CHAPTER FIVE

Al and Al were yelling at each other. Lieutenant Ross wanted to order them to calm down but settled on refereeing. Sheska stopped by only to start stuttering apologies while Sergeant Brosh tried to explain and Ed just knew that Maes Hughes would be arriving any moment now.

"Quiet!" His barked command managed to quiet the room, but Ed saw the rising tirade from both his brothers. "Al – and I mean both of you – shut up. I'll explain in a moment, but can you both just trust me for half a minute?" Both looked a bit doubtful but they remained silent.

"Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh I'll talk to you after I'm done with Alphonse. Can you both wait out in the hall?" They gave a sharp salute and went out the door.

"Sheska, I'm glad you came, I'm sorry it's a mess right now, but it's not your fault. If you could please wait out in the hall a Lieutenant Colonel Hughes will be by in a moment and he could really use your help with some lost documents from the library. I'll make sure we come visit you after Al is released."

"Okay. Are you sure everything is alright?"

Ed gave a small smile. Count on Sheska to worry about books and other people. "We'll be fine. Just try not to let the Lt. Colonel work you too hard."

She nodded and stepped out the door, firmly closing the door Ross and Brosh had left cracked. Sheska might try to eavesdrop with them, but she would at least make sure to keep up appearances.

"Brother-" Two voices came at him at once before they descended into bickering again.

"He's not your brother, he's mine!"

"Stop copying what I say!"
"Brother told me I'm Alphonse Elric, so whoever you are, you're not me!"

"I'm Alphonse Elric. You're just a dirty pile of scrap metal."

"Look who's talking little one. I'm fourteen years old, you can't be more than twelve."
"That might work on Brother, but I'm not falling for-"

"Enough!" Al opened his mouth to argue some more before catching sight of Edward's face. He closed his mouth and looked at the floor. Alphonse just clenched his armored hands and turned away from the human Al.

"Thank you. Al, both of you, for now I'm calling human Al, Al and armored Al, Alphonse. This does not mean anything except to help cut down on confusion. Both of you are Alphonse Elric, my little brother. If you'll calm down for a moment I can tell you why."

Both looked at him eagerly and Ed wondered how he was supposed to explain without actually explaining. It was clear one Al was his Al, but Alphonse must be the dead Ed's Al instead.

Then he remembered his Al's explanation when he met for the first time in two years. Sitting by the riverbank with an armored suit in the middle of Germany.

"Al, Alphonse, when I transmuted your soul into the armor, I must have done something that made it more... elastic than a typical human soul. You body remained at the gate with a portion of your soul to keep it alive. I brought the other part of the soul out of the gate and transmuted it into the armor. Now we have your body back, but Al only remembers until that night. Alphonse, you remember our journey of the last four years, right?"

"Yes Brother. But then why do I have the memories from before I was in the armor?"

"Of course you would have memories. You're both the same soul. Until I split you up there wasn't anything different about you two. Now you're split but still Alphonse Elric, understand?"

Alphonse nodded, but Al only continued to look at Alphonse with a blank expression.

"Al?"

His little brother glanced at him but brought his gaze back the armored figure in front of him.

"Al, do you remember when we used to fight over Winry?" Al nodded. "And you beat me like usual?" He nodded again. "What happened after that?"

"I proposed to Winry and she said no right away," Al replied quietly.

"And why was that Alphonse?"

"Because she didn't want to marry anyone shorter than her," Alphonse answered.

There was a moment of silence before Al cocked his head. "You're really me, aren't you. Ed wasn't there when I asked her."

Alphonse hummed his acknowledgment, crouching down to get a better look at his body.

"Really?" a loud voice exclaimed from the hallway. Edward's hung his face in his true hand, half exasperated half relieved. At least the Al crisis was mostly solved before Maes Hughes arrived.

"-and don't forget to have her write up the Denry and Milton cases!" The Lt. Colonel strode into the hospital room without even a knock, shutting the door on Ross and Brosh who were scrambling to get out of their eavesdropping positions.

"Ed, Al and Alphonse! Good to see you all. You gave us quiet a run for are money Alphonse. What gave you the idea to pretend to be inanimate in order to get back to your brother?" Alphonse didn't have a chance to answer before Ed was in a headlock with Maes messing up his hair. "And you! Why didn't you tell us Alphonse could be out there? We were all up in arms trying to find the thief for the last two days! Do you know how much manpower we've wasted?"

Jabbing an elbow into the Lt. Colonel's side loosed Hughes' grip enough for Ed to slip out while protesting. "I didn't know! Until Alphonse showed up I hadn't really thought about it. Sorry Alphonse."

"Don't worry about it Brother. You didn't use a philosopher stone, did you?"

"No," Ed replied adamantly, shuddering at the thought. "No, Al I didn't. How much did you hear in the hallway Hughes?"

"I arrived just in time to see your guards coming back into the hallway. Why don't we let Al and Alphonse have time to compare notes? You and I need to have a little chat."

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Ed let Hughes railroad him out of the room. Al would be okay. Alphonse wouldn't let anything happen to his body. He felt a little guilty about tricking Alphonse into believing he was a split soul. How would he react when he told him the truth?