Authors note: On time this time, like promised. Enjoy :3

Roy stood in the doorway as the sunlight cast brilliant rays of light on Ed's face while she slept, her golden hair framing her peaceful face. He couldn't say how long he had been standing there, watching her, but he didn't want to move. It has been almost a week since the night she was shot, and since then Roy had begun noticing how different he felt around her. Admitting that he had been feeling different around her as the years carried on wasn't something he allowed himself to do, refusing to believe that he felt anything for his younger male subordinate, being such a womanizer and all. But now those excuses seemed almost ridiculous. Just how long had he felt like this around Edward and not noticed?

Roy held his breath as Edward sighed in her sleep, her auto-mail arm hanging over the side of the bed. She was beautiful, even when she slept. Roy had to fight the urge to move the stray stand of hair that hung in her face, his fingers twitching involuntarily. After dinner last night, she had retreated to her bed, a soft snore escaping her room shortly afterwards. He would never admit it to anyone, but he had stood in the doorway and watched her sleep as moonlight hit her face; much like the sun was now. Roy couldn't stop himself from watching her. Only five days ago his heart was in pieces as he held her dead body in his arms. And now she lay a few feet from him, an energetic spitfire that was going to give him a headache when she finally woke up. And honestly, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Roy headed into the kitchen, deciding to boil some water for the tea Fu had kindly included in the veggie basket yesterday. The valve on the gas canister let out an involuntary croak as he turned it, before snapping his fingers, the spark igniting the gas, the kettle already in place on the stove burner. Roy stood against the counter as his eyes scanned over the living room again. Ed had cleaned the house while he had been gone, and it looked good. Almost homey, he had to admit. The couch stood in front of the fireplace, a small table in front of it, and an empty vase in the middle. The only evidence that they had eaten there last night was the half-filled glass of water on the edge of the table.

They had barely spoken after Roy had teased her about how womanly it had been of her to clean the place, joking about how she would make a great wife. Of course, Ed had snapped back at him, calling him sexist, before going quiet, refusing to even acknowledge him the rest of the evening. He regretted saying it the moment it left his lips – Damn that Fu for putting the image of Ed in a white dress in his head – but he didn't apologise. He had to make sure to do that today, as soon as she woke up. The silence was already deafening, he didn't want to spend the day without her talking to him as well.

Roy's thoughts were interrupted as the kettle let out a shrill whistle, letting him know the water was ready. Closing the valve again, he poured water into the two cups, placing the kettle back on the burner. His finger twisted around the string the tea bag was attached to, moving it up and down in the cup, his free hand running through his black hair, a sigh escaping his lips. As much as he loved watching her sleep, he would have to wake her up now, so they can get back to Fu's place. Roy placed the used bag into the empty cup on the counter, before tugging the second bag from his cup as well, depositing it in the same place. His hands curled around both cups, the heat penetrating his gloves, but not enough to burn.

Roy stopped in her doorway to watch her again. She had turned on her back, her human hand sprawled across her stomach, the shirt pulled up to just under her breasts, the bandages barely visible. Her mouth hung open as she snored, a strand of her hair hanging on her lips. Again, the urge to move it was there, making his fingers twitch around the cup, almost causing him to drop it. Deciding it best to wake her before he really dropped the cups, he moved closer, placing his cup on the dresser next to her bed, before shaking her gently.

"Edw… Fullmetal, it's time to wake up."

Nothing.

Shaking her a bit harder, he spoke up louder. "Fullmetal, get up."

Again, Nothing. She slept like a log, apparently. Biting his lip, Roy's eyes shifted to her lips, his fingers moving towards it, gently moving the hair from them, his thumb lingering on her bottom lip momentarily, before removing his hand.

"Get up, Shorty!"

"Don't call me short…"

Of course that's what it took to wake her up. Her golden eyes opened slowly as they focused on his onyx ones. With a yawn she sat up, eyeing him suspiciously. Roy handed her the cup, motioning for her to take it with the auto-mail hand, as she complied, taking a sniff, her eyes closed.

"Thanks…"

"No problem, short stack. We need to get to Fu's place, so when you're ready, we'll head out." Roy spoke as he picked up his cup again, taking a cautionary sip, the hot tea burning his tongue. "He should have the autopsy reports ready for us, so we can start figuring out what's going on around here."

Edward nodded, taking a sip of her tea, a soft hum escaping her lips. After a moment of silence, she glanced up at him as she spoke again, her voice still heavy from sleeping. "Do you think he'll have anything that will help us identify the killer?"

He shrugged, his eyes moving to hers for a second, before turning back to the window. "Maybe, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. We'll have to take it one step at a time."

She opened her mouth to reply, but shut it as a knock was heard from the living room door. Roy's brow pinched together in a frown as he moved towards the door, his cup in one hand, the other ready to snap if needed. There was no telling who was there, and since few people knew about them staying there, Roy couldn't help but be suspicious. His hand dropped to his side as he opened the door.

Edward all but jumped out of her bed as she heard the voice of their visitor, scrambling to get into the bathroom before she was noticed. The door slammed shut behind her as she yanked the bandage from the medicine cabinet, pulling her shirt over her head. With one look at her bandaged wound, she knew what she had to do was going to hurt. The bandage dropped to the floor as she removed it, before using the clean one to flatten her chest out as much as possible, wincing as it tightened around her wound. Inspecting her chest in the mirror, she grabbed her shirt from the floor, pulling it over her head again; satisfied that she looked like her usual self. Ed slipped into her room, pulling her jacket on before grabbing her tea, taking another sip.

"Hello, Chief!" Havoc called as she entered the living room, his usual cigarette hanging on his lips, one sudden breath away from flopping onto the floor.

"Hello Havoc." She nodded, heading into the kitchen to finish her tea.

"As I was saying, we were told we couldn't leave Rayerk until Fullmetal was cleared to travel."

"Any idea on when that will be, Sir?"

"No idea. But shouldn't be too long now." Roy's eyes shifted to her in the kitchen, noticing the sudden lack of certain bumps. They hadn't spoken about why she lied about her gender, and Roy had no intention of ousting her secret until she wanted him to. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"Hawkeye and the rest went to Welosl, and Major Armstrong is currently talking to the townsfolk, the rest of the men with him. Someone called Fu directed us here, so I came to have a look."

"And the bandits?" Ed asked as she stood against the counter, her eyes closed, the cup against her lower lip.

"We took care of them when the reinforcements arrived. Turned out they were a group of rebels from Aerugo that were using Fenief as their base of operations."

"Anyone else hurt?"

"Only you chief."

Edward flinched, the wound an insult for the second time in a week. The cup let out a thud as she put it in the sink, before heading towards the door, suddenly feeling like she was suffocating in the small room. She could feel Mustang's eyes on her as she opened the door, a cold wind assaulting her the moment she stepped outside. Closing the door behind herself, she headed towards the town, her hair whipping in her face as she moved, pulling her coat tighter around herself, the biting cold sending a shiver through her body.

The small town that was usually quiet seemed to suddenly buzz with life, military men moving up and down the road at various speeds. Why they were all here was beyond her. True, she and Mustang had been gone for a while, but surely the moment they knew where they was, there was no more reason to scout the town. Unless, of course, they were looking for something else. Perhaps they were trying to determine whether there were any rebels from Aerugo here as well, it being so close to Fenief.

Maybe the murderer was one of those rebels. Edward's eyes moved from face to face, not really recognizing anyone as she walked down the road, not really knowing where she was headed. She stopped in front of a run-down building, the sign on the door faded by the weather so the only letters that was left was "I" and "Y". Her eyes scanned the windows, spotting a few empty shelves, cobwebs covering most of them. With a shrug she entered the building, the door croaking loudly at the sudden movement. The counter at the front of the shop stood empty except for a large book, dust covering it and the counter it was resting on. Moving over to it, Ed wiped away the dust, reading the page it was open on. "One hundred easy cooking recipes for novice chefs, Lydia."

Her eyes shifted around the building, taking in the stray books lying on the floor. Judging by the book on the counter, this was probably the Library Roy had spoken of. Ed moved over to the pile of books. Picking up the top one, she brushed away the dust, before moving to the next. It didn't take her long to pick out several alchemy books, before heading over to the counter again. After rummaging behind the counter, she pulled out a quill, the pot of ink with it. A quick shake of the bottle confirmed that it was still liquid, and she quickly added the titles of the books she had, with her name, to the tome on the counter. Satisfied, she took her pile of books and headed back to the cottage.

Something was off, she couldn't help but notice. On her way to the library the town had been full of military men and women, and now there was none. Where had they all gone so suddenly? Surely they couldn't all be at the cottage; there wouldn't be enough space for them there. Ed picked up her pace, suddenly painfully aware of how vulnerable she was. She wouldn't be able to fight with her wound, and even if she tried, she'd probably end up back in Fu's house. Edward rounded the corner into the alley that led to the main road, and stopped short, dropping the pile of books she had been carrying with a loud crash.

The girl, probably around eight or nine years old, lay on the ground, her brown hair dirty and clumped around her small face, her eyes closed as she struggled to breathe. Ed rushed over to her, her eyes scanning her body. Sure enough, she was covered in deep gashes, her blood oozing out of each one. The wounds were just like the ones she had seen on the other woman yesterday, and it didn't take Ed long to put two and two together. She dropped to her knees, taking the small girl in her arms carefully.

"Mama…"

"Shhh…" Ed watched as the girl opened her eyes, her green orbs pale and unseeing. Even though she wasn't a doctor, she knew there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to save her. Ed held her as her breathing slowed down, until it stopped. She just sat there, holding her lifeless body, anger and sadness radiating through her. Why would anyone kill this young girl? She had barely had a chance to live her life, and now she never would. Ed gently picked up her body, cradling it against her chest, before moving towards Fu's place, the books she had been carrying before forgotten. It wasn't that far to walk, but it felt like an eternity, every second feeling like it took weeks off of her. By the time she knocked on the door, she felt numb, her eyes not seeing anything other than the small blurry frame in her arms. So when the girl was lifted out of her arms by two strong arms, she barely noticed, just standing in the doorway, her eyes focussed on the ground.

Edward was faintly aware of being moved into the house by a firm hand on her back, and she found herself sitting in a chair in the kitchen. After a while, she had a hot cup of tea in her hands, as voices floated around her. The hand on hers pulled her back to reality, her golden eyes finally focussing on the onyx orbs in front of her, a worried frown having replaced the usual smug smirk on his lips.

"Edward, what happened? Are you hurt?"

She opened her mouth to speak, closing it a second later, unable to find her voice. Instead, she shook her head before lifting her cup to her lips, taking a sip of the tea in hopes that it would bring back her voice.

"This is why we needed the military here!" Roy snapped at Fu who stood at the opposite end of the kitchen.

"They would only have made the situation worse. As far as I'm concerned, having the two of you here is bad enough. This town is in the state it's in because of your precious military." Fu crossed his arms across his chest, glaring at Roy. "I stand by my decision. If you want to stay here until she's ready to be moved, there will be no other military personnel in this town."

"This is ridiculous! At least let my team stay as well."

"She's your subordinate, yes?"

"Yes, Edward is my…"

"Then you have your team."

Roy glared back as he got to his feet, his hand moving to Ed's shoulder. "Now you listen here. We are the military, and we can take this town by force if necessary."

Fu's brow raised in amusement, his eyes shifting to Edward as he spoke. "I dare you to try it, Mustang. See how long she survives in a full-blown rebellion."

Roy's fingers twitched, his other hand tightening on her shoulder, his voice low and threatening. "Are you threatening Edward?"

"No, I am merely stating the obvious. She won't be able to defend herself with her wound, so she might become a casualty in the rebellion. I don't really want to see her fall because of your stubbornness; after all, I saved her life. Wouldn't it be a total waste to have her die because of you?"

"I've had it with you! We will do…"

"Roy…" Her voice cracked as she spoke, making him turn to her instantly. He dropped down low in front of her, his eyes scanning her face as she swallowed hard, before continuing. "We need to catch the murderer. We can't let this bastard continue to kill innocent women." She stared at her hands as she spoke, painfully aware of the tears building up in her eyes as she recalled the little girl. "And if doing this without the military is what it takes, I think we should do it."

Roy watched her for a moment longer, before letting out a defeated sigh. Turning back to Fu, Roy ran his hand through his hair. "Alright, we'll agree that no other military personnel will come to Rayerk, with one exception." Roy held up his hand as Fu started to interrupt him. "I will have one of my subordinates come by the town every three days to report what is going on to me. This is not open to discussion. You either agree to these terms or I will take Rayerk by force."

Fu moved across the room, grabbing a stack of papers and a basket of vegetables that was standing on the table, before handing it to Roy, a scowl across his face. "That will have to do, then. Come back tomorrow for the Autopsy on Michelle. Now get out of my house."

Roy took the basket, the papers already being claimed by Ed, as they moved down the hall, Roy's hand on her back protectively. The door slammed shut behind them, making her look back at it, unsure of what to make with the new hostility towards them. Fu must really hate the military. Roy ran his hand through his hair before moving the down the road, away from their cottage. Ed followed him quietly, her eyes scanning over the papers in her hands.

They continued down the road until it suddenly ended, only woods in front of them. Edward scanned the trees, uncertain of what they were doing there, when she noticed the man against the tree, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Brigadier General, sir!" Havoc saluted, his cigarette moving up and down as he spoke. "Can we move back into the town?"

"You are to return to the town every three days with a report. Don't send Hawkeye, I don't want to put her in danger. We don't know anything about the killer yet, but we have to stay put to catch him. No other military personnel are allowed in Rayerk for the time being."

"Sir?"

"I would love to take over the town, but with Fullmetal wounded, it's not a good idea."

"Will the chief be alright if there's this much hostility towards the military? Won't he be in danger?"

Roy sighed as he turned to scan the town behind them, a few villagers moving around, oblivious of what was going on. "Fu won't let anyone hurt Fullmetal, not after he saved his life. As long as we stick to his wishes, that is. So just have everyone stay out of Rayerk, and set up a perimeter around it. Tell Hawkeye that we're alright, and we'll just handle this as a solo mission and get it done as fast as possible. Now get out of here, before word gets back to Fu."

Havoc saluted again, before disappearing back into the woods, leaving the two of them standing there.

Roy didn't like it one bit. He was used to doing what the higher ups told him to do, but complying with a civilian? It went against his entire being. But at that moment keeping Edward safe was more important than his pride as a military man. True, he could have called in the military and took Rayerk by force, but he knew better than most how hard it was to ensure the safety of anyone when fighting broke out. So for the time being Roy would go with what Fu insisted, at least until Ed was in a better position. Then he'd call in the big guns, take Rayerk by force and weed out the killer all in one go. A smirk crossed his face as he sat on the couch, nursing his cup of tea.

Edward sat across from him, her hair hanging on her shoulders as her fingers ran through it, her eyes focused on the report on her lap. She had been studying it since she got home, but it made even less sense now. There was nothing linking the two victims together. The first was a former florist, aged 27. Blue eyes. Brown Hair. No children. The second was a grandmother. Aged 63. Purple eyes. Black hair. Four children and seven grandchildren. Then there was the small girl she had found this morning. She was probably around 8 years old, with green eyes and brown hair. There was absolutely no common link between any of them. Unless you counted how they were killed. Her eyes scanned over the cause of death, signing. Blood loss from the sixty nine cuts on their body was the cause of death. What kind of psychopath cut someone sixty nine times and left them to bleed out?

Closing her eyes, Ed dropped the papers next to her on the couch before resting her head against the back of her seat, her human hand pinching the bridge of her nose. So many questions ran through her mind, she had trouble keeping up with them all. Why were there rebels from Aerugo, and what where they planning in Fenief? Who was killing all these women and why? What were they still doing in this town, and why had Roy agreed to Fu's terms. Never had she seen him give in that easily. Slowly she opened her eyes, glancing at the man across from her. Roy had his eyes closed, his cup in his one hand, the other resting on the back of the couch. She couldn't help but think that he looked right at home, like they weren't in some remote town, but instead back in his apartment after a pleasant date.

A blush crept onto her cheeks at the thought, making her shake her head before getting up and heading to her room, his eyes following her sudden movement, a frown on his face. She couldn't be thinking of him like that, not now and certainly not ever. He was her commanding officer, for crying out loud. After serving under his command for years, it had become surprisingly easy for her to deny she felt anything but respect and loathing for him, the crush she had on him not existing in her mind. But here, in this quiet little cottage in the middle of nowhere, Ed had some difficulty controlling her thoughts. He was just so frustratingly handsome all the time, and the cottage had such a romantic feel to it.

Edward slipped out of her coat before depositing it on her bed, grabbing the clothes Fu had sent for her yesterday. If she was being honest, she really didn't like the idea of wearing the night wear he had sent, but she had nothing else, the polo neck and pants she was currently in being the only non-dress item she currently owned, and they really needed a wash. Ed headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her before dropping the dress on the counter, turning the tap in the shower, grateful for the warm water as it ran over her hand, before she pulled off her shirt, carefully undoing her bandages. The wound hurt more than it did earlier that day, figuring it was probably due to the stress of the day. After undressing fully, she stepped under the warm water, letting it run over her face, relaxing as it washed away all her thoughts. All except for one. Onyx eyes staring at her, while strong fingers wrapped around hers, protectively.

A/N: Sorry if Roy and Ed seemed OOC slightly. The more I typed this, the more it felt like they were slipping. Next chapter should be better. Thank you all for the reviews, it makes me so happy :3 feel free to message me with questions :) Until next week.