From the moment Ed woke up again, he's been drawing. By the time Al came back and seemed willing to actually talk to him, the two have had their heads bent over the completely indecipherable circles, debating and arguing. Rather than watching them basically converse in a different language for a few more hours, Derek and JJ go out to get some fresh air and some lunch.
"Dare I ask what they're up to?" Izumi asks as she seats herself at their table, SIg her constant shadow.
Derek sighs. "Ed thinks he's found a way to get us home."
Rather than looking pleased, Izumi's eyebrows furrow, which doesn't exactly make Derek feel better about this idea. "Does he now?" she says in the kind of tone that oozes skepticism. "And did he, by chance, explain how he thinks that's going to happen to you?"
"He wants to use soulbonds to link us to our significant others in our world, and then…" JJ hesitates, probably bracing herself to repeat what sounds categorically insane and impossible to Derek. "He said he's going to sacrifice his alchemy to open a gate?"
Izumi stares first at JJ, then at Derek, who shrugs. "That's what he said," he confirms.
"Idiot," she says, going to stand, but Sig's large hand on her shoulder keeps her from going anywhere.
"You can yell at him better on a full stomach," he tells her.
Derek's heart sinks a little bit. As much as he doesn't understand really any of this, he was really hoping that Ed had actually figured it out and that they would be going home soon. "So it's impossible?" he asks, needing to hear Izumi say it.
The question draws her attention back to him. "What? No—well." She cuts herself off and sighs as if put-upon. "I don't know, actually. It could work, in theory." She uses the back of the fork she's using to scratch between a couple of dreads. "Honestly, when it comes to the Gate and soul alchemy, the brat's probably miles ahead of me. It's his area of specialty. If he says it can be done, he's probably right."
Derek exchanges a look with JJ. "If that's true, then why are you upset at the idea?" JJ asks.
Izumi takes several quick bites of the stew that seems to be the staple around here, taking time before she answers. "It's not that I don't think it's possible, it's just that every damn time that brat touches a soul with alchemy, I swear he takes ten years off my life. It's… such a risk every damn time he does it. Soul alchemy is a form of human transmutation. He may act like they're different, but if you're touching the core of what makes a person themselves," she taps her chest over her heart, "then you're committing the taboo. And each time he does that, he takes an immense risk."
Frowning, Derek asks, "Is there a way for us to get home that doesn't require human transmutation?"
Taking a couple slower bites—though slower is somewhat relative—Izumi thinks it over. "I don't know," she finally admits, looking almost apologetic when she says, "This really isn't my area of expertise, but I can't think of any way that doesn't include it." Her frown deepens as she stares into her stew. "That doesn't make me happy about it."
"Is there anything we can do to mitigate that risk?" JJ asks, though she doesn't look hopeful.
There's no hesitation before Izumi shakes her head. "No," she says firmly. "You're not alchemists, so there's nothing you can do besides follow instructions." She taps the fingers of her empty hand on the table, looking thoughtful. "Did he say what he's planning to exchange? Aside from his alchemy, how he's going to pay the cost? It's three people going through the Gate if you don't count Ed himself."
"He said four and something about a red stone?" JJ says.
Izumi's attention sharpens on her. "Where the hell did he get that?"
"Would it work?" Sig asks her.
"That's not the point," she snaps at him. "His alchemy and a stone… They might be enough to move four people, but that kid knows better than to use a fucking stone. And that's making the very generous assumption that the damn Gate will even accept his alchemy as a cost." She takes another couple bites then, asks, "Four?"
"He said that he was bringing back Mustang and a Maes Hughes?" Derek volunteers.
"You misheard," Izumi says flatly. "Maes Hughes has been dead and buried for over ten years."
Derek exchanges another look with JJ, who shrugs. Turning back to Izumi, he says, "That's just what we heard."
"That dumbass would try to raise a dead man," she says with a sigh. "Hurry up and eat. We need to go talk to my idiot student before he does something irrevocably stupid."
"He and Al have been working on arrays since he woke back up," JJ says.
"I'll just bet they have been," Izumi says with a growl. She scarfs down the rest of her stew, wiping the bottom of the bowl with the baguette-like bread, then wiping her mouth primly, as though she had just daintily finished her food.
The more Derek is exposed to the types of people Ed knew from his life here, the more Ed makes sense.
JJ and Derek had been close to done when Izumi joined them, so it doesn't take them more than a couple minutes to finish eating themselves. As they make their way back inside, a woman that Derek is sure they've been introduced to comes up to them. He wants to say her name is Garcia, but he's pretty sure that's wrong.
Izumi looks a little taken aback when she sees her. "Gracia," she says, and Derek has to bite back the urge to say That's her name! In his defense, they've had a lot of people thrown at them with an atypical amount of stress in the mix, what with the alchemy being real and such.
"Izumi," Gracia says, a basket over her arm. "Are you going to see the boys?"
Still staring at her, Izumi doesn't seem like she's going to answer, so JJ slides in. "We are," she says. "Would you like to join us?"
As Gracia turns to fully face JJ, Derek sees Izumi waving her hands and shaking her head no.
"I haven't seen them all day, so I thought I'd bring lunch to them," Gracia says. She has a gentle, calming voice and a soft, warm smile, so Derek honestly can't imagine why Izumi doesn't want her to come.
Stopping the aggressive signing to fidget almost nervously when Gracia turns back to her, Izumi says, "Agents, have you been introduced to Gracia properly?" Before they can answer, she says, "This is Gracia Hughes. She's Elicia's mother."
There's no mistaking the way she puts emphasis on Hughes, which probably means that she's the widow of whoever Maes Hughes was. It does explain why Izumi doesn't really want her coming with them if they're going to talk to Ed, and if one of the things they talk about is said dead husband.
JJ must have caught some of Izumi's waving out of the corner of her eye. "I don't think we've been formally introduced," she says, giving Gracia a warm smile of her own. "I'm Jennifer Jareau, but feel free to call me JJ. And this is one of my team, Derek Morgan."
"It's lovely to have a formal introduction," Gracia says. "Ed sometimes forgets the niceties," she adds, but it's with the kind of look and affection that an older sister or a doting aunt might have. "You were on Ed's team in the other world as well, correct?" They nod, and she brightens. "In that case, I hope you don't mind my thanks for helping look after him."
Derek finds himself in the awkward position of having to say, "He's hardly a child. I think he looked after us as much as we looked after him." It's even true, which is kind of annoying now that he thinks about it. Ed is chaos in a compact case, but for people that Derek would choose to have at his back in a tough situation? There weren't many better than Ed. A fact that he'd as good as forgotten in light of the revelation of Mustang and Ed's relationship with him.
"I'm certain," Gracia agrees, her smile growing more wistful. "Still, Ed does seem to attract danger, and we appreciate that he had a good team at his back."
"You give us too much credit," JJ says, deflecting. "You know, we can take that with us?" she offers, pointing toward Gracia's basket. "If you have other things to do?"
"No, not at all. I'd like to see the boys more. I feel like Ed hasn't missed a beat, jumping right back into the thick of things," Gracia says. While she's distracted by JJ, Derek shoots Izumi a quick what can you do shrug, and Izumi's shoulders slump.
They really don't have another good excuse to tell her not to come, so Gracia joins their little group.
As they enter the palace, Derek mutters to JJ, "We're going to owe Ed an apology, aren't we?"
"Yeeup," JJ agrees, not bothering to look at him.
They slip through the mostly deserted halls until they find Ed and Al, still crouched over sketches of circles.
Ed rubs his flesh hand over his face for a moment, then catches sight of them. "Hey," he says, sounding worn out and a little grumpy. Then he sees Gracia. "Oh, Gracia! Hi." He is the picture of someone caught in the middle of something he wasn't supposed to be in.
If Gracia notices, she doesn't show it, instead simply lifting her basket. "I have it on good authority that you two haven't eaten anything today."
As if on cue, Ed's stomach growls loudly. He flushes, putting his hand to his stomach, then laughs nervously. "We got a little caught up," he says as Gracia steps forward to put the basket in the middle of the table. Ed and Al both scramble their papers out of the way rather than protest her setting it down, which Derek thinks is telling.
"That's no excuse not to take care of yourselves," Gracia admonishes in that perfect mom tone that is guaranteed to make a grown adult feel about three years old at fifty paces.
"Yes, ma'am," Ed and Al both mumble, looking appropriately abashed as Gracia takes the cover off the basket and begins to set out their meal as if it were her own dining room instead of a random palace room.
Ed glances away from the food to look up at them. "Teacher? Did you need something?" he asks.
Izumi crosses her arms, glaring down at him. "I… understand that you may have a way to get everyone home," she begins, obviously picking her words with care.
"The theory appears sound," Al says. "There's just one variable that we haven't calculated out yet—"
"I'm telling you, my alchemy will clear the cost—"
"Assuming Truth even allows you to give it up again. You've already given it up once and gotten it back. Given your track record, I wouldn't trust it either," Al retorts without missing a beat.
"It also isn't a cost to you anymore," Izumi points out. Ed frowns at her, but he doesn't interrupt as she goes on. "You're too eager, too willing to give it up. You said you couldn't use it in their world, right?" She throws a thumb in JJ and Derek's direction, and Ed nods. "Which means you've functionally been without it for almost a decade. You can offer it, sure, but I doubt Truth will think it's worth much if it isn't a genuine sacrifice for you."
"That's what I've been trying to tell him," Al says with a look of finally, someone with sense.
"It's still a sacrifice," Ed says stubbornly.
"Yes, but is it a sacrifice worth three lives?"
"Four," Ed corrects automatically, and pretty much everyone except Gracia winces.
"Four?" Gracia asks. Derek honestly can't tell if she's oblivious to the undercurrents or if her poker face is really just that good.
Ed and Al exchange a quick argument in looks before Ed says, "We're going to have to tell her sooner or later."
That makes Gracia's seemingly floaty attention seem to focus. "Tell me what?" she asks.
Al gives Ed a hard look, and he sighs, putting his full attention on Gracia. "You should sit down," he says.
"What? Why?" she asks, but Derek grabs a chair and basically slides it behind her so she can sit.
Taking one of her hands in his own, Ed meets her eyes. "I need you to listen and not panic, okay?"
"Is it Elicia—"
"No," he interrupts with the same, almost surprising calm that he often demonstrates with kids. "No, Elicia is perfect. She's wonderful. This is about bringing Roy back home."
He waits until Gracia seems to get her emotions under control again, then she nods. "Okay," she says.
Ed takes a deep breath. "Roy has someone with him that he thinks is Maes Hughes," he says. Gracia's brow furrows, pain painting itself across her face as she tries to pull her hand free. "Hey, hey," he says gently. "This is me, and this is Roy, okay?"
She shakes her head, face crumpling. "It's not possible."
"I know," he says. "I know, and if it were anyone else in the world, I don't know that I'd believe it either, but it's Roy, and if anyone knows General Hughes besides you, it's him."
Tears begin to fall down Gracia's face, and she puts her free hand to her mouth, stifling a sob.
Reaching out to rub her back as she now grips his metal hand in her own, he says, "Roy really thinks it's him, and we want to bring him home, bring him back to you."
Gracia chokes out a heart-wrenching sob, then chokes another one back. She drops her hand from her mouth, and her voice trembles when she speaks, but Derek sees a spine of steel beneath her easygoing facade. "What do you need me to do?" she asks.
Ed takes another deep breath and begins to explain.