Slow rhythmic beeping was the only thing Roy could focus on as it timed to the sound of a machine forcing Mae's breath in and out.
Roy clenched his fists tightly in the stark white sheet that covered his best friend keeping the fleeting warmth in the still man.
He looked up into Mae's blank face that had tubes shoved down his throat, keeping him alive.
Roy gritted his teeth together and hung his head in a mixture of shame and anger.
It was his fault his friend was barely clinging onto life. Mae's warned him not to trust Edward and that all evidence pointed to him being a cold blooded killer.
He had fallen for the small boys charm and false innocence of his lies.
He had let himself be tricked into thinking Ed was just caught up in a mixture of bad luck and fate.
He was an idiot and because of him his friend was laying in a hospital bed fighting for the strength to come back into the world.
"Sir?"
He snapped his head out of his thoughts and turned towards the soft voice.
Hawkeye looked solemnly at him and her eyes drifted over to Maes unmoving in the bed.
"It's not your fault Sir. You didn't know this would happen. It is as much my fault because I told you to help people in need."
She said carefully noting the pinned up rage that was poorly hidden behind his eyes.
He quickly stood from his chair, toppling it over onto the white tile flooring with a loud clang.
"What the hell do you mean it wasn't my fault? He warned me not to trust Ed and I ignored him, I trusting him and it nearly cost Maes his life!" He shouted at her then flinched and looked down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. I know you're only trying to make me feel better but it won't work. It's not your fault for this, you can't shield me from everything, you know." He said quietly as he pulled the chair back up from the floor and pulled it closer to the bed, once again taking a seat.
She looked at him with sad eyes and walked over to him, watching as Maes chest rose and fell softly.
She rested her small hand on his shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze.
"We both meant well. Are you sure the boy really meant to hurt him?" She asked carefully after a moment.
He locked eyes with her and frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean? He transmuted a hole for him to fall into, I think it's pretty clear what he meant to do." He said and looked at his hands as they clenched and unclenched.
He wanted to believe Ed didn't want to hurt Mae's. He wanted pretend it didn't happen but one glance at Maes laying in the crisp white bed reminded him otherwise.
He wanted to confront the boy and demand an answer before automatically assuming he meant to kill but he also knew Ed was The Shadow or The reaper, whatever he called himself, he thought bitterly.
He just wanted it to not be true, such a young boy responsible for so many senseless murders in such a short time.
Ed had reminded him of himself when he was young, forced to do horrible acts.
But was Ed truly forced as he so claimed?
Roy sighed and rested his head in his hands with a heavy sigh of frustration.
"I won't fall for his tricks again, I can't..."He said, looking up into Hawkeyes kind eyes as he reached up and gave the hand on his shoulder a light squeeze back.
"If I find him again, I'm going to have to try and bring him in.." He said and looked solemnly at the floor, wishing things were different.
"I actually started to like that kid and think of him as a...son." He said with a small voice as if that one word took all his energy with him and left him feeling exhausted.
"I don't know what I'll do if I find him again. I can't fall for his tricks again, I just can't. If I do, maybe it'll be you who gets hurt next?" He said as he stared up into her gentle eyes.
She shook her head and pulled her hand away slowly.
"Sir, I'd never allow that to happen and you know it." She said and turned towards the door before pausing, " I couldn't leave you, you couldn't function without me."
She stated with a playful smile as she left the room, leaving Roy alone with his thoughts once more.
He stared at her back as she left and blinked. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right.
He could never live without that wonderful woman always watching his back.
He looked back at Mae's and took his hand in his own.
"I will find Ed and once I do, I will get the truth out of him about what he did, one way or another."
He gave the hand a squeeze and gently rested it back down next to his unmoving body, carefully pulling the sheet up and tucking him in.
Roy then stood up and stretched, yawning despite himself and blocking it with the back of his hand.
He had been in that room since Mae's came out of surgery and was given the news he was going to make a full, although slow, recovery.
He needed to get back to his house and make a game plan on how he was going to find Ed, something he suspected would be difficult now that Ed knew he had hurt a close friend.
He grabbed up his long abandoned blue coat and draped it over his shoulder as he quietly left the room and listened as the beeping got quieter the further away he walked.
He had been dropped off at the hospital hours ago and his ride has since left for the night, forcing him to walk the dark streets alone.
Although at this point he dared anyone to hassle him at this moment. He wanted to let off some pent up steam and nothing did that more then frying a piece of shit criminal.
He glanced around into the darkness but no one answered his mental plea to bother him tonight.
He strode down the street for ten minutes lost in his thoughts and when he looked up again he was on his porch.
He fiddled for his keys and unlocked the door, pushing into his cold and silent house that normally danced with noises that greeted him after work, such as Mae's greeting him with a slap on the back and chiding him about walking alone in the dark.
Mae's had often surprised him at his house with homemade food Mae's wife had made him bring over, knowing full well Roy wouldn't do any sort of decent cooking for himself.
He sighed as he hung up his coat and trudged towards the kitchen going for some scotch to calm his heightened nerves.
He froze when he spotted the small dark shadow in the kitchen in the form of a person.
He fumbled for his gloves and cursed himself when he realized they were in the coat he just hung up by the door which was too far away to reach.
He owned no gun, despite Mae's constantly bugging him to get one.
He never saw much of a point in one since he always had his flame alchemy but he now saw the logic in Mae's argument.
He mentally cursed himself because he was now completely helpless to whomever had broken in.
"Who's there? Show yourself you coward!"
He demanded to the figure with a hiss, trying to swallow down the fear that crawled up his throat.
He stood with his head held high, trying to put on a bravado he didn't currently have.
The lights popped on, momentarily blinding him as he blinked away spots in his eyes.
He narrowed his eyes with seething anger when he saw Edward standing there with his hands raised in the air.
He felt all fear sink back down into the deep depths of his body and it was replaced with burning anger, slowly coursing up through his veins.
"Hold up! Before you do anything rash, let me explain!" He pleaded with wet golden eyes, looking like they had been crying at some point.
"Explain?! You filthy piece of shit! You nearly killed my best friend and after all I've done for you?" Roy yelled, feeling his inner fire building, threatening to explode.
Ed swollwed thickly and met Roys firey eyes with guilt showing so heavy it look like it might soon crush him.
"Please, I didn't mean to hurt him I swear! Al was being drug away and I had to try to go after him but I knew that your friend wouldn't have let me leave so I opened a hole between us so I could go after Al, I never meant for him to fall into it!" He sped through his words trying to get them out before Roy could do anything to him.
Roy grit his teeth and looked at the floor in thought.
He considering the slight possibility of that being true, Ed never seemed like he wanted to hurt anyone Roy was close to but his anger kept pushing those thoughts to the side, demanding revenge for Maes.
His rage told him to shut Ed up and just let him die by his flames, melt him into a puddle of charred flesh and bone, nothing left to identify and nothing left to hurt anyone with.
He didn't want to hear anymore lies from the boy, no matter what the little voice in his mind told him.
He snapped his head back up and snarled at Ed, locking eyes with the younger boy.
"Lies! All you do is lie! Someone needs to put you down like the dog you are!" He spat as he lunged for Ed who yelped and dodged his grip, running to Roy's right just out of reach.
Ed held up his hands with wide fearful eyes, lightly panting from both fear and exhaustion.
"Stop please! I don't want to fight!" He begged with watering eyes, tears threatening to fall at any second but he stubbornly held them at bay.
Roy glared at him with clenched fists, daring him to do something, anything for an excuse to attack him.
"Too late, should've thought of that before you tried to kill my friend!" He screamed and launched himself after the boy, ignoring the fact Ed hadn't currently done anything to warrant such a response.
He almost had Ed in his grip but his hand slipped from Ed's loose fabric, letting the boy shake him as he fled backwards towards the living room.
Ed backed up with his hands held out, keeping his eyes locked on the older man's.
"Please just listen to me! Al is still in danger and I need your help still!" He pleaded as his eyes darted briefly to different escape points, ensuring his survival in case he couldn't get Roy to listen to reason.
Roy gave a bitter laugh and paused to glare at Ed with a sneer.
"Oh that's rich! Came here for my help huh? Sure, guess I'll just trust you now that you so nicely asked." He spat, slowly approaching Ed who kept backing up towards the door, right where the coat Roy had hung up earlier was.
"Al's innocent in all this! He hasn't a clue what I've done to keep him alive. If you can't do this for me then do it for him. He's younger then me and still has a full life."Ed pleaded, hands still raised in a silent attempt to simmer Roy's mood.
Ed met Roys eyes who seemed to have lost the bit of edge they held but we're still sharp daggers poised to kill at any wrong move.
"After Al is safe you can do as you please with me. I won't run.." Ed said looking down at the hardwood floor with crestfallen eyes.
"I know what I've done and I don't deserve life after what I did." He said sadly, lowering one hand to swipe at the tears that fell down his face.
Roy lunged for his coat and grabbed onto his gloves and slipped them on aiming his fingers at Ed.
"You're damn right you don't deserve life after what you've done!" He said, his finger shaking at the effort of holding his fingers in a snap position, knowing full well he could never hurt the kid no matter how angry he was or no matter how much one part of his mind said he should.
Ed looked up at him through big tears and he held back a sob as he closed his eyes waiting for the blood boiling burn he knew was coming.
He opened them carefully after a minute when he felt no pain melting his skin.
He frowned in confusion up at Roy who had lowered his hand and signed.
"I don't know what it is about you that makes me unable to kill you..." He mumbled as he ran a hand down his face in defeat and turned away from Ed, tossing his gloves onto the coffee table without another thought.
"Maybe because you're a kid. Even if you are a killer kid, you're still just a kid." He said as he walked into the kitchen grabbing a glass and pouring his scotch.
He let the firey liquid seep down his throat and calm his frazzled nerves.
He looked back at Ed with a grim expression as he leaned heavily against his counter.
"So what now? I let you live until you find your brother then you give up? You expect me to believe that?" He asked doubtfully with a raised eyebrow, clenching the glass tightly in his hand.
Ed dried his tears with the back of his gloved hand and shook his head. "I know I've done nothing to prove it but I'll swear my life on it." He said as he made his way closer to the kitchen with a bit of apprehension.
He met Roys now calm eyes. "I will turn myself over to you when he's safe." He said with a steely determination.
Roy nodded and set his glass down and crossed his arms, hardening himself once more.
"Fine but if you even think of hurting anyone on my team again, I will personally melt your flesh into the ground myself, Al or no Al." He said, letting the threat hang in the air for a moment.
Roy felt an inner gut feeling of dread at sparing the boys life, thinking about the fact he was now harboring a murderer in his house.
"You know I'm supposed to bring your sorry ass in for what you've done, right?"
He asked, raising his brow and crossing him arms.
Ed's mouth gaped open like a fish out of water and he stared at Roy with wide crestfallen eyes.
"You can't do that yet! How am I supposed to rescue Al if I'm in prison?" Ed cried, fear warping his features.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't?" Roy asked pointedly.
"I'll keep it on the down low and I'll stay out of trouble, no more killing people!" Ed said with pleading eyes, "Just let me save my brother, please?"
Roy let out a big sigh in defeat.
He hated to admit it but the kid had grown on him and those puppy dog eyes had prevented him from doing anything to hurt him, even if the law says otherwise.
"Fine but as soon as this is done, you're going to prison. And don't try to run." Roy said, giving into the puppy dog eyes.
"So what are we gonna do now? We don't have a clue where they took Al." Roy asked.
"We need another game plan, that's what. We will find Al, we just need to find another lead that's all!" Ed said simply, as if it was the easiest thing to do in the world.
Ed gave a light hopeful smile up at Roy with a playful but determined expression. Thankful the man had given him another chance and was determined not to blow it.
Roy took another long drink and finished his scotch, slamming the glass onto the counter.
"I know I'm gonna regret this..." Roy muttered.
