Deliver Me
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Chapter One: Deliverance
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He was doing it again. Just . . . staring at him. Edward hated it. He hated it almost as much as he hated the man himself, with his stupid all knowing smirk, and his stupid smug voice, and his stupid, stupid self.
Yes, needless to say, Edward hated Roy Mustang.
He was so sick of Mustang watching him. He always at the same look. Whether they were in his office, or in the library it was always the same look. Elbows propped on the nearest surface, fingers steepled, and one gloved tip barely touching his lips. The black eyes were always focused on him, and that damn bastard smirked every single time Edward met his eyes.
Smug son of a...
And now he was at it again. Edward was minding his own business, sitting in the library, pulling up tome after tome looking for a name he'd heard in passing. It had been a flippant mention, but it struck a chord in Edward, and it wasn't long before he found himself buried up to his elbows in words that gave him nothing.
He could practically feel Mustang's eyes boring into his back, and it wouldn't be much longer until he lost it. What was that bastard doing? He'd never set foot in the library before, why now? Why when Ed was so close to finding what he wanted, he could almost taste it? That rat-faced ass was trying to distract him! Keep him from the information he needed!
If that was the case, Edward was just going to work harder. He opened another book and sneezed, a cloud of dust rising from it.
"Dammit!" His whispered voice was loud to his own ears, and his automail hand curled into a fist as he waved the dust away with the either. The librarians were there to take care of these books, not leave them in piles of man-eating dust! Edward could feel it settling in his hair and clothes, but he didn't care, brushing away the dust on the page with a gloved hand of his own.
This was the one. It had to be the one. Why else would it be covered in dust? There had to be something important in it, something about the Deliverance Alchemist, something about why he -
A gloved hand dropped onto Edward's shoulder, a tight grip meant only to catch attention. "Full Metal, doing some research?" Roy asked, a smirk drawing his face apart. "Ah, the Deliverance Alchemist."
He peered over the blonde's shoulder (more accurately, his head) and studied the words. "Hmm. You're using one of the least informative books. There are one or two more if you look on the lower shelves."
Edward felt ready to slam his head into the book in front of him. He would have, too, if it hadn't been emitting dust like a broken teapot. He waited for it. The crack about him being so short he wouldn't have to look at the lower shelves because they were eye level.
And he waited.
And waited.
And it never came.
That settled it. Mustang was definitely up to something, and he was going to find out what!
Shrugging out from under Mustang's hand, Edward nearly fell out of his chair. "Thanks." There was no appreciation in his voice, and he didn't sound thankful in the least.
Why was Mustang helping him? He would have found the books eventually. Not only that, but how did that jackass Colonel know where the books were if he was never in the library? Ed would have known, he was always in the library! It was his second home when he was in the East City, though it had nothing on the Central Library.
Roy stared down at him, a seemingly normal smirk still on his face. "Strange you'd be studying the same man whom I did an entire two year long research project on." He commented. "And I still have my notes, books, and texts that I bought in my library. Unfortunately, the Military decided that The Deliverance Alchemist was not worth their time and you can assume what happened next."
Yes, the home that the State provided for Roy was large enough to contain perhaps a thousand books. Some he himself hadn't even read.
Wincing, Ed rubbed both of his hands over his face. He instantly regretted it, the dust on his gloves sneaking its way into his nose. He sneezed again, more violently this time.
Ugh. He hated dust.
"What did he do that was so bad?" Edward asked with his voice muffled by his hands. He didn't want to move them and risk more dust. Besides, it let him avoid that damn smirk.
Shrugging, Roy shook his head. "No one is sure. It is said that the Fuhrer gave him the Deliverance title when he 'delivered' something to him." He placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "And then he either vanished or died."
In all of Roy's research, he hadn't found a single thing. Not one.
He stared down at Edward again. "By the way, gesundheit."
Spreading his fingers so he could see through them, Edward raised a brow. "What?"
Vanished or died? Sounded suspicious. Ed could imagine what had happened to him, and he didn't like it a bit. After delivering something to the Fuhrer, Edward didn't have one doubt in his mind as to what had happened to Deliverance.
And he was going to find out exactly what he had delivered, no matter what.
"What do you mean, what?" Roy asked, staring down at him. "That's all there is, the end."
He smirked. "Don't work too hard." And he started walking toward the front entrance of the library, humming something under his breath.
Edward lowered his hands and made a face, glaring at Roy's back. "'What do you mean, what?'" He mocked to himself. "You can't speak another language and expect me to understand. Bastard."
Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the book with a huff. Mustang had never given him a reason to believe he was a liar yet, but Ed wasn't thrilled with the idea of taking Roy's advice - again. It was worse then taking the asshole's orders, because Edward didn't have the excuse of being told what to do!
No, advice was really just a suggestion, and he loathed the idea of taking it.
Grumbling to himself, Ed slammed shut the book. He left it on top of the others on the table, abandoning his chair. Lowering himself onto his stomach, he glowered at the lower shelves. Using his arms, he pushed himself along the floor, pulling out books that looked likely.
When he was done, there were a good six books laying behind him, and he sighed. Mustang had said one or two, not six.
And that meant he'd be getting even more dust on him before he left.
Great.
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The Deliverance Alchemist...It had been a long time since Roy had even thought about that man. He'd actually met him once, as a young boy. He couldn't remember much, except for the thought that the much older man had seemed to glow.
He stopped at his home, stepping into the vast library that had taken up the entire first floor and then some. There was a bookshelf full of mismatched manuscripts, Roy picked something up off of it. In bold script it read,
THE DELIVERANCE ALCHEMIST
ROY MUSTANG
This thing was old, probably full of typos and misspellings. Roy really wasn't that good with stuff like that.
Smirking to himself, he considered telling Edward exactly who the Deliverance Alchemist was and what he had been doing, everything. But no, it was better for the boy to figure it out on his own.
Plus, he enjoyed being an asshole.
Pausing for a moment, Roy stared at the bookshelf before putting the manuscript back onto the shelf. He smirked again before leaving the room and going back to his office.
Roy hoped Edward remembered what happened to the cat whom had been far too curious.
"Dammit!" Edward wanted to scream. In the entire library, there were only three books that even mentioned the Deliverance Alchemist! All any of them told him was that he had delivered a 'mysterious' gift, and then disappeared.
That wasn't anything he didn't already know, and now he was out of resources. He knew Mustang had more, but he was going to find it out on his own! He didn't need that smug bastard's help!
But he was out of leads. Completely out. He needed something that these books couldn't give him.
Closing the tomes he'd left open on the table, Edward shoved them back on the shelves. Bidding goodbye to the librarians, Edward stepped out into the sunlight.
His eyes narrowed, and he looked down. Ugh! It was so freaking bright! How many hours had he spent inside? What time was it?
Rubbing his eyes, he stepped down the steps without looking at them. He was glad when he reached the bottom that he hadn't run into anyone, and lowered his hands.
Where the hell did Mustang live? He needed those books, and the notes. He was going to find out, and if he had to ask Mustang for help, fine. He'd do it, he would even endure that damn smirk, as long as he got the information he needed.
Roy sat in his office, waving a case file in front of his face. Yet again, someone was using alchemy illegally and he had to deal with them. He sighed, tossing the folder back onto the table with the other ones.
Most of his job required a hell of a lot of paperwork, something he despised more than anything. Grumbling to himself, he half-wished for a war to pop up or a murderer to be set loose.
Those were bad, wicked thoughts, he scolded himself quietly as he sighed loudly. He groaned, forehead doing a face-plant on the desk. Oh, he was so bored. He needed something to do!
Then he'd have something to make his fingers stop twitching, get rid of the need to set fire to something. Hmm, maybe if he twisted a few short jokes into a conversation, he could get Edward mad enough to fight him.
Chuckling, he leaned back in his chair and twirled a pen in between white-gloved fingers.
Stepping into Roy's office, Edward shut the door behind him. He gave a quick nod, what had long ago replaced a bow. When he raised his head again, his jaw was set in determination.
He didn't want to be in the office, but he needed the information. Right now, in a land dry of leads, he'd found something. He needed to do this, for Al. And if putting Al back the way he was meant asking one more favor of Mustang, he would do it.
"Sir?" He hated titles, and he hated the titles that applied to the man in front of him. "You researched the Deliverance Alchemist. I'd like to see what you found."
It was clear in his voice, even though he didn't mean it to be, that he was going to find the research anyway. Whether or not Mustang wanted him to, he would get to it, if he had to break into the man's house itself.
"Do you?" Roy asked, pen dropping into the cyndrilical pencil holder on his desk.
He smirked. "Well, Full Metal...I don't know about that. No one is supposed to read my files, in fact they were supposed to be burned years ago." He leaned on his elbow, watching the younger man. "Do us both a favor and don't say the name you've already said within military walls. It's more taboo than the Philosopher's stone."
He tugged on both his ears. The whole office was bugged, or something. It seemed that Headquarters and the Fuhrer didn't trust them. Perhaps one of the librarians had reported Edward using the library to research the Deliverance Alchemist.
Edward sighed. Dammit, this was harder then it needed to be. His fingers flexed at his sides, positively twitching to get started on the research.
"I'd like to see them anyway." Like to see them? No, he was going to see them, no matter what. He was already thinking up ways to get into the colonel's house, but he only had one question.
Where did the man live? The office, as Edward had suggested grumpily to Al several months before? That would certainly make things easier. Or harder, depending on how much security was being pumped into the place.
It couldn't be anything he couldn't handle.
Roy stared at him. Then, he stood up. "What's that Full Metal? You want to go out on a date with me? Oh, sure, why not?" He said, loud enough that the entire office would hear.
Striding around the desk, he took Edward's hand. With a finger, he told him to shut the fuck up. Then he tugged on his ear pointedly before pulling him out of the office.
He didn't stop pulling until Edward and him were outside on the steps.
Now Ed's hands were twitching for an entirely different reason. He kept quiet, but he was glaring openly, all the way through the building. Once they were outside, he jerked his hand from Roy's and curled it into a fist. It landed hard against Roy's arm, and he glared up at the man.
Ooh, he hoped that fucking bruised.
"What the hell did you do that for, asshole?" He was practically yelling, and he didn't care if anyone could hear him inside. The door was still swinging shut, slow on its hinges. "I would never want to -"
Roy twitched, feeling pain erupt on his bicep. The brat.
"You want those godforsaken files or not?" He asked harshly, glancing over his shoulder. "These files are Class-A restricted material. We'd both be killed in our sleep if they know I gave them to you."
He stood up straight, crossing his arms. "But if you don't want them..."
"Of course I want the files!" Edward snarled, gold eyes molten as he glared. "Why the hell ELSE would I ask for your help?"
There were other ways they could have gotten out of the building, Roy didn't have to go and suggest a stupid date! Now he was going to have to deal with all the grins and suggestive comments from Havoc and Breda. Not to mention the questions from Al, and anyone else who heard the rumors.
Dammit!
"Because you have a deep, hidden, passionate crush on me." Roy said, with every bit of seriousness in his voice. "Or not. Come on."
He turned, starting to walk forward as he glanced around for his car. Havoc wasn't around, he would have to drive. Poor Edward.
"I do not!" Edward protested heatedly as he followed Roy, completely missing the "or not" in his statement.
A crush? How could he even suggest something like that? It was disgusting! It was Mustang! Smug bastard extraordinary.
No one could like him. It was a law of nature.
Turning, Roy leaned over until his nose was sliding over Edward's. "Don't blush."
He kept his lips a safe distance from the younger man's, but it was still a close miss. It took all Roy had not to smirk. Instead he looked completely neutral as he stared into Edward's golden eyes.
Heat flooded Edward's face, and he glared at Roy with everything he had. "I'm not blushing!" He could almost feel the flush throbbing in his cheeks, and it just increased his anger.
What the hell was Mustang playing at? How could he suggest something like that, and then... then get THAT close and look so normal? How?
This was a dream. It had to be a dream. Some sort of sick, twisted nightmare that he was going to wake up from because it couldn't possibly be real.
A soft smile, not quite one of the more familiar Roy-smirks, pulled at Roy's lips. Leaning back up, he turned back around without a word. "Come on, I'll take you to my library."
He kept walking, humming some tune under his breath.
Oh, that had been priceless. Seeing Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist, blushing like an innocent virgin hearing the word 'sex'. Roy wished he'd had his camera.
"I hate you." Edward continued to glare at Roy's back as they walked, and he shoved his hands deep in his pockets.
It was true, too. He'd never hated Roy more in his life. He didn't know why - it wasn't like the ass was right, but there wasn't a single part of Edward that didn't hate Mustang. Any sensibilities he had about owing the man a favor, or being civil long enough to get the research were gone.
He was simple filled with uncontrollable emotion. And he chose to call it hate.
"I don't believe you." Roy said distractedly, spotting his car. He strode over to it, pulled the door open and didn't get in.
He kicked something. "Havoc, wake the fuck up."
A honey-blond head lifted up. "Eh?" A sleepy Havoc looked around. "Wha...?"
"Wake up. Now. Or you're demoted."
Havoc blinked, jumping up. "Oh! Sorry! Where to, sir?" He saluted, rubbing his eyes as he put his hand down.
Rolling his eyes softly, Roy moved to the backseat. "My place, Ed's doing some research on that guy."
"That...?"
"Hmmm-hmm."
"Ooooooooh."
Edward was pouting. He knew he was pouting, but there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. Did everyone know about the Deliverance Alchemist but him? Havoc wasn't even an alchemist!
Huffing, he got into the car after Roy. This was stupid. If everyone knew, why was the subject a taboo? Just like everyone he met knew about the Philosopher's Stone, but wouldn't talk about it. He could understand why they wouldn't speak of the Stone, it had been used for terrible things. Things no one should have to think about.
But why the Deliverance Alchemist? If he was a bigger taboo then the Stone itself, then he had to have done something involving the Stone. Delivered it, maybe? But why would he have disappeared? Had he taken it with him? Been killed?
He was going to find out. No matter what.
"Havoc assisted me in my research when I was younger." Roy said distractedly, Havoc nodded from the front.
He found a cigarette pack somewhere. "Roy worked me to the bone, had me track down every single book I could find." He groaned. "He made me go east just to find a three-page document, and south about a thousand kilometers to get another book."
"Oh." Edward's brow furrowed, and he looked down at his hands. That made more sense, but the anger didn't fade. He wished someone would just tell him what was going on, what the Deliverance Alchemist had done. Something.
He knew it was the wish of a child, but he couldn't make himself care. He felt young and mislead, especially after Roy's treatment.
"I hope you're up for a bit of reading." Roy commented at Edward. "Because the research paper is over a thousand pages long."
Havoc grunted. "The Military waited until AFTER we were done to tell us not to research it. Load of crock. They were so pissed we knew about it, too...Oh man, I'd never SEEN the Fuhrer so mad..."
"A thousand pages?" Edward's jaw dropped, and he stared.
After they were finished... Yeah, Edward could see the military doing that. Manipulative bastards. They always seemed to deliver news just a little too late.
"Give or take a couple hundred." Roy said, waving his hand. "I haven't looked at it in awhile so maybe I'm wrong. It's a good five-or-six volume set."
"Could be two thousand."
Roy shrugged. "It's been a good fifteen years since I'd even looked in that part of my library. Lucky for me, I get the place cleaned so..." He glanced at Edward, an amused smile on his face. "No dust."
Scowling at Roy, Edward brushed self consciously at his hair. When his hand came away, his glove was covered in dust. He groaned, wiping it on his pants. "I must look like an old woman."
No matter what he complained about, Edward's mind was already going over what he might find in the text. He couldn't wait to see it, find out what was so bad that could possibly be delivered.
Roy reached, bracing back before abruptly shaking Edward's head. The dust fell in clouds. "I find it amusing you didn't say a 'man', Full Metal." He said, watching the boy's black clothing gather a gray sheen.
Havoc took a sharp turn, Roy's house wasn't that far. He could probably drive there with his eyes closed.
Glaring and grumbling something about bastards and promotions, Edward tried to brush the dust off his back. His arm refused to bend that way, and he emitted a noise that was frighteningly like a growl.
Dammit. Stupid, stupid dust. He'd have to take off his shirt and shake it out later, and... The car was getting too warm. It had to be. Even with Havoc's window down, it was too warm.
Because Ed wasn't looking forward to taking off his shirt in front of Roy, though he doubted the asshole would leave him alone long enough to change.
Roy sneezed, pinching his nose. He groaned something softly.
Stupid dust. Maybe he shouldn't have done that. "You can't go into the library like that." Roy said as Havoc navigated his way to his home and parked in front. "It's bad for the books."
He had many old ones in there, older than him or Ed...even older than the current Fuhrer! Yeah, Roy was a book freak.
Edward snorted. He didn't pointed out that he'd gotten dusty from books, and he didn't mention that he agreed with Roy. That was just what Mustang needed. Another ego boost.
He escaped the car as soon as possible, muttering curses loud enough to get scandalous glances from those walking past. When the dust refused to move (and he was sure turning his head was just getting it in his hair), he turned to glare at Roy.
"I'm blaming this on you." He would have gotten dusty anyway, and eventually, he would have turned up at Roy's house for the research paper, but he felt better having someone to blame. And who better then the bastard he always blamed?
Roy didn't answer, smirking anyway before starting for the front door. The house was, in face, huge. Bigger than the Headquarters in which Roy worked.
He'd taken care to keep it as clean and dust-free as possible. But there was one thing...
He opened the door and a flurry of fur ran out the door, barking. The dogs ran until they found the smell of someone unknown. They jumped on Edward, barking and licking at his face.
A straggler yipped from Roy's feet, he leaned down and picked up a tiny little golden puppy.
"Yaaargh!" Edward nearly collapsed under the storm of dogs, shoving his way through them and struggling not to fall. Wading through them, he allowed himself the delirious thought that, hey, at least he wasn't covered in dust anymore. He couldn't see how dog slobber was any better, but...
Nearly tripping over a dog that was trying to wrap itself around his ankles, he raised a brow at the sight of Roy and the puppy.
"I didn't know you lived in a zoo."
"Zoos usually require more types of animals." He said, kneeling as six more of the golden puppies appeared. "Matsa had puppies three weeks ago." The little bundles of fur jumped and their little pink tongues lashed at his face.
He set down the puppy he'd had in his hand, it joined the jumping little ocean of golden brown. "Usually I get them from pounds or off the street."
There was a sharp meow from inside, Roy winced. No wonder the dogs had charged out. "Though...I have one cat..."
Edward blinked, looking down the hall as a small ball of orange began to waltz its way toward the dogs. He felt a grin spread over his face, and he moved past the dogs to the cat he knew he recognized.
Crouching in front of it, his grin widened. It was! The cat purred, butting his head against Edward's hands. He smiled, picking up the purring cat and standing. He turned to Roy, the cat rubbing its head against his neck.
"You took him?" Of course he had, or the cat wouldn't be there. "Why?"
"Him? I don't know what you mean." Roy said, walking past him. "In any case, he's rather fierce when it gets down to it. The dogs are afraid of little..."
He cut himself off, coughing into his hand. "The library, then? You look clean enough."
The group of dogs was at his heels, whining. "Hungry?" He asked them. They yipped in response.
"I'll find the library." Edward didn't put the cat down, and its claws dug into his shoulder, a clear sign that it wouldn't be put down. "Feed your zoo."
Roy seemed more... human, in his own home. Less a conceited bastard and more of a man. Weird. He'd never really considered Mustang to be human before.
"Just open a door." Roy said, starting up a large staircase. "The first floor is all books."
It was only when he'd gotten to the kitchen and was dishing out bowls of wet dog food that he realized. His cat had a collar on him. And that had the cat's name on it!
Opening the nearest door, Edward set the cat down and stared at the shelves. The smell was thick in the room, all leather bound covers and crisp pages. It was his favorite smell in the world, he could bury himself in a library and die happy, just because of the smell.
But that wasn't what he was here for, and he started weaving through the shelves, looking. He didn't know what he was looking for, a big sign that said "FIND THE DELIVERANCE ALCHEMIST, HERE," maybe. One gloved finger ran over the book titles, stopping on ones that looked likely.
Something thumped against his leg, and he looked down. He smiled at the sight of two large cat-eyes staring back at him. "Demanding, aren't you?" The cat purred deeply, and Edward laughed.
He reached down, picking the cat up again. His fingers scratched just below the collar. He peered down at the name, brows raising. Edward? Mustang had named the cat Edward?
Roy groaned, leaning against the kitchen counter. The dogs slurped up their dinner noisily, he leaned back up and started for the downstairs again. Two little gold things followed him, the fastest eating ones of the puppies.
It took him a moment to find Edward, but when he did, he found him in the wrong room. "Come on." He said, not meaning to startle the boy by breaking his thought. "The books are in the back."
Edward jerked, holding the cat a little tighter. The orange Edward yowled his disapproval, and Ed blinked, loosening his hold. "Oh..." Scratching the cat between the ears in hopes of being forgiven, Edward nodded. "Right."
He felt rather like he was hiding behind the cat as he turned to face Roy, but he didn't think much of it. Edward clung to his shoulder, looking lazy and content.
Ducking back out, Roy led Edward (the cat, and two puppies) to the back room. Pulling a set of keys from his pocket, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.
The room was dark, but he flicked a switch and light filled the room. Five bookcases lined the walls, Roy walked over to one and picked up the white print textbook from one. Then four more of it's large size. "Here they are. Better get started."
Staring at the textbooks, Edward could have groaned. He hooked his thumbs underneath the cat and handed him to Roy. "Take that." He muttered, picking up the first book.
Then he sat, back against the book shelf and opened the text to the first page. He snorted at the title, but was quickly past it, wading through the basic information he already knew and into the details he hadn't been able to find.
Ed sat on Roy's shoulder, small enough to do so with the aid of one of Roy's hands. "Okay..." Roy said, scratching the cat a little. "When you get tired, hungry, etcetera...just call me."
He turned to go, the puppies skipping in between his feet. "Oh, and you can't take those books out of my house. They're not allowed away from it, lest someone higher up than me finds out about them." Roy did not want to lose his chance at promotion.
Because a promotion would be one more step toward making the world a better place.
Letting out a distracted, "Uh huh," Edward turned a page, reading so fast it was surprising he took anything in. He was going to read the entire thing once before he started on his notes, and judging by the looks of things, that was going to take a very long time.
According to Mustang's research, which he was a little wary about accepting, Deliverance was a guy named Robert Hilton. He'd become an alchemist at twenty, and his life's work had been discovering everything possible about the Philosopher's Stone.
Ed had suspected that much. Why else would he be taboo?
The first volume was pretty useless to him. It was all background. Family, associations, all the people stuff that Edward didn't need. The second and third volumes gave him much more to go on.
Hilton had found the Philosopher's Stone, or... The secret to it. That was where he dropped all pretense of doing what the military wanted. He had delivered the secret, and he'd disappeared. The information Mustang had gathered seemed to be from Hilton's private journals, which he'd kept like any good scholar. And, like any alchemist who didn't want to be discovered, they were written in code.
Edward just hoped they weren't masquerading as a cook book.
The secret to creating a successful Stone was human life. Ed knew that. Hell, he probably knew it better then anyone. Hilton had disregarded that, and carried on purely for the science.
Fingers tightening on the book as he read, Edward felt sick. Children began to go missing from the town Hilton was hiding in. Small children, ranging from three to eight. He made stones, using each of the children.
And then he came to a discovery. Using children made weak stones. He found an adult, a young man in his twenties. Edward forced himself to keep reading. The procedure went as planned, until the smoke cleared to expose the stone.
It wasn't a stone. There was only the man, sitting in the circle, crying. Edward's brow furrowed, and he kept reading.
Hilton struggled for hours to discover what had happened. He'd quizzed the man endlessly, but the man couldn't remember a thing. In his desperation, Hilton had taken the man to Central. He'd been recognized immediately for what he was, and Hilton had been executed immediately for creating it.
The man had become the stone, and during the execution, he'd ran. Ran as hard and as fast as he could, away from Central and everyone who tried to attack him. He carried two distinguishing features.
Dark skin, and red eyes.
Edward shut the fourth book carefully, swallowing hard as he set it on top of the others. He'd heard of only one culture that carried those features. He'd met them... Why hadn't he figured this out before?
When he stood, his legs were shaking, like they couldn't hold him up. He braced himself on the shelves, practically crawling up them to keep his feet. He made his way unsteadily out of the library, unsure of the time, unwilling to check. He didn't want to know. Instead of finding answers, he'd found more questions. He knew who he had to find now, but he didn't know how to find him, or how to make him help.
It was beyond late, there was a faint light outside that announced just how long Edward had been reading. It had been time to make coffee, at least in the home of one Roy Mustang.
Roy stood in the dark hallway outside of the kitchen, cat curled up in his arms. "You know, then." He said quietly, staring at him. He was dressed in a pair of pajama pants, lack of wrinkles revealing he hadn't slept. No shirt, just a dog tag.
He could remember reading a small two-paragraph paper of Robert's. That was when his obsession with forbidden alchemy begun, eventually stopped by Hughes.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Edward was too tired to yell, stuck in a state of shock that wouldn't allow for any volume besides a whisper. "Why bother sending me on all of those stupid missions, when you could have just..."
It didn't make sense. Why would Mustang hold him back, keep him from helping Al? That was all he wanted to do. He didn't care what else could happen because of the stone. It was already around anyway, why hadn't Roy just told him? Made it easier? Al would be back in his body, instead of stuck in a tin can.
None of this would have had to happen if Roy had just told him.
"I don't control the Ishbalan people, Full Metal." Roy said, turning away and setting the cat down on the floor. Ed meowed, disturbed at the lack of Roy's warm arms.
He heard the beep of his coffee maker, turning. He pulled down a coffee cup. "Robert Hilton." He said softly. "Been a while since I've thought of him."
Turning back toward Edward, he stared at him. "I shouldn't have even have let you know today." He decided, "But here we are."
"You could have told me." Edward pressed, not even trying to yell. It wasn't worth it. None of it was worth it. He'd met the Philosopher's Stone, and he hadn't even known. And Scar could have helped them! Helped Al!
Edward's faith in adult kindness was gone. His faith in everything was gone. All he wanted to do was curl up, go to sleep, and never wake up again.
Sitting down at one of the stools that surrounded the counter in the middle of the kitchen, Edward rested his elbows on the surface. Chin in his hands, he followed Roy's movements with only his eyes.
"You wasted my time, and yours. You knew that all I wanted with the stone was to help Al, it's not like that's going to kill anyone!" Ah. That was him. His anger at Roy, Scar, even himself, was just now beginning to leak out.
"You're such a child." Roy cut him off, staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Don't think that you're the only person in the world who has problems. Think about the situation. Scar could help you, heal your brother and restore your limbs. Or he could go and save a dying race of people in dire need to his help."
He shut his eyes, hand rising to his forehead. "'All you wanted'..." He said softly. "All you wanted was something that would take so much energy. Equivalent exchange occurs even when you try to cheat, Edward."
Turning again, he poured his cup of coffee as the sun started pouring into the room from large windows.
Edward looked away from Roy, his hands flat on the table. He was a child, he knew that. He was still holding onto the childish dream that everything turned out okay at the end of the story. That if he turned enough pages, he would make it to that happy ending.
There was no happy ending, but he hadn't come this far just to give up. He slipped quietly off the stool, shooting a half hearted glare at Roy's back. "I promised him."
And he didn't break his promises.
It was late, and he knew Al would be worried, but he didn't have time to go and get him. Leaving the kitchen behind, Edward made it to the front door in a haze of sizzling fury. He didn't need to be reminded that he was a child, especially not from Mustang!
Roy remained sipping his coffee for a little while, watching little Ed rub against his ankles as the cat attempted taking his attention. He didn't succeed, his owner walking away and back upstairs.
The dogs tried to crowd him, all of them having woken up. He walked through them, toward his bedroom. They still whined, but when he reached the huge bed, they all jumped up and sat on it. Sighing, he pushed away Dozer and pulled the blankets apart. He needed sleep, then he'd track down Edward and explain the rest of the stuff.
One of the puppies whimpered as he lay down, soft little paw dropping onto his cheek. It was cool, he had to smile a little. "I'm fine." He told the pup, whom licked his nose in return.
He had to name the puppies eventually, so they wouldn't get used to being called 'Hey, you' or 'Furball'. The rest of the six puppies jumped around him and settled close to him.
See, this was why women could hardly stand coming to his place. They were all 'Omigawd, look at your place! It's so big.' Then the dogs would pour out and they would run away in a mess of lipstick and high heels.
He hadn't brought anyone home in a long time. Usually it was their place, and even then he just came home afterward.
Yawning, he turned over.
That resulted in him ending up face-first in a small pool of fur. He grunted, leaning back on his knees. "Okay." He said, the dogs all looked up. "Out. Now."
In two seconds, every dog except for the puppies had left. They hadn't received the same training as the others. They'd all had Hawkeye's 'special' training. It worked well.
Pushing a couple of them away, they scuttled around until Roy was lying down again and settled between his legs and on his back. They really were silly, these adorable dogs.
He loved them, he admitted. So cute. He loved dogs way too much, he decided as he was falling asleep. Then, dogs was replaced with a different word, a name.
But he fell asleep before he could think about it.
TBC
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Suqua:-3 Hope you enjoyed!