Disclaimer: I don't own full metal alchemist.

A/N: Brotherly love. So...violent. The counterpart to "sisterly love." At this point, it's not very hard to guess who this pair is. I think. Review with constructive criticism, please, if you wouldn't mind.

When someone once suggested they were related, Edward grumbled. When another person once asked if they were close relatives in their family tree, Edward threw a fit. When the time came that someone actually questioned whether or not they were brothers, Edward went into a rampage. To him, those were ridiculous notions. How anyone could possibly come to such a conclusion eluded his mind a great deal.

The near-opposite happened to Roy. Instead of throwing fits of rage, he twitched often as he tried to keep his composure. When the questions of relativity became too much, he allowed himself to chuckle to ease off the pressure building in the back of his throat. When he was alone in his office or apartment, he would double over into fits of laughter as he thought back on the questions. To him, those notions were amusing. The very idea of their relation eluded his mind, but he chose to think on them rather than ignore them.

Fullmetal was confused and furious. The idea was preposterous. Absolutely retarded. He already had a little brother, and that was enough. Besides, they didn't even look alike! In fact, they couldn't look any more different. Their behavior was nowhere near the same! Alright, so perhaps neither of their fuses were very long, and maybe they both possessed the same thick skulls needed to throw themselves head-on recklessly into suicidal situations. And maybe they both lost their minds when it came to things they actually cared about. But that didn't mean a thing when compared to everything else. Ed had a loving brother and the support of countless friends. When it came to family, Ed didn't even know if Roy even had any family still living. Friends were another matter entirely.

Roy was curious and amused. It could be ruled out, but only in the blood sense. It wasn't stupid when viewed as an outsider. Appearances counted little when considering certain circumstances and alterations to the DNA during the growth of the fetus. They did possess some things in common, even though it was often that they denied it. There was still much they didn't have in common, especially when it came to psychological capacity and sociality. Roy could take more damage to his mental health. Ed emotionally broke down so much that it seemed as if he already reached his limit. Ed reveled in his active social circle of friends. The only real social life Roy had anymore was his active encounters with countless enemies. Ed still had a devoted, protective brother, while Roy had in his hands the broken shards of past memories. He knew his father was six feet under the dirt, but he hadn't seen his mother in over two decades ever since her deportation.

Their experiences were different. Each man had their own traumas, and each dealt with them in their own way. Sometimes, Ed would wonder how bad his amount of traumas were compared to Roy's, while Roy wondered how bad Ed's traumas were without having any conjunction with himself. They both knew that the amount of horrific experiences weren't of importance. It was the weight of emotion in them and their lessons that made all the difference. Of course, Ed would sometimes use his traumatic experiences unconsciously to attempt to win arguments he had with Roy. Roy learned better than to use past experiences to deal with the present. Ed never won a single argument yet, and Roy wouldn't gloat on his victory whenever it came to this.

As Ed dwelled longer on the subject, he weighed the amount of time they spent during the past five years and compared it to everyone else but his younger brother. The contrasted amount lead to Roy as the victor by a huge margin, even when weighed against his brother. Go figure. What didn't the man win? The more Ed analyzed the amount of time spent with the man, the more the notions of relativity began to make more sense. As he arrived at this revelation, a throw pillow flew at a high velocity at a nearby window.

Roy weighed total amount of time he ever spent with Ed, and separated it into three categories. The amount of time Ed was actually happy to see him (which seemed small), the amount of time Ed was either irritated or angered at the sight of him (which made up the majority of the time), and the amount of time Ed was neutral and calm around him (which was extremely minute). The more Roy categorized, the more he found that Edward really despised him. This piece of information, though not very new by some means, forced him to tinker with his silver pocket watch, aggravated.

Neither of these men were uncomfortable when put in the same room, but there was an air of familiarity that surpassed all discomfort. They would snipe and snarl at each other, but they would try to keep it at that. Their relationship was based on insults, revolved insults. Insults were the basis and foundation of their odd behavior around each other.

There were times when things became violent. Even though Edward was the one that usually started using his fists, Roy was the one that wouldn't stop provoking him. Blame could not be placed on one person and one person alone. They shared the blame, just as they shared most everything else, even if they didn't realize it.

One day, they inevitably confronted each other. They said nothing, but stared. Ed was searching for something, a glimpse of something that would even remotely hint at why total strangers would think they were siblings. Roy did not move as he allowed Ed to survey him up and down, left and right. He already did his searching, subtly without leaving any trail of retracing. He already found what he was looking for, or lack thereof, to his relief.

Ed came to a resolution. "It's stupid."

Roy followed the train of thought. "Utterly ridiculous."

"Load of bullshit."

"Preposterous."

"Crap."

"Insane."

"Retarded."

"Fucked up."

Deciding that the point was well made, Ed broke through the abrupt, thin silence. "…Then why?"

Roy bowed his head, eyes hidden by dark strands. "Because of our actions, our words."

"How could that be enough?"

"…It's not, but they are looking at our external sides."

Ed caught the drift, but something in his mind wouldn't let it go. "We aren't the same."

Smiling ruefully, Roy nodded. "Indeed not."

"I don't want to be like you." 'I don't want to be you' was left unsaid.

The reply was sincere. "I don't want you to be like me."

"I hate you." There was a slight shift in Ed's demeanor as he muttered the words.

Roy cringed a bit and turned away to face the empty hallway. "I know."

"Then why do you take everything up for me? Why do you do what you do?" Ed's voice shook a bit, but it was barely noticeable. He refused to admit to himself that it shook.

The question took Roy by surprise and he found himself speechless for a while. He finally edged to his right until he stood at an angle where he could have looked over at Ed if he wanted to."…Because who else will? Or can for that matter?"

That response drove his point home, and Ed mentally reeled at the logic of those rhetorical questions. Ed didn't ever think of confiding his fears in Alphonse because they would only raise Al's own. It wasn't fair to force any of that on Winry, and just as unfair to ask anybody else. Ed didn't have to prompt Roy or ask him. Roy could already read him too easily, so prompting was never required. Ed let him see, because he couldn't stop him.

"…And who does it for you?"

Roy saw this coming, and therefore was prepared to answer. But the response didn't come out the way he planned it. "…She's long since reached her quota. I can't force anymore on her." 'I refuse to force anymore on her' was scattered to wind.

They stood in a silence that ran beyond awkward. Their minds were teeming with thoughts; neither of them could put those thoughts into words. Ed stared at Roy's back while Roy himself stared at the floor tiles.

It was Roy that broke the tense silence. "I have work to do. If that wa-"

"Maybe," Ed interrupted in a grumble, "I don't hate you after all." There was no 'as much' in the statement. Ed had the grace to sound apologetic.

Roy tilted his head over his shoulder. Ed never apologized to him before, for anything. That was certainly a first. Roy was rendered speechless. Instead, he spun on his heel, ruffled Ed's golden-blonde hair for a moment and walked away. There were other times for speech. For now, it was better to leave it at that.

Their relationship was as unstable and unpredictable as ever, even with their newfound even ground. They still sniped, they still snarled, they still slugged, but their strange ties seemed to thicken. Their "unrelated brotherly ties" remained the same. Add Alphonse to that and they were indeed complete in a very unusual, yet strong way.

Ed was a good little brother, Roy concluded thoughtfully. The best part was knowing that the young man was not always what his external side claimed him to be.

Roy made a good older brother, Edward mused. The best part was that the man had no intention of ever abandoning him and his little brother.

Alphonse certainly didn't mind. He felt more relaxed, having another person to depend on. He was even more content at the knowledge that his blood brother had someone to confide in besides his inanimate alchemical notes.

After all, what were big brothers for?

A/N: If you're wondering about length, "sisterly love" is shorter because Hawkeye and Winry had a mutual understanding and acceptance between them right from the start. In this, Ed and Mustang go through a period of self-inflicted turmoil over a matter that they can't accept, so it's understandable why this is longer.