"Two fathers, one son"
"Just tell me where I can find Van Hohenheim, please"
Edwards was the Medical Research Center's reception with two secretaries staring at him slightly annoyed since the boy didn't go away.
"As I told several times already, you can't go in there, this place is not open to public", one of the women said impatient.
"But I'm State Alchemist", he insisted showing her his silver watch.
"This is not a Military dependency, that doesn't allow you to enter"
The boy clenched his teeth but looked around trying to find a clue where he could find the man. He wouldn't give up just because he couldn't enter the place, if he was able to go and yell to Raven, this was nothing.
The woman grabbed the phone to attend a call while the other folded some documents ignoring the boy with the hope that he would go away, but Ed didn't and he glanced at the women desk. Finally, he saw some names written in the phone directory, scientists surely, and saw Hohenheim written in the spot of the '5th floor', so he ran ignoring the yells of the women.
He ran upstairs as fast as he could noticing that he was being followed by some guards, but he was sure they wouldn't reach him. He kept running up and up ignoring the yells of the men that ordered him to stop, but what was done was done and he wouldn't stop, no this time. It was in that moment when he thought how in hell he considered asking Hohenheim for help, how could he after how he treated him?
It didn't matter, neither his pride, his dad was his main priority and if that bastard really cared for him as he said a year ago, he had to proved it and now. Edward didn't have any choice left.
The boy reached the 5th floor and ran through the hallway slightly worried since he could sense the sterilized environment…maybe he shouldn't have entered that way, he could be ruining experiments. However, he forgot about that when he saw Hohenheim inside an office with a bunch of scientists with him, so he opened the glass door and caught everyone attention.
"…Edward?"
The man saw how a few guards were running after him, so he approached the blonde and raised his hand as the men stopped confused, but they had to back up when Hohenheim nodded telling them that it was ok.
"Could you give us some time alone?", he gently said to the scientists, who just nodded and went out of the room taking some books when them. When the office was empty, Hohenheim turned to Edward and smiled, "You'd grown up"
The boy stared at the man mute and almost turning around to run away, but he immediately remembered why he was there and running away wasn't an option. The man looked at the blonde for a moment noticing how he seemed to be slightly shocked.
"Can I ask what brings you here?"
Ed flinched, but lowered his head so his bangs hided his eyes. He didn't know how he should start…and what if when he mentioned all this was about Roy the man decided to kick him out of the place? Hohenheim then walked towards the table and took a seat and signed to boy to do the same, which he did and placed both hands on the table, his head still down. The man noticed the blonde had a sheet on his hand, so he grabbed it at the little resistance the boy did to avoid it.
Hohenheim read the sheet for a while with the hand on his chin analyzing the information while Edward remained silent waiting for him to say something, and he did it soon.
"Do you want the name of the virus?", he finally asked him, so Ed looked up.
"…A cure…rather it…"
The man stared thoughtful at the sheet again, but then he stood up and approached a bookshelf grabbing some books and placing them in the table. He opened some of them and nobody said anything for a few minutes as he read the book and Ed just stared at him expectant but nervous at the same time. He didn't want another bad new…please…
"I'm 100 sure that someone used alchemy to create this virus, there's no other explanation for how the virus spread that fast and that lethal way"
"…Alchemy…to create a virus?"
Hohenheim nodded and turned the page to keep reading while Ed clenched his fists in anger. Now he was sure that if the man couldn't do anything, it was because there was nothing to do. Finally, Hohenheim closed the books and looked at Edward, who guessed what the man was going to say.
"Can I ask who is infected?"
The heart of the boy raced and stared at the man quite uneasy. It was the time, "…Otoosan…"
For the boy surprise, Hohenheim just looked at him for a moment and then nodded and smiled, "I thought so, there would be hardly another reason so you come to me looking for help"
The boy lowered his head ashamed, but the man just stood up and put the books back on its place.
"I'm really happy to see you, Edward, even under these circumstances", he said drawing a sincere smile, which made the blonde felt even worse, "I'm quite sure I can come up with a cure"
Ed's eyes widened and stood up placing both hands in the table, "…Really?"
"Yes, but I'll need two things", he said reading the sheet again, "I assume Mustang is at the Military Hospital, so we have to move him to my house, I have all the equipment there", the boy nodded repeatedly approaching him, "And I'll need your help, as far I know, you're an alchemy genius and this will be really complicated".
Ed stared at the man for a moment, but then he nodded again with a big smile; there was hope…The man wrote something down in a piece of paper and handed it to the boy while he grabbed his suitcase.
"That's my house address, I'll waiting for you. And be ready, the night will be long"
The boy nodded for the last time and turned around to run towards the door, but before he went out, he glanced at the man, "…Thank you"
Hohenheim just smiled, so Ed disappeared in the hallway.
……..
"Are you sure about this?"
Hughes glared at Hohenhim again seeing how he adjusted the IV of Roy and Edward put some books in the table fascinated by the man's library.
"It's not like we have too many options, Hughes-San"
Maes remained silent for a moment before he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder catching his attention, "Call me for anything, alright? We are going to be waiting"
Edward nodded, so the man got out of the place closing the door behind him. Hohenheim then approached the boy and grabbed even more books from the bookshelves and read some titles to decide if they needed more.
"I have to say that Mustang seems pretty strong, I thought he would be in worse condition"
The man didn't have any idea how encouraging the comment was to Edward, but he just nodded. Yeah, his dad was pretty strong. Both took a seat at the table and Hohenheim began to open the books and hand some of them to Ed so he started analyzing them. He then rose and took a blood sample of Roy to analyze it with his microscope.
The boy was surprised, the books were really hard to understand, even the transmutation circles, but it was in that moment when he remembered how he loved to read about alchemy and learn new things. Hohenheim, in the other hand, was surprised how fast the boy devoured the books while he wrote down some notes and modified some transmutation circles.
"This one is weak yet", he said as he opened another book and Ed tried to find out what was the mistake.
"I think it needs some adjustments to make it more stable", he said immediately modifying it.
Hohenheim smiled, so it was true his son was an alchemy genius, "Mustang's blood shows that the virus is discomposing the plasma and…"
The boy heard Hohenheim attentive as he modified the transmutation circle. They now got almost 30 books in the table and both read their notes again and again; the man checked the vital signs of Roy every now and then, but his condition didn't change significantly, which for now was a good sign.
Hours later, Ed had his head leaned on the table over some books closing his eyes for a brief moment before Hohenheim took a seat at his side with two plates with noodles who smelled wonderfully.
"This is so hard", he said with the head still in the table and the man smiled handing him one of the dishes, "Do you really work on this?"
"Yes, since I had you age I think", he said beginning to read another book, "I always loved this kind of knowledge"
The boy growled, but he didn't say anything else, he just started eating the noodles while he looked distracted at some books which were in the table. Not only they smelled good, they tasted fantastically…or maybe it was because he was starving…
He found really curious that he was at Hohenheim's side eating noodles after all that happened between them, but as he though one year ago, the man didn't seem to be a bad person…maybe he just had his priorities upside down and weren't any close to Edward's. Both ate in silence for a moment, but suddenly Edward dropped his spoon and Hohenheim glanced at him surprised.
"Look", he said grabbing a book and showing it to the man.
He took it and studied it for a while, but then his eyes grew wide and both began to modify the transmutation circle erasing and adding more details. It wasn't that long before both stared at the sheet analyzing everything until the last line of the circle.
"…I think…It's ready", Hohenheim said finally as the blonde smiled. He stood up to reach a chest where he grabbed substances and lab equipment and placed them in the table, "Prepare this blend while I take a blood sample"
The boy nodded and did it carefully as he saw how the man put a few drops of Roy's blood on it.
"Ready?", he said and the blonde nodded slightly nervous, but he saw surprised how Hohenheim clapped his hands and touched the transmutation circle. So he could do that too…
Both observed how the reaction illuminated the entire room and the substance change his color into a fluorescent green. They had to put that inside of Roy?
Hohenheim took a sample of the substance and put it on the microscope over Roy's blood and observed it for a moment while the boy waited anxious. A few seconds later, the man looked up and smiled at the expectant Edward, so the boy plunged on the table sighing and smiling relieved…they have made it, Roy was going to be ok. Hohenheim then put all the substance inside a syringe and inserted it in the IV slowly as the boy watched slightly scared for the big needle.
When all the substance was inside Roy's body, Hohenheim approached the table and dropped the syringe while he took a seat and sighed exhausted, "Now we wait".
Ed put the head in the table again and closed his eyes. He was really tired, but he couldn't rest until he knew Roy was fine. In that moment, he noticed Hohenheim was staring at him, so he raised his head and looked away.
"Something's wrong?"
The man suddenly changed his facial expression which worried Ed, "You were involved on the riots that arisen around the world, weren't you?". The boy stared at the man slightly puzzled by the comment, but he nodded, "Your eyes are not the same I saw last year"
Edward turned his head away, fold his arms and leaned on the chair, "I hope you're not thinking on scold me"
Hohenheim lowered his head and lifted his glasses drawing a weak smile, "No…it just makes me sad"
Ed glanced at him surprised, but he didn't feel exactly good at the man expression, "…You chose your path, I chose mine"
The man frowned and closed a book harshly making the boy almost jump, "Maybe, but I chose mine to save lives, I don't think you can say the same for yours"
The blonde narrowed his eyes, who did the man think he was to lecture him about moral subjects?, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I chose to be a State Alchemist in order to help people"
Hohenheim now seemed mad, so Ed frowned angrily, "And how many people did you help during the riots?, or better yet, how many did you kill?"
Edward stood up almost bumping the chair and walked away of the room, but the man followed him. The house wasn't that big, so Ed just reached a window and stood on his feet with his arms crossed, holding back the desire to start yelling to the man.
"Don't even try to fool yourself thinking that you can help people being a State Alchemist", he finally said putting his hands inside his jacket, "I'm sure Trisha would never had allowed you to become one"
Bad move. The boy turned around full in anger and approached Hohenheim, "Don't you dare to say her name!", he said grabbing him from the collar, "You don't have any right to talk about her!"
Hohenheim didn't say another word, so the blonde let him go and walked inside the room where Roy was again staring at his dad and placing a hand on his face. He knew he shouldn't have reacted that way, it was thanks to him that Roy had a change to live after all…
He heard that the man entered the room after him and both remained silent for a while, until Ed decided to say something, "Just for the record, I've never killed anyone". Said that, Ed took a seat at the bed's side without looking at Hohenheim.
Again, an awkward silence flooded the room for a few minutes, but Ed was sure the man was still on his feet behind him. He didn't notice when Hohenheim approached him, so he almost jumped when he felt how the man placed a hand on his shoulder, "…I'm sorry…I'm really sorry….for everything"
The boy looked up so see the man, but he immediately glanced at Roy again, "You don't have to apologize to me", he said drawing a sad smile, "In spite of everything, I never held a grudge against you, and neither Okaasan did, I'm sure of that"
Both remained silent again and they just heard the incessant beeping of the machine that showed the behavior of Roy's heart. Edward noticed that his dad seemed to have recovered some healthy color on his face, so he smiled with hope.
"…Thank you for doing this", the boy said suddenly, "After how I treated you…"
Hohenheim pulled a chair and he took a seat at the boy's side, who just stared at Roy. "It's the least I could do…after how I abandoned you…". The boy closed his eyes and smiled; yeah, he had said that after all. "But you don't have any idea how happy I am for you since you have a great family as I was informed". Ed nodded and the man rose, "I'll bring something to drink, do you want something in particular?"
The boy finally glanced at the man and he seemed to think about it for a moment, "Water will be fine"
"Don't you want some hot milk?"
"…No, I hate milk", he said lifting a brow. Hohenheim found that quite funny so he smiled amused.
"I see, I'll bring you some water and juice, you haven't eaten well today"
The boy threw Roy a look, but he rose and approached the man, "I'll go with you to make sure you don't bring something I don't like"
Hohenheim just shook his head still smiling, however, both stopped abruptly.
"..Ed?..."
The blonde ran towards the bed seeing happy how Roy was conscious but disorientated moving his hand, so the boy grabbed it, "I'm here, Otoosan"
The dark-haired man half opened his eyes and glanced at the boy removing the oxygen mask from his face, Ed took it to put it back but Roy stopped him, "…W-what happ-pened?"
"I'll explain it later", he said putting the oxygen mask back on his face ignoring the man resistance, "For now, just tell me how you feel"
Roy closed his eyes and was sweating alarmingly, so Ed turned to see Hohenheim, who was already taking a sample of Roy's blood. "What's wrong with him?"
The man didn't answer immediately; instead, he used his microscope and remained silent for a few seconds as the boy felt how his stomach was squeezing. Finally, Hohenheim approached Ed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"He will be fine, his body now is strong enough to fight back the virus", he said as the boy smiled relieved, "However, it will be painful"
And it was. Edward thought like hundreds of times to cover his ears with his hands to avoid hearing Roy's howls which lasted hours and made him felt how his heart leaped, but Hohenheim stood at his side telling him that he had to be strong. The boy dried Roy's sweat and didn't let him remove the oxygen mask or to move brusquely all night long; the man must have been in great pain if he contorted like that.
Finally, Roy stopped moving gradually and he just panted agitated while Ed dried the sweat for the thousandth time. It was when Hohenheim took another blood sample to analyze it. The boy noticed how his dad gave up squeezing the sheet with his fists and stop groaning, which he wasn't sure was good or not.
Hohenheim approached him and gently pulled the boy backwards to let the man remove the oxygen mask from his face as Ed stared at him confused, "There's any trace of the virus on his blood"
The boy really wanted to cry, but he couldn't do it, not in front of him, so he just placed his arms on the bed and his chin over them taking a deep breath. They had made it….
"Now we have to let him rest, he had a rough night", Ed saw how the man began to put the books on its place, so he rose to help him, but Hohenheim placed a hand on his shoulder, "You had a rough night too, take some rest"
Edward stared at the man for a brief moment before he lowered his eyes slightly ashamed, but smiling, "…Thank you…thank you so much…"
The man smiled pleased, "This was your achievement too, Edward, I don't think I could have done it without your help"
The boy nodded and went back to his chair placing his arms on the bed and his chin over them again. Hohenheim thought of offering his own bed to the boy, but looked like no human power would move the boy from that spot for now.
……
When Roy opened his eyes he didn't recognized anything around him, but he noticed that it was day already…what happened? Where was he? He turned to his left and saw Edward deeply slept as he used to do when the kid had to spend the night at the hospital, and it was in that moment when he remembered what had happened. He had felt terribly sick and he had thrown up blood. The man placed a hand on his face and removed some black hairs from his face before he took a deep breath, which his lunges seemed grateful for since he felt less dizzy.
He put the hand on his forehead trying to remember more of what happened, but nothing important came to his mind…he had called Edward…and fainted? However, his eyes grew wide when he saw Hohenheim entering the room with which seemed to be a breakfast for three persons.
"…Wha-What are you doing here?", he said incapable to show any kind of anger since he was in shock. He would probably be the last person he expected to see.
The man drew a slightly forced smile, "Well, you're at my home, I don't have anywhere else to go"
If seeing the man there wasn't shocking enough, his comment left Roy perplexed, "..H-how?...I-I don't understand". However, it didn't take him long time before he connected the dots, "Please, don't tell me you saved my life"
Hohenheim shook his head, "I didn't do it alone at least"
Mustang glanced at the sleeping boy. He had big bags under his eyes and seemed really tired, "…I almost died, didn't I? That's why he asked you for help"
The man nodded leaving the plate with the food in the table. Roy then got out of the bed carefully so he didn't wake up the boy, who didn't even move.
"Then, you and I have to talk"
Hohenheim stared at him for a moment, but just nodded.
…….
I tried really hard to show the confusion inside Edward about how he feels about the man, with hints of the anime/manga Edward who hates Hohenheim, and my Edward, who just didn't know him but also knows what he did to his mom. I hope I managed to do it properly :D.