Roy had long since finished making his calls to Central. One to Hughes, letting him know that Ed had been found and Rogers had been taken into custody, another to the office to let the team know the same news, and a final one to Alphonse, assuring him his brother was safe, though he thought it best to not tell anyone the true extent of Edward's injuries just yet. No use to worry them, especially Alphonse.
Now, he and Hawkeye sat in the two armchairs by the window of the inn. Neither spoke a word, though it was a comfortable silence, each finding relief with every soft inhale coming from the tiny blonde bundle across from them. Every breath telling them that he was safe, that they had not been too late.
Though they each felt like there should be something to say about the whole situation, neither could find any words. So they sat, and they stared, following the steady rise and fall of the battered chest before them. Before they knew it, they were following his lead, breathing softly and falling into blissful unconsciousness.
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Riza awoke to a warm light shining in her eyes. She squinted her eyes shut tighter as she stretched out the sleep from her body. She looked to her left to see her superior, hair mussed and lips slightly parted, arms crossed around his chest. She smiled at the sight, turning her eyes then towards a certain little blonde, finding him in the same position as last night, sound to the world. She then promptly stood from her chair, and began to prepare for the train home. They would be heading straight to headquarters upon arriving, so they had both packed their uniforms, which she dressed herself in. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, before neatly clipping her hair up behind her head. She gave one last look in the mirror before heading to wake her sleeping colleagues. She treaded lightly to where Roy slept, and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, shaking lightly.
"Sir, it's time to wake up." Roy stirred in his sleep before his head darted up from his shoulders.
"Hm? Whasamatter?" He slurred sleepily. Riza sighed.
"Sir, the train leaves in an hour. You need to get ready." Recognition slowly creeped back into his eyes, which he rubbed with his palms.
"Oh, Riza, right. How's Fullmetal?" He asked, straightening up in his chair.
"He's still asleep, sir. You'll need to wake him soon. I figured we should let him rest as long as possible." He nodded as he studied the boy covered in blankets. "Though there is the fact that he's in his boxers, and the rest of his clothing is either in rags or soaked in blood." Roy frowned. He had forgotten about that, and there was no time to go to a store to find him anything, either.
"Well lieutenant, he'll just have to wear some of my clothes. I have a sweatshirt and sweat pants with me, the runt'll be swimming in them, but he certainly can't ride the train in the nude." Riza nodded in agreement. Roy stood and groaned as his back gave a few satisfying pops. He splashed some water on his face as he waited got the coffee to brew. He quickly tugged on his uniform and did up the buttons as he did every morning before work. He then dug through his suitcase, locating the navy blue sweatshirt and grey sweatpants that he would loan Edward. He looked down at the kid, blankets pulled up to his chin, and felt bad to wake him. At the same time, he knew that he would be more than happy to go home. He just looked so tired. He gently shook the boy awake, being careful not to rouse any of his injuries.
"Fullmetal, wake up. We've got to catch the train soon. I've got some clothes for you to borrow." Ed's eyes cracked open a sliver with an annoyed groan. "I know, but you can sleep on the train. Let's go." Edward then gingerly sat up in the bed, pushing off of his right arm and cradling the left protectively around his abdomen.
"Whas happenin? Why do I feel like crap?" He mumbled, his eyes half lidded. Roy frowned.
"You were taken by Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, we found you yesterday, remember? He roughed you up pretty bad, you've got a bunch of stitches and broken ribs, so you probably aren't feeling too great right now." Ed grimaced at the memory and shook his head, looking pale. "The doctor gave you some pills to help, you can take some after you get dressed." Ed nodded sleepily. He winced as he raised his arms up, sagging at the elbows. Roy gently brought the over sized sweater over his head. He pushed the hood off of the head of blonde hair that fell around his shoulders. The navy fabric sat just above Ed's knees, where it should be at his waist. Edward lifted his arms and the excess fabric fell over his hands. He raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously? I look like a toddler who got into their father's wardrobe." Roy smirked.
"Sorry, Fullmetal. Unless you want to sit on the train in your underwear this is the best we can do." Ed glared at Roy through the slivers in his eyelids. He then grumpily tugged on the grey pants, tying the drawstring tightly and rolling the cuffs a few times. He sat down back on the bed with a huff. The kid looked exhausted.
"Hey, can I borrow one of your socks?" Roy raised an eyebrow at the request.
"... What are you gonna do with one of my socks?" Edward just stared at him as if the answer was obvious.
"Put it on my foot?" He stated, questioningly. Roy felt like slapping himself in the face. He had completely forgotten that the kid only had one flesh foot. After all, metal feet don't really need socks.
"Oh, uh, sure... I guess." Roy responded, tossing him a white sock. Edward quickly slipped on the single sock and stood up shakily. Back hunched a little bit, he hobbled over to a table where a white mug lay, then promptly filled it with water and drank the mug dry. He filled and drained it again a few more times before he quenched his thirst. This worried Roy. Had the kid had anything to eat or drink since he was put in that wretched basement?
"Hey Fullmetal, when was the last time you had food or water?" Ed stared into the distance as if deep in thought.
"Today Wednesday?" Roy nodded. Ed hummed. "Then it was Sunday morning." Roy's heart sank in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to burn that bastard Rogers to a crisp. Then burn him again.
"That bastard didn't give you any food or water for two days?!" Roy seethed. Ed shook his head.
"Nope. Told ya he was a nut job." Ed chuckled. "He only came in to ask me to transfer under his command then hurt when I said no." Ed shrugged, taking a sip of water. A pit formed in Roy's stomach.
"That son of a bitch was trying to recruit you?!" Roy was raging now. Rogers had better hope he never sees Roy again or it will be a bad day for that man. Ed just nodded and gingerly lay back down on the bed.
"Yeah. We leaving soon? I wanna go home. I'm also starving, can we get breakfast?" Roy was dumbfounded at how the kid was acting as if he didn't just nearly die mere hours ago. Roy blinked owlishly at him.
"Sure, Fullmetal. We'll get breakfast on the train. It leaves in 20 minutes." Ed nodded, keeping his eyes closed and not lifting his head from the pillow. Riza entered the room.
"Sir, we should get going now. We wouldn't want to miss the train." Roy nodded. The walk to the train station wasn't far, but he wasn't sure if the kid was up to walking at all in his condition. That also brought Roy to another thought. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the small bottle of pills from the doctor, dropping one into his palm and handing it to Edward.
"These are from the doctor. They'll help with the pain." Ed processed the offering for a second before he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it dry. Ed's eyelids sank in exhaustion. Roy sighed. "Okay, Fullmetal. Get on my back." Ed's eyes widened in horror.
"Um, I think the hell not, thank you very much. I can walk just fine." Roy just sighed again.
"Fullmetal, would you quite being so stubborn and get on my damn back? You can barely walk without doubling over and the doctor told you to take it easy. So get on." Roy was still crouched in front of him, his back to Ed. Ed looked like he was going to protest, until he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath through his nose. He climbed onto Roy's back with a wince.
"Not a word of this to anyone. Not. A. Single. Word." Ed kept his eyes closed as his arms wrapped around the colonel's neck.
With Riza carrying both her own and Roy's luggage, and Roy with a nearly unconscious half-metal teenager on his back, they were glad to have left early as they slowly hobbled their way to the train station.