cornerofmadness

Title -- New Alchemy
Author-- cornerofmadness
Disclaimer -- Arakawa owns it
Rating -- teen
Characters/Pairing -- Roy, implied Roy/Riza
Word Count - 346
Warning -- none
Summary -- Roy is learning how to do clap alchemy under fire
Author’s Note -- Written for the fandom_stocking community.

XXX

Roy clapped his hands and a wall of ice and snow leapt forth, cutting off his team from the spray of bullets from the Drachman insurgents. Grumman’s attempt at peace with them had failed miserably. Olivier had her men on the north flank, more used to the treacherous landscape than Roy’s eastern crew. He stared for a second at the wall he had created. Damn, Edward never mentioned how powerful clap-alchemy could make a man feel.

Of course he still needed his static gloves for flame alchemy because he couldn’t make flame. He was more powerful now, but he wasn’t a god. That didn’t mean he could control the cocky grin he shot Falman who had stumbled over backwards when the wall erupted. Roy was ridiculously proud of his achievement.

Falman gave him an appreciative nod as Breda hauled him up. Roy didn’t wait for the insurgents to try and scale the wall. He clapped again, forming spikes all over the wall. That should slow anyone down if they tried to scale it. When they got out of this mess, Roy would have to practice more with the clap-alchemy. He’d give Alphonse a call.

“General Mustang!” Fuery’s frantic cry startled Roy.

He whipped around to see a Drachman soldier who must have been somewhere west of where he made the wall. He had his gun leveled at Roy. He didn’t know if he could snap that fast. Roy tried anyhow just as the gun roared. He stumbled back, wondering if he had been hit and adrenaline had masked it. Instead, the soldier fell, his hat on fire. Blood circled his head. Roy caught the glint of a muzzle at the tree line. Riza. Her sniper’s ability was still as good as it had ever been.

When this was all over, he’d take her back to Briggs and thank her in the warmest way possible. Tearing his thoughts away from thoughts of doing it under a furry blanket, Roy threw himself back into finishing this conflict quick. That was the surest way to his hot, happy ending.