If you haven't seen the new(ish) movie, Gifted, you should because it's awesome! And this idea kinda came out of nowhere, but I wrote a quick first chapter. I love the idea of parental!Roy and young!Ed and Al! I hope you like it! Do let me know if this is something ya'll'd be interested in! FYI, this is set in the same world with the same parameters as FMA, but it's just putting the characters in a different situation.

Roy Mustang opened his bedroom door, and found that the living room couch was on fire.

Sighing heavily, and without missing a beat, he grabbed a bucket sitting off to the side and tossed it on the couch. The flames were extinguished and replaced by a new hole, which was not quite as big as some of the holes in the couch, but also not noticeable. The man then walked to the kitchen, refilled the bucket, and put it back where he'd gotten it.

"Edward! Alphonse!" He called and moved along the hallway to the second bedroom, which the boys shared. There was a murmur and then shushing, and it appeared the children thought they could hide. Roy shook his head. These kids could set a couch on fire, but didn't understand they couldn't hide from him in his own home.

"I'm going to count to three," Roy warned. "One…" There was a shuffling noise, and then a thud. A voice he recognized as Edward's, the eldest, whispered harshly to who he assumed was Alphonse.

"Two…"

Alphonse whined back and pled his case. Roy let the last vowel sound of the word linger in the air for a long moment.

As he pushed his tongue to the roof of his mouth for the first sounds of the next word, the door burst open and out stumbled two young boys. One had light blonde hair that reached just below his ears and wore a scowl on his face. That hair was getting long, Roy noted, and he would have to fight over getting it cut again. The younger boy had short, slightly darker, but still blonde hair and looked extremely worried.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Roy, we didn't mean to!" Alphonse blurted out immediately and Edward ribbed him in the side.

"Come on, Al, we don't admit to anything until we have to!"

Roy rolled his eyes and gestured to the smoldering, wet couch. "I think you have to. We'll talk about this later, alright? Just get dressed so I can get you to school."

The boys both pouted. Although Alphonse was good at keeping his feelings to himself when they were disagreeable, he too was not fond of the idea of going to school. The boys were eight and seven, and Roy had homeschooled them as long as he'd been able to. He was a good teacher, but he also worked for the military branch in their small town and he was quickly moving up the ladder. He simply didn't have the time to teach them. Besides, they boys only had each other and him. They needed social interaction.

"We've been talking..." Edward started and Roy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" This was bound to be another negotiation.

"Yeah, and we think that, you know, we don't need to go to school. We're pretty smart, so we were thinking, hey, why don't we just go get a job now?" Roy pursed his lips thinly and nodded, as though he actually thought that idea would work. "We could join the military and become a State Alchemist, like you!" Alphonse nodded. So, they had talked about this.

Of all the things Roy wanted for his sister's children, becoming a State Alchemist was not one of them. She had been one too, and that was what killed her. Not in the line of battle, but by her own hand after the horrors of what she'd seen and done became too much. Roy himself didn't like being a State Alchemist, but it put food on the table.

That was why he really wanted to get the kids into school. He probably shouldn't have taught them so much alchemy, but there wasn't much he could do when they'd go to the library and come back with stacks upon stacks of books. Being children, they were lacking in actual skill, but they probably knew more about theory than even he did.

They also needed to learn how to actually be children. After their mother died, they grew up so fast, despite Roy's best efforts. Their heads were filled with being great and learning as much as they could, so they declined requests from the neighbors to go play and eventually they stopped getting any at all. The kids, of course didn't mind and they didn't want to go to school. If he stuck them in a room for eight hours a day with a bunch of books on Alchemy, they'd be perfectly happy.

But, Roy also didn't have time to argue, because they were running late. So, he shoved the boys back into their room to get changed. "Yeah, okay. How about this, I'll go to work and ask about it and you'll go to school anyway, okay?"

"You'll really ask?" Alphonse asked excitedly, his gold eyes shining with excitement. Roy sighed.

"Uh, yeah, sure. But don't hold your breath. They're slow around there, so plan on being in school, okay?"

Thankfully, that seemed to shut them up and they changed, ate, and began the short walk into the town center where the school was. It was a small town, comprised of lots of houses spread out over the countryside, and a bundle of buildings that created the main street. Everyone knew each other, from their names to their children's names, right down to where they worked.

So, when Roy turned the corner into the school yard, he was surprised to see a blonde haired woman with amber eyes ushering kids into the small schoolhouse. He'd never seen her before, though he also hadn't been into town in a while. He was certainly not caught up on the latest gossip. He also wasn't exactly popular in town. First, being part of the military made people suspicious about him especially in a rural town with few other military members. And, Roy was an aloof person. Even if he wasn't in the military, he wouldn't spend much time at the bars or in town.

But, he wanted to get to know this woman. She was tall and very beautiful, and Roy wanted to turn on the charm and ask her when heaven dropped off an angel.

"Hey, Roy, are we gonna get to set any shit on fire?" Edward asked, breaking Roy of his thoughts. He glanced down at the boy and glared. Perhaps he could wait to make a move when his nephews were not there.

"No. Don't even think about it Edward, or I swear to God, I'll string you up by your toes and set your ass-"

"You must be Colonel Mustang." Suddenly the woman who he'd been admiring was standing right next to him, glancing between him and the boys with curiosity and amusement.

"... Back down and give you lots of hugs," Roy finished slowly. "Uh, yes that's me. Just Roy is fine." He stuck his hand out and the woman shook it, hiding a laugh. "I don't believe I've seen you in town."

"I moved last week to teach at the school. My name is Riza Hawkeye." The woman responded and smiled at the boys. "This must be Edward and Alphonse Elric, right?"

"Nice to meet you, Miss Hawkeye," Roy said and shoved the boys forward. "Yes, these are my nephews. They're… a handful. Especially the one with the longer hair." Edward glared at him and Roy glared right back. "They can be a little difficult."

"I'm sure they can't be too bad." Miss Hawkeye replied politely.

"No, not terrible, but I'd rather they are going to be on their best behavior." He emphasized the last part of his sentence while glaring down at Edward. He'd told the boys a thousand times they were not to use any alchemy in school, but nothing they did convinced the man they were actually going to listen to him. He wasn't completely worried about Alphonse, but Edward had a tendency to drag him into trouble. "I just want them to learn their numbers, make some friends, and be normal kids."

"Well, I think we can do that." Riza smiled.

"Good, much appreciated, Miss Hawkeye. Please do let me know if they manage to get into any trouble," Roy said. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't expecting a few phone calls during the first couple of weeks.

"Of course. Alright, boys, let's get to class." Roy had to push them forward, but reluctantly, they went. Edward looked back, trying to see if maybe his uncle would change his mind at the last minute, but Roy just smiled and waved. With a sigh and a pout, Edward turned back around and marched into the school.

Roy felt a sense of emptiness as he watched the boys go. Since Tricia died, it had just been them, and now the boys were in school. He would miss the days of homeschooling and teaching them the very basics of Alchemy, but they'd progressed so quickly. Too quickly, he felt, and it was too late to stop them from learning, but perhaps he could slow them down with some real schooling. And, if he got very lucky, the boys would find something else to throw themselves into.

He sighed and turned around, walking along the path to the building that housed a small military outpost. He really hoped the boys wouldn't get in trouble. But, then again, he knew he had a better chance of the Fuhrer himself appointing him King than his two nephews not managing to make a mess.