I don't own these characters and I don't profit from them.

Chapter 1

Morning

Ed woke to the sound of the shower in the next room. His lover always was an early riser, well, in comparison to him. Though of the two, Ed supposed he was much more of a morning person. He couldn't help it if morning didn't start before eight o'clock for him; he was still more chipper than Roy was by ten and Roy regularly woke up at 7:30 a.m. each day, whether he had work or not.

The blond rose from the bed, grateful he had at least managed a shower the night before. He'd never quite figured out how, after sex, Roy could manage to fall asleep so easily. Then again, Roy only cleaned when it got him out of something he loathed doing more. There were those who assumed the man, either because of his position or age or his usually immaculate appearance, was a neat-freak, but Ed knew otherwise. His house looked nice because Roy had a maid and a boyfriend who actually became anal about cleaning thanks in large part to the older man's mess.

Of course, Roy didn't really need to clean himself off any more than he needed to clean his home. Ed did both for him without any complaint. After all, it only seemed far that Ed wipe Roy off since the older man would be the one with a sore ass the next morning.

With a smile, Ed grabbed a pair of his boxers from the dresser and pulled them on. He then went to the closet to pull out the military uniform he was now forced to wear.

Yes, even that was a misconception about Roy Mustang. He had been a ladies man, no denying that, but with another man, well, natural tendencies put him on the bottom. Not all of the time, obviously. Even though Ed preferred where he was, so to speak, he enjoyed switching things once in a while as much as the other man.

He began putting on the military uniform, leaving the shirt and coat for last as he put on the white undershirt. He would have to have breakfast, and he wasn't going to listen to Roy about slopping up the uniform "just because you don't want to wear it." Not wanting to wear it had nothing to do with spilling cereal or ketchup on the thing. And it wasn't as though Ed wasn't perfectly capable of pulling the stain from the blue wool.

He carried the upper half of the uniform down to the kitchen and draped it over a chair. He did his best to ignore the full photo of Mustang's team following the fall of the fuhrer. Ed was there, looking a little worse for the wear, with his body bandaged up and bruises on his face thanks to Envy. For whatever reason, after that moment, he was considered part of the older man's group. Of course, he hadn't been the only one included there. One other figure, taller than Mustang, stood at Ed's side in the picture, looking in much better shape than the shorter blond.

Though Ed didn't look at the photo and tried to pretend it wasn't there, the act of pretending, the pretense that he hadn't seen it, brought it back to his mind. He could see it clearly, could see the tall teen clearly, and it hurt.

He sighed, but went to the kitchen anyway and rooted through the cabinets to find a carton of oatmeal. He got some water boiling in the kettle on the stove and pulled out the brown sugar. Roy would probably have cereal, but Ed knew he couldn't. Though he sometimes managed to tolerate the taste of milk in the cereal, he always felt a little sick afterwards.

Yes, much to his delight, Ed was lactose intolerant. He had rubbed that in everyone's faces. Especially Al.

He lips quirked down in a frown.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Just thinking," Ed answered.

"Ah," Roy said, a smug tone to his voice, even as he limped to the icebox. "Strenuous activity."

"Oh, bite me, old man."

Roy then ruffled Ed's hair. Purposely, the young man was sure, because it irritated the major nearly as much as short jokes.

"You know," Ed said, trying to find a tactful way to broach this subject with his boyfriend, "I was talking to Hawkeye, and I have almost a months worth of vacation coming to me. I almost never take it."

"Well," Roy said, pulling the milk out of the fridge and setting it on the counter, "then it would be a good opportunity to go to Resembool to visit your brother while I'm gone. I am assuming you were thinking of him earlier when you looked so serious."

"I don't want to see him," Ed said. "And I don't think he'd want to see me much, either."

"He called for you again last night, and I had to lie that I hadn't seen you," Roy said. "That doesn't sound like he doesn't want to see you."

Ed paced through the kitchen. Not only did he not want to have this discussion again, but he wanted to go with the older man to… well, wherever it was he was going.

"That wasn't why I was suggesting it," Ed said, flicking a sock-covered toe over a loose tile of the linoleum floor.

Roy sighed as he got out of a box of raisin bran and poured it into a bowl. "Ed, we've been through this. My trip is one I have to take myself."

Ed looked up at the older man. "I just don't understand why. I mean, a year, Roy. A whole year and you're still taking these two-week vacations where you go off someplace only you know where. And lately, you've been getting all these phone calls…"

Though Roy wasn't his first when it came to much of anything, from crush to kiss to even sex, the relationship Ed had with him was the longest he could remember and never before had Ed moved in with his boyfriend. If this was the first that Roy was, they wouldn't that at least mean the older man could share a little with him? It was disconcerting to think how lithe he knew about Roy's past, particularly now as Ed was facing every sign that something was very wrong.

"Ed, I just have some business I need to deal with," Roy said. "It's personal, but do you really think I'd mess around on you? Because I enjoy my privates a bit too much for that." He kissed Ed on the forehead. "I enjoy you a bit too much for that."

Oh, yes, he enjoyed Ed, loved his company, cared for him, liked him, but not once had Roy said the words Ed so easily blurted out in times of passion and would have just as easily other times, if he didn't have the ability to think and remind himself that Roy had never returned them.

Even looking up at the dark eyes, Ed wasn't entirely sure he could see there was anything more than a fondness for him. Sometimes, he thought he saw something other than that, but most of the time, he wondered if Roy could feel more strongly about a pet dog. Hell, Ed had heard him say on more than one occasion that he loved dogs. Was it that much more difficult to say that he loved Ed?

Realizing he was being a bit of a girl, Ed returned to fixing his breakfast. Roy would say it when he was ready to, and if he never did, things were pretty good as they were. The kettle was squealing now, which meant his water was ready.

"You're going to have that limp all day, aren't you?" Ed asked. "Sorry about that."

Roy shrugged. "It's okay. I'd be more upset if I was this uncomfortable knowing I was going to have to ride a train all the way… well, for several hours."

Ed poured the water into the bowl of plain oatmeal, trying not to think how close Roy had been to blurting out where he was heading. He mixed in the brown sugar and some cinnamon before turning and eating as he stood.

"You know, there is a table," Roy said, as he stood, spooning his cereal into his mouth. "I may have trouble sitting on the hard wooden chairs, but that doesn't mean that you can't."

Ed shrugged. "No point," he said as he ate. "I've got to go upstairs and brush my teeth and all that before we head out. Sitting down just takes time."

"And I can see you are saving valuable time by talking while you eat," Roy said, before spooning another bite into his mouth.

Ed continued to eat as though he hadn't heard the older man comment on his bad habits, save for the single digit that he held up on the hand that held his bowl, which silently told Roy exactly what he thought. It earned a chuckle from the older man, but nothing more. The angry outbursts were gone from them both. Roy still called Ed a brat, Ed still called Roy old, Roy could get away with short jokes, and Ed could even make teasing remarks about the scar at Roy's cheekbone. Ed didn't do the last often often, unless he was speaking affectionately while teasing. After all, Roy only teased about Ed's automail when he was complaining how much it weighed when Ed inadvertently cuddled as they slept or the one time he'd tried to carry him up the stairs in a romantic flight of fancy—Roy had pulled his back out for his efforts on that one.

Ed finished his oatmeal long before Roy finished his own cereal, and he made his way up to the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

Seeing Ed was gone for at least a few minutes, Roy dumped the rest of his food in the garbage and went to the phone. He gave the operator the number he needed and anxiously waited to hear someone pick up on the other end.

"Hello?" the voice asked.

"Karen, it's Roy." He put a hand in his pocket, as though that effort of making himself look calm would allow his voice to convey that in its tone.

"What do you want? Because it's just me here right now."

Roy knew otherwise without any doubt. If she really was alone at the moment, he wouldn't be making the trip to Eastern Command, but he didn't dare accuse her. Not yet. "Karen, I was just wondering how you're holding up. I heard that your work has been going really well."

"My work has been going like crap and you know it, Roy, I told you so the last time you asked," she said.

"Are you still investigating the research you told me about before?"

"Naturally," she said as though it was the most idiotic thing he could ask.

"Are you having any luck with it?" Roy asked.

"Who's that?" Ed asked, having come downstairs again. Roy held up a finger to signal Ed to wait.

"Look, Roy," Karen said, "you're already screwing the little prodigy at Central and you have the whole 'hero' thing going for you. Is there really any need to steal my work?"

"It is hardly your work," Roy rebutted. "It is the work of someone else that I want nothing to do with. I just wonder why you continue to pursue it."

"I continue it because he was onto something great, and because finally succeeding would allow me to become the most well-known alchemist of my time. Does that bother you?"

Roy wanted to answer truthfully, but instead muttered a "No" before being abruptly hung up on.

"Who was that?" Ed demanded. "I waited patiently, now I want an answer."

"It is an alchemist in the East I was familiar with," Roy answered.

"And what is the research this alchemist is doing?"

"Some fairly dangerous stuff," Roy said. "Just for the sake of fame."

"Do I know the research this alchemist is doing?"

"I'm sure you do," Roy said, not giving away anything more. If he said what Karen was trying, it would open up so many memories for the younger man. If he dared to mention Karen, it could start a mess Roy wasn't sure he could clean up. "Get your uniform on. We'll be late if you don't get dressed soon."

Ed looked at him in shock. "Best damned alchemy resource at your fingertips and you won't even talk," he muttered just loud enough for Roy to hear as he went to the kitchen to get the coat and white shirt on.

Roy wondered if the damage wasn't already done by his secret. This was going to come out. Soon.