Roy unlocked the front door, tossing his keys to the side and letting out a yawn. It had been an overly busy day and was now taking it's toll on him. The clanking behind him stopped for a second as Al shut and locked the door behind them. All the while carrying Edward. He'd fallen asleep in the car which hadn't surprised either one of them. Being as quiet as possible, Al brought him back to the guest room. Mustang removed his boots and scratched his head, before taking his jacket off as well. The suit of armor came back out, trying to be make the least amount of noise as possible. The Colonel found himself smiling feebly at his efforts.

"Trust me, Al. I don't think you're gonna wake him." Alphonse nodded in agreement, bringing his gaze to the floor. This was not the same Al that Roy had witnessed earlier. He was back to his normal worrisome self again.

"Do you think he's in any pain right now? I mean we did talk about a hospital. I know he wouldn't want to wake up in that kind of place after all he's been through, I just worry that something might happen again."

"Al." Roy looked at him sympathetically. "He's fine. If he is in pain, he's sleeping through it now anyway. I'm sure you're gonna stay by his bedside the rest of the night anyway, so if anything else happens, just come get me and we'll deal with it."

"Um...okay." Everything they had been through these past two weeks was really starting to hit Alphonse all at once. And Roy knew that once you witnessed something painful, the only thing to heal that is time. That's how things worked on the battlefield anyway.

"I've got an extra blanket for him in the hall closet, alright?" Walking in that direction, Al followed like he was a lost puppy. Once he had the blanket, he said goodnight to the Colonel and went back into the guest room. Sure enough Ed was still asleep, curled up and completely unaware of any pain that still lingered behind. Al placed the blanket on his slumbering brother and sat on the floor next to the bed, watching every breath Edward took. And just as the Colonel had said, he stayed there all night.

uuuuuuuuuuuuu

There was a light knock on the front door the next morning and Roy really didn't want to get up to answer it. Even so, he wearily got out of bed and grabbed his bathrobe. Checking the clock out in the living room, he noted it was almost seven.

"Really? Kind of early." Opening the door, he made eye contact with Lt. Hawkeye. Glancing down at what he was wearing she immediately brought her gaze back up, slightly blushing in response. He couldn't help but smile at her reaction but she wasn't in uniform this morning either. Clearing her throat, she straightened her shoulders more.

"Sorry sir, I know it's early." He opened the door more to welcome her inside.

"Come on in." He motioned with his head.

"I know this is somewhat unprofessional." She walked in and turned back to him as he let out a yawn and stuffed his hands in his pockets."

"It's okay, the office is closed today, remember. Besides I know why you're here."

"You do, Sir?" She blinked several times. He nodded, walking into the kitchen to start some coffee for them.

"You were just as worried as the rest of us. About Ed." She relaxed some and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"So were you able to get anywhere last night?" She had been on edge most of the night and didn't really sleep very well. After giving Dr. Kaitlynn a piece of her mind in the car, she just couldn't clear her mind. The Colonel's faint smile really didn't give anything away either.

"Actually we were able to get Ed back to normal. Of course it was more Alphonse then me though. He'll say it was a joint effort but he did most of the hard work though. I don't know how he managed either. I doubt I would have been able to pull it off." There was the hint of laughter in his voice which made her feel a little better about it.

"It was that bad, I take it." Roy shook his head back at her which was the only way he could confirm it without going into any of the details. But even so, it was relieving to hear that everything was back to normal, or at least as normal as possible. "I'm glad he's okay."

"He's still sleeping but at some point I need to speak with one of the military physicians about looking him over. Just as a precaution." Riza leaned on the table with a smile in place.

"You know he's not gonna like that." Mustang frowned back at her.

"I don't care what he likes, it's not an option." She shook her head in disbelief. The coffee had finished brewing and he went over to get them each a cup. "Guess he could probably use some coffee." Riza moved before he did.

"Let me get him, Sir. He won't be mad at me for getting him up." She did have a point. If he hadn't blamed her for taking him to Dr. Kaitlynn, he wouldn't be mad at her for this. She disappeared down the hallway and knocked lightly on the one door. Alphonse answered it rather quickly.

"Hey Alphonse. There's coffee. We thought Ed might want some." He seemed surprised she was here this early.

"He's still really out of it. I don't know if he's gonna want to get up, to be honest." He opened the door completely for her to see Ed sleeping in quite the uncomfortable position. It made her glad to see everything was as if this whole nightmare hadn't happened. Al was still very much overprotective as always and Ed was, well being lazy.

"Well it's good to know everything's okay." Alphonse brought his hand behind his head, unsure if he really wanted the acknowledgment.

"I just hope he's not mad at me. I knew it wasn't going to be easy on him."

"I'm sure he won't be." Moving into the room, she leaned over and gently nudged the sleeping teen.

"Edward?" He curled up more, pulling his pillow over his metal arm. She shook him again, a little harder this time. Eventually he stretched out and opened one eye to see what she wanted. "Why don't you get up and come have some coffee." He let out a tired groan before rubbing his forehead. Despite how much he wanted to stay in bed, he always did have a difficult time saying no to Lt. Hawkeye.

"Fine, but I gotta use the bathroom first."

"Brother, the Lieutenant doesn't want to know about that." Edward shrugged Al's statement off. Riza left the room and headed back to the kitchen with Al following close behind her. When Ed came in, he noticed Roy was just getting off the phone.

"I'll tell you more about it later when we come in. Thanks, I appreciate it. All right, bye." Hanging up the phone, he turned to see the suspicious look on the blond's face.

"What was that about?" The smirk on the Colonel's face just made things worst.

"Don't worry, you'll find out later." The side of Ed's mouth twitched as he was positive that he wasn't going to like where this was headed. His mouth pulled to the side as he narrowed his gaze at Roy.

"Something tells me to worry." Despite the obvious disapproval of whatever Mustang had planned, Al couldn't help but feel relieved that his brother appeared to be acting normal. Defiant to the end but at least he didn't seem to be hurting or angry at anyone else in the room. Of course the way the Colonel was being secretive, that could change at any point.

uuuuuuuuuuuu

"Alright Mr. Elric, open wide and say 'ah'." Edward couldn't help but roll his eyes at the doctors request. This had been Mustang's dumb idea and the only reason he agreed to it at all was because Alphonse made him. There was nothing wrong with him now. He caught the deep red glare he was receiving from the suit of armor across the room. Obviously irritated, he opened his mouth.

"Ahh." The doctor stuck a depressor in and shined a flash light down his throat. Once he was satisfied, he removed the tongue depressor and gently lifted Ed's chin up to check his glands.

"Had a sore throat lately?" The doctor's fingers felt cold against his neck.

"A bit when I talk." He rubbed his throat when the doctor removed his hand. After writing himself a note, he removed his stethoscope from around his neck. Pressing the one end to Ed's chest, he shivered at the metal's coldness. Other then the temperature of it, Ed also noticed his chest was still pretty sensitive. He couldn't help but wonder how long that would last.

"Now go ahead and take a deep breath." Ed found himself rolling his eyes again. Staring at the ceiling, he sucked in his next breath. He was so sick of doctors at this point. "Mmm..."

"What's mmm," Al piped up, sudden concern entering his voice.

"Well it's just his heartbeat seems a little weak but it's nothing to worry about." Unfortunately Al missed the 'nothing to worry about' part of the explanation.

'His heart is weak, oh no. I did this to him and now he's gonna have to deal with it for the rest of his life. What if this kills him, it'll be all my fault.' Edward could recognize the tell tale signs of Al's worry. He whistled loudly to get the armor's attention.

"Yo, Alphonse. He said not to worry about it. Okay?" Alphonse seemed to calm down, even if Edward still had that annoyed tone in his voice.

"Mr. Elric," the doctor pulled his stethoscope away with an irritated look on his face. "Please don't talk when I'm trying to listen." Edward sucked in a another breath and held it in, blowing his cheeks out in an attempt to remain some what calm.

"So we're done, right?" The man in front of him frowned in response.

"No, I still gotta check one more thing. Can you go ahead and take your pants off?"

The Flame alchemist was sitting just outside in the waiting room when then door was kicked open and Edward stomped out.

"Yeah, we're done," he grumbled as he yanked his jacket back on and adjusted the hood in the back. Alphonse hurried after him while Roy glanced into the room where the doctor just shrugged back at him.

"Brother, I don't think you should leave just yet."

"What a brilliant plan. 'Oh hey you've just been through two weeks of crazy alchemist and doctors'," Al had heard Ed's rants about the Colonel so many times and his impersonation wasn't getting any better. " 'Let's go ahead and let another doctor invade your privacy.' No thanks."

"But Ed, what if something is wrong. They just want to be thorough." Edward turned back with that look in his eyes. Al knew it all too well. It was the look that said 'You're not winning this one, I'm putting my foot down;.

"Everything down THERE is fine. I would notice, alright." Feeling he didn't need to explain any further he turned away, his red jacket sweeping behind him. Roy knew there was nothing else he could do. The doctor came out, sighing loudly and shaking his head.

"Well from what I saw, he's perfectly healthy especially his temper." Mustang let out a laugh.

"Thanks for trying." He handed the doctor an envelope with his payment in it and went after the Elric brothers. Even though he had a lot of work waiting for him, he still couldn't help but feel relieved that things were all right. The idea of having a female Edward walking around was terrifying for anyone who knew the teen. One moment of anger and he could've destroyed half the city. It was hard enough keeping tabs on the destruction as it was. At least Alphonse was around to keep him grounded too. He watched quietly several steps behind the two while they argued back and forth. At least this whole ordeal hadn't deterred them much. If this couldn't stop them, nothing would.

-End-

Author's note-I hope everyone liked the ending. And Eclipse, I hope that the climax wasn't too frustrating. :) Thank you everyone who reviewed and helped encourage me.