For Her. For Him.

A/N: I'm glad reactions to Archer and Mustang weren't negative. I wasn't sure when I did it what my reviewers would think. It was almost a lemon, but I couldn't bring myself to let Roy go through with it without realizing what a jerk Archer was. Though, it means I could flash back to a more pleasant time between the two and include a gratuitous lemon, since there haven't been any so far.

Chapter 16

Gracia

Standing outside of the main office in Central, Ed checked over his body for a moment, hoping that nothing could be seen. He was wearing a loose red coat that vaguely resembled his own, minus the Flamel symbol on the back, a black dress shirt and a pair of cotton black pants. He jammed his hand in the pockets of the coat, looking for any sign of anything showing.

“Brother,” a voice said, bringing him back to reality, “you look fine.” Ed tilted his head upward to look at the suit of armor. “Colonel Mustang needs to talk to you. You should go inside.”

Ed climbed the steps in front of the central office, Al clanking behind him. Ed had made this walk dozens of times before, but this time, he felt as though every set of eyes was on him. He struggled to keep his hands in his pockets, as part of him wanted to wrap his arms around his midsection to hide what Al constantly reassured him no one could see. Walking through the hallway, Ed passed people, some of whom greeted him, others who treated him like he had the plague, afraid that whatever he supposedly had was catching.

He reached the floor where Mustang’s office was, holding his hands stiffly at his side, when he heard, “Hey Major! Didn’t get to see you on the train.” Ed turned to the side, seeing Breda waving good-naturedly. “Whoa, Major, once you get feeling better might want to hit a gym. Putting on a bit of a paunch there.”

Ed jerked his left hand from his pocket, middle finger fully extended. “Sit on it and spin, Breda,” Ed said.

“Brother!”

“Big fat pot calling the kettle fat,” Ed muttered to himself as he stormed to Mustang’s office. “What the hell is he calling a paunch? Paunch? His whole body is paunch. Squatty, fat. Fat. Fat. Idiot.” Ed reached the door to Mustang’s office, rapping on it so loudly and rapidly, that there would be no doubt to the man on the other side of that door that Ed was upset. “Who the hell does he think he is?” Ed continued to rant.

From within the office, Ed could hear a baritone voice from inside, “Come in, Fullmetal.”

Ed opened the door to find Roy seated behind his desk, hands in that ever-present steepled position, a serious expression on his face. “All right, Colonel, let’s just get my punishment over with,” Ed said.

The colonel cleared his throat, a signal for Ed to pay attention that he was not alone in the room. Looking to the colonel’s left, Lieutenant Colonel Archer stood, obviously awaiting Ed’s punishment as much as the teen.

“Major Elric,” the colonel began, “You have been ill for some time and had shown some signs of recovery. Unfortunately, because of your actions during the last few days, the doctor says you have set back your recovery by at least a month. Because of that, you will go without a month’s pay .”

“Go without what! Do you expect me to starve? How the hell am I supposed to get better if I don’t have any money to buy medicine or food?”

“Fullmetal, that will be enough,” the colonel said, then turned to Archer. “Are you satisfied?”

“Of course I’m not,” Archer said, looking down at Ed. “Well, Colonel, he might have beaten your record for age, but you must be grateful there is finally another state alchemist of your stature.”

For just a moment, Ed watched as the stone face Mustang had so thoughtfully prepared cracked just a bit. Part of the young alchemist wanted to ask about the obvious hatred these two men shared, but age and experience had told him that it wouldn’t be wise. If Mustang wanted to talk about it, he would, just as he had about the war in Ishbal.

“Lieutenant Colonel, you may leave,” Roy said. “Fullmetal, I want to speak to you in private.”

As Archer passed, he placed a hand on Ed’s shoulder, “Be grateful that you report to him as your superior. I doubt you would find being under my service a pleasant experience. Would he, Colonel?”

Ed glanced up at the tall man, and saw as Roy almost threateningly rose from his seat.

“You should be grateful that I am not your subordinate,” Ed said, “because I don’t take well to authority. I have to believe I have a trustworthy and capable leader in order to follow.”

Archer drew his arm back as though to backhand the teen, but a shout came from the other side of the room, stopping him. “Do it and I swear to you that you will lose that hand!”

Archer let the hand drop to his side. “Fullmetal, do not mistake that he will not stop me should you be so disrespectful in the future.”

Ed watched as the arrogant man left the office. “Jerk,” Ed said once the door shut. “Who does he think he is?”

“Aside from the lieutenant colonel, what has you so upset, Ed?” the colonel said, walking toward the young alchemist.

“You told me to react to my punishment.”

“Though I’ve noticed some recent improvement in it, your acting ability simply isn’t that good, Fullmetal. What is it?” Roy stood facing the teen, looking down at him. “You were angry the moment you knocked on this door.”

“Moron Breda.” Ed said, pointing to the door. “Told me I was getting a paunch. Ass, Fatass,” Ed said, obviously referring to Breda. “Called me fat. Said I needed to hit the gym. Does he even know what a gym is? He wouldn’t know a set of weights if it bit him on his fat ass.”

Roy grabbed Ed by both of his shoulders and stared into the teen‘s eyes, obsidian looking into citrine. “Edward, you and I both know why you look the way you do. You’re going to have to understand that not everyone will, and they’re going to assume that what they see is a result of overeating and lack of activity. They won’t know to suspect.”

“It’s just not fair,” Ed looked to the floor.

“Are you going to cry?”

“N-no.” Unfortunately a sniff belied the truth. “Do you think every time you say something nice to me, it’s going to make me cry?”

“That seems to be the pattern.” Roy pulled Ed into an embrace. “Since you’re already crying, I might as well finish what I’m saying. I’m going to visit Gracia and Elysia. I want to tell Gracia everything, to have someone who’s gone through all this before. So far, the only woman we’ve talked to about this is your teacher, and at the moment, she’s a fugitive from the law.”

“I’d like to have Mrs. Hughes know,” Ed said, not wanting to crumble in the colonel’s arms. He couldn’t help but think how comforting it would be to have someone who he could talk to, even cry to, who wasn’t the colonel. It would be nice to be able to regain a bit of his pride, to save a little face with his superior officer.

Still, Ed didn’t know if he minded it so much if the colonel would hold him like this.

********

Roy stood outside of his friend’s former home, knocking on the door, waiting for an answer. He watched as two large eyes peered out from the bottom of a window. From within, he could hear a small voice yelling out, “Mommy! Uncle Roy’s here!”

When the door opened, Roy found himself faced with a woman he’d hardly seen since Maes’s death. Gracia Hughes was as lovely as ever, that sort of gentle grace about her, that mysterious feeling of home she emitted still there. Yet, Roy could see the wear on her face, how tired, how sad she still was. Maes would have hated seeing his wife look like this, to know that nearly six months after his death, though she was picking up the pieces of her life, there was still so much hurt in the pretty woman.

“Hello, Roy. Please come in,” she said, bowing to him.

“Thank you, Gracia.”

“Uncle Roy!” Elysia shouted, running to him as she hadn't for some time since her father's death. She was obviously expecting his usual pat to the head before moving into the house. Roy had always regarded children as something to be treated like a beloved pet, it always seemed, as he never managed to do much more than offer a rub on the head before moving on to talk to the adults in a room.

Instead, Roy bent down and lifted the four-year-old into his arms, bringing her up so that she could press her face into his shoulder as he hugged her. “And how are you today, Elysia?”

Elysia smiled and began to chat away, almost to the point that Roy thought she might never stop. Thank goodness his own children wouldn’t be able to talk for at least a year after they were born. After she had finished and accepted the suggestion from her mother that she go and play with her toys in the other room. Gracia then offered Roy a glass of milk and a slice of chocolate cake, which he gladly accepted. After taking a drink, he set the milk back on the table, feeling Gracia’s hand covering the his own around the glass.

“I never got to tell you how sorry I was when I heard about Riza, at least not properly.” She exchanged a sad, yet knowing smile with him.

“No, and I’ve never really done right by you,” Roy said. For a moment, they sat in silence, just taking in one another’s company. Finally, knowing he had to talk, he cleared his throat, trying to think how to say this. “I debated so long before Riza died whether or not to tell you…” He sighed, not sure how to complete what he was saying. “Two weeks before she was killed, I found out I was going to be a father.”

Gracia reached across the table, grasping each of Roy’s hands. “Roy, I’m so--”

“No, there’s nothing to be sorry for.” Roy had to speak quickly before Gracia was sure he was a true monster. “Gracia, you heard that the only person with Riza when she was killed was Edward Elric? Well, thanks to his stubbornness, there’s no reason for you to feel pity for me losing my babies.” He squeezed her hands. “I’m not going to lose them.”

“Roy?”

“Gracia, we don’t know exactly what it was that Fullmetal did, but he is now about four months pregnant. The babies are mine, Riza’s, and apparently, his. He made the decision to keep them, and I’m going to be a father of a little boy and a little girl. Dr. Knox is keeping a close eye on Ed and the babies, and despite the fact that he’s been an emotional wreck, he still wants to have them.”

Roy waited for reaction of some kind from Gracia, but found her face was blank with shock. “Gracia?”

“I’m sorry, Roy, did I hear you right?”

That was when Roy heard a knock on the front door. Elysia, little bundle of energy that she was, ran immediately to the window.

“It’s my big brothers! It’s Ed and Al!”

At the table, the two adults looked at one another in surprise as Gracia rose from the table to answer the door. Roy followed behind her, watching in shock as the kind woman opened the door to reveal both Elrics. “Al thought you might have some trouble getting her to believe everything without proof, so we‘ve been waiting around in the marketplace until you got here.”

Gracia gestured for the two teens to enter her house, shutting the door behind them. The blond raised his head toward his brother. “Al, would you go with Elysia in the other room to play?”

“Sure, Brother,” Al said with no argument.

Stepping away from the windows, Ed took another quick glance around, seeming to be searching for Elysia. “How much has Roy told you?”

Roy could see that Ed’s use of his name only further stunned the poor woman, so he spoke for her, “I told her everything.”

Ed tugged the dress shirt out of his pants, lifting it up as he shifted the pants below the tiny hump in his stomach, moving his hands to the top and bottom of the bulge, almost framing it in flesh and metal. “Do you want to touch it?” he asked.

Gracia extended her hand, looking far more timid than even Roy. “It’s strange, I know,” the colonel said, grasping her hand and pressing it to Ed’s stomach, hardly able to help himself as he felt the strange shiver down his spine as his own hand came in contact with Ed’s pregnant belly. “But the babies are in there.”

“A little boy and a little girl?” Gracia asked, looking up at Roy. “And Ed, you’re sure about this? I mean, this is nothing compared to what you’re going to go through in a few months.”

“I’m prepared for that, Mrs. Hughes.” Ed looked up at the woman, whose hand still lingered on his belly. Roy couldn’t get over how the teen’s eyes simply lit up when talking about the babies, possibly the most endearing thing the older alchemist had ever seen. Roy moved his own hand, Gracia following suit.

“Right now, Gracia,” Roy said, “I think Ed could use a friend who has been through this before. Someone to offer a little wisdom from experience, and we would like you to be a part of those babies’ lives.”

Ed was tucking in his shirt as he said, “And we wanted to ask if you would be okay if we named the boy…” Roy could almost watch as Gracia winced, waiting for them to ask the question they very well might have if it hadn’t been for Al. “Nicholas Maes Mustang?”

“You want Maes to be his middle name?” Gracia asked, relief on her face, though the shock from the whole situation still remained. Both men nodded. “And Nicholas?”

“Nicholas Flamel designed the symbol that both Ed and Al wear, searched for the philosopher’s stone, and it was rumored came to our world through a mysterious gate. It seemed appropriate.”

“And for the little girl, we decided on Aideen Riza Mustang,” Ed answered. “Aideen means ‘little fire.’”

“I think they will both be lovely names,” Gracia said, wrapping her arms around the two men.

“They’d better be. Bastard colonel wouldn’t let me go to bed last night until we’d decided.” Roy put his hand to the back of Ed’s head, running his fingers over that satiny hair.