More Than You Know

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MORE THAN YOU KNOW

A Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction

Chapter Four: So Maybe

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There was a moment in which the room was thrown into partial paralysis and all it's inhabitants froze completely, staring with disbelief at eachother's faces. Ed's fingers slipped over the mouth of the cabinet, his skin burning at the sharp contact, and his shoulder lost touch as well, slumping uselessly against his side. His free hand, however, stayed firm over the half-opened files, his fingertips red with pressure as his jaw contacted slightly in the silent tension. There was a soft gasp from behind Hughes, who turned curiously to it's maker in response, and everyone's eyes shifted over to a sobbing Winry, who had the back of her hand pressed against her cheeks, her face flushed lightly.

"Angelina, what's -"

Winry shoved his hand away, her eyes blazing with anger and fear. Hughes pressed his fingertips softly to her cheek, brushing away her tears, his eyebrows drawn down in concern. Winry let him do so, but her eyes moved sharply to the Colonel and deepened quickly, making Roy jump internally.

"Don't hurt him." she whispered sharply, her voice shaking with anger. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him."

The room lapsed into silence once more, it's still atmosphere only broken by curt, occassional sob, followed by Hughes' soft soothing. Envy gawked at the two wordlessly, his breath feeling oddly strangled.

But Roy turned and bowed from the waist, his short hair tumbling over his forehead and hiding his eyes from the party. "You may leave." he said shortly.

Hughes bowed, followed by Winry, who was lead, shaking, out of the room. Roy listened to her slight hiccupping grow faint and finally vanish as Hughes' closed his office door. But Envy stayed put.

"Colonel, sir." he said briskly, bowing politely to the man. "This looks like a rather troublesome situation. I would like to stay and help you."

Roy smiled plesently, but his eyes flashed with warning. "You may leave." he reapeated.

"Colonel -"

"Leave." His voice was more sharp, now, more commanding. "That's an order."

Envy bowed quickly, gritting his teeth together in anger. "Sir." he said quietly, walking quickly out of the room. He closed the door behind him, letting a sharp intake of breath excape him and pressing one pale hand to his forehead.

Roy pivoted crisply on his heel, turning back to Ed. He took one step, advancing slowly forward, and to his surprise, the teen flinched so violently that his fingertips crunched loudly across the upmost files they reached. He squeezed his eyes shut, his shoulders hunched up in a protective stance.

Roy watched in a state of silent awe, and to his own surprise, (as well as Ed's), he smiled darkly. "You think I'm going to hit you, don't you?"

Ed remained motionlessly save opening one golden eye in order to gaze up at the Colonel.

"That's okay." he said finally, dully waving his hand over his chest. "I just need you to tell me why you were in my files. That's an awful mistake in several ways. You do know that..." His voice began to rise slowly, carefully. "You look bright, Xiao. It's about time you act it."

"It's about time I take action." Ed snapped back, taking a step forward in a pathetic attempt to get the upper hand. "It's none of your goddamn business, Colonel."

"You'll tell me." he whispered softly, his fists shaking with rage. "You won't eat until you do."

Ed's eyes hardened, if possible, even more. "Then I won't eat."

There was a heart-stopping crash as Roy's desk tumbled over, followed by the Colonel himself, his arms thrown up in the air as he threw the piece against the wall. Ed screamed sharply, his spine thrust against the wall as he took a step backward, eyes squeezed shut. The Colonel advanced, his hand thrown back like a determinted baseball pitcher, reeling.

And he stopped.

"You won't hit me." Edward whispered quietly, and to the Colonel's surprise, a cockeyed smile began to spread slowly across his face. "You can't. Because if you do, it'll just make things worse...that's against your nature, isn't it? Not getting what you want?" His eyes narrowed softly, locking on Roy's dark irises with absoloute loathing. "That's too bad, Mustang. That's too fucking b-"

SMACK!

Edward stumbled backward and hit the wall with a loud thud, his face forced sharply to the right from impack. Across his left cheek was a blazing red handprint, growing darker near the palm and knuckles. It quickly flared scarlet, and then white, and before Roy could occupy himself with the throbbing bruise across the teen's now blanched cheek, one small, gloved hand gently pressed slender fingers to the fault.

Ed's chin snapped up, his hair quickly thrown back behind his ears. Angry tears were brimming in his eyes, and now Roy could clearly see the palmprint growing darker against his skin, glaring back at the Colonel like crude, angry exclamation points.

"You want to know WHY?" he shouted, his voice breaking sharply. "I need to see my brother again! I need to see Al!"

Roy took a step back, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You poor thing." he whispered, his voice thick with both sarcasim and anger. "I hate to disappoint you, but going through my personal information can get you in serious trouble. And because of your lower rank, the punishment will be much worse. I'm sure not even your dear old brother would want that."

Ed raised his index finger in protest, his mouth drawn open to speak, and then let it fall limply to his side, glaring.

"But I'm curious as to one thing." he said, smirking slightly at the boy's antics. "If you want to see your brother so much, why are there no records of you trying to excape?"

Ed's eyes burned, his eyebrows drawn down in obvious remorse. Roy shoved his gloved hands into his armpits, feeling a sharp sting when his mouth filled with the thin, cooper taste of blood. He bit down harder on his tounge, folding his arms into a taunt cross over his chest. He had to, or otherwise, Edward would find himself with more than one handprint on his body. But just Roy began to consider asking the question once more, Ed's lips parted softly.

"To excape." he whispered. "Master Shii was a monster, I could have never taken one step out of line without enduring his constant threats...I was nintey percent work to him, ten percent sex. If I left, he would have murdered me on the spot, no questions asked." He promptly balled his slack fingers into tight fists with the memory. "I couldn't die, not knowing that Al was out there, alone. I can't die, not until I see him again. I have that responsibility. And...and Master Kami-May was insane. I did try to run away from her once, but just once. She was convinced that I was her ex-husband, or her dead son, and when she caught me, she sobbed and cryed and eventually told me I could leave if I wanted to, and that she wouldn't stop me." he glared up at the Colonel, irises blazing beneath their exterior golden shine. "But she thought I didn't know she had a four fingers curled around the pistol in her back pocket."

"What are you saying?" Roy retorted simply, feeling his teeth loose their painful grip on his tounge as his mind relaxed with the coming of unexpected information.

Ed laughed gently, his voice soft but heavy with what Roy could identify after years of working in the army as a bitter interior. "She sold me to that damn auctioneer before she had a chance to lose her sanity for good. And you bought me." He took a step forward, his darkened face painfully close. Roy swallowed dully, coaxing his dry lungs. "And you." he whispered softly. "I've been nothing but a toy to you. You don't make me do a damn thing. All you do is stare."

"Xiao..."

"ED!"

"LISTEN to me!" he roared, his jaw snapping apburtly. "You say you have a brother, and you say you want to see him! Then why are you here? Why arn't you out in some far-away fairy land with your dear brother, watching the clouds fly by over your carefree bodies? Why are you sitting in my room, wearing my clothes, going through my goddamn FILES!?"

"I had no choice." he murmered heavily.

"You had plenty." He turned swiftly, ignoring the shiver that slipped dully down his spine at the soft brush of his uniform against his once so very still body. "You had all the chances in the world, and you left it. No one sells themself as a slave for no reason. You could have had this, or you could have had your brother. And what did you choose?"

Edward remained silent, staring tonelessly up at the older man. "I choose happiness." he said finally.

"You don't look happy." Roy whispered sharply, his throat feeling raw from frustration. "You look as if the world just crashed down around your tiny little skull."

"I didn't mean my own!" he snapped, his eyes blazing from the dulled insult.

"Eh?"

"My own happiness." he said softly, his eyes turning upward to lock on the Colonel's. "I ment my brother's. He already went through so much pain because of me. It was the least I could do to -"

"Stop." Roy whispered sharply, holding up his hand to emphisize the order. "I don't want to hear anymore."

Ed hesitated, his teeth gritted together in boiling furor. "You can't stop me." the teen said finally, his voice trembling with hopelessness. It was a lie, Roy could tell. The boy was simply trying to convince himself - the tone of his voice had spoken louder than the words he had so innocently uttered. But it stung. It a strange, unexpected way, Roy felt the sharp prick of the statement knock him double on the inside.

He left.

---

"Foolish child..." she whispered softly, her eyes locked on the closed door that Roy had just stumbled though. "Such a foolish little boy."

"I told you to leave, Ross." he whispered dully, walking by the stern-faced woman with his most stoic mask.

"I know." she continued, falling into step with him, much to Colonel's distaste. "But I wanted to speak with you. I don't have a slave myself...but I've seen how they act. Rebeillous. Angry. So troublesome, wouldn't you say?"

Roy continued to trot down the hallway, his eyes silently fixed ahead of them. Ross watched him tactfully, pressing one coy finger to her lips, and then: "Would you like to take a trip to Leo's with me?"

"What?" he said, jerking his eyes upward to meet her's.

"Such a lovely place to dine." she continued, her eyes glittering. "Take some of that stress of your mind...wouldn't that be nice?"

"Is this a date?" Roy mumbled, feeling his heart speed up slightly.

"Of course not." Ross said softly. "Just a treat from a friend. Get in the car."

Maria Ross's white van was in front of them now, and she had already pressed her keys into the lock. The Colonel blinked dully, staring at the woman, and to his surprise, she grinned largely in response. How had he allowed himself to be lead away like that? Had he really lost his attention so swiftly?

"Get in." she reapeated. "It'll be nice. The shift is over, anyway."

"I suppose.." he mumbled slowly, trying his best to force away the information that was racing angrilly though his already confused mind. "But I'm paying."

She laughed.

---

Edward stared mutely at the still door, listening to the two's retreating voices. As they become more and more jaded, he found his eyes drawn belatedly to the overturned desk. Dark wood and clean, he thought dully, there was a broken photo frame crush under the edge and one of the cabinets crawling along the mouth was ajar. He knelt down and pressed it in slowly, his mind feeling strangly blurred.

Carefully, Ed fished out the broken photo frame and brought it curiously to his eyes. Two blondes were pictured in it, but Ed could only come to this conclusion because of the blanched shade of their hair. The image itself was black and white, as plain as he had ever seen, and from the looks of it, it had came from a military file.

Frowning, he folded it over twice and pressed it gently into his back pocket. Next, he picked up the shattered glass that covered the photo and gathered it together into his hands, ignoring the occasional prick as one of the shards embedded itself into the sensitive skin of his palm. Ed picked up the largest piece with his automail hand so as to not create any more cuts and held it up tactfully to his eyes.

It wasn't as good as a mirror, which the blonde would have so perferred at the moment, but he could still make out his features through the pastel reflection of the Colonel's room. There were a few stray hairs falling over his eyes, bringing them further into hiding, but he could still see distinctive red lines under them. Edward could have laughed. He had almost cried. Almost.

Brushing away his dried tears without any more thought, Edward turned his chin carefully to see his bruise. It was a dark pink now, the bright, flaring color of sudden contact that he had seen so often before at the slave trades. But otherwise, it was fine. The Colonel had been wearing gloves, so he hadn't even gotten any cuts from his fingernails. Edward flinched slightly. The worse that could happen in that case was Roy wearing a ring when he threw a backhand slap, something Ed had only expierenced once, but something, all the same, that he hoped never to feel agian.

He chortled gently as he rubbed the bruise, pulling his bangs forward slightly to hide it. The files were still spilled across the ground, overturned and thrown in all directions, random black-and-white faces staring up at him with hallow, serious expressions. But what good was it when he couldn't recognize one, not one?

Sighing, Edward positioned himself to face the door, brushing his bangs away from his eyes and ears to clear his senses before easing a handfull of files into his lap.

---

Maria Ross slid her chin into the hollow between her laced knuckles, her innocent eyes fixed deeply on the Colonel. "Did he tell you why?"

He hesitated, wondering how weak his response would sound, and then: "...no."

She raised an eyebrow slightly, drawing her mouth into a thin line. "Colonel," she whispered gently, "He's gaining control over you."

"Don't talk nonsense."

"No master I ever knew would let their slave go through their personal records, talk back to them, and refuse to confess their intentions without severe punishment -"

"Where you listening to us?" he said, raising his face hastily to her.

"Just waiting outside." she said simply. "Can't help but overhear. You're too gentle, Colonel."

"I'm afraid that's my business." he whispered sharply.

"I see." she retorted, resting her cheek on the back of her hand. "However, the auctioneer did state that the boy responds strongly to physical correction."

"You have a fine memory." Roy said simply, bringing the coffee mug carefully to his lips.

She smiled. "True...but you do as well, Colonel, because I heard you quite distinctively slap him."

Roy raised his eyes sternly to her.

"It's alright." she said, her eyes drawing thin with concern as she talked. "You didn't buy him for additional stress. You bought him for your own pleasure. For once, Colonel, don't feel for the boy. If you want someone to care for, adopt a son."

"I'm afraid." he repeated heavily, "That's my business, Maria."

She cocked her head gently to the side, a sarcastic smile plastered on her face. "You're right." she said softly, "But just be sure to watch out for the boy. Anyway..." her smile widened slightly. "You can always sell him."

Roy scoffed silently, picking up his china glass with two fingers and drinking deeply from it. "I'm finished." he said gently, reaching into his front pocket to fish out a suitable amount of yen. "On me."

"Thank you." she said gently, and then: "Do you need a ride home?"

"My home is just down the block from here, so there's no need. Thank you, Maria." He gave the woman a polite bow from the waist before turning to leave, stuffing his hands tactfully into his pockets. Roy could feel her dark eyes fixed on him as he left the cafe silently.

"Gods." he whispered to himself as he closed his eyes against the cooled atmosphere. His mind felt strangely heavy once more, and the thought of Edward left alone in his office began to settle inside his chest.

'I'll just contact Hughes.' he thought tactlessly, searching his pocket for his wireless. 'I'm sure he'll be more than happy to have the chance to tell me all about Elysia and Gracia on the walk home.'

He set off down the pavement, his fingers touching small silver buttons as he fumlbed through his adress book. He had long since shaken the feeling of Envy's watching eyes as the street took on it's usual mid-day routine, accopanied only by the Colonel's softly tapping boots.