Here we go again ^^ Have fun reading.. and please don't kill me, okay?

Title: Simple Offer

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

Last time on Simple Offer:

"Love is love – no matter where it came from."


~Seventh Time~

Ed was sitting opposite from his brother. Just 30 minutes now and they would arrive in Central. It wasn't planed that they would go there but they still had time from the assignment left and Colonel Bastard could 'go fuck himself' if he thought that Ed would come back early from his mission. Of course this was just an excuse – Ed couldn't admit that he had a crush on the dark-haired man. Al shouldn't - couldn't – know about Ed's liking.

The three men had sat in Roy's living room for hours after the older men had found Ed sitting on a swing in a park close to Mustang's house. While the teen had freshened up in the bathroom the Colonel had called Alphonse – letting him know that his brother was safe with him and that he wouldn't come to their dorm room that night as they had to talk. Roy hadn't mentioned what this talk was about – he had made something up about some mission Ed was to go on and that Al could do some reading while Ed got a briefing.

So they had talked. They had been talking about being gay or bi, confirming that Ed was indeed gay – he couldn't find anything attractive about girls or women. Roy had just rolled his eyes as the teen went on and on about how annoying females were and that he couldn't be anything else but gay as his experience with women ranged from violent (Winry) to scary (Riza) besides that he knew everything about the inner working of female human beings as he had studied them a long time ago. Interesting to him were men. He was one himself but... to be honest he didn't even know why he reacted the way he did most of the time.

The blonde turned lightly pink as he thought about the way the Colonel had blushed when Hughes demanded – not asked – from the dark-haired man to tell about his experience with men. He was hesitant as he talked about one male he had been in love with before the war in Ishbal had started. They hadn't been long together but they had feelings for one another that went deeper than anything Roy had have with a woman afterwards. 'What happened to him?' The teen had heard himself asking – he hadn't intended to do so, he was just curious why they weren't together any more when they had loved each other. 'He's dead.' was Mustang's soft answer and Ed regretted to have asked in the first place.

So now the Elric brothers were on their way to Central to visit Hughes and his family. They haven't seen in years and even Ed had to admit that he missed their little sister Elysia and Gracia – most of all the fabulous apple pie the woman made. Two months after their talk in East City and Ed had questions he wanted to ask Hughes – when they were alone, of course. The teen blushed some more as he had to concede to himself that the man had become some kind of a father to them. He had never wanted any body else beside Al and his mother (and in some way Winry and Pinako) as his family and now it was getting even bigger with Hughes as a surrogate father, Gracia as some kind of an aunt (he couldn't think of her as his mother) and Elysia as their little sister. And there was Roy...

Roy with eyes so dark that you could see yourself in them. Roy with hands so big and warm that he felt safe when he was with him. Roy who – mostly – wouldn't see anything in him but a loud-mouthed teenager with anger management problems. He sighed heavily. Life was really a bitch when your name was Edward Elric. He slumped down and frowned deeply. The blonde didn't know when this crush would stop – if this crush would ever stop. That was one of the questions he wanted to ask Hughes. The man knew about his feelings for the Colonel – he just hoped Huhges wouldn't tell Roy about them.

Suddenly the train stopped and Ed was thrown from his seat to the floor. He had missed that the train was pulling into Central Station and came to an halt at the platform. His younger brother looked down. He was surprised – as surprised as amour could be – to find his older sibling on the floor and not the bench. Said older brother was sulking on the floor with no intention to stand up soon – or before he had calmed down enough to not throw a fit.

"Nii-san? Are you going to stand up?"

"Just a minute, Al."

The older teen grumbled under his breath and stood up. He dusted his clothes off and walked past his younger brother to the exit. He stretched and yawned as his feet hit the pavement. The air was cold but not cold enough to freeze – he rarely did with all the layers he was wearing. It was already late and the station was nearly empty.

The teens made their way out of the station to the closest hotel where they would be staying. It was too late to go to Hughes and his family and they didn't want to force themselves on Hughes. They knew the older man would invite them into his house but as already said it was just too late to go there now. They walked in silence. The brothers knew their way around Central – even at this time of the day – and knew where to go and where not. They wouldn't dare to take the short cut through the warehouse district – there were always some gangs hanging around and meeting them once was more than enough.

Nearly half an hour later they arrived at the hotel. The check-in didn't take long as Ed and Al were already known to the receptionist and the other employees in the hotel – as it was mostly frequented by them and other military personnel. The blonde sighed as he sat down on the comfortable bed. They had been on the train for over a day and now he was glad to stretch out and sleep on an actual bed with an actual pillow – not his coat – and an actual blanket. He let himself fall back on the bed – his feet skimming over the carpet.

"Nii-san?"

The older brother looked up and waited for his younger sibling to go on.

"We don't have anything to drink. We should go and buy some. And something to eat as well – the restaurant is already closed."

Ed nodded. It was late but there were still some shops open to get something to eat – even when most of that stuff didn't taste or look like actual food. He sighed.

"You don't have to go, Al. I can get some on my own. It won't take long."

The younger brother nodded his helmet and went back unpacking his older brother's suitcase.

Ed was walking back to the hotel. He had gotten some bread – hard but it will do – and some fruits and a bottle of water. He didn't need more. Tomorrow they would be seeing Hughes and getting something better to eat. He was excited to see them all again and to get his mind off the research. They weren't closer to their goal but at least they seemed to be on the right way. There were a lot of rumours – as always – but there were some that sounded promising – even one including a man that sounded to much like Hohenheim that he couldn't not be involved. The blonde sighed heavily. He had seen it coming for a long time. All those letters from alchemists all around Amestris. Nobody knew where Hohenheim was but they all wanted advise from him. Another sigh escaped the teen as he bumped into somebody else.

"I'm sorry."

He looked up into two soft rusty brown eyes. The blond teenager blinked as he recognised the other person.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in East City?"

The blond woman inclined her head and looked at the young man.

"We have been transferred back here."

Ed arched an eyebrow.

"Why would you be transferred back here? Do the higher-ups want a closer eye on the Colonel or something? Wouldn't be amazed if it were so."

The teen laughed but the Lieutenant stayed calm and indifferent to the youth's words.

"Hasn't anybody told you, Edward?"

"What should anybody tell me? I'm just here to visit Hughes and his family."

A pained look crossed the woman's face and she looked down at him – sadness written all over her features.

"We have been transferred back on request of Colonel Mustang. We're here to...' She took a deep breath. 'investigate the murder of Brigadier General Hughes."

He had read about it once when he had been a kid and his mother was still alive. He had asked her how something like this could happen – how time could stand still. She had smiled and tried to make him understand the way human minds were working. Time couldn't stand still but sometimes it seems to stop – mostly when a person experiences something wonderful or something very bad. After all this years it happened to him – time stood still and he didn't know if it would ever go on again. Moments later – what felt like hours to him – he heard the Lieutenant call his name. He blinked once, twice before he could see her again.

"Wh... when?"

His voice was low – nearly that of a small kid - and he could hear the fear and the hurt behind it. Could she as well?

"A month ago. Here in Central."

He nodded. His head hurt. Just minutes ago he was anxious to see the older man again – to ask him questions he couldn't ask anybody else – and now? Hughes was... dead... murdered. Who would do something like that? The man hadn't done anything to be murdered.

"Why would anybody do that?"

"We don't know, Edward. But we will find out."

He swallowed. Somehow he felt as if it was his fault. In some way it made sense. All the people he liked – loved – got hurt. First his mother – he knew it wasn't his fault but somehow he wished he had been a better son – then Al – that was his fault no matter how often Al told him that it was the younger brother's fault as well – then there was Nina – he should have seen that coming – and now it was Hughes.

He pressed the bag closer to his body. Suddenly a picture of the Colonel flashed though his mind. He and Hughes were the closest friends. He had seen those two together – arguing, talking. When he felt as if the world has come to an end how would Roy feel? His head snapped up. He swallowed again. The teen had to see Mustang. Even if the Colonel would send him away, even if the older man would tell him that he couldn't know , he had to see him – he had to make sure the older man wouldn't do something he would regret later on.

"Mustang.. the Colonel is he still living in that house where he was living before he moved to East City?"

The young Lieutenant nodded.

"It's really late, Edward. You should go back to your hotel. Alphonse must be waiting."

Alphonse. He hadn't thought about his little brother. What will he say when he gets the news?

"Edward?"

He looked up. He could see that Riza was concerned. He shouldn't make her worry even more. He would think about something. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"You're right. I should be heading back. Al is waiting for me."

"Should I come along with you?"

"No... Thanks for the offer but it's not far now. Bye. Lieutenant."

"Good-bye, Edward."

It wasn't far to his hotel but what would he tell Al? His little brother could see – nearly – everything. When he was hurt, when he was confused, when he was angry – okay that wasn't hard to see – and when he was sad. He sighed heavily as he stood in front of the building. He could see the lights in their room. Al didn't need light to read at night but it was kind of a habit to turn the lights on until Ed was fast asleep.

He couldn't face his brother now. He just couldn't bring himself to look into Al's eyes and tell him what Riza just had told him. Al was still a kid – even if he didn't look like it in his huge suit of amour. Sometimes even Ed forgot that. But Ed couldn't forget that Al wasn't able to express his feelings – Ed could cry but wouldn't and Al couldn't cry but wanted to so badly. He swallowed walked inside and straight to the receptionist's desk. The girl behind it looked at him curiously.

"Could you give that to Alphonse Elric? And tell him that I had to go somewhere. I don't know if I will be back soon. He shouldn't wait up for me."

The girl took the bag and made a note for Al if he would come down to ask – and he would, Ed knew that – if his big brother had left a message for him or if he hadn't come back.

It didn't take him long to get to the Colonel. The man lived pretty close to the hotel they were staying at. The teen looked at the front door. For several minutes he had been standing there. He couldn't get himself to knock – afraid that the Colonel would send him away or even shout at him. He sighed. It wouldn't do. He already had left Al to got to the Colonel the least he could do was knock. The teen rapped and waited for somebody to open. It didn't take long and a sleepy-eyed dark-haired man opened the door.

The older man raised his eyebrows. He hadn't suspected any visitors as he had just gotten here two days ago but what, who he saw standing on his porch was nearly a shock to him. His heart missed a beat and he had to take a deep breath. He swallowed and stepped aside to let the teen in. Sooner or later he would have had to face the blonde – he had hoped it was later. The Colonel didn't even know that Ed had been in Central – the young man had been in the South on a mission and wasn't due to report for another week. He sighed and got Ed's coat as the teen got out of his boots and made his way to the living room.

There were boxes everywhere – a sign that the Colonel hadn't been here for long – and bags from the deli were lying on the small table in front of the sofa. Ed took a seat on the sofa and looked at the hearth – there had been wood in there the whole time in East City – which was empty and still dusty from all the years it hadn't been used.

"Who had told you?"

The dark-haired man's voice was low and raspy. His eyes were a little red from lack of sleep – and something else.

"Hawkeye. I met her on my way back to the hotel."

The older man nodded and sat next to Ed.

"Why are you here? I thought you were in the South."

"We were done early and decided to visit Hughes and his family. We arrived two hours ago."

"I see."

Silence as thick as concrete settled over them. Neither wanted to say a word – Ed was afraid that the Colonel would sent him off and Roy thought that Ed would demand why nobody had told him. It wouldn't have been easy but there were ways to contact somebody on the road. The older man sighed heavily.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah...Coffee or water would be nice."

"So coffee it will be."

Roy went into the kitchen and prepared the coffee. As he came back into the living room he saw Ed with his legs drawn to his chest his head resting on his knees. The older man had always known that the young alchemist was flexibly but he didn't think he would be able to do that. He made his way over and handed him one of the mugs before he sat back down next to the teen. Again that silence settled over them.

Normally when they were together like that Hughes had been there as well or one of them had been ill or it was something else what had been distracting them from arguing constantly.

"Do you.. know... how he was murdered?"

Roy swallowed the last of his coffee down.

"He was shot."

"Haven't there been any witnesses?"

"Not as far as I know."

The teen looked up at the older man frowning. He knitted his brows even further together and searched the dark-haired man's face for a clue.

"But Hawkeye said.. you.. were investigating the case."

Roy nodded and took another sip from his mug.

"Yes. But that doesn't mean that I know everything about it. It's not an.. official...investigation."

Ed didn't understand what Mustang was talking about. When he was investigating the case why wasn't it official? Why didn't he know if there had been witnesses? Roy seemed to be able to read all his questions.

"The police and the military closed the case – as rubbery. Hughes personal belongings as well as his wallet were missing."

"You mean...' The teen turned to the older man. '.. that just some petty criminal rubbed and shot Hughes? That this was coincidence that Hughes had been there?"

He hadn't even realised that his voice had gotten louder and that he had been dragging the Colonel forward by his collar. He looked at the face so close to him and swallowed. Everything that had happened had caused the Colonel to loose his mask. Black eyes as intense as black diamonds were looking back at him. He had to suppress the urge to just press his lips to the Colonel's. That wasn't what he was here for.

Slowly, carefully Roy managed to get the hand off his collar and to get some space between them. The urge was there – to just claim Ed's lips and forget what happened by forgetting himself and take more from the young man than he would probably give. Ed was still watching him with his huge golden eyes – eyes that were too old and too young for the face of the young alchemist. He swallowed and cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"I didn't say that. The police and the military may believe that but I don't."

He searched for the right words so that Ed wouldn't get angry again.

"He tried to call me. Havoc told me later when we packed up. He wanted to tell me something. Sciezka said that he was researching a Juliet Douglas. He had asked me about her when he had been in East City two months ago but I couldn't tell him anything new about that woman. I don't even know her."

He sighed heavily and leaned his head back.

"If I would have been there maybe we would be wiser. Maybe we would already have the one who shot Hughes."

"But he still would be dead."

Roy didn't say anything to Ed's statement. His gaze was directed to the ceiling. He licked his lips. He hadn't thought that Ed's presence would calm him down and comfort him in a way it did.

"Does Al know?"

The teen just shook his head as an answer.

"Don't you want to tell him before he reads anything in the morning papers? Does he actually know where you are?"

Ed laid his head on the backrest and looked directly at Roy.

"He doesn't now where I am exactly. I left him a message that I had to go somewhere. I'll be back early enough to tell him." He rubbed his eyes. "I just couldn't get myself to tell him now – so shortly after I have found out."

The parted lips, the half-closed eyes – it was all so tempting. But Roy wouldn't take advantage of the situation.

"Then call him."

The younger man raised an eyebrow.

"Tell him over the phone? No. That wouldn't do."

"Tell him you're here and that you'll coming back tomorrow morning."

"And what should I tell him why you are here?"

Roy just shrugged and yawned.

"It's not unusual to be transferred. Three years is a long time to be in command."

The younger male nodded and went to the phone to call his younger brother. Soon he was back – closer than before but still far enough away that Roy couldn't reach out and take him in his arms.

As they were both too tired to leave their eyes open for more than two minutes they decided to go to bed. Ed borrowed some old pants and an old shirt from Roy to sleep in and the Colonel got his own shirt and sleeping pants out. Soon Ed was close to sleep. He opened his eyes as he felt the hand stroking his hair. The Colonel was looking at him – still no mask in sight.

"I'll bring you to him. Al can't come but I can bring you to him."

Ed knitted his brows together. That didn't make sense.

"Why can't Al come to the cemetery?"

His words were slurred from the heaviness of sleep fogging his brain.

"Hughes isn't on the cemetery."

"How long is it ago that he isn't buried yet?"

"Hughes isn't dead. We buried a fake body."

Ed's eyes flew open. What did the Colonel just say?

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