A/N: Though this is my first attempt at FMA fanfiction, this baby has been bothering me for months. After watching the movie, it couldn't be ignored any longer.
Warnings: There are BIG spoilers here, for the series and the movie. Plus, it's YAOI. That's men with men doing stuff nine out of ten do with ladies, ok? Rated M mostly for mature themes, but we'll get to the sex, I hope.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just owe a lot of money.
Enjoy!
DON'T DIE WITHOUT TELLING ME WHERE YOU'RE GOING
CHAPTER ONE
Roy wondered if this was what it felt like for the Ishbalites. Chaos and destruction all around them. Ruthless troupes closing in on them. Not knowing why they were being attacked. Central City had been reduced to ashes and screams, to gunshots and fear. Central City was knowing terror in a way it had never known it before. This was not some distant war with uncertain motives. This was what they had brought upon so many other towns, smaller, less prepared towns. It looked like the people of Central could scream and fear and bleed as hard as any other people. In a way, Roy found it poetic.
In a sad, angry way, it also made him feel alive for the first time in years. This was it, the reason he had joined the military to begin with. He was finally given the chance to fight FOR his country, rather than against another. It was his purpose. It even felt good using his alchemy again. The power itching in his fingers, the glorious moment of release. If he was going to die, a sort of morbid thrill in him screamed that it should be like this. There was no escaping this time. No sheer luck or cowardice would rob him of this. He would die in the same way as his victims. It was fair and beautiful and he couldn't wait.
When he saw them, Edward and Alphonse, working together, he smiled. It hadn't all been in vain. He had known, hoped, Ed was still alive. Back before everything had blown over, helping the Elrics had been one of the things that had kept him going. One thing out of three, really. After killing Bradley, he had been lost. He hadn't had a way of knowing if he had helped Ed at all, he had ruined his career and any chance of doing something worth with his life and, somehow, revenge hadn't felt as fulfilling as he had hoped. Two years he'd gone without knowing why he bothered taking his next breath. Now, he could not only go like he'd always wanted, he could take a sense of peace with him as well.
But then the shrimp had to go and ruin everything. He had to beat the bad guy, had to play the martyr. And again, he was left alive, as a simple by-stander, hearing Al's desperate cries of anguish. In a matter of seconds, he was useless again.
Al broke loose from his hold and made as if to join his brother. He understood then. What Edward was about to do needed to be done, for sure. He didn't understand much of what was going on, but knew enough. Someone needed to close that portal, Ed had said, to stop the invaders from passing through ever again, and it was likely not something Edward was going to live through if the people on the other side were as friendly as they appeared to be. But, just as Alphonse had proven it, there was still a chance to jump after Edward.
He grabbed Alphonse just in time, throwing him back, and jumped. The youngest Elric yelped in surprised, pretty much like his older brother did a second later when, in a similar fashion, Roy pushed him off the platform. Al was there to stop his brother from falling, of course, he knew he would. He locked eyes with Ed one last time. His big amber eyes widened in surprise, then darkened in understanding as Roy waved him goodbye nonchalantly.
Roy was shaken off a painful stupor when the ship crashed on the ground. Moaning, he tried to stand up, but voices from the outside froze him in place. He wouldn't have expected to understand what people from another freaking dimension were saying. Had he made it?
Roy dragged himself on all fours to the nearest exit, being as quiet as he could in spite of the soreness spreading all over his body, and cursing under his breath that his stupid survival instinct had found a way to kick in again. He should be stomping outside, meeting the danger head first. Wasn't that the reason he was there? There was a low, guttural, female-like voice and utterances of panic in the background. Peaking through shredded steel, Roy saw a mass of black gooey make its way to a young girl holding a still body. A black uniform came into view, then a gunshot, and the gooey was dead.
It was his chance. If he was going to close that portal and/or die, he could not stay hiding forever. Making an effort that had him wincing, Roy kicked the wrecked door and stumbled outside. The strain and the excess of light had his one good eye loose focus, but he could still here the click of a gun being cocked, and his heart skipped a beat in anticipation.
The shot never came, though. Only a surprised gasp.
"What the…?" His heart skipped another beat at the voice, from entirely different reasons. "Roy?"
A million thoughts raced through his brain, as the face that had haunted his dreams for the past two years started to become clearer and clearer. Homunculi, chimeras, successful human transmutation, he hadn't done it, had he? Hallucinations, concussions, lunacy, was he still asleep? A nervous chuckle left his lips, that turned louder and more hysterical as the figure crouched next to him, wrapping a strong arm around him, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Fuck!" Roy exclaimed, almost merrily, gripping the other man's coat desperately. "I finally cracked, didn't I? Or…" Well, it could be. Maybe God did exist after all. "Am I dead, then?"
Hughes frowned, disconcerted.
"Well," his voice wavered. "Yeah."
TBC