Disclaimer: I own nothing. I claim nothing.
I would like to point out that, for the sake of this story, the ages will be as follows:
Edward: 15
Alphonse: 14
Roy: 26
Sam: 9
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"Sir." A gentle rocking motion roused him from his deep sleep and he briefly contemplated the idea of snapping the source of intrusion into ash for trying to wake him. Grumbling, Roy rolled over slightly, tearing the offensive hand away from his arm and snuggling himself deeper into the folds of unconsciousness.
"Colonel Mustang, you need to wake up." Blearily, the onyx eyes cracked open and blinked at the blonde in front of him. Sleep clouded his mind, and the only thing he could make sense of was the haze of gold which surrounded him. As his vision sharpened, the Colonel could distinctly recognize the pair of caramel eyes gazing into his own, looking on him with concern.
"Hawkeye?" He lifted a heavy arm and rubbed the ignition cloth lightly across his eyes, doing his best to remove the sleep from their corners. "What time izzit?"
"Almost eleven, Sir. May I ask what exactly you were doing sleeping on the ground?" He chuckled slightly, leaning his head back against the wall which stood directly beside the Elric's room door.
"Must've fallen asleep waiting for Ed and Al." Decisively, he stood tall and yawned loudly, stretching his limbs high above his head and rubbing the back of his neck with a wince. "I'm definitely going to regret that later." Then, he turned suddenly and rapped on the oak surface behind him, immediately rewarded with the sound of muffled footsteps, within the room, approaching the door. It wasn't long before the entranceway cracked open and Alphonse beckoned them inside. The simple fact that he didn't bother to tell the soldiers to keep their voices low indicated to Mustang that Edward must have been awake.
"Morning, Colonel." Roy wished more than anything that Alphonse could regain his own body, and smile brilliantly at them as he welcomed the pair into the room... But who knew how long it would be before that would be possible? Mustang smiled politely before turning his attention to the other Elric in the small dorm room, who currently occupied the bed.
In his chimera form, Roy couldn't contain the smile which flashed across his face as memories flooded his mind. Edward wore no other clothes than a pair of black cotton boxers, and the Colonel couldn't help but think of the last time he had seen the alchemist at this level of indecency.
"Good morning, Fullmetal. How was your cat nap?" He questioned, not being able to resist the temptation. It was too prime an opportunity to ignore. Edward's head jerked up from the fist which had been busy rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and his wide golden eyes flashed with irritation.
"What was that, Bastard? Why don't you come over here and say that to my face so I can beat you to a pulp?" Alphonse raced to his brother's side, placing a calming hand on the elder's shoulder to refrain him from acting too rashly.
"Brother! There's no need for that!" The Fullmetal Alchemist through a disbelieving glare at his younger sibling and pointed an accusing finger at Roy, who was (unnoticeably) approaching the pair.
"He started it! He's patronizing me, Al!" Just as the suit of armor was about to make a sharp retort of his own, he was interrupted by the Colonel stepping between him and his brother, pulling the eldest close to him, and pressing their lips together without a word. The room went silent and Alphonse stared in shock, an indignant noise worming its way out of his throat. Satisfied when the young alchemist froze beneath him, Roy broke away from the kiss with a smirk, cocking an eyebrow in Edward's direction. It amused him to watch as the teen struggled to remember how he was supposed to breathe, mouth floundering open like a fish as the Colonel's hot breath ghosted across his lips.
"And how about now, Ed? Still think I'm patronizing you?" The blonde blinked once. Then twice. All the while, gasping for air.
"I- I- no... I jus... just..."
"Is the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist actually speechless?" Roy chuckled, observing Riza and Alphonse's wide-eyed stares from the corner of his eye. He boldly reached out a hand towards the prodigy, only to have it be slapped away with a cry of protest.
"Shut up, Mustang! What the hell did you do that for?" He quipped, wiping his lips with his forearm as though they had been touched by something foul... although they both knew it to be just an act for the sake of the room's other two occupants. The raven-haired man leaned in close and both Elric brothers went rigid at the motion.
"I believe it was simply because I felt like it." He peered at the blonde through his thick lashes and Edward was startled to realize that the Colonel's irises were, in reality, a mesmerizing midnight blue. He swallowed hard, Mustang's words brushing across an incredibly sensitive subject for the boy. "Is there a problem with that?"
Was there a problem? Of course there was a fucking problem! His mind was screaming at him, yelling for him to run away and hide somewhere no one could ever find him. Edward had hopelessly tried to convince himself that his night with Mustang had been a one-time thing... Just a build up of emotion both men had desperately needed to release... but he knew he was lying to himself. There was an unbreakable bond between them, one which would eventually need to be severed. How many people would he need to hurt before this nightmare would finally allow him rest?
"Just caught me off-guard, is all..." He muttered through his shame, turning away from his commander. The Colonel leaned in slightly and placed his lips on Edward's forehead, the simple touch screaming emotion and deepening the teen's guilt.
"Guess I'll have to do that more often, then." Roy flashed his subordinate a toothless grin and stood beside the bed, not bothering to move away from the blonde. "Come on, Ed. Let's get going before your brother has a heart attack." Golden eyes blinked in confusion.
"Where are we going?" Swinging his mismatched legs over the side of the bed, Edward stood abruptly to face the Colonel who gave a pompous shrug in response.
"Nowhere special." The slit-pupil eyes narrowed slightly as the older man turned and began to walk from the room, waving a hand at the Lieutenant and suit of armor to signal that they would be leaving. Edward huffed in annoyance and stomped his metal foot on the ground to get the Colonel's attention.
"Damn it, Mustang! Let me change, will ya?" The composed man turned and raised an eyebrow at his subordinate's childish antics. Edward felt his cheeks grow hot beneath the sensuous gaze, his blood rushing south to pool in his lower abdomen.
"What's wrong with what you have on?" The blonde rolled his eyes and all-but-shoved the man out of his way as he went to grab his ear coverings from the top drawer of the dresser.
"Not my clothes, you dumb ass." Mustang's face fell in affliction and he released an exhausted sigh, rubbing a gloved hand over his eyes. Edward felt his chest lurch with the heartache of pushing the man away, and was thankful that his back was facing the Colonel as tears began to prick at the corners of his eyes.
Sensing that the young alchemist wasn't in the mood for conversation, Roy allowed him to disguise himself in silence. Once there were no visible traces that Edward had ever been anything besides a hot-tempered teenaged boy, the group left the dorm room in silence, locking the door behind them. The morning's events had apparently soured the older Elric's mood, and he walked behind the older soldiers with Alphonse, with neither of them speaking a word for several minutes. Edward kept his eyes trained on the heels of Hawkeye's boots, so as to ensure he wouldn't accidentally crash into her, should she stop walking for any reason.
"Brother..." Alphonse finally broke the silence, startling the blonde boy out of his musings. "You and the Colonel... A-are you-" Edward didn't hesitate to cut his brother off, feeling terrible for keeping yet another secret from the boy.
"Just drop it, Al. I'll make a novel of it later." Alphonse appeared to hesitate and the older brother couldn't blame him after all the things Edward had "neglected" to tell him.
"Promise?" Ed clasped his brother's gloved hand in his automail and gave it a soft squeeze, though neither of them could feel the reassurance behind the small contact.
"I promise, Al. From now on, you'll hear everything from me first, okay?" He smiled at the lumbering mass of steel which, in turn, faced him and tightened its own grip over Edward's automail hand. When the younger brother spoke, years of tireless admiration and unconditional devotion shone through, clear as day.
"Thanks, Ed." The love in Alphonse's voice caused Edward's heart to twinge with remorse. Just how long would he be able to keep up his meaningless facade?
With a scowl, his attention was, once again, returned to the floor beneath him. He determinedly focused his anger on the patterned floorboards, forcing himself to direct the blame for the source of his guilt at anything besides himself. The perfect triangular ears twitched solemnly beneath the plastic folds, and he longed, more than anything, just to run back and spend the day alone in his room. But, no matter how much he wished for that possibility, he knew that he no longer deserved the right to play the role of a coward. It was time to atone for his mistakes.
Suddenly, the blonde was face to face with a pair of incredibly familiar double-doors. The fact that the group had reached Colonel Mustang's office had completely escaped Edward's notice; he had been so immersed in his thoughts. Before the teen could even react, Hawkeye pushed the door in and held it open, waving him inside with a quick flick of her wrist. Edward side-stepped in front of his brother and Roy and, tentatively, entered the room. A blur of brown and yellow slammed into him, knocking the air out of his lungs as the young chimera threw his arms around the alchemist's neck.
"Big brother!" A wide grin threatened to split Edward's face in two as he recognized the bright tenor voice of the trembling ball of enthusiasm which had nearly tackled him to the ground.
"Sam!" His disguise instantly fell in his happiness, ears flicking out from beneath the coverings, and the Lieutenant rushed to shut the office door before any passersby could get a glimpse of the chimera. Wordlessly, the others left the two boys alone to have their reunion, exiting quietly through the main door. Edward's arms wrapped tightly around his canine friend and he smiled brightly into Sam's messy brunette mop of hair. Abruptly, the pair broke apart grinning widely, and the alchemist held his friend at arm's length.
Hawkeye had done an incredible job at hiding Sam's true form from the outside world. The sandy-haired child wore a neatly-pressed, button down vest, resting over his golden shirt, and matching dress shorts. His socks and newsboy cap matched in their brown and tan argyle patterns and the shoes laced on his feet appeared to be newly purchased, the leather shining under the fluorescents.
He looked... normal. Human.
"Where have you been? They treated you alright, didn't they? They weren't mean to you?" He gasped, running his hands down the sides of the laughing boy's face, tugging at the too-large hat which kept his dog ears concealed. Edward smiled at Sam's genuine display of happiness, not having seen this side of him since the small burst of excitement at the laboratory.
"No way! Miss Hawkeye was really kind to me! And her puppy was really fun to play with! He and I wrestled a lot!" A vision of a young boy and little black dog played through Edward's mind like a movie, as he pictured them crawling on top of each other, tails wagging furiously with their overwhelming joy.
"Wrestled, huh? Sounds like a fun time to me." And it did. Edward remembered a particular day in his childhood when he and his brother had stumbled upon two kittens, battling each other passionately on the side of a country road. It had taken every bit of Edward's strength to stop himself from joining them in their antics. Unlike Sam, Edward had never been given the chance to be a puppy... or, kitten, rather. He had been too busy protecting his secret from the world and, now, he would give anything to have those days back.
"It was! I wish you could have been there!" The boy grinned, eyes shining brightly as he regarded Edward with something akin to idolization. The blonde sighed, throwing an arm out and running his hands through the brunette locks, trying to smooth down his friend's cowlick, unsuccessfully.
"I wouldn't have been much fun, Sam... I'm too old for that sort of thing." At the boy's abrupt silence, Edward opened his eyes and looked at the chimera. It was as though a switch had been flipped. Sam's eyes were lowered to the floor, arms hugging himself in a protective manner as he tried his best not to cry. Immediately, Edward berated himself for saying something so heartless.
"Oh... right. Sorry." The child muttered, shuffling his feet across the tiled floor in dejection. The Fullmetal Alchemist placed a hand on Sam's right shoulder, urging the boy to look at him... so that he wouldn't feel like as much of a monster as he knew he was. The brunette instantly turned away.
"Hey... don't look so down." At this, Sam quickly spun on his heels to face his idol, azure eyes blazing bright with an inner determination.
"But-" Edward took the boy's other shoulder with his automail, crouching down so that he could be at the same level as his friend. He gently reached over, took Sam's hand in his own, and placed them both on top of his chest.
"I'm not going anywhere, Sam. I'm right here, see?" The chimera glanced dubiously at the fluttering heartbeat beneath his palm, as though he were waiting for it to stop at any given moment. When the thrum of Edward's pulse continued to beat against his skin, Sam sighed contently and glanced up at the older boy through his lashes.
"Yeah... I- I see." The blonde smiled at him for a second longer, then returned his hands to the child's shoulders, shaking them slightly in urgency.
"Listen... Don't mention this to anyone okay? I don't want them to worry over nothing.." The blue eyes widened in horror as Edward's words registered in his brain. Sam frantically shook his companion off, chest heaving frantically with his gasping breaths.
"They don't know?" Edward tried to reach for the boy, but a low growl held him at bay. Sam's hair was standing on end; his canine tail puffed up inside of his pant leg as Sam tried desperately to decide how he was supposed to react: fear or anger. The young boy pushed and slapped at the comforting hands which continued to descend towards him, rejecting Edward again and again.
"You have to tell them, Edward!" The angry arms were suddenly grabbed and tethered to his sides, immobilizing him, and the alchemist pulled the boy to his chest. His automail rested soothingly across Sam's trembling shoulders, as the flesh fingers wove patterns through the tawny strands. The silence settled over them for awhile, and Edward was almost positive that his own heartbeat had lulled the boy to sleep when he gave a start at the sound of the alchemist's voice.
"I will. When the time's right... Everyone just has a lot on their plates right now... I don't want to burden them anymore than I already have.." Sam struggled and attempted to pull away.
"How can you say that? You aren't a burden!" Edward held fast to the boy in his arms, forcing him to stay put. When the chimera had settled down some, the blonde grabbed his friend's jaw, suddenly, and lifted it so their eyes could meet.
"Look, it's my problem, not yours. I don't want you worrying about me either, alright?" Edward gave the boy a sharp glare when it appeared as though he was about to protest, and Sam fell silent.
"Okay..." he relented. The Fullmetal Alchemist smiled softly and pulled away from his friend just as the door of the small office blew open with the mighty force of one Lieutenant Colonel. The bespeckled man strode in, looking as comfortable as though he were entering the front door of his own home.
"Hey, guys! Have a nice reunion?" Edward sputtered at the man, blinking frantically in a desperate attempt to form a cohesive escape route. He had no doubt in his mind that Hughes had seen him a few days prior, however, he was uncertain as to how much this soldier could have possibly learned in the hours which had passed since then.
"We sure did!" Sam piped up, grinning like a puppy who had finally managed to catch his own tail. Escaping was out of the question... but it still bothered the alchemist that the Lieutenant Colonel was acting so completely indifferent to the situation at hand.
"Hughes... how-?" The older man scoffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes.
"I'm in Investigations. Really, Ed. You should have learned these things by now." Then, as if seeing their 'conditions' for the first time, Hughes ran over and tore of Sam's cap, marveling at the midnight ears which sprung out from underneath it, and proceeded to gawk at the golden triangles resting atop Edward's head.
"God, you two are adorable! If it wasn't wrong on every single level, I'd take you home as new pets for my darling Elicia!" He cooed. Edward bristled and felt a vein begin to throb in his temple as he realized he was being compared to a tiny house cat by the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Watch it, Hughes..." The man laughed, throwing an arm over the alchemist's shoulders in a friendly manner.
"Just a joke, Ed. Take it easy, will ya?" The humorous tone in the man's voice did little to cool Edward's temper, but seeing the Lieutenants Hawkeye and Havoc march into the office managed to lessen his anger some. He bitterly brushed Hughes's arm off from around his shoulders.
"Whatever... where'd that scheming Colonel run off to?" He wondered aloud. Hawkeye, on her way to deposit a large stack of paperwork onto the surface of Mustang's desk, released them with a loud thud and turned to face the teen.
"Well, I'm not sure about 'scheming', but Colonel Mustang ran home to do some preparation for your stay." Edward blinked.
"My... what?" Sam walked over to stand near the First Lieutenant, wrinkling his nose unpleasantly as Havoc lit up a cigarette. Hughes placed his hands on his hips and stared down at the young alchemist.
"He insisted that it would be irresponsible for us to allow you to stay in the military dorms now that your situation has come to light. We all agreed it would be best for you and Alphonse to stay with Colonel Mustang." Edward felt the heat rise to his face and knew, without a doubt, that his cheeks would be stained a soft pink at the mention of Colonel Mustang. Why couldn't he get that damn bastard out of his head? He turned to look at his kin, who was smiling brightly at the Major in return.
"What about Sam?" The chimera in question turned his gaze to regard the First Lieutenant, who merely shrugged as though they were all discussing the weather.
"Black Hayate and he seem to be getting along well... and since the Colonel is already taking in the two of you, I think it would be better for him to just stay with me a while longer." The Fullmetal Alchemist nearly felt his heart stop, immediately sensing tears welling up in his eyes.
Sometimes, when Edward lost track of the day and the time, he lost himself in the belief that he was immortal; that he could live forever. The same principle was true that, sometimes, when he was surrounded by the people he cared about, he was swallowed up by the lie that he actually deserved their company.
His head hung low, and he determinedly clenched his fists at his sides.
"... Thank you." The room went silent. Not a breath of wind stirred the neatly stacked pile of papers, and it almost seemed as if no one was breathing. Edward continued:
"You've all been so... kind to me... Even though you now know that I've been lying to you since the first day that we met. You have no reason to trust me. I've always been rash, and selfish, and destructive and I don't deserve any of your kindness... and yet..." his fangs dug sharply into his lower lip, stopping it from trembling. "And yet, you continue to help me.. why?" Hawkeye smiled genuinely at the boy, walking over to rip the cigarette out from between Havoc's lips but keeping her focus trained on the alchemist.
"Edward... We're a family. We'll do our best to protect you, no matter what." Havoc shot her a disgruntled look as she discarded the offending product out of the two story office window. The man sighed and threw his hands in his pant's pockets, tossing an earnest grin in Edward's direction.
"And as for the whole 'lying' part... don't worry about it, Boss. You've always helped us out when we needed it. Now it's our turn to help you." The truth behind the Second Lieutenant's words caused a lump to rise in Edward's throat and the Fullmetal Alchemist felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He was still lying to them... and yet they continued to believe in him. They believed he was their friend. They believed he was... good.
How wrong those fools were.
Brusquely, the young blonde spun away from the group and faced the outer wall of the building, refusing to meet their eyes. ".. Sure."
"Now, why don't you grab your coat? Alphonse is waiting out in the hall with a suitcase of your things." In his surprise, he forgot that the remnants of tears still lingered on his face, and he spun to face Lieutenant Hawkeye in bewilderment.
"When-"
"The conversations between you two chimeras are never brief, so he ran back to your room while you were chatting." Edward flushed in embarrassment, averting his eyes to the floor.
"I'll have to thank him later..." The woman shook her head with a smile and held the office door open for him, prompting their departure.
"C'mon. No point in having you stay locked in an office all day, bored out of your mind." Edward couldn't agree more, as he felt he was already becoming restless in the small space, and had to shove back the thought that part of his anxiousness also stemmed from the fact that being away from Roy, for any amount of time, made him feel on edge. He quickly turned back to the other chimera and smiled brightly at him.
"Be good, okay, Sam?" The boy quickly ran over to give his 'big brother' one final hug before stepping back and retrieving his cap from the ground, fitting it neatly over his ears.
"Don't worry about me! Miss Riza says I'm the perfect gentleman!" Ed reached over and affectionately tucked a lock of hair up into the cap, seeing as though it had been sticking out at an odd angle before.
"Did she now? That's good to hear. I'll see you later, okay?" Before he could turn to leave the office with the Lieutenant, Edward felt Sam pull at his hand and give it a sharp tug. The blonde gazed down into the nine-year-old's pleading eyes and instantly cursed Sam's ability to put the 'puppy eyed' look to shame.
"Promise?" Edward hesitated a breath, before placing a hand on top of the boy's head, messing up the neatness of the hat, and ruffling it slightly.
"I promise, Sam."
Alright! So far, so good! We're almost done people! Stick around!