And All Manner Of Things Shall Be Well

Keep your friends near - but your enemies nearer - old Armed Forces of Amestria saying

Disclaimer: With the exception of my OCs, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, it owns ME!

Warning: If you have not seen the entire series and/or the movie yet, this contains spoilers for episodes 44 ("Stray Dog Runs Away"), 45 ("Hohenheim of Light"), 49 ("Goodbye") and 50 ("Death"); plus the movie ("Conqueror of Shambala"). Read if you must, but you have been warned!

Summary: Roy is busy healing old wounds and setting the groundwork for Amestris's future, including new uniforms for the military, but sadly, they don't include miniskirts.

After-beta: ShiniLuv

Chapter Two: In which Roy reminisces about the past, and sends Edward out on a new mission.

Roy appraised the silent young man who sat on the other side of his desk. As much as he couldn't believe he was now Fuhrer, neither could he believe Ed had turned 22 this year. It seemed only yesterday when a plaintive letter begging for information about the whereabouts of Hohenheim Elric had crossed his desk. Roy's first sight of the letter's author was of a maimed eleven year old, missing his right arm and part of his left leg, and crying in his sleep from pain and fever.

The next time they met, Ed was a sarcastic twelve year old, giving military protocol only lip service. Major Hughes used to joke Ed was 14 and a half feet tall - only four and a half feet was Ed, the rest was that gigantic chip on his shoulder.

By his fifteenth birthday, Ed was a feisty little punk with an explosive "Who are you calling short?!" attitude. Even after three years in the military, he still acted like saluting Roy was a fate worse than death - a model soldier he was not.

When he came back from Dublith with all those bruises, explaining they came courtesy of his alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis; Roy considered taking up beating Ed himself - Izumi apparently had no trouble keeping the little smart-ass in line. It was also Roy's considered opinion Izumi didn't beat the brat nearly enough because he was still defiant, and still disobeying direct orders.

Roy had no trouble recalling the day he and his men had to hunt Ed and Al down near Risembool a year later. The then sixteen year old snarled like a feral dog, his golden eyes flashing defiance, and fighting like an Ishbalan sand tiger for his and Al's freedom. After Roy yelled at Fullmetal for not asking him for help before running away, he'd eventually gotten the fiery teen calmed down; only to see him go off like a bomb when he saw his father. Roy hadn't intervened then; the pair obviously had 'issues' they had to work out themselves.

Then there was the truly awful day - the day Amestris nearly went to hell. He was on his way to kill the homuculus Pride, who was masquerading as Fuhrer King Bradley. Ed was off on his own path, the path he'd chosen - both were trying to avoid a military which had declared them 'traitors'. Little did Roy know that was the last time he'd see Ed for two whole years. When it was all over Roy had lost his left eye, and his confidence in himself. He took the demotion to Corporal, and his exile to a northern outpost as his personal punishment. He'd never dreamed he'd return to Central.

The military had labeled the Fullmetal Alchemist a deserter, but Roy was sure Edward Elric was dead, his personal dream of restoring Alphonse unfulfilled.

Then one day he thought he'd seen him walking down the streets of East City; but when he called "Ed!" it was Alphonse who'd spun around. Al - so he wouldn't forget him - had taken to dressing like his vanished brother; wearing Ed's trademark red coat over black clothing, and growing his caramel-colored hair long and wearing it in a long ponytail (did he realize how much he resembled Hohenheim?). Al was the only one with the faith his brother was still alive, in the machine world beyond the Gate.

Al had just come back from Dublith, where he'd been studying alchemy with Izumi; she had recently passed away and Al had set out on his personal mission to find his brother. And he was glad the boy had been there to help him fight invading troops sent through the Gate by the Thule Society; for ironically, the fight helped Al find proof Edward was still alive, and trying to find his way home.

Dear, sweet, gentle Alphonse, the voice of reason to Edward's flaming temper. Al who loved animals and wanted to use his alchemic skills to help them. Almost to the minute Amestris had signed a trade pact/peace treaty with New Britain; Al had traveled to it's capitol, Londonium, so he could apply to study at it's famous college of veterinary medicine.

The trade pacts and treaties Amestris had signed with other countries - former enemies Creta and Ishbal - and unknown entities like New Britain, Bourbon, and Meso-America were the cause of both excitement - and some anxiety for Roy. And therein lay the job he had for Ed.

"An old saying of the Armed Forces of Amestris goes 'keep your friends near, but your enemies nearer'" said Roy.

Ed nodded, "I've heard it, Granny Pinako quotes it all the time. I think it's a subtle hint of some kind."

"What I want you to do, Ed, is form a new office of military intelligence."

One blond eyebrow raised. "Aren't 'military' and 'intelligence' mutually exclusive terms?"

Damn! During the years he spent in the machine world, Edward has absorbed too much cynicism.

"O.K., that's it." snapped Roy, "I want to know who you are, and what you've done with the real Edward Elric!"

Ed gave him a look of wounded innocence.

"Fuh, er - Roy." he protested, "I'm twenty-two now, I'm not that cranky little brat you used to fight with." He paused to draw a breath before continuing. "Besides, literally growing up has helped."

Yes, he had. In the other world, Ed had put on an incredible growth spurt, shooting up to 5' 9"; over a foot in those two years. Now, no longer so sensitive about his height, he had finally shed that enormous chip.

And Roy realized he now enjoyed talking to Ed; prior talks had been nerve-shredding exercises in hostility - some from the surly boy, but also some from the frustrated (then) Colonel, who had no patience with children.

Or, maybe it was just Edward who rubbed him the wrong way. Alphonse - when not pestering him after losing his memory, and insisting his brother was still alive - had always been relatively easy to get along with.

"As I was saying," Roy continued, "we need to know what not just our ennemies are doing, but what our new friends are up to as well."

"But - ", Ed began, "isn't spying on our friends being a bit disengenous"?

"Nonsense, you're being naive. Espionage - even among allies - is not only common - but expected."

"I want to know, Ed, who is greeting me with his right hand, while hiding a knife with his left."

"Hmmm, who do you have in mind?"

"I want you to go to New Britain, Ed. Their ambassador was telling me about her country's intelligence operation, MI7." He paused to let the words sink in.

Ed made a 'get on with it' motion. Roy was smirking again, with that 'cat that ate the parrot' expression on his face.

"She suggested we co-ordinate with the New British agency in the setting up of a similar intelligence operation in Amestris; and I immediately thought of you as the perfect man for the job."

Ed was a bright boy, and he had figured out the reason for Roy's smirk; he bet Roy had been thinking of only how to best keep Amestris safe. So he smirked back.

"What happened to the innocent boy I used to know?" asked Roy. Ed responded with a knowing chuckle. Wouldn't you like to know Fuhrer Mustang?

Too damn cynical.

After his meeting with Roy, Ed walked around Central for some fresh air. Being inside government buildings - heck, any buildings - for too long made him feel like wanting to jump out of his skin. Which was perfectly natural -

as a child in Risembool, he and Al were outside 99 of the time.

When school was not in session, he and Al would have been exploring the valley and woods from just after breakfast until dusk. They sometimes would be having so much fun, they would forget to eat the sandwiches Mother had packed for lunch.

Mother

There was a hitch in Edward's stride. His throat tightened, and tears pricked at his eyes. He loved his mother more than anything or anyone (other than his little brother), and he would mourn her for the rest of his life.

He never regretted trying to resurrect her with the forbidden Human Transmutation ritual; he and Al were just dumb kids who didn't know what else to do.

They had no close relatives; Mother had been an only child, and her parents had died long ago. (Ed had a misty memory of being picked up and held eye-to-eye with an old man who's hair grew in the same unruly style, right down to the one wayward bit which stubbornly stuck straight up like an antenna - his grandfather?).

After Mother's death, an official letter had come by messenger. The contents informed them Hohenheim's parental rights had been terminated (by order of Fuhrer Bradley), and they were now 'wards of the state'. So every day after that, both feared Amestrisan Children's Services would come knocking, and take them away to the forbidding Central Orphanage.

He made a mental note: Suggest to Roy he reform the system of caring for Amestrisan orphans, and have that house of horrors torn down. After decades of wars, there were still many orphans around.

Ed saw too many children living on the streets; whenever they saw an adult watching them too closely, they fled into derelict buildings, or skulked down twisty alleys. Too afraid of the grim-faced 'child minders' to ask for help: warm clothing, a soft bed, nourishing food.

Just thinking of how close he and Al had come to that place made him shudder. Good thing that strange woman, Izumi Curtis had shown up that rainy night in Risembool to save the village from flooding. He and Al had badgered her incessantly until she agreed to train them in alchemy. After returning to Risembool from their training in Dublith, Edward's best friend, Asimov Hodgeson told him they'd missed the arrival of the official ACS car by mere hours.

A sudden commotion dragged him out of his reverie. Ed looked up to see himself near the new Import/Export Terminal by the river. The trade pacts signed by Roy had increased the terminal's business tenfold; and the docks were almost always full of ships loading, or unloading goods. Ed walked closer to see what was going on.

A crowd of people had gathered by one of the truck loading docks, shouting about something. Once in earshot, Ed realized they were all auto mail engineers - a picture of an angry blonde shaking a wrench popped up in his mind's eye - and they were clearly excited about something.

Of course, a new shipment of 'Titania metal' had just come in from Bourbon. At first, this shiny metal had drawn only scorn from auto mail artisans - what did those snail eaters know about metal anyways? Until it was tested for strength and found to rival, even surpass Rush Valley steel. After the initial shock, they now fell upon any new shipment like a pack of starving dogs.

After listening to Winry spend almost every hour of a weekend visit to Risembool raving about this darned Titania metal, Ed had used his leverage with Roy to snag a few pounds of it, and had it sent to Risembool.

He'd told Winry to go create what she liked with it; but he hadn't expected her to go right to work and produce a new set of limbs for him.

After another weekend visit spent with exhaustive measuring, re-measuring - and even more measuring - she had phoned him a month later and told him to come home for a fitting.

The leg didn't look too different - except for a shiny new covering - which he thought was a waste, as it was usually hidden under his pants leg. But the arm - that was a thing of beauty. It was lighter, and stronger than before, with the latest in hydraulics and ball bearings; it's Titania metal skin gleaming in the sun.

He'd taken along Lt. Colonel Armstrong - Pinako liked him - and his strength would be needed to hold Ed down during the painful process of nerve connection. Ed had to be conscious for that so Winry could be sure all neural pathways were properly hooked up. This time, it seemed to hurt more than usual - Winry's hypothesis was the Titania metal was a better conductor of nerve impulses - and he suddenly passed out from the pain.

When he came to an hour later, he experimentally flexed his shoulder, and the arm obediently shot up. Too fast - it smacked him in the face, bloodying his nose. His new arm took less effort to move - but to Ed's relief, handled the conduction of alchemical energy just fine - but the lessening of weight took a little time to get used to.

The first time he saluted Roy with it, he'd opened a small gash over his right eye and darn near concussed himself too. As he used alchemy to repair the injury so not even a scar showed, Edward made a mental note not to do that again - Roy might never recover from the shock of the Fullmetal Alchemist regularly saluting him!

Ed turned at the corner and left the yelling engineers behind, directing his feet towards the train station. He had to first book a train to the Bourbon port of L'Escargot, then a ship across the Jersey channel to Londonium. And finally, back to his dorm room to pack. He made another mental note: he didn't know how long he would be in Londonium; he'd better give his house plants away, and arrange for his mail to be held at the headquarters post office.

Time to get busy in his new job as spymaster.

End Chapter Two.

Author's note: At the time I'd originally written this, there were 3, maybe 4-5 episodes left, so the chapter was riddled with errors. Which is why I've revised it to make the story cleave closer to the series canon, streamline some clunky writing, and correct spelling/spacing errors.