oberstens war timeskip au has haunted me for a long time and i have a few thoughts about it. like, imagine roy and maes having their conversation about taking bradley’s place and fixing the country.
as they talk maes pales when he notices the fullmetal kid eyeing them. maybe talking about this stuff around so many other people wasnt such a good idea...
especially around the fullmetal kid who is an acutely observant and perceptive tactical genius and an unpredictable, impulsive loose cannon all at once, who would be the one to eavesdrop on their conversation, and do knows who knows what with the information
maes elbows roy as edward approaches and they go stiff in a failed attempt to act casual. but there was nothing casual about their lives at the moment, and any attempt at feigning it was downright disrespectful
but anyway edward gets real close to them, and he says “i want in.”
“we dont know what youre talking about” pfft yeah okay
ed saw the way they were looking at bradley, it was the same way he looks at bradley. and he’s come to know roy and maes pretty well.
“you want bradley out. fix the country? youll need me. i know things about this country no one else does, and it’s fucked all the way up. i want in.”
what exactly ed means they won’t know for years, because if ed lets them find out what he knows, about the true nature of this country and its leader, they’d be in danger. but ed knows things and he can help them up the ladder. ed can act like an obedient soldier (and possibly an even higher ranking official once the war is over) in the open, to protect his brother, but in the shadows he’ll be the most important part of team mustang. and then the coup will be underway, maybe even long before the promised day even comes, and they’ll win with all their brains together.
maes and roy have seen many sides of the fullmetal kid. his intellgence, his anger, his pain, and even his playful and compassionate side in the rare moments of levity, and by god have they definitely seen his unhinged side too, but in the grin he flashes them before walking away they see both hopeful determination and a cunning smugness and man are they glad to have him as an ally and not an enemy
