AN: Alright, so first story on FF so please review and let me know :)
I appreciate any and all feedback, no matter the tenor.
This is going to start out with Ed and Winry together, but the eventual outcome is going to be Ed and Roy. So if there's any confusion over that, let me know :) It's mostly canon, obviously other than Ed and Roy being together...but if I had written the series, that's how it would be.
"There's only two explanations for why that asshole is on my couch that I will accept," Edward spat through clenched teeth, shaking from rage.
"1) He's here to apologize and endow me with some sort of enlightenment as to his douchebaggery thus far, or 2) He's sacrificial, and you brought him here in order for my rage to be directed at an appropriate source—in which case, well done."
He paused and Winry, with an exasperated set to her face, leaned against the wall of the small alcove where he had dragged her with his usual drama demanding an explanation. "So which is it?" She sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked back into the living room—Ed's intensity was beginning to wear on her-, "Neither, I'm afraid. But if you'll hold off on the violence for a minute and be a civil person, Ed, Roy has something important to talk to you about."
Edward balled up his fists at his sides and seethed internally. Who the hell did Mustang think he was? Showing up uninvited and just as Ed was beginning to feel secure again; it would have warranted a bigger tantrum if Winry hadn't been there. A litany of curses upon the Colonel ran through his mind as he composed himself and went to sit across from the infuriating man, who was perfectly at ease, drinking tea and being charming to HIS Winry, who giggled and blushed until Ed's malevolent gaze fell on her from across the room. Ed slumped onto the couch across from him, sighed and plunked his boots down on the table between them, causing the china to rattle ominously.
"So what brings you here, Mustang?" Ed asked, pronouncing Mustang in a tone dripping with venom. "Looking for some other portion of my life to wreck that you may have missed the first time around?" Winry made an annoyed sound at his rudeness, but Roy, unruffled, sat forward and put his elbows on his knees,
"As gracious as ever, Elric, it's nice to see you too. I've been pretty good, since you asked." A small smirk curled across his face to see the obvious frustration in the younger man. "Well, to business then. We can't sit around exchanging pleasantries all day." Edward growled, and Roy's smile grew a little wider, "Come back to work, Ed. We could sure use you, and God knows you're not doing any good sitting on your ass here." He looked around at the domestic apartment condescendingly, "Although I am enjoying the image of you as a housewife. I'm sure all those years in the military aren't going to waste at all with you holed up here."
Ed drew a breath to deliver what promised to be a fabulous monologue of woe and undeserved pain, but Roy cut him off by standing briskly and tucking his coat over his arm, "Think about it Ed. How long can you stand to live off of the hospitality of others? Come back to where you belong. Come back to where you can be useful and take care of yourself. I'll expect you to decide by next week."
Edward stood up to stand toe-to-toe with Mustang, failing in being intimidating because although he had grown, he was still just short enough that Mustang continued to loom over him. "Get out of my house, fucker. You and the whole fucking military can shove your situations up your ass as far as I'm concerned. Just leave me the hell alone!" With that he spun around and stomped out of the room. Winry turned to Roy, ready to apologize and offer some sort of placation, but only to see Mustang chuckle to himself and wish her well before heading towards the door. She followed him, stuttering half-formed sorrys and excuses for Ed's behavior. He turned and held up a hand, "None of this is necessary Winry. He'll come around, you'll see. I've always known that boy better than he knows himself. Just don't let him push you around while he's angry." He stepped close enough that she'd have to lean away in order to not be pressed against him-curiously intimate-and curled his fingers into her hair, making her blush and fidget uncomfortably. Roy slid his fingers through the long, blonde strands and studied her with an intense scrutiny, "He doesn't deserve you, Winry, and the sooner he realizes it, the better."
And then he was gone, shutting the door quietly and Winry, somewhat dazed, stood looking at the closed door for several beats.
"What was THAT?" she asked the empty room. A loud thump came from upstairs and she jumped, reminded that Ed was having a tantrum. She moved towards the stairs reluctantly to go talk Ed down from whatever metaphorical ledge he was on now. Why was he so bitter? Was it really worth all his energy to devote to hating all the people from his past? It had been so much time…Even Al seemed to be moving past it—but then again, that difference is one of the reasons that the brothers don't talk anymore.
Roy's POV
Edward can kick and scream all he wants, eventually he'll come back to me. Where is a mind like his suited to work if not the military? It was getting a bit chilly as he stepped out into the fall air, but he left his jacket off, warmed by a victory he was already celebrating in getting Edward Elric to come back and work for him. Sure, Ed was mad at the whole military and specifically Mustang for all that he had gone through as a state alchemist, but that was a while ago and it was time for him to move on. Everybody had to get up and rebuild their lives and bury their pasts and look to the future, so Ed's little pity party wasn't cutting any ice anymore.
Roy smiled and waved off his driver, preferring to walk and chew over his thoughts. Ed was not a selfish person. Roy knew this and knew that his guilt was already probably getting to him about living off of Winry's hospitality while trying to find work. He wasn't going to find any place to hire him, after all, what domestic skills did Ed possess? None, of course. And he had spent his whole childhood studying alchemy so he had never had any education in any other field.
Roy had no doubt that the boy could learn how to do pretty much anything if he had access to the information, but he also had no money and would never trouble Winry for extra than what she was already spending to shelter and feed him. It wasn't as though he was an intimidating physical specimen either. His slight, almost feminine body and long blonde hair didn't exactly scream aggression and forwardness. That, coupled with the boy's caustic nature ensured that most first impressions wouldn't be all that successful. Roy knew his little comment to Edward about using others would go a long way towards getting him to give in to Roy's will. Deep down, the Colonel was betting on the fact that Ed had a secret soft spot for him. They'd been through a lot together, and Ed could say whatever he wanted about their relationship, but he knew that Roy had given him a break more times than he deserved, and that Mustang would always have his back. Roy fervently hoped that the boy's stubbornness wouldn't win out over his common sense.
He shrugged into the breeze that was gathering around him, not overly concerned about that battle. The Colonel had stacked his deck in charming Winry onto his side; a delicious bit of manipulation that would also ensure his victory. She was pretty and all, but his interest in her lay mainly in how she would bring Ed over to his way of thinking. She was rather easy to flatter, Roy mused. Well, he couldn't imagine Ed as the most affectionate of boyfriends. Too self-absorbed, too introverted. And it probably didn't help that Roy knew exactly what his strengths were as a man, and exploited them ruthlessly in order to get his way with considerable skill, if he said so himself.
He grunted out of annoyance at the realization that he was going to expend all this effort in flirting with a girl he had no intention of sleeping with. It went against every pattern of behavior he had built up in his long years as a bachelor. Still, he couldn't risk outrightly seducing the girl. After all, Ed would never come back if Roy were to steal his girlfriend. A little flirtation, however, broke no one's heart and softened the girl up to his cause. And if anybody could make Ed listen to reason, it was Winry. In the absence of Alphonse, Ed clung to people from home with a shameless codependency that made Roy shake his head, just thinking about it now.
It was almost all too easy. The boy would soon be under his thumb again. Against the bite of an early cold front, Roy Mustang grinned. He loved getting what he wanted.
Edward's POV
Winry called again from outside the door, but Ed ignored her and buried his head in the pillows on his bed. He was flopped across the bed they shared, furious and depressed, all at the same time. He was 17. He had, with the help of his brother, eradicated the myth of the philosopher's stone in Amestris, deposed the evil Fuhrer Bradley, destroyed Dante and returned his brother to his body. Hell, he had even gotten the girl! Why couldn't he just enjoy his hard-fought victory and languish in his retirement? Why were people like Roy Mustang showing up and reminding him of the few real talents he had…and how he was wasting them? And why wouldn't his brother understand his anger and come join him in putting the past behind them? But that was Alphonse, always sweet and forgiving to a fault. It was almost like he didn't want to move on, working for the military and continuing to be a part of the story that Ed just wanted to leave far behind. Right now Al was working as a diplomat between the newly integrated Ishvalans and the cities where they were relocated. The youngest ambassador ever. Lucky him, and all his success. He doesn't need his older brother anymore. No one does. Ed closed his eyes and rolled onto his back, losing himself in his own self-pitying fantasies. No one he had helped in all those years, no one's life he had saved had come to find him or be around him. No one noticed him anymore. Roy Mustang does. You can help people again, Ed. He sighed as the rational part of his brain reminded him that he liked being important and interesting and…part of something, he guessed. How else could he describe Mustang's posse? He's not evil, no matter how much you have tried to demonize him in your memories. He's a good man. He won't make you kill innocent people or mess with forbidden practices. Why won't you swallow your pride and go back? "SHUT UP!" He pressed a pillow over his head to try and drown out the voices. Always trying to get him to forgive and forget. They reminded him of Al, so damn noble all the time and so damn reasonable. It all sounded so simple. Get over it. It's all over, why do you still hate? He didn't know. But he knew that unless he did something, soon, the hate would be all he had left. He didn't realize exactly how soon that would be.
Winry's POV
"SHUT UP!" Ed screamed from the other side of the door. Winry bristled, stepping away and storming back downstairs. How dare he? Such a child…Why couldn't he grow up and let her in? She'd been trying for two years now. She knew that she had loved him for his bravery and what she perceived as strength, but now she was not so sure. Did she really love Ed? Or was he all she knew? She sat at the table, nursing a cup of coffee and the wounds inflicted by Ed's selfishness. He had fallen silent upstairs. She hoped this meant that soon he would stop sulking and let her back into HER room. He was just so oblivious to others since he came back. No matter what she did, he was never intimate with her, even when they slept together. He hadn't touched her in months like he cared about her deeply, in fact, like how Roy Mustang of all people, had touched her today. It was innocent, just a hand on her shoulder or fingers in her hair, but somehow it was more than all of the physical intimacy she had from Ed in months. It was endless, her obsessing over his mood swings and wishing he would pay attention to her worries. She shook her head, annoyed at herself for the pity party. She took a sip of her coffee, when over the rim she saw Edward standing in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at her. She placed the cup down carefully and put a smile on her face, "How are you doing? Still pissed at Roy?" He sighed and sat down across from her, "Yes. Even though I don't have a real reason. I just feel like he has no business being in my life anymore. It doesn't include him." He smiled wanly and placed his hand over hers on the table. She looked at it in surprise as he took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb over her palm. Her skin tingled where he touched her, and she wondered what brought on the sudden contact. "My life includes you. That bastard has no right to come in and disturb me enjoying being with you. I'm sorry to be so angry all the time." She softened immediately under his words. She squeezed his hand back, studying him for some hint that he would snap back into moody Edward. Who was this body-snatcher and how did he get into her boyfriend. Well whoever it was, he wasn't entirely unwelcome.
Edward's POV
He was losing her. He could tell by her body language. He had come down to eat something and forget about Mustang's proposal for now when he saw Winry; sitting at the table looking lonely and hurt. He didn't love her, he at least knew that much, but he needed her. More than she would ever know, probably. And if he was capable of self-improvement, wouldn't it have happened by now? But she loved him, and that presented a different problem. It was times like these, he mused, that having an internal moral compass would really be useful. For now, he would just have to play along, to make her as happy as he could before he would have to leave. Because he knew, at some point, he would be leaving. So he did the only thing he knew how to do to make a girl happy.
Winry's POV
Ed came around the table to stand behind her, moving his hands to rub her shoulders and let his fingers trace across her collarbone. She responded almost immediately, jumping slightly under his touch and covering his hands with her own. She turned to face him, "What's going on Ed? Why are you being so-" He cut her off with a deep kiss, wrapping her hair around his fingers and pulling her into him. Her hands slipped down to his waist as she leaned into the kiss, savoring his taste and the way his tongue slipped into her mouth, gently, almost like a secret. Her fingers slid under his shirt and she trailed them along his hips, appreciating the sharp intake of air and the urgency that his kiss took on, as he dragged her up out of her chair and away from her coffee and wrapped her into his arms. Crushed to his chest, she felt sort of floaty and barely noticed him hoist her up and carry her up the stairs where he opened the door and threw her down on the bed. She leaned back and held out her arms to him, so intoxicated by this Edward that all of her frustrations were forgotten. She was brought back to reality as suddenly as a bucket of water to the face by the look in his eyes. He leaned over her and kissed her again, and it was just as sweet as before, but the damage was done. He was somewhere else. Far away, by the looks of it. He moved to her neck and started trailing kisses down from her ear, so he didn't see her bite her lip and squeeze her eyes shut. So that's it then. It's over. I guess that shouldn't really surprise me. But it still hurts. His hands slid down her hips and to the front of her jeans, but she pushed him away and rolled out from under him.
"What's wrong?" he queried, reaching over to rub her shoulders comfortingly.
She slapped his hands away and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Winry? What—"
"Don't bother Ed. Just—don't bother."
He slowly scooted over to sit beside her, his face all concern, but still, right there in his eyes, there was nothing.
"What did I do?"
She stood up and hugged herself before turning to face him, her voice thick with suppressing tears, "I'm just…not in the mood tonight, okay?" and slipped out of the room before he could reply.
Roy's POV
"Please sir…please don't do this."
"I have to. I don't have a choice."
"What? That's ridiculous! You always have a choice! How do you—"
"No, Lieutenant. I must. I must go to lunch early."
He grabbed his coat and headed for the door while Hawkeye flailed after him, a look of desperation flooding her usually stern features.
"Sir, you haven't done any of those files you said you'd do today and—"
She found herself talking to the wall as he waved jauntily over his shoulder and strolled out into the street.
She turned to look at the Colonel's in-tray, which was dangerously overflowing and swaying precariously. She sighed in exasperation before plunking herself down at a desk and cleaning her gun. The rest of the office kept a safe distance from her. Hawkeye tended to be a lot less discretionary about shooting people when Mustang frustrated her.
Roy headed back to his apartment, glad to be out of his stifling office. You can't work too hard, he thought, occasionally you have to make time for your mental well-being. Hawkeye shouldn't work so hard. It ages her. He made a mental note to file that under, "Never to be spoken aloud" as he walked by the various shops and stores that lined the road to his home. A couple of the girls working at an outdoor café tried to catch his eye, but he had a strong suspicion they were in high school and were only hovering at a 6 in terms of general looks so he kept walking. His building loomed like a large, black insect over the street and as he pushed through the doors and rode up the elevator he dwelled on how ugly these apartments really were, and though he lived in the penthouse, how after all these years he still couldn't live the way he wanted to. Roy wasn't snobby, he just wanted all the things around him to be beautiful. Being rich wasn't nearly as important as simply being surrounded by the trappings of the rich. Unfortunately, money is a precursor to living beautifully. For now, he would have to settle for this modest place until he could assume his rightful position as the Fuhrer.
He tossed his keys on a table by the door and crossed to stand in front of his window. From here he could see where Bradley's mansion had once stood; right up until Mustang himself had burned it down. His mouth tightened a little as he remembered how fantastic that house had been. Ah well, the loss of the house had been an unforeseeable by-product of seizing power from the Homunculi. In fact, the loss of the power had also been a most unseemly consequence of the whole affair. Now, the temporary council was working through all the problems created and left by the dead creatures and were reluctant to relinquish power back to one man in the wake of all this war and corruption. Mustang sank into a cracked leather chair by the window and furrowed his brow as he thought through his plans. With all this time gone by, there was no guarantee that the council would bring his name up first in the talks about the next Fuhrer; if at all. If it had been in the days and weeks just following the fall of the Homunculi there would've been no question, and he would be in the big office today. But now, it was all the more important that he kept the symbols of his contributions close to him, and in the public eye. And the key to that, of course, was the Elric brothers. Alphonse was already working for Roy; although to be fair he didn't know it. But his high-profile mediating of the Ishvalan integration was being funded and stamped by Mustang himself. In fact, Roy had just extended their funding for another three years. The other piece of the puzzle was Fullmetal. If Edward, hero of the people, savior of the empire, would come back and affiliate himself with Mustang's office, he would be unstoppable, and the council themselves would step down in order to make way for his presence. He smiled to himself and headed for his kitchen. This required a celebratory sandwich and scotch before returning to the office.
4 or 5 drinks later, a much friendlier, happier Colonel was attempting to sneak back into his office.
"This is so undignified." He muttered as he fiddled with the lock to his window. He was crouched outside in the garden, pants rolled up to his knees, praying one of his subordinates wouldn't choose this moment to go outside and smoke. He giggled nervously at the thought of Havoc catching him clambering up through his own window in his dress socks. However, any of the above would be better than walking through the front door and past Hawkeye, who no doubt had set up shop right in the entrance, ready to threaten him with violence.
The window slid open easily, thanks to his meticulous oiling of the mechanism every day around 3 when he told his staff that he was taking important conference calls. With a quick peek over the ledge to confirm no one had a clear look from their desk into his office, he hoisted his left leg over the ledge, gently pulling his body through the window. He went to pull his right leg in, but a particularly prickly rose vine had snagged onto his sock, providing just enough resistance that he slipped and faceplanted onto the wood floor with a resounding crash. Some of the paperwork perched on top of his in-tray fluttered off the stack and settled around the room.
"Shit." He muttered, hearing the sounds of footsteps as Hawkeye came running to investigate.
"What the—" Hawkeye heard the crash and was up on her feet, running before the noise had even ceased, gun at the ready. She rounded the last cubicle and sprinted into the Colonel's office ready to confront the perpetrator and skidded to a stop in front of his desk.
"What are you doing, Lieutenant? Why are you interrupting my work?" Roy sat, perfectly groomed, behind his desk, holding a pen poised over one of the files she had been begging him to do all day. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she tucked her gun back in its holster, making her apologies and backing out of the room. She caught his eye briefly, however, and gave him a look that meant in no uncertain terms that the shenanigans were over. He merely waved her out and she shut the door behind her as his final words floated out after her,
"You know, it's nearly impossible to get any real work done with all of your ridiculous fooling around."
Roy waited until she had shut the door and walked away, before sighing and reaching under the table to unroll his pant legs.