DISCLAIMER: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or any of the related titles or characters. (Woot, I've got this memorized now.)
A/N: Okay, so this is my newest story. Like some of my other stories, the beginning is a little slow. I'm posting this a little earlier than I had expected, but hey, I was getting antsy and needed to write something new. This will be a Royai fic, with a little Ed/Win thrown in here and there, but mostly RoyxRiza. There will be a little action, 'cause apparently, I'm good at that and it helps make the story a bit more interesting. I'm not sure what's gonna happen in the later chapters, so the rating's just for safety. Plus, it let's me do whatever I want, which I like. So, this isn't very long...and just kinda starts the story. So, enjoy.
Chapter 1: Think Of It As A Paid Vacation
The sunlight slowly broke through the open windows of the office overlooking the rest of Eastern HQ. Roy Mustang stood by the window, gazing out at the horizon. The tower of papers he was purposely ignoring, teetered dangerously on the edge of his desk.
Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye watched him. She'd just entered the room, but he made no movement to acknowledge her presence. Noticing the papers, she sighed. For some reason, she didn't feel she had the strength to pull out her gun to threaten him.
"Sir..." she said in her best 'you-know-what-I'm-about-to-say' voice. "Those papers are due by this afternoon."
He didn't say anything. She repeated herself, though she still remained without an answer. Sighing again, she turned to his desk and began filing through them. She wondered how many she'd be able to finish while he continued to stand there.
There was a sharp knock at the door and Roy finally turned away from the window. He ordered for the person to enter and Riza put the files back down on the desk. Lieutenant Havoc entered, looking calm, though they could tell something was up.
"What is it?" Roy asked.
Havoc puffed on his cigarette, though he didn't remove it from his mouth to exhale. "The Führer's here. He said it's very important. He wants to speak with both of you immediately."
The pair looked at each other, wondering what on earth the Führer would want with them. They weren't working on a case at the moment and certainly they had done nothing else wrong. Perhaps something else had come up.
"Thank you, Havoc," Roy said, nodding in Havoc's direction.
The door shut behind him and Roy turned to Riza, who was still staring in the direction of the door. She was just as curious as he was as to why the Führer was back in Eastern. They had not received word that he would be dropping by.
They left together without another word and entered the room the Führer stayed in when he visited. His back was turned to them as they shut the door behind them. Roy cleared his throat to make their presence known.
King Bradley turned to them, smiling forcefully. At first glance, one would think it was genuine, but if you'd known the Führer for more than a few days, his looks were always done with convincing force. It was nearly impossible to know what was going through his head.
"Ah, there you are," he said cheerfully. "I've been meaning to speak with the two of you."
They stared at him expectantly, unsure of if he wanted them to say anything. Glancing at them through his good eye, he continued.
"There have been sightings of Scar in the area," he said slowly. "He's getting closer every day. Several officers have died in the past week."
Funny, Roy hadn't heard of any recent officer deaths. Usually, he'd receive a report. Perhaps it was in the pile still waiting for him on his desk.
"I didn't hear anything about-" Roy started.
"No, well, you wouldn't," King Bradley cut him off. "The names haven't been released yet and the reports have not been sent to you. We thought it was best to keep the information to ourselves for the time being."
Roy didn't say protest. The Führer seemed to know what he was doing and Roy didn't want to ruin his chances of being promoted by back sassing his boss. Personally, he thought the information should be released so they could investigate further.
"It is in our best interests that we move Fullmetal to a safer location," King Bradley said.
Roy hadn't been expecting this, but kept his cool. "Would you like us to send him back to Risembool? To stay with his automail mechanic?" he asked.
King Bradley shook his head. "No. I have a more important task for you. Fullmetal will need an escort to keep an eye on him..."
"Major Armstrong-" Roy started.
"No," he said abruptly. "I do not believe he will be sufficient. I am sending the two of you in his place."
Roy and Riza wore identical looks of shock. They had not been expecting that kind of mission, let alone being sent well outside of headquarters. How would they be able to help control things that were going on there, when they were hundreds of miles away. Not to mention the amount of work that would be waiting for them when they returned.
"But sir," Roy said. "I've got work to do here. I can't take a few days off to-"
King Bradley laughed. "A few days? Try a couple weeks."
"Weeks?" Roy meeped.
"Consider it a paid vacation," King Bradley said, smiling again. "You will escort the boys up North under aliases. You will move locations until Scar has either been apprehended or is out of the general area and it is safe for them to return."
Roy couldn't seem to get his feelings straight. A month without work sounded nice, but if he had to spend it with Ed...
"Yes, sir," Riza said, saluting when Roy didn't say anything.
Roy snapped into attention and saluted. His 'Yes, sir' was a bit more reluctant than Riza's.
"Very well," King Bradley said, turning back in his chair. "Your information will be brought to you as soon as possible. You leave tomorrow morning. The boys will be informed immediately."
Before Roy could say anything, Riza caught him by the elbow and dragged him out of the room. He refused to speak until they got back to the office.
"What kind of vacation do you call that?" he asked, heated, flopping down into his chair. "We have to cart the kid around. It'll be more like babysitting than a mission. I am a trained office-"
"You don't have any work to do," Riza said coolly. "I wouldn't be complaining."
"I'm not complaining," Roy said defensively. "I just-"
Riza raised an eyebrow and he stopped. Roy rocked back and forth in his chair in an irritated sort of way. He was avoiding Riza's gaze purposely. She was looking at him as if she expected him to continue what he was saying.
"But why us?" he asked. "I mean, Major Armstrong would be most willing to-"
"I think he believes that Edward will listen to us. He's not very taken with authority figures-" Riza tried to reason.
Roy scoffed. "You can say that again. 'Listen to us'? He's asking for a miracle."
"But he's more likely to listen to people he's closer to, than some other random officer." Riza concluded.
Roy still wasn't looking at her. He knew she was right and part of him really hated it, because it meant that he was wrong. Riza sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get him to change his tune about the trip.
-----
"Vacation?" Ed yelled. "You call that vacation? A month or so with the Colonel? You've got to be kidding me! What did I do to deserve that?"
"Brother," Al said. "It's for our own good. And besides, it won't be that bad..."
"It won't be 'that bad'?" Ed stared at him, disgusted. "Have you ever met him?"
"Of course, brother, I wor-" Al answered, a bit confused by Ed's question. How wouldn't he know Colonel Mustang?
"That's not what I meant!" Ed snapped, turning to his open suitcase. "I mean, how can you say he's not that bad? He's arrogant, pushy, and a major pain in the a-"
"Edward..." a calm voice came from the doorway.
He turned around suddenly, realizing that he and Al were no longer alone. Riza stood in the doorway, staring at him. Her expression wasn't angry, but it was certainly stern.
"I assume you heard the news..." she said.
"Yes," Ed said bitterly, throwing a few shirts into his suitcase. "Why does he have to come? Why can't it just be you? I'd almost take Major Armstrong instead..."
Riza raised her eyebrow. "Would you prefer Major Armstrong?"
Ed paused for a moment, thinking it over. "No," he decided. He was sure he'd be met with more bodily harm if Major Armstrong were to join them.
"You also know that we are leaving tomorrow?" Riza asked, just to make sure they'd been filled in on all the facts.
"Yes, ma'am..." Al answered, knowing that Ed was still bitter about the whole thing.
"And you know that you won't be referring to each other as Edward and Alphonse, am I correct?" Riza continued. They had not received their false names yet, but would have them by the time they left the next morning.
Al nodded shortly. "Yes, ma'am."
"Are you going to have aliases as well?" Ed asked, glancing up at her.
"Yes," Riza answered. "We are all going to."
"Where are we going?" Ed closed his suitcase after embarrassedly throwing a couple pairs of boxers on top of his clothes. "They failed to mention that little detail."
"Up North, somewhere," Riza said, not really knowing the answer herself. "I assume they will tell us once we receive our names."
"And how long will we be gone?" Ed's questions seemed to keep coming, though Riza didn't know how to answer them.
She told him she didn't know, but they would be returning once again when the Führer said that it was safe to do so. Ed sank down onto his bed, beside his suitcase.
"Will we be able to contact anyone?" he asked quietly.
"Like...?" Riza stared at him. She didn't know anyone he'd want to talk to.
He shrugged. "If something happens. Like, if my arm breaks, will I be able to contact Winry to come and fix it?"
Riza understood. Ed wanted to know if he'd be able to talk to Winry while they were gone. She smiled lightly. "Yes. I believe so. I'm sure that we could inform her of your situation and give her an alias as well so you could talk without fear of being discovered."
Ed was a bit caught off guard. He hadn't expected that much. He had only wanted to know if he'd be able to call someone if he needed to. It wasn't that he wanted to, or anything.
He looked away, trying to fight back the color that was rushing into his cheeks. Al didn't seem to notice. He was still staring at Riza, expecting more information. She didn't have any.
"I was only here to see if you had been informed," she concluded before leaving. "Oh, and the Colonel asks that you be ready bright and early, so we can get a head start."
Ed laughed bitterly. "You mean, so I don't make him look bad by being late and missing our train."
Riza nodded, knowing that Ed had caught on to interpreting Roy's instructions very well. With a short salute, she bid the boys farewell and headed back in the direction of Roy's office.
When she entered, she was stunned to see that he was actually working on something. He was furiously writing something down on a piece of paper.
"Shocking, sir..." she said slowly, watching him.
He didn't lift his head to look at her. His voice sounded quite annoyed as he replied. "What, Lieutenant?"
"You're working," she said with a small smile. "And there isn't a gun pointed to your forehead."
Slowly, he glanced up at her. For a moment they stared at each other, his onyx eyes boring into her reddish-brown ones. When that moment was over, he snapped his focus back onto the paper. "I've got a lot of work to finish by tomorrow. I don't need anymore distractions."
Riza was slightly offended. Sitting down at her own desk, she watched as his pen skated back and forth across his paper.
A distraction?
That was the first time he'd ever referred to her as a distraction. Most of the time she was the one thing, other than a fast approaching deadline, making him do his work. How dare he call her a distraction?
Or, perhaps this was a good thing. Perhaps he found himself thinking or focusing on her when he should be working instead. It wasn't good when it came to finishing his work, but it would definitely make Riza happy.
Breathing deeply, Riza picked up her own pen. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced back over at him. He had looked up for a brief moment, but quickly went back to his work, a strange look donning his face. She stared at him, but couldn't seem to read him. It bothered her.
Shaking her head, she turned back to her own pile of papers. Placing the tip of her pen on the top report, she began to fill it out, feeling as if tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
She needed a vacation.
A/N: Okay, so that's the end of the first chapter. Not really thrilling, I know, but it'll get better. I remember Chapter 1 of CrossFire wasn't very good either and now that's like uuber popular. So, if you are interested in what comes next, please REVIEW! If I don't get good reviews or no one seems interested, I don't know if I'll continue with it. I have some really good scene ideas for it though, but I might just save them and use them later. I thought this would be the best one to use them in though. Anyways, thanks a lot! I will update as soon as I can.