Disclaimer: Legendarily Quiet does not own Fullmetal Alchemist

It was all his fault.

The thought played in Roy's mind, again and again and again, until it seemed to resonate throughout his entire being. From his stupid head to his useless fingers to his too-slow feet, every single part of him was to blame. Edward was lying in a hospital room somewhere, alone and in pain, and it was all because of him.

How in the world had things come to this? He had been trying so, so hard to make sure that Edward was cared for, to become the person that Ed could turn to for comfort, and all along the boy had been in danger from Roy himself.

The irony was not lost on him, but, sitting alone in the crowded waiting room, the colonel failed to find it amusing.

Just what the hell was in that drug? Ed had only been injected with it once, but the complications had just kept growing and growing during the following days. It didn't help that despite all the pretending and confident airs, no one knew a damn thing about what was flowing through Ed's veins.

Roy clenched his fists on his thighs as the familiar burst of anger surged through him at the thought of the drug. Yes, he had been the one to put Edward in the hospital this time around, and he took full responsibility for that, but the one who carried the real blame was Cassandra Bell.

Roy's lips curled into a sneer at the very thought of her name. Cassandra Bell. Such a sweet, unassuming could mistake her for a normal human being. But she wasn't. She wasn't a normal human being, because no normal human being would dare mess with a child – a child under his protection, no less – in such a sick, twisted way.

Roy didn't think that he hated anyone as much as he hated Cassandra Bell.

Being a high ranking officer in the military meant that Roy had it out for a lot of people. Almost everyone who had a higher ranking than him was on his hit list. Even the damn Fuhrer wouldn't be comfy and cozy in his position forever, so just who did that woman think she was?! She had no right, no authority, no permission to so much as lay a finger on Edward, and yet she had gone ahead and changed his life in such a profound way with just one poke of a needle.

And he had been helpless to stop it.

Roy's hand jerked, and he forced himself to keep his fingers curled into a fist on his lap. No need to go snapping in the waiting room and scaring people now. Not when that despicable woman wasn't around to feel the heat of his flames.

"Wow, that's a pretty scary face you're making."

Roy looked up as a body plopped into the seat beside him. "Hughes," he acknowledged, "when did you get here?"

"Just a minute ago. I came as fast as I could."

Roy closed his eyes as thoughts of the rushed, panicked phone call entered his mind, and he nodded to himself. "That was pretty fast."

"Yeah, and I brought Cassandra with me too."

The relief Roy was feeling at having his best friend beside him instantly took a nose dive. "You what?" he asked sharply, twisting around violently in his chair to face Hughes and drawing stares from the other occupants of the waiting room.

Hughes held up his hands in a pacifying manner, but his eyes were hard behind his glasses. A warning. "Calm down," he hissed quietly. "You're making a scene."

Roy's eyes darted towards the hall. The urge to drag Hughes to a private place so he could scream at him was strong, but he didn't want to miss the doctor in case he came out to update him on Ed's condition. With a huff, he turned away from Hughes and settled back in his chair, seething on the inside.

"What was I supposed to do Roy, leave her at home?" Hughes put an arm on the armrest of his chair and a fist over his mouth, leaning his whole body towards Roy. Voice in a low murmur, he said, "You and me both know that she's our best hope of finding a cure, and she brought something with her that she thinks will work."

Roy shot out of his seat. "And you're just going to let her inject him with it?! Without testing it to see if it won't just make him worse?!"

Everyone in the waiting room was staring at him, but Roy didn't care. He ran out of the waiting room and into the hall, intent on finding Edward and keeping him safe from whatever that – that monster had up her sleeve. Hughes ran after him.

"Roy, wait!" He grabbed Roy by the shoulder, but Roy shrugged off the offending hand and continued on. A sudden blow to the back of his head made him stumble though, and Roy turned around to face Hughes, surprise, shock, and anger running through every fiber of his being.

"What the hell, Hughes!"

Hughes gripped him by the shoulders and pushed him up against the wall. "Get ahold of yourself!" he scolded. Roy scowled back at him. If it was anyone else manhandling him, they'd already be on the floor, nothing more than a smoking lump of –

Hughes slapped him. Across the face. Hard.

They were away from prying eyes, and Hughes was letting him have it full force. "Just what do you take me for?" he growled lowly, eyes smouldering as they burned into him. "Don't you think I've already got it covered? That I don't have Ed's well-being first and foremost in my mind?"

He shook Roy a little bit. "Do you honestly believe that I would just let her go ahead without clearing it first?!"

Roy was too shocked to say anything.

"The cure that she has now wasn't made this morning, Roy. She's had it for a while now, and the blood sample she took earlier today was used to test it. She's bringing it straight to Dr. Westwood, and we're waiting for an okay from him before we bring it anywhere near Edward." Hughes sighed and let his hands fall from Roy's shoulders. "Geez Roy, have a little more faith, would you?"

Roy huffed and turned away. He could already feel his cheeks flushing red. "Well, excuse me for wanting to make sure."

Yup. That boy would definitely be his undoing one day.

Hughes clasped him on the shoulder, demeanor light and bubbly again, as he shouldered past Roy on his way back to the waiting room. "I know you're worried about Ed, but let's wait for the doctor, eh?"

Roy made sure that by the time they reached the waiting room, he was the picture of cool and composed. He made his way to his vacated seat without turning his head left or right, and sat down in his chair with the gracefulness of a king. He pointedly ignored the stares coming from all directions. Hughes returned to the seat beside him. His face was stoic, but Roy could see that his eyes were full of mirth.

Roy pointedly ignored him, too.

He sat straight up in his chair, clam, collected, and in control, pushing his worry and anger deep down inside him. And he stayed that way, embarrassed and pretending and plotting his vengeance on Cassandra Bell, until Dr. Westwood entered the room and called, "Colonel Roy Mustang?"

Roy got up so fast that he nearly knocked over his chair.

Edward groaned and opened his eyes, already knowing where he was and exactly what he would see. Ugly, boring, hospital white glared back in his face. "Ugh." The puff of air that escaped him was pathetic to say the least, and he took a moment to be thankful that no one was around to see him in his moment of weakness. Ed's entire body was hurting, a dull, throbbing reminder of what had transpired earlier, and his head was aching something awful.

"I hate this," he announced to the room at large.

"You and me both, kiddo."

Edward looked up as a nurse waltzed her way into the room. He didn't recognize her, but he supposed it didn't matter; a nurse was a nurse, and they were all the same: torturers in disguise.

The nurse seemed to read the expression that crossed his face at the thought, and hurried to say, "Don't worry; we already took a blood sample from you."

Ed huffed and looked down at the needle embedded in his arm. He decided that the statement wasn't worthy of a reply, and instead asked the question that had been tugging at his mind since he woke up. "Where's Roy?"

"The man you came here with?"

Ed nodded, and then winced as it brought on a fresh wave of pain.

"He's in the waiting room right now. Dr. Westwood just went out to get him. They'll spend a few minutes talking before making their way here."

Great. Ed was going to be left out of the loop again. He gingerly set his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes.

"Here, sweetie, I'll give you something for the pain."

Ed opened his eyes and glared at the nurse. "No," he said flatly. "I don't want anything."

This was nothing. Really. He'd been through worse.

The nurse shrugged. "Well, if you're sure then."

As she went about checking his vitals and whatnot, Edward allowed himself to relax. The pain was slowly lessening, and he thought that he would be okay for the time being. As long as he didn't have a repeat experience with Roy . . .

What the hell had happened, anyways?

He had thought that he had been the one in control now. That as soon as he stopped fighting Roy and just acceptedthat he was going to be crazy in the head for the time being, he would be alright and his body would stop trying to kill him. Was owning up to his feelings and accepting Roy's care like a man not enough anymore?

Gosh, was this thing going to keep going until it killed him?

Edward swallowed and turned his head to the side. He had to let Roy know about this somehow. Maybe they could work something out, go back to the way things were before, so that Ed's heart wouldn't start pounding and his vision wouldn't start spinning whenever Roy opened his mouth and something nice came out of it.

Maybe he had to just get away from the man entirely.

Ed lifted up his head again and looked towards the nurse. "Excuse me?" he said. "You said that Roy would be coming here, right?"

The nurse grinned at him. "Missing him already? Yeah, he's on his way, but I could go get him now if you want." She turned towards the door.

"No!" Another jolt of pain shot through him, and Ed fought to keep back a grimace. "I'd actually prefer it if you told him not to come. I think I need some space for a while."

The nurse's grin faded and her lips turned downwards. "He's been worried sick about you, you know," she said, somewhat sternly. "It would be a shame not to let him see that you're alright."

No. That would be the last thing Ed needed. If Roy just burst in here on full worry mode, the same thing would just happen all over again. "Please," he tried again, "could you tell him that I don't think it's a good idea for him to see me right now? He'll understand."

The nurse frowned at him openly, no doubt thinking that he was some sort of selfish child for making his guardian worry. "I'll let him know," she said, "but I won't stop him if he still wants to come in."

"Thanks." Ed nodded at her and tried to smile, but the nurse didn't return one as she walked briskly out the door. Oh well. It wasn't like he even liked her, anyway.

She was a nurse, after all.

"We're running out of time."

Dr. Westwood's voice was low and serious, and seemed to suck any and all lightheartedness out of the room. Roy was having a hard time not glaring at the woman standing beside the doctor, and instead kept his eyes focused solely on the grey haired man's face.

"Edward is overloaded with the drug, and I fear it will only be a matter of time until his body can't take it anymore."

The implication was not lost on anyone in the room, and the woman beside the doctor gulped and seemed to tremble. Roy wanted to sneer at her, if only because the statement made her so obviously guilty and uncomfortable, but it was Edward they were talking about, and Roy's hatred for Cassandra Bell was petty while Ed was still in danger.

"Ms. Bell has brought a possible cure with her today. I've examined it, and it looks very promising. In fact, it's the only promising thing we have at the moment. I'd like to give it to Edward today."

Hope wanted to blossom in Roy's chest, but wariness held it back. This could be it, the breakthrough that they were all looking for, but what if it wasn't? What if something went wrong, and Edward suffered because of it?

"Are you absolutely sure that this cure won't harm Edward?" he asked. Roy tried to keep his voice neutral, but he must have failed because Hughes gave him a sharp look.

Dr. Westwood sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "At this point," he said, "it can't do any more harm than good."

Edward's eyes narrowed and a scowl appeared on his face as soon as she walked through the door. It was her. The nurse that had made him so damn uncomfortable earlier, was standing there, a soft smile on her face and a tray in her hands. What was her name again? Bell? Well, he didn't like her.

The woman stepped fully into the room, revealing Dr. Westwood, Hughes, and Roy a few steps behind her. Ed quickly averted his eyes so that he didn't have to look at the man. Damn. What was Roy doing here?! Well, Ed supposed that he shouldn't be surprised; the nurse from earlier had obviously been reluctant to deliver his message, and it would've been too easy to simply decide not to deliver it at all.

Now he had another strike against the fiends of humanity.

"Good news, Edward!" Hughes spoke up, as bouncy and cheerful as ever. "We have a possible cure for you!"

Hughes' voice rang in his head and seemed to bounce off the walls of his skull. "Ouch. Tone it down, Hughes," he grumbled.

"Edward? Are you okay?"

Roy Mustang was a man on a mission. He came right up to Ed's bedside, and the boy pointedly turned his head away, hoping Roy would get the message.

He did not.

Roy's hand was already on his face, turning his head and examining him from every angle. He seemed to have forgotten that he was the one responsible for putting Ed in the hospital in the first place.

Ed could already feel his heart begin to beat a little faster, and the now familiar pain was starting to buzz within him again. He gritted his teeth.

"Roy . . ."

"Give the kid some space!" Hughes, ever the perceptive one, was quick to grab Roy by the shoulder and pull him bodily away. Edward breathed a sigh of relief as the building pain suddenly diminished.

"Let's give him the cure first, shall we?"

Roy was giving him a look, one that promised he would be demanding explanations later, and Ed chose to ignore it in favour of focusing on the cure. "Sounds good to me," he mumbled.

"Right then." Dr. Westwood chose that moment to step forward – why hadn't he done that sooner – and the Bell nurse was quick to follow. "Let's get on with the procedure."

Ed took one look at the needle in his hands and felt his stomach drop. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and said, "Please Truth, just let this be quick."

The procedure, was in fact, not quick. Dr. Westwood – the asshole – was taking his sweet, sweet time. Edward growled low in his throat, trying not to think about it, but the pinprick of pain in his arm was not something that he could easily ignore. "What's taking so damn long?!" he asked, keeping his eyes averted from the arm in question.

Roy came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Ed," he said, "I'm here; so there's no need to panic."

Urgh. Would that man ever learn?

"Get your hand off me!" Ed barked, summoning up his near unfailing anger to counter the effects that were threatening to overtake him again. Roy raised both his hands in a surrender gesture, and took a few steps back. That wasn't enough though, and Edward squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to delay the inevitable.

But it was Hughes who saved him – again.

"Roy, have I shown you my darling Elicia's latest pictures?" The man was beaming, and the light reflected off his glasses, hiding his eyes. "We went to the park the other day, and I captured the most amazing –"

"I don't that now is the appropriate tim–"

"I INSIST!"

Edward breathed a sigh of relief as Hughes literally took Roy by the arm and dragged him out of the room. The hospital door shut behind them with a bang.

"There, all done!" Dr. Westwood took the needle out – what the freaking hell, that was the longest shot in his life, should've been an IV – and the Bell nurse stepped forward with a piece of gauze and a band aid at the ready.

She pressed the gauze to his arm, and Edward was sure he would have flinched, had he been able to. "You're a brave one, aren't you?" she murmured.

Edward felt his left eye twitch. Was this lady really going to start with all that crap again? He pursed his lips and flipped his head away from the woman to glare at the wall. The doctor was still in the room, so surely she would hold her tongue and remain professional this time around?

Dr. Westwood suddenly got up and left the room, head buried in his clipboard and muttering something about finding his guardian.

Well, the universe had never really been kind to him, so he supposed he should've been expecting it. Barely a second passed before Edward felt a hand in his hair and a soft voice in his ear. "But you don't need to be brave," she whispered. "You're still a child, after all."

Edward took a deep breath and opened his mouth wide. "GET OFF ME!"

The Bell woman leapt up just as the door banged open a few seconds later. Roy stood there, eyes locked onto the nurse and face livid. "I told you to stay away from him!" he shouted, striding forward with a hand outstretched. Roy grabbed her roughly by the arm just as Hughes ran into the room huffing and puffing.

"Roy!" he gasped between breaths. "Let go of her right now!"

Roy didn't listen, just stood there, breathing heavily. His expression was plain murderous, and Ed felt a twinge of fear. He was suddenly reminded that this was a man who could shoot flames out of his fingers, who could bring cities to the ground and massacre thousands of people . . .

Edward regretted over-reacting. Roy probably thought that she had been molesting him or something, when all she had done was call him a child.

Edward cleared his throat. "Roy," he said nervously. "Calm down. She didn't do anything."

Roy felt like he was drowning in a sea of fire and rage. How dare she lay a hand on Edward, after he had specifically told her to stay away?! Cassandra Bell had a death sentence, no doubt about that. He tightened his hold on her arm, and Cassandra Bell winced. Good. Let her feel a small fraction of the pain Ed had suffered at her hand–

"Roy, calm down. She didn't do anything."

Edward's voice was like a ray of sunshine in the middle of a storm. Roy suddenly remembered where he was, and everyone else in the room. His eyes snapped up, and then he was staring into molten gold, eyes full of confusion and . . . fear.

The weight of his actions seemed to crash down on him in that one moment. He let go of Cassandra Bell and she stumbled away from him, bringing a hand up to her abused arm. Roy didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. There was no way for him to erase what had just happened. Hughes was staring at him with an odd mix of anger and disappointment on his face. He went up to Cassandra Bell and led her out of the room, making a gesture to Roy with his head towards Edward on his way out.

Roy felt everything inside of him deflate. He ran a hand down his face and sighed, feeling all previous anger seep out of him. Edward was still looking at him with unsettled eyes, and that look hurt him more than he thought it should.

He took a few steps forward and leaned over Edward's bed. "I'm sorry," he said, wrapping his arms around the teen carefully. "I lost control of my anger, and I'm sorry you had to see that. Please know that I'd never do anything to hurt you; I care about you too much."

Edward didn't say anything, and Roy only held him for a beat longer before drawing away, resigned. But there was no look of hate or fear or confusion when Roy looked down at his charge. Ed was looking him in the eye, an expression of quiet wonderment on his face.

Ed opened his mouth, then closed it. "I believe you," he finally said.

"Then why–"

"It's just–" Ed's lips quirked up into a smile. "Nothing hurts right now."

Roy didn't really understand the significance of that statement, but apparently it was a big deal for Edward, because he started laughing softly. His quiet laughter seemed to fill the hospital room, and in that moment, Roy could do nothing more than smile and bask in the tranquility that surrounded them both.

He'd deal with Cassandra Bell later.

Legendarily Quiet: Well . . . we're getting there, aren't we?

Lest: Definitely!

L.Q: I'd like to give a big thank-you to everyone who has continued supporting this story; your reviews mean a lot to me!

Lest: Tell them about the poll!

L.Q: Yes yes! For those of you who have strong feelings about Cassandra Bell, there's a poll on my profile page that will be used to decide her fate in this fic! Personally, I don't really like her myself . . .

Lest: But maybe YOU do!

L.Q: Yeah, so please go check that out, and leave a review before you go! Till next time!