The Prisoners

Rating: NC-17
Its defiantly AU, but somewhat OOC on Ed’s part.
Pairing: Roy X Ed, Hughes X Roy in there too.
I don’t own FMA blah blah blah.

I am also looking for a beta reader to look over my chapters and keep me on track. Possibly help me throw around some ideas. Send me a note if your interested.

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“So what you need to do then, is get laid.” Maes Hughes stated bluntly. Colonel Roy Mustang sat across the table from the man at a restaurant, where the two were enjoying dinner. Hughes and Mustang had been good friends for quite some time now. Mustang looked into the man’s face with a look of interested.

“So what are you proposing? No one in this town is going to sleep with me in God knows how long.” They had been having a conversation about Roy. Although quite the ladies man, Roy had found himself in bed quite as recently as last night with a woman, who when the time came for a little adult enjoyment, had had a problem. Roy had a birthmark just slightly above his pubic hair. It wasn’t very large or an odd color, nothing like that it. It was normal, so he himself hardly paid much mind to it. She however was a virgin, having had no real education of the sexual nature, she made an assumption. She had shrieked something about an STD before bolting from the house, giving Roy no time to wonder and make an explanation. Too bad for Roy though, she was also the town gossip. He would have no dates in this town for quite a while.

“Well, like a mail order bride type thing. You know, those girls sold into slavery? I’m not saying you have to actually marry her, I mean you know, just keep her around and sleep with her a bit till you tire of her, then you can sell her back. A girl waiting on your beck and call always eager to please you. You know you’d enjoy that too much Roy.” Hughes was smiling and Roy seemed both pleased and disgusted with the idea.

“And how would one go about acquiring such a thing, not to say I am interested, but just for curiosity sake.” Roy was sitting in his usual pose with his hands out in front of him, fingers interlocked. He had the shine in his eye, suggesting that he was in fact open to such an idea. At the same time though, he felt his morals of how wrong it was to buy a girl sold into slavery. His conscious was wrestling, convincing him that any slave girl was not even worthy of having sex with him.

“Friend of a friend. He’s big on black market stuff. He does a few favors for me once in a while and I keep quiet about him. I could get a good deal on one. You say the word and I’ll be in contact with him.” Roy toyed with the idea as their meals arrived. He of course wanted no commitment, but to have a girl there waiting for sex that he didn’t have to woo and take out for dinner. Well in the long run that’d be quite the investment. He wouldn’t keep her, well no more then a month maybe. He didn’t want to fall into a routine. But with his pride being as hurt as it was right now, he just needed a good lay from a woman who wouldn’t complain, and if he was lucky, probably didn’t even speak his language.

The rest of dinner went off normally, normal conversation about work and Hughes’ newest girlfriend. He was sure this one was “the one” and was very excited about her. He wanted Roy’s opinion about when to ask her to be his forever, but Roy’s answer of course was, never. But after the check had been paid and the men stood to leave, Roy, tugging on his coat, calmly stated, “Can you get me any paperwork I’d need for the transaction we were talking about earlier?” Hughes grinned ear to ear.

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It was a week later when Hughes came into his office. Making a big dance show of handing the Colonel a yellow envelope, stating it was very important documents that the Colonel must be sure to finish and return to him in a timely manner, or else he wouldn’t get his vacation time. First Lieutenant Hawkeye nodded that she in fact would be sure the Colonel got through his usual stack of papers for the day and with that Hughes strolled towards the door. As he was about to exit he turned quickly and stated, “She said yes.”

Breda, Havoc, Fuery and Falman all turned to look at the man with confused faces. Mustang called over to him, “Congratulations on your engagement Lt. Colonel Hughes. Shall we meet at the bar later to celebrate?” Hughes nodded yes and ran off, stating that he had so important business to take care of. He knew what bar and he knew what time, as they seemed to be there almost every night. Roy had made sure to ask quite loudly in front of Hawkeye so that she would know his excuse to leave early was a valid one and actually let him go.

After he left, Roy took the papers out of the envelope. The top papers were indeed request papers for a week off for Hughes. Probably a chance to meet his new bride-to-be’s parents, or something of that nature. Those papers he put on the top of the stack. Underneath there were two piece of paper stapled together that looked to be a request form with many questions. He tucked it underneath the pile and when Hawkeye stepped out of the room, he slipped it into his pocket.

When Hawkeye returned, everyone had gone to lunch. Even the Colonel appeared to have left, but upon further inspection she realized he had put his head on his desk and had gone to sleep, but was unable to seen behind the giant stacks of paper on his desk. It only took one well aimed shot a few inches from his head to wake him in a panic. He’d been having such a nice dream too.

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After much begging and pleading, Hawkeye finally released him from his workload. After all, two of the three stacks had disappeared. He felt very accomplished until she reminded him that if he got two stacks tomorrow, he’d be right back where he started. She also stated that if he was leaving this early tonight, she would stay tomorrow night to be sure he had caught up. Her and her colt .45. At that, the Colonel excused himself quickly and took off at full speed, less she change her mind and decide to drag him back by force.

Hughes had beaten him to the bar, naturally. He took a seat next to him and Hughes nodded. Roy casually ordered a beer. After a few minuets though, Hughes spoke. “Are you mad at me Roy, for getting engaged? Gracia is a wonderful woman, I really think you’ll like her. I just feel its time for me to settle down, you know, maybe start a family, have some kids.”

“No, I’m not mad. I’m actually quite happy and perhaps a bit jealous that you could find someone you feel you will never grow bored of. I wish you the best of luck.” Roy bit his lip slightly. All hopes for a rekindling the passion between him and Hughes was over at the announcement of his engagement. He would never come back to Roy now.

He and Hughes had spent quite a few nights together years ago. They were drunk the first time, but the times after, they were both quite sober. Neither had ever been with another man prior, and neither had been with a man since. Roy loved Hughes, but they both agreed that their relationship couldn’t continue for the sake of their jobs. Roy was committed to his job, so he had held out secret hope that if he ever reached the top, he could take Hughes back and be accepted by everyone. Never had he, in his secret hope, factored in Hughes getting married.

Hughes accepted the answer with a bit of concern etched on his face. Roy was staring at his beer. “We talked about that, you remember, we decided we had to do what was best for our careers first.”

“I’m not thinking about that,” Roy lied, “I have moved beyond what was there before. My current thoughts are to this whole mail-order-bride thing.” Hughes couldn’t say he didn’t feel a little hurt.

“Did you bring the paperwork I’d given you earlier?” Roy removed it from his pocket and smoothed out all the wrinkles from folding it. “Lot of work to get a woman, huh?” Roy chuckled at the comment and started to fill out the paperwork.

Normal things such as his name and such were at the top, the middle of the application asked descriptive questions about what he was looking for. “Put down Xingian, those women are gorgeous!” Intercepted Hughes at that point. Roy’s pen lingered over the middle part, he’d get back to that. At the bottom, for purpose, he checked off “working purpose”. “Aren’t you going to check off “bride”?” Hughes asked looking over the application.

“No,” Roy hissed, “Its embarrassing enough to be filling out a form for a woman, they don’t need to know my full intention.” In the end though he ended up filling out the middle of the form with the bit that he was looking for a Xingian woman, who if possibly, had a nice chest. Also that he would like a nice looking woman. Dark eyes and hair were a given if she was Xingian. He signed the bottom and handed it to Hughes. “I think I’m done.” Hughes looked it over, all the information had been filled out, so he pocketed it.

“So I’ll talk to my friend and find out when you can pick up your new wife.”

“Temporary girlfriend.” Roy interjected.

“Sure.” Hughes smiled and finished downing his beer. “I think that’s a night for me Roy. You best get to bed soon though for if you aren’t at work bright and early tomorrow morning, Hawkeye will come after me, knowing full well that you were out with me tonight. I’ve got a fiancé to think of now.” Roy finished his beer as well, placing the payment on the counter and stood to leave. They walked out together, but as Hughes was going to say his goodbye, Roy swung him into the alley next to the bar. Pinning him against the wall Roy leaned in deeply for a kiss. Hughes didn’t resist him. Hughes was kissing back with just as much passion. He put his hands around Roy pulling him closer. The Colonel’s tongue begged entrance to the man’s mouth, and he obliged, parting his lips slightly to allow him to enter. Roy’s tongue was relearning Hughes’ mouth. He had known every ridge so well, but time had started to fade his memory. Roy finally let up, but his mouth didn’t go far, moving up to lick and suck at Hughes’ earlobe. The man almost buckled under him.

“Come home with me.” Roy whispered seductively in the man’s ear. Hughes turned to look him in the eyes.

“I have a fiancé now waiting for me. I can’t Roy, you know that. That can never happen again.” He said somewhat sternly. He wanted to so badly, but he knew that tempting Roy with this one romp would only make him want more of what he couldn’t have. It was better to be cruel and deny his friend at this point, although the ache in his pants was telling him otherwise. He pushed Roy off of himself and walked out of the alley. Roy lingered there a little longer, so hurt he could almost cry.

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Back when Hughes was but a Major and Mustang was a Lt. Colonel. That was when Roy first realized he loved the man. The two had become friends and so Roy had invited the man over for some drinking and talking. The night got late, both men were very drunk. Hughes had made the first move, leaning over to kiss the Lt. Colonel calmly, and surprising enough, the man below him was kissing back. That had gone on for a bit until Roy had shown him into his bedroom. From there it felt like things spiraled.

The men met several times a week after work to continue this relationship. For months it seemed to be going okay. But it was one night Roy remembered most, more so then their first night together.

Roy was sitting on the edge of the bed, he started to remove his shirt.

“Roy, I think I want to see other people.” Roy had stared at the man he called his lover.

“Why? What am I not doing for you?” The tone in his voice was almost pleading.

“It’s not just that. Roy, if anyone found out about this, us, we could be in trouble. Stripped of our ranks possibly. The military means everything to you Roy and I cannot be the one to jeopardize that for you. I care about you too much.” He had sat down on the bed next to the man. “This will be our last time.”

He helped Mustang tug off his shirt and threw it to the floor, piled with his own. He pushed the man backwards onto the bed, covering him with his own body as he pressed his lips hard against Roy’s. Roy allowed the entrance and moaned a little in his throat. Hughes broke the kiss and began nibbling at his ear. He left his ear and started trailing kisses down his neck, then to his chest, his stomach and stopped at the pants. Looking up and smiling at Roy, he began to undo his pants and gave them a swift tug. Roy lay in his boxers, panting slightly.

Hughes stroked Roy slightly through the cotton material as Roy begged him to take him in his mouth. Hughes let Roy beg for a bit before removing the barrier. He licked at the head, tongue sliding it to the slit. His reward was a loud moan from the man below him. He then moved to sliding his tongue from the underside base, to the tip. He could hear Roy’s pants as he began to take his sex into his mouth.

Roy bent himself slightly so that he could watch the man’s head bob up and down. He loved to watch Hughes suck him off. It excited him so much, he thought he could burst. He eventually did. Hughes sucked on him a little bit more afterwards, to be sure that Roy had come completely. He lapped at the juice flowing from Roy. The man was panting so hard now. Hughes smiled and brought himself back up to Roy’s lips for another deep kiss.

After the kiss had broken off, Hughes put Roy into position. Roy was now on his hands and knees and that’s how Hughes liked him. He lubed up one finger and slowly worked it into Roy. Only a moment before the second joined. He dug in and pulled back slowly, curling his fingers, looking for the spot. He knew he had hit it when Roy let out a series of, “Ah... ah… ah!” which of course made Hughes smile. He had made that face. It was when Hughes thought he looked most beautiful. His eyes open, mouth open, tongue sticking out slightly. Sweat dripping. He was beautiful without a doubt.

Hughes pulled out the fingers, lubed himself up and lay his cock against the crevice of Roy’s ass. He stroked it up and down, being sure to linger near the ring of muscles. Roy was at the point of begging him. So Hughes gave in for what he was asking for. Rocking into Roy was heaven. There was really no other way to describe it. The way that Roy tightened around his cock as orgasm over took him, well Hughes believed he could just die right then.

As they both lay next to each other, post orgasm, panting, Roy spoke first. “Can you really walk away from this?”

“No, but I have to. For the both of us.” Hughes got up and walked into the bathroom. Within minuets Roy could hear the shower running. Tears fell silently down his face and continued until he heard the shower shut off. He furiously rubbed his eyes, he wouldn’t let his lover see how badly he had hurt him.

Hughes entered the room and began dressing. Roy had stood up at this point and proceeded to do the same. The room was silent except for the rustle of clothing. When both had dressed, they stood there, for a long while, no words being said. Again, it was Roy who broke the silence.

“Well, you should leave, if you’re going.” Hughes couldn’t stand it and tilted his head, putting his lips on the other mans. Roy lay his hands flat on Hughes’ chest and pushed. Hughes gave him a quizzical look.

“You said it was the last time. Please, just go.” Hughes could tell Roy was holding back his tears. He apologized and left the room. Roy waited until he could hear the front door open and shut before he let free his sobs.

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It was weeks before the Colonel heard from Hughes again. Roy was concern that perhaps Hughes was angry with him, but it was also in part that Hughes had taken some vacation time.

Hughes came bounding through the door cheerfully and everyone turned to look up at him. Any excuse to stop working was a good excuse, even if it was just Hughes.

“My dear First Lieutenant Hawkeye, I have something of the utmost importance that I simply must discuss with the Colonel. If you will permit me to have him for a short while?” The Colonel grinned sharply.

“First Lieutenant, it seems as though something more important then paperwork has come up and I simply must go take care of it.” With that he rose from his chair looking somewhat carefully towards the woman. No gun was drawn so it seemed safe and she nodded.

“You’ll have to work double hard for the time you’ll be missing then.” She said quite calmly and the Colonel bolted from the room.

“Shall we get lunch at the café down the street, to extend your period of freedom?” Hughes asked with a laugh. Mustang wondered how he had gotten stuck with someone like Hawkeye. Maybe stuck wasn’t the word. She was beautiful and smart, but also crazy. She was strict, kept him on track and made him do work. She was fierce. Roy would love to bed her, but he would rather keep him manhood in tact, rather then have her shoot it off as he asked her about a date. She was untouchable and maybe that’s what really gave her appeal.

Sitting down at the table though, Hughes mentioned that of course, there really had been a reason behind his trip to the office to save Roy. “Her parents love me!” Which of course, was not the answer Roy had been hoping for and agitation showed on his face. “They called me son and everything. We have their blessings a million times over. You should meet my Gracia, she’s so gorgeous.” Roy cleared his throat sharply. “Also, you now have something to do tomorrow night. My friend said that your item will arrive tomorrow afternoon by train and taken to this address here,” with that he pushed a piece of paper towards Roy with an address scribbled on it, “all you have to do is show up here, show some ID, give him payment and you’ve got yourself a hot woman. Of course I’ll give you that night to “get aquatinted” but I’ll be over the next night to see this beauty.” Hughes chuckled.

Roy took the address, looking it over once, and tucked it into his coat pocket. Lunch was filled with idle chitchat, but of course Roy could only keep his mind on one thing. He was actually anxious. Roy Mustang, anxious over a girl, it was unthinkable.

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The next night arrived with Roy Mustang, still at work, with a blonde woman and a gun watching over him. He whined. He moaned. He faked sick. He claimed his aunt died. Nothing would budge this woman. He still had a lot of work to do and no want to do any of it.

“I have important plans tonight!” He proclaimed. “I have to pick up my friend’s daughter tonight. She is new in town and I must show her around.” Hawkeye cocked an eyebrow at him. “How bad for me would it look, should she arrive and I’m no where to be found?”

“So you’ll bring her into the office tomorrow then? Introduce her to everyone, prove you’re not a liar?” Roy nodded and grabbed his coat. Maybe if she only spoke Xingian then this would work in his favor.

An hour later found him and his driver at an alley. He had gone to his house and changed clothes, thinking showing up in a military uniform to an illegal operation was not the best of ideas. The man asked what he should do and Roy suggested he wait at the end and he would return shortly. He exited the car and headed into the alley. Alleys made him nervous and he tucked him gloved hands into his pockets. Always better to be safe then sorry, he had mused to himself. About halfway down the alley, he saw a door, with a small sign over it, indicating the address. It indeed matched the one that Hughes had written on the paper for him. The place looked shady, but Roy supposed that was to be expected, considering the operations taking place inside.

He opened the door and looked around. It was a pretty dark place. The room was small, the back wall covered by a large, heavy looking curtain. In front of that was a small counter and a man sat behind it on a crate. He was a fairly heavy set man with very unattractive features. They didn’t seem to match his face well, as though someone had taken them from different people and stuck them onto his face. He was reading a dirty magazine as Roy stepped in and put it down, asking in a gruff voice, “Can I help you?”

Roy pulled out his ID and stated quietly, “I was told to come here to pick up my merchandise?” The man got up and crossed the room to retrieve the ID, then walked back to the desk, flipping open a folder. He appeared to be studying the contents of the folder carefully.

“So then you have the money?” Roy handed him the bundle, which the man counted carefully. It wasn’t a lot. In a way it made Roy a little sad to pay so little for a human’s life. The man went to the door and locked it, which made Roy a little uneasy. “Sorry, precaution, not exactly legal, what we’re doing here.” He said, possibly at the notice of Roy’s uncomfortable ness. “This your first one?”

“Yes.” Roy replied. The man went to the heavy curtain and pulled the strings hanging down at the side. Roy had to gasp as the curtain pulled away to revile a prison of sorts, a large cage behind it. In the cage he could make out three figures. The man unlocked the door and went in, comparing a slip of paper in his hands the something around each of the necks of the people inside. Finding a match, he pulled the figure to its feet, unlocking another cuff that Roy heard clink to the ground. He pushed it out of the cage, following it and turning to lock the cage behind him. Roy couldn’t make out much of this person in front of him. The light was bad and the woman was wrapped in a cloak that looked like it had been eaten by a large group of moths. She was short, much shorter then him. He could however make out the eyes, which seemed to be almost yellowish. He blamed it on the bad lighting, that perhaps he was seeing things. That was too unusual a color, for a girl from Xing. Then he noticed a glint coming from the woman’s right arm and left leg. “What happened here?”

The man looked at what he was indicating. “You get what you paid for. That one is damaged goods. It can still work though. Damn things lucky though that its last owner cared about it. If they hadn’t given em automail, that one would be dog food. Automail is so expensive, and this one has some pretty decent ones. No one wants an entirely useless slave. At least we could put em in the bargain bin.” At that, the man laughed.

The man had pulled the curtain back down over the cage now and was coming to approach Roy. He shook hands with him, thanking him for his purchase. He also advised him to keep the person chained to their sleeping quarters for a few nights, as that was when they would be most likely to run away. Roy nodded numbly. He had just bought a person.

Out onto the street, he pushed the girl by the back of her neck up to the car, opening the door and guiding her in. She was extremely compliant. He spoke only to direct the driver that he wished to go home, the rest of the car ride was in complete silence.

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At his house, the car stopped out on the street. Roy thanked his driver for that night and grabbed the girl’s hand, tugging her out of the car. Shutting the car door, the driver took off. Still holding the girls hand, he let her up the front steps, into his house. Once the door had closed behind him, Roy let out his breath.

The girl stood in front of him with her head down. Roy took off her cloak to get a better look at her. She was wearing what appeared to be a potato sack, or at least some clothes that reminded him of that. She had no chest to speak of. He looked to her face. She wasn’t even Xingian. She had blonde hair. It hung dirtily to below her shoulders. He tilted her chin to get a better look at her face. She did indeed have unusual yellow eyes, which were almost cat like. They looked however almost glazed over, in a state of seeing, but not seeing. She was however very pale, but somehow, it suited her. She was young though, without a doubt. He looked at her, figuring this girl to be no more then perhaps ten years old. She had no figure at all, she was defiantly not 18. Suddenly, Roy felt very dirty.

“I think I’ve been cheated.” He finally announced. He wasn’t really sure what to do. Why had he filled out that stupid form if they weren’t even going to take any of it into consideration? The girl stood there, continuing to look at the floor. She was an absolute mess, dirty and smelly, as though she hadn’t bathed in months. Looking at where she had come from though, Roy guess maybe she hadn’t. “Would you like a bath?” He offered. She made no notion she had even heard him and continued to stare at his feet. Maybe she spoke another language? Why did he every think that would be a good idea? He decided that for his own sake, she needed a bath.

He grabbed her hand and led her down to the bathroom. He sat her on the toilet seat and began to fill the tub with warm water. She stared at the water as though this was the first time she had seen something like that.

”If you can understand me, please say something, please, anything.” Roy begged. Perhaps they had beaten speech out of the girl? He put his hand on the side of the girl’s face, as a comforting motion, but the girl flinched as though he were about to beat her.

“What would master like me to say?” She asked. She spoke. Roy was so happy, they were on the same page. Her voice wasn’t exactly feminine though.

“Um, is it okay if I take off your clothes?” Roy asked, blush coming to his cheeks. He felt like an old pervert at the thought of taking off this young girls clothes.

“Master can do whatever he wants to me.” Roy shuttered at the girl’s words. They played in his mind a few times before he decided.

“My name is Colonel Roy Mustang. Please do not call me master. You can call me Roy, or Colonel Mustang, but never master. Now please stand up so that I can slip these rags off of you.” The girl complied with a nod and stood up with her hands over her head. As Roy slipped the garment off, he came to a realization. Not only did the girl that he had purchased not fit any of his “requirements”, this girl was no girl at all. The boy stood there, staring straight ahead as Roy stared at him. The boy was so thin, he was sure he hadn’t eaten in quite some time. The automail was so strange to see on a boy so young.

He tried not to let too much disappointment show on his face as shut off the tap. He helped the boy into the bathtub where the boy continued to stand there until Roy was able to guide him to sit down.

“Do you want me to scrub your back?” Roy asked. He could feel nothing but pity for this boy who sat in front of him. The boy seemed as though he had never seen a bathtub. Hell the boy seemed as though he had never seen much kindness.

“Colonel Roy Mustang should not do anything for me. I am his slave. His purchased life.” The boy stated this cleanly, as though he had been reciting it over and over again in his mind. Regardless, Roy spun him around and leaned him over the tub to properly scrub at him.

“So what’s your name?” Roy figured he should have something to call the boy, other then, well “the boy.”

“I don’t have a name anymore. Names are for people, and I am no longer a person. I’m number 3805.” The boy said quietly back, as Roy pushed him back onto his bottom so he could properly scrub his feet.

“Well what did you use to be called? What did your mother name you?” Roy was getting a bit frustrated as he had asked a simple question and just wanted a simple answer. The boy seemed to think about it for a few minuets before answering.

“Edward Elric. My mother named me that.”

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It had taken a while to get Ed’s hair to resemble hair again. After the bath, Roy suggested that perhaps he was hungry. Without wanting to cook, he had some takeout boxes from a prior meal. He placed them in front of Ed, but the boy made no point to move.

“Aren’t you hungry Edward?” Roy asked him staring at the boy, and then at the food.

“Yes sir.” Came Ed’s reply.

“You may eat it Edward. I pulled it out for you. Please help yourself.” Ed looked at the food then quickly devoured it. He winced after having eaten it, as though someone was going to beat him. Roy smiled at him. “Let’s get you in bed then hmm?” Ed nodded and Roy brought him down the hallways to his room.

“Where do I sleep Colonel Roy Mustang?” Ed asked.

“Why on the bed. Go on, get up there and I’ll tuck you in.” The boy carefully climbed into bed and when he had settled in, Roy pulled the covers up to his chin. He kissed the boy on the forehead. “I’m not going to tie you up. It’s your decision whether or not you want to leave. Goodnight Edward.” Roy grabbed a spare pillow and blanket, walked out of the room shutting off the light and closing the door.

Roy set up the pillow and blanket, checking his watch and realizing that it was still fairly early. Picking up the phone, he put in a call to Hughes.

“Roy? Why are you calling me and not getting your pride back?”
“Hughes, the order came out all wrong it seems.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well what I picked up tonight appears to be a 10 year old boy, who is not of Xing decent.”
“Your kidding me. I’ll call my buddy right now and have this all straightened up by the morning. I will make sure the guy is there first thing in the morning to give you back your money and take the boy. Geeze I’m really sorry Roy.”
“No, Hughes. It’s okay. I’ll let him stay here for now. You should see this kid. It looks like no one has ever been nice to him in his entire life. It’s horrible. I feel so bad for him. I bathed him, fed him, and put him in my bed for the night. I don’t know what to do with him.”
“Roy send him back. He’s not your problem. You’re the last person who needs to be taking care of some kid.”
“I’m going to let him stay here for a while Hughes, see what happens. I can’t just send him back to that life. No kid deserves that. Maybe you and Gracia can adopt him?” Roy joked.
“Not a chance, but Roy I have to go, umm dog needs to go out.” He heard a woman giggle in the background and then the phone clicked and Roy thought about it a minuet. Hughes didn’t have a dog.


Roy awoke the next morning, momentarily forgetting why it was he had slept on the couch. He got up, showered, made breakfast and then finally went into his room to get his work clothes. He was surprised somewhat to see the boy still on the bed, sleeping. He changed quickly then walked over to the bed and shook the boy slightly. Ed jumped and looked around the room, nothing but fear in his eyes. Sensing no threat, he slowed his breathing and slowly turned to look at Roy. Roy waived at him with a simple, “good morning.”

After Ed had had a minuet to calm himself down, Roy decided to state his reason for waking him. “Breakfast is already made. I myself have to go to work today.”

“What should I do while you are gone, sir?”

“Please not sir, Roy. You can call me Roy. You may do whatever you want. If you know how to read, there are books in the house. I really must be going though. You should eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”

“Yes sir, err, Roy.” The boy sounded awkward when he said it, but Roy just let it go. With a wave he was out of the room, down the hallway and out the door. His driver was there waiting for him, and soon he was on his way to work.