In Times of Trouble

Chapter Eight

Planning

Resembool

Elric-Mustang House

As much as Roy and Riza hated it, it was time for them to return to Central. Roy couldn't just shove the work off on Alex Armstrong forever, and with the new addition secured at Briggs and no sign of Dante, he had no excuse to avoid the city.

That didn't stop all of them from worrying about the transport situation after what happened last time. The investigation had shown the accident itself was just that, an accident. However, it had managed to trigger Jones into action. Perhaps. Though once Armstrong's personal team had gone over the car. It was still under investigation.

As a result of this, Mustang had arranged that no one would be in his private car with them, guards were posted in the car before his, but his would contain no staff. Severus Snape had also agreed to ride with them from Resembool to Central secretly, to prevent any more magic induced attacks.

Mei and Chen had questioned Jones at length and though he honestly remembered nothing they had deemed him untrustworthy, so his stay in Briggs was as a prisoner. No one was happy with the idea of punishing him for something he couldn't control ,but they couldn't trust that he was safe either. So, they left him to Olivier Armstrong to handle.

Meanwhile, Severus had agreed, reluctantly, to teach every adult in the family to fight off the curses. This meant that he had to cast the spells on each member until they could resist. He chose to start with Riza and Winry since they would be the least likely to have any form of natural resistance.

So far, it had been a long morning. Riza, after five attempts, could resist long enough to ring the bell that was to stand in as the emergency button in the mansion, so that the others knew she had been compromised. However, she was still working on resisting altogether. Severus had insisted she needed a break and began working with Winry.

She was unable to block the pain filled curse, however, she managed to resist the mind control curse after only three tries. When Severus asked her how she managed it she shrugged. "I just pictured my kids, and how much they still needed me. I can't afford to go to Briggs."

Pleased with her progress, he moved on to Mustang. He was not able to throw off the pain curse exactly, but he was able to resist enough to seem unbothered. When Severus asked how he's managed it he had shrugged and pointed to his scars. "I learned long ago how to operate under pain. Lets try the other now."

Snape cast the second spell, and was pleased to feel Mustang's resistance right away. It took him a couple of tries, but Mustang was able to resist the spell, casting it off after only a few moments. Snape was pleased with the progress. He was also interested in how well they were able to resist.

Alphonse went next, against his father and brother's protests and concerns. The disadvantage of having lost his body for those nearly five years was that now, even almost four years later, his body was hypersensitive. He was completely unable to fight the first curse. Curled instantly in on himself, and even though it only lasted a minute he needed nearly half an hour to uncurl himself. His father and brother forbid a second attempt and he didn't have the strength to protest.

Alphonse did insist on attempting the second spell, waving off their concerns again. The advantage of going without a body for those years is it strengthened his mind. Snape was unable to get him under the spell and gave up after a second attempt, declaring Al the most resistant case he had ever seen.

Edward went last. Snape had taken a short break following Alphonse, before beginning with Ed. Like Mustang, it wasn't that Edward didn't feel the pain, he was able to move through it. Even easier than Mustang. None of the Amestrians were surprised by this as Snape assured them he had not gone easy on Edward. He couldn't explain it when Edward not only could take a few steps, but mock fight an invisible foe to prove his ability.

"Automail." Winry said simply as if it explained everything and perhaps to the others it did as the all nodded.

"I'm afraid I don't understand?" Snape asked.

Edward reached down and knocked at his metal leg. "Do you have any idea how much this hurts? Every time it breaks it leaves my nerves exposed. I've fought through worse pain than the curse."

"That's…horrific." Snape said. He had heard Ed had automail before, he'd seen it before, when they were out in the desert. He hadn't really thought if it since. It wasn't a secret, but he never really considered it or looked into it. Now he was very interested in the subject and planned to ask more questions later. "Right then, shall we continue?"

"Sounds good." Edward said. Edward, like Alphonse before him had an advantage. He had spent years unknowingly supporting his brother's body on the other side of the gate. He, like Al, had spent those years building mental barriers to keep himself and Al separate people. Ed, like Al, was resistant to start with. Severus Snape was perplexed but relieved that the brothers had the advantage. After all, the boys and their father were the most likely targets.

"Hey, you know what? I bet Ling is super hard to mind control too." Edward said as they all relaxed in the living room after the session. "Because of you know, greed."

The others had nodded so Snape, knowing he'd missed something, let it go. Instead, he focused on what he assumed they would be more willing to answer. "So, automail, as I understand it is an artificial limb. How would that help resist pain?"

"I need to go make sure we're packed now." Mustang said as he and Riza stood to leave the room. Mustang knew enough about automail to last a lifetime and didn't want to sit through another lecture or possibly a demonstration if Winry really became involved.

"Automail is an artificial limb, but it acts like a real one. It connects to the nervous system to receive messages from the brain just as a real arm or leg would." Winry began with a smile, always happy to explain her profession. "We first build the housing that the limb will attach to and install it connecting it to the nerve endings. Then once it has had time to heal we attach the limb. It is an extremely painful process for the user. They cannot be given any pain medication during the surgery or the attachment in case there is something wrong so we will know right away and correct it. Unfortunately this means they feel the entire thing unfiltered."

"That's ghastly! I thought that skelegro was terrible!" Severus said before he could stop himself.

"It's automail. It has many advantages once you're used to it." Edward said as he rolled up his pant leg to the end of his stump. "You've seen it before when you helped out. This is the housing. My nerves connect through here to control the leg. If something happens, like I said earlier, to damage the leg it exposes the nerves. The pain is intense. I've been through it often enough that I am sort of used to it at this point. Plus the pain that comes from the cold and rain."

"What's skelegro?" Winry asked.

"A potion that repairs or even regrows bones. We have potions that can regrow limbs as well, provided that they were not cursed off to begin with." Severus said. He was leaning forward to look over the leg. He was still fascinated at the things they had here. He had of course seen automail. He had seen Edward's automail. It was sometimes easy to forget however, since Ed moved so smoothly. He had also not known how involved the surgeries required were. It bothered him, a bit, that Ed had had automail since he had collected the boy at least. "May I ask when you lost your leg?"

"I was eleven at the time actually. They said it would take three years to fully recover. I did it in one."

"You half killed yourself in the process, not to mention the nerve damage it may have caused." Winry said with a huff.

"I had things that couldn't wait Win. Besides if I had gone slow like you wanted we wouldn't have Yuery right now. I'd have still been getting ready for my test." Edward said with a smile.

"Well it done now anyway." Winry conceded.

"Now that we know you two are able to resist and Winry can hold off long enough to sound an alarm, I feel better about leaving you here alone." Mustang said as he came back into the room. "I still expect daily calls as we agreed to be sure everyone is still alright."

With that the three Mustangs and Snape left for the train station, leaving the remaining three adults and four children alone in the house. Originally Al intended to return to the school today but with his negative reaction he decided to avoid further magic for the day and return tomorrow. Snape had agreed to return to transport him home. For tonight he was staying with them, which made both brothers happy.

The hardest part of their different career paths for them was that they were no longer together all of the time. It made sense. It was healthy to grow apart. However, after spending nearly two decades together. After being literally connected mind and soul for half a decade, it was hard to be separate at times.

This was part of the reason why they did it though. Both brothers agreed that they wanted to learn to live on their own, without the constant presence of the other. In some ways they operated like twins, or so their family said. Even now, with Al in his own body, they seemed to have a sense for each other no one else could feel.

Al hated leaving Ed behind. Ed hated Al being far away. They had been adjusting far better than anyone thought they would. Al was the Head of the Alchemy Department of Xerxes Academy. He was also the Headmaster. Mei, his fiancée was Head of the Alkestry Department and Deputy Headmistress. The school, though only opening this year, was thriving. They had just over one hundred students between the ages of nine and seventeen.

Meanwhile, Edward was the Lt. Fuhrer. He was in charge of the State Alchemist Program. He was the father of four children. He, like his brother, was extremely busy. He had helped his father restore Ishbal. They had made their country a safer and healthier place to live. They had arranged peace treaties and trade with all of their neighboring countries. This should be a time of peace and prosperity for their people.

It was a time of great peace. However, Dante was threatening to tear down everything they'd built. She was attempting to tear apart their family. She was a security risk on all fronts. As far as any of them could tell, she was doing this as a misplaced act of revenge against her late husband, the Elrics birth father.

They agreed they needed a plan to stop her before she could cause more harm. The problem was they didn't know where to find her. All of them were lost in thought over this issue as they went about the rest of the day, both those on the train and those that had remained behind.

Winry had excused herself shortly after the others had left to take a nap with Trisha. Maes had fallen asleep in Edward's lap shortly after that. William and Yuery were still busy reading their books, and Al was laying on the couch, after tremors of the pain tingling through him occasionally. This did not stop him from offering to take care of the elder two so Ed could have a nap as well. E was hesitant to leave them unattended while Al was still recovering but when Jean and Rebecca arrived to check in on them he finally agreed.

Al waved away the concern from the two soldiers, explaining it had been a hard training session. Jean wasn't sure he believed the boy but shrugged it off to go sit with the children. Yuery immediately launched into an explanation of his latest project and Jean nodded along as if he understood.

Rebecca went to the kitchen to start dinner so that the young family wouldn't have to worry about cooking later. Alphonse hurt too badly to sleep himself, so he laid there with his eyes closed as he listened to the sounds around him. He missed being around his family, and hoped that one day he and Mei would have a large family of their own.

Central Express

Fuhrer's Cabin

Aside from Roy, Riza, and Tad no one was allowed in the cabin. The only soldier aboard who knew the reason why was Kain Fuery, who was perfectly happy to keep the reason quiet. After the derailment and subsequent murder scene most of the soldiers aboard assumed it was an added precaution and thought nothing of it. Still, Kain was grateful to have Severus Snape sitting with him in case anything went wrong.

With the entire space to themselves, Roy and Riza were free to speak without fear of being overheard. This, of course, lead to them talking about Dante and magic in general. They agreed that the situation was frightening, but they were unwilling to show fear to those who would like to see them fail.

Tad, at three and a half months, was sleeping peacefully in his mother's arms as they talked about the spells they had been instructed on earlier in the day. It bothered Riza she had been unable to escape it quickly, and Roy tried to assure her that he felt it had something to do with Gates even without the boys resistance.

It was a good enough distraction from his nerves that Roy almost began to relax as they sped down the track. There was only one stop on this trip, in East City. Roy and Riza agreed they were staying inside their cabin for the short ten minute layover.

They watched from the window as most of the passengers deboarded, and new ones came aboard. The cabin before their was the security detail that would normally ride in here with them, and they all stayed inside like the Mustangs.

Once they were back to traveling Roy became tense. It wasn't until they passed were his previous train had derailed that he allowed himself to relax and talk to Riza without distraction. Of course, this was about when Tad awoke and decided rather loudly that he was hungry.

While Riza nursed the baby, the couple talked about their sons and grandchildren instead of anything stressful. Riza was still technically on leave since Tad's birth, though she was not beyond asking her husband if he had finished all of his paperwork, and if he had heard from Armstrong today. Over all it was a rather peaceful trip, though they were grateful for it to be over.

At the end of the week, the Fuhrer's cabin would return to Resembool and decouple there until Edward and Winry brought the children home. They had all decided this morning that instead of taking three months in the country like they had with Maes, they would return to Central shortly after Trisha turned a month old.

Roy, who missed them already, was glad they were planning on returning early, though saddened for the reason behind it. Dante was completely insane, as far as Roy was concerned, as bad as Kimblee had been. That they had no idea where to look for her disturbed him more than anything else.

She didn't even have to come herself! She had proven that once already. None of them could think of a way to keep her out aside from turning the house into a fortress. The fortress idea was not without merit. Though they weren't sure how they felt about raising the children behind walls, if the threat continued it may become necessary.

Both sets of parents had comforted themselves by reminding each other that most of their fellow leaders lived in such situations, and their children didn't seem to suffer because of it. The biggest problem would be who to trust inside the mansion. If they could get Ms. Bella to agree to live on site it was best to keep her. They knew they trusted her. The same would have to apply to their personal guards, and the maids.

Roy was comfortable with reducing the staff as well, until they were certain the threat had passed. He would, however, prefer to continue to work out of the home office a couple of days a week, and he was certain Edward would feel the same way. They just would have to refuse to take visitors on those days.

Alex Armstrong and the rest of the Council had done a wonderful job taking care of things while they were gone, so perhaps he would be willing to see people on Roy's behalf on those days…or Roy and Edward could stagger them so one of them was in Central Command. He still had time to work it all out. Though he was already jotting all of this down so that he would remember what details he needed to concern himself with.

Dante was his number one priority. He needed to have people out there looking for her, but at the same time, what if she used someone like she had Jones again? The easiest solution was the one he wanted to reject more than anything. He could task his sons with heading the search. He rejected the idea as soon as it came to him, but he kept circling back to it as the only viable solution. How could he possibly be considering sending one or both of his sons out into danger like this? What kind of father was he?

"You have that face." Riza said calmly across from him. "Stop. You are not a bad father. You are not a bad husband. You are the best fuhrer in years."

"I might have to send our sons after this woman Riza. MY SONS. What kind of father does that make me?" Roy said, feeling wrecked.

"One who trusts his sons' ability to protect themselves and each other." Riza said. "Roy, they are your children, but they aren't children. They faced worse threats."

"That does not make me feel better Riza. I;m the one who sent them into those threats, and here I am doing it again."

"If Ed and Al were sitting here with us, what would they say?"

"That this was our best chance of stopping her and they were going with or without my blessing. Just as they did when they were children." Roy said with a tired sigh. One of them was a teacher and the other a politician. They were supposed to be past the late nights of worry if the boys were alright out on a mission. He wasn't sure he could handle it.

"