Sup! Alright, onto the next chapter, and thank you to the guest who pointed out I spelled Komui's name wrong in the last chapter...

I have brought dishonor onto my family line. *Hangs head in shame*

"A-ah.." Allen mumbled, and then swallowed, "Hello, ah..." He flushed as the Exorcists in the room remained frozen, Lenalee half a step forward from where she had been.

"It-it's been awhile, how are things going?" Allen felt the comforting presence of his family behind him, and took a step away from the door.

That was all it took. Miranda let out a small sob, and rushed forward, grabbing Allen in a strong hold, "Allen! Allen!"

"You- you're alive," Lavi choked out, his eyes wide, "But...the fight...with the Earl...you disappeared?"

Lenalee approached Allen while Miranda slowly stifled her tears into sniffles. She sniffed as well, and carefully put her arms around him.

"Ch. Bean sprout, what the hell were you thinking?" Kanda spoke, but Allen could see that he had sheathed Mugen.

"Oi, who are you calling a bean sprout so small that you wouldn't even use it to season rice!" Ed suddenly broke through the silence, startling a laugh out of Allen, and a groan out of Al.

"Fullmetal," Mustang groaned as well,but glared in Kanda's direction.

Allen could swear he saw flames spouting between the direct line of eye contact of the two.

"Allen-kun," Komui moved from his seat, and stood in front of Allen, who had had a large vampiric man join in on the hug, "We...with the Earl, you died."

"Eh?" Allen stared at them, "No, I didn't."

Lavi had moved forward a bit more, "We saw it, through a golem, the Earl killed you..."

Allen fidgeted his way out of the three's hold, and he and the others moved further into the room.

"What are you talking about? After the Earl left, the Church was trying to kill Ed and I, so we left using the Ark," Allen looked from one person to the other.

"Yeah, those bastards wouldn't leave him alone, so he opened a door," Ed spoke, and garnered strange looks from the Exorcists and research team.

"But..but we saw it!" Lenalee's face contorted to a look of pain.

"Well, as he is here right now, what you saw was obviously not the truth," Mustang spoke, and Komui nodded his head as well, having reached the same conclusion.

"For some reason, they didn't want us to know that Allen-kun was alive," Komui tilted his head back and forth.

"Not like they hadn't been trying to kill him for a year before that," Ed drawled, and Al nodded, "From what I heard, Allen had been on the run for a while."

Lavi spoke up, a confused look over his face, he opened his mouth once, thought better of it, and then spoke,"But...why didn't you stay for the trial?"

Allen's face hardened, "It was all a farce, they never would have let me out, they had it all planned from the beginning...and I didn't expect any help."

Reever growled, and turned to Komui, "I told you!"

Komui sighed, and sat back in his seat, "I should have expected that, Allen-kun, I'm sorry."

Allen looked around in shock, "What?"

Reever spoke, "We wanted to make sure we could get you out, and so Komui hanchou made it so no one could see you, so when we testified, they wouldn't be able to use it against us. Almost all of the Exorcists and personnel in the European and Asian branches were going to testify."

Allen stared, "but...Leverrier...and the other inspectors..."

Lavi broke in, "and then you disappeared, and we all thought that...the Noah had taken over."

Allen stood frozen in his spot, "No...I..."

Mustang placed a hand on Allen's shoulder, and gave a nod to Hawkeye, who moved forward to stand next to him.

Ed and Al moved next to Allen.

"It seems there has been a lot of confusion, and I am going to say that we are only going to introduce more. I am Roy Mustang, and this is Riza Hawkeye. Behind me, we have Edward and Alphonse Elric, we have come to help you with your...problem."

Komui stood up, and shook the man's hand, "Forgive me, but I haven't heard of you before, are you from a different branch?"

Edward grinned, "Try a different world."

Lavi turned toward him, but Mustang smiled, and snapped his fingers. Flames spouted around the room, dancing between people, and not touching any of the paperwork.

"We are Alchemists, and friends of Allen, I have a team prepared to come through. We are here to help you get rid of the Noah."

~~.~~

The main room was filled with people, the other Alchemists had come, and the exorcists had gathered around as well.

Komui, Mustang, Izumi,and Hawkeye all stood to the side, gesturing on pieces of paper, and writing down different ideas.

Armstrong was in the middle of the room, speaking boastfully to Crowley, who was shaking in his boots.

Fuery was bouncing up and down, talking with Number 65. Tim was flying around the two, avoiding their flailing gestures.

Reever and Havoc seemed to be commiserating over in a corner, which had darkened considerably compared to the rest of the room.

Falman, Breda, Ross and Brosch, stood in a circle near the center with Tup Dop and Johnny Gill.

The wind alchemist was leaned against a wall, talking with Miranda. Every once and a while they would both fall into an awkward silence, that was broken when one of the two apologized.

Scar stood off on his own, looking over the people in the room. Menacingly.

Allen sighed, and shook his head, at the weirdness that filled the room. He noticed the awkward looks some of the others were giving him, as if they wanted to come over and talk, but couldn't.

Lenalee was the most obvious, but even Kanda had shot him a glare or two.

He shook his head again, and ambled over to where Ed and Al were talking.

Ed looked up and smiled when he saw him, "Oi, Allen, these guys might have got a read on Envy."

"Yeah?" Allen grinned, and sidled over, looking over the map that had been laid out.

"Yup," Al responded, "Look here, they have a bunch of notes about weird things going on in some towns, but every time that they looked for an akuma, they couldn't find it."

Ed suddenly grimaced, " And there were also signs of...a man with gold hair and eyes in the same area..."

"So then Hohenheim is following Envy around?" Allen questioned, and Al shrugged.

Ed grumbled.

"We should probably take care of him, before moving onto the Noah," Ed replied.

"Who's Envy?" Miranda had moved over to them, and they noticed that a lot of eyes were on their little group.

"Envy is a homunculus, a being that was created from someone else's remains, it came through with me when I first fell into this world," Ed looked back down on the piece of paper, "He can change his shape, become any one he wants to."

Lavi's eyes widened, "You mean, like an akuma?"

Alphonse winced, "Sort of? From what Allen said...Akuma have the presence of the soul that is connected to a frame...homunculi are supposedly soulless... but have an actual body. That or the soul is...warped." He shot Brendan an apologetic look.

"And he really doesn't like Ed and I, because our father was the one who created him," Al continued.

"Homunculi are hard to kill," Brendan moved toward them as well, "They are created using the Philosopher's Stone, and so usually can be thought of as immortal...but they can be killed."

"Using the Flamel circle on Gluttony worked pretty well, but he wasn't the smartest around," Allen thought out loud, and Ed nodded.

"I'll help you with this one," Brendan sat at the table with them, ignoring Izumi's glare, "I need to."

Izumi cracked her knuckles in the background, causing Ed and Al to flinch.

Brendan stared at them with pleading eyes.

Ed stared at him, and then nodded, "I get it, fine. That bastard is probably around as well, so it shouldn't be too difficult. He has some uses." He tried to ignore the shivers going up his spine.

He just had to make sure nothing happened to the brat, or Sensei would kill him.

Al shook his head, and tapped his fingers on the piece of paper, "Nii-san is right, though, we should take care of him first."

"Before you take care of anyone, mind explaining to me how someone who is supposed to be dead, or an enemy to the Order, is standing here, plain as day?"

Allen whirled around, but soon found himself forced behind a large group of people.

"Inspector Leverrier," Komui spoke, standing at the head of the crowd, "I'm surprised that you are coming by now."

"I got an interesting report, you see, and I had to make sure it was true," Leverrier stepped forward, Link shadowing him, " and it seems it was, hand over the Noah."

Ed pushed his way through to the front of the crowd, Al following behind him, "Hell no you asshat, Allen isn't going with you again, and anyway, he isn't a Noah anymore, so piss off."

Stunned silence filled the room, and then all eyes turned to Allen, who flushed.

Even Leverrier was stunned, but he quickly recovered, "That's impossible, you can't separate a Noah from their host except through death, or in extreme cases, and even then the host will die."

Al smiled, tight, and controlled, "Well, you obviously haven't tried hard enough then."

Mustang spoke from a side, "I never got around to proper introductions of the Alchemists, did I," he continued with a drawl, and waved his hand at each person as he spoke, "Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist, specializes in hand to hand combat, and Combat Alchemy. Taylor Yvienne, the Wind Alchemist, specializes in pressure differentiation and assassination. Scar, specializes in decomposition. Izumi Curtis...a housewife," he paused at that, and at Izumi's bright smile, he continued, "Myself, Roy Mustang, the Flame alchemist, guess. And finally, Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, specializes in doing the impossible, and getting into extreme amounts of trouble," "-OI-," "and his brother Alphonse Elric, Steel Soul alchemist, specializes in metals, and transference of souls from one object to another."

Al smiled, and joined the line of Alchemists who had moved to the front of the room, "We can separate the human side from the Noah side, and it does work."

"So piss off, unless you are actually going to be useful, and if you aren't, get the hell out of our way, because we have work to do."

Komui stared at them in awe, and most of the rest were looking at Allen, who had moved to the front as well.

"You have been fighting this war for a long time, and I understand that, but now we can win, and if you are going to try and stop us, it won't work."

Leverrier squinted from one person to another, "And why are you interested in this matter, I have never heard of Alchemists before, but it seems strange for you to intrude now."

"Isn't it obvious!" Armstrong's voice boomed through the tense atmosphere, and suddenly all Team Mustang cringed.

Allen yelped as Armstrong grabbed him in a bear hug, tears streaming down his face.

The Exorcists looked on in shock.

"Allen is here to protect you, and one can not claim to be a responsible adult unless they help innocent children, and so, with this glorious body and technique that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations, I shall make sure that Allen's work will not go unfinished!"

He then placed Allen down and flexed, tearing his shirt open.

Allen sat on the floor, head in his hands, smothering his laughter.

Mustang's eyes twitched at the sparkles that bounced off of Armstrong, and kneaded his forehead, "As General Armstrong was saying...we are here, because Allen needed help with this task, and from past events, wasn't sure if he would get any on this side."

Mustang looked over the Exorcists, some of whom flushed at the reprimand.

Link let out a sigh, and moved forward, his hand held out to Allen.

Allen looked up at him, and carefully took the hand.

Link didn't smile, but Allen could swear he heard some warmth in his tone, "Welcome back, Mr. Walker."

Leverrier closed his eyes, "...the Council will not approve of this."

"Then don't tell them, "Lavi spoke, sitting on top of a counter.

"They haven't helped before, they won't help now, we will handle this," Kanda had unsheathed Mugen, running his hand over the blade.

"Please don't tell them, Inspector Leverrier, " Lenalee stared straight at him, "With Allen's help, and all of his friends, we can end this."

Miranda nodded, and stepped forward, legs shaking, "Even if they do tell us to stop, we wont!"

Crowley spoke next, "We will stand by Allen, and we'll make sure that we can win, so no one else will pay."

Komui spoke last, a smile plastered over his face, "and that is our report, so Inspector Leverrier, what are you going to do?"

Leverrier stared at them for a time, before nodding once, and turning to Link, "Keep me up to date. As long as they are doing what they say they are doing, the council will not be involved, however," he turned and stared at Allen, who glared directly back, "the moment they step out of line I will know, and the Council will be made aware."

~~.~~

Komui was back in his office that evening, drawing pictures of new robots that could be used to help, when a knock sounded on his door.

Roy Mustang entered, with a grim look on his face.

"I need to talk to you about Allen," the man spoke, and Komui nodded, gesturing to the seat across from him.

Mustang sat, one leg draped over the other, "I have a few questions that no one has been able to answer, and it is ..disconcerting."

Komui sighed, and rubbed his head, "Well, I will try to answer them then, but if they are about Allen-kun's personal life..." he stopped as Mustang raised his hand and shook his head.

"No, nothing like that, just questions about your organization," Mustang straightened.

"Why are you sending children into war?"

Komui sighed, and leaned forward, messing with the papers on his desk.

"Lenalee was six, when they took her away," Komui began, not looking at anything, "Akuma killed our family, because they could tell that she was an accommodator."

"I joined this organization to stay with her, to try to keep her safe," Komui had a sad smile, "but, unless you have innocence, you can't really stand in the front lines."

"Akuma would attack anyone with innocence, and most of the time it is children who are found to be able to become exorcists, and so, they are usually taken in young."

"But what if they don't want to fight? Why is it that almost all of the exorcists I have heard of aren't even adults?" Mustang's eyes were shadowed.

"That is because they have all been killed," Komui looked up to him, "and the children are all that is left."

Mustang growled, "So you send them into battle, against foes that have killed those older than them. Do they have a say? Or is your indoctrination that good?"

Komui flinched, but his next words were strong, "If I could stop these children from having to fight... to put their lives on the line, I would, in a heartbeat. But I can't, so I do all that I can to help them."

"...and," Komui continued after a silence, "for some, a fight to the death protecting those they care about, is the better end they can have."

Mustang's entire body tensed, "What do you mean?"

"There are two kinds of innocence," Komui spoke quietly, " Types that take the form of items, and types that are part of peoples bodies, the parasitic ones take energy, a lot of energy. Especially if they are extremely powerful."

"Like Allen's."

"Allen-kun has one of the most powerful parasitic type innocence's that has ever been seen," Komui rubbed a hand over his face, "and he uses it so much. He has gotten into so many life or death situations...it is eating up his life every moment of every day..."

Mustang grimaced. That was not what he wanted to hear.

"So he is dying."

Komui nodded, "I am surprised he has lasted this long...it may be because of the Noah that he has even made it to sixteen."

They both sat in the quiet for a time.

"Fuck," Mustang swore, and Komui sighed in response.

Mustang stood, "I bet he never told those idiots."

Komui smiled, "Ah, but that is just like Allen-kun, to try not to hurt people by not telling them his problems."

Mustang shook his head, "They are way too alike, It's a wonder the universe didn't throw them together earlier..."

He trailed off, and then turned to look at Komui, "I want to make this clear, in the battles that are coming, It will not be necessary for those children to fight."

Komui shook his head with amusement, "Even if you say that, they are stubborn. They will just break out to fight."

Mustang gave a small laugh, "That I can understand, stubborn to a fault?"

Komui laughed, "It seems we all have troublesome kids running around."

"Damn brats."

"Before you leave, " Komui spoke, "You called one of your people General, are you all from an army?"

Mustang smiled, "Yes, almost everyone here is an officer in the Amestrian Forces."

"Even those two boys? Is that why you were asking?"

Mustang smirked, "Yes, even the brats...stubborn fools."

"They all seem to follow you, are you their commanding officer?"

Mustang's smirk widened, "You could say that."

~~.~~

Al and Brendan sat next to the windows, and Allen smiled at the looks of awe on their faces.

After Leverrier had left, they had spent the rest of the day preparing for the battle, and getting in contact with all of the Exorcists that would follow their cause.

Allen, Al, Edward, and Brendan, had all gotten prepared to leave the next day, heading out to Rouen, where Envy might have been seen last.

The door to the carriage suddenly slid open, and three other people squished themselves into the seats.

"So! Where are we going!" Lavi grinned, and Allen stared at him in shock.

"Eh?"

"Allen, you didn't really think we would let you be the only Exorcist, did you?" Lenalee smiled and gave a polite nod to the other teenagers in the car.

Kanda just glared.

"But..what?" Allen stared from one person to the other.

Al smiled, "Come on, Nii-san, Brendan, let's go check out the rest of the train!"

Brendan quickly followed behind, and Ed after them, but only after giving the Exorcists a glare.

The door closed, and the train car fell into silence.

"You didn't need to come," Allen spoke, looking out the window, "We can handle it, we did it before."

"Idiot." Allen looked up in shock as Lenalee spoke immediately, tears forming around her eyes.

"You idiot...we..." she rubbed her eyes, and Lavi suddenly took over.

"We messed up, all of us. You always looked out for us, and well, " he smiled, his eyes closed, but it was bitter, "we just didn't do the same for you. So that isn't happening again. Look, even Yuu came along on his own!"

Kanda glared at Lavi, his eyes flashing, but he just settled back in his seat with a grumble.

Lenalee, leaned forward, and rested a hand on Allen's knee, "We are so sorry Allen, and we know, that we failed you when you needed us... and then you died...and we realized..."

"It won't be happening again, beansprout, " Kanda interrupted. Allen began to grin, "Ah."

Allen settled back in his seat, a smile playing on his lips.

He waited counting down from three, as Lavi fidgeted in his seat.

Lavi smiled sheepishly, "But seriously, how in the world did you run into those guys?"

Allen laughed, and settled back, a small feeling of contentment rising in him, "Well...it all started on a train."

~~.~~

"Wow," Lenalee grinned, and she smiled, "That is amazing, I never knew the Ark had those kind of abilities."

Lavi's eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open.

Even Kanda had an expression other than annoyance on his face.

Allen smiled, and shrugged, "I didn't either, but I mean, it does make sense, with how we think the Ark works."

He then laughed as Lavi started to question him again, "I told you all I know about it, if you want to know more, ask my brothers."

"Brothers?" Lenalee straightened in her seat, and Allen flushed, rubbing his head.

"Ah, yeah, I guess..they officially adopted me? Unofficially adopted me?" His smile widened, "But yeah, brothers."

Lenalee jumped from her seat, and grabbed him in a hug, "I'm so happy for you, Allen."

Allen smiled.

"But..." Lavi trailed off, "What are you going to do, after?"

Kanda looked up, and Lenalee exhaled.

Allen hadn't even thought about that.

"I..." he trailed off, a confused look spreading across his face.

"I never thought about it," Allen spoke slowly.

Lenalee leaned back, a small smile played on her lips, and a gentle look on her face, "Well, you don't need to decide now, or maybe ever. Here, let's go find your family, and talk about this Envy that you are going to fight."

Allen let Lenalee pull him out of the train car, and Lavi followed behind with a grin.

Kanda brought up the rear, rolling his eyes.

Allen felt a small smidgen of fear roll in his stomach.

Did he have to choose?

Wow, we are quickly approaching the end...this is honestly surprising...

what am I going to do with my life when I finish this...

WELL WHATEVER!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one is going to be a ton of fighting! Yeaaaaah~

~not necessarily in between