Orphaned

Al's eyes slowly opened, and after a second he remembered what happened. Sitting up, he looked around frantically for a familar face, but only saw one man that was partially submerged in shadows, "Who are you?" came the tiny, frightened voice. He didn't know who these people were or why they had taken him, but he did know he wanted out of where ever he was.

The strange man chuckled in a low voice, "My name is none of your concern."

"What do you want?" Al demanded, though in a frightened voice.

"What do I want?" he echoed, "Nothing more than to maintain order."

"What are you talking about?" he wondered, 'What does he mean 'maintain order'?'

"I think you know exactly what I mean." the older one said, stepping into the light, crimson red eyes peering at the younger Elric, "Don't you, Edward?"

"Did Al come back in here?" Ed asked, entering the kitchen.

Roy shook his head as he looked up, "He wasn't outside?"

Ed mimicked the motion, slightly worried, "Where could he have gone?"

The older one shrugged, "I don't..." he was interrupted by the phone ringing. He glared at it slightly, not wanting to answer it, but got up nonetheless, "Hello?" he asked, annoyed.

"Mustang." said that same voice, "I warned you about disobeying me."

Roy's glare deepened, "What do you mean, sir?"

"You know what I mean." the voice snapped, "You failed to carry out your orders. You know how that looks don't you?"

"Carry out my..." Roy's eyes widened slightly as he realized what had happened to Al, "Sir, wait, I..."

Once again, he was cut off, "I must take any and all precautions to ensure the safety of my employees, and, of course, of my boss." A chuckle sounded in Roy's ears, "If you want your precious alchemist back, Mustang, hand yourself over peacefully."

"Sir, you don't..." This time he was cut off by the line dying.

Roy stared at the phone for another minute until Ed's voice broke through his daze, "Who was it?" he wondered.

The dark-haired man hung up the phone and turned to the smaller boy, "That was...my boss." he said, not wanting to explain what must have happened to Al. Roy shuttered, knowing what they did to the alchemists they captured instead of killing right away. He was being held as a hostage, and Roy knew all too well what happened to hostages when the person in his position didn't agree to their terms. If that happened to Al...Roy shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

Ed studied Roy for a moment, and finally decided something wasn't right, "What did he want?"

Roy hesitated, glancng at Ed for a second, "He..." A sigh escaped his lips, "Ed, I need to talk to you."

The blonde-haired boy froze at hearing this. The last time they had talked, it hadn't ended well, "About what?" he asked, suspiciously.

Roy moved to the island in the middle of the kitchen where Ed had taken a seat, "I...I may have not been completely honest with you before, when I told you about my work." he confessed.

Ed took a second to process Roy's words before standing up, slowly, "You lied to me? Again?"

Roy knew he was in deep shit when he heard the quiet tone of the young boy's voice, "Ed, listen to me." Roy began, but the younger one was having none of it.

"I'm done listening to you and your damn lies!" Ed exclaimed, turning around, "I thought you said you wouldn't lie to me anymore." he whispered before giving Roy one last, pained look and running out the door.

"Damn." Roy muttered. Not only had he not been able to explain a thing to Ed, but now both of the brothers were missing. He couldn't leave Ed to wonder around by himself, but he couldn't put getting to Al off, either. Ed's words loomed in his head as he headed out the door, hoping to track down the older brother before he lost him completely, 'I thought you said you wouldn't lie to me anymore.'

Flashback (This takes place a short time after Roy and Ed got together)____________________________________________________

"Shut up!" Ed yelled, tears threatening to stream down his face.

"Ed, will you just listen to me?" Roy tried to reason. He screwed up, he knew, but Ed wouldn't even accept an apology.

"Why, so you can lie to me some more?" he demanded.

Roy gritted his teeth in annoyance, but kept his cool for the sake of not pissing the younger one off anymore, "I just want to apologize." he explained.

Ed glared at him, "Why should I let you?" he asked.

"What happened?" Al asked, coming into the living room.

Ed turned to his brother, "This bastard told me..." he trailed off, "Nevermind." he muttered; Al didn't need to know.

"Brother?" Al asked, looking from the older Elric to Roy.

"It's nothing to worry yourself with." Roy assured him.

The youngest one looked to Ed, who nodded his agreement, "He's right." he said, hating agreeing with Roy, but not wanting to worry Al even more.

"Alright." Al said, unbelieving. He knew, though, that whatever the two were fighting over, they didn't want him to know about it, so he turned and headed back up to his room.

Roy took this opportunity while Ed was distracted, "I'm sorry." he said, quietly. He knew he had hurt Ed deeply and might not be able to make up for it. He still needed to try, though; Ed didn't deserve to be lied to like that.

Ed turned, unshed tears making his eyes shimmer, "You should have thought of that earlier." he said, turning to leave. Roy didn't try to stop him; he knew better by now. He sighed as he sat down on the couch, head in his hands. He shouldn't have gone that far, not with Ed; he shouldn't have told him he loved him without meaning it.

End Flashback_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Roy, to this day, didn't know how Ed knew that he had been lying when he said those three words, but he had called his bluff nearly immediately. Maybe it was just his own paranoia that got the best of him. Whatever it was, he had caught Roy in the lie, and the older one had confessed to it. He hoped in his car and sped off towards town, figuring that was the most likely place that Ed would go.

After almost 30 minutes of driving around, looking for short, blonde boys that would resemble Ed, Roy was about to give up all together. He didn't want to call Winry and ask her if Ed had shown up there, that would only worry her and raise suspicion. He certainly didn't want to be labeled a bad guardian, though he was sure if Winry knew about their (virtually nonexistant, yet still very real) relationship, she would immediately remove Ed and Al from his house. He couldn't say he would really blame her, either, it wasn't as if their being together was normal or accepted by most anyone.

Left with no options other than to wait and hope like hell that Ed came home, Roy turned his attention to the other brother. He knew exactly where they were holding him, and exactly what he would have to go through when he got there. Regardless, though, he sped towards that building he despised the most, ready to meet whatever they would throw at him, head on. If it was the last thing he did, he would get Al back, for the younger one's sake as well as Ed's. No matter what, Roy would be damned if Ed would be all alone in this world.
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See? Another chappy, as promised. Eh, not much to say about it, but review!