AN: This is a flashback compared to the first two chapters. I wanted to explore Roy's motivations for joining and staying in the military in this AU setting (I mean, no Ishval, no murderer's guilt, so why, right?) so that the following one-shots would make more sense… I hope.

No Elric brothers in this one.

Hope you enjoy!

If you want Peace, Prepare for War

Roy swirled the glass of champagne in his hand, wishing he could toss it out, wishing it were anything stronger, and wishing he was somewhere else right now. Somewhere with a particular blonde, preferably huddled together by the fireplace or underneath the covers. He popped his neck for the nth time that night. Maintaining ramrod military posture during a party was proving to be quite the feat. He'd rather stay in a plank position for minutes on end than endure this any longer.

Onyx eyes trailed after his superior officer, General Basque Grand, and his spiked mustache. The man ordered Major Roy Mustang, the youngest State Alchemist in the history of Amestris, to attend parties with him and other State Alchemists in order for people to "get to know them better."

It was made clear from the first party and the ones that followed, however, that these events were meant to garner solicitations from the rich and the gullible.

This isn't what you signed up for, protested the idealistic part of his brain.

You're a soldier now, and you're meant to follow orders, was the comeback of his realistic side.

"Tch," he muttered under his breath, downing the useless champagne and setting the glass on the window ledge behind him.

It has been four years since he was given his title, and a full year now since he graduated from the Military Academy. He'd written to Riza all about it, promising to return and take her with him to Central to start their lives together, but General Grand pissed all over those plans. When news broke about the youngest State Alchemist now working in Central, everyone took interest in who he was. It didn't matter that he was actually 23 years old now.No one seemed to figure out that no one can work directly in Central HQ unless they graduated from the Military Academy, which was a four-year course if you manage to pass everything in one go.

No. He sighed. To the lot of them, he was 18 years old when he became a State Alchemist from the moment he entered the Academy and he'd probably remain 18 in their minds forever. On top of tagging along to the parties and adjusting to his new office and work, he wasn't allowed to go on any kind of leave.

He stopped writing promises to the love of his life and instead opted to regularly tell her how much he missed her, but her replies came few and far between. He knew and understood she had good reason to be upset. Five years of waiting for him was a long time.

"Yo."

Someone nudged his elbow, and he turned to see a mischievous smile on Lieutenant Maes Hughes' face. "What?"

"Last one." With Hughes' work under Communications, he's been in-charge of directing Roy's movements all through the night, telling him to shake hands with the upper echelon, introducing him to businessmen and their wives, girlfriends, daughters, nieces, and granddaughters, and overall making sure that a scowl is never seen on the military's currently most popular face.

He quirked a brow. "You said 'last one' five dances ago!" he hissed.

The bespectacled man raised his hands in defense. "See that?" He nodded in General Grand's direction, the man in question making his way toward the exit. "You're off the clock, Sparky -"

Roy slouched his posture and exhaled.

"Ah," Hughes tapped his fist on Roy's shoulder, "- after you meet with this last one. I swear you're going to want to meet her."

He crossed his arms. "For the last time, Maes, unless she holds a signed vacation leave from Grand, meeting with these women is pointless."

"What if she's the ticket to a promotion?" He slipped behind Roy and nudged him forward. "Think about it… your own office, own staff, taking all the allowable leaves in a year…"

The Major walked faster at the mention of getting out of General Grand's command. Hughes led him to a side exit which was connected to an isolated patio from the ballroom. "She asked to be discreet. No one knows that General Grumman has a granddaughter."

General Grumman… Grumman… Grumman… Where did he hear that name before? "Head of East HQ? That Grumman?"

Maes broke out a smile. "Yes." He looked out at the edge of the patio, seeking any sign that the woman would make her appearance from beyond the darkened garden. "Now," he lowered his voice, "the granddaughter is still in the Academy, but she specifically asked for you. So charm her pants off and get the ball rolling."

He glared at the back of Maes' head. He wasn't going to use some poor girl for a promotion. He wasn't against underhanded tactics, like befriending someone to get a promotion and getting transferred to another HQ behind his superior's back, but human emotions were not to be played with. Besides, he had Riza hopefully still waiting for him.

Hughes faced his friend again, sensing the ire directed on his back. "Talk. Sheesh. Just talk. While most generals don't appreciate ambitious shitheads like you, I think Grumman is too old to give a damn. And the granddaughter - "

"- Is here," announced a voice coupled with the sound of heels clicking against the stone path leading to where Roy and Maes stood.

Roy's eyes all but dropped out of its sockets as Maes extended his arm to guide the blonde woman to more stable flooring.

"Cadet, it's such a pleasure. This is Major Roy Mustang," introduced Maes, his enthusiasm coming out on cue as it had been all throughout the night, "Roy, this is the lovely Cadet Riza Hawkeye. General Grumman is her grandfather."

"Maternal, obviously," Riza said with a small smile, blank eyes never leaving Roy's stunned ones. "I appreciate the confidentiality, sir."

"Of course, of course," replied Maes with a hushed conspiratorial voice, oblivious to the onyx and amber staredown. "Sooooo, would you prefer 'Miss' tonight? It is a party, after all."

"Miss is great, Lieutenant," she said, breaking the spell she was under as she gestured to her ballgown. "Hardly an outfit for ranks, sir."

Maes grinned. "Then you can drop mine too." His gaze then left hers and onto his oddly silent bestfriend. He raised his brows higher, lips pursed tight, willing the other to say something, anything.

Snapping out of his trance, Roy said the only word that came to mind, "Hair?"

Hughes slapped his palm to his face, all pleasantries and cordiality tossed out the window. What the hell? Hair?!

Riza consciously tossed all her hair to her back, out of Roy's view, but her gaze at him was decidedly impassive. "I grew it in training."

"Training?" his brain could only process one word at a time.

Feeling helpless, Maes stepped in to try to salvage his friend. "So, Roy, tell Miss Hawkeye about your recent work with General Grand under the State Alchemist Program."

"The program?" her eyes took on a hard edge.

Great, Maes groaned to himself. Now she's doing it too. Eyes widening by the second, he looked at his best friend, then the blonde, and back again. "You two know each other."

Roy tightened his jaw and was finally able to form a complete sentence, "I codenamed her Elizabeth because I didn't want you snooping," he murmured, eyes softening against her amber ones, hoping to convey how sorry he was and how much he missed her.

"Love of your life Elizabeth?!" exclaimed Maes.

Riza stifled a gasp upon hearing Maes' words. "I thought there would be someone else by now."

"Never."

Sensing the tension between the two, Maes crept back to the ballroom knowing that they wouldn't notice him slip away, anyway.

"I missed you," continued Roy.

"So you said."

"What are you… How are you…" he ran his hand through his hair, taking a breath to compose himself. "I'm sorry." He hung his head low. "I'm not using you again. I didn't know he was your grandfather."

"I didn't know either until I got in." Her eyes softened and did what she wanted to do from the moment she knew he was at this party - she launched herself against his body and wrapped her arms around his torso, tucking her head under his chin, and breathing in his scent. "You're not… using me. I'm showing you where you could go."

He tentatively returned her hug, one hand stroking her long hair. He kissed the top of her head. "I missed you, Cadet."

She scoffed as she adjusted her head against his chest. "Don't think it gives you license to order me around."

"I wouldn't dream of it, love."

/-/

They settled down on the couch in Roy's living room, the heavy dinner they just finished weighing heavy on their bellies. It has been a few months since Roy got promoted to Colonel in East HQ and became in-charge of fraternization records, and Riza finally got promoted to First Lieutenant from Warrant Officer, so they decided to celebrate. "The State Alchemist Program, it's lucrative, but it doesn't recruit as many people as the higher ups hope for."

Riza shrugged and leaned back to rest her head. "Father hated the idea of someone ordering him what to do."

"Exactly, exactly!" he bounced in his seat and twisted to face Riza. "Alchemists are prideful creatures, why force them to be in the military where someone slaves them around all day?"

She narrowed her eyes to the side to look at him. "Why did you join, then?"

It was his turn to shrug. "'Alchemist, be thou for the people.' I have…" he cast a glance at her, "... idealistic dreams, remember?"

She smiled, sat up, then squeezed his arm. "I was teasing."

"So I was thinking why not have the program, but not force the title of 'Major' to the State Alchemists?"

"How does that work?"

Roy proceeded to explain to Riza his plans of proposing that the State Alchemist Program will still be under government funding and the idea is the same, to have alchemists research their specialties for the benefit of the State and its people, but without the military bureaucracy and control. "Like an independent entity," he finished.

"But the point of having you in the military is so that you could be called to serve at a moment's notice."

"Why force service upon alchemists when the very reason most of us do anything is to want to help?"

She shook her head. "What about the ones who aren't like you? The military needs to control them from becoming too out of hand, too power-hungry."

"They could always strip the title and funding away."

Riza furrowed her brows together. "What's this sudden fixation about rearranging the program? General Grand isn't your direct boss anymore."

He sighed. He started in the military, and even managed to convince Riza to give him the secrets of Flame Alchemy, because of his idealistic notion that he could help all the people of Amestris. However, the more he thought about it, the more he believed how problematic it was for their country to continue being under a militaristic regime… to continue being under the regime that he inadvertently joined. "It doesn't feel right that the only way for the State to support alchemists is if they become a dog."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…" he took a deep breath, "my dreams are bigger than they ever were." His onyx eyes stared hard at her amber ones. "It starts with changing the program; but I'm going to take the military down, eventually."

A slow smile crept onto her face, thinking he was joking, but it vanished when she realized that he was serious. "That's rebellion… or a coup, depending on how you want to do it." She frowned. Death was the punishment for anyone who fought the government, and since he was a State Alchemist, torture before death was more likely to be done to him as well.

"No," he shook his head, lips in a thin line, "not when someone takes it down from the top."

If she wasn't confused before, she was completely lost now.

"Think about it. If I," he poked his chest, "a lowly Colonel in-charge of fraternization paperwork says it, it's a coup. If Fuhrer President Bradley says it, it's a policy proposal."

She raised a brow, the pieces connecting together in her jumbled mind. "You want to be Fuhrer President."

He rubbed the back of his neck, unable to look at her in the eye. There was no need to verbalize she was right, he knew that she knew, so he said, "And turn Amestris into a democracy."

She gasped. "Why?"

"General Armstrong once told me: 'If we want peace, we must prepare for war.'"

"Yeah, that's why we have the military rule. We're strong in our defenses."

"What if, one day… hypothetically speaking, top brass orders the soldiers to go on the offense rather than defense?" He breathed. "What if you're given the order to go to the frontlines today and shoot everyone not in Amestris blue?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat, the situation nor the possibility never crossed her mind.

"And the alchemists, the chained scientists, for all the research we've done in honing our skills… we could be ordered like the rest of you to go. A deadly mix of humans with weapons and weaponized humans." He continued, "See? But if people, all the people had a choice, we could elect our leaders, we could voice our opinions about issues without fear."

His impassioned tone persisted, jaw tight, eyes unfocused on the floor, his thoughts running away with him. "Power should be in the hands of the people, not the highest ranking military officer. It should be the collective civilian authority reigning superior over military command at all times. And… I don't know, as a policy, I think Amestris has to outrightly renounce offensive war. We don't have that."

There he is again, she thought, looking at the man in front of her, the idealistic man who still wanted to carry the people of Amestris on his shoulders… the boy turned man who has taken her heart and locked it away where only he had access to. She reached over and held his cheek, turning his head to face her. She scrunched her face with a smile, "It's a beautiful dream," echoing the same words she once said before she gave him the secrets to Flame Alchemy.

"With that, Riza Hawkeye," he eased off the couch and knelt on one knee by her feet, revealing a velvet box from his pocket, "Will you marry me?" He opened the box, a shining diamond ring nestled inside, "Will you do me the honor of becoming my Queen? You don't have to be in the military anymore, I know you wanted to quit before I transferred here at East… I - please - "

"Roy - "

"- let me take care of you."

"Roy." Her hands felt clammy, and she refused to move from her seat for fear of her legs turning to jelly. She didn't hold her confusion back. "All that talk for this?" What kind of man led his proposal with talks of changing the government?

"I… umm…" he looked up at her, then back down at the tiny box in his hands, "Thought you should know where I plan to go, and I don't want to hold you back because I'm not leaving the military anytime soon."

She sighed, eyes closing shut as she shook her head. Of all the people she had to fall for, it had to be this one.

Roy's knee pressed harder down on the floor. She was shaking her head. Oh no.

"You're an idiot," she said, plucking the ring and slipping it on herself, "If you think I'm going to let you do this on your own."

He blinked, eyes glued to the ring now innocently gleaning on her finger.

She rolled her eyes and knelt down to the floor too, taking his collar and kissing him soundly on the lips. "I'll file our fraternization paperwork by tomorrow."

AN: Not-so-fun fact: I'm a law student in a democratic country so I just made Roy spit out a lot of things I studied hahahaha!

'Til next time!