A/N: 'tis finally done, the next installment in this crazy Epic. I once thought this would be a one-shot. Now I think my goal is to finish it with-in the next two or so chapters...
Also, while I have no intention of abandoning FF this site has been on the fritz recently. So this is just me letting everyone know that I've been slowly cross-postinting onto AO3. So should this site ever actually shutdown you will be able to continue following these works over there.
April 25th, 20XX
"You're always stuck in your lab, when are you going to get out and enjoy life?"
"I am enjoying life," she muttered towards the phone, reaching for her pipette. "I went to school for several years so I could spend the rest of my days getting paid to 'enjoy life'."
"You know that's not the same! You're enjoying your job, you're ignoring your life."
— cursed quietly to herself. This was the problem with childhood friends, they couldn't be bothered to buy your bullshit.
"I know things have been tough ever since your brother–"
"–don't."
"I'm just saying," the voice crackled over the speaker, "you know better than anyone that tomorrow isn't promised."
"Stop. I mean it."
"...okay. Fine. Hide behind your science. But I won't buy your act. I remember the little girl who used to write stories about traveling the world and falling in love. What happened to her?"
"Her little brother got shot by an undiscerning soldier while 'traveling the world'."
"Shit." A breath. "Sorry. I was just told he had an accident–god I must've sounded so callous."
"It–" it wasn't fine. It was far too raw to be fine. But that's not what her friend needed to hear, "–is what it is, hey I'll call you back, okay? Really not mad, but this next step requires my full attention."
"Yeah, of course. No worries. Love you!"
"Ditto."
The line went dead.
She took a deep breath before pausing, she'd been so focused on her conversation that she hadn't registered the low hissing in the room. Standing up to investigate caused her entire world to spin. She placed a steadying hand on the lab bench before turning to the sound–a leaking gas line.
"How long have I been breathing that in?" Was her final thought before her legs gave out and darkness rushed to greet her.
February 14th, 1911
The first thing Elisa noticed after waking was the glaring brightness of the hospital's lighting. The next was Roy slumped over, asleep by her bedside, gripping her hand.
She spent the next few minutes trying to puzzle through what had occured, to no avail. Frustrated, she reached for her chart, but in doing so woke Roy.
"Wha?" Bleary eyes locked on the image of Elisa trying to crawl to the end of her bed, before suddenly sharpening.
Roy stood up, leaned forward, and pulled her into a hug.
"Uh, h-hey," Elisa murmured, unused to the contact. "Fancy seeing you here."
A watery laugh, and a tighter grip was Roy's only response. After a couple of seconds of him not letting go Elisa felt herself relaxing into it. She'd never been big on hugs, much to Gracia's disappointment, but hugging Roy was different. Her head was able to rest comfortably on his chest, and her ear fell right over his heart—the sound of which was slowly luling her back to sleep. All-in-all, it was kind of…nice?
Eventually Roy pulled back. He didn't bother justifying the hug, just handed Elisa her chart and sat back in his chair to observe her.
Elisa was a little flustered by the fact that he hadn't said a word to her, yet. And that he was just staring at her, intensely, while she read through her chart. But eventually she came across a word that pushed Roy's odd behavior right out of her mind.
"Cholera?" She looked at Roy for confirmation, he nodded. "I don't? Isn't that from touching poop?!"
And that was the point where Roy finally broke his silence, voice thick with barely conceived anger. "It's contracted through contaminated water. Someone didn't feel the need to report when the sewage system failed so it was able to overflow and poison the well."
Elisa gripped the chart so tightly her knuckles went white. She'd bet anything the oversight hadn't been accidental, and that only one well had ended up poisoned. "Will they be punished?" she murmured.
Roy's eyes darted away from her and something like shame entered his gaze. "Yes, but, Elisa, there's something else–"
At that moment the doctor entered, forcing Roy to cut himself off. "Ah Ms. Frey, I see you're up and about. See, Colonel, I told you your fiancee would be fine!"
Elisa schooled her face into one of neutrality even as she internally burned with a million questions. She turned to face Roy and raised a single brow.
'Fiancee?' It seemed to say.
'I'll explain later.' His steady gaze echoed back.
"Right, well, I just need to give you a quick check-up and I'll be out to let you two catch up," he gave them a wink.
"...that's fine." Elisa muttered, taking in the military uniform under her doctor's medical coat and putting together an idea of where she was. "This is the military hospital, right?"
"Of course! Best in the East!"
"...and I'm being treated here because I'm engaged to an officer?"
"Just about, normally it wouldn't have been allowed, since you're not actually married. But when it came out you were on your way to enlist, everyone was happy to let it slide."
"Mhm, enlist. I definitely talked about doing that," she reached over to grip Roy's hand to hide how hers had begun to shake, "right Roy?" She hoped he could hear both the anger and question in her tone. Even as she hid it from the doctor.
"Yes, dear. I'm sorry to say you'll have to miss this year's Exam because of your recovery. But Command has already assured me your name's been added to the list for next year."
"Oh," her voice squeaked. "How…kind of them." And Elisa cut herself off there, not sure how much more she could say before having a meltdown.
Why does the military know about me?!
True to his word the doctor finished up quickly and left them alone. Elisa wasted no time in turning to Roy, "why did–" Roy made some sort of military hand sign. Elisa couldn't read it at all, but it was odd enough to give her pause "–didn't you tell me you were coming to visit?" Elisa corrected, shooting Roy a questioning look. At his nod she continued. "I would have cleaned if I'd known you were stopping by!"
"It was a last-minute decision. I was planning to just send the doctor, but then Lt. Hawkeye pointed out that you were probably lonely up here, all by yourself. And what kind of fiance would I be if I didn't stop by after that?" While talking Roy had carefully opened his black book of names and flipped to a new page, starting to write.
'The room is bugged.'
"Oh. Riza always was the smart one of you two…"
'Give me a verbal excuse to get close.'
"...I try to hide it, but I'm always lonely when not in your arms." Elisa winced at her horribly cliche line.
"Well, I'm here now, let's rectify that." And Roy pulled her into a hug, leaning down to whisper softly in her ear, causing Elisa's skin to prickle. "This was a targeted attack," he confirmed. "I suspected it might be, so I was ordered to take some men and investigate. The doctor diagnosed everyone with Cholera, but the treatment required clean water and the entire water supply had been poisoned."
Elisa nodded, running her hands along the spine of Roy's back, for something to do. "Th-there wasn't much to be done," he faltered for a second, but gave Elisa an encouraging squeeze when she stopped, "I could use my flames to boil the water but that would require pulling it up from the well, boiling it, and then letting it cool to a drinkable temperature. For every bucket."
Which was definitely not feasible when trying to treat a whole quadrant of a city.
"I also didn't have the means to test other water sources to confirm they weren't contaminated."
"What did you do?" Because clearly something had been done.
"It was you, actually." Elisa lifted her head in surprise, locking eyes with Roy. She vaguely noted that this close she could make out gold specks in his irises. Roy made a choking noise before placing a hand on the back of her head to force it back down onto his chest. He then continued to speak, hand now stroking her hair. "One of the refugees mentioned you'd once saved a boy by pulling water from the air. He said the array was still on your flask."
She made a noise of acknowledgment.
"I've been going through your notes–knew I could use it. So I evaporated with fire then condensed with your array. Water was fine for everyone else, but you were—" he squeezed her tight, "your only chance was a fully stocked hospital."
"And the only good one for miles was on base."
"Right. So I got…creative, with the truth. But while you were being treated one of the men reported what the refugee had said about your array."
"...okay?"
"Remember the rarity of elemental alchemy? I got a phone call from Central Command two hours later, complimenting me on finding someone of your talent, and reassuring me your name has been added to next year's list of applicants."
"I don't have to go though, right?"
"...no, technically, they can't force you." Roy tightened his grip, "but they can make your life very difficult."
"Roy…why is the room bugged?"
Roy pulled back and shot her a big (fake) smile, speaking in a volume clearly meant to be caught by those listening in, "so, what's this I hear about you making friends with a bunch of refugees?"
"U-uh," Elisa blinked, trying to adjust to both the sudden change in conversation and the loss of warmth that was Roy's arms around her. "Yes, um, Elder asked for my help several months back and the more I helped the more work that seemed to need doing."
"And you've been starting up businesses?" His voice was jovial, curious, but Roy's eyes were dead serious. And Elisa was beginning to get an inkling of where this was going, dread settling in her stomach.
"R-right. Nothing crazy, a tailor shop, a small restaurant."
"Seems pretty big to run by yourself."
Her throat grew dry. "I h-have some good help watching over them for me." Her eyes peered into Roy's silently begging for her guess to be wrong.
"Hmm, that sounds good. I hope their paperwork is in order, though. I really shouldn't be telling you this, but a law might be coming down the pipeline in a few months. Any company that can't account for the citizenship of its employees is going to be shut-down and the owner's charged quite a fine."
Elisa closed her eyes in defeat.
She felt Roy reach over and squeeze her hand in support. She squeezed back, even as it felt like her life was crumbling before her. If this was months ago she would have shrugged the threat off. Callous, perhaps, but she'd have reasoned the refugees had survived in the manga without her.
But Elisa had made a life with these people, shared their meals, learned their names. She could no more abandon them than she could Gracia. Not over something as pathetic as fear. Not when this was a law that would prevent any good Samaritan from hiring them. Besides, she was currently sitting in the hospital, clearly death could come for her even as a civilian.
She took a deep breath. "That's interesting. Does this law have a lot of traction? Is there anything to be done to stop it?" 'Yes.' Her question told those who were listening. 'Yes. You win. I'll do it.'
"Hmm, time will tell. I think it could still go either way."
And if Elisa didn't already hate this government for what they were making her do, she'd hate them for making Roy be the one to deliver the news. This could only be some cruel test of loyalty. Or perhaps a method to drive a wedge between two powerful alchemists? Either way, they'd miscalculated.
Elisa had long since resolved to help Roy from the shadows, to build up his image and prepare his way for when Amestris and Ishval would work together. But if the military was going to drag her kicking-and-screaming into their ranks, well, that changed things.
You idiots just invited a trojan horse into your camp.
February 22nd, 1911
It was another week before Elisa was let out of the hospital.
Roy spent the entire time by her side, another perk of his lie–he could take sick leave to 'tend to his family.' Elisa knew they'd have to clear up the misunderstanding eventually, probably fake a public falling-out for the bastards in charge, but for now she let herself enjoy it. Roy was one of her closest friends but so much of their friendship existed in letters and phone calls, it was nice to have the chance to just be together.
Still, all good things must come to an end and Elisa's discharge marked the end of Roy's mini-vacation.
"You'll have a year to study," he explained as he escorted her to her apartment. "You can stay here or–"
"–I'll stay here." It would help to see the people she was doing this for.
"Alright. I'll be calling you weekly and checking up once a month. No one should question it, with our cover."
"But what about your sisters? Your network?"
"Riza can always make some friends."
"...I suppose, but your notes–"
"–Prophet?" A voice called across the street, startling Elisa. She whipped her head around to see Alzeik making his way to her, a look of surprise on his face.
"Elder!" She returned with excitement.
"Prophet?" Roy whispered in her ear. Elisa ignored the chill that ran down her back.
"Names are sacred to them, he's not going to call my name in front of a stranger I may not have given such an honor to."
"But, Prophet?"
"...it's a long story."
The Elder quickly crossed the street, eyes briefly flicking to Roy before settling on Elisa. "By Ishvala it is a miracle. Do you know how close you came to Paradise, girl?" Elisa didn't actually know, she knew it was bad enough for Roy to commit an offense worthy of a court-martial to get her proper care (for the military did not take kindly to fraud.) But Roy had been surprisingly tight-lipped about what he'd walked into when arriving in the slums.
"I'm assuming pretty close if you're tossing around that term." After all, 'miracle' meant something very different when you were the religious leader of your people. 20-some of them, or not.
The Elder shot her a bemused smile. "We'd thought you dead, had already sent someone to start digging your grave. It was when that one," he nodded to Roy, "pulled you in his arms that you chose to take another breath." Elisa froze.
I died?
She shot a look at Roy who was carefully studying the buildings around him.
Roy watched me die?
"Say what you want about your purpose, child. But you were ready to depart and Ishvala sent you back, if that does not make you a Prophet, then I do not know what does."
Elisa sighed. She had long since given up on convincing Alzeik that she wasn't this Child of the Sun from their scriptures. Still, she doubted Ishvala would send her back to become a State Alchemist, and she told Alzeik as much.
"Why not?"
"Wha?! It was you who told me Alchemy was blasphemy? A direct insult to Ishvala and all his creations?!"
"Yes, but you've always held Ishvala would have created Alchemy too, no?" Elisa could feel Roy's gaze on her.
"I mean, y-yeah. If Ishvala created all things then it holds he created Alchemy, too."
"And you've argued that Alchemy allows one to truly appreciate the majesty of Ishvala's skills."
Roy's gaze grew heavier, causing Elisa to shift on her feet. She'd never imagined having one of these theological debates in front of people. "R-right," she continued, trying to ignore Roy's stare. "To use Alchemy you have to truly study how things are made. An apprentice is always in awe of their Master."
"Then, why would you not believe Ishvala could have a purpose for you as an Alchemist?"
"B-but you believe–"
"–it matters not what I believe," the Elder said in that tone that meant he was about to drop a nugget of truth that Elisa likely wasn't ready to hear. "You can't judge your life by the convictions of others. We must each, in our time, decide what we believe is right." Roy stiffened behind her. "If you pursue your beliefs through kindness and love then as certain as the rising sun harkens a new day, so too will your actions bring about a brighter tomorrow."
Elisa fell into a deep bow. "Ashkuruk vir jy wysheid," she murmured. 'I thank you for your wisdom.'
"Gaan," Go. "I will spread the news of your recovery. But for now your Maelm looks like he has questions for you." Elisa blushed at the term.
"He's not my—" she stopped herself. Technically, by the laws of Ishvala, Roy was her Maelm. In so much as he had always given aid when asked, had even now angled himself to watch her back. In the literal definition of 'Protector' Roy fit the bill. But there was just a connotation to that word.
Alzeik shot her a knowing look before turning to leave. But not before addressing Roy for the first time. "You take care of her, Maelm. Alright? This one has all the brains Ishvala could give, but none of the sense."
"Hey!"
Roy slung an arm around her shoulder, which really was not helping to convince the Elder they were just friends.
"I give you my word, Elder. I'll care for Elisa for as long as she allows me the honor." And maybe Roy knew more about Ishvalan culture than he'd let on, because his use of her name made that statement far more formal than these two had any right to be.
The Elder locked eyes with Roy before nodding, "I am called Alzeik, and I witness your promise."
Roy's eyes widened at learning the man's name. Swallowing, he just offered. "Roy Mustang."
Alzeik stared into Roy's eyes, red meeting black, a thousand years in his gaze. "I know." The words dropped like a stone and Alzeik turned to walk away, fully aware of what he'd just done.
~::~
"What have you been getting up to?" Roy all but yelled as soon as they entered her apartment.
"What?!"
"That! The Eld–Alzeik," he said, as if surprised he had the right.
"You know I've been helping out? I've been at this for months, of course I made some friends."
"Elisa, that wasn't friendship. That man has adopted you."
"I mean, I suppose in the way that he's adopted all of the camp. He is the Elder, after all."
"No," Roy insisted, not sure how she couldn't see this. "That conversation was one shot-gun away from me asking a dad for his daughter's—" Roy abruptly stopped.
"...asking for?"
"Nevermind."
"What?" Elisa shot Roy an exasperated look, "you can't just start something like that and not finish!"
"Just did, anyway what was that name he called me? Mae-something?"
Now it was Elisa's turn to freeze. "It doesn't matter."
"I beg to differ, if that's going to be my title going forward, I'd like to know what I'm answering to." Elisa sighed. It was probably better for her to tell him, if she let Roy investigate on his own he could come across some other translations that were best left unmentioned.
"It means Protector. You were standing behind me in full uniform scanning for threats. So, really, that's on you."
"Oh, so he thought I was your bodyguard?"
"Yes!" She jumped on the explanation, eager to move on. "It's only got a positive connotation so anyone that uses that for your name is probably trying to not ruffle feathers."
"And if they were trying to ruffle feathers?"
Elisa ignored the question, opening her fridge to look for ingredients that hadn't gone bad with her abrupt hospital stay.
"Elisa? …Liz?"
"Liz?!" That got her attention. She closed the fridge–there was nothing edible–before turning her attention to Roy. "Since when have you called me that?"
"Since two seconds ago when you forgot how to answer to your own name. Why? Don't like it?" She wrinkled her nose. "Then what about Eli?"
"I mean, that sounds better, but why are you trying out nicknames?"
"Names are a great way to pass messages. For example if I call you Liz you might know that everything I'm saying is a lie. Or Eli and you'd know we need to pretend to be engaged."
That made sense, she supposed.
"Or maybe I just wanted a name no one else uses."
Elisa rolled her eyes. Sometimes she forgot how much Roy liked to tease her. Really, one day she'd have to stop reacting so he'd get bored of that game.
"But let's not change the topic, Eli." Okay, maybe she should have told him to stick with Liz. That name was dangerous. "What would they call me when they're trying to ruffle my feathers?"
"Roy, you really don't want to know."
"Elisa," he dropped the joking tone, "I really do."
"...Krymit." She closed her eyes to avoid seeing the pain she was about to cause. "It means 'Cremator'."
Roy didn't make a sound. He very obviously, and very consciously, didn't make a sound. It was so eerie that Elisa was forced to open her eyes to check on him. Only to gasp at the pure pain on his face. "...right." Roy murmured, voice rough, "that makes sense."
Elisa didn't think about it, she just reacted. One minute she was standing by the fridge, the next she was hugging Roy with all her strength. Roy returned the hug for a few seconds before pulling back and making a joke to lighten the mood.
"Gracia is going to kill me when I tell her."
"...what?"
"That's the third hug we've shared with you sober."
Elisa blushed scarlet, "they were extenuating circumstances! Besides, you guys are different! Gracia's all squishy, I can't breathe when she hugs me! A-and you're taller! I get to hear your heart," she rambled, revealing more than she intended, "it's very rhythmic and you run hotter, so it feels more like a real hug. And you started the first two hugs so they shouldn't even count. Besides, Gracia has Maes so she has all the hugs she can ever ask for, so–" Elisa took a breath vaguely aware she was rambling in panic. She darted a look at Roy's face and froze.
She'd known Roy for a decade now, had seen him in every situation imaginable, but she had never seen that look before. He looked sort of, not happy, well, definitely content, but there was something more. She couldn't place it, but it was at least better than his pained look from before. "–so, yeah." She finished, lamely.
"Message received," Roy said in a gruff voice. Elisa fidgeted, at a loss of how to handle this Roy who was neither playful nor painfully serious. He must've picked up on it because he just coughed and then sent her a smirk that was so quintessentially Roy that she couldn't help but relax. "So I need to hug you more and then brag to Gracia about how you let me because I have the better body."
"Roy! That was not what I said!"
"It definitely was."
"Ugh. I swear, how can a grown man. A Colonel in the military, be so infuriating!" Roy burst out laughing and Elisa hid her smile. She didn't know what the future held, but she knew that with people like Roy in her corner, she'd be fine.
Probably.
~::~
"Your plan is going to backfire." Riza murmured when Roy collapsed behind his desk the morning after his return.
"I don't know what you mean."
Riza just stared at Roy. Riza knew Elisa, knew how she thought. His plan was never going to work, and deep down Riza had to believe Roy knew it too.
"She'll convince herself that everything you do is to keep your cover."
Roy swore, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Any advice?"
Riza looked at him like he was an idiot, "...tell her?"
A groan. He knew he needed to, had come so close to saying something in her apartment. But Roy could read Elisa better than probably anyone else, could tell the second she'd grown uncomfortable with the situation. Elisa was a genius, in almost any situation she was decades beyond her peers, but in matters of the heart…
"...she's not ready to hear it. Not yet."
Roy could hear the skepticism in Riza's silence.
"But!" He jumped up, a smile on his face, "she did let me hug her. Three times!"
Riza raised a brow. "I won't be the one to tell Gracia, Colonel."
The rest of the gang arrived to the sight of Mustang merrily whistling to himself.
"I'm a little weirded out," Havoc whispered, "what do you think happened while he was on leave?"
"He got engaged." Riza dropped while walking by, face stoic. When Jean collapsed out of his chair, sputtering, her lip twitched. Was she ever that easy to surprise?
March 12th 1912
The year rushed by in a blur of stress. Elisa spent most of her time desperately studying for the State Exam, while the rest of Amestris had turned its attention to Fotset.
In May, Bradley had ordered the seizure of the town to ostensibly strike back at Aerugo for their interference during the Civil War. Fotset was a bordering town that had transferred ownership to Aerugo back in 1835 in a treaty following the first Southern Skirmish. Bradley claimed that arming an insurrection directly violated said treaty rendering Aerugo's claim on the town forfeit. Aerugo saw things differently, and the Second Southern Skirmish began.
Elisa was only peripherally aware of this, however, through throw-away-lines Roy would drop. Had she not been so focused on the exam she may have recognized this as another bloody crest, instead she studied.
According to Roy the questions were set to cover a wide variety of scientific topics, which was not good news for Elisa.
She was a Chemist.
Even now as an alchemist her particular field of study had always remained firmly grounded in the basics of chemistry. Phase changes, atomic arrangement, fluorescence, at most someone could argue she'd dabbled in Physics when working out her solar powered array. But she wasn't a Geologist, or a Biologist, or a Zoologist. Elisa wasn't building bridges out of bedrock, healing cuts or–god forbid–fusing animals together with her alchemy. She was peripherally aware of the other fields, of course, but to pass the exam she'd have to be competent in them.
A state alchemy license was about the closest thing Amestris had to a PhD. To be awarded one required the applicant first prove a good grounding in all of Alchemy and then prove themselves the leading expert in their Alchemic field.
So Elisa spent months trying to familiarize herself with every branch of Alchemy she could. While also trying to unlearn some of the very true, but very undiscovered, facts of her other life. After all, knowing the 'wrong' answers were just as bad as not having the answers.
Beyond studying, Elisa also worked with the refugee community to try and ensure the system they'd built was self-sufficient and wouldn't collapse as soon as she left. An endeavor that, while personally fulfilling, only added to her stress.
Thankfully Roy kept to his word and called her every Friday, since she desperately needed his help to work through the topics she just couldn't wrap her head around. And if any intelligence officers decided to tap the calls and listen in, well, her showing she was taking this seriously could only be a boon.
When Roy came to visit was when she'd let herself actually breathe. The refugees never quite felt comfortable with Roy joining her in the slums. But Elder Alzeik would occasionally stop by on those days, to continue their debates. Roy got very quiet on those occasions, but he never seemed uncomfortable, pensive (maybe?) so Elisa always left it alone.
(In truth, Roy would watch, and wonder if this was all it would have taken to avoid war.)
She did take a month off of everything in November, to stop by Central and help her sister when Elicia was born.
Her picture-perfect niece.
(If Elisa got Maes a camera for his birthday that year that was her prerogative.)
She'd tried to tease them about Elicia's name, but it had gotten very awkward very quickly and Elisa came to realize that perhaps her stint in the hospital had affected those closest to her a little more than she'd expected. Still, it was a good break before it was back to the grind.
By the time the exam actually rolled around Elisa was so sick of studying she was almost happy to take the test. After all, there were only so many facts of animal biology one could memorize before contemplating homicide.
In the end though, it paid off.
Or, well, Elisa assumed it paid off, she wouldn't actually get her results until October but she'd at least felt like she'd passed the general knowledge portion.
It went downhill from there.
The one part of the exam Elisa hadn't been worried about was the demonstration of their specialization. After all, she was literally in this mess because of her specialization, there was no doubt what they'd want her to show and she was fully planning to comply.
What this meant, practically, was that while other examinees desperately prepared for their practicals in the various practice rooms given to applicants she was left to wait with those other alchemists who didn't need the last minute preparation.
And by "those other" she meant one other.
Elisa had been vaguely surprised to clock the middle-aged man when she'd entered the waiting room. She'd briefly wondered if it was confidence or something else that had him forgoing the need to practice. But while she'd never quite developed the social anxiety of that past life in this one, she still didn't enjoy striking up small talk with strangers for no perceivable benefit.
This man, however, didn't get that memo as he was quick to approach her.
"Hello, you're quite young to be taking these exams."
Elisa raised a brow in surprise. "I'm twenty-four?" It's true that most of the applicants were in their late twenties or older, but Roy had taken his exam when he was twenty-one and that hadn't registered as weird. And a literal child had passed these exams the previous year (which caused an uptick in the amount of applicants this year–mildly annoying.) So it's not like Elisa stood out horribly for her age. (Her gender, however…)
"Oh!" The man chuckled, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I just assumed. I've always been terrible at guessing ages, my wife's constantly teasing me about that."
Elisa relaxed at the mention of a wife. While he didn't seem to be hitting on her, she'd long learned to be weary. Her eyes did lock on his left hand, though, noting the tan-line highlighting a distinct lack of a ring.
The man followed her gaze, and then casually moved his left hand into his pocket before letting out a depreciating laugh. "Right…I suppose it's more accurate to say 'ex-wife,' or soon-to-be, at least." He bent his shoulders, embarrassed. "She hasn't sent the divorce papers yet, but she ran home this weekend, so it's just a matter of time."
Elisa tried to school her face into a sympathetic expression even while trying to hide her confusion. Divorce was not common in this time period, the stigma of a failed marriage always fell on the wife's shoulders and most assets were in the husband's name. So it was very rare for a woman to be the one to seperate. It typically meant one of two things. First, she found herself a new man so wouldn't need the money, regardless. Second, her husband was bad enough to justify the stigma and loss of income that would occur. Elisa knew enough about humanity to know it could really go either way in this case. But she was a bit surprised that he'd share this information with a virtual stranger.
Ultimately, however, this guy's marital problems were not Elisa's concern. Which he must have realized, quick as he was to steer the conversation to a more appropriate subject.
"So, do you also work in bioalchemy?"
Elisa wrinkled her nose. "No. Not at all. Why?"
Surprised eyes glanced her way. "Bioalchemy can't be performed on the spot like most branches. The arrays run for hours and require the most sterile of environments or the viability of the transmutation becomes questionable." A cough. "So we often complete our transmutations the day before and just bring the results to be judged by the panel."
It made sense, Elisa reasoned. Surgery needed to occur in the OR or a person's chances of survival plummeted. You couldn't judge a doctor's skills based on the outcome of a surgery they performed on the street.
"So, you're a bioalchemist, then?"
"Yes, I specialize in Chimerism, and you?"
A chill ran down Elisa's back as it always did when the topic of Chimera's came up. She had some very real ethical qualms with the field, her past knowledge notwithstanding. She understood the concept of animal testing, experimenting with small mammals to find workable theories to save bigger mammals (read: humans.) She didn't like the idea, but she could stomach the necessity of it. But Chimera's served no such purpose. Human transmutation was forbidden so it's not like any knowledge learned could actually be applied to better humanity. Five hundred years ago, there could have been a purpose, much as Asia found a purpose in crossing a horse and a donkey to make a mule. But with the advent of steam technology and the Industrial Revolution they found themselves in, the need to better the condition of their beasts of burden had long since passed.
Instead, in the current climate, Chimera Alchemists almost exclusively catered to the rich and powerful. Men and women who wanted nothing more than to own a creature that was wholly unique. Never mind that their very existence was one of agony. Like animal hybrids of her past, Liger's, certain dog breeds, a chimera never lasted long. But that never stopped them from being bought and sold, either.
Needless to say, Elisa was not a fan of the field.
"I specialize in Elemental alchemy. Specifically rapid and controlled phase changes of water."
"Oh." His voice went quiet. "That's impressive."
Elisa worked hard to keep her face neutral even as she was internally smirking. It was impressive, she knew, that was something that studying the other branches of Alchemy had taught her. There was a hierarchy to the fields, and Roy hadn't been lying when he'd said that their's stood near the top.
The prestige of a branch was determined by how much extraneous knowledge was required to employ the array and to what level an alchemist broke down the material. It turned out that most people didn't break things down to their molecular level. They thought in terms of "wood" or "stone" and would reshape items the way a potter would reshape a clay plot they didn't like the look of. That was the reason for the characteristic cracks one could see in most alchemical repairs. The bigger the building blocks, the more obvious the seam.
Bioalchemists thought down to organs and cells, which was considered impressive in its own right. And medical alchemy required a medical degree worth of knowledge. But elemental alchemists like Roy and her thought in terms of atoms and molecules when very few people truly grasped what molecules even were.
The only thing that could be considered more impressive would be thinking in terms of subatomic particles or energy. Those were known as Theoretical Alchemists, people who played with the rules of Alchemy itself to create something new.
Scar's brother would have been such an Alchemist. Elisa technically was, although Roy and her were in agreement to hide her foray into solar powered arrays. Edward would have been marked down as such when he displayed a circle-less transmutation. It's how he was able to pass despite his young age; he was considered an expert in the most prestigious branch of alchemy. (In truth he was actually an expert in Abstract Alchemy—human transmutation, soul anchorage, and such. But for obvious reasons that couldn't be made public.)
All that to say that Elisa knew where she ranked in the scholarly pecking order. She wasn't planning to rub it in anyone's face, but if people asked. Well, she'd spent so much of this life pretending to know less than she did, it was high time she was allowed to enjoy praise from someone other than Roy.
"I was lucky. I had a good teacher, two, actually. But, yes, it's…involved."
"Are you considering teaching yourself, should you pass?"
Elisa would have loved nothing more than to teach. Had written her notes to be as close to the form of a textbook as she could make it. Unfortunately she wouldn't be able to explain where she had gotten the background information needed in order to activate her arrays. It would be twenty years before someone proposed the lattice structure of ice, and that was only one aspect of the reaction. Perhaps in the future when Roy had risen in rank and the homunculi were gone. Then they could pretend this was information Master Hawkeye had discovered and passed on to them both.
But not now.
"...do you intend to teach?" Elisa turned the question around. She doubted he did, most alchemists took this exam to get funding for research. Who joined the military to teach? (Some people, surely, they do have an academy. But it's hardly the norm.)
"Ah, touché. Maybe in twenty years, when I'm done raising my daughter and have published several papers."
It was a completely innocuous statement.
In the list of statements this man had dropped, this was perhaps the least suspect. Elisa had no doubt it wouldn't have even registered as odd with any of the other (very male) contestants. For the simple reason that they had never been women and so wouldn't be struck dumb by the implication that a mother had abandoned her child.
It did happen, Elisa was not so naive that she wasn't aware it did happen. Motherhood did not provide a magic spell to turn one into a saint, or even a half-way decent person. Still, it was rare enough to jump out at Elisa, and make her properly pay attention to this man. And her stomach sunk at what her brain was telling her.
"Sorry, I just realized, I never asked your name?"
A chuckle. "Of course, how rude of me. I'm Shou Tucker."
~::~
"Eli, what's wrong?"
Years later Elisa would look back on that day in wonder at her own strength. She would question where she'd found the restraint to smile at Tucker and wish him luck instead of socking him in the teeth. She'd ponder where she'd found the fortitude to walk into her practical and demonstrate her mastery over water, while her mind was so occupied. And she'd mull over how she'd had the wherewithal to pick up on Roy's coded use of Eli even as she'd wanted nothing more than to find the nearest toilet and puke her guts out.
"Oh, nothing Roy," she shot him a fake smile."I'm just ready to see Gracia." She started tugging him out of the building. "It's been ages."
Elisa didn't know why Roy had hinted they needed to act the couple. He'd mentioned keeping the ruse going until after she'd been assigned a C.O. as their relationship increased the chances of her being stationed in the East with him and Riza (although, not in the same chain-of-command.) But with the years of friendship they had going their natural ease with each other was normally more than enough to sell the lie.
So Elisa didn't know what the code was for, but she also didn't care. She had met Shou Tucker not three hours ago and she was freaking out. So she'd dropped her own code. Made it clear they needed to go see her sister–and through her, Maes–despite Roy knowing the plan was to meet up tomorrow.
"Of course, dear." An arm flung around her shoulder and squeezed. Showing that Elisa was failing miserably at hiding her panic attack–at least from Roy. Thankfully she could trust the man to lead the way while she focused all of her energy on appearing calm.
~::~
Gracia took one look at her sister and knew something was horribly wrong. So she'd ushered the two inside, put the kettle on, and immediately asked what she could do to help.
"I need to speak to Maes," Elisa took a steadying breath, "I have a crime to report."
Roy's eyes widened, mentally running through the past few hours. He'd been allowed to observe the exams in their entirety, and couldn't think of what Elisa could possibly be referring to, "what crime?"
Face paling, Elisa shook her head in denial. "...I don't want to say it more than once."
Gracia bit her lip in worry.
Her sister had never been the squeamish type. When the local girls had shrieked the first time they'd seen the butcher at work Elisa had just remarked they'd better get used to the sight of blood as they'd be seeing it monthly. When Old Man George had fallen off the bakery roof while re-tiling, an 8 year old Elisa had sat next to him and told him stories while they waited for the doctor, her eyes never once straying to the bone that was jutting out of his arm. She'd always been a favorite as a babysitter in town, since she never blinked at changing a diaper or having puke run down her back.
"If it comes off with water, why fuss?"
Gracia couldn't even wrap her mind around what could cause her stalwart sister to worry like this. But she knew that she needed a distraction, and she needed one now.
Luckily Gracia had the perfect topic to derail her sister's thoughts until Maes could make it home. "So…when's the wedding?"
Elisa blinked at the tone shift, brain slow to make the connection. "...what?"
A head nod. "You and Roy, you've been engaged for over a year now. So, when's the wedding?"
For a second Elisa really feared that she'd somehow let an entire year go by and just…forgotten to clue her sister in. But then she saw her sister's smirk and couldn't resist tossing a pillow at her. "Rude. I really thought you were serious!"
"Well," the smirk stretched wider, "I just need to know what to tell people. They're all curious if they'll be invited to the festivities."
"Wha–who do I even know that would want to come to my fake wedding?!"
"I mean, it's not really because of you that they're curious," Gracia admitted, shooting Roy an apologetical smile even as he started frantically miming 'abort.' "They just want to know who managed to tame Amestris' biggest womanizer."
Elisa's lips twitched.
Gracia nodded faux-serious, "he's apparently dropped his campaigning for mandatory mini-skirts to a weekly rant. You've several soldiers who want to thank you for taking the bullet for them."
"Hey, I'm a catch!"
Elisa burst out laughing, "maybe the real you, Roy. But this guy I'm hearing about sounds like a real piece of work!"
"...you mean that?"
Elisa fought to get her giggles under control while shooting Roy a confused look. "Yeah? A guy randomly demanding women wear miniskirts sounds like…well, I know I'd be curious what kind of woman agreed to marry him."
"No, not that part." His eyes darted away, as he scratched the back of his neck. "The first–you know what? Nevermind."
Elisa's eyes widened in comprehension before softening in understanding, "Roy, do you really not know?"
Gracia hid a smile behind her hand as Elisa turned to give Roy her full attention. Her sister was completely oblivious as to what she was doing to this poor man.
"You're a great person. Incredibly driven, very loyal, you've always been respectful to Gracia and I. Honestly, you should have more faith in yourself, any girl would be lucky to marry you."
"That's what I'm always telling him!" A jovial voice called while pushing open the front door. Maes walked over and threw an arm around Roy's shoulder. "If I'd been born a girl I would've trapped him in a marriage years ago."
Roy shoved his friend off, grateful for the excuse to turn away from Elisa. "One day you're going to give someone the wrong idea, Maes."
As if on cue a baby's cry echoed from down the hall.
"Oh, my darling Elicia! Don't worry, Papa is home!"
The trio watched as Maes skipped down the hall to retrieve his daughter.
"...or not."
Fifteen minutes later saw Maes sitting across from Roy and Elisa, baby in his arms. "So, let's hear it. What's so problematic that you couldn't wait until tomorrow to bring it up?"
Elisa sighed before haltingly telling her story. Trying to explain in a way that came across as more than, 'I have a gut feeling.'
By the frown Maes was sporting she wasn't sure she was successful. "...it all sounds very circumstantial." He started, reluctantly.
"The disappearance, maybe." Elisa agreed. "But the science doesn't add up, either."
Roy stared, he knew better than perhaps anyone that Elisa was not a bioalchemist. In fact, of all the branches that was the one she took to the least. Which begged the question, "what do you mean by that?" And how did you figure it out?
"Chimera's are made by combining animals, a truly advanced practitioner could use the vocal cords from parrots or, perhaps, primates to create a creature theoretically capable of human speech." Elisa gripped her forearms, trying desperately to find the words to get them to hear, get them to see.
"But, primates are already theoretically capable of human speech, in so much as they have those vocal cords. What's stopping them is neural control. It's not that his chimera could mimic the sounds of human speech, it's that it crafted a sentence on its own. And that takes sentience." Roy froze. He hadn't thought of that aspect, if the creature truly talked rather than mimicked, then that would mean Tucker had somehow bioengineered awareness. "There's only one large mammal I know of that could provide such sentience."
"And when you say 'large mammal'?" Maes questioned, eyes tightening in dawning horror.
"...I mean a human."
Maes shot his eyes to Roy to confirm how much of what Elisa had just said was true. His stomach sank as his friend nodded in confirmation. Roy wouldn't condemn a man to the gallows on hearsay, if he was throwing his weight behind Elisa then - at least from an alchemical stance - there was something to what she was saying.
"This is…very concerning." Maes admitted, "I could probably open an investigation into Tucker, if I claim we're considering hiring him then that would allow for a basic background check. That should be good enough grounds for no one to question why I'm trying to track down his wife."
"They'd buy you want Tucker for Investigations?"
Maes' smile sharpened, "of course, just imagine how useful animals capable of human speech would be for intel gathering. He was practically made for my department!" There were times when Elisa forgot exactly how smart her brother-in-law was, like when he'd coo over his daughter and create giant portraits of his wife. But then she'd see moments like these and be reminded that for all that Maes never took to the hard sciences like Roy and she, he was no less brilliant. And when it came to the social sciences he was arguably more brilliant.
"Still," Maes continued, eyes focusing on Elisa as if to pick apart her every thought. "While this is a potentially horrific crime that does need to be substantiated, it could have waited until tomorrow?" He left the question open-ended for Elisa to fill in.
"...he has a daughter. She's about five."
Gracia gasped from the kitchen, eyes darting to her daughter held safely in her husband's arms.
"You don't think," Roy muttered, in horror.
"I do." Elisa confirmed. "Maybe not now, that would be suspicious and he's likely to not need to create anything until his assessment next year. He can fail once, so he may even wait two years." She shook her head trying to dislodge the images that rushed to mind. "But I don't believe for a second that he wouldn't. He's…he doesn't look at life like we do, as something sacred. Tucker only believes in the advancement of science, he would easily sacrifice his daughter at its altar and claim she should feel honored for her contribution."
"Right. So I'll look for his wife and extended family," Maes muttered to himself, mentally running through logistics. "Do you know the girl's name?"
"Nina."
"...little Nina, then." Maes locked eyes with the woman who was in all ways his little sister and made her a promise. "I don't know what charge I'll be able to get to stick with Tucker. Lack of a body does not prove murder. But I don't care about the evidence, if I can't find that little girl's mom I will get her out of his house." Hazel eyes burned with conviction. "I swear."
Gracia walked in from the kitchen, dinner in hand. "We swear," she added, her face as serious as Elisa had ever seen. "We won't let him hurt that little girl Lizzy, don't you worry about that."
"...Lizzy?" Roy questioned, watching as Elisa flushed. "Is that why you didn't like Liz? Your sister already claimed it?"
"Oh, she hates Lizzy, too." Gracia informed Roy with a conspiratorial whisper that wasn't quite whispered.
"Oi!"
"Our parents had almost named her Elizabeth but had decided at the last minute on Elisa. She always thought 'Elizabeth' was too regal a name and so hated the nickname it got her."
"Oh, is that it Lizzy?" Roy called, chuckling to himself.
Elisa glared at him, "Yes it is, Colonel."
Roy froze.
Elisa chalked it up to finding a title that Roy disliked and settled down with a smile now that they were back on even footing. Maes saw something different. And that night, after Elisa had retired to the spare bedroom and Roy had decided to head out, he decided to test his theory.
"That was quite a reaction."
"What?"
A smirk. "During dinner, when Elisa called you Colonel?"
A blush spread across Roy's face so fast that Maes was actually a little surprised.
"Seems you have a bit of a problem there, what with you working for the military, and all. If you get that way every time she addresses you…"
Roy shoved Maes, who stumbled back with a smile. He had no regrets. And he was definitely going to impress upon Elisa the importance of properly addressing her superiors once she was ranked. He'd need to bribe Riza to take a picture of Roy's face the first time Elisa called him 'sir.'
Mean?
Perhaps.
But Roy had spent the better part of their academy days teasing Maes about Gracia, and turnabout was fair play.
October 10th, 1913
After the exams Elisa had immediately retreated to her small village with the Ishvalans, to make the most of her time left as a free woman. Roy continued to call and show up, it was through him that she got updates on Maes' investigation. It was when Roy was handing her the letter and watch declaring her a State Alchemist–
"The Crystal Alchemist, looks like the title's been pulled out of retirement."
–that he finally delivered the news she'd wanted.
"We had to wait for him to officially be declared a State Alchemist to be able to court martial him. Nina is on her way to her grandmother's as we speak."
Elisa had tackled him in a hug, knocking them both to the floor. Normally she'd have jumped back the second he'd fallen over, but in that moment she couldn't bring herself to move. After all, this was more than saving some little girl from a horrific fate. This was tangible proof that their lives were not dictated by some pre-chosen destiny, proof that Elisa did have the ability to affect the world around her.
"Thank you," she had mumbled into his chest, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you."
What had followed was a very technical explanation from Roy regarding her new obligations as a State Alchemist and an invitation for his help in securing an abode near Eastern Command. The information had been delivered rapidly enough that Elisa'd had to rush to grab paper to record it all. Which had so successfully derailed the situation that it wasn't until several hours after Roy'd left that Elisa's brain saw fit to remind her of how much she'd enjoyed tackling her friend. And, blushing to the roots of her hair, she'd resolved to ask Roy to finally break off this faux engagement. It wouldn't do for her to get confused.
January 21st, 1913
The first time Elisa met Edward was also the first time she'd met the rest of Roy's group. The months since she'd received her assignment from Eastern Command had been spent moving cities and familiarizing herself with military life. She'd been placed under the command of a Colonel Corsair who'd been quick to task her with creating a better irrigation system than their current one (that had been used by natives for a thousand years.)
As knowing the chemical properties of water did not lend one to having knowledge of irrigation, she'd also been taking time to read up on agriculture. Thankfully Corsair's 2nd Lieutenant–Rebecca Catalina–had been more than willing to help Elisa out. Becky was friends with Riza so the three often found themselves taking lunch together.
Despite this Elisa had never found the need to walk into Roy's office. And, thus, had somehow missed out on meeting Roy's team until Edward showed up for his annual recertification. Not that she knew that's what was happening. Rather Becky called out sick so Elisa found herself bereft of a lunch buddy.
"Oh, who's this lovely young lady?" Havoc called, the second Elisa poked her head into Roy's office.
Roy looked up from his paperwork in curiosity only to straighten in surprise. "Eli–er, Major Frey!" Roy called, stumbling over the title he so rarely used. "What brings you here?"
"Sir." Elisa nodded at Roy, raising a brow in concern when he stiffened. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Jean.
"Oh? You know the Colonel?"
A nod, "and your 2nd Lieutenant. I was actually dropping by to ask if you were free for lunch, Riza?" The team watched as Roy slumped down in his chair, dejected.
"I don't mean to pry," Havoc said in a tone that implied that's exactly what he meant to do, "but what exactly is your relationship with the Colonel?"
"Uh, we're, I mean," Elisa shot a look at Roy and raised a brow in question. He shrugged. "...we're engaged?"
Havoc fell out of his chair in surprise. "Wait. You're his fiancée?"
Elise shrugged, uncomfortably, she didn't know if Roy wanted that spread around. She'd been waiting for months to hear his plan to end their "engagement". Ever since she brought up the idea and he'd promised to think about it.
That was part of why she'd wanted to grab lunch with Riza. She'd wanted to pick the girl's brain for the best strategy going forward while Becky was out of commision.
"Sorry, Elisa," Riza's eyes softened in apology. "The Colonel has an Alchemy match set with Edward Elric in an hour and I need to secure their starting location."
Elisa's eyes lit up in interest. "Would you like help? We could always eat after the match." It would be easy to work and talk and two people would definitely be faster than one.
Riza shot her a grateful smile and led her out of the office. She could barely make out Havoc's voice as the door swung shut.
"She wasn't what I was picturing, Colonel."
Elisa turned to Riza and started walking, "...just what were they expecting? Were they insulting me? Or Roy?"
"I'm relatively certain Havoc loved—wait!"
Riza's call came two seconds too late, as Elisa promptly bumped into another body, causing her to stumble back, eyes closed in pain.
"I'm sorry about that! I didn't see you, I was—"
"—WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE HIM WHEN YOU'RE WALKING IN THE HALLWAY?!"
"Brother, no!"
Elisa twitched before opening her eyes to lock onto the two Elric brothers, shock shooting through her. Edward was so small. And not in a joking, running-gag, sort of way. Elisa was struck mute by the fact that Edward was very much small in a he-belongs-in-middle-school sort of way.
"...not you." Elisa eventually managed, causing Edward to immediately back down in confusion. "I was distracted, I'm sorry."
"U-uh, oh. It's fine," Edward gruffly dismissed.
"Fullmetal, we have to get going. Alphonse," Riza nodded to the suite of armor.
"We'll let you get on with your work, Lieutenant." Alphonse called, cheerfully.
Elisa's eyes stayed on the boys as she walked off with Riza, still trying to reconcile a young Edward with the manga she recalled. Hours later she watched Roy as he dueled the boy, her eyes furrowed in disgust. Until that day it had never properly hit Elisa what the existence of Edward Elric meant. Edward was in all ways a child soldier.
Elisa had never actually felt compelled to share her knowledge of the future, before. Perhaps if she had realized the truth of her situation before the War had started there would have been an urge to say something. But on the whole the cost always seemed to outweigh the benefit, to the point that Elisa didn't even really feel guilty hiding the truth from Roy, Maes and Riza. She couldn't afford to deviate from the story too much lest she destroy the one avantage she had. And Elisa knew she'd need every advantage to save Maes.
Still, watching Edward fight, Elisa couldn't help but question her stance. After all, what gave her the right to allow the Elric brothers to risk their lives for a lie? To watch them chase a promise that was more monster than myth? For the first time since realizing where she'd woken up, Elisa felt guilt for keeping her memories to herself.
But then her eyes caught on Maes–who had been delivering some documents from Central–and her resolve hardened. She wouldn't say anything, she couldn't, not when it would jeopardize her plan to save her brother. Edward was a child, morally it was wrong to push this onto his shoulders, especially knowing what she did. But practically? Practically Elisa had to assume Edward would have appreciated her doing whatever she could to protect a brother.
So she bit her tongue, buried her guilt, and watched the fight. Not knowing that would be the last time she saw the Elric brothers before Scar struck.
April 23rd, 1913
Elisa wasn't someone to complain about her boss. In that old life she'd held several jobs with less-than-desirable supervisors and she'd managed to survive them all. Yes, of course, a crappy boss led to a crappy work-environment but rarely–she'd found–did complaining end up being of any use. For the most part anyone worth complaining about got worse if you said anything. So Elisa wasn't one to complain.
Colonel Corsair, however, was pushing her to her limits.
It had started with the irrigation project, an assignment that was outside of her scope and in no way relied on her skillset.
It only got worse from there.
From irrigation she was shifted to urban planning where she was instructed to help design and build new barracks. After that she was tasked with reorganizing their outdated filing system. Then she was loaned to the finance office where she was told to balance their quarterly budget. And Elisa didn't mind being given a series of administrative tasks that had nothing to do with her alchemical abilities, except…
Except it seemed like every task Corsair assigned was set up so that she would fail.
Each task required a niche sort of knowledge base or skill set that Elisa would have never come across–in this life.
At first she'd thought that was the point, that Corsair was going for a sink-or-swim approach to getting Elisa caught up on need-to-know skills. But every time she'd succeeded at a task (through a combination of Rebecca's kindness and past-life experiences) Corsair had seemed to grow more aggravated.
It wasn't sexism, he seemed to treat Rebecca with respect. Elisa had assumed some sort of hazing ritual but then a cadet had joined their team and hadn't been put through the same wringer. So, she'd eventually concluded that it had to be her, that there was something about Elisa herself that he hated.
The whole thing definitely stank of trying to get her to quit.
But Elisa couldn't quit.
She didn't doubt for a second that the moment she quit a certain piece of legislature would make its way across the Fuhrer's desk. So she'd bitten her lip and carried on, hoping to change minds through perseverance (even while doubting such a thing was possible.)
But, eventually, the harassment reached a level that even Elisa couldn't ignore. After all, it was one thing to send her off ignorant and blind to complete some sort of administration task, and something else entirely to send her off blind into the field.
Her newest assignment was to help retrieve failed explosives, ostensibly to conduct research into their failure. And Elisa wasn't planning to quit but she also wasn't planning to die. So she'd accepted her orders, and then immediately made a beeline for Roy.
And Roy was not happy when Elisa finally let herself complain.
"I don't care what I need to say, or to whom, but I need to get transferred to a different CO!"
Silence.
Green eyes peered into Roy's black in a desperate plea. It probably looked really pathetic to Roy's subordinates (it didn't) her begging her "fiance" for help. But Elisa was at her wits end. There was probably some official channel she could go through, but the East had just seen a Civil War. Corsair had just returned from the battle field. Elisa had no illusions about how quickly any complaint she filed against a war hero would get "lost." So, she'd turned to Roy.
"East Command is small," Roy began, causing Eliza's stomach to sink. "I could possibly talk to the Lieutenant General about taking you on directly, since he already likes you. But Corsair would still be able to pull rank any time your paths crossed."
"What about outside of Eastern Command?" Elisa pleaded. "What about Central? Gracia would put me up in Central, and Maes could keep an eye out for me at work." And I can keep an eye out for him and any shapeshifting, brother-in-law slaying, monsters.
Roy stared at Eliza taking in her unkempt hair and eye bags, and sighed. "...I do have one play." He admitted, with a frown, "it should get you transferred to Central in a week, and probably cause Corsair to back off until then." Eliza let out a sigh of relief, she didn't know what Roy was planning–not something he was excited to do, that's for sure–but just knowing he had a plan was enough to calm her nerves.
The next day when she walked into work Colonel Corsair actually apologized to her. Not about his treatment, of course, but still an apology for "misjudging" her, nonetheless. A fact which more than threw Eliza for a loop.
"I don't understand, sir. Why now?"
"I saw the paperwork, any transfer request has to cross my desk, of course," he nodded, solemnly, "most people wouldn't have spoken out. Not against someone like Mustang."
"...right." Elisa agreed, mentally kicking herself for not asking Roy exactly what his play was. "The transfer request. I'm sorry sir, but what exactly did I write down? I was rather sleep deprived at the time, and I'm worried I may have overstepped…"
"Perfectly understandable, given your ordeal. You put in to transfer based on a hostile work environment, claiming Mustang was reacting poorly to the termination of your engagement." Elisa's eyes widened in surprise, "I was skeptical at first, but petty officer Jones confirmed he overheard you and Lieutenant Hawkeye plotting the best way to end your engagement weeks ago."
Smart, Roy.
"I have spoken to Ro–Colonel Mustang about calling off our engagement." Elisa agreed, "and the last few days work has certainly felt…hostile." Left unsaid was that Corsair had been the cause of said hostilities. "I figured, with my sister out in Central, well, it could make a nice change."
"I quite agree. I've already sent along my approval, no worries. I'm only sad that your transfer will cost me such a valuable ally."
"An ally, sir?"
"Yes, against Colonel Mustang and his eccentric ways. How he got the ear of Lieutenant General Grumman, I'll never know." Elisa bit back the quip that she couldn't possibly imagine why Northrop Grumman, grandfather to one Riza Hawkeye, would hold Roy in high esteem.
"Quite right," she nodded before making her excuses and leaving to pack. It wasn't until Riza was helping her load her bags onto the train that reality finally set in for Elisa. Her 'engagement' to Roy had ended not with bang but a whisper, and had taken with it any excuse she had to stay in contact with her closest friend.
"You'll be sure to keep an eye on him, right?" Elisa whispered making sure no one on the platform could overhear them. "I mean, more than just at work. You'll make sure he takes time off and keeps up with his hobbies?"
"You'll keep in contact with her right, Riza? She'll have her sister but she'll need her friend for a move like this!"
"I will."
"And," Elisa continued, frown tugging on her lips, "you'll try and keep him from going overboard with his persona, right? Underestimated is good, but he will still need to be able to sway people's opinions in the future."
"You'll caution her to hide everything? Her thoughts, her ideas, anything they would use against her?!"
"I'll try."
"And–"
Riza held up a hand, causing Elisa to shut her mouth. "Roy is my friend," she started, echoing a lecture she'd given just the day before, "and my commanding officer. I'll care for him to the best of my abilities in both roles. But he's not my husband, I'm not his wife. If you want to ensure he receives care up to your standards then you should take care of him." And Riza, who had reached her limit with her two friends' antics, just sighed before steamrolling right past their bullshit. "Elisa," her voice was kind for all that it was sharp, "you like Roy."
Elisa blinked, then she chuckled, "no, I don't!"
Riza raised a brow.
"I don't!" Elisa insisted, "sure Roy is pretty, but I don't blush every time I see him! And when we hug it's not like butterflies in my stomach! It's just…warm. Nice. But not like that. I mean, Roy's a friend," Elisa rambled on, clueless to how guilty it made her look, "I like spending time with him. But it's not like Gracia and Hughes, or my mom and dad, I don't get all giggly in his presence or-or, like kissing! I've never even thought about kissing Roy!"
"Okay. And now?"
Elisa furrowed her brow, confused as to where Riza was going with this. "What do you mean?"
"You've never thought about kissing Roy, well, what happens if you think about it now?"
Elisa shot her a surprised look as if realizing for the first time that she had the power to do just that. "I don't, I can't imagine…" a blush, "I mean I haven't ever wanted to…"
Riza took pity on her friend who seemed to be slowly combusting. "Look, Elisa, only you can decide how you feel. But, you shouldn't make the judgment based on how you think you should feel. At the end of the day, kissing, butterflies that can all come later, if it comes at all. What matters is when you look to the future, what do you see?"
What do you see?
Elisa contemplated the question the entire train ride to Central. The truth was, if Elisa forced herself to be honest, she knew what she saw when she looked towards the future. She had been both subconsciously and consciously preparing for it since she first settled in the East.
She saw Roy and herself far in the desert helping rebuild Ishval. She saw herself supporting Roy as he rose through the ranks to take the mantle of Fuhrer. She saw days filled with theological debates and nights filled with alchemical experiments. Part of Elisa had never let herself think on it, partly because she had always imagined Roy and Riza ending up together–
"He is not my husband, I am not his wife."
–but, also, because she wasn't sure that what she wanted would match what Roy, what any guy, would want. She was the type of person who had to force herself to share a hug. And, sure, it was easier with Roy, sometimes even nice. But she could never promise more, and Roy definitely deserved more, he deserved someone who would love him fully, not half-heartedly like–
Elisa closed her eyes in defeat. "Crap." She thought, slamming her head against the train window. "Well, I suppose I didn't lie to Riza," she mumbled to herself, "I don't like Roy. I love the stupid bastard." And as the train pulled into Central Station and she locked eyes with her grinning sister, Elisa was once again reminded of the totality of her circumstances. Namely that to the brass she and Roy had just ended a rather long engagement and so would have no reason to communicate in the near future.
"...crap."
A/N: Done! This chapter is finally done! And did I say we'd get into the main plot this go around? Ha. Ha ha ha. I was so young and naive a chapter ago. But I can promise the next chapter starts up with the beginning of the manga!
Chumpatrol2 3/23
That's true, especially for the younger soldiers who were drafted or enlisted as soon as they were of age. They'd definitely be disillusioned the quickest and likely to talk about what they saw. War is hard enough to fight when you're unified on who the enemy is, but we saw plenty of proof in the original story that many soldiers, beyond just Mustang, were not convinced the Ishvalans were the enemy. I'm glad my description made it possible to guess the root cause was Cholera! It's true diseases don't come often in these types of fics, but that feels like an oversight when they would have definitely been a major concern given the time period FMA is based on...
Alas this chapter did not come as quickly XD. I write at the whim of my muse, which sometimes means churning out 12K words in 2 days. And sometimes means churning it out in 2 months...
Guest 4/20
I'm glad you enjoyed it! In the world I've crafted "Elisa Frey" always existed, but perhaps - without the mind of an adult and passion for alchemy - did not make it to the cannon timeline. (Or perhaps she did, and like Gracia's or Maes' parents, just never waranted a mention.) This Elisa, however, has undeniably (and largely against her will) tied herself to the plot. Time will tell what that means for the future...