Disclaimer: I hate this part; it just reminds me of my lack of owning such a great story.
Strays
"You know Mustang, I almost like you better this way. It's been a while since I was able to get away with saying so much, a whole hour and not one short comment."
Edward was leaning against a bit of remaining wall. He stared out blankly at the inferno and carnage around them. Screams and shells, gunfire and more screams, Ed listened to them all without caring. He nudged Roy with his elbow and pointed at a rock the just landed by his feet. Mustang slumped over onto his side and remained that way limply.
"I guess you're tired old man. Me too… I think we shared a bowl of gruel three days ago. I can't tell day from night with all this fucking smoke. I blame you, by the way."
Ed reached over and picked up the rock. He turned it over in his hands a couple times and smiled.
"Don't you think it looks like Hayate's head a bit? I wonder how that mutt is doing. I'm sure him and Den are having a blast. Just like us, eh bastard?"
He couldn't help the empty laugh that slipped through his lips. Yep, they were having a blast all right, several, in fact. Edward lost track of the artillery and alchemy used to provide them with the fabulous blast they just witnessed. Roy remained silent and Ed placed the stone in front of him.
"Damn, look at my automail. Winry is going to kill me when she sees me like this. Maybe she wouldn't be too angry. I mean, she'll get to make me a matching set now."
Ed snickered and looked at his shredded legs. That was the only word to describe them. They weren't broken, just chewed up, spat out and then sliced like a meal served and eaten in the wrong order. Roy just lay on his side and didn't participate in Ed's amusement.
"Hey, I was thinking. When this is all over, I'd like to live with you." He looked over at Mustang briefly but the man was still ignoring him. "You used to say that in the beginning, not that you'd remember so long ago your age but I do. 'When the war is done, we should make our relationship real. Move in with me Ed, it'll be fun.' You said that a few times, insisting that we were actually a couple. A couple of what, Roy? We certainly aren't a couple of lovers. I don't see love anywhere around here, do you?"
Mustang remarked with his silence.
"Too much blood for something as fragile as love to survive here. We're not a couple of friends. With every charred corpse I see, I hate you more. But we aren't a couple of enemies either. I hate you, just like I hate everything else. This wall remnant, this dog stone, this smell and this reality, I hate them all because I think I forgot how to feel anything else. No, that's not true. I feel horror. I feel fear. And sometimes, at night with you, I feel safe and I hope… feebly."
Edward snickered again and watched the two puddles of blood join as they pool, Mustang's and his own.
"Hope has less of a chanced of surviving out here than love. Hell, even less than us. We are both pretty battered up. I'd say I still win in the scar department. My legs are so scarred they aren't even there. I should feel satisfied that I actually beat you at something but I don't. I guess it's unfair to compete with a dead man; I am dying after all. There is more blood in the sand than in both our bodies. You won that one Roy, most of that blood is yours. It's understandable considering you're fucking dead."
Edward slouched and look out of the corner of his eye at the once 'Flame Alchemist', now fatality statistic.
"You couldn't wait for me, could you? And you say I'm always in a rush. I guess I should catch up before I lose you in the crowd. Don't move, okay?"
Edward pulled himself onto his stomach. He grunted and dragged his body over to Mustang's front. Black lifeless eyes gazed through him and Edward knew he was running out of time to catch up. He ignored the pieces of glass that lodged in his body and flopped down on his side, facing away from his commanding officer.
"I figured it out Roy," Edward panted and he wiggled in close, moving to have Mustang spoon his back. "We are a couple after all, a couple of strays. That's all that's left out here. You and I are just what's left of the unwanted. I have a confession to make though. I wanted you. I never said it but I felt it. I don't mean I wanted to fuck your body, because what is a body anyways? No I wanted all of you, everyday, everyway and now I have you, all to myself. Listen to me, I such an idiot."
He fidgeted and pulled out the stone from under his thigh.
"Bad dog, you shouldn't be out here in this hell. Hawkeye will scowl you."
Edward gave Hayate a stern look before hugging the stone close to his heart.
"I couldn't protect anyone else, but I'll protect the two of you."
He grabbed Mustang's lifeless arm and wrapped it around his chest in a pathetic hug then held onto Mustang's hand.
"I never let you do this before, but fuck it. Today is a special occasion. It isn't everyday I take a man home to meet my mother. You'll love her Roy. She is graceful and kind. When she bakes in the kitchen, the house would fill with the smell of her food and I would feel this tender warmth in my gut that had nothing to do with hunger. Pleasing her made me happier than anything I could ever do for myself. She'll love you too, even if I don't you bastard."
Ed rested his head on Roy's extended arm that was on the ground and hugged the other one nearer.
"Ha," he said flatly, "maybe love can survive out here after all. Do you love me too?"
More gunshots sounded in the distance.
"I guess you do. Remember that song you were singing before. I called you an idiot and slapped your hand away. You wrote that little poem didn't you. I didn't think hell would allow anything remotely beautiful to come out of it. I'm always wrong but I'm going to make it up to you. You left without me but if I sing your song, I bet I'll find you, or you find me. You are always one step ahead of me every the fucking time after all."
Edward's vision was beginning to haze around the edges. He gripped Hayate tighter and pulled Roy as close as possible.
"Sometimes we fall apart,
and I am just a stray.
So take my hand,
hold it tight,
and tell me you're here to stay…"
Edward couldn't see anymore and knew it was over.
" Roy, we are both just a couple of strays."
END
This fic was inspired by Quagga's fic called "Ed's Turn". You can find it in my favourites. I recommend it and hope you enjoyed this one shot. Have a good night.
-Rix