18Time: Between Yousewell and Liore (original)
Pairing: Parental Royed/ Parental Royal
Why he hates it:
Edward Elric hates going to East City. Well maybe hate is a strong word, but he did dislike it. But it hadn't always been that way. Until July 7, 1915 he actually enjoyed it because between the time he was twelve and thirteen Roy and his team had become like family to him (but of course he would never admit it) and who doesn't like going to see their favorite gun slinging family members? Especially when your only other family is a brother who is always with you and two women out in the country who you never see. So, Ed had actually enjoyed, if not downright loved, his time in East City.
That is, until one fateful day that would forever change how he looked at the many deserted allies that littered East City. Since then, Ed could be seen almost shuddering whenever he passed a dark alley in East City. And it had nothing to do with a childish fear of the dark. Though it did have something to do with his proclaimed reason for hating the city in general: Roy Mustang. But not for the reason he claims. And no one (from the team anyway) would blame him for it. Well, except Mustang but that was just cause he would be too surprised (and embarrassed) to know the real reason why.
It all started at around eight a.m. Wednesday morning. Edward was reporting in with his latest mission report and for once he was actually on time.
"What do you mean he's not in?"
"I mean, Edward, that the colonel never came in this morning and therefore is not here to listen to your report so you may go back to the dorms for now and I'll call you when he decides to show up!" Hawkeye snapped back at Ed. Her other superiors had been looking for the colonel all morning and she was really getting tired of people asking where he was. How was she supposed to know? She hadn't seen him since yesterday and as far as she was concerned he was well overdue for a day off anyway.
Ed was surprised by the tone of her voice and decided that it was not in his best interest to press the subject. So instead he just sighed and ran a hand through his bangs.
"Do you have any idea when he'll be back?" Ed sighed.
Hawkeye ground her teeth together exasperatedly, "No, Ed! I don't know! And I'm sorry but I really can't talk any longer. There's a serial killer on the loose and while the colonel's gone we're helping out the investigation department so if you don't mind I have work to do!"
Hawkeye stalked out of the office crossly and left a pair of stunned Elric brothers and the rest of the crew still scurrying around trying to find all necessary paperwork before they were due.
Edward scowled at the closed door for a minute before following Hawkeye out of the office.
"How come he gets to just randomly not show up for work and we can't be a few hours late for a report!" Ed seethed.
Al sighed unhappily as he followed the elder Elric down the hall, "brother it isn't that bad. And besides we can always follow up that lead about a magician downtown that we've been meaning to do for a while."
Ed sighed in resignation as he walked down the hall, "Yeah I guess you're right. Come on Al! Lets make the most of this."
Both brothers charged down the hall with a burst of energy born from pure optimism… That, in a few hours, would seem like a cruel daydream…
vv
Ed walked crossly down the street; hands thrust in his pockets, head down, and back slumped. He kicked at any stray rocks that were in his way and in general gave off an air of depression and frustration.
Al, like always, was walking only a few steps behind him and for once didn't seem to be in a better in mood. The brothers had investigated the area the magician was supposed to have set up shop, only to find that it had turned into a crime scene. Apparently the serial killer was killing anyone who had supported the Eastern rebellion and so some outspoken civilian had been knifed for praising it…
The brothers had then spent the rest of their day trying to find the magician somewhere else but it was looking as though he had moved on and it was now nearing five o'clock…so much for making the most of their free day…
Ed groaned as he walked past a random alley…how bad could his day get? First the colonel blew off their meeting…then he walked in on a crime scene and then he'd spent the rest of his day on a goose chase!
Suddenly Edward froze as he heard a groan answer his. He spun around and squinted into the alley. The pale evening light barely penetrated the pitch black of the darkness, but Ed could just make out a booted foot sticking out of the shadows in a pool of blood. Al was about to ask what Ed was staring at when Ed ran into the alley. Al quickly followed to see what Ed had spotted.
A middle-aged man lay in a pool of his own blood. It looked like he had been shot in the leg but that was far from his only injury. His clothes were partially burned which partially explained the burns that littered his body. But none of that quite explained why he was unconscious or why he was smiling or, why he was holding a gun and a knife. A bloody knife.
"He must have been here a while." Al whispered as he caught up to his brother.
"Yeah…hey Al? Why don't you go call someone? Like Hawkeye?" Ed breathed, his eyes still riveted on the man, "I think he's still breathing…"
Al paused for a moment before nodding vigorously, "sure brother."
Ed waited until Al was gone before continuing down the alley. All he had to do was take one step and he saw a thin trail of blood. Ed hurried his pace as he quickly continued down the alley following the blood. But he froze when saw the tip of a boot. A military issued boot. A familiar military issued boot.
"I mean, Edward, that the colonel never came in this morning…"
"No, Ed! I don't know!"
"Any idea why he was killed?" Ed breathed as he stared at the civilian's corpse. "It was the work of the serial killer that's been roaming around. He's been targeting people that either supported the Eastern Rebellion and or participated in it."
The voices of other officers from earlier in the day echoed in Edward's head as he starred at the boot tip. Then he surged forward and was by the owner of the boot in five seconds flat.
Just as Edward had feared since he had seen the other man's burned body, at his feet lay Colonel Roy Mustang. He must have been there for quite a while…his skin was a stark white and his bangs clung feverishly to his sweat doused forehead…his eyes were only half closed and revealed a small glimpse of the midnight blue eyes…they were blank but not quite cloudy…that was good…right? A crimson stain was spreading from a ragged rip in his Amestrinian blue uniform…and there was also a very nice hole in his side, which only added ten fold the amount of blood that spread over his front and the ground… to Ed it appeared that everything around him was stained a deep crimson…Edward had always loved the color red and he rarely disliked the deep red stain that blood came in…but this was one of the few times he did and he found himself having to swallow back the bile in his throat so he didn't add more human fluid to the alley floor.
After a moment of staring dumbly at Roy Ed dropped to his knees by his CO and firmly pressed two of his fingers in the crook of Mustang's neck, desperately feeling for a pulse. He got nothing. Ed began to feel tears well up in his eyes.
All he could think was no…no no no no no no no no no no…. Ed didn't have very many constants in his life…and ever since Edward had first come to Central…Roy and his team had always been his constants …coming to East City had always been sort of like coming home…home to his military family.
In Ed's opinion…he was always losing constants…and he hated that and he dreaded to lose another…first his father had left…then his mother had died…and then he'd almost lost Al…and after that, Ed had had to leave the Rockbells and Resembool behind…And after that Edward had found seven more constants…
But yet, no matter how much Ed hated, dreaded, and down right despised losing constants…it looked like he was losing another. The tears began to spill over and soon they were streaming down his face in a steady stream.
Ed hadn't realized that he had kept his fingers pressed against Roy's chilling skin until he felt it. It was faint, oh so faint, but it was there. Edward's head shot up as he felt the faint thump against his flesh fingers. He couldn't quite believe it, could it really be?
Thump.
Yes…Yes, if felt like…
Thump.
Roy was…
Thump.
Alive!
Edward acted immediately. He quickly removed his hand from Mustang's neck and pressed both hands instead into the jagged gash on his chest. He was doing his best to stem the flow of blood. Ed quickly glanced over at the hole in Roy's side, blood was still flowing from it as well but it was considerably less than the blood he was clogging with his fingers so he simply pressed harder on the wound in a desperate attempt to keep the life sustaining liquid in Mustang's body.
"Come on colonel…don't die on me! You c-can't die on me!" Ed whispered as yet more tears blurred his vision.
For a second Ed thought he saw Roy's eyelid flicker but he quickly dismissed the notion.
"C-colonel I-I can't lose another constant in my life! I can't lose another person I care for! I c-can't! Not after N-Nina…" Ed's voice trailed away as he desperately tried to keep a sob from escaping his lips. He didn't really know why he was talking. Maybe it was his way of begging the colonel to try to hang on to life, at least until Al got back with help. Or maybe it was his way of showing how much grief this was causing him…He didn't know which if either option was right... and he didn't particularly care.
"I can't-"
This time Ed was cut off by a sob and it took him a minute to get his breathing under control again.
"I c-can't lose-"
Another sob…
"You." Ed finally choked out.
"I can't lose the closest thing I have to a father!" He cried. By now Ed's forehead was pressed weakly against his hands (that were still stemming the blood flow) as the tears rolled freely down his cheeks. Edward had no idea of time as he sat there. All he really knew was that his CO was bleeding out in front of him and he couldn't even do anything.
The pounding of footsteps broke Ed from his depressed stupor. He pulled his head up and whipped it around to look up the alley. Riza was the first to appear in his line of vision.
"Edward what're you-" she stopped. Completely frozen when she saw Ed. He was blood soaked and tears were streaking down his face and blood welled from between his fingers. Blood from a jagged gash in the missing colonel's chest.
"Medic! Medic! Medic! I need a medic here!" Hawkeye called her eyes widening to twice their size as she took in the scene before her.
The next few hours seemed to pass in a blur for Ed. If you asked him what had happened after Riza had called for a medic, all he could do was shrug. He knew, though faintly, that more blue clad figures had come running down the alley and had pulled him away from the colonel. They had a fairly easy time of doing it to, that is, until his hands were pulled away from the wound. The second Ed's eyes locked onto the blood that had furiously begun to flow as soon as his hands left the wound he began to struggle. To desperately try to reach the wound, to stem the blood the flow, to make sure his colonel didn't die.
And that was all Ed was really aware of. Fighting the soldiers to get back to the colonel. He was pretty sure he was screaming something but he didn't know what. Then two larger hands replaced his and he let himself fall limp. And after that he had no idea what happened.
He was pretty sure Al had carried him to a car…he was pretty sure it was Havoc's car because Havoc had been the one to steer him to a chair in a hospital waiting room…
There are many kinds of torture known to mankind. Some are inflicted by other humans while others are often carried out by animals and even others are cruelly performed by our own mind. But almost all of these tortures are easily avoided. But there is one form of torture that is a simple cruel fact of life that no one, no matter how rich or how smart or how pretty can avoid. And hospitals specialize in it. And it is summed up in one word:
Waiting. And what is the worst place to wait? A waiting room. Specifically, a hospital waiting room.
And that was exactly where Ed found himself. Sitting in an uncomfortable blue chair, still covered in blood, tears still streaming down his face which was pressed firmly into his blood soaked hands, his shoulders shook violently, and he couldn't stop himself from tapping his foot impatiently. But he wasn't the only one.
It was 6:00 a.m. The colonel had been in surgery all night and he still hadn't come out and his survival rate was less than 30%...Hughes had taken the all night train and had arrived at four and had taken the seat next to Ed. Hughes had silent tears streaming down his face and he couldn't seem to stop cleaning his glasses. Havoc, on the other hand, had managed to fight off tears, but he couldn't stop clicking his lighter on and off. Breda was tapping his fingers rapidly while Furey was a crying wreck, even more so than Edward. And Falman, well Falman was simply leaning against the wall and trying to pretend he wasn't crying his heart out. Hawkeye was rhythmically running her thumb along the butt of her Smith and Weston. And Al…well… they were pretty sure he was crying by the way he was shaking and the weird strangled sob sounds he was emitting.
Everyone in the room was starring at the bedraggled group of seven wondering who in hell could cause seven experienced military officials, a short blood soaked boy, and a tall man in a suit of armor, to either cry like babies or have to desperately hold back tears. It was a rather disturbing sight and only made the other occupants of the room want to leave that much faster.
Ed was finding it extremely difficult to think clearly at the moment. The only coherent thought he was really able to come up with at the moment was: when will someone come tell me clean to this blood off?
Deciding to act on that thought, Ed slowly raised his head and deftly clapped his hands. With in seconds the blood was gone from his clothes and Ed was about to go back to crying into his hands when a nurse appeared.
"Um, visitors here for Colonel Mustang?" she called apprehensively.
Ed and Hughes both jumped to their feet while Al, Falman, and Hawkeye pushed off the wall and the others simply straightened up in their seats.
Ed opened his mouth to speak, but Hughes beat him to it, "how is he?"
"Are all of you here for the colonel?" she asked, looking a little shocked.
Ed could have slapped her, but as it was his legs were shaking so much that he could barely stand and he seriously doubted that he could even open his mouth again without sobbing.
"Yes." Hawkeye deadpanned impatiently.
"Well…he's not out of the woods yet. He is out of emergency surgery but we're keeping him in the ICU for now. There is still a high chance that he lost too much blood, but we already did a transfusion and we just have to hope that his body accepts the foreign blood…Beyond that we believe that we have stopped the internal bleeding as best we can…No major organs or arteries were hit so we didn't have to do too much there…We did also remove the bullet from his side and there is still the risk of infection…Other than that I don't have anything else to tell you…He is, however, still heavily sedated, but you may go see him now." The nurse finished glancing up from her clipboard as she did so.
"What room is he in?" Hughes asked quickly, concern shining obviously in his eyes.
"3B sir, just down the hall, take a left, third door on the right." The nurse replied, offering the group a kind reassuring smile before hurrying off to talk to another patient's family.
The group quickly set off down the hallway and in seconds they were all filing in to their CO's room. For a minute they all just sort of stared at the limp form on the hospital bed. The colonel's face looked even paler next to the bright white hospital sheets. An IV was hooked to his left arm, which lay on top of the light blue blanket that covered him. His hair was still sweat doused and blood was still well infused into it as well. It did; however, appear as if they'd at least cleaned off his upper half due to the lack of other areas of blood and dirt.
Hawkeye seemed to relax tenfold as soon as she took in the colonel's state, "okay people we're already late for work. Let's head back to the office now and we can all come back for lunch if you want. Though I don't think its wise to leave the colonel alone just yet…Hughes you stay here with the colonel, Ed and Al you two can stay too if you want. Havoc and Fuery get some sleep. Breda and Falman will come get you from the dorms at lunch then you two can take over their working shift. Everybody good with their orders? Lets get moving people."
Havoc and Fuery gave quick salutes, took one last look at Roy, and left. Hawkeye and the others hesitated for a minute before following. Hughes sighed and rubbed his temple.
"I'm going to go get a cup of coffee I'll be right back boys." He said before leaving the room.
Al was still shaking so he simply went back to leaning against the wall, his soul fire eyes locked on the faint rise and fall of the colonel's chest. Ed let out a shaky breath and pulled a random chair to the bedside and flopped down in it. His eyes locked on the colonel's pale face.
A few minutes passed and Hughes reentered the room with a cup of coffee and sat down on the other side of the colonel. A tense silence filled the room as they all watched the faint rise and fall of Roy's chest.
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
Exhale
In
Out
In
Out
In
Out
Hours passed and Ed and Hughes were soon both asleep while Al entered his meditation state. It wasn't quite sleep…but it was pretty much the same thing the only difference being that Al wasn't resting his body because he didn't have one.
Ed was a light sleeper; his sleep was even lighter than Al's meditation state. Maybe he wasn't as light of a sleeper as some experienced soldiers, but he was still a pretty light sleeper. And so, he was the only one to hear the faint groan from the bed next to him.
His eyes snapped open and looked over at the colonel. The colonel's eye flickered slightly and Edward let his whole attention be riveted by the colonel. A few moments passed and then Roy slowly opened his obsidian eyes with a groan.
"Damn…did I get drunk last night?" he whispered his eyes locked on the ceiling as he obviously wracked his brain for an answer. But his mind was clouded with pain killers, making it nearly impossible.
Ed could feel still more tears brimming in his eyes as he saw the colonel wince as he tied to sit up a little. Relief and grief both mixing in his gut as he carefully watched Mustang.
"No." was all Ed could manage to squeeze past the lump in his throat.
Mustang's head flipped over so he could see Ed. His brows furrowed in thought as he tired to place where he was. Why Ed was there. Why Ed had blood smeared on his face and hands and why he looked like he was about to break down. Why he himself felt like he'd been dissected and why his head felt like it contained a cloud.
Roy's eyebrows flew up to meet his bangs as memories of the past twenty-four hours came flying to him. Mustang slowly pulled himself into a sitting position gasping as pain from his abdomen assailed him.
Edward had closed his eyes, desperately trying to keep himself from crying. He took a shuddering breath and froze as Roy's voice broke through his conscious.
"You know…I don't think I've ever heard you sound so sentimental…or desperate for that matter…as when I was bleeding out in an alley." Roy whispered his eyes locked on Ed, waiting for a reaction.
"Yeah well…wait! You could hear me?" Ed asked, too shocked to try to get anything else past that god-dammed lump.
Roy sighed, "I was bleeding not knocking on death's door."
Ed snorted, "Suuuure you weren't."
Roy gave him a weak smile, "well…not exactly. But you know…" Mustang had to take a moment to clear his throat, "I have always viewed you and Al as my uh…. My ummm…. sons."
Edward blinked a few times in surprise before he fully broke down into tears. He heard Mustang sigh exasperatedly.
"And this is why I'm not sentimental…I suck at it." He mumbled
Roy glanced at Ed and opened his mouth to say…something when the unexpected happened.
Edward wasn't quite sure what made him do it. Maybe it had something to do with the old urge that he had to be comforted that hadn't been fulfilled since he was eight. Yeah…that was probably it.
Ed shot forward and wrapped his hands around Roy's abdomen. Mustang was shocked (and reeling from pain) for a minute before he slowly wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him closer and fully onto the bed.
"Shhh Ed. Hey look, I'm alright Edward. I'm not dead. I'm still here. And I plan to stay here for quite a while…well not here per se but in this world. Hell, you know what I mean." Mustang rambled, doing his best to calm the crying teenager in his arms.
Ed nodded desperately into the colonel's chest. Apparently the hospital had deemed the white slightly blood stained bandages enough covering for Mustang's torso and hadn't even bothered to give him a shirt.
"I know." He croaked out, "its just…there was so much blood and…"
Roy held Ed tighter and buried his nose into Ed's golden mane.
"I know Ed, I know. Look I know that this… is hard for you and… it's going to be okay Ed. You have to believe that." Mustang mumbled into Ed's hair.
Ed nodded vigorously. He no longer trusted his voice to speak.
"When did you last sleep?" Roy asked kindly.
"Night before last." Ed rasped.
"You should go back to the dorms and sleep." Mustang replied slowly loosening his grip on Edward.
"No!" Ed croaked back, holding on tighter and burying his head in Roy's chest, "I'm not leaving you. Not yet…I can't…I can't"
Roy was surprised for a moment but he simply wrapped his arms back around Ed's small body, "okay. Okay Ed. You don't have too. Not yet."
"But you do have to sleep. We don't need you passing out on an assignment and winding up in a similar position now do we?" Roy continued softly.
Ed shook his head no, but kept his arms and head firmly in Roy's chest.
Mustang slowly lay down, being careful to drag Ed down with him. With in seconds both were softly snoring.
Hughes smiled at the scene before him. Roy lay with his back to Maes and Ed lay next to him. Both were fast asleep and oblivious to the world around them. Ed's arms were wrapped tightly around Roy's abdomen while Roy had one hand loosely draped over Ed's shoulder. His other arm was wrapped tightly around Ed's shoulder and pulling Ed close.
It was so cute! Who knew that Roy-boy could have a parental side? Hughes chuckled softly to himself as he pulled the door to the room shut. He didn't want anyone to see them like that; they'd both probably die from embarrassment. But, that wouldn't stop Hughes from showing off the cute pictures he got.
What? They should be more careful where they fall asleep if they didn't want to be embarrassed. Plus he was sure the boys under Roy's command would get a kick out of it. They may even be able to stop crying! That or they would simply break down because the colonel and/or Ed had lost it… A sly smile crossed Hughes face as he walked down the hallway, softly fingering the camera in his pocket.
A/N: Don't ask. Just do not ask. I have no idea how I came up with this…I just don't. But this does happen to be my first posted fan-fiction so try not to hate it too much. And I am very new to fan-fiction so any advice you have will be gladly received, just like a review...
Though I would like to point out Roy is pretty high on painkillers in this so…blame his OOCness on that not me! Even though it is more of my fault…but still!
And as for where Al is in all of this…he's still meditating! Don't look at me like that! He just suffered a very traumatic event, and therefore, must find inner peace!
Yeah, I know, I just lost it, but at least you got a one shot before I got hauled off to a mental asylum!
Oh! And in case you're a city kid and don't know what a Smith and Weston is, it's a classic American (I think) gun company. So she was fingering her gun K?
Review! Please?