Protect the his Soul

A sequel to my Desperate Love… Story… rated T for language, if I choose to continue the rating WILL go up… just because of what I may or may not have in mind...

The heavy chime of the grandfather clock had always been a sound which brought resounding joy to the heart of Colonel Mustang. Its heavy deep echoing, the quiet tick of a peaceful pendulum and the knowledge that one more hour had slipped passed bringing the day closer to its end. Yes, that clock had been his sanity through the toughest of days, it's quiet existence, the slow pacing tick which always seemed to calm Roy down even in the most drastic of situations.

Today however, its melancholy chime sounding throughout the seemingly empty room was nothing more then a thorn in the Colonels side. A reminder of how little there was to do while waiting around for a report from his youngest subordinate. He could hear voices beyond the door, a choir of joyous chatter as those who worked beneath him discussed the menial things in life. Oh if only he could be so care free again, so blissfully ignorant of the paperwork and dedication that came with his position of power. It was the one thing that might deter him from his path to Furher.

"What I wouldn't give to be a private again just for a day..." Roy muttered to himself, his elbows pressed against a blank desk, gloved fingers wound through his hair.

A clap of thunder followed by the soft clunk from somewhere within the clock roused Mustang from his pathetic stupor. At least he was inside on a day like today, not out of the rain and mud. Could be worse. He added thoughtfully, his gaze set against the cloudy sky beyond the dampened window pane. I could be stationed on border control...

The thought sent a shudder through every inch of his being. He hated the small unimportant and seemingly dangerous missions he had to send his men on. He hated the rain and the crisp smell it left upon the earth, or how it made him feel sticky and dirty after he'd been outside for too long. Most of all he hated the memories it dredged up, the pain stricken cries for help, the poor lost souls begging for mercy beneath the hands of their oppressor. His hands...

With a violent surge of energy, Colonel Mustang thrust himself away from his desk, his gloved hands groping the wooden furniture in a act of desperation, a sort of calm your nerves kind of plea. Damnit. He hated being this weak.

A loud clap of thunder and the sky lit up, the greying mass of clouds overhead turned white beneath the loud burst of lightening bouncing from cloud to cloud. He knew it had hit land at some point, maybe somewhere far off towards the eastern corner of Central. There would be calls put in, soldiers, good men sent to assess the damage and work ground control. It was in their line of duty after all, saving lives... wasn't it?

Roy watched quietly, hands tucked behind his back, as his footsteps brought him towards the large bay windows which gave him a clear view of Central. He watched as small fuzzy blotches of human beings scurried into the safety of their homes out of the torrential down poor. Maybe he'd sleep in his office tonight?

Eyes cast to the couch a moment; it couldn't be that uncomfortable could it?

Lazy thoughts like these entered into his mind only to duck away beneath other equally important ideas and images which filtered through. And he called himself an adult! He felt more like some misplaced teenager put beneath the worst grounding of his life. He could leave if he wanted to, but then Full Metal would only bitch and call him lazy. He sighed as the smaller officers voice entered into his mind, ranting at a velocity and energy level he knew from no other. 'You lazy son of a bitch Colonel, demanding a report only to go home mid way through your busy work day...' The kid acted as if he knew everything... maybe he did, but he was still just a child, and Mustangs subordinate...

Besides it was raining out, wet and icky, a weather system which Roy detested. That was why he hadn't left for home yet. He wasn't really scared of the pint sized alchemist.. Though would it be fear, or respect that made him stay... either was a frightening thought!

Shaking all images of the diminutive annoyance from his mind, Roy returned to his idle staring. His eyes focussed and unfocused as he tried to pick out colors beneath the dismal greys which littered the streets. Better greys and gut wrenching reds and the fiery blaze of death. He told himself idly. His body had gone rigid without a second thought on the matter. Damn that man had a knack for throwing that which he couldn't change back into his own face. He didn't need Riza to punish him; he did it well enough on his own.

Another hollow tick from the clock, followed by an unimaginably deep clunk and a chime which rang through to the darkest areas of the office. Roy's eyes met the old grandfather face on, his long slender, intricate whiskers splayed in an odd pattern. "Six-o-clock..." The Colonel drawled quietly, that was one hour after he was suppose to be dismissed, three later then his appointment with Full Metal was suppose to run. God damnit that child was insufferable.

Why then was the good Colonel waiting around? Why was he not drowning his sorrows within a glass of brandy and the company of a good woman, like so many other rainy days?

"That little..." the good man began to mutter, cut off by the mellow rapping of knuckles upon his door.

The Flame Alchemist turned, body squared with the wooden piece, brow quirked as he found his words once more, "Enter!"

The command had been headed but none to quickly. The heavy bulk of the door slid open, a gloved hand placed quietly upon the brass knob, but still no more sign of a soldier.

"Enter..." Roy commanded now, less demand, more patience, his shoulders slackening, hands meandering into the depths of his military pressed pants. "Come on soldier, haven't got all day you know..."

There came a sign just then, the wooden door pushed further in a last attempt to shrug off any guilt or pain that might have mingled within the body of the young subordinate. The air around him was ripe with rain, tainted with the metallic taste of well, metal and a strange alchemic sweetness known only to accompany.. "In Full Metal, and shut the door behind you..." his words came out more agitated then he may have meant them to, turning upon his heel to take a seat behind the wooden desk he had found himself before only minutes before.

The young boy was compliant, pushing the heavy object shut, watching as the faces of the other ranking officers disappeared behind the wall. He had to gather his thoughts, waiting for that booming voice to strike out against the air, belittle and berate him, make him feel like the idiot he so rightly felt like.

"You're soaked Full Metal..." the Colonel observed, pushing back from his desk a moment.

"Yeah..." came the only reply as Edwards soggy footsteps carried him to Mustangs desk, a strange crumpled envelop clutched within his finger tips, "Sorry bout this... I... well... I don't really have an excuse..." the young boy stammered, stumbling over his own words, lost at all attempts to hide his unbridled sorrow.

Roy hadn't the chance to even think of a tirade, he was lost upon the young Alchemists appearance, his red coat so heavy and dark it seemed to drag the poor boys shoulders to the floor. His golden locks matted and pressed against his forehead hiding his eyes from the Colonels view. He looked defeated, worn down, utterly lost beneath the severity of the weather... but that couldn't be it. Rain had never stopped Edward Elric from throwing out words like bastard and asshole in a torrent of childish screams before, so why now?

"I'm sure I'll survive an extra hour or two at work Full Metal..." It was a lie, they both knew how much of a clock watcher Roy could be, how painful it was for him to stay even ten minutes passed the hour.

They both shared a smile though, the faintest rise to Ed's cheeks noted before they fell quickly, tangled beneath his inner turmoil.

"Do I need to yell at you or something Full Metal, report!"

"Right..." came the down trodden response, the wet envelop dropped onto the desk with one swing of the young mans arm.

Roy looked at it a moment before turning his attention back to the younger man, he just stood there, waiting, like some complacent puppy, waiting to be thwomped on the nose for peeing on the carpet.

The report became less and less a priority as Roy began to further survey his young ward. The water dripping off his coat left damp markings upon the carpet, the way his body shifted slightly, favouring his automail leg, or how his real hand clutched the material of his coat tight and desperate. As much as Roy liked to pretend, it was hard to remember that the young man before him was no more then a boy robbed of his innocence. Edward Elric was just a child by all rights, a teenager with needs Roy Mustang had all but forgotten about.

Had war made him hard? Or was he just oblivious to the desperate need Edward so quaintly screamed. ?

"Did you walk here Full Metal?"

The answer came almost right away, "from the train station, yes sir..."

"But I sent an escort down there for you; Falman is probably still down there waiting for you to get off that train..."

"Sorry Sir..."

Did he just? A spark of confusion flooded the Colonels exotic black eyes, "what's this Full Metal, no minor outburst," Maybe a stab at the boy's height might jostle his cage...

But nothing, Edwards shoulders shrugged gaze set upon the floor, "Sorry sir, I'll try harder next time... bastard."

But the Bastard was more of an after thought then an insult, as if he'd thrown in it there to appease the Colonels desire for a fight. What a jerk what an idiot!, couldn't Edward respond with anything other then a pathetic wave of submission.

The Colonel begrudgingly picked up the small packet, withdrawing a lengthy report scrawled out in Ed's oddly artistic penmen ship. His eyes seemed to skim over the delicate swooping letters, no so much reading the booklet as Roy thumbed through the pages blindly, but admiring the detail and time Edward put into such work of art. There was effort put behind this, dedication and... emotion?

A brow quirked as Roy examined the report closely, some of the pages were spotted with watermarks, some of the words bleeding together to make one large misconstrued mess. Had Edward been crying when he wrote this?

Roy dropped the pages immediately, his body slipping away from his desk in one quick stride. "What's going on Full Metal..." his voice demanded answers, yet lie laced beneath a shroud of concern and delicate devotion.

When no answer followed, Roy grasped the boy by his shoulders, shaking the child a moment before seizing the young mans chin. He forced the hair from Edwards's eyes, soft clothed fingertips traipsing over the delicate skin of Edwards's forehead dampening the ignition cloth. "Edward..." the Colonel began, his words cut off at the back of his throat, lost beneath the chaos and fear surging throughout the young mans eyes. Ed looked so broken, so fragile as he struggled to wrench himself away from Mustangs grasp.

Roy felt his own body weaken, those eyes so filled with hatred and fear, eyes blaming him for something he wasn't sure he had even done. They were liquid fire burning beneath the depths of a shattered soul. Pure amber pooling with sadness and question; as if to plead with the Colonel never to send him out there again. They demanded answers that required no words, they needed a mother, a father, a brother, anything but a bastard Colonel with no experience with children, only breaking women's hearts and surviving on the battlefield.

"Happy now, Bastard Colonel Asshole..." Ed bit bitterly, licking at his chapped lips as he feel back a few sparse feet, "Happy?"

Ed's words as, lined with tears as the young mans eyes, desperate for some sort of understanding from his commanding officer. Understanding, Roy wasn't sure he was able to grant, "I... but... no..."

"I can recite the report for you if you want, tell you word for word what I wrote there... it'd make your life easier too eh, lazy asshole..." Edward muttered.

No, Roy didn't want that...

"Just..." then Ed stopped, his body had gone rigid, his eyes wrought with fear and anguish, betrayed in some form of the word as he watched the Flame Alchemist struggle to understand. "Just tell me Mustang... did you know what it was... where you were sending me?"

There hadn't even been ample time to respond before Edward turned on his heel and stormed towards the door. "I thought you were going to recite your report for me Full Metal..." was the only thing Roy had been able to manage, the only sardonic reply to meander over his pursed lips.

"Fuck you Roy Mustang, read it yourself, I'm going home..." it wasn't bitter hatred or anger which drove Edward to open the door, it was pain, remorse. It was heavy set feeling as if someone had stood on his chest and stomped with all their might. He was broken, and left to lick his own gaping wounds. Left to think about that pitiable creature in his half dead state, struggling for control of its own body. It was an image that would sing him to sleep, lulling him into a waking nightmare. So he'd attempted the forbidden, hadn't he paid enough for it already?

"Wait Ed!" But it was too late, the blonde fury closed the door behind him storming off down the hallway, "It wasn't on my orders..." Mustang muttered helplessly, wondering now what had happened to his young alchemist to throw him into such a state of despair.

Without haste Roy lurched over his desk groping the report file, desperate to find meaning within its delicate words. Page after page of endless scrawl before few words jumped out and slapped him in the face. Human Transmutation, Two souls bound to one body. Might as well just spit in the boys face... nothing I could do... beyond my help...

Oh god... Edward...

It's another one of those hit or miss situations!
Do I continue? Do I not?
Ladies and Gents you need to let me know. I may post anyway depending on how creative I feel but feed back makes the heart warm and the writer more willing to produce another!

Read and Review please!!!