My precious Young Royai. Probably this is an AU, but idk if to put it in Fmpolice AU or Gamers AU . (Sorry, I wrote wrong "dummy", I was want to say "dumb face")
My precious Young Royai. Probably this is an AU, but idk if to put it in Fmpolice AU or Gamers AU . (Sorry, I wrote wrong "dummy", I was want to say "dumb face")
The secret to most interpersonal communication is to simply listen. People have difficulty speaking the truth as it makes them vulnerable and sometimes they do not want to admit the truth to themselves. Listening got Riza far in life, as she was able to read between the lines of dialogue and also utilize context clues when she wasn't sure what was going on. Right now, however, it wasn't shedding any light on what the hell was happening. Not when she was looking at a newspaper from 1915.
She continued to pretend she was reading the new in hopes of restoring her lost memory, but in reality she was listening in on the men in the next room. They were in the doctor's home, the man who had carried her to the car was arguing with him over checking into the hospital. Dr. Knox and Roy Mustang, two names that meant absolutely nothing to her. The young man was Edward and the suit of armor was Alphonse. There was also a young girl in the next room, someone else who had been badly hurt. Everyone assured her that nobody was injured due to her car accident...mainly because she didn't have one.
There wasn't anything fake about the familiarity or worry on the faces of these people, they genuinely were concerned with her well being and her confusion. Knox said that the incident with 'Envy' could have caused head trauma but it was more likely an affect of 'whatever alchemy you conjured up back there, Roy'. Mustang had looked away and dismissed that comment, then grew irritated when Edward asked what he did.
“Colonel, what's this on the Lieutenant's shirt?”
“It's blood, Fullmetal.”
Riza looked up from the paper as she sat in bed and focused on the voices. That young man was distraught about leaving the scene of the incident, but had managed to cram into the car with his brother Al after decalring Envy took Gluttony home. She was starting to believe Knox when he diagnosed her with head trauma. In the packed car, she remained cradled in Roy's arms in the front seat as he tried to brush off the pain he was in. She looked at the Elric boys in the back seat as they sat with the other victim across their laps. She kept nodding off, unconsciousness beckoning her to let it ease her pain, exhaustion and questions,, but she'd jolt awake as soon as she felt it getting too close. She was afraid she wouldn't wake up this time. So she tried to keep her eyes open as long as possible, but it felt so damned good to be held like she was a treasure, that she finally couldn't fight it anymore.
She did wake up and still nothing made sense. Especially the reasoning behind coming to the doctor's home instead of taking everyone to the hospital. Limbs were missing. Memories were missing.
“This is a washed out transmutation circle. What the hell did you do?”
“Medical alchemy. I don't have gloves for that.”
Riza just couldn't make sense of that either. Alchemy. It kept coming up in conversation as if it was a daily topic of conversation instead of a an interesting footnote in a science book. She jumped as Roy entered the room and smiled as he looked at her. Always a glow about him when he looked at her and she couldn't help but enjoy the warmth of it. “Alchemy?”
Roy walked over and sat on the bed. In almost losing her, he was no longer strong enough to keep up their usual act. He looked at her again, just to make sure she was real. “I know, not my specialty but Knox helped me. I needed to stop the bleeding, you were going into shock.”
“Did I die?” She asked and watched him freeze and his eyes betray him. “Is that what this is? Some sort of afterlife?”
“This is hardly heaven Riza. It's not hell either. It's just...”
“Not real.” She said and he gave her a look that she couldn't quite figure out. She pushed the newspaper to him. “I was not alive in 1915. I'm not a Lieutenant and I don't know any of you. I'm work for a firearms company. I was on my way to deliver a presentation about our newest automatic rifle to the military. Along with ballistics data and my research on gunpowder. So, that being said, they will be looking for me when I don't show up.”
“Ok. I guess that means we're going to the hospital.” He mumbled and rubbed his eyes with his hand. Knox was probably right. Between the injuries and alchemy, her reality was completely distorted. If this was due to some brain injury than there would be swelling and that was more than Knox could treat in his house. Amputations for an army doctor were common place, he was only comfortable working with brains during autopsy. Riza needed medication to make sure that this didn't get worse. “I don't want to put us in a military facility now that we know Bradley is one of them, but it's an acceptable risk. We need to have a specialist look at you.”
“Thank you.” She said and she could see his hand start to move for hers, but he thought better of it and smoothed out the sheets instead.
“Riza...”
“Mustang!” Ed burst into the room and held up the bloody shirt. “You think I won't recognize this?”
Riza watched the teenager point to her shirt, stained from the accident. Dr Knox had given her something to wear that was clean, from his wife's closet. Apparently his wife left and never bothered to pack. She was concentrating on Ed and almost didn't catch Roy sneaking his hand into his pants to pull out...gloves? Was he going to inspect her shirt with gloves now? After he practically smeared her blood all over him when he was carrying her earlier? She wasn't prepared for his hand to raise and for him to snap his fingers. A streak of flame shot forth and lit the shirt on fire, rendering her wide-eyed and speechless.
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After the incident in Knox's home, she decided it was best to interact with everyone as little as possible. She was scared and disoriented, it was making her feel sick. Ed and Al left the doctor's home after the shirt incident as they needed to go find a friend named Ling. That left Roy driving them to the hospital so he could check back in for an injury he had received earlier in the week and to make sure she got the medical attention she needed. She had little choice, and simply nodded and went along for the ride.
She really didn't have another option.
This man, Roy Mustang, was apparently protective of her and saved her life. She didn't know him, but she didn't know anyone, and her best option was to stay with him. She also decided it was best to observe than volunteer information and gather what knowledge she could of her situation that way. As they drove to the hospital she felt like she was going back through a historical village, and a creeping sense of uncertainty began to overtake her thoughts.
The cars were all older models, models she had never seen. The buildings and streets were out of a painting from the turn of the century, complete with gaslights. Phone booths and painted signs, no billboards or neon or cell towers. Butcher shops and bakeries, no super markets. Even a hardware store and apothecary. This was way too elaborate to be a hoax. This was not home either. So what was it?
So now she faced the conundrum of questioning herself and what she knew. Everything in front of her was fluid and she was the rock in the stream. The people she met, knew her and each other, and the city in front of her was very much real. So was Knox right? Was she really just confused, her brain struggling to make sense of something and ergo inventing some fantasy to come to terms with what happened?
She did die, after all. That, along with her name, was the only thing that everyone agreed on.
Riza tried to keep her eyes on the road, look out the window and take in everything that was around her, however she could feel him steeling glances in her direction. She could feel his concerned looks and finally let her eyes shift to him. The look on his face and in his eyes almost killed her again.
Whoever this man was, there was no doubt in her mind that he truly loved her. She felt a flutter in her heart and wished it was just that simple to accept that this was her life. However there was a staggeringly high probability that once she gave in to this reality, or the nagging need to close her eyes and rest, that it would disappear or she would lose herself completely. Despite telling herself to stay silent, despite telling herself to stay distant...she couldn't help but ask him one question. “We're more than co-workers, aren't we?”
“Yes.” Roy said and ran his hand over the steering wheel. “We've been together a long time. We've known each other since we were teenagers...we've been through war together...”
“Are we together?” She asked as she tried to read his face. Was he hurt because she didn't remember and had to ask?
“We can't be because of fraternization laws. I'm your superior officer.” It sounded so much better than the truth. The made excuses because work came first and they lied to themselves and said they'd eventually make time.
“Why are you having such a hard time answering my question, sir?” She said and he reacted favorably to it. It was the tone she used at work when people weren't getting her the work or results she needed. She hated hearing excuses when she wanted answers and results. He looked over at her, he seemed relieved to have her bark an order at him.
“I have always loved you. Our jobs and goals have kept us from being able to do more than just settle for what time we can have together. I almost lost you Riza, you died and I realized that there wasn't any time left to make good on all those promises I made. We worked, we did our jobs so well that it earned us a lifetime of guilt and self-loathing and...as much as I hate myself, I love you. I want to give you everything, see you happy....and I don't think that's where my goals take us. I'm willing to give up my life, not yours. This is twice in one week you've made it clear to me that you don't value your life above mine and that is unacceptable. I'm not letting you slip away from me again, you're all I have.”
For this one I just felt that having Roy say Riza's lines worked well. It's a role reversal as she's in command of him while he's recovering and it's a very key part of their relationship in the manga. Plus it tickles me to find ways to use those lines and situations in an AU,the premise being they are just meant for each other no matter what I make them do.
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Riza gasped as he broke off his kiss to lay light kisses across her cheek, jawbone and finally trail down her neck. His right hand cupped her jaw and his thumb played with her earlobe as his left squeezed her hip where it had originally landed. “Roy...we can't do this here.”
He stopped and put his head against her shoulder.
“The whole damned camp can see us, get behind the crates.” She turned to look at his surprise, eyebrows peaking out from under the bandage and his mouth slightly open. He was so expressive, she couldn't wait to see what his eyes would add to his gorgeous face. “Are you going to follow me?
“Do you even have to ask?” He raised his eyebrows as she hopped off him and disappeared. “Riza, I can't see, do you really want me to start feeling my way around?”
She finished checking the location to ensure they were out of view and went back to grab his hand. “What are you going to do without me next week?”
He squeezed her hand and quietly said, “I...don't know. I know that there is someone I have to protect and...that will make it easier.”
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“It's awfully quiet in here.” Roy said.
“It's a bandage, I don't think I need to be supervised to take it off.” Riza growled when she heard Hughes holler, 'Bet that's not the only thing you want to take off!'.
Roy gave her a smile. “He's pushy.”
“You have no idea.” She felt his hand on hers and she didn't know why she was so nervous about this. It was more than finding out if his sight would be reduced, she was more afraid of him not liking what he saw.
“Riza. What's wrong?”
He could feel her emotions which scared her and also fluttered something deep down in her. She knew that what was really bothering her was not his eyes, sight or job. It was that he was going to leave and this week would be just a sidenote in his career and life. This hospital saw it's share of trysts, soldiers living for the moment and taking whatever human interaction they could get.
“Riza. Talk to me.”
His voice was so soothing, so warm and honest. She didn't want to force him to lie, to do the nice thing and tell her that he'd write or call. She was about to say something but heard a whistle and her heart stopped. She knew what an incoming shell sounded like. Before she could say anything, he had his arms wrapped around her and was throwing them both to the floor.
The shell hit the main camp and was promptly followed by another. The ground shook and they could heard the screams, the siren blaring and the PA cracking to life as Fuery told them all what was going on. MASH 611 was under attack.
“That's a tank.” Roy said into her ear as he lie on top of her. “Two tanks.”
She had been close to the front lines long enough to have been exposed to enemy fire. She was still shocked, Ishvalians didn't attack hospitals. Amestrians did. Whatever the enemy was after, it had to be important. Important like the Flame Alchemist who was currently shielding her body. “Roy...”
“Where are my gloves?” He asked.
“I won't take off your bandage, you can't just run out there and go from dark to light instantly! It will do more damage than the debris you got in your eyes!”
“Dr. Hawkeye, someone is attacking this hospital and I don't mean to sound arrogant but I'm pretty confident it's for me. So...”
“I'll be your eyes.” She said. “Don't you dare take that bandage off you idiot!”
“Get my gloves, please.” He sat up. “They were in my pants when I was admitted.”
“I'll get them. They're in the Colonel's office. Stay here.”
“Hawkeye!” He felt her scramble out from under him and the door slam shut before he could do anything. “Dammit! Don't Go where I can't follow!”
She turned back to the door as she heard his panicked shout and replied, “You touch that bandage and I'll shoot your hand off!”
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“How good is your aim?”
“Excellent. Had I not gone to medical school I probably would have enlisted as a sniper.” Riza wrapped her arm around him and set her chin on his shoulder so she could look down his arm as she would her rifle back home. She ran her hand up his outstretched arm and pushed it slightly to the left.
“You're one hell of a woman.”
“Focus Major.”
“It's a little difficult when you're holding me like this.” He said and took a deep breathe. “I can hear the tank engine, did they stop?”
“Stop trying to rush out there. We had a plan and we're sticking to it.”
“I don't want them to get another shot off.”
“Roy, stop. They'll move the tank, I promise. I spent my teenage years living with my grandfather who happens to be a Lt. General. I understand military tactics better than you are giving me credit for.”
“Will you have dinner with me tonight?” Roy asked.
“Roy...”
“I need someone to make sure Barry isn't putting possum in the stew. “
She smiled.
“I can feel you smiling. Which is good because you were starting to get me a little excited and I didn't want to snap and fire off prematurely and reveal our position.”
“Then stop saying things laced with innuendo.”
“Can't help it...” He said. “I'm a little worried you're going to take off this bandage and tell me you're not interested because of my Xingese eyes.”
“That's ridiculous.” She snorted. “I love interracial porn.”
He was glad he heard the tank engine rev up. Then the sound of a shell hitting the metal floor of the tank interior. “Shit, they're getting ready to fire.”
“Wait.” She said and squeezed him with her arm around his chest.
“Riza, please stay behind me. I need to see to be able to judge the distance and intensity. I can't see my environment I can't pinpoint my attack.”
“Don't hold back.”
“I have to. There are munitions in there, my initial attack will be followed by a secondary explosion from the gunpower in the shells and a tertiary ignition from the gasoline in the tank. There is going to be blowback, I don't want you hurt. “
“Roy, calm down. I am an excellent shot which means I have to be able to judge distance. Please trust me.”
This fanart has been stuck in my head for a while. I love it, especially because as a writer this particular AU makes you really have to know what makes your characters tick and their history that you now have to erase. So it's definitely a backburner fic as I still can't get my head around all the variables, but it's so damned tantalizing. I really want to do this because it's not going to be easy, definitely would love feedback or ideas if anyone has them. Very raw snippet as it's going to take some major brainstorming to sort out this one.
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Riza's eyes grew wide as her father revealed his plans for encrypting the secrets of his alchemy studies. He said it so matter of factly, as if he was telling her he'd hid some money in the sugar jar or the deed to the house under the floorboards. She trembled as she thought about what the process would be to etch all that on her back. Then she thought about a lifetime of hiding her back from the world to avoid detection. Why would he disguise his curse as a gift? Was this all she was to him? Chattel? To be marked with his brand and passed on to the next Flame Alchemist to be studied and humiliated?
She stood from the chair in front of his desk where he hunched over the paper sketching out his secrets. She finally found her voice and a courage that she didn't know she had. “Why don't you entrust your knowledge to me instead of hiding it from me on my back?”
Berthold Hawkeye looked up at his daughter as if she spoke a foreign language. “Excuse me?”
“Why am I not good enough to teach? You trust me with the secret but not the skill?”
“You never showed any ability to learn alchemy.”
“You never tried to teach me.” She replied.
He folded his hands and looked at her. “I suppose I owe your mother that much.”
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Roy slung his rifle over his shoulder and looked at Maes. “What did we do now?”
Maes smiled. “I'm told we overachieved.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Roy asked.
“Well Captain Mustang, it typically means that we're damned good at our jobs and someone wants to give us a better one.”
“You mean we haven't gotten killed yet and someone above us did.”
“That too.” Maes chuckled. “Come on. The Colonel wants to see us.”
Roy followed Maes to the officer's tent and hoped that the Colonel was planning on telling them the war was over. Or that his application for state alchemist was approved. Though it was more likely hell froze over and the war ended. He knew the Military wasn't interested in research alchemists at the moment, only ones useful in battle. Especially since he chose to research Alkehestry falling back on his half-Xingese bloodlines when he couldn't find a mentor. It was a good choice, he could really help people with medical alchemy however saving people was not the business the Military was in right now.
Colonel Russet nodded to the two men as they entered the tent. “Here you are General Grumman, the best I have.”
“Great!” Grumman smiled as the two Captains saluted him, startled to see a man of his rank in the field with them. “Come with me.”
Roy glanced at Maes and saw his eyes grow wide. They then followed the old man out to his vehicle where a pretty young blond stood waiting for him. Roy blinked, she was very young to be a Major. He snapped a salute as soon as he realized he was looking at a superior.
“At ease, gentleman!” Grumman chuckled. “I'd like to introduce to you, Major Riza Hawkeye, The Flame Alchemist.”
Roy blinked. Hawkeye? Flame Alchemist? He had visited the man Hawkeye in his teens to try and beg him to teach him, instead the old man slammed the door in his face and told him he already had an apprentice. This was his apprentice?
Riza nodded a greeting and wished her grandfather wasn't being so protective. She understood why, her prize alchemy would be highly sought after and she was going to need bodyguards for the rest of her military career.
“She's also my granddaughter.” Grumman beamed happily. “So, as you two have some of the best records out of the academy and in combat without being old, jaded and ambitious...I'm looking to reassign you to Major Hawkeye's unit. Keep her safe, provide her with intel and lets bring this war to a close. You can catch a ride with the next car, I'm going to be selfish and keep the Major to myself a bit longer.”
Roy watched the two get back in the car and tried to force his mind to comprehend what just happened. His thoughts were interrupted by Maes's voice.
“Dibs.”
Roy glared at him. “You can't call Dibs on your commanding officer!”
“She's hot! And I don't mean that as a pun. Damn.” Maes nudged him. “Besides, if I didn't call it you were going to be humping her leg begging to have her talk to you about alchemy and I couldn't compete with that.”
So now the war had taken a very different turn as he walked behind Maes to the truck that was behind the General's car. As they walked by, he looked at the young blond who sat rigidly in the back seat of the vehicle. She was so young, was she even old enough to be a commissioned officer? Even with her hair done up in that clip to make her appear older, she still had that youthful look to her. Not that he was one to judge, his attempts to grow facial hair had been embarrassing. She looked at him as the passed and he nodded to her. So now he had someone to protect.
Maes stopped and snapped a salute as a superior officer wandered up with his hands in his pockets and completely ignored him. Damned alchemists! The fact that they immediately outranked everyone as soon as they were given their certification was a slap in the face to any real military personal in the field. “Major Kimblee.”
“Hi.” the Crimson Alchemist waved and eyed the girl in the car. “So it's true. The newest Alchemist is a chick.”
Roy glared at him as he whistled and grinned. God he hated that man and it wasn't just because he called Alkehestry 'limp dick alchemy'. “That's Major Hawkeye.”
“Easy Mustang, no reason to get possessive.” Kimblee chuckled. “It's not like you have anything to impress her with. Sucks to be you, huh? Finally we get a girl alchemist, a hot one at that, and you have the most inadequate science to impress her with. Going to be some long desert nights beings so impotent while under a girl like that. I can really get behind female officers right now.”
Yes, he now had someone to protect from him. Roy bit his tongue and saluted Kimblee. “Good day Major.”
Kimblee smirked. “Flame and Combustion Alchemy, almost like a marriage made in the wet dreams of heaven. Well this war just keeps getting better and better! Can't wait to chat with her you know, since we State Alchemists get to spend so much time together.”
Roy ground his teeth and got in the truck. He only hoped that Major Hawkeye was capable of setting that asshole on fire if he tried something. Then he'd finally see a need for Alkhestry.
Going to tackle the RoyAi 100 themes challenge which I finally managed to find reposted. I didn't need to start something else but as soon as I added the page onto my blog #001 called to me. It screamed "Attn All Military Personnell" and I cackled and started formulating a M*A*S*H crossover. I giggled and squeed, I mean Hawkeye? Radar Fuery? Frank Archer as Frank Burns? OMG! And then Hughes as Lt Col. Blake and....immediately killed my fic boner as I realized what that meant I was going to have to do. Still....it's a crossover I'm excited to play with eventually (hence the 5 pages already written) but it can't be just a drabble. So another for the backburner. Why do I dabble in the AU so much? Cause I'm still learning the fandom folks, and nobody reviews on FFN anymore so I don't know if I'm making fangirls cry with my characterizations or not. Sorry for all the posts, missed writing for a week and it's become a need.
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001 Military Personnel
"Attention all military personnel, incoming wounded. All surgeons please report to the O.R."
Sara Rockbell looked over at the young doctor currently face down in her cot as Fuery's voice crackled over the P.A. "Hawkeye, we have more wounded."
Riza Hawkeye rolled over and looked at the older doctor who gave her an understanding smile. They had already worked a straight 24, thanks to the State Alchemists being in the vicinity. Atrocities of war were a given, but the alchemists managed to take that up a notch. "So much for sleep."
Lt. Col Maes Hughes pushed into the tent and looked at Hawkeye's cot. "Hey, just got off the radio with HQ, we got a priority patient. State alchemist."
"We don't prioritize by rank." Riza mumbled. "Go thru triage like everyone else."
"He's being sent here because the 611 is the best."
"Best care anywhere..." she replied.
He gave her a smile as she mumbled the unit's motto. "This one might be of interest to you."
"Doubtful."
"Our newest guest is going to be the Flame Alchemist."
Riza's eyes shot open. So now her father's apprentice would be on her table? She looked at Hughes who knew that this would be her reaction. So she would finally get to meet the man who convinced her father to pass on his knowledge before he left this earth. He would finally be more than just a name. "The Roy Mustang gracing MASH 611 with his presence? I'd roll out the red carpet but Id hate for him to make himself at home, being so used to staining his boots with the blood of the innocent."
Hughes frowned. "Furhur's orders Hawkeye, fix him so he can go back to work. Please don't cause problems."
"You better pick a different surgeon. Like Urey. Or Frank. Yes, Frank Archer would love an ass to kiss so he can get his promotion."
"The Furhur requested you." Hughes said quietly. "Sorry. Get some rest, I have to keep you fresh as I can so be can go right into the OR when he gets here."
"No. We have in coming wounded, I'm going in now."
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Roy reached out for the nearest voice, still disillusioned by the bandage wrapped around his eyes. "Excuse me?"
Sara Rockbell went over to the young man and took his outstretched hand. Her voice was soft and comforting, she didn't hold any resentment towards the man like Hawkeye did. He actually seemed to be a polite young man. "What can I do for you Major?"
He really couldn't answer that. All he wanted was to be acknowledged since he couldn't see where he was. "Was anyone else injured?"
"From what the medics told me,". She knelt next to him and squeezed his hand reassuringly and checked his bandage. "Major Mustang your men were safe thanks to what you did. You should have closed your eyes."
"I need to see to judge how to manipulate the oxygen, that was not an option.” He let the events play out in his mind again, how he had forced his eyes to remain open and be battered by burning embers, debris and sand. “That wind storm....it could have turned that town into an inferno. They were just doing routine rounds, checking for casualties...sweeping the town...."
"Major." She squeezed his hand. They got plenty of officers through here, some were dedicated to their men others only interested in using them like pawns. She hoped Riza would look past his connection to her estranged father and see that he could potentially be one of the good ones.
"Are they OK?"
"Who do you think got you medical attention?" She watched him take a deep breathe. "You'll be in the O.R. soon, Dr. Hawkeye is..."
"Hawkeye?" Roy asked surprised. What a weird coincidence. He was about to tell her why the name struck a chord but then he heard a different feminine voice.
"I'm his daughter." Riza said, hearing that surprise in his voice and knowing he was about to explain himself. "I'm ready for him."
Roy tried to sit up and look in the direction of the voice as he heard a door slam shut. It was a pointless move, he couldn't see anything even if the bandage wasn't wrapped around his head. He felt a hand on his chest and realized the woman was trying to keep him where he was.
"Just relax Major."
He braced himself as the gurney began to move and he heard the door swing open again and a few voices, but not what he would expect from a busy field hospital. There was a clink of instruments, groans from wounded, a machine that went 'ping' and a few stern voices of those in charge. He felt the gurney come to a stop and then the bed sheet lifted and he was placed on a more sturdy table. His nose took in the scent of the room and felt a hand on his chest. “Hello?”
Riza frowned. Well at least he was polite. That didn't surprise her, her father would have never accepted anything less. “Major, I'm going to take your bandage off. Keep your eyes closed until I tell you, understand?”
That was her voice again. He tilted his head as her hands began to unwrap the gauze around his eyes. “You're Elizabeth?”
“Not anymore, I go by Riza now.” She could have cut the wrap, but each layer would allow his eyes to adjust to the overhead light a little better.
“Your father...”
“My father died when my mother did. That hallow shell of a man who resided in our house with me was only interested in waiting for death and not caring for the living. Hence the reason I left.” Riza unwound another layer.
Roy bit his lip. What could he say? Berthold Hawkeye was an emotionally devoid man, he dealt in facts. The fact was that his daughter left and went to live with her grandfather, ergo Elizabeth was no longer part of his life. Worlds straight from his mouth when he had found a picture of the young girl with her parents in a drawer in his room. “You're a doctor? Aren't you too young for that?”
“Quick study, apparently I have my father's brain capacity. The army also isn't very picky about who they employ to patch up wounded, I'm still a medical student but the military granted me the title of Captain and Doctor when they drafted me. Besides, you're a little young to be a State Alchemist.”
“It's nice to finally meet you.”
That caught her off guard. She was hoping he'd be an asshole, but he was proving to be the opposite. Allowing his eyes to be scratched up in order to save his men, not asking for any special treatment in triage and now he was cautiously trying to tread on eggshells and talk about Berthold Hawkeye. However she couldn't bury her hostility just yet. “Yes. I was curious how a student of Master Hawkeye could join the military and use his craft as a weapon of war. I might have left my father's home young, but I doubt he changed his views that much.”
Roy wondered how long it would be before she brought that up. “He wasn't happy about it either.”
“I've seen your work, it's everything he feared it would be. Flame Alchemy at it's worst, a weapon of the State...destroyer of the innocent.”
“I wanted to help people. I wanted to...protect our country.” He sighed as the final layer of bandage was removed. “I....didn't expect this.”
“Open your eye for me.” She instructed, signifying that time for bedside chat was now over.
He had to fight the urge to squeeze his eyelids closed again, but her fingers helped him keep them open. Tears had been streaming down his face non-stop, his body trying to flush the foreign substances out by itself. The medic team had tried to flush what they could with saline, but they weren't qualified to do anything with the debris embedded in his cornea. He could only see blurs through the tears, so his first glimpse of Elizabeth Hawkeye was almost angelic. A blond figure with a halo of light from the fixture overhead.
She took the ophthalmic instrument and looked into his eye. “You've got quite a bit embedded in your cornea. If you're lucky then nothing has penetrated deeper than that, however from the field report it seems that you were subject to some high winds and I'm concerned it's going to be worse than it looks. If it's just a scratch, your eye usually heals within 48 hours. However if it is deep then you're going to be running a higher risk of infection once we remove the debris.”
“OK.” He wasn't going to say how much she reminded him of her father right now. Providing all the information without giving him the answer he so desperately was seeking. “Will I lose vision?”
“It's going to depend upon how bad these fragments are embedded. What I am going to do next is place a anesthetic eye drop in here to relieve some of the pain, followed by a fluorescein dye that will allow me to see the cornea abrasions under the lamp. We'll remove the particles, flush the eye and check for anything lodged under your eyelid. You'll have to keep this bandage on for at least 2 days but I'm going to require you to stay here at least a week so I can monitor you. Hope you can reschedule any plans for incinerating the masses until next week.”
He gulped. Yes, there was that Hawkeye trait again; punish the student for asking a question too early by burying them in facts then insulting your character to keep you humble. “OK.”
“Keep your eyes closed. I'll have a nurse start the anesthesia process.” Riza stood and looked down at him, his eye clamped back shut as soon as she told him it was allowed. A little part of her appreciated the irony that her father got a handsome apprentice after she vacated his home. “How did you convince my father to share his secret with you? That couldn't have been an easy task.”
Roy's voice caught in his throat. He cleared it and quietly replied, “He asked me to use it to protect his daughter.”
The thought of her father suddenly caring about her well being made her anger swell again. “Protect my job security? I hardly see what else you could possibly be doing here in Ishval other than providing more bodies I need to tend to.”
“I...” He felt the tears streaming out of his eyes and knew that they weren't because of the eye injury. “Wanted to protect my country.”
Riza nodded to the nurse who came over to start the sedative process. “Major Mustang, do you still want to trust your life to my hands? I can get you another doctor.”
“Hawkeye, I don't want anyone but you.”
And the room stood still as his voice seemed to carry perfectly for that simple statement. Her eyes grew wide as those words struck out across the O.R. like a bell ringing in the still of the morning fog. Then she heard Hughes snicker at at table next to her and she shot him a glare. Men said all kinds of things when they were drinking in the inviting tendrils of slumber thanks to the anesthesia mask, especially here. It never escaped ridicule.
“He must like being talked down to and ordered around.” Hughes chimed in as he looked over his shoulder at the now unconscious Major.
“He didn't mean it like that.”
“Yeah, I never hear soldiers moan how much they want me.” Hughes chirped. “Extended stay for him too, lucky guy.”
“Don't you have a patient you should be focusing on?” Riza hated when he teased her, the man acted more like a older brother instead of a superior officer and in times like these it would be nice to be professional.
“I'm just making an observation.” He replied and continued to suture his patient.
“You said it yourself, the Furhur wanted him repaired an put back to work.” She walked over to look at the other doctor as he slid his glasses down his nose to peer at her. “I think the people of Ishval and this hospital staff would appreciate a reprieve from his work.”
“I'll nominate you for a humanitarian award.” He winked at her.
“Fine. You can take him as your patient.”
Hughes mimicked the major's voice, poorly. “Hawkeye , I don't want anyone but you. Nope, that guy outranks you. Protocol dictates you follow orders.”
“Stop trying to marry me to every officer who rolls in here!” She snapped back, knowing where this was going. Everything with Hughes eventually lead to showing pictures of his wonderful family back home or insisting that she find herself a man who respected her.
“Just the ones who politely ask you to probe their orifices.” Hughes knotted his stitch and stood up. “Fate put that man on your table.”
“The Furhur put him on my table.”
Hughes chuckled. “You're the one who took every patient but him so you two could spend an evening alone together.”
“Nothing to do with knowing he was going to want to talk about my father. Hardly a conversation I want to have with Frank Archer at the next table, probably listening so intently he stitches up his patient with a few surgical instruments inside.”
“Frank.” Hughes snorted. “I bet he's having a fit right now lamenting the loss of the chance to be the Flame Alchemist private surgeon. To think he could have personally reported to Central the state of their most precious asset and volunteered to travel with him in case he had another medical emergency.”
Hawkeye looked over at her patient and stretched. “If you're done, I have a patient.”
“Sure!” Hughes said with a nudge. “Just report to me when you're done, OK?”
