Chapter Thirteen
A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.
George Edward Moore
"They're idiots," Winry huffed, watching three grown men tussling in the backyard like children. Hayate ran rings around the wrestling match, barking happily.
"This comes as a shock?" Al sipped his lemonade, eyes on the battle as if it were a sporting event.
"What exactly started it?" Hughes broke off conferring with Aris about the ongoing bet as to the winner of the free-for-all.
"Paperwork," Riza replied, leaning against the brick wall around the patio. "Roy was actually doing it. Ed and Dev were bored so they were taking turns seeing who could bullseye Roy in the head with little paper balls. It took over a half hour before he finally exploded."
"Someone is going to break something or end up naked," Winry huffed, waving a hand at two shirts lying on the grass after their owners had skinned out of them. "Are they all seven year olds?"
"Hey, I have a bet on naked," Al put in with a laugh, shifting in his padded seat. "Glad I bet against Roy. They've got him on the bottom of the pile now." He gestured to the writhing heap. Ed, shirtless, was on top. The only thing that could be seen of Roy was one shiny metal foot. A loud bellow went up from the pile.
"It's about over now. The underwear just got yanked," Hughes said then another cry rang out.
"Don't count him out yet. Someone just got bit." Riza hid a smirk as she drained her lemonade.
"Should I have called first?"
Everyone turned, hearing Havoc's tentative question. Behind him stood an elderly Ishbalan and a middle-aged Ishbalan woman. "The boss said to bring Mr. Fermi here when he got into town."
"Dare I ask what is going on?" Uzziel Fermi asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Aris joined the head priest, "Foolishness, though the good money is on Dev and Edward to win." He nodded at the pileup, which showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Hayate, overstimulated by the sounds, grabbed someone's pants leg and began tugging and growling.
"Don't count out Roy. He's tricky," Hughes called, waving merrily at the newcomers.
"Break it up," Riza called to the men. "You have company." When no one listened, she pulled her gun and cocked it. Hayate instantly sat, looking expectantly at his master. "I mean now!"
Ed slithered off the pile, holding up his hands placatingly. "I'm good."
"Dev, you better not have damaged anything important to me ," Riza said, seeing who held Roy's waistband up high. The Ishbalan knew when to quit and rolled off of Roy.
"I win. I bet Riza would scare them into being not-stupid." Winry laughed, beckoning at Aris to pay up.
"You bet against me?" Ed asked in a wounded tone. His lower lip pooched out.
"Al did, too," Winry told him gleefully, making Edward whip around to glare at his brother.
"I bet on naked," Alphonse said, not at all concerned at the glower being sent his way, "not on who'd win the fight."
Dev held out his arm, showing a reddened area. "He bit me!"
"You're going to contract bastard now," Ed informed him with a shake of his head.
"Too late for that. He already has a good case of it," Roy grumbled, picking himself off the grass, trying to rearrange his shorts decorously, casting an 'it figures' glance at Uzziel.
"This is going to leave a mark," Dev whined, rubbing at the bite.
"Why were you…doing whatever it was you were doing to the ambassador?" Uzziel's tone suggested he wasn't amused.
"Self-defense, he came after us," Dev replied, with a deferential nod to the old priest.
"After you spent all afternoon hitting me in the head with paper balls," Roy replied, noticing the unhappy-looking woman with Uzziel. "I'm sorry, have we been introduced?"
"Oh, uh, didn't see you there, Mom." A blush darkened Dev's face as he scrambled to his feet.
"Your mother?" Roy hissed softly in the younger man's ear.
Dev nodded, going over to the woman. "Mom, this is Winry Rockbell, I've told you all about her," he said quickly and Winry suspected from how fast he was talking, his mother didn't approve of her. "And her friends, Edward and Alphonse Elric. And that's Maes Hughes and Riza Hawkeye and uh, the guy I was crushing is Mustang."
Mrs. Jasso spared something akin to a spitting sound for Roy. "My son's told me about you." Her red eyes flicked from once face to another before centering back on her son. "Well, some of you."
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Dev asked, seeming embarrassed by his mother's frigid demeanor.
"Uzziel said he was coming here because you were delayed and offered to bring me along. It was all last minute," she replied, pointedly looking at no one but her son. Winry fidgeted, realizing she was being ignored.
"Where are you staying?" Dev fretted. "The ambassador's house is mostly filled, not that you'd be staying here anyhow," he added hurriedly, seeing the heated look on his mother's face.
"We're at the hotel," Uzziel replied. "And if you don't mind, Aris, Dev, I'd like us to return to your apartment so we can discuss matters in privacy. Ambassador, these plans aren't really ready for your ears."
"That's all right, technically I'm still convalescing and not on active duty yet," Roy replied, making a show of not being offended. "Havoc, please take them wherever they need to go."
"Sure thing, Boss," Havoc replied, around his cigarette. "Do you or Aris need to get anything, Dev?"
Dev shook his head. "I was mostly just here killing time and annoying him." He jerked a thumb at Roy.
"I'll go get my paperwork out of the library," Aris said, going into the house.
The Ishbalans followed Havoc to his car without another word.
"Damn, Winry, you'd think that woman would at least say hello to her son's girlfriend," Ed sputtered once the car pulled away from the curve then scowled as if angry he accredited the relationship.
"I think she'd hold it against me even if I wasn't Amestrian." Winry's mouth crimped. "She barely acknowledged me."
"I don't envy Dev," Roy said, picking his shirt up off the grass. "Provided he even tells her everything. Riza, remind me to tell Havoc to be sure to call the next time he drops off people at my doorstep so I'm not rolling around like an ass, not that there is anything I could do that Uzziel would approve of, let alone Dev's mother."
"None of them seem overly friendly," Hughes said thoughtfully.
"Well, they do have reason to hate me. I did cook her son alive," Roy replied wryly, his remaining eye reflecting sadness. "And help reduce their people to living in tent cities, hunted like vermin." Roy glanced turned to Hughes. "By the way, you weren't in Ishbal, just so you know. You stayed in Central in Investigations."
Hughes nodded, as Hayate rubbed against his legs. "Thanks."
"What if Mrs. Jasso wants to talk to me?" Winry mused, looking off after the car. "I mean, I'm going to have to talk to his mother sometime."
"Don't be alone with her." Ed sounded all too serious.
"Edward, I'll have to be at some point," Winry said, turning on him, exasperated.
"Don't be too harsh on her, Winry. You've seen how Ishbalans get treated but things are getting better for them. She has every reason in the world to dislike the lot of us." Roy patted Winry's arm.
"We helped rescue some from a gang, Brother, Winry and me," Alphonse said. "I can't remember if they said they were military, but the gang was dressed in Amestrian colors. Mostly." His eyes glittered with some private memory as he looked at Winry and Edward. "And we traveled with a group of Ishbalans for a little while, later. Before Lior." He glanced at Roy out of the corners of his eyes, as if waiting for a reaction.
"Somehow I'm not surprised." Roy smiled softly at Al. "You can't make her like you, Winry. In the end, it'll be up to Dev to stand up to his mother if it comes to that."
"I don't really…I can't deal with this right now. I have work to get back to," Winry said, heading for the house. "Riza, could you give me a ride to my shop or should I call a cab?"
"Cab. I'm supposed to be taking everyone to go talk to Gracia today," Riza said. "So Roy, you might want to go clean up. You can't go talk to her looking like that. Put your eye in. The doctors went through a lot of work to rebuild that socket."
"I hate that eye," Roy grumbled, kicking at a weed growing up through the walk.
"Why? Not as cool as a patch?" Ed smirked.
"Brother," Al hissed, nudging Ed hard.
"It bothers me," Roy replied, scowling. "And you two ought to change, too. You're grass-stained, Edward."
"Now I almost want to stay here," Winry said, her expression softening as she looked to the trio of Edward, Alphonse and Hughes. "For when you come back. You're not going to be feeling so good."
"Go, Winry, work," Ed said, his gold eyes dim, reflecting what the day would hold. "We won't be back for awhile unless it goes horribly."
"Oh, it'll be horrible," Roy predicted then disappeared into the house.
"Is he always so optimistic?" Hughes glanced at Alphonse.
Winry sighed, looking after Roy. "About as good as Ed."
Hughes shook his head. "Perfect."
"Come on, Brother," Al herded Ed inside, both looking like they were going to their doom.
X X X
"You look so very nervous, Roy," Gracia said, trying to get him to sit down in her living room. "And so thin. Are you sure you're well enough to be out and about?"
He nodded, taking her hand. "I'm fine and I'm not too thin," Roy lied.
"You didn't sound fine on the phone." Noticing he was looking past her, she added. "Elicia is at a friend's house, just like you asked. Please, Roy, tell me what this is all about."
"It would be easier to show you but I promise, it's going to be a very big shock, a series of them, honestly." Roy shook his head, his finger straying to his glass eye. "I hate this, Gracia. I don't want to upset you."
"At this point, I'll be upset if you don't tell me," she promised him.
"Wait here." He let go of her hand and went out the front door. When he came back, he had Edward and Alphonse with him.
"Hi, Mrs. Hughes." Ed's voice wavered and the smile hovering around his mouth was tentative.
Alphonse's grin was more evident and Roy was sure there were tears in his eyes. Well, it made sense. Al and Gracia had something in common, now, only Gracia was going to get an even bigger surprise.
Gracia covered her mouth with both hands, smothering a ragged gasp. Roy tried to put his arm around her but she muscled past him to throw her arms around Ed first then Al. "How? How is this possible? Have you seen Winry yet? She must be beside herself." Gracia couldn't quite take her hands off the boys, as if she thought they might vanish if she left off touching them.
"We came here with her," Ed said as Al wiped his eyes. "We stayed with Granny and her for a few days back home."
"Olivia knows and wanted them here in Central," Roy added grimly. "Don't worry. I'm doing what I can to protect them. I think Strongarm and I have convinced her to let them pick up where they left off."
"Yeah, I'm still in the military." Ed's half-hearted smile had no humor in it. "Three years, and I'll be a free man. And Al doesn't have to join, so that's good."
"There's nothing you can do to get him out of that, Roy?" Gracia asked. This time she let Roy lead her to the couch.
"No, but he's under my command so I have some control over how much danger he gets himself into," Roy replied, glancing over at Ed. "in theory."
Alphonse made a disparaging sound at that, which made Edward frown prodigiously. Still, Roy could see part of that was show, a way to bleed off some of the tension they felt.
"They have a lot to tell you about where they were, and there's all the time in the world for that but somewhere in that tale is something important, something that honestly can't wait." Roy glanced over at the brothers, hoping they remembered he had to be the one to bring up Maes' name. He owed his friend that much.
Gracia's eyes widened slightly at that. "What is it, boys?" She looked from one to the other as Edward glanced off to the side and Alphonse lowered his head, almost shamefully. "Surely it isn't that bad."
"It is," Edward said quietly. He sighed and straightened his shoulders, standing as tall as he could. "Mrs. Hughes, I need to tell you a little bit about the world that Alphonse and I were in. It really was a different world. There isn't any alchemy there; a lot of machines. People are like people anywhere, I guess."
Alphonse was nodding slowly in accompaniment to his brother's words. "We met some very kind people, Mrs. Hughes," he said quietly. "The strange thing was how much some of them reminded us of our friends here."
Ed lowered his head slightly and Roy could just catch a glimpse of that ironic little smile. "Not just reminded us." He tossed his head so his bangs fell away from his face, his eyes boring right into Gracia's.
"There were people there who were exact doubles of people we know here. People who were our friends, people who were our enemies." Glancing at Roy, Edward said, "I didn't tell you that I met Fuhrer Bradley's double, did I? He makes films. But," he turned back to Gracia then, his expression somewhere between dismay and tenderness, "there were two people Al and I were really close to. Her name…"
"Edward," Roy said sharply. He should have known Edward wouldn't obey him.
"What is he saying, Roy?" Gracia's hand fumbled for his.
Roy held her hand tightly. "Edward, Alphonse, please go wait in the other room for a moment."
Ed seemed likely to argue then abruptly gave up. Roy thought he heard a muttered, 'oh hell' but ignored it as Alphonse chivied his brother out of the room.
"Roy?" Gracia shook as if she knew something bad was coming. "Was there…another me?"
"Yes, but you died shortly before the brothers managed to find their way here. That's what got them working on the problem like fiends, I suppose. You and Alphonse's fiancé were killed by a runaway car," Roy replied, sitting next to her. Gracia startled, her eyes tracking the path the brothers had taken out of the room. "And while there wasn't another me there, there was another Maes…well, Meinhard Hughes. He became very good friends with the boys, looking out for them."
Gracia swallowed, her eyes bright. Her hands laced together. "Good," she murmured, looking as if she was trying hard to convince herself of that. "He sounds a lot like Maes."
"Very much so. He is so much like Maes that I forget that Meinhard isn't him," Roy said, touching her cheek. "They accidentally brought him with them, Gracia. He's here."
The way her face paled, Roy thought that she was going to faint. Her mouth moved though no sounds came out, then finally he heard her say, "He's here?"
"Quite literally, out in the car. He understands what happened to Maes and he didn't want to cause you any pain, Gracia. The brothers didn't tell Meinhard about the doubles here until far too late. They wanted to tell you but this is my responsibility. I promised Maes to take care of you and I know I don't do a very good job but…" Roy's jaw trembled and his eyes went wet. "I'm trying. If you don't want to see this man, I'll make him go away."
Gracia's staring eyes suddenly focused and the warmth came back into them. Tears studded her lashes but she wiped them away, her sweet, familiar smile slowly blooming. "You like him?"
"I do. It's like having my best friend back, as hard as that is. I can go get him if you want." Roy scrubbed a hand over his eyes. "Damn, said I wouldn't do this. With my luck, it'll make this stupid eye come out."
Gracia traced the scar on his face. "You'll be fine, Roy, even if it does. Please, I need to see this man. Ask him to come in."
Roy nodded, getting up. He shooed the boys back in with Gracia before going outside. He came back, holding onto Riza with Hughes behind him. "Gracia, this is Meinhard Hughes."
Gracia templed her hands over her mouth then let them drop, visibly steeling herself. "Roy and the boys have explained how…" Her voice hitched. "No one can explain this."
Hughes turned away. "Gott what have I done?" When he looked back, tears raced down his face. "I'm so sorry. I would never…I can't do this. How can I cause this much pain?"
Gracia swallowed, taking a step closer, her hands reaching up then curling back against her chest. "You even sound like him."
Hughes closed the distance between them, touching her hair with a shaking hand. He nodded over to Roy who was crying quietly as Riza held onto him. "Roy told me you had a little girl. Mine…died with her mother."
"You poor man." Gracia did touch his cheek then, with the same hesitancy as if she thought her palm would be burned. "I can't imagine losing," her voice failed her and tears welled in her eyes.
"We're so sorry," Al murmured, wiping his wet cheeks. "We didn't think…we just thought we could sneak off. We weren't honest with him."
"If they had been, I wouldn't be here, causing you this much grief." Hughes covered her hand with his own, his head lowering.
"It gets worse, Gracia," Roy added quietly. "Olivia knows he is here as well and she wants him to step back into Maes' boots, saying he had been sent under deep cover to protect his life after the murder attempt." He had to pause, the words unable to get past his tight throat. "We told her he wouldn't agree to this, not until we spoke to you."
"I'm not sure what that woman would do if I tell her no but I'm willing to go far away," Hughes said, searching Gracia's eyes. "You won't ever have to face his ghost again. I can't go back home but I don't have to stay here."
"I can't believe we caused all this," Ed said, his voice tight and horrified. His brother touched Ed's arm.
"I need time to think," Gracia said then suddenly tossed her hands around Hughes, crushing herself against him. "You even smell like him…part of me wants to not let you go."
A ragged sob tore out of Hughes and he tightened his arms around her.
"Gracia," Riza broke in softly. "He's staying with me and Roy. You can take your time to think and if you want to see him again, you know you're always welcome. Roy can put Olivia off for a while and if he can't, Alex Louis surely can."
Alphonse said, his voice just as quiet as Riza's, "Maybe we should give them a little time?" He laid his hand on Edward's shoulder in preparation of steering his brother out of the room.
Neither Hughes showed any signs of hearing. Roy and Riza slipped out the front door with the brothers in their wake. Roy crumpled up on the cement steps, forehead pressed to his knees as he silently wept.
Edward wandered off a little ways in the garden, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, shoulders hunched, almost as if he expected to be struck from behind. Alphonse shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously then, with a little sigh, said, "It's no one's fault."
"Of course it is," Ed hissed. "You and I did this. Nothing we've done since we've been back has been right. We've made such a mess."
Alphonse jerked back at the verbal slap. "And things weren't any better where we were, Edward. I couldn't watch you die there any more than you could bear my sorrow."
"I know," Ed dislodged a hand from his pocket long enough to drag it through his bangs. "I don't regret coming home. We needed to. I could handle that things have changed. I could even deal with Winry's stupid boyfriend but we should have been honest with Hughes instead of trying to duck him. We should have known he would have followed us. The man is an investigator, after all. He might not know military intrigue but he was a policeman. He knows human nature."
"What ifs and if onlies aren't going to do anything for the situation." Riza spoke gently but firmly, her hand resting on Roy's shoulder. "What's done is done. Self-recrimination isn't exactly a luxury you should indulge in, not any of you."
"Riza's right." Roy wiped his eyes, his hand hesitating over the glass one as if afraid it might slip out. "There's nothing to do but see it through. Gracia will do what's right for her. It might take her a while to know what that is but I trust her judgment, regardless of whether she should have to or not. If you have to worry about something, Edward, worry about what Olivia is going to make me do with you."
Ed turned his head, letting Roy know that he'd heard what was said, though otherwise, he had no reaction to it aside from his shoulders rising and falling.
The front door opened and Hughes came back out, his eyes red and swollen. "Take me home, please."
"All right," Riza said.
"She wants to meet me again, alone," Hughes said, walking unsteadily to the car. "She wants to get to know who I really am."
"That sounds like a good idea, sir." Alphonse sounded sincere.
"I told her if nothing else, if she doesn't want me to leave but doesn't want me back exactly either, that we would think of something," Hughes added.
From the soft bitter laugh, Roy thought that Edward might be considering making the same offer to Winry. Roy levered himself up, completely exhausted. "Divorces happen, if it comes to that. We'll worry about it later, Hughes. No one had a complete nervous breakdown yet. It's as close to a victory as we're going to get today."
Riza's look was no less sour than Edward's. She just herded them all into the car. Roy knew her look, understood she was wishing she could drive them someplace where there was no more pain but he couldn't even really remember a time where pain wasn't a constant companion and knew she couldn't either. At least he could selfishly distract himself with whiskey but he didn't know what Riza could do. He would do what he could to comfort her and hopefully not break down himself in the process.
X X X
Anah quickly saw a huge flaw in Judith's plan or maybe it was Attaway's mistake. Judith's, she decided since the woman had never really left Lior but Attaway should have known better. Of course, maybe neither of them knew anything about Resembol but they should have. Though located in the East, it was rapidly apparent that none of her people bothered with it. Sunglasses would hide her eyes but her skin was darker than even the tanned farmers. Someone might guess she was Ishbalan.
If they did, they weren't too hostile about it. Dev had sent word back to Anah's sister, Vashti, that the people here were pretty friendly, or at least too busy with their stinking sheep to worry about an Ishbalan in the woodshed. Anah hadn't believed it. Nor did she care if he wanted to roll around in the sheets with filth. Let Vashti worry about who Dev slept with, though Anah could never understand why. It wasn't like Vashti wanted him either.
Anah further considered the people around her. Maybe Dev had gotten them used to tanned, desert skin since no one really gave her a second glance. She flagged someone down, "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm looking for some friends of mine, the Elrics and the Rockbells. Could you tell me where to find their houses?"
The older woman gave her a once over, peering at her through thick glasses. "I've not seen you before."
"They usually visit me in Central. Actually, I know their friend, Dev Jasso, more," Anah said, hoping that Dev hadn't pissed off Elric and everyone in town knew it. This was that kind of place, where everyone knew when you flushed a toilet.
"That sweet young man? He gave me an ointment that really helped with Uncle Arthur." She rubbed her arthritic knuckles for emphasis. "But then again, I remember trading with the Ishbalans before all the ugliness. Never had any trouble with them."
Anah wished the crazy old lizard would get to the point but she nodded politely. "That sounds like Dev." Sweet, it was all Anah could do not to laugh. Dev must have been kissing a lot of Amestrian ass for anyone to think he was sweet.
"Well, the Rockbells are up that way. You can't miss it, big yellow house, sign out front but I'm surprised you didn't know, the Elric place burned down years ago," the old woman said, pointing down a dirt road that seemed to go off to more nowhere.
Anah was glad the dark glasses hid her eyes because she was sure the shock had registered in them. Attaway's little informant Rose had certainly left out that pertinent detail. It was hard to blow up a house with the brothers in it if there was no damn house to begin with. "Oh, I guess they thought I knew. Well, thank you."
"Oh, you're welcome but if you're looking for Priest Jasso, he went with the others," the old woman said, waving back toward the train station. "I'm not sure where. Maybe Dr. Pinako could tell you."
"Thanks," Anah grated out then turned away, looking for the nearest public phone. She bypassed the one at the train station since it was out in the open. She counted herself lucky there was a phone booth across from the general store and she almost stepped in a horse apple getting to it. She hated the country. She made a quick call to Attaway to explain the debacle this was turning out to be. In return, Anah got a simple order: make a statement and get away as fast as she could.