Firelight

A Fullmetal Alchemist short by SurpriseSushi

"Don't give in, without a fight."

Hey You, Pink Floyd

"M-Maes?" He called into the dark house. Not a single drop of light anywhere. It was odd for such a normally cheerful house. Gun raised, he stepped into the house, knowing where to look immidiatly. The only room with a phone. Maes and Gracia's room. Tip-toeing up the stairs, he made as little noise as possible, fighting the urge to run up the stairs, screaming his best fiends name. Soldier instinct, drilled into him for years, drowning out every other thought, any fear he had. He stepped on the landing, and made a quick sweep of the hall. Nothing. He took a deep breath and turned to face the master bedroom's door. Without another seconds hesitation, he pushed it open.

There he sat. His back against a baby crib, his legs's up, his arms resting on his knee's. A cigarette dangled from his fingers, the room practically clouded from the smoke, making Roy wonder how long he had been sitting there. Hearing him come in, Maes glanced up. His expression made shivers run down Roy's back, and then up again. Roy walked up to him, and tried to reach out to him, but he found that he couldn't lift his arm. He simply lacked the will power. "Maes-" He croaked, his hand still gripping the gun tightly.

Maes didn't respond, he didn't even look up. He continued to stare across the room, a blank look on his face. "I heard-... Scieszka told me- about... what happened. What you found." Roy said, shoving his gun into it's holster on his chest. Maes still remained silent. Roy looked away from him, and breathed deeply. "I-... I'm sorry. About all this. If I'd have known-"

"It would have been better if you never knew." Roy looked down at Maes, and noticed the tears quietly streaming down his cheeks. "That's why I never told you. It would have been better..." He took a haul from the cigartte, and looked at the burning end, watching the smoke rise and slowly disappear. "To be honest, I didn't want to hurt you. I thought I could shoulder this pain by myself. I was wrong, obviously." He turned the cigarette in his fingers, finally looking up to study Roy, giving Roy time to give him a good look at.

"Maes-... are you alright?" He said after a short scurtiny. He then gave the room a quick look-down, and noticed the pill bottle next to Maes' hand. An empty pill bottle. "Maes-... Maes, what did you take?" He fell to the floor beside his best friends, took him by the shoulders and shook him. "What did you take?" Then it dawned on him. Sleeping pills. The sleeping pills he had given Maes. Fuck. How much of that bottle had there been left? Half? Maybe more? He looked at Maes again, and watched him take a drag of the cigarette.

"I am nothing without my family, Roy. Try to understand." He sounded so calm, so fucking sure of himself.

"You fucking moron... What the fuck are you thinking! I'm calling a doctor." He stood, but Maes grabbed his leg.

"I want this, Roy. I want this sweet oblivion they call death."

"Cut the fucking poetry, Maes!" He ripped his leg out of his friends grip, and reached for the phone. He froze when he felt the coolness of metal on the back of his neck. "Maes, what are you doing?" He hadn't noticed Maes take the gun from him.

"I told you... I'm nothing, nothing without them." He breathed. He suddenly chuckled. "You think I'm going to shoot you, Roy? No... I plan on shooting myself. ...All those years at the academy, the number one rule was-"

"-Always have your gun." Roy whispered.

Bang.

A/N: I own no rights or characters of Fullmetal Alchemist.

A short one-shot. As you can see. xD It's up to the reader to decide what's happening in this scene, although for the most part it's quite obvious. I tried to come up with something more dramatic then 'always have your gun', but I got nothing. :/ I hope you enjoyed it, leave a comment, and check back for more fanfics in the near future.

-SurpriseSushi