Ah, a new chapter. So, let's see what Maes will have to face now. Poor guy…I know I'm being pretty mean to him now, but, trust me, it will all work out in the end.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, and all that.

Rating: PG-13/R in later chapters, eventually coming to M-rated lemony goodness. Enjoy, fan girls. XD

WARNING: Male/male, angst, slash, Edward/Hughes

I'm trying to figure out a nickname for this pairing, but I've only come up with some bad ones… My best is for Maes/Ed; Meds. XD I know, it's pretty lame, so if any of you can spare me some embarrassment, and come up with some nicknames that don't suck, please let me know. ^_^

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hughes," Roy whispered, pulling his friend close, "I'm going to assume this is all a joke, and you have just become very good at pulling fast ones. Now, please tell me this is all a prank or…or something!"

Hughes looked down.

Roy's eyes widened. He stuttered, "B-but, he's just a kid, Maes! And you! You have Gracia! And what about Elicia?!"

Hughes could only continue to stare at the floor. "I…I don't know. I just thought you should know. I knew you'd hate me for this."

Roy snorted. "Oh, don't put this on me, you dramatic fool. Your personal activities are the least of my worries. I'm talking about Edward. And your family. And I don't hate you, idiot. I just can't tolerate this…"

Hughes sniffed.

Roy sighed. "Well, you were right, Hughes. You are in trouble. You'd better break of this charade with Fullmetal before-"

"He doesn't know," Maes uttered, raising his head, his eyes red-rimmed. He removed his glasses, fished inside his pocket for a cloth, cleaned them, then replaced them on his face.

Mustang wasn't sure how to respond. All he could do was inhale deeply and exhale slowly, taking his time to think of what to say. This continued on for about a minute.

"Say something," Hughes said quietly, in an almost pleading tone. It made Roy wince.

"Well, what am I supposed to say?! This is one hell of a shock!"

An awkward silence passed over the two before Hughes cleared his throat.

Nodding silently, Hughes turned to leave. "…I know. I just…I have to go." He started for the doors. Roy didn't let go of his friend's shoulders.

"Let me go." Hughes said.

Roy held on.

"Roy, let me GO."

"No. You listen to me, Maes Hughes, and you listen good. I want you to end this, as soon as you can. For… for Edward's sake! He's dealing with enough right now. If you don't do something about this, so help me, I will. Understand?"

"…"

"Hughes!"

"…Stay out of my business, Roy", Hughes said in a low, dangerous tone, that made the Colonel finally release him.

He looked Roy in the face, his green eyes watery. Roy backed off. Without another word, the Lieutenant Colonel strode to the doors, pushed them open, and exited. Roy watched the doors close, then sat back down behind his desk. He sighed loudly, slamming his hands down on the desktop. This isn't right, Hughes.

Once back in his room, Hughes slid onto the floor, his back against the door. He needed some time to think. Alone.

~*~*~

"Nnn!" Edward stretched the next morning, raising his arms high above his head. "So, Al," he said, rotating the kinks out of his automail hand, "You finish what you needed to get done yesterday at the library?"

Alphonse nodded cheerfully. "Yep. All done."

"Good, good. Then we can do whatever we want," the older Elric confirmed happily. "What should we do?"

Al paused for a moment to come up with an idea. He then placed his hand on Edward's shoulder. "Brother, can we spar for awhile? I feel like it's been a long time since we last practiced."

Edward grinned. "Sure thing, Al."

It had been awhile since the Elric brothers had practiced their fighting skills. They had been intensely studying various things recently, such as the Philosopher's Stone, so they hadn't had much time for more fun activities. Now was their chance. This was a good day to spar. The sun shone brightly and the sky was a deep, clear blue. Not a cloud was in the sky. The brothers were alone in the lush green park that was nearby, so they had plenty of space to move.

There was an electrifying silence as the Elric brothers stared each other down, daring the other to make the first move. A minute or so passed. In the end, it was Alphonse who made the first move. He charged towards his older brother, and threw a punch at the shorter boy. Armor and automail collided, making a sharp, clanging noise ring through the air. Edward chuckled cockily, feeling the faltering resistance against his brother's arm. He was holding back.

"C'mon, Al. I know you're stronger than that. Show me what ya got," Edward egged his brother on, a familiar glint in his bright eyes.

Alphonse nodded, bracing himself against Ed's automail. Suddenly, he leapt backwards, then advanced quickly, moving out of the way when Edward attempted a low kick to the suit of armor's leg. In return, Alphonse performed a swift roundhouse kick to the back of his brother's legs. Edward fell to the ground.

"Is that better?" Alphonse cheekily asked his brother, laughing lightly. "I've beaten you every time we've sparred, and I won't let you down this time either, Brother." He then lunged at Ed again.

Ed gritted his teeth, and back flipped out of the way, with Al following. Upon landing, Edward jumped at his brother, aiming to land a punch to the suit of armor's head. Alphonse blocked it, using his shoulder to repel the short alchemist. A spike on his armor caught on Ed's red coat, tearing a huge hole open in the sleeve. Edward skidded to a stop several feet away, panting slightly.

"Damn…I can't keep fixing this with Alchemy, Al!" Edward shouted, taking off the offended garment and tossing it aside.

Alphonse merely shrugged nonchalantly. "Should've been more careful. Who's the one that said 'C'mon, Al, show me whatcha got!', anyway?" he said, mimicking Edward's cocky tone. This only made the short-tempered Elric become more irritated than before.

"Tch… Fine. I'll show you!" Edward roared, feeling his anger fuel his sudden burst of energy as he went in for another attack.

Ed tried a combination of moves, involving some complicated kicks and punches that sent Alphonse flying backwards. He recovered, however, and dodged Ed's next incoming barrage of furious swipes to the suit of armor's head, and swiftly repelled his brother with a punch to the stomach. Edward reeled back and dropped to his knees, panting hard. He dropped his head as he grabbed at his stomach, looking up at Al through strands of the hair that was in his face.

"Oh….OK. You…you win….AGAIN," Edward admitted defeat, standing up and taking a few shaky steps towards his brother. He placed his automail hand on the suit of armor's chest plate, and sighed. "I guess I still have yet to beat you, Al. Ah, well…You wanna head back?"

"Hmm? So soon? Brother, I thought you wanted to show me your skills," Al taunted. He was on a role today. "Tired already?"

Edward felt his blood boil. "NO. I'm just-"

He was cut off by the sound of his stomach growling.

"-Hungry."

~*~*~

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes walked through the empty hallway, suffering from an extreme case of self-loathing. He rubbed his bandaged left hand through his glove, recalling what caused the injury. While brooding about his…situation… the night previously, the bewildered man had exploded in a fit of frustration, knocking over several glass items in the process. He had tried to pick up the shards of a fallen lamp, and the pieces of glass cut up his hand quite badly. He had hissed at the contact, and dropped the shards. At that point he had decided it was all just too much, and thus wilted into a sobbing, cursing mess on the floor.

Hughes groaned, rubbing his forehead. On top of everything, he had a headache, too. It truly was the cherry on top of a great weekend. At least, that's what he thought, until the infamous Edward Elric rounded the hallway's corner and, once again, bumped into Hughes. Actually, it was more like he slammed into the Lieutenant. The impact left them both on the floor, with Ed cursing and Hughes clawing at his forehead and groaning.

"D-Damn it all! Watch where you're going you jerk-," Edward started, but stopped when he saw who it was. "Oh….It's you, Hughes. Heh, sorry about that," Ed nervously grinned, standing up and offering his right hand to Hughes. "Seems like we've got a habit of running into each other."

Maes froze and looked up, headache forgotten. Shit. The teen's timing couldn't have been worse. Hughes was suddenly aware of his disheveled appearance, as he had forgotten about maintaining his appearance in the midst of his stress, and felt his face flush. Failing to notice the older man's discomfort, Edward, still smiling, continued to offer his hand. Hughes, now blushing, didn't know what to do. Do I take it or not?? Do I take it or not?! Gulping, the Lieutenant reached for Ed's hand when-

"Brother! I heard a noise, are you okay?!" Alphonse said, rounding the hallway corner. The suit of armor stopped, observed the scene, and said, "Oh, hello Lieutenant. Um….wh-what happened here?"

Maes forgot how to speak. He pulled his hand back quickly, and hurriedly stood up, shoving said hand into his military uniform pocket. His eyes were downcast. …

Edward laughed slightly, rubbing the back of his head, "It's okay, Al. Hughes and I just…ran into each other, that's all." Ed then turned to face Hughes. "So, where are you off to today, Lieutenant?"

Hughes cleared his throat loudly, and tried to make his mouth form a logical sentence. "I…um….I-I….Office…P-paperwork…", he attempted, his heart racing. Wait…did that even make sense?!

Ed and Al exchanged glances, sensing something amiss.

"Uh…Everything alright, Hughes?" Ed started, crossing his arms.

"Yeah…Is something wrong?" Al inquired.

Hughes mentally slapped himself. God dammit, get yourself together!! He cleared his throat again. "Um, y-yes…I'm fine…Ah, if…you'll excuse me-" He took off down the hallway, nearly jogging.

Alphonse and Edward were left standing around, confused.

"H-he's alright, isn't he, Brother?" Alphonse nervously asked.

"I…I don't know, Al," Ed started, "He seemed a little off . Actually, I bumped into him yesterday, and he was acting weird then, too." The young alchemist thought for a moment. "I wonder what's up with him…".

Shrugging, the Elric Brothers proceeded towards the mess hall.

Oh, Edward. If only you knew…Poor, poor Hughes. XD Ah, it's getting dramatic!

I'm hoping to get around to Ed and Hughes getting closer in

the next few chapters….But I will only update if I get at LEAST

FIVE reviews for this chapter. Otherwise, I don't know if people

are actually reading this story. C'mon, people. I need all the critiques I can get!!

Until then,

Gyakutengrl 3