Love isn't a Science
BY: Smash41KMF
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from FMA. However, I do own the plot to this story.
Summary: They met her in a small town, just outside of Central – then, she was only a, bossy, rude ten-year-old tomboy. Ten years later, they find her in Central Public Library. She's twenty, he's twenty-two, and Al is stuck in between. Unbeknownst to Ed, Al and Winry have a plan that gets everyone involved. The only question is….. will it work?
'She looked so...familiar...'
"Ed?"
'I know that I've seen her before...'
"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, sir?" - (yes, I'm making Ed a Lieutenant Colonel - it's a pretty good position, I might even give him a promotion later on... maybe...)
'But I just can't remember where...'
"Hey, Kiddo? You okay?"
'...It must have been before I became a State Alchemist...'
"Edward? Are you even listening?"
'...but then the question is when...'
"Brother? Why are you staring at me?"
'...Long blue hair... gray-blue eyes...?'
"Damn, I think might have lost him for good this time..."
'...I just don't get it...'
"WHO THE HELL IS SHE?" Ed shouted, propelling himself to his feet as his hands crashed down on top of his desk, startling the rest of the soldiers sitting in the office, and causing a hard laugh to burst from the young Führer as he walked into the room.
"I see... the runt's finally lost it. It's a pity; we've just lost such a good soldier, oh bother." Mustang taunted with a dramatic sigh, and Ed scowled, while the soldiers in the office let slip a few small chuckles, along with one from the younger blonde sitting beside him.
"Al! That's not fair!" Ed shouted, glaring at the twenty-one-year-old, before turning on the smirking Führer and huffing in defeat. "Anyways, to what do I owe such pleasure of being summoned to your torturous company, your highness?" the younger alchemist asked with a tired sigh, causing the young Führer to raise an inquisitive eyebrow to the alchemist.
"Why so grumpy, Edward? You're not hanging on the result of that routine medical exam still, are you?" Mustang asked, finding it peculiar that something that had occurred over a month ago would still annoy the twenty-two-year-old.
"It's nothing, I just have some personal matters that I have to take care of." he replied, flopping down onto a familiar couch in a corner of the room, propping his feet up on top of the arm rest and calmly folding his hands behind his head. Completely content, Ed simply stared at the cream colored ceiling as he continued. "But anyways, why are we here? I thought things were as slow as ever."
"They still are, Ed, but there is something I would like you - Roy nodded towards the younger brother as well - and your brother to look into for me. If it's not too much trouble for you." he replied, closing the file that sat in front of him, before meeting the curious gazes from the two brothers.
"Ha!" Ed laughed, "You make it sound like you're giving us a choice, that'll be the day." He smirked, while his younger brother sighed, continuing in a more mature manner.
"What Ed meant to say is what is our mission?" Al asked, glaring at his older brother briefly, before turning back to watch their superior walk around his desk and approach them, handing a case file to each of the brothers.
There was a moment of silence as each other brothers opened the files and grazed through the first few paragraphs. Ed raised his head and sent Roy a strange look that could only be interpreted as, 'Why would you send two alchemists to do this?' His response was a shrug and small smirk behind folded hands.
"With all due respect, Führer, why are we being sent to do this? Isn't this a job better made for the Human Resources Department? Why us?" Al asked, glancing down at the file again, his expression obviously confused. Opening his mouth to continue, Al was interrupted by his older brother, who seemed to be even more puzzled by the assignment than he was.
"Is it that slow that the military is now sending its alchemists on recruiting campaigns? I agree with Al, isn't this Human Resources' job? We're a different part of the military, why it be smarter to send soldiers like Havoc, or even Fuery to do this? We're just the military's dogs, wagging our tails and drooling for the sake of doing good with science." Ed stated, and the people in the office deadpanned, even Al.
After a while, anyone would know the skilled alchemist for being confident, height-sensitive, and incredibly blunt with his statements, but this was on a completely different level than the normal Ed, and it surprised them. Blinking, Alphonse gave his brother a strange look, as did several others in the office, but Ed only gave a nonchalant shrug.
"What?" He asked, and within seconds, Al was nose-to-nose with his brother, pointing an accusing finger at the older Elric, while the other soldier simply looked on in confusion.
"You lost an argument! Didn't you!" he exclaimed, catching the attention of the other soldiers completely as they each approached the two brothers, intrigued by the idea of such a thing happening. One of many other things the older of the Elric brothers was known for was his tendency to engage in verbal war. While he almost always emerged victorious, there was only one person to ever be able to shoot down the young man's wits, and that... -they all turned to look at the Führer, who glanced up from signing paperwork, only to find his co-workers staring at him- was Führer King Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist.
Ed cringed at the accusation, trying his best to avoid the topic as he glared at the soft cushion next to him, an action that only made his younger brother gasp, before spring into the air and laughing. Ed glared at his brother, sitting up and glaring at his feet as the other soldiers waited patiently to hear the story, even Mustang had an ear open to the interesting tale.
"No, I didn't! What makes you think that?" He asked, and Al gave him a disbelieving look.
"You're grumpy, Brother. And whenever you're grumpy, either you've just finished talking to Winry, lost an argument, or Mustang said something that-" before Al could finish, Ed launched himself off the couch, covering his brother's mouth as he pinned the younger boy to the ground.
"Shut up, Al! He doesn't need to know that!" Ed growled, holding down his struggling brother, while Roy looked on with amusement with this new piece of information.
"He doesn't need to know what exactly, Edward?" he asked, and Ed paled, leaping off of his brother and awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
"I-I don't know what you mean? Al's just being silly, ignore him." Ed laughed awkwardly, but the young Führer didn't seem to buy it... at all.
"I don't know. Al, what exactly is your brother keeping from me, hmm? You're a good kid, surely you could tell me?" Roy gave Al an expecting look, and Al swallowed, glancing over at his older brother, who only grinned down at him darkly.
"You breathe a word about this Al, and I'll tell him about your thing for the Lieutenant." he growled, and Al froze, his eyes wide with utter horror.
"NO! You wouldn't! That's not even fair! Ed!" Al shouted, squirming uncomfortably, before lifting his head to meet the threatening stare of the Flame Alchemist. "U-Uh... well... umm.." Al looked to his brother, and then back to Roy, unsure of which one he was more terrified of at the moment. "Well-" before he could finish, Ed's gaze caught sight of the clock hanging behind Mustang, and his heart skipped a beat. It was barely a quarter to six, so as much as he hated leaving this stand-off, he had made an obligation, and now their escaped called for a distraction.
"Oh, well would you look at the time! Al, we have somewhere to be, and you know what'll happen if we're late!" Ed exclaimed, breaking the tension and turning all attention to him, even the slightly confused look of his younger, whom he prayed would only play along, but alas, without his suit of armor, the man's expressions were to readable, and Mustang began to laugh at the failed attempt at an escape.
"Nice try there, Fullmetal, but you'll have to try harder than that next time." he laughed, and Ed raised an eyebrow, surprised that the Führer was actually going to let them leave after all. Apparently, the other soldiers were surprised as well, and everyone turned their attention towards Roy.
"Wait, you're actually going to let them leave early?" Havoc exclaimed in disbelief, and Roy gave a shrug.
"They're always here, and so long as they keep showing up and pulling through for us in the end, I think a little leeway should be allowed every-so-often." he replied simply, before his tone became serious and he turned his gaze to meet Ed's. "But aside from it all, this isn't just some recruiting mission, Ed." Ed raised an eyebrow, and Roy opened a drawer in his desk, pulling what looked like ID cards out and setting them in front of either brother. "You're both going under cover at Central Academy, these will act as your identifications." he said, as both brothers stepped forward and picked up their own cards, before glancing at the others.
"Wait as second! I'm a... I'm a teacher?" Al exclaimed, his gaze flying up from his ID card, while Ed continued to stare at his own card. "But why? Ed is obviously better qualified for it than I am! Besides, some of those people might even be older than me!" Al exclaimed, glancing down at his card, before looking at Ed curiously, surprised that he hadn't burst out in protest let, just stared at the card.
Following the younger brother's gaze, Roy carefully shifted his gaze to Ed, who was now holding his gaze with flash of understanding in his eyes, but also slight betrayal. Roy sighed, turning back to look at Al, ready to respond, when Ed finally spoke up.
"You gave me Al's name. Why?" was all he asked, his sharp golden eyes holding the older officer's onyx gaze. In response, Roy simply sighed, scratching his head before explaining.
"Alphonse, you were given the role as a minor arts teacher, your position is as the Self-Defense Instructor, considering you seem to be the best the military has in that field by far." Al blushed with pride, nodding happily, before looking over at his brother wearily. "While you, Ed, were originally supposed to be the Chemistry Professor, but we have decided that the mole we are searching for could possibly be among the students, and it'd be much easier for you to fit in than your brother, no offense, Al."
"Of course not, you're right actually, but still... why does Ed have my name? And how comes I don't have his?" Al asked, glancing at Ed briefly, knowing that he was most likely trying to imagine being his shoes for all those years, he was hiding the pain well, but only Al was able to see the small flashes of sadness and regret in his brother's dark, golden eyes.
"Alphonse, your brother is no stranger, the people attending this academy either have parents or relative high in military command, they may not know your brother's face, but they do know his name. He was given your name because you are much less known, but enough to draw attention. In addition, if we were to give you his name, wouldn't it be odd that a State Alchemist wasn't teaching Chemistry?" Roy asked, and Al nodded, along with Ed, who only gave an absent movement.
"So, we're going in alone?" Al asked, this time catching Ed's attention. However, Roy shook his head.
"No, of course not. While I would feel much more comfortable with allowing these lazy slackers," Roy said, gesturing to the Havoc and Breda. "to accompany as your back-up, I'm afraid that even I am restricted from offering high ranking officers to accompany you. So, instead, Major Denny Brosh and Lieutenant Maria Ross will be your contacts in the Academy, Fuery will also join you as the Technology Instructor once he gets back from Eastern Command. Are there any questions?" Roy looked between the brothers, and the only one who seemed the slightest uneasy was Al, but that was probably being prompted by the older Elric's odd behavior. "Good, you're dismissed."
And with that, the two brothers turned to head for the door, when Roy called out to Ed, a knowing smirk pulling at his lips. Ed turned, sending the country's youngest Führer a half-bored, half-curious look.
"Have fun on your little date, you might just get to see your little girlfriend at school." at that, Ed faltered, a look of pure astonishment coating the twenty-two-year-old's normally composed countenance. Roy's smirk widened and he gave the younger man a sly wink. Ed's jaw dropped open, and Roy continued, waving the boys off with a victorious smirk. "You start Monday, and please, Ed?" Roy gave Ed a harsh look. "Do restrain from causing too much trouble, Lieutenant Hawkeye and I will not appreciate being call down to the Academy for a parent-teacher conference."
Speechless, Ed sent Mustang a sharp glare, just about to retort, when he was reminded of the time, and Al dragged him out of the room.
"Damn you, Mustang..." Ed grumbled as he and his walked out of the military's main building and into the courtyard. "He takes all the fun out of going to school..."
Meanwhile...
"Um... Sir?" Roy looked up from his paperwork to look at his fiancé, who was fiddling with the edges of the file in her arms, a discreet habit of hers when she got uneasy.
"What is it, Riza?" he asked softly, slightly concerned about what could possibly have her so uneasy.
"Did you tell them that they can't use Alchemy?" she asked, watching as Roy's eyes slowly grew larger, until he let his fall onto the desk. Riza's eyes grew and she gasped. "Roy!"
"Damn it."
"You're going to get them killed!"
"I don't know about that! Al should know better."
"Roy!"
"Hey! I'm just saying that so long as Al is around, Ed will be okay!"
"No, he won't!"
"What makes you say that?"
"He's Ed, Roy."
"Damn it."
Haha! Ironic, I know. The fact that I'm ending this chapter with the same words as the first chapter! Haha. Well, ANYWAYS!
Please review! They are much appreciated!
~Smash41KMF