Warnings: Roy and Ed fluff at various points in the fic, as well as a few spoilers from the anime.
Summary: It was just supposed to be a routine recon in the east. But when Ed returns from Ishbal with a little girl, can the unorthodox family come together for the child, and even find those she belongs to?
Rated: PG-13 for language and some suggestive scenes.

"You've got plenty of people working under you who can do this mission, Mustang, why me?"
"Because you're the most qualified."
"The most qualified to take down some names? I have work to do here, or have your forgotten?"
"Fullmetal, I expect you to be on the train heading east by tomorrow morning, regardless of how qualified you think you are. Your research can wait for a few days. As you said, you're only taking down names."

Ed could just punch the living daylights out of the pompous bastard at the time. He knew they weren't lovers in the office, but it didn't change the fact that the man would explode if he spared a smile here and there. They were behind closed doors, it's not like anyone would see if Roy showed some form of affection. Instead it seemed now that he provoked Ed even more in public! Ed knew it wouldn't be a story book romance; neither of them needed saving, and neither would ever accept it if they did. If anything, it was probably the most common type of romance, save for the fact that they were both male. Still, he did expect a certain degree of softness. He kicked the seat in front of him, causing Al to look up over his book. Silently, he placed a finger over his lips.
Ed settled back into the compartment seat and huffed loudly. He had the sneaking suspicion that Roy knew this would happen. Roy knew everything before it would happen. He loved the man, but that didn't change the fact that he was intrinsically a manipulative bastard. He couldn't count the number of times he'd been curled around Roy's finger, even during intimate moments. Nothing was sacred to the man, why then should this be? But then, what was the purpose of this? Surely Roy didn't want a family, so why send Ed to find a six year old girl? It didn't connect, but he clung stubbornly to the fact that Roy planned it out. He kicked the chair again and Al looked up sharply.
"She is sleeping," he hissed.
Ed stuck his tongue out to receive a sharp bat on the head with the book.
"Stay still." Al looked fondly on the dark girl who had curled up with her head on Ed's lap. Tiny fingers curled and uncurled on top of his knee as she suckled on her pointer finger. Al reached over and brushed away strands of stray hair, causing her to mew a little and stretch out. Ed had to smile to himself. He was annoyed with the situation, but that didn't change the face that this child "may as well have fallen off of a charm bracelet", as Al put it when they caught her after stealing their food. Ed smiled at the memory.

"How many soldier are left to account for," Al asked absently as he popped another of Ed's fries into his mouth.
"About three platoons... I'll deal with that tomorrow, I'm beat." Ed propped his legs up on the table and leaned back on the hind legs of his chair. Al looked at him with disapproval and pointed downwards. Ed huffed and flopped back down into all four legs of his chair and let his legs flop down again. He leaned his elbow on the table and grabbed his burger, taking a huge bite of it.
"You're such a prude, Alphonse," he said through a mouthful of food. Al ignored him and flipped the page of a book.
"I'd like to pick up a cookbook while we're here. I think eastern food is delightful," he said, taking another bite of his dish.
"I'm fine with good, old-fashioned Amestrian food." As though that would make a difference. Al knew what he wanted, and he was going to make Ed suffer through it. Al was a very good cook, but Ed was a simple guy, as portrayed by his plate at the moment. Burger and fries. No ketchup, no pickles, no cheese; just meat, and bread, and potatoes. It was Al who liked the frills and fancy things. His plate held a chicken breast stuffed with some kind of eastern cheese, herbs Ed didn't care to pronounce, and sauces with so many different flavors going on Ed's teeth actually began to hurt. He winced at the thought of having to eat it when Al made it back at home.
He was wrenched from his thoughts when a small, dark hand came up and patted around the table before landing on Ed's fries. It curled around several of them and then disappeared again under the table. He looked up at Al who mouthed that it had been going on for a few minutes now. Ed furrowed his brow and looked under the table.
The first thing he was met with was big red eyes. They weren't scared, or angry, just surprised, like the owner hadn't expected to get caught. Ed took in the rest of the child below him with lessening rage. She couldn't have been more than six. She squatted under the table with about five fried clenched in one tiny fist like a life line, and the other balancing on the ground. She was wearing just rags, it looked like she'd just found bits of cloth on the trash and picked them out. She was dark skinned, almost chocolate, and her hair was just as ruby-colored as her eyes. Her arms and legs were plump with baby fat, but that was it. She was far too skinny. A fry hung from her lips and it looked like she'd been in mid-chew as Ed caught her. She flopped back into her rump and took the half eaten fry from her lips. Her eyes welled as she handed the fried back. "Sorry," she said softly, her voice breaking, "I was hungry." She'd no more than finished than burst into tears. Even sobbing, her voice was just as pure as silver bells.
Al was the first to react. He jumped up and scooped the little girl up. For a moment she fought against him, and then he sat down and cut her a piece of his food and gave it to her. At first she just looked from his to the food. Al nudged her lower lip with the small bite on the end of the fork and she smiled, greedily eating. Ed watched, still on shock at the impoverish child as she giggled and cooed on Al's lap. He fed her about half of the chicken before she refused anymore and reached for his water. He helped her to drink, but she still spilled all over the front of her quasi-shirt. She looked up at Al is fear before he smiled at her and dabbed off most of the moisture.

"We need to get her proper clothes." Al's voice made Ed's nerves jump. He had been so caught up with the fact that they had found the child that he hadn't thought about that. It should have been the next thing they did after they fed her. Ed nodded ad looked around. In Central there was a whole strip dedicated to child's apparel and playthings. Here there didn't seem to be anything like that. He turned in a full circle before he looked at Alphonse. The little girl was curled up on his arms, curling her fingers curiously into his hair.
"Where are we going," she asked softly, her eyes still glued on the side of Al's head. Al looked at Ed for an answer but he shook his head.
"Well, ask for directions," Al said, brushing the tiny hands away from his eyes.
"Why do you have different eyes than me," the little girl asked.
"Because I' different than you, and so is everyone else."
The girl's eyes widened and she gasped. "Really? Everyone? That's like... a hundred different people!"
Ed and Al both laughed gently at her shock. Ed wanted to point out that it was more like a billion different people, but the number may have been too big for the girl to wrap her head around. He stayed quiet and said, "Yeah, that's about right." The little girl's eyes widened further.

"Are there even that many people in the whole world?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty big world," Ed laughed. She threw her arms in the air to form a circle and asked, "Is it this big?"

"It's a little bigger," Al answered with a grin.

"That's huge," she breathed. They both laughed.

After a time of answering questions Ed was thoroughly annoyed and Al was trying to keep them both from fighting.

"Well, why can't I know?!"

"It really is something you should know when you're older."

"Why," the child demanded. She crossed her arms over her chest and puffed out as Ed curled up in anger. Al had shifted the girl to his other arm to keep them out of arm's reach. Finally he sighed and said, "babies come from mommies."

"Where do the mommies come from?"

"Other mommies."

"Everyone comes from mommies?"

Al nodded and the girl fell silent at that answer. Al knew the look in her eyes. She was absorbing the information she'd just received and turning it over and over in her mind. Ed got that look every time he came across something new. Al knew she'd be quiet for at least half an hour, if she continued to act like his brother, as she had thus far.

The first time she asked where babies came from Ed bristled and looked to Al for help. He stayed silent, since the question as not directed at him. He stammered something about men and women, and then said that she didn't need to know. Al rolled his eyes, knowing that saying he didn't know would have been better than denying her the knowledge. They both had expected her to move on to the next question, but instead she pursued, asking why he should know and she couldn't. She presented with the conflict of her age, she asked how old Ed was when he found out. He conceded that he was about her age, and she demanded to know. They then took to fighting and screaming. Al actually had to intercept a weak fist thrown at Ed's face. He reprimanded the child before she went on her tirade with Ed.

They finally got directed to the baby store, if only because while the two were distracted with their fighting Al was able to ask directions. The old woman looked brightly on the child and after stroking her hair – whether known or not to the girl – she gave him directions. Al hadn't expected a big store like back home, but he'd expected a little more than this.

He arrived at a tiny shop that looked like it'd be crowded with all three of them in there. He found drab children's dresses, pants, and shirts, but no shoes or underwear. He sighed a chose a long shirt for the night, a dress for today, and pants and a shirt for tomorrow on the train. He felt bad, however, because, even though it wasn't much, the girl acted like she'd just been handed the finest of silk and lace to wear. She giggled the whole time Al was dressing her in an adjacent bathroom. He pranced out like she was just the best thing ever, and even then, both brothers agreed that she was.

That night they ordered room service as they got the child all settled in.

"What should we call her," Ed finally asked as the little girl bounced happily on the bed. Al looked up from his book to consider the little girl.

"What's your name," he asked. The little girl stopped and fell deep into thought. "I can't remember," she finally conceded. There was no anger, or sadness, it was just a fact. She didn't know her name. The brothers exchanged glances of concern. She was a non entity. She didn't, technically, exist. It finally hit home for the two of them. She was a child, no more than six years of age, who had probably grown up alone, and on the streets. She had no documentation, no education, nothing. It was a wonder she'd made it this long. She giggled quietly in the background as she bounced on the bed behind them.

A knock on the door stopped the girls jumping. Within seconds she'd found a hiding spot beyond the knowledge of Ed and Al. While Al looked around for the girl, Ed accepted the food. He two had noticed the similarities between himself and the girl. He coaxed the girl out by leaving the covering off of her food. He smiled to her as she fumbled with utensils before just digging in with her hands. She slept between the two of them that night, after eating her food and what was left of Al's food.

The whistle of the train reduced the child to absolute tears as she coward in Al's arms. Al had to calm her down, promising her that the train wasn't going to hurt her before they could enter, otherwise if he took a step towards it, she'd go into a fit of screams and cries for help. They both got looks of distress, and Ed had to convince one lady that they weren't kidnapping her. In the end she squeezed her eyes shut tight and buried her head in Al's shoulder.

Ed was pulled from his thoughts as the little girl roused from her sleep. He raised his eye brows as a rumble reached his ears. The little girl stood next to him and held her stomach declaring, "I am hungry." Al laughed from behind his book as he peered at the couple. Ed placed a hand on the girl's stomach and lower back to keep her steady, an action he'd seen Hughes perform with Elysia a thousand times.

"Well, we'll be home in about half an hour, and when we get there the first thing we'll do is get you some food," Al promised. Ed winced visibly. He still wasn't comfortable calling Central their home. He'd gone so long not having one that it was still odd for him. But he recovered with a smile and nodded. The girl was content with this sat back down on the seat. During the following 30 minutes was spent in comfortable silence. It was broken only by the child getting up and moving between the two brothers and the window, and Al turning a page in the book.

They landed on time and, not one to let her promise go unrequited, she pulled them over to a small stand off to the left of the platform. Al looked around disgustedly. The child seemed thrilled with whatever food she could get, she'd settle for whatever she could find. He politely declined the man's offers for samples, and picked the child up. It broke his heart that the little girl would settle for that. Just looking at that food made him feel ill. Looking at Ed he knew the same thoughts were passing through his mind as well.

"But you promised me," she whispered, like Al had just struck her. Al wanted to cry, but settled with kissing the side of her head, trying to convey the affections she'd already won through that contact. The little girl's face brightened at the show of affection, and let herself be carried to she-didn't-know-where.

Finally she was set on a bar stool and given a kiddie cup of something. She took a sip and coughed a little, staring at the cup with a mixture of shock and offence. "That felt funny." She declared her observation as simple fact, devoid of any emotion. She smacked her lips a little and conceded, "I like it." Ed and Al both laughed, patting her head on turn.

"What is this," she asked when the glass was empty and being refilled.

"It's called soda," Ed answered as he sipped his own glass.

"How come you have more than me?"

"I'm bigger, and can drink more. You're smaller, and can't hold all of this."

"How come you don't have a lid too?"

"Remember when you first met us, and you spilled water all down your front?" The little girl blushed at the memory and nodded.

"This way it won't happen again." Al tipped the glass forward and the little girl marveled at how the liquid was held back. She experimented further and found that by tipping it all the way upside down, not only did all the liquid fall out, but people laughed and she got a cookie. She'd be utilizing this later.

She gorged herself on two plates of chicken tenders, being somewhat crestfallen that it wasn't the sweet and savory dish she'd first eaten with the two older boys. She ate happily, however, shattering on about whatever was on her mind as she doodled on the paper with the crayons provided by the man who ran the small stand. By the end she yawned and reached up for Al to take up into his arms. Since meeting the brother's she'd not set her feet on the ground to walk for longer than small spurts. She didn't mind.

Havoc leaned on the hood of the car, bored as per usual. It was quiet at the office; there was no civil unrest, no revolutions to speak of. Monotony had taken its toll on everyone, causing them to do crazy things. Riza wore her hair down today, as a matter of fact. He remembered how eyes were riveted to her suddenly softer face. They were all reminded that she was, in fact, a woman. At once they all offered niceties, but they were all quickly reminded, also, that with was still Lieutenant Hawkeye and they settled right back down.

Of course his mood brightened as the two came back with their luggage and a child curled up in Al's arms.

"Put that thing out," Ed demanded, snatching the cigarette from Havoc's lips and stamping it into the pavement. He took a decidedly defensive tone, not for himself, but for the little girl. Havoc stammered a little, but sighed. Well, things were officially shaken up, which was what everyone wanted, right?