"What the hell happened?" Ed demanded. Roy's hand was back on his shoulder.

"It's Ritsuka… he's in the hospital. They think he tried to kill himself."

Roy had to catch Edward to keep him from falling. Realizing that the chances of Ed throwing an alchemical fit and bringing the entire house down around their ears in the next ten seconds were extremely high, Roy acted on instinct: he grabbed Ed's human arm and threw it over his own shoulder. This would prevent Ed from being able to clap his two hands together at least long enough for Roy to tell this idiot with the lollipop to run for it.

What happened next took Roy completely by surprise. Instead of fighting him, Ed leaped into his arms and clung to him like a little child. Roy found himself staggering backwards, suddenly enveloped in metal arms and legs. Getting a grip on his Sacrifice as best as he could, he held him tightly, willing him to be calm. He spoke to Kio through clenched teeth. "Thank you. I very much appreciate your use of tact and subtlety. Anyone else you would like to devastate today?"

Kio nearly choked on his lollipop. "Oh – hey! Sorry! I'm just the messenger, don't blame me! Sheesh! I mean… I didn't know how to, you know…" He pushed his disheveled hair back over his forehead, revealing multiple earrings. "GAH! Why is Soubi always putting me in situations like this…?!" His eyes were darting back and forth and he clearly wished he could run for it.

Still glaring at Kio, Roy shifted Edward to his hip, looking for all the world like an angry mother protecting her child. That is, if mothers ever contemplated incinerating their enemies in one stroke. Kio braced himself, but it was Ed who spoke first. "Roy… lemme go… I think I'm gonna be sick." As soon as Roy dropped Ed he took off stumbling towards the bathroom.

Roy folded his arms. Kio turned pale. The look Roy was currently giving him had reduced much stronger men than Kaido Kio to whimpering, quivering little worms crawling about on his office floor.

"S-so, uh… you're Roy, right?" Kio stuttered. I'm gonna kill Soubi for this, he thought to himself, I really am. I can't believe he made me come here. He's crazy. They're both crazy!

Roy didn't move. Kio was nervously fingering his lollipop, switching it from his left hand to his right. He was about to stick it back into his mouth when Roy snapped his fingers and it burst into flame.

"What the FUCK??" Kio jumped back about 10 feet, dropping the lollipop in his surprise. The flames went out.

"Look at that. Didn't even need the gloves. Wait till I tell Edward." Roy was studying his hand with renewed interest. Kio was convinced that he had gone seriously batshit crazy.

"Did – did you just…??"

"You asked me who I am. I will tell you. I am the Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang. So very pleased to meet you. I suggest that you come in, make yourself a cup of tea, and try to pull your lollipop-sucking-pretty-boy head out of your ass while I go pick up the pieces of my subordinate." His venomous tone abruptly switched to a brusque military bark. "When I get back here, I want details. Hospital location. Room number. Visitation rights. Any other pertinent information. Got it?"

Kio wagged his head up and down vigorously, his eyes never leaving the charred lollipop on the floor. "Right. Got it. Yes. Yes, Sir."

"Good." Roy abruptly turned away from him and walked swiftly in the direction Edward had taken.

Ed was kneeling on the bathroom floor, his head pressed against the cold porcelain toilet seat. Breathing hard, he was trying to force himself to calm down. Damn it, I've been through much worse than this. What the hell is the matter with me? He punched the floor with his metal fist, making ugly gouges in Soubi's white linoleum.

That fucking kid tried to kill himself because of me.

He tried to tell himself that it wasn't true, that Ritsuka had some serious issues, that it couldn't have been just because of what he had said, but it wasn't working. Guilt poured over him like bitter acid; he couldn't escape its insidious grip. Roy was right. It had happened just like he said it would. You could seriously, seriously hurt him if you act too quickly. You could make it worse than it already is. Ed smiled bitterly. Oh, I made it worse, all right.

For a moment he thought he was going to be sick again, but the wave of nausea passed. For the ten thousandth time since he'd arrived in this world, he wished Al were there with him. Al was the perfect person to have around in these situations. Ed could always count on his brother to let him know when he had overstepped his boundaries and done something stupid, as opposed to the times when he was just making himself feel guilty for no reason. He desperately needed that level headed advice now, but his little brother was achingly far away from him.

He attempted to get up and go to the sink to splash some water on his face, but he became immediately dizzy and crashed right back down. This made him angry and he started kicking. He managed to turn Soubi's decorative wire wastebasket into a lovely pile of scrap metal by the time Roy was able to force his way inside.

"Ed! Ed! Stop it! Are you listening to me? This isn't going to help!" He rushed over to his Sacrifice, got down on the floor directly behind Ed and wrapped his arms and legs around him, trying to prevent him from hurting himself. Roy was afraid he might order him to leave, but again Ed surprised him: he merely ceased his struggling and collapsed into Roy's arms. He was shaking all over. Roy stroked his limbs soothingly, resting his chin on top of his head, cradling him gently between his legs. "Edward. It's going to be all right."

Ed leaned back against Roy until his body stopped shuddering. For the second time that day, he felt extremely grateful to Roy for justbeing there. He put his hands on Roy's knees and stared up at the ceiling. "I really, really fucked up this time, didn't I."

"Edward. This was in no way your fault."

"You don't know. You don't know what happened, what I said to him last night."

"Look at me, Fullmetal." Roy leaned back and gently lifted Edward's chin so that they were eye to eye. "Have I ever lied to you? Have I ever treated you with kid gloves? Have I ever told you once in your entire military career that you weren't to blame for something when I knew you were? Think about it."

"But… but before, you were saying I shouldn't rush into this, that I could make it worse, that I could hurt him really badly…"

"What I meant was that you shouldn't burst into his house and try to pull his mother off of him by force. You didn't do that, did you?"

"Well, no, but…"

"So, you confronted him about the issue. That doesn't make you responsible for his irrational behavior."

"I should have followed him. I should have made sure he was okay. And I shouldn't have said what I said. He's too fragile. I pushed him over the edge. The way he reacted to me, Roy, you should have seen him… he was just so frightened. I scared him half to death."

"Small kittens mewing too loudly scare him half to death. Ed, this isn't your fault. The kid's got problems. We don't even know what happened. It might have had nothing to do with you. How many times do I have to tell you that you need to gather more information before drawing irrational conclusions? Work with me here, Fullmetal. You know that what I'm telling you is logical."

Ed turned away, fidgeting, then lay back against Roy once more. He sighed. "I just… I can't fucking tell anymore. I can't tell which way is up. I miss Al. I hate it when he's not here. It's like I don't even know my own name."

"I know your name, Edward Elric. And you may not want to hear this, but I'm going to tell you anyway..." Roy pulled Ed closer to him and spoke directly into his ear. "I know that the people you choose to protect are very important to you, but you can't let them define who you are. You can't let your worth be determined by how well or how poorly you protect the ones around you. Because the truth is, Edward, that despite your best intentions, people die, and they die on your watch, and they even…" Roy swallowed. "They even die by your own hand. That is a soldier's lot, and no matter how much you rail against it, it's not going to change."

"So, what, I'm just supposed to accept it?" Ed turned to face Roy, eyes blazing. "I'm just supposed to accept the fact that a boy just tried to kill himself because of me? I'm just supposed to accept the fact that that bastard Tucker mutilated his own daughter and caused her to be killed and I couldn't do anything to stop it? That I mutilated my little brother trying to bring my mother back from the dead? That Hughes was murdered by homunculi who were after me, because of what I did, because of secrets I know, because of sins I committed? Is that what you're saying? That I should just say, 'Oh well, another day in the life of a State Alchemist! Let's go see what town I can decimate this week!' It's no wonder Scar wanted to kill us all. We're monsters, Roy. We should never have been born. I should never have been…"

Squirming out of Roy's grasp, Ed buried his head in his hands. Roy leaned forward to comfort him, but then Ed suddenly spun around and grabbed Roy by the front of his shirt, straddling him. "Tell me right now! Do you honestly accept it? That Hughes is dead, and you couldn't do anything about it? That you killed Winry's parents? You're fine with that? Tell me how fine you are! Tell me it doesn't keep you up at night! Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth!"

Roy looked at him. He kept looking, till his eyes started to become blurry, then he closed them. A single tear escaped. He felt Ed fall against his chest, quivering, his mismatched arms reaching around behind him. "Roy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't…" Roy held him, keeping his eyes closed. Strangely, a prayer came to him in that moment. If there were gods, Roy had never believed in any of them, but a prayer came nevertheless. Please, don't let him ever have to feel pain like this. Let that kid Ritsuka be okay. Please.