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Unsettling Affairs	By : xkesshoux Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1906 -:- 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
- 29
- 30
- 31
Each
individual chapter will have a different rating, different pairings,
different spoilers, and a different setting and timeline. Multiple
people were involved in writing this fic, I do not claim to have
written anything other than my own characters. I do however claim to
have come up with the plot, story idea, and organizing it all. The
others who write characters in this fic are well aware that I am
posting it, and contribute willingly. This fic is an ongoing project
with an unknown number of parts, with alternate storyline as of the
fifth laboratory incident. Enjoy!

Blasphemy,
Exhaustion, Depression

Rating:
PG-13/R (Strong use of language, repetetive use of language,
implications of things.)
Pairings: Do I need to keep saying
this over and over?
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. Don't sue
meeeee!
Spoilers: Hell if I know anymore:D
Setting:
A secret medical facility somewhere in Central, restricted access
zone with high level security, Ed/Blasphemy's holding cell/Roy's
room.
Timeline: A day or two after the incident with
Deceit, Roy, and Ed/Blasphemy in Roy's hospital room.

Where
am I...? So cold...So it's there again...but it's different this
time? What's that sound? Voices? I can't hear what they're
saying..Wait...Jean? It's...too blurry, vague, I can't see, it's like
being underwater...murky water...What was that about Predator? Huh?
Are they talking about me?

"...array's
been damaged, I'm not sure we can save him..."

The
array...? Save him? Save ME!

"What
about Mustang..."

Roy...that
Fawkes guy was there...the memory is vague though...

"He'll
live, but I'm afraid that eye will be useless... He'll be questioned
on the incident when he is well enough. Miss Delgardie and Mrs.
Curtis have been notified of Fullmetal's condition and will arrive in
Central tomorrow. Until then, we have our best alchemists on it."

Great...those
two in one room...if whatever this is doesn't kill me, they will...

"I'll
stay with him...at least I can keep that thing under control if he
wakes up."

Thing?
Oh...the other voice...Wait, if I can hear them like this here he
must already be awake...

"Very
well, just don't let your guard down, we don't know what he might be
capable of now that-"

"Just
get out, I don't need to hear it...save it for..."

Huh?
Colder, the light's gone out...not back there again! Not now..No...I
don't want to...Jean...JEAN!

Havoc
looked down at the unconscious blonde, heroically resisting the
simultaneous urges to both brush the hair out of his face and
strangle him for letting this happen. "What about Mustang..."

The young
doctor flipped a few pages on his clipboard. "He'll live, but
I'm afraid that eye will be useless... He'll be questioned on the
incident when he is well enough. Miss Delgardie and Mrs. Curtis have
been notified of Fullmetal's condition and will arrive in Central
tomorrow. Until then, we have our best alchemists on it."

Havoc
nodded, waving the young man off with a vaguely dismissive gesture.
"I'll stay with him...at least I can keep that thing under
control if he wakes up."

"Very
well, just don't let your guard down, we don't know what he might be
capable of now that-"

Another
dismissive gesture was given. "Just get out, I don't need to
hear it... Save it for somebody who doesn't know it already."

"Yes,
sir...Notify us if any severe changes take place." The young man
nodded once more and left the chimera alone in the room with the boy.

"What
am I going to do with you, goddamn gopher... Every time I look away
you're getting yourself into another-" JEAN! Havoc
blinked, looking down at the sleeping boy.

He
blinked again. That was... weird. He knew he was still on pain
medication, but he really shouldn't be hearing voices. And
when the voice sounded eerily like Ed... well, he needed to get his
head checked anyway...

He
hestitantly put his index finger into Ed's flesh hand, watching it
curl reflexively around the digit. Stupid, stupid little kid...

The boy's
grip tightened suddenly, almost painfully, as pure violet,
slit-pupiled eyes snapped open, glaring at Havoc with a fierce
hatred. "If this kid's arm and leg weren't across the fucking
room, and you fucking sons of bitches didn't have me tied down...I
would so fucking kill you right now!"

Havoc
calmly tugged his finger away. "Well, that answered my question
all right."

Blasphemy
spat. "Bite me you fucking prick."

Havoc
lifted his eyebrows, looking distincly unimpressed. "You know,
despite the fact that you're tied down and that prevents you from
biting my throat out, you're almost normal, kid."

"Fuck
you..." The homonculus jerked at his restraints, anything to get
at least within biting range.

"Look,
gopher, I've had a shitty day. Don't make it worse, all right?"

"Anything
I can do to make your day worse sounds like a good idea to me... Like
I fucking care how your day's been anyway! I'M TIED TO A FUCKING
TABLE!" Blasphemy was, in fact, calmer than usual. Believe it or
not.

Havoc was
losing his patience. Fast. "I think that's the one good thing
that's happened to me for about twenty-four hours. So just shut up,
will you?"

Blasphemy
snorted. "Why the hell should I shut up, you damn mangy feline?
Give me one good reason. And don't say you're going to kill me,
because the brat's still here, and I know damn well you're not going
to kill him."

Havoc's
patience disappeared into thin air. He backhanded the homunculous on
the table viciously. "Just shut the fuck up you little
shit. I'm sick of you constantly whining, and god help me, I will
kill you if you keep pissing me off!"

Blasphemy
froze for a moment, a few tiny flecks of gold wafting across one eye
and vanishing again. "Goddamn sonofa..."

Suddenly
it clicked. Havoc lashed out again, striking the thing across the
face. "You're worthless. If the best thing that you can do is
just spit insults at me, then there's no reason for me to be even
remotely scared of you. You're just a little lost monster whining for
a scrap of food."

Gold
flashed momentarily again in violet, expression on the boy's face
changing ever so slightly before it was all back to Blasphemy again.
"You think that's going to do anything? Pathetic fucking
idiot.."

"Well,
he's got the right idea," a chillingly familiar voice said from
the doorway.

"Maybe
he can revert you back to your natural state long enough for us to
fix you," an eerie echo remarked conversationally. "After
all, you are and have always been a spoiled brat."

Violet
eyes glanced towards the doorway. "Well if it isn't you two...If
memory serves me right, I tried to kill you...and
you...well...I do believe this boy was scared shitless of you."

Izumi
smiled calmly. It was a smile that made every single hair on Havoc's
body stand straight up, and he shrank back in total fear. "With
good reason, I assure you."

Quick as
snakes, the two alchemy goddesses struck, Lisa going for the stomach
with great abandon and Izumi aiming for the homunculus' head.

And they
hit. Hard.

Violet
lingered just long enough to see the two madwomen within inches of
his person, before Blasphemy gave up the floor willingly, to Ed.

The
blonde practically would have doubled over, wait, no, he definitely
would have doubled over in pain were it not for the restraints. And
damn did he wish he could double over in pain.

"What
kind of brat would do that?" Lisa snarled.

"A
homunculus," Izumi said briskly. "Ed, that's a blood array,
right?"

One
violet-strewn golden eye was open to the two alchemy masters, as Ed
coughed slightly. "If you hadn't...just..done that...I might
even...say I was...happy to see you..." Despite the pain, he
nodded. "I think...you'd have to ask Al...if you could find
him..."

Lisa
opened her mouth, but Izumi silenced her quickly. "We're going
to have to do a temporary array on you so we have enough time to find
him. We have no idea where he is."

"We
know that he was last seen in Geriko, but from after your return, we
have no idea. It's going to take a massive manhunt to find him,"
Lisa continued.

"Whose
blood do you want for the array? Mine, Lisa's, or the chimera's?"

"Personally,
I'd like none of your filthy blood on my body unless I was killing
you pathetic wretches. But that's just me." Blasphemy slipped
back again before the crazy women from hell could get their hands on
him.

"Augh...my
head...oi...why am I tied to a table?" Ed winced at the pain in
his stomach, that would bruise. No doubt about it.

Lisa was
getting ticked. No, not ticked. Royally pissed off. "Shut up,
you whining piece of slime!" she bellowed, actually startling
Izumi. "If I hear one more word out of you that's not conducive
to our goal, I'll kill you, no matter what Jean or Izumi say! Got
that!"

Ed
cringed visibly, wanting very much to hide behind Jean at the moment.
"No clue what the other guy said, but could you repeat the last
thing you asked? I missed it..."

"You
have three choices of blood to rebuild the array. Izumi's, mine, or
Jean's. Doesn't matter whose blood you pick, as long as you trust
that person. It'll work better like that." Lisa's glare clearly
informed the young man two things: one, pay attention or Bad Things
will happen; two, pick someone else.

"..."
Violet-flecked gold automatically focused on Havoc.

"Dumb
question," the two women muttered in synch. "I think the
only person Ed would want more is Mustang," Izumi continued on,
solo.

"Jean,
get that remarkably pretty tail of yours over here now," Lisa
said. "We're going to cut across your palm to get the blood we
need for slime-boy over there. It won't hurt, and Ed'll be relatively
back to normal."

"Close
your eyes," Izumi said, producing a surgical scalpel and a small
blood basin. "It won't hurt a bit."

Ed looked
away then, too many thoughts running through his head. "Fawkes
was there..."

Havoc
tensed right as the two women were delicately cutting, causing them
to go just a bit deeper than intended. "What!"

"Jean,
shut up," Lisa snapped. "Ed, you're not helping any."

Izumi
caught the influx neatly, and set it on the bedside table. "Fawkes?"

"He's
the one who shot me...what about Roy, is he okay? I...couldn't do
anything..." Trying to sit up, Ed was reminded he was
restrained. "Can you at least let me out of these things?"

"We
kind of have to," Izumi said. "I'm only going to release
your upper restraints, and I'm going to transmute your hand into the
table. Lisa's going to be waiting with fist ready." She
transmuted Ed's hand neatly into the cold surface, effectively
trapping him. "Now keep that thing away while we work, otherwise
we're going to take drastic measures." She released the shoulder
and chest restraints.

Havoc did
not like the sound of 'drastic measures.'

Ed
gulped, sweatdropping slightly. He didn't like the sound of
'drastic measures' either... Somewhat painfully, no thanks to
the pounding he'd gotten a few minutes before, he managed to sit up,
despite the nagging pain in his shoulder and the way it made his
vision swim, violet threatening to overtake him again though he kept
it in the slightest check. At this rate, he'd pass out before they
were even done, trying to stay in one place was hard enough when he
was in good health.

Izumi put
a hand flat on Ed's back, pushing him forward so she could redraw the
array. She cursed the complexity of the thing silently, painstakingly
retracing what was left of the original marks.

Ed tried
to keep still as best he could through the prickling sensations that
spiked through his body, through the pain in his head and the tear at
his subconscious. He'd just have to grit his teeth and bear it, and
hope to whoever'd listen that the array could be salvaged.

Izumi
gritted her teeth, sketching a particularly complicated whorl. Curse
Al for even attempting to do something so stupid. One more loop and
line, and the damnable thing would be complete...

Vacantly,
Edward realized he was missing an arm and a leg again...

... and
she was done. She wiped chimera blood from her hands. "You're
good to go, kiddo. Don't mess it up."

A
particularly tense-looking Havoc relaxed perceptibly, and Lisa look
both relieved and slightly disappointed.

"Can
I have my arm and leg back, please?" Blonde bangs still made a
veil that covered his eyes, though it was obvious the few minutes it
had taken to restore the array had thrashed him both mentally and
physically.

"After
Lisa puts them back on, I want you to rest," Izumi ordered. "I
want you fed properly and I want you to get a decent amount of sleep.
Lisa and I will start looking for Al. We'll get back to you
periodically."

Lisa
reattached the arm quickly and professionally. "I've always felt
sorry for people with automail," she remarked. "I don't
know why..."

Gritting
his teeth, Ed bit back a scream, running a nice long variety of harsh
curses through his mind.

She
reattached his leg and released him from the rest of the straps.
"Don't try to kill anyone, all right?"

She
turned to Havoc. "You seem to be holding up pretty well, but
don't strain it. The Albedo only ages the injuries, not completely
heals them. I want you to get plenty to eat and plenty of sleep, got
that?" Without even waiting for acknowledgement, the two women
left with a promise to write every week.

"Are
they always like that, or is it just for the kid?" Lifting his
head, violet eyes glanced at the arm and leg, as he tested both. "So
tell me...is this room sealed well?"

Havoc
smiled bitterly. Go figure.

"Go
ahead, call them in, I know they're out there, watching...You want to
know what happened, right?" Blasphemy turned his eyes to Havoc.
"I own you, you know that?"

"I
don't care," he said wearily. "I'm sick of this goddamned
game of tug-of-war, I'm sick of being a toy. All I want is some
fucking SLEEP."

"I
thought you had more fight in you than that...maybe I should do to
you what I was going to do to that pretty boy Mustang..." The
homonculus sneered at the chimera.

"Look,
right now, I don't fucking care. I don't care if you 'own' me, I
don't care if you were going going to do something to Mustang. Hell,
I don't even care if Fawkes showed up right now. I just want to curl
up in bed and pretend this whole slew of shit doesn't exist."
Blue eyes glared tiredly at the sneering homunculus.

Hopping
off the table, Blasphemy shrugged. "Fine...sleep then...Where's
Pride, I want the fuck out of here..."

"Not
here..." His vision was going blurry... too blurry. He squinted,
trying to sort out details that he usually would have gotten in an
instant. Not good. "He's off on a trip to... somewhere. I... I
think..."

The hell
was wrong with him?

"Is
this room sealed well? Damn imbecile good for nothing, do you know
anything!" Slit-pupiled violet eyes glared at
the...woozy?chimera...?

"Yeah,"
Havoc said distantly. "They're not taking any chances with a
homicidal maniac... sir."

"Fine...whatever...I
don't feel like fucking with it right now...just don't fucking touch
me..." Blasphemy took a seat on the opposite side of the room,
idly examining the horrible fashion sense of the hospital.

Havoc
slumped bonelessly to the ground, exhaustion, stress, bloodloss, and
unnatural healing techniques caught up brutally, knocking him out
into a graceless heap of half-animal human.

God, his
day had sucked.
Blasphemy watched boredly each little twitch in
the chimera's features, with really nothing more than a morbid
fascination for the effects of a good mindfuck.

Havoc
curled around himself, whimpering slightly. He hated feeling this
vulnerable, but there was nothing for it. He was probably going to
die anyway.

One empty
dark eye stared absently down at fists that were barely clenched in
the hospital sheets. The physical pain had died down to an occasional
dull throbbing, but Roy really hadn't recovered at all, mentally.

The
doctor had said he'd been out for nearly half a week, despite
treatment with the Albedo. He'd been conscious for the past three
days and yet still nobody would tell him what happened to Ed, and
Jean hadn't shown up either. When he asked, everyone would just
ignore him or find something else to busy themselves with.

Havoc
knocked languidly on the door, yawning. His left knee still
hurt a bit, but the painkillers had fuzzed it out to a dull roar. But
that just made him sleepy.

Roy's
hair was a mess, hell, he was a mess in general. Slowly, he turned
his head to look towards the door, not saying a word. The nurse
should just come in anyway, they always did so without so much as a
care for him really.

A nurse
brisquely brushed by the slower-moving chimera, shooting him a
somewhat interested look. He ignored her.

"All
right, sir," the nurse said in one of those 'I'm a pretty nurse,
pay attention to me,' voices. "Are you feeling up to eating
something solid?"

Havoc
took the opportunity to poke his head through the door and wave.

Naturally,
Roy looked right past the nurse, one eye locking on Havoc. "I..."

"Well?"
The nurse did nurse-like things, obviously impatient for Roy to
answer. Havoc started making faces at Roy.

"I'm...not
really hungry..." Roy glanced down at his hands again
momentarily, managing at least a slight smile for the nurse.

Havoc
huffed from the doorway. He slid out into the hall, planning
something evil.

"Sir,
you really have to eat! Otherwise, you'll never get better, and that
crazy Ishvarian woman will have to come back against her expressed
wishes to the contrary."

"I
said I wasn't hungry...I'll be fine, I think I will have dinner
tonight, you're on that shift, right?" Roy managed a more flashy
smile, despite the strong urge to crisp this woman into tomorrow.

Havoc
hefted a paper airplane with 'pay attention to me, dammit!' scribbled
on the inside. He let it fly, aiming for Roy's head.

"Mr.
Mustang, you need to eat three meals a day!"

Feeling
the paper object collide with the side of his head, Roy lifted a
hand, snatching the airplane out of his hair and reading it, once
again looking past the nurse. "I had a late breakfast..."

"Sir,
that does not count."

"I
really wouldn't want to have to force a lovely lady like yourself to
leave... but please understand that I have no interest in food right
now..." Mustang heroically kept in the urge to reach for his
gloves on the side table.

Havoc
snorted audibly. The nurse whipped around, eyeing him with something
somewhere between awe and annoyance. "Mornin'," he said
cheerfully.

Roy
sweatdropped slightly. "Ma'am, I'm sorry...but you're wasting
your time..."

"You're
not really supposed to be here," the nurse snapped at Havoc,
actually eyeing him. "Aren't you still in confinement?"

"I
already got my rabies shot, so keep your hat on," he said,
slipping into the room.

One dark
eyebrow twitched slightly, and Roy winced visibly. "You are
dismissed, ma'am...I hate to be rude but would you please just
leave already! I tried to be nice about it, I've had it up to
here with you people, get out of my sight!"

The nurse
stiffened, then marched out, head held high. "I will have to
tell my superiors about this, sir."

"Oh,
go away, woman," Havoc said, closing the door on her tail.
"Stupid medics."

Roy
sighed the second the door was closed, slouching back into his former
positioning. "It's been a while...I...heard about what Envy
did...sort of..."

Havoc
rolled his eyes. "Should I even ask, or just let it go?"

Roy
closed his eye, silent for a moment. "What happened to Ed...?"

Havoc sat
down on the bed. "I don't know what happened initially because
no one will tell me, but his array got screwed over pretty badly.
He's still not exactly stable, but at least he's staying in his room.
I'm not complaining, seeing as that twerp wants to kill me every
twenty minutes." He stretched, spine cracking. "How're you
feeling?"

"Do
you want to know what happened?" Roy avoided the question of how
he felt at the moment. He wasn't really keen on talking about it. One
hand massaged lightly just above where his left eye would have been,
a dull throb starting up again.

Havoc
opened his mouth then paused, considering. "No, I don't."

"Maybe
it's for the best...but maybe it's for the worst..." Roy sighed
again.

Havoc
shrugged. "We'll take it as it comes. We've always been good at
improvising."

"Fawkes
knows what's going on even better than I do... He said that 'the two
youngest are dead' and that Bradley was next..." Despite Havoc's
previous expression of disinterest, Roy couldn't help it.

Havoc
draped himself across the foot of the bed. "'Course he does.
He's the one calling the shots here. Face it, unless we do something
abysmally stupid and unexpected, he's always going to be at least
five steps ahead of us."

"How
can we beat that then... He could easily kill each and every one of
us, he's just toying with us now! He could've killed Ed, hell
he almost killed me! I don't know what to even think
anymore!"

Havoc
reached up and over, rolling onto his stomach, and put a palm against
Roy's mouth. "Shut up. Just because something looks hopeless
doesn't mean that there's not a ghost of a chance. We're still alive,
aren't we?"

Roy
shivered slightly, averting his gaze. Fists clenched slightly tighter
in the sheets.

Blue-green
eyes looked calmly at the darker haired man. "Well? Are you done
being a defeatist?"

Roy
reached up with one hand, lightly gripping Havoc's wrist as he moved
the hand away from his mouth. "Do you really think we can beat
them, Jean...?" He nibbled idly at one of Havoc's fingertips,
dark eye finally looking back at the other man's face.

Havoc
smiled lopsidedly. "We're not going to die. Promise."

"You
can say that...even after what happened...I'm going to hold you to
your word..." The dark-haired man shifted slightly, arms
wrapping around Havoc's neck. "I have faith in you, Jean...keep
Edward safe...I don't even know if I can do that anymore..."

Havoc
exhaled what might have been a bitter laugh. "Hell, I don't know
if I can keep him minimally under control anymore." He
gently ran his fingers through Roy's shaggy hair. "Let's just
call it a joint effort, m'kay?"

"I
suppose..." Roy smiled softly, a somewhat dreamy look in his
eye. "I can live with that..."

"You're
not even listening to me, are you?"

"Of
course I am..." The smile grew a bit, as Roy traced Havoc's lips
with his fingertips. "Just thinking a bit..."

"Uh-oh,"
Havoc murmured, eyes glinting in fun, "You thinking is kind of
dangerous."

Roy
reached up, threading his fingers through Jean's hair. "Perhaps..."
One eye closed halfway, unable to break their gaze.

Havoc
gently tweaked his nose. "So, what evil plans of world
domination have you thought up now?"

A sudden
flashback ripped through Roy's mind, leaving him clinging almost
desperately to the tall blonde, face buried in his chest. "God
those eyes...it's true...everything he said is fucking
true..!"

Havoc sat
there and blinked for a few seconds, trying to wrap his still-tired
brain around the fact that he had Roy basically plastered to his
front. He knew that trying to peel the man off was a useless
exercise, so he opted just too sit there.

"Beg
your pardon?"

"I
couldn't do a goddamn thing..." The smaller man was trembling,
face still buried in Havoc's chest. "He was still Ed...even
though he wasn't..."

Havoc
sighed, getting slightly irritated. "Roy, snap out of it! We
have two alchemists working on this, and Lisa is trying to find Al.
Izumi's doing some research into the array, and I think we may have a
few ideas how to fix Ed. Stop moping and put yourself together!"

"It's
not about now it's about then..." Despite being
slightly more calm, Roy still hadn't lifted his face away from
Havoc's chest. "You would've been able to do something if you'd
been in my place, I'm sure of it..."

"Yeah
fucking right." Havoc let Roy go. "The kid's broken beyond
what I can fix. It's going to take a couple of geniuses to figure out
how to tape him back together. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them."

"That's
not what I meant..." Roy shook his head, still looking down.
"Nevermind it..."

"Roy,
I hate to break it to you, but the boy's going insane. There's too
much stress all around and –"

The door
flew open, and a whirlwind of white and black blew in waving a slip
of paper. "Havoc, Mustang, I think I have an idea!"

Havoc
blinked. Izumi was acting like a little kid. Weird.

Roy
cringed slightly, turning his head to look at Izumi. His last
encounter with the Ninja Housewife was not exactly pleasant. And
nearly all of three years prior to now. He would've been fine if he'd
never seen her again. Woman was scary.

Izumi
pointed at Havoc. "You! You read history, don't you? What do you
know about the Dragon's Head?"

Havoc
blinked. Dragon's Head? Was that some sort of terrorist group back in
the monarchic period? Or was it a religious order...? He frowned,
trying to remember. "Something to do with demons, I think..."

Roy
released Havoc, realizing how tightly he'd been clinging.

Izumi
looked at him intently, eyes narrowed. He remembered in a hurry at a
look that promised Death.

"It's
a symbol of binding, isn't it? But I thought that was just a story or
something, not –"

The
alchemy master sighed, sagging against the wall. "Bingo. We
finally did it."

Roy
massaged his left temple lightly. "Pardon me, Mrs. Curtis, but
what have you done?"

"Well,
you're a pretty mess, aren't you?" She handed Havoc the slip of
paper, which he promptly passed to Roy. "Al made a mistake with
Ed's array. He put the wrong Dragon Node in the wrong place. That's
why Ed's been switching personalites so much." She nodded to the
hastily sketched array. "Your pet kitten here just confirmed my
suspicion."

Roy
looked over the array, indexing it in his mind. "Now I know
where I'd seen that before...I see..." One eye looked up to
Izumi again. "What about Alphonse...has he been found yet...?"
Roy was definitely hesitant to ask Izumi if she knew what had
happened to him.

Izumi
shook her head. "Lisa's still out hunting him. We think he may
still be in Ishbar, but we're also looking in this country proper."

"I
see..." Roy looked away again, thinking back on the incident
with Delgardie. What would happen to the boy, what would happen to Ed
when he found out?

"I'd
reccomend both of you being there when Al returns," Izumi said
quietly, steel in her voice. "Lisa just told me what happened to
Al, and I don't want Ed to face him one-on-one." She held out
her hand for the paper. "I'd also like one or both of you there
when I redo the array. I don't know if I could hold that little
maniac by myself."

Roy
handed the paper back to Havoc, sliding off the side of the bed and
walking to the window, hand on the windowsill.
"...I see.."

Havoc
gave Izumi the paper, jerking his head. He needed to talk to her,
privately.

"What
is it?" she demanded once they were out in the hall.

"Do
you really think the Dragon's Head will hold in the homunculus?"
he asked.

"No,
not completely. But it's the best chance we've got... but..."
Izumi, for the first time since Havoc had met her, looked worried. "I
don't think Ed's going to be able to survive. The stress on his mind
and body is immense, and there's no way for us to relieve that
stress. He's a dead man walking."

Havoc
rubbed his forehead. "Just don't tell Mustang that. None of us
will survive the fallout."

"I
know. Just... try to keep Ed alive as long as possible, but if things
look hopeless, let him die. That'll be our best course of action."

"Right."

She
nodded grimly. "Notify me when Mustang is up and functional. I'm
staying with Jessica Corelli on North Street."

The
dark-haired man returned to the bed, taking a seat on the edge and
sighing heavily. She obviously didn't know that Alphonse was a state
alchemist yet...or he wouldn't still be sitting here in one piece.

Havoc
masked the rather haunted look in his eyes with the same cheerful
vapidity that he was widely known for. Ambling into the room, he
leaned over and hooked his arms around Roy's shoulders. "You
look glum."

Roy
reached up, hand lightly grasping Havoc's wrist. "And you seem
far too cheerful for the task at hand..." He smiled dryly.

"Moping
and being sad about it isn't going to get anything done. I refuse to
sulk about anything until after it's all over. Then I'll
probably be in a blue funk that only copius amounts of chocolate will
get me out of." He nuzzled Roy briefly. "If you keep up
this attitude, I might have to bite you."

"I
suppose so..." Roy resorted to simply nibbling the tip of
Havoc's right index finger in silence.

Havoc
huffed a sigh. "You're still moping about something."

The
smaller man tried to look over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the
blonde behind him. "Maybe I am...maybe I can't help it..."

"You
really need to stop, at any rate. You'll make yourself sick."

"I'm
already sick..." Roy made an attempt at shrugging off
Havoc's arm. "It's chronic."

Havoc let
him go. "All right, suit yourself. But –" He leavned
over, incisors hovering barely off the skin at Roy's neck, "if
you make me bite you, I'll leave a scar."

Roy
sighed lightly, closing his one eye. "Ah, a gift to remember you
by, hm?"

"...
Roy, that was not funny. Period." Irritated beyond repair
at that point, Havoc bit Roy. Hard. "With this attitude, you're
going to get us all killed, dammit."

Roy
hissed a sharp breath through his teeth, hands fisting tightly in the
sheets. Eye squeezed tightly shut, he remained otherwise silent,
considering he knew damn well how much he deserved that.

Havoc
calmly wiped blood away from his lips with his thumb, licking his
teeth. "You damn well deserved that, Mustang. I hope it scars,
just to spite you."

"I'm
not saying that I didn't deserve it..." Roy lifted a hand to his
neck, felt the warm blood against his fingertips. "It's obvious
that I did deserve it, and if it doesn't scar there really would be
no point in the gesture, would there?"

Havoc
fought the urge to strangle Roy. "Damn, that took all the
satisfaction out of it..." He sighed. "Just stop being so
goddamn pessimistic all the time. Please."

Roy
chuckled lightly, turning his head, albeit a bit painfully, to look
at Havoc. "I'll do what I can, and nothing more."

"...
now if only I had your work ethic..."

Roy
frowned slightly, tapping Havoc's nose with one finger. "Should
I be flattered or take that as sarcasm...ah..." he paused,
noting that Havoc's nose now had blood on it. "Hn.."

Havoc
scrubbed the blood off with a hand. "You're a mess now." He
nodded towards Roy's neck. "And you're still bleeding."

"I
suppose I should do something about that then..." Even in saying
so, Roy didn't bother to look away and tend to the wound.

Havoc
rolled his eyes. "Will you at least try to take care of
yourself?"

"I
should..." Roy cupped his hand over the wound again. "You
could help, you know..."

Havoc got
up, stretching. "Well, tell me where the bandages and
antiseptics are and I'd be glad to."

Roy
gestured with his free hand towards the cabinet across from the foot
of the bed. "I think it's in there, I haven't really been paying
attention..."

Havoc
sighed and began rooting through the cabinet. "You're pretty
worthless, you know that?" He tossed back a roll of bandages and
cameup with some antiseptics.

"Deserving
or not, you didn't have to bite that hard, Jean..." Roy
could feel the blood dripping down his neck, around his fingers. "You
know the nurse is going to have a fit when she sees this.."

"Well,
with your luck, you're probably going to get carted off for rabies
shots. God knows why, because I'm certainly not rabid, but
some doctors are insisting that I am and want me completely
quarentined." He soaked a cottonball with antiseptic fluid and
pried Roy's fingers away. "I won't say that you deserve rabies
shots because I wouldn't wish those on my worst enemy, but do deserve
every single twinge of pain. Brace yourself." He swiped the
icy-cold and soaking ball over the bruised, bleeding skin of Roy's
neck before the smaller man could protest. "This isn't so
bad..."

Mustang
cringed visibly, hissing once more through his teeth at the stinging
pain, however short-lived. "Hah...can lions even get rabies? I
wouldn't know myself...I thought it was typically rodents and
dogs..." He smirked through the pain. "Will you stay and
take my mind off the pain for a while? I think it's fair to say that
you owe me that much...Jean..."

"Apparently,
any mammal can get rabies, it's just more common in lunches and
dogs..." Havoc apparantly didn't notice the slip of phrasing,
wrapping the messed cottonball in a bandage and shooting it into the
trash can. "H'mm... I went in pretty deep, sir. Sorry about
that..."

It took a
moment for Roy to figure out just what the hell lunches had anything
to do with rabies, before he just blinked and gave himself a mental
smack for that one. "I...see...it'll heal, don't worry about
it..." He didn't bother to try and push the other question that
Havoc had so blatantly avoided answering.

Havoc
pressed a sterile pad against the sluggishly bleeding wound, somehow
managing a roll of bandages and coming out with a neatly wrapped
neck. "Feel better now?"

"A
little, I suppose...thank you..." The dark-haired man flexed his
fingers a bit, seeing as they seemed to have fallen asleep somehow.
"The next shift nurse shouldn't be here until dinnertime..."
Roy paused briefly, "if you want to stay, that is.."

Havoc
snorted out a quick laugh. "Like I have anywhere else to go. I'm
still recovering from Ed's last outburst and have abolutely
ziltch desire to go within a fory-foot radius of that stupid gopher."

"I
see..." Roy turned just enough to be able to lean against
Havoc's shoulder, a slightly distant look in his one eye.

Havoc
nuzzled into Roy's ear. "Something wrong?"

"Just
thinking..." Roy titled his head a bit, leaning a little more.

Havoc
sighed. "Suit yourself."

Roy
shifted again, this time resting his head in Havoc's lap and looking
up at the chimera. It was easier to do that than to turn his head,
but either way, it was more comfortable. "So..."

Havoc
blinked and yawned sedately. "So what?"

Roy
reached up with one hand to cup Havoc's cheek gently. "We've got
several hours to kill, what do you think?"

Damn.
"I'm not sure I follow, sir," he said neutrally, carefully
keeping his blue-green eyes vapidly blank.

Roy
frowned slightly, sitting up. "Fine then..." He moved
again, this time resting his head rightfully on the pillow, back
facing Havoc.

"You
should take it easy sir. If I feel like I just got pounded by a
butcher, you probably feel worse."

Roy
curled up slightly into a fetal position on top of the covers,
sighing slightly. "Alright, sure..."

Havoc got
up, tugging on the coverlet until Roy grudgingly shited. Gently, he
rearranged the obviously sulking man and drew the covers up over him.

Roy,
being in a shitty mood for some reason, decided to give no thanks for
the gesture.

Havoc
kissed Roy's temple. "Cheer up, or I'm going to walk out on
you."

Roy
pondered something for a moment. "You know...other than the fact
that you just showed a minimal amount of affection, I'm highly
reminded of the first time..."

"Your
fault, not mine," Havoc said, still cheerfully blasé.
"I'm trying to be nice."

"Do
you even know what I'm talking about?"

"Vaguely."
Havoc tried to keep the mask up and plausable, but his patience was
wearing dangerously thin.

"Whatever
happened to the cats?" For some reason, Roy was mildly curious.

"Living
with family. My mom and sister adopted them – they said that it
was too dangerous for them to continue living with me." Havoc
lifted a shoulder in a quick shrug. "I agreed. I didn't want
them starving if I died."

"Ah..."
Roy reached out, taking hold of Havoc's wrist and pulling him down so
that they were nose to nose. He simply grinned.

Havoc
blinked, trying to wrap his mind around the sudden change in
attitude. "Sir, aside from the unnatural amounts of stress
you're under, are you feeling okay? I don't object at all to this,
but damn, you're confusing."

"I'm
quite fine, Lieutenant, but thank you for your concern..." Roy
definitely wasn't going to let go anytime soon, either.

"Um."
Havoc tugged slightly against Roy's deathgrip on his wrist, grinning
faintly. "Remind me again why I put up with you?"

Roy
brushed his lips lightly against Havoc's, still tasting just the
slightest metallic tinge of blood. "Because you love me?"

Havoc
pretended to think about that. "Yeah, I think that might be a
part of it..."

Roy
hummed softly, leaning up to catch another kiss, still light, but
longer.

Havoc
grinned slightly, nuzzling Roy. "How broke are you?"

Roy
blinked, just staring for a moment. "Pardon?"

He poked
the smaller man in the side, tickling slightly. "How badly are
you hurt?"

Roy
blinked again, then chuckled lightly. "Not too bad now...Miss
Delgardie's treatment really speeds things up a bit..." He
grinned again, squeezing Havoc's waist lightly in his grip. "Why
do you ask...?"

"Because
I worry about you. Besides, when you're hurt, you have these really
unpredictable mood swings... almost like a pregnant woman."

Roy's
visible eye twitched slightly. "You...gah...dammit Jean!"
Havoc was promptly shoved straight off the bed.

Havoc hit
the floor with a solid thud, laughing cheerfully. "Ohhhh... the
look on your face was priceless!"

Roy shook
his head, content to grin rather than laugh. "I'm so glad that I
could be of amusement, too bad you didn't have a camera."

Havoc
snickered. "You're just jealous that I came up with a decent
insult for once."

Roy
shrugged. "Sure..." He really didn't know what else to do.

Havoc
slowly picked himself up, wincing at the ominous creak in his knee.
In a rather dignified manner, he brushed off his but and arms. "Well.
Since I seem to have pulled you somewhat out of that funk of yours,
I'll be off to see if anything else interesting is happening."

"I
see..." Roy frowned just slightly. "I should get some rest
before I get fussed at by another nurse then..." That said, he
pulled the covers up to his chin, rolling over on his side. "Bring
me a snack or something later, will you?"

Havoc
snorted. "What am I, your personal slave?"

"Didn't
know you were into that sort of thing, Jean...but I guess if you want
to be..." Roy chuckled a bit, grinning.

Havoc
turned his head, face crumpled in an elaborate expression of utter
disbelief. "You're loony."

Roy
chuckled again, running his fingers through his hair. "I was
just playing..."

Havoc
shoved his hands into his pockets, sticking his tongue out. "My
brain isn't your personal bouncy-ball, either."

Roy
thought about that for a moment, and then burst out laughing.

Havoc's
eye began to twitch. It was becoming one hell of a chronic condition,
lately. "Care to let me in on the joke, Mustang?"

Roy
slowly managed to stop laughing, trying to slow his breathing back to
normal. "It's just...ahah...the mental image
of...-snicker-...your brain as a bouncy ball..." And at that
point he couldn't stop himself, falling victim to yet another
laughing fit.

The
chimera resisted the urge to bat the insane human around the head and
shoulders.

The door
snicked open and a new nurse popped her head in. "Civilians
aren't allowed in this wing," she said snippily.

Now Havoc
really wanted to hurt something.

Roy shook
his head, managing once more to calm down. "Does he look
like a civilian to you, ma'am?"

"He's
not in the roster, he's unauthorized. Therefore, he's civilian."

Havoc
growled, barely audible. He hooked his tags out form underneath his
shirt. "I'm authorized, lady."

Roy
sighed, shaking his head once more. "Here with dinner, or just
to check on me?"

The
nurse's eyes widened and she said apologetically, "I'm sorry,
sirs. The previous nurse on duty said that there was a troublemaker
bothering Mustang so I was sent to kick you out. I had no idea you
were sent by the Fuhrer himself..." She disappeared, apologizing
profusely.

Havoc
smiled, smug. "Score one for the misfit."

One eye
rested a bit sorrowfully, a bit angrily on the tags, and Roy rolled
back over again, determined just to get some goddamn sleep.

Havoc
rolled his eyes and muttered, "Touchy bastard."

"Shut
up..." Roy waved a hand. "Weren't you going to go do
something?"

Havoc
gritted his teeth. He... didn't know what to do. "Just... get
over yourself, Mustang. There's not a damn thing any of us could have
done about it."

Roy
rolled over again, one eye focusing on Havoc again. "I'm tired,
Jean...just do whatever it is you've got to do and let me rest..."

Havoc
shrugged, grinning lopsidedly. "Of course. How thoughtless of
me." He left closing the door silently behind him, choosing not
to comment further.

Roy
sighed and closed his eyes, drifting off into what would be a rather
uneasy sleep.

Please
review, constructive criticism and questions appreciated, flames will
be deflected back at you by Roy. n.n;
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Unsettling Affairs