Edit: This first chapter has been rewritten since I first published it. Nothing too significant has changed, but I think it flows a lot better now, so give it another read if you want.

Hello fellow FMA fans! This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic, as well as my first attempt at any fanfic since I actually learned how to write decently. This chapter is just the first of many in what has already exploded into a full-blown complicated AU setting in my head, so I hope you'll stick around with me for as long as it lasts.

Since it's an AU story, there shouldn't be many spoilers (and I've only read as far as the official English translation of the manga anyway), but if there are, I'll warn for them loud and clear at the end of the comments, along with any disturbing content warnings.

Also: a large part of this story concerns a romantic and sexual relationship between Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes, but I won't ever post explicit sex between the two here, because a) I want this story to have a broad appeal, and b) I don't want to get kicked off in the event that this site ever decides to actually enforce its content policies. If you are a yaoi fan, though, never fear! I plan on writing said explicit scenes as separate short fics elsewhere, and I'll give some indication of where to find them once I get around to it.

And now, the disclaimer: this is a not-for-profit work of fan fiction loosely based on the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime, and I claim no ownership of any of the characters or situations derived from said works.

Now, read on!

Chapter 1

4 June 1910

The clink of drinking glasses filled the bar as a birthday toast to Maes Hughes kicked the party into full swing. Between the party guests and the regular customers the small bar was packed from wall to wall, and even the more skilled hostesses were having difficulty squeezing through the crowd. But the electric chandeliers and the gas lamps mounted on the walls cast enough light to keep the gathering more lively than claustrophobic as the night slipped by in a jovial haze.

Maes himself had claimed a stool toward the back, leaning casually against the bar as he surveyed the revelry. He had already told jokes with his coworkers at the court martial office and listened to his wife Gracia's parents—who had practically adopted Maes since he married her last year—tell stories about their neighbors in West City. Now, after hours of mingling, he sat sipping from a pint of beer, taking a well-deserved break from the mob.

"Havin' fun, birthday boy?" Roy Mustang said as he slid onto the stool next to Maes with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a tipsy smirk plastered across his face.

Maes laughed and returned the grin. "Of course, thanks to you. And the Madam, of course," he added, raising his glass to Madam Christmas, who was mixing drinks at the other end of the room. She caught his gesture and stopped bartending long enough to blow an exaggerated kiss in his direction, drawing a few whistles from the patrons and an embarrassed groan from Roy.

"Yeah, she insisted on it, an' y'know how she gets," Roy said, slurring noticeably. "Still, you don't turn 25 every day, y'know? Had to do somethin' special." He took a swig of his drink and leaned in closer, his chin settling on Maes's shoulder. "A quarter of a century...you're old now," he said, chuckling.

Maes pushed Roy back playfully with a finger to the forehead. "Barely older than you, hothead. It'll be your turn in a couple of months, just wait," Maes said.

Roy's smile drooped. "Yeah, it will be, huh."

"What's wrong, Roy?" Maes asked. Roy had seemed a little sullen when he had first arrived, but he had cheered up right away, so Maes had written it off as a momentary bad mood. Now, he had some doubts.

But Roy wasn't going to give in that easily, even with two and a half glasses of particularly strong whiskey in him. "It's nothin', Maes, don't worry about it. Just a bad day at work." He forced his grin back on, but Maes didn't buy it.

"We've been through a lot together, Roy, I can tell when you're lying."

"I already told you, it's nothin' you need to worry about," Roy repeated as he stood unsteadily and signaled for a refill, his smile becoming more natural again. "It's your birthday, just try an' enjoy yourself."

Maes sighed, then smiled himself—Roy's grin was infectious to him. "Fine, you win this time," Maes said, leaning an arm on Roy's shoulder as he sat back down. "But don't think I'm not gonna get it out of you later," he added softly.

"Already lookin' forward to it," Roy whispered coyly, throwing an arm around Maes's shoulders and leaning against him. Maes almost protested—most of the guests weren't in on their secret—but no one seemed to be paying much attention to them, so he leaned back against the bar again and settled into the crook of Roy's arm. Madam Christmas came over to pour more whiskey into Roy's glass, winked at the two, then sauntered back to the main crowd, leaving Roy and Maes to enjoy each other's company in peace.

( - - - - - - - - - - )

The party finally wound down sometime after two in the morning, and Roy felt decidedly worse for the wear. Madam Christmas had cut him off after his fifth drink some hours ago, so he was mostly sober but increasingly miserable as Gracia and Maes helped him up the stairs to their apartment after the taxi dropped them off, with Roy protesting the whole way.

"You should've just left me there for the night, I would have been fine," he said.

Gracia chuckled. "Roy, even if you do have a room there, you can't get that drunk at Maes's own party and not expect him to take care of you," she said.

"If you were gonna take care of me, you could've stopped me from drinking so much in the first place," Roy muttered.

"And miss the free excuse to have you hanging all over me in public?" Maes chimed in, his hand around Roy's waist now that they were on their landing. "Not a chance, dear."

"Crap, was I?" Roy winced and rubbed his temples, leaning on Maes for support. "Nobody saw, did they?"

"No, we're fine. The ones we have to watch out for most were all pretty sauced themselves." Maes said, steadying Roy while Gracia unlocked the door and led them inside. "And I did try to stop you, but you'd give me a death glare and reach for your gloves every time I tried to take it away from you."

"It was damn good whiskey." Roy shambled over to the sofa in the front room and slumped onto it, closing his eyes. "Though maybe not worth this headache," he added. Maes sat next to him on the couch, leaned Roy into his lap, and started gently massaging his head; Roy sighed and relaxed under the care of his strong, skilled hands.

"Need some water, Roy?" Gracia's voice called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, thank you," Roy responded, suddenly noticing how dry his throat felt. He closed his eyes and stroked Maes's leg absentmindedly as the pleasant pressure from Maes's fingers sent tingles down his neck. "So, are you two gonna try again tonight?" Roy asked.

"Nah, we're going to wait a little while to see if any of the last few tries worked," Maes said.

"Not to mention that it's Maes's birthday, and you managed to find yourself an excuse to stay overnight," Gracia cut in as she emerged from the kitchen. "I won't get in your way." She handed the cup of water to Roy; he thanked her again and reluctantly lifted his head from Maes's lap to gulp it down. Gracia always took good care of him too—in different ways from Maes, but just as much.

In fact, their unconventional family was working out better than Roy had ever dared to hope, even more than three years on. He had been skeptical about the plan—and even a little hurt, if he was honest with himself—when the other two had laid it out for him. Gracia, Maes's longtime friend, wanted to be a mother but had no interest in finding a husband; Roy and Maes had decided to start a family, but of course they wouldn't be allowed to do it openly. The solution was obvious, and Roy was surprised at how easy it had been to pull off. Gracia and Maes went through the pretense of dating, marrying, and moving in together. Roy moved to an apartment on the edge of Central, far enough away that he would always have an excuse to stay overnight at the Hughes's place when he didn't feel like driving all the way home after working late.

Of course, it wasn't always easy. Roy had always resented that they had to go to such lengths to get what they all wanted, and he was still a little uncomfortable with Maes and Gracia trying for conception the "natural way," as Maes had awkwardly put it. Less direct methods hadn't worked so far, so Roy had to put his trust in them and try not to think about it too much. He couldn't stop the occasional pang of jealousy from surfacing, but he knew it wasn't worth dwelling on, and that their life together was as could as it could get—which made the news he had to tell Maes tonight so much more difficult.

"Hey, sit up for a minute." Maes's voice pulled Roy out of his reverie. Gracia must have gone to bed already, because she was nowhere to be seen; it was just the two of them on the couch. Roy leaned forward, and before he could ask why, Maes had kicked off his shoes and lain lengthwise on the couch behind him, pulling Roy back into his chest and resting his hands on Roy's stomach. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Roy said, and it was true. His head still ached a little, and the anxiety continued to gnaw at his stomach, but Maes's embrace seemed to put it all at a comfortable distance. He rested his own hands on top of Maes's, then intertwined their fingers and gave an affectionate squeeze. The room was quiet except for their breath, Maes's quicker pace drifting in and out of sync with Roy's slower one.

And then Maes broke the silence: "Roy, you were drunk off your ass tonight. You never get that drunk. What's wrong?"

Roy didn't answer right away. He had been dreading this all day, since he first read the letter waiting on his desk that morning. But he couldn't put it off anymore, and Maes deserved an answer.

"I got offered a promotion. Lieutenant Colonel."

"What?" Maes laughed excitedly, stifling himself in case Gracia was already asleep. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? That's amazing, Roy!" He lurched forward, catching Roy in a bear hug from behind and nuzzling his neck so enthusiastically that Roy had to laugh too, even though he knew what came next. "But why are you so upset? It's what you've been working toward, isn't it?" Maes asked. "Moving up the ranks so you can have a chance at unseating that Bradley bastard. It's about time you— "

"The promotion's contingent on a transfer," Roy interrupted.

Maes paused for an interminable moment. "Where?" he asked softly.

"Out East. I'd have my own small unit over there. There's a little less autonomy compared to a regular State Alchemist position, but I'd have a few subordinates, and I'd be out of Bradley's direct sight. It's a good position to keep advancing from." Roy couldn't help but sound a little excited. The position really was what he had been hoping for; he just hadn't anticipated being sent away from Central to fill it.

Maes said nothing for a minute, which made Roy nervous, and the headache wasn't helping. "I haven't accepted it yet," he added. "I could turn it down and stay here." Still nothing, for a few seconds that seemed to Roy like an hour.

Then Maes squeezed his hand, hugged him closer, and rested his head on Roy's shoulder. "Do it," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Maes affirmed. Roy sat up and turned to face him—Maes looked as resolute as he sounded. "It's a great opportunity, and if you turn it down now another one isn't going to come along anytime soon."

Roy felt some of his uneasiness dissipate, but he remained unsure. "I don't know when I'll get transferred back. I mean, with the way things are in the East right now, it could be years."

Maes smiled reassuringly. "You'll make it back soon, Roy. They won't keep someone with as much potential as you out in the boonies forever. Yeah, you'll be gone for a while, but..."

Roy wondered briefly why he had trailed off, but then Maes interrupted that thought with a sudden kiss, which Roy was happy to return in earnest. When it was over, the tense knot in his stomach had finally come undone, and he lay grinning on top of Maes, happy for the first time all day. He was getting promoted, and while he'd be going away from Maes, he knew it couldn't tear them apart.

Maes smiled back and gave Roy another quick kiss. "You'll be gone for a while," he said again, "but we'll make it through."

"Yeah. We'll be fine."

"Just make sure you squeeze them for as much vacation time as you can get. I don't know how long I can go without a kiss like that," Maes added, arching an eyebrow playfully.

"Well, it's two weeks until I leave. We'll just have to make the most of them," Roy said. He rolled off Maes and stood up, pulling his lover up with him. "And while we're on the subject...are you ready for your birthday present?" He smirked mischievously, Maes gave him a low growl of approval, and they teased each other down the hall to their bedroom.

( + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + )

The kerosene lantern burned low in the cramped study, expending the last of its fuel as Edward Elric struggled to keep reading against the impulse to sleep. Alphonse had gone to bed hours ago, and Ed probably should have as well—if Al found out how late he stayed up every night, Ed knew he'd get chewed out for it. But he couldn't help himself. It was almost six years since their mother had died, more than half his lifetime. Al had told him he could barely remember what she looked like anymore except for the pictures they had, and now Ed had started to notice his own memories of her beginning to fade.

Ed had always been sure that no matter how long it took them, he and Al would be able to bring their mother back as long as they could remember her. But that window was closing fast, and Ed was getting nervous. He studied late into the night, every night, and he would keep studying as long as he needed to. They were going to bring her back.

Thank you for reading! I look forward to reading any feedback or reviews you'll give me. I'm coming up on the end of my last term of college right now, so the next chapter may be a while in coming, but I hope to get it done soon.

Edit: The second chapter is now in progress and should hopefully be up by the end of September at the very latest. Sorry for the wait.