A/N: This chapter's a little shorter than usual, but buckle in. :)

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"What are you doing here?" Edward asked through gritted teeth. Hohenheim held up his hands placatingly, his wrinkled face as infuriatingly calm as Dumbledore's. They looked much the same now, actually, aside from Hohenheim's neatly trimmed hair and beard. Hohenheim had aged since Edward had last seen him, hair that had once been only licked with silver now fully grey.

"I thought Albus had told you, Edward… I'm here to create a safe place for the Stone."

"You?" Edwars laughed sarcastically, enraged. "You're the last person I would trust with it! You can't handle anything correctly!"

Hohenheim had the decency to look slightly hurt and sighed.

"...That's why I had actually hoped you would be here, Ed. I will need your help, you see."

"Mr. Hohenheim was rather excited to hear that you were here when he arrived. He said he was expecting as much. Was I wrong to assume…?" Albus interrupted placatingly, but the tension only grew thicker.

"You knew," Edward gathered, fists trembling, "You knew I would be here."

"I knew you were going to go after the Stone," Hoenheim corrected, "and by that, I knew you would end up here."

"I told you I never wanted to see you again! And definitely not near Flamel's Stone."

"I had hoped…" Hohenheim sighed in disappointment, "that one hundred years or so would have been long enough to cool your head."

"Then you aged poorly."

"And you, it seems, have yet to age a day." the old man said with a sad smile.

"You bastard-" Edward drew back his fist. Suddenly, he was frozen in place.

"Please, I don't think a fist fight would help," Albus pleaded, "Now, I think it would be wiser to try again and approach this more rationally, don't you think?" The elderly wizard lowered his wand slightly, still pointing it at Edward. Edward tried to snarl "fuck you!" but the spell kept him completely immobile. He hated magic.

"I would have to agree," Hohenheim lowered his hands, clasping them loosely in front of his chest. Edward glared, only able to move his eyes and a twinge of panic growing in him. Voices rumbled discontentedly in his head, some furious, some offering faint placations to his distress. He had the comfort of knowing the philosopher's stone's power would be able to break the spell, he'd done it before, but the price wasn't worth it. Furious, but knowing he wouldn't get anywhere with his fists (at least until Albus was gone) at the sobering thought of his stone, he blinked in submission. Albus flicked his wand. Edward gasped as he dropped to the floor, suddenly free.

"Fuck you wizards," he muttered vehemently, rubbing his chest before saying louder, "How long have you two been in cahoots?"

"I've known him for a couple of years now," Albus explained, "I would not have let Hohenheim in on this if I did not trust him, Edward. Believe me. And as you have mentioned, he is the only other alchemist that we know of. He is an asset to the Stone's protection."

Edward sniggered. Then chuckled, tilting his head back in humorless laughter. "An asset?! Tell me, Albus, have you ever asked why he thinks he would be a good asset for Flamel's stone? This man knows nothing but doing for his own personal gain."

Hohenheim sighed, "You know that's not true, Ed-"

"Don't 'Edward' me," Edward snapped, glaring at the grey-haired man, "Not when I know what you're doing!"

"What is this about?" Albus questioned, tilting his head curiously.

"None of your business." Edward waved his hand discardingly toward the wizard, enraged eyes facing Hohenheim, "All you need to know is that this is the last person that you should have asked for help. He cannot be trusted with such delicate matters." He sneered the last words venomously.

"Perhaps if you would tell me why, I could understand," Albus probed with a hint of irritation.

"...It is alright. I understand why you do not trust me, Ed," Hohenheim's face looked actually sorrowful, and he bowed his head slightly in submission. Edward wanted to throttle the twinge of guilt that hit him. "But in all honesty, that is why I need your help. I cannot complete the safeguarding of the stone without you. I may possess the means... but this task, Flamel's stone, needs you to complete it to keep it at its safest. You have always had a stronger will than I for these things. You will not have to see me again after this, but I would like you to give me just one more chance. Please."

Speechless, Edward stared. Were those tears in Hohenheim's eyes? Crocodile tears, no doubt. He wrestled between guilt and anger, confusion in his heart. Hohenheim deserved none of his forgiveness, he was obviously manipulating him, so why did he always feel bad about it? The voices in his Stone were trying to fight louder than he could think, indecisive and angry. One little voice, sounding far too similar to his brother's (but that was impossible, because Alphonse was with Truth), echoed softly. 'He wants to protect this time. Does it hurt to try again?'

'Yes, it does!' he wanted to scream, 'it hurts and it bites back and it happens again! We don't trust anyone!'

'You know that's not true. Can you do it one more time?' The Stone's loudest occupants protested vehemently. Taking a slow blink of defeat, Edward's shoulders drooped. He didn't need more guilt in his life. Unfortunately, looking at his father's sorrowful face always brought it around somehow, and he knew it. Maybe it was Alphonse. He'd never stopped loving their father like Edward had. And Hohenheim was all there was left.

You have to let go, Brother.

Hohenheim had his eyes.

"...Fine. I'll hear out your plan. But," he pointed a finger at Hohenheim, golden eyes meeting firmly, angered and hurt, "let me make it very clear that I don't trust you. The Stone will be in my sight at all times. When this is done, I never want to see you again."

"Thank you, Ed," Hohenheim breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile across his face. It brought Edward no warmth, but the guilt lightened a little. "Mr. Dumbledore, if you please, I would like to speak to Edward alone now."

Albus pursed his lips in displeasure, but bowed his head. "Of course. You know where to find me." Smiling pleasantly once again, he turned and left.

"Muffliato." Edward shot his wand at the door and it swung closed behind the old man.

"Why are you fraternizing with Albus Dumbledore?" Edward asked sharply.

"I told you," Irritatingly, Hohenheim held a glint of humor in his eye, "I'm here to help with the Stone."

"You've known him for two years."

"Ah, yes, that is a little long for just the Stone, isn't it?" the man acknowledged.

"Quit playing games and give a straight answer! You're supposed to be back in Germany offing yourself! What did you do? What does Albus know?!"

"I did not do anything, Ed." Honenheim placated, "Would it surprise you to know that Mr. Dumbledore approached me?"

"What? Why would he look for you?"

"It seems that you cannot aim to keep secrets from wizards forever before they go looking for more clues themselves."

"He was spying on me." Edward surmised with a dark frown.

"He's curious about you." Hohenheim corrected, "Naturally, he did some digging and discovered that I am also an alchemist somehow very much like you. He came to me with many questions."

"And?" Edward asked tersely, fearing the worst.

"I told him nothing important." He admitted, "He does not know of our Stones. Although, I believe he has figured that something of alchemy has to be keeping us alive. He is a very clever man, that Dumbledore."

"Nosy, more like." Edward grumbled, displeased, "He will not learn to keep his brains where they belong."

"Aren't we all a little guilty of that, now?" Hohenheim asked, "Have you not forgotten our own transgressions?" Edward clenched his right arm into a fist, looking down at the floor.

"…No. I haven't."

"Cut Mr. Dumbledore some slack, Edward. He is merely human."

"So is Nicholas, old man. Curiosity like this is dangerous. It brings nothing but ambition and stupidity."

"Should humankind learn nothing, then?"

"You and I have both lived long enough to know that history repeats itself." Flesh hand shaking, Edward raised his chin in defiance, "Humankind never learns. Not truly. And something like this?" He placed a hand on his chest, "The price for curiosity bears too much of a cost. I will not let anyone suffer like this again""

"Ah…" Hohenheim let out a small sigh, "you still wish to save them."

"I know there's a way! Hell, Hohenheim! Truth told me! You know this!"

"Truth is a manipulator," he explained patiently, "It only exists to entertain itself."

"I know!" he suddenly felt very heavy, reminded of the terrible burden he carried. "But Truth also doesn't lie. I don't care how many stupid games of theirs I have to play, I can save them, and I will! And Alphonse, I-" His voice broke. Damn it, he didn't want to cry here. Not in front of him.

"Sometimes you can't save everyone…" Hohenheim dropped another stone on his shoulders.

"Fuck you!" he spat, "You've never saved anyone, so you're really one to talk! I'm not here to take your shitty cowardly advice! You can either help me keep Flamel's Stone safe, or you can leave!" Hohenheim's shoulders fell.

"I apologize, Edward, I did not mean to infer-"

"You meant every goddamn word!" he seethed,"I'm not going to fall for your destructive reasonings. You can pretend to be the good, caring father," he spat out the word like it was foul,"all you want, but I see you. I won't play your games anymore, and I don't want your meaningless apologies. So stop trying to convert me to your selfish 'savior' dreams and get this over with before I defenestrate you so hard you end up back in Germany."

Hohenheim was silent for a long moment, gazing at Edward with miserable tear-filled eyes that betrayed his longtime suffering. Edward was too angered to care any further. The man was playing games with him. This was why he had left in the first place. He glared right back with fire.

"...Edward," Hohenheim stated quietly, looking a hundred years older, "You know I care about you still. I'm not trying to hurt-"

"I don't want to hear it." he snapped coldly.

"...Very well." The elderly man bowed his head in defeat. He blinked a few times in an attempt to clear his eyes and gave a wavery attempt at a smile. "I suppose you're wondering what I brought with me."

"This?" Edward glanced away from the elderly man towards the tall object that stood next to them, covered neatly by a gray sheet.

"You might recognize it," Hohenheim explained, "I've been doing tests on it. It will be both a container and a shield for the Stone."

"What is it?" Curiosity took over some of Edward's fury.

"It's something that you left me a long time ago." Hohenheim grasped a corner of the sheet and tugged, letting the fabric plummet to the floor in huge gray waves. Edward's eyes widened in horror and his breath caught in his lungs.

A large mirror, held in a thick gilded frame of stone and bronze, shined dully in the room's light. At the top of the frame sat a sickeningly familiar inscription that Edward remembered carving into the stone himself in a moment of despair. 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi.' A warning. He couldn't bear to look into the glass itself.

"I told you to destroy it." His voice was faint and trembling, "I couldn't do it. I thought you destroyed it."

"I know." Hohenheim agreed grimly.

Edward spun to face the man with wild, tear-filled eyes, and this time his metal fist hit flesh.

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A/N: Does this chapter count as a title drop? I don't know. Are you team Edward or team Hohenheim? That's for you to decide.

As always, thank you for reading and/or reviewing! 3