Gone the Sun
Roy’s memories of his friend.
“I pay attention to everything, Roy. That’s my gift. Yours is to barbecue things that annoy you. Apparently this makes you command-track material.”
Tag: Maas Hughes
Two to be Steady – Part One
How Roy and Hughes might have met and become friends. The starting thought was How did Roy get to be like that? Hughes seemed a reasonable answer.
Roy had no idea just what had caused First Lieutenant Maas Hughes to decide that he, Roy, needed a friend.
Two to be Steady – Part Two
How Roy and Hughes might have met and become friends. The starting thought was How did Roy get to be like that? Hughes seemed a reasonable answer.
Figuring out Roy Mustang was providing more fun than any two field assignments put together.
Two to be Steady – Part Three
How Roy and Hughes might have met and become friends. The starting thought was How did Roy get to be like that? Hughes seemed a reasonable answer.
After the sixth time Maas was accosted in the hall with a more or less subtle inquiry of whether he could please do something about his friend, he decided it might actually be serious and not just Roy practicing his intimidation techniques.
Two to be Steady – Part Four
How Roy and Hughes might have met and become friends. The starting thought was How did Roy get to be like that? Hughes seemed a reasonable answer.
“The ones who are crazy are the ones who throw thousands of lives away like a handful of sand in the desert. The ones who exalt destruction and the means of it. The ones who can think that the destruction of a city full of people only trying to keep their lives and homes can be justified in the name of defense. To stop them? That’s sanity.”
Two to be Steady – Part Five
How Roy and Hughes might have met and become friends. The starting thought was How did Roy get to be like that? Hughes seemed a reasonable answer.
Yet another crisis averted, Maas congratulated himself. Really, Roy was way too high strung to be allowed to run around without a keeper.
Two to be Steady – Part Six
How Roy and Hughes might have met and become friends. The starting thought was How did Roy get to be like that? Hughes seemed a reasonable answer.
At last Roy dragged him off, allegedly to have company with his coffee but more probably to prevent Hawkeye from expressing her frustration with Maas’ restlessness too directly.
Ever – Chapter Three
Everyone starts to see the shape of the future.
A slow and slightly crooked smile took over Maas’ mouth. He leaned against Roy’s shoulder for a second. “You’re too soft hearted for this business, Roy.”
Ever – Chapter Eleven
Ed and Roy continue on their way to a partnership.
Ed’s brother still regarded Roy as a threat that Edward should be guarded against, Roy noted. He smiled at Alphonse with approval. That was just the way it should be.
Ever – Chapter Twelve
Ed talks to Hughes about his changing relationship with Roy.
When Hughes arrived at their house, mid-morning, with a gleam in his eye, Ed was positive he’d been targeted for something.
Morning – One
How Roy and Ed deal with the way Ever ended.
Ed woke up wondering why his pillow was such a strange shape.
At A Cost
Roy’s choices, soon after the end.
Hughes gave him a brisk shake. “Stop that. I’ll always support you, and you know it. And your people will follow you to Hell as many times as you choose to go there. But is there anyone else who can do what he did? Ed the Amazing, Traveling Trouble Magnet, Problems Solved at No Extra Charge?”
Snapshots
A handful of moments: Roy and Hughes at Ishvar.
Roy did not normally rise to that kind of bait in public. He had a certain dignity to maintain, and being an Alchemist who had become an officer by default rather than through training didn’t make things any easier. But today he was tired and short on temper, and decided that the shortest distance between two points was to vault the table and tackle Hughes.
The Door
Ed’s choices, two years later.
“Nii-san, you’re not our father,” Al murmured.
“But what if I am?” Ed slumped. “I mean, what if this was how it started with him, too? A few trips to the city to pick up something for Mom, and then some trips further away to find some interesting books or talk to scholars, and then he got into something bigger than he could understand, and the next thing you know he’s creating monsters and destroying cities and not giving a damn about his family.”
In Silence
Hughes is called on to intervene in a fight between Roy and Ed.
“This,” Maas wiggled the carafe in his left hand, “is Gracia’s special blend, which she presciently gave me a stash of in case I ever really needed to get Roy’s attention at work. My wife is brilliant. Now,” he repeated, “what got them going?”
Once More…Dear Friends – Two
What does a career soldier do when he loses his career? And what do his friends do about him?
Roy’s past slid through his fingers into a box: a folded “portrait” of him, product of Elysia’s first finger paints; a box with his captain’s insignia—so that’s where it had gone; two letter openers, one of them an old knife of Hughes’.
The Best
The husband and wife conspiracy team.
Maas folded his arms around her, beaming. “I’m so lucky,” he sighed. “Not only is my wife beautiful, smart, sweet and amazing, she’s also the best secret agent I’ve ever seen.”
Once More…Dear Friends – Three
Roy comes to some realizations and starts to move again.
Lisa had been a sweet, cheerful girl, when he’d met her. But she’d been seventeen at the time. He hadn’t been surprised that she’d become more solemn, when she showed up as his new Second Lieutenant two and a half years later. People changed as they grew up.
Once More…Dear Friends – Five
Team Mustang dives into politics.
Hawkeye sniffed. “It was bad enough, dealing with bureaucratic idiots as an officer,” she noted. “I’m not going to deal with them as a secretary.”
Once More…Dear Friends – Six
Lisa and Roy reach an understanding.
“I’ve never met another woman who’s so beautiful when she isn’t trying.”
Closed Circuit
Al wakes up, restored. Not all the news is good, though.
He and Nii-san were going to have to come up with whole new equations to talk about what had happened to him and probably some new technical vocabulary too. The thought steadied him, and he smiled.