Title: Blind
Author: Kristen Sharpe
Date: January 27, 2011
Rating: K+
Warnings: None.
Genre/Continuity: Alternate Universe / Sci-Fi AU
Disclaimer: “Fullmetal  Alchemist” belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Square ENIX, Studio BONES and various other parties.

Author's Note: I remember writing this sci-fi AU years ago, but can't now remember why I held it back and never posted it anywhere but my blog. Anyway, here it is with a few recent tweaks.

             She had paid little attention to him when he first arrived on the station.  He was just another young recruit among the many they were bringing in daily.  And, she was just the daughter of one of the project’s scientists.

            It was her father who noticed him.  Roy Mustang was the only recruit to both test positive for the specific genes that made him a sure alchemist candidate and to have a background in chemistry.  If the upper brass insisted Berthold Hawkeye help with the training, it would be on his terms.  And, he hadn’t the patience to teach anyone who went cross-eyed at the mention of something so basic as valence electrons.

            So, it was that Private Mustang came into her life.  He was bright-eyed and idealistic and, in some ways, hopelessly naïve. 

            It was an infectious naiveté.

            As soon as he was cleared to learn the full details of the project, Mustang was fascinated by alchemy.  By its potential.  He had joined the military of his own will.  He understood and accepted that alchemy was being studied as a weapon.   But, Mustang saw beyond that. 

            When her father spoke of alchemy, he spoke of equations and theories.  When Mustang spoke of alchemy, he spoke of people and protection.

            More than that, he spoke to her.  He didn’t speak to a prized experiment born of a surrogate paid handsomely to play wife for a year or two.  He spoke to a young woman who was worth more than the secrets coded into her DNA.

            And, in doing so, he caught her in his dream.

            She hadn’t realized that she had caught him just as surely until her father’s funeral.

            Standing side by side at the simple memorial, Roy had asked her what she would do.  And, still shocked by the suddenness of the death and the visit by the military recruitment officer, she had whispered that she didn’t know.

            She never realized until it was too late how seriously he took her distress.

            Or how he misinterpreted the source of it.

            Just as she would never know what the other project scientists told him. 

            But, she knew the result.

            When they finally allowed her into the medical wing, Roy was lying in a bed with half his face hidden under sterile bandages.  Hearing her steps, he turned slightly.

            “Nurse?”

            “No, it’s me.”  She frowned at the white gauze swathing his eyes.  Had the light from the transmutation’s rebound been too bright?

            “Riza,” he breathed.  There was a choked quality to his voice.  “I couldn’t… I wasn’t able to bring your father back.”

            She didn’t understand. 

            Her father was dead. 

            In the silence Roy continued.  “With alchemy.  There are… other possibilities.  Dr. Brahe made a complete copy of the professor’s memories… before.  He and the others were sure it would work.”  He paused to wet his lips, and she saw the bandages pull tighter with the movement.  The hollows of his eyes seemed so deep under the bright artificial lights.  “But, it doesn’t work that way,” he continued.  “We were wrong.  I was wrong.”

            He wasn’t making sense.

            Alchemy was the manipulation of matter.

            Alchemy did not raise the dead.

            “Roy…”  She reached to touch his face and felt him flinch.

            “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

            She wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for. 

            “It’s… It’s alright.”  With a mind of their own her fingers toyed with a corner of the gauze.

            “Don’t,” he said, feeling the tug.  “It’ll be okay.  The doctors are talking about prosthetic implants.”

            She still didn’t understand, but, in that moment, she knew enough.

            Roy Mustang was blind.  His eyes weren’t damaged; they were gone.

            Because he had wanted to bring her father back for her.

            For the first time since she was a little girl, Riza felt tears welling in her eyes.  Tears that Roy could never shed again.  So, she choked them down and agreed with him. 

            It would be alright.  The doctors would think of something.  She would stay at his side until the news came. 

            She stayed long after that. 

            Long after the doctors confirmed that it would have to be implants.  Long after they explained how regenerative treatments and transplants somehow failed when combating alchemic injuries.  Long after the implants were installed and the rehabilitation began.  Long after she signed the enlistment forms.

            Because he had given something precious for her.  And, she couldn’t find the words to tell him the truth. 

            That Roy was worth far more to her than a man who been a father in name only.

            And, if he had sacrificed for her happiness, she would offer everything she could for his.