Yes, it has been four years. Four long years since the last update. Four long years on hiatus.

But before you can jump with joy at this unexpected update and my return from the dead, I need to say this first: I want to thank the reviewers of this story. If it weren't for your long, kind reviews, your helpful encouragement and your desperate pleas for me to never to stop writing this story, I wouldn't have mustered the Writing Juice I had to sit down, plan out this next chapter and write it all up in a few days. It's been a long time since I ventured in the FMA fandom so it has been very difficult for me to get back into this story. But one miraculous morning, I happened to randomly click the mFM Reviews button, sat back and read through pages of your comments. Goodness, these comments.

Your reviews - detailing your thoughts about each chapter, about what you liked and not liked, about what you think could happen next, about my writing and my ideas - your reviews have helped me so much for they have touched me deeply in my heart and reminded me why I love writing this story so much. They became the necessary fuel to get me back on track with this story and attempt a new chapter. And for that, I am so grateful to all of you for your support and I thank you for all those reviews, favourites and alerts. It's been one heck of a journey.

I dedicate this extra long chapter - spanning 12, 186 words - all just for you, Readers, for not giving up on me. I invite you now to sit down with your hot cup of tea and some biscuits and brace yourselves for a (hopefully) emotional ride. Onwards then!

-18-

When Roy woke up one morning, it was still dark outside. He turned to his bedside table to check his alarm clock only to find it gone. He squinted at the empty space, trying to remember exactly what had happened to it when the memory of him throwing the clock at Edward during his brief period of illness came back to him. Sighing, he groped around in the dark to switch on the bedside table lamp so that he could check his wristwatch instead, only to discover it, too, had gone.

Ah, Roy suddenly remembered: Christmas day, just as he finished cleaning up and was stumbling back to bed with his headache, he had tripped over a wire, sending the lamp crashing to the ground. After sweeping up the remains and dumping them into the bin, he ignored the lamp's absence for the next few days because he had no problem sleeping in the dark. Now, he realised he rather missed it.

When he came down to breakfast the following morning though, he discovered his favourite coffee mug was missing.

"Edward," he called, squinting at the crockery that was neatly arranged in the kitchen cabinet. Somehow there seemed to be fewer plates, bowls and mugs stored on the shelves. "Coffee mug," he grunted through the haze of sleepiness that still hovered over him. "Where?"

"You smashed it, remember?" Edward muttered from over several frying pans. He was cooking eggs, sausages and pancakes at the same time and he was getting rather good at it too. "You should be more careful with your own things when you get sick. Don't come crying to me when you discovered your favourite mug got smashed just 'cos you threw a fit."

Roy discovered later on that a list of the things he had destroyed while he was ill was stuck on the fridge door with a magnet. It was written on a small piece of paper with Edward's untidy, kindergartener's scrawl.

"Is this really it?" gasped Roy as he perused the list which included items from crockery to furniture to the house lighting ("your tantrums actually cause short-circuits, you know") and several electronic devices including his alarm clock, his mobile phone and the toaster ("don't look at me. You got mad when the toaster refused to spit out your bread one morning").

"Did I really do all this?" Roy groaned weakly, staring down at the list in his hands. He startled when Edward loudly plunked down a large plate of his breakfast and sat down opposite him. "Yes you did," he answered bluntly, his expression serious not to mention a tad bit accusative. "And yes, you should feel ashamed of yourself."

"I can't remember half the stuff I destroyed on this list," said Roy, shaking his head. His hair was getting long for his fringe was now obstructing his sight. He pushed it out of his eyes.

"Were you that delirious when you got ill?" Edward said, scoffing. He plucked the list out of Roy's hands and pushed the breakfast plate in front of him. "Go eat. When was the last time you had a decent night's sleep anyway?"

"Last night was a decent night's sleep," Roy replied straightforwardly, picking up his fork.

"Funny, you could use a few more," Edward commented with a frown as he studied the other up and down. Roy guessed that Edward must have noticed he still looked a little pale this morning. The persocom held up his metal hand, "May I?"

"Yeah, sure," said Roy distractedly, offering an open palm to the other and when nothing happened, he glanced up and saw that Edward had hesitated in his actions, like he was unsure about what he was about to do. When the persocom noticed his puzzled gaze, Edward reached out and very lightly touched the inside of Roy's palm with his metal fingertips so that he could read his temperature. He found the tips of Edward's fingers pleasantly warm on his skin. For one mad second, he felt the urge to take the whole hand in his.

"You're getting better," was Edward's verdict as he withdrew his hand in a sudden quick motion. It almost looked as if he was snatching it back to avoid being zapped by a live wire. Roy quickly took his hand away as well. The skin of his palm was tingling and he rubbed the sensation off with the hem of his pyjama top.

"So the list," began Roy, regaining his composure and spooning a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"The list," said Edward, holding up the piece of paper. "You know what we've got to do."

"We could do it tonight." The shopping, of course. They both meant shopping to replace the broken items on the list.

At Roy's suggestion, Edward gave him a deeply scrutinizing look. "Do you even know what tonight is?" he asked, shaking his head slightly. "Boy, having no alarm clock sure messes you up. You don't even know what day it is, do you?"

Roy snorted and realized his mistake when a bit of egg went down the wrong pipe. He coughed, "It's Wednesday."

Edward rolled his eyes. "It's Sunday. It's also New Year's Eve."

Roy stopped eating at once. A slice of pancake peeled off his fork and flopped messily onto his eggs. It was already the 31st of December. The New Year was almost upon him. Sometimes he couldn't believe how fast time flew. "Then when do you want us to buy these things anyway?" he asked, ignoring his fallen pancake slice and absentmindedly played with a piece of sausage with his fork instead.

"I dunno," Edward shrugged. "Tomorrow maybe."

"You know very well that shops close on New Year's Day. Let's just get these things today. I'm starting to miss my table lamp. Wait, is 'table lamp' on that list? Could you put that on the list? Wait, here's a pen–" Roy tilted his seat backwards to balance it on two legs, a habit he knew Edward greatly disliked, and reached for a stray pen on the counter near the wooden block that held a set of kitchen knives. He slapped the pen in front of Edward.

"Why don't you write it down?" Edward complained.

"Well, I'm in the middle of eating, aren't I?" Roy said with a smirk. He pretended to be busy skewering some of the eggs, sausage and pancake all onto one fork. Edward looked like he wanted to argue but he snatched the pen up instead and carefully wrote TABLE LAMP on the piece of paper with his left hand.

"Done," he announced, smoothing the piece of paper out. "I guess we'll go to Central Parishes again. They're still having that End-Of-Year Sale. Oh damn, this is going to be a bloody nightmare."

Indeed, when Roy and Edward drove to the Central Parishes, they found themselves circling the crowded parking lot several times before they could snatch an open parking space. By the time they got out of the car, it was already noon and the winter sun shone weakly down upon them through the haze of cold air. Despite so, nothing could prepare them for the sight of the department store the moment they stepped into its well-lit surroundings.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," Roy murmured as they stared at the mob of people flowing through the aisles of the department store like a multi-coloured swamp. Giant labels announcing Special Offers for the End-Of-Year Sales hung from the panels on the ceiling. There were display carts everywhere, their products knocked askew from their careful arrangement into a messy, disorganised pile while others were left bare and empty, all its the products sold out.

"This is worse than the Christmas sales," Edward pointed out in horror as he stared incredulously at a pair of women who seemed to be having a tugging contest with a designer bag. A couple of security guards were pushing past the crowd of shoppers in order to reach them.

"We should just get our stuff from the list and get the hell out," Roy advised as he motioned for Edward to take out their list. The persocom dutifully pulled it out from the pocket of his coat, smoothing it with his newly gloved hands. They were the white gloves that were identical to the ones that Mustang was also wearing.

"Let's get this over and done with," muttered Edward and they set off.

It took them most of the day to gather up the things they wrote on the list. Edward decided he rather enjoyed shopping with Mustang in circumstances like this. It was almost like a game to them in which one of them pushed the trolley around and instructed the other to search for their next item. The aim of this was to collect the shopping items as fast as they could without much trouble. It proved easier said than done though when Edward almost got into a fight with an enthusiastic house-wife who was determined to get a set of spoons for her elderly mother. In the end, he decided to let the spoons go. Roy had been wandering nearby and he was having trouble fighting the urge to laugh out loud at the incident.

By four-thirty, the day was beginning to grow dark. They joined a long line of shoppers all queuing up to pay for their purchases in the electronics section of the store and they finally had their turn twenty minutes later.

"Rough day?" said the cashier, a pretty young woman with long, blonde hair that she let loose from her braid the moment Roy and Edward's turn came.

"You wouldn't believe it," Roy agreed with a sigh. He felt weary and exhausted from shopping extensively. He was tired of examining items, tired of fighting through the crowds, tired of the fluorescent lights in the department store. He longed for his plasma screen TV, the couch in his living room and the blanket from his bed. Also, to hell with his stupid table lamp for being the incentive for bringing them here in the first place.

"I can relate," chatted the cashier as she took their items and began to manually type the codes into the cash register one by one instead of scanning them directly like she did for the last 4000 customers she served. "It's been pretty hard on me too. Today felt like a 2000-hour shift to me. You know. Zaps the strength out of a poor girl." She kept glancing at him, meeting his eyes, in between her typing. Beside him, looking as exhausted as he was, Edward was eyeing them both with a frown.

It was then that Roy was beginning to realise that the cashier was casually flirting with him. He now noticed it from her gaze, or the way she was tilting her head, the way she had let her hair loose so that it curled softly around her shoulders, the way she smiled.

"Could you go a little faster?" came Edward's suggestion, delivered in a tone of exasperation and impatience. "You still have to serve 34 more customers after us." Although the comment was meant to be helpful, Edward made it sound a little intimidating instead. Roy sent the other a stern look.

"Be nice," he hissed lowly.

"Make her go faster," muttered Edward back. "I'm already running on low battery as it is."

Roy turned back to the cashier with a smile. "Is there something wrong with your scanner?" he asked politely. "We're sort of in a hurry."

The cashier blushed. "Oh, oh no. I'm sorry. Ah, it's just, ah," she picked up the scanner and waved it about. "Doing this about two hundred times gets a little tiring, you know what I mean? So, I thought I'd stretch my fingers a little if I typed the codes in instead." She bit her lip and smiled through it and then suggested weakly in an embarrassed tone, "You don't mind if I just scan the items, do you?"

Roy couldn't help but chuckle at the cashier's flustered manner, "No, no, please. I insist."

"Sorry about that," she said and picked up the box containing Roy's new table lamp. "Oh, I have one of these too," exclaimed the girl with a grin as she scanned it in. "Really good, this one. You can adjust the intensity of the light. Also has the options of having voice-command or touch-sensitive if you're the nostalgic sort. Only fault it has is that you have to remember to turn it off all the time when you're not using it or it can overheat."

"I'll keep that in mind," Roy answered with an affirmative nod.

"So, uh, going anywhere nice later on tonight with your wife or…your girlfriend?" she continued casually with a smile, tilting her head a little.

Roy shook his head and his too-long hair got into his face again. "I'm actually not married or with anyone," he informed her, unconsciously reaching up to push his hair back. He thought he heard the cashier let in a sharp intake of breath and when he glanced at her, she was blushing wildly on the spot. Beside him, Roy could feel Edward's disapproving scowl on the side of his face.

"Oh wow, me neither," said the cashier, sounding a little breathless. "I guess we both aren't going anywhere nice on New Year's Eve, huh? What a strange little coincidence," she let out a girlish giggle before quickly stifling it, looking very embarrassed at her behaviour. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I'm so sorry. It's been a long day for me. And I'm sure it's the same for you too. I get kind of lonely when I come home on Sale Days like this. You know what I mean? Now it's New Year's Eve and my parents are out of town and my sister's having a baby so this is me, alone again, not going anywhere nice. Maybe…" she paused and a shy and hopeful smile formed on her lips. "Maybe we could not go anywhere nice together…?"

Roy studied the cashier once more and acknowledged the fact that she was indeed rather pretty and he guessed that she was a couple of years younger than him; someone who just got out of university and was working a job at the department store in order to pay off her student loans. Despite all this, he realised there was something awfully off about the situation he was in because this was familiar, oh-so-familiar to him, as this was a scene he'd been in many times before. But now something was wrong, something was missing and it felt like a scenario where an actor from a theatre play had forgotten to deliver their lines, causing the performance to collapse around him.

The girl was still looking at him, expectantly and hopefully at him, and Roy realised just why this whole scene felt wrong: He wasn't flirting back. Even when he'd pushed the hair out of his face and most definitely made the cashier swoon off her feet, it had been done unintentionally. He wasn't flirting back with her. He used to do it all the time. It used to be an automatic response. Now, he felt nothing, did nothing, and it was foreign and very unlike him. Was he simply too tired to do so? Just how much had he changed these last few months? For a moment, he was tempted to take up her offer because it was something that he should do but the thought of Edward at home alone on New Year's Eve stopped him. Last year, he wouldn't have minded taking another girl out but that had been a time when he came back from work to a dark, empty apartment. Now, Edward was there every time he went through the front door, usually with a scowl on his face and a new insult on his lips.

He realised he had been staring at nothing for almost a minute when he felt Edward's elbow nudge him sharply and his low hiss of "Hey, Mustang" by his side. Roy roused to find the cashier still waiting for his answer but the smile on her face was slowly fading. Noticing his lack of attention on her, the smile returned, although delivered in a wry manner, and she turned to total up the amount, her cheeks bright pink and her face looking dejected. Instantly, Roy felt awfully guilty for his rudeness and swallowed hard, quickly fumbling into his wallet to pull out a wad of Cenz and hand it to the cashier with a mumbled apology.

"No, no, I should be sorry," said the cashier apologetically. "I shouldn't be coming on to you like that. I've been serving customers all day and I haven't met– you know, well… it's just that you–" She let in a deep breath as she expertly counted Roy's amount. "You- You just look amazing, okay. For a customer, I mean… well, you know what I mean." She laughed sheepishly and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Er… thanks," Roy replied uncertainly, also rather taken back at the cashier's bold, straightforward honesty.

"Tell you what," she said, still looking hopeful as she cashed in the amount. "I'll write my number down for you on your receipt if you change your mind. We could just hang out or something. As friends, I mean. Contact me sometime." She deposited the change and his receipt with her number on it onto his waiting hand and Roy felt her fingers brush the skin of his wrist before she drew back and winked, "Have a Happy New Year. Hope to hear from you soon."

The walk back to the car was silent, both Roy and Edward seemingly too exhausted to speak but were mutually relieved to emerge into the cold night air, away from the stuffy interior filled with crowds of people. Once they were on the road heading towards the direction of home, Edward began to speak.

"You going to call her?" he asked, a sharpness present in his tone. He wasn't looking at Roy when he spoke for his gaze was directed on the road ahead. Roy glanced over to study Edward's expression. The persocom was frowning, his jaw clenched tightly as he stared straight ahead.

"Are you okay?" was Roy's comeback instead. He had a feeling that he knew what was going on with Edward and found himself a little bewildered at the thought.

"Why are you asking me that?" There it was, that tone. He recognised it. He wasn't sure if Edward did too.

"If I hadn't known better," Roy chose his next words carefully. "I'd say you were jealous."

Perhaps he wasn't wise with his choice of words after all because Edward turned around and said darkly, "I am not."

"Fine, so you sound jealous," Roy put it another way and he'd struck gold because Edward looked taken aback at his words and leaned back on his seat, now mellowed.

"I don't understand. How can I be?" murmured Edward in bewilderment. "The way I look at it, right. That girl, she was pretty. You know, for a human. Pretty for a human. And she was attracted to you. Anyone can see that. I asked you just now whether you'd take up her offer which I doubt you won't. I didn't expect to say it in such a way that it made me sound jealous. What the hell would I be jealous of anyway?"

"I don't know," Roy murmured with a shrug. "You were probably jealous because she liked me."

"Everyone likes you," Edward corrected, and then he added in an accusative tone, "Because you make everyone like you. You charm them, make them think you're a great man. But I know the real you: you're bossy, you're manipulative, you're obnoxious and sometimes, you get borderline annoying. Which is often. Now why would I be jealous of another girl who wants to get to know the real you when I've already been there and done that?"

Touché, Roy thought. Although, despite the logic in Edward's speech, Roy couldn't help feeling that it just sounded like a case of denial, as if Edward was convincing himself that he shouldn't be feeling jealous. But Roy knew better. One day in the past when he and Edward were still on bitter terms, Edward had dealt with Roy's flirting with random women with scorn and contempt. Now, it was jealousy in denial. Goodness, things sure had changed between them.

"So are you going to call her?" Edward asked the question again, breaking through Roy's train of thoughts. "And I'm asking you this out of curiosity and nothing else."

Roy wasn't sure what to answer. He wanted to tell Edward that yes, he might actually call the girl later because she was attractive and had asked him out. He wanted to tell Edward that no, he wasn't really interested in her because he knew she was just going to tell him about her hobbies or which city she wanted to travel to in a few years' time. He wanted to tell Edward that maybe he'd like to invite her to their house so they could watch a DVD trilogy together until the TV announced the arrival of the New Year. He wanted to tell Edward he'd rather spend tonight like every other night, where Roy channel-surfed until two in the morning and Edward sat unmoving in the next couch, engrossed in his latest read and sometimes they fell asleep where they lay and woke up to a late winter morning where the sun had just begun to rise in the horizon.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in this anyway?" he asked instead, hoping to avoid the question as well as indulge in his own curiosity as to why Edward thought this was a good choice for a conversational topic.

"Just answer the question, will you," grumbled the persocom demandingly.

Roy sighed in defeat. "No, I'm not going to call her."

"You're not?" Edward sounded perplexed by the answer.

"What's wrong now?"

"You know, a few months ago, you'd have charmed the pants off a girl like that," Edward said in a matter-of-factly tone. "Literally too," he added with amusement. "But you didn't. You just stood there, looking stupid. Like her flirtations just bounced off of you."

Roy frowned at the comment, not really finding it at all funny. Sighing wistfully, he found himself murmuring, "Yeah, I know, right?" to his and Edward's surprise.

There was a pause. "What happened there?" said Edward tentatively, the astonishment evident in his voice.

"Not really sure," answered Roy with a shrug. He then added thoughtfully, "Something good, I suppose." He didn't want to mention that Edward was the change, that Edward was the thing that happened to him because he was a different man now, different from the one he was months ago, different from before Edward came into his life. Somehow, Edward made him a little better.

When Roy accelerated the car the moment the set of traffic lights turned green at a T-junction, Edward spoke again. "This has been on my mind for a while but… How about you tell me about your old persocoms?" he said, his tone quiet but with a tinge of insistence.

"What about them?" Roy said, slowing down to a stop to let a group of teenagers, some wearing flashing New Year party hats, others were blowing whistles and vuvuzelas, amble across the pedestrian crossing to get to the other side of the street.

"I dunno…" said Edward with a shrug. "Havoc tells me a lot of things but I want to hear it from you."

Roy glanced at Edward, unaware of the fact that the teenagers outside had finished crossing the road, leaving it clear from them to drive on. "Well, I guess it was going to come up sooner or later. You asking me that." He shuffled in his seat and finally realised that the road was clear of passing pedestrians. He put his foot down and the car shot forwards into the quickly darkening evening.

"I used to buy new persocom models all the time ever since I got promoted to department chief last January," he began heavily. "Every time a new model arrived, I sold all my old ones to second-hand stores or those shady markets. I think I've owned about twenty models or so this year. As you know, you're my latest one but you weren't my choice. I don't know what happened to the actual model I ordered but you came to my address instead. I actually got you somewhat illegally, you came from some black market somewhere. Since I couldn't return you, Hughes insisted I keep you anyway." He let out a snort and his eyes became glazed as he stared into the road ahead. He remembered himself saying one warm afternoon a long time ago, "I mean… just look at it. It's broken, it's malfunctioning, it's useless. Why would I even bother keeping it, Maes? I think it'll be better off recycled as a tin can or something…"

"One time we thought you were broken," he continued musingly out loud. "We'd never expected you to be this special."

Unexpectedly, Edward snorted at his confession as well. "Well, that makes the two of us," he murmured and paused for a bit, as if he was weighing the next words in his mind. "You know what? I've only read about it or watched it in a video or whatever so I don't know if it's accurate or not, but this whole thing, with me waking up and learning and experiencing things? I imagine this is how it feels like, you know, to be born into the world. Like how humans are born into the world. And right now, right now, I want to find out why I'm here. The same way other people search for themselves. About who they are." He suddenly stopped when he noticed that Roy had raised an eyebrow and a smile at him. He cleared his throat, a habit he picked up from Roy, and looked away, appearing embarrassed that his musings had taken on a philosophical turn.

"Anyway," said Edward, suddenly business-like again. "Why did you need to do that? All that buying and selling new persocoms?"

Roy hummed thoughtfully, his gaze back on the road. "I suppose… I liked the attention, you know? Being the first to get something new and amazing. I wanted to be recognised by everyone else, to have my name remembered. Doing so was my way to stay in the limelight, I guess."

"You liked to impress people," Edward bottom-lined it with a sneer. "Of course."

"Says the pot calling the kettle black," Roy shot back from the corner of his mouth, loud enough for Edward to hear. Edward looked confused at the expression and Roy could guess that the persocom was probably searching for the definition from his built-in dictionary. He was satisfied when Edward fumed on the spot once he understood what Roy was saying. Edward had a habit of boasting to his subordinates about his extensive knowledge on business and economics and occasionally electronics. He even began emailing Gracia Hughes about how his technique in cooking had improved immensely. Roy smirked at the thought.

"Alright, I guess I do too," admitted Edward in defeat. "Sometimes I can't believe we are so alike."

An awkward silence fell after that offhand comment. Roy thought it somewhat funny how the subject of their alikeness was an embarrassing topic for them to discuss. He cleared his throat, breaking the silence they found themselves in.

"So why ask me about those persocoms now?" he said, although he had an inkling of what Edward was going to say next and he was quite sure he knew what he was going to respond once Edward asked it.

"Because of one question," Edward said simply and hesitatingly, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the subsequent reply. He turned to look at Roy and his golden eyes met his directly, "Am I going to end up like them too?"

The moment Edward put the question forward, they had arrived home and Roy had to turn away so that he could park the car on the curb, right outside the front door. After turning off the engine and sitting still for a moment – because he needed a moment to collect his thoughts – he turned back to meet Edward's expectant gaze. Roy noticed a hint of dread in the other's face. Dread and trepidation and – was that fear? Was Edward afraid of the possibility that Roy would sell him off the moment a newer, better persocom model became available for him to buy? A persocom that Roy actually wanted – an attractive female model that he could command to do what he wished, could dress them up in outfits that he liked, could perform as the functional machine whenever he needed them to be?

But now, Roy knew that all those persocoms lacked the personality, the creativity, the intelligence and the soulthat Edward possessed. No, what was amazing – and so special – about Edward were so many things: how quickly he learned things, the little human-like gestures and habits he picked up from others, the rare flashes of genuine concern that would slip out of his expression, the excitement that lit up his golden eyes. Edward was special because he had picked his own name and made the effort to help organise a Christmas party to make Roy feel better. He was real, he was more real than anything or anyone he'd ever met in his life. No, the moment when Roy let Edward go, it would be the end of something good.

So Roy shook his head slowly and simply said in a nonchalant tone, "No. No, you're not."

A second later, Edward's face changed and Roy decided he rather liked it, the way the persocom's expression could be so easily read, the way the dread and worry in his face visibly melted into absolute relief. Edward's lips twitched into a smile and he opened his mouth, perhaps to express his gratitude when–

"Because you're not fully trained yet," Roy added mischievously because sometimes he just. Couldn't. Help. Himself. "I don't think you'll ever pass as a proper persocom with an attitude like that. You still won't let me use you for e-mail. How can I sell you off when you refuse to even function properly as a computer?"

Edward's mouth fell open at the unexpected comments Roy was stupidly spewing out of his mouth before his whole face contorted into an angry frown and he seemed to have puffed himself up to his full sitting height, like a little puffer fish ready to attack or defend itself. Edward's eyes resembled raging little twin Suns, ready to explode. "You," he managed to spit out but his voice was quiet and seething.

But Edward actually held himself back from continuing his rage, his shoulders slumping noticeably as he stared a little longer at Roy, stared at the mischievous glint in his dark eyes, the smirk on his lips, and muttered, "You are purposely winding me up, aren't you?"

"Finally caught on, eh?" said Roy, his smirk widening. But mostly, he was impressed. He was impressed and maybe a little proud because Edward was finally controlling his anger and was not taking Roy's teasing too personally.

"Go watch TV or something," Edward snapped, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car to collect their shopping from the car bonnet. "I've got an 800-page novel to finish before New Year's Day in a couple of hours."

"I thought you said you were already running on low battery," Roy said.

"Well, I lied."

As Edward departed with a slam of the car door, leaving him alone in the driver's seat, Roy Mustang thought back to the persocom's words and smiled. New Year's Eve. Aimless channel-surfing and some quiet, absorbed reading. He wouldn't have spent the remaining hours of the year in any other way.

OoOoO

The beginning of the New Year passed by quickly and uneventfully. Roy returned back to work two days later, fully recovered and initially cheery to be back in familiar surroundings, only to have his mood soured when he found new stacks of paperwork neatly piled on his desk and Riza Hawkeye passing him with a curt nod and an expectant gaze, while Black Hayate followed close by her heels. He also nearly fell out of his chair when he opened the shiny greeting card that was placed on his desk because a recording of Alex Louis Armstrong's voice bellowed out of the interior of the card, wishing him a Happy New Year and that he was sorry he couldn't stay longer after New Year's and also, did he like the personalised greeting card designed and hand-made by Armstrong himself as it was "one of the talents that have been passed down in the Armstrong generation!"

Outside his office, Fuery seemed to be in a gloomy mood because he had lost a considerable amount of money courtesy of a bet that he'd made with Breda and Farman relating to the failure of Havoc's New Year's date with a flower shop girl named Grace. While Fuery betted on the whole date being cancelled, it turned out that they did go on the date after all, only to have it end in a disaster because it turned out that Grace only agreed to go out with Havoc because he worked alongside Roy Mustang in the office and she hoped that Havoc would one day introduce him to her.

Overall, everything continued on normally like any other work day and Roy realised that despite everything that happened, it felt rather good to be back.

Outside, the temperature was mild enough to cause the snow to melt. What had, at first, been icy sheets of sparkling white had turned into ugly black slush that ran along every road, dripping down from whirling car tyres and splashing the melting pavements with mush. Edward decided he rather didn't like snow as much when it turned to this state. He trudged up the bridge he remembered tumbling over, taking care not to slip on the icy surface of the pavements. It was proving rather difficult and he could see the other pedestrians struggling to walk like him, making him glad he wasn't the only one moving like a drunk penguin.

Earlier that morning, he had finished the last book from a collection he bought online and once Mustang left for work, he quickly became bored of staying in the house again. Deciding to go out to alleviate his boredom, he took the time to change into the set of new clothes that Gracia Hughes had given him as another Christmas present. They were almost similar to the attire he always wore, comprising of a new black zipped jacket, black trousers and now, included in his collection was a black tank top. He was grateful for the change in clothes as his old ones had become frayed and torn at the edges over the last couple of months. After pulling on his favourite red coat and white gloves, Edward opened the door wide to welcome the days of the New Year and took a step outside into the wintry sun – only to have his foot land on a melting pile of black ice.

Right now, he had finished crossing the bridge successfully, although he had to hold onto the railings to avoid sliding down a particularly slippery solid sheet of ice. He was just making his way to the opposite street to head towards the direction of Rockbell FiXers when a lorry hurtled past, spraying him from head to toe with a giant wave of icy, black slush.

"Hey!" Edward squawked angrily, waving his fist at the lorry and began to shout abuse after it, ignoring the startled and uneasy looks from the other passing pedestrians. He shook the slush out of his hair and more dripped down onto his face, ruining his new clothes. He was going to have to clean himself up somewhere and there was no way he was climbing back up that bridge again to return home.

He found a plain and uninteresting café nearby and he stomped inside, dripping water onto the carpet and attracting a number of stares from the few customers dining there. He headed towards the Men's toilets where he was grateful for the ample rolls of tissue paper and working water taps. There was no one inside the toilets and no one came in while he cleaned himself up save for a sand-coloured folder tucked in the space between the mirror and a sink, looking as if someone had left it there and forgot to pick it up. Once Edward cleaned himself adequately and tossed the tissue roll into the bin, he approached the file and picked it up. Curiosity and recklessness urged him to peel open the folder and he read some of the words stamped across the first page in large, red letters:

CCPD FILES: CONFIDENTIAL: #777

FOR INVESTIG. UNIT ONLY

Before he could read the bottom words, there was a muffled crash as someone tripped over the bucket and mop placed outside and the door of the Men's toilets swung open. Edward quickly slammed the file shut as Denny Bloch staggered inside, dressed in a police officer uniform and looking panic-stricken, trailing water from his snow-covered shoes and supporting a large blue bruise on his chin. There were also bits of snow in his blonde hair. He swept his gaze over the area, his eyes eventually resting on Edward and the folder he held in his hands. The tension in his shoulders visibly relaxed and Denny let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank god," he gasped, sliding his way across the floor tiles towards Edward, his arms held out in gratitude. "Thank god it's still here, safe and sound." He suddenly stopped and stared hard at the persocom, his eyes widening slightly with recognition as he studied him up and down. "You're Edward," Denny exclaimed with a smile of surprise. "You're Edward, aren't you? Oh, hello! Remember me? Denny Bloch? We were, uh, invited to your Christmas party last year?"

"Yes, I remember you," Edward said, nodding affirmatively and there was really no need for Denny to reintroduce himself because Edward was excellent at recognising faces and names. He then held up the folder, which he was now certain belonged to the Central City Police Department. "I'm guessing this is yours?"

Denny gratefully took it from him. "Yes, yes it is," he confirmed and looked down at the folder. "Boy, if I'd lost this, Maria will kill me. Good thing I remembered when I was driving halfway to the station. Otherwise…" he trailed off and shuddered at the thought.

Noticing Denny's dishevelled appearance and wet uniform, Edward reached back to extract a roll of tissue paper, handing it to the man. Glad for the help, Denny began to clean himself up. "You looked like you crashed through a storm or something," Edward commented pointedly. "What's with that bruise there?"

"Oh, this?" said Denny, poking at the blue bruise on his chin and flinching in pain. "Ow, ah, yeah. I slipped on the ice when I parked my car and fell down. I'm okay though. Doesn't hurt all that much," he added, foolishly poking at the bruise again and flinching at the pain. The motion caused the folder to slide out of his arms and Edward caught it just before it fell to the ground. The front of the file opened again and he managed to see all the words on the front page:

CCPD FILES: CONFIDENTIAL: #777

FOR INVESTIG. UNIT ONLY

SUBJECT: THE SEVEN SINS

"Wow, nice reflexes," Denny praised, leaning down to take the folder out of Edward's hands. Edward straightened up, his eyes still fixed on the folder and felt curiosity burning intensely in his chest. The Seven Sins? It was all too tempting. He needed to know more. He lifted his gaze to meet Denny's.

"So, so the Seven Sins?" said Edward casually. He wanted to try a trick he had read from a detective novel. The trick, he remembered, was to play ignorant of the situation but recklessly provide the answers to the questions that you wanted answering. While doing so, your interviewee would feel compelled to correct your words, providing you with the right answers you required. "Is that like a fairy-tale story, 'The Seven Sins'? It is, isn't it? Because it sounds like one…"

"Of course not," answered Denny with a slight frown. "The Seven Sins are a very secret crime syndicate. So secret in fact that no one dares to mention them." He suddenly paused, realising what he had just revealed and licked his lips nervously. "Um, I don't think Maria would like it if I told you about them…" he began but Edward merely ploughed right on.

"A crime syndicate?" he was saying, cutting the rest of Denny's words. "They sound pretty dangerous. Their boss must be a wanted man."

"No, no," Denny corrected again, the frown back on his face. "Not one boss. Seven! The reason why they're called the Seven Sins is because there are seven of them and each are only known by the names of the seven deadly sins of humankind."

Edward paused to recall what exactly the seven deadly sins were and easily got them all: Pride, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed and Sloth. So the people who ran this organization were only known by these names? Indeed, they seemed to be very secretive about their identities.

"What do they do?" Edward continued, wanting to know more. "Do they kill people?"

"It's possible," answered the oblivious Denny, who had already fallen deep into Edward's trap. "They do many things, run many operations. They're involved in all things like arms-smuggling, robberies, black market retailing, DVD and digital download piracy. You name it, they've done it. We've been trying to bring them down for years and years. They're very difficult to track because they're so big, they work in the shadows, they have thousands and thousands of people working under them and no one wants to talk. It's tough but…we'll get them someday." Denny smiled, looking optimistic at the thought.

"So how far in the case are you guys?" Edward asked. "I suppose you're keeping surveillance on their suspected hideouts?"

"Not exactly," Denny said, sighing wistfully. "The closest lead we've got is with the police department in South City. There have been reports of customised persocoms going missing lately. We think they were actually stolen."

"By the Sins?" said Edward in interest. His mind began quickly making connections: Customised persocoms stolen? Customised persocoms – like him?

"Could be one of their minor operations," chatted Denny thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "It wasn't obvious at first when the 'coms went missing. We just thought their owners lost them. It was only when a repair shop got broken into and a batch of customised persocoms were stolen that alarm bells started ringing at our end. We knew it was the work of the Sins. They control all the black-market retailing. It's possible that some of those stolen persocoms were sold off there."

Edward was staring widely at Denny, hardly believing what he was hearing. His mind was racing with sudden ideas, with possible notions relating to him. Mustang had told him before that he was distributed from a black-market and Edward was now sure that said market was associated with the Seven Sins. Could it be? That he was stolen from his original creator too?

"You mentioned South City," Edward croaked, excited at the discovery of a new lead in the mystery of his past. "Were these customised persocoms stolen from the shops there?"

"Oh no," Denny said with a shake of his head, causing drops of water that had melted from the specks of snow in his hair to splash onto Edward's face. "That would be in Rush Valley."

"Rush Valley?" Edward said, gasping.

"Yeah, Rush Valley."

Rush Valley! Edward thought with realisation and delight. Of course! Why hadn't I thought of such an obvious place as that! Rush Valley, also known as Persocom Haven, a paradise for persocom enthusiasts, the founding birthplace of persocom technology, the city where humans worshipped the persocom and mingled with them like equals. If there was one place for someone to find the inspiration, the expertise, the equipment and the relevant parts to build a persocom, then Rush Valley was no other place.

A second later, Edward and Denny both jumped when a shrill ringing tone resonated off the tiled walls of the Men's toilet. This time, Denny had a firm grip on the folder so it didn't slip out of his arm. However, when he fumbled for his mobile phone, it fell out of his grasp and Edward was quick enough to catch it in mid-air.

"Thanks," breathed Denny, taking back the phone. "Gosh, I need to learn how to do that." He answered it and Edward could hear Maria Ross's voice on the other line.

"Where on earth are you?" came Maria's muffled grumble.

"At a café… I was hungry," Denny added desperately when they heard Maria cluck disapprovingly down the phone.

"Is that case file still with you?" Maria asked sternly.

"Uh, yes, yes it is," Denny straightened the folder in his arms, pressing it close to his chest. "Don't worry. It's right here and it's safe."

"Don't forget to bring it with you to the station. I hope you weren't reading it carelessly at the café. Other people might read it. It's confidential for a reason, Denny."

"Yeah, yes, I didn't read it. It's safe. Nobody knows about it," Denny stuttered, shooting a pleading look at Edward because he had already gone and disclosed the information to a third party. Edward felt guilty for tricking the poor man like this. He shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, absentmindedly rubbing on a stubborn stain that refused to fade on his coat. He heard Denny hang up the phone.

"Well, I've got to go now," Denny announced awkwardly, holding a palm up in farewell. "Urgent business, got to rush there. It was nice seeing you again, Edward. And, uh," he bent his head down and spoke in a quiet and desperate voice, "Please don't tell anyone else about the Seven Sins, okay? Maria would skin me if she found out."

Edward didn't reply but instead made a crossing motion over the left side of his chest with a forefinger, a gesture he had seen someone do on television, and Denny instantly understood and grinned with relief. "Thanks," he said, patting him on the shoulder, turning around to leave the Men's.

A second after Denny disappeared through the swinging door, there was another crash as he tripped over the bucket and mop he'd fallen over earlier, and Edward heard his mumbled apology of "Sorry! Sorry!" as the former stumbled away from the toilets and out of the café.

Edward turned to find his reflection looking back at him in the mirror. He saw the brightness in his eyes and the look of determination on his face. Inwardly, he was brimming with excitement.

"Rush Valley," he told his reflection and imagined it nodding back at him in finality.

OoOoO

"Rush Valley?" Roy said incredulously after he returned home from work to find Edward waiting for him at the kitchen table with a hot dinner ready for him to consume. He had not yet sat down to eat when Edward launched into a description of the findings of his day's events and the urgent request (or rather demand, more like) that they should not waste time and travel to Rush Valley at once.

"The important question is," Edward ignored the equally incredulous look Mustang was giving him that accompanied his incredulously-toned utterance. "Do you remember which black-market dealer you bought me from?"

"That's just it, I don't know," admitted Roy as he fell into consuming his dinner (beef casserole. It looked like Edward forgave the dish and decided to have another go at making it again). The casserole was delightfully spicy and Roy guessed that Edward must have added the extra spice that was not in the original list of ingredients in order to improve the overall flavour.

"You don't know?" Now it was Edward who sounded incredulous and he was giving Roy the deeply scrutinizing look again, as if Roy was somehow out of his mind. Half the time though, he thought he might be.

"I don't know," Roy mumbled again through a mouthful of buttered potatoes from a side dish nearby. He swallowed before continuing his answer, "My last persocom was the one who found the website. I imagine you make your order on a main central site but the actual products themselves would be distributed from different places around the country. If your theory fits, then it's possible you were sent from the South City faction and therefore, must have originated somewhere in that district."

"That settles it," Edward stated, the triumph apparent in his voice. "I could've been stolen from Rush Valley. We've got to go there."

Roy remained quiet as he took a long sip from his glass of milk, noticing from the corner of his eye that Edward was squirming at the sight of the liquid. He lowered his glass, wiping the milk off his upper lip with a napkin. Then he realised Edward remained unmoving because he was waiting expectantly for his answer.

"Right now?" Roy finally spoke. "Rush Valley? Right now?"

"Of course not right now, you dummy," Edward snapped but the insult came out half-heartedly, almost playful. "Maybe tomorrow or in a day or two. Whichever. The point is, we've got to go anytime soon."

Roy opened his mouth to speak and his words failed on his lips, "I ca–" He stopped and tried to think of a better way to say this without Edward misunderstanding the meaning but realised he couldn't find one. Sighing, he looked up at Edward, "The new year's just started," he tried to explain. "I'm not allowed to take leave this early."

His attempt was unsuccessful because Edward's eyebrow furrowed just slightly. "I thought you said you wanted to help me with things like this," he reminded him, his tone suddenly hard.

"Don't get me wrong, of course I do," Roy shot back sharply, surprising Edward, and he slumped back in his seat, feeling all but helpless about his situation. You know I do, he added quietly to himself.

Edward remained silent for a moment, pondering deeply about it as he tapped his metal finger on the table. "I could…go by myself," he suggested considerately. He sighed, "Look, I know your work is important to you so–"

"–There is no way I am letting you go alone," Roy cut in with a scoff, fixing Edward a stare and giving him a little shake of his head. "Besides," he added with a smile. "You want me to come with you."

"What the hell makes you say that?" Edward scoffed back.

"Why the hell are you even telling me all this in the first place?"

"Because you need to know."

"Because you need me to come with you."

Edward frowned, feeling anger bubbling underneath the surface again. He fought to control it. "If you're implying that I can't take care of myself–" he growled.

"I'm not, Edward," Roy answered earnestly, his expression stern. "Seriously, I'm not."

The sincerity in Mustang's words and his face were something so unexpected that Edward found himself rendered momentarily speechless. Mustang's eyes bore deeply into his, "If you ask me to come with you because you need my help, I'll do it. I will go."

They fell into a silence as they continued to look at each other, long and hard, a mutual understanding of unspoken thoughts passing between them. Edward had got it all wrong. Mustang was guaranteeing him his trust, his assertion to rely on him when Edward needed him most. Now, it was Edward's turn to guarantee him his. A few seconds later, Edward nodded approvingly, "So, what's the problem here?"

Roy frowned slightly and disapprovingly, as if Edward was a slow child (in fact he wasn't, Edward was brilliant, he was highly intelligent. It was only sometimes when he still acted like an annoying brat). "Didn't I say?" Roy said, exasperatedly. "I'm not allowed to ask for leave this early in the year. How am I going to pull this off without anyone reporting me gone?"

Edward hummed thoughtfully before meeting the other's gaze. A smile stretched across his lips, "I've got an idea."

OoOoO

This is a bad idea, Roy thought as he paced continuously around his office the next morning. This is a bad idea. And this is not going to work. How on earth could Edward think that such an idea would work? When he posed the question to the persocom yesterday evening, Edward had said, "Well, it worked in that TV show. The one about those alchemists looking for some stone. Nobody even noticed some of the characters switched places for a couple of episodes."

Roy had hissed, "Where on earth am I going to find someone to disguise themselves as me while I'm gone anyway?"

"You'll find someone," Edward had reassured. "Besides, everybody looks up to you in the office. Like that idiotic band of subordinates of yours. One of them could help you."

"Yeah, and if they did, they are idiots after all," Roy muttered under his breath. There was only one major thing that prevented Edward's idea from working.

"Hawkeye," Roy had grimly pointed out. "She'll know at once. She'll see through the disguise. She'll hunt me down and possibly disable me permanently so that I could never leave the office again." She also has a gun collection, he added to himself.

Edward had merely gazed at him, his expression grave, "There's no other way. I think she needs to be in on the plan too."

"I don't think that's going to work," Roy had said unhappily.

"Then you need to try," said Edward, his tone firm.

There was a series of slow knocks on the door, so soft that Roy almost didn't hear them. He stopped pacing immediately and croaked out, "Come in."

Jean Havoc sauntered slowly inside, his movements clumsy like an old man. He also looked rather poorly for his whole being wilted heavily, burdened by the mood of sorrow and despair. An unlit cigarette dangled from his drooping mouth, his head hanging low on his shoulders as he gingerly closed the door. A dark aura of gloom hung over his head like a cloud as he continued to stand there for a few seconds before he shuffled forwards in a daze, closer to Roy's desk. It looked like Havoc had yet to get over his failed New Year's date.

"You needed to see me?" Havoc droned nasally, his voice droopy as his shoulders.

"How are you?" Roy began conversationally, trying to keep the nervous tenor out of his voice. He knew it was a stupid question because Havoc lifted his head laboriously and blinked at him in an owlish manner.

"Fine," he automatically replied, stretching the word. Although it was very obvious that Havoc looked far from fine.

Roy swallowed as he continued to study the miserable Havoc. Why did he decided to share his plan with Havoc anyway? Usually if he had a secret to disclose, he would automatically turn to Hughes because they had been friends since they were children and were not afraid to confide in one another. Roy supposed that he picked Havoc because he was closer to him out of all his other subordinates. He had known Havoc since he first joined the company five years ago. Havoc had been his senior, the man who showed him the ropes, who told him the tricks of the trade. Once Roy had been promoted to department chief a few years later, he had been surprised to have Havoc working under him. In the subsequent months that they worked together, not once had Havoc harboured any ill feelings towards him. Well, apart from unintentionally stealing all his dates (it wasn't his fault really since the women Havoc dated kept throwing themselves at Roy's feet).

Now, his acquaintanceship with Havoc was about to be tested because Roy had a big favour to ask the man.

"I'm going to get straight to it," said Roy, his tone serious. He took a deep breath, "Can I trust you, Havoc?"

Havoc continued to blink owlishly at him, his face blank and difficult to read. Roy wasn't even sure if the other man was even conscious of his surroundings since he seemed dazed and out of it since his arrival into his office. Just when he thought that perhaps Havoc wasn't the right person to confide in after all, the blonde man opened his mouth and spoke soberly, "You want me to do something."

Roy looked at him in surprise. Perhaps Havoc wasn't as dazed as he first thought.

"Yes," Roy admitted, letting a speck of desperation show up on his face. "This is going to sound crazy."

"But…?" mumbled Havoc through heavily lidded eyes, as if he was ready to take in anything that Roy threw at him, however outrageous it sounded. Roy took another deep breath.

"I need you to cover for me," he said. "I need you to disguise yourself as me for a week. Just for a week, at least. I've got someplace important to go to and I don't want anyone to notice that I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" came Havoc's noncommittal grunt. Roy noticed his eyes looked a little more alert now and also a lot more wary.

"Rush Valley," Roy answered.

"Rush. Valley," Havoc repeated slowly, as if tasting the name in mouth. Then, his eyes widened dramatically and the unlit cigarette fell from his mouth and onto the carpeted floor. It seemed he had fully woken up. "Rush Valley. Rush Valley. You mean, 'Persocom Haven' Rush Valley? Why do you need to go to Rush Valley? Right now? At this time? You can't take leave at this time. You can't get medical leave either. You've used yours up last year. Missed a whole bunch of days. You can't go."

"Which is why I'm asking you to help me," said Roy steadily, keeping his impatience in check. "You just need to be me. Put on a wig, sit down on my desk, sign some papers and just look cool. It's just for a week."

"If I become you then who will become me?" Havoc yelped, motioning towards himself with his hands. "I mean, I'm also an important part of your staff."

"Well, I'm not allowed to get medical leave," said Roy as he folded his arms and sent the other a knowing look. "But you can. No offense but have you looked in the mirror lately?" Despite Roy's words, Havoc still looked slightly offended at being commented about his poor appearance and began to self-consciously straighten his collar. He had yet to notice the large coffee stains that were splashed along his sleeve.

"So you want me to take medical leave," said Havoc, his voice unsteady and strangely high-pitched. "So that I can dress myself up as you. For a week. While you go to Rush Valley like it's a holiday."

"It's not for a holiday," Roy said insistently.

"Then what is it?"

"Never mind that," Roy said dismissingly and fixed Havoc a stare. "Will you do it?"

"Wait, wait. You can't just give me half the plan and expect me to go through with it," said Havoc, a note of sensibility in his voice. "Tell me more about this thing you're doing. Why do you need to go to Rush Valley?"

"Look, will you do it?" Roy had begun to lose his patience. He was also becoming very annoyed with how Havoc was acting right now. "If you can't do it, I'll just ask someone else."

His words made Havoc stare at him incredulously, as if the blonde man couldn't believe what he was actually hearing. "Why do you need to go to Rush Valley?" he continued to ask stubbornly. It seemed that Havoc's bad mood had made him bolder and more confrontational with him. This time, Roy just shook his head, refusing to answer. The less people knew about what he and Edward were doing, the better. Havoc must have seen Roy's own reluctance to confide in him and stood back a little, regarding him.

"Look, we've been friends for years," the blonde man began, his voice wavering but still strong. His fingers were twitching for another cigarette. "We've been good, haven't we? Maybe I got jealous sometimes because you're better with the ladies and you're able to afford better persocoms but in the end, I'm still okay with it. Because you know why? You deserve it. All of this. I mean, I told the other guys out there about you, you know? About how you worked really hard for this back when you just started here. Remember when you spent nights at the office without stopping? How you had to kiss ass just to get into the big guys' good books? You were the only one in our section who had the guts to take the risks when none of us could, the only one who gave us all a good name. I was glad we got to work together when you became department chief because I knew you were someone we could all trust. The guys out there? You know, Breda and Farman and Fuery? Those guys, they look up to you, they believe in you. I mean, I trust you, Roy." He then stared at Roy, his blue eyes unmoving. "But can you trust me too?"

A heavy silence descended upon the room after Havoc's unexpected outburst. Roy was speechless to answer not because he had no words at his disposal but because he wasn't sure where to start. He had been ignorant of everything, ignorant about the thoughts of his own subordinates, about how they really saw him, about how he saw them. Obtaining that important position of department chief had made him cocky, conceited and condescending of others. He would never had anticipated Havoc telling the others about how he once started just like them – a young, fresh and unexperienced employee, and about how he struggled and fought through the agony and pain of hard work in order to reach the position of department chief in a few short years. He had thought that the reason why they admired him so much was because they were just so easily impressed to the point that they were obedient enough to blindly follow his orders. No, they did so because they already knew what he was capable of, they knew of his abilities and the goodness he could bring to their department. They did it because they believed in him.

Roy wanted to laugh at his own stupidity, at his ignorance, at this amazing realisation. He was foolish to think that his closest subordinates – that Havoc, Breda, Fuery and Farman were idiots because they weren't idiots at all. They were incredible.

"Havoc," Roy finally said, looking at his dearly beloved subordinate with a new light, the man apart from Hughes whose faith in him continued to remain strong and unwavering. "You're right. You deserve to know. I'm going to Rush Valley because of Edward."

"Edward?" Havoc stared at him, looking a little confused before it turned into suspicion. "You aren't… going to sell him off, are you?" he continued in a quiet, incredulous voice.

"Absolutely not," Roy was appalled by the accusation. "The truth is, we may think Edward was stolen. I mean, he is custom-made, right? The BEAch model I ordered was not. So how come I was sent a custom-made persocom and not a factory-made one?"

"…You think Edward was stolen from Rush Valley," said Havoc, piecing Roy's words together. "What happens when you do find out where he was stolen from? Will you give him back?"

Will you give him back?

Roy's mouth went dry as a small shard of fear burrowed its way into his heart. The thought never crossed his mind once. He shook his head, dismissing it. "I don't know," he said offhandedly. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess."

"Is this going to be dangerous?" Havoc sighed worriedly. His fingers were twitching again, this time because he felt nervous with concern. "Is it also possibly going to involve something illegal?"

Roy chuckled half-heartedly, "Maybe."

"Better you than me, I suppose," Havoc grunted and reached into the front pocket of his shirt to pull out a new cigarette stick. He stuck it in his mouth, rolling it in his lips before rolling his own eyes in defeat at Roy's waiting gaze, "Okay, you got me, I'll do it. Maybe if I become you, I could probably score dates that won't end up in disaster. I'm going to disguise myself as Roy Mustang for a week while he's gone and fool everyone, even– wait." He stopped and a frown of uncertainty crossed his face. "Wait, I can't fool Hawk–"

"No, you can't," said a stern, feminine voice.

Roy and Havoc jumped at the new voice, Havoc actually emitting a strangled half-scream before he covered his mouth with his hands to shut himself up. His new cigarette stick had fallen out of his mouth and rolled across the floor, stopping in front of Riza Hawkeye and Black Hayate. Roy was flabbergasted. How on earth did they not notice her enter the room? How much had she heard?

"Not everything," was her answer, as if she could hear the questions floating in their minds. "Mr. Havoc was saying he was going to disguise himself as you. You are about to go somewhere." Her red-brown eyes narrowed, "Explain."

"I was going to tell you anyway," Roy said, hoping his sincere tone would convince her that he was serious about disclosing his plans with her too. "I have to go to Rush Valley with Edward. We think he was stolen from there. It may be possible that he was created there as well. We have to find out if it's true."

"New Year," Hawkeye reminded, her tone cold and steely. "Bad timing."

"I know," said Roy desperately. "But this place we're going to, this thing that we're doing is important to Edward and I need to be there to help him out. It's only for a week and I asked Havoc to cover for me while I'm gone."

At the mention of Havoc's name, Hawkeye shot a glare at the blonde man who visibly shrunk back, as if burned by the intensity of her gaze.

"This company needs you," was all she said next but the rest of her words, although unspoken, were plain as day to Roy. She was also saying, You've worked so hard for this. I agreed to support you. Don't you dare screw this up.

"I know," said Roy dejectedly, nodding his head. "Believe me, I know. I know that it's the New Year and a new start for all of us. I know that a lot of people will be looking up to us for ideas and new plans. I know that it's a bad time to leave my responsibilities at the office when everyone from this department is counting on me to be there. Believe me, I know," he said again. "But Edward needs me more."

The last sentence was uttered so softly that Havoc and Hawkeye had to lean in to hear his words. Roy sighed and said, "Look, I know… I know you think that I sometimes do things for kicks but I've never been so serious about this in my life. This thing… this is big. It's too big for me– It's not about…" he stopped because his words were not getting him anywhere. He swallowed hard and tried again in a quieter, steadier voice, "There are some things that are much more important than me. And this is one of them. I owe him this, I owe Edward this. He deserves it. He needs me." He stared intensely at the two people in the room with him, at Havoc and Hawkeye, a look of pure desperation on his face. "I need you two to understand this. Please."

The room became very quiet afterwards, with Havoc looking quite astonished at Roy's disorganised explanation and Hawkeye standing very still beside him, her face carefully blank. Roy was sure he had Havoc's cooperation but he was not sure when it came to Hawkeye. If Hawkeye disagreed and refused to help him, their entire plan was over before it could even start. As the seconds continued to tick by in silence, Roy was beginning to feel disheartened. He finally looked away.

"Only if," Hawkeye finally broke the silence with her words, delivered sharp like a knife through butter. "Only if you let me come with you."

Both Roy and Havoc turned to gape at her in disbelief. They couldn't believe what they were actually hearing.

"What?" Roy managed to say but it came out as a squeak.

"I won't not repeat myself, sir," said Hawkeye, her voice monotonous as usual. "I will travel with you to Rush Valley."

Roy was incredibly relieved that Hawkeye agreed to this plan but he also desperately wanted to tell her that he didn't need a babysitter, that she should trust him enough to handle this on his own and not get distracted in the way, that it would be impossible for Hawkeye to come with him as other people would also notice her absence in the office and she could get in trouble. Hawkeye seemed to have read his mind because, to their astonishment, her lips twitched upwards and she actually smiled.

Well, it was very close to a smile, even if it was only at the corners of her lips.

"I did promise that I will support you, sir," she said through her strange little smile. "Consider this a display of that support, and for my belief in your pursuit."

Roy wasn't sure if he should feel glad or uncomfortable for her involvement in his and Edward's subsequent journey. He was genuinely flattered that Hawkeye thought his "pursuit" was one non-work-related thing that she supported him with but at the same time, he felt uneasy about bringing her along. It was bad enough to have Hawkeye's watchful eye on you in the office from 9 to 5 five days every week but imagine having her sharp gaze on you 24/7. He sighed and decided to trust her in her decision. There were some things more important than him, he reminded himself. And they never knew, Hawkeye could be a big help in their enquiry.

"There's just one thing though," Roy pointed out. "Someone has to dress up as you while you're gone."

"I know," said Hawkeye and she nudged her head to the side where Black Hayate was standing obediently by the door. The persocom dog suddenly gave a very loud bark that was sharp and piercing like a gunshot. Roy and Havoc startled at the volume of the noise and to their shock, the door of Roy's office burst open and in tumbled a bundle of bodies that landed onto the carpet in a heap of muffled cries and groans. It was the rest of Roy's subordinates – Fuery, Farman and Breda. They had been listening in to their conversation all along.

"H-Hello sir," Fuery greeted with difficulty as he was sandwiched between the heavier bodies of Farman and Breda. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"We weren't listening in or anything," grunted Breda in denial, speaking to the curious Black Hayate who had wandered close to the pile of heaped bodies because his cheek was firmly pressed onto the ground.

"We could help you out, sir," offered Farman, who had no difficultly in speaking or moving at all as he was lying at the top of the pile. "Just tell us what we have to do."

Roy felt a rush of affection for the people who were now present in his office, for the loyalty they were showing him, for believing in him, but he was already getting tired of repeating himself.

"You tell them the plan," he said nonchalantly to Havoc and Hawkeye before he turned towards his desk. "I'm going to have a nap."

-End chapter-

NOTES:

I remember always leaving my own commentary about my writing after each chapter. I guess there's no reason not to continue the tradition. I must warn you though - four years on, I think I have a lot to say so brace yourselves for lengthy author notes. Of course, feel free to skip these. I believe I like leaving notes because I like sharing my thoughts with you. It's sort of like my own Chapter Review of this story. Anyway, let us begin.

One thing that is obvious about this chapter that maybe the amount of character reflection in it, particularly in Roy's case.

Then there is the new perspective in Roy and Ed's relationship. Looking back at their progress, you can see how far they've gone - from mutual strong dislike to learning to be tolerant of each other to the more paternal kind of relationship of parent/child. This of course escalates to both of them growing to care about one another, then a bucketful of angst and comfort and forgiveness, and soon comes the little spark hinting at romance in the form of a near-kiss during Christmas time. But of course, the seed is still small and hasn't yet grown but I hope you can see its repercussions on their relationship now (of course you do, you clever people): Edward has become jealous of a girl who has asked Roy out while Roy admits to himself that he can't live without Edward. However, their interactions seem much more milder now (Ed sharing his thoughts about his experiences similar to "being born" with Roy) but the old habits - like Roy teasing and Ed insulting him - still remain.

The final scene focuses on Roy's relationship with his subordinates. While glancing back at the previous chapters, particularly the earlier ones where I still had terrible writing, I portrayed Roy to be arrogant and had a penchant of impressing others while his subordinates were in turn easily impressed by him. I guess this chapter was written to honour them because they are really valuable characters who should be appreciated by both Roy and us, the Readers. Over the years, I've had a growing fondness for minor characters so I really couldn't help shifting some focus to our heroes' relationships with other minor characters. Here, I'm glad that Roy is compelled to ask for help from Havoc so he could disguise himself as him (again, remember in episode 46 I think when Havoc and Fuery disguised themselves as Roy and Hawkeye?) and in doing so, is forced to question his relationship with Havoc and the other subordinates and undergo this massively amazing realisation about himself. I also noticed I threw around a lot of ramblings about "trust" between Ed and Roy, Roy and Havoc/subordinates and Roy and Hawkeye because I am something of a sap with character relationships.

On another note, to those of you who still remember the FMA 2005 anime, in the hilarious episode 37, Roy Mustang sneaks out to go on a date with a flower girl called Grace, whom Havoc was trying to woo. She makes a mention in this chapter as Havoc's New Year's date. The other subordinates have placed bets on the outcome of this date and the results are reminiscent of the one made in episode 37, where Havoc tries to ask Armstrong's sister out and the others bet on its failure (only Fuery was the one who lost any money). Another allusion to the anime is Edward talking about some TV show, "the one with those alchemists looking for some stone". I don't think we need anymore explanation on that.

Plot-wise, Denny Bloch returns to give us another significant clue. I think I may have made him quite careless and oblivious in this chapter, having been tricked by Edward into disclosing confidential information (this questioning trick is one I shamelessly stole from BBC Sherlock). Oh, and look. The Homunculi have been given an honourable mention in this story as the criminal syndicate, The Seven Sins. Unfortunately, they won't play a major role in the plot of mFM but we might be lucky to catch a glimpse of some of them. Stay tuned for that. But Denny does provide us with an important turn in this story in which our heroes journey outside their home in Central City to other parts in Amestris, beginning with Rush Valley!

Lastly, some general announcements about this story. Like I said, I can't promise you regular updates but I will keep writing this story as much as I can for you all. The aspects that I use in the formation of this plot is based mostly from the FMA 2005 anime and maybe one or two from the mangaverse/FMA Brotherhood (this is because I haven't yet seen Brotherhood - oh ho, I know I should). I had also had to go back and change some things in the earlier chapters to suit the plot - one change being in the Prologue about the location of the Black Market Edward came from, and secondly, regarding Roy's age which I have upped to being in his thirties. I figured being 25 and a department chief is pretty unrealistic, even for him.

So I guess this is it for now. I hoped you enjoyed this 12K-worded chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it and once again I would absolutely love to know your thoughts about it. Your reviews do help me a lot as feedback is the fuel for the writer's soul after all. I guess I should leave with some questions for you to ponder: What will happen in Rush Valley? Will Edward find himself a rival for Roy's affections when Hawkeye joins their journey? Will Edward find out where he was once created? Will Roy consider the possibility that if he continues to help Edward in his search, he might end up losing Edward forever?

Until next time, take care.