Son of Hughes

by AppoApples

Hohenheim comes back and Ed tries the transmutation on his own. Unable to forgive himself, Ed strikes out on his own and Hohenheim raises Al. Time shifts a bit differently and adopted by Maes Hughes, Edward Elric is going to define a new path for Amestris. AU Ed-Centric, human Alfonse.

16. Dog of the Military

WARNING: Discussion of sue.

Chapter 16 - Dog of the Military

"I saw you today," Ed said as he climbed up the fire escape.

"I sensed you," Ling said, rubbing his face. "Speaking of which, you realise Roy and Riza would let you in if you knocked, right?"

"Mustang's my boss, Ling."

"He's more to you than that. Even I can see that," Ling said as he laid back on the roof.

"He's my dad's best friend."

Ling closed his eyes, tilting his head back. "Yeah, not buying it."

Ed sighed, leaning on his arm to look down at his friend. His first friend his own age since Winry.

"Maes Hughes is the most incredible person on the planet."

Ling opened his eyes to look up at him, "Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. All he's done, all he's seen. He never lost hope and never lost his heart."

"Roy is not Maes Hughes," Ling said.

"No, he's not, but Maes admires him. My father is intelligent, and an incredible strategist. Mustang, however, has a vision for the country, a vision that Maes believes in."

"You trust Maes so much, you'd blindly trust someone else?"

Ed shrugged, "It's not blind. I don't understand him fully, but he's intelligent in his own right and attracts the right sort of people."

"I can see that," Ling said. "I'll admit, he's nothing like how I expected him to be."

"And you're nothing like what I would have expected a prince to be like."

Ling shut his eyes and let out a long sigh, "Sorry to not live up to expectations."

Ed hesitated.

It seemed in the months following his arrival, that Ling was with him always. Ling came to work with him, was teaching him Xingese and training with him on weekends while Ed trained him in alchemy. Ling wasn't Ed or Alphonse, but he was a quick study and was possibly better at martial arts than Teacher.

What Greed had said, about him and Ling…

Should Ed really be surprised that Greed was able to see Ed better than he could see himself?

Yeah, that checked out.

And even Ed wasn't so blind to not notice how Ling sometimes looked at him.

The question was, what was he going to do about it?

Taking his glove off his left hand, Ed touched Ling's cheek, "You've exceeded every expectation."

Ling's eyes snapped open and he stared up at Ed, searching his face. "Really?"

Ed huffed a laugh, "Ling, you spent the day helping refugees setting up semi-permanent housing and helping resettle their elderly and sick. That's pretty exceptional, prince or no."

Ling placed a hand over Ed's, "You're an inspiration, Fullmetal."

Ed leaned down and said in Xingese, "I like you."

"Your accent is getting better," Ling quipped even as leaned up to meet him.

Ed was smiling as he kissed the princeling.

Ling's lips were soft, and completely different from kissing Greed. Kissing Ling felt…

Right.

Ed pulled back to make sure the same was true for Ling.

But Ling didn't let him get far, pulling him back down to continue.

Ed didn't often feel like a teenager, but in this space of time, he did.

And it felt good.

oOo

Ling felt damn near giddy as he walked Edward home that night.

Too bad Edward was a magnet for trouble.

oOo

Ed was pretty sure dating anyone, much less a Prince of Xing, had not been in the cards for him.

"I can carry some of those," Ling offered again as they walked back down his street.

"I've got it," Ed said, resting his chin on the stack that Mustang had given to Ling to lend to Ed.

Ling's smile fell as he looked ahead, "I think I've found your doppelganger."

"What?" Ed said looking ahead, spotting two figures standing on the street in front of his home.

His heart must have stopped for a minute.

"Al?" he whispered.

"Wait, Al, as in Alphons—" Ling began only to grunt as Ed shoved the stack of books at him and sprinted ahead.

"AL!" Ed shouted, his little brother, who wasn't quite so little anymore, turning to see him, golden eyes wide.

Ed smacked into him, catching his brother in a hug.

The front door opened, providing a spill of light that let Ed see him better as he pulled back to look at him.

He looked good. Cheeks full, eyes bright, and hair that was just a shade or two lighter than Ed's own —though still gold— cut short.

Al was just sort of gaping at him and though Ed was burning with questions, the joy of seeing him again, of having him here.

Safe.

Human.

Unharmed.

Ed couldn't be anything but ecstatic, even if Al punched him, which he probably would have deserved.

"Ed?" Maes called from the open door.

Ed released Al to grab his hand and pull him toward the house, "Dad! This is my little brother, Alphonse. Al, this is my adoptive father, Maes Hughes."

Al followed Ed wide-eyed, gripping his hand as if Ed would vanish if he let go.

Ed didn't mind at all.

Maes stepped back to let them in but he was smiling down at Al with the same adoration he gave to Edward. "Alphonse, welcome! I've heard so much about you, you have no idea how proud Edward is of you."

Al blinked, "Proud? It's been nearly six years."

Ed didn't pull away, if Al wanted to strangle him, that was his right. "So what? You'll always be my little brother."

Al's expression showed his conflict. On one hand, he likely wanted to be angry, but Al had never been one to greet happiness with anything but happiness in return.

"Come in," Maes said, not just to Al but to Ling and the bastard behind him.

Ling was looking up at Hohenheim with something like disgust, his nose wrinkled like he smelled something bad.

Yeah, Ling was definitely the one for Ed.

"Big Brother!" Two little voices yelled from deeper in the house, accompanied by the sounds of barking and nails on hardwood floors.

Grinning, Ed pulled his brother toward them.

The two little girls came to an abrupt stop at seeing Al, their green and blue eyes going enormous as they stared at Al.

"Nina, Elicia, this is my little brother, Alphonse. Al, these are my littler sisters, Elicia and Nina Hughes." Persephone yipped and Ed added apolitically, "And Persephone and Alexander."

"You're Ed's brother?" Nina asked.

Al swallowed, "Yeah, I am—"

Al was immediately tackled by the two small children and the two much larger dogs.

Al laughed as the girls squeezed him in a hug, the dogs licking his cheeks. Ed's heart swelled and he followed them to hug three of the most important people in his life.

The familiar sound of a camera going off had Ed smiling.

"I've missed you so much," he told Al.

"Whose that?" Nina asked, looking up at the others.

Ed glanced up at Hohenheim who was staring down at them with a soft expression.

"No one important," Ed answered.

"Brother," Al chastised.

Gracia clapped her hands, "Come on girls, time for bed."

"Mommy," Elicia whined, hugging Al tighter. "We have another brother."

Gracia, who was a wise woman, said only, "Yes, but you don't know him very well yet, and I'm sure Edward would like some time with him. Remember what we've been saying about sharing?"

Nina let go of Al as if he had burned her and latched onto Edward, "No!" She all but screamed. "You can't take him, Al-honse, he's our big brother!"

Elicia's eyes filled with tears and she asked Al with a pitiful expression, "You're taking big brother away?"

Al looked suddenly panicked as big fat tears slid down the youngest girl's cheeks.

Al began waving his hands, "No! I mean— please don't cry!"

Ed snorted, "I'm not going anywhere. But it's late and you both have school in the morning."

"But Edward!?" Elicia whined, her tears forgotten.

Gracia scooped both girls up in her arms, "Bed, we'll listen to the radio tonight. Wonderful to meet you, Alphonse. Say good night, girls."

"Night!" Elicia called.

"Edward!" Nina cried.

"I'm not going anywhere, Ni-ni. I'll see you at breakfast," he said.

"Promise?" she demanded.

"Promise."

Alexander followed but Persephone stayed at Ed's side.

Once the girls were out of ear shot, Al said, "So, I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't trust you not to leave?"

Ed grimaced but said, "Nina is adopted, her dad killed her mom and her father died in an alchemy disaster a few months ago."

Al blinked, looking at a complete loss for words, "Oh."

Persephone whined, nosing Ed's cheek, he stroked her head.

"An odd symbol," Hohenheim said.

Ed stood pulling Al up with him as he finally addressed the bastard, "What is?"

"The mark on her fur," the bastard said, pointing at Persephone who wagged her tail at him but stayed seated at Ed's feet.

"Because it means child of the night sky?" Ed asked him.

Hohenheim frowned, "No— Oh, I see that too, but no, it's a symbol of becoming."

"Becoming of what?" Ed asked.

"Like the symbol your teacher wears, it is a piece of an intention," Hohenheim explained. "It's a symbol of rebirth."

"Better than the alternative, I suppose," he said dryly, but his mind was spinning.

Not birth, like Greed had said, but rebirth. Which meant what?

Maybe it meant it wasn't for completing a homunculus but to give them a second chance.

A new life as a human.

Hohenheim looked away from Persephone to look at Edward directly, "You ran away."

Ed glared up at him, "That's rich, coming from you."

Hohenheim remained impassive, "Still running then."

"Fuck you," Ed said with feeling.

"Brother," Al warned.

Ed squeezed his hand and was about to speak when Hohenheim said, "You were lucky, Edward. It could have been worse. Much worse."

"You don't think I know that?" he said, thinking of how Izumi struggled every day of her life with missing organs that could not be replaced. "Why do you think I left? Because I couldn't handle being a cripple? I handled the surgery, didn't I?"

"And yet you couldn't face the responsibility—"

"Get out," Ed said, voice low, letting go of Al's hand so he didn't hurt him by squeezing his hand too tight.

Hohenheim opened his mouth again and Ed lost it.

"I said get the fuck out of my home! Al can choose for himself but I don't want you here!"

"Brother," Al snapped.

Hohenheim held up his hands, "I'll wait, Alphonse." Then left without another word.

Maes watched him go, leaning against the wall on the other side of the room.

Al glared at Maes, "Oh, and he's so much better?"

"Literally, yes," Ed informed him. "In every conceivable way; yes."

"He's military," Al snapped, waving at Maes who was still in uniform. "After what the military did in Ishval, how could you possibly defend them!?"

Ed went to respond but Maes spoke for himself. "I served in Ishval, Alphonse. There is nothing to defend. What was done to the Ishvalans was criminal and my hands will never be washed clean of the part I played in that."

Al visibly deflated, Al had a hard time being mad at anyone who admitted wrongdoing and showed remorse for it.

Ed felt Ling's awkwardness and decided that if this all went to shit, he would like Ling to have at least one positive interaction with Al. Clearing his throat, he said, "Al this my—"

"Best friend," Ling said, sparing Ed one discussion for the night.

"Prince Ling Yao of the Yao Clan," Ed finished.

Despite Ling and Roy being the only survivors of the Yao Clan, Ed knew that carrying that title was his small way of carrying on the memory and honour of his clan.

"Ling, this is my little brother, Alphonse Elric."

Ling bowed to Al.

Al frowned at him, "Prince of what?"

"Of Xing," Ed said.

Al gaped, "As in a son of the Emperor of Xing?"

"Yep," Ling said. "I was forced to give up my claim on the throne though, so I moved in with my half-brother in Amestris."

"Why?" Al asked.

"Because he's my only sibling who doesn't want to kill me in my sleep," Ling said lightly, leaning against the table where he had placed the stack of books.

Al flushed, "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"It's alright," Ling said. "It is nice to meet you. Your brother adores you."

Al's expression darkened, "You couldn't prove it by me."

"Right," Ling drawled, then muttered to Ed in Xingese. "Ed, this bull is yours to wrangle."

Ed sighed but replied in Amestrian, "Yeah, it is. I'll see you tomorrow. Night."

Ling nodded, backing up toward the door, "Catch you then."

Al watched him with narrow eyes, seeming to not have lost his knack for noticing when Ed was trying to keep something from him.

Once the door closed, it was just Ed, Al, and Maes, who stayed against the wall.

"You left."

Ed nodded.

"Why?"

"You know why."

"No, I really don't," Al said stubbornly.

"Al, I could have—"

"But you didn't," Al snapped.

"That doesn't make it okay."

"It's not okay that I'm okay?" Al asked, deliberately twisting his meaning.

Ed rolled his eyes, "It's not okay that I planned to endanger you like that."

"Again, Big Brother, you didn't hurt me."

Ed could have argued that seeing that creature, that seeing his older brother lose two limbs, and the preceding automail surgery was indeed harm, but he couldn't say that in front of Maes, "That isn't the point."

"It's exactly the point!"

And suddenly, Ed didn't care if Maes knew or not, because Al couldn't dismiss the severity of what he had done. "If it's so okay, Al, then say it."

"Ed."

"Say it! If it's forgivable then say it."

"He's in the military!"

"That shouldn't matter! Don't you see that!? What I did was and remains wrong. I could have hurt you!"

"Could have hurt me?" Al repeated, voice dropping. "You could have hurt me? Did you ever think, even for just one moment, that leaving me would hurt me? That it would hurt worse than—"

"I couldn't have lived with myself!" Ed exclaimed.

A metal suit curled in the corner like luggage, doubting if he was human, or if we're a mere fabrication.

The price had paid for his attempt at necromancy had been more than an arm and a leg.

In the grander scheme of things, the metal limbs were just reminders of his son.

No, the true price had been learning what could have been.

And Ed would never forgive himself for almost doing that to Al.

"But it didn't happen!" Al yelled, pulling Ed from his spiral.

Anger rose him and barely kept it from showing in his body language. "But it would have! Don't you see that? If Hohenheim hadn't come back early then—"

"You left because Dad saved you? Saved us? Are you that weak, that stupid about your bitterness toward him that you would damn us all out of spite?" Al demanded.

Ed's cheeks heated, "I will never forgive him, Al. For loving a woman he wasn't man enough to marry. For starting a family he wasn't brave enough to love." He held up a hand to forestall Al's protests. "I truly hope he's been better to you all these years but I remember who he was. I remember him being afraid of you and me. I remember him spending more nights locked away in that study than spending time with Mom. When he left— she was never happy. Mom loved us, but she never stopped looking for him, never stopped looking for him in us. He was the shadow that we could never escape, the sadness that never left her eyes. He wasn't fucking there. And I hate him for it, but you're right, a part of me would rather die than accept help from him. But that's not why I left you."

"Then why?" Al demanded. "Because all I'm hearing is that you hate him more than you love me. That maybe you're jealous that Mom loved him so much."

Ed's hands fisted, remembering how Mom had always been looking toward the horizon, how Mom had called for the bastard on her deathbed.

Apologised to him.

How the few times she had recognized Ed when he sat up with her at night and she had called him Hohenheim.

It wasn't pain of jealousy, it was inadequacy.

Unable to help her.

Unable to save her.

Unable to protect Al from loss.

That wasn't jealousy, so much as being utterly and completely helpless to stop the world from turning.

"I left because Mom asked me to protect you."

Al's expression twisted; "Good fucking job."

Ed flinched, and it took him a moment to regain himself to be able to explain, "I broke my promise. I did something so stupid… It wouldn't have been an accident, Al. It wouldn't have been something we could have recovered from. I miscalculated what I was trying to accomplish and what the cost would be. While you knew better, while you questioned me every step of the way, and I arrogantly dismissed you because I thought I was smarter than I was. That I had the power to do the impossible."

The memory of Al trapped in an iron shell…

Ed closed his eyes trying to breathe past the images, "I betrayed Mom, I betrayed you, and Teacher— I left because what I did was worse than Mom dying, worse than Hohenheim leaving. I left because I—"

His voice broke because he didn't have words for it.

It wasn't a failure, it was so much bigger than that.

He had played God and flown too close to the sun.

He shouldn't have survived it and he wouldn't risk dragging his brother down with him.

Not again.

"But you didn't," Al said. "Why do you keep punishing yourself? Punishing me— for something that never happened."

"Al…" Ed said, not wanting to admit how weak he had been, how close he had come. How he had ridwn the midnight train to Central staring at the tracks trying to convince himself to let himself fall.

For the train to take him away from any possible mortal reach.

The only reason he hadn't was because it would have hurt less to die, and he hadn't thought himself worthy of such a reprieve.

Getting the automail had been his attempt to get back on his feet, but with Hohenheim back, Al hadn't needed him, and Ed hadn't wanted to ever be forgiven.

Ed took a breath, and spared a glance to Maes who had never left.

Who had saved him.

Who had taught him to value himself again.

Who had been to the same unforgivable hell that Ed had visited. Some days, the only thing that got him through was that truth.

Ed could easily damn Hohenheim. He could say without qualm or hesitation that they were both damned and didn't deserve someone like Alphonse or Mom loving them.

Ed couldn't say the same of Maes, no matter his crimes in Ishval, the world would be a darker place without Maes Hughes in it.

If you can't be forgiven, son, Maes had told him when Ed had refused to eat one night, trapped in his own self pity. Then neither can I.

Maes looked at him now, sad and tired, knowing exactly what Ed was thinking; and loving him anyway.

"Because," Ed said with more strength, turning back to his brother. "Love is not need. And I broke myself, Al. I was broken and if I stayed, I would have hurt myself further and I couldn't let you see me like that. I couldn't let you blame yourself for what I did to myself. I couldn't let you think —even for a moment— what I thought about Mom and Hohenheim, that I wasn't enough for them. You've always been enough, Al. I was the one who wasn't strong enough."

Al's expression stayed pissed for all three seconds before the horror of what Ed was implying sunk in. "You were planning to kill yourself? You were planning on dying!?"

"I never planned on returning to Resembool. I never planned on surviving long enough to ever have this conversation, not with you, not with anyone."

Tears spilled down Al's cheeks, "I could have forgiven you for anything except that."

Ed knew his smile was self-deprecating, "That's part of why I wanted to, because I didn't want you to forgive me. But I didn't want to hurt you like that. I figured if I disappeared… That maybe I could disguise it as something other than a suicide."

Al shook his head, the tears falling faster, "No."

Ed crossed the space between them, reaching out without touching, "I'm so sorry, Al."

He shook his head, "You're an idiot."

"I know."

Al sniffed then grabbed Ed in a hug, "I love you, you idiot."

Ed hugged him back, "I've missed you so much, little brother."

Al hugged him tighter for an infinity that ended far too soon, "Are you coming home?"

Ed cupped his brother's face between his gloves hands, wiping away his tears, "I am home, Al. You can visit or stay whenever you like, and if you want to stay with Hohenheim, then you'll always be able to find me here. You'll never have to guess where I am again. I'll only be a phone call or letter away."

Al took a step back, "So this is conditional?"

"Conditional? Al, I'm an adult now, legally, and I have a life here in Central. That doesn't make us less family because I don't drop everything to travel the country with you."

Al frowned at him, "You don't know what we have been doing, you could help us."

Ed really wanted to know what the fuck Hohenheim had been up to, what shit he had dragged Al into.

But as much as Al was and always would be his little brother, he was also among the most competent people on the planet and nearly as good —or perhaps now even a better alchemist than Ed himself was.

And enough common sense besides, that Ed could trust that he would be okay.

"You're a year away from coming of age yourself, Al. But—"

"But your new family is more important, is that it?" Al demanded.

"Come on, don't be dense. Elicia is younger than you were when Hohenheim left. And Nina—"

"Matters more to you than me?"

Ed bit his cheek to keep from saying something he would regret, just because his brother was the injured party didn't mean he could be cruel to his baby sisters. "Nina is a part of this family because I was the one to babysit her, I'm the reason she and Elicia are friends."

Al made a harsh noise, "They are babies."

"Yeah, they are but they are also old enough to remember now. Nina's mom died saving my life and I'm partially to blame for why her father is dead now. But even that doesn't really matter. What matters is that they are my sisters, I love them, and I'm not leaving the people who—"

"Yet you left me! Excuse me for not understanding why they matter more to you than I do!" Al exclaimed, face red as he tried not to care about Nina's story when he obviously did.

"It's not a matter of more, Alphonse. It's a matter of I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Maes, my father, the man who earned that title. This is my life. I'm happy here. You don't need to forgive me, I'm not asking for you to take me back, I'm just opening the door I shut. I'll be here if you ever need me and you deserve to know that I love you even if you never want to see me again."

Al shook his head, the conflict clear on his face; wanting to forgive, wanting to be angry.

Wanting to go back to the way things were.

It was a reminder that Al was fifteen. Part of Al's charm was no matter what happened, he kept his positive view on the world, he believed in goodness, and forgiveness. But it kept him young, kept him thinking the world was black and white…

They were brothers.

They had always been close and they should have always been together. Even in the life or half life Truth had shown him, they had always been together. In some ways, they were more like twins than older and younger brothers.

Or, they had been.

"So what? You'll stay here forever and play house with a—" Al looked at Maes. "What are you anyway?"

"He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the intelligence department," Ed said. "And you can be as mad as you like with me but you don't get to take that out on him or the girls. You know better than that."

Cheeks red, Al glared at Ed, "So you're content to be the babysitter, living in a big house off the military's blood money?"

Ed stiffened, "You don't know what you're talking about. There are good people in the ranks trying to change the system for the better in a way that endures."

"Winry's parents are dead because of the military," Al said.

"And you think that will change, how? What is your solution? Prayers? By starting another civil war to displace them?" Ed asked. "News flash, Al, they are the military. Anyone who tries that will be inviting another bloodbath and chances are good there wouldn't be much left of Amestris afterwards."

"So you're a military cheerleader now?"

"Al, there are no cheerleaders. Our military is massively unpopular, we can prove that, just by the fact that protest rallies are illegal."

"But you support them!"

"It's our country! And because it's a military state, there are exactly two ways to fix it, more violence or good people working together to fix it from within."

"You don't understand how evil they are."

Ed rolled his eyes, "Don't be a zealot, nothing is that black and white."

Al's anger rose, "You're still so self-righteous. The government is doing human trafficking and forbidden alchemy."

"I know," Ed said, deciding that the answer of; Did Al read the newspapers? Was no, no he didn't.

"Homunculi are real!" Al exclaimed.

Ed's brow twitched, and he crossed his arm, "So?"

"They are being made by the government!"

"Yeah, I got that."

"How are you not upset by that!?"

Because some of my best friends are not fully human, Ed thought but said aloud, "Welcome to Central."

Al's stubborn face, that rivalled Ed's own, made an appearance. "And what are you doing about it? While you sit at home, babysitting and reading—"

"I have a job, dumbass," Ed snapped.

Al faltered, "You do?"

"Sixteen is the age of majority," Ed said.

"And what are you doing? Research fellow?"

"State Alchemist."

Al froze.

Ed wasn't certain he was breathing.

Al stared at him, stared at him as if he had punched a kitten, "What did you just say?"

"I'm a State Alchemist, the youngest person ever to pass the exam. Though I think you and I could have passed it at ten. It's difficulty is highly overrated," Ed said lightly, knowing Al would hate it.

"You're a dog of the military?" Al asked flatly.

"I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist," he said, holding up his metal hand and moving the fingers.

Al's expression darkened further, "And you know about the alchemy the government is supporting?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Congratulations."

Ed blinked, and said confused, "Thank you?"

Al took a step back, followed by another, "Congratulations on becoming an actual monster."

"Al—" Ed said, voice breaking as he staggered forward.

"What else do you call someone who willfully commits such evil?" Al said, looking far older than he was. Far more hateful than Ed had ever seen from him. "So congratulations, Brother, you've finally done something I won't forgive you for."

Ed felt gutted, "Al, wait—"

His brother stepped back again, "I never want to see you again."

"Please, Al, we can talk—"

"I'm not a child anymore, Edward. I don't have to believe in everything you do or say anymore. I have my own morality, and I see now that you have none left."

Ed blinked back tears, "Al, the work I do is helping people."

Al's expression twisted, "You just said you know what research they are doing, and you are still working for them. You can't claim ignorance, you are evil." He turned his back on him, before adding, "And no brother of mine. I suppose the person I loved died five years ago after all."

Ed could only stare, only watch as Al walked out.

He had known that Al wouldn't like that he had joined the military. Hell, he kind of thought Teacher would just kill him outright when she learned that he had taken her teachings and joined the military, but he would never have thought Al would condemn him for it.

Ed was prepared for Al to rage at him, prepared for him to never forgive him for leaving him, but he didn't think he would be forgiven and then disowned for his career choice.

It wasn't like he joined a war. He spent most days fixing the city plumbing.

But it didn't matter.

Ed had left his brother, and if his brother didn't understand him, or trust him, then Ed had only himself to blame.

oOo

Maes watched the light go out of Edward's eyes.

Watched his big-hearted, competent, bright, and exuberant son fold in on himself. He looked like he had when Maes had first found him.

"Ed?"

Ed didn't look up.

"Edward?" Maes asked again.

Persephone whined.

His shoulders rounded. "I'm going to bed," Ed muttered before walking away, his steps heavy and slow. Persephone followed closely beside him.

Maes's heart broke for him. On one hand, he wanted to be mad at Alphonse, but Al's pain was real and losing a brother like Ed couldn't be easy.

Maes could even understand the hatred for the military, the military had earned her citizen's disdain.

But on the other hand, Edward did not deserve to be painted with that brush given how hard he had been working to change things.

Did Al not see how much his brother loved him?

Maes would have liked nothing better than to go talk to Ed, but he wasn't in the head space to listen.

Maes looked back toward the door, and realised this might be his last chance to get answers.

Grabbing his keys, he locked the door behind him and ran in the direction of the train station.

Sure enough, he spotted the blondes who walked alone beneath the streetlights, a single suit case in each of their hands.

"He joined the military as a State Alchemist."

"There are certain benefits the State offers, Alphonse. And if he isn't running, or even if he were, any of his research would likely be claimed by the government anyway."

"He said he knew about the corruption! About the Homunculi and—"

"That doesn't mean he knows everything," Hohenheim said before slowing down and coming to a stop. "Was there something you wanted, Lieutenant Colonel?"

Alphonse spun round and practically snarled, "It was your idea for him to take the exam."

Maes smiled, "No, I actually convinced him to wait until he came of age. Your brother is a very intelligent young man, I think he would have taken it as soon as his automail had finished healing."

"How bad was it when you found him?" Hohenheim asked.

"Four months bedrest," Maes said, though it was less and more than that because Ed hadn't remained in bed that long which prolonged the healing.

Hohenheim sighed, "Al, I need to speak with him."

"He turned Ed on us!" the boy exclaimed, so hurt he was ready to strike out at everyone and anyone.

It was a sign of how much Al loved his brother, how much he had been hurt by Ed's leaving, and the comparative lack of maturity between the two brothers.

Ed hadn't said anything tonight that Maes hadn't known, except for the full extent of Ed's own selfawareness. Even Maes hadn't quite conceived all the precautions Ed had taken when he had been on such a downward spiral.

"I'll go get tickets," Al said, stomping away in the same way Ed did on rare occasions.

Maes waited for Al to be out of earshot, examining Hohenheim who had the gall to say Ed had run away.

As if it had been simple.

As if a child who had the power and ability to attempt to bring the dead back to life and lost his limbs in the process wasn't trauma that would have destroyed a fully grown man. As if Ed hadn't had every right to fall apart, yet not only had he survived but had done his best to protect his brother as best as he had been able to at the time.

Protected Alphonse from his own self-destruction.

Hohenheim raised a brow.

Maes felt his own demeanour shift, "You're a real piece of work talking to him that way."

"You think he would have accepted a hug?" the man asked sardonically.

"I know you abandoned them. Tell me, how long did it take you to realise their mother was dead and how long did it take you to come back to them?"

"You don't—"

"I am a father, and I am Edward's father, clearly more than you have ever been to him. "

"Ah, so you take Edward's version of things."

Maes laughed without mirth, "His version of things? No, there is no version of things. There's the fact that your oldest son was so terrified of being sent back to you that he never spoke a word of you to me or to anyone else until he came of age."

"So he let you believe him to be a true orphan?" Hohenheim asked.

"Fuck you," Maes said. "Only his being a true orphan would you be in any way even mildly absolved of the hell you've put him through. Put both those boys through"

"You don't know, do you?" Hohenheim asked. "What he did."

"Human transmutation," Maes said boldly.

Another arched golden eyebrow, "That doesn't seem to bother you."

"He was eleven," Maes said through gritted teeth.

"He knew better."

"Intelligence is not the same thing as maturity; something you certainly seem to exemplify."

"You still blame me?"

"Of course I blame you," Maes snapped. "Edward doesn't hate you nearly enough for what you've done to them. Don't think for one second that this doesn't entirely fall on your shoulders; because it does."

"He made his choices—"

"How old was he when he read your book on human transmutation, Van Hohenheim?"

The man was quiet.

He didn't know.

"Was it before or after she died? Was it when she got sick? Before, after? Why did Edward and Al begin to learn alchemy? Izumi Curtis is a formidable woman, what would possesses two six year olds to chase down such a teacher?"

Hohenheim stared at him without response.

Maes hated him, "You caused so much misery and you can't even conceive your part in it.

"Perhaps that is one thing you share in common with Ed, so quick to hold onto self loathing that he misses his actual failings."

"There is much you don't understand," Hohenheim said.

"On that, you are correct. I don't understand how you could leave those boys. I don't understand how you can't see how brilliant they are and capable of love and goodness," Maes said. "I don't know how a four hundred year old man could be so irreverent about his own kin."

The man said nothing, his expression revealing nothing. But his silence confirmed Greed's words.

Damn.

Maes went on. "You've made so many mistakes, so many failings as their father, shall I list them for you? Aside from whatever faulted relationship you had with your wife, your first mistake was not showing those boys how much you loved them.

"Whether you know it or not, it is doubt of love that destroys a child's confidence in themselves, their worth, more so than even your presence or lack thereof.

"Your second mistake was leaving them. Your third was not keeping up correspondence, and your fourth mistake was leaving those blasphemous books behind. You should have burned them, you shouldn't have had them at all, you shouldn't have left them where they could reach them and read them. And if you thought they weren't smart enough to learn to understand them, well that just shows that Ed was right about you. You were never anything but a stranger to him."

"You've thought about this deeply, I see," Hohenheim said.

Maes felt completely Ed's anger with this man. "If you want to blame someone for what happened, you don't blame the child. You blame the bastard who gave them the recipe for the poison. It was not their fault when they were so young that they still believed they could do anything, be anything. Because if those books had been almost anything other than the taboos then they wouldn't have known to try to go against the laws of nature."

"You keep saying them," Hohenheim said as if he wasn't hearing Maes at all.

"Yes, them, because Edward did nothing without Al. You put them both in harm's way. And it's your fault they got hurt, it's your fault there is a rift between them. So I don't give a fuck what you think of the military, or what you think of me."

"You have our number, you have our address. You bring Al back here on holidays. You have him call Ed on their birthdays. You are the fucking adult and you will help mend what you broke from criminal neglect."

"Who are you to lecture me about the law?" Hohenheim asked, implying either that a veteran of Ishval was a criminal or that it was criminal to hide Ed's past from others.

Maes grabbed him by the lapels, "Ed has paid his debts. More than, paid. He has learned his lessons. He may be a genius but he was a minor and had you been in a city, it would be you, Van Hohenheim, who went to prison for human transmutation because they are minors.

"You left them alone. You didn't know them well enough to guard them. It was your books that endangered them. It's no different than leaving a loaded gun around without the safety on. Ed wasn't lucky, you were lucky it wasn't worse. You are lucky you didn't come home to your entire family dead and gone."

"What do you know of the Dwarf in the Flask?" Hohenheim asked. "I believe his creations call him Father."

Maes was confused at the subject change, "What?"

"Do you think Edward knows?"

He shook his head, "Ed is friends with Greed."

"Greed," Hohenheim repeated, thinking. "He left the Dwarf's service a hundred years ago."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Maes asked.

Hohenheim sighed, "I cannot promise we can return for holidays. But I will speak with Alphonse. Thank you, Maes Hughes, for taking Edward in as your own. I believe Trisha would have liked you."

Maes blinked.

Hohenheim turned his back on him and walked away.

"That's it?" Maes asked.

Hohenheim raised a hand in farewell without looking back.

Maes shook his head, before turning in the opposite direction toward home.

When he got inside, Maes locked the door behind him, hung up his coat and keys before going upstairs. He checked in on the girls who weren't in their room.

He checked his own room and found the girls sleeping on either side of Gracia, Alexander lying over her feet. His wife looked up, and mouthed, "What happened?"

Maes shook his head trusting she could read on his face that it hadn't gone well but no one was dead.

Gracia smiled sadly at him but nodded her head.

Maes shut the door before turning down the hall to Ed's room.

He knocked on the door softly, "Ed?"

No response.

Needing to know if hewas still in the house or not, he said, "I'm coming in."

He stepped inside and found Ed curled on top of his bed, Persephone curled up into his legs.

"Ed?" Maes asked, sitting down beside him, knowing he wasn't asleep yet.

"He's never going to forgive me," Ed whispered to the wall.

Maes laid a hand on his head, petting his hair back, "I'm sure Alphonse will pick up a paper one day and discover you're a glorified plumber."

"He's stubborn."

"Well, he is an Elric," Maes agreed.

"I didn't know he would hate me so much for becoming a State Alchemist."

Maes laid down beside him, shoes and all. Persephone curled between them as Maes put an arm around Ed like he did years ago when he had had a night terror.

"Al is hurting, and confused. I spoke with Hohenheim, it's possible Al assumed something you weren't implying."

"Did he tell you—" Ed asked before cutting himself off.

Maes hugged him, deciding this knowledge would do more harm unspoken. "I figured it out, Edward. After you passed out from seeing the murders Tucker commited on those women before successfully transmuting his wife."

Ed froze in his arms, as if he had stopped breathing.

"It was mostly a process of elimination, I was only able to guess human transmutation when you recognised it so easily. Later confirmed by the way you spoke of Tucker's crimes and the Gate."

Ed was still holding his breath.

Maes continued, "Before that the closest I got was to think that you may be killed your mother."

Ed twisted around, "You thought what!?"

Maes pressed their foreheads together as Persephone resettled between them, "You are not a monster, Edward Elric-Hughes, you are my son."

Tears spilled from Ed's eyes, illuminated by the streetlight outside. "You don't hate me for what I did?"

"Of course not, Edward, you were a child."

"I knew better. Hell, Al knew better, he told me not to."

"Would you ever try to bring her back now? Would you try to bring me or the girls back if we died tomorrow?"

"No!" Ed exclaimed, causing Persephone to whine. "No, even if I knew more, I wouldn't. Death is what it is, but I would never risk any of you having to live with the possible abonations the costs create."

Maes pet his hair, "And that is wisdom, Edward. You learned a terrible lesson, at an extreme cost. Never doubt how truly monstrous people can be but for their lack of ability to act on it. You were a child then, and what is done cannot be undone. You're grown now, and who you are now, the actions you take in these moments, are those you should judge yourself by."

More tears fell from his eyes, "But I survived, I survived myself, and I still lost Al in the end."

Maes shushed him, gathering him up in his arms, "Where there is life, there is hope. You both have your whole lives ahead to make amends. Your brother is hurting. He's been worrying about you for years, he has quite the mountain to climb emotionally. And I'm not certain how helpful Hohenheim will be to help him understand those emotions and hurts."

Ed snorted, "You didn't like him then?"

"Not even a little bit," Maes said and began rubbing soothing circles on Ed's back. "Though he did say Trisha would have liked me."

Ed sniffed, bearing his face against Maes's chest, and whispered, "My mom would have loved you."

Maes held him closer as Ed began to cry in earnest.

Even as tears soaked Maes's shirt and his whole body shaking, Edward cried just as he always had, without making a sound.

oOo

AN: Thoughts and feedback on the chapter, please?