a/n not sure if its just bc i stayed up so late with ting-a-ling, but this was a doozy touching up.
i decided to let it go. may release chapter five also today if i'm not dead in the end. im so sorry.
The front door slammed.
That was an understatement.
The whole house rumbled
as if it would fall apart
It probably could.
The brute force that was Colonel Mustang barging through the door
could probably level the whole town. He stopped on the steps only
when he was hit with the cool air of an approaching storm,
the sickening scent of the dying land,
and he remembered everything that wasn't Hawkeye,
namely, the two boys that shot to their feet,
the two boys who saw everything.
The secret was out.
It was a hot second battle for who could speak first,
Edward or his commander.
Mustang won the battle.
But, the war was nowhere near over.
"You will not ever speak about what happened here,"
he spoke sharply over his shoulder, "Whatever you saw,
whatever you heard. None of it. That's an order."
Just as quick. "What did you do to her, Mustang?"
"That's an order, Elric." He barked.
Ed didn't back down, couldn't back down.
"I couldn't care less about your orders, you bastard.
What the hell did you do? "
Mustang just turned and walked away.
Not even sure where he was going.
He couldn't go to the car. He couldn't drive off like he wanted.
He couldn't leave her alone again.
She was inside. She was held captive inside those walls. She refused to move.
He was useless. He just made it worst.
They were stranded. They couldn't leave.
Roy and Riza would never be able to leave that place,
not truly.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, Mustang,"
Ed yelled from the porch
Al would have joined,
anger stirred inside of him just as fiercely.
But, to be honest, he was scared.
This place was no good.
This was not the right moment.
Something was happening to the Colonel and his Lieutenant.
Something wrong. Something unnerving.
Rocking the boat at just this moment seemed like a death wish.
But, Ed was so good at doing just that. So he ran from stem to stern,
riding the waves, toppling the whole ship upside down and into the water.
Al, as always, still begged him to wait.
"Brother, maybe you shouldn't-"
"No." Ed shot, committed in full to ripping his 'commanding officer' apart.
He could beat him. He could do it. He could squash him like a bug.
He knew just where to strike.
"You know, I never understood why Havoc,
Breda, any of them followed you.
But, she.
She was dedicated."
Mustang froze mid-field in front of the estate.
Ed had set the trap, now it was time to close it.
Break his neck. Punish him for what he'd done.
"I don't get it. You're a selfish, arrogant, condescending son of a bitch "
He shot, Al's constant pleas lost in the wind, "But, that tattoo. NOW, I get it.
You branded her. Like cattle.
She can't leave. You made her your possession."
Mustang whirled on him and in one motion grabbed
Ed's collar and lifted him up on the ground. Ed had to stifle a cough,
the collar almost tight enough around his neck to choke him.
"Brother!"
The Colonel's words would have echoed through the deadbeat town
if his teeth weren't clenched. Instead, it was a harsh, low growl,
shaking the boy, tightening his grip with each word, each syllable.
"You are a state alchemist, my subordinate.
You will follow my orders or be court marshaled and, if I have my way, locked up
in prison for your capital offense of human transmutation rendering your search
to reverse your crime terminated indefinitely. "
He titled his head spitefully,
"Or have you forgotten how much kindness I've shown you."
Ed could barely breathe. But, his bite didn't suffer.
Through clenched teeth, he seethed.
"Kindness? You aren't capable of kindness. She can't escape you.
She has no choice. She's never had a choice. You made her into your goddamn notebook.
What's your problem? Couldn't find a damn piece of paper? Instead you-"
Roy let out a cry, more like a fierce, echoing roar,
and threw Edward to the ground.
Alphonse rushed to defend his brother.
But, Roy had his glove on faster than Al could take even a simple step.
Then he snapped.
Flames roared forming a wall in front of Alphonse.
Al jumped back and tumbled into the porch.
"AL!" Ed screamed and stumbling to his feet,
bolting toward him, or failing to.
Another echoing snap,
a circle of fire shot from the ground to the sky,
surrounding Ed.
While he inched toward Edward,
Mustang's face was shaded in rage.
Vengeance. Hatred. For his past. His present. Himself.
In only a blink, though, the darkness began to fade.
Reason reappearing. This was foolish,
reckless.
But, he wasn't above letting the flames remain,
making the pipsqueak sweat a little.
Ed still screamed bloody murder, "ARE YOU CRAZY?"
Mustang pulled the glove off his left hand
and went for the other, all the while the flames still raged.
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, INCINERATE US?
IS THAT WHAT YOU DID IN THAT WAR?"
The Colonel froze. But not for the mention of the monster he once was.
He froze for a still small voice coming from the front steps of the Hawkeye estate.
No one heard the door open.
No one saw the figure numbly step forward
and observe the flames without fear.
No one even heard her voice.
Except for the Colonel.
Who could hear and somehow feel
every time that voice said his name.
"Roy."
His eyes widened,
his chest tightened,
and he looked up to lock eyes with Riza.
In a moment, Roy clenched his gloved hand.
The flames disappeared with the oxygen it fed on,
fizzling to the ground.
Ed didn't have much time to marvel at the fact that
he'd never seen the Flame Alchemist reverse his work, the control he really had.
He gasped for the air flooding back into the circle around him, restoring the oxygen level.
Roy wanted to say her name. He wanted to touch her face.
But, he'd gone too far. So, instead, he choked out a feeble, "Lieutenant."
The space was quiet as the three stared dumbfounded
at the once invincible woman, transformed into a
weak and hollow
puppet.
"Edward, Alphonse."
She said, looking to the two.
Edward cut her off. "Lieutenant, why do you follow this bastard?
Why did you let him do that to you?"
"He is your commanding officer.
You will not speak about him that way."
Riza said sternly,
though her strength was small.
"Commanding officer, my ass. He's—"
"The Colonel saved me, Edward."
Roy's face collapsed.
Ed scoffed in disbelief.
"How exactly? Tell me how exactly he-" Ed screamed, shouted.
He felt his voice nearly giving out.
In a direct contrast,
hers was nearly inaudible."By destroying it."
"What-
"Surely you saw the burns too," she said,
Edward remembered.
"Burn it",
she had sobbed,
she had gasped,
she had prayed.
"Get it off. Burn it.
Burn it.
Burn it."
Edward hadn't known right away,
that he was staring at another story altogether.
But, he could see them now, on her bare back,
as she was crumpled over on the floor of the study.
Ed struggled to respond. For once he didn't know what to say.
Those burns. How on earth could a couple burns take care of it,
a burden far too heavy for one person to carry?
"You must trust me, Edward. You have now become wise to a secret
that only three people have ever known. Now that this has happened,
it would be pointless for me to lie to you," she said.
"The Colonel has not hurt me."
Mustang struggled to counter,
desperate to correct her.
"Lieutenant, that's – "
"Please do not dwell on it." She said, to every one of them.
Though she couldn't even look them in the eye.
How weak, she thought.
How pathetic was she.
She couldn't even survive one inconsequential room.
How foolish. Those memories. She let them destroy her.
Seemed this place stripped her of her thick skin.
She was a child again. Helpless. Hopeless. Silly. Shameful
Biting her nails, staring out the window.
Waiting for a soldier to return, to save her maybe.
Roy Mustang, a soldier. the soldier.
How.
Foolish.
He had a right to leave.
Honestly, he was banished.
It was more of a sentence than a choice.
A sentence for joining the military,
for wanting to help people.
She had never mentioned how it stung,
the day he was thrown through the door,
the day he gave in, disappeared,
left.
She had never before guilted him for it.
Foolish. Silly. Selfish.
She was too old for that,
even then. Sixteen.
She stared at the rotten wooden steps beneath her.
She wasn't like that anymore.
She would do her job,
protect the Colonel.
Their dream.
The future.
She would press on.
No, she wouldn't waste their time any longer.
She wouldn't burden them any longer.
With one blink, Riza had raised her chin and swallowed
any emotion, any pain. Every swell, every tear, every flush, every crease.
Somehow evaporating into thin air.
It was quite the amazing, skillful sight to see
if it wasn't so heartbreaking.
She smiled softly.
Roy's face fell,
further than it had already fallen.
She decided resolutely,
She would press on,
deal with this,
alone.
"Now, if you all would give me a brief moment before we leave."
im so sorry. talk to me anyway?