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batsutousaiTitle: Reverti Ad Praeteritum
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood/manga
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Mature
Pairings: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang, May Chang/Alphonse Elric, Gracia Hughes/Maes Hughes, post-Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Warnings: Spoilers like whoa, Ed's potty mouth, canon-typical violence, pile 'o OCs, mute!Ed, original character death, angst, fluff, past dub-con, past adultery, Ed has all the guilt
Summary: Unwillingly forced to serve as a human trial for a crazy alchemist experimenting with time travel, Edward Elric finds himself standing across from Truth in the moment it takes his leg from him. Armed with the knowledge of what's to come and burdened with guilt for the choices he'd made as an adult, Ed sets out to fix every mistake he ever made and save every life they ever lost, no matter what it takes.
Key: "Speech" | 'Mouthing words'
'Writing'
:Sign Language:
"In another language" | 'In another language'
A/N: Okay, so, one thing I want to say about this chapter in advance: Memory is a faulty thing. When you want to think poorly of someone, forgetting a single positive thing they said or did, especially if that thing could change how you view them, is totally a thing.
(AKA--Bats missed a thing when she was looking through a couple scenes in the manga, wrote a chunk of the relevant scene, then saw the thing she missed and decided to just chalk the whole mess up to faulty memory. XP)
This chapter covers the period of 21 September - 25 September 1914.
Chapter Twenty-Six
-0-
Through Alex Armstrong, Ed set up a meeting with his sister for Thursday evening, late enough that he and Al could run through a couple of the labs in the late afternoon, then just head for the Armstrong estate without anyone fussing about how much work they were missing. He'd sort of wanted to get the meeting out of the way earlier in the week, but Armstrong had shaken his head and insisted, "My sister has many family friends and superiors to visit this week, I'm afraid, between worrying over Mother. I doubt she'll have much free time before Thursday."
In other words, there was arse-kissing to be done, and if Ed got in to see her before she got around to whomever among the brass wanted to have a word, it would raise some eyebrows.
He sighed and nodded his understanding, signing, :Thank you. Thursday.:
Armstrong put on one of his blinding smiles, and Ed made his escape before the man could start ripping off his shirt.
Tuesday afternoon, while they were walking to lab two, after going through lab three, Ed's already twitchy qi-sense picked up an anomaly in the direction of the train station, which was just at the edge of his range. It felt a little like the homunculi, but different. Almost...calmer. Less an inferno, more a cheerful fire blazing the the hearth. (He blamed Roy for the fire analogies.)
"Brother?" Al called, an edge of strain to his voice, which Ed wholly understood, as he turned away from their usual path and toward the station.
:Something's strange,: he signed in response.
Al sighed, but joined him in his changed course without further question; neither of them were much inclined toward extended conversation after visiting lab three.
The anomaly seemed to be moving further into the city, in their general direction, though it was taking back roads, instead of the main thoroughfare, judging by the course corrections Ed kept having to make to meet up with it. He was beginning to develop a hypothesis about what – or who, really – it was.
And then Al let out a surprised, "Oh," proving it was finally within his range. "It almost feels like the homunculi."
Ed nodded. :But not.:
Al was quiet for another dozen steps, then he asked, "Do you think it could be Dad?"
Ed kind of hoped so; if he'd given up the chance to relax in lab two to chase down something he couldn't punch when he found it, he was going to be pissed.
And then, the next block up, Ed caught sight of that particular shade of blond that was specific to their family, and he balled his hands into fists as he sped up.
"Bro–" Al tried, before sighing and clearly deciding it wasn't worth it.
Hohenheim was staring at the ground as he walked, so Ed was practically on top of him when he glanced up in that absent way of his that had pissed Ed off so much when he was a kid. Hohenheim's eyes widened behind his glasses and he said, "Edwa–"
And then Ed shifted his weight and threw a punch with all the force he could muster, connecting beautifully with the bastard's face and sending him stumbling back a couple steps, before he tripped and landed on his arse, his suitcase skittering across the pavement until it hit a light pole and stopped.
That had been extremely satisfying.
Al let out another sigh as he stepped past Ed and offered a hand down to their worthless father. "I'm sorry, Dad."
Hohenheim blinked through skewed glasses as he let Al help him to his feet. "Alphonse?"
"Yeah," Al said in that agreeable tone of voice that Ed knew meant he was smiling.
Hohenheim blinked again and looked between Al and Ed – who scowled at him – as he straightened his glasses, before focussing on Al to say, "You've grown."
Al's qi flinched slightly and he quietly said, "That's what happens when you leave for ten years."
Hohenheim's shoulders sank and he closed his eyes. "Ah."
There was a long moment of silence between them, and then Ed huffed and stepped forward to – once Al looked over at him – sign, :You CAN punch him, you know.:
Al sighed. "And what's that supposed to accomplish?"
:It made me feel better?:
Al closed his eyes and shook his head.
Ed jerked back when a finger lightly touched his throat, as much from the unexpected touch, as from the spark of alchemy that danced against his skin. He turned to glare at Hohenheim, only to find him wearing a heartbroken expression. "I'm sorry, Edward," he said quietly.
For a moment, Ed couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't even fucking breathe.
"I'm sorry," was the one thing Hohenheim had never once said to him.
He forced himself to swallow and turn away from his no good, shitty father, look at his brother instead. Al was frowning at him, concerned, getting fuck knew from his qi. Before Al could say anything, Ed forced his hands to sign, :I'll make your excuses. He's your problem.: And then he spun and started back towards the labs and Command.
"Brother?" Al called after him, a well of concern in his voice, and in the strand of his qi that reached out towards Ed.
Ed brushed that seeking touch away with his own qi, clenching his jaw upon discovering how much of a jagged mess it had fallen into.
It wasn't like him to get so thrown out of shape because of a couple words. Not since he'd got over his height issues. And yet, Hohenheim...
What right did that bastard have to affect him this way?! What did it even fucking matter that he regretted being a shit father? Who fucking cared?! Ed didn't. He'd given up on fucking Hohenheim decades ago. Nothing he could say would ever fucking change how much he didn't fucking care about the bastard. Nothing.
Lab two's greenhouse didn't help, just left Ed feeling even more twitchy. Like he was too small for his own skin. Or, just...
He wanted to punch something. Hohenheim's face, mostly, but there wasn't even a rock he could beat on, just trees. And he couldn't take his anger out on the trees; they didn't deserve the broken branches he'd leave behind.
"Silent?" Blooming interrupted after a few angry katas.
Ed grunted and leant down to grab his jacket where he'd tossed it; his mood clearly wasn't going to improve by punching air. A punching bag, maybe; he'd head to the gym after finishing with the lab, and letting Roy and Hawkeye know Al wasn't coming back.
Something in Ed's chest yanked and he bit his tongue at the realisation that, actually, no, he didn't want to hit something. He just wanted to fucking sit with Roy for a bit, which was ridiculous. What the fuck?
"Silent?" Blooming called again, and Ed looked over at him, trying to shove whatever his emotions were doing in a box at the back of his head, or something. "Are you okay?" Blooming asked, looking concerned. "Where's Mending?"
Right. Al wasn't here to handle the communication nonsense. Ed needed to fucking pull himself together so he could do his fucking job.
He almost fumbled his journal when he pulled it out – why the fuck were his hands shaking? – but managed to get it open to a blank page and write in a mostly legible hand, 'Al's visiting with our father'
Blooming held still for a moment, before nodding. "Ah. Should I give you another ten minutes?" He offered Ed a small, understanding smile, and Ed remembered that he'd sort of almost admitted to the other State Alchemist, at one point, that he had some deep-rooted issues with his father.
In response to Blooming's question, Ed shook his head, because now he'd thought it, he decided that, yeah, he really just wanted to go to Roy's office and trade insults with the bastard for a bit. But he had to get through lab two, first.
"Okay," Blooming agreed, before motioning for Ed to follow him out of the greenhouse and to the closest lab.
Going through the labs without Al took much longer than doing it with him, and Ed was almost ready to just jump onto the roof through the nearest window and head back towards Command that way, but he resisted, instead going back down to the ground floor and heading back via the pavement. (Though, he did move much faster than he usually would have.)
He didn't realise until he had his hand on the doorknob for Roy's outer office, that no one was in there. (Because, apparently, his qi-sense was shot. Fan-fucking-tastic.) Frowning, he slipped inside and cast his eyes around for any signs of trouble, but it looked like they'd just left in an orderly fashion, leaving some paperwork to be handled upon their return, Breda and Havoc's chairs pulled out, because Hawkeye only made them push them in when they were leaving at the end of the day.
As he started toward Roy's office, concern unfurling in his stomach, Ed spotted the clock on the wall and stopped.
Lunchtime.
Fuck. No wonder everyone was gone. But that meant it would be a bit before Roy got back, and Ed didn't really want to stick around in the bastard's office, waiting for him to return. Roy would probably freak out or whatever, finding Ed waiting for him, and Ed...
Well, he didn't really want to worry Roy just because Hohenheim had spewed some bullshit and it had... What? Got to Ed?
Ridiculous.
He'd just leave a note for the bastard and go back to his own office. Get some translation work done. One of them needed to be not lazy, and that sure as fuck wasn't Roy.
Ed let himself into Roy's office, pulled open the drawer he knew the bastard kept his blank paper for paper aeroplanes in, and pulled one out to write a quick note, which he left in the centre of the desk, then left to return to Investigations for the rest of the day.
He was fine. Fuck Hohenheim, Ed was not going to let his stupid bullshit interrupt his day.
Bastard,
Ho Elric's in town. Al's showing him around or whatever shit. Make some excuse for him.
Ed's qi-sense was still acting up by the end of the day, which was why, when he finally got Hughes to stop fussing and leave, he was actually surprised to step outside and find Roy and his car waiting in front of the Investigations building.
Hughes clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Guess I've got stray feeding duty tonight!" Then he started away, whistling a cheerful little tune that Ed was fairly certain he'd heard on the radio at some point.
Ed was left blinking at Roy, confused. Stray feeding duty?
Roy stepped forward, his brow furrowing just slightly. "Edward?"
Ed blinked, then shook his head, was way beyond sick of feeling so off. :Sorry, yeah, hello,: he signed.
Roy's mouth turned down a bit, the furrow in his brow deepening, and he opened the passenger side door. "Get it?" he requested.
Going home and curling up next to the bastard sounded ridiculously good right then, so Ed wasted no time in getting into the car. Once Roy closed the door behind him, though, he became aware of a fucking delicious smell, and his stomach reminded him he hadn't eaten since breakfast.
He twisted to look over the front bench as Roy got in, and found what looked suspiciously like containers from that place that made stew just like Mum's.
His stomach gave an uncertain little slosh, like it maybe wasn't all that hungry after all, and Ed groaned and turned to press his forehead against Roy's shoulder.
"Edward?" Roy murmured.
Ed shook his head; he just wanted to go home and get some sleep and hopefully whatever this was would fuck off.
(Maybe he was sick? This was a shit time for it, but at least that was curable. And, well, it wasn't like he hadn't been under a lot of stress lately, and that upped your chances for a cold, right? So he probably just had a cold. He could handle that. Mostly.)
Roy didn't speak again, and Ed didn't realise he'd dozed off on the bastard's shoulder until Roy shook him gently. "Edward? Wake up."
He let out a displeased noise, but obediently opened his eyes, looking towards the house.
Except, the house wasn't there. Instead, they were surrounded by trees, the early evening sunlight sparkling as it shone through the heavy foliage above them.
Roy had brought him out to that spot in the woods, where his grandparents had once had a summer home, and they'd had their first kinda-sorta date. Where he'd brought Ed because he'd hoped it would have a calming effect that was similar to the greenhouse in lab two.
Ed's eyes burnt and something caught in his throat. He tried to swallow it down – or swallow around or what-the-fuck-ever – except something weird happened, and the box he'd shoved his mess of everything in burst open. He tried to draw in a breath, but it shuddered and choked its way down into his lungs, and there was something in his eyes that, when he blinked them, splashed down onto his cheek.
No.
No fucking way.
He was not– He could not–
Warm arms wrapped around him, pulling him against the scratchy fabric of Roy's uniform jacket. And Ed could feel his qi (at last) curling around him like a second hug, warm with love and concern and a need to just make it better.
Ed squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed handfuls of Roy's jacket. Tried to make the tears stop for a moment, but that just made it worse, his chest burning with every breath he struggled to take and his eyes aching enough he could feel a headache coming on.
(Is this why Winry had always just cried, even though she knew he hated it?)
"It's okay," Roy said, his voice pitched quiet and gentle. "You're okay."
Except it wasn't okay, because Ed didn't do this. He couldn't cry, because he was the strong one. He'd always been the one who had to fix the problem, so Winry or Al could take a break, could sit back and...and, like Winry had told him once, she cried because he wouldn't. Couldn't. He could get angry and shout or punch things, or he could put on a smile and make a shitty joke at his own expense, but he couldn't...
Ed had to be the strong one. For Winry and Al and May. For his and Winry's kids, and for Nina and Elicia.
Except...
None of them were here. It was just Ed and Roy. And Roy – Mustang, in another life – had never needed Ed to be strong. Mustang had just needed Ed to do his best, and Roy just needed Ed to be there.
Ed gave in and just let himself cry. And it was embarrassing and he sort of hated himself, but when he finally stopped needing to cry, he felt...better. A little tired, but no longer so off.
Roy pressed a kiss to the top of his head, and Ed peeked up at him, fairly certain he looked like complete crap, after all that crying.
Roy looked down at him for a moment, and then he smiled and whispered, "Hello, gorgeous."
Ed had hit him before he'd even realised he was going to.
Roy chuckled, so utterly warm, and then he ducked his head down and pressed a brief kiss to Ed's mouth, pressing their foreheads together and breathing against Ed's lips, "Feeling better?"
Ed couldn't quite stop a grimace – his stupid, perfect bastard – before nodding.
Roy was silent for a moment, before he feathered another brief kiss against Ed's lips, then pulled back a bit and asked, "Will you tell me what happened?"
What happened? Ed wasn't even all the sure what had happened. But, if he had to guess... He pulled back just enough to sign, :The bastard apologised.:
Roy's brows furrowed slightly and uncertainty trickled into his qi. "Hohenheim?" he guessed, and Ed nodded. The furrow deepened a bit more, and Ed could almost hear the bastard trying to figure out why that'd upset him so much.
Which, good luck, because even Ed didn't know why he'd been so bothered by that. Though...
He wiggled his fingers until Roy focussed on his hands again, then signed, :He didn't. Before.:
Roy blinked and breathed an, "Oh," before reaching out and cupping Ed's cheek with one hand, thumb rubbing at a patch of skin that felt kind of uncomfortably tight. He smiled a bit sadly and said, "I did wonder, a bit, why you've still been so angry at him, even though he'd offered to sacrifice himself for Alphonse."
(Had Ed told him that part? It was a little hard keeping track of what he had or hadn't told Al and Winry and Hughes and Roy, because they were the ones who knew the most about before, and he was nearly certain they shared notes when he wasn't looking.)
"That would have exonerated him, for me, but if he had never actually admitted he might have been at fault..." He shook his head, his sad smile taking on a tired edge. "I can't imagine being unable to forgive my father, but I think I understand, a little bit, why you can't."
:I shouldn't,: Ed signed, surprising himself a bit. :He was just trying to find a way to save–:
Roy caught his hands between his own and shook his head. "No. His apology, why he left..." He sighed and squeezed Ed's hands. "Edward, if you had the chance to apologise to the Winry you married for your indiscretion, and she threw it back in your face, you wouldn't blame her."
Well, that was true, but it was an entirely different situation.
"It's not that different," Roy said a little bit drily, because he could apparently read Ed's mind, now. "There is an implication, when you marry and agree to have a family, that you're going to be there, and you're going to be the best possible spouse and parent that you're capable of being. And, when you screw up, there's nothing saying the people you've wronged are required to forgive you for it."
Ed blinked a few times, then pulled his hands from Roy's hold and signed, :Where the fuck did that come from?: because that was the only response he could come up with.
Roy coughed and looked a little embarrassed. "I may have sat through one too many of Maes' drunken spiels before he got married. And before Elicia was born."
Ed felt his mouth twisting with a smile without his say; of course that would have come from Hughes.
"The point is," Roy continued gently, catching Ed's hands again and folding their fingers together, "he's the one who left, and just because he's willing to admit he was the one in the wrong, doesn't mean you have to accept any apologies. And that he left to save the world does not exonerate him for abandoning you and Alphonse and your mother." He offered Ed a small, slightly sad smile. "I think you know a little about leaving your family and saving the world."
Ed did, and he knew that, sometimes, you had to put the world first to protect your family. But he also knew that there was a point when 'protecting' your family turned into 'ignoring' them, because he'd walked the edge of that line a few too many times, after sleeping with Mustang, and Hohenheim had long since crossed the line to ignoring them. No phone calls, no letters... Just because he hadn't been able to die, didn't mean Mum wouldn't have wanted to hear from him.
And, sure, maybe ten years was nothing to someone who'd been alive for over four hundred, but still. It wasn't like the useless bastard hadn't had mortal friends, and he didn't doubt for one moment that Granny had chewed him out at least once for not sending letters when he went travelling. She'd eventually given up with Ed, before, although that could have been as much due to the fact that Winry had taken up the duty of giving him hell, as because she'd just bowed to the (really fucking shitty) fact that Ed was way too much like his father.
But Roy was right: Hohenheim apologising didn't mean Ed had to forgive him. Which he'd known, had even told Hohenheim that in his letter. (Was that why the useless bastard had apologised? As some sort of last-ditch effort to get Ed to forgive him? ...he might need to punch him again.) So it didn't really explain why he'd got so weirdly fucked up about the whole mess, but, well, Ed had known for a long time that emotions didn't always make sense. (Fucking unscientific bullshit.)
Roy used his grip on Ed's hands to bring the right one up for a kiss, and Ed was kind of pissed off that that always made him flush – stupid Roy and his romance nonsense – then smiled at him. "Are you hungry?"
Ed blinked, considered the state of his stomach for a moment, then grimaced and nodded when it made a hungry growl.
Roy chuckled and kissed the back of Ed's hand again before letting go and climbing out of the car.
Ed sighed and got out to help him collect everything, then they started up the small trail to the clearing. There, Roy pulled out a blanket Ed hadn't seen him grab and spread it out over the ground behind the flat rock. As Ed set about opening the food and reheating the stew a bit with alchemy, Roy put together and lit a fire on the rock.
When Roy finally joined him on the blanket, Ed passed over one of the stew containers and signed, :Thank you.:
Roy smiled at him. "I had Maes check on you after I got your note," he admitted. "We were both a little worried when you didn't seem to notice him."
Ed winced and nodded. :I may have accidentally turned off my qi-sensing.:
Roy frowned. "I thought that wasn't possible."
Ed shrugged, because he'd thought that too, but apparently he could.
They stopped talking to eat, and the stew was expectedly delicious. Ed was grateful to find that whatever had turned his stomach earlier seemed to have settled, because he had no trouble surrounding all of his stew, as well as the rolls that had been added to their order to help mop up anything left.
In the bottom of the bag were also some of the breakfast pastries that Roy seemed to favour, and he pulled one out and shot the bastard a curious look.
Roy cleared his throat and shrugged, his qi a mix of resignation and embarrassment. "I wasn't sure if you'd want to go home, so I asked Maes to check in on the Xingans and brought something to eat on the way in."
...Ed loved Roy and his stupid, perfect everything.
Roy glanced towards the ruins of the cottage. "We'll have to fix up at least one room if we're intending to spend the night, but I was thinking it might be nice to fix this place back up again, anyway." He offered Ed a slightly crooked smile. "They haven't used it since I've been in the military, but the Bradleys do have a summer home down south."
A place which had, very likely, belonged to Mrs Bradley before she'd married, or else been intended as a bribe from some rich idiot hoping to buy their way onto Bradley's good side.
Ed understood what Roy hadn't said, though: This place had sentimental ties for him, and it was calming in a way that Central City couldn't be, for Ed. As far as holiday homes went, this was pretty much ideal for both of them, and it was close enough to Central City that they would be able to handle any issues that arose in their absence. (Which was a bit of a mixed blessing, but when you were talking about running the whole country, Ed suspected that being on call all day, every day was going to be their life, at least for a while.)
He huffed a bit and signed, :You realise construction alchemy is stupidly easy for me.:
Roy let out an amused snort, fondness unfurling in his qi. "I admit, I generally assume all alchemy is 'stupid easy' for you."
Ed rolled his eyes. :I'm not THAT amazing.:
"So you're saying you can't run circles around all of the current State Alchemists?" Roy teased.
Ed shrugged, because he didn't know enough about the State Alchemists assigned outside the labs, save Grand and Roy, to say whether or not he could show them up in their own specialities. Iron-Form, Ceramic, and Grand, sure, their specialities were all earth-based, and from what little he knew of Colourway's work, his own background in chemistry meant he could probably beat him out. Blooming was a bit more complicated – Ed was no plant alchemist, even if he'd been having a much easier time using the arrays he knew since figuring out alkahestry – but he should be able to, at least, give him a good challenge.
Really, it was Roy who he wasn't sure he could take on, mostly because he'd never tried anything more than the most basic forms of flame alchemy, like putting out fires. He understood the theory, certainly, and he knew Roy's array, but learning to use it had never had any real interest to him. Not when he had plenty of other arrays he could use in a fight, only a couple of which required any real concentration. (Which, really, he was a hand-to-hand combatant, not a distance fighter; being able to call weapons from the ground was far more useful for him than having to stand back and mentally direct a spark through the air.)
"What are you thinking?" Roy asked, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
:You overestimate how much I know about your alchemy.:
Roy blinked, then smiled. "Or you underestimate how much you know."
Ed rolled his eyes, then stood. :Do you have an idea of what you want the house to look like?:
Roy stood himself. "The foundation was all stone, so it should be safe to walk on, if you want a tour?"
Ed shrugged and motioned for the bastard to lead the way.
The place had very obviously been intended as a holiday home, everything built far too small for anyone to live in for long. That said, it had been built for city dwellers, so there had once been somewhat modern conveniences, like piping for the sinks in both the kitchen and bathroom, as well as the shower and toilet, and a gas line for the kitchen stove, which seemed to have connected to a rusted-through cylindrical tank half-hidden under the decaying porch.
Roy didn't know enough about the original setup to know where the water came from, and the years and nature had eaten away a lot of the evidence, but water was Ed's forte, and he'd spent more than a couple years living in places where proper sewer systems were a – forgive the pun – pipe dream. It didn't take him long to find the well, though it had been hidden under some rather pleased plants, which he didn't bother getting rid of, since they didn't seem to be doing any harm to the well or the remains of the piping system that ran between it and the house.
It didn't take him long to rebuild the house, pulling some extra stone and dead wood from their surroundings to make up what had rotted away, as well as repair the rusted pipes for both the water and the gas.
And then Roy showed his appreciation for Ed's skills by putting out their fire and shoving him into the newly repaired building to test the comfort of the floors. Which wasn't great, but they both still managed to fall asleep on them after a couple rounds of celebration.
(Having sex in every room of their new home was, somewhat unsurprisingly, developing into a habit.)
Hughes caught him in the lobby of Investigations the next morning, a gleam in his eyes promising trouble, despite the grim thread in his qi, which promised he had business to discuss. "Looking a little rumpled there, Ed," he teased.
Ed made a show of rolling his eyes, then very pointedly led the way up to his moronic superior's office, while Hughes cackled behind him.
Hughes' whole team was already up there, waiting for them, and Ed offered a smile to their greetings as he perched on the arm of one of the couches, waving off Armstrong when he made like he was going to rise and give Ed his seat.
"We're clear, sir," Sergeant Major Filbert Lamson said as Hughes leant back against the front of his desk; clearly, there'd already been a search and destroy mission for the bugs that always slipped into military offices. (The ones Ed occasionally found in the translation office amused him the most; what were people expecting to overhear in there? The only times they talked were when someone needed help meeting their translation quota, or those rare occasions someone brought food to share.)
"Excellent." Hughes offered them all a sharp little smile. "The last person we were waiting on has shown up, so it's time to start planning our attack. We need to find some way to bring together a group of people who otherwise wouldn't mingle, and some of whom are Ishvalan, for a proper meeting. Ideas?"
Armstrong cleared his throat. "There's a possibility, sir, that my mother wasn't as ill as we'd originally feared. To celebrate the good news, and the fact that my eldest sister is in Central–"
"For once," Second Lieutenant Ricky Douglas muttered, just loud enough that they would all hear it.
"We were all a little surprised when she agreed to come home at Father's request," Armstrong agreed, before making a show of wiping at a tear. "It's proof that she's not as cold-hearted as we had all feared."
Hughes cleared his throat. "In celebration of that?" he prodded, saving them all from Armstrong's endless emoting.
Armstrong coughed and straightened. "Yes, forgive me. In celebration, my family will hold a ball. And, of course, it's traditional for Armstrong balls to be so packed, it's almost child's play to slip away unnoticed."
And, with all the Ishvalans staying on the grounds, it would be simple to slip Scar in; the perfect cover event.
Hughes' smile widened in a way that made him look a little manic, which was mirrored on nearly everyone else's faces, even Ed's. "Ed, write up a list of everyone we'll need to invite," he ordered, motioning behind him toward the blank paper already set out on his desk. As Ed got up to do so, Hughes continued, "We've already sent word to Lieutenant General Grumman that he should start sending up any troops he's intending to lend, and I expect your sister will see to her own men once you've spoken to her?"
"Yes, sir," Armstrong agreed.
"Good. The rest of you, take an information gathering day. I need places to hide incoming troops and whatever weapons we can sneak out of the armoury."
Ed whistled at that and, when Hughes looked back at him, signed, :We should try clearing out the weapons storage in lab one, too.:
"Alchemically enhanced?" Hughes guessed, and Ed nodded. "See what you and Al can do; I'll have a list of places to hide–"
Ed shook his head and signed, :I know some places. I'll write up a report before lunch.:
Hughes snorted and turned back towards the rest of his team. "Of course you'd know bolt holes around the city, as much time as you spent trying to lose your guards."
Someone snorted, and amusement flickered through everyone's qi; Ed's habit of losing his guards while they'd still believed Scar to be a threat had been well known in Investigations, especially since at least half of the soldiers he'd lost early on had been pulled from the military police, and they'd come to complain to Ed's co-workers, as if they could do anything about it. That he was still making a habit of leading Envy on a merry little chase every Friday wasn't really known outside of the Hugheses, Roy, and Al, but they were also the only people who knew that he could tell when he was being followed, so.
Hughes sectioned off the city and assigned one of the non-alchemists to each section, then kicked them all out with orders to have something to report after lunch.
Ed had his list of people the Armstrongs should take pains to invite done by then, and he passed it over to Armstrong as Hughes said, "Perhaps you should go home and check on your mother, ensure she hasn't relapsed."
Armstrong gave a grim nod as he slipped Ed's list safely away. "I believe I will do so. Thank you for being so understanding, sir."
"Of course," Hughes agreed.
Armstrong stopped at the door and looked back at Ed. "I'm afraid, Edward Elric, that my sister will be unable to meet with you tomorrow, given the preparations that must be made for the ball."
Ed snorted and nodded, then turned to Hughes so he could translate, :That's fine. I can wait until the ball.:
Armstrong inclined his head, then left them, closing the door behind him.
"Have you visited lab one yet this week?" Hughes asked, reclaiming Ed's attention.
He shook his head; they'd only done labs three and two.
"Good. After lunch, I want a report about how hard it'll be to unload some of their stock, and a list of bolt holes within three blocks."
Ed barely resisted the urge to sigh as he nodded in understanding; he suspected he'd be spending the rest of this week running all over the city and writing up reports for Hughes to pass on to the incoming soldiers from the east and north.
"And," Hughes added a bit too causally, "if you happen to find yourself walking by the armoury on your way somewhere..." He raised an eyebrow at Ed.
Ed snorted. :Yes, I'll snoop for you, see how much trouble it'll be to make a back door. Did Al come in today, or is he stuck playing the good son?:
Hughes' mouth twisted with disapproval, though his qi said he was more sorrowed by Ed's attitude toward Hohenheim than anything else. "He came in. Your father's helping with Elicia and Nina."
Ed snorted again, much harsher. :He had to find his parenting bone eventually,: he signed roughly, before starting for the door.
"Ed," Hughes called, and he stopped to listen, but refused to look back. "You realise Al intends to get to know him."
Ed shrugged and nodded, then turned just enough to sign, :That's his choice,: then left before Hughes could respond to that.
Like Hughes, Roy was quick to come up with errands to get his team out on the streets – a telephone line mishap that could win them some points to help out with, needing to find a gift for one of his dates and not being able to go himself because of paperwork, needing a particular book and not being sure which library or bookshop he'd seen it in – so Al wasn't the only person to leave with Ed, even if he was the only one to stay with him once they made the parade grounds.
At lab one, Ed made his excuses for the toilet, then slipped off to check the security around the weapons storage – easy to get past, though the difficulty was, of course, getting into the building unnoticed in the first place – as well as what they had in there for the moment – mostly alchemically enhanced ammunition, but there was a rack of guns that he'd need to get a better look at to figure out, and two small canons that looked to be test subjects, rather than weapons intended to be used.
He and Al split up to mark any potential bolt holes in a three-block radius, then caught an early lunch and spent it with Al writing their report on the lab, while Ed wrote up what he'd discovered about the weapons storage and the places to hide things nearby.
As they started back towards Command, taking a route that would let them swing past the armoury, Al said, "Granny told Dad what she knew about your memories, and I filled in some of the holes."
:Fine,: Ed signed back.
Al sighed. "You're not going to talk to him?"
Ed shot him a flat look.
Al drooped slightly. "I'm allowed to dream."
Ed rolled his eyes. :Focus on more important matters.:
"You would consider breaking into the armoury and stealing as much weaponry as you can carry more important," Al muttered, resigned, and Ed flashed him a smirk before they parted to walk around the armoury on either side.
It didn't take long to see there weren't really any good ways to get large amounts of weaponry out, with the regular guard patrols circling the building, and Ed had vague memories of reading something about there being more than just brick making up the walls of the building, to stymie any alchemist hoping to make a quick door with a simple array. Which, well, most alchemists couldn't just mentally alter the runes in their arrays as they worked and discovered new materials, so that was a fairly good deterrent, and the guard patrol wasn't far enough apart for more than one quick transmutation, given the sound or light could well catch the guards' attention. A full-fledged attack could get past the security, easy, but that would just put everyone on alert.
He met back up with Al on the far side of the building, and they stopped in a shadowy alcove to watch another patrol march past. "Maybe if we bribe the guards?" Al suggested quietly, once they'd shared their observations and suspicions.
Ed snorted. :Now who's stooping to illegal actions.:
Al made a face at him. "Because planning a coup isn't already illegal," he muttered.
Ed grinned and glanced up as movement on the roof of the armoury caught his attention. There were a couple birds perched up there, the sunlight gleaming off what was apparently a metal roof and casting sunspots on their bellies, and his smile slipped away. :Give me a moment,: he signed, and heard Al sigh as he darted forward and jumped, catching his kunai in some gaps in the brick. Using a couple more kunai, he made himself a path up the wall, high enough that the guard patrol shouldn't notice – like most Amestrisans, they didn't seem to actually look up during their guard route – and swung up onto the roof, upsetting the birds, before the next patrol passed under him.
He looked towards Al after the soldiers had passed without noticing him or his kunai, and saw him leaning back against the alcove wall, looking a little pale and strained, but he shot Ed a smile when their eyes locked, then motioned for him to continue whatever he had planned.
Ed offered a reassuring smile and a nod in return, then turned back to consider the roof, shading his eyes and moving as carefully as possible, in case they had some way to hear inside the building. The roof looked to be plain tin, not quite as thin as some of the warehouses Ed had almost fallen through in the civilian warehouse district, but flimsy enough to suggest there wasn't much in the way of additional protections up there.
Positioning himself to block the sun, Ed clapped and carefully created a small hole in the roof, enough to see if there was anything under it he'd have to deal with.
He was in luck, there wasn't.
Well, none of Hughes' or Roy's team would be able to come this way, but Ed knew of a few Xingans who would be grateful to be given a task to help out, and they could do it during the day, without anyone questioning why they weren't getting their work done, which was always an added bonus, and would keep anyone from looking too closely at most of their group, in case the theft was discovered before they made their move.
He created a small hatch in the roof, making it large enough for Ling to get through – he had the broadest shoulders – then opened it and poked his head in to check how the surrounding roof inside looked. One more quick transmutation, to hopefully keep anyone who looked up while inside from noticing there was a difference, then he closed it and added the Xingan symbols for 'Chang' and 'Yao' on either side of the handle, so the others could find it, even if he couldn't come with.
Pleased with his work, Ed crept over the the front of the building, checking to make sure none of the front door guards looked like they were aware of any changes – they weren't – then went back to the spot where he'd climbed up and waited for the next patrol to pass before climbing back down, taking the kunai he'd left with him.
:Thanks for the heart attack, Brother,: Al signed as Ed rejoined him.
Ed shrugged. :The roof is just metal. I added a door, and the Yaos can come and clean them out when we're ready.:
Al snorted and motioned with his head that they should return to Command. "I'll leave that for you roof-travellers to figure out."
It was a pity they couldn't use the roof to clear out lab one's stock, but there were also less guards watching it. (Maybe Grand would have some ideas? He was the one in charge of transporting new weaponry from lab one to the armoury, Ed had discovered over the course of his lab inspection duties.)
They'd figure it out. Somehow. (Ed hoped.)
Hughes gave him the choice between walking the city and getting some translation work done for the rest of the day. Ed picked the translations, mostly because he knew he could knock out his quota by the end of the day, if he just got to it, so he could spend Thursday and Friday running around the city, scouting for bolt holes and ensuring Scar had got the message that they would be ready to move soon.
Over dinner that night, he and Roy filled in the Xingans. The Yaos were happy to help with moving the weapons, so Ed would drop by tomorrow afternoon and show them the specifics, in case he couldn't get free when it was close enough to their attack to help. May and Ling both made some interested noises about getting a chance to talk to Hohenheim, and Ed had shrugged and promised he'd leave them at the Hugheses' one morning, if they got up early enough.
As for the ball... As Ed and Al's 'friends', he didn't expect it would be too hard to get May and Ling in as plus ones, and Lan Fan and Fu could either ninja their way in, or stay home. (Ed left that argument for the Yaos to sort out on their own time.) They would have to go out and either find both royals Amestrisan formal dress, or fabric that Ed could alchemise into something more Xingan, and plans were made to tackle that Friday evening, while Roy was out on his date. If they went the latter route – both May and Ling were willing to at least look at the Amestrisan options – Ed might try something a bit different for his formal dress, too. He had a suit, sure – it was one of the things they'd bought after becoming State Alchemists, because Roy and Al both had weird ideas about owning formal dress not being optional – but he was hardly attached to it, and if his plus one was going in foreign-style clothing, it made sense to match.
After they'd said their goodnights and retired to their room, Roy sighed and asked, "I don't expect you added any of the madam's ladies to that list you handed to Armstrong?"
Ed snorted. :That would require knowing their names,: he pointed out, and Roy let out a slightly helpless laugh. :I wasn't certain you'd want everyone to know about them. You can always bring one as your date.:
Roy's expression turned pained, and guilt and trepidation bled into his qi.
Ed sighed. :People will expect you to bring a pretty woman.:
"I know." He rubbed at his face and sat tiredly on the edge of the bed. "Your brother's going to be glaring at me all night."
Ed suspected Al wouldn't be the only one throwing glowers at Roy, but there wasn't a whole hell of a lot they could do about their situation. :I love you,: he signed, rather than pointing any of that out.
Roy's expression softened, love curling through his qi, and he reached out a hand toward Ed, which he took, allowing himself to be drawn forward to stand between Roy's legs. "I love you, too," Roy murmured, tucking one side of Ed's bangs back behind his ear. (As if it would actually stay there.)
Ed huffed at that a bit, then leant in to kiss his stupid, perfect bastard, which served as an excellent way to change the topic, at least for the moment.
(Ed couldn't wait until he turned sixteen and they could stop hiding.)
Philip Gargantos Armstrong & Family
cordially invite you for a White Ball
in honour of the swift recovery of
Jocelyn Eglantine Armstrong
on the First of October
at eight o'clock in the evening
Cocktails and Hors d'oeuvres provided
The Armstrong Manor
Outer South-West Quarter
Central City
Formal dress
In white with pastel accents
The Armstrong ball was the talk of Central, once the invitations went out. (Ed got his first thing Thursday morning, from a beaming Alex Armstrong, and all of Roy's office had copies when he went to collect Al for their walk through lab four and a bit of strategic meandering around town that afternoon.) A lot of the upper-class seemed to be disgusted with the last minuteness of the invites – apparently it was proper to give more than a week's warning? Ed'd had no idea – yet also resigned, as the Armstrong family were well known to be a bit...eccentric. (Which had allowed them to get away with inviting a wide array of people, rather than just the upper-class snobs who would usually be the sole attendees at these sorts of events.)
That said, most people Ed spoke to who'd received an invitation – and weren't part of their group – seemed honestly excited at the opportunity to attend, either because it was a free bar – Ed'd scoffed at that, mostly because it was expected – the chance to let their hair down a bit, or just at the excuse to visit the Armstrong manor – which Ed totally agreed was stunning – and rub elbows with the higher members of society.
Ed's favourite reaction to the invitation, though, had to be Colourway's. He hadn't heard about the ball yet by the time Ed and Al made it up to his lab – Ed suspected the other State Alchemists of their group would be receiving theirs at their home, given Armstrong didn't know them personally – so Ed passed his over and, upon reaching the dress code, Colourway complained, "Why would they go with such boring colours?!"
Ed snickered while his brother coughed – Colourway was wearing clashing shades of purple, green, and orange that afternoon, while his hair was its usual rainbow of colour – then diplomatically replied, "I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for it. You can ask at the ball."
"I think I will," Colourway agreed as he handed Ed back his invite.
Maximus scoffed from the doorway to the lab, likely believing there was no way Colourway would be invited to such an event. (Actually, Ed suspected the Armstrongs would just go ahead and invite all the State Alchemists posted in Central, given how many of them Ed had put on that list. If for no other reason than to avoid any suspicion about why they'd invited some and not others.) But Ed, Al, and Colourway all ignored him, instead starting to look through the latter's most recent research.
Colourway may have been displeased by the colour limitations, but Ed was kind of gleeful, mostly because the only suit he had was black, so he'd have to buy one completely new.
"You could just change the colour of your current suit, Brother," Al pointed out when Ed told him that, rolling his eyes. "We both know it's not that hard."
Ed shot him a wounded look, while Ling and May both let out noises of amusement from their positions around the shop they were currently stopped in to view options. :I could never do that to such nice fabric.:
Al snorted. "Please. The only thing you've ever refused to change the colour of is your sash, and that has nothing to do with what type of fabric it is."
Ed suspected he'd find May getting all misty-eyed if he looked at her, so he very firmly kept his eyes on his brother. :Fine. But you can't really be complaining about me wanting to get a second suit.:
Al opened his mouth, stopped and looked surprised for a moment, then cursed.
Ed flashed him a smug smirk.
And then Al rallied with, "No, wait, you don't want a new suit, you want half a suit, so you can add a Xingan flare."
Ed shrugged. :I have to match Ling, and you know he's going to be snobbish and picky.:
Apparently at just the right angle to have caught that, May snickered.
Ed looked over and winked at her, while Al sighed and replied, "No, I don't know. Why can't you just match the colonel?"
Ed couldn't quite keep in a tired sigh as he turned back to Al and signed, :I'm not going with Roy, I'm going with Ling. Roy's going with one of his women.:
Al's face twisted with a sort of pained disgust and he looked away, muttering uncomplimentary things under his breath.
Ed sighed again, then turned back to May and signed, :Tell me you're planning on pink.:
Her smile was a little strained, but she nodded, so Ed picked up one of the pale pink bowties from the display he and Al had stopped next to and held it up to her. She made a face, so he tried a different shade and, after a moment of deliberation, she nodded.
Armed with the pink bowtie, Ed grabbed Al's shoulder and forced him to turn around, then held it against his throat, to snickers from Ling.
"Brother, wha–?"
Ed held up the bowtie for him to see, flashing a smirk.
Al cleared his throat and his eyes flickered toward May, a hint of pink dusting his cheek. "Oh, right. I mean, I can just change the one I've–" He stopped as Ed held out the bowtie to him and accepted it with a sigh.
Hands free, Ed signed, :But what if you don't get the colour right?:
"Fine. But I'm not wasting money on a new suit!"
Al, in fact, didn't end up buying a new suit, and they managed to find a shop that had Xingan-inspired clothing down a back alley – Fu had spotted it during one of his and Lan Fan's evening patrols of the city, though his directions had been confusing, even to Ed, who made a habit of travelling by roof – where May managed to find a rather pretty dress that would go fine with Al's Amestrisan-style suit, though it would need some colour changes. (As Al had said, a simple fix.) Ed, too, had found a quasi-Xingan-style suit jacket with a pale gold Xingan dragon embroidered on one breast, which even had outer pockets big enough for his journal. (Al had stopped trying, at that point, just throwing his hands up and saying, "It's your money.")
Ling, as Ed had suspected, ended up being picky and snobbish, so Ed – through Al – told him to sketch the design he wanted, and they picked up some fabric on the way back to Roy's house.
While Ed made dinner, Al and May sorted out exactly what shade of pink his bowtie and the edging of her dress would be, and the Yaos took over the kitchen table with some paper and pencils to argue over clothing designs.
By the time Roy made it home, Al had left Ed to fend for himself against the Yaos – traitor – and Ling had a set of rather ridiculously ostentatious white robes, with the belt and the under shirt the same pale gold as the dragon on Ed's new jacket, and loose white trousers. (They'd actually had a long argument – silent and scowling on Ed's part, loud and irritating on Ling's – about whether or not his trousers should be white or gold, which had ended when Fu got fed up with the prickly qi and came down on Ed's side. Ed actually sort of liked Fu, most of the time.)
"Interesting day?" Roy asked when Ed greeted him by hugging him and pressing his face against his shoulder.
"Edward has made me most excellent robes!" Ling announced helpfully as he stepped out into the entrance hall from the living room.
Roy coughed, his qi sparking with amusement and disbelief. "Well," he said, tone diplomatic, "you'll certainly be making a statement."
"You should have seen how he wanted them to be," May chirped, before her qi sharpened to a point and focussed on Ling. "It was almost as if you thought yourself emperor."
Ling's qi sharpened right back, but Roy ordered, "Take it outside or shut up, before I have to burn Edward's hard work," before it could devolve into a minor clan war. (They hadn't been as common as Ed would have expected, but the formal alliance between Yao and Chang bridged a lot of arguments, and Roy's absolute refusal to allow any fighting inside the house put a stop to the rest of them; something about the threat of being set on fire made the Xingans a lot less interested in debating who would be the better leader of their country.)
Ling and May's qi shuffled back into the living room, suitably chastised, and Ed finally stopped hiding his face against Roy's shoulder and leant up to kiss him.
Once they made it upstairs, so Roy could change, the bastard asked, "I assume it was at least a semi-productive venture, since our guests remain alive?"
Ed snorted and nodded, then signed, :May found something fine, but Ling was expectedly picky. I did make Al get a new bowtie.:
"Oh?"
:Pink. To match May.:
Roy chuckled and let off finding something to change back into so he could pull Ed in for a kiss. "And you always complain about Maes' matchmaking ways."
Ed rolled his eyes and mouthed, 'Idiot.'
"Your idiot," Roy murmured in response, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
Ed hit him. Lightly.
Roy chuckled and let him go to finish changing, turning around so Ed got to enjoy a lovely view of his backside for a moment. "I seem to recall you saying something about getting something a bit more Xingan, if Ling was difficult?" he said as he turned back to Ed.
Ed snorted – that hadn't been quite how he'd put it, but the intention had pretty much been the same – and signed a quick :Yes,: before taking down the new garment bag and taking it out to the bed to open it, Roy following curiously.
He shrugged into the jacket and buttoned it up, then turned and held his arms out to the sides, raising one eyebrow.
Roy quirked a smile at him. "It's certainly less eye-catching than Ling's choice," he offered.
Ed rolled his eyes. :This is more of a modern style; Ling's going traditional.:
"You would know better than me," Roy admitted, stepping forward and cupping Ed's cheek. "It's not bad, but I was almost looking forward to seeing you in robes."
Ed scowled and signed, :What the fuck? I'm not a woman, idiot.:
Roy shook his head and stepped in close, hands migrating to Ed's arse. "I was thinking more along the lines of easier access," he murmured.
'Pervert,' Ed mouthed, before pulling away so he could take off the jacket and put it away.
Then he got fully undressed and turned to smirk at Roy's appreciative stare, signing, :How's the access now?:
Roy laughed and joined Ed to make a thorough check.
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