A/N: Ack! With no school today, I nearly forgot to upload. This is probably a few hours late, sorry... *cringe*
Thank you to Abi the Authoress, Dark Cat Food Lover, Joker Oak, TheHaloFreak, android727, Swoop, MusiclyInclined, and Guest for reviewing!
Title: For the Sake of Science
Author: liketolaugh
Rating: T
Pairings: None
Genre: Angst/Family
Warnings: Child abuse, human experimentation
Summary: A very different Hohenheim stays in Resembool, and Roy Mustang finds the effects of his experiments too late. With his help, Ed and Al set out to discover what he was trying to do, and along the way, find much, much more. Brotherhood AU.
Disclaimer: If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, would I really be here right now?
Three weeks after the Elrics came to East City, it wasn't uncommon to see them laying around the Lieutenant Colonel's office with a pile of books, reading. Mustang's men worked around them with good-humored ease and they only occasionally popped out, mostly at Al's insistence, to visit people in other offices.
At three weeks to the day, Ed and Al showed up in the office with two twin smiles on their face, Ed's eyes sparkling and Al's both shut with the force of it.
"What's the occasion?" Havoc asked them, raising an eyebrow.
For some reason, Ed flushed, and Al laughed, still grinning. "It's nothing, really. Nina just drew a picture for us. Here, look."
He pulled the carefully folded picture out of his pocket and showed it to Havoc, who looked at it, faintly confused.
There were five figures on the page, almost all of them blond. One was very tall, with glasses for eyes and huge hands, labelled 'Ed n Al Dad'. Another was very clearly Ed, with one grey arm and leg, labelled 'Ed'. Beside him was Al, again labelled, with only one eye and a huge smile, and then a short lady with grey hair called 'Ed n Al Granma'. Then there was another blonde, this time a girl, with a grey stick in her hand, called 'Wiry', and, in the clouds, a woman with brown hair, 'Ed n Al Mom'. Then, at the bottom, 'Ed n Al Family'.
Family was labelled in careful handwriting, not a little girl's.
"I think Tucker helped her with it a little," Al explained, with a warm smile. Ed smiled, too, looking almost unwilling, still avoiding their eyes.
Havoc chuckled, sitting back again. "It's cute," he conceded, amused at Ed's reaction. "Bet Hughes'd love it."
Al tilted his head. "Who is Hughes?"
Havoc didn't get a chance to answer; at that moment, Mustang poked his head into the outer office and addressed the Elrics.
"You two, I'd like to talk to you." He raised an eyebrow. "Unless now's a bad time?"
Ed rolled his eyes, flush fading. He waved halfheartedly at Havoc. "Duty calls," he said sarcastically, making Havoc chuckle. "C'mon, Al, let's see what the guy wants."
Al chuckled ruefully and followed his brother into Mustang's office, leaving Havoc behind. Soon, they were both in front of Mustang's desk, waiting expectantly. It was a moment or two before Mustang finally spoke.
"It's been nearly a month," he said carefully, eyes on them. "I am aware that it must be difficult for you." And for Mustang; just thinking of what he'd found in Hohenheim's journal made his stomach churn. "However, progress must be made, and my superiors will take notice if that doesn't happen soon." And if they had reason to believe that Mustang wasn't going to analyze Hohenheim's research, well, that would be the Elrics in a government lab.
Mustang didn't want that any more than they did.
His navy eyes were sharp and studious, face impassive as Ed crossed his arms and glared.
"No."
Mustang repressed the urge to twitch in frustration. "No," he repeated flatly. They really didn't get what was at stake here, did they?
"No," Ed repeated firmly. "Not yet, got that, Mustang?" He wanted to wait for the fits and the spacing to stop before they did anything.
Mustang let a sigh out and prepared himself for an uphill battle. "Edward, I have been patient, and I understand, but waiting too long could cause me to lose custody, and then..." He smiled coldly. "Our deal would be off, wouldn't it?"
Al felt Ed stiffen and bristled almost imperceptibly.
"Brother said no," Al said firmly, tone leaving no room for argument.
Mustang frowned. "Perhaps we could just go to the lab and-" Explain what I would do. Maybe if they knew what he was planning to do, knew that it couldn't hurt them, they'd be more open to the idea.
But Edward didn't give him time to finish - his eyes flashed and he grabbed Al's arm and ran, Al stumbling for a few moments before he regained his balance and shot Mustang a look over his shoulder.
"What-" Havoc stood up as the two boys fled, but the door was already closing.
Hawkeye poked her head in to find Mustang with his head in his hands, groaning to himself. "Sir?"
"Remind me to find better ways to push issues."
Hawkeye kept her face impassive, but it took effort. "Do you want me to go after them, sir?"
Mustang sighed and lifted his head. "No, let them go. If they're not with Tucker tonight, we'll go looking."
"Brother, where are we going?" Al panted out, one bronze eye round and anxious.
In truth, Ed wasn't sure. A mixture of fear, indignation, and anger had led him to grab Al's hand and run away, and now he had no idea where they were.
That probably hadn't been the best plan ever.
Al read all of this in his face and sighed. "Brother..."
Ed shrugged casually and looked around, finally allowing himself to slow down. "So how long d'you think it'll take for him to drop it?" he asked conversationally, tension in the line of his shoulders giving him away.
"We did make a deal with him, brother," Al said reproachfully.
"Yeah, yeah," Ed muttered resentfully, scowling to himself. "Think we should talk to Mustang before we go back to Tucker's?"
Al gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, brother. And be nice to the Colonel, please. He has been good to us, and he's just doing his job."
Ed snorted again, though he knew Al was right, as usual, and was just about to speak when another voice interrupted.
"Excuse me, are you speaking of Lieutenant Colonel Mustang? The Flame Alchemist?"
Ed started to turn around. "Yeah, wh-?"
He never even saw the guy's face.
That's that done. So there's a little bit of progression going on, Ed is impulsive, and Mustang discovers the wrong way to force issues. Thanks for reading and please review!
