Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist
Chapter Twenty-Seven - The Other Mustang
Nick had been trapped on the other side of the Gate for a little over two months and he had yet to find a way back to his own world. And on top of that the world that he was now stranded in was in the middle of a terrible war. Many countries, including the one in which Nick found himself, were involved in the war and the young boy decided that his attempts to get back home would progress better if he conducted his research in a place not gripped in the throws of war. So, his decision made, Nick told Hohenheim of his plans to travel to America, a country that had thus far managed to stay out of the war.
"Are you sure about this Nicholas?' Hohenheim asked as his grandson pack up his meager belongings.
Nick nodded, closing his suitcase. He'd made up his mind, and he would go through with his plans.
"Well if you must," Hohenheim said, knowing that there was no way that he'd be able to talk his headstrong grandson out of the trip. The boy really was entirely too much like his father. "Do you want me to come with you?"
Worried about the safety of his young grandson, who despite all his maturity was only fifteen, Hohenheim was more than willing to accompany the boy to America. He held no real attachment to England after all, he'd merely stayed there because he figured it was just as good as any where else in the world and quite a bit better than Germany, where he'd spent several years after World War I.
Nick shook his head quickly. "No. You have a life here and I can't ask you to walk away from that life just to come with me. I can take care of myself. I'll be fine."
"Okay Nicholas," Hohenheim said. "If you're sure."
Nick nodded.
Hohenheim walked over to the boy and unexpectedly wrapped his arms around him. "Take care of yourself Nick."
"Don't worry," Nick said, pulling away from his grandfather. "I will."
Hohenheim nodded.
The trip to America was fairly uneventful and Nick arrived in the state of Hawaii with high hopes for his research. There was a military base on the small island state but the soldiers, as well as the civilian inhabitants, seemed fairly carefree. This was a stark contrast from the tension that he had left behind in Europe and Nick was thankful for the change. Nick took a room in a boarding house and once he'd unpacked his few belongings, he set out to explore the island.
Nick spent the next few days exploring and getting to know his new home. He was walking along beside the ocean, which seemed to give him peace, when he heard the roar of a machine's engine. The sound seemed to be coming from over his head and Nick instinctively looked up. There, in the skies above his head, two machines were soaring through the clouds.
Two fighter planes were practicing battle maneuvers in the skies above his head and they held the boy transfixed. He watched as the two planes dodged one another and engaged in battle tactics.
Even though he had seen them many times by this point Nick was still amazed by the flying machines that existed in this world but not in his own. According to Hohenheim that was because this world had developed advanced machinery and physics had taken the place of alchemy, which had became obsolete very early on in this world's history and had never developed to its full potential as it had in his own world.
And although there was no way that Nick would chose the airplanes over the ability to use alchemy he was still interested in them and would love to find out how exactly they worked.
Nick was staring up at the two airplanes, thinking to himself that although the machines were fascinating they couldn't possibly be better than alchemy, when he heard a voice call out behind him.
"Amazing huh kid?"
Nick's eyes widened and he whirled around quickly. He'd know that voice anywhere but what he didn't know was how the man could have possibly gotten here.
"Mustang," Nick mouthed, staring at the uniformed man standing in front of him.
"Hi kid," the man said. "Are you new around here?"
Nick nodded, confused by the man. He could tell that this was not the Roy Mustang that he knew and disliked however they looked nearly identical. The only discernable difference was the fact that this man didn't wear an eye patch as the Fuhrer did.
The soldier offered Nick his hand. "My name's Lt. Roy Mustang, U.S. Army. What's your's kid?"
Nick took the man's hand and shook it. "Nicholas Elric."
"Pleased to meet you Nick," Mustang said. "So you're interested in airplanes, huh kid?"
Nick nodded.
Mustang held a thoughtful expression on his face for a few moments and then he seemed to come to a conclusion regarding whatever it was that he'd been pondering. "Come with me."
Confused, Nick shrugged and fell into step behind the soldier. He had no idea what the man wanted but his curiosity made him follow the soldier. He wanted to find out what the man had planned.
Mustang led Nick to the military base where he was stationed and he gave the boy a tour. However since Nick didn't have clearance to be on the base it was a rather covert tour. The man and boy had to be careful not to be spotted by anyone who might turn them in to the military police. And at the end of the tour Mustang took the boy into the hanger where the fighter planes were kept. Mustang checked to make sure that no one was inside the hanger and, seeing no one except for a couple of mechanics whom he was friends with, he motioned for the boy to step inside the hanger.
"Wow!" Nick exclaimed in awe as he stepped inside the hanger and stared at the fighter planes. He walked around the hanger, examining the planes that were housed there close up.
Mustang smiled at the boy's enthusiasm. He himself had been like that at an early age and he saw a little bit of himself in the young boy. Maybe that was why he'd had the desire to befriend the boy.
After Nick had gotten a good look at the fighter planes he and Mustang left the hanger. They left the base and wandered back to the spot where they'd met, a couple of hours prior.
"So where are you from kid?" Mustang asked as they walked along the beach. "I've tried but I can't seem to place your accent."
Thinking fast Nick shrugged. "I'm from nowhere in particular. I've moved around a lot, after all and there's nowhere here that I would truly call home."
Mustang stared at the boy, a look of comprehension appearing on his face. His dark eyes widened. "You're an army brat, aren't you?"
Deciding that that conclusion was close enough to the truth Nick nodded. After all he HAD been called an army brat before, it just wasn't used in the same context. Besides, if he confirmed Mustang's theory then the man wouldn't feel the need to further pursue the matter. Or so he hoped.
"I knew it," Mustang said. "So where is your father kid? Can I meet him?'
Mustang's request making him think of the life he'd been forced to leave behind when he'd been tossed into the gate, Nick bowed his head, his downcast eyes filled with sadness. "My dad's not around."
Thinking that Nick's statement meant that the boy's father was dead Mustang dropped the subject and did not pursue it further. He could tell by the look in the boy's eyes that it was a painful subject and he didn't want to needlessly traumatize the kid.
Grateful that Mustang had dropped the subject of his dad, Nick gazed up at the man. He was curious about how much this world coincided with his own. "So do you have a family?"
A slight flush came to Mustang's cheeks. "I'm working on it."
"I see," Nick said, a knowing look in his golden eyes. So even though the people in this world resembled people that he knew from his own world the lives of those people did not coincide completely with their counterparts on the other side of the Gate. This Mustang wasn't married, nor did he have any children. That knowledge gave Nick a small sense of relief. He didn't know if he could handle meeting someone who was physically identical to Kaori and yet not her.
Time had passed virtually unnoticed by the two of them but when Nick glanced at the horizon he realized how much time had passed. The sun was sinking behind the horizon, in a brilliant display of colors.
"Damn, it's getting late," Nick said. "I should get back."
Mustang rubbed the back of his head. "Yea, me too. In fact if you wanna get technical I should have been back hours ago. But oh well." As he turned to walk away, Mustang waved to Nick. "Take care of yourself kid."
Nick nodded. "Thanks for the tour."
And with that the two of them parted ways.
Nick chuckled to himself as he walked back toward the boarding house where he was staying. "The rebellious Mustang. That's just weird."
When Nick arrived back at the boarding house he went directly to his room. He kicked off his shoes and fell down onto the bed. Nick drew his hands beneath his head and stared up at the ceiling. As he lay there Nick thought about the man he'd just met and how greatly he differed from the Mustang that Nick knew. The Mustang that he'd just met was a lower ranked officer, unmarried, and childless but by far the biggest difference between him and the Fuhrer lay in their personalities. This Mustang seemed almost nice, which Nick found to be extremely unnerving.
"This world is really weird," Nick thought to himself. It was not a new thought; Nick had thought this same thing many times since he'd crossed over to the world on the other side of the Gate and yet this new Mustang was by far the most unnerving thing that he'd encountered.
This Mustang had a certain disrespect for rules that Nick found amusing. The man had risked a lot to sneak Nick on the base and give him a tour of the hanger that housed the fighter planes and yet he had seemed unconcerned about the risk to his career.
Keeping himself out of trouble had seemed to be less important to the man than showing Nick a good time.
Over the next few months Nick and Roy became fairly good friends and Nick often took time out from his research in order to spend time with his new friend when the lieutenant had free time. Although he wouldn't have thought it possible, since this man was Fuhrer Mustang's double, Nick really did enjoy spending time with the lieutenant. And it wasn't wasted time, since Roy gave him useful information on the fighter planes used by the military and Nick had hopes that this knowledge might help him in his quest to return to his own world.
Roy managed to sneak Nick onto the base a couple more times and during one of these trips he introduced the boy to his girlfriend, Riza. Having been in the world on the other side of the Gate for a little over half a year it came as no surprise to him that Roy's girlfriend was physically identical to the Fuhrer's wife Hawkeye in his own world. And it was even less of a shock to him that the woman's personality was completely different. That was the one universal fact that Nick had noticed among the people who had twins on the other side of the Gate. Although they looked the same they were definitely not the same people.
The Hawkeye on this side of the Gate was an army nurse and she was stationed on the same base as Roy, which is how the two of them met each other. She was working in the military clinic on the day that Roy brought Nick for a visit.
"Hey you," Roy called out as he walked through the door.
Riza turned around and smiled, but that smile faltered when she noticed the boy that was trailing behind Roy. "Roy! What in the world is that boy doing here?"
"He's a friend of mine," Roy said, unconcernedly. "And I wanted you to meet him."
"Do you realize how much trouble you'll be in if he gets caught here?" Riza asked.
Roy shrugged. "I think the colonel's already spotted him as well as several of the lower ranked men. To be
honest with you I don't really think they care. He's just a kid, after all. How much of a threat can he pose?"
Riza rolled her eyes. "And let me guess, you're not really worried about getting into trouble are you?"
"Not really," Roy said with another shrug of his shoulders.
"Typical man," Riza said, before turning her attention to Nick, who was still standing near the door. "I'm sorry about that but I'm constantly worrying about Roy. It seems that he's determined to get himself court-martialed. I'm Riza Hawkeye."
Riza held out her hand to Nick, who walked over and grasped it warmly. "Nick Elric."
"Pleased to meet you Nick," Riza said, offering the boy a smile. "So how exactly did you come to meet Roy?"
"We just sort of bumped into one another," Nick answered honestly. "We share an interest in fighter planes."
"I see," Riza said. "So you're one of them too, huh? I guess it's lucky for your parents that you're not old enough to join the military."
Nick inwardly smirked at this comment. The military in this world was much stricter with the age limit than the one in his own world. The Amestris State Military didn't care how old you were as long as you were talented. After all, he'd been only eleven when he'd joined. However in this world you had to be eighteen years of age or older, no exceptions.
Nick had a far away expression on his face while he was lost in his own thoughts and Roy took this to mean that the boy was attempting to block out thoughts of his parents, whom the boy had allowed Roy to believe were deceased. Roy leaned over to Riza and whispered, "Don't talk about his parents. They're both dead."
Although Nick had never actually told the lieutenant that his parents were dead, that was the impression Roy had gotten from the fact that Nick lived alone in a boarding house.
Riza's eyes widened in horror. "Oh I'm so sorry."
The woman's apology snapped Nick out of his thoughts and although he had no idea what she was apologizing for he thought it best if he just said, "Don't worry about it. It's okay."
Now feeling sorry for the young boy, who appeared to her to be around the age of thirteen or fourteen, Riza offered Nick a smile. "Roy you should bring him over to my place this evening for dinner." Then she turned to Nick. "My place is located off base, so we can talk as long as we want without fear of either Roy or myself getting into trouble."
"Okay," Nick said with a smile, appreciating her act of kindness.
"Well Nick," Roy said, throwing an arm around the boy's shoulders. "I think that's our cue to leave." And with that Roy led Nick from the clinic, while Riza watched their retreat, shaking her head at Roy's obvious lack of concern for the fact that he was breaking several base rules.
"He's hopeless," Riza muttered under her breath.
"Sorry about that Nick," Roy said as the two of them walked back across the base, away from the clinic. "Riza means well, she's just really uptight about me breaking rules."
"It's okay," Nick said. "She wants to protect you. I completely understand."
"Well I've gotta get back to work before I really do land myself in the brig," Roy said with a grin. "But since Riza invited you to dinner tonight I'll meet you back here at six o'clock tonight."
Nick nodded and turned to depart.
A/N - oh no, it's another Mustang! Run for your lives! Hope you enjoyed this chapter please leave a review and let me know that someone is reading this. Please?