Sniff sniff... Hello, friends. I am sad, yet joyous, to say this is the final chapter of Overcoming Differences. Words will never be able to express just how immensely grateful I am to absolutely everyone who reviewed, favorite, or followed my first story. Thank you so much. I've started another story, but I've been so busy with the school art show and this HOBY thing I have to go to, it may be a week or so before I can get anything posted.

Well, without further ado, Chapter 12 of Overcoming Differences!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

CHAPTER XII

THE TOAST TO SUM IT UP

"Sir, please do stop your pacing. I promise Edward will be alright. You know how strong he is," Riza attempted to comfort. She sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair that lined the hall outside of Ed's room. Breda and Fuery were fast asleep in the chairs next to her, while Falman and Havoc were going through some paperwork.

Roy was pacing back and forth in front of the door, occasionally risking a glance into the room. All he'd see would be a whole hoard of doctors sewing up some injury or wrapping white bandages around another. Roy was lucky; he came away from the experience with hardly a scratch. 'Thanks to Fullmetal… he saved my ass more times than one.'

"Yeah, just relax, colonel. We're all on edge about this but at least we're not putting ruts into the floor," Havoc taunted with a smile. He dug around his pockets and pulled out one of his famous lighters and a cigarette.

"Don't you even think about lighting that," Roy ordered, his voice almost as stern and cold as Riza's.

Havoc sighed and shoved the cigarette and lighter back into his pocket. "Well shit, colonel, at least I've got a better way to calm my nerves than making poor Hawkeye seasick."

"How the hell is smoking better than pacing! You're basically begging for lung cancer!" Roy shouted as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"C'mon, colonel! Cut me some slack!" Havoc pleaded with another taunting smile.

Roy was about to snap at his subordinate when Riza cut in. "Sir, I'm worried about Alphonse. We haven't been able to reach him at all."

"Alphonse is fine. He and that mechanic are in Rush Valley."

Riza sighed and tapped her foot in irritation. "Don't you think you should call them? I think Al would like to know that his older brother is in the hospital." Her words were laced with annoyance, causing Havoc to snicker. It was always a treat when Hawkeye was irritated.

"Oh… sure…" Roy traipsed over to the phone and dialed in the number for Garfiel's Automail Shop. He wasn't surprised when the phone only rang twice.

"Hello! This is Garfiel's Automail Shop! We have the best automail and mechanic in all of Amestris! How may I help you?" An enthusiastic voice asked from the other end of the call.

"This is Colonel Roy Mustang. May I speak with Alphonse Elric?"

"Colonel!" Al shouted on the other end. Roy could tell he didn't even try to hide the worry in his voice.

"Hello, Alphonse," Roy greeted casually, trying to play down the events of the past few days.

"What happened, colonel!? Where's brother!? He promised me he'd call but he never did and then when we tried to call he wouldn't answer and we haven't been able to get a train back to Central and-"

"Alphonse! Calm down! I'm with Fullmetal right now! We're uh… at the hospital…" Roy tried to add the last part as quietly as possible, but he wasn't surprised when he received a scream from the other end.

"What's brother doing in the hospital!?" Al seemed to pause for a brief moment before shouting even louder than before. "WINRY! Brother's in the hospital! We have to get to Central right now!"

'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to call Alphonse…' Roy thought. He didn't realize he'd pulled the phone away from his ear, so he moved it back into place to speak. "Would you tell his mechanic that his arm is gone? She'll have to replace it."

"Brother's arm is gone! Which one! His automail arm or his flesh one!? Tell me it's not his real arm!"

"Please calm down, Alphonse. It was just his automail arm. I promise to tell you everything when you get here. So just catch the next train back to Central and we'll talk then. Try not to worry too much as well. It's not good for you."

"Yes, colonel. We'll be there tomorrow morning! And uh… thanks for calling."

Roy sighed as the phone call ended. He turned back towards his subordinates and shook his head. "No. No, that wasn't a good idea. He totally freaked out. But they'll be here tomorrow morning. We should send someone to get them."

"I'll call Major Armstrong. He knows those two and is the easiest to spot," Riza suggested. Roy nodded and Hawkeye left to call the Major. She opted to use one of the phones at the front desk so Breda and Fuery wouldn't be woken up.

Roy started his pacing again, now scratching at his pants for extra measure. He looked down at his watch and was shocked to see it was actually pretty late. He didn't think they'd been in the hospital that long. 'It's already eleven at night… What the hell could be taking those doctors so long!?'

As if they could read the colonel's mind, the group of doctor's burst out of the room, tearing off blood stained gloves and surgical masks the whole time. Roy rushed up to them with big, curious eyes. He looked like a dog begging for handouts.

"Mr. Elric is going to be just fine. Poor boy lost a lot of blood so we had to give him a transfusion, and he needed stitches on his arm and leg. Luckily, his head injury could be handled with just bandages. He had some minor internal bleeding, nothing life threatening. When you brought him in, he had a terrible fever. Luckily, it just broke on its own and he should recover from it quickly. He has a minor concussion, but other than that, he's fine. All in all, Mr. Elric is one lucky boy."

"I don't know how all of that constitutes fine but despite that, thank you doctor. I really appreciate it. Would it be alright if we saw him?"

"You may, but he's asleep right now. And I can assure you that he won't be waking up anytime tonight. Poor kid looks like he hasn't slept in weeks…" The doctor mumbled as he walked off, leaving Mustang and his crew to themselves once again.

Roy practically dove into the room, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process. He managed to stumble over to the bed and get a good look at Ed. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. 'He looks a lot better without all that blood and dirt caked on him. And he actually looks… peaceful…' Roy pulled a chair over to the bedside and fell into it.

There was a light knock on the door as Riza poked her head into the room. "Sir?"

"Come on in."

She waved the rest of the crew in and they crowded behind Roy. "How is he, boss?" Fuery questioned, his voice young and innocent sounding.

"He needs to rest. But the doctor says he'll be fine."

Riza placed her hand on Roy's shoulder and gave him a nod. "We're going to head home, sir. We'll be back to debrief the two of you tomorrow. I'd suggest you get some rest as well, colonel."

"I'll certainly try," Roy responded with his own smile. 'But if I get any sleep, it'll be right here. I'm not leaving him alone. Not tonight. Not ever.'

…

Roy awakened the next morning to sunlight streaming in his eyes and a kink in his neck. "Ugh… damn hospital chairs." He suddenly remembered just why he was in the hospital and his head shot up. He had fallen asleep at the edge of Ed's bed and found that the boy had moved closer to him during the night. "Fullmetal?" He whispered.

Ed moaned and squinted in the light. "Colonel? What're you doing here?" His voice was a tad raspy but he sounded much healthier than the previous day.

"What? I wasn't going to let you wake up all alone! I'm not that much of a bastard." Roy smiled at Ed and leaned back in his uncomfortable chair. "Oh and don't kill me but I called Al."

Ed chuckled and pushed himself into a sitting position, grunting a bit from being sore. "I bet he wasn't too happy about this."

"Yeah, he's pretty worried. He and your mechanic should be here in just a little while."

"What the hell, colonel!? Why'd you tell Winry!?" Ed cried in fear. 'I don't want to be beaten with a wrench today! My head already hurts enough as it is!'

"Uh… sorry…?" Roy apologized with a confused expression. "I thought you were in love with that mechanic of yours? Why aren't you happy to see her?"

"GAH! SHUT UP YOU MORON!" Ed screeched.

"Alright, alright, Fullmetal, cool your jets," Roy laughed. He stood up and brought over a tray the nurses left behind. "Here, you should eat something. My crew will be back later to debrief us and it may take a while."

"Thanks!" Ed barely finished his word as he began to inhale the food on the tray. Within minutes, everything was gone… save the milk. Ed gave the little white bastard his best death glare and growl.

"Alright, Fullmetal, drink your mi-" Roy was cut off by a large suit of armor flying into the room and diving for the bed.

"BROTHER!" Al cried as he shoved the colonel out of his way. "Brother, what happened to you!? Why are you so beat up!? I only left you alone for a few days!" He knelt down next to the bed and rested his hands on the white sheets.

Ed laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Al. I didn't mean to worry you. I'll tell you everything that happened." Ed reached over and placed his hand on top of Al's helmet.

"Just wait a minute!" A voice called from the hall. A few moments following, Havoc, Hawkeye, and Falman entered the room with reports in hand. "You can tell all of us at once. We need to debrief you anyways," Havoc explained. Situating his wheelchair directly in front of Ed's bed, Havoc positioned the report perfectly to write every single detail.

Just as the two were about to begin their story, another, much more frightening scream sounded through the halls. "EDWARD ELRIC, YOU ALCHEMY FREAK! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN A HOSPITAL!?"

"GAH! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Ed shrieked as he started to jump out of the bed. Roy quickly pinned Ed to the bed, stopping the boy's escape. "Let me go! She'll kill me!"

Roy was actually a little nervous. He wasn't sure if this whole thing was some sort of joke or if Ed was serious. 'Maybe I should have the lieutenant keep the mechanic out for a while. At least until Fullmetal can defend himself…'

As the footsteps neared the room, Roy became more and more nervous. He was expecting Winry to come in with a wrench-gun or something. But he didn't expect the girl to walk in with a sad, concerned look on her face.

"Edward…" She whispered with her head bowed to the ground. She slowly walked over to the bed, Roy and Al clearing a path for her, and set her toolbox gently on the ground.

Ed realized he was receiving glares from everyone in the room so he started to laugh. "Hey, Winry! How was Rush Valley!? I bet all of your clients were happy to see you!" Ed shouted in an enthusiastic yet nervous voice.

Winry looked up with bright, watery eyes and a smile on her face. She threw her arms around Ed and laughed. "You dummy… don't ever scare us like that again." She pulled away and looked to Ed's missing arm, not noticing the red that was creeping up in Ed's face. She sighed in frustration and put her hands on her hips. "Looks like you've gone and destroyed another one of my beautiful arms. You know I'm going to have to charge you for having to start from scratch, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Winry. I'll be more careful with the new one."

Winry sighed again and started digging through her box. "I guess I'd better start on it. We'll need to take a look at your leg too." She started off into a rant about her automail and Ed didn't bother to stop her.

Eventually, Hawkeye cleared her throat, signaling for all attention to be on her. "If you don't mind, Miss Rockbell, I need to debrief these two. They were just about to explain what had happened."

"Oh! I can work on this later! I want to know what happened!" Winry shrieked as she flopped into a chair next to Al.

Roy returned to his seat next to Ed and they began. It took them so long to go over all the details, the nurses eventually brought lunch to everyone in the room. At some points, Ed and Roy would get so into the explanation that they'd be shouting what had happened. They sounded as if they were truly telling a story that they'd read out of a book. When it was all said and done, Roy placed his hand on Ed's shoulder and smiled at the boy.

"It may have been tough and it might have looked pretty bleak for a while, but in the end, I think everything turned out better than it was before," Roy commented after taking a sip of his water. 'And to think, Fullmetal and I thought we hated each other. But now he knows that I'm always going to be here and I'll make sure that he never feels alone again.'

Ed looked to Roy and smiled, his eyes golden and fiery with new life and energy. 'I… I don't think I've ever been happier than I am now to see Mustang around. He really does care about me… And now I'll never be alone again. I'll never be alone again…'

Havoc let out an unexpected laugh and picked up his glass. "I propose a toast!" He paused and waited until all was looking at him. "To overcoming differences!"

"To overcoming differences!"

Okay, yeah, that was a corny ending but eh, why not? Endings are hard enough as it is lol. So I hope you all enjoyed this story and I'll always love and accept reviews! Especially now that it's complete.

On another note, I'd really appreciate it if you'd read my first one-shot When You Forget the Date. That'd really make my day!

Alright, my friends, until the next story!