Ch 4: Hiding an Injury

Rating: T for injury and language

Characters: Edward, Roy

Timeline: general

Notes: I've read a few great angsty fics about Ed hiding an injury and Roy finding out and going off on him, and I thought it'd be extra evil to have an…unfortunate cause for the injury (not spoiling that yet hehe). This one's a good one *grinning demon face*

Roy knew something was off with Edward the moment he walked into the office…because he didn't walk into the office: he limped in. That wouldn't necessarily be an immediate cause for concern; Edward Elric had an automail leg after all, and the surgery for it had barely been a full year ago. Roy wouldn't be surprised if it still hurt sometimes. However, it was not his prosthetic leg that he was favoring: it was his whole one. The limp was subtle, enough so that most people probably wouldn't have even noticed, but Roy was talented at taking inventory of his subordinates' health. He could tell when someone was injured.

He didn't think there was anything he'd sent the boy out to do that could be the cause. Fullmetal was still on trial, after all, and was relegated to small domestic tasks like fixing roofs and windows for the time being. If he'd fallen off a roof, he'd be in much worse shape than just having a slight limp. Roy eyed Edward's movements as he approached, choosing to remain silent for the time being about his observation. He'd get an answer, but subtly. He had a few assignments lined up for the kid, so he could just pick one that would get him his answer.

"Ah, Fullmetal. Perfect timing," Roy said smoothly. "I just got a new assignment for you."

Edward nodded, waiting for more with a slight scowl (which just seemed to live permanently on his face).

"There's a sewer nearby that needs one of its walls reinforced. Think you can handle that?" Fixing a sewer would require climbing up and down a lengthy ladder. Surely Fullmetal wouldn't agree to it if he was hurt…

"Sure, whatever."

Roy paused, at first thinking he'd heard the boy wrong. "You're positive?"

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?"

"Fair point…" Roy said. He could tell Ed was not in a good mood today; fair enough if he was injured somehow. But Roy didn't really want to send him on a mission that could potentially injure him further…as much as getting injured was an occupational hazard, he couldn't in good faith choose to expose his subordinate to potential danger while knowing he was already hurt. He made a split second decision. "Well, then let's go."

"Let's?" Ed repeated.

"Every once in a while, someone needs to evaluate your work as a State Alchemist. Today, it'll be me," Roy replied smoothly. It was true, even if Edward hadn't yet been in the military long enough to warrant an evaluation…but the kid didn't need to know that.

Edward just shoved his hands in his pockets. "Fine. Let's go then."

The two alchemists left Eastern Command, Roy writing a quick note for Riza explaining his absence. Then he called for a car, and a military chauffeur showed up a couple minutes later. Roy gave the destination, and they started off on the short drive.

Edward laid his forehead on the window, watching the scenery absently. His hands were curled into fists in his lap, his whole body rigid with tension. Roy could've chalked it up to him having to share a backseat with the "bastard colonel", but he was still concerned it was something worse. However, he wouldn't let Edward in on his suspicions yet.

The car dropped them off ten minutes later at the site. Roy kept an eye on the boy as they walked toward the construction zone, noting the way he was clearly trying to mask his limp. The colonel frowned, a bit of annoyance stirring in him at Edward's attempt to appear normal.

"You must be the alchemist we sent for!" a voice called out. The head of the construction crew was beckoning them over.

"Yes, I am Colonel Roy Mustang, and this is the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric," Roy introduced.

"They sent two alchemists?" the man asked, recognizing Roy's name.

"I'm only here to observe my subordinate," Roy explained. "I'm no expert in mineral transmutation, after all."

"Ah, I see. Pleasure to meet both of you," the worker grinned. "I heard Fullmetal was young, but I didn't think he'd be this young. I'm interested to see what skills he's got!"

Ed frowned slightly, but didn't seem to be too perturbed by the comment. Just a month into military life and people were always underestimating him because of his age (...and size), but he liked to take it as an opportunity to prove them wrong. He forced his frown into a smile. "Just show me what I'm fixing!"

The worker led them to an open manhole, pointing down. "It's just down there. There's a concrete support that's cracked. You can't miss it!"

Edward nodded, and Roy started down the ladder, the boy following a few rungs behind. The ladder was long, leading down probably thirty feet. Once they were about ten feet down, Ed spoke. "They called me here to fix a cracked wall? Aren't they construction workers?"

"Why do in several hours what an alchemist can do in seconds?" Roy replied.

Ed huffed. "Lazy…"

Roy looked up at the small form above him, watching him climb down. To Roy's lack of surprise, Edward was climbing while using his right leg as little as possible. He was also moving slower than Roy, which shouldn't have been the case given his youthful energy and agility. Now was the time to comment.

"Are you feeling well, Fullmetal?"

"Fine. Why?"

"You're moving awfully slow."

"I'm just being careful, jerk. I can't feel one of my feet, you know."

"I know for a fact you could scale this ladder twice as fast as me even with that automail."

Edward didn't respond directly, but seemed to take that as an insult—or a challenge. He started moving faster, attempting to catch up to Roy. Roy dropped onto the concrete walkway of the sewer, watching his subordinate rush down the last ten feet. About four feet from the bottom, Edward finally slipped up, putting too much pressure on his right leg. He made a muffled noise, quickly overcorrecting his step with his automail leg—and missing the next rung entirely. Roy saw him slip, grabbing desperately at the ladder as he fell the last few feet. Roy caught him by the waist so he didn't land hard; but even still, he immediately crumpled to the ground with a slew of swearing the moment Roy let go.

"Shit, shit, shit…agh dammit…" Edward groaned, clutching at his right leg.

"I knew there was something wrong with your leg," Roy snapped.

"Shut up…" Ed hissed through gritted teeth. "Aw man, that really freaking hurt."

"Why didn't you tell me you were injured?"

"I said shut up!"

"No, Edward," Roy said angrily, kneeling down beside the boy. "Let me see your leg."

"Why didn't you ask me about it earlier if you were so sure I was hurt? Why'd you make me come out here?" Edward fired back, still holding tightly to his leg.

"Because I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to accept an assignment while injured! Why do you think I came with? You haven't been here long enough to need an evaluation! I was making sure you didn't get yourself killed!"

Ed flashed a fiery glare at the colonel. "I don't need to be babysat."

"Clearly you do, if you were going to work while hiding an injury." Roy grabbed the kid's wrists, pulling his hands from his leg. Then he untucked Ed's pantleg from his boot, rolling it up to reveal a hastily wrapped, blood stained bandage around the middle of his calf. "Now what the hell happened?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not 'nothing' if you can't even put enough weight on it to climb down a ladder."

"I just didn't want Al to know, okay?!" Ed yelled.

Roy's anger melted into confusion. "What? What does Al have to do with this?"

Ed pulled his leg away, slipping his boot off and fingering the edge of the bandage. "We were just sparring like usual. I'm usually really good at dodging, but I was just a little too slow this time." Ed unwound the gauze, the red stain getting larger with each layer removed. "Al still doesn't know how hard he hits sometimes, and I took a direct kick from him. One of the sharp edges of his armor also sliced me pretty bad." He peeled off the last bit of bandage, revealing a nasty gash down the side of his calf. His whole lower leg was purple and green with bruising, the several-inch-long cut red and swollen with the beginnings of infection and gummed up with congealed blood.

Roy cringed a little at the sight. "And Alphonse doesn't even know?"

"No. I'm pretty good at masking pain. I just played it off that I needed to go to the bathroom, and tried my best to bandage it up. I didn't want him to know..." Edward looked at the gash with barely a hint of disgust. He'd seen much worse. "He'd feel really bad about it. And it's my fault he's in that body, anyway. If he had his normal body, this wouldn't even be a possibility…"

"Ed…" Roy started, all anger and formality forgotten as he looked at the boy's leg. "I think you need to see a doctor. That probably needs stitches."

Ed shrugged lightly, moving to start rewrapping the gauze around the wound. "I dunno. It didn't look that bad yesterday."

"It'll also get infected if you're not cleaning it properly." Roy internally shuddered, thinking about all the infected wounds he'd seen in Ishval, when they had no access to proper medical supplies. "And you should tell your brother."

"Why? It's not really his fault…"

"Maybe not, but what would've happened if you got sick from the injury? Keeping it all to yourself when you don't have the skills to take care of it? What if you lost this leg, too?" It was an extreme result, but not impossible, if the boy was so stubborn he let the infection fester and spread.

Ed paused, seeming to pale a little. "It's not bad enough for that, is it?"

"Infection is no joke, Edward. You shouldn't hide injuries from your brother. Or from me." Roy looked the boy in the eyes. "As your commanding officer, it's your duty to tell me when you're injured. But more than that—I don't want to have to explain to your family in Resembool why I'm sending you back for a third automail limb. It's my duty to keep you alive on the job. Don't be this stupid again, you hear me?"

For once, it seemed Edward's carefully constructed mask of indifference had been broken. He looked at the colonel with understanding, and dare he say it, a bit of fear. "Okay…"

"Good. Now let's get you to a doctor." Roy stood, but Ed didn't follow.

"Just a second. I can still at least fix the wall." Before Roy could comment, Ed clapped his hands together, touching the ground in front of him. Roy felt the familiar electric buzz of alchemy fill the air as Edward guided the energy to the pillar, pulling bits of ground and using them to fill any cracks in the wall. Roy found himself once again impressed with the twelve-year-old's skills, watching Edward push himself up once the transmutation was complete. Once he was up he looked at the ladder warily.

"I'll go after you, and make sure you don't fall," Roy said.

Ed nodded, beginning his slow, careful ascent.

"How do you transmute like that?" Roy asked once they were climbing. He had always been fascinated by it, from the moment he saw it during the practical exam. He thought at first that maybe Edward had a circle carved into his automail somewhere, but his range of transmutations was far too wide to be using just one circle. Roy's gloves were good for one thing only: manipulating oxygen. If he wanted to do any other kind of transmutation, he'd have to draw it out.

Ed was quiet for a moment. "I guess you could say learning how to be my own structural matrix came at a hefty price."

"... So you don't have any physical formulas on you."

"As long as I can make a circle for the energy to flow through, I can just think of any formula I need…"

Roy paused before continuing. "...It cost you your limbs to learn that, didn't it?"

"Not quite. It cost me a leg to learn, but it cost me an arm to put that knowledge to use."

It all clicked suddenly. "You gave up your arm for your brother's soul."

"Maybe…" Edward replied. It was definitely a risky thing to say, even underground. Roy quieted, feeling sort of sick as he was reminded of what the Elrics went through—on their own volition, of course. Roy thought it would be nice to have the skills the child prodigy had…but he would never want to pay the price, taboo aside. It didn't seem equivalent.

Edward climbed out onto the street above, Roy quickly following. The colonel informed the site leader that the pillar had been fixed, but there was an emergency that had come up, so they would need to be on their way asap. Their chauffeur re-arrived, and Roy asked him to take them to the hospital.

Edward began to protest, but Roy cut him off. "I won't tell Alphonse." Ed looked at him, surprised, so Roy reiterated the statement. "I won't tell Alphonse, because I trust you to tell him yourself later."

A solemn look settled on Ed's face. "Okay."

"And try not to be so tough next time. You don't have to pretend everything's fine for the sake of your brother."

"I know," Ed replied.

Roy got the feeling he did know…but also that he wouldn't listen. The colonel hadn't known the Elrics very long, but he could tell the older one would do anything for the younger one—even give up an entire limb to save his life. Roy decided he would do whatever he could to keep them safe as long as they were under his command, and keep trying, as long as it took, to teach Edward that it was okay to be a little weak sometimes.

it's a little ooc but who cares, it satisfies my need for parental!RoyEd. see you next chapter!