More Than You Know

MORE THAN YOU KNOW

A Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction

Chapter Three: A Certain Line You Just Don't Cross

---

Roy found himself shaken awake by the ululating screech of an ambulence passing his estate and ran his ungloved fingers through his dark hair, blinking at his bedroom, illuminated in morning sunrise. Unfortunately, his stonewash walls weren't the only thing thrown into the light's sharp contrast, and the Colonel found himself scrambling away from the edge of his matress with a start. Edward stared back up at him from his pearch on the floor, one eyebrow lifted and both legs folded casually under him.

"G'Mornin'" he greeted sweetly, rolling his eyes.

"What are you doing!?" Roy snapped, allowing his body to relax but feeling the muscles in the small of his back tense all the same.

"Sitting." the teen said, his bright eyes flashing in the darkness.

"Where you watching me sleep?"

"Yes, I was." He said, a smirk beginning to lift the corners of his lips. "You snore awful loud, master."

"Why, thank you." The Colonel snapped sarcastly, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. "Don't you ever come into my room again without my permission."

"Forgive me, Lord, Master of all creation!" He snapped back thickly, his voice dripping with sarcasim. "May I never intrude into your domain without an invitation again! You may damn me to hell, if you wish."

"Don't you be freash with me." He mumbled, at the moment, feeling too drowsy to find an acceptable reply. "And get that damn collar off, you look ridiculous."

Ed wrapped his fingers over the silver buckle and began to fumble. "Taking me to work?" he said finally, holding the leather collar in one hand and glaring at it, his eyes full of posion.

"Actually, yes. You're not very polite, are you?"

"Of course not." He said, slapping his palms down on the carpet and arching his back in a strech. "But you don't seem to mind much, so why bother?"

Roy lifted an eyebrow, looking scornfully down on the boy. His tounge felt thick in his mouth when he saw Ed still hadn't found himself a shirt, and even thicker when he found his eyes drawn to the toned muscles in his arm and abdomen, his automail limbs designed to mimic them.

"You don't have to stare at my chest, you know." Ed muttered darkly. "You can always give me a goddamn sweater. Any day now, might I add."

The Colonel was suprised to find his hand moving on it's own accord and slamming down on his dresser without warning. Ed flinched, dropping the collar unto the carpet, and Roy frowned, removing his hand from the furniture and placing it gently to his forehead.

"Don't you dare speak out of line in that manner at work." he whispered, his voice thick. "I will not hesitate to resort to violence if you insist on behaving so."

Ed scoffed, turning his head sharply in a kind of childish refusal to co-operate.

"And while I'm on the topic." he said, lowering his hand, "I spent 35,000 yen on you, and I don't find myself willing to throw more away to get you a sweater. Be grateful I gave you some jeans, Xiao, you ended up in a good home."

"Did I, now?" he whispered. "Xiao-yan?"

Roy found himself frowning as his unhooked his uniform and slipped it over his head, ruffling his already wild hair.

---

"Angelica, dear, how did you like Elysia's party?"

"She's adorable." Winry said, smiling softly, a broken reciever sitting in her lap. She was wearing a light blue blouse given to her by Hughes' wife, and a pair of black slacks. The brown dress she had wore at the slave auction had been cast aside quickly. In Winry's opinion, her new home was perfect. They treated her like family, asked for her opinions, laughed with her, played with her. Her only problem was her new name, Angelica. She had ignored it at first, then tried to remember it, and finally she grew confused, forgetting to answer when she was called by her new title. 'I'm not Angelica,' she thought, frowning as she dug her fingernail into the broken gear of the reciever. 'I'm Winry. Winry Rockbell.'

"Something wrong?"

"Uh? No." she said, giving her master her most reassuring look, but the doubt on his face was enough to show she wasn't very convincing. After all the kind things he had done for her, it seemed wrong to express her discomfort at being given a new name. The intent, she knew, was to make her forget her old life and focus on being a slave. But the Hughes' weren't trying to make her forget her old life. They were trying to welcome her into her new one. Why, then? Why did she have to be Angelica?

"Elysia thinks of you as a big sister, you know." Hughes said gently, turning back to his files.

Winry grinned to herself, turning the gear with her fingernails.

"Angelica, how did you end up in slave auction? Don't you have a family?"

She frowned. "Yes." she said, "I do. Pinako and Den are with me...Den is my dog." she added shyly, laughing a little. "But Mom and Dad died in war. We didn't have any money. Pinako got sick. It was a plauge, I remember, something going around. It ended up taking my best friend's mother as well."

Hughes raised an eyebrow. "Did she die?"

"No. I sold myself to get enough money for the medicine."

He brought his head down to his chin, resting it there softly. His eyes were half closed, mouth pulled down in a frown. "She really means that much to you, huh?"

"Yes."

"That's sweet." he commented softly. "I'm sorry about your friend's mother. Did you know her well?"

"Trisha...yes, I did, in fact. She was an angel, and absouloute angel."

"What happened to your friend, then?"

"After she died...I don't know. I went to the slave trader's shortly after that. But my friend...he ended up there as well."

"How?"

"I don't know." she lied, lowering her head softly.

"Maybe you'll meet up with him someday." Hughes said, turning his chin to face the window. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Yes." and she felt the smile creep across her face again, this time truer than ever. "Yes, it would."

---

Roy's office was small, but wide, and packed with desks and cabinets of all size, all which seemed to be overflowing with typed information and computer printed black-and-white pictures. There was a pair of white gloves thrown on the table top, and alongside them, a pen and an open file.

Ed frowned. The room smelled sharply of lead, something he hadn't been around often since he had worked at Master Shii's estate. But this time it was buisiness-like, and in a way, strangely comforting.

"Wow." he said finally. "You sure are important."

Roy laughed. "You could say that."

Edward picked up a file curiously, picking it open with two fingers and peeking inside with a childish eye. But Roy raised an eyebrow. "Can you read?"

"Of course I can." he answered simply, his eyes scanning over the page.

"I thought slaves weren't educated."

"I wasn't always a slave, you know." he said bitterly.

"Actually, I don't." Roy placed a large hand over Ed's, removing it silently from the file and placing it tactlessly back to his side. "For all I know you were born into slavery and simply got that crappy attitude from your companions."

"Born free and proud of it, Master." he snapped, his voice everything but respectful.

"And you sold yourself?" The Colonel asked quietly, bringing his nose down to Ed's level.

The teen pouted, his eyes narrowing. "Is that your buisiness?" he retorted tonelessly.

Roy folded his arms over his chest, frowning. "I hate bring up bad memories," he whispered, "But it's amazing you survived long enough to end up here, with that mouth."

Ed grinned and pointed boldly to his teeth, giving Roy a demonstration of just how big his mouth could be. In response, Roy found himself swallowing a laugh with much effort and throwing his hands up in the air to show Ed his disapproval. Ed laughed himself, waving the antic off and wandering around the room again, picking through the files.

Roy watched him silently, lips drawn into a thin line. "Don't touch that." he said quickly when the younger man began to tug at a envelope.

"Why not?"

"Those are my files. They're private. You going through my personal information means big trouble. Trouble with the army. Don't start anything."

Ed raised his hands to his head in a mock-surrender action, rolling his eyes gracefully and strolling across the room to the Colonel's hardwood desk. "Nice gloves." he smirked.

"I'd say so." he muttered, forcing himself to restrain it's use.

"Alchemy?"

Roy jumped, turning to Ed with a start, and to his surprise, the teen was standing with his hands knotted behind his back, the look on his face that of an acomplished child who had sussessfully computed a perticularly hard math equation. He untangled his fingertips sweetly and raised his index finger as a motion to keep silent, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"That's what you get for thinking I was born a slave, Master Roy Mustang."

Roy stared wordlessly at him, his eyes feeling perticularly wide. "Don't call me that." he said finally.

Ed cocked his head slightly, his mouth drawn into a pout. "Don't call me Xiao."

"You're not in the position to makes bets." Roy snapped, feeling his face grow hot. "Or, may I ask how you got those automail limbs, my dear Xiao?" his voice grew thick with Ed's pet name, clearly in the use to insult the younger boy, but instead of growing angry, he simply rolled his eyes.

"I give up." Ed retorted quietly, throwing his arms behind him and lurching his body up in a sitting position on Roy's desk. "You win. Just don't leave any personal diarys laying around the house wide open, thinking it all looks like chicken-scratch to me. I'm not you're fucking dog."

Roy found himself surprised at Ed's harsh words, ironicly spoken in a sarcasticly sweet tone of voice. He and his slave had gotten in a unviolent fight, and as a result, Ed was furious at him, and doing nothing to hide it.

"I wouldn't say that," he said softly, "You had a collar on when I woke up this morning." he paused, gritting his teeth together sweetly. "Xiao-yan. And didn't I tell you not to speak so rudely in my office?"

Ed grinned slyly.

"How do you know about alchemy, then?"

"Experience."

"Are you an alchemist?"

"No."

"Do you have a friend who is an alchemist?"

His grin was slowly widening, much to Roy's distaste. But his answer was the same - "No."

"You're fibbing." Roy said simply, his face feeling strangely heavy.

"Au Contrare."

"Fine!" The Colonel half-shouted, his jaw snapping painfully. "Then tell me - why did you sell yourself?"

Ed kept his face stoic save the large, fake grin plastered across his face. "Thought it would be fun."

"Oh, God." He put his head dramaticly in his hands, trying as hard as he could not to grow more angry then necessary. "You can't even lie well."

Ed shrugged. "Never was my strong point."

Roy shook his head softly, letting his limp arms fall back down to his sides. "I'm getting some coffee." he said finally, his eyes not meeting Ed's. "Stay put."

"'Kay."

Roy turned and strolled out of the room, ignoring the painful sting that filled his mouth when his teeth bit down hard on his tounge. He heard Ed laugh curtly, his voice mocking the Colonel, and then: "Oops. I mean - Yes, Master."

---

"Hello, Ross."

Envy smiled nervously at the soilder, waving a hand in relpy. "Hello." he said sweetly. The soilder passed him without another word, their shoulders untouching, and Envy pressed her fingertips together, feeling a smirk pass over her features.

Lust had seemed perticularly excited when Envy informed them of Edward and Winry's sale into the military's home, and after a few words, Envy had agreed to take a closer look inside Central. The humans here were perticularly foolish, unnoticing to his different behavior, but his first target, he thought, would have to be Lt. Hughes. They were closer friends, he thought, he could simply drop in and ask how Winry was doing. The Colonel seemed to have sharper senses, and he was handy...for several reasons. Envy closed his eyes lovingly, recalling Lust's whispered words the day before. Several very important reasons, he thought nastily. But at the moment, Edward Elric was the first step. Roy was the second.

Rushing never got anyone anywhere according to plan, did it?

He pushed Hughes' office door open, stepping delicately inside.

"Well, hello." He said sweetly, raising a hand. "How is the girl?"

"Fantastic."

Envy crossed the room and leaned against the wall casually, hooking her arm on a stand next to his desk. She smiled down at Winry, crinkling her eyes to add to her exterior outlook - a loving woman working in the same major as Hughes. But Winry didn't smile back.

"WHAT ARE YOU - !?"

Envy jumped, his neck snapping up to the source of the noise, but Hughes was already halfway to the door, wretching it open and taking off toward Roy's room, closely followed by Winry's pattering footsteps.

Envy sprung up and ran after them, balling her cold fingers into fists. Hughes pulled the Colonel's ajar door wide open, standing in the doorway with his mouth half open.

"Colonel, is everything okay - ?"

"You could say that." Roy snapped, standing stock still in the doorway.

Envy turned the corner and peered curiously into the office space. He couldn't surpass the smile that spread across his face when he saw the sense spread out before him. Edward Elric was bent double over Roy's file cabinets, a few of them spilled out across the desk and wretched open, the papers scattered over the tabletop. One of his hands rested against the closest file, holding the paper open, and the other resting on the steel mouth of the ajar cabinet. His head snapped up when Envy poked her head into the room, eyes taking in the bodies around him, and slowly, he took a deep breath, hiding his golden irises under his bright hair with the sharp movement of his head.

"Well, well." Envy whispered, leaning on the doorframe. "Interesting."