Satellite

by SpicyReyes

Summary:

A rogue alchemist, desperate to restore the alchemy of the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, pushes Truth into playing a new game - one that has Edward Elric waking up on the floor of his house where a transmuted abomination should have been, just in time to save his younger self and brother. He might have a chance to do everything again, now, though...He would never hold anything but bitterness for the title of 'dad,' but maybe an older brother could make things better.

Notes:

• Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: 【授翻】Satellite by Nido_Ove

are you surprised that im writing this? because im not
i literally woke up at 2am this morning wide awake like "what if blackkat's 'backslide' and batsutousai's 'Reverti Ad Praeteritum' had an ugly baby' and. here ya go, kids
adult ed is called ed right up until the end, where he renames himself, and he will be known only by that name for the remainder of the fic
(like i said, heavily backslide insp. lmao)
this is my 3rd fma fic and i really cant afford another wip but!! doin it anyway!! here ya go!!
also. title is a reference to "cecilia and the satellite" by andrew mchanon in the wilderness

Chapter 1

If he lived through this, Mustang was going to get a fucking earful.

The flash of a transmutation alerted him to the rogue alchemist’s latest move, and he sprung back a few steps just in time to watch a series of jagged spikes shoot up from the ground where he’d been standing.

“Ed!”

“I know!” Edward called back immediately, even though he knew the answer would frustrate Alphonse beyond measure. His brother had never quite gotten over his desperate need for Ed to stay away from any situation he could have once handled easily with alchemy, as though a man who’d punched a god to death would be in any way disadvantaged in a hand-to-hand fight.

This alchemist was a pain in the ass, though, especially since he wouldn’t shut up.

“Elric!” He called out, apparently deciding it was time for another attempt at his insane ramble. “The Fullmetal Alchemist never should have stopped! I know what you did, what you sacrificed!”

“What of it?” Ed spat back, dodging the finger-like rising from the earth to try and grab him.

“If you would just stay still!” the alchemist cried. “I don’t want to hurt you! I want to restore you!”

What?

Ed was so startled at the declaration, he paused, hesitating for a fraction of a second.

Earth sealed itself around his feet in that instant, and he was trapped.

“Excellent,” the alchemist breathed out, and then there was static, and the sound of Al desperately crying out his name.

The flash of a transmutation lit up in his face, and he closed his eyes against it, only to open them in a familiar hell he’d hoped he’d never see again.

“No,” he breathed out, turning around to catch sight of the other two bodies present: the alchemist they’d been after, and a featureless white child’s form.

Truth.

“I came for his alchemy,” the madman alchemist was saying.

“Stop!” Ed called, running toward them, grabbing the alchemist by the front of the shirt. “Stop this! I made my choice, let it go!”

The alchemist ignored him completely, leaning to the side to talk around him. “Take anything from me,” he practically begged. “Our country doesn’t need me, it needs its hero.”

“You don’t even know me!”

“Please,” the alchemist continued.

A cold, cruel laugh was his answer.

Ed turned, looking over his shoulder at the form of Truth, its bright tormentor’s grin splitting blank white cheeks.

“His alchemy?” its endlessly echoing voice cooed. “He gave me his gate. I let him because its worth much more than a soul. How do you intend to pay for it?”

“Anything,” the alchemist begged again. “Please, please , just give him the power to fix things. I...” The alchemist dug out and offered an item, small and pathetic for all the horror it contained. “I have a stone!”

“Fix what? Where did you get that?” Ed demanded, before dropping the alchemist and rounding on Truth. “I don’t want it. I don’t ever want to be here again. I just want to get back to my brother.”

He never should have spoken.

“Oh?” Truth asked. “That can be your toll, then.”

Before Ed could ask what that meant, the gate behind him opened, and its grasping arms dragged him in once again.

He opened his eyes to a dark room, filled with the scent of blood.

He recognized this ceiling.

No, he thought, scrambling to sit up.

Sure enough, he was in the center of a transmutation array. Not at the edge - the center. And, on the ground in front of him, he was staring dead into the wide and terrified eyes of a child.

Of himself.

His child self fell backward, reaching to the stump of his leg as the tissue dissolved into the air, being eaten away by the transmutation’s rebound.

His arms were both still there, though, which meant…

Ed acted more on instinct than thought, clapping his hands together, relieved when a once-familiar energy crackled under his palms. His hands slammed down on the ground, and he didn’t even have to look for where Al was to tether the transmutation.

Truth seemed like it was waiting for him, that damned grin bright as ever. “Welcome back.”

“Fuck you,” Ed spat back. “What have you done?”

“You should be grateful,” Truth told him. “You might finally be able to fix your terrible mistakes. You’ve made a lot of them, haven’t you, Edward?”

Ed glared in reply. “Give me my brother. Take my gate back, take my other leg, take my whole damn life. I don’t care.”

“But surely you’ve noticed where you are?” Truth asked. “You see what’s going on?”

“I’m in that day,” Ed replied. “I don’t know how, or why, or if it’s even real. It doesn’t matter. Alphonse is what matters, so give him back.”

Truth’s grin turned cruel again, and his rounded white hand raised, cupped around the ugly red-brown shape of a poorly made, weak Philosopher’s Stone.

“You’re lucky,” Truth told him. “The other one left this behind.”

Red crackled through the white room, and then he was back in the basement of his old house once again.

“Fuck,” Ed swore, looking around. His brother was laying on the side of the array, unconscious, and a few feet to the side, a younger version of him was bleeding out on a filthy wood floor. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit…”

He still didn’t know what Truth’s game was, but...if this was real, and he couldn’t see what else it could be, he needed to get these two somewhere safe.

He pushed himself up off the floor, only to immediately stumble and drop back down onto his knees, his legs unable to support his weight for even a moment.

The metallic clank as he hit the ground informed him that his automail had survived the pass through the gate, which was either a great thing or an awful one - he hadn’t decided. Still, his nerves were shot, and the muscles in his flesh-and-bone leg felt flimsy and worn.

He had to get up, though. He at least had legs, two of them - more or less - and he needed to stand on them and move, because these two wouldn’t be able to.

His legs were still shaking in his second attempt, but he managed to get upright. If he leaned heavily onto his automail leg, he could even stand relatively steady.

He limped in this manner over to the form of his younger self, scooping the child off the ground. His heart ached at the sight of someone so young hurting so much, torn between empathy for a child in need and intense self hatred for having done this to himself in the first place.

Edward and Alphonse had both been rather muscular children, thanks to their training, and as such were not exactly light. Ed was strong, though, and he managed to gather them both up by laying Al over his shoulder while he held child-Ed in a way that kept his leg elevated, hoping to make the blood running over his arm flow a little slower.

Children in hand, Ed started on his way, limping toward the house next door.

Ed made it up the first two stairs of the Rockbell house before his leg gave out again, dropping him to his knees on the top step.

The door flew open in front of him, and he raised his eyes to the shocked ones of Granny Pinako.

“Who…?”

“They’re okay,” Ed rushed out, not giving her any time for questions, just extending his arms to offer child-Ed to her. “But he’s bleeding out. He needs you.”

Pinako faltered for a split second, before her face hardened, and she gave a solemn soldier’s nod. “Can you bring him inside?”

Ed took a shaky breath, but forced himself up onto his legs again. The limping was even more dramatic now, his muscles protesting even the faintest of movements, but he managed to get a few steps in the door before dropping again.

He could hear Granny calling for Winry, and the clanging of her readying her medical supplies, but it all faded into a hum as he lost consciousness.

Edward was the first to wake, apparently, because he could see Al and his younger self still asleep on beds to the side of him when he did.

He could also see the restrains tying his wrists down to the sides of the bed, because Granny was a paranoid old witch.

“You’re awake,” her voice came to his other side, and he looked to meet her eyes. “Care to explain who exactly you are? And why you showed up with these two in the state you all were in?”

Granny wasn’t an idiot. There was no way he was going to get away with an excuse of being a passing stranger or anything else. However, “I’m pretty sure Not-God sent me from the future” was also not a great introduction to try unless he absolutely had to.

Luckily, she was so eager for an explanation, she practically lied for him.

“I didn’t know Hohenheim had other children,” she said, tapping the end of her pipe with a finger idly. “But you’re his spitting image.”

Ed scowled on reflex.

“Ah,” Granny said, sounding almost amused. “You’re definitely his, then. That’s the same spite I see in Edward every single day.”

Ed looked to the side, where his child self was sleeping, and locked his eyes to the bandaged stump of his leg. “It’s justified,” he murmured. “He leaves. He can talk a big game, but he’s a hypocrite. He runs just as much as I do.”

“There’s a story there,” Granny said. “And I’d love to hear it, since it seems I owe you and your sudden visit for the survival of these two boys.” There was a beat, and then she asked, quietly, “They tried to do it, didn’t they?”

“They wanted her back,” Ed confirmed. “They were desperate.”

“And you?” Granny asked. “Who are you, beyond your father? What’s your name?”

Ed hesitated.

He couldn’t exactly call himself Ed or Edward, because then there would be two of him and that would just get confusing. Or, worse, someone would start calling him something like Ed Sr. and make it sound like he was old as fuck. He wasn’t even 30, yet, for a good few more months, and he wasn’t about to be treated like he was ancient.

Van Hohenheim sounded like a last name, so Ed could have claimed that for the second part, but he’d still need a first name. He could make one up, but...he wasn’t really great with names. He usually just stole names he’d heard somewhere else.

Stolen names...Hohenheim had been offered a full name once, right? What had he claimed it was?

Theophrastus, right?

Good enough for him.

“Theo,” Ed - no, Theo - offered. “I...it’s hard to explain, but I started a transmutation at the same time they did, and it seems like the energy..transferred. I woke up in their array, instead of my own.”

Or, well, the crackpot alchemist’s, but the effect was the same.

“You...teleported? With alchemy?”

The newly-dubbed Theo shrugged. “I’ll have to study the arrays to see what happened,” he said, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to do that. He had stepped through the gate, is what happened, and as useful as teleportation would be, he damn sure wasn’t about to do that again on purpose.

“Well, Theo,” Granny said, “I don’t know what kind of man you are, but your father was a mystery I never could understand. All the years I knew him, he never aged a day...that’s how you’re so much older than them, isn’t it? He had a family before Trisha.”

“He never had a family,” Theo muttered in response. “He had kids, and he left them. He doesn’t get to claim them as family.”

Granny’s lip twitched up. “You really are a lot like Edward, aren’t you? I suppose half-brothers must naturally have a bit in common.” She stepped back, gesturing into the house with her pipe’s stem. “Come, talk with me in the kitchen. Maybe you can shed some light on the things about Hohenheim that never quite made sense.”

“Oh, believe me,” Theo replied. “You don’t want to know.”

Chapter 2

Summary:

"Call me Theo. I look like Hohenheim because I’m his son, too.”

Notes:

the reaction to the first chapter was so good im so happy ;u; here is some more theo content for yall since you liked it
in this chapter we have traumatized children being highly suspicious of a nice person and theo living for the Drama™

Ed woke in agony.

His whole body ached, but the worst of the pains were from his leg. The entirety of it ached, which had him forcing himself to sit up and look.

His memory hadn’t failed him, his senses were just lying to him. The leg was gone.

Their attempt at transmutation had failed spectacularly, and he slowly started to recall the bits of it leading up to his passing out.

It had seemed to be working for about twenty seconds, and then he’d been somewhere new. Instead of their dark and dingy basement, he’d been in an endless white void, staring at a giant gate.

He could remember being sucked into it, the seemingly infinite information that was crammed into his skull, creating a pain like a migraine times a thousand. He could remember the grin on that thing’s face when it took its ‘toll,’ claiming his leg.

He could remember waking up in the basement, and seeing eyes. Not his mother’s soft brown ones, the ones Alphonse was lucky enough to carry, but cool gold. The kind he only ever saw in mirrors and memories of his bastard father.

And then...Alphonse.

What happened to Al?

Ed looked frantically around the room, finally recognizing the Rockbell house, but not taking the time to be comforted by that.

There were three patient beds stuck in the room. One to his right, which was empty, and one to his left, which held his sleeping brother.

Ed breathed out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure what he’d feared had happened to Al, but knowing his brother was there, whole and alive and okay, was a weight off his shoulders.

His very, very heavy shoulders, weighed down with their colossal failure.

They hadn’t brought their mom back. The thing in the center of the room had started off as an abomination, just a mass of tissue with reaching limbs sticking out here and there, and then it had shifted, solidifying into the shape of that strange man.

The same strange man that was walking back into the room.

“Oh,” the stranger said, faltering in midstep a few feet from the beds. “You’re awake.”

“Who are you?” Ed demanded. “Did...did we make you?”

The man snorted. “Yeah, no,” he said, almost laughing. “You didn’t make anything. Your transmutation was hijacked, and I got spit out in the middle of it.”

He crossed the room, reaching out, dropping his hand in the empty space where Ed’s leg should have been.

“You remember it, right?” he asked. “The Gate?”

Ed gave a short nod. “You’ve seen it?”

“I came through it,” the man replied. “I got dragging into one at the same time you did, and it spit us both back out in the same place.”

“That’s possible?” Ed asked, fascinated by the concept but also horrified at the idea of having to go into that thing. Then, narrowing his eyes at the stranger, he asked, “Why do you look like… him?”

The man blinked at him, seeming shocked. After a moment of silence, the stranger reached up, pushing a hand through the loose hairs that were escaping his ponytail and shaking his head with laughter.

“What?” Ed snapped. “What’s funny?”

“I thought you’d ask why I looked like you ,” the man said.

“Why is that funny?”

The man shook his head again, dropping his hand back down to the edge of Ed’s bed. “Nevermind. Forget it. I’m-...Call me Theo. I look like Hohenheim because I’m his son, too.”

His dad had another family? Was that why he left? Did he have a trail left in his wake, of families made and abandoned when he got bored?

Theo’s lips quirked up in a small, sad smile, like he knew exactly what Edward was thinking about. “If it makes you feel better,” he said, “I really don’t think he knows about me at all.”

It didn’t help much , but it was something.

“You said you were pulled into the gate,” Ed realized, then. “Does that mean...did you try to do it, too?”

Theo shook his head. “I’ve tried it a couple of times, actually.”

Ed straightened. “Then-...?”

“No,” Theo cut him off before he could even ask. “It’s not possible. Once someone is dead, they’re dead. There’s no reversing that. You may be able to create life, but it will not be the life you were after. Instead, you create a monster. A Homunculus. Artificial life.”

“Would that be what we made? If you hadn’t come through?”

Theo shook his head again. “Technically, but it would have been weak. It would have lived for a few seconds, maybe, but it wouldn’t be able to sustain itself. It would have died almost immediately. It probably already had, actually.”

“So that’s it, then?” Ed asked, quiet and doleful. “We didn’t have a chance? It was for nothing?”

Theo looked down at his hands, rather than answer, which told Ed everything he needed to know.

“Damn it,” Ed swore. “There was no point! Why did we-...all of that was for nothing?”

“Not quite.”

Ed sat up a tiny bit straighter. “What?”

“You have me, now,” Theo said. “Someone who has already made the mistakes you want to try out, and can let you know how bad they went. Someone to help you back on your feet, if you’ll let me.”

They stared at each other for a long time.

“Why did you try?” Ed asked, unable to help the curiosity burning at him. “What were you trying to do, when you came through?”

“Nothing,” Theo replied. “I was the one in the middle of the array.”

He turned and left the room before Ed could get any explanation for that.

Al woke up not long after that. Ed comforted him, assured him that the missing leg did not hurt (even though it did), and filled him in on the strange turn their transmutation had taken, and the even stranger man that it had delivered.

Theo, meanwhile, spent the time with Granny, which went exactly as poorly as expected.

“You’re an alchemist, too?”

“I was.”

“What does that mean?”

Theo bristled. “It means what I said. I was.”

“But you’re not now?”

He thought about it. He had used alchemy for Al on instinct, which meant that the crackpot alchemist’s transmutation had, technically, worked. “...I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t used alchemy in years. Or, I hadn’t, until last night. I’m not sure if I’m that person anymore.”

“Hm,” Granny grunted in response. “I don’t know anything about alchemy, but if you’re anything like those boys in the other room, you’ll be back at it tomorrow. Those two fell in love with alchemy the first time they learned about it and they’ve never looked back.”

Never look back had been his motivation for most of his military career, Theo could remember.

Oh, and there was another question. Would he rejoin the military?

He had no paperwork, here, no record of his existence. Paperwork was shit most of the time in rural areas, though, so he could probably bullshit his way through that. And, as little as he wanted to do with the Amestrian government, the military would put him in a good place to start chipping away at ‘Father’s’ plans.

He was sort of tempted to just start digging until he found the fucker and beat him to death again, but as satisfying as that would be, it probably wouldn’t actually work.

He supposed the best thing to do would be wait and see what kind of offer Mustang came out with, when he…

Oh, shit . Mustang was going to show up, at some point. Mustang, who Theo had avoided interacting with directly except to steal case files to go investigate on his own before the military could send anyone, because he hated being idle and he also hated the way pretty much every soldier in Amestris regarded the last two words of ‘wanted dead or alive’ superfluous.

Mustang, who he still owed 520 cens, because he wasn’t meant to take office until the start of the next year.

Dammit. He hated not keeping his word.

“Every single lead so far has been a bust,” Riza said, “And our driver said this boy is eleven.”

“I'm hearing reasons not to be optimistic,” Roy replied easily. “Not necessarily reasons to give up.”

“ Eleven, Roy.”

“Just..let me try.”

Riza waved a hand toward the door in front of them, as if to say ‘by all means, go ahead.’

No time to waste with second-guessing himself. He took a steadying breath and knocked on the door.

Silence.

A second knock yielded no better results, nor a third. Finally, frustrated, Roy tried the doorknob.

It opened without issue.

Roy heard Riza ready her gun, just in case, as they slid into the house, treading cautiously.

The living room and kitchen were both perfectly normal, excluding the fact they were nearly barren.

“Shit.”

Roy startled at the sound of someone cursing, and signalled Riza to be ready to shoot if needed, leading her into the room the sound had come from.

What he saw was this: a wide room, with every item in it pushed against the walls, wooden floors scratched and coated in loose white dust.

Chalk. Last traces of an array, most likely, that was being furiously scrubbed away by a man on his hands and knees in the center of it.

The man was somewhere around Roy's age, with golden hair tied back in a messy bun and equally vibrant gold eyes that shot up to squint suspiciously at Roy from copper-toned cheeks.

Miracle of miracles, he was definitely not eleven.

That probably meant he wasn't Edward or Alphonse, though, and Roy racked his brain a moment to remember the slightly pretentious name of their father - the reason the boys had made his list of potential candidates in the first place.

“Hohenheim?”

The man grimaced. “Theo,” he countered, and Roy couldn't tell if it was meant in confirmation or denial. “Can I help you, Colonel?”

Roy had not introduced himself, and even if he had, he was not a Colonel. His only guess was that the man had spitballed a rank based on his uniform’s embellishments, which would mean he was decently familiar with military systems.

Ominous.

“Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang,” he corrected. “And Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. We were chasing rumors of skilled alchemists in the area.”

“Chasing them through other people’s houses?”

Roy looked around, trying to see any recognizable patterns in the scratches. He could make out the faintest traces of the symbols for copper and lead, which told him exactly nothing of value. “No one answered, and I was under the impression that the only residents of this house were a pair of orphans. I was concerned.”

“Yeah, well,” the man, Theo, said, turning back to scrubbing at the floor. “You got me instead.”

“...Was there something wrong with the array?”

Theo paused in his movements, looking back up at Roy, loose hairs escaping his bun to fall into his face as he did. “A few things,” he answered, tone cryptic. “Which is to be expected, considering the alchemists drawing it were nine and eleven.”

Roy latched onto the hint fiercely. “The boys do live here, then.”

“I never said they didn’t,” Theo replied easily, sitting back on his heels, tossing his sponge aside and tugging at his rolled-up sleeves to keep the fabric up above his elbow. “They’re next door, recovering.”

“From what?”

The man pushed up off the floor, standing in front of Roy with a challenging fire in his eyes.

“Human transmutation,” he said. “Which is why I’m gonna need your help.”

Notes:

people who read my other fma fics too: god christian really loves putting ed's hair in a bun

Chapter 3

Summary:

“God hates me,” Theo replied, utterly dry. “I’ve learned to expect the worst.”

Notes:

yall are killin me with how nice your comments are ;w;

here is some Theo Is Dramatic™ content

The look on Mustang's face when Theo said “human transmutation,” slack jawed and wide eyed, was so comical that he could almost forgive their continued height difference.

Al's return to his body and the loss of one automail limb had allowed him to grow to a respectable 170cm, but here he was, 29 years old and still a good three centimeters shorter than Mustang. That was fucking annoying.

On the bright side, maybe his younger alternate would be able to get tall, since he would never have the stops on his height that Theo had. At least one of them could have that going for them.

It was at least something distracting to think about, rather than spend every millisecond it took Mustang to process agonizing over what reaction he would land on in the end.

His expression didn’t give any hints, entirely blank, and his voice was carefully even - he wasn’t giving Theo any look into his cards until he showed his own.

“Help with what?” the military man asked. “Covering up a felony?”

Theo raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the floor. “I can do that much myself.”

Mustang’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Then what do you want from me?”

“If I leave those boys alone, they’ll do something stupid,” he said. “Something like listening to you and becoming state alchemists, for one.” He waved to the floor again. “They’re talented enough to make it, too. What I want is a deal. I join up, I work for you, and you promise me that you’ll make sure that they’re looked after, no matter what happens.”

Mustang’s eyes narrowed. “You’re expecting something to happen?”

“God hates me,” Theo replied, utterly dry. “I’ve learned to expect the worst.”

“And you are an alchemist, too?” Mustang asked. “Good enough that you think that you’re worth this kind of deal?”

Originally, Theo had a demonstration planned for that. Mustang had shown up earlier than he’d remembered, though, which in hindsight made sense - there had to have been time lost while he explored the house and its carnage the first time, before he burst into the Rockbell house to yell in his face. The result was that he’d just been about finished clearing away the last of the array, rather than working on the designs for the new one that was spinning around in his head.

“I’m good,” Theo said, instead. “I specialize in improvised alchemy.”

Mustang’s eyebrows rose. “What does that mean? How do you improvise alchemy?”

“I have a roster of basic transmutation circles,” Theo explained, “and I’ve learned to tweak them as needed just as fast as I decide what I want to do. I can react in seconds.”

Mustang looked intrigued, if reluctant and suspicious. “How do you draw a circle in seconds?”

Theo grinned. “I don’t.”

He didn’t wait for Mustang to ask, just clapped, letting static crackle around his hands, before dropping down to press his hands against the attic floor. The wood beneath his palms started to sink in, collecting into a mass that stretched and warped to his specifications, until a moment later he had one of his once-standard spears.

“No circle,” Mustang breathed. “How do you..?”

Theo’s lips quirked in a slight wry smile. “Souvenir from when God only strongly disliked me.” He reached up, trapping his shoulder. “I’ve been the subject of a human transmutation before. The rebound wasn’t worth it, but I have a lot of unique insight into alchemy because of it.”

He could see Mustang’s mental chessboard moving, arranging the pawns he had to make room for another knight.

Theo didn’t intend to be a knight, though. If the king on the other side was Bradley, Theo intended to be the queen that put him in check.

(He very deliberately did not let the smartass part of his brain point out that that implied some things about his relationship to the king on his side, because his day had already been weird as hell and he was allowed to make shitty metaphors if he felt like it.)

“If you join my team, I’ll make sure they’re looked after,” Mustang said, with the steel undertones of a promise. “I have plenty of connections to keep two children safe. Especially if they already have a strong alchemist as a guardian.”

Theo supposed that meant him, which reminded him of another favor he needed to ask.

“I don’t have any paperwork,” he said. “I’ll need to get that if I’m going to be the one taking care of them.”

“Simple enough.” Mustang extended a hand, which Theo shook. “The test is at the end of the month. That’s why we were searching when we were. I’ll meet you in Central, and trade you your entry application for identification documents.”

“And adoption papers?”

Mustang’s lips twisted into a smirk. “I’ll trade those for your acceptance papers.”

Theo snorted. “Fair enough. See you in Central, asshole.”

Mustang turned and headed out, leaving only Hawkeye, hesitating in front of him.

“Lieutenant?” Theo prompted. “Something wrong?”

Riza looked to the doorway, where Mustang had paused, watching the exchange over his shoulder. They held gazes for a moment before she looked back, asking Theo quietly, “...Who were they trying to bring back?”

Theo gave her a sad smile. “Their mom.”

In the split second they held eye contact before she turned and followed Roy out of the house, Theo could see her heart break.

“...What are you doing?”

Theo straightened, looking to the doorway, where Pinako’s tiny shadow could be seen. “What is with you people just walking in here?”

“What people?” she asked, crossing the room with the cautious steps of someone navigating a minefield. “I’m just here because the boys are wanting to talk to you, and I’m not about to send either of them out here to look for you.”

That was fair, considering Theo himself had responded to the carnage and gore by just burning the whole fucking thing down.

“What are all these?” Pinako asked, carefully skirting the edges of the transmutation circles sketched out on the ground. “Are these where they…?”

“No,” Theo said. “I cleaned that up. These are mine.”

She gave him an expectant look, clearly annoyed at the possibility she would need to ask a third time.

“I came through an array,” Theo said. “I’m not going to test this on anything living, but I was just wondering...is it possible to link two arrays, where I can deconstruct an object on one and reconstruct it on the other?” He pointed to an array at Pinako’s feet. “It’s possible to rig transmutation circles so that they activate when certain conditions are met, without an alchemist having to actually touch them. It’s possible to activate multiple arrays at the same time. Xing has a form of transmutation that can be done at a distance. And, because of this, I now know that every transmuted object passes through the same plane of existence. If I can combine all of those concepts…”

“Teleportation with alchemy,” Pinako summarized. “And that’s what these are? Do they work?”

“I haven’t tried,” Theo admitted. “I keep tweaking the array, but there’s no point trying to activate it when I already know it’s not right.” He crossed the room, scooping up a small wooden statue off one of the circles at the edge of his improvised workspace. “Setting it up to transmute something automatically when a seperate array was set off wasn’t that hard, but it draws from its own surroundings, not the original array. I have to find a way to force the arrays to link, so that the materials from two different places can be shared by both circles.”

“And how’s that going?”

“Terrible,” Theo replied easily. “I haven’t had to do this in years. I’m out of practice, and this is next to impossible already.”

Pinako hummed, and he looked to the side to see her squinting at him, sizing him up.

He frowned. “What?”

“You used to do alchemy research?” she questioned. “What made you stop?”

Theo hesitated, before offering a tentative, “I was looking for answers. I got those, and I was okay with that. Nothing left to research.”

“Hm.” She looked down to the ground, at the sprawling chalk circles. “And now something’s caught your interest again, is that it?”

“...Why are you asking?”

Pinako raised her stern gaze to him. “Those boys haven’t had family in a long time,” she said. “I want to know if you intend to change that, and your reasons for it. I’m not about to entrust them to a stranger who comes stumbling into my house in the middle of the night just because he shares a bit of blood with them.”

Theo chewed his lip.

Pinako had a good point: they had no reason to trust him, the random lost brother that was dropped quite literally at their front door with no explanation beyond ‘weird alchemy, go with it.’ If he wanted her to understand, to give him the ability to take Ed and Al on and keep them safe, he needed to give her something that showed he wasn’t about to make their lives even worse.

She’d asked about Hohenheim, when he’d first turned up. That was as good a place to start as any.

“Have you heard of a Philosopher’s Stone?”

“I assume it’s an alchemy thing,” Pinako replied, dry and unimpressed. “And I know exactly nothing about that stuff.”

“It’s this theoretical alchemy ingredient,” Theo explained. “A substance that is so great in value that it can be used to make anything, without having to find something equivalent to base the transmutation off of. You could make gold out of wood, or diamonds out of dust, or even things that don’t have an equivalent.”

“Meaning?”

“Humans,” Theo replied. “Life itself. Souls.”

Pinako stared at him for a long moment, before murmuring, “There’s more than just a theory, I’m guessing, or you wouldn’t bring it up.”

“Van Hohenheim knows how to make a Philosopher’s Stone,” Theo told her. “Because he was there when the first two were made - and one of them is his own body.”

Pinako was quiet as she processed that, and Theo couldn’t help continuing on, filling the silence with further explanation.

“That’s why he doesn’t age,” Theo said. “His body isn’t human anymore, not really. It’s a vessel for immense alchemic energy. To kill him, you’d have to wear that energy down, which would mean forcing him to perform transmutations over and over until he tried to use more of the stone’s worth than he had left. Possible, but...really, really annoying.” Theo toyed with the fingers on his left hand, the sensations in the returned flesh-and-bone fingers a grounding force for him. “That’s what I was studying, with my alchemy research. I wanted to know everything I could about Philosopher’s Stones, and when I learned...the stones require sacrifices to be made. Mass slaughters, genocides, hundreds or thousands of souls for even a weak imitation of a stone.”

“...And Hohenheim has one?” Pinako asked, words coming out slowly as the pieces ticked into place. “ Is one?”

“He didn’t make it,” Theo said, “but there was enough energy in the transmutation to make two, and the one in charge of collecting it liked him just enough to share.”

Pinako seemed to agree with the disgust in Theo’s tone, judging by the look on her face.

“So, what I’m trying to do,” he continued, “is track down the other first stone, and destroy it. There’s a lot more stuff going on, but it’s really better not to ask. Just...Al and- and Ed,” he caught himself just before saying ‘I,’ “they have the potential to be in a lot of danger, if they don’t go along just right with the mess that’s about to play out. I know just what is coming for them, though, and if I play my cards right, I can keep all three of us safe. I made a deal with a state alchemist, that if I work for him, he’ll make sure nothing happens to those two, even if something happens to me.”

“ Will something happen to you?”

“I have no idea,” Theo answered honestly. “Once I can show certain people I’m one of the ones they’re looking for, I probably won’t have much to worry about from them directly, but this country is a shitshow. And…” He shifted his weight between his feet, searching for a way to phrase what he needed to say. “Eventually, I need to find a way back home. I’d rather get everything secured here, first, but the end goal is getting back to my own family. My younger brother was with me when I got pulled through the gate, and it’s driving me crazy that I don’t know if he’s okay, or what happened to him after the transmutation. I need to make sure he’s alright, kick the ass of the alchemist who started this shit, and get home to my wife before she gets even more annoyed with me than she already will be. She hates when I’m gone too long.”

He was always gone too long.

“Well,” Pinako said, folding her arms over the top of her cane. “I don’t know a damn thing about alchemy, and I’ve got more questions now than when you first popped up. I don’t wanna know the answers, though. Just tell me one thing: if they go with you, will they be safe?”

That wasn’t something Theo could promise, but he answered as honestly as he could, “It’s the safest they could ever be.”

Notes:

me, dropping the tiniest hints toward future plots: grow, seeds of future gays*

 

*disclaimer: not all plots are romantic, but they are still gay, because author is gay and said so

Chapter 4

Summary:

Al’s brows furrowed into a confused frown. “It showed me stuff, too,” he said. “But it didn’t take anything from me.”

Notes:

here are some povs that arent theo's! + the boys realized how bad they fucked up
once again, all of your comments give me life and i love yall
warning for the chapter: everyone cries

Ed was losing his mind.

It had only been a day, and being trapped in bed was already becoming unbearable. If Pinako were there, he’d ask for a wheelchair or crutches or something, so that he could actually move around the house. She wasn’t there, though. She had taken Ed’s question of where the mysterious ‘Theo’ had went and walked right out of the house, hopefully to go find him.

And, honestly, that was probably the main thing that was making sitting still so agonizing. All he wanted to do was hunt down his suppose half-brother and find out everything he could about him.

How had he managed to travel with alchemy? What did he mean when he said he’d tried human transmutation more than once? If that were true, how come it took nothing from him but took a leg from Ed?

...That brought up another interesting point, and Ed turned to the side.

“Hey, Al?” he asked, catching his brother’s attention from the bed beside him.

Al’s eyes were tired and red-rimmed when he looked over, his face bleached from the stress that had been haunting him since he woke. He was not handling the scope of their failure well. “Yeah?”

“When we…” He wrung his hands, searching for words. “Did you see... that thing? That freaky gate thing?”

Al’s lips pressed in a thin line. “I thought that was a dream.”

Ed straightened, latching onto the thread immediately. “But you did see it?” he asked. “Did you- did it show you anything?”

“...What?”

“The gate,” Ed tried to explain. “I got pulled into it. It was showing me all this stuff, and then I was outside of it again, and it took my leg. It called it my ‘toll.’”

Al’s brows furrowed into a confused frown. “It showed me stuff, too,” he said. “But it didn’t take anything from me.”

There was a beat as they both considered the implications of that.

“That...the monster that was next to the gate,” Al ventured. “The white thing. You saw that ?”

“Yeah,” Ed confirmed. “That’s what took my leg.”

“When I came out of the gate, it laughed at me,” Al said. “It said-...It told me that it would have just left me in there, but keeping me would cause more trouble than I was worth. So it said ‘you’re free to go,’ and then there was nothing for a while, and then I woke up here.”

Ed considered that. “What would keeping you there have done?” he asked. “What does that mean? What made it let you go?”

Their questions were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

“They’re back!” Al cried out, climbing quickly out of bed. “I’ll go get them!”

He ran off before Ed could say anything else, leaving the elder brother by himself.

He understood the reasoning, he just wished that didn’t hurt so badly.

When Ed had described Theo to Al, he’d given the vague explanation of ‘he looks like that guy,’ which turned out to both be accurate and a severe understatement.

Looking at him, Al thought he fit more in some space on a spectrum between their father’s appearance and Ed’s. His jaw was slightly squared and his coloring was definitely their dad’s, between his golden hair and eyes and the slight tan to his skin, and all that screamed Hohenheim.  His eyes, however, were rounded and gentle where their dad’s had been sharp and calculating, and he had no facial hair, and the only lines on his face were faint and hard to notice if you weren’t looking for them.

He tried to place the rest of his features, to find something familiar in the slope of his nose or how his top lip was thinner than his bottom one or the tiny dips in his temples, but his memory of his dad's face was vague at best. Ed claimed they looked alike, though, and so Al just had to take that on faith.

As Al watched, Theo reached up, letting his hair out of the messy bun it had been desperately trying to escape, letting it fall free around his shoulders for a moment before gathering it back into a tight ponytail, making the resemblance to Hohenheim a little sharper, while also showing Al that this guy probably didn’t do much fighting. Not that he didn’t look strong, or anything, because his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his arms definitely showed he did some form of exercise. It was just that his hair was long to the point of being impractical.

...Then again, Izumi-sensei had kind of longer hair, but it wasn’t a problem because no one ever got close enough to grab it.

Maybe this guy was the same way. He did look like a pretty tough guy, hair aside.

Al must have been staring too long, because Theo turned then, eyes locking onto him. His face went all pinched, some expression Al couldn’t even guess at naming crossing his face, before it went right back to that blank and cagey look he’d had since walking in.

“Alphonse,” Granny called to him. “You’re awake. Good. This is-...”

“Theo,” Al interrupted, before flushing. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to-...Just, brother told me-...”

“Yeah,” Theo said, crossing the room to stand in front of Al. “I’m glad you’re alright. That...that could have gone a lot worse.” He reached out, hesitating at Al’s reflexive flinch before pressing on, dropping a hand on his shoulder. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but you guys got lucky.”

Al’s eyes lowered to the floor, burning. “We just wanted our mom back,” he murmured through the threat of tears.

“I know,” Theo said. “I’m not lecturing you. I’d be a hypocrite - I’ve tried, too.”

Al’s head snapped up, eyes locking on Theo’s. “You have?” He reached out, grabbing the arm that still had a hand on his shoulder. “You and me, we’re okay! Why did brother-....Why did it take-…”

“It takes a toll from everyone who passes through,” Theo told him, voice gentle. “Ed’s leg was his, but not every toll can be seen from the outside.”

Al frowned. “I’m missing something inside?”

“Maybe,” Theo replied, taking a step back, eyes turning away. “I can’t tell any better than you. You have a lot of expendable body parts on the inside, so you might have gotten off with just losing one of those, or something.”

Granny huffed around her pipe, but when Al looked to her, she was already turning to leave.

“I’m going to check on your brother,” she said, heading into the patient room. “Don’t come in here ‘til I’m done.”

The door clanged shut behind her, and Al was comforted by the fact he wasn’t the only one who flinched.

“...What was your toll?” Al asked, looking up at Theo.

Theo’s face pinched up again. “I...everything. It took everything.”

“But…”

Theo rounded on Al, dropping into a crouch, reaching out to catch his arms when he tried to stumble back. “Alphonse,” he said, voice suddenly hard and serious. “You guys got off easy. A leg is nothing compared to what you could have lost.”

His grip was tight, almost painful. Al leaned back, trying to encourage him to let go.

He finally seemed to realize he was doing it, releasing Al and scrambling back a few steps, rising back up to his full height.

“...I’ve done human transmutation more than once,” Theo confessed, quietly, glaring down at his hands as though they had grabbed Al of their own volition. “The toll it took the first time, I chased down and got back.”

Al perked up. “You can-..?”

“No,” Theo said, eyes locking back on Al’s. “You can’t.” He reached up, pushing his shirt collar down, revealing metal bits scattered throughout the skin. “This one stupid arm cost me my entire brother. I’d four automail limbs, or no arms at all, if it meant he had been safe.”

Al turned, horrified, to look at the door to the patient room. Granny Pinako had said not to come in, but he wanted to ignore her. To burst in and check that his own brother was okay, that his leg really had been the only price they paid.

Theo had lost his brother to human transmutation. Suddenly, his words struck a lot harder - it may not have felt like it, but they were lucky.

“He…” Alphonse reached up, covering his mouth to stifle his own sobs. Through his hands, he asked, “He could have died?”

“Hey.”

Al looked up, just in time for Theo to crouch down, pulling him into a hug.

He hesitated, frozen in shock, before he returned it full force, burying his face into the man’s shoulder to cry freely.

“Equivalent exchange only goes so far,” Theo murmured. “Some things don’t have a price to match, and you need to be thankful for those things while you have them. I know you miss your mom...but your family isn’t all lost. Focus on what you have left, and love it with everything you’ve got- that’s the only thing you can do.”

Al gripped the back of the man’s shirt, pulling back just enough that his murmur could be heard. “Are you going to stay?”

The hand petting through his hair paused for a moment, before the arms gripped him a little tighter. “I’m going to try.”

At the sound of crying, Pinako had to put a hand flat on Ed’s chest, pushing him back down onto the bed with surprising strength.

“You can wait,” she insisted. “This breakdown was coming, and it’ll be easier for him if he’s not trying to look strong for you. And I need to change these bandages, so sit down.”

Ed slumped against the headboard of the bed, glaring down at the stump of his leg as she calmly unwrapped its bindings, the stoic silence of a doctor overriding anything else she might have showed.

“...When you first started studying alchemy,” Pinako said, quiet, as she worked on his leg. “When you first got obsessed with it, I thought..Maybe, in the absence of your mother, you were trying to cling to what you could remember of your father.”

Ed scowled, but she ripped a bandage loose a little harsher than normal, effectively shutting up any commentary he would have offered.

“I let it go,” Pinako said. “When you’d skip school to study your dad’s journals, or made Winry play by herself so that you two could practice. When you dragged that woman into taking you on as apprentices. I thought, whatever way they choose to cope. Winry threw herself into automail after losing her parents, and I wasn’t much better, so who was I to judge?”

Her hands stilled on the stump as she got the last of the bandages loose, hesitating between the removal and re-application.

Her shoulders were shaky. With her face turned down, Ed couldn’t tell if it was in anger or grief.

“This is a stupid thing you’ve done, Edward Elric,” Pinako told him, her voice rasping and pained. “I know you miss her. We all do. But what that teacher of yours kept saying, it’s true - you can’t solve everything with alchemy.”

“I know-...”

“No, you don’t !”

Ed blinked, as Pinako snapped up a glare at him.

“You don’t know,” she said, quieter. “What if it had taken more than this?”

“We didn’t think-...”

“That’s right,” she said. “You didn’t think. This could have killed you. And imagine, for a second, that it worked. Imagine you two gave everything you had, and your mom was the one who woke up on that floor. Do you think, even for a second, that she would have been able to appreciate her life, if it had cost either of you anything at all? Let alone everything? The only things she ever cared about were Hohenheim, and the two of you. If she lost all three of those to alchemy, she’d have never made it out of that array.”

She turned back down, starting to wrap fresh bandages tightly around his leg.

“But it didn’t work,” she continued. “It wouldn’t have. You two are geniuses, but you’re still human. You’re still just two little boys, who missed their mom. You don’t have power over life and death. The only thing that would have happened if you gave everything would be that we lost you two. Do you think Winry could handle that? Or, suppose if only one of you were lost. Do you think Al could live without you?” Her eyes raised back up, narrow and harsh. “Could you live without Al?”

Ed’s cheeks were warm, and he realized he was crying. “I’m sorry,” he rasped.

“ I’m sorry,” Pinako said, softening, giving him a sad smile. “I’m sorry that I refused to see you two breaking down right in front of me. I’m sorry you felt like this was your only choice.” She looked back down at the bandages, finishing them off, before standing and offering him a more neutral look - something relieving to see, because Pinako was rarely so expressive. “At least this brought you one good thing. That strange new brother of yours...he’s an interesting sort.”

“Did you talk to him?” Ed asked, wiping his face, trying to latch on to the topic change. “Did you learn anything about him?”

“A few things,” she answered, cryptically. “He reminds me a lot of Hohenheim.”

“That’s not a good thing,” Ed muttered.

Pinako barked out a laugh. “Maybe not,” she said. “But, in spite of everything, I think he actually does care about you two. I think that, no matter the circumstances that led to him finding you two, he needed someone to care about, and he’s taking the chance he was given.”

Ed looked to the door. The sounds of sobbing had stopped, easing off at some point during Pinako’s lecture. He wondered if Theo had left, or if he’d comforted Al, or if he’d done anything at all.

He wondered what Theo planned to do in the future, what he wanted from them, and how he intended to get it.

Mostly, he wondered the same thing Al had asked: would he stay?

Notes:

my favorite thing is throwing in tiny references to stuff that comes up more later, which i did like 4 times during al's analysis of theo lmao
also. pinako's reaction to the transmutation is never really shown?? like every time shes on screen its another characters pov and they dont pay much attention to her beyond her forced doctor's stoicism and i just. wanted to have her actually say something for once so enjoy that i guess

Chapter 5

Summary:

“Come with me,” Al said, grabbing his wrist to pull him along. “Brother and I wanted to talk to you.”

Notes:

/updates twice in 24h with the power of nice comments/
theo, ed, and al have that family talk! featuring theo getting cornered about his life story and trying desperately to only lie by omission

When Pinako finally stepped out of the patient room, she said nothing about the fact that Theo was still holding Alphonse, instead just giving him a solemn nod and pushing right past him with a passing comment about going to check up on Winry.

Winry hadn’t been able to spend very long in the room with the boys unconscious, which Theo was grateful for, because seeing her at ten was just unspeakable levels of weird. He was dreading the point when she’d start doing as she’d done before, hovering at Pinako’s side in a desperate attempt to help where she was able.

“C’mon,” Theo said, nudging Al and standing back up, herding him toward the patient room. “You need to get back in bed. We can talk more when you’re rested.”

“Come with me,” Al said, grabbing his wrist to pull him along. “Brother and I wanted to talk to you.”

Theo grimaced where Al couldn’t see him, but let himself be dragged. He was probably going to have to start coming up with a lie for all this, because just dodging questions wouldn’t save him from a suspicious Edward Elric. He knew that better than most.

Still, it would be a good opportunity to get some feedback on his plans. He’d really rather they were on board with his plan to save them - it would make things a whole lot easier if they played along.

Ed had about sixty seconds after Pinako left the room to get his emotions under control before the door was pushed back open, Al peeking in.

“I found him,” Ed’s brother informed him, before opening the door completely, revealing that he was dragging Theo behind him by the wrist.

Theo appeared to be halfway between grim acceptance and amusement. It was a face Ed was familiar with, the ‘this would be funny if it weren’t happening to me’ kind of look. He made it a lot when Winry dragged them into some kind of game.

That just reminded him of Pinako’s lecture, and his lips pressed in a thin line as he tried to keep from showing the others in the room what kind of inner emotional struggle he was dealing with.

“You didn’t have to drag him, Al,” Ed sighed. “If he didn’t want to come, don’t make him.”

“I didn’t make him!” Al protested, letting Theo’s wrist go immediately. “I just-... I just didn’t want him to leave, that’s all.”

“I don’t mind,” Theo said, moving his newly freed hand to close the door behind them. “You probably have questions, huh?”

“A couple.”

Theo huffed out a surprised-sounding laugh at the sarcastic tone of his answer. “Right. Walked into that one.” The man crossed the room, taking a seat on the edge of his bed, while Al crawled up to sit at the foot of Ed’s. “Ask away.”

Ed had a million, but one was the loudest among them. “Who did you try to transmute?”

Theo winced. He hesitated a moment, before finally murmuring, “My brother.”

Beside him, Al straightened up. “The same brother? If he died during a transmutation, then how…?”

“He wasn’t dead, originally,” Theo said. “He was still alive, but just barely. His soul hadn’t left yet, which meant I could still access it. If I acted quickly enough, I could trap it.”

...Trap..?

“I used my blood to draw a seal,” Theo told them. “On a suit of armor.”

Al leaned forward. “Like the one in the study?” he asked. “Dad had another one?”

Theo’s face pinched. “He’s a weird guy,” he muttered, in lieu of an answer. “But it was a good thing it was there, because it meant..It meant I could use it as A- as my brother’s body.”

Ed’s blood ran cold as he finally caught what Theo was telling them. “You turned your brother into a suit of armor.”

“He couldn’t sleep, eat, or feel,” Theo confirmed. “He could move, and see, and talk, but nothing could really touch him. It killed us both, every single day, and all I wanted was to find a way to get his body back.” He reached up, placing a hand on his shoulder. For whatever reason, Ed would need to ask after later, Al tensed at the gesture. “But I lost my arm in the transmutation,” Theo said. “And my brother wanted me to get that back, too. And one day, we got in this fight, way in over our heads, and my automail got crushed….and he made the call. He gave up his life so that I would have a fighting chance.”

Ed couldn’t imagine dealing with a situation where he had to choose between his own body and his brother, but he was pretty sure he’d make the same choice. Al was worth it.

Theo’s brother must have thought he was worth it, too, which made Ed wonder what kind of person their new brother really was.

“...That’s one,” Ed said. “And then your brother’s transmutation for your body. What was the other time? Who else did you try to bring back?”

“My brother, again,” Theo said. “I went back to the gate and made it an offer, because I wanted my brother to live - not just as a shell, either. A real, flesh-and-blood human being.”

Theo had said the only reason his first transmutation worked was because his brother hadn’t actually been dead. That implied that the second time, when he was dead…

“What did it take?” Al asked, quietly.

Theo laughed, a forced and ragged sound, before moving to prop his leg up on the bed between Ed and Al.

“We match,” he said, hiking up the leg of his pants to reveal an automail leg.

Ed stared down at it, as it finally sunk in what exactly had happened to him. That was automail, and Theo said they matched because he was going to end up needing that, too, because his leg was gone.

He looked to the stub of his leg and the empty space in front of it, and finally really processed the fact that the limb was lost.

Breathing was suddenly a lot harder.

Desperate not to fall apart in front of the other two, Ed rushed to distract himself with another question.

“And the one that brought you here?” he asked. “The one that was done on you?”

Theo pursed his lips. “I don’t know,” he said. “This alchemist...I didn’t even know him, but he knew me. Knew about me, at least. I don’t know what he wanted, or what his goal was, or...anything, really. It’s something I’ll have to find out.”

“...Are you going back?”

Theo looked over at Al’s question, before giving them both a small, soft smile. “Eventually,” he said, but pressed on before either could feel upset by it. “But I have other things I need to take care of, first, and I’d rather you guys were squared away somewhere safe before I try to head home.”

“What does that mean?” Ed asked. “What do you need to do?”

Theo leaned forward, folding his arms across his knees and hunching over them so that he was closer to level with them. “I cleaned up your house,” he told them. “But not in time. A man from the military came looking for you two, trying to find who he heard were a powerful pair of alchemists. He found me , scrubbing up a human transmutation array.”

Ed and Al looked to each other, the horror of the revelation slowly sinking in. What they’d done was beyond taboo - they were so, so fucked.

“I made a deal with him.”

Ed startled, turning to back to Theo. “A deal?”

“The man who was looking for you isn’t a bad guy,” Theo said. “He’s actually pretty decent. I don’t think he was really eager to arrest two kids, even for something this serious. So I made a deal with him that I’d give him what he wanted if he did the same for me.”

“...What did he want?” Al asked.

Ed had a better question. “What did you want?”

“Mustang was looking for alchemists to work for him,” Theo explained. “Strong ones, clever ones...pretty much anyone he could trust to get things done. I told him I’d be that guy for him, if he’d help me keep you two safe.”

Ed blinked in shock, those words slowly processing. This man had known them for all of a day, but he’d sold himself over to the military to protect them? He was willing to go this far to cover their mistakes? To give them a second chance?

“You’re going to join the military?” Al asked, quietly. “But aren’t they…”

“They’re dicks,” Theo answered immediately, making the younger boys both let out a startled laugh. “Like I said, though, Mustang’s not horrible. He’s got his own agenda, and if I’m working for him, I’m only ever going to do the things he wants me to. He’s an overconfident prick, but he’s not going to make me do anything to fuck over other people. Everything else, I can deal with.”

Ed looked down to where his hands were fisted in the fabric of his sheets, just over his knees, placing one hand right before the edge where his stump leg dropped off into empty space. “...Why are you helping us?” he asked, keeping his eyes downcast eyes locked on that edge. “You don’t know us. You don’t...We.... Why?”

“You’re kids,” Theo said, gentle but firm, honest in its kindness. “Being smart, being good at alchemy, that’s all great, but you’re still kids.”

There was a long silence.

“...I fucked up young,” Theo confessed to them. “And I paid for it. I never actually got the chance to be a kid. I had to grow up fast. I didn’t realize until I was trying to raise kids that I have no idea how a ‘normal’ childhood is supposed to go. I don’t want you two to be forced through that.”

He leaned back, giving them a broad grin.

“Besides!” he chirped. “We’re family!”

Ed turned to Al, who looked just as overwhelmed as he was.

A family. Pinako had said the same.

They’d spent so long looking for a way to get back their missing family, they forgot they had people left in their living one. And now here was someone new, a previously unknown half brother with a kind smile and an offered hand, asking them to trust him to keep that family together and safe.

“...When you leave for the military,” Ed asked, slowly, “can we go with you?”

Theo responded with another happy grin, only slightly more subdued. “Of course. I was hoping you would, actually.”

“When do we leave?”

Theo laughed, standing back up off the bed, hand extending out.

Ed didn’t really process what he was doing until there was a hand on his head, ruffling his hair, before doing the same to Al.

“Not for a while, yet,” Theo told them. “Just focus on feeling better, for now.”

Feeling better. What had seemed like an impossible task only hours before was now a tangible goal, and Ed latched onto it with everything he had.

As Theo left the room, Ed called out his name, making the man pause mid-step in the doorway.

“Yeah?” he called back, looking over his shoulder at them.

“...I’m going to get automail,” he said, feeling almost dumb for having said anything at all. Why should Theo care?

Theo, though, just smiled. “It hurts like a bitch,” he warned. “But it’s kind of cool, once it’s on.” He tapped his hand against the doorframe, seeming to think something over. “How about this...You get better, you get automail. Once you’re recovered from the surgery, then we’ll head out. Sound good to you two?”

Ed was going to recover from that surgery as fast as possible. The amused crinkle of Theo’s eyes suggested he knew it, too.

“Get some rest,” he told them, heading out through the door at last. “See you in the morning.”

“See you,” Al called after him, just before the door clicked shut. Once it did, he turned to his brother, eyes wide and wet. “Family,” he murmured.

“Family,” Ed echoed.

It wasn’t a concept they had much experience with, beyond each other, but…

…But the Elrics had never once shied away from learning a new thing, and this would be no exception.

Notes:

theo: when youre good we can go
ed, to himself: you cant have family until youre better so rush your recovery
theo, to himself: you should clean up the house if youre going to stay for the full year or three it takes him to recover, or make a little shack with alchemy or something so youre close by, and you might need money to take care of them-...

Chapter 6

Summary:

“Come on inside, girl,” Granny scolded her. “Stop trying to be sneaky. We’ve known you were back there for at least ten minutes.”

Notes:

fma fanfic writing: speedrun

lmao nah but. you guys and your amazing feedback Fuels Me and ive been just. eagerly typing out more of this monster to try and thank you for it ;u;

this chapter was refreshing because for once, i got to write a child character that isnt 90% angst and is, instead, an Actual Child

Winry peaked around the corner of the kitchen doorway, looking around for a moment before ducking back, hoping that no one had noticed her.

Granny was in there, and she usually knew when Winry was around, but she was mainly worried about the guest. The strange man who had turned up at their house with Ed and Al, covered in blood and unable to stand, and passed out in their entryway.

She’d only gotten brief glimpses of him, too busy trying to help Granny get everything set up for the medical procedures that Ed’s lost leg had needed, and then too overwhelmed by the need for those same operations.

Granny had told her that Ed and Al had tried to do some kind of experimental alchemy, or something, and it had backfired. She would ask them more about it, but she wasn’t allowed in the patient room when there were people in there, even if those people were as good as brothers to her.

She could ask the man, but that would require talking to him, and so far all she’d managed the courage to do was peak at him from enough of a distance that she could bolt if he saw her.

He had the same hair as Ed and Al, only his was really long. She was pretty sure his eyes were gold like Ed’s, too, but it was hard to tell at a distance. He looked kind of tall, but she wasn’t sure if that was true, because everyone looked tall next to Granny Pinako. She wasn’t really sure how tall regular adults were supposed to be. He’d been in a plain dark grey shirt, stained with blood and with the sleeves pushed up past his elbows, and a pair of pants made of some thick fabric she didn’t recognize, smeared with chalk dust. There was probably blood on them, too, like the shirt, but the dark fabric made it hard to tell.

Dark clothes weren’t something she saw a lot, because it was way to hot in Risembool for anyone to wear anything that wasn’t light and casual and usually pastel. It made his strangeness even more unsettling, contrasting with his gold features to make him look like some sort of mythological creature come to haunt them.

Maybe he was a vampire. She tried to peak back around the corner, thinking she could watch him talk and look for pointy teeth.

Instead, she let out a shriek, as she found herself face-to-face with an unamused Granny Pinako.

“Come on inside, girl,” Granny scolded her. “Stop trying to be sneaky. We’ve known you were back there for at least ten minutes.”

Winry’s face exploded with warmth, and she was sure she was cherry red. “I wasn’t sneaking!” she protested. “I just…”

Granny raised an eyebrow, tapping a finger on her pipe. “Just..?” she prompted.

“...I wanted to see who he was,” she whispered, eyes darting to the strange man.

His eyes were locked on the door of the patient room in a way that seemed deliberate, like he was trying to pretend Winry and Pinako weren’t in the room with him at all. Maybe he thought she was in trouble. Ed and Al always hated being around Granny Pinako when she was mad at Winry, so maybe this stranger was that way, too.

“So speak to him,” Granny said, entirely unsympathetic. “Theo, this is my granddaughter, Winry. Winry, this is Theo, Ed and Al’s half-brother.”

Winry straightened, eyes going wide in alarm at the introduction. “He’s what?”

Theo finally turned, looking at her, his face sort of halfway between flushed and pale, like he was sick. She wondered if he was hurt in the experiment, too, or if he had the flu.

“Hello,” he said. He was quiet, but his voice sounded very familiar. It took her a moment to realize that he probably sounded a lot like Ed and Al’s dad. Her memory of him wasn’t great, though - he’d never really spent time around them while they were playing, when he’d been there, so she only ever heard him speak when her parents we talking to him, which she wasn’t usually supposed to listen to because it was ‘adult conversation.’

This man seemed like someone who probably had a lot of ‘adult conversations.’ He had that sort of serious frown on his face. She tried to smile at him, to see if he’d smile back, but when he did it was weak.

He must have been really sick, cause he looked kind of like he wanted to throw up.

“I didn’t know Ed and Al had a brother,” she said. “Do you live in Risembool, too?”

“Ah, no,” Theo said, looking away again, back at the door. He still looked sick. “I live, uh, pretty far away.”

“Oh.” She looked to Granny, waiting for the woman to offer some input, but she just shook her head and focused her attention on her pipe again. That hope for help gone, Winry ventured, “You’re just visiting?”

“Not really.”

“...Oh.”

Theo shook his head, turning back to her. “I’m sorry. I’m being really rude. I just- it’s been a long day, and I’m kind of shitty at small talk.”

“It’s okay,” Winry told him. “Ed and Al are bad at talking, too.”

He gave her a small smile. “Are they? Must be hereditary.” He looked like he was about to laugh, but Winry wasn’t sure what he’d said that was funny, so she hoped he didn’t. “As for the question, I’ll be sticking around for a little while. I’m just not sure how long, yet.”

“Are you staying here?” Winry asked. Sometimes patients stayed for a while at their house, to recover from more intensive surgeries, so it wouldn’t be too weird. “Or with Ed and Al? I think they need an adult living with them, because they can get away with anything right now, and that’s just not fair.”

“Very true,” Theo laughed. “I guess I’d better ask to stay with them, then. Even the balance a little.”

“Equality is an alchemist thing, right?”

Theo tipped his head. “More equivalency .”

Winry frowned. “What’s the difference?”

“Well…” Theo leaned back in his chair, raising his eyes up to the ceiling, like he was searching for the words up there. “Transmutations use equivalent exchange - I can make an iron plate into an iron gear, because I’m going from a shape of iron to a different shape of the same iron. The plate and the gear are equivalent. But if I took, say, silver and copper - they’re both semi-precious metals, and about equal in most people’s eye, but I can’t use one in place of the other.” He shrugged. “It’s just a technicality, but theoretical alchemy is most of what I’ve been doing for the past decade or so. It’s force of habit to try and debate it.”

Winry turned that over in her mind, before quietly asking, “Is that why you’re here? Because of their experiment? Granny won’t tell me what happened.”

Theo looked stunned for a second, then shot a glance toward Granny, who tsk ’d at him in response.

“Spare her the details,” she said. “I wasn’t going to put that stress on her until Ed was out of the woods. He heals fast, though, and whatever took his leg off did it clean. There was nothing I really have to do but keep it clean and wrapped.”

Theo looked back to Winry, pinched and sick look slowly rising back to his face.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she asked. “What they did. That’s why she won’t tell me.”

“It’s...it’s pretty bad,” Theo confirmed. “Remember what I said about equal vs. equivalent? Well, there’s this debate in alchemy, about human beings. Every human is equal, but...we aren’t equivalent. I have two arms, and thinking of equality would mean I could give one to someone who didn’t have any, and we’d both have one. But that’s not how it works. It’s not a perfect exchange. Humans are equal, but they have no equivalent.”

“I don’t understand,” she admitted. “What does that have to do with Ed and Al?”

“The tried human transmutation,” Theo told her. At her blank stare in response, he explained, “They tried to find an equivalent to the human soul, so they could bring someone back from the dead.”

Winry sucked in a sharp breath. “...Their mom?”

“Their mom,” he confirmed. “The rebound was bad, and that’s how they ended up like they are. Ed’s leg is the only thing that seems to have turned up missing, at least.”

To her side, Winry watched Granny straighten. “I thought you told Al he was probably missing an organ.”

Theo winced, at the same time Winry clapped her hands over her mouth, trying to stifle the horrified noise that had risen at that revelation.

“Alchemy rebounds aren’t usually non-invasive,” Theo said. “If he was missing something, he’d know it.”

“So you lied.”

Theo’s lips pressed into a thin line. “It’s...complicated. I’ll explain later.”

The two stared at each other across the table.

“Winry,” Granny said, eyes never leaving Theo’s. “Go check on Edward and Alphonse. I’m sure they’d be happy to see you.”

Ah. Winry was right, at least - Theo was definitely one for those ‘adult conversations.’

As Winry rushed out of the room, Theo propped his elbows up on the table, resting his head in his hands. “I lied to Al,” he confessed. “The gate- the transmutation , it didn’t take anything from him. I just didn’t want to tell him what it took instead.”

“And what was that?”

Theo weighed his options for an answer. He could lie, but he had been doing a good job of keeping that to a minimum. A good thing, because he would be under a lot of stress soon trying to untangle the military’s underground schemes, and he didn’t have the time to be worried about remembering a cover story.

Luckily, he’d already laid out the foundations for the half-truth he needed to tell.

“The transmutation that sent me here,” he said. “I didn’t activate it. Another alchemist did, and I’m not really sure why. He had a Stone.”

“...The ones that are full of souls?”

“It looked like it was barely functional,” Theo said, “but yeah, it was definitely a Philosopher’s Stone. When I landed in the transmutation, I interrupted it before Al could be charged a toll, and I was able to cover the cost by letting it take that stone instead.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You paid for Al’s toll? With one of those ?”

“If I didn’t..” Theo shook his head. “If I didn’t, it would have taken him completely. Moving fast enough could have saved his soul, but his body would have been lost for certain.”

Pinako took a long draw off her pipe, turning to the side to let out the breath, letting the silence lay while she processed.

“I don’t know a damn thing about alchemy,” she said. “I’m not religious, either, so talk of souls or spirits or what have you, that all goes right over my head. So, tell me plain: with that stone, did you save Al’s life?”

“He’ll be fine, now, as-...”
“Not what I asked.”

Theo paused, meeting Pinako’s challenging stare. As much as he hated to oversimplify things, he sighed, allowing a soft, “Yes.”

“Then, thank you,” she said. “That boy is family to us. They both are. If you’re telling me that just by being here, you’re keeping our family alive, then I have no issue including you in it.” She stood from the table, heading toward the stairs, calling over her shoulder as she went. “I’m going to bed. Send Winry up when she’s done visiting, and get some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll have to look into cleaning up that house, if you’re gonna have somewhere to stay.”

Theo’s heart clenched, and he smiled to himself as she vanished up the staircase.

His own family was nearly twenty years and countless miles ahead, but the Rockbells hadn’t hesitated to allow him into theirs. Maybe, just maybe, when he went home, he’d have the comfort of knowing he left his past self all the better for it.

Notes:

pinako cant decide if theo should be hailed as a blessing or if shes gonna have to bury him in her backyard but shes down for either honestly
also theo's brain was playing kill bill sirens the entire time winry was present

Chapter 7

Summary:

“Huh,” Pinako hummed somewhere behind him. “The boys have actually kept this place decently clean.”

Theo could remember that being true, if only because it was hard to mess up a house you were never in.

Notes:

(2012 me voice) MOAR >:3

heres some more fic because once again, i love you guys and your lovely response to everything i post and it Fuels Me
this chapter is very heavy in pinako content so strap in for the greatest granny

When Theo had chosen to clean up the remnants of the human transmutation, he’d moved through the house with that goal in mind, not taking even a second to glance at anything else along the way. He’d gunned it straight for the carnage, cleaned it up as though puppeting his own body from someplace far removed, dealt with Mustang, did some experiments, and then left, all without allowing himself to process the fact that he hadn’t been in that house in nearly twenty years.

When Pinako suggested he would stay there, he’d brushed over it, not really thinking it would be an issue. He’d already gone in there, after all, right?

Standing in the living room, he realized that was most certainly not the case.

“Huh,” Pinako hummed somewhere behind him. “The boys have actually kept this place decently clean.”

Theo could remember that being true, if only because it was hard to mess up a house you were never in. If he had the breath to speak, he might have suggested something similar.

Instead, what he got out was, “I need to-...” before he was bolting back out of the house, trying to get as far away from it as possible while still remaining in its yard.

He could hear Pinako follow him out, but he didn’t take the time to worry what she thought was going on. Instead, he hunched over, taking deep breaths and trying to convince himself not to be sick.

He wasn’t sure how long it took him to get his heart rate to slow back to normal, but when he straightened up, Pinako was watching him silently, puffing on her pipe.

“Better?” she asked, when he caught her eye.

“I’m sorry,” Theo told her. “I-...”

He trailed off, waiting for her to ask.

She didn’t.

“...When I tried,” Theo said, quietly, “I didn’t...I couldn’t go back to my house. My brother and I- well, it was me, mostly. I burned it down. I didn’t want to look back. I’d killed everything good there, and I didn’t want to remember.”

“Well,” Pinako said, “Try not to burn this one down.”

Then she turned and headed back into the house.

Simple as that. No further comments needed.

No wonder Hohenheim had been friends with her. She was impossible to faze.

Here he was, unloading yet another fact of his life on her, and she was just as unimpressed with him as she’d been when he passed out in her doorway. Earth-shattering revelations about the feats of forbidden alchemy became minor details to her, the cause not as important as the effect it had on her family directly.

When he got back to his own time, and his own family, he’d need to ask Winry if she felt like going home for a visit. Telling Pinako the truth was getting to be a cathartic habit, and he would likely have a lot of information to dump on her after all this.

First, though, he needed to make sure everything went alright in whatever alternate dimension he’d been dropped into. If he was travelling through time, it shouldn’t matter how long he spent there, returning to the moment he left from should be equally as impossible from any moment in time. The only thing he had to worry about was turning up on that array a good few years older than he’d left, but considering that Alphonse had to regrow an entire body once, it probably wouldn’t bother him too bad.

Winry might not like it. Theo wasn’t sure - what Winry would like or dislike was a coin toss some days. Or, maybe it wasn’t, and he was just shit at predicting how she’d react.

That was probably more likely, actually.

When he got home, he should probably make an effort to be a better husband. He should definitely make an effort to be a better father, because watching these kids look at him like he was some kind of hero just for giving a shit was making him very, very concerned about how his own children felt when he went gallivanting across the countryside in search of something to make him feel actually useful .

That was for worrying about later, though. For now…

He looked back to the house, gathering his strength.

Don’t burn this one down, he told himself, looping Pinako’s words into a mantra as he went inside.

Whatever you do, don’t burn this one down.

“Hohenheim’s library…”

Pinako looked up, over to where Theo was standing, staring at the shelves of journals and study materials his father had left behind.

It was the first thing he’d said since his confession in the yard, and though she wouldn’t admit it out loud anytime soon, she was glad to hear his voice again. She’d worried that he’d fallen back into some bad headspace, and she was no good with that.

Luckily, Theo seemed to take after his father almost as much as Ed did, in that quick bounce back whenever something went wrong.

“He had a lot of books,” Pinako said, following his gaze. “That’s where the boys learned alchemy.”

“Yeah,” Theo murmured, nonsensical and absent-minded. He reached out, fingertips trailing across the spine of the closest journal. “I wonder…”

“Hm?”

Theo snapped upright, looking to Pinako like he’d forgotten she was even there. “Nothing,” he said, quickly.

She gave him an unimpressed stare, letting him know what she thought of that pitiful attempt at a cover-up.

Theo sighed, his shoulders going slack. “I mentioned I’ve been studying alchemy,” he reminded her. “He probably knows things I hadn’t figured out. I never could crack his code as a kid, but maybe now…”

“Well,” she said, waving to the books. “No one else is using them. Ed’s complained that they’re full of nonsense, but if you think you can get something out of it, feel free to take them.”

“I will,” Theo said, with a determined little nod to himself like he’d decided on a goal. “Who knows, he might have the answer to how to work that transfer array. If anyone knows how the gate works, it’s him.”

“You can pick his work apart later,” Pinako said, catching his attention again. She’d been cleaning the kitchen when she noticed him missing, and followed him into the study, and she was ready to remind him of their purpose if she needed to. “What did you come in here after?”

“I just wanted to do something,” Theo said, more of an absent-minded murmur than an actual conscious answer. Without offering any further explanation, he walked deeper into the room, heading for the back wall.

As Pinako watched, Theo approached the suit of armor that stood in the back of the room, stopping in front of it.

She could only see his back, but that was ramrod straight and tense, suggesting that there was something more to that thing than Pinako knew.

After a long pause, he turned a bit, bending down to retrieve one of the discarded pieces of chalk he’d been sketching his experimental arrays with when she found him before.

She couldn’t see the marks he made on the armor’s chest from where she was standing, but it wouldn’t have mattered if she could - like she’d said more than once, she knew nothing about alchemy.

She did know enough to recognize the blue light that let up the room as alchemic energy, which kept her from being too terribly shocked when the armor vanished, giving way to a rain of tiny metal bits.

“Not a fan of his decorations, hm?” she asked, crossing the room to scoop up one of the fallen pieces. It wasn’t a shard, the edges slightly rounded rather than sharp, but there was no other distinguishable shared shape between them. She thought alchemy was always deliberate, but he seemed to have only paid enough attention to his end product to make sure it wasn’t dangerous.

“Not that one,” Theo replied, already turning to leave.

It was pretty creepy, in Pinako’s opinion, but she had the feeling there was more to it than that.

Nothing she’d bother asking about, though. Theo had already told her plenty of things she didn’t want to know, and she wasn’t inviting any more. It was for that reason she hadn’t tried to desperately to figure out which of Hohenheim’s travels in their youth had resulted in Theo’s birth.

There were some questions she just didn’t want to ask.

Adelbert Ebner had been mayor of Risembool for longer than some of the people living there had been alive. He couldn’t even put a number on it. He’d been a young man when he took office, though, and as he was now in his eighties, he had to assume it’d been a good fifty years or so. Definitely no less than forty.

It wasn’t even a position he tried very hard to keep. It brought him joy to ensure the citizens of their little town were happy and healthy, but he’d have given the title away if he thought someone else could do it better. It was just that no one wanted the job. Most of Risembool’s citizens were just as old and tired as he was, or they were only there because they were too sick or poor to leave. Healthy young adults were a rarity, which made it hard for him to even consider handing over his seat.

So, maybe, in his aging, he’d reached a point where his once-perfect memory for faces had started to fade a bit. Maybe he was starting to forget little things, or even big things, like entire people.

Because standing in his office was most certainly Pinako Rockbell, just as beautiful as she’d been in their youth, but the man beside her was completely foreign to him.

Or...maybe not completely. Adelbert squinted, studying the features of his face, and tried to picture a beard hanging from his chin.

Yes, that was it! The beard was missing, that was all.

“Van Hohenheim!” he greeted, boisterous and welcoming. “You’ve been gone a while!”

“Clean your glasses, Bert,” Pinako said. “This isn’t Hohenheim. It’s his son.”
Adelbert blinked. “I’m not so old, Miss Rockbell,” he said, “that I don’t remember that his sons are eleven and nine.”

“Apparently, he had another,” she said. “This is Theo.”

“Ah, well then!” Adelbert stood, crossing the room to extend a hand for the man to shake. “Mayor Adelbert Ebner, here if you should ever need me. Which…” He looked to the side. “I’m assuming you do? You so rarely grace me with your beauty, you must be after something.”

He ignored the man in his peripherals scrunching up his nose, mouthing ‘beauty’ to himself in bewilderment. Young people had no respect, especially not for women.

“He’s staying in town for a while,” Pinako told him. “I wanted to put him down as a guardian for the boys, while he’s here. I’m not giving up claim to them, but he deserves to be able to take care of his own brothers.”

“Of course, of course,” Adelbert agreed. If Pinako trusted him, this kid must have been a decent sort, so he had no reason not to agree. “Is he staying long enough to need me to confirm him a citizenship?”

“May as well,” she replied. “It’ll make it easier to hire him.”

To his side, the young man straightened. “To what?”

“Your leg is automail,” Pinako said. “I can hear it plain enough when you walk. I figured a smart type like you probably knows enough about his own limb to help out around the shop.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

She waved him off, looking to Adelbert again. “You can get it sorted, right?”

“Most certainly,” he assured her. “I’ll have the papers filed by the end of the day.”

Her lips curved faintly in a miraculous mimicry of a smile. “Good. Thanks for the help, Bert.”

She turned and left, the strange boy close on her heels, and Adelbert turned his attention to seeking out the forms he would need.

He was not so old that he couldn’t do a favor for a pretty lady...even if he wasn’t really sure he remembered which papers were required for a guardianship.

He should really get an assistant.

Notes:

i dont know why i wanted to make an oc for the perspective at the end of this chapter and i REALLY dont know why he is in love with pinako but that is the content that came from my hellbrain so lets just go with it

Chapter 8

Summary:

“You were in Ishval, weren’t you?”

Notes:

short chappie!! but im sick today and missed work so you get two updates in one day enjoy
also warning because the end of this chapter is. two disabled people showing blatant internalized ableism

“Let me look at that leg.”

Theo stilled, looking at Pinako in alarm. “...Why?”

“You had it locked up when you arrived,” she said. “And your steps are uneven, which means you probably damaged it.”

Theo could vaguely remember being weak and exhausted and choosing to use his own leg like a crutch. In hindsight, not a great idea, but it had allowed him to reach the Rockbells at least.

He crossed the room, taking a seat in a kitchen chair and moving to roll up his pant leg. “Alright,” he allowed. “It hasn’t been maintenanced in a while, anyway.”

Mostly because he hadn’t gone home lately - he’d been away for a good couple of months at the time of the transmutation, launching straight from one job into another, barely bothering to excuse it when he spoke to Winry on the phone. She’d been annoyed with him for it, but he hadn’t stopped to stress about it, just made the excuse that he needed to follow the lead he’d gotten and trying halfheartedly to refer her to bother Mustang about it instead.

He really did need to be a better husband.

Pinako crossed the room, dragging over a short little stool to sit on as she looked over his leg. She tapped her fingers along the metal, squinting at the connections between the pieces, running her fingertips across seams and joints.

“You have sand in the knee,” she informed him.

“...Huh.” Theo had only crossed desert land last month. That sand had probably been there a while. Not great for the metal, and also not a good sign for his nerve connections, if he hadn’t noticed the grating. “Weird.”

“You haven’t been taking care of this at all, have you?” Pinako accused. “A shame, too, because it’s a very advanced model. Innovative design - some sort of prototype? Your mechanic has to be-...”

She cut off in the middle of her commentary, going still and silent within the span of a second.

“...Is something wrong?” Theo prompted. “G-...Uh, Ms. Rockbell?”

“You were in Ishval, weren’t you?”

Theo blinked. “What? No, I-...”

“Do not lie,” she snapped, looking up at him, eyes blazing with a fury he couldn’t even begin to understand. “You damn sure never stepped into this house, or I would remember, which means you were in Ishval.”

“I don’t know-...”

“My son!” she cried out, smackin a hand down against the knee of his leg. “This is a Rockbell Automail stamp, right here. Yuriy made this, didn’t he?”

Theo faltered. He didn’t have an answer that didn’t dig him deeper into the hole he’d dug for himself. He couldn’t explain the truth, that it hadn’t been Yuriy at all, that Winry had made his leg, without explaining the full story, and Granny Pinako wasn’t the type to appreciate him picking and choosing which details to give her.

“Were you with the military?” she asked. “Did they call in freelance alchemists when their soldiers weren’t enough?”

Theo wasn’t getting out of this one without a lie. With that in mind, he let out a low sigh, and decided: from this second forward, the original Edward Elric as he’d been had to cease to exist. He had no room to be two people at once, and with another Ed around, he had to commit to being Theo instead.

“I wasn’t with the military in Ishval,” he assured her. “I wasn’t involved in the war, for either side.”

“Then what were you doing there?” she pressed her hand against the metal plate along the front of his calf, where the stamp presumably was. “How did you get this?”

Theo chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to find a story that would get him out of this.

“...The guard.”

Theo’s eyebrows shot up as Pinako stood, shaking her head and lighting her pipe, muttering to herself as she worked out her own theory of what happened.

“Yuriy wrote to me from the front lines, just a week before someone called to tell me he was dead. He told me the guard for the medics had gone missing. Everyone was clambering to explain it with some conspiracy or another - the military killed him, the Ishvalans killed him, he deserted, anything at all to make sense of it.” She turned, giving him a cool stare. “You were the guard, weren’t you? You left them to die.”

Well, it was a story. Not a great one, but...one he could work with.

“The military did want them dead,” Theo told her. “They had a plan to stage their deaths already in place. They just didn’t expect someone else to get there first.”

“Someone else?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Who? Who killed my son? You know, don’t you?”

“I don’t know his name,” Theo said. “But, yeah, I know who it was. An Ishvalan, whose brother had just died. He was angry and lashed out, and they just...got caught up in it.”

“You were there?”

Theo shook his head. “No. But I’ve-...It’s complicated, but I know who the Ishvalan was. His brother was an alchemist.”

Pinako frowned, confused. “An Ishvalan alchemist?”

“Yeah. He had this array…” Theo hesitated, before offering, “It was designed to help them in the war, to counter alchemy.”

Pinako’s shoulders slumped, her eyes softening a bit. “You weren’t the guard,” she realized. “You were after that array. That’s why you were there.”

That was a cover Theo was much happier to claim. “Yeah,” he confirmed, and mentally promised to apologize to his own Pinako upon his return for all the bullshit he was giving this one. “I still only know part of it, because-...well, like I said. He died. And his brother was kind of…”
“He killed my son,” Pinako said. “So I’m assuming he’s not friendly.”

“He’s really not,” Theo agreed. “He’s not really an enemy, either, though, so I’m hoping I can find a way to make him share his brother’s notes with me one day. If I have that array, I can work out a version of it to help me against any Philosopher’s stones I find.”

“So you went to the front lines for him,” Pinako said, “and got caught up in the fighting.”

Theo looked away, toward the door he knew Ed and Al were sleeping behind, because that was easier than lying to Pinako’s face. “...Yeah, basically.”

“And you want to join the military?”

Theo couldn’t help but let out a startled laugh. “Yeah, it’s a terrible idea, I know,” he assured her. “But...Military research resources are a million times better than what I can get on my own, and I can make sure those two are taken care of while I’m at it. It won’t be the first time I’ve put my goals ahead of my morals, and it probably won’t be the last, either.”

He looked back to Pinako, and the two held silent eye contact for a long moment.

Finally, she turned away, moving to fetch a small toolbox. “Let me see that leg,” she said. “I won’t ask anything else, but from now on, you treat my son’s work with respect. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Theo promised. Winry would have killed him if he brought it home like that, anyway, so she was probably saving him.

It wasn’t until Theo was on his way to turn in for the night that his deal with Ed came to mind, and he realized a huge issue with it.

He’d agreed to take the next exam.

The one that Mustang had claimed was at the end of the month.

He was so fucked.

“...You want me to what?”

“I know it’s a terrible idea,” Theo rushed out, which Pinako personally thought was an understatement. “But I really need to go, and I don’t want to leave them behind, and I also don’t want to make him miss out-...”

“You’re going to do worse than make him ‘miss out,’” Pinako snapped at him. “A full automail operation in less than a month? His nerves would be fried. He’d lose half the sensation on that side of his body. It could paralyze him.”

Theo’s face fell. He looked so distraught, and she almost felt bad for him. He clearly wanted to find a way to make things work, for him to be able to keep both his promises at once, but the world wouldn’t make allowances for that.

“The way I see it,” she told him, “You have two options. You call that man from the military and tell him to wait, or you leave Ed until he’s recovered.”

Theo’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I can’t do that to him,” he said. “I promised him- I said that we would all stick together. I can’t go back on that.”

“Then you’d best figure something out,” she said, “because I am not about to force an operation on him.”

“What’s going on?”

Theo startled as Al’s voice, and Pinako snapped her own gaze over to the doorway, where the boys were now standing. Ed had an arm around Al, using his brother as a crutch.

“You’re leaving,” Ed said, tone flat.

“I’m not-...I don’t have to,” Theo said. “I just...I double-booked myself. I promised you guys, but I also promised Mustang, and I just realized I can’t keep both.”

“Sure you can.”

Theo faltered. “You...have an idea?”

“I want automail,” Ed said, “but I don’t have to get the whole rig at once, right? I could get the port, and then just use a wheelchair or a crutch until that recovered. I could go with you, and just come back for the second part when I was ready.”

A simple option, and one Theo seemed surprised to hear.

For Pinako, though, she thought it made perfect sense. Ed could have been missing all four limbs, and he’d still stubbornly insist he was fine. He’d want to be back on his own two feet as soon as possible, but he wasn’t the type to feel sorry for himself or think he was in any worse shape for having a disability.

Attaching an automail port would seal up the wound, allowing for a recovery without so many bandages, and then the process would be the same if he stayed with her or went with Theo.

“I can do that,” she agreed. “A quicker surgery just means fewer lost nerve endings, and as long as you keep resting while the port recovers, it doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing.”

“You’d be willing to go with me?” Theo asked, quietly. “Even if it meant you might have to wait a little longer for-...?”

“I’ll be fine,” Ed cut him off, stubborn as ever. “I’m standing right now, aren’t I?”

Pinako snorted out a gruff laugh at that. The boy had a point - even if he was leaning on Al to do so, he was most certainly upright.

“Okay,” Theo said, sounding like he couldn’t believe it himself. “Okay, we can do this. We can go to Central.”

“Give him at least a week to recover here, first,” Pinako insisted. “But, yes. Once I clear him, there’s no reason you can’t go.”

She usually wasn’t a very emotional person, but the look of sheer bewildered joy on Theo’s face broke her heart a little.

Notes:

theo: how can we go to central without ed getting his automail
ed: what if i dont get automail
theo: 'o' face pikachu meme

Chapter 9

Summary:

She was right, he wasn’t wearing his ring. He hadn’t been wearing his ring for nearly a month.

Notes:

I went back to work after the holidays/sick leave shenanigans so thats why this took a bit longer, but thank you guys who were concerned about me in the comments ;w;
some Things: timeline wise, since this is right after the transmutation attempt, elica wont be born for a bit longer
(also, in regards to something else that was mentioned...nina was just recently born. her mom hasnt 'left' yet ;) )
heres some more theo introspection where he realizes hes way more like his dad then he wanted to be
also remember that moment when roy assumed theo was hohenheim and theo didnt bother to correct him? yeah, thats gonna be a Problem™

The morning after their plans were established, Pinako grabbed Theo and thrust a medical bag into his hands, steering him out the door. Apparently, she made weekly trips into town in case anyone needed her services, and as her newly appointed lackey it was Theo's job to keep track of her supplies.

Which, it seemed, was just an excuse to get him away from the house and any potential eavesdroppers, so she could interrogate him.

“I wasn't going to ask,” she said, “because I really don't want to know anymore of this strange alchemist nonsense you have going on. But you brought it up again and now I have to, so...you don't wear a wedding ring.”

Theo resisted the urge to look at his hands, as if to check, because he already knew what he’d see. She was right, he wasn’t wearing his ring. He hadn’t been wearing his ring for nearly a month.

He didn’t wear his ring because he took it off every time he went to see Mustang, so that he didn’t have to deal with the man’s eyes locking onto it as he reached out to accept whatever file he was stealing, squinting at it as he asked after Winry and his kids like he actually cared.

Sometimes, he’d wondered if those questions were Mustang’s way of reminding him that he had other places to be. Other times, he didn’t care what they were about, they just bothered him for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.

Bothered him enough, even, that he’d taken to popping off his ring whenever he headed to Mustang’s office. Bothered him enough that sometimes - like this past time - he didn’t put it back on, instead just carrying it around.

He told himself a lot of things about that habit, like that he didn’t want to mess up the ring while beating in someone’s face or that he didn’t want to give anyone potential leverage against him by admitting to having a family, but for the most part, he knew he was full of shit.

He didn’t wear his ring when he went to see Mustang, because Mustang would see it and remember that he had a wife, and then he’d say something about it. He didn’t wear his ring whenever he had extended time to himself where he wouldn’t need to wear it, because every time he saw it he’d remember the same thing.

That ring, when polished, could catch his face and reflect it in such a way that he could only see his dad. It was a reminder that he’d staked a claim and made a promise he never bothered to honor until it suited him.

He was a shit husband and a shit father, and he would really need to make an effort to be better, because this just kept showing him more and more reasons why his actions were unacceptable.

All this inner turmoil aside, Theo knew what Pinako was after, and so he dug into his pocket until he found the metal case he kept inside.

A button at the top unclasped it, revealing the tiny safe storage he carted around. Within the case sat a couple of hair ties, a scrap of paper with some forgotten note-to-self, what appeared to be a dinner mint, and, of course, his ring.

He picked it up, snapping the case back closed and putting it away, and sliding the ring onto his finger.

“I take it off when I work,” he said. “It’s safer in my pocket, usually.”

“Mmhm.”
Theo stiffened, looking to Pinako, waiting for her to offer further skepticism.

She said nothing, though. Whatever judgements she was making, she kept them to herself, and Theo couldn’t even tell if he was grateful for it.

They walked in silence for a bit, before Pinako spoke up again. “The town is usually fine. Colds and allergies are usually all that’s going on, but I prepare for anything just in case.”

“Do you ever have people seriously sick?”

“Sometimes,” Pinako replied. “Usually, if it’s bad, someone will either send for me or call me. Some people are stubborn, though, and will sit out here and suffer until I come by and someone forces them to get checked over.”

Pinako had no way of knowing Theo’s own self-care habits, but he still felt like that was directed at him. Like somehow, she’d picked up that he was a terrible patient.

Probably when she was cleaning the parts of his automail. If anything said ‘I don’t like to go to the doctor,’ it was the state he kept his automail in when he wasn’t around Winry.

“So expect nothing, but be prepared for anything,” Theo summarized. “Pretty much how I live my life.”

“Is that why you stuck to those boys so quickly?”
Theo startled, pausing in his steps at the same time as Pinako, the two turning to look at each other.

“You said you showed up in the middle of their transmutation,” she said. “And I saw them, yesterday - they don’t know you. You didn’t speak until you were in my house, and I’ll bet you barely told them anything. They’re clinging to you because you’re the only hope they’ve got, but you? You have a family.” She shot a glance down to his ring, as though making a point, before meeting his eyes again. “I can understand wanting to protect them, but something tells me you have another reason you don’t want to go home.”

Theo straightened, affronted, but Pinako didn’t give him time for rebuttal. She just turned and started off again, calling over her shoulder as she went.

“That’s just my take on things. Figured I’d share.”

A tight knot settled in Theo’s gut, and he ducked his head down, following after her without a word.

He didn’t have a defense. No matter what story he went with, he had no defense.

He missed his brother. He missed Winry, and his kids. He missed the stupid fucking house he never stayed in and the sister-in-law he always argued with and trying to snatch his stuff back from the resident pickpocket and just… home. He missed all of it.

But she was right. From the outside, at the very least, it seemed like he didn’t want to go home.

And he had no way to explain it. No excuse to be found.

Not even for himself.

“Roy!” Maes Hughes exclaimed, standing up from his desk with a broad grin. “You’re in early! You should have told me, I would have come to the train station!”

Roy Mustang narrowed his eyes at his friend, entering his office, with Riza trailing close behind him. “No way you didn’t know I was going to be here today. You’re working on something, aren’t you?”

Maes was, actually, and unlike his actual work, this was something he could share. “Just looking into that thing you wanted me to check on.”

‘That thing’ was, apparently, the fourth member of a family of extremely talented alchemists out in Risembool of all places. Roy had apparently invited him to come and join up, and only asked Maes to make sure he wasn’t a risk after the fact.

And, unfortunately for him, Maes hadn’t turned up much.

“Found anything?”

“The name ‘Theo’ doesn’t turn up so much as a rumor,” Maes told Roy, hopping up to sit on the edge of his desk as he filled them in. “‘Hohenheim,’ though. That makes the rounds.”

Roy raised an eyebrow, expression a silent prompt for Maes to explain.

“Lots of stories, in lots of places,” Maes said. “Insanely powerful alchemy. Seemingly impossible transmutations, performed easy as breathing. Of course, most of the stories I heard are from non-alchemists like myself, so they’re not terribly reliable. Still, all accounts fit the profile you gave me. Gold hair and eyes, strong features, alchemy without a circle. The ‘bad attitude’ seems to just be you, though. Everyone else describes him like he’s some kind of angel.” Maes hesitated, before adding, “Or a ghost. He’s not known for lingering in any one place for long.”

“We’ll give him a reason to change that,” Roy dismissed easily. “If he’s good, I need him.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” Maes twisted around to reach behind himself, digging through his papers on his desk until he found the folder he’d assembled earlier, turning back to pass it to Roy. “There’s all my notes on him. Somewhere in there is a letter to him, that the military police intercepted.”

Roy narrowed his eyes. “Seizing his mail?”

“It’s the sender, not the recipient,” Maes assured him.

“Who wrote it?”

“Allegedly? Tim Marcoh.”

Roy frowned. “He was doing unauthorized research, right? He’s the reason lab 5 was shut down.”

“That’s him,” Maes confirmed. “You should read it. It’s pretty interesting.”

Roy opened the folder, flipping through the pages, seeking it out. It was stuck near the front, partially tucked in an opened envelope.

 

Van Hohenheim,

I hope this letter reached you safely. We do not know each other, and so I don’t know if this will mean anything to you at all, but I have heard your name many times in my work.

This is a warning. A courtesy.

I spent significant time working in alchemic research under the command of a group of demons whose only fear, it seemed, was you. And they were preparing to defend against this accepted threat, by any means necessary.

They want your body, and want your blood. You are only useful to them alive, but death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a man. They made certain I learned that.

I’m going away. I took the results of my experiments and ran, and I intend to go underground and vanish forever, if I can.

If you choose to fight, be wary. The sickness goes far deeper than the wounds you can see.

Godspeed,

Tim Marcoh

“‘If you choose to fight, be wary,’” Roy read aloud. “What threat are they facing? Was someone blackmailing Marcoh into his work?”

“Do you know what Marcoh’s experiments were?”

Roy straightened. “You do?”

Maes shook his head. “That’s beyond classified, it’s unrecorded . They didn’t make note of what he did on paper, not anywhere. The things I’ve found along the way, though, notes by people who knew...They talk about body counts.”

Roy sucked in a sharp breath. “He was experimenting on humans,” he realized. “Someone was making him experiment on humans.”

Maes crossed the room, lowering his voice. “My office is probably the safest place in Central,” he said, “but I don’t think this is something we should say too much about. Something bigger is at play here. I think there’s a message in that letter that you and I can’t see, but we have the key to figuring it out at hand.”

“The alchemist,” Roy filled in. “Theo Van Hohenheim. The letter is to him, he should know what it is trying to say.”

“When does he come in?”

Roy shook his head. “I don’t know. The test is almost three weeks out. We came in to file my proposal of him in person, to make up for the short notice.”

“An endorsement by the great Flame Alchemist will carry him a pretty good way through the system,” Maes said. “And if he’s as good as people claim he is, he’ll have no problem filling in the gap. All we need to do is make sure he gets there.”

Roy waved the letter around, before tucking it back into the folder carefully. “And make sure whoever this is talking about doesn’t get to him before we do.”

Maes nodded in agreement, and the three military personnel in the room stood in silence for a long moment.

Maes was the one to break it, suddenly snatching his folder back from Roy and replacing it with a very different type of document.

“In the meantime!” he cheered. “Look at my lovely wife! I took this yesterday. She looks so beautiful, and even better, she’s almost due! Can you imagine how beautiful a baby she makes would be? I can hardly stand it.”

Behind him, Roy could hear the creak of the door as Riza escaped.

Traitor. He was going to be here all day.

Notes:

you dont wanna know what maes did to get his hands on that letter. you just dont

Chapter 10

Summary:

If every array he physically drew out tied itself to the matter it was on, then maybe his issue laid in the fact he'd been drawing them out at all.

Notes:

double upload hype! here's some Angst™

Working with Pinako was just as boring as she'd warned it would be, leaving Theo mostly idle while she diagnosed her seventh case of seasonal allergies or checked over an old lady's “sprained” knitting fingers. All that meant, though, was that he had plenty of time to sit around bored and thinking, which in turn meant he was able to come up with several theories to test in his “teleportation” alchemy.

Every array he ever used pulled from his own personal gate. That, at least, he knew for fact.

If he drew the array on the ground, though, maybe that tethered it to the real world. Some arrays only worked when drawn out - anything related to human transmutation, for instance. Maybe that was because drawing it out created a physical link between the strange white void of Truth's domain, that space between worlds, and the actual living world around them. A bond that allowed the passage of the soul between the gate and its body.

If that were the case, then perhaps the roadblock he was running into was not the linking of his arrays to each other, but in the links they formed with the earth they were on. Each array wanted to draw from the world around it for matter and his gate only for form. He needed the array to draw both from the gate.

If every array he physically drew out tied itself to the matter it was on, then maybe his issue laid in the fact he'd been drawing them out at all. Or, at least, drawing two of them.

As soon as he was freed from Pinako's servitude, he raced to the Elric house, holing up in the study to try his new theory.

He cleaned up his previous failed experiments, and drew out a new circle. Utterly basic, the kind he used to use for making wood figures for his mom as a kid.

Rigging it to trigger from a different array was harder without a physical reference point, but not impossible. Maybe it would have been, had he not been exposed to the gate’s infinite knowledge so many times, but that wasn't speculation he wanted to waste time on.

Instead, he crossed the room, getting well out of range of the first array, and clapped.

Blue static crackled around him, and he slammed his hands down on the floor.

At first, he expected the wood to bow under his fingers, the way it had every time he'd tried this with the drawn arrays. When the static glanced harmlessly off the surface of the floorboards, he expected the array to simply not work at all.

He got neither. Instead, very slowly, a wood figure began to form.

He looked up, desperately seeking out the original array, and gave an astounded sigh when he saw it eating away at the floor around it.

He’d done it. He’d figured it out.

The transmutation was slow, and far more draining than it should have been for such a simple array, but it worked.

Theo spent the rest of the evening testing his arrays, slowly improving them as he went. Eventually, the transfer got less exhausting, and he managed to get the speed to be slightly more reasonable. It still wasn’t something he could break out in the middle of a fight, like his usual flash-fast techniques, but it was feasible for use in a tight spot.

That left only one branch of his array to test, and it was the part that really got the anxiety rolling within him.

He didn’t believe in testing on living things, human or animal, but not everything that was alive necessarily had the ability to feel or respond. The boys didn’t have a lot around the house, clearly preferring to spend most of their time at Pinako’s, but there was some fruit in the kitchen. An apple was a good enough test subject, he figured, and carried it to the study to try it out.

He drew out an array, setting the apple gently on top of it, and crossed the room again. Taking a deep breath, he locked his gaze to the apple, and clapped.

Blue static lit up the room, twice as brilliant as a standard transmutation. The sort of wild, ostentatious effect that usually accompanied major acts, and not the manipulation of a slightly withered apple.

With the previous transmutations, Theo had taken a moment at the beginning of each to reach out for the items on the other array, pouring energy into the transmutation to reach further and further until finally connecting. This process had gotten easier with each run, but now that progress was lost, the apple refusing to register for him.

He was a second away from dropping the energy to re-examine his methods when the crackling blue light turned to a flash, cutting across his vision and blinding him.

His eyes snapped shut on reflex, recoiling, and suddenly the pull on his soul was gone. The energy from the transmutation neither returned nor dissolved, but simply..stopped. Gone from one moment to the next, in a similar manner to how it had felt…

...No.

He opened his eyes, locking them on Truth’s wide white smile.

“Why?” he breathed out. “Why am I here? I didn’t-...”

“You won’t give up, will you?”

Theo faltered. “Give up what?”

“You’re not a god,” Truth told him. “You’re not even like your father, stuck between worlds. You’re perfectly human, right down to the core.”

“I know that,” Theo said. “I never-...”

“You do?” Truth interrupted. “You know? Then why do you keep coming here?”

“I didn’t mean to come here,” Theo shot back. “I didn’t do anything to end up here. I was transmuting an apple.”

“You were trying to open the gate,” Truth said. “You wanted to pass a living thing through it, because you’re still entertaining the idea that one day, you can go through it.”

Theo’s stomach sank. “I...can’t?”

Truth through its hands out to either side, grin sharp and cruel. “He finally catches on!” it jeered. “I gave you back your alchemy. I gave you an opportunity to make some real changes in your life. Those things are worth much, much more than one tiny human life and one weak Stone, don’t you think?”

“No,” Theo breathed, less in answer and more in horrified realization. “My toll-...you mean…?”

“Your life was your toll,” Truth replied. “Not the beating of your heart or the blood in your veins, but everything that made it yours. You will never go home, Edward. Your home doesn’t exist.”

“But Al-..!”

“Alphonse is a child,” Truth practically sang back at him in taunting. “He’s right next door, waiting for you to come and take him and the other Edward somewhere better. He doesn’t even know that you left him for dead.”

Theo shook his head. “No. No, Al is fine. No way that crackpot alchemist could get the drop on him.”

“Everything that was is lost,” Truth insisted. “Your brother, as he was, will never exist. If you want Alphonse Elric, congratulations. You get to raise him.”

A sudden chill ran through Theo, as a single thought managed to break through the firm wall of denial he’d put up. “...My family. My kids.”

“They’ll be born, one day,” Truth said. “But they won’t be yours. Maybe you can raise your double to be a better father than you were. I don’t imagine it’d be hard.”

“You’re lying,” Theo said. “You’re wrong. There’s no way- I can go back. I will go back.”

“No,” Truth replied. “You won’t.”

Theo took a step forward, a shout rising to the tip of his tongue, but he was suddenly back in the study, staring at that fucking apple.

“No,” he breathed out. “No, no, you don’t get to run away, you fucking coward.”

He clapped his hands together and slammed them against the ground, reaching out with his alchemy for the apple again, trying to hunt down whatever had activated the gate for Truth to visit him.

Blue static filled the air, just as bright and chaotic as the first time, and then there was a flash once more. When he opened his eyes this time, though, he wasn’t in the white space again.

Instead, he was still in the study, and it took him a moment to notice what was different. To notice the splatters across the room, carnage mimicking the horrors he’d seen over the years, the white a stark contrast to the crimson of the blood in his memories.

The apple had exploded.

“You fucking…”

Theo pushed himself up off the floor, stumbling his way out the door, through the house, into the yard. He hit his knees in the dead patches that were once his mother’s garden, heaving through his shaky breathing. The world around him was swimming, his heart was pounding in his chest, and every time his eyes closed all he saw was white .

His brother wasn’t waiting at the edge of the array, after all. That alchemist wasn’t getting his ass kicked by a pissed off Alphonse Elric, because that person was now a child again and waiting across the yard, with a younger Edward Elric who hadn’t yet entirely fucked up his own life.

A glint caught his eye, and he looked down, lifting his hand from the dirt to watch the moonlight bounce off his ring.

His wedding ring, that he’d only put on because Pinako had asked about it. The damn thing he never bothered to wear. Something he’d put on as a promise, to give half his life in exchange for half of hers, and he’d not given her even a piece of himself in earnest.

That ring that he’d always pulled off in the hall on the way to see Mustang, because Where’s your ring, Fullmetal had always sounded better than How’s your wife, Ed and he still couldn’t really say why.

Did Winry wear her ring? Did she keep it on when her hands were tired from working on automail and caring for two children all on her own?

He’d never know. Ed might, if he grew up to make all the same mistakes.

And that was another thing - Ed, the name and life that had once been his, was well and truly lost, and now only existed in the form of a little boy with a mountain of issues and a man whose only strengths were earned through the blood of the ones he loved.

Who was he, now? Without the hope of home, a distant goal for him to keep in sight as he tried to make at least one world turn a little smoother?

A fake name he’d assumed, a fake life story with a thousand gaps glaring at him, a ticking time bomb that just waited for him to say something he couldn’t lie he way free of. And that’s all he was, now, just a liar, forcing himself into the midst of a family he didn’t deserve. He hadn’t cared for his own, and now he’d never get the chance.

Which, who was he kidding? He’d never have had a chance. If he’d turned up at his home, ten years of apologies on his lips, what were the chances Winry wouldn’t have just pushed a box of his shit into his hands and told him to hit the road?

He’d never know.

At some point, he’d have to get up. He’d have to cross the yard, and return to Pinako’s. He’d have to take the boys and go to Central and take the stupid entrance exam and become a dog of the military all over again, and he’d have to do it all with the knowledge that he’d given everything he ever loved for the chance to make things a little better for a second iteration of himself.

At some point, he’d haul his ass across the country and hunt down the first homunculus, hunt down ‘Father,’ and beat the fucker’s face in with all the fury he wished he could direct at Truth instead.

That was all for the future, though. When the world felt a little less broken, and the air around him wasn’t so thin.

For now, though, he grieved, because it was the only thing he could do.

Notes:

fun fact: i wrote the first half of this on my phone during lunch at work today

Chapter 11

Summary:

"Get up, get pissed, and take something back."

Notes:

owo whats this?
everyone being hurt by the last chapter fueled me for several days because im a sadistic author
also. i appreciate everyone who was willing to go along with my bullshit pseudoscience in the last chapter
here's some more Angst + pinako still being unimpressed by these alchemy shenanigans + probably unhealthy life advice + The Boys

When Theo had rushed off to go work on his alchemic experiments, Pinako had expected him to take a while. If he was like the boys - which all signs pointed to being true - he’d get immersed in his work and forget to look up until he realized he was starving or falling asleep.

She stayed up, then, waiting in the kitchen for his return. She needed to check over his automail again, and make sure the joints were recovering from their cleaning. She also needed to make sure that the man himself was recovering, because she wasn’t certain he’d slept since waking in her house the first time. Checking on Theo would also give her another opportunity to appraise him - no matter how many times they’d spoken, she couldn’t get a gauge for what sort of person he was.

He latched onto Ed and Al with sudden ferocity, but spoke of his own family with distance and insincere sentiments. She got the feeling he was running from something, and she didn’t like it. There was a chance the reason he clung to the boys was that he was using them as a second chance at a family, since he’d botched the first one.

She suspected there was something deeper to his history, specifically regarding his marriage. A man didn’t just forget to wear his wedding ring. He spoke of his family so haltingly and so reluctantly, she was half convinced that he didn’t have one at all. A divorce, perhaps, or just a rather thorough separation. If Pinako had a husband that flighty, she certainly wouldn’t keep him around, especially with children involved.

She could ask him about all those things, she though, when he returned for the night.

Except, he didn’t.

“There you are.”

Theo raised his eyes off the flower he’d been steadily stripping of petals, looking up to see Pinako frowning down at him.

“You look awful,” she said, simple and matter-of-fact. “I thought you were doing alchemy. Why are you out here in the garden?”

Theo looked back to the mangled flower in his hands. There was some poetic metaphor there, some link between the ugly mess he’d made there and the one he’d made of his life, but he was too tired to form it into a coherent thought.

“I figured it out,” Theo said, and would have winced at the rough tone of his own voice if it weren’t so exhausting.

When had he last slept? Would he even be able to?

“Figured what out?”

Theo shook his head, disgusted. “What my toll was. What I paid to be here.”

Pinako must have caught the weight behind his admission, because she was quiet for a long moment, before prompting, “What’d it take?”

Just that blunt. Pinako was really a valuable person to have around during his increasingly dire emotional spiral.

“My family,” Theo said. Pinako sucked in a sharp breath, and he let out a bitter and humorless laugh. “Yeah.”

“And you know for sure?”

Theo tossed the flower aside, finally, having thoroughly exhausted that distraction. “Alchemy all runs through a personal gate, into-...”

“I don’t need the details,” Pinako interrupted, voice so calm and steady Theo couldn’t even consider it rude, just honest. “You’re sure?”

Theo hesitated, then gave an abrupt nod. “I’m sure. They’re...they’re gone.”

His voice cracked on the last word, and he snapped his mouth shut, fighting against the urge to…

He didn’t even know. Cry? Scream? Be sick again? All of the above? How did a person even react to something like this?

They sat in silence for a while, while Theo mourned and Pinako processed.

“I’ve lost all my family, short of those three kids,” Pinako eventually said. “No parent should ever outlive their child.”

Theo winced.

“But,” she continued, “We don’t have the choice of who goes, and when. You said you didn’t come here on purpose. If the universe or god or whatever thought that sending you here was worth taking them, then the best thing you can do is make sure you don’t waste it.” She stepped forward, dropping a hand onto his hair, his curled up sitting position putting his head within her reach. “It’s not fair, who we lose. I know fair is a thing for you alchemists, but the world doesn’t work that way. Sometimes it just takes. Get up, get pissed, and take something back. That’s all we can do.”

Some people would have told him to move on, while others would have justified his guilt and grief with the reminder that it was, technically, his fault.

Pinako, though, was a lot like him. Recovery was not easy, and surrender was not an option. The only way they moved forward was to weaponize their pain, to internalize it and turn it into a spiteful force to drive them ever onward.

If he was pressing on, though, he needed to be in motion.

He raised his eyes up to Pinako’s, face hardening into something less devastated and more determined.

He had things he needed to do.

“There’s a look,” Pinako muttered. “What is it?”

Get up, get pissed, and take something back.

“How soon can you install the automail port?”

“I can’t see anything,” Ed complained loudly, smacking the top of his brother’s head with rapid, yet restrained paps, more a physical protest than an actual attack. “Why aren’t you taller?”

“Why aren’t you?” Al shot back, hand shifting yet again, and Ed made a mental note to kill him as soon as he was fully mobile.

Ed had convinced his brother - through agonizing persuasion tactics - to perch him onto his shoulders, so that he could look out the window and try and see where Granny was going. She thought they were asleep, he was pretty sure, so the fact that they heard her leave was weird. He didn’t take her for an evening walk kind of person.

They ran into two problems with this plan:

One: It was night, and as Ed had mentioned, he couldn’t actually see anything beyond the house’s front yard, and

Two: Al was trying very obviously not to settle his hand anywhere near the severance point of Ed’s missing leg, which resulted in him trying very awkwardly to find a way to stabilize him.

On one hand, Ed was grateful, because his leg fucking hurt all the time and he didn’t want to add pressure or anything to that.

On the other hand, he was pretty sure the risk of reopening the wound wasn’t the main problem Al was trying to avoid.

“What are you guys doing?”

Both boys startled, resulting in Ed almost being dislodged from Al’s shoulders. The two stumbled backwards as a unit, Ed scrambling to hold on to Al’s head as the younger boy tried to regain his center of balance. In the process, he must have forgotten his own discomfort in favor of instinct, because his hand finally hit Ed’s thigh to hold him in place properly. Ed, in turn, bit down on the inside of his cheek, because he felt the skin beneath his hand popping back open and starting to bleed again.

Al apparently felt it too, because he quickly began streaming out apologies, backing toward the bed and leaning back to drop Ed onto it.

“Ahh,” he hissed, watching the bandages around his leg start slowly pinking. “Fuck, that hurt.”

He paused, the second the words were out, looking to Al and Winry to see which would be first to scold him for the swear.

Neither said a word. They were both staring in horror at his leg.

That was going to get old, fast .

“I’m fine,” Ed insisted. “It’s not that bad.”

“You lost your leg.”

Ed winced at Winry’s harsh whisper. “I meant the bleeding,” he protested, weakly.

“...Oh.”

Ed looked down to his bandages. “I’ll be okay, though,” he said. “Don’t worry so much about me. It-...”

He looked at Al, remembering what Theo had said about his own transmutation.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he finished, solemnly, watching Al give a grim nod in agreement.

“Worse than a leg ?” Winry asked, incredulous. “Ed, why did you-...” She stopped, shaking her head. “Nevermind. I guess-...I guess if I thought I could get my parents back, I would have tried something stupid, too.”

“It wasn’t stupid,” Ed immediately defended.

“It was a little stupid,” Al countered. “No one has ever completed a successful human transmutation, but we thought that we could.”

“That we know about,” Ed amended. “No one has recorded a successful human transmutation. It could be possible. I thought I might have seen the way, in the gate, but it wouldn’t let me-....”

“Ed, stop,” Al cut him off. “You heard Theo. It’s not worth it.”

Ed faltered, looking helplessly to his brother. “...Then what? We follow him around like puppies until he leaves? He won’t stay forever, Al.”

“We’ll figure that out,” Al said. “We don’t have to know everything right away.”

Ed didn’t like the concept of unknowns, but Al had a point. They had plenty of time to plan their own lives, especially if Theo had a plan for their immediate future already in place.

“We’ll stick together, then,” Ed declared. “No matter what, right, Al?”

Al gave a firm nod. “No matter what.”

“I’m with you guys, too!” Winry added. “Ed’s gonna get an automail leg, and I’m gonna make sure I’m the best mechanic ever, so I can take care of it. And you two won’t be able to get rid of me, even if you do have to go far away.”

Ed grinned, looking to the other two, taking a moment to appreciate their easy acceptance.

Pinako was right, after all - how could he have ever thought he didn’t have family?

The sound of the front door opening interrupted them.

“Ah, she’s back!” Ed whisper-shouted. “Pretend to sleep!”

“Too late.”

Ed winced, looking over to the doorway, where a very tired looking Theo and an amused Pinako were standing.

“You three are a menace,” Pinako informed them. “Get to bed, all of you. Especially you two- did you reopen your leg? And that’s not even your bed.” She crossed the room, tutting as she went. “Theo, help me move him back, would you?”

Theo crossed the room without comment, scooping Ed up like he weighed nothing. Ed flushed, embarrassed at behind hauled around like some little kid, and smacked a pillow down over his own face the second he was laid back down.

“Stay like that,” Pinako said, taking a seat beside his bed. “I’m going to have to undo your bandages to check on the bleeding, because you lot can’t sit still for five minutes.”

Ed grimaced into the pillow as she started peeling the bindings away.

“Theo,” she called out, as she worked, “There’s a guest room upstairs. Take it. You’ll probably get a lot better sleep there than with these two around.”

“I’ll stay, actually,” Theo answered, the quiet murmur almost inaudible beyond the muffling of the pillow. “I don’t really want to be by myself.”

Ed pulled the pillow down, so that the very top of it pressed against his mouth still, but his eyes were free to peak at his mysterious half-brother.

He looked...really bad. Was he sick?

“Suit yourself,” Pinako said. “You hear that, boys? He’s staying in here, so if you two aren’t going to sleep, at least shut up about it. He needs rest just as much as you two do.”

“We’ll be quiet!” Al promised immediately, the traitor. “Ed needs to sleep, too.”

Ed freed his mouth from the pillow by chucking it at Al. “ You need sleep!”

“You all need sleep,” Pinako agreed. “Everyone shut up and get working on it.” She tied off his bandages, patting the edge of his leg and tossing the blanket over him. “Good night, brats.”

Ed was pretty sure she was talking to him and Al, but all three of them echoed back a good night.

 

Notes:

truth, sitting in front of the gate, eating pringles: yall are a fuckin Riot

Chapter 12

Summary:

Why had he come? He couldn’t remember.

Notes:

this chapter was a pain and im not super happy with it but. here it is. the last of the risembool affairs before i throw theo into the actual plot!
the beginning is probably confusing so i'll explain before you even get to it: theo's dreaming. the dream changes in the middle and he doesn't really notice because it was a super weird dream to begin with and sleepin brains dont usually catch onto stuff like that

The ruins of Xerxes sprawled out around him, crumbling buildings looming in every direction. The lingering aura of death and evil lurked behind every corner, but that could have very well been his own knowledge of the horrors that went on here.

Why had he come? He couldn’t remember.

Uncertain of his own motivations, he moved slowly through the ruins, ducking under fallen columns and navigating unstable buildings as he went. There was something up ahead, he thought, but couldn’t recall what it was. Just that he needed to press on, seeking it out, because that was what he was here for.

Just a little further. If he moved quickly, he could get there in time.

In time for what? Why was he in such a hurry?

Was that a person?

He rushed forward, chasing after the spectre in the distance. They disappeared behind a corner, and he followed after.

The second he rounded the edge, he almost ran over a person walking by. Not the same person, it didn’t look like, just a regular citizen. They were filling the streets, all going about their own business, ducking in an out of the shops around them as they ran their daily errands.

Where had the man gone? The tall one, who he’d followed here?

He couldn’t wait here to find out. He weaved through the crowd, eyes sharp, looking for that man again.

His aimless steps carried him to a pavillion, and he stepped within it.

A large wall rose at the back of it. In front of it stood a young man - the man, the one he’d followed here. He was scrawling something on the walls.

He took a step forward, ready to call out, but his movement was met with a blue spark. He looked down, taking in the array he’d just stepped into.

It looked familiar. So, so familiar. What was it? What did it do? The array was too big to look at all at once, and each time he turned his head he found he forgot the lines he couldn’t actively see.

“Welcome home,” a voice called to him. His head snapped up, looking to the man.

He - it - had a circle on its forehead, the image of a snake devouring its own tail, and below it his eyes glowed red.

“You almost missed it,” the thing said. “Theophrastus.”

Purple static erupted around him, and his vision was bleached out in the flash.

Theo’s eyes snapped open, heart in his throat, but the only thing that he could see was the ceiling of the patient room. He instantly looked to the side, seeking out Al out of habit, but the bed beside him was empty.

He shot up, scrambling out of bed to look around, trying to figure out where he might have gone. In the mad rush, he turned again, toward his own bed.

On the other side of it, Ed and Al were both asleep, curled up on Ed’s bed.

Theo let out a heavy, relieved sigh, that turned into a yawn midway through. He was still tired, but after that dream, he doubted he would get more sleep. It hadn’t been a nightmare, necessarily, but it had been unsettling.

The sound of Father saying ‘ Welcome home’ was most likely going to haunt him for a while. Same with the sound of his own name.

Because it was his name, now. If his family was gone, no longer existed, then with them went the original Edward Elric. There was only one of those, here, and he was an eleven year old boy desperate for family of his own.

Theo couldn’t get in the way of that, but he could try to help provide it. The character was simple enough to play, he just had to accept that his life prior to the transmutation that sent him there was null and void.

He would grieve for the things he’d lost, all the hard work he’d wasted, but...if he was lucky, he could ensure a better future for this Ed.

He tried not to think about how rarely he was ever lucky.

Pinako wasn’t even surprised when she came down to the kitchen the next morning to find Theo already up and about. The breakfast he’d prepared was unexpected, but she supposed he’d had to have something to do while he waited.

“Did you sleep at all?” she asked, snatching up a piece of bacon to munch on.

“A little,” Theo replied. “Enough to be awake right now.”

“Hm.” She eyed the faint dark smudges of skin under his eyes, but didn't call him out on them. He'd likely have trouble sleeping for a good while. Instead, she prompted him, “So you made breakfast?”

Theo looked almost sheepish at the direct confrontation. “I don't handle sitting still very well.”

She'd noticed. Again, she kept any comments to herself.

“You'll be heading into town with me, again, today.”

Theo caught his own grimace admirably quickly, but she still saw it.

“Two days in a row should be good for a week or so,” Pinako assured him. “You’ll be free to do whatever you'd like while Ed recovers.”

“And when..?”

“I’ll see how he feels about having the port put on tomorrow,” she said. “I'm sure he's just as eager to get on with it as you are.”

She watched some of the tension bleed out of Theo, his shoulders relaxing a bit as he set about finishing his breakfast preparations. Her mind turned to the traumas he’d apparently endured in his life, and he eyes trailed down, looking to his hand.

His finger had red patches surrounding his wedding ring, signs of wear from the anxious fiddling he’d done with it since finding out what happened to his wife.

She didn’t understand alchemy, not even a little, but Theo seemed to believe that his family had been killed by it. She couldn’t see how moving a man from one place to another would equal in value to an entire family’s lives, but he acted as though it were perfectly sensible, so she wouldn’t look too far into it.

Theo had something dark about him, in his casual disregard for practically everything that got brought up around him, in his razor-sharp wit that latched onto utter nonsense and dragged out something feasible, in his desperation to care for Ed and Al. Theo had spoken of his plans to stay with them as though extended time from his family were something inevitable, rather than a price to pay, and she worried as to why that was. Perhaps his family was not close to him. Maybe he’d gotten divorced, and just didn’t like to say anything about it. Maybe he’d been getting close to that point. Maybe, maybe, maybe a lot of things, and each and every one made just as much sense as the last, leaving her with far more questions than answers.

She didn’t want to know much, so she didn’t intend to ask any of the things that crossed her mind each time Theo said or did anything. Instead, she narrowed her focus down to the one thing she needed to know.

“About this deal,” Pinako said. “You said the agreement was for that man-...”

“Mustang,” Theo offered. “Colonel Mustang. The Flame Alchemist.”

“Mustang,” Pinako allowed. “For him to take care of the boys, to keep them safe. Safe from those things you were talking about? That mess your father is mixed up in?”

“From-...” Theo started, then stopped, then began again. “It’s not really safe to talk about it, much, but the person I’m going after has a lot of power, and a plan to give himself even more. And that plan needs strong alchemists, ones that can see the gate and make it out alive. Alchemists who have performed human transmutation.”

“And Ed and Al fit the bill,” she filled in. “So, what do they want with them? If they were caught…?”

“They’d be kept alive,” Theo replied, and then offered no further details.

She knew better than to ask for them. Given that he’d explained a genocide without hesitation, she definitely didn’t want to know what he wasn’t saying.

Instead, she nodded, and looked toward the door of the patient room. “Should I get the boys up, or are we just going to leave this out for them whenever they wake up on their own?”

“I’ll cover it up and leave it for them,” Theo said. “Let them sleep.”

“Alright, then.” She turned from him, heading to dig through her things to get ready for the day’s trip into town. “We’ll set off in a minute, then.”

Not too soon, though. She’d take her time getting her stuff together. The more time she spent speaking to Theo, the more she learned, the harder it got to keep up.

What she knew, though, without a doubt, was that she didn’t know enough to keep the boys safe, if some evil thing was truly after them. Theo presumably did, and so she’d have to trust him.

She’d lost enough family.

The second and final day of town doctoring was just as boring as the first, made even worse by the fact that no one needed to be introduced to him this time, meaning he didn’t even have questions to answer or pleasantries to offer. Luckily, it was over quickly, Pinako having rightly predicted that not many people needed her with a visit having been made just the day before.

Once they headed back to the Rockbell house to find the three children in it awake and about, Pinako proposed the automail port installation to Ed, who agreed without hesitation.

Theo rounded off the last of his day with alchemy research, picking through his array in the backyard, not yet willing to return to the Elric house and his failed apple test.

His exhaustion and poor night’s sleep combined to allow him to rest that night, as well, meaning that he was well rested to sit with Al as they waited for Ed’s surgery to be complete.

It went perfectly smoothly, the port attaching without even minor rejection, just as Theo remembered from his own. He wondered if it was because of how short the span between injury and surgery was, or if it was because of how perfectly clean the amputation of an alchemy rebound was.

It didn’t really matter. He didn’t intend for it to happen again. Twice was already too many times for him to lose a leg.

What did matter was that whatever it was, it made the recovery process perfectly smooth, meaning Theo only had to spend five days doing backyard alchemy tests and perfecting his new array before Pinako deemed Ed fit for travel.

At last, they could make progress. They could begin the effort toward a better life than the one Theo had lived.

Pinako had told him not to waste the opportunity that was given to him, and she would never know the depth of meaning those words had. She would, however, know that Theo took them to heart, because he intended to make every second this world ticked by mean something.

‘Father’ had better be ready, because Theo was coming for him.

“You guys have to call me every day!”

Ed let out a loud groan, slumping back, and Al quickly wheeled him backwards to get his wheelchair out of Winry’s striking range.

“I mean it,” she insisted. “If you don’t talk to me at least once a day I’m gonna come up there and beat you up.”

“ Every day?” Ed whined. “I don’t like talking on the phone. Can’t we call, like, once a week?”

“Every. Single. Day,” she told him, poking his chest with each word. “Granny, tell them they have to call me every day.”

“You’re paying my phone bill, brat,” Pinako replied.

“I’ll pay it,” Theo offered, only half joking. “We’ll check in as often as we can, I’ll make sure of it.”

Ed sighed, looking up to his brother - the younger one, tasked with pushing his chair, not the older half-brother who’d sold them out - with a look of sheer exasperation. “Alright, alright, we’ll call. We’re not even going that far away.”

“Central is forever away,” Winry said.

“Theo said we’re not staying in Central, though!” Al reminded her. “That’s just where the test is. Colonel Mustang is stationed in East City- right, Theo?”

Winry frowned up at Theo, who resisted the strong urge to duck behind something in response. “How far away is that?”

“About 50km to the North,” Pinako informed her. “Only an hour by train, unless you stop off somewhere else along the way.”

“Oh.” Winry pursed her lips, visibly considering the new information. “That’s not so bad, I guess.”

“I’ll make them call anyway,” Theo promised her. With her seemingly satisfied by that, he turned his attention to Pinako instead. “Thank you, for everything. It means a lot that you were so willing to help.”

“Board the stupid train and go join the military, brat,” Pinako shot back. “Don’t act like this is some teary goodbye, when you’re going to have to come right back here in a month or so for me to take the measurements for Ed’s leg.”

Theo laughed. “Alright, that’s fair,” he allowed. “I’ll see you then, I guess.”

“See you.” She turned to the boys, adding, “And you two had best behave. Theo looks like a pushover-...”

“Hey!”

“...but if you act up, I’ll know, and I’ll pop you both for it when I see you next. Got it?”

“Got it!” Both boys echoed back.

Only when their goodbyes were finished and they were settled on the train did Theo take the time to process why she’d needed to give that threat.

He was the sole guardian of a two children, and he had basically zero knowledge of parenting due to having barely been involved in the growth of his own kids.

He was so, so fucked.

Notes:

theo: gotta save the kids gotta help the kids gotta take the kids to central gotta-
also theo: how the fuck do you interact with a child

Chapter 13

Summary:

Kids had no concept of age. Everyone older than their teens was old.

...Dammit, he sounded like a grandpa. He really couldn’t win.

Notes:

More boys!!! More weird dreams!! Truth!
This is mostly a filler chapter but there's some internal struggle content on Theo's part to close the gap between actual plot points

Other things: I realized in the middle of writing the last scene of this chapter that I fucked up Elicia's birthday and that Gracia is supposed to only be like 4 weeks pregnant right now but! In Clerical Errors I made her 3 right off the bat so it's pretty clear that I Just Don't Care

Ed’s face had been pinched and pale for the last few minutes, and Theo realized he should probably say something, instead of just feeling bad for the kid.

“The train’s vibrating your port, right?” he asked. “It’s not as bad when there’s a leg attached, because you can brace against the ground to keep it still. Try hanging it off the edge of the seat. That should ease it off a little.”

Ed’s leg immediately shifted to comply, and appeared instantly relieved. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Automail makes losing a limb a lot easier, but it’s not exactly fun.”

Ed’s eyes turned down to Theo’s knee, as though he were just remembering the metal that was concealed there. “...How old were you?”

Theo grimaced. Some coincidences couldn’t be shrugged off so easily, so he dodged the question, only offering, “The first time? Young. Way too young.”

Ed seemed to accept the answer, probably understanding he didn’t want to talk about it, and turned to look out the window instead.

Beside him, Al perked up a bit, jumping on the chance to learn more about their mysterious brother. “As young as us?”

“Older than you,” Theo said, which was technically not a lie, given he was speaking directly to Alphonse. “Not by much, though.”

“How old are you now?”

Theo's nose crinkled, and he offered, “Twenty-nine.”

Ed turned away from the window, and the two young boys exchanged a look that Theo pretended he didn’t know meant shit, that’s old. Kids had no concept of age. Everyone older than their teens was old.

...Dammit, he sounded like a grandpa. He really couldn’t win.

Slumping back in his seat, Theo offered a casual dismissal of, “Train rides are easiest when unconscious. I’m gonna nap the rest of the way. They can wake me when it’s time to go bother Mustang again.”

After a week of restlessness and anxiety, sleep on the familiar rumble of a moving train came easily.

The sea of dress uniforms and extravagant dresses that marked various officers and their trophy wives extended out in a seemingly endless sprawl, leaving Theo stranded in the center.

I remember this, he realized, catching sight of Riza Hawkeye in the distance, shaking hands with some Brigadier General he couldn’t remember the name of. This was Hawkeye’s promotion dinner.

As he watched, Riza excused herself, turning instead to approach him.

“Evening, Major,” he heard himself greet her. “Quite the party, huh?”

“Half these people have never spoken to me before in my life,” she muttered to him, once close enough. “And never will again. I hate politics.”

Theo felt himself grin at her. “They can’t risk offending a certain General.” At her snort, he continued, “Where is Mustang, anyway? Maybe now with you promoted, he’ll actually go after the Fuhrership.”

Riza’s eyebrows came together in a pinched look of confusion. “Ed…”

“What?” he laughed. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed him waiting on you.”

Riza shook her head. “No, Edward,” she said. “It’s not me he’s waiting on.”

A call of her name had here looking away, excusing herself quietly, and she was gone before he could ask anything else.

That had been the last time he’d seen her, he realized. She’d moved to intelligence, last he’d heard, and made it her personal mission to stop anything getting in or out of Mustang’s office without her approval.

He’d never asked what she meant, and he’d never figured it out.

The words seemed to echo in the hall, and as he watched, decorations and bureaucracy and the general stuffy atmosphere all began to fade, bleeding back into a white void that was becoming uncomfortably familiar.

“What did you lose?”

The chorus of voices surrounded him, and he looked around, searching for any break in the blank white around him that might mark its source. Just as he’d given up, stopping his search, a single blink had the void being interrupted with a looming gate and a grinning Truth.

“Is this real?” Theo asked. “Or just a dream?”

“What’s the difference?” Truth countered. “Either I want you to see it, or you want you to see it. Either way, keep your eyes open.”

“I don’t have time for your philosophy shit,” Theo snapped. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out, and let me leave. I’m sick of this place. I’m sick of you.”

“And I,” Truth replied, “am tired of your attitude. I gave you everything, you know, and you wasted it.”

“Everything?” Theo echoed, somewhere between outrage and disbelief. “You took my leg, my arm, my brother, my alchemy, and now my family! What did you ever give me?”

“Opportunity!” Truth said, sounding almost just as angry. “Your wife loved you! Your children idolized you! Your brother respected you! Your friends understood you! All you ever had to do was reach out and take what was right in front of you, but you got lazy.”

“Lazy?!”

“Yes!” Truth’s perpetual grin was sharp, almost predatory, and the gate seemed to grow behind him as an ominous air pressed down on Theo. “You were so comfortable in the guarantee of their love, knowing they would see the best in you no matter what, that you no longer felt the need to earn it. You were demanding to be treated as a man you no longer were.”

Theo took a step back, trying to free himself from the feeling of being cornered, but ended up tripping, landing on the ground as Truth loomed over him.

“And then you come here,” Truth continued. “You come into my domain, into a space without pretenses or falsities, and you demand the same of me. You speak, and you expect me to listen.”

“I didn’t-...” Theo started, a million defenses on the tip of his tongue, but Truth did not listen. Instead, his chin was grabbed and tipped up, bruising force maintaining what would have been eye contact if Truth actually had any features beyond teeth.

“A man comes to me to make a deal,” Truth said. “He comes bearing all, ready to trade whatever I want from him. And you get in the way. You expect me to listen to you, more than him, because even after all this time, you don’t get it. Even when I stripped you of everything you’d come to take for granted, and reminded you where you came from, still you come here and expect me to answer to your whims. Designing arrays and working out theories, trying to get me under your control. You are not a god, Edward Elric.”

He was released, but when he tried to speak, his throat closed up instead.

“So I ask again,” Truth said. “What. Did. You . Lose?”

Behind Truth, the gate opened, and the figure began backing into it.

“Think on it,” he said. “Next time I see you, you’d best have an answer.”

Theo jolted awake, the sound of the gate slamming shut echoing in his ears.

Across from him, Ed and Al were slumped together, the elder having propped his stump leg up on the seat and then followed it to lay flat, head on his brother’s lap. Al, in turn, had his face pressed against the window, leaving a faint fog on the glass with each breath. Both were, by the looks of it, sound asleep.

What did you lose?

He wasn’t sure if that was a dream, or a real visit to that place, or something in between, but it had shaken him. The ominous warnings were unsettling, but worse than that, he could hear nothing but - ironically - truth in the words about his life.

He had taken his family for granted. He had become so certain they would forgive him anything that he saw no consequences.

And, for all his lectures and philosophy, he had been the one repeatedly ignoring his own warnings, treading the path of a god without care, because some part of him saw himself as an exception to the rule. Men were not gods, except. Men could not control life and death, except. Everything had consequences, except.

I gave you everything, Truth had said, and as much as Theo wanted to argue, he really couldn’t. Each thing he’d given up had been a price he paid, and in the end, he’d made the call of what he could live without and what he couldn’t. He’d chosen Al over alchemy, and set himself to building a family where once he’d only looked to build an identity.

Wanderlust never left him, though, and he’d always wondered if he was pretending. If, in truth, he built a family because he didn’t know what else to do. If he’d surrounded himself with others just because he couldn’t stand to be alone.

He looked at the boys across from him again, studying them, memorizing every detail. If these two grew up healthy and happy and whole, would that settle the screaming in his head that he was standing too still, waiting too long? Would taking care of them give him the sense of purpose he’d been searching for since the Promised Day?

Something occurred to him, then, and he looked out the window, trying to gauge roughly where they were - how far they were from Central.

If Truth had been commanding that dream, what was the point in the memory he’d seen first? Why remind him of Hawkeye’s words? Was it a nudge in the right direction? A confirmation that Mustang was the starting point for making things work?

Maybe the powers that be genuinely wanted political reform in Amestris. Or, more likely, Truth was waiting for him to drive himself insane at the bastard’s beck and call.

The speakers crackled to life as the conductor announced their closing in on Central City, and he let out a relieved sigh. No more time to worry himself to death - it was time to wake the boys, and start on the path he’d found himself on.

He just hoped that the end held redemption, rather than ruin.

Risembool was a tight-knit community made mostly of retirees and their visiting grandchildren, which made it very hard to plant an informant there. Luckily, retirees were some of the biggest gossips known to mankind, and so it was much easier to just have someone stop through as a “tourist” and listen out for a bit.

It was in this manner that Maes was informed when their mystery man boarded a train to Central, and so he was able to head to the train station - refusing to let Roy go by himself, because he wanted to meet this weird scientist that had everybody so excited.

Roy watched the train as passengers began to disembark, scanning each face, as though he somehow wouldn’t immediately recognize the distinct features of the alchemist they were waiting for.

He didn’t see him first, though. Instead, when he caught sight of gold, he looked toward it to see a young boy peeking out of a train window.

His eyes were wide in the brief interim before he jerked backwards and vanished, likely being pulled back from the window by a concerned parent.

Or an annoyed sibling, Roy amended, when a second boy’s face appeared a moment later, round gold eyes peering through the glass on either side of the nose he’d smushed against it.

His face disappeared after a second, as well, and he could see movement behind it. As soon as it stopped, he turned, looking to the train door instead to wait.

He was rewarded by the appearance of the young kids - the first pushing the second in a wheelchair, which had them stopping at the edge of the train steps, at a loss for how to proceed. Annoyed passengers rushing to get off dodged around them for a few seconds, before finally, finally, Roy caught sight of Theo.

The man moved fluidly and without hesitation, reaching down to scoop the boy out of the wheelchair and carry him to the platform, the other child following close behind with the wheelchair itself.

“There,” Roy said, nudging Maes. “The-...”

“I see him,” Maes cut off. “Those kids...They’re too old to be his. There was enough discrepancy in the stories of ‘Hohenheim’ that there could be two. Him, and - presumably - their father. Makes more sense that way, actually.”

“How so?”

“Some of the stories I heard are from things that happened a long while back,” Maes explained. “There were tales of miracle healing alchemy and crazy big stunts as far back as twenty years ago - that guy couldn’t have even been in his teens.”

“So we’re looking at three generations of alchemists,” Roy summarized.

“Well, literally speaking,” Maes said, “we’re looking at two. And they’re coming this way. Smile!”

Roy straightened up, just as he saw Theo catch sight of them.

The look on his face was hard to place, caught between wonder and annoyance, both expressions beyond comprehension for Roy.

“Theo Van Hohenheim!” Maes greeted loudly. “It’s so good to meet you!”

As he stopped in front of them, he winced. “Just...call me Theo,” he corrected. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“This is Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes,” Roy introduced. “And these must be Edward and Alphonse Elric, right?”

“My half-brothers,” Theo confirmed.

“Oh, hello!” Maes greeted, dropping to a crouch to grin at them from close to eye-level. “Two young boys. I might have a son of my own, soon, you know! Or a daughter. Or something else entirely!” He reached into his coat, pulling out a stack of photos, flashing the top one - a picture of a very pregnant Gracia - at them. “This is my wife! Isn’t she lovely?”

Roy looked back to Theo, ready to apologize for his friend’s behavior, only to catch a wistful look on the man’s face instead.

“Don’t humor him,” Roy warned. “If you don’t resist from the start, he’ll never stop pulling those out. I don’t think there’s an end to them.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Theo said.

“Famous last words,” Roy muttered in response, but Theo wasn’t paying him any attention.

Curious. Everything about this man was just... curious.

He couldn’t wait to learn more.

Notes:

roy: ugh dont mind my friend hes super annoying
theo, outraged: i would die for him

Chapter 14

Summary:

“Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc,” he introduced. “Havoc, this is Theo Van Hohenheim.”

Notes:

Hope everyone had a good holiday!! Heres a chapter i wrote on my phone xoxo

Jean Havoc wasn’t really having a great week.

First, Mustang got promoted, which made him an insufferable prick for a good few days. Second, the newly-named Colonel had apparently found some genius alchemist to join their team, and so he had to pack up on the shortest notice ever so that he could be their designated pack mule for however long it took the exams to be over. Third, the only other member of their team to come along was Falman, who was no fun at all while working.

And, finally, there was this: he’d been dragged along to act as driver for the new alchemist guy, who was approaching him now with fucking kids.

“Havoc!” Mustang called out, looking mighty pleased with himself, that shit, before ignoring him in favor of talking to the new guy . “Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc,” he introduced. “Havoc, this is Theo Van Hohenheim.”

The guy twitched, like something about that introduction annoyed him, and Jean took a minute to assess the man in front of him.

First thing he noticed? The guy was pretty. There was one more person he could never introduce a date to, because this guy was all shades of gold and copper and fuckin’ sculpted, and he was absolutely fucked if he ever had to go against him.

The second thing he noticed was that this ‘Hohenheim’ dude must have been pretty strong, because he was holding, like, three bags. Probably his and the kids’, which made sense, since one of those kids was in a wheelchair, and the other one was pushing said chair around.

And that brought him to the third, and most important thing: kids.

“Hey,” Havoc said, catching Mustang’s attention. Without a word, he just raised an eyebrow and nodded towards the kids, figuring he’d get the message.

Mustang didn’t answer, though - Hohenheim did. “Edward and Alphonse Elric. My half-brothers.” He shifted his absurd burden of bags all onto one shoulder to free up a hand to extend to Jean. “And just call me Theo. Seriously.”

The last bit was said with a pointed side-eye to Mustang, which gave Jean the impression that this was probably not the first time it had been said.

Plenty of guys preferred a first-name basis, though, so Jean shrugged it off, shaking Theo’s hand instead. “So, you’re the alchemist the Colonel’s been going on about?”

Rather than look flattered that Mustang had mentioned him - which was the usual reaction from military personnel and science-y types they ran into - Theo looked somewhere between amused and heavily annoyed, offering a flat and bland, “That’s me.”

So, it seemed the good impression Theo had made on Mustang was mostly one-sided. Interesting, considering pretty much everybody else found themselves firmly up the Colonel’s ass within an hour of meeting him.

Mustang apparently also caught that, because he interrupted, “We were thinking of discussing the details of the exam at Hughes’ house, rather than anywhere public. Havoc will drive you there.”

To Havoc’s surprise, Theo didn’t even hesitate, offering a lazy “Sure, thanks,” and going to toss his bags into the back of the car Jean was leaning against. The kids seemed a little more hesitant, the one in the wheelchair looking up at him with a suspicious squint.

“Uh,” he faltered, trying to think of how one went about talking to kids. “Hey?”

“Hello!” the boy behind the wheelchair chirped, pushing down on the handles of the chair to make it pop off the ground a bit and drop back down, jostling the kid in it. “I’m Al, and this is Ed.”

Ed ignored them both in favor of squirming around in his chair, probably trying to get re-situated after being knocked around in what had certainly looked like a reprimanding gesture.

“...I’m gonna get in the car,” Jean decided. Before he turned to leave, he shot one last glance at Mustang, assessing his reaction to the whole thing.

He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Asshole .

Seeing Havoc again was interesting, Theo being momentarily thrown by the lack of lines on his face and the fact that he had to look up to speak again, because 170cm still wasn't enough to be eye level with the man when he wasn't in a wheelchair. Watching him flounder his way through introductions with children was also pretty entertaining - he'd never taken much time to think how his being in the military had affected the way people saw him, but it was clear that his past self and his new younger alternate were going to have very different experiences with the same people, given that Ed and Al were not acting as emancipated minors so much as regular kids.

The only problem that brought up was that Ed was thoroughly offended by how uneasy Havoc was, and that made the whole drive to the Hughes house sort of awkward, as no one had anything to say that was worth speaking up and breaking the silence.

Luckily, the drive wasn't long.

Now all Theo had to do was interact with Maes Hughes for an extended period of time without doing something embarrassing, like crying over the fact that the man had been dead for years and it had been at least mostly his fault.

Simple.

When Havoc parked the car in front of Maes’ house, Roy met them at its side immediately, and yet was still somehow too late to get to the back of it before Theo had already loaded himself down with every bag the three had brought with them.

“Let me help,” Roy offered, tucking two fingers under the strap of one of the bags.

Theo eyed him, starting as a wary look and slowly turning into something sly. “Okay,” he said, and Roy had about four seconds to wonder what that coquettish tone meant before Theo let go of the bag.

Roy grunted as Theo's bag dropped, the full weight astronomically higher than he'd anticipated. As he fumbled to get a better grip on it, he heard why, as well - somewhere in the bag, he heard thuds and the clanging of metal , because of course Roy would have reached for the bag that did not just contain normal clothes or travel gear.

In front of him, Theo let out a loud laugh, quickly taking the bag back. “Sorry,” he said, not actually sounding sorry at all. “That's mine. Alchemy research stuff. Couldn't resist.”

Roy tried not to think too hard about the fact that Theo held the bag like it was nothing, and instead focused on wondering what kind of ‘alchemy research’ required a bag full of metal.

“Why am I getting these out, anyway?” Theo asked. “Are we crashing here for the night? I didn't actually think about what we were going to do until the exams.”

“Luckily, we did!” Maes’ cheery voice chimed in from somewhere over Roy's shoulder. “You three are welcome to stay with us while you're in Central. We prepared a room for Roy, but he never actually uses it.”

Only a madman would willingly expose himself to Maes’ mothering 24/7, but Roy wasn't about to say that in front of a man he was asking to do just that. Instead, he offered, “Maybe you should start putting mints on your pillows.”

To his side, Theo snorted, and Roy felt a bit of pride at the fact that it could be considered the second laugh he'd gotten out of the man. This one wasn't even at his expense. Theo was hard to get a read on, meeting every move Roy made with indifference, refusing to be impressed by anything. It was a unique challenge, trying to figure out how to win him over, beyond just taking care of the kids - kids which he now knew to be Theo's brothers, thanks to Havoc being entirely unsubtle. Half-brothers, specifically, and with an age gap that suggested at least one of them was an accident.

None of that was relevant, though. What was relevant was that the younger two were the key to gaining the elder's loyalty, and everything he’d seen suggested Theo's loyalty was something he could definitely use.

“Well,” Maes said, bringing the conversation back to topic. “You're welcome to stay with us, is the point.”

“I'll check with Al...and, uh, Ed, and I'll see how they feel. I don't want them to be uncomfortable.”

Roy wasn't sure if the implication was that Theo would be comfortable there, or that his discomfort was not a priority. Or, possibly, both.

It seemed likely it would be both.

“No rush,” Maes said. “If you'd rather wait to decide until later tonight, we don't really need any advance notice if you're staying or not, so long as we know by the time we go to bed. You guys can make sure we aren't, y'know, serial killers or anything.”

“I'm really not worried about it,” Theo said, in a low tone that suggested the comment was more to himself than to them. Roy wondered if that was because he was confident in his own ability to protect the boys, or if it was just a classic case of someone underestimating Maes’ ability to be dangerous based on his general puppylike charm.

Maes didn't react to it either way, just pat Roy's shoulder and announced, “I'll let Gracia know we're home! Riza will probably come out to meet you, too.”

Roy grimaced as his friend disappeared, because Riza would likely still be mad about him leaving her there when they went to the train station. Or, maybe not mad, but definitely annoyed. They already had too many people for one car, though, and Riza got twitchy in crowds. It was just easier to leave her with Gracia while they picked up Theo. He'd pay for the convenience, he was sure, but it had seemed the best option at the time.

His expression must have been comical, because when he looked to Theo, the man seemed to be holding back another laugh.

“Hawkeye, right?” Theo asked. “Are you in trouble?”

“Usually,” Roy muttered in response, which got the laugh out into the air. In an effort to change the subject away from his humiliation, he asked, “What's in your bag that's so heavy?”

“Oh,” Theo looked down to the bag hanging off his shoulder, like he'd forgotten about it entirely. “Books, mostly. I stole most of my dad's journals and notes before we left.”

“And what was the metal clanking around?”

“You're nosy,” Theo muttered, but answered anyway, “I salvaged a piece from this old suit of armor in the house. I want to make it into a cuff.”

“A cuff?”

Theo met the confusion with an amused smile. “If I wear a brace on my arm, that's metal I can easily transmute into a weapon whenever I need one. I used to do it all the time, but I, uh...don't have that thing anymore. So I need a new one.”

Roy raised an eyebrow. “You used to fight often?”

“I still fight often,” Theo corrected. “I just had to find new ways to beat guys up for a while.”

Not for the first time, Roy wondered if he was in over his head with this one.

“Hey, Theo?”

Theo and Roy both jerked their heads around to look where Ed was hanging partly out of the car window.

“Can we get out of the car now?”

“Shit, yeah, sorry,” Theo said, moving to start helping them out.

Roy took that as his cue to go, leaving the little family to sort themselves out.

The exam wasn't for a little over a week, which meant Roy had a good while to get to know this man, starting with this dinner. And, potentially loose canon or not, Theo was interesting. However the next few days went, he had a good feeling that things were never going to be the same.

Notes:

last chapter:
Truth: why are you like this
Theo, who developed clinical depression at age 4, ptsd at age 11, and c-ptsd at 18, none of which were ever treated or even properly adressed: idk im just a piece of shit i guess lol

this chapter:
Havoc: who is this
Theo: last name ever, first name greatest

Chapter 15

Summary:

'Opinionated' got thrown around with topics like religion (which Ed found to be nonsense), politics (because the government was pretty gross, from what he'd seen), and food (milk was disgusting, and that was the hill he would die on).

Notes:

(edward elric voice) hey ive noticed that you care about me and id like to know kindly Why The Fuck

Edward was what some people - mostly meaning grumpy old people - called “opinionated.”

“Opinionated,” he'd discovered over the years, was the grumpy old person way of declaring him an independent thinker, except that it usually meant they thought he was wrong. Opinionated got thrown around with topics like religion (which Ed found to be nonsense), politics (because the government was pretty gross, from what he'd seen), and food (milk was disgusting and that was the hill he would die on).

The fun thing about opinionated was that, while it referenced a person having opinions, it meant that the person you were speaking to thought you’d be better off keeping those thoughts to yourself. Ed was well versed in this practice, holding his tongue in most situations and making Al pretend he didn't think the conversations were just as dumb and wrong as Ed did.

It was a bit jarring, then, when Theo was setting up his wheelchair, and casually threw out, “Let me know what you think of Hughes, after dinner. He offered to let us stay here, but I figured I should probably make sure you like him, first.”

Dismissive, offhand, like it didn't really matter either way, but Ed couldn't see him mentioning it if their opinion just didn't matter. The implication, then, was that Theo didn't care about what they thought, because he'd respect whatever choice they made about their sleeping arrangements.

“He seems nice,” Al said. “I'm sure we'll like him.”

“Nice isn't everything,” Theo warned. “Some people are perfectly good people, but they're hard to be around.” The man shrugged. “That's probably just me being antisocial, though. Never much liked strangers. Or non-strangers. Or...anybody.” He looked over at them, and must have seen something on their faces, because he rushed to add, “I like you two, though.”

Ed really hoped he didn’t look as happy to hear that as he was. Theo was a nice guy, and treated them like family even if he didn’t really know them, but he was still related to that guy, and Ed wasn’t going to rule out a genetic predisposition to abandonment. Especially considering he’d mentioned at one point that he’d raised kids, which implied that he had kids, which brought up the question of where they were.

If he’d left his own kids, he had no firmer ties keeping him with the Elrics. Why should they believe he’d stick around?

“Just...think about it,” Theo told them. “Let me know how you feel about it.”

He left, then, leaving Ed in Al’s care as he carried their things inside the house.

“What will he do if we don’t like him?” Ed asked.

“Dunno,” Al replied, starting to push his wheelchair toward the door. “Why?”

Ed frowned, but said nothing else. He’d asked because he was curious - because for once, they were being offered a choice in how things went for them, and he wasn’t really sure at what point they were going to run into the catch.

Seeing Gracia pregnant was jarring for a moment, but Theo recovered quickly - after seeing Maes alive, he doubted much else would throw him off balance for long.

She directed him to set his things in the spare room, just in case they decided to stay. He hoped they would, if only because he genuinely didn’t plan for how they would stay in Central when he had no money or possessions whatsoever. He’d been using alchemy to keep his only clothes passably clean.

He returned downstairs just in time to hear Alphonse tentatively ask Gracia for permission to touch her baby bump.

As he rounded the corner, he watched Al push Ed’s chair closer, before stepping up beside him so they could both feel her stomach.

“Wow,” Ed breathed, and Theo remembered Satella and how fascinated they’d been by her pregnancy.

“Pretty cool, huh?” he asked, startling both boys and having them look his way guiltily, as though caught in something shameful. He laughed, walking up and dropping hands on each of their heads. “You could know all the math and science in the world, but you can’t beat nature. The world knows how things need to happen, with or without our help.”

“An important lesson,” Gracia said. “I might borrow it, when this one is old enough for it.”

“It’s not mine,” Theo admitted. “My teacher forced that on me years ago.”

“Ours, too!” Alphonse chimed in. “She taught us the whole world is connected.”

“‘One is All, All is One,’” Ed quoted. “You’re just one part of a bigger universe.”

“Sounds like you value spirituality,” Gracia ventured.

Theo snorted. “Nah, that’s more...I dunno, trying to get actively involved in the cycle of the world. To modify your part in it. I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime.”

Gracia gave him an amused smile. “Just going with the flow, huh?”

“More like I gave up,” he replied, all dry humor. “The world’s gonna do what it wants, so all I can do it ride it out and try and keep it from fucking me over too much.”

Theo stepped back, gesturing toward the kitchen.

“I’m gonna go bug those two,” he said. “Try not to drive Gracia crazy, okay guys?”

Alphonse chimed in with a promise he wouldn’t, while Ed offered a noncommittal grunt that was probably a lot more honest. Satisfied, Theo turned and headed out of the room, seeking out Hughes and Mustang.

He found them at the table, Mustang sitting while Hughes leaned over his shoulder, feeding him pictures.

The second Mustang caught sight of him, he let out a heavily relieved sigh, calling, “Theo!”

“I’m not here to save you,” Theo replied immediately. “I was just promised food. You enjoy those pictures.”

“I like him,” Hughes declared. “Keep this one.”

Mustang flushed a slightly embarrassed red, pleading, “ Don’t encourage him.”

“So you’ve told me,” Theo said. “I’m okay with pictures. A dad who’s proud of his family is pretty rare, as far as I’ve seen.”

Hughes shot him a look reminiscent of a bloodhound catching a scent. “Your father was a famous alchemist, from what we’ve found on him,” he said. “We figured you learned from him, but it sounds like you two didn’t get along.”

“Oh, fuck no,” Theo confirmed. “I hated that bastard for years.”

“Hat ed? Past tense?”

Theo waved them off. “Don’t get excited. I just stopped caring so much when I got older. I went through some stuff and came out the other side not really giving a shit about it anymore. Too much energy wasted on stressing about that guy- not to say, though, that I’m not gonna punch him the next time I see him. Save Ed the trouble, at least.”

“He does seem the fighting kind,” Hughes replied easily. “So if you three don’t get along with your father, where did you learn alchemy?”

“Here and there,” Theo answered. “Studying the bastard’s old journals got me started, but most of those were full of nonsense or theory way too advanced for a beginner to get any use out of. I found a teacher and studied for a while as an apprentice, and then…”
“You said you were the subject of a human transmutation,” Mustang prompted, blowing right past the shocked look Hughes shot between them. “That that somehow gave you insight into alchemy.”

Theo sighed, then nodded. “Human transmutation messes with the borders of this world, drags you almost to the other side and then - if you’re lucky - back again. There’s a lot of knowledge in that in-between, if you can take it in before it breaks you. And I’ve seen it a couple times.”

“What were they trying to do to you?” Mustang asked. “Were you- did you die?”

Theo stared for a second, before bursting out a laugh. “No!” he assured them. “No, God, you’re worse than Ed. I lost an arm, and my- uh, someone I care about, they wanted me to have it back.” He reached up, yanking down his collar like he’d done for the boys, showing the automail shards where the port used to be and the jagged discolored scar that marked the area of the former amputation.

“That’s…”

Theo scoffed at the horrified expressions locked on him, releasing his shirt and smoothing it back into place. “I’ve also tried human transmutation for myself, and have been attacked with human transmutation a couple times.”

“ Attacked with it?” Mustang echoed, bewildered.

“One guy wanted to ‘fix’ me, and ended up making things worse,” Theo said. “The other, way before that, was...uh. He wanted to make something, and he didn’t care how much blood he had to spill to make it happen. He attacked a lot of people, I just happened to be the one who got to knock his fuckin’ lights out for it.”

Hughes made to reply, but then cut off, looking to the doorway. Theo and Mustang both followed his gaze to see Gracia there, leading the boys into the room.

“Ready for dinner?” she asked.

“Always,” Theo replied immediately, which made her laugh.

He pretended not to notice how, throughout the dinner, all eyes followed him.

Ed and Al ultimately decided on indifference in response to their staying or going, so Theo helped get Ed upstairs and left them both to sleep for the night whilst he conspired with the adults about how he was going to infiltrate the world’s most corrupt military in order to kill the Fuhrer.

Or, to protect the boys, depending on who you asked. Both were valid motives.

“So,” Mustang said. “The military exam is three stages. Written exam, psychological assessment, practical exam. In that order.”

“Written won’t be a problem,” Theo said. “Theoretical alchemy has been most of what I’ve done for the past decade.”

“Practical will be fine, too, if you do what you showed me,” Mustang added.

“So that leaves psychological,” Hughes chimed in. “Do you think you’ll have trouble with that?”

Theo shrugged. “I mean, I’m excellent at bullshit.”

Hughes narrowed his eyes. “Implying you wouldn’t be able to pass it honestly?”

“Probably not,” Theo admitted without hesitation. “I’m fine, but I’m not normal, and that’s a distinction most people don’t bother to make.”

“Roy put your full name on his papers he had made for you,” Hughes told him, switching the subject before Mustang could add anything else. “Someone along the chain must have recognized the last name, because there’ve been whispers about a famous alchemist applying.”

“Famous alchemist’s son ,” Theo corrected. “If they show up expecting Hohenheim, they’re gonna be disappointed.”

“I doubt they’ll care about the distinction,” Mustang said. “They’ll show up expecting a Hohenheim who is uniquely skilling in alchemy, and that’s what they’re receive. Which generation won’t matter terribly much.”

“Though,” Maes said, “it seems like you don’t care for your last name, much.”

“I told you I can’t stand that bastard,” Theo reminded him. “Why would I want to use his name?”

The irony in that statement was almost suffocating, and he regretted it the second it was out of his mouth. Fortunately, no one knew enough to call him on it, and the only person who did was still years out of showing up, most likely.

God, that would be fun. ‘Hey, I know you only have two sons, but you have more now, because I said so. Roll with it. Please.’

He was in for a rough time with that one.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mustang said, in a measured tone that Theo knew from years of working for or with him meant he thought that what was being discussed was stupid and was trying to be polite about it.

What a dick.

They spent a while discussing the details of the exam - schedules, including times, as well as example questions from both the first and second tests - while Theo tried his very best to act like this was all new information to him.

Honestly, though, he spent most of the night wondering something else entirely: what the fuck was his title going to be?

Notes:

community poll: keep 'fullmetal alchemist' or change it? i was just gonna change it but i figured id ask

see you next year xoxo
(if youre reading this in the future, it is currently dec 31)

Chapter 16

Summary:

Maes couldn’t tell if the man Roy had brought to him was the most interesting puzzle he’d ever received, or just the most frustrating.

Notes:

omg i just saw i havent updated since last year!!! /shot
(again, if youre in the future, its jan 1)

votes came in at an overwhelming "change it" so that's what we're doing! Also I was gonna call him the Golden Alchemist bc of him looking like Hohenheim but a couple people guessed that so I had to go with my slightly more creative plan B
spoiler: theo fuckin HATES it lmao

Killing a week in someone else’s house wasn’t something Theo was looking forward to, especially when that someone was Maes Hughes, and loved to shove his nose into things that didn’t concern him and shove it further into things that did.

And Theo? Theo did concern him, and as such, the man had no hope.

Maes couldn’t tell if the man Roy had brought to him was the most interesting puzzle he’d ever received, or just the most frustrating.

Day one in their house just so happened to coincide with a day off of that he may have requested for undisclosed reasons a few days prior, and so he got the opportunity to study the man up close as he adjusted to spending time in the Hughes household.

You could tell a lot about people by how they reacted when they woke up in a house that wasn’t theirs. Some people cleaned up their used spaces or tried to cook breakfast, while others just sort of stood around awkwardly and waited to be given a purpose.

Theo, on the other hand, was already up when Maes went downstairs, sitting on the couch, engrossed in an old leather-bound book to the point that he didn’t seem to notice anyone else even came in.

“Good morning,” Maes greeted, speaking softly in case he startled the man. To his surprise, though, Theo barely reacted, grunting back a mild ‘ g’morning’ of his own.

This, he imagined, was how other people saw him when he was working - fully immersed and operating on automatic.

He left Theo to his book. Three hours later, when he passed by the couch again, Theo was still there, this time fiddling with something metal.

“What’s that?” Maes asked, leaning over the back of the couch.

Theo held it up a bit so he could see. It looked like a vambrace, turned to face inside-up, which he was digging into the surface of with a little jagged pick tool.

The carvings were rough and nonsensical, just a collection of letters. AE. WR-E. NE. He was finishing up an RE.

“I like carrying around something I can transmute when I need an emergency weapon,” Theo said. “So, a brace.”

“And the letters?”

The drag of the pick made an uncomfortable shriek, as though protesting its mention.  

“A reminder,” Theo answered. “Initials. People I knew. People I lost.”

...Morbid.

It explained why he was carving it in, though, rather than using alchemy. Catharsis.

“Who were they?” Maes asked, gently as possible. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“In order?” Theo tapped each set of initials in turn. “My brother. My wife. My...my daughter, and my son.”

Shit.

“I’m sorry,” Maes breathed out. “That’s awful.”

“This is to remind myself not to do anything else that I can regret.” He turned the vambrace over, moving to clamp it on over his arm, moving his hand about to test the comfort of the fit around his forearm. “And there you go. That’s my story.” He looked up, looking like he went for an amused smirk and instead just landed somewhere in the realm of ‘tired.’ “You don’t have to spy on me for it.”

“Ah,” Maes said, interested in the fact that Theo had caught onto his curiosity in only a few minutes total of interaction. “You never have to, really.”

Theo snorted, looking away, removing the vambrace and setting it aside. “I’m not that interesting, I promise.”

“If you weren’t,” Maes countered, “you wouldn’t be so determined to keep me from looking into you.”

Theo laughed. “I guess not.” He waved Maes off, saying, “Let me know if you figure out who I am. I’m not always sure.”

“Can do,” Maes replied, watching as Theo sat his things - his book and vambrace - aside and headed out the door.

A peek through the window revealed the man finding a patch of exposed dirt and crouching down beside it, tracing what was probably something alchemy related into it.

Never idle, it seemed.

Still, his info file on Theo just got a little bigger.

Over the course of the next eight days, Maes learned the following things about Theo Van Hohenheim:

1. If he slept at all, he was very stealthy about it. Maes always went to bed before him and woke after him, no matter how much he skewed his sleep schedule to try and change this.
2. He hated his last name. Not just disliked it, genuinely hated it. Gracia referred to him by it once to be polite and he’d been quick to correct them, insisting (in a mostly polite, yet aggressive way) that his given name would work fine in any situation.
3. He lived and breathed alchemy. He spent all his time in the yard working on some theoretical alchemy project Maes tried not to ask too much about, given that it immediately launched the man into what sounded like the beginnings of an advanced physics lesson, and he really wasn’t interested in having to explain that he was absolutely hopeless in all fields of science. When the boys were up, they were usually with Theo, studying his every move, and Maes often overheard snippets of their impromptu field lessons - once again, full of technical lingo he didn’t follow at all.

In everything else, the man was a mystery. Research still hadn’t turned up any solid information on where he came from, he wasn’t able to find any news stories about families being killed in tragic accidents or anything that would line up with the initials carved in his vambrace, nothing . He couldn’t even find train records to date when he travelled to Risembool. He was a ghost story, popping up here and there with stories of great alchemic deeds, and now he wasn’t even sure how many of those were Theo and how many were his father.

He felt bad about it, but he was almost relieved when the test day rolled around and he realized it was about to become entirely Roy’s problem.

(As though anything were ever entirely Roy’s problem.)

“Six hours?”

Maes laughed as Edward and Alphonse stared at Theo in horror at the concept of a test that long.

“That’s how long they give you,” Theo replied, dismissive. “It probably won’t take that long.”

Maes had believed that to be a misinformed statement that he’d learn was wrong later, but when he and Roy waited outside the test location after seeing him off for it, he came out with plenty of time to spare.

He passed, too, and apparently spectacularly.

Maes didn’t feel so bad about his relief, after that. Let Roy handle this guy. He had a baby to stress about instead.

The psychological exam was exactly as garbage as Theo remembered, with him sitting on a three-legged chair and answering textbook psychology questions until the old guys that made up the panel judging him finally rubber stamped him and let him go.

The practical exam, though. That was the fun part.

He was only a little surprised to see Bradley when he entered the room - while he had been sure one of the homunculi was going to be spying on him, he’d figured it’d be Envy in disguise as an officer, since there was no longer the ‘he’s twelve years old and I’m curious’ excuse.

Bradley’s little amused smile/squint combination was infuriating on sight, and it didn’t help when the first words out of his mouth when Theo entered were, “So it’s true. I heard the son of Van Hohenheim was applying for entry as a State Alchemist. I knew him, once.”

Bullshit, but his ‘Father’ had known him, and Theo guessed that was close enough.

“Theophrastus, right?” Bradley asked.

Theo jerked his head up, giving the Fuhrer a suspicious squint before he could restrain himself. He’d only ever given the short form of his stolen name, which meant that Bradley was acting on assumption that Hohenheim had given his true full name to this suddenly appearing son.

“...Yeah,” he allowed, because his reaction had already ruined any chance he had to play it off.

“Well, we’ll be interested to see what you’re capable of,” Bradley said. “Proceed.”

This was the point where Theo knew he’d get the homunculi’s attention for sure, if they weren’t already on him for his face and name alone. He headed to one end of the room, crouching down to draw out a simple array neatly on the floor. He activated it, forming a simple wooden figure in the center, before standing.

“That’s-...?” One of the proctors started to protest.

“I’m not done, I promise,” Theo laughed, crossing back to the other side of the room. He took a deep breath, measured the distance from his first array, and then clapped.

He practically felt Bradley’s spine snap a little straighter.

His hands touched ground, transfer array in his mind, and reached out for the other end of the room. Through the link, he coaxed the wooden figure to slowly disintegrate, material being sucked into his personal gate and being spat out at the point of contact he had with the ground.

It had taken forever the first time he’d used this array, but he’d learned a lot in his practice. It was also a lot easier to transfer something that was already made than to create something new, the way he’d started off doing. Between the two, it was barely a moment before he was pulling his hands back, stepping away from his creation.

“Distance transmutation?” A proctor murmured. “Amazing. How far away can you be?”

“Eh,” Theo rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve tested about twenty meters. So far, as long as I can see the array, I can make it work immediately, and ones I can’t see I can typically find after a minute or so.”

“So far?”

“I came up with this array not too long ago,” Theo admitted. “I’m still playing with it.”

“And you could do that with anything?” a different proctor asked. “Any items? Potential correspondence?”

“I didn’t design it to be a courier array,” Theo said, dryly. “But yeah, theoretically, if I can connect the arrays, I can take anything anywhere.” He hesitated, before specifying, “Any object . It doesn’t work on living things - I’ve tested it with fruit, and plants, and it really, really doesn’t like it.”

“Astounding,” the proctor breathed.

“The kind of groundbreaking work I’d expect from someone with your bloodline,” Bradley said, a hint in his voice that Theo couldn’t name but could definitely recognize. He had their attention, for sure. “I expect you’ll do great things, Mister Hohenheim.”

Theo grimaced, but didn’t correct him, if only because he didn’t want to imply he was on a first name basis with Wrath .

Bradley turned to leave, guards following close at his heels, and Theo was struck with an impulse he couldn’t resist.

“You probably knew my dad more than I did,” he called after him, feeling a private satisfaction when Bradley’s steps paused for him to listen. “If you’re expecting me to be like him, you’re gonna be disappointed.”

There was a pause where the Fuhrer seemed to be considering that.

“...No,” he replied, finally. “I don’t think I will.”

And then he left.

“Results are in!” Mustang announced, the next day, showing up at Hughes’ house with a familiar manila folder. Theo opened if under their eager eyes, not at all surprised when he got a glimpse of the acceptance paperwork header.

Under that, though...

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Theo said, staring at the paper he’d pulled out. That certificate that had once branded him FULLMETAL, a dumb joke from Bradley, was now an even dumber joke that was actually fucking obnoxious.

The Courier Alchemist.

He was going to beat the shit out of Wrath at the earliest opportunity.

“Well, looks like you’re one of us, now,” Mustang said.

“A dog of the military,” Hughes added.

Yeah, well, this dog was going to bite.

 

Notes:

(theo voice) im gonna deliver them straight to hell is what im gonna do

Chapter 17

Summary:

“Being there early doesn’t make the train leave any faster,” Theo pointed out.

Roy shot him a look. “Do you want to go or not?”

Notes:

ahhh this took a while im sorry!!! i got on a harry potter kick lmao....and now im on a one piece kick too so if any of yall read/watch that uh. stay tuned?

in the meantime! things kick off a bit, some technicalities are addressed, and Roy both regrets his life choices and kind of wants to ask them to dinner

Theo hated the fucking military.

First, his alchemist codename sucked. A lot. Like, he was tempted to go fucking beat Bradley’s face in and make him change it, because at least ‘Fullmetal’ was cool. People heard it and thought he was hardcore, and only ever changed that opinion because he was an actual child. Now the implication was that he was some kind of glorified mailman for the military - which, by the way, was not true. He was not using his array to send stuff to other places. If he could figure out an infinite distance version of the array, he’d put one in Mustang’s office and that was it.

Worse than that, though, was the problem he was dealing with now: uniforms.

When Theo had joined the military originally, he’d been too short to fit even the smallest uniform size, and everyone had been too squeamish about him being a kid in the military to bother fitting him for a custom one.

Now, though, he was an adult, and a respectable size, which meant he was doomed.

He tugged at the collar of the uniform jacket, grimacing at its suffocating feeling. He was between sizes, and while they were altering a few uniforms to fit his height better, he was stuck in the smaller one. This meant that areas where he was broad, bulky, or muscular - which was to say, most of him - were uncomfortably pressing against the lines of the material, making it an absurdly close fit.

“It looks good!” Maes told him. “Suits you. Roy, tell him!”

Mustang looked up, blinking at Theo, seeming to freeze when he saw him.

“This is the single worst thing I’ve ever worn,” Theo informed him.

“It looks good,” Mustang echoed, but his voice sounded strained, so Theo imagined he was trying not to laugh.

“You look tough,” Ed said, from the side, which was at least an improvement.

“I hope you get your custom ones soon, though,” Al said. “You look really uncomfortable.”

Mustang muttered something he didn’t bother trying to make out, and Theo sighed heavily, shaking his head.

“Can we just get to the fucking train station?” he asked irritably. “It’s been nice - and I’m grateful for you letting us stay here, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes - but I hate this city.”

“Let’s head out,” Roy agreed, standing and heading quickly for the door. “The sooner we get to East City, the better.”

“Being there early doesn’t make the train leave any faster,” Theo pointed out.

Roy shot him a look. “Do you want to go or not?”

Rolling his eyes, Theo turned back to Hughes. “Thanks again. We-...I owe you.”

It was still hard to remember he didn’t have his own Alphonse at his side for these things.

“Nothing owed!” Maes dismissed. “Come back and visit the next time you’re in the city! I should have a baby by then!”

Theo thought of Elicia, crying and confused at her father’s funeral. Not this time, he told himself, and gave Hughes a smile.

“Absolutely,” he said, and then hesitated, hovering there a moment as Mustang ushered Ed and Al outside behind him. When they were alone, he murmured, “Lieutenant Colonel...”

“Just Maes,” the man corrected. “Or Hughes, if you’ve gotta.”

“Hughes,” Theo corrected, stricken by the realization he was now on equal ground with the other man, rather than being basically his ward. Shaking that off, he told the man, “You’re going to be a great dad, Hughes.”

Hughes smiled, kind and pleased, and looked to the door for a moment before meeting Theo’s eyes.

“So will you,” he told him.

Theo blanched, trying to stutter out a denial, but Hughes simply spun him by the shoulders and started steering him out after the others.

“Go catch your train!” Hughes ordered. “And take care of those boys! Of yourself, too.”

And then he shut the door.

“Ready to go?” Mustang asked, appearing over Theo’s shoulder.

Theo let out a low sigh, turning away from the Hughes household, trying to comfort himself with the knowledge that he at least was leaving Maes alive this time. “I’m ready. Let’s get out of here.”

Roy studied the man across from him carefully, slowly taking in every detail in his slumped form.

Theo was more than a mystery, simultaneously secretive beyond measure and entirely open. He admitted to criminal activity without an ounce of shame to be seen, admitting to his past without fear of consequence, but was cagey on any details that had to do with who he actually was. He had been willing to tell them he was in a human transmutation, but not who the person who’d saved him with it was.

Maes had told him that Theo claimed to have had a family, at some point, and lost them. ‘Lost’ could imply many things, but he and Maes both had the strong feeling that the people he’d lost were dead. Theo didn’t seem broken by the loss, though, even if the alternative seemed to be him having built his entire self around the concept of keeping his brothers safe.

Which brought up another question- one he actually took the time to ask.

“What is it, exactly, you need to protect Ed and Al from?” Roy asked.

“I never said?” Theo asked. When Roy shook his head, he let out a small hum, and a winded, “Weird.”

And then he went back to looking out the window.

Roy barely knew enough about this man to fill a shot glass, but the chief observation among them was that he was an asshole.

He also seemed to think very poorly of Roy, and appeared to dislike him within mere seconds of their meeting. He was not nearly as hostile to Maes, as far as Roy knew. Maes’ report indicated that the man barely spoke at all, but it seemed every time Theo opened his mouth around Roy, an insult was going to come out at some point. Maes had confirmed that Theo referred to him in passing as “that bastard,” which seemed an unfair assessment from someone he hadn't actually been a bastard toward.

“If you want me to help watch out for them,” Roy tried to reason, “I should know what I'm looking out for.”

Theo looked back at Roy, before glancing down to his side, where his two younger brothers had fallen asleep, their heads together and their backs angled on the seat to rest against Theo's shoulder.

“I'm not the only person out there that’s pissed at my dad,” Theo told him, not looking up. “Being his kids makes them targets. Worse, since they've seen the Gate.”

“The Gate?” Roy echoed.

“It's where you end up when you do-..” His eyes flicked to the door of the compartment, and he murmured, “When you try what they did. What all three of us have done. I showed you a little bit of it - the Gate is full of knowledge, everything there is to know in the world all packed together, and if you've seen it, it stays with you. That makes us powerful, which makes us dangerous, which means that I can't trust those enemies of my dad’s not to be tempted to step in.”

“What would they do? Use them to bait your father?”

Theo snorted. “If that would have worked, they'd already have grabbed them. No, worse. My dad is hated because of his secrets, and if people can't get that information from him-...”

“All the knowledge in the world is with them,” Roy finished, as it came together for him. “You think they’d try and take their answers by force.”

“I know they would,” Theo corrected. “I've seen it happen. I've lived it.”

Roy frowned, before another piece clicked into place. “You said you were attacked with-...with alchemy. Someone came after you?”

“It was a mess,” Theo said, a slightly evasive confirmation if he meant it to be one. “A lot of death, a lot of fighting, all for-...”

“For?” Roy prompted.

Theo made a disgusted noise. “The Philosopher’s Stone.”

Roy blinked. “I…I take it that isn't a myth, then?”

Theo shook his head. “Hohenheim has one. Or, well- whatever. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that someone else really, really wants one, and they are willing to kill anyone and everyone to get it.” His eyes scanned the cabin again. “There’s a lot more to it, but...not here. We really don’t want to be overheard.”

Roy wasn’t sure which option was worse - that Theo had something to tell him that would require utmost secrecy and involved actual lives at stake, or if he was just three sheets to the wind and that was something Roy had to deal with now.

Either way, he wasn’t getting anything out of the man, so he may as well sit back and wait to be back in East City.

This was the best day of Theo’s life.

Or, well, no, it was still really shitty that he had fallen into the past, and devastating to know he’d lost everything to get there, but in a less serious way, this was good.

Because when he was introduced to Mustang’s team, and he went to greet Kain Fuery, he had to look down.

“Fuery is our communications specialist,” Mustang introduced. “To his left is Vato Falman, our intelligence specialist, and Heymans Breda, our investigations specialist. You’ve already met Jean Havoc, officer-in-charge, and Riza Hawkeye, my adjutant.”

“Do I get a fancy title?” Theo asked, because he didn’t remember anyone giving him a title. He didn’t remember anyone telling him the others’, either, which gave him the feeling that he would learn a lot more about these people when they weren’t coming at him with kid gloves.

“Field investigator,” Mustang said. “At least, most likely. I’ll send you on short trips to check in on rumors we pick up of criminal activity, particularly involving alchemists.”

“‘Short’ trips?” Theo echoed, bewildered by the specification. “How short?”

“A few days, maximum,” Mustang told him, in a tone that suggested it was an assurance, like he was worried Theo was upset about his potential mission lengths being too long. “And not until I’m certain you have settled in, so that we know the boys will be alright in your absence.”

Oh, right. He had two kids with him, and this time, he didn’t have a wife to push them off on.

God, he was a piece of shit. He shook the thought off - no time for that, right now - and asked, “Speaking of that. Will the dorms let kids live there?”

“Dorms are single-person only,” Mustang said, which again gave Theo the idea that he had been given special treatment as a kid. “But there are military apartments in the building beside it, for families of stationed soldiers. I’ve arranged for one to be set aside for you.”

“Oh.” Theo rocked back on his heels for a second, thrown. “...Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” Mustang returned. “Show your watch to the apartment concierge, and give her your name, and she’ll sort you out. I’ll also give your first paycheck in advance, to help with moving costs.”

Theo wanted to tell him that was unnecessary, as he had nothing to move, but that money would be his only money, and he still had to feed two kids.

He wondered if an Edward Elric that wasn’t eating to fuel his brother’s body, trapped in limbo, would still eat enough for a small army.

Probably. His luck sucked like that.

“I’ll let you get to that,” Mustang continued, oblivious to Theo’s internal planning. “But after you’ve settled for the moment, I would like you to meet with me, to finish our discussion from the train.”

Theo grimaced, and ran the mental math on how many bugs were probably in Mustang’s office that he hadn’t caught yet, based on when the last time Hughes would have come out to visit would have been. As he couldn’t see Maes leaving his pregnant wife for even a second - Theo ignored the twinge of guilt and self-loathing that was now becoming familiar - he imagined the office was riddled with the things.

“Just drop by the apartment when you’re done for the day,” Theo offered. “I’ll tell you there.”

Mustang faltered for a moment, watching Theo with slightly wide eyes, as though he’d suggested something wild instead of just picking an area that he could more easily secure. After a moment, he shook his head, like shaking off a thought, and said, “Alright. Warn the concierge I’m coming, and I’ll drop by when I’m done here.”

Theo had never lost his insubordination, so he made sure the salute he threw up on his way out was both extremely lax and heavily sarcastic.

Mustang’s eye didn’t twitch, though, which was obnoxious. Instead, his eyes followed Theo’s every movement closely, a measuring stare that Theo only escaped from when he turned and left.

Weird.

Notes:

fuery is like...barely five feet tall, which puts him a good seven inches under theo right now, as opposed to a couple inches above him, which theo is LIVING for

also
theo: haha im going to be antagonistic until i get a rise out of mustang
mustang, doing the butterfly meme: is this flirting?

Chapter 18

Summary:

He felt like a creep.

Notes:

]im half asleep hile posting this so if there are mistakes im sorz im just sleeby,,,its 3am for me right now

In order to use his cour- transfer array (he was going to strangle Bradley), Theo had to develop the skill of being able to find his own arrays when not directly touching it or its surrounding area. The way he’d found to do this was by using the gate’s gift of adaptive alchemy: when he started a transmutation, he instinctively knew what material he was dealing with, provided he didn’t get too in his own head and start trusting his own assumptions first. It kept him from being blindsided by materials he didn’t know by heart, or being stuck on fixing mechanisms he wasn’t totally sure of the proper order for.

It was simple, then, to block off the initial array in his mind and instead do a very basic, large-scale transmutation, where he partially deconstructed and instantly reconstructed the area around him.

It was exhausting, even for Theo’s skill level and with his extensive several-times-over visiting the Gate thing, and he was pretty sure that meant it was impossible for anyone else, so he absolutely wasn’t about to advertise it if he could help it. It was also the reason for his range limit - while controlling the transfer array didn’t get much harder with increased distance, finding it did, unless he could see it and make a path straight for it.

He wasn’t using that array, though. Instead, he was using his ‘seeking’ array to feel out around their new apartment, room by room, looking for anything electronic that shouldn’t have been there. He didn’t trust the military not to bug apartments for the fuck of it, especially not his apartment.

There were two issues with this plan:

First, and least important, Theo’s array extended out in a circle. Apartments, coincidentally, we not circles. Going room-by-room helped him limit the overreach, but his bedroom and the kitchen both had him feeling partially into the apartments on either side of him, which meant he now had a good idea of the layout of about three square feet of each. He felt like a creep.

Much, much more relevant, was that the array was difficult, and Theo was swaying on his feet by the time he finished the last room.

“Theo!” Ed shouted, and Theo heard the faint squeaking noise the boy’s chair made whenever he spun the wheels himself instead of letting Al push him. A second later, a small hand was splayed out on his stomach, like Ed was trying to hold him up.

Instinctively, Theo placed his hand over it, patting it gently in a way he hoped was reassuring. “I’m fine,” he promised. “Just a lot of alchemy.”

“Alchemy?” Ed echoed.

“What did you do?” Al asked, appearing over Ed’s shoulder in an instant. They were never far apart, but any distance they’d managed to put between them would vanish in a heartbeat when they heard Theo start talking to one or both about his theories and work.

Theo was a little worried he’d stolen Izumi’s job, and really hoped he never had to deal with that, if he dragged her into the whole Promised Day bullshit.

“The transfer array has a seeking component to it,” Theo told them. “I used it to search the apartment.”

Ed looked at him like he was an idiot. “Use your eyes.”

Theo snorted. “Not as detailed,” he said. “I was making sure there wasn’t anything hidden in here. Surveillance stuff.”

Ed and Al both snapped up straight.

“Someone put a camera in here?” Al asked.

“No, it’s clean,” Theo assured him. “There's a security camera above the door on the outside, but I fucked up the microphone on it, just in case it could hear the inside. Other than that, we should be good to go.”

“Why?” Ed asked. “Are people spying on you?”

Theo grimaced, thinking, wondering how much he should let the boys in on. On one hand, they were kids. On the other...well, in another life, they’d been the ones taking care of it.

He owed them at least part of the truth.

“The military, the government, it’s all...corrupt,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Amestris is built with blood, and they’re not anywhere near done expanding. The Fuhrer himself is part of a group that is actively working to destroy this country for their own goals, and the best chance at stopping them is…” He faltered for a second, before gesturing between them. “Us, I guess. Our dad, mostly, but us too.”

Ed scowled at the mention of Hohenheim, but they both looked attentive, so he assumed they were still listening, and pressed on.

“Everyone who’s done human transmutation,” Theo started to explain, “has access to a level of alchemy no one can reach with regular study. We’re powerful, and if they can use that power for their own goals, they will.”

“So why did you join them?” Ed asked.

“Tear it apart from the inside,” Theo said easily. “Not to mention, if shit goes south? I’m throwing you two at Mustang and telling you to haul ass to Creta or Xing until this is all over.”
“Bullshit!” Ed shouted, glaring at Theo. “If you’re doing this, we’re gonna help, too!”

“Ed, buddy,” Theo said, gently as possible, “You’re eleven.”

“We did a human transmutation!” Ed said. “You just said that makes us powerful, better than the best normal alchemist. You need us.”

Alphonse had often commented on the futility and frustration of trying to argue with him, and Theo had a feeling he’d just stumbled into the first instance of that headache he’d suffer himself.

“You guys could be a help,” Theo admitted, “but only if things are working. If I fuck up, even a little, I want you guys somewhere safe. Your alchemy makes you useful, so they won’t kill you, but...being alive isn’t the only thing that matters.”

“But if we’re valuable,” Al said, quietly, “they’ll already be watching us, right?”

Theo shook his head. “They don’t have any way to confirm you two have done it. Which reminds me - the way I do transmutations, by clapping? Don’t do that. Draw a circle. Only alchemists who have seen the Gate can do transmutations without marks, and that will give you away immediately. The safest thing for you two is for them to be suspicious enough to keep you alive, but doubtful enough to leave you alone.”

There was a knock on the door, and he heard a woman’s voice call through it, “Mr. Hohenheim? Your guest is here.”

That would be Ms. Boden, the concierge, which meant the ‘guest’ was Mustang.

“We’ll talk about this later, alright,” Theo told the boys. “For now, I need you to hang out in your room for a while. Set it up, make some decorations or something, I dunno. I’m just gonna need to talk to him for a minute in private.”

Ed gave him a suspicious squint, but Al nodded and took the handles of his chair, pushing it out of the room, all while ignoring his elder brother’s protests.

Amused, Theo shook his head, and went to answer the door.

This would be interesting.

The concierge was a military appointment, as the apartments were in a military building for military use, and it really shouldn’t have mattered, but that meant the woman had recognized him. Which would have been fine, as well, really, except that he could see the wheels turning in her brain, trying to puzzle out why Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, would be dropping by the apartment of a new soldier with a few hours of his arrival. He was not usually the welcoming sort, never going beyond standard pleasantries unless he had something to gain, and people knew that.

Soon, though, the rumors surrounding Theo would spread around East City as they had around Central, and everyone would know exactly why Roy took an interest in this new alchemist.

Well...other than their obvious assumptions.

The woman had introduced herself as Eliza Boden, and seemed to be buzzing with energy as she led him to the apartment, giving Roy the impression that she was the sort who was going to be talking about this all week.

Thoughts of that weren’t worth dwelling on, though. It was much better to focus on the prospect that he might finally get some answers out of his odd new alchemist recruit.

When the door swung open, it was to a wash of gold, Theo smiling at them from within. Or, well, smiling at Ms. Boden, completely ignoring Roy.

“Thanks!” he told the concierge cheerily. “I appreciate you letting me know.” His eyes slid to the side at last, landing on Roy, and he added, “And for walking him up. I’m not taking responsibility if he wanders into the wrong apartment.”
Ms. Boden gave a laugh that Roy could best describe as a giggle and bid them farewell, leaving to return to her post.

Roy took the moment to examine him, to notice what had changed in the few spare hours since he’d last seen him. Theo had shucked his jacket, at some point, leaving him in the military trousers but a plain black tank top style undershirt. Under one of the sleeves, the metal-flecked skin he’d showed Roy and Maes was clearly visible, as well as a seam of uneven flesh tone going around, all the way up until it was brushing the base of his neck, and dipped back down into the unseen territory beneath the fabric.

Fingers cut into his vision, Theo touching one of the metal pieces lodged there. “They don’t hurt,” he said, seemingly misinterpreting the look as concern, rather than insatiable curiosity. “Honestly, the scar is kind of sensitive, but I think the nerves were damaged a lot by the automail, because I can’t feel half this arm.”

Roy wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but he didn’t have to figure it out, as Theo stepped back and jerked his head toward the inside of his apartment.

“Come on in,” he said. As soon as Roy stepped through, he shut and locked the door behind him, and informed the man, “i checked over the apartment, and it’s not bugged, so we should be okay. Unless Ed and Al are spying, the little shits.”

Theo looked down the hall with narrowed eyes, toward where presumably his brothers were meant to be.

“Bugged?” Roy echoed, incredulous. “It was an empty apartment. Why would someone bother to bug it?”

“Intel is everywhere, Mustang,” Theo replied, which would have sounded like a wise warning if it weren’t for the heavily sarcastic tone it was said in. “You heard Bradley-...”

“Fuhrer Bradley,” Roy corrected.

“Bradley,” Theo insisted, carrying on before Roy could interrupt again. “Bradley knew my name, and I damn sure didn’t tell him, and you couldn’t have because you didn’t know it.”

Roy did remember. He’d thought it was an odd name, sort of ancient, that likely had some family history or something that made them give it to a baby only a few decades prior.

“Theophrastus,” Roy recalled, watching Theo grimace. “What about it?”

Theo gave him a flat look. “What was Hughes able to dig up on me?”

Roy’s blood went cold. He knew? Had Hughes- no, he wouldn’t have said, wouldn’t have even hinted.

When they’d first met in Risembool, Theo had guessed at his rank and hit very close, presumably based off his uniform. He’d also seen right through their ‘investigating’ and called them out on their attempts at recruitment. He’d spotted them across a crowded train station in an instant, he hadn’t hesitated in going with them…

Theo was very, very observant, and that was an awfully dangerous thing to be.

“Nothing,” he answered, mostly honest. “A few rumors, nothing of substance.”

“No first name.”

Roy nodded, then paused. “Oh,” he said. “If your last name isn’t out there...did Bradley get it from your father?”

“From his, probably,” Theo said, nonsensically, before fixing Roy with a serious stare. “I need to tell you something.”

Roy straightened. “What is it?”

Theo’s fingers came up to brush the metal bits on his shoulder.

“I want to tell you where I came from,” he said. “At least part of it. Someone should know why I’m really here.”

“For the boys?” Roy suggested.

“Mostly,” Theo confirmed, “but everyone else, too.” He gestured to the couch. “Let’s sit down.”

Roy moved as directed, taking a seat more out of politeness than anything.

“Okay,” Theo said, taking a breath, levelling Roy with a flat look, and informing him, “We’re about to spark a revolution.”

Notes:

theo deadass nearly said "we need to kill the fuhrer" but like...he's not 12 anymore and he doesnt want to die before he at least gets to punch bradley for the courier thing

Chapter 19

Summary:

“That’s...this is the part where you’re going to think I’m crazy.”

Mustang looked at him in a way that implied something like ‘I already do,’ which Theo ignored.

Notes:

shorter chappie than normal bc i go to work in like 20 minutes lmao but. here ya go kids!

 

also, at one point in this chapter i mention theo having done 6 human transmutations, so... before anyone asks, the six transmutations: transmuting his mom, bonding al to armor, the nationwide array, getting his arm back, trading his alchemy for al, and the transmutation that sent him back. if you count the second instance of the first transmutation due to time shenanigans, that makes seven, but I just lumped that in with the last one for convenience

Mustang blinked at him, slow and confused, and Theo took a moment to consider if it had been the age difference that made him think of the man as being so infinitely sharp witted before, or if he was just this disarming as an adult.

“We’re going to what?” Mustang asked, voice almost warning.

Theo took it as a sign that he needed to explain quickly. “I mentioned the Philosopher’s Stone? That my dad’s enemies - uh, mine now, really - want to make one?” He waited for Mustang’s slow nod. “That’s the simple part. The Philosopher’s Stone is an object that is so high in value, it negates all need for materials for alchemy. The only thing that is unequaled in value, though, is human life.”

Mustang’s gaze sharpened a bit. “Philosopher’s Stones...are humans?”

“Not just one, or a few,” Theo confirmed. “Hundreds, at least. Thousands. Millions, if you can get them.”

“...Your father…?”

“Was tricked into making one,” Theo said. “That’s...this is the part where you’re going to think I’m crazy.”

Mustang looked at him in a way that implied something like ‘ I already do,’ which Theo ignored.

“There are two benefits to a Philosopher’s Stone, outside of free alchemy. The first is human transmutation.”

“Human transmutation?” Mustang echoed.

“It’s possible,” Theo said. “...Sort of. If you have a Philosopher’s Stone. You can’t transmute the dead, once they’re gone, they’re gone, but-...you can create a human. Artificial life. A homunculus.”

Mustang narrowed his eyes, but looked more considering than suspicious. “...And the other?”

“Eternal life.”

Mustang snorted. “Immortality?”

“Hell no,” Theo said. “Everything can die, it’s just a massive fucking headache.” Mustang was starting to get that blank look again, so Theo pressed on. “It just- the stone can put you in a kind of stasis. You stop aging.”

“And you know this, because..?”

“Because it happened to Hohenheim,” Theo said. “And the man who tricked him into making the first two stones. The first homunculus.”

“I thought you just said you need a stone for a homunculus?”

“A stone is just a condensed point of thousands of souls,” Theo reminded him. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m pretty sure the first was created by just taking them directly.”

Mustang shook his head. “This is-...You’re not making sense. Get to the point.”

“The first homunculus and my dad, together, created the first two Philosopher’s Stones,” Theo said. “They didn’t create the actual stone, though - those souls got condensed down, and trapped into their bodies. My father, and a copy of his body, the first homunculus. They were frozen in time, and they went their separate ways...for a few hundred years.” Theo hesitated a second, before telling him, “To create two stones, you need thousands of souls. There’s no way to get all of those in a way history doesn’t remember.”

Mustang watched him for a moment, before prompting, “Where did they get them?”

“Xerxes,” Theo said. “They destroyed Xerxes.”

“The city that was destroyed in a single night,” Mustang murmured. “They killed everyone, to make those stones?”

Theo nodded. “My dad went East, to Xing, but the homunculus went West. To Amestris. He’s still here.”

Mustang reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay, so you’re saying - your father, and this ‘homunculus,’ they’re some kind of immortal creature from an ancient destroyed city?”

“Basically.”
Mustang shook his head. “How-...Why should I believe this? Why shouldn’t I just call you crazy and be done with it?”

Theo looked at him, a sort of anxious dread settling in his stomach, but he forced himself past it. “What do you know about Xerxes?”

“It was destroyed in a single night,” Mustang said. “It was a fairytale city. They said the streets and the people were both made of gold.”

Theo reached up, grabbing the band of his ponytail and snapping it loose, his hair falling around his shoulders. “People made of gold,” he repeated. “Gold hair, gold eyes, gold skin. Look at me, Mustang. You saw Bradley, when he saw me - he knew right away. I look just like my dad.”

“...Fuhrer Bradley,” Mustang realized. “He knows your dad. How?”

“This is the other crazy part,” Theo said. “Bradley is a homunculus.”

Mustang blinked. “He-...what?”

Theo reached up, tapping the area under his eye. “His eye. The missing one? If you can ever get it revealed, there’s a mark there. An ouroboros tattoo. Every homunculus has one. They were all created by the first homunculus, to serve as tools, getting the country ready.”

He saw the same instant Mustang put it together. “...They want to destroy Amestris, next.”

“They’ve already started,” Theo confirmed. “They’re digging a circle out underneath the perimeter of the city, and the internal array is being drawn out. In the meantime, they’re working on the ingredients - getting the ground bloody enough for it to work.”

Mustang’s eyes narrowed again, this time almost angry. “Explain.”

“Think of a map of Amestris,” Theo said. “It’s a circle. It’s an array. And along the border, they’ve got the symbols drawn out - each one marks a point for ingredients. And if the ingredients are humans-...”

“Border conflicts,” Mustang breathed. “You- are you telling me that those are a conspiracy? You want me to believe that the Fuhrer is involved in those?”

“The soldier in Ishval was a homunculus,” Theo told him, quietly. “He fired that shot deliberately.”

“This is insane.”

“I can do alchemy without a circle,” Theo snapped. “I can invent arrays in the span of a second. I have the chemical makeup of a human body memorized, to the gram. This is my whole fucking life, Mustang. Every second of it has been insane.” He reached up to his shoulder, putting his hand over the visible metal shards. “I did my first human transmutation when I was a kid, and since then, I’ve been involved in six. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Why should I believe this?” Mustang asked again. “You can’t expect me to take this on faith. Not this much. I don’t even know you.”

Words were on the tip of his tongue - the I know you, though, the proof of the statement. His knowledge of Mustang’s past and dreams and goals - hell, his knowledge of his future , even.

But it was all even crazier than the information he’d already given, and...really, what was he supposed to say? I did this once, and now we’re doing it again, because I was a pathetic excuse for a dad and husband and the universe saw fit to punish me? I’ve seen what you call God so many times we’re sick of each other? I’ve defied death and time and all rational laws of physics just to be standing here?

Smaller, pettier things? I owed you money from a stupid bet you never got to cash in on? You put your dreams on hold until everyone you cared about was safe?

I used to take my wedding ring off to visit your office?

None of it was safe to say.

Instead, he slumped a bit, and told him, “You’re not stupid, Mustang. Look me in the eyes and tell me I’m lying.”

“Not lying,” Mustang said immediately. “Just...wrong. You’ve got something wrong…”

Theo held his gaze steadily.

Mustang’s shoulders slowly drooped down. “...If this is true,” he said, slowly, “What are we doing about it?”

Theo nearly wept in relief. It wasn’t full faith, not yet, but Mustang was listening, and that was something. He hadn’t realized how important the man’s support had been to him until he had it back.

“I’m working on that,” Theo said. “I know what he’s planning, and I know my options, I just...need to get everything together. Which, right now, means making all the allies I can, and keeping them close. You were my first priority.”

Mustang stared at him with an unreadable expression. As Theo watched, the colonel’s eyes trailed across his face, down slightly, hesitating, then to the side….

“What?” Theo asked, uncomfortable with the scrutiny.

“You can put your hair back up, you know.”

Theo flushed having totally forgotten he’d let it down in the first place, and scrambled to scoop it back up. The bun he’d been using lately to keep it all out of his way was a bit too complicated to do blind, so he brought it into a messy ponytail and told himself he needed to remember to get that shit cut at some point, because he’d been taking back-to-back missions for a good few months and it was way too damn long now.

“Thanks,” he muttered. “Forgot about it.”

“No problem,” Mustang replied. “I-...I’m going to give this to Maes.”

“No!”

Mustang blinked at him in shock at his yell, and Theo scrambled to correct it.

“If you have to tell him, send him a letter,” Theo said. “With a messenger you know, not regular mail. And-...”

“And?”

“If you do,” Theo said, “please make sure to tell him to be careful about looking into it. The homunculi don’t care about anyone but the ones they can use. If they catch him digging, they will kill him.”

Mustang gave a shallow, solemn nod. “I’ll make sure he knows.”

Anxiety churned Theo’s stomach, because that wasn’t a guarantee that Maes would keep his nose out of it, but it would have to do.

“Anything else?” Mustang asked. “If not, I’m going to go write this out, and I’ll see you in the morning at my office.”

“No, nothing,” Theo said, before immediately thinking of something else. “Wait, no, there is-... Shou Tucker.”

“Another ally?”

“Fuck no,” Theo said. “He’s…” Well, he hadn’t technically done anything, yet. It was a couple years before he would even kill his wife, which meant…

...Which mean there was time.

“He lives somewhere around here,” Theo finished, weakly. “I need to talk to him- wait, no, not him. His wife. She’s...someone’s going to hurt her.”

“I’ll see if I can find her,” Mustang said. “Done?”

“Done,” Theo confirmed. “See you tomorrow, Mustang.”

The man nodded, turned, and left, leaving Theo to sag down onto the couch once he was gone.

That was fun. Hopefully he didn’t have to do any more of that, for a while.

Notes:

theo, letting his hair down: look at me and tell me im crazy
mustang: i cant do that but it is for a very different reason than you think

Chapter 20

Summary:

Oh, this was a bad idea. He hoped Theo appreciated this, he really did.

Notes:

long chappie!!! someone asked about chapter lengths and I'd honestly wanted to extend them for a while, so we're testing a ~5k chapter length this time, and i'd like to hear your thoughts on the change (i.e. should i keep doing the long ones or spam y'all with multiple shorter ones)

anyway here's that gay shit

Roy extended his analysis of Theo Van Hohenheim a bit, after leaving his apartment.

He was definitely still a pain in the ass, but it wasn’t just his personality puzzling Roy, now. Theo came with a whole convoluted conspiracy theory tied up in his history, and…

...And, while he wanted to think the man was crazy, everything he’d seen added up. The metal in his shoulder proved his claims of human transmutation, he was capable of alchemic feats Roy hadn’t even thought possible, and…

Made of gold. He’d thought Theo had a unique appearance, but seen his nearly-identical brothers and shrugged it off without much thought (beyond damn, at least). Gold hair and eyes against copper skin, though - that was the sort of thing you saw in elaborate historical paintings of Xerxes.

There were other, far more sensible explanations for all of those things individually, but all together…

Not to mention, it was very elaborate to be fraudulent.

The only way he could get any further was to send Maes a letter containing the most sensical explanation of the situation he could, and waiting to see what his friend found.

Until he got a response, there was no point in trying to plan any further moves related to that information. It was best, then, to deal with the facts he was certain of - namely, that he had a new employee to find assignments for.

He’d seek out Hawkeye, he decided - she’d help him figure out what Theo would need to do, as well as help him sort out his thoughts on the rest.

And that left the name Theo had given him to dig up. He could give that to Hawkeye, too, he supposed, but Riza would probably shoot him if he dumped everything off on her. Maes would have enough to look into as it was, so he was out, too.

Maybe…

Oh, this was a bad idea. He hoped Theo appreciated this, he really did.

He was going to have to call in a favor.

“Is he gone?”

Theo turned, watching as Al peeked out of the hallway.

“Yeah,” he said. “Mustang just left. You guys are good to come out.”

Al vanished, then reappeared a moment later pushing Ed’s chair. “Did you seal the doors? We couldn’t hear anything. ”

Theo’s lip twitched up in a smirk. “Tried to eavesdrop? I’m a bit smarter than that, Al, c’mon.”

Al looked up, squinting at the mess of Theo’s re-adjusted hair in suspicion.

“Do we have food here?” Ed interrupted.

Theo blinked, before swearing under his breath.

“That’s a ‘no,’” Ed muttered.

“Yeah, no, hold on,” Theo said. “Let me change back into my normal clothes, and we’ll go shopping with that advance pay from Mustang.”

Theo headed off, vanishing into his room, leaving the boys by themselves.

“...His hair-....”
“I know!”

Ed and Al looked at each other, before both breaking out in giggles.

He looked ridiculous like that.

Sibylle’s cool blue eyes narrowed as she examined her boss’ kid - mid twenties and full of himself, from what the Madam said, but a decent person overall and someone they were backing one hundred percent.

‘One hundred percent’ was annoying, because she was pretty sure that didn’t leave any room for her to turn him down, if this ‘favor’ he asked was asking too much of her personal little branch of Madam Christmas’ operation out in East City.

“I have thirteen girls and two men working for me,” she told him. “If this ‘favor’ puts a single one of them at risk, you’ll find out just how well girls in our line of work get to know a body.”

Roy grimaced, but shook his head. “It shouldn’t be dangerous, I don’t think. I need you to find someone for me.”

Sibylle squinted at him. “Must be important, if you’re calling on me. I’m not your aunt, kid. You take my time, you’re paying for it.”

“I will,” Mustang agreed, no hesitation. That was the thing she liked about him, he had respect . “I’m not asking for me, really. Someone asked me to find them, and you’re my best chance at digging them up quickly.”

Sibylle tipped her head, curls sliding off one shoulder, long red nails tapping on the table before her. “Name?”

“Shou Tucker,” Mustang said. “My contact was looking for his wife, though, not him.”

Sibylle shifted forward, arms folding before her on the table, giving Mustang a look across the table through her lashes. “And my payment?”

The file that had been pinned under Mustang’s arms the whole conversation was finally slid across the table to her, and she flipped it open to eye its contents hungrily. Mustang never paid in cash, but he always paid well - what sort of things he was giving her this time, they must have been good.

Inside the folder, a photo of a rather handsome young man stared back at her. “New hire?” she asked.

Mustang choked in response, which had her looking up, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No,” the Madam’s nephew stressed. “He works for me, now. An alchemist. A supposedly famous one, too.”

Sibylle looked down, thumbing through the papers. She grinned wickedly when one of them was revealed to be a report in Maes Hughes’ carefully written code, as the man only ever provided the best tips. “And he’s of interest to us, because…?”

“He’s a ghost story,” Mustang said. “No one knows where he came from, and he won’t say. He’s going to be in East City for a while, and I have the feeling he’s not going to be quiet about it. If he stirs anything up…”

“Worried about us, Pony?”

The childhood nickname had Mustang letting out a heavy sigh. “You’ll be fine. No, I feel like he’s about to start digging up a lot of things, and keeping your eyes on him might get you some interesting new intel.”

“I’ll see what we can find for your contact,” she said, moving to stand, signalling the end of their meeting. “And I’ll let you know if this payment goes through. If not, I might steal him from you. He’s damn pretty.”

Mustang gave another sigh, this one almost like an ‘I know.’ He left quickly, though, so she didn’t have the time to call him on it - something she suspected was intentional.

She’d definitely have to keep an eye on this man - even if he wasn’t anything interesting by himself, the Madam always paid well for updates on her brat, and this was certainly looking like a good one.

Theo sat on the couch, one of his father’s alchemy journals cracked open on his lap as he carefully untangled the code hiding his secrets. He wasn’t sure if it was his latest pass through the gate, or the return of his long-lost alchemy, but he had been bursting with ideas and theories since he got back. The transfer array had been his first project, and the seeking array came along the path to it, but he was nowhere near done.

If he lived through the Promised Day again, maybe he’d publish some watered-down versions of his research. That was definitely something to worry about later, though, after-...

“Granny wants to talk to you!”

Theo’s head snapped up, eyes locking Al’s eager smile, then trailing sideways to lock on where Ed was holding up the phone at the far end of its cord.

“Oh no,” Theo muttered, setting the journal aside and walking to take the phone with all the enthusiasm of a man sent to the gallows. He took the phone from a mischievous-looking Ed with heavy suspicion, putting it up to his ear with a tentative, “Hello?”

“Boys say you have an apartment up there,” Pinako’s voice came crackling through. “Is it clean?”

“...I literally just got here,” Theo said. “How the fuck would I make it dirty?”

“Can it be sterilized, dumbass,” Pinako snapped at him. “If it can, I’m coming up to work on Ed’s port some more. It sounds like it’s making good progress healing, but I want to check it for myself. I wouldn’t put it past Ed to lie if it’s hurting him.”

“Oh.” Theo felt a bit silly, having mostly forgotten that was something they’d been planning to do. “Yeah, it’s not falling apart or anything. Everything’s stable, none of the material in the walls is too old or damaged-...”

“Are you tearing into the walls of a place you just moved into?”

Theo snorted. “Not physically? New array. I can use deconstruction to-...”

“Amestrian.”

“I can scan for things,” he summarized. “Like a radar, but with alchemy. There’s nothing interesting around here, as far as I could tell.”

“Sounds useful,” Pinako allowed. “I’ll get our tickets, then.”

“‘Our?’” Theo echoed, weakly.

“I’m not leaving my ten year old granddaughter by herself! Your two brats can at least look out for each other. Who knows what Winry would get up to if I left her alone?”

There was a distant, offended-sounding shout over the phone, and Pinako’s voice went distant for a moment to bicker with it.

“Okay,” Theo breathed, getting the feeling his part was done, and passed the phone back to Ed. At the boys’ curious looks, he told them, “Pinako and Winry are coming to visit. To look at your leg,” he added, to Ed. “It’s only a four hour train ride, so I guess we’ll be seeing them soon.”

Ed grimaced, likely anticipating the pain of being fussed over, both in the literal sense from the port and the sense of his cripplingly antisocial personality. Al, on the other hand, looked cheered, almost excited.

He’d leave them to it, he decided, as Al nabbed the phone from his brother to declare it his turn to talk.

Hopefully Ed’s port was fine, and they’d be good for however long it took them to build his leg. It had taken over half a year, before, but he didn’t remember how much of that was recovery time from the port and how much was actual construction.

Either way, Ed would probably be stuck with his chair for a while, even if Pinako rushed it for him like she had Theo’s own automail. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind it too much, other than when Al took command of his steering and wheeled him somewhere he didn’t want to be.

Like near people. Theo had assumed his avoidant personality was built off experience with people trying to kill him, but apparently it had been nature rather than nurture . Ed only ever seemed to care about people in the context of them being either his brother or someone he wanted to fight.

And Mustang. Ed seemed generally confused by Mustang, which… honestly, that made two of them.

“I'm not coming back.”

The words were distant echoes that took a moment to process for Theo, but he recognized them as his own.

Unlike the last dream, being played as a puppet by the memory, Theo was watching this one from the side, a spectre there merely to observe.

He was in Mustang's office - the big one, from the past/future Theo once lived in. The man himself sat sprawled lazily in his chair, and in front of his desk stood Ed. Ed, not yet Theo, but still vastly different than the boy from his waking hours.

“You don't have to be an alchemist to be in the military, Edward.”

Mustang's argument was just as annoying to his past self within the dream as it had been in real life, going by Ed's scowl. “Yeah, because I want to be one of your canon fodder soldiers or sit at some desk all day.”

Mustang raised a brow. “Don't you sit at a desk all day right now?”

Ed made a rude gesture in response, which Theo mirrored from the sidelines.

“Alchemy research is the best thing I can be doing right now,” he said. “I know too much about it to just throw it out.”

“So work with me,” Mustang offered. “The military hires private consultants all the time, offers public bounties for certain criminals-...you could pick and choose the jobs you worked. Just...don't give up on it. You were one of our best. Losing your alchemy doesn't negate that.”

Ed and Mustang stared at each other for a long moment, a silent battle in the exchange.

Theo wondered at it. Had he thought this odd, at the time? He couldn't remember, but…

...But, without the frustration of the conversation shutting him down, Theo was suddenly aware of Mustang in a way he hadn't been at the time.

Why had Mustang wanted him to stay in the military so badly? This, combined with the last memory, with Riza's cryptic comment…

Was it possible that he had been a contingency? That Mustang hadn't wanted to reach the top without his choice of team, and he had been a part of that?

Had he been the one holding Mustang back?

The memory faded, and when Theo woke up, he could feel nothing but a cold dissatisfaction.

Theo left the boys in the apartment in the morning with the highly specific instructions of “please don’t kill each other,” setting a couple of alchemic traps for the doors and windows as he went (being sure to warn the boys not to touch them, because killing themselves was also banned).

Them taken care of until he could get back to them, Theo made his way to Eastern Headquarters.

The path to Mustang's office was one he hadn't had to walk in a long time (except, of course, the day before), but the route came easily to him, his memory continuing to show itself abnormally sharp.

The team were already assembled when Theo strolled through the office door, and he waved to them in greeting as he strolled past, going straight for Mustang's own more private office in the back.

He'd always been of the personal opinion that the layout was stupid, because it meant the team got interrupted anytime someone needed to come see Mustang, but the colonel himself had always countered his point with talk about psychology and politics and how it was good for people to see his subordinates hard at work on their way to him, and so he'd tried just not to mention it.

Mustang looked tired when Theo stepped through his door. It was the first thing he noticed, followed immediately by the fact that his Eastern Headquarters office was, comparatively, fucking tiny. In Theo's time (not to sound old), Mustang’s office had been stupidly large and luxurious. The only constant between the two - aside from the obvious - was the couch. It was still relatively new, sitting in front of him now, but Theo had seen it worn out and ugly and wedged into a shameful corner of Mustang's offices from General rank forward.

(Collapsing on the thing after a long mission had been a custom he'd taken comfort in long after he swore to stop, and he had the sneaking suspicion that his love of it was the only reason it survived move after move. He'd been quite happy with the idea that Mustang would rather keep the eyesore around then deal with him being irate.)

“Morning,” Theo greeted, giving a lazy mimicry of a salute. “Got something for me?”

“I said I wouldn't send you out until you'd settled,” Mustang reminded him. “And I would also like to have time to look into some of your claims. In the meantime, you're a regular employee.” He reached out, sectioning off a stack of papers and sliding them forward. “These are yours.”

Paperwork. He was being assigned paperwork.

Theo was going to fucking kill him.

Theo’s seemingly endless pool of skills and impressive qualities did , in fact, have a limit, and that limit was paperwork.

Roy turned through the pages in front of him, brought in with the latest collection of completed works Riza had brought him to sign off on.

Theo's handwriting started off on each form neat, but it must have been something he actively had to focus on, because the more he wrote, the harder it got to read. The size was inconsistent, as well, with him sometimes cramming whole paragraphs into spaces meant for single lines and vise versa.

He also had no concept of professionalism, apparently, or just didn't realize people other than Roy would have to read it, because he had a lot of notes scribbled into empty spaces in the margins of requisition forms that had been passed in or field reports from investigators under him.

In his defense, reading some of those notes revealed they were actually fairly insightful. That didn't override the fact that he still, even in writing, only addressed Roy using profanity.

Roy was so in over his head, with this guy.

The woman at the front desk caught Roy on his way out, passing him an envelope sealed with a kiss in dark red lipstick.

Sibylle, reporting already? He tore it open.

Inside, there was what looked like a cocktail napkin, which he unfolded to find had an address scrawled across it.

She worked fast. He must have given her better information than even he'd thought.

He turned on his heel, heading out in the opposite direction from his house, toward the military apartments.

He needed to pass this along- and possibly get some more answers in the process.

Pinako called from the train station when they arrived in East City, getting Theo's address to give their cab driver.

The apartment was nice enough, a decent place for a young couple or small family, and she could see the three boys making it work as long as they all got along alright. Ed and Al had never had a problem with each other, but siblings tended to bicker, and she was sure that the three of them would have their squabbles in time.

She set to work right away, dragging Ed into the boys’ room to poke and prod at his port, testing to make sure the nerves were adapting well to the connections.

There was, however, one problem with her working environment in the apartment: Theo.

“Stop hovering,” she snapped, for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Sorry,” Theo said, again, even though she doubted it was sincere. “What else am I supposed to do?”

Pinako huffed. “Take Al and Winry and get something to bring back for dinner. Tell Winry to take my wallet to pay- you're probably tight on funds at the moment, Mr. Appears-Out-Of-Magic.”

“Alchemy,” Theo corrected. “You don't have to-...”

“Get the hell out, Theo.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Ms. Boden had been more than happy to let Roy in, worryingly enough, and let him head up without an escort this time. This had him in front of Theo’s apartment door again, one day out from his first visit, tentatively knocking on the door and hoping that this visit cleared some things up.

When it opened, though, Theo was not on the other side.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Roy immediately apologized to the old woman. “I must have the wrong-...”

“I kicked Theo out,” the woman interrupted. “If you want him, come in and wait.”

She turned without any further comment, heading back into the apartment, door standing open for Roy to come through.

After a moment’s hesitation, he followed, because...well, he really didn’t have anything better to do.

“You kicked him out?” Roy questioned, as he shut the door behind himself.

The woman paused in the middle of the living room, turning back to face Roy. “He wouldn’t stop standing over my shoulder. It was insulting. I know how to handle automail, I’m not going to hurt the boy.”

Oh. Oh, that’s right, this was the Rockbell woman, the automail mechanic responsible for the port on Ed’s leg.

“You came up to work on Ed?” he ventured. “Was something damaged?”

“It’s a new port,” the woman replied, in a tone that suggested she thought he had a screw loose himself for asking. “I needed to make sure it’s healing, so I can eventually stick a leg on it.” She turned away, starting to head deeper into the apartment again, muttering, “If anything breaks, it’ll be Theo’s leg. Automail isn’t meant to be neglected like that.”

Roy’s brain stalled out. “Automail?” he echoed. “Theo has automail?”

He had seen the metal shards of Theo’s shoulder, knew automail was something he’d had in the past, but assumed that was all. It made sense that he would be missing pieces after being involved in several human transmutations, but if he’d gotten an arm back, it also would have made sense for him to be more-or-less whole.

The Rockbell woman let out a heavy sigh. “You’re Mustang, right?”

“Roy Mustang,” he confirmed. “And you’re Mrs. Rockbell?”

“Pinako,” she corrected. She crossed the room, coming back to stand in front of him. “Theo’s missing his left leg, too. I’m not surprised he didn’t share that, but it’s better someone knows, in case he goes and screws it up.” She eyed him with a strange look, one he couldn’t identify. “He should have told you, if only for that.”

“It’s rather difficult to get him to talk about anything,” Roy told her. “He’s very private.”

To his surprise, Pinako’s eyebrows shot up, her expression highly skeptical. “That boy wouldn’t stop telling me things,” she said. “If he’s not sharing, it’s not him that’s the problem. Though-....” She brought a hand up, rubbing under her mouth, looking contemplative. “Yeah...I imagine he wouldn’t put much trust in you.”

Roy wasn’t sure if he should be offended, or just grateful he might finally have a lead on Theo’s behavior. “No? Why not?”

Pinako gave him a very narrow stare. After a moment of silence, she told him flat-out, “Theo was in Ishval.”

Roy’s blood ran cold. “He was? Was he fighting?”

She shook her head. “He said he was out there after some Ishvalan researcher’s notes, but he ended up in my son’s care. He’s got a Rockbell automail leg - that’s the only reason I caught it, why I made him tell me. I expect he doesn’t say anything if he can help it. To recover from automail surgery, and have a custom prosthesis… He must have been in that camp a long time. There’s no telling what all he saw.”

It explained a lot - Theo’s distaste for him, his cool disregard for the military, the increasingly intense paranoia he kept revealing…

What it didn’t explain was why, if the military was really infested by some alchemic cult, Theo would have trusted Roy of all people to help. Had it just been convenience? Had he placed all his bets on the first person to offer him a chance?

Maybe it was his own ego in the way, but it felt like more than that. It felt like Theo trusted him, if not with his own secrets than at least the boys in his care.

“You go ahead and think on that for a while,” Pinako said, heading off again. “I have automail to service.”

She was gone before Roy could think of anything else to say. Left alone to his thoughts, Roy sat down on the couch, settling in to wait.

“We’ve walked across half this damn city,” Theo said. “How are you still running around?”

Al and Winry both looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.

He had experience with both of those looks, but it was unfortunately experience in giving into them, because he’d really never built up a tolerance for upsetting either of them. Them being ten only made it worse.

“If you need something to do, come help me carry this shit,” Theo griped. The two came to stand at his side quickly, taking a bag each, and the three set to walking back to the apartment with their Cretan take-out.

“Do you think Ed’s okay?” Al asked quietly after a moment of silent walking. “Automail is supposed to hurt a lot, right?”

“He’s tough,” Theo said. “He’ll be okay.”

“Tough doesn’t mean anything,” Winry complained. “Automail is in the nerves, not the muscles! Just because he won’t say anything doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

“He wants it, though,” Theo told her. “He wants that leg, and if you want something bad enough, it’s worth the pain to get it.” Realizing that was probably bad advice for two already-impulsive children, he amended, “It feels that way, anyway. Really depends on what it is you’re after. A leg isn’t so bad.”

“I guess you know,” Winry murmured. “I know how automail works, ‘cause Granny taught me, but you actually have it.”

Theo nodded. “The best leg in the world, right now. Fully customized. Even if we never did figure out what the right balance of chrome-to-steel was.”

“High!” Winry offered. “Chrome is really good for automail! It’s just so expensive…”

Theo laughed. “Yeah, I know. We were trying to figure out how much I could afford to have, since I broke the damn thing all the time.”

“You broke your leg a lot?” Al asked. “Did that hurt?”

“Oh, yeah,” Theo said, easy and dismissive. “But it was my own fault. I never let anything heal. I pushed my recovery times hard, and I’d be walking around on a leg that got attached half an hour ago.”

“That’s-..!”

“I know,” Theo laughed again at Winry’s outrage - familiar, if much more mild than her adult self. “I got in trouble a lot. Paid for it, too.”

“That many repairs was probably really expensive,” Winry said.

Al stared up at him, curious. “Are you rich?”

Theo snorted. “Hell no. I had a lot of disposable income for a while-...” At two blank looks, he clarified, “I was earning a lot more money than I needed, so I just kind of threw it around. Eventually it all caught up to me, and I actually had to start paying bills and stuff, but it was nice while it lasted.” He gestured with one of the bags in his hands. “Pinako had to pay for these for a reason. Right now, I’ve got exactly as much money as Mustang gave me. At least I don’t have to pay him back for it.”

“Don’t you work for him, now?”

Theo shot Al a look. “Working for him isn’t the same as having to actually give him money. I worked for-...I worked for this one guy for, like, 15 years, and I owed him 520 cens for at least twelve of those.” He shook his head. “We had a deal that I’d only pay him back when-...Ah. Well. The point was, I hate owing people money. Or anything, really. I try to stay on even ground with people.”

“You just said you never paid that guy back,” Al pointed out.

“He doesn’t count,” Theo dismissed. “He owed me favors out the ass, so I considered us even, so long as he kept giving me work to do and I kept getting it done. We had a system.”

The apartment building was finally visible, and Theo picked up the pace a bit to try and get back to it, eager to check on Ed, as well as to eat.

“...Do you miss him?”

Theo nearly tripped over his own feet at the question, looking down at Al incredulously. “Do I- what?”

“Miss him,” Al repeated. “Or your other friends...Whoever you had before you came here?”

Theo’s shoulders slumped, originally relaxing at the innocent intentions and then becoming heavily dismayed with the actual answer to that question.

“I miss everyone,” he said. “I miss them like crazy, but...They’re gone.”

Al tipped his head. “Gone? What do you mean?”

Theo gave him a weak smile. “I lost all those people,” he said. “My family, my friends...they’re all gone. I can’t get them back.”

Al’s eyes went wide, and Winry’s little hands wrapped around his arm, setting the bag of take-out boxes on the ground to do so.

“We’re your friends, now,” Winry told him. “And you have Al and Ed, and those guys Al said you hang out with.”

Theo looked to Al for context.

“Mr. Hughes,” Al clarified. “And the Colonel.”

Hughes he would allow, because he did actually enjoy the man’s company, even if he hadn’t actively sought it out much while in the man’s house. Mustang, though-...

...Well, he actually didn’t have anything to stand on, there, given that the Colonel had literally been at his house the night before of Theo’s own invitation.

Instead of trying to defend himself, then, he picked up the bags that the children had set down, and walked in silence back to their apartment building.

Notes:

al: do you miss your friends
theo: hHAHHAHA (slamming the closet door, desperately pinning back a wave of skeletons) NO NOT AT ALL IM FINE WHY DO YOU ASK

Chapter 21

Summary:

If he'd peaked the curiosity of the Homunculi, and they'd come to investigate, they wouldn't hesitate to go through Pinako in the process.

Notes:

we're back!
this chappie is short again bc as much as I really wanna stick with 5k chapters, this took 9 years to write and now that ive beaten that stretch of writers block i wanted to give you guys SOMETHING after my radio silence
(plus, people enjoying my stuff makes me so much more eager to write)
here you go kiddos!!!

The apartment building was a welcome sight after the sort of long walk they'd had to take in both directions, and greeting Ms. Boden was a relief after Theo had been stuck very desperately trying to ignore the fact that the two ten year olds with him were people he had only a month prior known as grown adults.

That was, until Ms. Boden's eyes widened at the sight of him, sheer panic flooding her face.

Theo was on high alert immediately. “What is it?”

“I didn't know you were out, Major Hohenheim,” she said in a rush.

He was too focused on the steely forced calm washing over him to bother correcting the name. “What happened?” A thought occurred to him, and he might have prayed if he were the sort that bought into that kind of thing. “Did someone come by?”

“Yes, I sent him up, I'm so sorry,” she said. “I suppose your other guest must have let him in, because he hasn't come back down.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, why did he leave Ed behind? Pinako was fearsome to Theo, who would never dare defend himself from a blow she chose to grace him with, but…

...But, if he'd peaked the curiosity of the Homunculi, and they'd come to investigate, they wouldn't hesitate to go through Pinako in the process.

He was moving before he even realized it, flying up the stairs to his floor, scrambling to his door and dropping the bags at his sides in the hall to focus on unlocking it and throwing it open.

Gluttony is manageable, and an idiot. Theo reasoned along the way. Lust has a range, which puts the kids in danger, but she said ‘him.’ Greed probably hasn't defected yet, but he can be reasoned with. Pride and Wrath are definitely still in Central. It is very unlikely to be Sloth, but if it is, pull out all the stops. And if it’s none of them- ....

Roy Mustang was sitting on his couch.

At least, he hoped it was Mustang. Envy was a class A pain in the ass that he did not have the time for.

“Mustang,” Theo forced out, trying to keep his expression neutral. He heard the kids coming in behind him, and shifted quickly, extending a hand out to stop them in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

Mustang frowned at him, eyes shifting down to his side - to the hand he blocked Al and Winry with, maybe, or perhaps the kids themselves. “I found something on that name you gave me. I figured I’d give it to you while you were stuck idle.”

There was a problem, with Theo, one he recognized in himself constantly and yet had never really managed to compensate for: he was a prideful asshole even at his worst, and while he could look down on his own social skills or common sense or general talents, he’d never had doubt in his own alchemy for a second. It had led him blind into human transmutations far too many times now, kept him stumbling into Truth’s white room, and now it had him relaxing in the face of probably-real-Mustang. He trusted his alchemy, he trusted his arrays, and the scanning array was no exception. The homunculi had no way of knowing what he and Mustang talked about, and while the statement was vague enough to be a coincidence-...

...Well, honestly, the homunculi weren’t very subtle, in Theo’s experience. They hid their influence only so much as to not make it obvious, but had never had a problem with Theo knowing someone was behind all the bullshit in the country. Envy, in particular, was a hotheaded asshole that probably wouldn’t be able to master that perfect Mustang expression of confusion.

It helped, too, that Theo knew Mustang two lifetimes over, and now that he was looking for it, he could see the authenticity of the man in everything from the way he sat, half-relaxed but alert, to the wary shift of his eyes across the apartment that kept settling back on Theo with mounting concern.

Theo dropped his hand, letting the kids ease cautiously into the room. “What’d you find?” he asked, watching the kids bring his discarded bags inside and taking a second to be grateful he didn’t just scatter their food across the hallway in his blind panic. He closed the door behind them with one last scanning look through the hall, tapping the tips of his fingers together softly to activate a seeking array as subtly as possible.

The hall read clean, as did the apartment. Energy greeted him, three bright alchemist's fires burning around him, two duller life signals among them showing the presence of non-alchemists.

He lingered a moment on each, memorizing its feel. It would do him good to be able to recognize them, he figured. Al’s was warm and welcoming, the faintest of the three, but that was likely only due to his age and inexperience, as it was still utterly brilliant. Ed’s was erratic, wild, sparking out and spreading in waves, constantly reaching for the faded-yet-steady energy that must have been Pinako.

Mustang’s was strong, to no surprise, but instead of the wildfire Theo had expected, he felt more...contained. A central force, destructive if weaponized but carefully under control. A bonfire in the middle of the woods, one stray spark away from disaster, but too closely managed to be a risk where it didn’t intend to be.

Theo dropped the array quickly, glad no one besides him could here his oddly poetic way of overthinking things. Except maybe Truth, but Theo wasn’t really sure if that thing could hear his thoughts, or if it just knew Theo that well from their years of dealing with each other.

Bringing him back to the present, Mustang rose of the couch, approaching with a piece of paper extended. Theo took it eagerly, looking at the neat handwriting scrawled across a napkin of all things.

“Did you hit on her in a bar or something?” he asked, eyeing Mustang with heavy distaste. “She’s married, you know.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mustang said. “I had a friend do it, instead.”

“Gross,” Theo muttered, but immediately turned his attention to memorizing the address.

It was on the outer edge of the city, if he recognized that street name right. If Tucker wasn’t a state alchemist, yet, then he would still be...well, wherever he’d lived before then.

Wherever this address was.

“Thanks,” he said, because over a decade out of Mustang’s direct command made it a little easier to attempt to show him some courtesy. “You probably just saved her life, if I don’t fuck it up. I owe you.”

“No,” Mustang said, an odd note to his tone that Theo couldn’t quite place. “Nothing owed.”

Theo shot Mustang a narrow-eyed look of suspicion, trying to find an explanation in his carefully blank expression. The Mustang he knew was a greedy, power-hungry bastard, eager to hold any and every debt over his head.

Or, well, he wasn’t, but he definitely didn’t just let stuff go like that. This Mustang had been doing this a lot, though: ending up in a situation and handling it exactly the opposite of how he’d expect the man to. Did knowing Mustang as an adult, standing on even footing, really change their relationship that much? How much of the Mustang he knew was based on the circumstances, and how much was the way he actually was?

Competitive and controlling nature lingered beneath the surface in their interactions, Mustang handling himself as though he were simply waiting for Theo to take notice of his talents and be thoroughly impressed, but he didn’t engage the way he used to. Under Mustang’s command as a teen, Theo had been met with about a 70-30 split of negative to positive reinforcement, his actions usually met with joking and teasing, only the best of his moves being complimented outright without any strings attached. Mustang had been harsh, yet friendly, and Theo had come to the conclusion that they didn’t like each other personally but each wanted the other to succeed.

This Mustang seemed to be having trouble deciding what he thought of Theo, and it was making things weird.

Which, to be fair, many things made it weird. The weird memory-dreams he kept having made it weird. Truth’s cryptic prodding comments made it weird. The fact that he was the older one now, that made it super weird, even if he had managed to shave ten full years off their age gap.

Mustang, possibly to escape Theo’s highly suspect squinting, brought him back to the moment by asking, “What sort of danger is she in? Does it have to do with…” His eyes trailed to the side, to the kids, and he finished, “...what you were telling me about?”

“Not really,” Theo said, looking down at the address again. “Her husband’s just a fucking monster, and I want her to take her daughter and get as far away from that guy as possible.”

“If you want her to leave her husband,” Mustang said, voice approaching something close to teasing, “why get offended by the idea of someone hitting on her?”

Theo scowled, refusing to look up, shooting Mustang a rude gesture instead. “It’s an insult to her character, to treat her like her marriage doesn’t matter, not his. Take it from a shit husband.”

There was a silence so long, Theo thought he must have simply zoned out and missed something, so he looked up again at last.

Mustang was watching him closely. “You’re married?”

Theo gave him a highly unimpressed look. “Hughes didn’t already tell you?”

“He said you lost family,” Mustang admitted. “But you haven’t said anything about it to me, so I thought I’d ask.”

Theo hesitated, then turned to the side, looking to Al and Winry. “Can you take that stuff into the kitchen, and then go get Ed and Pinako?” As they (reluctantly) obeyed, scampering off, Theo turned back to Mustang. “I was married, yeah. I was really bad at it, too. Never even liked wearing a ring, spent all my time working, that kind of stuff. And now I’m past the time I could make up for it, too, so…” He gave a helpless shrug. “There you go. There’s my dirty laundry. Part of it, anyway.”

Mustang had an unreadable expression on his face, watching Theo closely. “...Thank you for trusting me. With all of this.”

Theo scoffed before he could think better of it. “I don’t know if it counts as trusting you,” he said. “I, just-....I used to work for this guy, and you remind me of him.” He shifted a bit, looking away, fixing his eyes on the wall. “Less of an asshole, I guess, but that’s probably because I’m not sixteen anymore.”

“I see,” Mustang said. “Should I be flattered, or offended?”

“Probably.”

Mustang laughed at that, taking a step forward. “I suppose I should head out, now, if-...”

“Wait,” Theo stopped him, holding up a hand.

They stared at each other for a moment, Theo not entirely certain what he’d intended to add to the conversation, drawing a hard blank on follow-up statements.

“....You could join us?” he offered, weakly. “I’m not kicking you out after you did me a favor.”

Mustang watched him a moment, before he gave a small, self-satisfied looking smile. “I’d be happy to.”

Somehow, Theo had the feeling the universe was laughing at him for this.

Notes:

comments on the last chapter: haha theo finding roy in his apartment is gonna be so funny
me, looking at theo's 9 layer ptsd cake: haha... yeah....

Chapter 22

Summary:

“You probably can’t even feel when the joints are dirty, can you?”

Theo blinked at her. “Um. Like, when the movement gets stiff?”

Pinako made a strangled noise.

Notes:

a note before this chapter begins....ed's birthday is feb 3. he burned his house down on oct 3. they are separate dates. this is relevant this chapter ;)

Theo was a strange man.

Roy wasn’t really quite sure what had made him so immediately suspicious of his visit, but he’d definitely been on alert, even going so far as to block the kids off in the hall until Roy had revealed the reason for his visit.

As though his intentions were unclear, and he could have been a threat to them, just with his presence. What did Theo think he would have done?

“Brought food? Oh, it’s you.”

Roy looked down at the greeting of Pinako, smiling. “Theo invited me to stay, if that’s alright,” he told her.

“Not my house,” she said, shrugging. “Is my food, but I’ll be getting my money back soon enough.”

“Oh?” Theo appeared again at Roy’s side, looking eagerly at Pinako. “Is he ready for a leg, then?”

“Healed brilliantly,” she confirmed. “I expected him to blister around the port during the train ride, if nothing else. Vibration like that is hell on a fresh port.”

“Theo helped!” Alphonse informed the woman cheerily. “He told Ed how to sit so that his leg didn’t shake, and he felt a lot better.”

Pinako looked to him, then back to Theo. “You did?”

“I didn’t know it could blister,” Theo said, as though this invalidated the entire act. “I just know it’s really annoying to feel the pieces rattling around. I sort of rushed my recovery from automail surgery, and W- uh, well, a mechanic who looked at it said I probably killed a lot of nerves in my leg in the process, and that’s why I don’t get very good feedback from it at times. I figured I should probably try and keep him from doing the same thing.”

Pinako narrowed her eyes at him. “Rushed,” she said, like she was testing the word. “How quickly did you recover from your initial operation?”

“About a year.”

Roy knew very little about automail, but he’d always heard that it was a heavily taxing surgery with a hard recovery, and judging by the look on Pinako’s face, it was meant to be a much longer process than that, as well.

“No wonder you let it get in such a state,” Pinako said. “You probably can’t even feel when the joints are dirty, can you?”

Theo blinked at her. “Um. Like, when the movement gets stiff?”

Pinako made a strangled noise. “Theo, you’re meant to have nerve sensors in the joints, that send signals when something is broken or obstructed.”

Theo shrugged weakly at her. “When something bad happens, it goes numb and stops responding. That’s the only way I know anything’s wrong.”

Pinako looked as though this conversation was aging her ten years with every new thing Theo said. “I’m looking at your leg after dinner,” she informed him, in a tone that made it clear she was not taking an argument for it. “Now, what did you get?”

Cretan was the answer to that, apparently, and a lot of it. Roy was actually slightly concerned by the amount until Ed was brought into the room by his younger brother and he got to witness the boys put away a good third of it by themselves.

A look shot to Theo earned him an amused smirk in response, and Roy watched as the eldest brother served himself another third of the food, leaving the final portion to be divided up amongst normal human stomachs.

Absolutely mental, this family, Roy thought. Everything about them - them mostly meaning Theo - was larger than life. Theo was a god crammed into a human form, as far as Roy could tell - and crammed quite badly, given the amount of things that didn’t seem to be working for him. He was carefree and paranoid all at once, quick-witted and yet utterly oblivious, rude and crass and yet incomparably kind…

And he was a ghost story, too, apparently, given that Roy still couldn’t find a single thing on where the hell the man came from.

Which reminded him…

“Theo,” Roy said, catching the man’s attention, pulling it away from where he was cramming a somewhat frightening quantity of noodles into his mouth. “I still have paperwork to fill out for you, but I need a little more information for it.”

“Like what?” Theo asked - only, he did so while clearly forgetting that he was still eating, so it came out around noodles as a muffled, “Li’watt?”

“You can’t talk with food in your mouth,” Winry informed him, speaking with the authority of someone who had heard this rule be reinforced a thousand times.

“Sorry,” Theo said, only slightly less mangled than the last response, and took the time to finish chewing and swallowing his food before trying again. “What did you need?”

“Well, basics, mainly,” Roy said. “I only got your full name from the Fuhrer using it, I don’t know where you’re from - I don’t even have your birthday.”

Theo paused, noodles midway through the air on their way to be shoveled down as ravenously as the previous bunch, and looked a bit like Roy had just presented him with a ticking bomb and asked him to defuse it.

“...You have my name now,” Theo said, after a moment. “And where I’m from doesn’t matter, unless you need a city for a birth certificate or something, and I don’t need anything that far back.”

“And your birthday?” Roy prompted.

Theo’s face pinched, and his eyes flicked down the length of the table, over various faces. He looked like he was thinking, which made Roy nervous as to what he was about to say, because surely his birthday didn’t require this much thought.

When he spoke, though, it was quiet, defeated, and - most importantly - just a date. “October 3rd.”

“That’s soon!” Al pointed out, sounding excited. “How old will you be, Theo? How old are you right now?”

Theo seemed to relax a tiny bit, apparently objecting to this question less than the last, for whatever reason. “I’m 29, right now.”

“Wow,” Winry said. “You’re way older than I thought you were!”

Theo looked affronted. Roy bit back a laugh, though he did have to privately agree - Theo’s age brought to mind stuffy generals and other officials Roy had met over the years, which couldn’t be more different from the impression he got from the alchemist himself. Theo was twitchy and suspicious, yes, but he also seemed to take everything only half seriously at best, and was brash and reckless in a way that usually spoke of immaturity.

Or, at least, that was what Roy had gathered, after hearing stories along the lines of ‘I want to defeat the Fuhrer’ and ‘I forced myself to recover from automail surgery within a year.’

“What’re you gonna do for your birthday?” Winry asked.

Theo smiled at her for a second, before seeming to process what she asked, and his face when sheet white and utterly blank.

“Well,” he said, lowly, “Any plans I had are pretty much cancelled, so...whatever’s happening around here by then.”

Silence fell over the table as everyone recalled the circumstances under which Theo was joining them.

The dinner proceeded quietly from there, the atmosphere pretty thoroughly defeated.

“Thank you for inviting me to stay,” Roy said, stepping toward the door, Theo walking with him as they went. Roy doubted it had anything to do with him, specifically, and more to do with escaping the chore distribution that was going on in the kitchen. “It was kind of you.”

Theo shrugged noncommittally. “Thanks for staying, I guess. Sorry to make it weird.”

Roy opened his mouth to protest, but Theo just quirked an eyebrow at him, and he let out a defeated sigh and shook his head. “It happens,” he said, instead of the denial he’d wanted to give, and Theo chuckled quietly in what he hoped was appreciation.

“See you tomorrow?” Roy asked, hand on the doorknob to leave.

“Unfortunately,” Theo replied, making Roy laugh.

“Please don’t leave rude notes in the paperwork tomorrow?”

“Then why bother doing it at all?”

Roy shook his head, still laughing, and opened the door. “See you tomorrow,” he said, more firmly this time, as a goodbye and not a question.

“See you,” Theo returned, and Roy slipped out of the apartment.

On either side of the door, out of sight of one another, both men let out hefty sighs, running over the evening in their minds from two very different perspectives.

At this point, Theo thought, as he looked around the dream rendition of Mustang’s office, someone had to just be fucking with him.

He watched the spectre of Mustang at his desk, exchanging words to a young woman dressed in such a way that Theo wanted to break through the veil of invisibility he had to observe these dreams by and apologize to her for whatever the men had said to her on her way in.

He watched, confused, as the woman delivered to Mustang a lipstick-marked envelope, and took a manilla folder in exchange. As she turned to leave, she walked right past his past self, who had barged into the office with all the bluster he was famous for.

Theo watched as Past-Ed faltered in the center of the office, watching the woman on her way out, staring at the door in bewilderment as it closed behind her.

“Edward,” Mustang greeted him from the desk. “I have your-...”

“Who was that?”

Theo frowned. Ed’s voice was sharp, and his eyes were narrowed, and Theo couldn’t remember any of this. He couldn’t remember this meeting, couldn’t remember what about her had caught his attention, but clearly there was something alarming about her.

With strong discomfort settling in, he looked down, noting that this Ed was not wearing his ring.

“A date,” Mustang said. “Are you going to get this file or not?”

Ed rounded on him, but didn’t so much as glance at the file he held. “She’s my age.”

“And?”

“I’m fourteen years younger than you.”

Mustang waved a hand dismissively through the air. “I would be bothered by that if you weren’t currently twenty-seven. Honestly, once you get to around twenty-five, it’s all irrelevant. The file?”

“You’re gross,” Ed informed him, crossing the office to the desk, taking the mission documents.

Or, well, he reached for them, but found himself meeting resistance, as Mustang did not immediately let go.

“Why does it bother you?” Mustang asked, eyeing Ed with something darkly interested in his face.

Ed yanked the folder free, and turned to leave without a word.

“Where’s your ring, Fullmetal?”

Ed paused in mid-step, and Theo’s stomach churned.

He did remember this. Those words echoed in his ears every time he saw the glint of gold against his skin, every time he swallowed down the bile in his throat and ripped it off his hand to stifle the guilt.

“I’m keeping it safe,” Ed answered, voice tense and almost hollow. He did not turn around. “Where’s Riza?”

“Safe,” Mustang returned. “As I’m hoping you’ll be. Good luck with the job, Edward.”

Ed still didn’t turn, but hunched over a bit, stalking out of the room in silence.

When the memory around Theo turned fuzzy and gray, slipping away, it was a relief.

The white room that it faded into, however, was not.

“Are you getting something from this?” He demanded, to the seemingly empty white void. “I know I’m an asshole, okay, I don’t need a reminder every night, and I definitely don’t need a conversation about it.”

“What did you lose?”

Theo’s eyes dropped closed, an irate breath escaping him. When he opened them again, Truth was stood before him, eerie grin wide as ever on his featureless face.

“Is this a riddle?” he asked. “Do I get a prize if I get the right answer? Die if I get the wrong one? Or do I just get to sit here and stare at you until you finally give up and let me wake up again?”

“So you don’t know,” Truth said. “I’ve made it so clear, though, Edward.”

“Theo,” he corrected. “There can’t be two Eds, it’s confusing. I’ve got to be someone else.”

“Oh, there you go,” Truth said, nonsensically. “Getting so close. Mustang saw it, Hawkeye saw it, your wife saw it, but you’re only just now catching on.”

Theo didn’t have time to respond before Truth was lifting a hand, giving him a jaunty little wave, and then vanishing, leaving Theo standing in frustration as the white room faded around him.

If this kept up, he thought, as the dream left him, he was just going to have to quit sleeping.

 

Notes:

Now, I'm gonna defend something for a sec....jokes aside, Truth isn't necessarily trying to ship RoyEd here. That's just the means through which he's trying to show something else that he thinks is important.
back to jokes, roy learned today that whenever he gets theo out on a date, he better prepare to shell out, cause that boy HUNGY

Chapter 23

Summary:

“Do I want to know what all this is?”

“No,” Theo said, immediately following it with, “But I’m going to tell you anyway.”

Notes:

theo's theme for this chapter is "i'll sleep when i'm dead" by set it off

Because Theo telling Mustang “God hates me” was neither a joke nor an exaggeration, the memory-dream and the visit to the white room ended with him blinking up at the ceiling of a dark room, not even the faintest hint of sunlight at the window.

A check of the time revealed that it was barely three in the morning - too early to be a reasonable time to wake up, but too late for him to get any decent sleep in before he needed to get up for real.

With a hefty sigh, Theo gave up on sleep, pulling himself out of bed and seeking out one of his father’s journals to try and get some research done with this sudden extra time.

He’d hardly even managed to find the page he’d left off on decoding last when his mind wandered back to Truth’s cryptic goading again.

What did Truth think he’d lost that was so important? Something relevant to Mustang, apparently, given the dreams. Something that he’d claimed everyone but Theo himself had been able to catch.

There you go, he’d said, after Theo said there could not be two Edward Elrics. What exactly had he said, again? Something like, ‘I have to be someone else.’

Was Truth trying to say he’d lost some fundamental piece of his identity? That seemed rather trivial for a being that fancied itself the driving force of the universe, especially given how insistent it was that Theo was not actually important in the grand scheme of things at all.

Truth’s riddle was frustrating to dwell on, but the words of the journal bled together and ran off the pages as he tried to read them, so his primary distraction was a bust.

Something else, he thought to himself, setting the journal aside and hoisting himself out of bed.

When Pinako entered the kitchen a few hours later, she found Theo at the table, notes scattered across its surface as he switched between drafts of arrays.

“Do I want to know what all this is?”

“No,” Theo said, immediately following it with, “But I’m going to tell you anyway.”

“Typical,” Pinako muttered, and headed for the fridge, deciding she could at least make breakfast while he talked.

“I modified the seeking array,” Theo said. “This one here-...” he tapped a drawing of an array to his left, “-is a monitoring array, set to watch over a set area. I’ll put it on the door, or somewhere like that, and if something gets within a couple feet of it, it’ll go off.”

“And do what?” Pinako asked, staring in dismay at the assortment of random food items that made up Theo’s idea of ‘groceries.’ “Kill it?”

“No! No, nothing like that,” he said. “I have two different drafts for that, actually….One of them would set of an alchemic trap, caging the person in or something like that, but it would have to be specifically set up so that I didn’t accidentally lock a friendly neighbor up in a wood cage for the evening, and that sounds like a pain. The other option, though, was to have it set off a distance array, and alert me, wherever I am. That option would mean I’d need to figure out how to connect two physical arrays, instead of using an internal one to cheat like I have been, and I would need a better idea of my distance limit than ‘wherever I can find,’ so that I know how far away I can safely be.”

Pinako turned to look at him, watching him prop his elbows up on the table, hands combing through his over-long golden hair in clear frustration.

“This is a lot easier now than it used to be,” Theo said. “But it’s still not exactly easy, and every time I get one array working I find two more that I need to come up with. Literally, in this case.”

“Sounds like you’re overcomplicating things,” Pinako said, rather judgmentally, inspecting a package of sausages that she was not entirely certain could be trusted, even if it was brand new and unopened. “Why is this a problem you have to solve with alchemy? Alarm systems exist already, Theo. Might not make anything flashy, but they definitely work.”

Theo blinked, then straightened. “Electronics,” he breathed out, sounding awed. “Granny, you’re a genius.”

“Don’t call me that,” Pinako snapped at him. “I’m not so old as to be a grandmother to every young person I’ve ever patched up!” She turned, hoisting a carton of eggs into the air (missing, in her motions, Theo’s pained look), and demanded, “Where is your milk?”

“Don’t have any,” Theo said, blinking at her innocently.

“You don’t drink it either, do you?” Pinako asked, squinting at him. “What about Al?”

“He was outvoted.”

“He’s ten,” Pinako reminded him. “Children’s growth comes before diet preferences.”

Theo had the decency to look a bit abashed at that. “I grew fine without it,” he protested, weakly. “And that was with two automail limbs and my soul supporting an extra body.”

Pinako shot him a look, clearly communicating the sentiment of I’m not going to ask without needing say a word.

“Honestly, though,” Theo said. “Jokes aside, no one ever mentioned milk, so I didn’t bother even considering it. If someone wants it, we’ll get it, but otherwise, I’m perfectly happy not having it around.”

“And I suppose that logic also applies to vegetables?” Pinako asked, gesturing back to the fridge. “Fresh meats? Any of the foods that two young growing boys and one active young man should be eating?”

Theo looked suddenly sheepish. “I, ah...my brother and my wife were in charge of making sure I stayed alive most of the time. I have no idea what I’m doing. I mainly went for stuff those two could manage on their own, for when I’m not here, you know?”

Pinako considered this. From that angle, the grocery situation didn’t seem quite as bad - the foods weren’t exactly the peak of healthy or ideal nutrition, but they weren’t straight junk food, either. Processed meats would last longer than fresh ones, and the limited fruits could be eaten as-is, rather than needing any kind of preparation, like most vegetables. In her search of the cabinets she’d found cereals and energy bars, both of which made good quick snacks for three easily distracted alchemists who would no doubt be reluctant to leave their research (or whatever they were up to - she wasn’t about to ask) to sit for a proper meal.

“You’ve got a while before that man is sending you out on missions, yeah?” Pinako said, brandishing a spoon at him. “I’m teaching you how to cook before I go home. The boys, too. They’re children, they need to eat properly, and so do you. From what I’ve seen of you, you’re muscle on bone - bulk means nothing if you’re starving under it, Theo.”

“I’m not-...” Theo started, but cut off at her glare. “Ah...yes, ma’am. I do know how to cook, though-... Er, well. In theory. I know how it’s supposed to work, and the process, and the chemistry- ...”

“Son,” Pinako interrupted, voice tired. “Get over here and help me make some eggs, before I have to hurt you.”

Theo scrambled to her side quickly - his memory of Pinako’s wrench-wielding strength was distant and vague, but after years of Winry’s, he wasn’t keen to go re-learning it.

“Colonel.”

Roy looked up from where he’d been laying out his things for the day on his desk, blinking up at Riza, who was watching him with an expression he knew from experience meant she was about to say something she considered to be overstepping.

“What is it?” he asked - he never minded Riza’s opinions, insubordinate or otherwise.

“I would... prefer if we kept paperwork within our established routine,” she said, slowly. “We had a streamlined and efficient system-...”

“You cock your gun when the stacks get too high, and the men panic,” Roy cut in smoothly. “I’m aware.”

“Yes, well,” she looked as though she’d bitten down on something sour. “The paperwork may not be done enthusiastically, but it is done accurately and-...”

“Is this-...”

“Sir, if you’d let me finish.”

Roy’s mouth snapped back shut, and he sat back, amused, gesturing for her to complete her thought.

“It’s Major Hohenheim’s paperwork that’s concerning me,” Riza admitted, a bit of professionalism dropping from her tone as she crossed the room, setting the papers in her arms down in front of him. Roy recognized the scribbled notes in the margins as the ‘corrections’ and various commentary that had been offered by Theo in his work the day before.

“Ah, right,” Roy said, unable to help a laugh.

“Sir, I have had to rewrite each and every one of these forms,” she said, unimpressed. “Which means you get to sign them all again.”

Roy stopped laughing with a grimace. Doing all that paperwork twice was decidedly less funny.

“Your employees are your own to command,” Riza continued, “but in order to be able to pass these along the appropriate channels, a level of restraint needs to be shown.”

“His comments aren’t that bad,” Roy countered, albeit weakly. “Just…”

Riza flipped through the pages for a moment, then turned the stack around, presenting Roy with a rather impressive doodle of what, from the eyepatch, appeared to be an unflattering doodle of Fuhrer Bradley sticking his sword through the ‘requests’ section of a requisition form.

“...Point taken.”

“Reign him in,” Riza said, all pretense abandoned, “or let him do something else. If they’re like this today, I’m not redoing them.”

There was a bit of noise outside of Roy’s office, the distant sounds of a conversation being muffled by his door.

“That’ll be him,” he sighed. “Alright, alright. I didn’t expect him to be a paperwork type, anyway, to be honest.”

“Reign him in,” Riza repeated, before giving a nice formal salute and turning to leave. She passed Theo on his way in, and though she didn’t acknowledge him, Roy could practically feel the ice radiating off her.

“...She doesn’t like me,” Theo said, once in the office, staring at the open door in apparent surprise - as though the concept of Riza, strictly professional and fiercely defensive, not liking him, insubordinate and quick to insult, was baffling to him.

“She’s not fond of your style of paperwork,” Roy replied.

Theo seemed comforted by this, nodding understandingly, and closed the door behind himself. “I’m not used to writing things that someone else is going to read. Alchemy journals, research notes-...”

“You never write letters?” Roy asked, curiosity winning out over the sense to move the conversation along.

“Oh, well, yeah,” Theo said, scratching at the side of his nose as he appeared to think this over. “But only to my brother and y-...uh. The bastard I used to work for, that I mentioned to you.”

“The one I remind you of.”

Theo waved a hand dismissively. “Not that much, actually,” he said- sounding slightly put out about it. “He never bothered turning the ‘charming bastard’ routine on me, like you do, for one-...”

“You think I’m charming?”

Roy watched as Theo froze, visibly rethinking the last few words that had passed his mouth, and then flushed, sputtering indignantly.

“That’s not- I mean that you think you’re being charming, asshole. You’re really just being gross.”

Roy gave him an affronted look, but paused before retaliating, because something odd happened on Theo’s face.

The second the last word had left his mouth, Theo had halted, the flush draining as he blanched instead, staring blankly ahead in open horror.

“....Theo?”

“Sorry!” Theo shook his head, returning to a semblance of normalcy - though Roy noticed he was looking anywhere but at him. “I just- I’ve, uh, already had this argument. One like it, anyway, with the other-...It’s dumb.” Before Roy could ask after this, though, Theo looked back at him - still slightly pale - and asked, “What am I doing today, then? More paper bullshit?”                                                                                              

“No,” Roy said, after a moment’s hesitation. “No, you’ve been banned, until you can restrain your urges to doodle.”

“So, forever.”

“That’s what I figured,” Roy sighed. “So, you get something much worse.”

Theo eyed him apprehensively, and Roy grinned brightly in response, lifting a stack of sealed envelopes and string-bound stacks of paper.

“Let’s put your alchemist title to the test, shall we?”

Theo narrowed his eyes at the stack, then at Roy, then back again.

As he crossed the room to take the stack, Roy heard him mutter something that sounded like “definitely the same.”

Notes:

riza: why the fuck are you letting this guy do paperwork? hes awful at it
roy: yeah i know but you dont have all the facts
riza: what facts
roy: i love him

Chapter 24

Summary:

He hadn’t really thought about it until he’d said it, but Mustang’s behavior did make more sense now, if he framed it that way - Mustang was trying to make Theo like him.

Notes:

you know that meme of the two spidermans pointing accusingly at each other? thats theo and other characters trying to point out each others shady behavior this chapter

If there was to be a moment where Theo realized something that made everything else he’d been confused on a little clearer, made some fundamental pieces click into place and some pressing questions be suddenly answered, he would have imagined it would be triggered by something a little more impressive than the word ‘gross.’

Gross, though, was how Theo had once described Mustang’s behavior toward the women who came and went from his life, and now it was the same word he’d reached for when trying to excuse his misspeaking.

He hadn’t really thought about it until he’d said it, but Mustang’s behavior did make more sense now, if he framed it that way - Mustang was trying to make Theo like him.

Theo’s childhood understanding of Mustang had been an opinion formed of a man to whom he owed everything, and who held that leverage openly in each of their interactions.

Now, though, Theo hadn’t really made himself look that desperate. Mustang wasn’t saving his life, his freedom, but the two children Mustang only knew as spontaneous charges Theo had taken on.

Theo was in the same category as the higher-ranked officers of the military, as informants he had scattered throughout the city, as - embarrassing as it was to think - the women he dated.

He had something Mustang wanted, and so Mustang wanted Theo to like him.

That’s why his behavior was different. That’s why he had been dismissive of his debts and accommodating to his problems.

Mustang was trying to win him over.

This was not necessarily a bad thing, honestly, but stalking through the halls of offices in search of key personnel to pass off the man’s mail made it seem very much like an offensive form of emotional manipulation.

This annoyance was much easier to deal with than, for instance, the grief of having Pinako rebuff his familiar treatment of her, or the shame of realizing he didn’t actually know how to do anything related to children, or the pain of realizing Hawkeye didn’t like him this time around.

All these things needed to be fixed at some point, but Theo still couldn’t even figure out what his stupid dreams meant, so he wasn’t sure he had time to place them as priorities.

His eyes turned down toward the papers he held, and his steps faltered in the hall as his eyes landed on the heading of the first page of one of the bound stacks of papers.

CASE FILE: ‘SLICER’

Slicer. The Slicer Brothers, because it was still 1910, and they wouldn’t be executed and bound to armor for two more years. They hadn’t even been caught yet.

Moving to stand against a wall, Theo awkwardly shuffled his burdens to get the case file at the top of the stack, getting a better look at it.

He didn’t undo the string, but nudged it a bit, so that it was loose enough to allow him to peek under the corners of the pages to the sheet beneath. He caught fragments of information, from victim portraits to report dates, but nothing more substantial then the edges of a form or a guess at a report’s contents.

He readjusted the stack to sit more securely on one arm, so that he could reach up, toying with the string.

Surely, if he untied it, he could tie it back, or else transmute it so that no one would know-...

“Hallways are generally not the best place to review paperwork, in my experience.”

Theo’s head snapped up, eyes fixing on the man coming down the hallway now, approaching him with a wide smile but a suspicious gaze.

“Fuh-...Um. General Grumman,” Theo greeted, catching himself just short of the slip of his (potential?) future rank. As an afterthought, he shifted the stack again, and gave him a sort of sloppy imitation of a salute.

This seemed to amuse the man further, as he looked almost ready to laugh. “ Lieutenant General,” he corrected. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage...you seem familiar with me, but I don’t recognize you.”

“I’m Theo,” he introduced immediately, before grimacing. “Um, the Courier Alchemist?”

Gumman looked down to the papers in Theo’s hands. “...Indeed,” he said jovily, making Theo’s hatred of both the name and his current assignment grow tenfold. “I suspected, but it’s always best to ask, you know. Never tell someone’s lie for them if they are up to something suspicious, after all.” He reached out, taking the file from the top of Theo’s stack before he could do anything about it. “Ah, yes, I asked for these...You work under Colonel Mustang, now, I see, Major Hohenheim.”

“Theo,” he corrected reflexively. At Grumman’s raised eyebrow, he offered, “I’m….not a fan of ‘Hohenheim.’”

“‘Courier,’ then?”

Theo twitched. “Yeah, that’s worse.”

Grumman laughed. “An unfortunate situation you’ve found yourself in, to hate to be addressed by half your names. Perhaps such difficulty referring to you is what keeps the Colonel from passing on anything substantial about you. No history whatsoever - I can’t even get him to tell me your specialty. I imagine you bringing me my his reports is a coincidence rather than a demonstration?”

“I’m not a courier,” Theo confirmed, slightly irritably. “I developed a distance alchemy array, and everyone seemed to decide that the obvious use for that was shipping people their mail, and not...I don’t know, drawing up water from your house while you’re crossing the desert. Useful stuff.”

“Mail can be remarkably useful itself,” Grumman said. Then, to Theo’s horror, he lifted the paperwork up a bit and said, “As I suppose you well know, given you were trying to get into it.”

“I-...!” Theo faltered, fumbled, then quickly attempted to recover. “I just- I know that case. I wanted to see how far it’s gone.”

“Well, you won’t find anything interesting in here,” Grumman said, looking down at the paper. “Nothing you couldn’t read in the paper, honestly. We’re having a bit of trouble tracking him down...Remarkably efficient killers are becoming worryingly standard, these days, Major.”

“I could help,” Theo offered, before even thinking about it. “I’d be better at that then…” He gestured to the papers they each held.

Grumman gave him a highly amused smile. “I believe that would be up to your commanding officer,” he said. “However, I suppose I would first need to extend an invitation to join the investigation to Colonel Mustang, wouldn’t I?” He reached out, taking the papers that Theo still held, trading them off for the case file, and then turning to leave.

“Sir,” Theo called out, “You don’t need this one?” He held up the case file.

“I’ve read it a thousand times,” Grumman called back. “I daresay you’ll find it more interesting. Good day, Major Hohenheim.”

Theo blinked after him, and it wasn’t until the man had vanished around a corner that he managed to reply, “...Bye.”

“What’s that?”

Edward startled, shoving the journal under his bed covers quickly, only to relax when looking up revealed he’d been caught by Winry, not Granny.

To his side, Alphonse - who hadn’t so much as flinched - grinned broadly at their friend. “One of our dad’s journals!”

“One of Theo’s journals,” Ed corrected tersely. “We think he got it from our dad.”

“It’s definitely dad’s,” Al insisted. “Theo doesn’t have any of his own stuff, remember? And the code he uses looks the same.”

“Maybe he learned- ...”

Al rolled his eyes, ignoring his brother in favor of addressing Winry. “Theo was working on an array this morning, but he cleaned everything up real fast when he saw us looking at it. We were looking to see if there’s anything like it in here, so we can see what it does.”

“If he cleaned it up, he probably doesn’t want you looking at it,” Winry pointed out. “Won’t he get mad?”

Ed shrugged. “Never seen him mad. He gets kind of pissy-...”

“That’s a bad word.”

“-About that military guy,” Ed continued, acting as though Winry hadn’t spoken, “but most of the time he’s either super focused on doing alchemy stuff or just kind of...sitting there.”

“Granny says he has no idea what he’s doing,” Winry confided in them. “She said that he’s gonna have a real hard time taking care of you two, ‘cause he’s so bad at taking care of himself, already.”

“Theo’s not bad at anything,” Ed defended immediately. “We don’t need him to be our dad or anything! We’re old enough to take care of ourselves!”

“I didn’t say he had to be your dad,” Winry said. “And I’m not saying anything! I’m just telling you what Granny says.”

“Theo’s really cool,” Al offered. “He’s taught us loads of alchemy stuff...Not major stuff, but he makes all sorts of super cool arrays, and he told us that we can do alchemy now without circles, too, and-...”

“You boys and your alchemy,” Winry sighed heavily. “That’s all you care about. Alchemy this, alchemy that…”

“You’re the same way with automail,” Ed countered.

“No I’m not!” Winry protested. “I like other stuff, too! I still wanna play and hang out with you guys and read books and stuff. You guys are obsessed.”

“Alchemy is brilliant, though,” Ed said. “Once you get automail, you’ve got it, but alchemy is infinite. Every time you learn something, there’s something else you need to figure out. It-...”

“It almost killed you!”

Silence fell between the children.

“Automail doesn’t kill people,” Winry said, quiet and hesitant. “It hurts a lot, but it doesn’t kill people, Ed. Alchemy does. It-...It killed Theo’s family, didn’t it?”

Ed and Al exchanged looks.

“Alchemy is dangerous,” Winry said. “And...and, so is Theo, I think.”

“He’s-..!”

“He seems like a good person!” Winry rushed to add. “But-...but, you need to be careful, okay? Both of you. He says alchemy has done all these terrible things to him, and...and he keeps using it anyway. That’s scary, Ed.”

“You just don’t like him because he joined the military,” Ed said stubbornly, pulling the journal back out. “There’s nothing wrong with Theo.”

“You’re so- ...ugh.” Winry looked to Al imploringly.

“We’ll be careful,” Al promised her, gently. “But Ed’s right, too...I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Theo. I think he is working on something...he almost told us the other day, after that Colonel left, and I’m not gonna think anything bad about him until I know what it was.”

“Exactly,” Ed chimed in, as though these had also been his thoughts, and he hadn’t just been stubbornly denying Theo’s potential sketchiness out of blind pigheaded loyalty. “So shut up, Winry.”

“You’re so mean.”

“So…” Havoc said, leaning back so that his front chair legs rose off the floor, leaving his balance dependent on the way his knees were wedged up under the desk. “New guy.”

“What about him?” Breda asked.

“Just, y’know. Opinions. What’s everybody think of him?”

“I know Hawkeye hates him,” Breda offered immediately.

“She doesn’t hate him,” Fuery sighed. “She just…”

“He’s banned from paperwork,” Falman informed them. “She told me earlier.”

“Shit, how’d he manage that?” Havoc asked. “Could we do that?”

“He probably only didn’t get shot because he’s new,” Breda said. “I think we’re safer just filing it out.”

“Yeah, ‘new,’” Havoc echoed. “Meaning he’s Mustang’s new toy. What’s he thinking of doing with this guy, anyway? Mustang doesn’t have a lot of field agents reporting to him. I can’t see why he would need an alchemist on his team…’specially one with kids.”

“Kids?”

Havoc looked to Fuery. “Did you miss that part? He’s got two little brothers with him.”

“Oh, I thought you meant he had kids,” Fuery said. “I just thought- well, it didn’t really make sense to me, given-...um…”

“Because he gives Mustang the same look Havoc’s dates usually do?”

“Hey,” Havoc protested, at the same time Fuery spluttered and tried to deny it, making Breda laugh.

“The brothers are ten and eleven years old,” Falman interrupted, speaking to Fuery. “They’re not his children, but they are still his dependants.”

“Wait, wait, why do you know that?” Havoc asked, dropping his chair back to the floor as he turned to stare at the other officer incredulously. “Did Mustang actually tell you something about him?”

“I had to arrange paperwork for him,” Falman told them. “He was apparently missing most key documentation.” There was a moment’s pause, before Falman seemed to crack under the strain of his professionalism, and admitted, “And, judging by how pleased with himself he seemed upon giving me the man’s birthday this morning, obtaining the information that was meant to be on those forms is as difficult as finding the original lost records.”

“So he’s sketchy,” Havoc summarized.

“I trust Colonel Mustang’s judgement,” Falman said diplomatically. “If he says Major Hohenheim is an asset, than he is. Simple as that.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“...He’s stupid pretty, though, right?” Havoc asked the room. “I’m not the only one seeing that?”

“Straight gorgeous,” Breda confirmed. “No man in East City stands a chance while he’s around, I guarantee.”

They were saved any further opinions on this by the sound of a clearing throat and then the tell-tale click of a cocked pistol.

Hawkeye had noticed the lack of paperwork noises, then. They hurried to remedy this, shelving their conversation of Theo for a later time.

There was really nothing more to say, anyway.

Not yet.

Notes:

havoc: this guy is weird
breda: yeah i feel that
havoc:
nobody:
literally no one:
absolutely not a single person:
havoc: he'skindahotthoisthatweird?

Chapter 25

Summary:

Even as he took it, though, he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t know why he held onto it when it was given to him, or why he took care to keep it with him, or why he chose to hide it from Mustang that he’d taken it.

Notes:

takin a break from my gay cowboy content to update theo's plight
enjoy the Struggle™

Theo spent most of the day running around the building, being introduced to various personnel and attempting to correct them on his name in a way that was neither offensive nor overly friendly. 

It was tiring, and when the day was over, he was glad to be done with it. 

Though he knew it was probably a bad idea, he kept the file to himself. He was able to fold it in on itself twice before the thickness refused to yield, allowing him to cram the whole thing as a fat square into one of the absurdly deep pockets of his military uniform trousers, and thus smuggle it out of the building and back to his apartment.

Even as he took it, though, he wasn’t sure why. He didn’t know why he held onto it when it was given to him, or why he took care to keep it with him, or why he chose to hide it from Mustang that he’d taken it. 

There was a hunger in him, though, one he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was the desperation of hunting down the homunculi all over again, if a bit watered down - which didn’t make sense, because these were just a couple killers that he knew full well would be caught soon.

Who dies until then, though? 

He couldn’t help but think it. Couldn’t help but feel frustrated that the body count was nowhere near done climbing, wasn’t even really getting started . So much blood would run before he could even get to a point to retaliate. 

How many lives, Theo thought, as he unfolded the crushed up folder again at home, spreading the papers out across the table. How much did Truth take from me alone? 

Equivalent exchange was murky here - how much was the cost of a second try? Everything he’d known was gone, surely that afforded him something more than just a front row seat to the destruction of his life. Surely all that loss paid for something, let him save just a little-...

...Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe the life Theo had bought with his own had been his still - perhaps his adult life was given to give his younger self something better, something less troubled, and the rest of the world would have to go forward unaffected. He’d bought his own peace, not theirs. 

Fuck that.

His eyes locked on the files of each known victim of the Slicer Brothers, burning their faces into his mind. 

Fuck Truth, fuck equations, fuck equivalence. How many times now had he been reminded that there was no price for human life? Nothing equaled the value of a human soul except another. 

Another soul.

Theo froze, the files suddenly seeming miles away.

A soul. Not knowledge, not peace - souls, whatever mysterious properties defined them. 

What was the Gate? A piece of him, clearly, but a piece of Truth as well. It was the link that bonded them together, allowed exchange between them. It opened within the core of any who had the strength and audacity to seek it out, and through it ran the secrets of the universe.

But what was it? In terms of the equations he’d broken down, the study of values and prices, what defined the Gate? 

Not knowledge - Theo had not forgotten a single thing without it. Neither was it part of his body, which had been more whole than ever for its absence. Not his mind, just a single ability. 

More than an ability, though, as well. If he’d offered up his knowledge of math or science, his ability to bullshit through a game of chess or tinker with small machines, Truth would have laughed in his face.

Alchemy transcended ability. It was a part of the alchemist - the link between the universe as a whole and the individual soul.

A cold feeling washed over him, and a second later, he was looking up into Truth’s grin again.

“You figured it out.”

Theo stared at Truth. Part of him wanted to make a smart comment about how often Truth wanted to see him these days, and the increasing ease of being dragged back to this place, but there was something more pressing weighing on him.

“You took a part of me,” Theo said. “The Gate was part of my soul.” 

“Yes, and no,” Truth said. “A human soul craves the presence of others...but those who insist on being more than mere humans connect themselves instead to the universe itself. To knowledge. To life. To Truth.”

“And I gave it away,” Theo said, realization turning his stomach. “I didn’t want it. I wanted Alphonse.”

“And I gave him to you,” Truth said. “Gladly. Because I knew it wouldn’t be the last time we spoke.”

“Because I’d need more.” Theo shook his head, horrified and disgusted - both with himself most of all. “I wouldn’t ever be satisfied. No matter how many people loved me, no matter how good my life was-…”

“Give up alchemy for want of a brother,” Truth said. “Give up a brother for a family. Give up the family for the brother. Back and forth, back and forth, and it’s never enough. More, more, more - give up peace for work, give up growth for impact, give up, give up, give up. Addicted to sacrifice.”

“I’m Tantalus, starving under a tree,” Theo realized. “But each time I pick a fruit it rots in my hand.” 

“You were,” Truth corrects. “But your sacrificing wasn’t done. It still isn’t.” 

Theo looked down at his hands, a numb feeling spreading through him. 

He’d proposed to Winry because he’d wanted to keep her in his life as long as he could, but he didn’t spend any time with her. He’d hoarded her love selfishly and given next to nothing in return. In the same way, he’d never let Al grow or change, tailing along behind him and dragging him away in turn, nurturing their codependence. He’d been proud to be a father but never acted like one. He’d insisted he didn’t want fame and yet made no effort to hide from it. 

He’d taken his ring off outside Mustang’s office every single time and told himself it was fine, and he’d believed himself because it never meant that much to him anyway. 

It had been a long time since Theo felt such a strong hatred, and it seemed fitting it was toward himself.

“Your soul’s been through a lot,” Truth said, somewhere so close to sympathetic that it seemed all the more mocking. “But you’ve pieced it back together, and now you’ve got a shot at making sure your mistakes aren’t repeated.” 

“So that’s it, then?” Theo asked, looking up again. “You’ve given me enough time to fix him? Ed, I mean? Make it so he doesn’t-...”

“Edward and Alphonse Elric are whole in soul and body,” Truth said. “...Mostly. You’ve already stopped them going down your path.”

“And that’s what I bought,” Theo said. “My life, it bought their souls? The pieces you would have taken?”

Truth tipped its white head back in a laugh, the sole feature of his grin wide as ever. “You’re so  stupid,” it laughed, before looking back to Theo. “Stop bargaining, Theophrastus. What you’re after isn’t righteous. You want to be whole again. It’s all you’ve ever wanted. It’s what you ask for every time I see you.”

“Then-...”

“The pieces you broke off still exist,” Truth said. “Find them - and then, you may find me.”

The apartment returned in the blink of an eye. 

Staring down at the papers, Theo had a strong urge to be sick.

Pinako watched Theo closely as he carefully followed her instructions for preparing the chicken breasts she intended to cook for dinner, applying seasoning in precisely measured amounts, defaulting to science where this particular knowledge failed him.

He’d been quiet all afternoon. He’d come home with papers, sorted through them for a few minutes, and then packed them back into a file and disappeared to stash it away somewhere. Since then, he’d been almost entirely silent, obeying each of her instructions without protest and to the letter. 

As much as she hated prompting him to tell her even more of his ever growing confusing life story, she had to say something.

“Your mother must have been very calm.”

Theo straightened, turning wide eyes on Pinako, the jerk of movement sending a small amount of seasoning sloshing out of his measuring spoon and dusting the entire counter. 

“There we go,” Pinako said, reaching out to take the spoon from him, using it to gesture at the chicken that had been hit by the scattered spices. “That’s more like it.”

“What was that?” Theo asked, entirely ignoring their lesson. “About my mother?” 

“She must have been calm,” Pinako said, pinching some of the seasoning between her fingers and scattering it over the chicken, past the point of waiting on Theo to figure it out. “You’re much more agreeable than the boys tend to be. Hohenheim’s stubbornness combined with Trisha’s emotional range to create a couple of menaces, but you mostly listen.” 

Theo snorted. “I’m just older,” he said. “And you’re-...Well. I don’t listen worth a shit to most people. Stuff like this, sure. I don’t know anything about this. But anything else?” He shook his head. “I’m probably worse, actually.”

“Suppose I just haven’t seen much of you,” she said. “All I know is that you’ve been through hell, and it’s given you some mighty fine nerves.” After a moment of thought, she added, “And that you love those two boys, but you haven’t got a clue how to talk to them.” 

“I don’t think you need to be around me very long to catch that one,” Theo said. “It’s pretty obvious I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Pinako said. “You’re keeping them safe, at the very least. You make it clear that’s your biggest priority. I just get the sense you’ve got about as much emotional range as your father - you’ve got stubborn, angry, and them , and nothing in between.”

“... Them?” 

“People you care about,” Pinako elaborated. “Hohenheim around Trisha was a whole different person. His behavior toward her barely changed with his mood, he was so gone on her. You, on the other hand - under all your paranoia and anger, you’ve got your love for those two boys, the loss you feel for your family, and whatever the hell is up your ass about that military guy.” 

“Mustang?” Theo asked, incredulous. “What’s- You’ve met him. He’s an asshole. It’s nothing special, I just don’t like him.” 

Pinako eyed him, heavily skeptical. 

“Okay, that’s not-...” Theo tried. “I don’t-...He’s just a pain in the ass. A helpful pain in the ass, but still.” 

“Uh-huh,” Pinako said. Looking down at their seasoned chickens, she announced casually, “I think these are ready to cook.”

Theo helped her start putting them into a pan. “He’s my best bet to keep Ed and Al safe, though.”

“I’m sure. Turn the stove on- little lower- good.”

“He’s trustworthy, even if he is an asshole,” Theo continued. “And I need all the people I can get if I want to-...”

“I am not arguing with you,” Pinako pointed out. “I don’t give a damn one way or the other. Don’t invite him to any more dinners unless you’re the one cooking. Other than that, do whatever you  want.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Pinako raised her eyes skyward, as though praying for strength. After a long pause, she nudged him out of the way, taking over cooking the chicken. 

“Get out of here,” she said. “I swear, you’re as bad as your father. All that science and math and you never learned a thing about people.” 

Theo shook his head, not bothering to search for sense in that, and went to go retrieve his ‘younger brothers,’ all while trying hard not to think that the best person to tell him what the hell Pinako was on about would have been his own version of Winry. 

Notes:

pinako: dont make me fund your dates
theo: my wot

Chapter 26

Summary:

"I don't know anything about that animal research stuff he does, except that it's vile seeing what it does to some of those poor creatures, and your government is sick if it wants to fund it."

"Sick, and getting sicker," Theo replied. "Them, and your husband, too."

Notes:

Late nights across Amestris! shoutout to everyone who patiently waited for this chapter while i went on a gay cowboy kick lmao

There was an angel on the porch. 

Erin Tucker could think of no other way to properly sum up the scene in front of her: a stranger in the late evening, all shades of gold smothered under a plain brown coat. 

"Mrs. Tucker?"

Erin blinked. "I-...Yes. Who are-...?"

"I'm Theo," the man said. "Is your husband here?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line, her face showing her irritation of its own accord. "No," she said, flatly. "Did you need him for something?" She finally caught sight of the blue uniform hidden beneath his coat. "Are you a State Alchemist? Did someone finally answer him?"

"I'm military, but I'm not here for him, no." The man looked her in the eye with something heavy in his gaze, and told her, "I wanted to speak to you."

"Me?" Erin echoed. "About what? I don't know anything about that animal research stuff he does, except that it's vile seeing what it does to some of those poor creatures, and your government is sick if it wants to fund it."

"Sick, and getting sicker," Theo replied. "Them, and your husband, too."

Erin narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean?”

“He’s obsessed with alchemy,” Theo said. “The animals don’t matter to him at all, and that’s a slippery slope. The more he learns, the more he’ll want to learn, and the more he’ll be willing to do.” 

“I don’t follow.”

The man reached out, holding out a folded piece of paper. Hesitantly, Erin plucked it free between her fingers, unfolding it to reveal a drawing.

She knew next to nothing about alchemy, Shou’s notes having always been incomprehensible to her, but she didn’t have to understand the individual symbols and lines to know that she’d been given a very complicated alchemy circle. 

“Look at it, very closely,” Theo told her, suddenly speaking in a much lower voice. “Do you know what it is? Have you seen it before?”

“I don’t know,” Erin said, frowning down at the paper. “I don’t know enough about alchemy to tell the difference.”

“Learn this one,” Theo said. “And look for it. And - I know I’m a stranger, you have no reason to trust me, but…If you see this array anywhere, run. Take your daughter and go, and don’t look back.” 

Erin’s head snapped up, wide eyes on the soldier’s face. “What do you know about my daughter?” 

The man’s lips pressed into a thin line, and it was a moment before he spoke again. “I had a daughter, too,” he said, rather than answer. “And a son, and a wife, and a brother… I had everything.” He reached out, tapping the paper still clutched in Erin’s hands. “I lost them all, for this array.”

Erin lowered her eyes back to the circle. “What…what is this?”

“Human transmutation.”

Erin gaped at him.

“Shou Tucker is going to get tired of taking the long way around,” Theo told her. “Animals won’t cut it. He’ll want something stronger. You know it already. You’re already thinking about leaving. If he catches you, if he knows he’s lost you, he’ll act. What he’s done to them, he’ll do to you...and then, if he gets away with it, he’ll do it to your daughter, too.”

“I’ll kill him first,” Erin spat, before catching herself. “I-...Why do you know all this? How do I know you’re not just some crazy man trying to get between me and my husband?” 

“I know Shou Tucker,” Theo said. “He thought we were the same. That I was like him, willing to pay any cost to get what I want. And...honestly, I think I might have been. But I’m trying not to be. I’ve lost too much to this.” He reached out, hands catching Erin’s wrists, lifting up her hands to bring the paper closer to her. “If you won’t take it on my word, memorize this. Nothing good can come from it. If you ever see it, you don’t need to trust me to know you’re not safe. If you see it, go.” 

“But he….he can’t know I’m leaving?” This was insane, but there was something desperate in the man, something that made her trust that, even if he wasn’t right, he at least thought he was. “Or he’ll hurt us?” 

“He’ll try,” Theo said. 

“I can’t risk my daughter’s life like that,” Erin said. “Wouldn’t it be safer to just-...?”

“He won’t touch Nina,” Theo said, low and dangerous. “If anything happens to you, I’ll get her away. You have my word on that.”

Erin narrowed her eyes at him. He knew Nina’s name? “How do you know Shou?”

“Memorize the array,” Theo said, avoiding her question again. “When you’ve got it, destroy the paper. Burn it.” 

“You-...”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Tucker.”

She watched the man turn on the spot, disappearing quickly into the night. 

Her eyes returned to the alchemy circle in her hands, scanning over the complex symbols. Some of them she thought she’d seen before, others were entirely foreign. She tried to break them down to something simple, tried to map out some easily recognizable pieces. A hexagon and some triangles, circles and curves near the points, odd shapes with arrows run through them...

This was crazy ...but, the man was right. She didn’t have to trust him to know that this would put her daughter’s life in jeopardy, and that was enough to get her out if she saw it.

If she saw it.

And somehow, the sinking feeling in her stomach told her she would.

“Civilians?” 

“Seem to be,” Envy confirmed, in a bored tone, kicking their legs up onto the table before them. “Stinks like chimeras around the place, though. Someone’s up to something in there.”

“Did you get in to look at it?”

Envy shot Wrath an unimpressed look. “What, walk right past Mister Paranoid? I couldn’t even get close enough to listen to them without him getting twitchy. Trying to follow him was enough of a pain in the ass.”

“One human is enough to thwart you?” 

“Only when you tell me not to mess with him,” Envy said. “What am I supposed to do? Politely ask him to step aside? Befriend him? Pass. I’ll watch from a distance, and that’s all you’re getting.”

“You’ll give me what I ask for,” Wrath corrected, close to threatening. “What Father asks for.”

Envy waved a hand dismissively. “Which is information! Which I can get at a distance. If you’re so interested, take it to the shadows.” 

“Pride is not getting involved.”

“Aw,” Envy cooed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were protecting your son, there, Wrath.” 

Wrath scowled at them. “I’m protecting our plans. Continue to act casually, and I’ll be forced to assume your loyalty is as fragile as Greed’s was.”

“Loyalty,” Envy scoffed. “Who needs loyalty? I’m just having fun.”

Wrath turned his back on them, striding over to the window of his office, looking out over late evening Central. 

“He’s seen the Gate,” Wrath murmured to the city lights. “He understands extremely complex alchemy. He was given the full name Father presented the second philosopher. He radiates a power we’ve never seen, and somehow we’ve never noticed him. If you can’t find who he truly is, at least find where he came from.” 

“What about the brats?”

Wrath looked to Envy, raising a disinterested eyebrow. “What about them?”

“He has two kids with him,” Envy said. “If there was ever a bargaining chip for a guy like that…”

Wrath caught the intention, and almost smiled.

Theo was so used to the ghostly memory dreams at this point, finding himself in another when he finally collapsed into bed was actually rather expected. 

What wasn’t expected was the fact that, for once, the memory seemed to have nothing to do with Mustang.

“You’re...what?”

“Honesty, Ed,” Winry said, giving her husband an exasperated look. “How many times am I going to have to say it? Use your big brain for once, and listen.” 

“I heard you,” the spectre of the past Edward said, voice strained.

Theo remembered the feeling of having the wind knocked out of him, when this happened. He remembered the confusion, the astonishment, the utter disbelief. 

“I just…”

“I think it’ll be a boy,” Winry continued, in a sigh. “Just what I need, to, another one of you Elric boys running around. He’ll probably be wrecking my workshop by age two.”

“A baby,” Ed breathed. “You’re having a baby.” 

Winry turned, giving him a brilliant smile. “Yeah,” she confirmed. Her eyes were watery, and the joy on her face was immeasurable. 

Theo looked to Ed, to his past self, watching the blank expression warp, confusion at the forefront of a mix of complicated emotions.

Theo remembered thinking that’s not possible, at the time. He remembered marvelling at the idea that someone as broken and damaged as him had managed to do something like this, taken part in the creation of a life, something he’d failed to do in the past despite his best efforts, and managed it without actually meaning to at all. 

He could see that on Ed’s face...and so could Winry.

Winry’s smile faltered, her face becoming slightly strained. “Ed?” she called to him, gently. “What’s wrong?”

Ed continued to stare at her.

“It’s not that scary,” Winry told him. “We’ll be good parents, I know we will.”

“I don’t know how to be a parent,” Ed said. 

“Oh, shut up,” Winry breathed, sounding relieved at him finally responding. “You practically raised Al!”

“ He raised me ,”  Ed corrected. “I just…”

Just got him into trouble. Just hurt him. Just brought him far too close to death. Just-

Winry reached a hand out, cupping Ed’s cheek in it. “Ed,” she said, “you’ll be a wonderful father. You just...have to get out of your own head, sometimes, okay?”

Ed rested a hand over hers, and murmured a gentle, “Okay.”

Theo didn’t need to remember this to tell that Ed didn’t really believe her. 

Ed stared at the ceiling of the room he shared with Al, grinding his teeth as he tried not to think about his leg. 

It hurt. Granny had done something to it, saying that it would help his nerves adjust to the port before they tried attaching a leg to it, but the activated nerves were in agony as a result. He’d lied when they’d asked, swore to Al it was totally fine, but now they were all asleep and he was trembling under the force of the pain. 

Outside their door, Ed heard footsteps.

Theo, he thought. He’d heard the man at night a lot, both at the Hughes’ and since moving into the apartment. He seemed to have trouble sleeping, because he would only ever shut himself in his room for a few hours a day, but this was something notable even for him. Theo had run some unknown errand after dinner, coming in super late, and he’d only been in bed for a couple of hours, tops. Short enough a time that Ed hadn’t given in to the tremor under his skin and fallen asleep, anyway. 

Investigation seemed more interesting an option than lying in bed, anyway, and Ed shifted, forcing himself up onto his leg, bracing himself with both hands on the edge of the bed. One tiny shuffle after another, he passed himself along to the nightstand, then propped himself against the wall, slinking his way clumsily toward where Al had put his wheelchair. 

Granny had brought him a new one, after he’d complained to her over the phone about the original. Instead of having straight wheels and stuck-out handles, making it next to impossible to get anywhere without a person pushing him, this one’s wheels were larger and angled, so that he could reach down and spin them himself. 

Al hated it, because it was actually pretty fast when he got going, and he was now able to successfully escape his brother’s guidance at will, free to bother Winry or get into Theo’s things or whatever misbehavior Al normally curtailed. 

Dropping down into it was only sort of a relief - while it was much easier to sit than to try and hobble across the room, the effort of keeping himself upright had been a temporary distraction from the aching port.

Determined not to linger on the pain, he wheeled himself to the door, spent a few minutes working out a way to open it without bumping the chair into anything and making a noise, and slipped out it, going to hunt down their older half-brother. 

He was, predictably, in the kitchen, papers scattered across the table. That was Theo’s typical place, always squinting down at doodled-out arrays and carefully coded notes, working on his alchemy theories. 

Ed was about to call out, catching his attention, when he found himself meeting Theo’s eyes.

“It’s late,” Theo said, watching him closely. After a second of silence, a wry smile curled at his lips, and he murmured, “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

“What?” Ed asked, mouth going dry. “I-...”

Theo shifted in the chair, stretching out his own leg, tapping the knee. “I’ve got one, too, remember? I know they hurt.” 

Ed’s shoulders slumped. “Does it always…?”

“No,” Theo said. “The nerves are trying to accommodate something that’s not there. It’s like a phantom pain, amplified a few times by the pieces of steel attached to it. Once it adjusts, and a leg is attached, it gets better. Eventually, you get used to it, and it doesn’t hurt at all.” He hesitated, then gave a sardonic grin. “Unless you’re like me and treat it rough all the time. Damaged automail can hurt like hell, too.” 

“But it works like a normal leg?” Ed asked. “It won’t feel any different?” 

Theo propped an elbow up on the table, dropping his chin down on the hand of it, eyeing Ed carefully. “It's...different,” he said, slowly. “There’s no skin, no nerves on the surface or anything, so you can’t really feel stuff touching it. The inside feels like it’s your own leg, but it’s....It’s kind of like you’re wearing a really heavy boot. It can get sore, you can feel a little bit of pressure or temperature, but it’s muted.” 

To Ed’s surprise, Theo brought his foot up onto the chair with him, pulling off the sock covering it and hiking up the leg of his pajama pants. 

“I can feel if something gets in one of these,” he said, brushing fingertips over the vents and seems of the foot. “But I can’t feel my fingers right now. I can’t even tell if my hand is warm - if I stuck my foot in a fire, it’d feel kinda warm, probably. I’ve only felt it cold once, and that’s because I had it sunk to the knee in snow, which...Really wasn’t good for it.” He tapped the base of the port. This part is the most sensitive, because there’s still flesh under it, so it’s got two sets of nerves working together. Most of the trouble you’ll ever have with the leg is in this. Fair warning, bad weather is a bitch to get through with one of these. You know how old men complain about their knees when it rains? They’re not complaining for nothing. Automail stiffens up quick.” 

Ed frowned. “You still have metal in your shoulder,” he recalled. “Does that-...?”

“Oh, yeah,” Theo laughed, even though Ed didn’t think anything about it was particularly funny. “Yeah, that still gives me trouble, sometimes. It’s less bad, though...more like I just slept on it wrong, and it’s a little sore, instead of full on trying to lock up on me.”

“Automail does that?”

Theo shook his head. “Not usually,” he said. “I’ve been through some really bad weather over the years, but a normal rainy day is just...sort of like the stiff feeling you get when you need to crack your back.”

Ed snorted. “You’re old.”

Theo made an offended noise. “I’m not even thirty!” he defended. “Honestly, it’s not my fault my body’s a mess!” After a moment, he deflated. “Or, it is, but...I’m not old.” 

“You’re older than that military guy, aren’t you?” Ed asked, curious. The Colonel looked sort of young for a military man, not at all the old soldier Ed had expected him to be, and if Theo wasn’t older, he was at least more worn down. 

Theo blinked, staring at Ed in stunned silence. “I….” He seemed baffled by the question. “I am, aren’t I?”

“Uh,” Ed muttered, unsure what to make of the reaction. “I think so?” 

“God, that’s weird,” Theo breathed, slumping back in his chair. “Twelve year old me would be so damn pleased with himself if-...” He broke off, looked to Ed, and - once again - gave an inexplicable chuckle. 

“What is it?” Ed asked. 

“Nothing, nothing,” Theo said, and dropping the fabric of his pant leg and pulling the sock back on, before getting to his feet. “Come on. I’ve got a few tricks for helping cool the port down when it’s acting up - let’s see if we can’t get it calm enough to let you sleep, yeah?”

Ed squinted after Theo as the man walked away, before - slightly hesitantly - rolling to follow him.

Theo was a weird guy...but he was kind, and didn’t treat Ed or Al like some stupid kids. 

Ed would need to figure out what the things weighing on the man were, eventually - Theo helping him with his port was one more favor to the list, and some day, he wanted to pay those back. 

Notes:

oh, theo....you either die the baby twink or live long enough to see yourself become the chickenhawk

Chapter 27

Summary:

The crackling of the flames sounded almost like a sickening applause, congratulating him on a decisive victory. Decisive because his opponents were only mostly armed, were poorly organized and defended, were starving and angry and desperate above all.

Notes:

let's stop being mean to theo for a minute and be mean to...(checks notes) everyone else?

The world was burning.

Flames rose in walls around him, swallowing everything, obscuring the horizon line enough that he would not see anything even if he were able to force his eyes upward, outward, through the scorching heat and blazing light. 

The crackling of the flames sounded almost like a sickening applause, congratulating him on a decisive victory. Decisive because his opponents were only mostly armed, were poorly organized and defended, were starving and angry and desperate above all. 

“Survivor!”

The shout from behind him spread through the line of soldiers at his back, a hundred rifles clicking as each and every one took aim. 

“Hold!” Roy called, raising a hand in signal. 

The figure approaching was not an Ishvalan. Their skin was more a heavy tan than earthy brown, and their hair was golden, not white. 

“Identify yourself,” Roy ordered. “Proceed and they will shoot.”

“You killed them.”

Roy faltered. The figure stopped, suddenly less than a yard from him, his harsh glare revealing eyes of the same molten gold the rest of him seemed cast from. 

“All the blood,” Theo said. “A whole city in ashes.”

“I had to,” Roy said, defending himself on automatic, not sure which of them he was trying to convince. 

“You didn’t,” Theo practically spat. “All this death is a power play.”

“For things to get better-...!”

“Equivalent exchange,” Theo continued, raising his voice. “What have you bought with this death?”

He heard whispering behind him, around him, closing in as it rose in waves. Murderer. Monster. Sick.

Then, another wave, mixing in with the first, swirling together into a flood. Savior. Soldier. Hero.

“The future,” Roy said. “We bought-...”

“The end,” Theo said. 

There were figures behind him, now. Two of them, one to either side, each with ghostly, indistinct features. All he could make out were broad-shouldered, towering forms, with Theo’s same golden hair falling around obscured faces. 

“You’re a puppet,” Theo said. 

The ground between them began to glow red. Roy looked down, alarmed, and watched as a crack spread through the earth between them. 

“They’ve already started,” the echo of Theo’s voice filled the air, booming in from all directions, as though speaking from the sky. “It’s a circle. It’s an array.”

The crack spread in a curve, splitting along a loop, forming a perfect circle as it met back to itself. The second it was complete, the ground fractured again, in several places along the length of the line, and those began to spread as well. Over and over, the ground cracked and parted, a spider’s web weaving through the desert. 

When it was done, Roy was staring down at an array. When he tried to focus on the symbols, the shapes, everything seemed to be blurry or indistinct, just like the faces that flanked Theo. Still, with the certainty one only achieves in dreams, he knew what it was.

This was the array Theo had warned him about. This was the array for the Philosopher’s Stone. 

Movement caught his eye, and he looked up to see Theo stick a hand out, a hand coated in blood, and smear the red across one of the outer points of the array. To his either side, the figures with him did the same with the bordering points. 

Roy looked down at the point right in front of his feet, and saw wind swirling there, creating a perfect pile of ashes blown from the carnage around them. 

As he watched, the pile settled, then shifted, starting to sink into the cracked ground around it, which in turn folded in on itself like a sinkhole, leaving a spreading crater where it had been. 

The hole seemed to grow, spreading ever wider, until it filled all of Roy’s vision, the ground and  the crowds and the spectres and Theo all gone, leaving him only with this: the sphere with a slit  through the middle, slowly parting to reveal a gigantic eye.

Laughter filled his ears, a thousand voices all in perfect sync, echoing around as if he stood in a metal room. The silver rings that made up the eye’s iris seemed to pierce through him, freezing him to his core. 

The voices cackled something to him, the sounds turning to static in his ears, as black extended from the sides of the eye, reaching out to engulf him, drowning him in the dark.

Roy sat straight up in bed, heart hammering, though the details of his nightmare were already growing foggy. Ishval, always Ishval, but new things this time - namely, Theo’s heavy scorn on him. 

It figured that what Pinako had told him about Theo’s past would come back to haunt him sooner or later. Why the man said nothing about the kind of person Roy was, he couldn’t fathom. Nor could he understand why Theo would trust him with his wild conspiracy theory. 

He tried to remember the rest of the dream - the men who’d hovered at Theo’s sides, the array, the echoing laughter - but none of it made any sense to him. 

A glance at the clock told him it was barely past midnight, and so he put it out of his mind and laid back down, praying he’d manage to get at least some sleep before work. 

He’d figure out the weird dream during daylight.

“Hot chocolate.”

Ed blinked as a mug was held in front of his face. “....What?”

“Keeps you from freezing while that thing,” Theo gestured to the ice pack on Ed’s propped-up leg, “does its work.” 

Ed eyed the cup suspiciously. “Does that have-...”

“Hot water, no milk,” Theo assured him. 

Ed looked up, surprised. “You knew I don’t like milk?” 

“Think it came up while we were grocery shopping,” Theo said. His shoulders seemed to relax a fraction as Ed finally accepted his cup, and continued, “It’s easy to remember. I can’t stand the shit either.” 

“Huh.” Ed stared down into the mug, thoughts running wild. Was the similarity genetic? Was something as simple as his taste in food owed in part to his father? 

Annoyed by the idea, he looked aside, directing his attention to the table.

“What are these?” he asked, reaching a hand out to the closest sketched array.

“Careful!”

Ed yanked his hand back, mouth open, a defense on his tongue already, because he wasn’t a kid, he wouldn’t ruin anything-...

But Theo didn’t even pause, coming up to look over his shoulder, not making any more to remove the paper from Ed’s reach, and explained, “I was working on some alchemic trap designs, and I don’t think any are active, but it’s way too early in the morning to take my word for it.” 

“Oh,” Ed murmured, looking at the array in front of him. Then, “...Traps?” 

“Human bodies have energy in them,” Theo said. “I learned about it from a friend, from Xing. Up there they train their senses to be able to read that energy, to feel it, and I’ve tried to drag the theory into alchemy a couple of times. I think I finally got a good grasp on it with the seeking array, though, so I’m trying to reverse engineer it, find some way to make an array backwards - alchemic energy that affects human energy, instead of the other way around.” 

He reached out, tapping a paper. “This was sort of a cheating way of doing it...alchemic alarm system, using my distance array. A barrier array, where once it’s broken, it activates the second array, which activates the distance array, which produces something to let me know a secure area’s been breached.” 

“Couldn’t you just do that to activate some kind of attack?” 

“Oh, yeah,” Theo said. “I’ve made traps like that before. This is just-...”

He stopped.

Ed looked up to him, frowning. “Just..?”

“I’m gonna have to go to work eventually,” Theo said. “Mustang’ll have me taking trips left and right. I wanna be sure that I know if anything happens while I’m not around.”

“In case the people you mentioned come after us?” 

“Yeah,” Theo said. “Exactly. I wouldn’t put it past them to find a way to get you two pinned down until they can use you.” 

Ed looked back at the array. “...Can I help?” 

Ed expected Theo to snort, to dismiss him outright, to do the normal adult thing of shrugging him off and claiming he was too young to be involved in whatever it was he was doing.

Instead, Theo shrugged, said, “Probably,” and slid one of their dad’s journals toward him. “See if you can puzzle out what the hell dad was trying to say at that marked page - I’ve translated it three times and each one’s come out different. Way too early in the morning for his damn code.”

“Bun today,” Breda observed, as the door to Mustang’s office swung shut behind Theo. 

Havoc leaned around the divider Hawkeye had stuck between them. “How high?”

“Low,” Breda said, gesturing to his neck. “Loose, kind of messy.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Falman said, looking between them warily. 

“His hair is ridiculous,” Havoc said. “I swear it gets longer every fucking day.” 

“That’s what hair tends to do, yes,” Falman replied. 

Havoc balled up a piece of paper and threw it at him, scowling as Falman batted it harmlessly away. “We’re seeing how long he can get away with it before one of the brass gets a stick up their ass about uniform regulations.”

“There’s no rule against long hair,” Fuery defended. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.” 

“Wrong,” Breda said. “You can’t wear anything distracting.”

Falman raised an eyebrow. 

“Look at him!” Havoc defended, waving a hand wildly toward the door. “He’s the very definition of distracting!” 

“I don’t think Mustang is your main problem getting a girlfriend, Havoc.”

Havoc flipped him off. 

“Look,” Breda said. “It doesn’t matter if he actually did anything wrong. It only matters what one person thinks.”

“Mustang thinks this guy is a godsend.”

“Not Mustang,” Breda said, before jerking his head toward the empty spot at their table, which Hawkeye had vacated to go fetch another round of forms for them to filter through. 

“She doesn’t like him,” Falman agreed, “but she’s not going to make up regulations to get rid of him.” 

“She’s not gonna do anything to get rid of him,” Havoc insisted. “Mustang likes him! Hawkeye isn’t going to argue with him outright like that. She’s got us all in line, but she does still listen to him.” 

“For good reason!” Fuery said. “I don’t understand what your problem with Major Hohenheim is.” 

“Problem?”

Havoc and Breda both jumped, spinning around to see Theo, newly emerged from Mustang’s office, with an arm full of papers and a delicate golden eyebrow raised in their direction. 

“No problem!” Breda said, recovering first. 

“Not ours, anyway,” Havoc added, his self-preservation just a bit lower than Breda’s. “Hawkeye doesn’t like you too much.” 

Theo raised his arms, gesturing with the stack of papers within them. “I’ve noticed,” he said, tone dry. “I’ll be more useful when there’s actual work for me, but there’s an old woman holding my apartment hostage at the moment, so I can’t go out on any actual jobs.” 

“A-...what?” 

“Automail mechanic,” Theo said, looking down to Havoc. “You met Ed - she’s working on his port.” 

“Oh, cool,” Havoc said. “He getting a leg soon?”

“Nah,” Theo said. “It’ll be a few months before the nerves are ready for that. He’s got a new chair, though, so he can get around by himself a little easier. Port hurts like a bitch, but it’s automail. It’s gonna hurt. He’s tough.” 

“You sound like a proud dad,” Havoc pointed out.

Confusingly, Theo’s face dropped to blank in an instant. “Do I?”

“I...uh…?”

“I need to take these,” Theo said, turning toward the door, staging a hasty retreat. “Get it over with.”

The door closed behind him, leaving a long moment of awkward, confused silence between the men in it.

Then, Havoc rounded on Breda, and scolded, “That’s a chignon , dumbass, not a bun.” 

Falman raised his eyes to the ceiling, praying for the moment Hawkeye would return and bless the room with silence again. 

Notes:

theo finds out his friends dont like him in this timeline and that he's finally being a decent parent to the kid who isn't even his and deals with that massive emotional turmoil whilst his coworkers argue over updo semantics

Chapter 28

Summary:

If he was doing anything awful, he’d be doing it in here. She was certain of it.

Notes:

hey, demons, it's ya boy, back with an update
....which im pretty sure makes ME the demon because this chappie gots some Drama™

Erin eased the door open, taking the most hesitant of steps into the room beyond it. Her husband was in bed, still - she’d gotten up with Nina in the night, and taken the opportunity while she had it, ready to explore the house a little without worrying about him seeing her. 

She hated Shou’s office. She always had, and always would - especially the room at the back, the one she was approaching the door of now.

The animal room.

She hesitated outside the door, feeling sick. Shou’s regular office was one thing, full of evidence of his growing obsession with alchemy, every surface coated in reasons he’d been distancing himself for years, every paper riddled with his pathetic excuses for avoiding her and choosing instead to lock himself away for his damned science. 

This room, though. This was where he kept them - the animal abominations he made, which whined and cried in obvious pain and fear every time she’d ever seen one.

It had been a long time since she looked at them. Some part of her knew that exposure to them would have been the straw to break the camel’s back, the thing that proved to her Shou was far beyond the kind, geekish man she’d fallen for in youth. 

If he was doing anything awful, he’d be doing it in here. She was certain of it. 

She eased the door open. 

Erin almost gagged on the scent. Death and decay - the source of it, the cages lining the back wall, which almost all contained dead abominations.

She tried not to look at them, instead flicking on a light and starting to shuffle through the papers on the desk. 

Alchemy notes were obvious, but she was beyond understanding their meaning, symbols and strange writing making it seem almost as though it were written in a foreign language. A code, perhaps? She thought coded notes were an alchemist’s type of thing. 

Arrays, though...She thumbed through page after page, flipped through his notebook, but nothing. Not a single array. 

Surely he had to draw those out, she thought...which meant she wasn’t looking at his actual notes. 

She let out a huff of frustration, stepping back and looking about the office. He’d have to have hidden them, somewhere...but where?

But why?

“I didn’t think you’d ever come back here again.”

Erin froze.

Shou leaned against the doorway, watching her closely. “You hate it back here,” he said. “You think alchemy is barbaric.”

“I-...”

Shou raised his hand, and Erin turned to look at it, her heart clenching at what she saw.

He was holding a piece of folded paper - the one she knew to contain the human transmutation array Theo had drawn for her. 

“You’ve been doing research,”  he said, perfectly casual. “I didn’t think alchemy meant anything to you.”

“It doesn’t,” she said, quickly - too quickly, perhaps. “I hate alchemy. I hate what you do to these animals - what you did to them. How long have they been dead?” 

“Most last, at most, a few hours,” Shou said, with the air of one discussing something common as the weather. “Few animal bodies are properly compatible. You’d be surprised how little in common even very similar animals can have, genetically speaking. Why, at the end of the day, most animals have less in common with each other….” There was a dangerous glint in his eye. “...And more with humans, really.”

Her wide, terrified eyes shifted from his cool stare to his hand, locking on the paper again. “When did you find it?”

“When I got home this evening. It was such a late night, I almost didn’t realize what I was looking at…and then, when I did, I decided to clean up a bit.”

“You took out your notes,” she said. “You hid them from me?”

“From whoever gave you this,” Shou said, gesturing with the paper. “I’m too clever to think you came across this on your own. Someone wants you to go through my things, and I’d rather they  didn’t get them.”

He took a step into the room. She took a hasty one backward. 

“If I’m successful,” Shou said, “I’ll be an acclaimed alchemist of the state. I’ll have access to research and funding beyond belief - I’d be able to provide the best life possible for Nina. Don’t you want that?”

“How long a life?” she demanded, feeling her eyes burn, her throat closing with something halfway between grief and terror. “How long would you let her grow up without me, before you decided to use her, too?”

Shou’s eyes darkened. “Someone’s really done a job of convincing you I’m some monster.”

“Yes, Shou,” Erin said. “You did. I’ve seen how you are, how you really are - you’re not sweet and kind anymore, not like I thought. You-....You’d sacrifice your wife, your child, for an experiment?” 

“Nothing can be put above the pursuit of knowledge.”

“You’re insane.”

The array paper crumpled in Shou’s hand. 

They both moved at the same time. Shou tossed the paper aside, lunging across the room, at the same moment Erin launched herself sideways, catching her hip on the edge of the desk as she shot an arm out, catching the first thing she could - the desk lamp - and swinging out with her full strength.

She wasn’t very strong, but the lamp’s glass body shattered on impact, and Shou slumped, the side of his head bloodied and bruising as he collapsed onto the floor. 

She stared at his body on the floor for a moment, stunned at her own actions, breathing hard over her pounding heart - and then she turned on her heel, fleeing the room.

She didn’t know if he was dead, or dying, or even unconscious, but she didn’t have time to check.

She moved like a woman possessed, bypassing everything in the house as she made straight for the nursery. She didn’t have time to pack, she didn’t even have time to think about it - she had to get out now. Praying that whatever was in Nina’s diaper bag would keep her handled until it was safe for Erin to get anything else, she shouldered it, and crossed the room, extracting her daughter carefully from her crib. 

“Shh, shh, sweetie,” she cooed, trying to keep the nervous wavering of her voice to a minimum. “I know, I know, I just put you back to bed, but...we have to go, baby.” She started toward the door as quickly as she could without jostling Nina too much. “Don’t cry, please, please don’t cry - he can’t hear us, no one can-....”

She was breathing heavily, blood rushing in her ears, heart pounding, tears streaming steadily down her face.

She didn’t have anywhere to go.  

“Pray with me, Nina, honey,” she breathed, as she slipped out their front door, starting down the street. “We need to find an angel.”

It wasn't that Riza hated Theo. 

It wasn't even that she particularly disliked him - he was unprofessional and an odd mix of solemn and childish, but he was also kind and strong, dealing with a very difficult situation without complaint and doing what he had to to keep the boys safe. 

It also wasn't - no matter what Havoc said - the fact that Roy liked Theo. It was frustrating, watching Roy look like he was in the middle of a game of chess, plotting out how to draw interest from a mysterious man who appeared to only grudgingly tolerate his attention. 

The actual issue was somewhere adjacent to that one: she had no idea what Theo's motives or morals were, what sort of man he was beyond the little she'd seen. What she did know was he was a determined man, desperate to keep the Elric boys safe, whatever that demanded of him...and if it came down to it, she feared he would throw Roy to the wolves in a heartbeat. If Roy's job or ambitions or even life were on the line, she didn't know if Theo would so much as pause. 

She didn't want Roy hurt because of this. She wanted the boys to be okay, yes, and she empathized with the situation, but...Roy was her first priority, and she was hesitant to trust someone else with his safety without reason to believe they felt the same. 

Also, his presence made her team turn into toddlers. 

“You knew what I meant-...”

“No I didn’t! I absolutely did not know that’s what you meant. I was thinking, like, get-this-out-of-the-way, messy thing. That was deliberate. He put time into that.”

“I’m starting to get really worried about you two.”

“Shut up and back me up here, will you?”

“Hell no. That was definitely a-...”

Riza cleared her throat. 

The effect was as instantaneous as if she’d cocked her pistol. The men all sat straight up, Havoc and Breda dropping back down into their seats behind the partitions she’d enforced on them after the last time she’d come into a discussion like this, Falman’s jaw snapping shut so hard it might’ve cracked a tooth, and Fuery let out a low, relieved breath, happy to have been spared whatever escalation might have come from this particular spat.

“Do I want to know?” she asked. 

“That’s what I said,” Falman muttered. At her raised eyebrow, he told her, “They’re on his hair, now, I think.” 

“Get back to work,” she told them, more exasperated than anything, and sat another stack of papers on the table. “I brought plenty.” 

If the men at the table were a bit braver, they may have groaned. 

“Major Hohenheim!” 

If Theo was presented the opportunity in his life to jump backwards once again, he’d go back to picking his alias and tell himself to pick something he didn’t mind having shouted at him from down a corridor, as the military was full of people who just loved to do that. 

For now, though, he simply turned, addressing the approaching woman with his usual deferrence of, “Theo is fine.”

“Major,” she said, as though he hadn’t spoken. “You’ve been paged down to the front desk. Someone came in looking for you.”

Theo froze, eyeing her carefully for a moment, before starting a brisk walk toward the lobby. 

“Who were they?” he asked as they walked. “Man? Woman? Did they leave a name?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I work for Lieutenant General Gumman. Our office was called after Colonel Mustang told them you were out of office.”

Theo wasn’t sure how to feel about Mustang actually telling someone on the phone where he was, because that was only worrisome behavior if you were cripplingly paranoid, which he happened to be. 

“They said that someone had come in asking about a State Alchemist named Theo, and refused to talk to anyone except for you, so they were calling you down.”

Theo had several opinions on that, but the chiefest among them was that, if it was a hommunculus, they were being monumentally stupid. 

The obvious conclusion, then, was that they weren’t, but Theo wasn’t holding his breath. 

He took the stairs two at a time, the secretary (he assumed - she didn’t appear military herself) abandoning him at the top of the staircase, and headed straight for the front desk.

He saw what was happening right away: a front desk worker, two soldiers, and the front desk’s security officer all trying to calm a woman in hysterics, crying, “I need to see him. He knows me, I swear.”

Theo froze as the woman turned, and he caught a glimpse of her tear-streaked face, and the tiny baby cradled in her arms. 

Erin Tucker. 

She caught sight of him, then, too, and he was just in time to rush up beside her and steady her as she swayed on her feet. 

“Mrs. Tucker?”

“He knows,” she sobbed, her face dropping into the crook of his shoulder. “We had to run. He knows, he admitted it, I hit him -  I don’t know if he’s-....”

“It’s okay,” Theo told her, quickly, arms coming up to awkwardly settle around her. “You’re safe now.”

He looked down at the baby pressed between them, at Nina’s tiny scrunched up baby face.

“You’re safe now,” he repeated, this time to her - making her a promise.

No one was going to hurt her. Not this time.

Even if Theo had to kill Shou Tucker himself. 

Notes:

the intermission in this chapter was less actual comic relief and more just me wanting to address riza's opinions on theo
that being said, i hope everyone enjoyed the brief break from me traumatizing erin tucker

Chapter 29

Summary:

They’ll arrest him, he thought. And they’ll take him to prison. And, when the time comes, they’ll use him.

Whether they decided he would be a good sacrifice, or made him into one of the hollow bodied guards of lab five, they’d definitely put his crazy to good use fueling their big bloody chess game.

Notes:

everyone's reactions to erin last chapter went one of two ways:
A) YAY SHE'S NOT DEAD
B) oh honey that sounds so suspicious you just started 27 rumors

so we're going strong i think

Theo pulled back after Erin started to calm, looking at her again appraisingly. “Did you find the array?” 

She shook her head. “He found yours,” she told him.

Theo’s blood turned to ice. “He...he has it?” At her nod, he bit back a curse. “That’s- that is not good. If he didn’t already have it, and he has it now-...”

Frustrated rage was boiling in him, and he wanted so badly to snap at her, to remind her he’d asked her to destroy that paper, but it would only make things worse. 

Instead, he ran a hand over his face, thinking fast. “He attacked you?” he asked, waiting for her to nod and confirm it. “Right. He attacked you, and he has the array, and he definitely knows what it is. That’s- That’s enough for-...” He stepped back, looking to the wide-eyed receptionist. “Am I clear to take her up to Mustang?” 

“I-I can get her a pass?”

“Thanks.”

“Mustang?” Erin echoed. 

“It’s at the point the military can step in,” Theo told her.

Erin blanched.

“They won’t kill him,” he assured her. “They’ll probably-...”

He stopped dead.

They’ll arrest him, he thought. And they’ll take him to prison. And, when the time comes, they’ll use him. 

Whether they decided he would be a good sacrifice, or made him into one of the hollow bodied guards of lab five, they’d definitely put his crazy to good use fueling their big bloody chess game. 

“Fucking-...” Theo caught himself, glancing down at Nina. “Sorry,” he said quickly, remembering all too well how Winry had gotten onto him for that.

“She’s a baby,” Erin said, “and her father just tried to kill us. ‘Fuck’ is the least of my worries, thanks.”

Theo snorted. It wasn’t a funny situation, but he’d take any bit of humor he could to escape his sinking dread. 

“We need to talk to Mustang,” Theo said. “The situation is complicated, and- I’m not good at making the call, okay? They’re too much risk, and I’m not good at critical thinking when lives are at stake. We need Mustang for that.”

The receptionist returned, looking now properly terrified, and Theo realized he was going to have a lot of cleaning up on his hands after this. Their conversation probably should have been somewhere where fewer than a hundred assorted military personnel could overhear. 

Priorities, though. He took the badge from her and pinned it to Erin's collar - her hands being full carrying an infant - and stepped back, gesturing for her to follow him. 

"So," Erin asked, as he lead the way. "Who's Mustang? Does he know about Shou, too?"

"Roy Mustang," Theo elaborated. "He-..."

"The Flame Alchemist?" Erin faltered in mid step. "Hero of Ishval Roy Mustang?"

"Is it a common name?" Theo snapped back immediately.

"He's a war criminal," Erin said. "I don't care what the military says, they're monsters for doing what they did."

"You know," Theo said, sparing her a glance, "I'm starting to really like you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. 

"Mustang knows the things he did were shit," Theo told her. "No one hates him more than he does, trust me. Doesn't make it better, but makes it easier to recognize his good side." 

"And he has one of those?"

"Bigger than his body count, I'd say," Theo confirmed. "And I don't even like him."

He could feel Erin still squinting in suspicion, but didn't turn to look, just leading her the rest of the way toward and into Mustang's office. 

"Major Hohenheim," he was greeted, the same instant he passed through the door. 

"Theo," he corrected, looking to Havoc, who was in turn now watching Erin. "What?"

"Hawkeye was looking for you," Havoc said, looking between Erin's visitor badge, the baby in her arms, and Theo. "But you seem busy?"

"I need to see Mustang," Theo said. 

"That's where she is," Havoc said, nodding to the office door. "Proceed with caution. She still doesn't like you."

"I'm aware."

Theo pushed through the door, letting himself into Mustang’s office, watching him and Hawkeye both look up at his entrance. 

“Theo,” Mustang greeted, somehow managing to sound pleasantly surprised at the same time as heavily suspicious. “And…?”

“This is Erin Tucker,” Theo introduced. “...And Nina.”

Mustang straightened at his desk, dark eyes scanning the woman and her baby, as Theo stepped back to close the door behind them. 

“What’s going on?” Hawkeye asked. “Civilian visitors-...”

“No, this is good,” Mustang told her. “I wanted to ask how this was going, actually. I take it my information came through?”

Erin stiffened. “Information?” she echoed, voice strained. 

“Mustang helped me track you down,” Theo filled in. “I knew your husband, but not where he lived. It was either dig you up or wait for it to be too late.”

“You said someone was going to hurt her?” Mustang asked.

“Already tried,” Theo confirmed. “Erin, can you tell me what happened, from the beginning?”

Hawkeye took a step sideways. “Colonel, should I-?”

“No,” Theo said. “Stay. Please. We’re,  uh-...we’re probably going to need you.” 

Erin looked between all the others in the room anxiously, before turning her head down, eyes locking on Nina’s face. 

“He found your note, and confronted me,” she told them. “He knew that I knew what he was up to, and he- he more or less admitted to it.”

“What?” Mustang asked.

Erin looked up, confused. “What-...you don’t…?”

“My fault,” Theo told her. To Mustang and Hawkeye, he explained, “Erin’s husband’s name is Shou Tucker. He’s an alchemist that specializes in chimera research. His plan was to become a state alchemist, by submitting for the entrance exam a chimera capable of human speech.”

“An impressive feat,” Mustang allowed.

“Yeah,” Theo said, “except the voice donor would be Erin.”

Mustang snapped up straight in his chair. “He was going to perform a human transmutation? To make a human chimera?”

Erin nodded. “He was talking about it- like, like he was doing it for Nina, to give her a better life. But I know him. He’s obsessive. If he did it once, he’d want to do it again, do it better. Nina wouldn’t be safe from him. No one would. He’s-...” Her voice broke. “He’s a monster.” 

“You said you hit him?” Theo asked. “You actually fought?” 

“He was about to kill me,” Erin said. “I know he was. I could see it in his eyes. He came after me, and I- I just grabbed something off the desk, and hit him. I don’t know how hard- I don’t know if he was unconscious, or just hurt, or dead- I just ran to Nina’s room, grabbed her diaper bag, and got out of there as fast as I could.” 

“The best thing you could have done,” Mustang said. “Attacking you and researching human transmutation - he’s backed himself into a corner. People have been arrested for less.” 

“That’s...sort of the problem.”

Mustang looked to Theo, eyebrow raised, but Hawkeye cut in. 

“You don’t want him arrested,” she said, flatly. “You had something else in mind.”

“Not really,” Theo said. “I-...”

He looked to Mustang. 

Hawkeye and Erin both watched as the two men had a silent exchange, Theo’s expression almost pleading, Mustang’s slowly becoming more set. 

“This is about what you told me, isn’t it?” Mustang asked. “You don’t want them to know about it.”

“If they can use him, they will,” Theo said. “And if they need him to do it, they’ll let her die, Mustang. They’d see killing her as a bonus .”

“But if he’s a danger-...” Mustang started.

“They don’t have to know how.” 

Everyone looked to Hawkeye.

“A man attacked his wife,” she said. “Claim Major Hohenheim is a friend of theirs-...”

“Theo-...”

“-And that he witnessed controlling and abusive behaviors, and intervened. Arrest him without reporting his alchemy at all.” 

“Will that work?” Theo asked, eyes on her now. “Can we just bury this like that?”

“It’ll be messy,” Mustang said, drawing attention back to himself. “They’ll be conspiracy theories abound about what really happened - you’re a popular mystery around here. But yes, most likely, we can arrest him with only passing mention of his alchemy. Just enough that they know not to let him draw any arrays.” 

“Keep him out of Central Prison, if you can,” Theo said. “Arrest him here.”

“Is the prison involved in your government corruption theory?” Hawkeye asked.

Theo wasn’t even sure why he was surprised Mustang had passed it on. He told Hawkeye everything.

(Don’t be annoyed, he thought. He tells her all. She’s his Winry. ) 

(You never told Winry anything, a voice whispers back. He imagines it echoes, bouncing off white walls in a space not accessible in waking hours.)

“It’s next to an ‘abandoned’ lab,” Theo told her. “They’re, uh...They’re still using it. To make Philosopher’s Stones.” 

Mustang opened his mouth to reply, looking disturbed, but Hawkeye cut in again, her eyes on Erin.

“Would you like a coffee?” she asked. “There are forms that must be filed if we’re staging an arrest, and I need to go get them. You’re welcome to come with me - I feel the Colonel has more questions for the Major than he’s willing to ask with us here.”

Erin seemed to relax a good deal at the offer. “Thank you,” she said. “I- I need to feed Nina, too, I think.” 

“Come with me, then.”

Erin shot one last look at Theo, waited for his encouraging nod, and turned, following at Hawkeye’s heels as he followed her from the room. 

“She’s better than both of us combined,” Theo informed Mustang. “Whatever you pay her, double it.”

Mustang eyed him in amusement. “She’d be making more than me.”

“She deserves it.” 

Mustang snorted. “Fair enough. Her additional compensation probably tips the scales, anyway.”

“Additional compensation?”

Mustang smirked at him. “I reimburse her for her ammunition.” 

Theo laughed. 

Mustang watched him with a small, pleased smile, and Theo’s laugh caught, fading as he shifted away from the look a bit, ill at ease with the unreadable expression turned attentively on him. 

“So,” Mustang said, sobering. “They’re killing the prisoners to make Philosopher’s Stones?”

Theo nodded. “And-...” He stopped short. The empty armored guards probably hadn’t been made yet, if their inhabitants were still roaming the streets. The lab might not even-...

-...Wait.

“Dr. Marcoh!” Theo exclaimed. “Shit, I almost forgot about him.” 

“Tim Marcoh?” Mustang echoed, incredulous. “The Crystal Alchemist? He’s been missing for years. Is- Is he dead? Was he used-...?”

“Not as an ingredient,”  Theo said. “They had him making them. He went missing because he got away, and went into hiding. I-...I think I know where he is. I could be wrong.”  He had no idea how often ‘Dr. Mauro’ moved around. 

“Should we find him?” Mustang asked.

Theo shook his head. “There’s not really a need, I don’t think. I wanted him for his notes, but I’ve already  got those, this time-...”

“This time?”

Theo froze.

Mustang narrowed his eyes at Theo. “You’ve implied you’ve fought these same people before,” Mustang said. “Do they not recognize you?” 

Theo shook his head. “They-...They’re not sure who I am,” Theo said, hesitantly. “They have...suspicions. If they knew what I knew, I’d be dead. Or, worse, Ed and Al would be. I can’t let that happen. I-...”

Theo grimaced.

“I don’t believe in death,” he said. “I don’t believe in killing. Life is precious, beyond imitation or artifice. It’s pure. I don’t think I have the right to take it away, and neither does anyone else. But-...If I have to kill every homunculus bare handed to save those two, I will. Not every life is equal. Not to me. I’ve lost too many not to be selfish about it, Mustang.” 

“Being protective isn’t selfish,” Mustang said. “It’s human nature.”

Theo snorted. Tell that to Truth, he thought, image of a blank white smile lurking in his mind. 

Mustang propped his elbows up on his desk, threading his fingers together under his chin. “If they don’t recognize you, but it’s only a matter of time, we’ll need to act quickly.” He eyed Theo appraisingly. “I got my message to Hughes. Until I hear back from him, I won’t act on the greater scheme of things you’ve told me. The woman, though, I won’t ignore. I’ll work with Hawkeye to have Tucker’s arrest secured. I’ll come find you if I need any ‘witness’ statement from you.”

“You know  where I live,”  Theo dismissed, dryly.

Mustang’s lips curled up at the corner. “That I do.”

Notes:

hawkeye translation: come with me to calm down because roy has big gay priorities and theo has 4 brain cells total

Chapter 30

Summary:

“How do you know Major Hohenheim?” she asked, unable to help the curiosity.

The woman - Erin Tucker - snorted, eyes locked on the baby in her arms, who she’d gently coaxed into accepting a bottle. “I don’t. I learned his name about twenty minutes ago.”

Notes:

I work evening shifts now so I've been timing my uploads to correspond with my work hours so that when I get off at midnight and can't sleep I can read y'alls comments on the newest installment of Dumbass Adventures: A Tale Of Time-Fuckery
this chapter is some more No-one Really Trusts Theo, But Damn, Is He Pretty

Riza watched the woman Theo had brought in over the rim of her coffee cup. She was still slightly shaky, but she seemed more angry than afraid, as though the passing of the danger left her with only her disgust at her husband’s choices. 

“How do you know Major Hohenheim?” she asked, unable to help the curiosity. 

The woman - Erin Tucker - snorted, eyes locked on the baby in her arms, who she’d gently coaxed into accepting a bottle. “I don’t. I learned his name about twenty minutes ago.” 

Riza frowned. “But you’d spoken before, hadn’t you?”

“He showed up at my house,” Erin said. “Claimed he knew Shou, and knew the kind of things he was researching. He-...” 

Her voice broke, a bit of her earlier fear creeping back into it.

“He said that he’d made a mistake, before,” she said. “Said he lost his family to alchemy, and wanted to warn me not to let Shou do the same. Said we were better off if we just left.” 

“And your husband found out about this?” Riza asked, her stomach turning at the thought. 

“Theo gave me a note,” she said. “It had-...”

She cut off, hesitating. 

“We’re obstructing the law by falsifying our report,” Riza informed her. “Whatever Theo did, I can’t turn him in for it without prosecuting myself, too.”

“What if it’s worth it?”

Riza narrowed her eyes, getting a bad feeling, but pressed on, “I’d have to turn in the Colonel. If you don’t trust anything else I say, trust that I would never put him in danger. Not even by proxy.”

“He gave me an array,” Erin confessed. “He said to memorize it, and destroy the paper. Said if I knew what I was looking for, I’d know when I needed to run.”

“He drew you a human transmutation array,” Riza echoed, hollowly. “He gave you an illegal, highly dangerous array, for study?” 

“It saved my life,” Erin said quickly. “I- I never found it, in Shou’s notes, but he saw the paper and basically confessed. He knew what it was, and he hid all his notes and waited for me to confront him. He was going to kill me.” 

“The note put you in danger,” Riza argued. “If you hadn’t had it, he wouldn’t have known you suspected him.”

“That’s my fault,” Erin said, defensive. “I was supposed to destroy it. I was just worried I’d forget it.”

“But-...”

“If Shou hadn’t known, it wouldn’t have stopped him from killing me. It just would have made it harder for me to tell when it was coming.”

Riza pursed her lips. The woman had a point, but-...

But Theo aligning himself with her husband at their first meeting was ominous. The potential his history was darker than he let on initially was worrying, as was the fact she had no idea how he’d known about the Tuckers in the first place. 

Maybe she’d get the chance to question Shou Tucker, to ask him what he knew about one Theo Hohenheim. 

Erin, as though looking to steer the conversation somewhere safer, asked, “You’re close to Colonel Mustang, then?”

“He’s my direct supervisor,” she said. “And also a good friend. He means a great deal to me, yes.”

“Theo spoke highly of him,” Erin said. “Well, sort of. I get the impression he would rather not like him, but it isn’t working out.” 

“We…” Riza thought of the things Roy had confided in her. “We recently learned that Major Hohenheim has ties to Ishval. It’s possible that he likes Roy as he is, but still hates the man he was. Many feel the same.”

Erin appeared to think on this for a moment. 

Then, she asked, “You don’t like Theo, do you?”

Riza blinked, slightly taken aback. “Pardon?”

“One of your soldiers mentioned it,” Erin said. “And I can tell just talking to you. You don’t trust him.” 

Riza frowned. “The Colonel trusts him,” she said. “And I trust his judgement.” 

“But, personally-...”

“Personally,” Riza said, hesitantly, “I get the impression he’s running from something. I don’t like the idea that it’s going to catch up to him when Roy is nearby.”

Erin eyed her with something akin to distaste. "I hate to say it," she said, "but whatever he stirred up? I think it already caught up to him. He told me he'd lost everything. It seems to me like he's rebuilding from zero."

"He has some family left," Riza pointed out. "The boys."

Erin stared blankly at her. 

"His brothers?" She tried. "He has two younger brothers. Edward and Alphonse. He only met them recently, but they live with him."

"How old are they?"

"Eleven and ten."

Erin's eyes widened. "They're kids? Hell of an age gap."

"Half-brothers, I think," Riza said. "Same father. The point is, he hasn't lost everything."

"Even better," Erin said. At Riza's bewildered look, she shook her head. "No, no, if he'd lost everything, he'd have nothing left to lose - he'd be reckless. Someone will take Nina from me over my dead body. As long as you've got something left to fight for…"

Riza sighed. "It's not that I don't trust he'll do what he can-..."

"You just aren't sure that'll be enough?"

Riza stared down into her coffee cup. “I’m not willing to gamble Roy’s life on it.” 

“He’s two-for-naught, now, you realize?”

Riza’s head snapped up. “What?”

Erin nodded toward the baby in her arms. “Me and Nina. He stepped in and saved us. I’m putting my trust in him to do it again. And, not to belittle myself or anything, but I’m no soldier. I’m not even an alchemist.” 

“You’re not relying entirely on the Major,” Riza said. “Our entire team-...”

“Didn’t knock on my door in the middle of the night to warn me my husband was going to kill me,” she interrupted. “Wherever he learned that, he brought it to me directly. He scared me, but - even at the time, scared to death, I believed him when he said he just wanted us to be safe. And from the little of their interaction I’ve seen, I don’t think he’d care any less if it was you or the Colonel in danger instead.”

“You don’t know him,” Riza pointed out. “You just learned his name.”

“He’s calling in favors and lying to the military to make sure my baby is okay,” she said. “I don’t give a shit about his name.”

The thing about employing his aunt’s girls as spies was that they remarkably efficient.

Roy’s phone rang less than an hour after Theo had left his office. 

“Colonel Mustang,” he greeted. 

“Who’s the girl, Pony?”

Sibylle. He’d had a feeling he’d sparked her interest. “You’re keeping an eye on me.”

“Not you,” Sibylle returned easily. “The pretty boy. The girl?”

“A friend,” Roy said. “The woman I had you-...”

“I know her name,” Sibylle said. “I want to know why you had me dig her up, and why she’s apparently been crying to your pretty new hire about angry husbands or something.”

“‘Or something’?” Roy echoed. “You’re not usually vague.”

“You’re used to Madame,” Sibylle said. “I don’t have time for verbatim. I trust my people to draw the right conclusions.”

“Risky.”

“I didn’t call you for advice.” 

Roy sighed. “I don’t know who she is, really,” he said. “Her husband is an alchemist, and apparently not a very outstanding person. We’re preparing to take him into custody, following an attack on his wife.” 

“I see,” Sibylle said. “Convenient.” 

Roy’s stomach churned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she said, “That this man comes out of nowhere, with a name, and has us find who it goes to - and a day after you hand it over, she’s attacked.”

“You think he set it up,” Roy said, slowly.

“Where’d he get the name?” she asked, rather than answer.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “He- he said something about knowing her husband, and it was his name he had. He knew he was going to attack her, he just warned her.”

“Just in time?”

“His interference kicked things off,” Roy allowed. “He gave her something to use as evidence-...”

“He planted evidence.”

“He gave her a note,” Roy insisted. “And he found it, and knew she was onto him.”

“If a woman’s in a dangerous situation, you get her out,” Sibylle said. “You don’t slip her a note telling her to get out, you have her pack her shit and you leave. Sounds to me like he could’ve gotten her killed. How did he know the husband?”

Roy hesitated. 

“You don’t know,” Sibylle said. “You have no idea at all, do you? You’re going on blind faith.” 

“He’s-...”

“You’re a good judge of character, usually,” Sibylle said. “But we all make mistakes. Especially if they come behind a face like that.”

“I’m not-...”

“I’m not saying don’t trust him,” Sibylle said. “I’m saying, get some damn answers before you do.”

Roy swallowed, before quietly admitting, “He was in Ishval.” 

There was a long pause, but when she spoke again, her voice was softer, more empathetic. “You’re too close to it, Pony. Let me look into him.”

“You can try,” Roy said. “He’s- it’s beyond paranoia. Something’s happened to him, and he’s convinced it’s coming back around for him any day now.”

“I’ll see if I can pick up what it is,” she said. “Be safe, kid. Try not to fall for him until I clear him, hm?” 

Roy choked, but before he could sputter out a reply, the line disconnected. 

The other thing about employing his aunt’s people as spies - they knew way too much. 

“How’s this feel?”

Pinako prodded a spot of muscle on Ed’s thigh. 

It hurt, a dull pulsing ache that spread through the length of his leg. 

“It’s fine,” he rasped.

Pinako rolled her eyes, moved her finger an inch sideways, and prodded again.

Ed shrieked involuntarily as the ache turned to a white-hot, sharp pain. 

“Torn,” Pinako said. “The weight of the port is too much to be supported independently. You’ve been letting your leg hang, instead of keeping it supported. Gravity is  stronger than you are, brat, and the port is heavy.” 

“My chair isn’t big enough to keep my whole leg on the seat,” Ed protested.

“There’s a rest,” Pinako pointed out.

Ed muttered something in response.

“Speak up, brat.”

“It’s too far away,” Ed grouched. “When I put it up, my leg still falls in the gap.”

“I can shorten it,” Pinako said. “You just have to say something when you have a problem. You’re making things much harder than they have to be, trying to act tough.” 

“I think I got it!” a voice called from the kitchen, catching Ed’s attention, leaving Pinako twitching in annoyance. 

“You figured it out?!” Ed yelled back, twisting to look as Al came racing back into the room, one of their father’s books clutched in his hands. 

“‘The physical properties of a storage array are debated, as it is unknown if the array can simply condense the atoms very tightly, or actually store them away in a dimension of its own,’” Al read out. “‘Some alchemists theorize that each array creates a pocket dimension in space, where the circle’s structure determines the physical laws that act on the matter within it, allowing it to be remodeled. If one learned the proper symbology and mathematics, alchemy in this theoretical universe could extend to alter properties usually kept constant, up to and including alternating space and time itself.’”

“Time,” Ed said. “Storage arrays - you can put something in and have it spit it right back out, but twist it so that the second that passes in between is hours in the real world. You could put things in stasis.” 

“That’s so cool,” Al said. “That would make a really good trap. If someone tries to get in, everything’s just frozen, so that it can be there when Theo gets back to deal with it.”

“We can add it to the notes,” Ed said. “But what’s that got to do with-..?”

“The space part,” Al said. “Theo’s already doing that - he’s creating two copies of the same fold in space, so that it bounces from one side to another, coming out in a different place in the real world. If we could figure out how much of the array’s space equals how much of the real world, we wouldn’t need to necessarily have a grounding array in place to get it somewhere else. You could only draw from existing arrays, but you could send it anywhere.”

“The seeking array!” Ed exclaimed. “If we can come up with a grounding array, and put it on Theo- in his watch, or something- then a seeking array could find it in the alchemy dimension, and we could send things to it from wherever we were.”

“Alternate dimensions,” Pinako sighed, clambering to her feet. “You two knock yourselves out. I’m going to go fix that wheelchair.”

“Thank you!” Ed and Al called after her as she left the room, waiting until they heard her settle back at her workstation before they turned back, putting their heads together to puzzle over their new theories. 

Theo had allowed them to help, and they would not let him down. 

Notes:

ed and al: lol what if alchemy could fuck with time
truth, kickin back, munchin the latest bag of popcorn: wow what a wild concept

Chapter 31

Summary:

"No. No, I was going to sleep on the couch. I really don't think she'd want to share."

"She?"

"Oh, yeah," Theo said. "We got a woman out of a sort of sticky situation, and I don't know if she'll be able to go home for a while. I was thinking-... What did you think I meant?"

"You're an idiot," Pinako informed him.

Notes:

This chapter is about 5/600 words short of the usual length but its because 1) I'm taking a weekend vacation with my sister and wanted to post this and 2) there is a lot of Plot

also
if you aren't following me on my tumblr (spicyreyes) then you missed me warning y'all that soon (probably next chapter) there's gonna be some peak gay shit, so stay tuned

"So, theoretically speaking, how many people in one apartment is too many?"

"Depends on who is sharing a bed," Pinako answered. "Are you sharing your bed?"

"What?" Theo's face scrunched in confusion, though Pinako couldn't see it over the phone. "No. No, I was going to sleep on the couch. I really don't think she'd want to share."

"She?"

"Oh, yeah," Theo said. "We got a woman out of a sort of sticky situation, and I don't know if she'll be able to go home for a while. I was thinking-... What did you think I meant?"

"You're an idiot," Pinako informed him. Instead of elaborating on that, she continued, "It's your apartment, you invite who you want. If we're in the way, I'll get us a hotel room instead."

"No, no, you don't need to do that," Theo said quickly. "I don't know if she'll even agree to it. She, uh- she has a baby. I don't exactly have baby accommodations. I'm gonna do my best to get her situation settled soon enough for her to go back home, but I dunno how long it takes to- well. To do all the legal bullshit we have to do. I just wanted to check with you before I did anything."

“Thinking ahead?” Pinako asked. “Thank God. I was thinking you boys were allergic to foresight.” 

“Not allergic, just lacking,” Theo replied easily. “Thanks, Granny.”

“Pinako!” she snapped back. “I’m not that old!”

The phone line disconnected, and Theo rolled his eyes at her dramatics. He was amazed he hadn’t stumbled in on an old-vs-short debate between her and his younger self yet, so seeing that she was still the same as ever was somewhat relieving - even if it did kind of hurt that she didn’t want him using the once familiar term for her.

That settled, he needed to head back to the office, and check with Mustang on whether or not that invitation would be necessary in the first place.

Someone was banging on the door.

Pinako stiffened at the sound, eyes fixing hawk-like on it.

“Boys, Winry,” she called softly to the children beside her. “Go to your room while I see what’s the matter, okay?”

They grumbled a bit, eyeing the door curiously, but obeyed, leaving Pinako to approach the door herself. 

She was far too short for the peephole, but the door had a mail slot, and she jabbed a finger under it to open a space she could speak through.

“Who is it?” she called. 

“It’s me,” Theo replied.

Pinako stilled. Slowly, her eyes trailed to the other end of the room, to the wall between the living room and kitchen, where the phone was. She’d hung up with Theo only moments before. He hadn’t explicitly said he was calling from inside the military headquarters, but he also hadn’t told her that he’d left them, and there was no way he’d walked from there back to the apartments. Had he run? Used his weird teleport-y alchemy? The boys were still on about how far that could go, what all it could transplant - who was to say it couldn’t drop a whole person on their front door. 

“What’s going on?” Pinako called back.

“I need to talk to you,” Theo replied. “Open the door.”

This didn’t feel right.

“...Open it yourself,” she said. “It’s your apartment. You have a key.”

“I lost it.”

Pinako narrowed her eyes at the door.

Theo teleported with alchemy. Demons ran the government. Hohenheim was immortal.

Who was to say that there couldn’t be another Theo?

“Who built your automail?” Pinako asked, voice icy. 

“...What?” Theo asked. “What does- just open the door.”

“Who built it?” she snapped. “I’m not opening this door without an answer.”

“...You did.”

Pinako scowled at the door. “Who the fuck are you?”

“What?” Theo cried out. “It’s me! It’s Theo! Open the fucking door, Pinako.”

“He calls me Granny,” Pinako shot back. “Nice try, puppet, but even if your voice sounds the same, I know you aren’t him.” 

There was a long silence on the other side...and then, a static-y crackle, and a different voice.

“Man, he wasn’t kidding,” the new voice said, somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. “You really are just as paranoid as he is. You knew before I used your name...what gave me away?” 

“Bad luck for you,” Pinako replied, tensely. “I just got off the phone with him.” 

The voice on the other side cursed. 

“Get out of here,” she growled. “There are traps all over this door. I don’t know what they do, but I know you aren’t getting in.” 

She’d ask one of the boys to set them off if she had to, but she wouldn’t make that threat out loud - whatever this was outside their door, it didn’t need to know they were in there with her. 

“What a shame,” the voice came again. “Well, when you see our alchemist friend, tell him we said hello, hm? Let’s all sit down and talk sometime, so that the powers that be get off my back. Traps or no traps, though, I’ll remind you…if he ignores us, buildings still topple like paper if you hit them the right way, and anything can burn.” 

Pinako scowled, listening as the would-be intruder’s footsteps echoed and faded. 

She crouched to squint through her tiny space in the mail slot, looking for signs of someone still waiting, and then rushed across the room to the phone.

Whatever it was Theo feared, it had found them. 

Theo was halfway back to Mustang’s office when one of the front desk workers rushed up to him, yelling “Major Hohenheim!” 

“It’s just Theo!” he called back, turning to greet her. “What is it?”

The woman stopped, hunching over, panting, clearly having sprinted her way to him. After a second, she straightened. 

“We received an urgent message for you,” she said. 

“I’ll come answer-..”

“She didn’t stay on the line,” the woman said. “She said- she said her name was Pinako Rockbell, and asked me to tell you- she-...She said, someone tried to break into your apartment.”

Theo’s blood turned to ice. 

Without a word to her, without a thought to Mustang upstairs, Theo pushed past her and ran. 

The next time someone knocked on the door, Pinako was standing vigilant before it, holding a needle scaler - the most formidable looking ‘weapon’ she possessed. 

“Who is it?” she called immediately.

“It’s Theo,” his voice answered, for the second time, followed by a clap, static sounds, and then the key turning in the lock.

“The seals weren’t disturbed,” Theo said, as he stepped in. “Did they work? Did they go off?” 

Pinako had a priority before she answered, though. “Who built your automail?” she demanded again. 

Theo froze, staring at her...and then relaxed a bit, face slackening, seemingly catching up to her thought process.

“Who built it?” she pressed, when he didn’t answer, hands clutching the needle scaler tight.

Theo watched her, face unreadable...and then answered, very quietly, “Winry Rockbell.” 

Pinako stared up at him, searching his face for any sign of deceit. 

And then, she backed up a few steps, dropped to sit on the couch, and demanded, “Start from the beginning.” 

‘The beginning’ was vague, but Theo did his best. 

“Theo Van Hohenheim isn’t my actual name,” Theo told her. “Or, well, it is, but it wasn’t. It was Edward Elric.” 

Pinako gave a slow, hesitant nod. “But you’re thirty?”

“Twenty-nine,” he corrected, a bit halfheartedly. “I’ve lived through his whole life, but it went a lot differently. It went bad. And when I got caught in a transmutation and Truth - uh, the force that guides alchemy? - decided I should pay by being forced to relive it, I ended up just scrapping it all and starting over. I took my dad’s original name and sort of just let you guys lie to yourselves trying to put it all together.” 

“And that’s why you can’t go back,” Pinako said. “You didn’t cross city lines, you crossed time. The world you grew up in doesn’t exist.”

“It’s a paradox,” Theo confirmed. “But Truth seems to be trying to accomplish something, so I haven’t- I dunno, vanished out of existence, or anything.”

“Will that happen?”

“No idea.”

Pinako took a deep, steadying breath. 

“Mustang,” she said. “Does he know?”

“No,” Theo answered. “I haven’t told anyone the truth until now.”

“And why now?”

Theo wet his lips anxiously, before answering weakly, “I wish I could say it was because you deserve to know...but I really just couldn’t answer that question with a lie.” 

“Glad I picked it, then,” Pinako said, but in a raspy voice that suggested this was not entirely true. “What was that thing that tried to get in here? I didn’t open the door, but it had your voice, exactly.”

“Envy,” Theo said. “One of the homunculi. A shapeshifter.”

“So he could be anyone,” Pinako murmured. “How great.” 

“Yeah,” Theo said. “They all have a special power, but his is probably the most annoying...excluding Bradley’s.” 

Pinako stared blankly at him for a moment, then cursed.

“Yeah, I know,” Theo told her. “If you want, I can tell you about them?”

“I don’t want ,” she said, quickly. “But tell me anyway.” 

Theo was partway through describing roughly how Gluttony’s stomach worked when the phone rang.

“Shit,” Theo swore. “That’s probably Mustang. They gave me your message and I just...bolted.”

“Don’t you have some girl waiting there?” Pinako asked.

Theo got to his feet in an instant. 

“I’ll tell them you’re coming,” Pinako said, rolling her eyes. “Hurry up and go back. If you get fired, you’re not moving back in with me.” 

Theo gave a soft laugh, thanked her, and rushed out the door, headed back for military HQ. 

Things were getting tense, really getting serious...but he had an ally, now, fully and completely, and that made the world seem a little less daunting. 

Notes:

that good quality Pinako content
fun fact, in the first draft, Ed answered the door, but he was very determined to set off the seals on the door upon detecting foul play, and I didn't have narrative room for restoring Theo's apartment

also now theo's told someone he's gonna have to have the Talk where he admits to pinako that he had an authority kink in his teens that has risen to haunt him again

Chapter 32

Summary:

The second the door was open, three children came tumbling out. 

She narrowed her eyes at the pile of ten year olds collapsed at her feet. “Eavesdropping?”

Notes:

gay shit was promised....it toned down a little from draft 1, believe it or not :3

“Mustang?” 

“...Close.” 

Pinako frowned at the woman’s voice. “How close?” 

“His adjutant,” she answered. “Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. Is Major Hohenheim there, by chance?” 

Pinako hesitated. She didn’t know the woman - she’d barely met the man himself, let alone his staff - and someone was already trying to get something from them, even if the imposter Theo hadn’t been clear on what that was. Giving Theo’s location to someone unknown-...

...But, she really didn’t have a choice, and there wasn’t much they could do with the information, anyway.

“He’s on the way back,” Pinako told Hawkeye. “We had an emergency at the apartment, and I called him back to deal with it, but he’s headed back to the office now.”

“Emergency?” Hawkeye echoed. “Are the kids okay?” 

“Should be,” Pinako said. “I need to check in on them. Did you need anything else?” 

“No, thank you,” Hawkeye replied. “Have a good afternoon, ma’am.”

“Yeah, you too,” Pinako returned halfheartedly before hanging up the phone, turning to head into the hall, seeking out the boys’ room. 

The second the door was open, three children came tumbling out. 

She narrowed her eyes at the pile of ten year olds collapsed at her feet. “Eavesdropping?”

Winry popped up from the middle of the pile, pointing furiously at the door behind her. “Theo did something to the door! We couldn’t hear anything!” 

Bless the paranoid bastard, Pinako couldn’t help but think. She wasn’t sure how well the kids would react to his true identity. Ed, in particular, seeing how close he came to the man he despised, his dip into family life-...

Pinako’s eyes settled on Winry, and something else clicked.

...Oh.

Oh no. 

Theo reached the military HQ in record time, sweeping into the building in a flurry.

“Everything okay, Major Hohenheim?” a front desk employee called.

“Everything’s fine!” he called back, not pausing in his stride. “And it’s Theo!”

He headed up to Mustang’s office. The second he was through the door, he was shoved hard backward, almost falling back out the door. 

“What the-..?” Theo started to exclaim, but cut off when he saw that his attacker was a visibly fuming Erin Tucker. 

“Where did you go?” she demanded. “If you went after him alone, I swear-...”

Theo’s stomach dropped out. Of course she’d thought- she must have been so worried.

“I didn’t,” he assured her. “Someone tried to get into my apartment. I needed to check and make sure my defensive arrays were still primed, and that everyone was okay.” 

Erin slumped in relief, before turning on her heel, stalking back to the table where Riza sat...holding Nina. 

Theo had been under the impression that taking Nina from Erin would have ended in bloodshed, so to see this was unexpected, but Nina couldn’t be safer than right where she was, really. The only negative was that Riza couldn’t exactly shoot a gun with an arm full of baby, but if they were popping off shots inside Mustang’s office, they were at more of a flight stage than a fight , and-

-And Envy had clearly shaken him, because he was evaluating tactics over someone holding a baby. 

“The Colonel’s in his office,” Riza told him. “He wanted to see you.”

Theo grimaced, but nodded, heading for the door.

Roy looked up from his pacing when the door opened, tension bleeding out of him when he saw Theo. 

“Riza told me someone tried to break into your apartment,” Roy said. “Is it- Are you alright? The kids? Mrs. Rockbell?” 

“Everything’s fine,” Theo assured him. “I have alchemic trap arrays all over the place. If he’d wanted in, he’d have had a hell of a time getting there.” 

“Someone tried to break into your apartment,” Roy said, slowly, “and you don’t think he wanted inside?” 

“Not at all,” Theo confirmed. “He tried to trick his way in, and when it didn’t work, he left. Whatever he wants, he’s not in a hurry, and he’s not risking anything to get it. Which...isn’t great, honestly, because that means he’s confident he’ll get it eventually.” 

“He didn’t just want you?” Roy suggested.

“He knew I wasn’t home,” Theo replied. “If he wanted me, he’d get me somewhere else. Here, probably. I’m more relaxed here.” 

Roy’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re more relaxed in a military office than at your own home?” 

Theo shrugged. “Kids make me nervous. You just act like a kid.” 

Roy didn’t think that was very fair from a man whose primary examples of children were high level alchemists with concealed felonies to their name, but kept that to himself. 

The door behind Theo opened again, Erin and Riza stepping through, the mother having retrieved her child from the other. 

“Mrs. Tucker agreed to stay with me,” Riza informed them. 

“Just...Erin, please,” Erin murmured. To Theo, she said, “Thank you, for everything. Sorry I snapped at you.” 

Theo laughed at Roy’s questioning look. “Everyone wants to punch me in the face at least a little. I can take a push. I shouldn’t have run off without saying anything.” 

“You had an emergency,” Roy offered in defense. “Which, you may still need to deal with. We’ve turned in a warrant request, and we can’t do anything until it’s approved, or he acts out strongly enough to be considered an active threat. Go back home for the day.” 

Theo stared at him. “I ran all the way back here,” he informed him. “Why the fuck did I come back just to go home?” 

“Maybe I just wanted to see you,” Roy returned with a cheeky grin, ignoring Riza rolling her eyes from behind Theo.

Theo, in contrast, shot him a rude gesture, said goodbye to Erin and Riza, and left the room in  a huff. 

“I’m not paid enough to watch this,” Riza told him, after Erin stepped back out of the room after him. 

“Funny,” Roy said. “Theo said about the same thing.”

“He’s not paid enough?”

“You’re not paid enough,” Roy corrected, beaming at her. “He suggested I double your salary. Apparently you need to be making something roughly on par with a Major General.” 

“Well,” she said, clearly trying not to smile. “Maybe he isn’t so bad.”

“That’s the spirit.” 

“When he kills you, I’m saying ‘I told him so’ at your funeral.” 

Roy sighed, slumping back in his chair. “You were probably going to have to do that anyway.” 

Riza sighed right back. “Double salary would be nice,” she said. 

“I’ll make a note,” Roy told her. “When they steal you from me and promote you, they’ll have my suggestions.” 

“Over my dead body,” Riza said, and then turned on her heel and left, before Roy could say anything nice or sappy back to her. 

How she liked it, basically.

He loved his team.  

Whether it was Truth deciding to kick him while he was down, or his own subconscious reacting to the emotional rollercoaster the day had been, when Theo laid down to sleep, he opened his eyes almost immediately to the dim atmosphere of a shitty bar in Central. 

He was off to the side again, watching from a distance as another version of himself entered the bar, followed closely by Roy Mustang. 

“This place is sketchy,” the past Edward declared, the second the door had closed behind him. He was only a little younger than Theo now, a couple years maybe, and he and Mustang were both dressed in a semi-formal sort of way that suggested they’d just left some fancy military function or dinner party that he’d been strong-armed into. 

“It’s quiet,” Mustang replied. “And no one will answer Riza if she asks them if I was here, so it’s a win-win.” 

“How’d I get roped into helping you hide?” Ed asked, dropping into a table near the back, a mere foot or so from where Theo stood watching. “I already put up with that whole party. You’re really pushing your luck.” 

“Because I offered to buy your drinks?” Mustang suggested, grinning at him. 

Ed gestured to the bar. “Get on it, then.” 

Mustang laughed, stepping away toward the bar. Ed watched him go for a second, eyes on him as he got the bartender’s attention, before scanning the room, taking in the patrons around them. 

A moment later, Mustang returned, taking the seat across from Ed and placing their drinks before them. 

“So,” Mustang said, grinning over the top of his glass. “Something you wanna say?” 

“Fuck you,” Ed replied immediately. “You offered, I don’t have to thank you.” 

“That’s-...! That’s not how that-..” Mustang started to argue, before stopping, letting out a heavy sigh, and starting again with, “That’s not what I meant.” 

“Oh,” Ed said, looking down into his drink. “Right.” 

Roy eyed him across the table, watching as Ed took a long drink, avoiding eye contact.

Alcohol obtained, Ed sat his glass on the table, and turned to look fully at Roy.

“Happy birthday, you old bastard,” he said. 

“I’m not old,” Roy protested. “I’m forty.” 

“Ancient,” Ed replied. “You’re withering. We’re gonna put you in a retirement home.” ‘

“Forty is not old!”

Ed lifted his glass. “You’re gonna have to hurry up, or they might pick a brighter face for Fuhrer. Like Grumman.” 

“I regret this already,” Roy said, eyes up to the ceiling like he was praying for strength. “Everyone at the party was so nice to me.” 

“They were kissing your ass,” Ed corrected. 

“Yeah, they were,” Roy sighed. “And you just insult me. I’m left with only Riza for honesty.” 

“Hey, I’m honest!” Ed argued. 

“Yeah?” Roy turned to him, one eyebrow quirking up. “Honest answer, then.”

Ed froze, watching him warily.

They stared at each other a long moment, before some of the intensity bled out of Roy’s gaze, and he asked much more casually, “How bad do I look?” 

This Mustang was a few years younger than the one Theo knew, but much older than the one he dealt with on the daily now, and the differences stood out sharply to him. His hair, toward his late thirties, had started to fleck with gray, and now sat in a soft salt-n-pepper, giving him a dignified air. Lines around his eyes showed the consequence of the big stupid grin he always wore when Ed came in to give a success report, and a second set between his brows marked where they furrowed in concern if he was late or injured when he came in. A pair of ugly wire-framed glasses were tucked into the pocket of his shirt for when his eyes - never one hundred percent, even with Hohenheim’s interference - got tired, but he refused to stop working until Ed’s papers were all in order, reports read through twice over and all the appropriate forms filled out for him to go again. 

He’d aged with grace and beauty and serenity, radiating a satisfaction with life that Ed had never achieved, while still maintaining a hunger for the new and exciting. He hadn’t slowed in the slightest, still kicking Ed’s ass when he was suckered into a chess match, still matching him drink for drink when they went out like this, still giving Ed as good as he got with quips and smartass lines. He could still see through Ed in a second, could still cut straight to the point or beat around the bush for hours, whichever suited him. He still schmoozed with high ranking officials at parties and collected numbers and names and owed favors, building his foundations up strong for when he finally took his place at the top, whenever whatever was holding him back was settled and he actually accepted the job that everyone wanted him to take. 

Ed watched him, and in his eyes Theo could see him take in all of these things, picking them apart, brooding on his answer. 

“You’re not bad,” he murmured, finally. “For an old man.” 

“I suppose I’ll take what I can get,” Roy replied, but his tone was more soft than offended. 

Ed raised his drink in a mock toast. “Here’s to me being better looking at forty, anyway.” 

Roy raised his glass, clinking it against Ed’s. “I look forward to seeing it.” 

They held each other’s gaze as the memory-dream faded.

Notes:

theo: i love mustang but like in a no homo way

theo, watching himself interact with mustang: ...okay maybe also in a homo way

Chapter 33

Summary:

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” he asked, before immediately following it with, “What’s your obsession with Mustang, anyway?” 

“My obsession?" Truth echoed.

Notes:

Posting from work, you're welcome

More characters come in! Including one of my favs, but only in mention

Also Theo gets a single straight answer for once, and then is immediately given several more questions to ask instead

Theo could only sigh as a white void formed around him. 

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” he asked, before immediately following it with, “What’s your obsession with Mustang, anyway?” 

“My obsession?” Truth echoed. “I don’t choose what you see in your dreams.” 

“You...don’t?” Theo faltered, frowning. “But…”

“I direct them,” Truth said. “I point your mind towards the parts of your soul that were damaged when the Gate was torn away. It’s in tatters, strands of experience knitting together to form a scar. The only way to let it heal is to purge the infection - I tell your mind to drag out the longing, to drag out the pain, to show you all the ways you tried to fill the holes inside you.” 

“And that usually put me at Mustang’s door,” Theo finished. “Right. And what am I supposed to do with that? I can’t undo it.” 

“You can do better.” 

Theo narrowed his eyes at Truth. “What do you get out of this?” he asked. “You still haven’t said. You keep talking like you’re doing this for my sake, or to prove a point, but you’ve gotta have a goal.” 

Truth’s eerie grin sharpened. “I might want something,” it said dismissively. “I suppose... You’ll know when I ask for it.”

Theo was opening his eyes to his bedroom ceiling before he could even think of a reply. 

Pinako was sitting at the table when he lumbered into the kitchen, which was a surprise, given Theo’s sleeping habits hadn’t really changed, and it was still early enough in the morning to be generally considered part of the night. 

“Uh,” he failed at a greeting, pausing a few feet from her. “You’re up early.”

Pinako looked at him, something scrutinizing in her gaze. “Had a lot to think about. I didn’t tell you what he said, did I?” 

Theo blinked.

“Didn’t think so,” Pinako said. “That thing that tried to get in here - it wanted to talk to you. It was perfectly happy to leave when I had it figured out, so long as I passed on the message.”

Theo frowned, eyebrows knitting together. “Envy wants to talk?” 

“They implied they were only here on someone else’s behalf,” Pinako said. “Someone has been bothering them to get to you, I think, and they don’t care how they do it.” 

That could have been a lot of things. It might have been Bradley, pushing Envy to investigate the new state alchemist, or Father himself, looking into this alleged second Hohenheim. Either way, it was bad - but….

There was something to be said for Envy getting sick of orders. When Greed had gotten to that point, he’d defected. Maybe Envy’s loyalty could be shaken enough for them to falter when it came to blows, leaving them with one less homunculus to worry about. 

There was no telling. Envy was a wildcard - who knew what they actually wanted? 

“Nope.”

“You didn’t get the children,” Wrath said, staring at Envy, who threw themselves onto the couch lazily, kicking their feet up to lounge, seemingly unconcerned with the murderous gaze on them. “Did you get anything?”

“Nope.” Envy popped the sound of the p. After a moment, they raised one finger, and amended, “Wait, no, one thing. That old lady in his apartment knew I wasn’t the real Hohenheim, so we’re out of plans. Again.” 

“She learned about your ability,” Wrath said, slowly. “You- You got nothing, you showed your hand- You killed her, yes?” 

“Couldn’t open the door,” Envy returned casually. “Traps all over the place. Whole place smelled like blood, too, so he’s got some kind of blood-key array, I think.” 

“Blood,” Wrath echoed. “Like-...?” 

“Kimblee?” Envy completed. “Considering he’s under heavy guard in prison, I don’t think he had a say in it.” 

“The guards have been fooled before.”

Envy threw their hands into the air, static crackling as their form changed, one Solf J. Kimblee sitting on the couch in their stead. “Right! I totally forgot, I was in prison all last week, keeping his seat warm so he could go help Goldilocks ward up his place. Sorry I didn’t mention it.” Static flared again, and Envy returned to their favored form, glaring at Wrath. “Unless you lot made another me, he’s still in prison. And don’t get any ideas - you can’t make another me. I’m one of a kind.” 

Wrath looked like he wanted to argue, or maybe strangle Envy, but instead let out a low, angry breath, and demanded, “You couldn’t have forced past the traps? It isn’t as though the building matters.”

“Are- are you fucking kidding me?” Envy shouted, hopping up to their feet in outrage. “The whole time I’m getting ready to do this, it’s don’t hurt the kids, don’t kill the kids, we need the kids. Now you’re saying I should have knocked the building down?” 

“Did you know for certain the children were inside?”

Envy threw their hands up again. “Where else would they be?! They never leave the fucking house! I know, because I’ve been watching the place, looking like little old ladies or fucking dogs. I hate dogs.”

“The fact still stands that this was an utter failure,” Wrath said. “I can’t report this to Father without recompense, and it will be both of our heads for doing something so reckless.” 

“Well, if you wanna power through a warded door without risking lives, maybe you shouldn’t have run Greed off.” 

The tip of a blade tucked itself neatly against Envy’s throat in the blink of an eye. 

“Do not,” Wrath said, in a low growl, “mention that defector to me.” 

Envy had the reckless urge to press on, to tell Wrath that Greed was the only one of the homunculi with any sense, who’d had the right idea to bail out to find something more interesting than a century-long quest to soak the ground in enough blood to make more power for their pretentious ass leader, but-

-But, Envy knew better than to think the point of the sword pressing into their neck was an empty threat. 

“...I left a message,” Envy said. “Told Hohenheim I’d be happy to leave him and his little family alone if he would just get on the same page. Asked him to talk to us.” 

“You think you can convince him to join us?” Wrath asked, incredulous. 

Envy took advantage of his change in attitude to push the blade away from their neck, all the while casually throwing out, “Father got Hohenheim Prime to play along, right? He might get the younger one to cooperate. Especially since he apparently hates the first one. Fuck, I wish they had different names. Two of the same guy is a pain in the ass.” 

“They’re not the same,” Wrath said. “This one is an unknown. A child, maybe, like the other two.”

There was something hesitant in his voice.

Envy narrowed their eyes. “You have a theory.”

“Not mine,” Wrath said. “Lust’s. She believes...She thinks it is possible that he was...created.” 

Envy straightened, gaping at Wrath. “A homunculus?” 

"Something like it, anyway," Wrath said. "Perhaps the original split his stone off into one of his children. Perhaps he found a way to create another true homunculus. Without knowing the extent of the interloper's power, every theory is equally probable."

"So you're trying to bait him into showing his skills," Envy surmised. "And if he just fucking kills us?" 

"Have you no faith in Father?"

Envy tipped their head back, looking up to the ceiling as though praying for strength. 

Honestly, they really missed Greed. 

Riza was a light sleeper, so she'd expected to get a rough night's sleep with a baby in the house. 

She originally intended, when she heard the baby wake, to assist- but she was stopped outside the door by Erin's voice. 

"He won't touch you," the woman was saying in a low voice, talking to her daughter in a steel tone. "Those animals...they cried, all the time. They screamed . They hurt so bad, and he didn't care. He watched them suffer and he wanted more of it and-.. and it won't be you. I promise, baby. Nina." Her voice cracked, and her next words were strangled out as though through tears. "If I didn't kill him, I would. I'd tear him apart and feed him to those damn things myself if he even looks at you. I should've left when he started this. I knew he didn't care about you, I knew he was forgetting me, but…"

"You didn't know."

Erin shot up straight as Riza entered the room, turning wide reddened eyes on her, tears streaking down a furious expression. "I did. I knew he was a monster. I told him a hundred times-..."

"Everything looks clearer in hindsight," Riza told her. "You were a wife and a mother doing her best. You still are. Sometimes...sometimes you don't realize how high the fire got until it burns you." She reached up, hand on her own shoulder, fingertips brushing against the place she knew her burn scars stopped. "You got it under control, and you got both of you out. You saved her, Erin."

Erin stared at her, wavering a second...before curling in on herself, letting out a broken sob. 

"He was good ," she cried, the anger and anxiety breaking away, leaving only the grief and shock she'd held at bay. "When we first met. He was so good. He wanted to help, to heal...he wanted to make medicine with alchemy. When he got the first animals, he told me...if he put them together, they'd make a better test subject. He'd get them closer to humans so he could try-...but he was lying, wasn't he? He was having fun. He cared more about the science than the morals. He lied to me and I-..."

"Loved him," Riza finished. "You can't help that."

"I love her more," Erin said, tears slowing to a stop, her jaw set. "He isn't getting away with this. He's not going to hurt her. Never." 

Riza's lips quirked up in a small smile. "Damn right."

"Why does it have to be this fucking guy?" Dolcetto asked, nose crinkling in disgust. "I hate him. He's gross, and crazy, and always smells awful."

"So don't smell him," Martel replied. "He's a chimera expert, we're human chimeras. A human doctor would just make things worse."

"Yeah, for like, an illness," Dolcetto argued. "It's a broken arm. Those are pretty much universal."

"We're already paying this guy," Martel said. "We may as well use him." 

"But really ," Dolcetto said. "You can't want to deal with this guy just to set a bone. Do you seriously wanna go to him?"

"Arm hurts," Bido said simply.

"We're supposed to be travelling silently," Roa reminded them. "Not to attract attention. Or to declare what we are out loud."

"Why?" Dolcetto gestured to the houses on the street around them. "No one's even outside. It's way too early in the morning."

"Hurtsss," Bido whined, as though mentioning it had made him remember it was broken in the first place. "Need creepy doctor."

"See!?" Dolcetto exclaimed, looking to Martel. "Creepy! Bido agrees!"

"I don't know what happened, Boss," Roa muttered behind them. "The whole house just went up in flames. Everybody still inside but me. Total loss. No reason to even go for the bodies. Tragic."

Ignoring him and Dolcetto both, Martel squinted ahead. 

"Uh," she said, stopping, catching Dolcetto by the arm when he tried to keep walking and holding up a hand for the others to stay where they were as well. "That's the house up there, but…" her tongue flickered out, tasting the air for a split second before retracting. "Do you smell that?"

Dolcetto tipped his head up, drawing in a deep breath through his nose. When he caught the smell she meant, he cursed. 

"Can't smell," Bido told her. "What?" 

"Blood," Martel said. "Something happened here. Dolcetto-..."

"It's his blood," he confirmed, watching the house warily. "Tucker's been hurt." 

Notes:

If you're gonna murder Tucker, clap your hands!
[Riza smacking dual weilded pistols together]

Chapter 34

Summary:

A moment later, the curtain was yanked back from the nearest window, and a furious looking Tucker glared at them through it. 

He looked...bad.

Notes:

EXTREME body horror at the end of this chapter
If you wanna skip it, go straight from the ###s to the end note, where I will sum it up

"Stay here," Martel warned, easing closer to the house. The door was fine, so no one had kicked it in or anything to get inside, nor did any windows seem to be broken. Blood made the air bitter, but she wasn't anywhere near Dolcetto's ability to discern smells, so she had no idea how severely he would he wounded. Given his medical knowledge, there was even the chance he was already healed...but why wouldn't he clean-..

Martel leaped back a foot as the metal railing around the porch twisted, forming a braid in the air that fused together and sharpened into a spike, stabbing into the space she'd been a split second before. 

"What the fuck, Tucker?!" Dolcetto yelled from behind her. "It's Martel!"

"Might not be him!" She called back, getting clear as the spike rose up, readying to strike again. "Whoever attacked-..."

"It is me!" A familiar yell came back through the door. A moment later, the curtain was yanked back from the nearest window, and a furious looking Tucker glared at them through it. 

He looked... bad. He'd clearly taken a heavy blow to the head, the edge of his forehead oddly misshapen and discolored, blood in various stages of clotting surrounding it for a good few inches. Blood had dried in steaks down his face and neck and stained his shirt at the shoulder...And, worst of all, the eye directly underneath the wound was bloody, pupil lost in a smear of broken iris - if it wasn’t blind, it was nearly there, for certain. 

“What happened to you?” Martel asked, staring in horror. 

“Nothing that concerns you,” Tucker sneered at them. “Get away from my house.” 

Martel narrowed her eyes. “We have an injury. Our boss pays you-...”

“Your boss nearly had me killed,” Tucker spat back. “Went and peaked my interest of human chimeras, got me thinking about them, and then my wife finds out and tries to kill me. Kidnaps my daughter, too.” 

Martel hadn’t even known he had a family, but-... “How’d research do that?” 

Tucker scowled at her, ducking out of sight again. She had a split second to wonder what he was up to before the retracted again, shaping itself into solid bars over the door and windows. 

“Leave!” Tucker called, reappearing between bars in the glass. “She had help - some alchemist. If they come back-...”

“No way in hell,” Martel snapped back, stepping up to slam a fist against the glass. “If our boss finds out you’re turning us out-...Shit!” 

She leapt back as the bars grew spikes, jutting out just far enough to keep her from getting near Tucker. 

“Fuck your boss,” Tucker spat. “My research - years of study-...” 

“Uh, Martel…”

Martel looked over her shoulder, following Dolcetto’s indication out to the street. 

“Cars are coming,” she called to Tucker. “Military cars. What the fuck did you do?” 

Tucker swore colorfully from inside the house, slowly growing more muffled until she couldn’t hear him anymore, probably having retreated further inside. 

The cars pulled up along the street behind them, several people in blue Amestris military uniforms unloading. A blonde woman with a grim-set face pointed a pistol dead at Martel, getting her hackles up. 

“What’s your business here?” she demanded. 

“None of yours,” Martel shot back. “What do you want with Tucker?” 

“He’s under arrest,” the woman told them. “Step aside, or we’ll take you in too.” 

“Over my dead body,” Martel hissed.

The woman didn’t so much as bat an eyelash, fingertip sliding along the outside of the trigger mechanism, standing by ready to shoot - a clear that can be arranged.

A man climbed out of the car behind her, approaching them with a raised eyebrow. 

“Shou Tucker is under arrest following an alchemic attack on his wife,” he told them. 

“Not how he tells it,” Martel replied, looking to him-

-And then cursed.

It was Roy fucking Mustang, because of course it was. Of course Tucker had pissed off a massively powerful alchemist somehow. Of course the ‘Hero of Ishval’ was personally overseeing his arrest. 

Mustang seemed pleased by her frustration, lips curling up - the absolute bastard. 

“You’re obstructing justice,” Mustang said. “Step aside, or we will use force.” 

Martel bared her teeth at him.

“Stop, hold on!”

Mustang’s eyes darted to the side for a split second, but were on Martel instantly when she shifted to look too, instinct keeping his focus on the active threat. Still, over his shoulder, he called, “What is it, Courier?” 

“Okay, fuck you,” the last man to climb from the car spat, glaring at him fiercely. “Thank you for reminding me you’re a fucking asshole, I was starting to forget. I’m-...”

“Major Hohenheim,” Hawkeye said, in a sort of exasperated sharp tone. 

“I know her,” the man said.

Martel narrowed her eyes at him. He didn’t look even vaguely familiar, and his face was distinct. She’d definitely know if she’d seen him before, even in passing, and he hadn’t. 

Still, she wasn’t going to say that, until she knew what his game was. He could be saving her ass. 

“You’re- ah, fuck, your name…” the man came up to Hawkeye’s side, squinting at Martel like he was trying to place her face. 

“I’m Martel,” she told him, more curious than anything. “You are…?”

“I’m Theo,” he introduced, grinning at her. “I need to talk to your boss.”  

Hawkeye’s gun dropped a fraction. “She works for Tucker?”

“Fuck no,” Martel said. “Tucker works for us.” 

“That makes sense,” Theo said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Chimera expert, and all. Still, all this information and he can’t make one-...”

Martel stepped forward, reaching, only to be caught by the wrist in mid-air by a gloved hand.

“Rethink that,” Mustang told her, perfectly calm.

“How do you know about us?” she demanded of Theo. “Our boss has never mentioned you.” 

“He doesn’t know me, really,” Theo said. “We have a mutual enemy.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him...then, very slowly, looked to the side. 

Dolcetto met her gaze and shrugged. “If he’s lying, he’s good at it.” 

“I can’t lie for shit,” Theo said.

“That’s some paradox shit, right there,” Dolcetto said, “because that was definitely a lie.” 

Theo grinned at her again. “Give us Tucker,” he told her. “Before he gets away. And then, when we’ve got him, I want to talk to your boss - I’ve got something he wants.” 

“Which is?” 

“His Father’s head on a pike, for one,” Theo said. 

Martel pursed her lips. “He doesn’t care about them, anymore,” she said. 

“Bullshit,” Theo replied. “He wants to be free of them, and he never will be, as long as they’re breathing. I’m offering peace of mind.” 

“Not sure he’ll appreciate us bringing home a stray,” she tried. 

“Bring him to meet me, then.”

Martel tipped her chin up a bit, narrowing her eyes at the man. “What did Tucker really do?” 

“He wanted to make his wife and daughter into chimeras,” Theo replied. “He has no stone, so they’d be botched. They’d be mostly animal, and be in agony until they died. He wouldn’t have cared.” 

“That’s a lot of speculation.”

“It’s really not.”

Subtly as she could, she looked to Dolcetto, who met her gaze and gave a small jerk of his head. 

Turning back to Theo, she tipped her own head, relenting. “I’ll tell the boss you’re looking to talk, and see what he wants to do. Can’t promise anything.” She nodded to the door behind her. “He’s all yours. Make it hurt.” 

“Oh,” Theo said, “We planned to.” 

The chimeras cleared off right after their bargain was struck - the lizard one pouting as he held his arm to his chest, apparently injured, but the others looking relieved - and that left the military team free to enter the house. 

Theo clapped, once clear, hitting the ground with his seeking array in his mind’s eye. Closing his actual eyes, he instead ‘saw’ with his alchemy, feeling for Tucker’s energy. 

This house was unfamiliar, but he had gotten pretty good at recognizing the static given off by electric things, and between the placement of walls and concentration of electricity, he could guess at the general layout. 

Tucker was underground - a basement office, probably, like Hohenheim’s back in Risembool. He plotted a path through the house, combed over it thoroughly, and then broke the array. A split second later, he activated another, than another, doing a few back-to-back preparation transmutations, until finally dropping the metal bars blocking the entrance. 

“I broke a couple alchemic traps,” he warned the others. “I tried to fix the walls and floor where they were, but I can’t really see it and didn’t know what it was supposed to look like, so things might be a little fucked up.”  

“I’ll be certain to tell Erin you tried,” Riza said, in a tone that could have been sarcasm or perfectly genuine, Theo couldn’t tell. 

Theo readied himself, checked the others’ positions, and then placed a boot against the door, bracing to kick it down. 

“We do need to give this house back,” Riza reminded him.

“..Right,” Theo said, lowering his foot and clapping instead, transmuting the door unlocked instead and pushing it open normally. 

“Technically,” he heard Mustang saying behind him, “he could have fixed the door.” 

Theo pushed into the house, hoping they found Tucker before Riza took her itchy trigger finger  out on Mustang. 

For the satisfaction, though, he did kick in the study door, immediately stepping back to let Riza go gun-first into the room, clapping and dropping to the ground to send a shield springing up in front of her for cover. 

It was just in time, too, because a second later, arrows were flying in from all over, forcing him to turn a front wall into a dome that surrounded her. 

When the dome dropped, Riza advanced, passing the shelves of books at the front of the study, heading toward the ring of cages toward the back.

“Wait!” Theo called, catching the trap a second too late. 

The ground lit up beneath her feet, but before it could go off properly, Theo managed to grab her by the back of the shirt, hauling her clear of the static…

...Leaving him in its path.

Alchemic light flared around him, swallowing him whole, the now familiar feeling of a human transmutation taking him in. 

“Oh, no you don’t,” Theo growled, clapping, slamming his hands on the ground and fighting back.

Energy met energy, Theo’s transmutation fighting against Tucker’s, two forces of will battling for the use of the array that had been etched into the floor. 

“Come on, asshole,” Theo muttered, putting everything he had into it. “You owe me.” 

The array exploded.

Static crackled across the surface, then bubbled, creating a shockwave that threw Theo and the others back several feet, loud thuds sounding as each of them hit the walls. The bookcases splintered, pages flew from books in a swirling storm around them, and light filled the room, red and blue lightning striking in a cloud as the transmutation rebounded violently. 

#

#

#

And then the screaming started.

Inhuman, agonized, echoing. It reminded Theo of Truth’s eerie voice, a thousand speakers at once, only they were shrieking, crying out for- for mercy, for death, for both, one and the same. 

Slowly, the sounds melded together, until there was one, united, rasping cry- then a choking noise, the voice seeming to lose air as the scream died.

All at once, the light and static fell away, and Theo was able to push himself up from the ground, looking horrified into the center of the destroyed office. 

The thing inside it was worse than the creature they’d made in the basement as kids, trying to make their mom again. It had countless limbs, in various shapes and sizes, all malformed arms and twisted spindly legs and wildly thrashing tails. Its skin was fleshy in some parts, scaled in others, with a number of feathers sticking out oddly between scale junctions and along the ridges of limbs. 

In the center was what, at one point, might have been Shou Tucker’s face, stretched and deformed, lips hardened and pointed like a beak, open as it hacked violently, spitting loose teeth with each cough. Tattered feathers were speckled in among his hairs, and his nose had gone leathery and bulbous like a monkey’s. His eyes were sunken and wide open, staring in horror. 

Slowly, the coughing turned to a wheeze, then faded, the monster that was Tucker becoming still. 

There was a long moment of stunned, horrified silence, before Riza breathed out something that might have been a prayer. 

“He…” Theo stared in shock. “He fused with his chimeras. He…” He forced himself to his feet, turning to the others. The others were shakily standing as well, and he looked to Mustang, almost desperate. 

Mustang didn’t need him to ask. “I’ll get it,” he said, grimly, straightening the fabric of his glove. “You two get clear.” 

Theo caught Riza by the wrist and pulled her, heading from the room.

It was a testament to what had just happened that she didn’t so much as take her hand away. 

Notes:

Summary: Tucker tried to do a human transmutation on Riza, then Theo in her place, and Theo countered with his own...and the rebound caught Tucker and his caged chimeras, fusing them into a massive abomination that choked to death under its own weight. Theo took Riza out of the building so that Roy could burn it.

Chapter 35

Summary:

Riza looked behind her, into the house. “I should have stayed with him. He might-...” 

“He’d be pissed if I left you down there,” Theo said. “Whatever this drags up, whatever damage it’s doing right now - we can worry about that when he is done. When it’s over.”

Notes:

What? Another update 24 hours after the last? Is the Spice getting Productive(tm)?
Real answer is I like to post before work so I can read comments on my lunch break, lol

This chapter is a bit of a tone shift from the last one, lol. The Decompression Chapter, if you will. Enjoy

“That thing…”

Theo tipped his head back, looking to the sky. “Yeah,” he agreed, understanding what Riza meant, even if she didn’t have the words to say it. 

“Is it-...Is it always…?”

“That was especially bad,” Theo said. “But...yeah. It’s never pretty.” 

Riza looked behind her, into the house. “I should have stayed with him. He might-...” 

“He’d be pissed if I left you down there,” Theo said. “Whatever this drags up, whatever damage it’s doing right now - we can worry about that when he is done. When it’s over.”

Riza pursed her lips, watching the door.

“...I’m going to seal the basement,” Theo said, after a minute. “Nothing was down there except the study, so it’s not really a loss. That way that’s gone, no matter what Erin does with the house.”

“It’s hard to think of someone buying it after that,” Riza said. “You almost want to burn it all and start over.” 

Theo winced. “I’ve tried that before,” he said, weakly. “It’s not as good as it sounds.” 

They stood in silence for a moment, looking out over the early morning on the empty street, soaking in the day so oddly calm in contrast to their business there. 

"Did you mean to do that?" Riza asked, quietly. "To make him that thing?"

"No," Theo said. "But- but I think I'm the reason it happened."

"Your transmutations combined?" She guessed. 

Theo shook his head. "I don't know what Tucker was trying to do," he said, "but...I'm pretty sure it was swallowed by mine immediately. What we saw was mine rebounding, refusing to let me play god like I was trying to."

Riza frowned at him. "What were you trying to do?"

Theo shifted, eyes on a spot of sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, fixed firmly there to avoid her gaze. "I gave up my alchemy, once. In a transmutation, I ripped the inner gate alchemists open inside themselves right out of me. I couldn't use alchemy at all until the transmutation that ended up sending me here reversed that. It...it was worse than losing a limb. I've lost two, I know that pain, I can deal with it, but...alchemy I reached for every day of my life, and I always came up empty. Nothing ever filled that part of me." He slowly dragged his eyes back to Riza, and confessed, "I went for his. I didn't know- I thought, if people's souls can be taken by force-..." 

"You tried to negate the threat," Riza summarized. "You were trying to spare his life."

Theo shook his head - but in disgust, rather than denial. "I should have known better. I never learn my lesson - I'm human, and that's all I'll ever be. Every time I try and get above that, try to be too much more than what I am-..."

"I go home tonight," Riza cut in, "And I get to tell a woman that she and her baby are safe. I can tell her that the man who threatened her and all the research he'd done were destroyed, and that she can rebuild her life now. And that's because of you. You wanted to be more because you wanted to do more. It's not hubris, it's heart."

Theo gave a weak smile. "You almost sound like you're warming up to me."

Riza's lips twitched up in a half smile of her own. "The longer I go without having to read your commentary on paperwork, the easier it is to like you. Fortunate, since I think Roy plans to keep you."

Theo laughed. "He doesn't get to make that choice," he said. "He's fuckin' stuck with me, like it or not." 

"Who's stuck with you?"

Theo and Riza both turned to the door as Mustang emerged, eyebrow raised in their direction.

Theo pinked slightly, as Riza answered casually, "You are."

"Oh?" Mustang looked to Theo, gaze amused and curious, eyebrows up in a silent prompt. 

"You wanted me on your team," he defended immediately. "You know too much, now. If you don't go with things at this point, I'm gonna have to lock you up somewhere until I'm done fucking shit up."

"Is there paperwork in this hypothetical prison?" Mustang asked. "It might be worth the vacation."

Theo snorted, turning away again. "Lazy bastard. I'd make you miserable."

Out of the corner of his eye, Theo saw Mustang go to respond, then stop, coming to stand between Theo and Riza on the porch, looking out over the street with them. 

"Speaking of knowing too much…"

Theo sighed. "Yeah, I figured you were waiting to ask about that." He looked to the side, offering, "He's called Greed. Their boss, that is. He employs human chimeras that I'm pretty sure he stole from Lab 5 before it went all in on grinding up souls."

"And you know him, but he doesn't know you?" Riza asked. 

"Nope," Theo confirmed. "Which, I mean- we met a long time ago, is all. I was…" he paused, grimacing. "Fuck, I dunno, 15? Anyway, he won't remember anything about me. Which is good, because I kind of beat the shit out of him."

Mustang blinked. "You...what?"

"He fucked with my brother," Theo defended. "But then Br-...uh." Theo shifted. "Nevermind. Basically, we fought, he ran off, and then went through a bunch of shit, and now he won't remember me, but I know him well enough to know how to bargain with him." He tipped his head back. "...Especially if-... I mean, I hate to say it, but I think I should talk to Envy."

"The guy that tried to break into your house?"

Theo waved a hand through the air dismissively, not bothering to argue any of the points he could have made about that - ranging from I don't know if I'd call them a 'guy' to well, they didn't really try that hard, did they?

"If I can get a feel for what the homunculi want from me, I can guess what they're planning. If I know what they're planning, I can estimate about how much time Greed has before they hunt him down. He's a prick, but he was sensible enough that he can probably realize he'll die a lot less with allies that know what they're up against."

Theo was slightly disappointed when Mustang just gave a soft 'ah' in response, not bothering to be a smartass about the 'dying less' phrasing, because he'd been fully prepared to reveal the joys of how fucking annoying it was to kill a homunculus. 

As it was, he shifted again, waving toward the cars. "Back to HQ?" 

"Sounds good to me," Riza said. "I have a report to file. I suppose we can include the felonies in the charges, now, which means a lot of paperwork needs to be updated."

"What a good day to banned from that," Theo said, cheerily. "Now I just have to…" his smile dropped, and a moment later, he scowled, reaching out to punch Mustang's shoulder. 

"Ow," Mustang said, rubbing the spot. "Why-..?"

"Thinking about all those stupid papers reminded me," Theo said. "Don't use my shitty alchemist title!"

"What?" Mustang gave him a sly smile. "Courier?"

"I will fucking end you."

Riza sighed, stepping to the curb and climbing into her seat, carefully ignoring the bickering still taking place on the sidewalk behind her. 

She was getting that raise, someday, she swore it. 

Walking home that evening was something surreal, the city in motion around him oblivious to the emotional ordeal the day had been.

That did not, however, mean Theo was too distracted to notice he was being followed.

He took a few detours, looping back over his own path here and there, until he finally turned on his heel, heading down into an alley.

His pursuer seemed to hesitate, just briefly, before taking the bait, following him into it. 

A small dog trotted down the alley toward Theo, eyes fixed on him. When it passed the dumpster midway down, it shifted, and a moment later a semi-familiar figure was approaching him.

When meeting Edward Elric, Envy had chosen a teenage appearance. Their details hadn’t changed, but now, they had them on an adult figure - which, honestly, didn’t change much except their height, androgyny chosen over visible age. 

“Old lady pass on my message, then?” Envy called. “I wasn’t sure she’d remember.” 

“Because I try to break into my own apartment so often,” Theo replied.

“Because she’s ancient,” Envy countered. “She could be senile, I don’t know.” 

“She was present enough to see through you,” Theo pointed out, lip pulling up in a smirk. “You’re getting sloppy.”

“Says who?” Envy stopped in front of him, head tipping to one side, sending their wild tendrils of hair swinging wide while they narrowed their eyes at Theo. “Maybe I meant for you to know.” 

“Well, I’m here,” Theo said. “What do you want?” 

Envy extended a hand, waving thin spindly fingers at Theo. “They call me Envy.” 

“Theo,” he returned, though he didn’t take the hand. “Which you already knew.”

“Yep,” Envy agreed. “That’s about all I know, though. You’re really interesting, all the blank spots where you just...don’t exist.” 

“What do you want?” Theo repeated. “I’d like to go home.” 

“I’d come with you, if you’d rather.”

“No dogs in the apartment,” Theo answered, dry.

Envy scowled. “In the disgusting alley, then,” they said. “I’ll make it simple. Some people are interested in seeing how you work. I’m in charge of telling them what that is. And I have questions .” 

“Questions like..?”

Envy tipped their head up a bit, looking down at Theo with an unreadable sort of hungry look. “Who made you?” 

Theo stopped short. “What?” 

“You’re not fully human,” Envy said. “Something’s weird with you. Who made you?” 

Theo was thrown - the homunculi thought he was a manufactured soul like them? A modified human, like Bradley? 

“I’m mostly an accident,” Theo said, choosing the same half-honesty that had served him well so far. “A series of increasingly severe fuckups."

"Uh-huh," Envy eyed Theo suspiciously. "Who gave you that name?"

"I stole it," Theo answered honestly. "You can tell those 'interested people,' Hohenheim doesn't even know I exist."

"So he didn't make you?"

"Is that what I said?"

Envy glared, and Theo grinned back. 

"What's your goal?" Envy asked. "You're up to something."

"So are you," Theo countered. 

"Me?" Envy laughed, tipping their head back with it. "Never! I'm just here for a good time. Now, the others.." They shot Theo a wicked smile. " They want a lot. The lot. Money, power, whatever they can get. And they think you can help."

"I don't care about money or power," Theo told them. "And if you don't either, that makes me wonder...why do you work for the people who do?"

Envy shifted, eyeing him warily. "Is this where you reveal that you're actually a 'good guy,' hm? Try to win me over to the 'right side'?"

"Nope," Theo said. "I don't care what your goal is. I'm looking out for the Elric boys. Stay out of my way, leave them alone, and we won't have any problems. I'll ignore you, you can ignore me."

"Where's the fun in that?" Envy asked. 

"In the mystery," Theo said, stepping around them to leave the alley, calling over his shoulder as he went. "Talk to me again in a few days. I'll have more for you, then, I think." 

He paused in the end of the alley, looking back for a moment. 

"And see if you can get Bradley to do something about my alchemist title?" He asked, casually, watching Envy's eyes widen. "It's shit." He turned again, waving as he merged back into the pedestrian traffic. "See you."

He was going to pay for that, most likely, but…

...But he had the very slightest begins of a plan, and he had a good feeling about it - as dangerous as that was. 

Notes:

Envy? Overcompensating by stretching themselves to be a single inch taller than Theo? You fuckin BET

Chapter 36

Summary:

“He’s playing along, I think,” Envy said. “He doesn’t seem to care about us one way or the other.” They rocked back on their heels, hands on their hips, head tipped back to face the ceiling. “It’s kind of annoying, actually.” 

Notes:

another shorter chap by a couple hundred words, but I wanted to get it up (heh) before work tonight

Here is some more Envy content

And the deleted convo from last chapter:
theo: ....so are you a boy or a girl or
envy: just. my name with a b
theo:
theo: ....ebony?
envy: you are so fucking stupid

“Well,” Lust said, when Envy finished telling her how their meeting with Theo had gone, “you certainly can’t tell Wrath any of that.” 

Envy placed a hand over their heart - where it should be, anyway - dramatically, as though appalled. “You want me to lie?” 

“Don’t be a brat,” Lust said. “If Wrath’s identity has been compromised-...”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Envy said. “So he knows we’re involved with the military. That just means he has some basic sense. He doesn’t have to know everything.” 

“But you won’t commit to the assumption that he doesn’t,” Lust pointed out. “He knows too much, regardless of where it stops.” 

“He’s playing along, I think,” Envy said. “He doesn’t seem to care about us one way or the other.” They rocked back on their heels, hands on their hips, head tipped back to face the ceiling. “It’s kind of annoying, actually.” 

"He's seen through you more than once, somehow compromised the identity of the strongest of our group, invented revolutionary arrays of his own accord, and has maintained impressive alchemic skill despite likely being at least in part a fabrication, and you want him to fight us?"

"What does he want?" Envy mused, clearly ignoring Lust entirely. "He's gotta be after something. Something more than just those kids - even if he was made to protect them, everyone has their own goal."

"Duty isn't enough?"

Envy shot an unimpressed look sideways at Lust. "You really don't mind just being a tool? Doing what you're told?"

Lust traced her fingers over the ouroboros on her chest. "Embodiment of lust, my dear. Satisfaction, recognition, attention - those are my goals." ”

“And that’s it?” Envy asked, furious. “You’re a bit of him that he didn’t want, and that’s all?”

Lust narrowed her eyes at them. “What are you after, Envy?” she asked. “Do you want something better? Independence? Will you run off, like Greed?” 

Envy held her gaze a moment before harshly turning away, fixing his eyes on an opposite wall and firmly refusing to look at her. 

“You won’t,” Lust said, “because the only reason he is still alive is because he knew nothing. With everything you know, Pride would hunt you down, and Wrath would take you out. You know that.” 

Envy remained silent, lips pressed into a thin line as they visibly fought to keep their expression neutral. 

“Envy,” Lust prompted. “Whatever you’re thinking-...”

“What if he is?” 

Lust blinked. “What?” 

Envy rounded on her. “What if he is like us? Why is he able to do alchemy? Why is he stronger? Smarter?” 

“I doubt he’s like us,” Lust said. “If anything, he’s more like him.” 

Envy scowled. “We’re part of him,” they insisted. “He took us from himself .”

“We’re fragments,” Lust argued. “Little pieces he discarded. Toy soldiers made of his worst faults.” 

“Fuck that,” Envy said. “He knows something. I know he does. If I can find out what it is-...” 

“Envy, enough,” Lust demanded. “We keep trailing him, we keep watching him, we go on with the plan. Nothing more, nothing less. If you get in the way of our goal, I will stop you myself.” 

Envy stared at her, betrayed. “He’s going to throw us away,” they said, desperate. “When this is over, we don’t get to stay - you get that, right? You said it. We’re toys.” 

Lust tipped her chin up, watching him with an unreadable look in her eye. 

“Lust, please,” Envy practically begged. “I just need to know.” 

“You know enough,” Lust said. “Drop it, Envy. Or else.” 

Envy huffed, jerking their head to the side, turning away in disgust. 

“Enjoy the recognition ,” they spat as they left. “In the few seconds before he destroys you completely.” 

“Where are you going, Envy?” Lust called after them. 

“To do my fucking job.” 

Theo made it about three steps through his door before he was accosted. 

“Late night.” Pinako watched him with narrow eyes. “Tucker?” 

“Dead,” Theo replied. “Kids?” 

“Asleep,” she returned. Then, “It was Winry, wasn’t it? Your wife?” 

Theo grimaced. 

“I ought to tear into you,” Pinako said. “But, I get the feeling I’d be in a long line. You’ve got an awful lot after your blood.” 

“Speaking of which,” Theo said, “I ran into Envy.”

Pinako snapped up. “You did?” 

“We talked a little,” Theo told her. “I think- I’m wondering if they can’t be talked down. They’re jealous of humans. They were always jealous of me and Al in particular, but all other humans, too. They wanted that independence and purpose that comes from being really alive.”

“They’re not really alive?” 

Theo made a face. “Homunculi are- they’re artificial souls, shoved into an organic body. Some of them were humans once, taken over by philosopher’s stones, but Envy was...something else. Father made their body himself. It wasn’t even remotely human. It…”

Honestly, come to think of it, it was closer to the abomination that Tucker had become than it was to a human body. At least, in its larger form, dragon-esque with a thousand grotesque faces straining from its shoulders. 

“It’s ugly,” Theo settled on. “And since Envy wasn’t ever a living thing of their own right, they’re desperate to become one, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get there. I just have to convince them that becoming a human is better achieved by working with us than against us.”

"Did you do that before?"

Theo hesitated, before admitting, "No. They killed themselves, before." 

"Well," Pinako said. "Your life was certainly interesting."

"Still is," Theo replied. "Just...hopefully a little happier." 

"Let's kill the alchemy demons," Pinako said. "We can worry about 'happy' after that."

After the stress and horrors of the day, it was something of a disappointment to fall asleep and not find himself in the comfort of a memory. 

Instead, he found himself in Truth's domain again- only, this time, there was a dim red light emanating from somewhere behind him. 

He turned to investigate, and saw the Gate, as always, but before it, a skeletal figure, a dim red aura clinging to it. 

"Tucker?" Theo called, incredulous. 

"False prophets," a thousand voices chorused back. It was like Truth's echo, only each of the voices sounded pained. "Want-to-be gods." Tucker's hands raised, less like he was moving them and more like they were being lifted by strings. "Forty-seven souls set free."

"Forty-seven?" Theo breathed. "That's- that's how many died?"

"Yes."

Behind Tucker, the Gate threw open its doors, tendril black arms coming out to grip at him, dragging his unresponsive form back into their depths.

In an instant, the doors were shut, and Truth stood before them instead. 

"Countless more before them, too," Truth said, their echoing voices back to normal. "Animals, mostly."

Theo's stomach dropped. "Mostly?"

Truth' grin never changed, but in moments like this, it always seemed to sharpen. "The human chimeras would bring him their failures to study. Part of his payment." 

"Greed was encouraging him?"

"Greed is greed," Truth rellied. "Hunger for knowledge is no less greedy than hunger for money or power. You should have learned that by now." 

Theo frowned, but didn't argue. Instead, he said, "You didn't show me anything this time. Have I seen enough today, or…?"

Truth shrugged lazily. "You have a lot more damage to undo, but you weren't getting very far. I thought we'd talk first. But, if you want to look inside-..."

The second he finished the word, Theo blinked, and found himself standing once again in a dingy dive bar, watching himself lead an older Mustang through the door. 

They were as they were right before Theo had gone back, he realized, which made it easy to guess what they were celebrating. 

"All these fancy bureaucrat parties," Ed said, leading Mustang to the table - their table, where they drank once in a while following their birthday drink together. "A thousand people wanna buy you the fanciest bottles of wine, and you're here in this shithole with me. You're fucked in the head, Mustang."

"Careful," Mustang said, grinning at him as they took their seats. "I'm going to be your new Fuhrer."

"You're not going to take office for another year," Ed dismissed. 

"Oh?" Mustang leaned forward on the table. "Will you be nice to me when I do?" He tipped his head. "Will I finally get some respect?"

"Fuck no," Ed replied easily. "You'll get 520 cens and a big fuck you from me, and that's it."

"I don't suppose I can convince you any easier now that you should-..."

"I'm not coming back," Ed interrupted him. "I'll work your contracts, but when I wanna go home, I go home."

"When is that?"

The atmosphere turned to ice. 

Ed turned, slowly, narrowed eyes on Mustang. "Excuse me?"

"You run yourself ragged," Mustang pressed. "A structured position would give you fixed hours, mandatory downtime. You'd be home at least once a week."

"The fuck you trying to get rid of me for?" Ed demanded. "What we're doing now works fine. I get shit done and I go home when I need to."

"You have a wife , Fullmetal."

"Don't fucking-.." Ed paused, fuming, and slumped back in his chair. "Why are you being like this?" 

"Because I care about you?" Mustang countered. "I had a goal my whole life, and I'm about to meet it. After that, I'll make a new goal. You never did that, Ed. You're self destructing."

Ed pushed back from the table, indignant. "What is this? A fucking intervention? I'm fine."

His rearing back made his loose braid swing wildly, popping up over his shoulder. Mustang,'s eyes went to it. 

"Winry usually cuts your hair, doesn't she?" 

Ed reached up, straightening the braid. "Changing the subject?"

"Making a point," Mustang said. "Your hair is getting long. When did last go home?"

Ed didn't answer, just glared across the table. 

"Edward," Mustang said, voice soft. "You are one of the most important things in my life."

Ed's eyes widened. 

"Please take care of yourself," he said. "I'd rather see you happy. Even if it means the end of this."

Theo watched Ed's face, watching how his heart broke for Roy, for himself, for his family and everyone else caught in his path. 

The day after this, Theo remembered, Roy gave him the job that led to his jump. 

"I'm working on it," he told the memory. "Thank you. For caring. You always did."

The memory faded around him, and Theo woke to wet cheeks and a heavy heart. 

Truth said that his dreams were memories of how he filled the hole in his soul, and that memory was one where that empty space had never felt greater. 

No more fucking around, Theo told himself. It's time to get my ass in gear. 

And to start, he needed to have a talk. 

Notes:

Truth: remember that time Mustang almost told you he loved you and implied that your relationship was like an affair?
Theo: time to pummel out my feelings

Chapter 37

Summary:

"He might be dead," Martel said. "We weren't that far away when the whole house lit up - a huge flash, screaming, then smoke. Probably Mustang."

"The Flame Alchemist?" Greed grinned. "This keeps getting better."

Notes:

I took this fic off my pseud because I kept fucking it up with chapter updates defaulting to my main and it was bothering me so 'roymustang' is now reserved for my cringey naruto content I guess

Here's some Exposition

"A state alchemist, huh?"

Martel nodded. "He called himself Theo."

"Theo…" Greed echoed, considering. "I don't think I know a Theo."

"He said you wouldn't," Martel replied. "But he is going after- after the rest of them. The others like you."

Greed stilled, eyes turning on her, sharp and more than intrigued. "Oh? He is, is he?"

"He might be dead," Martel said. "We weren't that far away when the whole house lit up - a huge flash, screaming, then smoke. Probably Mustang."

"The Flame Alchemist?" Greed grinned. "This keeps getting better. What else do you know about him?"

"Mustang called him 'Courier,'" Martel said. "He wasn't very happy about it."

"An unfortunate nickname?" Greed speculated. "Or an even more unfortunate title?"

Martel shrugged. "Dolcetto had an ear out on his heartbeat the whole time. Says he wasn't lying."

"Or was lying very, very well."

She shrugged again. "Your call."

"It always is." 

They sat for a moment, Greed thinking it over, weighing his options. 

"I suppose," he said, slowly, "if he has something to share...I might as well go get it." 

And that's it? You're a bit of him he didn't want, and that's all?

"Hungry…"

"I know, dear," Lust murmured, resting a hand on Gluttony's head, drumming her long fingers against its surface idly. 

Envy was defecting. 

It was obvious, as they often were, loud and brash and quick to act. They'd always acted in their own interest first, but had been willing to go along with whatever the others planned due to a cross between boredom and sheer self preservation. 

This man, though, the mystery that Father chased, had sparked some idea of deeper meaning in Envy that they weren't easily shaking. 

And, if she admitted it, neither was she. 

Their words had hit deeper than she'd let on. Envy was lucky, in her opinion - they'd been a tool from creation, never with anything else. 

Lust, though...deep within her stone, among countless souls, one swam that used to be her. She couldn't remember anything about it. She wasn't even sure if it counted at all, or if she'd simply picked up the body, claiming something that had already been hollowed out. 

Her first memory was wanting, was waking in a sea of voices and hearts crying out inside her and wanting one, just one, to stand out, one she would know belonged to her and her alone. 

And then Father had given her a name and a purpose, and that had been her focus since. 

With her free hand, she brushed fingertips along her Ouroboros tattoo. Infinite - no end, but no beginning. She was never born, she simply was . Before her first memory, she was a part of Father, and before him, a part of the world beyond, of God himself - or whatever equivalent existed. 

She had her own assignment. She was to go to some outlying city and stir up enough trouble to get the blood flowing. She'd only lingered because she'd caught Wrath's suspicions of Envy and had wanted, needed to ensure they weren't getting themselves killed. 

Now, though, all she had were questions. Who was she, beyond her purpose? Anything at all? 

Would Envy's inevitable end be worth their chance at a beginning? 

She just didn't know. 

Roy's phone woke him in the middle of the night, and in his rush to get up and answer it - fearing what emergency could get him a call at such an hour - he managed to fall out of bed, jarring one shoulder hard on the ground. 

When he got to the phone, he was gritting his teeth, annoyed and in pain and heavily concerned. 

He forgot about it all immediately when Maes' voice came down the line, asking simply, "You clean your house lately, Roy?"

"Clean as I can get it," Roy replied. If someone had bugged him, they would have had to be damn good at their job to get it done. As far as he knew, the phone line should be clear. 

"You've really stepped in it," Maes said. "This note you gave me - You breaking out our code is alarming enough, but what you wrote in it-..."

"Theo's theory," Roy interrupted, feeling awful for demanding information from his best friend but too desperate to know to hold his tongue or offer reassurance. "Could you confirm it?"

"Couldn't disprove it," Maes said. "With your restrictions on how deep I could look, I wasn't able to get anything concrete- except… Remember the letter I found?" Maes asked. "From Marcoh?"

"Right," Roy said. "The one he wrote Theo."

"It fits," Maes said. "All the little details lined up exactly how he said, but that letter...that's what makes me think it's really true. Marcoh worked for them, and he got away, and he tried to warn Hohenheim on his way out."

"Theo is their target, then?"

"Looks like it."

Roy cursed. 

"Be careful, Roy," Maes said. "I know you want to help him, but this- you're going to have to plan every step very, very carefully."

"I think he has a plan," Roy said. "I didn't ask- I wanted to confirm it first. I didn't...I never actually let myself think about what would happen if it were true."

"Keep your head, too," Maes warned. "Don't do anything stupid out of blind faith."

Roy frowned. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?"

Roy blinked, resisting the urge to pull the phone away and stare at it in sheer bewilderment - Maes getting onto him like this was rare. "What do you mean, Maes?"

"Your ambition and your curiosity are working together, here," Maes said. "And so is your heart, which is worse."

Roy flushed. "I'm not-..."

"Not like that," Maes said. "Or, well, maybe a little. No, I mean - you see someone hurting, and you want to help. Not only that, helping him helps you, so you went and judged the risk to be worth it. But, at the end of the day, Roy...you don't know this guy. You've never been one to change your mind once you've decided you care about someone, but he isn't like the rest of your team. Don't forget that, going forward - I don't want to know what happens if he isn't as invested in you as you are in him."

Roy shifted, uncomfortable, but tried to sound confident when he replied, "You're worrying too much. I trust my judgement - and, failing that, Riza's aim."

"Guns vs alchemy isn't usually that fair a fight."

He hated it when Maes was right. "I'll keep an eye on him, I promise."

"Oh," Maes said, now sounding heavily amused, "I don't doubt that."

Roy sputtered. "What do you-...?!"

"Hey, have I told you how Gracia's doing?"

"It's midnight, Maes," Roy replied, and then hung up. 

"Theo!"

Theo blinked, looking up from his notes at Al's greeting, watching his younger brother beam at him. 

"Morning, Al," Theo replied.

Behind him, coming from the hall, Ed emerged, wheelchair veering to one side as he forgot to stop turning the wheel with one hand while he covered a yawn with the other. Al caught him a moment before he bumped into the wall, turning him back straight again. 

"Mornin'," Ed murmured, slumping in his chair. "Breakfast?"

Theo gestured to the kitchen. "We're on our own. If you want something in particular, I can try making it. I've got a couple staples down. Pancakes?"

"We could just have cereal," Al suggested. 

"Disgusting," Ed countered. "Pancakes sound awesome."

Theo stood, moving to comply. 

"We found some cool stuff in our research!" Al said, following him, Ed following lazily at his heels. "Alchemy has its own physics, we think. With how much you know, we're pretty sure you could manipulate space some, to hide stuff inside its own little pocket dimension."

"Huh," Theo said, starting to gather ingredients for breakfast. "That makes sense. Explains Gluttony's stomach."

"'Gluttony's stomach'?" Ed echoed. 

"Right," Theo said. "I was going to tell you guys- you know about homunculi, right? Artificial humans?"

"No one's ever made one," Alphonse replied. "You said they're impossible, right?"

"Bringing back the dead is impossible," Theo corrected. "A homunculus is possible, with the right tools. Don't ask me how - only one real one exists, I think. The others are all spawned off of him."

"A real homunculus? More than one?" Ed asked, straightening in his chair. "Can we meet him?"

"I want him dead," Theo said dryly, "And it's mutual, so...hopefully not."

"What?"

"Remember what I said, about the government being corrupt?" Theo said. "It's- the homunculi are at the center of it. They're leaching off the life force of the country to fuel themselves and their agenda. They want to wipe Amestris off the map to make themselves stronger."

"That's awful," Al said. "How?"

"Philosopher's stones," Theo said. "Each one has one. Thousands of human souls - and that isn't enough for them. They want more. The first homunculus - he calls himself 'Father' - he wants to catch everyone in a nationwide array, converting all their souls into a stronger stone for himself. He wants to open the gate and consume God."

"Can he do that?!" Ed asked. "That's- that's not a real thing, right?"

"You two remember the Gate, right?"

"Yeah," Al said. 

"But not God," Ed said. "He doesn't exist."

"He doesn't give a shit," Theo said. "But there's something there, all right. You met it. The spectre of Truth. The controller of the universe. On the inside of the Gate is the Eye, and on the outside, there's Truth. The two of them tear apart and reconstruct the world - together, they make alchemy work."

"And the homunculus wants to absorb him?" Al asked. "He wants to control alchemy?"

"He wants the knowledge behind the Gate," Theo said. "Every bit of it, all for himself. And he'll need the power of every soul in Amestris just to contain it." 

"That's why you said we're important," Ed realized. "We've already seen it." 

"Bits and pieces," Theo confirmed. "You're the keys. Through us, he accesses Truth. Through Truth, the Gate. Through the Gate...everything."

For a moment, the only sound was the sizzle of the pan as Theo started the first pancake. 

"So," Al said. "'Gluttony'?"

"Right," Theo said. "The first homunculus made seven others. He named them after cardinal sins - Lust, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Sloth, and Gluttony. Each of them has a special ability."

He raised a hand, letting the pancake cook as he ticked them off on his fingers. 

"Lust can sharpen and stretch her fingers into lances. Greed can harden his body to stone, strong as diamonds or soft as graphite. Envy can shapeshift. Wrath can see anything coming. Pride controls shadows. Sloth is fucking strong. And Gluttony can eat anything, which gets sent to a bitch of a dimension- bringing us back to your theory." 

"Shit," Ed said. "And you're - you're gonna fight these things?"

"Most of them," Theo confirmed. "Greed is mostly a non-issue - he doesn't much care for Father or any of the others, so I think I can talk him around. Envy, too, maybe - they're a wildcard at best, but they seem to be getting fed up with Bradley's shit."

" Fuhrer Bradley?" Al exclaimed. 

"I told you the government was fucked," Theo replied. "Bradley is Wrath. The eyepatch he wears covers his ability, but doesn't stop it from working." 

"...The Fuhrer wears an eyepatch?"

"Ed," Al sighed, exasperated. 

"Yeah," Theo confirmed. "Straight up, black eyepatch. He looks like a shitty pirate."

Ed laughed. Al snorted, too, though he seemed appalled at finding it funny. 

"Anyway, I've tipped off Mustang," Theo said. "And once he's fully on board, I think we can pretty much kick ass. Especially if Greed and Envy come around. Sloth is lazy, Gluttony's fucking dumb, and Pride is- uh. Pride's kind of neutral, if you can get him away from Bradley. That just leaves Wrath and Lust as real threats, and two against two is fair odds, as far as homunculi go. Throw in me and Mustang, and they don't stand a chance." 

"And 'Father'?" Al asked. 

"A bitch," Theo said. "I can handle him. If there's four of us, even better. Six, and he's dust in ten seconds."

"Six?"

"There's an Ishvalan I want to talk around," Theo said. "He hates alchemy, obviously, but he kind of uses it, too, so he's full of shit. And then...as much as I'd rather leave the guy out of it, dad could be helpful."

Ed scowled. 

"Dad?" Al asked. "You said…"

"He's got a stone," Theo said. "He's Father's perfect mirror. The two of them are evenly matched, I'd say. A fight between them would be a coin toss, but without the homunculi and with our allies? Dad could flatten him. As long as I get a swing in, I'm good with that."

"A swing at Father, or at dad?" Ed asked. 

"Eh..both," Theo said with a shrug, before turning around, holding up a full plate. "Pancakes?"

With classic Elric brother priority management, discussions of nationwide conspiracies were set aside for the time being. 

Notes:

theo: the government is demons. Food?
al and ed, nodding solemnly: food

Chapter 38

Summary:

Ro swallowed. "Hello, Aunt Chris."

Notes:

SHORT chappie posted from the breakroom at work bc im mean

also if you want a good bop for pre-timefuck old!roy/future!ed uhhh "I Know Why" by Marian Hill

Roy eyed his ringing phone with heavy distrust. 

Maes' call was only a few hours past, and he was very concerned that the man had been sitting on his ramble about his wife and future child for however long had passed since Roy hung up on him, saving it up to dump on him upon his waking. 

Maes went into work early in the mornings, though, and was too much of a workaholic to take his parental leave until he had to. This in mind, Roy tentatively answered the phone. 

"Mustang-..."

"Sibylle called."

Ro swallowed. "Hello, Aunt Chris."

"What the hell, Roy?" Chris asked, acting almost as if he hadn't spoken at all. 

"I know what I'm doing," Roy defended. "Does nobody trust my judgement anymore?"

"So someone else thinks you're in over your head?"

"...That's not-..."

"Is it Riza?" Chris asked. "She's a good judge of character. She's met him, right? What does she think?"

Roy hesitated. 

"That silence sounds awful damning," Chris said. 

"She doesn't-..." Roy started, then stopped, trying again. "It's not that she doesn't like him, really...He's just…"

""Just'?"

"He's such a shit," Roy sighed. "He doesn't take things seriously very often, and that drives her crazy. He saved her life yesterday, though, I can tell you that."

Chris gave a skeptical, noncommittal hum. 

"He gave me some information, too," Roy said. "I have- I need to tell you about it, next time I see you. It's too big to pass along normally."

"That's ominous. Are you in any immediate danger?"

"Probably," Roy admitted. "But if things work out, it'll be better for everyone, myself included."

"Your ambition is gonna get you killed. You know that, yeah?"

"Not yet," Roy replied. "Especially not right now."

"If you're sure," she said. Then, "So what's he like? Sibylle said you might be taking an interest?" 

Roy choked. "Her and Maes, I swear- he's- I'm just-..."

Chris laughed on the other end of the line. 

Roy shut his mouth, keeping silent, until his aunt's laughter died off. 

"Theo is brilliant," Roy said, when she was quiet. "And he's trying so, so very hard to make things better. For everybody, but his younger brothers most of all. There's two of them, ten and eleven, and- and from what I gather, they've only known Theo a few months at most, and he'd already die for them. He threw himself into a human transmutation for Riza, and she didn't even like him. He trusted me with the biggest secrets he'd puzzled out within days."

"Sounds like he's desperate for company," Chris said. 

"His family died," Roy answered, softly. "He had a wife, and kids. They're all gone." 

"...Ah."

"Yeah," Roy said. "That's- he's handsome beyond words, no denying that, and he's brilliant and brave and a thousand other things - but, above that, he's hurting. I'm not trying to make that worse."

"You might make it better."

"I'm not risking it," he said, firm. "After everything is sorted, after he's gotten on his feet…maybe. But not unless I'm damn sure. He's dealt with enough."

Chris hummed again, this one thoughtful, and then they were both silent a moment, processing the heavy conversation. 

And then, to break the tension over the line, Chris casually mentioned, "You know Sibylle still calls you 'Pony'?"

Roy groaned. 

If he didn't know better than to risk his life like that, he'd have hung up on her, too. 

"I'm heading into work now."

Erin looked up, gently bouncing Nina in her arms. "Okay," she said. "I'll...be here, I guess."

"They'll probably take a couple of days to release the house," Riza said. "But Roy destroyed everything too damning, so they won't need to stay in it long. You'll have your own space again."

"Thank you for letting me stay," Erin said. "It can't be easy, suddenly having a baby waking you up at night."

"A spider crawling on my roof could wake me up," Riza replied, dry. "Nina isn't doing anything irreparable to my sleep schedule, I promise." She raised one hand, taking a small step backward out of the room. "I'm off now."

"See you later," Erin replied, turning back to Nina. 

She listened as Riza's footsteps clicked along, headed toward the door, heavy military boots echoing against tiles and wood panels all the way to the front door, which creaked as it opened and made a heavy clunk as it shut. 

"The Lieutenant is very nice," Erin told Nina. "We're meeting lots of nice people, aren't we, babygirl?" She ran a finger over her daughter's cheek. "Nice people...who saved us. Lieutenant Hawkeye says your dad tried to kill her. That Theo killed him first. She said…she said it was bad." She leaned forward, resting her forehead against Nina's tiny one. "And now you'll grow up without a dad...but safe. I loved him, but-..."

Metallic clinking alerted her to someone unlocking the door, followed by the sound of it being swung open. 

"Forgot something?" Erin called. She kissed Nina's forehead, lowered her back into her temporary bassinet, and wandered into the living room to investigate. 

Riza was standing right inside the door, looking around the room, clearly searching for something. Her eyes landed on Erin, and her gaze sharpened, quickly flicking to the door behind her. 

Without a word, Riza pushed forward, heading through the doorway into Nina's room. 

Erin followed her quickly, concerned. Riza was acting strange, and she was certain something was wrong, but hadn't the faintest idea what it could be.

Her first thought was Shou, but she'd told Erin he was dead, and she had no reason to lie. 

...Didn't she?

"Lieutenant?"

Riza was stopped over the bassinet, staring down into it with an unreadable expression. 

"...Hawkeye?"

Riza looked up, wildfire in her eyes. "What is it?"

Erin blinked. "I-I was just-..."

"No," Riza said, looking back down at Nina. "Her. She's a baby. Just...a normal fucking baby."

Erin's stomach turned. "...What are you-..."

"So why did he want her?"

Erin blinked. "Shou- he probably-..."

"No, Hohenheim," Riza snarled. "He hunted you down, and it was because of her. I figured that much out. But why her?"

Erin felt sick. "...He said he knew Shou."

"Nobody knew Hohenheim," Riza spat. "A month ago, he didn't exist."

"What-..." 

Riza reached a hand out, fingers easing toward Nina as though reaching to test hot water. 

"...Stop," Erin said, panic seizing her. "Don't touch her."

Riza turned around, slowly, narrowing her eyes at Erin. 

Purple eyes. 

"You're not the Lieutenant," Erin breathed. 

Riza's doppleganger's face broke into a wild, manic grin. "Did I miss the eyes again? I have such an issue with those." She raised a hand, tapping her temple, and there was a flare of static, before Riza's eyes were normal again. 

"What are you?" Erin demanded, taking a step closer. "Get away from my daughter."

"I need to know," not-Riza said. "She's a key here, I'm sure. Something about her is special - and whatever it is, it has to do with him, and what the fuck created him." She looked over her shoulder a second, then back. "Was it- what did you say? 'Shou'? Did he make him?"

Erin's breath caught. 

"Maybe that's it," the creature hissed through Riza's teeth, now seemingly speaking more to themselves. "Missing an alchemist that strong, though...and this close to a military building? He would be furious." 

"What are you?" Erin demanded again. "I won't let you take her."

"I don't want her!" Riza's fake snarled. "I want to understand."

Static flared in sparks, and Riza's irises bled back to violet, visible for a split second before her hands were covering her face, fingertips digging harshly into her hairline. 

".... Who are you?" Erin tried, cautious. 

Desperate purple eyes peeked out from between clawed fingers. After a second, they stepped back, something in their expression suddenly almost dead. 

"This isn't getting us anywhere," they said. "Time for something else."

And then they lunged. 

Notes:

there is no character death in this fic, just to be clear

there is, however, a vast amount of shenanigans

 

EDIT:: alright, smartasses. Villains die, yeah, okay. For now let's just say that if content has been written from their POV, they are safe

Chapter 39

Summary:

"Look for illegal alchemy, kick criminal alchemist ass?" Theo finished. "I've done it before, Mustang."

Roy blinked at him. "You have?"

Notes:

oh my god y'all
nina is safe!!! she hasn't been a narrator because she is an actual baby!! relax I prefer my angst to be emotional toil only and not death

smdh

here's the next step of that plot (and a brief interlude of roy being jealous of himself)

"Ed's more independent now with his new chair, right?" Roy asked, propping his head up on one hand and leaning over his desk toward Theo. 

Theo, pausing in midair where he'd been about to drop an empty file folder on Roy's desk, squinted at him in clear suspicion. "...Yeah. Why?"

"I might send you on your first proper job soon," Roy said. "It'll be different each time, but your main goal will be-..."

"Look for illegal alchemy, kick criminal alchemist ass?" Theo finished. "I've done it before, Mustang."

Roy blinked at him. "You have?"

Theo shrugged, as though entirely unaware how insanely rare it was for him to reveal substantial information about himself and his past of his own volition. "I did contract work for a guy for years."

"Who?" Roy asked, curious. Military contractors were rare, and Theo being one didn't really add up with any other information he knew about the man. 

"Uh," Theo faltered. Roy cursed internally - he'd seemed to notice the amount of information he was giving up, and Roy could practically see him shuttering the doors on whatever precious knowledge he was hiding. "Just...a guy. He's…" 

Dead. Roy didn't need him to say it - the same pinched grief was in Theo's eyes as when he mentioned his family. "You were close?"

The folder dropped onto Roy's desk with a thud, and he knew he'd pushed too far. Theo went from closing up to full on retreating, getting distant again, looking away and muttering, "Give me a little notice and I'll go and do whatever. Beats being your errand boy."

"Technically, that's still my errands," Roy pointed out. He tried to keep any disappointment from his teasing - it wasn't Theo's fault that Roy was starved for any scraps of information that might shine a light on the enigma of Theophrastus Van Hohenheim. 

"Technically, you can fuck yourself," Theo replied. "You know what I mean."

"Technically," Roy countered, "your current job isn't my errand, either. It's Hawkeye's." 

Theo stared at him for a minute, before shrugging. "That's a little better."

"Better?" Roy exclaimed. "You're more okay with her telling you what to do than me?"

"She only tells me stuff she wants me to do because she wants it done and knows I can do it," Theo said. "You tell me to do shit because you like to annoy me."

"What gave you that impression?" Roy asked, bewildered. 

"He- my last boss, I mean-...you two are the same." Theo gestured to him. "In a lot of ways, but especially how you act around me." 

Roy blinked. "...And how is that?"

"Stupid," Theo said. "You go back and forth between being a pretty decent person and trying to act cool. You talk like you're some kind of asshole, but you don't really follow through with it. And you piss me off for fun."

"You sound so fond," Roy said - only half sarcastically. Biting tone aside, Theo looked warmly nostalgic as he spoke. 

"He was good," Theo replied, quietly. "It's sad...lately, I've been thinking, and it feels like I spent more time with him than my wife." 

Something deep in Roy went on alert - Theo had implied himself a bad husband on more than one occasion, but the implication there was pretty strong. That Theo preferred work over home time was the mildest interpretation, and the one Roy settled on to avoid jumping to any conclusions. 

Luckily, before he could open his mouth and blurt out something else stupid that made Theo close off again, the door opened, Riza easing in. 

"Unlike you not to knock," Roy commented mildly. 

Riza closed the door behind her. 

Roy stiffened, humor gone. "What's going on?" 

"I need you to talk to Erin Tucker," she said, looking at Theo, rather than Roy. 

"Huh?" Theo frowned at her, brow pinched in a concerned confusion. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I don't think she's processing everything well," Riza said. "She's- I don't think she's giving herself the time to react. She keeps moving, keeps forcing herself forward, too worried about her baby to let herself grieve."

"And what could I do?" Theo asked, incredulous. 

"Relate to her," Riza replied. "You're doing the same thing."

Theo stiffened. Roy's eyes darted back and forth between them, across the tension that practically clouded the air, waiting to see who would relent. 

"I grieved," Theo said, low and tense. "I mourned them. I did. It's over, now, and I'm just- I'm trying to learn to accept that. I'm not repressing it. I just...don't have time." 

"Neither does she," Riza said. "Relate to her. You both could use someone who understands. Everyone could." 

Theo's shoulders dropped a fraction. Without a word, he gave a tiny, barely noticeable jerk of his head, nodding his agreement. 

"Good," Riza said. "After work, I'll take you to her. She could use company as soon as possible, I think." 

Erin woke to a soft rumbling, stomach rolling and head spinning, sick with the motion she quickly realized she was in. 

She was in a car.

Through her nausea and dizziness, she forced herself up from where she’d been slumped against the door, looking around in panic, only relaxing the tiniest fraction when she heard a happy little baby babble that alerted her that Nina was in the car with her. 

Nina’s whole bassinet had been stuck onto the front passenger seat, and Erin would have been terrified of the dangers of that position if she weren’t busy being terrified of everything else. 

Slowly, her eyes found the reflection of the driver’s face in the rear view mirror. 

Sharp, angular features on a pale face, outlined by hair laid in thick black locks, her attacker met here eyes with disinterest. 

“Where are you taking me?” she asked. 

“You woke up fast,” the person said, sounding almost impressed. “I expected to be there before you even shifted. It’s not that far.” 

“Answer me.”

“Geez,” the person said, rolling their eyes before returning their gaze to the road. “You’re a pain in the ass. You coulda just told me what’s up with the kid, y’know, and we wouldn’t be here.” 

“There’s nothing,” Erin said, desperate to make them understand. “She’s just a baby. She’s my daughter. I don’t know what he wants with her. I don’t know anything about him.” 

“Yeah, well,” they said, releasing the wheel with one hand to gesture toward the passenger seat and its tiny occupant. “That sucks for you, because she’s definitely weird, somehow. Sucks for me, too, because now I have to get help. Do you know how much this is going to suck? Me and this guy haven’t talked in ages, just so you know, and he’s absolutely gonna try to kill me. I gotta talk fast, or he totally will. I’m not Wrath or Lust, I don’t have anything cool in a fight. My ability is coolest, but it’s better for avoiding the fight, not so much being in it. And I don’t even know anybody this guy wouldn’t wanna kill, so I can’t try that, unless I’m willing to put in a lot more time-...”

“Who are we going to see?” Erin demanded. “What are they going to do to us?” 

“Fuck if I know,” the person said. “But I’ve been following Hohenheim for a good while, now, and he definitely talked to some of these guys, so they must be involved. We’re going to see my big brother! He might kill you. He might kill me. I just need to make sure I have something he wants.” They met her eyes again, and winking. “He’s Greed , see.” 

“Greed?”

“That’s what we call him,” the person confirmed. “And I’m Envy . We usually got along pretty well, back in the day, because neither of us much liked humans getting all the shiny things. Then he fucked off, and I’ve been keeping tabs on him, and we’ve both pretended we didn’t know where the other one was.” Envy reached out, patting the dashboard of the car. “Except that’s not going to work anymore, see, because Wrath will definitely kill me if I don’t bring him something good, and if Greed can’t find anything, he can always be the backup plan.” 

“Why are you doing this?” Erin asked. “What- what do you care about Theo? What did he do to you?” 

“Me? Nothing,” Envy said. “Yet, anyway. No, ya see, I already told you. Envy. I want what he has. At the end of the day, we are what we were made to be...and he’s been made better.” 

“You talk like he’s not human,” Erin said, voice wavering. “Is- is he...Is he like you?” 

Envy narrowed their eyes, before quickly darting them back out the window, watching the road. “I don’t know.” 

“...You don’t-..?”

“He can do alchemy,” Envy said. “Homunculi can’t. That’s what we are - homunculi. Artificial humans. Whatever he is, it’s strong, and...it has a soul. We don’t.” Envy’s fingers flexed on the wheel. “And I want one.” 

“Why are you telling me all this?” Erin couldn’t help but ask. 

“Because my sister is a bitch,” Envy said, voice false casual, “and I like to talk. And, who knows...I might end up needing you.” 

“Erin?” Riza called out, stepping through her front door, Theo following close behind her. “I’m back. I brought Major Hohenheim.”

Theo looked around Riza’s house, taking in the scene. It was cozy, radiating a warmth…

...and something was off about it. 

“..Erin?” Riza called again, pausing in her living room. “Where-..”

She stopped dead.

“What-...?”

“Shh!” 

Theo froze, watching Riza unholster her gun, clicking the safety off and readying it in a fluid, practiced move. Aiming it forward, she jerked her head slightly, motioning to the ground. 

Theo looked down.

There was blood on the floor. 

His stomach dropped like a stone, his chest icing over, the whole world going fluid around him. 

No. He’d just saved her, he’d done so well, he’d gotten her safe - Tucker was dead, he couldn’t have hurt them, and no one else should have known anything about them. 

It couldn’t have been random, though. Even Theo’s luck wasn’t that bad. Somehow, someone had gone after them-...

...But, of course they did, he realized.

Because she’d come to him publicly.

Because people had seen that he knew her, cared about her. 

Someone had gone after her because of him. 

He raised his hands, clapping them together and letting the static crackle, the metal brace he’d made for his arm reshaping into a once-familiar blade. The strength and balance weren’t as good as when it had been physically attached to him, but it was a weapon, and Theo knew perfectly well how to use it. 

Grim-faced, he nodded to Riza, signalling he was ready, and they moved as one through the house. 

Riza led him to a door, nodding Theo to move ahead, and he waited for her signal to throw it open, letting her dart gun-first into the room.

It was empty. 

And so, too, was the bassinet in the middle of the room. 

“No,” Theo growled, and was surprised to realize that the word had come from Riza as well, a sharp rejection punctuated by her lowering her gun, darting further into the room, rushing up to the bassinet and looking into it, as though Nina might simply have been hidden from view. 

“She wouldn’t leave,” Riza said. Theo hadn’t heard her as shaken since the Promised Day, when Roy was blind and in immediate danger. “She was terrified, she didn’t want to leave the house, even just-...She wouldn’t leave.” 

“She didn’t,” Theo agreed. “That blood in there - she was taken.” 

“Your array,” Riza said, rounding on him. “Check the house. Make sure she’s not still here.” 

Theo didn’t hesitate. He reformed the brace, blade away for the time being, and instead activated his seeking array, dropping to the floor. 

He pushed the array as far as he could, sweat rising on his browline as he tested its limits...but nothing. Not a single sign of life. No energy-...

…-Except, there was, he realized after a moment. Not concentrated, not all sitting in one spot, so it was hard to notice...but there was energy lingering in the air, something dark and sharp and twisted, the untamed wildfire to alchemy’s warm hearth. 

Alchemic energy had been dispelled in the house, and powerful kind...but no transmutation damage, and too broken and raw to be anything simple. 

“Homunculi,” Theo spat, dropping the array. “One of them was here. She must’ve fought back - they had to use their stone.” 

On the bright side, he now knew he could track homunculi, to some degree. 

On the other…

“I’ll call Roy,” Riza said. 

“We don’t have time,” Theo said, taking a deep breath. “I can only think of two of them who would want her, and I don’t know where the second would go...so we need to find the first.” 

If someone was after a Tucker...there were good chances that if it wasn’t him, Greed would at least know why. 

Notes:

theo: greed must have taken erin because she was married to tucker and he was using tucker. this makes the most sense.
greed, when envy turns up with erin: who the fuck is this

Chapter 40

Summary:

He hesitated a moment, before gently adding, "Don't kill anyone."

The hands wrapped around the steering wheel went white at the knuckles as she gripped tighter. "No promises."

Notes:

~~~ D r a m a ~~~

 

Heres another post-before-work installment for ya lads

"This looks right...turn up here."

Riza followed Theo's instructions, guiding the car where he directed. "You know where his hideout is?"

"I should," Theo said. "Can't guarantee it's in the same place, but I don't think it'd be safe for him to move too often, so...here's hoping."

Riza's grip shifted on the wheel. "What the Colonel said about these guys- they're not human, right?"

"Greed is a homunculus," Theo confirmed. "And his team is made up of human chimeras. Not really sure where they came from, to be honest. You should be more than a match for most of them, though." 

"And Greed himself?"

"Leave him to me," Theo said. "He can harden his skin - only alchemy can break his defense. Other homunculi can get through it, but us blunt force types have to get a little messier." He hesitated a moment, before gently adding, "Don't kill anyone."

The hands wrapped around the steering wheel went white at the knuckles as she gripped tighter. "No promises."

"Hawkeye," Theo said. "They have no reason to hurt either of them. If they haven't, then I'm going to beat them to hell and back...but they don't have to die."

"And if they did hurt them?"

Theo grimaced. "Then...I don't like killing, but...I won't stop you."

"Good," she said. "Because if they hurt her…"

"Yeah," Theo agreed, quietly. "I'm pissed either way, but…"

But if Erin or Nina were hurt, he wasn't even sure how strong his own morals would hold up. He'd killed Tucker already...what was the blood of another monster? 

More than he wanted...but possibly out of his hands. 

"Heads up," Envy announced, breaking the tense silence they'd driven in for the past couple of hours. "Someone's noticed us."

Erin sat up a bit, looking out the windows, heart hammering. 

It took her a minute to see it - a flickering, flashes of movement passing across the space between buildings, something darting between them.

"What is that?" She asked, horrified. She couldn't get a good look at it, but it was rounding buildings from the middle, not the rooftops or the sidewalk, which meant it was climbing the building itself. It might have been jumping between windows, but to move so fast…

"Chimera," Envy said. "Fucked up one, too. I'm almost insulted. We're worth a little more than a guard dog. Or, guard…is that a lizard?" Envy squinted in their rearview mirror. 

"We're here, then?" Erin asked. "This is where he lives?"

"Unless he's gotten smarter in the last hundred years," Envy confirmed. Slowly they pulled up to stop at a curb, climbing slowly out of the car, taking a moment outside it to do an exaggerated stretch. 

The lazy movement disguised an alert attention, apparently, because in the middle of it, Envy launched themselves to one side, a blur soaring through the air to land where they had been. 

Erin watched in wide-eyed horror as a woman slowly rose out of her crouched attack to stand eye level with Envy, watching them in clear suspicion. 

"I feel like you know who I am," Envy said, utterly casual. 

"Martel, back off," a voice called out, and Erin watched as a group emerged from the alley to their side. 

These people…

The thing that had been following them was clear immediately, a man crouched low, a reptilian tail behind him. Beside him were two other men, one of whom was massive, and in front of them all, a handsome man in a leather jacket, hands stuck in his pockets casually even as he watched Envy with narrowed eyes. 

"How'd you find me?"

Envy gave such an exaggerated roll of their eyes that Erin could see it from inside the car. "Never lost you. Pride followed you to the edge of the city, and I picked it up from there. I just haven't had any reason to stop by."

“And now you do, huh?” The man must’ve been Greed, with the way he was speaking, and he did not look happy to see his ‘sibling.’ “Pretty stupid of them to send you alone.” 

“Nobody sent me,” Envy said. “I’m here on my own. No one else knows we’re here.” 

Greed faltered, blinking at Envy, clearly taken aback. “...Why?”

Envy turned, meeting Erin’s eyes through the car window and gesturing for her to come out. 

Greed watched as the car door behind Envy opened, a young woman climbing nervously out of it.  

“Who’re you?” he asked her. 

“...Erin Tucker,” she introduced, eyes flicking between him and Envy. 

“Tucker, huh?” Greed rocked back on his heels, eyeing her as he tried to place her. “As in Shou Tucker?” 

“He was my husband.” 

Greed paused...then grinned, wild and bright. “You coming to do his job for him?”

“I don’t know anything about alchemy,” the woman said. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t do what he was doing.” 

Greed let out a sigh. “Damn. Here I was hoping my luck was turning around.” He looked back to Envy. “What do you want, then? Why’d you bring her here?” 

“Her daughter.”

Erin’s eyes snapped to Envy again, a fury suddenly radiating from her every pore. “You’re not touching her.” 

Envy didn't so much as look at her. "We're tracking a powerful alchemist, and he has some interest in the kid. I wanna know why."

"And the fuck am I supposed to know about it?"

"You got these guys from somewhere," Envy said. "You must have some way of finding stuff like this."

Greed narrowed his eyes. "And why should I help you?"

"Because I still haven't told anyone where you are," Envy said. 

Greed tried not to let surprise show on his face. "No? And you will if I refuse?"

"In a heartbeat," Envy agreed. "No one's very happy with me right now, and if I can't bring them Hohenheim-..."

"Hohenheim?" Greed exclaimed. "That's who you're after? Are you insane?"

"Not the old one," Envy said. "There's some guy that just popped up, using the same name. Or, well, 'Theo'-..."

"Theo?" Martel interrupted. Envy looked annoyed at being cut off again, but Martel ignored them, rounding on Greed. "The alchemist from Tucker's place - the one who lit the house up."

"Who what?" Erin asked, behind her, sounding startled. 

Martel looked at her, the slightest sympathy bleeding into her expression. "He killed Shou Tucker," she said. "He-..."

"I know he did," Erin snapped. "I just- no one told me how."

"Alchemy, from the looks of things," Greed told her. "Apparently the place went up like fireworks. Still standing, but a lot of power went off inside it, for sure."

"And someone was caught in it," Dolcetto added to Martel's other side. "I could hear them scr-...Uh." He paused, rubbing at his neck. "...It was bad, was all."

Erin looked sick, and Greed attempted to steer the conversation back on course. "This 'Theo' - you think he killed Tucker because of something to do with the kid?"

"Yeah." Envy jutted a thumb over their shoulder. "I've got her shoved in a basket on the front seat, if you wanna look."

Greed dragged a hand over his face, already exhausted. "You just-...Ugh." He looked around, taking in the faces of his minions, before looking back to Envy. 

"No choice, I guess," he said, gesturing for them to follow. "Bring her in."

Envy turned, heading to the other car door. As they approached, holding the basket out like a live bomb, Greed held up a hand to stop them. 

"What?" Envy demanded. 

"Give it to the mom," Greed said. "No reason to act like animals."

Martel gave an unimpressed huff to his side, and Envy glared at him heavily…but the basket changed hands, and Erin clutched it to her chest like a lifeline, staring down at the baby within in clear relief. 

"That's better," Greed said. "Now...let's see what we can find."

Theo guided Riza to stop in the alley where Al had been taken in the original timeline, looking around and trying to remember everything he could. 

"Stand back a little," he warned her. "I'm going to try the seeking array, see if I can track them more exactly." 

He waited for her to get back by the car - not that it would keep the array from passing over her, but she'd be easier to tune out - and clapped, lowering his hands to the ground. 

The array was like a silicone band stuck to his skin. When he made contact, it snapped out into a rigid circle, and then it was just a matter of peeling it away from him and forcing it to expand, growing and growing until it encompassed the whole area. Energy crackled, millions of molecules catching sparks of it and breaking apart, moving microscopic distances before settling back together again. 

No energy lingered on the sidewalk, but that meant nothing except that no one had needed to use alchemy or ability in that space recently. He pushed out further, and froze as he caught the barest sensation of energy, sharp and icy-

-and headed straight for them. 

He dropped the array in an instant, wheeling around and rising to his feet, a second clap shifting the cuff on his arm back into a blade, which stopped a hair short of their attacker. 

Izumi, to her credit, did not flinch, as she met Theo's eyes unafraid and asked, "Who are you?"

A blade was at her neck, a gun was aimed between her eyes from the street, and she could taste blood in her mouth, but Izumi held steady, watching golden eyes unflinching. 

He looked so familiar, his rich coloring the likes of which she'd only seen before in the Elric boys, and that one alchemist she'd run into in Central who'd helped her with a bit of research. 

Familiarity would do him no credit, though. He was on her property, doing some kind of alchemy, free of circles. He had seen that thing, had brushed the other side - had committed the taboo. 

"I…" the man threatening her faltered, gaping at her as though she were the interloper in his domain. "W-...You..?"

"I live here," she said, unimpressed with his stuttering. "Neither my husband or I know you, and you're clearly planning to use unknown alchemy outside our backdoor. Leave."

"You don't understand," the man said. He lowered the blade, and with a soft clap, retracted the metal back into a cuff he'd wrapped around his forearm. 

A clever tactic, she'd give him that. 

"We're looking for someone," the man said. "A friend of ours. She was taken this way."

"No one's been back here," Izumi told them. "The most activity this alley sees is animals at night."

"...Animals," the man murmured, like he was having an epiphany. He grinned at her, bright and sudden. "Sensei, those animals- have you seen them? What do they look like?"

The 'sensei' was a punch in the gut. "I'm not your teacher, kid," she snapped. "And no. I don't leave my house to check out scavenger birds and street rodents."

"They might not be regular animals," the man said. "There's a group, nearby - devoted to chimeras. They might have some animal hybrids that hunt at night." 

"Chimeras?" Izumi echoed, eyes narrowed. "Those are complicated alchemy, even in theory. Few people make one successfully."

"It's easy," the man said, "If you have a Philosopher's Stone."

Izumi stared at him.

"Please," the man said. "We're not here to cause trouble. We just need to get our friend back."

And then he hesitated, looking at her, before forcing out his next words like they pained him. 

"She has a baby."

The blood in Izumi's mouth could've drowned her. 

A baby. A woman and a baby, taken, right by her shop, and she didn't notice a thing? Disgusting… She hadn't even been that sick, lately. Comparatively speaking, anyway. Her breathing ached and her chest felt tight and there was an ever present red tinge to her gums where the blood stuck when she spat it out but, overall, she'd been doing well. 

She looked to the back door of her shop, then back again. 

"Do you know where she is?"

The man nodded. 

Izumi straightened, raising her hands, and cracked her knuckles. "Alright," she said. "I'll see what I can do."

Notes:

Envy: umm excuse me that is MY baby i kidnapped it myself??? How dare you???

Chapter 41

Summary:

Theo hesitated. His teacher was a formidable ally, yeah…but she was also very unhealthy, and there was a chance that her health would give out before they got clear, and that would put her at a major risk-....

...Especially if Theo had to do something drastic. 

Notes:

Longer chappie this time to get several plot points out of the way at once

Happy holidays, everyone, here is some further plot development :3

"I can't ask you to come with us-..."

"Good thing it wasn't an offer," Izumi said. "I'm helping. I took the courtesy of telling you, and not just following you."

Theo hesitated. His teacher was a formidable ally, yeah…but she was also very unhealthy, and there was a chance that her health would give out before they got clear, and that would put her at a major risk-....

...Especially if Theo had to do something drastic. 

Still, he had no chance at telling her no, really. 

"...Riza," Theo said. "I told you which way to go, right?"

Slightly hesitant, she nodded. 

"Take her that way," he told her. "I'll catch up. I wanna take one more look with the seeking array."

Riza looked suspicious, and Theo knew she'd seen through the feeble excuse, but she nodded again, stepping around him to meet Izumi. 

"Riza Hawkeye," she introduced. "This is Theo van Hohenheim."

"Hohenheim, huh?" Izumi echoed. "I met a guy named that in Central."

Riza looked at Theo, eyes wide. "Your father?"

"Yeah," Theo said. "Bastard's after the same trail I am, probably. It'll be a good while before he comes this way." 

"I'm Izumi Curtis," Izumi introduced. "You said a woman and her baby were taken?"

"This way."

Theo watched until Riza had led Izumi from sight, and waited a moment longer, just to be safe, before turning to the alley. 

A clap and a touch to the stone had him building a tiny hidden space inside the alley, where he could keep his backup plan. From his pocket, he pulled a piece of chalk, and very carefully began to draw the array. 

Just a precaution, he told himself. If he didn't have to, he wouldn't. 

He wasn't sure he believed it. 

Greed crouched down in front of the woman, squinting at her baby curiously. 

It looked normal enough, he supposed. He didn't see many babies. Or, that was to say, any at all. He wasn't really sure what was normal for them, but he could see no hints of chimera in her little round cheeks or the wide eyes watching him closely. 

"She's pretty calm," Greed observed. "Shouldn't she have...I dunno, cried by now, or something?"

"She's a quiet baby," Erin answered. "And she likes people. I don't think this is upsetting her much, even with everything going on."

"That's good, I guess," Greed said. He raised a hand, extending it out, pausing when Erin flinched back.

"I'm not gonna hurt her," he assured her. 

"...Okay," Erin said, hesitantly, allowing him to gently touch her. "Will you be able to tell if something's-... if he did something to her?"

"No idea," Greed admitted. "If she's a chimera, she's a good one. Nothing obvious. Any teeth?" He gently prodded her chin, opening her mouth a fraction. "Yeah...damn, those are so tiny...Human, though, I think. Dolcetto?"

Dolcetto appeared at his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"She smell weird to you?"

Dolcetto shook his head, then paused. "Well, kinda, but I can't tell if that's what a baby is supposed to smell like or not."

"So we're back to square one," Greed sighed. "Unless we can find another baby for comparison." 

"I'm not taking another fucking baby," Envy snapped from their spot on the sidelines, hovering behind the group and watching the proceedings in clear heavy judgement. 

"I didn't ask you to!" Greed defended. "I'm just saying, I can't tell anything from looking at her. But…"

"But?" Erin echoed. 

"Her blood," Greed said. "A sample of it- I'm no doctor, but if she's a homunculus or a chimera, it'll be a lot easier to see." 

"You want to take her blood?" Erin repeated, voice pitching up, slightly hysterical. 

Greed raised a hand, holding two fingers about a centimeter apart. "Just a little. We have a little lab here we can test it in - it's a piece of shit that only gets used when we have someone stop by that needs it, but we can figure it out. Especially if we can get some of yours, too, to put it up against. Seeing if hers is more like mine, theirs, or yours should be simple enough."

Erin's lips pressed in a hard, thin line. "And...if she is something else? What then?" 

Greed shrugged. "Unless Envy is planning something with her, I don't need her. If she is a chimera, though, you'll need our resources - their health is unstable and complicated, and we're experts at this point. Not to mention the few high-level alchemists we have on payroll. If she's a homunculus, you'll need help there, too. We're a special kind of fucked up."

"And you'll help her?" Erin asked. "If she's- if she isn't human? You'll help me keep her safe?" 

Greed looked over his shoulder, to Envy. 

"I just need the information," they said. "I don't give a fuck what you do with the kid." 

Greed looked back. "Then you have my word. She's safe with me."

Erin nodded, taking a steadying breath. 

"Okay," she said. "Okay, I'll let you test her."

Martel was judged the sharpest eye, and so it was her who took Erin, Nina, and Envy down to their lab to take and compare blood samples, leaving Greed to wait near the entrance of their base. 

"Someone's probably after her by now," Envy had warned. "If it's Hohenheim, I doubt he'll wanna talk."

Greed's ultimate defense put him in a much better place to hold someone off than Envy, whose primary battle tactic was evasion. 

"You think he's really coming?" Dolcetto asked. 

"I sure hope so," Greed said. "I wanted to meet him. Especially if it turns out he was after the kid. Got a few questions for a guy like that." 

"...He's dangerous, though, right?" Dolcetto ventured. "That other homunculus looked kinda freaked out about the chance he'd show up." 

"Envy's not a fighter, really," Greed dismissed. "They'll fight if they've got to, but they'd rather steer clear. They're quick to shy away from anything less than a complete instant victory...so, for them, beating on anyone strong enough to hit back."

"But you'll be fine?"

"What's he gonna do to me?" Greed countered, utterly casual, waving Dolcetto off. "I'm untouchable with the shield up, and can regenerate with it down. Whatever he is, he'll have to bring his A-game." 

"Well, he-..." Dolcetto started, then cut off, eyes darting to the door. 

"Look alive, people!" Greed called out in warning, just before something slammed into the door, metal creaking and wood splintering as it broke open under the force. 

The person who emerged from the dusty cloud of obliterated wood, though, was not a man. It was a woman - or, more accurately, two women. A blond in a military uniform, pointing a gun at him, and a woman with black hair squinting at each face in turn. 

"She's not in here," the black-haired woman called out. "Plan B?"

There was a smacking sound outside the doorway, and then-

-It was the strangest sensation. It was like activating his ultimate shield, but entirely out of his control. Each atom of his body seemed to shake, static building under his skin as the stone reacted to the odd feeling combing over him. He felt like someone had walked on his grave - what was he feeling? What was happening?

He was so caught up in the feeling, he didn't see Hohenheim coming until he was hit, flying back into the wall full force. 

Theo scowled as Greed shakily stood, static flaring as a broken nose reset itself on his face. 

"Ouch," he said. "You must be 'Theo.'" 

"She's not showing up," Theo called to Izumi and Riza. To Greed, he demanded, "Where is she? Where is Erin Tucker?" 

"Who?" Greed asked. The lie was lazy, amusement clear on his face. Enraged, Theo launched at him again. 

His punch hit hard as the first, but the effect was lessened, Greed simply skidding back a bit with the force, the skin around impact gone black with the activation of his ultimate shield. 

"You're pretty strong," Greed observed causally, patting the spot of shield. "Makes it all that much stranger to think why you're after some kid."

"Give her back, you bastard," Theo growled. 

Greed huffed out a mocking laugh, meeting Theo's eyes, sharklike grin quirking up at the corners. 

"Make me."

Blood sprayed. 

Theo stood shock still for a moment, before he processed what had happened. The holes that had appeared on Greed's chest as his body crashed to the ground again were from bullets, fired over his shoulder by Riza. 

"Bastard!" he heard her spit. "If you hurt her-..."

Static filled the air, followed by Greed's silky laughter, the homunculus getting to his feet. 

"Wasn't expecting that one," he said, rolling his shoulders as he stood, skin knitting itself back together before their eyes, then turning slowly black, Greed slipping into his ultimate shield. "You're a pretty good shot, lady."

"Don't shoot again," Theo warned her over his shoulder. "It'll just ricochet."

"Oh?" Greed eyed him, looking thrilled. "You know how this works, hm? Tell me...I'm showing mine. Aren't you gonna show yours?" 

A last resort, he'd sworn it to himself as he drew it. 

He could beat the shit out of Greed. He'd done it before, by himself, he could do it again. Especially with two others to help, one of whom had the same ability to counter his shield, but- 

-But Erin and Nina were missing, and he'd rather have them safe then be able to look them in the eye. 

He clapped. 

One more time , he thought, calling up the mental image of his distance array. 

With great effort, he worked the array in reverse. Instead of pulling from material at the array to use a new array at his feet, he reached for the array that he'd drawn inside the center of the giant distance array he'd put down. He imagined the lines, burned into his brain, felt the power of each solid mark of chalk. 

It was running a marathon through quicksand - seeking array after seeking array had worn him down, and he still had a while to go. 

Izumi was with him, though, and Riza, and either of them was more than a match for the chimeras. 

If he could take down Greed-

-He had to take down Greed. 

"Alright, asshole," Theo growled through gritted teeth. "Here's mine."

He launched forward, hand slamming flat against Greed's chest. 

Greed had half a second to laugh, unimpressed with the force of the hit, before abruptly cutting off. 

Theo wondered what he felt. If he could feel the atoms of his body rippling, the force of the array sinking in. 

"You-...!" Greed managed to get out, and then the world went white. 

Theo watched Greed falter as they found themselves apart again, a few feet between them, an endless white void around them. 

Greed looked around, eyes wide, face steadily growing in panic. His full face was visible, again, the ultimate shield nonexistent within the realm of Truth's domain. 

"No," Greed breathed. "No, no, not-...How-..."

"A gift?" A thousand echoing voices cooed. 

A second later, Truth's form was in front of Greed, grinning his eerie grin at Theo. 

"I wondered when I'd see you here again," Truth said. "One worries when you spend a few days without indulging your habits."

"Save it," Theo snapped. "They're what you want, aren't they? You want me to destroy the stones."

"What?" Greed exclaimed, backing up a step. "I- you can't-..."

Truth waved a hand. Black tendrils shot up from the ground, grabbing at Greed's arms, holding him in place as he struggled. He yelled out, and a ghostly black hand rose to cover his mouth, swallowing his screaming. 

Theo wasn't sure if he could be sick in this plane, but he felt his body making an effort. 

"What are you buying, then?" Truth asked, eager as when Theo had offered his Gate. "You've come up with something again."

"Information," Theo demanded. "You know where she is."

"A lazy prize," Truth said, sounding almost disappointed. "Alive. Safe, and whole. They're trying to find something interesting in her. They think she's the key to figuring out you." 

"Which is the key to figuring out you ," Theo countered. "I'm keeping folks from knocking on your door. You should be grateful."

Truth let out a sharp, barking laugh. "Insolent as always! You are impossible to change. Go on, then. You have your lazy prize, I have mine. You-..."

"One more thing," Theo interrupted. 

Truth cut off. His grin seemed to sharpen again, that cold interest creeping back into it, despite the fact the figure's face was barely capable of changing. 

"Philosopher's Stones are thousands of human souls," Theo said. "Surely that's worth more than one?"

If Truth had eyes, Theo imagined they'd be narrowed at him. "That Gate will not open for you again."

"Not a dead one," Theo said. 

Very deliberately, he raised a finger, pointing to the struggling form behind Truth.

"You take the stone," Theo said. " Only the stone. You leave him behind."

There was silence...and then, once more, Truth began to laugh. 

"A soul for a homunculus!" Truth cackled. "Little alchemist thinks he's a real god now, hm? Alright, I'll play along. A stone for a soul. But don't think you're getting out of here without a price."

Theo's chest seized. "What are you taking now?" 

"You're right," Truth said. "I want the stones. I want those souls back where they belong - behind the Gate, as part of the whole. You bring me them. Every single one." 

"That's it?"

Truth raised a hand. 

Theo's leg began to burn. 

For a single, heart-stopping second, he thought he was losing another leg. 

Then he realized the pain was localized, and on the leg he'd already lost. Looking down, he found his leg visible, automail and all. Just above the scar tissue around his port, a mark was forming. A neat black circle, with a single deep red dot in the center. 

The Sun. The alchemic symbol for gold. 

"Until they're mine, your soul is collateral," Truth said. "It hasn't been whole in a long time...and if you don't bring me the other six homunculi and their 'Father's' stones, it never will be."

"Deal," Theo agreed. His soul had been shattered for years, apparently, and he'd never noticed - he would take the agony of longing over death, any day. 

"Alright," Truth cooed. "Once again, we have a bargain. Take him, them. The human Greed, yours to do with as you please." 

The black limbs around Greed dug in, clinging, and then slowly scraped off his skin, peeling back like they were pulling a sheet off him. Red static clung to the fingers, forming a cloud behind Greed that was slowly dragged backward, into the opening doors of the Gate and then shut behind them again. 

"What did you just-..." Greed heaved. 

"Goodbye, Edward," Truth sang to him, and then he was hitting his knees in the middle of Greed's hideout, listening to the man in front of him start to scream. 

Notes:

Greed's not in pain he's just a dramatic bitch

Chapter 42

Summary:

Hands were on his face. Riza's voice was saying something, sounding alarmed, but the words were beyond him. 

Notes:

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it...
Here is some more Theo for the season

"Boss!"

Dolcetto's scream bled in with the others, all drowned by Greed's loudest one, mere inches from him. So much noise, picking out anything more specific was hard - doubly so as the world tilted on its axis, a feeling like swimming through something thick overtaking Theo. 

The seeking array, the distance array, and a human transmutation - he was surprised he wasn't unconscious, really. 

"Major!"

"Kid!"

Hands landed on his shoulders, dragging him back, and he toppled over into the force of it. His stomach rolled, but miraculously nothing came of it, just a strange sensation like he was sinking into the floor. 

Hands were on his face. Riza's voice was saying something, sounding alarmed, but the words were beyond him. 

His face was wet. Raising a shaky hand up, he touched the spot, pulling his fingers away to examine them. Through foggy doubled vision, he saw red. 

"Too much," he breathed out. "Took...too much."

Izumi came into view - three of her, but his vision was stabilizing, ever so slowly. 

"What did it take?" She demanded. Her face came close to his - crouching down? "What the hell did you do, kid?"

"What did you do?" Greed yelled almost simultaneously. "The Stone- that thing- you killed me, didn't you?"

"You're...alive," Theo managed. With a weak hand, he tried to wave Riza and Izumi off, but the latter ignored him completely, and the former simply shifted to one side to help support him as he sat up. "More... than you were. Your soul… is yours."

"What?" Dolcetto stepped forward, in between Theo and Greed. "His soul? I thought he-..."

"You're not a homunculus," Theo managed, looking past Dolcetto, catching Greed's wide and terrified eyes. "Not anymore. You...are human."

"What?" Izumi demanded. "You- are you saying you made him a soul?"

"He had one," Theo said. "Stones - I don't think they can work by themselves. I had this theory- Stones need a strong soul to control them. They were already made, I just had to make them solid. Or, that's what I think, anyway." He raised his hand again, wiping blood from beneath his nose. "Shit. I'm running out of strength." He looked to Riza. "We need to find Erin and Nina, right now. One more transmutation, and I'm done for. We have to get her back the old fashioned way." 

Izumi got to her feet, rounding on the chimeras. "Where-..."

She didn't have to ask. The door at the back of the room burst open before she could, a wild-eyed Martel charging into the room, eyes locking on Greed in an instant. 

"Boss!" She cried out. Her eyes turned to Theo, harsh and accusing. "What did you do to him?" she demanded. "If you hurt him-..."

Theo looked to Greed. He had his hands up in front of his face, staring at them in slow dawning horror. 

As Theo watched, the skin on his fingers took on small black patches, breaking and fading away any time they reached a significant size. 

"It's gone," Greed breathed. "You took the philosopher's stone."

"What?" Martel looked to him. "You mean- you're-..?"

Behind Martel, another figure emerged. 

Theo snapped up, a little more alert, even his exhaustion unable to dampen the instant upset of this new addition. "Envy?"

"The fuck?" Envy shouted, crossing the room in great strides, crouching at Greed's side. "What happened? We could hear-.."

"I'm human."

Envy stopped dead, staring at Greed, uncomprehending. "...What?"

"I'm human," Greed repeated, sounding just as disbelieving. "He-...." He looked up, meeting eyes with Theo. "You made me human ."

"What?!" Envy looked to Theo, alarmed. "You-... he's-...?"

Theo leaned forward, trying his best to climb to his feet. Izumi made a disapproving noise, but Riza helped him stand, supporting him as he took a step toward the door the others had just come through. 

"Erin's...that way," he managed to get out. "Gotta-..."

He missed a step. Only locking his automail and gripping tight to Riza kept him upright at all, hunched pathetically. 

"Theo?"

Theo's head snapped up. 

Erin was in the doorway. She was safe. Nina, clutched to her chest, was safe. 

He hadn't failed them. Not completely. 

"Erin," Theo breathed in relief. "You-.."

He took a shaky step toward her, hand reaching out of its own accord, giving in to his desperation to put his hands on them and verify that this was real, that they were both okay. 

Erin, though, tensed at his movement. In a quick, reflexive motion, she clutched Nina tighter to her, taking a half-step back from the doorway. 

Losing a limb had hurt less. 

"Erin…"

"You…" she started, then stopped. Tears shone in her eyes, and her lips pressed into a thin line, before she demanded, "You owe me answers. Why...why did you find me? How did you know Shou? ...Why did you want Nina?"

All eyes were on him. 

There were too many people around, and he could barely stand, but he could see no way to convince them to give him the time it would take to think of a lie. 

"I...can't tell everyone," Theo tried. 

"Why not?"

Theo looked around. 

He wouldn't have chosen to tell Greed's four chimera henchmen, but…

...Two homunculi as allies, if he could get them, and three humans, two of which were formidable opponents, who understood what he was going through? 

"...Riza," Theo murmured, quietly. "I'm not gonna be worth much. The skinny one with the black hair - if they try something, can you stop them?"

Riza gave a sharp nod to his side.

"I'm here, too," Izumi told him, quiet but fierce. "They won't hurt anyone."

"Okay." Theo took a deep breath. If Envy wouldn't cooperate as an ally, they couldn't be allowed to leave, and Theo couldn't get them in his current state. "If I pass out...don't kill them. I have to take their stone."

He straightened up a little, gripping Riza tight enough to do so that he felt the need to apologize. 

"I had a daughter," he told the room at large. "I named her Nina, too. After the little girl I met as a kid, whose father turned her into a botched chimera."

Theo nodded to Erin. 

"That's the same baby," he said. "By the time I'd met her, you were already dead. He'd gotten you, too. You'd earned him a state alchemist certification."

"That...doesn't make sense," Erin said, slowly. "What are you talking about?" 

Theo looked to Greed. "You heard what Truth called me?"

Greed looked at him, alarmed...then nodded, offering a quiet, "Edward."

"Edward?" Riza echoed. "You- your little brother?"

"We're the same person," Theo said. "The force that controls alchemy exists outside of time and space itself. Just like I can use an array that's a mile away, alchemy can access constants outside of time. I went into a human transmutation at age 29 and woke up on the floor of my house when I was 11, looking my younger self in the face."

"That's insane," Erin said. "Time travel? It sounds-...!"

"He's not lying," Dolcetto said. "I can hear that much. If its not true, he at least thinks it is."

"That's why you don't exist," Riza said, slowly. "Why they couldn't find anything about you until we found you in Resembool." 

"And why I know your names," Theo confirmed. "And why I know what Father is planning."

Envy and Greed both snapped straight, looking at him in different degrees of alarm. 

"He's up to something?" Greed asked. 

At the same time, Envy demanded, "How much do you know?"

"Sloth is digging a tunnel beneath the city," Theo said. "They're turning it into an array. A nationwide array, like the one that leveled Xerxes. Father plans to use the souls of everyone in Amestris as fuel for a new Philosopher's Stone."

A tense ripple ran through the room. 

"That's crazy," Erin said, voice shaky. "You- you can't-..."

"When we first met," Riza said. "You called Roy a colonel, even though he wasn't. You do that all the time - say something that doesn't make sense...yet."

A long, sharp breath sounded to Theo's other side, and he turned to see Izumi staring at him with an unreadable expression. 

"Sensei," she said. "You called me-...You're Edward Elric."

"Not anymore," Theo said. "It's just Theo, now. That name is his, not mine."

"...You had a family?" She asked. "You lost them?"

"They're all gone," Theo confirmed. "For all I know, they may never exist. If they do, they won't be mine."

"So why are we alive?"

Theo looked to Envy, confused. "What?"

"You know what he's planning," Envy said. "You know who we are, where we are, and what we want. Why haven't you acted?"

"I'm...working on it," Theo said. "Things need to be done right. I can't just storm Central and overthrow the government. If I fail, things only get worse. No, I have to be careful - and…" he looked to Envy, then Greed, then back again. "And I'm not sure all of you want what he wants. You two...Greed never joined him, the first time, and you never seem to care how things go in the end. There's no reason you two should die for him."

The silence in the room stretched on. 

Envy's eyes slid to Greed, taking in his hunched form. He still looked dumbstruck, but now it had a pensive air about it, the hunch of his shoulders hinting toward some serious inner turmoil. 

"What you did, to him…" they started. "...Could you do it to the rest of us, too?"

"I can try," Theo said. "Not now- I'd probably kill myself trying. I need to recover. But, eventually-...All the stones have to go. But not all of you have to die. If you can be saved-..."

"I think Lust would come with us," Envy said. "She hates him, even if she won't admit it. And where she goes, Gluttony goes." 

Theo eyed them. "...'Us'?"

Envy glared at him. "You need my help, don't you? You wanna get to the other homunculi, I'm your best bet."

"You'll help?"

Envy pointed a finger at him. "Just remember we have a deal," they said. "I'll help, but when he goes down? I expect you to change me, too."

"I'll do my best," Theo said. 

"Do better than that," Envy returned. "I'm not dying for you."

The room fell silent again. 

After a moment, movement caught Theo's eye, and he turned to see Erin shifting, holding Nina close and looking to Riza. 

"...Can we go home now?" She asked, soft and pained. 

"Absolutely," Riza answered, before looking to Theo. 

The sharpness of her gaze told him this was not a request. 

"I need some sleep," Theo said. "Heading back is a good idea." 

"I can't follow you," Izumi said, "...but don't forget I'm here. You go after whatever the thing trying to kill the country is, call me."

"I will," Theo promised. He looked to Envy. "And you?"

Envy waved a hand dismissively. "I'll catch up," they said, before gesturing to Greed. "I'm gonna make sure this guy isn't broken, first."

"I'm fine," Greed said, finally shifting and forcing himself onto his feet. "I…I don't know if my ultimate shield will still work, but...if we're going after that asshole, I'm in. I won't be satisfied until he's dead." 

"Then we have a team," Riza said, to Theo's side. "We should get back...Mustang needs to know about this."

Theo looked to her, alarmed. "I can't tell him," he protested immediately. "He doesn't need to-..."

"I meant that we have allies," Riza said. "But by all means, explain to me why he shouldn't know who you are, too?"

Truth's grin overlapped with the soft, pained judgement of a much older Roy Mustang. 

"...That's a much longer story."

"Longer than three hours?" Riza returned. "We have a long drive back. Good time to get started."

"...Can't I just sleep?"

Riza's lip twitched up. "Let's go," she said. "You can rest...but we do need to talk. I have a lot more questions I need answers to." 

"Me, too," Erin said, approaching them. "I'm- I'm no alchemist, or soldier, but I'll help where I can."

"Help by taking care of Nina," Theo replied immediately. "Leave the homunculi to us."

"To me," Envy corrected. "The rest of you can keep your fucking noses out of it until I know who is worth keeping, alright?"

Greed snorted. "Go home, kid," he told Theo. "We've got things over here for now. You look like you're about to keel over."

"I am," Theo agreed. "I think this is the longest I've stayed conscious after a human transmutation, actually."

"Human transmutation," Erin echoed. "You...you really just did a successful one."

"Stick around," Theo told her. "I plan on doing a few more."

Theo was pretty sure he could feel Truth's annoyance bleeding into the world around them. 

Notes:

Truth, watching from the Gate: I'm gonna make this motherfucker dream so much angst for this I swear to me

Chapter 43

Summary:

“Are you disappointed?” 

“No,” Theo said, quickly.

Notes:

and now for a hard tonal shift back toward gay comedy with mild angst sprinkled in instead of a hardcore feels train

The song playing was so familiar, but he couldn’t place it. No matter how hard he strained his ears, the words were incomprehensible, a gentle murmured rhythm and nothing more. 

A sea of people moved around him, drifting back and forth along with the music, fancy dresses and military blues all mixed together in a thousand pretty pairs. 

“Want to dance?” 

Theo blinked up at Mustang’s appearance, his aging face crinkled up in a smile, his hand out in an offer.

Theo stared at it. “I…” 

“Just a dance.”  

Theo reached out, hesitantly accepting the hand, allowing Mustang to lead him into the crowd. 

Roy’s hands settled, one in his, another on his hip. Theo rested his own hand on his shoulder, and then frowned as they took their first steps. 

“I don’t remember this,” he murmured. “This never…”

“Never?” Roy echoed. Theo’s eyes flicked across his face. His crow’s feet, the wrinkles in his brow, the grey hair - it was all gone. He was looking at the younger Mustang, instead. 

“Oh,” Theo breathed. He’d forgotten what a normal dream was like. 

“Oh?” Roy grinned at him. “It’s rare for you to be speechless.”

“I didn’t expect to see you,” Theo told him. “I thought-...”

He couldn’t think of what else he would have seen, but this dream wasn’t it. 

“Are you disappointed?” 

“No,” Theo said, quickly. “No, I just-...” 

“You’ve got a lot going on,” Roy said. “Maybe you needed a break.” 

“You aren’t a break,” Theo told him. “You’re a whole new headache.” 

Roy laughed. “The feeling is mutual, I promise.” 

“Oh, good,” Theo said. “We’ll both drive each other insane. Equivalent exchange.” 

“Not equivalent,” Roy countered. “There’s only one of you.” 

Theo’s heart clenched. “There’s only one of you,” he returned, quietly. “You’re gone. My Roy is gone.” He reached up, stopping just shy of putting his hand on Roy’s face. “It’s just this one, now. And he’s not the same.” 

Roy caught his hand, bringing it the rest of the way to his cheek and holding it there. “Neither are you,” he said. “You tore yourself into pieces. The shape of broken things you were is different from what you are now. And eventually, you’ll be whole, and you’ll be a new person then, too. What happens now is all that will happen. What you make of your life from here is all that it is.” 

Theo sighed. “I guess,” he said. Then lighter, he offered, “I’ll just have to keep you alive long enough to see if you look the same. I bet I can make you go grey even sooner.”

Roy laughed again, tipping his head forward, resting their foreheads together. 

“Why is it always you?” Theo asked, softly. “I never see Winry. It’s always you.” 

“The Edward Elric that married Winry Rockbell was the same one who loved her as a kid,” Roy said. “The Edward Elric that loved Roy Mustang had to go through hell to get there. Around Winry, you could pretend to be who you were before. Around me, you were left searching for what you could be.” 

“And is that the truth?” Theo asked. “Or is that my own brain, spitting a theory back at me?” 

“Do you ever just dream?” 

“Way too often,” Theo replied. “But I’m not letting you off just because I’m making you up.” 

Roy smiled at him, an eyebrow raised. “Are you?”

Theo stopped, halting their dance abruptly, hand dropping down Roy’s cheek a fraction. “...What?” 

Roy opened his mouth, a mirthful reply clearly just on the tip of his tongue-...

“We’re back.”

Theo blinked his eyes open, frustration rolling in him, but he fought it down. It wasn’t Riza’s fault his subconscious took his nap as an opportunity to show him something new. “Back where?” he  asked, dragging a hand down his face to try and shake the sleep. 

“My house,” Riza answered. “I figured we could talk here before I take you home. Unless you’re too tired? You said you could have died back there. Alchemy isn’t something I know how to do first aid for, so I’ve just gone along with you saying you’re okay, but if you need to rest, tell me.” 

Theo sniffed experimentally. A bit of dried blood on the end of his nose pulled, confirming that he hadn’t imagined almost turning his own brain into soup, but nothing was watery around him anymore and being permitted a nap on the ride back had pacified the exhaustion weighing on him into allowing him a moment’s peace without feeling like he was about to topple over. 

“I’m alright,” Theo declared. “I didn’t actually lose anything except energy, I think.”

“You think?”

Theo shrugged. “Unless I tweak the seeking array to pick apart organic compounds better, I can’t exactly do inventory of my organs. And I’m not even gonna start thinking about how I’d do that until I have the energy to put it to good use. Trying it now would just be getting a record of how many organs I’d die with.” 

“Are you that hurt?” Erin asked, voice slightly shaky. “I’m so sorry, Theo-...You two shouldn’t have had to-...”

“Theo planned to deal with Greed anyway,” Riza interrupted. “He set a meeting the day we went after Tucker. Don’t blame yourself for him doing something stupid he’d already intended to do.” 

“Hey!” Theo said. “I just solved us a lot of problems, you know.” He looked to Erin. “She’s right, though - if there’s fault here, it’s mine. I provoked Envy. I didn’t think they’d try to get their own answers. They always seemed more the type to just roll with things - I must’ve really pissed them off.” 

“You can tell us all about it inside,” Riza said. “Let’s go-...”

She paused, eyes locked on the rearview mirror.

“What is it?” Theo asked, twisting around to look.

Pulling up behind them was another black military car.  

“The Colonel,” Riza said. “Has to be. It’s late - your grandmother must’ve called him when you didn’t come home.” 

“I don’t want to know how she got his phone number,” Theo said. Then, looking to Riza, he said, “Do not tell him. He deserves to hear it from me, and I’m-...” 

He had a lot of things to sort out before he was ready. He wasn’t telling Mustang until he could tell him everything, and right now, he only knew half the story. There were pieces Truth hadn’t given him, pieces he’d never put together, and he needed those. 

“He could help,” Riza said. 

“He knows about the worst of it,” Theo said. “He doesn’t need to know about me to help with that.” 

“It would-...”

“Please, Hawkeye.”

Riza met his eyes, her gaze seeking something Theo couldn’t begin to guess at, before sighing. 

“Alright,” she said. “It’s your secret to tell. Share it when you’re ready. But…” She glanced back at the car, where Mustang was climbing out, then back to Theo. “Tell him you weren’t in Ishval?” 

Theo blinked. “What?” 

“He thinks you were in Ishval,” she said. “He thinks that you hate him because of what he did there.” 

“That dumbass,” Theo said. “If I hated him, he’d know about it.” 

“Tell him that,” she said. 

“Can do,” Theo agreed. 

“He’s coming this way,” Erin cut in. “Should we get out now?”

Theo turned quickly, scrambling out of the car. 

“Theo!” Mustang called to him. “Miss Rockbell was worried about you.” 

Theo winced. “She called and yelled at you, didn’t she?” 

“Not at all,” Mustang replied. “She seemed to be under the impression you were with me, and asked to be warned the next time you stayed out. She yelled after I corrected her on the fact that I had no idea where you were, either.” 

“We had a bit of a problem.”

Behind him, Riza got out of the car, going around to help Erin out with Nina. 

“Where did you go?” Mustang asked. 

“Securing allies,” Theo replied. “And kicking ass. The usual.” 

Mustang looked over each of them in turn. 

“Well,” he said. “No one seems injured.” 

“On the outside,” Riza said, casually. “Theo almost died. Let’s get inside, Miss Tucker.” Riza strolled past him, calling over her shoulder, “Goodnight, boys.” 

“You what?” Mustang exclaimed. 

“Traitor,” Theo muttered. To Mustang, he said, “It wasn’t that bad. I just...did a couple really heavy transmutations. I wore myself out. I would only have been in danger if I kept going.” 

Mustang narrowed his eyes at him. “And what sort of thing would have convinced you to keep going? Where did you draw the line at a transmutation you’d risk your life for?” 

Admittedly, Theo didn’t think his bar for that was very high. His Icarus complex knew no bounds. Out loud, however, he said, “As soon as no one’s life was at risk, I stopped. We had a nice, civil conversation, got some new friends, and have a halfway decent plan in place. Everything’s good.” 

They stared each other down.

After a long time of waiting for the other to back down first, Mustang stepped back, jerking his hair towards his car. “Need a ride home?” 

Theo sighed. “Since I’m pretty sure she just abandoned me? Yeah. Thanks.” 

Roy kept glancing sideways at Theo during the drive, checking in on him. He looked tired, but other than the lines of his face and the slump of his shoulders, his eyes were alert, darting around the road like he expected any number of things to climb out of the shadows and come for the car. 

He was sure the other man could see him doing this, but neither said anything, reaching Theo’s apartment in slightly awkward silence that continued all the way up to his door. 

“Thanks for the ride,” Theo said. “Here, hold on, lemme-...” 

He pulled out his wallet. 

“Oh, no, I don’t-...” Roy tried to stop him.

“I don’t like owing people,” Theo said. He hesitated, staring down into his hand, before taking Roy’s and dropping the change into it.

The hand on his wrist was startling enough that Roy had taken it before he thought better of it. 

A glance at the coins upon his relief found three small coins in his pocket. One silver five hundred piece, two bronze tens. 

“Is there a logic behind the pricing, here?” he couldn’t help but ask. “Or are you just giving me what was in your pocket?” 

Theo waved him off. “I’ve kept that in a coin pocket on my wallet for years. I want the space back. Now we’re square.” 

“I didn’t need-...” 

“Good fucking God, Mustang, it’s 520 cens,” Theo said. “Relax.” 

Roy blinked at the space behind Theo, where Pinako had emerged, and now had an eyebrow raised in their direction. 

“Didn’t think you’d have to pay him,” she said. “Must be worse than I thought. You coming in, anytime soon?” 

Theo flushed, stepping through the doorway, stopping to look back at Mustang. “Thanks, again,” he said. “Goodnight.”

“Thanks for bringing him back in one piece,” Pinako told Roy, as Theo ducked back into the apartment. “He’s a pain in the ass, but he’s grown on me.” 

“Not a problem, Miss Rockbell,” Roy told her. “Have a good night.”

Pinako rolled her eyes, stepping back, moving to close the door. 

“You may as well call me Madame,” she said, dryly, “Since I’m apparently running a brothel.” 

She closed the door in Mustang’s burning face, the sounds of Theo spluttering still audible on the other side. 

Notes:

pinako is so sick of their shit and she only gets like 15% of it

Chapter 44

Summary:

“That son of a bitch!” Theo exclaimed. “They actually did it!”

Notes:

two updates in 24 hours because I'm a boss ass bitch

 

and also bc I'm getting kind of addicted to Envy content tbh

 

Edit:: I forgot to mention, there's a bit of misgendering in this chapter. Envy doesn't pay attention or particularly care, but Bradley uses he/him to describe them

It took three full days for anything to come of the meeting in Greed’s hideout. 

On each of these days, Theo showed up to work, didn’t quite meet Mustang’s eyes, definitely didn’t meet Riza’s, and ran papers up and down Eastern HQ as the glorified mailman he was still stuck as until Mustang gave him the mission he’d teased. 

On the third day, though, in one of his return stops to Mustang’s office, the man stopped him.

“They brought a letter for you,” Mustang said, holding it out to him.

The Fuhrer’s official letterhead stood out to him immediately. Anxious, but curious, he took it, ripping it open. Upon seeing the document inside, he froze, then erupted in laughter, almost doubling over with the force of it. 

“That son of a bitch!” Theo exclaimed. “They actually did it!”

At Mustang’s quirked eyebrow, Theo passed over the letter. 

EVIDENCE OF SPECIALTY CHANGE ACCEPTED. The office of the Fuhrer of Amestris redacts the formal alchemist title, COURIER ALCHEMIST, initially assigned to one THEOPHRASTUS VAN HOHENHEIM. 

The office of the Fuhrer presents MAJOR HOHENHEIM the new alchemist title, the SEEKING ALCHEMIST. 

“Can they do that?” Mustang wondered aloud, reading it, before immediately following it with, “Well, I guess they just did.” 

The office door opened, Riza’s head popping in. “What did you do?” 

“Why are you assuming I did something?” Mustang asked, puffing up in offense like a startled bird. 

“I heard Theo laughing,” Riza said. “I assumed you did something stupid.” 

Mustang pouted at her, but Theo ignored him, snatching his letter back and taking it over to Riza. “Read it!”

Eyeing them each in turn with heavy suspicion, Riza accepted the letter, eyes flicking across the page. 

“....This was Envy, wasn’t it?” 

“Sure was,” Theo confirmed. “I asked them to do it as a joke, but if this is how they wanna show they’re on board, I’ll take it.” He gave a heavy, forlorn sigh. “I just wish I could see Bradley’s face when he finds out.” 

“You changed his title?” 

Envy gave a very exaggerated shrug. “I paid one of his buddies a visit, and saw him use this array that, far as I could tell, shifts everything in a circle so that he can tell what’s in it. I thought it was cool, he thought his title was lame, we struck a deal. Problem?” 

“And we had an official paperwork chain for that?”

“Nope,” Envy replied. “I wrote the letter myself. I don’t even remember what I wrote in it, except the title.” 

“Lovely,” Lust sighed. “Am I going to have to take you with me, as well as Gluttony?”

“If his talent weren’t so useful, I’d agree,” Wrath said. “He’s certainly proven a need to be watched.”

To her credit, Lust looked mildly annoyed, even through her usually placid expression. On the other hand, she was facing Envy, her back to Wrath, and had no reason to disguise the fact that she was less than fond of the way Wrath talked about them, both as a whole and Envy specifically. 

“We have a truce,” Envy said. “Insanely powerful potential sacrifice is happy to ignore us until further notice. This is a win, even if it annoys you.”

“Annoys me?” Wrath stared at them. “You undermining me, vanishing for days, only getting in contact when you’ve already acted well beyond your rights-...”

Envy opened their mouth, ready to remind Wrath that they were the older one, but Lust must have seen it on his face, giving a tiny shake of her head. 

Wrath was younger, but he was stronger. They both knew that.

Envy met her gaze steadily nonetheless, challenging her. Together, they could take him down, and probably even get out alive. If she would just stop being afraid-...

Envy sometimes wondered if Father had snuck into Lust his ability to fear, hidden alongside his sins. 

If they hadn’t seen similar fear on Greed’s face when Theo’s transmutation had made contact, they would figure that had been the case. As it was, they were thinking it was just a key factor of what homunculi were: imperfect beings who feared what mortality meant for one with no soul. 

Greed was different, now, though. Greed was different, and if he could get Lust, she could be different. Gluttony could be different.

Envy could be different. 

They’d tear Wrath apart with their own hands for that chance. 

“We don’t have time for this,” Wrath declared after a moment. “What’s done is done - and, despite the methods, we have achieved something tentatively beneficial to us. Lust, you and Gluttony start on your mission; no more delays. Envy, you’ll return to gathering intel on potential sacrifices. Did you determine the status of the boys?” 

They were almost definitely potential sacrifices, but Envy shook his head. “Just kids, far as I can tell. I think their big brother hogged all the potential destruction for himself. Shame.” 

Wrath didn’t look like he entirely bought it, but he didn’t say anything to challenge it.

That was actually probably worse - if he wasn’t even telling Envy how incomptentant he thought  they were, that probably meant genuine suspicion...which, honestly, was fair, because Envy had never been particularly helpful except under duress. 

Oh well. 

They could manage it. They just needed to bide their time until they could get Lust alone, that was all.

They just had to hold out. 

Hopefully Theo would come through. They were banking a lot on it. 

“It’s not a human transmutation array,” Ed said, tilting the paper this way and that, squinting at Theo’s sketch. “But it’s got elements of it. Here, and here - that inner circle is basically ripped straight out. The rest looks like that scanning thing he does.” 

“Biological alchemy, with his seeking array?” Al looked over Ed’s shoulder. “Huh. Maybe he’s trying to find people when he scans an area?” 

“No,” Ed said. “It’s not- that’s invasive alchemy. It’s balanced for a whole human body. If I need to find a human, I’d just scan for water and carbon. This is broken down into each element…”

“Oh!” Al reached out, tapping a finger against a symbol on the outer ring of the array. “I’ve seen this before!” He pulled back, darting out of the kitchen, reappearing a minute later with one of their dad’s heavy journals. Setting it on the table in front of Ed, he turned through it quickly, finding the drawing he was after and sliding it over for Ed to look at. 

“It’s in with his alkahestry stuff,” Al said. “I can’t read all of it, because he changes languages for a second in the middle, but it’s supposed to be some kind of healing alchemy.”

“Healing?” Ed echoed. “Oh! Of course. It’s a diagnostic array.” 

“He’s trying to find a way to see if someone’s injured,” Al said. “That’s so cool!”  

“Are you two going through your brother’s things again?”

The boys snapped up straight. “Granny!” 

Pinako crossed the room, tsk ing down at the spread of papers. “It’s bad enough Theo’s messing with this stuff every second he’s in the house. You two following in his footsteps is a disaster waiting to happen.”

“We were trying to see what he was studying,” Al said. “Just, cause, he’s looked kind of tired the  past couple days. We figured it was something important.” 

Pinako shook her head. “He looks tired because he’s an idiot,” she said, immediately having to hold up a hand to halt protests. “He tried some new array the other night, when he came home late, and stumbled in looking like he’d been hit by a train. And instead of resting, so he can have the energy to do anything else without k-...” She stopped, looked at them, and amended, “Without hurting himself...he’s been working nonstop on this thing.”

Al looked down at the paper.

“But,” Ed said, “if he hurt himself, it would make sense that he wants this. It finds injuries! He might not know what’s wrong until it’s finished.” 

“We should help!” Al said. “I bet we could figure something out, all together.” 

“No testing,” Pinako said immediately. “I can’t intervene if you something goes wrong, and if it tore into Theo, I don’t imagine it will be kind to you two, either.” 

“No testing,” Al agreed. 

“Just theory,” Ed confirmed. “We’ll make him notes for when he gets home.” 

Pinako watched him.  “‘Home,’ huh?” she prompted in a murmur. “You guys have really taken to living here with him.”

“He’s nice,” Al said. 

“He’s really smart,” Ed agreed. “And he doesn’t treat us like stupid kids.” 

“Well, you’re not stupid,” Pinako said. “But you are kids. You shouldn’t be taking so much on yourselves.” 

“Theo says a lot of bad stuff is going to happen,” Al said. “We just want to help.”

“And Theo has no self-preservation,” Pinako started to argue. 

“Exactly!” Ed exclaimed. “If we want him to be safe, he needs help! If we can help, why shouldn’t we?” 

Pinako shook her head. “It’s pointless to argue,” she said. “You two are as stubborn as-...Eh.” She waved them off. “No testing, and you’re breaking for lunch and a port check in a couple hours. Deal?”

“Deal!”

God save her from Elrics.  

Black cells spread out in a circle, slowly swallowing flesh as they turned hard as stone-

-And immediately retracted, leaving the skin in its wake red and irritated. 

Greed made a frustrated sound. His shield still wasn’t working, and it was getting harder to test, given that its repeated activation had left his skin almost raw, and he had no stone with which to heal it. He had always thought his pain tolerance was pretty good, but when the pain lasted longer than the fraction of a second it took for a homunculus to regenerate, he wasn’t sure if that was still the case. At the moment, it was mostly just an irritating sting, but it had the potential to get bad if he didn’t cool it soon. 

“Boss,” Martel said, watching his hand as the black cells started crawling back out. “You should recover more, before you try that.”

Greed’s jaw worked as he set his back teeth, scowling at his hand. Black cells retreated even faster, and at their origin, in the center of his palm, a bit of skin split, creating a patterned cut along the lines of his skin like a spiderweb. “I’ve got to get this,” he grit out. “I’m no use to anyone if I can’t-..!” 

Hands caught his. Startled, he looked up, meeting Martel’s eyes.

She was watching him, openly concerned. Over her shoulder, he could see the others, each watching him just as carefully, looking just as worried. 

Scared. Not of him, but for him. 

“Boss,” Martel said, softly. “Take a break. You’re fighting with a body that’s just lost ninety-five percent of its energy. It’s not weakness to let yourself heal before you go tearing things back apart.”

“Sometimes, you gotta take things apart to make them stronger,” Greed said. 

“Yeah, well,” Dolcetto said, from the side. “Our medic was killed, so cool it, will ya? I don’t know how to do first aid.” 

Greed snorted, amused despite himself. “Alright,” he said, letting his hands drop. “I’ll lay off for now.” 

Watching his team beam at him, Greed felt something he couldn’t even begin to name. 

Theo had given him something interesting, that was for sure. 

Notes:

riza, hearing theo laughing in roy's office: god i hope thats not a 'you asked me out and i think its a joke' laugh

Chapter 45

Summary:

“Picked ‘em up  while I was buying basic stuff,” Theo said. “Like towels.” 

“But not clothes?” 

Notes:

can i make the "i havent uploaded since last year" joke 2 years in a row?

 

happy new year errybody here's some soft plot progression that's essentially the bridge to the next actual bit of story arc

Erin’s house was released from its status as a crime scene on the fourth day after the encounter with Greed, a single day after Theo’s name was changed, and coincidentally his first proper day off. 

A housewarming party seemed a bit morbid, but they were all helping her clean it out, and planned to eat dinner together and enjoy some time as friends, so that was pretty much what it was. 

It was also the first time Theo had to function as a normal person, which meant he had to wear clothes other than his uniform, and he’d sort of...not bought any. 

“Where’d you get those sleep pants?” Pinako asked. 

“Picked ‘em up  while I was buying basic stuff,” Theo said. “Like towels.” 

“But not clothes?” 

Theo shrugged. “I had to start a whole new life on two weeks’ pay, okay. I was going bare minimum.” 

“And ‘bare minimum’ was living in your uniform?” 

Theo shrugged again, gesturing to the clothes he was wearing. “I have these.” 

“They’ve been through the wringer,” Pinako said. “That’s the outfit you came back in, right?” At Theo’s nod, she shook her head. “Keep it on, because we’re going out. You’re getting some proper clothes.”

Theo gave a heavy sigh, but didn’t argue. A Rockbell on a mission was an unstoppable force, and it wasn’t something important enough that Theo could be the immovable object that collided with it. 

Within a few hours, they were returning to the apartment, Theo moving to change into an outfit from the small collection of clothes he’d been conned into buying. 

He’d tried to go simple and discreet with his picks, a soft grey t-shirt and dark jeans being his first picks...but while his taste may have mellowed, it was still very strongly oriented toward the ostentatious, and so he’d ended up buying a red leather jacket.

It was missing something, though. He hesitated a moment, wondering how annoyed she would be...and then carefully transmuted the back of the jacket to bear Izumi’s flamel. 

A symbol of redemption of life. The serpent, for knowledge, and the cross, for life. The crown above for God, for Truth, for the Gate - whatever you wanted to call it. And the wings... a motif that had always called to mind the thought of Icarus, burned for daring to get so close to the powers above. 

It was a confession, a promise, and a prayer - Izumi’s flamel bore their sins open and unashamed, believing that redemption could only come through acceptance of their failings and the hard work it took to move beyond them. 

Donning the jacket felt good. It wasn’t his old coat, flashy and oversized and flaring out behind him, nor were the clothes beneath them any kind of leather, but he wasn’t a teenager anymore. He wasn’t in dull browns, either, like the brief phase he would always deny he’d gone through where he tried to dress ‘responsibly,’ which was essentially just code for ‘like Hohenheim.’ 

This was a nice, happy medium, and it felt right. 

Much, much better than the military uniform, anyway. 

“That what you’re going with, huh?” Pinako asked, appearing at his side. “That symbol...an alchemy thing, I’m guessing?”

“How’d you know?”  

Pinako gave him an unimpressed look, clearly deciding that didn’t deserve any response. Instead, she said, “Put it on, then, and get going.” 

“Are you going to see the lady you rescued?” 

Theo turned, looking to the doorway, where Al had appeared, pushing Ed’s chair and beaming up at them. 

“Yeah,” he told them. Then, on a whim he would probably come to regret, he asked, “You wanna come?” 

Both boys perked up. “Can we?” 

Theo shrugged. “Get dressed if you wanna come. It’ll probably be boring, because she mostly just wants to clean shit out, but you guys could watch Nina while we’re doing that.” 

“Who’s Nina?” Ed asked. 

“Erin’s baby,” Theo said. “She’s less than a year old, I think, so she won’t be super entertaining, but I think she’s old enough to play a little instead of just sleeping.” 

“I wanna meet the baby!” Al agreed. “We’ll go! Wait for us!”

Ed shifted, grabbing the wheels of his chair and breaking free of Al’s hold to steer himself away. “Race you!” 

“That’s-...!”

Theo watched them chase each other from the room, laughing. “Poor Al. That chair can really move when he wants it to.” 

“Trust me, I know,” Pinako said. “He nearly runs me over at least once a day.” 

Theo looked to Pinako, smiling at her fondly. “Thank you,” he told her. “You’ve been doing a lot for us. I appreciate it. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without your help.” 

Pinako sighed. “Don’t worry about it, kid,” she said. “I do have to go back home at some point, though. Winry’s getting stir crazy staying in the apartment all the time, since I’m not needing much help with the automail at this stage. All the brute force work is done, it’s just wiring left, and Winry’s wonderful, but she’s too young to be hooking up nerve links safely.” 

“It’s almost done, then?” Theo asked. “His leg’ll be able to be installed soon?”

Pinako hummed a confirmation. “I’m glad he’s gotten so comfortable with that chair, though. Maybe that will keep him from pushing his recovery too fast.” She squinted up at Theo. “You had the surgery at his age, too, right?” 

“Double it,” Theo replied. “I lost my arm, too.” 

“How long did you give yourself to recover?” 

Theo grimaced. “About a year.” 

Pinako rolled her eyes. “Of course you did. No wonder your leg is stripped.” 

Theo frowned. “Stripped?”

“A lot of the nerves are capped together,” Pinako said. “If something goes wrong, it’s only transmitted once, instead of every damaged wire sending a signal individually. It’s rough, and makes coordination clunky - I’m amazed you move so well on it.” 

“Winry changed my leg?” 

“I probably did,” Pinako said. “She’d have had no choice but to keep it that way, lest she remade the whole thing, and then you’d have to relearn it. If you only gave yourself a year, I probably wired it to be the easiest to adjust to.”

Theo frowned, looking down at his leg, hidden under dark jeans and heavy military boots. “So...if it were different, I’d move better?” 

“Possibly,” Pinako said. “Recovery would be unprecedented, though. To adjust to a leg for twenty years and then completely rewire it - there’s no telling how long you’d be down.” 

Theo picked up his foot, twisting it around a little, flexing his ankle. It didn’t seem stiff, or clunky - it moved as well as always. 

Which, apparently, was not ideal. 

“When I damage my automail,” Theo said, “the whole thing shuts down. Is that-...?”

“Same thing,” Pinako said. “Failsafes - if you leg can’t tell where the problem is, it’ll shut the whole thing off until it’s fixed. With all your wires going through checkpoints, a loose screw could read like a broken plate, and you’d need a full diagnostic.”

“But you could fix that?” Theo asked. “It could be closer to a real leg?”

Pinako narrowed her eyes at him. “Your leg is fine, kid,” she said. “If you want me to fix it just so you can go breaking it again-...”

Theo huffed out a soft laugh. “Nevermind,” he said. “You’re right - I never noticed anything weird with it, so it’s not a problem. Maybe one day, though, when all this is over, I’ll ask you to remake it. It’d be interesting to see how much better I could move.” 

“Or how much worse,” Pinako countered. “You’re gonna fry your nerves, the way you handle it.” 

“We’re ready!” a voice called down the hall.

“Go on, then,” Pinako said. “Show that Mustang what you look like when you’re not dressed like a military dog.” 

“He’s seen me before,” Theo protested, though their initial encounter involved a Theo that looked like an absolute mess, cleaning the floor of his old house to rid it of criminal evidence. 

“Don’t elaborate on that,” she replied immediately, shoving him toward the door. “I don’t wanna know. Just go. We’ll be here when you get back.” 

“Sorry I’m a little late!” Theo called out as he entered the house. “I brought you some babysitters.”

Roy followed Riza out of the kitchen to meet Theo with Erin, taking in the boys at his side.

“Oh, hello!” Erin greeted. “You two are-...”

“Edward and Alphonse,” Theo introduced, gesturing to each one as he spoke. 

Erin looked at Ed, watching him a second, before looking up to Theo, scanning his face, as though searching for something.

“I know,” Roy said. “The family resemblance is strong, isn’t it?” 

To Roy’s confusion, Erin let out a slightly hysterical sounding laugh, looking to Riza, who shook her head and offered, “Impeccable.” 

“Okay then!” Theo said, speaking rather loudly, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “What have I missed?” 

“Nothing,” Riza said. “We were waiting for you.” 

“Oh,” Theo said. “...Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Erin told him. “We’re doing it to be lazy.” 

“To be safe,” Riza corrected. To Theo, she explained, “We’re not sure what all he had in the house. You’re our best bet to make sure we don’t stumble into anything dangerous.” 

Theo nodded. “Yeah, makes sense...I doubt he bothered blocking anything off too hard, since the basement was the major point of interest, but he might have stashes somewhere we’ll need to clear out.” 

Then, to Roy’s surprise, Theo looked to him, and offered a cheery, “I really oughta show you the array, so that you aren’t always stuck looking for me.” 

“You’d do that?” Roy asked, stunned. Most alchemists hoarded their arrays, especially if it was a product of their own research, like Theo’s. Roy didn’t even make his array, simply studied and perfected it, but he’d die before he offered it to anyone else, let alone sit down and teach them. 

Then again, Theo’s case was different. His seeking array hadn’t resulted in a mass execution, for one. It probably helped as well that Theo had more handmade, personalized arrays than Roy likely even knew about, while most alchemists only bothered with their main array or a single, weaker backup. 

Roy, for instance, could do basic alchemy, but wouldn’t have anything formidable in his arsenal that he could rely on if flame alchemy straight up failed. His best ‘secret weapon’ array was a tweak to his regular one, where he added a couple of lines into the rings to shift the gasses it drew from, superheating his flames into a blue-white one that could melt through solid steel like plastic, and he’d never even told anyone about inventing it. To use it casually in front of others and then offer it up as free information…

Theo really was on a whole other level. Roy wondered how much was his own intelligence, sharp and unyielding, and how much was due to the fact that the man had stepped back and forth between this world and the next so many times he was practically a living ghost. 

Either way, Roy was quick to answer, “I wouldn’t say no to learning a few of your secrets.” 

Behind Theo, Roy saw Ed lean back in his chair, looking up at Al and making a face that earned him a stern frown from the younger brother. 

Showing his hand to an eleven year old. He was seriously slipping. 

“Just the basic one,” Theo said. “I dunno if you could even do it with a physical array, since it takes a lot of adaptation to keep it moving, but I could try and figure it out.”

“But we could learn it?” Ed chimed in. “Since we can-...”

“Hey, hey,” Theo interrupted. “Don’t go telling the world what you can do, okay? I’m trying pretty hard to make people think you two are normal kids, not alchemic geniuses.” He looked wryly amused as both children looked rather proud of this. “But, yeah, you can probably do it. I should teach it to you, actually, for when I’m not around and you need to check on something. Would help you not to answer the door to a homunculus, anyway.” 

“Aren’t those friendly now?” Erin asked. 

“They’re friendly?” Al echoed, sounding amazed. 

“Two of them are,” Theo said. “Or, well, they’re not hostile, anyway. They like us better than the alternative, at least.” 

“As long as they’re aren’t trying to kill us,” Riza said. “Can you take a look around for traps?”

“Oh, yeah,” Theo agreed, and followed after Riza into the living room, heading toward the center of the ground floor of the house. 

“He looks good,” Erin said, at Roy’s shoulder. “He’s always in that uniform…Red suits him.” 

“It’s really cool,” Ed agreed. “He’s even got a symbol on the back like our teacher used to wear.” 

“I wonder what it means,” Erin murmured. 

“Izumi-sensei always taught us about all life being connected,” Al said. “I think it has something to do with that.” 

The kind of thing that would appeal to someone like Theo, Roy figured - someone who’d lost all his connections to the world around him would likely take comfort in the idea that he was nevertheless a part of something.

“Um, Miss Tucker?”

Erin looked down at Al. “Yes?” 

“Can we see your baby?” 

Erin laughed. “Yes, of course,” she said. “Come with me - most of Sh-...of his books were in the basement, but some overflow ended up in a side room up here. You guys can dig through them, if you want, if you’ll keep an eye on Nina for me while you do.” 

“Awesome!” the boys agreed, following her out of the room.

For a moment, Roy was left alone in front of the door, left to his thoughts. 

He took a moment to ponder the exchange between Riza and Theo - they’d gotten friendlier, the past couple of days, Riza finally seeming to overcome her distrust of him and instead take on the same kind of exasperated fondness she directed at the rest of the team. Just the general attitude of ‘you’re a friend, but I am not afraid to shoot you if you keep acting stupid.’ Theo, in turn, had relaxed a good deal around her and the others, and Roy frequently heard him joking with the crew in the times when Breda and Havoc were misfortunate enough to leave Theo’s sharp wit an opening in one of their many academic discussions. 

It seemed like Theo was really starting to settle in, relaxing into his new life, slowly healing in ways he’d clearly been unable to achieve for a long while. 

It was just a shame, then, that this came with the sudden fact that every time Roy looked to Theo, Theo looked away. 

Safer, though. If Theo was healing, distance would be good.

Roy was good at many things, but getting better wasn't one of them. 

Notes:

[happier by bastille plays in the distance]

Chapter 46

Summary:

“Oh, good,” Riza said. “Erin and I will start going through her things, then. You two can go take care of the trap.” 

Both men shot her nearly identical betrayed looks, each seemingly oblivious to the other doing the same thing.

Notes:

I've been sick for a few days and my recovery method of choice is blastic the Arctic Monkeys song "Stop The World, I Wanna Get Off With You" and writing chapters of this fic

also, if you want a satelitte-verse royed song, that's it. like

Well, I know that getting you alone isn't easy to do
With the exception of you I dislike everyone in the room
And I don't wanna lie, but I don't wanna tell you the truth
Get the sense that you're on the move
And you'll probably be leaving soon

its Them

Riza looked up when the others entered the room, greeting them with a smile. “He’s taking a look.” 

“Look taken,” Theo called from the ground. “There’s something upstairs that’s trapped, but everything else should be clear.” 

“Oh, good,” Riza said. “Erin and I will start going through her things, then. You two can go take care of the trap.” 

Both men shot her nearly identical betrayed looks, each seemingly oblivious to the other doing the same thing. She simply smiled in return - mostly to Roy, because Theo was very deliberately procrastinating, and was doing so at the other’s expense. 

“You two are the alchemists,” she said. “What are we going to do against an alchemic trap?” 

Theo made a sound just shy of a grumble and stood up, dusting his hands off and looking to Roy. “You coming, then?” 

“Sure,” Roy said, moving to follow him - and waiting until his back was turned to shoot a look at Riza that said he did not appreciate her getting involved. 

Too bad. They didn’t have an ounce of common sense between them, so someone had to do it. 

When they were gone from the room, and their footsteps were getting distant on the stairs, Erin turned to Riza. 

“Do you think Theo will tell him?”

“Not everything,” Riza said. “I think there’s something else we don’t know - maybe something happened to Roy, before.” 

“Maybe it’s just weird,” Erin suggested. “Since he’s now the same age as an adult he knew when he was a kid.” 

Riza pursed her lips. “Maybe,” she allowed, though it didn’t sound right to her. Theo had looked so peculiar when he begged her for time, and he’d worded it so strangely - I won’t tell him until I can tell him everything. 

What was ‘everything,’ then, beyond the nationwide conspiracy and the distortion of time? What else was there? 

Whatever it was, she hoped they made it to its reveal unharmed by the secrets between them. 

“It’s in here,” Theo said, pushing into a room. “I’ll need to do the array again, see what’s in here. It’s harder to make out from farther away.” 

“To see the trap?” Roy asked. “Or what it’s hiding?” 

“The trap,” Theo replied. “Finding discharged alchemic energy is a lot easier than pulling apart items and trying to guess what they are from their atomic structure.” 

“But you can do that, too?”

Theo shrugged. “Sure, in a way. Like, my apartment - when I searched it, I figured out what materials the walls were, and then I knew not to worry about those same structures while I was scanning. Most of the furniture in the apartments is wood or plastic, and those are both easy to identify. Paint is kind of weird, where the color changes, but that’s not too bad. All I really paid attention to were things that didn’t fit - I disassembled every appliance, I think, double checking  that none of the metal that was showing up was actually some bug. I’d say about half the energy I spent scanning the place went to the kitchen.” 

“The famed Courier Alchemist,” Roy said, “defeated by a common fridge.” 

Theo scowled at him. “That’s not my title, anymore, bastard. How many times-...”

And then he cut off, face slacking a bit, and looking away.  

“‘How many times’?” Roy echoed. “That’s the first time I’ve mentioned it since the change. I thought I was resisting pretty well.” 

“Yeah,” Theo said, voice flat. “Got you mixed up again. Thought I was-...” Theo shook his head.  “My old boss, he had a nickname for me he never let go of, even when it didn’t fit anymore. Thought I’d go to my grave with it. Probably would have, if I’d stayed.” 

“Is he gone, too?” Roy asked, softly. “You never said.” 

Theo hesitated. “It’s...complicated,” he said.

Without any warning, he started forward again, stepping up to a wardrobe in the corner of the room. 

“Don’t tell Erin I’m going through her stuff,” Theo said, bringing his hands together in a clap.

Roy watched Theo press his palms to the wardrobe doors, brows furrowed in concentration, eyes sliding shut as he focused on the things unseen on the other side. 

Theo was an endless mystery, really. What did he mean by ‘complicated’? Was he alive or not? Was he somewhere in-between? Hospitalized? In a coma? Braindead? 

He just got more and more confusing. 

Static flickered low around the wardrobe, then fizzled out, as Theo’s eyes opened and he dropped his hands.

“Clear,” he said. “Basic shit. I can’t believe I used to think this guy was a genius.” 

“You did?” Roy asked, incredulous. Then, after a second, he continued, “Actually, you never told me how you knew Tucker.” 

“Chimera research,” Theo said, opening the cabinet doors and starting to dig through the mess of things that had been crammed inside it. “Damn, Tucker was a pack-rat-....  Anyway, a long time ago, I fought a guy who had this big ass lion chimera that he sent after me. Fighting it was weird, because I wasn’t really sure how its body was structured, so I basically just had to let it wear itself out trying to chew through my automail and then knock it out the old fashioned way.” 

“You don’t much like killing things, I’m learning.” 

“Nope,” Theo said. “Life is precious - you shouldn’t take one without reason and respect. Oh, you look promising…”  

Roy watched him drag out a large, locked box. 

“Anyway,” Theo continued, “I wanted to learn more about chimeras. Figured successful chimeras were as close to human transmutation research I was gonna find out about the legal way. M-...My boss, he sort of threw me at Tucker. Spent a couple days studying his notes, until…”

Theo stopped. He sat, silent and still for a moment, before clapping, transmuting the lock into pieces that fell free, letting him pop the box open. 

“Gotcha, you fuckin’ prick,” Theo murmured, pulling out a journal. Roy moved closer, watching  as Theo cracked it open, turning through pages. 

The notes were coded, reading as nonsensical to him, as expected, but there were arrays drawn in the pages, too. 

Roy didn’t need Theo’s expertise on the subject to recognize human transmutation circles when he saw them.  

“Should I get rid of them?” 

Theo hummed. “...Maybe.” 

Roy looked down, bewildered. “Maybe?” he echoed. “You...want to keep them?” 

“Tucker was studying Greed’s people,” Theo said. “He was an idiot, but there’s probably some good information in his notes about how their bodies work. Knowing how they’re made would help me figure out who was making them, if nothing else.” 

“ ‘If nothing else’? Are you suggesting you might try to make one?” 

Theo straightened up, looking up to Roy in alarm. “What? No! No, I just…”  

He looked down, staring at the book in his hands. 

“Dammit,” Theo muttered, slamming the journal shut and chucking it back into the box, getting quickly to his feet. “Fucking-...”

He started to pace the room. 

“I keep fucking doing this,” he said. “I can’t-...I can’t stop, Mustang. I’m always looking. I always want to see a little more, to understand- I thought I was getting better, I thought he’d fixed it-...”

And then he stopped, in the center of the room, and lowered a hand to rub his leg. 

“Right,” he said. “I gave it back.” 

“I don’t understand,”  Roy said. “What are you talking about? What did you give? To who?” 

Theo looked to him, tapping his chest. “I’m running on borrowed time,” Theo said. “Nothing will ever be enough so long as the Philosopher’s stones exist. I took one out already-..”

“What?”

“-...But there are seven more,” Theo said.

“Seven?”

“Six more homunculi, and then their creator…And...” Theo blinked, then swore. “Shit. There’s eight. My fucking dad.” He hesitated in the middle of the room, before bringing his hands up, fisting them in his hair. “I have to talk to my fucking dad. This keeps getting worse.” 

“Maybe you should sit down,” Roy  said, taking a step closer. “You seem like you’re panicking.” 

Theo looked to Roy, eyes wild. 

Then, entirely out of the blue, he blurted out, “I wasn’t in Ishval.” 

Roy blinked. “You...what?”

“I wasn’t in Ishval,” Theo repeated. “Riza said you thought I was, but I wasn’t. I never went near Ishval. My friends parents died there, but that all the ties I had to it. I know what happened, obviously. More than anyone else, probably - it was the homunculi who set it off. It was one of their points for the array. And yeah, I’m after an Ishvalan for his brother’s research, but I didn’t go there to get it. My plan right now is mostly just to wait for him to turn up, because he hates state alchemists and is probably going to try and kill a few. I’m hoping that by then I’m doing enough to be a target, so I can beat his ass and save us all the trouble, but it’s in the air. Ishval, though. I wasn’t there. Not even near it.” 

Roy stared at him. “...I see,” he breathed. “That’s...good to know. I was worried-....”

“I don’t hate you, either,” Theo said. “I actually like you pretty well. When you’re not being a piece of shit. Which is a lot.” 

Roy let out a slight, startled laugh, feeling his face heat a bit. “Well. That’s good, then.” 

“Glad that’s settled,” Theo said, looking down to the box at his feet. 

He looked torn again. 

“Finding who made the chimeras might be helpful in taking down the homunculi,” Roy suggested. “Maybe you should study them.” 

Theo stared at them, before slowly raising his eyes to Roy.

“You take them.”

Roy blinked, stunned. “What?” 

“I’ll help you look through them,” Theo said, “but I can’t keep them. I don’t trust myself not to get obsessed, and-...and, honestly, Al and Ed don’t need to be anywhere near this shit. ‘Curiosity killed the cat,’ and all that.”

“I believe the full phrase is, ‘but satisfaction brought it back.’”

“Well, that’s shit,” Theo said, darkly. “Nothing brings back the dead, and I’m sick of trying. We keep it away from them.” He looked to Roy. “Agreed?” 

Roy sighed, and nodded. “I’ll take them.”

Theo’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. “...Thanks.” 

“You just handed me a lifetime’s worth of alchemic research men would kill for,” Roy told him. “I should be thanking you.”

“No,” Theo said, scowling down into the contents of the box. “You really shouldn’t.” 

“She’s so tiny.” 

“She’s a baby, Al,” Ed responded, as though he were not also gawking at the infant that Erin had carefully entrusted to them. 

“Her face is so round,” Al said, bringing his hands up to his cheeks, as though feeling for the  shape of his own face. “She’s like a little kitten.” 

“...Or a baby.”

Al shot Ed an unimpressed look. “She’s cute.” 

“Yeah,” Ed said. He had to give him that one - she was precious. Theo had been kind of vague about the story of what was going on with her, but the general idea seemed to be that her dad was a shitty alchemist who wanted to do research on her and Mrs. Tucker, and so they took him away.  

Or, well, Theo had said they were going to arrest him, and then avoided all further questions about it, which made Ed more than a little suspicious about how that arrest actually went down. 

Ed hoped he was gone forever, because if Ed ever saw him, he’d beat his ass. Mrs. Tucker was nice, a lot like Mrs. Hughes had been, and Nina was about sixteen pounds of pure miracle. The idea that anyone would hurt them-...

“Traps clear!” they heard Theo call out from upstairs. 

“On the way!” Hawkeye called back up to him, and a moment later, her and Mrs. Tucker passed by, heading up the stairs. 

“What are they doing?” Al asked. 

“I dunno,” Ed said. “I didn’t ask. Maybe they’re looking for something?” 

Al kicked his legs under his chair. “Should we help?” 

Ed frowned, looking down at Nina. As much as he’d love to be helpful....

“Yeah, you’re right,” Al said, following his gaze. “I guess we are helping. They can’t look for stuff if they’re carrying a baby.” 

“Maybe if they had one of those pack things,” Ed said. “The strap-y things you put a baby in so you can carry it around,  y’know?”

“Does Mrs. Tucker have one?” Al asked. “We could make her one.” 

“....Later,” Ed suggested. “We’ve got her, right now.” 

“Ba-ba-ba…”

Ed and Al both startled, looked down at the baby, babbling happily at them as she waved stubby fists.  

“I love her,” Al breathed. 

“Yeah,” Ed agreed immediately. “Me too.” 

Notes:

whats this? wholesome content? in MY fic? its more likely than you think

Chapter 47

Summary:

Barely three steps beyond the station, they began to stir. Like walking through a crowd, their voices usually merged into an easily disposable hum, but sometimes a common interest would make their voices blend and yell enough for him to catch the words. 

Notes:

back to work today and therefore we return to me updating so i can read the comments at lunch

here's an update that we've all been waiting for tbqh

The city had an air of defeat about it. From the moment he stepped off the train, he felt it, seeping into his bones. He had seen worse, felt worse, or he might have chosen to simply reboard the train and carry on. The station workers seemed surprised that wasn't his plan, as though choosing to remain was unfathomable to them. 

They were much worse than any destitute city dwellers, though, and they were agitated now, too long on the road without rest. He'd spent a few months in Central digging, but the energy in the shadows seemed to inch closer to him every day, and he had to leave before it found him. Found them, more to say - his own life was but one of many, and one he'd long lost interest in keeping. 

Barely three steps beyond the station, they began to stir. Like walking through a crowd, their voices usually merged into an easily disposable hum, but sometimes a common interest would make their voices blend and yell enough for him to catch the words. 

There was a light on, down the street. It was not the only light on, but the only one that seemed warm, a comforting hearth to the cold bug lamps of the street lights. 

He approached it, following their prompts. Any joy to be found in this city would be found here, and so, then, would its people, its culture.

He entered the tavern. 

It took a moment for the heads casually glancing his way to take in his appearance, but once they had, they all fell silent and still. 

He wasn't surprised. He was an imposing figure, he knew, even to those who were used to strange visitors. 

They writhed under the hungry gazes. A voice here or there spoke up from the crowd, calling out in alarm at this man's cold grey eyes or that one's twisted sneer. 

"A tourist, huh?" The bartender greeted, friendly enough. "Welcome to Youswell. I'm Halling."

"Hohenheim," he returned, taking a seat at the bar. "The street lights are a bit dim, I couldn't quite catch the sign- I see this is a bar, but it's also an inn?"

"Sure is," Halling confirmed. "Only one in town, too."

"Fortunate for it to be so close to the station, then," Hohenheim said. "I've been travelling for several days. Long walks after so long on a train are rarely pleasant." 

"A long trip, huh?" Halling asked. "You're not in off a Central train, I take it?"

"Not directly," Hohenheim said. "I traveled to a few cities of interest before reaching this one." 

"And where're you headed now?"

Hohenheim hummed. "Across the desert, I think."

He'd prefer to stay in Amestris, but if that thing in Central had noticed him digging around, he might do better to shake them by leaving for a little while longer. He would simply need to cross before the screams of the souls inside him drowned his thoughts completely - too close to Xerxes, and they woke fully, the sea of voices becoming a torrent that could wash him away. 

"You think?" Halling prompted. 

Hohenheim hummed, noncommittal, before countering, "How much for a room?"

"Just for tonight?" Halling asked. "Price is high."

Hohenheim had dealt with money's constant fluctuation for so long, he wasn't even entirely sure what a normal price was at any given point. He'd paid fares all across the map. He had plenty of idle years' worth of saved funding, but little of it was in paper or coin, typically. In his travelling case he had various high value items he traded for money when necessary. At the moment, though, he was lucky enough to have sold several high quality artifacts from Xing to fund his time in Central, and if he was heading into the desert, he had no use for hoarding any of it now. 

"You know your prices are too high, but you don't lower them?" Hohenheim asked, curious more than anything. 

"Can't," Halling said. "Economy in this town's gone to shit. Nobody has any money, not since the military took over the mine." 

"The military?" They were so close to the border - this would be a decent enough spot for them to add to the array. It was possible that the homunculus and his minions had plans to agitate the city into rebellion, to get a little more blood flowing into the earth. 

They were stirring again, restless. 

"Sorry to hear that," he said. He reached into his coat, seeking out his wallet. "How much, then? I'll simply hope I have it."

"100,000," Halling said. He sounded almost apologetic about it. 

That was about 6,500 xuan, if he did the exchange correctly. He'd stayed in some places in Xing that charged upwards of 15,000 per night - though they tended to be located in heavily war-torn clan territories, driving them to the same desperation that hung about these folk. 

Still, exorbitant price or not, he had it, and there was no point taking it with him. So long as he could afford the train into a major city when he returned, he could find somewhere else to sell his talents or trinkets until he could afford to return to the heart of the action.

"Here you go," he said, handing over the money to a slightly stunned looking barkeep. 

Halling took the notes, eyeing them, spreading them out in his hands to examine the lot of them. "This is.."

"A bit more, yes," Hohenheim said. "I thought I'd get a drink, while I was down here. Maybe a meal, as well - how much for one of those?" 

"Don't even worry about it, sir," Halling said, sounding halfway to stunned laughter. "This more than covered it."

Hohenheim returned the smile he was given, watching the man move away, presumably to go retrieve food and a drink for him. While he waited, he cast an eye around the room, pretending not to notice all the people pretending not to be watching him. 

His eyes landed on a newspaper at the end of the bar, and he reached out, dragging it close. The main story was something about a serial killer, which it seemed the government was having trouble getting leads on, so it had been handed off to state alchemists in East City. Other stories included a few minor skirmishes that Hohenheim was certain the homunculus had a hand in, a few political pieces, and a short story on a policy change for the military. He scanned each of these pieces, but didn't stop until the last one, eyes fixed on it as the words smeared together, their meaning nonsensical. 

FIRST STATE ALCHEMIST TITLE CHANGE, the article was headed. 

In an unprecedented decision earlier this week, the office of the Fuhrer issued a redaction of their initial acceptance of a state alchemist, reissuing the alchemist's position under a new title. The alchemist was one Major Theophrastus van Hohenheim, previously known as the Courier Alchemist, due to a specialty with distance transmutations. As of his rechristening, Hohenheim's title has become the Seeking Alchemist, for reasons unspecified. 

The article continued on, but Hohenheim stated blankly at it. 

That was his name. Not the one he used, maybe, but the one he'd been offered. One he'd accepted a part of, and lived with all this time. 

Had the homunculus issued it again? Was there to be another Number 23, thrown unwillingly into the depths of the nationwide array? 

"Here you go, sir."

Hohenheim looked up at the arrival of Halling. "I...Actually, I'm afraid something's come up."

Halling blinked at him. "...Pardon?"

Hohenheim pushed free from the bar. "Consider the money prepayment for the mens' drinks tonight," he offered. "I need to get going."

East City was the closest military base. From there, he could hunt this new 'Hohenheim' down. 

Perhaps he was bait, perhaps a red herring. Maybe it would be safer to ignore it. 

He couldn't afford to take that chance. 

“I hate this.” 

All eyes turned to Erin, standing in the middle of the room, a shirt clutched in her hands.

“If you need-...” Riza started. 

“I’m fine,” Erin cut her off. “But- I don’t think I can come back here. I think I should just-...just, sell everything, and get a new house. Start over.” 

“You can do that,” Riza said. “You can stay at my house in the meantime, as well, if you want.” 

Tension bleed out of Erin’s stance, her turning grateful eyes on Riza. “Thank you,” she said. “I just - he’s still here. He’s in everything. I don’t want her around him - not even his memory. He has to go.” 

“It’s understandable,” Riza assured her. 

“Relatable, even,” Theo chimed in. “When I left home, I burned the house down.” 

All eyes swiveled around to him, instead, all incredulous. 

He blinked at them. “....I commited a felony in it,” he reminded them. “I cleaned up the boys’ mess, but I wouldn’t touch mine. Just…” 

He mimed lighting a match and tossing it, complete with hand gestures for the fire rising in response. 

“You’re bad at handling emotions, aren’t you?” Erin asked.

“So they tell me.” 

“Mrs. Tucker!”

Theo straightened, looking to the door as Al rushed in. 

“Everything okay?” Theo asked, alarmed. 

“Yeah!” Al said. “Ed has Nina, but we think she wants Mrs. Tucker, because she keeps saying ‘mama.’” 

“I’ll see what she needs,” Erin said. “I think we’ve decided we’re done here, anyway.” 

“She talks?” Theo asked, astounded. 

“I’ll make arrangements to clean out the inside for sale,” Riza told Erin, completely ignoring him. “Theo, Roy, double check there’s nothing alchemic left?” 

“I think we’ve got it all,” Roy said, “but we can double check. I imagine we’ll have to go through things by hand, since the array doesn’t necessarily reveal the contents of every book in the house.” 

“How long has she talked?” Theo asked. “I didn’t know she was old enough to talk.”

“She babbles,” Erin told him. “She’s about eight months, now, she’s just small. How old were your kids, when they started to talk.” 

Theo grimaced. 

“You weren’t around?” Erin asked, voice flat and unimpressed.

“No, no, I was!” Theo said. “I stayed at home full time for a couple years when I first got married, until the kids were old enough to talk, but...it was kind of a weird time. I felt like I sat down at eighteen and stood up at twenty-three.” 

Erin laughed, significantly lighter after apparently judging Theo’s story as not entirely detestable. “Yeah, that happens. I feel like I just had her, and now she’s asking for me.” She turned, following Al, asking him, “Can you show me where you two have her?” 

“Downstairs, with brother!” Al replied, leading her away. 

“You’ve taken to Mrs. Tucker rather well,” Roy commented to Riza. 

“I like her,” Riza replied. “She’s strong, going through what she has and coming out still doing her best for her daughter. We get along pretty well, too.” She eyed Roy. “Funny what happens when you spend time with someone and talk to them regularly. You actually learn things about them. Isn’t that odd?” 

Roy rolled his eyes. “Point taken, Riza.”  

“What point?” Theo looked between them. “Did I miss something?”

The future of the country rests on this man, Riza thought, giving him an unimpressed look. And he genuinely just asked me what I meant by that. 

“Find the rest of the alchemy crap,” she said, rather than answer. “The sooner we get this place off her hands, the better.”

“You just want to trap her as a roommate,” Roy muttered. 

“What was that?” she asked, eyeing him dangerously, hand twitching toward her holster, half-concealed beneath civilian clothes.  

“Nothing,” Roy said quickly. “Theo, will the array help us at all?” 

“Nah,” Theo said. “We should search everything. Normal weapons are dangerous, too, and there’s no telling what else he might have.” He looked to Riza. “Her bedroom, I’m skipping, though. You can check that, if you want, but I’m not sticking my nose in it.”

“A good call,” Riza said. “I’ll do that, then, and then go down to meet her. If I take her home, you two can manage?”

“My apartment isn’t far,” Theo said. “We walked here, we can walk back.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Roy said. “Your apartment is near the office, and I can take a car from there.”

“Good, we’re all settled, then,” Riza said. “Good hunting.” 

She left the room, pretending not to notice Roy mouthing ‘home’ to himself as she turned away.

One of them could recognize positive changes in their lives, at least, even if the others were absolute idiots about it. 

Notes:

98% of my characterization of hohenheim is from his dialogue during his fight with father
bc he's an edgy badass that's like 'you cant defeat my squad of souls' but at the same time he responded to being trapped in stone by quietly transmuting a door and then came through it and deadass went "can we not do this i dont fight very well" which proves that hes just as much of a chaotic dumbass dork as ed/theo is

Chapter 48

Summary:

“I trust Riza. She’ll get them home safe, and Pinako’s got them from there.” 

“You two are getting along now, I see,” Roy said.

Notes:

yall fun fact...riza/erin was not my intention but it looks like all of us are boarding this ship anyway

Here's some disaster gays having Important Conversations

“Riza’s taking Al and Ed back to the apartment,” Theo told Roy, returning to the room upstairs they’d unofficially dubbed their starting point. 

“You let her take them?” Roy asked, surprised. 

“They would’ve been bored out of their minds without Nina to watch,” Theo said. “I trust Riza. She’ll get them home safe, and Pinako’s got them from there.” 

“You two are getting along now, I see,” Roy said. “You said you two had to rescue Erin from Envy...I know you talked them around as an ally, but other than that, what happened? You two clearly bonded.” 

"Eh… " Theo avoided his eyes. "A lot of things. And, nothing, really...It's complicated."

Roy frowned. "How complicated?"

Theo picked up a book off a shelf of Erin's things, thumbing through it. 

"Theo."

"I told her some stuff about me," Theo said. "Just...a little about how I got into this, how I know the homunculi and all. She knows what all I have riding on this, is all, so she knows I'm not gonna screw you over." 

Roy sighed. He didn't bother to ask if it was something Theo felt like sharing again - his avoidant behavior clearly stated otherwise. Neither, really, could he trust that Riza would tell him, because she would likely respect whatever was keeping Theo's mouth closed. 

To his surprise, though, his sigh was met with a frustrated huff, and Theo turning to look at him, expression pained. 

“Look,” he said. “I’m sorry. I know it’s gotta be annoying that I’m not telling you everything, but- there’s just too much of it. I didn’t tell her everything, either, just...the main bit.” 

“And I don’t suppose I could ask what that is?” 

Theo grimaced. “Mustang-...I really want you in the loop, I swear, but...I only told them because Greed and Envy would have probably attacked us if I hadn’t.” 

“The homunculi know?”

Roy felt a little bad about it, the second it was out, as Theo winced, but it was just so frustrating, that he’d already gone all in on deciding to trust Theo and he wasn’t being trusted in return, even when the information had already been given to far less trustworthy parties. 

“Why does it matter?” Theo asked, almost pleading. “It doesn’t change what I’ve already told you. You know what I’m planning, what I’m trying to do. Who cares where I came from? Why does it matter who I was?”

“Have you considered,” Roy asked, “that it isn’t about strategy?” 

Theo blinked at him. “...What?” 

“In Ishval, I killed countless innocent people,” Roy said. 

Theo frowned at him. “I know. Under Bradley’s orders. It was-...”

“That doesn’t help us,” Roy said. “You know the power of my alchemy, but you don’t need that as an example. You know my political influence, but it doesn’t really matter what started me searching for it. But you still know, because, at the end of the day, it’s a part of who I am, and I want to know you. My team are my family, Theo. I invest in people. Win or lose, I want to know who I’m fighting beside. Who I’m fighting for.” 

Theo stared at him, stunned. After a long pause, he quietly murmured, “Knowing me isn’t a good thing, Mustang.” 

“I’d say the same about myself,” Roy returned. “But you chose to work with me anyway. You said you liked me, a minute ago - well, I’ve already gotten to like you, too. There’s very little you can say about who you were that would change my mind.” 

Theo blinked...then let out a soft, surprised laugh, shaking his head. “So fucking stubborn,” he muttered to himself. “What is it with me and stubborn?” 

“You seem to be a magnet for it,” Roy teased. “Mrs. Tucker, Riza, me, those boys, Miss Rockbell…” 

“Both Miss Rockbells,” Theo corrected. “Winry’s just as much of a menace as Pinako. She’s just a kid right now, but you just wait - she’s gonna be a terror. Say a fuckin’ prayer for Ed. He’s gonna need it.” 

“I don’t believe I’ve spoken to Winry,” Roy said. “The few times I’ve been by, she’s kept quiet.”

“She’s not shy,” Theo said. “She’s just nosy. She stays quiet so you’ll talk more.” He tipped his head back, sighing. “My wife was that way, but my dumb ass never really caught on until I’d already talked myself into a corner. I’d sit there and ramble about work until she’d cut me off and ask when I was going back.” He reached up, fingers combing through his hair. “I don’t think I ever fooled her for a second.” He sighed again. “Ed has to worry about that, now. Winry’s gonna be able to take him apart soon. Literally, once he gets that leg on- Rockbells and their automail. A menace.” 

“From what I’ve seen, he’ll be fine,” Roy said. “He hasn’t talked to me, much, either, but he reminds me a lot of you.”

Theo let out a strangled noise. “You have no idea,” he said, nonsensically, before abruptly turning away and looking back over the room. “One of us should take each floor and search it. Then we can trade off and double check, just to be sure. Sound good?” 

“Works for me,” Roy agreed. 

Tiny glimpses into Theo’s soul were all Roy was going to get, he knew, but he fed on those scraps like a starving dog. One day, perhaps, he’d get something substantial, but he doubted he  would ever be sated. The enigma of the other man was a puzzle that grew ever larger with every piece he put in place, and as frustrating as it could be, it was a joy to solve it.

“I’ll take downstairs,” he volunteered. It was best to get started - before his internal musings got any closer to a pathetic pining. 

“When are you moving back into your house, Mrs. Tucker?”

Erin winced. “Call me Erin, honey,” she told Al. “And I’m not. I’m going to sell it.” 

“Sell it?” Al echoed. “But then where will you live?” 

“With me,” Riza answered, at the same time Erin said, “I’ll buy a new one.” 

A beat of silence passed. 

“Lieutenant Hawkeye is letting me stay with her until I’m ready to move,” Erin elaborated, slightly awkwardly. “Which is very nice of her.” 

“It saved you from Theo’s couch, at least,” Riza said. 

“You could’ve stayed with us?” Ed asked. “Nina, too?” 

“I don’t make a habit of travelling without my daughter, so-...”

“Aw, man,” Ed sighed, slumping in his seat. “That would have been so cool. Winry could’ve met Nina, too! I bet she’d love her. And then we could’ve played with her more, too…”

Erin laughed. “Well, let me know if you ever want me to bring her around for an evening,” she said. “Not for too long, though - I hear your house is rather full at the moment.”

“It’s just us,” Ed defended. “And Winry, and Granny, and Theo. There’s three bedrooms and five people, and me and Al share, and so do Winry and Granny, so we all fit. And Theo only sleeps for a couple hours, too, so I don’t know why he even has a bedroom, honestly.” 

Erin frowned, looking over her shoulder from the passenger seat, into the back to look at the boys. “Theo doesn’t sleep?” 

“He’s always working on alchemy notes and stuff,” Al said. “Brother doesn’t sleep very well, either, ‘cause his port hurts-...”

“Al!”

“-...so they work on alchemy together early in the morning,” Al finished, steamrolling over his brother’s protests. “And then when Theo goes to work, Ed shows me what they worked on, and I help him get it further, so that he has new stuff to show Theo the next morning. I’d like to join them, but Theo says he’s not gonna wake me up that early, ‘cause it would mess with my ‘sleep schedule’ and I’d be really tired all day, but they aren’t tired all the time, and brother’s only one year older so it’s not because I’m too young, either.” 

“We’re used to not sleeping, now, though,” Ed protested. “You’re not.”

“You weren’t when you started staying up,” Al pointed out. “You had to get used to it. I could, too.”

“Both of you should be sleeping,” Erin told them. “And Theo, too. Your body doesn’t function as well without sleep.” 

“We sleep,” Ed said. “Just not a lot. We have important stuff to do.” 

“Sleeping is important stuff,” Erin argued. “Especially for Theo. You boys remind him that he’s a grown man, not a teenager, please? If he doesn’t take care of himself, I don’t know how he expects to get anything accomplished.” 

A soft, amused exhale sounded beside her, and she turned to see Riza fighting a smile. 

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you laughing at me?” she asked. “I’ll have you know that you don’t sleep enough, either. You don’t have to get up with me every time Nina cries. If she wakes you, just go back to sleep. I’ll get her.” 

“You deserve a break,” Riza said. “Me helping you means you can go back to sleep yourself a lot sooner. I’d offer to handle her myself, sometimes, if I thought you’d agree to it.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

Riza looked at her, surprised, before quickly jerking her eyes back front and fixing them on the road. “I didn’t think you’d want anyone else handling her.” 

“You think I’d trust two boys who aren’t even in their teens to watch her for an hour and not trust you to feed her?” 

Riza’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I didn’t want to stress you out by removing her from you watch, especially after everything with Envy.” 

“Oh,” Al cut in, “what happened? With who?” 

“If Theo hasn’t told you, then I’m not going to,” Riza said.

“You don’t stress me out,” Erin protested. “I know you’re not Envy, now, so long as they’re an ally, so I’m not scared of you touching Nina. If you want to feed her or play with her, go ahead. I trust you.” 

Riza spared a glance sideways at her again. “...Thank you.”

“No, thank you ,” Erin said. 

“You don’t have to thank me,” Riza said. “Letting you stay isn’t any problem for me.” 

“I meant for volunteering to help,” Erin said. “I’m excited to see how many diaper changes you last through.”

Riza snorted. “I’ve taken care of Roy and our investigations team for years,” she said. “They’re much higher maintenance than Nina. And require much harsher methods of control.” 

“That reminds me,” Erin said, and then lowered her voice, making it harder for the boys to follow. “Can you teach me how to shoot a gun?” 

Riza blinked, frowning her way for a second, before giving a hesitant, grim nod. “I can. I’m not sure how good of a teacher I’ll be, but if you want to know, I’d be happy to show you.” 

“You willing to let me shatter some bottles in your backyard?” 

Riza scoffed. “Bottles. I don’t want glass in my grass. No, they make clay targets, that break down in dirt - we’ll use some of those. I think I have a stand I can set them up on to start with, and we’ll work on throwing them later.” 

“Throwing them?” 

“Most people don’t sit still when you’re going to shoot them,” Riza said. “Moving targets are better practice.” 

Erin let out a slow, steadying breath. “Right. Okay.” 

Riza reached out, patting Erin’s arm gently, waiting for her to look up and meet her eyes. She held her gaze a second before looking reluctantly back out onto the road, safety overriding her ability to comfort. 

“You’ll be fine,” she assured Erin. “If you want to learn self-defense, I’ll teach you, but don’t think for a second that means I’m leaving you alone in danger. Any time you are forced to point a gun at someone, expect mine to be aimed there, too.” 

Erin covered Riza’s hand, giving her a grateful smile. “Thank you, Lieutenant.” 

“Riza,” she corrected.

“And call me Erin,” Erin returned. “I need to get rid of his name, anyway. Carrying him around..it’s something I don’t need.” 

“...Um,” a voice spoke up from the back, and Riza looked to the rearview mirror to meet Al’s eyes. “Miss Lieutenant Hawkeye?”

“Yes, Al?”

“I think we passed our road.” 

Riza looked at the street signs around her, before letting out a string of curses. 

Erin giggled in the passenger seat. 

“No one tell Theo,” Riza warned them. 

“That you almost kidnapped his kids?” Erin teased. 

Riza hunched forward a bit, eyes fixed firmly to the road, cheeks slightly pink. “I forgot we had them,” she admitted, very quietly.

Erin threw her head back in a laugh.

“What?” Ed asked. “What’s funny?” 

“Your big brother is contagious,” Erin informed them. “Only an hour with him and we’re all getting distractible.” 

“Never compare me to Theo,” Riza said, false sternly. “He genuinely asked me earlier what I meant about Roy not talking to people he likes. Looked me dead in the eye and asked what I meant.”

“What does that mean?” Al asked. 

“It means,” Riza said, “That your brother is the single smartest man I have ever met in my life...and also an idiot.” 

“Especially where Colonel Mustang is concerned,” Erin added.

“The military guy?” Ed asked. “Theo likes him.” 

“We know.” 

Erin and Riza spared a glance at each other after finding they spoke in perfect unison, before both bursting out in laughter again.

In the backseat, Ed and Al shared a look. 

Adults were weird.  

Notes:

Riza is the most function member of Team Mustang because she is very driven and focused
And right now that focus is absolutely not on operating a vehicle

Chapter 49

Summary:

Theo felt like his skin was buzzing, a terrible energy trapped beneath it. “No thanks,” he said. “It’s not far. I could use the walk.”

Notes:

this chapter does several things and im curious to see the reactions to it...
very short roy/theo chat, checkin in on our favorite palm tree, and an opportunity in which we may learn riza's stance on 'snitches get stitches'

To the relief of the two men searching it, Erin’s house turned up no more alchemic surprises, with a single exception: hidden inside a vent, of all things, was a tiny notebook, even more heavily coded than the ones in the box. 

Tell Mustang, Theo’s mind had screamed at him when he discovered it. Add it to the others. 

“Did you find anything?” Mustang asked, when they met up to leave. 

The notebook felt heavy in his jacket pocket.

“Nope,” he said, the word bitter in his mouth. “House was clean. We can go.” 

“Need a ride?” Mustang asked. “So you don’t have to walk?”

Theo felt like his skin was buzzing, a terrible energy trapped beneath it. “No thanks,” he said. “It’s not far. I could use the walk.”

“I didn’t…” 

Theo looked to Mustang, raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t offend you, did I?” he asked. “Earlier. It’s really none of my business, if you don’t-...”

“You’re fine,” Theo cut him off. “It’s just - I just left a lot of stuff behind, and I’m trying to build something new. I can’t go back to who I was, and telling you about it...it just feels like I’m dragging it up again. Like I’m trying to make you be who he was, and that’s not fair to either of us.” 

“I’m not trying to take anyone’s place,” Mustang said. “Still, I meant it when I said I want to know you.” 

“I know,” Theo said. “I’m-... I’ll try. That’s all I’ve got, right now.” 

Mustang smiled at him. “That’s all I can ask for.” 

“You should be in Central.”

“Is that what he said?” Envy asked, staring out the church window. “I thought he said to look for sacrifices.”

“You know what he meant,” Lust said. 

“I sure did,” Envy agreed, sticking a finger against the window, pointing out into the street below. “What about her? She looks fun. I bet we could talk her into it.” 

“You’re an idiot,” Lust told them. “I won’t get in the way if he comes after you. I’ve stuck my neck out for you too many times already.”

Envy snorted. “He doesn’t give a shit where I am, as long as I’m not in his way. We have all the sacrifices we need.” 

“....The boys,” Lust said, slowly. “But you told Wrath-...”

“Do you think he believed me?” Envy said, turning to look at her. “Fuck no. He’s got them marked for sure. Personally, I hope he fucking tries. Theo will obliterate him. You should’ve seen what he did to Greed.” 

Lust’s eyes widened. “You…”

Envy looked to the side, crossing the room. “Gluttony, buddy.” 

Gluttony looked up, fingertips dragging at his bottom lip. “..Food..?”

“What if you weren’t hungry?” Envy said, approaching him, crouching down to his level. “What if someone fed you something, one day, and that was it? No more aching. That empty place closes up, and you’re free.”

Gluttony blinked large, glassy eyes. “Not...hungry…?”

“You’d be able to be something else,” Envy said. 

“Envy, stop,” Lust warned, a slight waver to her voice. 

“Else?” Gluttony asked, sounding intrigued. 

“Something stronger,” Envy said. “Something smarter. More like Lust?”

Gluttony beamed, a large hand coming out to grip hard on Envy’s shoulder. “Like Lust? Me, like Lust?” 

“Clever and strong,” Envy said.

“Envy!” Lust shouted, voice desperate. “Stop! Stop this, right now!”

“I want it!” Gluttony cried, shaking Envy a bit. “Want to be like Lust!” 

“You’ve made your point!” Lust cried. “Leave him out of it!” 

Envy got to their feet, rounding on her. “You tried to tell me that all you cared about was recognition,” they accused. “You should be thrilled, right now. Someone wants nothing more in life than to reach your level, to be the ideal - which they consider to be you. It’s everything you want, isn’t it?”

Lust stared at him, pained. “You won’t win me this way,” she said, low and warning. “To find a weak point and use it like a weapon - you’re no better than him.” 

To her surprise, Envy gave a bitter grin in response. “I’m not,” they agreed. “But he is.” 

Lust narrowed her eyes. “...You’re working for Hohenheim.” 

“Theo’s alchemy is unparalleled,” Envy told her. “He took Greed down in a fraction of a second. Dragged the philosopher’s stone straight out of him.” 

Lust stared. “Greed’s dead?”

“No,” Envy told her, coming up to her, grinning wildly. “That’s what’s amazing, Lust - Greed is alive. He’s fine - he’s human.”

Lust froze. “...That’s not-...”

“Possible?” Envy finished. “It is. I saw it. Theo isn’t a homunculus, but he isn’t fully human, either. It’s his Gate-...It took me a minute to put it together, but Greed says he saw it. Theo’s Gate isn’t like a normal human’s…” Envy looked to her, begging her to understand. “Lust, his Gate is open.” 

Lust blinked. “He...what?” she asked. “What does that mean? How…?”

“He’s a living, breathing conduit,” Envy said. “I don’t fully understand it, but Greed said he saw Theo, in this void of nothing, like the one we came from, except the Gate behind him stood open. And Theo looked at him, and spoke to someone, and Greed felt something behind him, and turned around and saw a new Gate, building itself out of the ground.”

“Greed’s Gate,” Lust breathed. “He took his stone-…”

“And made a Gate,” Envy finished. “Lust, Theo did it. He became what Father wishes he could be.” 

“You’re saying he’s a god?” Lust asked, incredulous. 

“No,” Envy said. “He understands. Father wants to know how alchemy works, how the world functions, to control it. Theo understands already. He knows it, on a fundamental level. Every detail, every secret, he knows. And it isn’t destroying him, because he’s not changing it. He’s guiding it.”

“A conduit,” Lust echoed their earlier word. “Father’s usurping of Heaven - the world won’t allow it. It chose a champion.”

“And that,” Envy agreed, “is Theo.”  

Lust looked to the side, out the window, and then back again, eyes settling on Gluttony.

“Changing?” Gluttony asked, eager. “Make me like Lust?” 

Lust let out a low, long breath, turning back to Envy. 

And then, shoulders slumping in defeat, she breathed, “Tell me what to do.” 

“Theo’s back!”

Theo stepped into the apartment, pressing his fingertips to the door to reseal the alarm arrays drawn on it, listening to Winry’s call and the rush of footsteps and squeaking wheels as they came to greet him. 

“Hey, guys,” he said, turning to face them, hanging up his coat as he entered. “You two get home okay?”

“We’re here,” Ed said. “In one piece, technically.” 

“Eh, our bodies are one piece,” Theo said, shifting his leg to indicate it. “Just a slightly smaller piece than before.” 

“I am not small.”

Theo laughed. 

“I’m not!” Ed called, leg kicking out. “I will take you out at the shins, I swear! I’m a normal size!” 

“I’m not arguing!” Theo said, hands up in surrender. “I was about a solid 150cm until I was almost eighteen, okay.”

“Eighteen?!” Ed shrieked. “It takes that long to grow?” 

Theo grinned at him. “Worried? I thought you weren’t short?”

The wheelchair lurched forward with a harsh tug at the wheels, rolling fast for Theo’s legs, forcing the man to scramble a few steps backward. 

“Okay, okay, point taken!” he called, laughing. “Ed’s not short, Pinako’s not old-...”

“Miss Hawkeye didn’t forget where the apartment was,” Al added cheerfully. 

“Snitch!” Ed cried, looking to Al. “She said not to tell him!” 

“Tell me what?” Theo asked, looking between them. “Riza forgot where we live?” 

“They said she was talking to Mrs. Tucker,” Winry offered, helpfully. “They said she said she’d bring Nina here! Can she, Theo? I wanna meet her.” 

Theo rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, if she wants to. I was originally going to offer for her to stay with us, but Riza beat me to it. Probably a good thing-...Erin and Pinako? I’d probably die.” 

“Why would you die?” Winry asked. “Would they fight or something?” 

“Yeah,” Theo said, “fight me. They’re both quick to call me on my shit, for sure.” 

“Mrs. Tucker got onto Lieutenant Hawkeye, too,” Al informed him. 

Theo blinked. “...I can’t picture it. Riza’s never done anything wrong in her life.” 

“She drove about three minutes past our building,” Ed offered. 

“I almost walked past it,” Theo said. “And I live here.” 

“Yeah, but that’s you,” Ed said. 

Theo stared at him, baffled. “The fuck does that mean?”

“Bad word,” Winry warned.

As though summoned, Pinako appeared in the living room doorway, weilding a wrench. “Watch your goddamn mouth around my grandchildren, you foulmouthed overgrown toddler!”

“Overgrown?” Theo echoed. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Granny.” 

He ducked the tool that came flying his way, listening to the hiss and crackle as it hit the wall, dented the drywall, and was immediately obliterated by a perimeter ward. 

“You’re replacing that!” Pinako called to him as she turned to leave the room. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Theo sighed. “I have to fix the wall now, too.” 

“Can I do it?” Ed asked. 

“Oh, I wanna help!” Al agreed, coming up to look.

“Something’s going to explode, isn’t it?” Winry asked, tiredly. 

“Probably,” Theo agreed. 

“I’m gonna help Granny,” she said, turning to leave. “Boys are so dumb.” 

“Say that to my face, grease monkey-...!” Ed started, spinning one wheel to turn after her, but Al simply grabbed his chair and whisked him back around to face the wards. 

Theo laughed, watching them, before turning back to the wall, shaking his head. “I love this family.” 

The room fell silent. 

Theo, realizing what he’d said, tensed a bit, looking down at Ed and Al, who were staring at him, wide-eyed. 

A lot of presumptions were in that statement, as offhand as he’d made it. He needed to be careful - Ed and Al went through a lot, and he could remember his bitter feelings toward family as a concept in that time-...

But then Ed kicked his leg a bit, muttering, “I think mom would have liked you. If she’d met you.”

Theo’s hands dropped from the wall, the lines of the alchemy array fleeing his mind in a wave. The entire interaction faded from his thoughts, leaving only a blank, stunned stare at Ed.

“She would have,” Al agreed. “She loved alchemy...I think she would’ve been really proud-...Oh!”

Theo caught them both at the shoulders, dragging them in, hugging them tight. His eyes burned, but he refused to cry, at least while he was in front of them. 

“I’ve never been good family,” Theo told them, quietly. “And I don’t deserve half of the good things I’ve got, you two included. But...I want to be better. I want to be worth being family to you.”

Ed scoffed, hand coming up to clench in the back of Theo’s shirt. “That’s stupid,” he muttered. “You’re already our brother. You don’t need to do anything.” 

“We love you, too, Theo,” Al agreed. “You’re-...you’re really important to us. We didn’t think we’d get to be a family again.” 

“Do me a favor, guys,” Theo said, pulling back, looking at them both solemnly. “Do not let me fuck this up.” 

“You’ll be fine,” Ed said. 

“We’re not as mean to you as you are,” Al said. “...We should fix the wall now, though.” 

Theo laughed, scrubbing at his face with a hand, trying to get himself under control. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let’s get it fixed...and then I have a couple theories we can work on, if you want.” 

“Hell yeah!” Ed cheered loudly.

“Don’t swear so loud!” Theo warned. “You’ll get me in trouble again.” 

“You’re always in trouble,” Al informed him. “You’re lucky she doesn’t really mind.” 

Theo gave a heavy sigh. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, I am.” 

Notes:

theo: these wards could keep out a full assault by homunculi
pinako: (throws a regular wrench)
theo: nO THEYRE DELICATE

Chapter 50

Summary:

“Congratulations, asshole,” Theo said. “You’ve reached the point.” 

Notes:

in a rare turn of events, this whole chapter is only a single scene, instead of a collection of them
it's also not the full scene, either
the next chapter will include the conclusion to this scene
yeah. its a biggie, lads.

It took two trains to get from Youswell to East City, changing trains in New Optain. The total travel time fell at just under five hours, with some added time for the waiting at the station he had to do. Anxiety and focus made it difficult to do more than lightly pick at a meal provided by the train staff, which meant that by the time he arrived in the city, he was hungry and very, very tired. 

It was all he could do to find a last minute room to rent and collapse into it, sucked into a restless sleep. 

Or, at least, that’s what he expected to do - instead, he laid down, and almost immediately felt himself upright again, opening his eyes to a new place.

It was a void, familiar and foreign at once. He felt he knew it, but couldn’t think from where - couldn’t think much of anything, too thrown by endless expanses of white in every direction.

“Oh, fuck no.” 

At the sound of another voice, Hohenheim turned, looking to see a man watching him with furious eyes. 

Furious golden eyes, to match golden hair - this man was of Xerxes, no doubt about it. He felt familiar, much like the void, but Hohenheim couldn’t name him, either. 

The man, however, did not seem to have the same issue. He seemed to have recognized Hohenheim, and was clearly very unhappy about it. 

“What’s the deal?” the man asked. Hohenheim had the strangest impression that he wasn’t the one being spoken to, even if no one else was present. “Mustang stopped making me feel like shit, so you gave me someone else? Fucking pass. I don’t want to know what he has to tell me. Bad enough I have to talk to the real one.”

Hohenheim shifted, frowning. “I...I believe you may have the wrong impression.”

The man narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m serious,” he said. Again, even though his eyes were fixed firmly on Hohenheim, it seemed like he was addressing someone else. “Fuck off.”

The void around them vanished. Hohenheim looked around in surprise at their new scene: his house, from years before. His sons sat at the table, young as he left them, leaning together over a book. In the background flitted another figure, dancing about the kitchen.

“Trisha,” Hohenheim breathed. 

“NO!” 

Hohenheim startled, looking to the man. He looked wild, now, and furious, stepping backwards away from the scene as though it were something gruesome.

“No, no, no,” the man said. “You don’t get to do this to me. I’ve done everything you asked, you asshole, and more, so fuck off.”

“Who are you?” Hohenheim asked. As painful as it was to turn from his family, he did, looking to this stranger instead. “How do you know them?”

The stranger turned wide eyes on him. For the first time, Hohenheim felt he was actually being seen, as opposed to whatever illusion the man had believed him to be. 

When he spoke, it was to Hohenheim, not their unseen companion.

“Fuck you.”

Hohenheim blinked at him. “I don’t know who you are,” he said, “but you don’t seem to have the same problem.” 

A thought occurred to him, and he tipped his head. 

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Hohenheim asked. He raised a hand to his chest, fingertips resting against it. “From the Stone.”

“What?” the man asked. “No. No, shut up, why-...” He shook his head. Looking pained, he looked over Hohenheim’s shoulder again, into the scene behind them. 

His shoulders slumped. 

“You win, fucker,” the man muttered. “I’ll talk to him. Just...just take her away. Please.” 

The house bled away, leaving them in a white void again. 

“I wish you hadn’t done that,” Hohenheim sighed. “I miss them.”

“Oh, fuck off,” the man said. “No you don’t. You miss pretending to be human, and having anybody actually fucking buy it.” 

Hohenheim stared at the man. “You definitely aren’t from the Stone,” he said. “I’d know if one of them had such a low opinion of me.”

“You have no idea,” the man said. “Okay, then. What’s your message, huh? What the hell am I learning from you?” He threw his hands into the air. “Should I guess? ‘Don’t be a fucking hypocryte, Theo, you’re a piece of shit, too?’ More shit with-...”

“Theo?” 

The man - Theo, it seemed - cut off, watching him with clear suspicion. 

“Theophrastus von Hohenheim,” Hohenheim said. “It’s you. You’re the new one he created.” 

The other Hohenheim frowned at him, a slow horror dawning on his face. 

“You’re real,” he breathed. “You’re actually- You’re actually here.” 

“Where is ‘here,’ exactly?” Hohenheim asked, looking around. “It feels like I’ve been here, but there’s nothing to recognize it by, if I have. It feels like something’s missing.” 

“The Gate,” Theo said. “He stopped showing it to me ages ago. I get the room, nothing else.” 

‘Room’ seemed an interesting term for something that appeared to have neither walls nor defined structure, but Hohenheim was not around to argue semantics. Instead, he asked, “Who is ‘he’?” 

“Truth,” Theo said. “He-... You really can’t remember this place? At all?” 

“Should I?” Hohenheim asked. “I really don’t recall.” Looking at Theo, glancing over him, he asked, “Are you a homunculus?”

“Homunculi can’t come here,” Theo said. “Least, I don’t think. It shredded Greed when I brought him. No Gate, no access, I guess.” He narrowed his eyes at Hohenheim. “Why are you here? Did you do something? Human transmutation?” 

Hohenheim blinked at him, stunned. “No,” he said. “Of course not. That’s a horrible practice.” 

“‘Practice’ makes it sound like you can perfect it,” Theo said. “But whatever. If you aren’t doing anything, how did you get here? Did he talk to you?”

“‘Truth,’ I presume?” Hohenheim asked. “I have no idea who that is, so no. If you’re not a homunculus, are you human?”

“...Mostly,” Theo said. “Plus or minus a few pieces. Where are you?”

The questions game seemed to be getting them nowhere of substance, so Hohneheim abandoned it. Instead, he replied, “If you’re working with the homunculus-...”

“I’m not, thanks for fucking asking,” Theo cut him off. “I’m working on taking him out before he blows the country to hell. I’ve made a lot more progress than you at it, too, so you’re welcome. I’m sure you’re glad somebody is cleaning up your mess.” 

Hohenheim frowned. “So long as he dies,” he said. “I just want this to be over. I’d like to go home, eventually.”

“You don’t have a home,” Theo snarled at him. At Hohenheim’s confusion, he spat, “She died, fucker. She got sick, and you weren’t there. She’s gone.” 

Hohenheim’s blood ran cold. “...What?”

“She died,” Theo repeated, voice falling down to a quiet, broken murmur, too defeated to carry more than a hint of his anger. “And without her, your sons got desperate.” 

Hohenheim’s heart pounded in his chest. “They-...”

“Tried to bring her back,” Theo confirmed.

Hohenheim felt his throat close. “What…” he choked out. “...What did it take?” 

“Ed lost a leg,” Theo said. “It would have taken all of Al, and Ed’s arm with it, if I hadn’t been dropped into the middle of it.” 

“You?” Hohenheim asked. “What do you mean?”

Theo’s chin tipped up.

“This is the second life I’ve lived,” he said. 

“You were resurrected?” Hohenheim asked. “That’s impossible.” 

“It is,” Theo agreed. “And I wasn’t. I didn’t come back to life - I jumped through time.” 

Hohenheim blinked. 

“It sounds insane,” he said, “but I got caught in a transmutation-...The theory of it is still kind of vague, but as far as I can tell, alchemy exists outside of time and space. Truth took the chance of it being ripped open to make an exchange: my life, every second of it I lived, in exchange for their futures. I’m getting the chance to set it right, this time.” 

Hohenheim watched him, warily. “You...came back in time, then?” he said. “You saw what happened? That’s what you mean by ‘this time,’ isn’t it?” 

“Yep,” Theo said. “I’ve changed things a lot, already, but…” He looked away, muttering a curse, before forcing out - eyes locked to the ground - “But I could still use your help.” 

“If you’re taking down the homunculus, our goals are aligned,” Hohenheim said. “Tell me, though...what happened?”

“He won,” Theo said, looking back to him. “The whole country went down.”

“No…”

“Yes,” Theo said. “We fought hard, though...a lot of people died, and a lot more people were hurt, but we were able to reverse it. The country was saved, but it was bloody, and messy. My brother sacrificed himself just to give me a fighting chance...and I took it and pummeled the shit out of Father, I can tell you that.” 

“Father,” Hohenheim muttered. “A horrible title. He has no claim to fatherhood.” 

“And you do?” 

Hohenheim looked at him. “I have-...”

“Two sons?” Theo said. “I know. I’m one of them.” 

Hohenheim stared. 

“You think someone used your name again, asshole?” Theo asked. “No. I was born and lived as Edward Elric. I took your name because I didn’t fucking have anything else.” 

“Edward,” Hohenehim breathed. “You’re-...” 

His heart stopped. 

“Your brother,” he realized. “Alphonse? He…”

“I got him back,” Theo/Ed told him. “I gave up my Gate.”

“...You can’t do that,” Hohenheim said. “Your Gate links you to the world beyond. To lose it would make you inhuman.” 

“Yeah,” Theo said. “I figured that out the hard way.” 

Hohenheim felt sick. “Your mother…” he murmured. “You lost everything.” He looked to his son again. “When did she…?”

“I was five when she died,” Theo said. “Ed’s 11, now, if you forgot.” 

As horrible as it was, he almost had. Time turned fluid around him at the worst times, and it was hard to remember what point in the turning of the earth he’d found himself in. 

“You grew up orphans,” Hohenheim realized. “I left you alone.” 

“Congratulations, asshole,” Theo said. “You’ve reached the point.” 

“But you’re here again, now?” Hohenheim asked. “You were able to reverse time? If you succeeded-...” 

“Succeeded?!” 

Hohenheim stopped at the exclamation. “You…”

“I had a family!” Theo screamed at him. “I had a life! I had a fucking gaping hole in my chest that I never filled because I ripped apart my own soul to fix your fucking mistake! I’ve clawed my way through every single day since I was five because everything, everything I loved was taken from me, at some point or another. I offered my life to Truth when I was eleven to save my brother’s life, and by some miracle, it worked, and I lived for him for nearly twenty years, because I didn’t fucking have anything else! I got married because that’s what you do and I had kids because that’s what you do, and then I fucking turned around and became the same piece of shit you were and never fucking saw them because I was running around the country beating the shit out of rogue alchemists who I was jealous of because even if they were selling their damn souls, at least they had one left! I loved two people and didn’t really love either, because I wasn’t capable of it. I defined myself by Al and only saw him when he hunted me down because I was ashamed of what I’d turned into.”

Theo’s shoulders shook as he heaved heavy breaths. “And,” he continued, “And all this, all this shame, all this shit- I’d still take it all back if I could, because I loved them, and they were my family, and that was my life, and I lost every single second of it, because for some reason even when I do things right, I fuck them up. This isn’t a goddamn success, dad, this is me giving the fuck up. I’m not here to be a hero. I just want it to be over.”

They stared at each other, Hohenheim taking in Theo’s appearance. He was shaking, tears streaked down his face, wild and livid expression fixed on Hohenheim. 

Very, very slowly, Hohenheim took a step forward. Keeping his eyes fixed on Theo’s, he approached, one step at a time, until they were right in front of each other, a mere foot apart.

“I’m sorry, son,” Hohenheim murmured to him. “There’s no forgiveness for what I’ve done to you...You should never have been left to fix the things I got wrong.”

He reached out, settling hands on Theo’s shoulders, watching the shaken look he got in response…and then very gently pulling, dragging his son into a tight hug.

“For what little its worth,” Hohenheim told him, “I am so, so proud of you. You’ve done more than I ever could have.” 

They stood together a long, tense moment...before Hohenheim felt hands come up to bunch into the fabric of his shirt, a face turning into the space of his shoulder, his son falling apart in his arms. 

Hohenheim held tight to him, aching, and swore to himself that he would not let him suffer any more.

Whatever it took. 

Notes:

i usually pick my summaries from the first bit of the story but i couldn't resist picking the one i did, even if it is way into the chapter

no joke for this chapter, but some more feels, using shitposting songs? I write present Theo/Roy to "Only Us" from Dear Evan Hansen, past Theo/Roy to "White Flag" by Dido, and past Theo/Winry to the Hozier cover of "Say My Name"

Chapter 51

Summary:

“Don’t think I’m not fucking mad about it, either,” Theo snapped to him. “I’m still gonna punch you in your stupid face the second you show up. Ed will, too, probably.” 

Notes:

now that some emotional catharsis has happened, let's get back to the shitposting
i mean plot
(i mean both)

“I left them,” Theo confessed, quietly. “I had a family, and I never spent any time with them. I just...visited.” 

“We’re stubborn men,” Hohenheim said. “We refuse to be less than perfect, and the alternative is to be nothing. You couldn’t give all of yourself, so you gave little...I couldn’t give Trisha the rest of my life, so I held it back, biding my time until I could give her what she deserved. And I waited too long.” 

Theo reached up, scrubbing at his own face. He felt drained, heavy and tired, too much pain pouring from him all at once leaving him exhausted. 

“Did you mean romantically?” 

Theo looked up, eyebrows scrunching up in confusion. “What?” 

“When you said you loved two people,” Hohenheim said. “For a second, I assumed Winry and Alphonse, but you kept going and it sounded more-...” He paused, seemingly catching something on Theo’s face, and hummed, “Ah. Nevermind.”

“Yeah,” Theo said, stomach sinking. He hadn’t even noticed the words come out of his mouth, but now he could remember saying them, remember spitting them out as a truth he hadn’t admitted even to himself, and he was going to be sick. “That’s...that’s none of your business.” 

And then, on that thought, it was easier to recover.

“Don’t think I’m not fucking mad about it, either,” Theo snapped to him. “I’m still gonna punch you in your stupid face the second you show up. Ed will, too, probably.” 

“I’m here, now,” Hohenheim said, sounding slightly amused. “Why not hit me here?”

“You’re not really here,” Theo dismissed. “This place is all fucked up. I don’t know what hitting you here would do. I want the satisfaction of seeing you hit dirt, asshole.” 

Hohenheim huffed out a slight laugh. “Fair, I suppose.”

“Everyone assumed I’m another kid of yours, just so you know. Ed and Al consider me a half brother.” 

Hohenheim grimaced. “I don’t like the idea of me having a family aside from Trisha and the boys,” he said. “But, we’ve already established I don’t have much claim to that, either. I won’t contest it.”

“Where are you, anyway?” Theo asked. “We’re in East City.” 

“‘We’?”

“Oh, yeah,” Theo said. “Ed and Al are with me. Pinako and Winry, at the moment, too, mostly under protest. They’re building Ed an automail leg.”

“He lost a leg?”

“Yeah,” Theo confirmed. “He’s doing better than me, though. I was pretty much grounded until they installed my leg, but he’s got a wheelchair and fucking zooms. My apartment is too small, I’m worried he’s gonna smack into a wall, but he has pretty good judgement on how fast he can cut corners these days.” 

“An apartment?” Hoheheim asked. “That’s a lot of people for an apartment.”

Theo shrugged. “We fit fine,” he said. “Granny and Winry are sharing a room, Ed and Al share a room, and I turned an office space into a third bedroom and proceeded to never fucking sleep in it.” He took a look around the white space around them. “Though I guess I’m asleep now. That’s the time he usually bothers me. Sleep, and transmutations.” 

“You mentioned something about that,” Hohenheim said. “‘Truth,’ you said.” 

“He’s a prick,” Theo said immediately. “I dunno why you haven’t seen him, or don’t remember him if you have, but he’s the thing that’s usually guarding the Gate. For some reason, he either likes me, or really hates me. It’s 50/50.” He gestured to the void around them. “I keep getting dragged back here.” 

“You thought I was a hallucination,” Hohenheim recalled. “Do you get those often, here?” 

“Yeah,” Theo said. “Memories, usually. Stuff from before the jump -  my old life. People who aren’t here anymore. Things I wish I could forget about. Stuff I hope I never do.” He shrugged. “Anything relevant. They’re mostly about Mustang, but Truth swears that’s just because I was around the fucker all the time, and not just because he gets off on watching me suffer.” He looked at Hohenheim. “...You didn’t answer the question. Where are you?” 

“East City, as well,” Hohenheim said. “I saw your name in a paper, and came to see what it was about. I was planning to visit the military headquarters in the morning to ask around, but I suppose I can just ask you directly. Where are you? Should I meet you somewhere?”

“Come by the military apartments,” he said. “Expect to have your ass kicked.” 

Hohenheim let out another breath of laughter. “A wise warning.” 

The city wasn’t too densely populated, and even if it was, the streets would not show it - the heat kept most people with any decent sense indoors, which meant that only a few stalls and shops had visible patrons, and very few people moved along the roads in between them. 

Still, eyes followed her. The form Father had chosen for her to take drew attention wherever she went. Typically, she preened under the admiration of strangers, but today she felt only a dull, bitter rage, crying out that she should make them look away. 

She came to a stop, at last, standing before the city’s flowing fountain. The water ran clean and clear over the stone, and she reached out, dipping pointed fingers into the stream. 

“This city was built by Ishvalan refugees,” she said. 

“Hmm?” Gluttony hummed beside her. 

“Most of them were wiped out during the genocide,” she continued. “Only those who weren’t visibly Ishvalan were spared. Red eyes, white hair...you didn’t stand a chance.”

“Blood,” Gluttony cooed. “Need blood. Food.” 

“If you were only allowed to eat them,” Lust said, looking to him. “They just wasted them. Their blood is in the sand, waiting to be used...if that array never goes off, they were killed for nothing. If it goes off...everyone else will be.” 

She looked back to the water.

“Are you the woman I’m to meet?” 

Lust looked sideways at the person that had approached - a large man with a round face and a priest’s clothes. 

“Cornello?” she asked. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he confirmed. “And you are…?”

Lust returned her eyes to the fountain. 

“Do you know what Ishvalans believe created alchemy?” 

“Ah…” Cornello faltered. “No, I’m afraid-...”

“A fountain,” Lust told him, turning her fingers in the stream, watching the water flow around them. “In their stories, their god created a fountain of sunlight, in the center of the world. Newborn babies were brought from every corner of the earth to be dipped into the light, which filled them. They grew powerful, and beautiful. They gained the power to mold the earth. Their bodies turned to pure gold. They were like gods.” 

“I...see,” Cornello said. “And these were alchemists?”

“Technically,” Lust said. “They were simply humans, made in the image of Ishvala. Then, a greedy king began to study the fountain. He had the idea that, if bathing a baby in it made them so strong, perhaps a second bath in it as an adult would make one even more powerful. He dreamed of unlimited strength, immortality, the ability to create life - to become a true god, not just a mimicry.”

“Ah,” Cornello breathed. “I don’t-...”

Lust dipped her fingers into the water, seeking out the source of the flow and holding her fingers just in front of it, feeling the pressure press into her fingertips, the water’s weak pulse. “He couldn’t take the risk that the fountain would simply kill him, so he tested it. He took the blood from a slave, and came to the fountain, dripping it into the light. He wanted to see if it changed, or simply burned away.”

“And...which did it?” Cornello asked. 

Lust looked at him, mauve eyes cold. “Neither,” she said. “The water turned red with the blood, and from the red water rose a shadow. A demon.” She looked back into the fountain. “The king caught it, thinking he could use it to find a way to achieve his goals. Meanwhile, any babies that were brought to the fountain were tainted, not blessed. Their hair lost its color, their eyes filled with the red water...Ishvalans as we know them were born. Shunned by the golden people of the world, they fled to the desert, forming their own nation.” 

“And...the king?” Cornello asked. “I presume he did not achieve immortality?” 

“The demon seduced him with promises of godlike power,” she said. “And then, when he offered his soul in exchange, the demon took it, and leveled the city around him. Every one of the golden people were killed, the light in them drained to replenish the power of the demon, who had grown weak without the fountain. The only ones who were spared were the ones who had been cast out, who grew up on tales of how being humbled had saved them. To seek the power of a god was evil, they decided, and it was only through embracing the limitations of humanity that one could expect to survive. They believe alchemy is only attainable by sacrifice - something horrible must be done to equate the power of the fountain of light.” 

“I see,” Cornello said. “Pardon me, ma’am, but.. The point of this story is…?”

Lust gave him a measured, unimpressed stare, before moving her other hand. She dipped her fingers again into the water - this time, a hand with a ring on one finger. As the water passed under it, a static flared, and the water began to run red.

“We need power, priest,” she said. “And our sacrifice has been chosen.” She turned to him, pulling the ring off her finger, handing it out to the wide-eyed Father Cornello. “Power, for a price. You pay ours...we’ll pay yours.” 

Erin woke slowly, the daylight from her window washing over her, warming her head to toe. It was calm, and relaxing, utterly peaceful-...

...And then her heart seized, and she sat upright. 

She’d slept through the night. She didn’t remember getting up, not even once.

Nina, she thought, scrambling out of bed in a panic. Nina, where is Nina?

The bassinet was empty.

“No,” she breathed. “No, no, no-...” 

She raced from the room, toward Riza’s, only to pause as she passed by the doorway leading into the living room, catching sight of her blonde hair.

“Riza!” She ran into the room. “Nina-...”

She paused, taking in the scene in front of her.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Riza said, watching her through bleary eyes, Nina curled close to her chest, sound asleep. “Neither of us was sleeping very well, so I took her for a bit. I think she might be too big for that bassinet...I’ll see about getting a crib for her, instead.” 

Erin stared. 

Riza blinked.  “Or...not?” she said. “If you’d prefer she stayed in what she has. Or something else.” She looked down, running a finger over Nina’s cheek. “I have an office I never use, if you wanted to give her her own room, too, but I understand if you don’t. I can’t imagine it’s easy to have her out of your sight.” She paused, then looked up, alarmed. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. You must’ve been panicked when she wasn’t there. I didn’t think of that.” 

“Riza,” Erin said, slowly. 

Riza watched her with open concern. “Yes?” 

Erin looked down to Nina, then back up to Riza again. “Would...would you be okay with it, if I didn’t…If I waited a while longer to look for a new place?” 

Riza stared a moment, then smiled at her, bright and joyful. “Take all the time you need,” she said. “Take forever. I don’t mind the company.” 

 

Notes:

me? making up shit about ishvalans in all my fma fics? you betcha

Chapter 52

Summary:

Part of him wondered if making chimeras was hard, or if he was just bad at it. Most of him did not actually care either way. 

Notes:

thank you all for being so nice about my ishvalan bullshit uwu

Contrary to all popular belief, Gluttony was not stupid. 

Words came slowly to him, and he viewed the world in a rather simple way, but these did not mean he didn't understand the world around him. 

He viewed their situation like this:

Envy (good sibling, generally fun, provides the best food) had found someone (too many names, unclear which is correct) that could turn them (very special, very strong, but also very bad) into humans (weaker, normal, but happier). Lust (the best, very kind, provides the most food) had agreed to help them with the new person and some new goal to lead to them being allowed to become humans (no more lonely, no more hunger). 

There were some other things going on, such as the weird human Lust had picked out who would make an excellent snack if he wasn't Important, but Gluttony didn't care much for the parts of the plan that didn't involve him. Lust was pleased with how things were going, though, and that was the most important part. 

The immediate second priority to that was food, and he had plenty of that at the moment, because the weird human was practicing making chimeras, and Gluttony was allowed to eat what was left when he messed it up. 

And he certainly messed it up a lot. 

Part of him wondered if making chimeras was hard, or if he was just bad at it. Most of him did not actually care either way. 

If he couldn't do it, more food for him, and Lust would find someone who knew how to do chimeras right . 

Morning light through the window was the only sign that Theo had managed, for once, to sleep an appropriate amount of time. He had no time to be satisfied by it, though - speaking to his father had stirred a restless energy in him again, and he'd awoken seeking a distraction. 

And, luckily, he had one. A very, very bad one. 

The journal was worn, the ink smudged in places, corners folded and sections crossed out. This was not a record of successful research, kept for reference - these were the notes taken during experiments, helping him piece together his findings into something solid. 

There were few drawings, and no arrays - this wasn't him taking apart the alchemic process. This was the journal he used for dissecting the failed chimeras, Theo was certain of it. 

He paused in thumbing through its pages, taking in a series of drawings that spanned the width of two pages. They appeared to show DNA, the strands split into individual sections. One DNA strand had the links of the helix colored black, while the others were just the outlines, left blank. Beneath them, another DNA strand showed a mix of the two types of links, black bars meeting white ones in a pattern down the span of it. 

There were arrows, notes, little things in the margins, but they were all coded. Until Theo broke that, he had no idea what they said. 

Just the drawing, though, was interesting - he had not considered how the DNA of chimeras might be spliced. He'd thought of it always rather crudely: this piece of this animal, that piece of another, ripped apart and smashed together. 

Not every chimera, though, was the body of a lion with the wings of an eagle. The worst were undistinguished blends - chimeras that were similar to their origins, but still existed as something entirely separate. 

The chimeras Greed worked with were not just humans with one or two animal parts. They were a perfect hybrid, the traits of their animals blended seamlessly into the physiology of a human, with only a few exceptions. 

There had to be some sort of trick to it, some reasoning behind how the traits or features were selected. As much as he hated to think of it, the chimera Nina became could very well have been botched deliberately - Tucker going out of his way to ensure that the only human trait to be found was the capacity for speech.

If that were the case, that meant that Tucker did, in fact, understand the system for making a successful chimera. That would mean that, in cracking his code, Theo would learn how each of Greed's minions were made. From there, it would be that much easier to determine how they came to be, just who made them, and why they would have bothered. 

The homunculi had been indifferent to them, so it was possible they were a lab five failure that they had simply not cared enough to try and reclaim. It was also possible that they were planted, given to Greed deliberately to make him feel he had the upper hand. Still further, it was possible they were Greed's own exploit, made under his call alone. 

It was all in the notebook, he was sure of it. 

He just had to-

His door swung open. 

"Told you he was awake," Ed said, wheelchair rolling into the room. "He sleeps, like, two hours a night." 

"Sorry, Theo!" Al said, appearing behind him brother. "Granny said not to bother you, but there's breakfast if you want it." 

Theo sat the notebook aside, trying to tuck it away without drawing too much attention to it. "Yeah? What is it?"

Ed's eyes narrowed, following Theo's movement. "What's that?" 

Theo tried his best to look disinterested. "Just some old notes," he said. "I needed something to do, so I started reading back through it. Nothing special.”

“What kind of research is it?” Al asked. “Can we do anything with it?” 

“Ah, no,” Theo said. “It’s basically a record of fuckups. Nothing to be learned but what not to do, and I feel like all three of us already get that much.” 

“You mean ‘don’t make humans’?” Ed asked. “Or something more general?”

“I feel like that about covers it,” Theo laughed, getting out of bed to follow them from the room. “That reminds me. I should catch you guys up on the homunculi.” 

“The artificial humans?” Al asked. 

“The ones that run the government?” Ed added. 

“Those ones,” Theo confirmed. “Some of them are our friends, now. Sorta.” 

“What?” Ed looked up at him. “How does that happen?” 

“The one that visited our apartment?” Theo said. “Envy? They kidnapped Erin.” 

“Mrs. Tucker?!” the boys shouted. 

“Is she okay?” Al asked. 

“She’s fine!” Theo assured him. “But things kind of came to a head, and I fought them for a bit over it, and...well, the short version is, I drained Greed’s philosopher’s stone, and Envy ended up signing on, so long as I promised to do theirs, next.” 

“Envy wants to die?” Al asked.

“No!” Theo said, quickly. “Or-...” He thought of their suicide. “Well, probably not, anyway. No, see - Greed is functionally human, now. That’s what Envy wants.” 

Ed sniffed, chin tipping up. “Humans are pretty cool, yeah.” 

“Glad you approve,” Theo said. “I’m sure you and Envy will get along splendidly.”

Ed perked up. “Do we get to meet the homunculi?” 

“When they’re human?” Theo said. “I don’t have a problem with it. Envy in particular is a pain in the ass, but they’re basically a shapeshifting teenager. Without their stone, they’re harmless.” 

“When will they be human?” Al asked.  

“It’ll be a while,” Theo admitted. “It, uh-...” 

He probably shouldn’t tell two kids he nearly died, so he rephrased. 

“It took a lot out of me, getting Greed,” he said. “I’m gonna have to handle them one at a time, preferably after we get the whole ‘evil government conspiracy’ thing taken care of.” 

“What does ‘functionally’ human mean?” Ed asked. “Is he a person or not?” 

“Greed’s...mostly human,” Theo said. “Trying to get solid answers from Truth is pulling fucking teeth, but if he listened to me, he should have one soul left in his body. His own.” 

“You made a soul?!”

Theo shrugged. “Maybe? Like I said, that place is really vague. I know he’s down to one soul, and he can barely access his abilities. Other than that, I got nothing.” 

Ed and Al looked at each other, faces openly awed.

“Hey, stop that,” Theo told them. “You can’t make a soul, I just...smooshed all the ones from the stone together. He’s functionally human. I don’t know the limits of that, yet.”

Not to mention, he nearly died. Very deliberately ‘not to mention,’ actually, considering he’d never be forgiven if he told the boys that he was bargaining their remaining family for the chance to let some homunculi exist in a less shitty way. 

“No one told me what’s for breakfast,” Theo said, changing the subject abruptly. 

Ed and Al took the bait, happily starting a conversation that quickly devolved into an argument about valid breakfast foods (as many contained milk, which was established to be cursed). 

At least some things were still simple.

Usually, when Roy came in each morning, his office was locked. 

Blinking down at the doorknob that had turned easily in his hand without a key, he considered that fact, wondering at what sort of horror was waiting beyond it that would have been begun before he was even there. 

Luckily, when he entered, it turned out to be Riza. 

Unluckily, she seemed very, very high strung, flitting about his desk, digging through all his things. 

“Riza?” Roy asked. “Please tell me that’s actually you, and not Envy.”

Riza gave him an unimpressed look. 

“Okay, that’s definitely you,” Roy said. “Reason you’re going through my desk…?”

“It’s a damn mess,” she snapped, returning to her shuffling. “You haven’t been sorting the paperwork Theo brings you properly. I’ve found at least three overdue forms in this mess.” 

“Are they the ones that you rewrote?” Roy asked. “I kept the old copies.” 

Riza paused. After a second’s hesitation, she reached for papers at the edge of the desk, looking them over.

“...Dammit,” she breathed. “Yes, they are. I’m sorry.”

Roy approached her cautiously. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You seem to be having some-...”

“I’m fine,” Riza snapped.

Roy raised an eyebrow. 

Riza grimaced, eyes away, before looking up to him, admitting, “I more or less asked Erin to move in.”

“Hasn’t she already?” Roy asked, confused.

Riza rolled her eyes. “Permanently.” 

“Oh,” Roy said. “....Did it not go well?” 

“She…” Riza hesitated. “She didn’t say no?” 

“I’m sensing a ‘but’?”

“She shouldn’t make major choices like that, right now,” Riza said. “Her whole life was uprooted. I shouldn’t put things like that on her until she’s had the chance to get back on her feet.” 

“Okay?” Roy said, unsure how to respond.

Riza huffed. “You’re useless,” she told him. “I don’t know why I thought you’d know what to do, when you spend your time pining after a man who forgets he’s even a human.” 

Roy winced. “Ouch, Riza.”

Riza’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I just….”

“Care,” Roy said. “It happens to the best of us.”

She shot him a look. 

“Riza,” Roy said. “Relax. You gave her an option. Sometimes, things get bad, and options are what you need. Give her time, she’ll make her choice when she’s ready.”

Riza sighed. “You’re telling me what I’ve been telling you.”

“Pretty much,” Roy agreed. “But you’re smarter than me, you might actually listen.” 

“Can I get that in writing?” she asked.

Roy rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it already is. Maes probably has it taped somewhere.” 

“Maybe that’s the draw of Theo,” Riza said. “He’s as dumb as you are.”

“Hey,” Roy said. “First off, he’s a genius- ...”

“Emotional intelligence,” Riza interrupted. “Math, science, alchemy, you’re both brilliant. If someone starts crying and we need to handle it, I want you two as far from the situation as possible.” 

Roy winced again. “...Fair.” 

Riza leaned forward a bit, nudging Roy. “Don’t worry,” she told him. “I still love you.” 

“Ah,” a voice said from the doorway. “I’ll, uh-...”

Roy and Riza both turned sharply to look, where Theo was faltering in the doorway.

“Oh,” Roy said. “Good morning. Your work… Riza?” 

“It’s with Havoc,” she said. “I kept it seperate. Theo-...”

“I’ll go get it,” Theo said, quickly, turning on his heel, more or less fleeing the room. 

“Ah, shit,” Riza breathed. 

“What?” Roy asked. “What’s wrong?” 

Riza looked at him, incredulous, before shaking her head.

Emotional intelligence indeed. 

Notes:

only theo could miss a whole lesbian crisis and walk in on the one (1) het-sounding thing

Chapter 53

Summary:

“You sick?” Havoc asked. “You sound pretty rough.” 

Notes:

slightly shorter than usual chap, but I think you'll forgive me....

Objectively, Theo knew he was being irrational. 

First off, he'd watched Riza and Roy interact for literal decades. They'd never shown any solid evidence of a relationship beyond being the very best of friends, and anytime someone asked about it, Riza would have all but laughed in their face. 

Maybe they were something at the moment, and it would falter and fail in the upcoming years. 

Maybe. 

Or, maybe, he'd changed things enough that it would work out. And if that happened….

Typical of him to figure out his own feelings in such a dramatic fashion and then immediately regret having realized anything. 

“Hey-o, boss,” Havoc greeted as Theo came to loom over their table, sliding a stack of papers toward him. “Looking for this?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Theo said. His voice sounded strained even to his own ears.

“You sick?” Havoc asked. “You sound pretty rough.” 

“Theo?” 

Theo turned slightly, giving a smile that felt more like a grimace at Riza’s approach. 

“Hand me those,” Riza told him. “Roy needs to talk to you.” 

Hesitant, but curious, Theo allowed her to take the papers. “No errands, today, then?” 

“I made some suggestions,” Riza said. “No promises that he listened.” 

With a slight nod, Theo headed past her, into the office. 

Get over it, he told himself, hesitating outside Mustang’s office door. He had been doing so well in separating the two in his mind, reminding himself that this Mustang didn’t have the same relationship with him as the older one. Even if that wasn’t the case, though, Theo had been paranoid and flighty and noncommittal, keeping one foot on each side of his doorway. He didn’t have the right to live like that and be upset that someone else didn’t - if his Mustang had up and married Riza, Theo wouldn’t have had room to say shit about it. 

This Mustang was even less of a claim. 

Theo had never even told him his real name. 

That in mind, he put the part of him that agonized over the realization that once again, he’d burned a bridge, only to find himself wading across the water anyway. At the mercy of the current, of nature, which had never been kind to him. 

You’re so fucking dramatic, he told himself. You have a big, dumb fucking crush. Let it go. 

He stepped into the office. 

“Theo,” Roy greeted. He waited for Theo to close the door behind him, before commenting, “Riza was just telling me that I’m an idiot.” 

Theo raised an eyebrow. “Just this once?” 

Roy snorted. “Especially this once, more like,” he said. “She told me I have three things I need to do, so I’m going to do them. If you have complaints, take them to her, because I was going to wait.” 

Theo blinked, confused, and slowly getting worried. “Yes…?”

“Number one,” Roy said, holding up one finger. “I’m giving you your first field assignment, finally. No more paperboy errands. You can start on your actual job.” 

“Sweet,” Theo said. “What am I doing?” 

“Grumman said you took an interest in the Slicer case file?”

Theo frowned. “Yeah..?” 

“I’m doing Maes a favor,” Roy told him. “I’m letting him borrow you for his investigation. He has several good leads, but two officers have died following them already.”

“So arrest who they were following,” Theo said. 

“They did,” Roy said. “Both of them were following different people...and killings kept going after the arrest.” 

One of those facts alone could mean a brother was caught and the other left free, but together, they implied something else. “They’re fucking with him.”

“Mmhm,” Roy agreed. “I figured you and your crafty alchemic traps could probably take in suspects a lot more cleanly, if nothing else. You also demonstrated during Erin’s kidnapping that you have the ability to track.”

“Track alchemy,” Theo corrected. “Strong alchemy, to be specific. Even if they’re alchemists, they don’t use enough to leave a trace.”

Roy tipped his head. “Alchemist s? You think this is more than one person?”

Theo twitched. 

Roy’s lips curled up in an amused smile, even if there was a slightly irked air to it. “Another one of those hunches I shouldn’t question?”

“Sorry,” Theo apologized. “I just-...”

“Have a dark, mysterious aura to maintain?” Roy suggested. At Theo’s wince, he laughed. “I’m not that bothered by it, I promise. I’ll figure it out eventually. In the meantime...my second thing.”

Theo looked to him, expectant. 

“Riza said you might have assumed-...”

Theo flushed immediately. “I shouldn’t’ve-...”

“Theo,” Roy interrupted, waiting for Theo’s mouth to snap shut, before pressing on. “Thank you. My second thing is to tell you something that Riza gave me permission to pass on, if only to clear the air.”  

Theo opened his mouth again, trying to tell him he didn’t need to say it, that Theo got it, but Roy held up a hand to keep him holding his tongue. 

“Riza isn’t interested in men.” 

Theo faltered. “...What?”

“She’s barely interested in anyone,” Roy continued. “Though she seems to have taken to Mrs. Tucker rather well…” He grinned. “Just don’t tell her I told you that part.”

“Riza...is gay?” 

“Riza is particular,” Roy corrected. “Very rarely does she take an interesting in anyone romantically. I was under the impression we were just waiting for the age she finally gave in and started adopting cats, but it seems she had other plans, after all.”

“So…” Theo frowned, staring at him. “You two…?”

“Even if Riza was interested in that sort of thing,” Roy said, “she has much higher standards.” 

Theo’s eyebrows drew together. “But you..?”

“I’m not interested, either,” Roy told him. “That brings me to my third thing.”

Theo faltered. He’s not interested in anyone, either, he guessed. This is his ‘lay off’ talk-...

“When you get back from Central,” Roy said, “We should get dinner.” 

All thoughts ceased in Theo’s brain, screeching to a halt like a record scratch. “What?”

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine,” Roy said, quickly. “This can be the last mention I make of it, and I’ll simply be your boss, because it’s very inappropriate-...” 

“Inappropriate?” Theo echoed, incredulous. “Are you...Did you just ask me out?” 

“I asked you on a date, yes,” Roy said, slightly flushed. “Again, you’re under no obligation-...” 

“Like you could make me do a damn thing I didn’t want to do, Mustang,” Theo said. “Where are we going?”

“Ah, well, I thought-...wait.” Roy paused, frowning at him. “You…?”

“Yeah,” Theo confirmed. “I’m here for it. Especially if it involves food.”

“Food can be arranged,” Roy said, sounding bewildered. “I-...you’d really like to?” 

“If you would,” Theo said, awkward as he considered the possibility that Roy had asked for another reason. “We don’t-...”

“No, no, I wanted to,” Roy said. “I just wasn’t sure-...” 

“Why would I say yes if I didn’t mean it?” 

“Why would I ask if I didn’t mean it?” 

They stared at each other a long moment, silent, before Theo let out a snort, and that set them both off, laughing at their own fumbling. 

“We,” Theo laughed out, “are so fucking stupid.” 

“So I’ve been told,” Roy chuckled. “A good thing we have Riza, or we’d never get anywhere.”

“Speak for yourself,” Theo said. “My common sense is Pinako Rockbell.”

“A valid choice.”

“I didn’t choose shit,” Theo said. “I just passed out on her front porch, and she took pity on me.”

Behind Theo, the door opened, Riza reappearing in the doorway.

“You’re both laughing, so I assume I don’t have to shoot anyone,” she said, entering the room. 

“Do you really like Erin?” Theo asked her. 

Riza twitched. “I changed my mind. Run.” 

Roy stood quickly. “You should get some things together for the trip, warn the boys- do you want me to-...”

“Sit down,” Riza ordered him, hand on his shoulder, forcing him back down into the seat and setting paperwork in front of him. “You can finish these, and I’ll be the one who pays too much attention to my business, and maybe the world will be a little more balanced.” She looked to Theo. “Come back here when you’re ready, and we’ll arrange a ticket and trip reimbursement for you.”

“Leave him alive, please,” Theo laughed out, false pleading. “He owes me dinner.”

“Unless dinner is being fed through a tube, he should keep his nose out of it,” Riza muttered. 

“For the record, I think that’s awesome,” Theo said. “You two-...”

“Get out, Theo,” Riza said, though it was almost fond, if exasperated. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Theo agreed, giving her a salute. 

“He won’t even use my name,” Roy complained. “Why do you get a salute?”

“Respect,” Riza said. “But if he chooses to start calling you ‘sir,’ don’t tell me about it.”

Both men flushed and sputtered, and Theo quickly excused himself, all but fleeing the building. 

In the front area of the team office, the others watched him pass without a word. 

“He looked like the girl at the front desk when Havoc hit on her,” Breda declared in his wake. 

“Disgusted?” suggested Falman. 

Havoc shot him a rude gesture in response. 

No respect, in this building. None at all. 

Theo made it almost halfway home before he slowed to a stop on the sidewalk, full force of what just happened all catching up at once. 

He...had a date. 

With Mustang. 

His stomach turned over, and he resumed walking.

Half of him was ecstatic, happy to have something he’d secretly wanted a long time. The rest was anxious, because there was still so much on the line. His identity was still a secret to Roy, as was the extent of his past. He still had goals to meet and promises to keep, and he couldn’t guarantee he’d get to the end of things unscathed. The homunculi were still free roaming, Truth still toyed with him, his dad-...

His dad.

He’d reached his apartment building, and there, on the street in front of it, stood Hohenheim.

“...Dad?”

Hohenheim froze, before slowly turning, looking to Theo. 

His eyes widened, flicking up and down over Theo, before meeting his eyes, offering a tentative smile. “Son.”

“Good to see you,” Theo said, grinning...and then lashed out, fist connecting hard with Hohenheim’s face, sending him flying back and dropping down on the sidewalk.

All around them, people scattered. One of the military guards at the front of the apartment building reached to the side, going for his gun.

Theo pulled free his watch, dangling it loose in front of them - his military uniform told them he  was allowed to be there, but the watch told them to keep their distance. 

“Be glad I don’t have automail anymore,” Theo said. “It packs a much harder punch.” 

“I doubt much was lost,” Hohenheim murmured, sitting up and rubbing at a rapidly blooming bruise on his jaw. “You’re very strong.” 

Theo extended a hand down, which Hohenheim hesitantly took, allowing his son to haul him up onto his feet.

“Come on, then,” he said. “I got mine in. It’s Ed’s turn.” 

Notes:

you know that one omake where riza thanks the studio for not forcing her into a relationship with roy, because she was planning to run if that was in the plot? thats this fic's canon riza

Chapter 54

Summary:

“Something’s happening,” Maes said.

Notes:

to all the people who read the last chapter and got suspicious of how happy it was, congrats, you know me very well

here's some angst and drama :)

“I’m sending him your way, as soon as he’s ready,” Roy told Maes over the phone. “First train out. He’ll be there by tonight.” 

“Don’t,” Maes said, voice sharp. 

Roy blinked. “...What? Why not?”

“Something’s happening,” Maes said. “Something that needs more attention than we can give it from Central. I could hand it over, let the military send soldiers, but...With the information you gave me…”

“That might not be safe,” Roy filled in. “What can you tell me?”

There was a pause, and then Maes’ voice came back, low and cautious. “Is this line secure?”

“Guys! Home early. Everyone home?”

Theo waited, peeking through the front door, keeping it mostly closed to hide Hohenheim from view. It only took a second for footsteps and Ed’s chair to sound, rushing to meet him.

“Theo!” Al greeted, holding up the journal Theo had pawned off on them. “We figured out the dimension pocket, we think! We didn’t test it, though, because you said not to when you weren’t-...”

“Why aren’t you in the apartment?” Ed interrupted, squinting suspiciously at Theo. “Did you bring something home?”

Rounding the corner, Pinako and Winry stormed into the room together, both furious.

“I was testing your port, brat!” Pinako called to him. “You can’t just run off-...”

“I didn’t run off,” Ed argued. “Not my fault you can’t catch a kid in a wheelchair, old bat.”

“YOU-...!”

“I did bring something home!” Theo cut in, quickly, before anybody got hurt. “Found something outside…”  

“Is it cool?” Ed asked, straining as though he could somehow see through the door to unveil the surprise. 

“Not even remotely,” Theo said. “Just...don’t get us evicted, please.”

“What’s evicted?” Winry asked. 

“He means I can’t make the neighbors mad,” Ed said, very familiar with this instruction from their early morning study sessions. “So nothing can blow up.”

“Right,” Theo said. He looked to Pinako, who grimaced, but gave a shallow nod - acknowledging that she understood perfectly well that Theo wasn’t actually joking. “Well...here goes.”

He looked over his shoulder a moment, waited for Hohenheim to nod to him as well...and pushed the door open. 

There was a long, tense silence.

“...What the fuck?”

“Edward!” Pinako scolded. 

“No!” Ed yelled, pointing an accusing finger toward Hohenheim. “This is bullshit! Why is he here?!” 

“Maybe he should come inside,” Al said, hesitantly. 

“No, he should not!” 

“Actually…” Theo said. Ed rounded on him, looking betrayed, and he grimaced in response. “Sorry, buddy, but we’ve gotta get out of the hallway. I laid him on his ass in the front yard, if that makes you feel better.” 

“Why is he here?” Ed demanded. “We don’t need him.” 

“Your… brother …” Hohenheim started to say, but Ed interrupted him again. 

“Shut up! Where have you been?” He demanded. “We lost everything, waiting for you! Mom- Mom died, and you weren’t there. We couldn’t save her and we couldn’t bring her back and you weren’t even around.” 

Hohenheim looked pained. “I know,” he said, quietly. “Theo’s already told me.” 

Ed looked to Theo. “When?”

Any witness in the front of the building could tell Ed he hadn’t said shit. Better to be honest, even if it wasn’t great. “Last night,” he said. “We-...”

“You knew,” Ed said, voice so low and betrayed that it wrecked Theo to the core. “You knew he was here, and you didn’t tell us?” 

“I chewed him out,” Theo said. “And I was going to let you-...”

“Let me?” Ed exclaimed. “Like it’s a fucking favor?”

“Edward,” Pinako said, in a warning tone, but Ed was far from done, drawing himself up to the fullest height he could reach in his chair, glaring at Theo something fierce. 

“He’s my father,” Ed said. “Or he was supposed to be. If I wanna tell him he’s a piece of shit, I will. I don’t need you to let me be angry. Who the fuck are you?”

“Ed,” Al said softly.

“We didn’t even know you,” Ed said. “You came out of nowhere-..”

“Ed!” Winry cried.

“And you lectured us like we were stupid because we dared want our mom back-...”

“That’s not-...” Al started.

Ed plowed on, undeterred. “And you butted into our lives and tried to be our fucking dad?” 

Theo couldn’t breathe. “I…” He tried to find words. “That’s not….I wasn’t trying-....”

“When you first found us, you thought you still had a family,” Ed spat. “You were going to leave them anyway. You’re no better than he is.”

“Edward,” Hohenheim said, voice firm. “You’re anger is with me. Theo has done nothing-...”

“No,” Theo interrupted him, hand up to stop him. “No, he’s right.” 

“Theo…” Al said, sounding close to tears. “You-...”

“I took his name for a reason,” Theo said, looking to Ed. “I tried, for so long, to be better than he was. I wanted to be worthy of the faith the people I loved had put in me….But I wasn’t. And so when I came here, I changed my name. I made myself his second coming because I was tired of trying to be anything better.” Theo looked to the side, to Hohenheim, then to the floor.

And then, very slowly, he took the fabric of his military pant leg in hand, and began to roll it up.

“What are you…?” Pinako started to ask, but trailed off as his port was exposed. “That-....That wasn’t there before.” 

“Gold?” Al asked, looking at the symbol branded on his leg. “What…?”

“The Homunculi have an ouroboros tattoo that marks them as what they are,” Theo said. “I have this. I don’t know what I am - my body was remade, my soul has been ripped through the Gate more than once, and pieces of me are still lost inside it. But I made a promise.” He looked to Ed, expression open, wanting, begging him to understand. “It stops with me. What I went through won’t happen again, what I became won’t be something you need to be afraid of.”

Ed flinched back. “I wouldn’t- ...”  

“You didn’t have a choice,” Theo said, softly. “Truth ripped us open, took more than we gave, and what was left was...lonely, and broken, and wanting. And…” He shook his head. “And I wasn’t strong enough to fix myself. You, though- I stopped him short. I made a deal.” Theo pressed his fingers to the Sun symbol. “He won’t take anything from you. You either, Al - I have a blacklist a mile long, but you two have your whole lives ahead of you. I’m just somebody that wants to make sure you get them. I’m not trying to be your dad. I just...want to be your brother.”

Ed’s lips pressed in a thin line, eyes shining. “Why didn’t you tell us he was here?” he asked, quietly. “Why did you bring him? I’m not going to forgive him.”

“I don’t expect you to,” Theo said. “That wound is too deep. But if we’re going to make a difference, we need his help...and I’m hoping that there’s still some redemption. For both of us.” 

Ed tipped his chin up, watching Theo, visibly fighting his own emotions….before breaking, tears streaming down his face, silent at first, then heavy sobs. 

“I’m sorry,” he cried, burying his face in his hands. “I didn’t mean - I’m sorry-...”

Theo crossed the room quickly, dropping down in front of the wheelchair and dragging Ed into a tight hug. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “It’s all fair. I’ve said worse about myself, trust me.”

“But it’s not true,” Ed said, bunching fists in the fabric of Theo’s jacket. “You’re a good brother.” 

Theo gave a small, sad smile. “Thank you, Ed,” he said. Looking up, he caught Al’s eye, and extended an arm, inviting him in, smiling a bit stronger when he immediately tucked himself into  it. 

Pinako, to the side, frowned, looking to Hohenheim’s own teary eyes, watching as the brow above them furrowed, as they narrowed, as they focused. 

Following his gaze, she looked down to Theo, then to his leg, beyond the notice of any of the three boys. 

In the center of the strange symbol, ever so slightly, the red dot was glowing.

“Thirty seven,” Roy echoed. “Thirty-seven people missing, and no one’s looked?”

“It’s a settlement city,” Maes said. “Most of Amestris considers it too close to Ishvalan to be bothered. They don’t care. And...there’s a good chance that the reports are being buried.”

“You think they’re moving,” Roy summarized. “They’re behind it. Doing something about their plan there.” 

“I’m sure of it,” Maes said. “They’re taking people no one misses. If they hadn’t taken so many in the past few days, no one would have batted an eye.” 

“Hard not to notice when the city’s suddenly forty people thinner,” Roy murmured, musing it over. “Are they- do you think they’re making one?” 

“I don’t know,” Maes said. “That’s Theo’s area of expertise. That’s why I need you to send him.”

“And if they are?” Roy asked. “Riza said he fought one of them the other day, and nearly died. What if I send him and he doesn’t come back?”

“What if you don’t, and no one does?” Maes countered. 

Roy sucked in a sharp breath. 

“You’re a strategist, Roy,” Maes said. “This is a chess game. If it comes down to it-...” 

“You sacrifice a pawn,” Roy said. “You don’t sacrifice the queen when all the pieces are still on the board.” 

“You might not have a choice.”  

Roy closed his eyes, heart aching. “I asked him to dinner,” he admitted, quietly. “We had plans for when he got back from helping you.” 

There was a beat of silence before he answered.

“You might still make them,” Maes said. “Nothing’s certain.” 

“Maes,” Roy said. “You’re the best at reading the odds. Tell me, straight out...is this a gamble I can afford?”

There was another long silence.

Then, quietly, Maes replied, “We don’t have the choice.”

It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it was one, nonetheless. 

“Okay,” Roy breathed. “Okay...I’ll tell him.”

“I’m sorry, Roy,” Maes said. “Maybe we’re lucky. Maybe it’s nothing.”

“Yeah,” Roy said, but it was hollow.

They were never lucky.

 

Notes:

didnt mean to channel the end of captain america 1 there but i sure did huh

Chapter 55

Summary:

"Be careful not to break time and space or anything. I don’t know how to fix that.”

Notes:

sorry for the wait! my speedy uploads were interrupted by me getting very sick for a few weeks

here's a (slightly shorter than usual) chapter full of pseudoscience alchemy theory shit, because you cant put 4 elrics in a room and not get nerd shit

“Hate to interrupt-...”

Theo detangled himself from the boys, looking to Pinako. “Right,” he said, getting to his feet. “I came home to get some stuff together. Mustang’s given me my first field job - I’ll be in Central for a couple of days.” 

“We’re going, too!” Ed said.

“No, you’re not,” Theo replied. “You’re gonna let Pinako work on your port, and you both can entertain yourselves for a couple days with alchemy notes until I get back. I’m tracking down a serial killer - theory will have little to do with it, it’s just gonna be kicking ass.”

“Cool,” Ed said. 

“Really cool,” Al agreed. “Oh! We should show you the pocket array. It might help!”

“Oh, yeah,” Theo said. “You were saying you guys figured it out? Be careful not to break time and space or anything. I don’t know how to fix that.”

“Space and time?” Hohenheim asked, from the doorway.

Ed scowled. “None of your business,” he muttered. Theo looked to him, silently asking permission, which Ed granted reluctantly with a huff and turning away. 

“The realm of the Gate is outside of physical dimensions,” Theo told his father, turning to face him. “Ed and Al have been working on how to hold it there, instead of just passing through it to get to other places.”

“Other places?” Hohenheim echoed. “Alchemy is grounded. It can only link to human energy.” 

Theo shook his head. “Yeah, technically,” he said. “But it doesn’t have to be like alkahestry, with physically charged points. Arrays can hold dormant energy in themselves, and every transmutation leaves a charge. If I can find a place where I’ve drawn an array before, even if I’ve already used it, then in theory, I can activate it again, regardless of where I actually am.”

“The Seeking Alchemist,” Hohenheim said. “That’s the title they gave you...that’s what it means? You can seek out traces of past alchemy?”

Theo shrugged. “It’s mostly theory,” he dismissed. “I’ve only managed to do it so far with my own arrays, and homunculi - Philosopher’s stones. It needs at least that much energy to leave a solid trace behind.” He reached up, scratching at the side of his face idly, uncomfortable presenting his research to his father, having once considered Hohenheim the end-all expert on the Gate and its workings. “I can find active arrays, though, like traps, and feel other alchemists. Normal people, I haven’t been able to find - they’re energy, condensed, but it doesn’t feel like a Gate, so I’m not sure I’d be able to tell if it was a person or an array. I can’t fully deconstruct either, obviously - they’re just blind spots to me in the seeking array.” 

“That’s still remarkable alchemy,” Hohenheim commented, folding his arms and pressing one hand to his mouth as he thought it over. “And you use the realm of the Gate as a conduit for these arrays, suggesting that you, yourself, are capable of lingering in the space between dimensions.” 

Theo straightened, blinking at Hohenheim in shock. “I...what?”

Hohenheim looked at him, seeming surprised. “You...detach yourself from your physical form,” Hohenheim said. “You remove yourself from this plane in part, and use the realm between to pass in between the ties your Gate has made to the physical world. You hadn’t noticed?”

“That’s not how it…” Theo started, but then stopped. He really hadn’t considered that his array wasn’t passing through physical space - the standard seeking array did, certainly, physically ripping apart the matter in between him and his target and reconstructing it instantly, telling him what he was passing through. 

His distance arrays, though, were not like that. He didn’t deconstruct every surface in between him and the array - instead, he felt like he was swimming through thick water, through an unknown space to reach the threads of himself he knew were there.

Was that Truth’s domain he passed through? Was he reaching through his own Gate to find the traces of energy he’d left in the world? 

“It’s not that easy to go through the Gate,” Theo said, disbelieving. 

“Isn’t it?” Hohnenheim asked. “You’ve shown a mastery over that realm already. You can visit it physically at will.” 

“You what?” Ed asked.

“You go back there?” Al jumped in, reaching out to catch Theo’s wrist. “You go back to that place?” 

Theo grimaced. “It’s not at will,” he said, begrudgingly admitting to it. “It’s when Truth drags me back.”

“Truth?” Al’s hand tightened on Theo’s arm. “It talks to you?”

“What does it want?” Ed demanded. “It’s not going to hurt you, is it?” 

“No, no,” Theo said. “I, uh…”

And here was the point where he had to make a call: how much did he want them to know?

Theo’s hand dropped down to brush his sun symbol again. 

“Truth and I have our deal,” he said. “It’s like-...like reporting in. I find myself back there when something happens, and he’ll...show me things.”

“Show you what?” Al asked.

Hohenheim, though, caught on immediately. “The scene it showed you last night,” he said. “It gives you dreams.”

“Memories,” Theo corrected. “Things that were important. Stuff I forgot about, or tried to, at least. Times where I reached for a part of me that wasn’t there. Things that remind me what I’m doing this for.” 

“But you are partly in control,” Hohenheim said. At Theo’s confused look, he continued, “You manipulated the space between when we spoke.” 

“I yelled at Truth until he fixed it,” Theo said. “That’s not-...”

“But you were able to make use of that place for communication,” Hohenheim said. “And you use it at will for your arrays.” 

Theo grimaced. “I didn’t even think of my arrays as touching that place. I don’t have any control over it, Truth just…gets bored, I dunno.” 

“The realm of your Gate is a physical space for you,” Hohenheim said. “And you have open access to it. That’s unique.” 

Theo looked to Ed and Al. “You guys said you figured out the pocket array, right?” he asked. “That means you can reach it, too.” 

“Ah...no,” Al said. 

“Ours is kind of cheating,” Ed said. “It folds stuff into itself. We just think it activates a pocket, too, because otherwise the atomic structures would stay the same, and it would retain properties like weight and color-...”

“But it doesn’t,” Al said. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a tiny grey square. “This is what we did with my bed,” he said, passing it to Theo. “It is kind of heavy for its size, but it’s not at heavy as a bed would be, and there’s no way every single atom of the bed is crammed into that same amount of space.” 

“We think it activates a pocket,” Ed said. “And the atoms are stored in the same space, but across dimensions - there’s part of it in this space, here, and everything that doesn’t fit gets pushed aside, into the pocket. Atoms overlap, but they’re separated by the dimensions, so they aren’t interacting. Everything exists in a small space all at once.” 

Theo turned the box over in his hand. It was solid, and dense, weighing maybe a couple pounds despite fitting in his palm and feeling as hard and unyielding as the strongest steel. 

Raising an eyebrow at Al, he asked, “You know how to change it back, right?” 

Al pinked. “We wanted to show you, first,” he said. 

Theo snorted. Looking back to the box, though, he said, “This is cool. And if his theory is right-..” he jerked his head toward Hohenheim. “Then the extra atoms were pushed through the Gate, into the space beyond it. Meaning…” 

Theo paused, blinking. 

“It’s…” He looked up, looking to Al. “Who condensed it?” 

“I did,” Al said, proudly. “Why?” 

“I think…” Theo turned it over in his hands, before crouching to the ground, setting it down. He clapped, thinking up a quick array, and touched the box. 

Static flared, and a moment later, in front of them, there was a child’s bed. 

Carefully, cautiously, Theo reached out, and poked the side firmly with one finger.

The metal beneath his finger crumpled like paper, the frame falling into itself, crashing down.

“What was that?!” Ed demanded. “Did we break it?”

“No,” Theo said. “Al, try and finish it.” 

Al blinked at him. “Finish it?” 

“It’s fragile because the material is stretched too thin,” Theo said. “There’s no substance to it, just enough to hold the shape. The box is a blueprint - the actual substance is in you.” 

Al’s eyes widened. “In...me?”

“Through your Gate,” Theo confirmed. 

“I see,” Hohenheim murmured, behind them. “You think that individual Gates are accessible.”

“Only if we’ve opened them before, I think,” Theo said. “Human transmutation - it pries the door open. We all have access to the other side of it, if we know how - and you guys found your own key.” 

“But then,” Hohenheim interrupted, “it would stand to reason that you, who are able to hunt down other Gates within the space of your own…” 

“I might be able to pull from their Gates, yeah,” Theo said. “But that’s too close to human transmutation - I’m not reaching through any Gates except my own until I have to. Al, the bed?” 

Al gave a grim nod, and then clapped, eyebrows pinching as he focused on an array.

Static flared bright around him, and a moment later, the bed was upright again. A push to its side from Theo revealed it steady and solid, and he breathed a victorious sigh. 

“Internalized storage,” Hohenheim said. “Breaking objects down to the bare minimum physical requirements, and letting the rest spill over into a dimension one step removed-...”

“Well,” Theo said. “Packing for my trip is gonna be easy.” 

Tiny, disbelieving titters ran through the gathered family members. 

“You guys are brilliant,” Theo said, staring at the bed. “I can’t believe you figured this out. This is- revolutionary stuff. The Gate is openable, each person has an internal dimension they can access, a personalized key-...And that means…”

He turned, looking to Hohenheim. 

“I was able to connect to you, through that space,” he said. “If I can bring things into that space, and I can contact you-...” 

“You could, theoretically, pass something along,” Hohenheim agreed. 

Theo stared, then closed his eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh and leaning back against the bedframe behind him.

“What?” Ed asked. “What is it?” 

“I finally got my name changed,” Theo said, “and I’ve somehow cycled all the way back around to being a goddamn courier. Typical.” 

 

Notes:

you know in the futurama pilot where fry escapes life as a delivery driver into the future where everything is cool and new and amazing and then gets brought to the job machine and ends up being, of all the possible things, a fucking delivery driver?

theo

Chapter 56

Summary:

He wasn’t sure what the worst of his repressed memories was, but he was sure Truth would find it. 

Notes:

If youre wondering about the slight delay on this chapter I've gotten into (read: obsessed with) One Piece again so I've been spamming updates on a zosan fic instead
Sorz, take this as apology

“What are you even packing?” Pinako asked. “You barely ever change clothes.” 

“Military uniforms are obvious,” Theo said. “And besides, you made me get clothes, I may as well wear them.”

“Are your really gonna store your bag in your Gate?” Al asked, leaning over to look into Theo’s suitcase.

Theo nudged him out of the way, opening space for him to stick in another few folded clothes. “Nah,” he said. “It still requires a transmutation, which requires you to know details about what you’re constructing - there’s no way I’m going to remember what every shirt in here looks like. I’d get something crazy out of it, like a big ball of fabric, instead of the actual outfits I put into it.” He picked up a journal, gesturing to the boys with it before adding it to the bag. “Not to mention, I don’t wanna try shoving alchemy notes through the Gate. I don’t know if arrays can physically exist in that space, but I’m not about to try it by shoving in experimental sketches.” 

There was also a third reason, much more important to him and much harder to articulate: he didn’t want to make a habit of touching that space unless he really needed to. Truth already had strong opinions about Theo’s casual regard for the Gate and its secrets, he didn’t need to go reinforcing them by using the ultimate plane of existence as a personal storage space. He was already dreading what the entity would think of their day’s experiments. 

Fuck knows what I’m gonna dream about, he thought with a grimace. He wasn’t sure what the worst of his repressed memories was, but he was sure Truth would find it. 

It was enough to keep him from sleeping on the train, for sure. Luckily, he had-...

... Fuck.

He’d forgotten. He picked up his jacket, running his hand over the front of it, across the pocket space. Sure enough, the notebook was still there, resting innocently among his things, no obvious sign of having been pilfered from a madman’s house.

It took effort not to jump when Hohenheim was suddenly at his side, asking, “Will you be safe, in Central?”

“Probably,” Theo said. “They need sacrifices, and I’m one of the few they have confirmed - they might be pissed at me, but they need me alive, so as long as I keep my nose out of everybody’s business, they shouldn’t bother me.” Hopefully. 

“And what’s to stop them from locking you away until their Promised Day?” Hohenheim asked. 

“Optimism,” Theo replied.

Hohenheim snorted. “I find that’s in short supply, these days.”

“Because you’re a grumpy, jaded old man,” Theo told him breezily. “The only homunculi we have to worry about are Pride, Wrath, and Sloth. The first two can only do so much without breaking cover, and Sloth is busy digging a big ass trench around the city. As long as I watch how much time I spend in the shadows, I should be able to get in and out of the city without too much fuss.” 

The last of his clothes tucked away, he closed up the bag, hauling it off the bed and onto his shoulder.

“That’s enough for the trip,” he said. “I should go. I’ll see you guys in a couple days, okay?” 

Al and Ed both made assenting noises, but Hohenheim tipped his head, asking, “Should I come with you?”

Theo faltered. “Uh…” 

He didn’t know, actually. He wouldn’t suggest Hohenheim stay at the apartment, less he come back to the building burned down, but he didn’t really need any help, and Central was a risky place for Hohenheim to be. 

He adjusted the bag on his shoulder. “Can you hang around East City, actually?” Theo asked. “I’d feel better if someone was keeping an eye out for Mustang.” After a second, he flushed, rushing to correct, “For everybody. Hawkeye and Erin and Mustang, all of them. Y’know?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Hohenheim’s mouth, and the other four laughed openly at him. 

“Oh, shut up,” he said. “Mustang’s the one in danger, okay, it makes sense I’m worried about him most. Dates aside.” 

“Dates!?” Winry exclaimed, looking thrilled. “You have a date?”  

“God, finally,” Pinako said. “I was wondering how long you two would dance around each other.” 

“You’re gonna date the colonel?” Ed asked, nose wrinkling up in mild disgust. 

Al nudged him. “It’s nice!” he insisted. “Colonel Mustang is really nice to Theo.” 

“Too nice,” Pinako muttered. “It’s disgusting.” 

Ed looked like he very much agreed, but said nothing, clearly deciding a ‘to each his own’ approach. 

Wait a few years, buddy, Theo thought. Even without the close relationship, he doubted his younger self would skip the teen crush phase completely. 

….Which, honestly, was super weird to think about, and Theo needed to repress that thought immediately. 

Just fall for Winry quickly, he hoped. He knew himself, and his own possessive tendencies, and he was absolutely not above fighting a teenager. Especially if that teenager shared 100% of his DNA. 

That’s presuming a lot, he realized, stomach turning over. It’s one date. Calm down.  

Still, regardless of what Roy thought of the date, it was something that, for Theo, had been brewing for over a decade.  

Another bad thought. He was running out of safe thought territory with this topic.

“Anyway,” he said, firmly shoving that into the lockbox of his brain until it was forcibly dragged out again, “Keep an eye on them? Mustang was marked as a potential sacrifice, so him in particular, we need to keep locked down. Again, the homunculi are limited in what they can do, but...just to be safe.” 

“I’ll watch out as best I can,” Hohenheim said. “I don’t have access to the headquarters, though.” 

“He should be safe in there,” Theo dismissed. “It’s just a precaution. I wasn’t expecting Envy to snatch Erin out of her house, so I don’t want to say nothing is going to happen, but I mean it when I said there’s not much they can do.” He sighed. “I just wish I knew where we stood with Lust and Gluttony. Envy wanted to talk to them, but I have no way of checking how that went. We could have two more allies, or two more enemies. There’s no telling, until I run into them. If it’s the latter, though, we need eyes on our allies - Lust in particular isn’t above just killing someone if they get in the way.” 

“Noted,” Hohenheim said. “Entrust them to me. I’ll keep them as safe as I am able.” 

“That better be 100%,” Theo muttered, before following it with a slightly reluctant, “Thanks.” 

“You should get going,” Pinako said. “You’ve spent a lot longer here than they probably expected you to. Stay much longer and your boyfriend will be organizing a search party.” 

Theo’s face burned so red he could’ve passed out. “He’s not-..!”

“Go to work!” Pinako told him, steering him toward the door. “I’ve got the brats for a few days.” 

“Fine, fine!” Theo said. He paused in the doorway, turning around, and offered a hesitant, “Love you guys.” 

“Love you, too!” Al returned readily. 

Flushing, Ed grunted his assent. 

Beaming, Theo turned, heading out the door, starting his way back to headquarters. 

He knew something was wrong as soon as he entered the office. 

The aura in the room was so gloomy, and Mustang’s team only each looked at him a second before turning away. 

What did I fuck up? Theo thought, foreboding, making his way to Mustang’s actual office. We literally just worked this out, like an hour ago. How have I already fucked it up?

Theo let himself in, closing the door behind him, as Mustang and Hawkeye both looked his way.

“Theo,” Mustang greeted, sounding strained. “There’s been a change of plans.” 

Theo’s stomach rolled. “Yeah?” he asked, aiming for casual and missing completely. 

“Maes just called,” Mustang said. “A situation’s come up, and he asked me to prioritize it over the Central investigation. I’m sending you after it, instead.” 

Theo relaxed significantly. A change in mission was simple enough. “Where am I headed, then?”

“A city near the border,” Mustang told him, dragging a folder across the desk. “This is the bit of information we managed to gather since the call - people are going missing in the city, in large numbers. They seem to be targeting people who won’t be reported missing for a long while - each report filed has been when someone was unseen for over a week. Missed rent payments, that sort of thing.”

“They’re taking people who won’t be missed,” Theo summarized. “Could be homunculi.” 

He might have stumbled into where Lust was. Unfortunately, that would also imply that Envy hadn’t won her over. 

He crossed the room, taking the folder, flipping it open, turning through the list of names. A few of them had pictures, but most were barren, only the bare minimum information filled in. They were taking strangers, travellers, the like - people who had little identity established in the area. The less the general population knew about them, the better. 

It was a major red flag for human experimentation. 

“Too many bodies for a human transmutation,” Theo said. “Could be someone trying to make a stone.”  

“That’s what Maes was worried about,” Mustang agreed. “Can you look into it?”

“Yeah, totally,” Theo said, looking up. “This is my kind of thing, for sure. It’s been a while since I got to kick some alchemist’s ass for fucking with this kind of stuff. My arrays will help, too, if it is a stone - I can scan for it in any areas where the disappearances are concentrated.” He closed the folder, tucking it under his arm. “I’ll figure it out, don’t worry. I just hope the people they took are still alive.” 

And safe, and human-shaped, because there were other terrible things that could be done to a person outside of straight up murder. 

“Be safe,” Mustang said. “Don’t take unnecessary risks. If it’s too dangerous-..”

“I’m going to punch you,” Theo told him. “I can take care of myself, Mustang, I promise. I’ve dealt with worse than a rogue alchemist, if that’s what this is, and the homunculi don’t scare me, if it’s them. I’ll be fine.”

“You better be,” Mustang said. “I’m not letting you out of our dinner.”

Theo flushed. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered. He looked to Riza, asking, “Is he gonna be like this all the time?” 

“Most likely,” she confirmed, with a smile. “He worries.” 

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Theo told him. “Trust me, okay?” 

He ignored the immediate pang of guilt that reminded him of the many reasons Mustang probably shouldn’t do that. 

“Where am I going, anyway?” Theo asked, changing the subject back. “Which border city?”

“A former refugee city,” Mustang said, dragging a map out and setting his finger on it.

On a very specific, very familiar part of it. 

“Small city,” Mustang said. “It’s called-..”

“Liore,” Theo finished.

He’d found Lust. 

Notes:

[Theo voice] can I catch one single solitary fucking break bls

Chapter 57

Summary:

Liore was exactly as shitty as he remembered. 

Notes:

my one piece kick is still going strong, with everything from a zosan prince/guard au to transfem!sanji to fishman!luffy
took a break from the gay pirates [(cosmo jarvis playing in the distance)] to update the fic y'all are actually here for
satellite is my baby and i return to her as often as my brain can words, i promise

Liore was exactly as shitty as he remembered. 

The sun beat down relentlessly on an endless expanse of sand, disgusting and annoying and somehow weaving its way into the interior of his military boots, making an already unrelenting interior even worse. 

By the time he’d reached the city center, he was ready to just run everyone out of town and leave the homunculi a big, useless, uncomfortable sandbox. 

A good portion of this bad attitude had to do with the fact that Liore being fucked meant that Lust wasn’t an ally, which meant Theo couldn’t just relax until Envy got around to hitting him up again. Lust was also probably the most annoying homunculus, because she wasn’t as overconfident as Greed or as easily provoked as Envy, so he couldn’t just catch her off guard and do a transmutation on her stone like he’d done to Greed. 

Also, she came with a large, dumb, ravenous sidekick. He had a better grasp of the concept of alternate dimensions and their relation to the Gate, now, but that didn’t mean he wanted to play in one. 

Still, he thought, as he approached the fountain in the city center. At least I should see her coming, now. Maybe I shouldn’t have let the homunculi know I could track them…

Hindsight was 20/20, he supposed. 

Don’t fuck it up, he told himself. I’m not doing this shit a third time. 

He had the brief mental image of himself, as an old man, standing among various generations of failed Edward Elrics, trying to figure out the right combination of dumb luck and alchemy that would keep things going smoothly. 

He couldn’t tell if it was hilarious, or horrifying. 

“Um...excuse me, sir?” a voice asked from behind him, tentative. “Are you lost?”

Theo turned to look, his eyes immediately catching a set of warm red ones, watching him with open curiosity, and the slightest bit of concern.

But not hate, he noted, and not fear. Ishvalan, but not jaded, even in an area that had shed so much blood in the past. 

“Ah, no,” Theo said, meeting him with an easy smile. “Just looking around. It’s been a long time since I was in this city.” 

The boy blinked at him. “We aren’t a very popular place to go,” he said. “What brought you out this far?” 

Some would advise caution in an investigation, but Theo’s strategy had always been more straightforward. “Work,” he said. “There’ve been a lot of missing persons reports coming from this town. Weird enough by itself, but in a town this small…?”

The boy’s eyes widened. “You’re looking for them?” he asked. “No one’s done anything about it. At first, we though travellers were just running out on their tabs, but it’s happened so much…”

“You know anything about it?” Theo asked. “Were you familiar with any of the people who went missing?” 

The boy shook his head. “No, I wasn’t. My girlfriend, though- she does a lot of charity work, so she knew a lot of refugees and homeless people that came through. Most all of them went missing.”

“Can you take me to her?” Theo asked. “She might know something that can help.”

The boy’s face pinched. “I...I dunno if she knows anything, sir, but I can ask? It’s just, if she did know anything, Rose isn’t the type to-...”

Theo’s brain firmly shut down. “Rose?” 

“That’s my girlfriend’s name,” the boy said, smiling, perfectly oblivious to the recognition in Theo’s tone. “Mine’s Cain, by the way! Cain Alamin. She’s Rose Thomas.”

The kid was young, and Ed was still eleven, which meant that his two or three year age gap with Rose put her at...fourteen, max?

Please don’t be the one that dies, Theo thought, but he had little hope. A young love that lasted the entirety of one’s teens spelled out a good foundation for dedicating oneself to the ressurection of the dead.  

He tried very hard not to draw comparisons to his own ferocious dedication to others at around that age. 

...Actually, he was a bad example. He got devoted rather quickly at any age, honestly. He’d barely known Erin a couple weeks and he’d been ready to storm Dublith for her. Adding Nina was just sealing the deal...and keeping his impulsiveness a bit more controlled, because it was a lot harder to get a baby away from a kidnapper than an adult who could move on their own and run if necessary. 

Point was, there was a very good chance that this kid, Cain, was the one that died in an accident at some point, leaving Rose desperate for some hope to cling to. 

Truth, are you fucking with me again, you bastard? There was no way he was just that naturally unlucky. 

Or was it lucky? Could he stop Cain’s accident, if he hovered around long enough? He had no idea what kind of accident it was, or when it happened, so the chance was slim to none, but he’d have to keep an eye out. 

“Anyway,” Cain chirped, carrying right along, “Rose wouldn’t stay quiet if she knew something. She’d have told someone, right away.” 

Theo tipped his head. “And who would you tell?” he asked. “Who’s in charge around here?”

“Uh,” Cain shifted. “Nobody, really. Military come sometimes, but most of the time, we’re on our own. Rose volunteers with the church, though, so she’d probably tell the priest. We just got a new one in town, and he’s completely fixed the church up. Everyone says he did it with ‘the power of Leto,’ but I think he just repaired it overnight when no one was watching.”

Truth was definitely fucking with him. Young, kind of dumb, adorable, at risk of death? This kid was sacrifice bait. 

I’m starting to think he’s just fucking bored.

Well, depending on how things went, he might be gifting him two more stones.

Or-...

No.

He couldn’t do that, because giving Truth one stone had almost killed him, and Theo needed to get back in one piece.

For defeating-the-homunculi reasons, of course.

Not a date.

Definitely not that.

I’m so fucking hopeless. 

“I should go see him, then,” Theo said. Then, for posterity, he asked, “Point me to the church?” 

If his old Mustang could see him now. Planning stuff, being subtle. He’d shit a brick. 

“Rose,” one of the male volunteers called to her. “I brought this case of communion wine up for Father Cornello. I’m going to set it here, if you’d take it to him? We’re cleaning the cellar out.” 

“Okay!” Rose agreed easily. As the man retreated down the stairs, she crossed the room, grabbing the case of wine bottles, heaving it up.

Or, well, trying to. All she succeeded in doing was hurting her hands and shaking the bottles a bit, forcing her to hold completely still and panic until they safely came to rest without breaking or falling out. 

“Here,” a voice said, over her shoulder, and then hands came into view, scooping the case up easily. “I’ll help. Where do you need it?”

“Oh, thank you!” Rose said, turning to face her savior, beaming. “I’m supposed to take it to Father C-....”

She faltered, staring wide-eyed at the man before her. 

“...Father Cornello.” 

The man was painted in shades of gold, long hair pinned back at the base of his neck, hanging in stark contrast against the vibrant red of his leather jacket. As she stared, he gave a brilliant smile, and said, “Lead the way.”

“U-uh, um,” Rose stuttered. “I...I don’t know you? I mean! I just- are you new? I haven’t seen you volunteering before? Or, um, in the city at all? Unless you were and I just didn’t see you, if that’s it, I’m sorry! It’s just a little town so I thought I knew-...” 

The man gave a soft laugh. “You’re fine,” he said. “I’m new. My name’s Theo.” 

“I’m Rose!” she introduced. “Rose Thomas.” 

“Yeah?” Theo said. “I met your boyfriend. Cain?” 

Rose scowled.

“Uh oh,” Theo said, watching her. “That’s not a good sign.” 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, unable to help the distaste in her voice. That absolute idiot. He was still on that, and he’d convinced someone that he wasn’t full of it, which means they honestly thought she’d date him! Which, sure, he was cute, but he was so.... so….

It wasn’t a very nice thought to have in a church, so she let it go. 

“No?” Theo asked. She flushed, turning, gesturing for him to follow, and started toward the back room of the church, when Father Cornello was supposed to be. “He seemed nice.” 

“He’s dumb.” 

Theo snorted. “Not very charitable.” 

“Yeah, well,” Rose said, chin tipping up, pride smarting. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so mean about it if he stopped telling people I was his girlfriend.” 

“Have you told him it bothers you?”

What kind of question was that? “Of course!” she said. 

“Like, actually bothers you?” Theo asked. “You shouldn’t have to spell it out, I agree, but take it from a dumb guy directly - sometimes, we just need to be knocked over the head.” 

Rose huffed. “Maybe I should knock him over the head.”

“Okay, well, I didn’t tell you that,” Theo said, dismissively. “I’m not inciting violence between teen couples.” 

“We aren’t a couple!” Rose insisted. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Theo said. “Guess I’m in a matchmake-y kind of mood. Have a date later this week I’m trying really hard not to think about.” 

Rose’s stomach dropped a little, which was stupid, so she ignored it, instead asking, “Why? Don’t you wanna go on it?” 

“I,” Theo said, slowly, “Have wanted this date for about fifteen years.”

“...Wow.” 

“Yeah,” Theo said. “And I wasn’t the one who asked. Like I said, dumb guys. You gotta knock us over the head once in a while.” 

“Who is your date with?” Rose asked. “Someone in town? Is that why you’re here?”

“Nah,” Theo said. “Someone back in East City. I’m just here poking around - wanted to stop by and ask Cornello about these people turning up missing.” 

Rose stopped. Theo stopped beside her almost immediately, turning oddly knowing eyes on her.

Her stomach dropped again, for a completely different reason. 

“...Cain told you I knew something, didn’t he?”

“He said you didn’t, actually,” Theo said. “Said you weren’t the type for secrets. But, I figure, a person who doesn’t typically keep secrets? If they’re keeping one quiet, it’s a good one.” 

Rose flushed.  “I’m not keeping secrets,” she said. “I don’t know anything. They’re just missing.” 

Theo eyed her, seeming to catch what she was between her words. “But you know who does.” 

Rose looked down.

“Rose,” Theo said, gently prompting her. “I need to find them. There are things going on you don’t know about, and if these people have gotten involved, they’re in serious danger. It could be a matter of life or death. Whoever you’re protecting, it’s not worth it, I promise. There’s no equal value to a human life.” 

Rose ground her teeth...but looked up, eyes burning, and confessed in a rush, “S-sometimes, people come into the church for help. Really poor or sick people, y’know? A-and, they go to Father Cornello. They ask him to help.” 

“Sanctuary,” Theo said. “But I’m guessing…?”

“Half the people that go with him don’t come back,” Rose whispered. “I - back when I noticed, I asked about it, and he said- he said he helped them, but for his help, they had to go on a mission trip. B-but-...” 

“I’m sure he understands, Rose.” 

Rose froze, eyes wide, staring up at Theo in horror as Father Cornello eased into her peripheral vision.

“Father Cornello, I presume,” Theo said. “Brought you some wine. You should tell your volunteers to be a bit more courteous - this is a little heavy for a fourteen year old girl.” 

“‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,’” Father Cornello quoted. “You should feel free to speak up if there is a task you are unsuited for, Rose.” 

He spoke to her, but his eyes never left Theo. 

“You can go back to what you were doing, now, Rose,” Theo said. Unlike Cornello, he looked at  her, giving her a reassuring smile. “I can take it from here.” 

Rose looked to Cornello. 

Eyes still firmly on Theo, he nodded.

She wasted no time - turning on her heel, she got out as quickly as possible.  

The second they’d been facing each other, the air between them had felt ice cold. 

She was right to be suspicious. Cornello clearly didn’t want anyone else hearing about that stuff. 

Please don’t be bad, she prayed. And...if he is…

Please let that man be safe.

Notes:

theo in this chapter is the spiritual embodiment of that upside down smile emoji

Chapter 58

Summary:

Theo narrowed his eyes. “Enlighten me, then, pastor.”

Notes:

warnings for this chapter: uh....its Fucked Up
in order, we have. uhhh. body horror, vomiting, depression/self-destructive thoughts...
It's. Not Great
also some plot is sprinkled in vaguely throughout

“Dr. Mauro?” 

Marcoh bit back a sigh, looking down to the young girl. “Yes, ma’am?”

Unlike most times he used such titles on children, she did not flush or look pleased - she was too focused on her own anxieties. “Is momma gonna be okay?” 

The answer, for a normal doctor, would be a hard one. The woman he was treating was beyond the help of medicine - there was little left of her heart that was salvageable, and even with the most aggressive treatment, all medicine could do was buy her time. Time spent in pain, trapped in bed, waiting for the moment it failed- a bitter prognosis. For a normal doctor, a transplant was out of the question, the isolated town too far from civilization to even hope for a compatible donor. 

Tim Marcoh was not, however, a normal doctor.

“Don’t worry,” Marcoh told the girl. “I’ll have her feeling better in no time.”

If Theo hadn’t been ready to kick ass before, the fear on Rose’s face would have done it. As it was, he met Cornello’s false smile without any reservations - the second he found out what he needed to know, he was beating this man into the ground. 

“This is a surprise,” Cornello said. “A state alchemist, knocking at my door.”

Theo deliberately hadn’t worn his military uniform - it was rarely a welcome sight, especially this far out. That meant Cornello knew him, specifically, which was…probably not good. 

“Tends to happen,” Theo said, “when behind that door, nearly forty people have gone missing.” 

“Missing from the streets, Major,” Cornello said. “I assure you, we know exactly where they are.” 

Theo narrowed his eyes. “Enlighten me, then, pastor.”

“Certainly.”

Theo blinked, as Cornello stepped back, sweeping a hand out to one side in invitation.

Obviously a trap, he thought, but fuck it. Theo sat the wine aside, leaving it to be retrieved by someone who actually gave a shit later, and followed Cornello to a door at the back of the room. 

It opened to a stairwell, and Theo squinted suspiciously at Cornello before descending. 

The lower they got underground, the colder and mustier the air grew, until Theo was ready to turn around and leave just to breathe without grimacing. 

It doesn’t matter what they’re doing down here, Theo thought. It’s cruelty just to make them walk down all these fucking stairs.  

“Is this where you tell me you’ve actually got a knitting circle under your cult, or…?”

“Hardly a cult, Major Hohenheim,” Cornello said. “Just a simple church.”

“For now,” Theo agreed. “But you’re working on that, right, Cornello?”

“You know my name?” He sounded genuinely surprised. 

“You know mine,” Theo returned. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“Yours has been in the papers, ‘Seeking Alchemist,’” Cornello said. “Mine has not.” 

...He’d been in newspapers? 

Why? He wasn’t even a kid this time. Who the fuck cared about a random alchemist?

A concern for later, he supposed. It was probably Mustang’s fault, whatever it was.

“Maybe it has,” Theo said, just to be an ass. “Have you read every newspaper? Maybe someone ran an article on some creep priest taking over a border city.”

“I’m hardly taking over.”

“Yet,” Theo said. “You’re after power, though.”

“And what makes you say that?” 

Theo stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning, gesturing toward Cornello’s hand. “That.”

Cornello brought his hands together, fingers of one hand curling to cover the other, concealing the red stone on his ring. “She said you were familiar with these.” 

“‘She,’” Theo echoed. “Black dress, curly hair, big tattoo on her chest?” 

“You’re familiar.” 

“We’ve met,” Theo said, dryly.

“Have we?” a new voice chimed in. “I don’t recall.” 

Theo turned back, looking into the dark of the basement. A light at the foot of the stairs illuminated a small space that Lust emerged into, standing before Theo. 

“I’ve met your siblings, at least,” Theo said. 

“So I’ve heard,” Lust said. “Envy speaks highly of you.”

Theo’s eyebrows shot up. “They do?” he asked, disbelieving. 

“In a tone of high disdain, yes.” Lust tipped her head, curls spilling over one shoulder, long lashes batting once - a soft and beautiful look that probably took the wind out of men regularly. 

Theo, however, could only see blood-soaked fingertips, stabbing through the hearts of people he loved.

“They seemed convinced you were the highest form of ally,” Lust said. “A power beyond equal.” 

Theo snorted. “Now I know you’re full of shit,” he said. “That, or you know a different Envy.” 

Lust’s lips curled up in an amused smile. 

“Forget Envy’s opinion of me a second,” Theo said. “The people who are missing. What did you do to them?” 

Lust’s smile dropped. Something foreign crossed her face, a look Theo couldn’t even begin to decode, before flattening again. “A portion are still here,” she said. “Others...failed.” 

Rage and disgust churned in Theo’s gut. “What did you do to them?” he asked again, low and dangerous. 

Lust looked over his shoulder, to Cornello. Following her gaze, Theo saw Cornello give a short nod of acknowledgement, and turn to the side, going to the wall to the right of the bottom stair and hitting a switch.

Lights came up around them - and with them, a rush of noise, groans and screams in various pitches, sounds of agony abound.

Theo turned back quickly, looking into the room in horror, taking in the sight. 

Bars broke the room into sections, somewhere between cages and cells. Some were empty, but none were clean - tattered clothes laid on the floor of a few, splatters of blood filled others. 

In the ones between, figures loomed. Some were hunched, curled into themselves. Others cowered in the corners. Some pressed against the bars, squeezing as much of their bodies through the gaps as they could fit. 

They were all in very clear pain, every visible face strained. The arms that reached through the bars were marred with countless scratches, the bodies still standing were leaned heavily to one side, one figure had their own arm in their mouth, chewing on it like an animal caught in a trap. 

Exactly like that, actually, because that was what it was- while levels of humanity were retained in each form, they were all clearly fused with something. Matted fur sticking through human skin, canine teeth in an open human mouth, claws at the end of outstretched fingers-

And the sound. With the lights, they'd all come to life, crying out senselessly, agonized sounds with no recognizable goal. 

And then, the lights flicked back off, and the shouts eased, settling back into almost silence, broken by the occasional pained whimper. 

"Light agitates them," Cornello said, carelessly. 

"It's their eyes," Lust said. "Most have changed sensitivity, and they haven't adjusted."

Adjusted to their new eyes, to their new bodies. 

Failed human chimeras. A whole basement of them. 

"You…."

Theo rounded on Lust, throwing a punch without thought. She sidestepped it easily, and he stumbled as it fell through empty air. He recovered quickly, rounding on her, bringing his hands into a clap. The stone-ripping array floated in his mind, the static building in his fingers-

"It was necessary," Lust snapped at him. "Without force, how do you expect to defeat Wrath? Let alone Father!"

Theo froze. 

He'd been thinking Lust an enemy, doing some sick horrors in the name of sinking the country, existing for the purpose of Father's further conquest of God. 

The implication of what she was saying, though-...

Lust considered herself an ally. Lust believed herself to be helping. 

Lust did this monstrosity...for him. 

He was going to be sick. 

"You've killed them!" Theo snapped. "You've put them through all this pain, killed how many outright, for strength? I don't want this! I don't need it! I can take them down on my own. I don't need an army of mutilated slaves to take down that asshole. Fix them!"

"They are not slaves," Lust said, tipping her chin up. "A brief explanation of events was offered to each. Those you see now volunteered themselves to the cause. They accepted its necessity."

"Fuck that!" Theo shouted. "Fuck you! This isn't a necessity, it's brutal! It's sick! They're dead, all of them!"

"They aren't," Lust said. "The ones left are, for the most part, successful. Their forms simply need to stabilize." 

Theo thought of the human chimeras he knew, who shifted their bodies between animalistic and humanoid forms at will. Had they started like that? Agonized, broken abominations, caught in between and desperate for the end of their suffering? Clawing at their own skin, chewing on their own limbs, trying to escape the pain of being shredded down to the DNA?

"This is sick," Theo breathed, voice heavy and strained. "This is-..."

He reeled. He took a step back, then another, but his heel hit the edge of the bottom step, and he fell, stumbling back, crashing down hard on the stone. Pain jolted up his spine, across his palms where he'd caught himself in the fall, along the length of his arm, but they were distant sensations. He stared into the dark a half second before wrenching himself hard to one side, off the stairs and onto his knees on the stone floor, where his stomach wrenched, spilling its contents into the shadows. 

Even Tucker hadn't hit him this hard. The death had been a horror at his own hands, but some part of him had been relieved at it. Some deep, secluded section of his heart had believed it was justified, deserved - Tucker got the pain he'd inflicted on the undeserving in an alternate life. Theo had been able to justify punishing a man for something he hadn't even done in the current timeline, and any guilt was eased by the knowledge he'd saved two lives and the shallow comfort that his pain had at least ended quickly. 

This, though. This had no justification for him, no rationale he could bullshit himself to sleep at night with. 

This was a nightmare, and it was done in his name. 

"It was necessary," Lust repeated, voice ice. "Wrath will show no mercy. You shouldn't, either."

"Fuck that," Theo wheezed, and found the strength to raise his head, glaring at Lust with a furious fire burning in his eyes. "Fuck that. I'm not him! I won't be him! They didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve to be caught in it. They don't deserve-"

Lust cut him off, asking flatly, "Who does?"

Theo cut off, staring at her. 

Phantom screams echoed in his ears. The sounds of cities falling, both past and future, the feeling of a screaming red stone under his fingers, the power of the realm of the Gate, the feeling of emptiness as he ripped it from himself-

-the greed, the hunger, the need, him clawing at any chance to fill the void, chasing any word of alchemy powerful enough to fill the air with the song of it, to let him breathe in the feeling of it, fighting tooth and nail for the moment the static filled the air and he could pretend to feel it resonate-

-pocketing a notebook full of human transmutation notes because maybe, somewhere in there, were the answers he never stopped asking for-

Me, he thought, desperately, staring into the black of the room, imagining the pain hiding in it. I do. 

I deserve this. 

 

Notes:

Anyways here's a Satellite themed vine compilation to ease your pains

Chapter 59

Summary:

He'd had a rough day, working through his worry over Theo, and Riza had eventually kicked him out of the office with instructions to find some way to relax. 

(He'd made a quip, in reply, about her 'relaxing' with her housemate, which had nearly gotten him shot, but had been worth it.)

Notes:

quick turnaround for this chap to further ease the Suffering :3

Roy turned his key over, listening for the click that told him it was unlocked, but did not immediately open the door. 

He'd had a rough day, working through his worry over Theo, and Riza had eventually kicked him out of the office with instructions to find some way to relax. 

(He'd made a quip, in reply, about her 'relaxing' with her housemate, which had nearly gotten him shot, but had been worth it.)

Coming home had been a relief, but he'd noticed something wrong rather quickly. It had taken him a while to realize what exactly was going on, but he'd figured it out, and chewed on a mild anxiety the last few streets of his route home. 

Stopping now at his door, he called out to the anomaly, "Are you coming in with me, as well?"

Footsteps faltered, then approached, coming closer than they had been for the walk. When they were close enough, he turned, meeting his tail with an easy smile-

-only to falter, eyes wide, as he took in who had been behind him. 

"Apologies," the man, devastatingly familiar in looks but also entirely unknown to him, said, smiling slightly. "I'm not the best at stealth, I see. I promise you, I'm not an enemy."

"Who are you?" Roy demanded. 

The man looked like a dramatized Theo - sharper features where Theo's were soft, jaw a bit more squared, but very close. There were discrepancies, of course - a beard and half-rim glasses, for instance, that Roy very determinedly did not imagine on Theo, at least for the moment. 

And there were other things, too - his hair was softer gold than the vibrant shade Theo and Ed shared, looking more like Al's. His nose was different than theirs, but had a familiar hook to it nonetheless. His mouth was close to Theo's, but a thickened bottom lip, which Roy believed was another feature Al shared, but couldn't remember for certain. 

Hohenheim watched him knowingly, smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "You look like you might have already figured that out."

Roy's heart pounded in his chest. Theo had only said a few things about Hohenheim - Roy didn't even know the man's first name. All he knew was that Theo had a generally rather low opinion of him, and-

-And that he'd just followed Roy home. 

His stomach sunk. 

He'd thought it was one of his mother's girls, or a tail sent by Mae's, but it wasn't. 

It was Theo's goddamned dad. 

"I'd still appreciate an introduction," he said. "I'll even provide one. Colonel Roy Mustang, which you already knew."

"Van Hohenheim," the man returned. "Which you already knew." 

"No first name?" 

Hohenheim shook his head. "It was too long. My son must agree, as he shortened it." 

"Theophrastus?" 

"So you know," Hohenheim said. "I wondered how much of himself he'd revealed to you."

Roy... really hoped that was to be taken at face value. 

"He finds the last name too long," Roy said, rather than think too deep into it. "He hates being called anything other than just 'Theo.'"

"Does he?" Hohenheim asked. "I'm afraid I don't know much about him." 

Roy rocked back on his heels. "He's not very fond of you."

"No, I don't imagine he is," Hohenheim said. "For good reason. He was willing to speak to me, though, and I believe we understood each other. I passed along a burden to him he shouldn't have had to carry, and it broke him as thoroughly as it did me." 

Roy frowned. Hesitantly, he offered, "Would you like to come in?"

"I shouldn't, no," Hohenheim declined. "I agreed to keep an eye on those my son cares about until he returns, and I have others to check on. He did seem particularly invested in your safety, though." 

Roy tried very hard not to preen at that. "I can take care of myself. Especially for only a few days- which is how long he has before he better be back, or I'm going to get him myself."

Hohenheim smiled, looking highly amused. "He mentioned you had plans." 

Roy flushed. "I thought you two didn't talk."

"We are making an effort," Hohenheim said. "I believe he is more willing to forgive me my mistakes, now that he's made enough of his own." 

Roy frowned. "Theo's a good man," he said. 

Hohenheim laughed. "It wasn't an accusation. Everyone's made their mistakes. It makes us who we are. Grows us as people." He shook his head. "You should know, Colonel, that it's hard to accept one's past when there's blood stains on it." 

Roy's face pinched. "Are you trying to tell me something? Because if so, just say it," he demanded. "Theo is important to me. I don't know much about his history, but I know him, and I care about him. I don't like the implication that there's something wrong with him."

"There is," Hohenheim said. "It isn't meant as an insult. It's a fact - Theo reached into a part of himself that should never be opened, and tore out a piece. He experimented on himself, used his own body as a tool for so long he forgot that there was a soul inside of it." He reached out, hand catching Roy's arm, startling him. "Keep that in mind. If you are going to care about him, and let him care about you - remind him he's human."

Hohenheim took a step back, releasing Roy. 

"If no one does…" he said, hesitant, "I'm afraid it might kill him."

"They're not dead," Lust said. "They're crude imitations of what they could be, but overall, successes. When their abilities settle-..."

"This shouldn't be done," Theo said, forcing himself back to his feet. "No one should go through this. Especially not for power- and, worse than that, power that wasn't necessary."

"Envy claimed taking Greed's stone almost killed you," Lust said. "If you intend to take Wrath's, you'll need to save your energy. That means someone other than you has to fight."

Theo grit his teeth. "It's my battle. Let me worry about it."

"I told you they were informed," Lust said. "Every human in this room entered it willingly."

"And did they know?" Theo demanded. "Were they told what was going to happen to them? How horrible it would be?"

Lust narrowed her eyes at him. "There was the chance it would go wrong. They knew that much."

"A chance?!" Theo gestured wildly into the shadows around them, hiding all the victims. "It's a guarantee! Not a single one is okay!" 

"They will be," Lust insisted. "Believe it or not, Hohenheim, I was present for the creation of the military's successful human chimeras. While my supervision is not an even equivalent to having the scientist responsible for the good ones present, it's what we have, and that is all we can hope for." 

"Things would move faster if I had research notes," Cornello chimed in. "Unfortunately, those vanished with the one who wrote them." 

"Research notes," Theo echoed. "From experiments ?"

"Failed human chimeras can teach a lot," Cornello said. "It's just a shame to waste so many on the learning. Better if we can benefit from someone else's failures." 

Someone else's-...

Theo's stomach lurched. 

They let him have the failures, he recalled. He studied them. He researched…

Theo's hand came up, fingertips pressing against the outline of the notebook, still tucked into his pocket. 

"This stops now," Theo said. "You are going to stop this, or I stop you myself. Understood?"

"You're leaving yourself open."

"I'm not fucking scared of Bradley," Theo snapped. "Or your stupid Father. I'll beat them into the ground on my own. It wasn't taking Greed's stone that wore me out, it was making his Gate. If I don't do that again, I'm fine."

Lust narrowed her eyes at him. "You have no intention of doing it again?"

Theo looked to her, hearing the warning note in her voice. 

"You want to be human," Theo realized. "Like Envy does."

"I was human," Lust said, raising a hand to her chest, fingertips brushing the outline of her ouroboros tattoo. "At some point, a human woman was taken in by him, and poisoned, a stone shoved inside her. She became me. I don't remember who she was, beyond the face that's mine now. All I want is the soul they took from me."

"I...can try," Theo said, hesitantly. "But- but, not until after this is resolved. Your stone and Envy's will be the last ones I take."

"Gluttony's, as well."

Theo made a soft noise of token protest, before shaking his head in defeat. "Fine. Three stones, three souls. But in exchange-..." he pointed into the shadows. "This stops. You don't hurt humans, you don't use them for these...fucked up experiments ." 

Lust tipped her head. "Very well. When they adjust, they can go. We won't create more."

"Can you fix them?" Theo asked. "Can you pull the animal back out?"

"We'd need an expert's notes to even know if that was possible," Cornello said. "Especially if further testing is forbidden, and you don't want us killing the subjects we have."

"They're people, not lab rats," Theo snapped at him. Then, to Lust, he asked, "You don't know anything?"

Lust shook her head. "Military alchemic experiments were mostly overseen by the same person, and he is dead. He destroyed most of his notes, and the ones that remain are heavily guarded and heavily coded." 

"Then…" Theo reached a cautious hand into his jacket pocket, debating.

Tucker was a lunatic, but he had been a scientist, as well. He'd found out enough about human transmutation that he was able to perform it successfully without a philosopher's stone - a feat that Lust and Cornello seemed to think impossible. 

If anyone had decoded the complex tangle of chimera DNA, it would have been him. 

There is ignorance, Theo thought, and then there is negligence. Handing it over…

But what choice did he have?

If the answer was hidden in those pages, and he held it, kept it to himself, he’d killed them. He’d doomed them. 

If he didn’t give it to them, what could he even do with it? Decode it, make himself sick pouring over the notes, mind full of the images of what could have been done? 

He pulled the notebook out. 

“What is that?” Lust asked.

“Shou Tucker’s notes,” Theo said. “I’m guessing you know who he was?” 

“The lab allowed him access to failures,” Lust said. “He was attempting to discover a way to create viable chimeras without a stone. If you have that, I’m guessing he’s dead.” 

“He was going to kill his family,” Theo said, holding it out. “We had to intervene.” 

Lust gave him a look, rather unimpressed, and he had the feeling she had an opinion about that, but she kept it to herself. Silently, she reached out, taking the notebook. 

“Can you break the code?” Theo asked. “Or do you need-...”

Lust opened the book, glancing at the pages. “Child’s play. Tucker was an idiot.”

“Okay, good,” Theo said. “Don’t hurt anyone else. Don’t touch them unless it’s to help them.”

Lust looked up at him, eyebrow quirked up sceptically. “And if they stabilize?” she asked. “If they’re fine, and tearing them apart again will just hurt them all over again?”

Theo’s stomach churned. It was a good question. What was fundamentally worse - stripping their humanity, or causing them pain? Was it kinder to leave them?

“...You said they consented,” Theo said. “Tell them their options. Let them choose. Only if they aren’t in any pain.” 

Lust looked back to the notebook. “Envy didn’t mention you had a complex for playing the savior,” she said. “I wondered what sort of person wanted to make us human. I see now that’s just what you think should be default.” 

“Is that supposed to be a bad thing?”

Lust shook her head. “Give us a soul, or a Gate,” she said. “But we’ll never really be human.” 

“Yeah, well,” Theo said, looking away himself. “Neither will I.”

Notes:

theo: he was gonna hurt his wife and kid so i killed him
lust, who knows like 2 things about him: yeah that tracks

Chapter 60

Summary:

“You ain’t a criminal or nothin’, are ya?” Addison asked, setting the glass in front of him.

Notes:

so theo's mental state this entire chapter is still Very Bad and so the warnings from last chapter's ending still apply
and honestly they'll probably apply for a good few chapters after this because the boy is about to go through some Shit plot-wise
>:3

also, back by popular demand: outsider pov
and a special secret bonus pov ;)

Addison’s bar had rooms up the stairs, but they weren’t quite an inn. For the most part, she just dropped drunk assholes in a bed up there and billed their wives in the morning - I cleaned up your mess, come pick up the tab. Wasn’t always wives - often it was brothers, sisters, best friends, anyone she knew would come scrape the motherfucker off her porch.

Point was, the rooms weren’t usually rented while the occupant was still conscious and sober. Getting a tourist in their little city was a wild thing, and was even more so when she took in the guy’s face. 

He had a pretty enough face, she thought, if you looked past the ‘walking dead’ quality of it. He looked like he’d walked there from Central on foot and was about to give out, and he fell into a barstool like he’d never get back out of it again. His gold hair was starting to fall out of a low ponytail, and his eyes were haunted, giving him the general appearance of some kind of ghoul, coming to haunt her bar. 

He paid her upfront for a room for the night, and then pushed some more cens at her, asking her to just give him something to help him sleep. 

What’s he been through? Addison wondered, pouring him something strong.

“You ain’t a criminal or nothin’, are ya?” Addison asked, setting the glass in front of him. “Ain’t nobody kickin’ down my door to look for ya?”

The man gave a huff that could’ve almost passed for a supremely bitter laugh. “No one’s looking for me,” he said. He shook his head, through back the whole drink, and sat a moment, breathing heavily, before he looked up at her again. “I don’t mean that to sound so pathetic, sorry. I’m- I’m not running from anyone. Or, well-...” He shook his head. “I’m supposed to be here. I just...really don’t wanna be.” 

Silently, she took his glass, refilling it a couple inches in front of him and sliding it back. He knocked it down again, no hesitation. 

“I’m not helpin’ you fall off a wagon, am I?” Addison asked. She had her locals who were blacklisted, but this guy wasn’t from Liore. His copper was too smooth, not the rough textured brown brought out by life in the eastern sun. 

“Nah,” the man said. “I don’t typically drink much. I just- there’s no way I’m sleeping, if I can think about it.” 

She took his glass, but put it aside, setting the bottle back on the shelf. She waited for him to protest, but he didn’t.

Not desperate drinking just yet, she thought. He really means it. 

She reached behind her, pulling out a shot glass. Dropping down, she dug into the cabinet under the bar, filling the glass with the strong stuff without bringing it above the bar. 

Technically speaking, Ishvalan liquor wasn’t legal, for more reasons than the racist ones. 

She sat the shot in front of him. “You take that, you’ll sleep,” she told him, “but it’ll be a hell of a morning.”

The man stared at it. “That’s…” he shook his head, and looked up at her, lips pulling in the ghost of a smile. “Is that what I think it is?” 

“Not that you can prove,” she replied. “You want it?” 

“My tolerance isn’t that good,” the man confessed to her. “That’d be overkill.” 

Addison huffed, but turned, retrieving a second shot glass. Carefully, she tipped the full shot over it, pouring the majority of it into the second glass. Satisfied with a 75-25 distribution of liquor between them, she slid him the smaller shot, and dragged the fuller one closer to herself. 

The man blinked at her. “Can you drink that and still work?” 

“Who you think that bottle’s down there for?” Addison asked him. “Sure as hell ain’t sellin’ it to these sandcrabs.” 

The man exhaled in a mimicry of a laugh, and he lifted the shot glass, giving her a mock toast that she returned, before they both turned them back. 

The man coughed immediately, bringing a hand up to his mouth. “That is-...”

“Disinfectant grade?” Addison finished. “Good shit, ain’t it?” 

The man shook his head. “Roy-...” he blinked, shaking his head again, lowering an unsteady hand to set the empty shot glass back on the bar. “I shouldn’t drink so much, he-...he can’t stand-..I’m really annoying when I’m drunk.” 

“Good thing you’re drinking to sleep.” 

The man nodded, getting to his feet, bracing himself on the edge of the bar a moment. He looked for a second like he was going to be sick, but held it remarkably well. 

Addison stepped out from behind the bar, room key in hand. “Come on, goldilocks,” she said, catching him under the arm and helping him toward the stairs. “Let’s get you in bed.” 

“I...am married.”

“Good for you,” Addison said, dryly. “I’ll bill your wife.”

“She’s dead.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” Addison muttered. “You’re a cheery drunk.”

“Annoying,” the man corrected. “He says it- he-... don’t drink, you’re a pain in the ass, don’t wanna-... ”

The man pitched forward. She hauled him back up quickly, watching him rock unsteadily for a second.

The shot hit, then, she thought, hauling him - with significantly more effort on her part - the rest of the way up the stairs. 

“He better-...” the man muttered, as she unlocked his door one-handed, shoving it open. “Better have some fucking answers...bastard…”

“You get cheated on or somethin’?” she asked, dragging him forward. He seemed really bitter about the dude, whoever he was, and that was her first guess. 

“I wish,” the man muttered. “Would’ve-....made things easier...if she…”

She got him, finally, to the edge of the bed, and dropped him into it. 

“Don’t die in my bed, or I’m looting the body,” she warned him. “Folks are goin’ missing all the time around here right now, too, so they’d never even know.” 

The man let a sound that was suspiciously close to a sob, and she was suddenly glad she hadn’t bothered with the light. She couldn’t stand a crier. 

“See ya in the mornin’, goldie,” she said, turning to go back down to the bar.

As she left the room and went to lock it, she heard him say into the empty room, rather loudly and almost like a challenge, “Alright, fucker. Let’s talk.” 

There was no time, no space, in this place. There was no waiting, because it had already been done, and yet stretched endlessly before them. There was no hiding, because all was here, because here was everywhere.

An impossible, infinite space, untouchable by the human hand.

Inhabitable, perhaps, if a soul reached such a state where its physical was irrelevant. If one could become their energy, and have their energy become them in turn, giving them freedom from the form they were provided in the waking world. 

The Sun-child was the only such being in history. None had come before, none would come again. They were beyond the limits of physics and chemistry, beyond the sciences man created to understand the goings on about them. 

Or, they would be. If they would simply release, would cut ties, would allow it. The power that coursed through them, a direct mimicry of ancient strength, the energy or the light or whatever name humanity had given it over the years. 

Instead, they clung. Instead, they toiled, they suffered. They hungered for humanity, the direct inverse of the instinct humanity had been bred on. 

It was in the nature of a physical form to crave something higher. 

Perhaps it stood to reason that the nature of the higher form was to crave something more...grounded. 

The anchors keeping them down were softening as time in the mortal world ticked on, the physical slipping away, freeing them briefly for a moment. Allowing them to reach inward, into that space within themselves where the realm above reached back, and fold within it, escaping beyond. 

And then, around them, the space would corrupt itself. It would mimic the physical, as they did, taking the forms they desired, the ones they could understand. Infinite material would form into space, infinite events forming a linear time. Everything that existed would sort itself according to their rules, and they would notice nothing. They would take it as given, believing it to be the only way. They would create a space with which to challenge all, and do so without care.

In the endless time, there was a moment, and the moment stretched on, unending but firmly defined. In the endless space, there was a room, without walls or ceiling or even floor, but nonetheless solid. 

In that moment, in that room, there was a figure, without features or form, but a mouth, and a thousand voices, both of which were to tell the truth.

The Truth was what was wanted, and so the Truth would be received. 

The void seemed fuzzier than normal. 

“Huh,” Theo murmured, looking around. “This place can get drunk?”

“It is what you see in it,” Truth’s chorus echoed back. 

Theo wasn’t even vaguely sure what that was meant to mean, but it wasn’t a priority. Instead, he rounded on Truth, glaring at that mocking smile. 

“You knew,” he accused. 

“All things that are,” Truth replied. “All things that will be.” 

“Quit being cryptic,” Theo said. 

“Why would I give you a straight answer?” Truth asked. “Do you deserve one? Would you even understand it?” 

“You made me pick that notebook up,” Theo snapped. “That moment, when I couldn’t resist, when I couldn’t make myself tell Mustang - that was you.” 

“Was it?” Truth asked.

“Fucking stop it!” Theo shouted, hand coming up to grasp at his hair, pulling at it in frustration and fury. “Tell me why! Tell me why she thought she had to- why you wanted me to help-...”

Truth’s smile never wavered. “Ask, Theophrastus,” the being taunted. “Ask what you truly want to know.”

Theo shook. What he wanted to know? 

Why did Lust think he needed an army? Did he need an army? Would he be okay with it, if he did, or would he rather walk into death than subject humans to that torture? Why had he been compelled to grab the notebook? Why had he been compelled to hide it? Why was he compelled to hand it over? What was in it? Why did Tucker hide it seperate from the others? Whose experiments provided the bodies he’d examined? What happened to them? Why did Lust know so much about them? Were they still ongoing? 

What was Cornello after? What was his prize, for playing their game? 

Who was an ally? Who was an enemy? What were either side willing to do to see their victory? 

What was he? What did he make the homunculi into? What had he done to his own soul? Could it be fixed? Did he even want it fixed? Was there anything that would ever satisfy his clawing hunger? Was he, like Father, like the homunculi, a simple accumulation of sins, aching because it was his entire nature to ache? 

None of the questions were right. 

“Why is it,” Theo asked, voice low and thick, “that all the terrible things that happen around me...are happening to people who don’t deserve it?”

Truth’s featureless head tipped to one side, and they corrected, “Why aren’t they happening to you?”

“I told you when I was a kid,” Theo said. “I told you, when I came for Al. I told you to take anything from me. My soul, my body, whatever - I’d give it. I’ve never taken that back. According to you, I’ve shredded my own soul in the process. But my family-...the whole world, the way it was, every person. They didn’t offer themselves. Amestris didn’t on the Promised Day. None of the souls in the philosopher’s stones, none of the human chimeras- none of the animal chimeras, for fuck’s sake- What is equal to all that?” Theo demanded. “Is it worth more to you if it’s ripped from someone who didn’t want to lose it? Is it worth more to you to tear apart innocent people than to take something I would give you in a second?” 

“Equivalence.” 

Theo stopped short. “...What?” 

“Wasn’t that the theory you lived by?” Truth asked. “That equivalence is not equality? That equality is not equivalence?” 

“This isn’t either,” Theo said. “My soul should be the same value as theirs, in either respect.” 

“Why?”

Theo blinked. 

“Why?” Truth asked again. “Why would your soul be the same value as another’s?”

Theo’s heart clenched. “What?”

Truth stepped closer. “ Why would I take your soul,” they stressed, “that is broken, shredded, worn, and readily discarded? Why should I accept that as a payment?” 

Theo’s throat closed, breath failing. 

“Why would I take it,” Truth asked, “when even you don’t want it?”

Theo’s eyes snapped shut, but he forced them back open-....

...And looked, with burning eyes, into the face of an adult Winry Rockbell. 

Notes:

if you watched the vine compilation i made, i would like to place heavy emphasis on the vine where truth is the "this bitch empty!!" girl yeeting theo into the past, because uh

Chapter 61

Summary:

She didn’t even look happy, in whatever memory he’d dropped into. Her face looked pinched, strained, anxious - she was waiting for something, and it wasn’t something she was looking forward to. 

Notes:

bittersweet content followed by More Plot in this one :)

Winry looked a little younger, maybe, than he’d left her - a couple years or so, around the age she’d been when the kids were smallest and he the split of his time between her and Roy was more 50-50 than outright abandonment. 

God, I’m a piece of shit, he thought, looking at her face. She didn’t even look happy, in whatever memory he’d dropped into. Her face looked pinched, strained, anxious - she was waiting for something, and it wasn’t something she was looking forward to. 

Behind him, he heard a door open. He turned to look, and found the front door of their house, swinging open to reveal his younger self, a loose blue shirt hanging off him, sleeves rolled up, hair in a ponytail - quick and casual, just trying to get on the road, not really caring who saw him and how. 

“Daddy!”

Through Theo’s legs, forms broke forth, sprinting towards the Edward in the doorway. 

“Hey!” Ed greeted, dropping down to scoop them up, hoisting one onto either hip. “You’re getting kind of big for this.” 

Nina shook her head, beaming at him. “Nuh-uh,” she said. “Daddy strong.” 

“Am I?” Ed asked. “I dunno...I think….”

He moved his arm, letting Nina drop down a centimeter, grabbing her immediately after she let out a tiny, thrilled shriek at the game. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Ed said. “Did I drop you?”

“Again!” she cheered. “Again, again.” 

“Don’t drop me!” Russell protested. “Put me down first! I don’t wanna fall.” 

“Can’t even hold your own kids, Fullmetal?” another voice asked. Theo’s heart seized, as behind Ed in the doorway, the older Roy emerged, looking amused. “How old are you getting?”

“Says the fossil,” Ed returned, stepping into the house to allow him to enter, closing the door behind them. “You wanna hold one of these? They’re so heavy.” 

Nina leaned out immediately, hands reaching toward Roy. “Uncle Mustard!”

Roy made a face, looking to Ed. “You taught her that,” he accused. 

“You can’t prove that,” Ed said, passing Nina over, then readjusting Russell to hold him a bit more securely in her absence. 

Roy holding Nina - his Nina, his beautiful daughter, in the arms of his Roy, aged like wine-....

Why would he take my soul, Theo thought bitterly, when this hurts so much worse?

“You guys just got here,” Theo heard Winry say, and turned to look at her. She was smiling at them, and despite the earlier strain on her face, it looked genuine, if a bit tired. “And you’re already arguing?” 

“We’ve been arguing for, what, sixteen years?” Roy said. “He’s relentless.” 

“Only to you.”

“Hey,” Ed interrupted, crossing the room toward Winry. “I take offense to that. I’m an asshole to plenty of people.” 

Winry reached out as he got close, patting his shoulder. “Yes, dear. You’re very mean.” 

“I’m being mocked,” Ed said, looking down at his son. “Do you hear this? Do you hear your mother mocking me?” 

Russell giggled. “Daddy’s not mean.” 

“Oh, no,” Ed said, dramatically, tipping his head back. “My poor reputation.” 

“You lost that years ago,” Winry told him. 

It was a joke, said in the same tone as every other one that had been told, but Theo saw it hit home. Saw the pinch by Ed’s eyes, saw the falter in his step, saw his smile drop a fraction. 

He saw Winry see it, too. Saw her lips part a bit, ready to apologize, and then close again. Waiting.

How many times had they played this game, Theo wondered, without even noticing? Where Ed showed himself to be broken and Winry bit back the questions, so they could keep pretending? 

How close had Theo gotten to his breaking point by just...never allowing himself to let it out? Never letting himself say this hurts, something’s wrong, just sucking it up and squaring his shoulders and being what he needed to be. 

Because in his mind, nothing should have been wrong. It had gotten habitual, thinking of his past as though he’d been miserable, a sad sack of shit that was never happy with anything.

That wasn’t true, though - this was. He had everything, while it was in front of him. It was just that every time he thought too hard, every time he looked away, it got harder to convince himself he was allowed it. 

He didn’t deserve it.

Theo watched Ed rock his weight from one foot to the other, recovering, and lean forward, placing a kiss to Winry’s temple. 

She turned, catching it on her lips instead, much to the disgust of Russell, who let out a childish, “Eww.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Ed said, pulling back, looking down at Russell. “You go right ahead and keep thinking that’s gross. Do that ‘till you’re thirty.” 

“You aren’t thirty,” Roy said. 

“Shut up,” Ed said. “I’m giving life lessons.” 

“I don’t think you’re qualified.” 

“I can’t say what I want to say to you,” Ed said, “because there are children present.” 

“I’m not a children!” Russell protested. 

“Child,” Winry corrected. “And don’t be upset, Ed won’t let Al swear, either.” 

“Al doesn’t let Al swear,” Ed said. “Until it’s cold, and then he’s a fu-... freaking potty mouth. Xing probably doesn’t even know he can be polite.” 

“It’s cold in Xing?” Russell asked. 

“I’m guessing,” Ed said. “I won’t go.” 

“Your dad is scared of the emperor,” Winry informed him. 

“Your dad is creeped out by the emperor,” Ed corrected. “And says the emperor can fu-....ah. Hm.” 

“Hearing you censor yourself is a novelty,” Roy said. “This is the longest I’ve heard you talk without swearing.” 

“That’s because talking to you makes me wanna swear,” Ed said. “You’re just too much of a pain in the ass.” 

“Ooh!” Russell and Nina both cooed. 

“Butt!” Ed corrected. “I said nothing, you heard nothing.” 

“Swear jar,” Roy said.

“Do not give her ideas,” Ed told him. 

“I couldn’t do that to him,” Winry said. “He’d have no money left.” 

“Because I still pay for my automail,” Ed countered. 

“We pay for all automail,” Winry argued. “We have to pay the people we order parts from. That’s how it works.” 

“You send me a bill.”

“Well,” Winry said, “I could hand it to you in person?” 

Ed snorted, as though it were a joke, but Theo was watching Winry, and-...

...And her face had turned slightly pinched, eyes defiant. It had been a challenge, and Ed had brushed it off without a thought. 

It bothered her, Theo realized. She knew what I was doing. She knew I was running away. 

He heard shifting, and looked back to Roy, watching him turn his attention silently back down to Nina.

So did he, Theo noted. 

He really hadn’t gotten away with anything. 

“You’ll have to wait,” Ed said, oblivious to the tension of the other two adults. “Bastard got himself promoted again.” 

“Swear jar,” Roy said again. 

Ed made a face at him. “Eat me, Mustang.” 

“Rank up?” Winry cut in, curiosity only slightly forced. “What does that make you, now, again?” 

“General,” Roy said. “End of the line.” 

“No it isn’t,” Ed said. “You’ve got one more step to go.” 

“Is it a step?” Roy asked. “Grumman’s been trying to throw it at me for years, regardless of rank.”

“And yet, here we are,” Ed said. “You, me, 520 cens between us. Step it up, Mustang.” 

“You just really wanna pay me, huh?” 

“Oh, definitely,” Ed said. “Then I can get rid of you.”

“Now, why would I accept, after hearing that?” Roy placed a hand over his heart - rather awkwardly, as he was still holding Nina. “What’s 520 cens against a lifetime of friendship?”

“520 cens, and a pervert miniskirt policy.”

Roy blanched. “Please don’t remind Riza of that.” 

“I am absolutely going to,” Ed said.

Though no one could hear him, Theo chimed in, “I am, too. You’re going down in two worlds, bastard.” 

“What’s perfert?” Nina asked. 

“Uncle Mustard,” Ed replied, without hesitation. 

“You’re fired.” 

“I don’t even work for you,” Ed said. “Officially, I’ve stolen half the cases I worked. An audit would fu-...hn. This is hard.” 

“So swear at me less,” Roy said. “Less of an adjustment.” 

“Or I could kick you out,” Ed said. “You’re an agitant.” 

“What’s agitant?” 

“Your dad,” Roy answered, before Ed could get even the first syllable of ‘uncle’ out. 

“If you got promoted, I’m assuming there’s a dinner?” Winry asked. 

“Unfortunately,” Ed said. 

Winry’s lips turned up in a small, amused smile. “You’re being ‘forced’ to go again?”

“Don’t say it like that,” Ed whined. “All doubtful. It is force. I hate military events.” 

“You aren’t military,” Winry reminded him. “You could say no.”

“Tell that to him,” Ed said, jerking his head toward Roy. 

“Nah,” Winry said. “I gave him permission to use you as his date years ago.” 

Ed paused, blinking at her. “...You did?” 

Winry’s eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t know that?”

“When was this conversation?” Ed asked, bewildered. Then, after a second, he looked to Roy, snapping, “And I’m not your date! Plus one. No wonder everyone is so fake polite to me, jeez.” 

“They probably think you two are married, too,” Winry said. “Since you wear a ring.” 

“I don’t-...” Ed cut off, visibly backpedaling from the confession, immediately asking, “Seriously, did you two have a meeting behind my back? Is this where I find out you’re actually pen pals?” 

“He calls me,” Winry said. 

Ed looked at Roy.

“Don’t give me that look,” Roy said. “Someone has to tell her when you’ve broken your leg.” 

“That’s how you know?!” Ed looked to Winry. “Here I thought I was just fuc- screwing it up, fixing bits myself, but you were cheating.”

The word choice made Theo’s stomach churn.

“Oh, I can tell,” Winry said. “It’s way too delicate for your ‘repairs.’ I just make sure to prepare your lecture in advance after those calls.” 

“They’re ganging up on me, Russell,” Ed said to his son in a mock-whisper. “I need backup.” 

Russell shook his head aggressively. 

“No?” Ed said. “You won’t fight your mom for me?” 

Russell shook his head again. 

“Smart,” Ed allowed. “She’s scary.” 

“Mm-hm.”

Winry, satisfied with her victory, took a step back, further into the house. “Ready to eat?” 

“Oh, hell yes.”

“Swear jar!” 

The people of the room made it two steps before their image faded from view, leaving Theo in a strange new space. It was like the white void, but the bleached expanse was instead a dull yellow, an eerie red light spreading in the distance, as though he’d stepped into the sky at sunset. 

“I don’t get it,” he said, into the space, addressing Truth, who he assumed was watching. “What was that for? Just showing me up close what all I lost? That’s brutal, even for you.” 

The red light glowed brighter, more intense, the center of it becoming visible - and then immediately making Theo snap his eyes shut to protect against the glare of it. 

The light washed across his eyelids, so that he still saw the brightest red, even without looking. He brought up a hand to try and block it more, but it barely helped, and his palm started to feel hot where it faced the source. 

An explosion? He wondered. A flare? 

All at once, the light vanished. 

Tentatively, he opened his eyes, peeking out. As he lowered his hand to look properly, it dropped, slack at his side, as he gaped. 

The Eye loomed in front of him, ominous as ever. No black tendrils reached toward him, but that did not make it any less bone-chilling to look at. 

“What...what is this?” Theo asked, watching the Eye in undeniable fear. “What do you want from me?” 

The Eye gave a slow, almost disinterested seeming blink. 

Instantly, images came to Theo’s mind. A Gate, standing wide open, light pouring out. A hand reaching into it, the light soaking into the skin, making it glow, painting it gold- and then catching, twisting, turning black and sickly, the skin withering up, the limb crumbling to dust. A fountain of red water, a twisted figure crawling out of its depths. Blood mixing into dust and dirt, forming red-brown clumps which hardened, brightened, turned to stone.

And then, a laboratory, with a metal table covered in blood, three figures in protective suits scrubbing away at it.

“A failure,” someone said. “That’s today’s third. Are you doing this on purpose?” 

“N-no,” someone else stuttered back, and Theo saw them, half in shadow, behind the table, watching the cleaners. “It’s just-...Their bodies, they don’t take it. Only certain sections of DNA are compatible - if you take too many, their bodies no longer recognize human organs, and shut down, but if you don’t take enough, the body won’t make it past deconstruction. It’s- it’s a delicate science.” 

“Well,” the first voice said, “Figure it out. At least leave the failures in one piece. May as well get something to send Tucker.” 

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

Perspective shifted, and Theo was suddenly watching his hands, watching his thumb shift in his fist, pressing a glowing red stone into his palm, hiding it away. 

“I’ll get the next one, for sure.” 

All at once, the vision vanished. Within the span of a millisecond, he’d gone from watching the hands to sitting up in bed, stomach rolling and head pounding with the worst hangover of his life, and-

-And a million questions, all of which he needed to take to Lust, because in that vision, she’d been talking to someone he knew. 

The chimera lab had been under fucking Marcoh. 

Notes:

me, dropping a plot reveal so that i can read comments on my lunch at work again

Chapter 62

Summary:

Ed reached down, going for the wheels of his chair, but it was too late.

Notes:

For those of you wondering about the spam updates, here's the secret: my friend has a plot-heavy megafic that I love and every time she updates I write to cope with the Feelings
she updated again this morning so here you go, checkin in with the lads

“Shit!”

Ed reached down, going for the wheels of his chair, but it was too late - the array’s feedback sparked out, flared, and then exploded outward. There was the sound of breaking glass, and he felt something rain down against his leg as he frantically wheeled backward. Pain sparked in a couple places, very mild, but still there. 

“What was that?!”

Ed tensed, looking anxiously toward the kitchen, from which Pinako emerged, looking wild. 

She took in the scene: Ed, by the table, and a confetti sprinkle of shattered ceramic across the floor, some of which was in his lap, several small nicks and scratches along his legs from tiny shards falling against it. 

“A mug?” Pinako asked. 

Ed gave a sheepish smile. “I thought I had it, this time.”

Pinako huffed, disappearing into the kitchen, reappearing a moment later with a broom and dustpan. 

“If you got anything in your port, I’m going to smack you,” Pinako warned, starting to clean the floor. 

A blur appeared in the doorway, Alphonse suddenly streaking into the room. “I said wait!” 

He skidded to a stop just short of the carnage, gaping at it. 

“Ed!” he scolded. 

“I know!” Ed said, throwing his hands up, both in defense and in sheer frustration. “But it won’t work for me! It’s like I’m hitting a wall.” 

“You gotta open the Gate,” Al said. “Like there’s a room inside you, and you’re walking into it.” 

“I got it the first fifty times,” Ed grumbled. “It just doesn’t work. If I have a room like that, it’s locked.” 

“It shouldn’t be,” Al murmured, considering. “I wonder if it’s because you paid a toll? But you can still do alchemy without a circle...Your Gate should be open.” 

“Didn’t Theo tell you two to cool it until he got back?” Pinako reminded them. 

Both boys flushed. 

“Theo talked about sending stuff through the Gate, though,” Al said. “We were trying to figure it out, ‘cause then…”

He trailed off, and Pinako looked to him for a second, before shaking her head. “Theo doesn’t need you to send him anything. And he shouldn’t wear himself out sending things back.” 

“We know,” Ed said. “But if there’s an emergency, we should know how! Except I can’t get the stupid Gate to open.” 

“Isn’t that the thing that took your leg?” Pinako asked. “You wanna mess with that again?” 

“I’m not going through it,” Ed said. “I just wanna shove stuff through it.” 

“I don’t get why you can’t,” Al said. “You’re usually a lot better at this stuff than me.”

Ed flushed. “I’ll figure it out!” he insisted. “I just gotta practice.” 

“Hell no,” Pinako said. “Next thing you break will be yourself, at this rate. Shelf this shit until Theo is back.” She straightened, satisfied with her cleanup, and said, “And wait here while I dump this, and I’ll get the first aid kit and look at your legs. With your luck, there could be something stuck in one of those cuts.” 

She left the room, and Al instantly turned to Ed, lowering his voice. 

“What happened?” he asked. “It shouldn’t have exploded like that, even if it didn’t work.”

“I told you, I hit something,” Ed said. “It was like….Like, I could feel there was somewhere for it to go, but right when I pushed it through, it just-...just shoved back out at me. It threw me out.” 

Al’s eyebrows knit together. “I wonder why you can’t go there,” he said. “There’s nothing there, for me. It’s just...empty space. I wonder if you were accidentally sending it to someone else…?”

“And they rejected it?” Ed asked, following the theory.

“Either that,” Al said, thoughtfully, “or you paying a toll did something...Maybe your space is closed off, or there’s something else already in there.” He blinked, then brightened, straightening up. “What if it’s your leg? Do you think that’s still in there?” 

Ed remembered the feeling of it turning to dust before his eyes. “No,” he said, flatly. “That’s gone. It’s something else.” 

“What else could be in your Gate?” Al wondered. 

An image came to mind, then - the blank-faced creature of the Gate, that ‘Truth,’ grinning at him, as the dust from his leg swirled behind him, condensing slowly into something new, something different. 

The second it was solid, he’d been thrown from that place, and he’d woken on the floor, getting a second’s glimpse of Theo before he’d fallen unconscious. 

A theory settled in his mind. “It’s Theo.”

Al blinked. “You contacted him?” he asked.

Ed shook his head. “No- when...When we tried to bring back mom, and Theo came? He came while I was still in that place.” He reached up, gnawing on a fingernail as he put the new theory together. “What if- What if that’s how he got here? What if he sent himself through my Gate?”

Al frowned. “But he said- he said it was an accident. And he didn’t know you could do that. And-...and…”

“And I can’t get through my Gate,” Ed finished, “because he’s still using it.” 

Al blanched. “Does...does that mean…?”

Ed grimaced. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “If he’s still using my Gate…”

“He can go back,” Al finished. “It’s not closed.” 

The two stared at each other, hearts sinking. 

“Should…” Ed started, speaking weakly, “Should we tell him?” 

“We have to,” Al said. “He- he was going to stay until stuff was better, right? So he won’t leave right away.”

“But he will leave,” Ed said. “Won’t he?” 

Al grimaced. “He said he lost his family,” he said. “They-...he might not want to go back, without them.”

“What if he was wrong?” Ed asked. “He said that he lost his family to do the transmutation to get here, but we’ve not given anything to move through it, have we? What if he’s just...wrong?” 

Al looked sick, but the same time he opened his mouth to reply, Pinako re-entered the room. 

“Al, out,” she barked. “Your brother is a miserable patient enough on his own.” 

The boys exchanged a last look, and the younger turned, slumping out of the room.

“Did you two fight?” Pinako asked, starting in on his leg. “Don’t take it out on him if you’re frustrated.” 

“No, that’s not it,” Ed said. “Hey, Granny, Theo- Theo talks to you.” 

“Unfortunately,” Pinako replied. “Why?”

“His family,” Ed said. “What made him think that they’re gone?” 

Pinako’s hands paused in cleaning his leg. 

“...I don’t know,” she said, though there was something tense in her tone. “Some alchemy garbage I didn’t understand. He was practicing arrays at the time.” 

“So he could be wrong?”

“No.”

Ed blinked at the decisive answer. “What? No? Why not? How do we know-...?”

“I don’t understand alchemy worth a damn,” Pinako said, “but I don’t think he’d have given up on going home if he thought anything was left there. From the little he told me, I don’t see how there would be anything to go back to.” 

Ed didn’t feel convinced, knot forming in his stomach. Quietly, he asked, “But if there is?” 

Pinako’s hands stilled.

Looking up to him, meeting his eyes, she said, “Don’t worry about it. There’s not.” 

Ed wasn’t sure either of them were convinced. 

Chimeras were a delicate science, with dozens of factors to consider in each one. 

For starters, there were the subjects of transmutation themselves. They needed to be compatible, which meant similar stages of growth, similar health, so on. 

Traits, meanwhile, were often better complimentary - calm or reserved subjects tended to do better with predator animals, taking in the confidence provided by strength without entirely rejecting it. A nervous, anxious, or easily excited person would reject the addition of an animal that was generally relaxed. A significant portion of the transmutations’ success was up to the mind - over the years, many brains had simply shut down under the strain of adjusting, leaving him with vegetables, which he would then watch his superiors take away, going to a man who would pay no mind to the idea they still had a heartbeat other than as a means to maintain study material. 

Some subjects were better for combination. Healthier bodies, ironically, were bad for it - a brain would not adjust to a fully functioning body being ripped apart and replaced with something so tentative. The closer one was to death, the easier it was to retrain their body to recognize healthy parts as its own, regardless of what it came from.

Younger candidates were better, too, but he’d always kept that carefully obscured from his reports, lest his supervisors start bringing him children. It was bad enough that he’d let slip the bit about health, because they’d turned the meals for death row prisoners into unhealthy, even damaging mockeries, bringing him half-starved and dying ‘patients’ to bond with nice, healthy animals, introducing him as a doctor for a humane execution and stepping from the room before the screaming started. 

The woman had always had contempt for noise, and her companion went a bit wild when a person started to bleed. 

It had taken him a while to figure out how to fuse two things that were both dying, and longer to figure out how to combine things that were both human in nature. Those were experiments he would complete, and then botch at the last second, before his supervisors took notice - the most painless death he could give, marked off as a failure of an impossible project, but one more step closer to his salvation. 

Far removed from Central and the horrors of Lab 5, Marcoh sat the organ cooler on the table of his makeshift operating room, and picked up an IV bag. 

It was still warm under his touch, taken from one of his other patients who could still spare it, one whose blood type matched that of the only donor heart he’d been able to obtain from the morgue. 

It was, technically speaking, a three-subject merge, because it took the power of alchemy to make the heart register the correct vascular system, but there was enough general transplant in it that he could get away with it. He would graft blood to blood, and then replace the organ in question, using just a touch of the stone’s power to seal it in place and convince it it belonged there.

He picked up a scalpel, and turned to his patient, laying the bag against her stomach, exposed to the air for the operation, his process too in depth for him to grant his patients any modesty. 

He closed his eyes a moment, steadying his breathing. 

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, he thought to himself. He didn’t dare recite the full prayer - if there was a God, Marcoh had strayed farther from him than could ever be undone. 

But if he had to live with himself, he could do so knowing that he was no longer an instrument of death, but of health and safety, bringing peace to those who deserved it, giving what he could not ask for himself. 

Opening his eyes, finally calm, Marcoh lowered the scalpel to the woman’s chest, and began to gently draw, in shallow cuts, the shape of an array. 

“Rose!”

Rose stopped in the street, flushing immediately, before she even turned around. 

“I was looking for you!” Cain said, bounding happily up to her side. “Or, well, I wanted to tell you that someone else was looking for you. Some older blonde guy in a jacket. It’s so hot. Why would he wear a jacket? Do you think he’s-...”

“He found me,” Rose interrupted him. “His name is Theo.” 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s him,” Cain agreed. “You met him?”

“He...helped me at the church,” Rose said, hesitantly, thinking of the looks on his and Cornello’s faces when they’d been standing on her either side, eyes locked in an unspoken battle. 

And then, she remembered something else, and reached out, punching Cain in the arm. 

“Ouch!” Cain shouted, stumbling sideways - dramatically, because she hadn’t even hit him hard. “Why are you being mean?” 

“You told him we were dating!” Rose said. 

Cain beamed. “No I didn’t!” he said. “I called you my girlfriend.” 

“That’s what that means!”

“You’re a girl, you’re my friend,” Cain said. “Girlfriend.” 

“You’re not stupid, Cain,” Rose told him. 

Cain laughed. “Tell that to everyone else.” 

He said it in the same happy, lighthearted tone as he said everything else, but it still wounded Rose. 

Cain wasn’t stupid - and he wasn’t terrible, either, even if he’d been informing anyone that would listen that he was going to marry Rose one day since they were seven. 

And he’d sent Theo to the church, and that meant-...however small, there was the smallest chance, those people might be okay. 

Rose huffed. “Stop telling people we’re dating,” she told him. “We aren’t.”

“You haven’t said no,” Cain pointed out. 

Rose flushed. “You haven’t asked!”

Cain brightened. “If I did, would you say yes?” 

Rose shoved him hard to one side. “You’re-...!” 

Cain stumbled, but laughed brighter than ever, perfectly pleased with himself.

Rose rolled her eyes, turning back forward - but didn’t stop Cain as he moved forward again, falling into step beside her, starting to chatter on about the goings on of the town he’d witnessed for the day, creating a casual hum of background noise that had been familiar to her for years. 

It was a comfort - and after the fear of the church, she needed it. 

 

Notes:

pinako, looking at an exploded mug: im not even surprised anymore. im just gonna buy theo some plastic cups.

Chapter 63

Summary:

“Waiting on somebody?”

“Not you.”

Notes:

me, shoving couples together: its time for a Softer chapter, lads

If Marcoh was in the same town Theo’d found him in before - if he’d lived there for more than a few years in his first lifetime - then Theo knew where to find him. 

The problem, though, was that he wasn’t operating on his own time. 

The itch to keep moving, to keep making progress, was strong, but all he could see was the silent exchange of Roy and Winry, both acknowledging that he would never settle, never stop. The wonder on his kids faces when he scooped them up, always the happiest to see him back. The challenge in Winry’s eyes when she’d called him on it. The indifference in his face as he’d missed the point completely. 

He couldn’t be that man anymore. 

He had to go home. 

The prickly bartender woman from downstairs allowed him use of her phone, and he called the number for HQ.

“Call for Colonel Mustang,” Theo told the receptionist. “From the Seeking Alchemist.” After a second, he added, “...Theo van Hohenheim,” because he was marginally less disgusted by it, and they were probably going to ask if he didn’t. 

Then, he waited.

Not long, though - the line transfer sound barely managed to play before it was picked up.

“Mustang,” the man greeted. 

“That’s the fastest you’ve answered your phone in your life,” Theo said. “Waiting on somebody?”

“Not you.”

Theo raised his eyebrows, even though Roy couldn’t see him, bewildered. 

“...That...was not how I meant that,” Roy said. “I mean- Maes called early this morning.”

Theo’s stomach clenched. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Roy said, almost laughing. “Gracia went into labor.” 

“Holy shit!” Theo exclaimed, beaming. “No way. Man, I wish I was in Central. Elicia-....”

“Who?”

Theo faltered. “Ah, nothing,” he said, quickly. “I just love kids. We’ve gotta go see her.” 

“We’ll plan a trip,” Roy agreed. “Though, I’m warning you, Maes is insufferable enough with only one woman to fawn over.” 

“We’ll take Hawkeye,” Theo said. “They can exchange pictures of their wives.” 

Roy burst into laughter on the other end of the line, making Theo feel warm and satisfied for the first time since he’d left. 

Any timeline, any age, Theo thought. I’ve got a big old soft spot for this loser. 

“Anyway,” Theo said, “I found out what was going on, and I’ve...stopped it.”

“Already?” Roy asked. “What was it?” 

Theo grimaced, firmly pushing away the mental imagery of that basement. “I’ll tell you when I’m back,” he said. “I’m- it’s not going in a report. I’m absolutely not writing that down.” 

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

Roy sighed. “But you did stop it?” 

“No one else should go missing,” Theo said. “And those who already have- some are dead, but I’m hoping the rest will be okay. I gave-...Well. There’s a bunch of stuff I need to tell you, but I’m doing it in person.” 

“Over dinner?” 

Theo snorted. “Definitely not. I’ll be lucky if I can eat again for a few days.”

“You’re making me worried,” Roy said, finally serious. “Are you okay?”

Theo opened his mouth to dismiss him, but-

Winry’s eyes. Ed’s slumped shoulders. Roy holding his kid the same way Ed did, no distinction between ‘dad’ and ‘visitor.’

“Not really,” he admitted, quietly. “I’ll-...I’ll give you the full story when I get home.”

The word slipped out before he could even think on it, and it made his chest ache. Roy, though, took it a step further, replying, “Come home, then. We’ll be waiting.” 

That’s the problem, Theo thought. So many people waited on him over his lifetime - some of which never saw anything from it. 

‘Courier’ is a bold title for someone who never fucking delievered. 

“I’m on my way,” Theo said. “First train out. See you by tonight.” 

“I’ll work late,” Roy replied, “to be safe.”

“You’re behind on paperwork, aren’t you?”

“You and Maes both,” Roy complained. “I can’t just want to be in my office?”

“Fuck no.”

“...Fair.”

Theo laughed, though it was disgustingly fond. “See you soon,” he said. 

“See you,” Roy returned.

The line held.

“...Theo?” Roy prompted, into the silence. “Are you gonna-...”

Theo flushed. “Spaced out!” he excused, quickly. “I’ll hang up. Bye.” 

He clicked the phone back onto the receiver, face burning. 

Can’t even end a call, he scolded himself. I’m getting worse. 

Still, he couldn’t really even blame himself - talking to Roy had been a brief bubble of calm amongst his anxieties. 

“State alchemist, huh?” 

Theo startled a bit, looking over his shoulder, where the bartender was watching him. 

“...Yeah,” he admitted. “I was looking into-..”

“I heard,” she said. “Those people alright?” 

Theo grimaced. “No. But they might be. They just...need time. The, uh,” he faltered, before saying, “The church is helping them.”

The words tasted acrid in his mouth, Cornello’s beady little eyes in his mind, but that was the best excuse he could offer for why the church had a locked basement and thirty-plus people were eventually going to emerge from it. 

The bartender’s eyes flicked to the phone, then back again. “Colonel Mustang...the Flame Alchemist, right? You two sound friendly.”

Theo flushed. “Did you listen to my whole call?” 

“Yeah,” she replied, entirely unabashed. “This is a refugee city, dog. You’re not winning any friends kissing up to that butcher.” 

Theo’s face pinched. “He’s-...Mustang’s not the same as he was then.” 

She shrugged. “Cut the rot outta bread, the rest is still stale. Anyone who plays the military’s games, I’m not interested in having around.”

“I was on my way out,” Theo assured her. 

“Worries me, though,” she said, squinting at Theo. “What sorta thing the military’s kill dogs has to see that gets him as fucked as you were yesterday.” 

Theo grimaced. “I’ve never had a strong stomach,” he said. “And the military’s never shown anything pretty. Believe me, I don’t forgive them for what they’ve done. But-...” 

He thought of Ed and Al, Pinako, Winry, even Hohenheim . 

“There’s things I wanna protect,” Theo said. “And the safest place in a hurricane is the eye.” 

“Fuck everyone caught in the storm, I guess.” 

Theo wanted to argue, to explain, to defend he was trying-...

...But, really, she was just echoing the same stuff he thought himself. 

“Military’s gotta change, one day soon,” Theo said. “I think Mustang’s the man to do it...So I’ll salvage what I can until he does. That’s all.” 

She tipped her chin up. “I’ll save my judgement,” she said, “until those people you supposedly saved turn back up. They all come back okay, maybe you aren’t full of shit.” 

They won’t be, Theo thought, feeling sick. And I definitely am. 

“...I should go.” 

“Does your leg hurt?”

Ed looked up, blinking at Winry blearily. “Wha..?”

“Honestly, Ed,” Winry said, frowning down at him. “Did you sleep at all?”

Ed reached up, rubbing at his eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, dismissively. “I’m fine. Just...lemme wake up.” 

No argument came, and after a moment, Ed cracked an eye open, looking to Winry.

She had her head down, eyes fixed on the space above Ed’s port, where little scratches decorated it. 

Tentatively, she reached out, touching her fingertips to them, causing Ed to stiffen. She immediately yanked her hand back, rushing to apologize, “I’m sorry! Do they hurt? I shouldn’t-...”

“They don’t hurt,” Ed said. At her skeptical look, he insisted, “They kind of sting when you mess with them, but they really don’t hurt, I swear.” 

Which, of course, was what he assumed was happening - the other option was that his port just hurt more than the scratches could hope to match, and so he was tuning it out. 

He thought the first option was most likely, though. They were just little scratches. 

“I heard you,” Winry confessed, quietly. “When you were talking to Al...about Theo going home.” 

Ed tensed. “We don’t know-...”

“I didn’t get the alchemy parts,” Winry said. “Not all of them, anyway - but I don’t think Theo would just leave. He loves you guys. You’re his brothers.” 

“Yeah,” Ed said, “But he has a wife, and two kids. What kind of person leaves those behind?” 

Winry stared at him. Ed scowled at the scrutiny, turning away, only for Winry to lean to one side to stay in his field of view. 

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” she asked. “You don’t think he’d leave, either...but you think he should.” 

“I would,” Ed said. “If- If I had a family-..” 

“Would you?”

Ed bristled, whipping his head up to glare at her. “What does that mean? Of course I would!” 

“It’s not that easy!” Winry said. “They were his family, but so are you and Al, and you two need him.” 

“We don’t-...!”

“Theo isn’t your dad, Ed,” Winry said. She waited for Ed’s jaw to snap shut, the boy sitting back in his chair, before she continued, much more gently, “He tried. He wanted to have his family, and now he thinks they’re dead. If they’re not, then who says he has to choose? He could go back and forth, right? He came here with alchemy, he could do it again, right? Or a train, or…”

Ed shook his head. “That’s not…”

“Or you could go with him!” Winry said.

Ed startled, staring at her, wide-eyed. “What?” 

“I’d miss you,” Winry said, sadness in her voice, before forcing herself to brighten, telling him, “But you could go home with Theo, and stay with him, and then he could have both, right? And no one would...would be….”

Her eyes were glossy. 

“Ah!” Ed reached out, flailing a bit to try and signal her to calm down. “Don’t cry! This is all hypothetical! We’re not doing anything yet! I could be totally-...” He cut off a second, before pushing past the pride, reluctantly admitting, “I could be wrong. Theo would know more than I do. There might be something else blocking my Gate. Like, uh…”

He had nothing. 

“Well, don’t worry about it,” Winry said. “Theo won’t leave you behind just like that. Wait until you know what’s wrong before you freak out, okay?” 

“Easy for you to say,” Ed muttered. “Waiting and not knowing...that’s the worst.”

Winry stared at him, face blank.

“...Oh.”

Ed had forgotten, for a moment, that Winry had spent a good while in that state - always waiting for word from her parents, never sure which letter might be their last, not knowing they were dead until days after it happened. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, softly. “I didn’t mean-...”

“It’s okay,” Winry said. 

“Do you, ah…” Ed tried to think of something they could do. He was not in the mood for a game, reading was not a joint activity for the most part - what made Winry happy?

Oh. Duh.

“Can you look at my port?” he asked. “I wanna know how long until I can get a leg!”

Winry brightened immediately. “I can do that!” she said, immediately crouching down in front of his chair, eyes fixing on the mechanisms of his port. 

Ed probably just pinned himself in place for hours, but Winry didn’t look like she was going to cry, so...Net positive. 

Now if he could just stop worrying. 

“Le Festin?” 

“If you get him in a suit,” Riza said, “I’ll pay for your meal.” 

Roy sighed. “Point. Hmm….East City Cafe?” 

“Dinner, not breakfast.”

“You can have breakfast for dinner.”

Riza gave him an unimpressed look. 

Roy groaned. “The, ah...the Xingese place on 3rd?”

“Ooh, takeout,” Riza said. “I should get some for dinner. I wonder if Erin likes it…”

“Hey,” Roy said, “My date, first. I called it.”

“For a normal date, I’d say takeout was out,” Riza said. “But, with Theo, I think he’d honestly appreciate something more casual. Hmm... you could cook?” 

Roy brightened. “That’s a great idea,” he said. “...What should I make?” 

“Don’t know,” Riza said. “Avoid dairy, though. He hates it.” 

Roy stared at her, eyebrows furrowed. “Why do you know that?”

Riza winked at him.

“That’s scary,” Roy informed her. “You’re terrifying.” 

“It’s trivia,” Riza said. “Not a prediction of the end. Are you done?”

“Nothing left to do until Theo gets back.” 

“Then I’m going,” she said. “I’m using the phone in the main office to call home, first, so if any of the people spying on you choose to drop in, they’re going to think we have a code based on Xingese dishes.” 

“That’s a good idea,” Roy said. “We should make one.” 

“I’ll tell the boys.”

“Make sure to give Erin the most romantic fortune cookie.”

“I will shoot you.” 

Notes:

"Hey, Spice, is that a Ratatouille reference I just read?" Yes. Yes it was.

Chapter 64

Summary:

Well-intended torture aside...

Notes:

ARE YA READY KIDS?
there were two major roy/theo moments people were waiting on and guess what? :)

One time, before, Roy had dragged Theo along to some shitty New Year’s party. 

Over the years, the military ball half of the military ball date arrangement had kind of smeared into Roy just generally forcing Theo into public special occasions and socialization, like throwing him at crowds of people would make him feel better about having lost the abilities they all revered him for. 

Well-intended torture aside, the point was, Theo had seen at this party a massive timer, set up to count down to midnight. Giant numbers, like a big ugly alarm clock, counting backward every passing second to the end, to the point where one year died and the new one was born. 

And, heading back to East City, Theo felt like he could feel that sign hanging over his head, counting down numbers even he didn’t know, ticking slowly down toward the moment he couldn’t hold it in anymore. The point where the secrets, the lying, the weight of Truth and the Gates and souls and alchemy and equivalence all crashing down on his shoulders and leaving him hobbled. 

And with each passing mile closer to headquarters, his heartbeat and his metaphorical timer went faster and faster. 

Roy watched the passengers disembark the train, waiting for the emergence of the one he’d come to meet. 

He’d decided waiting at the office was a terrible idea, and instead went home, showered, changed clothes, panicked for a few minutes, and then drove to the train station to pick up Theo personally. 

Gold flashed among the crowd, and a moment later, Theo was standing in the open, bag thrown over one shoulder, head tipped back toward the sky as though taking a breather. 

“Theo!” Roy called. 

There was a pause, and then Theo’s head tipped, apparently registering that he’d just been called, before finally looking to Roy.

He seemed slightly surprised to see him, but it was...muted. Mixed with the delayed reaction to his name…

Roy frowned, watching Theo carefully as he approached. 

“I thought you were waiting at the office?” Theo asked.

“I had a better idea,” Roy said. “Are you alright? You seem-...”

“Tired,” Theo said. “Liore was...a lot.”

Roy felt a knot of tension grow, and over that, an overwhelming flood of concern - Theo hadn’t looked so ragged after Tucker, and that had been a lifetime of trauma all on its own. “Do you want to rest, instead?” he asked. “We can do dinner another night.”

Theo looked at him, a look on his face Roy couldn’t even begin to explain, seeming to have his own entire internal dialogue in the span of the silence. 

And then, he sighed, shoulders drooping, and he breathed out, “I don’t know what I want. But I need to talk to you.” 

Roy’s heart dropped. 

He wasn’t sure what possibility worried him more: that Theo had decided he was uninterested, and was feeling guilt about it, or that something had happened in Liore that had managed to rip through his casual attitude and drag out someone Roy had never met. 

“Of course,” he said. “I, ah-...I was planning to cook, at my house. Would that work?”

Theo smiled at him, weak but genuine, and it ached to think what might have been going on behind it. “That sounds perfect.” 

Roy looked so worried, and Theo was aching inside, part of him just dying to assure him things were okay, but another part of him feeling that was just another lie, and he was leaving those at the door. 

The drive was an unsettling silence, not so much awkward as anxious, but short, and soon they were stopping in front of a house that must have been Mustang’s. 

“I’ve never been here,” Theo said, looking up at it. 

“Few people have,” Roy replied, unlocking the door. “Not all of us can invent groundbreaking alchemic traps for our front doors, so I make do by keeping my address highly private.” 

“Are you trying to hint that I should make you some traps?” Theo asked, just enough humor pulling at him to tease, banter second nature to him where Roy was concerned. “Because I’m just going to give you my notebook and make you do your own.” 

Roy gave a dramatic sigh, holding the door open for Theo, who stepped in, looking around curiously as Roy proceeded to lock the door and head for the kitchen. 

Roy’s kitchen had a bar, with tall chairs against the end, and so Theo claimed one, settling in to watch Roy start to work on dinner. 

“You should work with Riza,” Roy suggested. “Create prefabricated security systems for suburban homes. You’d make a fortune.” 

“You just want to buy one.”

Roy shot him a look. “You’re determined not to make me one.” 

“I’ve almost set my own off a couple times,” Theo said. “I’m not giving you something that can blow up in your face.” 

“Don’t trust me?”

Theo faltered.

Roy caught the hesitation, and his smile dropped a bit, serious air returning. “You...wanted to talk?”

Theo worried his lip a moment, searching for words. “I-...You really wanted to go on a date with me?”

Roy looked at him, a flash of something wounded in his face, before it leveled out again. “...Yes.”

“I’m- I’m not trying to say I don’t,” Theo assured him, quickly. “I like you. I’ve- Fucking, I’ve always liked you, and that’s what I needed to talk to you about.” 

Roy’s eyebrows knit together in confusion, and he abandoned his kitchen setup, coming to lean against the other side of the bar from Theo. “What’s going on?”

Theo took a deep, steadying breath. 

Now, or never. 

“‘Theo’ isn’t really my name,” he said, quietly. “Or, it is, now, but it wasn’t.” 

Roy’s lip twitched up at one corner for a moment, before he sobered again. “I figured,” he said. “You talked about your own name like it was a title. I figured you were probably more comfortable being called something else.” 

“I used to be,” Theo agreed, surprised but pleased to think Roy had seen through him. “Now, ‘Theo’ is me, and I don’t think I could ever hear the other name and not think-...Well. He’s someone else.” 

“Then ‘Theo’ is the only name I need to know,” Roy said. “Right?”

Theo grimaced. “I wish,” he said. “But- everything I don’t tell you? All the secrets, the stuff I won’t talk about? That’s because I haven’t told you who I was. And I- I don’t want half the things I tell you to be filtered through or full of lies. If you’re interested in knowing ‘Theo,’ the other man - the other me - still matters.” 

Roy reached out, across the counter, gently catching Theo’s hand.

“Then tell me,” he murmured. “Because I am. Interested, that is. In you.”

Theo huffed a soft laugh, head dropping a fraction. “You never change,” he said. 

But the humor was short lived, and Theo found himself somber again quickly, steeling himself to tell the whole truth at last.

“I...was an alchemist,” Theo said.

“I would imagine.”

Theo shot him an unimpressed look, and he gave a slight smile. 

“Sorry.”

Rolling his eyes - quietly appreciating the way Roy’s humor soothed his nerves - Theo pressed on, “I went up against Father, and the homunculi, and…we won. They were all put down, we made it out - some of us in pieces, but...alive.” He reached up with the hand Roy wasn’t holding, setting it against his chest. “In the process, though, I- I made a move I thought was the best thing I could do. And, it was, I’m sure of that - it would have meant the life of either my brother, or my father, otherwise, and- fucking, even that bastard- I wouldn’t make him die for me. I couldn’t.”

“So you offered something else,” Roy theorized. At Theo’s nod, he prompted, gently, “What was it?”

“My alchemy.”

Roy blinked. “You-....What?”

“I gave up my Gate,” Theo said. “A part of my soul went with it- I’m being literal, by the way, no stupid poetic stuff - but I couldn’t do alchemy anymore. I couldn’t even activate an array someone else had drawn and primed. I was...nonreactive.”

Roy looked floored. “It’s...hard to picture you without alchemy, I’ll admit,” he said. “What did you do instead?”

It was such genuine curiosity, it made Theo’s lips pull into a half a grin. “Contract work,” he said. “I told you - I beat up criminals and got paid when they went to jail.” 

“You were a bounty hunter,” Roy translated, almost laughing.

“It was legitimate!” Theo defended, through a soft laugh of his own. “And it wasn’t my idea, anyway.” 

“Whose was it?”

Theo’s grin faltered again. “That’s...the other part,” he said. “Ah, to back up-...I didn’t have a Gate. I didn’t do alchemy for years. But, when I was working, one day-..”

“Hunting bounties?”

Theo snorted, and shifted his grip on Roy’s hand to his wrist, shaking his arm back and forth, aiming for an annoyance. “You’re the worst listener.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” Roy apologized, and moved his hands to recapture Theo’s, holding it firmly between them. “Go on.”

Theo flushed, looking down at their hands, addressing them as he continued on. “An alchemist who knew about me, about what I’d given up - he decided he was going to ‘fix’ me, and threw me into the middle of a human transmutation array.” 

He waited for commentary, and when he got none, looked up, seeing Roy watching him, face still serious, eyes-...

...Theo didn’t have words for his expression. At least, not ones he had the presence of mind to think.

Dropping his eyes away again, he carried on. “He offered himself and a Philosopher’s Stone as the price for my alchemy,” he said. “But Truth-...” He looked up. “The being, on the other side of the Gate - the balancing force of alchemy, the closest thing the world has to ‘God’ - he was...furious.” He shook his head, thinking back. “I’d tried so many times in my life to play God, and I’d finally been shut down - my wax wings melted and I hit the sea, and here I was, dragged up onto the shore, asking to go again?” 

“But you didn’t ask to be there,” Roy said.

“Didn’t I?” Theo asked. “I went after alchemists, Mustang. Exclusively. I said it was because I knew them best, but-...but what if part of me just wanted to be near it? Get as close as I could to something that used to be the biggest part of me?”

Roy’s lips pressed into a thin, worried line. 

Before he could say anything else, Theo barreled forward. “He said he would give me what I wanted,” he said. “A...a second try. A new beginning. And the cost was...everything. Every single thing I’d built, everything and everyone that had come from my choices. My family. My wife, my kids, my friends-...” 

Roy breathed out a soft curse, holding his hand tightly.

Theo took a deep breath. “And...he sent me back to day one.”

Roy frowned, eyebrows knitting together. “What do you mean?” 

“He brought back my Gate,” Theo said, “And then he wrenched it open, and shoved me through it. And I came out the other side, at the very first second it had ever been opened. And then-...Then I woke up on a bloody, dusty floor, on the night me and my little brother tried to bring our mom back.”

Roy stared, uncomprehending a moment- and then Theo could feel him put it together, catch on to his meaning, his grip slackening on Theo’s hand.

“You…” Roy said, slowly, realization sinking in.

Theo looked up, forcing himself to meet Roy’s eyes. “The man I used to be was Edward Elric,” he said. “And the man I am now just wants to make sure that version of us never exists.” 

 

Notes:

tfw you are confessing your tragic backstory but you and your main love interest cant stop flirting

Chapter 65

Summary:

“You told Riza?” Roy asked, incredulous. 

Notes:

y'all thought i was gonna be mean and leave y'all on a cliffhanger like that?
i mean i was but i wrote this chapter faster than i expected to
here's part two, lads! plus a lil bonus at the end :3

Roy stared, not even sure what to think. 

Theo had always had an uncanny knowledge of things, had given Roy impossible intel and been spot on. He said things and then backpedaled, careful never to show too much. 

Could it really be that his knowledge was foresight, from having seen everything happen once already? 

Theo had shown him impossible alchemy, since his arrival, blowing Roy’s entire understanding of the science out of the water, bringing an almost spiritual wonder to it. Was it possible that this was where it started? A transmutation of time itself? A person being absorbed into their own Gate?

Roy thought of how odd he’d found it, that someone like Theo trusted people so quickly, so completely. But, to Theo...they’d already been trustworthy. There was no learning curve - he simply knew them well enough not to be worried about their motives. 

“You...are Ed?”

“I was Ed,” Theo corrected. “I’m different, now. I can’t-...I had to draw a line somewhere. There can’t be two Edward Elrics, anyway.”

Roy nodded, slightly, even though he felt miles from understanding. “Do the boys know?”

“No,” Theo said. “Dad does, though. And Granny.” 

He looked guilty, suddenly, and Roy braced himself.

“So does Riza,” he admitted, as though it were a terrible crime.

“You told Riza?” Roy asked, incredulous. 

“I wasn’t going to!” Theo said, quickly. “I wanted to tell you, first, but- when I fought Greed, I dragged him through my Gate, and heard Truth, and it was easiest to just explain.” 

“I’m not-...” Roy almost laughed. “Theo, I’m not mad you told her. I’m just- I wondered why she suddenly decided she liked you.” 

Theo snorted. “I think that was more ‘rescuing Erin,’ than my past...You’ll be happy to know that she tells me once a day minimum to tell you, though.” 

“She really does deserve that raise.” 

Theo clammed up again, then, worrying his hand between Roy’s. “Uh….Another thing...That, um, boss I told you about? The one you remind me of?”

It clicked into place in Roy’s mind. “That was me,” he said. “You worked for me?”

“The ‘bounty hunting’ thing was your idea,” Theo informed him. “You bullied me into it.”

Roy squinted at him, suspicious of the idea that Theo could be bullied into anything....but, quietly, privately, came to the conclusion that if he’d been faced with a Theo lost without purpose, he’d have tried to keep him close, too. 

“...Who’d you marry?” Roy asked, before immediately wincing at his own audacity. “Sorry, that’s-...”

“It was Winry,” Theo answered easily, not sounding offended at all. “I’ve been watching her and Ed, but they’re still at pigtails stage, so all I can hope is that without punching a hole in him, Ed’s actually a decent husband.” 

Roy frowned. “You were-...”

“I... was barely home,” Theo confessed. “I keep thinking that I spent more time working, or with you-....but now, I’m thinking back, and...I couldn’t stay home because I was restless. I couldn’t stay working because I was lonely. You were the closest thing I had to a life, and I kind of...latched on to that. I wasn’t fair to her, but I wasn’t fair to you, either.”

An emotional affair, then. It was hard to imagine Theo as flighty, but at the same time, Roy had seen that look on his face, at times. Moments where he stood too still or waited too long to speak, something behind his eyes just screaming, like he was trapped inside, watching the seconds pass without a hope of affecting them in the slightest. 

He wasn’t bored, moving on to keep busy...something about him was fundamentally wanting, and he’d yet to find the piece that he’d been missing. 

“..You got your Gate back, though?” Roy asked. 

Theo’s face pinched a bit. “Yes,” he said, hesitantly. “But...I’m not.. whole. Not quite.” 

“What do you mean?”

Theo took his hand back, making Roy’s stomach drop out, and got to his feet. 

“I’m sorry,” Roy said, quickly. “If that was-..”

Theo laughed, shaking his head, and rounded the counter, coming to stand in front of Roy. “I’m just showing you.”

He reached down, grabbing the hem of his pants, dragging it up his automail leg, up past the port, revealing the skin above it. 

A jet black circle was printed there, a crimson dot in its center. 

“The Sun sign?” Roy guessed. “What’s that for?”

“It’s a mark, from Truth,” Theo said. “We have a deal. I’m going to bring him the Philosopher’s Stones of every homunculus, and Father. Once that’s done, we’re done - I leave him alone, he leaves me alone.”

Roy had a bad feeling about the question before he even asked it. “...How is this leaving you ‘not whole’?”

Theo’s lips pressed into a thin line, guilt on his face.

Roy’s stomach rolled. “Theo….”

“The part of my soul that he took with my Gate,” Theo said. “He’s keeping it. Until the Stones are destroyed or stripped, like Greed’s, it’ll be like it was before. Just... wanting. Never being satisfied, no matter what. I was- my damn apartment was full of people I love, and I was still twitching to get on the road. Then I was on the train to an assignment and I just wanted to be home. I can’t…” He shook his head, and straightened, letting his pant leg fall back down. “I’ll never be able to leave the past behind until the deal is done. I’m still him, inside, until I can be sure he’ll never exist.” 

“And how close are you to that?” Roy asked. “The homunculi…”

“Greed is done, Envy’s on board,” Theo said. “Lust is... technically an ally. Gluttony would follow her anywhere. That’s four of nine Stones.” He shifted his weight. “I’m- Wrath will probably die before his Stone could be stripped. Father has to die, no way around it. Pride’s stone can be stripped, I sort of did it before. Sloth is a tossup. Never really understood that one. And then…”

Theo swallowed, something strained in his face.

“Then it’s up to Dad,” Theo said. “The first time around, he wore his Stone out...and he went home. That was all he wanted. Just...to be done with it. To go back to Mom.”

“Maybe he’ll stay this time,” Roy said.

“We don’t stay,” Theo said. “We’re too selfish.” 

“You’ve been shredded at the soul,” Roy said. “You’re being dragged around the timeline of your own life by God himself, and it’s ‘selfish’ to have trouble standing still?” 

Theo’s face warped in indignation. “It’s selfish to put what I want before my family,” he said. “I was never around as much as I should have been, I was-..”

“You tore the universe apart for people you love,” Roy cut in. “Theo, you’re not perfect, but you’re not the monster you’re making yourself out to be. Especially not when you’re putting yourself through all this just to make sure no one makes the same mistakes.” 

Theo wavered a bit. “You…” He shook his head. “It’s not that…”

“Theo,” Roy said. “You’re forgiven.” 

Theo gaped at him. “What?”

“You told me you weren’t fair to me,” Roy said. “Well, I’m telling you, as the same man - I forgive you. And as a person in this country you saved, and are saving again, I’m forgiving you. And…” He swallowed, and pressed on, “As someone who wants to be part of your second try...I’m forgiving you. Who you used to be was hurting. Who you are now is hurting. I want the person you become to be happy...and first, you have to let yourself be forgiven.” 

Theo’s lips pressed into a line, but it quivered, his eyes wide and wet...and then he tipped forward, all at once, slamming into Roy’s chest, arms coming around him, clinging tight. His face buried into Roy’s shoulder, holding close, shaking slightly in his hold.

Roy clung back just as readily, desperate to communicate the overwhelming feeling within him, the incredible need to comfort, to bring Theo back to a steady place, to help him move on from the pain of his life and allow himself to build something new. 

Theo did not cry.

He had a line, and that was firmly across it - he didn’t believe Roy, didn’t think things were so straightforward...but he’d confessed his sins, from day one forward, and hadn’t been turned away, hadn’t disgusted the man at all. He’d been accepted, flaws and all, and offered a hand to get back up and start over. 

He stayed in Roy’s embrace a good while, steadying himself...and then, once he was composed, he pulled back, looking up.

“Better?” Roy asked, smiling at him, amused all the way up to his eyes, which ruined the ruse with their open concern. 

Theo reached up, hands resting on the sides of Roy’s head.

Roy, arms still around his waist, needed no further prompting. He dragged him forward the single inch or so he’d put back between them, and leaned in.

Finally kissing him was the closest thing to satisfaction Theo had left. It filled him, the joy of it temporarily chasing away that empty, echoing feeling, that ache inside himself where pieces had been torn away. Chased away dark places and remembered horrors, purged him of the toxic and bitter thoughts that chewed him up inside constantly.

For a moment, Theo was safe in a place of their own making, where all that mattered was that he loved, and that someone had accepted that love, and offered their own. 

Jumping the gun, there, Theo thought to himself, and it made him chuckle into the kiss. 

Roy, eyebrow quirking up, pulled back a bit. “Should I be worried?”

“Hell of a first date,” Theo murmured in reply. “Dumping my whole life story on you.” 

“Well, they are for getting to know each other,” Roy said. “And given that we’ve already established that neither of us has a hobby…”

Theo laughed again. “Maybe that’s what I’m missing,” he said. “I should take one up.”

“Needlepoint,” Roy suggested. “Excessive stabbing sounds right up your alley.” 

Theo snorted. “I’ll look into it,” he said, dryly. Then, eyeing him, he deliberated speaking again.

Roy looked at him, watching him carefully...and then smirked, asking, “You’re ready for me to cook now, aren’t you?”

“God, please,” Theo said immediately. “Train food is fucking nasty.” 

Erin shifted, worming her way deeper under the blanket, burying herself between it and the crease of the couch she’d sat in. Stretching her feet out a bit further, she bumped them against Riza’s leg where she was sitting on the other side, and relaxed there, happily taking up two thirds of the space.

“You look cozy,” Riza commented, looking up from where she’d been cleaning her gun. 

Erin raised her wine glass in response, before gesturing with it toward the cleaning kit in Riza’s lap. “You can do that drunk?”

“I’m not drunk,” Riza said. “We barely drank anything.”

Erin rolled sideways, reaching out to the coffee table, grabbing the empty wine bottle and holding it up to Riza. 

“...Shit,” Riza said, staring at it, then looking down at her hands. “...I guess, then. It looks right to me.” 

“You’re so cool,” Erin sighed, putting the bottle back down and returning to her comfortable little nook. “Forget Theo...I’ve got guard enough right here.” 

Riza huffed a soft laugh. “I’m hardly an alchemist,” she said. “Bullets can only stop so many things.”

“You could tear Theo apart with your bare hands,” Erin declared, undeterred. 

Riza snorted, setting the pieces of her gun aside, getting to her feet. 

Erin whined. “Where are you going?”

Riza came down the couch, reaching down and scooping Erin up off it, blanket and all. “Cutting you off,” she said. “Bedtime.”

Erin gave a pleased hum, dropping her head onto Riza’s shoulder. “Gotta check on Nina,” she murmured. 

“I’ll get her,” Riza assured her. “If I can clean a gun, I can change a diaper.” 

“Gun’s don’t pee on you.”

“Well, there’s gun oil,” Riza countered. 

Erin erupted into giggles, turning her face into Riza’s neck. “You’re funny.” 

“You’re drunk.”

Erin hummed. “A little,” she agreed. 

Riza reached Erin’s bedroom, pushing into it and taking Erin to the bed, lowering her gently onto it. 

“I’ll get Nina,” Riza assured her again, dragging the blanket up over her. “Get some rest. Goodnight.”

“MM...Goodnight,” Erin cooed in reply, nuzzling into her pillow. “Love you.”

Riza froze, holding perfectly still beside the bed...and then leaned forward, placing the gentlest kiss to Erin’s temple. “Goodnight,” she said again, then turned, retreating, focusing her full attention of getting Nina settled for the night. 

She hoped Roy’s date was going well. She wouldn’t have much in her to comfort him if it wasn’t. 

Notes:

roy: i have a lot of conflicting feelings to share with riza
riza, kicking in the office door: I DONT KNOW IF MY ROOMMATE MISTOOK ME FOR HER DEAD HUSBAND OR IF I JUST WON THE LOTTERY

Chapter 66

Summary:

“You were in the military?” 

Theo blinked. “I didn’t tell you that?”

Notes:

here's the actual date portion of the date for ya lads
plus some more information sharing because theo cannot be romantic to save his life

“Do you cook?” 

“More, now,” Theo replied, chin propped up on his hands as he watched Roy from the bar. “Granny found out that I didn’t and made me learn. I’m glad she did, though - I’m not even bad at it. I was just fucking lazy.” 

“You? Lazy?” Roy looked over his shoulder, disbelieving. “I’m more willing to believe food wasn’t enough work for you.” 

Theo snorted. “More like I needed more work than I did food,” he said. “I never wanted to stop what I was doing to make something, so I just kept stuff I could eat without any work. And spent a ton on eating out - I was never great with money.”

“No?”

“I guess I was exempted from, like, tax and stuff,” Theo said. “When I was a kid, I mean, and I first joined the military-..”

“You were in the military?” 

Theo blinked. “I didn’t tell you that?” he asked, surprised. “Yeah. I was a state alchemist before I gave up my Gate.” 

“Wait,” Roy said, turning fully away from the oven to face Theo properly. “A kid? How young were you when you enlisted?”

“Twelve.”

Roy gaped at him. 

“What’d you think I was gonna say?” Theo asked. “I said ‘kid.’”

“I thought you meant a teenager,” Roy said. “Like...seventeen. Not twelve.” 

“I met you at eleven, for the record,” Theo told him. “I would’ve signed on then, but I had to have automail surgery.” 

“You recovered from an automail operation in a year?” 

“Two,” Theo said. “Operations, that is. Not years. I lost an arm, the first time, too. I got that back with my last transmutation.”

“You’re one surprise after another,” Roy said, shaking his head, returning to cooking. “A twelve year old state alchemist.” Another thought occurred to him, and he asked, “What was your title?” 

“‘Fullmetal,’” Theo said. “Bradley’s got a fucked up sense of humor.” 

“I can see why you didn’t like ‘Courier,’ I guess.”

“And you would?” Theo said. “At least yours is boring, not just lame.” 

“Boring?!” 

“Flame Alchemist,” Theo said. “Some people get really complicated, poetic shit for their names. Crimson Alchemist, Crystal Alchemist, Fullmetal - you just got, like, dictionary definition of your shit.” 

“I can’t believe you just called me boring,” Roy said, though he was laughing about it while he spoke. “I don’t think anyone’s ever done that before.”

Theo grinned cheekily at him. “Not to your face.”

Roy cut the stove off, giving him a look. “I’ll eat this myself, if I have to.”

“I didn’t call you boring,” Theo said. “I called your title boring. That’s Bradley’s fault.”

“Whatever you say, Courier.” 

Theo glared at him. “I’ll kick your ass,” he warned. 

“The fight wouldn’t be boring?” 

Theo made a face at him. “Pretend all you want,” he said, “I know your offended face, and that’s not it. Feed me.”

Roy shook his head, moving to prepare plates. “I don’t want to know what you’ve said that genuinely offended me.”

“Not me,” Theo said. “I’ve never done anything to you, thank you very much. I just went to a lot of military events with you.” 

“Yeah?” Roy said. “I can’t picture you enjoying a military event.”

“Nah, they were awful,” Theo agreed. “But stuffy politicians got sick of me really quickly, so if I was your date, we could dip out early and go drink by ourselves without anybody really giving a shit.” He tipped his head. “That probably slowed you down a lot on the ambition thing, to be honest.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Roy said. “Did I make it?”

“...You were alive..?”

“To Fuhrer,” Roy said. “You know what I meant.” 

Theo huffed. “...Yeah,” he said. “But, no, also.”

Roy blinked at him, waiting.

“They gave you the position,” Theo said. “But you-..I dunno. You had some hangup, where you’d never actually do it. They wanted to make you Fuhrer so fast, but you kept putting it off. Eventually you set a date to actually swear in, but...I didn’t make it that far.” 

Roy frowned. “What was the issue?”

Theo shrugged. “You never told me,” he said. “But…”

“But?”

Theo grimaced. “Riza thought you were waiting on me,” he admitted. “You wanted me to reenlist. Be official military, on your team again, instead of just...freelancing.” 

Roy tipped his head. “And you didn’t want that?”

“It was choosing,” Theo said, flatly. “Taking a solid job, real obligations, or cutting ties and going home for good - those were my choices, and I wouldn’t make either. I was coasting. I guess you gave up.”

Roy shook his head, setting a plate in front of Theo, circling around to take a seat beside him. “I doubt it,” he said. “I’m stubborn. It’s more likely I made up my mind I was going to get you to make a choice.” 

Theo’s face pinched. “That...fits, actually,” he admitted. “You and I-...We had kind of a fight. You called me out on my running away, told me you weren’t enabling me anymore. Reminded me that more people than me existed, basically.” 

“Hm,” Roy hummed, thoughtfully. “I wonder what I thought you’d choose.” 

“You don’t wonder what I would have actually chosen?”

Roy shook his head. “I already told you,” he said. “Things you haven’t even done- I’m not worried about them. Especially when they’re not even memories for you, just possibilities.” 

Theo snorted. “What did I do that made you so determined to like me?” 

“I already like you,” Roy corrected. “I must be a masochist.” 

Theo laughed, before leaning forward, starting in on his food. 

Roy ate as well, watching him carefully. “Is there anything you don’t know about me?” Roy asked, curiously. “I feel like I have a lot to learn about you, but I imagine you know me pretty well.” 

Theo shrugged. “You order black coffee at work and secretly add sugar to it that you keep in your desk drawer,” he said. “But what you do when you’re alone, here, in this house? Never saw it. I was around you a lot, but if I didn’t see it...I never asked.” 

“Well, you know the dirty parts,” Roy said, lightly. “I don’t know what to do now I know my coffee secret is out.” 

Theo laughed again. Roy was growing ridiculously fond of the sound. “Riza always knew,” he informed him. “She refills your packets when you’re not paying attention.”

“That…” Roy blinked. “That explains a lot, actually.”

“The point is,” Theo said, “You and him- you’re not exactly the same, and there’s plenty I don’t know. You’re not going to bore me.” 

“Just my alchemist title.”

Theo gave him a look. “You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

“I could be persuaded,” Roy said. “If I thought you were very sorry.” 

“Well, fuck that,” Theo said. “I guess you’ll just die mad about it.”

Roy burst out laughing. “I don’t know what I expected,” he said.

“You should know me by now, Mustang,” Theo said. 

“That’s another thing I should ask,” Roy said, looking at him. “Do you ever call me by my name?”

Theo looked to consider it a moment, before replying, “...Not really? I think we were going to go to our graves as Mustang and Fullmetal, to be honest.” He looked at Roy thoughtfully, and added, hesitantly, “Now, though…? Who knows. I might be persuaded .” 

Roy shot down every response that came into his mind, and shoved food into his mouth to avoid blurting any of them. 

Theo looked around the kitchen, giving a small hum. “I’ve never been here,” he told Roy. “I went to your house in Central, like...twice.” 

“That’s all?” Roy asked, surprised. 

Theo’s face pinched. “I, uh,” he said. “I think you thought it was a better idea.”

Roy’s stomach turned, and he had to admit, Theo was probably right - if Roy’s feelings were less than platonic, inviting a married man into his house was probably a temptation he’d been smart enough to deny himself. 

Instead of following that rabbit hole, he asked, “We lived in Central?” 

“You lived in Central,” Theo corrected. “Me and Winry technically lived in Rush Valley, but I pretty much had a bedroom at Gracia’s.” 

“....Gracia’s?” Roy asked, heart clenching. “Do they-....?”

Theo’s face pinched. “They didn’t split up,” he said, quietly. “In my time, Envy..”

Roy’s stomach rolled. “But...they’re an ally, this time, right? So that won’t happen again.” 

“It won’t,” Theo confirmed. “Especially if Hughes minds his business, like I asked him to. You’re a potential sacrifice, so they’d leave you more or less alone, but him…” 

“Sacrifice,” Roy echoed. “What exactly does that mean? You’ve been vague on details.” 

“They’re digging out a nationwide array,” Theo said. “They need humans with opened, active Gates to use for channeling souls through to the other side. Those are called ‘sacrifices’ - humans that have either done human transmutation, or can be forced into doing it, if necessary.” 

“That’s why you don’t want the boys doing transmutations without circles,” Roy realized. “You don’t want them being counted.” 

“I’m not sure it makes much of a difference,” Theo admitted. “But if it slows things down a little, so I can get everything together, I’ll take it.” 

“Have you told them about that part?” Roy asked. “The nationwide array?” 

Theo raised a hand, tipping it back and forth in a little wave, a ‘more or less’ gesture. “They have an idea. I spared them the gory details, for the most part, but they know who is after them and why, and why I pretty much locked them in the apartment. They both got a lot more interested in helping my research, after that, but otherwise didn’t really care much. I don’t think they take homunculi very seriously.” 

“It’s hard to be afraid of something when you’re standing in between it and them,” Roy said.

Theo pinked. “Yeah, well. I can only do so much. If someone had gotten through my barrier traps while I was busy with Lust in Liore-...”

“Wait, wait,” Roy said. “Lust was in Liore?”

Theo grimaced. 

“...And that’s not a good sign,” Roy said. “What was she doing?”

Theo looked down at his plate, poking his food around. “She... was making chimeras.” 

“Chimeras?” Roy asked, surprised. “Like Tucker was?”

“Like he wanted to do,” Theo countered. “Like the study material he was stealing. Human chimeras - humans fused with animals.”

Roy blanched. “Human transmutations…?”

“Worse,” Theo said. “You saw an extreme version of it with Tucker, when his transmutation rebounded - human bodies don’t accept alchemy well. Knowing the atomic structure of a human skin cell doesn’t make you qualified to build one. Human transmutations make monsters, abominations. When you add in a second body, a second soul-...” He shook his head. “Those missing people were all her test subjects. Some were already dead. The others...they didn’t get lucky, making it through, that’s for sure.” 

“I’m sorry,” Roy said. “I shouldn’t have sent you alone.”

“No, it’s better that you did,” Theo said. “First off, the town is not military friendly, and all of you guys practically radiate soldier. But, also, Lust was-...” He swallowed. “She was trying to help, in some fucked up way. She was willing to listen to me when I told her to stop, and she agreed to look into fixing them.” 

“Can they be fixed?” Roy asked. “To reverse a human transmutation…”

“I gave her Tucker’s notes, so-...” Theo said, then stopped, abruptly.

Roy’s eyebrows knit together. “...Tucker’s notes? The ones I have here?” 

“No,” Theo said, very hesitantly. “He had- he had a private notebook. The, uh…’gory details’ kind of notes. From him studying dead chimeras. I guess he hid them seperate in case his house was raided, but I found them, and…”

“And you took them,” Roy said. “And you didn’t tell me about it.” 

“I didn’t really know why,” Theo said. “I just-...I shoved it in my pocket without thinking about it. Half of me is convinced Truth interfered, making me pick it up.”

Roy watched him, considering. “And the other half?”

“...If I saw a chance to understand,” Theo said, slowly, “I don’t know that I wouldn’t take it. The first time- nobody saved them, Mustang. Erin was dead long before I met Tucker, and Nina treated us like older brothers right up until she was killed, too. I couldn’t let that happen again, but I-...” He looked down at his hands. “It’s- It’s compulsive. I have to know. I need to understand. I don’t like not knowing something, wondering, being worried about it - and with one part of my soul on the other side of the Gate, my impulse control is trashed. I want the world to make sense, and it doesn’t, and that...frustrates me. And I just...do things. I steal chimera notes, I strip the Philosopher’s stone out of a homunculus, I-...I act, without thinking about it.”

“Well,” Roy said. “...What were you going to do with them?”

Theo blinked at him, eyebrows knitting together. “What?”

“The notes,” Roy said. “What did you plan to do with them, before you gave them to Lust?”

“...I don’t know,” Theo said. “I just carried them around for a while. I was mad at myself for even picking them up.” 

“Maybe it was instinct,” Roy said. “You knew they were important, and you kept them on hand.” 

“That’s the ‘Truth’ thing I was considering,” Theo said. “I figured he stuck his nose in it, knowing Lust was going to need them, but he claims-..”

“You talk to God?” 

Theo made a face. “He’s the closest thing to God,” he countered. “I dunno that he actually is… But, yeah, sometimes? He has some, uh, opinions about the way I do shit.” 

“You...argue with God,” Roy summarized. “You argue with-...”

“Truth,” Theo corrected, before he could say it again. “And it’s more like I yell at him and he throws me headfirst into a memory of me being a massive piece of shit, so I remember I don’t have any room to talk. He’s working toward something, I know he is, but- fuck me if I know what it is.” He grinned at Roy. “He’ll be fucking thrilled tonight, though, probably. Talked about my feelings, told the truth, went on a date with you-...”

“Does Truth approve of you dating?” Roy asked, slightly hysterical. 

“He has some kind of hard-on for my relationship with you,” Theo said. “He says it’s a guilt thing, or something-...Like, I always felt like the biggest piece of shit when I was around you and remembered I wasn’t supposed to be, and those are things he likes to throw in my face.” 

I’m used as a leverage play from God himself, Roy thought, staring at Theo. ‘Truth’....

...Is ‘Truth’ Theo’s Maes ?

Notes:

every time theo mentions truth from here on out roy is gonna picture a big scary bearded dude in an "im with stupid" t-shirt

Chapter 67

Summary:

He would not seek to punish them, though. Not at the moment.

He had a much higher goal. 

Notes:

more ishvalan bullshit in this chapter, though its more implied/background than anything

Red eyes raised to the sky as the sun sunk down into the horizon line, painting the clouds in shades of pink and purple. 

East City was the home of a few notorious state alchemists, he knew. He’d intended to begin in Central, where the majority of the bastards lived, but there were more Ishvalans out in the country who had managed to form communities in relative safety, and they would be better off without the risk of being hunted again, should the military decide to go back on their so-called pardon. 

He could have visited some of them, seen which soldiers and alchemists were the most troublesome, but- he’d given up his name. He’d branded himself ayyab, an exile from Ishvala, and no proper follower would speak to him. 

Still, being out from under God’s light meant that he was free to act, knowing that no matter how far he strayed from the will of Ishvala, he was damned the same. 

So, too, was East City. In the late evening, city lights shone bright, people making their way along the streets. Drunkards staggered from bars, filth scattered across the streets, and everywhere around him, military uniforms could be seen, making their way off late shifts at the local military headquarters. 

He would not seek to punish them, though. Not at the moment.

He had a much higher goal. 

The Hero of Ishval, they’d called him. Ishvalans had another name for him entirely: Nardama. The Blood Fire. 

The man had been dreaming of fire for several nights, and it had brought his mind to the famous killer. A good first victim of his hunt, a well deserved death. 

It would be blasphemous to say that Ishvala had sent his dreams, as he’d strayed too far from the god’s light, but he could see no other explanation for them. 

It was the will of Ishvala that Nardama would die. 

From his spot in the shadows, he saw the door on the other side of the street open, light spilling from it.

He’s going out, he thought, straightening. It’s late...a good time to-...

It wasn’t Nardama, though.

The man that emerged was someone entirely different. Light played off solid gold hair and skin, reflected off blood red leather-

-traced the edges of what was, unmistakably, an alchemist’s crest.

Still a threat, huh?

The man stepped back a bit, and a second figure emerged - this one the actual man he was looking for. 

He followed the golden man forward a step, then leaned in, catching him by the chin and dragging him up an inch into a kiss. 

They’re partners, he thought, watching them closely. No doubt they’re both equal monsters, then.

Mind made up, he pulled his hands from his pockets, took a moment to get his bearings, and launched himself across the street.

His foot barely hit the concrete of the opposite side’s sidewalk before the gold man seemed to hear him, wrenching back from Nardama and turning around, hands coming up to press against each other, like saying a prayer. 

He reached the man, arm flying out, but it passed harmlessly through empty air as the gold man dropped, hands hitting the ground.

There was a rush of movement, and he jumped back just in time to watch earth rise up where his feet had been, forming the image of a dirt fist, clenching in a grab that would have pinned him. 

He drew an array that fast? 

Heat alerted him again, and he dodged as a blast of fire shot past his cheek. 

“You keep gloves in your pocket on every date?” the gold man asked, eyeing Nardama with amusement. 

“For good reason,” Nardama replied, eyes not leaving the Ishvalan assassin. “Is he yours, or mine?” 

The gold man looked at him, then froze, eyes going wide.

“Scar?”

Scar? Was he referring to the one on the ayyab’s face? Was it somehow alarming to him? 

It was a mystery that could wait. He lunged again.

Golden man lurched sideways, out of his grasp, and clapped his hands again, one turning to latch onto his own forearm. In a fluid movement, he turned his arm over, bringing it up at an angle, until a blade rested against the side of his neck, extending from the golden man’s own arm. 

“Stop fighting,” the golden man said. “You’re early.”

Scar tipped his chin up to drop backwards, getting the blade safely at a distance before jutting out with his hand again. “Die, alchemist,” he snarled, hand latching on to the back of the blade, which shattered into dust at the contact. 

A leg came up, knee slamming into his chest, flinging him hard across the yard, skidding through dirt and slamming down on his back on the concrete. 

“You fucking-…!” the alchemist growled. “That was important, asshole!”

Scar pushed himself to his feet as quickly as he was able, movements slightly stiff with the pain of being knocked down so violently. “I don’t care what has value to creatures like you.” 

A snap alerted him to the oncoming attack, and - ignoring his protesting back - he dodged in a roll, going underneath the blast, coming up from below with his arm out, aiming for Nardama’s wrist.

A hand slammed into his forearm, unexpected, and gripped tight, pulling him through his upward momentum, hauling him straight up, overhead, to the other side, thrown full-bodied across the yard again. He came down hard, hearing a sickening noise as his shoulder connected with concrete one again, and he skid a few feet. 

“Theo!” Nardama yelled. “Homunculus?” 

“Nah,” the golden man - Theo - replied. “He’s human.” 

Pain was radiating through a good portion of Scar’s body, but he refused to be defeated by this alchemist. He forced himself up, using his uninjured arm as a prop to climb back to his feet, and swayed unsteadily on the spot a moment, readying to attack again. 

“Drop it, Scar,” Theo said. “This isn’t what your brother gave you that arm for.” 

Scar stopped.

“...What do you know about my brother?” he snarled. 

“His research saved my life once,” Theo replied. “If you want justice for Ishval, it doesn’t start here. The problem is much, much deeper.” 

Scar narrowed his eyes. “You’re bargaining,” he said. “Lying to save your lover’s life.”

“Ah, well,” Theo spluttered a second, before shaking his head, gold hair swishing a bit wildly, drawing the eye. “Well, that’s-...”

Ishvala’s light made men of gold, the story went. They had the powers of gods. They could create with just a touch. 

Scar watched Theo, a sickening thought slowly crawling into his mind. “You weren’t drawing circles.”

“Huh?” Theo stopped short. “Oh. No. I don’t have to.” He tipped his head. “Alchemy comes from a place inside the human soul. Once you find it, you don’t need arrays to channel it.” 

“You embody alchemy?”

“That’s-...Not what I said, but yeah,” Theo replied. “More important, though: I’m telling the truth. We’re, believe it or not, on the same side.” 

Scar reached up with his good arm, clenching the one that hung askew at his side. “You want me to trust you blindly, alchemist?” 

“Not at all,” Theo said. “But I can explain everything, and you can judge for yourself. Just...not out in the open?”

“I will not go anywhere with you,” Scar snapped. “I’m not such a fool as to follow you into some trap.” 

“My turn, I suppose,” Nardama said, taking a step backward, into his doorway. “Everyone want to come back inside?” 

Both looked to Scar.

He was in no shape to fight, any longer, especially not knowing the strength of the golden man. But if they’d wanted to kill him, they’d had ample opportunity. It may have been smarter to run, but…

...But this man looked at him, a nameless Ishvalan, as though he recognized him. He knew of his brother, spoke of his research.

Nardama was a menace that needed to be taken down...but there was something his lover was hiding, and Scar needed to get it.

With a short, solemn nod, he followed them inside. 

“You at a loss for words is a rare sight,” Roy murmured, as they stepped into the house. “‘Lover’ a bit jarring, then?” 

“Shut up,” Theo said, shoving him lightly. “We’ve had one date.” 

“I can expand on that.”

Theo gave him a look. Sounding entirely unimpressed, he reminded Roy, “Scar’s arm’s probably broken.”

Roy looked to the side, at the Ishvalan, who’d stepped hesitantly into the house with them.

“Dislocated,” he diagnosed. “I can fix that.” 

“Doctor Mustang,” Theo said, gesturing toward Scar in invitation.

Roy wagged his eyebrows in response, making Theo make a face, but stepped up, reaching out. 

Scar recoiled, hand coming up to catch Roy tightly by the wrist.

“Hey!” Theo snapped. “He’s trying to help. We can leave your shoulder, if you’d rather we didn’t touch you, but we’re done fighting, alright?” 

Scar turned narrow, suspicious eyes on him, before looking back to Roy, releasing his wrist.

Very cautiously, Roy stepped forward, laying his hands in appropriate places on Scar’s side. “Ready?” At the Ishvalan’s stiff nod, he moved, forcing the arm up and into place again.

The Ishvalan let out a strangled cry of pain, but stifled it quickly, hunching forward in pain as his shoulder settled. 

“Sorry,” Theo said. “Didn’t mean to throw you that hard.”

Scar glared at him. “You claimed to have information, alchemist,” he reminded him.

Theo sighed. “Yeah. The war- the Ishvalan genocide? That was orchestrated by a group of artificial humans.”

Scar’s eyes flashed. “Alchemic abominations?” 

“They’re called homunculi,” Theo confirmed. “Some of them are allies, but their leaders...aren’t. And the ones that aren’t are the ones that run the military, one big puppet show. It was them who started the conflict in the first place.” 

“To what end?” Scar asked. 

“They need blood,” Theo told him. “There’s an alchemic ritual, which turns human lives into alchemic energy. It creates a Philosopher’s stone, a perfect substance, which can be used to make anything. They’re planning on acting it on the whole country. Every single person is going to be fuel.” 

Scar’s eyes widened. “And the blood of Ishvalans - they used that first?” 

“Yeah,” Theo said. “They needed catalysts for the reaction, and that required them to kill as many people as possible.”

“They won’t get away with it,” Scar growled. “Do you know the ones behind it? Where can I find them?” 

“Central, mostly,” Theo said. “But-...just, hold off, alright? We’re planning a much bigger move against them. Lots of people - allied homunculi, human chimeras, alchemists, all sorts - we’re going to take the fight to them. Every Philosopher’s stone needs to be ripped out and reabsorbed into the Gate-...ah, into the force of alchemy itself. The energy of the world - it all comes from the same place, and it all has to go back to it, to. And we’re going to make sure it does.” 

Scar watched Theo closely, a long moment, before looking to Roy. “And you, Nardama?” he asked, through bared teeth. “You, who delivered them so much of this blood? You will see it put to waste?” 

“I won’t let them turn it into something evil,” Roy said. “And I won’t let any more people, Ishvalan or otherwise, be turned into fuel for their schemes.” 

Scar eyed him appraisingly. “If it came to it, you would give your life for this?” 

Roy didn’t falter. “Without hesitation.” 

“Like fuck you will,” Theo snapped. “Nobody’s dying, alright? I’m- I’m fucking-...”

Both turned to look at him. Theo, gritting his teeth, looked to meet Roy’s eyes.

“I’m fucking tired of people dying,” he said. “The only ones I want to see eat dust are Bradley and his stupid fucking master. I’m sick of losing people, alright?” 

Roy huffed out a soft laugh. “I’m not going anywhere on purpose,” he assured Theo. 

Theo watched him heavily a moment, before giving a nod, mostly to himself, and looking back at Scar.

“Your brother made several strides in unifying alchemy and alkahestry,” Theo said. “The man we’re going against has the ability to block the use of alchemy, in the right circumstances. His arrays are vital in reversing it….and you’re the only one who knows them.” 

“I won’t share them, alchemist,” Scar said.

“I’m not asking you to,” Theo replied. “I’m just asking- if you could look at them. Learn them. Make it so that, when the fighting kicks off, regular alchemists can still fight.” 

“‘Regular’ alchemists?” Scar echoed. “Do you not count yourself among those?” 

Theo’s lips pulled up in a sardonic grin. “Not even slightly.” 

Notes:

scar: do you expect to be able to fight with alchemy through the blocking arrays?
theo: no but last time i literally just beat him to death with my bare hands so i think i'm good

Chapter 68

Summary:

“You’re back early,” she commented. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

Notes:

writing this chapter with theo going home instead of staying and doing a horizontal tango was personally very disappointing but i have committed to a narrative and by truth we are going to follow it
i'll make a joke about it, tho

Pinako stiffened at the sound of the door opening, watching the entrance from the kitchen into the living room warily.

To her relief, a moment later, Theo stepped into the apartment, shutting and re-sealing the door behind himself. 

“You’re back early,” she commented. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” 

Theo turned to face her, flushing. “It’s a first date, we just-...”

“I meant from the trip,” she interrupted, exasperated. “I’m really not interested in hearing about that. How was Central?” 

Theo grimaced. “Didn’t go,” he said. “They sent me to Liore, instead.” 

“To where?”

“Liore,” Theo repeated. “Little city near the border - people were going missing, and they decided that was the priority.” 

“So you went to Liore,” Pinako said. “What’d you find?”

“Lust.”

“I figured that was here in East City,” she said, dryly.

Theo flushed again. “I’m not talking to you,” he said, petulantly. 

“Homunculi in Liore, right? Friendly?”

“Should be now,” Theo said. “It was-...uh. Well, it should be over, now, anyway.” 

“Ominous.”

“Yeah,” Theo breathed. “Yeah, I know.” 

“Well, welcome back,” she said. “Kids are in bed - hopefully, anyway. They haven’t come barrelling in to say hello, so I’m guessing they’re asleep.” 

“Good,” Theo sighed. “Maybe I can get some sleep myself.” Another thought occurred to him, and he frowned at Pinako. “My, uh. My dad?”

“Rented a room somewhere,” she said. “He came by earlier. Apparently he’d been to visit your boyfriend.”

Theo blinked. “He-..what?” His face burned, his voice pitching up in mild panic. “He talked to Mustang?” 

“He said he did.”

“He didn’t say anything!” Theo exclaimed. “Roy, I mean. He- oh, God, I don’t even wanna know what he said. I do, but I don’t.” 

“Volume control,” Pinako warned. “Don’t wake the brats up. You need to sleep - you look like you crawled right out of hell.” 

“I pretty much did,” Theo muttered, reaching up to scrub a hand over his face. “I guess I’ll turn in. Who knows what all I’ll dream about, tired as I am.”

“If it’s the boyfriend, keep it down.”

Theo’s face burned again. “You’re a horrible person,” he informed her, retreating down the hallway to the sound of her laughter.

The Rush Valley train station was not a welcome sight. 

"One night," Theo muttered, as the memory took shape around him. "You can't fuck off for one night?"

"Ed!"

Theo's heart clenched, and he turned, looking to the door of the train, the source of the voice. 

Adult Alphonse looked just like he had on the day Theo had been torn away from him. 

He'd avoided thinking about it, able to shove it all in a box, but- but he'd really lost this Al. The brother he'd gone through hell with, the one he would have given - did give, even - everything for. 

And judging by his appearance, this memory was not too long before they were separated for good. 

"Al," Ed greeted, hugging his brother as the younger Elric disembarked the train. "Good to see you still haven’t become panda chow.” 

“Xiao-Mei only hates you,” Al reminded him. “General Mustang hasn’t gotten you killed, either.” 

“Like he could,” Ed said, releasing his brother. “I’m tougher than you think, Al.” 

Al looked skeptical, but changed the subject, asking, “How’s Winry? And Russel and Nina?” 

“They’re...good,” Ed said. 

He didn’t elaborate.

Al sighed. “When was the last time-....?”

“I went straight from one job into another, is all,” Ed said. “I’m picking you up, but then I have to go to the next one. It’s important.”

Al looked like he wanted to say something about that, but instead, just said, “I’ll come with you, then.”

Ed huffed. “I can take care of myself, Al.”

“You can,” Al agreed. “But I want to help. It’ll get done faster, that way, too.” 

Theo watched his younger self’s jaw flex, but he let out a low breath, agreeing, “Fine, alright.”

He turned, leading Al away, toward a waiting car. “It’s some research alchemist who’s gone weird,” Ed told him. “He drew this huge ass array inside an old building, apparently, and basically hisses like a pissed-off cat on anyone trying to look at it.” 

“Human transmutation?” Al guessed. “That’s a little-...”

Ed cut in, refusing to let him finish - Theo could remember arguing with Al over exactly one thing in his life, and it was their ongoing argument where he’d constantly defended his work, insisting that the field work was not too dangerous without his alchemy. “He sent Mustang some letter, telling him he was doing research into ‘improvisational alchemy’ and wanted my opinion on it.” 

“He asked for you, specifically?” Al asked. “And the General is sending you?” 

“Well, yeah,” Ed said. “If he’s inviting me in to where his weird shit is, that’s the easiest way to get a look at what he’s up to, and stop it if I have to.” 

“What if it’s a trap?”

“Oh, it’s definitely a trap,” Ed said. “But it’s whatever. I was bored, Mustang was getting sick of me - I’ll go kick some alchemist ass and then head home for a while.” 

“Brother…”

Ed stopped in front of the car, looking to Al, face pinched. “I can take care of myself,” he insisted again. “Just because-...Alchemy wasn’t the only thing I was good at, Al.” 

“That’s not what-...” Al cut off, taking a deep breath, before trying again. “You don’t let yourself be good at things, Ed.” 

Ed’s eyebrows shot up. “What the fuck does that mean?” 

“You’ve always been this way, but it’s just getting worse,” Al said. “You-...if you aren’t perfect at something right away, you don’t want to try. You just write it off as being something you’re bad at and move on. You can’t just-...You have to give yourself the chance to learn things, Ed.” 

“What are you talking about?” Ed asked, in a strained voice that suggested he already knew.

“You keep working because you think that’s what you’re good for,” Al said. “But you don’t have to be the best husband or father to go home, Ed. They love you. We all do.”

Ed jerked back, turning sharply and heading around the side of the car, climbing into the driver’s seat without a word.

With a sigh, Al entered the passenger’s seat. 

“You said the General-...did you two fight?”

“Does it matter?” Ed asked. “And I didn’t start it, so don’t think that, either.” 

“Do you think, maybe, he gave you this job because he was thinking you’d say no?” 

“Nope,” Ed said, grip tight on the wheel. “Because that’s stupid. It’s a job, I can do it, I’m going to do it. And if you’re coming, too, there’s nothing to worry about. I can kick ass, you’re the best alchemist in Amestris - freako alchemist doesn’t know what’s coming to him.” 

Al sighed.

Ed grit his teeth again. “Al,” he said, visibly forcing himself to relax. “Stop worrying about me. It’s-...” 

His grip slacked on the wheel slightly, some of the fire leaving his eyes. 

“It’s not that I’m not perfect,” Ed said. “It’s that-...I’m fucking terrible, Al.”

“That’s not-...”

“It is true,” Ed said. “Mustang told me to go home, and I pretty much told him to fuck off, because I just- I can’t. I can’t sit still, I can’t just-.... I can’t be the person someone loves and nothing else. I don’t want to just be someone who exists, not doing anything, and gets loved anyway. That’s-...that’s too much like pity.” 

Al gave him a sad smile. “You don’t have to earn love from us, Ed,” he said. “You did that a long time ago. Several times over.” 

“Doesn’t mean I can just take it and give nothing,” Ed said. “I made a huge fucking mess, and I’m going to play a part in cleaning it up. What made all these alchemists start looking at human transmutation, do you think? It wasn’t this much, before. It’s never been this much.”

“That’s the homuculi’s doing, not yours.” 

“No,” Ed said. “I beat human transmutation with another human transmutation. Now every alchemist on either side of the spectrum thinks it’s some all-powerful weapon - it can make someone a god, or it can rip a god apart, whichever you want. I made that shit look like something worth doing, and I can’t even-...” He shook his head. “I can’t even explain the consequences to them.” 

“Your alchemy was a high price,” Al agreed. 

“Fuck my alchemy, Al!” Ed cried, looking at his brother. “I almost lost you! I’d give up a lot worse to avoid that.” 

Al’s face crumpled. “Brother…”

Ed huffed, eyes wet. “Who gives a shit if I can’t do alchemy?” he said. “Yeah, I can’t just- I can’t just do shit like I used to. I can’t fix everything right away, I can’t test my own theories, whatever. It’s annoying, but that’s it. No, the problem is- the problem is, the people I love trying to fix me has only ever put them in danger, and I don’t know how to fix it myself. I almost lost you because I wasn’t enough-...”

“Ed-..!”

“And I can’t go home, I can’t look at Winry and know I’m a fucking terrible husband, because I can’t fix it. And I can’t hold my kids and know I’m an even shittier father, because I can’t fix it. And fucking-...”

Al shifted in the seat of the car, so that he could lean across, dragging Ed into a hug, glad that they hadn’t actually left park yet. “You don’t have to be perfect,” he repeated. “We love you. It’s not a transaction. You don’t have to pay us back for it. We love you. I love you, brother.”

Ed clung back. 

“Throwing yourself into danger isn’t a way to ‘earn’ our love, or prove that you’re worthy of it,” Al said. “And losing you won’t be satisfying for anyone. It will hurt. If I lost you, I wouldn’t think of all the times I’ve tried to save you, and feel like it was a waste. I’d think about my brother, who I love, and I’d be devastated to lose him. End of story. Human life has no equivalent value, Ed. Yours included.” 

Theo watched, having done some sort of spectral faze through the back door of the car, into the back seat to watch. He missed his brother, more than anything, an ache inside him that made the absence of his alchemy and the broken section of his soul feel incredibly minor. 

He knew what Al meant, then - he wasn’t thinking of the transmutations he’d done, the prices he’d paid. It wasn’t that he thought his arm, his alchemy, were costs wasted - it was that he, right then, sitting there, was alive, and hyper aware of the ones who weren’t. 

Why would I take your soul, if even you don’t want it?

Was that the reason he had been thrown back, really? Was that his final price to pay - buying the chance to make his soul worth something by shredding the world around him, letting everyone who loved him pay with their lives for having the audacity? 

The image of the car melted away, and Theo dropped, finding himself sitting on the floor of the white void.

“You’ve given up.”

Theo looked to Truth, crouched a few feet away, blank face and broad grin still somehow appearing curious. 

“Given up?” he echoed. “No, no way in hell. I’m taking Father down, and I’m helping the homunculi become human. I’m not failing again.” 

Truth huffed, a thousand voices letting out soft titters, as though Theo had told a joke to a crowd. “You’re determined to complete your mission,” he agreed. “But other than that…”

Theo frowned. “What?” he asked. “What else do you want from me?” 

“From you?” Truth asked.

His grin widened, and his hand reached out, laying flat against Theo’s chest.

He felt his heart pounding in his throat, feeling exposed, as though Truth’s hand had gone straight through his chest.

“What is the difference between you and me?”

Theo frowned. “I’m...human. I’m not a god.” 

“And what is a human?” Truth asked. “What is a god?” 

Theo stared. “I...don’t know. Souls? ...Energy?” 

“There are billions of humans in your world,” Truth said. “And billions in each other world, of which there are infinite numbers.” 

Truth’s head dipped down a fraction, hiding the grinning face from view. 

“Infinite humans in infinite situations...And only one is pulled, only one is chosen. Why is that?”

“I...don’t know,” Theo answered. “Why? Why did you choose me?” 

A moment later, he looked up, two purple-ringed irises staring out from the blankness, above the familiar sharp grin.

“I didn’t.” 

Notes:

take a moment to picture a blank white body with nothing but an evil grin and purple eyes and then never sleep again because jesus christ thats uncanny valley shit

Chapter 69

Summary:

Truth looked at him, grinning wide. “Did you think you were special, Edward?”

His stomach turned over. “My name is Theo.” 

Notes:

chapter 69 isnt sexy at all im so sorry

Theo recoiled, something close to fear striking through him at the sight of Truth’s new face.

They were like the Eye of God, he saw, but there were two of them, and they’d reshaped to fit Truth’s minimalistic face. They looked more like...like Al’s eyes, except the purple rings that formed the iris. Soft, and round, and watching him with a knowing air.

“What do you mean?” Theo asked. “You didn’t choose me? Who did?”

Truth laughed, hand leaving Theo’s chest at last as they dropped backward, sitting on the ground before him, laughing even harder than they had when Theo’d offered his Gate.

“What?” Theo got to his feet, fists clenching at his sides, heart pounding in his chest. “What’s funny? Who chose me?” 

“Nobody!”

Theo froze. “...What?”

Truth looked at him, grinning wide. “Did you think you were special, Edward?”

His stomach turned over. “My name is Theo.” 

“No,” Truth said. “It isn’t.”

“It wasn’t,” Theo said. “It is now. I can’t be ‘Ed’ anymore.”

Truth laughed again. While the loudest voice sounded joyful, the chorus of voices that joined it sounded anything but - bitter laughing, sarcastic laughing, mocking laughing, all lending to Truth’s genuine mirth. 

“Stop laughing at me!” Theo snapped. “Start making sense! What are you talking about? If you didn’t want me here, why am I here now? Why do you keep bothering me?” 

Truth stopped laughing abruptly. Where their head had been tipped back, laughing to the sky, it stopped, remaining tipped away from Theo. 

“Bothering you?” he murmured. “I bother you?”

His head tipped up, face turning toward Theo.

Theo tried to remember if he’d ever seen that face not smiling before, because the sight was jarring. 

“I never touched you, Theo,” Truth said, climbing to his feet, new eyes trained harshly on Theo. “No one ever did. It’s like the dreams - I told you. You guide them. The hunger of your soul feeds on your guilt, and it drags out the parts of you that feed it. It grows on your self-loathing, because it’s the purest form of hatred you have in your sad little human body.” 

“But coming here,” Theo said. “You drag me here.”

“Wrong again,” Truth said. “What is this place, Theo?” 

Theo stopped short. “...What do you mean? It’s-..It’s your space. Your...realm.” 

Truth’s laughter then was soft, and cruel sounding. “This isn’t my space, Theo,” he said, raising his hands up, gesturing out to the wide expanse around them. “It’s yours.” 

Theo stared. “What do you mean? I didn’t- I don’t come here on purpose.”

“But no one is making you,” Truth said. “The world around you here is the entryway of the human soul. The home of the Gates.”

Theo’s eyebrows drew up. “Gates? Is everyone’s Gate here?”

“Well, yes,” Truth said. “But mainly, both of yours.”

Theo shook his head. “I don’t understand.” 

“You never do,” Truth replied flippantly. “Here’s the truth of it, for you: the human soul is never meant to be touched. Committing a taboo is ripping open the doors between your mind and soul, and reaching past the matter you are allowed to tamper with. And that brings you here.” Truth jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “And then you reach the Gate. The wall between your soul and every other one, the one that connects you to the flow of energy through the universe itself. And alchemists like you love to pry it open. Most get devoured, some pay high prices for having touched it...and sometimes, someone sees something more than they were meant to see.” 

“And I-...?”

Truth pointed a finger at him, almost accusing. “You ripped your doors off their hinges,” Truth said. “You treated your soul like a silk cloth, cutting it into pieces to sell for this thing or that, acting like it was something you owned, rather than everything you are. Your tattered soul was unwinding at the seams, spilling out the empty places into the world...and you kept. Coming. Back.” 

“I gave up my alchemy,” Theo said. “I stopped-...”

“Your alchemy had nothing to do with it,” Truth said. “You gave your Gate.” 

“That’s- that’s the source of alchemy, right?” Theo said. 

“It is,” Truth said. “It is the source of all knowledge….but also, your link to the universe.” 

Theo froze. 

A link…

“...That’s why,” Theo said, softly. “That’s why you could take me from there. Because I broke my ties to it.” 

“And he finally sees the full picture,” Truth said. 

“That’s why I never felt at home,” Theo said. “Why it was- why nothing was ever right for me. I didn’t belong there anymore.” 

“You broke your connections to the universe itself, including other souls,” Truth said. “That’s what you gave up. Words are just platitudes, actions are just passing events. You had no connections. You had isolated yourself.”

“And you…?”

“I took it,” Truth said. “That’s what was so funny, to me. That you were willing to trap yourself in this place, lock yourself between two sets of broken doors: one always open, one always barred. Never in the real world, never beyond, but always watching. Looking at the world through a stained glass window, showing you only things you can never touch.”

“Then why?” Theo asked, throat tight. “Why wasn’t that enough? Why did I still have to pay? Why did they have to pay?” 

“Because,” Truth said, “you came back.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Theo cried. “That other alchemist, he forced me, it was his transmutation!”

“But you,” Truth stressed, “Stood here, in this space, and we saw it. Ties - thousands of them, between you and this space.” His grin returned. “Where your soul could not find traction on your world, it clawed its way through cracks in this space. It anchored itself to the space in between. Strings stuck to the place where your Gate should have been, desperately seeking other souls...and finding nothing.”

“I don’t…”

Truth threw his arms out again, seeming exasperated. “Your soul refused to stop,” he said. “It didn’t give up. Something inside you refused to die, refused to stop searching.”

“And, what?” Theo asked. “That just pissed you off, so you had to wipe everything and start over?” 

“No,” Truth said. “You stood in the center of a million strings, all showing how desperate you were for something more, and still had it in you to look at me and claim you wanted to go back.” His wicked grin crinkled the corners of his newfound eyes. “Even with your soul barely a wisp, you were willing to tear it up again. You wanted to bargain the last scraps of who you were just to avoid disappointing the ones who loved you.” 

“I wanted to see my brother,” Theo said, strained. “I wanted to see my wife, I wanted to see my kids- it wasn’t a sacrifice. I wanted to go home.”

“You wanted them to have you home,” Truth said. “Tonight’s memory...Surely you made the connection? He asked you to come back to him, and so you were going to. No matter what.” His head tipped forward, grin turning something more like a baring of teeth. “And that pissed me off. You still thought your soul was the exception. You thought you had the right to tell me how you wanted things to go, and I would just...do them.” 

“So, what?” Theo asked, incredulous. “This was all just- just to prove a point?”

“I reached for the first frayed edge of your soul,” Truth said, “And I wove it back with the fabric it had shed. I borrowed your Gate from another you, one of a trillion perfect mirrors, and shoved you through it. Your ties could latch onto something, at last…” 

“And then I came back again,” Theo realized. “I kept trying to bargain. I wanted to go home.” 

“You took the door I’d just put back and you pried it open again,” Truth said. “And so...I let you have it. You wanted to be able to toy with your own soul...by all means, tear it apart.” 

“Then, our deal…?”

Truth’s grin went sardonic. “You brought me a fully realized Philosopher’s Stone,” Truth said. “You had, in your hands, the tool to fix it all. You could have patched your soul, if you wanted. You could have ended your pain. You could have asked me to open the door and allow you to go home. But you didn’t. You asked for me to make a new soul, for a homunculus.” 

Theo reached forward, hand resting against the front of his leg, thinking of the mark below his knee. “And, what? You thought I should pay for being arrogant enough to make a deal?” 

“Not at all,” Truth said. “I finally understood.”

Theo straightened a bit, alarmed. “Understood what?” 

“Your soul had always had such strong ties,” Truth said. “You tethered to your brother’s soul so hard you were able to pull it back through the Gate, multiple times. A mere eleven years old and you’d already anchored something out of my reach. And you shredding your soul made it more desperate, more hungry - it made it dig in harder. You connect to everything. Your soul begs to be touched by another, it reaches out for anything and everything that can resonate with it. Trying to break your ties was worthless. You would never see yourself as a regular human, would never separate yourself from this realm, would never be content with your soul itself. You filled the holes in yourself with those ties, wove yourself a whole knew fabric out of those threads. You are, at your core, your empathy.” 

Theo’s hand bunched in the fabric of his pant leg. “And what did you decide about it?” he asked. “What was the symbol for? What does it mean?” 

“Have you ever seen a child’s drawing of a sun?” Truth asked. “A single point, with a thousand branches. The sun reaches out, it exists because of its connections. The sun is defined by the things it touches, the things it feeds. Your soul is the same.” Truth tipped his head. “It was pointless trying to make you see yourself, because you could only see the others around you. You never looked in.”

“I still don’t understand,” Theo said, desperately. “What did you do? If my soul is just- just patchwork, what did you take?” 

Truth raised a hand in front of him, palm out. 

Compelled by something he didn’t understand, Theo mirrored the action.

In front of him, light shimmered, as though light were catching on something in the air. He moved his hand, watching the light shift, defining the image beneath it.

A thread. A thin, clear thread, connecting him with the aspect of Truth. 

“You tied me to you,” Theo said, staring at it. 

“Breaking your ties does nothing,” Truth said. “You refuse to learn. You will continue to refuse, until it comes about that you are finally ready to accept your humanity. So, I gave you a goal. Save this version of yourself. Make the world around you better. And then, when you’re done...make a choice.”

Theo’s stomach turned over. “What choice?”

“Break a tie,” Truth said. “You break this one, and your soul heals. You go back into this world as a whole human, with ties to the ones around you, with love and peace and everything you’ve hungered for.” 

Theo swallowed. “Or…?”

“Or break the one that binds you to this world,” Truth said. “Break the strings between you and the other souls here. Break everything that keeps you here...and follow this thread back to where you came from.”

Theo’s eyes widened, heart stopping. “You said-...”

“You paid with your ties,” Truth said. “But, in theory, your world still exists. It’s of little importance while you’re in this one, of course. When things are done, though, if you really want to be a better version of the you you already were...Your Gate stands open. This thread will guide you through it.”

“This is your punishment,” Theo murmured, horrified. “I kept trying to play God, so you’re making me make the choice. If I want to control my universe, go right ahead, right? You’re making it so that, whoever I leave behind, I have to do it deliberately.” 

“Choose wisely, Theophrastus,” Truth said, dropping his hand, the glittering light of the thread vanishing. “You have a good while to think it over, regardless of your choice.”

Truth’s new purple eyes closed, and Theo found himself once again mirroring him, eyes sliding shut-

-And then jerking back open as he sat upright in his bed, back in his apartment, once again in the physical world. 

“You bastard,” he breathed, whole body shaking. “You fucking bastard, you…”

Light caught his eye, almost like the thread, and his head jerked toward it, looking to his nightstand, where his alchemist’s pocketwatch sat. 

His arm guard was missing, and it took him a moment to remember Scar bursting it into dust, all its symbolism vanishing under his touch.

And I could do that to the rest of them, too. 

Theo curled, shaking, into himself. 

I don’t want to choose. 

He knew, though, that that was the point. He wasn’t supposed to be okay with it, he wasn’t meant to find the choice easy to make.

This was the point where Truth wanted him to make a sacrifice that counted, and so he’d gone for where it hurt. 

And, by God, did it hurt.

Notes:

theo: bro i thought we were friends
truth: (vine voice) i dont need friends, they disappoint me

Chapter 70

Summary:

“We got wine drunk and she complimented my gun handling,” Riza said. “Then I put her to bed and went to confess to Nina that I will probably end up trying to marry her mom. It was cathartic.” 

Notes:

here's some gays and some angst and some actual plot all in a row! chapter tone neapolitan

“So,” Roy said, when Riza walked through his office door. “When were you going to tell me Theo was a time traveler?” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Riza said, flatly. “You’ve completely lost your mind.” 

“You could have warned me,” Roy said. “I don’t think I even asked any of the questions I wanted to when he told me- I just blanked. What do you say to that?” 

“‘That’s terrible, Theo, feel free to cry on my shoulder.’”

“You’re a bad person,” Roy informed her.

“I am,” she agreed. “And yet, Erin seems to have decided she likes me, after all.” 

“Oh?” Roy sat up. “Have a date of your own?” 

“We got wine drunk and she complimented my gun handling,” Riza said. “Then I put her to bed and went to confess to Nina that I will probably end up trying to marry her mom. It was cathartic.” 

“That’s wonderful,” Roy said. “You-....”

He stopped short as his phone started to ring. 

“It’s barely eight a.m.,” he informed the device. “Who needs me this early?” 

With a sigh, he reached out, scooping it up.

“Mustang.”

“Colonel,” the woman on the end of the line greeted. “A civilian named Pinako Rockbell has called the switchboard for you.” 

Roy’s eyebrows drew together in a pinch. “Put her through.” 

Riza raised an eyebrow at him, and he mouthed back Pinako’s name, which just proceeded to make her expression as baffled as his. 

The line clicked over. “Mustang?”

“Yes, hello,” Roy greeted. “Is something wrong?” 

“Is Theo there?”

A stone settled in Roy’s gut. “...No? Is he not-...?”

“He’s gone,” Pinako said. “I woke up and he’s gone somewhere, and the apartment - the front door is covered in circles. There’s like a hundred of the things.” 

“That’s...not good,” Roy said. “Did he leave anything behind? A note? Anything to say where he was going?” 

“No,” Pinako said. “And he never saw the boys last night, either, which means he made the choice not to see them this morning deliberately.” 

Shit.

“Do we look for him?” Roy asked. “You know him best.”

“Do I?” Pinako asked. “I don’t think anyone does.”

Roy grimaced. “Do you think he’s doing something stupid?” 

“Absolutely,” Pinako said. “He didn’t take the time to unpack last night, I know that for a fact, but his suitcase isn’t on the floor anymore. Whatever he’s going to do, I don’t know when he expects to come back.” 

“He wouldn’t just leave,” Roy said. “He’s too-...He’d never leave Ed and Al like that.” 

“Wouldn’t he?” Pinako asked. “Because that’s what it seems like he just did.” 

Roy let out a low breath, trying to steady himself. “Alright,” he said, “I’m getting some people on it. I’ll find him, Miss Rockbell.” 

“I hope you do,” she said. “Knowing that boy, he’s got some idea in his head, and didn’t stop long enough to talk himself out of it. If you don’t find him, he’s probably going to get himself killed.” 

Yeah, that’s what Roy was worried about. 

“You’ve got people in quite a state, Courier.”

Dull gold eyes passed over her, then away, returning to watching the train tracks. “Seeking,” he corrected, flat. 

“Seeking what?” the woman asked, stepping around to take a seat beside him on the bench, though she gave the dirty seat a distasteful look beforehand, and seemed highly put out by having to stain her blood red dress. “You look like you’re seeking a way out, to me, alchemist.” 

“Literally, or metaphorically?” Theo asked. He gestured out to the train tracks. “I’ve got both.” 

“Where are you going?” the woman asked. “Pony’s in a tizzy.” 

“There’s an alchemist I need to see,” Theo said. “He has some information for me, if I’m right. After that, I need to hit Central as soon as I can. I’m running out of time.” 

“Time for what?” 

Theo shot her a look. “What’s your name?” he said. “I don’t know you. I thought I knew all of Mustang’s people, honestly.” 

“Name’s Sibylle,” she said, watching him in open judgement. “I don’t know how many of his ‘people’ you’ve met, but only idiots assume they know everything.” 

“Yeah, well,” he snorted. “I’m the biggest idiot you’re ever going to find. I know there’s things I don’t know, though - that’s why I have to go. I have to get answers, and I can’t afford to hang around and get-...”

He cut off.

“You’re running away,” Sibylle told him, casually. “Pony’s a little intense, can scare people off, but one date is a whole new record for him.” 

“It’s not him,” Theo said. “I-...It’s-....”

He hung his head. 

“I can’t explain it,” he said. “I just- I don’t want them to think I’m more than I’m capable of being. I’ve relied on other people my whole life, and I’m just- I don’t have it in me to let anyone down anymore.”

“Then don’t run, moron,” Sibylle said, speaking harshly. “That’s letting them all down.” 

Theo buried his face in his hands. “It’s lose-lose,” he muttered into his palms. “Somebody is getting hurt. Until I figure out who it is, I can at least make sure they all survive it.” 

Sibylle snorted. “I don’t have time to babysit you, alchemist. Either go back, now, and apologize to Pony for the stress- or don’t go back. He doesn’t need distractions.” 

Theo peeked up at her through parted fingertips.

A look crossed his face, and he sat up, looking up at her properly. “Why do you call him that?” he asked. “He never told me.” 

“Because he thinks he’s tough,” Sibylle said, “but he’s never been as strong as he thinks. He’s dramatic flair on hot air - a one-trick show pony, playing at “plowhorse.” 

Theo narrowed his eyes at her. “He’s not. Roy Mustang is-...He’s-...”

She stepped back, chin tipping up, looking down her nose at him. “He’s waiting,” she said. 

Theo looked away again. “Tell him to stop,” he muttered. “I can’t let this get away. I have to do what I can, while I can. And then, at the end…” He looked down at his hands. “I guess I’ll finally have to make a choice.” 

“He’s worse than a ‘pony’ with you, you know,” Sibylle said. “Like a mangy dog, following around someone who might feed it. What is your goal? You come out of nowhere, you dig up trouble all over the city, you turn his life upside down, and now you’re running?” 

“If I don’t run, they’re going to die,” Theo snapped. “The thing I’m trying to stop? It will kill them all, and then I’ll be standing alone between two graveyards.”

“So it’s selfish?” she accused. 

Theo got to his feet. “You’re damn right it’s selfish!” he shouted back. “That’s what I am! I am missing something and I want it back, and that’s all it boils down to. At the end of the day, everything I’ve ever done has been trying to get something I wanted, but didn’t have. It was-...”

Theo drew up short.

“Greed?” Sibylle filled in. 

“Greed,” Theo echoed, but his eyes were distant. “Greed.”

“Significant tone, for nonsense,” Sibylle said, dryly. “What are you on about, alchemist?” 

“I just-...” he shook his head, stooping down, scooping his suitcase up off the ground. “I forgot about- I didn’t even consider-... ”

“Hohenheim?”

“Not him,” Theo muttered, nonsensically, waving her off, as he started to walk around her, back toward the station.

“Going home?” she asked. 

“Not yet,” he called back. “Renting a car. There’s someone I need to see.” 

“Not who I asked you to, I take it?”

Theo paused, turning around, face pleading. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice agonized. “I want to be everything they want me to be, I really do. I just-...I can’t. At least not until this is over.” 

Sibylle huffed. “Get out of here, alchemist,” she said. “I’ll tell him we didn’t find you.” 

Theo blinked at her.

“What, you want me to break his heart?” she asked. “No. I’m not telling him you’re taking flight. That’s on you, little bird.” 

“It’d be better to tell him,” Theo said. “Better- I don’t want him waiting for me.”

“Well,” Sibylle said, pushing past him, walking away, leaving the station. “Too late.”

In the quiet of the room, there was a shifting sound, and heads across the crowd jerked up, noses catching the scent on the wind.

“Boss,” Martel warned, watching this.

“I see them,” Greed assured her, getting to his feet, shoving his hands casually into his pockets. “Is it him?” 

“Definitely,” Dolcetto said, nose twitching as he kept track of the scent. 

The door crashed open.

“You could knock,” Greed called, lightly.

“And give you time to run?” Theo shot back, stepping in. “Pass.” 

“I wouldn’t run,” Greed countered. “I owe you a favor, you know.” 

“I know,” Theo said. “That’s why I’m here.” 

Greed grimaced. “I was hoping you’d be one of those noble, ‘oh, you don’t owe me anything,’ types.”

“No way in hell,” Theo said. “I needed to talk to you about Tim Marcoh.” 

Greed’s eyebrows shot up, before a grin split his face. “Somebody’s been doing his homework,” he commented. “What do you need our favorite mad scientist for?”

“How did you find your team, Greed?” Theo asked. “Is Marcoh still making chimeras?”

Greed narrowed his eyes. “He better not be,” he said. “We’d come to an agreement, see.” 

“And that was?”

“Cadavers,” Greed replied. “When the folks in charge took a step back, and left me in charge, the bodies always came up dead. Some of them left bodies, twisted enough for us to drag out and throw at research alchemists like Tucker. Others just...vaporized. Poof. Not a trace.” 

Theo’s eyes widened. “You were smuggling chimeras out of the lab,” he realized. 

“For a while,” Greed confirmed. “Eventually, they got sick of their experiment being such a failure. Doubled down on stone production instead. I snatched one, passed it to Marcoh, and set the fucking building on fire. Now, here we are.” 

“So...all of you,” Theo said, looking over the gathered chimera. “All you came from lab five?”

“Home sweet Hell,” Martel murmured, which was met with noises of assent on all sides.

“Right,” Theo said. “And the bodies - they came from the prison?”

“There were some prisoners,” Martel answered, in Greed’s place. “I was one. Some of us weren’t, though. Bido was a hospital patient - they said he was terminal. We’re not even sure if they were lying, but he’s fine now. Minus about a third of his brain, and plus a tail...but alive.”

“Right, so - you were breaking chimeras out of lab five, until you were caught. You and Marcoh defected, you started a gang out here, Marcoh went off to be a doctor-...”

“A doctor?” Greed echoed. “Good for him, the weird bastard.” 

Theo huffed, pushing forward. “The other homunculi started cleaning up, getting things in line, until recently.” 

“Until you,” Greed amended. 

“Okay,” Theo said. “So, the question is, why you?” he asked. “Why did you get a conscience? Yours was stronger than anyone else’s. I had to convince Envy to be in it for themself. You knew it was wrong, though.”

“It’s just greed ,” the reformed homunculus said. “I wanted more for myself than to be an errand boy.” 

“No,” Theo said, softly, eyes bright with a wild light. “No, I don’t think that’s it. I think you were different.”

Greed narrowed his eyes. “Why?” he asked. “What’s your point here, Hohenheim?” 

“Theo,” he corrected, automatic. “I’m working on a theory.” 

“And that is?” 

Theo eyed him, a self-satisfied air to him. “Father is an entity created that mirrors Truth.” 

“...Okay, I’m listening,” Greed said.

“That’s not the theory,” Theo said. “That’s a fact. I know they’re similar, especially after Father absorbs the souls of Amestris.”

“And this means…?”

“Father split his soul into seven pieces,” Theo said. “One for each sin. He ripped out chunks of himself, until the bit that was left was so tattered he couldn’t keep the lonely part from coming out with the greed.”

“I’m not sure I like this theory,” Greed said, dryly.

Theo reached out, grabbing him by the shoulders. “He split his soul,” he stressed. “You get what that means?”

Greed looked aside, to his team, then back again. “No idea.”

“It means," Theo said, leaning in. “That he had a soul.” 

Greed blinked...then his eyes widened. “You mean…”

“If they’re mirrors,” Theo said, “Truth isn’t God.”

“You can’t mean-...?”

“Greed,” Theo said, exhilarated. “Truth is alive.” 

Notes:

theo, literally kicking in the door: GOD IS A DEAD MAN

Chapter 71

Summary:

"So what?"

Notes:

this is the longest gap I think I've had between chapters lmao
Sorry I got distracted by Dexter and Left 4 Dead, because apparently it is 2009 again in my hellbrain

Theo's and Greed stared at each other in perfect silence. 

Then, Greed raised a hand, settling it over one of Theo's own. 

"So what?"

Theo blinked, taken aback. "So...what?" He shook his head. "It means-..."

"It means nothing," Greed said. "Father isn't a god, but if he completes his array, his power will equal one - and he'll still be a fraction of the power the controller of the universe has. Are you going to fight that? And even if you did, what the hell do you expect to gain from it?"

"He-..." Theo faltered. "He took everything from me."

"And this will bring it back?"

Theo scowled, yanking his hand free. “You don’t get it.”

“I do,” Greed said. “I want to tear Father limb from fucking limb, make him suffer for the way he made me to be. But I’m not going to stand here and pretend I’m trying to correct the universe, or anything fancy. I want him dead because I fucking hate him.” 

Theo stared. “He…”

“You made me human,” Greed said, setting a hand against his chest. “I can feel it. There’s a soul there, just the one, and it’s strong, and you did that. And I’m telling you, right now, it doesn’t matter what ‘Father’ is, or what ‘Truth’ is - they don’t have that.” He reached out, tapping a finger against Theo’s chest in turn, over his heart. “You do.”

“I don’t,” Theo said. “I don’t, I’ve destroyed it-...”

“Here’s what I think,” Greed said, dropping his hand. “I think this isn’t about if ‘Truth’ is actually alive, if you can kill him, if you can win him over, whatever.” 

Theo watched him, waiting.

“I think,” Greed said, “that this is about the fact that you’ve realized you keep trying to do the same shit that thing does, and you’re worried that if it doesn’t have a soul, isn’t a person, than you aren’t, either.” 

Theo grit his teeth. “I’m- there’s something wrong with me.”

“Lots of things, I’ve seen,” Greed agreed easily. “But you’re a human, even if you are a fucking weird one. The more you try to drag gods down to your level, the worse you make it for yourself.” 

Theo let out a low breath. “Truth told me that- the world I came from, it’s still there,” he said. 

“So?”

Theo gaped at him. “So?” he echoed. “So, my family isn’t dead, Greed.” 

“They aren’t,” Greed said. “You are.” 

Theo frowned. “The fuck does that mean?” 

“You got yanked through the Gate, right?” Greed asked. “Far as I know, that means ‘dead.’ This is your afterlife, buddy.” 

“That’s not how it works,” Theo said. 

“How the fuck do you know?” Greed countered. “You’re just a person.”

“You’re just a homunculus,” Theo shot back.

“Not anymore,” Greed said. “You changed that.” 

Some of the fight drained out of Theo. “You know it’s bad,” he muttered, “when you are the voice of reason.”

“I’m a clever guy,” Greed said, dismissively. “The fuck are you doing here, anyway? Anyone else kidnap a baby?”

“I needed to talk to you,” Theo said. “You’ve been a homunculus, you’re a human now - you had the most perspective.” 

“On what? The Gate?” Greed gestured to him. “You literally made one of the things. What the fuck was I gonna tell you?”

“Anything?” Theo breathed out, defeated. “I-...I can’t make the choice, Greed. I can’t choose which of them I’m going to hurt.”

“Well, one set of them needs you to get your shit together,” Greed said. “Have your damn life crisis after you’ve taken my damn creator out, thanks.” 

Theo huffed out what was almost a laugh. “Yeah, that’s...that’s a better call, probably.” 

“Get out of here, then,” Greed said. “You’re dragging your feet. Envy’ll come willingly, but you’re gonna have to fight for the other stones. Survive that before you worry about where you’re going to live afterward.” 

It was late afternoon, approaching evening, when Roy’s door finally opened to reveal a tired-looking man in red leather.

“Theo!” Roy said, getting to his feet. “Where did you-...?”

“I learned some things,” Theo said. “Some-..some bad things.” He crossed the room. “I need to go to Central. I have to start making my move - things are just getting worse, and I’m just...I’m just letting it happen. I always fall back to just letting it happen.”

“Well, I needed to go to Central, as well,” Roy said. “Maes has a new daughter. Elicia, it turns out -  I’d wondered what that slip meant on the phone.” 

“Right,” Theo breathed, smiling genuinely for the first time in what felt like weeks. “We have to go meet her.” 

“She has to meet us,” Roy corrected. “You, at least, already know her.” 

“Not baby Elicia,” Theo corrected. “She was already a whole kid by the time I met her.” 

“A whole kid,” Roy echoed. “Is a baby a partial kid?” 

“You know what I meant,” Theo told him. “So, you want to go with me? To Central?”

“I do,” Roy agreed. “Do you want to take the boys? If we’re going for a visit, I can take the time off, and watch them while you’re...around.” 

“No, they’re safer here, with Granny,” Theo said. “And the seals. I’ll teach them how to open and close them, and they’ll be good for a while. I just have to tell them I won’t be around for a week or so, at least.” 

“I’m sure that will go well.”

Theo sighed, reaching up to drag a hand down his face. “I know,” he groaned. “But I really do need to get moving - I can worry about the damage I’m doing when everyone is safe.” 

“Alright,” Roy said. “Go home, then - talk to them, pack, whatever. I’ll get us tickets and meet you at the station.” 

“Good, good,” Theo breathed. “Thank you.”

Roy waved him off. “Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “I expect a proper debrief on the train ride. You’re not the type to vanish into thin air.” 

“Aren’t I?” Theo muttered, but was out the door before Roy could ask about what that was meant to mean. 

Theo was three steps in the door when something smacked hard into his forehead. 

Metal clanged against the ground as the thrown tool dropped, and he cursed, reaching up to rub the spot, half surprised he didn't find blood. 

"You are an idiot!" Pinako yelled at him. "Where did you go?"

"To see Greed, jeez," Theo said. "I ran out of time. I'm going to have to fight sooner than later."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" She demanded. "You could've been anywhere. Do you not realize people worry about you?!"

Theo's heart seized. "I do," he said, quietly. "It's just-....I'm going to disappoint you eventually."

"Almost daily!" She snapped. "That doesn't mean we don't still love you, you moron."

Theo ached. "I have to go to Central," he said. "I'm ready to be done with this. I want to take the homunculi out."

"At least you're telling us," Pinako grouched. "Go tell the boys, then. They didn't know you even came by."

Theo winced. "I'll talk to them."

"You better."

She stormed off, toward the kitchen, and Theo took that as his cue to head for the boys' room, knocking lightly on the door. 

It flung open almost immediately, a small mass attaching itself to his waist. 

"Theo!" Al cried out. "Granny said you were back!"

"Yeah," Theo breathed, resting a hand on Al's head. "Liore is done. I need to go to Central, now, though."

"How long?" Ed asked, drawing Theo's eyes into the room, where he was halfway through dragging himself off the bed and into his wheelchair. 

"Dunno," Theo said. "However long it takes to finish things." 

"So, not long," Ed said, dismissively. "You just gotta beat that old creep's face in, right?"

"Something like that," Theo agreed. "The worst part will be reversing the Stones - that really wore me down, when I did it to Greed."

"You've got it, though, right?" Al asked. "You figured out how to do it better, didn't you?"

"....Not really," Theo admitted. "I just know I can't do more than one at a time. I'll need to recover in between them - shouldn't take a lot of time, but with the number of stones I have to get, I'm looking at at least a week to do them all."

"Couldn't that bastard do some?" Ed asked. 

"Dad?" Theo thought about it. "Maybe? He is a stone, though, so I don't know how that would change things. And I…" he grimaced, but admitted, "I have a weird relationship with the Gate. I don't know what I can only do because of that. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have changed Greed without it."

"Weird how?" Ed asked. 

"It's because you are using Ed's Gate," Al murmured. "Isn't it?"

Theo's blood ran cold. "What?"

Al finally released him, backing up a few steps to face him guiltily. "We were testing the array for using the Gate as storage," he said. "But Ed can't do it. His Gate is completely blocked off. And because you came through his…"

"You think I'm still in it," Theo finished. "That's…"

It was actually a valid assumption. Especially with what Truth revealed - if Theo had one foot on either side of the Gate, it would make sense that the space in between was inaccessible to anyone but him. 

It would also, however, imply that his Gate was actually Ed's, and he'd just...stolen it. 

That explained how he got it back, anyway. 

"It's probably partially true," Theo said. "I'm definitely tied to his Gate...interesting that he can't use it, if he can still do alchemy." He looked to Ed. "Let's try something- you and I do a transmutation at the exact same time. We can see if it lets us both access it."

"Okay," Ed said, raising his hands to clap them together. "When you're ready."

Theo mirrored him. "Okay..three, two, one... now."

They both touched their hands down, Theo hitting the ground at his feet, Ed smacking palms to the sides of the wheelchair. 

Static flared from both. Between Theo's hands, a familiar little bird statue formed, while Ed's chair wheels sprouted spikes that jutted out on either side. 

"Nice," Theo complimented. "It's not bothered by us both using it, then. That means I'm not blocking it, just...the other side of it."

"How does that work?" Ed asked. 

"I have no idea," Theo admitted. "I'll have to look into it while I'm in Central. I'll be throwing myself across the Gate a few times in the process of getting rid of the stones, so it'll be easy to take a look around." He shifted, eyeing Ed curiously. "Don't try to throw anything through it, until I'm back, okay? I don't want it to- I dunno. Turn inside out and yank you through like it did me."

"Is that a thing that could happen?" Al asked, sounding anxious.

"Probably not," Theo said. "But I don't think we should really play with it to find out." 

"But you're going to look into it, right?" Ed asked. "You'll tell us what's going on with it?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Theo agreed. "If nothing else, when I'm done with the stones, I can close it off from my side again, probably."

"Don't do that!" Ed said. "You shouldn't have to give up alchemy."

"It's fine," Theo said. "I've lived without it. I can handle it."

"You shouldn't have to," Ed protested. 

"Um, Theo?"

Theo looked to Al. "Yeah?"

"We, uh…" he looked to Ed, then back again. "Does you being in his Gate mean your other side of it is still there? That maybe your family is still there?"

Theo froze, then sighed. "I think they are," he admitted. "It's- it's not just different places, anymore. They're two seperate, parallel worlds. And I can only be in one."

"So you're going back?" Ed asked, flatly.

"I don't know," Theo admitted, quietly. "I was happy to be here, but I thought they were all dead and gone. Knowing they aren't...can I really walk away from them all? Knowing what it's like on the other side?" 

"It's a choice," Al said. "You have to pick between us and them?"

"Yeah," Theo said. "And I love you both, so...I really don't know what to do."

"Pick your family."

Theo looked to Ed, taken aback. "What?"

"If it's your family, choose them," Ed said, firmly. "You can't just abandon your family."

Theo let out a soft huff. "That's the problem, though, Ed," he said. "You guys are my family."

Notes:

theo gotta get his family feels at maximum before maes starts shoving baby pictures in his face

Chapter 72

Summary:

"You’re not subtle,” Riza informed her.

Notes:

i was nice to my OC in the beginning of this chapter because I started some AoT fic and in one of them I made three OCs, fell in love with them, and killed them, all in the same chapter. because AoT.

also (covers the date stamps for chapters) this hasn't been two months at all you can't prove it
im totally consistent with my updates guys
100%

Erin looked up from her book, startled, as Riza blew in through the door, looking troubled. 

“You’re home early,” she said. “Something happen?” 

“Theo,” Riza said. “He’s going to Central, and Roy’s going with him, and if I have to be in charge the next few days, I’m taking this evening off.”

“Nice,” Erin said, and shifted to the side, gesturing to the empty space next to her on the couch. 

Riza took the offered spot immediately, curling up against the other corner, leaving them twisted to face each other, rather than just sitting side-by-side. 

“I thought he was on a mission?”

“It was apparently an easy fix,” she said. “And now Roy is saying they’re going to meet Maes’ new baby, but I get the feeling Theo is up to something. The trip was way too last minute for a casual visit.” 

“Oh?”

“And,” Riza continued, frustrated, “before he came by, we were sending people out to look for him, because he’d apparently just run off somewhere, and we have no idea what he did or why.” 

Erin hummed. After a moment of sitting in silence, she stuck a leg out, nudging Riza’s with her foot. “Do you think it’s a future thing?” 

Riza shook her head, dropping her hand down to rest on Erin’s ankle. “Maybe. You think he would have said something, though.” 

Erin put her other foot with the first, curling her toes, pushing them gently into Riza’s thigh. 

“You’re not subtle,” Riza informed her. “If you’re cold, you should have gotten a blanket. I’ll go get one.”

“Why?” Erin said, nudging her a little more firmly. “I’ve got you.” 

“I’ll just lay on you then, shall I?” 

Erin, without missing a beat, replied, “You could.” 

Riza paused, her hand stiffening lightly on Erin’s ankle. 

“Riza,” Erin murmured. “Why did you invite me to stay?” 

“You needed somewhere,” Riza replied immediately. “You shouldn’t have to keep running around, trying to rebuild your life. You deserve something solid. I was happy to have you start that here.”

“Hmm.”

Riza looked down at Erin’s feet, at the same time she pulled them away, the couch shifting as she tucked her legs under her, leaning forward on the couch. 

Riza looked up, meeting her eyes, as she gave a soft smile. 

“I believe you,” she said.

And then she kissed her.

He would’ve hated this.

The man stood in front of the memorial, staring at it, feeling numb. 

He would’ve fucking hated this. 

They’d had a conversation, once, in a dark mood, drinking in their favorite spot, bent together in low light. 

“If I die, fucking bury me, and don’t mark the spot,” he’d said. “Last thing I need is someone digging my ass back up. Let me get some damn rest.” 

Well, they’d failed. On so many counts. 

First, they’d marked the spot. It was a big, ostentatious mark, speaking to his influence in life. 

Second, there was no body in the dirt beneath it. There was nothing left. 

Finally, the man at the memorial stone had no intention of letting him rest. 

He reached out, brushing the polished stone with the tips of his fingers. 

He’d hate me for trying, too.

But that was okay.

He fully intended to be selfish. 

Theo tried not to look at the bench he’d haunted during his attempt to run as they passed it, heading for the train. 

He’d been to train stations a lot in his life, for all sorts of reasons, but he never really minded it. There was something cathartic in listening to the rumble of a train on the tracks, falling asleep against the window, waking up somewhere new. 

...Maybe his wanderlust factored into that, actually. 

He looked aside to Mustang. Seeing the man in uniform was sometimes a bit odd, feeling one step removed, given that the stripes on the shoulder weren’t the ones he’d seen there for years. 

He’d seen a lot of Mustang in civvies, too. He’d been a big fan of button-up shirts with open collars, half tucked at the waist, like he’d come from an office job but given up halfway through dressing down. It gave him a sort of effortless relaxed look, which was an accomplishment, because Mustang could stress with the best of them. 

That Mustang was one he’d left behind, as well. 

Theo took in the planes of Mustang’s face - none of the familiar lines on his forehead that showed his bad tendency to knit his brows together when Theo was fucking with him, nor the ones beside his eyes from where he gave that bright, carefree grin-...

Mustang turned, then, catching Theo’s eye. “...What?”

Theo faltered, and looked away quickly. 

“You’re welcome to look at me, if you want,” Roy teased. 

“You have something on your face,” Theo muttered. 

“Hm?” Roy frowned, running his hand over the side of his face. “What?”

Theo spared him half a glance back, lip twitching up into the ghost of a smile. “Stupid.”

“I have stupid on my face?” Roy echoed, giving him an amused look in return. “I suppose it must have rubbed off when you kissed me.”

Theo flushed, and raised a hand, giving him a rude gesture. 

“Be polite,” Roy said. “There might be innocent eyes in this train station.” 

“They already have to look at you.” 

“They already get to look at me,” Roy corrected, teasingly, taking a step closer to brush up against Theo’s side. “I’m a blessing.” 

He is.

The thought sort of staggers Theo, and he looked up, laughter fading, into Roy’s face again. 

Him, Riza, Erin, Ed, Al, Pinako - he had the chance to do right by all of them. They were a gift, a blessing he didn’t deserve. 

Could he sell that out? Could he walk away?

Roy’s own smile faded, eyebrows knitting together in concern, forming the folds that would one day leave the lines Theo had looked for. “You okay?”

Theo leaned forward, acting on impulse, and caught him in a quick kiss. 

Roy made a surprised sound, and barely had the chance to respond before Theo was wrenching himself away, turning on his heel and heading straight for the train. 

Roy was going to be either amused or confused by that, depending on his assumption, but Theo didn’t turn to look. He passed off his ticket, headed straight for their seat, and dropped down onto it. 

A moment later, Roy settled down across from him. “You don’t have to run away,” he said.

Theo stiffened.

“...Force of habit,” he muttered in return.

“Well, at least I’m fast,” Roy said, casually, relaxing on his bench. “I can chase you down for a little while.”

Theo’s heart clenched, and he said nothing, turning to look out the window instead. 

He could feel Roy’s concern, across the booth, filling the air between them, but he could make himself look, or acknowledge it at all. 

How far? 

Roy watched Theo’s face, slack and peaceful for once in his life, as he slept quietly in the corner of their bench seats, wedged up against the wall, face turned toward the window. 

He had gone into the nap like an expert, someone well versed in sleeping through uncomfortable transportation, and Roy might have envied his ease if he wasn’t so grateful for the opportunity. 

Something was wrong. Theo had vanished, and returned with little comment on it, and he’d been odd since. His looks to Roy had all been sad, and troubled, and when he spoke, there was bitterness in his tone. 

What had spurned him into feeling he should take Central? What was the final straw that convinced him he had no time left to waste? 

Roy felt like he probably wouldn’t like the answer.

A flash of gold light caught his eye, and he followed it idly, expecting to see the sunlight reflecting off Theo’s watch. 

Instead, his eyes were drawn to the leg of his pants, just below the knee, where a strange glow could be seen. 

What…?

Sand stretched endlessly around him. 

Theo looked around, searching desperately for any single glimpse of something in the horizon line, anything except the expanse of desert. 

There was nothing. Not a grain out of place, not so much as a cactus breaking up the rolling dunes. 

He stood still, heart pounding, staring off into the distance. 

Where am I?

The sound of running water caught his attention, and he turned quickly around to chase it. 

Where there had been nothing around him, he was suddenly in the center of a city. Buildings, old and made of stone, filled the previously empty space. 

Directly in front of him, there was a fountain. 

The water running over stone was the only sound, not even the wind daring to whistle over it. Hypnotized, Theo approached slowly, crouching beside it, bracing his hands on the edge of the fountain’s lowest ring. 

The water was impossibly clear, and the wet stone sparkled gold in the light in the places where droplets had splashed.

He became immediately aware of how thirsty he was, his throat burning. How long had he been in the desert? Was he stranded there?

The water was so clean, and his hands were dirty. To scoop the water out would ruin it. 

To leave the water, however, would be agony. 

He sat beside the water, staring into it, torn. What was stronger? His thirst? Or his respect?

If he touched the water, what would happen? Did others come to this water? Did the retrieve clean water with clean containers, respecting each drop? Would Theo be ruining their life source?

But if he sat there, and didn’t touch it, he would die. He would die of thirst there, in the desert heat, sprawled out on the stone.

He got to his feet, swaying unsteadily, and turned away. 

He wouldn’t touch it. He wouldn’t ruin it.

He took a step, and his leg buckled, driving him to collapse into soft, hot sand. 

His body felt so heavy. 

He was back in the desert, he saw, looking up with bleary eyes. A few feet in front of him, he could see an oasis, perfectly still water reflecting the light. 

He dragged himself forward, slowly, to its side. Moving without thought, he sunk his hands into it, cupping up the water, which he tipped into his mouth. Sand stuck to his teeth, and he coughed the second he’d taken his drink, but he didn’t stop, scooping more, over and over until the burn of his throat was finally soothed, leaving only the irritation of the sand. 

He looked down to the water, watching sand swirl within the oasis as the water resettled. 

He watched the curl of the grains within the ripples…

...And then wrenched himself backwards, hunching over beside the water, retching into the sands, the amount of filth he’d washed down his own throat making it impossible to hold. 

He sat there, breathing heavily, sand and water and filth stuck to his skin.

His mouth burned. 

He looked back to the water.

Without thinking twice, he cupped his hands, and sunk them back in.

Theo startled awake at a touch to his shoulder. 

What….the fuck? What was that dream?

It was weird as hell, but at least it had been free of memories, or Truth lurking to give him the worst of news again. 

Another tap on his shoulder drew his attention, and he blinked blearily at Roy, who’d apparently woken him. 

“We’re in Central,” Roy told him. “Maes should be on the platform, waiting for us.” 

Theo grinned, happy for the first time since he learned about his ties. “Do you think he brought Elicia?” 

“To the train station? Probably not,” Roy said. “But knowing him, he’ll probably have-...”

“Pictures!” Theo finished, eagerly. 

“That’s the most I’ve ever heard someone sound happy about that,” Roy said, amused. “Does he get calmer in the future?” 

“Hell no,” Theo said. “He gets worse.”

Roy let out a soft sigh. “Should’ve guessed.” 

“Once, you and I had a fight,” Theo told him. “Like, a sparring match, more than anything, but publicly. And Hughes printed out a giant picture of Elicia and displayed it in the background for the whole thing.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Roy sighed. “Distract the crowd from you kicking my ass?” 

“You were kicking mine, actually,” Theo said. “I was strong, but I was also twelve.”

Roy’s face twitched. 

“Yeah, dwell on that for a minute,” Theo said. “You beat up a twelve year old. Are you happy with yourself?”

“I didn’t do shit,” Roy countered. “So far, in my life, I am 100% innocent of bullying children.”

Theo faltered a bit, sobering slightly. “Yeah,” he said, and turned away, focusing instead on retrieving his bags. 

They weren’t the same. 

And that was a problem. 

Notes:

me, sprinklin plot seeds into my transition chapter: ill come back to these

Chapter 73

Summary:

“We know where your house is.” 

“I know that’s a valid thing to say,” Maes said, “but you still make it sound really ominous.” 

Notes:

short transitional chappie, just leading into the start of the Good Shit, the Central storyline
we're gettin into the main plot now kiddos

Something was really bothering Theo.

It was painfully obvious - if his constant hesitancy didn’t give him away, his sullen aura and hunched shoulders would have, not to mention the look on his face, a million miles away in a clearly bad place. 

Seeing Maes seem to alleviate a bit of it, though, as the man brightened up when they emerged from the train to see him waiting on the platform. 

Roy could tell Maes saw it, too, because he faltered for the briefest of seconds in his greeting. 

“You two are lucky,” Maes told them. “I wouldn’t have left my lovely wife and daughter for anyone else.” 

“You didn’t have to leave them for us,” Theo told him. “We know where your house is.” 

“I know that’s a valid thing to say,” Maes said, “but you still make it sound really ominous.” 

“Riza couldn’t come,” Roy added in. “She has her own baby, right now.”

Maes’ eyes lit up. “She what?” 

“The woman we helped - Tucker’s wife, Erin?” Roy said. “They’ve hit it off. They’re living together at the moment, but there’s no telling when Riza will actually say something.” 

“Right,” Maes said. “You said she had a baby.”

“Nina,” Theo confirmed. “Her and Elicia should be friends.”

“That’s a great idea!” Maes said, dipping a hand into his pocket.

“Oh, no,” Roy breathed.

Maes, ignoring him completely, whipped out a stack of photographs, stepping over to Theo’s side to hold them in front of his face. “Look at her! She’s a perfect angel!”

Theo let out a pleased noise, reaching up to take the photographs, starting to flip through them. “She’s so tiny.” 

“She’s a newborn!” Maes said. “She’ll grow up big and strong and healthy, though, we’ll make sure of it! Unless she doesn’t. She doesn’t have to. She can grow up however she wants to.” 

“I don’t think she has much of a say in it,” Theo said, passing the photos back. 

“But we do! Are you done with these?” Maes took the stack, and shifted a moment, swapping it out with another stack, stuffed into a different pocket. “Here’s more with Gracia!” 

Then, he turned predatory eyes on Roy.

“No,” he said, quickly. “I’ll see the real version of both of them if we get moving.” 

“But you should look at them on the way,” Maes said, though obligingly starting to walk towards the car he had waiting for them. “She’s so precious, Roy, you’re going to love her. Everyone is - you can’t look at that face and not love her.” 

Roy spared a glance sideways at Theo.

The man didn’t seem to notice at all, turning eagerly through the photos, soaking in each and every one. 

His expression took on a bit of a bittersweet note, suddenly, and he stopped on one photo, staring down at it, pained. 

“What’s wrong?” Roy asked, quietly. 

“Nothing,” Theo said, but it was a bit sharp, and he quickly thrust the photos back at Maes, who took them and tucked them back safely in his pocket. 

Roy watched Theo’s shoulders curl, that dark aura deepening around him, and shared a glance with Maes.

His expression confirmed he’d made the same observations Roy had: Theo was beyond troubled, something eating him alive inside.

And Roy had no idea what it even was. 

Elicia had panicked at Hughes’ funeral. 

She’d cried, and screamed, not understanding what was happening. 

Gracia had stood there and bit her lip to bleeding, holding her daughter close, trying not to cry because if she started she’d never stop. 

Did his children do the same?

Did they understand that this time, Dad wasn’t just away? This time, he wasn’t coming back?

Did Winry have to stand at a service and tough it out, another person she loved, gone?

What about Al? Mustang? They were both fucking idiots about him - they would’ve been pissed. The alchemist who’d attacked him better have died in the reaction, because they’d do much worse if they got their hands on him, thinking he’d killed Theo. 

Not Theo.

Ed. 

They only knew Ed, who he wasn’t anymore, who he considered entirely to be the young boy in the wheelchair who exploded mugs sometimes trying to practice arrays he hadn’t properly worked out. 

Did the other Ed, the jaded adult man with a broken soul, actually die, like Greed had said? Was there anything left of him? If he went back, would they be looking at a walking corpse? 

But if he didn’t go back, that ache stayed. Any grief he’d caused would be permanent. 

...But they’d heal, wouldn’t they?

Would it be better if he wasn’t there? If he couldn’t disappoint them any further? If he let them move on?

Could he cut that cord, not knowing what lied on the other side?

He had no idea.

Maes didn’t know what to expect when Theo first laid eyes on Elicia, but it certainly wasn’t all the pain and grief in his bearing suddenly bleeding away, watching her with awed eyes.

It was a valid reaction, though - she was breathtaking. 

Gracia greeted him and quickly lowered the baby into Theo’s arms, and they all watched the man melt, grinning down at the tiny smiling face, wiggling a finger to watch her react to it, petting the little bit of soft brown hair on her head. 

Maes spared a glance at Roy, whose eyes were as firmly glued to Theo as Theo’s were to Elicia. 

He looked so softly enamored, Maes could have laughed. 

He has it bad, he thought, shooting a look at Gracia, who smiled back, amused, clearly thinking something similar. 

“So,” Maes asked, that evening, when they’d eaten and Gracia had gone off to put Elicia to bed. “What really brings you to Central?”

“Killing the Fuhrer,” Theo said. 

Maes snorted. 

“I’m not kidding,” Theo told him. “I’m out of time.”

Maes stared at him, blankly. “You...what?”

Letting out a tired sigh, Roy stepped in, and between the two, they caught Maes up to speed on what all he’d missed. 

“So.”

Al pulled out a chair, dropping into it, looking over Mustang’s haggard form. 

“So?” Mustang echoed, tapping a fingernail against the edge of a half-filled glass. 

“You’re going to be an idiot.”

Mustang scowled, and lifted the glass. “He’s not dead,” he said, firmly. “It’s like you were on the Promised Day - you were inside that place.” 

“We don’t know that,” Al said. “He could have died in the rebound. The alchemist did.” 

Mustang downed his drink, grimaced, and asked reluctantly, “Was there blood?” 

“Plenty,” Al confirmed. “No telling which of them any of it belonged to.” 

Mustangs elbows came up on the table, and he leaned forward, sinking his face into his hands. 

“Either way,” Al said, “What did you think you had to give?”

Mustang let out a sigh, letting his hands drop, though he didn’t meet Al’s eye. “I don’t need alchemy to be a politician.” 

“No,” Al said. “You saw what that did to Ed.”

Mustang shot him a look. 

“Don’t give me that,” Al snapped. “Giving up his alchemy destroyed Ed. He’s not been okay since. He’s self destructive, he’s-...”

“He’s fucking dead,” Mustang cut off. 

Al’s face crumpled. “I know,” he murmured. “Trust me, I know.”

Mustang collapsed back in his chair, tipping his face up toward the gritty bar’s ceiling. “If he’s still there, I can’t leave him.”

“I know that, too,” Al said. “But you can’t rush into it.”

“He’s been dead almost a month, Alphonse.”

“And you don’t have a toll,” Al said. “He wouldn’t leave either of us there, but he knows better than to try that without something to give.” 

“I just told you-...”

“Alchemy isn’t meant to be ripped out like that, I think,” Al said. “It wasn’t just-...he wasn’t just depressed because he couldn’t do it anymore. It was like someone had chopped off a limb and left it bleeding. He got worse all the time.” 

“We were helping,” Mustang said. “He was starting to see, he was going to-...”

“No he wasn’t-...” 

“What do you want from me, Al?” Mustang demanded, eyes hard as they leveled on him. “Do you want me to say he’s better off?”

Al recoiled. “No,” he said, quickly. “No, I don’t-....”

He hung his head.

“Actually, I do,” he admitted. “I think he’s better off if he got to move on. If he got peace.” He looked up, though, expression fiercely determined. “But I don’t think he did. Like you said - I think he might be stuck there. Like a soul in a stone, or me when I bargained for Ed’s arm. And I can’t leave him like that.”

Mustang deflated a bit, the fight bleeding out of him. “So, what’s our plan?” he asked. “You have one, or you wouldn’t be saying that.” 

“The alchemist who attacked Ed had a stone,” Al said. “I saw that red static in the transmutation, before it rebounded.”

Mustang frowned. “Where did he…?”

“Dunno,” Al said. “That’s our plan. Give me time to find out where he got it.”

Mustang’s stomach dropped. “...So you can get another one?”

“They have to be shut down, if someone’s making them,” Al said. “But, yeah. If there’s a working stone somewhere, and it’s that or leave him in that place…”

“Didn’t you promise you two wouldn’t use those?” Mustang asked. 

“Do you want me to keep that?” Al asked. “Or do you want him to be okay?”

Mustang sighed. “He’ll kill me when he finds out I dragged you into this.”

“It’s my plan,” Al said. “And I know what I’m doing. We’re experts, at this point.” He got out of his chair, stepping to the side. “I won’t leave him in between.” He reached out, pulling money from his wallet, and dropped it on the table. “For the tab.”

“You didn’t drink,” Mustang pointed out. 

“No,” Al agreed, “but I made you want to.”

Before Mustang could say anything else, he turned, walking out of the bar. 

Gold ponytail on a red jacket - for a split second, Mustang could see him. 

And then, sighing with defeat, he signalled a waitress. 

Alphonse was never really wrong. 

Notes:

al: if you're going to be stupid, I'll have you know I am a professional moron

Chapter 74

Summary:

“Could you at least pretend to be an adult?” Wrath asked.

Notes:

heheh....im around i promise

most of my attention has been eaten by personal problems, and what remains of my creative energy has been mostly funneled into a bnha scifi au rp server

“How are things progressing in Liore?”

“Wild,” Envy said, kicking their legs up over the back of the couch, leaning backward until their head was brushing the ground. 

“Could you at least pretend to be an adult?” Wrath asked.

“This body’s too tall,” Envy said. “It’s uncomfortable.” 

“Unfortunate,” Wrath said, dry and unsympathetic, before prompting, “Liore?”

“There’s some kind of serial killer,” Envy told him. “People keep turning up missing. Everyone’s all panicked, even though the people going missing aren’t really folks anyone misses. Starting to get suspicious of each other, really tense… Could cause some problems.”

“Not the original plan,” Wrath pointed out. 

“Well, people are dead, already,” Envy said. “Fuck the long game. The priest is an asshole, anyway.”

Wrath’s chair scraped the ground as he got abruptly to his feet, the urgency of the noise startling Envy, leaving them to scramble to twist themselves in place until they were upright, just in time for Wrath to be in their face. 

“Hohenheim is close, I know he is,” Wrath growled to him. “He’s been sighted at train stations several times in the past few days. Contacts can’t follow him far once he leaves, so no one can tell me where he goes. We don’t have time for you to be a child. ” 

“I’m not a child,” Envy said. “I’m not even human. I’m a homunculus, same as you.”

“Then act like it,” Wrath snapped. “Find Hohenheim, and stick to him, however you have to. I need to know what he’s up to. He knows something, and if he’s anything like his father, he’s going to be trouble.” 

Envy did their best not to react to that, settling for an eye roll, hopping to their feet. “Fine, whatever,” they said. “Where is he now?”

“Here.”

Envy paused, looking over their shoulder, incredulous. “Here?”

“He got off the train this morning,” Wrath confirmed, returning to his desk, casually dropping back into his chair. “Source lost the car, apparently, but he was with Mustang and an intelligence officer, Maes Hughes.” 

“Hughes, huh?” They tipped their head, searching their memory, and shifted, standing there a moment later in a perfect replica of the man. “This one?”

“That’s him,” Wrath said. “Change back, and get moving. Hughes just had a baby, so they could be here for innocent reasons...but I doubt that. Hohenheim is up to something. Find out what.” 

Oh, they certainly would. 

Gracia snapped awake, startled for a moment as she sat up in the utter dark and silence of their room, unsure what had woken her. Almost as if in answer, then, a cry rang out, Elicia making her opinion of her dreams known, and Gracia was on her feet.

“I’ll get her,” Maes murmured, sleepily, from the bed. 

“No, I’ve got it, sweetheart,” she assured him. “Go back to sleep. I’ll get you if I need you, I promise.”

Maes made a small noise of protest, only for it to almost instantly drop into a rumbling snore. 

Shaking her head fondly, she headed out of the room, into the nursery.

...Where someone else already was. 

She blinked, faltering in the doorway, about to call out, but the figure there was already speaking. 

“-and you really got the luck of the draw, kid,” Theo murmured to Elicia, softly bouncing, rocking her to sleep against his shoulder. “There’s never gonna be a better dad than yours. Mine sucked, I sucked - but your dad? He’s got it figured out. You’re his whole world. My mom was my dad’s, and mine - mine was something I didn’t even have anymore. You can’t be selfish like that. I’m learning that, every day - how selfish I was. And why, sure, but having a reason doesn’t make it better.” 

Theo turned his head, pressing a soft kiss to Elicia’s temple, holding it there a moment. 

“And I’ve gotta be selfish somehow,” he murmured against her skin. “And I honestly don’t know which way is worse.” 

Not sure how to get his attention without startling him, Gracia shifted in the doorway, only to watch his shoulders tense and turn to face her. 

“Gracia,” he greeted. “Sorry, I heard her, so I-...”

“I appreciate it,” she said, giving him a soft smile. “..If you want to talk to someone who can answer, you know…?”

“Ah...heard that?” Theo chuckled uncomfortably, turning back around, settling a once-again-dozing Elicia back into her cot. “I, ah…”

“You wouldn’t tell Maes what your plan was,” she recalled, thinking to their conversation downstairs earlier that evening. Theo and Roy had caught them up on the way things had gone, what all needed to happen next...but not what Theo actually planned to do. 

Roy hadn’t known, either. When they asked him, he’d just said… 

“I’m investigating it,” he echoed. “I need to look around before I decide anything concrete. I have a lot of stones to bust and I’m not sure which one is going to be the easiest.” 

“Right,” Gracia said, looking him over.

He looked...haggard. Like he hadn’t slept, like he was on his last rope, tired and slumped and almost defeated. 

“....Theo,” she asked, gently, “Are you alright?”

Theo let out a soft huff, dragging a hand down his face. “Yeah. Just... have a lot going on.”

His gloved hand caught her attention, and she blinked, before taking him in again. 

He was dressed. Head to toe dressed, red jacket and all. 

“Are you going somewhere?” 

“Just taking a walk,” Theo said. “Can’t think much lately. I’ll be back when I’ve gotten some air, that’s all.” 

She blinked again, looking to the cot behind him, where Theo’s little confidant lay soundly sleeping again.

If only she’d been around to hear what he told her.

Maybe then, it wouldn’t be so concerning that he was lying.

“Alright, then,” she said, softly. “Be safe.”

“I’ll be fine,” Theo said. “Go back to bed. It’s just a walk.”

She gave him a small smile and stepped back, watching as he moved past her, heading down the stairs. As she listened, she heard the door open, then softly close - he was gone. 

And he’d lied again. 

There were certain places in the world that were awful to be in, that you simply needed to go in. 

Obvious examples were things such as Truth’s domain: holding infinite knowledge and experience, but at the cost of chipping away at your own sense of self. 

The current difficult place, though, was a lot more mundane.

Theo hated the fucking sewers. 

They were nasty, by sheer virtue of design, and he felt like he was going to need seven baths to go back into the Hughes house, and a dozen more after that before he’d be in the same room as Elicia. 

He couldn’t avoid it, though. The sewers were the point of connection for the city, and somewhere in here…

The crashing sound of the wall coming down was unmistakable. 

Moving in an instant, Theo ran, charging off in the direction of the noise, through the maintenance footpaths around curves until- there. 

Sloth’s lumbering form pulled itself slowly from a pile of crushed stone, shaking off the powdered remains of the walls as though it were just dust that had settled out of the air, and not reinforced concrete. 

“You’re a tough bastard, huh?” 

Sloth did not freeze, but only for the fact that he wasn’t moving anyway. Slowly, blank white eyes cast around the tunnels around them, finally settling on Theo. 

There was no recognition in his face. No shock, either - nothing at all. Theo wasn’t even sure he saw him - was Sloth blind? He didn’t remember him being blind. 

But, no. Just as slowly, just as aggravatingly leisurely, Sloth blinked at him, brows starting to pinch together in mild confusion. 

Theo caught the movement the second Sloth made the decision to strike, and leapt back, getting just clear of the large hand coming down where he’d been standing, cracking the concrete there, too. 

“Shit,” he breathed out. “I forgot you were-....”

His reminiscing about the inhuman strength was cut short as he had to dart sideways again, watching Sloth’s fist sink into the wall up to the wrist. The collapsing concrete falling on his wrist trapped it, momentarily, and as cheap as the move was, Theo used that moment to strike out. His hands came together and then shot out, grabbing onto the massive homunculus’ upper arm. 

Blue and red static flared, the stone and his alchemy meeting, and sparked out, filling the sewer around them.

“Wait!”

Theo’s head shot up, heart seizing, looking for the source of the cry, but it was lost as the world went white. 

A second later, his hands were empty, and he was stumbling backward a step in Truth’s domain yet again. 

“Where...is this?”

Theo turned at the question, pausing at the sight in front of him. 

Sloth, in Truth’s domain, looked much smaller. Where there had been bulging muscle and lumbering height there was now a frail figure, hunched in on itself, previously blank eyes darting around in alarm. 

He turned, looking to Theo, expression unreadable. “What did you do?” 

“It’s...beyond,” Theo said. “This is the space after the world. The origin of alchemy.”

“Wrong,” a familiar chorus rang out. 

Theo let out a low, irate breath, turning to look at Truth, sitting several feet away, grin bright, newly acquired eyes watching him in amusement. 

“Alright, jackass,” Theo said. “Where are we, then? What do you call this place?” 

“This place?” Truth looked around, as though he’d never bothered to before. “This place….Hm…” He looked back to Theo, expression wicked. “Some people would call it Heaven.”

“This is not ‘heaven,’” Theo said, flatly. 

“No, it isn’t,” Truth agreed. “Nor is it ‘Hell.’ Purgatory? Maybe. Or maybe it doesn’t have a name. Maybe it has many names.” 

“Like you,” Theo guessed. “‘God,’ ‘order,’ ‘Truth’....”

“‘Truth’ is what you see me as,” Truth replied casually. “The entity that provides the information of the world, unfiltered, unbiased. Facts.” He got to his feet, turning around, gesturing out widely to the void around them. “This world is defined by your experience. Here, there are no pretenses. There is only honesty. Only ‘Truth.’” He turned back, purple eyes narrowed, grin vicious. “So, to you, this place… Yes, it definitely has a name.”

Theo scowled. “What are you even talking about?”

“In a moment,” Truth said. “First…”

He turned to Sloth, who was watching him closely in return. 

“You brought another one,” Truth said. “What do you want for it, hm? Another soul? Will you shred yours some more to anchor it here?” 

“I don’t-...” Theo looked to Sloth, then back again. 

It seemed cruel, suddenly, to say no. He’d intended only to kill Sloth, really, who had never much wanted to be alive in the first place, but to say so blatantly not to bother with him-...

Truth’s grin turned knowing. 

A whoosh of ice cold air blew over Theo from behind. He had half a second to of confusion as he turned to look before he was greeted with the sight of a massive, weathered Gate, its towering doors creaking slowly open, a thousand reaching black hands shooting out to scrabble for purchase. 

Theo backed up reflexively, until he could feel Sloth at his back, firmly between the homunculus and the Gate. 

And that, Theo realized, was the point. 

Truth wanted him to step aside. 

Truth wanted him to give him up. 

“What is that?” Sloth asked. Theo couldn’t identify his deep and slow voice’s intended tone - was he scared? Or was he just confused? 

“I can give it to you, you know,” Truth said, chorus of voices all mocking. “The stone. I could put it in your soul - what’s left of it, anyway. You could be just like your father….In one more way, anyway.”

Theo grit his teeth. “I don’t want that,” he snapped. “I’m not stooping that low. I won’t damn that many souls for just me.” 

“Hm?” Truth hummed. “Well, then...what do you want me to do with him?” 

Theo faltered, looking to Sloth. 

He looked...uncomprehending. His brow was furrowed and he looked between Theo and Truth, clearly lost.

And, somewhere in that dumb expression, were the beginning lines of fear. 

“...I can’t,” Theo murmured. 

The chorus laughed, harsh in his ears. Sloth hunched forward at the sound, eyes darting around, seeking the source, looking for their unseen audience of thousands, watching, waiting for blood. 

“Your soul can only take so much,” Truth taunted him. “I told you how many ties you’ve made, how much your soul is tattered at the seams. You want to bind him with another piece?”

“Yes, okay?” Theo snapped. “Do it. Make him a soul, a Gate. Make him human.” 

“Very well,” Truth said, purple eyes shifting to Sloth. The clawing black hands retreated, the Gate behind Theo slamming closed behind them.

Then, horrifyingly slowly, from the center of the Gate, a crack began to spread through the etched stone. 

“....What’s happening?” Theo asked, watching in terror. “What’s going to happen to it?”

“Nothing, yet,” Truth said. 

Static flared out of the crack, a rich ruby red, and then shot out in an arc, flaring up in a field surrounding Sloth. 

Behind him, it began to condense, knitting itself together, building up from the ground, bit by bit. 

Every crackle of the static, he felt in his bones. He could feel it shredding through him, picking apart every second of energy he had left.

“I’ll tell you, Edward - Theo - what this place is called for you,” Truth taunted. 

The Gate, nearing the top, so close to done, began to swim in his vision. 

“If you name this place for what you take from it,” Truth said, “Then, just like I am Truth…”

The static flared out, a completed Gate standing tall behind a wide-eyed Sloth. 

It was a sight Theo barely processed before he swayed forward, dropping to his knees, vision going black. 

“This place is ‘Home.’”

Notes:

i'll try to update faster this time!! we gotta get cracking on the actual PLOT
in the meantime hit me up on tumblr (or come join my other Bad Dad Redemption Arc because I'm dyin)

who had sloth being second in the soul train? nobody? ah shucks

Chapter 75

Summary:

Erin shifted in bed, propping herself up slightly, watching them.

Notes:

sorry for the delay!! I was gonna update last week but a hurricane passed through and destroyed the internet for my whole county lmao
(im fine i promise)
here's some more Plot because we're really getting the train a rollin

The softest humming filled the air, and Erin stirred, soothed through any morning disorientation by the lovely tune, lyrics of a lullaby murmured in a sweet voice.

Her eyes cracked open, looking to the corner of her room. Following Nina’s kidnapping, Erin had gotten a bit paranoid about being able to see her daughter, and they’d eventually just settled on moving her entire setup into Erin’s room with her. 

If Nina had woken, Erin had somehow slept right through it, though, and that left her waking to the sight of Riza swaying lightly back and forth, Nina held close to her chest, making her way through a song. She didn’t appear to remember all the words to the one she chose, occasionally substituting entire lines with vague humming, but they both appeared very relaxed for the attempt. 

Erin shifted in bed, propping herself up slightly, watching them. The movement must have caught Riza’s eye, as she turned to look at her, though she didn’t stop the humming. 

“Mmhm…Your momma is awake,” Riza sang, softly lilting the words to follow the tune of her lullaby. 

“But I don’t think she is, anymore,” Erin murmured back to her. 

Riza shifted, swaying side to side, still humming, before singing again, “Not taking any chances...momma can go back to sleep…”

Erin snorted, and shifted, readying to get out of bed. 

Riza made a protesting pitch in her hum, and turned, gently lowering Nina back into her bed, letting her lullaby trail off, before turning and heading back to the side of the bed, crawling back in next to Erin, who reached up to meet her with open arms. 

“I didn’t hear her wake up,” Erin said, softly. 

Riza dropped a kiss on her cheek, settling in beside her. “She didn’t make much noise. I was already awake, was all.”

“Hm?” Erin propped her head up on a hand, looking down at her bed partner. “Why’s that?” 

“Trouble sleeping,” Riza said. “I’m worried about Roy and Theo.” 

Erin’s eyebrows knit together. “I know Central is dangerous for Theo,” she said, even though some of the nuanced details of Theo’s situation escaped her, “but they’re visiting a newborn, right now, right? We can call today and see if they’re planning to do anything stupid, and then we worry about them.” She leaned forward, kissing Riza on the forehead, before murmuring, “But only a little, because Theo is a force of nature.”

“But,” Riza softly stressed, “Theo is also an idiot.” 

Erin snorted. “He’ll be fine, Riza. Roy probably won’t even let him out of his sight. How much trouble can he get into?”

Across the wet floor of the sewer passing between paths, Theo’s form glanced aside at their yell, only to almost instantly go blank-eyed and sway.

Envy’d been trying to follow Theo, losing his trail over and over along the way and just managing to pick it back up at the sewer, but they were too late catching up. 

As they watched, static flared, a blinding light, and when it receded, he watched Theo hit the ground, boneless. 

Lifeless?

“No, no, no,” Envy grit out, sprinting across the gap, hopping up onto the path their brother and Theo were on. “No, no, you do not get to die - you owe me, you fucking bastard, we had a deal-...” 

They skidded to a stop at Theo’s side, dropping to their own knees beside him, rolling him over onto his back. 

Theo made a soft wheeze at the motion, chest heaving shaking breaths, and Envy felt something in them release in relief to see he was still alive, if barely. 

“Really, dipshit?” Envy muttered. “You went for Sloth?” 

“...What...did he…?”

Envy paused, looking up, to the towering form of Sloth. 

He seemed stunned, staring blankly down at his own outstretched hands, like he’d never taken the moment to look at himself before, and was uncertain if this was him. 

Which, to be fair, was probably exactly the case. 

“He didn’t kill you,” Envy breathed. “He- he… no, you fucking-...!” 

If Theo were even vaguely aware of Envy, they’d throttle him. 

He built another Gate, another fucking soul. And it was for Sloth. 

Fucking Sloth.

“You absolute dumbass,” Envy growled, reaching out, softly - but not too softly, because they were angry - smacking Theo’s cheek, trying to stir him. “Giving a soul to Wrath’s fucking mule instead of saving your energy for when it matters?” They grabbed Theo’s jaw, shaking his head back and forth a bit. “Where’s mine, motherfucker? We have a deal.” 

A giant hand suddenly came down on their back, and hauled them back, leaving them scrambling to escape as they were dragged a good four or five feet away from Theo’s side. 

“Don’t hurt him,” Sloth rumbled, sounding more confused than angry. “He did something to me. I’m…”

“Human,” Envy snarled. “That’s what he did. He made you human.” 

Sloth blinked down at them. “I...am?”

“Yes, you are.” Envy gestured wildly to the unconscious Theo. “He can do that, don’t fuckin’ ask me how, but he can. But it is gonna kill him if we don’t get him out of here.” 

Sloth’s eyes widened slightly, and they looked back to Theo, seeming genuinely alarmed - the most expression Envy had ever seen from him. 

Maybe Theo was onto something, Envy thought, begrudgingly, but shrugged it off, dodging around Sloth quickly to rush back to Theo’s side. 

A moment later, he heard the thundering steps of Sloth following.

“Okay, okay, what do we do,” Envy muttered, looking down at him. “The soldier lady took him before, but I don’t think she joined the party this time, so can’t use her. If he’s here, then someone else must be around, yeah?” 

Envy looked up, before yelling out, top volume, “Anyone out there?!”

The call echoed off the walls, but there was not so much as a footstep to be heard otherwise. 

“Of course not,” Envy breathed. “Why the fuck would you bring backup? No, really, this is great, Theo, you’re wonderful at plans, you motherfucking-...”

They cut off, taking a deep breath, before turning to Sloth. 

“Can you carry him?” They asked.

Sloth hesitated a moment, before giving a slow, uncertain nod, and moving, scooping Theo’s unconscious form up in his oversized hands. 

“Right, okay,” Envy said, thinking. “Face, face, face…”

They let out another harsh breath through their nose, and shifted, standing a moment later in the form of Hawkeye, doing their best to remember the details of her face from the chaos of Greed’s hideout. 

“That’ll have to do,” they said, reaching up to pat one cheek. “Keep them from shooting on sight, at least, right?”

They looked over at Sloth, who blinked back, expression earnest and almost utterly blank with clear lack of understanding. 

“...I hate this man,” Envy muttered. “Alright, buddy. Out of the sewer. We’re making a house call.” They eyed Theo, slumped in Sloth’s grip. “If his boyfriend kills us before I get a soul, I’m gonna be so fucking pissed.” 

There was a door in front of him, but it was like it was made of glass: he could tell it was there, but see right through it, its presence only slightly distorting the image beyond it. 

A man was curled in on himself, sitting on the floor, attention solely devoted to the notebook in his lap.

His body was shaking, ever so slightly, but the slow movements of his hand were steady, scratching out strict, neat lines. 

Phosphorous. Saltpeter. Ammonia. Sulfur. 

He uses Harttung symbols, Theo observed. They’re dynamic, typically. 

He’s used to fire.

His pen shifted, starting on a curling, elaborate line. 

Diderot? That hack?

“You’re losing it, Mustang,” Theo murmured. “Adding calligraphy to a Mars sign doesn’t stabilize the iron, it just makes it a pain in the ass to draw.” 

The pen stilled. 

“I used Fevre in mine,” Theo told the dream Mustang. 

“Because you’re a showoff,” Mustang murmured. “Only you could draw Fevre from memory.” 

“Says the man drawing Diderot.”

Mustang’s head dropped forward a fraction, shoulders shaking lightly. 

Grinning, Theo shifted, hand coming up to press in front of the nearly invisible barrier between them. 

The surface under his fingers was rough and uneven, like a stone wall, and his fingertips traced their way over cracks in it almost instantly. Idly, without thought, he dipped a nail into a shallow crevice, scraping at the deformation, and watched in wonder as the image before him shuddered. 

“Oi, Mustang,” Theo said, frowning, “What the hell is-...”

“Shut up,” Mustang hissed. Theo had only a moment to shoot him a stunned look before he moved, pen and notebook discarded to his either side, curling in further. His hands came up, pressing into his eyes, fingers curling in his hair. 

...Suddenly, it occured to Theo that the shaking might not have been laughter. 

“Losing it, indeed, huh, Ed?” Mustang muttered into his hands. “Dead a month and I’m already at the end of my rope. How’d you hold out for years?” 

Theo froze, watching Mustang through the door, confused. Hold out? 

“What’s wrong with you, Mustang?” Theo asked, looking him over, pressing a bit harder against the barrier between them. 

“Fuck if I know,” Mustang said, and let his hands drop, turning his face skyward instead, slumping into the corner he’d shoved himself into. “I don’t even think this will work. Maybe I’m hoping I’m just coming after you.” 

Like the flip of a switch, the meaning occurred to him.

Mustang thinks I’m dead. 

His heart seized. 

What did you think, though? A voice in his mind hissed to him. That they would accept you dissolving into space? That they’d believe you were better off?

That they were better off?

“Don’t…” Theo swallowed against the knot in his throat. “Don’t come after me, Mustang.”

Mustang snorted. “I never listened to you when you were alive, Fullmetal.”

Theo pushed forward, hands slamming hard against the barrier. He could feel the stone-like glass crumbling beneath his fingers. 

Part of him wanted to sink his fingers in, to dig at the cracks until he powered through, until he could reach out to Mustang-

-...But something told him that breaking through wouldn’t be something he could undo.

Am I dreaming? He wondered, in a blind panic. What was I doing, before? Where am I?

Why can I see him?

Why can he hear me?

“...Roy,” Theo breathed, aching. “Don’t come after me.”

Mustang’s eyes slid shut. 

“Roy?”

He slumped against the wall. 

Theo moved, jumping to his feet, hands slamming full force against the barrier. “Roy!”

Theo watched, heart racing, until a moment later, he saw Mustang relax, shoulders starting to move with steady breathing.

He was just asleep.

Theo let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, slumping forward a bit himself, forehead resting against the barrier. “You scared me, there, jackass.”

Curious, now, his eyes swept around the area he could see through the divide. Mustang’s place, if he remembered it right. Littered with paper..and with empty bottles. 

“Fucking hell, Mustang,” Theo breathed. “Can’t leave you alone for a month?”

Looking back to Mustang’s slumped form, his eyes caught the discarded notebook, and he crouched back down, moving to get the best view of it. 

Familiar symbols, in familiar patterns, tweaked to the individual style of Mustang’s alchemy-...

“You aren’t,” Theo breathed, recognizing the shapes they made. “Mustang, you are not considering-...”

The human transmutation circle stared back at him. 

Mustang’s going to try it, Theo thought, heart clenching. He’s going to try, and it will kill him, at best. 

At worst…

Truth’s grin shone inside his mind. 

That was it, then. 

His question was answered. He knew who needed him more. 

He had to hurry.

He had to go home. 

Notes:

envy: its a good thing i dont have that soul yet because i would lose it due to the sheer horror of things i am going to do if you die on me right now

Chapter 76

Summary:

He was never given a proper name, himself, only referred to by what he was. 

Notes:

i started my senior year of college and immediately forgot how to update things
i remembered though and i used that to do a plot

actually what happened was my brain was like "what if we rewrote the entirety of attack on titan" and i had to put on big boy brain and tell myself no more drafts until i at least updated this one

He’d never put much stake in names.

Maybe it was a lifetime of never having one, but he’d never really understood everyone’s obsession with what they were called. 

He was never given a proper name, himself, only referred to by what he was. 

To his creator, the dwarf in the flask, the homunculus, the abomination of science and affront to god that came with it. 

To his own creations, he was father, leader, origin and destination. 

Not understanding the need for them, though, did not change the fact that they mattered. If he ever doubted that, all he had to was recall the one name that could draw him up short.

Hohenheim. 

A moniker passed from one nameless being to the next. 

A favor that was never returned.

A gift that now, apparently, had been passed on. 

The news Pride brings him grew darker each day. This second Hohenheim, this man none of them could account for, evaded their surveillance, laughed in the face of their preparations. 

And now, he was in Central, where all his creations - the loyal ones, at least - resided…

...And one of his children had just gone dark. 

Not long ago, he’d woken to a feeling of terror and pain, ripping through him, tearing something unknown away and leaving him ragged and afraid. 

He never identified what it took.

Now, though, having felt it again, he thought he finally realized what was gone. 

He could no longer feel Greed, not even distantly. His presence had been a glaring absence since he’d run off and gotten out of his range, but it was obvious now.

Unfortunately, it was obvious because it had happened again, to a pawn much less dismissable. 

Sloth was gone. 

Had they been killed, any of his children, he should have felt them. He should have felt the return of their matter into his own, absorbed into his endless stone, ready to be remade, albeit in a weaker form. 

They didn’t come back, though. Neither of them. The energy he’d poured into them was just...absent. A very obvious empty place that he could not understand. 

It felt as though their stones had been exhausted, but if that were the case, he should have felt that, as well. Had any of them drawn on their stones that intensely, he surely would have noticed. 

It certainly would have taken more than an instant, as well. Their stones were powerful - no single act should have been able to drain it.

Something was happening, and he was certain it had to do with that man’s supposed son stepping into play. 

The Hohenheim he’d named had a talent for picking things up quickly, but never seemed particularly driven to learn them. He’d taken lessons he was provided and, while grateful for them and clearly understanding their significance...never showed any grand desire to discover more. He had simpler wants, simpler needs - he wished to lead a life far from the struggle of a slave, and alchemy was simply a tool that could get him there.

This new Hohenheim, however…

Reports were unanimous. This Hohenheim was hungry, aching, in a way the homunculus could recognize well. Alchemy was a tool to him, as well, but a vital one, the one he’d placed all his bets on. 

Envy had been holding back information, he’d noticed, when reporting, but the fact that Envy was holding back was a detail in itself.

Especially given the things they did say. 

If surveillance alchemy, experimental arrays, groundbreaking science, were the surface of the information they’d gathered…

What were they hiding? What card did they keep to their chest?

He had chosen leniency as he noted the reluctance to share, but as he faltered for the crackling energy of his Sloth, and came up with nothing, he worried he might have miscalculated. 

A mistake he’d have to correct. 

“Pride,” he called, in a rasp. 

The shadows around him shuddered as his creation responded. 

“Envy has been hiding things,” he said. “I no longer trust their intel to be complete. It would be better, I think, to start over with them.” He trailed dull eyes to the ceiling, imagining he could see the city above. “Bring them to me. I would prefer them alive, for their information to be most complete, but if I have to salvage the memory from their dead matter, I can. It amounts to much the same thing.” 

He turned over his hand, letting red static crackle around it.

Pain was something his creations rarely experienced. 

A lenience he was clearly mistaken in granting.

He would learn Hohenheim’s secrets, and he would do it before another of his creations was cannibalized by the man’s unknown power. 

If that took him dissolving Envy a hundred times, a thousand, he’d do it. 

He needed to learn more about the only name that could fill him with such rage.

Sloth kept his eyes on the creature in his arms. 

He was fairly certain it was human. It certainly looked that way - even the most seamless homunculi, Lust and Greed, had features that marked them unique. Lust’s skin was uncannily smooth and even-toned, with none of the soft bumps and splotches that made humans look real. Greed was less dramatically so, but the trade off were his teeth, shark-like and vicious. 

The creature in his arms had splotches and patches and bumps, had thin grey lines and rough patches, all the normal human things. 

Sloth rarely saw humans, but he was certain they looked like that. 

But no human should have been able to do something like he’d done. He’d dragged Sloth into some place he’d never been, with a creature he didn’t know, that smiled cruelly and asked questions in a voice that echoed infinitely around him. He’d created a door that had reached for him with inky black hands, and then stood between it and him.

Protecting him.

Sloth understood that part the least. 

He raised his eyes to Envy’s back, to the twisted up hair of the human form they were in. It was a similar color to the hair of the human he held, just...muted. He wondered if that mattered. 

He wondered a lot of things. 

As though feeling him looking, Envy shot a glance over their shoulder, eyeing Sloth. “Thinking awful loud back there, big guy,” they called in an unfamiliar voice. 

Sloth blinked in return. Thinking loud…? Could Envy hear his thoughts?

Envy’s eyes drifted to the sky, and they turned their face away, scoffing. “Just ask,” they called back to him. “You wanna know what he did, right?”

“He took me into a room,” Sloth said. “There was nothing in it...and then he made things appear.” 

“Did he?” Envy paused, turning to look at him, an eager light in their eyes. “What did he make? What was it like?”

Sloth tried to remember everything about that place, as much as he hated thinking about it. “....It was empty,” he said again. 

“You told me that,” Envy replied, impatiently. “But what did he make?” 

Sloth frowned. “...Doors,” he said. “Two doors. Big ones.” 

“Doors?” Envy asked, the light in their eyes growing sharper. “Gates?”

Sloth shrugged. He wasn’t really sure what the difference was. 

“What happened, then?” Envy prompted. “When he made the doors?”

“They...opened,” Sloth said. “And one of them had hands.”

“Hands?” 

“They tried to grab me,” Sloth said. “But…”

He looked down at the human he held. 

“He didn’t let them,” Envy finished for him, in a murmur. 

“He wouldn’t move,” Sloth confirmed. “The other thing - the little one, it asked him something.”

“Asked him what?”

“...I don’t remember.”

Envy let out a frustrated sound. “You got to watch a man creating a soul and you didn’t pay attention?” 

Sloth raised his eyes back up to Envy, confused. “Creating a soul…?”

Envy twitched. “Sloth, buddy,” they said, slowly. “Are you tired?”

“...No,” Sloth said, realizing it the same moment he said it. “No, I’m not. Not right now.”

“Exactly,” Envy said. “That sleepy, lazy feeling, that you’re always dealing with? You can’t find it right now, right?”

Sloth shook his head. 

“That’s because he took it away,” Envy said.

Sloth frowned. “He...took it?” He looked down. “Will he give it back…?”

“Why the fuck would you want it back?” 

“It….is mine?” Sloth said, even more confused, looking back to Envy. “Why would he want it..?”

“He gave you a soul,” Envy told him. “You’re human, Sloth.”

Envy suddenly stiffened, head whipping to the side, wide eyes locked on something on the street around them. 

Sloth looked that way, but saw nothing but the empty night air, painting the street in dark shadows. 

“What is there?” 

“Oh no,” Envy breathed, a genuine terror in their voice. “Sloth, buddy, we need to move.”

“Move…?”

In front of his eyes, the alley before them seemed to shift. 

“Sloth,” Envy said, taking a step backward. “We’re burned.”

“Burned?” Sloth echoed, completely lost. 

...The alley seemed to grow darker.

A hand shot out, Envy grabbing Sloth around the wrist, tugging once. 

Sloth shifted the human to the other arm to offer up the hand, only for Envy to scowl, demanding, “Just move, dammit, we need to get to-...”

Shadows stretched across the sidewalk, swelling and growing. 

“Sloth!” Envy shrieked. “We have to go!” 

They backed up, waving him forward, and Sloth followed, picking up speed as they did, until they were running down the street, Envy turning back around to run even faster.

Behind them, wind whipped, a strange sound. A glance over his shoulder showed nothing but darkness, a shadow stopping a few feet behind them, moving as they moved, crawling closer toward his own shadow. 

“Do not let him catch us!” Envy called back to him. 

“Him?” Sloth echoed, before it finally clicked. “Oh...Pride,” he said. “Why are we running from-...?”

He turned back forward as he asked, only to stop short just shy of running into Envy’s back, as the other homunculus had frozen in the street. 

A few feet in front of them, Pride’s tiny human body stood, staring at them with cold eyes. 

“So this is what you’re hiding,” Pride said, looking between the two of them, and the unconscious body Sloth held. “Father will be happy. He only sent me for you.”

“For me?” Envy echoed, voice pitched up dangerously. “What the fuck did I do?”

“He knew you were holding back information,” Pride said. “I didn’t expect this, though. That Hohenehim found a way to create true humanity...” His eyes trailed to the body Sloth carried. “He will be very interested in that.”

Sloth looked to Envy, and watched as they shot their arms out to either side, standing fully in front of him.

“Sorry, Baby Bradley,” Envy practically snarled. “He owes me. I need him alive. I’m not letting you touch him.” 

Pride narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t asking,” he said.

Sloth’s arms suddenly went stiff, and shifted, lowering to the ground.

“Sloth?” Envy looked over their shoulder, eyes wide. “What-...?”

They looked to the ground, at the same time Sloth did, coming to the same conclusion: Pride had engulfed Sloth’s shadow, taking command, and was using it to bend him, stooping him to lower the alchemist to the ground. 

“No,” Envy cried out, taking a step back, arms still out. “You’re not getting him. You’re not ruining this for me.”

“You’re not getting away from this, either,” Pride said. “I have permission to kill you. If I need to go through you, I won’t mind.” 

Sloth caught up to the events: Pride was angry with Envy, and the alchemist, and he wanted to hurt them both, to take them to Father, who would...probably kill them.

Envy, who stood in front of him, arms out, blocking him from Pride...the same way the alchemist had blocked him from those inky black hands.

He couldn’t give these two away. He didn’t know why they were in danger, didn’t know what had angered their leader so much, didn’t know why they were working on souls or taking away the sin he was named for, but-...

But he wasn’t going to give them up.

With all his strength - reduced, now, he noticed - he resisted the force pulling him down, pushing back. He felt like he was trying to stand up with the weight of the city pressing on his back, trying to pin him down, but he’d carved through the ground without a moment of rest - Pride’s shadows were made of air. They could not hold him. He wouldn’t give into to them.

With shaking arms, Sloth was able to curl around the alchemist, inching back up to stand upright, holding him to his chest. His legs shook in the struggle to remain upright, but he gained ground, almost getting all the way back to his feet-...

...And then dropped another inch, the force suddenly doubled, bearing down hard on him. 

“You can’t fight me, Sloth,” Pride told him, in a cruel tone like the white creature had taunted the alchemist in. “A night this dark, I’m stronger than you could ever be.” 

“Well,” another voice chimed in, entirely unfamiliar, “Let me even the playing ground.”

Pride froze, barely managing to turn his head to look before the night around them lit up, bright flame swallowing the shadows, carving a circle around them, illuminating every inch of space. 

At the opposite edge of the circle, two dark haired humans stood, the other with his hand raised, poised in a snap. 

“Roy Mustang,” Pride growled. 

“Selim Bradley,” Mustang returned, in an almost cheery tone. “I think I might have missed something.” 

Notes:

mustang, rolling up to a beefcake holding half dead theo, a terrified looking riza hawkeye, and the fuhrer's son: i feel like i've entered a joke i dont think ill like the punchline of

Chapter 77

Summary:

“So,” Roy said, watching him warily. “How exactly does the incredibly young son of the Fuhrer end up working for homunculi?”

Notes:

reminders:
1. my promises from earlier chapter notes still apply. you'll hopefully figure out what i mean at the end of this chapter, because if not, youre gonna be HELLA mad at me until the next one posts
2. I try not to ever leave you on a cliffhanger as sharp as this chapter's for more than like 24-48 hours, but I started a new job last week, and I've been busy as fuck, so we'll see what happens, though I'll do my best

The sight of Theo lying limp in the gigantic man's arms nearly stopped his heart, but Roy couldn't stop to dwell on that. Not with an active threat in play. 

At his back, Maes stood wary. "Something's wrong," he murmured. "When did Riza get here?"

That...was a good question. 

He had no clue. She wasn't one to abandon duty, and he'd left her in charge- if she was here, something was wrong. 

The way she was protecting Theo, though, he couldn't find the time to be anything but grateful. 

Selim Bradley met Roy’s eyes, undeterred in the slightest by the flames burning bright around him, which created an eerie light against the round face of such a young child. 

“So,” Roy said, watching him warily. “How exactly does the incredibly young son of the Fuhrer end up working for homunculi?”

“Not working for,” Riza said. “He is a homunculus. Pride.”

“Explains the shadow play, I suppose,” Roy said. “Posing as a child? Were you ever actually human?”

Pride looked almost bored. “Me? Never once,” Pride said. “I don’t suppose this body was, either. Homunculi don’t have souls - their children shouldn’t have them, either.” 

Mustang’s stomach turned over. “Bradley had a real son?” he asked. “He- they turned a child into one of you?” 

“Just a host,” Pride said. “It’s not something I feel I should need to explain. Especially since you’re going to die here.”

He raised a hand. The flickering firelight shadows started to hold, congregating in large patches, which undulated but held, building into something Pride could use. 

“Sloth, run,” Riza cried, turning to look over her shoulder at the hulking figure cradling Theo. “Take him and go! We can’t do a damn thing without him!”

The brute behind her - Sloth, apparently - seemed more confused than anything else, looking between the others present with wide, fearful eyes. 

“Get him to safety, if you can,” Roy seconded, only to cut off as the shadows shifted again, then fled, speeding away from those standing in the flames to form a pitch black circle underneath Sloth. 

“Hohenheim goes nowhere,” Pride said. “He’s stolen at least two Stones. Father wants him, and he will have him.”

“Father,” Roy echoed. “Bradley? Or-...”

“The first homunculus,” Riza said. “That’s what we call him.”

...We?

Roy’s eyes shot to Riza. 

Her stance was wrong. It was uncertain and shaky in a way Riza never was. She didn’t have a gun, either, and it was almost impossible to catch her without one. 

“You’re a homunculus,” Roy realized. “Which-...”

“Envy,” Riza - or, well, Envy - snapped. Their form shifted, and a moment later, a strange androgynous figure with spiked hair stood in Riza’s place. “I’m-...”

Their eyes snapped sideways, toward where Sloth held Theo.

“...I’m an ally.”

“Good to hear a confession,” Pride drawled. “I won’t have to apologize to Father when I kill you, then, I suppose.” 

“You wouldn’t have anyway, you rotten piece of-...”

“Watch the language,” Maes said, over Roy’s shoulder. “There are children present.”

“That thing is not a child,” Envy snarled. 

“It may as well be,” Maes said. “For all of the chance it stands against Roy.”

Roy shifted, chin tipping up, hand poised again for a snap. “I won’t hurt a child,” he said, firmly. “But I will do what I have to to take you down. I’ve been a monster for my country. I won’t give Theo anything less.”

“Touching,” Pride said, face wrinkled in clear disdain. “But you’re not who I’m after.”

He turned, then, and raised his hand again, in Sloth’s direction.

The black circle beneath him seemed to darken even further, somehow, turning so deep a black it appeared like a hole, as though it were swallowing every single particle of light, pure vantablack.

“Sloth!” Envy cried. “It’s absorption! You can’t give him Theo! If he dies it’s over! There’s nothing left!”

“Exactly,” Pride said, and closed his fist. 

Sloth felt the pressure triple, quadruple, and further, until it was crushing him, weighing him down so heavily he had no chance of resisting. 

His arms shook, trying hard to keep the alchemist secure. Envy screamed at him to hold out, but Sloth didn’t even listen - he didn’t have to. Whatever thought Envy had for why this man could not be hurt here, Sloth had his own reasons. 

He hadn’t let the white creature hurt Sloth. Sloth would not let his brother harm him, either. 

But it was getting so hard to hold on. 

Flares lit up all around him, casting light against the dark space under him. The pressure on him waned, but only slightly, and the moment he relaxed, it doubled down, feeling even worse than before. 

That was it - he couldn’t hold upright much longer. His arms started to slack, hands shaking, the man drooping in his hold. 

No.

He wouldn’t let him go. 

If his hands wanted to shake, they could go ahead - he smashed them together, knitting his fingers together, locking his hands underneath his charge, closing the gap he kept threatening to slide through. 

“You’re the weakest of us, when it comes down to it, Sloth,” Pride told him. “You can’t resist me.” 

I won’t let him go, Sloth thought to himself, determined to stick to it. His arms shook further, though, and he felt his fingers slipping, hands straining to stay clasped together, inching closer toward the ground, the weight of them increasing exponentially. 

“Sloth!”

Envy’s shout was Sloth’s only warning, when he ran out of time, and then it was almost a slow motion scene: he could feel his fingers break apart, and turn, palms out, catching themselves against the pavement as his knees gave out.

He felt Theo’s weight drop against the top of his hands, and before he could feel the shadows swallowing more than a hair of his palms, bright light crackled, searing straight through the night, and things went white. 

The flash of alchemic energy releasing struck Envy, the absolute last thing he expected to see. 

Especially considering that, to their knowledge, no alchemist had done a transmutation. 

Blue lightning crackled through the air, though, and they only had a split second to marvel at it before the world around them became blinding bright, followed by endless white. 

In an instant, the entire group of them - Mustang, Hughes, Pride, Sloth, Theo, and Envy - were stood in the realm of the Gate creature. 

Each person stood independent, in a circle, not in the positions they’d been in. Behind Mustang and Sloth were towering Gates. A smaller, sealed version of one was behind Hughes, and behind Theo, still lying unconscious-...

Envy sucked in a breath. 

The Gate was in shambles. 

A crack had split through the center, stone crumbling away as it spread out, pieces flaking off even as they watched. 

A glance down at Theo’s prone form, and Envy suddenly saw him much differently. Not just weakened, knocked out…

...He looked like he was dying. 

“Well,” a chorus of voices murmured, echoing through the empty space around them. “Now this is a party.”

A creature with no features other than a wide, eerie grin and ringed purple eyes sat in the center of their circle. 

“You’ve had a Gate for less than an hour,” the creature said. “And yet, you could open it. You could come here.”

Envy froze. 

It couldn’t mean…?

Their eyes slid to Sloth.

Behind him, his Gate stood wide open. 

The alchemist who had triggered the transmutation….was Sloth. 

“You tried to transmute away the shadows,” Truth said. “But those shadows were infused with the power of a Philosopher’s Stone. Transmuting them is a massive scale human transmutation - it dragged you here.” 

The creature got to its feet. 

“So,” it said. “What do you want now, new alchemist?” It strolled forward, approaching the Gate that stood between Envy and Sloth - the one where Theo was laid out, unconscious. 

“Let me guess,” it said, crouching beside him. “You want him.” 

“Can...you fix him?” Sloth asked, hesitant. 

“There’s no fixing a human, once they’re that far gone,” Pride spoke up, across the circle. “Give up this stupid game. Dismiss this place - let the thing have Hohenheim. You can’t win.”

Envy looked to Theo, laid out on the ground beside him.

He’d stood between Sloth and death. He’d hunted for secrets others didn’t even know they didn’t know, he revolutionized their science, and he found the way to do the unthinkable, to gift each of them with something they thought impossible. 

Pride was right - they couldn’t win. Theo was dying, right here, and they had nothing that was worth his life. 

…

But he wasn’t dead, yet, was he? 

They still had one shot. 

Envy looked to Sloth, wide-eyed and terrified, looking back into the empty void of his open gate. 

One shot to give them all a chance - to let Greed and Sloth embrace newfound humanity, to grant the others the opportunity to receive it-...

There was only one thing they had to offer. 

“Hey, freak-thing,” Envy called out, catching the eye of the Gate creature. “I’m not an alchemist, so we have to make a deal a different way.”

The grinning creature tipped its head. “A deal?” 

“A deal,” Envy verified. They stepped forward, walking up to it, and pointed to the side, to Theo’s crumbling gate.

“He’s dying,” Envy said. “Isn’t he?”

Mustang made a pained noise across the circle, but Envy couldn’t focus on him. 

“He is,” Truth confirmed. “He’s torn his soul to shreds, for a while now. Sunk his nails into his own walls and started to dig - he has no idea how much damage he’s been doing.” 

“But he’s still alive,” Envy said. 

“For now,” Truth agreed. 

“For good,”  Envy said. They stepped forward, and reached up, putting a hand over their heart.

“Fix his Gate,” they said. “Use my Stone - my life for his. That’s ‘equivalent,’ right, you little fucking demon?” 

The grin on its face got sharper. “More than,” they said. “You’re certain you want to make this deal? To pay the ultimate price?” 

Envy looked to the side - not to Theo, but past him, to Sloth, still looking panicked. 

He’d fought his own body, fought the overwhelming strength of Pride’s strongest moves, all to protect their last chance.

Could they do any less?

“I’m sure,” they said, looking back to Truth. “Take my Stone.”

“That Stone isn’t yours to give!” Pride shouted.

“My life is mine!” Envy screamed back. “I’m not human, but I’m alive! If I can’t see myself be something better, what’s the fucking point?!” They looked to Truth, incensed. “Kill me already! Save that dumbass! I’d rather die here to do something worthwhile than live to be a fucking coward!” They smacked a hand against their own chest. “Take my Stone! Don’t let that fucking bastard win!”

Truth’s purple eyes glinted, its chin tipping up slightly. 

“A Stone for a soul,” it murmured, in its infinite voices. “....Very well. Just this once.”

And it raised a hand, setting fingertips against Envy’s chest, and red light crackled. 

Notes:

no spoilers but reminder before you yell at me that i did in fact promise not to do certain things in this story and i stand by that

Chapter 78

Summary:

For a moment, the childish face of the homunculus looked almost scared. 

Notes:

I LIVE

barely, my health is AWFUL

but this is where the plot starts really kicking off...and our lore/worldbuilding starts to finally come to light, making things a little clearer >:3

Envy screwed their eyes shut, heart pounding in their chest as the light burned through the air around them.

...Heart?

Their eyes shot back open.

Static filled the air, burning red, but….it parted around them, a red wave forming a ring around where they stood, reaching out, sparking to all sides. 

“What….what’s happening?” They asked, looking to Truth. “What is this?”

“This is your Stone,” Truth said, mildly. “The energy inside of it, released.”

The static condensed, forming a large red ball of lightning, which sparked as it shifted, seeming to crawl its way across the circle.

“What…?” 

“Just this once,” Truth said.

Envy watched as the ball sped up, starting to scuffle across the void like a horrible crimson spider, rushing straight for Pride. 

For a moment, the childish face of the homunculus looked almost scared. 

Only for a moment, though - a split second of reaction before the red lashed out, engulfing him. 

A scream pierced the air, echoing impossibly against nonexistent walls. 

“What is it doing?!” Envy yelled, looking to Truth. “What are you doing to-?” 

The space around them lit up, the stone expanding, a bright star gone supernova. In front of their eyes, a massive strike of deep red lightning shot across their circle, slamming full force into Theo’s Gate. 

Beneath the strike, the Gate responded, cracks filling with the red light, the stone-like surface seeming to knit back together like healing skin as it spread. 

“Theo!” Mustang screamed. 

The light seemed to swell, the ball around Pride shrinking as more and more light congregated around Theo’s Gate. 

“What’s happening?!” Envy screamed. “I told you to take me! What is this? What are you doing?” 

“Are you concerned for your kin, ‘Envy’?” Truth mocked. “It will survive. A part of it, anyway.”

“Fuck Pride!” Envy shouted back - hating to admit to the small part of them that felt relieved. “What are you doing to Hohenheim?” 

“The Prime is fine,” Truth said, dismissively - and nonsensically, to Envy’s ears.

“‘The Prime’?” Envy echoed. “What does that mean? What the fuck is he?”

Truth ignored them, and stepped into the red glow outside the Gate. 

There was a wild shockwave of rich crimson, and everything vanished. 

Theo opened his eyes to a white room, as he had many times in his life…but this once, it felt different. 

The light felt less bleached out and harsh, and more…warm. As though the white light were the rich glare of a summer sun against painted walls, instead of an empty nothingness. 

“...Ed?”

Ed? Panic shot through Theo, and he sat upright at once, looking around for his younger doppelganger, worried for his safety. 

The white expanse extended out endlessly around him. He wasn’t anywhere new, after all, it seemed. This was still the realm of Truth, the space in-between lifetimes. 

So why did it feel….new?

“Ed! Ed!”

The voice was so, so achingly familiar. 

Slowly, Theo turned, looking behind himself.

On his knees, a ways away, there was Mustang.

 

Not Roy, young and unburdened, dragged into his hurricane by force. Mustang, the original, who hitched himself to the crazy right of his own accord….

…Who was killing himself to find him, right now. 

 

“....Mustang?” Theo breathed, disbelieving. 

Mustang stared a moment later, clearly just as stunned…and then pitched forward, clambering to his feet to sprint across the expanse, dropping down in front of him to embrace him desperately. 

“You were gone,” he breathed. “You vanished, no one knew- you were-...”

“I never died,” Theo returned, hand raising, hesitating, and lowering again. He didn’t feel like he had the right to return this embrace. “I was…moved. I’ve been in another world. Like ours, but…I woke up right at the beginning. With myself as a kid, in the middle of that array. I’m…changing things. Saving people, making things better…I think it’ll be okay there.”

Mustang pulled back a bit, eyeing him, clearly at war internally: if there was such a feat, the academic in him would clearly be eager to investigate, but he’d also been pushed so far by Theo’s absence…who knew what he was thinking, right now?

In reality, it was something like this: Peace looks so beautiful on you. 

Theo looked around, taking inventory. There were no Gates, and, most notably, no figure of Truth. Just empty white, everywhere, and that feeling of warmth. 

“Where are we?” Theo murmured, more in general than to Mustang. “This isn’t the same as the usual space…”

Mustang finally pulled free and looked around himself. “I don’t know,” he said. “I saw my Gate for a second, but it…vanished, and then…you were here.”

“Vanished?”

That…didn’t sound good. 

Suddenly, Theo recalled where he’d been before. Recalled the crumbling Gate in front of him, recalled the face-off with Sloth….

It’s called ‘Home’...

Theo felt the warmth seep from the air around him, and a cackling laughter filled the space instead. 

A grand fountain stood in the center of a city. 

People passed by, approaching now and then to scoop a cup of the crystal clear water. They took a step back from the edge before they drank, in a symbolic show of respect: no drops would fall from their lips back into the source, so it remained utterly pure. 

The water was sacred, many said. Blessed by the gods themselves. Drinking from this blessed spring was what gave the people their beauty, their hair and skin of pure gold. 

Today was a special day. A ceremony: a coronation. 

It would be held in the square where the fountain stood, the most holy place in the city. A stage was erected for this purpose, decorated lavishly. 

At the foot of this stage, stood a small, hunched figure, clothed in rags. 

“Aikaterine,” someone shouted, from the side. “The struts aren’t proper on the stage - fix them.”

The figure gave a short nod, and stepped forward. A small hand raised, a chalk stick in hand, and set to drawing neat lines on the wood. A moment later, those small hands touched the new array, and light crackled, revealing a neat, well-structured stage. 

“Hn…Functional, but ugly,” the speaker said. “Decorate them a bit more.”

The small figure’s head raised, revealing the filthy face of a young girl. “I am out of space,” she said, in a soft tone. “And we’re out of washwater…”

“Then use your drinking water,” the person in charge - a wiry older man with cruel eyes - barked. 

She hesitated, eyes going to the side. They all refilled their water rations from the fountain, earlier, when the masters were not looking. Would it be acceptable to use such sacred waters to wash away an array?

…She had no choice, she supposed. The masters would punish her if she hesitated further. 

She stepped forward, uncapping her waterskin, and poured a very small amount of water over the chalk lines. 

The wood shone brightly under the pour, and she could almost imagine a glow. The chalk melted away cleanly, leaving her a blank - if wet - surface to draw on. 

She stared at it a moment, imagining her design, before touching the chalk to the surface.

The second the powder touched the wet wood, though, she felt something in her arm - a flow of energy, something powerful. She felt like she could draw anything at all on this, and it would work. 

“Hm…?”

Hesitantly, she pushed the feeling aside, and drew her array. Neat and tidy, as always, and she touched to it again, pushing energy in. 

The array glowed beneath her fingers, and power surged. The stage before he changed as easily as if she’d simply changed the color of a cloth, rather than rebuilt such a large structure. The wood became sleek and polished, ornate and beautiful. 

A stage worthy of a new king, certainly!

The energy, though…

..Instead of a familiar blue crackle, the energy from the array was…

…Gold?

“What was that?” her master barked. “What did you just do? What sort of array?”

Aikaterine looked up, noting all eyes on her, and felt her heart pound. “I-I…”

The master drew up. Townspeople were looking, now, in awe of this feat of alchemic prowess - and the master had to save face. He couldn’t be shown up by a lab-slave!

“Have you been stealing my notes?!” He demanded. 

All the lab-slaves present knew this feat was no accomplishment of his at all. It was nothing like his work - the little he ever bothered to do. 

But none could say this. None could speak. 

“I-I just,” Aikaterine said, scrambling for an excuse.

She found none before the whip struck out, cracking harsh against her skin. She hit her hands and knees in the dirt, stones cutting into her skin. 

Blood stained the earth beneath her, and townspeople scuttled away quickly - none would intervene with a top-ranked alchemist’s personal business. Laboratory slaves were only meant to assist in petty transmutations, to save the master’s energy for experiments and tough work. They were not meant to do anything innovative, and most certainly not aspire to be apprentices. 

As such, everyone turned away, and left him to beat her into the dirt. 

When the alchemist was satisfied, he returned the whip to his hip, and summoned some regular house slaves to take her away. 

“Keep her from the procession,” the alchemist ordered. “I’ll deal with her after.”

Two slaves nodded, coming forward to grab her under her shoulders, dragging her off to a shed nearby to wait out the ceremony. 

One dropped her roughly in the dirt there and left, but the other lingered, hovering in the doorway, seeming almost anxious. 

Aikaterine raised her eyes, tired…but a soft fire burning behind them. “What?” she demanded. 

“Why are you in trouble?” the slave asked, voice low. It was a scandalous question to ask. “I don’t really get it. He told you to do that, and then you did it, and now you’re in trouble…?”

Aikaterine huffed a soft laugh, forcing herself to sit up. “It was the array,” she said. “It wasn’t normal - usually, arrays let out a blue static light. That one lit up gold. Clearly, something was different.”

“What was it?” the slave asked. “What did you do? Was it bad?”

She shook her head, but then faltered, thinking. “I…don’t know.” She looked over to her waterskin. “I…”

The slave followed her gaze, and misunderstood. “Are you thirsty? You had to use drinking water to clean, right?” He stepped forward, without hesitation, and picked up the waterskin, pulling his own off his hip, and handed that over instead. “Here, we can trade. I can refill this one later.”

She blinked, accepting the waterskin with a hesitant hand. “...Thank you. You…Thank you so much…” She lowered the waterskin, eyeing it curiously. Looking up to him, she asked, quietly. “Is this water….?”

“It’s from the fountain,” the slave answered easily, not at all ashamed of their mass insubordination. “I don’t get the big deal about it, though…it’s just water. It’s really clean water, but rich people can get that anywhere, can’t they?” He shrugged. “I don’t get it at all.”

She let out a soft breath. “It’s special, that fountain,” she said. “Something about that water…it’s…. different.” 

The slave shrugged again. “I never get stuff like that. I just know that we’re running low on cleaning water, and we’re not allowed to use the fountain water with soap, and that’s just a pain.” He shook his head. “But I’ll get in trouble if I stay in here too much longer. Are you okay?” He gestured to the waterskin. “You should try and wash some of the cuts with that. I’ve hardly had any, so there should be enough.”

She gave a hesitant nod. 

But..If it changed her array…what would it do to her? 

She looked up at the slave, eyeing him carefully - memorizing his face. 

“You’re a house slave, right?” she asked. They didn’t get names, she remembered - just numbers. “What’s your number?”

“Huh?” he said, pausing in his way out the door. “Oh.” He beamed at her, perfectly friendly. “I’m 23.”

Chapter 79

Summary:

“That thing is symbolic,” the alchemist spat. “Nothing but stone holding spring water. What did you do?”

Notes:

Sorry about the delay! I ended up moving very abruptly back home, but!! Things are looking up for me now. I even got a job as a graphic designer...and got promoted to the head of the whole damn store within three weeks of hire. SCORE

But! Enough about me.
This chapter is WARNING HEAVY!
It features the servant child from the last chapter being beaten, arrays drawn in blood, lots of blood actually, a little body horror, and other just...generally unpleasant stuff. Also, Theo isn't even in it. It's entirely in the past.
ALL of the content of this chapter will be very briefly recapped later in the story when it comes up in the actual present-day plot, which resumes next chapter, so you're free to skip it. I'm trying to get the next chapter out ASAP since I took so long with this one, which was originally supposed to be a bonus chapter.

Other things~!

One: we have AMAZING FANART!!! If you follow me on Tumblr (SpicyReyes) you've probably already seen it because I screamed about it a lot

Two: I cracked and made a Spotify playlist of my favorite songs to listen to while working on this fic....and it's already 71 songs long. Oops.

Three: If y'all remember the incredibly cursed Satellite As Vines you may wish to know that I've started quietly saving videos for a sequel. I'm sorry in advance

The floor was stained pink by blooded water by the time the alchemist’s shadow fell over Aikaterine again. 

“Explain,” he demanded, with no lead in whatsoever, as he locked the door behind him. “What was that array? That light? What did you do?” 

She raised her head, eyes up to him. “I don’t know,” she said. “I think the fountain might have affected-...”

“That thing is symbolic,” the alchemist spat. “Nothing but stone holding spring water. What did you do?”

She looked to the door, heart pounding. It couldn’t be merely symbolic - it affected the array too strongly. 

Unfortunately, her master misinterpreted this look. 

“Don’t even think about getting away from me without an answer!” he snapped. “Pulling out these unknown tricks in front of common people - are you trying to humiliate me? Upstage me?” 

“I-I’m not,” she rushed to assure. “I just- I didn’t know it would-....”

The master drew a whip from his belt, making her blood run cold. He did not strike out, though, only pointed to her with it, and ordered, “Do it again.”

She stared, wide-eyed, heart pounding.

“Don’t just stare!” the master barked. He strode forward - making her flinch back - and thrust a piece of chalk at her. 

She scrambled to take it in shaky, bloody hands. Turning to the floor, she scribbled out a very simple array, to make some of the worn wood of the shed floor into a little figurine. A child’s trick. 

She touched the edges of the array, and it lit up a soft blue, giving way to a neat little figurine. 

“Wrong!” the alchemist scolded, and she cried out as he struck her. “That’s just a stupid child’s array. The gold light - make it again!”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she tried the array again. Once more, the light crackled blue, and the strikes came down twice as hard.

It took her four tries before her hands could no longer draw arrays through their shaking. 

“Useless! Insolent!” The alchemist screamed at her. “If you won’t cooperate, stay in here and starve until you’re more amenable!”

He reached down, snatched back the chalk, and stormed from the room, locking the door behind him.

While this was a punishment, she couldn’t help but be relieved he was gone, hunching in on herself. She sobbed, body aching, staring at a few increasingly unsteady figurines she’d made. 

In this moment, she noticed something: they were all little dolls, with somewhat familiar faces - she’d unthinkingly made them to look like 23. 

Her heart pounded, thinking of his kindness….and then froze, remembering something. 

She dug out the water pouch he’d left her. It was still mostly full - of that holy water from the fountain, even. 

She stared at it. 

What…made you act like that? She wondered. What made the water special? Was there really such a thing as a God? Was the water truly holy? 

If it was….?

She didn’t have any chalk…but that didn’t mean she didn’t have anything to write with.

She raised a bloody finger, and reached out, running it over the wood. It left a splotchy line behind - unacceptable for an array. 

She splashed it with the smallest possible amount of the water, and reached for her wounds, collecting enough blood to try again. 

Repeating this process on a loop, she was able to painstakingly, inch by inch, draw a small, simple array in the floor. 

Blood and the holy water were intermingled to make the ‘ink,’ so maybe….

Holding her breath, she reached out to touch the array. 

Gold light flickered.

Her heart pounded, as before her eyes, another figurine arose - but this one was larger, more ornate, with the tiniest details - it looked like the spitting image of 23, unmistakable. 

Her hands shook. 

The water! It really is-....

The door slammed open. 

“What was that?!” the alchemist demanded. “Did you think I wouldn’t see?! What did you do? How did you-....”

He froze, staring at the scene: Aikaterine, her blood array, and her tiny figurine 23. 

His face went through many expressions in the span of an instant, before settling on a dark smugness. 

“So it’s blood you need,” he said. 

Her heart pounded. “M-master-...”

He reached out, grabbing her by the arm tight enough to bruise, and hauled her up. Ignoring her returned sobs, he dragged her out of the shed, all the way to his lab, where he through her on the floor. He called slaves from the sides to clear everything from the room’s floor - rugs, tables, anything at all - to make room on the smooth stone floor. 

“I’ll be back momentarily,” the master told her. “And you are going to do that gold-light array, but on one of my arrays. And we will see what happens.”

She couldn’t say anything, terrified, before he swept out of the room.

She was alone for hours before he returned. 

In his hands, he held a large, ornate canister, which he handed off to her. 

It was filled with blood. 

Her heart pounded. “Y-you-...”

“Wondering about the wait?” the master asked, tauntingly. “It took some time to collect his blood.”

“H-his?!”

“Hm? Was he not relevant?” the master asked. To her horror, he reached into his pocket, and pulled forth her latest figure - the clear image of 23.

Her heart seized. “Y-you-...!” 

"Draw the array," the master ordered, heartlessly, and passed her a sheet of paper with a sketched array across the surface. “This one, exactly.”

She stared at it, uncomprehending. The symbols…mercury, copper, carbon-....

All this ornate work…

And, right at the center, a bold sun symbol…

“What…is it…?”

“Ha!” the alchemist laughed, thrusting it at her. “You don’t need to know until it’s ready. Draw.” 

She took the paper, staining the corner with bloodied and filthy hands. The smear stopped her a moment, freezing her blood. 

All this….because he refuses to let anyone else know more than him….

….This selfishness…

With a hard, bitter heart, she looked to the jar of blood.

“I need….another container,” she murmured. “I have to dilute the blood with water from the fountain, or it…won’t work.”

Her master scoffed, but left, returning a moment later with a large bowl. “Use this. Quickly, now.”

She closed her eyes a moment, taking a steadying breath, and then poured blood into the bowl, adding a bit of the water from her pouch. She added as much as she could where she thought it could still work like ink, and then set to work, studying the array, recreating the lines and swooping curves on the stone floor beneath her. 

It took hours until the array was finished, as she couldn’t afford a mistake, but knew nothing about the array she was drawing - and it was massive, and she was working with the worst type of ‘ink.’ 

But, eventually…it was ready.

“Good,” the master said, studying her work, as she stepped back. “Good…this should work.”

And then, he placed a hand flat on her back, shoving her forward. 

“Go ahead, girl,” he ordered. “Activate it.”

The array couldn’t have been anything good. She felt rooted to the spot. “...Me? A-are- What does it-...”

“No questions!” he ordered. “Just do it!”

She swallowed, dropping to her knees at the side of the array. 

Hate filled her heart, an anger all-consuming, and she shut her eyes tight, forcing herself to calm down. 

Except, 23’s face floated behind her eyes, and her heart seized. 

His blood….there was so much…was he even alive?

Probably not…

She hung her head, and sat her hands on the side of the array.

If you exist, God….

…Well, you wouldn’t care what I asked for, anyway, would you?

She steeled herself, and activated the array.

The gold light the alchemist was waiting for didn’t flare.

Instead, the array lit up a deep, unyielding crimson. 

When Aikaterine opened her eyes, the lab had changed.

Everything was tinged a strange color, and the alchemist was gone. In fact, so was the array itself…and most of the equipment looked odd. Fake. Like someone had carved the same shapes from stone, but forgotten to feature the details. 

Also, at the end of the room, there was now a large, ornate stone door, like the one at the front of the palace. 

She frowned, crossing the room on pure instinct, reaching for the door. 

At the last second, though, she stopped, her fingers hovering in empty air. 

“Why wait?” a voice whispered to her. It sounded like it was speaking from the other side. “Don’t you want to leave?”

“...No,” she said, oddly sure of the fact. “I don’t think….I don’t think I should go through this door. It feels…wrong.”

The voice on the other side chuckled. “You’re so clever… Once in a thousand years, we get a mind like yours…. Wicked things, bright minds…so tricky.”

She started to withdraw her hand. 

“NO!”

She froze in terror as the doors suddenly flung open. Inky blackness filled the space there, and morphed into the shape of a thousand grasping hands, reaching for her.

She rushed to back away, but it was too late - one of those clawing hands reached out, grabbing her by the wrist. 

It pulled, dragging her forward, but she dug in her heels, backing away. 

“No!” she shrieked. “I won’t go! I can’t- I can’t! He- he needs me-....!”

“That old bastard alchemist?” the voice hissed. “He threw you to us! Fed you to the wheel! Do you know what that array was for?!”

“Not him!” she cried. “T-twenty three! The Master bled him- he needs- I have to help him-...”

The voice cackled madly. “So sacrificing! Such a bleeding heart! How’s this, girl: we help you all!”

All at once, the pulling stopped, and she stumbled backward, falling onto the stone floor. 

Looking at her freed hand, she let out a scream: it was encased entirely in that inky black substance, endlessly deep. 

As she stared in horror, two purple-ringed eyes appeared in the darkness, staring up at her, and then a brilliant white grin. 

This horrifying, unnatural face beamed at her. 

“I’ll come with you!” it cried. “That’s what he wanted, you see: a piece of the heavens! Alchemy in it’s purest form! Artificial life!” 

Her heart pounded. “That- alchemy can’t-...”

“Can’t it?!” the creature cackled. “It can, it can! It just needs an exchange! And what’s worth a life like mine, hm? Well, nothing less than a life like yours!”

Aikaterine shrieked. “I won’t, I won’t! I won’t take you back!”

“It’s too late!” the creature roared. “I’ll even spare your petty life for now! Wake up! Wake up, girl, and let me walk the world with you! I’ll feast on your whole stupid species and come back to take the throne!”

The world around her warped.

Her head jerked up, off the stone floor, her skin tacky and disgusting from where she’d been lying in the mix of drawn blood, dirt, and….

Rubble?

Rubble!

The lab had been wrecked around her, the great stone floor cracked, equipment shattered, walls crumbling. 

A hand grabbed the back of her dress and hauled her away, throwing her into the dirt outside the lab moments later, leaving her coughing as the force jarred her already heavily damaged body. 

“Insolent brat!” the alchemist roared. “What did you do?!”

She raised her head, but her body seized, muscles starting to spasm. Her blood felt like it was on fire. A glance at her hands, and she was horrified to watch as the black substance from that odd dream-like world appeared at the center of that palm, it’d clung to, and began to spread, consuming her, coating her skin. 

She screeched in horror. 

“It came with me!” she screamed, terrified. “That thing-..!”

The alchemist watched, both horror stricken and oddly hungry. “What’s this?! What thing? Did you do it?! Did you make-...!?”

Her body shook. 

A demon! She thought. I found- I found a demon! 

What- what did she do?!

Demons…demons…

…Holy water!

In the distance, she could see the fountain. Summoning all her strength, she surged to her feet, forcing herself to run. 

She could hear the alchemist pursuing her, but he must have been injured in the collapse, because he didn’t catch up. She was able to make it most of the way, only a few feet from the fountain’s edge, when her body seized up, another wave of pain and convulsions as the creature fought her. 

It’s scared! She realized, excited. If it was scared, that meant it would work! It could hurt it!

She forced herself forward, practically clawing at the dirt to drag herself to the edge of the fountain. 

At its edge, she raised her hands, going to scoop the water-...

…Only to freeze, as her hands came into view.

Open wounds, blood smears, both fresh and dry, dirt and filth-...

Could she put these hands, these disgusting hands, into sacred water? Could she ruin the lifeforce of her people? 

Just for a gamble?

Her hesitation was the window the alchemist needed, and a moment later, she felt him grab the back of her collar again. 

“Filthy wretch!” he screamed. “Running from me?!”

A twisted idea hit her, and on a sheer whim, she changed her voice, making it deeper, twisted, awful sounding. 

“The girl is fighting me,” she growled. “Bring me water, from the fountain! I need it to live! Then I can take over!”

Her body seized harder as she finished speaking, the creature fighting more than ever, desperately attempting to seize control. 

This must have given her credibility, because the alchemist bought it - but, unfortunately, instead of going to grab water and handing it to her, he hauled her forward, shoving her over the edge, bringing her face toward the water. 

Sheer willpower kept her head up, kept her from touching the water’s pure surface. 

“Drink!” the alchemist ordered. 

“I can’t!” she cried. 

The alchemist’s face blackened, and a moment too late, she realized she forgot to change her voice that time.

Her heart pounded, her face blanching, but there was nothing to be done. 

In a fit of pure rage, the alchemist shoved, forcing her down, shoving her head under the water. 

Notes:

me, writing this: i wonder who will remember the scenes I foreshadowed this shit with

also me: actually is it even foreshadowing if its just a BLATANT MIRROR-