Stuck

by faemystic4

Pairing: RoyxEd

Summary: There's a cat stuck in a tree…

Warnings: none, really

6/18/05

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, except the cat, but I don't even own one, unfortunately. So, all the characters belong to the great Hiromu Arakawa who created this story. Thank you!

Stuck

"Brother? There is a kitten stuck in the tree," Al's mechanical voice broke through the concentration Ed had cocooned himself in to read his book. With a frown of annoyance, Ed looked up from his reclined position under the aforementioned tree.

"Your point? It'll come down when it wants to come down," Ed harrumphed and returned to his book. He was hoping Al would drop the subject, but unfortunately, Al pressed on.

"But brother, what if it can't come down? It's been stuck in the tree for a while now."

Ed replied off-handedly, "Then you get it down. I'm busy."

When Ed received no response, he looked up at his younger brother again. Despite his armored face, Ed could still see the hurt look on his brother's face. He mentally reprimanded himself for reminding Al of his situation, before standing up and reluctantly putting down the book. It was an engrossing book, and it had several interesting ideas about alchemy that might have helped with their mission. Oh well, he could read it later. He had to go save the kitten after all.

"Alright, I'll go get this kitten down; just give me a moment."

Al brightened visibly at this agreement, leaving Ed feeling a little less guilty. Ed removed his jacket, leaving him dressed in his black tank top and pants. He looked up at the limb of the tree the kitten was standing on. It was a calico cat, tiny and mewing rather pitifully.

Al spoke up and offered, "If it's too high, I can hoist you up…"

Ed turned to glare at his brother, "Are you calling me SHORT!"

Al moved back nervously and tried to speak in a soothing manner as he noticed the steam that was beginning to exit the elder's ears, "I'm not saying that. Anyone would have trouble getting to the limb where the cat is. That's all."

Ed scowled and replied, "Whatever, I can climb it myself, without anyone's help." With that, he stalked to the tree and began to slowly make his way up. Al winced as he overheard a few of the grumbles exiting his brother's mouth as he made his way up the tree.

After about five minutes, Ed finally reached the limb the kitten was standing on. From his position, he could see the colonel's office and he frowned at the thought. This was a dangerous threat to the colonel should anyone want to kill him. With a wipe to his face, Ed ignored the thought. It's not as if he cared.

He crept his way to the kitten slowly, turning red as he called out, "Here kitty, kitty. Come on, let me help you down."

The kitten mewed at him before jumping on his head, knocking him off-balance for a moment. 'Stupid cat.' Ed struggled back to a more balanced position, and once done, he attempted to extricate the kitten from his hair. With a growl of discontent at being disturbed, the kitten jumped off of its perch in the mess of blond hair, and made its way down the tree, abandoning a tousled and slightly put off alchemist to the tree.

"Hey look! I guess you were right! The kitten wasn't stuck. You can come down now, brother," Al yelled up to the disgruntled Ed.

Ed replied, "I know, and I'm coming down. Just give me a moment." Ed began to move to put himself in a better position to get down before he realized something. He had no idea how to get down.

The colonel was hard at work creating a card house from the cards he had snitched from Havoc's coat pocket in his office when he heard the distinctive metal steps that signified Alphonse Elric's arrival. With a mournful sigh, he took one last look at his near-finished creation before knocking it over and hiding the cards in a drawer in his desk. It wouldn't do for Hawkeye to hear about this after all. She was scary.

A knock at the door followed by an "It's Al" made Roy wonder why the younger brother was here. There wasn't any mission, and he hadn't heard of any new escapades of the elder from his subordinates.

"Come in," Roy replied, and he looked quizzically at the armored figure. If Al wasn't armored, he could've sworn that Al looked embarrassed and reluctant to be here. "What is the problem?"

Al looked about for a moment before saying, "There was a kitten in the tree."

Roy just looked at him. There was some point Al was getting to that he wasn't catching.

"I got Ed to go up after it," Al added in a hurry.

'Now, why would Al be here for that—oh, right,' Roy smirked and leaned back. He had seen the Elric brothers earlier through his window, and as he turned to look, he grinned in satisfaction as his theory proved true. Ed was clinging to a tree limb, glaring through the office window at him and his brother. It figures that Ed could do everything else, but he can't get down from a tree.

Al started babbling when he noticed that Roy could see Ed outside. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. The kitten—it could get down—I just didn't notice, and now, Ed is stuck up there. I can't get him down, otherwise I would've helped the kitten, and he didn't want me to get you, but he didn't want anyone else, either. No one else is around at the moment, and you're the only one I can turn to. Please get him down."

Al looked hopefully (as hopefully as armor can look) at Roy, who responded, "Of course. Edward is important after all. It would not do well for him to be…trapped in a tree."

With a quirk of his lips, the colonel exited the office, Al trailing behind him. This was much more amusing than card houses.

Ed frowned as he watched the colonel approach. He was getting his brother back for this. 'Of all the people, why Roy?' 'Granted,' Ed mused distractedly, 'he is a great kisser.' However, Roy was never going to let him live this down.

"So, FullMetal, enjoying the view?" Roy smirked devilishly.

"Shut up, you bastard. Get me down from this tree right now. I wasn't enjoying any view because there was nothing to enjoy," Ed yelled back down to the colonel. On second thought, maybe it wasn't a good idea to insult the colonel. He was the only way for Ed to get down.

"I heard you didn't want me. Should I make myself scarce?" Roy grinned as he watched Ed bite back a snarl. He so enjoyed these little spats with Ed. It made him feel so…domestic. Well, not exactly. Ed and domestic didn't fit very well. With a sigh, he opened his arms and shouted, "Jump down! I'll catch you!"

"Are you crazy? From this high up, even if I trusted you, I wouldn't jump!" Ed retorted in a panicked manner.

Al spoke up from Roy's side, "I already tried to get him to do that. He won't."

Roy frowned. If his brother couldn't convince him, then he probably couldn't. There relationship was a bit too new for the depth of trust Ed shared with his brother. 'Well, if he won't come down, I guess I just have to go up!' With a grin, Roy, too, took off and threw to the side his military jacket, and he began the long trek up the tree.

Ed gaped at him, "What are you doing? If you come up, how are you going to get me down?"

Roy grunted in effort as he made his way up, "Alphonse, would you give your brother and I some privacy? I can take care of him, and I'll make sure he gets down."

Al cheerily replied, "Yes sir, colonel! I'll be in our room Ed, if you need me!"

Ed just let out a howl of rage as Al hurriedly left, and when Roy finally reached the elder Elric, Ed moaned as the Flame Alchemist swooped in for the kill.

Al was tinkering with some metal parts in their room when Ed finally returned. Al's eyes widened as he took in Ed's figure. His hair was mussed, lips were bruised, and his clothing was everywhere. He was limply carrying his jacket in his metal hand and his book in the other.

"So, he got you off," Al said slowly.

"Yeah, I guess he did," Ed grinned, lost in the memory as he made his way to the bathroom to change.

A little while away, under the tree, the colonel sat peacefully, a mess of satisfaction, enjoying the night air when a little calico kitten made its way to him, curling up on his lap. Roy chuckled softly as he petted the kitten. "Good kitten…" The kitten purred.

End

Author's notes: Please read and review!