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 10

Brigadier General Edward Elric leaned back in the rickety chair, propping his feet up on the desk, one elbow on the arm of the chair, chin in hand as he looked over the papers in his free hand. The tawny eyed officer was unperturbed by the sounds of cannon fire and gunfire, and even the scorched ozone scent of alchemy and the scent of blood and gunpowder and the screaming of the wounded and dying didn't bother him. It had been several years since the previous war, but even the passing of the years could not change the fact that he was a hardened soldier, one who was used to the battlefields, and the sounds that accompanied it. It didn't even matter that the command base was a good ways away from the actual battlefield itself.

"Humph," he tossed the papers onto the desk. "Reasonable, huh? Kid worked faster than I expected."

"So even you can't predict yourself?" Major General Hughes leaned against the desk, grinning. "Quite the shock, especially considering how enamored the kid was with you."

"He was enamored by the image, not the consequences. I'll need to ask Al to temper his responses to this new found power. The Fullmetal won't be of much help keeping the people from outright rebellion during the Drachma Campaigns if word gets out that the Hero of the People is becoming a proper military dog."

"Or you could go do it yourself," Lieutenant General Mustang grinned. "We can stand to be without you for a while. We did pretty well for ourselves in the three months you were touring the country."

"More like fleeing it," Edward grumbled.

"But you can't say that you didn't receive a warm welcome in certain places," Hughes said cheerfully.

"Places where I grew up and places that I visited often don't count. Those people are biased toward me." Edward allowed his feet to hit the tent's canvas floor with a muffled thump and stood up from the chair. "As for dealing with the increasingly reasonable sixteen year old Major Ed Elric before he becomes entirely too reasonable and falls into the category of corrupt," he flicked his ponytail over his shoulder and gave his Superior Officers a roguish smirk, "that I can do."

Mustang and Hughes knew the younger General long enough to know what he was planning, and so perhaps they were not so surprised when Edward clapped and pressed his hands to the ground, and canvas back of the tent shimmered and snapped into focus to reveal Colonel Mustang's office in Eastern Headquarters, with a young Fullmetal and Flame in the middle of a debriefing. Neither were they surprised when the Brigadier General stepped through the Gate and in one smooth motion, backhanded his younger self across the face.

The same could not be said, however, for the younger Colonel Roy Mustang and his staff.

"When I told you to be reasonable," Edward hissed at his younger self as he hauled the boy up by his collar with his automail arm, "I did not mean for you to become overly reasonable. Imagine my surprise to receive a personal letter from, of all people, General Raven, concerning the sale of a set of prototype automatic weaponry from, apparently, my private stock. When I told you to be reasonable, I didn't mean dive head first into corruption! You will either behave yourself, or I will call in an old favor from one of my contacts in Xing to deal with you, do I make myself clear, Edward Elric?"

The boy swallowed hard and nodded. Then a shout from the other side of the Gate, and an ominous whistling and Mustang and Hughes flung themselves through the Gate.

"Ed, close it!" Mustang roared.

Edward never took his eyes off his younger self as he raised his free hand and snapped his fingers. The gate snapped shut, but not before the tent exploded in flames and a gout of fire and shrapnel came through the rapidly closing Gate. Mustang snuffed the flames with a quick snap, but nothing would stop the debris from imbedding itself in the walls and furniture. Fortunately, no one was hurt, except maybe the younger Ed, but that was because he had just gotten slapped.

"What the hell just happened?" Colonel Mustang asked as calmly as he was able despite crawling out from under a charred desk.

"Stray shell just hit the command tent," Edward replied, negligently tossing his younger self onto the miraculously unharmed couch, "Not much of a problem. I'll give it a few minutes for the conflagration to cool down before I open the Gate again. No sense letting the rank and file spread rumors about the Heroes of the Drachma Campaigns going down because of a lucky shot on Creta's part." The Brigadier General's face was serene as he added, "After all, I have every intention of making it rain blood in Creta in retaliation."

"As you always did in Dachma every time they thought they'd killed you," Major General Hughes said wryly as he rose from behind the desk with Lieutenant General Mustang. The three generals studiously ignored the shocked looks on the faces of the office's occupants.

"Damn," he whistled as bespectacled green eyes took in the scorched ceiling and the shrapnel imbedded in the walls, "You couldn't have taken any longer to close that thing, could you?"

"Any faster and it would have closed on us, Maes," Mustang sighed. "Now would be a good time for us to return, Brigadier General. It looks like the pup will have to be disciplined another time."

"Or we can arrange for him to learn the hard way three years early," Edward's tone was eerily reminiscent of a younger Flame Alchemist when he was well and truly furious but in no position to show it.

"Let's leave that for later," Hughes said.

Edward shrugged, "As the General wishes." He clapped his hands, pressed them against a blank patch of blackened wall, and the Gate swirled open.

Mustang clicked his fingers as he stepped through the Gate, snuffing the flames almost effortlessly as Hughes and Edward followed him obediently. The last thing anyone could be sure of was that the two older Generals were barking orders against a background of gunfire while Edward closed the Gate, leaving the office empty of the future once again.

Throughout all of this, the younger Fullmetal cowered, and Lieutenant General Grumman, who was arriving with a sheaf of papers for Colonel Mustang, blinked in confusion.

~*~

War was an ugly thing. There was no glory, no heroics, simply adrenaline and fear and the screams of the dying and the dim roar of cannon fire and the sharp retorts of gunfire. Seared flesh and gunpowder and smoke and the copper tang of blood flooded the senses and it was not inconceivable that a soldier could go made out there, and go mad some did. Veteran soldiers like the Flame and Fullmetal Alchemists slogged through strategists and tacticians, went out to bark commands and in some cases, to actually wreak havoc onto the battlefields.

Duty and compassion had no place out here, not when the jungle threatened to swallow them whole, Amestrians and Cretans both, never mind that the Cretans had the home field advantage. Only a part of the southern section of Amestris was jungle, and these soldiers, more used to warfare in desert sand or green plains and lightly wooded forests were at a loss. Even so, when the Strong Arm, Flame, and Fullmetal Alchemists came out, it was a guarantee that a good portion of the jungle would be reduced to ash and fallen trees, not that it made the fight any easier. The Cretans seemed to vanish into the jungle as quickly as they had appeared once the big names in Amestrian Alchemy came out. They learned from Drachma not to face the Amestrian Alchemists man to man. Better to shoot them from far away, but the Flame didn't care if he was burning humans or wood, the Strong Arm had difficulties finding enough stone to work with, and the Fullmetal was the most devastating of the three.

Corporal Eric Lenscher watched as his CO clapped his hands, and pressed them to the ground, and the entire jungle seemed to turn on the Cretans. Then the General Mustang snapped, and the entire section of jungle went up in a flash of fire. He felt a surge of pride. This was the crème de la crème of the Amestrian National Alchemist forces, and he was sure that for as long as Flame and Fullmetal commanded this field, victory would not be far. They had the Hero of Ishbal and the People's Alchemist with them after all. There was no way that they could fail here, not with the most powerful alchemists in Amestris supporting them.

~*~

Back in the Past…

Eastern City was a mass of confusion. Ed Elric had, in the space of several months, changed drastically, going from loudmouthed brat to moderately well behaved teenager to model military dog and back to loudmouthed brat with moments of good behavior here and there. Colonel Roy Mustang had no doubt it was because the boy was on edge, waiting for the other shoe to fall. Whatever had prompted the boy's good behavior previously, probably had unforeseen consequences that the older Fullmetal did not like, and the younger Fullmetal was waiting for his older analogue to tear him a new one. For some strange reason, it seemed that Fullmetal really valued what his older analogue thought of him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Roy turned slowly in his swivel chair, and laid his eyes on Alphonse Elric. There were changes in this Elric also. As children, Alphonse Elric and Edward Elric were inseparable, they did almost everything but bathe together, and it seemed that it hadn't changed much, other than the lack of the younger Elric's armor. But to know that Eastern City's golden boy and his kind hearted brother would grow up to be a highly efficient killer…. But there was a difference, Roy realized as he studied Alphonse Elric. Edward Elric had a ruthless streak a mile wide, and was growing into the position of a General, learning to sacrifice for the greater good, while Alphonse's ruthless streak didn't seem to be developing at all, instead, he seemed to be cultivating a compassionate streak.

"Colonel Elric," Roy greeted the young man.

The Colonel inclined his head with a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "You seemed very deep in your thoughts. Perhaps I can help you sort them out?"

"How did your brother go from Fullmetal to Blood Rain?"

Alphonse's face shuttered, and his eyes turned dark with sorrow. "I didn't see the actual event, since it was at the start of the war, and I was in Risembool getting used to having my body back, but I do know this much. The advent of war meant that the new Fuhrer, incompetent as he was, knew the importance of good PR, and sent brother out to keep the people from outright rebellion, correctly predicting that the common people surely would not attack their hero and would at least toe the line when he was trying to protect them… Once he reported back to Central, Fuhrer Hakuro sent him out to the Frontlines. Once there, General Wood did his best to protect brother, and had him serve as his personal aide. About a year into the campaign, General Wood was killed by a stray shell that struck the command tent… The Strong Arm Alchemist was the one who pulled him out of the debris…"

~*~

An explosion rocked the encampment, flinging shrapnel and debris into the air.

"What the hell was that?!"

Soldiers rushed in the direction of the explosion, realizing with horror as they got closer that the explosion had come from the command tent. The area had been leveled, and bits and pieces of officers were scattered about. There were quiet moans of pain from whomever survived, but it was the metal arm that protruded from the rubble that held the most attention.

"Edward-kun!" Alex cried, and started digging frantically through the rubble where the arm was. Immediately, soldiers joined in. The Fullmetal had barely turned seventeen, too young to die on a battlefield because of a stray shell. He was their source of morale, after all, wasn't the Fullmetal the one to lessen antimilitary feelings? They weren't going to let the child die.

Miraculously, Armstrong pulled out a mostly unharmed blonde out of the rubble. A pole had gone through his lower torso, the medic said, and had, fortunately, missed any vital organs although it did punch through a kidney. They had to remove the damaged kidney, but that was the worst of his injuries. Other than a broken arm, some damaged automail, minor cuts and bruises and a concussion, the teen was in good health.

General raven had been sent down to replace General Wood, and he was not so kind as his predecessor. Once the Fullmetal was sufficiently recovered, he sent the teen out to cause havoc against the enemy. When the sun rose the next morning, the enemy half of the field was covered in red ice, and the Fullmetal was slogging back across no man's land, covered in blood, a Drachman rifle clutched in his left hand, and his right, dragging an unconscious Amestrian soldier…

Three days later, the Fullmetal received a field promotion from Major to Lieutenant Colonel, and was sent to Briggs. It was there that Olivier Armstrong first called the Fullmetal by the name Blood Rain Alchemist, because wherever he was sent against the enemy, he made it rain blood.

~*~

"…Brother has lived up to that moniker since. If those he cares for are threatened, he reduces the threat to a shower of blood and gore using a similar deconstruction technique as Scar did." Alphonse's voice turned bitter, "No one seems to see the damage Brother takes every time he kills."

"And what damage is that?"

Alphonse gave the Colonel a bland stare, "He manipulated Fuhrer Hakuro into making greater and greater mistakes. He arranged for the foundation of rebellions, and then once the rebellions cut away Hakuro's support, he cut them down without remorse. Everyone says he resembles the General, but that's not true. The more ruthless Brother's actions becomes, the less he resembles Mustang, and resembles Bradley more. You taught Brother how to manipulate people, General Wood taught Brother how to persevere, General Raven taught Brother how to kill, but Fuhrers Bradley and Hakuro taught Brother how to fall. And Brother is falling, right now and at the rate he is going, he will destroy himself."

"But you are very much like your brother. Aren't you in similar danger?"

"You say I am like brother, but how? Am I like the Fullmetal you know, a quintessentially good boy despite his prickly exterior, or the General who is so ruthless in the pursuing of his mission that he barely pauses to spare a thought about the collateral damage he causes?"

Roy studied Alphonse and then realized something. "You're not changing very much from who you were as a teenager are you?" he murmured, "that's why while your brother is developing a ruthless streak to rival Bradley's, you are busy trying to stop him. You don't want him to rise any higher do you?"

"He's destroying himself!"

"He's growing up, and you don't see it." The Flame sighed, "I understand now, why people are so upset. You and your brother were together for a long time, and then he went to war, and when he came back hurt and changed, you followed him, because you wanted him to be the Edward you knew. While Edward grew into his position and started to develop a ruthless streak that any commissioned officer requires, you tried to pull him back since you didn't agree. Alphonse, the person who is falling isn't Edward, but you. People see your reactions, and because you were never one to dissemble, they assume things are worse than they seem."

"That's not true!"

"Al…"

"No!" Alphonse yelled, "That's not how it is!"

"It is very much how it is!" Roy barked, startling Alphonse into silence. "We never interacted much, but I'm starting to see the pattern here. Your brother is working toward a goal, one that he's refusing to share and you just can't stand it can you? You want things to go back to when you were children, so you followed your brother into the military, but once the contract was over, your brother renewed it for the sake of a goal. But you don't have one, do you? Whatever goals you might have made, you threw away in favor of trying to reclaim what you had before the war, but you didn't like what you saw. If you're unhappy with being in the military, Alphonse, then quit! Your brother is happy as he is, but you're so caught up in wanting to be fifteen again that you can't even see it! I might not be your General, but even I can see that Fullmetal tenses up in your presence the way he never used to. The only person who is falling is you, Al, because your brother is thriving in the military environment, and you just want things to go back to how they were when you were children."

"That's not true…" Alphonse murmured weakly.

"It is," Roy said firmly, "I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. It's no wonder the older Ed is simultaneously uncomfortable around you and overprotective."

"That's not true… Brother… Brother hates the military…"

"You hate the military," Roy said gently, "Stop trying to project on your brother. All you're doing is hurting him. If this keeps up, it's not Ed who will fall, but you. Ed's doing well if what I last saw was any indication, but you're not doing so well are you?"

"That's…"

"All true."

Alphonse spun around to see the Brigadier General behind him. "Brother! When did you get here?"

"Right about when you started yelling at me," Roy said dryly. "Did you enjoy the show, Fullmetal?"

"Immensely," the Brigadier General's reply was as dry as the Colonel's. "Creta surrendered, and General Mustang and General Hughes have accompanied Fuhrer Armstrong to the signing of the treaty. Colonel Elric is to report to Central City for new orders."

"Already?!" Colonel Elric's voice was incredulous, "But it hasn't even been three months!"

"The time in which the Gate is opened can be controlled, Alphonse," Edward's voice was cold. "It's been a year on our side. I will take over the investigation here. Now go."

"But…"

"No Alphonse. Go. Now."

Alphonse deflated and nodded. He left the inner office and stepped through the gate in a sullen silence.

Edward studied Roy and nodded. "Thank you," he said quietly, "We've all been trying to come up with a way to tell Al these things gently, but it seems he never listened. Hearing it from you though… I think he's finally heard what we've been trying to say these past six years."

"I meant it though," Roy said quietly, "Military life seems to suit you when you're working on a goal for you and because of guilt for someone else."

Edward inclined his head, "It means a lot coming from you I think. If you'll excuse me…"

The Brigadier General turned on his heel and stalked out of the office.

Roy leaned back in his chair and sighed. He turned to his window and looked out, watching as a speck of red came dashing up the stairs. A lot of things had fallen into perspective, and while he still didn't like that Ed and Al would go through certain things, at least he could relax a little bit.

"They're growing up," Hawkeye's voice cut through his musings, "and at least we have an idea of what we can and cannot protect them from, and the type of people those two will become."

"Yeah," Roy agreed, "I'm glad we had this chance to know what lies in store, even if it's not the brightest future."

"We have time," Riza agreed, "We'll get through two wars, and the boys will live to see twenty six, and God willing, they'll live to be even older."

~*~

TBC…