Spoiler Alerts: This takes place after the FMA Movie Conqueror of Shambala. If you haven't watched it and don't want spoilers, don't read any further.

Warnings: This story will contain graphic male on male action. Its also going to have a bit of graphic het, some violence and swearing, and, again, spoilers for both the series and the movie.

Disclaimer: FMA doesnt belong to me. Nor do I want it. Not entirely sure who owns the rights, but good on them.

Summary: Ed and Al return from the gate three years after going in search of the Uranium bomb. The country is in a state of civil unrest, and Roy Mustang is in the middle of it.

AN: This is the product of too many hours working in a refrigerated building. I apologize for the bluntness of the first scene. Itll probably be the only graphic het I'll write.

Prologue

Sleeping Awake

Fingers laced through light brown hair, Roy Mustang once again wondered what the hell he was doing.

Sure, the woman was pretty enough. Tall, with soft, rounded features, she was the exact opposite of what he would have normally gone for. Still, a better man than he would have considered himself lucky to have her pump red lips wrapped around his cock.

She was incredibly skilled, too. She knew exactly how hard to suck and squeeze with her hands, just when to switch to caressing his balls with her tongue, and how to apply just the right pressure to the cleft of his ass to make him see stars while drawing her head back, denying release.

He should have been unable to think straight.

Instead he sat there, hands twined in her hair, wondering what the hell he was doing in bed with yet another floozy.

He could tell he was going to lose his erection before she even finished him off, and was didn't know what to do. The self-loathing was becoming a common occurrence.

As if sensing his disinterest, the brunette drew her mouth off his cock with a wet 'pop' as the head slipped past her still tight lips.

Looking into his eyes with what she obviously thought was a smouldering look – far too practiced for Roy's tastes – she moaned, "Fuck me, General. Take me with your hard cock. Make me scream your name."

A few years ago it might have turned him on to hear those words spill from her lips. He probably would have spanked her for it, and turned her around to take her from behind.

Now he was hard pressed to resist the urge to vomit and throw her from the bed.

He was spared the embarrassment by the shrill ring of his phone on the bedside table.

Nudging her from between his legs, he reached to answer the call, ignoring her protests that he should let it ring.

"It's work," he stated, as though it explained everything. He was in the military, so is should be answer enough. Putting the receiver to his ear, he spoke sharply; "Mustang here."

"Important information has just reached head quarters, sir. We need you to come in immediately."

It was Riza on the line. He could have kissed her for saving him from an uncomfortable situation… if it wouldn't lead to an even more uncomfortable situation. Still, there was his reputation to consider. "Can it wait until morning?"

"No sir," his subordinate responded, annoyance clear in her tone, but it was masking something else. "We really need you in to deal with this personally."

Her evasion bothered him. "Very well. I'll be in at 0100 hours."

"Sir," she acknowledged before hanging up.

Roy gently placed the receiver back on the cradle and turned to his bed partner. "Sorry about this, but duty calls."

He wasn't sorry at all, of course.

She seemed to regret missing out on the chance to sleep with the great ladies' man, General Roy Mustang, but she knew better than to ask for a second date. Roy never took a woman home more than once.

Even still, she thanked him for a wonderful evening, and let herself out of his house. Roy remained standing in the bedroom for several more minutes, musing over the state of his life.

I really need to stop torturing myself like this, he thought fiercely, though he knew he would be hard pressed to ever let it go.

"You mean to tell me you've dragged me from the arms of a rather willing bed partner to inform me about another rumour?" Roy asked, demonstrating his impatience to Riza and Jean. Riza gave him a disgusted look, and clearly wanted to say more, but Jean rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Roy sighed, knowing his second in command didn't believe a word that was coming out of his mouth. She knew he took these women home, and she also knew he was just as disgusted with himself as she was at his own behaviour. She even knew why he took the women home, night after night.

What she didn't understand was why he never asked her to comfort him.

His only reason was that he respected her, and she deserved far better than he could ever hope to offer.

She didn't deserve to be used as a replacement for anything else.

Sighing again, Roy caught her gaze and tried to keep it; tried to will her to understand that she couldn't want him, that she should want something more. She met his gaze, but seemed to ignore the silent meaning.

Jean cleared his throat, forcing Roy to break the eye contact and shift his gaze to his other subordinate. "Ah, sir… I don't think this is just another rumour. These reports are coming in from Resembool."

"We've been hearing reports for the past five years from across the country saying people are sighting Fullmetal, his brother, or both. If we sent scouts to verify every rumour we'd have no one left to man HQ."
Riza watched as her commanding officer rubbed roughly at the back of his neck, exhaustion clearly setting in. Her heart went out to him, though. Despite his words, she'd seen the hope lite his face every time a report came in regarding a hint of the Elric brothers' whereabouts, before he'd quickly squash it out. A person could only stand disappointment so many times before their ability to hope was killed.

Roy Mustang was almost there, and Riza's heart wept.

Still…

"Sir," she began in a whisper, knowing she was dooming herself. "The reports from Resembool are coming from Winry Rockbell."

Hope lit Roy's face once again, and this time it was fanned to a flame. He looked over to Jean, and barked, "I want two tickets for the next train to Resembool."

Inside, Riza choked back tears, but set about making the arrangements.

Al was never certain why he did it; why he took his brother back to the Rockbell's instead of to a hospital, or to Central. Maybe it was the thought of finally being able to make it home, of finally being able to surround himself in familiar sights and people.

Unlike Ed, even after three years spent on the other side of the gate looking for the bomb, he could never consider the place home. There were too many familiar faces doing unfamiliar things, too many little reminders that he wasn't where he belonged.

But now he was home, dragging an unconscious brother along the roads that led to Resembool, unsure of how he got there, or why exactly he was heading that way.

The last thing he saw before he joined his brother in the blissful state of oblivion was the shocked face of one Winry Rockbell, returning from a trip to Central on the back of a battered truck.

It was very good to be home.

Pinko didn't understand why Winry felt it necessary to call the military to let them know Ed and Al had survived. The brothers had only ever joined the military to get their bodies back, and as far as she was concerned they'd succeeded as much as they needed. Ed would always need the automail, but in her mind it wasn't a bad thing.

It gave Winry an excuse to be able to see and touch Ed on a regular basis.

It was her hope that the two of them might get married some day, just like the two brothers had always argued about as children.

Contacting the military complicated things.

Things like having the brothers go from being thought dead to being still enlisted in the military. Things like having the dark haired young man interfering where he wasn't needed. If not for him, they wouldn't have lost five years with Edward, or three with Al.

Still, it was probably something that would have come up regardless, so she guessed it was well they were going to bite the bullet now.

It would have been better to never have to deal with the military dogs again.

Pinko watched her granddaughter smooth the hair back from Ed's clammy forehead. She wondered how long it would be before Ed regained consciousness, for Winry to ask him on a date, for Al to find someone of his own.

Most importantly, though, she wondered how long it would take for Roy Mustang and others from the military to come to her house and try to get Ed to return to them.

Or how long it would take for Ed to agree, and Al to go with him.

Pinko prayed to the gods she didn't believe in that it would be a long time before the military got involved.

There was no sound of heavy military transport driving up the gravel road to warn the Rockbells of their approach, and it was probably for the best.

It was Winry who opened the front door to find Roy and Riza on the front step, eight days after Ed and Al returned, with shoes and pant cuffs stained with dust from the walk in from town.

Winry had only really called Mustang's office because she knew it was what the Elric brothers would have wanted, and not because she was feeling generous. She'd always known Roy had a soft spot for the two siblings, but she knew that given the opportunity he would have used them once again for his own personal gain.

Though she hadn't brought the opinion up, she felt as though Al shared her sentiments. He always had the most particular look on his face whenever one of them mentioned a potential visit from the military dogs.

Still, she was courteous when she invited the two high-ranking military officers into her house. They were dressed in civilian clothes, which she took to mean they weren't there on official duty. It made it a little easier to stomach having them around, so she offered them something to drink.

The blonde woman accepted, while Roy Mustang asked to see Ed and Al.

"Ed's still unconscious, though the doctors told us he should wake up soon. You can stop into the room down the hall to see him while I go get Al from outside, if you'd like."

"Thank you," he responded curtly.

Roy turned quickly on his heel and headed up the hall to Ed's room.

It took Winry a lot longer to find Al than she expected. She thought he'd be out by the back shed, but instead she found him at the ruins of his childhood home drawing some alchemic array in the dirt with a charred piece of floorboard.

They'd never had the heart to take down the remains of the building.

She and her grandmother had always hoped the two boys would come home and rebuild.

Al seemed to hear her approach, as he turned around to face her before she got too close. His blond hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his face was liberally streaked with dirt.

Winry thought she could see the path of tears through the smudges.

Al smiled to belay her concerns.

"I was thinking about trying to put the house back together, but I can't seem to remember the arrays I need," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "Ed and I haven't had a home in nearly ten years. I know why he burned this home to the ground, but I think we can use it to look forward."

Meeting his eyes, Winry finally noted the true depth of his emotions. "I'm tired, Winry. I just want to stop, to stay still for a few years."

Smiling, Winry came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing is going to take you away from your home if that's what you want. We'll all start fresh together."

He smiled again, a little more genuine this time, as though her words truly reassured him. "I'd like that. Brother and I can finally rest.

"But you obviously came out here for a reason. What's going on?"

For a second Winry hesitated, unwilling to interrupt the rare moment she was having with the younger Elric brother. Still, it needed to be done.

"General Mustang and Colonel Hawkeye are here to see you guys."

Al's expression immediately hardened. "What does he want?" he bit out.

"They're dressed in civilian clothes, so I don't think they're trying to recruit you again. I think they just want to reassure themselves that you're actually home and that you're whole."

Al's expression didn't relax. Instead he walked past her to return to her home. "Alright. Let's get this over with."

It was soothing; sitting in the room next to Ed, stroking the back of the young man's hand with his thumb. Roy had never noticed before, but it was the only time he'd seen the young blond look peaceful; asleep.

His brief conversation with Pinko left him with the impression that Ed would wake up soon, so even that fear had been lifted.

It was soothing to sit with Ed and just talk mindlessly.

Then he heard a shuffling of feet at the door.

Roy looked up from Ed's prone figure, his face drawn. He hadn't meant to be caught off guard, but there were Al and Winry watching him with dismay and confusion respectively. Seeing no way to salvage the awkward situation, Roy leaned down to brush the bangs from Ed's forehead and place a chaste kiss there.

Silence hung in the air as he stood and looked the two children in the eye. "Please tell Ed when he wakes up that his job will be waiting for him if he ever wants it again."

He was out of the room before either Al or Winry could respond.

"I don't want Ed knowing Roy or Riza were here to visit him," Al stated quietly, but in a tone that broke no argument.

Winry looked at him sharply. "Why not? He'll be happy to know he's not expected back in Central."

Shaking his head, Al didn't meet her eyes when he explained. "We met someone like Roy on the other side of the gate. He looked so much like Roy, but he really messed with Brother's head. I don't think Brother needs a reminder of that so soon after getting home."

"I know General Mustang used you guys, but you were using him, too, and he really wasn't that bad a guy as far as military men go. Don't you think it would be helpful for Ed to put it behind him if he saw the differences between Mustang and this other guy."

Winry wasn't sure she wanted to know what had happened, but she didn't think it warranted lying to Ed.

It was as if Al was reading her thoughts. "We're not lying. I just don't think we should tell him until he's ready."

"And how will we decide he's ready?" she asked heatedly, not sure where the emotion was coming from. It wasn't as if she wanted Ed to go to Central to rejoin the military.

"He'll ask us about it."

They finished their meal in silence.

As was her usual evening ritual, Winry sat next to Ed's bed and read him the newspaper. In all likelihood he couldn't hear her, but it made her feel better to know that she wasn't leaving him on his own.

Finished with the newspaper, she set it aside and took Ed's hand in both of hers. "Al asked me not to tell you, but I guess it doesn't count if you're not awake… Roy came to see you. I don't know what his double did to you before, but our Roy Mustang seems to really care about you, so don't ignore him forever."

Satisfied by the compromise, Winry sat in silence with the young man she'd know for so long and contemplated where to future would take them.

When Pinko looked in on them, she found her granddaughter asleep at the side of the bed. She fetched Al to carry Winry to her own bed, and found herself dreaming about great grandchildren when she finally went to sleep that evening.

When she awoke in the morning, she thought, All is as it should be.

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