Thank you all so much reviewing! Seriously, 300 reviews- WOW! :D :D :D I love you guys so much!

And with that, we're now in the final arc- welcome back, human Roy! We've all missed you! *glomps him *gets shoved off by irritated and creeped out Roy Now, I know we all want some human Roy-Ed interaction, me included- well, be patient, my lovelies :) It doesn't happen in this one; Roy needs his own chapter- but, including this one, there's only four chapters left. It's soon. Additionally, because you've all been so amazing and wonderful and it's just not fair to make you wait for it when you've been so patient, I'm upping my update schedule. Friday (which has a little bit of human Roy and Ed together), then Monday (the loose ends chapter), then Wednesday will be the final chapter. One more week, everyone!

The look on Knox's face when he beheld his patient was nothing short of comical.

"...Hughes," he grunted, after several seconds of just staring down at the still form in his guest bedroom. "Question. Did you, or did you not, tell me it was your daughter that needed my help?"

He barely managed not to grin. "I did."

"...You do know that this is not your daughter."

"I do, yes."

Slowly, Knox raised his gaze to stare at him, still clearly baffled. "You do know I would never have come for this brat if I had known he was the reason you were calling me."

Maes shrugged a little, allowing a wry, accomplished grin to tug at his lips now. "And, no offense, sir, but you should've known that I would've called just about anyone else for Elicia before I got to your name. Your beside manner is hardly something to applaud."

"I'd take offense if you said anything different, Hughes." Knox paused for a moment, shifting to stare downwards once again for several long moments, then just sighed and dropped heavily to sit down in defeat, reaching for his medical bag again. "Well, come on then. Help me. You managed to trick me over here, after all; might as well provide your ill gotten service before I go home."

Maes smirked slightly, having known all along this was just how it was going to play out, and joined the doctor sitting in his guest bedroom.

After finishing the powerful transmutation, their plan to take Ed back to the hospital had become a mandate, when passing out had transitioned into coughing up blood midway through the trip back to Central. It seemed, despite his assurances, the transmutation really had been too much for him when he was still only barely recovering after months of captivity, and the shock of finding the kid suddenly doubled over in his front seat and spitting blood onto the dashboard had been terrible to say the least. They'd split up immediately at that point, Al taking his brother back as fast as possible, leaving Maes and Hawkeye with a still unconscious colonel and not entirely sure what to do with him.

They needed to keep Roy hidden until they thought up a cover story for him, since it really was not a good idea for him to show up less than a day after Kuzon's human chimera had vanished under mysterious circumstances. Unfortunately, he'd also needed medical attention, if not so direly as Ed. Ed and Al had both already told them that while his body was brand new, it had still been built off the chimera serving as a template. This meant, unfortunately, that whatever injuries he'd sustained as a chimera would carry over to his human body.

Which was the explanation for why the surliest doctor in Amestris was currently occupying his guest bedroom, and plainly not very happy about it.

"...Well?" he asked after several silent minutes, shifting uncomfortably- it was almost as if the coroner had forgotten he had an audience. "How does he look?"

Knox grunted irritably at him, as if that was supposed to pass for an answer, and he leaned for his medical bag again. "He looks great, for someone listed as missing in action for months. Normally, those soldiers don't end up anywhere but grey and stiff on my table."

Maes couldn't help but flinch. "Well, that's not the case this time," he muttered, trying hard not to think about just how close they had come to that actually being how things turned out. "...So?" he repeated uneasily. "How is he?"

The doctor sighed, casting a glanced towards him. "Two gunshot wounds on his leg, but those are mostly healed, actually. Same with this, here." He poked gently at a wound on his abdomen; Roy fidgeted slightly in response but did not wake. "Stab wound, it looks like- but at least a week ago, if not more."

Maes looked away uneasily at that, opening his mouth as if to say something then snapping it shut.

Knox gave him a suspicious look, frowning a little before continuing on. "Lots of needles marks, here..." He turned over one of his arms, glancing over it, then pointed towards his shoulder. "And then, there? Looks like he was cut open recently. By a doctor. It's healing fine- just not sure what I'm supposed to make of it. Why'd you drag me out here if he already has a doctor?"

Maes stiffened, the forced, easygoing look dropping in an instant. His heart ached with guilt and he found himself needing to look away, hands shaking. "...Not a doctor," was all he was able to make himself say, unable to tell Knox that nothing the Lab Three scientists had done to his friend had been to help him. I'm sorry, Roy...

When he didn't give any clear sort of explanation, the doctor frowned at him again, then just sighed. "I'm going to clean everything- though it looks like infection's already set in. Slight fever and one of the gunshot wounds is a mess. Other than that, all I know so far is he's got four broken ribs, three on his right side, one on his left- though again, I'd guess a week old or more. Nothing to be done for that but wrap it. You know how to do that?"

A little startled, Maes took a second to nod. "Uh, yeah-"

A roll of gauze hitting him in the shoulder interrupted him. "Then do it. Come on, Mustang, up," he grunted, tugging the colonel up into some sort of illusion of a sitting position, only to drop him, too, against Maes' shoulder, leaving him scrambling to stop his friend from faceplanting.

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Maes set to work, alternating between focusing on his task and watching the doctor again, waiting for the hammer that he knew was coming to drop. Sure enough, after only a minute or two of working in silence, Knox grunted at him again, still looking down at his hands. "So... he certainly looks like he's been through the wringer recently, Hughes. What did you say he got mixed up again, exactly?"

Maes clenched his jaw. "...I didn't," he replied cryptically, keeping his eyes down.

Knox gave him another flat look. "I don't want to know, do I."

"No. You don't."

Sighing, the coroner moved on with his work in silence and Maes did the same, all too eager to get past questions he could not answer. Knox, for his part, had clearly been involved in too much of Roy's under the table work in the past to press the issue, adopting a philosophy of the less he knew, the better, and he stayed quiet until he was done. At which point, he cleared his throat, stood back and folded his arms, a deep frown twisting his mouth.

"I don't see anything else to be very worried about," he said seriously. "A few extra scars, it looks like, to exaggerate about to the ladies, but that's about it... although, this one's not looking good." He unceremoniously pushed Maes aside to take his place behind Roy, tilting his head back to get a better look at the vivid, red scar circling his neck. "He should really get himself to a specialist for this one- make sure there's no internal scarring to the throat. That could be bad," he finished absentmindedly, as if internal scarring to the throat was little more than a scratch. He tapped his chin thoughtfully, still not seeming overall very worried.

Maes winced and looked away, clenching his fists. He'd noticed the new scar before, of course; how could he not? It was impossible for anyone to miss. And while he hadn't exactly had the chance to ask Ed about it, the thing reminded him perversely of a dog collar, and having been the one to take Ed's statement, he knew that was no coincidence. It made him sick to look at, and more than once, he'd found himself wishing Roy hadn't killed Kuzon, just so he could now get the chance to go back and finish the job himself.

"Yeah," he muttered at length, sighing. "We'll have another doctor look at him... eventually, I guess. We actually can't take him to a hospital now... long story... but we'll figure something out."

Knox grunted at him again, a noncommital sort of noise as he let his patient down onto his back again, withdrawing a penlight from his pocket. The moment it shone into Roy's eyes the colonel flinched and moaned, unconsciously trying to roll his head away from the bright light, struggling in vain to pull back from the doctor's tight grip. For a moment Maes thought the coroner was trying to wake him up but then Knox released him, turning off the light and letting the colonel settle again, frowning.

"Photophobia," he remarked, seeming almost surprised. "His eyes look fine, though... again, unexpected." He sent another look in his direction, head tilted to the side. "Pupillary reflex is normal. Hmm... if he's been kept somewhere very dark, recently, for a good period of time, I suppose it could make sense... it'd be reversible, if that was the case, just give it time- but other than I'm really not sure what could be causing it..."

Again, Maes stiffened and kept his silence, but his mind was racing. He couldn't ask Knox about it, not unless he wanted to as good as tell as the man that he was looking at the only reversed human chimera in existence, but...

Dogs were colorblind, weren't they?

Their vision was far worse than a human's, wasn't it?

And after two straight months at least, of experiencing the world through those limitations... it definitely sounded like what Knox was describing.

Maes looked towards his friend again, wincing as he shied away again from the only moderately bright light, and ended up giving nothing more to the doctor than a noncommittal shrug.

He let Knox work on in silence after that, none of what he was doing urgent or very concerned, and that relieved him. So far, this was all very good news. It seemed like they were going to be able to keep Roy holed up in his guest bedroom until they worked out some story to feed the military, and they weren't going to have to figure out a way to get him to a hospital after all. Everything seemed to be going quite well- better than expected, actually. Ed would be all right, Roy was alive, apparently with only minor injuries, and best of all, based off what little he'd said before he'd lost consciousness, it wasn't just his body that had been fixed. His soul was in there and it was definitely, completely, and only him.

Given just how badly today could have ended, in any number of horrific, terrible ways, Maes knew that this was more than he'd had any right to expect, and was definitely more than enough to be grateful for.

"Damn," Knox muttered quietly from his side, again not sounding overly concerned but still tense enough to worry him. Maes turned towards him just in time to catch Roy jerk violently, hard enough he nearly rolled on to the floor, then fall eerily still, head lolling to the side. "Damn you, Mustang. You like making my job suck as much as possible, don't you? Hell. Hughes, keep him from falling, would you?"

"Wh- what- hey!" Maes darted forward just in time to stop his friend from twitching straight off the bed, struggling to gently hold him down against periodic tremors as the doctor again searched through his bag, digging around for something. "Knox, what's wrong with him?"

"Nothing. Per se."

"Per se?!"

Again, Knox didn't answer him, and, cursing, Maes shifted back around to look at Roy. He was stilling a little, he thought, not jerking so violently against his hands, but he still looked terrible. As he watched, Roy strained, back arcing an inch off the bed and head tilting back, exposing his long, pale neck and the new scar that nearly bisected it. His throat jumped as he swallowed, then again, and again- over and over for seemingly no reason at all, choking on nothing but air.

"Ed," he mumbled, voice barely more than an inaudible croak, swallowing again. "Ed." Swallow. "Ed." Swallow. "Ed..."

Finally, Knox returned to push him aside again, removing the arm holding Roy down and leaning over him to check his pulse once again, tense and urgent. The penlight came out again to shine into his eyes; this time Roy didn't even seem to notice it, still swallowing and repeating Ed's name in gasps of air, occasionally wracked by powerful tremors that again had Maes and Knox trying to keep him in bed. "Knox!" he demanded, voice strained under the weight of anxiety. "What's going on?! What's wrong with him?!"

The doctor shot him a glare, still occupied with attempting to keep the colonel from falling. "Seizure," he grunted shortly, then returned his attention entirely back to Roy.

Maes blanched. "Wh- what?!"

"Oh, relax, would you," Knox barked, rolling his eyes. "He's not dying. It's just a partial seizure; he'll be fine. Look, it's passing already."

"But..."

But it was true. Already, Roy was calming down, settling; the tremors stopped as quickly as they had started, and his voice was quieting, too, though he still continued to croak Ed's name in a mantra. Knox caught his look and shrugged slightly, still holding a hand guardedly to Roy's shoulder in case he tried to twist to the floor again. "He has no idea what he's saying. It's not every case, but sometimes presents with repetition of a word or name... Ed, huh? As in the Fullmetal Alchemist? Thought those two hated each other."

"Ed. Ed. Ed. Ed..."

Maes looked away for a moment, struggling to tune out the monotonous mumbling and wondering whether or not Knox's statement was something to smile at. "Yeah, well, so did a lot of people," he muttered at last, still looking towards the floor.

"Ed. Ed... Ed... Ed..."

With one last exhausted, shuddering gasp, Roy fell completely still, slipping back into dead unconsciousness. Maes breathed a sigh of relief, slumping over on himself while Knox withdrew now that Roy was no longer in danger of meeting the floor. The coroner paused for a moment, just looking at the colonel, then grimaced.

"I've seen this happen before," he observed quietly, head tilted to the side. "From idiot alchemists. ...Keyword being idiot. They think they're all invincible just because they can draw a fancy circle, and then, poof! Attempt a gigantic transmutation and run enough current through themselves to set off a nuclear bomb in the process."

"That's an exaggeration," Maes remarked dryly, but he was still shaken. "Else Roy would've charcoaled himself."

Knox waved him off gruffly. "My point being, play around with that much energy, and something's bound to go. If that's what happened to him, it's probably an electrical imbalance. I don't know what else it could be, really, since I don't remember him to be an epileptic." He shrugged for a moment, still seeming rather unconcerned by it all, and Maes remained silent, brow furrowed in contemplation.

He remembered Ed telling him how they had escaped- how he'd turned Roy into a conduit. Remembered the kid being adamant that it must have caused some sort of damage, even if he hadn't known yet what it was. Idiot alchemist, neither of them were, but...

Could this have been what Ed was talking about?

Damn it, that kid is not going to like this.

Knox sighed, rising to his feet with a muffled yawn. "If I'm right, it's probably permanent. Won't kill him, but can't fix it, either."

He swallowed back a groan, raising a hand to rub his temples. This just kept getting worse and worse. "And, if it is permanent?" he managed weakly, trying to sound unworried but pretty sure he was failing miserably. "Then... will he..."

Thankfully, the doctor knew what he meant without needing it to be spelled out for him- definitely a good thing, since Maes hadn't been sure he would be able to finish the question. "Could go either way," he explained, shaking his head. "I've seen soldiers with similar problems get medical discharges, and I've seen them get by with nothing more than a restriction on field duties. Mustang's high enough rank, and could blackmail enough people, that I'd reckon he'd wind up in the latter category. Get him on anti-convulsants, and if it looks controllable, he'll probably just get his lucky ass saddled with desk duty and you as a chauffeur. No driver's license anymore, you know."

Maes released a shuddering sigh of relief, trying to steady himself but so exhausted and strung out it didn't work at all. "He never drives himself anyhow. Bastard's somehow convinced Hawkeye to take him everywhere."

"Oh, joy. I've provided those two another way to keep on with their ridiculous office marriage." Rolling his eyes, Knox stood, clearing his throat as he shouldered his bag. "I'm done here. Don't call me to your house again. Ever. In the meantime, keep the idiot here and resting as much as possible. Like I said before, got an infection that's probably going to get worse before it gets better. Speaking of which, here, and here." He held out his hand, giving him two different bottles of medication. "That one's an antibiotic, that one's an anticonvulsant. For if another seizure happens, because like I said, I'm not staying. And none of this matters if I'm wrong, so, once again, you really should get him to a specialist, Hughes."

Maes accepted it with a weary sigh, trying not to yawn himself. "Of course," he muttered, unable to help but wish that for just once, something could end up going right. "Yeah, I know, eventually-... Knox? If you're a coroner, then why do you have anticonvulsants?"

Knox gave him what might've possibly been the closest thing to a mischievous wink the gruff man was capable of. "Have a good day, Lieutenant Colonel," he chuckled in lieu of an answer, retreating out of his guest bedroom without another word.

Maes stared after the doctor in disbelief, looked back down to the bottles in his hand, then decided he was just really better of not knowing and promptly put the question out of his mind, looking back down at his best friend again.

He looked better than he'd expected, honestly. Though he wasn't sure if that was due to the fact that Ed was goddammed brilliant or just because his expectations had been so low- but as bad as it was, Maes was aware it could have been much, much worse. He was alive, for one. He was also one hundred percent human. Not missing any limbs or permanently disfigured. He was pale, sickly, and breathtakingly, almost skeletally thin, but the truth was Maes had seen him even worse, after Ishval. This was nothing. Not when they had come so close to not getting him back at all.

His gaze lingered on the violent red scar circling his friend's neck and he paused for a moment, shuddering. It looked like he'd been hung, or had his throat slit. The wound made him look macabrely, disturbingly close to a corpse.

It reminded him, terribly so, of how Ed had looked, being dragged down that hallway- before they had known the dog carrying him would sooner die himself than hurt him. Ed had looked dead, then, too.

Swallowing, Maes slid two fingers around to the inside of his friend's wrist, feeling the strong, steady beat of his pulse, and he shut his eyes for a moment, focusing on it. "...Sorry, Roy," he murmured aloud, unable to bring himself to let go of his hand. "If I'd just found you sooner, none of this would've happened... to you or Ed. I'm sorry..."

Roy shifted a little, turning his head to the side. "Ed..." the colonel croaked, moving about a little in his sleep, brow furrowing in distress, and he raised an eyebrow curiously.

Ed.

There it was again, he thought, smiling slightly. Ed.

It definitely seemed as if the reliance and closeness Ed had developed for his superior, during the course of his capture, had been mutual after all.

Definitely something he was going to tease him over, just as soon as he was strong enough to take it.

There were calls to make, both to Hawkeye and Christmas, who promised to send over one of her friends that moonlighted as a doctor without him even asking. Ed, on the other hand, would need to be updated in the morning. Al was their only line of communication with him right then- if he was even conscious yet- and Maes doubted he'd be leaving his brother's side even for a five minute phone conversation, right now.

There was dodging responsibility when Hakuro then called him, upset because his case's human chimera had gone missing overnight and no one seemed to know how or why, and demanding he track the beast down. Then again dodging responsibility when a very nervous Scieska called him and said a very upset Major Yamanaka had taken up residence in his office and was refusing to leave until he spoke to someone about a 'problem' with his research files. He knew he'd have to deal with both Hakuro and Yamanaka later that day, but was determined not to leave until he'd at least spoken with Roy and assessed his mental state. Partly because they had no way of knowing how much he remembered or how disoriented he'd be; they couldn't leave him to wake up alone...

And, partly because most of his recent experiences with him had been very violent, and after that, he was not about to leave him here alone with his wife and daughter.

Maes sighed, pushing at his glasses for a moment. Roy would understand, he told himself bitterly. It wasn't that he didn't trust him- it was that he truly didn't know what Roy was capable of now, and how much control he'd have of himself. It was for the best...

The soft pitter patter of tiny feet behind him pulled him a little out of his exhausted reverie, and Maes smiled in spite of himself, turning around to watch as Elicia ran past him, dragging a stool behind her. He raised an eyebrow in amusement as she pushed it up against the wall, then clumsily climbed on top of it, reaching up to fiddle with the thermostat.

It was so breathtakingly normal that, for a moment, he almost wanted to burst out laughing. God, he'd missed this. He'd been so busy with Ed and Roy it felt like he'd barely seen his family in weeks, and lately, even when he'd be home he'd been so distracted it hardly counted as family time at all. He'd hardly managed to give his daughter more than a hug for days...

Well, it was time to fix that.

"Elicia!" he called warmly, swooping her up into his arms gleefully. She squealed in excitement and he beamed at it, heart squeezing joyfully. "Good morning!"

She squealed again, squirming a little to get her arms up to hug him tightly. "Daddy! You're home, you're home!"

"Yes, I am! And you know what, Elicia?" He poked her nose, instantly rewarded with a bright flush and another excited squeal. "I'm here to stay, this time!"

Her eyes widened as she pulled back, staring at him in surprise. "You don't need to work anymore?"

He shook his head, beaming. "Not this week! Daddy's got to go in for a few hours today to make sure, but if everything's okay, then I'm taking the whole week off to spend time with you and Mommy." And if Hakuro wanted to deny him, well, Hakuro could go jump off a cliff for all he cared. He'd been pulling overtime and all nighters for months now. He had his State Alchemists back- even if neither would be doing any alchemy for the state for a while. Let him take the week for his family.

Elicia threw her arms around his neck in excitement, nearly making his heart burst with joy. "Yay! Yay yay yay yay- ah!" she exclaimed suddenly, as if only just realizing something. "Wait, wait, Daddy! So you found Little Big Brother Ed?!"

He beamed. "And Uncle Roy!"

Elicia blinked, her joy fading away into confusion. "Of course Uncle Roy," she said, as if it should be obvious, then started poking his glasses up higher on his nose as if it was a task of the greatest, most utmost important. "Duh Uncle Roy."

"...Huh?"

She nodded distractedly, now pulling his glasses off so she could play with them. "Dummy Uncle Roy. I found him! He was hiding, Daddy! But it was a stupid spot. Right in the open! He's very bad at hide and seek."

Maes stopped, startled. What? Elicia wasn't even supposed to know Roy was here- never mind playing hide and seek with him. He pulled back for a moment, uncertain, then felt his smile return unbidden as a little hand started tugging on his sleeve again and looked back at her. "Elicia, what are you talking about?"

"I found him," she said again, shrugging. "He was asleep, though. Silly Uncle Roy; it's the middle of the day!"

Maes smirked slightly, relaxing. It seemed Elicia had just stumbled into the guest bedroom by accident. No real problem; he'd just need to lock the door from now on... "Well, I hope you didn't wake him up," he chided warmly, taking his glasses back. "He can be very grouchy when you wake him up, you know. He yells a lot."

Elicia blinked. "He didn't yell at me. Maybe he only yells at you. Because you're mean to him."

"M- mean?! ME?!" he cried, wounded- and from his own daughter, too! Gah; right in the heart! "Me?! Roy's one of the rudest people I know! How is it that I'm the mean one, Elicia?"

"You call him idiot," she pointed out sagely.

Maes groaned, shaking his head. "Trust me; idiot's a term of endearment, when it comes to that one," he grumbled. Not to mention Roy had been known to call him far nastier things than idiot, he just did it in Xingese, so not only did Maes not know what was being said he couldn't even properly retaliate. Idiot, indeed... more like jackass. "Don't listen to Uncle Roy," he muttered sourly. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. Ever. About anything. He's just a very mean man and Daddy is very patient and nice to put up with his meanness."

"Then why are you friends with him?" she prodded, giggling.

Maes sighed, lowering her to the floor with a tired grin. "Well, he can be a good person, when he wants to be. Listen, Elicia, Uncle Roy is very sick right now, so I want you to leave him alone for now, okay? He needs to sleep and he can't do that if you're trying to play with him."

Elicia frowned suddenly, biting her lip. "...Is that why he was weird?" she asked nervously, her eyes suddenly very big and sad. "Because I was bothering him?"

"...Weird?"

She nodded weakly. "I woke him up... but he was weird. He wouldn't talk to me or look at me. I went to go find Mommy cause something was wrong with him but then I found you." She pouted miserably, looking extremely guilty. "I'm sorry... I didn't know he was sick..."

But Maes had stopped listening.

She'd woken him up?

But- something was wrong with him?

He swallowed nervously, his heart suddenly in his throat.

Uh oh.

Bright.

Bright.

Too. Fucking. Bright!

The whine of protest scratched at his throat, not words at all but a long, singular whine of pain, and he jerked hands up to cover his eyes, snarling at the light.

Too. Fucking. Bright!

There was a mumble of confused noise around him, far too soft and nondistinct for him to pick out what just might have been words, and he ignored it entirely. He pulled his arms up from the force holding them down, throwing one over his eyes and struggling to block out the blinding glow around him, moaning at the oppressive shine.

Abruptly, as if it could hear his very thoughts, the too much too intense too BRIGHT light eased, fading in a click from painful white to easy grey. It made him sigh in instant relief, the hands that had curled to tug on his hair and cover his eyes relaxing. Good. Good. He could see. Good.

Wait. There was that noise again. That noise that was unidentifiable and too fast to make sense but it really did sound like words. Words. Talking. Someone was talking to him.

Ed.

Ed?

Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed Ed Ed Ed

ED!

Roy jerked his head out of his arms to stare, each breath a struggled fight but any pain worth it, if he could find his cub and bite the monster coming after them and lick his cub's wounds and-

Um...

What?

My what now?

"...Roy?"

Roy blinked.

No Ed.

His heart sank, and he didn't know why.

Roy took in a shuddering breath and blinked again in the now dim light. No Ed, but, he wasn't alone. And the sliver of his brain left that was still rational told him that was fine and tried to take control, telling instincts to be quiet, but holy fuck he just did not understand what was happening, and...

"Roy! Comeonsaysomething!"

He blinked a third time, and this time made himself focus on the man speaking. Because he definitely was talking, those were definitely words, just... way too fast. He squinted, looking over the almost panicked figure by his side, and forced out a measured breath. "Slow down," he said, thought it felt like he had to hunt for the words and then work very hard to make his tongue and mouth cooperate. "Maes. Slow down."

The panic contorting his friend's features drained, and in its place was a pale short of shock that made his heart pound.

No way would Maes look like that for any good reason.

A long moment passed in silence, and then, Maes took an unsure step forward. A wide smile split to take over his entire face even as he clearly tried to stop it, his eyes overly bright behind his glasses. "Whatdidyou- sorry." He broke off, seeming to have to struggle to speak slower than a mile a dammed minute. "Roy. What did you just say?"

Roy stared at him in increasing alarm. His skin crawled, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his heart beat fast and hard. What on earth was going on? "I told you to slow down, Maes," he said again, his friend's name easier to say than any other, then frowned when he realized he was still being stared at. "...What? That is your name, isn't it? And- and what happened to your face?"

Rather than answer him, however, Maes' pale, scarred face just broke out instantly into a wide, relieved grin, and the investigator just stared at him for five seconds straight, tears of joy welling in his eyes, before Roy found himself knocked breathless by a squeezing, almost painfully tight embrace. "My god, Roy," Maes gasped by his ear, speaking quickly again out of his relief, so quickly Roy had trouble understanding. "You have no idea... God, thank you, Ed... That boy is a genius."

There it was again. Ed.

Just the kid's name enough to make him want to snarl, and growl, and bite, and protect protect protect, and...

The instinct frightened him.

It felt so feral, primal, demanding, wild... but he just didn't understand any of it.

Giving into something he didn't understand felt absolutely terrifying.

So, he didn't.

"Ow," he muttered instead, but it felt like the words and Maes' pinioning embrace was about a hundred miles away from the red hot haze burning through his head. "Fuck. Maes. That hurts." Ed, Ed Ed Ed, protect Ed...

The investigator drew back instantly, but he hardly looked apologetic; he took off his glasses to wipe his eyes, still beaming. "Right. Sorry. Should've known... you've got a couple broken ribs, Roy. And... well, let's not talk about it right now..."

Roy furrowed his brow, blinking harder. What? Intrigued, not to mention disturbed, he looked down at himself, then blinked when he realized where he was. "...I'm in your house... and... and wearing your clothes. ...What the hell, Maes?" He pulled weakly at the borrowed shirt, then looked back up at his friend, staring at the barely healed scars crossing his cheek, one of which still had stitches in it. "And seriously, what happened to you?" He breathed in unsteadily, then winced, rubbing at his nose irritably. "And why the hell do you smell like wet dog?"

Maes just looked him guardedly, clearly stressed and hiding something. "...I'll tell you later," he said after a few moments, voice carefully calm. "Roy, are you okay? How do you feel?"

Roy ignored the question, mostly because he just didn't have the words to answer it. He looked down at himself again, completely lost. Clearly, something very bad had happened. Something Maes didn't want to tell him.

Something that involved Ed.

"...Is Ed okay?" he asked distractedly after a moment, too nervous to make the question sound nonchalant. When several seconds passed, and no answer came, he jerked his head up, only to find Maes staring at him in complete confusion. "...What?"

Maes continued to stare him, tired eyes bright with worry. "You know I don't speak Xingese, Roy."

"...So?"

His frown deepened. "...You just talked to me in Xingese."

Roy stared at him, even more confused than before. "No, I didn't, Maes." What the hell was he going on about? Was he drunk? This whole scenario would probably make far more sense if he was drunk, he decided. But he couldn't remember drinking... hell, he couldn't remember last night at all...

Actually, he wasn't what the last thing he remembered even was.

Roy was even further concerned when Maes, rather than press the issue, just swallowed and clearly forced an uneasy grin. "Then, what did you ask me?"

At the reminder, Roy suddenly didn't care so much about the oddity, either, his heart pounding all over again and his hands shaking. "Ed," he stressed, frustrated when he had to search for the words and force his mouth to cooperate, speech stilted and dragging. "Is he okay?"

Again, Maes frowned at him, the man seeming very, very worried about something he wasn't saying. "He's fine, Roy. I promise, he's fine."

The relief that instantly assailed him was so strong he nearly passed out.

Roy leaned back for a moment, head spinning. Nothing made sense. Why was he so worried about Fullmetal, of all people? Why couldn't he remember what happened? Why the hell was he in Maes' house feeling like he'd just been run over by a truck? Why was Maes looking at him like something was wrong? And where the hell was Ed?

Breathing out hard again, he sat straighter, leaning forward to rake his fingernails over his calf when he realized it was itching like mad. "Maes, what happened?" he asked again, voice rough, throat sore and protesting. "What... I just... none of what I remember makes sense. ...Did I hit my head or something?" Not that concussions felt like this at all or would explain the blurry, black and white expanse of confusing sensations that was all he could recall- but at this point he was at a loss for any other explanation.

His friend looked very, very worried now and seemed at a loss for words. Roy looked around the bedroom again, struggling to clear his head, then glanced downwards in irritation when he realized scratching at the offending itch on his leg was only making it worse.

When he saw just what he was scratching at, he froze.

"...Who the hell shot me?"

Maes shifted uncomfortably next to him, seeming very loathe to answer. "Hawkeye," he said at length, and Roy whipped his head up to stare at him, shocked.

"Hawkeye?" Oh, shit. "Good god, what did I do to deserve that?"

Maes didn't smile, however. In fact, he looked even more distressed than before, chewing on his lip and just staring at him, green eyes shadowed with distress. "It's not like that," he said slowly after a moment, the defeat and guilt radiating off him in miserable waves. "You didn't deserve it... she didn't know it was..." He broke off for a moment, evidently frustrated, then just shook his head at himself and forced another uneasy smile- one that left Roy even more frightened than before. "Let's not talk about it now, okay? I'm sure you don't realize it but it's been a very rough couple of weeks... months, really... you should rest some more... are you hungry, I can go get something- I should anyway, you need it- and I need to call Hawkeye again; she'll be so relieved to know you're all right-"

He was rambling. He was looking anywhere but at him. He was nervous.

And Roy was getting more and more worried that something was very, very wrong.

"Maes-"

"Oh, and I need to give you this-" The man raised one hand, shifting to advance on him. He turned his hand enough so the syringe in his grip caught the light-

Everything went black.

The change was so sudden Maes didn't try to stop him until he was half out the door.

The unnerved, disturbed, but one hundred percent human stare vanished in the blink of an eye. The intelligent, cynical gleam that always lurked in his friend's eyes went with it, draining away like a light had gone out, and that, his face contorted in the same breath as he lunged.

Maes was too startled to do anything but stare dumbly as Roy threw himself forwards with a snarl. He flinched back the next second, thinking the colonel was going for him- but Roy moved straight past him, shooting out of bed to hit the floor on all fours and scramble to escape. Roy was almost to the door before Maes finally managed to catch the back of his shirt and yank him back, but Roy continued to struggle, growling and fighting with a wild sort of ferocity that frightened him. "Roy!" he cried, pulling at his shirt again even as the colonel continued to fight and crawl towards the door. "Roy, what the hell are you doing?!"

The loud growl that erupted from him took Maes by surprise, and he stumbled a step back, staring. The growl was not human at all and for a split second, he'd actually been afraid Roy would turn to bite him- but the colonel wasn't after his blood. And so the moment his hold on his friend was broken, Roy burst into a crawled sort of sprint for the door again.

Definitely shaken now, Maes took a breath before throwing himself forward, any reservations now in the past. He slammed into Roy's back and grabbed both hands, pinning them to the ground even as another snarl issued from clenched teeth. Roy's face contorted in wild fury, and he craned his neck, jaw snapping open and shut and teeth clacking together as he fought to try and actually bite him.

His eyes were completely blank, and that scared Maes more than anything thus far.

"Roy!" he shouted, leaning as close as he dared. "Roy, it's okay, it's just me-"

Roy's mouth opened again, but all that came out was complete gibberish; it clearly made sense to him, but to Maes, all it was was a random conglomeration of vowels that ended in another snarl. He tried not to let it scare him; Roy had already shown to been having trouble speaking and comprehending words when spoken to him; in whatever this state of panic or hysteria was he must've just not been able to extend enough concentration to find the words in his muddled head.

Of course, just because he tried not to let it scare him didn't mean he succeeded.

The sounds of movement elsewhere in his apartment made him curse, tightening his grip when Roy struggled again. If it had been just the two of them, things would have been different- but it wasn't just the two of them. And so Maes kept Roy pinned down with one hand and took out his handcuffs with the other, wincing at the snarled and wordless protests as he cuffed his arms behind his back but not abating all the same.

"M- Maes? What's going on?!"

He glanced up towards where Gracia had been drawn by the racket and was now standing several feet away, staring at them in shock. Maes planed a firm hand on Roy's shoulders when he struggled even harder at the new presence, snarling again through clenched teeth.

"Gracia," he told her, voice firm and leaving no room for argument, "get Elicia, go to our room, and lock the door. Don't come out until I tell you to."

"Maes..."

"Do it now!" he snapped over another growl, then had to elbow Roy back into the floor when he nearly made an escape. "Damn it, Roy! Come on, calm down, man! It's just me!"

But Roy was not listening to him in the slightest. He made another noise that resembled a collection of speech-like noises cobbled together at random, because while Roy was fluent in Amestrian and Xingese, and could mangle his way through Cretan, what was coming out of his mouth now was nothing short of nonsense.

He heard Gracia scramble away, then several seconds later, the sound of a door slamming shut and locking. Breathing an exhausted sigh of relief, Maes returned his full attention to Roy. There seemed to be nothing he could do except let the moment pass- and hope that it would.

A minute passed, then two more; Roy remained sprawled on his stomach, pulling on the handcuffs every once in a while and growling at him but having finally realized he just wasn't strong enough to throw him off. He seemed to be calming down, though Maes really wasn't sure if he was just getting exhausted or actually getting a grip on himself.

Finally, Roy fell perfectly still, breathing hard but no longer strained and tense or fighting him. He gasped into the hardwood floor, dark eyes wide and confused- confused, not feral; confused, not wild. He looked around as if shocked to find himself on the floor, trying to pull his hands out, then jerking when he found them restrained.

"M- Maes?" he stammered, voice rough, turning his head as much as he could to stare back at him in alarm. He looked almost frightened. "Maes, what are you doing?"

Maes sagged with relief to hear his name in that perfectly human voice. He let go of Roy's wrists but still moved cautiously as he went for his handcuff key, watching him for any sign that he was about to lose it again. "Are you okay, now?"

Roy stared at him, eyes widening even further. "Okay? Wh- what..." He pulled weakly at his wrists again, then jerked in recognition. "Did you handcuff me, Maes?"

"...You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Maes held still for a moment, concern rising, then just shook himself and swallowed it back for later. "I think we need to talk about something," he said vaguely, knowing that none of what had just happened would be explainable until his friend understood more of what had gone on. He freed Roy's arms and then moved off of him, allowing for the clearly shaken colonel to sit upright and look around the hallway again.

Roy made no move to stand, just stared around in naked disbelief. "I... I was in bed... we were talking... and then... then I'm out here?" He looked at Maes for a moment, drawn and deathly pale. "My head... I can't..." His fingers rose to tangle into his hair with a vice-like grip and he bowed his head, shoulders trembling. "I can't remember what happened. Maes, what did I do?"

Maes couldn't help it. He just looked so lost and confused sitting there, and before he'd really judged the wisdom of it, he moved forward, reaching out to put an arm around his shoulders. But before he'd gotten close enough to even touch him, Roy abruptly recoiled, arms jerking up to protect his head even as he bared his teeth in a sudden snarl.

Maes backed off instantly, immediately prepared to defend himself or tackle the man once again. But this time Roy came back to himself immediately, lowering his arms as quickly as he'd raised him and staring at him in open-mouthed shock. The colonel blinked, stunned, then looked from him to his hands as if he had no idea what had just happened.

"I... I don't know why I did that," he stammered, still staring at him in some mixture of confusion and horror. "I didn't mean to, it just- ...I don't know why I did that."

Maes stared at him, heart clenching painfully. He opened his mouth, then shut it worthlessly, realizing he had absolutely no idea what to say.

Roy stared at him a moment longer, trembling, then just shut his eyes, forcibly exhaling a deep, shaking breath as if to calm himself. He stayed like that for several moments, utterly motionless except for each measured breath, and when he opened his eyes, Maes could tell he'd somehow subdued the frantic, animal instincts and emotion- but they were still there, thrumming vibrantly just behind his stormy eyes.

"Maes," he said carefully, voice barely steady, "you know what happened, don't you?"

He hesitated for a moment, torn. "...Yes," he admitted at last, miserable and reluctant.

"It's something bad, isn't it?"

"...Yes."

Roy held very still, straight-backed against the wall, the nerves and trepidation underneath his chillingly confident visage, his usual composure that he clung to so stubbornly even now. "Tell me."

"Roy..."

"Tell me," he repeated again, this time with iron. "That's an order, Hughes."

And to that, Maes had no retort.

So, very cautiously, he cleared his throat, and then, he told Roy everything.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little slow- Roy finally gets to see Ed next chapter, I promise :) See you guys on Friday!