Hi guys! Real quick, I forgot to mention that the song at the end of the last chapter is called "Boats and Birds" by Gregory and the Hawk. And with that said, this is a suggestion by Guest (Nov. 15). Now, onto the story!

Summary: Roy is exhausted from the nightmares he's been having, while Edward and Alphonse are exhausted from pulling all-nighters to study.

Idea Came From: Guest (Nov. 15) who suggested it

Timeline: Edward is 15, Alphonse is 14, and Hughes is still alive

Rated: K+ for mentions of war

Notes: review replies at the end

Story 14: Exhaustion

Roy gasps as his eyes snap open. He quickly sits up, breathing heavily as sweat drips from his chin. Waking up like this is common, seeing as he's had nightmares before. Especially after Ishval. Nightmares would resurface in and out throughout the years after that and now is no different. Except, his nightmares have lasted for four days now. Something that isn't normal. Though, he guesses that it's because the anniversary of the start of the war is closing in. He usually has a pretty poor sleeping schedule because of it.

Sighing, Roy swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up. Deciding that he probably isn't going to get any more sleep in the next five hours that he has before work, he goes and picks out a fresh military uniform for a shower.

After he is all ready for work and done with his shower, he eats a slow breakfast before heading out. He doesn't really have an appetite, but he knows he's probably going to skip out on lunch in order to catch up with his paperwork. More like, Riza will force him to skip lunch so he can catch up. So he takes this chance to eat while he still can.

Of course, Riza knows he's having nightmares. Roy can tell she's been having them, too. That's why she's been skipping her lunch to catch up on her own paperwork. Strange as that may sound, seeing as Riza is always caught up with her paperwork.

He is welcomed by the usual "hey boss" "good morning sir" and "did you sleep well?" greetings from his team before he makes it into his main office. He sits down heavily in his chair and rests his head in his hands, closing his eyes. He feels exhausted, and work only seems to make him even more tired. Despite the fact that it is only signing and reading, it still takes a lot out of him. He doesn't know how those Elric brothers could do it so often, especially with how much they are out actually searching for the Philosopher's Stone as well.

'Kids; I wish I was that young again.' Roy muses as he takes his hands away from his head. He sees Riza standing in front of his desk, her face emotionless; and yet he can see a flash of concern in her red-brown eyes. 'She knows.' Though, to be fair, it is quite obvious Roy hasn't been getting any sleep. His face is a shade paler than usual and he has bags under his eyes.

"Sir, are you alright?" She asks professionally.

"Yeah, yeah, just a bad night's sleep. That's all," Roy brushes her off with a wave of the hand. There's no reason to worry her. "Get back to work, Lieutenant. I can handle myself."

But as lunch rolls around, Roy finds it hard to keep his eyes open. And as Riza, along with the rest of his team, heads out of the office, Roy decides that he's going to take a quick nap on the black couch in his office. So, when he deems it safe enough, he stands up and walks around his desk. But he doesn't make it to the couch.

He makes it halfway to the couch between the couch and his desk before his knees decide to buckle. His body deeming it's too tired to function. Roy falls to the floor, and yet he doesn't force himself to stand up again. Instead, he moves sore arms to prop his head on, shifts so he's at least somewhat comfortable laying on his stomach flat on the floor, and promptly falls asleep.

Edward sits at the table in the barrack room he is currently renting out with his brother. A pen is held limply in his automail hand as he reads over the lazy report he had just written. His writing is more like chicken scratch, making it difficult for even him to read. Though, he does this on purpose. It doesn't cease to amuse him at the Colonel's annoyance as he struggles to read the handwriting.

Though, it hadn't been difficult this time. Edward is usually a neat writer, especially when it comes to his studies, but this time he had been too tired to even try. He's been pulling all-nighters for the past four days, with only three hours of sleep to go by between. So, it isn't any surprise that he would be too exhausted to write legibly.

Alphonse hasn't been any different. He had stayed up with his brother through the nights, working hard to find any clues about the Philosopher's Stone. They don't even have any leads yet, even after four all-nighters. To be honest, it is quite frustrating.

"Hey, Al," Edward says as he lazily turns his head to look over his shoulder. He can't help but chuckle at the sight of his brother, sprawled out on the couch. Al's head is resting on the armrest of the couch, one arm draped over the edge of the cushion with one knee bent towards the ceiling. He looks peaceful, as well as relaxed. His messy hair only makes him look even more the age he is now.

He hates to wake his brother up, especially with the lack of sleep, but he doesn't want to leave Alphonse here alone. Even though it is most likely safe, he doesn't want to risk it. So, he stands up and walks over to his younger brother. He bends down until his face is just inches away from Al's, and promptly pokes Al's cheek with an automail finger.

"Wake up."

Slowly, Al opens his eyes and stares blankly up at Edward, blinking slowly. "Brother, what...?"

"I need to go give my report to that Colonel Bastard," Ed says as he stands up straight. Al sits up, rubbing an eye as he yawns. "I didn't want to leave you here when you're so tired, so I woke you up to come with me."

"Brother, I swear you're more paranoid than me sometimes."

"Only when it comes to you," Ed replies casually as he walks back over to the table. He folds the paper and slips it into an envelope, which he then stuffs into the pocket of his leather pants. He then pulls on his red cloak and walks towards the door, room key in his opposite pocket. Al is walking behind him, pulling on his own white cloak.

They make their way out of the room, locking the door behind them. They make their way down the hallway towards Roy's room, which is on the floor above the barracks.

The brothers barely make it up the stairs, their knees buckling at the top due to the fact that they are fatigued and exhausted. It doesn't help that they haven't eaten or drank anything in the past twenty-four hours, which would make them even more fatigued. So, they stand there, trying to stay awake.

When they make it to Roy's office they can barely walk. Despite this, they push on through their exhaustion and make it to the main office. They promptly stopped in the doorway after opening the door, just staring at the scene. Roy is laying on the floor, head propped up on his arms as he sleeps peacefully. Snoring.

"Great," Ed grumbles as he makes his way over to the colonel, Al shuffling behind. The boys sit down beside Roy, unsure of what to do.

"Should we wake him up?" Al asks uncertainly, looking to his brother. An evil smirk snakes it's way onto Ed's face.

"We should draw on his face and then wake him up."

"Brother!"

"Okay, okay, I'm too tired to do anything like that anyways," Ed chuckles, putting his hands up in mock surrender, "lucky enough for Colonel Bastard. Let's just wake him up and get this over with."

But no matter what they try, Roy doesn't budge. They poke his face, Ed contemplates kicking him with his automail foot while Al shakes him. Nothing.

"Screw it," Ed mumbles as he lowers himself onto the floor beside Roy. He uses Roy's back as a pillow for his head as he lays on his own back, crossing his arms stubbornly as he closes his eyes.

"Brother?" Al asks, looking at Edward like he had gone crazy. "What are you doing?"

"Getting some sleep, what does it look like?" Ed replies defensively, cracking an eye open to look at his brother. "You should get some sleep too, Al. I doubt that Colonel Bastard will wake up anytime soon."

"O-okay..." Al stutters as he lowers himself down across from his brother. He hesitantly lays on his side, back facing the door as he curls in on himself. Within minutes both boys are fast asleep.

"What do you think the boss is doing?" Havoc asks as the team makes their way down the hall, Hughes following behind. He had tagged along, saying he wants to show the latest picture of his daughter to his friend since Roy wasn't at the cafeteria to do so.

"I don't know, probably sleeping," Breda responds.

"He better not be asleep," Hawkeye says, her hand subconsciously moving towards the gun holstered on her hip. The boys move a few inches away from her.

But as they get there, they are more than surprised to find none other than Colonel Roy Mustang, Edward Elric, and Alphonse Elric, all fast asleep on the floor. To make it even more strange, Roy is laying on his stomach with his head propped up on his arms, peacefully snoring away. On his left is Alphonse laying on his side, head resting on Roy's back as his side peacefully rises and falls. The group can't see his face, but they can only imagine it looks peaceful.

Edward is laying on Roy's right. He is laying on his back while using Roy's back as a pillow. His automail arm is laying limply at his side while his flesh hand is on his bare stomach, the tank top underneath having been pushed up to show the pale skin below.

"Well. This is certainly...not expected." Fuery states, blinking at the scene.

"Definitely out of character for them," Falman adds in with a nod.

Before anyone else can say anything Hughes has flipped the "fanboy" switch from "off" to "on". He is squealing in a pitch that no grown man should be able to make as he promptly pulls out a camera from god knows where. He then proceeds to snap pictures of the three at every angle he can get, promising the team pictures of their own.

And that's it! I don't really have anything to say, so onto the review replies!

Lady Jessica Mustang- sorry that it didn't turn out as you expected. I'll try and make the school-aged one better. As for the Harry Potter one, I know nothing about Harry Potter. I've never read the books and I've never watched the movie, so I wouldn't be able to write a crossover with it. I'm sorry.

Guest (Nov. 19)- I'm glad you like it! I will continue writing for this as long as I can. I will squeeze every last bit out of my brain to continue writing this!

That's all! I hope you guys enjoyed! Don't forget to leave suggestions for what you want me to write in future chapters. Thanks for reading, and have a good day/night!