I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist
Family secrets
It's was a beautiful spring morning in Central and Riza was stood in her kitchen making breakfast for Roy. It had been seventeen years since the incident with Winry and Roy and everything seemed to have worked out. Roy and Riza was now married due to the fact that she couldn't legally adopt Mary-Jayne without being married to Roy who was Mary's father. Riza fried the bacon as she thought about the paperwork that she would have to file today from the day before.
"Good morning Riza." Roy said as he walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek, Riza smiled she never thought that she would have a life like this with a family.
"Morning Roy, breakfast is ready. Would you like toast or fried bread with your breakfast today?" She asked placing the bacon she had cooked on a plate with sausages and scrambled egg.
"Just toast today, thanks. Where is Mary-Jayne?" Roy asked wondering where his daughter was.
"She said that she was going to the library to return a book that she had borrowed before she goes to school." Riza replied, she buttered Roy's toast and handed him his coffee and breakfast before sitting down to eat hers.
"Ah, she told me that she has a test today, something to do with medical science?" Roy said.
"Yes she's been studying really hard on biomedical science." Riza said with pride.
"Did you remind her that we have guests coming over for dinner tonight?" Roy ask concerned that Mary-Jayne would forget again.
"Yes but to make sure that's she's home I'm going to ask Havoc if he could pick her up from school." Riza said, they finished off their breakfast and then went of to work.
At the Central library Mary-Jayne sat at one of the desks reading a book on mechanics, her long silky black hair falling into her eyes as she read. Like her Aunt Winry, Mary-Jayne had a passion for machinery and wanted to one day make a machine that could help people who had to go through auto-mail surgery. As she read the book she took down notes that could be useful for her study. She was just half way through the book she was reading when the librarian came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me Miss Mustang, but if you don't leave soon you will be late for school again." She said looking up at the clock pointing out the time. Mary-Jayne looked up from the book and looked at the clock that the librarian was pointing at to see that it was twenty to nine. In a panic Mary picked up the book and her notes and ran to the desk so that she could check out the book before heading off to school. The librarian smiled as she walked over to her desk to check out the book that Mary-Jayne wanted to borrow, she hadn't seen anyone so passionate about studying since the Elric brothers had studied there for their research. She signed the card that was inside the book and handed it to Mary-Jayne who put it in her bag and ran out of the door.
Outside the library Havoc stood near his car waiting for her. "Ah Mary there you are, come on your father has asked me to drop you of at your school and we wouldn't want you to be late." He said opening the passenger door for her, Mary jumped into the car and Havoc drove her to Armstrong private high school. When they got there Mary-Jayne jumped out of the car and ran into the school hoping that she wasn't going to be late again, lucky she managed to get to her class just before the teacher, Mr Greenwood.
"Good morning class, I hope that you all have your thinking caps on today." He said as he sat at his desk and picked up his pen to do the register. Mary sighed in relief, if she had been a few seconds later then she would have been in trouble with her father for being late again.
"Right class as you all know we are having a test today, you have all done this before so you know what to do. You have an hour. Good luck." He said handing out the papers. Mary looked at the paper that had been placed in front of her, unlike her friends that was nervous about the test, she was relaxed. She wrote her name at the top with the date and waited for Mr Greenwood to say that they could start.
"OK you can start now." Mary-Jayne opened the paper and read through the questions confident that she could answer them.
At Central HQ Roy sat at his desk reading through a form requesting for Edward to be transferred to central so that he could be placed in charge of the science medical research facility. Roy stared at the form wondering what he should do, he knew that Ed and Winry had a family of their own now that Winry had her own auto-mail business in East city. But the higher ups wanted Edward and his knowledge there in Central so that he could lead the research team. Roy looked up from the form when he heard Riza walk in with some forms that needed his approval.
"You know it's really not that hard, all you need to do is call him and let him know what the higher ups want. You never know they might be happy to move here, it will mean that Winry can see more of Mary-Jayne." Riza said placing the stack of papers she was carrying on his desk. Roy sighed, he hadn't really spoken to Ed since the incident with Mary-Jayne all those years ago, Ed still couldn't find it in him to forgive Roy for what he did.
"It's not that easy when it comes to Fullmetal, you've seen the tension between us every time we go and visit them in the holidays, you imagine what it would be like if he was working here under me again." Roy argued, Riza frowned at him, she couldn't believe that after all these years they couldn't learn to get along with each other.
"Just call him and explain the proposal to him. I'm sure that he will be happy for a chance to work in a research lab and be in charge." Riza said picking up the phone handing it to Roy. Roy stared at the phone for a moment before giving in, he dialled the number to Edwards office at Eastern Headquarters.
"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Elric speaking." Ed said on the other end of the line. He sounded really tired and frustrated and Roy wondered again if this was a good idea.
"Hello Fullmetal, How have you been?" Roy asked knowing that Ed would ignore the question.
"Ah General Mustang, for what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?" Ed asked sounding suspicious but trying to sound polite meaning that someone of higher ranking must have been in the room.
"Can't an old friend call to see how your getting on?" Roy asked sounding hurt, with his signature smirk on his face.
"No, especially if it's you, so what is it that you want?" Ed asked sounding annoyed, Roy sighed and told Ed about what the higher ups wanted.
"The higher ups have asked me to transferee you here so that you can run the millatery research labs." Roy explained, he heard the creaking of Ed's auto-mail hand as he squeezed the receiver he was holding. Roy was sure that if Ed was in the office with him he would have been hold where he could stick his transferee. The line went quite for a moment before Ed asked the question that Roy knew was coming.
"Who will I be working under?" Roy wanted to tell Ed that he would be working under him just to hear the rant that would follow, but decided to just answer the question, he didn't want to be blamed if Ed decided to say no to the transferee.
"No one. You will be in charge of the research department. The only thing you will have to do is to come to me or any of the other higher ups if you want to research something that isn't what the millatery wants." Roy explained, the line went quite again for a minute meaning that Ed was thinking seriously about the request.
"What about Winry and the kids? Winry has a business set up here and Thomas and Lily are half way through there school year, I don't want to disturb their education because of my job." Ed explained sounding generally concerned with his family. Roy smiled he always knew that Ed would be a good husband and dad.
"How about this, you talk to your family about it and then let me know what you decide tomorrow. OK?"
"OK, Thanks General for being understanding. I will call you tomorrow with my answer." Ed hung up the phone so that he could get back to work. Roy leaned back in his chair not believing that Ed had just thanked him, he looked at Riza who was filing some papers into the cabinet with a surprised expression on his face.
"So what did he say?"
"He said that he would talk to his family before telling me what he wants to do." Roy replied turning to the pile of papers on his desk that needed his attention. Riza smiled as she placed the files she had into their right places, she knew that if he spoke to him that they could be reasonable with each other. Roy picked up his pen again and started looking at the papers that Riza had put on his desk for him wondering what Ed's answer was going to be.
Back at the Armstrong private school Mary-Jayne and her friends where talking about the boy's that where in the school yard next door.
"You know Samuel Cain? Well I heard that his father is being transferred to the west." Emily Robbins said eating her tuna and cucumber sandwiches.
"Where did you hear that?" Jessica Morris asked.
"My dad. I heard him talking to General Mustang about it. Apparently he's being demoted because he was covering up for one of the Majors who was caught stealing funds from the research grant." Emily explained.
"Oh wow, so who's going to be replacing him then? Colonel Bennett? Lieutenant Colonel Murphy?" Jessica asked excitedly, she always liked to hear some good gossip.
"I think the General mentioned that the higher up wanting an old subordinate of his to take charge of the Research labs. He's supposed to be a alchemical genus." As soon as Mary heard that her face lit up.
"You mean Uncle Edward could be moving to Central?" She asked all excited.
"Maybe. So Mary have you asked you parents if you can come with us on Saturday to the annual spring fair?" Jessica asked.
"No, dad's been to occupied with work recently. I'm going to ask him tonight when he gets home." She replied, they all sat and watched the boys play football until the bell rang and they all went back to class.
At five o'clock Roy and Riza was putting on their coats ready to go home, the rest of the team had already left and they had only stayed behind because Major General Starling wanted Roy to look at a few things for him before leaving."
"I wonder how Mary-Jayne did on her test?" Roy said as they walked to the car that was waiting for them to drive them home.
"I'm sure that she did fine, it was on biomedical science, which is one of her favourite subjects." Riza replied, they got into the car and went home cuddling close to each other as they watched the scenery go by.
"I have been waiting for this all day, I hate the fact that we can't give each other a kiss or hug without being court marshalled for fraternization." Roy said as he enjoyed the feel of Riza's hair as he stroked it.
"I know you do, but when we are at work you are my boss and we both have to show that we can be professional." Riza replied in her usual professional tone. She caught the driver trying to spy on them through the mirror and pointed towards the road telling him to watch where he was going, the young sergeant quickly turned his eyes back on to the road afraid that if he was to have an accident with a Lieutenant Colonel and General in the car he would be done for killing a officer. They soon arrived at their house and thanked the driver for taking driving them.
When they walked into the house they found that Havoc was still there listening to Mary-Jayne about mechanics and biomedical science and the theory she has got about being able to keep the nerves active in the limb that was being replaced but numbing the pain so that it wasn't too painful for the patient.
"You see if we could numb the area enough so that it won't hurt the patient and still have the nerves working so that the auto-mail limb can still be put on, then it would be less stressful for the patient and the auto-mail surgeon, which means that the patients recovery time would be less." Mary explained to Havoc who looked like he was confused.
"I see that you are dazzling the Major with your knowledge again." Riza said winking at Jean who looked happy to have a break from the lessons.
"Hi mum and dad. Guess what? I came top of my class again. I got an A+ on my test today" Mary-Jayne declared holding up the test paper that she had done that day. Riza and Roy smiled, they knew that she would do well with her test and was happy to see that the money they had invested into the private school wasn't wasted.
"Oh, Jessica and Emily has asked if I can go to the spring fair with them on Saturday. Can I?" Mary asked her dad who looked at Riza for guidance.
"Well you did do well on your test today. I don't see why not, but no boys do you understand me?" Roy said in a stern tone. He was always very protective of his daughter and always kept an eye on the boys who watched and stared at her.
"Thank you daddy." Mary hugged her dad and kissed his cheek before running to the phone to tell her friends the good news.
Havoc stood near the kitchen door watching the scene play out. "Thanks again for picking her up Jean." Riza said handing Havoc a cup of coffee.
"That's alright Riza, I'd do anything for her, she's like a niece to me." Havoc replied taking a sip of his coffee.
"Oh before I forget, Major General Bates rang five minutes before you arrived home. He said that he's sorry but he can't make it for dinner tonight, he's had to take his wife to the hospital due to her pregnancy. He said that he will let you know Riza how Lizzy is when he can." Jean said relaying the message that he was asked to give.
"I hope that she's alright. She's not due to have the baby for another two weeks." Riza replied hoping that Lizzy would be OK.
"So chief did you manage to talk to Ed today?" Jean asked changing the subject knowing that Riza can get quit emotional when it comes to the topic of pregnancy.
"Yes I did. Though he didn't sound too happy to hear from me."
"So is he coming back to Central?"
"I don't know, I told him that he could talk to Winry and his kids first before making a decision. Though I've got a feeling that he will take the offer." Roy said smirking, Riza and Havoc looked at each other with suspicion. They knew how manipulative he could be when it came to controlling Ed's actions.
"So it's true. You've asked uncle Ed to come and work here for the research labs?" Mary asked standing in the doorway next to Havoc.
"Where did you hear that? No one except me, the higher ups and my team know about that." Roy asked with a frown on his face.
"Emily hold me. She said that she over heard you and her dad talking about it at his house." Mary replied hoping that she hadn't just got her friend into trouble. Riza noticed the look that Mary was given and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry Mary, your not in any trouble and neither is your friend." Riza said. She asked Mary-Jayne to help her prepare the dinner whilst Roy went to talk to Havoc about some official millatery business.
In East city Ed was sat in his kitchen talking to Winry about what Roy had discussed with him over the phone.
"The General Bastard what's me to go to Central and work in the research labs." Ed said sounding annoyed and yet excited at the same time. Winry knew that Ed wanted to go back to Central and see the old gang again but didn't want to admit it.
"It sounds like a really good opportunity, you have always said that you would like to run you own lab some day and do some good with your knowledge." Winry replied.
"I know but what about you and the kids. Thomas and Lily are half way through their school year and you have your own business here." Ed argued. "You have put so much work into that business for you to leave it now." Winry frowned at Ed as he spoke. She always hated it when he put her before himself, missing out on opportunities that could help progress his career.
"I can expand my business to Central, I have already trained Marvin and Skye to take over for me so that I can spend me time with you, Thomas and Lily. And I'm sure that if you asked Roy he could help us find a good school for Thomas and Lily to go to." Winry argued back.
"It means that you will be able to see more of Al and meet this girl that he has started dating." Ed didn't argue with that, he did want to meet Al's girlfriend and to see more of him. Ever since Al left East city a year ago, Ed was always calling him making sure that he was alright and wasn't getting himself into trouble with the girls. He didn't trust the advice that Roy had been giving his brother and wanted to check that he hadn't done something that the General would do. Winry stood up and called Thomas and Lily in so that they could tell them the news.
"Thomas, Lily your father has something that he wishes to discuss with you." She shouted out the window where they where arguing about something. They both came in and sat down, wondering who was in trouble this time. Thomas had a guilty look on his face.
"Dad before you say anything, it wasn't my idea. Mark said that he knew somewhere where we can practice our alchemy, we didn't know that there was an alchemy lab there with chemicals in it, I swear." Thomas said panicking. Ed gave him a stern but confused look.
"That's not what I wanted to tell you, but thank you for telling me. We will discuss that afterwards." Ed replied with disappointment.
"I wanted to tell you that I have been offered a position in Central and that I am going to except." Ed announced. Lily became very excited, it meant that she could see uncle Roy and auntie Riza and hang out with Mary-Jayne more.
"When will we be leaving?" She asked trying to keep her enthusiasm at bay.
"I don't know, but if the General has his way it will be in a week."
"But we can't, Mark and I are going camping that weekend remember. You promised me that I could go." Thomas shouted angry that they had to move for their dad's job again. A few years ago they where moved to the south because Ed had been promoted only for them to move back six months later. Ed stared at his son with the look of authority in his golden eyes making him look away in shame.
"I told you that you could go if you could keep out of trouble. And it seems to me that you can't." Ed said scolding at him. Winry and Lily left the room so that they could talk about this in private, but didn't go too far away encase Winry needed to intervene.
"I told you, it wasn't my fault. Mark said that it was OK."
"Really? So you can't think for yourself when your with Mark?" Ed asked making Thomas flinch.
"I can, we didn't mean to do any harm." Thomas said looking at the floor.
"How many times do I have to tell you that your not allowed to do alchemy without supervision. You could have seriously hurt someone or worst killed them."
"What about you? You was allowed to use alchemy on your own. You even joined the millatery at the age of twelve. I'm fifteen dad. Why won't you allow me to use my alchemy like you used to?"
"Because I had no choice, I joined the millatery to help me and your uncle Alphonse survive. I had to use my alchemy for the millatery." Ed explained.
"You could off stayed with mum and great grandma Pinako. You went to the millatery because you wanted to have the power to use your alchemy without being criticized all the time." Ed looked at Thomas with rage in his eyes, how dare he question him on that. He was only trying to protect his son from the damager that alchemy can bring when you don't know what you are doing. Ed stood up and walked towards Thomas making him move back.
"Don't you EVER question me like that again, you don't know what your uncle and I had to go through back then. Just be grateful that I allowed you to learn alchemy and practice it with me. Now I want you to go up stairs and write me the meaning to all is one and one is all. And I don't want you hanging around Mark Fraser any more. Do you understand?"
"But Mark's my friend, we didn't mean to, please dad..."
"Do you understand?" Ed asked again trying to keep himself under control. Thomas nodded his head and ran up the stairs, angry with his father for not understanding. Winry walked into the kitchen and found Ed sat there staring at his auto-mail arm, the pain of what he had done all those years ago showing in his eyes. Winry walked over to the cooker to start dinner, deciding that it was best to leave Ed in his thoughts. She didn't what to upset him even more than what he already was.
"Am I being unfair with him?" The question came to Winry as a shock and it took her a moment to think of what to say in reply.
"I think that you could tell him what happened to your arm and leg, then he might understand why you are so protective of him." Winry said as she heated up the oven and placed the chicken pie that she had made in too cook. Ed turned to look at her, his golden eyes dull and lifeless from the memories of what he had done to himself and his brother.
"I don't want them to know. What if Thomas decides that he wants to try the forbidden art, I was lucky because I had good friends to protect me. I just don't want Thomas to go through what I did as a child." Winry walked over to her husband and gave him a kiss.
"You don't have to tell him exactly what happened, just tell him that you and Al had a alchemical accident and that you want him to be more careful when using his alchemy." Winry said, Ed thought about this and decided that Winry was right. He stood up and went up stairs to talk to Thomas.
"Thomas, can I come in?" Ed asked standing in front of his door. He tried to open it but found that it was locked.
"Thomas, please open this door. Don't make me have to use my alchemy on it." There was no reply. Ed getting worried that Thomas had ran off again, clapped his hands together and but them on the door releasing the lock and opening it. When he looked in the room he found that his suspicions where correct. The window was wide open and there where marks on the windowsill where he had used alchemy to make a ladder to escape with. Ed was furious, he ran down the stairs and told Winry to call the PM's office to inform them the Thomas had run away again, then left the house to search for him himself, hoping that Thomas wouldn't do anything stupid.
Yea I finally finished the first chapter, I hope that you all enjoy. I will try to get the next chapter up a bit quicker. Thanks for reading.