Chapter 2

"Brother?"

That one word served to bring Ed out of a sound sleep and into waking. His eyes opened and he leapt out of bed, looking around for any possible enemies.

"Al?" he said, surprised. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Al answered worriedly. "I mean, I woke up, and we were here. Brother, what do we do?"

"We get out of here, that's what," Ed said grimly, examining the room. "I don't know who brought us here or why, but…" He stopped, remembering something that sent chills down his spine.

"What is it?" Al asked.

"I remember waking up last night, and someone was in our room at HQ," Ed told him. "He wasn't someone I can remember, and he doesn't really resemble anyone we know, either. The last thing I can remember was having a handkerchief pressed over my face."

Al turned a little paler than he had been. "Let's get out of here."

Ed nodded. The room looked like a normal bedroom, done in blue and white. It had two twin beds with blue bedspreads, a bright blue rug on the floor, blue denim curtains, white walls, a desk with two chairs, a bookcase full of books, a dresser with a mirror, and a model train sitting on top of the bookshelf. Neither Ed nor Al knew what to think. They had been kidnapped and brought here? Why? Why would any kidnappers go to all the trouble of making sure they had a pleasant room? It didn't make sense.

Their clothes had been draped conveniently over a chair, so the brothers threw off their pajamas and dressed, wasting no time on getting out of there. Ed was prepared to kick the door down, but Al tried the knob first. To both of the brothers' surprise, the door was not locked.

"I'll go first, and you come after me," Ed whispered and gave Al a thumbs-up when his brother nodded.

Ed slipped into the hallway while Al followed close behind him. Down the hall and towards the stairs they went, taking care to make no noise. They had just reached the top of the stairs when someone calling up to them scared them almost senseless.

"Ed! Al! It's breakfast time! Come on, now, sleepyheads!"

The brothers exchanged looks, too surprised to even think. Kidnappers treating them to breakfast? Calling them sleepyheads?That did not make sense. What didn't make any sense at all was that the voice of the kidnapper was a woman's. What was going on here?

Ed continued down the stairs, followed by Al, and they reached an entryway. Ed was reaching for the front door when a voice behind them made them both jump and whirl around.

"Boys? What are you doing?"

Ed dropped into a defensive crouch with his fists up, ready to fight, but he stopped and stared at the woman who stood there. She looked very, very familiar, and her voice was familiar too, but he couldn't think who she reminded him of.

"Wh-who are you?" Al stammered out, staring at the woman as well. "Did you bring us here?"

The woman's pleasant face became stern. "What game are you two playing?" she asked, sounding a little angry and a little hurt. "Why are you two acting as if you don't know me?"

"Well, you look familiar," Ed said, not breaking out of his crouch. He examined the woman a bit and his eyes went wide, not wanting to believe what he saw.

"Brother," Al whispered, sounding very afraid. "She looks like Mom."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ed snapped. "It's not possible!"

"Well, of course I look like your mom," the woman said, laughing. "Silly boys, no more games now. I am your mother."

Both Elrics stared at her, their white faces wearing almost identical expressions of horror.

Space

Sloth:

It was easy enough to sneak both boys out of Central. It was also too easy to make certain that they didn't recognize me by mixing my features and making myself resemble a male. I took them both to a small town a few hours away from Central, and once we reached the home I had bought and prepared for them, I took them inside and put them to bed.

It would be difficult to convince them that I was their mother, so I made myself look somewhat different to begin with. They would be confused by the difference, but over time I would phase it out, and they wouldn't question it. The use of a tiny bit of sleeping powder every day in their foodwould cloud their minds and make it difficult for them to think about anything for very long, and over time, they would cease to wonder how their mother had come back from the dead. Of course, I was determined to make them think Trisha had never died. I was going to convince them that it had all been a bad dream. It would take time, but I could be patient. Once I had convinced them, I wouldn't need to use sleeping powder on them any longer.

I was in the kitchen, making breakfast for both of them, when I heard some slight noise upstairs. I smiled. Good, they were awake. Right on time for breakfast. I heard them approach the front door, so I stopped them. As I expected, they didn't recognize me. When I told them who I was, I rode out the shock, keeping them listening to me. I chatted on and herded them into the kitchen, gabbling on and on.

The difference was confusing them, I could tell. They looked as if they didn't know me, and that was the way I wanted it at first. Eventually, they would accept who I was. I served up ham, shredded potatoes, and eggs for them both, as well as generous cups of cocoa. That cocoa held the sleeping powder, so I stirred it well before giving it to them. I ushered them to the table, still chatting to them about commonplace things. As long as I kept talking, they wouldn'thave time to put together a question.

"Aren't you two hungry?" I asked, seeing that they weren't eating. "You're not sick, are you?"

They both jumped, as if I had startled them.

"Okay, this is too strange," Ed said, getting up from his chair. "You say you're our mother. I don't think that's possible. Our mother died several years ago. You can't be our mother!"

I stared at him. "Edward," I began, "I don't know why you think I died. Did you have a bad dream last night? Don't worry, my little man. I'm not going anywhere."

I saw the use of the pet name shocked him, but I wasn't going to worry about that. It was in Trisha's memories. It would only convince him that what I said was true.

"Why don't you tell me about this dream?" I suggested. "And don't forget to eat. Your food's getting cold."

Alphonse picked up a fork, but he didn't eat. Nor did Edward. He just kept staring at me.

"You were dead," he insisted. "And we both took the exams to become State Alchemists. We wanted to find a way to bring you back, and we tried it, but the attempt failed. In the process, Al lost his body, and I lost my arm and leg. I bound his soul to a suit of armor, and I got automail from Winry and Aunt Pinako. So we tried becoming State Alchemists so we could find another way to fix what had happened. We were searching for the Philosopher's Stone, but it turns out we found a restorative that could reverse what had happened. The last thing I can remember is waking up in the dormitories at Central and seeing a stranger in our room. Then, we woke up here."

It was a very condensed version of what had happened, but it didn't matter. "That was some dream," I said, patting his hand. "Don't worry, love. You're awake now. Why don't you have something to eat? I think you'll feel better if you did."

He sank back into his chair and picked up his fork. He shook his head, and both boys looked confused, but everything was going perfectly. What was even better was that they both took a drink of cocoa. Soon, they would cease to question, and they would be mine.