Chapter Text
"Any other points before we close the meeting?" Batman asked.
Roy fervently hoped the answer was no, but today just wasn't his day.
"The Fullmetal Duo applied for League membership again," Superman replied.
Roy rather wanted to vote no on that on principle for drawing out the meeting when all he wanted to do was get back to his own bed in Central. The mission had run long and by the end of it half the team had been on edge and what had started as a final mission debrief had devolved into a full League meeting halfway through.
"Who?" Shazam asked.
"Again?" Blue Beetle chimed in.
"The Fullmetal Duo protect East City," Roy explained, if only to get this over with. "Fullmetal does matter manipulation, Ghost can possess inanimate objects, typically a giant suit of medieval armor, but he's also possessed things like radios for communication purposes."
"And they've been applying for League membership basically since they appeared on the scene three years ago," Wonder Woman added.
"They have an impressive record," Cyborg said, eyes absent in a way that told Roy he had drawn up their file, "In three years they killed no one and there's no major structural damage to their name. Currently trying to take down a new group of rogues which have set their eyes on East City.
"That's good enough to warrant looking into them," Green Arrow said, "We dismissed them due to lack of experience, but each alone is a heavy hitter, together they seem to be a force to be reckoned with."
And the League could always use more heavy hitters, much as Roy hated it. Seemed like every year the crises got bigger.
"Do we know why they want into the League?" Batman asked, "That they started asking from the very beginning is suspicious."
"We don't," Superman replied, "But we should ask them."
"So we send someone to assess them," Wonder Woman said, "And decide on their membership once we know more."
Green Arrow turned to Roy. "Hey Flame, you used to operate in East City. It's basically your home turf."
It wasn't quite an order, but they were all exhausted and Green Arrow had apparently decided to throw Roy under the bus. Roy vowed to make him pay for that.
"Then it's decided," Batman said before Roy could get a word in. The man was an asshole. Roy thought for a second about arguing, but he was too damn tired for even that, so he just said "Fine," and added Batman to his shit list. Maybe he could bribe one of the man's many kids to extract his payback for him.
Roy hadn't been in East City in years. It was strange seeing it now, reminders of his past on every corner. Most of them were tinged with the heavy feel of depression, but this city had also seen his first forays into vigilantism. He'd found his calling here, had learned to use his powers for more than death and destruction.
Overall Roy preferred Central City to all the reminders of his past and with Fullmetal taking to the streets his former home was in good hands.
He sighed and looked around. He had about an hour to kill before his more mundane excuse of coming to the city would take his attention. There was a coffee shop on the corner and since even a full night's sleep hadn't quite cured him of the weariness the last mission had left him with, he decided it was his best idea yet.
The place was more crowded than he expected and Roy remembered belatedly that East's university campus was just around the corner, but the idea of finding somewhere else was even less appealing than waiting in line, so he just sighed again and settled in to wait.
Riza would be here soon and probably have all the information he needed for his day job. And Maes was on gathering information on the Fullmetal Duo, so by nightfall he should be caught up with that as well.
He shuffled forward when the line moved, caught a glimpse of golden hair and eyes and his mind flashed back to a little kid staring at him wide eyed, blood covered, trying to drag another kid out of danger, crashing glass all around, the air acidic with something that might just be poisonous.
Then he blinked and the young man had moved to the door and in a quick second decision Roy abandoned his place in the line to follow. "Ed?"
The man stopped, turned. Roy had not misremembered, golden eyes looked back at him curiously, before widening. "Roy Mustang?"
Roy smiled reflexively, a little flattered that Ed had remembered him. "That's me."
"Oh man, I can't believe you're here!" the young man exclaimed, then looked at the clock, "Damn. I can't stay. Hey, maybe we can catch up later? Dinner? I'll pay!"
Roy blinked, unsure if Ed was just exceedingly friendly or if he'd been asked out by someone who'd been about as tall as his hip the last time he'd seen him. But Roy was curious what had become of the very first person he had ever saved, so in the end the answer was easy. "Sure." He could always argue about the paying for dinner part later. He didn't have much else to do until night fell anyway.
"Okay. Yeah. Great. Do you know Da Tino? Six o'clock?"
"Sure," Roy agreed bemused.
Ed nodded. "Right. Sorry, I really can't stay, but it was nice meeting you again."
And just like that Ed was out of the door, starting a light jog.
Roy looked after him a moment longer then went back to the end of the line to get some of his own coffee.
The restaurant was small, situated in some backyard off the beaten path and when Roy appeared he was led to a small table to find Ed already there. The young man looked good too, white shirt, brown waist coat working well with his unusual coloring. He did still wear gloves though.
Ed smiled at him, blushing a little and Roy had the sinking suspicion that yes this was very much meant to be a date. If Roy had been looking to hook up with a civilian he might have considered it. Ed was handsome. Very much so. But civilians were a liability, so that was that.
Well, he was here now and until Ed brought it up there wasn't much he could do. Not to mention eating with a handsome young man and admiring the view wasn't exactly a hardship. And he did still want to know what Ed was up to these days, so: "Hello again."
"Hi," Ed answered, "I'm glad you came."
Roy shrugged as he sat down. "I have to admit I was curious what happened to you and your brother."
Ed's smile dimmed. "Me, I've been good. Mostly. Al ... not so much. He never did wake up properly. Brain activity is all there. He can hear me, but his body just ..."
"I'm so sorry," Roy said quietly.
"Thank you," Ed said, and then: "And not just for the sentiment. For saving us. Forget superheroes. They weren't there, but you were and you didn't even need fancy powers."
Roy swallowed and carefully didn't let anything but a warm smile show, but inside he was ... it wasn't the first time he'd been thanked for saving someone. Though certainly the first time he was thanked as a civilian and with a backhanded compliment to boot. Or maybe it wasn't meant to be backhanded it just came across that way because Roy did have superpowers. Then again he hadn't used them when he saved Ed.
"You're welcome," Roy said, "I was happy to help." Literally. In saving Ed he'd saved himself too, from the depression and lack of purpose.
Ed grinned. "So what do you do when you aren't saving kids from villains?"
"I'm in politics," Roy said.
"Huh," Ed replied, "What are you trying to do?"
"Keep global conflict down," Roy replied, "War's already bad. War with superpowered soldiers is infinitely worse."
"Yeah," Ed agreed, a strange look on his face, before he shook his head, "So you any good at it?"
Roy shrugged, considered downplaying and dismissed the thought. "Very."
Some people wouldn't take that kind of confidence well, but Ed? Ed grinned, and he looked radiant with it. "Thought so." Ed didn't even know him, but it was still flattering. And then: "So what brought you around to my corner of the city?"
"A meeting with a weapons manufacturer," Roy said, "They are the ones running out of work if we get too much peace, so every now and then I like to see what I'm dealing with."
"Bradley Mechatronics," Ed said with a grimace, and then: "Don't let them fool you. They have enough non-military branches to stay afloat."
Roy raised a brow at the tone. Sure, they built weapons, but most people were a little more indifferent to that.
Ed's grimace turned darker and then he lifted his arm, peeled off the glove and held it out for Roy. There was no skin, just delicate metal. The image of that little boy flashed up again. Of how much blood there'd been.
"You lost the arm." And Bradley Mechatronics built advanced prosthetics. Carefully Roy reached out and took the offered hand. The metal was slightly cool and when Ed moved the fingers, stretching then curling them, it became even more real. That was a fully developed robotic arm, attached to a person. To Ed. It was impressive to see.
"The leg too," Ed supplied and yeah, Roy might have guessed that.
"Do I want to ask what Bradley Mechatronics did to piss you off?" Roy asked delicately, even as he planned to sick Maes at that question, if only to see if he could use whatever he found against them.
"Probably not," Ed replied with a sigh, then shook his head. "So, if you're back in the city, what else are you planning to do?"
"Visiting an old friend," Roy lied easily. He'd been too depressed to really maintain friendships, last time he'd lived here.
"And you're hanging out with me instead?" Ed asked, laughter in his voice, darker mood completely forgotten and Roy once again marveled how being happy could light Ed up. It was a good look on him.
Of course Roy would appreciate it more if that line of questioning wouldn't lead to more lying. So: "What is this, twenty questions?" he shot back, though he made sure to keep his tone easy, teasing.
Ed shrugged. "I was eleven when I last saw you and not exactly in the right frame of mind to ask anything sensible. By the time I got curious you'd vanished off the face of the earth."
"I moved to Central," Roy supplied.
"And didn't leave a forwarding address," Ed said, "Or at least not one anyone was willing to give me."
"You went looking?"
Ed shrugged. "I wanted to thank you properly. We owed you."
Roy wondered what he would have done with that, back then, then shook the whole thought off. "You didn't owe me. That's not how it works."
Ed cocked his head. "You're probably right. I just grew up on balancing chemical equations, the concept stuck with me when I was that age."
Roy tried to imagine eleven year old Ed trying to fit the whole world into a chemistry formula and had to smile. "So, did you stick with it? Chemistry?"
"Nah," Ed shook his head, "I'm in R&D." The grimace was back, "In Bradley Mechatronics." Ah. That was unexpected. "Working on brain-electronic interfaces."
That made more sense. He'd said Al's brain was active, hadn't he? "For your brother?"
Ed nodded. "Started with one that allowed him yes or no answers and extended it so he could write stuff using Morse code. That was before I got a degree and a real job in the field, so these days it's a little more sophisticated. If you want to meet him, he can hold a conversation, though the voice interface is still shit."
Before Roy could even think about it a phone rang, the tone just a little bit off, though Roy couldn't put his finger on why. Ed grimaced. "Sorry." He dug a mobile out of his pocket and pressed it to his ear.
"Yes?"
A deep frown. "Shit. You good till then?" A pause. "All right, I'm on my way."
Roy raised a brow, but got distracted by his own phone chiming. A text from Riza: "Villains sighted."
"Sorry to cut this short," Ed said, "Al needs me."
Roy nodded, glad he wouldn't have to explain that he needed to go.
"But hey, if you're staying for a while, maybe we can finish this another day?" Ed suggested.
Roy wasn't sure about that. The date vibes hadn't become stronger, but he also couldn't dismiss it. Not that Ed wasn't nice to talk to. If he hadn't been a civilian and someone Roy had known when he was a kid, Roy might have gone for a second date, if only to test the waters. As it was Roy wasn't about to pull a civilian into his life, never mind one who was only twenty-three.
Ed's shoulders slumped a little at his silence, but he rallied quickly. "Even if not," He scribbled a string of numbers on a napkin, "Send me a message you made it home all right. These new villains are no joke."
Roy took the napkin with another nod. Ed seemed sincere too, rather than angling to get his number. "I will. Be safe out there."
Ed nodded. "You too."
And then Ed was gone, striding out of the restaurant, only stopping to hand the nearest server a few bills. Paying for their meal after all. Damn it.