Title: About Faces
Genre: Romance / Angst
Rating: M
Pairing: Roy x Envy [multiple pairings off scene: Roy x Hawkeye, Roy x Hughes, Roy x Jean, Roy x Edward]
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: The thing about love, is that you are always at its mercy.
Word Count: 3,052
Warnings: Inconsistent timeline.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Summary is from Torchwood.

A/N: Repost from my Live Journal. Sequel: Albatross TBA

The hallway was deserted, which wasn't exactly surprising since it was going on two in the morning. Central was still outside, even in the seedy neighborhood this hotel was in. the people were all sleeping, and those who were awake at this hour weren't the type to ask nosy questions, didn't care about the man in military blue with his hat pulled low slinking from shadow to shadow in the bad part of town.

That was the reason Roy chose this place. Drug dealers and criminals weren't going to rat on people for fear that they'd be found out themselves. They would keep their mouths shut if you returned the favor. And Roy definitely had no notion of talking.

How he'd even come to this place (empty hallway in a ratty, falling down building, staring hard at a closed door) wasn't entirely clear. He remembered moments when it had almost seemed to make sense, when he could almost connect the dots between the beginning and the now, between that first inkling of idea and staring at the grainy wood of this door.

His hand reached out slowly for the knob, knowing it would be open (it was always open) and forced himself to turn it, wondering what (who) he would find on the other side.

Envy was evil. Roy know that with every fiber of his being, with every breath in his body. There was no good in him. He had killed Hughes, was responsible for so, so many other deaths. And yet… and yet, something about the Homunculus drew Roy towards him like metal towards a magnet.

The handle turned, the lock clicking open.

He should leave, turn around and go home to his empty apartment, wait until tomorrow night and find some normal person to lose himself in for the night. Because this was wrong and depraved. Because this made him a traitor. Because he had killed Hughes. Because… because…

Because he could be everyone Roy had ever wanted but could never have.

The door swung open and Roy stepped in, closing it quickly behind him, not moving from his place there, looking towards the bed, where Envy sat, feet pressed together, making no effort at all to look friendly.

"Mustang-taisa!" he chirped, in that cheerful tone he affected most of the time, his permanently teenage face flashing Roy a wicked little smile. "Who would you like today?" he asked, even as his face started to shift between people that Roy knew and some he didn't. Women from the streets of Central, people he'd seen in the military files, relatives, criminals, Homunculus.

Roy glanced down when Envy started to slow, keeping each face longer and longer, knowing it was driving Roy to distraction. It always came down to the same four people. No matter what face Envy started with, the woman at the coffee shop on the corner, the first boy Roy had ever dated way back when, it always ended with the same four.

Hughes, who was his best friend and comrade and first real love and gone, gone, gone. Riza, who protected him, was protected by, but every time Roy looked at her the memory of her father flashed across his mind, the image of the burn, the tattoo across her back and he just couldn't. Jean, who at one time Roy thought he might have something with, but Jean was as straight as a ruler and would never see him that way. and Edward, his golden hurricane Edward, who was far, far too young to be thought of so lewdly, who was far too young to be so sensual and tempting, who would never look at Roy with anything more than anger and brief bouts of comradery.

"Roy?"

He flinched at his name in that voice, but looked up anyway, his head moving against his will. It was, for all appearances, Maes Hughes, from head to toes, from the glasses to the picture of Elysia Roy could see sticking out of his jacket pocket.

He took two staggering steps forward, towards the bed.

"This one?"

It was almost perfect but… but still wrong. His eyes were wrong. His eyes were always wrong. They were the right color, the right shape, glinting behind the right glasses, but they didn't shine like his friends' did. Envy simply did not have the unabashed joy for living that Maes had to make it real. And it didn't help that, at the moment, his face was set in a cold, half smile that Roy had never seen the real Hughes wear over the course of their entire friendship.

"Not good enough for you?" His face suddenly lost all vestiges of familiarity and became utterly alien as Envy's toothy grin split his mouth; his eyes were crazy as hell. "How 'bout this?"

The face morphed before his eyes, ripples of power crackling in the air, turning brown hair golden and brown eyes blue, lengthening legs and softening features, until Riza was sitting perched primly on the edge of the bed, bland face staring up at him expectantly.

Another few steps forward.

This one was better, a little. But still… off. There was a fragile loveliness to Riza that Envy, in any form, could never hope to match. She was as deadly as she was dangerous, yes, but there was something subtly feminine about her that, as a man, ambiguous appearance or not, Envy couldn't quite duplicate, not if you were looking closely. Women crossed their legs with a natural, artless grace from days and days of endless repetition. And Envy seemed to hunch his shoulders just slightly against the unfamiliar weight of breasts, throwing off his balance. He seemed unsure of where to place his arms with the new growths on his chest.

Roy frowned.

Envy pouted, then shrugged artlessly. "I'm never going to get this one right. Let's try… this." Blonde hair slinked backwards, the breasts vanished, the hips narrowed, the shoulders widened. Until Havoc was seated, legs helter-skelter, arms braced behind him, the perfect brash smile and ready for trouble gleam in his eyes.

Another half dozen steps and Roy was standing between the outspread legs, arms outstretched to brace on one firm shoulder, a whine wrenching from his chest as Jean smiled roguishly up at him. Jean who was so jealous of Roy, who wanted one of the countless women that threw themselves at the Colonel, who knew nothing about the men that Roy tangoed with. Jean, who Roy would give up all those women for because he was so good and happy and funny. Jean, who'd never look twice at Roy.

He leaned forward, ignoring Envy's victorious grin on Havoc's lips. The kiss was chase, sweet, and Roy sighed.

He froze. Straightened, staring down at Envy and shaking his head. Wrong, wrong. Jean smelled of smoke. He always smelled like he had just taken a drag, no matter where he was, no matter how long it had been since his last cigarette. The smell was soaked into his clothes, his hair, his skin. Jean smelled of smoke and fire and ashes and burning. This man smelled like nothing. Clean. Sterile. Wrong.

The fake smile on Jean's face slipped away and what remained was cold and hard. "The pipsqueak again, then, taisa?" Blond hair lengthened again, becoming golden, darker than Riza's daisy colored hair and brighter than Jean's straw colored locks. "It's always been him lately." Legs shorted, the military uniform melted into red and leather, flashes of metal between the materializing clothing.

And suddenly Edward was in front of him, cross-legged, chin propped on one hand, sullen expression on his face. His hair was unbraided, the golden tresses disheveled and almost floating around his face. His eyes were stubborn, slanted up to look at Roy through his lashes. He huffed and looked away.

It was perfect. Or, as close to perfect as you could get without being the real Fullmetal. Envy knew the boy better than the other, knew how he moved and acted and spoke. The hate and rage that sometimes simmered in Envy's eyes, that he couldn't control, could easily be seen as Ed's natural determination and the animosity and the ire the blond radiated almost visibly. Envy's voice held a timbre of violence at the best of times, while Ed's was filled with the energy of anger.

Roy knew it wasn't really Ed, he did. This person in front of him was missing the scent of oil and metal, there was a subtle agelessness to the honeyed eyes that Ed didn't quite possess. But it was close; close enough for Roy's attention starved affection and he took a deep shuddery breath, reaching forward to grasp a handful of the golden goodness of Ed's hair and tug him forward.

Ed smiled, and it wasn't a pleasant smile, and just for a moment there was only Envy grinning through Ed's face, but then the murderous glint faded, anger fading to lust, pupils blown. "Roy," Ed's voice said in a gentle, husky voice; a lover's voice.

Something that felt depressingly like longing and joy clenched low in his gut and Roy groaned, pressing forward harshly. Lips slammed together, Ed falling back against the bed with Mustang sprawled between his spread legs, still half hanging off the small bed. The kiss was needy and hard, clacking teeth and harsh, bruising press of lips; burning, branding, marking, wanted Ed, wanted him so much, please, oh please…

Ed rumbled approvingly at the ardor, returning it with equal fervor, hands reaching up to grasp tightly at Toy's hair. He wrenched his lips away, panting harshly, before cocking his lips mischievously, before his hands slid down, the pop of the button and slide of the zipper drawing Roy's gaze down, his pulse getting faster and faster. Mismatched hands pushed the pants down over hips, taking boxers with them and Ed slid back, back, back, until he was entirely on the bed, naked from the waist down, legs spread obscenely. Reaching up, he pulled off the jacket, shirt following, and threw them to the side. Roy didn't look to see where they landed, didn't care, because he knew they would vanish, Envy's talent making them shimmer out of existence once they were no longer touching him, ruining the small illusion he had that this was real.

"Are you just going to stare at me all day, bastard?" Ed asked, a seductive lilt in his voice.

The question provoked Roy into crawling forward, shimmying out of his uniform, letting them crumble to the floor beside the bed, hands reaching shakily for all that bare skin, sliding reverent palms up the calves, the smooth thighs, skimming them across the flat stomach, before letting them splay over narrow hips. Lowering his head, he trailed pressed gentle kisses to the downy soft stomach, tongue dipping into novel, sucking briefly, before trailing down one thigh and up the other.

"Mustang – Roy, please." Ed was not even trying to be subtle about arching his hips, pointing his straining erection towards Roy's teasing mouth.

Roy mumbled in reply as he complied, licking a broad stripe from base to tip, hands pressed firmly to one of the quivering hips.

"Ah!" A flesh hand reached down to fist painfully in Roy's hair, the other twining into his own golden tresses, pulling at the strands, mouth open in an almost perfect little 'o.' He tossed his head from side to side as Roy took him in, sucking harshly, before backing off and blowing coolly on the head. Ed was thrashing now, stomach twitching, thighs clamped around Roy's shoulders, pupils so blown then gold was merely a ring around the edges, cheeks flushed, panting, groaning.

All for Roy. Because of him. For him.

Roy moaned, the sound vibrating around the flesh in his mouth and casing Ed to cant his hips up sharply, a strangled cry spilling from his throat, eyes going wide and blind. He pulled his mouth off slowly, pressing lingering kisses and gentle nips to thighs and hips before sliding up that lithe young body, pressing down onto that smooth as silk skin, eyes drinking in the wanton sight of Ed's sinfully aroused face.

"Roy," he murmured, voice filled with some emotion Mustang didn't want to name. It sounded like affection, but inside his head, his voice of reason was screaming at him that it wasn't. That this wasn't Ed, that is was Envy, the thing that had murdered Maes, a monster. But… "Roy, please." But his heart wasn't wade of stone. And right now, the person below him was Ed, for all intents and purposes. What he was mistaking for fondness in Ed's voice was probably Envy teasing. And Roy knew that. He knew it. Just as surely as he knew that Ed would never want this, could never know that Roy did.

Lips met in a soft caress, more a pressing of mouths than anything. And though Ed's eyes slid blissfully closed, Roy's remained open, staring at what he'd never thought he'd get to see.

Mismatched hands slide up and down his back, making him purr with pleasure. One splayed over his shoulder, the other clenched at the curve of his hips, fingers spread out over part of his ass. Kisses became harder, demanding rather than tender, as Ed pulled his hips forward, into the spread of his legs, arching up and grinding their erections together in a glorious slide of skin on skin.

Roy gasped, heat twisting tightly in his gut like a serpent waiting to strike. "Yes," he groaned, "Oh, y-yes."

Hips were suddenly gripped with bruising fingers and Roy's breath whooshed out of him when he was flipped suddenly, staring up at an impishly grinning blond who was still pressing marks onto his hips. Ed's hands. Ed's marks. On his skin.

Another groan, that morphed into a choked off cry as Ed suddenly gripped Roy's erection, and pressed, and pressed it into himself in one smooth motion.

Heat. Hot. Tight.

That was something that never changed. Envy didn't need to be prepared or stretched and it always ruined the illusion for a long moment when he simply let Roy slide right into him. but the moment always faded when he tightened around Roy almost enough to be painful, making his eyes roll back in his head, his heart beat with nervous emotion.

"You okay there, old man?"

The snarky voice was so ridiculously Edward that Roy's hips snapped up without conscious thought. Ed's head tipped backwards in blissful abandon, revealing the long smooth column of his neck, the golden waterfall of his hair trailing down his back and tickling Roy's thighs.

Hips slammed up again and again, and when Roy tilted Ed forward just slightly, the boy gave a delirious cry, slumping over him ridiculously, panting severely, chin tucked into his chest, hair spilling forward over his shoulders.

"Oh! Uh! H-harder!"

Roy watched the flush of arousal spread over Ed's cheeks and down his chest and felt his heart lurch into a warm bloom of affection so hard his hands clenched on Ed's hips, slamming his own up hard enough that it jostled the man sitting astride him. His Edward, his beautiful, golden Edward, so perfect, so gorgeous, all his. His to touch, his to kiss, his to fuck, all his. Mine.

Hands skimmed up Ed's sides, twisting nipples into hard peaks, one curling over shoulders, fisting into sweaty hair, the other sliding back down, dipping teasingly into Ed's bellybutton, before taking his straining erection in hand, pumping once, twice, before Edward's head tipped back, spine arching, as he spilled his release, mouth open in a silent scream of pleasure.

The hard clench of Ed around his own erection triggered his own release, eyes rolling backwards, Ed's name of his lips.

When Ed's weight fell on top of him, Roy gathered him close, arms wrapped around him, and shifted sideways, burying his nose pleasantly in Ed's hair, as both of them caught their breath.

In the beginning, Roy had been reasonably confident that he could stop this whenever he damn well wanted. It was a release, not a crutch. But now, in the interest of being truthful to himself, he knew that Envy had lured him in like a devious spider, like an insect drawn to light. The frantic teeter totter of his heart versus his head clutching in his stomach like a vice.

Envy was good at what he did, there was no question about that. He knew how difficult it was to control unclean thoughts. Knew that there were some faces that people could not resist, could not fight, could not help but be drawn to.

What Envy got out of this… arrangement, Roy didn't know, probably wouldn't ever know. Maybe he thought it was funny, there probably wasn't much to amuse yourself with after so long a life. Maybe he was going to make Roy cash in a favor or maybe he was doing it on orders from his leader. Maybe he was just horny. Roy was voting for amusement. Envy seemed the type of devil to quench your thirst and then drown you, laughing all the while.

Whatever it was, Mustang knew that Envy had tied a string to him that kept him coming back again and again. But whatever feelings of indecision he felt hovering before the door, vanished like old smoke at the first sight of his precious people sprawled across a bed. Maes, Riza, Jean, Ed. He loved them, and Envy knew, used it.

But with Ed tucked underneath him, hair spread across the pillow, eyes satiated and droopy and staring sleepily up at Roy, flesh fingers drawing nonsense patterns down his side, Roy couldn't bring himself to care. He would care in the morning. When he woke alone, abandoned, forgotten, used, feeling like a traitor.

But not now. For now, Ed was all his.