Chapter Text
Suddenly, Theo found himself holding a sobbing child. The boy had flung himself into his arms moments after he awoke, forcing Theo to catch him. It was so sudden, that it took a moment to register what the boy, Al, had said.
"Oh" he gasped, "no... no I am not your father. My name is Theophrastus."
He wasn't sure Al had heard him though, as the child only cried louder drowning out his words. The increasing clamor rang with an underlying metalic quality that Theo couldn't help but find unsettling. It was like nothing he had ever heard before. The sound of crying alone was a new experience for him, but the sheer grief of it and the way it echoed felt deeply wrong. Theo didn't know how to respond, so he just held the boy closer.
Of course, It was in that moment that Ed oppened his own eyes.
"Le' go o' m' br'r!"
Ed woke to the sound of his brother crying. It was a sound he would recognize anywhere, even as disoriented as he was. Something about it was different though... clearer. Opening his eyes, Ed searched the room for the source. His eyes fell to where his ears led while he subconsiously registered where he was.
"no" he mouthed at the sight of his brother. Ed was horrified to realize that Al was coated in the metal of their Father's antique armor. Al's steel face was burried in a stranger's shoulder sobbing tearlessly. Ed couldn't see the stranger's face from where he lay, but then the stranger shifted, arms tightening around Al.
"Let go of my brother!" Ed tried to yell. What came out was more of a hoarse slur of words, but it seemed to work somewhat. The man's grip on Al loosened as his head whipped around.
"Edward" the man said, voice oddly awestruck.
For a moment Ed thought it was Dad. The golden hair falling down the man's back and the golden eyes that were now examining Ed were the spitting image of Van Hohenheim. Had he come back for them!? But, no. One more second of observation dashed that brief dream. This man was much younger and more clean shaven. Ed felt stupid for even hoping. Hohenheim didn't even come to Mom's funeral, there was no way he'd be here.
The anger Ed had gathered dissipated as grief hit. Mom. Mom was gone for good. They had failed. They were alone. The reminder of Dad made it so much worse somehow. Mom was dead, and Dad might as well be. They were functionally orphans.
"Ed?" Al was still crying in the man's arms, but his head had lifted to look at his big brother. He started reaching towards Ed, seeking comfort as he always did. Ed lifted his own arm in response, trying to push through the agony of moving to sit up and reach Al.
"Oh no you don't!" a voice sternly interrupted.
Ed looked down to see Granny, who hopped up onto a stool beside the man and gently pushed Ed back down.
"You lo- a - - bl-" she explained, "-ouldn't b- -."
Ed tried to make sense of her words, but he was still groggy and drowning in mental and physical pain. Between one moment and the next, he lost consciousness once more.
The two weeks following the failed human transmutation were a blur for Ed. It was day after day of the same routine: Wake up, bandages, eat, mourn, repeat.
He learned at some point that their array had dragged the stranger into their lives, but he couldn't pinpoint who told him. He also wasn't sure when he was told about his recovery schedule, but he assumed it was Granny who laid it out for him. He was supposed to be ready for a regular prosthetic leg (not automail) in about a week.
It was like he was looking at the past weeks through dirty glass. It took concentration to differentiate one person from another in his memories and keep track of the rising and setting of the sun. He usually couldn't find it in himself to put in the effort.
Periodically, the stranger would come in and sit with him. The stranger didn't seem to talk much, but maybe Ed just wasn't listening. Maybe it was both. Regardless, the presence was almost comforting. The stranger didn't expect anything. The stranger didn't know Ed before.
Al visited often as well. He would always ask how Ed was feeling or if Ed was in pain. He asked a lot of questions actually. He was probably hoping to get a response, and Ed almost felt bad for disapointing him. Ed just didn't have anything left to give. Looking at Al was reminder enough of how he'd already failed.
Granny visited multiple times everyday to change Ed's bandages and to make sure he was moving enough to retain muscle mass. Ed didn't see much of a point in that. Sometimes Granny would also come in just to give the stranger a menial chore to complete. Ed wondered if she wasn't comfortable leaving the stranger alone with him.
Winry visited the least. She seemed like she was in pain everytime she looked at him. It was clear she didn't quite understand, and Ed realized he didn't want her to. The vacant expression he saw in his own eyes wouldn't suit her.
So, as Ed slowly recovered physically, his mind stagnated. He was stuck in that moment in the basement when he realized that Mom was never coming back. And everyone was too quiet or too careful to be able to shake him out of it.
And then the military arrived.
It was one man and one woman in full military dress who knocked on the Rockbell door two weeks after the failed human transmutation. Ed had been wheeled into the kitchen for breakfast and wasn't truly paying attention to the unwanted guests at first.
"Are the Elric broth-" the man started when Pinako answered the door. He cut himself off when his eyes landed on Ed. In four long strides he made his way to where Ed was sitting in his wheelchair and grabbed him by his shirt. Ed was light from both missing a limb and from skipping meals, so it was easy for the military man to fully lift him one-handedly.
Ed tried, briefly, to muster up annoyance about being manhandled, but found that he couldn't really care.
"I just came from your house" The man growled. "What happened there? What did you make?" he demanded to know.
The tone was enough to finally pull Ed's attention to the present. Undoubtably, the man saw the array in the basement. Ed had a belated realization that maybe he should have cleaned that up.
"We jus-" Al started from the kitchen table. He'd been out of sight before, but now that he had drawn attention to himself, Ed saw a flash of pity on the woman's face. The rage Ed felt at that woman's pity was the first real emotion Ed had felt in far too long. From the considering look the man shot him, Ed thought the man noticed.
Al was interrupted by the stranger pushing Al behind him.
"It was me." the stranger declared.
Now that he was a little more aware, Ed thought he should probably start calling the stranger by his name. He remembered being told it, but took a moment to wrack his brain for the memory of what it was. Leo? No. Maybe Tod? Definitely not...
Theo! that was it.
Theo was standing protectively in front of Al now, and Ed wondered when they had gotten that close.
"What do you mean it was you?" the man growled as he dropped Ed back into the wheelchair.
"I attempted human transmutation" Theo claimed.
As Ed stared at Theo, he noticed more details he had missed. Some were rather glaring, like the prothetic arm, and others minor, like the way he tied his ponytail low and loose and let the hair fall to the side over his shoulder (so unlike the tight high ponytail of Hohenheim).
And then Ed registered what Theo said.
"No! He's lying! It was me! I tried to bring our mom back." Ed croaked. It had been a while since he'd last raised his voice. The strain in it sounded pitiful even to his own ears.
The man looked between them and then nodded to Ed, "I believe you."
"No one who 'attempted human transmutation' would say it like that." he explained, mimicking Theo.
Ed nodded shakily.
He was coming to the realization that somewhere in the past two weeks he accepted Theo as one of his, and Ed was nothing if not protective of those who were his. He hadn't done a great job of it recently, but if this lucidity lasted then he would now. Ed wasn't going to let Theo take the fall for this. Theo didn't quite feel like family yet, but he was Ed's responsibility in a way, since Ed brought him here.
No! Absolutely not! Theo wasn't going to let this child suffer any more than he already had. Ed and Al were Theo's kids now, and he was going to protect them whether they wanted it or not.
Theo hadn't been lonely since he was pulled into that basement all those days ago.
Ever since they realized that the other didn't need sleep, Theo and Al had spent their nights talking or sitting together. Many nights were spent plotting ways to help Ed come out of his depression. Other nights were spent reading in companionable silence. Most nights were spent comforting Al as he mourned his mother anew and came to terms with his new physical reality. Theo quickly became a confidant and, he hoped, a friend.
Pinako watched him closely at first. Despite being the first to call him family, she was a suspicious woman. She often gave him tasks that kept him away from the most vulnerable member, Ed. Most of those tasks involved cutting wood outside or peeling vegetables in the kitchen. But these were rarely lonely because soon Pinako was assigning her grandaughter to the same work. Theo suspected these requests were meant as a distraction for the girl. She was often worried about Ed, but occasionally the work would relax her enough to smile. On one memorable occasion, the girl relaxed enough to throw a wrench at him when he asked what automail was.
Above all, Theo never forgot that Ed was the first person to ever reach out to him. Ed was the reason that Theo had this contentment now. Without that botched human transmutation, Theo may have suffered alone in the desert forever. Ed might be shutting everyone out now, but Theo felt that it wasn't the same as when his creator had shut him out. There was hope that Ed might be family too.
This feeling of closeness he'd been given was better than anything Theo had ever known. He refused to lose any member of his first real family!
With that in mind, Theo stalked across the floor to the threat and pulled him up by the throat.
"Leave him alone!" he growled.
The man didn't have time to respond at first as he wasn't expecting the sudden attack. For a moment, their positions mirrored the positions of Ed dangling in the man's hand from moments before. But then the man snapped his fingers and flames errupted near Theo's face, causing spots to appear briefly in his vision.
It was surprise more than anything that caused Theo to drop him.
"And who are you to these boys?" the man asked, straightening his uniform.
"I am their..." Theo stumbled, "I am Theophrastus."
"Their Theophrastus?" the man questioned wryly.
"..." Theo couldn't respond. He hadn't been given a title in this family yet. Not officially at least.
"Well then, it seems to me you have no say in this conversation" the man continued.
"I won't let you hurt them" Theo growled anyway.
And then the man and Ed were speaking at the same time.
"I don't plan to" the man said at the same time as Ed declared "he's our brother!"
Theo was struck with awe at that moment.
"I am their brother" he repeated, too shocked to be convincing.
"So I heard" the man scoffed, "well, I don't plan on hurting your brother. I'm here to offer him a deal."
Here the man turned to Ed.
"My name is Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. I am a State Alchemist. The next State Alchemist exam is in ten months. If you pass the exam and become a State Alchemist under me then I won't report you for committing the taboo. You have until then to decide."
With that, Lieutenant Colonal Mustang turned around and left, leaving chaos in his wake.
Everyone was yelling about what they should do, whether they should go on the run, or take the exam in Ed's place, or kill Mustang before he got out of town. That last suggestion was Granny's contribution.
All Ed could think about was that Al didn't have tears.
Ed had spent too long issolated in his mind and now the world was crashing in and he was remembering that his failure had consequences outside of himself. Theo was completely displaced from his time. What if he wants to go back? Not to mention how much of a burden Ed has been to Granny.
This might be the perfect opportunity to help his family! He might find a way to fix Al and send Theo back. He can get out of Granny's hair and stop making Winry so sad. This might be a really good deal.
"I want to do it" he yelled above them all. His voice had warmed up a bit from talking with the Lieutenant Colonal, so he was proud when it came out almost exactly how he intended.
"I want to become a State Alchemist" he proclaimed louder in the ensuing silence.
There was life in his eyes again.