AN: Well, it looks like when I first filed this story, I set up Ed and Russell as the search criteria. Yuck! I'm surprised anyone read it at all. So thank you to the brave few who took a chance on this fic. Ed is in for a lot of shocks in this world that seems so much like home. Oh and I should warn about character death. I brought back Maes and some of the homunculi, so there will be some established character deaths to balance that – a sort of equivalent exchange, if you will…
Reviews – thanks very much!
Horselvr4evr123: Roy's face is far too gorgeous to cover with an eye patch and I love Hughes, so it was easy to make those changes. Some of the other stuff is going to be harder to accept. Ed does angst so naturally, doesn't he?
mrawgirl09:Yeah, can you imagine poor Ed? He gives up everything (including Al, btw) to come back to his beloved Roy and what does he find? A Roy that pushes him away like he has cooties. Damn, life can be so cruel (and authors…authors can be cruel, too…)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. Please credit Hiromu Arakawa for her brilliant work.
Maes sat back in the chair he'd had moved into the patient's room, balancing his clipboard and pen in his lap. He wondered in passing if hospitals went out of their way to make these chairs as uncomfortable as possible so the hospital staff didn't have to worry about visitors hanging around and could focus on the patients instead. He glanced over at the patient to confirm he was still out, and then directed his gaze to the blond standing in front of his chair. "Okay, Major, spill it. Roy said Edward made some comments to you."
Brosh scrubbed at his face for a moment before speaking. "As soon as he saw me, he seemed to recognize me right away. He asked how Lt. Ross and Major Armstrong were doing."
Maes' green eyes widened in surprise behind his glasses. "Armstrong? But – Ed was at the funeral, right?" Hughes had been laid up in the hospital at the time, recovering from his injuries.
"Yeah. He stood between Colonel Mustang and that blond girl, the automail mechanic."
"Winry Rockbell." Maes grimaced. He remembered her well, though he hadn't seen her since Edward's 'funeral'. He had never seen a clearer picture of someone suffering from a broken heart. He wondered how she was going to handle all of this.
"Did you tell him Armstrong was dead?"
"Yeah. He was very upset, like he was hearing it for the first time. He asked how it happened…"
"What did you tell him?"
"That one of the homunculi killed Armstrong. Not much else. He was very distressed to hear that the homunculi were still around."
Maes pushed his glasses up and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "We don't know everything that happened in Liore, only what Al observed. Perhaps Ed thought he had killed them all."
Denny shuffled his feet, looking down at the floor.
"What else?"
"Well - you, sir. Ed thought the homunculi had killed you,too."
"What?!"
"He seemed to think that you'd been killed back before the Liore incident."
"But I was there, outside Liore, with Archer. I spoke to Ed myself." Maes remembered Roy's dismay that Ed had made a deal with Archer to go into Liore and do some spying. Hughes, himself, had grabbed the boy by the arm and tried to make him change his mind. Maes had never trusted Archer. The fact that the man willingly aligned himself with Kimbley just proved what a scum bag he was. Maes still believed that Archer knew he was sending the teen to his death. Despite the fact that Ed's actions had saved all the soldiers and the people of Liore, Maes still wished that he had found a way to convince Edward not to go. 'It's not fair for me to risk anyone else's life but my own,' Ed had told him. 'I'm the one who made the mess here. I already have enough deaths on my conscience. I have to make this right.'
Maes found himself staring at the blond in the bed. This just didn't add up. It wasn't just a case of confusion on Ed's part. It was as though the man's memories had been systematically replaced with a different history of events. Hughes heaved a sigh and looked back at Denny. "Is that everything?"
Brosh glanced at Edward and then looked back at Maes with those candid blue eyes. "Just a feeling, sir – a gut reaction, if you will. I don't understand why he can't remember things the way we do, but I truly believe that that man is Edward Elric."
Maes' nodded once, a thoughtful frown creasing his forehead. "Very well. Thank you, Major. Please have Major Ross relieve you of guard duty. I'd feel better if Ed had some familiar faces around for the time being. Dismissed, Major."
Denny saluted and left the room, glancing back over his shoulder at the patient before he exited.
Maes glanced at the clipboard he had been taking notes on. It just didn't make sense. Why would someone have gone to the trouble to kidnap the teen in Liore, keep him in hiding somewhere for ten long years, reprogram his memories, and then suddenly release him back into Central? What could they possibly gain? Certainly, things had finally reached a measure of stability in Amestris. The reforms Roy had pushed through had given power back to the people through a new Parliament. They had almost achieved everything they had set out to do all those years ago after the nightmare of Ishbal. There was a very real possibility that Ed was sent here to somehow sabotage all that, whether the young man realized it or not.
Roy. The kid had been too close to Roy all those years for the President not to react strongly to him being 'found'. Roy had suffered a tremendous amount of guilt when he thought the boy had been killed in Liore. It had been touch and go for a while there. If he and Al hadn't been around to remind him of the consequences, Roy might have tried human transmutation again. As it was, Ed's 'death' had galvanized Roy into taking action against the Fuhrer immediately.
Maes thought about the look on his friend's face before Roy and Riza had left the hospital tonight. Roy had been understandably upset and confused by Edward's reaction to him, but there was something else… Well hidden behind the polished mask, Maes had sensed embarrassment and a touch of guilt. It was a look he hadn't seen on Roy's face since – Images of another time flashed through Maes mind. He felt his own cheeks flush before he hastily cut off that line of thought. Well, not for a very long time…
Maes squirmed uncomfortably and rose from the chair, redirecting his thoughts away from Roy and back to the putative Edward Elric in the bed. Although Brosh's gut reaction wasn't based on hard facts, Maes, himself, had had to rely on what his guts told him too many times to dismiss the other man's conclusion. He had quite a few questions to ask this young man, and he had to be prepared for Ed to react badly to his presence, just as he had to Roy earlier. After all, this Ed thought he was dead. Maes had to convince Ed that he was the real deal and not the homunculus Envy in disguise, a conclusion he seemed to have reached about Roy earlier.
"An eye patch, huh?" Maes found that hard to imagine. Roy was so vain about his looks. It was hard to imagine him with a disfiguring facial injury.
The blond in the bed groaned and stirred, already fighting off the effects of the sedative. Edward had the same ability to bounce back quickly, even from fairly grievous injuries. Another clue that this man could be the real thing. The golden eyes cracked open and cast a blurry look around the room. The man blinked up at Maes in confusion, and then the eyes flew wide.
"Maes?!"
"Hey, Ed. I'm glad you're awake. It's been awhile, huh? Look , I brought pictures of Elicia and Ed." He whipped out the pictures and thrust them into the man's face before he could react.
The blond's frowning gaze drifted from Maes' face to the pictures fanned out in front of him.
"Aren't they adorable?"
"Two?"
"Yeah, we had a boy five years ago. Elicia is the best big sister ever. Here she is holding him on the day he was born, and this is her feeding Ed a bottle…"
"Ed?" the young man's voice was still rough and his words unsteady, as if he was having trouble putting his thoughts together.
Maes lowered his head so he was looking right into those golden eyes. "We named him Edward Hughes."
The man's eyes opened wide again, his mouth gaped open. "Why?"
"Because we wanted to honor the memory of a fallen comrade, and a dear friend."
Ed's flesh hand clenched into a fist. "I didn't die. But I thought you did…"
Maes grinned easily. "Then I guess we were both mistaken."
The blond sighed. "I feel so confused…"
"You took quite a knock to the head. The doctor said you don't have a concussion, but maybe it just knocked a few things loose in there."
Those golden eyes searched Hughes' face with amazing intensity, but Maes didn't turn away or let his own gaze falter. He had to gain Ed's trust. "Is this a dream?"
Maes reached out and pinched the blond.
"Ouch! What the hell, Lieutenant Colonel?"
"It's Brigadier General, and I guess that proves you're not dreaming."
"Brigadier General… Well, I guess I should have expected that. It's been, what – six years or so."
"You've been missing for ten years, Edward."
"Huh. I guess you can't really count the time I came back six years ago. I don't think I was here for more than a few hours at most."
Maes frowned. He had never heard this. He nodded without saying anything, hoping to encourage the other to say more.
Ed glanced down at his automail arm, still strapped to the bed. "I don't know what I would have done if Winry hadn't been able to replace my automail back then." He smiled up at Hughes. "As you can see, I finally got some height."
Maes smiled kindly. "And you've matured a lot if you're able to say that without ranting…"
"Yeah, I guess I have. At least, that's what Al tells me."
"Al?" As far as Hughes knew, Al was still in Xing.
The young man's face darkened with profound sadness. "Yeah. I – He –" Those golden eyes teared up and the man turned away to hide it from Hughes. "I miss him."
Maes put a comforting hand on Ed's shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, Roy sent word to Xing. I know Al will take the first boat back."
Edward looked back up at Maes with that same disoriented look. "What?"
"It's okay. Roy was able to open trade routes with Xing, and Al went to study their form of alchemy."
"But, how long has he been back?"
"Back? I just told you, he's still in Xing."
Ed shook his head. "No, how long has he been back in this world?"
Maes stared at Ed. "I don't know what you mean, Ed."
Edward waved his hands in frustration. "You know, from the world on the other side of the gate. The one that sent the animated suits of armor to attack Central. And the planes. You have to remember the planes…"
Maes tried to school his expression, to not let his profound disbelief show on his face. What Denny had learned had only scratched the surface of Ed's delusion. This didn't sound like some reprogramming anymore. This sounded like a mental illness. It hurt Maes to think that this brilliant young man had finally lost touch with reality.
"You don't know what I'm talking about."
Maes shook his head. "No, Edward. I'm sorry. What you're saying doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know anything about another world or planes or armies of animated armor…"
"Where the fuck am I?" The man's voice ground out hoarsely. His expression was agonized. "How can this be all wrong?" The golden eyes widened in horror. "Am I – Do you think I'm crazy?"
Hughes pushed his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes. "If you were, I don't think you'd ask that question," he replied softly. "But I think we should bring in a psychiatrist to evaluate you."
Ed nodded slowly as his gaze drifted away. He shut his eyes. "I'm really tired now, Hughes. I'm going to sleep now."
Maes suspected that was a lie, but he had to respect the fact that the young man needed time to process everything. He glanced down at the copious notes he had taken from what Edward had said. Hughes was going to need time to process this, too. And he had a lot of questions for his friend Roy, as well. A world on the other side of the gate? That gate thing sounded like alchemy. Something he'd overheard Alphonse discussing once with Roy. It seemed extremely far-fetched, but if it meant that Ed wasn't crazy, then maybe he had come from somewhere else. Maybe he wasn't even their Ed, but some parallel universe Ed. It made Hughes' head spin.
On impulse, Maes reached out and brushed the blond bangs and tweaked the antenna hair. He rubbed a thumb gently over the deep crease of frown that still haunted the young man's face. Hughes should have known this was too good to be true. Edward never seemed to get his happy ending. "Goodnight, Ed," he whispered before turning and quietly leaving the room.