Chapter Two

"Brigadier General?" Falman asked rushing in to the bathroom. He stopped short as a rather pale Mustang exited one of the stalls.

"I'm fine probably just something I ate," Roy said as he saw the concerned expression a Falman's face.

"Sir you look awful," Falman responded.

"I didn't ask for your input now let's get settled into our quarters," Mustang said as he strode away. The others followed suite with Hawkeye taking up the rear. 'Something odd is going on with Brigadier General Mustang,' she though as she again eyed him suspiciously. She made a mental note to keep a close eye on him.

Roy had to keep from toppling over from the dizziness while he led his subordinates to the quarters they would be living in. 'What the hell is going on with me?' he thought, 'eh probably just the flu nothing too much to worry about.' He hoped it wasn't anything to worry about.

The next few days went by pretty quickly with settling in and meeting the young soldiers they would be training. 'It's nice,' thought Roy, ' To have something different to do for a change it feels like I am actually accomplishing something.' He was on his way to the mess hall before evening drills. The men liked that their CO always ate with them. It made him seem human. Hawkeye caught up with Roy though just before he reached the mess hall.

"Sir?" she asked grabbing his arm

"Yes Hawkeye?" he asked rubbing his eyes with his index finger and thumb. He was clearly annoyed with her.

"I just wanted to make sure you had been feeling better sir," she said saluting him.

` "I'm fine Riza just a touch of flu, let's go get some food," he said and sauntered toward the mess hall.

"Yes, sir," she said feeling slightly odd. He rarely called her Riza.

As they sat down at the mess hall all of Roy's subordinates gathered around him. They watched while he was eating some bread and then moved on to eating his soup. Suddenly Roy felt eyes on him and looked up almost spitting out his soup.

"What the hell are you doing why aren't you eating your own meal?" he inquired furiously.

"Because sir we are worried about you," Fuery replied a pleading sound in his voice.

"There is nothing you need to worry about because I am fine," Roy snapped.

They moved away knowing it was for the best. Roy had his gloves on just in case anyone needed to be incinerated. His subordinates didn't feel like being the demonstrations tonight. They went to the line to get served something to eat and picked a table at the opposite end of the hall to eat.

AS soon as his subordinates had left Roy let out a sigh. 'This is a lot of work. Work that I can't shirk off onto someone else. ' His eyes widened at the thought. For once he was going to have to sit down and do some hard paperwork without procrastinating. He threw the thought aside as he called out for evening drills. Everyone assembled outside for evening drills. Roy watched as they worked hard to follow the commands he was yelling at them. He felt tired and about half way through he told them to take five minutes. Just walking around and shouting orders had made him extremely thirsty. Most of the soldiers looked at him.

"But Sir its middle of the drills," one meager soldier pointed out.

"Are you in charge?" Mustang bellowed

"N-no sir…."

"Then you can't say whether or not we get a break that is for me to decide and I say yes so take a damn break."

All of the soldiers scattered quickly to perhaps grab some water or just to sit down for a minute. That was what Mustang was doing on the ground in front of the grounds where they did drills. He felt a little dizzy not to mention a headache coming on.

"Hawkeye," he simple stated.

"Yes sir?" she replied saluting him.

"Can you go and get me a pain pill and some water?"

"Yes sir," Hawkeye replied and ran off to get the supplies.

"Boss you sure you doing OK?" Havoc asked concern crossing his face.

"Yes Havoc I am fine. It is probably just the flu now I wish to stop being babied," Roy replied as he saw Hawkeye approaching.

"Thank you," said Roy gratefully accepting the pill and water and downing them both.

Havoc smiled just when Roy barked orders to get the new soldiers back here. All of the officers jumping in unison ran off in many directions to get the soldiers back. When back the soldiers resumed their evening exercises until Roy said that they were complete. However, when Roy muttered dismissed to the soldiers they stayed where they were.

"Did I not just say dismissed? Or has Archer had your ears stuffed full of cloth?" Mustang bellowed as he looked out at the faces.

"Permission to speak sir?" the same meager soldier that had spoken before asked.

"Permission granted," Roy sighed wondering what the troops he was training could want.

"The troops wish to see that you are alright," the man said.

"I am fine just a slight touch of flu perhaps," Roy sighed rubbing his face again.

"How did you get sick?"

"How the hell should I know?" Mustang glared at the man.

"Well we think that our Commanding Officer should be able to take care of himself," said another soldier closer to the front.

At this statement Hawkeye and Havoc exchanged a nervous glance.

"You think I can't take care of myself?" Roy bellowed a hint of yellow in his eye.

"Even that Archer man could take care of himself better," the soldier replied.

"I did not give you permission to speak and you have insulted me. I shall give you the fit punishment soldier," Roy bellowed as he raised a hand.

"That's your…." The soldier trailed off seconds after he realized what had happened.

All other soldiers gasped as the punished soldier touched his bare head where there used to be three inch dirty blonde locks.

"Yes I am Brigadier General Roy Mustang. Also known as the Flame Alchemist. Archer may have punished you in other ways but this is how I punish. If you do not want to end up like your friend here I suggest you speak in turn only and do as you are commanded. So, DISMISSED."

He went back to the sleeping quarters and set his alarm for 6:00. He would get up and go for a run before breakfast it might help to clear his mind. Roy fell into a deep yet troubled sleep as his head hit the pillows.

The next day was very much the same as the last and Mustang had to sit out for a moment again at evening drills. Instead of stopping them this time he let Hawkeye command them. He was too tired to punish someone at the moment and knew that Hawkeye could threaten to kill them if she really desired to do so.

This next few weeks passed on like this with Roy doing morning and lunch drills and Hawkeye taking over for evening drills. Mustang had to have Fuery order some more pain pills for him because they were running low. Roy found that needing all the pain medication was becoming quite strange. He had never remembered having this many headaches before. The last week they would have before a short break was coming up and the Fuhrer himself would be paying a small visit.

Riza noticed something out of place with Mustang over the next weeks. He had been eating and drinking more. Needing to use the restroom more and more frequently. She felt like she was a brigadier General heading up all those missed practices for him. But tomorrow the Fuhrer was coming. She had to talk to Roy now. She went to his room and silently opened the door and gasped at what she saw.

A/N: Sorry it took me a little to get this chapter up I had huge writers block this is just kind of a filler chapter. So should I keep writing or trash this one?