Title: Leaving the Nest
Rating: PG13
Type: Het, Humor, Romance, slightly AUish (though still in the FMA 'world')
Pairings: Edward Elric / Elysia Hughes
Warnings: Language
Summary: Over protective father, Maes Hughes, gets his 17 year old daughter, Elysia, a summer job working for Edward Elric at Military Headquarters.
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Leaving the Nest

1

Summer Job

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"YOU LOOK SO CUTE! I NEED A PICTURE!"

Elysia Hughes sighed in exasperation as her father ran off to get his camera. Glancing over at her mom, she said dryly, "It's just a new outfit..."

Her mother smiled a little and said, "You know he only does it because he loves you..."

What a cop-out answer... Elysia thought with a roll of her eyes. Of course she knew her father loved her; but she also knew that whatever picture he took would end up being flashed to everyone he worked with—and maybe to people he didn't work with. That sort of behavior is marginally acceptable when your daughter is three years old, not when she's seventeen; but he didn't seem to understand that.

There was a flash as her dad took a picture, and Elysia gave her mother a wry and long suffering look.

"That looks really cute on you, sweetie," her dad said with a smile.

"Yeah, whatever..." she mumbled, glancing out the window. It was the first week of summer vacation. Next year would be her last year of mandatory education and then she'd be able to move out, find her own place, and get away from her parents.

It wasn't that she didn't love them, because she did, it was just that she wanted to get out, live her own life, be her own person... be 'Elysia Hughes' not 'Colonel Maes Hughes's daughter'.

Both her parents loved her, and she'd never doubted that. As an only child, her parents had doted on her—especially her father—and she'd had the undivided attention of a stay-at-home mother who was sweet, loving, and very kind. They were 'the perfect family', if such can be said.

But being perfect sucked.

"But... aren't you going to eat your breakfast?" her mother asked with a worried frown.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat..." her father said moving back to re-take his seat at the table, then continued with a tone of disapproval. "You're not on another diet are you?" Of course she was on a diet. All her friends were on diets, the whole female population at school was on a diet!

She looked at both of them, took in the worried look from her mom and the unhappy frown from her dad, and decided that it wasn't worth the argument. Sitting down, she served herself some fruit and picked at it.

"So, where are you off to on this early summer morning?" her dad asked, looking much happier now that they were sitting together like the perfect family and having the perfect meal...

"Looking for a job," she said, then popped a grape in her mouth.

"A job...? Why?" Her father was back to looking displeased. Her mother had never had to work and he didn't seem to think that she should have to either. He seemed to have her life planned out for her. Finish school, find a nice and well off young man, get married, and have kids so that she could have a perfect family too.

"I want some extra money," she said, looking down at the fruit.

"How much do you need?"

She rolled her eyes and looked at him. "I want to earn my own money."

He looked at her as if she had spoken in Ishballan. "There's no reason for you to work..."

"I want to work!" She turned and looked at her mom. Usually her father gave her what she wanted; but when he didn't, she knew that she'd be able to go to her mother. Unfortunately, her mom simply gave her a helpless glance as if to say, 'This is between you and your father'.

Turning back to look at her dad, Elysia half-whined, "All my friends will have jobs!"

"If all your friends jumped off a cli—" her dad began, but she cut him off.

"No, I wouldn't jump off a cliff if they all were..." This was said with another roll of her eyes. Seriously! "I'm not a kid anymore, dad!" she exclaimed. "Why can't I get a job?! It's just a stupid little summer job!"

Her father stared at her for a moment, then glanced at her mother, before looking back at her and saying, "Sweetheart... You should be devoting your time to other more..."

"More what?" she growled.

"Things that you'll be doing later in life..."

"Like baking bread and sewing?" she asked sarcastically.

"Exactly!" He obviously hadn't heard the sardonic tone in her voice. "When you get married—"

"I'm not getting married. I'm going to attend the university and—"

"Let's not argue... please?" her mother broke in, looking a little upset.

"He brought it up," she pressed, then glared at her dad. "You probably have a few guys picked out for me to marry, don't you?" She hadn't really meant it, but when she saw the guilty look in his eyes, Elysia's mouth dropped open. "You do not..." she breathed in disbelief.

Clearing his throat, her father said, "Sweetheart, I just want the best for you. I want you to be with someone who is worthy of you; someone who can take care of you and—"

Standing up, Elysia put up her hand. "No. No way. I so don't believe this... No wait. I do believe this."

She was furious. How could he plan her life out for her? Couldn't he see that he was suffocating her? Elysia loved her mother and respected her, but she didn't want to spend her life at home being a wife and mother. She wanted to go places and do things! And at this moment, what she wanted most of all was to do anything that was opposite of what her father wanted her to do.

"I'm leaving," she said over her shoulder.

"Elysia..." her father called, but she didn't stop. Instead, she walked out of the house and slammed the door behind her. She would get a job. It didn't have to pay well; it just had to keep her away from her parents.

Maes glanced into the office and knocked softly on the open door. Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye both glanced up from where they were talking to look at him.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked.

"Not at all," Roy said, waving him in.

Riza stood and said, "I have a meeting soon, so I'll leave the two of you alone." Maes nodded.

As a colonel, Riza had ample opportunities to get a better job within the military. She'd turned them all down to continue serving loyally at Roy's side. Maes admired that kind of loyalty, though he knew that it came at a cost to her personal life. She was an attractive woman, now in her late thirties, yet she'd never married. It wasn't that she hadn't had the chance; it was simply that none of her potential husbands could understand her loyalty to General Roy Mustang—despite the fact that their relationship was completely platonic.

"But! Before you go, you must see my newest picture of Elysia!" Maes said cheerfully as he pulled the picture out of his pocket.

Riza glanced at the photo and smiled. "Is that a new outfit?"

"Sure is!" Maes said with a grin.

"Oh really? Let me see..." Roy said, standing up and moving over toward them. Maes showed him the picture a little less eagerly. In the past couple of years, Roy had become much more receptive to seeing pictures of his daughter—a little too receptive, in Maes's opinion.

Roy was a good friend—a long time friend—but Maes wasn't blind to the man's womanizing. Roy had been married four times. None of the marriages had lasted very long. Three of them had produced children; or, rather, he'd had children with three of his wives. Maes Had a feeling pregnancy had been the reason Roy had married two of the women at all. Roy dutifully paid out child support without complaint, but he was never really seemed involved with any of his children's lives—a fact that Maes disapproved of greatly.

Oh, he was sure Roy did care for his children—he had a picture on his desk with two handsome young boys, and a darling little girl—but he never talked about them unless Maes brought them up, and he seemed to avoid spending very much time with them. Roy would rather spend his time working or flirting with the ladies—usually younger women in their twenties.

While Maes didn't agree with Roy's lifestyle, he didn't try to control what his friend did either. However, if Roy thought he was going to try taking Elysia out, he was wrong. Maes didn't want Roy to flirt with her... was almost at the point that he didn't even want him to talk to her. No way! His daughter deserved to be with a nice young man near her age who was sweet and innocent like her.

Of course, the young man would also need to be educated and well off... He had his eye on a few people, though really his daughter was much too young to marry anyway. Maybe in another five or six years he'd pick out a few candidates for her to date and then she could pick one out to be her husband.

It was perfect!

"Yeah, that is a nice outfit..." Roy said with a grin. Maes snatched the picture back and slipped it in his pocket. After Riza left the office, Roy asked, "What brings you here today?"

Maes plopped down on one of the couches and said, "I need to know if you have any civilian positions open in your department."

"I don't think I do. Why?"

"Elysia has her mind set on a job for the summer, but I don't want to see her working in anything that is too far below her." If he could, Maes would create a position in his own section, but the military had a policy against family members working in the same department.

"I wouldn't mind having a personal assistant..." Roy mused in an exaggerated way that made Maes scowl.

"My preference would be that she worked with one of the other officers," Maes said coolly. "Perhaps Hawkeye?"

Roy nodded thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do for you, though I'm really not sure—"

He didn't have a chance to finish that thought because a knock on the door cut him off. They both glanced up to see Edward Elric standing in the doorway, holding a thick folder, and a scowl on his face.

"Well, this is a surprise. Is it time for your monthly evaluation already?" Roy asked in surprise.

After Ed had gotten Al's body back, he'd ended up quitting his job with the military. The two brothers had lived together in Central for a time, doing odd jobs with alchemy to pay for their living expenses until Alphonse had gone back to Rizembool to pursue a relationship with Winry Rockbell—one that had ended in marriage and eventually two darling little girls.

Ed had floundered around for a while doing this and that until being offered a position back with the military. The government wanted to strengthen its ranks of State Alchemists and Edward Elric was known to be one of the most powerful alchemists they'd had.

He had his own office—or perhaps 'lab' would be a better word for it—where he could research and conduct any experiments he saw fit, an assistant to help him where needed, and a very nice research budget. Two years ago, he'd ended up being promoted to lieutenant colonel—a promotion he'd tried to turn down, saying he didn't need some 'mother fucking title to make him feel good about himself like the other shit heads in the military'. However, he'd grudgingly accepted when Roy had given him the choice of taking the promotion or being jobless.

Ed walked over and plopped the folder down on the table, letting the papers scatter around, then folded his arms and glared at Roy. "See that? That's what my office looks like. It's a fucki—" He cut off and glanced at Hughes. "Sorry," he apologized, then continued, "disaster area."

"So clean it," Roy said flatly.

"It's my assistant's job to keep the files in order and to do things around the office that I don't have the time for."

"Then take it up with your assistant," Roy said irritably.

"I fired him." This was said simply with no remorse.

Roy's shoulders sagged and his face took on a weary look. "Ed... this is the seventh assistant in six months."

"Sounds like your love life, doesn't it?" Ed quipped.

Roy scowled. "You're going to have to get used to the fact that Sheska isn't coming back."

Maes nodded. He'd loved having Sheska work under him. That woman had been an amazing employee. When Ed had been looking for an assistant back when he'd returned to the military, Sheska had applied for it and was instantly hired. He'd understood why she'd gone. The pay was much more, and when she wasn't busy she'd get to read to her heart's content. But, it had still been a blow for him to lose her, so he could greatly sympathize with Ed.

Sheska hadn't left because she wasn't happy working under Ed—on the contrary, she'd been extremely sad to leave—but she'd been offered a chance to run the military's South Central Library branch, and it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

"Exactly, how am I supposed to get any work done with these useless assistants I keep getting?" Ed asked irritably.

"Maybe you should stop being so picky?" Roy suggested. "Not everyone has a photographic memory, and Sheska was with you for years. You have to give your assistants time to get used to your shitty attitude."

It was then that the idea hit Maes, and he decided to broach his idea before the two men got into an insult match—which they were known to do.

"Ed, how would you like to have Elysia work as your assistant for the summer?"

"What?" Ed asked, obviously taken off guard by this.

Maes smiled. "She insists that she needs a job for the summer so that she can earn some extra money. It wouldn't be forever, just for the summer."

"Well... I don't know..." Ed didn't seem too thrilled with the idea. "What is she now? Twelve? Thirteen?"

"Seventeen," Maes corrected with a frown. "You need to get out more."

"I get out," Ed said, verbally waving away Maes's concern. "It's just been a while since I've seen her."

"You want to see a picture?" Maes asked, reaching into his pocket.

"No, no, that's fine," Ed said quickly.

"She has a new outfit," Roy said with a grin, that he tried to suppress when he saw Maes glaring at him.

"I've seen plenty of pictures of Elysia before. I think I'll live," Ed said dismissively. "What jobs has she had?" he asked.

"This is her first," Hughes said. "I really don't want her to work, but she's being a little stubborn about it."

"Well..." Ed said a little reluctantly. "I suppose it wouldn't kill me to have her work with me for the summer."

"That's great!" Maes said enthusiastically.

"Yeah that is great," Roy echoed. "I won't have to hear your bitching about this until the end of the summer."

"Fuck you, Mustang," Ed said with a frown, then turned to Maes with an apologetic look. Ed usually tried to control his language when he was around Maes and his family. "When can she start?"

"Tomorrow. I'll tell her about it tonight," Maes said, feeling more than pleased with this turn of events. She'd get her chance to work and he'd be able to keep an eye on her. It was the perfect set up.

"You did what?!" Elysia exclaimed in horror and disbelief from where she sat on the couch.

"Isn't it great, sweetie?" he said as he hung up his coat and sat down in a chair. "Now you don't have to go look for a job." He seemed very pleased at that, but Elysia felt like she was going to scream in frustration.

"Dad... I don't want to work for the military. I want to get a normal summer job..." Where everyone didn't think of her as 'the Hughes girl'. She wanted to find a job with people her own age and maybe meet a cute guy... The last thing she wanted to do was work with her father the whole summer.

"The military has great pay for the civilian workers," her dad countered as if what she'd just said didn't matter. "It will be a great job for you. I told him you'd be able to start tomorrow, so you'll get to begin earning money right away."

She opened her mouth, then shut it and sighed. There was no point in arguing. He just didn't understand. "Fine..." she muttered. "I guess I can start tomorrow..." Better there than at home. Then something he said hit her and she asked, "Him? I won't be working with you?" She mentally crossed her fingers in hope.

"I'm sorry, the military doesn't allow family members to work together. I do wish you could work with me." He was apologetic, but she was thrilled. That, at least, was something.

"Who will I be working with?"

"You'll be Ed's assistant."

Elysia stared at him in silence for a moment. "Ed Elric?" It was a dumb question. Of course it would be Ed Elric. They didn't know that many Eds. She pressed her lips in thought. When she was younger, Ed and his brother Al would come over and play with her, but she hadn't seen either in quite some time. Al had moved away from Central, and though Ed lived here, he really didn't visit. Now that she thought about it, she probably hadn't seen him in years...

"Yep, Ed Elric," her father confirmed. "He's really secluded himself these past few years... See if you can get him to come over for dinner sometime."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like your messenger? Why don't you ask him?"

"You'll be seeing him before I do," her father said, brushing the question off.

"Um, didn't you just see him today?" she asked with a 'duh' tone in her voice.

This seemed to throw her father off guard for a moment, then he said, "Ah, yes, well... it really wasn't an opportune time. He and General Mustang were... talking. I was lucky to get my question in."

Okay... Elysia thought wryly. It sounded like a stupid excuse to her. From what she remembered, Ed was a little boisterous, but it was no big deal. And Roy Mustang? Well, he didn't seem so bad. When she was younger, he seemed a little scary, but now that she was older he just seemed like a serious type of guy, though it wasn't as if she actually saw him that often.

"Fine, whatever," she finally said in defeat. "I'll ask him to come to dinner sometime..."

Standing up, her father reached over and patted her on the head. "Thanks, sweetie." He put his hands together in eager anticipation and started toward the kitchen. "I wonder what your mother is making for dinner."

She watched him go, feeling both relieved and exasperated. Look on the bright side, she told herself. At least I have a job now, and I won't be working with my dad... Plus, at least she liked Ed, so it shouldn't be that bad.

"Hellooow..." came the small voice on the other line.

Ed kicked his feet up on his desk and grinned at hearing his youngest niece's voice. He was surprised to hear her up this late, but it was a good surprise. Both his nieces loved and adored him. "Hiya, kid-o. Go get your daddy."

"Daddy! Phone!" was instantly shouted directly in Ed's ear and he pulled it away with a grimace. There was a small pause then, "Um, um, can I ask who is calling?"

Ed rolled his eyes. Al had obviously learned the time honored tradition of having the kids screen the calls. "Tell him it's your favorite uncle."

"Uncle Ed!" the little girl squealed happily, then a louder, "Daddy! It's my favorite uncle!" There was a moment's pause before she whispered, "Guess what I did?"

"What?" he asked, trying to feign interest.

"I helped mommy make some automeal today." Ed held the phone away from his mouth as a snort of laughter escaped him.

"Automeal, huh?" he asked in amusement when he'd gotten himself under control.

"Yep!" she exclaimed, then, "Here's daddy."

There was a pause, then, "Brother?"

"Wow, you knew it was me and all she said was it was her favorite uncle," Ed said with a grin.

"I hate to break this to you, but you're my children's only uncle," Al said wryly.

"Less competition," Ed replied, then leaned forward and grabbed a magazine from where it lay on his desk.

There was a chuckle from Al's end, then, "Okay, so what do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything," Ed asked innocently. He opened the magazine and admired the girl on the page.

"Because you only call when you want something."

Ed felt a little guilty and made a mental resolve to call more often. "Yeah, I know, I'm an ass. Anyway, you know how you borrowed issues eighty through eighty-five of 'Central Chicks?'"

"Uh huh..." Al murmured.

"I need them back."

There was a long pause before Al said slowly, "Didn't I send those back to you...?"

Ed frowned and pulled his feet off his desk. Rolling his chair over to one of the filing cabinets, he opened the drawer and dug through it. "If you did, I don't have them..."

A pause, then, "You think Mustang intercepted your mail again?"

Tapping his fingers on the metal drawer, Ed scowled. "I wouldn't put it past him. Okay, well, I'll talk to him tomorrow. Thanks."

"Hanging up so soon?" Al asked, a note of amusement in his voice.

Feeling impatient to go, but not wanting to seem like an even bigger jerk than what Al thought he was, Ed said, "No... I was just going to... ask you how Winry and the girls are doing..."

At this, Al laughed outright. "You're such a bad liar, but I'll tell you anyway since you asked. They're doing great. The girls are just as stubborn as their mother and Winry has been wondering when you're going to come out for your next tune up."

If it's about ready to fall off... Ed thought, then said, "Soon. Sometime really soon."

"Uh huh, so how are things with you?" Al asked conversationally.

"Shitty," he said and rolled his chair back over to the desk. "Ever since Sheska left, I can't find a decent assistant."

"You mean you can't find one who will put up with you?" Al asked with a laugh.

"You know," Ed said easily as he put his feet back up on the desk. "Fuck you, Al. I'm a very easy person to get along with."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say. So have they run out of prospective assistants yet?"

"For your information," Ed said smugly. "I'm going to have a new assistant tomorrow. Hughes asked me to let Elysia fill the job for the summer."

"Elysia, huh? Well, that will be nice. Just don't scare her away."

"Are you implying that I'm scary?" Ed asked flatly.

A chuckle, then, "Well, let me see... You're a single male who literally lives at work. You eat, breath, and sleep alchemy and mathematics, and what other semi-normal past times you indulge in tend to be either eating or working out. You rarely date, but when you do it never gets past the first one. You have three large filing cabinets full of girly magazines, and your idea of going out to a movie is attending the late showing of the newest porn flick. Have you ever even had sex with a real woman?"

"Plenty of times," Ed growled, though he wouldn't tell his brother that the number was a lot smaller than he'd like. "Not everyone is lucky enough to get laid every night," He countered irritably.

"Then get married," Al suggested lightly.

"Fuck that."

"Yeah... so anyway, Elysia," Al said, bringing the conversation back to where it had been a moment before. "Try to act like a normal, moral human being while she works for you, okay?"

"Sheska didn't care..." Ed muttered, wishing for the millionth time that she was still working for him.

"Sheska is a different breed of female, brother. Her idea of a climax is getting to the best part of a novel. Elysia isn't Sheska."

"She's going to be my assistant, Al. It's not like I can hide the magazines from her."

"Don't have her file them. It's only for the summer. File the stupid things yourself."

"What's the point of having an assistant then..." Ed muttered.

"Brother..." Al said in a warning tone. When Ed didn't respond, Al said, "Ed?"

"Okay, okay... Act normal, don't scare the temp-time help or do anything that could potentially embarrass you. Gotcha. Look, I gotta go. Nice talking to you," he lied, and hung up.

With a heavy sigh, Ed leaned back in his chair. He glanced at the small stack of magazines on his desk next to the thick alchemy volumes he'd pulled out for reference earlier, then scratched lightly at his neck. Don't scare Hughes's daughter... Well, she probably was pretty sheltered, but she wouldn't be living with mommy and daddy forever. Probably better that she got used to that now rather than later, he decided.

In case anyone is wondering on ages:

Elysia – 17
Ed – 29
Al – 28
Roy - 43

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Comments are always welcome.