Title: What Used To Be

Rating: T for swearing, violence, and scenes of a sexual nature later in the story.

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Pairing: RoyxEd

Summary: After eight years of a life on his own, Ed has to work with the man he's tried to forget to save Amestris from destruction. RoyEd.

**Alternate timeline in which Al's body is restored, Ed still has his alchemy and automail, CoS never happened, and Ed and Roy are only eight years apart.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything related to it.

Chapter One

Roy Mustang stood outside the familiar country house, his hand poised to knock at the door. For the thousandth time, he wondered if he should really be doing this. Roy remembered Lieutenant Hawkeye's words to him before he left.

He's the only one who can take care of this. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of doing the right thing, Sir.

She was right, of course. She always was. But that didn't mean he liked it.

With a deep breath, he gave two strong knocks at the door.

A muted, high-pitched voice shouted, "I get it!" accompanied after by pattering footsteps that grew closer until the door swung open. Roy's breath hitched in his throat.

A young girl, maybe four or five, stared at him through amber eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned, her golden hair pulled into a small braid at the back of her neck. She looked up at him with a defiant expression. The image was so familiar that he almost expected her right arm and left bare foot to be made out of automail.

But he was being ridiculous. Quickly, he composed his face into an indifferent expression.

"Hi Mister, can I help you?" The girl asked.

"Yes, I need to speak with Edward Elric. Is he at home?" asked Roy.

"Maybe, maybe not," she replied, her voice petulant. "Who are you?"

"General Roy Mustang."

The girl's eyes widened fractionally, and she straightened, starting to ease the door shut. "Daddy's not here. Please go away." Her voice was oddly cold for someone so young, and he winced internally.

Roy put his hand against the door to stop it from closing. "Please, I must speak with him," he insisted.

Before the girl could say anything, an all-too familiar voice sounded from the house. "Marie, who is it?"

"Nobody!" Marie shouted, trying to shut the door. Roy jammed his foot in the doorway to prevent her from closing it.

More footsteps came, and Roy never thought he'd hear the uneven steps again. When the voice spoke again, it was right behind the door.

"Come on, Marie, be polite. Let the poor guy in," the voice said warmly, and the man opened the door to become face to face with Roy.

There was a prolonged moment of silence, in which Roy took the time to take in his former subordinate's features. He must have been twenty-six by then, and didn't seem to have changed much in the nine years since Roy had last seen him. He was taller now—still shorter than Roy, but at least at a somewhat normal height. He now wore his hair in a ponytail, giving him a more mature look. Though at the moment he was clearly shocked and tense, Roy could tell he had matured in other ways as well, past the eternal anger to something happier, more carefree, yet still responsible.

Finally, Roy met those large amber eyes, completely unchanged from the wonder they had always been. Now, they narrowed into a fierce, loathing glare.

"Marie, go inside," Edward said without looking down at his daughter. His tone held no room for argument, and she retreated silently into the house, shutting the door behind her.

Ed crossed his arms. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked lowly.

"Straightforward as ever," Roy replied, his voice cool. "Hello to you, too."

"Oh, spare me the useless pleasantries. I thought we agreed we'd never see each other again, so why are you here?"

"Trust me, if I'd had a choice, I wouldn't have come." He saw Ed hold back a flinch, and felt a dark satisfaction. "It would be better if we could sit down to discuss the matter at hand."

"You're not setting foot in my house. Either tell me why you're here or get lost."

Roy sighed. "Ed—"

"Don't call me that."

He glared. "What, should I call you Fullmetal? Mr. Elric? Mr. Rockbell?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Edward will do, you bastard. I'm waiting."

"Edward, then." Roy hesitated, wondering how exactly to say it, then shrugged and decided to just be blunt. "You're needed in Central."

Another bout of satisfaction shot through him as Ed was rendered speechless for a moment. "Wha-what? Central?"

"Yes, it's that city in the middle of Amestris."

"Who the fuck wants me there?" Ed demanded, ignoring the sarcasm. "The government? The military?" He sneered. "You?"

"Actually, no one really wants you there, but that doesn't mean you're not needed."

Ed scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Roy ground out, hating himself for what he had to say next. "That we need you if we don't want Amestris to go to ruin."

Silence.

For a long moment, Roy didn't think Ed would respond at all. And when the blonde started to turn away, his hopes fell.

"Come inside. You're going to explain this all to me before I make any decisions."

Only Edward Elric had the ability to crash his hopes and make them rise again at full force with only a few spoken words.


It took all Ed had not to turn around and punch the man behind him as hard as he could.

No. I can't give in to those kind of impulses anymore, he reminded himself. Still, he wanted so badly to scream and yell, to throw the kinds of tantrums he did as a State Alchemist nearly a decade ago.

He couldn't stand this. Why was his former commanding officer here? As he'd said before, they had promised to try to never speak to or see each other again after… well, after what happened. Ed tried not to think about it, or he was sure he wouldn't be able to hold himself back much longer from simply killing the man.

Ed's daughter was in the sitting room when they came in, and she looked up, an expression of concern on her face. Ed cringed. His daughter understood far more than most children her age did. She understood enough from his rare moments of helplessness that anyone named Roy Mustang would not be welcome near him. Now, she scrambled to stand up, tugging on his arm.

"Daddy, why is the bad man here?"

He could almost feel Mustang's discomfort coming off him in waves.

Ed forced a smile. "No one's a 'bad man,' Marie. Colonel Mustang—"

"General," a voice murmured behind him.

"General Mustang is just here to explain a few things, okay? Now, why don't you go get your mother? Tell her it's important."

Marie nodded quickly and sprinted out the backdoor to find her mother in the garden.

"Her mother?"

"Yes. Winry's going to know what's happening anyway, so she may as well just here it from you," Ed said absently, sitting down on the couch. He signaled for Mustang to sit at the armchair.

Mustang's expression was pained. "Edward, this information is—"

"Top secret, classified, I figured. Even if she doesn't come, I'd tell her anyway."

Mustang merely sighed, running a hand through his black hair. Ed tried not to follow the movement, tried not to remember what that hair felt like through his own fingers, tried not to think of when he—

Don't think about it. It didn't happen. Nothing happened. Everything's fine. You love Winry.

He took a deep breath, looking away from the man in front of him.

Roy spoke hesitantly. "Does Winry know about…?" he didn't need to clarify what he was referring to.

Ed's automail fist clenched. "No. Nothing except that we're not on speaking terms. She assumes it was just another fight," he said curtly.

He was saved having to a hear a reply as the back door opened and closed, followed by Winry's familiar voice.

"Ed? Marie told me there's someone here…?"

"We're in the sitting room," he managed to call back.

When Winry appeared in the doorway, it seemed to take a moment for her to recognize the man before her. When she did, a mixture of surprise, confusion, and repressed anger flickered over her face.

Mustang gave a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It's nice to see you, Miss Rock—Mrs. Elric. Will you sit down?"

She did silently before looking at Marie, who was lingering in the doorway. "Up to your room now, Marie." Their daughter paused for a moment before obeying, her tiny face scrunched up in confusion and worry.

Giving a small sigh, he turned to Mustang. "What is this about, General?" His voice was cold and clipped.

"As I said, Edward, we need you to help us with a… problem… in Central."

"Central?" Winry asked bemusedly, echoing Ed's earlier question. "What in the world would require Ed to be there? He left the military ages ago."

"I'm well aware of that, Mrs. Elric," Mustang said dryly, and Ed gave a small flinch. "But your husband"—Ed was certainly not imagining the subtle emphasis on that word—"is essentially our only hope in helping us here."

"Get to the point, Mustang," Ed snapped, fed up. "What's going on?"

"Have you been keeping up with Central's news at all lately?"

He snorted. "Idiot, of course not. We're perfectly happy staying away from that place, in all senses."

"You may do well to keep more in touch with the world, Edward," Mustang said, a condescending tone entering his voice that Ed recognized all too well. "You'd realize that this problem has the potential to change Amestris for the worse."

Ignoring his jibe, Ed's forehead scrunched up in confusion. "How so? What is it?"

"As you know, there's always been some low-key gang activity in Central, but recently it's become much bigger than usual. In the last month, there's been eleven disappearances that seem to have no connection to each other. There are rumors that a certain gang is taking these victims and using them for unknown purposes. The papers are pretty sure it's just some bloodthirsty gang murdering whomever they feel like, but a few weeks ago, we—my team, that is—have found that it's more than just that.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, Second Lieutenant Havoc, Major Armstrong and I were investigating the scene of one of the more recent disappearances, but while there were usually only signs of a struggle, this time there were signs of alchemy. When I looked more into it, I found that it was signs of human transmutation."

"So what?" Ed cut in, annoyed. "Criminals practice human transmutation all the time. Why's this so special?"

"Many reasons. The main two being that the alchemy seemed to serve two purposes: to make a philosopher's stone, and to create an army of homunculi."

Ed stiffened immediately, and Winry gasped, her hand tightening around Ed's. Memories of his early teenage years flashed through his mind, reminding him that the nightmares he thought had vanished years ago were always in reach, ready to strike at the mention of them. He took a deep breath, trying to at least retain a calm expression. His arm curled protectively around Winry as she began to tremble, and he turned to whisper soothing words in her ear.

"Hey, it's okay, Winry… they're not going to hurt you, okay? I'll protect you, it's okay. I love you." He said that last part just a little louder, and felt the smallest twinge of smugness when Mustang winced out of the corner of his eye.

After a minute or so, she calmed down enough to take a few deep breaths. Ed glared at Mustang, who shrugged, giving him a look that said, 'I told you I should've talked to you alone.'

Ed hated himself for agreeing.

Finally, he spoke again. "Look, Mustang, I don't live in Central anymore. I'm not part of the military. It's not my job to fix anything that happens there. Besides, have you reported this to anyone?"

Mustang sighed. "Obviously, I've tried that, but we've found out that the higher-ups are in on this. We figure the gang is probably creating the philosopher's stone and homunculi for their own uses, whatever they may be."

"Even so, there are many other options you could've taken to solve this, no matter how big it is."

"That's true," Mustang conceded. "But many would have failed or messed things up even more. But that doesn't matter much. You would have taken part in this even if I hadn't asked you to. And even though we aren't exactly on speaking terms, I know you well enough that you'll choose the right side to fight for whether you like them or not."

Ed snorted. "And what gives you the idea that I would ever participate in something like this?"

There was a long silence in which Mustang seemed to be considering what he would say next very carefully. Winry was still silent next to him, and seemed to only pick out the important parts of their conversation. Ed felt another stab of irritation toward Mustang for having the nerve to show up here it all.

Finally, Mustang answered him in a soft voice. "You'll help us stop this," he said. "Because the last person to go missing was Alphonse Elric."

End of Chapter One

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