In Time

Title: In Time

Author: ursweetheartles (me!)

A/N: and remember- reviews make the updates faster, at least usually it works that way 0:)

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saw that day

lost my mind

lord i'll find

maybe in time

you'll want to be mine

-Gorillaz, El Mañana

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3)

Edward spent the next couple of hours swimming in and out of consciousness, the man next to him clinging to his side until it started to get late and Mustang peeled himself up out of bed, going upstairs to make some food for dinner, giving Edward a chance to look around. The bed, a queen by the looks of it, had been dragged downstairs and set across form the fireplace. It was on this bed that Edward found himself at the moment. The chain attached to his collar was once again sunk into the wall quite solidly with alchemy, only it seemed to be a good bit longer now. Ed shifted experimentally to test his bonds, but his ankle protested immediately, still swollen and sore from the fall. His arm seemed to be free though, the automail still missing from his right side, the port still aching from the residual cold.


So he was back to square one it seemed, though at least he wasn't on the cold floor anymore. That was a small blessing. Edward winced inwardly, Mustang must be mad at him now. Who wouldn't be after that. He had felt the tears on his former commanding officer's cheeks when the man had kissed him earlier, and it had made his stomach spin once again. The familiar feeling of guilt was pooling hot in his gut now. Mustang seemed to really care, in his own twisted way, and Edward had obviously hurt him by running away like that. He could admit now that it was a stupid move, a bad discussion made while flustered. He hadn't planned it out at all, he had just started running, and he had payed the price.


Now though, he had leveled the price on Mustang as well, and he didn't know how he felt about that yet, but something in his stomach told him it wouldn't stand well.

X

It was more than 24 hours before the blond saw Mustang again. He had woken up in complete darkness once more, the room cold around him again, and his ports still aching, even though he wasn't on the hard floor. He couldn't move very far, due to the chain and his injury, so he mostly just sat there and stared in the general direction of the door. It was a boring and agonizing time, nothing to take his mind off of his situation, nothing to lessen the emotional anguish. He had tried to run away and he had failed, in more ways than one. He had hurt Roy, who was just trying to look after him in his own twisted way, and he hadn't even gained his freedom. He had only ended up hurting himself again, just like Roy had told him he would. He couldn't help but think maybe the man was right, maybe he would only hurt himself if he went outside now. Lord knows he hurt himself enough before.


He heard footsteps upstairs finally, and he couldn't help but get excited at the prospect of human contact once again. He was eager to show the man he was sorry, sure that this had been some sort of time out, a punishment for his misdeeds. He stilled, listening intently to the footsteps cross the floor above, his heart racing when they stopped by the trap door. The he saw the light through the cracks, whatever had been covering it being moved away, before the door itself was opened, Mustang coming into view as he slowly descended the steps, a bag paper bag in one hand, a log carrier in the other. He set the bag on the table, and the logs by the fireplace.


Light sprung up and the room warmed as Mustang snapped once and the fire in the grate was crackling and singing. It was only after he had closed the trap door that he turned to Edward. He laid on hand on the boy's hip, through the blanket that covered him.


"How are you feeling, Edward? Is you're ankle any better?" Edward shook his head quickly, eager to please at the warm tone in the former colonel's voice. The man smiled a little then, patting his hip gently before sliding his hand down to the ankle in question, feeling around carefully, paying attention to were the boy winced in pain. "I have something warm for you here." He grabbed the bag, pulling out a plastic container of stew, still hot, and a metal spoon, which he held out to the boy, who took it gratefully, letting a sigh of relief fall from his lips when he could hold it himself. He smiled at Mustang then, a little forced. Still, he was glad to see the man returning, glad to see he wasn't mad.


"Th-thank you, Mustang" Roy shook his head slightly, but smiled in return.


"Edward, you can call me Roy, really. And you had me so worried when you ran like that. Why would you do something like that? I'm trying my hardest here, to make this okay for you. I just..." He sighed, not really knowing how to finish that sentence. He jumped a little when he felt the boy's hand on his shoulder, delicate and light, unsure of where it stood. He smiled.


"It's okay, Edward, just don't do anything stupid like that again, okay?"


The boy nodded hesitantly, and Roy let his fingers trail across the boy's cheek tenderly before he dropped a little kiss on the tanned forehead and stood. He had work to do after all.

X

Edward had taken to thinking a lot lately, in those times when his world was plunged into darkness. He had started by plotting his escape, and that had held his sanity for awhile, gave him something to strive for in his isolation and hopelessness. When the ennui of captivity slowly washed over him, he stopped thinking of such foolish things, knowing there wasn't any hope. He had proven already that he had no idea where he was, and that he certainly couldn't leave without some help from Mustang, which wasn't going to happen any time soon.


For awhile he had tried to imagine what his brother looked like now, a flesh and blood form of his only finally, and Edward hadn't even gotten to see it. That only made his chest tight and painful, made tears sting in his eyes. He had thought about alchemy a little bit, but he knew he couldn't actually do it here, not without his arm, not with this collar, and that hurt him to. Alchemy had been his focus all his life, and it had been his main focus up until his brother had usurped it, becoming more important. Eventually he gave up on that too. His brain needed something to think about though, he couldn't just sit there blankly in the dark, he'd go mad. Maybe he was already mad, he couldn't really tell anymore, as he fell into the routine of the surreal world of that little cabin.


Mustang was gone a lot more lately, detached and moody, leaving the boy in the darkened basement for long periods of time, only coming down to sleep and feed him, sometimes drag him to the shower and let him clean himself. It hurt after awhile, the being ignored like that. Edward sulked about it, while staring at the pitch black expanse where the ceiling would be. It just wasn't fair, that he was imprisoned here only to be treated like some puppy the man didn't want anymore, putting up with the bare minimum, giving the smallest amount of attention possible. It took him two weeks to find out why.


The former colonel had come down one night, after being gone all day, and had proceeded to rearrange the little room, returning most of the blankets and pillows to their original spot on the cement floor. He evicted the boy from the bed then, Plucking Edward up in his arms and settling him in it without a word. EDward frowned.


"Mustang - Roy, what's wrong?" The man seemed startled when he spoke, and Edward hadn't noticed how tired he looked, the dark circles under the man's dark eyes, or the sunken quality of his cheeks. It was weird, he had always been so cheerful when he came down before, soft and smirking and affectionate. It was disconcerting to see this change, the cracks in Mustang's mask. He sighed.


"An inspections team from northern headquarters is going to be coming by this week. It will only be a cursory glance I'm sure, but it would be better if nothing looks out of the ordinary when they arrive. They found something on the border just a little north of here that they want to look into, and they moved my inspection up to accommodate only having to make one trip." The made feverdly wrestled with the bed frame, dragging the mattress off of it before disassembling the pieces of the frame itself, dragging them to the stairs. "They should be here in a day or two."


Then there was silence as Mustang dragged the bed back upstairs pice by agonizing piece and reassembled it in it's former location. This left Edward to ponder this visit, and what it meant for him. He wasn't sure if it was good, if being found here by the military would be favorable to staying here. He hadn't exactly left the organization under favorable circumstances, and he new that if he was found after being presumed dead that the military wouldn't hesitate to keep him in secret custody, probably as some test subject for one thing or another. Plus it would hurt Mustang more if he was taken, the man would be punished again, and he felt he had suffered enough in Edward's hands. He sighed. His world went black and cold once more, and he settled into the considerably less comfortable nest he now had and returned to thinking in the dark.

X

It was the next day that Mustang came down the steps earlier than usual, not bothering to light the fire, offering Edward a mug of tea and plate of small sandwiches with a nervous smile. The blond ate heartily, casting sidelong glances at the man next to him every once and awhile, gauging the nervous mood he was in. He hurried through the lunch given to him in the wary way, not sure what was happening, and not enjoying it at all. He assumed it was the inspection though. That made him even more nervous.


He knew he had guessed right when the man took the empty dishes from him and brought out the confection of leather and rubber that he had worn last time they had guests. The boy panicked, shaking his head but staying silent, trying to prove his ability to be quiet to the man in front of him. Roy just shook his head, leaning in to force the ball between the boy's jaws as gently as he could while fighting the now sobbing boy.


"Edward, you know it will all be easier this way, especially if you just cooperate with me. I need you to wear this if I'm going to keep making sure you stay here and stay safe, okay?" He fastened the buckle behind the blond's head, raising the napkin from next to the sandwiches to wipe the boy's face of tears and other marks of his current slight hysteria.


It surprised Edward though that it wasn't the gag that bothered him so much, it was more being made to stay down here in the dark by himself while the military staff he neither knew nor trusted tromped around upstairs evaluating Mustang. He wished he could go back to being our years old, when pulling the covers up over his head could make anything better and make monsters go away. He didn't like this. What if they found something wrong, what if they arrested Mustang and took him away, leaving Edward all alone down there, with no way to defend himself and no idea how to go about leaving. He reached out, grabbing the man's shirt front as he moved to stand, begging him with wide eyes and small mewls not to leave. Mustang smiled, and dropped a single kiss on his forehead, cupping the soft dam cheeks in his hands.


"I have to go up there and meet them, they'll be here soon and I have to fix everything up there before they get here. I won't get caught, nothing bad will happen, and then I'll be right back down to see you, okay?" Edward didn't nod, just stared dumbly, but Mustang took it for assent. He pried the boy's fingers from his shirt one by one and waved one last time before climbing the stairs and plunging the boy back into the world of darkness he was now so familiar with.