A/N: So, um, this is Lex. And I don't have much to say, because I'm sleepy. But we wrote. And you should be proud of us. Because we worked damn hard for you, ya know? This is Liss, and this is me, saying something. Lex told me to. I dunno why. I'm sleepy. We're watching Criminal Minds and it's kinda awesome. Yeah. Well. Yeah. G'night, then.
Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If we did, that would be very, very bad...
Alice awoke early that spring morning. A part of her wondered why; she just had a feeling that it would be an important day. She pulled her chestnut-colored hair back, but little wisps still floated about her face. The woman quickly cut up some fresh fruit for breakfast and fed Staccato. Amidst her lackadaisical humming and Staccato's purring, Alice gasped in surprise when she felt two arms snake their way around her waist. "Morning," Roy mumbled sleepily, nuzzling into her warm neck. "What are you doing up so early?"
Alice sighed in relief of it not being a rapist hugging her from behind. "I don't know. I just kind of woke up." She shrugged and resumed her cutting of oranges.
Roy gave an exasperated sigh before letting Alice go reluctantly. "Well, I gotta go. Hawkeye will be pissed if I'm late again."
Alice grabbed his wrist before he could leave the room, twirling around. "Oh, no you don't!" She shoved a quarter of an orange into his mouth. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
Roy pulled the orange out of his mouth and threw the peel away. "Do you realize how much you sound like Charlotte right now?" the man chuckled at his girlfriend's horrified expression.
"Do not!"
"Do so!" The girl glared and tried to turn away, only to have Roy catch her wrist. "Oh, no you don't!" He grinned and pulled her towards his lips. "I'll be working a bit later tonight," he said quietly, "but I'll get home as soon as I can."
"Alright; I love you, be careful, Roy." She told him that every day when he went to work. It still made him smile, even after all those months.
"I promise, my Alice. I love you, too." He gave her another peck before picking up Staccato and holding him up into the air, eyeing him. "And you, my feline friend, are in charge. If anything happens to our Alice, it's your tail." The cat meowed once in what Roy took as understanding before the military man walked out the door.
He'd been tense since the moment he walked in the office and accidentally stepped on Fuery's face. To think, it had been such a good night; why did Fuery's face have to be the thing that ruined it? Seeing his face on a daily basis was bad enough, but with his eye all blue and swollen like that-
The good mood he'd had that morning dissipated quickly; between his accidental attack on Kain Fuery, the mound of paperwork on his desk, and hearing that Riza was home sick, it was not looking like it would be a good day.
He was right. Roy Mustang was more right than he'd ever know. Today would be one of the worst days of his life. And Riza wasn't even there to do the paperwork.
Paperwork.
Paperwork.
Honestly, paperwork was the least of his worries.
Alice practically skipped around the house. Life couldn't possibly get any better; the smile on her face was evidence enough to prove that. A right proper housekeeper, she was, taking care of Roy's house as well as giving lessons once again. With everything back to normal, better than normal, Alice's life was fantastic in a way that it never had been before.
She didn't even have a problem with the fact that her boyfriend was the Flame Alchemist, so long as she didn't think about it too hard.
Luckily for Roy, Riza eventually showed up to work. He promptly pushed all the paperwork in her general direction, much to her dismay. He continued to sign things as they were given to him, but most of the day, Roy was daydreaming about his life, his Alice.
The day was a long one, seeing as all reports were due first thing that next morning. Roy left as soon as he could, leaving his subordinates to gather all the papers and organize them into something semi-presentable. Due to the stress of his day, the Flame Alchemist decided to stop at his favorite bar for a quick drink; not enough to get drunk, just enough to settle his nerves a bit before going home.
"Hey, Colonel," the girl behind the bar said casually, throwing a towel over her shoulder, "I haven't seen you around here in awhile. What can I get you?"
"Hey, Mags," he replied, taking a seat. "I'll take a scotch, neat."
As she prepared his glass of alcohol, she struck up conversation, as she did with all her customers. "So, why haven't you been around much, Colonel? Did the almighty Flame Alchemist finally get a steady girlfriend?" She slid the drink to the man and continued drying glasses.
Roy smiled wryly and took a sip. "I finally did; Alice Ackerman. She's great, Mags, really. You've probably seen her friend around here. She's a total airhead named Ivy."
"Ivy? As in the Ivy who drools over every redheaded man who walks in? She's one of my best customers!" Roy smiled and drank some more. "At any rate, congrats, Colonel. I'm glad you finally found a life outside of work and the bar."
The two had known each other for many years; ever since Maggie had started working at the bar and since Roy had become a State Alchemist. They'd become casual friends, but never really knew each other.
The phone rang and Maggie moved to answer it. "Yeah. Yeah, he's here. Colonel Mustang, it's for you; someone named Hawkeye."
Roy took another drink, this one a bit deeper than the last. Riza never called him, unless something was terribly wrong. He cleared his throat and held the phone up to his ear, "Hawkeye?"
After a few moments of quiet, hurried conversation, Roy slammed down the phone, shaking, unwilling to show the emotion he was feeling to Maggie and the rest of those at the bar. His eyes whipped around jerkily, surveying all those present, and suddenly wondering how Riza and the rest of the team was doing, not to mention Alice.
The alchemist sighed, and with that display, the tears nearly threatened to leak from his eyes. He finished the rest of his scotch in one go and threw several bills on the bar. He didn't say anything as he pulled on his coat and made his way out the door. Trying hard to keep his face as stoic as possible as he made his way to his home, to his Alice.
Alice had just shuffled Liz out the door not twenty minutes before she saw the door swing open, and the girl's head turned in unison with it, radiant smile firmly in place, only to flicker and fade at the melancholy Roy had brought home with him. Alice took a light step forward, peering towards him, and stuttering nervously, "R-Roy?"
The dark-haired man didn't respond, the heavy aura surrounding him taking hold in the house and in Alice's heart as well. Two more quick steps forward, more weighted than the first, Alice spoke once again, more firmly. "Roy? Roy, what's wrong?
Again the alchemist didn't speak, having hung up his hat and then proceeding to do the same with his coat. Alice's eyebrows furrowed together, and finally, raising her voice, Alice shouted out, "Roy!"
Roy flinched, but never said a word, moving silently towards the couch, past Alice. "R-Roy?" Alice's voice shrank to a frightened whisper. "Roy, you're scaring me."
His elbows on his knees, Roy pulled his head from his hands and with watery eyes and a quivering monotone, he said, "He's dead, Alice. Maes is dead."
"...w-what?"
"Alice, Maes is dead."
Maes Hughes was dead. Images of Elicia floated in and out of the pianist's head, and Alice's lip trembled. "N-no..."
She'd never thought that she would ever see Roy Mustang cry; after everything that the man had been through, Alice didn't think that he had any tears left in him. He was proving that wrong even as she stumbled over herself in disbelief. Feeling her own eyes water, Alice shook her head. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry at a time like this, when he needed her to be strong for him, and Alice disappeared into Roy's kitchen, leaving the broken man alone for a brief amount of time.
Alice was terrified, but not nearly as terrified as she was to see Roy break down like that. She did something that she had sworn never to do: Alice Ackerman turned on the stove.
She poured the contents of the can into a pan and let it sit for a whole three minutes, gripping the counter as far away from the open flames as she could get.
"R-Roy, sweetheart," she stumbled over her words as she stood in front of him. He looked up slowly, not even bothering to wipe his eyes. There she stood: his Alice, with an apron around her waist and oven mitts on her hands, carrying a bowl and a mug. She handed them to him cautiously. "I, uh, I used the stove," she said quietly. Under any other circumstances, Alice would have been overjoyed at her bravery; but somehow, her feat paled in comparison to Roy's emotional strength at that very moment.
He unwillingly took the bowl and mug from her hands. He took a slow bite of the lukewarm soup and put it down before picking up the mug of coffee. A sip and it was placed next to the bowl of soup. "I-I'm sorry if it's not very good. I've never made soup or coffee before..." she said quietly as Roy stood slowly.
He stumbled slightly before taking the smaller woman in his arms and held her tight. She could feel her hair dampen with his tears. "Thank you, my Alice. It's a start."
She managed a soft grin, even as he mumbled in her ear, "But, I'm not very hungry tonight..."
"I know, sweetheart. I know," she whispered as the two held each other on the couch, both drowning in their sorrows for one man's best friend, one woman's husband, and one little girl's daddy.