Wild! Chapter 23

[meredavey]

Title: Wild
Author: meredavey
Series: Brotherhood (although it can stand on its own)
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Rating: NC-17
Word Count for this chapter: 2,051  (27,199 overall)
Summary: Ed decides he wants to find love, something wild, something vibrant and above all something passionate.
Notes: FYI: about to spam your f'list~

Roy and Ed pulled their coats on and headed to the door. Ed’s tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth all of a sudden as he felt a cool chill settle into his bones as they exited the inn. Outside was dreary and cold, and dark clouds rolled across the sky brining rain and thunder with them. Ed pulled his coat up higher around his neck in hopes of keep the rain off of him. Next to him Roy stood patiently waiting for him. The bastard, Ed thought, he’s so useless in the rain, yet right now he was calmly standing in the middle of it all.

Ed glared and stopped through the puddles. He shivered as some rain trickled down the back of his neck and true cold began to set into his bones. He sniffled a bit and rubbed his nose. It was strange, this rain, coming on so quickly. And the cold. Earlier it hadn’t been freezing, but now it was. He rubbed his arms vigorously. The weather was strange and as they approached a woman she looked rather harried and not keen on being stopped by two strange men.

“Excuse me,” Roy intercepted her neatly, “We’re looking for Adam.”

“Adam? Oh, Adam Velaz. Well.” She looked them over. “I don’t know why you’d want to see him…”

Roy lowered his head a bit, and said softly, “It’s important.”

She frowned and spoke a little shortly, “Very well. Just beyond that fencing over there –” she pointed to a fence that bordered the town on the north side, “is a dirt road. Follow that road till you reach a juncture. If you head to the left you’ll be leaving the town and be heading towards the mountains. Go to the right and walk along the side path there. You’ll reach some more fencing. Follow the fencing and you’ll reach Adam. I don’t know what you want with him, but I’d advise you to be very careful. You never know what that guy has planted.”

Ed shifted on his feet a bit impatiently as Mustang exchanged a few more words with the woman, ending by thanking her for her help. She waved it off and carried on her way.

Roy turned to Ed and motioned him closer. “These people,” he whispered softly, “are very secretive. I don’t even think you’d get something out of them.”

Ed shook his head, “They’re definitely hiding something, and I bet it has something to do with Adam. They don’t want us to find him.” Ed’s eyes flashed. “She gave us false directions, I don’t remember seeing any path to the right on a map. But we might as well head that way and see what we find.”

Roy curled his hand into Ed’s gently and tugged him along. Ed followed his other hand shaking a bit as they walked at a quick pace. They reached the fence a few minutes later and peered about.

“Ah, there.” Roy pointed to a dirt path.

Ed squinted and frowned, sighing with irritation. “Of course it’s dirt and of course it’s going to be muddy.” He grimaced as they clambered over the fence and landed with a plop on the other side. Roy grasped Ed’s waist to finish helping him over.

They made their way to the dirt road doing their best to avoid the holes in the ground. The holes were unusual, nearly rectangle in form, and deep, at least six feet in length.

Ed had a bad feeling that crawled over him and finally he bent over at one of the edges and peered down into it. At the bottom of the hole was a very rotted wooden board – rather, a wooden box, but there wasn’t much left to identify it as such, and as Ed stood and gazed around he noticed with horror that there were very few places that didn’t have holes, and all the holes were evenly spaced and aligned.

“Mustang,” he called softly horror tinging his voice. “Mustang!” he called a little louder.

Roy turned with a questioning look on his face that faded quickly to concern as he took in Ed’s pale face and the horror and a bit of terror on it.

“What’s wrong Ed?”

Ed swallowed and pointed into the open hole. “Look,” his voice trembled.

Roy peered in and jerked back, glancing around him. “Are they all…?”

“Yeah,” Ed whispered. “They’re all graves.”

“What is this place? Why are there no markers…what…?” Roy’s voice wasn’t so steady any more either and he looked around warily.

Ed grimaced as he stepped forward and the ground began to give. He jerked back quickly and fought the urge to scream. This was…this was just horrifying.

“I bet you this is a very old cemetery. If you look, there are just barely remnants of where a wooden headpiece wood have been.” Roy pointed down to a small section of stone. “The stone would have held the wood board.” He looked around. “But this…they’re all of the same age. Or it looks that way. You never see this type of graveyard unless…”

“There was a war,” Ed finished grimly.

“We’re finding that there are more questions than answers,” Roy spoke softly.

Ed looked around the graveyard. “Perhaps…this was one of the places used to make the stone?” Ed queried to himself softly. “But…” he continued, “it’s not really in the right place? An isolated incident then?”

He felt a tremor run through him and his automail leg seized up and he grimaced.

“In any case,” he spoke, as they turned from the graveyard, “we can figure that out later. Let’s go talk to Adam and figure the tunnels out first. There’s simply too much going on to be a coincidence.”

Roy agreed silently as he took a last look. He eyes Ed and saw the young man was still severely pale and grimacing as he walked. The automail then, he thought, was hurting him.

“Let’s hurry,” he told the young man, “and get you somewhere warm.”

Ed nodded and they hurried down the long dirt road. When they reached the end there was no side path, and Ed concluded the woman thought that they would simply go the way she said. He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the direction she had sent them. There was a woods and through the distance he could make out a small settlement in that direction.

Ed pointed it out, “I bet you that’s another town over there. She was trying to get us to leave.” He let his trail had a bit further, “She didn’t lie about the fencing. Do you see it? It’s almost gone now.”

Roy analyzed the situation. It was obvious that there were no other houses, and Abigail had said Adam lived here…so where would he be? Ed had already turned to the left. “I bet you anything that Adam lives this way.” Ed pointed up towards the mountains. “We didn’t come this way, we came from another angle. I suppose we could also reach the mountains this way too.” He sighed. “Let’s walk a little further and see if we can find this Adam.”

The two men walked side by side for a few minutes as they traveled the road. Ed’s feet scuffed through the mud, splattering his pants with the substance.

Roy noted a little worried that Ed’s limp was getting more pronounced the longer they were out in this weather. Ed must have noticed him looking and raised his shoulders in a helpless gesture. “Not much for it, Roy. It hurts, yes, but I’ve learned to live with it. Just keep going and don’t worry about me.”

“I always worry about you,” Roy told him. “Even when you were younger and doing stupid things, I worried.”

Ed eyed him as he stepped over a pothole. “I could have guessed – then I thought you were doing it to only irritate me. I always feel like we have this conversation though,” Ed remarked with a huff of irritation.

Roy grinned. “We probably do. It’s a common subject matter, one thing on a short list of items we have in common.”

Ed’s eyes narrowed sharply and Roy gave him a wink. “It’s not an insult. Sometimes being different is better.”

Edward’s shoulders relaxed a moment later and they carried on in silence.

“So,” Ed began, “I wonder why you worry so much, you know I do very well taking care of myself, don’t you?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t have sent you on half the missions I did if I thought you couldn’t take care of yourself. I know you’re resourceful and strong. Stubborn, determined…a whole list of things that you’d probably hit me for. You were also my best tool and resource. I knew I could trust and count on you to get something done.”

Ed grimaced, “I don’t like the idea of being someone’s tool…or being used.”

Roy patted his shoulder. “You used me and I used you. As you once said, equivalent exchange.”

Ed scooted closer and bumped the man’s shoulder (arm, really) with his. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Roy stopped in the middle of the dirt path and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Ed,” he said softly. “When we get back to Central we will have to decide what to tell people. You know what they’re going to say.”

“I really don’t,” Ed responded. “I don’t care what people say…what they think. My life is my own. It’s really not anybody else’s business.”

Roy coughed. “Unfortunately getting involved with me means your life will be examined far more closely. Especially when I make a bid for Fuhrer. And while it may be your life, it will also be our life. And while I agree with you people shouldn’t care, I have to. I have to put forth an image I want people to see – and I have to keep it up in public.”

“You mean you don’t want to be seen with me?”

“No, you only enhance my image. What I mean is, we should reveal our relationship. Secrets only tend to become worse with time. If we’re honest now it’s less likely to backfire.” Roy brushed his hand across Ed’s.   “Politics are very tricky things,” Roy continued. “One misstep and my whole career could crumble into dust. I don’t want that, and I know you probably don’t want that for me. Otherwise you wouldn’t have made that promise to me.” Roy saw Ed’s cheeks flush brightly even in the grayness that surrounded them. Roy licked his lips. “Therefore the best recourse is to publically admit our relationship and do some damage control. Obviously we’ll say this is a new development and that there was nothing but professionalism between us when you were in the military. That I didn’t lay a hand on you. That this relationship is consensual.”

Ed looked down at the mud on his boots. “That means…”

“Yes, you’ll have to be in the public eye. You will have to stand by and support all my choices, all my actions. Any scandal could bring down my career.”

Ed scowled and Roy grinned. “I know you hate not making trouble, but, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try and kill anyone…destroy government property or houses.”

Ed stuck his tongue out and shook his head. To dislodge some of the wet strands that were sticking to his cheek.

“I’ll be good, I promise,” his eyes twinkled with merriment before his face bleached white and his knee gave out.

Roy caught him before he could land in the mud and Ed grumbled with a bit of irritation as Roy looped his arm around Ed’s waist and Ed put his arm behind Roy’s neck and they hobbled a few more feet.

“Hold on,” Roy told him, “I’ll carry you on my back.”

Ed’s brows dipped in his typical frown. “You’ll hurt your back…”

Roy gave him a scathing look. “I’m not that old Ed. And besides, I doubt we’re very far from our goal.” In the distance there was a small house that was emitting smoke from a chimney. “Even if it’s not Adam, we can rest there until your knee stops aching.”

Roy hoisted Ed up onto his back and they set off for the house.