The Game of Three Generals
by Lady Norbert
A/N: I'm dedicating this chapter to FFN's own "jellyjay," who got to know the entire plot in advance (so she wouldn't be freaked out during her finals). Jelly-Nelly says that after reading chapter 17, she was able to forgive me for chapter 16, and she was so excited about what's in this chapter that I had to dedicate it to her.
In case it's not clear, this chapter backtracks slightly so you can see what happened to Riza after Roy left.
Chapter Eighteen: Dragon King
Dragon King: A promoted Rook in regular shogi. However, in some variants, this is the name of an unpromoted piece which has the chance to be promoted to a piece called a Soaring Eagle, and in Mongolian chess, this is another name for the Queen.
It is perhaps a testament to Riza Mustang's courage, or maybe just the strength of her heart, that she is able to suppress her tears until her husband is out of sight.
The man she has loved since she was at least fifteen years old is on his way to be gunned down...convicted, falsely, of murdering her only other living relative. She clutches her swollen belly, her last connection to Roy, and starts to weep. But for the child, she would follow him. Hayate hops up, lightly, and wriggles into her arms, and she clings to him. He's all she has right now.
She has no clock in the garden, and she hates to wear a watch, so she can only estimate the time. In her imagination, she hears the shot that takes him from the world; she thinks it must be the sound of a heart breaking.
And she thinks, bitterly, that there is a certain justice to all of this. For as many times as her own bullets have robbed someone else of a beloved life, her turn has finally come.
"Where is she?" snaps the voice. Riza lifts her head, puzzled; she knows that voice.
"In the garden, ma'am," is the mystified response, and a moment or so later, Olivier Mira Armstrong stalks out into the flowerbeds.
"General Armstrong?" Riza rises, salutes, but the other blonde waves her off.
"No time for formalities, Colonel. We have to get you out of here."
"What?"
Armstrong glances back over her shoulder. "Things are about to happen that the enemy is not going to like," she says. "In shortest form, the execution is not taking place. Not today and not ever if we have anything to say about it. And as soon as the enemy figures out what's going on, it will probably become extremely unsafe for you to be here."
"Roy's alive?"
"As far as I know. Brace yourself - your grandfather is too."
"What?"
"I don't have time to explain! I promise, I'll tell you everything as soon as I can, but right now you've got to get out of here."
They make a few necessary arrangements. The household staff are locked in the basement for their own protection; Riza gives a few words of explanation to Anderson, with instructions not to open the door for anyone unless she herself returns. She instructs Hayate to defend them - she wants to bring him with her but she's afraid of his getting hurt. Her holsters no longer fit, so she grabs and loads a rifle.
"Give that to me," says Armstrong, shouldering the weapon. They make their way through the halls. Anyone who dares to question the iron lady of Briggs is cut off with a withering glare. "I am escorting Colonel Mustang to her physician's office," she tells the guard at the property gate.
"Colonel Mustang isn't scheduled for a doctor's visit..."
"It wasn't a question, Sergeant. She is unwell - in case you missed the memo, they executed her husband today. She needs a sedative that won't harm the baby. Now move."
They get into a car (Riza doesn't bother to ask where Armstrong acquired it) and as they drive, she's brought up to speed on everything that's happened. The men - her dear, devoted "queen's men" - have deserted their posts in Briggs and Ishval in order to save Roy from his fate. While plotting exactly what they would do, they were reunited with Madame Christmas, who has been concealing the injured Fuhrer Grumman from the world. "I'll let your grandfather explain himself to you in his own words," says Armstrong. "He had fairly good reasons for staying underground throughout the trial, mostly involving your safety, but I'm sure he'll want to tell you himself."
"That's fair enough, but where is everyone now?"
"The plan was to reconvene at Central Command once the rescue was completed. I'm assuming that's where they are. Edward Elric received word that his brother and the Xingese party were nearing the outskirts of the city, so instead of coming with me to get you like we originally planned, he's gone to intercept them and inform them of the situation."
They park at a distance from the command center and move stealthily, or as stealthily as a woman can move in Riza's condition, toward the action. Riza's heart comes into her mouth as she spots both Roy and Fuhrer Grandfather amid the group clustered on the stairs. They are outnumbered, though not by much.
"Stay here," says Armstrong. Leaving Riza still concealed, she approaches the scene. It's all Riza can do not to cry out when Piper makes the lady General a temporary hostage, ordering Roy's men to drop their weapons or he'll kill her. Frustrated at her inability to hear, she takes the risk of getting closer, using a military truck as cover.
"Now, let me see," she hears Piper say. "We have the chainsmoking sniper and his perky little fiancee; we have the pot-bellied strategist; we have the walking dictionary and the shrimpy radio nut. We have the beautiful General and her adoring baby brother, we have his two pet Lieutenants, and we have the contingent from Ishval Command. An impressive little army, Mustang. Oh, and of course, we have the less-dead-than-advertised leader of the nation. But it does seem like someone's missing, doesn't it?"
Ah. She watches him lift the little communicator to his lips and give the fake order to kill her. It amuses her slightly, knowing that if he were giving the order for real, his men at the mansion would have no idea how to respond. But she sees the fear in Roy's face and instantly regrets that little surge of humor; he's clearly terrified.
And then Havoc refuses, on behalf of them all, to switch allegiance, and her heart almost bursts with pride and gratitude.
"You made the wrong choice," says Piper with a sigh.
"I don't think so," says Roy, coldly. "You miscounted there, Piper. We've still got some other friends."
"Let me guess. You're referring to that little band of visitors coming from Xing?" Roy's eyebrows lift in surprise. "Oh, yes, I know all about it. I also know that the former Fullmetal Alchemist went to meet his brother. I had him followed. I really hope they remembered not to kill the Princess; that would make keeping the peace with her brother very difficult."
"Hawkeye," a voice hisses from nearby.
She almost jumps out of her skin, and turns around. "Edward?"
He puts a finger to his lips. "Come with me," he whispers.
She backs carefully away from the truck, keeping low, and he pulls her gently into one of the darker side streets - Central City is just full of them, she sometimes thinks. To her deep relief, Al and May Chang are waiting there.
"I'm so relieved to see you - Piper just told Roy and the others that he sent men to kill you!"
"Yeah, we know. But they're in a neatly alchemized little box of land," says Al with a chuckle. "That should keep them busy for a while."
"Piper knows I'm not an alchemist anymore," Ed explains. "I guess nobody ever told him about Al."
"What a terrible oversight." Riza smiles for the first time.
"So who does that leave?" Piper asks Roy. "No Xingese delegates, no Ishvalan rescuers, no other soldiers loyal to your cause...you're really in a bind here, Mustang. I don't envy your position."
"You don't think you'll get away with this, do you?" asks Breda.
"I have every reason to think that we will succeed. Look at yourselves! The last stand of 'Team Mustang.'" Piper smiles.
His glee is short-lived as the ground under their feet starts to tremble. The soldiers flanking him look down in confusion, which gives General Armstrong all the room she needs to get away from their guns. They don't even realize it, so bewildered are they by the tremors.
Nothing else happens, however, and the ground becomes quiet again. "Hrm. As I was saying, General," Piper continues, "you might as well face the fact that you are all out of allies."
"Not quite," Riza says.
She fires, then, her bullet lodging in the back of one of his soldiers' knees, and the rifle makes a satisfying ka-chak sound as she advances the magazine. She holds it protectively, like a shield across her swollen belly, and glowers at Piper as he whips around to face her. "Colonel Riza Mustang, reporting for duty!"
"You!"
"Al, now!"
The ground trembles again, and this time, the brief shiver of concrete is followed by a full-on blast as large walls rise up on either side of Piper's forces. They are effectively barricaded into place, and only Piper himself is still visible. She raises the rifle and points it straight at his face; her own, she imagines, is a mask of pure rage.
"You leave my family alone, you cowardly son of a bitch!"
What happens for the next several minutes is, she has to admit later, a complete blur. She manages to retain the major events, but details are somewhat lost in a haze of hormonal fury and mild nausea.
The sound of Al's alchemy brings ever more soldiers pouring out of Central Command - soldiers who see that their Fuhrer is, in fact, alive, and at once move to surround him. At first she fears that their intent is malevolent, but she quickly recognizes the formation as a protective one.
Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong, meanwhile, takes advantage of Piper having his back toward the allies, and subdues him with a sucker punch to the back of the head. "It's wonderful to see you, Colonel Mustang," he says in a remarkably calm tone.
"The same to you, old friend."
The reunion of the allies, which they're now finally in a position to properly enjoy, is heartfelt and a little silly. Al receives several hugs and is pounded on the back so many times his knees almost buckle. Fuhrer Grumman breaks free of the spontaneous security team to embrace his granddaughter. "Are you all right? I'm so sorry, my dear, that you had to endure all this...I will explain, I promise," he says, holding her tightly.
"I'm all right, Fuhrer Grandfather, sir. I'm just...so happy to have you back."
From the Fuhrer she's passed to Becky, who almost cries on her, and then Havoc, who she very nearly suspects of having a similar impulse. She manages to pull away from everyone else and slowly, with something not unlike nervousness, approaches her husband. Roy is just staring at her, and she thinks she understands why; just like when he was blinded, he's had every reason in the world to think he would never see her again, and now that he gets a second chance, he's not wasting it.
When the distance between them has been reduced to perhaps two feet, a small hush falls over their comrades. Riza ignores that fact and, after shouldering the rifle she still carries, lifts her (slightly trembling) right hand to salute her commanding officer. "Sir."
"Colonel." He returns the gesture, and for several seconds, neither one speaks.
Then he drops the salute, catches her face in his hands, and kisses her soundly.
Later, she will remember that this is the first time since their wedding day that they have kissed in front of an audience, which more or less accounts for the cheering that results.