Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, I never have and never will.

To Thine Own Self Be True

Chapter 14 - Not So Big After All

Fuery and Havoc are looking around the rubble. Then Fuery sees something and walks over to it.

"Hey, over here!"

He jumps up and waves in the air. Mustang and Hawkeye walk over to Fuery and see Alphonse Elric sitting on the ground, damaged. Across from him is Edward Elric who is missing his automail arm.

"Hawkeye, go play traffic detail. Keep all human traffic away."

"Yes sir."

She salutes then takes off running up the rubble and headed over to behind the military transport trucks. She pulls out her gun and stands at a good spot and watches for trouble. Back in the hole, Ed crawls over to Al.

"Hey, Al, you all right?"

Ed was answered by a metal fist in the face.

"You stupid idiot! You risked your life like that!"

Ed gets mad and walks over to Al.

"Don't' call me stupid, stupid."

Al grabs Ed's shirt.

"I'll call you stupid as long as you keep acting stupid. We need to keep living. We can't die. What about your promise?"

Just then, the arm Al was holding Ed with falls off. Everyone watches the arm fall to the ground.

"Stupid!"

Al gets mad at Ed for his arm falling off.

"Colonel Sir!"

Hawkeye ran back to Mustang and stood next to him.

"Sir, The Fuhrer's secretary is here."

She salutes and Mustang walks way, she follows closely behind.

"Colonel mustang. I'm Juliet Douglas. Marco will now be taken into the care of the Fuhrer. I ensure you no harm will be done to him."

Douglas smiles as Marco walks up behind him. He gets into the car and they drive away, leaving Mustang and Hawkeye standing in the middle of the street.

"Let's get these boys back to HQ."

Mustang says as he and his team walk back down to the Elric boys.

"Brother... I think I just heard Mom's voice."

Al says as the military approaches them.

"Idiot, thats only because you almost died."

Back in Eastern HQ, Edward and Alphonse are taken into the break room where Mustang's subordinates are. Mustang and Hawkeye are in the hallway talking.

"I'm going to go tell him."

"But sir..."

"I'll get whatever punishment is meant."

And with that he walks into Fuhrer's office, formally known as Mustang's office.

"Fuhrer sir."

Mustang salutes and stand in the office with the Fuhrer before him. He can se he is leaving.

"I'm leaving. You may have your office back."

The Fuhrer keeps his back to Mustang who was smiling about getting his office back.

"Sir...?"

"Since Scar is here, all the higher ups want to go back to Central."

The Fuhrer said. Mustang thought...'You mean they want to run home...?' Mustang straightened up and his face lost all expression

"Well then sir... may I have my punishment first?"

"Punishment?"

"I knew of Marco's where-a-bouts all this time and never told."

"Well... it's a job well done. I've been wanting to put him protective custody. Gran was against it, but since he's gone, I can protect him."

He then turned to face Mustang.

"Take my advice Mustang, the Philosopher's stone does not exist."

Mustang stares for a moment, then salutes.

"Have a safe trip sir."

He salutes a little longer, then turns to leave, closing the door behind him. Out in the hall, Hawkeye greets him with a smile.

"See, no worse for wear."

He smiles as they approach each other halfway.

"sometimes, I think it would do you good to get your hand slapped."

Hawkeye's smile fades. Mustang turns to face the closed office door where the Fuhrer is.

"I don't know. I don't understand him. He's like a wall."

Mustang turns back to Hawkeye who was thinking about slapping him as the punishment the Fuhrer didn't give.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

Mustang and Hawkeye ran to the sound of the scream. There was Armstrong, no shirt and his sparkles everywhere. The rest of Mustang's crew (Havoc, Fuery, Breda and Falman) and Hughes. They are standing around a broken Ed and Al who are sitting on a table in the corner. The scream, came from Al.

"I can fix it."

Armstrong says as he flexes his muscles and more sparkles fly around. Hawkeye ducks just in time as a sparkle flies over her head and gets stuck in the hall behind her like a Ninja star. She glances over at Mustang and he just shrugs.

"No, only Ed can."

Mustang replies as he too dodges a flying sparkle.

"Armstrong, ease up on the sparkles of death, will ya."

Havoc asks as he pulls a sparkle from his cigarette pack.

"But Ed can't fix Al since he needs fixing himself."

Hawkeye pointed out. Everyone just relised it and Hawkeye sighs.

"So without his arm, he's just a grumpy teen with a personality problem."

Havoc mentions.

"I need to go home and visit my mechanic, Winry. You remember her right Mustang...?"

Ed looks up over his knee at Mustang. Hawkeye gives Mustang a glare like 'not another woman'.

"Sure Ed. How could I forget. I saw you in her house, unconscious with that same stump of an arm you have now, bawling in your sleep, I'm going to pee my pants!"

Mustang imitates Ed. Ed doesn't even stick up for himself.

"So Ed, what are you going to do when your fixed?"

Hughes asked, leaning on the back of a chair.

"Central."

Ed replies.

"Thats quiet a trip. You'll need protection. I can't because the Fuhrer is leaving and I'm going back with him"

Hughes says. Armstrong has a smirk on his face as a muscle flexes.

"I can't because Eastern is back in my control."

Mustang says.

"And I have to keep Mustang in control."

Hawkeye points out. Mustang glares at her as another of Armstrong's mussels flexes.

"I can't defend against Scar."

Havoc said as Fuery, Falman and Breda jump up in the back and raise a hand.

"Same here!"

The say together.

"Then looks like I'll escort them home safely."

Armstrong flexes his muscles again. Sparkles begin flying everywhere like deadly projectiles... Fuery, Falman, Breda and Havoc duck the sparkles. Hughes falls out of his chair backwards dodging them and Mustang puts an arm around Hawkeye's shoulders pulling her down to the floor for protection. After the sparkles stop flying, everyone stands up and looks around. Pink sparkles are stuck in all the walls.

"We don't need protection!"

Ed complains pulling a sparkle from his automail leg.

"Don't complain. How can you protect yourself and carry Al?"

Hawkeye asks as she and Mustang crawl out from under a table.

"Children should listen to their adults."

Armstrong says.

"He's the first one to treat me as a kid since we got here."

Al happily exclaims. Ed mumbles as Armstrong picks up Al and starts walking out. Everyone watches as they leave. A few minutes later, Hughes walks by and Mustang grabs his jacket.

"Yes?"

Hughes asks with a smile.

"go tell Ed not to die. I don't want to fill out paperwork on it."

Hughes smiles and leaves. About thirty minutes later, Hughes returns. Breda and Falman were removing the sparkles from the walls. Fuery was removing a sparkle from his glasses that got stuck in the lens, just missing his eye.

"Ed says he will not die and that your a... 'morally bankrupt colonel with a god complex.' And then the train left."

Hughes placed a finger on his chin and remembered the conversation with Ed. Mustang smiled.

"I'll take that as a complement."

"You would."

Hawkeye said, looking at him with a tilted head and out of the corner of her eyes. Mustang just glared at her again. She smirked and walked away.

A/N - Beware the Sparkles of Death! (kills a sparkle that flies at her) Die, Sparkle, die! MUHAHAHAHAHA...

Please review. Constructive criticism accepted. No FLAMES (Thats Roy's job only). Please look in my profile oo0AnimeChild0oo for all my other stories. And again, thanks for reading.

"Write a wise saying and your name will live forever"
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