Alphonse was swiftly working himself up into a panic, though Roy had lowered his hand. "How can I explain anything when I don't even know what you're talking about!?" he cried.

Roy pondered this, eyes cast upwards. "Perhaps," he said after thinking a moment, "you could start with the last thing you remember?"

"We were in our room, and Brother was sleeping," Al started immediately, "and I heard him wake up—I thought he had had a nightmare, it happens sometimes—but I stayed still. He doesn't like to admit that he's scared, even if it's while he's asleep. Then I…felt something. I don't really know what, but the fact that I felt at all was strange. And then it was like my mind was too crowded, and I heard a laugh, and then it was just darkness…until somehow I ended up here."

"Al." Ed whispered, shakily. "It's been more than three months since that night."

Alphonse's eyes widened, his mouth agape, but he seemed to be unable to manage sound.

At this point, Roy was more or less convinced that the boy in front of him really was Alphonse Elric. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

"No!" Al wailed, distraught.

Roy watched Edward carefully for a reaction. The boy looked blank, numb—but really, what were you supposed to feel when you realize the brother that had been a terror for the recent past doesn't even know what he did? "How is that possible?" Ed asked, eyes darting from Roy to Alphonse in his desperation to understand.

Roy hummed, thinking about the question. "This is just a guess, but…that homunculus I just destroyed, you've never seen it before, have you Ed?" The blonde shook his head. "Well then…it's possible it was a new homunculus, one with powers unknown. I would speculate that the homunculus managed to take over Alphonse as soon as you returned him to his body, Ed. It would make sense—Father wouldn't be above ordering…all that to happen to you. And he is probably cruel enough to think up making your brother the one who seems to be at fault."

Edward nodded, shrinking imperceptibly closer to Roy, while Al's brow scrunched in confusion. "Wait, wait. What do you mean 'all that's happened to him'? What…" he paused. "If that's the case, what exactly did it make me do?"

Ed turned his head away, face contorting into a pained grimace. Again, Alphonse reached for his brother, instinctively, and again Edward stepped back, shoulders hunching slightly. Roy himself was silent, ignoring Al's pleading eyes. Would it be crueler to tell Alphonse what his brother had gone through, or have him not understand why Ed was uncomfortable, even fearful, around him?

Roy released Edward, leading Al by the shoulder until he was out of earshot of the blonde, and just barely visible.

"Al," he said, keeping his voice low. "What I'm going to tell you isn't pretty, but…you deserve to know why Ed is so hesitant around you."

Alphonse nodded, biting his lip.

Roy took a deep breath, steeling himself. He didn't like going over, once again, what Edward had been through, especially with his newly realized feelings for the boy. "The night that the homunculus presumably took over you, Ed brought your body back. I don't know the details, but as soon as that happened, he lost his alchemic abilities."

Al gasped, but Roy's gaze prevented him from speaking. "You—due to the control of the homunculus—then proceeded to attack him. You sold him to a man who ran a whorehouse, and he was placed inside. I won't go over the details—" Alphonse's expression was one of horror as he realized Roy couldn't even tell him specifics, it was so terrible "—but Ed was used for the full three months. On one occasion, by multiple men at once, and the entire time you stood there watching."

Silent tears began to trail down Al's cheeks. Roy pushed down the guilt that was rising in him; Alphonse had to understand. "After three months, someone spotted him through a window and called me, and we managed to rescue him. I'm not going to sugarcoat it; he was in bad shape afterward. Physically, he was covered in bruises, and quite literally ripped apart. Mentally…let me give you an example. As I picked him up, to get him out of that hellhole, he was screaming and moaning for me to not touch him."

Alphonse was having trouble suppressing the sobs now welling up inside him, but Roy forged ahead. "He still doesn't like people touching him…though I seem to be a bit of an exception."

Surprisingly, Al hiccupped, laughing through his tears. "Yeah, B-Brother always d-did have a thing for y-you."

Roy's smile was short-lived as he got serious once more. "After we rescued him, you threatened him. Said if he told anyone who was to blame, you would make sure his tortures were worse once you sold him again…and later you threatened to sell me as well. He's hurt, Al, and he's a work in progress now. He's getting better, but…you can't blame him for being a little cautious around you. But I know how much you love Ed—and I think that deep down, he remembers that, too."

Alphonse nodded, teary eyes steeling with determination. "I'll fix this," he said, before walking back over to Edward.

"Al—" Roy cautioned, not wanting the younger Elric brother to make Ed flinch away again—it would only make them both more miserable.

Instead, Alphonse bowed his head, stopping a few feet from his brother. "Brother, I don't know the details of what happened to you—I don't want to. But Roy explained enough for me to know that I don't deserve to be in the same building as you, let alone call myself your brother. I honestly had no idea what was happening during that time; my memory is just blackness. But I should have been able to come to my senses, and stop what I caused, and I am sorrier than you could ever imagine."

By the end of Al's apology, Edward was crying silently, and Roy walked over to put a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Al," Ed managed after he composed himself, attempting a hesitant smile. "I know it wasn't you. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be hard to forget that it was your face that watched as…well, you know. But you're back now…and you're definitely still my brother."

Knowing better than to try to hug Ed, Alphonse stretched out a hand, and the siblings shook.

With that, the trio left the chamber behind, walking out the tunnels and back into the sunlight, injured by the past but open to the future.

Father dropped down from the ceiling of his chamber, silently landing on the floor. He watched Roy, Ed, and Al leave with mild annoyance.

Yes, this last homunculus had, in the end, been a failure; but it had managed to rid Fullmetal of his alchemy, and severely damage his psyche.

Perhaps his next creation would have even better results…