A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I really had to fight to get where I needed to go. Moreover, I've been overcome by a peculiar narcolepsy-like lassitude that's been making it hard to focus on anything at all, let alone writing. It's an odd sensation, hovering in the limbo between "too exhausted to do anything" and "too restless to sleep". But, challenges aside, the chapter is finally here. I think we might only have another two or three chapters before we reach the conclusion of our little tale. Until then, enjoy reading!

On a side note, I've been reading back over this mess (for consistency's sake), and I've noticed that there's an odd obsession with pancakes threaded throughout. I blame Cabin Fever for this (anybody who's seen this movie will know what I mean *shudder*, if you haven't seen it just Google "Cabin Fever, Pancakes" and watch the videos that come up - just don't do it if you have a low tolerance for mental trauma, it's seriously weird).

Same disclaimer applies, I don't own FMA or any of the characters therein. Would be nice *sigh* but still not mine anymore than they were in the last chapter.

Chapter 13

Bad Days and Bedhead

Morning came far too early after the overly eventful night they'd had. On top of the early hour, just to add insult to injury, they were awakened by the time-honored hyperactive Elysia alarm. Guaranteed to wake up people five counties away from ground zero. Ed, who was not a morning person to begin with, looked downright murderous. He pulled on his hoodie before sliding his feet into his slippers and shuffling in the vague direction of the kitchen. Worried for both Edward and anyone he might encounter en route, Roy hurried after him. Besides, after the first time Ed ran into a wall Roy figured it was a safe bet that Ed was going to need a little help with steering too.

Ed only had one eye open, and it was only partially open at that, and his bedhead wasn't just impressive, it was mythical. Whole sagas could be written about the ludicrous configuration and still not do it justice. Roy tried to warn him, but the jaundiced cyclops glare he received froze the words in his throat. Gracia was already in the kitchen when they finally arrived, and she started to say good morning only to stop and stare, her mouth hanging open mid-word. Then she politely cleared her throat, a brief cough the only sign that she was concealing laughter, and managed a warm "Good morning." Ed muttered something that was either an attempt at "good morning" or him speaking in tongues. Anything was possible at this point.

Maes was the next to rise, greeting his wife first with a kiss on her cheek then giving his daughter a huge hug. He tried to say good morning to Ed, but, like Gracia, was stopped short by the mythic-quality bedhead. Roy couldn't take it anymore, so he risked life and limb to reach up and carefully pet Ed's head until his hair was more or less flattened. Ed let out a soft hum that sounded enough like gratitude, and Roy relaxed, feeling that he no longer needed to be ready to dive for cover. "Do you have any coffee made, Gracia?" asked Roy, keeping his voice soft so as not to disturb the groggy beast at his side.

"Yes, of course," she said, smiling with pure amusement. She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Roy who very carefully placed it in Ed's hands.

"I haven't put anything in it yet," Roy warned him. Ed grunted and slung it back like it wasn't bitterly black and scalding hot. That first sip of coffee seemed to humanize him a little bit more, and he got his other eye halfway open to match the first. He topped off his cup and added his usual copious sugar before letting Roy guide him into the dining room to sit and wait for breakfast.

Elysia climbed up into Ed's lap, but even she couldn't get more than inarticulate noise out of him. For some reason, though, she didn't seem to mind. "Can I brush your hair?" she asked, her eyes huge and brimming with hope. "I promise I'll make it pretty." Ed grunted an affirmative, and, at her command, turned to the side so she could stand on the chair next to his to reach his head. She asked Roy for a hairbrush with all the seriousness of a surgeon asking for a scalpel. Roy just barely managed to withhold his chuckle until he was out of earshot – he didn't want the evil beast Edward to smite him for laughing at him. It was a little early in the morning for smiting.

He returned with Ed's hairbrush and one of his rubber bands, and solemnly handed them to Elysia. Maes, of course, was already there with a camera, clicking away unbeknownst to the as yet not fully awake Ed. However, it was only a matter of time before Ed noticed, so it was probably best if somebody put a stop to it before Maes ended up eating the camera. It was best not to expose a child as young as Elysia to that much carnage. Roy finally had to sic Gracia on Maes to get him to stop. While Roy had been busy reining in Maes, Elysia had been busy fighting with the tangles in Ed's hair.

"Your hair is so pretty!" exclaimed Elysia. Ed twitched (he hated to be called pretty almost more than he hated being called short), but the expected outburst never came, so Roy breathed a sigh of relief. "It's so shiny!"

"I wash it every day," said Ed – the first English he'd spoken all morning.

"Me too, but mine isn't shiny gold like yours," said Elysia as if Ed had just told her a fib.

"Your hair can only be the color you were born with. Washing it makes it shiny but won't change the color," Ed told her. Was he blushing? "But your hair is pretty just the way it is. After you brush my hair, I can do something fancy with your hair if you want."

"Can you?" she asked excitedly, her goodwill restored.

"Yes, but you have to get my gloves out of my bag for me," he told her around another sip of coffee. "Is my hair all brushed, Princess?"

"Yes sir," she chirped and Ed nodded.

"Then bring me my gloves and I'll do your hair now," he said, and she jumped down off the chair then raced off to the spare bedroom. While she was gone, Roy took over her place and did a more thorough job of brushing Ed's hair. He melted almost instantly, like he always did. "I can't even do anything with it until I have my gloves on. It catches in the joints of my automail."

"Would you like me to try?" asked Roy, though, in truth, he'd never braided hair before and didn't have the first clue how to start.

"That's all right. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself," snorted Ed.

"May I do it?" asked Maes, batting his eyelashes and pouting playfully. Ed laughed and gestured for him to give it a go. Maes shoved Roy out of the way and stood behind Ed. Apparently, being the father of a little girl counted for quite a lot, because he had Ed's hair neatly braided in no time. Ed lifted his left hand and ran it along Maes's handiwork then gave his nod of approval.

"Thanks," he said, and Maes gave him an impudent little salute.

Elysia returned with Ed's gloves and a double-handful of brightly colored hair ties and barrettes and her own little brush. "Now, you'll need to sit still like a statue, okay? The robot hand is good as any hand for doing easy stuff like holding a book or eating with a fork, but you gotta be able to concentrate really hard to do hard stuff like making your hair pretty. You got it?" Elysia nodded slowly then sat down in front of Ed and held as still as she possibly could. The camera came out again when Ed started working on Elysia's hair. He created two neatly woven French braids traveling down either side of her head. "I can't do much better than braiding, but I can braid like nobody's business," said Ed as Elysia bounced up from her seat.

"Like daddy," giggled Elysia and Ed blushed, laughing with her.

"Yes, Princess, like your daddy," agreed Ed. "Next time, if you're really sweet, I'll braid your hair into a crown for you. Sound good?" She nodded happily and turned to hug him in gratitude, her kiss on his cheek lighting his cheeks up with an even brighter blush.

In a surprising show of good manners, Ed politely offered to help Gracia set the table, and while he was otherwise occupied, Maes showed Roy the pictures of Ed first having his hair brushed by Elysia then brushing her hair in return. Maes promised in an undertone to send them to him later, the friends shaking on it. What was it about Ed that seemed to turn Roy into something almost like a stalker?

After breakfast, Ed and Roy rushed off to the university so Ed wouldn't be late for his first class. Since Roy was once again at school earlier than he needed to be, he headed to the library to put in some study time. He had a test coming up, and he hadn't had much time or thought to spare for preparing for it. He stayed in the library until he began to feel his brain start to melt then he headed over to the lab.

He offered greetings to his team, of whom only Falman was absent since he had a class that day. Roy regaled them with the harrowing tale of their action hero-esque adventures the previous night. Oddly enough, of all the of Ed's wild maneuvers and martial arts prowess, the one thing the whole team seemed to focus on was Ed's jump from the chair to the tabletop. They felt it simply couldn't be possible to make a leap like that. Even leaping that high from a standing position seemed rather difficult as far as they were concerned, but to do it from a sitting position? Not possible.

When Ed finally arrived at the lab, Breda made sure to grab him on his way by. "Dude! We need you to settle our debate!" Breda told him excitedly.

"I told them about last night," said Roy with a dry smirk. "The only part they're having trouble with is your jump onto the table. For some reason, they've decided it's physically impossible to make a jump like that from a seated position. Granted, I saw it, and even I have a little trouble believing it."

"Ah, but that's the thing," said Ed with a sly little half-smile. "First of all, I wasn't completely seated, strictly speaking. Second of all, I didn't so much jump while seated. I stood then jumped in a single motion. Most people would stand, pause to set their feet and bunch their muscles, then jump. I was hovering in my chair, my muscles were already bunched, and my feet were already set. There was no need to pause at all. So it looked like I jumped from my seat."

"Show us," demanded Breda.

"I'd love to see it too," said Sheska a little more shyly.

"All right," said Ed with a resigned sigh. He waited while they cleared a spot on their worktable and brought him a chair that wasn't on wheels. They all watched closely as Ed's body tensed then he suddenly jumped to land on the table in a crouch."

"What the fuck?!" shouted Breda in disbelief even as they all applauded the feat.

"I'll show you the motion slowly – though, I can't make the jump that way, but I can show you everything leading to it," said Ed as he jumped down off the table. He demonstrated again in super slow motion. Looking closer, they could see that in the beginning he was hovering a couple centimeters above his seat. By the time he was nearly upright, his knees bent and angled slightly outward, every muscle in his legs was bunched and ready to propel upward motion. "It's just an application of Newton's Three Laws of Motion. In particular, 'An object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.' Come on guys, you're physicists. You should know this shit."

"Yeah, yeah, Science God," said Breda with a dismissive wave.

"Well, I gotta go try to sneak past Winry to get to my lab," said Ed with a look of distaste. "If you hear yelling, you better come fucking rescue me."

They actually didn't end up hearing any yelling, which they took as a sign of Ed's success. But then almost two hours later, they heard a familiar voice echoing down the hall. Exchanging a shrug between them, they all got out of their seats and headed for the engineering lab down the hall. Falman had joined them by that point, and though he didn't know what was happening, he followed them on their raid anyway.

"Get off of me Grape Ape!" shouted Ed, struggling valiantly against the half-a-dozen engineering students that were all but hanging off of him, Winry among them. They were trying to drag him to a chair that looked like it had either come out of a dentist's office or a torture chamber – not that the two weren't mutually exclusive. No, wait, that wasn't a chair. That was a surgical table, complete with articulations for all four limbs. However, the back of it was raised and a bolster had been added, making it look like a chair. As if just to make the thing more horrifying, it had restraints straight out of a mental hospital attached to the middle, chest level, and to all four articulations. "I told you, you can't have my fucking arm! I have class in fifteen minutes!"

"Fine Ed! We won't take it off!" yelled Winry at last.

"Yeah right, Donkey Kong! You say that, but as soon as you sit me down, you'll disconnect it!" countered Ed.

"I swear on Granny's pipe, I won't disconnect your arm!" shouted Winry, and finally Ed stopped struggling. The engineering students all let go, some of them dropping to the floor to land on their rumps. Roy and his team, amused but knowing better than to laugh out loud, moved in to help them up. "Now sit, you big baby, so I can see what you did to my precious work of art."

"It may have got a couple scratches, but nothing to get your bananas in a bunch about," sniffed Ed, trying to reclaim some of his tattered dignity. He sat in the torture chair like a king taking his throne. "All right, guys," said Ed, looking at Roy and his team. "If they touch those straps, tackle them."

"All right Elric, strip," commanded Winry, and Ed's whole face turned fire engine red.

"On second thought, everybody get the fuck out," said Ed, and Roy and his team all laughed and vacated, followed by the engineering students who took it as their cue to head to the kitchen for coffee.

Five minutes later, Ed walked down the hall, hands shoved in his pockets and looking distinctly disgruntled. "Yo, Ed, how'd it go?" called Fuery. Ed stopped and turned back, popping his head into their lab.

"Magilla Gorilla took the casing and won't give it back until after classes," he grumbled, pulling up his sleeve just enough for them to see the exposed wiring and rods that the outer shell of the arm usually hid. "She says it's how she'll make sure I come back after my last class. But I have work after that, so I don't know what she thinks she'll be able to do in the thirty minutes I'll have available. Well, I never said she wasn't completely fucking cracked. That gorilla is so seriously unhinged."

"Is something wrong with it?" asked Roy, concerned. If she was insisting he return, it was a good bet she had a reason.

"Nothing major," answered Ed with a shrug. "It's just wear and tear on the bearings in some of the joints. It's an easy fix, just tedious and time-consuming. I swear, I go through more arms . . ."

"Do you need to take the arm off for that?" asked Roy, and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, but we take off my arm so damn often, I'm used to it," explained Ed uncomfortably. "Recovery time is shorter, and I can still move around. It's not like with the leg where I can't walk and feel like somebody hit me in the nuts with a sledgehammer. I mean, reconnecting the leg seriously feels like the whole pelvic area is shattered, every single fucking time. Whole lower lumbar is usually fried too. So yeah, 'hit in the nuts with a sledgehammer' is a fair description. Reconnecting the arm still hurts like fuck, but as long as I don't move that arm too much, I can deal."

"Yeesh," said Breda, and all the men in the room subconsciously crossed their legs, none of them happy to hear the words 'sledgehammer' and 'nuts' being used in the same sentence – ever.

"Anyway, I've gotta get to class," said Ed with a friendly grin. "You guys should sit in sometime. You might even learn something."

"Sit in on a class with the Kung Fu God of Science? Hells yeah!" said Breda and there was snickering agreement around the room. "But wait, what classes do you even teach?"

"This semester I've got Anatomy & Physiology I and II, Physics for Morons, Advanced Calculus, and Computational Chemistry," answered Ed. "Today is A & P II, Advanced Calculus, and Idiot Physics, in that order. Oh, Roy, since I won't be there to cook dinner tonight, you're welcome to come by the diner. I can feed you there. Plus I can slide you free coffee."

"A most benevolent god, I thank you," said Roy dramatically with a little bow, and Ed laughed as he left them with a backward wave.

Sadly, Roy had class so he wasn't there for his team's invasion of Ed's "Physics for Morons" class, but they told him all about it later. According to the team, Ed was a hard-ass – which they had somewhat expected – but none of the students seemed to take his hard attitude to heart. They knew that he was just pushing them to succeed, and he was only really rude to them when they weren't trying their hardest. He simply refused to accept half-assed effort. He praised them only rarely, but when he did, the fact that it was such a rare occurrence gave even the slightest praise exponentially greater impact. So, although his tests and assignments were brutal, the students all loved him. The team also said that his lecture was genuinely interesting despite the dry subject matter, with plenty of humor and Ed's signature sarcasm thrown in.

"I mean, yeah we already know the basics taught in that class, but you know, I think we really did manage to learn things we didn't already know," put in Fuery, and Roy nodded, impressed. Fuery was a bright, straight A student. There wasn't much about physics he didn't know. For him to admit that, despite the elementary nature of the class, he had managed to learn something new was a little bit incredible.

"But then, after the lecture, we got mobbed," said Breda in the tone of somebody telling a horror story around a campfire. "As soon as they saw us talk to Ed and call him by his first name, they were on us like sharks on chum. They had a million questions about Ed."

"Mostly they wanted to know if he was single," giggled Sheska.

"But we also got weird questions like, 'does he sleep in a coffin?' and 'is it true he melts if you throw milk on him?' You know, really weird shit like that," Breda told him, chuckling and shaking his head.

"They don't know whether to worship at his feet or fend him off with crosses and garlic," said Falman, actually laughing along with them – to everyone's shock. Falman didn't often laugh, but Ed just had that effect on people, tearing them out of their comfort zones.

"Ed thinks the whole thing is hilarious," said Fuery, giggling so hard his eyes crinkled. "He just ignores all questions not related to the class and gives them leading looks when they ask really stupid questions, like he's encouraging them to think the most ridiculous things possible. It's too funny! I wish you could have been there. I think you would have got a huge laugh out of it."

"I'll see if he has any classes during the times I'm available and drop in to surprise him," said Roy with a wink, and they all giggled a bit, imaging the chaos that would ensue. If the buddies of the great Ed Elric got mobbed, imagine what would happen to Ed's lover. Roy was practically rubbing his hands together like a vaudeville villain just thinking about it.

As soon as the work in the lab got to a stopping point, the team all went their separate ways for the evening, Roy heading over to Dante's for his offered meal. It was an older diner, having been running since the early 40's, and the owner had chosen to make the most of its aged charm. A long age-darkened wood counter created an oblong barrier between the food prep areas and the dining room. Behind the counter a tiled wall hid the bulk of the kitchen with a large window with its own little stainless steel counter connecting the wait staff to their food source. The coffee came from two huge copper urns that looked like they'd been around as long as the diner. Even the cash register was seriously old, though Roy suspected it might just be there for show – he thought he caught a glimpse of a newer register hidden in a nook to one side.

As if to contrast the old school vibe of the diner, all of the employees seemed to boast automail, and none of them seemed the least bit shy about it. Normally, people with prosthetics felt more comfortable hiding them, the general opinions and constant pity of discomfited society making them feel an unfair sense of shame. Even Ed, who was as brazen as they came, tended to wear long sleeves and gloves, only showing his automail to those he considered friends – or when he had no other choice. He didn't talk about it much either unless the person he was speaking with was already in on the secret. But here, in Dante's, he wore no gloves. The wait staff uniform was a simple polo shirt with the diner's logo on the front and back, and though it was short sleeved Ed wore it without any sign of his usual reticence.

To be honest, Roy had a hard time imagining, until that moment, someone as proud and foul-mouthed as Ed waiting tables. The reality was something so far beyond what he'd expected that Roy's mouth unhinged entirely. Ed was actually smiling politely and charming customers. He used his fighter's speed and grace to advantage as he moved back and forth across the relatively small dining area with armfuls of plates and trays of beverages, moving so smoothly it almost looked he was like was dancing. When he saw Roy, he finished setting down glasses on the table he'd been serving then hurried over.

"Long day?" Ed asked, leaning up to greet him with a soft kiss. Roy grinned and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist for a warm hug that lifted him off his feet a couple inches. Ed let out an indignant squawk, and the young woman behind the counter snickered at him behind her hand.

"All better now," said Roy, releasing Ed who cast him a half-hearted glare as he straightened his shirt and the black apron wrapped around his hips.

"Come have a seat at the counter, and I'll get you some coffee," said Ed, gesturing to the old-fashioned swivel-stools that were bolted to the floor around the counter.

While Ed was fetching the promised coffee, the young woman behind the counter sidled up to Roy and leaned forward, resting her weight on her folded arms. "You must be Roy Mustang," she said, her tone just this side of suggestive. She had deep brown hair with a slight reddish tint which would probably be shoulder-length if released from its tight ponytail. Her skin was the light brown of cappuccino, her eyes a deeper brown. Her coloring hinted at possible Middle Eastern or Hispanic descent, but the shape of her features made it difficult to tell for sure. "I've heard a lot about you – and not all from Ed. Actually, I've heard very little from Ed, but he doesn't talk much about his personal stuff. Ya know? But I've heard about a million rumors about you around campus. You're quite the notorious figure."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," said Roy, his smirk firmly in place. He'd heard those rumors too, of course. It was his habit to keep tabs on such things. Few of the rumors about him were kind, painting him as playboy and a flirt. They weren't entirely wrong, but they were grossly exaggerated. Between the classes and his experiments in the lab, not to mention his thesis, he stayed pretty busy. Frankly, being a playboy would require a lot more time and energy than he had available.

"Don't give him shit. He's a PhD candidate too. I don't see how he'd have time to break as many hearts as the rumors suggest," said Ed, echoing Roy's somewhat bitter thoughts. Ed set down a mug of coffee nestled neatly on a saucer with a spoon, two creamers, and three packets of sugar – just the way he liked his coffee. For some reason, it warmed Roy's heart every time Ed made such unconscious little gestures. They showed how much he cared. "He'd literally have to be screwing under the desk in class, on the desk in the lab, and possibly in the student union over sandwiches. There just aren't enough hours in the day."

"True that," admitted the young woman with a shrug. "I'm Paninya, by the way. Engineering Major, and manager of this lovely establishment." They shook hands, but Roy didn't bother to offer his name since she already knew it. No point in being redundant, after all.

"Hey, Paninya, all my tables are good for a little while. They just need drink refills. Can I take my dinner break?" asked Ed. Paninya peered around the room, craning her neck to check all the tables.

"Sure, I'll keep the rubes happy while you eat with your boyfriend," she said teasingly. Ed shot her a death glare, his face turning bright red.

"I hate you," he said flatly.

"No you don't, or you wouldn't put up with me," said Paninya with a wink before she sauntered off to check on the tables.

"You seem to know the most interesting people," snickered Roy as he looked over the menu.

"That's because most of the people I know are geniuses in one way or another," said Ed with a shrug, idly writing something down on his order pad. "Geniuses are almost always eccentric as hell. It's the quiet geniuses who look perfectly normal that you have to worry about. Those are usually the ones who turn into mad bombers and serial killers." Roy laughed, but he had to admit that Ed did make a valid point. While waiting for Roy to decide what to eat, Ed pulled out his phone and sent a quick text then smiled at the reply. "Al's gonna come by and eat with us."

"Cool," said Roy, and he honestly meant it. "I know it's only been a few days, but it feels like forever since the three of us have eaten together."

"Yeah, but the last few days were eventful, so of course it makes them seem longer," said Ed with a thoughtful shrug. "Relativity in action."

Al was there less than ten minutes later – the hotel must be really close by – and he and Ed greeted each other with a strong hug. You'd think they'd been apart for years, seeing their reaction. Roy understood it right away, however. The Elric brothers had always been together, from early childhood and on into adulthood. They had rarely been parted for long – the only exceptions being the two years immediately following Ed starting college. Even while Al had been in a coma, Ed had been right by his side. As far as Ed was concerned, Al was his only family – his father didn't count, despite his sudden reappearance.

They had a pleasant meal together, Roy and Ed talking about their day while Al listened, laughing at all the right points. He also apologized for his "girlfriend the gorilla", which Ed accepted as graciously as Ed ever did – in other words, barely at all. As the boys talked about the little nothings of daily life, Roy noticed that something was a little off. There was a white elephant in the room that only the Elrics were aware of, and they were very carefully not mentioning it nor giving any hints as to the pale pachyderm's identity. Roy thought he might have an idea of what the subject they were avoiding might be, but if they didn't want to bring it up, Roy wasn't going to be the one to ruin whatever balance they were maintaining. If keeping the peace meant avoiding the topic of dear old dad, who was Roy to complain?

"Well, I need to get back to work," said Ed eventually, getting to his feet and picking up their mostly empty plates. He went behind the counter and deposited the plates in the bus tub before refilling Roy and Al's coffees then bustling off to care for his tables.

"Hey Ed, your regular is here," called Paninya, pointing outside. Roy couldn't see anybody outside, and no new cars had pulled into the parking lot. Nonetheless, Ed hurried behind the counter and grabbed a Styrofoam cup, filling it with coffee and stirring in several packets of sugar. When he was done, he popped a lid on the cup and ran outside.

"You know, everybody thinks that, because I'm more polite, that I'm the nicer brother," said Al, turning to watch his brother running across the parking lot. Ed stopped at the mouth of an alley and leaned down to offer the cup of coffee to somebody hidden by the night's deepening shadows. "But that's not really true. You or I would have walked right by that homeless man out there without knowing he was there at all. Paninya's at least a little better. She'd have noticed, and probably felt guilty for not helping, but in the end she would have justified her inaction and walked by. Ed can't do that. He gets offended when other people can. The first time that old man appeared out there, Ed was getting off work, and I was walking home with him. I never noticed the guy lying in the alley until I noticed that Ed had stopped walking. He crouched down in front of the guy and just talked to him for a minute. Ed's no good at social norms, and ignoring those less fortunate is one of the sadder social norms, so I guess it makes sense that Ed would be clueless. After he finished talking to the guy, Ed ran back across the street to the diner and got a cup of coffee and a sandwich to give to the man. The man wept in gratitude. So, that's my brother in a nutshell. People don't usually see that. They hear the crass language and the bravado, they see that scary scowl and the blunt manners, but they don't see the Ed that gives sandwiches and coffee to a homeless man, waives the fee to teach illiterate parents to read, defends weak classmates he doesn't even like, and sacrifices his limbs to protect his baby brother." The last part startled Roy a bit. He'd heard about the accident, but not the details. He hadn't pressed for them either. He knew it was a sensitive topic and didn't want to upset Ed if he could avoid it. "He did tell you about the accident didn't he?" asked Al, frowning at Roy's expression.

"He told me that there was an accident, and of the aftermath, but that's it," replied Roy.

"I admit, I don't remember much," said Al with a small shrug. "I didn't even see the truck coming, but somehow, Ed saw it. He knew. He came over the seat, so fast, and wrapped himself around me seconds before impact. That's how I survived with nothing worse than head trauma, and Ed lost his arm and leg. If he would have stayed in his seat, he would have been fine. After all, the truck hit the side that me and mom were sitting on. I read later in the medical report the extent of Ed's injuries. Ed's leg was crushed beyond recognition and had to be amputated. He was covered from head-to-toe in contusions and stabbed with metal and glass – of the damaged internal organs, however, the only thing they couldn't save was his right kidney. The arm he lost because a piece of metal mostly severed it at the middle of the bicep, but the rest of the bone and tissue was so damaged by the injury that they had to amputate to the shoulder. I can't imagine the pain he was in, but if his arm hadn't been there, that piece of metal would have wound up embedded in my throat."

"But he said that his side of the car was the one hit," protested Roy weakly, but Al just shook his head.

"He tried to tell me that too," said Al, frowning deeply. "He doesn't know that I remember what happened, because at first I didn't. I'm not mad at him for lying, because I know why he did it. He's protecting me. He doesn't want me to feel responsible for what happened to him. He's kept up that lie for the last 13 years without ever even hinting at the truth to anybody who might tell me. For somebody who's usually so transparent, Ed can lie like a champ if it's for the right reasons." Al took a long sip of his coffee then let out a quiet sigh as he set his cup down. "Look, don't tell him I told you all that. He doesn't like talking about it. But I feel like you need to know. It's the reason I told you to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Because, with that damned righteous personality of his, if someone else is in danger, he's the kind of guy who gives up his limbs to save them."

"I see," said Roy, proud of Ed and, at the same time, a bit disturbed. It was one thing to be selfless, but it was quite another to be recklessly selfless. That was the sort of thing that could get a person killed. "I'll bear that in mind. The last thing I'd want is for him to get hurt trying to keep my clumsy butt safe."

"In that, we're in total agreement. I don't want him sacrificing himself for me either," said Al with a warm grin – the kind of smile shared between close friends and comrades. Roy couldn't help but return it in kind.

Ed returned from outside, his left arm wrapped tightly around him and his right held away from his body as he shivered. He went behind the counter and put an order ticket in the window with a wave for the cook who waved back with a wink. "You guys doing all right on coffee?" asked Ed, his teeth chattering a little, making his words slightly dicey.

"Ed! Are you trying to give yourself frost bite?" demanded Al incredulously. Ed rolled his eyes.

"It's not cold enough outside for frost bite," countered Ed. "Don't get me wrong, it's colder than a penguin's testies, and I'm willing to bet there'll be frost on the ground come morning. But it's not dangerous or anything, just uncomfortable." Two paper bags popped up in the kitchen window with a ding of the bell, and Ed grabbed them and headed back outside.

"What am I going to do with him?" asked Al rhetorically, shaking his head to himself.

"You wouldn't have him any other way," pointed out Paninya. "How you been Al?"

"I've been good. And how about you? Are your classes still going well?" replied Al, donning his polite persona with ease.

"I do all right," said Paninya with obviously false modesty. "So, Winry tells me that your father's back in town." And there it was, the Elric's white elephant dragged into the light at last. "I've got just three questions for you."

"I feel a Monty Python flashback coming on," groaned Al.

"No, I'm not going to ask you for 'the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow'," said Paninya dryly and Al chuckled.

"That's cool. I have no urge to cross the Bridge of Death today anyway," said Al with an imperious wave.

"Into the Gorge of Eternal Peril with you!" commanded Paninya and they both giggled.

"All joking aside, Brother's coming back in, and you know better than to mention Hohenheim in front of him," cautioned Al, and Paninya let out an unhappy sigh and gave up.

"Ah, tricksy you are Alphonse Elric," said Paninya with a moue of distaste. "You were distracting me with Monty Python until your brother could save you from my interrogation."

"One does what one can," said Al as if accepting his due. Ed returned, shivering all over this time.

"Here Ed," said Paninya, handing Ed a couple of small orange packets that turned out to be one-time use hand warmers. "Go do some work in the kitchen with Fritz or whatever. You'll thaw out faster in there."

"Thanks, Paninya," Ed said with a bright grin. "You're a doll."

"Actually, Brother, I'm going to head back to the hotel. It's getting late, and after last night I'm pretty tired," said Al, and he and Ed hugged. Al threw a wave back to Roy and Paninya then headed out to Vanzilla.

"Roy, you gonna hang out for a bit? You could always grab a table in my section and try to get some homework done," suggested Ed, and Roy had to admit, the idea had merit. Plenty of room to work, free coffee he didn't have to make himself, and a lovely blonde server to ogle sounded like his idea of a great way to spend his evening.

"Sure. I'll go get my stuff out of the car," said Roy. Ed left a kiss on his cheek then walked through the swinging door into the kitchen to warm up.

After Roy got his books and backpack out of the car, Paninya got him settled comfortably in one of the booths by the windows. While they were getting his laptop hooked up with the diner's free wi-fi and a power outlet to keep her battery going, Paninya questioned Roy relentlessly. She wanted to know all about his and Ed's as-yet-not-officially-defined relationship, and also about Roy himself. She even asked him intelligent questions about his research progress and his thesis, and even about what classes he's already taken and had yet to take.

When the kitchen door swung open a little too enthusiastically, it drew both Roy and Paninya's attention. Ed stepped out yelling into his cell phone, "Hold on, I'm moving away from the kitchen so I can hear you better. Now slowly tell me what the hell is going on." He listened intently for a moment then his eyes suddenly went wide as saucers. "What do you mean 'they took Hohenheim'?!"