Title: The Heart of Everything: The Song of the Forge Volume 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Summary: When whispers of a Rebellion sweeps across Amestris and a failed assassination reveals a terrifying plot against the State, Brigadier-General Edward Elric and Colonel Alphonse Elric are dispatched with orders to stop the rebels at all costs. The only problem is that the rebels have traveled twelve years into the past.

Chapter 3

"Happier times, Havoc," he'd said, "happier times."

And it was true, those were the days when they'd all been relatively carefree, when the entire office only watched Mustang's drinking habits when pressure from the higher ups got to be too much or when he hit a particularly spectacular set back, and most especially, when the two Elric brothers had found themselves up to their ears in trouble, which actually happened more often than any of them liked, much to their chagrin. Back when Edward was still in his adolescence, they mostly worried that Edward's insubordination would get him into trouble with the wrong people, and that Mustang would get caught at work with a hangover. Back then, every waking moment had not been filled with worry of the death of friends or family, or even one's own death or the enemy flashing past them and getting into the camps or even reaching a civilian city or town too late to stop the enemy from massacring the men and raping the women and looting supplies and then razing the entire place to the ground. There wasn't the ever present fear that the civilians in the town or village or city they were passing through would attack them; that the soldiers and State Alchemists who wore Amestrian blue and gold would have to fight their own people before they could reach the battlefields where the soldiers of the opposing countries were stationed. Before Edward had turned sixteen, before he was of the age of consent, things were good and calm and peaceful and the sky was not dark with smoke and the air wasn't heavy with gunpowder and ash and the screaming of the wounded and dying, and he simply took the orders even if he only half obeyed them and Edward never considered that he would give the orders to raze an enemy town to the ground, never imagined that he would actually go out to Drachma and alchemize a whole city block into so much dust along with anyone inside the buildings in front of him…

Edward gasped as he jerked himself upright in the backseat of the car, forcibly yanking himself from the poisonous deluge of memories of bodies strewn liberally throughout ruined streets and bloody mud that coated the rubble and flames and smoky air overlaid with the scent of gunpowder and the sounds of screaming and the roar of gunfire and the spark of alchemic reactions even as the heavens released a downpour of rain which, with the right arrays would be a rain of deadly acids or poisons instead of water…

"Brigadier-General?" Lieutenant Clyne asked, twisting in the front passenger seat to fix concerned green eyes on her hyperventilating Commanding Officer, "Are you alright, sir?"

"I'm fine," Edward gasped as he tilted his head, allowing his bangs to fall forward and shield his face even as he clenched his shaking hands into fists, "I'm fine…"

Havoc sighed. "Should've expected this," he shook his head and grinned at the blonde, "Its okay, Chief. All of this stress has got to all of us. Just the other day, Boss took a nap during his lunch break and woke screaming half an hour later. Good thing for the secretary that walked through the door right that moment he wasn't wearing his gloves."

Edward lifted his head and gave a shaky smile, "I'll bet he had a shot of whisky then took her out for dinner to make up for the scare."

"You've been with us too long if you can guess Mustang's habits like that, Ed," Havoc teased. "What, do you keep track of how much he drinks like the rest of us?"

"I have to know how much he'd been drinking to avoid pushing him over the edge."

"You manage that even when he's sober, Brigadier," Clyne said wryly.

Edward allowed himself to relax at the teasing of his subordinates, their banter chasing away the last vestiges of the memories from the battlefields from the forefront of his mind. He was grateful for this, because without the people around him, the ones that he trusted, that Mustang and Alphonse and Hughes trusted, he'd never have survived the war, and he knew full well that as good as he was, he'd never have been able to stay steady on his feet in all of this chaos without them.

~*~

Officers from all across Amestris had been summoned to Central Headquarters, and the meeting, unlike previous meetings, were not held in the War Room, but the General Assembly Hall. Edward had always hated the Assembly Hall from the first time he'd entered it at sixteen as a Major beside Mustang to serve as his aide because Hawkeye was neither an alchemist nor of the proper rank and clearance. Edward was not out of place as he had not been the only Major present as an aide to a superior officer and the Hall had been filled with all officers ranked Lieutenant Colonel and above. Edward had known even then that it was bad when an Officer's meeting of this magnitude was held in the Assembly Hall, because inevitably, it meant war. He shook himself out of his thoughts and reached out to turn the doorknob and push one of the massive double doors open.

The Assembly Hall was packed with bodies; the five full Generals at the front facing the rest of the room, with the other higher ranks facing then in neat rows, and behind the Generals and the Colonels. Edward could tell at a glance that Alphonse was already present and making polite conversation with one of his fellow Colonels while Hughes and Mustang were talking in low voices while crossing the room. Edward moved through the crowd, exchanging greetings and making small talk in hushed murmurs as he made his way toward his place in the throng. Five minutes later, the five full Generals at the front of the room spoke to each other quickly and quietly, and simultaneously stepped forward. The room full of officers immediately fell silent and in unison, they all saluted. Trained military dogs indeed, Edward thought wryly as he stood at attention surrounded by his peers.

The meeting began easily, with the nomination of a new Fuhrer-Elect, the position of which was awarded to Olivia Armstrong. Then the true reason behind the gathering of Officers began and the atmosphere seemed to thicken as tensions started to run high. Edward saw Mustang shift slightly to give him a wry look from behind long, dark lashes, and Edward shifted his shoulders in a gesture that asked what can you do? And Mustang's lips twitched in an amused smile that said, not much unfortunately.

All too soon, Mustang was speaking, carefully laying out the foundations for the mission that he had been trying to push through for Edward, revealing tidbits here and there, and then the Fuhrer-Elect was speaking, and Edward knew without a doubt that this had all been planned beforehand. And then it was Edward's turn, and he wondered as he laid out the reports and described the situation as well as multiple theories, how was he going to describe the complexities of recreating and then altering an array to a roomful of non-alchemists but for the odd handful here and there? How would he describe the potential dangers of what was being proposed to these people who saw State Alchemists as little more than obsessive bookworms and living weapons? How could he justify the potential risks that accompanied the mission if they decided to go through with it?

But he managed it, somehow, and the gathered officers were now discussing what sort of operation this mission would be, who would command it—"Brigadier-General Elric and Colonel Elric, of course!" Hughes said, "They know the most about the array, and should be able to compensate as necessary!"—who would be sent, what skills would be necessary, how regular reports would be delivered—"Just send a Private or a Corporal through once a week," Mustang shrugged, "Fullmetal assures me that the Gate can made into a fixed, semi-permanent portal."—and who would be best to make contact with if needed and what the official story would be if they had to talk to someone truly high up, like say, the Fuhrer. It was going to be a big mission, and eventually, it was decided that parameters of the mission was not so broad that it would necessitate the input of every ranked officer in Amestris, and the meeting was adjourned.

~*~

It was almost two weeks before all the preparations for what amounted to a large scale covert operation was completed. And so, noon of January 12 found a force of two hundred soldiers, including the ten who were members of Edward and Alphonse's respective staffs, all prepared to depart even as Edward and Alphonse put the finishing touches on the semi-permanent gate that would take them through time.

"Remember to send back regular reports," Mustang was saying, "Major-General Hughes and I will come down personally to check on you once a month, and if you can't trust the messenger, report personally. Also, Brigadier-General, remember that your Assessment is in two months. Just because you will be technically out of the country is no reason not to hand in your assessment report. I will let you know the date for your assessment once it has been finalized."

"In other words, I get less than twenty four hours warning. Thanks a lot, bastard," Edward muttered as he carefully closed the circle and sat back on his heels, sticking the chalk behind his ear and brushing the chalk dust off his gloves. "There, finished. What about you, Al?"

Alphonse was busy attaching slips of paper with arrays on them to the baggage nodded absently as he checked and quadruple checked to make sure each array was perfect and that it had been attached correctly and would not fall off. The arrays told the Gate that the bags and their contents were to go through with the rest of the group, and having one of the arrays get lost meant that they would have to rely on Bradley's armory for the lost materials, something none of them wanted. "Mostly done, brother. Just a few more seconds…"

"You shouldn't need more than twenty four hours to hand in your assessment report, Fullmetal," Mustang said with a smirk, "Because first of all, as far as the military is concerned, your assessment is little more than a formality. Secondly, you said that the Gate is semi-permanent so there should be no reason why you can't hand in your assessment report."

Edward sighed, "Wonderful."

"All done, Brother!" Alphonse chirped as he came to stand by his brother's side. "So we should be expecting to see you for our assessments later?"

"For Fullmetal, yes, for you, we don't know yet," Mustang shrugged, "The longer the mission takes, the greater the possibility."

"Madame Fuhrer's not here yet?" Maes Hughes asked as he entered the room. "Odd. Usually she's the first to see off expeditions of this size."

"You're talking about previous Fuhrers, Major-General Hughes," Alphonse said dryly. "The good Madame Armstrong talks privately to the leaders of major missions and then sends them off. I don't think she likes the previous Fuhrers' pomp and circumstance."

"Gee, you think?" Edward drawled, "She would have done away with the entire inauguration ceremony if the other Generals had let her."

"Alright, that's enough," Mustang said, smirking. "Everyone is ready? Nothing left behind, no stoves left on, no taps left running, pets taken care of, caretakers arranged for children, side-arms functional and extra under things all packed?"

"Stop fussing Mustang," Edward snapped, "You're worse than a mother."

"Then how about a father, Ed?" Hughes grinned as he draped an arm around the two blonde boys. "Everything packed? Extra ammo, weapons as needed, papers for identification and mission justification if you end up in front of Fuhrer Bradley, a change of clothes, uniforms formal or not, money, snacks, etcetera?"

"We have everything," Alphonse responded, "and our staff will have made sure that whatever is necessary has been packed, and maybe some things that aren't necessary also."

"And we have plenty of money on us," Edward agreed, "Two thousand Cenz each in case of emergencies, so whatever we didn't bring, we can buy, within reason."

"And if you can't buy whatever was left behind because you need to fill out requisition forms for them?" Hughes asked, looking worried.

"Then we will temporarily liberate it from the armory or send someone back for it," Aphonse said with a secret smile.

"Well, in that case, we won't have to worry," Hughes said happily as he slung an arm around Mustang's shoulders. "Well Roy boy, let's see our precious little boys off!"

Edward and Alphonse exchanged exasperated looks and chorused, "We're not children any more Hughes!"

"Still our cute little boys!" Hughes singsonged.

Roy shook his head, "Alright, let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

Edward stepped back, and Hughes turned serious as the two Elrics knelt down next to the array. "Good Luck boys."

Edward and Alphonse's hands paused a hair's breadth away from the array and the two older men felt a tinge of concern as the Elric brothers exchanged an unusually serious look and Edward nodded.

"Thanks."

"We'll definitely need it," Alphonse agreed as at an unspoken signal, the two brothers pressed their hands onto the outer circumference of the array in a manner reminiscent of when they had both been ten and nine respectively sparking the events that led to where they were now.

"This is somewhat nostalgic," Edward remarked dryly as the portal glowed, and snapped open to reveal several shocked alchemists and soldiers in Mustang's old office in Eastern Headquarters.

"Very much like that day, isn't it?" Alphonse agreed. "And just like that day, the alchemy we work with will change the course of the future."

Mustang shook his head slightly with a minute smile before he schooled his expression and raised his head high and stepped through the portal with Edward following him at the proper distance on his right. "Good afternoon," he said to the flabbergasted soldiers, repressing his amusement at his younger self who was busy gawping in comparison to Edward's younger self who was watching them with uncomfortably sharp eyes, "I apologize if I'm interrupting something important. I am Lieutenant-General Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, and my subordinate, Brigadier-General Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. (Edward inclined his head slightly when his superior officer introduced him and tried not to smile at the younger Mustang's surprised yelp at his rank.) We are from two decades --"

"Fourteen years sir," Edward corrected gently with a wry smile at the younger Hawkeye who rolled her eyes with a twitch of her lips. Ah, the more things changed…

Mustang twitched and amended himself without missing a beat, "Fourteen years into the future, your future, our present. We have cause to believe that an extremist rebel faction may have made use of an advanced alchemic theory to travel back through time in an attempt to assassinate key military figures and to change history as we know it. As such, Her Excellency, Madame Fuhrer Olivia Armstrong has designated Brigadier-General Edward Elric and Colonel Alphonse Elric as mission leaders and both have orders to stop the rebels by any means necessary. It is our hope that we will have the cooperation, if not assistance, of our former counterparts to preserve our country's mutual future."

There was a shocked silence, and finally the silence was broken, not by Fuhrer King Bradley as was expected, but by a surprising source…

"The array that was used to open a gate between our two times, how exactly did you calibrate and ground it to make it semi-permanent?" Basque Gran asked looking interested.

The golden haired Brigadier-General perked up and gave the dark skinned brigadier-general an amicable smile and said, "The grounding was actually very simple! A five point seal to start off and bolster the modified Third Point in Hartford's Theory of Octagonal Diagramming combined with a modified form of the Forrester Diagram—" Mustang (the Lieutenant-General not the Colonel) cleared his throat and Edward deflated slightly and finished off with, "—would do it." He glanced at Mustang and added a sheepish, "Sorry sir."

Fuhrer Bradley shook his head and chuckled, "Alchemists," he laughed, "Obsessive bookworms, the lot of you." He brought himself back under control and said, "We will be happy to temporarily house Brigadier General Elric and Colonel Elric as well as any staff or troops that accompany them during this mission. We will be more than happy to assist in anyway necessary. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."

The two generals saluted and barked, "Thank you, Fuhrer Bradley, sir!"

Edward turned slightly and nodded to Alphonse who hefted his pack and barked, "Form up!" The waiting soldiers immediately scurried forward to grab the packs and supplies, and once everything was gathered, Alphonse barked again, "Move out!"

And they moved through the gate. Colonel Roy Mustang only had one thought as the soldiers from the future marched through the gate and into his office and his young subordinate stared at the human form of his brother's older self in awe, new hope kindling in golden eyes.

Things are going to get quite interesting…

~*~

TBC…