Ah, yes, this chapter's a bit longer than the first two, and it's a two-part chapter, so yeah… Next part will be up in a couple of days.
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It was a sunny day in Resembool as Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang knocked on the door of the Elric home. He knocked for a minute, but nobody answered. He decided to go inside, his subordinate Riza Hawkeye following him silently.
They split up and began searching the house for the boys. Roy entered a room and saw a desk against one of the walls. A small boy was sleeping in the chair, his head in his arms. The desk was covered in papers, many of which had transmutation circles drawn on them. Roy looked at the papers for a moment, trying to figure out what the boy was working on. He didn't get to understand anything, because at that moment the boy woke up with a start, saw Roy, and fell out of his chair.
"Who are you?" he asked, a slight look of panic in his eyes. Roy kneeled down so that he was at the boy's eye level.
"Ah, sorry for startling you. I'm Lt. Colonel Roy Mustang from East City. Are you Edward or Alphonse?"
"Edward. What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to you-"
"But why did you just come in here like that?" Edward sounded angry. He stood up, and Roy did as well, just as a voice sounded in the hall.
"What's going on, brother? Is someone else here?" A sandy haired boy asked as he entered the room. He looked half awake. Riza came in right behind him and looked at Ed.
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After a moment, Roy managed to explain the situation to the brothers, and they sat down to listen to what Roy had to say.
"So what is it you want to ask us?" Ed asked.
"It might be a bit early for you two, but would you want to take the state alchemy exam?" Roy asked, examining the boys' faces.
He had expected them to think about it for a moment, but right after he asked, Ed gave his answer. "No. Our teacher would kill us if we did that."
"It's not that bad-" Roy began.
"No, she seriously would not be happy," Al interrupted with a shudder. "And I'd like to make it to adulthood, at least."
"Okay…" Roy decided it was time for a subject change. "So what are you working on?" he asked casually, indicating Ed's desk.
"Nothing interesting," the two said at once. They said it so rapidly that Roy became suspicious.
"Is that so?" he asked. "Would you mind if I looked?"
"Yes."
"Wait, if it isn't anything interesting, then why can't I see?"
"You just can't. It's not something we want to share."
Roy's eyes narrowed. "You're not doing anything illegal, are you?"
"Will you mind your own business?!" Ed shouted as he stood up.
"Brother…"
"If you're doing something illegal with alchemy then I can't just ignore it!" Roy shot back, standing up as well.
"Sir…"
Ed glared at Roy for several minutes before turning to the door. "Come on, Al, we're going."
"What? But brother-"
"I'm not talking to this guy anymore."
Roy walked toward Ed. "Now wait a minute. You can't just-"
Before Roy finished his sentence, Ed kicked him in the shin and took off running. Roy recovered remarkably quickly and began to chase after him. Al just smacked his forehead and shook his head. He looked over at Hawkeye.
"Sorry about brother. He's a little…"
"No need for that. The Lt. Colonel's about the same." Riza looked down at Al. "Now, what exactly are you two up to?" she asked.
Al turned his face away from her. "Will we get in trouble?" he asked after a moment.
"Not if you haven't done anything yet," Riza replied.
Al breathed deeply and looked back out the door. "We're… trying to get someone back."
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Roy chased Ed down the road for several minutes, until he finally caught up to the child and managed to tackle him. Ed struggled to get away from Roy, who had a firm grip on both his hands.
"Let go, you jerk!" Ed shouted.
"No. Not until you calm down."
At that moment, one of the local kids passed by and looked at Ed. "Hey, Ed. Having fun?" the kid laughed. He politely greeted Roy and continued on his way. Roy watched the kid in confusion for a moment. Ed used this distraction to kick Roy in the stomach and run off.
As soon as Roy recovered, he ran after Ed. He chased the boy to a cemetery, where he found Al and Riza standing at the entrance. Both of them were watching Ed, who was sitting in front of a grave, staring at it with little regard for the people staring at him. Roy looked at Al, whose face contained the same emotions as his brother's. The only emotion missing was anger.
"So. This is what you want to do. Whose grave is that?" Roy asked Al.
"It's… our mother," Al replied, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
At that moment, Roy understood exactly why Ed had acted the way he did. He only wanted a normal family. Roy remembered their guide mentioning that the boys were orphans, but it hadn't quite sunk in that it would have affected them this much. He walked forward and stood behind Ed. It took him a moment to realize that there was only one grave.
"What about your father?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to fight Ed again.
"He ditched us."
Considering how bluntly Ed had said it, Roy decided it would be best not to push the issue. Instead, he decided to deal with the other issue at hand.
"Who takes care of you now?"
"Why do you want to know?" Ed asked. Al just pointed at a building in the distance. "Al!"
Al completely ignored his brother for a while as he elaborated. "Pinako Rockbell's our guardian now. She's our friend's grandmother."
"Thank you, Alphonse," Roy said as he walked off. Ed followed them, fuming.
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There was a knock on the door. Pinako opened it to see a young man from the military standing on the other side of it. Just behind him was a woman, also wearing a uniform, standing next to the Elric brothers. The man nodded politely to Pinako.
"Mrs. Rockbell, my name is Roy Mustang. May I speak to you for a moment?"
Pinako looked back at the boys, neither of whom looked happy. "Yes, of course." She opened the door wider and let Roy in. Then she turned to Winry, who was watching from the stairway. "Winry, would you go upstairs for a while?"
Winry looked at Roy for another moment before walking up the stairs. Once she was in her room, she went onto the balcony and looked down. Ed and Al were sitting with a woman from the military. She tried to get Ed's attention, but he waved her off and looked away.
"Hey! Don't just ignore me like that!" Winry shouted. "What are you doing?"
"It's none of your business, Winry!" Ed shouted back.
Winry bit her lip and leaned down. She pulled off one of her shoes and threw it. It nailed Ed in the head and he grabbed his head and looked up. "What was that for?" he asked, but Winry had gone inside. Ed looked back out at the fields, rubbing his head.
Meanwhile, Pinako sat down at the table across from Roy. "What's this all about? What did they do?"
Roy shook his head. "Nothing as of yet, but it seems they've been planning an attempt at human transmutation."
"Those two? How do you know?"
"Alphonse has admitted to it, and the alchemy they've been studying points to human transmutation."
"And since human transmutation is illegal, you want to have them arrested?"
"Not at all, Mrs. Rockbell. After all, they haven't made anything yet."
Pinako stood up. "Do you think that because you've exposed their secret they won't try it now? Those boys are very stubborn."
"I was afraid of that. I can understand that sort of stubbornness. I would just like to suggest something."
"What?"
"I know of someone, someone in East City who has attempted human transmutation. If I took those boys to meet him, and they saw the results of such a venture, they would give up."
"And if they don't?"
"That man is in a very poor condition. If they continue to believe they can succeed, even after meeting him, then nothing will convince them."
Pinako thought about it for a long time. "You won't bring this up with anyone else in the military?"
"Not if I don't have a very good reason."
"All right. Take them to meet this person."
Roy stood up. "I'll bring them back within a week."
As they got ready to leave Resembool, Pinako said one last thing to Roy. "Good luck."
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Within five minutes of getting to Resembool station, Ed took off running. Roy went after him, but Ed didn't get far. One of the locals seemed to understand the basic situation and brought him back to Roy. Ed sat on the bench with his arms crossed.
"Nice try, but you're coming with us whether you like it or not," Roy said as they got on the train.
Ed tried to run away on the train. He took off running through the cars, and Roy barely caught him before Ed tried to jump off the back of the train. He literally carried Ed back to their seats and sat him down.
"Why are you being so difficult?" he asked.
"I don't like you," Ed shot back.
"Why not?"
"Why do you think? The only reason we started studying alchemy in the first place was to do one thing, and now you're saying we can't do it. Everything we've been working towards, everything we've hoped for…"
"That's because you're trying to do something that's not only against the law, but impossible to do."
"How do you know it's impossible? Because some guy you know in East City messed up? How is that guy like us?"
"Like you? He tried to do something impossible. He thought his theory was perfect, and he tried it, but he was wrong."
"So how do you know it'll be like that for us?"
Roy paused. It seemed as if his argument was getting him nowhere. Ed sensed this and began staring out the window. After a while, he spoke again. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have everything you believe in taken and destroyed?"
Roy thought back on his life, especially his experiences in Ishbal. "Yes, I know what it's like. I know it probably better than you."
Ed turned to Roy. "Then why are you doing it to us?" he asked, but Roy simply stood up and walked down the car and went into the next one. Ed looked at Riza. "What's with him?" he asked.
"It's a long story."
Ed went back to staring out the window. "I'm never joining the military."
"Nobody said you had to, Edward."
"Good, because I mean it. They've never done anything for us."
"Brother…"
"It's true, though, isn't it, Al? Even back then-"
"Brother, don't talk about that."
The rest of the train ride was quiet. Quiet enough for the only other passenger in the car to deem a song necessary to break the silence.
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Ed ran off again as they left the East City station. Roy took off after him and managed to bring him back, but he'd gotten sick of chasing the young alchemist. He stopped by a phone booth, holding Ed by the shirt in one hand and the phone in the other.
"Havoc here," came a voice from the other end.
"Havoc, it's Mustang. Can you help me out with something?"
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Just drive over here. We're at the train station. Oh, and bring some rope."
As Havoc arrived, he was surprised to see Roy holding a struggling eleven-year-old boy by the arms. Roy gave Havoc orders to secure Ed before turning to Al. "Could you maybe talk to your brother and get him to stop being so wild?"
Al looked Roy straight in the eyes. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because I agree with him. I don't want to be here either. Besides, with the way things are going, he wouldn't listen to me anyway."
"Then are you going to try and run off?" Roy asked in exasperation.
"No. It's more fun just watching brother."
"Fine. Get in the car."
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They brought the brothers to a hotel and sent them into their room for a moment. Havoc walked right behind Ed, holding onto the rope that was tied around Ed's chest. Ed fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
"This is stupid," he said to no one in particular.
Havoc pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. "Well maybe you shouldn't have tried running away."
"I wasn't trying to run away."
"Then why did you?"
"Just to piss that guy off. I'm not stupid enough to run off in a city I barely know."
Havoc chuckled. "Well, you should have expected something like this."
Ed poked at the ropes that were holding him. "What if I promise not to run off again?"
"You'll have to ask Mustang. I'm just here to give him a break."
At that moment, the door opened, and Roy walked into the room. "Thanks, Havoc. You may go now."
Havoc saluted and left the room, letting the rope trail on the floor. Ed sat up and glared at Roy. Roy walked up to him and began untying him. "You realize that trying to run off again would be a very bad idea, don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ed replied as he pulled his legs up onto the bed and sat cross-legged.
"Good. Hawkeye's going to get dinner. If there's something you'll never eat no matter how much we try to force it on you, then tell me. Otherwise you're stuck with whatever we give you."
"Milk."
"Fine. No milk. Anything else?"
"Nah, we're good."
"Good. I'll be right outside, so if you try anything, I'll know."
"Okay, okay, I get it. We won't try anything. Jeez, you're acting like I don't know anything."
Roy took the rope and left the room, listening at the door for a while. What he heard was almost what he had expected, but something unexpected came up.
"Brother, are you okay?"
"No, Al, I'm not. First that guy comes and freaks out at us for wanting to bring mom back, and then he freaking takes us here and locks us in a hotel room. He's probably trying to spy on us right now, too."
"Brother, you're being paranoid."
"Am I, Al?" Ed sighed. "Damn it, if it weren't for that incident, we could have brought mom back before that guy showed up."
That incident? Is he talking about… Despite himself, Roy opened the door and looked at the two boys. "I'd like to know something," he asked Ed.
"What now?"
"Were you the boys involved in that hostage incident in your hometown?"
Ed stood up. "What the hell are you bringing that up for? Don't you think you've done enough to us already?"
"Answer the question."
"Yeah, that was us, okay? We tried to help our friend and instead I almost got killed and we had to see someone die because of us! And what did the military do? They just sat around outside and did nothing. They didn't even try to save us until they heard the gunshot."
Ed turned his face away and covered his eyes with his arm. Roy took a step back and headed for the door. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Believe it or not, that's something I want to change." When he closed the door, he could tell Ed was crying.
Damn it, why did I have to say anything? Roy thought as he stood by the door. Things definitely weren't going well for him, or the brothers. He sighed. I should have let the Rockbells take care of this. At least they know how to deal with these two.
