Chapter forty-three
Roy was sure that he had earned some approval from Pinako as she stood on the platform, telling him to take care through the window of their compartment.
"You too. You know that you two are welcome to come visit us in East City, right? As long as we're home, that is."
"Maybe we will, Roy. And you know that you're all welcome to come and stay whenever you want."
"Thank you, Pinako." Roy looked her straight in the eyes as he said it and it seemed that she understood how deeply he meant it. She gave him a very slight smile and then the train started moving and they all waved as the train pulled out of the platform and they were on their way back home.
Roy was in rather high spirits, as were the rest of them, despite saying goodbye to the Rockbells, because Al's name change certificate had arrived in the mail this morning. And so Pinako had sent them off with a large can of Ed's favourite chocolate chip cookies and Rolf kept eyeing the can with about as much eager trepidation as Ed did.
The train pulled up at a station that Roy didn't even know the name of. A black-haired man on the platform caught Roy's attention however, and Roy leaned out of the window to get a better look at him, only to have the man freeze before running away.
Roy made a split second decision and got to his feet, lifting the sleeping Ed into his arms. "We're getting off here."
"Why, Dad?" Al asked, getting to his feet.
"That was Doctor Tim Marcoh who just passed by the train. He's a highly skilled alchemist specialising in medical alchemy and he may just have a few pointers on how to get your body back."
Roy remembered reading about Marcoh when they were looking through the files in order to try and pinpoint who may have kidnapped Fullmetal. Marcoh had certainly been skilled enough to be on the list of potential kidnappers.
And so Roy carried Ed while Al took their suitcases and Hawkeye took the cookies and Rolf. Roy stopped the first people they met, and as both himself and Hawkeye were back to wearing their uniforms as they were technically back to being alert and the boys's bodyguards, they were instantly met with respect. "Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to know the doctor who just walked past the train, would you?"
"Oh, that was Doctor Mauro, is something wrong, Officer?" a young brunette asked him, eyeing Edward's sleeping form in his arms.
"Doctor Mauro? And no, nothing's wrong, we just have a couple of questions as he may be able to help us with a case, that's all. You wouldn't happen to know where he lives, would you?"
"I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm hopeless with directions, you have to ask someone else."
"Very well, thank you and have a good day."
"You too, sir!" Roy turned around as she walked back to the rest of her group, just able to hear the brunette giggling together with her friend. "He was cute!"
"Which one? Him or his son?"
"I wouldn't mind kissing either one's tummy!"
More giggles.
Roy would usually have been hitting on her so fast he would make her head spin, but that was the old him. Flirting wasn't among his priorities anymore and certainly not when they had a possible lead on getting Al his body back.
"Okay, he seems to be working under an alias, so apparently we're looking for Doctor Mauro."
And so they set to work, asking around. Many would grow wary when they saw the uniform, only to practically melt at the sight of the young boy in Roy's arms. Ed would probably have been scared to meet this many strangers, so it was a good thing that he was sleeping.
The people all described their local doctor as a kind man who would take any patient and healed them with "a bright flash of light". Roy had to say that it sounded a lot like he was using alchemy.
"He sounds like he's a really nice man," Al said as they left a group of people who were finally able to give them some proper directions to Marcoh's clinic. "Why was he on the list of suspects?"
"Because he disappeared during the civil war along with some top secret documents. He used to be involved with the research department."
"Oh. Does that mean that you're going to have to arrest him?"
"You sound like you don't want me to." Roy spoke softly.
"I don't know… Stealing top secret research documents from the military is a serious offence, but it's like these people say: he treats everyone for free so that they can get proper medical attention. If he really is as kind as they say, then it wouldn't be right to take the only doctor these people have away."
"… Which means that we'll talk with the good doctor before we decide," Roy replied with a tiny smirk.
Al chuckled lightly. "You know, Dad, it's still a bit odd to get used to the new you. You're a lot easier to talk to."
"I would guess that it has something to do with me not being your older brother's CO anymore." Roy heaved a great sigh. "I still want to apologise for not getting to know you two better before we lost him. If I had only been a bit more observant as to the fact that I actually cared about you, then a lot of things could have been very different for a long time now. I'm so sorry for not taking that step before I did."
Al put his large hand on Roy's right shoulder, but like the soul inside, the touch was gentle and comforting. "Dad, you've told us that a lot of times these last two months, and it's okay, it really is. We have you now and you stepped up when we needed you the most. You're a great Dad and you're just going to have to accept that some day. Now it's this house here, right?" Al said with a kind of finality in his voice, making it clear that he didn't want to hear Roy's protests.
Roy sighed. "Yes, it is." And so he followed Al, Hawkeye and Rolf up the stairs before he knocked twice on the door. "Doctor Marcoh? We're not here to take you away, so please open up," Roy said.
There was no answer and so Roy carefully opened the door only to jump away as a gun was fired where Ed's head had just been. The boy woke up with a frightened scream just as Alphonse quickly knocked the gun out of Marcoh's hand with one of the suitcases and Marcoh stood staring at them with fright in his eyes. "PLEASE DON'T TAKE ME BACK THERE!"
Ed was bawling and Roy held him tightly, staring angrily at the shaking man. "Like I said, we're not here to take you away, now I suggest you let us in and know that if you pull out another gun and point it at my son again, Lieutenant Hawkeye won't hesitate to shoot you." And so Roy turned his focus solely to Ed. "You're safe, Ed, nobody is going to harm you, now how about a cookie?"
Ed stopped sobbing immediately and only a few tears ran down his cheeks. "Mhm."
And so Hawkeye gave Ed a cookie from the can and Ed relished it, sniffing slightly as Roy carried him into Marcoh's living room while the man stood there, apparently unsure as to what to say. Roy sat down by the living room table and held Ed on his lap where the child was completely caught up in his cookie and was staring at it slightly crossed-eyed as he gnawed on it.
Alphonse and Hawkeye came over and sat down too, leaving Marcoh to stand by the front door, looking a mixture of scared and miserable. "Well, Doctor Marcoh, I'm Colonel Roy Mustang and these are my sons Edward and Alphonse Elric-Mustang. We have a few questions for you and that's all. Now, if you would please sit down as you're making my son nervous."
Ed did still have some tears running down his cheeks after the abrupt awakening and was clinging to Roy's uniform jacket now that the cookie had been devoured. Roy gently dried the tears away with his hands and let his right hand rest on Ed's cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. "With a hyphen," Ed said quietly with a sniff.
Marcoh looked confused at that. "Hyphen?" he inquired, carefully walking over to the table and sitting down, his fright lessening slightly as his doctorly instincts kick in.
"It's Elric-Mustang with a hyphen," Ed said with a slightly grumpy look. "Daddy? Where are we? I thought we were going home?" His golden orbs looked curiously up at Roy. "Are we in danger again?"
"No, Ed, we're not in danger," Roy said soothingly. "We're just asking this man a few questions in case he has an answer to our problems, that's all."
"But why did he try to shoot us?"
"Because he was scared."
"So he's not like the bad people in Liore?"
Roy hugged Ed tighter. "No, he's not."
"Good." Ed the turned his head towards Marcoh who had been watching the conversation with confusion. "Why are you scared of us? Are you a bad guy?"
Marcoh's eyes widened. "I… Uhm …" Then he sighed. "It's a long story."
