Everything Went Fuzzy, part 2

A/N: so i havent been updating like i should, im sorry, school is insane, and its had

me so tired everything ive wrtten has been crap. i dont have that high of an opinion

of this but its decent tnough to share i think. in the market for a beta still, so this is

unbeta'd, although it has been spaellchecked and proofread.

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It was getting dark when the group re-assembled on the steps of headquarters. Everyone in the office had taken the search for Edward as a good excuse to get out of the building for the rest of the day. Now the group was starting to worry though, it had been hours and every obvious and not so obvious place had been searched. In the last hour they were out a few downright improbable places were searched as well, and now everyone was running out of ideas that they were comfortable with. It was then that the uncomfortable thoughts came, the suggestion in the back of the minds on everyone involved that whispered maybe Edward really was in some sort of danger. No one wanted to admit this out loud however, and they stubbornly held onto the hope that maybe in their absence due to the search that the blonde would have shown up. Luck was not as such though, and the group descended on an office just as deserted as when they had left.

It was late enough now though that everyone was hungry and tired, not to mention frustrated. They couldn't really think of anything else to do for Edward at the moment, and the police refused to officially get involved until the person in question had been gone for a week, especially in the case of either Elric, who had been known to travel a lot and disappear from one place at the drop of a hat. Alphonse knew it wasn't that harmless though, his brother always told him where he was going, always.

But the group still grudgingly agreed to disband for the evening, but assemble at that location in the morning to continue their search in some way, though how they weren't exactly sure. The colonel gave them orders before they left that if anyone spotted anything suspicious tonight, that they would call him immediately. With that they went their separate ways, with Hawkeye trying to soothe a slightly distraught Alphonse who wanted to keep looking. She gave him the office keys she carried, and told him he could stay there for awhile if he wished, and go through the records on what they had been doing for possible clues as to what could have happened. She doubted he would find anything useful, but it gave the boy something to do and for that he was grateful.

X

Edward has stopped trying to jump up every time Envy walked in the room, and this time he only looked up with a resigned sigh, waiting for the sin to start his usual round of insults and injuries. It shocked him a little to see the sin standing there with his automail arm in hand, smiling like an idiot.

"Look what I found, chibi-san! All shiny and beautiful, I bet you'd like it back, wouldn't you?" The sin's smile was as evil as it was gleeful, but still he held the arm out towards Edward, who only looked confused.

"Um, Envy? You are aware that the first thing Im going to do when I get my arm back on is kick your ass, right?" His flesh hand grabbed the metal wrist offered him anyways, wary of the sin's response and almost definitely sure there were some sort of strings attached with the return of his limb.

"Oh Edward, you hurt me so with your mistrust. And to think I'd come all the way down here to spring you from this joint, too." Edward's eyes filled with confusion then, mistrust still written across his features. "Well, really, did you honestly think we'd let the military have its ugly little way with you? No, you're of too much importance to our cause, we have to keep a much better eye on you than that. Father would be most displeased with me if I let them keep you in some vault somewhere all locked up. We just needed a slightly better handle on you. But thats not important right now, right now I'm here to get you out of this godawful place."

Edward still didn't move, until Envy advanced on him further, the exasperated anger clear in his eyes. "If you don't attach the goddamn arm I'll come over there and do it for you, and believe me it will hurt a good deal more than is entirely necessary." Edward grabbed the arm harder then, maneuvering it over the empty socket and taking a deep breath before shoving it in and twisting, locking the limb in place. It did hurt, and he couldn't help crying out a little, a light sheen of sweat coating his body.

Then he paused to catch his breath, slow his heart, before there was an explosion of energy and the bonds were gone. Envy pushed a sheet of paper into his hand then, rolled tightly. Edward was perplexed until he opened it. A map of the compound was printed on the other side, Envy only said one word to him then, and it was all he needed to say.

"Go"

X

Mustang had been wrenched from his nap in the living room by an insistent knock on the door. The sky outside was dark and he'd been asleep for awhile, so it must have been late. He sprang up, still half asleep, ready to chide whoever it was that dared to come by this late. He was trying to sleep after all, even if it was in the living room with all the lights still on. He had angry words all ready as he wrenched open the door, but they died in his throat when he saw the shape standing there. Large golden eyes met his, from under the hood of a distinctive red jacket. The boy twitched and looked over his shoulder nervously. Roy was confused, to say the least.

"Hey, um, Fullmetal, where you been all day? You're brother had us all out looking for you." He paused, and stepped outside, looking around to see what the boy was so nervous about, "Why are you here anyways? You're brother was worried sick, Im pretty sure he'd be relieved to here that you're not dead or something."

Ed locked his eyes onto the ground, worrying his hands together in front of him, stepping close in to the door.

"Listen Colonel, Im not exactly sure what happened, but there were these people from the Military, and Envy was there, and they had me for awhile, some place underground, but I woke up and I think there's something wrong with me and I wasn't sure where else to go because I can't go back to the base, not like this, the military, they were involved they might be looking for me, and you're the only person I know who lives off base so I thought maybe you could help me figure this out because I don't know what to do and I know you don't like me and Im a pain in the ass but I promise to be good and I'll do whatever you want just please, Mustang, I ..."

The boy was starting to get choked up Roy could hear the tears behind his voice, and this just perplexed him even more. The boy hadn't been making much sense, at least none of it made much sense to him, but the calmer side of his mind told him to bring the boy inside and figure this out. Besides, seeing those golden eyes fill with tears, no matter how much they were blinked back, made Mustang's gut twist uncomfortably. He had to help the boy, he had to.

He stepped inside, ushering Edward in in front of him, offering to take his coat. When Ed pulled the hood down Roy just stared, blinking in surprise. Fixed on top of the boy's head, tucked into his hair, were to soft, fuzzy, triangular, golden ears. His mouth fell open.

"Um, Fullmetal? Why do you have ears on top of your head? Im pretty sure those weren't there when you came into the office last..."

Edward's eyes went wide, and he ran to the mirror hung in the front hall. He let out a small yelp before clapping his hand over his mouth. Gingerly he reached up to touch one poking it gingerly with one automail finger, then flinching when it twitched automatically. He tried to speak but no words came out, so he just stared wide eyed. I have goddamn cute fuzzy kitten ears on top of my head? How the fuck did this happen?

X

An hour, three cups of tea, and a tray of slightly burned chocolate chip cookies later, Mustang finally had the boy sitting on the couch in a reasonably calm manner. He was still breathing rather heavily, and he hadn't been able to speak very clearly through the panic in his voice. Now the boy was still sitting quite still, chewing solemnly on a cookie. Roy hadn't been able to get any new information out of Edward, so he had given up trying to figure out what exactly had happened to the boy, why it had happened, and more importantly, how. He just sat there, watching the boy's shocked silence, spine stiff on the couch, eyes clouded with the trauma he had yet to process.

He knew something would have to be done, he had to figure out what had happened to Edward. The ears were one thing, that was understandably upsetting in and of itself, but that wasn't what made Roy so uneasy about the whole situation. No, it was the fact that Edward had gone from hysterical and scared to silent and stunned in the short time he had been with the boy. Neither of those emotional settings were what he was used to from the boy, and they both left a sour taste in his mouth, and an itching in his fingers, wanting to wrap around the neck of whoever the heck made the boy like this and keep snapping until there was nothing left but a greasy black stain on the floor.

"So Edward..." He started hesitantly, trying to break the spell that hung over the boy. If he could get the blonde talking, ranting, anything closer to normal that this, he would feel a whole lot better. He had to know that Edward was still in there somewhere. "What are you planning on doing now? You know I can't let you go outside now, that would be much too dangerous. We have to figure this out before I can risk something like that." The boy raised his head, but still kept it tipped downwards, looking up at the colonel through his bangs.

"I-I know I probably shouldn't go out much, but I won't be here for long, I promise. As soon as I figure something else out I'll be out of your hair. I just - please don't tell anyone, okay? I have no idea why this happened or who did it really, though I remember some general's face and of course Envy, but he - he got me out for some reason, Im not sure why. I just know he wanted me out of there, and not beholdant to the military like they wanted. I just - as soon as I figure this out, I'll get out of your hair..." He trailed off, eyes flicking down to the table in front of him, staring intently into his half empty mug.

"No Edward!" Mustang interjected, a bit more forcefully than he admittedly had planned, "You'll stay here until we figure this out, and set it right. I promise I won't tell anyone, but I will do whatever I can to help you, and I mean that. Does anyone besides me know where you were, that you're back, or that you came here?" Edward jumped a little at the man's declaration, but shook his head gently at the question, eyes once more fixed tightly on his shoes.

"N-no," He said, his voice breaking a little in the middle, "The first thing I did when I got out was come here." He flinched a little at the sound of his own words. "I-I couldn't go see Al, he's been on base, and there really isn't anyone else I could have gone to really..."

"Is there someone you'd like to call then? Al maybe?" The boy sighed heavily

"No, but if you see him would you tell him Im fine, I just have to lie low for awhile. I'd - I just don't want anyone else to see me like this, and he would just worry." His eyes flitted upwards, meeting Mustang's for a second, and he could see they were a bit more liquid than normal. "Just don't tell anyone, okay? Promise me you won't tell anyone, not until I know what's wrong, not until I know how to fix it." The last part was phrased as a command, but carried the unsure balance of a hesitant request. It hurt the colonel a little to see the boy like this, so close to broken.

"Of course Edward, I won't say anything, you'll be safe here until we can figure all of this out." He didn't necessarily want to keep this a secret, and he knew this would be much easier if he could bring some of the members of his team in on it, but he also knew that right then keeping the blonde boy on his living room couch from crying was much more important than anything else, as selfish as that seemed to him. He felt something soften in him then. "Edward, why don't you go have a nice hot shower, and I'll set up the sofa-bed in the study for you, and when you get out we can all go to bed. It looks like its been a really long day." The boy's face set into a scowl.

"Bastard, just because Im some sort of chimerical freak now doesn't mean I need you're pity and help, I can do things just fine for myself still, you know." Then his eyes widened a bit, and the color drained from his cheeks, biting back the rant that had been spilling from his mouth. I can't be such a miserable pain, not now, not to him. I need his help, as much as I hate to admit it. If Im bad he'll just send me away, and I have nowhere else I can go. No, that not an option. The boy swallowed hard before adding, "I mean, of course. I'll go take that shower, but I can make the bed up myself, honestly, I don't want to impose or be any trouble..." Roy chuckled and pointed the boy to the bathroom, following him up the stairs and branching off into the study, listening for the click of the bathroom door and the sound of running water before continuing in.

X

It had taken Ed awhile to get used to being under the water, something the animal grafted within him didn't like very much. But once he had gotten used to the wetness, he had begun to enjoy the warmth so much he regretted having to leave it now. Drying himself, he felt better though, now that the dirt of that place was off of him. His hair had been oily and heavy, his skin had felt itchy and contaminated, and the skin around his automail ports was tender and swollen from lack of care. He still felt small tingles and static in his automail arm, and he knew he should take it off and clean out the port. who knew what could have gotten in there while he was unconscious, or dazed. He wasn't supposed to port and un-port it in less than sanitary conditions, but he had been sort of desperate to have it back. He still didn't relish the pain he knew would come from dealing with it. He sighed though, as he gritted his teeth and thumbed the release tab, trying to wrestle it out one handed to no avail. He squirmed slightly in his head, and the thought that maybe this wasn't really necessary flashed through his head, but he gave up quickly. He would need to call for Mustang's help, he just couldn't do it by himself.

He wrapped the towel around his waist rather tightly, damp from his body, and rubbed a second on his hair vigorously, trying to get all the water out that he could. He'd have to brush it later, to get all the tangles out, but he could put that off until after he'd fixed the situation with the automail. The steam billowed out as he opened the door, and stepped gingerly out into the hallway. He paused, listening for the sound of the man's voice, but heard only a slight shifting from behind a closed door. He knocked gently, and held his breath before Roy opened the door, revealing the study inside.

"Ah, Edward, you look more comfortable now. I've made up the couch in here for you while you were showering, really no trouble at all. I brought in a shirt you can wear to bed, it probably won't fit right but it'll be better than those clothes you came in with. Those will need to be washed I think, before you can wear them again, so I brought you in some lounge pants, I'll get the other stuff cleaned tomorrow sometime." He focused in on Ed then, and his eyes narrowed a bit.

"Ed? Are you okay?" The blonde rolled his automail shoulder and tried to figure out what to say.

"Yeah. Well, kinda. I kinda sort of need your help a little bit. My automail, they took it off and when I put it back on it wasn't exactly the cleanest possible setting and now its a bit sore in the port, which i mean is okay and everything, but if i leave it like this it'll just get infected and thats a whole lot of trouble, and if it goes far enough i'd need to get the port re-set into my shoulder and all that, which is very painful and would put me out of commission for even longer and..." Roy put his hand up to silence the boy, which worked almost immediately, as Ed blushed lightly and looked at the floor again.

"Fine, what do you need my help with, Edward?" The boy just reached over, and thumbed over the release switch, not quite catching it right. Roy understood, supporting the limb with one hand while pushing the switch with the other, not entirely prepared for the strangled sound Edward tried desperately to bite back when it came undone. He almost dropped the automail, grabbing for Edward who swayed slightly unevenly, damp delicate ears twitching rather hypnotically form his hair. He smiled weakly up at him though.

"Thanks, that always a bitch. You can just put that anywhere, I have to go clean the port out well before I do the automail. If you would help me with that too, it'd be great. That one hurts a whole lot more." Edward faltered slightly as he turned to leave, hiding the flush he felt. He didn't need help putting it back on, really. It hurt like a bitch, but he could snap it back in fine on his own. He blushed deeper thinking of the man being so close, of contact on his skin, now a good deal more sensitive than before, probably do to the transmutation. He was glad to shut the door behind him then, and he flopped gratefully back against it. This was going to be a long night, he sighed.

X

It had unnerved Roy when Edward had cried out the first time, in removing the automail. He hadn't realized that it would be painful to remove it, and he had felt a burning twisting pain in his chest for a minute, thinking he had done something wrong and that pain was his fault. It had physically hurt the man however, when the automail was reattached and the boy didn't make a sound at all, just scrunched up and shook, jaw set closed so tightly he thought he might hear bones crack, flesh hand pressed soundly over his mouth. That much pain was too much to see written across his face. Edward had snapped a little when Roy had fussed over him afterwards, reminding the man he had done this many times before, it was a burden he was used to by now.

He had watched the boy fight to rip the tangles that had dried into his hair from his head with concentration and brute force, to no avail before he had snatched the comb away to a cry of, what the hell, Im not a child I can do it myself. A stern look had silenced the boy though, and he had sat quietly through the whole procedure, relaxing into the man's touch near the end. Mustang had told himself it was to help the boy, to make the task easier, but he knew it was really out of an intense desire to run his hands through the boy's blonde hair, which was beautiful and now soft and clean as well. He carefully avoided the new ears, but he thrilled slightly every time he brushed one, and he felt the answering tremor in Edward's spine. He was almost disappointed when he had finished binding into the customary plait, binding it off with the elastic the boy had handed him.

It wasn't often the boy allowed his commanding officer to touch him, and the prospect thrilled Mustang a bit, even though he knew somehow that that wasn't necessarily the healthiest thing for him to think. He couldn't help it though. But he let Edward go when he moved to stand up, and mumbled a thank you at the man behind him. He had slipped into the sofa bed Roy had made up then, face split briefly by a yawn. Roy had watched the boy for a minute, thinking how perfect he looked in the half light left when he turned the lamps in the room out for the boy. He looked at the peaceful sleeping face, with the adorable ears perched above, and the sheer ironic humor made him stifle a laugh, not wanting to wake the neko boy. He didn't know that as soon as he left, those golden eyes flicked back open, and the boy spent most of the night puzzling out the man's behavior.

and thats it, reading is nice, reviewing is love, and i'll try to update