Okay, so I just fixed a minor mistake in chapter seven and replaced the chapter, but if (as it is for some people) you should get a mail saying I've updated this story twice, then that's wrong, it's only this chapter that's new.

Chapter nine

"Is Al okay?!" Ed said into the phone urgently. He was sitting behind the Colonel's desk and spoke the second someone picked up the phone at the other end. He was gripped by a sudden fear that they were going to tell him that something had happened to his baby brother and that Al was really gone. There was a lot that could happen to a baby. Al was helpless.

"Woah, is that you, Ed?" Ed heard someone say that he recognised as Mister Hughes.

"Yes! Mister Hughes, is Al okay?!" Ed demanded, his mind screaming that this could mean that something really was wrong and that Al was hurt which was why Mister Hughes was stalling.

"Calm down, Ed, your brother is all right. He's sleeping and everything is fine, don't you worry."

Ed let out a relieved sigh as he heard the sincerity in his voice. "Oh, good... Thanks... So... So you're gonna look after him and feed him and..." Ed trailed off, feeling stupid. He was overreacting and being irrational and he wasn't thinking straight and he had no clue why he had almost sought confirmation for something that had been established only hours ago.

"Yes, Ed, he's doing fine. And of course we're looking after him," Mister Hughes said patiently and Ed could practically hear a warm (and fatherly) smile on the man's face. Ed didn't really know much about him yet. He knew he had glasses and stubble because the man had guided Ed's hand over his face to give him an idea about what he looked like. Ed both found it annoying and yet he was grateful for it as it gave him some clue about just what the guy that was taking care of his brother looked like. Ed also knew that he worked in Investigations and was supposedly the Colonel's best friend. That was weird to imagine. He had never imagined the Colonel to even have people like that, and those two seemed so different that Ed had no clue how they even were friends in the first place, much less best friends. "Hey, Ed, are you still there?" Mister Hughes suddenly asked, sounding concerned, making Ed realise that his mind had been drifting, making him stay quiet for who knows how many weird seconds.

"Yeah, I'm here... Thanks, Mister Hughes... And thanks for all your help... I-I..."

I need it.

Ed couldn't say that out loud. Mister Hughes was a stranger, no matter how much Ed felt like he could be trusted (although he wasn't sure why he did). Ed liked the Hugheses. They were nice and ... family-y. But that didn't mean that Ed could admit to needing them.

"No worries, Ed, it's our pleasure, you just make sure to get some sleep, you're still recovering from surgery and you should be resting plenty. Do you know when you and Roy will be coming tomorrow?"

"We're leaving here around ten, the Rockbells will be arriving twelve-ish." Ed knew he was recovering from surgery, but that was the least of his concerns. He knew pain. This was nothing compared to the automail. This was like a bug bite compared to that.

"Then we'll meet you then, Ed. Now go get some sleep and we'll take care of your brother."

Ed nodded and then felt extremely foolish for doing so, and so he mhm-ed instead. "Call if anything's wrong. No matter when. Please, Mister Hughes."

"I'll call, Ed, but now you need to sleep."

"Thank you, Mister Hughes... And say thanks to Gracia too... And could you bring me Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

"Sure, Ed, good night."

"Good night, Mister Hughes." Ed heard the phone be put down and Ed listened for a sign of someone else being in the room. After all, Mustang could have snuck back inside the inner office without his knowledge. "I'm alone here, right?" Ed asked.

There was no answer, so that was good.

"Hello? Ed?" came the female voice of the First Lieutenant. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes said you wanted to speak to me?" She was speaking kindly and softly and just with a twinge of suspicion.

"Uh, hi, Lieutenant Hawkeye. Uh, you're the Colonel's assistant, right? So you know him pretty well?"

"I do, Edward, is there something you wanted to ask me about him?"

"Uhm, yeah... Do you know what he's like outside the office? Is he any different or do you think he's gonna keep making fun of me? Because I don't think this is a good idea. Like at all. I mean, he's been acting pretty much okay in public, but if we're left alone... He says he cares about his subordinates, but now I'm not and I bet we're gonna drive each other nuts before the Rockbells even arrive."

Ed wouldn't usually have voiced his concerns like this, but he didn't have much time and if this was as bad of an idea as Ed thought it was, then Lieutenant Hawkeye was probably the only one who could fix it. She was scary good at just about everything when she wanted to be.

"Edward, he cares. And I think you two will just have to work things out and you'll realise it soon enough. I can't tell you too much, it isn't my place, but what I can tell you is that you two are very much alike once you both just start thinking instead of insulting each other because it's easy."

Roy was standing in the doorway, pushing the door slightly ajar when he heard that Edward was speaking to Hawkeye. And worse was that the kid now seemed to think that Roy didn't care because the discharge forms were signed and Edward was no longer working under him. By trying to include Edward, he had instead possibly pushed him even further away. That was not a good way to start the guardianship. And so he quietly, painstakingly pulled the door closed again, hoping that the kid didn't notice it.

And Roy was standing there with a lump in his stomach, thinking about how much he had messed this up when one of his subordinates actually thought he didn't care.

Then there was that whole thing about this being not a grown soldier, but a boy who had lost nearly everyone and everything and hadn't had a parent since he was five and his father was an absolute bastard that left them when Edward was only three. And now Roy, who was the person that had been supposed to look out for and guide Edward at least and Alphonse by extension, had now become the older brother's arch nemesis.

Roy had been teasing him, yes, but it had been amicable, hadn't it?

Obviously not, Roy, not when the kid acts like you've been bullying him verbally for the past ten months and that is all there is to your relationship.

Roy was beginning to wonder just why he had decided to treat the kid like a brat anyways? Yes, they annoyed each other, but if that hadn't been their general approach to each other's presence...

Then Roy supposed they could even have been friends. After all, the Elrics were loyal, intelligent as hell, kind and Roy could have been guiding them instead of calling Edward short.

How childish have I been?

Only question was if Roy had been too much so to fix things now.

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