Chapter 1

Edward groaned when the train finally stopped into a halt at Central Station. The metallic squeaking sound was enough to wake him up from his uncomfortable rest, and he rubbed his bleary eyes. His butt was sore as the result of hours of train journey from South Station, thanks to the courtesy of the Brigadier-General bastard. Said man had assigned him on a mission to search for a certain alchemist that the military though as dangerous.

"Dangerous my ass," he grunted as people started to form a crowd near the exit. The search had ended up as a wild goose chase, and though he did find the alchemist, it was nothing like the descriptions inside the files that he was given. The old man had been trembling all the time, his notes scattered messily on the ground when Ed had cornered him. He'd made sure that his target would never catch the attention of the military ever again, and with that he'd let him go. Driven by confusion, he had decided to call Mustang to ask what to do next.

'Get his notes and bring them back here,' the man had said, 'and hop on the next train as soon as possible.'

Pushing himself up, Ed twisted his body and let out a relieved groan as his stiff muscles finally got the chance to move. He spared one last glance to the seats and twitched slightly before leaping off of the train. Now all he had to do was to head back to central HQ, hand over his report and then return to his apartment. Along with making sure that he wouldn't meet the train seats for at least a week or more… that added one more thing to do. Get the General Bastard to improve them for the sake of a little more comfort when having a long trip…

But anyway, his contract with the military would expire within a month or so; and it would probably be good to live a peaceful life, far from the military, after all he and Al had gone through…

With that thought set in mind, the older Elric trotted through the crowded platform to find a small cab, intent on recovering his diminished resting time right after the HQ.

Roy looked up lazily from the report he'd been doodling on when the familiar voice greeted his subordinates outside his private office. He was expecting the arrival around an hour or two later, but he wouldn't really complain for the early report. The faster he got them the faster he'd be sleeping in his own bed.

He didn't even flinch when the door to his office slammed open, its poor hinges rattling as his blond subordinate stormed in. No salutes or anything, but Roy was more than used to that.

"Afternoon, Fullmetal." He greeted idly, taking in the appearances of the blond standing across his table. Aside from some visible fatigue lines that were half-etched to his facial features, Ed looked pretty much normal, nothing out of place. "I assume the mission was pretty easy, hm?"

"Cut the crap, Mustang." Ed answered off-handedly, waving the report on his automail. "This is what you want, right? I'm only dropping by to hand it over and claim my sleep back."

Roy didn't answer for a moment, still waiting if the blond had more to say. He himself wasn't really interested with his mission, but the top brass had given it to him so he couldn't really do anything but to accept it and pass it over to Ed. Sighing, he straightened his body into a more serious position, and said, "verbal reports, Fullmetal."

Edward twitched visibly when he was told to speak when all he wanted was to dump himself on his bed. "What, couldn't you just read the damn papers?"

"I would, later, as you know that I have to spare some time dedicated solely to read your reports."

A raised eyebrow and a small smirk, Ed knew that he was doomed with no way out until he gave what his superior wanted. "Fine," he threw his hands up and slumped gracelessly on the black couch. "I don't have any idea what your superiors are thinking about this mission. Said he's dangerous, a threat to the country and such, but what did I find? An old alchemist, maybe the same age as Granny Rockbell. I didn't need to eliminate him even in the slightest; all I did was to mention the military's actions when he messed around again."

The Brigadier-General gave a low hum of approval, nodding twice. "That's all?"

Edward glared. "What the fuck do you expect, Mustang? He's an old man!"

"Old or not, his knowledge might still be dangerous. Even though his research wasn't a success, who knows that if his notes fell into the wrong hand?" Sighing, Roy pushed himself up and stood up, continuing, "personally I don't agree with this mission, Fullmetal. I'd rather give you a more challenging thing to do, if I have to say. Now, about his theories; did you find anything interesting?"

The older Elric was more than eager to slam his reports on Mustang's desk and then leave this building. He had more things to do – not to mention that his stomach was starting to rumble – other than slouching in this room and explain the events all over again. Logical thinking told him that the quicker he told the story again, the sooner he would be able to return to his apartment. "He tried to activate the array that he had etched on the rocks, but nothing happened. There were some sparks of alchemic energy from the lines, but that's all. Nothing more. I'd expected you to ask for the details of the array, so I sketched it on the report and you can see it for yourself later."

Roy pondered about keeping his blond subordinate longer for the sole sake of pissing him off (he was damned bored today, for God's sake). But then he decided against it and gestured with his hand.

Edward peered from his half-lidded eyelid and noticed his summoning. He pushed himself with his automail up, and dragged himself over to the desk. The papers hung in the air, waiting to be taken by the Brigadier-General. Ed quirked one eyebrow up when the dark-haired man seemed to hesitate a bit.

The older alchemist finally untwined his fingers to grab the one end of the papers, and barely had the time to pull back them when he felt the familiar surge of energy overflowed through his body. He gritted his teeth forcefully, trying to stay conscious despite the amount of energy that was threatening to knock him out. For a second he thought that maybe he was the only one experiencing this, but when he looked to his subordinate across him, he knew he wasn't the only one.

Blue and red arrows of alchemic energy sparked from the papers, and Ed's eyes widened as realization hit him like a tidal wave. "Mustang, let go of the damn papers now!" He managed to say through gritted teeth, closing his eyes and tried to separate himself from the energy that was holding them both.

"I'm trying, Fullmetal, you don't have to order me!" Roy replied, equally strained. He was still trying to pull himself from the force, damnit, but it felt like Armstrong was crushing him with a bear hug!

As if triggered by his words, the force seemed to loosen up a bit but the alchemic sparks were still there and seemed to be intensifying. After what seemed like a hellish torment (for Roy, at least. Ed had gone through automail surgery and that was really nothing compared to it), the blue sparks disappeared just like that, and the out-of-nowhere wind hurled both alchemist into opposite directions. Roy's back hit the wall below the window, and Ed (surprisingly) was thrown towards the office door.

As expected, the Lieutenant immediately came and slammed open the door, making the older Elric sandwiched between the wood and the concrete white wall.

"Sir, what happened?" She inquired, not noticing that Ed was stuck until a muffled groan was heard. She glanced below, and closed the door in order to let the young alchemist breathe again. "I'm sorry, Edward, I didn't notice you there..." She apologized.

Edward climbed back up to his feet, and when he noticed Mustang still trying to collect himself, he half smirked. "Need any help, Mustang?"

Roy's reply was an annoyed growl, "no thanks, Fullmetal." And then he pushed himself to stand up, straightening his uniform. "Mind to explain what just happened then?"

"Like hell I'd know." Ed answered gruffly, "now would you let me go home so that I can sleep already?"

Riza only stood there, observing the exchange between the two.

Finally, "dismissed, Fullmetal."

Letting out an annoyed sigh, he turned back and headed towards the door. "See ya later, Lieutenant." He bid airily, waving his automail.

He had just stepped his right foot outside the door frame when his knees buckled beneath him, forcing him to kneel down. Arrows of pain shot through his whole body, and it took all his guts to stifle the scream that was threatening to spill out from his mouth. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Roy was suddenly in the same position, clutching at his blue jacket tightly. "What... the fuck...?" He muttered roughly as the pain seemed to double. He felt an arm tugging on his right shoulder, dragging him back toward the middle of the room.

And the more he neared the desk, the lessen the pain became. Until finally it all disappeared and he saw the Lieutenant with crossed arms standing between him and the Brigadier-General.

"Lieutenant? What did you just-?" Roy blinked, clearly confused.

"I don't know, General, all I had in mind was to drag you two." She answered, eyeing the dark-haired man and the blond.

Realization dawned on him, and Edward snatched his file from the top of the desk. He skipped the front pages until he arrived at the sketch of the transmutation circle, and he slapped his forehead. "Oh hell." He deadpanned.

"What do you mean, Fullmetal?" Roy demanded.

"Now I know why the array didn't work when that old alchemist tried to activate it," he flung the file back onto the desk and smashed his head, "I didn't touch him when he activated it, but both you and I touched it when I handed it over to you-"

Roy didn't need Ed to finish the sentence. "And, by all means, what is the main function of the circle?"

"I can't really tell, but," he paused, rubbing his eyes in exasperation, "one thing for sure is that the damned array's designed to keep people together."

The Brigadier-General was working two plus two inside his head, and his eyes widened when the answer came. "Which means that I'm stuck with you."

The blond glared from behind his locks. "Do you have to rub it on my face, Mustang?"

Silence engulfed the room as each person was drowned n their own thought. Riza was the first to broke it, saying, "how far are you two stuck?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, how far can you two be before the array's effect took its toll?" Riza repeated, looking back and forth the two alchemists. "Judging by the distance from this desk to the door, it's about 30 feet, I'd say."

"Thr-Thirty feet?" Ed spluttered, incredulous. "I couldn't stay away from this bastard for more than thirty fucking feet?"

Roy took this moment to voice out his thought, "I can also say that to you, Fullmetal."

"I'd suggest..." Riza began, and both men promptly clamped shut when her hand went to her gun, "you two calm down and try to figure out how to clean this mess up."

"Yes ma'am." Both alchemists obeyed in an instant. Sometimes Roy had to wonder how she could make even Fullmetal to be quiet with a simple movement... maybe if she hadn't been his subordinate she would be one of the top Generals above him, with all that attitude of hers...

"First off," she paused to close the door, "it's not how to undo the effect, but what are you two going to do when you're stuck like this?"

Silence again, and the older Elric mumbled quietly, "I can't have the bastard in my apartment, else poor thing's all cramped up. Even if Al's not around; it's barely enough to keep me and all of my personal belongings." He didn't dare to look up to his commanding officer, because he knew that he would only get teased again.

"Well, that leaves my house." Roy finished, standing back up. "I know that you wouldn't want to stay there, but it's the only place left. Come on, Fullmetal, stand up. We've got to work this matter out."

To be honest he absolutely didn't want to spend the night in the bastard's house. That was on the very top of his 'I-will-never-like-this' list… but when the situation came down to this, even if it was hard to admit, he was helpless to do anything. Firstly, because he had no idea what had happened; secondly, his brain was still a disarray after all the events, so he wouldn't be able to think of a solution. "…Fine." He reluctantly gave in, and huffed roughly. "Just don't blame me if some of your things got broken."