Chapter 14

Dogs and Brothers

Ed pulled away enough to lock onto Roy's eyes; fear gripped his heart. He wondered how long she'd been standing there, what if she heard him through the door? "Shit!" he muttered under his breath as he jumped off Roy and whipped his head around in search of something to wipe himself off with. A hanky pushed it's way into his vision and he muttered a quick thanks as he grabbed it from Roy's hand. He hastily cleaned up and gave the soiled cloth back to Roy.

"Just a minute, Lieutenant!" Roy shouted after he'd cleaned up and stood to lift his pants up.

"What's going on in there? Is Fullmetal still with you?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.

Roy glanced in Ed's direction; the blonde was sitting on the floor frantically trying to shove his legs into his leather pants. "Hurry up Ed, before she alerts the whole building to what we've done," he hissed. He fastened his trousers, tucked his shirt in, and buttoned it as he walked towards the door.

Ed had his boxers and pants up to his groin and he quickly stood up, he almost fell forward with the forcefulness of his movement. He pulled the boxers and then the pants up over his behind and fumbled with the zipper and button, he was so nervous his hands were shaking uncontrollably. "Shit…shit…shit," he swore as he tried to push the round object into a slit that seemed too small. He barely noticed Roy coming back towards him; then he felt Roy's hands grip his shoulders.

"Ed, relax, let me help you," Roy spoke calmly to the frenzied young man.

Ed looked up at Roy in obvious distress and was stunned to feel Roy's lips push against his own. He closed his eyes; the kiss instantly slowed him down. When Riza called out to Roy again from the other side of the door, Ed barely heard it. He stood still as Roy maintained the kiss, he felt Roy's hands lightly tapping his stomach as the elder man buttoned his pants and pulled his zipper up. The kiss ended and Ed fell forward slightly and opened his eyes. Roy was getting his boots and socks for him. He automatically sat down on the couch and let Roy put them on for him. As he watched Roy crouched down in front of him his heart filled with so much love and adoration, he thought it would burst.

"Roy!" Riza yelled impatiently on the other side of the door.

"Goddamn-it woman, shut up! I'll open the damn door when I'm good and ready!" he called out angrily. Then he gazed up at Ed and smiled. To hell with her, he thought, whatever she might think or do, as long as he had Edward it would be all right. He finished tying Ed's boots, stood and leaned over again to give Ed another tender kiss. His last remark had indeed quieted the female on the other side of the door. He pulled away from Ed's lips and roamed his lover's long blonde hair with his eyes; then he primped the stray locks back into place.

Ed relished the soft touch of Roy's fingers in his hair; it was the perfect ending to their tryst. He contentedly settled into the couch as Roy left to finally open the door.

Roy turned the lock and heard the click of the tumbler. His hand rested on the knob for a second before he exhaled and tugged the door open. He'd readied himself for just about anything, except what he saw. He gasped sharply as his eyes scanned the hallway. Just about all his subordinates were standing there staring back at him. He watched stunned as Havoc's cigarette ash fell silently the floor. Then his eyes rested on Riza, she was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and a furious expression on her face. Roy's own anger raced to the surface, "Don't you people have work to do?" he shouted fiercely. Everyone scattered, muttering to themselves; except for Hawkeye. She maintained her position.

"Is Edward still in there?" she demanded. Her foot started to tap in front of her as she spoke.

"Yes, why?" Roy responded calmly.

"Because, Black Hayate was not in the street…sir," she told him, her eyes softened as she spoke.

Roy felt a twinge of sympathy for Hawkeye. What Ed did to her was sort of mean; he had to admit. "Oh…yes, he's right here on the couch," he told her, a smirk spread across his lips. He moved out the way to give her access to his office. This was going to be good, he thought.

Riza immediately stomped into Roy's office and positioned herself directly in front of Edward. If her eyes held bullets, Edward's head would be blown to bits.

Edward looked up at her and met her glare with his own. He faintly noticed her hand at her waist, a finger twitched over the handle of her gun.

Roy came in after her and stood close enough to witness the exchange. He brought his hand thoughtfully up to his chin and waited.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Edward Elric. I can't believe you'd betray me that way!" she accused sharply.

Ed felt a jolt of electricity shoot through his body. Was she talking about the damned dog or his affair with Mustang? "Wh-what?" he stumbled out. His eyes were wide and his gaze refocused on the hand resting dangerously over the gun handle.

"Oh come one, Hayate was never even out of the building! You scared me half to death! What do you have to say for yourself, huh?" she hissed. She wanted so badly to pull her gun out and shoot, just graze his perverted man-loving head with a bullet.

"I-I'm s-sorry?" Ed stuttered, he could see the twitch of her finger get worse and her hand started to shake.

"Sorry? That's it?" she said between clenched teeth. Although what he'd told her about her dog was mean spirited, her real anger was fueled by the fact that Ed had taken Roy away from her. Her hand descended onto the gun handle and she ripped it from her holster.

Roy immediately took action when he saw her hand grab the gun. He heard Ed shriek as he lunged forward, grabbed Riza's arm, and pulled it up over her head. A shot rang out and the bullet hit the ceiling. Roy was faintly aware of plaster raining down over their heads. "Riza, calm down, we need to talk," Roy said as calmly as he could manage.

Riza nodded her response and felt her arm lower slowly with Roy's hold still on it. She was numb; her anger had left her with the bullet she'd fired. She was aware of Roy taking the gun from her.

Once Roy secured the gun he glanced over at Ed. The blonde had ducked down, pushing his chest into his legs. His hands were still covering his ears on his now raised head. A frightened expression remained on his face.

Havoc, Fuery, and Armstrong all raced into the room and stopped abruptly a few feet away from Roy and Riza. They bumped into each other as they halted their progression into the room. Their eyes darted all over the scene; confusion littered their glances and muffled sounds. Armstrong stepped forward, "Colonel, may we be of assistance?" he asked uneasily.

"Uh, no. Everything's fine," he told them in a commanding voice. He glanced at Riza, she appeared broken and was slumped over with her head tilted forward. "Hawkeye just had a little accident, that's all, nothing to be concerned about. Uh, as you were!" he directed sternly. He watched the men salute and walk back out to the hallway, muttering to each other. Then he turned his attentions to his lover, "Ed, are you all right?"

Ed nodded, "y-yes," he stammered. His nerves were shattered, but that was about it.

"Can you please leave us then?" he stated rather than asked. He saw Ed begin to argue, "Please, Ed," he reiterated.

Ed's fear turned to hurt as he rose from the couch. Mustang was going to comfort her, he thought? What about him? He didn't want to leave, he wasn't entirely sure he trusted them to be alone, but he knew from Roy's facial expression there would be no arguing with him. Ed reluctantly turned and walked out the door. He figured he'd just wait outside, within earshot. However, when he entered the hallway, he was met by Havoc and Fuery.

"Fullmetal, what the hell happened?" Havoc asked, a grin on his face.

Ed looked away, how would he explain it so he wasn't incriminated? "Uh, nothing, really," he replied as turned and started to walk further down the hall in an attempt to escape the prying eyes and questions he didn't want to answer. The two associates followed close behind, they wouldn't be brushed off so easily.

"Ah come on, you must have done something pretty major to piss off Hawkeye like that," Havoc continued.

"Yeah, and what were you and the Colonel doing in his office with the door locked?" Fuery chimed in.

Ed stopped suddenly and turned around, anger burned in his eyes, "None of your business, leave me alone!" he hissed. He didn't want to say anything at the moment, his mind was still focused on what Roy and Riza were doing in his lover's office without him and he couldn't think of a plausible excuse to give them.

'Jeez, you don't have to get all bent out of shape," Havoc replied as he backed off.

Ed turned back around and continued his trek down the hallway alone. He slumped a little, he felt hopeless. Would it ever get easier? Or would he be constantly on guard, caught in a struggle to watch everything he did and said with Roy around the others. If Riza caught on so easily, it was only a matter of time before everyone else did too. How would he and Roy deal with it if an investigation began? Then a thought made him shudder, would Roy give up and break things off with him? After all, if the military discharged him, it wouldn't be that bad. But this was Roy's career; it's all he'd ever known, if he was faced with a court marshal he might decide to end it between them. He felt nausea in the pit of his stomach again. How could he possibly continue working under Roy now if they split up? And then, what exactly was Roy doing with Riza back in his office? Why did Roy ask him to leave? Had Roy decided to come on to Riza so she'd have no more reason to suspect the two of them? He decided to go back to his dorm room, maybe Al could comfort him; he was worrying himself into emotional turmoil.

-O-

Roy closed his door and returned to take a seat on his couch. He motioned for Hawkeye to take a seat next to him. He watched as she slowly sat beside him. Her hands were in her lap and her head hung low. Roy thought for a moment, he wanted to say everything exactly right. "Riza, I understand you know about my relations with Edward," he stated evenly. He waited but she didn't respond. He sighed, "I need you to stop butting heads with him," Roy continued in the same tone.

Riza shot her head up and looked directly at Roy, her eyes searching his face, "So it's true, you two are lovers?" she asked with trepidation.

Roy nodded and replied simply, "Yes."

Her expression changed, she was wounded, "I-I wasn't going to shoot him, I just wanted to scare him, that's all," she blurted quickly. She subconsciously changed the subject in order to allow herself time to process the implications of Roy's confession.

Roy took her hands in his and attempted to be as empathetic as possible, he understood her shock and the fact she'd harbored feelings for him wasn't exactly new to him. "Listen, I know it's not appropriate, what's happened between Edward and I, but I'd like you to let it be, for now. I need your support. If it wasn't for Ed, I honestly don't know if I'd still be alive right now," he admitted openly. He saw her eyes widen; something was registering.

"So he rescued you, when you were desperate, and you fell in love?" she probed. She was starting to understand in the only way her love for him would allow. Ed was there for him in a time of need. Ed must be just a phase, a fleeting infatuation fueled by a situation. It was not unlike the way severely ill patients sometimes fell in love with their doctors. Someday it would end; then Roy would be hers. In the meantime, if she stuck by his side and gave him the support he required, he'd see someday how much she meant to him.

Roy wasn't sure where she was going with her question, but it seemed to calm her. "Yes, I guess you could say that," he agreed. He decided to turn on his charm in order to seal a pact between them, "You mean a lot to me, Riza, I don't want to loose you over this. I've always depended on you to be there for me and I still do," he confided tenderly.

Her heart grew heavy with his words and she rocked forward once in understanding, "Then I will continue to support you, I'll let this thing with Edward run its course," she agreed.

-O-

Edward burst through his dorm room door in a rush of billowing red robe and threw himself on his bed. He'd worked himself into an emotional frenzy with insecure thoughts about Roy's intentions. He was sure Roy was doing something sordid at the moment with Riza in order to quell her suspicions about them. He pushed his face into his pillow and let out a choked sigh. Tears were threatening to overwhelm him and he struggled to keep them at bay. He was vaguely aware of Al sitting at the small table in their room.

"Brother! What happened? I heard Hawkeye tried to shoot you?" he questioned quickly as he stood up and walked to the side of Edward's bed.

Ed turned his face on his pillow in order to answer his brother. "Great, so everybody knows," he said helplessly.

Al heard the despair in his brother's voice and he sat on the edge of Ed's bed. "You sound upset, did it have anything to do with you and Roy?" he questioned uneasily. He figured the relationship with Roy would blow up at some point. He'd thought it was just a bad idea to begin with.

Ed turned on the bed and faced his sibling, "Oh Al, everything's a mess. Riza found out about us and she got mad. She fired her gun at me and Roy's with her now and their alone and…I …don't…" as he spoke, his emotions took hold and sobs choked out between his words. Visions of Roy kissing Riza on the office couch, the same one they'd just made love on, pushed to the forefront of his mind. He turned his face back into his pillow; he couldn't stop the tears from coming. He felt his brother's hand press on the small of his back.

"It'll be okay Ed. The Colonel loves you, right? Besides, he's the boss and he knows how to handle things, I'm sure he'll figure out a way to deal with Lieutenant Hawkeye," Al spoke soothingly.

"No…Al, what if…what if he's doing something with her right now, what if he decides I'm not worth…the trouble?" Ed cried. The timbre of his voice grew higher with each word.

"Don't be silly, Ed. If he cheats on you and doesn't see how special you are, then he doesn't deserve you," Al quipped. He gasped as his brother's sobs filled the room. He obviously said the wrong thing. "Ed! I'm sorry, what did I say?" he shot back frantically.

Ed continued in his grief for a moment more, how could he tell his brother the idea of not being with Roy tore apart his very soul? "I don't want him to leave me, Al!" he howled loudly.

The whole thing started to make the armored boy angry. He didn't like seeing his brother hurt and he would do anything to fix it for him. But he had no idea what to do, as far as he could see, if he went to Mustang right now, he'd probably only make things worse. His frustrated mind searched for something he could say to make Ed feel better. He decided maybe his sibling just needed a compassionate ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. "Talk to me brother, tell me why you're so afraid he'll leave you? Al asked sympathetically.

Ed's sobs had slowed. The initial pain had dulled and he felt a little better now he'd released some of the pent up emotion. He turned onto his side, facing Al, "Because if Hawkeye turns us in, then he'll be in a lot of trouble. I don't know if he'd stay with me, not if it meant the end of his career. And…and he actually thought he could take her on a date…to make her think he liked her and not me!" his voice wavered. New tears shoved their way into his eyes as he remembered Roy's first idea to deal with Riza. He looked at his brother sadly; he sniffled and waited for a comforting response.

Al thought carefully, he was actually very angry at Mustang for putting his brother through all of this. After all, the Colonel should know better. Knowing Mustang's reputation, Ed's fears weren't unfounded as far as he was concerned, a fact that made it exceedingly difficult for him to come up with a viable response.

"Al?" Ed questioned timidly when his brother didn't speak.

"Uh, I don't know what to say, Ed. I'm sorry, I guess. I'm sorry you're in this situation, and frankly I'm mad that Colonel Mustang would let this happen and treat you so badly," he answered honestly.

"Y-you think he's treating me badly?" Ed asked, a little shocked his brother would say something like that.

"Yeah!" the armored boy said sarcastically. "Why would he even think about dating Hawkeye if he's in love with you? Doesn't he know how bad it makes you feel?" Al responded as if it was completely obvious to anyone with half a brain.

"B-but he decided not to when I told him I didn't want him to," Ed argued. Even if he believed Roy wasn't treating him as well as he should, he didn't want his brother to think that.

Al sighed; he was frustrated. He knew exactly where the conversation was going, his brother was so enamored with Mustang the man could do no wrong in his brother's eyes. Or at least not openly admit it to someone else. There was no point in trying to get him to see reality; Ed was just not receptive to it. "Okay, Ed. So, he decided not to. What are you so upset about then?" Al said half defeated

"You just don't understand, you've never felt this way about anyone!" Ed quipped; his bother didn't seem to be helping him any. He turned himself again and pushed his face back into his pillow.

Al growled and stood back up. "Fine then, you know what? You got yourself into this mess, so just deal with it!" he shot back angrily. The younger sibling turned and headed for the door. He knew what he said was harsh, but true. He decided to leave him alone with his dilemma as he headed for the door. He decided to take a little walk to cool off.

Ed heard Al's metal footsteps clanking on the wooden floor, then the door open and slam shut. "Al?" he questioned the empty room. He couldn't believe his brother would just leave him like that. He twisted his head to look in the direction of the door, "Al!" he whined. He was alone, all alone. His tears came back in a rush as he clung to the edges of his pillow and sobbed.