Chapter 2: Promise

(Author's Note: Not much to say this time…

BCB-Chan: Shouldn't you tell them about how much work you made me do?

RAS-Kun: You're the one who had to change everything.

BCB-Chan: Not everything…

Anyway, FMA is still not owned by me, but hey I sent in my letter and I am hoping for some merchandising rights soon)

"Have you spotted anything yet, Fullmetal?"

Edward's grip tightened in frustration on his binoculars. "No, sir. I haven't seen anything for over six hours except your damn face!" He threw the binoculars on the ground. "I quit this stupid mission. I'm going to bed!"

Roy grabbed Edward's wrist and held him in place. "You are out here under orders, Elric," he said firmly.

"I'm not ordered to put up you, Mustang," Edward said, trying to shake his wrist free. Roy held his grip firmly.

Suddenly, Edward lost balance and began to fall backwards. He grabbed Roy's wrist and the two alchemists found themselves on the ground.

Edward looked up and the first thing he saw was the jet-black eyes of Roy Mustang. He could feel the heat rising in his face. I can't believe he's this close to me, Edward thought excitedly. I could do it…right now…I could just…

Edward shook the thought from his mind. Roy was a commanding officer. Plus, he was a womanizer, which was an immediate hint as to what Roy would say if Edward were to mention his true feelings for the Brigadier General.

"You're blushing, Fullmetal," Roy whispered, a slight smile growing on his face.

Dammit. "No I'm not. I just…I…have a…rock…in my…" Edward's voice trailed off as Roy leaned closer to Edward's face.

"You have beautiful eyes. I never really noticed…"

Edward had no time to act as he felt the lips of his commanding officer on his own. His stiff, nervous body immediately relaxed as he heaved a heavy sigh. This was what he'd been secretly hoping for since the mission started.

Wait a minute. Edward's fears gripped his mind and caused him to push Roy off.

"What the hell?" Roy asked, clearly agitated.

"I should ask you the same thing, sir. Can you say 'pedophile'? You're like, what, thirteen years older then me?"

What are you doing, you moron? He likes you! Go for it! Who cares about age?

Edward knew that this had to be a joke the general was playing on him. He'd figured out about Edward's crush and then decided to mess with his head.

"Who cares about age? You like me, right?" Roy asked, brushing the dirt off his uniform.

"Where the hell would you get that idea?" Edward shot back as he removed the tie from his hair and began to re-braid his hair.

"Hmmm, maybe from the fact that you had your tongue in my mouth," Roy retorted.

That had Edward stumped. "I…well…that…was…uh…I was trying to push you off!"

"Really?" Roy asked, cocking his eyebrow.

There was no way Edward could recover from this. He was almost ashamed of the fact that his sexual feelings towards Roy had gotten the best of his judgement.

He finished his braid and then removed the hair tie from his teeth. He was about to tie the braid off when he felt Roy's hand on his. "You should leave it down."

Edward allowed Roy to untwist the braid. He turned around and looked at the young general. His lips were connected with Roy's before he even had time to consider what he was doing.

Roy wrapped his arms around Edward's waist and pulled him closer to his body. Edward let sigh after sigh pass his lips as Roy kissed him harder and harder. Nothing else in the world mattered to either Roy or Edward. The two of them together on that abandoned cliff in the middle of the desert was the most romantic place either of them could have wished for.

Edward felt the warm morning air roll over his face as he woke up in the morning. He didn't want to wake up from the dream he'd been having. In his dream, Roy had kissed him and allowed Edward to kiss him as well.

Edward was about to fall back asleep when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder.

"Good morning, beautiful," a voice whispered in his ear. A warm pair of lips kissed his lower neck.

Edward smiled. So it wasn't a dream. He rolled over to face Roy. "Good morning to you," he said. Roy leaned over and kissed Edward. It wasn't as fierce as last night, but it was a strong kiss nonetheless.

"This is probably the first time I've spent the night with someone else and we haven't had sex," Roy commented.

"Uh…I'm sorry?" Edward said, confused.

"Oh, don't be. I'm just saying…it was kind of nice."

Edward's face began to feel like it was burning. He leaned in and placed another kiss on Roy's lips. He wanted to stay with Roy for the rest of his life. Just the two of them with no one else…

"You know you need to report in this morning right?" Roy asked after he pulled his lips away from Edward's.

"Yeah, yeah. That's the only annoying part of a younger brother," Edward said as he grabbed his shirt.

"He just cares about you," Roy said as he watched Edward dress. "You know you'd do the same thing if it was him out here."

"If it were him out here, I would hope you didn't hit on him like you did me," Edward said, turning and grinning.

"Oh, you think I was hitting on you?" Roy said.

"I think you find me irresistible, Brigadier General," Edward said.

"Brigadier General…" Roy pondered, a smirk appearing on his lips. "It's so sexy when you call me that," Roy said, kissing Edward again.

"I'll be back later," Edward said, leaving the tent.

Edward slipped a few coins into the pay phone before dialing the number for the Rockbell's shop. There were two rings before he heard, "Rockbell Automail Shop and Alchemy School. This is Alphonse."

"Don't tell me someone's actually signed up to learn alchemy from you," Edward said.

His brother laughed on the other end of the line. "Well, sorry. We can't all be State Alchemists."

Edward laughed as well. "How have you been?"

"Good. Winry left town for a while. I think she was going out east for a few days. How about you? How's the stake-out?"

Edward's grin widened as he thought about Roy waiting back at the camp for him. "Good, actually."

"Are you tolerating the General?"

"You could say that."

"Oh, speaking of him, did you know he's engaged to Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

Edward squeezed the phone to keep from dropping it. "He's what?"

"Yeah. Winry talked to her before she left."

"You've got to be fricken kidding me!"

"No…why do you care?"

Oops…that was suppose to stay in my head. "I don't. I just…was wondering what the hell was Hawkeye smoking when she say 'yes'."

"Now, Brother, don't be rude. This is a happy occasion for the General and the Lieutenant…"

Alphonse's voice seemed to fade away as Edward stared at the receiver. He didn't want to believe it. "Well, I just called to check in. I'm not on a secure line, so I can't be on too long. I'll talk to you when I get back."

"Ok. Call again soon. Oh, I almost forgot. Winry says 'love you and can't wait to see you'."

Edward was silent for a moment. He'd almost forgotten he'd started dating Winry before he got this mission. "Yeah…tell her 'me too'." He hung up without waiting for his brother's reply.

Edward's stomach tightened as he watched the sun set in the distance. He hadn't thought about that. Roy had the first lieutenant back home. What was going to happen when Roy went back to Central and Edward return to Resembool?

"Ed!"

Edward snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Roy with a bottle of clear liquid in his hand and two small glasses sitting on a rock beside him. They looked almost like brandy glasses.

Edward had to smile when he saw Roy. No matter what, he could make Edward smile.

"Are you thirsty?" Roy asked as he poured the clear liquid into one of the glasses.

Edward nodded, extending his hand. A small sip told him immediately it was some type of alcohol. "God, is there nothing you won't do? First you kiss another guy, then you give alcohol to a minor?"

"Don't be such a hard-ass," Roy said, rising to his feet. "So, what should we toast to?"

Edward stared down at his drink. He was fooling himself thinking that this was going to become anything different. Once the mission was over things would just go back to how they were.

"I got," Roy said. "Let's toast to…"

"Your engagement," Edward said, bitterly

"What?"

"You and Lieutenant Hawkeye are engaged, right? A toast to your happiness." Edward knocked his glass against Roy's and drained the glass in one gulp. He forced down his alcohol-induced vomit and pushed past Roy.

"Wait, what are you-"

"NO!"

Roy reached out and grabbed Edward's wrist. "Ed," he began.

"Don't call me that! You've never called me that before, why start now? You…" He bit his lip and turned his face so Roy couldn't see his tears of frustration. "You made me think you really cared about me!" He dropped to his knees, his tears freely falling from his eyes.

"You're hardly one to point fingers, Elric! Don't you have someone waiting for you too?" Roy shouted, accusingly. When Edward chose not to respond, he knelt down beside Edward. "Listen, this doesn't have to be anything serious. It could just be something we do on missions, or whatever. But if it means that much to you, I'll leave Hawkeye," he whispered, gently kissing the top of Edward's forehead. "Whatever makes you happy."

Edward smiled as he leaned forward and kissed Roy. "I love you, sir…I mean Roy. But I just don't think I could see me walking down the streets of Central with your hand in mine."

"No one could see that," Roy said, grinning. "But I know what you mean." He ran his hand through Edward's bangs before placing a kiss on the younger alchemist's lips.