Not in chronological order, but the boys' ages will be listed at the top of every chapter.

Edward,6, Alphonse, 5

Edward hides his brother and himself when some men broke into the house

Home Invasion

Early Morning

Edward woke to a strange sound downstairs, he listened intently for a moment before he heard it a second time and sat up in alarm. Someone was breaking the front door. He looked over at his brother, but Al was still sleeping peacefully.

He was terrified. He had to get somewhere safe, and get Al somewhere safe, before the strangers found them. Lately, a lot of strangers had been in town. He heard stories. People breaking in to steal everything they could, sometimes hurting people who caught them, so he had to make sure no one knew they were here.

The big problem was waking Al. Al was never easy to wake, and he tended to whine or yell when Ed woke him before he was ready, but that would give them away. Biting his lip as Ed thought about what to do, he heard the wood give way and heavy footsteps enter the house, at least three sets of footsteps. They sounded like they were going toward the kitchen for now, so Ed decided.

He leaned over his brother, carefully covering his mouth so that he would still be able to breath through his nose, then shook his shoulder. Al's eyes opened slowly, then frowned and tried to push Ed away, but Ed shook his head. He pointed toward the door then made covered his own mouth to show they needed to be quiet. Al nodded with fear filled eyes before the boys carefully climbed out of bed as quietly as possible.

Ed though about trying to escape out the front door while the people were in the kitchen, but then he heard the bottom stair creek. The brothers looked at each other then Ed led Al silently to the closet in their room, pulling open the door and gestured for Al to crawl passed the clothes to the back. Al trembled; he was terrified of the closet.

Ed climbed in after him, shutting them in and casting them into complete darkness. Al tried to stay quiet, but he couldn't help the small whine that came out of him as they crawled back further. Ed knew there was a tiny space behind the closet, one that was easy to overlook that led between the walls. He wasn't entirely sure why it was there, but he had found it about a year ago, and sometimes he would go hide in there when he needed a break from pretending to be a grown up.

Inside he had left a blanket and a lantern so that he could be comfortable in his secret space, along with a couple of books. He pushed the panel open now and led Al through before shutting it firmly behind them. He had never shut it all the way from the inside before since he had been scared of getting stuck but now, he was more scared of getting caught.

Once the door was closed, he turned the lantern on low, he wouldn't risk turning it up, it was already risky as it was, but Al would start crying soon in the dark. Al looked around in confusion before wrapping himself in the blanket and leaning against a roof beam miserably. Ed stayed pressed against the panel in hopes that if it were noticed he would be heavy enough to keep it from being pushed open.

They sat in silence for a while, Al sniffling quietly, and rubbing his eyes, and Ed fighting back the urge to cry as well. He couldn't let Al see how scared he was because it would only scare Al more. Outside their hiding place, they could hear someone walking around in the room.

"Does anyone actually live here? It's very dusty." A deep male voice said, and Ed bristled. Okay so he might not be the best housekeeper, not like his mom, but he DID clean thank you very much.

"Someone has been here recently, there is fresh food in the kitchen." A higher male voice responded, closer to the closet.

"Well, where are they now?" said the first voice.

"Who knows? Maybe they heard us coming in and escaped out of the back somehow."

"We better hope not. We don't need soldiers coming down on our heads."

"Well, we'll just sit here for a bit, until the area is clear then move on."

"Okay, but we should look around, make sure no one is hiding in here with us."

Al and Ed's eyes met both terrified. Al let out a little squeak that sounded to Ed very loud, but the men didn't seem to notice it. A few moments later they heard the closet door open and someone shoving the hangers back and forth like they were looking for someone. The sound ended much to Al's relief and Ed's terror. They hadn't seen the light, had they? Oh, he hoped not.

Eventually they heard the bootsteps heading away from them, and Ed relaxed even as he heard someone go into Mom's room. He wanted to go out there and tell them to leave that room alone, but he was scared. So, he let out a small angry whimper of his own before he looked around. They didn't have anything in here to use as a weapon or to draw and array. Though he could scratch one into the floor if he needed to.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours but was closer to twenty minutes, they heard the men move back down the stairs. Ed waited a bit longer before he scooted across to join his brother under the blanket. They sat silently and waited. Al was getting hungry. Ed had already been hungry. He couldn't do anything to solve that problem right now, but at least he remembered the jug of water he had left in here.

Quietly he slid over to the little space he shoved things he wanted to keep out of the way, he pulled out the water jug which was mostly full. Al gratefully took a long sip before handing it back. Ed took a small sip of his own before placing it down far enough away to avoid accidentally knocking it over then sat under the blanket next to Al again.

"Are they gone yet?" Al whispered.

"No, they said they were waiting out someone looking for them. I can still hear them down there. We just have to wait." Ed said with a frown.

Time dragged on slowly, before the boys were jerked back out of a light sleep by the sound of a new person. Ed listened carefully but didn't hear the men anymore. The new lighter footsteps made their way up the staircase as Ed scooted lightly back to leaning on the hatch. No one was getting to his brother.

A few minutes later, he heard the closet door open, and the light snapped on, leaking around the edge of the panel. The click of the hanger being pushed aside came next. Ed was terrified as he looked over at his sleeping brother. He knew he would do anything he could to keep Al safe, but what would happen when they got Ed? Would Al be able to escape and get to Granny's or would they catch him too? Ed wanted to cry. He didn't want to be the big one anymore! He wanted a grown up to come and save them, but most of the grown ups had left town now and Granny had to save Winry, and Mom was gone…they were on their own.

"Boys? You can come out now." Granny's voice came from the other side of the thin wood. "Those men are gone."

Ed opened the door and peeked around it to find Granny kneeling there. He leapt out of his hiding space into her arms. "I'm sorry Edward. I tried to get up here before the men arrived, but they were already inside by the time I arrived. I knew you were smart enough to hide in the attic."

"Is Winry okay?" Ed asked, as he did his best not to cry.

"Yeah, I hid her in the root cellar before I came up here. I'm sorry boys. Why don't you come stay with us for tonight?" Granny said.

Ed nodded mutely before crawling back inside to shake Al awake and bring him out. Granny led them back down to her house, where she had made a stew for dinner. Afterward, she insisted they both took a bath, then put them to bed in the guest room.

"Brother, I'm glad Granny came and helped us." AL said sleepily.

"Yeah Al," Ed said. Granny hadn't saved them though. She just went home and waited for the men to leave before coming to pick them up. No, Granny did what she could, but the truth was, Ed knew he was going to have to protect them because all the grown ups already had someone else to take care of, so the boys were on their own. At least until they figured out how to get mom back. Until then, Ed was just going to have to be the grown up now.