Edward knew that this conversation was inevitable. He knew it would happen eventually, as sure as the sun rose in the east every morning. It was only a matter of time, if Russell of all people could piece it together then Edward knew he was living on borrowed time. He got the phone call from the Central City train station on a Friday afternoon. There was value in having an informant that worked the train station, it was worth it the moment that he got the advance warning.

He dismissed the rest of his staff for the weekend early. It had been a slow week, with no major unrest at any of the borders and really, no political infighting to pay attention to. It was the cusp of summer and it was too hot for political intrigue - most senior staff were taking their vacations around this time of the year so for the most part Edward was left entirely to his own devices.

Cushler was out the door before Edward had even finished speaking to dismiss them, leaving the door to bounce off of the door frame and hang open. Edward closed his mouth and frowned, and Havoc laughed out loud at Edward's scowl and Bailey's subsequent terrified expression. The junior officers of his garrison were slowly learning what they could get away with (most everything) and what they couldn't (very little), but they still had a lot to learn - mostly the earmarks of Edward's foul moods and how to avoid them.

The others dismissed without incident, although Hawkeye stopped in his office because she sensed that something was up. Edward was tight-lipped about what it was. She was terrifyingly perceptive and the smallest slip could give him away - he already knew she suspected about him and Rian, but whatever she suspected or thought about them she kept to herself. Edward was grateful for that small relief. Roy had told him about what had happened when she found out about Roy and Edward, and Edward dearly hoped he would never be on the receiving end of that from her. Riza Hawkeye was an amazing woman and a far more competent soldier than he would ever be, he was insanely grateful for her assistance ... and dearly did not want to make an enemy of her, ever.

Speaking of Rian, he'd been out of the office all day. Edward has suspected the approaching storm cloud and had convinced Sheska to distract him for the afternoon. She needed the help of a go-fer to get the filing done ... with as slow as it had been the past few weeks they were all almost one hundred percent caught up on paperwork, stamped, filed and indexed. It was a great relief.

Edward still had a few reports sitting on his desk - one of them Rian's. He hadn't flipped through it yet because Rian had a habit of making his reports as long and dry as possible. He did it specifically to irritate Edward into not reading the whole thing, so he could fill space concocting random flights of fancy including dragons and stories involving the popular figure of Timothy Quick. He could make Rian retype the reports, he was Rian's commanding officer after all ... but it was a small bright spot in a sea of paperwork.

However, reading through that now, dealing with that at this moment - that wasn't going to happen. So Edward sat back in his desk chair, and waited silently.

Lieutenant Colonel Alphonse Elric was very prompt, dressed still in his military blues. He had to have left this morning, Edward doubted he even stopped in at the office in East City. The trains had begun to run faster in the last few years, the engines being larger and more powerful, but it was still almost an eight-hour ride from East City to Central.

He looked tired. Edward saw him come in through his open door, and Alphonse stood in the entrance of the outer office for a moment, looking around curiously at the empty desks. Of course he was tired, that was to be expected. From what Edward understood the last time they'd talked Sarah was a colicky baby, and kept them up in shifts. Edward felt a bit bad for them both - for all the trouble Thomas was now, he at least was not a fussy baby.

Alphonse spotted Edward watching him through the open door and nodded, walked into Edward's office and shut the door firmly behind him.

Edward didn't get up. "Hey, Al."

Without breaking stride Alphonse crossed Edward's tiny office, was back around his desk and hoisted Edward out of his chair. Edward hadn't expected that, much less the very solid right hook that connected on his jaw. "Are you out of your fucking mind," Alphonse snarled, one hand still in the front of Edward's military jacket, keeping Edward on the balls of his feet. It was an impressive feat of strength, Edward thought, his mind a little scattered from the unexpected blow.

But then he put his thoughts back together, gave Alphonse his most level stare and said calmly, "Al, if you don't put me down I am going to break your fucking arm."

After a long, measured moment with the brothers locked in a silent battle of will, Alphonse relented and released the front of Edward's jacket. With both feet back firmly on the ground, Edward worked his jaw around with one gloved hand, wincing a moment and then glaring at Alphonse, who still stood far too close for his comfort. "You didn't have to punch me."

"Yes, I did," Alphonse said. "And I'm awfully tempted to do it again if you don't start explaining to me why the hell you are fucking around with your underage subordinate."

"Rian's not underage," Edward said, amazed at how calm he was managing to remain. He deserved a medal for this. "He's seventeen." Age of consent in Amestris was sixteen, had been for a very long time.

"That's still underage by military standards and you know it."

That was also true. The military had some odd rules on the books about code of conduct, and one of them did involve the age of consent being eighteen for members of the military. State Alchemists were in fact quite a gray area, because they didn't have to be eighteen like enlisted soldiers were, but there had been merely a handful of eligible candidates under the age of eighteen in the history of state-licensed alchemists - Edward's record of twelve years old still being the one to beat.

"I was younger than he was when I started getting involved with Roy." Edward said quietly. Alphonse made a loud noise of disgust and turned away, slamming one open hand against the desk before stalking back around it. He was moving to keep from striking Edward again, Edward knew his brother and his movements and if he didn't keep moving he would start really yelling.

"And that's the only reason I haven't taken this information to anyone else yet," Alphonse said, stopping in front of the desk, his glare acidic. "Ed, you're my brother, but... you can't be doing this. He's a kid."

Edward ran his hand down his face and sighed. He'd never felt so exhausted in all his life, he didn't know how Roy had dealt with this. They'd never really talked about this, about how improper their relationship actually was - most of that had been kept from Edward. He knew there would be consequences, but everything worth doing had consequences in some form or another. "What would you have me do?" he asked, quietly.

"Transfer him out of your unit," Alphonse said without hesitation.

"I can't do that." He really couldn't. Rian made doing all this, putting up with all this shit actually worthwhile. He really didn't know how he had been pressing on before, chasing after a ghost like he was but having Rian there made it different.

Alphonse didn't look like he believed him at all. Edward couldn't recall seeing his brother this angry ... ever, really. Maybe right after Roy had died, when Edward was literally wasting away to nothing and Alphonse could do nothing but get angry with him, but Alphonse was supposed to be the cool, logical one out of the two of them. "Why not?"

And there it was. Edward could try to explain it to Alphonse, he could try to say that he enjoyed having Rian around because he was someone to talk shop with, it was fun to listen to Rian try to think circles around Edward's theory, or that it was great to have a State Alchemist attached to the unit to handle some of the stranger missions that would get passed along the way. He could try to justify it all he wanted, but he knew why, even if he'd never told Rian.

So Edward lifted his head, looked his brother in the eye and said evenly, "because I love him."

Alphonse closed his eyes and sighed deeply, as if he had almost expected Edward to answer like that. Then he started to move again like he was going to come around the desk to strike Edward, and Edward stood his ground. He was prepared to take whatever beating Alphonse thought he deserved for this, he had been prepared once he had fully committed himself to the idea of this relationship.

Then something unexpected happened.

The door to Edward's office banged off its hinges like a gunshot, and Edward looked at the door in confusion even as the black-and-brown blur struck Alphonse at chest-level. The adrenaline kicked in at the same second and Edward had already clapped his hands together before he realized exactly what was going on.

Alphonse was tackled right into the desk and he grabbed the edge of it before he went down completely, Rian's weight catching him off-guard. The younger alchemist snarled, managing to get one good hit in before Edward yanked him off of Alphonse by the back of his shirt. Rian staggered backwards and nearly lost his footing, but scrambled right back in front of Edward even as Alphonse got to his feet. Rian put himself between Edward and Alphonse, staring defiantly at Edward's younger brother.

"If you touch him again I'll kill you," Rian threatened.

Edward and Alphonse both were staring at the teenager in disbelief. Rian couldn't really make himself bigger, although his naturally fluffy dark hair was certainly trying, but he was nearly shaking in rage, all of his attention on Alphonse. Alphonse was staring at Rian, then his eyes flicked to Edward's, gauging his reaction.

Where was Sheska? Edward had given her enough work to keep the both of them occupied until the evening. Edward put a hand carefully on Rian's shoulder, but he still started, glancing quickly at Edward before turning his attention right back to Alphonse. "Rian. This doesn't concern you, you need to go."

"Like hell it doesn't," Rian said. "He hit you."

Ouch, how long had Rian been out there listening to them? It sounded like he had followed Alphonse in to the office. "I can defend myself. This is between my brother and I."

"You don't hit family," Rian said, not relaxing his stance. All of his attention was on Alphonse, who hadn't moved. He was just observing them quietly. "Not like that."

"Rian-"

"If you won't protect yourself then I will," he spat. "Lieutenant Colonel or not."

Edward's hand tightened on Rian's shoulder. "Don't make me ask you again," he said quietly.

Rian let out a noise of aggravation that Alphonse surely recognized. But he relaxed his shoulders and straightened, then gave Edward a long look.

"Ed."

Edward glanced at Alphonse, who was watching them intently. "What?" he asked, irritated. This entire day was wearing on his last ounce of patience and very soon he would start throwing furniture.

However, Alphonse ran a hand through his hair and let out a short laugh of disbelief. "Only you," he said, and shook his head. "Only you, brother."

He frowned at Alphonse, glanced at Rian and then back to Alphonse. Clearly his brother had come to a decision and it looked to be in their favor. "Al?"

"I'm sorry I hit you," Alphonse said, rubbing his face where Rian had slugged him. "Can't say you didn't deserve it, but I am sorry."

"Well I'm not sorry I hit you," Rian growled.

"Rian."

"I'm not."

Rian's glower was so familiar, Edward couldn't help but smile at it. "Cool it, kid." He ruffled Rian's hair affectionately, and Rian snorted like a horse.

"Don't call me kid!"

Edward raised an eyebrow at Alphonse. "So I guess dinner's on me then, huh?"

"Yes, it is, especially since I had to come all the way out here to deal with your feckless ass." Alphonse shook his head. "Shit, I have got to call Winry, I told her I would as soon as I got in."

Suddenly Edward had a sinking feeling. "Winry knows why you're here?"

"That I'm here, yes. Why I'm here... no. I figure you can explain that to her later." Alphonse grinned sharply and Edward knew that the beating had not been deferred, only delayed. "I'm using Hawkeye's phone," he said, and ducked out of Edward's office.

Edward leaned back against his desk and sighed, running a gloved hand over his face. This whole thing, all of it, he was sick of being the adult in the situation. Why was everyone else getting to punch things and not him? Supremely unfair. Plus, there was the looming specter of automail maintenance with a wrench-happy Winry. Maybe he should invest in a helmet. Edward realized Rian was staring at him and lifted his hand. "What?"

Rian was searching Edward's face, thoughtfully. Edward looked at him quietly, waiting for whatever Rian was coming to a decision on. His slate eyes were so expressive, so utterly different than Roy's so-blue-they-were almost black eyes, Roy could hide everything from Edward with barely a thought but Rian hadn't learned that trick. "You meant it," Rian said.

Then Edward remembered that Rian had heard the entire conversation, and he swallowed. "Yeah," he said. The most dangerous word in any language, and he'd never said it to Rian's face before. "Yeah, I meant it."

"Good," Rian said. He tugged on Edward's jacket, so Edward could lean in slightly and Rian rose up on his toes and kissed him. "So do I."

Edward cupped the back of Rian's head with his gloved hand and smiled. It wasn't going to be easy, he knew that signing on to this gig. But, in the long run ... it was worth it.

It was always worth it.

Prompt #12 of 25 - Test.