For Her. For Him.

A/N: I am blown away by the kind reviews. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story, and I'm sorry for the evil cliffhanger, but it was just an opportune moment.

Chapter 8

I Was Afraid

The worst of the pain had subsided by the time Dr. Knox had arrived, and now, Ed was resting his back on Mustang, who sat behind him, a hand clasping each of the blonde’s legs. He pulled them back as far as he could, the automail limb having to rest on Dr. Knox’s shoulder more so than in Mustang’s grip both due to weight and awkwardness.

The lower half of Ed’s body was covered with a sheet for reasons of modesty the teen felt were long since lost. Part of Ed really wanted to know what the doctor was doing beneath the sheet, the rest quite grateful he didn’t. He could feel the doctor’s gloved fingers examining him, careful as he touched Ed’s most sensitive areas. It wasn’t until one prodding finger entered him that Ed’s eyes grew wide and he shifted back onto the commander.

“What the hell was that?”

“The source of the bleeding, and apparently, the exit route for the twins.”

“But that shouldn’t be there. And I’m pretty damned sure you shouldn’t be putting anything in it.”

“Consider your options, Ed,” Dr. Knox said, once again prodding the new opening, “either your body found a new pathway out or it utilized an existing one.” Ed held his breath as he felt the doctor once again examining very gently. “It has already healed, and I might even dare to say with that work done, you could find your body will be a bit stronger again.” Dr. Knox rose and Mustang released Ed’s legs, moving his hands to the teen’s shoulders, rubbing muscles, and even the area around the automail. Ed was shocked at how good it felt, even after all he’d just been through, just to have Mustang there.

********

After explaining that everything was still fine with both the alchemist and the babies, Dr. Knox showed himself out while Roy shifted behind Ed. “Fullmetal, we need to get you cleaned up.” he looked down into the amber eyes below him. They looked absolutely exhausted.

“I don’t have the energy to move.”

Roy moved from behind Ed as he walked to the bathroom. The large clawfoot tub, identical to the one in the master suite, would take some time to fill, but the colonel realized it could take just as long to convince Fullmetal to let him do this. The sound of the running water was loud, loud enough that Roy felt safe releasing the worry and anxiety he had felt when he’d first heard Ed scream. Just a few hours before, he’d been angry at Ed for suggesting names for the babies, and the guilt was killing him. With all Ed was going through, how could Roy even question the young alchemist’s right to be a parent to the twins?

“You cannot treat him like a vessel.”

As Roy went through the motions of preparing the bath, checking the water, he realized his concern for Ed and his babies had been equal.

Roy stepped back into the bedroom, finding Ed very nearly asleep. “Edward,” he said, putting a hand on the blond hair, “you need to get changed and cleaned up.”

Ed made a motion of protest, but Roy, ignoring it, scooped the teen and sheet into his arms, silently wondering how much lighter he’d be without the ridiculously heavy limbs. As though reading the older man’s mind, Fullmetal looked up and said, “They used to weigh more before Winry stream-lined them.” Roy looked down in surprise. “You’re grunting.” To help distribute his own weight, Ed clung on to Roy with his arms.

“Can you get the automail wet?”

Ed nodded and added lazily, “Unlike some people, I’m not completely useless in the water.”

Roy set Ed down, standing upright on the bathroom tile, but the weakness from the day was obvious as the legs started to buckle beneath him. “Let me help you.” Roy offered Ed a shoulder while he helped Ed pull the blood-soaked tee-shirt off, but before it was over the teen’s arms, Ed stopped, looking embarrassed. “Nothing I haven’t seen before, Ed.” Then, he realized it was not the nudity, but the automail that had Ed hesitating. “It won’t bother me, Fullmetal. I’ve seen worse than automail.” Like finding an eleven-year-old bandaged up at two limbs because they’d been alchemically sacrificed.

Ed let him remove the shirt and cautiously dropped the sheet.

Roy was aware of how exposed the teen had to be feeling at that moment, and did not say a word, working very hard to control any expression on his face. Still, he had to admit that he had not imagined the type of scarring he saw around the automail at his leg. The scars seemed to spread out like spider legs from the metal limb, spreading their way onto his stomach, groin, and hips. Still, Roy didn’t find the scars repulsive, merely an unfortunate flaw on an otherwise flawless body. The muscle-tone, the strength that was packed into that small frame were obvious with a single glance.

Though Roy had a hard time keeping it to just a single glance.

“Let’s get you into the bath.”

Ed only nodded. Tomorrow, Roy thought, Fullmetal would probably regret all of this and turn that lovely shade of red, as he’d done so many times in the last few weeks. But tonight, he didn’t fight, didn’t argue, only moved toward the bathtub and struggled to lift the heavy automail and exhausted human limbs in. As Ed sank into the water, he hissed in pain.

“Do you want out?”

“No,” the blonde said, flatly, the fatigue setting in, “it will be okay. It feels kind of like a cut in the water. It doesn’t feel so bad now.” Roy grabbed a washcloth from the sink and dipped it in the bathwater. “I can wash myself. I’m not that far gone.”

“I’ll get your back. You can do the rest.” Carefully, Roy began to rub the cloth over the teen’s shoulders and back in small circles, not wanting to cause even the slightest discomfort while he worked to get the blood off. Using his left arm to support Ed’s weight, his right hand dipped below the water’s surface to get the small of Ed‘s back, noting the water had gained a slight pink tinge. He could feel the blonde going slack in his arms, and when he placed Fullmetal back against the rear of the tub, he could see the slow and steady rising and falling of the scarred chest. He had fallen asleep.

Unsure if he could bathe the teen without waking him, Roy made the attempt, ringing the cloth out until it was only slightly damp in order to wipe the sweat from the young face. Dipping it back in the water, he moved in small circles again over a chest that appeared to be growing in ways that would undoubtedly displease the young alchemist. Roy ran the cloth down each arm, watching as goosebumps appeared on the left as the water dried. He moved lower, over the abs, pausing a moment to see if he could feel the tiny babies inside. He couldn’t yet and really had known he wouldn’t. He moved down the right leg, then the left, trying not to get the washcloth caught as he cleaned the blood from each crevice in the metal.

He stopped. He was merely giving the exhausted teen a bath, but there was still a tiny part of him that said proceeding might be wrong. There were so many legal implications, but first on his mind was the fact that the only place left was the place that had been the source of the screaming and that Roy's cleaning there might further hurt Ed. It was also the one place where some of the blood continued to cling. Gently, he ran the cloth over the blonde curls, over the teen’s most private areas, cleaning every inch as lightly and quickly as he could, afraid of what Ed might do if he thought he was lingering down there.

Careful that Fullmetal didn’t sink below the water in his relaxed state, Roy left him for a moment to grab a glass he kept on the sink top. He moved back behind the blonde, pulling out the black band that held Ed’s blood-matted hair in place. His nimble fingers began combing through the braid, straightening the hair behind the tub before gathering it and laying it over the automail shoulder. Once again, he lifted the teen up with one arm, taking the glass and filling it with water, carefully running the water in small rivers down the long blond hair. Feeling the hair was thoroughly wet, he grabbed a container of shampoo and lathered it into Fullmetal’s scalp, moving down into the long, soft hair. He repeated the process with the glass until every sud was gone.

Roy stood, considering how exactly he was going to get the incredibly heavy teen from the water. Deciding to use the most traditional way he could think of, praying he didn’t throw out his back, he removed his blood-and-water-covered pajama shirt, then picked the teen up, bridal style, wishing the distance between his own room and the guest suite were closer. Not only was Ed ridiculously weighty, but the chill of being carried naked, save for a towel Roy had managed to pull off the door and over the top of Ed with his teeth, was obvious as each hair on the young body was standing on end.

Somehow, his own determination to get Fullmetal to a warm bed as fast as he could pushed him onward. He nudged the door to his room open further with his foot as he carried the teen inside, moving toward the bed, and depositing him where Roy, himself, had been three hours before.

Trying not to think about his aching muscles, Roy opened the closet, finding a nightshirt Hughes had given him once as a gag. Roy had never worn it, insisting that nightgowns were for women only. He only hoped Ed didn’t feel as adamantly as he had. He walked back over, pulling the shirt over the blond head, moving each arm into a sleeve then carefully tugging the shirt to cover almost all of Ed’s body. He looked like a kid wearing the thing.

Roy proceeded to change his own clothes, then clean up the mess in the guestroom, let the water out of the tub, and put all of the bloody clothes in the laundry.

He poked his head back into his bedroom, to make sure that Ed was still okay.

“Mustang,” he heard come from the bed. “How did I get in here?”

“How do you think, Fullmetal?”

“Oh.” Roy could just imagine the brilliant shade of red the teen’s face must have been at that moment. “So, everything’s okay?”

“Everything’s fine. I’ve even got everything in the guest room cleaned up.” He sat at the foot of the bed. “Now go to sleep.” Roy’s eyes were still beginning to adjust to the light, but he could see the outline of Ed, his shoulders shaking. “Ed?”

“It’s just…” Ed’s voice was cracking. “I thought I’d lost the babies. All that blood, and so much pain. I thought they were gone.”

Roy slid up in the bed beside Ed, wrapping his arms around the teen. “I was afraid too.” Roy held the blond close to his chest. “I was afraid I’d lost all three of you. But you’re okay, and Dr. Knox has examined you and says the babies are okay.”

Roy could feel Ed’s tears soaking his tee-shirt, as he struggled to hold his own off. After a long night, the two fell asleep in one another’s arms, Roy protectively engulfing the smaller alchemist with his body as they slept.