A/N Y'all get the chapter a bit earlier this time cause I've got a super duper travelling busy day tomorrow so won't have time to post ;)

Uniform: check. Office: check. Desk: check. Fort against Edward Elric complete.

Roy sank into his chair, breathing a sigh of utter stress.

Hawkeye had been surprised when he'd declared he was returning to work. So had Ed, but the bond betrayed the slight disappointment he'd also felt.

Roy had three things to do today. Write the final version of that report, hand in said report, and attempt to make a dent in the mounds of paperwork.

After Hawkeye had left yesterday, he had realised, with ample embarrassment, that he'd completely abandoned the report. His first draft was barely even that; it was more a collection of random notes he was now trying to sort through without consulting Ed.

Because, right now, asking Ed for help was more of a blow to his pride than Roy could handle.

Ed was sitting on one of the two couches in his office, books open on the floor and table. He was sketching in his notebook, and seemed very engrossed in what he was doing.

Good. Because when Ed wasn't engrossed in alchemy, Roy ended up losing more of his sanity.

There had been no dream last night, blissfully. Roy — and by extension, Ed — had probably slept around four hours last night. Roy had been stressed, and Ed had been begrudgingly accepting.

In the morning Ed had surprised him. He was speaking to him, normally. As if nothing even happened. As if they wouldn't have crossed all sorts of lines if Hawkeye hadn't interrupted. He'd even had the audacity to be annoyed when he couldn't find his leather pants and Roy told him he'd shoved them under the couch.

Roy had been caught a bit off guard, but had recovered swiftly. If Ed wanted to act like nothing happened Roy was very eager to oblige. He didn't even want to think about what would've happened if Hawkeye hadn't knocked on his door. How far would he and Ed have gone?

First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, singlehandedly saving his career on the daily, sometimes without even knowing.

He was grateful to Hawkeye for stopping what would've been a colossal fuckup, he really was. But now, sat in his chair with three large stacks of paperwork surrounding him and a half written report, he found himself gazing at Ed, a bit forlornly.

He watched as Ed let out a small breath of frustration, his braid falling over his shoulder as he quickly turned a page in his notebook and started sketching again. He was sitting crossed legged on the couch, and Roy noted how his left hand was absently massaging his skin by the automail port of his leg.

Was it bothering him? Hadn't Winry had a look at it?

He recalled the pain he'd felt through the bond; automail reconnection. He'd heard it was painful, but hadn't realised just how much. And Ed had to go through that all the time? How often did he usually get his automail checked when there was no danger obliterating it?

And why was it bothering him right now? Maybe it was the scar that was sore.

He wanted to ask, but could't bring himself to.

Letting out a long breath, he returned to the report. He needed to hand this in today.

He wrote about their trip to Resembool. Consulting Alphonse Elric, he'd written. As if that was all that happened.

Ed had crawled into his bed, he wanted to write.

Ed had been in Ishval with him in his dream.

Ed was beautiful and it scared him.

Ed cared about him—

But no, all he wrote was: Consulting Alphonse Elric.

When he was satisfied with the amount he'd written, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. Satisfied was perhaps too strong a word, since he'd pretty much waffled that entire report, but it was better than nothing. And it was way better than the truth.

He absently tapped his pen on the desk as he reread what he'd written, trying to get into Grumman's mind and wondering if it was enough. If it was believable.

"Stop that!" Ed snapped, whipping his head around to glare at him.

Roy almost flinched, his hand holding the pen freezing just above the desk. His blink was the only indication that he'd been startled.

"I'm done with the report," he said, his voice betraying none of his inner turmoil.

Ed sneered at the report on his desk. Roy could feel his ire. Maybe he was feeling frustrated at the arrays he was drawing? Or was he annoyed at Roy?

"We need to go hand it in," he continued when Ed didn't reply.

Ed let out a loud huff and stood, all but slamming his notebook on the coffee table in front of him. "Let's get this shit over with."

Roy wasn't sure what he'd expected today to bring. Perhaps he thought he'd have a calm first day back in the office, completing paperwork. Or maybe he thought he'd be overthinking his situation with Ed so hard he would end up slacking and Hawkeye would be majorly disappointed in him once again.

What he hadn't been expecting, was Grumman to tell them they had the woman who'd done this to them in custody.

He wasn't sure why it caught him so off guard, really. He should've been expecting it, especially since Grumman had said last time that they had located her. But Roy's mind wasn't exactly working at its best lately.

"Is Alphonse Elric aiding in the construction of this reversal array?" Grumman asked, his eyes still on the report.

Roy had been ready to reply, but Ed spoke, surprising him. "Al can help us confirm if there's alkahestry in the array but he won't be involved in the rest of the mess."

There was a warning in his voice, and Roy wasn't sure if it was aimed at Grumman or Roy himself. Maybe he thought Roy was inclined to make Al work for him too, despite him being a civilian.

But Roy wasn't planning on getting involved in anything between the Elric brothers. If Alphonse wanted to help, then Roy wasn't going to decline. And if not, he would accept it.

Grumman regarded Ed for a moment, rubbing his moustache between his fingers. "Very well." He set the report down and looked at Roy. "The woman's name is Shan Young, a traveller of Cretan descent. She's been in Amestris for the past five years. I'll have the guard escort you to her cell."

The walk to Central Prison was filled with tension. Not between him and Ed, but within Roy himself.

He'd never liked Central Prison. It was filled with all sorts of criminals, from court-marshalled former soldiers to felons who'd committed a plethora of crimes, either against the military or society. At some point in time, Roy had thought maybe he'd one day end up there too. He wasn't so different from some people here, after all. The things they'd been charged with.

Roy had even done worse, under the safety blanket of war. As if that made genocide any less of a crime.

He was slightly surprised the woman, Shan Young, was placed in Central Prison. While she hadn't been convicted of any crimes — she was simply detained in a temporary cell and awaiting questioning — Roy thought even being in Central Prison was too harsh a punishment.

When they walked in, they were greeted with the familiar stench of sweat and lack of ventilation. The narrow corridor in front of them, lit only by harsh artificial lighting, was making Roy feel a bit nauseous, but he didn't let it show. They approached the front desk, the stocky middle aged man glaring at them appraisingly through his glasses.

"General Mustang," he acknowledged, flicking through a folder on the desk. "You're here for Shan Young?"

Roy nodded, and the man gestured for them to follow him down the corridor.

Ed was silent next to him, taking in their surroundings with a frown. He checked the bond, curious to see what Ed felt about this place, but all he could detect was slight apprehension and disgust.

Shan Young was being held in a questioning room, ready for Roy and Ed's arrival. Her hands were chained to the table in a way that would disable her from performing any type of alchemy, and Roy thought it was perhaps a bit much.

He and Ed sat at the two chairs opposite her, the harsh lighting making Roy's eyes burn. The guard shut the door behind him, leaving the three of them alone.
Shan smiled at them, looking at the alchemic thread between their wrists. "It's good to see you again."

"Can't say the same," Roy said blandly. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and making sure he appeared the epitome of composed. He wouldn't let even the slightest hint of the damage this bond had done to him escape. Next to him, Ed was glaring at her, arms crossed.

"I see you still haven't broken the bond."

Ed's annoyance was bubbling already, but Roy ignored it. "And I assume you feel some sort of triumph?"

He hadn't really appraised her last time. He'd been too stunned, too thrown off guard to notice. She wasn't as old as he'd initially thought. Perhaps late forties. The hair he thought had been grey was actually a very pale blonde. It was in line with what Grumman had said about her being of Cretan descent.

She seemed like a kind woman, despite the alchemy she was inflicting on others. The creases around her mouth and eyes indicated a lot of smiling. The glint in her brown eyes wasn't evil; Roy had seen evil, and this wasn't it. He didn't know what to think of her.

"Triumph?" she asked, almost surprised. She shook her head, looking at him almost pityingly. "It just means you haven't given in to love."

Roy clenched his teeth in annoyance. He gave her a tense smile. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. But what I would love is for you to tell us how to break this bond."

She looked between him and Ed. "Only your souls can tell you that. Listen to them."

"I can make your life in here very hard, you know," Roy said, raising a brow. "If you cooperate and answer our questions properly, I can see to it that you are released."

Shan was silent for a moment, her eyes darting between him and Ed as she thought. "The bond magnifies your soul's needs, until they demand to be listened. The pull you feel towards each other, you are resisting it."

Roy glared at her. "My subordinate and I respond better to alchemical explanations."

Then, she smiled, looking at Ed. "He's a tough one, isn't he?"

For some reason that pissed Roy right off. Taking a deep, surreptitious breath, he stood. "If that's how you want to play it, fine. We can leave you here to rot." A slight exaggeration, since it was unlikely she was going to be jailed here with no serious convictions, but he needed to scare her. People usually started talking if they felt trapped.

He'd started walking towards the door, when Ed's voice made him pause.

"Is there alkahestry in the array?"

Roy half turned, interested to see the woman's reaction. Ed was looking at her seriously, and the annoyance he'd been feeling had simmered down the tiniest bit.

She seemed surprised. "I do not know what that is."

Ed frowned, and Roy realised they must've come to the same realisation, because the words were on the tip of his tongue when Ed said, "You're not an alchemist?"

"I only know the magic our God has taught us, the magic of love."

It took every ounce of strength not to roll his eyes. It should've been a hint, really, when she'd called the array magic the first time. No alchemist in their right mind would call an alchemic array anything other than what it was.

The way she said it, including others by the use of our, made Roy think she wasn't alone in this quest of hers. This was a group of people, bonding people's souls together.

They needed to figure out this reversal array, or else the problem could escalate, fast. Who knew how many other people had been soul bonded by now.

Ed stood, clearly not expecting to get any useful information out of her after that, and Roy reached for the door handle.

Just before he shut the door behind them, she said, "The bond will be broken when it is replaced by another, stronger bond."

As if they needed another fucking riddle.

Roy spent the rest of the day in a very sour mood.

He'd been angrily signing paperwork, sometimes pressing his pen so hard on the paper his signature left an indent. The woman, Shan, had pissed him off. He wasn't sure why, but she'd hit a nerve. Somewhere, subconsciously.

He's a tough one, isn't he?

Fuck off.

Ed was back on the couch, ignoring Roy's existence completely as he read and scribbled.

Hawkeye had brought him coffee—his only solace in this shithole of a day.

When he was just under halfway through the first stack of paperwork, he felt his stomach growl, and realised they hadn't had lunch yet. A glance at the clock told him it was almost one o'clock.

And Roy paused. Usually, he would go downstairs to the cafeteria, where he pretty much got fed for free. The lunch ladies there absolutely adored him; a charming smile here, a curious personal question there, and he was their favourite officer. He'd been doing it for years. They were probably even wondering where he'd been the past few weeks.

But one thing Roy didn't do, was have lunch with Edward Elric.

The paranoia made itself known in his gut as he wondered what everyone would think if he turned up at the military cafeteria with Ed at his side. Probably nothing, his brain soothed him. They'd just think he had something to discuss with his subordinate.

But they were soul bonded, and people would subconsciously be able to tell their soul energy was off, and what if that caused them to assume things about his and Ed's relationship? What if people had heard rumours about them living together or seen them in the grocery store?

Roy was snapped out of his musings when Ed said, "I'm hungry."

He was looking at him with a frown, unimpressed by Roy's inner turmoil that he could most certainly feel. He wasn't even asking this time, and Roy wondered if he'd just come to accept Roy's emotional chaos.

Roy nodded, attempting to at least outwardly appear calm. He was about to suggest they leave Headquarters and get a takeaway from a nearby bakery or something, when Ed said, "You usually go to the cafeteria, right?"

"We are not going to the cafeteria."

Ed raised a single, blond eyebrow, suddenly looking way too interested. "And why not?"

It was like he knew. The way he was looking at him, the expression he was giving him. Ed looked like he was trying to stifle a smirk, but his eyes glinted smirkily anyway. Perhaps throughout the years Ed had picked up some of his bastard-ness.

Roy pursed his lips and straightened in his chair, appearing completely unruffled. "We have appeared together in public way too often already, going to the cafeteria will surely incite rumours."

Now Ed actually smirked, leaning back on the couch with his arms outstretched on the back. "Rumours, huh?"

Roy glared at him. "And I believe you are smart enough to know rumours like that aren't good for public image."

Ed shrugged. "I wanna go to the cafeteria." With that, he stood, and walked out of Roy's inner office.

Roy blinked, momentarily dumbfounded, before the stab in his chest had him pathetically following after Ed. "Fullmetal!"

Ed paused just before the outer office doors, and turned back to him, eyebrow raised. "I thought we were going to the cafeteria?"

"We are not." After the morning he'd had, annoyance gripped him easily, but he tried to contain it. Why was Ed being like this, goddamn it? Why decide to be a little shit right now?

"Is everything all right, sir?"

Hawkeye. Roy turned, seeing her at her desk with a half-eaten sandwich, looking between him and Ed. He forgot she sometimes ate at her desk. The rest of the office was still at lunch, probably the cafeteria.

"Well, I'm going, so guess you just have to follow," Ed said, ignoring Hawkeye's question. He went to grab the handle to open the door, and Roy grit his teeth.

"You are not going to the cafeteria and that is an order, Fullmetal."

Ed snorted, turning to him. He laughed as he said, "You can't just order me to not go to the cafeteria!"

Roy raised a brow, trying desperately not to lose his cool. Not in front of Hawkeye. "I can, and I will. I am your commanding officer, I sometimes wonder if you forget."

Ed rolled his eyes. "You constantly make it very clear, don't worry."

Roy decided not to ponder the meaning behind those words and the way Ed said them. He would just drag himself into an overthinking hole he would struggle to crawl out of.

He was also quickly realising that if Ed did in fact leave the room and went down to the cafeteria, Roy wouldn't actually be able to stop him. He'd just have to follow or risk them both fainting in the hallway. Which would arguably be a way worse scandal than him and Ed sitting at the same table.

So he devised a plan.

"Lieutenant."

Riza raised her brows at him in surprise. She'd been silently looking between him and Ed while finishing off her sandwich, and Roy momentarily wondered what she thought of the situation. "Yes, sir?"

Roy faced her, and gave her a charming smile he knew never worked on her. But he tried anyway. "Please join us for lunch at the cafeteria. My treat."

Ed actually had the audacity to throw his head back and laugh.

Roy ignored him, his gaze on Hawkeye. She was now frowning at him, evidently confused. "Sir, I've just had my lunch."

Roy waved a hand at her. "Your company would be enough, Lieutenant."

She looked between him and Ed, frowning. Then cleared her throat and stood. "Of course, sir."

The three of them walked down the hallways of Central Command, Roy making sure Riza was between him and Ed.

He knew he was being only very slightly over the top about this, but he would rather ensure there would be no rumours than risk it. A rumour like that could escalate and become all sorts of nasty. It would also be hard to disprove, and Roy didn't want the hassle, or the damage to his reputation. There was a lot at stake, especially when he was so close to his goal.

And just as he'd feared, Ed didn't seem to understand the true gravity of his situation.

Pure amusement flowed through the bond, which only confirmed it in Roy's mind. Ed thought this was funny. The possibility that people would look at them and think he and Ed—

Roy couldn't even think about it lest pure panic grip him again. And Ed thought it was a joke.

When they entered the cafeteria, Roy took a deep breath. He hadn't been here in almost three weeks and yet it felt like he hadn't been in years. So much had happened these past few weeks. His head had been scrambled in more ways than one.

If he thought about it hard enough, he would even be inclined to say that this soul bond had been life changing.

But he wasn't about to think about it that hard.

Through the sea of blue military uniforms, Roy eyed an empty table as they queued for food. Thankfully, they'd missed the twelve o'clock rush; most people were finishing up and heading back to work.

Good. Less eyes on them. Less assumptions. Less rumours.

When they reached the front of the short queue, the two lunch ladies, Maria and Sara, beamed at him.

"General Mustang!" Sara fussed, he cheeks turning red.

"We haven't seen you in so long!" Maria admonished, hastily straightening her apron.

Roy put on his charming smile, making sure he looked contrite. "Ah, apologies, I've been so busy. I've certainly missed your beautiful faces."

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ed roll his eyes. He then proceeded to order a ridiculous amount of food, which had Sara and Maria very preoccupied.

Roy raised a brow at him.

Ed shrugged, a challenge in his eyes. "Your treat, right?"

Brat.

"That offer had been for the Lieutenant," he said in dismay, but took his wallet out anyway.

As soon as they'd gotten their food, Roy led them to the table he'd spotted earlier. To his chagrin, Ed sat next to him, and Hawkeye opposite them. She was still eyeing them unsurely.

Roy eyed the mountain of food on Ed's tray with distaste. That had cost him; Sara and Maria had been so busy getting it all ready it had been another woman who'd processed the order, and Roy hadn't had the chance to charm her.

Ed dug in, completely oblivious to Roy's sneer.

Hawkeye was being too silent and contemplative for his liking, so he decided to flash her a smile. "How has your day been, Lieutenant?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. He never had been able to fool her. "Sir, what is going on?"

He acted surprised. "Nothing's going on, Lieutenant. Is it that bizarre we are eating lunch together? Perhaps I should invite you more often."

She gave him an unimpressed look, once again looking between him and Ed. "Is there a reason I'm third wheeling right now, sir?"

Ed snorted, almost spitting his juice out as he laughed. Roy froze, looking at Riza in complete shock. Had she just—

"He's scared of the rumours," Ed said next to him, his mouth full of sausage roll.

Roy glared at him.

Hawkeye frowned, looking at Roy in confusion. "What rumours, sir?"

Roy had been formulating the perfect reply that would discourage further questioning, when Ed just blurted, "He doesn't want people to think we're fucking."

Roy actually spluttered. His chest squeezed in utter panic, and he discreetly looked around, hoping no one had heard. Once he was satisfied that no one was looking at them, he made sure he glared at Ed so hard it penetrated his thick skull.

Riza raised her eyebrows almost to her hairline, her eyes on Ed. "Why would people think that?"

Ed shrugged, licking his fingers clean. "Cause we walk around together."

At Riza's dubious gaze, Ed raised his hands. "Mustang's words not mine."

"I have said nothing of the sort—" Roy cut himself off when he realised Riza was looking at him in complete bafflement. He gave her a tight smile, placing his hands on the table and intertwining his fingers, trying to appear composed. "Just taking precautions, Lieutenant."

Ed snorted. "Yeah, wouldn't want the ladies thinking you don't swing their way anymore."

Roy bit his tongue. He wouldn't let Ed get the best of him. He knew the damage rumours could do, and he wasn't about to risk it. Hawkeye would've understood, had it been delivered more eloquently. But the words Ed and eloquent could never be used next to each other.

He picked up the half eaten sandwich he'd abandoned in his tray, and took a bite nonchalantly. He tried to ignore the way his fingers itched to snap in absolute annoyance.

Ed looked to Hawkeye, amused. "He could kill me right now."

Roy clenched his teeth. "I wouldn't kill you, Fullmetal."

Ed paused, and through the bond Roy felt a flicker of regret. Then, he felt Ed's warmth on his upper arm as Ed bumped him with his shoulder in what Roy could only take as an apology.

Riza just observed them, silent.