Ok, so I lied. I said the start of the mission to Maldin would be in this one…it won't. But I promise it will be in the next one! This one is a quick trip back to the present so it may be a bit on the short side…must resist Ed joke…not resisting well.

Credit for an idea in this chapter goes to Dark Chocolate Alchemist. I'll tell you the idea at the end of the chapter cuz otherwise, it'd ruin the chapter for you. But if you enjoy Parental RoyxEd, which I know you do, go read Parent's Responsibility, Protect, and all of the rest of Dark Chocolate Alchemist's stories. They're all awesome!

Also, I'm drawing a picture of Kayt. I don't know when I'll get it up.

Disclaimer: I'm afraid I still don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

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Present

Roy couldn't handle being in that room any longer. It was too…quiet, the air too thick…so he left. He wandered out into the waiting room to sit with his thoughts before the others showed.

Could it really be true? What Ed had told him? Could Ed have really killed Al? No, Ed wasn't a killer, and he definitely wouldn't kill Al. Those two were closer than any brothers he'd ever seen. One was never without the other in battle or otherwise. One would never allow harm to befall the other. They were truly joined at the hip…or would have been if Ed weren't so short. One would sacrifice his own life to save the other before ever thinking about himself. Could that have been what Ed meant? Not literally?

"Hiya, Roy!"

Roy looked up at Hughes. He hadn't realized he had arrived.

"So," Hughes said sitting down next to Roy, "what'd you find out? We have a suspect yet?"

"…Maybe," Roy said wondering whether or not he should protect Ed.

"Well, don't worry about it anymore."

"What?" Roy asked in surprise. Had Maes found out?

Hughes' expression turned serious. "There's no proof."

"No proof?"

"Alphonse didn't have a body. No body, no murder. They're not going to do a search. They're just pushing the whole thing aside like it never happened. No one's getting punished for it."

"May be just as well…"

"What?" Now it was Hughes' turn to be surprised.

"What Fullmetal told me…I pray it isn't true, but it's not the kind of thing anyone would joke about."

"What is it?"

"Edward…He said that he's the one that killed Alphonse."

"What!" Hughes' eyes grew wide, and his mouth hung open. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. "That can't be true!"

"Edward told me himself…"

"I'm going to go talk to him," Hughes said standing up.

When Roy said nothing else, he made his way to Ed's room. Having forgotten to ask Roy what the room number was, he stopped a nurse. Once there, he peeked inside. Ed was sitting just how Roy had left him. He didn't so much as look over when Hughes stepped inside.

"Glad to see you're up, Ed," the lieutenant colonel said with a wave. "Didn't figure it'd take you long seeing how you aren't even hurt." Hughes sat down in the chair next to Ed's bed. He didn't seem concerned at all that he was being ignored. "So how'd you end up in the hospital anyway? Just pass out? Someone call you short and you ran outta breath?" Hughes laughed loudly. Ed glanced in his direction, but Hughes received no more of a reaction than that. "Anyway, I'm sure you know why I'm here. I talked to Roy. Tell me it's not true, Ed."

"It's true," Ed said quietly.

"But…why?"

Ed fidgeted with his hands and tried to look anywhere but at Hughes hoping that he would stop staring. When he didn't, he merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Ed…Come on, you can talk to me."

Ed started shaking. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. It seemed as though Hughes had managed to get through to him. He opened his mouth to talk but quickly snapped it shut. He looked off to the his right and mouthed something as if someone was there, but Hughes was the only one in the room. The tears disappeared, and Ed fell back into his shell.

"So you aren't going to talk to me?" Hughes asked. Ed shook his head, the emotion gone from his eyes again. Hughes stood up and started toward the door. "Right, well, if you change your mind…" He gave Ed one last look and left.

Hughes walked back out to the waiting room. Roy was still sitting in the same spot, and the others still hadn't arrived yet. Roy motioned for Hughes to sit down.

"I got the same answer you did," Hughes said sitting down.

"I figured," Roy answered.

"What's on your mind?" Hughes asked noting the intense look in Roy's eyes.

Roy sighed. "Do you remember almost ten years ago during the war when we got some time off?"

"Which time?"

"The second time. We got on the wrong train."

"Yeah, I think I do."

"Do you remember where we ended up?"

"Can't say that I do. Why bring this up all of the sudden? I'm surprised you even remember it."

"We wound up in a small town called Resembool," Roy said slowly hoping that Hughes would remember. At first, it didn't seem he had, but then he gasped. "We came across that scene where the little girl had been killed in what looked like an accident, but then that one boy said it wasn't. He said that-"

"Edward did it…" Hughes finished for him remembering that strange day and wondering how he could have forgotten.

"I talked to the boy's mother, a woman named Trisha Elric," Roy said emphasizing his point. "That's when Edward claimed that a girl named Kayt had been the one at fault, but Mrs. Elric told me that there was no one named Kayt in that town. Several people confirmed this later. We discussed the boy's mental health and decided it best to send him to-"

"Wentworth," Hughes finished again. "I remember…"

The two men sat in silence even as the others started showing. Roy pondered on why he hadn't recognized Ed when he'd become a state alchemist while Hughes pondered a much more recent event. An event that deeply troubled the bearded man. It was the reason Ed had clammed up and not revealed any much needed information even when it had seemed like he was about to open up.

Edward had acted like there was someone else in the room.

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So very, very sorry about the short chapter. I didn't want to reveal too much yet. To repay you for it, I'll post the next one very soon. Anyway, the idea that was Dark Chocolate Alchemist's was the "no body, no murder" thing. It was used in Parent's Responsibility, and I asked if I could use it. Now, as I promised, the start of the mission to Maldin will definitely be in the next chapter. Maldin will take 3-5 chapters, and then the parentalness will start! Go me! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that short little filler of a chapter. Until next time.

Equivalent Exchange: I write, you review.