Inevitability

by LadyWordsmith

FMA AU: What if Al hadn't helped Ed with the transmutation, but Ed had done it on his own? Would they have stayed in Resembool with Winry? Would they have grown up normally? Or would Edward and Alphonse still find themselves involved in world events?

2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Part 2

"What do you think you're doing here you bastard!" Ed yelled as the kitchen door slammed open and he stormed into the Rockbell house.

The man and Pinako looked up from the dining table, where they were both drinking cups of tea. Yeah, that was the man Edward remembered. In fact, he didn't look like he'd aged much at all.

"Watch your language, Edward," Pinako said sharply.

"It's all right Pinako," The man sighed. He didn't seem angered by Ed's entrance at all, or even surprised. "I'm sorry about Trisha, Edward. I didn't know."

"Like that kind of a lame excuse will make everything better!" Ed retorted. "You've been gone for how long, old man, without a word? What makes you think you can just come back here?" He was angry. No, he was more than angry, Ed was furious. "You're sorry. Yeah well, you didn't have to watch Mom die!"

"That's enough, Ed."

Ed was startled out of his tirade by Alphonse's voice behind him. He turned and saw that his brother and Winry had caught up. Winry looked like she wasn't sure she wanted to get involved. "What do you mean?" He rounded on his brother, confused and hurt. "He abandoned us, Al! Worse, he abandoned Mom!"

Alphonse set his chin stubbornly. "He's still our Dad, Brother. I want to get to know him. Shouldn't he at least have the opportunity to explain?"

Ed wasn't sure how to reply, while he was floundering for a response Pinako spoke up. "Come in, Winry. I'd like you to meet Ed and Al's father. This is Hohenheim."

Winry stepped inside and nodded politely, if briefly.

Hohenheim smiled. "Winry. You look so much like your mother."

Winry's face flushed uneasily, but she smiled. "Oh. Thank you."
As Winry moved to sit down at the table, and Alphonse did the same, Ed glared at them both. Traitors! Why was he the only one who seemed mad at what Hohenheim had done! Men weren't supposed to just go off and leave their families!

"Why don't you sit down, Edward?" Pinako suggested calmly.

"What for?" Ed snorted. "I don't have anything else to say. I'm gone." With that he turned and stormed back out of the house, the door slamming shut as loudly as it had slammed open.

Ed was halfway down the to the road and moving fast when he heard footsteps pounding in the dirt behind him. With a sigh, he slowed up. He knew those feet.

"Brother, wait!" Alphonse called out as he caught up. He stopped behind him. "Please, give him a chance to explain. There's got to be a reason he left right? Maybe there's a good reason why he never wrote; why he's finally come back!"

"I don't want to know," Ed replied, clenching his fists, and his jaw. darn it, he was not going to cry about this. He was sixteen years old! "He as good as killed Mom. I can't forgive him for that. Not ever. We don't need him. I hate him!"

"Brother…" Alphonse sounded stung. Then his tone turned to one of resolve. "Well I don't care if you won't give him a chance. I will!" With that, he heard his brother running back the other way. Ed didn't turn around. His shoulders slumped when he heard the door close up at the house. Now what? He didn't want to go back to the old house. Besides, someone would turn up looking for him. He didn't want to go back down to the river either. Or anywhere else. He hated upsetting his little brother, and he'd have to go back in there eventually.

This really was unfair, he whined to himself as he turned and headed slowly back up the hill. He wasn't doing it for Hohenheim. He couldn't care less about the old man. But he loved his brother.

The rest of the evening went with surprisingly few explosions. Ed listened to Hohenheim's explanation – a pretty lousy one Ed thought – about not wanting to hurt his family and needing to do his research. Ed understood the explanations well enough, but it sounded like so much hogwash. It was a pretty vague story too. Still, he bit his tongue and pretended to be civil for the sake of Alphonse, and because his reactions seemed to upset Winry too. She never liked it when Ed and Alphonse were at odds.

Winry. Ed tried not to think about her that evening too. If he did, he was afraid that morning's escapade would show clearly on his face, and Pinako would find out. He had no idea how she'd react, and he really didn't want to know until he'd had a chance to sort out his own feelings on the subject!

Hohenheim wanted to know about the boys. So they – mostly Alphonse. Ed just glared unless asked a direct question – told him about training with Izumi. They fudged around the alchemy accident by not mentioning 'what' they were trying to do that had resulted in Ed losing his leg, but there was no real way to hide the fact that one of Ed's legs was missing.

Ed decided to turn in early. If nothing else, it got him away from everyone. He had a feeling he wasn't particularly popular at the dinner table tonight. So he went upstairs, stripped to his shorts, and lay down. His head was too full to sleep however. Eventually, Alphonse came upstairs too. He didn't say anything as he got ready for bed and climbed in. Ed kept his back to the door and his brother's bed, hoping he'd think Ed was already asleep for the night.

Still Ed wasn't surprised when he heard the bed rustle and Alphonse roll over. "Brother…about Winry."

"We were just kissing, Al. That's all," Ed sighed. He had been expecting his brother to say something about catching him and Winry on the riverbank all day. He'd just been glad he hadn't said anything in front of Hohenheim.

"Oh? That's not what it looked like to me," Alphonse snickered.

"And how would you know?" Ed looked over at his brother. He lay on his back with his arms behind his head; it was easy to see his brother grinning in the moonlight. "All you do is make eyes at Nellie lately." Even in the dark Ed noticed his brother's face flush. "Wait a minute," Ed rolled over too so he could face his brother more directly. "What haven't you told me?"

Alphonse looked even more embarrassed, but he smiled as he shrugged. "We're... kind of dating."

"What?" Ed laughed, forgetting the man downstairs for a few moments. "When did this happen?"

"A few days ago," Alphonse shrugged. "She's cute. I asked, she said sure."

"And that's all there is to it," Ed chuckled, though it hurt a little he hadn't already known. "Does anybody know?"

"Not really," his brother admitted. "Not yet anyway. It's kind of our thing, you know?"

"Don't worry," Ed replied. "I won't tell."

"I won't either," Alphonse said, clearly referring to what had happened that morning. Then he grinned. "I have to admit, you took long enough."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked defensively.

Alphonse shrugged. "I mean you've been crazy about Winry for years right? I mean, it's kind of hard to miss. And she's just as crazy about you. It was only a matter of time before you both admitted it."

"Wait...you knew?" Ed was surprised. Winry hadn't noticed, but Al had. His expression darkened a little with suspicion. "Who else knows?"

"Who doesn't," Alphonse laughed. "But you know no one would ever say anything. Though maybe it's a good thing I showed up," his grin was wicked, even though his ears were still a little pink. "Things looked like they might get umm... interesting."

"Not even," Ed snorted, but even to him the denial sounded weak. If Alphonse hadn't interrupted, he wasn't sure he would have had the self-control to stop. Check that. He know he didn't. He hadn't wanted to stop kissing her. He lay down again. "And we're not 'together' or anything okay? It was just well... I don't know what that was," he admitted. He hadn't had a chance to talk with Winry in private since that morning, and it was as confusing as it was exhilarating. He could still feel her skin in his hands, their lips locked; the heat of her body. Winry didn't care that one of his legs was auto-mail. Heck, with his luck, she thought that was his best feature!

"Whatever you say, Brother," Alphonse said, and Ed could her him settling down for sleep. "But whatever it was, it wasn't brotherly love."

No. Alphonse had that right. Ed and Winry had known each other their whole lives. They had wrestled and tickled and hugged...and hit and yanked at each other's hair. But what had happened today...it was anything 'but' brotherly. Ed knew he should feel some sort of guilt after what had happened earlier today, but Winry hadn't been objecting; not at all. In fact, she'd seemed awfully willing. He wondered, if the opportunity arose again, what would happen.

He was still contemplating that fact well into sleep, and into some of the most interesting dreams he'd ever had in his life.

The next couple of days were more than a little awkward. Ed kept trying to find time to catch Winry alone. They really needed to talk! But she was busy almost every waking hour they weren't in class on another auto-mail order. He knew better than to interrupt her when she was working too. That usually ended in a painful blow to his head. It was amazing she had never given him a concussion!

While he did his best to get a hold of Winry, he tried even harder to avoid Hohenheim. That turned out to be surprisingly easy, since Alphonse was more than happy to take all of his free time to talk to the father he didn't even remember. Maybe that was why Alphonse could forgive so easily, Ed mused, because he didn't remember what their family was like before Hohenheim left.

It was late in the afternoon two days after Hohenheim's unexpected, and unwelcome, return that Ed finally caught up with Winry. He heard the machinery in the workshop shut down, and waited until she came outside. As usual, she had the top half of her coveralls tied down around her waist. They were hot and Ed knew she only wore them for protection from sparks and metal. Ed was sitting on the steps of the front porch, and he looked up and smiled. "How's it shaping up?" he asked.

"Good," Winry pulled the rag off her head and used it to wipe her forehead. She sat down next to him. "I think it'll be done tomorrow easy."

"Great," Ed nodded, not really sure what else to say right off.

"I think that's the first time you've smiled in two days," Winry commented, cutting right to the point. She smiled back. "So you're not mad anymore?"

Ed shrugged. "I'm still mad," he countered. "But I don't want to make Al unhappy, you know?"

"I do," Winry smiled. "You're always looking out for him, even when he doesn't need it."

"I know," Ed sighed. It kind of bugged him how little Alphonse seemed to need him anymore, really. "I promised Mom, and he's my little brother. But with you, and Grans, it's not like he needs me much."

"Of course he does," Winry said, taking his right hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. "He still looks up to you a lot, and looks to you for advice and what to do when he's not sure. He doesn't always so say though, because he doesn't want to be a burden."

"Thanks," Ed smiled again and sighed. Winry was good at helping him sort things out sometimes, and put things in perspective. Maybe that was part of this attraction he was coming to realize went far deeper than he'd ever thought. "Without you and Al, I'd be completely lost."

"Well you know I'm full of good advice," Winry teased, but her expression was warm. Ed took a chance, and leaned in.

He was lost in the kiss until he heard a sharp 'ahem' from above them. Startled, he looked up into the vaguely familiar face of a man in Amestris military uniform.

"Sorry to interrupt the fun," the man's voice certainly didn't sound like he was sorry of course.

Winry was sitting up straight and looking more than a little embarrassed.

Ed just shrugged and smirked. "What do you want?" he asked. "Still looking for my old man, Lieutenant Colonel?"

"Colonel now," the dark haired man scowled. "Roy Mustang. And no."

"Yeah yeah, I remember you," Ed waved a hand non-chalantly. "What're you here for then anyway? He's actually showed up."

"Really?" That seemed to catch Mustang off guard for a moment, but then he was back to business. "Actually, I'm looking for you, Edward. And your brother, Alphonse."

"Look, I thought we told you before," Ed scowled. "We're not interested in being the military's dogs."

"So you prefer being a back-water handyman?" Mustang snorted. "I guess that's fitting for a puny cripple like you."

That did it. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING PUNY YOU SON OF A-"

"Ed, stop it!" Winry yelled, jumping up and stepping between them. She stared him down and turned to face him. Then she rounded on Mustang. "Look, if you're a guest, come in, but you'd better remember that as such you shouldn't be insulting people if you want their cooperation!"

"Winry I can handle this," Ed objected, but took a step back at the face she gave him as she spun back around.

"Fine!" she huffed, crossing her arms and stepping back, though she was clearly not pleased. "I'll get the tea started." She turned and headed back up the stairs.

"Looks like I pissed off your girlfriend," Mustang commented drolly.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ed objected hotly. Then winced as he heard the door slam harshly behind him.

"I see," Mustang's smug expression made Ed want to punch him out on principle. "My apologies for the mistake, considering."

"So you're here to talk to me, right?" Ed tried to bring things back around to business and hoped he wasn't actually blushing. His face felt hot.

"And your brother," Mustang nodded. "This will be easier if I can talk to you both at once."

"All right," Ed sighed. "I guess since you came 'all' the way out here we can at least hear what you want to say before we turn you down."

"Don't do me any favors, Edward," Mustang scowled.

Ed smirked. "Don't mention it. C'mon in." He waved over his shoulder and headed inside. "You might have a bit of a wait. I'm not sure where Al and 'dear old Dad' are." He let the sarcasm drip from the last three words.

Winry's frosty behavior told Ed pretty quick he had messed up with his strong assertion that Winry was not his girlfriend! Not that he was opposed to the idea, but it was complicated! He wasn't ready to just jump into it.

Winry served Mustang tea while they waited. Ed had to get his own. Pinako was out somewhere, so it was just them while they waited. It wasn't too long before footsteps sounded on the steps outside, and Alphonse and Hohenheim came in. They both paused, looking perplexed, when they spotted Mustang sitting at the table.

Alphonse's eyes went to Mustang's shoulder as he recognized him. "Good afternoon Colonel…Mustang isn't it?"

Mustang actually smiled at Alphonse. "Indeed. Good to see you again, Alphonse. I was hoping to have a word with you and your brother."

"Is this about joining the military?" Alphonse asked, his tone hesitant. Good. If Ed didn't have to convince Alphonse this was a bad idea, this would be much easier.

Mustang nodded, unfazed. "It is." He looked at Hohenheim then. "It seems I've lucked across you. If you don't mind, Hohenheim. I would very much appreciate a word with you later."

Hohenheim still looked perplexed but he chuckled softly and nodded. "If you like. I'll just wait outside."

"I would very much." From Mustang's tone, Ed guessed it was about something Mustang actually thought was very important, and he wondered what the man wanted with Hohenheim anyway. That didn't make the Colonel a more likely ally in his mind. No, not at all.

"So, Al's here," Ed cut into the conversation. "What's this all about anyway?"

Mustang looked up at Winry. "I'd like to discuss this in private," he commented to the three of them. Winry frowned, then turned and left without a word. Mustang scowled and sighed, then turned back to the boys. "I came to see if you two would reconsider the offer to take the State Alchemy exam."

Yep, same song and dance. Ed shook his head. "Why should we want to be involved now if we didn't then? Do you listen to the news, Colonel? We may not live near Central, but that doesn't mean we don't hear things. There's some rumor going around about an Alchemist killer that was in Central." He left that tidbit hanging. "I'm not sure why that's supposed to make me want to jump and join the ranks of the military dogs as bait."

"There was," Mustang nodded. "He's been taken care of."

"Oh really?" Ed raised an eyebrow. "Good to hear. Your ranks must be getting a little thin."

"Would I be out here asking children if they weren't?" Mustang quipped.

"Hey, how would I know?" Ed smirked. "I'm the one you're begging to have join right. The State sounds desperate to me. So why don't you explain to the 'children' why big strong men like you need their help?"

Mustang's scowl continued to deepen. "Because, frankly, the military faces a deeper threat than one dead serial killer." He sighed, and looked like a man who didn't want to admit what he was about to say. "With the Alchemist ranks depleted, there's little to protect from another growing threat, one that could destroy the state if it's not stopped."

"And what would that be?" Ed asked dryly.

Mustang's eyes were sharp and seemed to bore into Ed's skill as he looked at him. "Division within the military itself."

That… wasn't what Ed had been expecting. Briefly baffled, he was too smart not to realize the implications of what that meant in the long run. "The fall of the state."

"If things aren't stabilized," Mustang nodded. "Neither of you want anarchy and chaos, or the tight hand of the military on every village and town that would result from that I'm sure." He looked between Edward and Alphonse as he spoke.

"Of course not," Alphonse replied, and he sounded as concerned as he looked. "But what can we do?"

"You're alchemists aren't you?" Roy looked at him sharply. "Don't tell me you've given it up."

Ed was tempted to say yes, just to see panic on the man's face, but Alphonse shook his head before Ed could open his mouth.

"We still do alchemy," Alphonse said. "Will they let kids take the Exam?"

"There's not much choice at this point," Mustang admitted, though it looked like he'd swallowed something bitter. "Admittedly, I'll probably have to talk them into it anyway," he looked between them. "They're more likely to accept Edward, given he's the closest to the age of majority. But I'd be loathe to leave either of you behind. I need all the good Alchemists I can get."

He wasn't bluffing. He really meant it when he said the State was that desperate. It occurred to Ed that this might just be the break he had been looking for. After all, hadn't he been lamenting for months over a lack of direction in his life? Nothing he could excel at and being stuck in Resembool doing just what Mustang had accused him of becoming, nothing more than a glorified handyman? "What's in it for us?" he asked.

"Brother!" Alphonse gasped. "That's rude."

Mustang smirked. "It's all right. I can't blame you for asking. It must look like a pretty raw deal on your end. Well a State Alchemist gets access to all of the research locked up in the State Library; the classified stuff. There's also the research grants, and this." He pulled a pocket watch out of his pocket and held it up. "It amplifies an alchemist's transmutation ability. Oh, you also get an immediate commissioned rank of Major."

Ed considered the watch as it spun slowly on its chain. Access to thousands of books on alchemy; endless possibilities there. Money, rank…. "What's the catch?"

"You really are a skeptic," Mustang snorted as he put the watch away. "No catch. Just the usual. You follow orders and do what's necessary, like any other soldier."

"Your orders," Ed said.

Mustang nodded. "My orders. I've been recently transferred to Central from Eastern Command so you'd be directly under my command."

"Not sure how I feel about that, Colonel," Ed smirked, and shrugged. "What would we be doing, once we're under your 'command?'"

"Working for the State," Mustang shrugged. "Keeping the peace, doing investigative work that falls into our jurisdiction as even remotely alchemy related."

"Fighting?" Alphonse asked softly.

"If it comes to that," Mustang said. Well, at least he wasn't candy-coating the offer.

Ed pondered that. "I'll need to discuss it with my brother," he replied simply.

He expected some objection, but Mustang shrugged and stood. "I expected as much. I'm leaving Resembool tomorrow on the noon train. If you aren't at the station, I'll assume you're not interested." With that he stood, and simply headed out the door.

Ed waited until the door closed, and he heard Mustang and Hohenheim start talking on the porch outside. He whistled; a long, slow exhalation and looked at Alphonse. "So, Al. What do you think?"

Alphonse looked conflicted. "I don't know, Brother. I mean, it sounds like they could really use the help, and we'd get to help a lot of people right? I mean, that's what alchemy is for."

"Teacher always said State Alchemists were the military's attack dogs," Ed nodded thoughtfully. "But that means at least they've got teeth right? This guy's an ass, but he doesn't seem like he'd be all that hard to handle."

"You sound like you want to do it, Brother," Alphonse said.

"Maybe I do," Ed shrugged. "Can you think of something better? I mean, what else am I but an Alchemist after all? Besides, just because Teacher doesn't like them doesn't make them all villains right? She's pretty opinionated."

"I guess," Alphonse sighed. "It seems like a good opportunity. I want to help people. Even if Mustang can't talk them into letting me take the test too, I think I'll go if you do."

Ed chuckled. "If they didn't take you, it would be a crime! I mean, you're a great alchemist. They can't hold age against us when they need our skills right? Besides," he added. "It's your chance to see the University at Central first hand right? I hear the military pays for classes when you get out too."

Alphonse nodded, and smiled. "This could be a really good thing, Brother. Mom was always proud of our alchemy right? Maybe now we can do something with it that will really make a difference."

Well then, it appeared to be decided.

"So you're going…just like that."

Ed froze and looked up to find Winry standing in the doorway. "How much did you hear?" he asked, a feeling of guilt and dread creeping over him.

"Most of it," Winry admitted. Her face was red. "So you're leaving?

"I think this is my cue to get out of here," Alphonse squeaked. "I think I'll go see if Dad and the Colonel are still outside."

Ed didn't look away from Winry's face. But he heard Alphonse's chair scrape on the floor and the door open and shut quickly only seconds later. "Winry I…"

Her fist connected with his face and he felt the chair go over, slamming hard into the ground. "Geez, woman!" he howled as he looked up at her. "What was that for?"

"Everything," Winry growled, her fist still brandished. "Years of waiting, of being patient, putting off going to Rush Valley because I hoped, maybe, you weren't as dense as I thought you were being. I finally tell you how I feel and suddenly you're leaving town?"

Well, when she put it like that. "This has nothing to do with that," Ed objected, standing up and rubbing his jaw. No, that came out wrong. "Wait! What I mean is…" he had to duck another blow. "Winry!"

"You're a jerk, Edward!" she replied, her eyes welling with tears. "This is it? Someone offers you money, rank, the chance to stop feeling like a loser, which you never 'were'…and you're off like a dog on a leash already?"

"I'm nobody's dog," Ed snapped. "This is my decision, Winry. It's something I need to do."

"Why?" Winry threw up her hands. "I know you're a good guy. Alphonse knows it. Aunt Pinako knows it. No one in Resembool thinks you're useless. So why do you?"

Her inner feelings being so blatantly stated hurt, and more than Ed had expected. "Because it doesn't matter what you think," Ed replied, trying to explain the inner conflict he'd been hiding for so long. "Not if I don't agree with your assessment. I committed an unforgivable sin, and I screwed it up completely in the process. I feel like dead weight, dragging everyone down. You just said you put off going to Rush Valley because of me. See what I mean!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Winry started to object.

"But you did," Ed replied pointedly. "I'm floored that you like me, Winry," his voice softened, emotion choking off the harder edge of his anger. "It's almost unreal, but, I can't be anything like this. I have to do something with my life or I'm no good to you as anything other than dead weight. Even if you don't feel that way, I would."

"You really think you can fix the world, Edward?" Winry sniffed, still upset.

"No," Ed sighed. "I just hope I can fix myself. You deserve better, Winry."

"I think I should be the one to decide that," Winry smirked through tears.

Ed managed a weak smile. "No. You do. And I'm going to do my best to make myself good enough."

Winry looked like she was going to break down in sobs, but she sniffed and pulled herself together; yeah, strong girl. He liked that about her. "I can't persuade you to stay, can I."

"No," Ed replied. Not now that he had made up his mind. If he didn't at least go along long enough to try and pass the State Alchemy Exam and prove he wasn't washed up at sixteen – had been at ten – he would never forgive himself for missing the opportunity when it came knocking a second time. "It's not forever," he managed, lame as the words sounded even in his own ears. "It's a chance for Al and I to do what we originally planned; alchemy for the good of the people."

"Is the good of the people really why you're going, Edward?" Winry looked skeptical, but like she wanted to believe him.

"It's part of it." Ed was almost surprised to find that he actually felt that way. He hadn't really thought about it in a long time. "You're the one who said I was withdrawing from the world right? Well, here's my chance to leap back in."

"I don't like it, Ed," Winry said finally. "If the military needs kids like you and Al, there has to be something seriously wrong going on."

"Doesn't that mean that Al and I are needed even more?" Ed countered. The more they argued, the harder his resolve became. The more he was sure he was doing the right thing.

"What if you auto-mail breaks?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" Ed chuckled. "I'm sure they have auto-mail mechanics in Central, Winry."

Her eyes flashed, and she looked hurt. "Fine. If that's how you really feel. Then go!" With that, she felt the room.

Ed watched her go, perplexed as to why something like that would set her off. She was so peculiar sometimes. He felt guilty now. With a sigh, he went upstairs to start packing.

"I don't like it boys," Pinako said the next morning as they stood in by the front door, each with just one suitcase, dressed for travel. She was scowling as she smoked on her pipe. "There's something seriously wrong if the military is considering taking children."

"We know that, Aunt Pinako," Ed sighed. "That's part of the point." He was getting tired of explaining. "We'll be careful. Besides, we could get there and they still might not less us even take the exam. Then we'll come right back home, all right?"

Pinako let out a puff of smoke and sighed. "Well I can see you're set on this. Take care of each other and write, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am," Alphonse smiled, then gave her a big hug. "We'll miss you. Do you know where Dad is? I'd like to say goodbye to him too."

"He left last night late," Pinako sighed. "After he finished talking to that Mustang fellow. They talked for a long time though."

"I wish I knew what about," Ed muttered. He didn't like that. Just because they were going with Mustang didn't mean he entirely trusted the man. And he certainly didn't trust Hohenheim!

"And where's Winry?" Alphonse asked, looking around again.

Pinako sighed. "I'm not sure. She went off this morning early."

"I was hoping she'd be here when we left," Alphonse sighed.

Ed nodded, though he didn't say anything. He suspected her vanishing act was likely his fault. "Maybe she'll be at the train station," he suggested, though he didn't really believe.

"Maybe," Alphonse brightened. "Goodbye, Aunt Pinako. We love you!"

Pinako hugged them both again, and then they headed out. The walk to the station was made briskly, and in relative silence, both brothers wrapped up in their own thoughts. They arrived at the station thirty minutes before the noon train.

Colonel Mustang was waiting for them on the platform. "I figured you'd be here," he commented without preamble.

"You're welcome," Ed snorted, dropping his suitcase on the platform and sitting down on a bench. "Some thanks for two guys doing you and the State a favor."

"Last I checked, you were getting something out of this two," Roy smirked. "Call it equivalent exchange."

There was little chatting on the platform. When the train boarded, they were in one of the semi-private cabins, not out in the regular passenger car. Ed figured that meant they could talk without being overheard, which was good. "So," Ed said once they were seated, and the train had pulled away from Resembool. "What's really going on? There's got to be more than you told us to all this."

"First things first, Edward," Roy replied shortly. "There are a few things I'd like to get straight before we get to Central. First; keep close to me and don't do anything stupid. One wrong step and there's a good chance they'll decide to send you home, talented alchemists or not."

Alphonse nodded. Ed rolled his eyes but nodded as well. "What else 'chief?'"

"You might want to at least pretend to respect your superiors. You'll get further," Roy replied. "Also, that," He pointed at Ed's covered leg. "Don't talk about what happened. Anyone asked, you lost it in a farming accident or something."

"A farming….that's lame," Ed snorted.

"So are you," Roy pointed out. "If anything happens to it. Remember, I know how you lost that leg, Edward. They find out you've already tried human transmutation, you'll be seeing Central from inside a prison cell."

Ed swallowed. "I'm not stupid," he replied. He wouldn't forget that either. Mustang had shown up the night he'd failed the transmutation.

"Good to know." Mustang didn't sound entirely convinced. Yeah, this was going to get old really fast.

"So how long will it take us to get to Central?" Alphonse asked, apparently not bothered at all by Mustang's demeanor. Well then, Alphonse could forgive almost anything!

"A few days," Mustang said as he picked up a newspaper he'd grabbed at the station and flipped it open. "We need to make one more stop. There's another Alchemist I want to talk to."

Ed looked out the window while they talked. He had never been out of Resembool, and the passing countryside was growing increasingly unfamiliar quickly.

"Oh," Alphonse looked interested. "Where are we going?"

"Dublith," Mustang said.

"Du…Dublith?" Ed looked up sharply, suddenly much more interested in the conversation. An alchemist in Dublith? Did he mean….aww hell!

"Dublith?" Alphonse seemed to pick up on Edward's unease at once. "Who are we going to see?" he asked cautiously.

"Izumi Curtis," Mustang commented as coolly as if he were casually condemning them to death. "I want to see if she can be convinced to join us. I also have a few questions." He peeked over his paper. "You both know her correct? I believe you were her students at one point."

How did he know that. Great, just great. "Well, yeah," Ed said, trying not to fidget and give away the sudden jolt of panic that was trying to take him over. "But I don't think you'll have any luck. Izumi's got this…thing, about State Alchemists."

"Thing?" Mustang's eyebrows rose just slightly.

"She's not particularly umm…fond, of State Alchemists," Alphonse replied.

"To put it mildly," Ed barked. "Prepare to dodge flying kitchenware."

"Oh surely you're exaggerating," Mustang scoffed.

Ed exchanged a 'should we bother warning him further' look with Alphonse, who just shrugged helplessly. Oh well. Mustang would learn for himself just what terrors came with angering Izumi.

Until then, Ed had just a few days to figure out how he was going to keep from getting killed! Right now, he could see no way out of the pain that was coming when Izumi found out what he had done.

Maybe now was a good time to reconsider taking up praying?

Ed's dread had not ebbed by the time they arrived in Dublith a few days later. He followed Mustang and Alphonse as they walked from the train station directly to Curtis' Meats. In truth, he was terrified. Izumi had warned them about the dangers of human transmutation, had railed against the inhumanity and immorality of State Alchemists.

This was going to hurt.

Alphonse went in first, with Ed and Mustang following. Seg Curtis was standing behind the counter. He looked up, and his eyes lit with recognition. Though they darkened at the site of Roy.

"Hi, Seg!" Alphonse smiled. "Is Izumi home?"

Seg looked at Mustang. "He with you?"

"Oh, yeah," Alphonse chuckled disarmingly. "He's all right. Promise."

Seg didn't look convinced, but he nodded. "She's out back."

"Thanks," Ed managed, trying not to squeak as they headed back outside and around the back of the building to the yard.

The reunion went pretty much like Ed expected. Izumi was all smiles and glad to see Alphonse and Edward until she saw Mustang, whom she regarded with immediate dislike and suspicion. "What's he doing here?"

"Ummm well, he's with us," Alphonse spoke up. "Or we're with him, sorta."

"Are you boys crazy?" Izumi scowled. "What's this about?"

Ed swallowed and stepped up. Time to be a man, before he died. "We're going to Central, Teacher."

Izumi's expression grew so dark and hard Ed wasn't sure he wouldn't be crushed under her stare. "Despite everything I taught you, you're going to be the dogs of the military." The last words were spat in disgust. "What made you decide to do something so stupid?"

Ed opened his mouth, then closed it again. If he gave her the truth, she would be even angrier.

"Is this about your leg, Edward?"

"What?" he looked up, eyes going wide. How did she know?

His emotions must have shown plainly on his face. Izumi snorted in further disgust. "You thought I wouldn't notice the change in your movements? The sound of your gait?"

Ed felt embarrassed. "I…"

"How did it happen, Edward?" It was a command, not a question really.

"We tried to.." Alphonse began.

"No," Ed cut Alphonse off with a sharp glare. He straightened up stiffly. "I tried to transmute our mother…to bring her back."

The next thing Ed knew, he was being violently slammed into the ground. The pummeling didn't stop for several minutes and he didn't fight it, even though he probably could have. He deserved every bit of the thrashing he got. When it was over, he stood, quivering, with Alphonse starting on in sympathy, and Mustang looking… nonplussed. He definitely seemed to be reassessing his approach.

Ed watched Izumi's face shift from furious anger and reproach to a strange mask of grief. She stepped forward again and he closed his eyes, bracing for another hit. Instead, he was surprised as she gathered him into her arms and held him tightly. "You fool," she whispered. Ed felt his body relax in her arms. Somehow, he felt she understood. Finally, Izumi stood and composed herself. "It's dinner time," she said simply. "Come on in."

"All of us?" Alphonse asked, looking at Mustang.

Izumi looked between the boys and Mustang. "All of you. At least for now."

Dinner was an awkward affair. Ed was just grateful to have survived telling Izumi that horrible truth. His mood was temporarily improved by the usual exquisite taste of Izumi's cooking. He had well stuffed himself before anyone at the table actually spoke.

"Mrs. Curtis," Mustang finally seemed to have found his voice or, at least, the angle he thought he would take. "I know you don't like State Alchemists."

"I hate them," Izumi commented with surprising calm, as if she were declaring that the sun was bright, or water was wet.

"An understatement on my part, my apologies," Roy replied, the most respectful Ed had seen him yet. "And in all honesty, I can't blame you for your opinion." There was an odd sort of smile on his face as he spoke, as if he might agree with Izumi as well, were the option given. "But I have come here to ask you some questions that I am hoping you might be able to answer. The safety of the State, and I mean the people of the State, not just the government, may well ride on the answers."

"I'm a simple housewife," Izumi replied pointedly. "It is likely I know little of what you will request. But you may ask anyway."

Simple housewife indeed. Ed had some vague idea of the depths of Izumi's knowledge, and it was far more than she had actually taught them as her apprentices.

Mustang nodded. "What do you know about homunculi?"

Izumi's expression went hard again in a flash. "Why do you ask?"

"Wait, what?" Ed cut in, caught completely off guard. "Homunculi? You mean like artificial humans? They do exist?"

He was sure it was a joke, it had to be, but Mustang just nodded with dead seriousness. "There's something going on within the State," he admitted softly. "And somehow, whoever is controlling them has used homunculi to subvert State resources, and to gain power within it."

"So why should I tell you anything?" Izumi's tone was quietly dangerous.

"Because something has to be done to stop them," Roy replied, meeting her gaze evenly, something Ed and Alphonse had never been able to do when Izumi was angry. Mustang gained a very small notch up the ladder of respect in Ed's mind. Very small; Infinitesimal really. "And I can use all the help I can get. I'm not expecting you to come personally; Edward and Alphonse have already informed me that the likelihood of that is about as much as convincing you I'm Ishballan. Though I certainly wouldn't say no if you proved them wrong."

"No, they know me pretty well," Izumi commented, though she sounded a little less hostile. "I can tell you what I know. Whether it's helpful or not I cannot promise." She sighed. "Do you know anything about homunculi?"

"Only that they are created by alchemists, and that they cannot perform alchemy on their own," Roy sighed. "They aren't human, and they have powers regular humans do not." It really wasn't much to go on, Ed thought. Though it was more than he had known. Homunculi within the State. Okay, so this was bad. But he was missing some major part of the picture.

"Do you know how a homunculus is born?"

All three of the men shook their heads. Seg took that moment to excuse himself quietly with the dinner dishes.

Izumi sighed. "A homunculus is created when an alchemist attempts, and inevitably fails, a human transmutation.

Ed couldn't help it; he gasped. A human transmutation? Then…that thing he had seen, when he tried to bring Mom back….

His gasp drew the attention of everyone else at the table. Izumi simply nodded. "You've seen one, Edward. You and Alphonse both I think," she looked to Alphonse for confirmation.

Ed looked at his brother, who had gone pale. So, that thing, at least hadn't been Mom. Ed wasn't sure if that should make him feel better or worse.

"That fits," Mustang commented. Then he looked up and clarified. "Hohenheim told me that the only way to weaken a homunculus to kill it was to do so by bringing it in contact with the remains of the person it was originally meant to be."

"Wait. You mean that that thing is still alive?" Ed jumped to his feet, startling himself as well as the others.

Izumi nodded, her expression sadly fatalistic. "Probably in a body that looks very much like your mother, Edward. She isn't though; you must remember that."

Ed wasn't sure what else to say. Something he had created was helping to destroy the State? He looked at Alphonse. "What did you say happened to that thing?"

Alphonse looked upset. "I'm sorry, Brother. It was gone when I got back with Aunt Pinako and Winry. We were so busy trying to… to keep you alive that, I never looked for it after that. No one else reported seeing it, so I guess I just figured it had crawled off and died or something. I didn't tell anyone about it."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Alphonse," Izumi commented softly. "Better to save your brother. It will be dealt with in due course."

"How do you know so much about homunculi, Teacher?" Alphonse asked.

Izumi looked away briefly, and sighed. "Because when I was young and foolish, I tried the very same thing."

That was enough to send Ed dropping back into his chair in shock. He sat in stunned silence as Izumi told them, briefly, of losing a child when she and Seg were younger, and her attempt to revive it, and giving the child to the Gate.

"What is this Gate?" Mustang asked, his brow furrowed.

Once more, Ed found himself the subject of Izumi's knowing gaze. "You saw it too, Edward. There's no way you didn't."

Ed wanted to object, but he knew what she was referring to. He had been nearly sucked into it for good. Alphonse had barely saved him from that fate. They had never talked of it directly, beyond the acknowledgement that they had experienced…something. "Yes," he replied.

"What did you see in the Gate?"

"It…it felt like the Truth," Ed said looking up at her. "My brain was full of everything all at once. Suddenly I knew things I had never known before, about alchemy, about everything… and it all made sense. Then it was gone."

"The Truth?" Izumi shook her head. "What I saw looked like Hell." She looked over at Alphonse. "Did you see it?"

Alphonse nodded. "Sort of. I mean, I pulled Ed back didn't I?"
"Of course you did," Izumi smiled kindly. "You saved your brother's life, Alphonse. You should be proud of that."

Alphonse smiled weakly. "Thank you, Teacher."

"But what is the Gate?" Mustang reiterated his question.

"A door," Izumi said. "Where to, and what is on the other side, I don't really know. However," she looked at the boys. "If you've seen it, than you should be able to transmute without a circle."

"We…can?" Ed looked down at his hands. "But we've never transmuted without a circle."

"Have you tried?" Izumi asked.

"Well, no," Alphonse replied, sounding a little sheepish. "It never occurred to us to try."

"Transmuting…without a circle?" Mustang blinked. "Is that possible?"

"It is," Izumi replied. "For those who have seen the Gate, who have opened it with attempts at Human Transmutation."

"If …Hohenheim," Ed caught himself almost saying 'my father, "knows about homunculus, do you think maybe he tried human transmutation too?"

"It's certainly possible. Likely really," Mustang replied thoughtfully. "With all his research on the Philosopher's Stone, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Wait." He seemed to be saying and thinking that a lot tonight, but it was a lot to take in all at once. "The Philosopher's Stone isn't just a myth?" He had read all of his father's books and notes in detail, he knew everything Hohenheim had written down about the Stone and anything else he could read on it; the rumors and history, what little was known about how to possibly make one.

Mustang shook his head. "No. In fact, that's the problem. That's what the homunculi are after. Though we don't know what they or, more likely, their Master, wants with it."

The room fell quiet as each person contemplated those words. Ed didn't have to think hard to imagine all the things someone could want with the Stone; transmutation without the law of equivalent exchange. The options were limitless. And, more importantly, it wasn't a legend. That was one thing he had wished he'd had when they had tried to bring back Mom. If they'd had the Philosopher's Stone, it might have worked; if only.

"What a mess," Izumi commented finally. "This is what comes of arrogance and foolish pride."

Mustang looked angry, but didn't contradict her. "Thank you for your help, Mrs. Curtis. Belief it or not, what you have been able to tell me puts a lot of information together."

"Then you'd better use it to fix what's wrong with the military, before it's too late," Izumi replied. "Because if you don't, if someone gets their hands on a real Stone, there won't be anything left of it to clean up and put back together; the military, or the State." She picked up her cup and sipped slowly.

Well, that was a grim prediction. A cold prickle crawled up Ed's spine. What were he and Alphonse getting themselves into?

"So," Alphonse broke the tension after a minute. "Brother and I should be able to do transmutation without a circle now, like you do?"

Izumi looked up, and smiled at Alphonse, nodding. "That's right. Why don't you boys go outside and give it a try."

Ed knew a dismissal when he heard it. This conversation was over. He was kind of glad though. It was the kind of conversation that made him 'feel' like a kid, messing around in grown up matters, and he really didn't like those.