A/N: This chapter is longer than usual. Some curses. An actual normal day.


"There have been four eye witness reports of someone fitting the description of Edward Elric leaving the area of the incident," Lieutenant Hawkeye read aloud to Mustang. "There is also evidence of struggle at the scene."

The older man put his forehead in his hands and sighed. "The day after we let him go, he's already causing mayhem." His hands slid back down to his desk; he looked into Hawkeye's orange-brown eyes, his own filled with annoyance. "Hawkeye, we're going to find him."

The woman nodded in agreement.

Edward sat in an alley, biting his nails down to the skin, spitting the torn cells off of his tongue to disappear into the darkness of the alley. He flashed a menacing glare to anyone passing who dare make eye contact with him. Some people scowled at him return; others hastened their pace and broke eye contact with him. No one dare tried to help or talk to him. He wasn't necessarily a sight to behold either. He was matted with dust and debris, his eyes sagging and exhausted. His hair now cut short, the edges of his hair covered in dried blood. There was some of Scar's blood splashed onto his tank top and boots.

The young boy slid his suitcase onto the other side of him, away from the opening of the alley. He tightened his grip on the handle, extra precaution that no one would steal it from him. Ed thought about how it felt to see Scar in so much pain. He'd never purposely hurt someone, but now that he had, he'd never realized how much he enjoyed it. It gave him a rush, hearing Scar's howls of agony ringing in his ears. A vicious smirk spread from Edward's lips as he began to chuckle under his breath, nodding off into sleep.

Roy Mustang held up a sketch of Edward Elric to a passing woman. "Ma'am, have you seen this boy at all?" The woman looked at the drawing, then back at the Colonel. She nodded slowly.

"Yes I have seen him,"

The colonel and lieutenant's eyes widened, surprised to finally get a lead. "The poor boy, he looked pretty roughed up. I wonder where his parents are." Roy lowered the picture and leaned over to the woman, his eyes rattled with concern. "Where have you last seen him?"

The woman turned around and pointed down the street, the location she was aiming was not specific. "I saw him about 6 blocks down, he was sitting in an alley and-"

"Thank you ma'am." Roy cut her off and rushed past the woman in the direction she pointed for them, waving for his subordinate to follow.

Edward's subconscious was darkened with black as he floated around in his own mind, trapped by the sleep he was in. His mind couldn't form any dreams or nightmares, much to the boy's relief. He felt a tingle in his body, his heart jumping. His eyes flashed open, pulling him out of his rest.

Someone's coming.

He scrambled to his feet, getting into a fighting stance, ready to attack the presence he felt. He recoiled when he saw Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye round the entrance of the alley. Mustang sighed in relief at the sight of finally finding the boy.

"Colonel? What do you want?" Edward snapped at Roy, observing him up and down. He looked tired; sweat ran down his forehead.

Mustang cleared his throat and his face reverted back into its normal serious expression. He placed his left hand on his hip, saying, "Well, FullMetal, it seems-"

"Don't call me that."

Roy rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well, Edward, it seems that you've been getting yourself into trouble already."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Edward scoffed. "What I do is none of your fucking business, I'm not a dog of the military anymore."

The two adults were taken aback by the boy's foul language, but Roy continued. "I have taken the responsibility of watching over you and your brother," Edward snarled at Roy for bringing up Al, but said nothing in return. "And I still have that responsibility. Now, tell me what the hell happened last night." Edward hissed his teeth. There's no point in hiding it from him, he'd keep pestering me 'til I coughed up the truth.

"I got into a conflict with Scar, that's all." Edward turned his head away, avoiding their gazes.

Roy's attention shifted to the boy's lack of hair. He walked up to Edward, who looked up at him. The man grabbed his cheeks and turned his head to get a better look at his hair. "You cut your hair. Why is it covered in blood?"

"LET GO!" Edward grabbed the Colonel's arm, tearing his grip away from his face, accidentally flashing some red from under his sleeve. Edward drew away from the man, glaring at him, but Roy's gaze was on Ed's right arm. "Your automail. Let me see it."

The boy inhaled a sharp gasp, only strengthening his suspicions. He pulled his sleeve farther down his arm, making it seem more obvious that something was wrong. Roy held his hand out to the boy. "Show me." Edward held his ground, still covering his automail. He grabbed Edward's right arm, sliding the sleeve down, revealing the large amount of blood that congealed on Edward's plating. Roy's face tightened in discomfort at seeing the large amount of blood. "Is this Scar's blood?" Roy pressed, trying to maintain his composure.

Edward snickered, "Why yes it is his blood." The colonel's face only twisted in confusion even more. Why did he sound so proud? "What the hell did you do?!"

"Self defense. He was about to kill me, what else was I suppose to do."

Roy let go of the boy's arm and walked back to the lieutenant, who was watching silently. "Come with me, Edward." He said, not turning around.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll find out when we're there."

They better not be taking me back to HQ… Edward reluctantly followed the dark haired man down the streets of Central, Lieutenant Hawkeye trailing behind him. The blonde boy looked around, trying to think of a way to escape.

"Don't even try it Edward." Hawkeye said, almost like she read his mind. Ed let out a quick huff and continued following the Colonel.

Roy could feel the boy's eyes burning into the back of his neck, but he refused to give him the attention he wanted.


After at least half an hour of walking, the three arrived at a common house.

"What is this?" Edward asked, putting his suitcase down next to him.

"This is my house." Mustang responded.

"Why the hell would you bring me here?"

"For now, you're going to be living with me."

WHAT! It felt like a bomb just went off in Edward's head. He felt like running. There is no way in hell that he was going to live with ROY MUSTANG. He dashed past Lieutenant Hawkeye, but Mustang grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling him back over to him. He wrapped his arm around Edward's stomach before he ran again and scooped him up under his arm. Roy had a decent amount of strength, picking up Edward was no problem, and no matter how much flailing he was doing.

"Lieutenant, can you bring in Edward's suitcase?"

"Yes, sir."

Roy made his way up the little flight of stairs of his home, searching for his keys in his pockets. By then, Edward gave up resisting; he lay limp in Roy's grip, adding extra weight to himself. Mustang unlocked the door, letting him in. He left Edward on the floor behind his couch.

"Don't touch anything until you're clean, FullMetal."

"Don't call me-

"You know what I mean." Roy snapped back. Riza closed the door behind her, setting Edward's luggage down by the door.

"Colonel, why are you still bothering to put up with me?" He asked, lying on his back.

"Because if I don't, you're probably going to get yourself killed, just like how you almost were last night."

"Why don't you just mind your own damn business?"

Roy took in a deep breath and sighed. "It's because you are my business, okay?"

Roy's answer surprised Edward; he sounded so… sincere. Not being able to come up with a smart remark, the boy stayed silent.

"Go take a shower."

Edward looked up at Mustang, who was towering in front of him. "What?"

"Like I said, go take a shower. You're filthy, you're going to ruing my house." Roy's tone changed back into his normal serious one, the sentiment in his voice faded. Roy helped him onto his feet and directed him to the bathroom. It was down the hall, near the stairwell. "Leave your clothes outside the door. I'll wash them."

Edward slammed the door behind him. He his flesh hand onto his cheek, sliding it up to his forehead, then let out a loud groan.

"What's wrong?" said Roy's muffled voice from behind the door.

"GAAAAH!" Ed shrieked. "What the hell are you doing out there!"

"Waiting for your clothes."

"Oh, right."

Ed quickly slipped out of his clothes and boots and boots and tossed them out the door for Mustang to collect. He hid behind the door, trying to protect as much of his naked body from Mustang as possible. The only thing he saw was a flash of his arm,

Ed rubbed his temples, trying to process what the hell is going on. He's naked in Colonel Mustang's house. How did this even happen?

The boy sighed and went over to the shower sliding open the glass door. He stepped inside, sliding it closed again. He turned the dials to set the water, nearly losing his balance when the cold water sprayed out of the pipe, catching him by surprise. He stood shivering in the shower until the cold water faded into warm water. He turned around, letting the blood that stained his hair drain out before turning back around again to wash out his automail. The tiled floor turned red, then got lighter as the blood drained away.

The water made him feel very relaxed, very tired… He nearly jumped when he heard the sink turn on behind him. He tried to not shriek when he turned around and saw Mustang filling a bent up iron basin with water.

"Mustang! What the hell are you doing in here?"

"Getting water. To wash your clothes."

"W-well hurry up!" Ed said, frantically covering himself.

"Don't worry, I'm not looking." Mustang chuckled, angling himself away from Ed. He turned off the faucet, cutting off the flow of water abruptly. He left the room, being careful not to spill the water.

He came back in shortly after, throwing in two towels, still managing to scare Ed. His face felt hotter than the water itself. He was getting more and more uncomfortable the longer he stayed there. It'd be best if he hurried up with his shower, so he could at least be a little more comfortable with clothes on. But he needed a few more minutes.


"Edward, get out of there, you're going to kill my water bill."

"No, Colonel, I need some more time."

"You've been in there for nearly an hour. Get out."

An hour?! Time really does fly… Ed quickly turned off the shower and retrieved the towels Mustang tossed in for him. He quickly dried his hair as much as he could, and then wrapped the other towel around his waist. Peeking out of the door, he saw Roy and Riza talking to each other on the couch.

"Hey Mustang, can you bring me my suitcase?" he said, cutting off their conversation. Roy sighed and brought over his suitcase, not exchanging any words with the short child. Edward watched Roy go back to the couch; Riza looked at Roy, giving off a soft smile. Ed rolled his eyes and slipped back into the bathroom.


Roy sat back down next to the woman, his face resting in his hands, and his elbows on his knees. He let out a big sigh, dragging out a groan. "That boy… He's starting to worry me."

"How come?"

"The blood on his automail, he had no objection saying that it was Scar's. He said it was self-defense, but he sounded so proud knowing that he finally landed a hit on Scar. It's unlike him, he's not one for senseless violence."

Hawkeye looked at Mustang, observing him carefully. He looked very distressed; Edward was really starting to get to him.

He leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "His brother is gone, that's a hard burden to carry. But I can't lose him; I don't think I could carry the loss of both of them on my back. Knowing that I couldn't protect them as their superior officer."

Edward stayed quiet, trying to hear what Mustang was saying. Did he really mean that?

Roy sat back up and laughed, running his fingers through his midnight black hair. "I've gotten very sentimental now, haven't I? I'd never think that I'd get so attached to these boys. A soldier and his younger brother…"

"Not at all, sir. I feel the same way about them."

Ed felt flattered, he always thought that Mustang was a smug asshole; he didn't know he cared so much for him and his brother. He pulled out some clothes and shuffled trying to pull them on. He threw a towel over his shoulders, letting the water drip off of the ends of his hair.

He left the bathroom, walking over to the couch, his automail foot clinking when it made contact with the wooden floor.

"Ah, Edward, you're finally out."

"Yeah."

"Do you want anything to eat?"

Edward forgot he hadn't even eaten anything in two days. He'd forgotten to eat since the day he resigned; he was so relieved to finally get some sleep. His stomach felt like it was being compressed once he noticed how hungry he was.

"Yeah, sure. What do you have?"

"I don't have any leftovers or anything prepared, but I have cereal."

Edward gagged; he wasn't going to eat cereal! Not when it has… Milk in it…

"Bleh, no thanks."

"Right, I forgot milk isn't one of your favorites.

"I can cook something if you want. I'm not that bad, y'know! Hawkeye can back me up on that!"

The woman sitting next to Roy giggles, covering her mouth a little.

"I can't deny him, he can cook anything."

"Haha, see?

"So what do you want?" Roy said, between laughs.

Edward hummed, thinking about what he really wanted. "I'd really like some vegetable stew… I haven't had that in such a long time."

Yeah, it's been a while…


A/N: This was going to be so much longer, but I just couldn't focus on it enough to make it longer. So happiness with Roy, Ed and Riza. What could go wrong? Oh wait.

Please tell me if I made anyone out of character. It seems like this is more Brotherhood Roy than FMA03 Roy? Please help me keep him in character.

Anyway, I'm literally about to start writing two new fics, so I'll at least finish up Possession...