Just a little late

The rained drummed steadily against the window causing the man seated at his desk to sigh once again. Roy Mustang hated rain. Light rain wasn't too bad, but it wasn't raining lightly. This was the kind of rain that bucketed down and soaked everything almost instantly. This was the kind of rain that made it nearly impossible to do flame alchemy.

Roy glared out the window at the rain as if the intensity of his scowl could make the rain freeze in its tracks. It was the rain's fault he was trapped inside today. Doing paperwork instead of hunting down the murderer on the loose. The Colonel didn't even like doing paperwork on regular days. Rainy days made his attention span as short as Edward and his patience as thin as the document he was currently signing.

The man shifted his attention from the rain to something even more annoying. As he glanced at the clock, he sighed once again. "Fullmetal is late again." This wasn't surprising. Edward Elric never arrived anywhere on time. Especially on the days he had to turn in a report. Roy turned his attention back to the mountain of work in front of him. The rain pounding against the window was the only sound besides the scratching of his pen. The time was 11:35.

-Just a little late- Just a little late-

The dull ache of his right shoulder and left leg were the things that pulled Edward from his peaceful slumber. His eyes cracked open and he heard the chilly Central rain tapping on the window and roof of the hotel room he was sleeping in. He snuggled deeper into the nest of blankets and pillows and hoped for just a moment that it wasn't time to wake up. His hopes were shattered when Alphonse's metallic voice called from the other side of the door."Brother? You're going to be late!"

Ed sat up quickly, suddenly remembering what he had to do that day. "As if the rain wasn't bad enough." He grumbled as he threw on his clothes as fast as he could. He looked out the window while he was braiding his hair and saw the clock tower in the distance. The time was 11:00. The small alchemist hastily shoved on his boots, grabbed his report and signature red coat, and ran out the door. "Goodbye Al," he yelled as he shut the door. There was no time for him to call a cab, no time to call for a ride. He was late and the only thing he could do was run and pray he wouldn't be too late.

The rain completely drenched the teen within minutes of being outside. He ran down the city streets ignoring the odd looks of passerby that were also stuck out in this weather. One person even asked where his umbrella was as he ran past. If Ed had stopped for a moment, he would have noticed just how strange this man seemed to be. His Dark hat covering most of his face and a black coat that almost touched the ground. This man didn't have an umbrella either. But, Ed did not notice, nor did he care.

"Why did that bastard make the meeting so early?" he groaned as he ran past the clock tower. The time, he realized with dread, was 11:35. "Damn it! I was supposed to be there thirty-five minutes ago. Colonel Bastard is going to torch me for sure. The chill of the rain, the aches of his stumps and empty stomach, and the fact that he was extremely late distracted Edward to the point that he failed to notice that the strange man was following him.

-Just a little late- Just a little late-

It was 11:50 when the door to the Colonel's office suddenly flew open to reveal a completely drenched, out-of-breath, and nearly an entire hour late Fullmetal Alchemist. Roy had the suppress the urge to yell at the boy dripping all over his carpet and instead simply and calmly said without looking up from the paper he was reading, "Fullmetal, you're late for your report."

"You shouldn't have made the meeting so early. You know we got back late last night. You were the one who sent Major Armstrong to pick us up from the train station!" Edward yelled as soon as he caught his breath. Now that he was here all his worry about being late was fading into anger.

"I sent Major Armstrong because it was so late. There have been reports of a murderer on the loose. They said he only goes after children. You're so small, Fullmetal, you look like a child. I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"Why should you care if anything happens to me?" Edward screamed, suddenly unexplainably furious at the Colonel. "You're not my father, so don't act like it."

"Because I care about your safety Edward." Roy thinks. But that's not what he says. He knew he wasn't the boy's father, but that didn't change the fact that he still cared about him. Roy looks up from his paperwork, enraged. The man replies coldly, "If anything happens to you, I'm the one that has to fill out all of the paperwork. Now, where is that report you were so late bringing?"

"Right here!" Ed yelled as he pulled the paper out of his pocket. He crumples it into a ball and throws it at Roy's head. He watches with satisfaction as it hits its target. "Colonel bastard!" he yelled and ran out the door. The door slammed shut so hard that the glass in the window rattled. Roy sighed. He hated it when Edward called him that. He bends down and picks up the piece of paper that the teen had thrown at him. He gently uncrumpled it and started to read. He never made it past the first line.

BLAM! Outside is a loud bang. It sounded familiar to Mustang and he knew why. It was a sound he had heard too many times in his life. A sound that he would never ever forget. That sound would haunt him for his entire life and often reverberated through his nightmares. It was the sound of a gunshot. Edward 's cry of pain was drowned out by the sound of the clock tower chiming 12:00.

-Just a little late- Just a little late-

"Fullmetal!" Roy yelled. He could feel in his gut that something horrible had just happened to the boy. He was out the door in an instant. He ran down the hallways of Central Command, panic surging through his entire being. The hallways had never felt longer and the stairways had never felt steeper. It seemed to take ages for Roy to make it outside. In reality, it had only been five minutes.

In the five minutes it had taken Roy to get to Edward the mysterious man had gotten away. Roy hardly noticed. He could only focus on one thing. The small alchemist bleeding on the ground. There were four words Roy Mustang never expected to hear from Edward Elric, especially being directed at him. Edward was never the kind of person to say these words and Roy knew that the situation must be dire if he was hearing these words.

"I...need... your... help."