FMAFIC:Wake me up - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

So numb

Roy stared at the teenager incredulously. They were seated opposite each other at a simple round, wooden table, each with a hot drink left untouched in front of them. Ed's fingers wrapped around his mug as he stared at the questionable liquid within it, but Roy had his hands full as he nursed a small bag of once frozen peas to his already blackened eye, now bruised twice over.

"You attacked me."

Ed growled at the repeated accusation, glaring angrily at his superior as he explained his defence for what felt like the tenth time.

"You had your hood up; I couldn't see that it was you."

They were both losing their patience with each other because of Roy's scepticism and repeated questions. It was only by Al's honest judgement that they were able to get anywhere.

"But Brother, you screamed. That's how I knew someone else was here."

The blonde paused momentarily, murmuring that he didn't scream but shout, before his lips twitched up into a smirk.

"If you caught sight of that wouldn't you scream?" he said, nodding in the direction of the black and blue soldier. It was obvious to everyone in the room that Ed was finding it pretty entertaining how the Colonel's face was now colour co-ordinated with the rest of his appearance.

Roy suddenly slammed his fists onto the table surface, splitting the bag of peas that had been in his hand and pushing back his chair as he quickly stood up. The brothers' full attention was focused on him now, and for a moment that seemed to drag on too long for the older Elric, Roy simply stared into his eyes. Ed was never one to feel intimidated, but the glare the Colonel was giving him sent a cold sensation up his spine. With a drawn out sigh, Ed broke his gaze and looked to the floor with a defeated pout.

"Is there something you came here for?"

The older man was caught momentarily off guard before he returned to his usual, sober expression. He gently tugged at the opening of his black coat and much to the brothers' surprise, turned and went to leave the room.

"Fullmetal, I want you in my office first thing tomorrow morning to make up for this mess you've caused."

Ed was about to protest. After all, he'd already been in at the crack of dawn three times this week already. He wasn't one for complaining about early mornings (Though if anyone asked Al they'd know this to be a lie), but he had better things to do with his time than waste it with idle chit-chat. He stopped, mouth parted slightly in mid-speech. That was all it had been lately; conversation. No business, no reprimanding (except for earlier where he suspected sleep deprivation had a role) he'd actually started to see the egotistical Bastard in a new light.

When neither of them had spoken by the time Roy had gotten to the door, Al made a small, polite even though he knew the gesture was lost on the man facing away from him.

"Thank you for visiting again, Colonel." Roy stalled for only a brief moment before stepping out into the corridor and closing the door behind him.

- - -

"Why didn't you just tell him?"

"Tell whom, what?" But he already knew.

"Tell Edward that you know he's having nightmares."

Roy glared at the dark liquid, watching it slosh quietly within his tumbler as he rolled the glass around gently. It was one thing to think it to himself, but it physically hurt to hear someone else say it.

To hell with what he thought earlier; it was Hughes who was too damn good at reading him.

He took a quick gulp of his drink and let the fiery liquid run down his throat, sighing out heavily as it reached the pit of his stomach in a disappointing pool of sobriety. He was on his third bottle already, so where was his short lived but well deserved oblivion?

Maes looked to his friend slumped in his armchair with concern, shifting uncomfortably in the two-seater couch as he waited for a response. He sighed as he realised he wasn't going to get one.

"Drowning yourself in alcohol won't fix the problem, though losing sleep on top of that..."

Maes was stopped mid-sentence as his gaze brushed upon Roy's. He'd never seen the man glare at him so darkly, though he supposed it was only amplified by the growing dark rings under his eyes and the angry looking bruise shadowing half his face.

"I am not losing sleep over this. He's just too damn..." His face scrunched up as he failed to think up a suitable word. Maes looked to Roy expectantly.

"... Stubborn? You mean like you?"

Roy sighed as his friend finished his sentence. It hadn't quite been the word he was looking for, but it had fit none-the-less, no matter how much he hadn't wanted it to.

"Look..." Maes cautiously approached the slumped figure, as if he feared it was a wild deer ready to flee. "You'll end up hurting both of you if you continue on like this." He knelt at his side and managed to gently pry away the partially empty tumbler from Roy's fading grasp. "Come on. Let's get you to bed. Who knows, maybe you'll think of something while you sleep?"

If Roy had used his energy reserves to lift his head at that moment, he would've been graced with one of Maes' contagiously optimistic smiles. But he hadn't, and so he allowed himself to be pulled up by his friend, slouching even when stood as they made their way to his welcoming bed.

Not even using the effort to undress himself, he simply dropped onto his mattress and sank into the delightfully soft material of his covers, mumbling incoherently into the feathered pillow. Maes took it as a sign of gratitude and gave him one last look over before quietly taking his leave. He was sure the man was little more than tired, and if he knew him, he knew the Colonel would be back at work tomorrow, blaming his hangover on 'that insanely daughter obsessed friends of his'.

As soon as the click signalled the front door's closure, Roy lifted his head and slowly peered around. Once he'd confirmed that the coast was clear, he roughly pulled himself into a sitting position.

He hated acting like he was drunk.

It was completely against his character, but it was the only solution to quell his friend's concern; to feign ignorance.

He swung his legs over the side of the bad a little too quickly, forcing him to wait a few moments before rising to his feet. It seemed to him that maybe the alcohol had affected him... Just a little. Once the room stayed as it was meant to, instead of darting around him every time he shifted his weight, he shuffled his way into the living room.

Everything was as it should have been before he started drinking. There were no empty bottles, dirty glasses or any of the little spills he'd made in his attempt to explain something using extravagant arm movements. A soft smile flitted across his lips. Where would he be without that son of a gun to back him up?

In hell, most likely.

- - -

"Well, where the hell is he?" There was an obvious air of irritation in the blonde-haired teen's voice that the inhabitants of the room chose to ignore.

"Give him a little time, I'm sure he's on his way as we speak." Riza's naturally calming voice chirped in as she nonchalantly set about filing some papers.

"I haven't got any time..." Ed mumbled to himself, not brave enough to actually talk back to the older woman. He'd seen her handle a firearm before, and as he eyed up the metallic weapon holstered on her hip, he decided not to chance it.

"Hey, Boss? You could just leave them there; I'll make sure they get to the Colonel"

Ed looked to Havoc as he chewed on the end of an unlit cigarette, obviously waiting for his chance to use it for its intended purpose. A small grin grew on both their faces as Ed sighed. "Well, it can't be helped; I came in on time and he wasn't here..." He dropped the papers on a desk and quickly made his escape before there were any objections from the other subordinates.

- - -

A blinding light exploded in the back of his skull, throwing him even more off balance. The dark haired male cursed his bad luck as he tried pulling himself into a sitting position, and then cursed the weather for making this already arduous journey even more impossible. He had been effected by the alcohol even more than he thought possible, and it was nigh impossible for him to walk
in a straight line, never mind battle against the forces of nature.

- - -

Ed rubbed his hand over the flesh connection his prosthetic shoulder. If he didn't get back to the apartment soon, he was certain he'd be caught in a torrential storm heading this way. Well, rush as he might, he just couldn't resist stopping off at the local baker's to buy some of their famous cream buns.

The truth was, he hated eating in front of Alphonse; no matter what the younger brother told him. He just couldn't help the guilt rise as he chewed, savoured and swallowed his food; all acts lost to Al. For now, at least.

He exited the bakery with a small grin, thanking the owner on his way out. His smile didn't last long however as a low rumble rolled across the sky. He cursed quietly, blaming the talkative baker for wasting his time, but in the same breath forgave him because of the small but delectable buns he now gorged into.

- - -

Lightning flashed overhead. This is bad… Come on Mustang, you can make it… Roy wasn't sure if he hated the storm for conspiring against him, or if he was glad it had dispersed the city's population into sheltering; saving him the shame he felt as this city's soldier for being in his current state. Yet years of military service and personal training had hardened his body to prepare for such instances as this.

That's what he hated the most.

He wasn't even allowed to close his eyes, not till he at least got what he sought for. His body refused to obey him till he had fulfilled his heart's desire.

- - -

Ed almost choked on his last cream bun, gasping out loud as a black cat came out of nowhere. He instinctively shouted at the creature, yelling at it to keep on running or else he'd make it suffer a consequence – one he would most likely neglect to carry out.

Carrying on the remaining fifteen minute walk to his shared apartment, Ed tried to clean the cream that had somehow managed to escape his mouth and land in places someone could only dream of how it got there.

He was in mid-lick when his second run-in with bad luck began. His foot came into contact with something on the floor, which he quickly realised was coming all too close to his face for comfort.

His quick reflexes kicked in and he brought his hands out in time to stop himself gaining a flat nose, though his pride had still been bruised.

He instantly spun onto his behind, a furious scowl plastered on his face as he prepared to verbally abuse the source of his embarrassment, whether it be living or inanimate. He failed to notice the quiet grunt which was a slight give away.

He froze, mouth falling agape in mid-shout as he stared at the lump at his feet.

"Oh, Ed… It's you… I can finally… finally rest my eyes…"