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You Belong to Me	By : squallstorm Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 9883 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Disclaimer:
I don't own Sabrina or Fullmetal Alchemist.

This
chapter got a major re-structuring, hope it's better this way XD
Thanks to ZaKai for all her tireless efforts, and hard work!

(1)
A line directly from the remake...I just couldn't think of anything
more appropriate, sorry.

Chapter
12

“Alex,
I'm going to stay out here for a few more days. Clear my schedule,
and I want you to get the cabin on the cape ready...flowers,
candles...ask Winry's secretary, it's the only thing she does...and
get the plane ready on standby for nine as well,” ordered Roy.
He pulled at his bow tie, and released the top button of his dress
shirt as he walked through the now deserted party grounds. It had
taken longer then he thought to deal with the police and then finding
Edward. “What'd you mean she's asleep...” he demanded
into the phone. He stopped dead in the middle of the backyard and
frowned. “Well you're up...you weren't? Well you are now.”

Without people crowding
between the tables and the dance floor, the backyard looked abandoned
and forlorn. Tables were littered with discarded glasses and plates
from the small dinner served with cake. Forgotten napkins had fallen
to the grass waiting to be picked up by the wait staff. The band was
breaking down their equipment and replacing it in their proper cases,
but Roy spared it hardly a glance.

A group of wait staff
passed near him and he nodded politely, silently thanking them for
their hard work before continuing towards the house. He frowned as
he crossed the back patio, and then worked his jaw. Alex was talking
to him but he wasn't really paying it any mind. His jaw was
throbbing painfully, making him think he should take something for
it. Who knew that the kid had such force behind that small frame?

“Just
do it please, Alex. Thank you,” said Roy briskly, overriding
Alex's comments. Snapping his cell closed he strode into the house,
and made straight for his office. The remains of his earlier
presentation still took up a good portion of the room, and most of
his desk. Pulling the chair out, he perched on the edge of the seat
and woke up his laptop. He thumbed through his electronic phone book
looking for the doctor's number, and picked up the desk phone. He
jabbed at the numbers and waited impatiently for someone to pick up.

“It's
Roy,” he said in answer to the mumbled grunt. “Winry
broke her ankle tonight and she hates pain... I was thinking some
pain killer with a sleeping tablet... What is this? A sleeping
epidemic? It's not that late,” said Roy, exasperated. He
snapped his wrist up to his face. Two A.M. was not late... It was
an early start for work today.

“Oh,
she fell on the porch, and she wears those ridiculously high heels...
No, she's not going to sue her own mother... Well she's not
me, okay! Just—send them over,” ordered Roy before
slamming down the phone a little harder then he intended. Grumbled
under his breath at the whole situation, he leaned back in his chair
and folded his hands under his chin, resting his elbows on the arms
of the chair. Hopefully, tomorrow—today would turn out better
then this evening had.

- - - -

Groaning, Edward slammed
his hand down on the teal alarm clock in annoyance as it shrilly
pronounced that the time was now four-twenty AM. The time change was
NOT treating him kindly, and it wouldn't get any easier either.
Yesterday, the day after the party, Edward had spent his time resting
and getting used to the five hour difference. In the evening, his
father had told him the very news he dreaded to hear. His airline
carrier had filed for bankruptcy protection; which meant he'd just
lost a good portion of his savings to a useless plane ticket.

“Shit...”
hissed Edward, panic snapped through his body, making him instantly
awake. What could he do how? And then his father had laid another
bomb shell on him. Roy had been by the apartment looking for him.
Edward had very cautiously asked his father if Roy had said anything
else, like maybe that da was now out of a job, but from what he could
gather, Roy hadn't done that. Why then was Roy coming round to find
him?
Da didn't know what his reason for coming was, since he didn't say,
but...it unnerved him.

Despite all the things
going on here, Ling was counting on him to be in California, and he
didn't want to miss the opportunity to show off his skills on the
world stage. The only down side would be that he would have to face
Scar again. That was something he wasn't looking forward to. Their
last encounter still left him feeling nervous and angry, and they
hadn't even fought one another. Just thinking about it was making
him even more panicked.

Shaking
his head at himself as though to banish these poisonous thoughts,
Edward took a deep breath and held it before rubbing his palm across
his face and kneaded his eyes. He
would have to work fast and sort out what he was going to have to do
to get to L.A. in time for the tournament. He'd make a few calls and
check the Internet.

But before he could do
that, he wanted—needed to practice. The choreographed team
fight was worrying him the most because he hadn't been able to
practice it very much, but he could work on the weapons portion of
it. Edward kicked the blankets off to the end of the bed. Pointing
his toes and reaching above his head, he stretched his whole body and
groaned at the stiffness there, and than swung his legs over the side
of his bed to pad over to his suitcase. He pulled out his martial
art pants, slipping them over his boxers, and began to rummage
through his case once more to pull out his hand wraps.

He stood and padded
silently over to his dresser where his father had put his package
that had arrived in the mail a month ago. He'd ordered the sword
over the Internet and had it shipped here so he wouldn't have to
worry about bringing it on the plane. He tore into the box, flinging
bits of cardboard all over the floor. When he finally made his way
past the Styrofoam, and held the sword in his hands, Edward knew he'd
made a good purchase.

The straight Chinese
blade was sheathed in a dark, midnight blue scabbard, with a matching
handle. The steel guard was bright and curved elegantly towards the
blade. Edward ran his fingers along the full, red tassel attached to
the hilt, and smiled. It was worth every hard earned penny. With a
small tug, he pulled the sword free of the scabbard and studied the
engraved dragon with pleasure. Yup. Worth it!

Not bothering to put on
a shirt or shoes, Edward crept out of the quiet house above the
garage and down to the driveway. The morning was cool and gray, but
already he could tell that it would soon be hot. The birds were just
starting to wake up and begin their morning calls to one another,
while the crickets chirped happily away until he passed, resuming
once his tread faded.

Figuring that his old
haunt, the willow tree, was the best place for an undisturbed
workout, Edward sighed to himself as he walked. The grounds were as
lovely as ever. He loved the landscaped lawns and the stately old
trees.

Once under the tree, he
propped the sword up against the bark and began to wrap his hands,
covering well up to his forearms. Stretching again, in a last ditch
effort to wake his body up, and shake the jet lag, he began to move
through his warm up.

- - - -

“Pinako?”
yelled Roy, his voice carrying down the hall of the second floor.
Sometimes he wished that they had a smaller house, if only so it
would be easier to locate someone when he wanted them. That's why he
liked his city condo. No chance that someone couldn't hear him if he
raised his voice. Actually, not like he'd be yelling at someone in
the first place, since he never invited anyone over, and really only
used the place to sleep, spending most of his time at the office in
the city. “Fine. I'll just have to look,” he huffed to
himself.

The
upstairs portion of the house was still for this time of day.
Usually by seven Pinako would be striding down the hall and into the
kitchen on her way out the door and off to work, or the housekeepers
would be making their rounds, dusting and cleaning. But today
Pinako shouldn't be planning to head in after such a lavish party, so
she had to be around here somewhere, and the housekeepers were busy
downstairs.

He looked in her room,
only to see that it had been long vacated. The bed was made and the
drapes pulled open, letting in the sunshine. He then stopped at the
small library overlooking the back garden, and saw that that was
empty as well. Roy knew she had to be up here somewhere; he'd
already looked everywhere downstairs. As he approached the end of
the hall, he could hear the hum from the exercise machine in the
small studio gym.

Roy paused inside the
open door to see his mother dressed in her gray sweat pants and light
blue sweat shirt huffing away on an elliptical machine with her
personal trainer hovering beside her. “Here you are,”
Roy said, entering the room. All his annoyance over having to search
the whole house for his mother was suppressed under the veil of a
good-natured greeting.

Waving off the young man
who was training her, Pinako wiped at her forehead with the towel
around her neck, and let the machine slow to a stop. “Are you
really planning on going through with this?” she queried,
watching him with a slight frown.

“Yes,”
answered Roy firmly. He strolled over to the window and looked
across the grounds. “I'm going to take a few days off to deal
with this.”

“Maybe
I should talk to him,” Pinako mused aloud.

“And
say what?” asked Roy, turning back to raise an eyebrow at her.

“'Edward,
you're a nice boy, but Winry just wants to get into your pants'...can
I say that?” she wondered with a frown. “'Get into your
pants'? Is that too much for a young man?”

Rolling his eyes at his
mother, Roy shook his head and smiled. His mother didn't really know
how to talk to young people anymore. “Look, you know I've
always gone out of my way to try and befriend Edward. But just
because he went away and grew up a bit, doesn't mean that we can sit
by while Winry makes such a huge mistake. I got to do this,”
he said, turning back to glance out the window again, and having to
do a double take. A flash of light out by the back garden just
vanished from sight. He leaned closer to the pane of glass and
squinted towards that half seen flash. “What was that...”
mumbled Roy, searching though the far tree branches for the cause of
that light.

“What
is it?” Pinako wondered, as she resumed her workout behind him.

“I
think I just saw something at the bottom of the yard,” said
Roy, a little louder. He was just about to turn around when he saw
again the flash of something bright cut through the leaves.

“Ah,
that's probably Fu. I asked him to take care of the roses,”
his mother said, already huffing with exertion. The trainer mumbled
some encouragement to which his mother grunted in acknowledgment.

Roy opened his mouth,
about to tell his mother that he didn't think that it was Fu, but
just then someone stepped into view. Roy frowned, wondering who
would be out there in only a pair of pants. He all but pressed his
nose up to the window in order to try to make out who it was. The
person turned towards the house then, and Roy noticed blond-golden
hair, and suddenly remembered Hohenheim telling him about Edward's
martial arts.

Now
that he recognized the figure out there his mouth went dry, and his
brow furrowed. Naked from the waist up, Edward was moving about with
a flash of metal. The rising sun fell at an angle over his tanned
body creating an interesting play of shadow and light across his
torso, highlighting his muscle definition, and glinting off his hair,
making a halo of light around him. The pure grace and ease of his
movements were simply...memorizing. Edward
worked his way back behind the tree branches and mostly out of sight
again.

“I'll
be back later,” said Roy quickly, spinning around on the ball
of his foot, he was out of the room before his mother could respond.

- - - -

As the sun began to come
up and through the tree branches, Edward let his eyes close as he
moved through the various movements of his form. He inhaled deeply
as he raised his leg and held out the sword, knowing that the tip was
perfectly centered to his body, and then let the heel of his foot
touch the ground, transferring his weight to the other leg.
Exhaling, he pivoted on the wet grass and knew without using his eyes
that he was now facing the rising sun.

Inhaling again, Edward
began to swing his arms around when his concentration slipped, making
his balance falter. His brow furrowed as he paused, regaining his
equilibrium before he could continue. The cause of his inattention
was a bit harder to banish, however. Roy's face as they had talked
and danced seemed to not want to be ignored. It had popped up many
times already. A gesture, a glance, even Roy's expensive cologne
became unwitting remembrances.

For every appearance of
Roy's face, Edward tried to counter it with a mental picture of
Winry. Her smile as they danced the other night, the way she felt in
his arms...only that led him to how Roy had held him as they danced,
how well he led them across the patio, the smell of the flowers even.

“GAH!
Get outta my head!” growled Edward in frustration, opening his
eyes and abandoning his pattern for the moment. Shaking his head
from side to side, he paced around his practice area in agitation.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” cursed Edward, and then
stopped, taking a large, deep breath. Starting with his neck and
working down, he began to release all the building tension, until he
was as relaxed as he figured he could be under the circumstances.

Letting
his eyes slide close once more, he started at the beginning of his
routine, taking the time to make sure each movement was correct. He
didn't have the time to waste on flights of fancy. He had
to focus.

- - - -

Roy strode quickly
though the house, exiting out the back door. He lengthened his
strides to cross the yard as quickly as he could. The brief glimpse
of Edward moving like that in the early sunshine... It played over
and over again though Roy's head. He frowned slightly at himself,
fingering his tender chin, but couldn't convince his feet to turn
around and head back to the house to wait for Edward to come to him.
He had to see more.

Roy approached slowly,
using the hedge as cover to remain out of sight so as to not alert
the blond and disrupt the interesting show he wanted to see. He
crept forward slowly until he was hiding behind a tree, and he
watched as the man moved across the grass barefooted. The play of
muscles under the lightly tanned skin drew his eye down from his
shoulders to his tapered waist, and the bright sun reflecting off the
slim sword seemed to make the blond even more illuminated.

Edward turned away,
raising the sword above his head and standing on one leg, and then he
dropped into a low stance that looked like he was sitting on the
ground. Then he smoothly lifted himself up and spun on his front
foot holding the blade level with his shoulder. As he turned around
Roy saw that he had his eyes closed.

He hardly knew what to
make of himself, hiding like this and spying on Edward. He felt like
a kid again, chasing after Edward to try and make the shy boy his
friend. Edward leaned forward, the blade held out in front of him as
if to run his imaginary opponent through the middle. Moving to the
side, Edward struck out again, and vanished from Roy's vantage point.

Moving closer to get a
better look, Roy's foot stepped on and snapped a dry twig in half
with an incredibly loud crack, making him freeze. He quickly looked
down at the offending stick, and then up to see if the younger man
had heard him.

Edward whirled around at
the noise, the hand with the sword swinging wide making the blade
arch wickedly; his fast movement on the wet and uneven ground making
his ankle roll. Roy watched in horror as the long metal sword that
Edward had been practicing with, flew from his flailing hand straight
at him. Startled, Roy scrambled to step back from its deadly path.
With a ominous thud, the sword landed on its side and skidded on the
wet grass, stopping at Roy's feet.

“What—THE
FUCK! You could have been hurt, dumb ass!” roared Edward from
his position on the ground. He propped himself up on one elbow,
glaring at Roy.

“I'm
sorry,” said Roy, miffed that he was being yelled at by Edward
of all people.

Shaking
his head at him, Edward sat back, and pulled his ankle over his other
leg. He grimaced as he tested his ankle's mobility, before he stood
and gingerly placed weight on his right leg. Shooting
an angry glare at Roy, Edward hobbled over towards him. Balancing on
his left leg, he bent down and retrieved the sword. It was covered
in small grass clippings and dew from last night. Running the sword
through his fore finger and thumb, he wiped off the blade and glared
at Roy.

“You're
lucky. Though it's not sharp, it could still wound you,”
Edward murmured. He raised the sword and pointed the tip at Roy's
face. Roy looked down at the sword tip hovering inches away from his
nose. “Here to deliver another message?” Edward asked,
his voice calm and even, while he studied his face.

“No,
actually,” Roy said, narrowing his eyes at the man at the other
end of the sword. Why was he feeling off balance? He shouldn't be
letting this bother him. So what if Edward spoke in a harsh tone, he
was only concerned that he might have hurt him. But the comment
about another message, though not unwarranted, seemed to be a bit
like hitting below the belt. He knew for a fact that that kiss
wasn't bad...too short maybe...but not bad.

It did not escape his
notice either that Edward was staring at his mouth. Obviously Edward
thought the kiss was alright as well. That was almost enough to make
him forget about Edward's tone. But not quite. He wondered once
again why Edward had gone along with the dance so easily. It irked
him for some reason, thinking that Edward actually had some
experience not only with the opposite sex, but he seemed to have a
level of comfort with same sex relationships that a normal
heterosexual man wouldn't.

But
despite all that, he really didn't like that he had lost his cool,
even for a brief moment. He'd even apologized, and Edward had the
gall to chastise him?
“I wanted to see if you still wanted to visit Winry. Though,
right now she's on heavy pain killers,” said Roy, making Edward
look into his eyes and abandon his lips. Not his true intent in
coming out here, but it would work. He stomped on his annoyance,
stuffing it down, and squashing it under his iron will. He had a
goal to achieve first.

Edward seemed to
consider him for a moment and then he slowly lowered the tip of the
sword. They stared at one another for several moments, as if sizing
each other up. With a sigh, Edward turned away and limped over to
the willow tree and picked up a scabbard propped up against its bark.
Sliding the sword into the sheath with an audible click, he stood
there a moment and then back looked over his shoulder.

“I
got to clean up first. Shall I just go up, or do I meet you
somewhere?” Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Meet
me in the back, at the kitchen,” Roy said, pointing his thumb
over his shoulder, and smiling. Edward nodded and walked past him
without saying anything further.

- - - -

Edward
frowned. He didn't like they way Roy had smiled at him. He didn't
like that he was once again staring at Roy's mouth. He dropped his
gaze down to the wet grass. What's
wrong with me?
he wondered as he made his way back to the garage, clutching the
scabbard tightly in his hand. Why had Roy come to find him like that
the other night? And why did he come back near the willow tree? Was
it just to find him? Just like when he was younger? First the
solarium and now this! It was just...weird. He didn't like it.

As he neared the garage,
he noticed that his ankle was now able to take his full weight
without protest. He placed one foot on the first step and sighed,
sagging over the railing. It was so bothersome to be thinking about
Roy and what he might or might not be planning, so he pushed it aside
and let his mind go blank. He took the stairs slowly, feeling the
burn in his thighs from his workout, and walked along the porch to
his room.

Edward threw the sword
onto his rumbled bed and padded over to the bathroom, pulling his
sweaty hair away from his face. The shower was turned on and his
clothes discarded to the floor. He was cleaned and dressed in less
then half an hour, wearing dark, casual pants and a slim fitting,
button-down shirt—un-tucked—and his hair pulled back into
an elastic at the nape of his neck; he looked very much like the rich
society he lived near.

Bouncing down the
stairs, Edward crossed the lawn separating the garage and the house.
Before he could even touch the back door, Roy had it open and was
smiling down at him. Slightly startled by Roy's initiative in
meeting him, Edward took an involuntary step back.

“She's
upstairs, come on.” Roy nodded into the house and stepped
aside to let him pass. Glancing at him warily, Edward brushed past
him and made his way into the house. He crossed into the main hall
and started up the stairs with Roy a few steps behind him. Pausing
at the top of the stairs, with Roy coming to a stop a step behind
him, Edward wondered how wise it would be of him to just walk into
Winry's room.

“Should
I just go in?” Edward mumbled quietly over his shoulder at Roy.
Without answering, Roy climbed the remaining steps and motioned
Edward to follow him. The nurse seated outside Winry's room nodded
at Roy as he passed, though he didn't respond to her. Roy pushed the
door open, and entered his sister's room.

Edward followed behind
more slowly. He was anxious about entering Winry's room again after
so long. The last time he was here he'd been humiliated by the very
person in front of him. The sting of that encounter had not lessened
in all this time. Thinking about it even now made him cringe in
embarrassment, and made his gut roll unpleasantly, and then the kiss
seemed to pop out of nowhere and take the forefront in his mind. He
crossed into the room and paused in the doorway, looking around to
see that the room hadn't changed in all his time away, and then he
looked at the bed.

The curtains were drawn
back, letting in the bright sunlight. Winry was lying on her back
with her broken leg raised on pillows covered with a fleecy blanket.
Her eyes were closed and she didn't stir as they entered. Roy moved
to the left side of her bed and folded his arms across his chest,
watching him hesitate. Edward took a deep breath and moved further
into the room going to stand on the right side of Winry's bed.

Edward could feel those
intense black eyes stare at him, making him acutely aware of what his
body was doing, where his hands were, where his eyes looked. Trying
not to blush while Roy watched him, Edward sat on the side of Winry's
bed and scooped up her limp hand. “Can I wake her?” he
asked Roy, not removing his gaze from Winry's face.

“Winry...”
Roy leaned down and gently shook his sister's shoulder. “Winry,”
he called a little more insistently.

With a start, Winry's
eyes snapped open and rested after a moment on Edward's concerned
face. “Heeey,” she smiled and shifted closer towards
him, pulling his hand up to her lips.

“How
are you feeling?” asked Edward quietly, rubbing his thumb
across the back of her hand. His pulse hardly changed. Here he was,
holding the hand of the woman he loved, and he was almost blank
inside. It made him wonder if maybe he wasn't just a little bit
frivolous just like Winry was.

“Great.
I feel great. Do the dry cleaners have your car? (1)” she
asked, looking up from his knuckles into Edward's face and smiling
with a vacant look in her eyes.

“What?”
wondered Edward, looking to Roy for an explanation.

“Er...say,
we got a nurse and some Popsicles for you...” Roy said to
Winry. “We should go and let her sleep.” Roy motioned
to Edward.

Edward
was disappointed that he was being made to leave so soon, but he
understood that Winry needed to rest. He turned back to the woman on
the bed and gave her a sad smile. “I'll come...” Edward
paused, wondering when he could next visit with Winry, seeing as
he'd—hopefully—be on the west cost the day after
tomorrow. “When I can, okay?” Winry smiled back at him,
and he pulled his hand away after a farewell squeeze. He
was silent as he followed Roy back down to the base of the stairs.
Winry looked like she would have been in a lot of pain if not for the
drugs.

Edward
absently watched Roy descend the stairs, and then watched his own
feet. “Thanks...for letting me see her,” Edward said as
his foot touched the first floor, and he looked up into Roy's face to
find Roy staring at him intently. It sort of bugged him that Roy
still hadn't apologized for kissing him like that, and now here he
was thanking
Roy.

Dropping his gaze to his
feet, he let his other foot touch the floor, and turned towards the
kitchen. He had a lot of calls to make and he was losing time.

“Well
actually...” said Roy, his voice stopping him, and making him
turn back to see what Roy wanted. “I hear that you're going to
a tournament in L.A. Virgin Air went under,” said Roy, sliding
one hand into his pant pocket. “Your father tells me that you
lost some money.”

“Oh...um...”
stammered Edward. He could feel the beginnings of a blush creeping
across his face. What was his da doing telling that to Roy?
“Well...actually...I was just about to go make a few calls.”
Edward took another step towards the kitchen.

“I
see...” Roy smirked slightly, and then his face went blank.
What in the world was Roy thinking off now? “I'm also headed
out to L.A....” Roy said, almost to himself. “When do
you leave?” inquired Roy.

“Eh?”
was all Edward could mange to respond as Roy closed the distance
between them. Coming a bit too
close for Edward's preference. It was...disconcerting, and he had to
look up
to be able to look into Roy's eyes, which only served to remind him
about the kiss. He dropped his gaze to Roy's mouth. Dammit, he
didn't like Roy. Roy was mean, and conniving, he was not someone
that he should be looking at their lips. He resisted the desire to
take a step back as it would only draw attention to his unease.

“If
you can be ready in two hours we could take the helicopter to the
airport, the jet will already be prepped, so—” Roy was
saying, making Edward refocus on Roy's eyes.

“Er,
but—wait!” Edward held up his hand to forestall Roy's
further commands. This was all of a sudden spinning out of his
control, and he found that he didn't like it too much.

“Yes?”
Roy quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Well...”
he said uncertainty. Edward shifted his weight to the other foot and
caught his bottom lip between his teeth. He did
need to get to L.A. and if he didn't have to bother his father for
money...well... Roy was
already going...

“I
see, then it's settled. Be ready in two hours,” ordered Roy,
already walking down the hall in the opposite direction.

What
the hell?
thought Edward as he stared after Roy's retreating back. He hadn't
said yes! Fuck
it,
he thought, he needed the lift anyway. Spinning around on the ball
of his foot, he jogged out the back of the house, across the lawn and
up to the garage. He found his father sitting in the living room,
sipping from a delicate tea cup and reading a book.

“Da...”
Edward called, alerting his father to his presence. Hohenheim looked
up from his book expectantly. “I'm... leaving today for L.A.”

“I
thought you didn't have a flight. Did something happen?” said
Hohenheim curiously, closing the book around his finger.

“Well...Roy's
heading out there today...so...I'm going to go with him. I'll be
leaving in two hours.”

His father seemed to
study him a moment. “Be careful, Edward, I don't want you
getting hurt. The Mustangs, and Roy especially, are really—”

“That's
not going to happen, da,” Edward said. It was true that he was
nervous about going somewhere with Roy, and having to spend time in
close quarters with him, but on the other hand, their brief talk in
the solarium that night showed him that there was...perhaps a very
interesting man beneath that hard exterior. And he would not
be thinking about that kiss... No way!

Hohenheim nodded at his
son's assertion. “Well then, make sure you tell me all about
how you did,” said Hohenheim, flipping open the book and
resuming his reading.

He was quite surprised
that his father hadn't debated it more with him. It must be that he
trusted him to know himself, and be confident enough to handle
anything thrown his way. It was kinda nice to have that sort of
trust to go his own way. Da had always been like that, but for so
long he hadn't wanted that freedom. With a small smile to himself,
Edward slipped away to gather a few changes of clothes as well as
everything he'd require for the tournament. In no time at all, he
was ready, with an hour and a half to kill.

Trudging down to the
bottom step of the garage, Edward sat on the lowest riser to wait for
Roy. His work out was catching up with him, making him stiff and
tired. He wished now that he'd been able to take a longer shower, it
always helped to alleviate his stiffness. He hoped that Roy wasn't
the talkative type, because he was ready for some extra shut eye.

- - - -

Roy tried to hide his
amusement at Edward's embarrassment as he walked away. It was
quite... Roy hesitated to use the word 'cute', but nothing else fit.
Things weren't going according to him original plan, but he felt
that he could still make this work. As soon as he was out of sight,
he pulled out his cell and quickly called his assistant.

“Alex,
have the plane ready in two hours... Los Angeles... uh-huh, and two
rooms at Beverly Hills... Adjoining—no make it a suite...
Yes, I'm sure... and tickets to whatever's hardest to get tickets
to...” Clicking the phone closed without so much as a good
bye, Roy opened his office door and started to gather everything he
needed to work on while he was caught up with this 'distraction'.

Come to think of it,
this distraction had a very new and surprisingly good appearance.
Edward's striped dress shirt that he was wearing seemed to accentuate
his strong shoulders and narrow waist that he had seen while in the
back lawn. The damp blond hair came down his mid-back, and Roy
couldn't remember if it was always such a rich golden color or did it
change to that while in Paris. Edward had turned into a fine young
man, and it seemed that he had indeed been able to shed his shyness.

Running a hand along the
side of his head, Roy rolled his eyes at himself. Why was he even
thinking about this anyway? He was tired, and maybe he wasn't
thinking clearly. He had been too keyed up to sleep again last
night, and spent most of the time staring at the ceiling. He had
replayed the events in the solarium over and over again, wondering
why he was so...agitated by it, and then he hadn't been able to talk
to Edward yesterday at all, making him annoyed that he was delayed
for another day.

It
may have been a bit presumptuous of him to just kiss Edward like
that...it certainly had nothing to do with Winry or anything she had
asked of him. This
wasn't going according to plan, but he could still make this work.
Winry always took her conquests to the cape, so he had just planned
on doing the same, but as long as he could be around Edward and
distract him, L.A. should be no different.

He lifted his briefcase
and placed it on the desk, lifting the lid in order to place the work
he wanted to take with him on the plane. His laptop went first, then
his paperwork for the merger. He'd be behind after this was all
over, but...at least the merger would go off without a hitch.

- - - -

“I'm
having the helicopter pick us up here, to save time. It's already en
route,” Roy said as he approached the stairs.

Edward stood, bag in
hand, his sword thrust through the handles and nodded. Roy suggested
they move to the back patio to wait, and by the time they stepped
onto the deck the helicopter was coming over the trees to land in the
yard. Edward followed Roy's lead and hurried across the lawn,
ducking as Roy did to climb into the back. He was handed a pair of
bulky headphones and shown how to buckle in.

Edward was thrilled to
be in the air and watched the ground with interest. They quickly
made their way to the airport, landing on the tarmac not far from a
small private jet. A woman with short dark hair stood by the folding
stairs, awaiting their arrival. Again, Edward followed Roy as he
walked over to the plane. At the foot of the stairs, he turned and
allowed Edward to precede him.

Edward moved toward the
back of the plane. There were large leather chairs, some facing each
other, some not, and a couch like bench. It was all very nice.
Throwing his bag on the bench, he took a seat in one of the chairs
that faced towards the front, leaving Roy to take the one that faced
him.

Looking around, Edward's
lips quirked with amusement as Roy took his seat, stashing his
briefcase at his feet. Actually, Roy wasn't so bad. He'd been nice,
pointing out interesting landmarks as they flew over the city and
making great conversation. It was surprising. Edward hadn't thought
that Roy knew what nice was, but he was turning out to be someone
that was genuine, if not a bit repressed at times.

“Good
morning, Mr. Mustang,” the woman in a dark dress suit and long
squirt said as she came towards them from the front of the plane.
She held an assortment of magazines in one arm which she held out for
Roy.

“Morning,
Maria,” greeted Roy absently, shaking his head at the offered
items. Already he had a small pile of paper in his lap, and seemed
set to get down to work.

“Good
morning, sir,” the woman said, addressing Edward, offering him
the same selection. Edward noticed that they were all business
periodicals.

“Morning,
and it's Edward,” he said, smiling up at the woman with short,
close cropped hair. He waved his hand at the magazines.

“Oh,
what a fine name. Did you know it means—”

“Maria,”
Roy warned, sparing a quick glance at her before returning his eyes
to his work.

“Yes,
sir,” said Maria, bowing meekly. The woman moved away, back to
the rear of the plane. Edward looked back, watching Maria walk
around the corner, and then he looked back at Roy. Settling back in
his seat, Edward watched Roy flip through the papers in his lap. His
earlier optimism for getting to know Roy dropped several notches. He
could vividly recall how every one of the Mustangs would treat the
staff and by association him. It was almost like they didn't see the
people that worked so close to their home and in other areas of their
employment as real people. Enforcing their will on others came very
easily for Roy, as he had just demonstrated. But since he was kind
enough to be offering him his jet, Edward thought he should at least
try
and move beyond that.

“This
is really cool,” said Edward, giving the plane the once over
again, smiling at the man opposite from him. Roy grunted at him,
without looking up. “Don't you ever look out?” he
wondered, pressing his nose on the thick Plexiglas window, watching
the ground crew remove the fuel lines.

“Hmm?”
Roy asked, looking up to see what Edward was talking about.

“The
window? Don't you ever look out?” Ed asked again. He sat back
in his chair and pointed at the window. The engine whined to life
and lurched as it taxied out to the runway.

“I
don't have time. I work in the real world, you know,” said Roy
with a bland look on his face.

“What
about all the time you saved on the helicopter ride over?”
asked Edward, raising an eyebrow. Didn't Roy ever relax? He
supposed that running a huge company like Mustang Inc. took a lot of
time, but didn't he ever stop? Even for a moment?

Pressing his lips
together, Roy gave Edward an exasperated look. “I'm saving it
up,” he finally replied, going back to his report.

“For
when?” Edward wondered, watching Roy mark up the papers in his
lap.

“Refreshments
before take off?” Maria asked, holding a small pad of paper in
her hands with a pencil hovering over the page. She looked
expectantly at Roy.

“Perrier,”
Roy said without looking at Maria.

Edward
looked across at Roy and frowned. Couldn't he even offer a bit of
courtesy? Even if he looked at her for only a moment, the eye
contact meant that he wasn't ignoring her. Looking
up at Maria, Edward gave her a small smile by way of apology and
ordered the same. With a brilliant smile in return, she left to
prepare the drinks. She came back moments later and handed Roy a
heavy crystal glass with clear bubbly liquid and a lime wedge in the
bottom, which he took and immediately placed in the cup holder by his
elbow, and resumed his work. Edward, on the other hand, took his
glass with a clear and concise thank you, which Maria graced him with
a smile.

The plane rolled to a
stop at the end of the runway, and the engines powered up. Quickly
depositing his glass in his own cup holder, Edward felt the familiar
anxiety in the pit of his stomach as they started hurtling down the
tarmac, and he gripped the arms of his chair, making his knuckles
white. He turned his face away from the window and looked down at
the patterned carpet.

“Nervous?”
Roy asked, seeing the gesture.

“Only
for take off,” said Ed though gritted teeth. Why did the plane
have to shudder so
much during take-off?

“So,
what are you doing while in L.A.?” asked Roy conversationally
to get Edward's mind off their ascent.

“I'm
competing in a martial arts tournament,” Edward grit out,
pointedly not looking out the window at the moment.

“That's
why the sword?” asked Roy, looking across the small plane at
the bag and the sword resting on the couch. Edward nodded, and took
a steadying breath. “Are you any good? I heard Hohenheim
talking about your medals a few months ago, but I didn't really hear
too much about it.”

“Ling
seems to think I'm a prodigy. I basically achieved black belt in
three different martial arts in just two years, so...” Edward
shrugged. They were now well into the air and he was starting to
feel much more relaxed.

“That's
impressive. I'll have to watch then, since your father can't witness
it,” Roy said with a small smirk.

“Oh,
that's okay, I'm sure you have lots of work to do, eh?” Edward
said, getting flustered at the prospect of Roy's proposal. That
wouldn't help his nerves, that's for sure. He was already keyed up
from worrying about the competition, and now Roy was going to watch
too.

“It's
no trouble, I'd be interested to see what it is you do,”
assured Roy. In fact, he was quite eager to see more of Edward's
graceful movements. When he saw that Edward was bringing the sword
with him, he became, surprisingly enough, very excited. He puzzled
over that for the whole helicopter ride to the airport.

“Uh,
okay.” Edward shifted in his seat, and looked at Roy's
slightly parted lips for a moment before looking quickly away. What
a time to be thinking about the kiss. It wasn't that
good. “So, uh—oh shit!” cursed Edward, sitting up
straight in his seat in a panic.

“What?”
asked Roy, leaning forward a bit in his seat.

“I
didn't make any reservations! You got a phone I can use to call a
motel?” Ed looked down the arm of his chair, and then shifted
to the other side, looking between the plane wall and the chair.

“No
need, it's all taken care of,” assured Roy, relaxing back into
his chair. At Edward's puzzled look, Roy smiled. “I booked
rooms for us at the Beverly Hills,” he said.

“The...but
wait! That place is really expensive!” said Edward, loudly in
distress, leaning forward in his seat. Roy shrugged at him.
“Roy...” he said lowly, wondering how he was expected to
pay for that.

“Yes?”
Roy quirked an eyebrow at him.

Edward studied him for a
moment. Just as always, Roy got what Roy wanted. “Do you
always get your way?” he said with a sigh, leaning back into
his seat, and watched as Roy nodded slowly and then looked down into
his lap. Really, it was too much bother to fight it. Maybe he'd
slip some money into Roy luggage later when he wasn't looking. Not
that he could repay the full price, but the gesture counted, right?

-- To be continued --

Not an action packed
chapter, but I hope it pleases you just the same XD Don't worry
though, the upcoming chapters well have lots of goodies for you
fangirls...boys (?) out there! So, drop me a review, to let me know
that you're still out there and reading!

kiki
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