Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu-sensei, Square Enix and recently, Viz. I earn no profit in this.
My request for a beta reader has been so warmly received! May I introduce you to my new beta readers (yes, plural!)MoonLightFlightand Mitsuki. Kristy has been a great help in this chapter and has helped make the dialogue flow, less confusion and fleshed everything out! Chelsea hasn't gotten back to me yet (and I was too eager to post this chapter to wait) but once she replies to my email, I'll make the changes and post a revised version of this chapter!
I had too much fun with this chapter… wayyyy too much fun. Warning for murder mystery fragments in the plot.
Note: I barely scaped a pass for my chemistry and biology finals back in high school so expect nothing here to be scientifically correct. Thanks to a reviewer for correcting my mistake, I edited it as soon as I was told.
Reviewer replies to:
Deathtoallclovers, Salena-Jagonashi, and Kyuumei: The soldier in the previous chapter wasn't any major character in the series. I just wanted to write about an anonymous made-up character ;; please forgive me for confusing you.
fuseiki-chan and Anime Monster: Thank you so much for offering to beta-read! I really don't deserve all this attention but I hope you'll keep reading my story anyway! mwah Love you guys!
gallactia andD.sist: I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing, thank you for your encouragement!
L.Robinson: gives more muffin offerings Your review made me blush... Thinking back... I really did type it all in one go. I guess I was just writing it from the top of my head. You really think I have my own l"azy, slow paced, easy-to-read" style? I'm so honored and flattered!
Note: This is part 4 of 5
Vanilla Topping presents you with:
An Objective Case Study
Part III: Equity Love
Q) What is 'Love'?
A) Love is composed of these three elements:
1) Stimulation and passion be it physical or emotional.
2) Commitment to love.
3) Intimacy of love.
Equity Love: All three elements are present and balanced.
"I need to talk to you, Hughes."
"Hmm…? Ohhh! You want me to continue about my dearest Elysia's painting from our last conversation? It's superb! She has such an eye for detail and beauty! Of course, nothing is as beautiful as she is (or my wife for that matter,) but-"
"Hughes," Roy interrupted, "I truly need to talk to you about something."
Later when the two of them were in Hughes' office and the door was closed, Hughes peered at Roy over the rim of the teacup he was sipping from. 'He looks stressed,' he thought, taking in the dark bags under Roy's eyes and his pale complexion, 'I wonder what's happened, he isn't the kind of person to get easily worked up. Must be pretty serious this time, maybe the brass has been pressuring him?' he wondered to himself.
Finally, Roy spoke up, "I keep fantasying about someone in ways I shouldn't be, Hughes."
Choking on his tea and quickly grabbing for a tissue, Hughes managed to gasp out a, "…WHAT?"
"Please, don't make me repeat myself."
"Roy Mustang with love issues? You? Roy? Dear God, the sky is falling," Hughes said, amused.
"Will you be serious?" Roy hissed at him.
"Ok, ok, who is it?" Hughes asked, holding his arms up for peace, "Surely with your charms and disposition, wooing her shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"That's just it."
"What's it?" Hughes questioned.
"It's not a 'her'. It's a 'him'."
After a pregnant pause, Hughes recovered enough to let out a, "… Oh."
"Yes."
They both picked up their cups in silence, both deep in thought though on different subject matters. 'How's Hughes going to react to this,' Roy wondered, 'he'd understand right? Hughes was open-minded enough. I just hope I didn't misjudge him. I can't afford to lose him as a friend.'
"Firstly, let me offer my sincerest apologies," Hughes began, breaking the silence.
"… Apologies?" He said confused.
"I'm terribly sorry for pressuring you into marriage. If my pestering was the reason you felt pressured to go and date girls then I-"
"SHUT IT."
"Ok, ok…" Hughes said, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. "Soooo… Who's this lucky… guy?"
Roy only answered with a groan, burying his face in the palms of his hands.
"I can't help you if you don't open up. I'm not a psychic you know," he said looking at his friend.
"… Fullmetal," Roy muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me?" Hughes questioned, attempting to confirm his disbelief.
"IT'S FULLMETAL, OK?" Roy said, a bit louder.
"… Edward?"
"YES!" Roy almost shouted.
"… You've got a slight problem."
"I'M AWARE OF THAT! Arghh, this isn't helping, I'm going to get some work done before Hawkeye uses me to practice her target shooting," with that he got up to make for the door.
"Wait Roy… does Edward know about this?" Hughes asked, stopping Roy just as his hand reached the doorknob.
"No. And I don't plan on letting him know either."
The door slammed shut.
o0o
It was a beautiful night. He had offered Fullmetal a ride back to his house. They had stopped by the beach and the atmosphere was perfect. He took the opportunity and confessed.
"I'm glad you told me about your feelings. I feel the same way, Roy," Ed said.
"Ed, I love you," Roy said.
"I love you too," Ed said.
They kissed under the sunset with the sound of the waves soothing them in the background.
That was when the alarm went off and Roy woke covered in sweat. This was getting out of hand. Wet dreams were one thing, a cliché scene out of a woman's romance novel was quite another. He couldn't suppress his shudder as he recalled the memories of the dream… no, nightmare. This topped his experience with nightmares (and he had some bad ones as souvenirs from war.)
He needed a good dose of caffeine and aspirin. He had a premonition that today was going to seriously suck.
On the top of the pile of paperwork Hawkeye handed him today was a crumpled piece of paper he immediately recognised. It could only have been handed in by one blond alchemist.
The scrawled report did a fantastic job at imitating Elysia's handwriting. Fullmetal could write in clear, strong strokes if he wanted to, he could also type at around fifty words per minute on the dodgiest typewriters. He had witnessed it himself when Fullmetal barged into his home demanding the use of the machine to type up his thesis that had to go with the annual state alchemist evaluation. Fullmetal types and actually puts effort into the paperwork given to him too. It seemed that only with Roy, he did his best he make things difficult on the receiving end. He would conveniently "forget" to attach the secondary documents, misspell the names mentioned in the report ("Oh, so sorry Colonel, I must have misheard his name",) leave out the page numbers and journal editions of the sources he was referring from ("It's somewhere in the middle, go find it yourself, the essay's only sixteen hundred thousand words or so long".)
Fullmetal was a painful subordinate to have.
Riza pointed out that Fullmetal's actions were "quite justified" given the goose chases himself had carefully set up for Fullmetal to suffer in. Though the results of those setups were dangerous and near fatal when he would report back and give his best shot at maiming the colonel, his reaction were always worth the risk of a broken rib or two. Yes, he was strange in this aspect.
He leant back in his chair. Fullmetal would be arriving at the office later today, he probably went home after handing his report to sleep… like always. Although under his jurisdiction for seven years now, he had only gone along for missions twice under the orders of the Furher. So wasn't it funny how he knew Fullmetal's lifestyle habits this well? He could practically imagine Fullmetal's every expression when he dealt with the drug smugglers at Murkstone town and his fury at the gang members who injured innocent civilians with their turf wars at Secillian city. He could imagine Fullmetal curled up on the hard train chairs with his flesh left hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight on his trip back.
He could picture Fullmetal walking in later this afternoon, at about 3 o'clock. He'd have his hands in his pockets and a distasteful look on his face as he leant on his left leg while waiting for him to greet him with a smirk… Like always.
If Riza Hawkeye was surprised that the usually lazy and procrastinating Colonel had worked steadily through his paperwork with no complaint, she didn't show it. Roy's thoughts that day were preoccupied with images of a certain blond and impulsive nineteen year old. He was silent during their 11 am morning tea break and returned to his office straight after his 2:30pm lunch break.
At exactly 3:16 pm, voices and the shuffling of chairs could be heard outside his office door. "Yo, welcome back, boss!" He heard Havoc say, "Haha! I see you got into some trouble again. You can never come back from a simple inspection job uninjured can you?", "Shut up! The idiot as asking for it! Stupid jerk." Ah. That must be Ed, Roy thought. "Edward, the Colonel's in his office. I'm sure he has some questions about your report." "Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going… Sheesh."
Footsteps were coming closer. They paused just outside his office and Roy hid a smile as he imagined Fullmetal glaring through the solid wood at him.
Sure enough, when he entered he had a glare pasted on his face. His eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed in a tight line with the edges turned downwards.
"So, I've heard you punched a poor man in the face… with your right fist." Roy said coolly, with a nod towards the said fist.
"… Maybe…" came Ed's hesitant reply as he shifted his feet and tucked his fist nervously into his pocket.
"You realize that I'm responsible for any misconduct you commit."
"WHAT MISCONDUCT? The guy was about to cut the kid's arm off to 'show and example for the others', like hell I'd let that happen!"
'Because you know of the pain of losing a limb?' Roy wondered but kept silent. Fullmetal was ranting on about something else now, but he wasn't listening. It wasn't necessary. He knew to explicit detail what had happened on the mission already. For now he could just relax and watch the blond vent off his anger with a carefully placed smirk on his face.
"Finished?" Roy asked after a good 30 minutes.
"… Whatever," Ed said with a glare and dropped down onto the sofa with a slouch. 'He's probably dead tired from his trip, but he'd literally be dead before he admits it,' Roy thought with amusement.
"Good. Here's what you need to know about your next case. Unlike usual, it isn't an individual case you're going on. There's been a suspected underground cult brewing in Central where several girls have been found dead, their bodies opened and liver removed."
"Their livers?" Ed asked, nose wrinkled in disgust. "Why just the livers? Don't cults usually celebrate blood and gore?"
"Our intelligence source shows that they're more specifically after the bile in the livers."
Ed gave no reply. He just simply sat here staring back at him with an expression that suggested that he had just swallowed a lemon.
"Naturally," Roy continued, "Alchemists are needed to accompany this job. At this stage, human chimera experimentation and mutation cannot be ruled out as a possibility yet. It's best that alchemists come along to clean up just in case it gets out of hand."
Ed made no comment on the phrasing of "to clean up." Six years in the military forces people had to adapt.
"I think it's pretty obvious why you're a prime choice for the job, Fullmetal."
"Yeah. Whatever. Why are you tagging along though?" Ed questioned his eyes full of suspicion.
"You consider yourself more than capable of dealing with any full blown dispute? Fine then, I'll pass your confident on to the uppers." Roy replied with that annoying smirk that Ed hated oh so much.
"Don't you dare leave all the work to me!" He shouted at him getting to his feet angrily.
Roy made sure to muffle his chuckle as he passed the doorframe.
o0o
"They were selling the potion as a beauty product. The acidic effect of the bile was diluted and mixed with other ingredients "to smooth out one's complexion". It boasted about using all natural ingredients but I doubt they informed their clients that the potion used bile extracted from homeless teenagers."
"Homeless teenagers? Why?" Ed asked.
"They're young, rebellious, some are on drugs. No one gives a damn if one or two shoplifting kids go missing for a few days. Maybe they'll even be grateful if a few rude mannered brats go off your street." Roy said with a light shrug.
Ed didn't have an answer to that. Instead he lowered his head, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sat back down.
"When do I leave for this job?" He asked determination in his eyes.
"Oh? You're actually eager to go off on a job this time?"
"Shut up. This is sick. Just plain sick. Where, when and with who am I going with, bastard?" Edward replied wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"Tomorrow by the noon train leaving Central for Vermillion City with me. We'll be working with the police and forensics of Vermillion."
"What it a minute! You're going!"
His smirk disappearing, Roy confirmed with a sigh that, "Yes, Fullmetal. I'm going.
"Shouldn't you staying here with Hawkeye to watch your arse and make sure you get your paperwork done?" Ed said coolly with a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Like I said, so far we can't rule this out as some ingredient for some new theory for chimera transmutation. You're going because you're so very learned in human alchemy and naturally, I'm going because if it gets out of hand it needs to be brought back into control rather than blowing it all up together."
"WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?"
"Nothing," Roy said with a smirk. Even when the topic is as sinister as this, it felt good to be able to get Fullmetal worked up.
o0o
The bright lights of the laboratory made it very clear for anyone to see the pale colouring of the dead. "As you can see," the forensic who led them in, John, said. "The bodies are all perfectly perfect apart from missing a liver. No interior injuries and no exterior injuries."
"So these people were frickin' opened up… alive?" Ed asked.
"It's a possibility."
A groan was Ed's reply and he massaged the bridge of his nose just as Roy asked, "Have you contacted his family?"
"That's a problem considering all forms of identification were taken," John said.
"Taken?" Roy said puzzled.
"Yes, taken. We're ruling out the possibility that the murdered wasn't carrying any form of identification since all 36 victims to date had identification on them. We were able to track down the families of many of them through finger prints, photographs, interviews and such, but not through forms of identification found on the murdered."
"The guy targets homeless teenagers around this city right?" Ed asked.
"Yes."
Trying to get some sort of lead, Ed asked, "Any particular area or style to the targeted?"
John shook his head.
"Hey colonel," Ed said to Roy suddenly.
"Hmm?" Roy asked an eyebrow in question.
"Find me some tattered clothes and a fake ID."
"… You aren't…" Roy muttered clearly not supporting this idea that was brewing.
Ed bared a fanged grin. "I am."
o0o
"This isn't going to work, Fullmetal."
"You'll never know unless you try!"
"There are hundreds of homeless kids in this city! You'll just be another grain of sand in the sea!" Roy said fury growing into his voice.
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A GRAIN OF SAND?"
"For once, Fullmetal, your height was not implied! Are you even listening?"
"Shut up… reflex reaction," Ed muttered to partially to himself.
"I figured," Roy said hearing what Ed muttered.
"Look, it shouldn't be that hard. Despite the number of homeless, they're mostly in gangs and organizations of sorts. I read into the cases and the targeted were all loners. All I've gotta do is stand out from the crowd a bit, I've got plenty of experience with that." With that said, Ed walked past Roy and the door shut with a CLANG, leaving Roy to marvel at Ed's research ability even when it wasn't applied on the philosopher's stone.
"When did he make time to do background research on the victims?" he wondered incredulously to himself.
o0o
It was already 8:50pm. Office hours end at 9. Ed still wasn't back. Roy felt a steady increase in force of the steady drumming behind his eyes. It had been like this yesterday too. And the day before. Each tick of the clock echoed in the room as its occupants emptied out for home.
"Where is he!" Roy shouted to no one in particular.
"He's a state alchemist, he can take care of himself."
Startled at the unexpected reply, Roy turned around to find himself facing John. "Fullmetal's only eighteen despite the way he acts."
Taking a seat opposite of Roy, John said, "Hey, eighteen makes him legally an adult. He was regarded as an adult's equal at twelve wasn't he? When he passed the state alchemist exam with flying colours that is."
"He acts too impulsively." Roy muttered.
"Which is a part of his charms," John remarked.
Roy arched an eyebrow in question.
"I'm a forensic but I specialize in forensic psychology more so than forensic chemistry or studies. That makes me primarily a psychologist, which also means that studying human behaviour is something I'm good at. From what I've seen these five days you've arrived here, Mr. Elric means more than just a work friend to you," John said with a slight smile.
"What are you saying?" Roy questioned.
"Nothing really," John replied, leaning on his elbow. "It's just that you're worried. Next time I suggest you let Mr. Elric know that you'll be worried if he doesn't contact you on a regular basis."
He received only a glare promising pain from Roy as a reply, John decided it would be a good idea to take his leave. Getting up, he left the room, but glanced over his shoulder at Roy's eyebrows knitted together and hunched in his seat deep in thought, made him smile and mentally tick off a 'job well done'.
Left alone in the room to the tick of the clock Roy was forced to think over his behaviour the past two days and the past six years. What was Ed to him?
A useful weapon? Yes, that had been it at first.
A subordinate? Yes, one that he cared for no less than Hawkeye, Havoc, Breda, Falman or Fury.
A friend? Yes, someone who he could (occasionally) talk about alchemy too. Someone who he could advise and be advised in a field and passion that was incomprehensible to those other than alchemists or everyday alchemists.
With Ed he could talk theory casually in a conversation. When Ed was in a good mood, they would even get an intelligent discussion going along that didn't involve yelling. Ed was rare even amongst state alchemists, there are few who have knowledge on such a wide scope of areas. Ed managed to understand at least the basic principles of all fields of alchemy and the theory behind it, and with the transmutation of natural elements such as fire, Ed knew more than just the basics. Sometimes Roy was the one who was taught a few things or two.
Roy didn't go back to the military lodge that night. Instead he leant on the office desk, listening to the tick tock of the clock, and drowned himself in his thoughts into sleep.
When he woke up it was 6am, the time he usually got up. 'Thank goodness my internal clock is functioning,' he thought to himself. It left him time to go buy toothpaste, a shaver and toothbrush from the convenience store on the other side of the road and make himself presentable before most of the workers came in. It was 7:45am when he got back from the restroom to find a large A4 sized envelope on his desk with a note attached that said:
WENT BACK TO THE LODGE.
SLEEPING.
DON'T YOU DARE WAKE ME.
ED
Collapsing in his chair, Roy let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and leant his head back, the emotional exhaustion from the past two days finally catching up to him. But inside, he was just happy that Fullmetal had returned to him safe and sound.
o0o
Ed came by the office later that day and for once, Roy wasn't ahead of him in the news of the events that happened on the task. The findings disgusted him just as much as Ed, though he didn't express it as vehemently. Killing innocents for the bile in their livers to make an 'entirely natural beauty potion' from its acidity seemed surreal. He had expected the deaths as an expense sacrificed by those after power, but reality was much crueler. They had been killed by a maniac making a miracle potion from their bile for women wanting to look pretty. The natural base in the liver, especially when fresh, mixed with the right dyes and cleverly disguised by perfume, was being used to tone out blemishes of the skin for a 'fair complexion.'
Their deaths had been made so cheap.
With the case closed and their final long day at Vermillion city's police central, Roy and Ed walked back to the military lodges in silence, both reliving lasting memories that would perhaps find their way into their nightmares someday.
As the silhouette of the lodge came into view, Roy's inner struggles came to an end. He didn't want to experience what he had these past days ever again.
Noticing Roy had stopped walking beside him, Ed tilted his head in question. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Uncertain of how to phrase it, Roy replied, "Me. Me and my… relationship with you."
"… What're you talking about?" Ed questioned.
"I like you, Edward. I like you in ways that are more than just comradeship or friendship," Roy said. Finally it was out. It was out. Finally he had gotten it off his chest. It didn't matter what Edward thought of him, at least he won't hold regrets now. He had thought up many ways and situations of bringing out this issue, but it all didn't matter now.
Edward wasn't looking at him. Damn, why is he being so silent? Even the cicadas around him seemed to have disappeared. The night was too quiet.
Without looking at Roy, Ed broke the silence with, "I know."
'He knows? What does that mean?' Roy wondered.
"I'm not good at this kind of stuff. I mean- I've never really dated anyone but that doesn't mean I'm clueless. I've noticed you staring at me recently. And the way you act, get nervous, annoy me on purpose and try to cover it all up. I'm not blind y'know." He said still not looking at Roy.
"Oh," was all Roy could say to this revelation.
"I didn't mention anything about it 'cause… I mean… you know what will happen if others found out right? Our reputations would be sullied. We'd lose the public's respect. You'd lose your chance at ever being the Furher and your men suffer the consequences along with you, and I always thought that nobody especially you could love me because of my…attachments." Ed said.
Roy knew this already, but hearing it from Ed as he sorted it out made it sound much worse. He had been prepared to make those selfish sacrifices but it seemed Ed wasn't.
"I guess it can't be helped," Ed said, "I'm used to trouble already, it's been a part of me since I was eleven. If our relationship ever gets out, I'll let you do the talking… like usual." With that Ed turned to look at Roy, a teasing grin on his face.
"What?"
"I'm saying I want to give this a go," Ed said firmly.
"Are you serious about this, Fullmetal?" Roy questioned, not believing that this was happening.
"Shouldn't you be calling me 'Edward'?" Ed asked his grin unwavering.
Roy was quiet as he let that question sink in. and then he laughed, his worries had been for nothing. "I see…"
"One more thing, Roy," Ed said.
Not missing the way Ed now addressed him, Roy raised an eyebrow in question.
"That black phonebook of yours is going in the nearest bin. Got that? I'm serious about us," Ed said, meeting Roy's eyes with dead soberness.
Looking at his eyes, Roy couldn't stop the grin that was spreading across his face. Those eyes, those beautiful golden eyes that were usually reserved for when Edward's focus was solely buried deep in a biological alchemy book were now on him. He'd always known that Edward threw himself totally in what he decided to do. He just never knew how wonderful it was when it was focused on him.
"I've got a better idea," Roy said, taking the book from his pocket. Tossing the small black book into the air, he snapped his fingers and watched with a smile as the small ball of flame left a trail of smoke as it fell to the ground.
Next up: Epilogue: Mature Love
Notes:
I'm sorry this chapter took so long to do and I hope you enjoyed the RoyEd-ness. I was buried alive under assignments and mid-semester exams… I hope I made up for it somewhat with a longer-than-average update.
Just in case anyone's confused, Ed is supposed to be 18 in this story and Al is restored.
Given that this chapter is Equity Love, you're probably thinking that stimulation/passion is lacking right? Well, in this chapter I had to just leave it as a bit of stimulation through events and situations but I'm currently working on a NC-17 version of this one chapter which I'll post a link for with the upcoming epilogue. Review! Reviews make me high and write faster!