AN: Here's where Sciezka enters this part of the story, and where there's going to start to be some back-and-forth between the plots of this and "The Powers of Persuasion" (my Winry/Sciezka fic which follows the same continuity as this). But I'll try my best to make sure that both can still be read on their own.

Even though this is based on the 2003 series, I like to add details from the manga/Brotherhood version of things in places the original anime didn't flesh out as much, like Roy's backstory or the Team Mustang members' personal lives. So expect to see some mild referential spoilers for that starting in this chapter.

The Green Lion was one of Central's most popular bars on weekends - with its cheap drink specials, cabaret singers and colorful clientele. But on a Wednesday night, it was a strange, lonely place.

But like Roy Mustang was really going to wait until the weekend to get his drinking done.

He'd known what they'd said was true; they'd said it for years. He was an alcoholic. Perhaps a "high-functioning" one, but an alcoholic nonetheless. He always turned to the bottle when the going got rough - the fifth of scotch he kept in his desk, the wines lining his icebox at home. It was pathetic, maybe, but it was easy. And it didn't ask questions. Didn't expect him to explain what he did in Ishval, it just took the cruel memories quietly, leaving him behind in more pleasant reveries. They'd be back by the following day, they always came back - but at least he could be alone, away from them for now, and relish the escape of his delirious, drunken haze.

The bartender - no matter who it was - always gave Roy a knowing nod when he sat down. That's how much of a regular he was. He knew he should feel ashamed of himself. But what veteran of Ishval, what person who'd seen what Roy had seen, didn't turn to some sort of self-destruction? Roy rarely drank to excess, and he knew people who chased their demons in worse ways: hard drugs, self-mutilation. Or, more serious, debilitating types of alcoholism. He'd known people who had true "lost weekends", going on extended benders where they forgot every responsibility and loved one they had, total slaves to the booze running through their veins.

Hell, Ed hadn't been in the war but he'd seen enough horrible things that Roy was sure that even he had picked up some bad habits. Al was always a trooper, good-hearted, angelic soul that he was, but Ed had never been good at dealing with his problems without bringing other people in to them. He's sure that as Ed had grown, he had acquired some vices that he wouldn't have had access to as a fiery teenager.

Ed. Ed, Ed, Ed. I can't get him out of my head, even years later.

Is it really Ishval, or the night in the Führer's mansion, that drive me to drink? Or is it this?

Maybe a nice whiskey will help me figure that out.

So, he ordered one. And another. But the liquor didn't take effect right away, and Roy had some time to think about his plan.

Which was a necessity. Winry Rockbell would be coming into town in a week, and he had to make sure he knew what he was going to say to her. Had to make sure he had all the details ready, if she said yes. Because she wasn't an alchemist; she would need his guidance.

And he remembered other details he'd shamefully overlooked. Things Roy sometimes forgot, being the man he was. Things he should have considered, before he started planning out this whole ordeal, with him and the Rockbell girl and Edward.

One of those had to do with sexuality. Roy had never cared much for gender when it came to picking his partners. There were more important things, and besides, a life spent only experimenting with half of humanity was a life half-lived. It had been the case from his earliest sexual encounters; the first was at 16 with one of the girls under his foster mother's employ, frantic, desperate, and yet somehow, managing to stay as discrete as it needed to be. (What Madame Christmas would have done had she found out! Roy cowered at the thought.) The second was a few years later, with Hughes in their academy days; it involved just as much awkward fumbling but a tenderness and affection built on years of friendship that the previous encounter could never have hoped to reach. Since then, Roy had fallen in love and in lust with many men and women, and appreciated the different repertoire that each brought to the bedroom.

Yet, he knew he was not everyone. Some people swung distinctly toward one or the other side of the fence, through no fault of their own. Roy had forgotten to consider if Ed might be one of those people.

What if Ed's only interested in women? Roy wondered to himself. It made sense. A lot of men were - just about all the other men on his team, he suspected. After all, with Havoc's abysmal luck with the fairer sex, he'd certainly have switched to his own long ago if there had been any interest.

(What if Ed's only interested in men? asked a smaller voice, deeper in his head. It was too good to be true, it was filled with too much hope. It couldn't be honest. Roy had stopped putting stock in pipe dreams when he was in Ishval.)

That was really the smallest of issues, though. It just seemed big, because well, that was the reason Roy was doing it. And he had to consider every angle in this regard. Was it really worth crossing into this parallel world, where he knew nothing, where he had no hard-won reputation and maybe not even any useful skills - only to find that the man he'd chased after didn't return his feelings? That his entire reason for risking it all was for naught?

But was it worth living out his life here in Amestris, separated from what may possibly be the love of his life, forever?

The bigger question: how was Roy going to open the Gate? There were only a few ways, all of them difficult, and most seriously messing with the taboos of alchemy.

If he got it wrong, he'd be lucky if he escaped and was simply stripped of his title and thrown in jail for the rest of his life. (They'd stopped the executions of those guilty of human transmutation with Führer Bradley's death and the fall of his regime.) More likely, he would be killed himself, or come back some deformed, inhuman mess.

He knew he could risk everything for Ed, but that didn't mean that it wasn't smart for Roy to minimize the risks. How to do that, though... he'd have to keep going back to the library again. And perusing the paperwork for rogue alchemists already playing with the metaphorical fire.

This whiskey wasn't working fast enough.

It was a Monday night the following week when Roy found himself back in The Green Lion, though this time, not alone. He was here with his team. Two had recently been promoted - Riza to Major, Breda to Captain - and they were out celebrating. Roy was happy for them, but deep down he couldn't get the whole situation out of his mind. Luckily, nobody in the team noticed... except for the one person who always noticed.

Roy couldn't get anything past Riza Hawkeye.

It made sense, in a way; they'd known each since they were teenagers, since Roy had been a student of Riza's father, the original master of Flame Alchemy. But Riza had a knack for seeing through everyone, living up to her surname. It was just that when she was as familiar with another human as Roy was, it was particularly sharp. Roy could read her well, too, but he could never match the interpersonal acumen of his closet subordinate when it came to this.

So it wasn't long before Riza slid up to Roy, brooding at the bar while the other boys were busy cheering and pounding back beer after beer.

"Congratulations, Major," Roy said, "if I didn't give you enough congratulations before."

Riza chuckled. "I'm not that full of myself, unlike someone else I know," she replied, nodding toward him. "That's not why I joined you here and you know it."

"So tell me why you did," Roy said, as he took another sip of his scotch.

"Something is on your mind, sir. Something's been on your mind. I've seen you brooding a lot lately, and I want to know what's going on."

"I brood a lot, Major," he said. Ever since he left me behind for the other world. But that didn't need to be said; Riza knew that better than anyone.

Well, maybe not better than the Rockbell girl, these days. But better than anyone else in Roy's usual circle of friends and coworkers and trusted confidantes.

Anyway, Riza wasn't buying it.

"Not as much as the last few weeks," she clarified. "And there's something in particular that's changed. I'd like to know what it is. You know...so it doesn't affect your work."

Roy smiled at that. Riza often felt like she had to pretend that they weren't close outside of their assigned roles from the military. That they hadn't been an item several years ago, when Roy was still in denial about the blond he really loved - and that their friendship now and before didn't long predate their professional relationship.

But the fact is that Riza was his closest friend, and could read him like a book - and all of his team knew that.

Yet, he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her this. She'd probably be upset and try to talk him out of it, at the very least. She'd be distraught about losing her best friend, and commanding officer - and possibly frustrated at him for toying with the taboos of alchemy.

And he knew there was no point in her airing those grievances, because for him there was no turning back. Not now.

"Well, if you must know..."

"I must," she said, finally, certainly. "I can't have you going on like this." She said it sadly, desperately, in a way that made it clear it wasn't really about any paperwork that might not get done.

"I've been looking into some ways to cross the Gate."

Riza's eyes got wide. She gaped at him, in horror. "You can't be serious, Roy."

His eyebrows shot up so fast, they must have been near the roof. Riza never called him by his first name. Not unless she had a point to make.

But it was a point that had to fall on deaf ears. "I am very, very serious, Major."

"I know you love him, but he made his decision, and you closed the Gate. Anything that would require opening it would be disastrous - and could get you behind bars forever if it didn't kill or mutilate you in the process. You know that.

"Be serious, sir. You're the last person I would ever expect to throw away your career aspirations in the name of love."

Roy stared at her for a long time, then took a deep breath. "I have no aspirations and you know it. They'd never let me be Prime Minister and you know it." He hushed to a whisper only she could hear. "Not after I killed the last Führer and -" he put a finger to her lips before she could argue. "You know our excuse is not airtight enough that the Bradley loyalists would buy it. Archer was there, too, after all, and he shot me in the eye. Some people will buy that he might be the one to try to kill Bradley, but a lot of people won't. It's well-known that the man followed him blindly. Hell, he even knew about the homunculi-"

Riza brushed away Roy's finger. "I get it, sir. But you're really just going to let Lieutenant General Armstrong take your place, your dream?"

"I have no choice," he said solemnly. "Besides, she may be a hard-ass who dislikes me, but we have similar political goals, and that's what matters here. I have no issue with an Amestris under her rule. In fact, I welcome it."

Riza sighed. "And yet, you won't be here to see it."

"Major -"

She continued, her face hardening. "And you know your goals aren't the real issue here, anyway, sir. You're messing with some very dangerous alchemy. Very dangerous. I may not be an alchemist, but I am the daugher of one, and as you know, my father was very much the kind of alchemist who had little regard for the laws of the state when it came to these things. This is very, very dark alchemy. And I know that when I see it."

"Can you trust me when I say I've looked into it?" He was getting frustrated, much as he understood Riza's concerns. "I've researched this extensively. There are ways to open the Gate that don't involve me dying or sacrificing something." He hushed his voice again. "Any type of human transmutation, not just raising the dead -"

"And every type of human transmutation is strictly forbidden," she reminded him in a low growl. It was becoming harder and harder for Riza to hide her disdain for what Roy was considering. How could he even think -

"Not if it's disposing of homunculi," he continued.

"Of which there are no more. Alphonse killed the last of them when he opened the Gate, or don't you remember?"

"Homunculi are created every time an alchemist of sufficient skill attempts human transmutation. The Elrics created the one called Sloth when they tried to revive their mother; Scar's brother created the one called Lust when he tried to resurrect his girlfriend. We've had several close calls with rogue alchemists in recent years, so it probably won't be long until there's another one that can be used to open the Gate. Even in the mutilated forms they're in before the Red Stones, they work."

Riza laughed, a cruel laugh, into her own drink. "And so what are you going to do then? Scan the paperwork for likely candidates, and manipulate them until they actually go through with it? Then you're just as bad as the homuncuil themselves, playing with the feelings of desperate, grieving people to get their Stone!

"So help me, Colonel, you know I don't want to, but if I have to fulfill my promise to you of what I'd do if you ever strayed from your path..."

"That's not the only way, Riza," Roy said. Now he was the one going by first names, for emphasis, in hopes of getting through to her.

It worked.

"One of the books mentioned that, if you have a being sufficiently young, still connected to the Gate, like a baby..." He put a hand up before her slowly-horrifying expression. "Don't look like that! You don't have to sacrifice them. If you draw the right array, and just hold them up to it, it will open the Gate."

Riza's expression softened slightly as she took it in, but was still angry. "Where do you plan to find a baby - and a parent who will let you use their child as your guinea pig?"

"Not a guinea pig, Major. I'm not exaggerating when I say it won't be harmed."

"I trust you, but you really better trust yourself. You better know that you know what you're doing."

"I do."

She sighed as she looked him over, slowly. Almost finally, even though, of course, if Roy went through with his plan it would still be some time before he'd say goodbye to her and everyone else. It was difficult for him to watch; Roy knew that even though she'd been the one who'd ended their brief relationship, years ago before the invasion from the other world, that she still had some sort of feelings for him.

He knew that even if she were assured that he wasn't going to hurt himself or live the rest of his life in a jail cell, that she would be upset by this. That she'd never see him again.

"You better know, too..." she began. "Oh, of course you know this. But you really should consider how many people there are here in Amestris who will miss you. Don't think you have nothing to live for here just because your political goals won't pan out."

Roy looked at her for a long time. "I know that. But..." He couldn't put it into words. How could he explain to Riza just how desperate, how lonely he felt? How it felt like a piece of his life had been ripped away when Ed returned to the other world - and yet, somehow he didn't quite realize the depths of that despair until later. He was able to give Alphonse to his brother as a parting gift at the time, but now, he had a feeling that he wouldn't make the same decision, even knowing it was the right one. He would go himself. He was too far gone, too madly in love with this man...

She seemed to understand, anyway, without him saying. She patted his shoulder. "Love makes madmen of us all, doesn't it?"

Roy nodded as he watched her get up and rejoin the others.

It was later that week, on a Thursday, when he found himself back at the same watering hole. At least The Green Lion was a bit more popular on this day of the week, coming as it did right before the weekend proper. At least drowning my sorrows doesn't look as pathetic tonight.

He was alone, at first, but it wasn't long before a certain bespectacled brunette came running up to him, eyes blazing with a fire even he couldn't conjure with his gloves. It only existed in the eyes of those blinded by fury.

Like in Ed's eyes whenever he'd storm out of Roy's office after handing in his reports.

"You're buying," Sciezka said as she slammed herself down in the seat next to Roy. "You owe me, Mustang."

Roy was taken aback, not having had any idea what prompted this rage - at least, directed toward him. Had he even talked to Sciezka in more than a few years.

"I'll gladly buy you a drink, I love buying drinks for lovely young women like yourself -"

"Don't flatter me, Mustang." She wasn't going to be assuaged by Roy's natural charm, apparently.

"...but I really have no idea what brought this on, Sciezka. I don't think I've done anything to you -"

"This isn't about me, Mustang. This is about Winry."

"Ah." He said, hopefully not too dismissively, as he took a sip of his martini while he set about flagging down a bartender to order something for Sciezka. If Winry had just told Sciezka about what happened to her parents, he could more than understand her wrath; he was furious at himself for it, to this day. But he was truly surprised, considering the close friendship those girls seemed to have, that she had just found out...

"Why are you telling her this crap about being able to find Ed? She doesn't need false hope like that, idiot. Especially not from you, after all you've done to her already."

Oh, okay. So this wasn't about Winry's parents. At least, not this latest bit of rage. And Sciezka had already known, as Roy suspected.

"What makes you think that it's false? I'm an accomplished State Alchemist, Sciezka. Surely you realize I had to know about more than just Flame Alchemy to get there. I know how to use the library, I know how to research."

"Mustang, I've read every book in that library, I know what they say. Go chasing after Ed all you want. But don't involve Winry."

"And why shouldn't I?"

"She has too much to live for here in Amestris."

"Well, that's why I asked her. But maybe she'll decide that she loves Ed enough that she wants to go after him, too." Roy was, of course, speaking more for himself than anyone else here. But he knew Winry loved Ed as well; who knew, perhaps she felt the same way.

That's why he was giving her that option.

"But she shouldn't. Ed doesn't love her."

Roy stopped at that and looked at her wide-eyed, being sure to direct all the seriousness required at such an assumption. "And how would you know, Miss Sciezka?"

She felt a little sheepish under Roy's commanding gaze, but she eventually managed to come out with what she had to say. "Hughes tried to set us up on a date once when he was alive."

Roy couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that. Oh, Maes, thinking Amestris's two biggest bookworms would be a perfect match. Roy missed his meddling, matchmaking ways. I know he'd have something to say to me about this. I wish I could know what.

"It's not funny!" Sciezka waved her hands back and forth in exasperation. "It was the most awkward experience of my life. We were both completely uninterested."

"No offense, Miss Sciezka," Roy began, "but just because Ed isn't interested in you doesn't mean he wouldn't be interested in Miss Rockbell. Men have different tastes."

"I know that, you moron," she continued. "We talked about it afterward. That's why I know this. Ed told me why he wasn't into me. It's the same reason I'm not into him."

Roy raised his eyebrows, not quite sure where this was going. A small voice in the back of his head had an idea, but he ignored it.

"It's the same reason I'm immune to your ladykilling ways, Colonel Mustang," Sciezka continued, giggling a bit. Then she took a deep breath.

"I'm gay. And so is Ed."