Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong ❯ Chapter 10
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Phoenix Hoshika 
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 373 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 373 | Status: Completed
Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chapter Ten
Edward stood at the front desk seething. Roy was apparently out ill. Sheska looked at him with a worried expression on her face it seemed as if he would attack her at any moment.
"I can take your name and leave a message for him if you would like?" Sheska asked shakily, she may have been in the military, but she was completely useless in a fight. There was no way she would be able to defend herself if Edward attacked her.
"Fine!" Edward huffed.
"You're name?" Sheska requested, pen in hand.
"My name?" Edward repeated turning red.
"Yes." Sheska confirmed sweating, still feeling the intensity of the violent aura Edward was giving off.
"You know…" Edward begin nervously laughing as he too started sweating bullets. "It's okay, never mind." He said then darted out of the building.
Sheska let out a sigh of relief. "I really thought she was going to attack me. Thank God." Sheska sighed laying her face down on the desk. "But she looked so familiar to me…," she thought remembering every detail of female Edward's face and then remembering the boy she met a little over a year ago. "Could they be related?"
Edward returned to the hotel room to find it empty. "Al?" He called looking around even though he knew the boy was gone." Groaning Edward scratched his head. "Where could he have gone off to in his condition?" He wondered then left the room to go find him.
Alphonse sat in on a bench against the wall of any abandoned building calmly feeding popcorn seeds to birds until a small wolfish looking dog dashed out of the alley on his left side scaring them away. The dog was black all over except for his paws, face and stomach which were a pale gray. He barked happily at Alphonse who straight away kneeled in front of him and looked at the name tag on his collar: Black Hayate.
"I thought you looked familiar." Alphonse said scooping the dog up into his arms letting the bright red leash dangle over the pavement. The dog barked again then licked his face causing the boy to giggle.
"Black Hayate, stop that," came the commanding voice of a woman. The dog turned in Alphonse's arms and sweetly barked at the woman wagging his tail. "You know cute doesn't work on me. I'll have to punish you later for bothering this young man." Hawkeye said reaching out for her companion. I’m sorry he bothered you." She said stiffly.
"He wasn't a bother." Alphonse replied worried exactly what the blond haired woman meant when she said she'd punish the dog.
"Bad dog, don't ever run off like that again." Hawkeye scolded as she held the dog up in front of her. The dog whined then barked happily still wagging his tail. "You're hopeless." She said placing the dog on the ground then sternly commanded it to sit. Hawkeye then looked up at Alphonse uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her. "Do I know you?" She asked her brown eyes settling heavily onto him.
Alphonse didn't want to answer her question, but he didn't want to lie to her either. "Well, um-"
"Stay still." Hawkeye commanded and Alphonse stood straight as a board as small drops of sweat formed at his temples. "You look familiar." She said in a gentle voice. She leaned uncomfortably close taking in his features and was sharply reminded of Edward. Her eyes widened and she stood back. "Al?" She questioned quietly and he nodded in response. Slowly her lips formed a small smile. "So you were successful, I'm glad."
"It's good to see you Lt. Hawkeye." Alphonse said taking a breath as a small wave of relief came over him.
"Colonel," Hawkeye said shortly.
"Hm?" Alphonse said looking up at her.
"It's Colonel Hawkeye now."
"Sorry, ma'am." Alphonse corrected himself.
"It's okay. You aren't military so you can call me by my first name if you want." Alphonse suddenly stiffened at her words. "What's wrong?" The first lieutenant turned colonel asked noticing his reaction, but before he could answer Hayate had jumped up on Alphonse's thigh biting at the shiny thing that hung ever so slightly from under his shirt. The dog had successfully taken the gold pocket watch, but before he could enjoy his prize hearing the cock of Hawkeye's gun the dog immediately dropped it on the ground. The pup knew that when the gun came out it meant 'stop what you're doing and don't ever do it again'.
"So, Colonel it is." Hawkeye said looking down at the watch as she put away her gun.
Edward had been out looking for his brother all morning and was becoming frustrated. "Where could he have run off to," was the question that frequently repeated itself in his mind. He had come back to check their room several times, but still the boy was nowhere to be found. It was noon now and Edward was hungry. He couldn't very well continue his search on an empty stomach and decided to get something to eat from the small dinner he was coming upon. The restaurant had an outside bar and Edward decided to take a seat there.
"What'll it be?" A young woman maybe in her twenties asked.
"Whatever the special is," Edward said not caring to look at a menu.
"Would you like milk with that?" The woman asked then stepped back when she saw the enraged expression on Edward's face. "Water it is." She said then scurried off.
Edward sat waiting on his meal completely unaware that he was being watched.
Across the street Roy Mustang stood wiping the sweat from his forehead with a white handkerchief then neatly placed it back into the pocket of his uniform. He may have been more than a little late coming into work, but there was no way, as much as would have liked to, stay home and let even more paper work pile up on his desk. It was just a little flu after all and right then he was only having a slight fever, nothing to worry about. That was what he had been mentally chanting to himself as he suavely, but dizzily made his way down the street. He dared not risk driving as his vision tended to unexpectedly blur, but at that moment it was just fine as he set eyes on a rather attractive girl.
"Nice body, but she's kind of on the short side, she could be under age." Mustang thought letting his eyes settle on her chest. "But, with a body like that there is no way she could be a minor; she has to be fully grown." Mustang reasoned as he approached his target. He may have been sick as a dog, but unless you were his doctor (or paying close attention) it was in no way evident from his appearance or his behavior as he smoothly made his way over to the girl.
"Hello" Mustang greeted as coolly as he could muster. His only response was a slight groan, but that didn't detour him; he was going to get a date this weekend (because by then he was sure he'd be healed) and so what if he had to work a little for it? "I noticed you were sitting here alone and thought I'd join you." Mustang said taking a seat on the stole next to hers.
"Suit yourself," was the muffled response. The girl was sitting with her face resting on her hands.
"She seems upset. Maybe her boyfriend dumped her? Lucky me! Rebound dates are the best, but what idiot would dump such a cutie? Oh well who cares! She's mine now!" Mustang thought happily.
"So-" Mustang started testing the waters to see what his next move would be, but was cut off.
"Cut the small talk and get to it already." The girl said demandingly not bothering to look at him.
"Oh, a woman who doesn't mess around, I like her, but I am a bit caught off guard by her directness." Mustang thought slightly blushing. "Well I was thinking-"
"Roy!" Riza Hawkeye's voice cut through the air like a knife and the man nearly fell out of his seat when he heard it. "Ed?" The voice came again except softer and apparently shocked.
"Yeah…" Edward said looking up for the first time his face a pale red. He was hoping they wouldn't recognize him in the body he was in, but he figured he should have known better, it wasn't like his appearance had changed all that much. Perhaps people he wasn't around so often would not recognize him, but he knew when he saw Mustang approaching that the jig was up. Usually sharp to the hidden connotations in people's words Edward had mistook the Brigadier General's flirting for picking since that was what he expected him to do once he found out what happened to him.
Mustang felt as if he had been struck through the head with a javelin. There was no way this was Fullmetal, the pipsqueak alchemist he had practically made his pet project. Not knowing what to do, since it was physically impossible to kick himself, the general burst into a fit of nervous laughter.
"STOP MAKING FUN OF ME DAMNIT!" Edward screamed drawing the attention of everyone within earshot.
"Yes, yes this is very serious indeed." Mustang said continuing to laugh. Mustang could have died right there of embarrassment and almost hoped Hawkeye would pull out her gun and shoot him on the spot.
"General please, you're making a spectacle of yourself." Hawkeye said stating the obvious as everyone continued to stare.
Edward sat mumbling profanities through a mouth full of food as he ate.
"What was that Edward, or is it something more feminine now?" Mustang questioned through giggles.
"Asshole!" Edward said after swallowing his last mouth full. Slamming payment for the meal down on the counter he then pulled a folder from under his shirt and slammed it on the counter as well. "Here's your report Brigadier General Shit." He said then proceeded to stomp away.
"Where do you think you're going and how dare you address you Fuhrer that way." Mustang said to Edward fully over his laughing fit.
"What the @#$%," Edward screamed abruptly turning around to face him. Edward could have died on the spot; that was not a funny joke.
"Acting Fuhrer," Hawkeye corrected in a low voice so not to draw anymore attention. Since miraculously defeating King Bradley and exposing his plans to turn Ametris into a massive grave for the creation of a Philosopher's Stone Mustang had been appointed to hold the position of Fuhrer until an official election was held, since as it would turn out nearly all of the higher ranking officials had to be removed for their involvement in the scandal.
"This can't be happening. I'm getting dizzy." Edward thought as everything around him began to swirl.
"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed catching him before he hit the ground.
Mustang chuckled to himself. "It's only a matter of time." He thought smugly. "No doubt Ms. Elric failed to include how she ended up in her present condition in the report she gave me so make sure to tell your sister I expect to see her in my office as soon as she comes too." Mustang said as he carefully stood up. He too was feeling light headed. "By the way, it's good to finally meet you face to face." Mustang said to Alphonse giving a slight smile before moving on.
"Sir, you are in no condition to work today." Hawkeye said sternly.
"Then you're in charge of taking me home if I become too ill." Mustang said as he walked past her. Hawkeye sighed and followed him making sure to keep her distance as she wasn't in a hurry to fall ill as well. Unfortunately it was only a short while later that Hawkeye found herself caring him out to a military car and driving him home since he had passed out from exhaustion upon entering his office. The paperwork and his meeting with the Fullmetal Alchemist would unfortunately have to wait.
~*~
Another bright and sunny day before the doom that was winter was to fall upon them, but he couldn't enjoy it. There was too much work to be done and he was the only one that could do it. Mustang sat at his desk mechanically signing papers not really looking at them. Someone could have slipped an approval slip in right under his nose for a base party and he would have signed it. If Havoc was there just such a thing might have happened. Mustang sighed looking up from all the paperwork in front of him glancing at the door expecting Hughes to come strolling in, a pocket sized picture book in hand. How long had it been since his closest friend had been gone, murdered, taken away from him and the family he cherished so much? Perhaps he would never recover from the wound his friend's murder left on his heart. Closing his eyes Mustang inhaled deeply and returned to his work just slightly more attentive to what he was doing when his office door opened letting in a breeze that blew some papers up into his face.
Why couldn't people knock before entering his office? Was he the only Brigadier General that commanded such low respect? Didn't these people know he was the Flame Alchemist and even without his state title wouldn't it stand to reason that one would think twice before barging into the room of a pyro who could burn a city to a crisp with the snap of his fingers?
"What do you want?" Mustang demanded agitatedly as he removed the document that had flown up and stuck to his face. The general's eyes nearly fell out when he saw who had disturbed him. "Damnit, what was her name again?" Mustang thought as the girl closed the door and approached his desk. "EDWARD!" Mustang shouted standing up and slamming the palms of his hands down on the oak desk. "What are you doing just barging in here like this!?" He demanded.
"I barge where ever I want and second of all you're the one who ordered me to come here right away."
"Yeah, that's right I did." Mustang thought sweat dropping. "You're over an hour late and as I recall I told you to be waiting here when I arrived at headquarters, so now my question for you, Ms. Elric, is where have you been all this time?" Mustang narrowed his eyes as he continued to pretend to be angrier than he actually was. Though the man actually was angry it was only a byproduct emotion due to the nervousness that Edward's presence was making him feel.
"I was getting my uniform altered." Edward said knocking the piles of papers from Mustang's desk in one swipe then hoping on top laying across it in a pose. "Don't you like it?"
Mustang doubled back in shock. Edward was wearing his ideal women's military uniform. Instead of the standard pants that all military personal wore (accept for a certain State Alchemist who was too small to fit the stand uniforms and just wore regular clothes) Edward was wearing a very tiny miniskirt. "What is the meaning of this? Get out of my office!" Mustang ordered.
"Are you serious? I saw the way you were looking at me yesterday and what about how you were so shamelessly flirting with me?" Edward smirked.
Mustang breathed a sigh of relief and gave a small chuckle. "Very funny Fullmetal, you nearly gave me a heart attack. If you don't want to tell me how you ended up like that fine. Now get off of my office and go change out of that outfit before you embarrass yourself."
"A woman is only embarrassed to wear this kind of outfit if she's unsure of herself." Edward said sitting up and crossing her legs as she unbraided her hair.
"What are you saying?" Mustang asked his heart racing as another wave of shock hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Isn't it obvious?" Edward said shaking her hair loose. "All this time and you couldn't tell?"
"Tell what?" Mustang questioned keeping his distance.
"Why do you think I was so determined to perform another human transmutation? It wasn't just my brother who lost his original body."
"Are you saying you were born a woman?" Mustang asked unable to wrap his mind around the information presented to him.
"Bingo genius."
"But, that can't be."
"You may have found a boy with a broken body that day all those years ago, but think about it; have you ever encountered a man as moody as I was? Besides what I've been through as a child what else could have caused a guy to have such a serious chip on his shoulder?"
"So, you were never actually…" Mustang started and brought his hand to his mouth realizing it was hanging open in utter disbelief.
"Don’t' tell me you're all of a sudden disgusted by me." Edward smirked.
"You poor thing," Mustang said lowering his hand and looking away from her.
"I'm not hurting over it." Edward sighed bored with the general's pity. Hopping off the desk she walked over to him and grabbed his right hand.
Mustang's body tensed. "What are you doing?"
"You're an adult figure it out." Edward said slyly.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The man screamed not fully awake from the fever induced dream.
Hawkeye sat worriedly on the edge of Mustang's bed. After bringing him to his house she couldn't allow herself to just leave him there to sleep it off and found herself tending to him as a nurse would. Instead of dumping him on the sofa with a blanket she carried him up two flights of stairs to his bedroom and removed his uniform jacket and shoes and carefully tucked him into bed, maybe a little too well. The man lay practically smothered underneath three heavy blankets, one quilt, and two comforters. Hawkeye had placed a cool towel on his head to help with the fever and left the room to prepare some soup. When she returned to the room to check on him Mustang was twitching under the covers apparently having a night-terror of some sort except it was the middle of the day.
"No! No! Get away!" Mustang continued screaming raked on the colonel's nerves. After three failed attempt at waking the man from his disturbed slumber Hawkeye sighed pulling out her handgun firing it into the ceiling. "AH!" Mustang exclaimed finally fully awake. He looked over at the woman wanting to yell at her for shooting up his house, but decided it would be a bad idea and ignored the chips of paint and plaster dust that had fallen down into his bed. Mustang was going to lay back down when he noticed something off about Hawkeye's attire. "Are you wearing my clothes?" He asked without thinking. Hawkeye had changed out of her uniform and into one of Mustang's more casual outfits.
The woman blinked and stared at him for a minute before answering making the already uncomfortable situation even tenser. "I'm not getting paid for this." Hawkeye replied curtly then flew out of the room like a gust of wind before Mustang could blink.
Utterly confused Mustang laid back down keeping his eyes open, afraid to go to go back to sleep. "A book, I need to read a book and stay awake." Mustang thought reaching for the unread novel on his nightstand. Sliding over closer to the edge of the bed reaching out for the waiting book he slipped from between the mattress and the covers and fell onto the floor. "Damit." Mustang cursed quietly. Too dizzy and exhausted to stand up and put himself back into bed the man remained on the floor, freezing, until Hawkeye returned a little over an hour later wearing her own clothes, carrying a bowl of soup on a tray with a piece of bread a glass of orange juice.
"Thank you." Mustang said wearily as the woman helped him back into the bed then handed him the tray of food.
"I'm not giving them back." Hawkeye sternly informed her brown eyes settling heavily onto him. In her opinion the outfit she had taken didn't suit him at all and made him look more feminine than handsome. Besides all that it just looked better on her anyway, so there was no reason a man should have owned such an outfit in the first place. Mustang started sweating under the woman's gaze. Hawkeye could be awfully scary sometimes.
"Is there anything else you would like?" He inquired sarcastically, so not to appear as afraid as he actually was. He may have been the Flame Alchemist, but Hawkeye was the best there was when it came to fire arms, she'd have Swiss cheesed his body with bullets before he could get even one finger into his trusty ignition gloves.
Mustang's heart nearly jumped completely up his throat when Hawkeye abruptly stood up. Reaching down she took the empty food tray from his hands and left the room. Mustang could hear her footsteps landing heavily on each step as she went down stairs to the kitchen. Moments later she returned breathing heavily.
"There is something else." She said looking down at him.
"Huh?" Mustang said having almost fell asleep in the short time it took for her to leave the room and return.
Hawkeye reached down and ripped the covers from his body. Mustang curled up into a ball feeling the chilled air (well, the air is chilled to him because he's sick). "What are you doing!?" Mustang demanded then suddenly became concerned Hawkeye would shoot him.
"Are you going to make me ask twice even though you offered it freely?"
The man's face turned beat red and a sudden silence dropped in the room. "Well aren't you forward." Mustang managed to say. "Are you in a hurry to get sick or something?" He asked sweating partly from the fever and partly from fear. It wasn't like he didn't find her attractive, but this was insane.
"I'll just clean it before I use it." Hawkeye said obviously becoming impatient.
"If you insist," Mustang sighed as he undid the belt that held his pants in place and pulled it from around his waist. As soon as the belt was off Hawkeye snatched it away.
The workmanship on the buckle was exquisite and the leather was so soft. Hawkeye had tried to find one just like at all the stores in Central and various other places, but was unable to find anything that even resembled it. "Such detail," she said admiring the belt with a fond look in her eyes and a small smile on her lips which quickly turned to a frown when she looked up. "What are doing?" She asked commandingly.
Mustang sweat dropped. He sat on the bed with his pants down around his ankles. "All she wanted was the belt?" He thought as his heart began to race. What would be a believable excuse for his sudden stripping in front of her? "I'm sick and I'm trying to get comfortable." He said a matter-of-factly.
"Well, since I have what I want I'll leave now, so you can get as comfortable as you want." Hawkeye informed then left the house.
"You moron," Mustang scolded himself out loud then finished pulling his pants off before getting back under the covers.
~*~ To Be Continued ~*~
Author's Note: More questions? In that case better get to answering them. ^_^
Ellen Tee wants to know; "Are you going to make him a guy again?"
Answer; Keep reading and find out ^_~
Sango-maru wants to know; "if there is roy/edo, when/if edo gets his body back will it still be roy/edo? why not just stick al with winry? . . . wouldn't it be easier than an OC?"
Answer; You really want to see some pairing don't you? I already have things set as far as what will happen in future chapters, just have to flesh them out and post them on my website so, I hope you in enjoy reading them. Specifically to the Roy x Ed pairing request, you can get a good idea from my other fics if that'll be on the menu or not. (^o^)
???
I am at a bit of a loss for what to say except thanks for reading and letting me know you enjoyed this fan fiction!
Oh! About Roy's taste in fashion... I saw a picture of him with a scarf on, which can be found on official Japanese Fullmetal Alchemist website, and thought "yuck!" In my opinion it just didn't look right and overall I found the outfit mismatching and hideous, so of course that isn't the one Riza had taken in this story, not even the belt. (Seeing how ugly it is why would she? Even so I must say he was still looking rather hot. ^o^)
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chapter Ten
Edward stood at the front desk seething. Roy was apparently out ill. Sheska looked at him with a worried expression on her face it seemed as if he would attack her at any moment.
"I can take your name and leave a message for him if you would like?" Sheska asked shakily, she may have been in the military, but she was completely useless in a fight. There was no way she would be able to defend herself if Edward attacked her.
"Fine!" Edward huffed.
"You're name?" Sheska requested, pen in hand.
"My name?" Edward repeated turning red.
"Yes." Sheska confirmed sweating, still feeling the intensity of the violent aura Edward was giving off.
"You know…" Edward begin nervously laughing as he too started sweating bullets. "It's okay, never mind." He said then darted out of the building.
Sheska let out a sigh of relief. "I really thought she was going to attack me. Thank God." Sheska sighed laying her face down on the desk. "But she looked so familiar to me…," she thought remembering every detail of female Edward's face and then remembering the boy she met a little over a year ago. "Could they be related?"
Edward returned to the hotel room to find it empty. "Al?" He called looking around even though he knew the boy was gone." Groaning Edward scratched his head. "Where could he have gone off to in his condition?" He wondered then left the room to go find him.
Alphonse sat in on a bench against the wall of any abandoned building calmly feeding popcorn seeds to birds until a small wolfish looking dog dashed out of the alley on his left side scaring them away. The dog was black all over except for his paws, face and stomach which were a pale gray. He barked happily at Alphonse who straight away kneeled in front of him and looked at the name tag on his collar: Black Hayate.
"I thought you looked familiar." Alphonse said scooping the dog up into his arms letting the bright red leash dangle over the pavement. The dog barked again then licked his face causing the boy to giggle.
"Black Hayate, stop that," came the commanding voice of a woman. The dog turned in Alphonse's arms and sweetly barked at the woman wagging his tail. "You know cute doesn't work on me. I'll have to punish you later for bothering this young man." Hawkeye said reaching out for her companion. I’m sorry he bothered you." She said stiffly.
"He wasn't a bother." Alphonse replied worried exactly what the blond haired woman meant when she said she'd punish the dog.
"Bad dog, don't ever run off like that again." Hawkeye scolded as she held the dog up in front of her. The dog whined then barked happily still wagging his tail. "You're hopeless." She said placing the dog on the ground then sternly commanded it to sit. Hawkeye then looked up at Alphonse uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her. "Do I know you?" She asked her brown eyes settling heavily onto him.
Alphonse didn't want to answer her question, but he didn't want to lie to her either. "Well, um-"
"Stay still." Hawkeye commanded and Alphonse stood straight as a board as small drops of sweat formed at his temples. "You look familiar." She said in a gentle voice. She leaned uncomfortably close taking in his features and was sharply reminded of Edward. Her eyes widened and she stood back. "Al?" She questioned quietly and he nodded in response. Slowly her lips formed a small smile. "So you were successful, I'm glad."
"It's good to see you Lt. Hawkeye." Alphonse said taking a breath as a small wave of relief came over him.
"Colonel," Hawkeye said shortly.
"Hm?" Alphonse said looking up at her.
"It's Colonel Hawkeye now."
"Sorry, ma'am." Alphonse corrected himself.
"It's okay. You aren't military so you can call me by my first name if you want." Alphonse suddenly stiffened at her words. "What's wrong?" The first lieutenant turned colonel asked noticing his reaction, but before he could answer Hayate had jumped up on Alphonse's thigh biting at the shiny thing that hung ever so slightly from under his shirt. The dog had successfully taken the gold pocket watch, but before he could enjoy his prize hearing the cock of Hawkeye's gun the dog immediately dropped it on the ground. The pup knew that when the gun came out it meant 'stop what you're doing and don't ever do it again'.
"So, Colonel it is." Hawkeye said looking down at the watch as she put away her gun.
Edward had been out looking for his brother all morning and was becoming frustrated. "Where could he have run off to," was the question that frequently repeated itself in his mind. He had come back to check their room several times, but still the boy was nowhere to be found. It was noon now and Edward was hungry. He couldn't very well continue his search on an empty stomach and decided to get something to eat from the small dinner he was coming upon. The restaurant had an outside bar and Edward decided to take a seat there.
"What'll it be?" A young woman maybe in her twenties asked.
"Whatever the special is," Edward said not caring to look at a menu.
"Would you like milk with that?" The woman asked then stepped back when she saw the enraged expression on Edward's face. "Water it is." She said then scurried off.
Edward sat waiting on his meal completely unaware that he was being watched.
Across the street Roy Mustang stood wiping the sweat from his forehead with a white handkerchief then neatly placed it back into the pocket of his uniform. He may have been more than a little late coming into work, but there was no way, as much as would have liked to, stay home and let even more paper work pile up on his desk. It was just a little flu after all and right then he was only having a slight fever, nothing to worry about. That was what he had been mentally chanting to himself as he suavely, but dizzily made his way down the street. He dared not risk driving as his vision tended to unexpectedly blur, but at that moment it was just fine as he set eyes on a rather attractive girl.
"Nice body, but she's kind of on the short side, she could be under age." Mustang thought letting his eyes settle on her chest. "But, with a body like that there is no way she could be a minor; she has to be fully grown." Mustang reasoned as he approached his target. He may have been sick as a dog, but unless you were his doctor (or paying close attention) it was in no way evident from his appearance or his behavior as he smoothly made his way over to the girl.
"Hello" Mustang greeted as coolly as he could muster. His only response was a slight groan, but that didn't detour him; he was going to get a date this weekend (because by then he was sure he'd be healed) and so what if he had to work a little for it? "I noticed you were sitting here alone and thought I'd join you." Mustang said taking a seat on the stole next to hers.
"Suit yourself," was the muffled response. The girl was sitting with her face resting on her hands.
"She seems upset. Maybe her boyfriend dumped her? Lucky me! Rebound dates are the best, but what idiot would dump such a cutie? Oh well who cares! She's mine now!" Mustang thought happily.
"So-" Mustang started testing the waters to see what his next move would be, but was cut off.
"Cut the small talk and get to it already." The girl said demandingly not bothering to look at him.
"Oh, a woman who doesn't mess around, I like her, but I am a bit caught off guard by her directness." Mustang thought slightly blushing. "Well I was thinking-"
"Roy!" Riza Hawkeye's voice cut through the air like a knife and the man nearly fell out of his seat when he heard it. "Ed?" The voice came again except softer and apparently shocked.
"Yeah…" Edward said looking up for the first time his face a pale red. He was hoping they wouldn't recognize him in the body he was in, but he figured he should have known better, it wasn't like his appearance had changed all that much. Perhaps people he wasn't around so often would not recognize him, but he knew when he saw Mustang approaching that the jig was up. Usually sharp to the hidden connotations in people's words Edward had mistook the Brigadier General's flirting for picking since that was what he expected him to do once he found out what happened to him.
Mustang felt as if he had been struck through the head with a javelin. There was no way this was Fullmetal, the pipsqueak alchemist he had practically made his pet project. Not knowing what to do, since it was physically impossible to kick himself, the general burst into a fit of nervous laughter.
"STOP MAKING FUN OF ME DAMNIT!" Edward screamed drawing the attention of everyone within earshot.
"Yes, yes this is very serious indeed." Mustang said continuing to laugh. Mustang could have died right there of embarrassment and almost hoped Hawkeye would pull out her gun and shoot him on the spot.
"General please, you're making a spectacle of yourself." Hawkeye said stating the obvious as everyone continued to stare.
Edward sat mumbling profanities through a mouth full of food as he ate.
"What was that Edward, or is it something more feminine now?" Mustang questioned through giggles.
"Asshole!" Edward said after swallowing his last mouth full. Slamming payment for the meal down on the counter he then pulled a folder from under his shirt and slammed it on the counter as well. "Here's your report Brigadier General Shit." He said then proceeded to stomp away.
"Where do you think you're going and how dare you address you Fuhrer that way." Mustang said to Edward fully over his laughing fit.
"What the @#$%," Edward screamed abruptly turning around to face him. Edward could have died on the spot; that was not a funny joke.
"Acting Fuhrer," Hawkeye corrected in a low voice so not to draw anymore attention. Since miraculously defeating King Bradley and exposing his plans to turn Ametris into a massive grave for the creation of a Philosopher's Stone Mustang had been appointed to hold the position of Fuhrer until an official election was held, since as it would turn out nearly all of the higher ranking officials had to be removed for their involvement in the scandal.
"This can't be happening. I'm getting dizzy." Edward thought as everything around him began to swirl.
"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed catching him before he hit the ground.
Mustang chuckled to himself. "It's only a matter of time." He thought smugly. "No doubt Ms. Elric failed to include how she ended up in her present condition in the report she gave me so make sure to tell your sister I expect to see her in my office as soon as she comes too." Mustang said as he carefully stood up. He too was feeling light headed. "By the way, it's good to finally meet you face to face." Mustang said to Alphonse giving a slight smile before moving on.
"Sir, you are in no condition to work today." Hawkeye said sternly.
"Then you're in charge of taking me home if I become too ill." Mustang said as he walked past her. Hawkeye sighed and followed him making sure to keep her distance as she wasn't in a hurry to fall ill as well. Unfortunately it was only a short while later that Hawkeye found herself caring him out to a military car and driving him home since he had passed out from exhaustion upon entering his office. The paperwork and his meeting with the Fullmetal Alchemist would unfortunately have to wait.
~*~
Another bright and sunny day before the doom that was winter was to fall upon them, but he couldn't enjoy it. There was too much work to be done and he was the only one that could do it. Mustang sat at his desk mechanically signing papers not really looking at them. Someone could have slipped an approval slip in right under his nose for a base party and he would have signed it. If Havoc was there just such a thing might have happened. Mustang sighed looking up from all the paperwork in front of him glancing at the door expecting Hughes to come strolling in, a pocket sized picture book in hand. How long had it been since his closest friend had been gone, murdered, taken away from him and the family he cherished so much? Perhaps he would never recover from the wound his friend's murder left on his heart. Closing his eyes Mustang inhaled deeply and returned to his work just slightly more attentive to what he was doing when his office door opened letting in a breeze that blew some papers up into his face.
Why couldn't people knock before entering his office? Was he the only Brigadier General that commanded such low respect? Didn't these people know he was the Flame Alchemist and even without his state title wouldn't it stand to reason that one would think twice before barging into the room of a pyro who could burn a city to a crisp with the snap of his fingers?
"What do you want?" Mustang demanded agitatedly as he removed the document that had flown up and stuck to his face. The general's eyes nearly fell out when he saw who had disturbed him. "Damnit, what was her name again?" Mustang thought as the girl closed the door and approached his desk. "EDWARD!" Mustang shouted standing up and slamming the palms of his hands down on the oak desk. "What are you doing just barging in here like this!?" He demanded.
"I barge where ever I want and second of all you're the one who ordered me to come here right away."
"Yeah, that's right I did." Mustang thought sweat dropping. "You're over an hour late and as I recall I told you to be waiting here when I arrived at headquarters, so now my question for you, Ms. Elric, is where have you been all this time?" Mustang narrowed his eyes as he continued to pretend to be angrier than he actually was. Though the man actually was angry it was only a byproduct emotion due to the nervousness that Edward's presence was making him feel.
"I was getting my uniform altered." Edward said knocking the piles of papers from Mustang's desk in one swipe then hoping on top laying across it in a pose. "Don't you like it?"
Mustang doubled back in shock. Edward was wearing his ideal women's military uniform. Instead of the standard pants that all military personal wore (accept for a certain State Alchemist who was too small to fit the stand uniforms and just wore regular clothes) Edward was wearing a very tiny miniskirt. "What is the meaning of this? Get out of my office!" Mustang ordered.
"Are you serious? I saw the way you were looking at me yesterday and what about how you were so shamelessly flirting with me?" Edward smirked.
Mustang breathed a sigh of relief and gave a small chuckle. "Very funny Fullmetal, you nearly gave me a heart attack. If you don't want to tell me how you ended up like that fine. Now get off of my office and go change out of that outfit before you embarrass yourself."
"A woman is only embarrassed to wear this kind of outfit if she's unsure of herself." Edward said sitting up and crossing her legs as she unbraided her hair.
"What are you saying?" Mustang asked his heart racing as another wave of shock hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Isn't it obvious?" Edward said shaking her hair loose. "All this time and you couldn't tell?"
"Tell what?" Mustang questioned keeping his distance.
"Why do you think I was so determined to perform another human transmutation? It wasn't just my brother who lost his original body."
"Are you saying you were born a woman?" Mustang asked unable to wrap his mind around the information presented to him.
"Bingo genius."
"But, that can't be."
"You may have found a boy with a broken body that day all those years ago, but think about it; have you ever encountered a man as moody as I was? Besides what I've been through as a child what else could have caused a guy to have such a serious chip on his shoulder?"
"So, you were never actually…" Mustang started and brought his hand to his mouth realizing it was hanging open in utter disbelief.
"Don’t' tell me you're all of a sudden disgusted by me." Edward smirked.
"You poor thing," Mustang said lowering his hand and looking away from her.
"I'm not hurting over it." Edward sighed bored with the general's pity. Hopping off the desk she walked over to him and grabbed his right hand.
Mustang's body tensed. "What are you doing?"
"You're an adult figure it out." Edward said slyly.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The man screamed not fully awake from the fever induced dream.
Hawkeye sat worriedly on the edge of Mustang's bed. After bringing him to his house she couldn't allow herself to just leave him there to sleep it off and found herself tending to him as a nurse would. Instead of dumping him on the sofa with a blanket she carried him up two flights of stairs to his bedroom and removed his uniform jacket and shoes and carefully tucked him into bed, maybe a little too well. The man lay practically smothered underneath three heavy blankets, one quilt, and two comforters. Hawkeye had placed a cool towel on his head to help with the fever and left the room to prepare some soup. When she returned to the room to check on him Mustang was twitching under the covers apparently having a night-terror of some sort except it was the middle of the day.
"No! No! Get away!" Mustang continued screaming raked on the colonel's nerves. After three failed attempt at waking the man from his disturbed slumber Hawkeye sighed pulling out her handgun firing it into the ceiling. "AH!" Mustang exclaimed finally fully awake. He looked over at the woman wanting to yell at her for shooting up his house, but decided it would be a bad idea and ignored the chips of paint and plaster dust that had fallen down into his bed. Mustang was going to lay back down when he noticed something off about Hawkeye's attire. "Are you wearing my clothes?" He asked without thinking. Hawkeye had changed out of her uniform and into one of Mustang's more casual outfits.
The woman blinked and stared at him for a minute before answering making the already uncomfortable situation even tenser. "I'm not getting paid for this." Hawkeye replied curtly then flew out of the room like a gust of wind before Mustang could blink.
Utterly confused Mustang laid back down keeping his eyes open, afraid to go to go back to sleep. "A book, I need to read a book and stay awake." Mustang thought reaching for the unread novel on his nightstand. Sliding over closer to the edge of the bed reaching out for the waiting book he slipped from between the mattress and the covers and fell onto the floor. "Damit." Mustang cursed quietly. Too dizzy and exhausted to stand up and put himself back into bed the man remained on the floor, freezing, until Hawkeye returned a little over an hour later wearing her own clothes, carrying a bowl of soup on a tray with a piece of bread a glass of orange juice.
"Thank you." Mustang said wearily as the woman helped him back into the bed then handed him the tray of food.
"I'm not giving them back." Hawkeye sternly informed her brown eyes settling heavily onto him. In her opinion the outfit she had taken didn't suit him at all and made him look more feminine than handsome. Besides all that it just looked better on her anyway, so there was no reason a man should have owned such an outfit in the first place. Mustang started sweating under the woman's gaze. Hawkeye could be awfully scary sometimes.
"Is there anything else you would like?" He inquired sarcastically, so not to appear as afraid as he actually was. He may have been the Flame Alchemist, but Hawkeye was the best there was when it came to fire arms, she'd have Swiss cheesed his body with bullets before he could get even one finger into his trusty ignition gloves.
Mustang's heart nearly jumped completely up his throat when Hawkeye abruptly stood up. Reaching down she took the empty food tray from his hands and left the room. Mustang could hear her footsteps landing heavily on each step as she went down stairs to the kitchen. Moments later she returned breathing heavily.
"There is something else." She said looking down at him.
"Huh?" Mustang said having almost fell asleep in the short time it took for her to leave the room and return.
Hawkeye reached down and ripped the covers from his body. Mustang curled up into a ball feeling the chilled air (well, the air is chilled to him because he's sick). "What are you doing!?" Mustang demanded then suddenly became concerned Hawkeye would shoot him.
"Are you going to make me ask twice even though you offered it freely?"
The man's face turned beat red and a sudden silence dropped in the room. "Well aren't you forward." Mustang managed to say. "Are you in a hurry to get sick or something?" He asked sweating partly from the fever and partly from fear. It wasn't like he didn't find her attractive, but this was insane.
"I'll just clean it before I use it." Hawkeye said obviously becoming impatient.
"If you insist," Mustang sighed as he undid the belt that held his pants in place and pulled it from around his waist. As soon as the belt was off Hawkeye snatched it away.
The workmanship on the buckle was exquisite and the leather was so soft. Hawkeye had tried to find one just like at all the stores in Central and various other places, but was unable to find anything that even resembled it. "Such detail," she said admiring the belt with a fond look in her eyes and a small smile on her lips which quickly turned to a frown when she looked up. "What are doing?" She asked commandingly.
Mustang sweat dropped. He sat on the bed with his pants down around his ankles. "All she wanted was the belt?" He thought as his heart began to race. What would be a believable excuse for his sudden stripping in front of her? "I'm sick and I'm trying to get comfortable." He said a matter-of-factly.
"Well, since I have what I want I'll leave now, so you can get as comfortable as you want." Hawkeye informed then left the house.
"You moron," Mustang scolded himself out loud then finished pulling his pants off before getting back under the covers.
~*~ To Be Continued ~*~
Author's Note: More questions? In that case better get to answering them. ^_^
Ellen Tee wants to know; "Are you going to make him a guy again?"
Answer; Keep reading and find out ^_~
Sango-maru wants to know; "if there is roy/edo, when/if edo gets his body back will it still be roy/edo? why not just stick al with winry? . . . wouldn't it be easier than an OC?"
Answer; You really want to see some pairing don't you? I already have things set as far as what will happen in future chapters, just have to flesh them out and post them on my website so, I hope you in enjoy reading them. Specifically to the Roy x Ed pairing request, you can get a good idea from my other fics if that'll be on the menu or not. (^o^)
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I am at a bit of a loss for what to say except thanks for reading and letting me know you enjoyed this fan fiction!
Oh! About Roy's taste in fashion... I saw a picture of him with a scarf on, which can be found on official Japanese Fullmetal Alchemist website, and thought "yuck!" In my opinion it just didn't look right and overall I found the outfit mismatching and hideous, so of course that isn't the one Riza had taken in this story, not even the belt. (Seeing how ugly it is why would she? Even so I must say he was still looking rather hot. ^o^)