A/N: I usually write fluff, but this plot came to me after rewatching the episode where Roy assigns all the characters chess pieces. This fic contains a character death. This is set after the Hughes incident but before Havoc's incapacitation, in Central.

"I'll see you after work, okay?" the dark-haired man asked, and the mousey librarian smiled and stood still.

"I love you." Sheska said. Kain Fuery smiled back at her.

"I love you too. Bye." he said. Sheska blushed and walked away, and walked into the office where he and the rest of Roy Mustang's subordinates worked, absent-mindedly. Once he had shut the door, he looked up and froze.

"Drop your gun and get here now."

"We're not leaving without someone getting shot."

Every member of Roy Mustang's team was locked in the room. Their weapons were discarded, Roy's gloves were far away from him and soaked for good measure, and each one of them had a gun pressed to their heads.

The seeming leader of the gang had his gun pressed to the king's left temple – the most precious, important piece. Roy swallowed – they'd been taught to deal with hostage situations, but they'd only ever been taught with one captor – not six.

The queen's captor was a woman, but a strong one. Her arm wrapped around Riza's neck and the gun was pressed to the base of her neck. Every time she struggled, the grip on her neck tightened, but she remained silent.

The knight was most defiant, and yet he was still captured. The captor in charge of Havoc had ended up having to tie him to a chair to control him, gun pressed to his forehead so he had to constantly see the weapon that may end him.

The bishop was completely stony-faced and methodical, despite the gun pressed under his chin. Falman's captor was the smallest of the group as he had not put up a fight. He thought it was best, but despite the fact that he didn't show it, Falman was worried.

The rook was very vocal about his capture. The stocky man who had him captured had the gun pressed to the back of his skull. Profanities spilled from Breda, but the threats did not shake the captors, for they had a sinister plan in mind.

Finally, the pawn was being held by the collar of his military jacket, his captor holding the gun to his right temple. Everyone in the room could tell that Kain's guise was breaking, and that no matter how hard he tried, he would soon break down.

Everyone thought it was because Kain was the youngest of them – that he hadn't had quite as much training as they had, that he wasn't as prepared. But it wasn't – it was because he had already made his decision.

"Why don't you just kill all of us, get it over and done with?" Breda shouted. The leader of the group laughed, and Breda looked confused. But the comment finally cracked Kain, and tears rolled silently from his eyes.

"Stop crying." Kain's captor pressed the gun harder against Kain's temple, and he whimpered.

"It's alright, Fuery." Roy called, and the leader pressed the gun harder against his temple as well, leaning down to speak in his ear.

"It's not going to be alright when that kid's brains are splattered across that wall." he hissed. It took every ounce of self control in Roy's body not to throttle the leader, but he knew he had to stay calm, otherwise it could spell the end for everyone.

"To answer your question, why don't I just kill all of you? Well… that would be too easy. I'd rather watch you all suffer through the death of a colleague." The man's face contorted into a twisted smirk.

"You're sick!" Havoc called, and his captor groaned.

"Shut up!" he cocked the gun in haste, and Havoc hid his gasp.

"Stop! Don't you dare do anything without my permission." the leader called. He glanced around the room, his grin returning.

"So? Any volunteers?"

There was silence for a moment. Then a voice spoke up.

"Shoot me."

The voice was punching and clear, and everyone's eyes flicked to its owner.

"Fuery, man, don't be stupid!" Havoc called, and his captor smirked.

"Fuery, this is ridiculous, don't say things like that!" Riza called, but Kain squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Let them go!" he cried. Kain's captor looked up at the leader.

In chess, pawns are the weakest piece. They are disposable by nature, and it is almost as if they know that. They are reserved to that fact, and while they are disposable, they stay standing and defending until they are needed to go.

"I'm not going to let any of my colleagues die!" he cried, his eyes squeezing tighter together. And then Roy realised.

None of his colleagues knew that he had assigned them chess pieces according to their abilities. Riza was the queen, Havoc the knight, Falman was the bishop and Breda was the rook.

And Kain was the pawn.

Roy realised that Kain had almost made his own realisations that this was where he fit in the team. That, if the time came, he would need to sacrifice himself.

He suddenly regretted assigning Kain to be the pawn.

"Kain, don't!" Roy called. The leader heard the frantic tone of Roy's voice and glanced at Kain's captor.

"He volunteered. Go on."

"No!"

A gunshot rang throughout the room and a small body slumped to the floor.

"Go, go!" the leader called, and before the team could even react, they were out of the window. Nobody moved – somewhat due to the fact that they knew there were troops out there who would capture the perpetrators, but more so, because they were frozen.

Roy was the first one to jolt out of his stupor.

"Kain!" he exclaimed, speeding over to the young soldier, dropping to his knees beside him and pressing two fingers to his neck. The captor hadn't been a good shot, but Kain's head wound was bleeding profusely. His pulse was faint.

"He's still alive." Roy shot a glare at Riza and she nodded, running towards the open window, heart racing.

"It's Lieutenant Hawkeye!" one of the personnel from the ground noticed, and Riza yelled.

"We need medical attention now!" she cried. Two men raced off as fast as they could, and the single personnel member stayed.

"Lieutenant, what happened?" he called. Riza swallowed the lump in her throat.

"The Sergeant Major's been shot." she said before leaving the window.

All of the best medical equipment from across Amestris had been brought to the military headquarters in Central, and they were all barely keeping Kain Fuery alive. His breathing was basically assisted, and the bleeding from his head had stopped for now.

But everyone knew he wasn't to survive.

The bullet was still somewhere inside his skull. That would kill him eventually, as would surgery to try and remove it. And, even if by some miracle, that didn't kill him, he couldn't breathe on his own.

It was mercifully horrible – everyone in Kain Fuery's life knew that he wasn't long for the world. So they could say goodbye.

His parents had been notified, but they were two days away. The aim was to keep him alive until then, and after that, his breathing apparatus would be removed.

Sheska rarely left his side, and people rarely asked her to. This was one of the occasions when she would.

A knock on the door rose Sheska from her murmurs to Kain. She looked up, her hand still entwined with his, and Roy stood at the door.

"Sheska." he said, quietly. He removed her glasses and rubbed at her eyes.

"Colonel." she replied, shakily. Roy stepped forward and took a sharp breath in before glancing at Kain, and it still shook him.

"If it isn't too much trouble -"

"Would you like the room?" Sheska asked. Roy nodded, and Sheska did in return. She brought Kain's hand to her lips and gently released it, standing up and making her way into the hallway. Roy sat where she had been sitting and stared at the virtually lifeless body.

"… You're just a kid." he dropped his head and spoke quietly. Kain was only in his early-twenties, and he looked even younger, so vulnerable on the hospital bed. Roy kept talking and hoped to hell that nobody could hear him.

"It sounds stupid… I assigned all of you chess pieces. Riza was my queen, Havoc was my knight, Falman, my bishop and Breda, my rook. And I was stupid and assigned you the pawn." Roy muttered.

"And you don't think of stupid things you do until something makes you think about them. And it was so stupid." Roy shook his head.

"If you can hear me… You're not a pawn, and you were never a sacrifice. What you did was brave and noble. And everyone's going to know what you did to save your team, everyone." Roy looked up at Kain, as if his speech was going to bring him back.

It didn't.

"It was hard enough losing Maes, for God's sake. Now you…" Roy dropped his head into his hands, and took a shuddery breath in.

"Nobody wants to lose you. And the fact that we're going to kills me. But don't tell anyone that." Roy warned. He half-expected the usual response that Kain gave to anything he said that was supposed to be funny – the kindly smile and obligatory laugh that only seemed sincere coming from the communications expert. When he got nothing in return, Roy took a deep breath and stood up.

"You're an extraordinary soldier. And wherever you go, say hello to Hughes for me. Tell him he's an idiot. And tell him I'm an idiot for letting this all happen." Roy said quietly. He saluted Kain before exiting the room, Sheska waiting at the door.

"I'm so sorry." Roy dropped his head, and Sheska gave a half-hearted smile.

"Thank you, Colonel." she said, quietly.

Jean Havoc did not ask Sheska to leave the room when he came to visit Kain. He found this was a mistake when he began crying.

It seemed that it was only on the younger man's deathbed that he realised just how close he was to Kain Fuery.

"Havoc, it's okay." Sheska said, gently. Havoc's face was strained, as if he was trying to strangle his tear-ducts closed.

"It's not okay. You're losing your boyfriend and I'm –"

"Losing a colleague. And, from what he's told me about you, one of your close friends." Sheska said, Havoc's eyes flicked from the librarian to Kain's closed eyes and his dropped his head, pressing his hand to his face.

"Fuck." he whispered, before looking up swiftly.

"Sorry, I shouldn't swear. He hates it when I swear." Havoc admitted, and Sheska smiled a sincere, albeit small smile.

"I know. You're his best friend." Sheska, said. Havoc bit the inside of his cheek and clenched his fists tightly.

"I don't know about that. He's pretty stuck on you." Havoc smirked. Sheska gave a small laugh, and they both tactfully ignored the fact that they were talking about Kain as if he was just out of the room, not like he was going to die.

"He's told you?" Sheska asked.

"He's not subtle. I'm pretty sure you're his first girlfriend ever." Havoc laughed, and Sheska crossed her arms.

"Leave him alone. He's my first boyfriend." Sheska replied.

And it was as if it hit them both at the same time the enormity of Kain Fuery leaving this world.

Sheska covered her mouth and Havoc stood, biting the thumb of his clenched fist.

"I have to come back later." his voice was quiet, and anyone could easily tell that Havoc was about to cry. Sheska just nodded and Havoc raced out of the room, head lowered and hics already escaping from him. Sheska grasped Kain's hand and her tears fell again.

Riza, Falman and Breda came to say their goodbyes throughout the next day and a half, as did Rebecca, Armstrong and a few other personnel. And the day had arrived.

Everyone was congregated outside of Kain's hospital room. His parents were in there now. He'd made it so that they could say goodbye.

Sheska was shaking, Rebecca completely throwing out any sense of superiority and grasping her shoulders. Havoc was pacing madly, Breda was fidgety, and Falman was stoic. Riza kept glancing nervously between the door and Roy, who was deep in thought.

He had to work out how to function without not only his best friend, Hughes, but now without one of his most trusted subordinates. Who, and he wasn't going to lie to himself, was also a close friend.

A cry of "Kain!" and a wail of despair which almost certainly came from Kain's mother jolted everyone. It sent Sheska into near-hysterics and led Havoc to begin his muttering again.

It was at this point that a doctor walked over to them. Just the sight of him upped Sheska's hysterics.

After another minute, a man who was the spitting image of Kain, thought taller, rounder and greyer, opened the hospital room door, Kain's sobbing mother's hand in his. The doctor looked at them.

"Are we ready?" he asked. Kain's father nodded, and the doctor looked around.

"Okay. I will go in by myself and remove the breathing apparatus. The Sergeant Major-"

"Kain. His name is Kain." his mother said, tearfully. The doctor cleared his throat and corrected himself.

"Kain will be able to breathe on his own for a while, but he will eventually stop breathing. We permit no more than four in the room during this process. Nobody is forced to watch." the doctor said.

"We'll be in there." Kain's father said, and his mother nodded, tears still streaming down her face.

"He worked under me." Roy said, and everyone's eyes flicked to him. Reserved to his decision, Roy stepped out of the group and to the side. Sheska looked at Havoc.

"You go in there. I can't." he said, shaking his head.

"I don't know if I can." Sheska whimpered, and Kain's mother glanced at her.

"Please, Sheska. He'd want you there for his final moments." In a rare gap in her tears, Kain's mother convinced Sheska to go in with one sentence. The doctor entered the room and Sheska, Roy and Kain's parents gathered at the door. Kain's mother took Sheska's hand, and Sheska looked at her.

"He loved you." she said, almost silently.

"I love him." she replied, her eyes welling with tears. Kain's mother gave Sheska's hand a squeeze and as the doctor came to the door and signalled for them to go in, the situation sunk in for everyone.

The door shut behind the four people and the doctor who were going to witness the last moments of Kain Fuery.

One seat was beside the bed, and once again, it fell to Sheska and Kain's mother.

"Please." Sheska looked at Kain's mother, and she shook her head.

"I'm his mother. He had no say in me. He chose you." she said, gently. Sheska shook her head, but Kain's mother insisted. She took a sharp breath and sat down, taking Kain's hand tightly.

Save for the bandage around his head, Kain just looked as if he was sleeping. His glasses were on, and his face had settled into a near-smile. It was almost as if it was his default setting.

Kain's parents were hand in hand, his mother's tears having begun again and his father's threatening to surface. Roy stood silently in the corner, his hands clasped.

Kain's breaths grew longer and further apart. Sheska was shaking, and Fuery's mother had taken his other hand.

"I love you." Sheska whispered, gently, bringing Kain's hand to her lips and not moving it.

And then, it happened.

Kain exhaled, and where an inhale was supposed to follow… nothing.

The doctor stepped forward and first pressed two fingers to Kain's neck, then to his wrist.

"Time of death, two forty-seven pm. I'm very sorry." the doctor picked up his clipboard and nodded mournfully before exiting the room. The group glanced up, and though they'd ever admit it, all of them were wishing that the doctor was going to come out and tell them that Kain had made a miraculous recovery and was sitting up, smiling and telling stories.

"Kain passed very peacefully." he said quietly. And, though nobody would admit their wish for Kain to be okay overtly, Havoc let it slip when he slammed his fist against the wall, let out a string of profanities and began to cry. Rebecca walked over to him to attempt to console him, and the doctor continued speaking.

"When the four are finished saying goodbye, you can enter." he said, the group all nodded.

Inside the room, everybody in the room was now crying. Everyone.

Even Roy Mustang couldn't pretend it was raining inside.

Kain's funeral service was a full military one, but was somehow humbled. Even though he received everything that any other soldier would, the fact that it was Kain Fuery made it somewhat subdued. Perhaps it was because nobody believed that he would be the one killed in his unit.

Kain Fuery's grave was placed next to Maes Hughes', at Roy's request. A day after the service, after Kain's parents had returned regretfully home, Roy, Sheska and Havoc returned to the gravesite. They weren't in military gear, they were all equal in standing, mourning for a friend.

Kain Fuery

1892 -1914

He was only twenty-two.

Havoc put his arm around Sheska, her eyes red from crying already. Roy stood, hands clasped, and gave a sigh.

"There are no communication experts like Kain. None." Roy sighed.

"There are no other people in the world who're gonna laugh at your jokes anymore either, man." Havoc smirked, and Roy sighed.

"Isn't that a shame?" Roy asked, and Havoc laughed.

"I miss him." Sheska said, quietly.

"So do I." Havoc said. Roy glanced at them, dropping his head slightly.

"As do I." he murmured.

The pawn in chess is a piece which is low in value and is completely disposable. It can be sacrificed with little to no worry at any time.

It was then that it hit home just how wrong Roy Mustang was when assigning Kain Fuery his chess piece.

Kain Fuery was in no way low in value. He was not disposable, and his sacrifice sent shockwaves through Central.

Kain Fuery should not have been the pawn. Kain Fuery was irreplaceable.

A/N: I made myself feel bad :(

But, this idea came to me, as I said earlier, when the chess pieces were beign assigned. And I adore Kain, so I may be biased, but he is not a pawn. And I think that, if Roy actually had thought about that, he would have realised it.

But, then again, retrospectively, Kain being the pawn was probably a short joke.