Masquerade-
He sat obediently in the back seat, waiting for his Master to enter as well. Shuffling as the car drove away he moved to the opposite window and gazed out of it.
Someone was walking out of a bush.
Pride pressed his hands against the glass more earnestly, breath fogging it up from the closeness.
That someone looked familiar.
The dark haired figure soon faded out of sight and although he leaned back into the leather, he couldn't get that man out of his mind.
He knew him, he was sure of it.
But, for the life of him, Pride could not put a name to the face.
His Master's large hand enclosed his waist and the man was forgotten.
He followed his Master through the cold dark building without hesitation. This place, though he knew not where it was or why he was here, was… comfortable. As if he had been here a thousand times.
Besides, if Master was coming here with no protection other than Pride, this must not be a bad place.
They passed secluded rooms with clear glass. Children inside lay on the floors asleep, their eyes glazed over with something akin to disinterest. Somehow, that sight was welcomed by him, natural.
A man tied to a chair in the corner of a hall caught his attention. Blood dripped down his split lip and he appeared roughed up. His Master left him alone in the hall, as he went and talked in a room to their right.
Pride glanced at the man again, wondering if he was supposed to follow his Master or wait. He looked at the door. It was dark. Pride hated the dark. So he slowly crept up to the sleeping man.
He noted the scruffy beard, dishevelled clothes and pungent stink that surrounded the prisoner. A light but uneven snore rose from the man's open mouth. Each couple of breaths ended in a hitch then a moan.
In curiosity Pride poked the man's side and was rewarded with a gasp of pain. His chest was moving funny. Maybe something was wrong with it?
Fever coated eyes met Pride's surprised ones.
He backed away three steps when the man lurched forward.
"E-Edward? What are you doing here? Escape and go find Roy!" The man hissed as he jerked his bound hands.
Pride stared at him fearfully. The guy was talking to him, right? Envy told him that Pride was his name, not this 'Edward'. Envy also said that anyone who was suspicious was supposed to be killed.
But the other name he had mentioned stopped Pride from carrying out the subliminal order. It seemed to strike a chord in him.
"What's wrong with you?" The prisoner asked again and when no recognition came his body tensed slowly. He saw the fearful look he was receiving. "Edward?"
"Stay away," Pride whispered. He backed up more until his shoulders hit his Master's chest. Strong hands grasped his arms and Pride whimpered, pointing to the man.
Cold hazel eyes glared up at Haruko's smirking face. "What the hell have you done to him?"
"I suggest you stay calm, Sergeant Hughes. You should be concerned with yourself rather than others." Haruko turned to the shivering blonde in front of him. "Come, Pride."
He watched the man as he followed his Master back out of the building.
"Master, who is Roy?" He asked quietly.
Haruko turned his head down to gape at the innocent query. "Where did you hear that?"
Pride refused to answer and let his head hang down.
"Answer!"
Rough hands painfully squeezed his wrist; he squirmed and tried to get out of the strong grip. It was hurting, Pride hated things that hurt.
"I-I don't know."
Snorting and mumbling about idiots Haruko let go of him. He entered the car they had come in, slammed the door shut. "You stay here. I'll be back for you before nightfall."
Pride wanted to cry out for his Master to wait. He hated to be left alone; he feared it more than anything. But before he could say anything the vehicle was driving away and he was left alone.
What was he supposed to do?
He didn't want to go back into the building... that scary man was there. Yet he could not just stand out there by himself.
The dark haired man from before entered his mind. His face and the name Roy seemed to fit together. Pride wanted to go to him.
His Master had told him to stay there though.
Pride glanced up at the sky. It would still be awhile before dark, right? He could just go and…
No.
Master said stay here, a part of his mind argued.
But he tried to hurt me, he replied back.
And when no reprimand came, Pride had decided.
He would find that man and see why he seemed so familiar.
Grumbling, Roy kicked a stray stone on the street. Seeing Edward walking with Haruko, it was just infuriating. There was no way he could go back to Alphonse and report what he had found. The boy would probably understand it even less than he had.
Sure Ed had to have been distressed after he confessed his work life to his little brother, and told him just what he had done to Al personally. Roy definitely could understand that. He would have run as well.
But running to an asshole like Haruko?
That is something, Roy decided, that I would have a hard time forgiving.
Wasn't his blonde supposed to come to him for help? Edward had told him that it helped when Roy was there with him.
"Then why?" Mustang mumbled harshly as he entered a local park on the edge of town.
He sat down on the bench quietly and dully noted that this was where he and Ed had come before, when the boy had laid his secrets bare for Roy to scrutinize. If he concentrated he could still smell Edward's scent lingering beside him.
In annoyance Roy let his body flop down backwards so that he entirely took up the bench, shoes dangling off the edge.
Ed couldn't even take up half the bench, he thought with a smile, imaging the blonde's reaction in his head. Then he sighed.
He had done it again, hadn't he?
Every thought he had seemed to float back to the traitorous, deceiving, diminutive, stubborn, arrogant, determined, cute blonde who toyed with his emotions.
Roy chuckled. He really was hopeless.
He cupped his hands beneath his head in a makeshift pillow and gazed up at the purple sky that was nearing late afternoon.
I must be crazy, Roy thought with humour. Even now, it was as if he could see Ed's face above his, gazing at his with large golden eyes. Completely crazy.
Roy shut his eyes to get rid of the face he wanted to see, that haunted him.
'Get the fuck out of here, Roy! What's the matter with you?' A flustered blonde shrieked in rage as he clutched a worn towel around his waist. 'You perverted bastard!'
Mustang made no move to leave and smirked, 'How was I supposed to know you were showering, Edward?'
'Oh gee, I don't know. Maybe because you saw me come in here and you've heard the water running for twenty minutes?' Ed paused and then glared at him suspiciously. 'You knew didn't you? You waited until I was getting out!'
Roy clapped his hands sarcastically. 'Brilliant deduction, shrimp. I can see why they say you're smart.'
'Shrimp? You ass-' Edward's famous rant was cut off as warm lips roughly pressed onto his own. His mind was dazed and hazy; all he could think of was on how nice it felt.
That is until a wandering hand tugged on the end of his towel, the only thing preserving his decency.
A small fist collided with the side of Roy's face and he found himself staggering backward from the force.
'Pervert,' Edward hissed as he knelt down to the Mustang that fell on his ass. 'Are you alright, Roy?'
'Just peachy,' He mumbled and awkwardly tried to sit up straight. Granted, he hadn't expected the blonde to stroke his hair with a smile on his face while Roy tried to stop his eyes from spinning.
Mustang turned his head slightly, trying to make what was petting his head to continue. It felt so nice…
The hand on top his hair stilled slightly at the movement and then tentatively, like a child, it continued stroking.
Roy opened his eyes a crack. And was rewarded with falling off of the bench entirely. Edward was sitting there with a bemused look on his face, his hand hanging shaking where Roy's head had been.
Pride stared at the man curiously. He was crouched on the ground he had fallen onto, mouth hanging open as if it were just waiting for flies to creep inside.
"Edward?" He cautiously asked.
A hint of annoyance filled him. Why were people calling him that? That prisoner did, an old lady on the street too, and now the dark haired man.
He shook his head lightly.
"Is your name, Roy?" He questioned instead, eager to avoid the subject of himself. What he remembered and what he didn't was far too confusing.
The man suddenly knelt on his hands and knees and crawled to right in front of him. His face was so close that Pride could feel the warm breath on his nose.
"Yes, Edward. Where have you been?" Roy wanted to ask why the hell he had been with Haruko, but decided against it. Something wasn't right here.
"I was with my Master. And I'm not 'Edward'. My name is Pride."
For a brief moment Roy's eyes wished to bug out of his head. Pride? Didn't Ed say that Pride was a murderous killer that acted sadistic and cruel? Mustang was sure that he had. But the key was to keep calm. The last thing he needed would be to scare him away.
"Well then, Pride, who is your Master?" Roy had an idea forming slowly as he thought; one that he prayed wasn't true.
"I think Envy calls him Haruko," Pride answered quietly. "But I don't like Master that much…"
Roy sat back down on the bench as if he were boneless and gestured for the blonde to come with him.
Pride hesitated and then climbed up, bending his knees into his chest and rested his chin on top. "That other guy called me Edward too. Why?" He asked quietly.
Because that's who you are, Roy wanted to say. But then something clicked in his mind.
"What guy?"
"I don't know… Master called him Sergeant Hughes, and he was talking to me like he knew me. But I've never seen him before." Pride paused. "He was the one that told me to come find you."
Hughes had sent him? That would mean he was right and Maes was still alive.
"Do you know where he was? Is it the same place they took you?"
Pride nodded. "I was born there."
Roy carefully wrapped his arm around the blonde's shoulder and pulled him closer. It was a relief to know that Ed hadn't left him. Not by choice anyhow.
Pride snuggled into the crook of his neck.
"You know, I saw you before. But I couldn't remember your name. Am I supposed to know you?"
Mustang pressed a light kiss to Pride's temple and smirked at the blush which formed. "Only if you want to."
"I do want to. Envy told me not to though."
"Who is Envy?"
"He's-" Pride started to say, but the words died in his throat when he tilted his head up to the dark sky.
In a panic he bolted up and made to run off.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Roy stood to prevent him from leaving. Now that he had got Ed back, he couldn't just let him go. Who was to say he wouldn't be able to catch the blonde a second time?
The golden irises flickered back and forth between Roy and the road. He wanted to stay, but his Master told him he was coming back at nightfall.
"I have to go back to Master. He'll be angry if I don't."
"You mean back to… Then can you get Hughes out of there, Ed?"
Pride wanted to remind the man before him that he wasn't Ed. But somehow, being called that by Roy seemed all too regular, so he let the slip slide.
"I'll try."
Roy was equally shocked when a quick brush of cold lips was pressed onto his. Although, before he could even think of what had happened, the blonde was away and gone.
Maybe if Edward could break Maes out of that place, they might have a chance. Hughes could show Roy the way back and then he could rescue Ed.
Touching his mouth softly, Roy didn't even try to fend off the small smile that spilled onto his face.
AN: Sorry for the wait! It took me so long to plan what I wanted in this chapter. If you enjoyed it, please comment!