Well, I managed to get the next chapter out faster than planned! It ended up being a little longer than planned too, though. The edit's a bit quick too… Sorry! Still, I'm both mean and nice to you all this chapter. Let's just say something happens which Roy and Ed will remember for a LONG time to come. It also starts letting you the reader in on a bit of the larger plot. ^_^ However… I also time skip a bit… The next week would have been mostly filler, so this and the next chapter will give the information necessary.

The next chapter might take a little while again. It's much longer. Sorry!

This time, I REALLY invite constructive criticism. These kinds of scenes are not my strong point, so please let me know how I did so I can make them better in future. Thank you!

And again, thank you to everyone who favorited my story or put it on alert! And thank you to Persefone88, Doughnutwithsprinkels, and Amethyst-eyed Koneko, for your wonderful reviews! Is this fast enough for you? *grins* And I'm glad to have helped, Koneko! ^_^ I've been needing some good RoyEd too since that chapter. XD Also, a big thank you to windrider01 on lj for putting up with being my guinea pig/sorta beta. Poor thing. I must drive her batty! XD

And so, enjoy please!

Chapter 7

Ed was glaring at him again. Distracted though he was by the reports he was going through for the hundredth time that week, Roy could still feel the weight of Ed's hard, golden stare and the power of Ed's displeasure as though Ed was driving a sword through him. Normally, Roy could ignore it, but it had become especially annoying the last couple of days until now Roy felt as though he was being skinned alive every time Ed was upset at him. Which was even more often than usual recently. Ed was simply not built for anything requiring subtlety and patience, and whatever they were being drugged with was exaggerating his emotions just as much as it was exaggerating Roy's own.

Sighing, Roy sat back in his seat and looked up to meet Ed's eyes. It would be better to just get this fight over with. Roy could tell by the depth of the scowl on Ed's face that he wasn't overly angry. That meant this would all be over and Roy could return to what he had been doing as soon as Ed had vented his frustration a little.

"Yes? What is it that I've done now?" Roy deliberately kept his voice low as he spoke, hoping that Ed would follow his example.

"Why won't you ever listen to me?" Roy's ears rang with the frustrated roar of Ed's question. "I told you—"

"Ed! Please lower your voice," Roy interrupted through clenched teeth, his eyes darting to the door and back to Ed again.

Ed glowered, but did lower his voice.

"I told you I'd seen him somewhere besides Legume. I think I've seen him in the pub's kitchen!"

"I know. You've said," Roy replied, rubbing his temples. His temples were beginning to throb, as they often did now when he argued with Edward. "But I haven't seen him. And even if I had, half the staff works in both restaurants. Why are you so sure he's the one connected to all this? Are you sure you're not—"

"Because I've seen him almost every time we've had dinner," Ed snapped, his eyes flashing a warning.

"The same could be said for some of the other wait staff. Why else? We've been over this. We can't risk breaking cover to investigate someone with so little to go on."

"He looks…at me…funny." Ed's voice had grown much softer now. He shifted nervously in his seat as a soft flush made its way over his enticing golden skin that Roy would be only too glad to escape from.

And it affected Roy far more than it should have. Surely, Ed wouldn't be this… this…this on the other side of his desk, would he?

"Ed," Roy fought down his own attraction and the stirrings of something hot and lethal at the idea of someone making Ed this uncomfortable to ask. Concern that he struggled to control colored his voice as he continued, "Are you feeling alright?"

"You've become a handsome man, Ed," Roy told him, and tried not to notice the pang that resounded in him at the truth of those words.

Ed's blush deepened, making him look even more…delicious. Enough so that Roy's hands itched with the want to reach out and cool those cheeks personally.

"What are you saying? That I invite adultery? He's married to Sheriff Tisdale and I'm supposed to be married to you," Ed snapped, but his voice was breathier than usual.

That voice, like what Roy might imagine Ed's to be in the throes of passion, because he knew even then they'd snap and snarl and banter, undid something deep within him that Roy tried not to think about. It was getting harder though.

"Ed, are you feeling alright?" Roy could hear the concern in his own words, far more than was appropriate for a commanding officer. He let it go this time.

Ed stopped scowling and turned pale so fast Roy would have thought it impossible if he hadn't seen it. Understandably, Ed weaved where he sat from the sudden blood loss.

"J-Just because—"

"Answer the question," Roy growled. He leaned forward in his seat, ready to get up. He was really worried now.

There was a long moment of silence as Ed squirmed in his seat, the flush slowly returning.

"I-I'm just hot is all. You keep it too hot in here!"

Roy narrowed his eyes at the accusation and bit back his automatic cutting response. He knew if he said it the evening really would be shot. As it was, it might be just salvageable enough to get some good sleep in after this.

Besides, it was growing rather warm in the room.

"Fine," Roy snapped after a few moments. He stood, shoving his chair back from the desk, and moved quickly over to the window. He slammed the window open as soon as he reached it and growled, "There! I opened the window. Are you happy now?"

"No!"

Ed also stood and began pacing over to the bathroom door and then back to where Roy stood at the window. He looked like a trapped lion – graceful, but with a scowl teeming with frustration. He ran a hand through his hair, pulling chunks of long blond hair from the ponytail he'd been keeping it in for the mission. They fell, brushing over Ed's shoulders and enhancing his look of an elegant cat. Roy wondered just how badly Ed would kill him if he ever knew how much Roy wanted to pet him in that moment.

"There's something we're missing," Ed said, his voice now permanently harsh. "Something big. Someone's been drugging us since we got here, but they haven't shown themselves or tried anything. None of our attempts to catch or stop them drugging us have been effective." He paused to shoot Roy a look that said clearly whom he blamed for this. "And we can't find any leads because all the information or possible witnesses go missing."

"Or turn up dead," Roy reminded him as he closed the window again. He didn't think anyone was listening or could hear them, but he didn't want to take chances. It was Ed's life on the line, after all.

Ed began pacing toward Roy now, continuing on as if Roy had never spoken.

"That report on the sheriff is almost worthless. It doesn't tell us anything! And I'm worried about Al! They could—" Ed broke off, screwing his eyes shut as he willed the thought away. "But you won't even let me check on him!"

"If you talked with him, it could break our cover."

Ed opened his eyes to glare at him hard enough that Roy was thankful Ed couldn't do alchemy from a distance.

"I don't care! I just want to get away from here! I can sleep properly with him! I know my food isn't drugged! And I don't feel like crawling out of my skin with the heat you keep in here!"

Ed lunged for the window, sending a bolt of alarm leaping through Roy. He grabbed Ed as he passed and tried to put him in a headlock. Ed, however, was strong for being so short. He twisted and bucked in Roy's grip, nearly breaking free.

"Will you stop it! Stop," Roy growled in rising horror. Just what was Ed trying to do? Throw himself out the window?

And why was this little contest of wills making Roy react?

"Let me go! I need to open the window, you stupid pyromaniac!"

"After we've finished talking and you've calmed down," Roy grunted as one of Ed's elbows connected with his stomach.

"Fine! We're done!"

Ed whirled around in Roy's arms to glare up at him with bright, furious, beautiful golden eyes framed by his bangs and the falls strands of hair. Without ever knowing why, Roy felt himself begin to fall into those eyes, pulled in by the sparks of anger in their depths. A roaring started in his ears, drowning out Ed's voice as he continued ranting.

Impossibly, in that next moment, Roy was kissing Ed. His mouth slanted just slightly over the other's for the perfect angle in which to dart his tongue out for a taste of Ed's bottom lip. Then Ed gasped and Roy plunged inside.

This… This must be what Heaven tastes like. The thought rolled dimly through Roy's mind, nearly smothered by the haze that invaded his brain.

He pulled Ed harder against him and tangled his tongue with the boy's— no, man's—own. A moan sounded from deep in Ed's chest. His hands clutched at Roy's arms, driving him on deeper and further into the kiss until suddenly Ed ripped himself away.

Shock and a deep cold filled Roy as he stared at Ed. Ed stared back at him, his face flushed not with embarrassment, but with a hot fierce passion that called to Roy even as reality settled back over him like a heavy rain over the city. Horror and satisfaction battled within him as he realized that he had put that look on Edward Elric's face.

Finally, not knowing what else to say, Roy said, "They added an aphrodisiac this time."

"No shit!"

Ed turned and flew into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him loud enough to rattle the windows.

Roy flinched at the echoing, violent slam before walking back over to the sofa where he collapsed into the cushions. He willed his aching body down and gave a groaning sigh when it didn't work.

Whoever was responsible for this mess was going to pay dearly when Roy finally got within reach of them. Unfortunately, he doubted even the worst his flames could do would come close to the agony he and Ed would probably endure that night. Groaning, he wished for a full bottle of whiskey. Or, failing that, another bathroom.

The telephone operating board was good pay, but damn boring sometimes. Sunny Taylor had actually hoped for this type of job in college, but now that she had it, she found herself bored beyond tears. Especially since she had graduated the year before.

Of course, most would say that the graveyard shift wasn't meant to be exciting. Sunny would like to inform them that nothing this dead should ever bother the living. And from midnight to about six a.m., it was very dead.

Most nights, she played solitaire with a deck of cards she brought with her or she read a book. Tonight, however, she couldn't find much enthusiasm for either. Instead, she decided to put her engineering degree to use for once. It wasn't going to be used otherwise, right?

Carefully, she cut and spliced at her operating board, trying to keep it operable even as she worked to improve its efficiency. To her own amazement, she actually succeeded.

Mostly.

The work required her to listen in on the calls since that was the one way to be sure they were getting through alright. Sunny noted one late call from a husband to his irate wife was shaky and filled with a soft static. She played with her doctoring until it cleared. It was with that call, though, that Sunny noted a second plus to listening in. The calls provided endless amounts of amusement and inspiration for her work.

Normally, no operator was allowed to listen in, and there were systems and circuits to prevent just such an occurrence. For a short time, she considered leaving in a patch that would allow her to bypass them whenever she wanted, but that would be too easy to detect. She was bored, not stupid. Even if she had had anyone to tell, which she didn't, it could still get her fired.

Suddenly, her board lit up. A long distance call to someone in the city.

Sunny grinned, patching it through and plugging her headset in to listen.

"Yes?"

The voice was gravelly and familiar, but Sunny couldn't place it.

"Tomorrow's the day," said the soft voice of a young man, perhaps even a boy.

"Tomorrow? Isn't that a bit soon?"

Surprise raised the first voice, making it sound even more familiar. Sunny tried even harder to place it.

"I thought so, but he," the boy stressed the pronoun with an inflection that one might use for a despised idiot, "says that it will work this time."

"It had better." The gravel left the man's voice as it became hard and unyielding. "We still need them both after this is over."

The boy snorted before replying, "I know that. This is why I disagreed with using Shorty in the first place."

"You know why we did. We'll just have to trust that damnable luck of his to see him through again."

"We gave them that new aphrodisiac. They should be going at it like bunnies as we speak."

"This amuses you?"

"Of course!" Sunny could almost hear a malicious grin in his voice. "I look forward to tormenting them both with it later on. After all, Shorty has never done this before, with anyone of either gender. I'm just sad I couldn't give him the education. But watching the guilt eat the horse alive after this will more than make up for it." He paused a moment. "And perhaps I could further his education later on?"

"Perhaps," the man agreed in a noncommittal tone. "But the aphrodisiac doesn't always create lust…"

"It will this time," the boy said confidently. "They don't like each other, but they don't hate each other. As long as they don't actually hate each other, the aphrodisiac will create lust in them. The other drugs have all lowered their inhibitions and played with their hormones to make them feel…closer than they normally would. The more attracted to each other they are, the better it will work. The drugs will give it all the boost it needs to bring down our heroes."

The man chuckled into the phone. "Fine, fine. Just remember, your…'lover' must not be around for questioning afterwards. We want to give this case a clean close after this. Everything must look legitimate."

"Don't worry. I'll enjoy doing the pervert in."

"I'll be seeing you soon then."

"You know it."

The lines were cut with a pair of clicks and Sunny rushed to disconnect them before leaning back in her chair to stare in amazement at her operating board.

Had she really just heard that? Was someone, possibly a few people, about to be murdered? And even worse, raped?

She should call the police!

And tell them what? That she broke into her operating board, listened in on someone's private conversation, and had absolutely no clue who exactly was about to be killed? Or where?

The call had been long distance, so she couldn't be sure exactly where it came from. She could back track the source of the call, but she'd taken apart the piece that would tell her the forwarding board as well. Where it had gone though…?

Sunny checked her board again and gasped, terror filtering through her. It had gone to a section of the city that housed only the highest echelons of the military, including the Fuhrer!

Swallowing hard, Sunny hurried to put her board back exactly the way she'd found it, hoping and praying no one would discover what she'd done tonight. Especially if those men realized their call hadn't been as private as it'd been meant to be.

Perhaps she should try looking for another job again.