A/N: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed...I really appreciate the support.
I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, or any or its characters. Again.
Round Two
It became a common practice for a large crowd to gather outside the training facility whenever the Elric brothers returned from a mission. Always itching to be on the road, and working towards their goal, the boys would have impromptu sparring matches to keep themselves from getting too fidgety. The first one to witness this phenomena was Breda, who had been seeking out Major Elric on Colonel Mustang's behalf. Watching two boys fight with such skill and precision left him completely flabbergasted, and he wasted no time in running his mouth to the rest of the personnel at Headquarters. Since most of them harbored a secret fascination with the fourteen-year-old alchemist and his gigantic younger brother, they began flocking to the training room on a regular basis, whenever Major Elric was back in town.
If the brothers were embarrassed by the sea of faces pressed against the windows, they certainly didn't show it.
Mustang was unaware of this little ritual until the day he opened the door of his inner sanctum, only to find the outer office empty of all but Hawkeye.
"Where is everyone?" he demanded.
Hawkeye never looked up from the paperwork she was filing. She was far too used to the Colonel's moods to be fazed by his surly tone.
"Major Elric and his brother are back, sir."
"I know that," Mustang snapped. "Fullmetal gave me what could loosely be called a report half an hour ago. What does that have to do with the office being empty?"
"If the Elrics are back," she said, squinting hard a difficult passage, "then that means everyone is down at the training facility, watching them fight."
"Fight? Why are they fighting?"
"Fighting in the physical sense, sir, not arguing. Alphonse and Major Elric enjoy sparring with each other."
Roy rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
"Sparring," he repeated. "And my men like to watch?"
Hawkeye made some minute changes to the file she was working on. It was one of Mustang's, and a combination of disinterest and procrastination on the Colonel's part made proofreading his papers necessary.
"Not just your men," she said. "All of Headquarters turns out to watch sometimes. Apparently, it's quite the show."
Approximately ten seconds later, Mustang was halfway down the hallway, with Hawkeye hot on his heels. He made it to the training facility in record time, although he made sure to slow his gait a couple of corridors ahead, so that his frantic dash would look more like his customary stroll.
Just as Hawkeye had promised, the crowd around the training facility bordered on being ridiculous. By taking an idle inventory of faces, Mustang could tell that throughout Headquarters at least twenty phones would be unmanned, around thirty computers would be abandoned, and what looked like several pieces of heavy machinery would be sitting driver-less on the lawn.
Distantly, he could hear the trademark battle sounds of Edward Elric. Mustang had heard the boy yell so much, he could probably pick the sound out of a crowd of fifty thousand screaming adolescents. Mustang could also hear the solid sounds of metal hitting metal, of metal hitting flesh, and of flesh hitting the floor.
He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, which was easy because as soon as they saw him coming, half the personnel instantly vacated the premises. No doubt the telephone and computer records would be extremely diligent for the next twenty-four hours.
Mustang and Hawkeye entered the training facility just in time to see Ed fly at Al's chest with his automail foot extended. Al blocked the kick, and the sound of the meeting metals sent another large noise reverberating through the room.
"That was a good one, Brother," Al said, as the two continued to circle each other. "You almost got me that time."
Despite that fact that he was crouched over in fighting stance, Ed let out a laugh.
"Damn it all, Al, one of these days I'm going to knock you right on your big, metal butt."
Mustang folded his arms over his chest.
"So this is what you were doing, instead of writing me a decent report," he called.
Ed pivoted, straightening out of fighting stance. He spotted the Colonel, and his golden eyes narrowed in speculation. A terrifying smile stretched his face.
"Yeah, this is what I've been doing," he said. "Do you want a turn?"
Mustang smirked.
"We've already played this game, Fullmetal. As I recall, I blasted you across the fighting grounds."
"Only because you cheated!" Ed shot back instantly. "And we ended with my sword at your throat, remember?"
Mustang rolled his shoulders and did his best to look supremely unconcerned. Ed dropped into a crouch again and raised his fists.
"Come on," he called. "Step into my office. Or are you afraid?"
"Brother, what are you doing?" Al asked, his voice high and slightly hysterical.
"What makes you think this time will be any different?" Roy asked.
"No alchemy inside the sparring ring," Ed said, skipping right over Al's frantic words. "And when it comes to hand-to-hand, I've got the advantage."
"You think so?"
Mustang started to unbutton his jacket.
"Sir," Hawkeye said. "The General will be upset if you and Fullmetal decimate the building."
Mustang ignored her warning, even as he laid his jacket and ignition gloves in her hands. Across the room, Ed was also disregarding Al's worried rant. His golden eyes were eager as they locked on the man heading in his direction.
"No alchemy," Ed repeated as Mustang stepped into the ring. "First person to use it loses by default."
"I've got it."
Al stood by Hawkeye now, and watching his brother square off against the much taller and very intimidating Colonel had the boy wringing his giant hands.
"This is a bad idea," he said, mostly to himself. "A very bad idea. Brother, why do you have to be so stubborn?"
Behind Al, Breda, Havoc, and Falman grinned and rubbed their hands together.
"This is going to be amazing," Havoc whispered, almost worshipfully.
"Bets!" Breda called to the crowd behind him. "Place your bets here, ladies and gentleman! Don't miss out on the most exciting fight of the century!"
………………………………
Twenty-five minutes later, Breda re-entered the room, carrying cups of coffee for Hawkeye and himself. The first lieutenant was leaning up against the wall, her arms folded. Al was seated on the floor by her feet.
"Are they still at it?" he asked, handing Hawkeye her mug.
"Maybe we should stop them now," Al suggested, propping his metal chin in his palm.
Hawkeye sighed. She sipped at her coffee and kept her eyes fixed on Mustang, and Major Elric. The two had long since abandoned any fighting style, and were now wrestling on the floor like a couple of children on a playground. Around them, the floor was dented from the force of the falls, the walls had several suspicious holes, and the ceiling was smoking from Ed's accidental alchemy use. From what Hawkeye could see, the Colonel had a black eye, and several small cuts revealed by the rips in his uniform. The Major had a bloody nose, and had been limping a little the last time he'd been standing.
"Really, Alphonse, do you think yours will listen to you?" she asked. "Because mine never does."