"Flank him."

"Sir?"

"Flank him, but don't fire. First and foremost, keep yourselves safe."

Roy watched the soldiers spread out around him before approaching Father; he had to grab Alphonse's arm and push him back towards Hawkeye and Havoc, and Havoc had to put him in a full-body hold to keep him back. Roy ignored Alphonse's protests as he approached Father. Instead of the long robes he had been wearing before he now had on trousers and a light jacket, looking not unlike a normal Amestrian citizen. As he got closer, Roy could feel the alchemic power bleeding out of Father like it had before, and Roy had to fight to not double-over from the cramps it was giving him.

"How are you here?" Roy asked when he was close enough. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the soldiers spread out behind Father. "You died that day."

"Did I?" Father asked, gazing up at the sky. "I don't recall dying. I've only ever been the one to kill, never the one to die."

"What about Edward?"

"Who?"

"Edward Elric. What happened to him on the Promised Day?"

"You mean Von Hohenhiem's brat? His heart was still beating when I last saw him. I was holding his heart in my hand at the time, though, so he probably didn't last much longer."

Roy raised his hand and aimed at Father, ready to snap his fingers, when Father spoke again.

"Even someone as simple as you must know that's a bad idea."

Father breezed past Roy and headed for the gate. Roy stayed still for a moment, until he saw the men shifting and readying their guns. He heard Alphonse shouting, too, and turned to see him struggling against Havoc's hold even more than he had before; Havoc was trying to pull Alphonse backwards and away from Father, but Alphonse was struggling too much.

"Lower your weapons!" Roy shouted. "Don't fire!"

"And let him go?" Alphonse struggled even more violently as Father walked past them unchallenged. "Are you insane?"

He broke free of Havoc's grip and ran to attack Father. When he was within arm's reach the ground rose up and wrapped itself around him, holding his arms out to either side of him so he couldn't transmute. Roy sprinted over, but as he got near Father sent a spike out of the ground towards Roy, missing him by inches and forcing him to stop before he reached the younger alchemist.

"You humans are still so foolish." Father ran his finger down the side of Alphonse's face. "That same idiotic tendency to attack got your brother killed too. It doesn't help; in situations like this it makes everything worse. It's damaging to you and everyone else here. Why, then, do you do it?"

"Someone has to."

"No. You do it because you can't face the reality that humans are lesser beings. You refuse to believe you aren't at the top of the food chain, and you will go to any lengths to prove it. You then run headfirst into a fight you can't win, and natural selection ensures you can't run back out."

"Shouldn't you just kill me now, then?"

"I want you to watch." He raised his voice so everyone could hear. "Von Hohenhiem and Edward Elric aren't here to fight for you. Consider your positions; if you attempt to stop me, you will die now. If you do not attempt to stop me, you can go home to your families."

"Lower your weapons," Roy called out again. "Lower your weapons."

"What? NO!" Alphonse struggled against his rock bindings.

Roy clamped a hand over Alphonse's mouth as Father left the grounds without a single person stepping up to face him. Once Roy was sure he was far enough away, he clapped his hands together and freed Alphonse. He stepped back as the younger alchemist went into a rage and held up a hand to silence him.

"If anyone tried to stop him, they would have died – you're damn lucky he didn't decide to put you down. We need everyone alive so we can figure out a plan."

Alphonse sagged. "You heard what he said, though. He said he killed Ed. For definite. I can't just watch him walk away like that. I can't."

"I know. But if we fight now, on his terms, we're dead. All of us. Our best shot is to try and do this on our terms when we have some sort of advantage."

"Our advantage last time was Hohenhiem and Ed. I don't see them here, do you?"

"Don't discount yourself so quickly, Al. That battle couldn't have been won without you."

"All I did was help Ed fight. That was it. How the hell am I supposed to be useful this time?"

"By calming down and helping me think." Roy's men had all gathered around him, while the rest of the soldiers surrounded the exit of the grounds and watched Father walk away. "Hawkeye, get these troops back to where they should be. I want every person who was essential last time to be in my office within the hour. Falman, contact General Armstrong up in Briggs and see if she's willing to come down and help. Al, see if you can get hold of Izumi and Ling, ask them to be on their way as soon as possible. Havoc, contact the President – I'll need to brief him fully, so arrange for him to either be in my office with everyone else or to meet with me tonight. And make sure everyone gets the message that no-one is to engage Father without my express permission."

Alphonse stayed behind while the soldiers moved off. "This is going to be bad, isn't it?"

"Very."

So... Do people actually like this fic? Mixed messages are abound...