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Roy was going to light something on fire. He didn't know what yet but he was going to. Then he was going to watch it burn until it fizzled out and was a heap of soot and ashes. After that, he was going to get a drink. Why? Because he needed one. Why did he need one? Because Edward Elric loved to raise his blood pressure as a form of recreation and it was extremely infuriating.
It was like the kid had no respect whatsoever! was he raised in a barn or something? Wasn't there some form of adult in his life to make sure he turned out okay? Roy cringed as the sudden intrusive thought of ‘I'm that adult’ hit him full force. How unfortunate…
Still, it was a little concerning that Fullmetal hadn't checked in or at least called to let them know he was going to be late. Roy looked to his lieutenant. Riza Hawkeye stared right back. He was certain that she knew what he wanted but he was also distinctly aware of the paperwork piling higher and higher as the days went by. Despite his stationary shortcomings, she humored him.
“Has anyone heard anything from Edward?” She asked in her typical no nonsense tone.
Mustang's subordinates shook their heads and a chorus of ‘no's echoed in their office space.
Roy felt his heart plummet into his gut. Given Edward's history for finding trouble Roy knew it could be any number of things causing his youngest subordinate's tardiness. Few things came to mind though that would have Fullmetal not showing up at all. The kid had come in stabbed, shot, broken, bleeding, limping, missing automail, and many other extremely concerning conditions. So for him not to show…
He was certain that it was a bad situation. However due to it being the military, Roy couldn't just up and run to go find his ki- his subordinate. He had to wait a bit longer to make sure that Ed really wasn't just late, despite every fiber of his being screaming to him that Ed was in trouble of some kind.
The office was tense as his team soaked up his own anxiety. Roy gave himself plenty of credit for handling himself well and never letting the wrong thing slip, but his team had gotten critically close to his heart which had led them to understanding him just a bit better overall. So they shared his nervousness. Even stoic Hawkeye had a slight downturn to her lips. She wasn't even scolding them all for the lack of work being down either.
The phone on Roy's desk rang and everyone froze and listened as Roy answered it.
“Colonel Mustang speaking.”
“Hello, Colonel?”
Alphonse. Not good. If Alphonse was talking to him then that meant Edward was incapacitated enough that he himself couldn't talk on the phone.
Roy steadied himself and leveled his voice, “Hello Alphonse, what has you calling instead of your brother?”
The younger of the two brothers sounded a little frantic, “Well you see sir, uhm, there's been an incident.”
His heart lurched, “Alphonse…”
Al continued, “We were on our way to turn in our report when there was this construction accident and brother rushed in to save some of the workers… and he hasn't come out of the rubble yet.”
Roy signaled his team and they moved swiftly, “We'll be there right away Alphonse don't worry. Fullmetal is a strong one.”
“Please hurry Colonel.”
Roy could tell that Alphonse was trying to hold it together. The kid's voice was wobbly and wavering as if on the verge of tears. To be honest, Roy knew that if the metal body could cry it would. Alphonse was very feeling, which made his fate even harder. Roy felt for him.
He placed the phone back on the receiver and rushed out the door, his iconic blue jacket flowing behind him. He'd need to get there fast for Alphonse and Edward. Who knows what kind of state Fullmetal was in? Hawkeye had their transportation ready and the second he closed his door she sped off towards the directions Alphonse had relayed. Fuery was already working on calling for backup and medical personnel. Knowing Fullmetal, they would need it.
When they arrived on scene it was pure madness. A crowd had gathered at the scene and many people were crying. Quite a few construction workers were around in various states of injury. A brief glance told him there was nothing life threatening for the blue collar workers.
Roy Mustang felt his heart stop and his breath catch in his throat as he saw the wreckage. If you could even call it that.
He remembers passing by this construction site. They had been working on a massive building, it was taller than it was wide. Or at least it had been…
Now all that was left was rubble. Concrete in heavy heaps, iron beams protruding from every which way, and what really got to Roy was the unnatural earthen protrusions. It was the work of an alchemist. Specifically Edward's handiwork. He'd recognize the kid's work anywhere. If he had to wager a guess, he'd say that Fullmetal had thrown himself into the mess and rescued as many of the workers as he could before… before he himself became trapped under the heap of debris.
Alphonse found them quickly and took them to where he last knew Edward was. He was a nervous wreck.
Despite Roy's own mounting terror, he tried to be calm for Al. He was Colonel Roy Mustang and his specialty was not letting it get to him. He could do this for Alphonse. It was all he could do.
Roy took Al by the shoulders as best as he could with the height difference, “Alphonse. Breathe. We will find him. He will be okay. I swear it to you.”
Alphonse nodded and Fuery led him to sit. Roy would need to thank Fuery later, his younger subordinate was much better at handling things like that.
Instead Roy focused on the nightmare before him. Rubble laid everywhere and he didn't even know where to start. Fuery had gotten a call in for disaster relief assistance once they had arrived on scene and the thought of considering this a disaster made Roy sick. The second the relief team was one scene they began uncovering rubble carefully and meticulously. The search effort for bodies was great and under many of Ed's structures they had found construction workers that were mostly unscathed.
He had put in every effort to save them but not for himself.
And Mustang knew that as fact because when shouts could be heard they all had raced to get over to the origin. Workers had found an arm. A metal one. Ed's arm. Sure enough they found him pinned down underneath concrete. He was bleeding from his head and his still flesh foot looked instinctually wrong so it was likely broken. Fullmetal was unconscious but breathing so Roy tried to calm the fear that seemed to have made a home in his gut. He was decidedly unsuccessful.
Hawkeye had given him one look before he had conceded to his wishes and joined the medics in the ambulance with Edward. They had him on a gurney and he looked so small. He looked so young. Roy felt nauseated. Tubes and wires ran to and from Ed's too still body. The medics connected an intravenous line to him and had already braced his foot. Gauze was being held to the wound on his head. Roy did his best to answer the questions that the paramedics asked though he personally felt like Alphonse would've been better equipped.
Roy felt for the brother who couldn't ride with Ed in the ambulance. He was just too big.
The second they arrived at the hospital the doctors had to call in an automail specialist. They'd never seen an automailee that young let alone a double amputee. The trauma from Edward's arm being forcibly removed had likely caused the kid a lot of pain and stress so the specialist had decided to remove the automail leg and whatever remained of the arm. Roy tried to make a mental note to call the Rockbell family but his brain felt like sludge.
Doctors swarmed Edward the second the automail was gone and Roy was relegated to standing in the waiting area outside the trauma unit. He felt sick and nauseated and sick. He wanted to throw up. His heart was on the floor with how far it had sunk and his breathing was ragged. A few nurses gave him concerned looks.
Edward was a kid. A child. This small ball of anger and fury. It wasn't right to see him that weak, that broken. He wasn't even that bad off! It could've been so, so much worse! Ed could have died! Edward could've died…
What the hell was Roy thinking? Putting a kid in the military? The brat had grown on Roy without him ever knowing. No, Roy corrected himself, he'd always known. From the moment those tired golden eyes looked into his eyes with a fire so hot in them that Roy couldn't tame the flames he'd known. Known that Edward Elric was going to be a thorn in Roy's side for as long as they lived in the best possible way. Roy had tried so hard to close off his heart and build the most impenetrable walls around it so that he could achieve his goals but Edward Elric had looked at those walls and laughed then transmuted them into dust.
Now he was unconscious in a hospital bed looking so small and fragile.
Roy felt his stomach turn and he threw himself over the nearest trash bin and heaved his lunch into it. He slumped on the ground next to it and swatted at the nurses that flitted around him worried. His brain felt like mush and he had stopped focusing on the world around himself. At some point he realized that he'd been moved to a hospital room of his own, an IV in his right arm and Hawkeye at his side.
“This stunt isn't to get out of work is it, sir?” she blankly asked.
Roy's voice felt unused, “Fullmetal?”
Riza's facial features softened considerably as she took his hand, “Still unconscious. Alphonse is with him right now. You should be worrying about yourself.”
He shook his head, “I can't.”
“Roy.” Riza started.
He looked up at his lieutenant.
Riza frowned, “The doctors have decided to keep Ed in a medically induced coma to reduce the risk of trauma due to his head injury. It's temporary but you should know that he's going to be asleep for a while yet. So focus on yourself first. You can't help anyone if you can't help yourself.”
Roy exhaled as the air was sucked out of him. Damn the kid for being too self sacrificing.
Still, his heart ached.