A/N: Finally, ch 10! Yay! All right, the reason this chapter took so long to put out is that I was fighting a long and bloody battle with ch 11 and had no time to finish the editing. Now that ch 11 is in its editing/tinkering stages, it was safe to take my eyes off it long enough to work on ch 10. I feel like a neglectful parent, leaving poor ch 10 alone for so long while I dealt with the problematic younger sibling ch 11. *pets chapter* There, there! Poor thing! I promise I still love you just as much as the other chapters!

Same disclaimer applies, I don't own FMA or any of the characters therein. Would be nice *sigh* but still not mine anymore than they were in the last chapter.

Chapter 10

Root of the Problem

Roy threw the balled up piece of paper back to Breda who then threw it to Fuery who threw it to Falman, and back it went to Roy. They were all unbelievably bored, but they had nothing to do but wait for the data to finish compiling. That's how four perfectly intelligent and mature adult men had been reduced to playing stupid games with a waded up piece of paper. It was a pathetic commentary on the lives of lab geeks.

Then Winry burst in breathlessly, shattering the quiet. "Roy! You've gotta come quick!" she called out frantically.

"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Roy, already jumping out of his seat with thoughts of Edward in danger blaring in his head. Ed had been allowed back into his lab to start trying to find something worth salvaging among the rubble. And since it was Monday, he only had one class, so he had been in his lab since early morning and only emerged to teach his class. After class, he had gone right back up to his lab. Roy had brought him lunch earlier, but Ed had been so distracted that Roy had actually had to remind him to keep eating several times. It would be annoying if it wasn't so bloody endearing (curse you Edward Elric for making that adorable confused face! Couldn't you see I was trying to be annoyed with you!).

"I just saw Uncle Van walk by heading for the elevator," she said quickly. "I thought I was hallucinating, but it was really him! Ed's going to blow a gasket when he sees him!" The name confused Roy for a moment, but then he remembered – "Uncle Van" as in Van Hohenheim. Holy shit!

Roy and Winry took off at a dead run, all but throwing themselves up the stairs, neither of them sure which one they were going up there to protect – Hohenheim from being brutally murdered, or Ed from being arrested for murder. When they exited the stairwell on the second floor they could already hear Ed yelling at the end of the hall.

"How dare you just fucking walk in here like you still have the fucking right!" he all but screamed. The man himself was nowhere in sight, so Roy figured the pair were likely in Ed's lab. Winry and Roy rushed over, ignoring the med students who were leaning close to their lab doors pretending not to listen. The pair practically leapt into Ed's lab like cheesy cartoon heroes leaping into action. "Where the actual fuck have you been all this fucking time, huh? You fucking answer me that! Where the fucking hell having you fucking been?! Wherever you were, you obviously didn't think we needed you, and guess what? We still don't fucking need you, so you can just go right the fuck back where you came from!"

"Edward, be reasonable, I left for a reason," said the man, his voice soft and almost soothing in its way. He really looked so eerily much like Edward. He even wore his hair long, brushed back in a loose ponytail from which stray bits of hair were escaping. His golden eyes were focused on his raging son, the older man full of regret and compassion that would never reach the young man who was blinded by the bitter years between the last meeting and this one. The man's jawline was hidden beneath a soft, closely trimmed gold beard, and his nose was just a little bit longer, but otherwise he was a vision of what Edward might one day grow into – handsome and self-contained, with a quiet sort of dignity and understated elegance but still a very compelling presence. "I know these years have been hard for you, but please understand. I never wanted to leave, and I never stopped thinking of you boys. If I had thought for one second you were on your own, I would have come back for you. But I knew you had Pinako and Izumi to care for you. I knew you'd be safe with them. I hardly expect you to forgive me, but I need you to understand that there was a reason for it."

With impossible speed Edward was suddenly right there, within inches of his father, his fiery glare wielded like a spear to pierce the man standing in front of him. When Edward spoke, his voice was very quiet but filled with so much venom, it should have, by rights, melted the walls. "Where were you when the doctors were telling me they couldn't save mom – telling me, a nine year old child, because there was no other next of kin to notify? Where were you during the two years that Al was in a coma? Where were you when I was waking up in the hospital to the realization that I had lost almost a quarter of my body? Where were you during the year of agonizing surgery and physical therapy while they were attaching my automail? Did you know that it normally takes three years to recover from automail surgery and get used to the automail? Do you even realize how hard it was to do that in only one year because I had to be able to be there for Al, because I was the only family he had left? Where were you when Al finally woke up and I had to explain to him . . ." Ed's voice had begun to falter, so he paused, closing his eyes for a moment. " . . . explain to him what had happened to mom and to me? You didn't have to watch that news hit him like a fucking freight train! You weren't there to watch how badly he needed to be held. But I couldn't hold him because he was so frail, so thin, so fragile, and I couldn't trust my metal fucking arm not to fucking crush him! So there was nobody to hold him while he grieved for what we lost! Nobody to comfort him while he wept! Nobody to help ease his pain when I was helpless to do anything for him! So don't tell me you thought about us! Parenting isn't like a Christmas present because it isn't the fucking thought that counts! It's fucking well being there! You weren't there when your sons needed you so fucking badly, but now that your precious fucking research is in danger, you come running back? So I will ask you one more mother-fucking time, where the fuck were you when we needed our father?" Van Hohenheim said nothing. Really, there was nothing he could say that would fix the mess he'd made. Ed let out a disgusted sound and pointedly turned his back on him. "You make me sick," his hissed through clenched teeth.

"I can see it will take time. I'll go speak with your brother now, but I do need to speak with you Edward," said Hohenheim, his voice just as calm and soft as before. "I'll be back later, once you've cooled down."

The man walked away, looking only briefly at Roy who quickly brushed past him to go to Edward's side. Winry, on the other hand, followed Hohenheim out into the hallway. Roy could hear her introducing – re-introducing? – herself to the man. He seemed happy to see her, but was quick to excuse himself so he could go look for his younger son. Winry, in turn, offered to walk him out.

"You all right, love?" asked Roy carefully as he put his arm around Ed's shoulders.

"No, I'm really not," whispered Ed, sounding so weary. "I think I need a break. Can I come visit with you guys for a little while, please?"

"Of course," said Roy, relieved that he would be able to help in some way, even if only by providing a distraction. "We're actually not doing anything right now except playing catch while we wait for the world's slowest computer to finish crunching numbers. The computer's so old, we've nicknamed it Moses. Last year, on Halloween, Breda put a fake beard and a white wig on it then wrote the Ten Commandments on these two little plastic tombstones and set them on either side. I'll show you the picture of it when we get home."

"You guys really have way too much free time," said Edward, his laugh weak but enough for now.

Winry caught them as they were heading down the first floor hallway toward Roy's lab. She gave Ed a tremulous smile, her eyes glistening as if she was about to cry. "Ed," she said, drawing him aside. "I know how upset you are, but can't you at least try to pretend not to hate him? For Al? I know you've been angry at him for a long time. I get it. I do. But Al's really missed him. You were at least old enough to remember him, but Al was too young. This is his first, and maybe last, chance to get to know him. Can't you let him have that?"

"You don't get it Winry," said Ed, his voice heavy with resentment. "Now Al will meet him, and sure they'll talk for a bit or whatever, but then that fucking bastard is just going to blow town. And who's going to have to clean up the mess he leaves behind? Huh? Me! Again! I'm so fucking sick and tired of cleaning up after that fucking loser! So no, I will not play happy fucking family! I will not wait around for that asshole to break my brother's heart!"

Ed spun on his heel and bee-lined straight for Roy's lab. Roy could only give Winry an apologetic smile and follow after Ed even as the first tear traced a trail down Winry's cheek. Really, it wasn't an argument in which anybody could win. Either Ed played nice for the duration of his father's visit and wound up picking up the pieces of his brother's broken heart afterwards – and probably his own as well. Or Ed could do everything in his power to keep up the wall between the brothers and their long-absent father, which could be just as painful and twice as stressful. With neither path being preferable, Roy decided to leave the choice up to Ed. Nobody else had the right to decide which of the two painful paths he should take. If Ed asked for help, Roy would give it, and advise him as best he could. But Roy seriously doubted Ed would ask, because Ed also knew that it was a decision only he could make.

"You look like you're trying to decide where to hide the bodies," Breda was saying to Ed as Roy entered.

"Oh, I wouldn't try to hide the body," said Ed, smiling evilly. "All you have to do is chop it up really well then feed it to the pigs. Little known fact, pigs really will eat anything, including people bits."

"Yikes," said Breda with a dramatic shudder. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"No need to worry," said Ed loftily. "There are only two people in this world I would resort to murder to get rid of, and you're neither of them. If you pissed me off, I'd only break a few bones, but you'd definitely live through it."

"Uh, yeah, still not pissing you off then, just saying," said Breda, holding his hands up so as to look as non-threatening as possible. The rest of them could only chuckle at him – though Roy was a little concerned that Ed might not be entirely kidding, considering his current state of mind.

"So, are you going to be home in time to make dinner or should me and Al order take-out?" asked Roy idly as he picked up their erstwhile "ball" and tossed it across the room. Ed found a spare bit of filing cabinet and sat himself down so he could take his place in the line-up.

"I'm probably just going to head home, cook dinner then come right back up here," replied Ed with a shrug. "I figure I can use it as an excuse to get a couple cups of real coffee."

"Yeah, some of the med students were looking at the coffee under a microscope earlier, and I didn't like some of the sounds they were making," said Fuery, frowning.

"They sounded like they were about to pile into their cars and head up to the nearest free clinic en masse," corroborated Falman and Breda gave a slow fearful nod.

"I could tell you what's in it, like the chemical composition or whatever, but you won't like it," said Ed grimly and every one of them begged off. "I still have nightmares. I wish I'd never analyzed it. I've learned since to be a little more fucking careful about what I choose to do when I'm bored."

"Yeah, but when are you going to get bored enough to make another one of those miracle-making coffee machines of yours?" asked Breda plaintively. "After seeing it at Roy's house, I'd sell my first born for one of my own."

"Well, first you'd have to get laid for that to be a reliable payment method," said Ed pitilessly, and in the next instant everybody but Breda roared with laughter. After a minute, even Breda added his own rueful laughter to the collective mirth. "But seriously, we'll see if I have some time to tinker during winter break."

"Seriously?" asked Breda, eyes wide in disbelief. Ed nodded with an indulgent little smile. "Dude, I'm going to have to plan on expanding our temple to you! For real!"

And they really had built a little temple to Ed as a joke. It was just two candles and a framed drawing of a cartoon character version of Ed with wings and a halo, complete with a pocket protector, nerdy glasses with tape on the frames, a pencil behind one ear, and wielding a protractor like a scepter. The picture sat within a cardboard cutout of the Lincoln Memorial from which they'd removed Lincoln. It had been drawn by one of the guys in the engineering lab at their request, and despite its strictly-comedic value, it was a pretty good drawing. They had even set sugar packets and a little coffee k-cup between the candles like an offering. Ed found the whole thing hilarious, which was pretty much the whole point. They'd done it because it was funny, and they'd known it would cheer him up. It got even funnier when the other labs found out about the Temple of Ed, and worshipping at it had become something of a running gag in the Science Department. One of Ed's ballsier students had even called him "Great Science God Ed" when pleading for an extension on his assignment. Ed thought it was so funny and so incredibly gutsy that he'd granted his petitioner's humble request.

Roy and his team continued their game – and their banter – adding Ed into their rotation, all of them relaxing more and more as the time passed them by. Roy could tell that Ed was getting anxious to return to his lab, but Roy could also tell that the younger man was reluctant to leave. He seemed to be having fun, and if anybody needed a little fun right about now, it was Ed. Besides, none of them really wanted him to go. His cleverness and naturally sharp wit brought much-needed laughter to the previously boredom-drenched lab.

Naturally, because they were having so much fun, an interruption had to occur. "Mr. Elric please come to the front. Mr. Elric, please come to the front," squawked the intercom on the desk phones all over the building. Ed stiffened where he sat, and cast a glare toward the door, obviously worried about who could be at the front that didn't have security access. Roy gestured for him to stay put and went to the door to peer out. Roy's lab was near enough to the front door that it was easy to see the security desk without even having to leave the lab. When Roy saw who waited there, he let out a sigh of relief and gestured for Edward to come along.

"Oh, it's Teacher!" said Ed happily as soon as he had stepped out of the lab. "It's all right Phil, you can let her through." The security guard gave Ed a friendly smile then nodded and let Izumi step through the metal detectors, handing her a plastic visitor's pass once she was through. This was Roy's first time seeing her without the costume. She was much thinner than she had seemed before, but rather than looking willowy, it would be more accurate to say that she looked lean. It was like she had carved away everything unnecessary from her body and left only the muscles most essential to kicking ass and taking names. She walked with the fluid, economic grace of a true fighter, adding to the overall impression of somebody who could, on a whim, fold Roy into a pretzel without breaking a sweat. Her hair, which had been hidden beneath the bonnet before, was separated into dozens of tiny braids which had then been captured in a loose ponytail at the crown of her head. Her clothes were simple and practical, yet still feminine. Roy suspected that Ed hadn't just learned his scowl from her – he was pretty sure that it was from Izumi that Ed had learned to be magnificent even while standing still. "What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Sig close up the shop right about now?"

"I came because Winry called me to tell me that your no-account father had been by," said Izumi in her customary hard-edged tone. Ed instantly took three hasty steps back, already in a defensive stance – feet spread but arms held close his body with his hands up and loose and ready to catch whatever was coming and with his body positioned in such a way that he was presenting a narrower target.

"You're not going to kick me this time?" asked Ed, confounded when no blow was forthcoming.

"No, Ed, not this time," said Izumi, amused. "Believe it or not, I came just in case that bastard was still here. He deserves a good kick in the ass – or twelve – for leaving you brats for me and Pinako to watch out for. It wasn't so bad when you were little because at least you were still cute, but as soon as you hit puberty you stopped being cute and became nothing but a pain."

"Oh, come on Teacher, you know you liked having the slave labor," scoffed Ed, not the least bit fazed by her words. "Come over here. Let me introduce you to everybody."

"You seem to be in a remarkably good mood for somebody who just had to confront one of the two people he hates most in the world," Izumi pointed out as Ed dragged her toward Roy's lab. "I suppose you are responsible for the good mood then," said Izumi, turning to give Roy that minimal smile he was starting suspect was all she ever really gave. Roy didn't mind it, since Riza was exactly the same way. "It's good to see you again, by the way. Have you and our boy been having fun together?"

"Don't worry, Teacher, Al already gave him the shovel speech," said Ed, and Izumi seemed to actually be pouting a bit.

"You boys take all the fun out of being your fake parents," she said a tad sullenly. Ed laughed brightly, the warmth of it lighting up his face.

"Well, it wasn't much of a shovel speech, especially for Al," admitted Ed, his eyes still sparkling. "So how about I bring Roy by the shop sometime soon? That way Sig can get in on it too."

"Sounds good to me," said Izumi, satisfied, giving Roy a half-hearted "I've got my eyes on you" gesture as he followed them into the lab. Roy just smiled his acceptance, and Izumi nodded smartly. "Now, who are these other reprobates you're associating with Edward? Having one friend was miraculous enough. But now you have this many? You may give me heart failure yet."

"You're so funny," growled Ed. "Anyway, everybody, you've all heard me talk about my Teacher, right? Well, this is Izumi Curtis. Teacher, this is Roy's research team," he told her then pointed out each person as he gave her their names. When he was done, he told them, "Izumi was once a physicist too. She got me and Al started when we were little. So, she should probably get an honorable mention over there in my temple."

"Most definitely," agreed Breda. "The first patron saint for the Temple of Ed."

"The what of what?" demanded Izumi, and Ed started laughing again before pointing to his modest temple. It was at that point that they were treated to Izumi's warm, rich and almost booming laughter as it filled the room alongside Ed's higher, brighter tones. "So, in short, they're not so much friends as worshippers and supplicants?"

"That's it in a nutshell," said Ed still snickering.

And the team, Roy included, called out, "All hail Ed!" They had done the same thing the first day they'd shown Ed his temple, and it never failed to win a laugh from him.

When the laughter died down again, Roy told Ed, "You should have your Teacher and her husband over to the house for dinner."

"Can we?" asked Ed, his eyes impossibly bright.

"Of course, love, I don't see why not," Roy told him.

"You two sound like a newlywed couple," snickered Izumi. He didn't even know women like Izumi could snicker.

Ed cast a dry look at Roy and said flatly, "I want a divorce."

"Only if I get joint custody of the coffee machine."

"Throw in support payments then. I can't be the only one keeping her fed and clothed."

"Deal," said Roy, holding out his hand, and Ed shook it. "And we didn't even have to call in the lawyers."

"I don't need lawyers to tell me that you only want me for my coffee machine," said Ed haughtily. "I feel so used."

"Such a drama queen," sighed Izumi melodramatically and the laughter erupted all over again.

"Look, Teacher, I hate to ask this," said Ed once general composure had been restored all around. "Could you maybe look in on Al? That jackass said he was going to try to talk to him. Honestly, I don't even think he knows where Al goes to school. But I worry about him trying . . . I don't know, I guess, trying to talk Al around to his side of things. I don't want to see Al hurt. He's got too big a heart to hate that bastard like he deserves."

"I know, Ed, don't worry," said Izumi, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go check on him as soon as I leave here. Would you still like us to come for dinner?"

"Of course! That would be awesome!" replied Ed, his mood lifting again. "I'll dig out some of mom's old recipes and put together something special."

"Perfect," said Izumi then she pulled Ed into a hug. "Take care of yourself, kid."

"I will, Teacher," Ed promised.

Izumi stepped up to Roy and pulled him into a crushing hug too, much to Roy's shock. He didn't know whether he should hug her back or fight for his life, and he feared that the first option might necessitate the second. But she thankfully let him go after a moment, patted his cheek and told him, "Fuck over my Edward, and we'll serve you up in the butcher shop right next to the bacon." Roy could only stare, his mouth hanging open. "I feel better now," she declared, sounding almost refreshed as she strolled out of the lab, telling the team, "It was a pleasure meeting you." And then she was gone.

"Well, at least now we know how you got to be so . . . Ed," said Breda and even Ed had to laugh.