1 Week Later

Funerals for the dead.

Many hospitals visits for the wounded.

Alex and Roy were both admitted into the same hospital room as Alex was wide awake watching television while Akari kept babying him after the events of last week.

Riza was also there as she had been cleared before these two were put into the hospital.

Roy was still unconscious after the fight and after going through the gate of truth to hopefully remove any traces of Wrath for good within Roy.

Truth had told Alex that he won't know when Roy woke up or even if he will. It also didn't help that Truth added that even if Roy did wake up he could still have Wrath within him.

Needless to say, it's been a stressful 7 days.

Thankfully Alex got many hospitals visits from the friends he made along the way from Base Kamno and Hyperion.

One odd thing is that when Jackie came to visit, she said she had a surprise for Alex and Roy once he finally woke up.

Alex thought it would be a harmless prank but Akari assured him that it wasn't and it was an honest to god true surprised that he'd love.

Only a few days later Jackie said that the surprise was ready was as she and her Base Kamno employees had helped make the surprise.

All that was left was to hope Roy woke  up soon and with no Wrath within him.

"Hey Alex."

"What is it Akari?"

"Your getting cleared today so Uni wants to see you in front of the Basilicom."

"Already? Damn that was fast."

"Well you did manage to heal a little quicker than expected so it's only obvious that she doesn't wanna waste any time."

Alex nodded as he turned to talk to Riza.

"Hey Aunt Riza. You gonna be okay?"

Riza had a small smile. "Whether he wakes up free or doesn't wake up at all, I'll be happy knowing he'll no longer be suffering in either scenario. Thank you Alex so much."

"No problem Aunt Riza. Uncle Roy would've wanted the same."

Those would be the last words Alex told her that day as he eventually got cleared and went back to his apartment with Akari.

After getting quick hugs from Jackie, Yae, Rita, and Kaitlyn, Alex went to his room and immediately got dressed as he finished and bid everyone goodbye as he walked out and walked over to the Basilicom's entrance.

He waited for a few minutes before he saw Uni running at him.

"Hm? Hey Uni! Wassu-!"

Before Alex could finish speaking, Uni suddenly gave him a SLAP across his cheek.

"Ow! Hey what the hell!?"

"Don't "hey what the hell" me! Don't you know how helpless I felt being forced to stay at some meaningless party Planeptune made knowing you were on the edge of death!? I-I kept thinking so hard about you dying that I literally hyperventilated! It took Noire Nepgear and Vert to somewhat calm me down but I just kept worrying and worrying an-!"

And as if the action was returned, Alex shat Uni up by simply kissing on her the lips.

(What an absolute CHAD move right there.)

Uni blushed a bit before returning the kiss.

The two kept kissing for a while before separating for air.

"You needed to calm down so I did the only thing I could."

"Oh shush you little baka."

"Oi. You can call me a baka all you want but you can't call me little."

"I can call you little if I wanna you little baka. I have the privilege of being your girlfriend after all." Said a smug Uni as Alex sighed.

"Yeah you got a point there." He said chuckling and awkwardly rubbing his head.

Uni then hugged him smiling. "I'm just glad your safe and alive. I, really did think you were gonna die."

Alex hugged her back and softly patted her head. "Well thinks ended up great. Aside from the fact I'm now temporarily unemployed since HQ collapsed."

"W-Well, you can come back and work with me under Noire like you used to." Said Uni who was holding in laughter.

"I'd rather be unemployed than get chicken shit pay from your sister." Said Alex as the two laughed for a bit.

"Well, I just wanted to see you again. How about, in a few weeks when your health we go on a date?"

"That sounds nice. I accept."

"Pinky promise?" Said Uni holding out her pinky finger.

"It's a promise." Said Alex as the two crossed and locked their pinky fingers making it official.

"Remember it. If you break it then I'm allowed to break your pinky. And I won't hesitate to do it!"

"Maybe I want you to break it." Jokingly said Alex.

"Geez. Since when did you become Plutia's playtoy?" Said Uni also joking around.

"I don't know. I guess it just happened naturally as a 6th sense."

The couple shared a mother laugh, hug, and quick kiss as the two bid farewell as Uni walked back into the Basilicom and Alex walked back to his apartment.

It was weird.

Just 3 months ago, Alex was for sure he'd be alone for good and all he had was HQ and Uni.

Then, all these events happened.

Saving Kaitlyn and Rita from Otto, Helping Becky and Weiss get Jackie's job back, meeting the Valkyries and helping Kiana overcome her parasite, reuniting with Akari, Yae, and killing his father, and then orchestrating two groups and lead a revolution to take down the corrupt HQ and free his Uncle Roy.

Alex smiled.

Yeah he may have lost HQ, but, all the friends he's made, are irreplaceable.

As Alex made it back to see his apartment, which 3 months ago only housed him, now housed Kaitlyn, Rita, Jackie, Yae, and most importantly, his mom Akari, he smiled a genuine smile for the first time in years.

'Now, this I'm truly home.'

The Next Day

Alex heard the news and immediately was the first to rush to the hospital.

As he made it to the room, he took a deep breath and opened the door

"You finally awake you old fart?" Said Alex with a chuckle.

Roy looked at him, and gave a genuine smile. "Shut it kid. I just woke up. Not in the mood for quips." Said Roy who held in a small laugh.

Alex walked over and sat next to him. "So, what's the eye patch for? Still got the Ouroboros?"

Roy thankfully shook his head no. "Nope. My pupil is back but is temporarily really sensitive to any light since the Ouroboros was over it for so long. It'll take a couple of weeks until my right pupil is okay."

Alex nodded and had a sigh of relief.

"Hey kid. Is, your Aunt okay?"

"Yeah she's okay. You don't need to apologize. She doesn't blame you for any of the actions Wrath made you do. She's with Jackie right now at HQ."

"Jackie? Isn't she the leader of Base Kamno? Also, HQ? It collapsed during the battle."

"Yeah I know but Jackie said we had to meet her there. She already had kicked out the greedy yes men Wrath hired back to Amestris and brought back all our honest alchemists you fired."

"I guess it's just a get together to honor HQ then. Well, no time to waste." Said Roy as he got up and dressed into a new pair of his Führer uniform as he and Alex left the hospital.

After a lengthy walk, the two made it to the forest just outside of where HQ formerly stood.

As they made it, they saw all the alchemists Wrath had fired all clapped for Roy's successful recovery.

Ed, Al, and Armstrong clapped as Riza walked up to him and kissed her husband as Roy kissed back.

"Glad to have you back Colonel." Said Riza referencing how she used to address Roy.

"I'm glad to be back."

Jackie cleared her throat and gained Roy's attention.

"Allow us to be properly introduced. I'm Jackie Colt Black. Main Leader of Black Jacks' Base Kamno."

Jackie stepped aside and revealed Theresa who was shockingly here. "And I'm Theresa Apocalypse. Principal of St. Freya High and top leader aboard the floating battleship Hyperion."

Roy smiled and shook their hands. "Pleasure to meet you Jackie Colt Black and Theresa Apocalypse. I'm Roy Mustang. The Führer/Leader of Black Ops HQ. Thanks for bringing all of my former alchemists to the spot where HQ once stood."

As Roy said that, Jackie gave a small chuckle.

"What is it Jackie?" Asked Alex.

"Nothing. Anyways, Roy. Follow us up the hill. I have a surprise for you and all of the HQ alchemists."

With that being said, Jackie, all the HQ alchemists walked up the hill and as they made it to the top to see, HQ still standing.

Except, it wasn't the old HQ.

It was bigger. Taller. More modern looking. More advanced. More space.

The alchemists all rushed in excited that their spiritual home was here as they all entered inside..

Riza chuckled seemingly already knowing this was here as she walked ahead.

"W-What the heck!?" Shouted Roy.

"While you and Alex were in the hospital, I got Base Kamno workers and Riza to help build a new HQ on the same ground the old one stood. We even added a face scan so no one shady can enter and it'll only accept employees or people we enabled it to trust. We decided to keep the old HQ group photo and place it in a plaque inside."

The two were shocked at the sight of the new and improved HQ.

"There's also one more thing." Said Jackie as she held out a document with a line for three signatures.

Roy saw it and was confused.

"Roy Mustang. Over the week, we learned about HQ's isolation due to always be misjudged and not understood." Said Theresa.

"Cause of that, we felt it was time to make a change. So, this document will ensure a partnership between Hyperion, Black Ops HQ, and Black Jacks' Base Kamno. Me and Theresa have already signed it. All we wait for is you to sign."

Roy grabbed the pen and paper and had a smirk looking at Alex. "What do you say kid? Wanna have a new chance a life?"

Alex chuckled.

"A new life begins now."

Chapter 47: End. The 2nd Chance has been cleared.

Ending Theme: Never More by Shoji Meguro from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

Author's Words

Finally after 2 long years, I have completed a story.

I feel, so grateful to have this book the be received very positively.

I'm glad I've grown to ignore and declining reads and accept my true readers.

I just wanna once again say thank you to the usual. SCC_004 for allowing me to use his OCs, and all of you who read this book and enjoyed it.

For the first time, I stayed legitimately happy writing a book from start to finish. A 2nd Chance was just an absolute joy to write and took me back to the days of when I would have fun writing ChaosDimension Neptunia.

Finally, I am proud to say Alex Mustang now has an official story.

Thank you, for reading A 2nd Chance.

This is FlameHaze, saying sayonara.