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Chapter Text

After his initial delight at getting out of his piles of paperwork, a glimmer of dread started seeping in. Missions assigned by the Führer himself never promised anything good for Mustang. Those were few and far between, but every time a summon notice came, he felt uneasy: What if he had figured him out? What if his ambitions had come to light? And if missions from the Führer himself were infrequent, then those that required Roy's presence in Central were almost unheard of. Central had plenty of alchemists skilled enough to take care of missions there. And to be briefed by Bradley personally? That was simply terrifying. The last time Roy was in the Führer’s presence to receive orders was when Executive Order Number 3066 was issued. The memory did nothing to ease Roy's anxieties.

Roy was going right into the unknown, and he despised being in the dark. Knowing meant being ready and being ready meant surviving.

Steeling himself for the worst, Roy knocked and let himself in. The waiting room was as spacious as always, with only the Führer’s assistant at her desk.

"His Excellency is waiting for you, Colonel. The Major is already there."

The Major? Did she mean Armstrong? But what mission could they possibly have together? Alex was a part of Investigations, there wasn't much he and Roy could be requested for specifically. The only reason for Roy to be summoned here could be his alchemy, but even though he and Alex fought together, their alchemy styles weren't the most compatible. That almost certainly ruled him out. Yet who else could it be? Roy couldn't recall anyone with the rank of Major that he had worked with recently. Maybe someone was promoted? But Roy would have heard of it, wouldn't he?

Knocking again, this time on the door of the Führer himself, Roy forced his usual mask of indifference on. No use speculating, he'd find out in a moment.

And find out he did…

Being stationed in the East, Roy didn't know all that much about Edward Elric, who operated mostly in Central, but that didn't mean he hadn't heard any rumours. Some said he had been recruited by His Excellency himself, others that he killed his own brother in cold blood. Some believed he was the devil's spawn for his unconventional use of alchemy (what the heck that meant Roy had no clue), others claimed that he was Bradley's illegitimate child… And even though Roy never believed the craziest of the gossip, he knew better than to disregard it altogether. The consensus was that the guy was unhinged, and Roy heard it from one too many people not to believe it.

So imagine Roy's surprise when he saw Fullmetal in the flesh. Now he could see why the rumours appeared and he was inclined to believe that they were not unfounded. The way the guy carried himself sent chills down Roy's spine. Cast in all black, he stood so still that Roy couldn't even see his chest moving. Was he even breathing? His hair colour was yet another oddity. Not quite blond, but almost... golden? Was it the reason he had "metal" in his title? But no, then why not call him Golden?

His title was another reason for rumours. He was skilled at metal alchemy, that much was a well-known fact, but why Fullmetal? Not Allmetal or something?

"Your Excellency, sir! Colonel Roy Mustang, reporting as ordered!" No matter how weird and eerie the guy was, Roy could never lose his cool and forget his place, not in front of Bradley.

"Welcome, Colonel! You're just on time! Now the mission..."

The Führer’s address made Fullmetal finally move and look right at him. After Ishval, Roy wasn't afraid of many things. Seeing the worst humanity could offer would do that to you. But when he looked into Edward's eyes, he barely suppressed a shudder. The lad's eyes were empty.

And empty eyes meant trouble.

Devoid of any emotions, of will to live… Roy had seen such eyes in Ishval. He knew a Colonel once, his former CO, who (ignoring all the fraternisation laws) tried dating a Major from a different platoon. On the battlefield, survival was their priority, so no one cared to reprimand them. Back then, Roy found their attempts to hide disgustingly sweet but didn't really mind. It was somewhat refreshing. Then she died in a surprise attack. His eyes lost all their life that day. He followed her soon after, almost taking his team with him. Losing his light meant losing his desire to live, and losing his desire to live meant losing awareness on the battlefield. And that meant death. The only reason Roy himself was still alive was thanks to none other than the Hawk's Eye who swiftly took down his attacker mere seconds before he could get stabbed.

Such empty eyes never sat well with Roy, but on such a young face it was outright daunting. Was the kid even 18? Well, Riza had enlisted young (following him), but given the fact that at the State Alchemists held the rank of Major by default, he couldn't possibly be too young, could he?

Those empty eyes caught his, and Roy realised he might have been staring, so he forced himself to look at the briefing notes.

He did not look forward to working with such eyes.

"Understood?" asked Führer, seemingly unaware of Roy's inner turmoil. Why did they have to work together again?

"Yessir!" they replied in unison. Roy wondered why Elric's voice sounded like an angry loud whisper.

The mission itself was pretty straightforward, really. The military received some intel that an extremist group had gathered at least 5 alchemists to aid in whatever they had been planning. After sending an undercover State Alchemist to infiltrate the base of the group known as "Amestris von und für Menschen" they found out a lot of disturbing information. First of all, they had not 5, but at least 15 alchemists and counting. Even more alarming was the fact that they had not one, but two former State Alchemists among their ranks. That alone said something about their manpower. Secondly, their plan was not as trivial as the military might have expected. Instead of aiming at eliminating some higher-ups, they wanted to blow up the entirety of Central Command at the same time as all its branches. Despite his hidden dislike of the military command, Roy could never allow such an atrocity to happen. The number of casualties would be enormous, and that was the very thing Roy was trying to prevent.

And the choice of countermeasures was smart: according to the intel, one of the former alchemists was the Alu-alchemist who, before being stripped of the title was known as the Aluminium Alchemist. And who could best the Fullmetal Alchemist in fending him off? Roy's use was more multifaceted. Apart from his combat prowess (unless it was raining), he would be useful in incinerating whatever weaponry and blueprints they were planning to use (the fact that he'd have to incinerate the criminals in case something went wrong went unsaid).

The fact that there were just the two of them would allow them to catch the perpetrators off guard, and their person from the inside would jump in to help them, further confusing the enemy.

The plan was good, Roy had to admit it, at least to himself. He understood the necessity of sending two skilled alchemists, such as Elric and himself. He truly did. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

Maes was not amused.

"Roy, I don't like it! He's a dark horse among the military! Do you know why he's called the Mad Puppy of the Military? They say he doesn't care about anything! Property damage, people… he just follows orders. The Führer’s orders!"

"Maes…"

"Don't Maes me, Roy! I tried to do a background check on him, but even with my S level of clearance, it came out mostly blank! Just his age (gosh, he enlisted at 16!), the fact that he had a brother who died in the fire he caused, and his automailee status and that's it, Roy! Not even his automail is specified. And his headcount… There's no one but his brother. His own brother, Roy! Everything else is just TS!"

This time, Roy couldn't suppress a shudder.

"Look, Maes, I don’t like it any more than you do, but what choice do I have? These are the Führer’s orders."

"Sorry, Roy, I get it, just be careful. I'm afraid that his orders are to get you killed. You sure you didn't anger Bradley in any way?"

"Positive. Some healthy ambition has never hurt any soldier. And Bradley didn't sound as if something was amiss. It was just a very important mission debrief. I can't tell you all of the details if you aren't already in on it, but I understand that it's the best course of action. Two alchemists best fit for the mission were summoned. That's it. Enough of this depressive shit."

"Sure thing, Roy! Now, why don't you listen about my darling Elicia? She's just turned one and she's already so adorable!.."

"Hughes!"

Chapter Text

The mission went wrong. The mission went terribly wrong, but not for the reasons Maes had feared. It was an ambush, they were set up, and judging by his reactions, Fullmetal had nothing to do with it.

Everything started relatively normally. They met up at their rendezvous point, went over the plan assigned to them (or more like Roy did; all Fullmetal said was a curt "yessir" at the end and nothing more) and set in motion.

The first hint that something was wrong was just how easily it all had begun. Yes, it took them some time to find the correct warehouse on the outskirts of Central, but they were still following the suggested time frame, so everything seemed according to plan. The keyword "seemed".

The warehouse needed was detached, so it took them a while to get there, but so deserted… as if no one at all was there. And yes, the intel said that at this hour there's almost no one as everyone is busy with their rounds. But shouldn't there be at least a guard or something? Or was the intel just too accurate?

Even Fullmetal had proven to be capable of something more than a blank stare: the closer they approached, the more focused and even doubtful he appeared. Or so Roy thought. The guy's emotions seemed too muted to properly decipher, but if even he felt something was off, then Roy had to address the issue.

"This is weird. Too weird to be right. We may need to come back."

"Our orders are to stop them today. Disobeying orders means desertion. Desertion means death."

Fuck, those were some strong beliefs! Did he truly think that or was he… somehow conditioned?

"No, major, I'm not insinuating anything even close to desertion. Just be careful, something doesn’t feel right."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm cautious as it is."

How badly Roy wished to have the Hawk's Eye watching his back. But alas, orders were to come alone with just the two of them to be as inconspicuous as possible. But Hawkey was the definition of inconspicuousness, so Roy had every right to be upset.

Silencing his screaming instincts, Roy agreed to continue. After all, what could go wrong with two highly skilled alchemists?

They reached the backdoor of the warehouse on high alert. There was no movement they could hear, no flicker of light or shadow they could see, but the unease prevailed. They were told to enter through the back, as at this hour the door was supposed to have no guard at all. Something didn't add up. For such a big and dangerous group, shouldn't they have one person to spare to watch out for intruders?

Still, they proceeded, carefully checking out for alchemically set traps and/or "ninja" guards that could've tried to stay unnoticed. There was nothing. Soon (sooner than Roy would have preferred), they reached the door and Fullmetal gave it a careful tug. It didn't give in. At least they had some kind of precaution in place. The guy didn't seem to be deterred by that and quickly took the glove off his right hand. It glittered in the light of the rising sun. Are hands supposed to glitter?

"... automailee status … not even his automail is specified..."

Oh yes, automail. With how ordinary he looked fully clothed, Roy forgot about its existence altogether.

"Got a problem with it?" Fullmetal whispered blank-angrily. Can one be angry and emotionless at the same time? Elric certainly could.

"Of course not, major." And Roy truly didn't. From what he heard, automail was tough, so the guy just earned some respect from him.

He was angled away from Roy who kept watch (such were the orders), so he couldn't see the guy's manipulations. But he heard a faint clap, then a click and the door opening. That was fast. Fullmetal turned to him, and Roy nodded, catching his glance. They proceeded in, greeted by silence. There was no one in sight. Roy almost felt relieved.

Then everything went downhill. Roy heard a floorboard creak under their feet, Fullmetal gasp, and then a faint "whoosh" sounded from behind, and what felt like a thousand needles landed onto his skin. And then nothingness.

Freaking darts was his last coherent thought before losing consciousness.

Waking up was not the most pleasant experience. His first thought was, "Why the heck did I drink so much?" but then he remembered that he did not, in fact, drink at all. Fuck, the mission. They were ambushed by a freaking trap with freaking tranquiliser darts! Two skilled alchemists, his ass! They were caught off guard and now were tied up in some windowless room (probably the basement) with their hands bound. And his gloves were nowhere to be seen. Fuck, they knew whom they were dealing with.

Whom...

Wait! Roy had been with Fullmetal! The surge of worry shot through him. Weird or not, he was Roy's comrade (hopefully).

The worry was dispelled pretty fast, it just took him a quick but painful turn of his neck to the left. The relief was short-lived, though. The guy was not moving. Shit, he was tiny compared to Roy, the same dosage could actually kill him.

"Hey, Fullmetal!" Roy whisper-shouted, trying not to cringe at how groggy his voice had sounded. The guy didn't stir.

"Major!"

Nothing...

"Edward?" Roy was trying not to panic, when...

"Al?" came the confused whisper. Then Fullmetal seemed to realise his situation because the look on his face quickly turned from sleepy to terrified to his blank mask in an instant. Roy didn't even have time to blink.

"I'm glad you're okay."

Fullmetal didn't reply. His stare seemed even emptier than before.

Roy decided to give him a moment to collect himself and took stock of his own injuries. Luckily, there seemed to be none apart from the stingy pricks left by the darts. So someone waited them out, took them by surprise and then just tied them up? What was their agenda? And who set them up?

"We need a plan. We cannot sit and wait for them to put their plan in motion."

"Can't we? Why don't we just gi…"

"Don't you dare finish that line of thought! I have a team to come back to, my family, my goals!.."

"Huh… At least you have a family to come back to." He looked different, somehow, contemplative. Maybe he wasn't as empty as they thought. "Well then, I have an idea."

"Huh?" Now it was Roy's turn to be surprised.

"Well, they are stupid." Roy couldn't really agree with calling people who thought of such a consulted plan stupid, but well, he wasn't about to object. Maybe the guy really had something in store. He somehow became the youngest state alchemist, Roy had to give him some credit. But the rumours about Bradley… At least, the guy deserved to be given the benefit of the doubt. Thankfully, he decided to elaborate on his insult: "They didn't do their research. They bound two of my hands together. Idiots."

Roy was still confused. Tying their hands up seemed to be an effective way to stop an alchemist given that the rope and knots were tight, of course. Theirs were freaking wires. So no way to draw a circle. To do alchemy, you know.

Fullmetal seemed to sense his confusion. His face turned sour and grief-stricken for a millisecond that Roy wasn't sure he hadn't imagined it and then he smirked. He actually smirked. Yes, it was a muted and tiny smirk, but a smirk nonetheless.

"You'll see. I can break us free when the moment is right."

How? Roy almost asked but didn't. For some reason, he felt apprehensive of the answer.

"Let's wait for the night then. I can hear we are not alone now. Let them drop their guard thinking we have given up." Like you almost did, Roy didn't say. But it dawned on him that if Fullmetal had been alone, he would have given up. He wouldn't try to escape. He would be waiting for his fate. Roy shuddered to think what it meant.

Making small talk while captured probably wasn't the best idea, but what else could they do whilst waiting? At least, the wait was uneventful, but Roy felt no relief: he knew enough of torture tactics to understand what their absence meant. They wanted them scared, panicked, exhausted. So small talk it was.

"How old are you now?" Real smooth Roy, the most basic question, especially given the fact you read his file. But he really didn't know what to ask not to sound like a jerk. ‘Why did you kill your brother?’ would be much worse.

"13."

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Roy blinked. And stared. And struggled to pick up his jaw. Wasn't it freaking illegal?

"But... the dossier…" At that moment he even forgot that it wasn't really polite to read other people's dossier unless it was an open investigation and then tell them about it.

"Oh, so they went along with the lie after all... I guess, it's to avoid more gossip…"

"But you're underage!" For starters. And, more importantly, ‘Why the fuck?’ But something stopped him from blurting out the last part.

"And? I'm still the one who has a plan to save your sorry ass!"

"That's not how you should address a higher-ranking officer!" Child or not, insubordination was unacceptable. And much easier to deal with than unpacking all the rest.

Fullmetal didn't dignify him with a reply, and Roy didn't have a clue what to say.

The silence was unnerving. On a normal day, Roy could deal with much worse. But the day he learnt there was a literal child, barely a teenager, in the military could never be normal. (Roy tried not to think that being held hostage didn't influence normality.) So he tried once more. He needed to get at least some answers or he would go crazy. Why not start with clearing up some confusion?

"You have a lot of crazy rumours floating around…" He was known for smooth talking with higher-ups and women. Not children. Especially not children in the military. The only child he had been recently exposed to was Elicia. Who was one and didn't talk much, for obvious reasons. So yeah, Roy deserved some slack in this conversation.

"Like what?" At least Fullmetal, with his trademark blank stare, didn't seem to mind.

"Well, like you're the Führer’s son?" Fullmetal scoffed. That was a relief, for some reason. "You're actually an artificial human?" He just raised his eyebrow in disgruntled surprise.

Maybe it was his denial of all the crazy gossip Roy had mentioned, maybe it was exhaustion that deleted his word filter, but Roy followed with the question he'd never forget: "That you killed your brother?"

"Oh, the last part is actually true." It was the answer that would haunt Roy forever. And the blank stare it was said with.

“What.” He should've shut his trap, but he didn't. He was shocked. And tired. And hungry. So he didn't stay silent.

"I killed him. My little brother. Alphonse."

And how do you even react to that? Roy just started thinking the guy (kid, gosh, he was literally just a freaking kid) was pretty chill, but this... Roy forced himself to take a steadying breath. He wanted to ask more, to pry, but it felt way too invasive. And besides, Roy's own hands were stained with much more blood than the kid could possibly spill. But at such an age... Was he truly a Kain or was it just some terrible accident? He had been a kid when it happened, maybe it was a game with matches that went wrong? And fuck, he was still a kid. Shit, Roy needed a drink. He was getting one as soon as they were outta this shithole. Should he treat Fullmetal to an apple juice? Or should he just forget this failure of a mission and everything that came with it?

At least now Roy really understood the kid's nickname.

His thoughts were interrupted by the creak of the door. Their captors decided to make an appearance.

"You, the Hero of Ishval, are responsible for one dot on the map. For your crime against humanity, you must die."

Chapter Text

"We saved your life, so you have to pay us back. Equivalent exchange, so to say. Become a State Alchemist, and we'll give you an arm and a leg."

"Alchemy?" A shudder. It hurts. Blank mask. "Okay. I don't care." Not anymore.

Something inside Roy froze. The Ishvalan War of Extermination was his sin, his burden to bear, true. He hadn't forgiven himself and he wasn't seeking forgiveness. He was going to atone by stopping it from happening again. To do so, he had to live. But who were these guys to judge him? According to their intel (not the most reliable, as it turned out), they were ready to kill the entire top brass without investigation or anything. Yes, most were indeed war criminals, but not all. He was ready for the firing squad of a just Amestris, not for whatever the f this was. Plus, if they killed him, what would they do to Fullmetal? He hadn't taken part in the War, that's for sure. Simply couldn't. He had been what, from 2 to 9? Definitely not old enough, prodigy or not.

Surprisingly, it was Fullmetal who broke the silence first.

"Hey, who the fuck are you?" Good question, Roy would like to know the same, but it would be better to avoid antagonising their captors who had rifles. And guns. And knives. Shit, it was as if they were armoured for war.

"Oh, dear lost soul. We'd like to show you the truth behind the very people you serve. Join us, and we'll bring the criminals to justice!"

Oh wow, the recruitment speech of the century. They definitely needed to work on that. Fullmetal was not amused.

"Yeah, sure, dying to join."

"Sarcasm is noted, but not appreciated. You're so loyal because you haven't seen the truth. The reason this country was formed."

What sick nonsense were they spewing? Lunatics.

"Yeah, sure, the country is bad, you're good, the sky is blue, what else is new?"

"You'll see, child, you'll see. But first, we have to remove this stain." One of the captors, probably the superior, nodded to the other, and the guy lifted his rifle, pointing at Roy's face.

Fuck, they sure weren't gonna wait.

Everything happened both immediately and as if in slow motion. The guy released the safety, pulled the trigger, and Roy closed his eyes, blue sparkles dancing on his eyelids, silently apologising to his team, Maes and Auntie and waited for the final pain, then a "clap" and…

Nothing.

Did they douse the bullet in painkillers or something? But they wanted him to suffer, Roy was sure of it. So where did the pain go?

"Bastard. The plan." That was Fullmetal. He wasn't dead?

Roy opened his eyes, and stared at the merry captors, completely immured in concrete, with only their eyes and noses sticking out. What. The. Fuck.

That, apparently, was the phrase of the day. He tore his gaze from his wannabe killers and focused on Fullmetal. His tiny smirk was back, and now Roy was sure it wasn't his imagination or whatever.

"Told you, I had a plan."

"How did you…?"

"Duh, with alchemy, of course!" Roy had questions, too many questions. At least the rumours about his unconventional use of alchemy turned out to be true. When the fuck did he draw a circle? His gloves were purely white, his automail pristine, so how?

The captured captors (ha! karma!) groaned and Roy forced himself to focus on the situation at hand. Getting the hell outta there came first, questions later. (Not that he expected any answers. The kid was a freaking enigma, Roy figured.)

"Can you help me get my hands free?"

The boy wiggled his hands, then slightly clapped (that was the sound!) and the next second he had a blade sticking out of his sleeve. What the... Roy didn't even have the energy to continue the thought. They had been searched, so how did he hide it?

The blade had proven to be extremely useful, quickly cutting through all their restraints with ease. Their captors (and Roy's wannabe executioners, shit) did not currently pose any kind of threat, thanks to Fullmetal. Dear God, the kid was a prodigy. At least he hadn't been recruited solely thanks to some kind of nepotism. Small mercies. Speaking of…

"Thank you. You saved my life."

"Told you I would, bastard. People are waiting for you." And despite having his emotionless mask back again, for some reason Roy could hear, no, somehow feel the grief beneath. ‘Do you have at least someone waiting for you?’ he almost asked. Whether it was because he was dreading the answer or already knew it, Roy didn't dare think.

Fullmetal quietly opened the door, effectively distracting Roy from his thoughts. Well, the local villains were indeed kinda stupid. They didn't even lock the door after entering. Sure, they had guns and stuff, but hey, Fullmetal had his magical alchemy, so those guys were stupid. Not that Roy complained.

The hallway was dark and empty. See? Stupid. They swiftly moved forward.

"We can count the first part of the mission accomplished: we did infiltrate the base. Not without a hitch, but well, we're alive. Thanks again for the last part, Major."

The second part of their mission was the weird one: to destroy all the materials the wannabe rebels had accumulated. Now, Roy understood the need to stop their ideals from spreading, but shouldn't they at least investigate all that before letting it vanish in the purgatory of Roy's flames?

Roy kept quiet, though. Fullmetal was freakishly (blindly?) loyal, and Roy wasn't about to test the extent of his loyalty. The kid wasn't bad (Roy would rather swallow his tongue than admit it aloud), despite all the weirdness, but his devotion was dangerous. Could he see the flaws of the mission? Did he choose not to notice? Did he even care? He seemed not to value his own life, but saved Roy's, so maybe not all hope was lost for him.

For some reason, Roy wanted to have hope.

Finding their main office was disturbingly easy yet again. The rebels seemed really confident in their restraints and two guards? executioners? so the building seemed empty otherwise. However, those two were now out of commission. But Roy was still on edge, watching his every step. Fullmetal did the same.

The door to the suspected main office was… grand. That was the best way to describe it: wooden, more than two metres tall, with some intricate ornaments. How the hell did such a door end up in a warehouse?

But for all the luxury it displayed, it was very easy to open. At least for Fullmetal. He seemed to be extremely good at odd alchemy tasks (not that Roy complained).

The stuff Roy was supposed to burn was indeed here. The room was just as grand as the entrance, sure, but it was also extremely cluttered. Different notes, books and some blueprints were scattered everywhere. He was sure he even caught a glimpse of some alchemical arrays among those. Even the walls were covered in different newspaper articles and maps. Why the heck did they have a map of the entire Amestris with some marks all around the country? Were those their targets? For some reason, this collection deeply unsettled Roy. Something didn't add up. Even Edward appeared slightly disconcerted, side-eyeing piles of paper and freakish maps.

Roy wanted to study all of it, to investigate. That was what they were supposed to do.

"You have to destroy everything here." Fullmetal sounded tense. Was that a shadow of doubt in his voice?

"I'll grab some evidence. Seems like our intel was a bit off."

‘Please don't get me court-martialed, kid, I have to get to the bottom of it. Something bad is hidden here,’ went unsaid but implied. This time Roy clearly saw Edward's hesitation.

He must've felt the same way, but his principles? his military-conditioned circumscriptions? his naïveté? made him waver. Shit, he might destroy everything Roy had been striving for without everything knowing or attempting to, but Roy had to try. His gut told him so. Screamed at him to.

"Okay. Keep me in the loop. 'S weird. Gives me creeps."

Okay, now Roy knew that it was a matter of utmost importance: if even Fullmetal (the kid that pretended to care about nothing but clearly had some compassion left to save Roy's, quote, "sorry ass", while still appearing blindly loyal) felt and admitted that something was going on here, this had to be something huge, something horrible.

Roy would find this something out. He had to.

Maybe Edward could help?

Agreement reached, they got to work. Grabbing some notes that seemed to not be entirely gibberish, containing what seemed to be alchemy and sketching a horrible copy of the map… Well, Roy wasn't an artist, okay? When he suggested Edward do it, the kid gave him a deadpan look and said he was right-handed. Roy had wanted the Earth to swallow him whole, but they had to stop the rebels from striking into those spots on the map, so Roy's horrible copy was it.

They were in a hurry. The delay was already significant, so if Bradley decided to send back-up now that they hadn't checked in on time, Roy would be fucked.

Yet, no one joined them, so Roy, hoping to see another day, told Fullmetal to vacate the room, did the same and set everything on fire.

Hopefully, they had salvaged enough to stop the tragedy.

Then came the reinforcements. The fire was their signal.

Roy shot the kid one last look. He seemed as empty-eyed as usual, not uttering a word of their extra work to other officers, so Roy hoped. Had to hope. Had to trust one of Bradley's most prized assets. He was so fucked.

As they hurried to rendezvous with the back-up and to free the immobilised duo (to detain them properly, of course), neither saw the red gleam in the shadows of the hallway:

"This one has to go, what a shame. And our little birdie now needs a cage. Pity, such a compliant doll he was…"

"Maes, how's Elicia? Any new pictures?" Roy had to cringe saying that. He loved his friend, truly, but he had seen one family picture too many, having been subjected to them every time he was in Central. So yeah, he had enough of those, and Maes knew that (he also knew that Roy loved every picture). So, what could be a better way of communicating that they needed to meet tête-à-tête to avoid worrying about bugs? He wasn't calling from Central Command, sure, but that didn't mean this phone booth was secure.

"Why of course, my dear friend! Come to dinner tonight, Gracia is making her incredible apple pie!"

"I wouldn't want to impose..." 'Are you sure it won't get you into trouble?'

"Nonsense! You're family as well! Come as soon as you can!" 'Make sure you're not followed.'

"Sure! I'll let Elisabeth know I'll be busy tonight! Hope she won't mind"

The trip to Maes’ place was fast and uneventful. Roy was excused from paperwork for the day as a reward for successfully (little did they know) completing the mission, so neither he nor Fullmetal stuck around for any longer than necessary. The kid wasn't fond of social interaction, judging by his lack of attempts at small talk with other officers and lighting fast retreat. Or did he not feel safe? He was a kid, after all.

Shaking his head to distract himself from depressing thoughts, Roy focused on the task at hand: get Maes on board. Having caught a cab, he got to the Hughes residence quite fast. Hopefully, he didn't miss food. Even if it wasn't his reason for visiting, he could never refuse Gracia's cooking.

Ringing the doorbell, Roy immediately heard the clicking of the lock. Was Maes waiting for him on the doorstep? Slightly tartled, Roy said in lieu of greeting a nervous:

"Maes, I need your help!"

"Why is it now "Maes, I need your help" and not "Maes, I want to see your darling Elicia"?.. Oh, Roy… What happened? Did Fullmetal do something?"

"Fuck, Maes, no, it's not him. Shit, he's just a kid…"

"I know that with your experience I automatically consider everyone who ranks lower children, but that doesn't make him less dangerous."

"No, it's not… I don't… Fuck, what I mean that he's literally a kid. By definition. He is thirteen, Maes, freaking thirteen! His voice hasn't even broken yet!"

"Whaaaaat?!"

‘Oh well…’

After calming Maes down and explaining that yes, he was thirteen, no, he couldn't have lied, yes, Roy had heard his natural voice when he wasn't whispering, and yes, it was insane, Roy tried to voice his concerns just to be interrupted by Gracia's call to eat. He didn't dare to pass on that.

Dinner was quiet and a bit tense, despite the sheer tastiness of the food. Roy couldn't stop thinking about the evidence he had collected, Maes was still shaken by Fullmetal's age (hell, he had recently become a father, so it hit him even more), and Gracia felt it all but wisely did not comment. She truly was a godsend. Elicia, thankfully, was asleep.

Roy wanted to start talking here and now, but hesitated. He trusted Gracia, he truly did, but was it safe for her to be trusted with some crazy conspiracy theories? His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.

"Are you waiting for someone to give you a ring?" Both Mr. and Mrs. Hughes shook their heads. Maes stood to answer it, eyeing Roy with slight apprehension.

"Maes Hughes speaking?" After hearing the reply though, he visibly relaxed. "Ah, Lieutenant Hawkeye, to what I owe the pleasure? Did you miss hearing about my little Elicia? … Oh, you need him… What a pity, I thought you of all people would understand… Roy, come get the phone!"

"Colonel, Sir. You had a guest looking for you." Now that was an unusual wording. "Fullmetal asked about you. Said he remembered that he wanted to talk about alchemy with you, sir."

"That was creepy!" Roy heard Havoc cry from afar.

"I'll see if I can find some time tomorrow. Thanks, Lieutenant."

"Okay, sir," and hang up.

‘Alchemy?’ While the kid was a prodigy, he didn't strike Roy as a type to brag or share secrets. Or, well, talk in general. So what… could it have something to do with what they found in the warehouse? It had to be, they were in no way some kind of alchemical buddies. "Remembered"... did he remember some array from the notes? That was nice and yet disconcerting. If Edward came to his office, it had to be crucial. After all, the kid seemed to avoid people like plague, if his rapid departure after rendezvousing meant something.

Roy had to talk to him. Was he staying in the military dorms?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Sorry, Maes, I have to go. I need to talk to Fullmetal ASAP."

"What the hell's going on, Roy?!"

"I don't know, really, I'm trying to find out, but it seems to be something paramount. We found something in our latest mission, something that doesn't add up, but I haven't had time to analyse all the intel we've managed to salvage…"

"We? Are you working with Fullmetal now? Do you know that he's one of the Führer’s men, he's with Bradley, for God's sake!"

"I don't believe so. He's not with Bradley, he just hasn't had a choice with whom to be. I want to give him that choice. He seems like a lost kid, Maes, but he has a good heart. If it hadn't been for him, I would be dead. There was an ambush and they were gonna… shit, I was planning on a good drink tonight, not on dealing with some crazy rebels’ plans…"

"Shit, Roy… are you alright?"

"Yes, nothing happened. And nothing will, I'll make sure of it. I'll make sure we can trust the kid, can you ask my team to gather in our bar tomorrow night? I don't think we can deal with this alone."

When Roy ventured into the cold of the evening in Central, he thought we'd have a nice chat with Fullmetal, discover a conspiracy or two, but what he had not expected was getting attacked by some crazy lady. Crazy attractive lady, if he was being honest.

He didn't have his car with him, having come straight after the mission and the weather was nice enough to have a walk (and cool his nerves down a bit: not every day he discovered something this huge). It wasn't a long walk, even if it had some dark alleys on the way. Roy was a soldier, he wasn't afraid of some shady alleys.

But when he entered this one, his gut screamed at him to run. Roy knew fear, he nearly died today, but this was different. This was some bone-chilling terror that raised hair on his neck. He silently looked around and carefully slipped on his gloves.

At first, he could see nothing. Then a woman emerged from the shadows. How the? Roy didn't hear her presence. Were her eyes gleaming red?

Time for thoughts ended as fast as it began when the lady attacked. With her nails. What. The actual. Fuck.

If not for years of training, Roy would be dead in an instant. Dodging, he snapped his finger, covering the lady in an inferno. She didn't falter.

"You were a prime candidate, but you just had to open that door. Why didn't you just burn the entire building, huh, Mustang?"

The building? Was she talking about the warehouse? And what the fuck was she?

Roy didn't care about his pride, he cared about his life. His goals, his people. So he ran.

"Ditching a lady? How very rude of you, Colonel Mustang!"

Apparently, she knew who he was. She was also freakishly fast! He needed a plan, and fast, or this brush with death was gonna be his last. What scary shit were they planning so that now he had some psycho lady with crazy nails trying to kill him?

His life just couldn't get any crazier.

He rounded a corner into another alley. Fuck, he had run into a dead end. Was he gonna die? Roy refused to. He had his team, his friends to come back to and a kid to give a choice to.

There was a manhole in the alley. It was closed, of course, but even though Roy wasn't a door-opener like one particular alchemist, he could just melt it. He was a Flame Alchemist, after all.

The sewers were unsurprisingly empty. And dark, with a lot of tunnels. Roy took the first and ran, hoping not to fall into a drop-off. That would be an embarrassing way to die.

He took sporadic turns, trying to lose his tail, but while it seemed he was going deeper down, he could still feel her presence behind. Could she see in the dark or something? Roy didn't dare to snap, so he relied solely on the walls and his gut feeling. The latter wasn't happy, and Roy agreed.

After the nth turn, his fingers touched something other than metal: Wood. Was it a door? A normal door in the sewers? What the? Maintenance doors were always metal, to avoid decay, so what was a wooden door doing here?

But this was his chance, so he pushed in. Locked, of course. He heard steady footsteps. How did she…? He could burn the door, but a) he did not need to further indicate his presence; b) he wasn't about to risk the oxygen level. Further probing the door, he managed to locate the lock. Shit, metal wasn't his forte, that'd be Fullmetal's, naturally. He tried to remember an array for melting the steel. At least, he hoped it was steel. Even a small fire would be yelling "I'm here!" to his pursuer, so he had to resort to old school ways. Footsteps sounded closer. Heck, please, work! He slammed his palms onto the lock. Not a moment later, a hole appeared in the door and Roy jumped in without looking. Nothing could be worse than a lady that apparently couldn't freaking die. Having hastily fixed the door in the hope that she wouldn't look too close, he turned around and stared ahead. It was another sewer passage, but for whatever reason it looked more like a corridor in some kind of institution. Shit, it had lights on. Dim, but lights nonetheless. Still, it was better than the dark sewers with a killer. Not wanting to dawdle, Roy went forward.

The lady seemed to stop by the door for a moment, but didn't try to enter, so Roy breathed out a tiny sigh of relief. Now he just had to figure a way out without returning to the same tunnel. So Roy went on, quietly observing the hallway.

There were more doors, wooden and nit sewer-like, but most of them seemed dilapidated. Roy checked out what was behind one of them, but there was nothing, just an empty abandoned room. Why the lights then? Nearing the end of the hallway, Roy was losing hope. It was a trap with no way out. Then he saw one more door, one that looked different. Newer, somehow, and definitely more used.

It could be either his saving grace or his doom.

Roy pushed the door open. He found himself in a place that for some freaky reason reminded him of a bedroom, and stared at a frail looking boy, a child just slightly taller than Fullmetal, sitting on the bed. The boy stared right back with terrified eyes.

His eyes were golden brown.

Chapter Text

The boy seemed slightly older than Edward, judging by his height. Shit, that was probably not the most objective assessment, but hey, the only other child Roy knew was Elicia and well, the boy was definitely older than her.

He looked terrified.

“You promised you wouldn't do anything today!” he sounded and looked close to tears. Roy was officially lost.

“Sorry, kid, I've got no idea what you're talking about… I won't touch you, promise. Just please, can you stay quiet? That freaky lady is onto me, and I don't really want to become a human kebab.”

Roy didn't know why he was so open with the kid. He could be a part of the lady's gang, Roy doubted she worked alone. For some reason, though, the kid evoked some buried sympathy in him. Was he getting soft?

“Lust is after you?” Now he sounded confused. Well, Roy could relate. Hold on, was the kid a teeny-tiny bit… relieved? Why? “Aren't you with the military?”

Wait, what? What in the world? How could being in the military have saved him from that monster? It couldn't be…

He had to find out. The kid seemed to know the lady, Lust apparently (what a weird name), so he could be useful. But what was his stance? Roy really couldn't risk more than he already had with Fullmetal. One more wild card… Roy couldn't afford it. However, the kid looked miserable. Roy was getting soft.

Then Roy looked past his face. Shit, useful or not, he was taking the kid with him: his arms were tied up with some… were those wires? Who on Earth could do that to a child?

The kid continued to stare, contemplating something. Roy basically did the same, considering the best way to offer “let's get the fuck out of here” to an obviously underage boy who seemed to dislike (to put it mildly) military personnel.

Apparently, children knew how to surprise him. The boy broke the silence first:

“Can you get me out?” tentatively, quietly, hesitantly…

And Roy's heart broke.

“Fu… of course!”

The kid's eyes remained terrified. Small talk seemingly became his forte (no), so he took his chance once more.

“What's your name?”

“Al.” Cautious, that was generally good. Although Roy would appreciate some more details from a boy confined in freaking sewers, he wasn't gonna spook the kid more, so he left it at that. If he wanted to get him out, he needed at least some semblance of trust from the child.

The name rang a bell, for some reason, but Roy couldn't grasp why. They certainly had never met before, that part was for sure. The only blond child among his circle of acquaintances was Edward, and this kid was not him, obviously.

Coming back to the situation at hand, Roy took a deep breath.

“Can I touch your wrists?” He needed to tread with caution. The kid was still scared and scared children tended to cry. They (and Roy's shambles of mental health) couldn't afford it.

Thankfully, the boy just nodded.

Fuck, that was some convoluted way of binding: instead of just tying his hands together, connecting his palms, he had the backs of his hands bound so tightly together that moving them even an inch would be an impossible feat.

“Why would they do something like this?” Roy couldn't stop himself from asking.

The boy blinked with confusion:

“So I don't clap…”

Now it was Roy's turn (once again) to stare in confusion. Something tugged at the back of his mind, but he still had no idea what clapping had to do with keeping someone from escaping. Or did they think the kid could clap loud enough to alert someone of his location? Well, this situation kept getting weirder and weirder, but Roy had to say something. It was rude not to, and he was kinda trying to gain the kid's trust.

“Okay…?” It sounded more uncertain that Roy had intended to, but at least he was honest.

“You really don't know?” Now relief was back into his voice. That, at least, was good.

Yet, what was Roy supposed to know? Why? Because he was in the military? The kid's earlier reaction to his uniform, his words about the Lust lady and this gave him some disturbing thoughts, but the kid just…

The kid just started crying. Silently.

Roy felt his heart breaking for the nth time during the day. First Fullmetal’s situation, then this poor kid. Did the Universe hate blond-haired teens or something?

“There, there, we're getting outta here…”

Well, now Roy knew what he could do worse than converse with children: console them. Was he even helping?

The kid started blinking, trying to stop tears and angled his neck so that his head snuggled into his threadbare T-shirt. Shit, he couldn't even wipe his own tears.

Roy got to work. Surprisingly, there was some spare kitchenware on the table furthest from the bed, so Roy grabbed the spoon, planning to melt it into a knife, and promptly stopped himself.

“Hey kid, I'm going to do some alchemy to make a knife from this spoon, okay?”

Apparently, that was the best thing he had said in his entire time with the boy (Al, Roy reminded himself), because he looked up, nodded and did not even look petrified anymore. The kid liked alchemy?

So, alchemy Roy did.

The kid had stars in his eyes now.

Well, anything was better than tears.

Now armed with a slightly hot knife, cutting the restraints was a child's play, so not even a minute later the kid was rubbing his now-free wrists. Roy tried not to stare at his skin that became now visible. It was reddish and stiff. Just how long had he been bound?

“So, kid, ready to go?”

That sentence, apparently, was somehow the worst thing he had said today, because the kid from hopeful turned to… scared? ashamed? What even was that emotion? He was getting a drink after all of this.

“Umm…” the kid was clearly hesitating. Just what now? He seemed so eager to leave?

“What's wrong?” Be gentle, Roy, don't spook him, channel your inner Maes, for fuck’s sake…

“Mister…” more hesitation. Roy was getting impatient, but tried damn hard not to show it. He wasn't angry with the kid, but he was scared (not that he would admit that out loud), even more now that he had another life to protect in addition to his own.

“Roy, just call me Roy, don't worry” soothing, just be soothing.

“Mister Roy,” okay, Roy could bear with it, “I can’t go…”

What the…

“Why?” Roy tried to sound encouraging and not intimidating. He felt like he was failing.

The kid looked a bit scared, but more guilty and ashamed. Roy couldn't even be glad to be able to finally decipher his emotions.

“I'm sorry…”

“It's alright, kid, don't worry, I won't be mad.” Hopefully.

“I can't walk.” Roy froze. “I'm sorry, but if you take me, I can help. I can do alchemy. I do it very well. Please, I'll be useful.”

Roy forced himself to unfreeze:

“Oh kid, I'm sorry… Don't worry, I'm not leaving you. You don't have to do anything.”

The kid stared and sniffed, but managed not to cry. Roy tried to give him an encouraging smile.

“Piggyback?”

The kid blushed, but timidly nodded.

“Shiii, shoot, sorry…”

“It's okay, you don't have to worry about cursing. My brother is worse. Was worse.”

Roy felt a water droplet on his neck. It wasn't raining (they were in the sewers).

“I'm sorry.” Abort, bad topic, Roy, do something. “Now we need to find a way out somehow. Do you happen to know the layout of the sewers?” Distracting with tasks generally seemed to be a good way to stop people from spiralling. Roy happened to know firsthand.

The kid did not disappoint. Apparently, he knew how to exceed expectations.

“I don't think so, but do we even need it if we can go up?” Roy blushed. Now whose turn was it to be shy?

“Umm, kid, I'm afraid I don't possess alchemical prowess to do so…”

“I can do it! I can be useful, I told you I can! If you could help me touch the floor, I'll lift us up to the ceiling and then cut through it to the surface.”

Roy was officially impressed. (And felt a bit incompetent: what was up with children besting him at alchemy.)

At the same time, he had questions. A lot of questions. How the heck did a kid from sewers know any complex arrays? Furthermore, did he even have chalk? Roy most certainly did not see any pockets on him.

Deciding to keep quiet for a bit, Roy crouched down and repositioned the kid so that he was almost sitting on the floor (it seemed to be the cleanest spot). The boy stared at the flat surface as if contemplating something (remembering an array, perhaps), but made no motion to procure any writing tools. Roy continued to be confused.

Then something weird happened: the kid looked at him, hesitant and hopeful, then clapped his palms and pressed them onto the floor. The floor rose.

Roy's jaw dropped. Being a soldier had taught him to expect the unexpected, but this was… something else entirely.

They reached the ceiling and the kid did the same freaky magical alchemy to it, and they reached the upper level of the sewers. Al repeated his manipulations, and they reached the surface.

The moon was up. The kid stared. Roy did, too. It was especially pretty tonight, combined with chilly and fresh night air. The boy took a deep breath and started weeping. Just how long had he been confined down there?

They were free. However, now they had another issue at hand: what to do next? Apparently, Roy's plans were not favoured by the Universe, so they needed a new course of action. Guess he'd have to trouble Maes once more.

“We’ll go to my friend's place. Can I carry you differently so that you can watch my back? I don't want any sneak attacks again.”

“Sure…” The boy sounded uncertain, afraid. Shit, Roy might have been the first not abhorrent military man the boy had met (and even Roy's non-abhorrence was debatable), of course he'd be terrified at the mention of a new military face. Of course, Roy could lie and tell that Maes had nothing to do with the military, but lies usually tended to backfire. This kid needed the truth.

“Don't worry, he's a good guy, too good sometimes. No service could take that away from him. I trust him with my life. Besides, if that lady is affiliated with the military somehow, she'll know my address. My temporary residence is not safe.” And very ill-equipped for children.

“Thank you…” For some reason, Roy's arguments worked, so the kid tearfully agreed. Did he really gain the kid's trust? Somehow, Roy didn't feel relieved, just sad.

The walk was not that short anymore, now that Roy was significantly more tired and had some extra weight to carry (the kid was way too skinny, but pretty tall, so he had some weight), and he was trying to avoid dark alleys (he had learnt his lesson hard way), so the silence soon became unnerving.

“Hey kid, mind if I ask you something?”

“I guess… Maybe…”

“Don't worry, you don't have to answer! I just wanna know what happened to you. I want to help.”

“Okay…”

“What happened to your legs? Who did it?”

White void.

'You won't be chasing after your brother anymore.'

"It was a rebound. Sorry, I don't want to talk about it. It happened before all this.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, kid.” Really, Roy? You ask the best questions for small talk.

When they were nearing the Hughes residence, Roy felt the weight shift. The kid had nodded off.

Trying to be considerate, Roy slowed down a bit. They were in the open, in the residential area, so Roy assumed (hoped) no one would dare to attack them here.

Seeing Hughes' house, Roy hesitated. Maes had a family and the last thing he wanted was to endanger them. Yet he hadn't lied, his current place was military issued, had way too little furniture and seemed like the first place someone would look for him. But what if Maes’ flat was already compromised and Roy was dooming him with their visit?

Then the kid shivered in his sleep. Shit, Roy had to think fast, of course the kid was cold, wearing the thin clothing he was.

He had to compromise. Noticing a phone booth nearby, he quietly moved towards it. Dialling while holding a person proved to be quite a challenge, still, Roy managed, albeit not as quickly as he normally would.

“Hello? Maes Hughes speaking?” came a sleepy reply.

“I'm so sorry for waking you up, but I have a bit of a situation at hand.” I have an emergency. “One of my sisters is sick, so I've been tasked with babysitting her baby, but you know me, I'm completely useless at this. Kids hate me.” Please, Maes, try to understand something. This was not in the code we discussed, but please…

“Okay? I mean… Sure thing, Roy, you don't even have to ask, babies are always welcome here…” Roy could practically feel his confusion. Maes definitely wanted to ask questions, but sensed the importance of the situation. Roy rarely mentioned his sisters directly, not as his dates, so that should have been a hint.

“Can you meet us at the back entrance? I don't wanna wake up the entire residential building.” I need to be discreet.

“Sure, will be there in a few.”

Maes stared, and started frantically whispering:

“Umm… Roy, you have a child in your arms. A whole teenager! Literally. I really thought I forgot some of our… hints. Who even is it?”

“I don't know?” Roy whispered in return.

“Shit, come in. Just be quiet, the girls are sleeping.”

The morning was daunting. Roy didn't even get a wink of sleep, guarding the child the household, even despite Maes’ insistence to take turns. He had already imposed too much, so Roy had forced Maes to continue his beauty sleep.

The kid, although having slept the entire night, didn't seem to have rested as well. He had nightmares, Roy could see it in his face, but stayed awfully quiet.

At 5 a.m. sharp, he woke up with the start. Roy murmured as softly as he could: “It's alright, you're safe, we won't hurt you, remember me?”

“Mister Roy…”

“Yes, kid. You hungry? My friend has a daughter, so they have tons of tasty healthy food.”

“I guess…” He seemed shy to admit even that much.

“Any preferences?”

“No? I even drink milk…” Apparently, the kid developed a strong urge to cry after mentioning the drink, so Roy decided to avoid it.

“I'll be right back!”

Maes’ kitchen did indeed have a lot of food and a lot of ingredients to make even more food. Unlike the Hughes, Roy was bad at cooking (his empty fridge in the flat the military got him for his stay in central was proof of that), so he went for something difficult to screw up: toast. Fresh and warm, it should definitely taste well and be ready soon enough.

Roy was right: the toast survived and was made fast enough to make Roy feel proud of himself. Having brewed some tea (not coffee, Roy had to be a responsible adult and not give caffeine to children), Roy put two slices of toast on a plate and filled a cup of tea for the kid. His cup was downed in a moment.

He quietly knocked on the doorframe so as not to startle the kid and entered. The boy smiled hesitantly, but didn't flinch. Roy counted it as a win.

“Here you go!” Roy aimed at cheerful. At least as cheerful as he could make it after 24 hours without sleep.

The kid eyed him hesitantly. Not that Roy could blame him. Getting him out didn't make Roy automatically trustworthy. Hypothetically, he could be even worse. Roy hoped he wasn't.

“Do you want me to taste it? It's not poisoned, I can prove it.” That appeared to be the right thing to say, as the kid finally took the toast and smiled.

“No need... Thank you!” And the toast was gone before Roy could even put the plate on the table.

“Eat this one too!”

“But it's for you…” Damn, the kid was sharp.

“Don't worry about it, it's too early for breakfast for me.” Under the normal circumstances, that was. But the kid was hungry, and Roy could eat later. The kid must've been starving as he didn't try to argue and ate it in one go as well. Roy almost told him to be careful, but that felt too… parental, somehow, too personal.

Thankfully, the kid didn't choke, so Roy needn't have worried.

After finishing his tea, the kid took a deep breath and looked Roy straight into his eyes.

“You can ask, I can see you have questions…” The kid sure was smart. Of course Roy had questions. More than he had before, but he had to tread with caution. The kid was traumatised, and Roy really didn't want to add to the trauma by asking too much (he was an expert on trauma, after all), so he decided to start small.

“Yeah, sure… can you tell me about yourself? Do you have anyone I could contact for you?”

“Okay…” He gave a sad smile, “but I don't think there's anyone. Mom's gone, Dad walked out on us, and Brother… even if he had survived that transm… that situation, the fire… even Big Brother is gone, they didn't let me find him! Teacher will hate me for what we've tried to do… there's Granny, but she's not actually our… my grandma, I don't want to burden her, she must think I'm gone, too. It's better this way…”

Roy disagreed. And felt his heart break again.

“I'm sure she would be happy to know you're alive… Can you call her?”

“Please, don't…”

“Where are you from?” Finding the said grandma could be easier if he at least knew the town or village.

“Our home is gone, so nowhere…” The kid understood, of course, and didn't let him find anything out.

This conversation was getting nowhere. The kid was getting more and more stressed and closed off and Roy didn't really want to torture the kid. The information gathering could wait, hopefully, so the topic had to be changed to something more positive.

“Do you want a hug?” Roy wasn't very good at comforting people, but he could at least try.

“I don't know…” Wrong strategy, Roy. Of course the kid that had been confined in freaking sewers for Flamel knows how long would be afraid of voicing his opinions.

“Can I hug you?”

“I guess…”

The kid’s bony, bony shoulders shook in the embrace. Was he crying? Why were his tears always so silent? Had he been punished for his crying?

“Knock-knock, may I come in?” Maes poked his head into the living room where they had been staying. The kid, still nestled in Roy's embrace, pressed even closer for a second, but then moved away slightly to see the newcomer. “Sleep well?” he asked with the warmest smile possible.

The kid gave a small nod, but Roy averted his eyes. He had different priorities. Maes glared at him, and even Al shot a concerned look. They ganged up on him, the audacity!

“Roy, you know you have to sleep, don't you? I understand you're worried, but it's Saturday, it's my day off, so I'll be home to watch out for trouble!”

“Maes…”

“Roy! Do you want me to tell Hawkey you've been neglecting your health?”

“No… hey, kid we've got more to discuss, but let's do it later… mind if I nap? Hughes and my lieutenant will have my head for fucking up my health even more.”

The kid just smiled.

“Do you want me to leave?” A quiet shake. “Then feel free to join me. And I apologise if my sleep turns out to be restless. The last 24 hours have been… quite a challenge.” Roy opted out of mentioning the fact that nightmares happened even on the most boring days, but had a suspicion that the boy could relate. Was he just a magnet for traumatised children?

Roy was no stranger to nightmares. The majority of the time they were about Ishbal, of course. On better nights, they were about nameless people, on worse nights – about Heathcliff Erbe, and on the absolute worst nights – he dreamt about massacring his team, his family, Hughes and his family…

Today's dream started in a usual way: endless sand and red eyes everywhere. Then the eyes blinked and turned into gold. In the darkest corner of his subconsciousness, his mind begged him to wake up, not wanting to see any golden children burning, but he couldn't. Not today, not ever. that was a part of his punishment.

Yet, instead of fire engulfing them, golden eyes just stared at him, judging, contemplating. Did Edward finally understand Roy was a monster? Or was it Al?

Ed, Al…

Their hair, their eyes sparkled as gold.

Roy woke up with a gasp.

Gold stayed in his mind.

He had to talk to Fullmetal.

Chapter Text

It was impossible. Improbable. Discovering that Bradley had been an alien all along seemed more likely. Against all odds, the facts spoke volumes: two kids with similar hair and eye colour, who claimed to have had brothers before, now said brothers were pronounced dead (at least in Edward’s case; Al just believed so, but refused to give any personal details to check the official records).

Yet, when he looked at the again-sleeping kid, he hoped that it was true. Both of these kids needed a break, they deserved some happiness.

Now he just had to come up with a foolproof plan that would get the two of them to meet without getting their hopes up. After all, Roy had no guarantees that his theories were not just baseless hopes, and giving either of them false hope out of his naïveté was a cruelty Roy would never resort to.

Hopefully, Maes would help him out once more.

As if sensing that Roy was awake (or just getting enough sleep, it was 11 a.m. after all), the kid opened his eyes. Gold-gold-gold.

“Morning, kid. Are you OK?”

He nodded.

“Something really big is going on, and we need people on our side. I have a team that I trust with my life, and another… skilled alchemist that saved my ass the other day. He's actually close to you in age, I guess? Do you mind meeting them? One by one, maybe?” Good Roy, make it seem like an afterthought, not your entire freaking plan. “You may even get along…” At least, that was what he was hoping for. If Roy was being honest, their predicted rapport depended solely on their alleged kinship. If it wasn't there, could they even get on? They seemed so different in character…

“I guess it's fine…” the kid looked at him with his huge eyes that held no fight, just fear and hope. The latter was much better than the former, but Roy understood.

Then a frightening thought came to mind. He needed to check something with the kid, before his plan ended up being a disaster.

“Don’t worry, kid, they are good people. Oh, and Al, have you ever heard of Fullmetal?”

“Is he the one I’ll be meeting? Oh, you don't have to answer that…” Roy didn’t even have a chance to think of the best response to that, as the kid went on. “I mean, kinda… he’s a chosen one, just like me. Though they called me a bird in a cage, and him… a dog on a tight leash.”

Those were some interesting metaphors. Also, why the fuck were they the chosen ones? Were those freaks some religious lunatics with alchemy? That was a huge topic to unpack, but Roy couldn’t just ignore something like that.

“What do you mean by chosen?”

“Oh, sorry, I don’t know… They liked to repeat it, like ‘You’re important to us, the chosen one’ or ‘Lucky to be chosen or I'd kill you’ if I said something wrong or asked questions…”

Roy didn’t know how to react to that.

“Shit, kid, I'm sorry…”

“Don’t be. That wasn't you, I understand now.”

“Thank you. Still, have you ever met Fullmetal? Or any other chosen ones?”

‘Please say no, please say no…’

“No, I haven’t. I don’t think he even knows of his chosen status... The way they spoke about it was as if I was special to know that I was chosen… Besides, it was obvious they didn’t want anyone else to know of their plans, so no meetings… but it would be interesting to meet him. Maybe then we could figure out why we were chosen?”

The kid had read his mind.

“That does sound like a plan! Now, enough of this tough shit, I’ll make arrangements, do you want to read something?”

The kid’s eyes lit up. He must’ve loved books, to be able to show such excitement despite all the stress he had been through, so Roy caught his chance before the kid decided to refuse out of shyness:

“I don’t think Maes has anything on alchemy, not that you have anything more to learn I suppose, but how about some adventures?”

“Sure!” The kid even sounded excited, so Roy counted it as a win, and took it as his cue to leave the room.

“I’ll be back in a moment!”

And so Roy fled went on a book hunt. Hopefully, Maes had something that didn’t involve saccharine romance. Sure, the kid was (seemed to be?) a teenager, and was just the age to go through puberty and stuff, but Roy doubted the boy had had a chance, being confined in sewers of all things. Just how long had he spent there? He desperately wanted to ask, but the kid seemed so closed off that Roy couldn’t dare. Plus, he had a plan: a genius plan that was bound to succeed.

The first step, convincing Al, turned out to be relatively easy. It made him sick to his stomach, because Roy did realise that it was more due to the fact that the kid was afraid of saying “no” to anything than actually supporting the idea, but Roy couldn’t allow himself to turn as soft as to try to teach the kid that. He had no right and no time to spare, but hopefully soon there would be a person who had the moral right to do so. Roy tried to ignore the fact that said person was also not much older (or even younger) and a child soldier.

Getting Edward to cooperate, however, could be an entirely different matter. Yes, he agreed to aid in uncovering the rebels’ conspiracy, but that wasn’t personal. Coming to visit someone else’s house to discuss some obscure alchemy didn’t seem like Edward’s cup of tea.

And Hughes… shit, his friend was wary of the Fullmetal kid enough as it was and whether he would be willing to invite him to his home was a huge gamble. But what options did they have? Going to the bar as they had originally planned would pose quite a challenge: if explaining Ed’s presence could be more or less possibly thanks to his silver pocket watch, who in their right mind would drag a kid who couldn’t walk into a freaking bar? They didn’t even have a wheelchair for him, shit. Moreover, if his theories were correct, the reunion could be an emotional one. So the bar was out of question.

That left the Hughes residence. Shit, Roy owed Maes one. (An understatement of the century.)

Now he just had to get Maes himself onboard.

“Absolutely not! Fullmetal or not, I’m not turning my home into a conspiracy lair!”

“Maes, we just have no other options! We won’t even get to the bar without attracting the attention of just literally everyone in the vicinity…”

“Then just leave Fullmetal out of this! He’s a wild card! How are you so trusting of him!? Maybe it was he who sicced that monster on you!”

“He couldn’t, he just didn’t have the intel to do that! He didn’t know I was here, he left my office before the call, so he had no idea of my whereabouts… Why are you so wary of the kid anyway? You’ve never met him, have you?”

“No, but the rumours…”

“That’s bullshit! Since when do you believe some rumours, what the heck?”

“Since I was investigating one!”

“What…?” Roy felt the cold dread flood his gut. He couldn’t be wrong, he just couldn’t.

“There was a state alchemist that disappeared right after a mission with Fullmetal. Poof, and gone. No note, no body, nothing. My team was in charge of investigating the case. They even questioned Fullmetal. The kid denied any involvement, of course, but then… the investigation was ended by someone from the top brass. They just had the case closed! Someone had to be covering up for him. And don’t even get me started on my team! The two officers in charge of Elric’s questioning had chills just from talking to him!”

Roy was at a loss, truly. He had started believing that all the rumours were unfounded, but if not… was he dooming the entire team?

“Who was he? The officer that disappeared?”

“Isaac McDougal, a fellow alchemist. They had some rather simple mission somewhere west, but Fullmetal was the only one to report back. And his only answer to all questions was “I don’t know”! Can you believe it! He just didn’t care, didn’t even pretend to care…”

“Isaac McDougal, as in, the Freezing Alchemist?”

“How do you know him? You’ve never had joint missions, I did my homework!”

“Maes, shit, that’s… Isaac is not dead!”

“Who told you that? The kid?”

“No, he’s one of the ex State Alchemists affiliated with the rebels we were tasked to stop? Incinerate? I don’t even know what the shit was expected from us anymore. But if you thought Fullmetal was responsible for the Freezer’s death, he is not. Worst case scenario, he’s the reason he had deserted. Best case: he has nothing to do with it.”

“Are you sure, Roy?”

“Yes, Maes. If he had truly been on the same side with the bunch who wanted to kill me, I would be dead. He had the best opportunity to do so. He just needed to do nothing. Just stay still and I’d be gone…”

“Roy… you need to talk about it.”

“I do. I know, Maes, just not now. So once again, if he had wanted to, he would have killed me and no one would even blame him… I still don’t know how, though… he had no way to draw an array, no way in hell… There was just a cl…” his breath hitched. A clap!

“Roy? Are you alright?”

“That’s it, Maes! He clapped his hands!”

“And? Forgive my alchemical illiteracy, but I’ve got no clue what it has to do with your escape…”

“Al can do the same! He claps and performs alchemy without a circle! That’s more proof they are related! I’ve never seen anyone with such a skill before!”

“If you say so…”

“Come on, they even look alike!”

“Suuuuure, Roy, and Jean looks like Riza!”

“Definitely not! Think about it! Have you ever seen a hair colour like that?”

“They are blond!”

“Not quite, no. It’s golden-like! Al’s a bit muted, presumably due to the lack of proper care, but after spending so much time around half a dozen sisters you’d understand the difference between shades!”

“I relent… Just Roy, please, be careful.”

“Of course! So here at 19 hundred?”

Maes just nodded with resignation.

“But if they aren’t related? Just two highly skilled teenage alchemists who have golden hair?”

“I simply hope they are. However, if push comes to shove, we just want two talented alchemists on our case.”

“Oh Roy… Just be careful.”

“I will, I promise. On a side note, do you have any adventure books for kids?”

It turned out that he had Meas agree on that crazy plan of his just on time, because Havoc arrived much earlier than planned, shortly after noon. Roy hadn’t even had a chance to visit Fullmetal yet (he was secretly thankful for the delay; yes, he dreaded the visit, sue him).

Moreover, Roy was glad that it was Jean who was the first to arrive. With dozens of siblings, cousins and random village children that still called him “Big Bro Havoc”, he was the best choice to make the kid like his team. However, he had come to regret his decision as soon as Havoc opened his mouth, right after stepping into Hughes’ living room. How could Roy forget his hopeless romantic nature?

“It better be important, for all of us to come to Central. Discreetly. On our day off. Do you know how hard it was? I had a date! She’s such a darling... I was so sure it would work out for me, finally! But after I so rudely cancelled our date today, she’ll surely dump me! It’s all your fault, Roy. Oh, she was so good in be-”

“Havoc! You’re in the presence of a child!”

“C’mon, Chief, Elicia is too young to understand!”

Then Havoc noticed two golden eyes that stared at him. And the blush on the kid’s cheeks. Shiiit, there was a kid. A teenager, from the looks of it. Double shit.

“Sorry, bro! Ever had to fight for a girl’s heart?”

“Yeah… I even won!” Strangely, there was some deep sadness at that admission. Just why on Earth? “But I don’t I wanna marry Win anymore…”

Havoc noticed how the Colonel’s eyebrows slightly rose in a concealed surprise, but he quickly shook it off, mentally noting something… was he that surprised at the kid’s romantic adventures or was it something else? Still, the Colonel was nothing but a professional, so:

“Haha, Jean, even a kid has had more luck than you! But enough of that. Jean, this is Al, Al, this is Jean, a Second Lieutenant under my command and an idiot in love.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad! Nice to meet ya, kid! Hope Chief didn’t bore you to death!”

“No, Mr. Roy is nice…”

What the heck was going on? Havoc was officially confused. For Roy to go as far as to give permission to call him by his first name, the boy must’ve been either important or close to him. The “mister” part though made the latter almost impossible, but why for the love of…?

“Are you an alchemist, Mr. Havoc?”

“Kid, just Jean is enough. And nah, that shit’s too difficult. Roy’s the only alchemist on the team. It’s his forte – when it’s not raining… he’s useless in the rain!”

“Havoc!”

“Sorry, Chief!”

“And Al, you’re still meeting the promised alchemist today.” Was it Jean or did Roy sound doubtful? Yet Roy didn’t do doubtful…

“Huh? Did you invite Armstrong as well?”

Havoc couldn’t help but notice how the Colonel had tensed up at his question.

“No. You’ll meet him later.”

So definitely someone familiar to them and not favoured that much. Who on Earth? The worst would be Kimblee, but the Chief wasn’t stupid enough to organise a jailbreak, so… It couldn’t be Fullmetal, nah. Even Havoc, a non-alchemist, knew that the guy was too much of a loose cannon for someone as plotting and cunning as Chief.

“Now stop corrupting the kid and go say hi to Hughes. Now it’s your turn to fall victim to his pictures.” He’ll brief you on what is going on. Havoc sure hoped he interpreted the message correctly, knowing what the heck was happening sounded nice.

Having left Al in the hands of not even two, but three people he trusted and having steps one and two accomplished, even without too much sweat and tears, Roy felt his spirits lift. Maybe not all hope was lost, and his plan had the potential to go smoothly. Fullmetal, of course, had other ideas.

Even the trip to the military barracks spelt more trouble than Roy had hoped. He wasn’t followed or anything, but he was outright paranoid on his way there, always expecting a shadow jump on him from an alley. None did, to his utmost relief, but Roy couldn’t relax just yet. Him being still in one piece could mean a few things. Best case scenario, Al and he had managed to lose his tail the previous and now that lady was licking her metaphorical (sadly) wounds in her evil lair. Worse but not a catastrophic case scenario, she retreated to regroup, simultaneously giving Roy and his team a chance to plan a counteroffensive. The absolute worst would be her waiting for his entire team to assemble in order to launch a detrimental attack.

Roy prayed for it not to be the last option. Rationally, it wasn’t viable. Judging from her previous attack, Lust and possibly her prospective allies (she couldn’t organise something like that on her own, could she?) preferred to be at least somewhat stealthy, so attacking a residential building full of capable officers in broad daylight would seem like an unlikely course of action. It was their safest bet. Now if only that logic could calm his hammering heart.

At least finding the kid had proven to be easier that he had thought. The concierge in the dorms didn’t even bother listening to Roy’s half-baked excuse “We need to go over a mission” which wasn’t even a complete lie and told Fullmetal’s room number.

The barracks were lively. Roy could hear some chatter, laughter and even a fight? Must be a friendly brawl, he presumed, thinking back to his days in places like this. After Ishval, he never had to stay there, being promoted too fast. Perks of a rank higher than Major: you could request an accommodation better than those dorms, but sometimes, on nightmare-filled nights, he wished to live there, to be in the presence of other living beings…

Roy shook his head. That was neither the place nor the time to drown in regrets, as he neared the room in question. At least it seemed to be a one-person room, one fewer thing to worry about.

Before knocking, Roy paused, listening. There was no sound from behind the door and Roy couldn’t trick himself into thinking it was anything close to soundproof. Shit, what if the kid was out on another mission? What if he was with Bradley? What if Roy made a mistake?

Still, he knocked.

Two tense breaths later, the door opened to reveal the Fullmetal himself. Maybe karma was rewarding him for the absolute shitty luck yesterday? Not that Roy considered himself worthy of reward for anything.

The kid stared at him with those empty-like eyes of his (now Roy knew better than to think they were completely empty), but said nothing, just what, assessed him? Roy felt strangely naked and judged, but the latter was nothing new.

Finally Roy caved in and broke the silence:

“May I come in?”

The kid just nodded, but said nothing, stepping aside to let Roy inside.

The room itself was unsettlingly empty, almost like the kid’s eyes, just less of a metaphor. There was literally nothing that wasn’t military-issued, nothing personal. No potted plants or books, no photos or any other memorabilia.

Still, Roy had no time to gawk at the kid’s room, he was on a mission after all. The mission to invite Fullmetal to the Hughes residence, now ranking close second to Ishval in terms of difficulty and probability of success.

“What? No!” Some part of Roy was relieved at the display of emotion. No longer the kid’s eyes seemed empty, there was a hint of fire simmering beneath. But that fire meant anger and refusal.

However, Roy understood. Of course, Ed would decline. He probably felt cornered, being invited to an unfamiliar territory with a team of people he didn’t know. Despite being seemingly ignorant/disregarding of his own life, he sure knew how to identify a potentially risky situation. Maybe that’s how he avoided anyone recognising his age?

That didn’t matter, however. Roy needed him to come because a) he had mentioned that he’d figured something out; and b) Roy really wanted to do something nice for a change. Giving two kids a chance for happiness couldn’t erase any of his sins, but he wanted to do at least something right. No matter how small a scale it was for the country, it could potentially mean the world for those boys. Now if only Edward would cooperate.

“Maes is nice! I promise you, he’s not a part of whatever we have seen there…” Yay, Roy, way to go! Not your brightest argument, but definitely better than “Hey, I think your brother is alive. Yes, the one you believe to have killed. No, I’m not sure, but can you come? Also we’ll discuss that freaky conspiracy, of course.”

“I don’t care. I am not nice.” Of course Edward didn’t budge.

“You don’t need to be…” ‘Shit, what do I even say in this situation?’ “They will still welcome you!”

“Who’s they?”

“Maes and his family?” Roy had a feeling he was digging an early grave for himself with those questions, but well…

“What? No way then. I don’t do family.”

“Please, Edward... This is bigger than us... way bigger…” ‘Don’t despair, Roy, you can do it…’

At least, this elicited some kind of response:

“I know. Country-size bigger…”

“What?” ‘Was it some kind of metaphor or...?’ Roy had no time to unpack that. “I know you know loss, but don’t you have someone who’s dear to you? You don’t need to be close…”

He knew he was probably being insensitive, hinting at his “presumably dead” brother, but he must have had some family? Friends? Childhood sweetheart? His file sure was almost empty, but that very well could have been to shelter someone from the military clutches. He couldn’t be truly alone, could he?

“I guess Winry and Gran don’t deserve it…”

He had someone after all. Roy paled. The name! Winry definitely sounded like a name that one could shorten to Win. Of course, it could be short for something like Winston, but Al did use it in a conversation about a girl… Moreover, didn’t Al also mention a Granny? Hair colour, clapping, all that could very well be a simple coincidence, but the name! That was simply too much to be a coincidence.

The kid, however, interpreted his surprise differently.

“What?” He sounded awfully defensive. “Didn’t think I could care about someone?”

This was definitely not what Roy was thinking, on the contrary. Now if only he could placate the kid.

“No, that’s not it…” ‘I just heard the same, I fucking hope the same name from another hella traumatised kid’ he didn’t say.

“Then what is it?” Of course, he didn’t let go.

“You remind me of someone…” Technically, it wasn’t even a lie. Brothers are supposed to do just that, no?

The kid still stared at him angry-emptily, but let the matter be.

“Why there?”

Now that was a valid question for which Roy had a valid reason. Hopefully.

“It’s a secure location. I was…” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “ambushed yesterday, so I’m not going back to my military-issued accommodation, and I trust Hughes with my life. He saved, I quote, “my sorry ass” more than once…”

The kid tensed up at the mention of the assault attempt, but didn’t comment. Roy was thankful for that: he’d rather recall that living nightmare just once and for all the interested parties together; and not in the military dorms, of all places.

“I see. Okay. Let’s go.”

‘Huh? What?’ Roy didn’t expect the tables to turn so quickly. One second Fullmetal was doing everything to avoid the Hughes’ residence… or was he avoiding people interactions altogether? The next second he was ready to go like, yesterday? He sure was a wild card, Roy should have never underestimated his unpredictability.

“Sure, let’s… You can talk alchemy with one of your fellow practitioners while the rest are gathering…” ‘Maes will not be pleased… but if there’s a happy reunion, he won’t mind, will he?’

Meanwhile, Havoc was trying to wrap his head around whatever shit Chief had gotten himself into. So there was a scary alchemical conspiracy that even Roy couldn’t figure out at glance, but the freakiest alchemist in the entirety of Amestris had. Shit, he couldn’t deal with it alone.

All of the team save for the Colonel had come on the morning train. The one that normally ran in the afternoon was cancelled due to rail maintenance or something, but they couldn’t disobey the Colonels order and show up at 21 hundred, no matter how indirect it was, so the evening one was out of the question. At the guys’ quiet grunts of displeasure of having to wake up so early Hawkeye said they could just go sightseeing or something. While unholstering the gun. No one dared to disagree.

Originally, he had come for a short while ahead of time just to complain and had planned to join the rest of the team afterwards. Sure, it was petty, but come on, his date was supposed to be gorgeous! After hearing that, however, all thoughts like that flew out of the window.

“Hey, Lieutenant Colonel, can I use your phone?”

“Please, Jean, call me Maes! Don’t even ask, feel free to use whatever you need!”

“Thanks!”

The said phone, however, was located in the living room, together with the weird teenager Roy apparently acquired in the freaking sewers. Jean had to choose his words carefully. It’s not that he didn’t trust the kid, but reminding him of his captivity did not seem nice. The kid was traumatised enough as it was. Also, a little caution never hurt anyone. Hypothetically, he could be a brilliant actor, but Jean had his doubts. Still, he wasn’t about to bottle up his emotions. He was getting everyone here, sightseeing be damned.

“Hey, kid, mind if I make a call here?”

“Do you want me to leave?” He sounded fearful. No way that was an act, Jean even felt shame for entertaining such thoughts.

“No, ‘course not!” Jean wasn’t even sure if the kid would let himself be carried by a stranger. Still, Roy had gotten him here somehow. Was Chief getting soft or something? That was not the time for such questions, so he dialed the phone.

“Hotel Amestar, how can I help you?”

“Can you get someone from rooms 104 or 105?” He didn’t even flirt, even though the lady’s voice sounded so smooth. See, he had his priorities in order!

“Certainly. Give me a moment, sir.”

After a minute of waiting he heard the familiar voice:

“Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking.”

“Hey, Hawkeye… can you come a bit earlier? The situation is a bit messier than expected.” That was putting it extremely mildly.

“We’ll be there in 20.” Of course Riza understood something was wrong. Jean could melt from relief at her no bullshit attitude.

“Hey! We had plans!” came an indignant shout from the background.

“Second Lieutenant Breda, we are to depart immediately.”

“Is the Colonel alright?” Even Fuery chimed in, but in all honesty Jean didn’t know how to answer that question, so he just pretended he hadn’t heard it.

“Thank you, Hawkeye…”

Throughout the entire conversation Jean could feel the kid’s eyes on him. After hanging up, he caught the boy’s glance. There was no malice in it, but his cheeks still heated up in shame and the kid lowered his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it, the gang is really nice. Well, Hawkeye is kinda strict, but only if you slack off, so you are in the clear…”

“Okay…” and yet he still sounded nervous.

“Say, kid, do you know how to play Bones? I’m sure I saw a pack of dominoes on the shelf!”

See, having an extended family whose family business was a general store did wonders to enlarge one’s miscellaneous skillset.

“I don’t think so…” he still sounded timid, but Jean saw a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

“No prob! Want me to teach you?”

“That would be nice… Thank you! As long as you’re not busy…”

“No way! The team’s coming in 20 minutes, so I need to kill time anyway! Let me grab the dominoes, Hughes did tell us to make ourselves at home…”

“Great!” Now Jean could definitely see and hear the excitement. Was it weird that the kid grew on him so fast? No wonder Roy was soft on him!

“So listen, the rules are really easy…”

Time flew fast in the game. The kid turned out to be a formidable opponent with his own unique pocker face: every time he had to make a move he looked so contemplative that Jean simply couldn’t figure out whether all his bones were too shitty or too great to think so hard. In the end, it could be both, the kid was just way too smart. A perfect strategist. Jean had never lost so many matches to a child.

“You’re a genius!” exclaimed Jean after a particularly nasty loss. “Or you must be cheating!”

“I’m not, I swear!”

“Relax, kiddo, I’m joking! You’re just really good at a game you’ve never heard of before!”

“Thanks… Brother i-... was a real genius, though… I worked hard to catch up with him…” it was a quiet, but sad admission and Jean cursed himself for making the kid remember something tragic once again. Just what the heck has he been through?

“I’m sorry, kiddo…”

“It’s not your fault, mister Jean… just mine…”

“Don’t say that! And call me simply Jean, no need to be so formal, tinker!”

“Okay… say, mis… Jean, are you from the East?”

“Yep! Howdja know?”

“Your accent. I haven’t been home for too long, but I still recognise it, even if I lost some of it…”

“Whoa, that’s great! I’m from Bingham, and you?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore… but I know folks from Bingham! You have great grapevines there, right?”

“Sure! Our wine is the best in all of Amestris!” Jean recognised an attempt to avoid the topic when he saw one.

And then the doorbell rang: the team was here.

The kid tensed immediately, and frankly, Jean couldn’t blame him. Meeting so many new people at once after being confined for God knows how long was bound to be stressful, and Jean couldn’t stand it. Having a dozen cousins did that to you.

“Mind if I stay here? I see them way too often for my liking, you’re much better company!”

Jean could see the doubt in the kid’s eyes. For sure, he saw through his ruse, but apparently Jean could boast winning the kid’s favour, because he opted to ignore the white lie.

“If you’re sure…”

“Hey, Hughes!” he yelled to be heard in the kitchen, where Maes apparently was, judging from the sound. “Can you entertain the others before Roy comes? I really need to win at least once!”

“Sure thing!” came the equally loud reply.

As the team went straight to the kitchen, directed by Hughes, Jean continued the game with Al. Or at least tried to. The kid was awfully distracted and kept forgetting when it was his turn.

“Hey, kiddo, you okay?”

“What if they won’t like me?”

“Of course they will! They’re a friendly bunch!”

“And the alchemist? Is he also from your team?”

“Not really… but they say he’s very talented. Also pretty young, so you’re not that far apart in age…”

“Is he nice?”

“Roy thinks you’ll get along…”

It was not the most satisfying answer, and Jean knew it, but lying seemed… unfair, after all the kid has been through.

“Do you think so, too?”

“Roy gave some compelling arguments…” ‘Namely you two being brothers’, he didn’t say. “So I’m inclined to believe that. Besides, one must be a blind fool not to like you.”

“Thank you…” He blushed. The kid was truly adorable.

The doorbell rang again.

Roy had been getting more and more nervous each minute they spent walking to the Hughes residence. His pocker face displayed none of it, and he hoped the kid couldn’t smell fear, being the Mad Puppy and all that.

As they rounded the corner of the last house on their way, Roy’s eyes found his friend’s windows. All rooms were lit, but the kitchen seemed extremely lively, with shadows moving around. So the team were all there. After Havoc had come earlier, Roy hoped that he’d call everyone in. Less putting off the inevitable.

Now he just had to orchestrate the most awaited reunion of the year (hopefully).

The doorbell rang.

Miraculously (or not so miraculously, given that it was his flat), it was Maes who opened the door with an easy smile that appeared natural to anyone who wasn’t Roy or Gracia.

“Sorry we are early.”

“No problem! I expected something like that… everyone is already here. Oh, and where are my manners?! My name’s Maes Hughes, this idiot’s best friend. Please call me Maes!”

“Fullmetal.”

That sure went well.

“Hey, Maes, can you get all the team together in the kitchen?” ‘Make sure the other kid is alone for the grand reunion.’

“Hey, Havoc! Roy and Fullmetal are here, come to the kitchen, let the kids talk alchemy!”

“Okay!”

“Maes, is the kid still in the living room?”

“Sure!”

“I’ll introduce the two of them and then explain what is happening while the alchemists invited discuss alchemy… and stuff.” At Roy’s clumsy addition, Fullmetal raised an eyebrow in displeasure, but thankfully did not protest.

“Good luck, Roy…”

“What?” Of course, Edward heard that and decided not to ignore.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just being silly…”

“Whatever…” grumbled the kid, taking off his faded brown coat.

‘Of course, he didn’t believe that. But Flamel, I need all the luck I can get…’

Roy knocked and opened the door to the living room.

Gold met gold.

Fullmetal dropped his coat.

Two voices cried at once.

“Brother!”

“Alphonse!”

Edward ran. His brother, fuck, his actual brother almost tried to do the same, that for a brief moment Roy thought he might fall, but Ed caught him in a bone crushing hug.

They cried.

They wailed.

Roy felt his heart breaking for the umpteenth time, but then, for the first time in ages, it was mending again.

They had a long way to go, but in that moment, he truly believed they’d be alright.

They were together at long last, and their eyes were burning.

Now Roy had a conspiracy to solve.