Mustang had a quiet simmering type of rage, he had to, because if he used the other kind then a lot of people would get blown up and he'd be doing paperwork for the rest of eternity. Which wasn't good for P.R.. But at least he could blow things up on occasion, in controlled circumstances. It was a good outlet, and he didn't really want to kill people.

Except maybe FullMetal.

Who was at this moment in his office alternating between trying to cajole him into giving out free information on the philosopher's stone and calling him useless.

It was a normal conversation, the ritual currently about halfway through before he went off to pester someone else. Roy's eyes and ears glazed over, if that was possible. He'd been trying to focus on paperwork but with Ed's yammering on in the background it was just causing everything to turn into a blur. Mustang wondered how many people had ever experienced auditory blur.

Suddenly Ed stopped talking and Mustang raised his head. Had he missed a queue? Then he heard it too. A muffled fight in the hallway. FullMetal seemed hesitant, which was odd considering that the kid loved fights, so Roy got up to go take a look. It was lunch time, everyone should be in the cafeteria, who was making the noise?

FullMetal must have known the answer to that, because seconds before he reached the door handle he was hauled backward by his collar and thrown to the far end of the room.

Ed glared at him, "Don't open that door you fucking idiot. And stay quiet so he doesn't hear us! You don't even have your fucking gloves on."

The door knob clicked open anyway and Ed dropped back into a defensive position. Mustang didn't get to see who it was before there was a clap and slap and a giant wall growing out of the ground inches in front of his nose.

"FullMetal. Here you are."

He knew that voice though.

Scar.

Scar inside Eastern Command. Thank fucking GOD his team wasn't here or they'd all be dead. He just had to worry about Ed and himself. Which, how the fuck could he get out of here? The kid made walls like he was a fucking aspiring architect. Mustang dug his gloves out of this pocket and a stick of chalk. He could still do regular, non-fire alchemy, it just took more work. Fire alchemy in this enclosed space would definitely give him a concussion from air pressure change alone.

He could hear the fight as he drew the circle, Ed yelling and Scar talking about finding God. Sins of the past and all that.

The yelling stopped at the same time he finished drawing the circle and he didn't wait to find out what happened next. Blasting the wall outward and hopefully into Scar's face.

Shit, missed. And he'd hit Ed with it. Though on the plus side it seemed to have knocked Ed out of Scar's grip, so hopefully Ed was still alive. He couldn't stop to check though. Scar was fast and he had to constantly snap his fingers to keep him on the move, working him backward and out of the office. There were two people he didn't recognise lying in the hallway, possibly from Scar's entrance. But he had to focus. Suddenly Riza was there, fully armed and emptying clip after clip as Scar beat a hasty retreat.

With Riza here, and an increasing number of soldiers and artillery, Mustang didn't stay to watch, he needed to check on Ed, no one knew the kid was still in the office.

He found him right where he'd left him, under a chunk of wall with his boots sticking out. It took some effort but he was able to haul the concrete off the boy so he could kneel down next to him. At least there wasn't blood. He placed his hand on Ed's neck, still had a pulse, hopefully just unconscious.

"Ed. Ed wake up. Come on. Alphonse is going to kick my ass if i did that much damage with a wall. Come on."

Ed's eyes finally snapped open and he bolted upright. His arms flew around Mustang's neck and locked in tight. Mustang could feel the kid's entire body starting to shake and he forced himself to get over his surprise and reciprocate.

"Just. I fuckin. Just two minutes bastard. I thought i was dead for sure. I felt the start of his alchemy. I thought i was dead. Just. Just give me two minutes. Like fuckin Barry. Broken down into meat pieces, or base components or whatever. I felt it, felt the alchemy. Felt the spark. Like at the gate, when i was unraveled, broken apart."

Ed continued mumbling but Roy had NO idea how to handle this. Mental health was not his forte, he'd almost committed suicide after Ishval so he knew he didn't really have a handle on it. At least his autopilot seemed to know what to do. He picked Ed up and pulled the kid into his lap. Keeping his own arms tight around him.

Something pricked at the back of his thoughts but he ignored it. Opting instead to make soothing sounds and rubbing Ed's back as his face pressed into Roy's collar.

The shaking subsided fairly quickly and finally Ed pulled away. He still looked lost and broken but the brave face was being constructed and Roy could see the mental walls going up. "Sorry. Thanks. I know that's not your thing."

Ed's hands were still shaking as he steadied himself and moved completely out of reach. "Let's just cross one of the favours you owe me off the list ok? You can pretend this never happened."

Roy watched as he crawled his way through the debris to the wall and pushed himself up to a stand. Then without any further acknowledgment he worked his way along it until he was out the door.

Roy was still sitting on the ground amongst the rubble. Shell shocked. He looked at his hands. Hands that had been around Ed.

Ed. A woman.

His brain was finally catching up to the events and he played through it in his head. A woman that had for some fucking reason thrown him behind a wall at the first sign of danger. A woman that had just now completely fallen apart in his arms and then glued herself back together. A woman that just left his office by aide of the wall in pursuit of the bad guy.

Because where the hell else would she have gone.

Mustang's anger boiled over, "ED GET YOUR FUCKING ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL UNMAKE YOU MYSELF!"