We run out of the shed just as it blows up completely, sending wooden pieces into the air and fire blowing behind us. I hit the ground quickly with Al beside me and guard our cargo from the blast. Once the heat of the fire wears off a little, I look down at the baby and try to get it to be quiet as it screams in fear and confusion.

"Brother!" Alphonse yells with urgency.

I look up as he sets the Colonel on the ground, Roy's breath hitching dangerously. I get up and walk over to him, kneeling next to his face as he opens his eyes.

"Fullmetal…"

"Hold on, Mustang, I'm sure Hughes has figured out where you've gone and is on his way. I can drive to the train station if I have to but-"

"Edward…" he says, looking at me with tired eyes. "I wanna… I… see…"

I look at the baby and turn it a little so that he can look at it. He smiles a little but coughs, blood ejected out of his mouth. I motion for Al to take the baby and I put my arm under Roy's head, holding it in my lap as he shivers and tries to breathe.

"Try to hang on, Roy. You have to watch your baby and… and you've got men to lead. What about being Fuhrer? How are you supposed to do anything if you're dead?"

He laughs, sending blood running down his cheek from the corner of his mouth and he heavily puts his hand on his stomach.

"Can't… caut…cauter…cauterize it…" he says, tears leaving his normally strong eyes.

I look down and see the gaping slash that I had given him to get to the baby. I gulp because he's so weak that he can't even snap his fingers to cauterize his own wound. There is nothing I can do… I killed Roy Mustang.

"Edward." I look at him, horror in my eyes. "Not… your fault… Not his… either…" He suddenly grabs my shirt hard as a wave of intense pain goes through him and he reaches up to touch my face, blood on his hand smearing on my cheek. "Take… care of him… I… trust… you…"

His hand slides off of my face, leaving a streak of blood, and falls to the side. His eyes lose luster and his face laxes, his black eyes staring at nothing anymore.

I stare for a moment, not understanding. It finally registers that he's gone, truly gone and I gulp, feeling hot tears running down my face. I reach up with a shaking hand and close his eyes, pulling him close. I hear the baby crying but all I can feel is his cold body in my arms and all I can feel is guilt. I killed the Colonel… I killed the only man who treated us gave us the benefit of the doubt for trying to do the taboo, the one who secretly treated us like his children, who we secretly loved like a father. I killed him… I let him die in my arms… He's gone… He's gone…

"Ed, you have to let go of him." I hear someone say to me.

I don't really know who it is but I feel a hand on my shoulder and slowly turn to look at who it is. It's Hughes.

"Edward, you need to let him go."

"I failed…" I whisper.

Hughes looks at me with pity in his eyes and I feel him motion for someone to come and take the Colonel away. They finally pry him from my arms and Hughes stands up with me as I watch them put Mustang's body in a body bag and carry him off.

"Edward, what happened?"

"It was coming and… he ordered me to take it out… but I… he… the incision…"

Hughes nods and pulls me to him. I don't feel him but I know he's there.

"Ed, this wasn't your fault. Let's get you checked out…"

He leads me to where some local police are but I'm not here… I don't know where I am…

~*~Alphonse~*~

I watch as a military doctor looks over the baby. When the military finally came, I was the one that had to tell them what happened because Brother was in shambles. His face was stoic but I know that he is trying to keep himself from breaking down. He did the same thing with Mother died. Ed takes death as a challenge to his ego I think and he tries to combat it but I know he cries… I've heard him when he thought that I wasn't listening.

"Well, he seems to be a healthy baby boy. Take him back to Central and-"

"What are you doing?" I ask, looming behind the doctor.

He turns to me and calmly adjusts his glasses.

"This was made by alchemy and was harbored in the body of a member of the military. As a threat, we must-"

I grab the doctor and hold him up in the air.

"No one is taking the Colonel's baby but someone from his team. If no one wants him then the military still isn't getting him! Winry and Pinako will take care of him before the military will ever touch him! I'll kill you before you will hurt him!"

"Al, Al…" I hear Lieutenant Havoc say beside me."Put the doctor down… We won't let anything happen to the Colonel's baby."

I drop the doctor and go over to where the baby is and pick it up gently. He has calmed down now and is cleaned up so I can look at him a little more thoroughly. He is really cute and I can see the Colonel in him already. He has dark fuzzy hair on his little head and I take him to where Brother is, sitting down with a blanket over his shoulders. The baby has Ed's red jacket keeping him warm and I sit next to him.

"Are you going to be alright, Brother?"

"Yeah… Do you think I'd look good with two automail arms? Ya know?"

I gasp and look at him swiftly.

"Ed! How can you think that?! How can you even want to try again after all we've gone through already?!"

"It was just a thought, Al… not really gonna do it." He says softly, turning his head a little as he looks at nothing. "Who's gonna name it?"

I look at the baby as he yawns and shrug a little.

"I guess we can name him. Do you want to hold him?"

Edward still watches nothing but then turns and holds out his arms to me to set the baby in his arms.

Havoc comes up and immediately puts his cigarette out.

"We're all heading back home now. We need to take the kid to a real hospital and let them do some tests. That military guy is right in that it was made by alchemy so there needs to be some tests done on the little guy."

"Will they hurt him?" Ed asks.

"They will try their bests but scientists are going to have to study him as well as doctors. He's a rare breed of kid…"

"Yeah. Come on, Al."

We walk to the car and get in the back seat.

~*~Edward~*~

During the ride back to Central, I hold the baby in my arms and feel it snuggle into my chest. I watch as it looks so content lying there in my arms, all warm in my jacket and wonder if he will ask what happened to his father. I wonder how he will react knowing that I killed him… I wonder how he will react knowing that he caused me to do it… The baby yawns again and flutters open his eyes for a second. I am surprised that the baby's eyes are not blue but a strange combination of black, gold, and brown. From the pupil, they were golden then moved to a small ring of brown and then ended in black edges.

Mustang's eyes were black though…

As I look at the boy, I can suddenly see Roy all over him. The shape of his eyes, the shape of his face… Tears blur my vision and I look away from him.

I trust you.

"Brother?"

"Al, please take him. I don't want to hold him anymore." I say, feeling my throat closing up.

Al nods and takes the baby from me when I see that my blade is still out. It is blood stained and I remember slicing Roy open to get the baby out and I can't help keep a choked sound from leaving my mouth as I throw my other hand over my mouth.

"Ed?"

"He's gone, Al… He's… I couldn't save him! I let him die!"

"That's not true. You did what he asked. We had no way of helping him and he was already dying. We did everything we could."

"No! No we didn't! I didn't! It's my fault! It's my fault that he's gone!"

"No it isn't, Ed. The baby was too strong for him and you did have a choice. Colonel Mustang trusted you to do what was right."

"If I had just been more cautious about my surroundings… If I had just realized that that creepy was Tucker those other times I had felt shady about him… He would have had it professionally removed in the hospital and been able to get sewed back together… He'd still be alive."

Al puts his hand on my shoulder, for there is nothing much that he can do.

When we get back to Central, after making sure that Al was to be present during the baby's testing so that nothing happened, I am summoned to the Fuhrer's office. I walk heavily to his office, feeling drained and exhausted. I open the door and he motions for me to come in. I stand in front of his desk and put my hands behind my back.

"How fairs the child?" he asks, sitting back into his chair.

"Alive and well. He was sent for testing."

"I see… I know this will seem heartless but do you think that you can relate the events that caused the death of Major General Mustang?"

I look up in confusion. "Major General?"

"He died in combat, son. He gets a posthumous promotion of two ranks."

I nod a little, understanding but thinking about retelling that battle is not something I can do at the moment. I can't.

"My apologies, Fuhrer Bradley, but I can't do that right now. If I tried to recount the events to you right now we would be here for a long time."

He nods, steepling fingers on the table.

"Fair enough. What do you plan to do with the child then?"

"Sir?"

"The military doctor that was sent to retrieve the child was threatened by your brother that he would be killed if he took the child away. I assume you have a plan for him then? If not, the boy *is* made from alchemy, a taboo so to say."

"A taboo?"

"He was created from alchemy." He says, weaving his fingers together and setting them on the table. "If my memory is correct, the ultimate taboo for alchemists is human transmutation. He is in a sense, a taboo or a fake human."

I narrow my eyes at the mustached man and cross my arms.

"The child did nothing to deserve whatever the military has to offer it. Colonel Mustang did not plan this, nor did he want to do this in the first place. And the baby was not made from alchemy; he was made like everyone else is just put in the wrong body."

The Fuhrer nods and leans back in his chair.

"I'm sure the scientists will prove either or… Do you plan to keep the child then?"

"At the moment but I think it's best if we let someone who knows what they are doing have him… Maybe Lt. Colonel Hughes or something."

"That is an excellent idea. He already has a daughter… I expect a report before the funeral on Saturday."

I nod but all I feel is guilt. How can I face Mustang's grave with this guilt on my shoulders?

in that, yes roy is truly dead. i almost cried when i wrote his death scene ToT. and i hate fuhrer bradley. always had even from the beginning. he's an ass... so i hope i portrayed his sickly sweet mannerism well