Disclaimer: Don't own it.
Roy glanced out the window behind his desk, his eye moving to take in the vast amount of gray sky that covered the city. He sighed and turned his head back to his desk and the gargantuan piles of paperwork that resided on and around it. In the past two weeks, Roy had done almost no work in the office. He reported in for every shift on time, which shocked many military personnel, not to mention his own subordinates, and he always stayed until his shift was through, but would spend the hours in between those two points simply sitting at his desk. When he got home, he would wash, grab a few slices of bread to butter robotically before mindlessly devouring them, eating only because he knew he should, and then go to bed, waking in time to dress and head to work. Each morning he would pour himself a cup of coffee before heading to his desk, but couldn't even bring himself to drink it.
When the others heard the news, they had been shocked. However, they accepted the situation with grace, and assumed that the Colonel would do the same. Days later, with Roy looking even worse each time any of them saw him, they realized they had been wrong. When Havoc, who had taken on Riza's duties with Breda, had jokingly told him that he looked like himself after being dumped and ignored by one of his girlfriends, Roy had set the edges of Havoc's coat aflame. After that, they avoided him for the most part, speaking to him only when they had to, acknowledging his presence only with a quick salute. They were quickly reaching the limits of their patience, though, wishing Roy would go back to being himself.
Distantly, Roy heard the bell ring for lunch hour, though he made no move toward the door. Breda and Falman practically ran from the room, eager to escape the gloomy environment the office had become. Fuery followed them, albeit slowly and less desperately, but Havoc stayed behind. Cigarette dangling from his mouth, he walked up to Roy's desk, leaning over the piles to look at his commanding officer.
"Colonel." When he received no reply, he tried again, more forcefully. "Colonel!"
Roy sighed. "What is it?" he asked, his voice lacking any emotion.
"Lunch. Let's go."
"I'm not going."
"Colonel, you haven't eaten at all since First Lieutenant Hawkeye left." He noticed the man tense slightly at the name, but when nothing else happened, he continued. "We're all worried about you. You're not doing well."
"That's not true, Second Lieutenant Havoc," Roy replied, still staring blankly at his desk. "I eat when I get home from work, and I am perfectly healthy."
Havoc's response to that was a disbelieving snort. He moved the piles of paper between Roy and himself, having to take several steps away from the desk before finding free space on the floor for them, and pulled the nearest chair up to sit across from Roy. "Talk, Colonel."
"What?"
"I know you, and I know this kind of behaviour isn't like you. So we're going to talk about your problem and find a way to fix it."
"I don't have a problem, Havoc. Go to lunch." Roy was starting to sound annoyed. It was a good sign to Havoc, though, since the man had been nothing but melancholy for the past fourteen days.
"I'm not leaving until you talk."
Roy sighed. There was a part of him that wanted to open up to Havoc, tell him everything, see if the man could help him. He had done this very rarely in the past, and only ever with Hughes. Usually his stubborn, prideful side won out, leaving him alone to either deal with his problem or wait until it went away. He had opened up to Riza, but that had been different; his pride hadn't mattered at all with her. His eye flicked over the man sitting across from him, noting the stubborn gleam mixed with sympathy in Havoc's eyes. He sighed again, giving in to Havoc and to the softer side of himself. "Hawkeye's gone."
Havoc tried very hard not to roll his eyes at the obviousness of the Colonel's statement. He didn't want Roy to lock up again just as he was beginning to open. "Yeah, Sir, I know. We all miss her."
Roy shook his head and smiled, but there was no humour in the upward turn of his lips. "It's not just that."
Taking one last long drag, havoc reached over for his ashtray and put out his cigarette. For the first time in a long time, he did not replace it with another. For a while, a suspicion had been gnawing somewhere in his mind. He had never voiced it to anyone, for fear of bullets and fire rushing at him. Now, he decided, he was prepared to die, if it meant helping to get the Colonel back on his feet. He took a deep breath. "She's … not just a subordinate to you, is she?"
Closing his eye and leaning back in his chair, Roy shook his head again. Suspicion confirmed and happy to find that he hadn't been burned in the process, Havoc waited for Roy to continue, to explain himself more fully. "It's not that we were dating or anything, really. We met at a coffee shop once by accident on a Sunday, and then it just became a habit to meet there. In the beginning, it wasn't much different than going out for a drink with the rest of you, except a lot less rowdy. But then … I don't know what happened. Something changed, and I …" Havoc nodded, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk. He jerked back quickly, though, as Roy banged his fists down on the wood in a sudden burst of anger. "I hate this, Havoc! Why does this have to be so damned complicated? I barely even had a chance to realize how I felt, and now she's gone!" His anger left him as quickly as it had come and he slumped back into his chair, defeated, his head in his hands. "Not to mention it's my fault she's gone and she hates me for it."
Now Havoc was thoroughly confused. "What do you mean, Colonel? It was a transfer. How could it be your …" He trailed off, realization dawning on him.
"I signed the order. I never even bothered to read what it was. She thought the order came from me." Despair and helplessness were apparent in his voice now.
"So she thinks you ordered her transfer because you didn't want her here?" Roy nodded into his hands, feeling the beginnings of a headache manifest across his skull. "Then the solution is simple: you have to get the transfer revoked."
Ignoring the increased pain from moving his head too quickly, Roy stared at his Second Lieutenant as though he had grown a second head. "And how am I supposed to do that? Fill in a form so it reads 'Requesting return transfer of First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye because I'm in love with her'?"
"No. Go higher up. Make them understand, and get them to issue the order."
The look, if possible, intensified on Roy's face. "As it is, fraternizing is deeply frowned upon. Do you really think it likely that they would even consider my request, let alone allow me to keep my job?"
Havoc shrugged. "I don't know, Colonel. But she's worth it, isn't she, to try?"
Roy sighed once again and rubbed his face with his hand. He knew the answer immediately, but before he could say anything more to Havoc, his other subordinates returned. They stopped just inside the doorway, Breda standing a considerable distance from Fuery and Falman, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. Fuery's hands were hiding something behind his back.
"Um … er …" Fuery sputtered, obviously nervous about whatever he had to say. "I … that is, we … We noticed you've been feeling down, Colonel, and we wanted to cheer you up, but we couldn't think of anything, especially after you burned Havoc for his attempts, and …" He trailed off, leaving his ramble incomplete as he searched for the right words. "Um … We thought that you might be lonely, and since none of us could really talk to you, we um … We got you this!" He said the last part very quickly as he ran toward Roy's desk and deposited what he had been hiding onto the wood.
Roy stared. Staring back at him were a pair of brown-black eyes. He looked away from the eyes, taking in the dark, wet nose, the floppy ears, the tail swishing back and forth, and the chocolate brown fur that covered it all. "You got me a dog?" he asked, not quite believing what he was seeing. Fuery gulped and nodded, suddenly fearing for the pup's life as Roy picked it up by the scruff of its neck and brought it closer to his good eye for inspection. The puppy yipped and brought its long pink tongue out to lick Roy's cheek.
"Well, it that's the case," Roy said, setting the dog back down on the desk and moving his left hand to scratch behind its ears, "I suppose I have no choice." He looked at his four men: Havoc, who had forced him to come out of his shell of self-hatred and despair, Fuery and Falman, who had tried to come up with their own form of comfort and support, and Breda, who was fighting his fear of dogs and showing his support by actually staying in the room. "Thank you, all of you," he continued, with a pointed look at Havoc. They nodded, smiling at him, and returned to their desks and their work.
"Oh, Colonel," Fuery called out, "what are you going to name him?"
Roy thought for a moment, studying the dog carefully. "Dakota," he stated. He looked to Fuery to approval, which the Master Sergeant gave readily. Roy's attention returned to his desk as he began to shift the papers on it, searching for his telephone. When he found it, he hesitated for a moment. He had to be absolutely sure of what he was about to start. As if sensing a disruption in his new master's thoughts, much as Black Hayate had done, Dakota yipped and messily licked Roy's hand. He didn't spare a second thought for the temporarily useless glove as he took a deep breath and dialed an internal number.
When someone on the opposite end picked up, he mentally steeled himself. "This is Colonel Roy Mustang. I require General Hakuro's home address." The voice on the other end was hesitant, but gave him the information. Roy scribbled the address across the paper in front of him, not caring what it contained, before thanking the person and hanging the telephone up. He nodded at Havoc, wordlessly thanking the man again and confirming the action he was going to take.
For the rest of his shift, Roy began on the mountain of paperwork that was once his desk. He took the time to read each one carefully, making sure he understood exactly what he was signing. Only once did he take a break, when Dakota started to get antsy. Not having a leash and knowing the dog wouldn't have had any training, he scooped him up and carried him out to the green, earning him more than a few odd looks along the way. He let the dog do his business and wear off some energy as he stared up at the still-cloudy sky. For the umpteenth time since Havoc had made his suggestion, Roy weighed Riza against his job. He didn't think it likely that he would still be employed after tonight, so was it worth his job only to find out that things might not work out? He felt, though, that he would regret his inaction for the rest of his life if he didn't fight, didn't go after her, didn't tell her that he loved her. Roy felt a few light waterdrops fall onto his face as it began to rain. He called out to Dakota, who came running, barking at the raindrops and wagging his tail playfully. He took the dog in his arms again and walked back into the building to finish his work.
The remainder of the day passed by uneventfully, each of the men doing their own work. When the time came to quit, Roy gathered up his coat and his dog, bidding the others a good night. He stopped on his way home for dog supplies, purchasing two plain metal bowls, a leash, and some dog food. Trying to control Dakota on his leash was nothing short of impossible. The pup ran every which way, weaving through people and jumping at cars that passed. With his hands full, Roy could do nothing but pull gently on the leash to coax the dog along. Eventually they made it home, where Roy placed spare pieces of wood at the kitchen door so that Dakota could not escape. He decided that the dog would be staying in that room until he could be properly trained. He washed out both bowls before filling one with dog food and the other with water. Leaving Dakota to his meal, Roy set about making a real meal for himself, the first he'd had in a while. When he was finished, he rooted through the closet in the hallway, eventually emerging with a worn, thin blanket of an undeterminable colour somewhere between gray and pink. Making sure the dog was settled and would be fine alone for a while, he scratched under the dog's chin before stepping over the wood and picking up the telephone to call for a car. After he hung up, he went outside to wait, locking the door securely behind him.
A few minutes later, the black car pulled up in front of Roy's place. Climbing into the back seat, he gave the officer driving him the address. The young man nodded and pulled out into the street. Roy looked out the window, not really noticing the passing houses and shops. His mind was focused on General Hakuro, and how to persuade the man to see his point of view. Before he could come up with anything substantial, he realized that the car was slowing down and pulling onto the side of the road.
"We're here, Sir," the driver said to him, looking at Roy in the rearview mirror. Roy merely nodded and opened the door. "Do you need me to wait for you, Sir?"
He shook his head at the officer. "No, thank you. I have no idea how long I'm going to be." He closed the door and the car pulled away, leaving Roy to stand nervously on the grass near the road. The house in front of him was larger than average, but not nearly as big as King Bradley's had been. It was two levels of light brown brick walls, with dark roofing on top. The front door and shutters were pained white, as was the iron fence surrounding the large property. He walked up to the two guards positioned at the front, who saluted him when they saw the badge of rank on his uniform, but did not move to let him pass. He stopped in front of them, nodding for them to stand at ease. "Colonel Roy Mustang to see General Hakuro on private business."
The guard on the left turned and walked toward the house while the one on the right replied, "Please wait a moment, Sir." Roy was glad the rain had let up so that he wasn't soaked while he waited, feeling more and more anxious with each second that passed. The other guard returned, and Roy was allowed to pass. "The officer inside will escort you to General Hakuro's study, Sir." He thanked them and walked forward, ignoring the jelly-like feeling his legs had acquired. Inside, his coat was hung on a stand and he was led out of the brightly lit, beige foyer and down the hall. Halfway down the hall, the female officer he had been following stopped and gestured toward the door on their right. "The General will receive you in here, Sir," she told him, saluting before walking back to the front door. Roy turned the knob, his hand trembling slightly, and walked into the room, closing the door again behind him. As he saluted, he took in his surroundings.
Hakuro's study was an average-sized room. Across from the door were two large windows, the long green curtains drawn across for increased privacy. The right side of the room was overtaken with bookshelves, though Roy couldn't make out any titles in the room's dim lighting. The left side was rather bare in comparison, with only a large desk and chair made of the same smooth, polished wood as the bookshelves, and a green lamp in either corner providing the only light in the room. General Hakuro was seated at the desk, pen in hand and a small stack of papers in front of him. He motioned for Roy to stand at ease, and he did so, moving to stand closer to Hakuro's desk.
"Well, Colonel Mustang," he began, setting his pen down and folding his hands on top of his desk, "I'm surprised by this visit. What is it you wish to discuss?"
Roy hesitated a moment. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"
"Granted," Hakuro replied, his furrowed brow indicating his slight confusion at Roy's behaviour.
"I need my First Lieutenant back," he rushed.
"You have two Second Lieutenants serving under you. Surely you can't have become so short-staffed in only two weeks? If you'd like, I can have the matter reviewed and ensure that someone is assigned to you."
Roy shook his head. "It's not a matter of staff, Sir. My current staff is fine."
"Then what is this about? Your staff is fine, and Lior isn't. We needed someone with excellent military records and good people skills to help the efforts there, and First Lieutenant Hawkeye seemed best for the job. Is there a reason she shouldn't have been considered?"
"No, Sir, there isn't."
"Well, then?" Hakuro questioned, eyebrows raised.
Taking a deep breath, Roy spoke the words that he was sure were going to cost him his job. "I need her back, Sir, because she means a lot to me personally."
Hakuro stared at him for a moment. "Request denied, Colonel. Good evening," he said finally, picking up his pen to resume his work.
Roy, however, did not leave. He looked at Hakuro, ready to argue with the General as long as needed. "Why?" he challenged. "There are many other officers just as suited to the job as she is, so why can't the transfer be revoked?"
"I have already told you, Colonel," Hakuro replied, irritation obvious in his voice, "that First Lieutenant Hawkeye was the best candidate. If you leave now, I will overlook this fraternizing transgression, which you know very well the military does not condone."
"Right now, Sir, I couldn't care less. I've always questioned the validity of that rule, anyway."
"That rule," responded Hakuro, both his eyes focusing directly on Roy's good one, "is in place to keep our officers from being distracted from their work."
Roy breathed, trying to keep a level head, for once thankful that his gloves were too damp to use. He focused his mind, attempting to form logical arguments from his emotions. "And you don't think, Sir, that it's distracting to love someone you can't have, or to be separated from that person by an order? You're creating more of a distraction by having that rule in place, not to mention preventing population growth. We've lost a lot of people in the last few years, and those lives are not going to be made up for by denying some people who love each other the chance to be together or create new life."
When he finally paused, Hakuro sighed and moved his hands up to rub his temples. "Are you finished, Colonel?"
"Not quite, Sir. I am going to assume that your marriage was one made freely, and not arranged or political."
"Yes, it was."
"Well, Sir, imagine if your wife had been in the military as well. You would not be sharing this house with her today, now would those two children," he gestured towards the picture on Hakuro's desk, "whom I'm sure you love, even exist. You would be as I am now, Sir. Barely able to concentrate on work, eating practically nothing, all of your thoughts focused on her."
Hakuro sighed again and looked at Roy tiredly. "You have made your point, Colonel. I will consider what you've said. You are dismissed."
Roy saluted General Hakuro and walked out of the room. He retrieved his coat in the foyer and exited the house. His mind whirled as he began the walk home. Had he made sense? Had he gotten through to the General? Would he be informed tomorrow morning that he was fired? Roy could understand nothing about Hakuro's thoughts, or the action he would take. Whether he'd won or lost puzzled him the whole way home, a destination he hadn't even realized he'd reached until he put his hand in his pocket for his key. He could hear Dakota inside, barking at the sound of someone about to enter.
Opening the door and stepping inside, he could see a fuzzy brown head poking above the wood blocking the kitchen door, yipping happily. Roy smiled, the first time in two weeks, and walked into the kitchen. When he was sure that the dog hadn't made a mess anywhere while he was gone, he scooped him up and ruffled his fur. Stepping over the wood, he carried Dakota over to the couch, setting the dog in his lap. Roy leaned back and took off his eye patch, closing both eyelids in a gesture of obvious exhaustion. He was almost asleep, following the example of the puppy resting on his legs, when his telephone rang. Groggily, he set the now wide awake Dakota back in the kitchen before picking up the receiver.
"Colonel Mustang?" General Hakuro's voice said on the other end of the line.
"Yes, Sir?"
"It has become clear to me that you are unable to continue productively in work without the presence of First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."
"Sir?" Roy asked, confused even more by Hakuro's words.
"Therefore," Hakuro continued, "it is also clear that said Lieutenant must return to your unit. I expect you to see to the matter personally. Your subordinates will be advised of your absence. Your train leaves in an hour."
Hakuro hung up after that, but Roy still held the receiver in his hand, staring at it with a dumbfounded expression. His mind slowly processed what he had just heard. Hakuro was retracting Riza's transfer order. Essentially, he was giving approval of their possible relationship. His train left in an hour.
"Damn!" Roy exclaimed as the last point hit him. He slammed the receiver down and ran to his bedroom. He dug out the dusty black bag from underneath the bed and began throwing clothes into it, hoping that he wouldn't forget anything in his mad rush. Carrying the bag into the kitchen, he dropped it onto the table before rushing back out of the room, stumbling slightly as he leapt over the wood. He called for a car, managing to get his address out between gasps for air. He slammed the receiver down again and hurried back into the kitchen. Dakota, who had been watching his master scramble about with amusement, suddenly found himself off the ground, tucked under Roy's left arm. Roy, struggling to keep hold of the pup, filled a bag with some dog food and threw it into his bag, along with Dakota's leash. Shoving his coat between the handles on the bag, he closed the door and locked it. Haphazardly replacing his eye patch and putting on his hat, he ran to the car and ordered it to the train station as fast as the scared young driver could manage.
A/N: And thus dies canon, out a window and into heavy traffic. Maybe it wasn't as OOC as I think it is, but I think it's fairly OOC. Especially the first bit.
I've finally been told that my author's notes are too long, so I'm going to keep this as short as I possibly can. If you'd like to talk about it more with me, or the weather, or anything else, feel free to PM, e-mail, or add me to MSN. Whatever works.
So, I've added another dog. The name comes from a historic aircraft, the same place as many of the other military names in FMA (I did my research!). I'm not sure why, but I felt the dog was needed.
I realize that Roy probably wouldn't have won his case simply with an argument like that in real life, but if this were real life, this would be a newspaper article, not fan fiction.
Next chapter is the last. It's sad, to think that I'm almost done. This has been my baby for a while.
Thank you to:
Your Excellency – Uh… sorry, but I like Dakota better. : P
Brickwall847 – Driving us to asylums is an understatement. Besides, I'm already there! And yeah, gotta love Russel and Fletcher. Especially Fletcher. He's just too damn cute! And don't worry about the plot. See, it gets better!
Sull89 – Well, I figured it shouldn't be all sunshine and happiness for him if he does work like that. Silly Roy!
Dailenna – Yeah, sorry 'bout those. I have a tendency to ramble. Shrug It's somewhere in my star sign. Glad you like it, though!
YourViolentStalker – You're back! Yay! And yeah, I know it was evil. As for the James Herbert thing: When Trisha Elric got sick, the boys wrote letters to people they knew their dad knew, hoping someone knew where he was so that he would come home. When Roy showed up at Rockbell's, he held up a letter with the name "James Herbert" on it.
elena – Thanks! Yeah, Roy's kinda stupid that way.
Shadow Dreamer 27 – I had planned for the plot to come in a lot sooner, but then I thought "Wait a sec… they need to get closer before I can tragically rip them apart," so I played barbies with them a little longer than anticipated.
Koa-chan – Stupid Roy indeed!
XBrOkEnXBuTXdEaDlYX – Don't worry, you're not alone. I was like that about fluff, too. Not asking about the monkey thing.
PrincessLuckyCML – Yeah, she got the notice two days after the park.
Horsehearted15 – Thanks!
Carpathian Rose – Hopefully this isn't considered "too long"!
KTRose – Of course we're not saying goodbye to her forever! I'm too much of a fluff addict for that. I also have to question the possible colour-blindness of the general public for deciding on chocolate-y brown. It's not like gold is that weird of a colour in that series or anything. Ed's are like that. But yeah, nothing big. Probably not likely to change that.
Cles – Happy belated birthday to you! 14… I vaguely remember being 14. And yeah, Riza was abrupt, but she wouldn't have questioned an order from Roy. She follows him unconditionally, no matter what he tells her (otherwise, he probably would have gotten an earful YEARS ago).
xTheDarkAngelx – I know it was only a card. And he didn't get anything this time because he was uber-depressed. Hitting him just would have been cruel.
Until next time!
Aindel S. Druida
