A/N Happy Easter everybody! This time I have literally no excuse for the lateness except that this chapter just did not want to be written. Trying to write during class is also not the best idea... But I'm finally on spring break, so hopefully I'll have the next chapter in a week! And I also promise that my other ongoing story will be updated too (it's been over a month and I'm sorry).

I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter, and as always, don't be afraid to leave reviews!


Roy felt somewhat at ease for the first time in the past two days. The adrenaline had finally faded, and he finally felt as if he had some semblance of control over his mind and his emotions.

In the car with Riza, it had finally struck him that they were now in the aftermath. The main fight was over, and all the damage that could have been done had been done. He could stop being so fearful of losing another member of his team, or something even worse happening to Edward, but what worse thing could possibly happen? The kid was a homunculus now.

He could finally stop being so worried about another monster creeping up on him from behind and trying to take someone else away. Everyone had been taken, but they remained alive, and they could damn well try and make this work.

The team could still find a way to function while spread across Amestris. They could work right under Bradley's nose, and he'd never even notice it.

This was Roy Mustang's team of specialists, damn it, and they couldn't be brought down so easily.

Roy was determined to get back on track, and fix his mistakes. It was his fault for leaving the child alone in that fight, and it was his fault Ed got swallowed and they had to enter Father's hellhole beneath Central. If Roy had thought things through, Edward might still be beside him.

Fullmetal may have been an obnoxious pipsqueak, but Roy cared about the boy; more than he would like to admit. And Edward Elric would not be brought down by a homunculus. Roy wouldn't be able to live with himself if that happened.

As the Colonel let his determination take charge over his guilt and pain, he noticed Riza standing taller as well. Roy knew Riza almost as well as himself, and he knew that whenever he was hurting, she was too. But seeing Roy be able to get back up, and keep moving forward inspired Riza to do the same thing. Getting through this for himself was important, but getting through this for her was imperative.

So Roy stopped at a telephone booth on his way back to Dr Knox's house, and he had called every member of team to come for a meeting. The team hadn't left Central yet, so they still had time to come up with a plan to stay in touch.

After the telephone, Riza drove them back to the house, where Roy would finally be able to talk to Alphonse without wanting to break down. Edward and Alphonse had been inseparable, so much so that the team had given Alphonse the honorary rank of major for accompanying Ed on all of his missions. Al was as much Roy's subordinate as any other team member was, and he deserved to be in on the plan.

But Alphonse was so much more than just a subordinate. He was a child whom Roy felt responsibility for, and respect toward. Edward's predicament had hit Alphonse harder than anybody else, and Roy needed to make things right for the kind, armored boy under his command. He needed to fix his mistake, and reunite Alphonse with his brother.

So Roy walked in the house with his one goal in mind, and stepped in front of Al, not quite knowing how to say what he wanted to.

So many thought were swimming in his head. From 'I'm sorry' to 'I need your help', Roy didn't know how to express his feelings. But he was too determined to let this slip him up. He needed to let Alphonse know that he was still fighting for Edward, and that he was going to get the Fullmetal Alchemist back.

"Come on, we have some planning to do," It was a simple phrase, really, but Roy tried hard to let down the indifferent mask he usually wore, and show Alphonse that he was sorry, and he was going to fix the tremendous, devastating mess he had left in his wake.

Alphonse stood up, surprised at first by the Colonel's change in demeanor. He had full right to be; Roy had barely spoken three sentences to the kid before he and Riza had left, but now, he was returning to his normal self. "What kind of planning?" Al's voice had lowered, and he glanced at the small Xingese girl in the bed next to him before looking at Roy with his intense red eyes.

"We need to move fast if we're going to get your brother back. The rest of the team is already on their way here," Roy replied as Riza slipped into the adjacent room to prepare for everyone's arrival.

"What did you find out from the military?" Al asked, in an emotion Roy couldn't quite pinpoint. Was it dread, anxiety, determination? Was it hope? Alphonse's armor kept him unable to show emotion, but looking into Al's burning red eyes, Roy knew it was a combination of the four, with determination fighting for dominance.

"I'll tell everyone once they're here," Roy replied, but realized it would be cruel to leave the boy in the dark for too long about his brother, "There is some bad news, but I also have some very good news about Edward. Just trust me and wait until we start the official meeting, Al" Roy gave his best attempt at a sympathetic look, but honestly didn't know how successful he was.

"...Alright, Colonel," Al nodded his head, then looked out the door, "Do you or the Lieutenant need any help setting up?"

There it was again- Alphonse had always been a kind and helpful child, but ever since Edward had been swallowed, he had been obsessed with helping the others. With Hawkeye's coat earlier, and by rescuing the two injured Xingese immigrants from the fight below Central, Alphonse had spent all of his energy focusing on other people.

In the past two days, Alphonse seemingly hadn't once done anything for himself, opting only to focus on the welfare of the others. Was this Al's coping mechanism? Was this his way of trying to atone for the guilt he felt about what happened to Edward?

"You've done more than enough already," Roy chose his words carefully. He needed to make sure Alphonse's contributions were recognized, but he couldn't let the child throw himself into any more work. He needed to rest, if not physically, then mentally, "Hawkeye sounds just about done in there, so I can finish up. You can stay here until the others come; we're going to need you then.

Al made a small noise, as if he were about to argue, but quickly stopped himself. Roy's concern was genuine, and Lieutenant Hawkeye had, in fact, sounded close to finished moving chairs around for everyone. "Okay, Colonel, just come get me when you need me there," Al sighed, then turned back to the small girl, who had witnessed the whole conversation with her large black eyes.

"We wouldn't be able to start without you," Roy smiled once more, then exited the room to help his Lieutenant.

He found Riza moving two fold-out chairs to the main dining table, and gave him a small smile when she heard his footsteps approach.

"I can't believe it's over," Roy almost whispered, eliciting a confused look from Riza.

"I thought the reason we were having this meeting was due to the fact that everything is far from over," she replied equally as softly.

"That was a really bad way to put it, wasn't it," Roy smirked as he helped her fold out the last chair at the table, "What I mean is that Bradley just did what he thinks will crush me. Edward has suffered what is possibly one of the worst tragedies known to man. But none of us are dead," Roy took a deep breath and continued.

"The homunculi did what they could, and we're all still alive and fighting. You and the team are alright, Edward is at least still in some control, and I have finally been able to realize how stupid I was acting before," he let out a small laugh, "I still feel that everything that happened is still my fault, and everyone has suffered because of it, but now I can focus on trying to fix my mistakes, and make sure I don't cause any more damage."

Riza stood for a moment in thought but her face soon melted into a small smile, "I'm glad you feel that way, sir," She made sure all the chairs were pushed into the table, and stood aside.

Almost as soon as she was done speaking, the doorbell rang. Roy opened the front entrance to the worried faces of Fuery, Breda, and Falman. A door closed somewhere else in the house, most likely Alphonse coming out of the Xingese girl's room to join their meeting.

As they were ushered inside, Riza took her seat next to the head of the table, the adjacent spot obviously reserved for Roy. Everyone else, including the younger Elric brother, chose their seats, their faces twisted with worry.

"So, uh… What's going to happen, boss?" Breda tentatively spoke first, a sandwich in hand.

"I know the lot of you got transferred just recently, but I'm not sure you understand completely why," Roy began. The men didn't know what happened to Edward, or exactly the scope of the threat they were facing.

Fuery raised his brows, his eyes growing even wider under his glasses. The rest of the men, excluding Riza, shared a confused look, prompting Roy to continue.

"The military, and King Bradley have caught on to the secret operations we have been undertaking recently, and he feels threatened," Roy began, pausing between sentences, "The corruption in the military goes deeper than we had originally thought, and even the Fuhrer is part of the problem," everyone shared shocked looks.

"Our current Fuhrer, King Bradley, is a homunculus named Wrath."


Alphonse let out a surprised noise, and instinctively covered the place his mouth would be if he had one. So it was true...

Their Fuhrer, the man who commanded the Amestrian military, who commanded his brother and this team of soldiers now, was confirmed as a homunculus.

King Bradley, a family man who enjoyed growing watermelons and gifting them to people.

The air in the room thickened, the men torn between yelling out and being rendered speechless by Colonel Mustang's confession. The Colonel took a deep breath and continued.

Mustang's version of the past two days' events was very abridged, and almost void of information on how he felt about the situation. The way he spoke, choosing his words slowly and carefully, however, told that story all on its own. Alphonse could tell it was hard for Colonel Mustang to talk about what had happened to Edward, but the way he looked down showed exactly the extent to which Mustang blamed himself.

"As of now," he took a deep breath, and stood up, "There are four homunculi we know of. Gluttony. Envy. Wrath…" Hawkeye closed her eyes in preparation of the name to come, and Alphonse wished he had eyes to close or ears to block; as if not hearing about Edward would reverse his condition.

"And Greed, or as you know him, Edward Elric."

Breda's sandwich fell apart on the floor.

Fuery fell out of his chair.

Falman's eyes opened wide.

"S- sir-" Breda stuttered, most likely on the verge of a heart attack. Mustang had dropped many secrets- many bombshells, really- onto the team that night, and Even though Alphonse knew many of them, even he thought his armor would have a heart attack.

Mustang cut Breda off by waving his hand in the air, but the team was suddenly staring at Alphonse.

"If Edward was a homunculus this entire time, why are we letting his brother in on our meetings?!" Falman exclaimed, almost knocking his own chair over in the process.

"That kid knows all of our secrets! How much has he already told the enemy?"

"How could we have let a homunculus and his slave into our ranks?!"

"Colonel, we need to get out of here!"

The men were frantic, all pointing fingers and yelling on top of each other. Al suddenly felt very self-conscious, and attempted to stutter a response. But it was too late, the team was on their feet, panicking.

"GET YOURSELVES TOGETHER AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN!" Mustang commanded, brimming with anger. All flailing in the room ceased.

"Alphonse Elric is and always has been on our side. Fullmetal was only turned into a homunculus hours ago. That's why I called this entire damn meeting," The Colonel ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"While we were down in the homunculi's lair, their Father turned Edward into a homunculus by putting a philosopher's stone in him. So now the kid is running around with some obnoxious demon possessing him," Mustang's description of Greed caused Al to chuckle, despite the despair of the situation.

"So… is it permanent?" Fuery ventured to ask.

"I don't know how to get the stone out, but Edward is fighting for control with the homunculus and he's broken through for a few moments at a time," Mustang's eyes looked far away, and it was hard to pinpoint the exact expression on his quickly regained his composure and continued with his story.

"But after we escaped, the Lieutenant and I went to Central command, where we had a chat with His Excellency, Wrath, and his new little cretin, Greed.

"You should all consider yourselves hostages, men. We're too much of a threat to Wrath together, so we're being split apart. Hawkeye is now working directly under King Bradley, alongside Greed. He's been told to keep an eye on you, and on that mechanic of Ed's," Al knew that if he had a mouth, it would be gasping for oxygen.

Not Winry…. Winry was their oldest friend, one Al thought of as a sister. And after the brothers burned their own house down, they had begun to think of Winry as home.

"He can't do that!" Al found himself yelling across the table, "Winry has nothing to do with this!" This was the last straw. The homunculi couldn't just take whatever they wanted, threaten whoever the felt like, and mess with innocent people. He, Edward, and Mustang's men had been very involved in this mess from the beginning, and they knew the risks going in. But Winry didn't. She was living her own life in Rush Valley, both physically and mentally separated from the danger in Central.

"I know, Alphonse," Mustang's voice was quiet, "But he is. If Greed doesn't manage to keep you and Edward under control, Winry is going to be in a lot of danger"

"Colonel, we need to stop them! We need to go out there and stop the homunculi, or get Winry out of the country! We need to keep her safe!" Al slammed his fist on the table.

"Alphonse," Lieutenant Hawkeye's smooth voice spoke out from beside the Colonel, "I agree that protecting Miss Rockbell is one of our top priorities, however, we need to go about this very rationally and carefully. Acting on a whim could put your friend in even more danger."

Al froze at that. Hawkeye was right. They couldn't do anything to Winry, they couldn't even tell her without risking Bradley finding out and retaliating.

"I… I understand, Lieutenant," Al nodded his head down.

"Don't worry, Alphonse. We'll keep her safe," Colonel Mustang's voice was sincere and resolute. "Now then…

"We need codes for phone communication. We need codes for written communication that will get past command's censorship. And we need a way to keep our communications going throughout the time you all are transferred," Mustang leaned forward in his chair, his chin resting on top of his hands.

There, in that moment, Alphonse saw the return of the Colonel; the brilliant strategist and manipulator who could get through anything. The stuttering, pale-faced shadow of this Colonel after Ed's immediate transformation was gone. And this time, he was here to stay.

Al smiled as the team switched gears like a well-oiled machine, and began discussing the new strategy. The flailing and silliness from earlier was gone, and the steel-faced soldiers sitting around the table began doing their jobs to the highest capacity.

As Alphonse was not an official member of the elite squad, he participated in the discussion, and helped come up with codes similar to those in his research notes. While Ed had a travelogue, Alphonse had invented a whole new alphabet for himself composed of random scribbles and symbols stolen from ancient texts. The new alphabet would definitely raise suspicion if seen by any officers, but it would be written with invisible ink over top of "love letters" to the Colonel and the others.

The telephone code, however, would be similar to the one Colonel Mustang used with "Elizabeth". The man's reputation as a womanizer may have annoyed Ed and Al before, but now Al had a newfound respect for the Colonel's habits.

Discussions about how the team was split up, and how each soldier would stay in contact lasted for almost two hours, at which point they were all joined by a limping Ling held up by Lan Fan. The Xingese prince opted to stay in Amestris and keep searching for his own philosopher's stone, but not without trying to help get Ed back.

With a growing number of allies, Al felt more confident as well. The growing threat of homunculi and the military, and even his own brother shook Al to his very core, but seeing the amount of people willing to help was amazing. Such support from others had never been quite as obvious, and the Elric brothers had made a point to go about their journey alone.

But now, they weren't alone; and they might have a chance at winning.


Greed sat in the cafe at the corner, angrily sipping a fruit smoothie. The waiters and waitresses had refused to serve him alcohol, due to the fact that Ed looked thirteen.

The internal monologue of the homunculus was just constant complaining as Ed laughed in the background. Greed's day had been almost as bad as Ed's, and he enjoyed seeing the monster become annoyed.

Maybe it was a good thing Ed was so…

"Shit!" Ed yelled, alarming the homunculus.

"What, you little shrimp?" Greed groaned, his drink almost gone.

Ed fumed quietly, and Greed turned back to the scene outside, pleased with himself. In the short couple of hours the two of them (or, was it one of them? Ed wasn't quite sure) had been wandering around Central, Greed had taken advantage of Ed's height sensitivity multiple times.

Much like the old Greed back in Dublith, this one acted like he was better than everyone else, and had the same snarky attitude. Dublith Greed had been somewhat decent to Ed and Al when they weren't fighting, and had a flair for dramatics. Only one of those traits hadn't transferred; quite possibly the most important one.

Ed and Greed fell into an uneasy balance, with both of them either ignoring the other, or annoying the hell out of the other as Ed had done before. Greed was in a petulant mood, so it was easy to get him riled up. The homunculus had moved past trying to force Ed's integration into the philosopher's stone for the moment, focusing instead on his other problems.

Both knew that the only reason the other homunculi looked down on Greed was because of his current home in Ed's body. The was no question about that. But the others still needed Greed to help them with their plans. They might still even need Ed as one of their human sacrifices. Edward wasn't sure if becoming a homunculus had disqualified him from his position as a sacrifice candidate, or if he would still be able to serve whatever purpose he was supposed to.

As Greed sat at the cafe, Ed saw a tall blonde man approach their table and pull a chair up.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Greed raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"What?" The man replied with a sarcastic smirk, "You mean you don't recognize me? I'm disappointed, Greed; my own brother doesn't care enough about me to know my face," At that comment, Ed immediately knew who it was.

"Envy," Greed's face was blank, and even Ed was having a hard time trying to decipher what Envy wanted now.

"It took you long enough to guess," Envy rolled its eyes and grabbed Greed's drink, "I hope you're ready to come back, Greed. Now that we've got that conversation with Wrath out of the way, we can finally start working together," Envy took the last gulp of the smoothie.

"That bastard," Greed growled internally, then to Envy, "I'm supposed to be working with Wrath and that obnoxious blonde woman, I think her name was Eagle or something."

Greed leaned back in his seat as Ed corrected, "That's First Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Yeah, you start that a little later, but right now, Father and I want to talk to you," Envy relaxed in its own seat, "You seem to have gotten the idea in your mind that nobody wants or needs you."

"Well maybe if you even tried to hide your obvious distaste…"

"Come on, Greed, you know we only hate that Fullmetal brat," Envy rested its head against a fist, "But now that you have him under your control, we have nothing to worry about," Envy's drawl sounded somewhat fake and vaguely threatening.

"Oh please, Envy hates everyone and everything. It's not just me," Ed rolled his eyes and sighed.

Greed ignored Ed and focused on the shapeshifter in front of him, "So are you saying that you're begging me to come back," Greed remained impassive, neither baiting the other homunculus on, nor trying to make it lose interest.

"I wouldn't say begging, but you belong back with us, with your family."

"You guys didn't seem like a loving family a few hours ago," Greed was fighting harder now to keep his composure.

Envy cocked its head, "I explained that to you seconds ago," it ran a fingertip around the rim of the glass formerly full of fruit smoothie.

"What is this slippery bastard's game?" Ed thought out loud, yet again ignored by Greed.

"I suppose you did. Now tell me, Envy, why was Wrath so hostile, then?" Greed countered the other homunculus.

"Wrath is like that everyone he meets. That geezer couldn't be nice if he tried. But come on, Greed, don't you want to come back with us to where you belong?"

Greed remained silent for longer than normal. Envy had struck a chord with its latest comment, "And where would that be, Envy?"

"With us, your family," Envy's smirk seemed to increase as it knew of its small victory, "Anyone else would willingly throw you to the side of the road like a piece of trash, but Father cares about you, Greed," Envy moved its arms to lay in an inviting gesture in the middle of the table.

Greed sucked in a sharp breath, and his mind went fuzzy for a moment. Ed could have sworn he saw something… Something from Dublith…

"Greed, Father has always been the one providing you with a place to stay and with the recognition you deserve. He brought you back to life because he wanted you around, Greed," Envy's sympathetic words were thrown off by its cold eyes, but Greed didn't seem to notice.

"I… guess so…" He said, tracing the lines on his automail arm.

"Come on, you've had some free time now," Envy pushed its seat away from the table to get up, "Father will be pleased to find that you're finally coming back."

Greed stood up as well, not seeming pleased, but looking as if he believed Envy. "Greed, do you actually believe this bullshit?," Ed asked, knowing very well how much the shapeshifting homunculus liked to mess with others.

"I had my little break, kid. Now I get to go back and do my job. He's right, Father created me for a reason," Greed did not look happy, but he didn't look too upset either, "I do whatever I want because I want to, shrimp," Ed glared, "I'm not going back purely because my asshole sibling wants me to. With Father by my side, I can get closer to taking over the world."

Ed's anger lessened, and he pondered Greed's latest statement. Greed acted like he was completely fine all alone, and that he didn't need anybody for anything, but Envy's jabs about having a family seemed to really get to him.

Then, the flash of memory in Greed's mind resurfaced. It had definitely been Dublith, back when Greed had loyal friends. Greed wasn't going back because he actually cared about Father's plans. He was going back because he didn't want to be stuck alone. Ed knew that feeling. He and Alphonse had always acted like they didn't need anyone, but they would be completely lost without Winry or as much as he hated to admit it, Colonel Mustang's team. Hell, Ed would probably be dead if he didn't have Alphonse with him. Having people around who genuinely cared was extremely important, and not having that could drive anyone crazy.

Suddenly, Greed's earlier annoyance made infinitely more sense. He hated Ed because Ed was pushing him away from people who could possibly like or care about him.

Greed stood up and went to follow his sibling, and Ed remained quiet. Fighting against Greed wouldn't be smart to do right now, due to the volatile emotions of the homunculus at that moment. And besides, Ed wasn't so cruel as to deprive Greed of something he desperately wanted too.