Chapter Text
Riza Hawkeye prided herself on being the most collected person she knew. She was nothing if not reliable, stubborn, and efficient. After working with Roy Mustang for years- well, she had to be.
The war in Ishval hadn’t destroyed her. Damaged, yes, but Riza liked to think of herself as one of those nesting dolls. No matter how dented she became, there would always be another version ready to take the lead.
The sensation of flame across her back. Was this how the boy she buried felt before he died?
Riza emerged from the aftermath stronger than before. Under Roy’s lead she was prepared to topple the very country they stood in if it meant changing for the better.
Take me out if I stray from the proper path.
Roy was someone she could trust, no matter how slowly. She had watched him obliterate families with his alchemy, but she also saw that same spark in his eyes when he spoke of revolution. They would change this world side by side and come out of it standing tall.
But, watching through the door as Roy and Ed vanished, Riza felt the final doll crumble into dust.
The circle vanishing into the flooring and walls was radiating a soft white light, and Riza instinctively knew what that meant. Someone- some thing- had activated a circle and ripped the two alchemists away.
Because Roy wasn’t the only one in his office. Fullmetal was-
Al was on his way. He would have arrived at the station a few minutes ago.
“My brother means the world to me.” Ed commented, eyes the slightest bit distant as he ran a finger over the glass in front of him. Riza wasn’t sure she had ever seen him tipsy. “I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t bring him back.”
“You sacrificed your alchemy for him.”
Ed smiled, and this time it reached his eyes. “He’s worth it.”
The door shut behind her with a resounding thud. No one else had seen the circle. She had time. Riza moved quickly, grabbing the first paper from the stack on Mustang’s desk and drawing out any symbols she could remember before they faded. Then, folding that and shoving into her pocket, she reached for the filing cabinet and dug out a few needed forms.
They were well hidden in the back of the cabinet and mis-labeled. A precaution Roy had thought of a few months prior. In the case of an emergency- where he was unavailable and they needed to keep a cover.
A handful of briefing letters pre-signed and addressed by Mustang.
Of course, there were other security measures in place. Handwriting and signatures were an easy thing to forge, especially for certain alchemists that were highly skilled in replicating handwriting. Mustang was one of those, but it wasn’t like the generals needed to know that.
Riza, however, had always been terrible at replicating signatures, especially Mustang’s overly dramatic one. So, they created this as a sort of backup plan.
She wrote without hesitation.
There was a request for a meeting near the border of Xing. Trade negotiations relating to fabric and relevant materials.
Riza made the details as specific and boring as possible. With any luck the generals would only care about the part where Roy would be out of Central for a few days. A welcome break for them, they wouldn’t question the motives twice.
At least they were used to seeing missives drafted in her handwriting.
A knock startled her as she finished sealing the letters. Riza shoved them into a neat pile and called, “Enter.”
“Captain?” Havoc leaned into the office. “Al’s on his way in.”
“Deliver these.” Riza snapped, passing the papers to Havoc and continuing past him. She didn’t have time to acknowledge Havoc any further. If Al got to the office and realized something was wrong before she intercepted him-
“Ed!” Al screamed as his brother fell across from the homunculus and he unleashed what had to be the most vicious display of alchemy Riza had seen from him. Ed’s attacks were always to contain. Injure, but not too harshly.
Al’s attack was aimed to kill.
-she really didn’t want to think about the consequences.
Havoc blinked at the papers shoved into his arms. “Uh, got it.”
Riza managed to intercept Al in the hallway a few rooms down from their shared office area.
“Alphonse.” She greeted. “Welcome back.”
Al looked better than the last time Riza had seen him. The time in Rush Valley looked like it did him a lot of good. He was walking steady without assistance and looked more like a normal teenager than the walking stick Ed had dragged from the gate.
Granted, when he first returned Riza had been sure he wouldn’t be able to walk at all for a few years. That kind of neglect to his body dealt a lot more damage than any of them had been anticipating, and it showed.
But Winry had just discussed moving to Rush Valley for further study (and most likely to spend more time with that Paninya girl) and offered Al a spot in her home.
It was probably the best thing for him. Al visited, of course, and Ed stopped through Rush Valley on nearly every assignment outside of Central, but Al was able to recover without Ed hovering like a mother bear.
Riza never thought the alchemist most well known for his temper would be able to take on such a motherly tone. Even if that tone was interrupted by yelling at Al to eat his vegetables, it was a shock nonetheless.
Al smiled, and it was much too bright for the news Riza was about to share. “Thanks. Is Ed here? He was supposed to meet me at the station.”
There was no decent way to approach this. How do you tell someone that their brother was taken by the same entity that stole their body years ago?
Because as much as she wanted to deny it, she had seen that circle before. Al would know the exact symbols better of course, but she recognized enough from her studies.
“There was a bit of an issue.” She started.
Al sighed, “Did Ed destroy a country’s economic standing again? I promise on his behalf it was probably at least thirty percent an accident.”
Riza clenched her jaw uncomfortably tight. “Perhaps we should discuss this in the Fuhrer’s office.”
That was enough for Al to realize something was wrong. Ed himself had never been shy about discussing his various mishaps, and they weren’t secrets among the military. But now Riza was glancing for listening ears like she hadn’t done since Pride was active.
Honestly, she was shocked Al didn’t just bodily drag her into the office at top speed. He did, however, completely ignore the team’s greetings, not even sparing a glance before charging into Mustang’s office.
The door shut behind them, and Al turned to her with terrified eyes. “Where’s Mustang?”
Riza stood next to the desk and motioned to a chair. “You might want to sit down.”
“ Where is my brother?” Al practically bared his teeth like a wild cat.
“There was a circle. I didn’t recognize a lot, but-” The effort it took her to continue when Al’s face morphed into something grief-stricken was astronomical. “but, when I got into the office they were gone.”
Al collapsed into the chair Riza had offered. “Do you remember any of the symbols?”
Riza handed him the paper, now getting the chance to see her drawings were on the back of a supplies request. Woops.
“ Fuck.” Al spat. “These are- who-”
Cutting off, Al buried his face into his hands.
Riza did her best to comfort him with a quiet, “I’m sorry.”
Al looked like he stopped breathing for a moment before he released a heavy breath. “Run what happened by me again?”
Hesitant, Riza reiterated, “There was a circle in the office-”
“They were in the circle is what you’re telling me?”
“Yes?” They-”
She cut off when Al abruptly crouched, clapping and using his alchemy to push back Mustang's desk and clear a large space.
“Al, what are you doing?” Riza asked as the teen grabbed a piece of chalk from his pocket and started to draw.
“I’m going to wring out Truth like a wet towel.” Al said with an amount of indifference that alarmed Riza.
“ No,” Riza stressed, looping her arms under Al’s and pulling him up and away from the human transmutation circle he had started.
Al twisted in her grip, not shaking himself loose but enough to face her. “Ms. Hawkeye, with all due respect, I do have my alchemy and mother’s stubbornness. You will not stop me unless an alternative to turning Truth into a towel whip is provided.”
“What would your brother say if he came back to find you bound to armor again?” Riza asked and Al went almost lifeless.
“You said Mustang was with him?” Al questioned while stepping forward and away from Riza’s grip.
“Yes.”
Al nodded to himself as if that was enough of an answer for now and picked up his chalk from the floor to hide it back in his pocket. “Good. He knows better than to let Ed die while I’m still alive.”
Riza had to resist the urge to argue that.
Distracted from that endeavor for the moment, Al turned to pacing the length of the office.
“We need to get them back.” Al stated. “I’m thinking- I can’t access Truth without a sacrifice, right, but, Ling had a stone when he left Amestris.”
“The Emperor?” Riza startled and narrowed her eyes. “You would use a stone to get them back?”
Al’s armor falling lifeless to the ground. A life for a life.
“I would do anything for my brother back.”
There was no doubt in her mind that he would. This wasn’t Al at fourteen years old crying that the world wasn’t fair. He had grown since they discovered the stones. It would always be a horrid concept and something they all prefered to avoid mentioning, but the fact was that a stone was already there.
Across from Riza stood Alphonse Elric, who was finally reunited with his body and brother after years and would be damned if he let that escape him again.
Riza wouldn’t let him do that alone. Al had been through enough. Had to overthrow a government and fight an immortal at age fifteen. If he was determined to speak to the emperor and take his stone… Riza would stand by him every step of the way.
“So we’re going to Xing?” Riza asked.
“Fuck yeah.” Al agreed without hesitation.