Title: Stabilising

Author: Fact Vs Fiction

Rating: T

Pairing: Roy/Ed, Others

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not even a little bit.

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"Are you going to stand there all day?"

Roy jumped at the words, but there was no real malice from the blonde bent over the stone floor. He hadn't even looked up, eyes still flickering across the curves and angles of the chalk as if he had never spoken.

"You've been watching all week."

It was a statement, not a question, and Roy didn't bother answering it.

Seemingly satisfied with what he'd produced the young man leaned back on his hunkers, cuffing his cheek and accidently streaking chalk across it.

He looked up, finally, golden eyes meeting charcoal for a moment before glancing back at the array he was repeatedly drawing and scuffing out, mind wandering back to the symbols.

As if scolding himself he snapped his attention back to the flame alchemist, who levered himself off the door and approached, hunkering down beside the other man.

"Why not sit at a desk?" He asked, genuinely curious. This was basic research, he could do it on paper, would probably be better off doing it on paper, less likely to miss or lose things...

"Old habit." Ed admitted. "Hohenheim used to draw on the floor. My mum used to give out stink about the amount of trees he killed on a day to day basis if he didn't… She did the same to me, after he left. It's easier, to just transfer what's useful, and…"

He trailed off and Roy found himself interested.

"And?" He prompted.

"Well I'm right handed." Ed admitted with a shrug of his metal shoulder.

It hit the Colonel like something physical it was so obvious. He'd never thought about it before.

"Winry is amazing, but fine motor function just isn't recoverable with automail. You can't feel enough to be gentle. It ends in a lot of snapped pencils."

The blonde smiled easily.

"You write left handed." Roy said.

"It's actually genuinely easier. It does explain my rubbish handwriting though."

He shrugged again before changing the subject.

"You've been hanging around all week."

Roy felt the curl of irritation but let it go. Fullmetal had said nothing but the truth.

"I have." Roy agreed levelly.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure."

"Yes you are." Ed countered with a shake of his head and a curve of his lip. "We're all the same underneath."

"What's that?"

"Obnoxiously curious. We're all scientists. Some of us just sold our souls to military rank." He said with a wry smile.

Roy said nothing.

"You're here because you want to learn. When's the last time you did any actual research?"

It was years ago, he admitted to himself if not the blonde. He'd mastered flame alchemy and just… stopped.

Life had taken over…

"You know most the people in this building have forgotten that you can cast anything beyond flame. I've only seen you do it a handful of times. You're good though, you draw well. You probably already know that somewhere in there though."

"Not as good as you."

Ed smiled a little sadly.

"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." He admitted, making Roy look up in shock.

"You probably know quite a lot about that sentiment."

Roy nodded slightly.

"It isn't worth it, for what it costs. Nothing is ever quiet in here." He touched his temple absently with his automail fingertips and not for the first time Roy was floored by the fact that Edward Elric had grown up right under their noses.

It was so sudden… One day there was a child, the next a man. As if overnight, despite the fact that Roy knew they'd all just missed it. Fullmetal was twenty one now. Not a child. Not even a teenager. A young man.

His eyes though… They were ancient… Edward had seen and done enough for three lives already. The secrets they held though, the knowledge… Roy wanted to touch it. Reach out and feel it. His curiosity, the scientist in him thathe'd attempted to smoke out, knew Edward Elric held the answers to the hundreds of questions he'd asked as a child, as a young man, and set aside.

"I can teach you, if you like." Said Ed, shocking him back to reality. "I know it's not ideal, you outrank me, but…"

He shrugged again, eyes wandering back to the array. His picked up the chalk absently, snapping it between metal fingers almost immediately but holding on to the pieces in what could only be described as a practiced movement as he scribbled another formula on the stone without even looking, mind miles away.

Yes. Roy decided.

He wanted to learn.

Desperately.

"Teach me." He said quietly.

Ed offered him a hint of a smile, giving Roy his full attention at last.

"What am I trying to do here?" He questioned, putting down his chalk.

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He was excellent.

Ed had to give it to the bastard, even knowing he was brilliant he'd not expected this level of command from the dark haired Colonel.

It had been rusty to start. Skills left unused, unstretched. Rules left unacknowledged under a fine layer of dust in his thoughts.

It was coming back though, steadily, and Ed knew without a shadow of a doubt that Mustang as a kid? He hadn't been all that far from Ed himself.

Obsessive. Confident. Competent.

Thirsty.

But then, anyone with the drive to master an element like Mustang had had to be thirsty.

Ed had never really been taken with the elements to be honest. He'd dabbled… He knew the basics, that if he were to learn properly he would need to focus on the air. That mastering anything like that took power, perseverance and a decent dose of stupidity for even risking it in the first place.

No. They weren't all that different in some ways.

In others though, they were like night and day.

There were two things that drove an alchemist, in Edward's opinion. Power and curiosity. It was the mix of these two things that built the alchemist. Roy Mustang craved power, and his curiosity was used to fuel that craving. It was unsurprising, he was the flame alchemist after all, and elemental alchemy was the epitome of power.

Edward on the other hand was a scholar, who happened to be gifted with an incredible power. Curious. The researcher. Unconcerned with talk of power and influence. Together they were an excellent team, they both knew that. The best teams were always opposites. The power hungry to make sure the research was relevant, and the curious, to drive it forward.

Edward was genuinely looking forward to seeing what they could do together.

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Two weeks had passed since he'd offered to teach his superior officer. Little had changed during the day. Ed still spent every spare moment scribbling between cases, Roy still attempted to navigate the stacks of paperwork and led his squad. They still fought like cat and dog, yelled and screamed.

But now, afterhours, they passed their time together in peace.

Truth told Roy knew, the gift he was being given. To learn from Ed was to learn from the very best. Prodigy didn't even begin to cover what the man was anymore. He was the best alchemist in the country, flesh hand tied behind his back and blindfolded.

It was effortless to Ed, as easy as breathing.

And he was selfless in his teaching.

Roy expected him to keep a certain amount from him, to hoard his knowledge. It was only fair… Alchemists were a terribly secretive bunch and Roy couldn't even begin to imagine the secrets Ed held close.

But he didn't.

Fullmetal taught him everything, from the most basic of designs to the genius Mustang knew he'd never in his life be able to cast.

And it felt so good…

Learning, exploring, made his soul sing in a way it hadn't since he was a very young man. Nobody knew what they were up to, but his whole squad had seen the difference and commented. Jean wanted to know who the lucky woman was. He knew Edward found that hilarious. He'd taken to posing and pouting behind everyone's backs when it was mentioned much to the Colonel's irritation.

Hawkeye knew, he suspected. Riza always knew, when it came to him. She'd seen too much of him as a young man. Too much of that thirst for knowledge to mistake it for anything else. She'd simply smiled. Whether or not she knew who his teacher was he was unsure, but unconcerned either way. Riza was one of the few who knew enough to understand that knowledge was power, and that the source of that knowledge did not always play to military norms.

She'd likely guessed immediately.

Roy returned his attention to the form in front of him, mentally chiding himself for his wandering thoughts. These late classes with Edward had had an unexpected benefit. His work ethic had improved greatly.

If he didn't do his paperwork in a timely manner he didn't get to go to his session.

Hawkeye may or may not know the cause of his new drive but she wasn't above exploiting it for a second.

Roy was okay with that.

Pressed, he'd admit at least to himself that he was the steadiest he'd been in years. In his work, in his research, in his life in general.

Focus, Hawkeye called it.

He had focus.

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A/N: So this is the first thing I've published in… more than a while. It's also my first foray into the world of FMA. I have about 80,000 words of this written and so far. Nothing is beta'd and this wasn't written to be a piece of literature, just mild entertainment. That being said I hope you enjoy it. The first arc of the story is a case arc, and it takes off immediately come next chapter. It comes with a fairly hefty set of trigger warnings that earn this story its rating. I'll lay out the trigger warnings at the start of each chapter so no fears there.

Let me know what you think. Reviews = Motivation!