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Chapter Six

Roy sat down inside the train compartment as Alphonse sat down in the seat opposite him. Ed climbed into the seat beside him and was immediately staring out the window with excitement. "I've never taken a train before, how is it?"

Although Al didn't have any facial expressions to betray him, Roy knew that that comment must have been hard on him. Those boys usually travelled by train at least once a fortnight and had done so ever since Fullmetal had joined the military.

Roy was impressed by how well Al was taking this, or maybe it was just the lack of facial expressions that gave him that impression. Roy was planning to talk to him about it once Ed was asleep. He had always had trouble sleeping on trains anyway, so he might as well be keeping Al company.

After all, when Roy said that he'd be taking in Ed, he was of course taking in his brother as well.

Al was already explaining the wonders of travelling, and Roy had to say that it was funny to see how well the boy was doing with the change of roles. He was talking in a way that wasn't condescending or patronising, he was genuinely good with kids. It was in fact quite entertaining because it also showed him a side of Alphonse Elric that he rarely got to see as he was usually just there to keep Fullmetal in check while also assisting his brother during his missions.

No, it was a weird feeling of both wrong a right at this moment. Because it felt right that he actually got to know the Elric brothers properly, but it was for such a wrong reason.

And Roy did never really get to know Fullmetal…

He could still feel the hurt that that thought brought. And in a way he was glad, because otherwise he truly would have been the bastard that Fullmetal always accused him of being. He couldn't help but wonder if Fullmetal blamed him. Had he been tied to that chair just "cursing the Colonel Bastard for getting him in this mess in the first place"? Or had he just been afraid? Afraid and alone with a couple of people that were fucking experimenting on him.

Hawkeye had told him what the result of his outburst had been. Grant Penton had five broken ribs, internal bleeding, his right arm was broken in two places, he had a severe concussion and a broken nose and jaw. He was currently in a coma while being fed through an IV.

And Roy honestly didn't have any regrets. The last fact actually gave him a sick sort of pleasure. Call it "just desserts" or something. No, he was just sad that the man wasn't awake for the pain. But he would be sometime soon, hopefully.

After a while, even Ed's childish sense of wonder couldn't deny the fact that two hours straight of pastures was downright boring, and he turned towards Al and Roy again. "Can you tell me some stories about our missions? What was I like?"

"Well, there was the East City bank robber," Roy began after thinking a bit about finding something that could be made suitable for a five-year-old.

"Yeah! Tell me about that!" Ed said eagerly, immediately moving from his seat and instead climbed onto Roy's lap. Roy put his arms around him and Ed leaned his head against Roy's right arm, obviously in "story-time mode". Al chuckled warmly at Ed's enthusiasm, most likely recognising something from their childhood.

"Well, it begins with me assigning you a case about a burglar that had targeted a few random buildings but we couldn't really figure out their connection. Some were private homes, others were offices and some were even empty buildings. But he always left a blue scarf on each crime scene, which we don't really know why was other than the fact that they were used as his signature. This was only your second mission, so I thought that it was a good idea to give you something that wasn't necessarily too dangerous just so that you could get used to being in the military. Anyway, so there you were, kicking the door open as usual, looking at me with a grunt. "So what's it now, Colonel?" you asked. And so I told you. You told me that you thought the case was beneath you, but I managed to convince you all the same." Fact was that Roy had threatened him with a court-martial, but he didn't want to let the boy know just how much Roy and Fullmetal had annoyed each other. It might make Edward feel unwanted and that was something Roy wanted to avoid at all costs.

And so Roy and Al told the story to Ed who was steadily growing more and more tired and it was about three minutes after they were done with the story that Ed fell asleep in Roy's arms. Roy carefully moved himself over to the window seat and leaned his back against the wall, placing his feet on the bench while shifting Ed so that he could lie more comfortably on his chest. Edward was lying on his side, using Roy's right shoulder as a pillow, his right arm lying in front of him, resting above Roy's heart.

"Are you going to sleep too, Colonel?" Al asked him.

"No. I've never been able to sleep on trains much." Roy gave him a smile. "And you know, Al, now that you're going to be living with me and I'm no longer your brother's superior, you may as well call me Roy."

"Oh, okay."

"But Al, I've been wondering, how are you doing with all this? You're definitely the one who has lost the most here."

Roy glanced over at his own bandaged knuckles. The effect this had had on him wasn't exactly small, but at least he wasn't Ed's brother.

"I d-don't know. It's hard, you know."

"You know you can tell me, right? When I said that I would be taking you two in, I really meant both of you. Which means that if you want to talk, I'm here for you."

Al was silent for a few seconds. "You're hurting, too, aren't you? Lieutenant Hawkeye told me what you did to Penton. I never really knew that you cared about Brother that much."

Roy decided that he would be honest with him. He couldn't expect Alphonse to just trust him without there being any trust back. And if Roy was actually going to be this boy's father figure, then they needed to build a foundation of trust first.

Roy was actually quite scared about all of this. He had a lot of new feelings and thoughts surrounding the Elrics and his own life, but while a large part of him was panicking, a small part was actually happy. The part of him that wanted a family. That wanted children of his own. And now he was taking in a pair of kids that were highly intelligent, warm-hearted and genuinely great boys. And it made him feel lucky.

And it made him scared that he wasn't ready for this at all. What if he screwed up? What if he wasn't worth the pair of them?

Well, it sort of helped that Hohenheim had set the bar pretty low…

"Roy? I'm sorry, I guess that's not something you want to talk about…" Alphonse said at Roy's lack of an answer.

"No, I just got lost in thought. Sorry, Alphonse." Roy hugged Ed closer to him, drawing some strength from the small boy. He sighed deeply. "Yes, I'm hurting. And to be honest, I didn't really know how much I cared either. Not until Penton told me that we couldn't get Fullmetal back. And I'm sorry about how we mostly spent our time just insulting each other. I'm sorry I didn't get to know him better. I'm sorry that your brother only ever saw me as an annoying bastard and little else. And I'm sorry that I didn't take care of him like I should have. Like he deserved. I'm so sorry, Alphonse. So sorry."

"Can I ask you why you are taking us in?"

"Because, Alphonse, I care about the two of you. And you need someone to protect you. To help you. And I would like to be that person. I would like to get to know the two of you better. You both deserve that. I want to see you get your body back and I want to see you and Ed grow up in a way that you should."

"I see. Thank you, Roy." Alphonse hung his head with a clank. He sat like that for about a minute until he spoke again. "I'm scared. Brother has always been the oldest and has always taken care of me, so losing him … And he's so different. He really sort of shut himself off when Mom died, he got a lot angrier after that. Although never at me. I guess he felt like he needed to protect me and he couldn't do that if he let himself be "weak". But this is before that and it's so odd to see him being so dependent on an adult again. But it kind of makes me happy to see how much at peace he seems."

"I can understand that. Very well."

"But it also makes it feel like I've lost so much of my Big Brother. Because I got used to it. I got used to him being angry at the world. And he's just so much more innocent. And he's lost all those years that we had together. I just don't know how to feel." His voice nearly broke at that last word. Roy acted instinctively and shifted Ed so that he could hold him securely with his left hand as he reached out his right and placed it on Al's head.

"It's okay, Al, neither do I."


It was raining when they arrived in Central. A lot. Roy kept holding Ed's hand as they walked through the train station as it was easy to get lost. Ed was adamant that he wanted to walk through Central and over to HQ, and it was really just a fifteen-minute walk anyway, so they paused at a bench and pulled out Ed's raincoat and boots. They were both red. Roy found himself his umbrella and Alphonse volunteered to carry the suitcases. And so they left the train station, Edward still holding Roy's hand. The walk was quiet and Ed was fascinated and slightly intimidated by the city and the people. They did attract a few curious glances, and Roy sort of understood why. Here he was, fully dressed in his uniform walking hand-in-hand with a five-year-old while accompanied by a seven-feet tall suit of armour.

They reached HQ and had an-hour-and-a-half before their appointment with Führer Bradley, so Roy decided that they might as well go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Ed still ate a tonne and Roy had no idea where it all went, but he wasn't going to deny the boy food as long as he didn't get fat from it.

And so Roy stacked up the tray and carried it over to a table, nodding at a couple of officers that he knew from his days in the Academy. The cafeteria was full of officers as it was lunchtime, which was how he somehow managed to overlook the fact that Major Armstrong was in front of them before it was too late to warn Ed.

In a second, the behemoth had swooped down on the small boy and lifted him out of his seat and into his bone-crushing hug. "OH, EDWARD ELRIC! MY HEART HAS BEEN CONGESTED WITH GRIEF EVER SINCE I HEARD OF YOUR FATE!"

"ROY! HELP!" the boy shrieked, obviously afraid that this was another kidnapping attempt.

Roy was on his feet instantly. "Major Armstrong, please release him, remember what he's been through!"

Armstrong froze. "Oh!" Then he handed the shivering boy back to Roy who instantly clutched him to his chest and was soothing him.

"Ed, it's okay, it's just Major Armstrong, he's not here to hurt you."

"He took me!" he cried, clearly getting flashbacks to the incident at East HQ.

Roy sat back down and kissed his forehead, trying to calm him down. "He's just been worried about you, he knew you from before. He won't take you away from me." Roy knew he was getting a lot of funny looks from the officers around him and Armstrong was apologising loudly and profusely, but Roy was just focusing on getting Ed to calm down. He held him tightly against his chest, stroking his back. "It's okay, you're safe. You're safe and no one is going to take you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Roy kissed his forehead again. He had no idea where he had it from, but it just felt instinctively right to do it to calm the child down.

Which just had to be when he saw the flash of the camera.

Roy groaned inwardly.

"Aww! Roy! There you see, you're a natural at parenting!" Hughes said, sitting down on the bench in front of them.

Edward had frozen again and Roy was frankly getting angry with them for scaring Ed like this. "Hughes! Give it a rest! And stop scaring him!"

Roy was glaring at his friend, who instantly wiped his smile off his face. "Sorry, Roy."

"Hey, Ed, it's okay. He's just a bit eccentric."

Edward was still clutching the front of Roy's uniform, but was slowly turning his head towards the newcomers.

Hughes began smiling fatherly at him. "Hi, Edward, I'm Maes, I'm Roy's best friend."

"Hi."

Things went slightly easier after that and both Hughes and Armstrong managed to control themselves so that they didn't frighten Ed that much. Ed still seemed a little shaky after Armstrong's embrace, and so Al volunteered to buy him an ice cream.

And so Roy, Ed and Al were left sitting in a steadily emptying cafeteria as the lunch break ended and Hughes and Armstrong had left for the office. When there were ten minutes left until their appointment, they went to the Führer's office and were sent in almost immediately.

Führer Bradley was sipping tea at a small, round table and smiled broadly at them. "Ah, Colonel Mustang, Elric brothers, please have a seat."

Roy sat down and Ed climbed onto his lap rather than sitting down on the chair next to him.

Bradley smiled at them. "Would any of you like some tea?"

"Thank you, Sir, but we just ate."

"Very well, then. Let's get straight to business. We need to decide what to do with this situation. Edward Elric's state licence has of course already been revoked, so the boy is no longer any part of the military. However, there is the issue of the fact that he is still in danger of attacks because of his previous reputation and the number of people that he has arrested. We cannot just let him go back to his place of residence in Resembool. I therefore have a proposal for the three of you." Bradley took another sip of his tea before he continued. "As you seem to have grown rather close to the boy, Colonel Mustang, we want to assign you the task of guarding Edward Elric and his brother until it is no longer deemed necessary. As they do not have an official guardian, you will assume that role yourself. The necessary paperwork is right here, ready for you to sign. You will of course receive compensation from the state." He paused, his eye suddenly staring sternly at them. "Further on, I know for a fact that Edward Elric and his brother were researching into the Philosopher's Stone, and I would ask you to continue with that research as it could be very useful for the military. I am therefore relieving you of your normal duties, although you will of course retain your rank. Any questions?"

Roy had to say that it was better than he could have hoped. "No, Sir. I accept the terms. I only have one request. Would it be possible for First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye to be assigned to this mission too? I cannot help but feel that it would be safer with two officers guarding the boys and she has also gained Edward's trust."

Bradley seemed to ponder it for a few seconds. "Very well, Colonel Mustang, you have a valid point and so I will do as you ask. She will be reassigned by tomorrow. Now, if you would sign the necessary forms you will be declared the legal guardian of Edward and Alphonse Elric."


When they left the office twenty minutes later, Roy was very pleased with how things had gone. He had basically been assigned to research the way to get Al's body back, he was both boys' legal guardian, and he would have Hawkeye by his side as well, which had been a major concern for him up until now. With Hawkeye still under his charge, he would easily be able to keep up with Havoc, Falman, Fuery and Breda as well because of her organisational skills.

And so Roy felt that things had indeed gone very well as they stepped out into the rain and walked through the park as they headed to the military hotel they were staying at.

"Roy? What's for dinner?" Ed asked.

Roy didn't get to answer however, as a voice spoke from behind him.

"Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist?"

Roy turned around quickly, his eyes falling upon a man with a large scar on his face standing a metre away from them. "Can I help you?"

"Foolish alchemists who have strayed from the ways of God, shall all be punished," the man said and raised his right hand.