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Caricature of Intamacy	By : MidoriBond Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > General Views: 1004 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Caricature of Intimacy

by Midori Bond

Chapter 2

Roy sat behind
his desk going over his report. The few higher-ups that were left
still wanted his own account of what happened during the attack. They
were all too aware of what happened during the attack. And he was all
too aware of their own ideas about the world on the other side of the
Gate. With a smirk, he made to note that Fullmetal destroyed it. That
wiped his hands clean. Place the blame on the one that was best at
causing it.

A sigh left
the Major as he thought of the boy... no, it wasn't fair to call him
that. If his math was correct, Edward was about to turn nineteen. He
was a man now. A muse left him as he remember their brief encounter.
Ed still only stood up to his nose. A frown crossed his face as his
thoughts took a depressing turn.

Rose had been
staying in one of the spare dorms... the one the Elrics shared. Alex
had gone to retrieve some of her clothes, only to discover that her
home had also been destroyed in the battle. Then later, when Hawkeye
mentioned finding the other children, Rose broke down. She sealed
herself in her room and wouldn't speak to anyone for days. Even now,
she only spoke to Hawkeye and Ross.

A sigh escaped
him as he leaned back. She wouldn't be able to stay in the dorms for
too much longer. And he knew she didn't have anyplace to go. There
weren't too many options open for him. Not too many places would take
in a young woman that was as far introverted as Rose was now. He
didn't know what to do.

Hawkeye
entered the office with a number of files under her arm. "This
is the paperwork for the collateral damage during the attack,"
she said placing the pile on his desk.

Roy rubbed his
temples. He didn't know how he used to do all of this. "Can't I
write it off to Fullmetal?" he asked with a frown. "Let it
wait for him."

She smiled.
"No Sir." She looked into his dark eye, her own shining
with amusement. "Until Hakuro promotes you, Edward officially
outranks you."

He had to be
hearing things. "What?"

"Fullmetal
is a Lt. Colonel." Hawkeye ignored his glare with practiced
ease. "You know it's procedure Roy. Besides, at least he's not
here to gloat."

She did have a
point. He would be too tempted to fry the blonde the second he pulled
rank. "Do you know how much longer I'll have to wait?" he
asked curiously.

The smile she
wore wouldn't fade. She knew he hated paperwork. Just like he knew
she hated being left behind. This was his punishment for punishing
her, and she would relish it. "He'll sign your promotion after
he's gone over your reports, and these files."

As her hand
patted the papers in front of him, his eye narrowed. "You're
evil," he muttered.

"I
learned it from you," she responded with ease. When he didn't
reply, she looked him over. His shoulders sagged as he turned to look
out of his window. "Roy?"

He kept his
gaze focused at where they were beginning construction on the school.
"Rose isn't getting any better," he said lowly. "I
think that losing her son was her breaking point."

She slowly
nodded as she followed his gaze. "It's understandable. She lived
for all of the children for the past few years."

Roy frowned as
he continued to gaze at the streets. "Now she has nothing,"
he said lowly. He steepled his fingers as he looked at the paperwork
in front of him. "Since she lived for the boy, we should start
trying to find something else for her to live for."

"Possibly,"
Hawkeye said lowly. "I was thinking about asking her to come on
here. As a civilian staff member."

His frown
deepened. With her past experiences, he doubted Rose wanted anything
to do with the military. "Is there anything you have in
mind?" he asked his former second.

"Actually,
yes," she answered before walking to the door. "But I'll
keep that to myself for right now. You have work to do."

Roy couldn't
fight the growls coming from his throat. Hawkeye had a way of getting
under his skin in a way that only two others had managed before.
"Good bye, Sir," he said in a cold tone.

She looked
over her shoulder with a smile. "I know that I'm wasting my
breath, but try to get your work done."

* * * * *

Rose sat in
the window of her room gazing out into the sunset. In her arms, she
held a worn leather journal. The pages opened to a list of
ingredients that she remembered from so long ago.

"Water:
35 liters. Carbon: 20kg. Ammonia:
4 liters. Lime: 1.5kg. Phosphorus: 800g. Salt: 250g. Saltpeter:
100g. Sulfur: 80g. Fluorine 7.5g. Iron: 5g. Silicon: 3g. And 15 other
elements in small quantities."

This was the
list of ingredients used to create a human. She knew that she
couldn't bring the dead back to life, but the book reminded her of
Edward. In a twisted way, it was a comfort.

A knock
sounded on the door, making her look away from his scribbled
handwriting. "Rose," Riza's voice called.

The brunette
slowly uncurled herself from her seat. She knew Riza wouldn't go
anywhere until the door was opened. One of the good, and bad things
that she liked about the woman. As she opened the door, she looked
into warm brown eyes. "I didn't think you would be by
tonight," Rose said stepping to the side.

"I wanted
to make sure you ate something." Riza walked into the room and
saw that everything had been cleaned up and put away properly. It was
different from the chaos she was used to when Ed and Al stayed there.
"And I also wanted to ask you something."

Rose looked at
her curiously. "Really?" Ross was the one that usually
asked her questions. Riza normally brought her food and helped get
books from the library. "What is it?"

Riza sat in a
chair and took a slow breath. She knew of Rose's past, they all did.
That was part of the reason why she wasn't sure about asking this,
but knowing that it had to be asked. "The dorms are usually
reserved for military personnel," she started. She tried not to
notice the way Rose turned her eyes to the floor as she pressed on.
"A few of the rooms have been used for a few civilian staff
members though."

"So in
order to keep staying here, I'd have to work for the military?"
Rose asked as she hugged Ed's journal close.

"Yes. I'm
afraid that there are only a few strings that I can pull. You can
keep your room here, and you would only have to deal with us."

Rose closed
her eyes as she tried to block out her fears. "What would I have
to do?" she asked in a whisper.

"My
office needs a secretary. You would basically be filing and making
appointments for myself and the other officers. Most of it is done
over the phone, so you wouldn't be...."

"Why are
you doing this?" Rose asked looking at the Colonel. "I know
that the military normally doesn't go out of their way for others."

"You're
special to Edward and Alphonse," Riza said simply. "And
what happened to you in Lior should never have happened."

"So you
all pity me."

"We're
all concerned about a very strong, and special young woman."
Riza's eyes locked with Rose's. "As I said, what happened,
shouldn't have. Now we all just want the chance to get to know you...
not about you from Fullmetal's reports."

"Edward
put me in his reports?" Rose asked in a whisper.

"He
always put down the people that aided or hindered him."

Rose winced.
"Which was I?"

"You and
Winry are to received any pensions should he officially be listed as
dead." Riza saw the way blue eyes went round, and smirked.
"Which do you think?"

Rose walked
over to the bed and sat on it. Ed always looked out for her. She held
his journal tighter and smiled as she felt tears come to her eyes.
"It's time that I stood on my own and learned how to walk,"
she said softly. Rose wiped her eyes and nodded at Riza. "When
do I start?"

A smile
crossed the blonde's face. "You can start tomorrow. But I have
to warn you, most of the men are lazy when it comes to paperwork.
Especially Mustang." Riza stood and motioned for Rose to do the
same. "He's an awful flirt, and constantly needs to be reminded
to actually work."

Rose felt a
smile cross her face. The first one all week. "Is he really that
bad?" she asked.

"Before
we go to the mess, let's go by the armory."

"What
for?" If she was only going to be in the office, she shouldn't
be in any danger.

"We're
going to get you a whip," Riza smiled as they left the room.

* * * * *

"Are you
sure it's here?" Al asked as he looked at the castle in the distance.

Ed carefully
jumped out of the tree he had been in. A frown marred his face as he
shoved his binoculars in his knapsack. "No, I'm not," he
said darkly. "But all of our leads say that he's here."

"And his
bomb's with him." Al reached into his own bag and pulled out a
sandwich. "What did you see?" he asked offering half.

With a
thankful smile he took the sandwich. "Nothing much." He
took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "A lot of security. Nothing
we can't get past."

"Without
Alchemy?" Al asked. He knew Ed had been in this world longer,
but it was still hard to remember that he couldn't fix things with a
simple clap of his hands.

Ed nodded. He
knew Al was having a hard time adjusting. He did too. But he wouldn't
change anything if given the chance. He was a better man for it.
"I can take out about four or five of the guards. That leaves
another three. Your fighting skills are still on par. You'll be fine."

Al smiled as
he also ate. "When do we go in?" he asked.

"Alright
you two, freeze," a familiar voice said from behind.

Both Elrics
turned around and saw a man with short black hair and piercing onyx
eyes watching them with a gun trained on Ed. The blonde inhaled as he
stood. "What do you want?" Ed asked Mustang's double.

"I'll ask
the questions," he said in an arrogant tone.

Ed felt his
eyes narrow. It wasn't fair to hate this poor schmuck, but damn it,
did he have to sound exactly like that asshole.

Al jumped to
his feet, remembering that Ed always wore that rather nasty look when
he dealt with the former Colonel. "We were just back-packing
through the area," he said with a smile. "We thought that
it would be a good time to stop and have lunch. I would offer, but
I'm afraid that there just isn't enough to share."

"What are
your names?"

"Hell if
I tell you," Ed snapped.

"Elric,"
Al said at the same time. When Ed frowned at him, he continued with
his eyes trained on the taller man. "I'm Alphonse, and this is
my older brother, Ed." His smile only widened when he heard Ed
mumbling about turncoat brothers. "Can we ask your name?"

"Mustang.
Roy Mustang."

Ed's eyes
rolled. They even had the same name. He folded his arms over his
chest and moved to sit back down. "Now that we're all properly
introduced, can you leave now?" he asked rudely.

Roy was
getting the distinct impression that if he wanted to get any
information from these two, he would have to talk with the taller of
the pair. "Now, now, children should remember to mind the
elders," he said to Ed.

Al's eyes
widened as Ed's hackles rose. Since they had been in this world, no
one had made mention of Ed's height. From what he could remember, Ed
was pretty volatile about it.

The tension in
Ed's shoulders faded as his trademark smirk crossed his face. He
wasn't going to let this copy get to him the same way. "I'm no
child. But since you're my elder, you're probably too senile
to tell the difference."

Roy frowned.
No, he didn't think that he and the blonde would get along at all.

"Uncle
Roy," a girl's voice called. All three turned to look behind the
dark haired man to see a teenaged girl wearing a frown. When she
reached the top of the hill, she narrowed her blue eyes at all three
men. "Uncle Roy, you know you shouldn't be harassing tourists.
It's bad form," she said in a scolding tone.

Ed felt like someone
punched him in his stomach as he looked at the girl. She had long cinnamon
colored hair that fell around her shoulders in waves. Her eyes mirrored
the color of the ocean. Even though it had been years, he would
never forget those eyes, or her voice. She was the only person he
didn't yell at for calling him little... because she was just so
innocent. Now, here she stood, a young lady that she would never
become in his world. "Nina," he whispered before he could
stop himself.

Al's eyes
widened as he looked at his brother.

She turned to him,
even as her guardian pulled her behind him. "Yes, that's my name,"
she said sweetly. "I am Nina Tucker, and this is my estate."

Al swallowed
as he stepped forward, knowing that Ed was too shocked to say
anything. "I'm Alphonse Elric, and this is my older brother, Edward."

Her eyes were
still smiling as she bowed her head. "It's very nice to meet you,"
she said moving from behind Roy. "Do you boys have a place to
stay?" she asked as she moved closer to Al. She couldn't explain
why, but for some reason, she felt as if she had to stay close to the
brothers.

"Actually,
we were going to go find a hotel in a little while," Al confessed.

"Nina,"
Roy said in a warning tone.

She giggled as
she took their hands. "You can stay in the citadel with us,"
she chimed jumping up and down.

Ed closed his
eyes as he moved away from her. "Thanks for the offer, but
really, we shouldn't," he said lowly.

Nina's smile
faded as she looked at the older blonde. "Do I remind you of
your Nina that much?" she asked quietly.

Gold eyes snapped
open, and he turned to look at her. Suddenly, she appeared to be
older than he first gave her credit for. "What?"

"We've
never met, and you called me Nina. Roy would think that you're a
danger to me, but I'm really good at reading people. I remind you of
a Nina that you knew. Am I so much like her that you don't want to be near
me?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Are
you okay little big brother?"

Ed shook his
head. He couldn't hurt this girl's feelings anymore than he could the
other Nina. "No, it's not that," he said in a whisper.

"If they don't
want to stay Nina, they don't have to." Roy was frowning as he
looked at the pair of blondes. He also took note of the fact that
Alphonse hadn't let go of Nina's hand.

"You're
just saying that because you think they'll annoy you," Nina said
in a teasing tone. She then looked between the two brothers. "Please
stay. It wouldn't be a bother. Really."

Ed sighed and
lifted his bag over his shoulder. He found that he couldn't deny this
Nina anything either. "Alright, we'll stay." His eyes went
round as she laughed and jumped into his arms in an enthusiastic hug.
He slowly smiled as he warped his arms around her waist. He'd deal
with Roy in his own time. But for right now, he was content to know
that at least in one world, she was still alive and happy.

TBC...
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Caricature of Intamacy