Hola, mis amigos! Como estan Uds.? Sorry, ha-ha. I was just working on some Spanish homework. Soooooo! I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was a tad slow, but I got to sleep! I love me some sleep. Hey, I've been thinking about doing another story. If anyone has any ideas or wants to tell me I should stop writing before I make the readers go blind from my sucky writing skills, just PM me or write something in the review. Uuuuuhhhhh... Okay, that's all I have for right now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

CHAPTER X

THE TRUTH IN HIS THOUGHTS

That had to have been the longest, quietest, darkest twenty minutes of Roy's life. He's sat in silence, listening to his own heartbeat. After becoming bored of that noise, he listened to the dripping of water somewhere in the small crevice he sat in. And once he was bored of that noise, he listened to Ed. For reasons he could not think of, the sound of Ed's breathing was something Roy could listen to for hours. It was comforting to know the boy was still alive, especially after the fight they had just had.

'It's been a while and the homunculi still haven't found us. Maybe they've given up. From how pissed that Envy was, I think they've given up. I can't take this silence much more… It's almost as bad as when Fullmetal was carving out that transmutation circle…' Roy straightened up against the wall and looked around. Not that it did him any good. It was so dark in the far corner of the cave that he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"Fullmetal?" Roy whispered. 'Why am I whispering?' Roy wondered with a smirk.

Ed's head shot up and slammed against the wall of the cave. He'd nearly fallen asleep when Roy called at him, and he could've easily strangled the man for it. He was so tired, so fatigued. "Ow…" Ed moaned, rubbing the back of his head.

Roy reached out with his hand and felt around. He thought his hand brushed against something soft, and when he went to further investigate, he found that his hand was resting atop something smooth, silky, and moving. 'Please tell me that's Fullmetal…' He thought desperately.

"Tell me that's your hand on top of my head," Ed begged.

Roy sighed in relief and nodded, not realizing Ed couldn't see him. "Yeah, that's me. Damn, kid, you've got some soft hair. No wonder you don't want to cut it," Roy joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Shut up," Ed mumbled, fumbling to grab Roy's sleeve. "Now get us somewhere we can see."

Roy, with a bit of difficulty, led Ed closer to the entrance of the cave where some of the setting sun's light could shine in. The colonel nearly fell out of his metaphorical chair at the sight that greeted him in the light. Ed was even worse than he first thought. Roy could not believe he didn't notice all that blood when they were fleeing from the homunculi.

"Holy shit, Fullmetal," Roy gaped, eyes landing on every single bruise, cut, and scrape.

Ed tried to wipe some of the blood from his forehead but just ended up smearing it around. "Quit your gawking."

Roy crawled over next to Ed and grabbed his arm. There was a deep gash running down his upper arm, dirt and dust mixing with drying blood. Roy then turned his attention to Ed's leg, which had a similar wound running down his calf. His pants were torn near the injury and flapped pointlessly at the side. Roy had to tear his eyes away from the injuries. They were so deep and looked so painful. But when Roy looked for any signs of pain on Edward's face, there was none to be found. Instead, the boy looked sullen and subdued. He had his head leaned back against the wall and his eyes shut loosely. A few blonde strands fell in his face.

"Fullmetal?" Roy asked quietly, as if anything louder than a soft whisper would scare the blonde away. He carefully placed his hand on the boy's forehead, drawing away quickly from the intense heat. "Dammit," Roy cursed, feeling his earlier relief begin to wear off into more worry and concern.

Ed let out a muffled groan and swatted away Roy's hand which lingered in the air. "Didn't I just tell you to quit gawking? Just leave me the hell alone."

Roy grunted and sat back. "If you haven't noticed by now, you're in pretty shitty condition. I'd suggest you just shut up and let me help you."

Ed let a small chuckle bubble up from his throat. "How the hell do you think you can help me?"

Roy paused and thought for a moment. 'Well… I guess I really didn't think of that one.' Roy looked at the wounds again and started to take off his jacket. "Here, you can transmute my jacket into some bandages and we'll wrap your injuries."

"You're a moron. It'll be night soon and you'll freeze to death without that stupid jacket," Ed argued.

Roy crossed his arms and grunted. "At least I'm trying to help. It's not like you've come up with any better ideas."

"You could try to get a fire going!" Ed shouted, fed up with Roy's incompetence.

"If you haven't noticed by now, I don't have my gloves!" Roy yelled, pulling out his pockets for emphasis.

"Can't you build a fire without your damn gloves!?" Ed snapped.

"Do I look like a boy scout to you!?"

"You lazy bastard! You're not even trying!"

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose as he always would when he was frustrated. "Do not raise your voice with me, Fullmetal!" Roy reprimanded. 'It's always 'Colonel Bastard' or 'Colonel Idiot' or just the classic 'bastard'! He has no respect for me as his superior! I do not need to deal with this from a subordinate. Let alone, a punk kid!'

Ed pushed Roy away and staggered to his feet. "I'll do it myself," He grumbled while limping out of the cave.

Roy sighed angrily and jumped to his own feet. "Dammit, Fullmetal! You'll get yourself killed if you go out there all alone! Get your short ass back here and sit the hell down!"

Ed stopped abruptly and turned on his heels, nearly losing his balance in the process. "Short!? Did you just call me short!?"

Roy flinched at the flames burning in Ed's golden eyes. 'Maybe I could've left the short out…'

Ed limped closer to Roy with heavy footsteps. "And another thing, just why the hell would you want to take care of me!? You don't give a shit about me!"

"Just shut up and sit down already!" Roy screamed, fed up with the yelling. He grabbed Ed's tattered jacket and pulled him to the ground, resulting in a grunt of pain coming from the boy. Roy looked down to see Ed's face contorted in pain, increasing the intensity of Roy's anger. 'Way to blow it, Roy! You fucking moron! No wonder he thinks you don't give a shit! Look, you've gone and hurt him again! You always get so damn worked up and then you go and take it out on the people around you!' Roy stomped out of the cave in a fit of rage to look for wood. "JUST STAY THE HELL PUT, FULLMETAL! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

…

Roy walked into the cave with a bundle of firewood in his arms and his head down. "Hey, Fullmetal…" He greeted quietly, feeling guilty from his earlier outburst. Roy waited for a moment, but when he received no reply, he looked up to see Ed lying against the wall, his eyes closed. Roy immediately dropped the wood and ran over to Ed, fearing the worst. 'Oh no. Please, God, no! Don't be dead! Please don't be dead!'

"Fullmetal? Fullmetal, can you hear me?" Roy begged, poking and prodding the blonde kid.

Ed opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the image in front of him. 'W-what's going on? Where's Al? Where am I?' The face in front of Ed slowly began to take focus, making the image recognizable. "Colonel?" He asked the man with jet black hair and equally black eyes.

Roy let out the biggest sigh of relief and sat back. "Sheesh, Fullmetal, you about gave me a heart attack."

Ed remembered what had happened before Roy left and decided he didn't want to be anywhere near that bastard colonel. Ed moaned and turned his head away. "What do you want, bastard?"

"I just wanted to see if you're alright," Roy replied nonchalantly as he arranged the firewood in the center of the cave. He started rubbing two sticks together, making absolutely no progress.

Ed rolled his eyes and picked up two rocks. A flash of blue sparks and a surprised look from Roy later and Ed had a flint and steel set in his hand. 'You'd think he'd know that you need flint and steel to get a spark. Some Flame Alchemist. Has the damn temper of a teenager. And I can't believe he has the audacity to yell at me like that and then ACT like he cares.' Ed threw the two stones over to Roy and motioned with his head. "You have to use those to get a spark. Then blow on it a little to get the fire going and we can finally have some heat."

Roy nodded and smashed the steel off of the flint. In no time, flames were roaring in the darkness, casting dancing shadows over the walls. Roy took a seat opposite of Ed and stretched out his legs in front of him. The shadows on his face flickered in and out with the twirling flames.

Roy watched Ed as the boy slowly started to nod off again. 'He looks so tired… and worn… But if he falls asleep, he may not wake up. He's lost a lot of blood! And I'm sure he's got a slight concussion from that fall. I also wouldn't be surprised if he broke a few more ribs.' Roy glanced outside and sighed. 'It's too late to try to find our way back. We'll have to wait until morning.'

As Ed drifted in and out of sleep, bits and pieces of his typical nightmares flashed across his mind. 'Mom… no… I'm sorry… Please, don't go… I'm sorry…' An image of his mother walking away zipped around his head. Then it switched over to Al who looked incredibly pissed. It switched between his metal body and his ten-year-old body. 'Alphonse… please, don't be mad… I didn't mean for this to happen… I… I never thought something like this would happen… I'll get your body back, I promise… No matter what…'

Roy was watching as Ed tossed and turned in his half sleep. 'He looks really upset… What could cause him that much distress?'

Ed's eyes shot open as a vision of Hohenheim clouded his thoughts. Ed wiped the sweat away from his face and held his shaky hand in front of his eyes. 'W-what the hell did that bastard do to me!? All he had to do was show up and say a few damn words and now I can't get one night's worth of sleep! Doesn't help that I'm stuck in a cave with the incompetent colonel bastard.'

Roy had had enough of watching the boy suffer and thought it was time to put an end to it. "Fullmetal, what's the matter?"

Ed glared at Roy and gingerly pulled his knees to his chest. "I'm perfectly fine. Leave me alone."

"Sure you are. Because everyone who is perfectly fine acts like they're being attacked while they sleep."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bastard?"

"Recently? Only you. But it happens so often, that I think you've got it covered for a good span of time."

"Just shut up."

"No, Fullmetal, I will not shut up. I am your superior officer. If I want to talk your damn ear off, you'd better believe I'm going to."

"You're such a jerk!" Ed yelled while trying to fight off a blinding headache.

Roy started a low growl that gradually grew into a full-blown roar of anger. "Just what the hell is your problem with me, Fullmetal!? Am I really that horrible to be around!? You have no respect for me whatsoever! So tell me, why the hell do you hate me so much!?"

Ed slammed his fist into the wall and let his knees slide down. "You think I have a problem with you!? What about you, colonel!? Just what the hell is your problem with me!? You can't go one damn day without throwing out every insult you know! Tch. You think I hate you. I know you're just saying that to make yourself feel better about not giving a damn about me!"

"Just wait one damn minute! You think I'm only thinking about myself right now!? You think everything I do is just for me! Every damn thing I do is to help you and your brother! That's all I've been concerned with since you joined the military!"

"Just keep telling yourself that, colonel! You only came to me so you could get your promotion! That's all I am to you! Just a damn promotion! All you care about is getting to the top, no matter what stands in your way!" Ed sounded as if he were on the verge of tears, but there was no chance in hell he would break right in front of the colonel.

"God dammit, Fullmetal! You're right; I did come to you to help better my own career! But I also did it because I wanted to see you keep your promise to your brother! I did it because I wanted to help you get your little brother's body back! Which, by the way, you wouldn't even have to worry about if you hadn't performed that damn transmutation in the first place!"

Ed clenched his fist shut, causing his knuckles to turn white, and gritted his teeth. He pulled up his knees and buried his face, letting stray strands of blood-stained hair fall over his legs. "Y-you're right… I'm sorry…" He whimpered quietly, getting out a barely audible sound.

"No… I didn't mean that, Fullmetal…" Roy started, feeling like a piece of shit. No, he felt lower than shit. He felt like the dirt that had been shitted on. "That was too far…"

"I… I needed to hear it. Al will never admit that he blames me. I just… needed someone to tell me it was my fault…"

"No," Roy said firmly. "It was not your fault. You can't blame yourself for that."

"And why the hell not!? I'm the one who performed it! I knew the risks!" Ed cried, looking up to meet the colonel's eyes.

'He needs an answer, Roy. Dammit… tell him something. He's going to think it's his fault. Just think of something! Anything! Hurry the hell up, Roy! You've already screwed up enough with the kid!' But after a few moment of thinking, Roy still couldn't think of an answer. "I…"

"'I' what, colonel!?" Ed paused for a moment and sighed. "I knew you didn't have an answer." Ed reburied his face and clawed at his pant leg. "Now that you've told me what you really think, will you just leave me alone?"

Roy put his hand up to protest, but Ed had already blocked him out. 'No… c'mon, Fullmetal, don't block me out again. Please, just talk to me. Let me prove to you that I'm not a heartless bastard. Please, don't do this.' Unfortunately for Roy, Ed couldn't read minds nor could he hear the silent pleas.

Ed shifted his weight around, tipping and toppling in the process. 'God damn Envy! Why the hell did he have to take my arm! I need that damn thing! Without it, I'm almost as useless as the damn colonel in the rain!'

Roy wanted to say something, anything. Anything that would break the silence. Anything to get the boy to open up. Hell, anything to get him to say something. "So…" Roy began, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I guess you have nightmares a lot."

Ed merely grunted in response, not even bothering to look up.

'What would earn his trust… even just a little…?' Roy straightened up as an idea hit him. He nodded to reassure himself, and continued. "I have nightmares sometimes too. Nowhere near as often as yours, but they come around occasionally." He waited for any sign of interest to come from the blonde, but none was received. "I have visions of Ishval. All the people I was ordered to kill. They torment my sleep. Sometimes I see children's faces in a background of blood red, or sometimes I see the city in ruins."

Roy thought he saw Ed tilt his head to hear the tale a little better. With a smile, Roy continued. "I'll wake up sweating and will have a blinding headache. But there are times when even the people I killed aren't the worst things I see. Sometimes, I see all the faces of my friends and colleagues who were ordered to do the same thing. I see how it affected their lives, and how they cried themselves to sleep because of the atrocities we all performed."

Ed had lifted his head up and was no resting his chin on his arm, listening attentively.

Roy pulled up one of his knees and wrapped his arm around it. "It can get lonely when you wake up from a nightmare."

"Yeah…" Ed agreed, all traces of anger disappeared from his voice. "I… I usually have nightmares about that night. And my mom… and Al… and Nina… and everyone I've failed…" Ed ran his hand through his hair and rested his forehead on his metal knee. "I've failed everyone…"

'H-he thinks he failed everyone.' Roy was really incredibly horrible at comforting. "B- Y-you… N-no…" He stuttered, trying to find the correct words for the situation. He needed to say something now. Ed couldn't sit there with those thoughts. A person could go insane if that's all they thought about. 'He must feel so alone… No, Fullmetal, you haven't failed anyone. You can't think like that. Don't say those things.' Roy couldn't form those words on his lips, so instead he just stuttered like a babbling fool.

Ed snorted and lied down on the cold, hard ground, curling up in a ball that faced the wall and away from Roy. He pulled his red cloak up to his chin and rested his head on top of his hand. In no time, his breathing evened out and he was fast asleep, probably on his way towards yet another nightmare.

Roy sighed as he watched the boy through the dancing flames. 'I probably shouldn't let him sleep but… he looks so tired… I guess I'll just have to stay up and watch him. It's the least you can do for the kid. You were a total ass. What the hell is the matter with you, Mustang?' Roy paused and turned his head to gaze out of the cave. His eyes wandered through the twinkling stars. 'Great, now I'm talking- err thinking to myself. This kid is driving me insane…'

AAAALLLLLLRIGHTY! That was chapter 10! So, I'm thinking there will probably be about two more chapters. Just a bit more action and a closer. It'll probably be cheesy and corny because it's always hard to end one of these damn stories but oh well. I'll see you all in a few days! :D