Chapter 8

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Something had changed. It took the course of several days, but Ed could feel the shift in the atmosphere, could sense the difference in Mustang's teasing comments as days passed by and the rehearsals became more intense. Everyone started to get into their characters more, their ease addictive and hauling Ed along with it, and the entire feeling during rehearsals became more loose. During the hours they spent in Roy's office they were becoming more than comrades, or coworkers; they became a cast, a group of friends creating something together, and it affected everyone. There was barely any distance anymore; they were making jokes together and hanging out during the short breaks they sometimes had during the rehearsals. Even Mustang seemed to be less uptight, his defenses dropping as their rehearsals slowly started dragging to later hours each day, which was how Ed could notice the change. Exhausted and free, the colonel let on more than he realized, letting Ed see through his walls.

However, it worked both ways. Ed knew he was also letting on more than he meant to, especially when the read out part of the rehearsals was over and they started with the actual acting. They were all nervous at first; the first three rehearsals were awkward; but then that rehearsal came by and Jean's character entered the play. Ed knew Jean was a weirdo and a pervert, but he never thought he had that in him. It was shocking to see him getting so into his character, and his enthusiasm was both disturbing and contagious. Ed could remember himself gaping at the man when he was jumping around, his breathe catching in his throat when he actually started singing the lyrics – then letting the air trapped inside him out in a shocked chuckle when he realized what the lyrics were.

From that moment on, things deteriorated rapidly, ending with Ed not focused enough to even protest when the scene he was complaining about to his brother and he felt Falman's hands on his shoulder, hesitatingly taking off his coat before his hands reached towards his belt and opened it. He remembered the rush of heat in his cheeks as he realized what was happening, but he also knew he had no other choice already. He missed the point in time he could protest this; besides, in his embarrassment his stare shot right at Roy and he'd never forget what he saw there. The way Mustang was glaring at Falman's hands… it looked like he wanted to run over there and slap him away, and at the same time like he wished he'd continue and expose Ed to his prying eyes. He'd never felt so naked, not even on that one time he was just finishing his shower and didn't manage to put his clothes back on and Envy walked in. Envy didn't try to peel anything off him with his eyes – even though there were no clothes to peel then, but the point was that he didn't seem to care that Ed was naked.

Roy did.

That fact took a moment to sink in, but the determination that spread through Ed's body the instant it did was something Ed would never forget. At that second, he knew he was wrong, and all the mixed signals he was receiving during that week all made sense. Alphonse was right. Roy was forcing him to do this so he could spend time gaping at his naked body without making it look suspicious. Too bad he wasn't as good at hiding his thoughts as he thought, but now Ed knew, and he wasn't going to let it go so easily.

Until now he could try to ignore his emotions, could try and repressing them until they either disappeared or he'd be able to get the hell out of the military and Roy's command and let the time decrease the man's importance in Ed's life. But not anymore; not when he knew there was another way, he just had to find the right way.

The problem was that Ed was never the kind to thoroughly think things through and device a plan, but the kind who darted into a situation and figure out the rest on the go. That's why he was at the Headquarters so uncharacteristically early in the morning; he hoped to catch Mustang in the office before everyone else reported in.

He was disappointed, though, when the office was locked. Of course. He forgot that Mustang was even a bigger slob than Ed was, so he turned on his heels and headed back towards the dorms. He was too busy dwelling on the fact that his plan didn't work to notice the sound of steps approaching, and noticed he wasn't alone anymore only when he heard his name. Ed looked up in surprise and intended to stop walking, but was too slow and he simply bumped into a rather large man. A quick glance while he was muttering an apology and taking half a step back told Ed that he was not a regular soldier like Ed was; he was wearing a darker uniform and had no ranks on his shoulders. He was from the military investigation team. Unfortunately, Ed was already very familiar with them.

But what had he done now to deserve being questioned? He was already back from his latest mission over two weeks ago, and he already discussed what happened there with Mustang before all this play craziness started and turned Ed's life upside down.

He frowned, and the soldier took out an ID, showing that he really was a part of the military police forces. Second Lieutenant Ralph Johnson. Lower rank than Ed's but he already knew it didn't matter much when it came to the military police. "I'm glad I ran into you, Major Elric. Will you please follow me? My commander would like to have a talk with you."

"What about? I didn't even get out of the Headquarters in the last two weeks – "

"It is not my job to tell you, Major, but don't worry. You're not accused of anything. Please, follow me."

Ed narrowed his eyes at him. The rank on his ID and the polite way he was speaking told Ed that not only was he lower ranked, but he was also aware of it and forbidden from acting like most officers did and simply drag Ed along with him. If Ed was supposed to be interrogated about something he did, then it should have been someone of higher rank capturing him; and, usually, Ed ended up being dragged. This time, however, it looked more like the guy wanted to get on Ed's good side. A lost cause, but the intention itself was enough to make the elder Elric believe the words being said to him: he wasn't charged with anything.

Which meant that someone else was of blame.

Ed nodded once, and followed the fat man silently. He only agreed to come along without causing any trouble because he was curious. He was trying to think what this was all about; the police rarely bothered showing up so early in the morning, and what business did they have in this floor? This area only contained the rooms that served Roy's men –

Ed gasped. There was only one conclusion: Roy was accused of something, and now they wanted to get information out of Ed. But the young alchemist knew of nothing bad Mustang might have done. What made them think Ed knew anything, out of all people? And why bother catching him before the working day started?

It had to be something big. Something really bad, otherwise they would've slept in and found him later, instead of hauling him before he managed to talk to anyone else. What the hell happened? They were all here last night; the rehearsal was dragging late, as usual, and they were all dead tired after it. There was no way something big could've happened between then and now.

He tried to pass last night's event in his head, but could find nothing out of the ordinary until he was told to stop in front of a closed office door. The cop that got Edward stood in front of the door and knocked three times, then stood and waited for an answer. It didn't take too long to come, and a deep voice ordered them in.

Johnson opened the door, and allowed Ed in first. Stepping inside, Ed realized he wasn't familiar with this one. It wasn't the regular place he'd been taking to for questioning, and he glanced around, taking in every detail. There was nothing special about the place – yet another rather empty, boring office, and yet another fat, useless officer sitting in the middle of it behind a way too tidy desk. These guys really had nothing to do that to sniff around the soldiers who were only doing their job; why were they even being paid to sit on their asses and do nothing?

Ed wasn't given enough time to ponder about that, since the rather big officer behind the table addressed him with severe face. "Are you Major Edward Elric?" he asked.

Ed frowned. If they weren't sure it was him, why did they drag him all the way down here? There was only one possible explanation that fit with everything else. There really was something very serious going on if they needed to double check his identity. Something was fishy, someone had done something very, very bad… and they expected him to rat out. Well, he wasn't going to.

"Yeah," he said, his voice coming out an as a warning, all his distrust and suspiciousness clear in that single word. "What do you want? I have work to do, and I already know I didn't do anything – "

"Relax, Major. Please, have a seat. I only have a few questions to you, all I'm asking for is your cooperation. Don't worry about being late to report in; any inconvenience this meeting might hold for you will be taken care of. I just want you to be honest with me."

The blond alchemist narrowed his eyes. Something really smelled bad… "With all due respect, I have no idea who you are." It wasn't going to do him much help; there weren't many chances that the man sitting in front of him now wasn't high enough in rank to interrogate him, but he'd still like to know who he was talking to.

"Ah! Of course! Please, forgive me, Major. Brigadier General Vincent McKinley. Please, take a seat. I do hope this won't take long, but there's no reason that you won't be comfortable."

The man was smiling kindly at him, but Ed knew fake when he saw it. Ed took the necessary step towards the chair placed right in front of the desk, walking around it carefully before cautiously sitting down. "I'm listening," he said coldly, the impolite way he was talking conveying the lack of respect he felt towards the man. If it bothered him, he didn't show it.

"Good. I'm appreciating your time very much, Major Elric. I would like to ask you… about Colonel Roy Mustang."

Ed gulped. They wanted to question him about Roy… and everything looked so serious. There was only one thing that came up him mind that could induce such a reaction. Someone picked up on what was going on between him and his commander, and now they were in trouble… but could they really do anything to them, considering the fact that nothing happened? And how did they find out? Were Mustang and he really that careless? He tried not to look guilty as he decided to remain silent; he knew his rights all too well.

Brigadier General McKeenley waited for a moment, as if he was expecting Ed to say something; but he didn't show any signs of tiresome or annoyance when he spoke next. "I want to ask you… had he done anything to you? Something you weren't pleased with?"

"What?" Ed spat the question, too shocked to keep silent. Did they really think Roy would… do anything to him? Did they think that – Hell no! "No, he hadn't," he said, trying to be as collected as possible. He felt the blood boiling in his veins and his heart pounding with fear, but he knew bursting out would do him no good.

"There is no reason to be so scared, Major. If you have anything to tell me, I guarantee you that the information you give will remain anonymous. No one will know it came from you if you don't want them to."

Ed was very tempted to yell at him; to call him out on his bullshit, to punch his face, to do something, but he knew he has to stay seated and appear calm. "There's nothing to tell," he repeated, realizing a moment too late that he was losing his control; his voice was shaky, low and dangerous. This was not good…

There was a short pause, and the momentary silence lay in the room like a heavy cloud, and Ed almost stood up and left the room. This was ridiculous. Who the fuck told them that Roy was forcing himself on him? What on Earth was going on here? He knew Roy had a lot of enemies within the army, people who were looking badly on his rank and his methods, but to go that far was already a little bit too much –

"There's no need to hide, we already know about the play your commander is raising. We also know it has somewhat of disturbing nature, and all I'm trying to do is protect you – "

Oh. So this was what this was all about… not that it was much better; the play was supposed to remain secret. Hughes and Fuery were in charge of making sure of it. So what?..

Ed didn't even bother to listen to the rest of the sentence. "Look, that play – we're all for it. We made a vote," he had no idea where that lie came from, "and we all decided that we're going to do this. No one is being forced into anything, not me, and not any other soldier under the colonel's command, okay? I'm fine with whatever is going on there, and what we choose to do for that stupid event is our business, so keep your nose out of it, alright?" He stood up, ignoring the fact that he could actually stand to court for behaving that way – not only it was military police he was talking to, it was also someone who outranked his commander, let alone outranked him. "There's nothing for you to investigate. We're all very capable of taking care of ourselves, so please stay the hell out of our business," and with that, he left the room, ignoring the stare the police officer was giving him. If he gets in trouble for this, then so be it.

He marched back towards the office's building, his mind racing. There were so many questions – how did they find out what they were doing? How did they reach the conclusion Roy was forcing anything on anyone of them, and especially him? They were making sure no one knew on their rehearsals, made sure not to talk about it during office hours. Did someone betray them? Betray Roy, Ed corrected himself in his mind. His train of thoughts shifted in direction, and he wondered, yet again, how come everything changed. Two weeks ago he'd yearn for something like this to happen. Maybe not something that'd endanger Roy's position, but something that's sabotage his plan was something Ed wished for. Now…

Now he felt differently.

While he still didn't really like the idea of the play, he didn't have as much problem with it. He was actually starting to have fun with it; he still hated his character, but he couldn't help but admit that the idea was funny. Written down he could only see the disturbing parts, but they were bringing life to the words and together they were starting to create something. Ed still wasn't sure it was good enough to grant them the first place, but even he couldn't deny the good things that came from it.

Especially since this helped him realize that maybe he wasn't as hopeless as he thought he was.

He swallowed, his stride slowing. He was afraid that this encounter with the military police had something to do with how he felt about Roy, and the way he was already pretty sure Roy felt about him. If he was so scared when there wasn't really anything going on between them… what would happen if there would actually be ground to any accusation? He wasn't stupid, and as much as he hated the military rules and tended to ignore them on daily basis he knew that any kind of unprofessional relationship between a commander and his subordinate was illegal; he was also painfully aware of the fact that he was a minor. Even if something really could bloom between Roy and him, was he willing to risk everything for it? Was he willing to risk Roy for that?

Until now, he didn't even think about it that way, maybe because he didn't think it was even a possibility and then he was too swooned by the play and the little game he and Roy were playing to pay any attention to anything else… but it was a serious matter, and he should give it more thought.

He barely greeted anyone when he finally reached his department, immediately settling down next to a desk and pretending to write down a report. If anyone would ask him, it was the report from nearly three weeks ago, that both he and Roy forgotten about by now. He needed time to think, he needed time to be alone.

Luckily enough, no one bothered him until the working day was over, and the Eastern Command was slowly emptied out. Eventually, only their department stayed there, and when there was no longer any worry that anyone could bother them, they gathered as always in Roy's office. By then, Ed managed to somewhat collect his thoughts. He reached some decisions – the first one, he was cutting off this game he was playing with Mustang. It was too dangerous for both of them, and it was stupid anyway. The second decision was that he was still going to continue to participate in the play despite it; he already started, and everyone were already counting on him. Besides, even if the hidden promise of getting Roy wasn't there anymore, there was always the part where he absolutely needed to get to Western, and Mustang wasn't going to back from his conditioning, that was sure.

So he dragged his ass to Roy's office, feeling down and annoyed but determined all the same. Of course, everyone were already there; he went back to being fashionably late after that time Roy commented on him being early, and he was reluctant at showing up at all that day. He knew he should've told Roy about the talk the military police had with him – but he simply couldn't bring himself to face him so soon, and then an hour followed another and here he was.

Everyone's stares turned towards him as he entered, but, as usually, he ignored it. He waved off Roy's comment about the delay, and the rehearsal started – the same as always.

They were forced to stop many times because of him; he wasn't focused, and he knew it. He could also notice the somewhat puzzled look on Roy's face when he didn't react to his teasing anymore, forcing himself to stay calm and think about something else – anything but how hot Roy looked when he was mad, or how sexy his voice was when he was giving instructions… It was difficult, but Ed was actually very proud of his self restraint.

"Fullmetal! Are you even here? This is the fifth time we had to stop because you weren't paying attention!"

"Well, I'm sorry – " Ed started, defensive as always, but before he could say anything more the door to Roy's office opened. Everyone's eyes were immediately turned towards their intruder. Ed recognized him immediately; it was the same officer who interrogated him this morning… but he denied any accusations, so what on earth was he doing here?

A quick glance around the room told Ed that everyone else were just as confused as him, even though the puzzled stare on most faces also allowed him to know that they had no idea who the guy was, but the quicker glance he shot at Mustang told him that Roy did know. Either way, once he was sure he got everyone's attention, Brigadier General McKinley took out his ID and showed it to everyone. He looked serious, and Ed felt the tension hanging heavily around the room, and the dark tentacles of knowledge were creeping into him, smothering his heart.

But that guy had no business here. As far as Ed knew, he was supposed to be their only evidence; how did they know about the rehearsal at all? Realizing there must be a traitor between them, Ed glanced again around the room, this time trying to look harder into people's expression, looking for any signs of deceit, but there was none. Before he could do anything else, the Brigadier General opened his mouth and spoke up. He wasn't using the same want-to-be trusting voice, but a more official, ordering kind of tone.

"I know what you're doing, Colonel," he said, not bothering with greeting or introducing, jumping straight to the point. "And I'm here to end this. The show is off, soldiers. The rehearsal is over, and so is your work day, unless you have guarding duty. Please, collect your things and leave. Now."

Ed's mouth dropped open; he knew something was bad, but he didn't imagine the police will be cancelling the show! He didn't think they will actually come and tell them to stop everything! This wasn't right, this wasn't –

"With all due respect, Brigadier General, on what ground are you cancelling my contribution to the annual charity event? I'm doing everything by the book, just trying to do my best to raise as much money for the event as I can. There's nothing against the rules."

"Colonel Mustang, this is not a negotiation. This thing is off. Please don't cause any troubles, Colonel." There was certain finality to his tone, and Ed watched as Roy narrowed his eyes at the man, his irises dark with hate.

"Dismissed, everyone," Ed could barely believe he was really hearing these words falling from Roy's lips. Was he really giving up? After all of this? "I will see you all in the morning. Good night."

Everyone were just as shocked as Ed, but no one said anything to counter Roy's words, simply picking their stuff and heading towards the door like a group of rebuked kids, mumbling their 'good night, sir," just before passing through the door.

Ed remained there, lingering a little bit; why wasn't anyone fighting this? Why was Roy just accepting this? Have they really worked this hard for three weeks for nothing? He didn't know Roy as the kind of man who gave up so easily, he knew him as the Flame Alchemist who fought for everything, who aimed to the top in order to actually get there. Was this really over?

"Good night, Fullmetal," Roy's words were a hidden order. Leave, you have nothing to do here anymore, he could hear the words ringing in the room even though they weren't being said. He probably waited too long; was Roy annoyed at him for that? Did Roy expect him to give up that easily? True, he didn't like any of this since the beginning; true, he also decided to give up on Roy just this morning, but this… this changed everything. He couldn't just let it be over like this. There was no fucking way he was going to give up like Roy did – and if only because he couldn't stand the fact they were accusing Roy of something so wrong, even though there was a grain of truth in that but he didn't care. Not anymore.

It's was about making a point now, more than anything else.

Annoyed and determined, Edward left the office, grabbing his red coat on his way out. This wasn't the end of this, not as long as there was anything he could do to prevent it; but he couldn't do anything at that specific moment. Any plan would have to wait for tomorrow – and he was sure he would come up with something before dawn breaks.