Tenure Chapter 4:
Title: Tenure
Pairing: RoyEd, FuhrerEd
Credit: goes to the awesome Arakawa-Sensei for all her hard work on creating characters as awesome as we could never imagine.
Warning: NC-17 due to Manipulation, Misuse of Military Power, Sex, Violence, and Language
Summary: Three years after the promised day and Edward Elric is still in the army, having Roy perplexed at first but rather happy to have the teen with them. The peace had come to a stop after Roy learns a horrific truth and the fall of the Fuhrer puts everyone in disarray. Someone shows up to claim what is theirs and it has Fullmetal and Flame fighting for their lives.
It had almost been a week now that Edward had gotten checked out from the hospital but he was by no means able to complete his job as of yet. The raven haired man had him at the desk in his office, filing papers here and there and doing menial tasks that a secretary, or rather anyone, could do. He had been surprised to be told by the Fuhrer himself that Edward was under his command for now until the blonde got better. The man expected him to pick Edward up from the shattered pieces left behind on that night two and a half weeks ago.
He had found it strange that the Fuhrer would give him this task, rather than send Edward home to recuperate, but the man had told him that the more the blonde was out in this environment, it would help him recuperate a lot faster than to be locked up in his house and face those demons alone. With this strategy, they would be able to snap him back out of any reverie he’d fall into and the blonde would face gruesome things that might come in, but that would strengthen the blonde to the point of full recovery.
He looked up as his door opened and in came the one invading his thoughts. It had already been a whole week since the blonde had left the safety of that white room, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the blonde. It was possibly even before that, when he was by Edward’s bedside for the two weeks. He questioned why he had been there in the hospital, by the blonde’s side, waiting for him to get better.
Sure, he had gone to visit his men when they had fallen in the line of duty for a while, but it had not been to the extent as he had been with Edward. Even with Riza, his most trusted subordinate, he had left her after three days, knowing full well that she’d get better. Why was it any different with his golden haired Colonel?
Was it because the blonde had experienced a traumatic event that had shocked Edward to the core? Was it because this was similar to how he had been when he had come back from Ishbal? He didn’t know the reason but there was this strong urge to constantly be at the blonde’s side. He figured before that this tightening of his heart was that paternal streak he believed a father would have for an injured son or something of the sort. But now that he really looked into himself, he knew that that squeeze of his heart was in no means a fear that a father would have for his own son. It felt completely different.
Seeing Edward close in on himself after seeing that monster left behind in the transmutation, had shaken him greatly. He had always pictured the blonde to be strong willed and stubborn. That the blonde would not let anything stand in his way and would fight tooth and nail to get what he wanted. That he would be able to stand back-up on his two feet after being delivered a shattering blow. But that had not been what he had witnessed in that putrefied infested house.
He had seen that small child he had seen back nine years ago. The blonde had been confined to his bed, resting after the great transmutation he and his brother had performed. He had listened in on the pitiful whimpers that escaped the blonde’s mouth when he was induced in a deep slumber. His small, hoarse whimpers for his mother echoing along in the room and he knew that the blonde knew that his mother would not pop out of a corner and make all his demons wither away.
That had been one of the four real times he had seen the blonde regress to a child. It had been about seven years back when the sudden horrific death of Tucker’s daughter had shaken the blonde again. He had seen a glimpse of it when he had seen the blonde pounding his fists helplessly at a wall, blaming himself for not protecting the girl. She had been a Chimera, but regardless of that fact, the blonde had felt excruciating pain to see the little girl that he had seen alive, now dead.
The blonde had also gone against Barry the Butcher, the one killing off women in the most atrocious ways. Chopping and butchering all those bodies like they were nothing but slabs of meat ready to be packed. The man had cut up a woman real good back when Edward was still under the guidance of Tucker and fuck if he knew how the boy would have reacted to that body, he would never have taken him to the crime scene.
Hearing the boy ask for forgiveness over and over again to his dead mother had not been something he had been looking forward to hearing. He had sounded so broken, so guilt ridden by what had happened. He still couldn’t let go of that mistake. The blonde knew that it wasn’t his fault but he still took all the blame anyways. He believed that it was because of him, for wanting so desperately to bring their mother back, that that was why he and Alphonse had suffered like that for four consecutive years.
But regardless of that small moment, it had been when Edward had been in the clutches of the butcher that he truly saw such fear and despair in those eyes, as if he were giving up any hope of being saved. He had been about to let his fate take hold of him, whether he stained his hands in blood or not, he did not care. Those tears he had seen cascading down one at a time had really hurt him. He had blamed himself in not being able to protect the blonde from getting caught. He had known that he was responsible for the negligence that had followed in keeping anyone away from Edward.
But now… now he had failed the blonde again. He had let the boy look into the depths of those inhuman eyes, just like that night back then and he had not been able to keep it from happening. That encounter should not have been given to Edward and he knew it. He cursed the Fuhrer for letting Edward go in when he didn’t know all the facts.
The blonde had told him, or tried to tell him without remembering what had happened at the house, that he was trailing the man by the name of “John.” He couldn’t believe that Hakuro had kept all the information from Edward. He probably knew that Edward would be faced with a failed Human Transmutation, but he didn’t care. He wanted results, whether those results lead to the tampering of one’s mind or not. All the bastard had wanted were those few days of glory that came after taking down someone so dangerous.
The clearing of a throat brought back his attention and he had to hold himself back from blushing in embarrassment. How could he have gone so deep in thought and not pay attention to his surroundings? It would prove costly if that were to happen out in the battlefield and he just hoped that he didn’t have to go out and fight any time soon.
He peered up into tired gold eyes but the blonde did look a lot better than before. If one didn’t know any better, they would have said that Edward looked as good as new, but he knew that that wasn’t the case. He could still see those shadows that came now and again and shadowed the blonde’s eyes. He didn’t like that dark look in the blonde’s eyes, but that was gradually receding too.
“What is it, Fullmetal?” asked the raven haired man. He knew where he was and he had to keep a tight leash on his emotions for now. He had actually wanted, for the first time ever, go and comfort someone for his own good. He did not care about the consequences that would happen if he had gotten the balls to go through with it. He felt that he’d be lowered into the ground in a casket if he even dared to look at the blonde with any signs of affection.
“The Fuhrer bastard has asked for your presence. He says that you are the last one being called for a special opt to go down in the neighboring country of Regales. He says it’s important but when is it never important with the prick?” He couldn’t hold back a smile at the blonde’s words. He was coming around again and was starting to be more like himself. Even if he wasn’t fully 100% Edward Elric, it was still a lot better than dealing with the mere shell of the Edward he’d known for such a long time.
“Did he say that you were to be there as well?” asked the dark haired man. He couldn’t help but ask. He just hoped that Edward didn’t read into the question too much. It was all really just a normal question. But the glare he got from Edward meant that the boy had taken it the wrong way. The man held back a rather pitiful sigh. Leave it to him to fuck up when talking to Edward.
“Well, duh, Mustang. I might be working in your office right now but I’m still the fucker’s secretary. I still have to do my job before the old man bitches at me for slacking off. But I did hear that we might all be sent out no sooner than tomorrow to Regales. He sounded as if it was really bad over there.”
He couldn’t help but contemplate on what had caused this disagreement. They had always had such a good relationship with Regales. What had changed now? Was it what had happened to Edward or did something transpire behind closed doors between the Fuhrer and the President of Regales. Whatever it was could never be good.
“Just try not to bring attention to yourself Edward. You will be in a room full with old farts.” He looked from the corner of his eye and saw the little shit smirking. Ah… shit… “Wow, never thought that I’d hear the day where you actually admitted to being old.” Sighs… he wondered if it was against the rules to strangle or kill his secretary… Probably since Edward was also under the Fuhrer’s command. Damn it. He’d just have to get back at him another way.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve had your fun. Now, let’s get going before they start bitching and complaining about being in a seat too long.” He smiled as he heard the blonde whisper, “Senile old bastards.”
It almost looked as if the blonde were bored throughout the whole meeting and the older man could not blame him. He didn’t realize that the Fuhrer talked at a weird pace. He’d start off fine, but then he’d start mumbling off and you had to lean in forward in your seat to hear him. At this point, the raven haired man believed that no one was listening. He heard a sigh come from Edward before the blonde spoke.
“Fuhrer, sir,” he said, waiting to speak because he didn’t want to cause any trouble. Everyone around Headquarters knew that he would just talk out of order and not care, but Mustang was here. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he actually did like Mustang. He was someone he could go up against and if either of them lost their little games, they’d just brush themselves off and continue as if nothing happened.
“Yes, Fullmetal. What is it?” the man sounded irate at being interrupted but the blonde didn’t care. If they were going into battle, the least the fucking bastard could do was talk right.
“We have no clue at what you are talking about. You go off quietly after a few sentences and I believe that not knowing what we are getting into will screw us over later on.” The white haired man frowned a bit before addressing the blonde.
“You already know what this mission entails. I don’t see why you care to know the information again.” “Not for my benefit. I could just get up and walk out since I already know what we need to do, but I’m speaking for the others. They don’t know what you are over there mumbling about.”
He could hear the damn murmurs and glances he was getting but someone had to tell the old man off and the old fart knew that he’d bite back if he was provoked. He’d say that he was provoked in this case and Hakuro had to deal with it or just brush it off as nothing. He heard the old man grumble and he could feel a twitch of his lips at that.
“Here, pass these little reports out. I do not like being interrupted but if others can’t understand me, then they should read it and interpret it as they see fit. After everyone gets one, you are all dismissed.” The man then turned and walked off to his office.
“Fuck, kid. Be more discrete next time, will you? I thought that I would have to do damage control. Learn your manners, damn,” replied an older man who looked to be in his late 40’s. He had no ill relations with the man so he knew that he was joking. He smiled that shit eating grin before speaking.
“Well, someone had to tell him that he can’t talk for shit. Just hope he doesn’t hold it against me. I’d hate to hear him lecture and not be able to know what he was saying.”
And the blonde hated being wrong. The Fuhrer had been angry at him for a number of reasons but the bastard didn’t tell him. He received his punishment without a fight because really, what could he do? The old man already threatened him with going after his brother and everyone knew that he would protect Alphonse whatever the case may be. Being fucked constantly by the Fuhrer was just a downside to doing anything to keep Hakuro’s hands off his brother.
He could feel that the old man was close if the hard, desperate thrusts he did to his body had something to say about it. The man would always fuck him from the back and he actually wanted to thank the man for that. He didn’t want to see the man’s face as he defiled him and in this position, he could think of anyone else in the man’s shoes. It benefitted him. The strong hold on his neck always killed the fantasies he tried to make since he felt Hakuro’s arm wrap around his body to grasp his throat and bring it up a bit.
He heard the man call his name as he came and he could feel the man’s semen in his ass and he shivered at the feeling. He never got hard when the man fucked him which saved his pride a whole ton but the man would always go for another two rounds on him before he was satisfied. Whenever he did have to face the man, the man had taken the liberty to always blindfold him, which he was doing right now
After the blindfold was on, he was turned and his back rested on the man’s desk, his legs resting over the man’s shoulders. He could feel the man’s breath near his ear and he turned to get away from it, but his chin was grasped and pulled to face him.
“Now, I’d like for you to apologize such rude behavior, Fullmetal. While I do like how you don’t let anyone get in your way and talk to everyone equally, I run this country and demand respect. Well, Fullmetal?” He knew that all the man wanted was an apology, no matter half-assed it was. But he knew that the man would not go after Alphonse for this little incident so who could tell him what to do? If his brother wasn’t going to be harmed, then the words would be meaningless to say.
“Fuck you,” was what the blonde uttered after a couple seconds after.
The man had officially nothing to do and that was saying something. He, in the vast entirety of his career, would always have stacks and stacks of paperwork that he’d put off, but not this time. There wasn’t another file that he had to complete nor was there anything to do at four in the afternoon.
His mind went over to Edward again and he cursed his brain for it. Why couldn’t he just stop thinking about the blonde? He already admitted to himself that he felt something for Edward, something that should not be felt on a fellow soldier, especially his secretary. Nothing good would come out of it if people found out, but his mind kept telling him that he didn’t have to care. It kept ushering him to just take the blonde for himself before anyone else did.
He sighed as he went over to Edward’s desk, the only other desk in his private office, to go over the case that he and the blonde had been given to do. He looked over the file again and he decided not to go ahead and deal with it. This case also involved human transmutation and he seriously did not want to bring this up on Edward, no matter how well he looked to be recuperating.
He put the file back where it had been and turned to look around his office. Well, there seemed to not be anything else to do so he figured that he’d just take the rest of the day off. No one should bitch and complain to him about doing his work. It was already done.
He walked over to his office door, looked around his office again to check if everything was all placed correctly and turned to resume opening the door.
He came face to face, or rather face to top of someone head as he kept the door open. He looked down to see Edward looking back up at him with a questioning look on his face. And in the blonde’s hands was, thank the Lord, paperwork. He wanted to strangle the blonde for giving him more work to do after he resigned himself to leave. He backed up and let the blonde enter before closing the door.
“Why are you bringing me more paperwork at this time Edward?” he asked the blonde as said blonde placed the stack of papers on his desk. Edward turned to look at him and smiled that cocky grin.
“Figured you wanted a head start on the papers that should be coming in tomorrow. You’d be able to finish them today and take the day off tomorrow. You really look like shit, Mustang but when don’t you?” Little shit. But he did see Edward’s logic and he had wanted a day off sometime soon. If it came tomorrow then he’d welcome it with open arms.
“Fine, I’ll do them, but you’re going to have to stay here to badger me on to finish them. Who knows, I might just put them off again."
“You’re not leaving this office until you do finish them and I’ll make sure of that. And I’ll give you a little incentive. I’ll take you out to eat for your hard work, but nothing fancy ‘cause I’ll just leave you here with mounds of paperwork. Is that clear, Mustang?"
“Crystal, Fullmetal.”
“Ha… I’m finally done!!!” exclaimed Mustang in joy. The little shit hadn’t told him that there was a crap load of paperwork for tomorrow, but he figured that that was for the blonde’s enjoyment. It was already past nine for crying out loud. He turned to look at Edward, whose eyes shown in mirth, and looked at him pointedly.
“You are still taking me out to eat, right?” The blonde shrugged almost as if telling the man that he wasn’t sure anymore, but that shit eating grin was plastered on his face. Annoying little prick.
“Yeah, come on, Mustang. Let’s get you something to eat. We don’t want your stomach dying because we didn’t feed your old ass.”
They had settled on a small café that served almost everything you could imagine on food. They decided to get some Xingese and since this establishment was run by a Xingese man, they figured that it was all good.
It was in the midst of eating and talking when Edward trailed off of the conversation. The older man looked up at his companion to see the blonde looking past him. He turned to look and see Edward’s line of vision to see a shady man talking to a woman. The man seemed to be charming his way with the woman but she wasn’t buying anything he said. The look on the man’s face must have been what had drawn Edward to the pair.
The man looked to be looking around now and then, almost as if hiding something but that wasn’t what Edward would look for in a person. He noticed how the man’s eyes looked dark and corrupted, almost as if he had killed people in the past and the man had some alchemic charge residue on him. Yes, if he didn’t know any better, the blonde was assessing the man to see if there was anything else he should know about. The blonde was probably still involved in that Human Transmutation case where many turned up dead. He figured that the blonde would shy away from that case but it looked like he was wrong.
“Does that man meet our…” “Yes, he most certainly does. He does look shady but aside from all that… It’s his eyes that caught your attention, right?” “Yeah, he looks like a killer and those eyes prove that he is or was. I can’t tell. All I know is that we should check the man to see if he is involved in our case, Mustang.”
There was some silence as the two kept checking the man without getting caught and saw the woman he was talking to walk away. The man leaned back, looking at the woman, with a rather callous look on his face. A small shove to his leg made him turn his head over at Edward who regarded him closely.
“You should finish eating. I’ll let you know when he leaves and we will follow. But don’t let your guard down, Mustang. The man feels off.” The older man could do anything else but smirk at the blonde’s blunt way of stating the obvious. Did the blonde seriously believe that he was that stupid? Wait… did he look stupid? That was one thing he wanted to figure out.
It had almost been about an hour later once they had realized the shady looking man was on the move. The closer the two actually looked at the man, the more they realized that this man, in fact, could be the guy that they were looking for. Not that there was any doubt in their minds that he couldn’t be the guy, but it was relative to say that that option should always be open to anything that would come their way.
The way the man almost slinked through the alley ways gave them solid evidence that this might be the man’s hunting grounds. The bodies that they had found had always been left at the scene of the crime; a dark alley way where no one really passed through; the perfect spot to commit a murder.
They both turned the corner, the older man surprisingly behind the smaller blonde and he found it ironic in how the blonde went in front of him, almost as if they were on a battlefield. All the Commanding Officer’s men would go in before the man and if there were any deaths, they’d always most likely be those pawns sent out in front to protect their leader.
As they rounded the corner, they had to stop in order to figure out where the man had hid himself behind. The alley way had met a dead end and there was nowhere else to run. It was almost as if the man had disappeared and there was no sign of alchemy being used to hide the man. The task of feeling or sensing alchemic energy was nothing new to the older man and the blonde, but there was nothing to work with.
They had heard a scream pierce the night air and they turned to look at each other before trying to decipher where the scream had come from. They turned around and headed off to where they thought they heard the scream. They saw a small group gathering at one alley way about 300 feet away from them. They could hear people murmuring to each other as they looked on to whatever was in the alley way. There were pale faces looking inside the alley and Edward ran over there, ordering people to get back and give them room to work.
Since the blonde had a reputation preceding him, the people moved back without question, exclamations of, “The Fullmetal Alchemist is here…” and other similar nonsense. The older man had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The little shit had people adoring him while what did he get? Nothing? But he did have to think about who were out here. It was mostly a whole bunch of young people out today so Edward was the Hero of the Young. He was from the older generation; he hated to admit it but he was. He was the Hero of the more Mature. He fought in the war in Ishbal, but the blonde had just recently fought against the Arugans. More young people knew what was happening in that war rather than what happened in the Ishbal Rebellion. Even the older people did not know what happened in the Rebellion because it was said to jeopardize the war.
Once he saw that the blonde was able to keep the people away, he could feel the alchemical energy that was beginning to surge throughout the blonde’s body. The blonde clapped his hands together and performed some sort of barrier in between the crime scene and the crowd. He had to commend the blonde for doing that because now they wouldn’t have to worry about the tampering of evidence. All they had to do now was to wait for intelligence to get down here before the police did. The police were on the military’s balls about this case but the military knew that they shouldn’t worry because they held jurisdiction, regardless of what the police tried to preach at them.
The sight that welcomed them was grizzly to say the least. The victim had been mutilated beyond recognition and the older man could see from the corner of his eye that the blonde was shaking a bit. He knew how identical the scene looked like from the Human Transmutation he had broke into and it never did get any better, no matter how many times you saw it. It was never settling to be in a room with a corpse or monster in the room or in close vicinity as you.
He saw the blonde walk away a bit, not too far, but he had taken about 3 steps back to lean against the cool wall to support himself. The poor blonde was breathing rather harshly but he knew that it was to be expected. It had been a month since the incident. No sane person would be okay about that that fast. It was just abnormal. And if you were okay with it, then there had to be something wrong with you.
The blonde had been shaking his head from side to side, almost deliriously. The older man was a little worried about the blonde. He knew that the victim wasn’t identifiable but what was wrong with him?
“Edward, snap out of it.” The blonde looked up harshly at him his eyes dark with confusion. “What’s wrong?” The blonde laughed morbidly and motioned to the body.
“It’s the guy we were tailing, Mustang. The shady guy’s the victim.”
Pairing: RoyEd, FuhrerEd
Credit: goes to the awesome Arakawa-Sensei for all her hard work on creating characters as awesome as we could never imagine.
Warning: NC-17 due to Manipulation, Misuse of Military Power, Sex, Violence, and Language
Summary: Three years after the promised day and Edward Elric is still in the army, having Roy perplexed at first but rather happy to have the teen with them. The peace had come to a stop after Roy learns a horrific truth and the fall of the Fuhrer puts everyone in disarray. Someone shows up to claim what is theirs and it has Fullmetal and Flame fighting for their lives.
It had almost been a week now that Edward had gotten checked out from the hospital but he was by no means able to complete his job as of yet. The raven haired man had him at the desk in his office, filing papers here and there and doing menial tasks that a secretary, or rather anyone, could do. He had been surprised to be told by the Fuhrer himself that Edward was under his command for now until the blonde got better. The man expected him to pick Edward up from the shattered pieces left behind on that night two and a half weeks ago.
He had found it strange that the Fuhrer would give him this task, rather than send Edward home to recuperate, but the man had told him that the more the blonde was out in this environment, it would help him recuperate a lot faster than to be locked up in his house and face those demons alone. With this strategy, they would be able to snap him back out of any reverie he’d fall into and the blonde would face gruesome things that might come in, but that would strengthen the blonde to the point of full recovery.
He looked up as his door opened and in came the one invading his thoughts. It had already been a whole week since the blonde had left the safety of that white room, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the blonde. It was possibly even before that, when he was by Edward’s bedside for the two weeks. He questioned why he had been there in the hospital, by the blonde’s side, waiting for him to get better.
Sure, he had gone to visit his men when they had fallen in the line of duty for a while, but it had not been to the extent as he had been with Edward. Even with Riza, his most trusted subordinate, he had left her after three days, knowing full well that she’d get better. Why was it any different with his golden haired Colonel?
Was it because the blonde had experienced a traumatic event that had shocked Edward to the core? Was it because this was similar to how he had been when he had come back from Ishbal? He didn’t know the reason but there was this strong urge to constantly be at the blonde’s side. He figured before that this tightening of his heart was that paternal streak he believed a father would have for an injured son or something of the sort. But now that he really looked into himself, he knew that that squeeze of his heart was in no means a fear that a father would have for his own son. It felt completely different.
Seeing Edward close in on himself after seeing that monster left behind in the transmutation, had shaken him greatly. He had always pictured the blonde to be strong willed and stubborn. That the blonde would not let anything stand in his way and would fight tooth and nail to get what he wanted. That he would be able to stand back-up on his two feet after being delivered a shattering blow. But that had not been what he had witnessed in that putrefied infested house.
He had seen that small child he had seen back nine years ago. The blonde had been confined to his bed, resting after the great transmutation he and his brother had performed. He had listened in on the pitiful whimpers that escaped the blonde’s mouth when he was induced in a deep slumber. His small, hoarse whimpers for his mother echoing along in the room and he knew that the blonde knew that his mother would not pop out of a corner and make all his demons wither away.
That had been one of the four real times he had seen the blonde regress to a child. It had been about seven years back when the sudden horrific death of Tucker’s daughter had shaken the blonde again. He had seen a glimpse of it when he had seen the blonde pounding his fists helplessly at a wall, blaming himself for not protecting the girl. She had been a Chimera, but regardless of that fact, the blonde had felt excruciating pain to see the little girl that he had seen alive, now dead.
The blonde had also gone against Barry the Butcher, the one killing off women in the most atrocious ways. Chopping and butchering all those bodies like they were nothing but slabs of meat ready to be packed. The man had cut up a woman real good back when Edward was still under the guidance of Tucker and fuck if he knew how the boy would have reacted to that body, he would never have taken him to the crime scene.
Hearing the boy ask for forgiveness over and over again to his dead mother had not been something he had been looking forward to hearing. He had sounded so broken, so guilt ridden by what had happened. He still couldn’t let go of that mistake. The blonde knew that it wasn’t his fault but he still took all the blame anyways. He believed that it was because of him, for wanting so desperately to bring their mother back, that that was why he and Alphonse had suffered like that for four consecutive years.
But regardless of that small moment, it had been when Edward had been in the clutches of the butcher that he truly saw such fear and despair in those eyes, as if he were giving up any hope of being saved. He had been about to let his fate take hold of him, whether he stained his hands in blood or not, he did not care. Those tears he had seen cascading down one at a time had really hurt him. He had blamed himself in not being able to protect the blonde from getting caught. He had known that he was responsible for the negligence that had followed in keeping anyone away from Edward.
But now… now he had failed the blonde again. He had let the boy look into the depths of those inhuman eyes, just like that night back then and he had not been able to keep it from happening. That encounter should not have been given to Edward and he knew it. He cursed the Fuhrer for letting Edward go in when he didn’t know all the facts.
The blonde had told him, or tried to tell him without remembering what had happened at the house, that he was trailing the man by the name of “John.” He couldn’t believe that Hakuro had kept all the information from Edward. He probably knew that Edward would be faced with a failed Human Transmutation, but he didn’t care. He wanted results, whether those results lead to the tampering of one’s mind or not. All the bastard had wanted were those few days of glory that came after taking down someone so dangerous.
The clearing of a throat brought back his attention and he had to hold himself back from blushing in embarrassment. How could he have gone so deep in thought and not pay attention to his surroundings? It would prove costly if that were to happen out in the battlefield and he just hoped that he didn’t have to go out and fight any time soon.
He peered up into tired gold eyes but the blonde did look a lot better than before. If one didn’t know any better, they would have said that Edward looked as good as new, but he knew that that wasn’t the case. He could still see those shadows that came now and again and shadowed the blonde’s eyes. He didn’t like that dark look in the blonde’s eyes, but that was gradually receding too.
“What is it, Fullmetal?” asked the raven haired man. He knew where he was and he had to keep a tight leash on his emotions for now. He had actually wanted, for the first time ever, go and comfort someone for his own good. He did not care about the consequences that would happen if he had gotten the balls to go through with it. He felt that he’d be lowered into the ground in a casket if he even dared to look at the blonde with any signs of affection.
“The Fuhrer bastard has asked for your presence. He says that you are the last one being called for a special opt to go down in the neighboring country of Regales. He says it’s important but when is it never important with the prick?” He couldn’t hold back a smile at the blonde’s words. He was coming around again and was starting to be more like himself. Even if he wasn’t fully 100% Edward Elric, it was still a lot better than dealing with the mere shell of the Edward he’d known for such a long time.
“Did he say that you were to be there as well?” asked the dark haired man. He couldn’t help but ask. He just hoped that Edward didn’t read into the question too much. It was all really just a normal question. But the glare he got from Edward meant that the boy had taken it the wrong way. The man held back a rather pitiful sigh. Leave it to him to fuck up when talking to Edward.
“Well, duh, Mustang. I might be working in your office right now but I’m still the fucker’s secretary. I still have to do my job before the old man bitches at me for slacking off. But I did hear that we might all be sent out no sooner than tomorrow to Regales. He sounded as if it was really bad over there.”
He couldn’t help but contemplate on what had caused this disagreement. They had always had such a good relationship with Regales. What had changed now? Was it what had happened to Edward or did something transpire behind closed doors between the Fuhrer and the President of Regales. Whatever it was could never be good.
“Just try not to bring attention to yourself Edward. You will be in a room full with old farts.” He looked from the corner of his eye and saw the little shit smirking. Ah… shit… “Wow, never thought that I’d hear the day where you actually admitted to being old.” Sighs… he wondered if it was against the rules to strangle or kill his secretary… Probably since Edward was also under the Fuhrer’s command. Damn it. He’d just have to get back at him another way.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve had your fun. Now, let’s get going before they start bitching and complaining about being in a seat too long.” He smiled as he heard the blonde whisper, “Senile old bastards.”
It almost looked as if the blonde were bored throughout the whole meeting and the older man could not blame him. He didn’t realize that the Fuhrer talked at a weird pace. He’d start off fine, but then he’d start mumbling off and you had to lean in forward in your seat to hear him. At this point, the raven haired man believed that no one was listening. He heard a sigh come from Edward before the blonde spoke.
“Fuhrer, sir,” he said, waiting to speak because he didn’t want to cause any trouble. Everyone around Headquarters knew that he would just talk out of order and not care, but Mustang was here. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he actually did like Mustang. He was someone he could go up against and if either of them lost their little games, they’d just brush themselves off and continue as if nothing happened.
“Yes, Fullmetal. What is it?” the man sounded irate at being interrupted but the blonde didn’t care. If they were going into battle, the least the fucking bastard could do was talk right.
“We have no clue at what you are talking about. You go off quietly after a few sentences and I believe that not knowing what we are getting into will screw us over later on.” The white haired man frowned a bit before addressing the blonde.
“You already know what this mission entails. I don’t see why you care to know the information again.” “Not for my benefit. I could just get up and walk out since I already know what we need to do, but I’m speaking for the others. They don’t know what you are over there mumbling about.”
He could hear the damn murmurs and glances he was getting but someone had to tell the old man off and the old fart knew that he’d bite back if he was provoked. He’d say that he was provoked in this case and Hakuro had to deal with it or just brush it off as nothing. He heard the old man grumble and he could feel a twitch of his lips at that.
“Here, pass these little reports out. I do not like being interrupted but if others can’t understand me, then they should read it and interpret it as they see fit. After everyone gets one, you are all dismissed.” The man then turned and walked off to his office.
“Fuck, kid. Be more discrete next time, will you? I thought that I would have to do damage control. Learn your manners, damn,” replied an older man who looked to be in his late 40’s. He had no ill relations with the man so he knew that he was joking. He smiled that shit eating grin before speaking.
“Well, someone had to tell him that he can’t talk for shit. Just hope he doesn’t hold it against me. I’d hate to hear him lecture and not be able to know what he was saying.”
And the blonde hated being wrong. The Fuhrer had been angry at him for a number of reasons but the bastard didn’t tell him. He received his punishment without a fight because really, what could he do? The old man already threatened him with going after his brother and everyone knew that he would protect Alphonse whatever the case may be. Being fucked constantly by the Fuhrer was just a downside to doing anything to keep Hakuro’s hands off his brother.
He could feel that the old man was close if the hard, desperate thrusts he did to his body had something to say about it. The man would always fuck him from the back and he actually wanted to thank the man for that. He didn’t want to see the man’s face as he defiled him and in this position, he could think of anyone else in the man’s shoes. It benefitted him. The strong hold on his neck always killed the fantasies he tried to make since he felt Hakuro’s arm wrap around his body to grasp his throat and bring it up a bit.
He heard the man call his name as he came and he could feel the man’s semen in his ass and he shivered at the feeling. He never got hard when the man fucked him which saved his pride a whole ton but the man would always go for another two rounds on him before he was satisfied. Whenever he did have to face the man, the man had taken the liberty to always blindfold him, which he was doing right now
After the blindfold was on, he was turned and his back rested on the man’s desk, his legs resting over the man’s shoulders. He could feel the man’s breath near his ear and he turned to get away from it, but his chin was grasped and pulled to face him.
“Now, I’d like for you to apologize such rude behavior, Fullmetal. While I do like how you don’t let anyone get in your way and talk to everyone equally, I run this country and demand respect. Well, Fullmetal?” He knew that all the man wanted was an apology, no matter half-assed it was. But he knew that the man would not go after Alphonse for this little incident so who could tell him what to do? If his brother wasn’t going to be harmed, then the words would be meaningless to say.
“Fuck you,” was what the blonde uttered after a couple seconds after.
The man had officially nothing to do and that was saying something. He, in the vast entirety of his career, would always have stacks and stacks of paperwork that he’d put off, but not this time. There wasn’t another file that he had to complete nor was there anything to do at four in the afternoon.
His mind went over to Edward again and he cursed his brain for it. Why couldn’t he just stop thinking about the blonde? He already admitted to himself that he felt something for Edward, something that should not be felt on a fellow soldier, especially his secretary. Nothing good would come out of it if people found out, but his mind kept telling him that he didn’t have to care. It kept ushering him to just take the blonde for himself before anyone else did.
He sighed as he went over to Edward’s desk, the only other desk in his private office, to go over the case that he and the blonde had been given to do. He looked over the file again and he decided not to go ahead and deal with it. This case also involved human transmutation and he seriously did not want to bring this up on Edward, no matter how well he looked to be recuperating.
He put the file back where it had been and turned to look around his office. Well, there seemed to not be anything else to do so he figured that he’d just take the rest of the day off. No one should bitch and complain to him about doing his work. It was already done.
He walked over to his office door, looked around his office again to check if everything was all placed correctly and turned to resume opening the door.
He came face to face, or rather face to top of someone head as he kept the door open. He looked down to see Edward looking back up at him with a questioning look on his face. And in the blonde’s hands was, thank the Lord, paperwork. He wanted to strangle the blonde for giving him more work to do after he resigned himself to leave. He backed up and let the blonde enter before closing the door.
“Why are you bringing me more paperwork at this time Edward?” he asked the blonde as said blonde placed the stack of papers on his desk. Edward turned to look at him and smiled that cocky grin.
“Figured you wanted a head start on the papers that should be coming in tomorrow. You’d be able to finish them today and take the day off tomorrow. You really look like shit, Mustang but when don’t you?” Little shit. But he did see Edward’s logic and he had wanted a day off sometime soon. If it came tomorrow then he’d welcome it with open arms.
“Fine, I’ll do them, but you’re going to have to stay here to badger me on to finish them. Who knows, I might just put them off again."
“You’re not leaving this office until you do finish them and I’ll make sure of that. And I’ll give you a little incentive. I’ll take you out to eat for your hard work, but nothing fancy ‘cause I’ll just leave you here with mounds of paperwork. Is that clear, Mustang?"
“Crystal, Fullmetal.”
“Ha… I’m finally done!!!” exclaimed Mustang in joy. The little shit hadn’t told him that there was a crap load of paperwork for tomorrow, but he figured that that was for the blonde’s enjoyment. It was already past nine for crying out loud. He turned to look at Edward, whose eyes shown in mirth, and looked at him pointedly.
“You are still taking me out to eat, right?” The blonde shrugged almost as if telling the man that he wasn’t sure anymore, but that shit eating grin was plastered on his face. Annoying little prick.
“Yeah, come on, Mustang. Let’s get you something to eat. We don’t want your stomach dying because we didn’t feed your old ass.”
They had settled on a small café that served almost everything you could imagine on food. They decided to get some Xingese and since this establishment was run by a Xingese man, they figured that it was all good.
It was in the midst of eating and talking when Edward trailed off of the conversation. The older man looked up at his companion to see the blonde looking past him. He turned to look and see Edward’s line of vision to see a shady man talking to a woman. The man seemed to be charming his way with the woman but she wasn’t buying anything he said. The look on the man’s face must have been what had drawn Edward to the pair.
The man looked to be looking around now and then, almost as if hiding something but that wasn’t what Edward would look for in a person. He noticed how the man’s eyes looked dark and corrupted, almost as if he had killed people in the past and the man had some alchemic charge residue on him. Yes, if he didn’t know any better, the blonde was assessing the man to see if there was anything else he should know about. The blonde was probably still involved in that Human Transmutation case where many turned up dead. He figured that the blonde would shy away from that case but it looked like he was wrong.
“Does that man meet our…” “Yes, he most certainly does. He does look shady but aside from all that… It’s his eyes that caught your attention, right?” “Yeah, he looks like a killer and those eyes prove that he is or was. I can’t tell. All I know is that we should check the man to see if he is involved in our case, Mustang.”
There was some silence as the two kept checking the man without getting caught and saw the woman he was talking to walk away. The man leaned back, looking at the woman, with a rather callous look on his face. A small shove to his leg made him turn his head over at Edward who regarded him closely.
“You should finish eating. I’ll let you know when he leaves and we will follow. But don’t let your guard down, Mustang. The man feels off.” The older man could do anything else but smirk at the blonde’s blunt way of stating the obvious. Did the blonde seriously believe that he was that stupid? Wait… did he look stupid? That was one thing he wanted to figure out.
It had almost been about an hour later once they had realized the shady looking man was on the move. The closer the two actually looked at the man, the more they realized that this man, in fact, could be the guy that they were looking for. Not that there was any doubt in their minds that he couldn’t be the guy, but it was relative to say that that option should always be open to anything that would come their way.
The way the man almost slinked through the alley ways gave them solid evidence that this might be the man’s hunting grounds. The bodies that they had found had always been left at the scene of the crime; a dark alley way where no one really passed through; the perfect spot to commit a murder.
They both turned the corner, the older man surprisingly behind the smaller blonde and he found it ironic in how the blonde went in front of him, almost as if they were on a battlefield. All the Commanding Officer’s men would go in before the man and if there were any deaths, they’d always most likely be those pawns sent out in front to protect their leader.
As they rounded the corner, they had to stop in order to figure out where the man had hid himself behind. The alley way had met a dead end and there was nowhere else to run. It was almost as if the man had disappeared and there was no sign of alchemy being used to hide the man. The task of feeling or sensing alchemic energy was nothing new to the older man and the blonde, but there was nothing to work with.
They had heard a scream pierce the night air and they turned to look at each other before trying to decipher where the scream had come from. They turned around and headed off to where they thought they heard the scream. They saw a small group gathering at one alley way about 300 feet away from them. They could hear people murmuring to each other as they looked on to whatever was in the alley way. There were pale faces looking inside the alley and Edward ran over there, ordering people to get back and give them room to work.
Since the blonde had a reputation preceding him, the people moved back without question, exclamations of, “The Fullmetal Alchemist is here…” and other similar nonsense. The older man had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The little shit had people adoring him while what did he get? Nothing? But he did have to think about who were out here. It was mostly a whole bunch of young people out today so Edward was the Hero of the Young. He was from the older generation; he hated to admit it but he was. He was the Hero of the more Mature. He fought in the war in Ishbal, but the blonde had just recently fought against the Arugans. More young people knew what was happening in that war rather than what happened in the Ishbal Rebellion. Even the older people did not know what happened in the Rebellion because it was said to jeopardize the war.
Once he saw that the blonde was able to keep the people away, he could feel the alchemical energy that was beginning to surge throughout the blonde’s body. The blonde clapped his hands together and performed some sort of barrier in between the crime scene and the crowd. He had to commend the blonde for doing that because now they wouldn’t have to worry about the tampering of evidence. All they had to do now was to wait for intelligence to get down here before the police did. The police were on the military’s balls about this case but the military knew that they shouldn’t worry because they held jurisdiction, regardless of what the police tried to preach at them.
The sight that welcomed them was grizzly to say the least. The victim had been mutilated beyond recognition and the older man could see from the corner of his eye that the blonde was shaking a bit. He knew how identical the scene looked like from the Human Transmutation he had broke into and it never did get any better, no matter how many times you saw it. It was never settling to be in a room with a corpse or monster in the room or in close vicinity as you.
He saw the blonde walk away a bit, not too far, but he had taken about 3 steps back to lean against the cool wall to support himself. The poor blonde was breathing rather harshly but he knew that it was to be expected. It had been a month since the incident. No sane person would be okay about that that fast. It was just abnormal. And if you were okay with it, then there had to be something wrong with you.
The blonde had been shaking his head from side to side, almost deliriously. The older man was a little worried about the blonde. He knew that the victim wasn’t identifiable but what was wrong with him?
“Edward, snap out of it.” The blonde looked up harshly at him his eyes dark with confusion. “What’s wrong?” The blonde laughed morbidly and motioned to the body.
“It’s the guy we were tailing, Mustang. The shady guy’s the victim.”