When September Ends

By: Mustang’sBunny

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Gees. That’s kind-of depressing when you think about it. And yes, the title is from the song “When September Ends” by Green Day. I thought it was a fitting title and “theme song” for this fan fiction. By the end you should understand, but really it has nothing to do with the story...

Oh, and please...NO FLAMES!

This chapter title reminds me of the FF7 movie. I love FF7. Especially that hot blonde...No! Not Cloud! Ew! No, I like Rufus. And Reno.

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Chapter Twenty Four: Reunion

Tucked back off of the busy capital roads of Xing quite a ways was a deserted alley. This was the meeting spot that Erik told Roy he would hand over Edward...if the conditions were right.

Standing on one end of the alley was a line of the "good guys". Roy, Havoc, Falman, Fuery, Breda, and Archer, who was smirking as always while the rest of the guys who were armed with guns in case of the worst, looked incredibly nervous. Across from them on the opposite side of the alley was Erik, who was surrounded by his armed men, Darik, Marik, Karik, and Zarik. Standing beside Erik, hands behind his back, a black blindfold over his eyes was none other than Edward. Upon seeing Ed at least alive made the Central team breath a sigh of relief.

"It's good to finally meet you in person, Colonel Mustang," Erik called over. "It's been so long since we've last talked to each other.

"R-Roy?" Ed called out.

"It's okay Ed, I'm taking you back home," Roy declared. His heart was racing. He hadn't seen Ed in so long, and to see him in one piece...It was good.

"R-Really? Roy, I want you to kick their asses!" Ed yelled back, a smile on his lips.

"Just as violent as ever," Havoc chuckled.

"You can have him back...as long as you have the goods," Erik said. "The money?"

"Right here," Falman said, lifting a suitcase that he had in his hand.

"And the document saying that you're stepping down as Colonel?"

Roy glared across at the pale blonde who was speaking. He had an arm around Ed's waist, and to him, it seemed like he had Ed a little too close for comfort. "I'm not signing it until you release him."

"And I'm not releasing him until I get the signed document," Erik retorted, followed by a snicker from his men. "So it seems that we get to keep Edward a little longer. Right boys?"

Roy saw Edward flinch at this, and began wondering what kinds of things they did to his poor little Ed. "I can't trust that you will let Ed go," Roy growled. "I'm not signing it until I know he's going to be let free."

All of the men backing Roy, even the devious Archer, were nervous with anticipation. No one had any idea how this trade off was going to go, or even whether they would all get out alive. The last thing they wanted was for things to no go well. But what "going well" meant to each man differed.

Being the smart one out of the group, Zarik came up with a proposal."How about this...Erik and Colonel Mustang can meet half way, make the exchange, and then we can be on our way...?"

Roy raised his eyebrow. He sensed it wouldn't be so easy as Zarik put it, but what other choice did he have? He wanted those grimy mitts off his Edward! "Fine. But if I see any fowl play...I will order my men to shoot you. Got it?"

"Crystal," Erik sneered. "And if I suspect anything suspicious on your part, my boys will spray you with bullets. Got it?"

Roy glared, and hesitantly took the bag of money from Falman. "Let's just get this over with."

Roy's heart was pounding in his ear as both he and Erik walked toward each other. The colonel's mouth went dry, and he could feel cold sweat beading on his forehead. In only a couple more moments, he and his lover would finally be reunited!

Although it seemed an eternity, Erik and Roy came face to face. Erik had his hands on Ed's shoulders, and was using Ed's body as a human shield, confident that his friends wouldn't shoot him. Roy held out the bag, which was taken with a grin from Erik, and once the bag was in his hands, Erik released Ed from his grasp and began walking towards his men, much to Archer's confusion since this obviously wasn't part of the plan.

"Ed, are you alright?!" Roy gasped, putting his hands on Ed's shoulders and giving them a shake.

A small smile came to Ed's lips. "Roy? Am I...finally going home?"

"Yes," the colonel, who was near tears said. "Roxas and Roxanne have missed you."

"What about you? Have you missed me?" Ed asked.

"Of course I have! I've missed you more than anyone!" Roy confessed.

"Oh Roy, that's...I've been dying to see you. Have you been dying to see me?" Ed asked. Havoc, who was listening with a grin, suddenly frowned at this. Something was strange about the way Fullmetal was acting.

Roy looked strangely at his Ed. "Uh, yeah, I've been wanting to see you for so long. First you were drafted, then kidnapped...So, I guess you could say I've been dying to see you too."

"Close your eyes," Ed commanded, still wearing a smile. "I've got something to show you."

Roy was clearly confused, as were his other friends and Archer, but Erik and his gang weren't. Who cared if Roy stepped down from being a Colonel or not? Really, the only one that asked for that, was Archer. And he wasn't exactly their boss anymore.

Roy obediently closed his eyes, and waited for something, anything. A kiss perhaps for the joy of finding him. Or maybe a punch for making him worry and stay in captivity for so long. Anything was better than nothing.

From behind his eye lids, he saw a bright light, and he was just about to open them, when he heard a deafening noise that he heard often too much.

A gun shot.

His eyes opened quickly, and he saw Ed stumbling away from him, holding his chest. Roy immediately thought Erik had shot him, but when he looked up at the bleach blonde, he saw the same amount of surprise on his face, as there was on his own. He whipped around to face his own crew, only to see Alphonse Elric, Ed's younger brother, standing only a couple feet behind him, holding up a smoking government standard issue handgun. Behind the young boy was none other than Armstrong, and Roy's best friend, Mas Hughes.

Roy's eyes were wide in disbelief as the boy strode towards him, still holding the gun. "Alphonse! Why? Why did you shoot Ed?!"

But Al ignored his soon to be brother-in-law, and continued his advance on his older brother. Ed was now on his knees, clutching his side with his metal hand. Roy made the sudden observation that Ed's hands were no longer bound. Alphonse pressed the gun to Ed's head.

"Stand up!" Al yelled.

His brother smirked, and complied. "Why, Alphonse, why ever would you shoot me?" he asked in the fakest voice Roy had ever heard. "Don't you remember? I'm your dear brother, Edward."

"No you are not!" Alphonse screamed. "I know damn well who you are! You're not really injured, are you?"

Ed's smile vanished and became a nasty frown. "I had almost forgotten how smart you and your brother are," he said, startling Roy. "But that's right, you're both geniuses, aren't you?"

"Show me."

"Show you what, dear Al?"

"Your chest. The bullet hole is gone isn't it?" Al snarled.

Roy couldn't stand it any longer. "Al! What are you talking about?!"

"Colonel, the man before you isn't really Ed," Al admitted as another grin played his brother's lips. "We've been hiding it for a long time, but now it's time to tell you the truth."

"That's right, Colonel Mustang," Ed laughed. "Little Ed is gone."

Edward stood straight up, and with his flesh hand, reached behind his head and undid the knot that held the blindfold to his eyes. Once the knot was removed, the black material fluttered to the ground, only to land in a puddle. Al stood only a couple feet away, his gun pointed at his brother, but his arm was trembling so bad, he doubted he could get a good shot if necessary. Ed removed his hand from the area on his chest where he had been shot, and Roy could hardly believe his eyes. There was no hole in his chest, and there was no blood.

"We've never met before, Roy Mustang," the blonde continued his eyes downcast at where the wound should have been. "But don't worry, I know all about you."

He opened his eyes fully, revealing the dangerous green eyes that often haunted Al's dreams.

"So I was..." Alphonse was now trembling violently, unsure of what to do next, especially when Edo advanced on him. He had had so many nightmares since first meeting Edo, that now it seemed as if this one was the worst one yet.

Edo circled the boy once, looking him up and down with a smirk. He then put his hands gently over his host's brother's. "Now Al, how can you shoot anything like that? You need steady hands that don't mind the blood."

Slowly, the blonde guided the trembling Al around, still holding his hands firm on the gun. Just as slowly, he wrapped one of his own skinny fingers around the trigger, making Al gasp. Then he pulled it.

Al thought that maybe Roy was to be the target, but when he heard Archer's howls of pain as he fell to the ground, he was proved wrong. Edo removed his hands from Al, and Al could almost feel his free will returning to him, as if it had been restricted before by those murder's hands.

"That's what you get for trying to use me, Archer. I am not your toy. You are mine. Oh, and your employees are now mine, just to let you know," Ed said as he began walking back towards Erik. Archer snarled back a curse, but it was cut off by his howls of pain.

Roy was trembling, just like Al. He had been so set on getting Ed back, that this...

He had thought there may be some difficulties, but he never thought that Ed would be the one to dish them out. This was too much.

"Ed!" he cried out.

Edo stopped, and turned to look over his shoulder. "The name is Edo," he corrected. "The Edward you knew is no longer in control."

Roy was sure that his heart had just stopped.

"This is my body now," Edo continued. He continued walking to Erik, where Erik stood next to him like a body guard. "And I am a homunculus. If you don't want to call me Edo because of memories, you make also refer to me as...Pride."

Fuery and Falman were trying to save Archer from bleeding to death, but Havoc on the other hand, who was staring intensely at those green orbs he swore he had seen before, spoke for the first time during this whole situation. "Pride? But all the homunculi are dead. You can't be-"

"But I am," Edo shrugged. He then made a look as if he had remembered something, and dug into his pocket. "Since I'm not in the military, I probably won't be needing this. You may keep it if you wish. I'm sure Ed won't mind."

Edo tossed the object to Roy, who let it fall to the ground before him. Gleaming on the concrete was none other than Ed's silver military pocket watch. The colonel made no sudden moves to pick it up. His mind was far too lost on the fact that he had let Ed down again, and this time, it may be forever.

"We will meet again," Edo promised. Each of the men around him pulled out a pill sized smoke bomb from their pockets and slammed them on the ground. Each smoke bomb exploded, obscuring the air with a thick fog. "And next time, I will kill you Roy. Whether he wants me to or not."

There was a blinding smoke cloud that caused everyone in the alley to begin to cough, and once the smoke settled, only the crew from Central remained. Alphonse slowly stood from where we had kneeled on the ground, and began wandering forward slowly.

"Brother?" he called out. His voice echoed like a haunting call back to his ears. He decided to call again, hoping this time for a response. "Brother?"

Hughes, who was watching both Al and Roy with a pained expression, approached the teen and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He's gone Al. He's not here. But we'll-"

"You don't have to tell me that!" Al half snapped, half moaned. He then whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at the man who was slowly bleeding to death. "Archer you bastard! This is all your fault!"

The young alchemist when to go to Archer, most likely to hit him, but Hughes shoved him back. "I understand you're angry Alphonse! I really do! But now is not the time for this!"

"Then when is the time, Hughes?" Al cried, tears blinding him. "My brother is gone! I may never see him again!"

Hughes shook his head sadly. "You can't give up. Edward never gave up on you, did he? Do you ever remember a time where he just turned his back on you, just because things didn't go as planned?"

Al froze, his eyes wide. No. Ed had never abandon him. Not on purpose at least. In fact, ever since they failed to resurrect their mom, Ed had lived his entire life, leaving behind so much, and so many people, just for Al's sake. In fact, from the age he was eleven, until the day he came back from Germany, he had lived his entire life...for his little brother. There was hardly anything he did that benefited just him. How had Al overlooked that just then? How could it be so easy for him to abandon hope, when Edward kept it alive for so many years?

"I'm...I'm horrible," Al admitted. "To think that I would give up so easily..."

"So?" Hughes inquired, a smile coming to his lips. "What do you think? Should we go after your brother and knock some sense into him?"

"Not now. First, we need to get Archer to a doctor. Then we're gonna get some answers," Al said, his eyes wandering over to Archer, who seemed to have the bleeding under control thanks to Fuery and Falman. His eyes then ventured over to the motionless Colonel, who was standing in the same place he had been when Ed tossed him that watch. The watch was in the Flame Alchemist's hand, but his gaze was on the ground, not the object in his hand. "Roy."

Roy didn't bother to look up, but Al knew that he heard.

"Roy, I'm going after my brother after we take Archer to a doctor, preferably one in this country. I have a friend in a high place that I think could help. I know you really want him dead, but we need answers," The teen left Hughes' side in order to stand in front of the Colonel, who looked lost in thought. "I owe Ed so much for those years where I was in armor. He may say that I owe him nothing, and that it was his fault for thinking about the transmutation, but he's wrong. It was both our faults, and because of me, he lost an arm, a leg, and so many years that we spent on the road, trying to find the answer to our prayers. We lost the one nearest to us, and if my brother hadn't bound me to that armor, I would have left him all alone in the world."

Roy looked up at this. To his best friend, he seemed to resemble a bit of his old self. The part of him that wasn't so strong anymore but still remained. That poor tormented killer that woke nearly every night, screaming because of his job of killing back in Ishbal, and the murder of Winry's parents. He had that same dead look in his eyes, and that same deep frown.

"There is so much Ed has hidden from you about his past," Al admitted. "There were some things that, even after discussing that maybe he should tell you, he said they were better left in the past. Well, I think it's time I told you about the Edward Elric that you never knew. The one that existed prior to his induction into the military as a dog."

Havoc, who was still trying to figure out everything that had happened during the short amount of time that they were face to face with Edo, wandered over, looking clearly confused.

"Was Fullmetal so much different as a kid?" he asked Al. "I always assumed that he was just a punk, but still..."

"He wasn't a punk really at all," Al said, sadness lacing his voice as his eyes dropped to the ground. Painful memories he had suppressed for years began to surface. Many were of him and Edward, playing around the house, and some were of his mother, cooking a lovely meal while she wore that smile that now made him long for those days back. "He was...He was..."

Roy finally spoke, his voice gentle and quiet, but curious. "What?"

Al felt warm tears run down his face. "He was a kind, caring brother, that would do anything to protect his brother, and he would die as long as him mom would smile and be happy."

The older men looked at each other, trying to imagine this small boy name Edward. They tried to imagine that smile that was genuine and had nothing to hide. Those eyes that were alive with a youthful light that showed no foreshadowing of the pain to come. It was impossible for them. They had only known Ed as the alchemist, hell bent on trying to save his brother, and snapping and exploding at every comment about height. The fact that they didn't know this Ed that Al had described, it made them wonder why Ed was really the way he was.

"Could you tell me?" Roy asked, drawing Al's attention. "I mean, could you tell me about when Ed was little? He never..."

"He never told you anything, did he?" Al asked, a small smile coming to his face at the fact that this was a very Ed-like move- not informing close ones about bad things.

"No. He only would talk about work, his journeys and...me. He never wanted to talk about himself, and when I would push, even just a little, he would change things around and avoid it like the plague," Roy admitted. "You knew an Edward that I'll never know, and never will. But I wish I could have."

"Why don't I tell you on the way to visit an old Xing friend of mine and my brother's?" Al suggested as he motioned for Armstrong to lift the wounded Colonel. "He is alright, isn't he?"

"He won't die," Breda snarled, glaring at the pale man. "Not yet at least."

"That's good."

All the men gathered around Alphonse to find out where they needed to be taking the traitor.

Alright! One more chapter...until I start the sequel! Wow, looking at it, I really worked a lot on this fanfic. More so than the others at least. Thanks for all the reviews! Can you guess who the friend Al is referring to is? Actually, he's not in the anime...That's right...I bet some of you are screaming it right now at your computers...o