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batsutousaiTitle: Our Sinner's Redemption Extras
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Abusive authority figure, pile o' OCs
Chapter Summary: This is from chapter seven of Come What May, when Roy holds Ed's squad back after their little spar, to ask about Parnall. Roy's PoV.
A/N: It hit me, as I was readying the series for posting, that this could be an interesting scene to cover, but I went back and forth over it a bit, because pile o' OCs, but his squad do end up sticking around for a while, as a background cast, and I think this is a good scene to sort of show, from someone else's PoV, how Ed's squad feel about him. And, too, there's nothing wrong with getting a look at how Roy's thoughts are changing in regards to Ed.
Fullmetal's parting shot, and Warrant Officer Pascale's laughter, echoed through the silent room as they left, and Roy casually crossed his arms over his chest as he raised an eyebrow around the room full of cadets and command candidates. Most of the cadets shifted, uncomfortable, while the warrant officers and a couple of the cadets straightened, not quite coming to attention, but easing into parade rest.
Every single last one of them had at least double the respect – or fear – of Roy that Fullmetal had. More than, probably. (Although, the boy's response in the the car, the way he'd turned to Roy for help on the train, the fact that he had Havoc's stupid lighter... Perhaps Roy was underestimating how much Fullmetal respected him. There was, at the least, something more there, now; the more he spoke to him, the more Roy could see that Fullmetal was growing up, and he was going to be one hell of a man.)
Warrant Officer Tugan cleared his throat and, when Roy looked over at him, calmly requested, "Sir, if I may, that was an impressive spar." The skin around his eyes tightened slightly and he added, "Far above the level of anyone else I've seen."
Roy allowed himself a slow nod, remembering that this was the command candidate that was tutoring cadets in hand-to-hand. "The military training will give you everything you could need to eventually be able to hold your own, so long as you keep training yourself, as I did."
"Yes, sir."
"But what about Ed?" Warrant Officer Bartel, one of Fullmetal's squad mates, asked, before wincing slightly, the burn scar on the left side of his face pulling a bit grotesquely. (Roy made a concerted effort to keep his discomfort off his face.) "I mean, sir, he's not military trained." A couple of the cadets nodded in agreement; Roy knew it would be difficult for anyone to believe Fullmetal to have had any previous military training.
"Fullmetal and his brother were trained in martial arts by their alchemy teacher, who is, herself, a formidable fighter. Given Fullmetal's penchant for landing himself in dangerous situations, it should come as no surprise that he has never allowed his skills to languish."
A few people managed faint smiles at that, while Warrant Officers Bartel and Hansa traded frowns.
Roy cleared his throat. "I will remind you that you are all here to learn how to become soldiers or officers, not hand-to-hand combatants of Fullmetal's skill level. Concentrate on your studies and exercises as your instructors present them to you, while here at the academy. If you wish to better yourselves, later, it will require dedication and effort, and it will be entirely up to you to keep yourselves on task, or find a trainer. You will not be pestering Major Elric for any training while you remain at this campus. Am I clear?"
Every single one of them came to attention, heels thumping together audibly, and chorused, "Yes, sir!" as they saluted.
(How exhilarating it was, dealing with a group of soldiers who at least made the effort of appearing respectful. Between Fullmetal's insubordination and the rest of his team's casual disregard, he sometimes forgot he was actually making progress up the military's ladder of ranks.)
"Good. Squad A, remain behind for a moment. The rest of you are dismissed."
The room filled with a rush of movement as most of the crowd obediently dispersed in near silence, leaving behind Fullmetal's squad, who had stepped closer together. Warrant Officers Bartel and Hansa had positioned themselves between Roy and the cadets, as though intending to protect them from any punishment, and that warmed Roy, a bit, that sign of the future military that he was aiming for, even as the reminder of why they had developed that habit of getting between a superior and their squad made him want to snap his fingers and light Parnall on fire.
Roy forced his shoulders to relax and let his arms drop, slipping one into his pocket, trying for a more casual pose to put them all more at ease. "None of you are in trouble," he promised, and most of the cadets relaxed slightly, while Bartel and Hansa traded quick uncertain looks. "I've heard Fullmetal's side, in regards to Colonel Parnall's actions over the past two months, as well as Colonel Parnall's own defence. According to Fullmetal, he isn't the only trainee involved, however. Did any of you have anything to report?"
Hansa cleared her throat, but before she could speak, one of the cadets, Grahame, called, "We're not gonna rat out Ed, sir. He hasn't done anything wrong."
Most of the other cadets let out murmurs of agreement, a couple shooting Roy belligerent looks, while Hansa and Bartel shot Grahame sharp looks, and one of the cadets, Hamilcar, hissed, "Shut up, Ben!"
Other than hushing the outspoken cadet, not a member of the squad looked like they had any intention in speaking out against Fullmetal. Rather, they had a particular gleam in their eyes, one that Roy had seen a hundred times from his own team: Loyalty.
These eleven men and women had Fullmetal's back, would stand with him against even a member of the brass.
Something in Roy's chest eased, just a little. Fullmetal had always had something of an enviable ability to inspire loyalty and friendship in civilians, largely due to his strong moral code and general abhorrence of military high-handedness, but the soldiers who seemed even a little fond of Fullmetal, seemed to be limited to Roy's own team, and the handful of soldiers that Hughes had assigned to him at one point or another; soldiers who had been picked with an eye towards the patience necessary to survive the boy's prickly temperament.
And yet, not quite two months into knowing him, here stood a group of (future) soldiers who had found themselves threatened because of Fullmetal's attitude, and stuck with him anyway. It was a relief, an assurance that the boy might yet survive this course he'd chosen.
(An assurance that Roy hadn't known he'd needed; but, then, he'd only just learnt that Fullmetal wouldn't be assigned to Ishval in a little over a month, where Roy could keep an eye on him. Instead, he'd be running around, causing trouble with a couple of human-chimeras whom Roy had never properly met and knew next to nothing about, save that they'd been with Fullmetal for those months on the run and helped against Father. If he could make friend with this varied group – a veteran of the Promised Day, a soldier from East Command, cadets from border towns and capitals and mountain villages, cadets who had been born into the military or come into it by choice – then he might have finally grown up enough to make the sorts of contacts in the military that could one day save his life.)
Roy cleared his throat to regain their attention, and said, "I'm not requesting anyone 'rat out' Fullmetal, Cadet. I'm simply asking for your thoughts on the situation with Colonel Parnall. If you have something to say about Fullmetal, good or ill, however, I'm willing to listen. I assure you, there is little you can say of him that I haven't heard before." The last came out a little wryer than he'd intended, but some tensed shoulders relaxed, and he saw humour in the eyes of some of the cadets.
Hansa cleared her throat, then proceeded to give him essentially the same report that Fullmetal had shared with both him and Führer Grumman, with only some minor changes that put Fullmetal in a far more favourable light. Bartel and the cadets let her talk without interrupting, but he spotted many of the cadets nodding in agreement when Hansa – always carefully respectful – mentioned something Parnall had done, or any time she made an allusion to the fact that something wasn't Fullmetal's fault.
As soon as Hansa was done, not giving Roy a chance to comment, Bartel said, "Sir, Major Elric can come off as a little crass, sometimes–" Roy politely didn't laugh "–but nothing he's done has been sufficient cause for the attacks Colonel Parnall keeps making. I'm familiar with the 'extra attention' academy commanders will sometimes focus on struggling recruits, but the colonel's attacks have always come off as being personal, and intended to harm, rather than give a cadet the extra push they need.
"In our classes and training, the major always excels, but he's never rude about offering assistance or encouragement, even to the other squads. He's a little insubordinate, yes, and he seems to view the rulebook as more of a loose guideline, but I would rather serve under him than any of the officers I've served under or near, even my own father or uncle." He raised his chin slightly, meeting Roy's eyes with a hint of insubordination, which Roy suspected he'd learnt from Fullmetal. "Major Elric is a good man."
Behind Bartel, the cadets all nodded, expressions unyielding. Next to him, Hansa's eyes said she agreed, even as she remained looking stiffly forward, into the distance.
Roy wanted to smile at them, to assure them that he knew, that he was glad to know that Fullmetal had them on his side, that he had people who knew how much of an obnoxious brat he could be, and yet would still stand with him first.
He didn't. Instead, he simply nodded and said, "Yes, he is. Thank you for your reports; you're all dismissed."
They were all still for a moment, Hansa and Bartel both shooting Roy narrow-eyed searching looks. But then the two warrant officers turned and led the cadets out, in nearly perfect formation.
Roy looked towards the punching bag Fullmetal liked to abuse, let out a careful breath that wasn't quite a sigh. He still wanted to light a literal fire under Parnall's rear, as punishment for all the abuse he'd been aiming at Fullmetal, and he still disliked the idea of the boy – young man, really, if Roy was being honest – going off to cause mayhem well out of Roy's reach, but he felt a little better about it. Fullmetal was growing up, was learning to hold his temper when faced with a superior that wasn't willing to forgive his teenage insubordination, and appeared to have further developed his ability to inspire loyalty everywhere.
All Roy could do was hope that, if it all came crashing down around Fullmetal's ears, he had grown up enough to come to Roy for help.
Come What May Chapters:
01 || 02 || 03 || 04 || 05 || 06 || 07 || 08 || 09 || 10
11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 20
Extras:
Ch 04 (Roy) ||
Ch 10 (Darius - NSFW) || Ch 16 (Ed - NSFW) || Ch 17 (Roy)
We All Need Saving Chapters:
Unposted
Dancing With the Devil Chapters:
Unposted
.
