It was morning, and that meant it was time for Winry to say goodbye to Ed and Al and return to Resembool. The colonel told her to meet him downstairs once she had all of her things together, and right now her suitcase and tool case were all packed and leaning against the wall beside the door that led out of the spare bedroom. To the front of the room, and to the right of the door, there was a small, wooden dresser with a square-shaped mirror hanging above it. As Winry took in her reflection, she noticed how tired she looked, from the dark circles under her eyes to the somewhat pale complexion of her skin. She hardly got a wink of sleep last night, but that wasn't just because she had a hard time sleeping in a strange house she had never been to before. As usual, her mind kept her busy worrying about a certain blond alchemist.

She sighed and stepped away from the mirror and toward the door, peeking her head out into the hallway. She noticed that the bathroom door across the hall to her right was closed, and she could hear the sound of running water. She figured that Al must have been taking a shower, since she doubted that Ed could manage something like that on his own. And as she expected, peering through the open door to her right, she saw Ed sitting on the bed all alone, his knees tucked close to his chest and his head buried in his folded arms.

She paused for a moment at the doorway, not sure if she should knock on the doorframe to make her presence known or if it would be better to just go in. It didn't seem as if Ed had noticed her yet, and she didn't want to startle him.

"Good morning," she said softly, deciding to use her voice to get his attention. He looked up at her, but of course, he didn't respond otherwise. From his expression he appeared to be happy to see her, however, which Winry was very thankful for. She made her way to the bed and sat down on the edge next to Edward.

"It's about time for me to go... And, well... I wanted to..." she trailed off. The moment dragged on as the sound of water running across the hall filled the silence. Edward looked at Winry expectantly, and Winry looked back at him. She wasn't sure what to say. No, that wasn't it... she knew exactly what she wanted to say, she just wasn't sure how to put it into words. Their eyes locked for a few long moments before Winry found her voice again and continued.

"I... know it might be a while until the next time I see you... and Al," she added. Edward nodded in response. "And... I'm afraid. Afraid that something might happen again, without warning, just like last time," she said, looking down at her hands resting on her lap. "The last time you visited, before... before what happened, it was just for some simple automail repairs. I said goodbye to you and Al, and I watched your retreating backs as you left, thinking that the next time I saw you it would be because you broke your automail again for whatever silly reason... I would hit you over the head with a wrench, and then charge you a fortune for the repairs. Just like always." She smiled at the thought, but her smile faltered when an image of her parents flashed into her mind the last time she had seen them, their backs to her as they walked off to join the war in Ishval. "I had no idea..."

Winry felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder. She looked up at Ed to see him vigorously shaking his head, as if trying to assure her that nothing like that was going to happen, that they would definitely see each other again.

Winry smiled. "This is so silly. I should be the one comforting you, shouldn't I?" she laughed. Somehow things always ended up like this. Edward was always worrying about others, even when his troubles were far greater than anyone else's.

"But..." she continued. "I wanted you to know something just in case. Something that, when you disappeared, I thought I might never get the chance to tell you." Winry gently wrapped her arms around Edward, pulling him close to her, but careful not to be too rough or move too quickly. Ed stiffened up at first, before gradually leaning into the hug reaching out his arms to hold onto her. They stayed like that for a few moments, holding each other tight, as Winry whispered into Ed's ear just three simple words.

"I love you."

Edward's eyes opened wide. He wanted to say something. He wanted so badly to say, "me too! I always have!" but he couldn't. He couldn't tell the the one person he loved how he felt about her. She was right here, alive and safe in his arms, and yet, he couldn't convey his feelings to her.

He felt trapped and helpless. It was a familiar feeling.

All he could do was tighten his grip on the girl in front of him, so afraid to let her go, but Winry understood. She could feel him trembling as she held him close, his hands desperately grasping the fabric of her shirt. His feelings had reached her, even if he couldn't vocalize them himself.

"Am I interrupting something?" Edward and Winry both let go of each other and looked up to see Al standing in the doorway, drying his wet hair with a towel. Neither of them had noticed that the sound of the water had stopped.

Winry looked away, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment as Ed attempted to hide himself in his long hair. Al just laughed and walked into the room with a big grin on his face.

"So, you two ready to go?"

XxXxXxXxX

Winry got herself situated just as the train was beginning to move. She looked out the window, and among the many people rushing to and fro about the station, she searched with her eyes for Ed, Al, and the colonel. Al wanted to come along to make sure she got on the train safely, and Ed came along because the colonel was nervous about leaving him at the house on his own, although they made sure to stay on the edge of the crowd to make sure he didn't get overwhelmed by all the commotion.

The train had nearly left the station when Winry finally located them. She only got a small glimpse of them before they were out of sight. The colonel was facing in her direction, and so was Alphonse, who appeared to be saying something to the other two. But Ed was facing in the opposite direction. The last glimpse she got of Edward was the image of his back as she got farther and farther away. It left a sinking feeling in her stomach.

XxXxXxXxX

When they got back to the colonel's house, Al helped Edward back up the stairs to their room while Mustang lingered in the living room. Sitting down on the couch, the colonel moved aside piles of various files and documents on the living room table, along with paperwork he had yet to finish filling out, to uncover a very beat up state alchemist watch, which lay on top of a folder of documents given to him just yesterday by doctor Grant.

Roy picked up the watch, carefully running his fingers over the many dents and scratches its surface contained. Each one had a story behind it he was sure, and all of the damage that had afflicted the watch over the years was proof of the young alchemist's journey and the many trials he had faced throughout that journey, back when it seemed like he could do anything, overcome any obstacle.

Roy sighed as he rose from his seat, tucking the watch into his pocket as he walked to the foot of the stairs to call for Al.

"What is it, colonel?" Al asked, appearing at the top of the stairs.

"I need to go to work now, but I'll try to come back as soon as possible," he replied, his expression a bit uneasy. "Just make sure to keep a close eye on Edward."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of brother! We'll be just fine," he said with a reassuring smile. Mustang was fairly certain he could leave Al to watch over his brother considering the fact that he was used to looking out for him, but leaving them alone still made him nervous. Edward was just so unstable... and what if someone found them? It was imperative that their current living situation be kept a secret until he figured out what was going on in the military, but that was something that the boys themselves were unaware of. He wished he could just stay home to make certain that they were safe, but not coming into work would raise suspicion, and it was already a few hours past what time he usually arrived at the compound.

"Alright, I'll be going then," Mustang relented. "Just... make sure you both stay inside the house, and if anyone comes to the door, don't answer."

"Yes sir," Al agreed.

"And call me if anything happens," the colonel added.

"Of course."

After casting one last nervous glance up the stairs, Mustang headed out the door, got in his car, and braced himself for the day that was to follow. Not only was he keeping secrets from his trusted coworkers, he was also about to lie to the leader of their country, Fuhrer King Bradley, something he was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around. He knew that he was walking a dangerous path. It was the best choice of action he could think of, but he still wasn't sure he was making any of the right decisions. He felt like he was walking along a tightrope in a dimly lit tent, so unsteady that he could fall off at any moment, and yet, with the future shrouded in darkness, he had no idea what lay waiting for him at the end of his troubles.

As soon as Mustang arrived at the military compound, he headed for the Fuhrer's office. Might as well get this over with, he thought.

He approached the door and knocked twice. Once he heard confirmation that he could enter, he opened the large doors to reveal King Bradley, his elbows resting on the top of his desk with his hands clasped together in front of the lower half of his face.

"Colonel Mustang, what a pleasant surprise." Although this was how he greeted Roy, his exasperated tone of voice indicated otherwise, and irritation gleamed in his eyes. Mustang must have been unfortunate enough to have caught him in a bad mood. He wondered what could be on the Fuhrer's mind that had him this aggravated. "You have some good news for me, I hope?"

"Yes, sir," Mustang answered as he stepped farther into the room. The curtains in front of the large window behind the Fuhrer were drawn closed, but the some of the daylight shone through the somewhat thin fabric, keeping the room from being too dark to see in.

Mustang cautiously approached Bradley's desk and reached into the pocket of his uniform to retrieve Edward's state alchemist watch. He pulled it from his pocket and placed it in front of the Fuhrer.

"Ah, so Edward has been discharged from the hospital. That is good news." Mustang nodded in response but didn't speak. He thought it might be best to only speak when prompted, lest he say anything wrong.

"Of course," Bradley continued, "this raises the question of the boy's future. What are he and his brother planning to do now? I'd hate to feel like I'd forced them out onto the streets." There wasn't a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"There's no need to worry about them, sir," Mustang assured, knowing full well the Fuhrer was only concerned about their whereabouts. "Alphonse made plans for his brother and he to return to their hometown of Resembool with their childhood friend, Winry, and the three of them left just this morning. I'm confident they'll be able to live out the rest of their lives happily there."

"And you're sure that's where they've gone, colonel?" His tone was nonthreatening, but his one visible eye was piercing.

"Yes, sir," Mustang said stiffly. "I saw them off at the train station myself." He felt as if the two of them were having two separate conversations at once, using the audible dialogue filled with formalities to disguise the actual exchange taking place, although there was no one else in the room.

There was a tense atmosphere as silence lingered between the two of them. After a few moments, the Fuhrer smiled. "Thank you, colonel. That will be all." The smile was so void of kindness it almost seemed more sinister than if he had been sneering.

With as much haste as he could manage without seeming like he was in a hurry, Roy left the Fuhrer's office, and began to make his way down the hall to his own office. He was finally out of that suffocating atmosphere, but he still couldn't breath easy.

XxXxXxXxX

Alphonse watched Colonel Mustang leave from where he was standing at the top of the stairs. The colonel had seemed pretty on edge just a moment ago, and it sort of unsettled Al. After all, the colonel was the only real adult he and his brother could rely on right now, and it made Al nervous to think about what would happen if they lost that security. Al wasn't exactly worried about his own well being, seeing as though he had managed just fine on his own during the year that his brother was missing, even if it had been one of the most miserable years of his life. However, things were different now. Ed was back. And Al wasn't so sure he alone would be enough to protect his brother. Everything that had happened up until now... it completely diminished his self confidence. If he couldn't protect what little family he had left, then why was he here at all? Did his brother really need him... someone who just kept making mistake after mistake?

What if Edward ended up relying on Colonel Mustang more than him? What if he needed the colonel? What if he didn't need... Al?

That would be unacceptable.

Al hated the colonel.

No... that wasn't right at all. Truthfully, Alphonse was very grateful for everything the colonel had done for the both of them, especially Ed. He just needed something to direct his anger toward. It was all way too messed up. He needed to be mad at someone. In reality, he knew that if the colonel was able to do a better job of protecting Ed than he could, Al should be overjoyed. And in many ways, he would be. Even he himself had noticed that he felt safer relying on the older man lately. It felt better than trying to go it alone. Almost... like having a father. But childish jealousy still burned at the back of his mind, making him long to be his brother's only lifeline. Him, and him alone.

He felt ashamed of himself; what kind of brother was he? His thoughts betrayed him constantly and he didn't know how to shut them up. Every person has some darkness in their heart, but ever since what happened to Ed, it seemed to Al like that darkness in his heart had grown, often shrouding his rational thoughts in veils of destructive emotions. He felt like he was no longer a child, no longer innocent to the evils of the world, and yet he wasn't mature enough to be considered an adult. He felt so mixed up inside, and he just wanted to feel happy again. Of course, it's not like their life before had been all sunshine and rainbows, but it wasn't like this. It wasn't anything like this.

XxXxXxXxX

Edward was now officially released from duty as a state alchemist, and although Mustang hadn't yet mentioned the Fuhrer's decision to the boys, he was sure that Al at least must have realized that this would be coming. From an outside perspective, this seemed like the obvious choice to make for someone in Edward's condition. And yet, this situation seemed so...

In any case, Roy thought it would be best to just take care of this himself. No sense in giving those two even more to worry about; they had their hands full already, and he didn't think there would be any reason to talk it over with them.

Mustang entered his office to see his team; Fuery, Havoc, Falman, Breda, and of course, Hawkeye. Each of them were sitting at their individual stations and looked up as he entered the room.

"Is everything alright, sir?" asked Fuery politely. "You don't usually come into work so late."

"Everything's fine; I just had to go to the train station this morning to see of Ed and Al," he responded carefully. "They were going back to their hometown today and I wanted to make sure they got on the train safely."

"What?! They went back to their hometown?" Havoc exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us? I would've wanted to see them off too!" Fuery, Breda, and Falman nodded in agreement. They all looked a bit thrown off by the news.

"If you were going to be late for a simple reason like that, then why didn't you inform me beforehand?" Hawkeye interjected. It was a normal thing to call in if you were going to be late to work, after all.

Mustang scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, lieutenant. It must have slipped my mind."

Hawkeye didn't respond, and after waiting a moment to see if anyone else would speak, Mustang made his way to the side of the room and opened the door to his personal office. "Sorry for the intrusion," he said without turning around. "You can all get back to work now." Then he closed the door behind him and sat down on the chair behind his desk.

Roy let out a heavy sigh and looked dismally up at the clock on his wall, already counting down the minutes until the day would be over. It pained him to lie to his team, especially when he knew they were worried about him. He was sure they had noticed how off he'd been acting lately, and they probably knew he was hiding something from them. He wished he could consult them about the whole situation... especially Riza. it might take some of the weight off of his own shoulders, and maybe they would be able to come up with some ideas of what he should do next. But unfortunately, he knew it would be too risky. He even got the feeling that he was being watched, but that could just be his paranoia getting the better of him.

Roy sat up straight and began to begrudgingly fill out paperwork. If only the clock would tick faster.

XxXxXxXxX

Al sat on the bed next to his brother as he racked his brain for something to do. He wasn't exactly sure when the colonel would be getting home, but he knew they would probably be alone for several more hours at least, since it had only been about three hours since he left. The colonel had told them not to leave the house, so... what now? He just felt like he should be doing something... Something to help his brother, maybe. The colonel had told him to watch Ed, so... he should be doing something, right? He felt so antsy...

"Oh, maybe..."

Ed looked up when he heard his brother speak.

"Ah, well, I was thinking maybe you'd want to take a shower or something? I took one this morning, but you probably haven't taken one in a while since you just got out of the hospital. A nice, refreshing shower is always good, right?" Ed paused for a moment and then nodded in agreement. "Okay! Then you can go take a shower and I'll go downstairs and see if I can make us something to have for lunch. I'm not really sure what Colonel Mustang has in terms of food, but I'm sure I'll figure something out." Just simple tasks, of course, but it lifted Al's spirits to at least do something for his brother.

Ed watched as Al gave him a big smile and rushed downstairs to rummage through Mustang's fridge and cabinets for food. He seemed very enthusiastic, and that made Ed happy. It was always good to see his brother smiling.

Edward got up from his seat on the bed and made his way into the bathroom across the hall. It was a fairly small room, but not so small that it felt cramped. There was a bathtub with a shower extension to the right, and on the left was a countertop with a sink in the middle, along with a simple, oval-shaped mirror hanging above the sink. And straight ahead, in-between the sink and the tub, was the toilet.

Closing the door behind him, Ed started to undress himself. His brother was right, it had been awhile since he'd taken a shower. More than just a little while; he hadn't taken a shower since he was captured, and that was over a year ago now. While he was in the hospital, the nurses would always scrub him down instead of letting him shower or bathe himself, but of course, that was perfectly necessary considering that he could hardly even stand up without assistance.

Ed stepped into the tub and pulled the blue and white polka-dotted shower curtain closed. He was a little nervous, as silly as he thought that sounded. He normally did everything he could to avoid looking at his horribly scarred, damaged body, but now he would have to in order to wash himself. Even just a moment ago, he had gotten undressed with his eyes closed, his back facing the mirror above the sink. All those scars had far too many painful memories attached to them, and looking at them just made Edward sad.

He reached out a hand to turn the the faucet on, adjusting it to a good temperature as the water gently lapped at his feet. The shower had a single knob, one with cold water on one side and hot on the other. He pulled up the diverter to turn the shower on, but the second the water touched his skin he let out a scream. The force of the shower was much stronger than he had been expecting; much stronger than he remembered. The feeling of the water drilling into his sensitive skin startled him so much he fell backward and banged his head against the edge of the tub.

The world around him suddenly went dark, but he wasn't unconscious. The water was still hitting him, and he could see it shooting out from the darkness before him. And then he heard the laughing. It was a laugh that had haunted him in his nightmares practically every night since he had been rescued. It was a high pitched, cruel sounding laugh.

The darkness began to retreat, allowing Ed to see the face of his previous captor. Envy. He was holding a hose in one hand, and the water shot at him with such intense pressure that it tore at his flesh and left bloody sores all over his body.

He remembered this scene. The hose had been one of the many tools Envy had used to torment Ed. He had used it on him many times. He didn't know how, but somehow he was back in that horrible place. He closed his eyes in fear and covered his face with his hands as the water continued to hit him. Maybe his rescue had all been nothing but a dream.

"Ed!"

That's funny. Envy never called him by his name. He always called him runt, or shrimp, or-

"ED!"

Edward opened his eyes suddenly to see that he was back in the bathroom at colonel Mustang's house. The shower had been turned off, and Al was standing over him with an expression of deep concern on his face and one hand on his shoulder, shaking him as gently as he could manage. Ed felt very disoriented and confused, and he reached out a hand toward his brother, but before he could do anything, Al leaned down and hugged him. He held him so tightly that Ed could barely move, but he managed to free his arms enough so that he could wrap them around his brother in return. Ed felt very scared and unnerved by what he had just experienced, so he was grateful for the embrace, but Al was shaking worse than he was.

XxXxXxXxX

The ticking of the clock sounded impossibly loud in his ears, not to mention slow. Mustang stared up at the timekeeping device, having given up on getting any actual work around an hour ago. It was still a bit too early for him to be heading home, but at this point he just didn't care anymore. He had come into work and talked to the Fuhrer. He had taken care of what needed to be done, and now he would go home a few hours early. That wasn't so unusual, was it? He just couldn't concentrate on work right now with everything that was going on, and he was too worried about the boys to stay here one moment longer. He had to go home and make sure they were still safe.

He was about to head out the door when he heard someone call him back. He turned to see Riza facing him. "You're going home early, sir?"

"Yes," replied Roy. "I have some personal matters to take care of." Riza opened her mouth as if to say something, but then seemed to change her mind. As Mustang turned to leave, she spoke again.

"I wish you would talk to me." Those words were more personal than he was used to hearing from his lieutenant. She was normally very formal in the way she spoke; she took her job very seriously, but as she spoke now he could hear the hurt in her voice.

"I know," he said, so softly that she almost didn't hear him. He felt a pang in his heart as he left her and the rest of his team there without another word.

Mustang hurried outside the building and got into his car. He backed out of the parking lot and began driving a bit irrationally in his haste, but he wanted to get home as quickly as possible. He knew he was probably just being overly paranoid. Those two were probably just sitting around at his house, bored out of their minds. He was sure Ed was fine. Wasn't he...? Alphonse had spent his whole entire life looking out for his brother, so surely he could take care of him for less than a day while Roy was at work. Now that he thought about it, he only ended up staying at the compound for a little over three hours. He really was being ridiculous, wasn't he? He was such a worry wart.

The colonel pulled into the driveway of his home and made his way inside. His eyes scanned around the living room but he saw no trace of them. The light had been left on in the kitchen, and there were some cold cuts and bread set out on the counter next to the fridge which had been left wide open. He found it a bit strange, but maybe they had just been forgetful. He put away the food and closed the door to the fridge before heading upstairs to see if he could find Ed and Al. The door had still been locked, so if they weren't downstairs then he figured that they must be in one of the spare bedrooms. But when he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed that the light was on in the bathroom, so he peered inside to see Ed in the bathtub with Al holding him in a shaky embrace. At first he was shocked; he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Clearly, something had happened, but he didn't know what. He knew he shouldn't have left them alone.

Roy quickly shook himself from his stupor and rushed into the room to see if they were alright. "Alphonse? What in the world-" The younger brother turned toward him suddenly, as if he hadn't noticed the colonel's presence until that very moment. There were tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I thought he'd be fine! I mean, I didn't think... I was just trying to-" Roy ruffled his hair reassuringly and told him to calm down. The boy's words were slurred from all his crying and were hard to understand. Mustang wasn't really sure what was going on, but he was sure he could hear the whole story later. Right now he needed to do something about this situation.

The colonel grabbed a towel from one of the cabinets and draped it around Ed, lifting his small frame out of the bathtub and gently placing him down on the bathroom mat next to the tub. The poor boy looked pretty shaken up and he was shivering badly. Roy took another towel and began drying Ed's hair, being especially cautious not to snag any of the tangles. "Maybe it would be better to just cut it all off," he mumbled to himself. Al watched him sheepishly as he performed the task.

Mustang turned to him. "Alphonse?"

"Yes, colonel?" he responded quietly.

"See if you can find a change of clothes for him. Once that's taken care of, you can explain to me what happened." His voice was stern, but nonthreatening. Alphonse got up off the floor and headed into the bedroom to rummage through his luggage for something that might fit Ed. He still felt nervous.

About twenty minutes later, Ed had been dried off and clothed, and now he, Al, and the colonel were all sitting at the kitchen table as Al explained to Mustang what had led to the mishap. Mustang couldn't blame Al of course. How could he have known that taking a shower of all things might set Ed off? It was a mistake even the colonel could have easily made. Alphonse, on the other hand, seemed pretty distraught about the whole situation. He probably thought that he had messed up big time, and now he was beating himself up about it.

"Well then," said Mustang as he rose from his chair. "I guess that settles that."

Al looked up at him in alarm and stood up from his own seat. "Wait, you're not... angry?"

"Why would I be angry?" the colonel replied. "What happened today was an unfortunate accident, but it wasn't anyone's fault but mine. I shouldn't have left the two of you alone today. Do you understand?"

Al looked at first like he was going to protest, but then remained silent and nodded his head.

After debating over it for a moment, Mustang leaned down and gently pulled the two boys into a hug. "Ed isn't the only one I'm trying to protect, you know. You're both very important to me."

Al said nothing in response. He just clung to the embrace, to the warmth and feeling of security it gave him, and Ed did the same. It felt good to know there was someone looking out for them. For two boys who had grown up without a father and who lost their mother at a young age, it was a feeling they had often yearned for.

The rest of the day went by rather smoothly. The colonel and the two brothers ate a late lunch together; sandwiches, just like Al had been about to prepare before he heard Ed's scream. After lunch, Mustang showed the boys where he kept his books on alchemy, and Ed and Al spent the rest of the day studying them with excitement in their eyes. It made Roy happy to see them having fun. And finally, at the end of the day, the colonel decided to make stew for dinner after hearing from Al that it was his brother's favorite dish. Al helped with the meal of course, since the colonel himself wasn't the best cook. Once the three of them were finished with dinner and the dishes had been cleaned, Ed and Al headed up the stairs to get ready for bed, and Mustang followed shortly after.

Although the day had started out shaky, Roy enjoyed the feeling he got from spending time with the boys. The way things were now... well, it felt sort of like they were a real family, and that made him happy. This was his chance to turn this horrible tragedy around and give Edward and Alphonse a real home. They had been alone most of their lives, but they didn't have to be anymore. He would take care of them. He would never let such a horrible thing happen to the two of them ever again, and that was a promise.

XxXxXxXxX

The night had just begun, and Ed and the colonel were both asleep in their separate bedrooms, but Al couldn't sleep. He just kept thinking about what happened earlier, and it made him feel sick. He had done that. He had hurt his brother. He heard what the colonel told him after he explained what had happened, but he still felt guilty. Maybe he really wasn't cut out for taking care of his brother. He just kept messing things up.

And speaking of the colonel... that was another thing he felt guilty about. He had been jealous about how much his brother relied on the older man, and yet... he too found himself relying on him. The colonel had done so much for them, and he had been so kind to them... to the both of them. Al felt so ashamed for what he had thought before. The colonel even said himself that he cared about Al as well as his brother, and hearing that had made Al so happy that just the thought of it made him tear up. He was such an ungrateful, awful little brother.

Al got up from the bed he and his brother had been sharing and quietly made his way out of the room. He just needed some time alone to sort through his thoughts, and being near Ed just made him feel even worse over what happened. Now that Winry had gone home, the other spare bedroom was free. He would just sleep there for tonight.

And so, Alphonse left his brother to sleep alone in another room, not noticing the devious pair of eyes that was watching their every move from just outside the window above the bed.