A/N: the errors are intentional as they are a certain drunken' shrimp slurring his words. Oh, and please tell me if you think I should make a sequel to this, if you liked it. Maybe a review..? ;) Enjoy~
Colonel Roy Mustang strode his way through the entrance of the military dorms. Shutting the opened door behind him, he removed his black trench coat, mounds of snow forming at the base of his feet. Looking aimlessly around, spotting nothing, he decided he would retire for the night, due to the (apparently) upcoming boredom.
Making his way up the stairs, he allowed his thoughts to travel to his youngest subordinate; Edward Elric, and his younger brother, Alphonse. The two boys had always been such a nusance, getting in the way of his incomplete paperwork because they always managed to make him concerned. Despite this, he secretly preyed for the younger to finally be able to live his life a normal way, as a small, warm child, who could breathe, feel and eat.
But, furthermore, he desired to finally see the two smile. To know that they had what they wanted, and to experience the growth of the children, who never allowed themselves to seem helpless. But, there was no fooling Colonel Mustang. He could see beyond the children's front.
Edward Elric was a boy who could look fierce, even when hunched in a wheelchair, completely helpless. Like the day Roy first met him. To the naked eye, Edward Elric was a boy who never gave up, who needed nothing to depend on, who didn't need to have the comfort from those above him. He could handle anything, anyone, and even when you kick him while he's down, he would still rise to face the next challenge.
But he was human. And even keeping in mind his personality and strength, he was still a child. A child who should be in school, making friends, and taking preliminary exams, the ones at his age level. Hell, it was still illegal for a child his age to hold a part time job! Children should have little worries in the world.
Not Edward Elric. While children should only have the concern of what letter they receive on their papers, and what someone said to their friends, Edward held a job way beyond his years, worrying constantly about his brother, disabled from the senses of the human being. His limbs had been torn from his body, and he had to lug around thirty six pounds of extra weight on his nerves, dragging along with throbbing pain all day, and seeing the suffrage of others. Holding the government job that the public bashes on, discriminated for his childishness, when that's the way he is supposed to behave.
Yes, that was the life of Edward Elric. All alone in the world, simply working for a helpless cause for the only family he has. Nobody to lean on, but still being depended on by others.
And despite this, he keeps going. How? Why torture yourself? Because he's too determined. To stuck on his goal to look at the big picture, the one about his life, his only chance to be a child, and his stubbornly turning away from his own happiness.
Roy Mustang theorized that he would need release; one day he would loose himself and just crack. He's only human... A child at that.
Yawning, the Colonel turned. He had been so deep in his thoughts, he'd climbed several floors above where his dorm was!
Making his tired way down the stairs, glancing at the clock to see it was three in the morning, he heard a shut of a door. A small, cherubic figure stepped out, stumbling their way down the stairs! The figure wavered, tripping, and was seemingly falling...
The exhausted Colonel dashed to the person's side to prevent them from falling down the stairs, and breaking their head open. Stealing a glance at the person's face, he was shocked into recognition.
"Fullmetal?!" The Colonel questioned; the last time he was in Central, the child had requested to go to a little town on the outskirts of Xing, in search for the fabled philosopher's stone.
The younger alchemist smelled sweet. He smelled like something familiar, that Roy had spent much of his time with.. Oh, what was it? For some strange reason, the superior had gotten an odd sense of nostalgia for the smell, and remembered his old friend, Brigidear General Hughes.
Suddenly, realization popped into his mind; the scent was that of the sweetest drink (in Roy's mind) that a person over 21 could have: Vodka.
The child turned his head into the older man's chest, trying with the best of efforts to open his eyes to no avail.
"Fullmetal," Roy spoke, hard voice, "what are you doing in Central...?"
The younger alchemist managed to get his eyes open, the golden orbs staring strait into Roy's onyx colored eyes. The child made a sort of whimpering sound, and began to slur words together, but muffling them into Roy's navy uniform.
"What was that?" Roy spoke, irritation growing along side his anxiety.
"I-goo-ta-goooof-indal", Edward tried, beginning to take some of his own weight onto his small feet.
"Hm? You goota fin dal?" Roy said questionably. He was confused, and slightly amused by the made-up words.
"Noo," Edward breathed, "Igooto-findal", he said, like there was no way Roy could have mis heard him. He then commenced in struggling his way out of the Colonel's arms. Mustang just held him tighter.
"Fullmetal, you drank, didn't you." He said flatly.
"Nnuuu..."
"Don't lie to me, Edward. Tell me the truth. How much did you drink?"
"Ah...Mmby three, fourr.."
"Three or four what?"
"Vodkaa."
"No, three or four... sips, cups, pints?! What!?" The man's voice climbed, earning him the shuffle of someone in the dorm nearby. But his voice had only rose out of frustration, that he had no clue what was happening, why the kid drank, how much, and where the hell was Alphonse?!
"Mmm...bottlees..." the drunk alchemist responded, clearly blind to the man's concern.
"Bottles?! You want me to believe, a little kid like you, drank three bottles of Vodka?!" Roy voiced, loosing control, realizing he needed to find somewhere else to continue the conversation.
"Mmm...Maybe fffffourr."
"Edward, you are drunk, and you are going to get sick, and... Where is your brother?!" Roy spoke
"I-gotta-go-finddd himm." Edward slurrmed, struggling to get free from Roy's grasp, much to no avail.
Roy scooped him up into his arms, despite the struggle, and panicked his way down the stairs, knowing well that even he, an experienced drinker, couldn't take four bottles of vodka. If Edward fell asleep, he would go into a coma, or worse... Well, Roy didn't want to think about what could happen.
"Puut mee downn, i nn..i nnn..i need to gett Allll.."
As much as the Colonel was worried about Al, he knew that right now, he couldn't look for him, leave Ed alone, or take the time to think about where he was. Alphonse was a seven foot tall suit of armor, a great fighter/alchemist, and as long as his seal was intact, he was practically invincible.
"Edward, stay awake." Mustang said, rushing into his dorm to get help. Damn, it was always at times like these that he had trouble getting the stupid key into the lock...
"Im soo tirrred..Dontnt tell me wat to doe bastered."
Finally into the room, Mustang slammed the door shut, and dropped Edward onto the floor.
"Ouwwch."
"Ouch? Is that what you have to say for yourself? Ouch?! I'll tell you what Edward, if you're telling me that that hurt, what do you say to finding your youngest subordinate drunk? How about the fact that if I wasn't there, you could have boarded a train, got lost, or got kidnapped? Or maybe you would have wandered the streets by yourself, looking for your brother, and ended up getting beaten by someone, or mugged, or on the sliver chance you would have FOUND him like this, you plan on fighting the enemy, when you could barely stand?!" He boomed. He couldn't express his feelings of relief that he found the kid before something happened to him. He had to express his absolute love and compassion with anger.
"I'm so-"
"Yeah, I heard. You're soooo tired. If you were really worried about your little brother, maybe you would have looked for him instead of getting drunk."
"Nya, I'm-"
And then he bent over the toilet and got sick... VERRY sick. Roy gave him a hard stare, and stalked his way out of the bathroom door, locking it behind him.
"Take care of yourself, Fullmetal" He said coldly.
11111
About an hour later, the colonel awoke to a high pitched squealing noise. Rolling his eyes, he rose from beneath the sheets and strode toward the bathroom, thinking about how he would scold the child inside for waking him. Turning the knob, the man realized that he had locked the door. Reaching for the key, he noticed he had misplaced it. He rapped on the door three times, saying,
"Fullmetal, I-" until he heard something...troubling. It had sounded like a combination of a pained screech and a sob, but mixed so smoothly with Fullmetal's voice, that it sounded more like a cry of pain to Roy.
Softening his voice due to his puzzled-ness, he said, "Fullmetal- I mean, Edward?"
"Ah, emm, erm, ah, ugh, aaaa-" He heard from the inside, but the noise was muffled. He wondered what he was saying, maybe he was putting letters together, or maybe he was styfling his crying, or maybe...
Roy's heart skipped a beat. Fullmetal had cracked... he was trying to- oh, god, oh no... Edward was trying to kill himself
"Fullmetal, stay calm, I'll be right there, don't do it, just stay still... I'm gonna fix it for you, just wait and see-" The panicking Colonel staggered, lifting objects, searching for the keys, frantically searching for the stupid keys, or his gloves, or a crowbar or anything he could open the stupid door with so he free the boy in his bathroom-
"AH-! ermm..."
"STOP THAT FULLMETAL!" He yelled, tearing books from the desk, ripping the drawers out of the closet for the damn keys and spinning back in fourth in a panicking search for ANYTHING that could bust the damn door... by the time i find it it'll be too late!-
"ERMmmm...I faillleeeedd youuuuu, i faillled youuuuu...!" Came from the bathroom in a wheezing cry, panting and panting followed, Roy Backing from the door, not having any other way to open the door, ignoring the fact that he now heard someone on the other side of the main entrance to his room, shaking the hinges to try and get in, and ignoring the beat of his heart that was making his whole being shake with frustration and worry and the felling of pressure on his veins and all the MOANING from the bathroom, and the words of fright booming from his lips, screaming all around him as he charged past Riza and Havoc who just came in and he slammed into the door, and again and again and again with the cries of pain from Edward and screams from his confused subordinates and his own voice screaming to live, and not to use the stupid razor he left in there to stab yourself, and crying and screeching, and sweat and pounding hearts, and tears and slamming, and panic and suddenly with one last ram into the door-
He was in.