Disclaimer: Legendarily Quiet does not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Roy would've been lying if he had said that he hadn't been half expecting Edward to fall asleep right after Roy's little 'confession'. Roy stared down at the teen snoring lightly in his arms, dried tear tracks running down his cheeks, and decided that the whole thing was rather unnatural. Edward had cried himself to sleep after Roy had told him that he cared about him.
Again.
Roy sighed. First it was on the couch three days ago, and now it was here in the bedroom. Was this another weird effect of the drug? Making someone respond overemotionally when faced with proclamations of care? What kind of person would even want to make something like this in the first place? Just what was the point of it all?
Roy gently lay the teen back down on the bed, and then went to the closet in the hall for another blanket. He placed it over Edward and tucked in all the corners. If a pattern was starting to be seen here, then at least the teen would have a good night's sleep. With one last glance at his sleeping charge, Roy headed to his study.
He needed to make a phone call.
Cassandra looked up from the papers in her hand as the sound of her daughter's laughter drifted down the hall and through her open door. Anna and Elicia had hit it right off, and in one day the two of them had become as thick as thieves. Cassandra hadn't noticed it before, but it had been a long time since the sound of laughter and the pitter-patter of tiny feet had been heard in her house. She supposed it must've been a regular occurrence here.
"Cassandra?" Gracia appeared in the doorway. "Dinner is about to start, and we'd be delighted if you'd join us."
Cassandra offered the kind woman a small smile. "Thank-you. I'll be there in a moment."
Gracia nodded and walked off, the gentle smile never leaving her face.
That woman was a great mother. Cassandra had seen the way she treated Elicia – how she treated Anna – and she had to say that the woman fit her role perfectly. Gracia devoted all her time and attention to her family, and it was obvious to see how happy they all were. The bubble that Elicia lived in day in and day out was a safety and protection that should've been guaranteed to all children. Edward, Alphonse, Anna . . .
Cassandra shook her head and stood up, fully intent on joining the family for dinner.
The phone rang two times before Hughes picked up. "You called just in time, Roy! I was just thinking about calling you to tell you about something amazing that's happened; my daughter got a new playmate! I have to admit, I was a little nervous at first, but Anna has been such a big sis– "
"Hughes!" Roy felt his fingers twitch, and wondered for the millionth time if there was a way he could send flames through the phone.
"No need to be so snappish, Roy. You could come over and see them too if you li– "
"It happened again."
Maes was quiet on the other end, but only for a heat beat. "Care to elaborate?" he asked with a serious tone.
Roy sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Edward had another emotional breakdown. He completely lost it and cried again. He's asleep right now, but I just don't know what to do."
"Do you have any idea what brought it on? Did you do or say anything similar to what you said the last time?"
"Well yes, actually." Roy stared hard at the wall across from him. "The circumstances surrounding the two incidents were a little different, but I comforted him both times."
"Comforted him how?"
Roy grew a little uncomfortable, knowing how Hughes was going to react. "Well, it was nothing major. I basically just told him that I . . . cared . . . about him and his wellbeing."
Roy could just see the smirk on Hughes' face. "Congratulations Roy! I think you've finally got the joys of parenting down! Now just make sure to make it a regular occurrence– "
"Will you cut it out for one minute, Hughes?!" Roy interrupted, growing angry. "This isn't about me; we have to focus on Ed's condition!"
Really, how could Hughes still be going on about Roy being a good father at a time like this? It didn't matter how supportive and fatherly Roy could be if Edward ended up dead because of the damn drug.
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Hughes, I don't care about the why or the how anymore," he said, trying to reign in his anger, "I just want a cure for Edward, and I want it now."
". . . I'll do my best."
"Thank-you."
Cassandra smiled to herself as she looked around the table. Anna and Elicia were chatting excitedly to Alphonse, with Maes and Gracia adding little comments here and there.
This was a perfect family scene.
Cassandra knew that she shouldn't be comparing the Hughes family to her own, but she couldn't help feeling wistful as Anna and Elicia laughed at something Alphonse had said. This light, happy atmosphere could've easily been around her dinner table, if only . . .
Well, not all couples were perfect.
Maes and Gracia seemed to be as close to perfect as one could be though, and Cassandra was glad for that. It was comforting to know that there were still children in the world who could grow up with two loving parents by their side.
All too soon, Gracia and Alphonse were clearing up the dishes, and Maes was shepherding the girls off to bed. Cassandra stood up, tucked in her chair, and trotted after Maes and the kids. She laughed with him at the antics of their little girls, and helped bathe them and tuck them into bed.
She was just about to head off to her own room – the guest room – but a hand on her shoulder brought her short.
"Cassandra, I would like to talk with you about what's going to happen tomorrow."
Cassandra's spirits lifted at the thought of her finally working to right her wrongs. "Don't worry," she assured Maes, "I know exactly what to do."
There was no way she was going to mess this up.
The next morning brought a lot of trepidation for Roy. It would be the moment of truth, for a lot of different things. First things first though; he had to see if Edward remembered anything from last night.
"Rise and shine!" Roy strode into the room, straight towards the blinds. He had found that opening them and letting the sun shine into Edward's face was a better alternative to hitting him with a pillow. Edward groaned as the light hit his face and turned his head away.
"Lemme sleep, Roy. There's no need to get up at the crack of dawn."
"It's seven o'clock," Roy said, flipping the blankets off of the teen. "Besides, you have a doctor's appointment today, remember?"
Roy held his breath.
"What? You never told me about any appointment!" Edward scowled at Roy as the man positioned his arms to lift him up.
"I told you about it just last night, Edward," Roy said nonchalantly. "Were you even paying attention at all yesterday? You looked pretty zoned out."
"Huh, I guess I was pretty out of it," Ed said with a frown. "I don't remember you saying that at all."
"Well, at least you know now."
Inside, Roy's heart sank. He suddenly had a strange, almost uncontrollable urge to find this 'Cassandra Bell' woman and beat the cure out of her. If Ed didn't remember anything from the point when Roy told him about his doctor's appointment, then he certainly wouldn't remember anything that had happened afterwards.
All that emotional sincerity on his part . . . for nothing!
Someone was definitely going to pay. He didn't care how nice Ed's kidnapper turned out to be. What she had done was still illegal, and by the end of it, she would be in jail.
The rest of the morning went by without incident, and soon enough, Roy had Ed bundled up in the car and they were on their way to the hospital.
Edward felt like he was some kind of child's toy, lying on the examination table while Dr. Westwood manipulated his limbs.
"These are some passive range of motion exercises," the doctor told Roy as he lifted Ed's flesh leg and bent his knee. "You'll have to do this daily, as it's important to exercise his joints and help maintain his muscles."
"Right." Roy nodded his head and moved closer to the examination table, a look of intense concentration on his face. Edward didn't believe that Roy would be able to pick up the whole routine just by watching Dr. Westwood do it once, but the man was certainly welcome to try.
"I'll be sure to get you an instruction booklet before you leave, so that you can do it properly at home."
Well.
Roy nodded again, but didn't take his eyes off Ed. Edward didn't feel too self-conscious – his dignity was all but gone at this point – but he was still squirming on the inside under Roy's intense gaze. Edward didn't relish the idea of Roy having to do yet another thing for Ed that he should've been able to do himself, but he had to admit that the knowledge that his muscles wouldn't waste away while he was in this condition was a great relief.
Soon enough, Dr. Westwood finished with the exercises. "Now," the doctor said with a note of finality, "all that's left to do is take a blood sample." He gave a small nod to the nurse who had been quietly standing in the corner of the room. She stepped forward, the needle already in her hands.
No. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Just how many needles had he been subject to in the last few days? Couldn't life give him a break once? Truth knew he deserved one! But noo, Edward Elric didn't get a break, and he could only stare in horrified silence as the nurse began to swab his arm with a cotton ball.
"Do you need me to hold your hand?"
The colonel stood there, the beginnings of a smirk playing on his lips. Through his panic, Edward gave him the most intense glare he could. One day, they would all pay. But for now . . .
"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"
The nurse's eyes widened at his outburst, but when neither Roy nor Dr. Westwood seemed overly concerned, she decided that it was safe to proceed.
"Oh, you poor child," she said, "do you not like needles?"
Normally, Ed would've been on her immediately for calling him a child, but the tone of her voice made him pause. She sounded vaguely familiar and her words tugged on the edges of his memory. He felt like he knew his woman somehow . . .
But now was not the time to dwell on it, as she was currently advancing towards him at an unsafe pace with the intention to stab him with a large and pointy object of torture.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK?! OF COURSE I DON'T LIKE NEEDLES AND WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD – AH!"
The nurse didn't even let him finish before she imbedded the metal in his flesh.
"HOLY HELL! GET THIS OUT OF MY ARM RIGHT NOW! TAKE IT OUT TAKE IT OUT TAKE IT OUT-!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw Roy and Dr. Westwood leave the room. He would be getting no help from those two traitorous bastards.
"Shh."
A finger to his lips put a halt to his protests, and Ed stared up into soft green eyes. The nurse removed her finger and instead placed her whole hand down over his eyes. Ed growled softly and jerked his head from side to side.
"Just what do you think you're playing at?!"
"Nothing, dear." Her voice was soft and gentle, a lot like his own mother's, and Ed felt himself relax unintentionally.
"I didn't mean to cause you any pain – believe me I didn't – and I'm sorry for that, but I promise that you will be better soon."
The nurse moved her hand to stroke his hair, and Ed had to stop his eyes from falling shut. "Can you please take your hand off me?" came his strangled response instead.
"Ah, I apologize."
The woman returned her hand to herself, and Ed breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. The nurses usually weren't this touchy with him, and this lady's actions had led him to feel extremely uncomfortable.
"There we are, all done!" The nurse removed the needle from his arm in one swift motion, and applied pressure to the site of the shot. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"It was horrible."
"There's no need to be so sulky," the nurse said, sticking a band aid onto his arm. "A child like you should be enjoying life to the fullest."
"Would you stop that already? I'm not a child!" Ed proclaimed. This woman was starting to get on his nerves. Couldn't she just do her job and leave? Were all these extra comments necessary? She wasn't his mom, for goodness' sake!
Oh no. There was that look, and the nurse was giving it to him in full force, full of sadness and pity.
"Edward, though you may not believe it, you are a child," she said. She reached out to take his hand, but the low noise Ed made in his throat stopped her movements.
"I haven't been a child for a long time, lady," Ed said, his voice hard. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me one again, especially seeing as I'm a major in the military."
The nurse opened her mouth, but her reply was cut off as the door opened and Roy strode into the room. "Are you all done here?"
"Yes."
Edward gave the nurse a significant look, and she got the message. Resigned, she stood up, collected all her equipment, and made her way to the door. Before she left however, she turned around and said to Ed with a smile, "My name is Cassandra Bell, by the way. I hope to get to know you better in the upcoming days, as I'll be working with Dr. Westwood in your treatment."
With a flip of her red hair and a few clicks of her heels, she was gone.
Roy fought to keep his expression neutral as he stared after Cassandra. This was the kidnapper, right there. The person who had captured his subordinate and drugged him, the person who had stolen his mobility and made him lose his memories!
"Just give me a minute Ed," Roy said. "I have to talk to someone quickly."
Roy turned around and took off down the hall with Ed's voice shouting after him, "Isn't she too old for you?!"
"Cassandra!" Roy called out as he hurried down the hall. The nurse slowed her steps and turned around slightly.
"What can I do for you, Colonel?" she asked politely.
"I have a few inquiries to make about Edward's condition," Roy said. "Perhaps we can discuss it in here?"
He grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her into an empty examination room. Roy closed the door and crossed his arms over his chest, if only to stop himself from torching her right then and there.
"Listen," he said, his voice low and threatening. "I am personally putting my trust in you and giving you a chance to cure my subordinate, instead of just locking you in a dark cell where you belong." Roy breathed in slightly, trying to quell the rage suddenly burning within him. "If you give me even the slightest reason to think that you can't be trusted, or that you are going to harm Edward in any way, don't think that I won't hesitate for a moment to give you just what's coming to you."
Roy resisted the urge to rub his fingers in front her face. Her eyes were wide, with just the right amount of fear dancing in them for Roy to feel satisfied that he'd gotten his point across.
"Edward plays a role in many people's lives," he said more softly, "and he has people counting on him to make it through the day and achieve his goals." He gave her a sharp look. "You messing around with his life is just despicable, and I won't stand for it, you hear?"
Cassandra nodded fervently.
Roy turned to leave, but stopped at the doorway as he remembered something. "And also," he said, "don't pretend to be something you're not. Just do your job, and don't come any closer to Edward than you need to be. He belongs to me."
Roy closed the door behind him with a final click, leaving Cassandra to stand alone in the examination room, shaking as tears silently slid down her face.
Legendarily Quiet: Boy am I glad I didn't make any promises in the last chapter.
Lest: But you've been busy lately, haven't you?
L.Q: You can say that again. School, work, my house catching on fire (I really miss having a kitchen!), and a provincial exam that I'm taking in two days that I haven't made a single effort to study for are my excuses.
Lest: The last one isn't really an excuse though, is it?
L.Q: Huh, I guess you're right. ANYWAYS, thank you so much to everyone who gave me life in the form of reviews during the last chapter. Please do so again after reading this sentence and I will love you forevermore!