Title: Comes Back Somehow

author: ursweetheartles

warnings: shonen-ai and m/m themes, definite AU diverging from cannon at set point. Spoilers for that thing with Hughes we're not supposed to talk about

a/n: updating and writing is tough now, with school on again, so bear with me. Unbeta'd so any constructive feedback would be nice, looking for a beta at the moment, mine seems to have decided she likes it in Romania shrug, also: yes i made Hughes into Narcisism, because Bryan was the only one being helpful when i was writing and that was his suggestion. the rest of you will get brownies for trying though. seriously, im making them right now...

Disclaimer: i wrote Hirouma Arakawa a nice letter asking her if she'd like to trade FMA for some nice fudgy brownies. i have not heard back but i am hopefull...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

.. Part 3: four farmiliar walls do not make a home ..

It had been a few months since Roy had gotten out of the hospital, and he was in peak physical condition once more. It had taken him a long time to be able to run as far as he did every morning, but it took him almost no time at all to get back into it. The first day had been tough, but the second had been easier, and every day got better until now, when he was pushing himself hard again. he had to keep in shape after all, he had a reputation to keep. The running also gave him a chance to think about things, mull things over in his mind. The world was always simpler at sunrise, his problems had a way of working themselves out then, coaxed by the soft light and birdsong. There wasn't anyone outside yet, the streets were tranquil and empty, only a few coffee shops and cafes open, serving breakfast for those who were awake at such an ungodly hour.

This morning Roy was a bit winded when he reached the last leg of his usual circuit, slowing to a walk, breath heavy and brow damp with sweat. He was entirely too distracted to keep running really, and if he couldn't focus he might as well give up now, and finish it when he could concentrate better. One would think it would be easier for him now. He was back at work in headquarters, even if Hawkeye did insist on her own special version of coddling him, by drowning him in enough paperwork that he didn't have time to do anything too strenuous.

Life really had been quieter than usual since "the incident," as everyone around him called it. His subordinates skirted him in annoying little ways, like he might break if not treated with care. It annoyed him to no end. The only one who didn't was Fullmetal, but he had been away on missions for most of that time, mostly to the small coastal border Asmestris shared with Kudjai in the south west. There had been some border skirmishes by a small ring of terrorists. There was never much damage done, and the casualties were quite minimal given the frequency of the attacks, but it was still considered hostile activity towards Asmestris, and was then to be investigated and firmly discontinued.

The last time the boy had been home was five weeks ago, and lately he had been giving weekly reports over the phone from the secure line in the local military outpost. The area was becoming more stable though, and Edward's efforts were definitely turning out to be invaluable to the effort, having already stopped several of the people involved in the smaller actions in the city. But he would have to come home soon, come back to central, if only for a little while. There was new information on the group given to him by against working with the military's ambassador to Kudjai, and information that was to be kept confidential for the safety of all involved.

Hawkeye had already called the blonde boy, letting him know of the new information and his orders to return so that he could be briefed on the matter. He was catching a train back to central tomorrow, and it would take him a little more than a day and a half to get to the city, taking the express train. Which meant Mustang was more restless and irritable than usual, a fact he would not let himself admit now. He blamed it on his recovery from the incident, he blamed in on stress and lack of sleep, he blamed it on the damn paperwork, anything that wasn't Edward, anything he could pin the emotions roiling around in his head on. He sighed, and kept running in the dawn light. Everything seemed simpler now, but the feeling never lasted past the shower he would take when he got home again, after which he would slip on his uniform and head to the office. He would wait there, pretending to do his paperwork until he heard news of the blonde boy's return. until then he knew he couldn't concentrate.

X

Edward dragged his suitcase onto the train and sighed. It was slightly cooler on the train, due to it being in the shade, but it was only marginally more comfortable, due to the lack of sufficient airflow. He grabbed a seat in the open section of the train, where the windows at least were open, making it a bit better. He stuffed the suitcase under the seat after eyeing the overhead luggage rack with distain. why did they have to put it so freakishly high off the ground? Normally it didn't bother Edward as much because normally he was traveling with his freakishly tall brother, who would swing the case up like it was nothing. This time, however, Alphonse had been helping Winry in the automail shop back in Risembool, as auntie Pinako had broken her hip on the stairs last winter, and it still bothered her. She was going in for some finalizing reconstructive surgery on the joint or something like that, and having someone around was helpful. Edward probably would have been there as well if not for the trouble out here in Kota, on the border. It was his duty as a state alchemist to help out, after all, and for once as far as he could tell there was no ulterior motive where the government was concerned. He couldn't turn this down.

But now he was on the way back to Central at least for a little while, to be briefed on some new developments in the area from intelligence. It would be nice to get out of this heat for awhile, even if it wasn't that far up to central. The train jerked into motion, most of the seats in the open car still empty. That was fine with Ed though, gave him more room to stretch out, and more time to take a nap . He had brought some books and transcriptions of interviews he had done as part of the investigation to read, and he would eventually have to write out his response for Mustang, but he had a lot of time. So now he just laid back and closed his eyes.

X

Envy was starting to ge tired of having to deal with his new sibling, the homunculous was always trailing him around and it meant that ne never got to do anything fun anymore. He couldn't even annoy the Fullmetal brat, Envy's favorite pastime, due to the fact that they couldn't have the boy seeing the newest sin, sure that he would recognize him from the human face he wore. This lead to a lot of sitting around the compound, boerd out of his mind. today was no different in the end, he had slept as late as he could force himself to sleep, even though his inhuman body didn't really need the rest. It was still somewhat relazxing and a decent way to pass the time as his charge still fantastized that he needed a full nights sleep to be functional.

He hadn't been expecting the message from Dante, coming from a boerd and detached looking Lust who showed up sometime in the afternoon. He hadn't been expecting it, but that hadn't meant he that he didnt jump up right away at the promise of some new task to do, anything was better than sitting here all day, wasting away. The smile he sprouted when he got the task barely fit on his face. He was being sent down to the south, where Greed had last been spotted. Dante wanted him to persuade the other sin to return to her fold once more, but Envy knew his sibling would decline the offer. That meant that Envy was given the right to threaten to seal the other homunculous, a process he had heard was painful and horrific, but he also knew Dante was fully prepared to come through on her threat, so did Greed. Just the kinds of things that Envy enjoyed dangling over the heads of everyone around him. He smiled, he was just Sadistic like that.

X

Edward's train was supposed to get into Central Station at 6:45pm, and Havoc was sent to the station to wait for him, but it was almost 8:00 before the train finally pulled in, and a rumpled and sweaty looking blonde boy stepped out onto the platform, dragging his suitcase behind him. The boy was exhausted, and sitting in the stuffy train was hellish, especially when it got stuck in the countryside when a herd of cows wouldn't get off of the tracks. He looked relieved now though, to be back on solid ground, where he could hurry back to base and take a shower, eat some food, take a nap. Havoc informed him he'd be bunking down in the guest rooms at Central, as the dorms were rather full at the moment, and they didn't want to put him in a double with someone else.

Normally the guest rooms were reserved for higher ups or foreign diginitaries, that sort of thing, but right now they weren't being used for anything, and there were quite a few of them. It was much more convenient for Ed to stay there, never having to leave base, they could have him give his report on the progress, brief him on the new, confidential information pertaining to the case, and have him on his way back out to Kota as soon as was humanly possible. There wasn't a good reason to waste time at this point, especially when Edward was so convinced that things were on there way back to being under control in the region, the local military detachment could be left to take care of things shortly.

Not that he was in any great hurry to get back to Central, and having to deal with Colonel Bastard every day, but at least central was familiar to him at this point. It was familiar in a stiff and military way though, staying in the small dorms no one could mistake for a home. Home was not a luxury Edward allowed himself, not until he restored his brother and attonned for his sins. Maybe then he would allow one place to become somewhere he could settle down and stay in, let himself have friends to surround himself with, let himself be comfortable just staying put. But for now, he couldn't.

X

Mustang used the meeting with Fullmetal as an excuse to blow off work that morning, only coming in to pick up some files and some coffee. He was meeting the boy in a private study room of the library, someplace where they could be alone to discuss this. Allegedly this was because of the sensitive nature of the material they needed to discuss, the files were considered confidential and the information could endager people on the front lines if it was leaked. But really it was about Roy getting to spend time with the blonde while he was in town. He missed having Fullmetal in the office, where he could make the boy yell and scream and get all worked up over nothing. The boy was so cute when he got all worked up. The thought made Mustang blush into his coffee, chuckling softly to himself while he climbed the steps of the library building.

He knew he was late and sure enough when he got there an annoyed looking Edward was sitting in the room he had reserved steaming in his boots, waiting to tell the man off for making him wait. Roy just smirked at the boy and before he could say anything he tossed a pile of folders onto the table, sliding them over to the boy. That was the only way to shut the boy up, give him something to read. Well, its not the only way I can get away with, smirked the Colonel to himself. Watching the boy read was almost as facinating as watching him yell. He really was quite beautiful when he was clam.

But Roy shook his headd at his own thoughts. Just like his mind now, to snag itself on someone he had no hope of ever having. Like a defense mechanism. He knew he couldn't go there again, not after what had happened with Hughes. It was too soon to attach himself in such a way with another person. It would just be another liability, another way for the world to strike out at him. Another person to die on me, even if Fullmetal is remarkably difficult to kill.

X

Edward was glad for the long train ride on the way back, as it gave him a chance to look over the files he'd been given by the colonel. He settled into a private compartment this time, not wanting to be distrubed while he read the still classified dicuments. He'd already read the file through once or twice, but he knew he had to memorise the information and destroy the file when he got to where he was going. He was alreay scribbling away in his notebook, writing in his own code the important information he gleaned, the things he thought might help him in the future of the investigation.

Apparently there was a very strong possibility that there was a Homunculous behind the border skirmishes with Kudjai, and there was a possibility that they were only a coverup for a smuggling operation running along the roads outside of town. This Homunculous, going by what the file had said was surly a psydonym of Greed had already made enimies in the military, and he didn't care much for the laws of the country or of Alchemy. He had many people working for him, and his hands in many dfferent circles of illegal activity, from drugs and prostitution to rather dangerous and illegal alchemy. It was suspected that he was importing illegal chimeras to Asmestris for slave labor in a number of different locations, that they were held in a compund outside of the city of Sajwati, right on the other side of the border, untill there were buyers lined up. They were then smuggled into the country and the exchange was made, usually in a town north of Kota by train.

This was an interesting development, but one that would take the investigation out of his jurisdiction if he reported it so soon. He needed to know mroe specifics before he could bring this to the higher ups, which is why Roy had given it to him. Roy was trying to help him make things right there, he was trying to play to boy's sense of idealism, give him something that needed his skills and special finnesse. he was, after all, an alchemist hero of the people. Roy's last words echoed in Edward's headd still,

Oh, and be careful Fullmetal, we know these Homunculii are dangerous, It wouldn't do to have you put out of commission over something like this. I ... I mean, WE don't want to see you come back hurt, okay? Now report in as soon as you get back, and keep in touch. Don't hesitate to ask if you need backup. We need you here, Edward. Those words kept distracting him from the task at hand, wondering why the colonel had made it so personal, why he had sipped tha way he did, almost letting his mask fall. Edward smiled then, he thought it was probably good for the man to let it fall once in awhile, keeping a mask like that up took a lot of effort. It didn't take long, however, for Edward to fall asleep with the file open in his lap. He slept most of the way back to Kota, the counducter just smiling at the peacefull looking boy, letting him sleep because lord knows he looked like he needed it.

X

Narcisism was glad to have his first assignment, eager to get on the bosses' good side, and to impress his companion, Envy. He wanted to show Dante and his sibling that he could follow orders, that he was smart and capable, that he was an asset that they could be proud of. Besides, whenever he did something right, Envy would give him a small smile, a smile that was just for him, that made his world brighter. He was sure that if he could do this right, he could see that smile again. The thought made him all warm inside. The assignement was to go to the station and tail a military operative looking for Greed. Hopefully the man would lead him to the wayward sin, and then they could intercept the officer and bring Greed into their own custody. He knew Envy would be working with him here, they would keep in touch but they would work seperatly.

He looked at the picture Envy had given him, of the boy the were supposed to be tailing. He wore his golden hair in a long braid, and his amber eyes were large and clear, his lips pressed into an annoyed line. This should be easy. Besides, he had heard Envy speak of the boy, the damn Fullmetal pipsqueak, with distain. He knew his sibling disliked the boy, but was familiar with the boy as well. Envy had told him of the boy's habits, from time spent with him before. Narcisism knew that if he could bring the boy down, if he could take him in, then Envy would smile at him twice as large. And he would do anything for that smile.

He was brought back to the present by the sound of brakes as the train slid into the station, and he looked up to get a nod from Envy across the way, wearing the body of a woman selling flowers. He knew he was supposed to stay back, not let the boy see him, and he did what he was told, scanning the crowd for the shock of blonde. Then he saw the boy step from the train, a folder under one arm, a suitcase in the other.

Target sighted. He smiled, nodded at his partner across the platform. The chase was on.