Title: Unmasked
Author:
Timeline: "Brotherhood" anime, ep. 18; manga, ch. 35-36
Characters: Ed and Mustang (non-romantic)
Genre: Vignette
Archive: Why would you bother?
Disclaimer: Going with a standard "don't own, don't profit" here
Summary: Perspective and thoughts on Edward going bananas on the Flame Colonel in the alley when he believes that his CO has roasted Lt. Ross.
It hurt. It all hurt. Of course it did. How could it not? So much so, Roy was simultaneously impressed and disgusted with his ability to betray nothing in the face of, well, Ed. And how Edward screamed at him: not like he was expressing his feelings, but as if he had become them. The way everything about him was in motion. That vicious, utterly unguarded expression, and the perfect intensity of his hands as they gripped Roy's collar.
It hurt. It hurt to lie. Of course it did. To allow that boy to believe that stinking, greasy cinder was Ross. And yes, though he wasn't afraid to play the villain, it hurt to see Edward looking at him like he was an absolutely perfect monster, and to return the glare with callousness that would not fail to confirm the impression. But, as much hurt as Roy and Ed were exchanging, the cold-eyed colonel was grateful. Immense, resentful gratitude that the goddamned Fullmetal brat could express all the things Roy felt. With his voice, face, his youth, his whole violent, vibrant frame.
It hurt. So what? But, afterward, Roy found himself with Hawkeye, actually talking about the encounter, wondering if Edward's intrusion had challenged his calm, or reinforced it.