Garland Reed, or Greed as he was known to everyone else, wasn't sure about the situation. He hadn't minded letting his cousin Envy (Noel Verdanis was his name, but everyone called him NV, so it became Envy). Of course, he also didn't mind his sometimes girlfriend, Lust, staying there either. He was always amused by her wanting to be called Lust. Her real name was Eugenia Luster, and she thought her name wasn't sexy and made her sound old, so she decided to make herself the epitome of sexy. There was plenty of room for them and more, actually. The old farm house he had inherited from his family had six bedrooms, and a huge front room and dining room. The front room and dining room were often used for Greed's large parties that he invited everyone to on the weekends when he felt like it. So there was plenty of room.

However, letting Van Hohenheim hide out in the basement was pushing things. Greed had no idea what was going on with him, but he'd come to him the night before and asked if he could stay there for a while until the heat died out on his house. Greed had heard that the state police had raided the place. He was pretty sure that Hohenheim had been trafficking custom drugs or something like that, but the less he knew the better. Hohenheim knew that Greed had less than legal connections since both Tucker and Kimblee had been to his place. Neither were allowed to come by anymore, but that was their own fault. Tucker was just too damn creepy, and Kimblee, the dumb ass, had set off a pipe bomb and blew the hell out of one of the east walls. Definitely no longer allowed at his get-togethers.

Greed had some pretty good parties, and everyone always had fun, but they weren't illegal at all. They just had a lot of fun, and sometimes in the summer, they would hold bonfires in the field. Envy had come to live with Greed because Envy had had it with his previous roommates. Envy was studying advanced computer programing, and needed a lot of time to study. His aspiration was to become a licensed ethical hacker. His roommates, though, thought that parties were places for violent drunks to fight and brawl. He'd tried everything, but even with a locked door and headphones, he couldn't get peace. Then, one night his bedroom door got broken down during a massive fight between two party goers. He'd been stuck, unable to go to his parents because they lived in a retirement condo. Greed then offered him a room, and told him that his parties were enjoyable, and even the police chief Armstrong attended now and then. Envy had packed while his roommates were in jail again. Envy had the attic room, and everyone knew not to bother him if the door was closed.

Envy even had expressed a little trepidation about Van Hohenheim staying there. As he put it, something was off about him, but he wasn't sure what it was. Greed had to agree. He shook his head. All he knew was that Hohenheim didn't want to come in contact with the State people at all, and wanted to avoid the locals. It wasn't like the State guys came to the parties, though he'd invited them before. Mustang had turned him down, and Greed was pretty sure he was thinking Greed was trying to bribe him. Mustang was an odd man, and seemed overly cautious about everything. He shook his head and chugged a beer as he sat on the sofa.

He looked up to see his newest houseguest walking through with a bucket of ice from the freezer. "Yo, Hohenheim," he called out.

The blonde turned a glaring eye on Greed. "What is it?" he asked testily.

"Hey, man, just wanted to give you an FYI, we're having the fall bonfire party in a couple weeks, I know you want to go without being spotted, so you might want to make arrangements before then, never know, those state boys may decide to show up for once," he said, shrugging as Lust sauntered into the room and fell into his lap.

He arched a brow. "Hey sugar," he said, kissing her on the forehead as she lounged on him.

"Hey," she said. "Anyone cute coming to the fall party?" she said, playing with Greed's collar with her long, manicured nails.

"Maybe, don't know who's coming yet," he said, finishing the beer he was drinking before he tossed it at the recycling bin off to the side.

"I'll see what I can do," Hohenheim said, walking off toward the basement door.

Lust nuzzled against his neck. "He's strange," she said, nipping at his neck.

Envy came through then, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn. Greed looked over at him, "Yo, cousin, got a favor to ask."

Envy came over, popping his shoulder as we walked. As usual, he wore a skirt and a t-shirt. Greed was pretty sure Envy didn't pay attention to what he wore. "What's up?"

"Can you work that computer magic you have and see if you can dig up what the hell is up with that Hohenheim dude? I'm worried about it, and I've had some sketchy people here before, but that guy…" Greed said as Lust ran a hand through his hair.

Envy nodded, pulling his long black hair up into a ponytail on his head. "Sure, man. I can do that, if there's dirt on the bastard, I'll find it."

"Good," Greed said, looking off after the direction to the basement stairs. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing. Really bad.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

It was soon quite obvious that Ed was not going to let Roy out of his sight. Al thought it was actually quite adorable, even though it seemed that Roy thought Al would be against the attachment. Al had a feeling that their companionship would be a long and productive one if things kept going in this fashion. He was still worried, though, that their father was out there. What he was capable of, Al was no longer sure. He knocked gently on Roy's bedroom door and heard the muffled response.

"Um, Colonel, we should be going to Ms. Curtis's house soon. She's expecting us at nine am," he said.

"Okay, um, Al, can you find clothes for your brother?" came the muffled words a few seconds later.

"I'm not sure, I don't have much that fits him…" he said slowly. "I'll find a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, it will be baggy on him."

A few minutes later, Al returned and knocked again, hearing Roy tell him to enter from the other side. He went in and blinked at the sight. Roy was half dressed, his nose still purple from being decked the day before, and sitting on the end of the bed. Ed was laying half on his lap and half on the bed, clutching his leg, completely nude.

"What happened here?" Al asked from the doorway.

Roy looked up at him with his eyes still tired. "Apparently, Ed has discovered that using the bathroom is a nerve racking experience, as is the idea that people go into bathrooms alone."

Al tried not to, but ended up smirking anyway. "What happened to his clothes?" he asked, not seeing the red pajamas anywhere.

"Honestly, I don't know right now, let's just get over to the Curtis's," he sighed, reaching for the clothes Al was holding.

It took a few minutes of convincing, but they managed to get Ed in the new clothes, which hung off his thin body ridiculously. Roy managed to get into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt himself and finally they were out the doorway and headed toward Izumi Curtis's home. Roy was already exhausted when they arrived, but then the last few days had been exhausting.

"You're late," she said when she pulled open the door.

Roy arched a brow. "Yeah, I know."

She glared at him a moment and then stepped back, letting the three of them enter. She led them to a large sun room where her son, Aoya sat on the floor with a few books laying out and open. Beside him sat a sphinx cat with a black and white knitted sweater on its hairless body. Both Aoya and the cat looked up as Izumi and the three newcomers came into the room.

"Aoya, you remember Alphonse, don't you?" Izumi said as she sat down.

"I do," he said, smiling at the sandy haired boy. "Hi Al, how are you?"

"I'm okay," he said shyly, and sat down out of the way on the side of the room to watch.

"This is Roy Mustang, and apparently Al's brother, Ed," she said, looking at the figure clinging to Roy's arm.

Roy pushed Ed into the room a little ways. "You, go sit with Aoya, Ed, I'm going to sit over here by Al," he said, nodding toward Al's seat. "I'm not leaving."

Ed's golden eyes flittered around the room and he swallowed nervously, moving slowly to where Aoya was sitting on the floor and sitting down, his metal leg making a strange sound on the hard floor. He started at the noise and looked at Aoya before looking back at Roy again.

Izumi shook her head. "He's the spitting image of Hohenheim if I ever saw one. No doubt that this boy's that bastard's son," she said, chewing her lip for a moment in thought. "Thin as a rail, but that's to be expected. "Ed, look at me," she said, her voice taking a more commanding tone.

Ed's eyes snapped to her, wide and unblinking. "Marcoh said he didn't have a hope of learning anything when I talked to him this morning," she said thoughtfully. "He's wrong. The boy's feral, not an idiot. He just needs to be taught. How much he can learn will be determined by his intelligence, though," she said. "So we'll see."

Aoya looked at Ed and smiled. "I've got replacement limbs too," he said, pointing to his arm and leg which were slightly darker than the rest of his body. "My mom helped me get them. Though metal is cool," he said, reaching out tentatively and touching Ed's arm.

Ed watched then touched the arm that Aoya had touched him with. Izumi smiled, reaching into her bag and pulling out a binder. "Ed, I need you to pay attention to me now," she said, and Ed looked back to her. She held up a card, on it was a series of images, and Ed needed to pick the next one. "What comes next?" she asked, then pointed to the correct answer. She held up another card, similar, and repeated the process.

"Now, Ed, I want you to tell me the answers," she said, holding up a card for him to see.

After a couple hours, Aoya had gone up to his clean room, and Ed had finished the visual test. The cat, named Gremmy, had moved into Ed's lap and Ed was petting him with a smile on his face. Izumi scored the testing. Without a handle on language, Izumi had to rely on nonverbal tests. It wasn't as accurate of a measure of Ed's potential, but it would have to do for the time being. What she was finding, though, was phenomenal. Roy, during the long testing, had fallen asleep in his chair, head back and arms crossed over his chest.

"Mustang!" she said suddenly.

"I'll do my paperwork!" Roy said as he started to wakefulness. He blinked and looked at Izumi. "What?"

"Marcoh doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. This boy's intelligence…I can't be sure, but he's got the potential to far exceed his own father. The only thing stopping him is the lack of teaching. In the time I've sat here with him, he's learned how to interact with a cat that he's never seen before, figured out how to manipulate the answers on an advanced visual screening test, and managed to put together a tangram puzzle for high school students…" she said, looking over where he was moving the pieces of the puzzle around again into different shapes.

Roy shook his head. "What's that mean for him?" he asked, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees while he watched Ed.

"It means, the boy is a genius, possibly more intelligent than anyone we've ever seen here. The problem is, getting him to the point he can use that incredible intelligence for something other than putting together a child's puzzle," she said, sighing. "You've seen him do this already, haven't you?"

"He learns quickly," Roy said, watching as Ed reassembled the shapes. "He figured out how to eat the first time I showed him, and he's picked up how to dress already. I'd think if he wasn't smart, he couldn't pick up those things after only seeing them once or so."

Izumi nodded. "It is remarkable. The fact that he's advanced so quickly just since you rescued him from that terrible place," she said quietly. She turned and looked at him fully now. "What happened to your nose?"

Roy smiled sheepishly. "Oh, Ed had a bit of a nightmare," he said, reaching up and touching it gently.

Ed looked up then and pushed himself to his feet. He went over to Roy and crawled up onto his lap, straddling him and hugged him. Roy wasn't sure what to do, but just put his arms around him and held him for a long moment. Then he looked up and touched Roy's nose with his trembling flesh index finger gently.

"Sorry, hurt," he said in a hoarse voice.

Roy smiled. "Oh, Ed, don't worry. It was an accident. Soon, you'll be able to tell me about your nightmares, and we'll make them go away together," he said, reaching up and brushing a hand over Ed's head softly.

Izumi caught the look on Roy's face, and so did Al. They exchanged a look with each other, a knowing look that spoke volumes. There was more to what the colonel felt than just wanting to protect someone vulnerable. There was something much deeper there. There was some connected that went beyond a simple caretaker position for the colonel. Could it be that he had left himself open to something more? Izumi's eyes narrowed at him.

"Mustang, I'm going to warn you one time about what you're doing. If you don't tread carefully, you will shatter him. And if you do that, I will break you," she said, glaring at him hard enough that he felt there was no doubt in her words.

"I know," he said simply, brushing a hand over Ed's head again as he put his head down on Roy's shoulder. "I think we need to get you clothes, Ed," he said, pushing Ed up slowly. "You can't go around wearing Al's stuff; it is way too big."

"Clothes?" Ed repeated, his brows meeting.

"Are you sure that's safe with Hohenheim still out there?" Izumi said, standing up and putting away the testing materials.

Roy nodded. "If he comes out in public, he'll be arrested. Something tells me that he'll be in hiding at the very least, and far away from Central city if he's as smart as he believes himself to be."

After a moment of dislodging Ed from his lap, Roy had managed to get Ed up and to the car. Al said he would stay and go up and spend time with Aoya in his clean room since he hadn't seen him in a while. Roy bid him and Izumi goodbye and drove into the shopping district of town. Ed stared at his hands while they drove, refusing to even look out the windows at the scenery for some reason. They stopped at the largest clothing store and he got out first, and then helped Ed get out. Ed was still a bit unsteady on his feet, but he tended to cling to Roy because of it.

As they entered the store, everyone seemed to stare at them. Roy knew it was a combination of things. Roy's disheveled appearance, for one, was odd. He was never seen in public without his uniform on and in a pristine condition. The added bonus of the bruised nose, of course, made people stare. Then, he was being held onto by another person, and Roy had never been seen in public with another person. Ed's appearance, nearly emaciated, bruised and in way too big clothes, made him an immediate mark for staring and muttering.

Despite this, Roy headed to the counter. "I need to have measurements done and a wardrobe for Ed."

The lady behind the counter, nodded. "Oh, yes, yes, come back, let's get him…her?" she said, looking at Ed.

"Him," Roy said, following her to the back room.

"Oh, I'll get the male tailor…" she said, starting to duck out.

Roy stopped her. "Actually a female would be better in this situation," Roy commented, smiling at her.

She blinked. "I don't understand. Usually our clients prefer the same sex to their own for their tailoring…"

Roy nodded. "I know, but Ed is a special case. He's in a delicate state, and he doesn't react well to males he doesn't know yet. It would be easier on him, and you, if it were a female that worked with him."

She frowned and nodded. "I'll get Danielle, then…" she said, ducking out of the room.

Ed was stading in front of the mirrors looking at himself while Roy sat down in the seat to the side. A moment later a short, red haired woman entered the room with a measuring tape around her neck. She glanced at Ed then back to Roy.

"Aren't you the one in charge of the police?" she asked, frowning.

"Colonel Roy Mustang, yes," he said, nodding. "I brought Ed here for some clothes. He doesn't have anything right now."

"Ed?" she said, frowning and looking at the short, blonde boy. "He's been starved," she said as soon as she came up beside him. I can size him, but if he's being fed appropriately, his size will change drastically."

Ed looked at her and smiled. She stepped back. "He has a metal arm and leg. Colonel Mustang, I need to know what is going on here, I've never seen this child…"

"He's twenty," Roy said without thinking. "And yes, I know you haven't seen him before even though he's lived here for the last thirteen years."

The tailor turned and stared at Roy for a long moment. "But he looks like…" she said then stopped. "No."

"Yes," Roy said. "He's staying with me, and he needs clothes, his brother's clothes, as you can see, are far too big."

She nodded, and quickly measured Ed, with only a few tense moments when he jerked away violently from her. After a few minutes, she brought back in a selection of clothes, and Roy helped him try on several for size. Most were a bit too big, but they would need to be for when he put on a normal, healthy weight. They headed out with several large bags, and Ed dressed in a black pair of slacks and a red t-shirt. He seemed happy, though, and by the time they got home, Roy was really exhausted.

Roy dropped the bags and fell into the sofa. "Ugh!" he muttered and laid back. He was surprised when he felt Ed's weight climb on top of him. He looked down to see that Ed had crawled up onto the sofa beside him and was wedged now between him and the back of it.

"Ed, what are you doing?" Roy said, smiling.

Ed looked at him, golden eyes wide. It struck Roy that Ed was perhaps the most honest and naïve person he'd ever known, and how delicate he truly was.

"Love Roy," he said finally and then buried his face in the hollow of Roy's shoulder.

Roy was stunned for a moment before he sighed; heart beating hard in his chest. "I love you, too, Ed," he said softly, threading his fingers through the gold hair spread out behind Ed.