"Sir! Sir, would you just let me talk to you for one moment?"

Roy slowed and allowed First Lieutenant Hawkeye to reach his side, before coolly looking down his nose at her. "If you are here to protest my current plans, Hawkeye, can you return later when I am not trying to gain access to both the prince and our new human... guests?" He said, grimacing slightly at the last word. She met his look with her own stoic glare. He resisted the urge to groan at that look, instead rolled his eyes skyward for a moment. "And if this is about Edward," a slight crease appeared at the corner of her left eye. He'd hit the target. "It can wait until after he has woken up. I have much more important things to do than listen to another long rant about how I should just trust him." He didn't mention the fact that it wouldn't be the rant itself, but the silent disapproval for days after he had won the proceeding argument that he wouldn't appreciate.

She sighed, straightening a feather in her wings. "But sir. Watching him appears to be unnecessary. He has worked for us in the past, and he does work for us now. This is not the betrayal you are misconstruing it to be."

Roy graced her with a disappointed look before speeding his step slightly. She fell into place a step behind him predictably. The medical bay was within sight. "That is beside the point." He returned. "If we cannot have faith in his loyalty then we have nothing to work with to ensure the loyalty and therefore harmony of the general populace. And if we can't have harmony amongst ourselves, how can we obtain peace?" He sighed softly. "fifteen long years of war, Hawkeye, fifteen. Edward is the key to stopping this seemingly endless feud with the humans. The war should have stopped when we re-obtained him, instead the humans fight harder to reclaim something that was never theirs."

He cut off whatever she was about to say with "In any case, the survival of our species depend on the harmony we can convince the populace we have. What happens if they find out that Edward isn't as noble and as trained as we pretend he is? He is not the figurehead they expect us to have, he has not even been trained in anything other than basic flight and survival. What happens when they find this out? The only reason they haven't so far is he is still a novelty to them."

He heard her sigh behind him. "Or, on the opposite side of the coin sir, what happens when they discover you burnt off his leg while he is still a 'novelty.' Or if they discovered that this certain event looked highly planned and even more deliberate."

Mustang's wince was barely noticeable. "You are stepping onto a very weak branch, Lisa." He warned, only a slight undertone of malice gracing his voice. Even the use of her first name demonstrated his building anger.

He heard the flap of her wings and suddenly she was in front of him, brown eyes cold and hard as ice. He met her look square on. "Then please forgive the insubordination, sir." She said in her most professional tone.

A loud smack raced up the corridor as Lieutenant Lisa Hawkeye span on her heel, turned her back to her commander and strolled down the corridor and into the medical bay with no further words. A rather startled Roy Mustang looked after her, before nursing his bright red cheek.

He spat out a curse.

Cain straddled the plastic hospital chair awkwardly, folding his arms on the back rest. His legs stuck out to each side, making him look slightly comical, and his wings were folded straight up and down along his back so he could actually sit that way. As strange as the position looked, he actually found it rather comfortable; he reflected as he rested his chin on his forearms and looked out through his spectacles at the figure occupying the stark white hospital bed. It seemed strange, he thought, that someone who was usually so powerful and bold could look so small and defenceless. Edward looked like he was in pain, there was sweat drenching his brow and he was nearly paler than the sheets he was resting upon. To add to this image, an IV was in the boy's flesh wrist. Cain sighed, wondering when Edward would regain consciousness.

His thoughts took a slightly darker turn as the events that put Edward in this situation sprung to mind. A boy of only fifteen to be put through so much wasn't right, but then, Edward was anything but a boy. He had lived alone for a large proportion of his life, had his world turned upside down more than once and had fought so many battles, both individually and as part of a team. If the stories Edward had told were to be believed, he had gone up against one of Earth's most fearsome genetically engineered creatures and come out missing only one arm, when most normal people would have died. That and he had cared for those rabbit-humans, even with the psychological damage that came from them being once his parents.

But, thought Cain, it was hard to remember all this when faced with a new truth. Edward Elric in his weakest form, pale and wrapped in starchy sheets and a thin blanket, hair spilling out of its bounds like a golden halo; he looked the world like a young child. It was easy to see he was missing his leg, merely by the way the sheets of the bed folded around where the bottom half of his left limb should be. Cain found himself pitying the boy, though he would never ever tell Edward that. The door at the end of the ward swung open with a slight rush of air that made Edward subconsciously shiver and the First Lieutenant stepped into the hospital ward.

Her shoes clicked on the linoleum as she approached, and he only stood when she was right beside the bed that Edward was on. Once he had been acknowledged with a small nod, he returned to sitting backwards on the hospital chair. She was his superior, but not my much. She took up a seat, poised on the very edge of Edward's bed, and reached out to brush a strand of flyaway hair out of Edward's closed eyes. There was a look of genuine concern on her face as she folded her hands in her lap. Cain smiled softly, the boy had already worked his way into so many hearts on the ship.

"Report." She said, returning to a businesslike manner, even though her eyes and face remained trained on Ed.

"His condition is stable," He told her, "But he isn't out of the danger zone yet. He lost about a pint of blood while they were returning him to the ship; if he had of arrived at the medical unit even three minutes later than he did he would have died from blood loss." Cain sighed, looking at Hawkeye. There was a crease in the centre of her brow. "He hasn't yet shown signs of infection, but there's always a chance he will obtain one. And of course, he hasn't shown any signs of rousing."

"You know," he continued quietly, "it's a real shame. That poor boy has seen so many incidents that he shouldn't have."

She nodded. "But then again," she replied, "Haven't we all?" He caught her sad smile, before she evened it out, snapping back to business-like ways. "What is the status of the prisoners?"

"Better for wear than his Highness." Feury replied with a weak grin. He tilted his head at the fierce woman. "The humans, we managed to pick up three, are varying from mildly concussed to in a state of shock and panic. One of the poor girls had to be sedated it was that bad. We were worried she might hurt herself. The two dark haired ones have come around, and are currently in that room," he made a vague gesture to the holding room where the prince had had his wings grow in, "awaiting questioning. Mrs. Hughes is currently in there making sure the girl doesn't pass out again."

"I assume she is the concussed, not suicidal, one."

Cain blinked. Had Hawkeye just cracked a joke? And speaking of his superior officers acting oddly, "Err, Lieutenant, if you don't mind my asking, where's the captain?" He had just noticed the lack of Captain Mustang. It was unlike him to be away from the prince's side when the boy was suffering.

Hawkeye disturbed him once more as she actually grinned. "Oh, he'll be along." She said in a slightly gloating tone. "He's just taking in a suggestion I gave him, and reconsidering his great battle plan I would assume."

Overcome by the bizarreness of it all and glad he was sitting down, cain shook his head and returned his attention to the comatose figure on the bed. "Who are you?" He asked the lieutenant, "And what have you done with the real Lisa Hawkeye?"

She slipped back into her usual expressionless mask before also returning her focus to the boy on the bed. She said nothing.

Edward scrunched up his nose, made a small keening noise in the back of his throat and settled into a deeper sleep.

"She slapped you? I mean, honest to trees, slapped? You must have done something pretty low for Hawkeye to sl... Oh ow. Did you realise that you're starting to bruise back here?"

"Surprisingly, Hughes, you are not helping." Mustang replied dryly and winced as more soothing balm was rubbed into his cheek. The captain and his bespectacled friend were sitting in Roy's chambers. They were brightly lit, with plants lining the walls and a large plush rug in the centre of the floor. Like most of the ship's interior design, they were decorated with mostly wood panelling, with the two men sitting on large wooden chairs with soft leather upholstery. "And for your information, I did not deserve this. She seemed to have the wrong impression about the whole Edward situation and took her frustrations out upon me."

"By 'Edward situation' I assume you mean that event in which it looked like you were out to kill the boy with that flame blast?" Hughes retorted, tilting his face to just the right angle to allow the light to reflect off his glasses lenses. He leaned back on his chair, swinging dangerously, with a grin plastered upon his face. Roy snorted, Hughes only ever hid his eyes to implement one of the masks that the crew of his ship were famous for.

"I was not out to kill him." Roy returned, feeling highly put out. "And I do not know why everyone seems to have taken that stream of thought. Have I not shown by past actions that I wouldn't dream of hurting Edward?" He fingered his cheek where the salve was starting to bring a warm tingle. Wincing as he poked a particularly tender area, he leaned forward. "When have I done anything other than look out for his best interests?"

Hughes looked like he wanted to point out a great many incidents, but restrained, shrugging and saying, "I only call them how I see them, Mustang. You know that." He leaned forward slightly, but still swung dangerously on the chair. "I must say though, that it definitely looked like you were out to harm either him or that girl. Judging by your past record, it's only natural for some members of this crew to assume that you are only looking out for Edward and putting this high amount of effort into him to obtain his position." He rested the chair legs on the ground only long enough to pick up a mug off a small wooden table, take a sip and set it back down again. Then it was back to the rocking position. "I'm not saying that I think you're only after his title, Roy, I do actually know you better than that, but you have made it obvious that you have more invested in this than just seeing the royal family back in power.'

"In any case," He continued, "Holding Alphonse's heritage a secret doesn't exactly instil confidence from the crew members who only know you as the 'captain', not 'Ronald Mustang.' If news of just how Edward lost his legs reached public ears, well..." Hughes trailed off.

Roy nodded. "Mutiny." He stated, taking a sip from his own mug. "On basis of my treason. What a charming fate." He smirked faintly and Hughes frowned at him, the expression not fooling his long time best friend. After a moment of quiet contemplation, Roy came to a conclusion and prepared to tell his friend one of his darkest secrets. "You do realise," he said quietly, "That I love him. Edward. And I'm not exactly talking platonic either."

This caught Hughes off guard, and the man toppled backwards out of the chair, looking up at Mustang with a shocked face. Roy himself was struck with an odd moment of deja-vu as Hughes demanded "What!" in a startled voice. If it had of been any other time, Mustang probably would have laughed at the look on Hughes' face. "You what!"

Truth be told, this was the type of reaction Roy had expected, and it took him a long moment to regain his composure and continue. "I love him." He repeated, feeling all the more foolish for saying it. "And I don't know how to explain that because truth be told, no one knows anything substantial about one Edward Elric other than he has red wings and a inferiority complex about his height." Hughes looked like he was about to say something, but Roy cut over the top. "This is exactly why he is so dangerous to us. To me. I searched blindly for him for fifteen years, knowing next to nothing about the conditions he lived in, where his loyalties should lie if I found him. The only time I had seen him was when he was a six month old baby. I didn't even know what colour his eyes were."

Hughes seemed to have problems getting past Roy's declaration. "You... love him. He's half your age!"

Roy winced. "I am aware of this. I am also aware that this is considered paedophilia and homosexuality by most sane people, Hughes. You don't need to remind me of that." His face fell serious as Hughes straightened out his chair and sat down again. "But Hughes. The danger we have is that I actually found him and placed him in charge, no second thoughts. Assumptions are dangerous things, and I assumed he was loyal to our cause. We need him out of a position of power for at this point in time he is a danger to us all as a prince. He may even be king; for we don't know the fate of Hoenheim. However, My feelings on the matter aside, Edward is a danger to every living, breathing avian aboard this vessel."

"How so?" Hughes asked, brow crinkling in thought.

"Edward understands nothing of the Avian way of life and has demonstrated that he maintains at least some bonds to humanity." He frowned. "I do not wish to be the only one who understands just how much danger that boy could place this ship in on a mere whim, Hughes."

Hughes sighed, sitting forward in the chair, mug on the side table long forgotten. "So you would take his position to keep us safe from his desires? That seems a bit extreme, Roy."

With a shake of his head, Roy rapped his fingers against the armrest of his own chair. "not necessarily. First and foremost he must be placed in a situation where I can keep him safe easily. Then, he must be in a position where I can keep the rest of this ship's crew protected. At the moment, even if he hasn't realised it, everything on this ship ultimately answers to him. We are lucky he hasn't realised the full potential of his own situation. If he comes to terms with what being royalty truly embodies anytime soon and chooses to end the war to protect those he loves..." Roy allowed himself to trail off.

"You don't really think he'd sell us out to the humans, do you?" Hughes filled in the gap, shocked. "Edward isn't like that! He wouldn't sell out his ra..."

"Edward's loyalty is not to his race!" Mustang cut off angrily. "It is to the people he knows and feels safe with. He does not act for the good of the avians in well thought out moves, but rather, rashly to protect the ones he loves. He has a warrior's brain, does Edward, not a general's. If he saw a way to end the war and keep the people he cares about safe, he would take it." With a shake of his head, Mustang stood. "And I am worried that if he were to choose such a course of action and ask for my help in the matter, Hughes, I wouldn't be able to refuse him."

"Because of his rank or your feelings?"

Roy gave an enigma of a smile. "And isn't that the million dollar question right there, Hughes."

.
A/n: This is only like... a month late. Sorry guys. I got caught up in the hype of starting uni (my first day is tomorrow!) Christmas, going on holidays and all that.

Anyways. AWWA is one year old! And to celebrate the birthday of my most successful fanfiction ever, I wanted to hold a little competition. Here's the deal. The avian's mothership needs a name. And I'm not talking about a corny name like "Hope" or "Endless" or something like that, it needs a nice, decent, strong sounding name that would belong to the ship for all eternity.

So. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to choose a name that you think would suit the ship, post it in your review with a brief (and I do stress brief) reason as to why. Then, I'll get myself and some judges to choose which one we think is the best and the winner will be able to request one fic from me of their choosing. Any pairing, any situation, I will be your writing puppet. (Anything but original characters.) So you in?

Here's hoping you'll enter! -shakes a little can marked "Reviews and competition entries"-