KissMeDeadlyT-T: I'd really like if you read this author's note because I have some things I'd like to explain (to old followers if you're still there, and new readers as well).

I used to write a lot of Royed and I guess you could say I was a fairly popular Royed author. I went on a long hiatus around February because my anxiety got too bad for me to handle and I couldn't write anymore, and at one point I decided I wasn't going to write anymore at all.

But, lo and behold, I'm back! I wanted to try re-writing something instead of writing something new, to try and get comfortable with writing again. I'm hoping eventually I'll be able to write as often as I used to, and meet new friends and get in touch with the ones I haven't spoken to in nearly a year. :)

Moving on to the story: This is a re-write of my fic, Flame (as you can tell by the title). I'll be changing up some things in the plot, and most likely the style of the writing itself. I've changed a lot since I started this fic so long ago and I don't want that to clash with how I was before.

Warnings for mentions of rape and a graphic description of it in a later chapter. As always, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, and this isn't beta'd so all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

The sky above Central City was a dark, swirling abyss of clouds, lightning, and freezing rain. Pellets of ice and sheets of water washed out the empty streets, clattering loudly beneath the booming thunder. Through the foggy bay window in his dark living room, Roy Mustang watched the world outside howl. His house was dim, lit only by the small lamp at his desk – it didn't help the niggling sensation that something was wrong about tonight.

The wind slammed into the wall opposite him and his house groaned; startled, he pushed away from the window and walked back to his black leather chair and creaky wooden desk to finish up his paperwork. He was being ridiculous; lack of sleep was making him paranoid. There was nothing off about tonight – except maybe the unholy amount of papers he still needed to sign.

He had only gotten out of the hospital from the injuries he'd gotten at the Fifth Laboratory (he could still hear Lust's skin sizzling and the echoes of her screams; some sick part of him was pleased at the memory), and they were already piling paperwork on him. His wound, though healed now, still hurt when he moved the wrong way, and he was exhausted, but he told himself he had no choice. He had duties to attend to if he ever wanted to make it to Fuhrer, after all.

He glanced at the clock and groaned when the hands showed somewhere just before four A.M. He was way too tired for this shit. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since… well, since the Elrics had come into his life. He'd been too worried about them (not that he'd admit that – Fullmetal would never stop making fun of him) to sleep properly, and otherwise too busy with work.

He picked up his mug of coffee, which had turned cold hours ago, and gulped the rest down. He'd slacked off enough. He had to get this done, or he never would.

Almost mechanically, his fingers grasped the pen he'd tossed away earlier, and he began signing the papers. He didn't pay much attention to what they were about; he just wanted to get them done, and maybe get some sleep before he had to go in to work at eleven tomorrow. Or, he thought miserably, later this morning. The clock hands now showed 4:05 A.M. Roy sighed.

Thunder boomed, wind howled, and his house moaned; time dragged by like molasses.

When he was getting down to the last half of his stack, a soft tapping sound behind him caught his ear. He stilled his pen and glanced around his living room, his hand hovering over the drawer where he kept his gloves; the creepy feeling was back, an unsettling clench deep in his core, a crawling sensation just beneath his skin. There was nothing in his living room – he didn't know what he was expecting – so he released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, and turned back around.

"Being stupid," he muttered to himself. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, biting down a yawn. Thunder rumbled and lightning lit up the room; he shuddered and went back to work.

And then he heard it again, and he was sure he wasn't imagining it this time – something was tapping softly somewhere behind him. Tap. Tap. Outside. He pushed out of his chair, grabbed his gloves, and headed to the window. He looked around the corner, skin prickling. It was too dark to make out much, but he could see the shape of someone – something – curled up against the screen door, one fist knocking at the glass.

His stomach squirmed unpleasantly. He slid on his gloves, and told himself silently that he wasn't acting ridiculous – he'd just killed one of the Homunculi; it wouldn't surprise him if one of her brothers wanted revenge, and this might be a ploy to get him to drop his guard. He opened the door.

"Finally."

As soon as he heard the voice, he let out a long breath, his shoulders relaxing. "Fullmetal," he said warily, crouching down to the boy's level. All of that for nothing. The rain soaked through his socks and the knees of his sweats. "What are you doing here? Do you realise what time it is?" Then, as a vague afterthought, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

When his question was met with silence (and not the furious rant declaring all the ways Roy was going to get murdered tonight if he even implied that he'd meant this as a jibe at Edward's size that Roy had been expecting), he frowned. "Fullmetal?"

Gold eyes slowly looked up and met his, but something wasn't right. That uncomfortable feeling of dread in his stomach returned. There was definitely something in Edward's eyes that wasn't usually there – or a lack of something. That light in his eyes that Roy liked to think of as a flame wasn't there; the boy looked lost, his eyes dark, empty, hollow. For a moment, Roy was so shocked, all he could do was stare – the last time he'd seen Edward like this had been years ago, when he'd visited Risembool right after the accident.

And that was how he knew something horrible had happened, that maybe his bad feeling all night hadn't been for nothing; something traumatic had happened to Ed, again, and Roy felt something terrible gnaw in his gut. Sixteen years old and Edward had experienced more pain than most people ever would. Roy felt like he wanted to be sick.

Then he realised he was staring, and that Edward was curled up there in the pouring rain, drenched to the bone. Hastily, he reached out to grab ahold of Ed's arms. Ed flinched away, terror flashing across his face. Roy backed off.

"Come on, Fullmetal, stand up," he said quietly, willing himself to remain calm. Gently, he wrapped his fingers around the boy's wrists, tugged softly on them to help Ed stand up. "You'll freeze to death out here."

A droplet of water slid down Ed's cheek. Roy wasn't sure if it was rain, or if the boy was crying. He hoped to whatever deity might exist that it wasn't a tear, because he wasn't entirely sure he could handle a crying Edward. He wasn't entirely sure he could handle this situation at all, actually – Ed had just shown up on his doorstep in the ungodly hours of the morning, looking like he'd just seen Hell again. He didn't have experience with this kind of thing; he'd taken care of his trauma with whiskey. He didn't know what to do. Ed was shivering. He didn't know what to do.

"I can't," Edward whispered. It was so quiet Roy had barely caught it over the pouring rain.

"What?"

Ed squeezed his eyes shut and his teeth ground together. He choked back a sob. Roy's heart clenched. "I c-can't stand."

Immediately, Roy's eyes snapped down to the boy's leather pants. There was no wound, as far as he could see. "Why not?"

"Help me." Ed's eyes were open again, and they looked desperate. "Just help me… Please."

Roy decided then that explanations could wait. He'd never heard Ed say please before, and certainly not to him. "Alright," he said calmly. "Alright. I'm going to lift you up, okay?"

Ed nodded. Roy stood, hooking his arms under Ed's trembling ones, gently lifting him to an upright position. Ed crumpled against him, a pained sob escaping through clenched teeth. "You're okay," Roy murmured, and he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Ed or himself. "It's gonna be okay…"

He helped Ed limp over to the couch and sat him softly onto the cushion. Ed's fingers dug into his arms the moment he sat down and he whimpered, flinching away. Thoroughly alarmed – Ed had never, never displayed such vulnerability in front of him before – he instead helped him into a lying position before kneeling beside him. Ed shut his eyes, breathing heavy.

"Fullmetal," Roy said sharply. "What is going on?"

Ed covered his face with his hands, pain twisting his mouth into a grimace that made Roy feel terribly nauseated. This wasn't right. It wasn't right that Ed had to suffer so much. Roy was pissed. He'd taken Ed under his wing, and as much as an ass as he tended to be, he did genuinely care about him, and this was unacceptable. He hated it, with such ferocity that it terrified him.

Softer, he said, "Edward. Please."

"C-cold," Ed muttered. His teeth chattered. Roy cursed himself – Ed was soaked.

"Come on, then, let's get you out of those clothes."

Ed's wet eyes met his again. "I don't want to get up."

"Fine – do you mind if I carry you?"

"No," Ed said in a tiny voice.

"Okay." With slight difficulty, Roy lifted Ed into his arms, muttering apologies and trying to ignore the tightness in his throat whenever Ed whimpered. As he started walking up the stairs with heavy, big steps – Ed was heavy for such a small person – Ed clenched his fists into his shirt, which was drenched now. He hid his face in Roy's chest.

Roy thought it was adorable, but quickly stopped, because that was crossing some sort of line. "You know, you are going to tell me what happened."

Ed didn't say anything, and for a moment Roy was worried he'd passed out. He glanced down. "Fullmetal?"

"Can't."

Roy frowned. "Don't you dare think you can show up on my doorstep this early in the morning and nearly give me a heart attack and then say you can't tell me what's going on."

Ed was trembling again. It may have been from the cold, but it didn't seem that way. "I can't tell you," he whispered. His voice sounded thick, like he was about to cry. Roy wanted to kick something. He wanted to help – the fact that it was hard to do so frustrated him. He felt hopeless.

"Look," he said hesitantly. "I know I act like an ass most of the time, but you can tell me things. I'm here to help you, Edward. You can trust others, you know." By now, they were at the bathroom. Roy set Ed down onto shaky legs, holding his arms loosely to make sure he didn't fall. Voice soft, he said, "You don't have to do everything alone."

Pain flit over Ed's face again. "I know," he whispered. "I know I can, it's just – I can't, I can't tell you – it's – damn it –" His voice trembled and then broke, and suddenly, his entire body was shaking, and tears were pouring down his cheeks.

Roy didn't even think before pulling Ed in for a hug, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close to his chest, and then Ed was sobbing, fingers clutching desperately at the back of Roy's white shirt. It was silent except for the howling storm outside and the sounds of Ed's sobs, and Roy found himself panicking, deep down inside – this was so wrong. He'd heard Ed cry before; he'd been there when Ed blamed himself for Nina's death, when he'd found out the secret of the Philosopher's stone. This wasn't the same. This sounded like Ed was breaking.

After a while, Ed's sobs slowed and turned to sniffles and trembling breaths, but he didn't step out of the hug. Roy was surprised, but not unpleased. Fullmetal usually loudly and firmly let everyone know how absolutely dreadful it was having to be in the same room as Roy, but right now, he held on tight as if it would kill him to let go. It became quiet again, Ed leaning on Roy, Roy rubbing his back and wondering what could have possibly made Edward like this.

Finally, he murmured, "Listen, Edward, I can tell something happened. I can tell it… wasn't good. If you really don't want to tell me, then I won't push it, but if you decide you want to, I'll listen." Ed nodded mutely. Roy smiled. "For now, though, you need to get out of those clothes. You're going to get sick."

Ed nodded again, flushing slightly as he pulled away. "Right."

"Can you stand alright?"

Shifting a bit, Ed winced. He grabbed the counter. "If I lean on something, I'll be okay."

"Good. You should shower, too – heat yourself up." Straightening up, Roy backed away. "I'll grab you a shirt and pants, okay? They'll be a bit big, but they'll do until your clothes are dry."

Ed swallowed, mouth open like he wanted to say something. He closed it, and bit his lip, and then blurted: "Why are you doing this?"

Roy frowned. "What was I supposed to do? Kick you to the curb? I'm not that much of an asshole."

"You – you could have just, left me on the couch or something. Or just told me to go home. I know you have more important shit to do."

"Edward," Roy said lightly. "I know I don't act like it, but I do care about you. You're part of my team." You're special to me for some reason I can't describe. "I don't let people I care about suffer, and I don't abandon my team."

Ed looked like he might smile. He didn't, but he seemed calmer. "Thanks – I mean. Okay. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Roy turned to leave to let Ed shower in peace, but a choked, "Wait, Mustang," made him pause. He looked back. E d was a delicate pink, and he looked extremely uncomfortable, but this time, he did smile, a tiny little quirk on one side of his mouth. Roy's heart felt funny.

"Thank you," Ed repeated. "I mean it."

Roy couldn't help but smile. "Like I said, Edward. Don't mention it."

KissMeDeadlyT-T: It hasn't changed too much, really. I just added some things and took out some others, and I think my writing style is more mature now than it used to be.

I'll update when I can – I'm working full-time now, and don't have all that much free time. :(

Please review! I really want to know what people think of this – I know the first version was fairly popular, and I'd love it if this one was too. I'm trying to get back into writing, and encouragement would go a long way in helping! Thank you for reading!