Here we are at chapter 7.
A note on my entirely unnecessary AN's that I tag on the beginnings and ends of these installments:
Sorry about the confusion, Killa Pat and Nil… I mis-credited a review. Normally I would double check before writing review responses like that, but my internet wasn't really happy at that point in time.
And in terms of the projected length of this fic… that's a really good question. Unfortunately I can't exactly say for sure. I write from chapter to chapter, with some ideas of where I want the chapter to conclude and ideas to transition between sections. Depending on how the manga plot goes (yes, I do pull a lot of inspiration from the most recent FMA manga plot… ergo fanfiction.) this could go on for many more chapters… My guess is no less than… 15 chapters probably. Please don't hold me to that estimate… it could end up much longer or a tiny bit shorter.
If I owned FMA, then the movie would already be in theaters in the US of A.
The hideout was too dark, too old. Filled with the smell of decay, the dark corners were hiding things that Roy would rather not think about.
This is ridiculous. It's just hasn't been kept up, an old house. Nothing more.
He wanted more lanterns, more candles. He wanted nothing more than to torch the whole building and leave it, a pile of ashes. A single snap. Roy felt out of place in this hideaway, felt like this was time being spent idle. The Elrics were off somewhere, keeping each other company while they waited. The Homunculus, Gluttony, confined in a room with walls too thin for Roy's comfort. He was standing in a hallway with Ling, the young prince from Xing, waiting outside the largest room in the cramped building.
That room. Currently Dr. Knox, with Hawkeye's aid, was working on Ran Fan. She was still a girl, faithfully working for one of the Elric's friends; a girl who had paid the price for ultimate dedication to a cause. Paid the same price that Ed had offered for his brother's soul. Who was more reckless? Who, if either, had the better deal? Roy's thoughts were scattered, morbid.
The room had been saturated with the smell of blood. Roy had stayed and watched at the beginning as the Dr. pulled tools from his bag. Hawkeye's hands helping to pull away the improvised tourniquet, applying pressure to the girl's shoulder. Her clean hands spattered with warm blood. The smell was everywhere. Roy almost stumbled out the door, taking deep breaths.
Time passed, Roy and Ling vaguely aware of each other's presence in the hallway, more aware of the people in the improvised operating room. Neither could find reason to strike up a conversation, to ease along the wait with small talk. The fall of heavy footsteps filtered into their consciousness. Ed and Al lumbered into the hallway and struck up a conversation with Ling. Roy turned the corner, giving the boys some privacy. Even if he wanted to listen, Roy's mind was too busy to do any kind of eavesdropping whatsoever. The only thing he heard at the end of the conversation was that Knox was finished.
Everyone had assembled in the room. Knox had excused himself, pulling out a pack of cigarettes with his cleaned hands. Hawkeye stood behind the small crowd gathered Ran Fan, toweling her hands dry.
"Can you keep watch outside?" Roy asked quietly, trying not to interrupt the silence in the room. She exited with a nod, tossing the dirty towel onto a small heap of stained rags. Not having anything to say to the recovering Ran Fan, Roy excused himself. He felt immensely better just knowing that a death had been prevented and the blood had been cleaned away. Approaching Ling, Roy ventured a greeting.
"She's strong."
"Yes. I consider myself honored to have her in my service. And, you are—"
"Roy Mustang, a Colonel of the National Armed Forces. I've heard about you from the Elrics." A handshake was exchanged, formalities taken care of.
"I am the twelfth son of the emperor of Xing, Ling Yao. I cannot thank you enough for finding a doctor." Ling bowed low.
"Well, I owe you one for your assistance with the case of Maria Ross." Roy smiled. It was refreshing to work with a young man with a decent upbringing and good manners; Ed's public behavior had a tendency to grate on his nerves after awhile.
"I consider myself lucky to have made ties with such a respectable member of the armed forces in Amestris. Even if the encounter was a secret one."
"And I can see great promise coming from having ties with the imperial family of Xing." Roy said with a grin. Ling smiled grimly, appreciating Roy's understanding in politics.
"You… you want something more than the title of Colonel, I take it?"
"I think what you and I want have many commonalities," Roy responded. If anyone had been listening, there would have been little indication to the revolutionary ideas harbored in the minds of the two. "I hope that even after all this is resolved, we can maintain a sense of partnership." Roy turned to leave, turning back to add, "If we cannot speak freely with each other again, then I wish you luck and offer my condolences for Ran Fan. Take good care of her."
He exited the decaying house and stepped into the cool night air. Roy stuck his hands into his jacket pockets and looked around at the woods surrounding him. Not seeing a single living thing in the clearing, Roy let out a long, low whistle, followed by several short high notes.
"That's entirely unnecessary, Sir."
Roy jumped and whipped around, trying to find the source of the voice he had just heard. Hawkeye saluted with an amused glint in her eyes, sitting on the roof with a rifle hanging off her shoulder.
"You can't be so sure. What if we had been surrounded? I tried to be stealthy, and use covert messaging systems. But you just gave away our position, Lieutenant. Now it's only a matter of time before we're swarmed and massacred."
"Keep your voice down, Sir." She chided, dropping her legs over the awning and jumping down next to Roy with a soft thump. Standing up straight and taking the rifle off her shoulder with a sigh, Hawkeye performed a full salute with the heel click and stiffened posture. Roy waved the salute off. "It's not like you to joke in situations like this."
"Situation like what?" Roy looked at her with mild surprise. "Do you know what we have locked up in that shack?"
"A Homunculus…" she answered.
"Yes. A creature whose core is the very Philosopher's Stone itself! With that kind of power, Havoc's legs could be fixed! We could take Bradley down effortlessly. Hell, the Elrics could be saved with that stone!" Roy grabbed Riza by the shoulders with something that might have been a skip. "So many problems could be solved! Think about it, Lieutenant!"
"It's really not like you to get your hopes up like this." She responded, unmoving in Roy's grasp.
"I know." Roy responded, his voice softening, "And to be honest, I don't really believe what I just said anyway. I don't believe it could be so easy to solve all our problems. But I wanted some sort of reassurance I suppose, some kind of encouragement that what we're doing is having some kind of positive effect." Roy's hand slid off Riza's shoulder and lightly ran through her hair, toying with the golden strands. "I want some proof that we're making progress after all the struggle and effort you've put into it, so you can see that it wasn't in vain."
"Do you really think I'm that fragile?"
"Do you think I should think that you're fragile?"
"Roy Mustang. You ought to know me better than to think that slow progress towards a goal would damage my morale. I can handle myself in adverse situations just as well as you can. There isn't room in this job to be fragile." She spoke with conviction, without hesitation or doubt in her words. "But."
"But?" Roy questioned, watching her eyes soften and her shoulders sag in exhaustion.
"But, I don't think I could stand on my own in times like these." she murmured, stepping into Roy's arms and loosely wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his chest. The rifle fell, forgotten, into the grass with a rustle. Roy smiled to himself, holding Riza closer and sighing contentedly, the smell of violets and gunpowder filling his nostrils.
"I guess I'm a little more fragile than I thought."
"I don't mind, Lieutenant. We'll get through this, okay? I swear I won't leave you. That is, if you want to stay by my side."
"More than anything."
This chapter was entirely unplanned, and felt scattered. As I was working on chapter 8 (which I had planned on making chapter 7) I felt like there was a whole lot I was skipping over in terms of the manga plot. So I decided to stick this in here. To be honest… I'm not entirely sure if I like it. Maybe I'll come back and change it/delete it someday. But I guess I'll let you all be the judge of that.