A/N: I know I've disappeared for a while. It's kind of a hard time for me, what with school and work and everything, I find it hard to find the time - and strength - to write. Truth is I have quite a few stories waiting to be published but I'll feel bad posting anything before I get done with the next chapter of Charity (for my regular readers who read Charity Event - I know I haven't even updated, but I didn't forget about you! I'm still trying) so they're just kinda... there, waiting. I was supposed, actually, to post this story 3 weeks ago, and then on the Friday of the same week to post Charity as well but.. well, I finished neither.

So now I have this thing, which is technically this year's Valentine's fic, but I wasn't done with it on time... this one was hard to write from so many reasons, I guess most of them emotional, cuz I was trying to write this during classes but ended up spending an hour and a half not listening to my professor AND writing only, like, 400 words. It definitely didn't help that, as usually, I kind of over did the story... It was supposed to be really short... now it's 7000 words.. well I have a few more of those, waiting to be published XD

Wow I wrote way too much this time. Sorry 'bout that ^^"

Anyway, on to the story!

Happy Ending

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At this moment, there was nothing Ed wanted to do more than to reach forward and smack the fine piece of ass displayed, unintentionally yet beautifully alluring, just in front of him. He could imagine – could almost physically feel – how tight and well-toned it was. It was a real shame how the unflattering pants it was clad in were hiding how perfectly shaped it was. Even that couldn't hide the fact that this was a butt that belonged to a man that despite was forced to sit most of the day, still cared for the way he looked, and was rather good at caring for that, too.

Unfortunately – or fortunately, depends how one might choose to look at it – the ass moved, no longer bold and inviting; it was almost too late before Ed realized what was happening and remembered that he must not get caught staring.

As if electrified, he looked up, just in time to meet the butt owner's eyes rather than equally gorgeous yet more interesting parts of him. This was a close call. He should pay more attention next time.

"There," Roy said, handing him a bunch of papers. Ed blinked. Right. That was why he was bending like that a moment earlier. He swallowed, needing another second to return to the present. He reached out, taking the papers from Roy and looking at them, forcing himself to concentrate on what's written on them rather than the man who held them a moment earlier. He frowned.

"Good. Thanks," he said, nodding as if he actually read the document in his hand. He knew what it was supposed to be about, and trusted his commanding officer enough to know he won't give him information that won't be helpful. He can always read it again later, when he's actually able to concentrate. "So… uh, if you're done scolding me, Al and I'll go to the library to check these out."

He noticed the somewhat tired look on Mustang's face. He knew that look; it was the same one he had every time Ed had done something he shouldn't have done. It happened a lot. The last time was when he entered the office this morning, and Roy wore that expression and Ed knew he was going to get chewed out. He knew that, the way the military looked at it, he deserved to be chewed up. The fact that he didn't think so made no difference. He'd been in the military for five years now; he didn't need that long to realize that no one cared how well he was doing his job. The system only cared about the 'incidents', it only cared about whether or not he followed the stupid rules. But he knew that had he followed the rules, he wouldn't have gotten the results he did.

Knowing that didn't change the fact that he hated the lectures from Roy. He hated being yelled at, he hated having to defend himself, and he hated feeling that he was disappointing him, yet he somehow ended up doing just that all the time. He knew he shouldn't, but he just couldn't help it.

Well, it's not like he had any chance with Mustang anyway, so he assumed it made no difference.

"Yes, I'm done 'scolding you'," Ed could hear the annoyance in Roy's voice. "Dismissed, Fullmetal. I expect you to be here on time tomorrow morning."

"Sure, sure," he said in impatience. He knew that his commanding officer's last words were meant to remind him that he was only a subordinate, and Roy was the one who was giving orders and giving permission to leave. No matter how nice Roy's behind was, it didn't change the fact that he was annoying the fuck out of him every time he was trying to act all bossy over him. Not that there wasn't something a little bit sexy about it, but Ed would rather that he won't act like such an ass all the time. "I won't be late. Come on, Al,"

Ed got up from the sofa, hearing the metallic sound of his brother's body moving as well. He could vaguely hear him thanking Mustang in his usual, polite manner, and couldn't help but tighten his hold on the documents Roy gave him; maybe the answer lay there. Maybe – and he allowed himself to hope, even though he knew it was only a scarce hope – soon his brother won't be making such noise every time he moved, won't pretend that he was 'on special training' or simply 'not hungry' every time they had company during a meal. Perhaps soon he won't feel bad every time he felt that he just had to fall asleep because he didn't want to leave his brother alone for so long. Maybe, with the help of the information hiding in these papers, he won't have to take orders from Roy – or anyone – anymore.

But it was probably just another dead end.

"When are you going to tell him, brother?"

Alphonse's echoing voice cut through Ed's thoughts, making him look up at him. They were no longer in the office, but walking the currently empty corridors of Central Headquarters. It was that kind of hour of the day: everyone either already went home, or were stuck in the office, doing their best to finish their work as quickly as possible. It was rare to see anyone walking around at this time. Ed would know; too many times Roy let them leave only at this hour.

The thought made him frown, and it took him a second to remember his brother's weird question. "Tell who what?" he asked, and turned his eyes back to the corridor.

"The Colonel. That you like him. I think it's better that you do something about it soon. Before – "

"Wait, what?" Ed finally snapped from the shock that held him at Alphonse's words. "Like him? Colonel shithead? Where the fuck did you get that stupid idea from?" He knew his face was probably deep red; at least, it felt like it. The rush of heat in his cheeks didn't leave him much room for hope about that.

His brother answered the question calmly, as if he was expecting this reaction from his older sibling. "How about the way you couldn't take your eyes off him when he was bending to find these?" his gestured at the papers held in Ed's hand. "It was kind of hard to miss," Alphonse added, probably in response to the terrified look on the older Elric's face. "Lucky he was with his back to you, could've been embarrassing."

"I – I wasn't looking – I don't – " Ed started, but even without a human face he could tell there was no point in denying it anymore. He huffed, fixing his stare on the way before him again. "I'm not that obvious, ain't I? Like… you don't think he knows, right?"

Alphonse thought about it for a short moment. "No, I don't think so. He's as ignorant as you are. I'd really be surprised if he noticed… but I'm not sure I can say the same about the others."

Ed gulped, nearly chocking on his own saliva. He was so busy worrying about Roy noticing him that he forgot all about their coworkers. What if any of them noticed? He assumed that if Hawkeye saw anything she probably wouldn't like it, but he didn't think she'd say anything – she'd rather keep that information away from Roy, probably thinking that it'd somehow distract him from his work, and she wasn't the kind to gossip. Havoc, or Breda, on the other hand…

The colour was washed from his face at the thought. These two were worse than two old ladies when it came to gossip. If Havoc or Breda knew, then most likely the entire HQ would know, including Roy, and, as if that wasn't enough, they'd never let him live this down. Since no one had been making fun of him yet, it was safe to assume they didn't notice anything, yet. But if what Al's saying is true, then sooner or later they're bound to notice.

He couldn't let this happen.

"Brother? You're okay?"

Alphonse's worried voice snapped him out of this train of thought. He glanced up at Alphonse. "Yeah," he answered, but he wasn't convincing even himself.

"Oh, don't be so worried about it. I don't think that if anyone other than me noticed it's so bad. They're all your friends, they wouldn't do anything to hurt you. Maybe they can even help. Either way, I think it's cute."

Ed frowned, and returned to look forward. They were nearing the exit. God, he needed some fresh air. "Cute?" he could almost hit his brother at that word, if he thought that'd cause him any kind of pain. "I'm not – "

"Oh, no, don't worry brother, I know you're not cute," considering the somewhat giggling tone in Alphonse's words, Ed assumed there was some kind of insult there; but he didn't care to find it right now, there were more important things to worry about right now. "I this this is cute. You know, you falling for your commanding officer… sounds kind of like the script of a play. Now we just need to give it a happily ever after and we're set."

"A play? Happily ever after? Al, that's me you're talking about! Real life! Things like that don't happen. This is total shit, out of all the people in the world, it has to be that bastard… That's just my luck!"

"Why? What's so wrong about him? I think he's a good man. He gave you your job. He didn't have to, you know. And he overlooks all your mess ups. Now that I think about it, he really cares about you –"

"Because he thinks I'm some charity case! He's not a good man. He's an asshole. He's arrogant, self-centred, annoying idiot. He's not even that hot, and, for fuck's sake, Al, he's a man! This is literally the worse thing that'd ever happened to me."

"So what if he's a man? You can't help who you fall for. I don't think it makes any difference if you're with a man or a woman, as long as they make you happy. And I think that if you'll try, he'll make you happy."

Ed huffed, and walked past the door. He was immediately hit by the cold wind outside, and he grimaced at the feeling. He hated this weather – cold and wet. He didn't think he'd ever get used to it, after Resenbool's snow and Eastern's heat. He glanced around him; even the path leading to the main building, where they were standing, was abandoned. He could see no one around, except for the poor soldier at the entrance gate fulfilling his guarding duties.

"I think you're wrong," he concluded, walking into the rain with narrowed eyes.

"Perhaps I am. But I don't think so. He really cares about you, and I think that if you just give it a try you won't regret it."

Ed pushed his hands into the pockets of his coat, getting tired of the coldness. "What should I do then?"

"Isn't that clear?" the smile was obvious in Alphonse's words. Ed's eyebrow arched up in doubt. "You have to tell him."

"WHAT?! No way! That's the most insane thing you've ever said."

"No it's not," Alphonse sounded almost hurt. They nodded in acknowledgment at the guard who greeted them as he opened the gate. "Is it better to keep staring at his ass and waiting for him to turn at the wrong moment?"

Ed felt his blood gathering in his face, and he almost choked. It was one thing to know that Al noticed he was staring at Roy; it was a whole different thing to know that his little brother noticed what part of Roy's body he was staring at. "I wasn't – "

"Stop denying, brother, you've been doing that for months. You're becoming a little too obvious. Besides, I'm tired of watching you torturing yourself like that."

"I'm not torturing myself," Ed said, but by now his voice lacked the fighting spirit and conviction. He felt that he was losing the argument; Alphonse was always better than him at things like that. Besides, talking about Mustang like that really was somewhat torturing. He was quiet for a short moment, before letting out a soft sigh. "So how do I do that?"

"Hmm."

Ed glanced at his little brother. His vague answer wasn't very encouraging. He waited for a moment, giving Al time to continue whatever thought he had. He was just about to give up and tell his little brother exactly what he thinks about his idea he heard the metallic, hollow voice talking again.

"You need to somehow break the professional wall between you two."

Ed frowned. "Yeah, 'cuz that was just so helpful… how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, you can start by actually doing your job so he'd stop getting mad at you."

"I am doing my job!" Ed protected himself, but it was a rather weak try; he knew perfectly well what Alphonse meant, and knew he was probably right. There was no way Roy was seeing him as more than that annoying brat he accidently got into the military. He had to change that, had to make the bastard understand that he's not a child. Taking responsibility, 'doing his job' as his little brother put it, might be a good starting point at that. "Fine. Whatever. And then what?"

"Make him notice you. Create opportunities to break that wall. I don't know, you're the creative one, Brother."

Ed remained silent for a short moment. "I'll come up with something," he said eventually, determined, but completely lost and confused.

And so, he did. He tried whatever he could: he actually followed orders (well, most of them, anyway. There was only so much he could do); he tried spending more time in the office, and lurk around the Colonel in general in a vague hope of managing a none-work related conversation with him; he even tried, in a moment of undenied braveness, to ask him out – he heard him talking about an event, something about the newest inventions in Alchemy. It sounded like the best opportunity: the fact that it was about alchemy gave him the best excuse to be there, and it could be the one time he could see him outside of working hour, maybe even get him a little tipsy, and with some luck he won't be returning to the hotel room he shared with Alphonse that night.

But all his attempts were in vain.

Roy, if he even noticed Ed's hard tries to be a good subordinate, didn't bother acknowledging that fact; he would rarely allow conversations with Ed to flow, and even when they did it didn't seem to change the way he was treating him; his try to get into the event as 'Roy's date' was also unsuccessful: Mustang simply didn't let him to tug along, almost laughing at the offer. You? A work-related, no-attendance duty event? I think you should go see a doctor. Ed wanted to kick him in the balls when he said that, and also knew that he had only himself to blame for that. It was unthinkable that he'd volunteer to do something work related when he didn't have to.

He wanted to scream in frustration. Not only did he fall for the wrongest person ever – for so many reasons – but now he couldn't even fantasize about having a chance with him. He assumed it was a good thing, but he didn't have many things to hope for. Losing one was losing half of it. But three months were long enough. If he didn't manage anything within this time, it was completely pointless.

That didn't change the fact that he was aware that it'd still take a little while until he can stop thinking about it, especially when he saw the bastard nearly every day.

Ed forced himself to open his eyes and stop pretending he was still asleep. He still had a little bit of time before he'd have to go to work, and he wasn't sure he was ready. But just lying in bed, dwelling in his thoughts, became too boring and too depressing.

"Good morning, Brother," he heard Al's metallic voice greeting him. He replied with something that was more a purr than a real word, but he knew his little brother would understand him. They went through this routine every single day. "Going to work?"

Ed dragged himself up to a sitting position, and stretched. He was finally able to think clearly, his mind getting rapidly clearer, losing the grip of sleep and returning to the reality. He nodded. "Yeah. Not like I have much choice now don't I?"

"Aw, don't be like that, Brother. There are many good things at going to work."

"I kinda find it hard to find any when I have to wake up before the sun." He hoped Al didn't notice that, in fact, he had been awake for quite a while now. Well, had he noticed, he chose not to comment on that.

"Well, first of all, you just managed to solve this case the other day, didn't you? So you're going to collect the praising. It's a good thing. You can – oh! I almost forgot. You remember what date it is, right?"

Ed frowned, trying to make his brain remember if there was anything important today as he was pulling on his pants. Nothing came up his mind; as far as he knew, it was just another day in February. "Uh… February twentieth?" he tried.

Alphonse chuckled. "No, it's the eleventh!"

"Well, that just means I still have too much of this month left before I get my paycheck," Ed replied, putting on his shirt and jacket. He was trying to remember if there was anything he was supposed to remember; was it someone's birthday? Evaluations at work? But he came up with nothing. "What about today then?"

"Ow, come on, Brother!" the confused look that probably adorned Ed's face made his younger sibling give up on him. "It's Valentine's this weekend, Ed."

It took Ed a few seconds to realize what Alphonse was talking about. He walked towards the kitchen, looking forward to the first coffee of the day. "So?

"What do you mean 'so'? It's your big chance, Brother!"

Ed's features darkened. He knew exactly what Al was talking about. He was annoyed that he brought it up so early in the morning and so little time after he finally managed to push Roy out of his thoughts. "What are you talking about?" he asked anyway, his voice cold, making sure that his little brother will understand that he didn't want to talk about the subject. He poured hot water to the cup he prepared with the black coffee powder and sugar.

"Don't play dumb. You know perfectly well what I'm talking about!" It seemed that either Alphonse was thicker than he thought, or he deliberately chose to ignore Edward's wish. It was probably the second option, which only annoyed Ed more. He made sure to melt all the sugar in his cup, grabbed it and went to sit at the small table do drink it. "Ask the Colonel out for Valentine's."

Despite knowing that his little brother was going to say something about that, it didn't change the surprise at his directness. Ed almost chocked on his beverage. Asking Roy out again! For Valentine's, no less. As if he wasn't clear enough to supply laughing material for the entire department for months already. No, now he was supposed to ask him out… with no way to excuse it as anything other than a date. It was insane. "You're fucking crazy. I'm not doing that."

"But why not?"

Ed didn't even see a point in explaining. He remained silent instead, focusing on drinking his coffee.

Alphonse came to sit in front of him, on the other chair in the room. "Why not, Ed? I do think he likes you. I know that his, uh, preferences fit. Everyone knows that. I don't know if you're his type but you do look good, and you're smart so there's no reason for him not to like you. I just think you weren't clear enough until now. I want you to be happy, Brother."

Ed almost hit his little brother. He probably would have if he didn't know that it'd hurt him more than Al. "I was clear enough. He's not interested. That's it, end of story."

"You're not really giving up! You've never given up on anything! Not even when it seemed impossible!" Ed looked up from his coffee to look at Alphonse's armoured face. It wasn't exactly correct; he did give up. Many times. He gave up on their mother. Gave up on life after he saw what he'd done. Gave up his freedom to join the military. And now he was giving up on Roy. In fact, it was the smallest giving up he'd had to do. There will be others, he was sure. "No, Al."

"But you like him! Right? You said so."

"It doesn't make any difference. Will you just let it go?"

"Not unless you try and he actually says no."

Ed glared at his little brother. He could almost see the smile on his expressionless face; it was more than clear in his voice. He remained quiet again, taking another rather long sip from his coffee as he was considering his options. He could keep arguing with his little brother. It was what he wanted to do, what he knew would be the smart move. Just keep saying no, keep trying to make his little brother understand that was he was saying made no sense, that it was insanity; that he had so much to lose, and so little to gain. They will spend all morning all that; probably keep this discussion on until they get to the Head Quarters. Ed had the feeling that only Roy's presence near them will make them stop – but he didn't want to get there. He just wanted to drink his coffee quietly, calmly, before he has to go to work and back to the fuss of closing a case.

Alphonse won't give up. He was just as stubborn as Ed was. But Ed was tired, and the whole topic just made him angry and depressed.

"Fine," he said eventually in a huff. "I'll ask him. But he'll say no, and then you'll shut up about it and won't bring it up. Like, ever. And it'd be your job to find me a reason to travel somewhere, and I don't care what that reason would be, as far as I care it's to save a cat but the military has to approve of it. Deal?"

The red dots that marked Alphonse's eyes shone. "Deal. But you have to ask him and it has to be clear."

"Whatever. Now shut up, my head aches because of this."

Al didn't even reply to that, simply staying in his seat and watching Ed drinking his coffee.

He took his time with it, and about ten minutes later they were both already outside the hotel room and headed towards Central HQ. The way went by quietly, and with no any notable events. They reached the office, as usual, late. They were greeted with smiles, wishes of good morning and even congratulation for the case closure from Havoc. Hawkeye formally nodded at them and informed Ed that Mustang was currently out of the office, but she has some documents that were left for him to fill. He took the papers from her, and while he was reading them with disdain she told him that she wasn't sure if the Colonel will come back today, and that he said that once Ed was done with the documents he was free to go home for the weekend, but if when the Colonel sees them he'll see that Ed rushed them over to go home early Ed wouldn't like the punishment. Ed nodded, barely listening to her. All he cared about was that he probably won't have to deal with Roy today – which meant that he'd miss this stupid Valentine thing, which meant he won't have to do anything and his brother would leave him alone, at least until next year.

"I don't think he was joking," said Hawkeye, obviously taking his disrespectful response as declaration that he was going to do just what he was warned against. He was, but he also didn't want to piss Roy off.

He let out an unintelligible sound, glancing at the last pages before looking up at the blond woman. "I know. Thanks," he said, closing the files and heading towards the nearest free desk. He heard Alphonse following him and sitting next to him. He opened the documents again, reading through again – but this time he did so more thoroughly, meaning to write his report rather than just generally know what was expected from him.

"You know I'm not going to let you off just because he's not here right now, right?"

Ed grimaced, looking at his younger brother. He was talking in a voice no louder than a whisper, but it still made Ed panic that someone might hear them – and, worse, understand them. "Don't talk about that here. Are you an idiot?"

"Nope," the voice was strangely cheerful. "Just making sure you knew. Don't worry, no one's listening. Go ahead, finish with that so we can go back to the hotel."

Ed didn't need to be told twice; he was more than happy to abandon that conversation, and even more so to finish with his work and get out of the office – hopefully before the bastard comes back.

Unfortunately, the report turned out to be more detailed than he originally thought; worse than that, this stupid case had been going on for way too long for Ed to really remember the details of it. With each section forcing him to remember things that happened over six months ago – and there were many of those – he got more and more frustrated and annoyed. The clock ticked by, forming minutes that turned into hours, announcing proudly every time the hour digit changed and making Ed even more nervous. Alphonse sat next to him, mostly quietly but every now and then helping with a forgotten detail; but even though he said nothing on the subject anymore, Ed could feel that he was looking forward to when Roy will show up and Ed will have to do what he promised.

He was almost tempted to tell Al to leave him alone; but he couldn't do that. He wouldn't let him go back to the hotel room alone, and, besides, he was helping him with the report.

The clock stroked three, and Ed was just done with the last part of the report. Relieved, he collected all the papers spread over his desk, putting them together in a single bunch. "Finally," he muttered to himself, looking at the papers held in his hand in disdain, as if they were some powerful enemy he'd just beat. He heard Alphonse chuckle next to him.

"It wasn't that horrible, Brother."

"Oh, you weren't the one who had to write all of that – "

"You're back early!"

Ed looked up sharply at Havoc's rather surprised voice. No, the world wasn't doing this to him. He was so close… but no. His eyes fell on Mustang's figure, smug and gorgeous as always.

Next to him, he heard the metallic sound of steel against steel as his little brother turned his head to look at him.

"Yes, I had to make sure you're not lazing around," the Colonel said, the smirk clear in his voice. "Looks like I did right. Go back to work, Havoc, I'm still going to need these files first thing in the morning tomorrow."

"Sure thing, boss," Ed watched as Jean brought his hand to his forehead as a careless salute and chewing on the unlit cigarette caught between his lips before getting off the desk he was partly leaning-partly sitting on, moving instead to occupy the chair that stood just near it, returning to his work. Ed stood in his place, pretending to look through his file as he was trying to decide how he was going to get out of this.

"Fullmetal," Roy's voice saying his name made him look up from the papers he held, his eyes meeting Roy's dark ones. Next to him, he could feel Alphonse move, could almost feel his smirk; he wasn't sure what he wanted to do more: to punch Al or run away. He'd done neither, standing in his place and just arranging the pile of papers he held again after they moved while he was looking through. "I didn't think you'd still be here. Finished your report?"

"Yeah, I did. Do you have any idea how fucking long this thing was?" he complain. His voice was even, more annoyed than anything else; he already had months to practice hiding the way he felt around the Colonel, and he let none of his inner turbulence show.

He watched as Mustang rolled his eyes before he turned from him and walked towards the closer office door. Before, when Ed just joined the military, the bastard was still trying to tell him off when he wasn't showing respect. He gave up on that after about a year. "Yes, in fact, I do. I wrote it," he said; from his voice it was clear that he got tired of Ed's constant complaining, but even though he did try to control it during the last three months he just couldn't help the way he felt about all the useless paperwork he was forced to do. "It should have taken you no longer than two-three hours, it's not my fault you're slow. Get into my office. If we're both here we might just as well go through it."

"Can't you just do that on your own? I have better things to do." But even as he said that, Ed knew there was no chance. He started walking towards the door to Roy's office, ignoring the feeling of his little brother's stare on him. He knew what he wanted; he still was pretty sure he won't even bother to try.

Mustang opened the door and got into the office. "I can, but then how would I be able to hear your delightful insights?" Ed could hear the eye-rolling in his commanding officer's words, and he could almost kick him. "Close the door behind you, Fullmetal, you're not on a train and it won't close itself."

Letting out an annoyed huff, Ed turned on his heels. He reached for the door, shutting it close before he walked towards Mustang's desk and placed the file on it. Then he went to his regular seat on the couch, heavily dropping himself on it like he always did.

Silence filled the room for a few moments, disturbed only by the sound of pages being turned and their breathing. After that he started asking him questions about it, requesting more information that what was shown on the report. Ed's mind was only half there; he replied, but was working on auto mode. He was too preoccupied thinking about Alphonse's words.

He could pretend to talk to Roy; could lie and say that he tried, and faced rejection. It'd save him so much trouble: he won't be really rejected; he won't have to face the consequences of actually asking. He knew perfectly well that even if Mustang won't deliberately change his behavior around him, things were bound to change, and he was pretty sure he didn't want that to happen. But his younger sibling knew him way too well and will probably know he lied. Also, he wasn't so sure he wanted to just let this chance slip. He was pretty sure that nothing would happen; but he couldn't shake the feeling that he might have a chance, as slim as it was, and it was hard to give that up.

He was running pros and cons in his head, trying to make up his mind, knowing that the logical thing to do would be to just let it go; but from some reason he couldn't just accept that. The only thing that tore him from that train of thought was movement on the side of his eye. He looked up, seeing Roy getting up from his chair. Ed immediately got up as well. He still didn't make up his mind, but now the thoughts were running even faster in his mind, in a panicky pace.

"Well, I'm impressed, Fullmetal. I don't think there was a case that took so long with so little causalities when you were involved," Mustang smirked, grabbing some documents from the desk and putting them together in one bunch, seemingly arranging them to take home.

"You always think I'm making so much trouble but you're not there to see that if I won't blow some roof I'll be dead," Ed muttered his reply. Really, it wasn't his fault that he was sent to fight against assholes who were trying to kill him.

"You might be a little extreme. After all, you forget that I didn't join the military yesterday, and yet every time I find myself in a tough situation I don't end up with so many damages."

"Whatever."

"It's not coming out of your budget. I'm sure that if I took even a small percentage of the damages cost out of your paycheck you wouldn't just say 'whatever'. You should be thankful that I case so much about you and – for now – don't intend to do that," the Colonel put the papers in his case, closed it, and started walking away from the desk. "But I do expect to see an improvement next time. Dismissed, Fullmetal."

Ed stared at him. This is it. It was over. The conversation was over, and so was his chance. He couldn't help but feel a ting of loss, even though he knew that even if had tried nothing would've come out of it. So why was he feeling like he missed on something big?

"You know, 'dismissed' means you can leave," Mustang's voice cut through his thoughts, and Ed suddenly realized he was by the door and that he'd been staring for way too long when he was obviously supposed to leap off the couch and hurry home, like he did every time.

He got on his feet and walked to the door.

"Have a good weekend."

"Yeah, you too," Ed muttered, reaching for the door knob.

The Colonel held up his case. "Now that I finally have your report, I'm sure I will."

Ed closed his hand on the door knob before it hit him. Mustang didn't have a date. His hand dropped, and he looked up at the older man again. He saw the smirk on his lips, but there was something else there, some kind of sadness. He wanted to take it away from there, wanted to make it disappear forever.

"Do you need anything else, Fullmetal?"

"Will you be my Valentine?"

The words left Ed's mouth before he could control them, before he could stop them. He had no intentions to say it – and even when he did consider it he wasn't supposed to be so straight forward. As soon as they hang in the air between them and Ed realized what he'd said, his eyes went wide. No, out of all the things he could've done… This was the worse. He couldn't even say anything to make it go away. He just wanted to run away, escape the office and never return, but his legs felt paralyzed.

"What?" Mustang's voice broke the tensed silence between them. He was looking at Ed, the smirk gone from his lips, leaving nothing but confusion.

Ed swallowed, finally able to think again. Well, the damage had been done. He's said it, and he knew Roy wasn't asking because he couldn't hear him – but because he couldn't accept the fact that he heard right. Ed felt ashamed at the thought of running away; he'd never done that before. Besides, he couldn't just quit. Al and he needed this job, needed it to live and needed it to find a way to restore their bodies. It wasn't like he could just ignore his own commanding officer.

He frowned. "It's Valentine's this weekend," he said, his voice quiet, but still fierce. "I – if you don't have anyone else, I want you to be my Valentine."

He saw the expression on the Bastard's face changing – from confusion, to something much softer. He couldn't quite name it, but the warmth he saw now in the dark eyes made blood rush to his cheeks. He wanted to look away, but he forced himself not to. Not until he has an answer.

"Is that so?" Mustang asked. He wasn't mocking, like he usually was; even the regular smugness was missing from his tone. "But I'm your commanding officer."

"I know that."

"And I'm much older than you."

"I know."

"What you're asking for is illegal."

"I fucking know that too." Ed was starting to feel nervous again. Why was the bastard telling him things he already knew? He wasn't stupid. If Mustang wasn't interested, he could just say so and they could forget about the whole thing –

"And you still asked."

Ed opened his mouth to say something – something rude, probably. Maybe even yell that rude something at the older man before he'd turn on his heels and get the hell out of here in the hope of everything to be forgotten by next Monday; but the feeling of a firm hand on his flesh arm stopped him, and all he could do was stare at Roy.

"Alright then."

It felt like the whole world collapsed, and at the same time, fell right into place. He couldn't believe it. He must have heard wrong. He blinked, unable to take his eyes off the officer. "What?"

He saw Roy's eyebrow arching up, the smirk on his lips broadening a little bit, becoming a bit softer. Ed wasn't sure if it was insulting, or if he should be flattered; the look in the older man's eyes told him how amused he was from his reaction. He frowned, but didn't dare to move enough to lose Mustang's touch. "You don't have to – you know – "

"I know, but I want to," his hold softened; he didn't let go of Ed, but his hold wasn't intended to keep Ed in his place anymore, but to sooth him; it wasn't firm anymore, but caressing. "I'm actually glad you asked. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be in the same room with you but not be able to look at that fine ass you have?"

Ed almost choked. This was definitely not how he saw this going. He didn't even know how to respond to that, so he just stared, completely shocked. Didn't he just a second ago reminded him that any kind of non-professional relationship between them was illegal? And now he was talking about that..

"And you always wear these tight leather pants…" the older man let out an overdramatic sigh, but his smirk returned when Ed's stunned expression didn't change. "I'm joking with you. Even though what I said was the truth. I am honestly glad you asked. Should I pick you up at eight then?"

Ed blinked, the straight-to-the-point tone Roy was using now somewhat freeing him from his frozen state. His brain still wasn't fully functioning; but he was over his shock enough to nod weakly. "Uh… sure…" he managed, not even one hundred percent sure what he was agreeing to. Did he really just asked Mustang out on a date… and didn't get rejected? Nothing made sense. He must be dreaming. Hallucinating. Maybe there was something in his coffee.

"Good," the one syllabled word, and the sudden loss of Roy's touch on his arm, made Ed focus on the current situation again. "I'll come to the lobby, then. But you do know this must stay a secret, right? So if anyone asks… I came to talk to you about a work-related matter. Understood?"

"Y – yes, of course. At eight, the lobby, work-related," he repeated; he still couldn't believe he was forming these words.

"I'll see you tonight at eight, then," and with that, he moved. Ed suddenly felt the light pressure of another hand on his as Roy opened the door. On the very second the sound of the strike leaving the jamb the older man's expression completely changed; he was cold and serious again, as if his hand wasn't touching Ed's and as if they didn't just agreed to go out on a date seconds ago. "Good job on the report, Fullmetal," his hand left the door knob, and once again Ed felt the loss of his touch, but he didn't dare to show anything, forcing his face into the usual frown it wore while in the office. He knew he had to play this game, no matter how weird he felt right now.

"Whatever," he muttered, and let go of the knob as well. He didn't bother with any other word – knowing that's what he would've done had they not just have this conversation – and went straight towards his little brother. "Let's go, Al," he said. He could feel his brother's questioning look on him, and immediately could feel the heat in his face. He knew that there was no way he could hide the conversation he had with Roy a secret from his younger and way too sharp sibling – and he wasn't looking forward to telling him.

But at least that won't be the hardest thing he'd done today, and, as a matter of fact, Al deserved to know. He owed him at least that much.

If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have the balls to ask Roy out, and who knew what could grow from that.