Chapter 5

Roy could not say that he was having a particularly restful night. He woke again that same night, but thankfully not because he was assaulted this time. In fact, there didn't seem to be anything in particular that stirred him from his sleep. But at some unfathomable time in the night, or very early morning for all he knew, Roy blinked some focus into his eyes and observed his surroundings, unsurprised when he saw nothing of note.

Well, nothing besides the unconscious teen laying against him. While perhaps not entire aware of it, Edward had apparently taken advantage of the idea of using Roy as a pillow and had somehow ended up resting his head on the colonel's chest. Roy glanced down at him but was unable to see much beyond his messy hair. But since he wasn't moving around, he could assume that the kid was sleeping soundly. Besides, he didn't seem too warm, but not cold either. It was difficult to discern much as things were, but from what he could tell, Edward looked content.

Perhaps part of him wanted to wake up just to confirm that. Roy didn't quite have the mental capacity to think too clearly, but at least at the moment, he had no problem with going with that theory. He was too tired to bother denying it to himself anyway.

Careful to avoid bumping into the slumbering kid, Roy rose an arm to rub wearily at his eyes and resisted the urge to shift into a more comfortable position. With Ed laying against him, he wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

But with his eyes feeling so heavy, he figured that was fine. There were still a few hours until morning anyway.

Early morning sunlight drifted in from the single window, slipping past the blinds effortlessly and landing on Roy's eyelids. He tried to turn away from it, but the warm weight on his chest kept him still. It took a moment for his groggy mind to remember yet again what was keeping him from moving, but a portion of the weariness vanished the moment he thought of Ed.

It looked as if he had shifted at some point between then and when Roy woke up a few hours ago, but looked equally as comfortable as he huddled against his side for warmth. He had moved more onto his side and still seemed to be deep in sleep, but Roy was now able to get a good look at his face. He indeed did not seem tense in any way, and with further examination, the colonel had confirmed that his temperature seemed to have gone down before it could turn into a full-blown fever. Chances were, Edward had already passed that stage before Roy got involved, considering how bad off he seemed earlier.

Roy couldn't say if any of his efforts beyond causing Havoc to take Ed to the hospital really did anything, but he liked to think so. It was hard not to think that- at least a little bit- as the young alchemist literally clung onto him.

It comforted Roy to know that he managed to do some good for someone. It wasn't every day that he was able to act on the opportunity to help another without any anterior motive. Given his career and his past, the colonel was much more familiar with harming others, whether it be criminals who deserved it, or the innocent who did not.

There were times where he doubted himself capable of selflessly coming to the aid of another person. Especially on those lonely nights when he had just a little too much alcohol after something stirred up old memories that were just a little too vivid.

He may have helped the Elrics by giving them the opportunity to get their lives together by joining the military at such a young age, but that was first and foremost for his own personal gain. He never denied that fact, but it wasn't until he got to know them better did he really appreciate the effect it made on their lives. He always knew it would, of course- that was the whole point. But he supposed he simply didn't care on a more personal level until later.

But back then, he never expected himself to get to that point. He was cynically trying to move on from the war, redirect his attention in any way he could, even if it meant taking advantage of the ambitions of children. It was no wonder people looked down on him for that, but it truly turned out for the best.

The newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Mustang would have had second thoughts if he looked into the future and saw where he was now, in a sick child's dorm. But as far as the present was concerned, he was glad that was impossible.

At some point during his internal mulling, Roy had dropped his head back again and let his eyes close, seeing as he wouldn't be getting up any time soon. But not long after, Edward began to stir and mumbled something as his eyes flickered, slowly phasing out of his sleep. For both of their sake, Roy decided to feign unconsciousness so the kid could remember where he was without choking on embarrassment.

In a matter of seconds, he felt Ed groggily lift his head, look around, and then detach himself from Roy as quickly and abruptly as physically possible. He scrambled to the other side of the bed, although with a sense of caution as if careful to not wake the colonel. Once he had distanced himself, Roy cracked his eyes open just as Ed had reached to the side table for the class of water that was left there overnight. Willingly drinking was definitely a good sign.

Roy softly cleared his throat as he pushed himself to sit up as he rubbed his eyes, both because he was honestly still a little tired, and also to help encourage the impression that Edward woke up first.

"Morning," he yawned easily. "How are you feeling?"

Edward took a moment before responding as if he needed to think about the question. "Better," he said eventually, turning to lean against the headboard so Roy didn't have to look at his back.

"Do you need anything?" Roy asked, glancing back at the table that held a million books, as well as the ginger ale and medicine, and the food that wasn't there but definitely should be.

"Not right now."

"Are you hungry?"

"Uh… not right now?" the kid responded slowly as he blinked tiredly.

"Ed, you need to eat."

"I know, I know. I will. Can I be awake for more than ten seconds before you shove food down my throat?"

Roy sighed, but bit down on the irritated response that came to mind. He chose to take Ed's snarkiness as a good sign that he was feeling better.

"Fine, fine," Roy sighed, inwardly chastising himself for not expecting to be immediately annoyed the moment Edward was conscious enough to be himself.

Silence fell onto the room as the brief conversation drifted off. Neither alchemist minded however, as Edward focused on downing the glass of water, and Roy kept himself preoccupied with his own turning thoughts. Though things were looking better now, he still had to figure out the best way to get the kid some food, and ensure that it was something he could keep down. It would do him no good to get ahead of himself, now that he was seeing promising signs of recovery.

A knock rung against the door, causing both Roy and Ed stare at the door in silence. For a moment, Roy had nearly forgotten that he was expected to answer it. He cleared his throat as he rose to his feet, and crossed the cluttered, dark room, idly wondering if he should turn the light on while he was up. But with Ed in mind, he dismissed the idea for the time being.

But just before his hand could grab the handle, the door burst open, forcing him to just narrowly step out of the way to avoid it slamming into him. His involuntary gasp was obscured by the suit of armor standing in the doorway, calling for his brother.

"Ed!"

"Al?" Edward spun towards the door and blinked as if Al appeared out of thin air.

Roy stepped out of the way to allow the younger brother in. In his obvious rush to get here, he must have temporarily forgotten that he didn't need to knock on his own door to get inside.

"Brother! You're looking much better," he said excitedly as he approached the end of the bed.

Edward slowly forced himself to sit up a little straighter and greet Al with a smile. "Yeah, I'm feeling better. I told you there was nothing to worry about. So what happened in Cameron?"

"Sir." Hawkeye's voice pulled Roy's attention away from the two as she stepped into the room once Al moved further in, switching the light on as she did so. "The people in Cameron who had likely poisoned Edward have been arrested and are being questioned as we speak. They were very tight-lipped when we caught them, but the officials in Cameron seem to be familiar of them."

"I see. That's good; they were probably a band of thieves or drug dealers who assumed the Elrics were there for them. I'm willing to bet that they dug their own graves." Roy hardly cared to look further into it, personally. He was glad they were behind bars for poisoning his subordinate, and was certain they wouldn't get out any time soon, in addition to whatever crimes they stacked up against the town of Cameron anyway. It was no longer his problem, now that Edward was doing so much better.

"That seems likely," Hawkeye agreed as the two boys spoke animatedly in the background. "How did things go here last night?"

"As well as could be expected," Roy replied with a shrug despite his mind flashing back to Ed's hysterical rambling. "He still needs to eat something, but I don't think that'll be a problem with how things are going, especially with Alphonse back here."

Hawkeye nodded besides him as they both watched the Elrics for a short moment.

Then she ruined it. "If we're done here, we should get back to the office."

Roy paused, the words stuck in his throat for a moment until he was able to force them out. "Right now?"

"Yes, right now. You could stop to get a change of clothes if you prefer," she added, casting a wearily glance to his wrinkled uniform, that he nearly forgot he had been wearing this entire time, "but we already lost enough time with you absent. Don't forget that the deadline is coming up."

"But-" The argument died on his tongue with the look she gave him, silencing him effortlessly. As immensely as he enjoyed getting away from work and the piles of paperwork, the logical part of his mind knew that it wouldn't last. He would have to pay the price for escaping for this long eventually. He sighed deeply, making no effort to hide how badly he did not want to go to the office. "Alright, alright…"

Hawkeye nodded curtly, then turned to the two young alchemists. "Now then; unless there's anything else you need, the colonel and I will be heading back now."

"Uh… alright," Edward said simply as he glanced at Roy, then diverted his gaze back to Hawkeye.

"Okay," followed Al with much more energy. "Thanks for everything!"

"Not a problem," Roy smiles wearily as Hawkeye stepped around him to leave, somehow willing him to follow. "Make sure you eat, Fullm- Alphonse, make sure he eats!" he added hastily, knowing his chances were much better if he went through the younger brother.

"I will, responded Alphonse easily as Ed looked mildly annoyed, as usual.

Roy still felt somewhat unsatisfied when he closed the door behind him, but he supposed it didn't matter. He would keep monitoring Edward's recovery through the days to come- for as long as he had to.

Once the door closed with the two officers disappearing behind it, Edward sat at the edge of the bed with his arms extended behind him to keep himself up. He didn't really care to spend energy on standing up for no reason, especially now that Alphonse was here.

"I'm glad you're back," he heard himself repeat. Al looked over at him without an immediate response, but he could easily sense the smile in his soulful eyes.

"So am I. To be honest, dealing with those guys in Cameron was exhausting. It's good Hawkeye and everyone came when they did. Their help really moved things along."

Edward just nodded as he tried to picture the event, part of him still wishing he hadn't left.

Alphonse was silent for a moment as some sense of awkwardness seemed to overtake him. He shuffled his metal feet and avoided Ed's gaze. "And uh... sorry about blowing the secret to Colonel Mustang over the phone earlier. I didn't realize it was him."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Edward responded immediately with a disregarding wave of his hand. "It turned out for the best anyway." That much at least was true, despite how little he wanted to admit it- at least to Mustang's face. He didn't want to think about how he and Al would be doing then if it wasn't for the colonel's interference.

"How did everything go with him, anyway?" the younger Elric asked after a beat. "You spent a whole night in the same room, and nothing's destroyed."

Edward scoffed lightheartedly as he considered the question. "It… wasn't that bad," he heard himself say before he could fully process the words. Mustang wasn't a colossal asshole the entire time, which was… nice- and surprising, more importantly. As keen as he was to get the entire event out of his mind, Ed couldn't help but think about the images that made it through the tired, sick daze of the night before.

Most of them weren't that interesting, but he did slightly remember a strong sense of panic, for reasons now unknown to him, and Mustang holding him down so he wouldn't hurt himself or do something dumb. Or… something like that. There seemed to be a lot of that; just the colonel being right beside him. Ed couldn't remember what the man ever said to him, but he recalled being comforted by it.

He was suddenly reminded that Al was watching him, and blinked some focus back into his eyes, slightly flustered by how he felt his face warm up in embarrassment. Damn it- how was he supposed to go to work again knowing that Mustang had to lock him in a hug just so he could fall asleep in the middle of the night? Just the possibility of walking into the office to be greeted by a smug, condescending smirk nauseated him to no end. God, he's rather have the whole ordeal be wiped from the colonel's mind, if not his own as well.

"Are you alright, Brother?" Alphonse asked suddenly, further shaking him out of his tidal wave of pointless worries.

Ed tried to shake the thoughts away, settling for the time being by hoping that Mustang assumed he did not remember, and just wouldn't bring it up. He was betting on the man's good graces, which was… extremely unlikely, but he wasn't given much of a choice here, it seemed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered automatically. But as he heard the words, he began to actually consider the question. It seemed to be a simple truth that he was only as fine as he was because of Mustang. Whatever his motivation for showing concern was, there was no denying that he helped. Edward clearly remembered feeling absolutely miserable in every sense of the word yesterday, but somehow his presence helped. In comparison to then, he was doing better than fine, but just nodded to himself instead of correcting his word choice.

In all honesty, he still wasn't feeling completely healed, but that was to be expected.

"That's good," Al breathed as his shoulders seem to relax somehow. "Maybe we can return the favor to Colonel Mustang at some point."

"Hell no," Edward scoffed, switching gears with ease. "He barely did anything. We're better off forgetting about it."

"Whatever you say," Alphonse replied casually, but something in his tone strongly suggested that he wasn't quite convinced. Whatever. They didn't need to go over it.

"Oh, could you pass me one of those bottles?" Ed asked as his eyes suddenly landed on the case of ginger ale that Hawkeye had brought him the other day. Alphonse agreed and handed him one from the small cluttered table without having to take more than one step.

He snapped the cap off easily with the help of his automail and took a sip, idly reconsidering Al's suggestion. The thought of showing up at Mustang's doorstep with a melon basket as thanks certainly did not appeal to him in the slightest. But despite what he said, he didn't want to be indebted to the colonel any longer than he had to. Maybe he would just keep an eye out and wait for the older alchemist to get sick, and show up uninvited with a case of ginger ale and throw a bottle of medicine at his head. That'll show him for butting in… And then he would loudly say something witty, like get a taste of your own medicine before running off victoriously.

Yeah, that could work.

Edward leaned back and took another drink, now almost eager for the day that he could repay the favor.

Well, that was tough. Sorry for the wait, guys! I tried my hand at fluff, and will now happily return to the land of character torture and misery. :D But anyway, hope you enjoyed my attempt at a sick fic!

Thanks for reading!