When Ed got back to the room after showering and changing, Roy was nowhere to be seen. She clenched her fists together, vowing to punch the raven-haired alchemist in the face the first time she saw him after this.

Roy was actually sitting on the couch cross-legged in the living room with his hand to his mouth, deep in thought. He was still in the same position an hour later when Hawkeye let herself in with the spare key she had.

"Is everything alright, Colonel?" she asked as she took in her superior's somber expression.

"Yes, I just have to step out a bit to check on something. Do you mind staying till then, lieutenant?" he gabbled in one breath, not really waiting for an answer, already pulling on his coat and opening the front door.

"Sure. No problem, sir…" Hawkeye answered surprised at Mustang's behavior, but there was no one there to hear her anymore. Something must have happened, she thought.

Riza decided to go check on the boys and found them deep in discussion about some kind of alchemy theory, Ed gesticulating animatedly to Al about his ideas on the matter. Ed's face was still pale, but he had a much healthier complexion than the day before. Al was the first one to notice her standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hi! Good morning, lieutenant!" he greeted, waving toward her.

"Good morning. Where is that bastard?" Ed asked grumpily folding his arms in front of his chest. Riza might have been inclined to think that something really did happen based on Roy's sudden exit, but she couldn't be sure about Ed's reaction. He always seemed to be upset with Mustang.

"The colonel had to take care of something, you are stuck with me until he gets back." – she informed with a bit of humor as she noticed Ed looking a little disappointed that the commanding officer wouldn't be there for a while.

"Have you eaten anything yet today?" she asked as a second thought.

"No," Ed replied curtly, not looking her in the eye. What's with everyone and her eating habits?

"I'll whip up something, will be right back."

It was well into the afternoon by the time the Flame Alchemist returned, with a folder in hand. He found Al and Riza talking in the living room. They must have come out to let Ed sleep.

"Welcome back, Colonel," the lieutenant greeted, getting up from the couch. "Sorry for not staying longer to chat, but this will be my cue to leave. I left some soup in the kitchen," she said to the both of them as she got ready to leave.

She already stayed longer than she originally planned and with Mustang on "house call," the paperwork at the office really needed her attention. Also with no supervision, the other men in Mustang's team are bound to slack off. Just like their commanding officer, she added mentally.

After Riza left, Roy went to Ed's room and sat in his usual chair. After he found that Ed was looking better, soundly asleep, he just kept staring into space at nothing in particular. Al came in later too, his armor clanking slightly as he tried to be quiet and sat in the other chair picking up the earlier book. After a few hours of Ed not waking up, Mustang decided to retire for the night. Hopefully, with Ed feeling better, he wouldn't need the older man's constant attention, and Mustang really needed a good night's sleep after the night and day he had.

It was in the middle of the night when Roy awoke to alternating soft thuds and bit louder clanks of flesh and auto-mail legs walking the hardwood floors. He got out of bed and went to open the door to his bedroom on the end of the hallway to find – just as he suspected – Ed sneaking around bundled up in a blanket.

"Just where do you think you are going, Edeline?" he inquired humorlessly as he flicked the switch on in the hallway.

Ed froze in place for a moment then turned around pretending to ignore her name.

"Just went to the bathroom. See no boots," she said sticking out her flesh foot at the slit of the blanket around her and wiggling her toes a bit to show that she was not planning to escape like last time. When she got no answer and was met with hard onyx eyes unfazed by her lame joke attempt she cast her eyes down on the floor.

"How did you find out?" she asked finally embarrassed.

"Saw the bandage around your torso when I opened the door on you in the bathroom. Also, the very feminine reaction at it got me thinking," he smirked a bit as he recalled the flying soap bar.

"I figured that much…" Ed mumbled as she blushed at the mortifying memory. "But how did you find out my name? I thought there were no records of my birth."

"Well, yes, the whole situation got me thinking. And everything just sort of clicked into place by this revelation. Explained why you were avoiding doctors or adamant about people not touching you. So I went and checked at the archives today, and yes indeed the only records we have under Elric is what we filed when you joined the military and your mother's death certificate. At first, I didn't know what to believe. Until that is I realized, there was no record for Alphonse, and that Elric is your mother's maiden name. Did you know that in Amestris it is customary for children to inherit their father's name, even if the parents are not married?" he asked rhetorically not expecting an answer and just kept on with the explanation.

"It took me some time since you didn't supply your father's name on the form, but after a few phone calls, I managed to find out that his last name is Hohenheim. And guess what I found? Records for Alphonse and Edeline Hohenheim. My only question is, why?" he asked desperately.

"What do you mean… you surely know why…" Edeline sighed. "Female State Alchemists are not accepted. This was the only way for me to get access to the resources the military provided to return us to our old bodies."

"That's not what I mean. I can fully understand the gender swap. Why lie to me?"

Edeline didn't know what to say to him. She pondered her answer for a few minutes looking everywhere but Mustang.

"You never asked, you just assumed when we first met, so I just went with it. I didn't know then if I could trust you. Frankly, I didn't trust anyone. I didn't know if you would still help us if you knew. If you were willing to bend more rules for us," she explained, her eyes trained on the floor, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Why not say anything since then? You know me now. You know I would do anything to protect my subordinates," he challenged so sadly, it made Ed flinch away a bit with regret, but she had even less answers to that one. Why haven't I? she wondered.

"I honestly don't know," she whispered finally so softly that she wasn't even sure Roy heard her.

But he must have because the next thing she knew is that she was drawn in a big fatherly hug by Mustang. It was so alien and so comforting at the same time it made her freeze in her place for a moment. Then it almost made her cry. Almost. She buried her face in the chest in front of her and mumbled the only question that came to her mind.

"Are you going to tell anyone?"

"No. Not if you don't want me to."

"Not even Hawkeye?"

"Not even Hawkeye."

Ed seemed to relax a bit at that but then suddenly whipped her head up again.

"But what about the records? If you found them, surely others can too!" she exclaimed panic-stricken.

"I have the only copies right here. You can do whatever you want with it. I also filed Al's alongside your fake one under Elric, so it's less suspicious," he said with a mischievous smile on his face.

"But… but… how?" she looked shocked. The Colonel Roy Mustang tampering with official documents… go figure.

"Oh… the archive lady has a thing for me, it wasn't that hard," Roy smirked.

"Womanizing bastard…" Edeline mumbled inaudibly. Or so she thought since said bastard laughed out at that.

Just then Al stuck his armor head out onto the hallway. And was shocked to see Ed in a bear hug.

"Brother is everything all right?" he questioned just as Roy released the blanket bundled Ed from his arms.

"You can drop the pretenses in front of me, Al."

"What?"

"It's fine Al, he found out."

"Oh."

"Yes… OH."

The blond alchemist entertained Mustang in his humble abode with her presence and antics for a few more days, just to make sure she was fully recovered. They never really spoke about the incident ever again, but in the end as a sign of trust, Edeline left her records with her commanding officer for safe keeping since she wasn't planning on living her whole life as a male. Just until she could get Al's body back.

THE END