Love Will Tear Us Apart, Again
A fic by Dark Zodiac
A/N: Welcome to the next chapter of my first FMA slash. I hope you've enjoy it thus far and encourage you to leave comments and suggestions and such for future chapters/slahses. Without further ado, I give you chapter 5! Holler. Xoxo.
- Chapter V: Some Other Beginning's End -
Roy pushed through crowds of people as he made his way to the information desk.
"Is there a train leaving for Driessgart?" he ejaculated.
"Yes, but it's about to pull out."
"Which platform?"
"The third, but it's leaving and you need a ticket!"
Roy dashed down the platform as the train began to pull away, jumping on the last car as he ran out of platform to run down. Central Station faded into the background as the train pushed through the night.
"Excuse me, sir," an attendant said as Roy came in through the door, "May I see your ticket...oh, Lieutenant Colonel! I barely recognized you out of uniform. What are doing on this train? Driessgart's quite out of the way."
"I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a man, about my age, height, and weight, wearing a trench coat?"
"I've seen a lot of people, Sir, but I'll keep my eyes open. Is this someone we should be worried about?"
"No, not at all. He's an acquaintance of mine. Please, don't be alarmed."
"No problem, Lieutenant Colonel."
"Oh, and please keep my presence under wraps. I don't want to rile anyone on the train."
"Of course."
The attendant went to the next car and Roy followed a few minutes later. There weren't many people on the train, a few families heading home, a few guys staring thoughtfully out the window, and somewhere Gareth was waiting for Roy, though he didn't know it yet. There was a sudden jolt which shook the train and caused some screams from the frightened children. The loudspeaker crackled and then a voice was heard over it.
"Passengers of this Driessgart headed train, don't be alarmed. The People's Eastern Liberation Front has taken control of the train. No one will be hurt as long as they cooperate and don't give us any trouble. Right now, there are men armed with some pretty powerful weaponry patrolling each car of the train. So sit back and relax while we chat with Central."
Two armed men stood up at the front of the car Roy was in. They told everyone to sit tight and not to try anything funny. Roy narrowed his eyes and looked around the car. A mother and her daughter huddled together in their seats, tears running down the daughter's face as she clung to her mother for dear life. Roy slowly slid his Pyrex glove on.
In the next car up, Gareth stared out the window as the armed extremists patrolled the aisle and scaring the small children.
"Hey you," one of them asked, addressing Gareth. "Wutcha got under that coat?"
"Wings," he said blandly.
"Don't be screwin' with me."
"Look, take my coat off and you can see."
The man apprehensively reached out and pulled Gareth's trench coat off, revealing a pair of beautiful, white wings.
"Whoa!" exclaimed the man as he recoiled in shock. "You really do have wings!"
"Yeah, I know."
Suddenly there was a commotion from the car behind them and the two armed men ran to see what was going on. A wall of flame blocked their entrance to the car as smoke filled the car. Roy charged at them from behind the flames, knocking the two extremists to the ground and kicking their guns away.
"Roy!" Gareth exclaimed as he ran towards him.
"Gareth! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you."
"Why?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Gareth saw one of the downed men pull a derringer from a pouch on his pants and take aim at Roy. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms and wings around the Flame Alchemist and pulled him to the floor as the man got a shot off before collapsing. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as a spurt of red exploded onto Gareth's wings, his eyes widening in terror as they met Roy's. As Mustang hit the floor wrapped in Gareth's wings and arms, and as Gareth stared deep into his eyes, something clicked. Images...memories began taking shape in Gareth's mind as he felt himself melt into Roy's eyes.
"Roy! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, the bullet just grazed my side. I'm fine."
Tears streamed from Gareth's eyes as he stared at Roy.
"Gareth? What's wrong?"
"I remember, Roy," he said as he got to his feet and gave Mustang a hand. "I remember everything. Is the last car clear?"
"Yeah, why? What are you thinking?"
"We get everyone to the last car, detach it from the rest of the train, and then take on whoever's in charge. As it is they're probably in control of the switch board, so we won't be able to call Central til we take them out anyway."
"That could endanger the passengers. Doing a car-by-car sweep would be more effective."
"I'll take the high road and double back."
"Just like old times, Gareth. It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back."
Gareth slid out an open window and glided along above the train while Roy slid the door to the next car open and burst in. While flames engulfed the terrorists and smoke filled the cars, Gareth flew to the engine and perched above the window. A few feathers slid into the open window and one of the extremists stared at them in confusion.
"Where did these come from?" he asked his partner as he turned around.
A sudden burst of wind and feathers provided an ample distraction for Gareth to slide through the window and knock out the two extremists.
"You two okay?" he asked the men shoveling coal.
"Yeah, now take out those other bastards."
"Already on it!" he said with a smile.
The switchboard was in the next car, as were about four armed men. Gareth peered through the window and watched as the extremists walked up and down the aisle while some hostages cowered in their seats. The Holy Seraphim Alchemist plucked a few more feathers from his wings before slamming the door opening and filling the air with a flurry of feathers. While Gareth liberated the switchboard and took the leader of the operation in custody, Roy was cleansing the last car of bad guys.
"Gareth! You okay?" he asked as he opened the door and saw him standing in front of the switchboard room."
"Yup."
"I'll call Central."
"I'll check on the passengers."
The train returned to Central Station an hour later and all the extremists were taken into custody. The military took them away while Gareth tended to Roy's injury.
"Take your shirt off, Roy!" Gareth demanded as plucked a feather from his wing. "Let me put a bandage on the wound."
"You just want to see me with my shirt off."
"You're cocksure as ever," he shot back as he slapped the wound and walked away.
"AHHHHHH!"
"It's good to have you back, Gareth. You always could keep Roy in line," Hawkeye said with a chuckle as she watched Roy double over in pain. "I think that was a little harsh, though."
"So you remember everything now?" Hughes asked as he sat down next to Hawkeye.
"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, my memory wasn't great to begin with, but at least I remember who I am."
"Do you remember everything from when you didn't know who you were?"
"Like it was yesterday...because it pretty much was yesterday. I remember my time in New Haven and everything. Now I'm going to go see if the paramedics have Roy patched up yet."
"I see you still can't resist," Roy commented as the paramedics left and Gareth sat next to him.
"I never could."
"Gareth...I..."
"So when did they make you Lieutenant Colonel?"
"A month after you disappeared. It helped because I didn't have time to think about anything except work."
"And you deserve to be a Lieutenant Colonel. You overcame a lot on the battlefield."
"Because you were with me. I never fell out of love with you, Gareth, even after you disappeared."
"You were always in my dreams, even though I didn't know who you were. And I never took your ring off."
Gareth ran his fingertips down Roy's cheek and along his chin, gently pulling his face forwards. Their lips connected and soon the kiss deepened as Roy slid his tongue between his companion's lips.
"Your kiss is still the same, Roy."
"Yeah, I'm a pretty good kisser."
"Pretty good ass kisser. And to think I once found your arrogance charming."
"You still do."
"You're impossible. Oh, and uh, I was wondering if I could ask a favor, Lieutenant Colonel."
"And what will I get in return if I do this favor?"
"Something you've always wanted."
"Hmph. Which would be?"
"An angel all to yourself."
"And what's the favor?"
"Send a few troops to protect New Haven and I'll give the Fuhrer a sample of the oh-so-sought-after Alnegite."
"I'll see what I can do," he said with a smirk.
"Oh, and I could use somewhere to stay for the night."
"Heh."
The next day, Hawkeye knocked on the door to Mustang's office, but got no response. She waited a few seconds and knocked again, producing the same result. Riza let out a sigh and opened the door, only to find Roy asleep on his desk in a puddle of his own drool. She coughed loudly a few times until the Lieutenant Colonel snapped awake.
"Oh, Hawkeye, it's just you."
"I take it you didn't get much sleep last night."
"About half an hour and it hurts to sit."
"How'd your meeting with the Fuhrer go? He seemed interested in everything that was going on with Gareth."
"If Gareth wants, the Fuhrer will personally reinstate him as the Holy Seraphim Alchemist along with the rank First Lieutenant. You'd finally have someone to help you with all that paper work."
"Have you told Gareth yet?"
"He took the phone off the hook and went to bed this morning."
"The Fuhrer always held the two of you in high regard."
"Mmmhmmm," Roy moaned as his set his head on the desk again.
"Before you doze off again, Colonel, I have a report regarding the hijacking yesterday."
"Uh-huh," he mumbled as he shifted his head. "Leave it on my desk."
Hawkeye opened the stapled pages of the report and left them on top of Roy's head.
"Uhhhhhh," came a moan as Hawkeye pulled the doors shut as she left the room.
A few minutes later, Hawkeye came back and told Roy she'd called him a car to take him back to his apartment.
"First Lieutenant and my title back?" Gareth asked, surprised, as Roy plopped down on the bed.
"That's if you want to come back to the military, Gareth. I mean...this whole situation is what tore us apart last time."
"It was more than just the military, Roy. You know that."
Roy stared at Gareth from the other side of the bed. The setting sun was hidden behind dark clouds and the gentle rain quickly became a downpour.
"Does the offer have an expiration date?"
"The sooner the better."
"Did you ask the Fuhrer about my request?"
"He said he'd contact the mayor of New Haven ASAP regarding a small military presence in order to protect the Alnegite mine."
"I have one more request."
"What do you want now?"
"Take a week off and come to New Haven with me. I can help with negotiations and such and...I want you to see it."
"It's...hard right now. There were two more train hijacking threats and we're trying to do all we can to prevent them."
"The threats never seem to happen, yet the spur of the moment ones happen pretty regularly."
"Are you making a stab at how I do my job?"
"I'm not gonna argue about it with you."
"No, please go on."
"No! This is the same argument we had three years ago and it's going to come down to one thing: work over personal life. I didn't even give an answer yet and you're getting defensive then jumping down my throat."
"You're twisting everything around."
"I'm leaving tomorrow, Roy."
"What! Where are you going?"
"New Haven. The Fuhrer will have my answer in a week."
"But why?"
"I have to do some thinking and Central just clouds my mind. Plus I have some unfinished business to tend to."
"What kind of unfinished business could you possibly have?"
"I was more than just a winged alchemist in New Haven. I had duties, too."
"Does that mean you're coming back?"
Gareth's silence tore at Roy's heart, as the winged man avoided making eye contact.
"Are you coming back?" Roy asked again.
"Are you coming with me?"
Silence.
- End Chapter V: Some Other Beginning's End -
A/N: Uh...I hope you've been enjoying it so far. I'm thinking one or two more chapters and then it's over. Roy and Gareth are back together, but they're having the same fight they had three years ago! Will they be able to bridge that gap before Gareth leaves? Will Gareth come back and retake the title Holy Seraphim Alchemist? Will Roy go with Gareth to New Haven? Stay tuned to find out! R&R please! Holler. Xoxo.