He could hear screaming. Screaming that wasn't his own, that wasn't from people being burned alive. This was a scream of utter desperation.
He was in a basement, a familiar suit of armour staring at him from the wall. He turned, noticing the large transmutation circle on the floor, the abomination that had come of it, and the small blond boy bleeding out next to it.
"You're not taking Al from me, you're not!"
Roy felt the panic, the desperation, the heartbreak; it twisted his gut until he thought he would double over in pain.
The suit of armour clanged as it fell to the floor.
"Take whatever you want, but give Al back! Give him back!"
Give him back, give him back, you bastard! Take me, just take me. Ed's thoughts rang out in his head, laced with panic.
Blue light shone bright, blinding him, before the boy fell in a small heap on the floor, blood pooling around him. The suit of armour sprang to life.
"Brother!"
He blinked, and he was in a house, a living room. Dull golden eyes stared at him unseeingly.
He was sent here to recruit a man, but before him was a boy in a wheelchair. A boy, only eleven years old, who had just survived a failed attempt at Human Transmutation, and transmuted his brother's soul into an inanimate object right after. It was unheard of.
He offered the position anyway. He could feel Riza's incredulity next to him, but she remained silent.
And suddenly Ed was stood in front of him, older and taller. They were almost the same height. They stared at each other unflinchingly.
Roy saw himself through those golden eyes, he felt the passion Ed put into that gaze, the determination to right what he had wronged.
And he knew he'd made the right choice.
"Sir, he's just a child." Upon seeing the look on his face, Hawkeye paused. "You have a plan."
Roy smirked, turning his head to gaze outside the train window. "I always have a plan, Lieutenant."
"Do you think he'll come? His eyes looked dead."
"You think so? I only saw fire in those eyes."
His alarm rang, filling the room in that annoying shrill sound he hated, and Roy grunted, promptly switching it off. He felt wide awake, rested.
He'd managed to fall asleep, but he'd had the weirdest dream.
He turned onto his back, his mind whirling. He was pretty sure part of that had been Ed's dream. But then it had morphed into his own. Whose dream had it been?
And most importantly, had Ed fallen asleep last night after all?
Because if he hadn't, that meant the bond would give them each other's memories as dreams regardless of whether they were sleeping at the same time or not.
The thought made him uneasy. If that were the case, he'd rather sleep at the same time as Ed so he could at least see what private memory of Roy's he was witnessing.
Quickly throwing the duvet off him, he threw on his sweatpants and opened the door. Ed was rubbing at his eyes, looking disgruntled, his hair dishevelled.
The books were on the floor next to him; it didn't look like he'd just been reading anything. No, it looked like he'd just woken up.
Roy cursed, and Ed's head snapped up to him, eyes wide.
"You fell asleep," Roy accused.
Ed scowled at him, but his cheeks were tinted red. He felt the emotion through the bond; Ed was embarrassed. "It was the bond."
Roy rolled his eyes, huffing as he started down the stairs. He heard Ed gather his books and follow him. "Sounds like an excuse to me."
"Bastard," Ed muttered, and Roy pointedly ignored the insult.
In the kitchen, Roy switched on his coffeemaker as Ed reached for the cereal. Absently, he wondered when he and Ed had fallen into a morning routine.
"The bond is making us sleep at the same time."
Roy pursed his lips, getting his mug from the cupboard. "Well, we would've known for sure if you hadn't fallen asleep."
Ed nearly broke the cereal box he was squeezing it so hard. "I only fell asleep because you did!"
"The better way to determine if the bond is making us sleep at the same time is if I couldn't fall asleep because you were awake."
Ed looked at him incredulously. "Are you fucking serious right now? I told you that!"
"I had to test it for myself, but you fell asleep and ruined it."
Ed glared at him. Roy glared back.
"Fuck, you're such an uptight bastard," Ed grumbled, breaking eye contact.
"And you're the most annoying person I know."
"You're the one with the stick up his ass!"
"There's nothing up my ass," he snapped, whirling his body to face Ed with a scowl and accidentally spilling some of his coffee on the counter.
Ed paused. Blinked. And then snorted.
Roy realised, belatedly, what he'd said. The heat up his neck in response to that realisation only added to the annoyance he felt towards Edward Elric.
Only Ed could make him lose his composure like that. He got him so riled up he said stupid shit like that. Ed was dangerous and this bond had to be broken immediately.
Roy felt his pulse in his neck, annoyance was bubbling inside of him, and he could feel Ed matching it through the bond.
This situation was absurd. A week ago he never would've imaged he'd be in his kitchen wearing only sweatpants arguing with Edward as he poured his morning coffee. And to add to his annoyance, Ed had ignored his multiple requests for him to put on some damn clothes; he was once again in his boxers, just his boxers, and his hair had been thrown up in a sad attempt at a ponytail.
"You're a fucking idiot," Ed said, humour in his voice, suddenly calm. He grabbed his cereal bowl and sat at the kitchen table, eating his dry-ass cereal like they hadn't just been yelling at each other.
He was giving Roy whiplash.
Embarrassment burned through him, and his inwardly cursed himself for losing control. It always seemed to happen around fucking Edward Elric.
Roy decided to hide his surprise at the change in tone, and sat at the table himself, sipping his coffee like he was having the most pleasant morning of his life. He refused to think that maybe Ed could feel his confusion, surprise, and ample embarrassment through the bond.
Since it had been a week since he and Ed had been soul bonded, Roy decided to write his first - and hopefully last - update report to Fuhrer Grumman.
There was, sadly, not that much to report. What they had so far was mostly theories, and their own experiences. Roy debated how much detail to go into about that particular bit. He wasn't about to describe what type of dreams they had, but he would mention that they did in fact view each other's dreams. He would also mention their experiment in the park, and highlight the potential implications for the military.
He'd written the first paragraph when Ed noticed he was writing a much more formal document than his notes. "What are you writing?"
"A report for the Fuhrer," he replied, not looking up. He made a mental note to write about Ed's mention of alkahestry and next steps they could potentially take in their research.
Ed rolled his eyes, going back to his book. "Waste of time, you can report to him when we've broken the bond."
Roy pursed his lips, lifting his pen from the paper. "It doesn't take me nearly as much time to write an official report as it takes you, Fullmetal."
Ed glared at him.
"And," Roy went on, "contrary to you, I can spell."
Ed crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "You're being a right dick today. You do know I left school at eleven."
Roy waved a hand dismissively. "You had plenty time to learn after that."
Ed shot him an annoyed incredulous look, but decided not to reply, going back to his book. Roy did know he was being a bit of a dick, since the last thing Ed would've focused on the past seven years would be to learn perfect spelling, but Ed had been grating on his nerves since their argument this morning, and something had to give. At least he was semi-dressed now, having thrown on pants.
It took him approximately an hour to finish writing the report. He saw Ed's miffed expression that he'd finished it so fast, but refrained from saying anything. They would have to go to Headquarters tomorrow and hand it in. Perhaps they'd also stop by the office and he'd make sure everything was running smoothly.
He didn't know how long he could afford to be out of office. The paperwork had to be reaching mountain levels right now. He was sure Grumman had given a lot of it to other Generals instead, but still. He liked to think he was a much needed member of the military. He recalled Ed telling him he thought he was too important, and he felt a spark of irritation.
"I'm almost done with my books." Ed was looking at him as he slipped the report into a manilla folder ready for tomorrow.
Roy nodded. "Tomorrow we hand this in to Grumman, pass by the office and go to the library for more books."
He ignored the slight apprehension he felt at being outside for so long with Ed next to him.
Ed scowled at the plan, closing the book he just finished and grabbing another, his last one. "I fucking hate being in Headquarters. Wish I could just meet you at the library and skip all your military bullshit."
Roy arched a brow at that. "Why did you stay in the military then? There's nothing tying you here." Well, apart from him at the minute, but once the bond was broken Ed was free to go.
He never understood why he'd stayed anyway. Ed had always shown his dislike for the military, and the fact that he'd renewed his contract after the Promised Day, declining a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, would never make sense to Roy. He could've been living a quiet life in Resembool right now; he could've never spoken to Roy ever again if he so wished.
That alternate reality didn't appeal to Roy, the thought of never speaking to Ed again causing something to quiver deep inside of him, but it was one that made sense. Ed deeply disliked Roy after all; he'd always made that plainly obvious.
Ed shrugged, throwing an arm over the back of his chair. "I would be bored out of my skull in Resembool, I just wanna keep doing what I always have. Help people, study alchemy. I need a purpose. I'm not interested in the military itself, just its resources."
Roy had known as much, as Ed had given pretty much the same answer a month after the Promised Day, when he was offered a promotion and a new contract. He'd stayed listed as a State Alchemist, despite his inability to perform alchemy. His level of knowledge more than qualified him.
"You could've chosen to transfer command, you don't have to be under me if you'd rather not."
Ed eyed him weirdly at that, as if confused Roy would even suggest that. "And why would I wanna do that?"
Roy knew he was fishing, he could feel it in the slight way his heart picked up its beating. He wasn't sure what he wanted to hear, maybe that Ed didn't actually hate him, that he'd stayed because he liked being under Roy's command. Wishful thinking, and now he felt awkward he'd even brought it up.
Then, Ed smirked, leaning his cheek on his fist. "You give me so much leeway too, it's a dream being under you."
Roy nearly spluttered, but caught it at the last second. His throat had closed up and he could barely breathe. Why would Ed say it like that? Did he even realise the undertones of what he'd just said or was he just teasing Roy for being lax with him?
He wouldn't know unless he asked, and he wasn't about to do that, so he'd never know.
He shrugged, pretending this was just a half-hearted conversation. "You actively dislike me, and have done for years. You stayed under my command as I agreed to help you get Alphonse's body back. There's nothing keeping you now, you are free if you so wish."
Ed stared at him blankly. It was probably one of the few times Roy couldn't read Ed like an open book. He schooled his own expression into a blank, indifferent mask. Ed had never been able to read him like an open book, and he wasn't about to start now.
If Ed took him up on the offer, he would pretend he'd been expecting it and that would be that.
"You think I dislike you?"
Roy blinked. Ed cocked his head, regarding him with that narrow-eyed searching expression Roy hated; it was like he was seeing him in a new light and it made Roy uncomfortable. He wished he'd put his uniform on now.
He raised a brow, keeping his expression bored. He heart was beating hard in his chest, his gut squeezing at the thought that Ed did, in fact, hate him, and he prayed that he couldn't feel it through the bond. Ed did seem to support him in his career goals, in becoming Fuhrer. But Ed recognising Roy would make a good Fuhrer didn't mean he had to like him.
"You have shown dislike for me for years, Fullmetal." He smirked, to add some normalcy to the situation. "But don't worry, I'm not heartbroken or anything."
Ed scoffed, pointedly lifting his right arm, and stretching it out. "Right. And here I thought you'd been about to cry."
The familiar heat crawled up his neck. Little shit. "As if I'd cry over you, Fullmetal."
"I don't dislike you."
Roy's brain stuttered. What?
He'd convinced himself Ed disliked him; hated him, even. He'd shown him plenty evidence of such. The thought that he might not hadn't even crossed his mind. Even now, when he'd asked these questions on purpose, he'd been subconsciously trying to get an admission of dislike out of Ed, even though something deep inside of him had wished for something else.
And here Ed was, giving him something else.
Roy lifted a brow, clearing his throat. "You don't?"
Golden eyes bore into his soul as Ed said, "No, I've never disliked you. Yes, you can be annoying as fuck but so can I. Compared to most people I know, you're okay."
He tried to ignore the pounding of his heart, the embarrassing flutter in his chest.
He was okay.
He licked his suddenly dry lips. "Well, that's good to know."
Ed hummed, still giving Roy a weird, heated expression. It was putting Roy even more on edge, but he focused on his breathing and made sure his blank, unbothered mask was in place.
He knew Ed could feel the nerves flowing through his veins, the pounding of his heart and the way his airways closed up. It was pathetic, that Roy would be that relieved by Edward telling him that he thought he was okay.
Absently, he realised that if he focused past his own emotions, he could feel Ed's.
But he was scared to look, to feel what Ed was feeling when he was looking at him like that.