Well, I seem to have gotten a positive response, all will be taken care of. Though the last chapter will be a flashback of what happened at the banquette.

Here you go! Hope you like it.

Chapter 2

"Edward, can I talk to you in my office?" Ed froze and turned his gaze over to Al who in turn shrugged. They both proceeded into the room. Roy held up a hand. "If you don't mind Alphonse, I'd like to have a word with Edward alone please." Al nodded and turned to leave the room but not before muttering to his older brother under his breath.

"Better you than me." Ed gritted his teeth and headed into the office. Al closed the door and the two of them were left alone.

"So, did you enjoy the banquette on Saturday?" Four times a year the military held a banquette for its soldiers, one a season, this one being summer, just to keep things a little less boring. This was the first one that Edward had actually attended. Alphonse was back to his original body and he could enjoy himself as much as he could without making Alphonse feel left out. All there was really to do was food and drink, so considering Ed was underage all he could do was enjoy the food.

All the food that Al enjoyed when he was younger he couldn't have while he was in the armour, so going to the banquette and eating all that good food was almost as if he was rubbing it in. But now that guilt was lifted and they both got to gorge themselves on all the fancy kinds of food that were there.

"Yeah, it was pretty good…I think I had something at the buffet that didn't agree with me, I felt kind of sick, and so I walked home at 1." Roy folded his hands as he watched Ed squirm in his seat. Something wasn't sitting with him right, why was Ed acting so nervous?

"Riza said that you asked for a ride." He nodded.

"Yeah, I felt really ill, I didn't want to walk. It's not that far, but a drive would have been nice." Mustang leaned forward.

"Maria caught up to you didn't she?" Ed swallowed hard.

"Uh…yeah…she made sure I made it to my room." Ed laughed a little. "I got sick a little earlier in the washroom and was kind of weak in the legs, so she helped me to my room. I went right to sleep when I went to bed." Roy blinked at Edwards's response.

"Why would she go after you to see if you were ok? And on top of that she stayed with you for almost an hour afterwards in your room." Edward searched for words but found nothing.

"I don't know, I was asleep." He stood up. "Can I go now, I need to get breakfast before it's over." Roy shook his head but waved him on with his hand.

"If your not telling me something that I need to hear Full Metal you better tell me now." Ed assured him.

"No, I'm fine." Ed turned and left the room and closed the door. Al looked up at his older brother from the other side of the hall.

"What was that all about?" He questioned his brother.

"That Mustang, he wanted to know what I was doing on Saturday." Al raised an eyebrow.

"Did you tell him?" Ed shook his head.

"No, Maria would get in a lot of trouble if he knew. Lucky for me he bought the equivocation I gave him. That was a lifesaver. I think I'm off the hook." Al seemed sceptical.

"I don't know; I feel like they're going to drag this one out…" Ed crossed his arms in front of himself.

"I just hope that Lieutenant Ross keeps it to herself like she said she would." Ed was quite shaken, but decided to forget about the whole thing and just let it blow over. "Let's go get some food."

…………………

"Alright, so what exactly did you do when you left to go find Edward?" Maria thought back to Saturday. Roy was ever so causally grilling her on the events that took place on Saturday.

"Well, I was supposed to drive everyone home so I didn't drink anything if that's what you're concerned about." Roy shook his head.

"I want to know what you were doing in Edward's room at about 1 AM." He very straight forwardly asked. Tiptoeing was never his strong suit when it came to interrogations. "Someone reported that you two went in and you emerged all flustered about an hour or so later." Maria blushed.

"What in the world are you suggesting!" Second Lieutenant Ross seemed quite upset with the comment, she went on the defensive. "Edward wasn't feeling well, so I stayed with him till he fell asleep." Roy raised an eyebrow.

"He told me that he had fallen asleep right when he went to bed." Maria was at a loss for words, the same as Edward when Roy mentioned the same thing. So then Roy's accusation was more than likely not very far form the truth. Maria searched for something to say. "Well?" Maria pressed her lips together tightly and then spoke.

"That's something you'll have to take up with Edward. Nothing happened. I swear on it." Roy shook his head.

"I wish I could believe that, but when I asked Edward about it he got all nervous and he wouldn't say much of anything." Lieutenant Ross sat up straight in her seat. Mustang's office was cold, she hated it. "Now, I've known Edward for four years, he's never been known to act nervous like that unless something was really bothering him." She gave him a glare.

"I assure you sir; nothing happened between Edward and I; he's only a child." Mustang nodded.

"I know that, witch is why I'm looking so deeply into the matter. You can go for now, but if I find out anything to the contrary of what you've told me, your job will be on the line." He turned his to face away from her. "You can go, but don't leave headquarters until I say so. You got that?" Mustang gave his order. Maria saluted him despite he wasn't looking.

"Yes sir." With all that said and done she left the room. Shutting the door behind her she took off down the hall to find Edward. 'He got his story mixed up, dammit; I have to find him.' After only a few minutes of searching around she finally ran into Edward and his little brother Alphonse.

The two boys looked at her face and immediately knew that something was wrong. Maria pulled the two boys into one of the vacant conference rooms and shut the door. "Edward, we need to talk, Mustang seems to think that I spent the night with you on Saturday." Ed seemed puzzled.

"Well you did…didn't you." Lieutenant Ross shook her head.

"Not in the way thathe thinks ithappened. He thinks that we had…uh, relations of a non-consensual manner." Ed paused as he grasped the concept that Maria was trying to communicate. Then Al chimed in.

"You…mean…he, thinks that you raped my brother." Maria nodded.

"…what?" Ed followed up. He was stunned by the accusation.

"And on top of that my job is on the line here, so I need an alibi." Ed shook his head.

"Woah, woah! This is serious! You don't need to cover for me if your job is on the line. I'll just tell them." Maria waved a hand.

"But then you'll get in trouble with Mustang. I'll keep my word, don't worry." Ed crossed his arms.

"You've already done so much for Al and I, but if you think this'll just blow over." Al nodded.

"Yeah, it's Ed's fault for doing that to himself anyway, so you shouldn't have to take the fall." Ed glared at his little brother.

"Even so, if I go down, you're coming with me." Al sighed; he was hoping his brother wouldn't have said that.

"It figures." Al folded his arms. Maria opened the door only to find Mustang just walking by; he stopped in his tracks.

"Ah, what luck, it was you three that I saw go in here; if you'll come with me please." Ed and Maria looked at one another in a worried way and then followed behind Mustang. Upon reaching the Colonal'sfamiliarroom, the three of them sat down amidst all of Mustang's crew, Falman, Feury, Breda and Hawkeye, including Lieutenant Havoc who still looked like he was in a bad mood. This time he had a toothpick in his mouth.

"Listen Mustang, you're blowing this way out of proportion. It's not a big deal." Ed stated in a worried way; Roy crossed his arms.

"On Saturday, around 1:50 there were some loud noises that emitted from Edward's Room. The noises were described as 'a fight, or a struggle.' Now can you explain that to me? If Edward went to sleep right when he got to his room, who could have been making a struggling noise?" The room fell silent, everyone stared with anticipation. Mustang placed a reassuring hand on Edwards shoulder. "You really don't have to cover for anyone here Ed." Ed sighed and brushed away Mustang's hand.

"Actually, I'm not covering for her; it's really the other way around." Ed said rather sheepishly.

"Hmm?" Roy, along with everyone else in the room, seemed confused.

"Ah, you people seem to think that we slept togetherSaturday night, well, she did spend some time with me, but nothing happened." They all stared on with anticipation. "You see…" He paused and looked at all the accusing eyes locked on him and Ross. He knew he had to tell the truth in this situation; being a good liar means knowing when to quit. "Gah, I got drunk at the banquette!" The group focused in on Edward."

"Excuse me?" Mustang asked. Ed nodded.

"It's true..." The entire room listened intently. "Al and I were sneaking drinks the whole night and at about 11:30 I ran into Ross and I figured I was caught, but she said that she wouldn't tell and that she would give me a ride home if I needed one." Roy turned an accusing eye to Al.

"Is that true Alphonse?" Al lowered his head and nodded.

"Mm-hmm."

"One o'clock rolled around," Ed continued. "I guess I drank too much and started to feel sick; I went to find Lieutenant Ross and I only found Riza, she said that Ross was drinking and couldn't drive. So I decided to walk instead." Roy sighed.

"Well then, that explains why you went to check on him. But why was it that you were all out of breath when you left his room, and what about all the commotion?" He turned to Edward who in onlyshrugged.

"I don't even remember walking home." Ross sighed.

"Actually, Edward was just coming back from the bathroom in his dorm and his legs gave out and he collapsed on the end table. I picked up the table and tried to prop it against the wall but it fell over again so I fad to fix on the leg with a paper weight I found on the floor. Afterwards I had to carry Edward back to his bed. And even though he has a small frame he's actually quite heavy; I imagine it's due to the automail. It was rather taxing for me to pick him up. That's why I was out of breath" Ed turned to her.

"When you say 'small frame' are you implying that I'm short?" He glared at her and Ross smiled.

"Well…" Roy interrupted them.

"Edward, if that's the case, why didn't you just say so from the start?" Ed sat back in his chair.

"Well, I sure as hell didn't want to get in trouble, and I didn't want Maria to get penalized for covering for me. But I guess now all that's straightened out…can we go now." Roy nodded. Everyone crowded out of the room; except for Ed, Al and Lieutenant Ross. Roy shook her hand and apologized for the accusation.

"You have to understand, Ed and Al's safety is my first priority. Sorry for the mix up. I am however going to have to get you to file a report on everything that's happened, underage drinking is a serious matter, so you have to not let it go passed unattended again." Lt. Ross nodded with a smile.

"Understood Sir." She released her grip and gave him a salute.

"I'm glad to see it all worked out for the best." Al nodded at his brother's words; then the three of them turned to exit but were stopped by Mustangs demanding voice.

"Oh no you don't boys." He grabbed the two minors by the shoulders. Maria left the room and gave a short wave. "Just where do you think you're going? You have a fifteen page report to do on how alcohol not only impairs your judgment, damages your liver…" He got really close to Edward's ear. "…and stunts your growth…Edward." Ed's eye twitched, he then lowered his head alongside Alphonse and accepted his fate. "You two better start now, because you have a lot of housework to do." Al turned as Roy released his grip.

"Housework?" Al said with a grimmace; Roy nodded.

"Yup, I'm putting you two on kitchen duty until I think you've suffered enough. Then we'll see how much fun underage drinking actually was." The two boys sighed and left the room but not before Al gave Ed a quick shot in his real arm.

"Jerk! I can't believe you'd sell me out like that." Ed glared at him and punched him back.

"I told you I'd take you down with me…besides, they know you can't lie; I had no choice." The two brothers headed over to the library to begin their research; heads hung low in depression. "I was puking my guts up all Sunday, you think that would have been reperation enough. Fate has screwed me over yet again." Ed sighed.

And there you have it, a short story. the next chpter is only a little extra bit I'm adding on to give the story something extra; what really happened at the banquette. Just a little drunken fun to keep things rolling amusing. Also I'm adding in the other little scene I cut out of the first chapter, well, not really cut, just replaced, I was originally going to have Havoc react to theaccusation a little bit differently. But you'll have to wait untill I get a few more reviews.

Later : )