Chapter 7: Family Ties
(Hohenheim)
Not that he was a snoop, it just sort of came to his attention while chatting with his son's professor at the Investors Reception. He treated the University very kindly and this kindness gave way to loose lips; especially when it came to asking questions regarding his son. It wasn't the ideal situation between a father and son, but they were not the typical family. His son had barely spoken two words to him since the death of Trisha, the mother of his two sons and his late wife. The loss of Trisha had rocked their family to the core and he still often thought they were wading through the debris. Making the best of what he had left he switched his energy to his business. He would never admit that his sons and their home were just painful reminders of what he had lost. Instead he would insist that conferences were too important to let just anyone go. Traveling for business was his decision, whether it was in Drachma or Xing, the destination didn't matter. About the only indicator that time was flying by was the steady updates from the hospital and the number of unanswered messages he knew had been deleted from his son's phone.
It was all different now and despite his own mistakes, the thread holding together their family was frayed and had been threatening to break for the last four years. He had been away on business when it happened. It had taken two days for him to make it back. Two days was too late.
"You say he's doing well?" He asked, trying to poise the question as if he were just interested in his son's academic growth. If he was being honest, he wished he could ask more without threatening to reveal the deep rift between them.
The older man chuckled as if this were comical, "Hohenheim your son is a genius I hardly think you should be worrying about his grades. Though, sometimes I believe he is only exerting effort in my class to impress that girlfriend of his."
His son had a girlfriend? That was a new and interesting development.
Another professor overhearing the conversation chimed in. "Ah! Are you referring to the Rockbell girl?"
Remarkable, it was someone he knew! Sadly, he knew there were only two living Rockbells and one of them was certainly not in college, but he had heard about Sarah's daughter. Pianko's prodigy in the making, how surreal that his son had found her amongst the sea of students. How in the world had his son struck her attention?
"What did you say her name was?" He asked curiously to make sure he had his information correct before jumping to conclusions.
"Winry Rockbell, such a lovely young lady." The woman commented as his son's chemistry professor nodded in agreement.
Perhaps he should drop in and surprise his son with a visit while he was around. He might also want to extend a few words of advice when it came to women. He had a feeling that his son was woefully behind in that department.
Instead of seeking out Edward he found himself on a familiar drive. The drive to the hospital didn't take very long coming from Central University. He walked the familiar hospital hall, a few nurses smiling sadly kindly as he passed by. A few others with hopeful smiles that he would keep at bay. A wealthy, single, and grieving father might be appealing to them at the moment but he had put enough people in danger by loving them.
(Leto)
On paper he didn't mind dating the president of the top sorority on campus. That was the problem though, he wasn't actually dating her or at least they had never mutually agreed to be exclusive. This was college, they had no business hitching themselves together when their worlds were destined to diverge.
"Think she knows it's you yet?" He muttered out of annoyance as they watched the last few girls open presents.
"She's not stupid; I told her today that I was practically royalty. There are only a few of us in the princess family line, I assume she can put two and two together." Noa snapped.
Frowning he fought off the urge to smack that glare off her face. "Relax babe, I'm just saying, you think she really wants you as a big sister?"
The way her jaw clenched let him know he had struck a nerve.
"You're an ass sometimes, you know that, right?"
"And you're rude sometimes, what of it?" He snapped back.
She huffed loudly as if this were news to her. Funny, he thought she knew. "You can wait for me outside." She replied shrewdly as if this were a punishment.
Chuckling he walked out the door without answering, he would rather wait outside. Just as he began to light up a smoke he thought he heard the sound of sobs. Looking around the corner he felt the initial annoyance drain as fast as a keg at a party. Taking a long drag of his cigarette he dropped it to the ground where the heel of his shoe smothered it into the cobblestone walkway. He cleared his throat loud enough to grab her attention.
The girl looked up quickly, her hand flying to wipe away the tears. Her mouth formed a pout as if she were ready to tell him off for disturbing her pity fest. He remembered what her mouth could do and suddenly he was vastly more intrigued. "Mind if I join you?"
Rose looked around nervously, but he sat down as if she agreed.
"Crying solves nothing." He commented.
He watched her eyes narrow, "And cheating ruins everything."
She had some tough skin, "Oh kitty's got claws!"
"Don't you realize what we've done?" Her tone implied she was still upset, but he rather thought she was searching for something, waiting for him to confirm whatever doubt was in the back of her mind.
"I know what we did. I'm more curious why you didn't tell Noa you slept with me?"
"I didn't realize you were her boyfriend until the pledge party." She answered harshly.
"That was a while ago, I'm sure you have had plenty of opportunities to have a little chat with her since then. Scared she'll kick you out of AZ?" He knew how badly some girls wanted to be in Alpha Zeta, of course she would want to protect her spot.
Rose jumped to her feet her eyes blazing, "Scared? Of course I'm scared, but I'm still going to tell her Leto because despite the idea that she might never talk to me again I can't stand the thought of her still being with someone like you. Have a nice life asshole."
He watched her storm away from him, the tears gone from her face. Good; now she could hold that pretty little head up high and clear both of their names.
(Winry)
Winry pulled the piece of paper with her name written on it off the floor; eyes traveling slowly from the piece of paper to the vast web of string that stretched throughout the living room.
"Start rolling up your string!" Gracia encouraged them happily.
It might have been terribly frustrating if she had been at it alone. But with girls tripping and laughing as they tried to find the end of their string through the maze it was impossible not to laugh. Her string it seemed had been the longest of all, taking her the full 15 minutes to finally wind it all the way to her first clue. The suspense already built up she excitedly opened the envelope. Reading quickly, she stared at the card. "The color of our hair would make you think we are already blood sisters. You'll find your second clue in the place where things disappear, a place where people rest and things like keys, phones and pencils have been building up for generations."
Winry smirked; this was too easy. Running towards the couch she flipped up the cushions', not surprised by the number of lost items but pleased when the last cushion revealed another envelope. Opening it up she knew it was down to two girls, both of which she wanted very much.
"I'm a senior this year, come find me in the parking lot." The small slip read in neat handwriting.
Dumping the letter out, she stared at the key for a moment before she recognized the car logo. Rushing out the back door she noticed that all of her fellow pledges were currently running from car to car trying to find which one their car key fit to. She could hear the excited squeals as one by one each big sister was revealed. Darting to the overzealous hummer she knew who her big was long before she unlocked the door.
"Surprised?"
Winry grinned widely as she looked at the president of the sorority sitting smugly in the front seat. "I was sure it was between you and Gracia." she felt a sad pang at the thought that someone had gotten Gracia as their big and it wasn't her.
Olivier smiled before holding out an embroidered track jacket, the crest of KD on the back. Winry's mouth gaped open in awe. "Oh wow."
"Don't sweat it little sis, you are part of the family now. When do you expect you'll be running for president?"
Winry stared blankly at her, "Huh?"
Olivier embraced her in a one-armed hug, "No pressure, but every sister in our family line has been president."
As if finally noticing the gaping expression on her face Olivier actually smiled, a welcomed change from her usual unreadable expression. "I know you are going to make me proud."
Sitting outside in the courtyard Winry looked down at her jacket feeling a little confused. She had been excited at the thought that Olivier was her big sister, but the other part of her had secretly wanted Gracia to be her big. Olivier was all business, a great sister of course, but not the big sister Winry had always wanted.
A low whistle brought her thoughts up short.
"Nice jacket, did fixing my automail buy that?"
Scoffing Winry grinned, "I don't charge you enough to afford this."
Ed waved his metal fingers in front of her, "Ah the five-finger discount then?"
"My big sister got it for me."
"Gracia bought you that? Dang, no wonder Hughes works two jobs." He mused out loud.
Weird she didn't even want to correct him, having Gracia as her big just sounded right. "No." She admitted reluctantly, "Olivier is my big."
"Oh." He must have noticed the downturn in her mood. "Disappointed?"
"Not really, I just feel like I don't know Olivier as well as I do Gracia. I have this feeling she only picked me as her little because of what she thinks I could be."
"What is it that she thinks you could be?" He asked realistically.
"She thinks I'm going to be president one day."
Ed leaned against the back of the bench on his elbows. "Maybe she's right."
Since when was Edward Elric the voice of optimism? "What do you mean?"
"You don't do things half way Winry. When you decide you are going to do something-" He jutted out his automail leg with a smirk, "You go all in."
She could feel her face heat up at the compliment. Had he ever complimented her like that before? Winry thought about the list in her mind, about what it was she wanted from him.
(Hughes)
Havoc looked skeptical as he watched Hughes match the brothers up with pledges. "They're going to kill each other before initiation."
"You could be right, but I've known Roy for some years and I am confident this is the best match." He felt satisfied with his work, the list was well thought out. "They have more in common then they think."
Falling backwards out of the lazy boy chair Jean doubled over in laughter. "You're being serious? Roy comes from a poor foster family and Elric is loaded. Have you seen the car he drives?"
Havoc was a good guy, but he had a lot of growing up to do. "It's not about that. Roy doesn't have much in the way of family and if you haven't noticed neither does Ed. They are both holding in a lot of issues that need to be resolved. They can look out for each other."
The laughter was gone from the younger man's face, his hand running through his disheveled blonde hair. "You think Ed's going to make it through the last day of hell week?"
"You're the one who knows him the best, what do you think?"
Jean smirked, the usual laughter inches away from appearing on his face. "I think if he can win date night and survive our garbage disposal, I think he's ready."
"Well there's still our big brother challenge, but I think you're right. We have a good group of guys coming through this year." He liked the idea of going alum in both his fraternity and the college knowing that there were men to carry the torch.
(Edward)
It was a power hour and he was fading fast. Ed poured back the shot of beer as the next song played over the speakers. "Ugh, how many do we have left?" He felt woozy and rather full.
"Ten more minutes." Denny replied, his face a little paler than it had been when they started.
The brothers had challenged them to a power hour. An hour in which a shot of beer was taken for each minute. To help keep them all on pace a song was set to change every minute, alerting them to take the next shot. Edward had thought liquor was the enemy, but beer was slowly creeping up to take its place.
A loud belch echoed through the room; Breda easily marked as the perpetrator. "Just making some more room." He announced convincingly.
Roy was quieter than usual; his snarky remarks absent from the scene. He wondered vaguely if it had anything to do with the girl that had visited him the other day. Winry had mentioned something about the both of them missing out on date night. Then again when his thoughts turned to date night he usually got sidetracked. Damn woman was consuming his every thought. He filled his shot hastily as the next song began to play.
Finishing off the power hour, Ed found himself submerged into a very long and drawn out sing-along. The boys began to come together as they tried to do justice to a well-known pop song. He figured this was one of those bonding moments that they would keep secret between each other. Especially since some of the guys in particular seemed to know the song a little too well.
Edward snapped out of his daze as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, his eyes widening as he recognized the number displayed. His father hadn't called him in months. Something inside smoldered hotly, an old wound reopening at the thought of the man who pretended he was something he was not.
The drunken stupor was a large part of his sudden desire to leave the house and the camaraderie. Slipping out the back door he paced the lawn in a crocked path, his jaw set in a firm line. Maybe tonight he would give his father a full dose of all the things that begged and pleaded to be released.
"Edward?" His father's deep voice responded after the first ring.
"You called?" He responded dully, his anger not far behind.
"It's Alphonse."
His heart stopped beating, his body sobering up at the mere mention of the only real family he had left in this world. "What happened?"
"This is something we should talk about in person. You should come home Edward."
Home, a penthouse suite in downtown Central that never housed a family. There was nothing close to home in that place.
"I'm busy, if it's important than just say it."
There was an audible sigh and he could almost feel his father swallow back comments. "The doctors and I have discussed our options and it is becoming more apparent that this is unhealthy."
Edward froze, his eyes widened to saucers as he tried to process what exactly his father was referring to. "What do you mean unhealthy?" He replied breathlessly, afraid of what was to come.
"This is no life Edward, I'm sorry son. I think it's time we discussed letting him go."
Everything he had been running from had caught up now. He could feel the bile rise in his throat, the world shifting and bending around him. "You have no right to decide what happens to him. He's still alive." He spoke the last three words slowly as if he could will it away.
His father sounded much older than he really was. "Edward."
A fierce loyalty and hard-hitting hatred poured through his veins, fighting one another for the right to rule over him. "Kill me too, that way you can pretend we never existed."
"Don't be over-dramatic Edward, now is not the time to act like a child." His father remarked, a sense of stress and pain lingering on his otherwise calm demeanor.
"Fuck you." He hung up on his father, the alcohol in his system swallowing him whole.
"Hey Ed, I think that's enough." A stern voice called him out as he tried to pour the rest of the bottle of Jack into his emptied shot glass. The power hour had ended a few hours ago and he was now working on a fifth he had found behind the bar in the living room.
But it didn't feel like enough, he could still feel the pain, he could still remember the accident as if it were playing on a loop in front of his eyes. One glance around revealed the empty room, the rest of the brothers must have gone to sleep a while ago. He looked at Roy through his tangled bangs wishing he could hurt something.
"I'm taking you home."
Ed pushed away his hands as he tried to pull him up from the chair. "Don't touch me." He muttered darkly, his emotions simmering beneath the surface.
"This is my fraternity and this isn't your house yet. When I say its time to go, it's time to go." Roy replied back evenly.
"You want me gone? I'M GONE!" He staggered to his feet wanting to escape the judgment.
"You were fine hours ago, what happened to you?" Mustang accused him sternly.
There really was no reason for him to confide in his fraternity brother, especially Roy. He wanted to blame it on the Jack, but maybe he was sick of holding it in. "They're going to kill my brother. They're going to kill him and it's all my fault." His body began to shake as he pushed away the nearly empty bottle in front of him. Getting up he stormed from the room and out onto the front deck.
If he wasn't so gone, he would have noticed that Roy had tailed him all the way back to his dorm, that he had made sure his brother had made it home safe. Instead he barely recognized the building and when he arrived inside, he found himself not in front of his dorm room but in front of hers.
Breathing hard he knocked on the door, a need stronger than his pain pushing him towards her.
Blinking into the light he watched her blue eyes shrink to slits as she tried to adjust to the brightness. "Ed…?"
He swallowed hard, not knowing exactly why he had come for her. "You wanted to know how I got my automail, didn't you?"
(Riza)
Riza sat alone in the University Park, glancing at her phone to check for what felt like the hundredth time. Sighing, she kept her hands in her lap, her legs crossed at the ankles as she sat formally on a park bench. Her father was over an hour late, nothing unusual just another disappointment. Though she had thought that maybe tonight would be different, with his illness he had been attempting to salvage their relationship. A part of her was sickened by the thought; she had a sinking feeling that this renewed interest in wanting to spend time with her stemmed from his research goals. He wanted someone to finish his research; he wanted to hand it over to her. But she was prepared, tonight she was going to refuse him, tonight she was going to finally tell him exactly what he could do with his research.
It was getting late; the sun was already setting in the sky and the once populated park was vacating. It hurt, being forgotten and left behind. How her mother lived for so long in a shadow she would never know. Patience gone she decided to check the lab, if he wasn't there, she would turn off her phone and sleep away the pain. There was no excuse this time.
Trudging the distance to his lab she walked the empty hallways feeling the resentment build with each step. The place was deserted and yet he stayed, showing his clear favor of his work over her. The sounds of someone traveled out to the hallway, she wondered if this would be a confrontation. She didn't think she could hold back the animosity that had been growing behind closed lips.
Prepared to ream him out she halted as ran into someone. Knowing this younger man was not her father she tried to apologize until she recognized the dark features. "Excuse me." She replied rather stiffly.
Roy tried to help her up but she refused his hand.
"Riza." He breathed out her name in a way that would usually keep her entranced, but not today. She was pissed off at her father and she was definitely upset with Roy.
She ignored him and his absurd ability to see right through her. "Is my father still here?"
There was a pause in which she knew he wanted to say something, but instead he answered just as coldly as she had asked. "He's in his office."
Knocking on the door she held back the urge to just barge in and demand to know why he was late. When he didn't respond she knew the list of excuses she often made up for her father were dwindling down. Opening the door swiftly, she felt the terrible weight of holding it all in for so long threaten to break free. About to confront the man she felt the anger suddenly evaporate as a shrill sense of horror swallowed her up. There, lying face down on his desk, a pool of blood spreading out from where his mouth hung open, was her father. Inhaling she didn't realize who was screaming until she felt her throat start to ache.
"Riza, wha-?" Roy ran into the room his eyes switching from her to her father. "Professor!" He raced over to the man before she even had time to think, to breathe, to even comprehend what she was seeing.
"Call 911!" He barked out roughly.
Her hands trembled, but her voice came out steely as the operator answered promptly. "I need an ambulance over at the Phillips Science building, room 432."
She watched on as Roy tried to give CPR to her lifeless father. The phone slipped from her hand as he slowly stopped his manic attempts to bring him back.
"He's gone." Roy admitted in disbelief.
Riza sank to her knees, all the anger she had felt for her father useless to her now. Her throat clenched and her eyes stung, but no tears fell as she stared at the broken and aged man on the ground. Her father was dead.
She let Roy put his arm around her shoulder and lead her from the room. She didn't remember much about answering questions from the paramedics and the police officers as they arrived on the scene, but she did recall the ache that began to erode at her heart.
The drive home was silent as she sat numb to the world around her. What were the last words she had spoken to him? Was he in pain? If she had gotten there earlier, could she have saved him? The same choking feeling felt as if it were strangling her, but no tears came. Was he dying as she sat there on a park bench hating him?
"Stay with me." Roy asked softly.
It dawned on her that he had pulled up to her sorority house. She looked at the large white house, the lights on in several rooms where she could imagine her sisters laughing. Somehow the dark cloud of emotion pouring from her didn't seem to fit inside those walls. Feeling impossibly lost and alone she stared back at him, all previous anger gone. She wanted to pretend the world had stopped spinning and that nothing existed, nothing but the air traveling in and out of her lungs.
"Stay with me?" He asked again.
She leaned back in the seat her eyes shutting as she shook her head slowly from side to side. She needed to be alone. "Thank you for driving me home." She answered softly, knowing deep inside she didn't want him to leave. But sometimes what we want is not what we need. She wanted to be with Roy, but she was breaking and fast. The pain was threatening to spill and she couldn't stand the thought of him watching her fall into a million pieces.
The only way she knew how to deal with pain was to stand alone and face the dark. Now she would follow the path into darkness and let her world crash down. She never saw the pained expression on his face, she was walking up the path towards the house her eyes so blurred with unshed tears she hardly remembered the walk at all.
(Roy)
Bad things come in threes. Even if it was the stuff of myths and urban legends, he had felt it coming. From the moment Hughes had told him about his plans to marry Gracia he had known. Good things like that come at a price and things had been good for far too long. He was president of his fraternity, he had finally connected with Riza and his scholarship had paid for his new research project. Now came the fallout; his world was falling back into its equilibrium. A world in which Riza was missing, his mentor was dead, and one of his pledges was falling off the deep end.
He put the glass to his lips and tipped it back. It could have been the fourth drink of the night or the fourteenth. Hell, he wasn't keeping count and the bartender had lovingly filled his glass up without him asking. The cigarette hung out of her mouth, the caked-on makeup doing nothing to hide the years of age on her face. It felt more like home in the darkened night venue than he wanted to admit. He couldn't remember the last time he had visited here, but it was long enough that she was content to merely watch him out of the corner of her eye. She was a tough woman and despite their differences she knew exactly what he wanted and more importantly she knew what he needed. In that moment he didn't want to talk, he didn't want to think, he just wanted to be.
A few of the girls walked by, some he recognized from his childhood caressed his cheek in passing. In a room full of people, he was still alone, still stuck in a place he had been three years earlier. He wanted more in this life and he had thought he would find it in college. And yet here he was once again looking for answers at the bottom of a glass.
Picking up the glass he was surprised that it was drained, lifting his gaze up he noticed the bartender had made no move to refill it. Sitting up straighter he pushed the glass forward, trying to hint the obvious.
"Are you ready to talk Roy boy?" Madam Christmas, his beloved aunt requested harshly.
His temples throbbed; his throat ached to feel the burn again. Shaking his head, he picked up his glass and tipped it towards her. He needed to drink away the pain; he needed to drink away the past until it never existed.
When she made no move to fill his glass, he ground his teeth together in frustration, reality slowly filtering in through the haze. He didn't want to feel what was happening inside, "I'll find someone else who will if you won't." He responded; his glass still extended.
Smirking, she looked like a smug toad at that angle. "I have no doubts you could and yet you're still here."
Narrowing his eyes, he tried to glare at her, but the room had a way of spinning that was throwing him off. "You think this is funny?" He wanted to hate her in that moment, he wanted to throw that glass at her knowing expression, he wanted to scream at her until his voice was hoarse.
"I think that you are still the same scared little boy I took in 16 years ago." She answered, her tone more of a challenge than an accusation.
He didn't answer her, but he noticed she filled his glass one more time before walking away. She was his foster mom and though they acted like strangers, he knew she was one of the only people who truly understood him…the other was miles away mourning the loss of her father.
He wasn't scared of death and the people it had taken from him; he was scared of the future and the idea of walking forward into it. There was a guilt to the pain he knew she was in, the pain he felt he could have stopped. How had he been working on research while a man lay dying only a room away? Did he go peacefully or did he spend his last moments trying to reach out to someone? Roy looked down at the now empty glass. What happens when you hit the bottom?
It was the life he never had; he had chosen his brothers as his support system. They had believed in him and stood up for him, but he couldn't shake the steady voice that told him to walk away. He knew that Hughes had placed him as Ed's big brother but he didn't feel like a big brother. He didn't feel like a role model as he slumped against the bar counter, his vision blurring. He felt broken and beaten and he had a sinking feeling no one could help him now.
