Roy sat next to Havoc in a white-walled room, tapping his finger anxiously against the arm of the chair he sat upon. It had been a few hours since Ed had been taken back for surgery, and Roy grew more antsy with every passing minute. He knew logically that Ed would be alright, there was no fatal injuries and the doctors knew what they were doing, but with no Ed in front of him to confirm, he found it hard to focus. Havoc looked to be faring no better, as he had been biting the skin around his nails for the past twenty minutes. Before Roy could say anything to Havoc about his nail-biting, the door to the room clicked open, a white cloaked man entering the room. Behind him, a few nurses pulled in a hospital bed, an unconscious and bandaged Edward laying on top. His flesh arm was in a sling around his neck, and though his leg was covered by blankets, he could make out a clunky splint encasing his foot and leg up to his knee. Roy stood up from his chair cautiously, nervously hovering around Ed as his bed was situated against the wall.

"The surgery went well." The doctor spoke up. "The fibula in his leg was completely shattered, so it was fixated with a titanium rod and some pins." He explained, flipping through Ed's chart. "The bullet wound in his shoulder caused some bad fractures to his clavicle as well, which was repaired with a plate and some screws to keep it in place. He'll have to keep his arm immobilized in a sling for a few weeks, as well as keep off of his leg. He's being given some blood now to replace what he's lost, and he'll be a bit tired and groggy when he wakes up, but he should make a full recovery."

Roy nodded and scanned his eyes over Ed's sleeping form. He looked peaceful, despite the many injuries that riddled his small body. The doctor nodded to him in acknowledgement before him and the nurses dipped out of the room, leaving Ed alone with the two soldiers. Roy sat on the edge of the bed while Havoc pulled his chair close to Ed's bedside. Oxygen was being steadily provided to him through a tube nestled under his nose, which Roy knew would prove to be problematic once Ed awoke. Ed would pick and prod at every tube, monitor, needle and bandage on his body, and he would mess with his IV line more than anything.

Roy wondered what the next step would be. Someone was obviously trying to kill or severely injure his 13 year old subordinate, just a week after he had been kidnapped by a crazed military officer. Something wasn't adding up, and Roy didn't like the uneasy feeling it gave him in his gut. Something was really wrong, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

For now, he would not take his eyes off of Ed. Every safety precaution would be taken, even if it meant he would have to do so himself. He knew that Ed would not like any second of it, but that would be too bad for him. Roy would rather protect the kids life than his pride.

Havoc lifted up the edge of the blanket, exposing a black boot with velcro straps on Ed's leg, covering his toes and stopping just before his knee. He pulled an extra pillow from a nearby closet, lifted Ed's injured leg and settled in on top on the pillow before pulling the covers back over him. Ed shifted slightly on the bed, cracking his eyes open with a tired sigh.

"Hey, chief. How are you feeling?"

Ed groaned and rolled his head to face Roy and Havoc. He smacked his lips a few times before responding.

"Like I've been drugged." He croaked, his voice thick with sleep. Roy chuckled and rubbed his hand through Ed's hair affectionately, which Ed was too out of it to protest against.

"Any pain, kid?" Havoc asked, smiling warmly at him. Ed shook his head drunkenly.

"Nope. Just... fuzzy. And warm. And tired." Ed's eyes drooped. Roy smiled at him.

"That's probably the anesthesia, Ed. Get some sleep." Ed shook his head in protest.

"Nuh-uh, I've been asleep for too long. If I'm not home for dinner Al will worry."

"Don't worry, I'll call Alphonse and tell him what happened." Ed grimaced.

"Then he'll definitely worry." He frowned.

"It's okay, Ed. Just get some sleep." Ed shrugged.

"Okay, but it's not my fault if he kills you. He gets real worked up when he's worried." Roy raised a brow, wondering if the sweet-natured docile kid was even capable of getting worked up. Despite his appearance, he had never seen Al hurt a fly, very much the opposite of his hot-headed brother.

"Okay, kid. If Al kills me I won't blame you." He replied, deciding to just go with Ed's drugged up mind.

Within minutes, Ed's soft snoring filled the room, and Roy decided that he should probably find a payphone.

As Roy had expected, the second Ed woke up and was lucid, he was picking at the port in his hand.

"Ed, stop messing with your IV." Roy reprimanded, pulling Ed's automail hand away from his flesh one.

"It's itchy and weird!" He argued, leaning back into the bed.

"Too bad, it's giving you blood and antibiotics." Roy reasoned, pinning Ed's arm against the mattress when he reached for his hand again.

"They can do that, but they can't make IV's that don't itch?" Ed whined, hitting his head against his pillow. "When can we leave and get this thing out of me?"

"That's up to the doctors, Ed. Hopefully you'll just be here overnight, but they might want to keep you longer for observation." Ed groaned and took a sip of water from a styrofoam cup on his tray, stirring the ice in it around with his red crazy straw. Turns out the pediatric ward had special straws for the kids, and as much as Ed would protest that he wasn't a child, Roy knew he liked the straw.

"So what's the deal, anyway? I enter the building I get shot, I leave the building I get shot, what am I supposed to do?" Ed inquired, an exasperated look on his face.

"Well, we certainly can't have you getting shot again. After we arrived, I had a team search the area for any signs of a sniper, but they couldn't find anything." Roy explained, chewing the inside of his cheek in thought. "So, until we find out who's out to get you, you'll have to stay out of sight." Ed raised a brow. "You'll stay in the office, we'll keep the curtains drawn and you'll be watched 24/7 to ensure your safety." Ed's jaw dropped.

"You want me. To stay in the office. All day every day. Until you find whoever's trying to kill me?" Roy nodded. "That could take weeks! Months!" Ed exclaimed, brows shooting to his forehead. Roy shrugged.

"Would you rather go out and risk getting shot again?" Roy retorted. Ed's mouth open and closed like a fish out of water as he tried to think of a comeback. Roy smirked.

"Didn't think so."

Ed just groaned, sporting an unimpressed frown and angry brow. Roy smiled lightly at the sight. He would call Hughes and let him know what's going on, get him to get a team on Ed's case, so he could find whoever dared hurt him so Roy could then sautée them with mushrooms and onions and feed them to Black Hayate.

Because no one who hurts his kid can come back unscathed.