Holy crap! The sequel to Fading Too Fast is here! Everyone's excited, right? Yeah, I knew ya were. =D I really hope that everyone will enjoy this story as much as the last one. In my experience, though, most of the time, sequels aren't as good as the first stories. So, I'm hoping I can break pattern and this will be an awesome-sauce story that'll be a real big hit! And, to spare you, I'll ramble after the story. Because I /knooooow/ everyone wants to get right to it.
Edward: It's a miracle!
Roy: Tell me about it!
Me: Shut up! They want to get to the story, sillies! =D
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did, Roy and Edward would fuck all the time, Winry would die a fiery death at Roy's hands, and this person right here would run around in the background all the time, stoned. YAY SKATE-PARK DRUG CIRCLES! =D
Warnings: Winry. Winry is in this story, and she and Edward are married. Isn't that all I should warn you about? -sigh- But, there's also foul language, alcohol usage, and mentions of Ed and Winry being in bed together. THIS WILL EVENTUALLY BE A ROYED STORY! I couldn't fit that in the summary on the main page... Stupid character limit. -pouts-
Edward: WHAAAAT?
Me: Enjoy the first chapter of the sequel to Fading Too Fast! =3
Roy: Now, wait just a minute!
To say their marriage was good would be… well, it would be a downright lie. The first few months were great; they were happy and got along well, even got in bed together a few times. But then Edward had to leave for state-issued missions. Winry got pissed; she threw things and yelled. One day, before Edward calmly closed the front door, she screamed, "You're just like Hohenheim, you bastard!" after him because she knew it would hit below the belt. It had.
After that, they were both at odds all the time. Winry was loud about it. Edward took it calmly, sometimes making a quiet, hurtful remark; that was most often before he left again. He could hear her bitching and throwing stuff all the way down the road.
Somehow along the way, they managed to make a baby. She told him one night when he'd gotten home. After his reaction, she made him sleep on the couch, screeching threats at him long after he'd settled down for the night. They'd kept the baby- no surprise there- and Edward loved his son more than words could describe. But even little Nicholas- Edward had chosen the name- didn't stop them. Pinako, much as she wanted to, never said a word to them; maybe she should have. Alphonse and Mei would glare at them occasionally but, like Pinako, never said anything. Everything might have turned out better if someone had.
Alphonse continued to work on ways to get his brother's memory back without having to pay anything. Already, he'd tried a few theories. None had worked. At least no one had caught onto him yet. A few times, when Mei had come into his office late at night and took a seat on his desk right in front of him, he was sure she'd figure it out. At least assume something was up. She never did. Or she never asked. He was grateful.
Tonight was one of the nights Edward was supposed to be coming home.
"Alphonse! Get the hone! And it it's that bastard, tell him he is not sleeping in my bed smelling like sweat and trains!" Winry yelled from her workroom. Al sighed and got up, passing Nicholas to Mei before picking the phone off the cradle.
"Rockbell's Automail, Alphonse Elric speaking."
"Hey, Al!" There was a lot of noise in the background, but he could hear his older brother's voice clearly over the line. "Listen, I won't be home tonight. The train was delayed due to a storm coming in, so I'm stuck in Central."
"Brother! Winry's already pissed! She's going to strangle me for telling her. Then she'll go after you."
"Nah. She'll be fine, Al. Just tell her the train was delayed and nothing could be done, alright? Tell Nicholas I love him and give him a kiss for me, too. Bye, Al!"
"Ed, wa-" Al growled in frustration when the line went dead. Pissed that he'd have to be the one to deal with Winry, he threw the phone back onto its cradle.
"You really shouldn't take your frustrations out on the phone, Alphonse. Wait until your brother gets home and beat him up, yeah?" Even after living with each other for two years- give or take a little- Mei and Edward were still at odds all the time; Alphonse knew by their glares, though they were silent in their hate for each other now. He supposed it was because Ed fought with Winry now, too.
"He's not coming home tonight."
"What? Winry's going to kill him!"
"She'd have killed him anyways… eventually. I'm surprised he hasn't done something about it." Al scooped Nicholas up and kissed the little boy's cheek. "Your daddy says he loves you very much, and he'll be home in a couple days." Sighing, he glanced back towards Winry's workroom. "Now I gotta deal with your mommy. Hold him just in case Winry really does try to kill me."
Mei stood from her chair and pushed her long braids behind her shoulders.
"Come here, Nicholas. Ooo, you're such a cute little baby." she cooed as she took him under the arms and placed him on her hip. "Approach with caution, Alphonse." Narrowed, dark eyes turned his way, and he nodded.
**~;~;~;~;~;~;~;**
Onyx eyes- tired and dull and world-weary- lifted to the door when it opened. An exuberant blond- damn, he'd gotten tall- strode into the room, hands buried in the pockets of his leather pants. His wide grin normally would have lit up the room, but the brigadier general's constant depression refused to leave him and the places he most often stayed. Even Havoc didn't crack jokes near the room.
"Hey, General Bastard, wh- Whoa. You look like shit." Roy didn't even bother to glare- never seemed to work anymore, anyways- at Edward, just gave him a deadpan expression and dropped the pen on top of the stack of paperwork.
"Thank you, Fullmetal. What d'you want?" His voice was muffled by scrubbing his own hands over his face.
"Needed to turn in my report. You okay?" The report had been tucked between his elbow and his side; now it was being offered to his superior. Roy took them, dull eyes glancing over the Fullmetal Alchemist's messy script before he dropped it on the corner of his desk.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"You just- No reason, Mustang." His hands were back in his pockets now, and he was shifting his weight from his toes to his heels. Roy finally took notice.
"Was there something else?" he asked, raising an eyebrow wearily.
"Well, uh, yeah… The trains are delayed, and I don't exactly have a place to stay. Think I could stay with you?" When Ed had gotten married, he'd decided he didn't need a dorm here anymore. Normally, he'd stay with Fuery or Havoc if the trains were stopped, but they'd both gone home already. Roy was the only option left. But the dark-haired man was thinking something different.
Oh, no. Please, don't have just asked me that. Why, Edward? If Edward stayed at his place… What if he saw what a wreck the general had become? But how could he refuse? "Of course; I'll be done here in a few minutes." Ed's grin widened and Roy's shattered heart's shards gave a weak tremble.
"Thanks, Mustang!"
As Roy worked, Edward walked around the room. Finally, he stopped in front of the older alchemist's desk and picked up the mug of coffee. He took a swig, then made a face. It was cold and tasted like… whiskey? Yeah, that was it. It definitely tasted faintly of the bitter amber liquid Roy was so fond of when depressed.
"Spiked coffee? You really that bad now?" Dull black eyes slid up to him for a second before going back to a sheet of paper. The look startled him.
"It's been a bad day, Fullmetal." Ed blinked. He'd known Roy to have bad days- quite a few, in fact, but never before had the man spiked his coffee. At least, not before Ed got Al's body back; now, he never came around the office anymore. And, when he did, he almost never saw Roy. How long had this gone on?
"Right…"
"Come on."
"Wha?"
"I'm done."
"Oh!" Roy was already halfway out the door by now, having gathered his things while Ed's mind was trying to catch up with the present. Ed cast a glance out the window- the clouds were thicker and darker now, thought the ache where his prosthetic limbs met flesh and bone told him that- before following Roy out, limping as fast as he could.
"Where do you live, anyways?" he asked when he'd caught up. His head tilted slightly of its own accord, though the other man couldn't see; the general was a couple paces ahead of him still. Roy's heart gave another tremble and that all-too-familiar ache returned to his chest.
"Not far. Bout a ten minute walk from the office." he replied, clearing his suddenly-dry throat.
"Yeah. A big house, right? Red brick?" His teeth made a sharp snap when he closed his mouth. Roy paused and gave him a startled look. That was his house, yeah. But Ed had only been there in memories that the Truth had taken.
"How'd you know that?" he asked quietly. Ed shook his head, wide eyes staring at the ground, mumbling something that sounded like "Lucky guess?" The older alchemist swallowed hard and kept walking, hand cupping the back of his neck. As they walked, Ed wondered how he knew. Because he did know; he could picture the goddamned house in his head. And when they arrived, the house in front of him looked the same as the one in his head. Damn.
**~;~;~;~;~;~;~;**
"Ow, ow! Meeeeeeei~! Stop it; that huuuu~rts!"
"Don't be such a baby, Alphonse." Mei scolded as she mopped the blood on his forehead. "She threw a wrench at you?" Mei had already mended the wound on his head with alkahestry, but the spot would still be sore for a few days. Unfortunately, the science didn't clean up the mess that had been left behind- that was Mei's job.
"Yeah."
"That's just…" Mei huffed and tossed the soiled paper towel into the trash. Her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned back in her chair, looked Al over to make sure she'd gotten all the blood off. "You know I love Winry like a sister, but something has to be done. It's a wonder she hasn't killed one of you yet. And I'm worried about Nicholas."
"I know, Mei. But what can we do?" Al sighed when his girlfriend huffed again and stomped off.
While Alphonse was taking care of Nicholas- meaning he was feeding the boy and mumbling about alchemy- the dark-haired girl, black eyes narrowed, picked up the phone and dialed a number she never had before. It rang a few times before there was a click.
"Mustang residence. Roy Mustang speaking." The voice on the other end sounded incredibly tired and defeated. It caused Mei to falter for a second, but then she shook herself.
"Do you know where Edward is? I need to talk to him. Now." The last word was bit out. Her fist clenched tighter on her hip, as if she was about to punch someone. There was a pause on the other end.
"He's here. I'll go get him." And then there was silence. It didn't last long.
"Yeah." Edward asked, good mood fading.
"Your wife threw a wrench at Al and busted his head open." Mei growled. The blond flinched at the tone of her voice.
"She did what?"
"What if it's Nicholas next, Edward? This has got to stop. The way you two fight… it can't go on. Now, I've kept quiet about it, all of us have- me, Al, Pinako- but this is the final straw. I'd suggest staying away for a few days and thinking things over." The last thing he heard before the line went dead was Nicholas giggling.
"Well, fuck."
Susannah loves the ending, by the way. Yes, I'm planning on this being a multi-chapter fic again! That is, unless no one wants me to continue this. In which case, you should tell me in a review! If you like it and want me to continue, you should tell me that in a review as well! =D
Edward: You evil, evil person.
Roy: You make me abuse alcohol?
Me: You already did that!
Alphonse: You could've killed me!
Edward, Roy, and I: -blink, blink-
Me: Woah. Since when do you come into the A/Ns?
Alphonse: Since you almost killed me! T_T
Me: Right... Anyways! -Alphonse yelling in the background- Winry's a bitch, so I made her a bitch. Any complaints? I don't really care. xD Just so you know, I was actually worried about not getting this up. I got grounded, because I apparently have an attitude or some shit like that. -rolls eyes- Speaking of which, according to my mother (who is verysuperanti-gay), 'gay' is a bad word and neither me nor my brother should use it. I think she thought they fucked up with me, since I'm pro-gay, and she had to start in early on my little brother. I need to teach him. -nods- ... I hope my mom never finds my stories. O.O
And that was my story for this chapter. Like I said, REVIEW! =D My TV bit the dust, and I need some entertainment since I can't listen to SIRIUS! (Though the reply button on a youtube video for About A Girl by Nirvana has been raped by me...) Ciao!
hugs&kisses~ Madarao
