So I decided that I would have some fun with this chapter with Roy really stepping into the role as parent, so I hope you people like it.

Chapter twenty

"Edward! Just what the hell were you thinking?!" Dad said loudly the moment he put him down on the floor. Ed sat there, looking up at him. He had a feeling that the man would have shouted if he hadn't been looking so bad. Ed had practically felt the heat coming off him and Ed suspected that his fever had got worse since he left.

Right now, however, Ed realised something that scared the crap out of him. With letting go of that last barrier by calling him "Dad", Roy Mustang suddenly had the power to lecture him like a parent. And he seemed more than willing to do so right now.

Shit.

Ed felt the repressed fears of lost childhood blooming in his chest. He had mental pictures of Granny sternly lecturing him for an hour after he forgot a sandwich on the workbench so that Den had jumped up and scattered important screws and bits and bolts all over the place. Even though he had been taller than her even back then, it still brought him the fear of being a misbehaving child.

And right now Dad had the exact same look on his face. He even had his hands on his hips and Ed didn't dare stand up from his position on the floor. He looked disturbingly like Teacher.

This was a lot different than being scolded by the Colonel for blowing up an extra building or two during a mission. Then it was just bickering, followed by an outburst of insults from both parts before they somehow ended up with the Colonel threatening him with a court-martial. Back then they had been kind of equals and Ed had tried to be annoying. They had been kind of having fun and it had been him and the bastard Colonel.

This was different from having the General pulling rank when he didn't have the patience to wriggle information out of Edward because he was being too stubborn to say it outright. This was different from the caring uncle-y thing they had had going. This was different from the the exasperated sighs that would usually have been the beginnings of arguments back when he was just the Colonel.

This was Dad.

And Dad was pissed off.

He was absolutely furious with Ed and Ed could only stare at the man who was towering over him. Because he had made himself a kid again. He was this man's child. Ed had given him the authority to scare him by giving him that three-letter title.

And Ed had never seen this kind of rage in Dad's face. It was the "what-the-hell-were-you-thinking-young-man?!"-face.

Ed gulped.

"You, Edward Elric, are in deep trouble," Dad growled at him.

Ah shit, it's the full name.

"Why the hell did you leave when I told you not to!? You could have been killed! You could have been tortured!"

"But I wasn't!"

"That doesn't matter! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!"

"Sorry…"

"Sorry doesn't cut it! You don't fix the fact that you have several military officers who want you dead with "sorry"! There's a reason why you're in hiding!"

Ed just nodded his head.

"What if you had died again?! What if they had got you?! What do you think that would be like for me and Al?! We've already been through your funeral once! We do not need to repeat that experience!"

"I only did it because the two of you were sick in the first place!"

"And I told you to wait until tomorrow when Greg comes back! Do you think it's easy to have to chose between my children like that?! Knowing that whatever I did, I'd be putting one of you at risk?! It was the best option and we would have been able to manage Al's fever on our own for another thirty-six hours and then you'd both be safe!"

"But what if both of you got worse? What if we couldn't get the fever down?!"

"Right now it's a risk we're going to have to take! I could have used a disguise and got a doctor if it was crucial! You need to listen to me, Edward!"

"But they're gonna kill you if they recognise you! At least I'm dead already! Nobody's looking for me!"

"That doesn't matter because it's my duty as an adult and my duty as your father to keep you safe! I can't lose either of you boys again!"

Ed saw something that scared him even more than the entire speech altogether. A single tear was running down Dad's cheek. He was done shouting at Ed and now the stress of the past ten hours finally seemed to catch up to him. He just sunk to his knees in front of Ed and looked at him with a kind of desperate, angry worry.

And hurt.

And Ed finally realised how much he had scared him tonight. Ed had made him think he was dead, then returned and now he'd given him ten hours to contemplate losing him again. Ed had hurt him by walking off like that.

And so Ed crawled forwards and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry, Dad. I thought I was doing the right thing, but you're right too. I'm sorry."

Ed received a hug back. A tight one. "Just don't do it again," Dad said softly. Then Ed felt the wig being pulled off his head. "You have no idea how itchy that thing makes hugging you." Then Ed received a kiss on his forehead before another tight hug. "I swear I'm going to burn it once you get your hair back."

"Deal."

"Good."

"So I guess a few things have happened between the three of you since I last saw you?" Ed heard Doctor Marcoh's voice say.

Ed froze, as did Dad.

"Quiet! The sound proofing's really bad!" Alphonse then said.

"Shitfuckhell!" Ed whispered. "They heard us?"

"I guess so," Dad whispered back.

Ed felt the heat rising in his cheeks. "No way in hell I'm gonna talk to them after this."

"Edward, you can't honestly mean that?"

"You just wait and see!"

Ed heard a sigh. He was still locked in the hug, not daring to move in fear of making another noise other than a whisper.

"By the way, Ed, who's the redhead?" Dad asked. He was still whispering though.

"That's Hawkeye. I didn't know where Doctor Marcoh was after all."

"How come you get her to wear short skirts?!" He actually sounded a bit envious.

Ed felt himself blushing even harder. "Dad! That's not really appropriate right now! And that's not something I'd ever want to discuss with you anyway!"

"Well, while we're on the subject, what about you and Winry? Has anyone ever told you about what you need to be careful about?"

Ed immediately broke out of the hug. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! AND I DON'T EVEN WANNA KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Then that means that we're going to have an overdue talk at some point." Dad wasn't whispering anymore.

"GAAAAAH! I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, THOUGH! SHE'S JUST A FRIEND! NOTHING MORE!" Ed knew he was blushing and he was embarrassed as hell.

Dammit body, stop giving them even more reason to suspect it!

And so Ed stood up and ran into the room and hid himself under his duvet, swearing to never come out from it ever again.

Roy sighed, standing up. He may have used a dirty trick to get Ed to actually force himself to face the others, but he was still going to have to talk to him about that girl at some point, because he clearly lacked some knowledge in that department.

And yes, he was slightly embarrassed about being so openly affectionate in front of Doctor Marcoh, but that couldn't be helped right now. He was however, proud of calling himself the Elrics's father.

He figured he might as well just hear what Doctor Marcoh was saying about what was wrong with Al now that Ed had brought him here, though, and walked into the living room to find a slightly confused Doctor Marcoh examining Alphonse.