Another requested fic that I finally got finished. I hope I sort of came out with what you were thinking of. Either way I think it turned out okay. I guess I shall see... -fret-

Epilogue

Roy shoved Hawkeye away with one hand, even as he clutched at his eye with the other. Blood was trickling from it and the pain nearly blinded his other eye. He'd have thought that the pain would incapacitate him, both pain from his eye and pain from the other brutal wounds that criss-crossed his body, but his head felt surprisingly clear.

"Colonel, you-!"

"Take care of the boy." Roy cut her off as he staggered to his feet. He swayed only for a second before finding his equilibrium.

Riza stood up in a rush. "But, Colonel you're not in any condition to do anything but let me drive you to the hospital!"

Roy ignored her little idea of what he could, or could not do. "I need to find him."

"What?" Hawkeye blinked after him.

He began to walk down the steps of the mansion carefully. Too many quick movements seemed to cause the wounds to bleed more, and he didn't know how long his moment of clarity would last before he began to get light headed from blood loss. "I need to find him." He repeated.

"Find who? Roy Mustang, stop!" Hawkeye hurried down the steps after him.

"Fullmetal." Roy said quietly, and waved her off again. "Take care of the boy, and leave me the hell alone. That's an order."

Hawkeye gaped after him as the Colonel walked down the wide dirt pathway, away from the raging fire that was the mansion, and past the mangled remains of Archer. She watched him go with a worried heart, but she had no choice. She had to let him go. With a whispered hope that he might take care of himself, she turned to walk back up the steps and gather the young boy in her arms. She needed to get him far away from the fire before it got any worse.

Roy staggered slowly down the street, blood having soaked his entire shirt long ago. One hand still covered his wounded eye, and one arm was out to the side to help him keep his balance. The silver lining to all the injuries had to be that at least now he was in so much pain he no longer felt it. His body had gone numb.

The overwhelming sense that he needed to find Fullmetal, and find him soon, drove him on when he knew he should have laid down to wait for the inevitable. Whatever it might be. So he kept walking, though he had a sinking feeling that if he kept this pace up it'd be too late. Too late for what, he didn't know. So when he spotted a car parked on the side of the road, he punched out the window. The glass bit into his hand, and shredded his glove, but he didn't feel it.

A few minutes later he had the accelerator shoved to the floor of the car, the ghostly looking city of Central flashing by unseen.

He didn't even know it was the right building when he first saw it. But he could feel that it was. Its purpose of a church was lost on him as he parked the car outside it on the street. He didn't even bother to shut the door as he hurried as fast as he could towards the warped doors of the abandoned sanctuary.

His hand smeared blood on the door as he shoved one open, and he didn't bother to close that door either. Instead he walked towards the pew. His boots crunched on shards of broken stained glass, and flecks of dust danced like glitter in the orange and red moonlight as the flames at the late King Bradley's mansion cast a glow to the night sky. He paid no attention to anything, but letting himself down the secret stairwell that would take him to the one he sought.

The stairs seemed to wind forever, almost hypnotizing in their repetition. And when they ended at last overlooking that great sunken abyss littered with a forgotten and lost city, Roy seemed to look instinctively to the one he believed Fullmetal was in.

Fullmetal…

Roy walked towards that building, his vision growing blurry at intervals while his breaths become increasingly labored.

Why did he still call him Fullmetal so much? After all these years… after all these years of trying to deny what he saw there behind those gold eyes. The man had a name, a real name. Edward… or Ed whenever you got particularly lazy about saying two syllables.

"Ed…" it was a struggle to speak, "…I'm coming for you."

It seemed eternity had passed and come again before Roy reached his destination. His hand smeared blood along the beautiful walls of the amphitheater looking place, he kept pushing himself along. Pushing himself along until he saw the one thing that made him freeze.

Edward.

Edward stabbed through the chest.

Edward falling, bleeding… dying.

It was when the blonde collapsed back onto the floor that Roy seemed to regain the ability to breathe again. And as oxygen hit his brain, the rage of emotions hit him in the adrenaline rush that he'd been waiting for.

He ignored the pitiful cries coming from one of the two girls off to the side. Ignored the other girl. Ignored the sight of Alphonse there on the floor lying helplessly against a transmutation circle that glowed an unearthly blue.

All his sights were set on his fallen comrade, and the one who'd dared touch him. Retribution was all he could think about at this moment, and an anger he'd never experienced before settled into his heart as he slowly lowered his hand from his eye.

X

Before now Ed had always thought that it was nonsense. The idea that everything seemed more real, beautiful, and terrible when you breathed in those last breaths before the scales of life and death tipped. So how was it that it did? For this one surreal moment he finally realized what actually mattered, and finally realized the true gravity of the life he'd led. It was no longer nonsense. And he regretted that only now was he actually living, at the same time he was dying.

Irony always got the last laugh.

Envy stood above his fallen half-brother as casually as if he'd not just stabbed said kindred through the chest. The swell of arrogant pride showing in his smirk as he shook the blood free of himself in distaste. "Good riddance." He remarked, stepping back away from the blood that pooled ever larger onto the floor. "Now maybe if I could just take care of the other smudge in the family. Maybe he'd actually put up a decent fight. Shame we still need him."

The next thing Envy knew, was that he was being blown across the room as fire licked at his skin.

Dante whirled around with a snarl, grabbing Rose towards her. She wasn't about to let her new body run off amid the new chaos. She never noticed Gluttony until it was too late.

Roy barely registered that there were several less bodies to be accounted for as Gluttony burst through one of the walls and vanished into the crypt of a city beyond. His attention was on the gerbil of a homunculus he was currently trying to roast. Somehow the knowledge that he didn't know what he needed in order to weaken Envy didn't bother him. Somehow, he was calm.

At least in that respect.

Roy advanced along the wall, smearing it with yet more blood. As Envy charged him, he snapped again. Another explosion erupted, causing several wall supports to have chunks of mortar blasted from them in jagged hunks. Again, the homunculus was blasted back.

This time when Envy picked himself up, he was seething in annoyance. "Wretched human! You can't defeat me!"

Roy gasped for breath, glaring. "I already did."

"You idiot, I'm still here aren't I?"

"Not anymore."

But that voice did not come from Roy, nor Ed. But from Alphonse. And with the unstable power of the Philosopher's Stone reacting to the energy of Roy's transmutations, Alphonse directed the resulting flare of destructive power at the aghast homunculus.

As Envy melted away, screaming, and swearing, Roy hurried as fast as he carefully could over to where Ed lay motionless.

He fell to his knees as he reached the fallen man's side, his hands immediately trying to find a pulse. There was none to be found. "No… please…" Roy whispered as he ignored the blood he was kneeling in, it wasn't as if he wasn't covered in blood already. But it was so much blood… Roy quickly began to try resuscitating Ed, even as fear clenched in on him. The fear of losing what he'd never had, only longed for. Now at high risk of being lost to him forever because he'd been too foolish to live.

Edward stood in front of the Gate, not moving, not saying anything. Only staring at it. It was strange, he didn't feel fear now. Only a sense of a strange peace.

"He's waiting for you."

Ed nodded, "Al would always wait for me. But-"

"Not him."

"Who?"

"Roy."

It was that simple name that shocked Edward like an electric current.

Roy jerked away from Ed with a gasp as the blonde man suddenly drew in a choking breath of air. "Ed?!" He held the man's shoulders as the younger alchemist spluttered and gasped back to life.

Ed opened his eyes, looking up at Mustang in confusion. "Why?" He asked weakly, struggling to sit up as his eyes took in the lines of worry etched into his superiors face. He saw the blood everywhere, but he paid it no mind.

Roy carefully helped Ed to sit. "How?"

Slowly, and with a hiss of discomfort, Ed pulled aside his jacket. There, not even an inch away from his heart and near to his shoulder, was the stab wound that still oozed blood. "Lucky miss." He let the jacket fall closed again.

"You were dead!" Roy argued in a high, strained sort of voice. "How is that a lucky miss?! I… I was…"

Edward tilted his head a bit. "Why're you here?"

"Because you're here." Roy held Ed firmly by the shoulders as he leaned his head down to place his forehead against Ed's non-wounded shoulder with a heavy sigh.

Ed blinked, and slowly raised one hand to card his fingers through the damp black locks that were sticky in places with blood. "Dying is a funny thing." He spoke softly, leaning his head down against Roy's. "I no longer care about a lot of things… including keeping the truth from you."

Roy raised his head, dislodging Ed's, and his own good eye looked upon the blonde in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Let's see if this helps." Ed smiled softly, and leaned in to press his lips to Roy's in a gentle kiss which he almost instantly pulled away from. He was sure his heart would have been pounding if he wasn't in so much pain. But he barely noticed the pain as he waited patiently for Roy to remember how to speak.

Roy sucked in a sharp breath of air, before raising a hand that shook from lethargy to brush trembling fingers across Ed's cheek. "Am I dying and dreaming?" He whispered.

"No." Ed replied as he leaned into Roy's touch.

"Good." Roy smiled in relief, and leaned in to kiss Ed back tenderly before resting their foreheads together. "We've got to get to the hospital. We're both covered in our own blood and I'm feeling light headed. Kissing you properly will probably make me faint, and not in the good way."

Edward had to smile at that. "Then we best make a quick recovery." He suggested. "Let's go help Al out, and then maybe he'll carry us back to the surface."

"Al… his body…"

"We keep trying." Ed said calmly, as they both staggered to their feet with each other's help. "Today wasn't a complete loss." He said with a serene smile as he looked up into Roy's eyes. Or what was left of Roy's two eyes, one seemed to be bleeding quite badly. But it was one of many wounds they'd both sustained.

Leaning on each other for stability and strength, they slowly made their way across the floor. It was how it always had been, how it should have been, and how it would be until death might come. They never said that day that they were in love, but it was three words that, right then, seemed needless.