Hello! So this story idea actually came to me while I was brainstorming ideas for another story I want to write. The idea was just too juicy to let sit so I'm writing this one first. Warnings; Ed will be 16 and Roy will be 29 in this story. This will be yaoi because, honestly, yaoi is my favorite! There will also be some fowl language and a character death is mentioned and will be explained later in the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters!
Introduction
Edward sighed as he walked back into his studio apartment, shutting and locking the door behind him. He moved into his small kitchenette and grabbed a bag of chips from the counter before making his way over the easy chair near the window. Flopping himself into the chair, he opened the bag and grabbed a few chips as he stared out the window. Ed had just turned 16 last week and had spent all of today in the Slums with an excellent forger, creating his emancipated minor documents.
The 'Slums' were actually a section of the sewer pipes under Central City where all of the black market transactions took place. It was rather dangerous to have the largest black market in Amestris located practically directly beneath military headquarters, but the people who visited the Slums got a kick out of breaking the law anyway. Ed wasn't exactly proud to admit that he was one of them. For him, it was just a way to pay the bills, to survive.
His childhood hadn't exactly afforded him the luxury of a well rounded education, regular meals or friends. Everything had been alright, not good but not exactly bad either, up until the Rockbells had died. Soon after their deaths, Granny Pinako took Winry to live near her only remaining family, some cousins that were living in northern Drachma. Winry wrote a few times, but Trisha, Ed's mom, had gotten sick very quickly after they had left and Ed had never had a chance to respond to the letters.
When Trisha passed away Ed had been left to try to raise Alphonse on his own. For a boy of 12 to raise his younger brother was asking to much. They'd had no money and no one in their small town of Resembool could or would help them out. Ed had cursed their so called father every day for disappearing when they were young, and for not appearing now when they needed him most. The boys had gone hungry whenever they couldn't find any bird eggs or berries or wild game. Eventually they were starving and that was when Al had gotten sick.
Both boys had been extremely intelligent and were quite talented with alchemy, but they knew next to nothing about medicine. Ed had scrounged through every single book in his father's library and when he had found nothing useful he had gone to the town to beg someone, anyone, for help. The decision to beg had come when Ed woke up one morning to find Al burning up and vomiting profusely in their bathroom. There had been some red spots on his skin that were steadily getting worse, but that morning the spots had been blistered, some of them popping and oozing.
Terrified for his brother, Ed had nearly shouted, "Just hang on Al! I'll get some help," before bolting out the door and running toward town. By the time he had reached town, found the doctor, and convinced the man to go with him, nearly two hours had passed. Ed didn't like to think about what had happened after he opened the door to allow the doctor to follow him into their home.
When it was over, the doctor later told him that it was Smallpox that had killed Al. The townsfolk were nice enough to at least help Ed bury Al in a grave beside their mother's. A day later Ed buried himself in alchemical research. Once he had learned everything he could from his father's library he burned the family home and made his way toward a very small automail shop that was located near the train station.
He knew there would be a cost for what he had to do, but when he placed the ingredients in the circle and placed his hands on it to activate it...he never could have imagined the extent of what it would do to him. Something that, in reality, had probably only taken a few moments, had felt like a lifetime to Ed. He had opened The Gate, like he planned and it only cost him his lower left leg. He had then learned 'the truth,' like he had hoped, but this time it cost him his entire right arm.
The pained screams following that experience had alerted the shop owner of his presence and the man had taken him in. He had given Ed an automail arm and leg to replace his missing body parts and had never asked how Ed had lost them in the first place. That old man would have been happy to pretend he had never met Ed if it wasn't for the fact that the automail was rather expensive. Having no money meant that Ed spent the next year of his life living with the man to work off his debt.
When he reached 13 the old man had considered his debt paid and kicked him out. Ed had then stowed away on a train headed for Central City. Now here he was, three years later, living in a studio apartment and practically running the black market 'science department.' Basically, that meant he was considered the expert on creating gunpowder, bombs, poisons and pretty much anything else related to science or alchemy. His genius brain was finally paying off, but even though he was fairly rich he kept a low profile.
Down in the Slums he was known as Fullmetal and no one outside of his hometown knew his real name. He was fairly certain that everyone back in Resembool had most likely forgotten it by now. The name on the emancipated minor paperwork he'd had forged today was a fake and the forger was smart enough to know that, but also smart enough not to ask about it.
When the bag of chips was empty Ed stood and walked back into the kitchenette, tossing the bag in the trash and glancing down at the paperwork. The name 'Allen Hughes' laid across the top of the page. Allen was a tribute to his brother, Al. Hughes was the last name of an idiotic military man Ed had seen on the street once. The man had been gushing about his wife to a stranger who had handed the man's dropped wallet back to him. The stranger had looked extremely uncomfortable and Ed had nearly felt the urge to punch the idiot, but in his line of work it was best to avoid any contact with the military.
It was no secret that the military was searching for the mysterious 'Fullmetal' and if they should ever get far enough as to suspect Ed he would have these papers ready for them. The hope was that the name 'Hughes' would start some shit within their ranks. It'd be funny at the very least. This particular document was not the first he had the forger draft for him. There was a government ID and a document from an orphanage showing that he had been dumped there as a baby. The orphanage he had chosen to use for this was one that had shut down only a few years ago due to a child abuse case. If they questioned him about his automail he would use that as an excuse, extreme child abuse.
Ed grabbed a glass of water and downed it. He then refilled it and carried it over to his bed, placing it on the bedside table. After stripping down he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep within minutes.