i am so sorry about the long down time! semester is done, finally, so the writing shall start up again! -fireun

Three days. Ed had been wandering around, rather aimlessly, for three days. There were the nurse sanctioned walks the Col...no, the Brigadier General accompanied him on in the mornings in that quiet time between morning coffee and lunch. They even let him have coffee now. well, he had managed to destroy no fewer than five cups containing some sort of weak tea in his irritated demand for coffee before Mustang had sardonically pointed out that the best way to get Ed to settle down and stop breaking things was to give in.

"Bastard." Ed muttered, reflexively, as he poked despondently at the cookies Ross had brought over the evening before. He itched to be doing…something. Anything.

"Hey boss." Havoc poked his head into the room, peering about before slipping in fully and sliding a cigarette between his lips. "Not gonna smoke it." He raised his hands defensively as Ed raised an eyebrow. "The nurses pester the hell outta me if they even see the damn things. I thought I would come visit you…"

"And hide in my room and have a smoke." Ed finished dryly.

"You been taking lessons from Mustang? Sheesh, cut a guy some slack. I told you I wasn't going to light it, and I wont." Havoc plopped into the rooms vacant chair, grinning. "But, yeah, I can at least have a cig in here."

Ed narrowed his eyes, gears turning in his mind. As a slow smile broke across his face, Havoc straightened, some sort of sixth sense warning him he was about to be in trouble. "All right. I won't rat you out to the nurses."

Havoc frowned, chewing on his contraband. "What is going on in that twisted mind of yours, Ed? I don't like that look in your eyes."

"I won't rat you out, and you will help me get out."

"No can do, boss. You are stuck here for at least another few weeks. Until they are convinced you are all healthy again."

"I AM healthy!" Ed howled.

"Mr. Elric? Are you all right in there?" a nurse called out, starting to open the door.

"I'm fine, fine. No problem in here." Ed babbled, motioning frantically for Havoc to hide the evidence. The nurse glanced in, reassured herself that nothing was amiss with her occasionally excitable patient, and closed the door again.

Ed cast a pleading look at Havoc. "Havoc. I need out. Now. All I do is sit here and think, and that is not helping. I will never get the all clear if all I get to do is think about how I screwed up!"

It was so out of place, the older Elric pleading, his wide golden eyes so very desperate…Havoc exhaled, shoulders slumping. "Ok, ok. Whatever you need, boss."

This was, of course, how Havoc found himself trying to explain away an open window and empty bed twenty minutes later. "Cover for me, he says. I just need to get out for awhile." Havoc ground his teeth, wishing for the cigarette that had been confiscated as soon as the nurse had come with Ed's dinner.

She had taken one look at the bed, shot him a venomous glare, stolen his last smoke, and hurled back into the hall to round up some sort of medical task force to hunt their errant patient down.

"Sir, can you please tell us where Edward Elric went?" the doctor sounded as tired as he looked. Havoc didn't blame him. Repeating the same question for the better part of an hour could not be any sort of fun.

"Would love to. Unfortunately he didn't bother to tell me where the hell he was getting off to. I suggest you wait for something to blow up and head towards that."

"This is a serious situation, sir. I don't think you understand…"

Havoc flicked an invisible cigarette, rolling his eyes. "I don't think you understand. The boss is one tough bugger. He will pull through."

"But…"

"Oh, shove your medical diagnosis. You can let him out of the damn hospital. I am not saying send him out onto a battle field, but damn…" Havoc cast a glance across the sterile, sparsely furnished room. "This isn't exactly what I would consider a nurturing environment."

"If I find out that you in any way helped him flee this afternoon…"

"Feel free to take it up with my commanding officer. I'm sure Brigadier General Mustang would be more than happy to chat with you." Nothing like a little name dropping to end a dead end conversation… Havoc stood, stretched and smiled his best polite smile. "Now, I need to be back on duty, oh, about ten minutes ago. If you don't mind?"

It was pure bliss- walking down the street, hands shoved deep into pockets, having nowhere in particular to go, but damn well going somewhere. A distinctly welcome change from the caged monotony of the hospital, Ed reveled in the fact there were no nurses trailing him, no one who knew him within noticeable distance. As long as he avoided HQ, he should be able to wander about unbothered for some time.

And he really needed it.

He needed to be away from everyone's tentative sympathy. He grumbled quietly to himself, not noticing when his feet decided to take a sudden turn, leave the street, and posit him solidly in front of a closed door.

A door that smelled like it had pie behind it. Fresh pie. Apple pie. Of its own volition Ed's right arm rose and knocked solidly on the door.

Which left him in a rather awkward position when Gracia Hughes opened the door. "Edward?"

"Erm…Hullo." He stared steadily at his boots. Well, tried to, until a face round still with baby fat and furrowed with consternation broke unto his field of view.

"Are you gonna be sick?"

"Elysia!" Gracia admonished.

Ed looked up, blinking in confusion. Elysia knelt in front of him, obviously interested in his abnormal posture. "Da used to look like that after goin' out fer dinner with Uncle Roy."

Dinner. Suuuure. Ed smothered a grin, and noticed the amusement dancing across Gracia's face. "No, I'm not going to be sick. I just…didn't expect to be here."

"Then why are ya here?" Elysia settled back on her heels.

Ed met Gracia's eyes and shrugged sheepishly. "I smelled pie, I guess."

The woman laughed and stepped back a bit. "Then why don't you come in?"

Elysia, obviously very pleased with that idea, shot to her feet and grabbed Ed's hands. "Come in! Come in!" she crowed, hauling the bemused young man into the house.