Hey guys! I'm REALLY sorry I haven't updated in like foheva...life had to come around and kick me in the butt again. So, I decided to write this angsty fic (my first long multi-chapter, yay). I got the idea at church-seriously, DO NOT ASK xP-so there will be mentions of God, quotes from the bible, etc even though the story isn't about religion..

On that super boring note, this story is Royai and RoyEd. So, if you get offended by gay love, go read some other story. However, young readers, there won't be any naughty business so carry on reading!

Although the focus of this isn't about the romance.. its in there x3

Violence ahead, sadness, manly angst, and if you tilt your computer upside down and do a scottish folkdance, a dash of humor.

Dang, long author's note.

So without futher ado, here ya go!


Prologue

For the first time in 3 months, Roy Mustang woke up alone.

As black eyes blearily flitted open he became hyperaware of the fact that the only sound in the room was his own soft breathing. Where is she? he wondered, having a mini panic attack as a sweep of the room turned up negatory.

A yip from the doorway broke into Roy's thoughts and he shrieked like the little girl he was inside.

"HOLY SHIT DON'T HURT ME IM JUST A-"

Uncontrollable laughter coaxed him to look out of his cower.

Oh..

"Hey, Riza, Black Hayate," he said casually, as if he hadn't been praying for his life a few moments before.

"Hello, Roy," Riza answered, face stern but eyes smiling. Onyx met chocolate and they held gazes for a moment, simply relishing in each other's presence.

Riza broke the eye contact first, looking down a bit lower than his eyeballs. Clearing her throat and stifling laughter, she threw a pair of boxers at him. "Might wanna put these on, sir."

Roy groaned as he too looked down. Riza, already dressed, waltzed out of the room with Black Hayate on her feet. "Don't be late, Brigader-General!" She called pleasantly as the heavy front door snapped shut behind her in a flurry of blue and blonde.

"Mphm," he replied intelligently, shoving albaster skin and black hair back into a fluffy pillow. Mondays were the beign of his existance. Well, them and the damned rain.

Although, if they meant Riza, he supposed he could grow accustomed to them.

Now if only he could get out of bed.


Pale hands shoved roughly in jacket pockets curled into tight fists as he thought of the impending doom ahead.

Havoc, Fuery, Breda Falman, Riza, Fullmetal, Al-

A furrowed brow cut him off from his thoughts as he pondered the last three names.

Would he really allow them to follow him into what would most likely be death?

"Don't worry 'bout me, Flame Bastard," Ed replied flippantly, placing his arms behind his head and reclining. "'Sides, I got nothin' else to do. Do you really want me off blowin' up more cities or somethin'?"

"Yes, sir, I'm aware of the danger," Al answered, his slightly feminine voice laced with certainty. "But I'm going wherever Brother goes."

"Must you even ask?" Riza questioned, penetrating his soul with one of those glares. "I've done it before, I'll do it again."

Riza's answer had been the hardest to deal with. Shivering, he conjured up her pained face from dark memories of Ishval then banished them away again. The past held nothing for Roy anymore; perhaps motivation, but the present situation promised quite enough of that.

How could he let her-them- go through hell yet again?

He muttered a string of curse words under his breath as he realized he had nothing to do with the situation. Perhaps Fuhrer Grumman?- He shook his head before the thought could nestle itself in his brain. Begging would be weak- And the Flame Alchemist was NOT weak.

Why did they follow him, anyway? Sure, he had ambitions, and being his right-hand man might get you far- but joining him in war was a tad bid excessive if you were only riding the gravy train. Fullmetal and Alphonse's bodies were complete once more- they could be home in Resembool milking chickens or whatever it is they do there anyway. Yet, here they were, uniform and all, leaving that behind to march off in the damn snow and shoot people.

Trust, maybe?

Roy laughed aloud, a long, throaty chuckle that coaxed stares from the people he passed on the thoroughfare. Trust? Ha!

As if it could be justified to call what Fullmetal and Alphonse shared merely trust.

Trust was what a boss and his employees shared. The boss trusted them to work, and in turn, they trusted to recieve compensation for busting their asses at work all damn day.

Oh, sure- trust must be present in every working relationship. Could he bear Hawkeye with a gun near his head if he didn't trust her?

No, no- trust definitely wasn't the answer. A part of the whole, maybe, like one of the 2's in 2+2=4..

There had to be some underlying emotion there- damn, it was too early in the morning for this-

Smack.

"Phmp- eh, wha-" Roy stared up at the sky from his new perch on the ground, confusion roaring through his veins. He was standing- then..and now-

"How's the weather down there, Brigader General?"

Something small and blonde moved itself before onyx eyes, bearing a smug smirk on its face.

"Well? You gettin up?"

"Sorry, Fullmetal, I didn't see you. Did you take off your elevated boots?"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-~!"

Roy pushed himself smugly off the ground and dusted offending dirt from his uniform. Oh, yes, he still had it.

Mustang dimly heard Alphonse talking his brother out of murder as he focused on brown eyes that met his worriedly. Had he walked all the way to HQ?

"..Sir?"

He blinked down at Riza, unused to the somewhat familiar title. Why was she calling him sir?

Work...! Oh, right, that stupid thing.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant Colonel," he answered, shaking his confusion away. He desperately required some honing skills before he met the battlefield- after all, he had someone he needed to protect.

Ed untangled himself from his more sensible brother and they came to stand beside Hawkeye, Ed bearing a grin that surely Briggs could see. "Well, Brigader-General Bastard, me 'n Hawks were headin' down to the library to grab some files for Maes's old team. That okay with you, or were you planning to run me over again?"

Roy snorted and ran a hand absently through tousled black locks. "Hardly, Fullmetal. Oh, and while you're out, do pick up some more boots. You're really a hazard."

Ed huffed and tapped his metal leg impatiently against concrete. "Shaddup. I'm nearly as tall as you, bastard."

Roy blinked as he realized the boy was right. Ed's antenna came to the bottom of Mustang's ear now.

Shit. When the hell did that happen?..

Leaving Roy to go through shock for the second time that morning, the trio turned and ambled toward the newly-built military library.

Suddenly, Ed turned around to smile at him in what only could be a reassuring manner. It's okay, the smile seemed to convey. Don't worry about her.

As Roy blinked after their retreating figures, he felt a long-buried emotion flutter its way slowly to the surface.

Happiness? No.. not quite. Joy..? Not right either. Reassurance..?

His brain snapped out of its Monday-induced stupor and mentally smacked him upside the head.

No, you idiot.

The emotion he had been trying to peg all morning was love.

A genuine, non-smirking smile somehow crept its way onto Roy's pale features.

Love, huh?

He briefly wondered how he could take it if anything happened to any of them, then locked the passing thought away for darker days.

All he knew now was that if he had to follow them to war, to Hades itself, to protect those three people-

Then so fucking be it.


There ya go!

So, if you were wondering, this is post-manga, Ed and Al's bodies are back, everyone got promotions, and Ed retained his alchemy for the purpose of this fic.

Also, I own nothin but this glass of chocolate milk I be drinkin.

I hope you enjoyed it and await the next chapter!

If you want a cookie then I suggest-

To review.

Cause reviews are luff, and I'll give reviewers cookiez!

Til next time!

~FullMetalCrayon~