Our Missing Pieces Could Be Siblings

by waitineedaname

Summary:

Ed and Al's mother died when they were very young, and their father left when they were even younger. Izumi and Sig could not replace the mother and father they lost, but perhaps they could parent them all the same.

Notes:

happy october 3rd!!!!! I had this fic in the works for a while and then I realized I could potentially finish it on time for fma day, so I started working on it much more in earnest. I got covid last week, so if the last couple scenes feel off, don't worry about it. the curtis-elric family is everything to me, I love how much they care about each other :') also, thank you to my friend birb for giving me so many good ideas for this fic!!!!

this is in the same modern au as my other fic, Should You Want To Stick Around (you know where I am found) which is also a found family fic, but about ling and greed instead. you don't have to read it for this fic, but it does give some context for the scene with greed

the title is from Welcome To The Family by Watsky because so help me god, I will associate that song with found family in every fandom I'm in

It was Sig who suggested the idea of fostering. He had been the one to sit down with Izumi and take her hands in his own and remind her how much they had both wanted to be parents. They might not be able to have children of their own, but perhaps they could still care for children that needed it. Izumi had been trepidatious, but she couldn’t deny he made a good argument. 

She wasn’t sure what to make of the Elric boys when she met them. She had read their file, of course. Their father had been absent since they were quite young, and their mother had died not long after the last time they saw their father. They had been taken in by a family friend, but there was only so much one old woman could do when also attempting to care for her own orphaned granddaughter. 

Izumi got the impression that the Elrics’ brief time in foster care thus far had not been easy. She could have strangled their social worker herself for the dismissiveness with which their case was treated. They had been described as a troublesome case that not many foster families had been willing to stick with for long, what with the younger brother’s complaints of undiagnosed chronic pain, and the elder Elric’s prosthetic leg and insistence on being a boy, regardless of what the birth certificate said. As if any of that could scare her off.

When the Elrics were delivered to her doorstep, they already had the looks of children who had been through more than any child should be. Alphonse hung back, wariness in his eyes as he flicked his gaze between the Curtises and his brother. His elder brother stood in front of him protectively, standing as tall as his diminutive frame would allow and glaring at Izumi like he expected her to kick them out before they’d even stepped through the door. 

“I take it you’re Alphonse,” Izumi said to the boy attempting to subtly support himself on her porch bannister. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, nodding politely. His gaze flicked over to his still scowling brother.  “Be nice, Ed,” he hissed. 

“Is your name Ed?” she asked the glowering child. His file hadn’t contained his preferred name, giving her yet another reason to throttle their social worker next she saw them. His eyes narrowed.

“It’s Edward,” he said, throwing the challenge down at her feet. Undaunted, she nodded.

“Alright, Edward. My name is Izumi Curtis. This is my husband, Sig.” She gestured to Sig over her shoulder, ignoring the way Edward’s eyes widened when she used his name unflinchingly. “He’ll help you carry your things up to your room.”

Both boys exchanged a wide-eyed look, but she turned her back and stepped away to allow them space to follow Sig up to their room. 

In the weeks that followed, she learned more about the Elric brothers. Edward was just as foul-tempered and irritable as his first impression had told her, easily insulted and quick to argue even when he knew it was a bad idea. Alphonse was the more polite and mild-mannered of the two, but he had a smart mouth, particularly aimed at his brother. It was immediately evident that they were both smart as a whip and fiercely loyal to each other, traits that she respected. They were also stubbornly self-sufficient, and it pained her to think of why exactly they would have learned to take care of themselves on their own so young.

She had no intentions of replacing the role of their mother, and she knew they didn’t think of her as such. Once they realized she wasn’t going to throw them out at the first sign of trouble, however, they came to at least view her and Sig with respect, and she was happy with that.

That didn’t mean she went easy on them, though. 

“Boys,” she yelled, hanging up the phone and striding into the living room. Both Elrics tensed up where they were sitting around the coffee table, looking guilty even though they didn’t know what for. “Care to tell me why your school called to inform me that neither of you have been paying attention in your English classes? And why this is apparently your third strike?”

Both of them widened their eyes, but Ed was the first to snap, “Because it’s boring as hell, that’s why.” He turned back to his math homework, and Izumi crossed her arms.

“I don’t care if it’s the dullest thing in the world, young man. I still expect you to pay attention in your classes,” she said sternly.

“But,” Alphonse piped up, tone defensive, “We’re still getting good grades. Isn’t that good enough?”

“Being smart and being respectful are two different things. I expect you to be both.” She glared down at him, and he shrank away. “It is disrespectful to your teacher and to your fellow students who are actually trying to learn.” Al looked sufficiently chastised, but Ed still had his head turned away and muttered something derisively to himself. “What was that, Edward?”

“I said, what’s the use of those classes?” he shouted, looking back up at her with fire in his eyes. “What good are grammar lessons? When has anyone been helped by learning cursive? Understanding what a simile is didn’t help our mom in the hospi-” He cut himself off with a choked noise and turned away again.

Izumi felt like she’d been punched in the gut. “Boys… Is that what this is about?” she asked, voice soft. Al looked up at her and then away, his eyes not sure where to land. Ed just stared down at his math worksheet, as if trying to will his bottom lip to stop shaking. She sat down heavily on the couch behind them. 

“Ms. Izumi…” Al said after a long silence. He wrung his pencil in his hands. “The reason brother and I haven’t been paying attention in our classes… The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with mom in time. Ed and I thought we should try to get as far ahead in science as we could, maybe we can learn what made her so sick, and… maybe we could keep it from happening again to someone else.”

Izumi sunk her face into her hands. Oh, how could she begrudge them that. She remembered, vividly, how distraught she had been that her doctors had not caught the complications in her pregnancy on time. How furious the lack of knowledge had made her. That these young boys might have gone through something similar… 

“That’s very noble, Alphonse,” she finally said, lifting her head. “But you still need to pay attention in your classes.” Al’s face shattered, and Ed looked distinctly like he wanted to shatter something else. “But… perhaps we can come to a compromise.” Both of them looked up at her, hopeful. “If you both promise to pay attention in your classes, I will find you some more advanced science textbooks, and I’ll start teaching you myself.”

The hope sparkling on their faces was excruciating. “You’ll teach us?” Al asked, while his brother furiously scrubbed the tears out of his eyes. 

“Of course.” She crossed her arms and sat back, summoning a smile for their sakes. “I do have a PhD in biochemistry, after all.”

“Wow.” Al looked at her like she might as well have said she knew all the secrets of the universe. “Hear that, brother? She can teach us!”

“Of course I heard her, idiot.” Ed sniffled loudly and kicked at his brother under the table with his prosthetic. “I’m not stupid.”

Al screwed his face up and threw his pencil at him. “No need to be mean about it.”

Izumi knew where this was going, and she snatched up one of their soft workbooks to thwack them both over the head before they could get too worked up. “Behave yourselves. I mean it. I expect not to receive any more calls from your school about you, am I clear?” Both of them nodded, rubbing the tops of their heads. She stood and nodded decisively. “Good. Now, finish your homework soon. I’m going to get to work on dinner, and I don’t want to hear anymore fighting, got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” they dutifully answered.

She didn’t receive another call from their schools about not paying attention in class after that.

 

–

 

Sig understood why the boys didn’t latch onto him as easily as they did Izumi. It wasn’t like they’d had a stable male figure in their lives before, and he couldn’t blame them for being closer to Izumi than him. It would take them time to realize he wasn’t going anywhere, and in the meantime, all he could do was show them that he cared for them and provide a steady presence in their lives.

Izumi and Al were gone for the day, visiting a specialist that might be able to treat what was shaping up to look like juvenile arthritis. They had offered to bring Ed with them, but he’d griped about the idea of sitting in a waiting room for hours, and he’d turned down the offer to get dropped off at the Rockbells’ to at least spend the day with a friend. He wasn’t in the mood, he said and didn’t elaborate. So, he was left to spend the afternoon helping Sig at the shop. 

“Helping” was generous. He was mostly sitting on a stool behind the counter, nose buried in a book and blocking everything else out. Sig was ringing up a customer when he tried to nudge Ed back to reality. “Ed, can you grab more rib chops from the back?” he asked, grabbing the last couple from the display for their customer. He had his back to the boy, so a soft grunt was all that told him that Ed had gotten up at all. 

Sig finished ringing the customer up, and a few long seconds passed before he realized Ed was taking a long time to return from the freezer. He turned, slightly concerned, and called out, “Edward?” 

“Coming!” Ed called out, alleviating some of the concern. A moment later, he emerged into the main shop, limping along with the meat in his arms.

That gave Sig pause. Ed normally had a bit of a limp, that was normal considering he had a prosthetic. What wasn’t normal was how much he was limping. Normally, he was fairly balanced on both feet, sometimes even putting more weight on the prosthetic since that foot didn’t get tired. Today, though, he was favoring the prosthetic greatly, leaning much more weight on his right leg and moving his left as little as possible. Not only that, but Sig finally noticed that the pinch in his brow that he’d had all afternoon was not irritability, like Sig had assumed, but rather the slight strain of pain on his face. 

“Ed,” Sig said, frowning down at the boy. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Ed stubbornly insisted. He shoved the rib chops in the chiller, creating a rather sloppy display. “They go here, right?”

“Is your leg-”

“I said I’m fine!” Ed snapped, cutting off Sig’s line of questioning with a scowl. He turned back to his stool, but stopped when he realized he’d have to climb and maneuver his way onto it again. He shifted direction and instead grabbed a nearby broom, acting as though he was being helpful by sweeping the shop and not leaning most of his weight on the broom like a crutch. 

Sig sighed. This would take a delicate touch. He was no stranger to this kind of prideful behavior; Izumi was just as bad about powering through the pain when she really should be on bedrest. “Ed,” he said as gently as possible. “There’s nothing wrong with being in pain.”

“Who said I-” Ed’s tirade was cut off by a waved hand and a stern look. 

“Do you look down on your brother when his joints ache?” Sig asked, voice firm. “Or Izumi when she’s bedridden?”

“No,” Ed said after a long moment, looking rather stricken at the thought.

“Does it make them weak?”

“Of course not.” Ed shook his head, voice slightly firmer.

“Izumi and I are here to help you boys,” Sig softened his tone, “But we can’t do that unless you tell us what’s wrong. So, what’s wrong?”

Ed stared down at his feet for a long time before finally mumbling, “My leg hurts.”

“Can I take a look at it?” Ed nodded and allowed Sig to scoop him up by the armpits and place him on the stool again. Ed pulled up the cuff of his shorts and showed him where the prosthetic fit onto his thigh, which was red and inflamed. Sig touched it with gentle fingers, but Ed still hissed in pain. “How long has it been hurting?”

Ed shrugged. “I’ve been trying to ignore it,” he said, sounding slightly guilty.

“It looks like it’s not fitting properly. You’re getting too big for it.”

Ed blinked, then glee lit up his whole face. “I’m getting bigger?” he asked, his demeanor entirely flipped by excitement. 

“Congrats on the growth spurt, kid.” Sig ruffled his hair, making Ed duck his head even though he was grinning wildly. “We should meet up with your doctor and get you refit for another leg, but until then, you should probably take this one off.”

Ed let Sig help him take the leg off, but he protested, saying, “I can’t help you in the shop if I can’t walk around!”

“You weren’t helping much to begin with,” Sig countered, making Ed huff. “How good are you with numbers?” Ed just snorted. Sig knew his math scores were incredible, so he took that answer. “How about with customers?” That soured the pride off Ed’s face. Sig scooted the stool until Ed was behind the cash register. “Your customer service training starts now.”

Ed didn’t mention his leg again when Al and Izumi returned, instead choosing to focus on asking Al how it went with the rheumatologist, but when they left the shop, Ed took Sig’s offer of a piggy-back ride without protest. Sig would count that as progress.

 

–

 

Izumi was used to sleepless nights. She’d had them for years, though it had only gotten worse after her pregnancy. Some nights, she would wake up in the middle of the night and know she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep for at least another hour, so she might as well get up and make some tea or do some housework until her body decided it was ready for sleep again. 

What she was not used to, however, was shuffling downstairs after midnight to find a light already on in the living room. 

“Alphonse?” she said, voice low with sleep as she approached the couch. Al jumped, as if he hadn’t been aware she was there, and immediately looked guilty.

“Ms. Izumi! I didn’t wake you up, did I?” he asked. She wasn’t sure how he could’ve woken her up; he had been silent as stone, staring out the window with a pensive look on his face until she’d alerted him to her presence.

“No, I was already awake,” she reassured him. “I was going to make some tea. Do you want some?” Al hesitated, then nodded. A few minutes later, and then she was sitting herself beside him on the couch, two mugs of chamomile in hand. Al took his from her with a mumbled “thank you,” and they sat there in silence for a while, sipping their tea. 

Izumi took a moment to examine Al out of the corner of her eye. Technically, the boys had a bedtime, though it was mostly just a lights out rule so they wouldn’t stay up til dawn reading. She might have suspected Al of sneaking downstairs to take advantage of everyone else’s sleep to keep reading whatever novel he’d fixated on this week, but there wasn’t a book on the coffee table or anywhere in reach. 

“So,” she finally said, taking a long sip of her tea, “Why are you awake so late?”

Al cringed and avoided her gaze. “Am I in trouble?”

“That depends. Were you doing something you shouldn’t, or are you just up past your bedtime? If it’s the latter, I think the lack of sleep will be punishment enough.”

Al sighed, curling up in the corner slightly so he could tuck up his knees and hold his mug close to his face. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

Izumi nodded. She could understand the experience. “Was it a nightmare?” Al nodded. “Are you willing to talk about it?”

Al stared into the depths of his tea. “It was about mom,” he mumbled, barely audible. Izumi’s heart squeezed painfully. “It wasn’t even that bad, but I can never fall asleep after dreams like that.”

“It’s hard to sleep when you’re remembering something painful,” she said, but Al shook his head.

“It’s not just that. It’s-” He cut himself off with a shaky breath. “I was asleep when mom died. It happened overnight. I get scared that- that while I’m sleeping, my brother will stop breathing just like mom did, or you and Mr. Sig-” A pitiful hiccuping sound escaped him, and all of Izumi’s maternal instincts took over. 

When she pulled him into her arms, he went easily. Between the two of them, Ed was the one who got all awkward about physical comfort, but Al leaned into it with the hunger of a flower reaching for sunlight. Izumi carefully made sure their tea wasn’t in danger of spilling and wrapped both arms around him, letting him curl up against her and weep. She couldn’t heal the wounds left by his mother’s death, but she could at least rub a hand up and down his back and gently shush his tears. 

“Sig and I aren’t going anywhere,” she said once his weeping had died down to soft sniffles. “I promise you that. Edward isn’t going anywhere either.” She ran a hand through his short hair and held him close. “I’m usually awake at night anyway, so the next time this happens, just come get me, alright?” She tilted his face up and made sure his eyes met hers. “You boys don’t have to suffer alone anymore.”

Al’s lip wobbled and his eyes filled with tears again. He didn’t say anything, just curled back up against her and cried again. Izumi pulled an arm away only to pull a blanket off the back of the couch and around them, then held him tightly and let him cry it out.

When Sig gently prodded her awake the next morning, she woke to a crick in her neck and a sound asleep Alphonse curled up on top of her. It was not the most comfortable night of sleep, but Al’s groggy face when she shook him awake made it at least partially worth it.

 

–

 

No matter how long she had been their foster mother, the boys never failed to surprise her. So far, the biggest surprise had been discovering that Alphonse had been hiding a stray kitten in his closet for a month before anyone realized it, but she had a feeling that their teenage years were only going to come with more surprises.

Case in point: the incredible ruckus coming from Ed’s room one afternoon, distracting her from a perfectly good book. She had no idea what the boy could be up to; usually, the easy explanation was that he and Al had gotten into a petty fight, but Al was out running errands with Sig. Either Ed was up there yelling at no one, or he had some questions he needed to answer. 

“Edward!” She pounded on his door, interrupting the incoherent hollering. “What’s going on in there?”

The room fell silent for a beat, then she heard Ed loudly hissing, “Fucking get out alrea- AUGH!” There were two shouts and what sounded suspiciously like a crash in the front yard.

Alarmed, Izumi pushed the door open and found Ed’s room empty. The window was conspicuously open. She looked out of it and found Ed and another teenager wearing a bright yellow jacket in a heap in her shrubbery. “Care to explain what the hell is happening?” she yelled down at them.

The teenager she didn’t know gave her a bright grin like she hadn’t just interrupted an attempted home invasion. “Hello! You must be Mrs. Curtis!” Any other friendly greeting was cut off by Ed growling and starting a childish slap fight. 

Izumi sighed and laid her forehead on the windowsill. The two teenagers were still wrestling in her azaleas when she walked outside, though Ed had the wherewithal to look mildly guilty when she turned her glare on him. “Who is this?” she asked, pointing at the kid in yellow.

“He’s a jackass is what he is.” Ed glowered at both of them.

“Oh, you wound me, Edward!” The kid put a hand to his chest and threw his head back dramatically, bonking it against the wall accidentally with a grunt of annoyance. “Literally, see?” Ed snickered while the apparent jackass pulled himself out of the bushes. “I’m Ling Yao, Ed’s friend.”

“Ed’s friend, huh?” Izumi shook his hand harder than was strictly necessary, and she was impressed when he did not flinch. Despite being a pretty outgoing kid, Ed had never really made many friends in the time since she’d known him. He was incredibly close with his brother, and Winry was close enough to be like a sister to him, but his prickly attitude tended to turn off most kids his age. Ling openly proclaiming to be his friend was a pleasant change of pace, though she’d prefer it if Ed’s friends didn’t try to climb in through his second story window.

“Yep!” Ling gave her a winning smile. “It’s nice to finally meet Ed’s mother. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Foster mother,” Ed muttered, brushing dirt off his legs as he got out of the bushes. 

“You’re probably confusing me with Trisha, his actual mother,” Izumi added, smiling politely. Ling tilted his head, expression quizzical.

“No. Izumi Curtis, right? That’s who I’m thinking of.” Ling turned to look at Ed, catching him off guard. “What does ‘foster mother’ matter when she’s the one who’s raising you?”

Neither Ed nor Izumi knew how to respond to that. Ed glanced over at her and made brief eye contact, then looked away, visibly embarrassed. Izumi took that as a sign she should change the subject, and she cleared her throat. “Well, if you wanted to flatter me, you should have done that before you tried to break and enter.”

Ling laughed, rolling with the subject change with ease. “Oh, I wasn’t breaking and entering! I was hoping Edward could help me with my chemistry homework.”

“That’s what this is about?” Ed exclaimed, exasperated. “Couldn’t you have just texted me like a normal person?”

“But where’s the fun in that?” 

“If you two want to study,” Izumi said before they could start bickering again, “You can do it at the dining room table. Just no more scaling my walls, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Ling grinned at her and followed a grumbling Edward back inside. 

Ling became a welcome fixture in their lives through Ed after that. He visited frequently, whether under the guise of studying together or to play a new game on his Switch or simply because he was bored and wanted to bother Edward. Ed huffed and complained about being bothered, but she knew him at this point; the grumpiness was mostly for show. Izumi wasn’t going to turn away the first genuine friend his age he’d made since he was a toddler, and she took a fondness to Ling too. He might bring out a rambunctious side to Ed, but it was nice to see Ed acting like a normal teenager, and Ling was always friendly and polite to her and Sig. They invited him to stay for dinner once and quickly learned that he had a bottomless stomach, but more importantly, he let slip that dinners were tense and uncomfortable at his own home. They made a point to make extra food and invite him over for dinner more often after that.

Ling did make it a habit to come to their front door most of the time, but after some time, she caught him climbing in through Ed’s window again. This time, she didn’t startle them to the ground, and the next morning, when she mentioned seeing Ling clinging to his windowsill the night prior, Ed went so red she was concerned he might pass out. She didn’t mention Ling’s visits through the window again, if only to prevent Ed from having a premature heart attack.

 

–

 

Izumi was in the middle of preparing dinner when she heard the front door open. “Alphonse, is that you?” she called out. “Come here and help me with the brisket.” 

A silence answered her. She frowned and turned off the stove to walk out into the entryway. Al was standing there, door still open behind him, staring vacantly at his feet.

“Alphonse?” she said, concern coloring her tone. “You’re letting all the heat out.” Al shook to awareness and shut the door, mumbling an apology. He slid his shoes off and put them on the shoe rack, putting his cane away in the umbrella holder. His movements were sluggish, his mind clearly elsewhere. Izumi frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

Al chewed on his lip, still staring down at his feet. There might have once been a time where he would’ve deflected, but he knew she wouldn’t take anything other than an honest answer at this point. “I think I saw dad,” he said, finally lifting his gaze to meet hers. 

Izumi’s eyes widened. She ushered him over to sit at the dining table, focused intently on him. “You saw your father? Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure.” Al took a shaky breath, kicking at the ground with a socked foot. “I don’t really remember him, but I’ve seen pictures. He looks a lot like Ed,” he added with a flat, humorless laugh.

“Did he see you?” She had never met Van Hohenheim, but she would like to give him a piece of her mind after everything his sons had gone through. Al shook his head, wiping at one of his eyes.

“No, I saw him from the bus. There’s no way he would’ve seen me.” Al’s lip wobbled dangerously. “It’s just weird knowing he’s back in town, and we haven’t… he hasn’t tried to reach out.”

Izumi crossed her arms and sat back. “Would you want him to?” She knew Ed’s thoughts on the matter; he cursed the man’s name every time he came up, and he refused to claim him as a father. Al, however, tended to have more restraint. She wasn’t sure how he felt about their father.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s not like I ever really knew him. I’ve been with you and Sig for twice as long as he was ever in my life. It’s just… I wish I could get to know my dad, you know?” He looked up at her with big, tear-filled eyes. “I wish he cared enough to get to know us.”

“Oh, Al.” Izumi sighed and unfolded her arms. “Come here, you big baby.” He leaned into the hug with no hesitation, weeping gently against her. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. As many gray hairs as you two give me-” She smiled at the wet laugh that earned her, “I wouldn’t give up a single minute of the time I’ve spent getting to know you and your brother. If he doesn’t realize how much you boys are worth, that’s his problem.” She combed her fingers through the hair at the back of his head. “If someday he sees reason and realizes he wants a place in your life, it’s up to you whether you let him in. Okay? It’s because of his failings that he doesn’t know you, not the other way around.”

Al squeezed her a little tighter and nodded. “Thank you. For being here. You and Sig.” He leaned back and wiped at his eyes. “It means a lot. I know my brother doesn’t say it very often, but it means a lot to him too.”

Izumi’s heart ached terribly at that. “Of course,” she said, trying to brush it off. “Where else would we be? Keeping you boys around means I get more help around the house. And on that note, I need to finish dinner.” She stood and gestured to the bathroom. “Go wash yourself up, then come help me with the brisket.”

Al nodded and stood shakily. He went to the bathroom, but not before surprising her with one more quick hug, too fast for her to even hug back.

God, those boys were going to be the death of her someday.

 

–

 

“I really can’t keep letting you kids hang out in here. You’re gonna get me in trouble.”

“Okay, then kick me out,” Ed challenged, making Greed scoff. Really, for all Greed’s complaints, he was the one who didn’t turn Ed away when he rolled up at the Devil’s Nest’s door half an hour before closing. If he didn’t want kids in his bar, then he shouldn’t have poured him a glass of orange juice and let him take a seat. 

“If I kicked you out, you’d just find a way to sneak in through the back. Or you’d find someone else to harass. It’s much easier to keep you out of trouble this way,” Greed said, closing out a patron’s tab. Most of the late stragglers were making their exits and Greed had let the rest of his staff go home early since it was a slow night, which meant the bar was already mostly empty when Ed showed up. “What I don’t understand is why you chose to come here of all places.”

“Where else would I go?” Ed frowned and propped his chin up on his arms folded on the counter. “Ling’s out of town. Winry would tell me I’m being stupid and make me go home.”

Greed sent him a smirk. “So you’ve done something stupid, huh?”

“None of your business,” Ed snapped. Greed groaned.

“Come on, kid. You think I want to be getting involved in your personal problems? Your options are either tell me what the hell is going on, or you sit here and pout until I turn out the lights and kick you onto the curb. Your choice.” Greed popped one of the olive garnishes in his mouth as he cleaned up behind the bar, as if he didn’t care one way or the other.

Ed scowled at Greed silently for long enough that it seemed he might be choosing the second option. “I got into a fight with Izumi,” he finally bit out. Greed looked over at him, interest piqued.

“Really? Your foster mom, right? What about? Something juicy?”

“She’s trying to control my life,” Ed said with a grimace.

“Details, Elric, c’mon. That could mean a lot of things. She say you couldn’t get a tattoo or something?”

“No! I’m not that petty.” Ed stuck his tongue out when Greed raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. “She- Ugh, quit looking at me like that! She’s mad about the Lan Fan thing.”

Greed slowed down cleaning up the bar, giving Ed more of his attention. “Yeah? I think that’s pretty understandable.”

“I mean, yeah, it sucks that happened to Lan Fan, but that doesn’t mean she has any right to tell us to stop trying to get to the bottom of why she was shot in the first place!” Ed threw his hands up in the air, getting worked up. Greed sighed and went back to wiping down glasses.

“Can’t say I blame her, shortstack. I think you and I both know that’s dangerous shit you’re messing with.” Greed tilted his hand to indicate his tattoo.

“That’s what I mean, though! You expect me to act normal when I know there’s shady shit going on underneath my nose?”

“I didn’t say that. I don’t expect you to act normal ever,” Greed teased, though he went back to being serious pretty quickly. “I’m just saying, I get why she wouldn’t want you messing around with that stuff. She doesn’t want her kid getting hurt.”

“Why does she care? It’s not like I’m her actual kid.” Ed crossed his arms petulantly. 

“Aren’t you?” Greed’s gaze was suddenly alarmingly sharp.

“She just takes care of us ‘cause the foster system dumped us on her,” Ed insisted, scowling. “She’s not my actual mom.”

“What the hell does ‘actual mom’ even mean?” Greed leaned against the bar behind him. “Granted, I never had a mother figure, but she sure seems to be doing mom duties. She’s raised you for years now, feeds you and puts clothes on your back, generally takes care of you. I haven’t had nearly enough opportunities to talk to the lady, but considering she threatened to break all my bones when you came to pick up Lan Fan, I get the feeling she cares about you. That sounds like a mom to me.”

“But,” Ed faltered, feeling young and foolish, which was one of his least favorite feelings, “I already had a mom.”

“And?” When Ed didn’t have an adequate response to that, Greed sighed and gently thwacked Ed on the head with the cloth he’d been using to wipe down the counters. “Who said it had to be one or the other? Why can’t you have two moms?”

“Of course you would want more.” Ed huffed. Greed just smirked and shrugged.

“What can I say? Gotta live up to the name.” He went back to cleaning, some of the tension gone. “I’m just saying, I might not know much about having a mom, but I do know about shitty families. It seems like you’ve got a pretty good thing going with your foster parents.” He then scrunched his nose as a thought occurred to him. “Also, if you ran away from home, I’m your only adult relative that isn’t completely fucking nuts, and I’d rather avoid the pressure of having to raise a teenager.”

“I could tough it on my own!” Ed argued. “I can take care of myself!”

“Yeah, but then I’d have it on my conscience that I didn’t offer you a place to stay,” Greed said, sounding like it was the same level of mild inconvenience as having to take the trash out. The door jingled as someone came in, and Greed glanced over. “Hey, sorry big guy, but we’ve already done last call.”

Ed looked over at who’d just walked in and groaned, laying his head on the counter. “Go away, Sig.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Greed straighten up, squaring his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight. “You heard the kid,” he said, a protective edge to his tone.

“Ed,” Sig said, ignoring Greed’s posturing. “Izumi and I have been worried sick.”

Ed scowled half-heartedly at him from his position laid on the counter, then sighed and picked his head up to wave a hand at Greed to get him to back down. Greed glanced at the two of them, then retreated to close up the register, still clearly watching the two of them out of the corner of his eye. “Are you here to drag me home kicking and screaming?” Ed asked, pouting.

“Ideally without the kicking and screaming.” Sig took a seat next to him. Ed refused to look directly at him, not wanting to deal with the tenderness that he knew was probably in his eyes. “You can’t just run off like that. Izumi and I have been all over town looking for you.”

“Yeah, well,” Ed huffed. “You shouldn’t have bothered if it’s so much trouble. Just cut me loose, leave me to my own devices. It would save you a lot of headaches in the long run.”

“Do you really think we would do that? Edward,” Sig laid a heavy hand on Ed’s shoulder, forcing him to look up at him. “You’ve been with us for years now, and you still think we’d just leave you?”

Ed faltered, eyes slightly wide. “I mean- I wouldn’t blame you if you did. It’s not like I make it easy on you guys. And I don’t intend to!” He tried to summon his usual bravado. “You guys just take care of us ‘cause you have to or else the foster system will come down on your ass. But you could just lie. I can make it on my own without you guys breathing down my neck, and you wouldn’t have to worry about me causing problems for you anymore. Everybody wins.”

“You’d really leave Alphonse behind like that?” Sig asked, immediately going for Ed’s weakness. Dammit. No, he wouldn’t. He was hoping he could convince Al to run off with him too. As if he knew exactly what Ed was thinking, Sig added, “He’s the one who told us where we could probably find you.” 

Ed grimaced. Snitch. He was going to strangle his beloved baby brother for that. 

“Ed, we don’t care how much trouble you cause,” Sig insisted, softening his tone. “We don’t just take care of you because we have to. I’m surprised you still think that. Izumi and I will have to have a talk.” He lifted his hand from Ed’s shoulder to rest on the back of his head instead, and Ed hated how comforting it was. “You’re not going to get us to give up on you just by acting out. This might be hard to believe, but we want you around. Which is why Izumi wants you to be safe out there. Alright? We don’t want to lose another kid,” he added, sadness in his voice.

A lump the size of a golf ball lodged itself in Ed’s throat. He ducked his head and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Sig ruffled Ed’s hair, messing up his braid.

“Now, are you going to stop being an idiot and come home?” Sig asked, and Ed winced.

“Izumi’s gonna be furious with me, isn’t she?” Ed said with a grimace.

“She already is. You can expect to be grounded for a long time for this.” Sig’s expression might seem stern to an outside observer, but Ed could see the humor in his eyes. “But maybe I can convince her to shave off a few days.”

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice.” Ed sighed and slid off his barstool, slapping a hand on the counter. “Greed! Put this on my tab,” he said, pointing to his empty glass of juice.

“I don’t care if you’re joking, you will have to pay that tab at some point,” Greed said, taking the glass. He gave Ed a wave and winked at Sig on their way out. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Izumi was, as predicted, absolutely irate when he got home, and he was grounded harder than he’d ever been. In between shouting about him being an idiot, though, she hugged him so tightly he thought his bones might break, and Ed could feel what she wasn’t saying.

 

–

 

“Edward! Alphonse! Come here for a minute.”

Al tensed up in the middle of his math homework, exchanging a nervous glance with his brother. Were they in trouble for something? They hadn’t even done anything recently, or at least nothing worse than usual. 

They cautiously entered the dining room and found Izumi and Sig sitting at one end of the table, official looking papers in front of them. 

“Sit,” Izumi told them, so they did. Ed crossed his arms and his flesh leg immediately started bouncing nervously. Al resisted the urge to do the same. Izumi gave them both a stern look that gave nothing away. “Sig and I have been doing some talking lately. You boys have been with us for almost nine years now. It won’t be long until Edward ages out of the foster system, and Al, you won’t be far behind him. With that in mind, we thought it was time we did this.”

She slid the paperwork down the table to them, and all their breath left both of them. “Are these…?” Ed started, staring down at them with wide eyes. 

“Adoption papers?” Al finished for him. He picked up one of the papers, scanning it like it might reveal itself to be something else in the fine print. Ed kept his arms crossed and didn’t touch the papers, as if scared they might bite him somehow.

“The choice is ultimately up to you two,” Sig said. “If you’d rather cut ties and go out on your own when you turn eighteen, we won’t stop you. But Izumi and I have considered you both our own for years now. We thought it was about time we made that official.”

“Are you sure about this?” Al looked up from the papers, feeling slightly light headed.

“Of course we’re sure,” Izumi snapped. Al noticed she had crossed her arms in the same way Ed had, both of them white knuckled with nerves. “We wouldn’t have done this if we weren’t sure.”

“Do we…” Ed spoke up, still staring at the paperwork like he couldn’t believe they were real. “Would we have to change our last names?” 

Something in Izumi’s eyes softened. “Of course not. We wouldn’t make you do that. You can stay Elrics.”

“Though we might be able to speed up legally changing your first name this way,” Sig added. Izumi nodded.

“We’ll have to ask the adoption lawyer about that.” Izumi drummed her fingers on her upper arm. “You don’t have to decide now, of course. We just thought you should know it’s an option. We don’t intend on abandoning you boys.”

Al’s heart ached. He took a deep breath and set down the paper he’d been reading. “I think… I don’t want to speak for my brother, but…” He bit his lip. “I think this is what mom would’ve wanted.” Ed looked up at him, and Al held eye contact. “She would’ve wanted us to be taken care of, brother. This would’ve made her happy.”

A wave of emotions went across Ed’s face at that. “Yeah,” he managed to croak out, voice wobbly. “Yeah, it would’ve. Fucking hell,” he added with a mutter, wiping at his eyes with the heel of his hand. 

“Language, Edward,” Sig said, though without any heat.

“Are you crying?” Al asked, a smile curling on his face.

“No,” Ed said wetly.

“You are! I thought I was supposed to be the crybaby here,” Al teased, delighted. 

“Shut up!” Ed kicked at him under the table, making Al yelp.

“Rude! With your metal leg?!” Al kicked back, aiming for his fleshy leg. 

“Boys!” Izumi’s commanding voice cut them off before they could start fighting in earnest. They both cringed and turned their attention back on her. “Does that mean you say yes?”

They glanced at each other, and Al nodded. Ed sat up straighter. “If you’re sure you’re not going to regret this,” he said, doing his best to sound like he didn’t have tears on his chin.

“There’s nothing you could do to make us regret this,” Sig said, and Izumi nodded. Ed grinned.

“Then pass me a pen.”

Notes:

can you tell that scene where she hugs them and says it's okay to be hurting and they just apologize over and over changed me as a person? yeah.

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Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of FMA Modern AU