The Dogs at Midnight
Title: The Dogs at Midnight
Author: maryh10000
Series: post manga
Word Count: 797
Rating: PG (some violence)
Characters: Falman, Fuery, Breda, Havoc, others
Summary: Mustang's dogs dream at midnight
Warnings: spoilers
It's a dark tunnel, barely lit by the flashlights they brought. Ed and Al are there and Major General Armstrong and Captain Buccaneer. Ed has a map and is asking him for the dates of major battles. Vato can't remember them.
Buccaneer grins at him. "Not even the eye of God can defend against an attack he cannot see." Then Vato sees Buccaneer lying there, dead. And he knows, he doesn't see but he knows, that they're all dead. The entire population of Amestris. Because he couldn't remember.
--
Kain stands next to First Lieutenant Hawkeye. She's emptied her guns into that - creature - but still it stands there, grinning at them. He draws one gun and throws it to Hawkeye, then draws the other and takes his stance, legs slightly apart, both hands on the gun. He can do this, Havoc made sure he could. He shoots, right on target, but it makes no difference.
Then there is a blast of fire and Kain thinks it's strange that he's burning but it doesn't hurt. And as the blast of the fire pushes him through the window, his body breaking the glass, he looks back into the room and the creature is still there. "You got the wrong one, Colonel," he thinks and he's sad because now the First Lieutenant will die and the Colonel will die and never become Fuhrer.
--
There. Heymans has got all the pieces lined up. Mrs Bradley is in his pocket and Ross is a natural at this. Falman's brought Briggs in to handle the heavy fighting, Mustang and Hawkeye will handle the homunculi, and he and Fuery just have to spin this so they can hand Bradley's position to Mustang when the fighting's over.
Then the radio turns to static. Fuery is slumped over the table next to the radio. The others are dropping too. Why? There's no blood. He knows he'll drop soon unless he can find his mistake. What piece is unaccounted for?
Then he sees the Fuhrer enter the room with Mustang. Mustang without his gloves.
Heymans shoots, empties his gun into the Fuhrer, but it does no good. Then the Fuhrer swings his sword and Mustang's head topples from his body. "You thought you could outplay me?" Bradley sneers, just before Heymans falls.
--
Jean is running. Running after Mustang and Hawkeye and Al. At first, he seems to be making progress, closing the gap, but then there's a woman's voice. "I hate being dumped," she says. What a joke. Jean doesn't dump women, they dump him. Then there's a stabbing pain through his middle and he falls ...
... into a wheelchair. It cost him some time and now there's more distance between them, but the wheelchair is fast and Breda gave him those weights so he's really strong. He's catching up, almost there, and then everything ...
... stops.
--
Vato tosses and turns, talking in his sleep. His wife hears the dates he's mumbling and recognizes the dream. She wakes him up and starts reciting the battles and dates out loud. Vato feels foolish when he wakes up like this and she does that, but it actually helps. He recites them with her. Then they share back rubs and talk softly for a few moments before they both settle back to sleep again.
--
Kain wakes up feeling sad and teary-eyed. He says a prayer, thanking God that he hasn't had to kill since Aerugo and asking for the safety of all his loved ones, among whom he counts all of Mustang's dogs: Vato, Jean, Heymans, Hawkeye and of course, Mustang himself. He adds an extra prayer for Mustang because Kain thinks he needs it.
--
Rebecca has no patience for this kind of thing, not in the middle of the night anyway. Heymans is so wound up he gets out of bed and goes downstairs to the living room where his chess set is. He sets it up and begins playing. The nightmare wasn't real but it reminds him that next time he might overlook a piece, miss a play.
When the game's over, he goes back to bed. Rebecca, still not awake, snuggles up to him. In the morning, she'll see that he played chess in the night and fix something nice for breakfast. He feels her pressed against his back and thinks of blueberry pancakes as he falls back asleep.
--
Rose is a light sleeper. She hears the change in Jean's breathing and his mumbling and it wakes her. She caresses his forehead and smoothes his hair, murmuring reassurances. Sometimes, he still wakes up when she does this, but usually he doesn't. His features relax and the mumbling stops. This is another time when he doesn't wake up.
community.livejournal.com/fma_fic_contest/451865.html
Author: maryh10000
Series: post manga
Word Count: 797
Rating: PG (some violence)
Characters: Falman, Fuery, Breda, Havoc, others
Summary: Mustang's dogs dream at midnight
Warnings: spoilers
It's a dark tunnel, barely lit by the flashlights they brought. Ed and Al are there and Major General Armstrong and Captain Buccaneer. Ed has a map and is asking him for the dates of major battles. Vato can't remember them.
Buccaneer grins at him. "Not even the eye of God can defend against an attack he cannot see." Then Vato sees Buccaneer lying there, dead. And he knows, he doesn't see but he knows, that they're all dead. The entire population of Amestris. Because he couldn't remember.
--
Kain stands next to First Lieutenant Hawkeye. She's emptied her guns into that - creature - but still it stands there, grinning at them. He draws one gun and throws it to Hawkeye, then draws the other and takes his stance, legs slightly apart, both hands on the gun. He can do this, Havoc made sure he could. He shoots, right on target, but it makes no difference.
Then there is a blast of fire and Kain thinks it's strange that he's burning but it doesn't hurt. And as the blast of the fire pushes him through the window, his body breaking the glass, he looks back into the room and the creature is still there. "You got the wrong one, Colonel," he thinks and he's sad because now the First Lieutenant will die and the Colonel will die and never become Fuhrer.
--
There. Heymans has got all the pieces lined up. Mrs Bradley is in his pocket and Ross is a natural at this. Falman's brought Briggs in to handle the heavy fighting, Mustang and Hawkeye will handle the homunculi, and he and Fuery just have to spin this so they can hand Bradley's position to Mustang when the fighting's over.
Then the radio turns to static. Fuery is slumped over the table next to the radio. The others are dropping too. Why? There's no blood. He knows he'll drop soon unless he can find his mistake. What piece is unaccounted for?
Then he sees the Fuhrer enter the room with Mustang. Mustang without his gloves.
Heymans shoots, empties his gun into the Fuhrer, but it does no good. Then the Fuhrer swings his sword and Mustang's head topples from his body. "You thought you could outplay me?" Bradley sneers, just before Heymans falls.
--
Jean is running. Running after Mustang and Hawkeye and Al. At first, he seems to be making progress, closing the gap, but then there's a woman's voice. "I hate being dumped," she says. What a joke. Jean doesn't dump women, they dump him. Then there's a stabbing pain through his middle and he falls ...
... into a wheelchair. It cost him some time and now there's more distance between them, but the wheelchair is fast and Breda gave him those weights so he's really strong. He's catching up, almost there, and then everything ...
... stops.
--
Vato tosses and turns, talking in his sleep. His wife hears the dates he's mumbling and recognizes the dream. She wakes him up and starts reciting the battles and dates out loud. Vato feels foolish when he wakes up like this and she does that, but it actually helps. He recites them with her. Then they share back rubs and talk softly for a few moments before they both settle back to sleep again.
--
Kain wakes up feeling sad and teary-eyed. He says a prayer, thanking God that he hasn't had to kill since Aerugo and asking for the safety of all his loved ones, among whom he counts all of Mustang's dogs: Vato, Jean, Heymans, Hawkeye and of course, Mustang himself. He adds an extra prayer for Mustang because Kain thinks he needs it.
--
Rebecca has no patience for this kind of thing, not in the middle of the night anyway. Heymans is so wound up he gets out of bed and goes downstairs to the living room where his chess set is. He sets it up and begins playing. The nightmare wasn't real but it reminds him that next time he might overlook a piece, miss a play.
When the game's over, he goes back to bed. Rebecca, still not awake, snuggles up to him. In the morning, she'll see that he played chess in the night and fix something nice for breakfast. He feels her pressed against his back and thinks of blueberry pancakes as he falls back asleep.
--
Rose is a light sleeper. She hears the change in Jean's breathing and his mumbling and it wakes her. She caresses his forehead and smoothes his hair, murmuring reassurances. Sometimes, he still wakes up when she does this, but usually he doesn't. His features relax and the mumbling stops. This is another time when he doesn't wake up.
community.livejournal.com/fma_fic_contest/451865.html