Edward covered his ears. Damn it…why am I so freaked out by a little noise? This is so stupid. There was another flash and another clap of thunder.Ed pulled his knees closer to his chest and closed his eyes. It was storming like this on that night too…the night we tried to transmute mom…Yet anotherclap of thunder. Having been lost in thought, Edward was caught off guard and let out a small cry of surprise.
Roy was staying late. He usually didn't, but Hawkeye said that if he didn't finish his paperwork on time today, she would shoot him in the foot. So he was trying his best (a very rare occurrence) to do this work, and do it right. He walked to the back corner of the library, to the section where the employment records were kept. He rounded the corner. He wouldn't have seen Edward curled up in the dark corner where two of the more unused bookcases met if he hadn't let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a sob, drawing Roy's attention to himself. "Who-- Fullmetal?"
There was a clap of thunder; louder than any before. Edward jumped, hugging his knees.
"Afraid of a little rain, shrimp?" Roy poked fun at his subordinate, somewhat out of habit.
"Shut up…." Edward stayed in his corner, his forehead still resting on his knees.
"Uhh….Full-Edward…are you alright?" Roy edged closer to Ed, feeling a little guilty for teasing him now.
"Yea. I'm fine…go away, Mustang."
The rain beat against the tall windows of the library, distorting the light from the streetlamps outside, illuminating Edward's frightened face with dancing orange light.
Roy stood there for a while, staring dumbfounded at the younger alchemist, who was always trying to be so tough, so grown up, huddled in a corner trying to hide from the rain. He made his way to Edward's side, sitting down on the floor and putting his arm around his subordinate's shoulders.
Edward gasped a little, but did not protest the warmth that Colonel Mustang offered.
Suddenly, without warning, there was a flash of lightning so bright and a clap of thunder so deafening that Ed squealed and buried his head in Roy's chest, clutching at his uniform front. Roy just held the boy closer and rested his chin on his blonde head.
It was early morning, and Ed woke up, wondering where in the hell he was. It slowly dawned on him that he was in a library, and that he was on the floor. A moment later, he realized had a certain Colonel had his arms around him. Ed inwardly panicked for awhile, planning on how he could get away from his frightening predicament, then, about two minutes later, he noticed how the blue-gray light of early morning fell on Roy's sleeping figure, and how ghostly pale and beautiful he looked. Did I just call Mustang beautiful? Well, he does look nice in this light….wait, no. no he doesn't! Hold on…yes, yes he does. Edward stared at the man who was holding him for quite some time. Then he realized another thing. Roy Mustang had sat with him all night. Even though he had no idea why Ed was upset, and even though he still had work to do, Roy had stayed to comfort him…and-come to think of it-when Edward had been on the edge…about to lose it…Roy had always been there for Ed to talk to, or to take out his anger on, or just blame him for whatever had happened. And Roy never once complained about his being Edward's punching bag.
The young man rested his head once again upon the chest of his raven-haired security blanket. As the sun rose, Roy shifted a little in his sleep, subconsciously trying to evade the beam of light that was working its way up his face. He stilled, and Ed woke again, curious as to the source of the disturbance. His golden eyes fell on Roy's sleeping figure once more, and he noted that he looked wonderful in the golden light of mid-morning, as well. Resting his head back on his chest, he whispered to Roy: "Thank you…" and was asleep before he could hear Roy whisper back "I'll always be there for you, Ed…I promise"