Fic - Sorrow's Dark Array Ch 30
Feb. 23rd, 2009 11:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessSorrow’s Dark Array
Author -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cornerofmadness
Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition.
Pairing – Roy/Riza, Ed/Win (eventually) Winry/OC, mentions of Maes/Gracia and Al/OC
Rating – this chapter is R for violence
Time Line – anime based, spoilers all the way through the anime and the movie and does have strong manga elements such as Armstrong’s older sister and the land of Xing
Summary – As Roy and Riza prepare for their wedding, while dodging assassins, Ed and Al try to find their way back home.
Author’s Note #1– This was written after much prodding byevil_little_dog as a sequel to the source of sorrow and is now her holiday gift even if she has beta’ed part of it. So thanks to her and lyricnonsense for the beta. You do not have to read the first story to understand this. You’ll quickly pick up that Riza has retired from the military to be Roy’s wife and bodyguard. Olivia Armstrong is now president and she’s assigned Roy as the ambassador to Ishbal; oh and that Roy was severely injured in the destruction of the Gate, requiring some of Winry’s automail.
Author's Note #2 - This is a longer work and like real relationships, the ones listed in the pairings, take time to mend and come together. They have to work at it. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
chapter ten
chapter eleven
chapter twelve
chapter thirteen
chapter fourteen
chapter fifteen
chapter sixteen
chapter seventeen
chapter eighteen
chapter nineteen
Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty-one
Chapter twenty-two
Chapter twenty-three
Chapter twenty-four
Chapter twenty-five
Chapter twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
“Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array, Days of absence, I am weary; She I love is far away.” – Shakespeare
WARNING - graphic violence in this chapter
Chapter Thirty
The House of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defense against injury and violence as for his repose – Sir Edward Coke
“I honestly would have thought there were more Lioran rebels in the records.” Roy got up from behind his temporary desk in the Ishbalan center, horned into Aris’ office. He glanced over at Armstrong and Maes for confirmation that the few files they had provided him were the only things to be had.
Maes assured him with a nod. “That’s it.”
“Wouldn’t want it to be easy,” Ed huffed, nudging his brother knowingly.
“Never that.” Dev spread his hands helplessly. “And like I said, no one will tell me anything. I had an idea that Vashti might know more than she’s telling. I’ll try to work on her.”
“Vashti?” Al asked.
“His girlfriend’s sister,” Roy offered, squinting at the handwritten notes in the margin of the top file in the stack.
Dev blushed. “Anah isn’t my girlfriend.”
Roy glanced at Aris. “Does he actually believe that?”
“Doubtful,” the priest said, opening the door that lead back into the main part of the center.
“Everyone needs to shut up,” Dev grumbled, stomping out into the rec room. Several people looked up from the billiards table and from the gaming boards. He thought once again that it was a shame that people his age still didn’t have anything to actually do with their lives. People were still slow to hire an Ishbalan. Anah, Vashti and Rotem were playing darts and probably waiting for him to get done with his work. Dev stopped dead, hearing Uzziel laughing freely. The old man was with his wife and an equally old Xingese man with a rosewood cane with a mother of pearl handle resting against his knee.
“Well, hell,” Roy said, drawing attention to himself.
Uzziel stood up. “Mustang, this delightful man came here looking for you. He said your sister sent him. He’s been regaling Nava and me with stories.”
“He’s quite the charmer.” Nava put a hand on the man’s arm, her smile warm.
Having no doubt the old coot had been flirting with her, Roy bowed to him, addressing the man in Xingese.
The old man rose to his feet, strolling over to Roy. He poked the alchemist with his cane. “You got too skinny.”
“I’m fine.” Roy brushed the cane away when it came up to poke at him again. “What are you doing here? How did you even get here?” That last came out in a confused whine.
“Guessing that’s Grandfather,” Al said to his brother.
“I still can’t believe he wasn’t just spawned by something like a rotten cabbage,” Ed said and Dev snorted, nodding his head in agreement.
“Grandfather, ignore two of those three. Only one has any intelligence.” Roy jerked his thumb at the younger men.
“Let me guess, the Elric brothers.” Huang Mustang walked over to them. “You’re right. Those golden eyes are memorable. You must be Edward.” Ignoring Edward’s suspicious look and slight nod, Huang bowed slightly to him and then to Al. “And you must be Alphonse.”
“Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, sir.” Al stuck out his hand and Roy’s grandfather shook it before turning to Dev.
He offered another bow. “And you must be the young priest I hear so much about. Dev?”
“Nice to meet you, sir.” Dev shook his hand. “Good things, I’m sure, unlike what he says about Elric.”
“He says you’re both very much alike.” Huang grinned and the two young men cringed.
“You didn’t answer me, Grandfather.”
“Introduce me properly.” The old man narrowed his eyes at Roy. “I didn’t get names.”
Roy sighed. “This is Uzziel Fermi and his wife, Nava. He’s one of the elders here.”
“Thank you for helping me pass the time waiting on him.” Huang slapped his cane against Roy’s backside. The General yelped, glaring at Hughes who snickered at Huang’s antics. Feeling the heat of the glare, Hughes hid behind Armstrong. “And to answer your rude questions, your grandmother and I decided to come early. Jun picked us up and dropped me off here because I wanted to see you. She took Xue-Fang shopping.”
“Ah, well, I guess we’re pretty much done here.” Laying a hand on his grandfather’s shoulder, Roy started to guide him out of the center.
“Have you bothered to find who destroyed our temple?” a young man sitting next to Vashti at the dart board snarled. He got to his feet as Anah broke away from the group, gravitating to Dev’s side. “Or do you just want to blame us some more, alchemist?”
“That’s what I’m doing here, looking for answers,” Roy replied evenly, seeing several sets of eyes concentrating on him. “And those who have already been blamed were caught in the act.”
“How convenient for you,” the young man snarled.
“I saw Sanaa setting the bombs, Zevi,” Dev said, disgust lacing his tone. “Mustang didn’t make that up.”
Zevi whirled on him, getting close enough to shove Dev. “You’re just his bootlick. You’d agree to anything he’d say.”
Dev pushed back with his metal hand. “You don’t know shit.”
“This isn’t helping,” Anah said, tugging Dev back.
“And I’m tired of saying this. We are working with the General and you will show him respect while he’s here,” Uzziel’s voice boomed in the large room, making several younger Ishbalans jump.
“You’ve gotten old and useless, priest,” Zevi said, lunging at Roy.
Huang stepped out, whacked the young man with his cane then caught his arm, flipping him. He held Zevi down then said, “You haven’t even worked your way up to handling old men. What do you think you could do against the general?”
Zevi twisted on the ground, grunting as he tried to pull away. His red eyes were huge as he gazed up at Huang. Several of his friends leapt to their feet but hesitated when Uzziel held up a hand to them.
Roy sighed. “Grandfather, let’s try not to create an incident. I can take care of myself.”
The old man snorted at him. “Looking like that, Twig? I’m doubtful.” Huang turned to Uzziel with an apologetic look. “I do apologize.”
“No, we apologize to you.” Uzziel glanced down at the stunned youth. “Zevi, pick yourself up. Be thankful I don’t assign you to some community service of the General’s choosing and apologize to Mr. Mustang.”
The young man got up and mumbled an apology. He made fleeting eye contact with Huang. “How did you do that? I’ve never seen anyone move so fast.”
“Years of practice, young man.” Huang shot him and the gathering crowd a look. “A rash head never gets far.”
“I should have that tattooed to several heads around here.” Uzziel included Dev in his sour look.
“Including my own from time to time. I’d better get going. We have to report to the President.” Roy looked at Huang. “So Grandfather, would you like to meet Olivia Armstrong?”
“After all these years of hearing about her, naturally. Is she as beautiful as she looks in the newspapers?” Huang asked, his dark eyes sparkling.
“She truly is,” Armstrong assured him.
Ed palmed his face. “Damn, this is where the bastard gets it from! Who knew flirting was inherited?”
“Edward!” Al did his own face palm.
“He really is just as you described, Cricket.” Huang grinned at Edward.
“Is it too much to ask for just one person in the family to remember my name?” Roy whined and Maes patted his shoulder.
“Cry later. We’d better go make that report,” Maes said, waving at the brothers to follow. “You coming as well, Dev?”
Dev nodded. “I’m pretty sure the president is expecting me, too, not that I have anything new to add to this problem.”
“The problem is, I don’t think any of us do,” Al summed up the issue succinctly. No one seemed very happy with that.
X X X
“I know this isn’t what you probably wanted to be doing today,” Winry said as she and Riza strolled through the town.
“What I want is to be doing my job,” Riza admitted. “But since Roy is technically only pretending to be back at work, there’s no one to guard so I keep getting assigned office work with Havoc and the rest who are working out of Investigations for now. I don’t mind using my dinner hour to help, Winry. It’s not like I was going to get to go home at a decent hour today. We need to help Armstrong and Hughes with those files on insurgents to see if we can find likely bombers.”
“Should Roy be out there in his uniform and in his temporary office if he’s not going to be back to work until next week?” Winry glanced over at her companion, a hint of worry knitting up her brow.
“No. And there’s barely any sense in bringing him back next week as it is,” Riza said. “The wedding will be here so soon and we have time off for that. I’m sure if there wasn’t more than one bomber on the loose, Olivia would have just okayed Roy not coming back until after the honeymoon.”
Winry nodded. “Still, I appreciate you taking the time to help me with this. I know Ed will just put it off and then fuss and bitch and before we know it he’ll be living in some crappy hotel.” She waved the rumpled piece of paper she held. “At least it was nice of Havoc to get me a list of military housing that is big enough for two people. You know Ed will want Al to stay with him until there’s time for them to really get settled.”
“Most of those places are in apartment complexes and not really the nicest, trust me on this.” Riza frowned and Winry decided she didn’t really want to know just how well the older woman knew such housing. “Those last few are cottages. While I suspect Ed doesn’t really care one way or the other, Al will. I’m surprised he isn’t going back to Resembol.”
“Al could. He’d be welcomed at Granny’s,” Winry said, heading down a cross street. “But I doubt he’d leave Edward. Besides, Al has changed, gotten older. He seems older than Edward really.”
“I had noticed,” Riza said. She looked askance at Winry. “Will two bedrooms be enough?”
Winry flushed. “I…I’m sure I’m not ready to move in.”
Riza laughed. “Well, in that case, two bedrooms will do for now. I just thought they’d like to use a third bedroom as a library.”
Winry knew her blush was worsening and she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she was even trying to pretend Edward wasn’t her lover. “I guess it’ll all depend on how big the cottages are.” Winry scowled down at her list then back at the house numbers in brass on the cottage in front of her. The cottage had the advantage of a small yard and trees, however, it looked like it had been thrown there by a giant’s child, seeming to rest haphazardly on the knoll rather than being cemented to any sort of foundation. “It’s wee.”
“So’s Edward.” Riza grinned and Winry elbowed her, laughing.
“Don’t let him hear you say that. Well, it’s painted black. Edward would love that, the little weirdo.” Winry shrugged and Riza used the passkey.
It didn’t take long to check out something so small. Winry was determined to see at least one more before Riza had to go back to work. The next cottage was found not that far from the little black one. This one seemed a little older but definitely bigger. Plastered white over brick, the two story structure gleamed and had a striking purple front door and a lilac-grey hued slate roof.
“That’s one heck of a door,” Riza said.
“Something tells me Al will like it,” Winry replied, smiling broadly.
Riza let them in. The kitchen was small but the rest of the rooms weren’t. There was a room that could be a library right off the master bathroom plus two bedrooms upstairs. Knotty pine floors seemed warm. This was the sort of place Winry wanted the brothers to have. She hated the idea of them in faceless, impersonal military housing.
“Put him down for this,” she said, standing in the living room, her hands on her hips. “I know Ed will have to officially pick it but he’ll listen to reason.”
“And your wrench?” Riza asked with a knowing smirk.
Winry laughed. “He only occasionally listens to that. Sometimes I think it makes him stubborn.”
“I suspect many things make that boy stubborn.” Riza glanced at her wrist. “I need to head back.”
Winry nodded. “I’m sure this place will make them happy, well, as happy as Ed can be living in Central, taking orders from Roy.”
“It’ll make him happy,” Riza said knowingly. “He seems to enjoy sparring with Roy as much as Roy does.”
“There is no doubt of that,” Winry agreed.
Night had begun to fall by the time Riza made it back to the office. Winry followed her there just to reassure herself that no one had worked through their meal. She knew they weren’t patients she should be fussing at but she considered them all friends. Friends needed to look out for one another.
Riza scanned the office as they walked in and Winry knew what she was thinking even before her companion asked, “Did Roy ever show up? He wanted to stop and help with these files.”
Hughes looked up over the file he was reading. “Haven’t seen him or the brothers in hours. We went to the president’s office then Roy had to get his grandfather back home. Huang wanted the brothers to go to dinner with him first, Dev, too. Armstrong and I just came back here then. Maybe Roy got too tired to continue.”
Winry shook her head. “Al would have guilted Ed into coming back here at the very least.”
“Maybe the boss is hiding from paperwork, like usual,” Havoc offered.
Riza scowled, stepping to the side as Sciezka came in with more files. “He’d better not be. I should call home and see if they changed their mind and went there.”
Sciezka put the files on Falman’s desk then turned to look at Riza. “Do you mean the General?” At Riza’s nod, Sciezka continued, “Dev got a phone call as soon as they got here. They didn’t even have time to get down to this office. The general left with Dev and the Elric brothers.”
“Do you know where?” Riza asked sharply and Winry tried not to think hard on the hint of worry she thought she heard in Riza’s tone.
Sciezka shrugged. “I was trying not to listen.”
“But you did hear,” Hughes said and the girl nodded, her eyes wide behind the lenses of her glasses.
“Dev knew the person who called. He called her Anah. He told the General that she had an informant that wanted to talk to him about Lior, that this person had seen Fullmetal there back during the attacks. They just turned right around and went to investigate it.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Hughes grumbled, getting to his feet.
“The chief probably didn’t think he’d need more than himself and the Elrics just to look into a lead,” Breda said.
“Then why do I have a really bad feeling about this?” Hughes asked.
Winry could see Riza agreed. There was a strange feeling in her own gut. She regretted calling Riza away during dinner. If she had been here, surely Roy would have told Riza before leaving.
“Did you hear where this was, Sciezka?” Riza’s voice was tight.
The nervous clerk nodded and told them.
“Dammit!” Riza automatically checked her holster as Winry put her hand over her mouth. She remembered what Ed had told her about Lab Five, what happened there, and just hoped that wasn’t an omen as to what might be going on now.
XXX
“Here? You have to be kidding,” Ed growled, sweeping his arm out toward Lab Five.
Anah shot him a curious, innocent look. “This is where she said she’d be. Is there a problem?”
“Probably a big one,” Ed replied, turning to Roy. “I don’t think we should go in there.”
“I think we can handle things,” Roy replied. “It’s been a long time since this lab was active.”
“That’s what they told us last time, too,” Alphonse reminded him.
“Let’s hope I’m not wrong.” Roy looked at his hands, debating pulling on his gloves now. He decided against it reluctantly. Anah had said the informant was a war victim and he feared frightening her. Who didn’t know what his gloves meant? “But be prepared for the worst. Three alchemists should be plenty enough trouble for anyone to handle if this goes bad.”
Ed mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like he was sure Roy was wrong but the young man did go into the lab. Roy saw the tension in Ed’s shoulders, Al’s, too. Even Dev almost seemed to believe his girlfriend might have been duped by someone into luring them into this mess.
“Where is she?” Dev asked Anah, peering into the gloom of the abandoned lab.
She shot him a scathing look. “How would I know? She said in here. She’s probably hiding behind all that junk. I got the impression she was afraid of Elric.”
“Afraid of Brother?” Al barked out a laugh.
“What did I do?” Ed scowled and Roy could have answered that easily, alchemist, city-killer, dog of the military, take a pick.
“From what we saw, you helped to blow up large chunks of our city,” a woman said, stepping out from behind some of the rubble.
“And it’s about time someone did something about people like you and Mustang,” Anah’s voice seemed drowned out by the click of a pistol’s hammer cocking back.
Roy didn’t have to waste breath telling everyone to take cover. They all scrambled. Out of the corner of his eye, as he clawed for his glove, Roy saw a man pop out from behind some fallen containers. However, he dismissed the man as the most immediate threat. He didn’t seem to know how to hold his gun. Anah and the mystery woman had no such problems.
Their ambushers probably thought they had the alchemists trapped since Anah was between them and the door. Hopefully, they didn’t know all it would take was for any of them to reach a wall so they could make their own door. It was Dev he worried about. A scarred, slow to respond leg and no alchemy, all Dev had to protect himself was a small hidden gun.
Anah and her companions didn’t wait for them to make a move. The report of their guns echoed deafeningly in the deserted lab. Roy heard Ed yelp, his arm erupting in sparks as a bullet tore into it A raw scream tore out of the Edward’s throat as Alphonse hit ground, something dark spreading around the young alchemist’s head in the gloom. Ed tried to one-handedly drag his brother behind cover, crying his name.
Dev shouted, going down. Grunting in pain, he held his thigh, blood spurting between his fingers like the fountain in the town square. The sharp, metallic tang of blood filled Roy’s nose, threatening to take him back to those days in Ishbal. To hell with fire. Now was the time to use the Gate-imbued knowledge and build them a shelter then he could worry about their attackers.
Roy went to clap his hands but a tickle up his spine told him to move. A bullet pinged off the ground next to him, nearly making Roy lose his footing. Catching himself, he spun around to see Anah standing at a range she couldn’t possibly miss at and his own fingers were unconsciously placed to snap. Once again, his life would depend on whose fingers were: his or an Ishbalan with a gun.
Chapter thirty-one
Author -
cornerofmadnessDisclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition.
Pairing – Roy/Riza, Ed/Win (eventually) Winry/OC, mentions of Maes/Gracia and Al/OC
Rating – this chapter is R for violence
Time Line – anime based, spoilers all the way through the anime and the movie and does have strong manga elements such as Armstrong’s older sister and the land of Xing
Summary – As Roy and Riza prepare for their wedding, while dodging assassins, Ed and Al try to find their way back home.
Author’s Note #1– This was written after much prodding by
evil_little_dog as a sequel to the source of sorrow and is now her holiday gift even if she has beta’ed part of it. So thanks to her and lyricnonsense for the beta. You do not have to read the first story to understand this. You’ll quickly pick up that Riza has retired from the military to be Roy’s wife and bodyguard. Olivia Armstrong is now president and she’s assigned Roy as the ambassador to Ishbal; oh and that Roy was severely injured in the destruction of the Gate, requiring some of Winry’s automail.Author's Note #2 - This is a longer work and like real relationships, the ones listed in the pairings, take time to mend and come together. They have to work at it. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
chapter ten
chapter eleven
chapter twelve
chapter thirteen
chapter fourteen
chapter fifteen
chapter sixteen
chapter seventeen
chapter eighteen
chapter nineteen
Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty-one
Chapter twenty-two
Chapter twenty-three
Chapter twenty-four
Chapter twenty-five
Chapter twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
“Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array, Days of absence, I am weary; She I love is far away.” – Shakespeare
WARNING - graphic violence in this chapter
Chapter Thirty
The House of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defense against injury and violence as for his repose – Sir Edward Coke
“I honestly would have thought there were more Lioran rebels in the records.” Roy got up from behind his temporary desk in the Ishbalan center, horned into Aris’ office. He glanced over at Armstrong and Maes for confirmation that the few files they had provided him were the only things to be had.
Maes assured him with a nod. “That’s it.”
“Wouldn’t want it to be easy,” Ed huffed, nudging his brother knowingly.
“Never that.” Dev spread his hands helplessly. “And like I said, no one will tell me anything. I had an idea that Vashti might know more than she’s telling. I’ll try to work on her.”
“Vashti?” Al asked.
“His girlfriend’s sister,” Roy offered, squinting at the handwritten notes in the margin of the top file in the stack.
Dev blushed. “Anah isn’t my girlfriend.”
Roy glanced at Aris. “Does he actually believe that?”
“Doubtful,” the priest said, opening the door that lead back into the main part of the center.
“Everyone needs to shut up,” Dev grumbled, stomping out into the rec room. Several people looked up from the billiards table and from the gaming boards. He thought once again that it was a shame that people his age still didn’t have anything to actually do with their lives. People were still slow to hire an Ishbalan. Anah, Vashti and Rotem were playing darts and probably waiting for him to get done with his work. Dev stopped dead, hearing Uzziel laughing freely. The old man was with his wife and an equally old Xingese man with a rosewood cane with a mother of pearl handle resting against his knee.
“Well, hell,” Roy said, drawing attention to himself.
Uzziel stood up. “Mustang, this delightful man came here looking for you. He said your sister sent him. He’s been regaling Nava and me with stories.”
“He’s quite the charmer.” Nava put a hand on the man’s arm, her smile warm.
Having no doubt the old coot had been flirting with her, Roy bowed to him, addressing the man in Xingese.
The old man rose to his feet, strolling over to Roy. He poked the alchemist with his cane. “You got too skinny.”
“I’m fine.” Roy brushed the cane away when it came up to poke at him again. “What are you doing here? How did you even get here?” That last came out in a confused whine.
“Guessing that’s Grandfather,” Al said to his brother.
“I still can’t believe he wasn’t just spawned by something like a rotten cabbage,” Ed said and Dev snorted, nodding his head in agreement.
“Grandfather, ignore two of those three. Only one has any intelligence.” Roy jerked his thumb at the younger men.
“Let me guess, the Elric brothers.” Huang Mustang walked over to them. “You’re right. Those golden eyes are memorable. You must be Edward.” Ignoring Edward’s suspicious look and slight nod, Huang bowed slightly to him and then to Al. “And you must be Alphonse.”
“Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, sir.” Al stuck out his hand and Roy’s grandfather shook it before turning to Dev.
He offered another bow. “And you must be the young priest I hear so much about. Dev?”
“Nice to meet you, sir.” Dev shook his hand. “Good things, I’m sure, unlike what he says about Elric.”
“He says you’re both very much alike.” Huang grinned and the two young men cringed.
“You didn’t answer me, Grandfather.”
“Introduce me properly.” The old man narrowed his eyes at Roy. “I didn’t get names.”
Roy sighed. “This is Uzziel Fermi and his wife, Nava. He’s one of the elders here.”
“Thank you for helping me pass the time waiting on him.” Huang slapped his cane against Roy’s backside. The General yelped, glaring at Hughes who snickered at Huang’s antics. Feeling the heat of the glare, Hughes hid behind Armstrong. “And to answer your rude questions, your grandmother and I decided to come early. Jun picked us up and dropped me off here because I wanted to see you. She took Xue-Fang shopping.”
“Ah, well, I guess we’re pretty much done here.” Laying a hand on his grandfather’s shoulder, Roy started to guide him out of the center.
“Have you bothered to find who destroyed our temple?” a young man sitting next to Vashti at the dart board snarled. He got to his feet as Anah broke away from the group, gravitating to Dev’s side. “Or do you just want to blame us some more, alchemist?”
“That’s what I’m doing here, looking for answers,” Roy replied evenly, seeing several sets of eyes concentrating on him. “And those who have already been blamed were caught in the act.”
“How convenient for you,” the young man snarled.
“I saw Sanaa setting the bombs, Zevi,” Dev said, disgust lacing his tone. “Mustang didn’t make that up.”
Zevi whirled on him, getting close enough to shove Dev. “You’re just his bootlick. You’d agree to anything he’d say.”
Dev pushed back with his metal hand. “You don’t know shit.”
“This isn’t helping,” Anah said, tugging Dev back.
“And I’m tired of saying this. We are working with the General and you will show him respect while he’s here,” Uzziel’s voice boomed in the large room, making several younger Ishbalans jump.
“You’ve gotten old and useless, priest,” Zevi said, lunging at Roy.
Huang stepped out, whacked the young man with his cane then caught his arm, flipping him. He held Zevi down then said, “You haven’t even worked your way up to handling old men. What do you think you could do against the general?”
Zevi twisted on the ground, grunting as he tried to pull away. His red eyes were huge as he gazed up at Huang. Several of his friends leapt to their feet but hesitated when Uzziel held up a hand to them.
Roy sighed. “Grandfather, let’s try not to create an incident. I can take care of myself.”
The old man snorted at him. “Looking like that, Twig? I’m doubtful.” Huang turned to Uzziel with an apologetic look. “I do apologize.”
“No, we apologize to you.” Uzziel glanced down at the stunned youth. “Zevi, pick yourself up. Be thankful I don’t assign you to some community service of the General’s choosing and apologize to Mr. Mustang.”
The young man got up and mumbled an apology. He made fleeting eye contact with Huang. “How did you do that? I’ve never seen anyone move so fast.”
“Years of practice, young man.” Huang shot him and the gathering crowd a look. “A rash head never gets far.”
“I should have that tattooed to several heads around here.” Uzziel included Dev in his sour look.
“Including my own from time to time. I’d better get going. We have to report to the President.” Roy looked at Huang. “So Grandfather, would you like to meet Olivia Armstrong?”
“After all these years of hearing about her, naturally. Is she as beautiful as she looks in the newspapers?” Huang asked, his dark eyes sparkling.
“She truly is,” Armstrong assured him.
Ed palmed his face. “Damn, this is where the bastard gets it from! Who knew flirting was inherited?”
“Edward!” Al did his own face palm.
“He really is just as you described, Cricket.” Huang grinned at Edward.
“Is it too much to ask for just one person in the family to remember my name?” Roy whined and Maes patted his shoulder.
“Cry later. We’d better go make that report,” Maes said, waving at the brothers to follow. “You coming as well, Dev?”
Dev nodded. “I’m pretty sure the president is expecting me, too, not that I have anything new to add to this problem.”
“The problem is, I don’t think any of us do,” Al summed up the issue succinctly. No one seemed very happy with that.
X X X
“I know this isn’t what you probably wanted to be doing today,” Winry said as she and Riza strolled through the town.
“What I want is to be doing my job,” Riza admitted. “But since Roy is technically only pretending to be back at work, there’s no one to guard so I keep getting assigned office work with Havoc and the rest who are working out of Investigations for now. I don’t mind using my dinner hour to help, Winry. It’s not like I was going to get to go home at a decent hour today. We need to help Armstrong and Hughes with those files on insurgents to see if we can find likely bombers.”
“Should Roy be out there in his uniform and in his temporary office if he’s not going to be back to work until next week?” Winry glanced over at her companion, a hint of worry knitting up her brow.
“No. And there’s barely any sense in bringing him back next week as it is,” Riza said. “The wedding will be here so soon and we have time off for that. I’m sure if there wasn’t more than one bomber on the loose, Olivia would have just okayed Roy not coming back until after the honeymoon.”
Winry nodded. “Still, I appreciate you taking the time to help me with this. I know Ed will just put it off and then fuss and bitch and before we know it he’ll be living in some crappy hotel.” She waved the rumpled piece of paper she held. “At least it was nice of Havoc to get me a list of military housing that is big enough for two people. You know Ed will want Al to stay with him until there’s time for them to really get settled.”
“Most of those places are in apartment complexes and not really the nicest, trust me on this.” Riza frowned and Winry decided she didn’t really want to know just how well the older woman knew such housing. “Those last few are cottages. While I suspect Ed doesn’t really care one way or the other, Al will. I’m surprised he isn’t going back to Resembol.”
“Al could. He’d be welcomed at Granny’s,” Winry said, heading down a cross street. “But I doubt he’d leave Edward. Besides, Al has changed, gotten older. He seems older than Edward really.”
“I had noticed,” Riza said. She looked askance at Winry. “Will two bedrooms be enough?”
Winry flushed. “I…I’m sure I’m not ready to move in.”
Riza laughed. “Well, in that case, two bedrooms will do for now. I just thought they’d like to use a third bedroom as a library.”
Winry knew her blush was worsening and she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she was even trying to pretend Edward wasn’t her lover. “I guess it’ll all depend on how big the cottages are.” Winry scowled down at her list then back at the house numbers in brass on the cottage in front of her. The cottage had the advantage of a small yard and trees, however, it looked like it had been thrown there by a giant’s child, seeming to rest haphazardly on the knoll rather than being cemented to any sort of foundation. “It’s wee.”
“So’s Edward.” Riza grinned and Winry elbowed her, laughing.
“Don’t let him hear you say that. Well, it’s painted black. Edward would love that, the little weirdo.” Winry shrugged and Riza used the passkey.
It didn’t take long to check out something so small. Winry was determined to see at least one more before Riza had to go back to work. The next cottage was found not that far from the little black one. This one seemed a little older but definitely bigger. Plastered white over brick, the two story structure gleamed and had a striking purple front door and a lilac-grey hued slate roof.
“That’s one heck of a door,” Riza said.
“Something tells me Al will like it,” Winry replied, smiling broadly.
Riza let them in. The kitchen was small but the rest of the rooms weren’t. There was a room that could be a library right off the master bathroom plus two bedrooms upstairs. Knotty pine floors seemed warm. This was the sort of place Winry wanted the brothers to have. She hated the idea of them in faceless, impersonal military housing.
“Put him down for this,” she said, standing in the living room, her hands on her hips. “I know Ed will have to officially pick it but he’ll listen to reason.”
“And your wrench?” Riza asked with a knowing smirk.
Winry laughed. “He only occasionally listens to that. Sometimes I think it makes him stubborn.”
“I suspect many things make that boy stubborn.” Riza glanced at her wrist. “I need to head back.”
Winry nodded. “I’m sure this place will make them happy, well, as happy as Ed can be living in Central, taking orders from Roy.”
“It’ll make him happy,” Riza said knowingly. “He seems to enjoy sparring with Roy as much as Roy does.”
“There is no doubt of that,” Winry agreed.
Night had begun to fall by the time Riza made it back to the office. Winry followed her there just to reassure herself that no one had worked through their meal. She knew they weren’t patients she should be fussing at but she considered them all friends. Friends needed to look out for one another.
Riza scanned the office as they walked in and Winry knew what she was thinking even before her companion asked, “Did Roy ever show up? He wanted to stop and help with these files.”
Hughes looked up over the file he was reading. “Haven’t seen him or the brothers in hours. We went to the president’s office then Roy had to get his grandfather back home. Huang wanted the brothers to go to dinner with him first, Dev, too. Armstrong and I just came back here then. Maybe Roy got too tired to continue.”
Winry shook her head. “Al would have guilted Ed into coming back here at the very least.”
“Maybe the boss is hiding from paperwork, like usual,” Havoc offered.
Riza scowled, stepping to the side as Sciezka came in with more files. “He’d better not be. I should call home and see if they changed their mind and went there.”
Sciezka put the files on Falman’s desk then turned to look at Riza. “Do you mean the General?” At Riza’s nod, Sciezka continued, “Dev got a phone call as soon as they got here. They didn’t even have time to get down to this office. The general left with Dev and the Elric brothers.”
“Do you know where?” Riza asked sharply and Winry tried not to think hard on the hint of worry she thought she heard in Riza’s tone.
Sciezka shrugged. “I was trying not to listen.”
“But you did hear,” Hughes said and the girl nodded, her eyes wide behind the lenses of her glasses.
“Dev knew the person who called. He called her Anah. He told the General that she had an informant that wanted to talk to him about Lior, that this person had seen Fullmetal there back during the attacks. They just turned right around and went to investigate it.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Hughes grumbled, getting to his feet.
“The chief probably didn’t think he’d need more than himself and the Elrics just to look into a lead,” Breda said.
“Then why do I have a really bad feeling about this?” Hughes asked.
Winry could see Riza agreed. There was a strange feeling in her own gut. She regretted calling Riza away during dinner. If she had been here, surely Roy would have told Riza before leaving.
“Did you hear where this was, Sciezka?” Riza’s voice was tight.
The nervous clerk nodded and told them.
“Dammit!” Riza automatically checked her holster as Winry put her hand over her mouth. She remembered what Ed had told her about Lab Five, what happened there, and just hoped that wasn’t an omen as to what might be going on now.
XXX
“Here? You have to be kidding,” Ed growled, sweeping his arm out toward Lab Five.
Anah shot him a curious, innocent look. “This is where she said she’d be. Is there a problem?”
“Probably a big one,” Ed replied, turning to Roy. “I don’t think we should go in there.”
“I think we can handle things,” Roy replied. “It’s been a long time since this lab was active.”
“That’s what they told us last time, too,” Alphonse reminded him.
“Let’s hope I’m not wrong.” Roy looked at his hands, debating pulling on his gloves now. He decided against it reluctantly. Anah had said the informant was a war victim and he feared frightening her. Who didn’t know what his gloves meant? “But be prepared for the worst. Three alchemists should be plenty enough trouble for anyone to handle if this goes bad.”
Ed mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like he was sure Roy was wrong but the young man did go into the lab. Roy saw the tension in Ed’s shoulders, Al’s, too. Even Dev almost seemed to believe his girlfriend might have been duped by someone into luring them into this mess.
“Where is she?” Dev asked Anah, peering into the gloom of the abandoned lab.
She shot him a scathing look. “How would I know? She said in here. She’s probably hiding behind all that junk. I got the impression she was afraid of Elric.”
“Afraid of Brother?” Al barked out a laugh.
“What did I do?” Ed scowled and Roy could have answered that easily, alchemist, city-killer, dog of the military, take a pick.
“From what we saw, you helped to blow up large chunks of our city,” a woman said, stepping out from behind some of the rubble.
“And it’s about time someone did something about people like you and Mustang,” Anah’s voice seemed drowned out by the click of a pistol’s hammer cocking back.
Roy didn’t have to waste breath telling everyone to take cover. They all scrambled. Out of the corner of his eye, as he clawed for his glove, Roy saw a man pop out from behind some fallen containers. However, he dismissed the man as the most immediate threat. He didn’t seem to know how to hold his gun. Anah and the mystery woman had no such problems.
Their ambushers probably thought they had the alchemists trapped since Anah was between them and the door. Hopefully, they didn’t know all it would take was for any of them to reach a wall so they could make their own door. It was Dev he worried about. A scarred, slow to respond leg and no alchemy, all Dev had to protect himself was a small hidden gun.
Anah and her companions didn’t wait for them to make a move. The report of their guns echoed deafeningly in the deserted lab. Roy heard Ed yelp, his arm erupting in sparks as a bullet tore into it A raw scream tore out of the Edward’s throat as Alphonse hit ground, something dark spreading around the young alchemist’s head in the gloom. Ed tried to one-handedly drag his brother behind cover, crying his name.
Dev shouted, going down. Grunting in pain, he held his thigh, blood spurting between his fingers like the fountain in the town square. The sharp, metallic tang of blood filled Roy’s nose, threatening to take him back to those days in Ishbal. To hell with fire. Now was the time to use the Gate-imbued knowledge and build them a shelter then he could worry about their attackers.
Roy went to clap his hands but a tickle up his spine told him to move. A bullet pinged off the ground next to him, nearly making Roy lose his footing. Catching himself, he spun around to see Anah standing at a range she couldn’t possibly miss at and his own fingers were unconsciously placed to snap. Once again, his life would depend on whose fingers were: his or an Ishbalan with a gun.
Chapter thirty-one
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Date: 2009-02-24 04:20 am (UTC)Edits! Roy heard Ed yelp, his arm erupting in sparks as a bullet tore into it A raw scream tore out of the Edward’s throat as Alphonse hit ground,
(period after "into it")
(Alphonse hit "the" ground)
If they survive this, Winry and Riza will kill them ALL.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 12:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 05:17 am (UTC)Now I'll be watching for the next chapter everyday!
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Date: 2009-02-24 10:55 pm (UTC)thanks
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Date: 2009-02-25 03:36 am (UTC)BTW, I've nearly finished the short story that was inspired by a line in "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched the Sky." Interested in beta-ing it? I thought perhaps you might like to, being your fic brought it about. ^__^
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Date: 2009-02-25 03:58 am (UTC)connorswhip at yahoo dot com
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Date: 2009-02-25 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-26 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 01:03 pm (UTC)Otherwise, lovely. Roy's grandfather is a hilarious addition. We seem to be learning a lot about Roy's background in the past few chapters.
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Date: 2009-02-24 06:13 pm (UTC)Glad you liked Roy's granddaddy
thanks
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Date: 2009-02-24 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 07:35 pm (UTC)I love Roy's grandfather. They're so alike. :3 So that's where Roy gets all his charm from. ;)
Loved this chapter. I can't wait for the next one! :)
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Date: 2009-02-25 01:53 am (UTC)I'm so glad you liked ROy's granddady. he was fun to write.
thanks
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Date: 2009-02-24 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 10:48 pm (UTC)thanks
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Date: 2009-02-24 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-24 11:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-26 04:24 pm (UTC)(http://www.literaturtipp.com/deutschland/grafiken/themaDesMonatsLeitartikelSchokolade.jpg)
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Date: 2009-02-25 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-25 02:50 am (UTC)and yes they should fear the ladies
thanks
I forgot to comment...
Date: 2009-02-25 04:40 am (UTC)Re: I forgot to comment...
Date: 2009-02-26 04:10 am (UTC)You'll find out about Dev's involvement next chapter (so no you didn't miss anything)
thanks
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Date: 2009-02-26 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-26 04:22 am (UTC)thanks
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Date: 2009-03-03 08:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 03:32 am (UTC)i did write it though. Al died in his sleep trying to recover from the gate
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Date: 2010-03-30 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-30 09:03 pm (UTC)But I think someone else wanted it, too.