A/N: First things first: Thank you all who have reviewed, followed and favoured this story! Secondly, I'm sorry about the delay and even more sorry that the future chapters probably won't be updated any more swiftly either. I was planning to have a few chapters finished written ahead buuuut that plan went down the pipes so to say. You know how it it, real life keeps getting in the way (though I suppose I should be glad I at least have a job, even with how much I hate it)...

Well, I'm not gonna ramble on anymore for now so I'll just leave you guys to it. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Chapter three – Old friends and revelations

As Maes gulped for air he glanced around. Everything was blurry without his glasses (where were they anyway?) but he could at least determinate that he wasn't home nor in a hospital. He had an herbal, bitter but somehow oddly familiar taste lingering in his mouth.

A basic healing potion, his mind supplied and he realized with a start that he could accept that explanation. But wasn't it just a dream?

He rubbed his chest where the bullet had hit absentmindedly when he suddenly noticed it didn't hurt. A closer inspection showed there was only a small scar left after the bullet and the stabbings from Lust.

"How long have I been unconscious?" he asked himself.

"About a day", answered a gruff voice Maes recognized.

"Dr. Knox? Where am I?"

"In my house", replied the grumpy man and started to examine the soldier's vital signs after handing the man his glasses. "You were taken to the morgue yesterday morning. I had just removed your shirt – just how did you get a hold of a shirt of Kevlar, anyway? – when you started so show signs of life and mumbling all sort of nonsense. Oh and you called for some crazy elf too."

Maes could practically feel the cogwheels starting to turn in an alarming rate in his head. "An elf?"

Knox grunted. "Yeah. Kept calling herself for 'Dipsy the House Elf'."

That couldn't be a coincidence. Especially as his mind slowly provided other snippets of memories with the small creature. He had to investigate it, preferably by talking to her.

"Dipsy!" he said out in a normal talking tone and with small crack he had a small, old and frail looking creature standing before him. Her big eyes were wet with tears and it looked like she was trying her best to keep from blowing her nose in the frail pillowcase she was wearing.

"Ooohhh… M-m-master has called for D-Dipsy again! And this time Master is awake too! Dipsy is so very, very happy!"

"Hello Dipsy", he said softly, noticing she looked very familiar to what she had looked like in his dreams but much more worn out. But he still had to ask his questions, to make sure he hadn't gone mental. "Dipsy… do I know you?"

That made the little female to start bawling. "Know? Oh young little master knew Dipsy very well! Dipsy helped nice mistress to care for young master when he was just a baby. Oohh… Dipsy was so very very sad when Master Muggle Healer Knox said yous couldn't remember anything!"

"Dipsy- Dipsy please calm down! I need to ask some other questions!"

It was almost like hitting a switch button with how quickly she went quiet even if she obviously still were highly emotional. Hughes took a deep breath.

"Thank you. Now, as my good old friend Knox apparently told you I'm an amnesiac, but I think I've might have started to remember some things but I need your help to sort out what is real and not."

"Oh, Dipsy will do anything to help her kind Master, oh yes she will!"

"Thanks. Now, first of all: Am I a wizard?"

"Oh yes! Kind Master James Potter is a very powerful wizard! Had just taken his mastery in transfiguration too before yous went into hiding."

"Is James Potter my real name?"

"Why yes. Master James Potter is the Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter!"

"I see… did I… did I by any chance marry a girl named Lily?"

"Oh yes! Dipsy remember it was a very beautiful wedding too!"

"Were we happy together?"

"Very much so! Dipsy has never seen Master as happy as he was then, even if it was a war. And Dipsy knows Master was so very proud when his little Harry was born!"

Hughes had to swallow the lump that was suddenly forming in his throat.

"I… I recall fighting an evil man… I was trying to protect Lily and Harry from him…"

He saw Dipsy's forlorn look and he buried his face in his hands. He had failed them.

"Dipsy… are there… are there any pictures of them?" he choked out.

He felt her small hands pet his knee.

"Dipsy will be back in a moment", she said and disappeared.

Maes more felt than saw Knox sit down beside him.

"When you were still unconscious, Dipsy had the idea of faking your death, in case you wanted to return 'to your world' unnoticed. She even fixed a fake corpse and left it at the morgue. Do you want to go under cover or do you want us to remove it and reveal that you're alive?"

Even though he hadn't said it, Hughes could hear the doctor's real question.

Are you okay enough to move forward?

He lay down on the bed again with a sigh and stared up the ceiling. It was a hard decision, but he knew he had to do it.

"I'll have to go undercover. The ones who tried to kill me… they are dangerous, and if they realize I'm still alive they might get desperate. The tricky question will be how to give Roy the information he needs."

Knox raised an eyebrow.

"I heard a rumour you had said the military is in danger on the phone. Is it that bad?"

"It's worse. They plan to turn everybody in Amestris to a Philosopher's Stone."

The doctor stared at his patient with a frown. "I don't understand what you mean. Isn't that stone just a legend?"

Maes shook slowly his head. "No. The Elric Brothers decoded Tim Marcho's research notes Sheska had recreated for them, and they discovered that the main ingredient for the Stone is human souls. That's why he hid his research and ran away."

Knox blanched drastically at those words. "You must be joking…?"

"Sadly not. And the day they tried to murder me I discovered Amestris itself is one big transmutation circle. If you look at where there have been major bloodsheds the last 400 years, it's a perfect match with the connecting points for the transmutation circle to a philosopher's stone."

"That's when Amestris was founded… you mean…?"

"Yes. This country was created with the sole purpose of making a ginormous stone. It's not humans who's behind all of this, it homunculi who've been holding the strings all this time. Wouldn't surprise me now that I think about it if they were behind the fall of Xerxes too."

"Fuck I need a whiskey… Is the circle complete yet?"

"No, but soon. After Leore it's only the Briggs left."

"Hm. So we have a little time left to come up with a plan then."

"Yeah, but after that I have no idea when they plan to strike. I will have try and figure that out without revealing to them I'm alive."

"Hrmf, well. You go ahead and do that and I'll try to keep my eyes and ears open at the morgue. You know where I live and where I work. If you find something you feel like I need to know, you know where to find me."

Maes grinned weakly. "Thanks, Knox."

They were interrupted by the return of Dipsy holding a photo album and a slim stick made of mahogany.

"My wand!" exclaimed Hughes in surprise.

"Dipsy found it next to the photo album when she was visiting the Potter Family Vault and brought it along too. Dipsy was also told by the Goblins to deliver this to yous", she said and suddenly a massive pile of papers appeared. What really attracted his attention though were three envelopes that looked different from the others. He picked them up and looked at the seal – an H in a shield surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake. Almost on auto mode he broke the seal on the first one and pulled out the official looking slip of parchment.

"Grades?" he mumbled confused before he glanced at the name on it and froze.

Harry James Potter

"Harry is alive? My son is alive?!"

"Yes Master James Potter, sir. Young Master Harry Potter is the Boy-Who-Lived, sir, because he survived You-Know-Who's nasty killing curse."

"He… he was hit with the… was it called Akvada Kedavra? … And he survived it? How?"

"Dipsy does not know. Dipsy only knows that The Nasty Curse bounced back on You-Know-Who."

"So You-Know-Who is dead?"

"Dipsy does not think so. Dipsy spoke with house elf friends at Hogwarts and heard that in Young Master Harry Potters first year at Hogwarts it was discovered that You-Know-Who had been hiding under Professor Quirrell's turban."

Hughes got up and started to pace back and forth. "So he's still around. Oh man, this is bad… What should I do?"

"You should lie down and get some more rest before you rip up your wounds!" snapped Knox and promptly dropped the large pile of letters on the floor at the foot of the bed.

"How can I rest when my son is alive and still targeted by a maniac because of some bloody prophesy? How should I warn Roy of what's about to happen? And how can I tell Gracia and Elicia I'm still alive without putting them in danger? Oh man I need to get them out of the country too… Should I take them to England? Damn that could be just as dangerous with You-Know-Who on the loose…"

"OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE MAN LIE DOWN!"

Maes froze and looked at the other man who was glaring daggers at him.

Knox huffed in annoyance. "There is nothing you can do right now and you know it. And if you're going to fake your death, the less who knows you're alive the better. I am not saying you should hide it from your wife and daughter, but you need to wait until all the focus is removed from them unless you want to risk them not looking like they're grieving at the funeral and cause suspicions to arise."

With a deep sigh he sat down again on the bed again and tiredly rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, of course, you're right... I must start with lying low. But when I can start to make movements… Hm. When it comes to Gracia I could put on a… glamour… and introduce myself as James Potter and give her a number of hints with things only she knows about me. But Elicia must probably be kept in the dark until I can safely move them away from Amestris. As much as I love her, she is too young to understand the concept of secrets and I don't want them to get hurt because of a slip. But how should I warn Roy? And how should I protect Harry? What will he- OW!"

Hughes rubbed his arm where Knox had stabbed him with a needle. The middle-aged man calmly put his medical gear away before he helped to ease the now rather drowsy man lying down again.

"Knox, you… sneaky… bastard."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's not like you would be able to relax right now anyway and whether you like it or not you are on bedrest. So save all your worrying and planning until tomorrow and sleep, alright?"

"S'not 'ike you 'ave me a 'oice…" mumbled Hughes as the drugs pulled him further and further into a deep, dreamless sleep.

A/N: That's all for this time. A question though: Is there anything specific you would like to see/not see? I have quite a lot planned out, but it mainly covers things from the promised day and after, the period before is still pretty loose so if you have any wishes, now is the time to let me know and I might be able to incorporate them. ;)

Next time: Chapter four - Planning.