A/N: Set between Pride's reveal and the cafeteria conversation. As usual, English isn't my first language. Feel free to let me know of any grammar or spelling mistakes. Thanks and enjoy!
She was sure she heard a faint "Come in" right after knocking on the Fuhrer's office door. So it took her by surprise to find a certain homunculus proudly accompanying his father in the room.
"Sir, the West is requesting-" She looked up from the document she was holding, "I'm sorry, sir." She muttered out of habit. There was nothing she should be sorry for. If anything, these duo owed the entire nation an apology for whatever they were planning. Shady bastards.
"Speak of the devil." Selim narrowed his eyes as he turned to her. Apparently, she was the subject of their current conversation.
"At ease, Lieutenant." Bradley assured. She couldn't figure out this man. For someone who was supposed to be Wrath, he was unnaturally good at dissipating her visible uneasiness. "What is it?"
She warily walked to his desk and dropped the paperwork with care. "The Western command is requesting more troops. It seems they aren't doing well against Creta."
The tension in the air was suffocating, or it might just be her. As if these monsters knew what being constantly on edge felt like. Selim's eyes were still on her; that infuriating smirk plastered on his innocent little face. She couldn't wait to be dismissed and maybe take out her stress in the shooting range.
"All right, I'll work on them." Bradley said as he grabbed the newly-dropped paperwork. "Can you escort Selim and take him back to his bodyguards? It will be odd to let him walk around the command center on his own."
"Yes, sir." She saluted and as she turned around, Bradley continued.
"As for my son's identity, we'll have a conversation about it later."
She froze but gave a slight nod.
"Shall we, Lieutenant?" Selim asked as he walked past her and exited the room.
"So how was your night?" Selim started as they left Bradley's office. She let him lead the way and kept her distance. They passed by a few soldiers along the way; Selim doing his part at playing the golden child that he was as he waved and smiled at everyone.
There was no point in pretending to be tough. "Thanks to you my already short sleeping time has become shorter."
"I offered you to join us. We would've kept you safe." He turned to her and smiled, this time looking wicked than innocent.
"I'd rather die." She realized it was a bold, stupid statement and followed up, "But I guess I'm essential enough to your plans that you'd rather keep me alive."
They bumped into a few more officers and Selim immediately switched back to his kind demeanor while she greeted with a quick salute. She was grateful he couldn't just pull out his long shadowy arms while in full view of the public. He responded once they were out of earshot. "Don't flatter yourself, hostage. We may be keeping you alive, but I've got plenty of games to make your life rough." And with that, he took off as fast as he could.
"Selim! You son of a b..." She sighed and despite her distress, she couldn't help but chuckle at her situation. He may be a homunculus, but with a small body like that, he couldn't possibly outrun her. Not to mention he left a bunch of amused soldiers in his wake. Making her chase after him, was he really this petty? She calmly but swiftly followed his trail.
After a few turns and a flight of stairs down, she finally caught up with him. "There you are!"
He turned as she approached him, his smirk just as evil as she remembered. It was then that she realized she was in a familiar hallway, in front of the doors she knew all too well. So this was his plan all along: to tease her, to remind her of the comfort zone that she was forcibly pulled out of, to show her the things that she recently lost. And as if on cue, one of the doors opened, revealing a half-asleep Mustang.
"Lieutenant!" Mustang said, eyes suddenly wide despite just getting up from (she assumed) his afternoon nap. He definitely was not expecting her anywhere near his office. Formalities forgotten, words he wanted to say flooded his mind. Questions over another he wanted to ask. How was work treating you? I can tell something was wrong from last night's phone call. How did you get that scar on your cheek? Why are you even outside my office? It was the presence of another being that pushed him to collect his composure.
He leaned down to greet the special child, oblivious to the danger right in front of him. "Hey there, Selim!"
"You're the Flame Alchemist, right? I've heard so much about you. It's nice meeting you, Colonel!" Selim happily said as he looked up to him with a convincing awe.
"It's nice to meet you, too." He straightened up to turn his attention to Hawkeye. "It's been a while." He greeted with a soft smile. It was all he could say without sounding suspicious.
Perhaps it was his voice, or his own gentle smile, that gave her relief despite the presence of the threat right next to her. "I didn't intend to drop by. Just that Selim ran away from his bodyguards and I was ordered to bring him back."
He turned his attention back to Selim. "You ran away from your bodyguards? I heard Fuehrer Bradley does the same on a regular basis. Like father, like son, I guess."
"I can't help it. I love the command center! Everybody's nice especially the lieutenant. I don't mind spending more time with her." It was his own subtle way of saying that he had her around her neck. Of course, all of this sounded harmless to the Colonel. It irked her that she had to play along with his pretense.
"I see you've taken up babysitting as well." It was all Mustang could blurt out to cover the delight of seeing her again. Although they both appeared happy to see each other after weeks of being apart, he could see through her unusually broken façade that she was uneasy, yet couldn't pin point what was wrong.
"It isn't very different from my experience working as your bodyguard, sir." Oh how she badly wanted to drop the act. How she badly wanted to lean on him and whisper to his ear that this kind little boy was part of the scheme, that dark shadows lurked underneath that sweet, wholesome smile.
Mustang responded with a light, genuine laugh that was music to her ears. He opened his mouth to say something snarky, but she cut him off by continuing, practically ending the conversation. "We should get going. I'm sure the bodyguards are panicking by now." She raised her hand to offer a salute. "See you around, sir."
She grabbed Selim's hand out of frustration and to prevent him from escaping again. This took both Selim and Mustang by surprise but neither said anything.
"Yeah, until then." He returned the salute and proceeded towards opposite her direction. He wasn't even going this way, but being seen together especially with the Fuehrer's son in tow could be taken differently by anyone who was watching.
She walked briskly, not even looking back as she dragged the kid with her. Admittedly, it took both Mustang and Hawkeye so much of their self-control to not display any hint of affection. She missed him; he missed her. Having to restrain themselves for more reasons unknown to him was torture for her. But this information could wait. She'd find a way to deliver this secret right under the enemy's nose. For now, she was glad to see him doing relatively well even without his pawns.
"Were you holding back?" Selim asked as he let her pull him around. He was being lenient. On normal days he wouldn't even let anyone treat him like this.
"I'm not dumb. I know what will happen if I let your secret out right then and there." She replied, still not looking back at him.
"I wasn't talking about my identity, Lieutenant." He snickered.
It didn't take her long to get what he was hinting at. Considering Bradley was aware of her and Mustang's... fondness of each other, it wasn't a mystery that Selim knew a thing or two. Her grip on his hand unconsciously tightened and he let out a fake "Ouch."
"If you're going to act like a child, then I'll treat you like a child." She said as she tried to change the subject. "Running away from your bodyguards, then from me? You're such a headache." Now she was just lashing out. "I can't believe that Mrs. Bradley is putting up with you. Pride of her life? Heh. It's bad enough that she doesn't know what you really are-"
Her sentence was cut off when she felt him stop, giving her hand a sharp tug and she unwillingly let go. When she turned around, he was glaring at her, those menacing eyes unveiling on his face again. Such death glare sent shivers down her body. Yet she couldn't help but think, 'He stopped at the mention of his step mother. Did I hit a nerve?' This was new information that she mentally took note of.
Selim didn't say anything as he stood there. Hawkeye gathered all her courage and calmed down, trying her previous approach again. "Come on. Don't make this hard for both of us. I have tons of work to do and you have evil plans to get back to or something." She took his hand, this time lighter and more careful and surprisingly, he didn't resist.
The rest of their journey to a crowded part of the building was uneventful and Selim returned to being the sweet child he was known for as the other soldiers greeted him with glee. They soon found his bodyguards and when she let go, his sham was still not breaking. Right. For now, she would play along with his stupid games, even if it meant pretending to be his babysitter.