.:Eight:.

Being an Account of the Near Murder of Edward Elric at the Hands of One Brigadier-General Mustang

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Somehow, Roy was doing paperwork. Parts of the city were still smoking in the darkness outside his window, and he was at his office signing official documents. Even the apocalypse wouldn't stop bureaucracy. (Hawkeye had assured him that it was still necessary to keep on track with the required documents for the sake of records. Roy told himself that he had only backed down from the argument because she'd pointed her gun at him again, but the stiffness of his aching limbs may have also had something to do with it.)

He tossed the last of the papers off of his desk, sending the pile toppling to the side. He'd regret it in the morning when the time came to clear the floor, but for the moment, he couldn't help but feel a sort of childish glee at the sight of the scattered papers.

It vanished as he rolled his sore shoulders. Is it really that late? He thought to himself as he glanced at the night sky outside. Roy barely hesitated before picking up the phone and dialing the number for the hospital. I'd be surprised if the Elrics weren't awake, he thought dismissively. Once they get a whiff of new research, they're like dogs with a bone.

The phone rang once, twice. A woman picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello," he said charmingly. "This is Brigadier-General Mustang calling for the Elric brothers. Or rather, I think that Edward is the only one officially still in hospital care."

A pause. "Ah, I think you must be mistaken, sir. The Elrics are no longer here."

Roy refrained from swearing and rubbed at his face wearily. "I was told that they were recommended a twenty-four hour period of rest."

"They were." The sound of shuffling papers. "Mr. Edward Elric signed himself out AMA."

Roy grimaced. He'd known this morning as soon as he got off the phone with Ed that the brothers were no more likely to stay in the hospital for the full resting period than Hawkeye was to let him off easy with his paperwork for the day—even tying Ed's arms to the bed would likely only delay their escape—but he thought they'd spend the night, at least.

Ed and his foolish stubborn streak. Roy knew that Fullmetal would ignore the fact that the Elric brothers had both been worryingly bruised and beaten the last time Roy had seen them. Ed had passed out almost before Roy could finish helping him onto the stretcher. They needed rest.

And Roy had reassured himself that Ed respected his authority and the severity of the situation enough to actually do the research.

Right.

"Sir? Are you still there?"

"Yes—sorry." He sighed. "Well, when did they leave? And did they leave a message? Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

It was silent on the other line. "I'm sorry sir, but we don't usually release that information, unless—"

"It's protocol in a military hospital to release timestamps—at the very least—to the commanding officer."

A beat. "They signed out at 1:17 p.m. They didn't leave any messages, but they were discussing books, and…it was for some kind of special research, I think, in Senna. They were in a hurry to get out there for some reason."

"In Senna?"

"That's what they said."

"I see. Thank you," he said tersely, and hung up the phone.

Fine. They were doing research after all, but they were doing it several hours away from where he'd ordered them to. Roy realized that his hands had already clenched into loose fists, his forefinger close to his thumb, as he was in the habit of doing when he was angry or frustrated. Fine. Ed obviously hadn't realized that he was only sixteen—well, maybe fifteen, if you didn't count whatever had happened during the year of insanity inside the Gate—and that he was too old to be running off like a child anymore.

Fine. It was fine. They were only researching, and would stay out of trouble. Al had the sense that his brother lacked, after all.

Fine. He grabbed his coat and pulled it on, stalking out of his office with a frown deep enough to ward off anyone who got too close.

Fine.

.

Roy slept badly. He got up five hours later with a throbbing headache and headed to the office. The destruction the Beasts were causing had become so problematic that he and his subordinates had hardly slept at all these last few days. They were needed.

The halls of Central were buzzing with frantic activity, and Roy reached his office to discover today's catastrophe: a typhoon had emerged from nowhere and swept through the streets of New Optain, complete with small creatures that could only be Beasts.

"It's been mostly taken care of," Hawkeye explained as she sidled up to him to hand over a report. She and Havoc were rifling through papers again. The bottoms of their uniform pants were still wet. "We had the last shift. We didn't want to wake you before your shift began."

"Hope you don't mind, chief," Havoc said around his cigarette. "I know you would've loved to see it, but I'm sure you'll have your share of excitement as well."

"Have there been any messages?" Roy said tiredly, ignoring the banter.

The pair of them stared back blankly. "Only a thousand, chief," Havoc said finally.

"Anything from the Elrics?" he clarified.

"No, sir," Hawkeye said immediately. "Should there have been?"

"Edward signed out AMA from the hospital."

"Of course he did," Havoc said, grinning to himself. Hawkeye shot him a look.

"And they've taken off for Senna," Roy continued. "For research, presumably, but neither of them bothered to inform me."

Hawkeye sighed. It was a long-suffering thing. "It's a small place, sir," she said. "And if memory serves, there's just the one inn. I'll have the operators get the number." As she spoke, she was already moving to the phone. Havoc stretched and got back to work.

I don't know why I thought he'd have taken the time to leave a message, but it's the least they could have done, if they were going to disobey a direct order, Roy thought to himself. The sight of the scattered paperwork on the floor of his room only put him in a fouler began stacking the sheets, grumbling quietly.

"Sir?" Hawkeye was holding the phone to him. "It's the innkeeper." Irritated, he walked over to the phone on Hawkeye's desk, intent on giving the Elrics a piece of his mind.

"Hello, this is Brigadier-General Mustang of Central Command. Are there two alchemists registered for a room there? It would be under the name 'Elric.'"

"Those boys? Yes, they've got a room here—" the woman's voice sounded harried.

"Excellent. How may I reach them?"

"You don't. That's the thing—haven't seen them since yesterday evening, before nightfall."

Roy paused. "Were you expecting them back?"

"Said they'd only be gone a few hours. They meant to catch the morning train, but it'll be leaving soon, and they've missed the bus to the station—"

"Did they say where they'd gone?"

"They're in the caves. I leant them a pair of lanterns to see by and everything." He could almost hear her frown over the phone. "We don't get many serious accidents, see, so I was thinking maybe it had something to do with…well, everything that's been happening lately."

"Have you sent anyone to search?"

There was a second of silence, and then a breath that sounded as though the woman was trying not to cry. "Normally—" she began, "normally we'd round up a few men for the search. Only no one's too keen to leave the houses, not with…all those creatures. No one's gonna go down there to look. I'd half a mind to go myself, but if anything's happened, I wouldn't be of much use to them…"

"I see," Roy said, mind reeling. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Round up some supplies—whatever you gave the Elrics, and whatever you think we might need," he said, ordering her out of habit. "My men and I will be in town as soon as possible to look."

"Got it," she said quietly. "I'll have everything ready."

Roy slowly hung up the phone. Havoc and Hawkeye were looking at him warily.

"Edward and Alphonse are in trouble," he said. The pair of them nodded at once, setting their faces grimly before shouldering their coats.

"Where to?" Havoc asked.

.

When Ed woke for what must have been the millionth time in the past few hours, it was partially because sunlight was now streaming directly onto his face from one of the holes in the cave roof above. His body ached as much as if he hadn't slept at all, and as he wearily reached up to stretch his good arm, he became aware of two things.

The first was that someone was yelling his name, and the voice was familiar.

The second was that he knew how they were going to get their alchemy for the Gate's array.

His hand was frozen in midair as he puzzled through that last one, staring off into space, but his thoughts were interrupted by another shout. That voice…he groaned. Of course it's Mustang, he thought, irritable in spite of himself. Like I need a bigger headache.

"We're—" Ed coughed and cleared his throat, surprised at how hoarse his voice sounded. "We're down here!"

"Fullmetal?" The voice was still distant.

"Down here!" He yelled again.

There were shuffling noises, and a few leaves slowly fluttered down from the holes in the cave ceiling. Hawkeye's face appeared, glowing in the sunlight. "Edward?"

"The one and only," Ed said, glad of the prospect of getting out of the damp cave. He shook Al, who woke with a bleary yawn. Neither of them moved to get off the ground.

"Are you two alright? Are you hurt?" Hawkeye called. Her eyes flickered around the cave, and Ed realized that she probably couldn't see them in the darkness.

"We're okay," Ed shouted back. "But there's a drop right below you."

Hawkeye peered down to verify his statement and backed out of view.

"Fine mess you've gotten yourself into this time, Fullmetal," Ed heard distantly. Mustang. He didn't answer.

"To your left is another hole," he called. "The ground slants right underneath. You can probably jump down."

More shuffling and distant shouting. Ed took a moment to check over his brother again, running a hand through Al's hair. Al tilted his head obediently, and Ed found only dried blood. His hand came back clean.

"Okay?" Ed asked.

Al nodded. "Been better," he said faintly. Then he smiled wryly. "But I've also been worse."

Ed snorted. "How's the arm?"

"About the same as my head," Al said lightly, wincing as Ed ran his fingers over Al's bandaged arm. Ed murmured an apology.

With a soft noise, a pair of boots appeared in the crevice, and Hawkeye jumped down, tied back with a rope crossed over her chest. She took a moment to light a lantern, which she gingerly set down on the ground before surveying the cave around her cautiously, eyes falling on the Elrics.

Al gave her a weak wave.

"You said you were fine," she said in a tone that was as accusing as Hawkeye's ever got. No doubt she had taken in the blood caked on the side of Al's head and face.

"We are, considering," Ed said, nodding at the Beast between them. Ed and Al were at the lowest section of the cave floor, and the Mirkworm sat between them and Hawkeye, its massive body draped over the steeply sloping earth.

"This will be a problem," Hawkeye murmured, her faint voice carrying in the silence of the cave. Another pair of boots appeared, and Mustang slid out, his chest tied in a similar fashion to Hawkeye's. He carried with him a thick rope looped around his arm. His good eye settled on the pair of them, narrowing, and Ed could almost feel the air thicken for his lecture like pressure before a rainstorm.

Before he had a chance to speak, Ed called quickly, "Don't think you need the equipment," he said. "Not if you've got some chalk or something to write with."

Mustang deflated. "Chalk?" he parroted.

"Yeah. Got any?"

Mustang rummaged in his coat. A good alchemist—besides Ed, anyway—never left home without a supply of chalk, and Ed wasn't surprised when Mustang produced some from an inside coat pocket.

"Good," Ed said tiredly, stretching his legs. Al slowly moved back, and Ed shook the leg that had fallen asleep under his brother's weight. "I'll walk you through an array to make stairs for us."

"Where's the alchemy going to come from?" Mustang asked, though he set the rope down nevertheless.

"From that," Ed said, pointing to the Mirkworm, which was oozing something grey from an open wound. "I didn't notice before for some reason, but you can feel the alchemy in them, and it gets stronger after they die."

Mustang stared blankly, then shook his head. "Wait. Feel the alchemy in them?"

Ed nodded, then turned to Al, who was watching him through half-lidded eyes. "I could feel it last night, just before it attacked us," he said. "Now that it's dead, the alchemy's just seeping out." He hesitated. "I think we can use it," he said finally. "Whatever alchemy it had. I think we can use it."

"Edward," Hawkeye said gently. "I'm not sure that—"

"I'm not crazy. I didn't hit my head. Look, just try it."

Mustang met Hawkeye's gaze for a moment, and then he shrugged. "Fine," he said. "Tell me what to do."

The array was created with a tolerable amount of argument, ("Are you kidding me? Just draw the freaking sigil, and then—" "I know how the representations work, Fullmetal, but I'm accounting for—") which was probably to be expected. By the time Mustang had completed the array—though Edward grumbled that he'd have liked to check it over—the cave had brightened a bit with the moving sun, and Havoc was peering down into the cave to see what was taking so long.

"Good to see the two of ya in one piece, boss, Al," Havoc said easily, half out of sight. "Things would have been a lot more boring without you guys around."

Ed grinned up at Havoc, glad for his friend's even-tempered forgiveness. "Not planning on going anywhere anytime soon," he assured him.

"Alright," Mustang said, bending out of sight past the fallen Mirkworm. "Here it goes."

Ed hadn't realized how much he missed the familiar light of alchemy and its warm glow as it washed over him, making his skin tingle. When the light receded, a set of neat stairs flowed from the crevice at the top of the cave and down to the bottom of the pit where Ed and Al still sat.

Mustang and Hawkeye were upon them almost at once. "I'm fine," Ed said as Hawkeye bent down to check him over. "It's Al who's hit his head."

"Just a bump," Al protested, but as Mustang helped him up, the younger Elric swayed dizzily. For his part, Ed felt almost too tired to stand, and his legs were nearly too shaky to support him. With a good deal of help, the Elrics made their slow way to the top of the stairs, and Havoc lent a hand to pull them up into the blinding sunlight.

"C'mon, you two," Havoc said once they'd tumbled out and onto the ground above. "I think you've caused us enough worry for one day. Most of the cave exits are closed off by rockslides now. We thought you were gone for good."

"Sorry," Al said sheepishly, but Havoc waved him off.

"Yeah, well. We're all getting older," Havoc said, and his tone was joking, though his expression wasn't. "You two had better think about us, too. One of these days, you'll take us all out with heart attacks."

He hauled Ed to his feet and helped him in the direction of the town. Mustang was helping his brother, and the icy look on the Brigadier-General's face told Ed that he wasn't about to get off so easily there. His commanding officer wasn't in the mood for jokes. "I need some help understanding how you I could order you to stay in Central, but the two of you somehow ended up hours outside of town," he said coldly. "The orders were hardly difficult. Stay put. That was all you had to do."

"Your orders were to do the research, which is what we came here to do in the first place. It's not like we meant to have a funfest with that Mirkworm!"

"I told you to do research in the hospital," Mustang snarled. "For someone as smart as you, it shouldn't be too difficult to understand."

"What, so you're finally admitting I've got a brain of my own, Mustang?" Ed laughed bitterly. "Because I wasn't about to sit around twiddling my thumbs while—"

"You know, you might be a year older, Edward, but you're acting more like a child than you were when you went into the Gate in the first place."

"Are you kidding me? Al and I just—"

"That's enough, both of you!" Hawkeye shouted, annoyed. "With all due respect, let's just get everyone back to Central in one piece. There will be more than enough time to be at each other's throats later."

For the rest of the journey, Havoc kept up a steady stream of chatter and wisecracks as the three officers helped the Elrics into town. Ed half-suspected that the man was doing it in order to keep Mustang's ire from falling onto Ed again, but Havoc also had the habit of listening to himself talk when he had the chance, so it was hard to be sure. Either way, Ed was grateful: Mustang did remain quiet for the entirety of the trip, only treating Ed to cold looks and fuming silently to himself.

Ed was almost too exhausted to care. If he'd had the energy, he'd have been shouting into Mustang's face already, but his aching limbs made it easy to ignore his commanding officer. When they finally reached the inn, a frantic Nora rushed up to hug the Elrics ecstatically, looking close to tears and insisting on washing the blood from the side of Al's face.

By the time they'd reached the bus, Ed was fading fast. Al passed out on the seat next to him as soon as he'd settled down. Ed barely had the energy to wave back to Nora, who had come to see them off.

He was vaguely aware of the murmur of voices around him as he nodded off, giving in to sleep with the knowledge that he and Al were safe at last.

.

Someone was shaking him. His entire body ached, and he felt as though the crawl back to consciousness would take more strength than he had.

"C'mon, boss," a voice said.

But Ed couldn't, and he felt the world fade around him for a minute, until suddenly he was moving. He was dimly aware that he was on someone's back, and that the last time he'd ridden piggyback, he'd been five or six and it had been with Hoenheim as they made their way home one evening.

"Aren't they too old…?" The voices faded, swirling into the warm darkness that swallowed Ed and his memories.

.

Roy Mustang was going to murder the Fullmetal Alchemist. His hands were twitching. He had half a mind to try to rub some of the muscle tension out of his aching back, and half a mind to strangle Ed in his sleep instead.

That last wasn't a bad idea, he thought to himself as he awkwardly leaned back in the metal hospital chair.

No one had been allowed to see the Elrics yet, and with the ongoing disaster that had become daily life in Central, none of them really had the time to linger for an update. Yet they had all eventually wandered back here to the hospital after their afternoon shifts, Havoc fingering the butt of his gun as he paced wearily around the crowded waiting room, Hawkeye leafing through a stack of documents she'd brought over. Roy in the chair, contemplating murder.

He could probably even make it look like an accident, he thought to himself, resting the back of his head against the wall. Just an accident, and then he'd never have to worry himself sick over Edward's reckless antics again.

Except that Al was too smart, and would probably figure out that he had done it. Pity that. He supposed it would be too risky after all.

The sound of footsteps drew him from his musings, and he looked up to see a nurse approaching as she stared down at her clipboard. As had been happening for the past hour or so, everyone in the cramped waiting area drew themselves up simultaneously, looking up hopefully, desperately, to hear news of the victims of the last two days.

But the nurse's gaze settled on the blue-clad officers. "Friends of the Elrics?" she said, and without waiting for an answer pivoted to lead them down the hallway.

The three of them scrambled to follow. "Both brothers will recover," she said without preamble, standing to one side to avoid a passing stretcher. "Alphonse has a severe concussion. He's still unconscious, but is expected to wake within the next few hours. We'll know more when he does. Fortunately, there was no further damage to his broken arm…he does have a series of scrapes that only add to the ones he already had," she said with a sigh, without looking up from the paperwork cradled in her arms.

"Edward's lungs are still healing on schedule, despite the…well, detour he took. He's suffering from exhaustion, and his bruises and scratches are only consistent with what we've already seen throughout his file…" She let the papers slip back into place on the clipboard. "Nothing too serious. They're lucky, compared to the other things we've been seeing."

"Are they awake yet?" Havoc asked.

"Edward is, as of a few minutes ago. The doctor woke him to check his lungs again. If you need to see him, you'll have to do it now, because with the little rest he's had in the last forty-eight hours, he'll probably be out like a light after his head hits the pillow."

"We'll need to talk to him," Mustang said firmly.

The nurse nodded, expecting this. "Nothing too strenuous," she warned. "He's right over there, in the corner room."

"Could you excuse us for a second?" Hawkeye asked suddenly, and it wasn't really a question. The woman said nothing, losing herself in her files as she moved away to take on the next problem.

"I don't think we all need to go in," Hawkeye murmured, moving toward Edward's room once the nurse had gone.

Havoc hummed in agreement. "I'll go for a smoke and head to the office. Now that we know the boss is safe, anyway."

"I'll talk to Fullmetal," Roy said.

"No," Hawkeye said firmly, surprising him. "I'll talk to him." With anyone else, Roy would have been annoyed at the insubordination. With Hawkeye, he was just confused.

"Why?"

"I don't think he needs to hear from you right now, sir," she said, in a tone that was almost apologetic. "Edward obviously doesn't enjoy being ordered around—whether he's a part of the military or not," she added, correctly anticipating that Roy would try to interject. "He's always been…something of a special case. You know it as well as I do."

Roy nodded, grudgingly. "That doesn't mean he should get special treatment."

"With the rest of us, your orders would be accepted without issue. But things are different with Edward." She paused, continuing softly, "We all know that you're just trying to look after the Elrics, sir, like you'd do for any of us, whether they believe they can handle things on their own or not."

"In this case, they couldn't." Roy said, exasperated.

"Sir," Hawkeye said determinedly, flipping absently through the stack of papers in her arms. "I'm far from condoning their actions. But you can't behave as though you expect Edward to be a normal subordinate." She smiled, and added dryly, "And maybe if the two of you tried to have a civil conversation, you might even surprise yourselves. Edward respects you, sir. But you have to give him a little breathing room in order to see it."

Roy did nothing but raise an eyebrow.

"I know it's difficult to believe, sir," Hawkeye said, "but Edward would value your input if you gave it to him the right way. Besides," she added, "we'll need both of you to work things out between you. I think we'd all forgotten how reckless Edward can be when he wants something badly enough, and none of us expected him to throw himself back into danger after being dead to us for a year. We're all worried, but the last thing we need is for Ed to run off after the two of you fight again."

She put her hand on the doorknob. "At any rate, I think you've done enough to rile him up for one day, sir," she said, not caring about the insult. "So I'll take care of this for now. But in the future, you'll have to look out for him."

Hawkeye pulled the door open and stepped into the room, leaving Roy outside in the hallway, frowning.

Havoc had backed away at some point to give the pair of them some semblance of privacy, but when Roy turned to him, the First Lieutenant was obviously fighting to hide a smirk. "I'm not sure what that was, chief," he said, "but I think it might've been a lesson in parenting."

.

The combination of exhaustion and misery had settled onto Edward as soon as the doctor closed the door behind him. Alphonse had been wheeled out for some sort of checkup, leaving Ed alone in the horrible, sterilized hospital room. Bandages roped up and down his chest, and his skin halfheartedly protested each new bruise, which made each movement unpleasant. Altogether, Ed was exhausted but too stubborn to go back to sleep without Al in the room.

Al's fine, though, he reassured himself. Of course he is. It didn't matter that his brother hadn't woken, even after careful prodding from the doctors. That didn't mean much. But he'd be able to relax a bit more if someone would just give him a straight answer about it…

The door opened suddenly, and Ed jolted in surprise. Hawkeye stood in the opening with a stack of papers under her left arm.

She moved as gracefully and professionally as always, but she had that gleam in her eye, the one she adopted when Mustang wasn't doing his work properly, and Ed steeled himself for another lecture. He was suddenly aware of his bandages, and he crossed his arms over his chest as though to hide them away, trying to figure out what to say without being apologetic, exactly.

He'd rather have had Mustang visit. Hawkeye wasn't very easy to yell at.

"Edward. You and Al could have been killed," she said without preamble.

"We weren't." Ed said, "We were careful."

"You weren't careful enough. You can't even do alchemy right now, Edward," she said firmly, her hands brushing at invisible dirt specks on her uniform. "Running around blindly at a time like this is hardly one of your best ideas."

"I wasn't running around blindly," Ed grumbled. "Al and I were doing some research. We think we might be able to reconstruct the array used for the gate's creation."

Hawkeye gave a long-suffering sigh. "I understand that. But it's dangerous out there," she said slowly, as though choosing her words carefully. "And that's not always something you think about before you jump into things. You could have been hurt a lot worse than you were. Al could have been hurt worse than he was."

Ed grimaced, opening his mouth.

"I know you didn't mean for that to happen," Hawkeye added somberly. "You're brilliant, Edward, but sometimes you just don't think—you never used to, and you don't now—at least about your own safety." She hesitated, then plunged on. "We've told you before, Ed, that it might be better for you to trust us adults. Just a little."

"Fine, I know I screwed up—but I was just going after the research, like Mustang said."

"Does that mean you couldn't have waited so that someone could go with you?" Hawkeye asked, tilting her head.

Ed looked away.

"You just need to be more careful. You can ask for help when you need it." She relaxed, leaning back on her heels. "In any case. That's not entirely why I came in. The doctor is busy at the moment, but he told us that Al will be fine. He's still bruised, but they've patched him up well, and the swelling of the concussion has mostly gone down. He may have a slight headache, but he'll be back to normal with a bit of rest. No lasting damage."

"Thanks," he said genuinely. "I was worried he might…"

"It looked worse than it was," Hawkeye said. "And with all of the blows you've taken to your own head, you should know by now that head wounds always bleed badly."

By the twist of her mouth, it was obvious that she was only joking, and that happened so rarely that Ed couldn't find it in himself to be offended. He offered her a smile. "He'll need checkups, though?"

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," Hawkeye said. She paused. "You know, the two of you are going to have to be more careful from now on no matter what happens. Al won't be able to run around like a shield to get you out of trouble."

"I didn't mean for…" Ed shook his head. "I shouldn't have dragged him into it."

"Well, that's—" Hawkeye began.

"I'd almost rather he were still a suit of armor," he added. He and Hawkeye both froze, equally surprised. "Not that—I don't—" Ed added hastily. He paused and then spoke deliberately. "I'm glad he's human. Really glad. It's everything I wanted. It's just that he's so much more…I don't know…"

"Fragile?" Hawkeye murmured.

"Exactly." He breathed. "Before, we could both run around anywhere, do anything, and I'd never have to worry, because I knew he'd be alright. You could throw anything at him, and he'd take it. But now, he's…you know. Human."

For a moment, the silence hung in the air.

"Human. Like you." Hawkeye pointed out.

Ed nodded. "And that's great. But—"

"Edward," Hawkeye said after a moment, "do you think Alphonse lacks intelligence?"

"What? No," Ed said instantly, "That's not what I'm saying—"

"And do you worry that he's less skilled in combat?"

"No. Al can take care of himself as much as I can."

Hawkeye's arms had folded in front of her. "Then why do you worry about him more than yourself? Why do you make special provisions for him, but not for yourself?"

Ed paused. "That's different."

"No, it isn't." She smiled at him. "You know, I think this will be good for you," she added. "Maybe you'll never realize how much trouble you throw yourself into, but if you're worried about dragging Al into it as well, you might at least hold back a little."

Ed fumbled, "Yeah, but I can handle whatever comes at me."

Hawkeye shook her head. "But you don't have to." She frowned. "I think you forget sometimes that you're only human too. You want to protect Al, I know, but…don't forget we're meant to protect you too."

She was halfway through the door before he could work out what to say, but she stopped suddenly and looked back.

"And Edward," she said, hesitating. "It may not look like it, but the Brigadier-General does care about the two of you. He just doesn't know what to do with all of his worry."

Ed might have snorted aloud or protested, but her face was too strange. The expression on it was odd and wistful.

"He orders you around because it's the only way he thinks he can keep you out of trouble. And he wants to keep you out of trouble. This past year hasn't been easy on any of us. Not even him," she added, pinning him with the steely glare that he was more used to. "Cut him some slack, won't you?"

She disappeared into the hallway, and Ed stared at the door as it slowly swung shut, his mind rattling away.

.

A/N: Aaaand Hawkeye leaves everyone speechless. She really is a gem, isn't she? And I'm not sure that Edward will ever realize that she saved him from being possibly murdered at the hands of his CO. Lucky for him, that.

Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, especially my anonymous guests I can't respond to by pm. And thanks again for stopping by today! Please leave me a note to let me know what you think!

~ket

Next Chapter: Ed's New, Improved, and Completely Not-Suicidal Plan