For Her. For Him.

A/N: I'm working on the names. Honestly, I figure they'll change their minds because of Gracia and Elysia more than anything. (Which had been my plan if I didn't stick with Riza and Maes). Anywho, thanks for the reviews, glad you're enjoying, despite the fact that this thing has been Lemon-free, though I promise won't always be. Sorry last chapter was short. Took me FOREVER to write because I wasn't sure how to deal with a mother-figure Ed and Wrath. Other Chapter is half done, so it should be up soon.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't profit.

Chapter 13

Caught

There had been little time for Roy to call Ed again before moving westward to Kishua, supposedly the place of Scar’s hideout. Two weeks had passed since the last phone call. In that time, Roy had managed to halt a massacre of the Ishbalans at the hands of his own troops, discovered where Scar had been staying, and uncovered some less-than-promising leads on where the murderer of countless state alchemists had moved on to. Finally, though, the colonel was able to travel eastward and would be on a train home by the next morning.

Though Roy’s leadership had never wavered, when Roy had heard word that Major Armstrong had been sent to detain a possible witness to the recent uprising in Central and that said witness was in Dublith, Roy had grown worried for the young alchemists staying there. It never failed that when disaster struck or trouble occurred, Ed and Al were involved--Ed more so than Al. However, if Roy had had any idea what was really going on in Duluth, he may have pulled his troops out and tried to come to Ed’s rescue.

In those two weeks, Ed had become closer to the boy, begrudgingly accepting the boy’s affection, which neared that showered on Izumi. Over and over, the child had asked Ed if he really meant it when he promised to make him whole, and just as many times, Ed repeated that he had. Feeling that he was no longer a mere student to Izumi, who had confessed her own attempt at human transmutation weeks before, Ed had confronted her about her attachment to the boy and heard her own tale of the gate, offering up the transmuted baby to it and suddenly finding him grown up on Yock Island weeks ago. She had then explained that homunculus are not usually created because they are the goal of those creating them. They are born because an alchemist has attempted a human transmutation.

Trying to recover from his own shock and questions of his attempt at resurrecting his mother, Ed had realized that the boy, who seemed to be slowly recovering some memories, might very well realize the truth on his own and have no context with which to help ease his anger, an emotion the child had in proportions far larger than even Ed’s own. After talking with Izumi and Al, who was finally allowed in on the “adult” conversations, Izumi had reluctantly agreed, but was afraid of what the child’s reaction might be. Ed had seen in her face that she had prepared for the worst of all possible actions on her own part, having to destroy the child, but had never anticipated having to tell him the truth of his formation.

His reaction had been what all had expected: furious and hurt. He had tried to fight them and ran away, right into the arms of Lieutenant Colonel Archer and Major Armstrong. It had taken a melee battle royale to recover the boy, with Ed and Al trying not to appear to have taken Izumi’s side as they fought, with Archer and Armstrong standing no chance against a furious teacher, with chimeras including Shou Tucker and a former state alchemist fighting for an unknown leader and personal gain, and with the Fuhrer appearing to have taken the boy at the last moment.

Now, the group had recovered the boy, noting that his skin coloring and eyes had changed. Reaching Yock Island, the only place they thought they might find sufficient cover, the boy looked up and spoke his first words since the assault on the south headquarters.

“The one called Envy finally gave me a name.” Ed looked down at the boy. “He called me Wrath. I think he’s right.” The boy’s eyes narrowed on Izumi. “I can never forgive you for what you did. How dare you create me then abandon me to the gate? Do you have any idea the hell that is on the other side of that thing?” Izumi tried to approach him, to comfort him. “Don’t come near me!” He turned to Ed. “And you. You gave me a taste of what it feels like to be human, but only that, a taste. Your arm and leg only remind me of what I’m not.”

“What did Envy do to you?” Ed stepped toward the boy, surprised that he had not received the same command Izumi had.

“He told me that if I took your whole body, made it mine, I’d feel human. He told me everything about the gate, everything about how a homunculus is created, how I was created.” Ed looked at the boy strangely. “He told me everything you wouldn’t. And he fed me red stones, telling me as I ate that they were made from dead humans, but I couldn’t stop. I am so much more powerful now, more powerful than you. I could have been killed before, but now, there is nothing you can do. You’ve missed any chance you had at killing me and getting your limbs back.”

Ed moved closer still, drawn to Wrath. The moment he made the move closer, the boy leapt from the ground and punched Ed in the face, screaming, “You made me know I’m not human, and it hurts more than you can even imagine. You tried to play God just like her.” Then, in a lower voice, the boy said, “Will you keep your promise to me?”
As Ed struggled to fight back, he couldn’t help but look confused.

“You bastard!” the kid screamed, moving behind Ed, never taking what could have been a fatal shot at the teen. “Will you keep the promise knowing I have those stones inside of me, and I knew how they were created?”

Finally, the teen alchemist was catching on, approaching this as a spar that had to look good. “If you don’t hit me in the gut,” he said, quietly, “I might." He scanned the horizon for other homunculi. "Where are they?”

“Just beyond the bushes, I think.” Ed met the boy blow for blow, and seeing that Wrath never once made a move at Ed’s stomach, he felt that he could trust him. “I hate you!” Wrath shouted loudly. “I think I might mean that,” he said more quietly, “but you’re the best I’ve got. If I could be human with a whole body, I could have taken Al’s on the other side. Envy lied to me, and I don’t like being lied to. Besides, you need to keep that promise if you want these back.” Wrath gestured to the arm and leg before hitting Ed in his automail arm.

Ed couldn’t signal Al or Izumi not to get involved, and before he knew it, the three had Wrath surrounded. As Ed made a move to strike Wrath again, Izumi clapped and placed her hands on the ground, creating a deep ravine. With the barrier between them, Wrath then took off beyond the bushes.

Knowing other homunculi were there, ones Ed was quite sure he wanted to attack, Ed charged around the other side of the ravine with Al on his heels.

Reaching a clearing with no sign of Wrath, he found himself face-to-face with what looked to be the Fuhrer.

“Envy, you should have chosen someone else,” Ed said. “Being human, King Bradley can’t be in two places at once, and he's at a ball in Central.”

“The shrimp actually reads the newspaper.” King Bradley slowly dissolved into Envy’s dark-haired form. “I’d love to get a few shots in at you, but I’m not calling the orders on this one.” Envy started to run off, with Ed chasing as closely as he could behind him. “Don’t worry about Wrath. He’ll be find. I’m sure he’ll find a mother figure to attach himself to.”

Ed tried to follow as Envy once again changed form, this time to that of a wolf, losing the blond alchemist quickly in the cover of the forest.

********

As Roy was preparing to leave the temporary command center just south of the real Southern Headquarters, he received notification that he had a phone call.

“Hello, Colonel,” a deep and resentful voice said on the other end, “I am going to need you to make space for four on your train back to Central. You see, I have your little prodigy here, and I need to question him about the recent attack here at Southern Headquarters.”

“How was Fullmetal involved, Lieutenant Colonel?”

“As far as I can tell, he knew the woman who made the attack and ran off with a young witness to the rebellion in Central. I need answers to find her, and he’s claiming he doesn’t know.”

Roy knew full well what an interrogation from the lieutenant colonel could mean, particularly with Archer knowing that Roy’s discovery and leadership of Edward only being a boon toward promotion. "I will question him myself. If you do anything, I do not want you doing any more than asking him questions. Those are direct orders. He is my subordinate and I. Out. Rank. You.”

Putting such emphasis on those words might have been a mistake, but at this point, Roy didn’t give a damn. He had to make it clear to Archer that if he laid a hand on the boy, Roy would personally hurt the man, not that there wasn’t a part of Roy that had wanted to do that for a long time.

“Afraid I’ll hurt his pretty little face?” Archer’s voice asked with venomous sweetness.

“Who the hell are you calling pretty?” Roy heard in the background. At least Fullmetal didn’t seem to be in pain at the moment. “And what do you mean by little?”

"Colonel Mustang, is this how you teach your subordinates to talk to their superiors?”

“Loyalty is more important than bootlicking.”

“You never seemed to mind the bootlicking, and as I recall, you are quite good at it yourself. Or have you gotten out of practice?” Roy clenched a hand around the receiver, grateful he didn’t have the immense strength that Ed had, or he surely would have crushed it.

“Lieutenant Colonel, put the major on the phone.” Roy said, his jaw tight and his mind seriously wishing fire could travel by phone lines. Roy heard the shifting and a loud thunk on the other end of the line as Archer let the phone slam to the floor before Ed picked it up.

“Colonel?”

“Are you okay? Has he done anything to you?”

“No, sir. He’s just holding Al and I here.”

“I know you want to protect the Curtises, but Archer doesn’t like not having answers. You are going to have to tell him what you know.”

“We did. We followed after the homunculus, the one who was reportedly a witness to the insurgency in Central, but lost him as at least one additional homunculus made off with him. When we returned, Sig and Izumi had already left with the only boat. I think they are trying to follow the new homunculus called Wrath, but because I’m part of the military, they aren’t getting in contact with Al or me. That is all I know, and I told the Lieutenant Colonel just what I’m telling you. So did Al.”

“Keep on your toes around him. I’m about 11 hours away.”

“Colonel?” Ed’s voice asked, as though trying to think how to phrase his next question. “I need you to call Dr. Knox. Somehow, Izumi’s medicine got mixed up with mine. I have a bottle of estrogen instead of my stomach medicine. They found it when they searched my suitcase.” He paused as Roy made a sound of acknowledgement, and impressively, Ed continued on as though Roy was being the typical Colonel Bastard. “I’ve taken enough flack for the stuff as it is, so don’t start. I need you to call Dr. Knox and get my antibiotic. It’s going on two days since I’ve been able to take it, and I don’t want to risk anything.”

Two days since Ed had taken the hormone. Roy understood the risk and knew he had to get Dr. Knox on the phone before he left.

“I’ll call him right away. Be careful, Fullmetal.”

“I will.”

With that, Roy hung up the phone, not wanting to listen to Archer continue on in that smug way of his. Immediately, he picked it up again, asking the operator to connect him to Dr. Knox in Central.