Well I updated quicker this time I think. Anyway, I have again had a busy week or so, including going to see the wonderful Darren Criss live in London. Not that you needed to know that.

I had some great reviews last chapter from people saying it doesn't matter if I'm slow to people telling me to write even if I'm busy. I take them both as compliments. I just wanted to make it clear that no matter how slow or choppy the updates get, I am not giving up on this story, it will be finished even if I have to bully Ed and co into doing what I want them too!

Anyway story time! Enjoy!

Chapter Six: Father

As soon as the sound of the engine had faded away, Winry sat up and rubbed her head feeling a slight bump from where it had hit the tree. Although it was painful to let that man take her friend and boyfriend she knew she needed to get back to Maes, so she'd pretended to be unconscious. Standing up she used the tree for support until the dizzy fit had passed, before being to make her way back to Maes as fast as possible.

Nearly in tears Winry realised she was lost, it was pitch black and she couldn't even see the light of the fire. Taking a deep breath she wondered what to do. She was well off the path to the clearing. A soft groan sounded a little way in front of her and to the right. She breathed a sigh of relief and stumbled in the direction of the noise, almost tripping of the prone figure of Hughes. Dropping to her knees beside him she gently felt for the damage in the dark.

The bullet had hit his chest and his lung by the sound of his breathing but had missed he is heart. He was barely conscious, emitting small groans of pain but not forming words or opening his eyes. Winry pulled her jacket off and used it to stop the bleeding as best she could, unaware of the cold. She became to scream for help, she could hear the music faintly in the background and hoped she could be heard over it.

As Breda and Havoc tried to out drink each other Riza was watching over them, vaguely wondering where the missing members of the group were. Suddenly she sat up. Had she just heard what she thought she'd heard? Reaching over she pulled the cord form the music player, disconnecting it from the speakers. Immediately everyone was complaining.

"Shut up!" she snapped and everyone complied. Now it was quiet she could definitely hear Winry calling and so could everyone else.

Grabbing torches to light the way the group ran towards the sound of Winry's voice, most just stared in shock at the sight of Winry leaning over a bloodied Hughes.

"What happened?" Riza asked dropped down next to Winry and took over putting pressure on the wound. Falman was already dialling the emergency services.

"He was shot," Winry hiccupped through her tears.

"By who?"

"Roy's Father, he wanted him back."

"How did we not hear any of this? I mean what surely we would have heard the gun shot," Havoc asked, showing a he had sobered up rather fast.

"He probably had a silencer," Ling commented.

"Did that bastard take Roy?" Furery asked, pushing up his glasses up his nose, an angry glint in his normally cheerful gaze. Winry nodded, swiping her arm across her face.

"Wait, where's Ed?"Al asked. Winry, who had just managed to stop crying, screwed her face up and managed to tell Al what had happened to Ed before she began to cry again.

"Why would he want Ed too?" but no one knew the answer.

Breda, Havoc and Ling walked down to the road to guide the police and paramedics up to Hughes when they arrived.

What felt like hours later the black car pulled into what appeared to be an abandoned facility. John left the engine idling but got out. Opening the back door he yanked Ed roughly out. Roy moved to follow but was told to stay where he was as his father slammed the door shut again.

Ed was practically dragged towards the building. John was looking around nervously and seeing his chance, Ed pressed his palms together and broke the cable tie down to dust, before John could do anything Ed had slammed his automail fist into his nose. Swearing, John stumbled back holding his nose as it began to bleed.

Tearing off the strip of tape from across his mouth, Ed grinned, seeing he'd broken his nose.

"I held back, I think someone else deserves the pleasure of beating you to a pulp."

Roy's mother reached them then, kneeling down by her husband.

Turning back to the car Ed saw Roy had got out and removed the tape from his mouth. He held his hands out for Ed to cut the ties. With a quick clap and transmuted a blade from his automail arm and sliced the ties.

"Careful you could take my hand off with that thing," Roy muttered.

"Wanna test?"

A slow clapping got their attention. Turning round the boys came face to face with a tall blonde man, his hair was long and pale and he had a beard. Ed, who'd been shown pictures of his father, recognised him immediately.

"You!" he said, pointing his finger at him. The man simple raised one eye brow and looked at the two teens appraisingly.

"Who is he?" Roy muttered, loud enough only for Ed to hear him.

"Hohenheim," Ed said simply, Roy knew the name.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Hohenheim? Van Hohenheim? No I'm not him," the stranger said.

"Really? You look just like him," Ed replied.

"Yes I suppose I do. So do you, you look like him when he was your age."

"Wait so who are you?" Roy asked. Subtly he fished his glove out of his pocket, while thanking whoever that he'd used it to light the campfire.

"I'm related to Hohenheim, in some respects. You could say I'm Edward's Uncle."

"So you're his brother?" Ed asked, wondering why he'd never heard about having an uncle.

"Not quite."

"Then how the hell are you my Uncle, you're infuriating," Ed yelled, having had enough of this useless chat. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Such a temper," was the only answer he got.

"Father, he's coming." The new voice made both Roy and Ed turn around. It was then they notices they'd been surrounded. The person who had spoken was tall and skinny, they couldn't tell if the person was male or female. A tall woman stood one side of them and a very fat man the other. Ed turned back to the bearded man who had first spoken to them. Roy stayed facing the long haired individual. They pressed their backs together.

"Thank you Envy," the bearded man, referred to as Father said.

With a quick snap of his finger Roy created a barrier of fire around Edward and himself.

"Not going to be able to keep this up for long," he hissed at Ed. Pressing his back closer to Roy's Ed desperately tried to plan a way out of this mess.

"We have to fight, it's the only way," Ed said, using the sound of the roaring fire to mask his voice form their captors. Nodding, Roy killed the fire, pulling oxygen away from the hungry flames instead of pumping it in.

The dark clothed figures that surrounded them were smirking, but the bearded leader was gone. Roy's parents had stumbled quietly to their car and now were looking like they couldn't decide whether to wait for Roy or not.

The one called Envy smirked and opened his mouth to speak but before he could. Ed yelled, "run!" and the boys took off sprinting towards the exit. The driveway led round a bend and they made it their, Roy's longer legs carrying him slightly faster than Ed.

A car, which had been heading up the road towards them, quickly spun round so it'd face the exit. Roy halted and grabbed Ed as he over took him. The passenger door of the car opened and voice told them to get in. Willing to risk their chances with this stranger than the freaky people who were behind them. They were standing still for a second before they both sprinted to the car and dived in. Ed felt a hand lock round his ankle and he savagely kicked out trying to dislodge the person determined to pull him from the car. With a quick snap Roy burnt the arm. With a cry Envy, who'd been the fastest, let go of Ed, who promptly closed the door. The car speed away.

Roy had crawled into the back seat, leaving Ed to turn to look at his rescuer. He froze, the bearded man was driving the car. It took Ed a second to realise he couldn't possibly have changed into a brown suit, tied his hair back and got into a car that far away in the time since Ed had last seen him. But this man was identical which meant, "Hohenheim?" Ed said as a sigh of relief.

"Son," Hohenheim replied.

"Bastard," Ed muttered.

"Guess I deserve that."

"Too right you do." Ed scowled at his old man before leaning back to look at Roy. He was slumped in the middle of the back seat, looking for all the world as if he was asleep.

"You still with us?" He asked in hushed whisper. Roy nodded weakly without opening his eyes.

"Never sustained that much fire for that long before," he muttered by explanation.

"Pathetic, teacher is going train you twice as hard when she hears."

"Shut it brat," Roy replied with a small smile.

Turning back to Hohenheim Ed asked, "where are we going?"

"To a safe place, then I'm going to finish this."

"I don't even know what this is but we need to get back to our friends."

"Out of the question."

"Look two of our friends were injured we don't know if the others even realised. They could be dying." At Ed's words Roy had sat up and opened his eyes, a look of panic crossing his usually passive face. Although brief the fight and flight for quite possibly their lives had made Roy forget that his best friend had been shot, now the adrenalin that had faded once he reached the safety of the car was back full force.

"Fine," Hohenheim agreed.

As they drove Ed began to question his father.

"Why'd you leave?"

"To keep you safe."

"Oh that went well, I was perfectly safe lying on a train track."

"It's a long story Edward."

"Well you better start then, hadn't you?" Ed demanded. With a sigh Hohenheim tried again to stall this conversation.

"I think it's better in private." Ed looked over his shoulder at Roy who had slumped back down.

"He'll find out eventually, besides I don't think he's listening. How about I fill in what I know. You were in some trouble, you left split up from Mom, she took Al and you took me. But you never showed when you were meant to meet up, instead you abandoned me and vanished."

"How can you know all that?" Hohenheim asked.

"What? Mom told me, oh right I guess you don't know she and Al moved to the town where I lived." Ed was surprised to see tears falling down Hohenheim face at his words.

"She's alive, my Trisha."

"And Al, yeah why shouldn't they be?"

"I was told they'd been killed, I... how are they?"

"Fine. Please just tell me what happened." With a small nod of his head, Hohenheim brushed the tears away and began his story.

Hohenheim kissed Trisha's teary face.

"It won't be for long, but we have to my love," he said softly.

"I know," she replied and looked down at the two small figures clutching her skirts. Edward was desperately hiding his tears but Trisha could always tell when he wanted to cry. Alphonse was openly crying.

Bending down she threw her arms round Edward and kissed him several times.

"You have to be my big strong boy now, ok. Look after your father." Then she picked him up and put him in Hohenheim's arms. Before picking up Al and gently comforting him. Edward reached one hand out and ruffled his little brother's hair which did more to quiet his cries than Trisha's cooing.

They travelled far, Hohenheim and his son. Edward was determined to be strong, to not cry, to not show how much he missed his mother and brother. Their journey took them to a small southern village, a little way out from South City. They stopped there for a while and on a bright sunny day the father and son walked to the top of a hill, on one side a gently slope towards town on the other and steep embankment leading down straight on the train tracks.

Hohenheim set up and blanket and feast of wonderful summer foods. Sandwiches, berries, small cocktail sausages and in the centre he set a fresh apple pie he'd bought from the baker that morning. Grinning Ed ran over to the fence that blocked off the railway track and waved enthusiastically at the train that went by.

"Edward, come on it's time to eat."

"Yay," the boy called scrambling back to his father, more than ready to eat. They feasted and talked. Once the savouries had been eaten Ed sat and stared at the pie, waiting eagerly for Hohenheim to cut it and give him a slice.

Biting into it he smiled, he loved apple pie and even if it wasn't as good as his mothers it still tasted good.

"Next time you eat apple pie it'll be your mothers," Hohenheim said, watching his little boys face light up.

"We're going back?"

"Not quite, we're going somewhere else, but we'll meet Al and your Mother there."

"Oh will you?" A shadow fell over the pair and Hohenheim's heart sank. Standing up he glared at the intruder. He'd thought that all the moving around had meant that these people wouldn't be able to find him, he'd been wrong.

His blood turned cold as he heard a scream and turned round to find a man had grabbed Edward.

First time I've stopped mid flashback, aren't I annoying? Still is it good annoying or bad annoying?

Who else is going to see Harry Potter 7.2 at midnight? End of an era guys! So sad, I grew up with Harry!

Review please!