Chapter 24

The conversation about sharing was not revisited. Flynn stayed in one of the guest bedrooms of their house while Ed moved his clothes back into their bedroom. Roy stayed home and avoided jumping fences (or spying from trees) for the time being. Days went by and life began to work itself into an uncomfortable little routine but a routine nonetheless and some semblance of normalcy. The children were happy because they still had both of their parents and didn't make an issue of the new sleeping arrangements. Roy kept everything businesslike when he was around the family.

One day he came over with a somber expression on his face, alerting them to the facetthat something was wrong – very wrong. Death threats against the President were nothing new but they had just received one from a credible source that indicated they planned to take him out at the press conference scheduled for the next day when a visiting dignitary would be arriving. There was no way to cancel it, no way to change arrangements at this late date. The only thing to do was to prepare and take precautions at this point.

"I need to be on stage with you," Flynn said, shocking Ed and Roy.

"No. Absolutely not. I won't have it. Riza will be there beside me," Roy replied. He refused to allow her to put herself in danger.

"But I can hear and see things other people can't. That she can't," she argued.

"No!" he repeated.

"Roy, have you forgotten who you're talking to?" Ed asked him, staring at his stubborn wife.

"No, but I can't let her do it," he answered.

"Roy, I will do this. With or without your permission," she added with unrelenting determination.

"Dammit! You annoying, hardheaded woman!"

Flynn stood on the stage to the left of the podium while Riza stood on the right. The visiting officials couldn't have been more pleased or impressed with his choice of pretty bodyguards. The crowd was completely silent as they hung on every word their President said which made it easy for her to listen. She was beginning to relax when she heard the soft click of a gun being cocked. Her body stiffened and all of her senses were suddenly on high alert. Her eyes began to quickly skim the crowd searching. Her fast head movements had caught Riza's attention and she could hear Riza alerting Falman, Breda, Havoc, and Fuery to be on the lookout. The sound click of guns cocking sounded again and again but she couldn't tell if it their men readying their guns or more possible assailants in the crowd. Her eyes scanned the crowd for movement and then she saw them stand up. There was one on each side in the back. They were dressed in business suits just like most of the men there, and it was hard to spot them until they brought up the rifles with the scopes on the ends.

"Riza! There and there!" Flynn yelled, pointing them out hurriedly as she moved toward Roy.

"Everyone get down!" Riza bellowed, forgetting she was dealing with civilians rather than military people.

When their guns were raised, all hell broke loose. Women began screaming and people began to run, creating bedlam and covering up the gunmen so they were impossible to see.

"Havoc! Get him out of here!" Flynn yelled, shoving Roy toward him as he and Ed both jumped up on the stage. She felt something hit her back that felt as if a bee had stung her. The pain stabbed her again, this time behind her right knee. She fell to her knees, leaning forward on her hands as a debilitating, throbbing pain radiated through her back and leg.

"Flynn!" Ed yelled, running to her.

"What happened, Ed? What's wrong with me?" she asked as tears of terror and panic filled her eyes.

"You've been shot," he told her, grabbing her up into his arms to carry her off of the stage.

"What happened?" Roy demanded.

"She's been shot but nothing fatal," Ed told him, pushing past him to take her to the ambulance.

"Ed, take her far away from here. Keep her away from me," he ordered the surprised blond before he could get into the ambulance.

"Yes, sir," he gladly responded. He would happily take her away to never be near the danger Roy Mustang again.

Epilogue

"Where are we?" Flynn asked. She knew they were in Resembool but where exactly she had no idea.

"This is our new home," Ed announced as he stopped their car in front of a two story home that sat in the middle of a huge parcel of land.

"Really? Why here Edward? Why did you want to come back here?" she inquired, staring at him.

"This is where some of the worst events I ever experienced in my life took place. Those events however led me to where I am, to who I am now. It all led to you and us. Our beautiful children. I thought this might be the best place to make a whole new life for ourselves. I learned too late you can't run from your past because it will just catch up with you," he said, smiling with the bittersweet feelings he still harbored.

"So this is the house you had built for us? To replace the one you burned down?" she asked, getting out to look at it.

"It's nothing like the old one. I wanted it to be our house," he answered.

"What about Edmund? Are you going to try to make amends with him?" She turned back to look at him as she stood on the porch that wrapped around the whole house.

"Yes. Would it be okay if he came to stay with us after the children arrive?" He walked up to the porch to join her, pulling the key out of his pocket to unlock the door.

"Of course. That would be great. He can come over whenever he wants. It will be nice for him to get to know his brothers and sister," she said with a smile, walking toward her husband. She had hoped he would try to repair his relationship or absence thereof with his first child.

"Flynn, I love you," Ed told her, staring deeply into her eyes as he pulled her into his arms. "Thank you for giving me, for giving us, a second chance."

"I love you too, Ed." She shrieked happily when he swept her up into his arms and carried her over the threshold of their home.

A new beginning for them both: to put the horrors of the past behind them and to look forward to a brighter future. It won't be easy, of course repairing and rebuilding a life never is simple. Some demons of the past will be harder to put down, but they can be slain nonetheless. The best thing is that they will do it together.

In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage. ~Robert Anderson, Solitaire & Double Solitaire

Author's Note: That's all folks! I decided it was time to put this baby to bed before I drug out any further. It was becoming a painful process to me. The ending was sudden, but hopefully it made sense. Ed and Flynn were suddenly reminded of what they could lose so they decided to suck it up and get on with the marriage not just for the children but for themselves as well.