed.
"You don't have to," was her response.
"I want to. If I don't, you'll be in a sour, butt-ugly mood for the leave, and I don't want you to be in a sour, butt-ugly mood." Roy attempted to make eye contact with her as they were now both under the hood of the trunk, trying to grab their bags from there. "Don't think I didn't see the look on your face when that writer knew about it, when you didn't." Forgetting about the others, he fingered her jawline, smiling softly.
Riza sighed. "Forget about it."
Mustang submitted and shut the trunk, grabbing Riza's bags.
"What gives, Mustang?" Ed demanded after Mustang and Hawkeye had topped the porch.
"What, I can't be a gentleman!" Mustang retorted, completely paranoid, since he was carrying Riza's luggage of all things.
Everyone blinked. "Let me rephrase, General Shithead," commenced Ed. He drew in a deep breath and repeated, "What gives, Mustang? You're half an hour late!"
"I had last minute things to take care of," was the older, taller male's response. "Who do you think I am, a commoner? No offense to any of you," he quickly added. "Plus, Hawkeye and I do carpool." Not to mention that we drove all over Central City trying to look for a car rental place. Not succeeding...
"Should've saved you some time, huh? But you took all of half an hour and more!"
"I'm sorry if we had to pick up Black Hayate from the vet, then!" Mustang argued, shoving the dog he cradled in his other arm in Ed's face.
Ed fell back, still guilty for what happened to the dog those long weeks ago. Ed sighed and stumped back down to his sitting position on his suitcase. He crossed his arms, pouting. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Do you want to come or not, Ed? Because I can tell by the look on your face." Roy set the baggage down and crossed his arms, once again, looking down on the adolescent alchemist.
Ed still pouted, but Winry readilly answered, "He doesn't mean it, right, Ed?" she added. Ed shrugged his shoulders, followed by a sigh.
"I'll take that as a reluctant yes," Roy said, putting his hands in his pockets.
Another car pulled up. Everyone's eyes subconsciously wandered down the staircase.
"Who's missing? I thought everyone was here," Roy whispered to Riza.
"Captain Zunis and Specialist Lansen, sir."
"Roy," he corrected.
Riza ignored Roy's corrections as Specialist Lansen exited the car. He dashed up the stair steps and saluted. Roy quickly returned it back before remembering that this was a leave. Lansen swallowed. "Sorry for being late, sir."
"Forget it... Luke... is it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where's the Cap'n?"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Zunis said, exiting the vehicle. "Sorry, sir, for my delay."
"That's alright, Cap'n."
There were a few moments of silence and cricket chirping. Fuery attempted to whistle as Havoc exhaled smoke rings from his cigarette into the dark, night sky. Bloch sat on his luggage, tapping with two pencils on the white marbled tiled floor. Al resisted the urge to pull out an alchemy book.
"So... when do we, y'know, leave for the leave?" questioned Havoc, still leaning against one of the pillars with his cigarette between his index and middle finger.
Mustang pocketed his hands. "Listen, I know we're killing time by this decision, so don't try to reason out of it, because your leave is the same as mine. Right? Right. So, this is what I'm thinking.
"I think that it's too late for a departure. It's dark, it's cloudy, and I'm sure we're all tired after all that's been going on, especially after today. You enlisted folks especially- Fuery, Bloch, and Lansen. Don't tell me you weren't exhausted because I know you kids were. You guys were running around noontime in a hundred and ten degree heat, delivering water when you needed it. You officers were doing your best to comply with the orders given by your higher ups. Zunis, I caught you doing PT without any of your lieutenants, so I'm positive their was a problem. Lieutenant Ross, I wasn't the high-up officer who gave the order of assigning and reassigning barrack bunks to the subbing soldiers. Havoc, I caught your eye in Command, dashing around trying to fulfill some upper echelon's favor- whatever you were doing in Command. Hawkeye, you had about fifty thousand assignments today: the armory, the barracks, trafficking, city patrol, etc. etc. Ed, you had took command of some enlisted-non-state-alchemist-soldiers for some sort of maintenance duty." Ed raised an eyebrow, impressed Mustang could remember that much. "We're all poop tired. I know it. Except Hawkeye, I mean; she's a machine."
"Yes sir. I am a machine," Riza mocked sardonically.
Mustang nodded, satisfied. "All right. She finally admits it. You heard it from her." A few snickers arose from the crowd. "Anyhow, as I was saying, we're all dead tired; some of us look like we just came back from war. What I'm saying is that we all deserve a good night's rest. The best we can do right now is get on with it and get some of that sleep."
Ed stood up, gesticulating with his hands. "You're telling me that first you come here half an hour late, and now you're telling us to go home?"
"Ed, sit down and shut up," Winry said, grabbing at Ed's jacket-tail and pulling him down.
Roy constrained a smirk. "Listen to your lady friend, FullMetal." Ed crossed his arms. Roy continued. "Once again, the kid is wrong. I am not telling you all to go home."
"You mean... you're inviting us to stay at... your place?" Havoc said, hunched over, his lit cigarette glowing in the dark.
"No, I want you to sleep in the sewers." Eyebrows were raised. "Of course, Havoc," said Roy. Everyone shared looks. Mustang sighed. "There's more than enough room for all of you. Yes, you can all get your own rooms and sleep soundly. That house is one big mother and it scares the pink carnations out of me when I'm on leave. Having it full for once could be a relief."
"Fourteen people is a full house?" Ed said, not entirely sure exactly how many people were present.
"Let me ask this again: do you want to come, Ed? Cuz as astounding as it may be for you, I can infer. And do your math right. I still have MPs on duty whose leave don't start until 0600 tomorrow." Roy looked around. "Speaking of tomorrow, be prepared to wake up early."
2301; Central City; Roy's Estate
Roy knocked on the open door, startling the person inside. "Hey," he said, walking in. Black Hayate was lying on his belly, looking like the an innocent adorable dog while he watched his mistress. Riza, already in cotton, light blue PJs, had been standing over her bed, removing her pistol from its holster. She had intended to give a quick strip and clean, but he just had to walk in. Roy made his way in and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Black Hayate lifted his head.
"Roy."
"Hm?" he muttered as he nuzzled at her neck.
"You have to stop."
"Why?"
"Well, for one, you left the door wide open." Riza's eyes were still on the pistol. Her peripheral vision told her of it being opened. But her peripheral didn't tell her of someone standing in the doorway. And no, he was not six foot two with blonde-brown hair and blue eyes.
Speaking of Havoc, he was walking down the same hallway, en route to his room. He saw a figure standing just right in front of an open door, gawking. It was Al. And the room he was in front of was Riza's.
Oh shit.
Havoc started sprinting in a mad dash and tackled the boy right on the side, head on. They both skidded to the floor as if Havoc had just saved the kid from a bomb explosion.
Roy went to the doorway. He intended to shut the door after seeing a coast clear, but the coast was not clear. "Havoc?" He stuttered. "Al?" From in the room, Riza overheard Roy, but he signalled for her to stay put with his inside arm.
Havoc stood up and dusted himself off from the floor. He did the same thing for Al after propping him up as well. "Sorry, kiddo," he said. "My bad." He nonchalantly started walking in Mustang's direction and whispered to him, "He saw," before heading off, not stopping at all for the whisper, but just slowing down enough. Mustang wasn't satisfied with Havoc's brief report and grabbed the smoker by the forearm. Havoc stopped and pulled back.
"Go," he addressed. Havoc nodded and turned around, changing his face from seriously strict to happy-go-lucky.
"Hey, Al!" he waved, much like Maes Hughes. "Why don't you and me take a quick walk and I show you around Mustang's place?" Mustang shook his head, making an outrageous face. Havoc coughed. "Mustang wouldn't mind allowing you into, the kitchen, the dining room, uh, the study"- Mustang shook his head- "Uh, not the study; the library...?"-Mustang nodded- "Yeah, the library, you'd love the library." -Havoc turned around and mouthed, "where's the library?"
Mustang mouthed the answer and Havoc understood to go ask an MP. He nodded. Mustang nodded back and mouthed, "thanks." Once Havoc disappeared, Mustang drew back into the room, closed the door, and locked it.
Riza was now lying on the bed. Hayate's head was in her lap as she scratched behind the dog's ears. In her other hand was a novel, turned to page 600-something.
"I don't know how you manage without a family. I don't think I could handle the lonliness."
"At least I don't have to worry about an unfaithful husband."
"Yes, I suppose some women have to worry about that. But I don't, thank God."
"How can any woman be sure?"
"Only a fool is unsure. If you know your man, you know what he can and cannot do."
"And you feel that secure?"
"Of course."
"They say the wife is always the last to know."
"Is this a philosophical discussion or are you trying to say something to my face instead of behind my back?"
Jesus!
"Did I give that impression? Oh, I'm so sorry-"
Roy snatched the book from her hands and started reading a section along the bottom page; the same part Riza was on. He laughed. "Is this a romance novel?" He held the book by the thumb, securing its page. He smiled knowingly at her.
Riza grabbed it back. "Hardly. Read the title."
Roy raised an eyebrow. "The Sum of All Fears." Roy smirked at Riza. "It figures, doesn't it? Why does it surprise me?" He lay on the bed, next to Riza. "All right. Reading time's over, Riza." He snatched the book from her hands, setting it on the nightstand. "How was your day?" he said, then turning on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Evil," she blatantly replied after a yawn. She blinked, struggling to keep her eyes open.
Roy rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I feel for you." Roy turned over to his side and faced Riza. "I'm so tired. Maybe... I'll just-" Roy closed his eyes, pretending to fall asleep. Riza kicked him and he fell off the bed with a Plop!
"I'm not so out of it that I don't care about what you're up to, Mustang."
Roy sat up immediately after enduring his pain from landing on the floor. "That's why I love you- you never stop caring." He grinned and stood up, sitting back on the bed. As gruesome as 'caring' may be from her. "You know I was kidding, right?"
"Yes."
"You're not still mad are you?" Roy sat cross-legged. "About the train thing." The lieutenant didn't respond. "Riza," Roy said softly.
"Did you hide it from me on purpose?"
"Yes." Riza looked down. "For a good cause," Roy added. "I don't want you go through all that stressy stuff you deal with when we're at HQ. I don't want you to worry too much about me."
"What about Graham? You told me that it was just a small uprising with about ten people."
"I'm sorry. That was a lie too. The... uh... hitman got him before he got me." Riza bit her lip. "I know I'm screwing up, Riza. But believe me when I keep stuff like this away from you for a good reason. It's not like I do it just to torture you. You know me better than that."
…
"Do they at least have him custody?"
"Yes. Definitely."
"Who was he?"
Roy shrugged his shoulders. "Some guy. A hitman probably, like I said. Around my size not much of my frame, easy to manipulate." He hoped Riza didn't sense his fib. "It's a furlough; Don't worry about him, me, or anything else, Riza, all right?"
Riza just sat there, staring at the sheets.
"C'mon, Riza. Talk to me."
Riza looked up to Roy. "I guess," the sniper replied. She subconsciously continued to stroke her pet.
"He's doing good?" Roy asked, desperate to change the subject, looking at the dog with the same concern Riza had in her eyes at moment.
"Yes. He walks with a limp though," Riza replied. "It's going to have to take a while before he can walk without the limp." Roy scratched behind the dog's ears. "Did you ever find the one who shot him?"
"Yeah. But CMI couldn't press a charge on him since he didn't commit a crime, other than firing a weapon in an unauthorized zone without the permission of an immediate higher ranking officer." The mixed breed pet stuck his tongue out, huffing. "I'd have my lawyer file suit if you want."
"I'm just glad he's all right," Riza said.
"Yeah, Riza," Roy said. "Me too."
Unaware of her changing the subject, Riza asked, "What do you have planned for the leave?"
Roy was in the smiling mood. "You'll find out. It'll be fun."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well-" Roy caught himself. He waved his finger at her. "You sly dog," he said. "You're smart like that, I know, Riza. Almost caught me for a second." Riza smiled, somewhat guilty. He kissed her quick on the lips and said, "Have a good night's sleep, will you? You, too, Hayate." Roy pet the dog behind the ears.
"I love you, Roy."
"I love you, too, Riza." He smirked at her before exiting, turning the lights out.
"Everybody's in the smiling mood, huh?"
Mustang jumped, startled by the voice behind him. It was Havoc; he too, was grinning. Mustang just shrugged. "You talk to Al?"
"Yeppers."
Roy gave him a funny look at the word choice, then said, "Good. Real... good."
"You tired, Chief?"
"Very."
"Best you get to bed, then. What time we leaving?"
"Early."
Havoc wanted to ask what kind of early he meant, but the duo had arrived at Havoc's self-selected room. Bidding the Chief a goodnight, Havoc entered, plopped onto the bed, and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Roy kept on walking. His room was on the grand floor- the top-most floor. In some cases, that was good, because assasins and the evil-like were unlikely to get to the top story, plus the amount of security. In another case, that was bad. What if a fire broke out? (Highly unlikely. It was Roy Mustang after all- the Flame Alchemist...?) Where would Mustang's escape route be?
Alas, he reached his suite-ish bedroom and crashed his head into the pillow.
0057; Central City; Roy's Estate
Roy's eyes slowly opened. Unwillingly. Unintentionally. Unwanted. Regardless, the eyelids fluttered open and Roy Mustang groaned, grabbing a pillow and burying his head underneath it. "Fall... a... sleep!" he loudly whispered to himself. "Sleep sleep sleeeeeeeep!!!" Roy calmed down enough and removed the fluffy object from his face. He blew a few strands of hair out of his eyes; they fell back in the same spot. Roy scowled.
C'mon, Mustang. Go to sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. S-uuuhhhh-leeeeeeep-uh! The man shut his eyes, keeping them tightly closed. Failure. You're going to wake up tomorrow... early tomorrow... and going to bust in the middle of the roadtrip because you were dead friggin' tired. Just fall... a... sleep. Do that. Please. Do that.
Mustang stared at the ceiling before he gave up and threw his limbs over the side of the bed. He wandered outside into the room before the grand suite. The stiffness of his pants reminded him the need to change into PJs. He found some not-rank-smelling uniform PJs, dressed into those, and exited the grand suite altogether and into the hallway.
Two Spec-Agent-Op guys were sitting in chairs backed up against the same wall Mustang's grand suite door was. They were both lean, tough, and if you could think of any present day object to describe them, it would either be a bulldozer, or for the second guy, a modern day Marine.
"May we be of assistance, Mr. Chief, sir?" the less muscular one asked, saluting. Mustang knew the fellas; they were all quite acquainted. Mustang liked getting to know the people who worked for him. It made him feel less like a CINC and more like a friendly boss.
"Just getting water," said Mustang. "Don't worry. I'll get it myself." The SpecOps trusted Mustang in his own word and knew that bodyguards wasn't exactly a priority for Mustang, yet it was a neccessity.
Mustang slowly descended the stairs, taking his time and meeting at the second floor. He walked into the kitchen, nodding at the Spec-A guys and poured a glass of water when a thought occured to him.
Minutes later, Mustang was walking the aisle along Ed and Al Elric's room. He peeked inside and saw both boys sound asleep. It was such a moment to see Edward, yet not see him actually doing some physical activity or verbally insulting. Roy moved on to another hallway. Breda was snoring loudly in one room. Fuery sound asleep. Falman sound asleep. Ross sound asleep. Bloch snoring. Graham thrashing a little bit. Whitcomb sound asleep. Winry sound asleep, smiling.
He moved on to the next hallway. Most of the guest bedrooms were on the second floor. But everything in the estate was as complex as Central Park's garden maze. He reached Havoc's room and knocked softly. Unexpectedly, there was an actual response.
"I'm alive."
Mustang walked in. Havoc was bunched up in his sheets, eyes closed, still partly asleep. "Jeez, is it already time to leave?" he asked, eyes shut. "I felt like I just shut my eyes."
"No, it's not time to leave yet."
Havoc's eyelids flew open. "Chief?"
"Just checking up on you people is all."
"You do that, Chief. I am going back to sleep. Hey, you been to Riza's yet?"
"No."
"She's sound asleep. Didn't hear the safety click off of no one's Beretta, so I'm pretty sure she's good."
"Thanks."
Mustang exited and shut the door. He sighed and walked three doors down and made an about face, now facing the opposite wall and Riza's door. He knocked and no later did he turn the doorknob and peek his head inside. And there she was. Even though Roy loved her for all the things she did when she was up and running like the machine he claimed her to be, she was as much loved asleep when she was awake. Roy couldn't stop himself from smiling- the thought of her not being... in motion, for lack of better words, was almost hysterical. He couldn't stop smiling at the thought, let alone walk towards the bed she slept on.
He leaned over and kissed her. She stirred, but did not waken. Hayate was a different story, who had awoken the second Roy had poked his head inside. He signalled to Black Hayate to be quiet and the dog tilted his head in response. Roy still had the fond smile on his lips when he looked back to Riza.
0608; Central City; Roy's Place
Riza Hawkeye woke up fatigued. It was a deep sleep, but it was not long enough. Three more hours would've done the job, but that meant skipping out on acting as Mustang's alarm clock- even though he was the one who said early. And if Riza heard the word early, you'd better guess her form of early. 0908 was not Riza-early. It was more like Roy-moderate.
But it was the first day of leave. A long three week leave given to every one military person who worked within Central City. And it was the first of a tradition of annual leaves. And to get the most out of the leave meant not wasting any time at all. Not to mention they had a big road trip ahead of them.
But Hawkeye felt disturbed. Something was... different. She blinked a few times to get that sniper vision she had going and saw that she had an extra arm; it was wrapped around her. Obviously, she did not have a third arm (think of the hell that would put on Roy). And she was pressed up against somebody as if someone was holding her.
She had an idea of who it was, but even when she turned around, her still partially asleep body wasn't fully alert to its usual vigilant state. And she gave a short yelp in surprise.
Roy Mustang's body immediately tensed and awakened, muttering something about someone from somewhere, and blinked superfluously. Head finally coming to light, he noticed Riza raising an eyebrow at him and the shocked look on her face.
"Morning, beautiful," he said, greeting her with a kiss on the forehead. "How did you sleep?"
"Roy!"
"What?"
"What are you doing here? And why?"
Jean Havoc suddenly kicked open the door, nearly ripping the expensive oak entrance off its hinges, a toothbrush in his mouth and a six-shooter in hand. He pointed it in the direction of Riza's bed while simultaneously sipping the foaming drool from his toothbrush into his mouth. "Fwod'it!" By that, of course, he meant to say, "Hold it!"
He sees Roy and Riza in the same bed and shuts his eyes, saying, "I really hate myself," after removing the toothbrush. He backed out, making sure to shut the door.
Riza stared back at Roy. "What are you doing here? And why?" she repeated.
Roy gave an innocent smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't do anything."
"Thank God." That doesn't answer the question though.
"I'll take that as an 'I-don't-really-care-if-you-sleep-in-the-same-bed-as-I-do,-so-long-as-you-don't-do-anything' response.You got a watch on you?"
"Oh-six-ten, Chief!" Havoc yelled from out in the hallway.
"Thanks, stalker!" Riza yelled back.
"You're welcome, li'l sister!"
Riza reached over for her Beretta and cocked the hammer.
"I'm going! I'm going!" was the response from the other side of the wall. A stampede of one man's footsteps echoed, then disappeared, followed by the opening and closing of a door.
"We should get going," said Riza, getting out of bed.
"But it's only-"
"You said early."
Roy swung his legs up and over, bringing himself to stand. "I'm not even going to argue." He raised his hands in the air.
Over the next several minutes, the entire crew was up and going, whether they wanted to wake up or not. Most had a duty to fulfill while the rest were personally invited. The multiple number of bathrooms and showers in Mustang's estate was a timesaver. There weren't so many that each person got their own, but that enough for three people to a shower. Riza was first out of her line of three women sharing the same bathroom and exited just as Roy had been the first to come from his. Both met simultaneously at the bottom of the steps.
Roy tugged at his untucked shirt, then at his collar, attempting to look... good. They both started walking with Roy issuing commands to Spec-Op agents, the MPs having been released a half hour ago and a few lucky ones were released during the nightshift.
Mustang walked into the main kitchen. "Good morning, Marion," Roy said. The head chef stopped his work and turned around, hustling toward the CINC.
"Good morning, sir! Anything in particular for breakfast, sir?" Marion had a definite accent, Riza concluded. Foreign guy, must be really good to be a head chef of Mustang's.
"I see you already got the eggs going... Bacon, too. Blueberry pancakes, cinnamon apples, and... powdered sugar funnel cake. Sausage links. To add to the sunny sides, make some omelets. Hash browns... yeah. And plenty of fruit, strawberries, boison berries, etc.- make 'em drown in their own syrup. And coffee. Lots of coffee, lots of caffeinne. Make some for the breakfast and some extra to go.
"Cream and sugar?"
"Always. And French Vanilla, please, if you still have some flavor."
"Will do, sir. Anything else?"
"I think that's it. Riza, you want anything I didn't mention? Or something else for the others?"
"Not that I know of. But I do think some of the squad prefer does prefers hazelnut for coffee. FullMetal likes his black. Falman likes it just cream and sugar, no flavor."
Roy nodded. "All right. You heard the lady. Make a few hazelnut, don't care how many. One black. One cream and sugar, plain. Serve it for... sixteen." To Riza: "Riza, do Al or Winry drink coffee?"
"Not sure."
"All right." To Marion: "Everyone gets coffee. Don't forget the spares for the trip."
"Sixteen, sir?"
"Yes, maybe a little more. I have some guests who eat like uncivilized people."
"Will that be all, sir?"
"Yeah, how fast can you serve all of that? And how many chefs have checked in?"
"About an hour and a half and I only have eight sous chefs."
"You think you can do it faster? I'm on a tight schedule."
"I'l try, sir. I'll really try. But it's going to be close."
Mustang and Hawkeye exited the main kitchen, with Havoc stumbling down the stairs. He rushedly put on his one of his boots, while in his mouth was an unlit cigarette.
"We ready to go, Chief?" Havoc asked, once having put on his boot.
"No."
"When we leaving?"
"About an hour."
A/N: Okay. You all remember what my last author's note said, right? It said I would tell you something about ch. 37. Eh, wrong. It was supposed to tell you something about 37 and 38.
37 and 38 were combined originally as chapter 37.
And then. I cut it in half. And... they're both still long.
And that was after I cut the deleted scenes from ch. 37.
There's a problem with that.
Well, Merry Christmas guys!