Authors Notes: Well, I'd just like to thank Animyth for betaing this story, and giving me encouragement while I was in the process of writing. So thanks very much. Go read her RoyXEd fic too. Tis great! Anyways, this is RoyXEd, from Full Metal Alchemist, it was meant to be a one shot, but it kinda became more than that. So enjoy, and if you'd be so kind, leave a review. Disclaimer: I don't own them, just own this fic. XD
Just Like the First Time I Saw You Ch. 1"This is it Al..." Edward Elric stared down at his expertly assembled transmutation circle.
The teen alchemist had been working for hours now, refusing to make any mistakes or leave out any details. Sitting down for a short break, the eldest brother contemplated his morning. Ed had gone for a visit to Roy's office first thing that day.
"Colonel!" Ed nearly destroyed the door on his way in to headquarters. Bypassing a Hughes who showered him with photos of his daughter, and Hawkeye who was buried under a stack of papers.
"What is it FullMetal?" Ed stood before the cocky colonel, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Brother…?" Al crept into the room afraid of what his wreaking ball of a brother had done now.
"Good Al, you're here…now I can get to business."
Ed looked at them both seriously. "Colonel, I have an announcement…" Mustang raised an eyebrow at the unusually serious teen.
"Tonight, I plan...to get our bodies back." Ed looked at the floor defiantly, as if it was the only thing tangible in the whole room.
Al whimpered in the back of the office. There was silence for a long period.
Mustang stood up violently and walked around his desk to stand in front of FullMetal. His fingers twitched angrily as he tried with all willpower not to crispify the boy.
"Edward…" The boy looked up defiantly.
"I forbid it." Mustang began flicking his fingers together, creating sparks, and pacing around the room.
Ed glared angrily "What? You can't just order me around like some…like some dog."
Ed's eyes were as piercing as Mustang's as the colonel walked closer to Ed.
"There's more to my refusal you'll ever know Ed…now go." The colonel turned around to look out his office window at the sparkling sky.
"You're a pain in the ass! Why did I even bother coming here?" Ed kicked the door open once again and began stalking down the hallways, back to his house.
"Brother!" Al sighed sadly and started towards the door when he heard Mustang.
"Elric…if he tries anything..." The colonel trailed off, unsure if he was sounding foolish.
He scribbled something down on a sheet of paper, and placed it into Al's hand. Al nodded and proceeded to chase after his fuming brother.
"This is it Al…" Edward Elric glanced around the dimly lit room searching for the hunk of metal that housed his brother's soul.
"Al..?" Ed slumped to the ground tired and stressed. Determined to complete what he started. Ed sat up again and took one last look at his transmutation circle.
"Ok…here we go." He whispered.
Ed placed his hands on the edge of the circle, and focused his energy. The circle began to glow in a pleasant blue color. Air swirled around the room, creating a vortex of energy.
'This is it.' Ed thought, getting one last feel of the automail arm he had been using for years now. Suddenly the glowing turned a violent red and Ed's eyes widened at the familiar scene.
"Oh hell..."
Outside, Alphonse Elric's metal body could be heard clanking down the street at nearly midnight. Al looked desperately at the house numbers looking back at the sheet of paper for one last check. He stopped with a clatter in front of Mustang's house, looking up at the door. A light was on in the window, so Al walked closer and knocked. One worried and stressed Roy Mustang opened the door, realization spreading fear across his features.
"Al…" He said.
Mustang turned around and grabbed his coat, seeing the dark clouds forming over the moon. Roy didn't bother to ask questions as they ran down streets twisting and turning. Al seemed confused at the unfamiliar scenery. The teens had finally bought a house and decided to settle down a while after all their searching for the stone.
Al however, seemed to be lost. Roy took the initiative to lead them to the house. Roy blushed as he realized what this would mean to the younger Elric.
Roy had walked this path many nights on his quest to console his ever thinking mind. He often found himself at the window of FullMetal, gazing with blank eyes at the sleeping boy, who seemed just as troubled in his sleep as Mustang was.
The colonel looked up at the sky and felt icy droplets on his skin.
'Just great…' He thought. The two were halfway to the house by the time it began to pour icy rain. They arrived at the door, soaked and desperate. Al fumbled through the door towards the research room where the brothers did all their experiments and research.
"Brother!" Al ran forward and kneeled next to Ed, who lay bleeding and unconscious next to his transmutation circle. His body was still intact but his shirt was gone, and there was a large gash running from the top of his stomach to his waist, and several cuts elsewhere on his body.
There was blood everywhere, even on the walls. Roy ran into the room and collapsed next to the boy.
"Edward!" Roy pulled him into his arms, clutching the boy to his chest.
"Al, get bandages quick!" Even when worried, the colonel was a great leader. Al ran out of the room in search of bandages.
"Edward….speak, say something." Roy softly shook the limp teen.
Ed's beautiful honey colored hair was splayed messily across Roy's arm, and his shirt was now soaking with blood. Roy nearly cried when he say Ed's eyes fluttering open. The teen looked confused for a second, but the pain brought him back to reality as he looked blurrily up at the dark haired man clutching him.
"Mustang?" He murmured softly as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"Yea Ed, it's me." Mustang swore he saw a small smile before Ed grimaced at the pain in his body. Al came running back into the room loaded with bandages, hot water, and towels.
"Is he..." Al's voice shook as he looked down at his brother.
"No." Mustang looked up and gave Al a shaky smile. He stood up, still holding Ed, and asked for the direction of Ed's bedroom. Al led them into a medium sized room that was mostly barren accept for the books strewn across the floor, and the letters from Winry on his desk.
Roy placed the unconscious alchemist onto his bed, and motioned for Al to set the bandages, towels, and water beside him. Roy sighed when he looked at the bloodstained clothes.
"Er...Al…could you possible…uh…" Roy blushed furiously. 'Oh for heavens sake!' Roy thought to himself. 'It's just the pipsqueak! Just get it over with!'
"I'm going to go make some coffee for you Colonel Mustang, you seem really tired…" With that Al left the room, and Roy was left embarrassed and paranoid next to the still unattended Ed.
"Ok Mustang…you can do this." Roy stared down at the now clothes less Edward who wore nothing but boxers.
The colonel looked drastically to the towels. He grabbed one slowly and dipped it into the water. Still blushing, and shaking slightly, he began to mop up the blood that covered Ed's body. Roy ran the cloth over the teen's abs, feeling the tenseness of Ed's body, even in sleep.
He kept washing. Roy's hand twitched violently when Ed arched his back into Mustang's touch.
"Please stop doing that Ed…for the love of alchemy..." Roy was disheveled and thoroughly stressed out by the time Al came back with coffee.
"You did good colonel." Al observed Ed's now clean body.
"Do you need help with the bandages?" He asked.
"Sure." Roy held the coffee mug up to hip lips, the coffee burned, but not as much as his cheeks were.
Al moved over to Ed's bedside, and held up the bandages.
"You hold him, and I'll wrap these around him." Al said innocently. Roy nodded and stood up, precariously walking to the bedside.
"Hold him by the waist so he doesn't flop over!" Al seemed terrified of the lacerations covering his brother's body. His voice whined in fear. He didn't know where to start.
Roy watched as Al slowly started to apply the bandages to the flush body of Edward. Roy tried to distract himself with anything and everything, just as long as he didn't concentrate on the feverish flesh beneath his fingers.
When the youngest brother was done, he grabbed the blood-stained towels and clanked out the door. Roy was given his first look at the newly bandaged teen. He gently stood up and lay Ed down slowly back onto his bed. Roy's eyes furrowed at the sight of the boy lying there.
"I should be angry with you." He whispered.
"In fact, I should be furious; you disobeyed a direct order from your colonel. I'm not though. I should have kept you in my office all day. Really, it's my fault this happened. You're a stubborn kid FullMetal, I'll give you that much."
Mustang laughed a bit. Reaching out his hand, he brushed the hair out of Ed's eyes, allowing him a view of the beautiful lashes that covered FullMetal's eyes. Roy shook his head sadly. Mustang stood up carefully, giving one last glance to the boy, and walked out of the room.
"I made you some more coffee." Al offered a steaming cup of caffeine.
"Thanks Al." The man gave a weary smile. Sipping the coffee, Roy fidgeted nervously.
"He'll be ok now Al." Roy looked across the table, setting down his mug. Al nodded.
"Thanks for the help. If I couldn't have come to you, He'd probably be dead." Mustang shook his head.
"You're the one who did most of the work." Mustang looked out the open window; it was still pouring outside, and a cool draft wafted through the screen.
Alphonse sighed heavily. "I'm tired, I think I'll go lay down." With that, Al stood up and headed towards his bedroom.
"I'll keep watch on him…" The colonel yawned widely.
"If he wakes up, I'll come get you." Al nodded and walked off.
Mustang sat staring out the window, and sipping coffee for what seemed like hours. He yawned again. Setting his mug down, he rested his head on the table. Slowly he drifted off, dreaming dark dreams of screams engulfed in flames.
Sometime around six a.m., the colonel woke up with a quick jerky reflex. Squinting, he cast his eyes in the direction of Edward's door. A flash of honey hair, and there was nothing. Looking around for the cause of his abrupt awakening, Mustang observed a heavy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He recalled an open window, and a cool breeze, but never a blanket. Roy stood up and looked at the clock. Stretching his arms and legs; he listened for noises coming from the house.
If Ed was awake, he wasn't making it known. Folding up the blanket, Roy grabbed his coat, and walked out the door.
A day passed, and there was no news from the Elric estate. Roy grumbled as he listened to Hughes on the phone, chattering on about his baby girl. The Flame's fingers clicked angrily, and his eye twitched in rapid succession. He even observed Hawkeye casually sneaking out of the room, trying to evade the colonel's wrath.
"Hughes!" Roy growled. "Would you please stop absorbing the phone line? This is the third time today!"
Hughes cooed at the other end of the phone line, not caring a word about what the colonel had to say.
"She's sooooo precious Roy!" The commander swore he heard a giggle.
"Hughes, I have an errand to run, call Hawkeye, she'll care…erm, I mean listen." With that, Roy hung up, and headed towards the door. Stepping outside of the office building that was central command, Mustang made his way casually down the street.
Mustang knocked loudly on the door, hoping that the noise would reach the two brothers.
'Knowing Ed, he's probably in the library researching again.' Mustang grumbled. The boy didn't know when to quit. He knocked again when there was no answer. Waiting a few more seconds, the impatient Mustang opened the door slowly.
"Anybody home?" He called. More silence. He made his way into the kitchen where he had fallen asleep on the table. There was a scrap of paper lying on the edge; Mustang picked it up. It read, "Brother, if you wake up before I get home, I went to the library. Be back soon, Al"
Roy stared. "If you wake up?" He looked in the direction of Ed's partially open door. Knowing he couldn't stop himself, he strode casually over to the door, slowly peeking in. Sunshine fell through Ed's window, caressing his features, as the boy lay on his bed, asleep.
"Edward?" Roy asked softly.
"You awake?"
There was no response. Opening the door wider, Roy walked to the boy's room. Grabbing a chair, he sat next to the bed, staring intently at the sleeping teen.
He leaned closer, examining the fresh bandages, and the sunken face. Roy sighed heavily.
"It's not healthy to be like this you know."
Again, the colonel reached out, brushing the bangs away from the face of FullMetal. Ed stirred slightly, making a soft groaning noise, as he stretched under the covers. Opening his eyes, he blinked sleepily, focusing in on Roy, the last person he expected to see.
"Colonel?" Roy foolishly smiled.
"Uh, what are you doing here? What time is it?" Ed scanned the room, shielding his eyes as he looked out the window.
"Glad to see you're awake." Mustang said. He looked at the honey colored eyes that stared at his black ones, as they searched for answers even he could not answer.
"Colonel…about the…I'm sorry." Ed looked down, shame written on his face. He grimaced and clutched is chest where a spot of blood leaked onto the bandages.
"You're so irresponsible. What are you going to do when there's nobody there to protect you from yourself Edward?" Roy shook his head, anger boiling up again, or was it concern? Ed's eye twitched.
"Well maybe you should just stop treating me like some stupid kid! I'm not a baby! I can take care of myself!" Ed flung himself out of bed, only to land painfully on the floor.
"Watch it Ed." Roy stood up, and crouched beside the pissed teen.
"I know you're headstrong, but you can't keep putting yourself through this." Roy's eyes brows nit together, a concerned frown showed blatantly on his features. Ed growled, and tried to stand up, only to fall and be caught in the arms of Mustang. Roy blushed as he held the conscious and barely clothed teen in his arms. An awkward silence passed, and Ed started blushing too, both men stood precariously in each other's arms.
"Uh..." Ed twitched slightly. He looked up to catch the colonel's eyes dusted with unshed tears.
"I was worried about you FullMetal; don't ever try anything that stupid again. It's and order! I've lost too many men to foolish incidents and unrealistic dreams. Give it up." He barked. Mustang released Ed from his grip, and headed towards the open door. He breathed a heavy sigh, as he stepped out of the room. He did not want to know what had just happened. Mustang opened the door, and stepped out into the street, wondering just where he should go now.
Ed stood dumbstruck beside his bed, swaying slightly. "Colonel…" He whispered.
Breaking from his daze he looked around the room. Grabbing his pants and shirt, he dressed quickly and ran out the door after Mustang, ignoring the pain in his chest.
Ed stepped outside, and looked down the street. There was no sign of the colonel anywhere. Ed kicked at the gravel under his feet, debating with himself whether or not he was well enough to venture after the colonel.
"To hell with it." Ed turned around and walked back inside, fury boiling in his mind at the arrogance of Mustang.
Roy kept walking. He was too stressed to go back to the office, and home seemed like an illusion. Instead, Mustang made his way to his favorite neon sign. He stepped in, hearing the soft music playing and the reek of alcohol; it somehow comforted him. He walked to the bar, and took a seat on a stool. He motioned to the bartender, and gave his order.
"I'll take a whiskey." He muttered. Mustang ruffled his hair and gave another sigh. Picking up the glass that was now in front of him, he began his slow descent into oblivion.
'That kid...' Mustang shook his head. 'A fool if I've ever met one. Still, I wonder why he gets to me so much.' Mustang's fingers flicked together, creating small sparks.
"You better watch it, or you'll set your drink on fire." Hughes's cheerful voice reverberated in Roy's mind.
'A buzz already?' Mustang thought.
"It's true." He laughed in response to Hughes's comment.
"So, what brings you here?" Hughes asked.
"I think that last time I saw you here, was after the Ishbal war." Hughes's face became serious.
"It's nothing. I've just been having trouble trying to understand a certain shrimp."
Hughes laughed.
"Ed giving you trouble?" He elbowed him in the ribs.
"I guess. He's just a stubborn kid anyways. He'll never amount to anything if he doesn't learn to follow orders." Roy took another sip of his drink.
"That's not true." Hughes said. Roy looked at the table angrily.
"You know, I've never seen you so worked up before." Hughes let the conversation drop. Clearly Mustang would fry him if he kept the topic alive.
"So, Lieutenant, how is the investigations department doing?" Hughes shrugged.
"It's been a slow week." Roy nodded. The two chatted about miniscule things, late into the evening.
Roy looked around the bar. He giggled.
"Hey Hughes, you wanna know what?" The colonel's speech was terrible slurred.
"I think, we should go home, because, its stuff and late…" The colonel laughed again. Hughes nodded awkwardly.
"We're smashed." He smiled broadly and stood up, swaying slightly.
"To home!" Roy stood up as well, tripped and fell over. Smashing his had on a nearby stool, the colonel passed out cold. Hughes crouched next to him.
"That was hilarious!" Hughes said to his friend and laughed hysterically. The bartender walked around the bar, shooing them out.
"You have to bring you're friend home, he can't stay here." The bartender mumbles something else about crazy drunks and left.
"Hear that Roy? We have home to go." Picking up the colonel awkwardly, Hughes meandered out the door.
"You're house is this way right?" Hughes stumbled down the street, going in the opposite direction of the colonel's house. The smashed lieutenant stopped in front of a familiar house.
"Here we are!" He quipped cheerfully. He knocked on the door, and walked in. Stepping through the darkness, he found a room, and a rather lumpy looking bed. Setting Roy down, Hughes whispered a slurred goodnight, and left.
