Summary: Edward Elric is forced to babysit the heir-to-the-throne Ling Yao after Colonel Roy Mustang finds out about the rebirth of Greed, but the new side of Ling is not what either expected. Especially for Ed.

Ships: GreedLing/Ed, Hinted-Winry/Ed, & Slight May/Alphonse

Warnings: YAOI (boyxboy), swearing, blood/gore, implied gang affiliation, implied suicide & lemon in the later chapters

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of the characters!

Please enjoy!

"You what?!"

Everything was relatively quiet and peaceful in Central Command that late afternoon, with the occasional bustling of soldiers running in and out, until a certain blonde midget and his tin-can brother came barreling through the door of Colonel Mustang's office, the one-armed Alchemist holding a crumpled letter signed by the onyx-haired Colonel.

"What's the matter? You were assigned to watch Ling for me. Can't you read cursive?" Roy blinked, glancing up from his paperwork to gaze at the two Elric brothers and his shattered door.

"Yes, I can read cursive!" Ed, the younger Alchemist, barked as Alphonse desperately tried to put the door back together using his alchemy. "But that ain't the point! Why am I being assigned to babysit that idiot prince?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Flame Alchemist shuffled his papers into a neat stack as he talked, watching as Hawkeye tried to help the younger brother put the door back on its hinges without it breaking again. "We need you to watch his behavior. You said you saw Ling gain a Philosopher's Stone from Father when you came back from Gluttony's stomach, correct?"

"Yeah," The Fullmetal Alchemist settled his sudden agitation to answer his question, "what about it?"

"Ever since Ling gained Greed, he's been acting strange, hasn't he?"

"...Yeah?"

"We need you to keep an eye on him to make sure he's still suitable to be the prince of Xing. If the boy is unstable, there's no real way he can lead his country properly without his avarice side making a scene and ruining his image globally. I've informed his family about your stay."

"You can't be serious!" The blonde teen complained, slamming the paper face-down on his desk, causing Al to jump from where he was standing with the sudden rattle of the oak. "Can't his family make that decision on their own?!"

"They don't know that he has this side of him." Hawkeye answered for her Colonel as she took a seat on the leather couch, "Greed is craftier than we thought."

"Don't worry," Mustang sighed and stood from his seat, easily towering over the angry Alchemist, "you can bring Alphonse with you, if you want."

"That's not the point." He shook his head in reply, "What do I get for being your 'little spy'?"

"A raise."

"Not enough."

"You still owe me five-hundred-and-twenty cents, Fullmetal. Don't think you're gonna get a hefty payment."

Penny-pincher, Ed grumbled in his head, slouching over a little in defeat. "...Fine, I'll take it."

"Great," Mustang smiled and walked around the corner of his desk, causing his trusted adversary to get to her feet and join his side as he approached the door, "pack your things, Fullmetal, Alphonse, and meet us outside at the car...And stop pouting like a small child. You'll get over it." He glanced towards the State Alchemist before slipping out the door with his partner trailing behind him.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' A SMALL CHILD, YOU SONUVA-" The door shut behind Hawkeye before Ed could finish his angry wailing at Mustang's back, and all that could be heard was the muffled, rage-filled screaming from the other side of the door.

"Come on, Brother!" Alphonse's body-less voice called out to him, ringing in the empty suit of armor his soul had been bound to since they were little, as he squeezed his broad shoulders through the door frame of the car's backseat entrance and just managing to pin himself against the other side of the automobile to make room for the State Alchemist, the whole car creaking and rocking against his shifting weight. By the time the Elric brothers had begun packing, the sun was sinking down below the city heights, the shadows devouring its remaining light and replacing the streets and alleys with a looming darkness. They knew they wouldn't make it to Xing before midnight, or even later than that. Edward was already exhausted from a day of handling paperwork and managing to watch out for the other Homunculus, and he didn't feel like crossing the Eastern Desert at such a late time.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming..." The older Elric exhaled and threw his luggage bag into the trunk along with Al's, closing the hatch before wriggling into the space provided to him by his bulky brother. "...C'mon, Al! Scoot over!"

"I can't! I'm gonna fall out!" His brother shot back quickly as Ed shut the door, causing the engine of the car to start up.

"We're gonna take a route provided by Ishval." Mustang explained from the driver's side as the car, steering the car out of the plaza and into a main road, "I was planning to make a trade route through Ishval trough the Xingese border, if I can get a pact with the emperor. It'd be much faster than taking the Eastern Desert." The Colonel explained his plans, boring the two brothers immediately, but peeking interest in his Lieutenant, who was on the passenger side.

As the two in the front began to go on about politics involving the Clans that inhabited Xing, Alphonse turned his attention to his brother, who was gazing out the window longingly.

"...Is something wrong, Brother?" He gently poked his shoulder, getting his attention with a small jolt.

"Well, it's just...we haven't seen Ling in so long...I wonder how much he's grown over the months." Ed shrugged, trying to shoulder off the conversation with an easy excuse of worry by height, but it didn't pass easily with his younger brother.

"You're thinking about Winry, again, aren't you?"

"What?! How can you tell?"

"You get that distant, soul-searchy look in your eyes when you think about her." Al pointed to Ed's expression, causing the brother to wrinkle his nose a little at his index finger, "You miss her, don't you?"

"Pfft! Of course not!" Ed snorted insensitively, "She's busy with other things, y'know? Of course I'll worry about her sometimes, but...maybe I'm just not used to her constant company and always having my back." He rubbed his automail shoulder from beneath his scarlet cloak, almost as if he could feel her repairing his right arm yet again, like she always did, no matter what the damage was, with some minor complaints and scolding about how he should keep better care of his substitute limbs. Sometimes, though, he did miss her. She was his childhood friend, and she was there for him when he lost an arm and a leg. She helped him heal emotionally and physically from his mother's death, and the loss of Alphonse's body, and yet he always took her for granite.

Now that she was away on a trip, Winry was on his mind a lot. Maybe it was better that he took this trip to Xing, to get his mind off things...

"Hey, do you think we'll see May?" Al suddenly asked excitedly, hearing the grin in his disembodied voice bringing a smile to Ed's own features.

"No doubt about it, Al." The blonde chuckled, "We should drop by the Chang clan and pay her and Xiao-Mei a visit after we're done with this mission. How does that sound?"

"Yeah!" The younger chirped, before the two fell silent in their own thoughts, watching as the familiar city of Amestris vanished behind them, and their long journey stretched far ahead of them, beyond the empty plains of the Eastern Desert.