Chapter 9: When Worlds Collide

Getting shot in the face really wasn't that painful, mostly because Roy was unconscious for the worst of it. All that slicing by Bradley was much worse, especially getting stabbed right through the shoulder. Now that was painful.

Then came those god-forsaken black things ripping off his leg piece by piece, and Roy thought that was the worst thing he'd been through. It wasn't exactly the pain that made it so bad, it's just that he'd rather be stabbed a few dozen times than see those things tear off another body part.

However, nothing really could compare to the unimaginable pain Roy went through to have his auto-mail leg installed. How the hell did Ed manage to go through it four times?

Roy knew how painful auto-mail surgery was. Some even refused to get auto-mail because the massive amount of pain involved with getting it. Hearing the banging and rare muffled yell while Ed had his surgery really didn't help things, either. It was one thing to suddenly experience vast amounts of pain, but it was quite another knowing it was coming, and thus being able to dread it.

But his surgery came and went, and Roy was rather pleased with the way he handled it. True, he crushed a few things with his grip when the pain was especially bad, but overall, he was almost as quiet as Ed.

"I'm impressed," Pinako said as she was helping Roy back into bed after the surgery. "Hardly a word came out of you. You smashed a few things, but still, most everyone screams out in pain because of all the work done to the nerves."

"Everyone except Ed, that is," Winry retorted. "Ed was too stubborn to make a sound, but he almost wrecked the room with all his flailing." She eyed Roy and added, "Just like you did, in fact. I wonder if it was because you're just as stubborn as he is."

Roy was caught off guard. "I've, uh, had a lot of experience with pain, so my tolerance for it is higher."

Winry clearly wasn't convinced. "Just as I thought, you are just as stubborn as Ed."

He was about to defend himself, but figured that would only add to her argument. She was right, though. He hadn't known anyone as stubborn as he was until Ed came along.

"It'll take a while for your body to adjust to the auto-mail," Pinako said, getting back to the original subject. "The first few days you won't get any response from it, so it'll be like having a hunk of metal strapped to your leg. After that it slowly gets better as the response rate goes up. I figure you should be walking in a few weeks, and running not too long after that. You'll always have a slight limp, however."

"I can hardly wait." So much for no longer limping. He tried lifting up the auto-mail with what was left of his natural leg, but it wouldn't budge. Great, instead of having no leg, he had a huge dead weight that would make moving around almost impossible. Plus, the soreness from the surgery was almost enough to make him want to smash a few more things. The next few weeks sounded like torture.

Hawkeye came in then. She had returned from her first trip back to Central two days ago, and brought news that the military was highly impressed with Roy's dedication to his work. He had to smirk at that; their plan was going along perfectly.

"How is he?" she asked. "I hardly heard anything during the surgery."

"He did quite well," Pinako replied. "Hardly let out a yell, although he broke a few things from squeezing them too hard."

Roy winced as a shot of pain ran through his leg. "Remind me never to get auto-mail again. How long does the soreness last?"

"It shouldn't last more than a day or two. Now, try and get some rest." Pinako helped him lay down, then ushered everyone out of the room.

Once they were gone, Roy sighed as he closed his eyes. Sleep sounded really good, but having half a dozen knives stabbing the end of his stump wasn't going to make falling asleep very easy.

A month later Roy was starting to walk with a crutch. Moving the auto-mail still took lots of concentration, and even then it was slow and clumsy. But at least he was walking, even if it took too damn long.

Ed was also starting to walk, judging from all the loud noises coming from his room. As frustrating as it was for Roy to learn how to walk again, it had to be worse for Ed, who was adjusting to both a leg and an arm. A few times a day there would be a loud thud, then Roy would hear some of the most colorful language Ed ever shouted. Usually after that Al would say something, then not long after that there would be another thud. Roy couldn't help but to smile at the pattern. Auto-mail rehabilitation was always a long, slow process, which meant it was probably driving Ed absolutely crazy.

They hadn't talked since the conversation two days after the transmutation. Roy really wasn't surprised, though. For the most part both of them were confined to their rooms, and the few times they did see each other, Ed either gave him a dirty look or ignored him completely. This didn't bother Roy at all since he was used to this kind of treatment, and besides, Ed probably had enough on his mind without having to talk to him.

Roy had plenty on his mind, too, really. Hawkeye had been to Central again, and was planning on going again in a few days, as soon as he finished the latest batch of work. Which meant she was pressing him more than usual to get it done, something Roy wasn't thrilled with.

"I would suggest you not take any more naps until that report is done, sir," she said as she put the bed desk over his lap. "Headquarters called this morning and asked if you were going to get it done and sent over in the next few days. I told them you would."

"Fine, I'll get it done today." He frowned as a headache began to form. Wonderful, working with a headache was always so much more pleasant. He reached over to the night stand and picked up the stack of unfinished work, and started frowning more when he flipped through the report Hawkeye wanted done. How exactly was he supposed to submit an accurate personnel report when he hadn't seen the personnel in question for months? He thought for a moment, finally deciding to just write down the same information as he did for the last report. Which, come to think about it, wasn't very different from the one before that. That was the thing he hated most about all his paperwork: so much of it seemed so pointless.

Later that day Roy heard the front door downstairs open, and someone coming inside. He didn't know of anyone planning to come over, so he figured it was just one of the locals saying hello. He listened to the welcoming downstairs to see if he could get the visitor's name. Most of it was inaudible, but he did hear something about a Curtis.

Suddenly Ed's room got very noisy.

"Ed! Our teacher is here, what are we going to do?" It sounded like Al was afraid, almost panicking.

"Oh shit." There was a pause, then "I know, we'll blame everything on the Colonel."

Roy couldn't imagine what would cause Ed and Al to be so afraid. He never met their teacher, thus he had no idea what he, wait, wasn't their teacher a she? Either way, he had no idea what that person was like. There had to be some discipline, though, in order to make Ed and Al study the more tedious aspects of alchemy.

Downstairs, an unfamiliar female voice started shouting and interrupted Roy's thoughts.

"What do you mean Al became a State Alchemist! I told him they were still considered dogs of the military! I thought he had more sense than that!"

"I remember that voice," Hawkeye said. She had stayed in the room, going over what she was going to bring to Headquarters.

Then someone was storming up the steps, most likely the same woman. The door to Ed and Al's room slammed open, and then the yelling continued.

"Al! This is the second time you didn't listen to me! What the hell were you thinking!"

"Al was tricked into becoming a State Alchemist by that bastard Colonel," Ed spoke up. "He's in the next room if you want to talk to him."

Roy frowned. Things were going to get very interesting very soon.

The door swung open, and a very imposing woman with dreadlocks burst in. Roy recognized her from somewhere, but she started yelling before he could figure out where.

"Are you the one who tricked Al into becoming a State Alchemist!"

Roy had been yelled at by far, far too many people to be even the slightest bit intimidated by the woman's voice. "I offered him the chance to become one, but the decision was completely his," he replied calmly. "How is this your concern, anyway?"

Al had managed to slip into the room by then. "Uh, you two haven't met, so let me introduce you to each other," he said in an attempt to stop whatever fight might be forming. "Colonel, this is our teacher, Izumi Curtis. She trained us and taught us all about alchemy. Mrs. Izumi, this is Colonel Mustang. He helped me recover some of my lost memories, and helped me find Ed."

So this was the infamous teacher he heard Ed and Al mumble about. He carefully looked at her, trying to gain as much information as he could. Obviously she was a very good alchemist. From her rather fit appearance, Roy also figured she was good in combat. Judging from Ed and Al's fear of her, chances were she used her fighting skills on them more than once. How brutal.

"Colonel Mustang?" Izumi looked a little surprised by this, as if she was trying to remember something. "The State Alchemist?"

"That is correct." Looks like there was going to be a fight anyway.

"I remember reading about you in the papers, the so-called famous Flame Alchemist. You're nothing but a dog of the military, and a disgrace to alchemy!"

She turned and stormed out of the room, but Roy was sure that wasn't the last time he would see her. In fact, things were probably going to get very ugly between them the next time they met.

"Uh, sorry about that," Al said a little sheepishly. "She's not that bad once you get to know her." He smiled a little, then followed his teacher down the stairs.

"Now I know where I recognize her," Hawkeye said once Al had left. "We were at the Central military hospital looking for Edward, but he had just left and no one really knew where he was going. Then this woman barged into the room with her muscle bound husband, snatched the map on the wall that indicated where Edward might be, and left the room."

"Oh yes, her," Roy said, remembering that incident. To begin with, he was pissed that Ed ran off again, and lied about where he was going. Then that woman came in, seemingly even more determined to find out where Ed went. Roy had absolutely no idea who the hell that woman was, why she was trying to track down Ed, and from the look on her face, he hoped she didn't find him. So yes, he could safely say he didn't like her from the very beginning.

"No wonder Ed and Al are terrified of her," he continued. "Not only does she look constantly pissed off, but I figure she acts the same way, too. They were probably screamed at during their entire time training."

"You have your own way of dealing with them too, sir." Hawkeye said. "You and her are not entirely different in that way."

He looked at her and frowned. Not entirely different? He really couldn't imagine how he and that woman could be any more different.

A few hours later that woman was still there.

"She has been asking Alphonse about his time with you, and how Edward came back," Hawkeye reported. "So far he has only mentioned studying for the State Alchemist exam, and going through Edward's military reports. As for finding Edward, Alphonse says that Edward came home all by himself."

"Why the hell is she interrogating him anyway?" Roy said, making his annoyance obvious.

"I asked Edward about her, and he said that she was a tough teacher who taught them a lot about alchemy, but that at the end he and Alphonse didn't learn very much."

"Did he say if she knows about their failed attempt at transmuting their mother?"

"He said they got beat up fairly badly once she found out."

Roy frowned. He was right about her being brutal.

Suddenly there was thundering up the steps, and that could really only be one person.

"I knew you tricked Al into becoming a State Alchemist!" Izumi yelled as soon as she entered the room. "You bribed him with information about his past, knowing that he would do anything to get it! Al always did have more sense than his brother."

Roy smirked. Well, yes, he did bribe Al into becoming a State Alchemist, but he didn't consider that a bad thing. In fact, it was beneficial to both of them. "You seem to think that Al becoming a State Alchemist is some big deal. The truth is, Al played the role of State Alchemist for several years while he was accompanying Ed on his assignments. Since Ed is still a State Alchemist and will eventually receive assignments again, the only thing that will change is that now Al will have an official title and get paid for what he does."

His smirk grew downright vicious when he saw the look on her face, the face of someone who had just realized he was completely beaten. Roy had to admit he especially enjoyed seeing that look on his enemies. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

"It's just like a ruthless State Alchemist to trick people into becoming dogs of the military! How can you live with yourself? You use alchemy to kill people whenever the military orders it, knowing that alchemy is meant for the good of the people. I hear you were especially good at murdering people by setting them on fire. No wonder you got promoted. The military must have been very happy to see all the deaths you caused!"

There was a time when Roy would have burned her for what she had said, either literally or figuratively, for making those comments. That time had long passed, however.

Thus, he was perfectly calm when he spoke. "I don't give a damn what you think about State Alchemists, but let me remind you that Ed and Al are under my command, and thus under my control. You no longer have any say in their lives. So if you want to continue insulting State Alchemists, be my guest. Just remember who it is you're attacking."

Silence followed that, and Roy wasn't entirely sure if that woman would become physically violent or not. Eventually, however, she merely turned and left the room.

"I knew things were going to get worse," he said, rubbing his temples. His headache from earlier that day was only getting worse.

Al came in not long after Izumi left, looking hurt and defensive and angry, all at the same time.

"Why can't you and Mrs. Izumi get along?" he asked.

"Because neither of them will get past their first impression of each other," Hawkeye replied in her best no-nonsense voice. Even though she wasn't looking at him, Roy could tell she was directing her comment at him.

Al frowned. "I know she can be a little harsh, but that's her way of teaching and showing that she cares for us. She looked after us when we trained with her, and especially when I was with her by myself."

"Just because she trained you doesn't mean she had to physically assault you all the time," Roy shot back.

"It wasn't like that." Al was almost pleading, but when he saw that Roy wasn't budging, he sighed and left the room.

"A similar thing could be said about you, sir," Hawkeye said once Al was gone. "Just because you were helping them doesn't mean you had to tease them so much."

Roy looked at her with some disapproval. "I would hardly put calling Ed short in the same category with breaking his bones."

"Alphonse didn't say anything about breaking bones, sir."

He turned away without answering, and wondered why Hawkeye seemed to be defending that woman.

It wasn't until the next day that Roy saw Izumi again. This time, however, she didn't stomp up the stairs or storm into the room. In fact, Roy would almost call her entrance civil, if it weren't for her menacing glare.

"How did Ed come back?" she asked, obviously suspicious.

"He was by the river, walking towards the house when we found him. I assume he was coming in from the east, using the waterways to get home as he did before." He tilted his head to the side, giving her a questioning look. "If you're so interested how Ed came home, why don't you just ask him about it?"

Izumi's face remained stern. "How could he have traveled all that way by himself without auto-mail?"

"You honestly think Ed wouldn't be able to fasten some sort of artificial leg by himself?" Roy knew exactly what Izumi was trying to get to, and he wasn't about to give up a scrap of information.

She paused for a moment, then continued. "You have an auto-mail leg, don't you?"

"I don't see how this concerns you, but yes I do."

"How did you lose that leg?"

"In an accident by the river. I was trapped underwater and Al had to cut off my leg to save me."

"Then why is it that I didn't find anything resembling a human leg when I was walking by the river?"

"How should I know? Maybe you weren't looking in the right spots." Damn, this woman was good. He would have to be especially careful around her.

Izumi managed to frown even more before leaving the room. Roy could tell this wasn't over, not by a long shot.

After dinner that night, Roy, with some help from Hawkeye, carefully limped downstairs for a change of scenery. He was getting way too tired of that room, and besides, it was good to work on his auto-mail coordination.

"Do you know if that woman was around here?" he asked her when they finally got to the bottom of the stairs. He was having one of his usual headaches, and did not want to deal with her if at all possible.

"She's outside with Alphonse, sir," she replied.

"I suppose she's interrogating him about how Ed came back. Knowing Al, he's probably going to let something slip, if he doesn't admit to everything first." He frowned as he limped over to the table. He really didn't want to deal with this tonight, but that no longer looked like an option.

He was about to sit down at the table when Izumi barged in, looking like she was going to kill someone, or more specifically, him.

"You bastard," she said in a surprisingly calm voice. "You used human transmutation to get Ed back, didn't you?"

"Why do you care what I do?"

"Because you dragged Al into it, that's why!"

Roy smirked. "If you know those brothers at all, you should know that I didn't drag Al into anything."

"I don't care what you call it, you still encouraged him to try something you knew was dangerous!"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh at her or sneer at her for that. "Listen, bitch, when you agreed to train Al in alchemy again, you knew he was going to do anything to get his brother back, even if that meant trying human transmutation. So don't you dare blame me for doing what you were too much of a coward to do yourself!"

Izumi's glare managed to become even more vicious. "How dare you call me a coward, you murdering bastard!" Then she lunged forward, looking eager to attack him.

Roy was ready for her, however. Quickly he clapped his hands together and slammed them on the table. Immediately the red sparks flew, and in almost no time two forked wooden spikes grew out towards Izumi, ultimately trapping her arms and rendering her immobile.

The attack caught her by surprise, but she quickly recovered. "You saw the Gate, didn't you?" she spit out.

"Is that what you call that? Here I thought it was the gateway to hell." He paused, a smirk on his face. "That means you saw it too. I wonder what it took from you. Something inside, for sure, since you have all your limbs. For that matter, who was so important that you tried to transmute them?"

He didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Perhaps you never realized it, but those brothers need each other more than anything else in this world, and I'll be damned if I see them spend the rest of their lives apart!"

Izumi broke free of the wooden spikes, but didn't attack. Instead, she glared at him, eyes full of rage. "How could you know anything about those brothers? You're too busy being a dog of the military." She gave a final sneer, and stormed out the door.

"Did you really think that was necessary, sir?" Hawkeye asked once everything was quiet.

"You saw that she was about to attack me." Roy looked at her with some annoyance.

"You could have handled this situation in a more composed matter, and prevented it from escalating." She walked to the front door, where Izumi had stormed off just moments ago. "She is not your enemy, sir," she said to him, and walked out the door.

Roy watched the door long after Hawkeye left, pondering what she said. That woman cared for those brothers, just like he did. She was simply looking out for them. If their situations were reversed, and he was the one just learning about the human transmutation attempt with a complete stranger, he'd be the one cursing and screaming and wrecking things.

Speaking of destruction, he had a table to fix. Slowly he walked around the table, and very carefully picked up the broken pieces of transmuted table, making sure not to fall down while bending over. Once all the wood was on the table, he clapped his hands, touched the wood, and after a few red sparks the table was back to normal.

Roy had to smile. "What a convenient little perk for going through hell," he said to himself. Too bad it wasn't worth it, not even close.

Not long after he slowly limped back to his chair and sat down Hawkeye came back in. He waited for her to say something, but she remained silent.

"You talked to her, didn't you?" Roy finally asked.

"Yes."

"Did she say anything?"

"No." After a pause she added, "This is not entirely her fault, sir."

He frowned and looked away. He supposed this meant it was time for him to start acting in a more composed manner.

A while later Izumi walked in the door. She was frowning as usual, but Roy noticed it wasn't as harsh as before.

"Is it true that you would never put those brothers in danger?" she asked.

"Yes, that is true," he replied, perfectly calm.

"Then why did you help Al with the human transmutation?"

"Because I made sure as best I could that Al would not be put in danger when we tried to bring back Ed. Thankfully, everything went according to my plan."

Izumi looked suspicious. "Your plan?"

He nodded. "We needed something to trade for Ed, a human life most likely, so I made the decision to be that sacrifice."

She could only stare at him in total shock. "You mean…" she managed to say before trailing off.

"When the gate opened, there were all these arms coming after us. I immediately jumped in front of Al, and those arms overtook me while leaving Al alone. That left him free to get Ed while I was dragged across the Gate. Somehow those arms only took my leg, and Al didn't lose anything."

The shock on her face eased up, and she looked away. "I had a son who died before I could give birth to it. I tried using human transmutation to revive it, using the body of my dead child. Instead I created a homunculus, and for that the Gate took some of my internal organs." She turned back towards him. "How did you manage to go through the Gate and keep Al safe?"

"I don't know. I did everything I could to make sure Al wouldn't lose anything more, but in the end, I don't know why those arms left him alone." Roy paused, going through everything in his mind, and suddenly it occurred to him. The Gate said Al had credit. Maybe that credit was from losing all his memories of being in that armor. Perhaps that was why Al was spared.

"I misjudged you," Izumi said, interrupting his thoughts. "I always thought State Alchemists were despicable, willing to use alchemy to kill people. But you were willing to give up your life to bring back someone else, and no person who does that can be called despicable. In fact, I would say you are a very noble person. Please accept my apology."

Roy managed a tiny grin. Couldn't be called despicable, huh? "I too am sorry for acting so harshly against you. I am not at my calmest when it comes to those brothers."

"What do you have Ed and Al do as State Alchemists?" Izumi asked.

"Honestly, most of the time they do whatever they want. I give them some fairly simple, fairly safe assignment, but they usually end up doing more and helping out the place they were sent to. After that, they like to take a long time coming back to Central City, and I usually hear about it from the local authorities. I'm not thrilled that Ed and Al run off so much, but you know how they are."

"So the rumors of him being an alchemist for the people were right. That's not too bad for being a State Alchemist."

Roy smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Izumi looked at him, slightly confused.

"I don't give them random assignments, I give them assignments to places I know they can help, and they never let me down on that."

"Ahh, so you are a scheming State Alchemist after all."

Roy was quite relieved to see that Izumi was smirking.

The next morning, everyone gathered on the porch. Izumi and her husband were about to leave, and everyone had come down to say goodbye to them.

Izumi actually smiled as she spoke to Roy. "If Ed and Al ever give you any trouble, a good body slam should straighten them out in no time."

"I'll be sure to remember that," he replied with a grin. He looked over at Ed and Al, adding, "I'm sure Major Armstrong would be happy to assist me with that."

Ed immediately looked slightly terrified. "You wouldn't dare."

"Why would I not listen to advice from someone who managed to keep you in check?"

Izumi leaned over them, looking especially scary. "You better not cause him any more trouble, otherwise you'll be hearing from me."

"We won't!" both brothers said in unison, still looking terrified.

She turned back to Roy. "I'm glad that we met, even if things got off to a bad start."

"Yes, I am too." They shook hands, and he added, "If you ever want to visit Ed and Al, let me know so I can have them back in Central when you come over."

"I'll be sure to do that." She gave a last wave, then started down the path towards the train station.

"We're screwed," Roy overheard Ed mumble to Al once Izumi was gone. "Now that the Colonel and Izumi are getting along, we'll always have someone breathing down our necks."

Roy turned to them and smirked. "Yes, that would be one way to put it, Ed."

He kept his smirk as Ed growled and did his best to storm back into the house, using Al for support.

"You still need to talk to them," Hawkeye said when everyone else had left.

Suddenly he felt very tired. "Really?" He dreaded that conversation more than anything else in the world.

"You are the adult, thus you should be the reasonable one by putting your feelings aside."

Roy had to grin at that. "I've never been much of an adult, have I?"