WHATS THIS!? After ghosting FanFiction for two years, I've suddenly re-emerged AND with a new story! Actually, it's a story I started working on two years ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. A full description of my absence is posted on my profile, if you care to know what I've been up to (and will be up to).

Otherwise, enjoy this rather short intro for now. I have it divided up into four chapters at the moment (that are much longer). It wont be a super long story, but I do think it will be fun seeing Ed as a bit of the bad guy for once :)

A day is usually remembered as either good or bad. Every one will experience both at some point or another, but for Ed, the experiences were not usually in his favor. Of course he knew the laws of alchemy well: To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. But in most situations, there was definitely not an equivalent exchange. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was determined to fix that part of his life one day, but unfortunately it wouldn't be today.

The young, blond alchemist slowly dragged his feet along the concrete path. His tired limbs ached with each step. His hair was just barely done into the usual braid. It was a walk he knew so well that he could probably find his way blindfolded. It was also his least favorite path to take, because he wasn't particularly fond of where it led. He yawned quietly and rubbed his eyes, wishing he was back in bed. In fact, he wished he could be just about anywhere right now than headed to the office so early on a Monday. He should be sleeping right now. All snuggled up in a warm blanket dreaming about, well, okay so maybe his dreams weren't always that pleasant, but he should still be asleep and thats what mattered. Obviously Colonel Mustang didn't know he had better things to do than meet with him right now. Well, unless he did know and was just trying to make his life even more miserable. He really wondered sometimes if that was Roy's personal mission in life, or if it really just came that natural to him. He scoffed at the thought. There really was no winning with that man.

He and Al were heading to Resembool on Wednesday, and they had things to take care of before then. In fact, one of the main reasons they hadn't already left was because he had been previously scheduled to turn in his report on that day. Instead, his younger brother woke him up bright and early this morning with a phone call from Hawkeye saying he needed to turn in his report from his last mission ASAP. The report he hadn't even written yet, because he was supposed to have had two more days to write it up. So rather than a peaceful rest, he had scrambled out of bed and quickly jotted down what he could remember in the short amount of time he had.

That jerk just loves to change things up on me.

Something told him this wasn't just about a stupid report. But then again, with Roy nothing was ever as it seemed. Just one more thing that infuriated Ed about him. The man acted like he knew everything about everything. He especially loved making Ed tell him what happened on his missions even though he already knew. In fact, he could probably tell Ed what he was going to do before he even did it. It all came down to two options: Roy was either an insanely good stalker, or perhaps he really was a god. But then that would be giving him way too much credit. Ed deduced that he simply could not figure out that man no matter how hard he tried, and honestly, he was tired of trying. This week was always a hard one for he and his brother. Even though he enjoyed seeing Winry and Granny, going home- or to what was left of it at least- without their true bodies made him feel like a failure. And he hated that feeling more than anything.

He glanced up at the sky for a second while waiting for a car to drive by. The weather wasn't even nice today. It was hot, even for someone who always ran around in black leather pants and two jackets. There were dark clouds everywhere, and the sun was already hidden behind them. Sure, it hadn't started raining yet, but the soreness from his ports told him that it would soon. He continued trudging along, barely greeting the soldiers he passed outside the gates to Central Command. It seemed to take forever, but that was probably because he took his sweet time to get there. Finally, he reached his superior's office. With a deep breath, he opened the door and made his way into the inner office where the Colonel would be. The usual team was there, greeting him with a soft "hello," and "good morning," but they were more quiet than normal. It was as if they wanted to say more, but held their tongues.

Normally Ed would be annoyed by their odd behavior, but today he chose to ignore it in favor of getting this whole thing over with sooner so he could go back to bed. Kicking the door open in his usual fashion, he stomped over to the desk and slammed the report down.

"Here's your stupid report. Can I go home now?"

"Fullmetal, how nice of you to obey me for once and actually get here quickly."

His superior sat behind his desk, completely unfazed at the sudden commotion. He didn't even look up at first as he spoke with that same dry tone he always used, crossing one leg over and lacing his fingers together.

Ed glared at him and crossed his arms. "And just why was it necessary to drag me out of bed this early in the morning on my day away from this place?"

"We'll get to that in a minute." Mustang grabbed the paper and began to scan over it. "Please, have a seat while I review this."

The blond breathed out an exasperated sigh before resigning to throw himself onto the couch in defeat.

"Why are your reports always so messy, Fullmetal? Is your hand so small that you can't properly grip a pen?"

"What!" You could practically see the steam rising from the teen as he clenched his fists tightly. "Why are you so infuriating!"

"Calm down, Fullmetal. You know that if you just wrote out a decent report for once, it wouldn't take me so long to read it and you'd already be on your way."

Ed seethed in anger as he watched his commanding officer taking his sweet time. A string of curses filled his mind and he was just getting ready to unload them when the man spoke first.

"Thank you." He placed the paper down and laced his fingers together again in front of him. "So, no new leads on the stone then I take it?"

The blond looked away in defeat. "No."

"Well I'll be sure to let you know if I hear of something. Where is Alphonse, by the way?"

"Um, he stayed home." By now, Ed's anger had died down just enough that he was starting to become confused. Was Roy actually trying to have a conversation with him? Since when did they ever just chat? He usually just yelled at the man for insulting him until he finally had enough and stormed out. That was how it was supposed to be. Whatever this was just felt weird and awkward.

"So, does this mean I can go now?" The younger alchemist made to stand, but Roy stopped him again.

"Hold on now. I hear you and your brother are heading to Resembool on Wednesday?"

He leaned his head back against the couch in annoyance. "I don't know why you make it sound like a question since you already know everything I do, but yes, which is why I have better things to do than sit here and talk about my personal life."

"Come on," The older man prodded. "Is coming here really that much of a nuisance? How many other soldiers have the kind of privileges you have?"

Ed scoffed at the comment. "I wouldn't call being a soldier a privilege."

"Need I remind you of the secret I keep about your brother? I'm not the bad guy here."

Ed narrowed his eyes at his superior. He hated when Roy threw his mistake in his face. As if he wasn't already plagued by nightmares every time he closed his eyes. He certainly didn't need to be reminded that it was his fault his little brother didn't have a body. Sure, maybe Roy did keep his mouth shut, but gloating about it was even worse. He closed his eyes a few seconds in order to stay calm. Ed knew he was in this position because of what he did. He hated having to answer to someone, but right now it was the only way they could figure out how to get their bodies back. Right now he had to suck it up and be a good dog for the military. He had to do it for Al.

But his patience only ran so far.

"Yeah, you're doing me a real solid, thanks. Now just tell me what you want already so I can go."

The response he got from his superior was laughing and "you really need to loosen up, kid."

As Ed grit his teeth, Roy's smile faded and a more serious look set in. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat a little.

"So," The older man started awkwardly. "Before you go, I want to give you something."

Well, if he wasn't acting weird earlier, he definitely sounded strange now. First, he tried conversing with him about random things, and now he had something to give him? Either Mustang was finally going crazy or he was just setting up for a huge prank. And neither sounded desirable.

"Can't it wait, Colonel? I'm not in the mood for whatever this is, and I really do have things to take care of."

"Relax. It will only take a moment."

Ed watched as the man got out of his seat and walked to a cabinet near his desk. Roy's body language told him that something was definitely off. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to like this "gift."

"Mustang I swear, this better not be some kind of prank."

His superior laughed nervously, making Ed even more suspicious. "What? I wouldn't do something like that."

"Um, yes you would. You do stuff like that all the time."

"You're imagining things, Fullmetal." He unlocked it and began looking for something.

Ed couldn't explain it- maybe it was the timing of this week, maybe it was the lack of sleep- but something inside him was snapping, and all he could think about was how his superior was wasting his time for some sick sort of amusement.

"I can't believe you made me come all the way over here just to mess with me!"

This time, Roy just ignored his comment, instead mumbling to himself. "Where did I put it…oh yeah the top shelf so shorty wouldn't see it…"

There it was. Because the man couldn't go more than five minutes without pointing out his height. And it was all he needed to lose control.

"That's it! I'm not just gonna sit around and be your object of amusement!" Ed didn't even realize when he had stood up and starting pointing his finger at Roy.

"It's just a joke, Ed. Stop taking everything so seriously."

"You really couldn't careless about me, couldn't you?"

The blunt tone of Ed's voice caused Roy to pause his search for a moment, stiffening a little. "Ed...that's not…I—"

"You know I've never met anyone quite like you. So full of himself. You think you're always on top. That you've got control over everything. You're not god so I really wish you'd stop acting like it."

It was harsh. He knew it. Those words would have upset anyone, and yet his superior remained surprisingly calm. "I'm not playing games this time. Just shut up and let me—" He seemed to find what he was looking for as he reached out to grab a box.

"I bet it was all that time in Ishvall."

His hand stopped just short of touching it, frozen in place at the words of his subordinate.

At this point, Ed was running on auto pilot. He had already gone too far but he couldn't seem to stop himself. So he continued. "You killed so many people that you forgot what it was like to care. I bet you'd stab me in the back too if it somehow boosted your career. I don't want anything from you. Not now. Not ever. Al and I don't need anyone's help!"

Retracting his hand, Roy closed the cabinet and locked it back up, keeping his back turned to Ed. He spoke calmly but precisely.

"Fine, if you really want to leave that badly, then go."

He was expecting his superior to yell back. To defend himself, To do something. The lack of anything took him by surprise so much so that he suddenly found it hard to speak.

"Uh, okay.."

"In fact," Roy stated, as he slowly made his way back over to his desk to sit down, "Why don't you take the next two weeks off."

"But why—"

"Because I really don't want to see your face right now. Your dismissed. Now go."

He finally got what he wanted. Freedom, Escape. However you want to word it. Roy told him he could leave, so why was he having such a hard time moving his feet?

"Come on, Mustang, don't tell me I hurt your feelings or some—"

"I said dismissed!" The older alchemist slammed his hands down on his desk and stood up, keeping his gaze pointed down.

It was true. Roy wouldn't even look at him. Ed stared at him blankly a few seconds and, for once in his life, he didn't fight back. He didn't know what to do. So instead he did the only thing he could.

He ran.

He shut the door behind him as quickly as he left the room. Back pressed against the wall, he briefly wondered if he should go back in and try to smooth things over. But this was Roy. The bastard constantly went out of his way to aggravate him, and he just had to pick this week to do it.

He'll be fine. Ed thought. Maybe he'll even learn not to mess with me.

He pushed away from and door and started heading across the room, completely oblivious to the fact that he wasn't alone.

Havoc was the first to speak. "Hey chief." Ed nearly jumped upon realizing this, but barely glanced his way before continuing towards the door.

Then Fuery spoke up. "Hey wait, where is it?"

Then Fallman. "Yeah, how did it go?"

Almost to the door, Ed stopped. "How did what go?"

"You know, the thing Roy had for ya. The—" but thankfully Havoc caught Breda across the table shaking his head furiously at him.

"Uh nothing, never mind."

Ed hated when they did that to him. Withheld precious information from him. Normally he would have gone on a rampage about it, but with what had just taken place, he just didn't have the energy to yell at anyone.

"Okay, whatever." Was all he managed as he opened the door and stepped out.

He still didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Was the whole team in on his prank too? Fortunately he didn't have to ponder it for long before running into Hawkeye a little ways down the hall.

"Oh, hello Edward. You don't look very happy. Did it not go well?"

Now he could feel his temper returning.

Even Hawkeye knew?

"What is everyone talking about!"

"Your present."

"My...what?"

"Your birthday is Thursday, is it not?"

She said it so matter-of-factly and he felt his eyes widen a little. "How do you know that?"

The question seemed to puzzle her as she furrowed her brows. "The colonel knows all of our birthdays."

And suddenly everything was starting to make sense. The awkward small talk. Roy's nervous behavior. Is this why Mustang had called him into the office today?

"Crap…" He muttered under his breath. Did I really just yell at my superior over a stupid present?

"Ed. Did something happen between you two?"

"No…" He looked away, not wanting to lie to the hawk. "I gotta go."

He brushed passed her quickly before she had time to respond and continued down the hall.

If it had been anyone else. Anyone else and they would have turned back immediately to apologize. That's what should have happened. But Ed was not anyone. He was stubborn, hot headed, rude, and mostly still a kid. (Though he'd angrily disagree.) So he kept on walking towards the dorms, hoping the colonel would just forget his behavior by tomorrow. Yeah, avoiding the problem was so much better than just working it out right then.

Well, it was easier at least.

So that's what he did.

The rest of the day was uneventful- something which Ed was grateful for. They packed up their stuff and he went to bed that night convinced that the whole situation would blow over by morning.

But he couldn't have been more wrong.