Work Text
Circle 1: Stagnation
Sometimes the angels punish us, by answering our prayers.
It was early morning, and the late June sun was already baking the streets of Central City. They were in the middle of a heatwave with no end in sight. The high temperatures were on the cusp of causing a serious drought, wells slowly drying up as anxious citizens desperately tried to reduce the amount of water being used by the city in a last attempt to preserve what little they had left. No clouds would form, no rain fell, and if they didn't know any better, they would assume the moon radiated fire, as its presence didn't offer any reprieve from the hellish heat.It was this impending drought that brought them all there today, thousands of military personnel from all corners of Amestris, attending a conference to attempt to find a solution to their problem. It was the drought, which brought Roy Mustang and Edward Elric to that same meeting. It was the drought which put every upcoming disastrous event into motion.It was the drought, that changed their lives in the worst possible way.It had been a peaceful two years since the promised day. Conflict with the surrounding countries dimming down, truces being made between leaders to end the bloodshed. Alphonse was returned to his body, Edward going above and beyond to care for him, despite not restoring his own body. It had come as a surprise when Edward reenlisted, his rank being promoted to lieutenant major. A surprise, Roy wasn't afraid to admit, he was grateful for every single day. He had gotten Alphonse a job with the research department, his smile, glowing with the intensity of the sun as he walked in his first day, clad in all blue.And Roy? He was appointed general. While his eyesight had only been partially restored - he required glasses to see clearly and was still considered by some to be handicapped, - his heart and soul were feeling stronger than they ever had. Fuhrer Grumman listened to many of his ideas, implementing them into law, much to the approval of the population. They were thriving, and it filled his heart with satisfaction. His main concern being the population of Amestris in the first place. Everything overall worked like clockwork; constant, unchanging.The calm should be a relief to the milky eyed general, but as the mundane days blurred together, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to daydreams of adventure. He felt ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. For so long they were kept on their toes it almost felt like a waste of time to be relaxed. His skin constantly buzzed with anticipation. He couldn't even focus on Fuhrer Grumman or their so called briefing, the mans words traveling right over his head."Hey! Earth to Mustang!" The sarcastic voice of a certain blonde alchemist broke his trance. He stood, giving Edward a half smile. "You sure do space out alot lately. Are you all good?" Roy snorted to himself, tugging the sweat dampened shirt he was wearing."Honestly? This is going to sound crazy but, I get a bit restless during peaceful times." He wiped his forehead. "Not that I want chaos like before...""You just wish there was more to do." Edward finished for him. "I've been feeling the same way recently." Edward opened the door to the courtyard, his eyes full of disappointment when nothing but stifling heat greeted them. Roy squinted, the bright sun burning his iris's. His eyes scanned the courtyard looking for the rest of his team, but instead his eyes landed on a very disgruntled looking General Armstrong. He pushed past the voice in his head telling him not to approach, and motioned for Ed to follow him."Good afternoon, General. How are the peace negotiations in Drachma moving along?" The icy woman briefly scowled, before genuine concern washed over her, an expression that filled his veins with ice."If the two of you must know," She said curtly, "I have recently been contacted by the Drachman Czar, the group of my men that were sent to finalize the agreement last week never showed up." Edward frowned."They never made it? I wonder why." The general sharply exhaled, the stress radiating off her more intense than the sun."I'm not sure, but the Drachman government has agreed to allow me to send another group to investigate." Roy nodded."You don't seem very optimistic about that." He pointed out. She shook her head."It's not that I don't trust my men," She started. "But because of this drought the only men I have available to send are not experienced. A few privates and two majors, none of which have been in our military for more than a year.""Yes, that sounds like quite the conundrum." A voice startled them from behind. Roy and Ed turned, quickly saluting Fuhrer Grumman. "I'm not one to downtalk our military, but inexperienced personnel going to a, possibly still somewhat volatile country doesn't exactly sound like the best move." The general pinched the bridge of her nose."Obviously. But what else can we do?" Roy looked down to Ed, and with a silent agreement both men sealed their fate;"We'll go." They said in tandem. The Fuhrer and General Armstrong exchanged a quick glance, both of their eyes falling back on the alchemists. Grumman contemplated a moment, saying quietly,"That could actually work. your brother and team can handle the drought without the two of you." The General frowned, her icy eyes staring straight into Roy's grey ones."You think you can handle it?" The snark in her voice sending a twinge of anger through his chest, "You haven't been out in the field since..." She began to trail off."With all due respect, General," Edward cut in, surprising him. "Mustang's just as capable now as he was before, eyesight or not. He was appointed general for a reason." Roy narrowed his eyes at his subordinate. That little sneak he humorously thought to himself. Grumman nodded, his hand on his chin."I think its a great idea, if you are okay with it General, they are your men after all." The general looked between Roy and Ed before exhaling sharply, defeated. She shook her head, turning around to walk away."Arrive at Briggs in two days. The next train leaves tomorrow afternoon. We'll be waiting."Winry was focused. After Al had been returned to his body, the three of them stayed with her grandmother for a time, but when Ed voiced his desire to return to the military, Winry knew she wasn't going to let the brothers wander too far without her. They pooled their money together, buying a building in Central for her to make her own automail shop. She would be lying if she said she didn't miss Rush Valley on occasion, but she was happy, they were all happy, and deep down she knew above all else, they deserved this calm happiness."So, what exactly happened? I've only ever met one other person who could manage to completely bend their automail screws." She laughed to herself. Her client, a tall brown haired man with a scar and red tattoo under his right eye, placed his hand gently to his leg, snorting to himself."I fell out of a moving vehicle." He answered in a thick accent, "We were studying weather phenomenon and I leaned a bit too far out of the car." Winry tightened the last bolt, stepping back to examine her work."Well next time try to be more careful!" The two walked up to her desk so she could calculate the cost of the repair. "You seriously remind me of someone...""Hey Win! You wouldn't believe where I'm going..." Edwards voice startled her, cutting off her sentence. He looked at her client then back at her. "Uhh...nevermind it can wait.""I was just leaving." The man said, placing his money down on the desk before turning to walk away. Winry waved, calling after him."See you next time Mr. Markov! Try not to fall out of anymore vehicles!" Ed snorted, motioning for Al to join them at the desk."That was ironic." He said, a grin on his face. Winry began organizing her papers."Why do you say that? Where are you going?""I'm going to Drachma, I've been assigned to an investigation crew to try to find some missing Briggs soldiers. Pretty exciting, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, but Winry could see through his act."You weren't assigned, you volunteered, and so did the general." Alphonse quipped, his tone less than enthusiastic. "I don't know why you had to go and volunteer when theres plenty of work to do around here." Winry watched as Edwards expression morphed from playful, to annoyed. She braced herself for the oncoming argument, doing her best to stay out of it."The drought? The entire military is working on that. There's more than enough hands on deck around here. Those soldiers are inexperienced and would benefit from some extra backup.""It didn't have to be you." Alphonse snapped. "What if the Drachman government is behind it? You'll end up killed or worse." Winry could feel the flames coming from his golden iris's."So nice of you to have faith in me, Alphonse. You really think, if they had something to do with it, they'd call and report it? Request an investigation team? Sounds like a sure way to end up shooting your own foot." Alphonse sighed, defeated."I just don't have a good feeling at all about this, brother. I have this feeling in my gut something terrible is going to happen." Winry nodded in agreement."He has a point Ed. Drachma isn't exactly known to be kind to Amestris, times of peace or not." Ed sighed."I've got my alchemy, and so does General dick. We will be just fine."Winry noticed the twinge of worry hiding in his voice. Perhaps, he hadn't considered the severity of the assignment, or thought about the possibility of danger. Winry knew Ed, and she knew he was impulsive most of the time. She tried to swallow her own fears. Edward was a seasoned man of the military at this point. He knew how to navigate a conflict, and fight his way out of a dangerous situation, but even so she worried. The general couldn't see. She'd gone with Ed to visit him while he was still recovering from the promised day in the hospital, after the doctor used the faint remains of his philosophers stone to restore what little it could of his eyesight. He still physically appeared blind, his eyes a milky gray color, and he described the world without his glasses on as one huge blur of melding colors and fuzzy blobs, yet he was still appointed general. She felt guilty questioning the man, Edward told her how he fought towards the end, using only Hawkeyes voice to, effectively, fight, but she had a bad feeling about this.Winry sat, her face resting in her folded hands, the three of them in total silence for what felt like an eternity before Winry finally opened her mouth to speak."When are you leaving?" She asked, her heart pounding in her chest. Edward looked out the window at the dwindling sunset, his expression screaming that reality had just sunk in, his face turning a sickly shade of white."The train to Briggs leaves tomorrow around noon."