Worried

RoyXEd

'I should have heard from him by now. Why hasn't he called?' Roy thought as he paced nervously in his office. He turned to glare at his desk phone, but it did not ring.

The Fuhrer -though in Roy's opinion he shouldn't be called that- had already taken his team from him, he couldn't take his lover too. Before Edward and his brother had come into the office to have the meeting with Bradley; the man had threatened both moving the blonde to another superior and a bit later threatened his life.

He had gotten a message from Falman four weeks ago that honestly had terrified him to the core. Edward had gone to Bashool on a hunt for Scar with Kimblee. Kimblee and two of his men decided to attack while they were out in a more remote part of abandoned mining town. Roy knew there was more behind the story than what he'd been told, but there was only so much Falman could put into code for the Armstrong contact to tell him.

A mine shaft had exploded, and now Kimblee, his two men, and Edward were missing. Falman had said that Briggs searched thoroughly and that no bodies had shown up. Roy had a gut feeling that the Briggs soldiers really had done their best to find Ed. Edward had a way of worming his way into the hearts of people without even trying.

What the soldiers did find, however, made Roy's insides twist terribly. They had found plenty of blood in certain areas of the bottom of the shaft. And something inside told Roy that it was definitely Ed's.

Shaking his head, he turned his thoughts more toward the present, but couldn't. Collapsing into his desk chair, he put his head in his hands. Bradley may or may not know about his and Edward's relationship, but he had heard him agree to let the Elric brothers travel. So why would he release Kimblee from jail and have him go after Ed?

"Damn it!" Roy slammed a fist down onto his desk. Didn't they need Edward as some 'human sacrifice?' Not that Roy liked that very much either, but at least it guaranteed that Ed would live at least until this so-called 'Promised Day.' So why would Bradley risk sending Kimblee after Ed when there was a major chance the blonde could be killed?

There were too many questions and not enough answers. Roy sighed as he lay his head on his desk, staring at the phone. This was much too stressful on him. He was used to his lover roaming the country and getting into the occasional (alright, frequent) fights, but Edward always made it point to call. To tell Roy that everything was alright, even when it wasn't.

When the phone rang, startling Roy from his dark thoughts, he stared at it. Was it Ed? Or was it Kimblee with a ransom of sorts? Or a direct call from Miles with bad news? Was the blonde hurt? And if so how badly? Roy grabbed at the phone with a hurried "Hello" and sat back utterly disappointed when it was just a general requesting Roy to finish some paperwork for him.

~/~/~

That night when he got home, he poured himself a glass of scotch, and then another. Slumping into his armchair, he stared at the wall tiredly. He felt as though he had hardly gotten any sleep since the incident with Lust, and even less since his confrontation with Bradley. He knocked back his second glass before setting it carefully on the end table next to him. He stood and stumbled a little on his way to his couch, laying back on it gracelessly. He pulled the blanket at the end of his couch over him and breathed deeply. Edward often curled up with the blanket and Roy hoped to catch his fading scent within it. Getting himself somewhat comfortable, he closed his eyes and hoped for a peaceful sleep, and not the nightmares that tended to haunt his dreams whenever he managed to drift off.

He woke from his dreamless, yet still restless, sleep to the ringing on of his phone. Standing up and shuffling to the phone in his kitchen, he picked up the phone with a lazy, "Hello?"

There was no response, only the sound of the person on the other side breathing and a faint noise in the background.

"Hello?" Roy grew suspicious as the silence lengthened. If this was a prank call, he'd find the little bastard who dared to prank him and-

Another thought occurred to him. What if it was Edward? What if he was hurt, and like Maes, was trying to call him for help? He felt more awake as adrenaline raced through his veins. He wouldn't let Edward die like his friend did.

"Edward? Edward is that you?"

"Ah, sorry, Bastard, Darius wasn't leaving the room."

"Darius?"

"Oh, he's one of Kimblee's men, he-"

"Kimblee kidnapped you?" Roy couldn't help but jump to conclusions.

"No, no, no! Why would you think that?" Edward continued before Roy could answer. "They helped me, I mean sure, they attacked me at first, but they're the ones who got me to a doctor's office."

"What about Kimblee?" 'So he was hurt.' Roy gripped the phone tighter in his hand.

"I don't know what happened to that damn asshole." By the anger in Ed's voice, Roy could tell Kimblee had been the one to hurt Ed.

"Where are you?" His hand clenched onto the phone cord.

"I'm waiting for an automail tune-up in the Rockbell house. Granny's been out of town, and we still don't know where Winry or Al are, but I'm more than sure they are fine."

Roy was fairly tempted to board the next train to the East, but knew he was needed in Central. With the coup that he was planning, he couldn't leave. He needed to be at work on time and every day so that the brass would not suspect him, or at the very least suspect him less than others for staging the coup.

"Who's with you? Other than this Darius fellow?"

"Oh, uh, Heinkel. He's the second man of Kimblee's. And then there's Greedling."

"Who?" Roy had definitely never heard of Greedling.

"You remember that girl Dr. Knox helped? The guy with her introduced himself as the twelfth son of the Emperor of Xing?" Roy hummed a soft response, easily recalling the night Gluttony had tried to eat him.

"Well, that was Ling." Edward took a breath before continuing. "He was infused with a philosopher's stone and now he shares a body with the homunculus Greed."

Roy's eyes widened as he recalled what Bradley had to him about himself. Blue eyes suddenly narrowed as he realized something.

"Why the hell are you working with the enemy, Edward?" He could hear Ed sigh tiredly on the other side of the phone.

"It's a little complicated, but Greed had a fallout with the others, so now he's on our side. It's alright Roy. How have you been holding up?"

"Horribly," he admitted, letting his exhaustion seep into his voice, but he didn't want to go into detail. "It's coming up soon, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I've heard from reliable sources that you are planning something?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I can't tell a fugitive of the military, however." Roy chuckled softly at the low growl he heard from Ed.

"Funny, Bastard."

"So are you leaving the country soon?" Roy almost wished he would, maybe then he could escape whatever fate the homunculi have planned for him.

"Hell no, Bastard. You know I'm not leaving!"

"I know, I know," Roy could feel his gut twist uncomfortably. "Just be careful with whatever you are doing."

"You too."

The silence between the two stretched on and Roy was almost afraid Ed had already hung up.

"Love you, Roy," Edward mumbled at last.
Roy was shocked, it was rare for Edward to say that. His eyes softened, though Edward couldn't see it.

"I love you too, Edward," his voice was warm and held a longing tone in it. Throughout their conversation, Roy could hear a new depth to his lover's voice, and he knew that these past few months had caused Edward to mature. Roy wished he could have been there to see the steady change in Ed.

"I...I just don't know if we'll see each other again so, I just wanted to say-"

"We will, Ed," Roy's voice was firm. "And we will live to see the end of the Promised Day."

"If you say so," Ed didn't sound so convinced. "I have to go...I'll see you...Soon?" The sound of uncertainty in his lover's voice nearly broke Roy's heart.

"Alright, Ed, I'll see you soon."

Setting down the phone, he slumped against the counter with a hand over his eyes. He took a few deep breaths before pushing off the counter and heading for his bedroom. Maybe he'd have dreams of a better future tonight.