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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.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
Caricature of Intimacy

by Midori Bond

Chapter 3-
Cracking the Whip

Rose focused
on what she was doing. The morning hadn't started completely. There
were still a number of officers down in the mess hall, and that
suited her just fine. She really didn't want to deal with any of them
at the moment. She was nervous enough.

A frowned
crossed her face as she looked at the file she was holding. It was
missing Fuery's signature. She sat it to the side and looked over the
next one. Her frown deepened. This one was missing Havoc's signature.
She reached for a third file. This time, her frown became a full
blown scowl. Breda.

"You have
to be joking," Rose sighed as she looked through all of the
files. Almost all of them were missing something. She looked at the
door to the office and saw Riza carrying two bags. "Did you know
that all of these are missing something?" she asked in horrified amazement.

Hawkeye
shrugged as she held out a bag. "Bagel?" she offered. As
Rose shook her head, she sighed. "I told you they could be
lazy," she said leaning against the desk. "I haven't been
able to get on them all the way I would like to."

Rose started
to divide the files into piles. "What do you suggest that I do?
Telling them that they did it wrong isn't going to make them correct it."

"What did
you do with your students?"

"Lt.
Colonel, we're talking about grown men."

Hawkeye
chuckled as she placed the other bag on the desk. "You would be
surprised," she said as Breda and Havoc walked into the office
followed by Fuery and Falman. "Men," she started in a
commanding tone. When they snapped to attention, she gestured to
Rose. "Miss Skylar has been kind enough to accept the position
as secretary with us. Let's make her feel welcomed, and she has my
full permission to do whatever it takes to get you all to cooperated. Understand?"

"Yes
sir!" the men all said in unison.

Riza looked at
Rose and winked at her. "Remember the whip," she whispered
before going into her office.

Rose took a
breath as she looked at the men around her. She wasn't going to let
them frighten her. She wasn't a scared little mouse. As they all
settled in at their desks, Rose finished separating the files.
Without a word, she started to hand them out.

Havoc frowned
as he looked at the files he was given. "I already did
these," he said going to hand them back.

"These
are each missing various signatures. Before they can be filed or sent
away, they need to be completed." She moved away from Havoc and
gave Breda his files.

"You mean
you want us to do these, as well as whatever else is handed to us
today?" Havoc said with a frown.

Rose passed
Falman. His files were the only ones that were complete. "That
sounds right," she said with a smile. This really was like being
in front of her class again. "But just remember, if you would
have done it right the first time, you wouldn't have to worry about
doing it over."

Before Havoc
could voice another objection, the door opened again to reveal Roy. A
dark eye looked around the office and settled on the young woman
wearing a blue sun-dress with a white sweater over it. "Miss Skylar,"
he acknowledged. As he went to the door to his personal office, he
noticed the pile of files on her desk. "I hope you find
everything to your liking."

Her lips
thinned as she turned to the files. "Everything will be just
fine Major," she started. She picked up the files and walked
over to him. "All of these need your signature in order for me
to send them to be processed." She ignored the way his eye
widened and went back to her desk. Already, Breda was placing his
files on her desk again. She smiled as she looked them over. They
were completed the way they needed to be.

"They are
fine the way they are," Roy argued moving around her to put the
files on her desk. "The Furher knows what my reports and
paperwork are like." He turned to the frowning woman, his usual
smirk in place. "Besides, I told Armstrong that I would help
with his troops." His smirk quickly fell into a frown as Rose
closed her eyes and touched her bracelet. Before he could ask what
she was doing, his hands were suddenly dripping wet. "What the hell...."

Rose smiled as
she looked at her handiwork. "Oops, your gloves are soaked,"
she said without an ounce of remorse. "Flame alchemy is pretty
useless when the array's wet."

Mustang
examined his hands stunned. "Aquatic alchemy?" he asked
looking at her. He pulled off his gloves and walked over to her.
"We knew you were studying alchemy, but none of us knew if you
learned anything useful."

She shrugged
before going to to the pile again. "I did." She picked up
the files and gave them back. "Now you finish your work like a
good little Major, and I'll dry your gloves for you."

Everyone in
the office stared at the pair. No one expected Rose to stand up to
Mustang, and Mustang never listened to anyone but Hawkeye.

"You were
the one that wet them, you should be the one to dry them,"
Mustang said reasonably.

"If your
work was done properly, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.
It's equivalent exchange. You want to go play, you have to work."
She looked into his eye for a long moment. She couldn't back down
from him. It was like when she was teaching. If you take down the
leader, then everyone else would fall in line.

Wearing a deep
frown, Roy snatched his files back. "This isn't your
classroom," he said before walking to his office.

* * * * *

His hands were
shaking as he looked at the materials in front of him. Large blue
eyes looked at the shadowed figure standing quietly by, watching his
every move. "And this will work?" he asked nervously.

"Yes,"
a soft voice whispered. "You have all of the ingredients. I've
gone over the research myself. There shouldn't be any problems."

The teenager
swallowed as he turned his attention back to the transmutation circle
in front of him. "Okay," he said rubbing his hands on his
pants. He had never tried anything this big before. Especially not by
himself. He took a shaky breath as he picked up a pocket knife and
cut into his palm. "This should work as an anchor," he said
as blood spilled on to the floor. "A spark of life begins with
blood. He and I share it, so this should call him back."

The large
figure stood by, cradling his precious doll to his chest. He knew how
this was going to play out. This boy would lose more than just a
little bit of blood. It would actually be a miracle if he survived
this. Alchemic energy soon lit up the room. A smile could be seen on
the teen's face. He searched for the past two months to find
everything he could on human transmutation, and that was when they stumbled
upon each other.

A scream
echoed in the room. The teenager's body started to convulse, falling
away from the circle. Sapphire colored eyes that were once so full of
life and happiness were now staring vacant at the pile of flesh and
muscle that he attempted to transmute.

For the first
time, the figure in the corner moved. "Very good Fletcher,"
he whispered as he stepped over the boy's body. With his free hand,
he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small pebbles. His eyes
looked over the mass that was trying so valiantly to breath, and
smiled. "Very good in deed." He found the outline of a
face. Two glowing red eyes, the cavity for a nose, and spiked teeth
that could almost be considered fangs. "Do you want to
live?" he asked the mass, knowing that there was a conscious
mind in there.

A low hiss
escaped it. "...yes..."

He fed the two
small stones to it. This was how they were created. Three were
already in their ranks. But they needed this one. The one that knew
how to make the stones not only to strengthen them, but to also fish
out those that can actually created a Philosopher's Stone. "Now,
what to call you," he whispered as the mass started to shift and
contort. "Pride, Lust and Wrath have been taken." His eyes
traveled to the prone figure of Fletcher Tringham and felt his lips
thin. "I know. We'll call you Envy. Is that alright?"

"...tcher..."

"We will
talk about Fletcher when you're stronger Envy."

"...etcher..."

A slow breath
left the mutated chimera. "It appears that the cost for young
Fletcher to bring you back, was his soul."

"...brother..."

"I know
he was your brother. But you have to become stronger. We may be able
to find a way to bring his soul back, if you help us." He was
suddenly reminded of another blonde that would do anything for his
younger brother. Yes, this new Envy was just like Edward.

"...name...
yours..."

"Oh, how
silly of me. I forgot all about that. My name is Shou Tucker."
He then gestured to the lifeless body in his arms. "And this is
my daughter, Nina."

* * * * *

Rose rubbed
her eyes as she closed the drawer to the file cabinet. She knew it
was late, but for she didn't want to go home. Her head lowered as she
leaned against the metal tower. She didn't realize that she was
starting to think of that little room with so much of the Elric
brother's belongings as home. It made her heart ache.

"Miss Skylar?"
Mustang asked from his office door.

She jumped at
the sound of his voice. Automatically, her hands came up and wiped at
her eyes. She knew there were traces of tears in her eyes, but she
didn't want him to know that she was about to cry. "Major
Mustang. I didn't realize you were still here."

He watched her
for a moment. He knew that she was trying to keep her composure, and
he would allow her all of the time she needed. "I was just about
to leave." He held up the last of the paperwork that he had to
go over today. "I wanted to finish this."

She nodded as
he approached her. "I'll get it filed in just a minute."

"You
don't have to bury yourself in your work," he said placing the
files on her desk.

"That's
not what I'm doing."

"Why are
you still here?" Mustang challenged.

Rose opened
her mouth to answer, only to pause when no sound came out. She closed
her mouth in a tight line and frowned as she turned away from him.
"I wanted to finish all of this," she said lamely.

His eyebrow
arched as he leaned his hip on her desk. "You're a secretary for
a large military office. You'll never be finished with the
filing." He saw the way she moved away from him and folded his
arms over his chest. "And there is still the matter of my gloves."

She couldn't
look at him. "Put them on the desk, and I'll dry them," she
said quietly.

He did as she
asked. He placed his gloves on her desk and moved away from it. There
was something that was making her nervous, and he wanted to know what
that could possibly be. "How was your first day Miss Skylar?"
he asked.

"It was
fine," she said automatically. "General Hakkai came in to
see the Colonel. He said something about the Fuhrer awarding you a
promotion in a few more days."

Roy watched
her as she held her hands over the gloves. With a small flash of
light, he saw that his gloves were completely dry. "Did Hakkai
say anything to you?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

She looked at
him and brushed bright pink bangs out of her eyes. "I can take
care of myself, Major. Thank you."

"I didn't
mean to imply that you couldn't." He picked up his gloves and
inspected them. "You seem to have a gift with Aquatic Alchemy.
Can you dry anything this quickly?"

"All I
did was adjust the amount of moisture in the fabric." She looked
at him and swallowed as their eyes locked. "It's pretty easy to
manipulate, once you get the hang of it." She was trying to
avoid the topic of her day. There were too many men in military
uniform here. She didn't know who she could trust, who she couldn't.

Roy opened the
blue coat to his uniform. "Have you eaten?" he asked suddenly.

Her eyes
started to widen as she slowly shook her head. She swallowed as he
removed the coat. "No, I was thinking about grabbing something
before I went home," she said softly.

He nodded and
held out his hand. "Come to dinner with me, and then I'll walk
you to the dorms," he requested in a polite tone.

She looked at
him with wide eyes. Before she could answer, a tall man with short
black hair walked into the office and looked at the pair.
"Mustang," he acknowledged. His green eyes then turned to
the trembling young woman he had been looking for. "Miss Skylar,
I wanted to see you for a moment."

She folded her
hands in front of her and swallowed. She couldn't let this man see
her trembling like this. There was something in his eyes. A hungry
expression that she hadn't seen in a man's eyes in almost four years.
"What can I do for you General Hakkai?" she asked in a whisper.

He smiled.
Rose had to admit, he could be handsome, but she couldn't shake the
fear that was clawing up her throat. The emotion that was clear on
her face, which the general was choosing to ignore. "I was
thinking you and I could have dinner together," he stated.

Roy's lips
pressed into a line. Rose's terror was almost tangleable. He stepped
between the pair. "Actually, Miss Skylar and I already have
plans," he said gently taking one of her hands into his own. He
saw the way Hakkai's smile fell, and placed his free hand on the
small of Rose's back. "We should get going Sweetheart," he
tenderly. "Good evening General," Roy said as he felt Rose
trembling under his attentions.

With practiced
ease, he guided Rose out of the office. She was too quiet, and she
was also beginning to make Roy nervous. He leaned over to her ear and
whispered words of comfort into her ear, hoping that he would be able
to break through the shell she was starting to encase herself in.
"You're fine Rose. He wasn't going to come after you. Not with
me there."

Her eyes
closed as she leaned against him. "You aren't my knight in
shining armor," she said before looking at him.

He couldn't
help but smile. "I always think of Alphonse when I hear
that," he said as they reached the streets. He felt encouraged
when he saw a tentative smile on her lips. "I can walk you home
if you would like," he offered.

She held onto
his hand as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. "Can we
grab some take out?" she asked.

Roy nodded.
There was something about this woman. She reminded him of Edward.
There were times when she was strong, but there were also times, like
now, when he just wanted to hold her close and protect her. "You
can have anything you want," he said softly.

She didn't
want him to know that she was scared of him. There was something
about him that made her want to run from, as well as to him. She
slowly inhaled as they continued down the street. She knew he wanted
answers, but she also knew that he wouldn't push for them. "I
remember Hakkai," she said quietly. Rose frowned as she felt his
stare on her. "Back during the uprising in Lior." She slid
her hand out of his grasp and wrapped her arms around herself.
"He was there."

Roy's jaw
tightened. "Was he the one?" he asked lowly.

Rose shook her
head. "No," she said quietly. A chilled breeze blew past
them, making her shiver. Her eyes then widened when she felt his arms
around her. "Major?" she questioned as he stepped away from her.

His eye took
in her slim form. "It's only a jacket," he informed her. He
adjusted the heavy blue coat on her shoulders. When a soft, pretty
blush came to her cheeks, he knew he did the right thing. "Where
would you like to eat?" he asked.

Rose looked
around and chewed on her bottom lip. She had only moved to Central a
month before the attack, and she really didn't know where anything
was. "I don't know," she confessed. "Riza and Maria
usually take me to the mess, or Alex would bring me something Emma made."

The thought of
the newly married Emma Armstrong brought a smirk to Roy's face.
"I really haven't had a chance to ask him about his life
now," Roy said thoughtfully.

She looked at
him. "Alex always spoke highly of you," she said as they
turned down a corner. "I was shocked when he told me that you
haven't even met Emma."

Roy lowered
his head slightly. "I respect him," he whispered, as if he
were confessing. "I would like to think of him as a friend, but
I don't know if I'm ready to risk having another one."

"Why?"
she asked in the same tone.

"Maes
Hughes," Roy answered. "He was my best friend."

Rose nodded as
she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Ed said you were
really close," she told him. When he looked at her, she pulled
the jacket tighter around her shoulders.

"He did?"

"In his
journal." She felt another blush cross her face when he placed a
restraining hand on her arm. "Is this it?" she asked
looking at the restaurant in front of her.

Roy nodded as
he lead her inside. He stopped when he saw a familiar mop of blonde
hair bouncing around a small bush. "Elicia?" he questioned
as he stepped into her path. As he caught her, he smiled tenderly.
"Hello Elicia," he mused.

Large eyes
looked up at him. "Hi Uncle Roy," she said happily. She
glanced over her shoulder and saw her mother following her.
"Mama, Mason and me were just getting something to eat."

The tender
expression on Roy's face faded. "Mason?" he questioned.

Elicia nodded.
"Yeah. He's Mama's new boyfriend."

Gracia sighed
as she heard her daughter's statement. She had meant to tell Roy
about Mason in her own time. She painted a smile on her face as she
looked at her late-husband's best friend. "Good evening
Roy," she said quietly.

"Gracia,"
Roy acknowledged. "Elicia was just telling me about Mason."

She folded her
arms over her midsection. She didn't have to answer to him, but for
some reason, she felt like she needed to. "You may as well come
and meet him."

Roy looked at
Rose and gently took her hand. "I would love to, but Rose and I
were only going to grab something quick to eat."

Rose shook her head.
"It's alright," she said softly. When he looked at her,
she smiled. "This is your best friend's family. You have to make
sure you protect them."

Without
thinking, his thumb reached up and caressed her cheek. "You're
an angel," he whispered as Elicia grabbed his free hand.

Rose lowered
her eyes to the ground as Roy was dragged into the restaurant She
didn't know why she was so comfortable around him. It must have
something to do with their admiration of Ed. A faint smile came to
her face as she thought about the blonde. He would love to see Roy
Mustang, the man he named thirteen kinds of bastard, being lead
around by a little girl. She hugged the coat around her shoulders
tighter before following the pair to a table.

Gracia smiled as
her date stood. He was tall, with a medium build. His short red hair
was brushed back neatly, but what seemed to catch everyone's attention
were his eyes. They didn't match. One was soft brown, almost amber,
and the other was pure black. He extended a hand to the man Elicia
was dragging with her. "Hello, you must be Roy Mustang," he
said with an easygoing voice.

Roy looked at
him for a moment before shaking his hand. "Yes, and you are?"

"This is
Mason Hodges. He's the owner of the new jewelry shop that just opened
up a few blocks from the house," Gracia said quickly. She knew
that Roy wasn't going to like this man. She knew that he would do
everything in his power to keep them apart, but damn it, she mourned
Maes long enough.

"Jewelry,"
Roy echoed with a slow nod. Something about this man seemed off, and
he couldn't place what it was. "It must take a lot of patience
to deal with making fine gold chains, watches and the like."

Mason's smile
didn't falter. He expected Mustang to hate him. "It is a lot of work,"
he confirmed. He then wrapped his arm around Gracia's waist,
delighting in the way she blushed. "But then again, anything worth
having is."

Roy didn't like
him. His tone and mannerisms were all too familiar, and he couldn't
place his finger on how. He gave Elicia's hand a gentle squeeze and
knelt down to her height. "Listen, Sweetheart, I promised Miss
Skylar that I would get her something to eat."

"So you
have to go?" Elicia asked softly.

"Yeah, I
have to go. But I can make it up to you this weekend if it's alright
with your mom." Roy brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. "The
carnival's supposed to be coming back. I would love to take the prettiest
girl in Central."

Elicia smiled
brightly as she looked at her mother. "Can I Mama?" she
asked happily.

Gracia smiled
as she nodded. She couldn't take Elicia away from Roy. She was the
last piece of her husband any of them had left. "As long as I
get pictures."

The six year
old giggled. "Okay Uncle Roy, it's a date."

Roy kissed her
forehead and stood straight. "Gracia, Mr. Hodges, it was nice
meeting you," he said bowing his head slightly.

"You too, Major
Mustang," Mason said as the officer started to walk off.

Roy's eye
narrowed as he approached Rose. It was official, he hated him. He
wrapped his arm around her waist and lead her over to the counter.
"In the morning, I want you to stop me from doing something
really stupid," he said as they looked over the menu the cashier handed
them.

"What's that?"

"Stop me
from running a background check on him."

Rose couldn't
help the smile on her face. When his eye turned to her, she cleared
her throat and focused on the words in front of her. "I'll
try," she said clearly trying to hide a laugh.

TBC...
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Caricature of Intamacy