Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.


Chapter twenty-nine

Roy was lying in bed, reading to Ed from "An Advanced Guide to the Elements". It was one of the books he had inherited from Berthold Hawkeye when he died. Roy had brought it with him for a visit here a few years ago and had forgotten it in the drawer in his room. Ed had found it as he was exploring the room and requested that Roy read it to him as a bedtime story.

Roy had said yes, seeing as how it really was the only book that was sort of suited for Ed. Roy had a lot of fiction books from his teenage years, but they were spy books and similar so they weren't for Ed quite yet.

And so Roy sat there with the thick, leather-bound tome open on his lap, Ed leaning into his side while sometimes discussing the illustrations with him. There were a couple of knocks on the door and Madame Christmas opened it. "Maes Hughes is on the phone, he wants a word with you, Roy."

Roy kissed the top of Ed's head. "I'll be right back."

"Say hello to Uncle Maes for me."

Roy slid out from under the covers and went out into the hallway downstairs before he picked up the phone. "Hey, Maes, I really hope this isn't another bragging call about your daughter."

"Oh, Roy, how can you say that?! Now that you're a father yourself!"

"Yes, and my son is waiting for me to go back to reading to him."

"Oh, how cute!"

"Maes, get to the point or I'm hanging up."

"Fine, you spoil-sport. I'm just calling to say that it seems like Scar won't be a problem anymore. He was in some kind of major fight here in East and is presumed dead, so Ed doesn't have to worry so much anymore. He's at the very least heavily injured and won't be able to come after you for some time. Anyway, we're heading back to Central tomorrow. I'm taking your old team with me, we're understaffed in Investigations and they're good people that I can trust."

Roy knew that Maes would have had to pull a lot of strings to make that happen, and would be eternally grateful for it. "Thank you, Maes. Have a pleasant trip."

"Good night, Roy."

"Good night." Roy was about to put the receiver down when he remembered Ed's wish. "Oh, and Maes!"

"Yes?"

"Ed told me to say hello."

"Awww! Well tell him that Uncle Maes says hello back. And give him a good hug from me and say that I've bought him a present for the next time I see him!" Maes almost sounded as bad as he did when he talked about Elicia. But at the same time, when Ed was choosing his aunts and uncles, Roy thought he was doing a damned good job and some solid choices.

"I will. Thanks. See you soon."

"See ya, Roy!"

And so Roy hung it up.

He returned to his bedroom, finding Ed sitting on the floor, looking at one of the children's books from the shelves. Ed did that to pass the time, but the lack of sufficient intellectual stimuli made it an activity that only kept the boy's focus for about ten minutes before he completely lost interest. Which again made them perfect for phone calls.

"Hiya, Ed," Roy said with a grin as he closed the door. Ed's head popped up, the sound mixed with Ed's waining attention was enough to snap him out of the book he was currently looking at. "Daddy!" Ed said, jumping to his feet before he ran at Roy and jumped into his arms with the same enthusiasm as if he hadn't seen Roy for a month. Roy lifted him up, spinning him around twice, earning a gleeful "WHEEE!" from his son.

Roy hugged Ed to him and carried him over to the bed before he pulled the covers back over them.

"What did Uncle Maes want, Daddy?" Ed asked.

"It seems that Scar has been killed. Maes and the rest of the team are coming back to Central. Oh and Maes says hello back and to tell you that he's bought you a present."

Ed's eyes grew wide. "A present? Why?"

"Because Maes does that from time to time."

"Oh. That's really nice of him."

"He also told me to give you a good hug, so…" Roy turned over on his side and drew Ed in for a big hug. Ed placed his hand on his waist and hugged him back as tightly as he could.

"So Scar won't come after you again? Are you sure?"

"Even if he did survive, Ed, he was heavily injured, so it will be a long time until he shows up again."

"Good. I don't want him to hurt you."

Roy just stroked the back of Ed's head for a minute before the boy spoke again. "Daddy? Do you think that Scar is evil?"

"It's hard to say when you don't know why he's killing people in the first place. But he didn't hurt you, so he can't be evil all the way through at least. Why do you ask?"

"Because he saved me."

Roy paused. "How do you mean?"

"When we were falling down into the sewers, he shielded me. He even got hit by a rock because of it. Then afterwards he just carried me over to a dry spot, removed my boots and said "don't come after me or you'll catch a cold." I don't know if I can call him evil after that."

Roy was surprised. He had completely forgotten about how Ed could have moved to the place where Roy had found him in the sheer joy of finding him alive and safe. Roy felt an odd sense of gratitude towards the man. It only worried Roy that Ed had been keeping this to himself. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

Ed pulled the hand on Roy's waist to him. "I thought it might make people want not to arrest him and then he could go after you again."

Roy just hugged Ed tighter. "Ed, Scar has killed a lot of people, he would be arrested either way."

Ed didn't say anything and Roy just lay there, hugging him.


Al was sitting in the living room, reading one of Dad's old spy books. It was actually quite fun, and Al had read the previous eight books in the series during the last two days. Grandma came over and sat down in the chair opposite him. "I see you're reading one of those books again. Your father used to love them when he was your age." She smiled at him.

"He did?"

"Yes. Very much so. From age twelve to fourteen all he did was run around in his tuxedo jacket, playing "John Michaels, Special Agent". He even had a toy gun."

"I can't really imagine that."

"Then I'll show you." She stood up and went over to one of the shelves, retrieving an album. She sat down beside Al and began flicking through the pictures. She found the one she was looking for and handed the album to Al.

Someone who was clearly a young Roy Mustang was standing there, grinning broadly, his right foot resting on what had to be one of the waitresses's back. He was dressed in a white shirt with a grey tuxedo jacket, black trousers and black socks. He had a toy gun pointed at the waitress, but what really caught Al's attention was the glinting metal from the boy's braces.

"Dad had braces?"

"Yes, he had indeed. He used to have quite the underbite in his childhood. We got it corrected though, but Roy was quite shy about them at school."

"Did he get bullied?"

"No, nothing like that, he was quite popular among the ladies, especially when he got the braces off. My girls here used to dote on him and were more than happy to give him a few pointers on how to impress the girls in his class."

"Well, that was nice of them, I guess."

She chuckled. "Anyway, like I said, Roy used to run around, pretending to be a spy. He was always climbing the banisters, pretending to listen in on "our secret meetings", also known as lunch breaks, that sort of stuff. I don't think there was a single waitress here at one point who hadn't played either villain or damsel in distress."

"But wasn't it dangerous for him to be climbing the banisters?"

"Yes, which is why he broke his arm when he was thirteen. He did get excellent treatment at the hospital, though, as the doctor in charge was a frequent visitor here. That all stopped, however when he reached sixteen and went to study alchemy with the Hawkeyes."

"He what?" This was news to Al. He had never known that Dad and Riza knew each other from before the military,

"He hasn't told you? Roy's teacher was Riza's father. That's why their bond is so close. They've known each other for a long time now."

"They have? I never knew that." Al had to say that it was interesting to say the least.

They spent the rest of the evening looking through pictures that portrayed a very different version of Roy Mustang than the one Al had known through the military, but was closer to the Roy Mustang he now knew as his Dad.


Lillian sat in her bed, tilting back and forth, hugging her knees to her. She was glancing at the clock on the wall in front of her. It was that time again. The shackles that kept her hands apart were rattling with her anticipation.

She didn't know who these people were, only that they promised her that she would have her son back soon. She knew that these people were amazing. They were unlike anything she had ever seen before. And they were the only ones that had said that she would have her son. They just needed her help first and then they'd take him back from Roy Mustang. The man who stole her son. She would kill him if she could. He had stolen her son and now he was pretending that he was his father? The nerve.

She had been informed of Grant's passing, which saddened her greatly. He was a good man and would have been a much better father to Edward than Mustang will ever be. Edward deserves someone who cares about him. Roy Mustang was only feeling guilty. That was the only reason. He was a filthy killer and he dared call himself Edward's father. She would kill him, she was sure of that.

Then the familiar shadow slid out from under the door and the black hands snaked their way around her and placed five new pictures in her left hand. She smiled. "Thank you."

The shadows disappeared and she jumped out of her bed and walked over to the wall. She grabbed the glue stick and glued the five new pictures on the wall. "Oh, so you went swimming, Sweetheart? I hope you had fun. We can go swimming too. Just wait a little longer."

She then glared at the smiling man holding her son and began scratching away his face as she had done with the rest of them. When she was done, she placed a kiss on her son's forehead. "We'll be together again soon, Edward. You'll be back together with Mummy again. Just wait until the Promised Day. Then Mummy will come back for you and we shall start our life together as the family we're meant to be."