April 19th, 1958

Heymans Breda could not remember the last time he had been in so much pain. "This has got to be the most humiliating injury I've ever had," he groused, trying not to sound like he might whimper at any moment as he lay prone in the hospital bed.

"Calm down, Heymans," Nancy replied with a soothing tone, one hand resting on his arm. "Try to relax."

"I'll relax when I feel like it," he snapped back.

"If you stop clenching your muscles you'll feel better sooner," his wife continued patiently.

"I'm almost finished," Doctor Fillmore spoke from down near his leg. It had been nearly two hours now since Breda had taken a fall going up the few stairs to his own front door and landed badly. He felt stupid for not catching himself; but what was worse was the immediate agony that had told him that he had done real injury to himself upon impact. He had been right. "All right now. We'll see about getting you something to help with the pain," she sighed.

"About time," Breda replied. He wasn't trying to be rude, but anything resembling politeness just didn't seem to be in his vocabulary at the moment.

As a nurse left the room, Doctor Fillmore's face appeared where Breda could see it. She wasn't smiling. "The good news is you haven't damaged your spine, though there is some bruising of the lower back."

"What's the bad news?" he asked warily. It wasn't his back that hurt the most.

"It looks like you've broken your right hip," the Doctor replied.

There was a small whistle from off to one side. "Wow, Dad. You really did mess yourself up with that didn't you?" Then he heard a smack and an "Owww….sorry," from Niam, likely corrected by Charisa. Not that he could really blame his son for the comment. He agreed.

Breda sighed. "So how long will I be laid up; two, three weeks?" He'd busted a bone before; it hadn't taken too long to heal up.

Fillmore's expression did not give him confidence. "That will depend on how quickly it heals after surgery," she replied. "We're going to need to put a couple of pins in it within the next couple of days to make sure the fractured bone sets back in properly, and afterwards you're going to need to keep all weight off it for at least a couple of weeks, probably longer. It's a bad fracture."

"Well how hard can that be?" Breda snorted, before realizing that the answer was not going to be pleasant.

"Consider how difficult it is to keep all your weight off a hip," she replied simply. The more Breda thought about that option, the unhappier he got with it. "Shit."

"Daddy!" Charisa admonished.

Great. "So I'm bedridden then." Breda would apologize when he was good and ready.

"Not completely," Doctor Fillmore shook her head. "But you'll likely be using a wheel-chair for a couple of weeks if you intend to go home, which I am assuming you do."

"Well I'm certainly not living here till this heals," Breda agreed. Though this was going to make work a pain in the ass. He suspected he wouldn't be going in to the office anytime soon.

"Then we'll see about arranging any in-home assistance you might need," Doctor Fillmore replied, though she was looking at Nancy.

"Thank you," his wife nodded.

"I'm right here you know," Breda grumbled. "Two hours and already I'm being talked over."

"That's because you're irritable, dear," Nancy smiled down at him, though there was definite worry behind that calm exterior.

That concern brought him up short. She was worried. It hadn't actually occurred to Breda to be worried. He was just mad at himself and hurting. Not that he was particularly looking forward to the surgery to set the bone either. "Sorry," he finally made a gruff apology.

"We'll discuss the details of recovery later," Doctor Fillmore got back to business. "For now, I need to get that surgery scheduled. We'll aim for tomorrow morning. Tonight rest and move as little as possible."

"Somehow I don't think that's going to be an issue," Breda pointed out. It hurt to lie here. Moving wasn't high on his priority list.

The nurse returned with a syringe and Breda braced as she stuck it in. He waited, counting, until the worst of the pain started to ease. He still hurt, but at least it was tolerable. As soon as the doctor left him alone to go get the surgery on the schedule, Charisa and Niam moved to his bedside as well.

"Do you feel any better?" Charisa asked, clearly concerned.

"Some," Breda replied, going with the answer that wouldn't be a lie. At least she hadn't asked if he was okay. He forced a smile he didn't feel. "Hey, at least I get a little vacation right?"

Niam grinned. "I guess we can't bug you for napping all day either."

Breda chuckled then winced as it jogged the injury and lay still again. "Nope," he agreed. Though, for once, he really wasn't looking forward to the excuse to lie around the house.

It was late evening when Alphonse met Will and Ren at the train station. "How was Creta?" he asked in the midst of the usual family hugs and grabbing of luggage.

"Great," Will grinned as they headed for the car. "I found two new stories that might have some useful information about their use of alchemy back around the time of Andrixos. It's only a little more detailed, but it's better than nothing. And-" he cut off then and Al caught Ren giving him an amused look. "Oh, right," Will chuckled. "Creta itself was nice too when someone dragged me out of the libraries and museums."

Al chuckled. "Judging from the fact you look like you got a little sun I guessed as much." His son was probably the closest to tanned Al had ever seen him. They both looked good; happy, healthy, content. They currently were living out of their bags and traveling; no house, no bills, no worries, just researching and working as they went. Al almost envied them the freedom and hoped they enjoyed and appreciated it while they had it.

"So what's been going on around here?" Will asked as they reached the car and got in. Will and Ren got in the back, and Ren rested her head against Will's shoulder.

"More than enough," Al smirked as he started the vehicle. "Tore's party was earlier this week. Your sister has a new boy hanging around, and Breda slipped this afternoon and busted his hip."

"So who's the new guy?"

"How is President Breda?"

The two questions came almost simultaneously from the two different people in the back seat.

Al answered Ren's question first. "Breda's supposed to have surgery in the morning. Or at least, that's what Nancy told Elicia. They're talking about needing to put a couple of pins in to hold the bone in place. It's a pretty nasty fracture." He felt bad for Breda and definitely sympathetic.

There was a moment of quiet. "Can we detour by the hospital on the way to the house?" Ren asked.

"Well, sure," Al replied, wondering what this was about. "Though I'm not sure they'll let visitors in right now outside of family."

There was determination in Ren's voice. "They'll let me in. Just let me have a word with the doctor." Al wasn't entirely sure what Ren's plan was, but he was pretty sure it involved alchemy. Anything that could help Breda was worth the time. At the next street he turned left instead of turning right. Family dinner could wait a little longer.

When they arrived at the hospital he and Will followed Ren as she strode inside. "When she's determined you can't stop her can you?" Al asked Will quietly as they followed her right upstairs to Breda's room after finding out the room number.
"Not a chance," Will replied with a smug little grin.

Alphonse did not hear what Ren was discussing with Doctor Fillmore, but the doctor stepped inside Breda's room and disappeared for a couple of minutes before returning. A minute later she nodded at them both to come closer. "We have permission to go in," Ren said. "I'm going to see what I can do. I've explained the process."

"And I approve," Doctor Fillmore nodded. "Doctor Gray and I have both seen what Ethan was able to do here even without full training. I am certainly not one to turn down the offer of aid from a fully trained alchemic doctor and President Breda is amenable to it."

Al wasn't surprised. From what he understood, a broken hip – especially at this age – was a nasty break to have to try and get to heal up properly, and they often took quite some time. Breda wouldn't want to be laid up for long periods, and he was probably in enough pain as it was. "Should we wait out here?"

"No, you can go in," Fillmore replied. "President Breda requested it."

Al and Will followed Ren and the doctor inside, where Nancy, Charisa, and Niam were still inside.
Breda looked up at them with a small smirk. "Come on in and have a laugh with the rest of us."

Al smiled. "Well I wasn't planning to, but if you insist."

Ren pulled her silk handkerchief out of her pocket and wrapped it around her hand as Al had seen her do a couple of times for transmutations. When wrapped properly a transmutation circle lay just so on the back of her hand. She sat down on the opposite side of the injured man from Nancy, next to the injury, and Doctor Fillmore brought over the bone x-rays for her to examine.

"All right," Ren said after several minutes. "This is going to feel odd," she told Breda calmly. "A little like a current running through you but perfectly safe. Relax and hold still."

"People have been telling me that all night," Breda groused, but he nodded.

Al watched with interest as Ren placed her hand gently on Breda's blanketed hip. He winced sympathetically as Breda twitched. Ren closed her eyes, focusing, and then there was a very subtle glow from underneath her hand, far from the bright flashy alchemy most Amestrians were used to seeing. Al had seen enough Xingese alchemy to appreciate the efficiency of energy use.

For anyone who did not understand alchemy or appreciate what was going on it was probably a rather un-climactic event, though from Breda's expression, Al could tell something was definitely happening.

"That's just… weird," Breda commented through clenched teeth at one point.

Ren chuckled softly without opening her eyes. "Well it's working."

It was a solid fifteen minutes of watching Ren sit there. Niam lost interest after a few and went back to the comic book he had been reading when they showed up. Charisa seemed torn between boredom and concern for her father. Nancy clearly found it much more interesting as she focused on Breda's reactions. He was obviously trying to seem unfazed, but he did grunt in discomfort several times.

Finally, Ren sat up, wavering slightly and her forehead beaded with sweat. Will was beside her in a second, offering an arm which she accepted as a place to lean lightly as she opened her eyes. "Are you all right?" Will asked.

Ren nodded. "Fine. I could use a glass of water though." She looked up at Doctor Fillmore. "I think you'll find surgery and pins unnecessary. I couldn't heal it all, but the bone is set and healed enough it should hold itself together without breaking again while the rest of the fracture heals as long as weight is kept off it."

"We'll do another set of x-rays in the morning," Fillmore nodded, looking mildly impressed.

"Thank you," Nancy smiled at Ren.

"It's no problem," Ren assured her as Al poured a glass of water and handed it to her. Will hadn't budged from his wife's side. "These are a horrible break to have to mess with, and all I managed was about a week's worth of healing that would have happened on its own."

"But only after surgery," Breda objected. "Avoiding that's good enough for me!"

"It's more than that," Doctor Fillmore interjected and explained as Ren drained the glass of water. "It means you should regain full strength in your hip bone and without putting the pins in there, which can come with their own issues. Still, you will have to keep weight off it, and at your age the bones just aren't as sturdy as they used to be."

Breda did not look pleased by the last comment. "And just what would you suggest I do then? Other than not falling down anymore stairs?"

From the doctor's expression Al had the feeling he knew where this was going. Doctor Fillmore looked at Breda evenly as she replied. "Other than staying off it until its healed completely, we need to reduce the amount of stress on your joints as a whole. I would recommend about thirty pounds."

Breda's face went momentarily white, then red as he stared at the doctor in momentary disbelieve. "Thirty? Doc Gray's said she was letting me slide on the last twenty."

So that was how that worked out. Al had never gotten the particulars, though he knew Breda had lost over sixty pounds when he'd actually made the effort years back and kept most of it off afterwards.

"You've slipped a little dear," Nancy smiled unsympathetically though it was still an oddly tender expression.

"That's what started this whole mess in the first place," Breda grumbled. "No puns please."

"Don't worry Daddy," Charisa smiled. "We'll help out as much as we can."

"Yeah, I'll eat all the cookies before you get home!" Niam offered impishly.

Nancy shook her head. "That's what you think."

Watching the good natured family bantering, Al knew it was about time for them to get out of the way again. Though as he turned for the door, Breda waved one hand at him. "Wait a second, Al."

"You need something?" He turned and came over to the bed.

Breda sighed. "Just make sure everyone who needs to knows I'm okay and that I'll be out for a while?"

"Sure," Al nodded. He had figured he would probably be doing that anyway. "Is there anything big you need covered in the next couple of weeks?"

"Nothing my office shouldn't be able to handle," Breda replied, though he looked more irritated than relieved. "I feel like an idiot."

"I'll be sure to leave that part out, Sir," Al chuckled.

"Good," Breda nodded slightly, then turned his head to look at Ren. "Thank you, again," he said, though he was obviously getting tired. "I can't believe you just came over here like that."

Ren smiled as Will helped her to her feet. "I'm an alchemist," she replied, then giggled, "And an Elric."

Breda blinked and then actually chuckled. "Two very good points. I shouldn't have expected anything else should I?"

"You're a friend," Al pointed out at that last. "We'll make sure everything's taken care of till you're, literally, back on your feet."

"Thanks, Al." Breda closed his eyes, and Al turned for the door again, with Will and Ren walking behind. After all this, Al suspected Breda would be asleep before long. He looked over at Ren as they headed down to the car. She was walking on her own, but she looked nearly as tired as Breda. "Nice work. Are you okay?"

Ren smiled. "Thank you, and yes, but if I had known I would be doing a full healing transmutation session this evening I would have slept more on the train!"

Breda was tired but he wasn't quite ready to sleep yet. He lay quietly through the rest of Doctor Fillmore's little dissertation on what the next few days would entail and what he would and would not be able to do when he first went home, and nodded like a good patient. He just wanted it over with.

When Al, Will, and Ren had gone, and the doctor, the room was finally quiet again. Breda waited until Charisa and Niam ducked out to find snacks before he spoke again. "You should take the kids home," he sighed softly to Nancy. Despite the fact that his hip did feel a little better, the healing transmutation had left him drained as well, and he didn't think they needed to sit around and watch him sleep. "This is no place to spend the night."

"In a little while," Nancy replied quietly.

"What's there to do but sit and watch me lie here," Breda replied, perhaps a little brusquely, because when he looked in his wife's direction she seemed upset. "What's wrong?"

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe I'm all right with that?" she replied, an uncharacteristic hitch in her voice. "A couple of hours ago we didn't know how badly you were hurt, how permanent it might be… and now you have the nerve to tell me to go home?" She wasn't speaking loudly, but she was clearly more shaken by this than he had realized. Given how calm and collected she had been through the whole ordeal, Breda had forgotten how deeply she was affected by such things.

"I'm sorry, Nancy," he apologized again. "I just… I feel like a fool; a fat old fool who's just lucky he didn't cripple himself permanently because of an old man's injury." Perhaps he was indulging in self pity, but seeing as he couldn't indulge in anything else at the moment, it was about as good as he was going to get. He didn't like getting old anymore than Roy did, but he'd made a point to stop griping about things back when he realized how much it irritated other people.

His wife's soft hand ran down the side of his face. "Don't talk like that, Heymans. Of all the things you may be, a defeatist isn't one of them. Last night you were out playing ball with Niam, and a couple of weeks ago wrestling with Edward. A lot of people would consider themselves lucky to be as capable as you are. You'll heal and be fit and moving around again in no time. You just need to be patient and a little more careful."

Breda looked up at her with a wry smirk. "I notice you didn't actually contradict my statement." He had, however briefly, hoped she might insist that he was not a fat old fool.

Nancy chuckled as she bent over and kissed him, whispering softly, "Who am I to correct the President?"

April 23rd, 1958

Alyse didn't even notice her cousin was in the break room until Sara stepped in front of her to get at the coffee maker. "Oh, sorry," she smiled and got out of the way. "I didn't see you."

"I noticed," Sara chuckled as she poured herself a cup. "You just stood there for five minutes."

"Was it that long?" Whoops! She hadn't meant to lose track of time like that.

Sara shook her head as she added sugar and cream to her coffee and stirred it. "I don't think I've ever seen you so dreamy eyed over a guy."

Alyse tried to ignore the warming feeling in her cheeks. She had just been thinking about Vince. "Well I've never been out with a guy quite like him," she admitted smoothly.

"Well, that's true," Sara admitted, leaning against the counter and sipping. From all reports Captain Miller was a good officer, reliable, and a gentleman, but without being a stuffed-shirted swaggering peacock or having a blunt instrument up his ass. "You've been out with him what, three times already?"

Alyse didn't mind the teasing, at least not when she deserved it. "Four," she corrected with a chuckle. "We had a date last night."

"I stand corrected," Sara smirked. "So just what does this Captain of yours have that sets him apart from the other guys you've gone out with?"

It was that question that Alyse kept pondering when she found him intruding on her thoughts during the day. To say she was smitten would be true, but why? "I think it's just the combination of qualities," she admitted. "None of the boys I've gone out with were particularly faulted they were just, average, or we didn't really connect like this. Vince is just… Vince."

Sara looked at her with a considering expression. "So he's a good kisser then too."

Now she was blushing. "Quite," Alyse nodded as she fought to keep her composure. That was part of the problem with keeping her mind on her work! Her memories of last night were just too fresh. The date itself had been rather unique. Alyse had forgotten that Central even had a miniature golf course! A couple of games, dinner at a charming little restaurant, and a walk along the river that ended up with a long, sweet kiss outside her apartment; one of four very nice evenings, and the second time they had kissed.

"I'm losing you again," Sara chuckled as she stood to go. "I hope you're more focused in your office, but I'm glad you finally found someone who makes you feel this way. It's a nice feeling."

"Thanks. It is isn't it?" Alyse smiled at her cousin as she nodded and headed for the door herself. She did have work to do! She just hoped she could make it through the day on task. The last thing she wanted to do was get behind. If she had to work late, that would interfere with tonight's plans!

Tore was glad Charisa seemed to be in a good mood – if contemplative - when he caught up to her outside during their free period. He knew that the last few days had been pretty crazy for her family. "Hi," he grinned as he dropped down next to her on the bench she was sitting on under a tree, sipping from a bottle of juice. "Happy Birthday."

Charisa's expression brightened when she saw him. "Thanks," she smiled.

"How are you doing?" he asked. It was rare to catch Charisa entirely alone. Usually she was with at least one or two other friends. If they were leaving her alone it had to be Charisa's choice. He hoped he wasn't interrupting. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

But she clearly didn't mind. "I'm all right, thanks for asking," she replied with a slight shrug. "Daddy's coming home tomorrow, and I think the hospital will be as happy to get rid of him as we will be to have him home. He's been pretty grouchy."

"The pain?" Tore guessed. He knew that Ren had done a healing transmutation to make sure that the injury would heal up properly and in full on its own, but that wasn't supposed to be comfortable.

"The food," Charisa giggled. "Mom always says Dad will eat just about anything, but apparently he doesn't like hospital food."

"He's not eating it?"

Charisa shook her head. "He is. He's just complaining about it loudly. He's pretty uncomfortable too," she added. "I'm just glad he'll be okay."

In the uneasy moment of silence that fell, Tore decided now might be a good time to give her the surprise he had been working on. "Hey, Charisa, I made you something…" he began, fishing for the item in his backpack. "You know, for your birthday."

"Made?" She looked at him curiously.

"Yeah," he blushed a little, looking down as he grabbed it, hoping she didn't notice. "With alchemy." He'd been practicing after all, and it was a great chance to transmute something completely from its base components. "Sorry it's not wrapped," he apologized as he held up the small fluffy dog he had modeled on Bounce. "I know your Dad doesn't like the real thing so I thought, maybe this way you could have one." He hadn't seen any stuffed dogs in her room, and while he thought it was weird a big tough guy like President Breda was terrified of dogs, he wasn't going to question it too much.

Charisa looked startled, and maybe slightly awed, as she reached out and took the pup in both hands. Then she smiled. "You made this?"

Tore nodded uneasily. "Yeah, I did."

"It's great," she smiled over the dog at him then. "Thank you. I love her!" Then, before Tore could move, he found himself the recipient of a very enthusiastic hug!

"You-you're welcome," he managed to stammer out as she sat back, hugging the dog and then carefully tucking it safely away in her book bag. "I know it's not much, but-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Charisa smirked at him. "I'd much rather have something personal made by a friend than some store bought gift any day. It means a lot to know you went to all that work just for me."
"You're my best friend," Tore pointed out. "I figured it should be something special."

"Well it is that," Charisa assured him as the bell rang for them to go to next period. "I think it's the best present I could have gotten," she said as they both stood up. She paused then, and Tore felt his face warm again as she smiled. "Especially from my best friend."

Alyse was glad she hadn't mention tonight's date with Vince to Sara earlier. Not that she didn't trust her cousin, but because even she was a little surprised at just how much she wanted to spend time with him! It wasn't that they were moving all that fast as relationships went. It had been the third date before he kissed her goodnight, and they had only kissed twice, but they were spending a lot of time together. Alyse had never felt so impatient to be back in someone's company before no matter how much she had liked any of her boyfriends.

Was this what love felt like? Infatuation certainly, but Alyse wasn't willing to pin the L designation on it. She would be rushing things to do that and about as silly as it was possible to get. She had not taken complete leave of her senses!

Tonight was another one of those little surprising dates. That was something she did like about Vince; so far every place he had taken her was fun and enjoyable, but not necessarily designed to impress. They hadn't eaten anywhere expensive or gone to see anything that had an exorbitant cost; the first night had been at one of the smaller live theaters in town to see a rather avant-garde little production. The second had been an art viewing for a local artist at a coffee shop that included poetry readings. The third date had been an afternoon over the weekend where he had actually taken her outside the city to a place a friend of his owned and they had gone horseback riding! Then there had been the miniature golf course. None of these were places any of her previous dates had taken her and it was all so much more interesting than the standard date.

Tonight turned out to be another fun foray into things that Vince enjoyed and seemed to enjoy sharing with people. He had apparently taken the time to hunt up where the night clubs were in Central. Not the standard mainstream places in downtown, but some of the more modern, jazzy spots that Alyse had never actually been in. She actually felt a little over-dressed in black slacks and a fitted pale blue top, but no one seemed to mind or care. The music was energetic, the food decent, and she found out that Vince could dance! Alyse didn't know the steps, but fortunately for her he could lead too!

By the end of the evening she was exhausted but having a great time. As they walked home under a cloudless night and a full moon, she made no objection when he put his arm around her shoulders. "I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun," she admitted softly.

"Me neither," Vince admitted, chuckling. "My last girlfriend hated jazz, horses made her sneeze, and she was such a picky eater."

"Why did you date her?" Alyse asked curiously. After all, he was the one who brought it up. She figured that gave her the right to question him.

"She was pretty?" Vince offered with an embarrassed smile, "And talented too. She sang opera and played the piano; very cultured, but she never was willing to step down into the real world and do anything I really had a passion for."

"That's a shame," Alyse replied, then chuckled. "Though I guess it's lucky for me."

"Me too," Vince laughed. "She dumped me for a cellist in an orchestra right before I got my transfer. So what about you?"

"Not much to tell," Alyse admitted. "Not that you probably couldn't find out asking around Headquarters for five minutes. A lot of first dates, a lot of okay guys, but nothing much special that ever went anywhere."

"Now that's a real shame," Vince shook his head, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Though as you said, lucky for me."

Alyse giggled as he echoed her words. "I guess so. I've never done most of these things before but it's just because I never really took the time. I love them, and I … I really like doing them with you."

Vince paused and turned her to face him as easily as he had led her on the dance floor earlier. Those surprisingly warm dark gray eyes smiled. "So does that mean I can say you're my girl? You know… if any other guy tries to muscle in and ask you out I can take offense, duels at dawn, that kind of thing?"

Her heart fluttered as he bent his face to hers. "That sounds awfully dangerous just for a girlfriend," she teased back quietly.

Vince chuckled. "But you're not just a girlfriend."

Alyse could live with that. "Very well then. I guess that makes me your girlfriend assuming, of course, that I have the same rights with any girl who may try to wile her way into your attentions?" Exclusive went both ways after all.

Vince closed the distance between their lips. "As you wish."

Author's Note: Another story finis! Coming next, a foray into the unknown and focus back on the usual cast!