The clink-clank of Alphonse's armor, along with the soft chirp of crickets, accompanied him on his trek from the train station. The sun had already begun to dip low in the sky as the white stucco house came into view. He tucked the small slip of paper that was his train ticket behind his chest-plate for safe-keeping and continued on toward Riza's cozy home.
As he made his way up the stone walkway leading to the wooden porch, skirting the edge of a manicured lawn, a screech of tires caused him to turn his head to the street. A sleek black military vehicle rolled to a stop in front of the house, and Alphonse mentally gulped, shifting from foot to foot nervously.
Sunlight glinted across the window as it was rolled down. When a puff of smoke billowed out of the car, Al relaxed slightly.
"Hey, Al," Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc said with a cheery wave, rolling his cigarette from the right corner of his mouth to the left. "The Chief around?"
Alphonse gave a wave that shifted into a salute. "Evening, Sir. The Colonel is…" He trailed off, trying to come up with a probable cause for Roy's absence and failing. Lying wasn't his specialty. "Uh, inside recovering," he finished lamely.
Havoc's blue eyes studied the hulking metal curiously before he stepped out of the car. "Well, I have some files for him. Surely he can hold a pen." He smiled jokingly, puffing out a ring of smoke.
There was a clunk of metal as Alphonse stiffened. "N-No, no. There's no need to bother the Colonel with pesky paperwork. M-Maybe I can sign them…?" He trailed off questioningly, a jumble of nerves. "Or maybe I should get Lieutenant Hawkeye. She's much better at forging the Colonel's signature."
Before Jean could reply, the left door of the backseat opened. With a flurry of movement, a black-haired woman tackled the seven-foot suit of armor to the ground.
"Just what are you trying to hide, Alphonse? You've never been good at keeping secrets!"
"T-Teacher?" Alphonse's voice was a high-pitched disbelieving squeak.
"My idiotic pupils. Months go by, and I don't get so much as a letter from you. So I had to make the trip to Central to check on you myself. And I discover that Edward has been injured and you haven't improved at lying." Dark eyes hardened menacingly. "Out with it."
"T-T-Teacher, I – I…" Al shook with fear as he stared into the stern face of his alchemy teacher. He couldn't come up with a convincing lie, but he didn't want to tell her the truth either. Although, really, they had done worse and she hadn't reacted too badly.
"Izumi." A deep voice wafted over to the trio from the car, and the woman jerked her head toward it. "Maybe Alphonse would feel more comfortable if you didn't look as if you were about to destroy his blood seal."
Izumi's demeanor instantly shifted. Her eyes softened and she stood up with a small laugh, pulling the boy up with her. She looked over at the tall, dark-skinned, muscular man who stepped out of the car. "Now, dear, Al knows I could never hurt him."
Sig Curtis, Izumi's husband, reached the group in two short steps. "It's good to see you. It's been a while." He pulled the boy and his wife together for a hug.
Alphonse rubbed the back of his helmet sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that," he said apologetically.
"We know you have your reasons. Now tell us what you're hiding." Izumi's tone was commanding. Her hands were on her hips, and she flicked raven dreadlocks out of her eyes.
The armor gave a small mental sigh. "You won't believe me if I tell you. You'll have to see for yourselves." With a clanking wave, he ushered the group inside.
Al was sandwiched between Jean and Izumi on the couch in Riza's living room. Riza and Winry were across from them on the loveseat, and Sig stood against the wall silently. Roy and Ed were on the dark purple rug in the middle of the floor; the blond was making a dinosaur out of clay and the black-haired boy was coloring once again.
"Red Water did this?" Izumi was the first to speak after hearing Al's tale. Her tone was understandably skeptical.
"Yes," Riza said simply.
"We're still not sure how it happened, but Red Water was the cause." Winry added patiently.
Jean rubbed his eyes, blinking in disbelief for possibly the twelfth time during their conversation. "I still don't get it."
Izumi rolled her eyes and held back a snort before turning to him, pulling his attention away from the children to focus on her. "The alchemical components in the Water have been altered to render the two most powerful and troublesome State Alchemists useless." She really didn't know how to dumb it down any further than that.
Jean blinked ocean blue eyes rapidly, focusing on the children yet again. "So, the Homunculi turned the Chief and the Boss into four-year-olds 'cause they keep messing up their plans." He summarized.
Izumi smirked. Apparently there was a way to simplify the explanation.
"That's the only conclusion we've been able to come up with." Al affirmed.
"And only the Homunculi have something to gain from all of this." Riza added, sherry eyes flicking from one member of their group to the next. She tried to make them grasp the seriousness of the situation with one penetrating stare.
"So what do you have planned? You can't believe this situation will reverse itself." Izumi's tone clearly held the underlying message that if they thought such things they were fools.
The woman spoke up, posture straightening. "We have an informant at Central Command who is gathering any and all material she deems helpful to reverse this situation. Alphonse has acquired a train ticket and is heading to Doctor Marcoh's former village to gather samples of Water for testing."
Izumi perked a brow curiously. "Doctor Marcoh?"
Jean nodded, ready to chime in with knowledge he stole from the file on Mustang's desk.
Instead, Al beat him to supplying the information, saying everything in a rush. "He was a former State Alchemist who served in the Ishvalan war. Brother and I met him a while back; he was known as the Crystal Alchemist-."
"Breathe Al," Winry suggested, blue eyes amused.
"Sorry," he chuckled sheepishly, not bothering to add that he couldn't breathe. He saw no need to darken the atmosphere. "Anyway, he did some research on the Philosopher's Stone and Red Water. He kept samples around his house, so I'm gonna find some."
"It's our hope that once we discover how the Water was altered, we can create enough of it to fix this." Riza gestured to the boys with a wave.
Their conversation was halted by two small, raised voices.
"I'm not touching you." Roy's little lips were pulled into that familiar smirk as he repeatedly poked Ed with his index finger.
Golden eyes narrowed, and Ed's fingers stilled in his clay. "Quit it," he warned through clenched teeth.
"What?" An onyx eyebrow disappeared in messy raven locks. "I'm not touching you." His index finger poked harder at the boy's shoulder.
"Stop," Ed's voice was a whiney growl.
"I'm not doing anything, Edward." Roy said innocently, beaming.
Edward's small voice was full of venom. "Roy, if you don't stop, I'm gonna-." The tips of his ears turned red as his anger rose. He picked up the other boy's notebook, ready to beat him senseless with it.
"They don't seem any different to me," Jean said, rolling his eyes.
"Roy, stop touching Ed. And Edward, stop whining; that's your automail shoulder, you can't even feel that." Riza's voice was stern, deep brown eyes were set in a stare that dared them to back-talk.
"Sorry, Nana Riza," the boys mumbled in unison. Roy then returned to his coloring and Ed's fingers began to mold his clay.
"Now then," Izumi said airily, clapping her hands to regain focus. "Sig will accompany Al on his trip to Marcoh's village."
The armor and the burly man nodded in understanding, not questioning the woman's reasoning.
Riza sank back into the plush cushions, happy to let the housewife take control for the time being.
"Lieutenant Havoc, you will return to the Command Center. Don't let anyone get too curious about the absence of your Colonel, Lieutenant or my idiotic pupils."
"Yes ma'am!" The blond snapped a salute, blue eyes twinkling at the woman's satisfied smirk.
Izumi continued, turning her gaze to Winry and Riza. "I will stay here with you two. You'll need someone to help with them." Her gaze traveled to the two boys who were, for the moment, behaving.
"If you think that's best…" Winry's vibrant blue eyes were nervous, and she gave her girlfriend's hand a squeeze.
Dark eyes looked down as she felt a small tug on the hem of her shirt.
"What should we do, old lady?" Ed asked, golden eyes eager.
Izumi ground her teeth and clenched her fists at her sides. "What was that?" Her tone was sweet, contradicting her menacing appearance.
Ed gulped, cowering behind Roy who flashed a grin. "What should we do, pretty lady?" He asked, batting black lashes.
Ed made a gagging sound, but stopped when he felt the woman's icy stare on him.
"Hmm," the raven-haired woman tapped her bottom lip in thought.
Roy and Ed bounced eagerly on the balls of their feet.
"How would you boys like to make cupcakes?" Izumi asked, smiling fondly.
The children's faces lit up with delight.
"Alright," Riza said, resuming her role as commander once again. "It's getting late. Let's all start fresh first thing tomorrow morning." At the nod of approval from the adults and the sleepy yawn from the boys, she barked "Dismissed!"