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Chapter Four

Roy wasn't looking forward to what would be coming in an hour. Still, he was dressed up in his uniform, and he was going to be there for Fullmetal. And so he walked out to his car.

He pulled up outside the hotel and soon saw the two Elrics walking out the front door. Roy was surprised, horrified and gratified that Fullmetal was wearing his usual red and black.

"No uniform today?" Roy asked.

"Nah. Schiff told me I shouldn't get blood on it. Considered wearing it just to spite him, but I'd rather look like myself again."

"I see." Roy had to say he was fighting against the nausea that came from the way the kid was talking about the blood.

They rode in silence for the rest of the time. When they were done escorting Alphonse to the office to stay with Hawkeye, and Fullmetal had once again reassured his brother that he would be fine, they left them with five minutes to go before the kid was supposed to show up.

They walked out into the grounds at the back of HQ, finding the triangle standing there, waiting. Roy didn't feel good about this, not at all. He felt guilty for leading the kid to this. It just wasn't right.

Roy put a hand on his shoulder, talking quietly to him. "Don't forget, whatever happens, however you react, no one's going to think any the worse of you, okay?"

The kid nodded, staring at the contraption and the ropes hanging down in the middle.

"Elric! Come here now!"

Roy turned his head to the right, watching as Schiff moved up on the platform where it was all going to take place. Roy felt a kind of fierce pride shoot through him that Fullmetal had obviously got in a good hit, judging by the man's black eye.

Roy followed him and they walked up together.

"Ah, of course you'd be here too, Colonel Mustang. I suppose it was you who talked with General Grumman?"

"And what if it was, Sir? Frankly, forty lashes are much for a man of my size. Taking into account that Fullmetal is a child and also that his automail restricts the available area, reducing the number of strokes is just common sense. Otherwise Fullmetal would probably have fainted from blood loss before it was done." Roy spoke coldly and professionally.

"That may be, but I don't like my subordinates to go crying to daddy Roy just because I treat them equally."

Roy's fists clenched at the thought of the man referring to Fullmetal as his own subordinate.

"Anyway, Elric, come with me."

Roy followed them over to the triangle, fighting the queasiness that it brought. It had hurt excruciatingly the time Roy himself had been standing there, and doing that to a fourteen-year-old kid, it was nothing but inhumane.

"Elric, remove your shirt and jacket."

The kid did as he was told, then he turned thoughtful for a few seconds, before he turned to Roy. "Hold on to these for me, will you, Colonel?"

Roy nodded and took the garments into his hands.

Roy watched as the child was led over to stand under the triangle. Watched as his hands were tied so that he couldn't escape and his feet were barely touching the ground because of his height. Roy cursed inwardly. It was going to hurt more when the skin was being stretched like that.

Roy didn't know where the next five minutes went, but suddenly he was standing on the ground in front of the platform, watching as Schiff picked up the cat and approached the kid.

Then came the first blow.

The kid didn't react to the nine, angry red marks appearing on his back.

Then came the second.

There was still no response.

The third one broke the skin, the fourth one sent large streams of blood down the kid's back. He grunted when the eighth one came. He yelped at the eleventh.

At the sixteenth he yelled.

At the twentieth he screamed.

Then it was done and two of Schiff's subordinates came over and let Fullmetal down. They carried the limp kid between them and Roy ran over to them.

"Hey! How are you doing?!" Roy said to the kid.

"You were right, Colonel, that hurt like hell," he wheezed, barely conscious.

Roy walked with them to the infirmary, trying not to notice the blood trail that they were leaving behind them.

They reached the infirmary and Roy watched as the doctor patched the kid up and gave him some strong painkillers.

Fullmetal was laid down on the bed on his stomach. Thankfully for him, he lost his last connections with consciousness the moment his head hit the pillow.

Roy was glad that it was done.

Just don't do this to yourself again, kid.

"Colonel Mustang? Do you know why he got flogged?" the doctor asked him.

"General Schiff insulted his family and he snapped. He gave him a black eye."

"I see, that explains it. You should talk to him."

"I already did."

"That's good."

The doctor sighed. "Well, the best we can do for him right now is to let him rest. Do you think you'll be keeping him company for the next few days?"

"Yes. I'm also smuggling the rest of my team in around dinner time with Xingese take away. If you want to join us, you're free to do so."

Roy knew a little bit about the doctor from Fullmetal's constant visits, including that the man could be trusted to keep the take away a secret.

"You know what? I think I will take you up on that," he said with a smile.

"Good. How bad would you say his back is?"

"Honestly? It's going to be hell for the kid. He also lost a lot of blood. His back is going to need a lot of care to avoid infection. Ed's probably going to be in pain for the next three weeks and I'd like to keep him here for the next two days at least."

"How long would you say that he will have to wear the bandages?"

"About two weeks and I would prefer if they were changed on a daily basis, why do you ask?"

Roy couldn't really explain that to someone who didn't know about Alphonse, but they couldn't rely upon him to change the bandages because the kid had a pair of unfeeling giant hands.

"Just curious."

Roy made a decision that he would be offering the kid to live with him at least while his wounds needed daily treatment. Roy had far more experience in treating wounds than the rest of the team after the war in Ishbal, save Hawkeye, but there was no way the kid would be agreeing to that sort of living arrangement.

Also, Roy still felt responsible for the kid, and so he would take care of him.

"You're going to offer him a place to stay, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

Roy was surprised that the man had managed to guess his thoughts.

"What?"

"Ed's been in here plenty of times with that brother of his. It's clear from the movements that there's no one in there. I'm a physician after all, I notice that sort of thing."

Roy's eyebrows shot up.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to report it. The way I see it, it's filed under patient/doctor confidentiality."

Roy nodded at him.

"Besides, all I care about is really just that Ed receives treatment that is done by someone who can actually feel their fingers while applying the bandages."

"Aren't you curious?"

"Just a bit, but it's not my business. I can tell that those boys went through hell, and I have a feeling that they are trying to make things right again. I don't really need more than that."

Roy was impressed by the man's way of thinking. He gave him a little smirk.

"I hope you're trying to get Ed back, though. I'd rather not have him under Schiff's command."

"I am, we just need to figure out how we're going to do it. In the meantime I'm trying to keep him safe."

"You do that. Schiff is a bastard. He's sent me plenty of people with hands like Ed's and I have to say that I think that that man should be demoted for the way he treats his subordinates."

"You and me both."

It was about three o'clock that the kid woke up. The first thing he did was move, which caused him to groan with pain.

"Hey, take it easy, you got flogged, remember?"

"Well, I do now." He relaxed slightly on the bed again.

"You did good today."

"I did, huh?"

"And your lack of response in the beginning clearly pissed General Schiff off, so that's a plus for you, isn't it?" Roy didn't want to say it to the kid, but to hardly make a noise during the first ten strokes from General Schiff was probably some kind of record.

"What time is it?"

"Three o'clock."

"Where's Al?"

"I asked Hawkeye to keep him away, I figured you didn't really want him to see you like this. Besides, you have been asleep until now."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Listen, you're going to need help with keeping your back free from infection. Those bandages have to be changed daily for two weeks."

"Oh."

"You and Al can stay with me until you're well again."

"WHAT?!"

"You need someone to look after you, Fullmetal."

"Yeah, but you?"

"Unless you want to stay with Hawkeye?"

The kid shuddered then gave a little whimper because of his back.

"Isn't there anyone else?"

"It's better if you stay with someone who has experience with this sort of thing, and that's only me and Hawkeye."

"Oh, but still…"

"I could of course ask her to just convince you?"

"NO! Fine, we'll stay with you. But only for two weeks!"

It was three hours later that the rest of the team came into the infirmary laden with boxes of tantalising scents.

Roy helped Fullmetal sit up on his bed. If there was one thing Roy hated about the cat it was the way that it was made to cause its victims extreme amounts of pain after the flogging as well.

Throughout the whole evening, Roy could only think about how he would be bringing the two brothers home with him in just two days. What the hell had he agreed to? He would have to look after an impulsive, short-tempered teenager for fourteen days.

He needed to get Fullmetal back on his team soon, he couldn't wait for his life to return to normalcy.