AN: Chapters 18-23 are going to be arranged in order since this is the last stretch of my planned outline.
I envisioned this phase in their lives as taking place when Ed and Al are 18 and 17, respectively.
Hope you enjoy!
Drop a Bomb
It started with a nagging feeling at the back of Riza's head, like she was supposed to brace herself for a mission. Her stomach twisted in knots regardless if she was fresh from a meal or not.
She patted herself down to check if all her weapons were on her person.
Havoc raised his head from his paperwork. "You alright?"
She removed her hands off her uniform. "Yes." She picked up her pen once more. "Just restless," she admitted.
He nodded and returned to his work. Hawkeye was, first and foremost, a fellow sniper and one did not question a sniper's sixth sense. "If you want a go at the range, I can handle the rest of the afternoon."
She shot him a small smile in appreciation. "One hour. I'll be back."
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Despite the nagging feeling persisting by the end of the work week, she refused to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination.
"Have there been any reports about our paperwork getting lost?" she asked Falman for what seemed like the hundredth time that week.
"None, ma'am," he replied, brows furrowed with worry that their second-in-command was turning delirious.
"And you're sure we don't have any more pending tasks?"
"What are you getting worried about, Hawkeye?" piped in Havoc before Falman could answer, comfortably reclined in his seat. "It's Friday and week's done." To prove his point, he raised his arm up to point at the clock that struck 5.
As one, four chairs scraped across the floor as the men moved to leave.
"We're going out to eat," Havoc nodded to the door, "Come on."
"Next time," she said, giving him an uneasy smile.
Roy stood from his chair, waving as their team filed out one by one. "What's wrong?"
"I still can't shake it." She rubbed her nape, not that it helped ease her apprehension.
"It's not work," he said, brows raised. He knew Riza had been on edge but hoped she would have figured it out by now.
She hissed as she drew in a sharp intake of breath. The boys.
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Riza did everything she could over the weekend to figure out what was causing her distress. Roy, knowing her instincts never failed them before, let her have free rein over the boys' weekend chores even after she gave them more things to do than usual.
"But, pop," whined Al, keeping his voice low enough so it didn't carry outside of Roy's study. "I already did my half of the chores. Can't I go?"
He closed the book in his hands and eyed him pointedly. "You don't think that's going to work on your mother, do you?" The boys were old enough to know right from wrong and, more importantly, what would satisfy Riza from what won't.
Chores were either all done or neither of them were allowed to go out of the house. He knew it was Riza's way of teaching them responsibility and keeping them at home for the weekend for a certain amount of time.
His shoulders slumped as he mumbled, "It's not my fault brother's slow in doing his chores."
"You could help him," suggested Roy, opening the book again. He already knew the answer to that.
"No way."
He sighed, nodding at his bookshelves, "Then you're free to spend time with me instead."
Al pulled a book, its cover decrepit and bound by endless amounts of tape, and sat on the floor with a pout.
For a time, the only sounds that could be heard in the study were pages turning and Roy and Al's occasional mumbling until Roy got distracted. The man eyed the blond teenager, hunched over the old book he picked out, and asked him, "If I allowed you to go, who would you be meeting up with?" He was under the assumption Ed and Al shared the same friends, but the younger Elric had been too eager to leave his brother behind this time.
"Mei," he said, not tearing his gaze from the book, "She volunteers at the animal sanctuary every weekend."
"Like a date?"
"No!" His head shot up and a blush decorated his cheeks. "Nuh- No way! I— I just wanted to help her — them out."
"Okay." He hummed, giving his full attention to the teen, "And school? You and Ed don't have any problems?"
He shook his head, the color of his face returning back to normal.
"Okay. I'll check on Ed's chores." He stood, ruffling Al's hair as he left the study to search for his wife. He found her sitting on the edge of their bed, a piece of white fabric in her hands as she stitched it up.
"Where's Ed?" Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was one of his shirts.
"Front yard," she cut the thread and set aside the needle, "cleaning the car."
"Someone at the HQ garage could have —" he pursed his lips when she narrowed her eyes, daring him to continue. He cleared his throat. "Al's antsy about Ed taking too long."
"Then he should help his brother."
That's what I said! "We know he won't."
She smirked, setting aside her sewing kit and the repaired shirt.
He shook his head at his wife's antics with a smile. "And that is how Riza Mustang keeps two teenage boys at home all weekend."
He gestured to an invisible audience, Riza responded by throwing the mended shirt at his face.
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Riza's nagging feeling came to fruition when they were in the middle of dinner at the end of the weekend. She managed to keep the boys loaded with chores enough for them to stay at home with no clear indication the potential problem had to do with school, their friends, or their crushes.
Both she and Roy tried their best to figure it out to the point Riza was almost convinced her sniper senses were off.
Roy, having more faith in her senses, asked in a casual tone, "Is there anything we ought to know? Ed, you finished your chores slower than usual… which is already very slow to begin with. Al, you were on the phone for hours with Mei yesterday."
Both boys squirmed in their seats.
"I want to adopt a cat."
"I want to be a State Alchemist."
Two sets of utensils rattled against plates as Roy and Riza's jaws dropped open.
Riza recovered first, frowning at Al. "Does it have to be a cat?"
AN: 'Til next time!