So while writing this chapter, I realized that it would just be cruel and unusual to do anything to Mustang so I decided to make it extremely fluffy and happy feely-

yeah, right.

(surprise, it is actually happy feely, but whatever Mustang, you still shrieked.)

I own nothing~


Mustang sighed and scratched his head, giving a nod to some of the people in the hall as he walked past. Who knew how much paperwork he would have to do when he was made Fuhrer. He rifled through the reports that were in his hand again, and smirked. It seemed someone had tried to raid a train to Central,again. The same train a certain Steel Soul Alchemist had been on. He stifled a smile as he read over the reports of the men's insane babblings afterwards. Demons, and midgets… his smile faded away, and he continued to walk back to his office, holding one piece of paper with some small notes on it.

"...fucking midget blew up the car and then fucking disappeared like a ghost!"

"-knocked out from being what seems to be kneed in the face, only remembrance of attacker was blond haired child."

"-heard this loud clapping noise, then an explosion-"

Mustang stared at the notes, and gave a silent wave to Hawkeye, who was sitting at her desk outside his office.

According to the reports, Alphonse had started from the back of the train, and these were all caused by a separate perpetrator. His eyes took on a flinty tone, and he sighed as he went into his office and sat down in the leather chair. He put the reports down to the side, where he could read over them later, and went to grab a pen, when he froze, swearing he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

A quick glance around his office proved to him that it was empty, and so he continued signing form after form (only after Hawkeye had read through them, of course). He heard a crack, and jolted in his seat, turning around to find that one of the windows was now left open. He gave another quick scan of the room, and closed the window, locking it tight.

He returned to his seat, and began to pick up his pen, when he noticed a small amount of change left on his desk, that most definitely had NOT been there before. He walked towards the door to his office, and poked his head out.

"Has anyone come by?" He peered down the hallway.

"No, sir." Hawkeye gave him a strange look, and then continued on with her work.

Mustang rubbed a hand over his face, "must be all the paperwork, I never have time for fun anymore, can't even pass that law about the miniskirts-" With the last statement, a bullet came very close to hitting him in the head.

He sighed again, and went back into his office.

And froze as he saw who was sitting in his chair.

"Miss me?"

~~.~~

Hawkeye started as she swore she heard a girlish shriek coming from Mustang's office, and jumped out of her seat when she saw the flash-bang of Mustang's alchemy. She was about to wrench open the door, when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, its just a bit of a prank," the Steel Soul alchemist smiled at her, and then went into the office. She followed right behind him.

And stopped completely dead at the sight in front of her. The entire room was burnt, smolders of paperwork and ornamental odds and ends littered the ground, like offerings to some greater being. A strange boy, all dressed in white, and seeming to prop himself off of the ceiling with some kind of cloak, was giggling hysterically. Fuhrer Mustang-looking much worse for the wear- was backed up against one of the bookshelves, his eyes wide and face uncharacteristically shocked, and sitting, almost hunched over at his desk, laughing so hard he was having to lean over to control himself, was someone she had almost dare not hope to see again.

"Fullmetal!?"

Edward looked up at her, and the grin on his face spread even further, "Hello, lieutenant-wait, no it's Colonel now isn't it- I'm back!"

"Nii-san," Al walked forward with a sigh and stared at the office.

"What, it was him! Not me!"

Edward pointed at Mustang, who had finally drawn himself back up, and was glaring at the boy.

"Shrimp-" he said with a growl, and Ed and Al shared a terse look.

"Umm, Allen, time to go?" Ed looked up at the boy who had lowered himself to the floor, and right as Mustang lunged, the cloak he was wearing seemed to come alive and grab both Ed and Al, who then disappeared out the window.

"Catch me if you can, BASTARD FUHRER!"

"Hawkeye. I'm going out," and Mustang bolted past her not even putting on his jacket.

Hawkeye gave a small sigh, and then moved over to the phone, she dialed and spoke when it rang, "Havoc? Yes, I need to get into contact with-"

~~.~~

"Shit, he is still after us!" Edward yelled out, the wide grin on his face detracting from the severity of the statement.

"Nii-san! I told you it was a bad idea!" Al called out, looking back over his shoulder with wide eyes.

"...that's all lot of fire" Allen spoke from nearby, all three of them running haphazardly through the Central grounds.

Ed let out a large laugh, "You can't catch me, bastard!" and then ran into a brick wall. A brick wall with sparkles.

He stared up in complete and utter horror, and was met with a waterfall of tears.

"Edward Elric!"

Allen stared in shock as Ed was picked up by the man who had now torn his shirt off, "Um...is that…" he turned to look questioningly at Alphonse, who just gave a smile.

"That's General Armstrong...he is a bit…" Al broke off to flinch as Ed repeatedly tried to break free.

"Well, well, well," a voice grumbled from behind them, "Good catch, Major, that shrimp has a report to turn in."

Al turned around, "Ah, good afternoon, Fuhrer."

Mustang had a smirk on his face,and nodded to was holding himself with poise, which did not compliment the fact that he looked completely dishevelled after chasing them around the grounds for the past twenty minutes.

"Hand over my subordinate, General, I believe he has a report that is long overdue," He then turned to stare at Allen, who had deactivated his innocence, though he did still have an innocent smile on his face, "And you, name."

Allen gave him a bow, and Al swore he saw the innocent grin switch to an evil smirk when his face was out of view, but when he straightened the grin was back on, "Allen Walker, pleasure to meet you."

Mustang gave him a long look, and then sighed, "All of you, office, now. It seems you know where it is already." He then turned on his heel, and started to walk away, but called back, "and walk fast, shrimp, with those legs I know you can't keep up."

A wordless howl of rage came from Edward, startling both Al and Allen, and they watched in tandem as he hurtled past them."

They both turned and stared at each other, sharing an exasperated look, before Allen flushed and turn his head away and Al moved his gaze. There was no time for awkwardness, however; well, there was time for even more awkwardness as General Armstrong strong armed them both and began to lug them to Mustang's office.

"Ah, Alphonse, you must be so happy to have your brother back, and he seems to have been eating well," The General sniffed as he spoke, tears still streaming down his face, "and who might you be young man?"

"A-allen Walker," Allen stuttered out as he hung limply from the mans arm.

"Then it is a pleasure, Allen Walker."

Allen flushed a little, and he and Al shared another conspiratorial look, and allowed themselves to be lugged back to the office they had just come from.

General Armstrong burst into the Fuhrer office, and the teens found it full to the brim with people. Al gave out a small laugh as Armstrong gently placed him and Allen down.

Ed was sat on the couch with a wide eyed look on his face, as Fuery, Havoc, and Ross smothered him. Hawkeye was standing nearby with a wide smile, and Hayate was sitting on Ed's lap, stopping him from moving. Breda and Falman stood nearby as well, hiding grins as Mustang and Ed continued to have there shouting match, despite the seating arrangement.

-"It was you in my office, huh,no wonder I didn't notice, you are so short I must have gazed right over you."

-"Who are you calling a pipsqueak so close to the ground that he is the height of a worm!"

"Al," Hawkeye gave him a smile, and motioned for the two to come closer, "How are you?"

Al gave a wide smile in response, "Good, really good, thank you,"

-"You better have a good reason for staying away so long, shrimp! Was it because your legs are so short you couldn't even get anywhere?"

-"I AM NOT SHORT! What about you useless bastard, still can't even go outside in the rain!"

The door slammed open, and a very exhausted Sheska, followed by Second Lieutenant Brosh, rushed through, and then joined in the dog pile on the couch.

There was shouting and tears, though it was all drowned out by the back and forth banter that echoed across the room.

- "Now, now Fullmetal, that was low blow,and you would know all about those, of course."

-"I bet you wouldn't have lasted a day where I was, the minute it would start to rain you would just melt!"

-"Just get on with the explanation, Fullmetal. Keep it short and simple, like yourself.*sigh* you were probably just so puny no one even noticed you had come back..."

"I WAS IN ANOTHER WORLD-BASTARD!"

With that loud shout all of the voices suddenly quieted, and the room fell into a hush.

"Forgive me if I highly doubt that," Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"It was like this one, only behind by a few years," Ed stated with a roll of his eyes, "Except there was no alchemy there, so I couldn't get home that easily."

"How did you get home?" Sheska questioned.

"Allen," Ed pointed his finger at the figure who flushed under all of the attention.

Everyone in the room was staring at the boy, who some had just recognized to be in the room, with skepticism.

"Is this true?" Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"Ah-yes...sir." Allen twitched his shoulders under all the gazes.

"How?"

Allen let out a quick breath and drew himself together, "I have access to a-" he looked at Ed, and then nodded- "dimensional pocket? I can create doors and have them lead to places I want to go, so I helped Ed make a door back here…" he shrugged, "In my world we may not have alchemy, but we do have other abilities."

"Is that what you were doing earlier?" Hawkeye questioned, and Allen nodded.

Mustang tilted his head down into his palms, and pinched his fingers over the crest of his nose, "How do you always manage to get into so much trouble?"

Ed gave a wide grin and sagged back into the seat, still being smothered by a number of bodies.

Hawkeye then moved forward, "Al, I know you don't really keep anything in your dorm room, so I have located a three bedroom dorm set up for you all," she placed the set of keys in Al's hands.

Mustang continued for her with a sigh, "You look exhausted, get some rest, and Fullmetal, be here bright and early, I want a full debrief, and later I want to talk to Mr. Walker as well."

Ed nodded, and was able to squirm his way out of the pile, and after one last enthusiastic hug from Armstrong, followed Al and Allen to the door.

"Oh, and Fullmetal?" Mustang called just as he was about to step outside the office.

Ed turned with a raised eyebrow, ready to respond in case of a fight.

"Welcome home," Mustang gave him a knowing smirk, and Ed quickly turned around to face away.

"...I'm glad to be back," He said gruffly, and then marched away to join Al and Allen.

~~.~~

"Fuck, I'm going to be late! That bastard is going to kill me with paperwork, I just know it, bye Al, Allen!" and Ed rushed out the door, leaving the two to stare in shared disbelief at the retreating back.

Al let out a sigh, "nii-san…" and Allen gave a small laugh. The room quickly descended into an awkward silence.

Neither figured moved, Al was sat at one of the chairs, and Allen stood awkwardly next to the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry." Allen broke through the silence with two whispered words.

Al looked up in confusion at the quiet words, and Allen moved to sit on the chair across from him.

"I-" Allen fidgeted a little, but drew a breath, "I…I think...I might be in a bad situation with you, and I'm sorry if I have caused you any problems...but" his voice broke into a whisper, "Ed is the only person who has ever… who I have left...so I am sorry if I am causing you any discomfort or anything...but…" Allen broke off, with a turn of his head, unable to find his words.

During Allen's ramblings, Al had easily felt that squirm of jealousy in his stomach flair, along with a multitude of other emotions. Surprise had been a large factor, as well as a hint of compassion for the stuttering teen.

"Nii-san didn't really tell me much about you, "Al replied with a wary look on his face, "He said it was your story to tell."

"I- would like to get to know you, and how you met nii-san," Al asked.

Allen looked up with shock, and the expression on his face mirrored the one Al had seen that confused him so on the train, a mix of emotions, and almost the sense of amazement at being given a chance he had never thought possible.

"What do you want to know?"

Al shrugged, "Whatever you want to tell."

Allen nodded, "Did...Ed tell you about exorcists?"

Al nodded, "He explained the basics-and your...father? But not very in depth." He said the last part quietly.

Allen nodded, "When I met Ed, I was running away from the Order-that is similar to you running away from the military I guess. There are these being in my world, called Noah. They control the akuma, and how they form is that they are reincarnated into humans, and slowly return to their forms, they are sort of immortal from what I can tell."

Al grimaced, mind going to the homunculi, but stayed silent as Allen talked.

"My...father,Mana, set me up to be possessed by one of them, the 14th Noah. The Noah are the enemies of my order...and so everyone became afraid that I would lose myself, and my abilities are not ...normal… so they decided the best thing to do was to lock me up for trial."

Allen rubbed his head, "But it was all a farce, they were going to pull a fake trial, and I knew they were just going to order me executed at the end. So I escaped, and ran as far away as I could." at this point, Allen stopped, and a small smile crossed his face, " I was on a train one day, trying to lay low, and I started a game of cards with a very sore loser. He kept losing every round, and swore I was cheating, which I was, but he was as well, so I didn't think it was that important…"

Al gave out a startled laugh, "I'm surprised Nii-san didn't try to kick you!"

Allen smiled as well, "He probably would have, but a bunch of idiots came into play as well, so we destroyed them instead."

"We left the train...inconspicuously, and stayed in a town for the night," Allen's face fell in memory, "Ed had gone out for a walk and few hours had passed, but I sensed an Akuma in the area."

"You can sense them?"

Allen gave a tired smile, and lifted up his bangs to show the scar covering his eye, "When I tried to bring Mana back, he cursed me, and now I can see the souls of the Akuma, it lets me know when some are in range as well."

Al nodded in understanding, and Allen continued, "I went after the Akuma, and killed it. It had been targeting Ed, but he had managed to almost outrun it."

Allen's gave a bemused smile, "the next morning, I left early so he wouldn't be caught with an international criminal, but he showed up on the train anyway."

Al laughed again, "Trying to tell nii-san what to do is impossible."

"I noticed," and Allen and Al shared a smile.

"After that we just ended up travelling together,"Al tone quieted once more, "I...I didn't have any family, before Mana, I think they abandoned me because of my arm...after Mana I traveled with Shishou…." a shudder ran down his spine, "and I do not want to remember those days,I was then sent to the Black Order, and I thought I had made friends there, but, I guess I was wrong about that...they all left me to die…" Al's face was pointed at the floor, trying not to see the emotions of the person across from him.

"Ed...saved me...he was the first person who stood by me, even when he heard my story, even when he saw the trouble I got in...and I just...couldn't lose that."

Allen looked up strength returning to his voice, "So I am sorry...if it seems if I was trying to ...replace you in your brother's affections. I am not, I swear...I just," his breath hitched, but he continued on, "...don't have anyone else…" Allen flailed his arms a bit, but then continued.

"So I understand if you want me to leave, just say the word and I-"

"Shut up," Al growled, and Allen's face blanched in an instant, his mouth snapping shut.

"Stand up," Al ordered again, and Allen stood quickly, his back tingling from moving from his hunched over position.

In a flash Al had moved over to him, and Allen didn't know what to expect so he stayed still.

A hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the door, and he felt his heart clench.

"You haven't seen any parts of Central yet, right? We should look around so you can know where you are, and if you need anything, we can use my stipend until we figure something out."

Allen's heart froze, "Wha-"

"I trust nii-san more than anyone else in this entire world-worlds?" Al stumbled a bit, but finally looked back at Allen, a small smile on his face.

"I..honestly, I am - a bit jealous," Al rushed out, "but I should have known nii-san wouldn't do anything without a really good reason. So come on, there is an ice cream store that was on my list of foods to try that I haven't yet."

Al smiled slightly, and he changed the grip of his hand from grabbing Allen's wrist to his hand, and continued down the street, not remarking on the small sobs stuttering out behind him.

"-t-thank you, I-"

"No," Al tightened his grip, "thank you, for being with nii-san and protecting him, thank you for bringing him back...thank you" a small noise whispered past his lips, but he then gave out laugh.

"How..how can you both be so-" Allen's words failed him, and he looked up to see a small smile directed back at him.

"While we have our ice cream, you better tell me all the stupid things that you two did so I can yell at both of you."

Allen smiled, "The ice cream would be completely melted not even a quarter of the way through."

Al shrugged at this, "well, there are a bunch of other food places I need to try."


Just a note, in case any one is wondering about characterization. Al is still sort of jealous of the time spent between Allen and Edward. In the manga, he is seen to over think things a lot, but this is second nature to his natural propensity to take care of everyone. At the moment, he sees a lot of himself in Allen, and is beginning to understand why Ed adopted him. But it is completely natural for him to still have some sort of uncomfortable-ness with him, things like that would only fade with time and understanding.

Also, most of the members or Roy's gang have been promoted, so I will try to keep that pretty obvious.

I hop Mustang's reaction was good enough for you...I wanted to make it more evil, but Hughes kept popping into my head wagging his finger.

There will be more Mustang and Edward banter in the next chapter, as well as more in depth meetings, and maybe a special guest.

I hope you enjoyed it,

~not necessarily in between