I would just like to say that although some people may feel troubled as the years go by and their lives just seem to drag ever slower as time passes, because they feel that their energy is being sapped away and even their appearance, dear God in heaven NOOO, is changing from that of a sleek, healthy apple to a wizened, half bitten, worm inhabited one, and they can hear the footsteps of Death right at their door, I for one, am not part of them.

Okay, so I'm not exactly as old as poor Mustang (nor do I have a hot blonde fifteen year old boyfriend who is about 165cm, and that's with his boots and antenna hair on) heck, I'm not even technically allowed to write M rated fics, but no one's going to mention any of THIS to the administrators, right?? Because I trust all you guys.

Anyway, since nobody apart from those folks I friended on Facebook is going to congratulate me on this anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUBLY~~~.

Yeah, well, tomorrow. I feel kinda sad and deflated now.

SOOOOO, while we're still on good terms (hoping that people aren't getting sick of my really long self-congratulation here…) here's the chapter I'd been putting off for a bit because of a week full of tests I hadn't heard about before, and because I'd been trying to slap myself awake from the shock of totally failing this Business test.

Seriously. Who needs Business anyway? When I grow up, I'm going to immediately head for the hills in my graduation robes and start my new career as a hermit.

"Roy! What happened to Roy!? Where is he??"

"Brother! Don't get up yet, you need rest!"

"Roy–"

"Mr Elric, you mustn't move too much–"

"Ed! Calm down!!"

"Where's Roy, I need to see him, I need to know–"

"Brother, the Colonel's fine."

"…Really? Where is he!? Are you sure he–"

"He's here, in the same hospital. He hasn't stirred since you both came in, but he's okay. The doctor says there's no threat to his life. Now will you please lie down and drink your milk?"

*~*~*~*~*~*

It was nearing morning when Roy woke up. At first, he couldn't tell if his eyes were closed or not, for there were no lights on, and the sky out the window was pitch black, so he blinked a few times to make sure. He then let them get adjusted to the darkness as he lay there, trying to rid himself of the spinning in his head.

He was rather woozy – since Roy had never seen beyond the pearly gates before, he could not tell with certainty if he wasn't dead or not, although with his occupation it was not odd to glimpse it at least once or twice in his working days (shockingly, about a ninth of this was caused by the actions of his own subordinates – sometimes Roy wondered if they were the ones trying to bleed him dry, not Envy). But the covers of the bed he was resting upon felt real, and, once he could see properly, he seriously doubted that Heaven, as the isolated legendary Paradise it is, had such contact with modern civilization that they would go so far as installing the room with that electronically working thing with all the tubes and a bag of liquid that was attached to your wrist to feed you through the blood vessels or something.

For the matter, he also doubted that such trivial human needs such as eating and drinking was quite necessary in Heaven as well.

But when he turned his head (ignoring the crick in his neck – his curiosity was one no cramp could hamper) there was to be no qualm in saying that the boy sitting slumped on a hard chair at his bedside, golden strands hanging loose from his untidy braid and snoring loudly with a comical nose-bubble shrinking and engorging in rhythm with his breath, was actually an angel in disguise and Roy was about to be vanquished by him for all the sins he had committed. And that was by his very own heart bursting open from the inside.

Ed, he thought in a relief that came washing down on him, as if the dam that had been holding it back had broken in two at the mere sight of the sleeping figure.

His breath suddenly came in short pants, as he raised an arm to just touch the beautiful, apparition-like teenager beside him. Suddenly, a sharp jolt shot up that limb and went on a spastic trip along his back. Roy hissed, dropping his arm immediately, but the many journeys he and his brother had endured for years had made Ed a rather light sleeper. He woke up instantaneously, took one look at the man tensed in pain in the bed, and jumped to his feet so fast his hard-backed chair reared dangerously on its two hind legs before being set down firmly with a clatter again.

"Don't move," he said hastily, "I'll go tell the doctor you're awake."

"Yeah, call him," Roy grimaced before Ed's sprint could take him halfway across the room and out of earshot. "And I'll ask him why the hell you were sleeping on a cold chair, without anything to cover you."

Ed paused, a guilty look overcoming his alarmed expression. "Um," he started hesitantly, "They'd prepared me a bed on this other floor…but I wanted to see you weren't waking up all alone, or hurting somewhere, or having bad dreams, or getting hungry…and the like…so I…"

"You thought it was a good idea to sneak out after everyone had gone to watch over me as I slumber, because I might have wanted a snack while in a coma-like state. Really, Fullmetal, what about yourself?" Roy scolded. "You could catch a cold, plus a bad back in the morning, taking a nap like that."

Ed's next words were a mumble. "…I didn't want anyone to take you away from me."

A question bubbled up in Roy's mind. "How long was I out?"

Ed swallowed. "Two and a half weeks."

The black-haired man stared at him with amazement, while the other blushed and squirmed there in discomfort. "Two and a half weeks!?" A new record! Hawkeye would be pleased. "Was I hurt that badly?"

"You could have been worse," was his answer, soft and expressionless.

There was a short silence where Roy mulled over his options. Option A, he could send the blonde off in search of the doctor, make up a crazy excuse to why he was out of bed in this hour – one which unquestionably involved some kind of contribution of goblins and chimeras – and probably earn himself some well deserved rest. Option B, he could hold Ed back even for an hour, which was practically suicidal knowing how brash the kid could be, plus his defenseless, injured state with no security or witnesses to speak of, and receive in turn a splitting headache and stroked pride.

And if he was lucky, a bruised lip formed by Ed's special way of showing his aggressive passion, and an unusual quiet moment in which he could rest his head on the boy's thick, golden hair, breathing in the sharp scent that was his lover and feeling the body warmth meant all for himself…

Roy Mustang was a man who was not afraid to take risks, even those which meant he would indubitably offering his very own sanity up as sacrifice, to get the best out of life.

He shifted, careful not to put to much pressure on his body, to make more room on the bed for Ed. The blonde raised an eyebrow when the Roy's jaw line became more prominent under his skin, as he ground his teeth together in discomfort.

"You shouldn't move about too much," Ed murmured, tenderly placing his flesh hand on Roy's forehead and brushing the strands of black hair delicately away. Perhaps he felt like being gentle today, so it was a safe bet for Roy that he would not sustain any additional injuries. "Hold on, the doctor–"

"Will have to wait a while longer," Roy interrupted, and smirking, he patted the space next to him with a good hand. "Come on in, Ed, and we'll talk."

Ed hesitated a second more, before quietly slipping off his boots and crawling in under the covers with his partner. Once enveloped in the warmth, he scooted closer to the older man seeking the body heat he found there. Snuggling close, Roy noticed how chillingly cool the boy's skin was – and how he kept his automail limbs well away from Roy's flesh.

Smiling sadly, Roy took a hold of the metal arm and kissed the fingers of it, eliciting a surprised sound from below. "You didn't get your limbs back?" he asked gently.

Ed shrugged. "I had to cover for Al when he passed through the gate," he said shortly. "Till he came back."

"What were Hawkeye and Havoc doing? I specifically ordered them to go with you."

"We ran into some trouble a bit before we found the completed array," Ed explained. "They had to take care of that, so we went on ahead."

"Are they alright?" Roy asked worriedly. "Actually, while we're on the subject, how's your brother? Did he get his body back?"

Edward's smile was so dazzling Roy had to commence a brief war with his instincts to keep his eyelids forced open.

"He's fine, he's back," Ed said happily, and Roy let himself drown in that voice, the warm sound that reminded him of butter-gold fields and the sparkling sunlight, which he had so little chance to hear even when they were alone together. "They're all fine. Al had to go through some health checks and injections and a couple of minor surgeries and medicine prescriptions, but aside from being a bit malnourished, he's alive, and he can breathe and feel and taste. You should have seen his face when they finally fixed his stomach and he had his first taste of Winry's apple pie! We'd promised that would be the first thing he'll eat a while back, but I can't believe we actually made it happen! Though he could only get down a few bites before his stomach started to upset him again. Oh, Winry came in from Risembool during the first week. She also managed to talk Al into getting a haircut. For some reason, when she mentioned that if Al has long hair, he should have it in a pair look of mine, he made this face," Ed imitated it and Roy blew air roughly out of his pursed mouth, "And in the next hour he was back, with the same style he had all those years ago, back when we were kids.

"But Roy, he has a face! He doesn't move it as much as he used to, but he practices in front of the mirror at the hotel everyday. He can style his hair into something other than that ponytail the armor helmet had! Winry's with him now, in case he needs help with something. You've got to see him – okay, so he's got this kleptomaniac streak about him now, he just gets this urge to feel weird, random stuff, or if it's edible and he's feeling alright, he sticks it in his mouth. He squeals like a kid at pretty much everything, but we encourage him to do that, because he's always been a little self-conscious wherever he is, and we don't want him to be shut up or anything again. It's not his fault he gets overexcited, mind you, I mean you can't blame him, you've got to remember this is the first time he's gotten to sense things the rest of us takes for granted, in years. And he's – he's…Roy…"

Ed buried his head into Roy's chest, falling silent as his body quivered and he fisted Roy's night clothes even tighter. It had been entertaining listening to the blonde jabber on about his younger brother he obviously doted on, but Roy felt that there were deeper emotions going on in his lover's heart. He brought an arm around the lithe, small body, wincing slightly as he did so – he ran his hand along the wisps of golden tresses, coaxing with his fingers to loosen the braid and to let the shimmering locks fall around the boy's shoulders. After some more tender caressing, Ed spoke up again.

"He's alive," Ed said quietly. "Al's alive and he's back. We did it. We're alive."

He looked up at Roy, not moving from his spot cuddled to Roy's chest.

"You're here," he whispered. "You didn't die."

"I'd just like to say I'm happy for your brother," Roy said gently. "And that all your hard work paid off. But I'm still a little puzzled – in all truthfulness, I wouldn't have expected myself back in the world of the living again, what with the wounds I had. Now that I thought about it, out like a lamp for a mere two and a half weeks is a miracle."

Ed fidgeted a bit. "Uh, Roy…" he began. "The doctor warned me there might be some damage to your brain from the blows you received. He said to look out for memory loss or disorders and stuff, when you woke up."

The blonde reached up with his flesh hand and threaded his fingers through the dark locks. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember from the part I was so rudely interrupted in the middle of a conference by a report from the police that there were some monsters wrecking the city just a few streets away from headquarters, and the military were to send in reinforcements to cope with negotiating through rubble. I moved in myself personally when I heard that a certain walking armor and his brother was in the middle of the brawl," he quirked an eyebrow and gazed down at the blushing teen beside him. "You, however, didn't seem to appreciate my assistance when I got there, and yelled at me to, and I quote, get my flaming ass out of the way before you blow it off yourself, because you weren't about to let it and it's fire get eaten, oh no. Then when I persisted on staying, worried for your wellbeing, you sent me off to "a special top-secret mission" since I so wanted to play the proper soldier for once. Under your instruction, I drove all the way across town, over to that lovely dance hall we held our anniversary party at (which wasn't really for us, the Fuhrer was the one who held it, and it was for political reasons. Still, it was on the same date, and you have to admit that we had a good time *smirksmirk*). Little did I know there was to be a currently activating array at the back of it, and that skinny homunculus – Envy, was it? – was stepping out of it right at the moment I reached him. All I know from there was that I got badly beat in the fight, and I think I heard your voice…and everything goes black from there."

"Good," Ed said, and though Roy couldn't see his face clearly in the dark he sounded pleased – no, relieved. "The only breach in that story was that you didn't act solitarily until you had the monster surrounded. Don't give yourself so much credit, you had about twenty battalions backing you up most of the way through."

"It wasn't twenty," Roy returned, sounding injured. "It was hardly three, and on orders."

"From who, Fuhrer Armstrong? Oh, by the way, Bradley's funeral's in a few days time. His coffin doesn't have a body though, because it's near impossible to find anything you might drop into a newly activated volcano, somewhere to the South-East from Central. His son and wife are distraught as it goes."

"Olivier, huh?" Roy groaned. "It'll be a tough one, robbing the pedestal of Fuhrer from under her."

Ed gave a small smile. "You just need patience. And she isn't a wholly bad person – she has the guts and now the power to rule this country with an iron fist."

"Selim and Mrs Bradley had no connections with the homunculus?" Roy enquired.

"Not from what me and Al heard in a face-to-face conversation, no."

Roy nodded approvingly and started drawing lazy circles down Ed's back. "That's one less problem to deal with, then," he said in a low voice.

"It was Gluttony who started the attack," Ed stated. "I think he meant to ambush us, but he totally blew it up when we got into a crowd. He couldn't control his hunger with so much prey around, I guess. We got the hint when we heard…people screaming…"

"You stopped him," Roy pointed out. "You drove him away quite successfully from what I heard."

"Not quickly enough," Ed said drily. "But I know you don't want to hear my angsty shit just yet, you need to listen to this before you get too drowsy. I'm not about to repeat myself in the morning. Nor am I writing some bloody report. Anyway, some time before you arrived, he let slip of the plan Envy had in mind. And after some persuasion, how he was going to do it."

"The power to alchemize," Roy murmured. "And the transportation circle in the dance hall."

"The alchemic circle was designed to break down particles, shuffle them around, then reconstruct them while moving at top speed, completely reforming them by the time the molecules got to their destination, to put it more precisely," the younger, genius alchemist answered. "And that's without the need to pass through the Gate – at least, if you didn't wish to. The circle in the dance hall was actually one of a pair – there was one more in the other side of town, some blocks down the Number 1 Laboratory. But Envy's real use for it wasn't simple transportation – its function also included the automatic transfer of any elements found during the transport of particles from one circle to the other, to join the already existing atoms in the object being moved. So you don't need to have much knowledge on science or alchemy, if you have an idea of what is meant to be achieved and a fair amount of power. He had a theory that while he was atomically torn apart and restructured, he would embed into himself the stolen bit of Bradley – Wrath's – Philopher's Stone, tuning it in so that he can obtain the ability to use alchemy. Unfortunately, it worked."

"I got told that much. Rather, gloated to as I was stabbed repeatedly."

"We couldn't shake Gluttony off till the very end," Ed continued, and Roy whined inwardly that he was being ignored. "First and Second Lieutenant Hawkeye and Havoc came to our assistance, but Lust got into their way. It was all they could do to let me and Al go on without being attacked. I heard later that Major Armstrong came to help take care of her, and while they together managed to kill Lust, he sustained major injuries and is hospitalized in the same building we're in right now."

"So I can look forward to receiving a bone crushing hug when he finds out about me," Roy grumbled. "That's nice."

Ed started laughing, a small tinkling sound that danced upon Roy's ears, but broke off in a fit of coughs and wrapped an arm around his chest.

"Are you alright?" Roy asked anxiously. "Did you really catch a cold? Did Major Armstrong try to kill you as well?"

"No, his sister had enough sense to stop him in fear of my condition worsening. I think she quite likes me now, since I've inadvertently helped her get the Fuhrer position," Ed gave a weak chuckle at the other man's furrowed brows. "Don't worry, I'll get you that and more once things settle. I sustained a cracked rib or two, they said, but I'm mostly healed now. Dealing with Gluttony by myself was tougher than I thought it'll be."

"How did Alphonse get to the Gate again?" Roy pressed, massaging the spot between Ed's shoulder blades as he spoke. "And what happened there?"

"The circle we used could transport us virtually anywhere we have a strong alchemic connection to, given the correct price. I had Al take Greed's Stone when we went into battle; so he used that when he stepped into the transmutation circle. Everything from then on is from what Al had told me, and it wasn't exactly detailed either – basically, our previous speculation about Al's body still being alive on the other side of the Gate was true, and although it turned out rather emaciated, his soul was safely transferred to it and he got back to me, all with Greed's stone – good thing no one had used it at all for ages when we stole it off Wrath – then collapsed on the spot. Guess he couldn't take the weight of it all once he'd gotten back to our world."

"You'd gotten rid of Gluttony by then, did you?"

A sly grin. "Took a few detonators to finish things off, but I did it. Don't give me that look – all the people inside ran out sharpish when this one guy got …uh…so nobody else was hurt."

Roy winced, thinking of all the paperwork waiting on his desk when he revived for work.

*~*~*~*~*

"You're not going."

"But you aren't chasing him by yourself, are you Brother? At least get the first and second Lieutenant to–"

"Saw them. They aren't in any condition to rush all the way to the other side of the city with me. Have them take care of you, get you to a hospital."

"Ed–"

"Sorry Al; look at yourself, you can't fight in that body. But I'll be fine, alright? Roy'll be with me. I have to go help him now."

"It's too dangerous! Don't get yourself killed, Brother, come back!"

"There's no time! And I forbid you to follow me! …Sorry, Al…I'm sorry…I need to...I can't lose anyone, Al, sorry…"

"…Come back, okay? Come back alive. Don't apologize to me, I should be doing that. I shouldn't be stopping you. You're right; there's no time."

"Al, I'm sorry if–"

"You. Are. Coming back. Alive. Now go, you have yet to save the day, remember?"

Alphonse had been selfish.

In some ways, he was like Ed. He didn't want to lose anymore, not now when he had only gained everything back. But at that moment, his helplessness and weakness of his human body had overpowered his emotions momentarily, and try as he might, he could not get up from his slumped pose in the middle of that chalked circle.

Ed was the only thing before him then, as always, the apple of his eye. At that moment, he hadn't wanted to let his brother go. And he felt anger and jealousy towards the Colonel; anger that his brother was risking everything yet again for the safety of Roy, jealousy that the Colonel was, while not on the same level as Al himself, only a single step behind him in Ed's priority queue, a looming shadow which Ed took off for straight after he had reassured himself that Al was fine, and could be trusted in someone else's hands.

The Colonel had seemed like an enemy then to Alphonse, and not important at all compared to what Ed meant to him. It seemed slightly unfair that his brother was so higher up in his list than Roy Mustang was, but not vice versa. Still, to Al, who loved and cared for all, to be prepared to throw the Colonel away like trash in such a critical time was an unthinkable thing now, a true sin. Not only was it true that the brothers would never have gotten to where they were now if it was not for Roy, but Ed also loved the dark-haired, dark-eyed man, and who was he, Alphonse, to stand in their way?

Al tossed and turned in his bed, making small groans as nightmares plagued him. Although to have dreams at all will seem a remarkable thing to him in the morning, his inexperience with them seemed to make him mixed up with what was reality and what was not these days. It was also not unusual that Al's reactions to such dreams were far more outrageous than most people of his age – his mind and spirit did not know how to tolerate with the images, and although the evident shock of it all made things uneasy enough, his physical reactions were also a bit of a hindrance.

Winry cast a worried look at the writhing boy through the crack of his door, then shut it and blocked the room from any of the corridor light before trudging back sleepily to her own.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"He'd just got you when I turned up," Ed murmured, playing with the hems of Roy's nightshirt. "You've been fighting so bravely up till that, I could tell…I was so scared, Roy, when you finally fell. I kept shouting at you to get up, screamed till my voice got hoarse, but you probably didn't hear me…Envy was using alchemy then, he just hit you again and again, he didn't even stop when I begged, he just laughed in my face…"

"Shh," Roy whispered, letting Ed burrow deeper into his broad, strong chest. "It's okay, now. I'm here, I'll listen to you. Envy's gone, then?"

"Mm. He activated the Gate again with Bradley's stone in his body. He tried to use you as a sacrifice as well."

Roy nosed his way into the blonde's soft, thick crown and took in the sweet scent of shampoo. "You stopped him?"

"In a way," Ed shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not sure what really happened there. Me and Envy got taken to the Gate, but you, you weren't there. I'd have known."

"So I had died," Roy said, rather conversationally.

"No!" the younger boy suddenly turned onto him fiercely. "You hadn't died! You were just excluded, that's it. You hadn't–"

"Ed. There's no way this "Gate" would have simply overlooked me, if what I've heard of its power from you is true. I'd died, it's as plain as that. And you brought me back." A realization dawned on Roy's face. "For the love of…grief, Ed, what did it take?"

Ed bristled. "I don't know yet, do I? I think you could've told at first glanced if I was missing another limb or something. And you hadn't died, like I said, your soul was just detached temporarily. Time stops for you if you pass over to the other side of the Gate, so it was almost simultaneous when it was returned to you again. Anyway, we'd have to wait and see if anything's missing."

"Have you consulted the doctor about this?"

"What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, Doc, sorry to disturb you but I'd like it if you gave me a full body check over, inside and out. Hmm? What for? Well, I just want to make sure that I'm not missing any pieces of flesh, tissues, vital organs, skeletal parts, the like. No, it's rather complicated you see, there's this goddamned entity that proclaims to be "The Truth" or "The Gate", and it's, like, a total cheapskate, always taking things that don't belong to them say like, oh I don't know, body parts…"

Roy involuntarily let out a chuckle. "Alright, enough. I get it. We'll think things through afterwards, right? When things settle. We'll come up with a proper excuse, like not knowing if it was really only your ribs that needed special care." He traced his fingers over the boy's chest, fingering the bandages idly.

Ed gave a slight smile. "Stop that, it tickles."

Discovering the sure signs of a new game, the colonel let his fingers dance along the smooth skin on Ed's torso. At first Ed tried to hold out, but the light, tingling sensation on his tensed muscles were too much, and he gave into tinkling laughter that ended in a snort as he clamped his hands over his mouth in an attempt to stay quiet, lest a passing nurse outside might hear him. Reaching over to gently push Ed towards him, Roy planted a new kiss on the boy's nose, then, nosing the boy's hands out of the way, the corner of his lip, and that of his amber eyes, then back up to his forehead. Sniffing Ed's hair again (he was starting to develop a fetish for apple-and-disinfectant cologne) he stayed like that for another while, bodies crushed together, the pearly white hospital bed sheets reflecting the slight light through the curtains off of them.

It was too perfect at the moment. His lover was there, so close to himself, free for him to look at and marvel at and touch. His smooth skin was a delicate, expensive silk under his fingers, tanned from the many years under the sun, and wind and rain for the matter. Come what weather, Ed was always where he meant to be – for so long it had been beside his little brother he adored so much. They had become a package together; if one Elric brother was there, the other was lurking close by. Whenever Roy had lost sight of Ed and his golden crown in a crowd, perhaps at the station platform, he would search for that huge metal bulk sticking up over the heads of people, and there would be one grumpy and short Edward Elric at his feet, trying so hard not to be stepped on. And so it had been for years.

Oh, dear, now what was he going to do if they got separated and Ed was swept away by a horde? He hadn't thought of that. The blazing red coat with the Flamel symbol on it just wasn't spottable when the wearer was hidden in a mass of people. Perhaps he could talk Ed into getting himself another item so he could be recognizable from a mile away, in the dark, in the rain, from behind. Maybe he could hold a flag? Tour guides did that all the time, and in some ways it was effective. Or, if Ed should lose it, he could have a bright yellow balloon tied to his wrist, like kids in a fairground. If it popped or something, well, he could buy the blonde matching platform shoes as a present, that'll make the boy happy, make him feel tall…

He blinked when he noticed that Ed, as though he was telepathic, was gazing up at him from his chest with a look that could have been defined a glare. A murderous, bloodthirsty, terrifying glare rather seemed more appropriate, and even then that was only applicable due to the lack of proper words.

"Sorry," Roy hurried to pat at air. "I was just wondering what I'll do if I lost you."

To his luck, Ed took it in quite a different way, and visibly relaxed. "You don't have to worry," he told Roy. "I'll always be there for you, from now on."

"Yeah," the other caught on quickly. "But I can't help but think, for how long?"

Their grip became tighter, and Ed wriggled a bit, finding it hard to breathe.

"Roy–"

"I would die for you," Roy said suddenly.

The hands – both flesh and automail – fisting the front of his nightclothes grinded painfully into his chest. "Don't you dare!" Ed snarled fiercely. "Don't you dare think of that! Whatever happens, if I go and do something wrong, you at least have to keep living, alright?! I can't have you die for me! Don't joke about things like that! I'll be more careful in the future, I promise, but listen, if you–"

"I'm not kidding," Roy broke in. "I would never be so flippant about matters like this. Ed, I can't live without you."

Ed gave a short, bitter laugh. "Do you think that you saying that will keep me from doing things I have to do? Do you think that I can stop myself from acting when somebody I love is hurt?" he asked. "I hope you aren't trying to be romantic, because I've seen too much to be wooed by words like that, no matter how much you mean them. Don't you know – don't you know that this is exactly what I was afraid of when I fell in love with you? I can't have anyone dying because of me. I was always scared, Roy, that I might lose you if you got too close. I almost did."

"I'm not trying to be romantic," Roy said gently. "And I told you I wasn't afraid of getting to close. I want to protect you, and it will be by my own choice. Not yours to blame. But you don't want to think that, do you?" he continued on sadly. "You don't have to take everything upon yourself, you know, Edward. Sometimes it's other people who just take things too far. You risked your life to save me back there, and I would return the favour if ever a chance like that approaches. I wanted you to know that."

"Well get it out of your head," Ed said firmly. "No one's going to die, not me, not you, not anyone. Because I've seen death and walked that line between the two worlds, so for one I know that I won't go down that easily. And you, Colonel Bastard, are simply so jammy that you could probably sweet talk the reaper into giving you a second chance, plus a way to overthrow Armstrong and promote yourself in that one big leap as well. So there."

"Don't let any of the Briggs soldiers hear you say stuff like that," Roy warned. "I don't want to see you maimed and battered when I'm called to hand myself over because you were taken hostage. Olivier likes to pluck weeds while they're young."

"If you go down, I'd go with you," Ed told him, and smiled. "I know this sounds cheesy, but I'd follow you to the depth of Hell if I have to. But I won't die," he added hastily, so not to be hypocritical. "And if I find you in those fiery pits all depressed and sulking because you're what, powerless, I'm going to have to give you a good ass kicking and then drag you back up by the back of your pitiful neck to hand you another try."

Roy chuckled. "Always the beat-you-up-first treatment with you," he teased. "And I'm not allowed to go after you if you fall?"

"No, because you're such a wuss you'll probably never make it there anyway. Then what good will that be to either of us?"

More laughing ensued, and Roy's ended with a startled questioning mark when Ed pushed away. The young boy wriggled higher up in the bed to be able to be eye-level with Roy, but once he was there, he apparently thought now was a good idea to commence a violent tongue battle with his lover. Surprised, Roy's own medium of combat faltered a little at the start and so Fortress Mouth was easily invaded, but he swiftly caught on and involved himself with as much vigor as well. Shortly afterwards the enemy was once again pushed back, past the warm, dark cavern walls, although not without effort. Ed was unrelenting, still trying to take control of the clumsy kiss. The wet muscles were curling and tangling around each other ferociously for a full minute, outside in the open air between their owners, who had their eyes closed and relying fully on the sense of touch, fingernails biting hard into each other's backs. Finally, Ed's tongue made the first slip up, and Roy pushed forward viciously, barging his way into the younger's mouth as their lips crashed together. The force of it was enough to make Ed's head spin and his eyes, behind his lids, to rotate backwards. Soon he had contended himself on sucking at the foreign, writhing object, which was so desperately rolling around to whip cruelly at every nook and wet, hot cranny of Ed's mouth, and then later focused on forcing it's way down his throat making him gag, but in a pleasurable way.

Roy had another brief dance with the other's tongue before pulling away at last, leaving them both gulping for air and pink at the cheeks. Ed had a rather glazed look in his eyes, and seemed to be vaguely wondering if scientifically, unicorns and riding shooting stars were actually possible, if humans were given the right amount of elation and was feeling light in the head. It had been the hardest tongue workouts they had had for a while, but lack of practice hadn't deterred them at all. Before long Ed was back in a more secure embrace in his lover's arms, using Roy's arm as a pillow, with the weariness taking its eventual way over his body and making his eyelids droop. Roy himself felt the yawn bubble up from inside him, as he watched Ed part his little pink lips (that looked to be swelling slightly now) and let out a small breath.

"By the way," he murmured, and Ed drew in closer to feel the rumbles better, "What happened to Alphonse's armor?"

"He went back and found it later," Ed said sleepily. "Had it taken back to..ah...hotel…in his room, he said…think he's goin' to start uppa collection, like tha' bastard di'…dun' remind me of tha' asshooo(yawn)oole, wanna havva…good night…"

Roy smiled when a soft snore reached his ears from underneath him, once more checked that his arms were firmly wrapped around the little body beside him, and drifted off to dream world himself.

*~*~*~*~*

Alphonse and Winry arrived at the Central hospital earlier than any other visitors the next morning, but it hardly bothered them since they had been doing that for the past few weeks now, and the faces at the facility were all too familiar by then. Anyway, Winry enjoyed Al's non-stop jabbering (which started from the moment he woke up till someone else joined in the conversation and interrupted him) and tried to make all the time for it in the mornings, and likewise Al found that all his new discoveries of life in a living body had to be expressed somehow, otherwise he'd explode.

As they climbed to the second floor of the building after they had gotten their visitor's passes, the two spotted a nurse approaching the door at the very end of the corridor. Al and Winry, along with many others from the militia, had visited that room almost as much as they had to Ed's for a while, though really for the main part was to support the older Elric limp over to sit for hours at the Colonel's side, gazing forlornly like a lost child at the handsome man's sleeping face.

The nurse smiled warmly when they reached her, signing the check in-out sheet on the clipboard stuck on the wall next to the door. "Why, hello, Mr Elric and Miss Rockbell. Have you come to visit Mr Mustang?"

"We were actually going to see if Ed was awake already," Winry answered. "But seeing as he likes to spend a lot of his nights here anyway, we figured we won't bother."

"Locking the Colonel's door doesn't change much either," Al put in helpfully. "Brother would transform it into some ghastly gargoyle headed decoration to warn people away."

The nurse – a bouncy, cheerful, and ever so flirty one at that – laughed and flipped her short brown hair over a shoulder. "We'll see that Mr Elric is discouraged from his evening trips in time to come. Poor lad, I heard Mr Mustang was like a father figure to him. He must be so worried, that little boy."

The other two looked left and right before proceeding to beam up at the oblivious nurse.

"He feels responsible, yes," Al said.

"Well, I'm just going to check on Mr Mustang's condition, see if everything's alright. This will take about half an hour, I'm afraid. Have you had breakfast? I suggest you have some coffee downstairs while you wait," the nurse said.

They agreed, and as they turned to walk back towards the stairway, Al wondered if a simple check up would really take a half hour.

Brother is not going to be happy about this when he finds out.

*~*~*~*~*

The nurse hummed a tuneless song quietly as she tiptoed into Colonel Roy Mustang's room, closing the door ever so softly. Now that those silly kids were out of the way, she had the dashing military man all to herself.

She switched on the lights, then snuck up to the head of her sleeping patient/victim, so not to disturb him. Leaning over, she took a moment to admire the serene, snoozing face, before descending on his full, dry lips to capture it with her own soft ones.

She almost leapt back in surprise as she felt those lips move against her own. Her eyes opened, and widened as she met those deep, black orbs which were glazed with sleep.

"Ah," he said in a rough voice which he hadn't used for so long, when she moved back. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

She shook her head frantically. "No, please, don't be," she said breathlessly. "It's a common mistake."

The Colonel smiled as his eyes, out of habit, swept up and down to appraise her well developed body. "You tasted quite similarly to the person I had in mind, though," he said thoughtfully. "May I be so honoured as to hear your name?"

"Ma – Marian," Marian said faintly.

"Well, Miss Marian, I'd be delighted if we could get together some time and–" he suddenly broke off, and before she could question what was wrong, he had jerked his head to his right side with a panicked look on his face. Frowning, Marian followed the cringing man's gaze, and came upon a strange, small creature next to the Colonel in the bed, which seemed to have a thin yellow antenna protruding from its head and apparently no nose or mouth, just two, burning golden eyes that clearly spelled out MURDER from underneath the covers.

She had opened her mouth to scream before she could comprehend what exactly that thing was, and the message turned from MURDER to A HORRIBLE AND GRUESOME DEATH BY TORTURE as its attention focused on her as well.

*~*~*~*~*

"You know, you don't have to drink it if you don't want to," Winry said reasonably.

"Yeah," Al answered, "But you can do it, so I have to as well."

"Oh, please," the mechanic scoffed. "It took me ages to get used to this stuff. Besides, I need it sometimes to help me stay awake for whole nights when I'm ordered to do rush jobs much like somebody we know."

Al winced, but bravely attempted to steer the conversation back to safer grounds. "And I have to keep ahead of that somebody," he said, twiddling the cup in his hands, watching the dark liquid slosh around in it. "I mean, milk was never a problem for me, but I've seen Brother drink this at headquarters. The black kind, of course. But he can still drink it, and if he sees me complaining about it being bitter and disgusting, then he'll rub it in my face that he can do something I can't, and stalk around with his nose in the air because he thinks he's an adult and embarrass me in front of everyone."

"So? Just counterattack with milk," Winry suggested.

"Yeah," Al agreed again. "But when I was a suit of cold, unfeeling armor, I'd promised myself one thing – to be able to eat and drink anything possible in the world once I got my body back. And that includes…coffee."

Winry rolled her eyes. "Sibling rivalry," she muttered, and took a sip of her own.

Al was perched on the couch in the lobby for a minute longer, staring at the little cup sat there in his open palms. The blonde girl opposite him fingered a page of her magazine, readying herself to flip it every few seconds to see if she had gotten the answers on a quiz right. Finally, the sandy haired boy let out his breath, which he hadn't know he'd been holding, and said determinedly;

"Alright. I'm going for it."

"Have fun," Winry said absentmindedly, and turned a page.

Al put the rim of the cup to her lips, and tilted his head back.

Suddenly, a shriek of a banshee erupted from somewhere in the hospital, carried down every single hallway and blasted the eardrums of one old man who was in the middle of adjusting his hearing aid. Al spat the coffee back into the cup. Winry dropped her magazine. The bewildered people, although little in numbers at this time of the day, started up likewise and began talking amongst themselves. A couple of the more alert doctors hurried to the twitching old man, who had fallen on his side, and attempted to restore him and his eardrums. The sound of somebody being pinned to a concrete wall by a chainsaw came again, triggering a miraculous reflex in the man which caused his arm to swing back impossibly quickly and hit the doctors surrounding him around their faces in succession, but by this time Winry and Al were off, up towards the source of the scream and with one thought urging them to run as fast as their legs could take them; Ed.

Up on the second floor now, they could pick out the words from the screeches and yells. Some of them weren't as pretty as Winry had hoped for Al to hear, so she clamped her hands around the sides of his head as they skidded to a halt, suddenly fearful of entering the commotion.

"…a pedophile! Pervert!! I can't BELIEVE you'd fuck a little boy!!! You're old enough to be his FATHER, for god's sake! You have absolutely no morals!!"

"Now, calm down a bit Marian–"

"MARIAN???!! So you do know her, bastard!!"

"Ed, that's not true–"

"Then why was she kissing you when we woke up???"

"I can't believe I was ever attracted to a sick mother fucker like you!!"

"I thought it was you, Ed–"

"You liar! You were flirting, I heard you! If you think you can get out of this even remotely alive–"

"–You evil, tainted freak of a man–"

"–You're always like this, friggin whore who never thinks about other people–"

"–I bet you eat babies for breakfast–"

"–Always strutting around with his cock stuck straight out, looking for a good lay–"

"I am not any of those things, will you give me a chance to - no, Ed, look, here–"

Then the door banged open, hard enough to rebound once and hit the woman stalking out on her obtruding bosom, and Nurse Marian, huffy and red in the face, strode down the corridor, breezing past Al and Winry, who were clinging to each other like young children lost in the woods. The room was oddly silent now, and the two finally plucked up the courage to peer around the open doorway.

Their jaws hit the tiled, disinfected floors, and Winry slapped her hand over Al's eyes this time.

They had unfortunately caught Ed and Roy in a moment of heated passion, if Ed wriggling in between the Colonel's legs, who was on his back, on the bed, with their lips locked fiercely was anything to go by. Every so often Ed would let out a whimper, and that would only make Roy tighten his arms around the boy's back and hold him down even more. One of the older man's legs had kicked free of the covers and was looped around Ed's lower back, rubbing in long, desperate motions the boy's butt and inner thighs. As in response, Ed spread his legs further apart, leaning into the warmth and touch and grinding his hips against the other needingly.

Although the best thing to do was to walk away silently and forget this scene ever happened, Al had too many of these run ins during his armor days, and was quite frankly tired of them to be politely tolerant any longer. He coughed loudly twice, and watched in his mind's eye (for there were no gaps in between Winry's fingers) how the wet, plunger-being-pulled sound was associated with the two breaking apart, and his brother's ugly red blush compared to the Colonel's calm, collected expression. Once she deemed the situation to be safe enough for Al to look without having his eyes burnt, the blonde girl removed her hand.

Roy grinned at Ed, now scooted over at the edge of the bed and sadly, not on top of him. "Now do you believe me? I really didn't mean anything," he promised.

Ed buried his scarlet face in a pillow. "Sure, whatever," he said in a dazed voice.

"What the HELL were you doing??" Winry yelled, and the two on the bed looked at her, one slightly amused, the other groggy from sleep and recent exercise and consequentially embarrassed.

"Shit," Ed exhaled, and the girl growled at him, jerking her head at Al snickering silently behind her. "In front of my brother and childhood friend?" he shot at Roy, now also chuckling. "You are a pervert."

"Yes, but your pervert," Roy smiled. Ed scowled and rolled off the bed.

"You're awake, Colonel," Al said pleasantly enough, as his older brother got to his feet and straightened his night clothes. "I think a couple of weeks in coma has made you mushy."

"Nice to see you to…Alphonse?" Roy asked, and the boy nodded. "Wow," the man continued, "You brothers don't really look like each other…"

Alphonse looked quite pleased.

"Good to see you too, Miss Rockbell. I'm very sorry you had to witness something like that so early in the morning. Ed got out of the wrong side of the bed last night, so he's a bit short tempered…"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE PROBABLY HAS A FUSE THAT'S IN PROPORTION WITH HIS SIZE SOMEWHERE IN HIS BODY–"

"You, love. Now shut up for a moment." Roy reached over grab the boy's shirt, yanked him down so hard he was sprawled once again across the colonel's front, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Now," he continued, releasing a spluttering Ed and flexing his hurt shoulder, "I think we should try to keep this as just a bit of hospital gossip, I'm sure–"

"Oh, I think Major Armstrong could play his hand at that," Al said drily. "He'll want to hear that you're awake, of course, Colonel."

Roy went a shade paler than his usual complexion.

Ed and Al gave each other mischievous grins which were identical to the last dimple.

Winry rolled her eyes and told Ed to get some pants on.

And so begins a day.

*~*~Omake~*~*

Selim's mother cried for days onwards after the news of King Bradley's death. She wept into the day and bled tears into the night, eating little and saying little in fear that the slightest wavering of her voice may set her waterfalls off again. The servants were kind and considerate enough, never mentioning her late husband's name in front of her unless absolutely necessary, like during the planning of his funeral.

Well, they said, at least she's got young master Selim. At least she's not completely alone. She has her little, but strong son to protect her.

Selim held his mother's hand all throughout the funeral, rubbed her racking back at home, and murmured soothing words to her as she tucked him in bed, which only made her cry more but somehow seemed to make her feel better at the same time. He let her hug him, let her sniffle into his small, slight back, all the while playing the role of the perfect son, putting on his grieving, mourning farce to cover the mirth and disdain he felt towards his "father".

Honestly. Born as a human, trained as a human, given the Philosopher's Stone as a human, and yet he dared to call himself with pride, a "homunculus"? Such a pitiful excuse of his kind could only bring dirt to the name.

And Pride will not allow such tainting.

Yet when Envy had taken the opportunity of Wrath's absence to gain more power, he had not joined them. He had stayed with his "mother", to comfort her and support her. He had watched, without batting an eyelash, as one by one his kind was killed off. A tremendous feat for humans, and a loss to his side, but he himself was surprised to find that no bitterness engulfed him, no anger bit at him. In fact, he was feeling rather weary by the time all was finished, and had not questioned any further when his mother told him that they were moving to a quaint little village called Farlinton, where she had been born and raised.

But wasn't he Pride? Wasn't he a homunculus? What was he still doing here, hanging around humans, when his job was done?

He had nowhere else to go. He had no more reason to stay as Selim Bradley, adopted and beloved son of the previous Fuhrer. His pride should have been in the many achievements he and his siblings had accomplished. His pride should have been to protect these, and if they had been destroyed, it was his job to avenge for them. What had he to gain in sticking to his performance as a human, when he could live with a purpose and die knowing he had held his head high in aiming for his goal, being so stubborn he refused to stray from a path that gave him such respect?

Now in bed, he turned his head to the side, the slight shifting movement making a rustling noise against his pillow. His mother was staying with him that night, and she had fallen asleep hours before. Such a strange woman. To love something that was not even hers to begin with, to raise it with a protectiveness and care only a mother could have.

The screech of brakes…

The hard, brittle road scraping his knees…

The headlights which flashed as if in warning, and the shadow behind him grew long and large…

It would engulf everything; it would leave nothing behind, if he had half the mind to do it.

But, out of the blue, something warm and solid swept in front of him…

And her arms were around him, pressing him to her chest, as with a fierce defensiveness she shielded him from the oncoming vehicle.

When it jolted to a stop only a few feet behind them, he had gotten over his shock of the sudden act, and had realized that her body was trembling viciously, even as she clung desperately on the body of the little boy, determined to keep him from danger.

The unbidden thought raced across his mind without permission then;

Is this what it's like to have a mother…?

When he questioned himself later, which was he more proud of, which would he stay beside if he had to decide, the homunculi or his mother, the answer was the woman who's bravery was enough to throw herself in front of her dearests even if it meant that she may die, if they will live. The homunculi, for hundreds of years had done nothing but bow and scrape and move in the shadows. He was intended to be the controller of them – and he was not about to be degraded as to cower behind them, to hide within them, and he had thought that for a very long time now.

But he was Pride, after all, so he was prepared to throw anything that would hinder him or claim prejudice of him. Looking at the ways things were heading, it seemed that he would have to live for a while as a dirty, puny thing of a human, a creature not so much better than an insect. The woman wasn't exactly young, he will wait at least till her light is extinguished, his way of a tribute to the one being who showed him a world his siblings had blocked him from.

He would disappear after that, of course. Then he would go back to his homunculus ways, and put his days as a human behind him, forgotten.

But the woman needn't know. About him, or her husband if that was what was best for her. It was a foreign feeling, sympathy. But Pride – Selim – knew enough about this woman to see that this was the kindest way for her. She would never find out.

His mother, at the very least, would be safe.

Okay, I talked to my friends about the hermit idea and they told me that I'd better screw my head on straight, or get screwed. Total birthday wishes – 1.

Well, I guess this chapter was supposed to be all fluffish and a bit more hotter than it turned out to be (I mean, they're together in a bed. A bed that doesn't belong to them, and a bed in a hospital where absolutely anyone could hear them if they were…uh…making noise nonetheless. Who doesn't like this kind of situation? Apparently my writer's block, that's who.) but at least we got an overview of things. So yeah, we can finally get starting on the whole main story.

I wonder if Envy's ever going to make an appearance again. I doubt it, because I'm not really used to writing about him and really, he died didn't he? So yeah, not really high hopes on that. I still have to do research on other bits to make this story half as decent.

Because I love Roy and Ed, and we all know that we would do anything to make them happy. Well, angst rocks too.

Happy Ad: Here's one tip on how to entertain yourself while waiting for stories to magically write themselves (they don't, but let's say that in certain imaginary worlds they also come with rainbows and streamers) – R&R.