Training
A FMA Fanfic
By Jaelle
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Pairings: None.
Spoilers: Not really.
It
was a quiet day at Central City HQ. It was especially quiet amongst the
staff of Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, who were aimlessly milling
around the corridor outside their office.
“Who’s that?” Fury asked suddenly, pointing. “I haven’t seen her around
here before.”
Breda
looked where the younger man was pointing and whistled quietly. “What a
looker. Do you think she’s the Lieutenant Colonel’s new aide?”
“Do you think we’ll ever really get that lucky?” Havoc snorted.
“The Lieutenant Colonel might,” Breda pointed out.
“No
way,” Havoc dismissed the idea. “The brass know damn well they need to
send a real hard arse to ride herd on Mustang, pardon my French. No way
they’d send a babe like that.”
“She’s coming over here,” Fury said nervously. “Do you think she heard
us?”
“Maybe she wants a date,” Breda said, straightening.
“Maybe she wants directions,” Havoc said pessimistically, but
straightened also.
“Fury, your collar’s folded over again,” Farman, previously silent,
also stood to greet the woman.
She
was, indeed, a real looker. Blonde hair, tall strong build, and firm
blue eyes shining with resolve, she looked every inch as though she’d
stepped straight from a recruiting poster. She approached them
steadily, her eyes roving over them and noting their relevant ranks.
Havoc, as the senior officer present, stiffened to attention as she
approached him, and stepped forward to speak.
“Good morning,” he said. “I am Warrant Officer Havoc, can I be of any
assistance?”
“Good
morning Warrant Officer Havoc,” the woman snapped off a perfect salute.
“I am Second Lieutenant Lisa Hawkeye, and I am here to take up the my
post as Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang’s aide. Are you one of his staff
members?”
Havoc saluted again hurriedly, “Yes Ma’am! Also on
staff with me are Warrant Officer Hymans Breda, Sergeant Major Vador
Farman, and Sergeant Cain Fury.” He indicated each man in turn and they
snapped to attention. “On behalf of all of us, please be welcome.”
“I
look forward to working with you all,” Hawkeye replied. “Now, may I ask
why you are all standing out here in the corridor? Is there a problem
with the office?”
Havoc nearly choked. Oh man, this was bad.
“Not, not a problem as such...” he said weakly. “We’re uh, we’re just
waiting for the Lieutenant Colonel to get here.”
Hawkeye gave him a very severe look. “And is there no work that can be
done without the Lieutenant Colonel’s presence?”
Havoc sweatdropped.
“Well,
someone could make the coffee,” Breda muttered quietly, then winced as
the glare Hawkeye gave him made it clear he hadn’t said it quietly
enough.
“Perhaps you could brief me on the current situation,” Hawkeye said to
Havoc coldly.
“Yes
Ma’am,” Havoc said, allowing her to lead the way into the office. The
other three sent him sympathetic looks as he followed her in. This was
not going to be a good morning.
**
Havoc was absolutely
correct. It was a terrible morning. Hawkeye had visibly been taken
aback by the mountains of paperwork stacked up around the office, and
had only been mildly mollified when she realised that this was not from
lack of effort on the staff’s part, but because their CO had failed to
sign off on anything.
“Has the Lieutenant Colonel been on an
active assignment recently?” she inquired eventually, turning over
another set of reports that required his initals before they could be
sent off for filing.
Fury crimsoned, and Farman and Breda both
suffered sudden coughing fits. Havoc looked heavenward and prayed for
divine intervention.
“Good morning everyone!” Lieutenant Colonel
Roy Mustang breezed in through the door. “Did you all have a good
evening? I certainly did.” He smirked gleefully at Havoc. “The
Ambassador’s wife did too. I don’t know what his was like though.” He
paused. “Oh? Who’s this?”
Hawkeye had snapped to attention the
second Mustang had walked in the door, and showed no sign of having
heard anything he’d just said. “Second Lieutenant Hawkeye reporting for
duty sir!”
The others quickly snapped to as well, and Mustang
drew himself together and returned her salute soberly. “Welcome to the
team Hawkeye,” he said politely. “I look forward to working with you.
Now, where’s my coffee?” He looked at Havoc pointedly.
“Fury, go
make the Lieutenant Colonel’s coffee,” Havoc ordered instantly.
“Sir...” he strangled his next words as he caught sight of Hawkeye
again. “Uh...”
Hawkeye picked up where he’d stopped. “Sir, there
are a large number of reports which need your immediate attention.” She
lifted the pile to the left of her and Havoc’s eyebrows rose slightly.
She’d picked up the super-ultra-urgent-we-needed-this-signed-Y
ESTERDAY pile, which he was fairly sure she’d only had time to
glance at. Impressive.
“Yes,
yes,” Mustang said, taking off his coat and heading for his office. “In
a minute. Coffee!” His door shut behind him firmly.
Havoc looked at Hawkeye slightly apologetically as she slowly relaxed.
“Umm... Breda, Farman... go help Fury.”
The
other two took the chance to escape as Havoc tried to think how to
explain things to Hawkeye. In the end he decided to wait for her to
make the first comment.
Hawkeye turned and gazed at him
steadily. “I begin to see why the Lieutenant Colonel has gone through
six aides in as many months,” she said neutrally.
Havoc stiffened and his expression froze. “He’s a good commander,” he
said coldly.
Hawkeye
held his gaze for a minute longer and he felt strangely as though she
was assessing him. Finally, she nodded slowly. “I see. If you believe
that so strongly, then he must be. Very well. Then I suppose I shall
have to make the extra effort for him.”
She turned to face the
office door, a firm expression of resolve crossing her features. “Why
don’t you go and help the others with the coffee?”
Havoc fled just as she opened the door to Mustang’s office.
**
When
they returned, it was almost as though they’d entered a different
office. Mustang’s door was open, and the man himself was signing
reports as fast as Hawkeye could put them in front of him.
“And
initial the third page here,” she instructed. “Thank you Lieutenant
Colonel. Ah good, you’re all back. Sergeant Fury, would you please take
these reports down to Records? Sergeant Major Farman, I require your
assistance in locating the meal expenses for the last two months.
Warrant Officer Breda, please go to the Central Directory and inform
them that if our phone lines become snared again I will be attending to
the matter personally.”
All four men froze as Mustang blanched
at her choice of words, before burying himself frantically in more
paperwork. Havoc felt a chill come over him as she looked his way, and
then relaxed as she graced him with a small smile. “And Warrant Officer
Havoc, if you could bring out your next most urgent pile of things
which need attention, I would appreciate it.”
Mustang shot Havoc a pleading look. Havoc merely saluted, an amused
expression on his face, and went to work.
For
months, the one main topic of conversation was how on earth she’d done
it. Oh, it was true, Mustang still slacked off at regular intervals,
but whenever Hawkeye told him that this paperwork, “Absolutely has to
be done today sir,” he did it. Instantly.
“Mind control?” Fury suggested.
“Feminine wiles?” Breda offered.
“Human transmutation?” Farman guessed.
Havoc
never offered any theories for the remarkable change. Just as he never
said anything about the bullet holes in the wall around Mustang’s desk
that Hawkeye had quietly asked him to fix later on that day while the
others were out of the office. He’d just looked at her with a raised
eyebrow, and she’d given him the first genuine smile he’d seen on her.
“I believe in disciplining strictly,” was all she’d said.
End.
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