Okay, so I thought I should just explain what's going on in Liore: Father Cornello has been eaten by Gluttony, Envy will take his place, but now that the military will come in and the rumour will spread that Cornello tried killing a five-year-old, many will question him, including Rose. And so the riots will happen just as they did in Brotherhood/manga. There will be a lot more soldiers dying, however, as much of the anger will be directed at the military.

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything but my complete manga box set.


Chapter Fifteen

After a few phone calls and a train ride back to East City, Roy found himself being greeted by a familiar blonde with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. "Hiya, Boss!"

Roy stepped off the train, taking Ed's hands in his so that Ed jumped the last, higher step down to the platform. Upon spotting Havoc, Ed hid himself behind Roy's left leg.

Roy saw that Havoc's mouth hung slightly open. He had clearly been informed about the changes to Ed, but was still a bit shocked to see them.

"Havoc? What are you doing here?" Roy asked as he heard Hawkeye and Alphonse get off the train behind him.

"Heard that you were coming back home so I volunteered to give you a ride to your house." He glanced at Ed with some of the guilt that Roy recognised having himself. Havoc had technically been the last one to see Fullmetal and obviously blamed himself for what happened.

"Daddy? Who's that?" Ed said in a low voice.

"That's a very good friend of mine and one of my previous subordinates, his name is Jean Havoc. You used to know each other," Roy explained kindly.

Havoc squatted down, smiling slightly at him. Ed moved forwards a bit, looking right at him. "Hello, Jean, I'm sorry I don't remember you."

"That's all right, Chief. It isn't your fault."

"You're sad like Daddy is. You feel guilty about me." Ed had probably fixed him with one of his nearly mind-reading gazes. "Don't do that. Lillian and Grant are the bad ones."

Havoc seemed a bit taken aback. He looked up at Roy, seemingly lost. Roy tousled Ed's hair.

"So you're "Daddy" now? Hughes is going to be over the moon," Havoc stated as he stood up.

"Don't I know it." Roy took Ed's hand and the five of them went over to the military issued car outside the train station. Ed sat on Roy's lap during the ride and Roy couldn't help but feel that there was something that Havoc wanted to say, but not while Ed was there.

When they reached their destination, Havoc turned his head around. "Listen, Boss, could I have a word?"

Roy nodded and handed Ed to Alphonse who helped him out of the car. "What's going on?"

"Scar is here in East City. Hughes and Major Armstrong are on their way as we speak. You should be careful, he's already gone after you once."

"Of course. And Jean, don't blame yourself for Ed. You were the one who did the most to prevent him from being taken." Roy thought for a bit. "And that's an order."

"Yes, Boss. How's he doing?"

"I guess he's settling in. He's still traumatised by what the Pentons did to him, but he's getting better little by little."

"That's good, I guess. So you're his "Daddy"? When did that happen?"

"About a week after we found him. Lillian Penton went after him, and I guess he just wanted to distance himself from them by choosing his own parents."

"And you're fine with that?"

"Yes. He's a really good kid and I care a lot about him already."

"You do, huh? Well, knock yourself out, just don't start showering us with pictures."

"Trust me, I won't. Thanks for the ride, and remember what I said. Don't blame yourself for Fullmetal. Otherwise I'm going to drag Ed to the office and make him give you one of his speeches. They can be pretty convincing you know."

"See yah, Boss. And enjoy family life."

Roy opened the car door. "I will. Take care."

"You too."

And so the door closed behind him and Havoc drove away. Ed came running up the driveway and Roy caught him in his arms, lifting him up. "Daddy? You forgot to give Auntie Riza the house keys," Ed said, hugging him.

Roy went up to the house and got his keys out of his coat pocket, handing them to Hawkeye. She opened the door and the four of them went inside. Roy flicked on the lights, sighing at the light coat of dust on the shelves in the hallway. It had been over two weeks since he'd been here last now.

"Well, Ed, Al, welcome to my, and therefore your, home."

"Wow, Daddy, your house is big."

"I guess it is. Al, you would probably be interested to know that there's a library in the basement, it's stuffed with alchemy books, it's that door over there. You're free to look at everything you want except for the research notes in the corner."

Al seemed to light up, "Thanks, Roy!"

"Now, here's the plan for the rest of the night: Hawkeye, you order some Xingese takeaway while I give Ed a bath and take a shower myself, then we eat before we go to bed. We go to the Tucker estate tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir. Should I order the usual?"

"Yes, just make sure to double Ed's portion."

"Of course, sir."

Hawkeye went to the kitchen, finding the takeaway menu and began ordering. Having an assistant that knew Roy well enough to guess where he'd keep his takeaway menus was both a blessing and a curse. Roy carried Ed on his arm while grabbing the car keys and threw them to Hawkeye who caught them without looking.

"Al, will you be fine on your own?" Roy asked, putting his free hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, thank you, Roy. I'll get started on the library."

"Good, have fun."

"I will!"

And so Roy took Ed's suitcase and carried it and its owner up the stairs and to the bathroom. There he got Ed out of his clothes before removing his own uniform jacket and his shirt in case of foam, and lifted the boy into the bathtub.


Ed looked up at Daddy as the warm water and foam filled up around him. Daddy was leaning his arms on the edge of the tub, smiling at him. "You know, Ed, I've got something you might like. I haven't used it before, so how about we make it yours?" Daddy stood up and went over to the cupboard under the sink. Ed was curious about what he was thinking about. Then he returned, holding a rubber ducky. Ed grinned.

"Why have you got a rubber ducky?" Ed asked as Daddy sat back down and dropped it into the water with a tiny splash.

"Maes bought me one as a delayed birthday present. I think he was a bit drunk, though. Don't know why I kept it. It's got to be about five years now."

"That's not a very good birthday present. I thought you grownups gave each other cups and plates and chocolates and flowers, not rubber duckies!" Ed eyed it as it disappeared into the foam before he retrieved it.

"Well, I bought him a toilet brush when he moved to Central, so we're even."

Ed laughed. He held up the ducky and looked at it. "We should give him a name."

"He's yours, what do you think he'd like?"

"I don't know. He looks a bit like a Charlie, don't you think? Or maybe a Jimmy."

"Then how about Jimmy-Charlie?" Daddy suggested.

Ed laughed. "Jimmy-Charlie Mustang Elric."

Daddy chuckled. "Jimmy-Charlie Mustang Elric, the coolest rubber ducky in all of Amestris. Say hello to your new owner." He held him up so that he was facing Ed, making him look like he was bowing his head slightly.

Ed laughed. It was a silly name, but it was funny. Daddy dropped it back into the water, and Ed had an idea. He pushed it down under the water and removed his hands, watching as Jimmy-Charlie flew out of the water and hit Daddy's forehead before he landed back on the water. Ed laughed at the silly look on Daddy's face. Then Daddy began laughing too.

"You got hit by a rubber ducky!" Ed giggled.

"I guess I did. But do you know what else he can do?"

"No, what is it?!" It was going to be funny if Ed knew his Daddy.

Daddy held Jimmy-Charlie under the water, squeezing him so that he filled up with water because of the little hole in the middle of his beak. "He can do this!" Then Daddy squeezed it so that water shot out of its beak, straight at Ed's forehead.

Ed squeezed his eyes shut, giggling as Daddy dried his face with a washcloth. When he was done, Ed threw his arms around his neck and hugged him, getting hugged back. Ed loved Daddy's hugs. They smelled like safety and warmth and they were great. They made Ed feel like he was being loved just like Mom's hugs used to, but Daddy's arms were bigger and stronger so he sunk even more into them.

Ed just had one little thing that had been bothering him since Liore. "Daddy? Why do you hurt people?"

"Because it's my job. I hurt bad people so that they can't do bad things to others."

"Do you want to hurt them?"

Daddy sighed. Ed had a feeling that he was thinking about it carefully. "When they have done really bad things, like hurting you or Al, then yes."

"So you hurt people when you don't want to?"

"Yes. But I do it to stop them, not to kill them."

"Daddy, please promise me that you won't kill anyone."

"Of course, Ed."

Ed rubbed his face into his shoulder. "I love you, Daddy."

Daddy kissed the top of his head. "I love you too, Ed."


When Ed was done with his bath, Roy went on to clean himself up too, but after he had gone and gathered some clean clothes in his bedroom. It was going to be so great to sleep in his own bed for the next few nights. He showered and dried himself off before he dressed himself in a pair of dark grey sweatpants and a white T-shirt. He came downstairs just as Hawkeye returned with a large bag of tantalising Xingese cuisine, and Roy went to get Ed. He guessed that he had gone down to the basement to join Al. Roy went down the stairs as he heard Hawkeye setting the plates. What he found surprised him. Ed was sitting there in his pyjamas, surrounded by a large number of small transmuted figures made from the wooden floorboards. It was the first time Ed had performed alchemy since his captivity, and now he was just sitting there, looking up at Roy like a deer caught in the headlights, the piece of chalk in his hand falling to the floor and cracking. Roy had been afraid that Ed had developed a kind of mental block against performing alchemy himself after what the Pentons did, so he was glad to see that that wasn't the case. And Roy was impressed. Incredibly impressed. The kid was five after all.

"D-did I do something wrong?" Ed asked, obviously scared of Roy's reaction.

"Of course not. This is incredible, Ed. Truly incredible." Roy smiled.

"So I can do alchemy when I want to?"

"Yes, of course, Ed, why would you think otherwise?"

"I-I thought you'd be mad. Lillian and Grant told me it made me a freak and that it made me bad and that I needed to be cleansed from it. Then they'd stick needles into me to make me forget how to do it. They said it was illegal and that Mom was wrong. That it was only meant for big children."

Roy felt his stomach twist. It was most likely something that they had said to make sure that Ed didn't try to escape. "Ed, did you try using it when you were captured?"

"O-once. I got free from the ropes and used some of the blood on the floor to try and create something I could protect myself with. They saw me before I got done and they tied me up again, tighter. T-That's when they began with the needles." Ed's eyes were filled with frightened tears and Roy strode over to him and picked him up, holding him tight, kissing his forehead. Ed began sobbing. "They said that naughty boys must be taught a lesson, and I don't know what was in it, but it hurt, Daddy. It hurt so bad. They said that if I did it again that I'd be arrested and put in jail."

"They were lying, Ed. They were the bad ones, I swear. You are an incredible, special, wonderful boy, you can do all the alchemy that you want to and no one will arrest you for it. They were only trying to frighten you." Roy had no idea that they had done that to him. He must have been even more scared than Roy had known.

He felt like beating Grant Penton up all over again. And then he'd torch Lillian Penton's skin off, inch by inch.

"You swear?"

"Yes, Ed. They just didn't want you to get away."

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Now how about we get you some food?"

"Yes, please."

Roy carried Ed up the stairs and into the kitchen where he ate together with Ed and Hawkeye. When they were done, Roy helped Ed brush his teeth and then they went to bed, Ed lying on top of Roy's chest, his head resting on his shoulder.

And so Roy held him, promising to himself that wherever Lillian Penton was, he would make her pay for what she had done to his son.