Hecate's Apprentice here. I don't know what divine force drove me to write a story like this, but my muse did the work for me either way.

I do not know if this is an original idea or not, so please, if you have seen it before, notify me with a note if you want me to continue on or not. I don't like copied works.

'Tis is a story born from the times I sit in my desk, wondering "what if?". The result is this. I hope you enjoy it. Cristisms always welcomed. Be specific, please.

Another thing: this will contain absolutely no yaoi pairing WHATSOEVER. It also won't contain much OC either (none that would actually be the main characters). I'm satisfied with the FMA casts.

How Not to Start out Your December Days

It was a lazy Sunday morning. Snow was coating the world in white outside of the military dorms for men in Central. Nobody except for a few very brave souls wandered out into the bitter cold of a December day. It was still snowing steadily, in fact.

An alarm clock rang inside a room in the dorms. It rang twice, thrice, four times.

Then an exceptionally loud BANG was heard, followed very closely by the sound of something shattering, and then silence. Oh, no, not complete silence; there were a few ugly cursing as well.

"Brother," Alphonse Elric said disapprovingly, stepping into his older brother's bedroom, taking in the sight of the shattered clock on the night-stand and the huddled form of Edward Elric on the bed, covered in the five blankets that he used. "That's the fifth time you broke that clock this month!"

"It's the clock's damn fault for being such a loudmouth," Edward snapped back, his words slurring together and muffled by the blankets. "Give me ten more minutes, Al."

Alphonse's eyes would certainly rolled had he been able to. Instead, he clanked across the room and grabbed his brother's blankets. He then proceeded to yank them off, exposing Ed underneath, dressed in his black undershirt and boxers, who curled up tightly and frowned at the sudden coldness attacking his skin.

He reached out in an attempt to yank the blankets back. "Hey, Al, gimme!" the boy demanded sluggishly.

A sigh emanated the suit of armor that is Alphonse Elric, which was pretty impressive, considering he had no lungs. "No, Brother. If I give them back, you will lay their till afternoon," he retorted, then scooted a distance away from his drowsy older brother and waited patiently as the cold work its way to wake up Ed's body and brain. He had done all he could. Now he would have to wait for nature to do her miracles.

The "miracle" didn't take long to happen. Ed sat up on his bed, blinked owlishly, rubbed his eyes with his left and mumbled something. He tossed aside a few strands of hair in his face and swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up unsteadily on his legs, then walked out of the bedroom and went on his little quest to find the bathroom.

As his brother cleaned up, Alphonse readied his clothes for him, and when Edward came back, he handed it over. Ed gave him a grunt of thanks and put them on with lightning speed, then clapped his hands and went to fix the poor clock that had been a result of his morning rage.

"What time is it, Al?" Edward asked, adjusting the clock.

"Eight thirty," Alphonse replied after a look at a clock in the hallway. Ed adjusted it and frowned at him.

"Why did you call me up so early anyway?" he demanded, putting on his boots and started braiding his hair expertly.

Alphonse tossed him his red ribbon. "Because we have a meeting with the colonel in half an hour, remember?" he reminded Edward.

Ed wrinkled his nose in obvious distaste as he finished tying his hair and shrugged his familiar red coat on, wounded his scarf around his neck, tugged on a thick pair of mittens over his normally white gloves, then glanced out of the window at the snowing avenue outside. "Yeah. Count on that bastard to demand us to meet him at odd times of the year," he said sourly. "I mean, seriously, what kind of sensible man would insist a report in the middle of April? And it was not raining outside at that time! It was storming, the total idiot!"

"Well, if you have turned in that report at the right deadline, he wouldn't have demanded it at that time, now would he?" Alphonse pointed out as they got out of the dorm.

Edward glared at him. "Exactly whose side are you on, Al? And I wasn't actually late at that time at all. I'm just a few days behind, that's all."

"A few days, huh? Two full weeks and a half, you mean," Alphonse chided him, then sighed. "Seriously, Ed, can you be more responsible?" he asked.

"More responsible?!" Edward threw his hands up. "Oh, fine, yeah, you told me to be more responsible when the bastard who held my leash is a complete weirdo when it comes to report deadlines and an impatient jerk! Yeah, very fair, Al!" And he ran ahead, his breath streaming behind him in white clouds as he did so, leaving his brother behind to heave another exasperated sigh.

Honestly, Alphonse thought as he jogged to catch up with Edward, Brother could be such a child sometimes.

0o0o0o0o0

"So," Colonel Roy Mustang said idly, although he was secretly glad to be able to kick his paperwork aside for a few moments without having his lieutenant pointing her gun at him, "what wonderful reason will you give for your running late now, Fullmetal?"

"I have to eat first, you bastard!" said Fullmetal rolled his golden eyes, then fixed them on the colonel's coal ones, giving Mustang a death glare. Roy only smirked.

Ed walked over and slammed the report down on his desk. "There, your report. I'm going." And Edward stormed toward the door.

"Hey, hey, Fullmetal Bean, where are you going?" Mustang demanded in the same idle voice that was getting on his young subordinate's nerves real quick. "I have a new mission for you."

Edward already had his hand on the door handle, and he refused to take it off as he turned to glare at the colonel. "What?" he snarled, and with great effort, ignored the "bean" comment.

Mustang reached for one of the files on his desk and held it out in front of him, then waited for Edward to come get it. "I'm not standing up and go over there, Fullmetal, so you might as well get your butt over here," the colonel said flatly.

They glared at each other for a few seconds, then slowly, deliberately, Edward plucked himself from the door and stalked over to yank the file violently out of Mustang's hand, receiving a frown in the progress.

"Don't be so aggressive," Mustang scowled, then cleared his throat. "Anyway, there had been reports of signs of human transmutation at Resenpool –"

"Resenpool?!" Edward cut in sharply, his eyes widening at the mention of his hometown.

"Yes, Resenpool," Mustang saw concern and puzzlement in the boy's eyes, but continued to push on. "I want you to get your ass over there, confirm the signs, come back here and write a proper and legible report, mind you. Oh, and no detour. I want you back in two weeks, Fullmetal, and I mean it."

Edward wasn't paying attention. He was already reading the given file, hungrily devouring every single word. Then he got to his feet and swept out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Mustang stared at the exit for a few moments before sighing and turning back to his oh-so-exciting paperwork. He doubted Edward had heard half of what he said, and that half would surely come in one ear and come out the other.

Oh, well, no matter. If Edward does not come back at the given time, Mustang would ask Hughes a favor and nag him into going to Resenpool and drag the Elrics back here.

Or maybe I could ask Armstrong, Mustang mused, uncapping his pen and staring at a paper in front of him. Yes, definitely Armstrong. He will not fail in bringing Fullmetal back.

With a fair amount of embarrassment and awkwardness involved.

Roy Mustang grinned at the thought. Now he was hoping that Fullmetal would forget about the two-week deadline.

Reviews are appreciated.

~the Apprentice