Under the violent downpour stood Edward. Water dripped down his face, but it was only rain, crying would be out of the question for the person called Edward Elric. There was no way the boy would ever allow himself the luxury of crying; it didn't help him achieve his goals. And he couldn't allow himself that after forbidding someone from doing it, anyway.

He was currently in front of Maes Hughes's grave.

Edward had been standing there ever since he had left Roy's car over nine hours ago. That entire time was consumed in thoughts, things that a fourteen year old shouldn't be thinking about. But even though normality dictated it was wrong for him to think about those things, Edward often found himself forced to think about them, and his standing under the rain motionlessly was only a result of how much he was mentally torturing himself

"Brother!"

Although drowned by the sound of raindrops hitting the ground at rapid pace, a familiar metalic voice called out to him as he let his eyes slide towards the source of the voice who held an umbrella over the blonde's head. "Al...?" Then, a violent shock ran through his body, finally calling back the fire in his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Al?! Your blood seal is going to wash off!" Edward said, pushing Alphonse's arm back to himself so that the umbrella would cover his helmet. However, another umbrella suddenly protected him from the downpour, and when he turned around he found that the owner of the umbrella was Roy.

"I'd worry less about his blood seal and more about that brain of yours that seems to be gradually disappearing."

"Colonel..?" The look in his eyes suddenly shifted, and he tried to move away from Roy, but Roy only stepped forwards.

If he's scared of something, then I'll force it out of him. Roy, grabbed the flesh arm of the boy who was still trying to get away, and dragged him all the way to a tree, smashing the young boy against it. Edward cried out as his back violently collided against the hard surface, adding more suffering to his already throbbing metal limbs. However, that wasn't the end of it as Roy made a fist out of his free hand and punched Edward right in the cheek with it.

He wasn't used to Roy ever really using violence.

"Colonel, what are you doing?!" Alphonse shouted as he tried to restrain Roy, but someone interrupted him with a shout. "Stay away, Al!" Surprisingly enough, the person who had shouted this was not Roy but Edward himself as he clung onto his superior's fist that was holding him in place.

"Brother..." Alphonse muttered as he observed the two who looked like they were due for an argument. "Don't worry, I'm okay Al." Edward said reassuringly to his younger brother who still hesitated on letting Roy do as he pleases before returning a glare to Roy.

"That, was for the brother you keep worrying." Roy growled mercilessly at the boy whose eye was teary from the impact and subsequent burning sensation on his cheek. A second punch flew on Edward's face though the rain had drowned out any noise of impact. The added pain however had not been suppressed.

"And that, was for worrying my Lieutenant."

However, the last justification seemed to have unexpectedly riled him off. "Get the hell off me!" Edward growled right back as if he hadn't been glooming only a few seconds ago, using his automail to push Roy off him. Edward had succeeded and tried moving away but Roy was only briefly dazed by the push and moved to quickly grab Edward's metal arm, twisting the younger boy's body and arm to force him against the tree once again in an arm-lock.

Even if he was an alchemist, he remained a soldier nonetheless. One couldn't just underestimate the sheer strength of someone who had gone through harsh military training, Edward painfully noted.

"Now you listen to me, Fullmetal." His imposing voice rendered Edward unable to just cut him off in his sentence. "I am sick and tired of people hiding things from me like Hughes did." The mention of the name made Edward's eyebrows twitch. "You can keep glooming around all you want, but you are not going to continue hiding things from me."

For once, the contorted boy could see that there was obvious hurt in Roy's eyes and that was because if he had been aware of what was going on, then perhaps he would have prevented Hughes's death. "Do I make myself clear?" He reaffirmed his unrelenting will to prevent that from happening again as he tightened his grip. Edward frowned in confusion at the display Roy was showing.

"You're going to tell me what's the matter right this instant."

Edward stared indecisively at his superior for a few instants, should he tell him or not? Would he still manage to make things worst than they already are? Doubt plagued Edward's mind until Roy's grip tightened.

"What's the matter... with you?" Edward muttered out defiantly as the downpour raged on around them. Roy's confused stare caused him to continue. "What the fuck's up with you?" Edward repeated as he kicked his superior to loosen the grip around him without injuring him and pushed him away, not showing any intent on escaping besides moving away to avoid Roy grabbing him again.

"I'm afraid I don't get it, Fullmetal."

"Hey, Colonel..." Edward started with a dark and self-deprecating tone as his head dropped down and he re-adjusted his vest's collar. "Why the hell are you concerned about me, despite what I did? And what I said?"

Roy looked at him matter-of-factly despite the confusion he felt as he replied. "I'm not really sure what you mean by "what you did", though I'd like for you to remind me of a time where you didn't already say what you've told me since we've met."

This flared Edward up beyond what he could control. "I told you that you didn't care about Hughes! I wasn't even there when he died, despite the fact that it was entirely my fault and I still somehow managed to blame you! Yet you don't think anything of it!? Don't fuck around with me! Don't tell me you don't resent me for that, and that wasn't why you two lied to me!" As he realised what he was blurting out, Edward slapped his hands on his mouth.

...

"In the end, we... never really talked to Edward after what happened."

...

"Your accuracy is frightening as always, Lieutenant..." Roy muttered to himself as he was still trying to process what the boy was saying, surely a result of a distraught state of mind.

He had said way too much there. "That's not what I... That's..." He stuttered as a blush formed on his face, eyeing a place where he could just go and hide, because right now he really wanted to crawl in a hole and die there. Edward had only planned on asking why Roy was bothering with him, never on actually mentioning that he actually worried about whether Roy and Riza had started despising him. Edward fully expected the much hated jackassery Roy could display when mocking him so he tried to avoid saying anything about it, but despite that he went ahead and blurted it out...!

But worse... what if he confirmed it?

"Fullmetal." Roy called out, causing Edward to snap out of his stuttering frenzy and try to escape but Roy was faster and grabbed him by the trousers. Edward landed on his ass and Roy moved in front of him to show his dominance over the situation.

"So if I'm understanding correctly, the reason you've been avoiding me the past week wasn't because you were still angry at me for hiding his death..."

"Shut up!"

"...but because you were scared we would be angry at you?" Roy finished, but despite how hard he tried he couldn't stop a smirk from forming on his face, and Edward only glared at him. Edward used to act like an adult so much that Roy hadn't even imagined that the boy would care about a proper adult's feelings towards him, much like a child.

Though, when he thought about it, it made sense. Edward was still a child and he couldn't live fully independently no matter how hard he wanted to.

"Well excuse me for thinking about others, Colonel Shithead!" Edward said defensively in his embarrassment as he stood up. "I'll take care to be just as emotionless as you next time!"

"See, you say it all the time. Now, do you care to enlighten me on why I'd suddenly resent you?"

So far, no signs of resentment were apparent so Edward tried to look for an escape from this discussion. "Go to hell, bastard."

"If you're worried about embarrassing yourself any further, then it's somewhat late for that." Edward's stare spoke of murderous intents and made Roy slightly raise his hands in an attempt to make peace.

A heavy sighed followed as the boy thought about it. "You're not gonna let it go, are you?" Edward only stared at Roy; he gradually came to understand the older man would not get off his back until he satisfied his curiosity and he bit his lip as a result. Edward was very well-aware that if Roy had to follow someone to the ends of the Earth to obtain what he wants, he would do so.

"Absolutely not." Roy confirmed.

The boy sighed heavily as he scratched his head, he would most likely regret telling him once Roy would have his share of laughter, yet it didn't seem like he had been given a choice a choice. "All of this is my fault, isn't it?" Edward said with a self-deprecating laugh as he turned sideways to not face Roy. "No matter what I do, in the end I'm just a good-for-nothing that only makes other people casualties of my stupidity. Hughes got killed because he helped my in my reckless quest I should have been the only one to engage on."

Roy and Alphonse only listened to the boy who was worried that at any time, Roy would agree with him.

"Why wouldn't you and the Lieutenant hate me? Because I kept going with something that I knew was dangerous and carelessly decided to trust someone, I got your best friend killed. I'm so pathetic that because I couldn't stand it, I took it out on you and the others."

This time the unsettling emptiness in that child's eyes made Roy want to intervene, but Edward didn't even leave him the chance to reply as he continued.

"Alphonse, too..." Alphonse flinched as Edward lifted his hands to his face, hiding it behind his hands while he somewhat found himself enjoying the cold feeling of his metal hand as he started laughing again. "He said that he wasn't angry that I'd dragged him into this whole mess where he lost his body, but what now? Because of me, someone got killed. There's no way Alphonse wouldn't despise me if I just keep killing off everyone I know."

"Brother, that's not true! I'm at fault for Lieutenant Colonel Hughes's death as well!" Alphonse said, but when Edward finally removed his hands from his face it just looked defeated in its regret but his eyes had dared Roy to prove him wrong as he turned towards Alphonse. "No, you're not. And I don't even know how to make it up to you, Al..."

"Brother..." Alphonse was about to continue trying to persuade Edward he was just as equally at fault, but Roy stopped him by raising his arm in front of the armour.

"Fullmetal, were you trying to spend more time with your brother by not sleeping or eating to excuse yourself?" A weak nod from both brothers prompted Roy to carefully pick out his words as to not rile up the kid into accusing himself even further. "I can't help you with your brother, that's something only you two can sort out." And as he tapped Alphonse's armour he knew they would, those brothers had a very strong bond after all.

He said as he took a glance towards the grave Edward had been standing in front of. "But as for Hughes.. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"...What?"