Hello y'all!
This is the first time I write for ALL the days for Royai Week (last year was the first time I wrote for RW and it was only one day)
I made an aesthetic that you'll find on my tumblr (musing-and-music).
At first I wanted to make one fic for all the entries of the week, but since tomorrow's OS is rated M, i'll make one for each day.
Royai Week, Day 1: King's gambit / Queen's gambit
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is Hiromu Arakawa's work
Enjoy!
Two men guard the door when Riza approaches them.
Two men are laying on the ground after she knocks them on the spot.
Havoc follows and ties their hands and legs. Mustang walks to his subordinates, his fingers ready to snap if any threat appears in the deep night.
The mission is simple. The house is the base of a criminal organisation that's at the origin of many corruption and murders among some high-ranked people in the military and industry in the Eastern region. Thanks to hard work and long hours of tailing, team Mustang has gathered enough evidence of the organisation's involvement in the murders and bribery.
"Okay," Riza whispers as Havoc unlocks the door. "We must find the chief as quickly and discreetly as possible. Do use your weapon only if necessary, we need him alive," she recalls the instructions to the men.
Both men nod and they enter the building in silence. The main hall is barely lit by an orange lamp on a side table, and the carpet under their feet muffles the sound of their steps. They head to the stairs and begin to climb carefully. They're almost at the top when an armed man appears in the hallway. He freezes for a second before he aims his revolver at them. But Riza moves faster and bolts upward, knocking him in one blow. The man collapses on the floor and the trio steps over him, walking in silence to the room they know from the plan studied beforehand.
There's light under the door and in the peace of the night Riza hears the scratch of a pen on paper, sighs and grumbles. Their target is here. They exchange a glance and the Colonel knocks on the door.
"Peters? Do you have news about the operation?"
The team has learned about said operation and jumped on the occasion when the house would be nearly empty to launch their own.
Mustang opens the door and steps into the room, flanked by Havoc and Riza. "Herbert von Bernstein? You're under arrest for corruption, murder, thief and membership of conspiracy. Do not resist and no harm will be done to you."
The man at the desk rises and faces them. He smirks at them. "Colonel Mustang, if I'm not mistaken. I was waiting for you."
"Were you?" Mustang's voice copies von Bernstein's mocking tone. Riza glances at her superior and finds his lips turned into a sly smile. "I bet my reputation precedes me. Anyway, raise your hands and let us proceed to your arrest."
The Colonel steps forward, and von Bernstein raises one hand. The other slams onto the paper on the desk and Riza gets a glimpse of a transmutation circle. How foolish they are not to think their target can be an alchemist? The only thing she can think about is that she must protect her superior. She pushes him onto the floor and a sudden sharp pain pierces through her left thigh. She muffles a cry.
"Hawkeye!" She hears Mustang and Havoc shout.
Her leg weakens under her weight, but she doesn't care. Not now. "Havoc! Get him!" She turns to the door they have left open and shoots the man who passes the threshold at this moment. There's a snap, and she sees from the corner of her eye the paper turning into ashes, then the wooden spear that has been created from the desk and pierced her skin and muscles burns and disappears.
That was evidence, she thinks. Then her legs cannot support her anymore and she stumbles, only to be caught by two strong arms. Mustang helps her to sit. "Havoc, bring von Bernstein outside, the guys must be waiting with the other suspects," he tells the Second Lieutenant, who leaves with the cuffed man.
Suddenly, the pain is almost unbearable. Riza has thought she's immune to pain, after her back, twice, and being shot at least three times on duty. She feels confused, and only one thought manages to get through the fog in her mind.
"Was that point poisoned?"
"What? No, I don't think it was." Mustang looks at her, and suddenly she's looking at the boy fresh from the academy who's seeing her tattoo for the first time. He's bearing a horrified look in his eyes, he's frowning like the day he's burned her back, and his mouth bends downward in a concerned wince. "Who would poison his own desk only to use it as a murderous weapon? Hold on, Hawkeye, I'll get something for you."
He's back in no time, kneels beside her, and his hands press a thick cloth on her thigh. She can't see his face, only his black hair, and her mind is a mess.
"That was reckless of you, Lieutenant." His voice is low, but she catches the words.
"It was necessary, sir," she replies through her teeth with all the control she can hold. "I can't do my job if you're not here. I had to make a choice, and that's what I chose."
"That was a reckless gambit," he says nevertheless. He firmly ties a band around the cloth and her wound, and his warm hands leave her. Only for his eyes to meet hers. He's worried, she realizes. He's never told her he cares about her, but now she knows he does. "Hawkeye, however necessary you'll find your sacrifice, I don't want it to happen. It's not easy to get hurt, and nobody gets used to it. You know it more than anyone."
She gulps. He's right. She knows how hard it is to get back to one's feet after a wound. And he knows it too. He's witnessed her at her lowest, and she has too. "I did my job," she says, brushing away the sudden heat in her chest.
"And I thank you for that, Hawkeye. But…" his voice is barely more than a whisper. "I can't lose you because of your job, Riza."
Roy's hand brushes her cheek, and a sudden burst of emotion blooms in her. Her thigh is still painful, she knows she won't be able to walk before some time, but all this disappears under his gaze. He's looking at her as if she's the most precious thing in his life. And she is. It was only once, after she joined his team, but he told her his feelings. He hasn't expected any answer, but she's seen in his eyes the depth and the truth of his feelings. And now she wants to tell him hers. It's not the best place, the best conditions, the best time. But she wants to do it anyway.
Her eyes lock to his. "I don't want to lose you either. That's why I'll keep making gambits to save your life, even if I risk my own," she declares, hoping that she can convey all she's feeling through her eyes. Because no matter how much she wants to tell him, she can't. "And don't you dare risk your life for mine. You're too precious for this country to die so early."
Roy stifles a laugh. "I don't want to be scolded by you for that, you know it." He smiles before putting back his professional mask when two paramedics enter the room. "She's got her thigh pierced by a wood thorn. Be careful with her. She won't tell you it's painful, but I know it is."
Riza glares at him. He knows her too much. And he knows she'll do the same thing every time if it can save him.
When the paramedics move her to a stretcher, she winces, holding into the memory of his eyes on her and the warmth of his hand on her cheek. For that she'll keep fighting for him only and protecting him.