Hey, just so you know, while I am following the plot of brotherhood, I will be including aspects of the first series early on because I happen to enjoy the early episodes of the 2003 series a little more. I'll probably stop adding things from 2003 before the fifth labratory and just go with brotherhood from there minus any changes made for the plot of the story itself. Anyways, enjoy!

Roy pulled out article after article of clothing as he looked for his spare waist capes. Two of them had ripped recently due to a few missions he'd gone on and he'd forgotten to get them tailored. Where had they gone? He knew he had them somewhere, they had to be.

Roy stood up from his closet and walked out into the hall. He scratched his head as he walked down the hall to the staircase. Maybe he left them in the laundry room….

He stopped however, as he passed the boy's room. He heard snickering. "Oh no," he thought, "That's never a good sign." He opened the door to the nine year olds' room to find them wearing his waist capes around their necks.

"You'll never defeat me, Basque Grand, you traitor!" Rin cried, "I the great flame alchemist, can stop you in your tracks!"

"You'll never defeat me!" Yukio cried, firing his pop gun. Rin jumped to the side and snapped his gloveless fingers. Yukio cried out in an over dramatic fashion and fell to the ground. Both boys started laughing before they caught sight of Roy standing in the doorway and immediately stopped. Both looked like deer caught in headlights.

"Uuhhhh….How long have you been standing there?" Rin asked, clearly embarrassed.

"Since 'Basque Grand, your traitor'," he said. There was a long, painfully awkward silence between them. "Would one of you be willing to give me one of my waist capes back?" he asked.

Yukio immediately shot up and pulled off the cape before throwing it to him."Sorry for borrowing it without permission…" he said.

"No, no, it's fine," Roy said, "I expected...something like this to happen at some point. You kids keep having fun." With that he left them alone and headed down stairs. He paused at the last step. He didn't know whether to feel flattered that they admired him enough to emulate him in a game of play pretend or worried that they think that his job was some kind of superhero gig. After a few moments of contemplation he decided on a healthy mix of both.

….

Before the boys came into his life, Roy really had no reason to like winter. It was dark, cold, and he always caught a horrible cold at least once per month. Now, however, he had something to look forward to: December the 27th. It warmed his heart to see the boys so excited, and now that they weren't a secret anymore, he could invite more people and have a true party, almost as big as Maes' New Years celebration.

He watched with a smile on his face as the two boys blew out their candles. There was a round of applauds as they officially turned ten years old. Mountains of presents surrounded them on the table from his coworkers.

In the two years they had gotten to know the boys, Roy's team had grown extremely attached to them. Fuery and Falman loved having Yukio around. They were constantly teaching him new things like morse code, different kinds of ciphers for code breaking, and how to use a ham radio. In fact, Roy was pretty sure one of the presents was a ham radio. Rin had also gotten really close to the guys, particularly Breda and Havock, despite Rin constantly pestering Jean about his smoking addiction. They took him to boxing matches and taught him how to play poker among other things. And Armstrong practically spoiled them rotten. The pair of twins quickly figured out how to get him wrapped around their finger by listening to his rambling speeches and pretending to be interested (although a few times he knew Rin actually found some of his stories interesting). Riza loved them just as much as the guys, though she may not express it as much. Roy knew that if they boys were in danger, she would lay down her life for them. They all would, and so would he.

As the boys unwrapped their presents, Roy couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. An internal debate was going on in his mind as he glanced over at the closet where one last present was stored. He was debating whether to give it to them tonight after everyone left or tomorrow. Inside were two copies of the demon manual he had been given and the book of verses he'd been given. The previous month a strange article came up in a newsletter about a bizarre death that nearly made Roy's heart stop. A woman had been mauled to death outside of Central. Police could not find any evidence of what did it, but another woman who had escaped had claimed it was a large, three-headed dog that had come out of nowhere. The police dubbed as a chimera, but Roy knew better. It was a cerberus.

He wanted to make sure the boys were safe, so he wanted them to have these on them at all times. At some point, he might not be around or they won't be able to summon Kuro and if so, they need something to protect them. At the same time, he didn't want to disrupt their good moods. He had meant to have these finished the previous week, but there were delays and he had only gotten it done the night before.

"Aw, sweet!" Rin cried, catching Roy's attention. He looked back over to see Rin had unwrapped the the adventure novels he had gotten him. They were the latest instalments of the Heissgart James treasure hunter series. Meanwhile, Yukio had opened up a collection of his favorite detective novels, The Smoking Pipe Inspector. Their eyes shined with excitement as they eyed the backs of the books. "Thanks Dad!" he cheered, "You're the best!"

Roy smiled. Maybe their other gift should wait for tomorrow.

….

"I told you! I already called dibs!"

"Just because you call dibs doesn't mean you get the position!"

"What do you know Yukio? You've never done this before either!"

"Maes, will you please help me out here?!" Roy shouted over them as he continued to try and keep the ten year olds from fighting. Hughes glanced over at his best friend, who looked extremely disheveled and annoyed. He was dumbstruck for a second. He had never seen the twins fight this bad! Granted, every wedding needed some drama. At least it was over something simple like who gets to be ring bearer instead of something worse. When Maes shook himself from his surprise, the first thing he did was chuckle at his very agitated best man and his situation. He was sandwiched between two squabbling boys desperately trying to keep them apart.

"Hughes…." He growled.

"Alright, fine!" he said, walking over to them, "Ok, boys I'm here to settle this!" "Only one person can be the ring bearer, and I'm going to tell you who," he said. The boys immediately stopped fighting and stood at attention. "The person who get's to be ring bearer is…." he said, "Gracia's four year old nephew Tyler!"

Both boys looked crushed. "But...what about us!" Rin cried.

"That's what you get for squabbling!" Roy said, with a slight smirk. Both boys bowed their heads in defeat.

"Aw Maaaan!" Rin whined.

"I guess we were being pretty immature about it…" Yukio muttered.

"Actually," Maes interjected, "I made Tyler ring bearer because you two were going to be groomsmen."

The boys suddenly perked up and Roy was taken aback in surprise.

"Really?" Rin squeaked.

"You're serious?" Yukio added.

"Please tell me you're joking…" Roy said.

Maes shook his head no. "I'm completely serious! You two better get a move on to the dressing room so you can get fixed up," he said.

The two cheered and Roy groaned as he held his head in his hand. Once they had run off he glared at Hughes. "If they screw something up, you'll only have yourself to blame, you know that?" he said.

Maes just smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "Understood, chief!" he said. Roy nodded and stalked off to the dressing room to help them. This was going to be a long day.

….

Riza was definitely not anyone's go to babysitter by any means. She wasn't traditionally motherly and usually much too strict for young kids. Plus her house was full of guns. Most parents would shy away from leaving their kids with someone like that. But when Roy had a special flame alchemy training session planned with Rin and forgot that the Hugheses were still on honeymoon, she was there to act as a substitute for Yukio.

She watched as the preteen wandered around her house looking at her collection of weaponry. It was funny, but neither of the boys had really spent much time at her house. She mostly came over to Roy's to see them. Now that Yukio was at her place she could see a whole new side to the boy. She knew he was inquisitive, but she never expected him to be so curious, particularly about her machinery. As he looked at all her cases he continuously asked questions. With everyone she answered, he seemed to have ten more...but that wasn't a bad thing. She very much enjoyed answering his questions.

"What's this one?" he asked.

"That's a single action revolver," she replied.

"And this one?"

"That's a double action revolver."

He looked up at her in confusion. "What's the difference between the two?" he asked.

She smiled. "Well you see, a single action revolver requires a separate movement to change the position of the chamber," she explained, "a double action revolver moves the chamber as the trigger is released." He nodded in understanding.

At some point the subject changed, and he started asking different kinds of questions. "Hey Riza? Does flame alchemy ever stop working?" he asked.

She blinked at him in surprise. "In a way yes," she said, "When the colonel gets his gloves wet he can't make a spark with them. Why do you ask?"

"Well...I was thinking...what if something bad happened and that happened to Rin," he said, "Who would be there to help him?" "Dad always talks about how the world is a dangerous place. But he also talks about how you've always had his back and how you protect him when he can't," he said, "but what about Rin? What if he gets in trouble like that? Who's going to be there for him?"

Riza paused to look at him. "Yukio," she said, "Are you asking me if I can teach you how to shoot?"

The boy looked down at the ground before nodding. "I've been worried about Rin ever since he ran away that day...he almost got killed," he said, "I know he can defend himself now, but what if he can't at some point...and what about me? I can't exactly use plants to defend myself." "Dad and Rin always seem busy with studying their flame alchemy...and I just feel like dead weight sometimes cause I'm the only one who can't defend themselves with much more than my fists. There's nothing I can do to protect myself that Rin can't do already," he said, "I don't like that feeling. I want to be helpful."

"Yukio…," she said, "You aren't dead weight and you are helpful. Roy loves and cares for you very much. But if you want, I would be willing to to teach you how to shoot properly. Would that make you feel better?" The boy nodded. "Alright," she said, "We'll let Roy know about this when he gets back, alright?"

…

Roy felt trapped. He tried his might to find something good as he flipped through the documents, but he found nothing of interest. He had been assigned to find alchemists to take the state alchemist exam. Very few had been interested in recent years due to the difficult of it, plus the disfavor the military had fallen into among alchemists. Most of what was left was garbage. Punks desperate for fame that could do little more than draw a chalk circle on the ground. Roy groaned and rubbed his temples. He only had a few more weeks to find someone before he got written up. His head thumped against the table. "Ow." he said dully. He didn't know why he thought doing that would help. He needed a break and soon...or a miracle.

"Cheer up dad, because your prayers have been answered!" he suddenly heard his son burst into his room. He sat up straight in his chair and pulled a piece of paper that had stuck to his forehead off of his face to look at him. "Ok so I know how you've had trouble finding a person to become a state alchemist?" he said, "Well I've got the solution to your problem!"

"What is it?" Roy said, leaning back into his chair.

"I become a state alche-"

"No!" Roy's reaction was so sudden and forceful that it startled the eleven year old. "Absolutely not!" Roy added.

Confusion and surprise filled the boy's eyes. "What? Aw, come on!" Rin said, "What's wrong with my idea? We could work side by side, stopping corrupt alchemists, protecting the people of Amestris-"

"Or you could get yourself killed!" Roy snapped, "You do realise you could get shoved off to the frontlines at any time if you become a state alchemist?"

"Yes, and I would be protecting the people of this country while doing so," he said, "And besides, it could be years before the next war could break out! I could be in my late twenties by the time I get called to arms!"

"Or it could be the very next day after your exam!" Roy snapped. His heart was beating a mile a minute with fear and anger. How could he even think about something like this? Didn't he know how dangerous being a state alchemist was? How easily they could turn him into a weapon? For a moment, the headline "Rin Mustang, Hero of Creta" flashed in his mind, the picture on the front showing Rin with the same sunken eyes he had not too long ago. The eyes of a killer. "You're too young and too inexperienced to be even considering this right now," he said in a low voice, "Now you're going to drop the subject and go back to your room to work on your homework."

"But-"

"My decision is final!" Roy stated through clenched teeth, pointing out of the room.

Hurt and betrayal flashed in Rin's eyes before they steeled with anger. "Fine!" he snapped, "I'll go. But I was just trying to help, you jerk!" With that, he stormed off. A few seconds later, Roy heard a loud crack along with a crumbling noise and muffled cursing. He groaned and rubbed his temples. Looks like Rin had kicked in the drywall...again.

Roy continued to flip listlessly through the pages of B grade alchemists, when something caught his eye: the two names Edward and Alphonse Elric. He looked at their page a bit more. The brothers were from Risembool and it stated here they were both thirty one. As he continued reading, he smiled. Perfect.

….

Roy sighed as he stared at the house in front of him. The universe just loved to make him a horrible person, now didn't it? Not a day after telling his eleven year old son he was too young to be a state alchemist, he had gone off to recruit two prodigies...only to find out they were eleven and ten themselves. Roy sighed. Well, they came out here. He might as well give the spiel and then go home to wallow in his new status as a hypocrite.

"Hello?" he called as he knocked on the door. It swung open from the light tap. "It's empty," Riza said.

"I don't think so," Roy responded, narrowing his eyes. He could feel that something in there, but he didn't know what. "You check upstairs I'll get downstairs." She nodded and headed off.

Roy walked downstairs as carefully as he could. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, as he was just about to reach the last step, something jumped him from behind. He tumbled down and rolled over as the thing bit into his arm. He couldn't see what it was at first, but he boxed it in where he thought it's nose ought to be and flung it off. He quickly snapped his finger, setting onfire the nearest flammable object to get a good look. When he did, he wished he hadn't. It was a hobgoblin. A big one at that. Roy was quick to act. He pulled out a holy water grenade from his pocket and flung it at the demon. It hissed and sizzled as the water bomb exploded before finally melting away. Roy breathed a sigh of relief...that is until he felt a tickle at the back of his neck. He swatted at it and pulled away to find the remains of some kind of moth. Black smoke was rising from it. He stared at in confusion for a second before his eyes widened in realization. Chuchi. Blood sucking, parasitic demons. Their larvae were known to feed off the central nervous system. He rubbed the back of his neck. He felt no bite marks, but that didn't comfort him. He had to be sure. He pulled out his flashlight to examine the room, because he remembered something very specific about these demons from what he read:

"Where there's one chuchi…"

Roy shown it over the floor. He groaned. Just as he suspected. Human transmutation circle. He sighed and closed his eyes as he slowly tilted the light upward, trying to convince himself that noise was only a shower that had been left on up stairs or an impossible amount of squirrels running on the roof. He peaked his eye open and immediately regretted it.

"...There are THOUSANDS more!"

Roy immediately snapped his fingers and set as many on fire as possible as he doused his flashlight and stumbled up the stairs. "RIZA!" he shouted. He prayed that she was ok. He had no idea if there had been more upstairs. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard her run down stairs.

"Sir are you alright?" She asked, worry clear in her eyes.

"I'm fine but we need to-"

"Roy your arm is bleeding! What happ-"

"It's fine but we need to get out of here!"

"What about the boys?"

"They aren't here! Now we need to go!"

"Why?"

"BECAUSE I SET THE GODDAMN BASEMENT ON FIRE!"

"WHAT?!"

Roy glanced back at the basement and heard the swarm start to move. The thought of thousands of tiny wings flapping at once never seemed so scary. There was no more time to waste. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of there with the swarm chasing them. He wouldn't stop running even after she started to protest. Only once he glanced over his shoulder and saw the swarm had dissipated into the night did he stop.

"Ok...I think we're safe now…" he panted, hands on knees. As he caught his breath, Riza took this opportunity to smack him upside the head. "WHAT THE HELL?!" she snapped, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"Save your life?"

"No you idiot!" she shouted, "Set the basement on fire! Have you lost your mind?!"

"From your perspective, probably," he muttered to himself as he rubbed his head. "Uhh...a rat bit me," he explained, holding up an injured arm, "and I snapped my fingers at it setting it a light. It then promptly ran over to a bookcase and caught it on fire."

Riza ran a hand down her face. "Why do I put up with you?" she questioned.

"Because you can't stand to be without me?" he answered with a smirk. This earned him another slap.

"Let's find someone to stitch you up and call the fire department…" she said with a sigh as she walked away, "Then we'll look for the boys elsewhere."

…

Rin was furious. Absolutely livid. He stormed through Central command glaring daggers and shoving aside anyone who got in his way. He had one purpose here and he wasn't going to have anyone stop him. He kicked open to doors to the office of Colonel Mustang and all eyes were on him. Roy internally groaned as he saw the twelve year old. He knew this was going to happen. Why did it have to happen here though. "You bastard!" he shouted, anger and betrayal thick in his voice as he marched towards him, paper clutched in hand, "How could you! You hypocrite!"

"Rin, can we please do this else where," Roy said, "This is not a good time-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP ASSHOLE!" he barked, causing some gasps from the office workers. "You goddamn liar! How could you do this?" he said, shoving the piece of newsprint in Roy's face. He didn't need to see the article he already knew it was about the Elrics. "You won't let your son be a state alchemist, but you let these two instead? What the hell! One is younger than me!" the boy shrieked.

"I wasn't aware of their age at the time, there had been a misprint of the forum," he said, "and I wasn't 'letting' them join the military. I was required to inform them of their opportunity. Nothing more."

"Stop trying to beat around the bush, jerk!" he said, "You condoned this and that's the point! So what is it? Huh? What the hell is so great about these two that makes them better than me?! What is so different about us that makes you not want me to become a state alchemist?"

There was a lot Roy wished he could say. He wanted to explain everything but he couldn't. Not here, not in front of everyone. He couldn't do that to Ed and Al.

"Well?"

Because they've already seen hell and you haven't.

Because they're desperate and you're not.

Because they've lost everything and you haven't.

Because they're out of options and you still have a bright future ahead.

Because they don't have a choice and you do.

Because they lost their bodies in human transmutation and now have to find a way to fix it!

"ANSWER ME BASTARD!" he screeched.

"Because you're my son and they aren't," Roy snapped, "I don't want to see them hurt or in war any more than I want to see you, but I'm not their parent. I can't decide what's right for them! But I do have a say with you! And I say you aren't ready for military life!"

"BULLSHIT!" he yelled, slamming a fist into a desk, causing it to splinter. More gasps. "You could have told them no! You could have kept your precious morals and said you couldn't find them! But no! You didn't!" he snapped. Roy and Rin stared eachother down, the boy panting. Havock tried to calm him down, but one glare from the twelve year old sent him running with his tail between his legs. "You're wrong, you know that?" he said voice shaking slightly, "I am ready! I'm as ready as either of those boys! And you know what else you're wrong about?" "You can't tell me what to do!" he shouted at him. He then turned on his heels and stormed out.

Roy's heart ached as he slammed the door behind him. This boiled over with a multitude of of other emotions fighting for dominance at the moment: anger, sadness, guilt, annoyance, humiliation, frustration… He felt like storming out himself.

"Sir?" Hawkeye said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I need to be alone for a while," he said through clenched teeth. His arms were shaking with emotion. Everyone moved out of the way as he walked back to his office. He slammed the door behind him, smacked his lamp of the the desk, and slumped in his seat, lying face down on his desk. He let out an undecipherable string of curses and angry noises and he pulled on own hair. Why did this boy have to be so difficult?!

…

As Rin marched down the hall of central command, he realised something: he wasn't angry at the Elric brothers. Looking over the article again, how could he be? They saved all those people's lives on that train. They were awesome!...But he just wanted his dad to see that he was awesome too. He wasn't an idiot. He knew that between him and his brother, he was the incompetent one. The problem child. He had always been. It didn't matter which universe he was in. He noticed how people react when they find out that he's the one studying fire alchemy and not Yukio. He knows how strangers will compliment Yukio to no end on his good behavior, but will continuously remind himself not to slouch or straighten his tie. He knows that Roy gets more frustrated with him than Yukio. To everyone else he is the underachiever and Yukio is the genius. That's how it's always been.

And because of this he knew the real reason why Roy didn't want him taking the exam: because he doesn't think he's capable of it. He doesn't think he can pass the exam, and if by some miracle he can, then he'll crack under pressure of regular military life. Well screw him! He'll show the colonel what for!

Rin pushed open the doors to General Raven's office and put on his best smile. "Hello, General, Sir!" Rin said saluting him.

"Ah, Rin!" he said, looking up from his paperwork, "It's good to see you. How's your brother?"

"He's good!" Rin responded, "Hey I have a favor to ask of you."

"Sure! What is it?" the older general said, smiling at him.

"I was wondering if you could sign me up for the State Alchemist Exam next year," he said, cheerfully.

The man gawked at him, eyes wide in surprise. "Are you sure? You seem a little young...why don't you wait a few years?" he said.

"Please?" Rin said giving his best pleading look, "I just really want to help serve this nation. And if you don't think I'll succeed as a state alchemist, then I probably won't pass the exam anyways!"

General Raven glanced over Rin's shoulder for a moment before responding. "I guess you have a point…" he said, "Alright, I'll recommend you."

Rin pumped his fist in the air for joy. "Thank you so much!" Rin said, shaking his hand.

"You're welcome, kid!" the general said, chuckling. Rin then turned to leave, but stopped himself. "Oh, and by the way...can you not tell my dad about this?" he asked, "I kinda want it to be a surprise if I pass. Like a present of sorts. And if I fail I don't want him to be disappointed."

"I….suppose that's alright…" he responded.

Rin smiled at him. "Thanks!" he called before leaving. As he did so, his grin turned into a smirk. "All according to plan…" he thought.

The blonde secretary that had sat across the room from Raven looked up from her work to watch Rin leave. She grinned an evil grin as she did so. "All according to plan…" Envy thought.

Hey everyone! Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! The next one should have the Elric brothers in it finally. :D Anyways, have a nice day you guys! Let me know what you think!