Okay, so this is the last chapter of this part of the story, but don't be sad. I feel that after this update, I need to follow along another song since the mood has changed a bit. I'll post an update on this story to tell you when I've posted the sequel. I'd love it if you were still interested in reading, so let me know! :)

Again, a massive thanks to lawlietlivesforever for beta-ing! She is currently participating in this awesome fundraiser for children living with and dealing with the consequences of cancer called The Inside Ride. If you can help her by donating, PM either her of myself for details.

As always, Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.


Expense reports and mission files filled the rest of Roy Mustang's work day. As the afternoon went on, his signature looked less and less like Roy Mustang and more like R scribble, M scribble-line-loop. If he squint his eyes enough, he could make out his name, but he could care less as he was on the last pile of papers and it was almost time to go home. He was generally in good spirits since finding the scotch in his desk and not drinking any. He was planning on seeing Ed after work so he scribbled more "R"s and "M"s on dotted lines to get the job done.

Roy brought the stacks of files to Hawkeye's desk. The woman was completely speechless, jaw open wide as she watched him turn away from the desk and collect his coat from the hooks behind the door. Never, NEVER, had the General finished his work the day it was due. As he was adjusting the collar on his long black coat, Hawkeye snapped her jaw shut. "Be safe, sir. Have a good night."

"Of course, Lieutenant." He tipped his head in her direction and pulled the door open to leave.

He heard her voice call to him again as he stepped over the threshold. "Please don't be late tomorrow morning, sir." He simply smiled at her and closed the door behind him.

Once out of the main entrance, Roy stopped at the top of the large stairway, hands deep in his coat pockets. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and turned his face to the sky. His mind felt so clear. He couldn't remember the last time that he finished his paperwork on time. Normally, his head was so clouded and was often victim to an awful hangover headache, a result of irresponsible binge drinking the night before.

He remained that way for a few moments before combing his hands through his black hair. His fingers, interdigitated, rested on the top of his head and he sighed loudly.

An abrupt but familiar voice interrupted his restful moment. "Enjoying the weather?" His head snapped forward to see none other than the Fullmetal Alchemist climbing the steps towards him.

"Edward?" Roy questioned. "What are you doing here?"

Ed stopped two steps down from where Roy was standing and looked up at his lover, something that came easily to him even though he was now nearly the same height as him. His entire body shivered with nostalgia. He had always looked up to this man, even from the beginning, both literally and metaphorically. He smiled wistfully at his younger self wanting to be just like Roy Mustang when he got older. "I heard you were a good boy today, though Hawkeye did mention something about an incident with a whiskey bottle. Care to tell me about this whiskey bottle, Roy?"

"Later. I don't want to ruin this beautiful afternoon with a story about alcohol." As Edward stepped up to be level with Roy, he was snatched up into a tight hug, causing him to squeak out an embarrassing noise. Roy placed a small but meaningful kiss to Ed's lips.

Edward pushed away from him slightly. "Someone might see." He was not usually one to care what other people think of him, but Ed, the Fullmetal Alchemist, felt weird being intimate with Roy, a General, in public. It could ruin both of their reputations.

"Edward, the news reporters have already written me off as a lazy, disgusting drunkard and incurable alcoholic. I couldn't really give a damn about what they say about my personal life. They can throw me to the wolves, I don't care. If it bothers you, then it won't happ-",

"No," Ed cut him off before he finished the sentence with a wave of the hand. "It doesn't bother me so much. I am just worried for your job, you know?"

"Alright, then. Walk with me?"

"No, I came all the way to headquarters on my day off to not walk home with you." Ed was grinning.

So was Roy. "Well, if you must be such a smart ass, explain why you are here."

"I actually needed a certain book from the library on bio-alchemy," he explained while patting the breast pocket of his red coat. "I figured that I would just wait for you to get out of work. So yes, I'll walk with you."


The home that awaited them was dusty, smelly and a complete mess to say the least. Ed, who was a messy person by nature, was utterly speechless. It was disgusting.

Every horizontal surface was home to glass bottles of every variety. Green, brown, clear, broken, intact. All of them empty. When Ed cast a wary eye to his lover, Roy simply shrugged sheepishly, more than embarrassed, and looked away.

"I'll help you clean up in here. I just need to pee first." Edward said, stepping over a pile of old take out boxes to the room he figured was the bathroom. He was right about which room but he stopped in his tracks once he opened the door with a gloved hand to his mouth.

What could not be mistaken for anything but vomit covered the floor around the porcelain toilet.

"What the hell, Roy?" He called back to the entrance to the apartment.

The black-haired man joined Ed at the bothroom door and winced when he saw the scene inside. "I vaguely remember this happening." He said quietly as he stepped in front of Ed to pull the door shut.

"What do you mean you 'vaguely remember this'? Roy, you haven't been home after a night out in at least a week. Has this been here all week?"

Roy shrugged again. "I can't remember properly. I haven't exactly been sober the past couple weeks. This is only the second day I've not had a hangover when I woke up."

"Alright, I understand. But this can't happen again, you got it? You're not a pig, so stop acting like it." It sounded as if he was scolding a child but Roy deserved all of it. "I've said I'll help you clean up but with a job this big, I think we'll need dinner too. I'll run out to get some Xingese noodles, your favorite, right? Don't look so depressed, I'll be back soon." With that, Roy was left alone in his messy apartment.

He rushed into the bathroom as soon as Ed was gone and started to clean the old vomit as fast as he could. He was already ashamed enough; he didn't need Ed to have to clean it up for him. When he heard the front door open again 15 minutes later, Roy had already finished cleaning the bathroom and had moved on to the bedroom.

When Ed came in. he had to move some of the bottles from the counter and into the bin in order to set down the noodle boxes. After finding a space for their food, Ed called out.

"Roy? Where are you?" No answer. Ed walked down the hall and poked his head into the bathroom. He noted the fresh lemony smell of bathroom cleaner and smiled sadly. "Roy?" He called again.

"In here." A voice answered from behind the door across from the bathroom. Edward slowly eased the door open and saw Roy hunched over some scraps of blue and gold fabric on the floor. "I don't remember doing this," the man stated quietly as he turned to Ed, bits of blue and gold cloth hanging in his fingers. One piece had three golden stars fastened to a gold stripe. Ed instantly recognized the pattern to be from the shoulder of the Amestris army uniform; a gold stripe and three golden stars for a general. On the rug in front of Roy lay short pieces of the gold cord that adorned the right shoulder of an officers outfitting. The ends of each two inch piece were frayed and ripped.

Ed knelt next to Roy and gently took the shredded cloth from his hands. He reached out for the military coat to which the stars belonged and held them up alongside each other.

"You can get a new—"

"That's not the problem." Roy said angrily, ripping the coat from Ed. "I am the problem. This is why I never want to be alone after I drink, nothing good ever comes of it." He shook the destroyed uniform in Ed's face. "Ed, I do not remember doing this. I barely remember destroying my bathroom. I couldn't even tell you the last day that I actually was home here."

Again, Ed removed the coat from Roy's grasp and placed it behind him on the floor to be forgotten. With steady hands under each elbow, he helped the General to his feet. The intact military coat Roy was currently wearing was slowly being unbuttoned, Ed's yellow eyes following his fingers downwards.

"I don't deserve to be a general, not with the way I've been acting. I think… I think that is why I did this. I don't remember it, but that is the feeling I get when I see it here." He indicated the discarded uniform on the floor with a wave.

"Don't say that." Ed said sharply, his gaze now focused on Roy's face. "You didn't get to this position by being a bad person. You didn't pay anyone off to get here." The coat was removed and tossed onto a chair next to the oak dresser. "The people who work for you, they follow you because they believe in you and support what you believe in." The buttons of Roy's white dress shirt were now undone and his skin prickled at the cool air. "You think Hawkeye would deal with you being like this if she didn't truly believe in you? You think Havoc regrets the day you two fought Lust?" Roy winced at the memory, staring down at the floor. "They are with you because they love you."

Ed ran his fingers up Roy's torso and pushed the shirt off of his shoulders. Roy shivered as it fluttered to the floor. With a firm but gentle finger to the elder's chest, Ed pushed him backwards and onto the bed. He proceeded to remove his own shirt as he continued.

"Hell, you were the one who told me back when I was still in a wheelchair, that if there was even the slightest chance Al and I could get our bodies back, that we should do it. You had barely just met me and you gave me the speech of a lifetime. You basically told me to get up off my ass and try harder." He snorted as he crawled onto the bed to kneel above Roy with his legs straddling the other's hips. "I've come to terms with the fact that I will have automail for the rest of my life now, but if it weren't for you, I'd probably still be in Risembool feeling bad for myself as a cripple."

Edward kissed Roy on the lips very gently and traced an automail finger along fine collarbones. "You have every right to be where you are now, don't ever doubt that. This thing you are going through, it'll get better." He kissed him again. "I'll help you—ooof"

Roy pulled Edward to him tightly, wrapping his arms around him completely and burying his face into golden hair. "It's already better." Tears accumulated at the corners of Roy's eyes and despite him trying to hide it, Ed saw one glistening drop slide down to the pillow.

"I know." Feather light kisses graced each of Roy's eyelids eliciting a tiny whimper from the man. Damn the way he makes me feel, the General thought.

Ed grinned to himself. "Let's not dwell on the past for now though." His flesh hand moved down to the waist of Roy's trousers and began to undo the button. Roy was half hard and once he was exposed, Ed ground his hips down on him and roughly nibbled on his clavicle at the same time. "Congratulations on your first official day of being sober." Ed sucked at the bite mark firmly. "Only six more days to reach your goal, Roy."

Roy's head lolled to the side as cool metal fingers rolled a nipple between them and he thought about the promise Ed had made him if he could stay clear of alcohol for one week. As amazing as it felt to have Edward ravage him, he had plans of his own for the blond when he finally got his way, he couldn't think of them now while he was being teased so torturously, but he knew they would both enjoy it.

Ed continued to make Roy squirm under him with tongue and fingers alike; the Xingese noodles and excessive amounts of empty bottles remained forgotten in the kitchen.


Thanks for reading and please review. Let me know if you would read more if I continued with a sequel. Cheers! :)