Ed was on his way to the office, walking through down the street and enjoying the fresh air of spring. Though he loathed the rain, the budding trees and cool breeze were rather enjoyable, and he had to sit in an office all day with Mustang. He grimaced. He approached the large white building that was HQ and trotted up the stairs. He wandered the halls and headed to find the black-haired bastard that wanted to ruin his day. He stood in front of the double doors to Mustang's office, kicking them open. They swung to either side, revealing no one in the office, not even the ever present Hawkeye. Their desks were all filled with paperwork, so he chalked it up to them going out for a while. It was near lunchtime, after all. Wandering further into the empty office, he turned the knob to Mustang's own private workspace.

"Hello? Mustang? Anybody home?" He called into the inner office, before finding just who he was looking for, asleep on the couch. Ed chuckled. "Hah. Slacker." He padded over to his side and knelt down beside the couch, then put a hand on his shoulder to shake him awake. Roy shot up with a start, fear evident in his eyes and the sweat running down his face. He snapped without thinking. He snapped without looking. He snapped without checking to see just who he was burning. He snapped, and by then it was too late. An orange glow lit up the room, shadowing Roy's dark circles. Fire filled the air, catching on a red sleeve and riding up the fabric. Roy squinted, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing, when a shrill scream pierced the hot air. Roy's heart dropped into his stomach. He knew that scream. Oh, god. Oh god, no. Please don't be hurt. Please tell me I didn't hurt him.

The fire died down and the smoke cleared the air. Roy frantically searched the room, his eyes falling onto a small red bundle on the floor.

"Ed!" Roy screamed, falling to the floor and turning the boy over. His blonde hair was singed and coated with soot, framing his pained face. His eyes were screwed shut and his jaw was clenched, teeth bared. His breath came in shallow pants. His left cheek was painted an angry red, skin weeping. The real damage lay further down. The sleeve on his left arm had been burned away completely, revealing the entirety of his arm was badly burned, skin red and blistering, and black in the places it wasn't. Roy held a hand over his mouth. He did this to him. He had hurt Ed. He burned him. He had burned his 13 year old subordinate.

"Shit, Ed! I'm so sorry, Ed. I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you." Roy cried. Ed whimpered and writhed in pain. Roy reached out to Ed's arm.

"No! Don touch. Don touch. Hurs." Ed slurred. Roy felt his eyes well up with tears.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I'm so sorry. I know it hurts. I'm sorry." Roy apologized, peeling off the remnants of Ed's coat from his injured arm. Ed let out a choked scream, tears beginning to fall from his eyes.

"Ow ow ow! Stop! Stop!" Ed pleaded, his breathing fast and shallow. Roy felt his heart split apart. The kid was in pure agony, and it was all because of him.

"It's gonna be okay, Ed. I'm so, so, sorry. It hurts, I know." Ed shook his head and sobbed. His heels dug into the ground and he kicked his legs back and forth, as if he were trying to dig a hole through the hardwood.

"Sir, I heard screaming and I-" Hawkeye stood in the door way, her eyes widening in horror upon seeing the small writhing form on the floor. Roy looked up to her, tears streaming down his face.

"Call an ambulance!" He begged, gripping Ed's automail hand in his. Hawkeye was frozen for a second, before nodding and running behind his desk to call 911.

Roy pulled Ed into his lap, wrapping both arms around Ed's waist and setting his chin on top of his blonde hair. Ed had calmed a little at this point, his tears drying against his face. He hiccuped and panted in Roy's lap. Roy kissed the crown of his head.

"It's okay, kiddo. I'm so sorry. It's gonna be okay. You're alright." Roy didn't know if he was trying to comfort Ed or himself. Hawkeye came running back over, dropping to her knees in front of the two. She ran a gentle hand through Ed's hair.

"What happened?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of Ed. Roy sniffed.

"It all happened so fast- I- I didn't know it was him- I was dreaming- I didn't know!" Hawkeye hushed him soothingly.

"It's okay, sir. He'll be okay. Just calm down. The ambulance will be here in a few minutes." She reassured, taking a seat next to them both. "How are you feeling, Edward?" She asked, her voice soft. She carded her hand through Ed's bangs in a calming manner. Ed snuffled and whimpered.

"Hurts." He whined, a tear rolling down his cheek. Riza brushed it away with her thumb.

"I know, Ed. It's okay. The ambulance will be here soon and they'll give you some medicine to make it better, okay?" She soothed. Ed nodded drowsily.

"M'kay." He croaked, head lolling to the side.

Two paramedics ran through the doors, stretcher in tow.

"What happened?" Asked the female, setting down her bag and looking Ed over.

"It was an accident with fire. His arm and cheek are burned." Riza answered, knowing Roy was too distraught to say anything. The paramedic began cutting off Ed's clothes.

"What's your name, sweetie?" She asked, smiling at Ed. Ed sniffled and wiped his nose with his right hand.

"Ed."

"Alright Ed, I'm Marissa. I'm going to help you, okay?" She explained, removing the torn clothing, leaving Ed's injuries fully exposed. The burns completely covered Ed's arm down to the fingers. The damaged skin ran up Ed's shoulder and neck, stopping on his cheek just before his eye. Roy wanted to vomit at the sight, knowing he was responsible for the gruesome injuries on the kid's tiny body. Ed's arm was too mangled to insert an IV, so they had to do so on his neck instead, putting an IV catheter straight into his jugular and securing it down with tape. They pried him out of Roy's arms and lay him down on the stretcher. Roy still reached out and grabbed Ed's automail hand, as if reassuring himself that he was still there, still alive. Roy ran alongside the paramedics as they wheeled the stretcher through the hallways and out the doors. They loaded Ed into the ambulance, Roy followed.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Asked Marissa as she secured an IV line to the access port in Ed's neck.

"Hurts." Ed responded, eyes half lidded.

"I know, honey. We're gonna give you some medicine to take the pain away, okay?" She replied, injecting something into the IV port. The result was instantaneous. Ed's brow unfurrowed, his arms and legs fell slack, and he unclenched his jaw, a look of pure relief and bliss on his face. Roy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. At least the kid wasn't in pain anymore. "Is that better?" Ed nodded, his eyes closed. She smiled at him. The two made quick work of running water over the wounds, washing away any soot and grime. They deftly trimmed away dead skin from his arm and fingers, with Ed not even noticing. Roy ran his hand through Ed's hair and down his face.

"How are you feeling, kiddo?" Ed's head lolled over to look at Roy, he smiled dumbly.

"Loooooopppyyyyyyy..." Ed giggled, his eyes glassed over. Roy chuckled and wiped stray tears from his face.

"Loopy?" He asked, pushing Ed's bangs back over his head. Ed hummed in pleasure.

"Yupper... very very loopy. Like I'm fluffy inside." Ed added giddily. He looked up to Roy's watery eyes. "Noooooooo..." Ed whined. "Don cryyyyyyy. Be happy." Ed demonstrated with a lopsided smile. Roy just cried harder. Ed frowned. "Why sad?" Roy hastily wiped the wetness from his face.

"I'm sad because I hurt you, Ed. I burned you on accident." Ed shook his head with a smile.

"But doesn' hurt no more. See?" Ed smiled, looking more like the child he was. Roy smiled weakly.

"I'm glad it doesn't hurt anymore, kiddo." Ed nodded sleepily.

The ambulance pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. The paramedics pulled Ed's stretcher out and into the hospital. Ed whimpered and reached for Roy with his automail hand. Roy reached out and held it.

"Dun' leave."

"I'm right here, Ed. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"I promise."