Housework

This is a darker chapter, and I feel it's one of the main turning points of the story. Hopefully you'll agree. Please review and let me know!

Fathers and Sanctuary

Roy was in a good mood when he returned to the office two days later, but it dissolved when he opened his mail. A letter from Izumi Curtis said, “Hohenheim was here, looking for the boys. He left yesterday for Ressembool by train. You should have a few days from receiving this to think of a plan. Do not let him have them, at any cost. Izumi.” Roy checked the date, sent yesterday by overnight post, Ressembool was a day away from Dublith, then two days back here. Two days, maximum. Less if Hohenheim drove.

“Havoc! We're leaving. I'll meet you at the car in five minutes.” The alchemist picked up the phone and called the Dean of the Academy. He left instructions to watch the boys carefully and ran down the stairs. Havoc got them there in record time and Roy rushed upstairs. He knocked on the door and opened it, scanning for the boys. When they caught sight of him, they stood immediately.

“Sir, is something wrong?” They watched him in concern as he leaned against the door. The professor was giving him odd looks as well.

“Excuse me, I would like to speak with the Elrics.” The professor nodded, “Boys.” He stepped back into the hallway and closed the door behind them. “I need something from you. I need you to promise to not go anywhere with anyone other than myself or Havoc. Not anyone! Do you understand?” They both nodded. “Say it.”

“I promise not to go anywhere with anyone other than you or Havoc. Or Brother.” Al promised quickly, without hesitation.

Edward was more cautious, “What is the matter, sir? Is someone looking for us?”

Roy looked at him, he had grown so much, physically and emotionally. “Yes. There is” he paused, searching for the right words, “an alchemist looking for you two. He's done some gruesome experiments. He's looking for power, and you have it. I don't know what he looks like or what he will use to lure you to him. Please, Edward, promise.” He knew his voice was edging on panic, but he couldn't control it anymore. They had to be safe.

“Alright, I promise not to go anywhere with anyone other than you, Havoc or Al. Good enough?” The gold eyes rolled, obviously he wasn't an idiot or a child, he wouldn't just run off with anyone.

The older man's shoulders relaxed and he slumped against the wall. “Thank you. You can return to class, the car will be here after school.” He watched them open and shut the door, then turned and left.

He sat in his office, trying to think of a plan. Something to keep them away from that man, the same one who had created such beautiful boys. He was still feeling guilty over the folder, and it was added to by not telling them WHO was looking for them. Izumi Curtis seemed like the logical choice to hide them, but he wasn't sure if she would be able to stand against Hohenheim. He wasn't even sure he could stand against him.

Days passed, with no sign of the boys' father. Roy stayed alert, watching carefully for any sign, his spies keeping their eyes and ears open for strangers, all to no avail. Finally, he gave in to their demands. They were allowed to walk to and from workouts alone, but had to come straight in. No more bodyguards at school. They could go home if they told him before they left and called when they arrived. It went well for another week.

“Edward! Alphonse!” They turned to see a strange man walking rapidly towards them. He was tall and blond with a thick beard and looked very familiar. Al figured it out when he looked at his brother; an older version stood before them. Edward started edging away, dragging his brother with him. “What's wrong? Don't you know who I am?”

“Yeah, you left us and Mom died. Get lost, we don't want anything to do with you.” Ed was pulling on his brother's arm but Al dug in his heels.

“Brother, it's Father! How can you say that? I'm so glad you came back for us, sir.” Al was pulling towards the bearded man and the smaller blond wasn't strong enough to stop him.

“Al, I've been looking for you. I heard that your mother had died but I couldn't find you.” The older man grinned at him and reached out a hand.

“Not very hard. We were there for years before we left, you could have come for us. You shouldn't have left in the first place. Where were you for the last 15 years?” Ed scowled but managed to stop his brother from going any closer and being touched.

“Ah, Edward. Still stubborn. I had to do some research, but I've done it. I can create the Philosopher's Stone. If you help me, I'll help you get your bodies back.” He took a step forward and Ed took one back, forcing his brother with him. The little blond shook his head.

“Roy said not to go with anyone and we're not. You can talk to Roy about it, then we'll decide.” Pawning the decision off on Roy would buy them some time. “We're going to meet him now, you can come with us.” He backed up further, letting this man touch them seemed like a very bad idea. Al fought him, pulling against his arm.

“Brother, he can help us. We should go with him and get our bodies back. We can come back and see Roy later, he won't be mad.” Ed stared at him in disbelief.

“You want to throw it away? Roy saved us, and HE” a finger pointed, “didn't even bother coming to see us when Mom died. He didn't care, he left us to do that transmutation, it's his fault we're like this too!”

“Boys, boys, let's go and talk somewhere else. You don't have to stay with me, you can leave anytime.” Lies, but they didn't know that. Once he had them, he'd keep them. They were just too strong to let go.

“Edward! Alphonse! Get away from him!” They turned to see Roy running towards them before a wall blocked their view.

*************************************

Roy wandered down the walkway, whistling to himself. He'd worked extra hard this morning to earn a break and had decided to meet the boys. He understood their chafing at guards all the time, but he was still nervous about leaving them alone. They always took this path and should have been finished their work out ten minutes ago. Ah, there they were. 'Who is that?' The two were talking to a tall blond man. When he turned his head, Roy recognized him immediately; Hohenheim.

He burst into a full run. “Edward! Alphonse! Get away from him!” All three turned to look at him and a wall appeared in front of him, too close to stop. His first thought was 'Up.' His gloves sent out whips of flame to make foot and hand holds and he clambered up, barely loosing momentum. 'Thank you, Rose.' The wall was shrinking, dissolving under him; Edward was using his favorite technique to get down from places when he couldn't jump. “Edward, stop!”

The wall firmed again and he continued up, almost thirty feet above ground, he vaulted over the top. “Edward, catch!” 'Let him hear me.' He fell a few feet and landed on a ledge, rolling to a crouch. There was a ramp and he took a few strides, slid to the ground and kept going. He could se Edward holding his brother's arm and trying to pull him towards Roy. The taller brother was resisting and the dark haired man could hear them arguing.

“But, it's our father! We have to go with him.”

“He's not, he left us!”

“But he's back now. And he wants us to go with him.”

“No, Roy said not too, he's here for us, we have to go to him.”

“Roy's not our father!”

“No, he's better. Roy loves us.”

Roy came to a halt a few feet away; how could he not fight for them with that kind of faith? A pair of eerily familiar gold eyes met his. “What do you want here?”

A smirk played over the blond man's face, “I want my sons of course, what else?”

“Why now? You could have had them anytime, you didn't have to leave them in the first place.” He marveled at how the man looked exactly the same as he had over a hundred years ago. “How have you not changed?”

“Why now? They're strong. I had to leave, I was out of time and I couldn't take the risk of wasting time on them if they were failures. Ed's small, but he'll do. Al is more of a problem, but he can still perform alchemy. Good enough. Why haven't I changed? Simple, my research has granted me eternal life.” He grinned and Roy saw the glint of madness.

“Then why do you need them? I don't believe you have eternal life, I think you're still trying to do it and need more power. You just want to use them! Give them to me and go. You can not have them.”

“But they want to come with me. Don't you boys?” He glanced at them.

“No! We want to stay with Roy.” Edward's voice was frantic and he kept trying to move towards his guardian but Al wouldn't budge.

“Brother, don't answer for me. What if he CAN make a stone? We could get our bodies back.”

“Al, did he tell you how to make a stone?” Roy decided convincing Al was the best way to go.

“No, but he said he could, he can fix us.” There was hope, but a touch of doubt as well.

“Can he? Why hasn't he? Why didn't he help you before? Why..” A pillar of stone cut him off and he dodged, almost making it out of the way before it slammed into his side. He rolled and snapped his fingers, starting explosions around the man, careful not to get close to the boys. Water began to fall, soaking him instantly. He managed to keep his hands partially dry but was knocked off his feet by spikes shooting through the ground. A pair slid through his shoulders, pining him to the ground. His scream echoed Edward's as the blond ran towards him.

A stone hand grabbed the boy, carrying him back towards his father. Roy tried to curl his hands, anything to activate the arrays. 'Move, damn it!' His fingers finally touched and he looked at Edward struggling frantically. He was clapping and changing the hand into spikes to attack the man holding him captive. The older blond waved his hand and dissolved the spikes but his attention was drawn to Al, who had drawn an array and was creating fire balls to throw at him.

“Al, why? I thought you wanted to come with me?” The man sounded hurt.

“I do, but I can't let you hurt Brother or Roy. I stand beside my brother, against all challengers, even you, sir. Brother chooses to stand with Roy, and I do as well. I hope you will forgive us.” He activated the array he had drawn and ice chunks fell around their father.

Roy met Edward's eyes. “Do you remember what I told you? Be good.”

The gold eyes widened and he struggled more, “NO!! Roy!” The dark haired alchemist took his chance and snapped his fingers, sending as much power as he could muster through the pain into the array. A huge explosion burst over the compound, sending up the few alarms not already going. 'Edward, Al, be safe.' The world swam in a drunken circle and faded.

Bright lights were giving Roy a headache and he wished his arms would move to cover his eyes. Of course, nothing else moved either, there was weight pining him down to the bed. 'Did I bring someone home last night? I don't think I did.' He shifted a bit and slitted his eyes open, trying to figure out who or what was on him. A blond head was on his chest and a glint of metal was beside the bed. His eyes moved as far over as they could without him moving his head.

“Colonel? Are you awake?” Al's worried voice was clear in one ear, but the left side didn't hear anything. 'Damn, did I lose it?' He didn't remember much, just Hohenheim, then pain and an explosion.

“Where are we? Are you two alright?” Where's Edward? Is that him beside me?

“We're at the hospital, they brought us here, after you...” His voice trailed off. “Brother is on the bed with you, I couldn't stop him, he wouldn't get off. I tried to pick him up but he was clinging and I didn't want to hurt you anymore.”

“That's alright Al, I don't mind.” Snuffling noises were starting to come from his chest. “Edward? Are you alright?” Sobs were shaking his chest now, deep and wet. “It's ok, we're all alright. You're safe.” He shifted a bit to try and bring the head up where he could rub it with his chin, but the pain in his shoulders was too much.

“Please sir, you shouldn't move. Your shoulders are pretty ripped up. The doctor said you would be ok, it just takes time to heal up.” An auto-mail hand slammed into his chest and he winced.

“You could have died! He was stronger than you, he could have killed you, you could have died and it would have been all my fault! I shouldn't have stopped to talk to him, I should have made Al keep going, I”

Roy cut him off, “None of it was your fault, Edward. I knew he was after you, and I failed to protect you, even when I said I would. Your safety is the only thing that matters, you two must be protected at all costs. We are not going to argue about this. Go and get a doctor please, I'd like to speak with him.” The blond fumed but obediently left to find a doctor. “Al. I'm sorry it turned out that way. I know you wanted to go with him, but he, well, he's crazy and he's done some really bad things. I hope you'll forgive me?”

“Yes, Roy. I know you just wanted to protect us. But, what if he could have given us our bodies back?”

“I don't know if he could have or not, but I know that price would have been too great. We'll find another way, I promise.” The metal suit nodded and patted Roy's hand gently.

The doctor informed him that three months was the minimum it would take for him to be healed, and rest and light therapy would give him back full use of both arms. Unfortunately, for Roy, he was able to hold a pen and write within three weeks, and Hawkeye put him back to work the instant she found out.

*******************

“You knew! You bastard, you knew!” A flurry of black and gold ripped the door of Roy's office open and stomped to the desk to plant his hands on it.

“Good afternoon to you too, how is your day going?” Roy leaned back and took in the vision before him; adorable, flushed with anger, energy swirling around him.

“Why didn't you tell us?” His vision howled at him, banging his fists on the desk top repeatedly.

“Oh, hello Al, why don't you come in and discuss whatever your brother is ranting about?” The oldest alchemist was not entirely certain what the problem was, but he would find out. Edward was always happy to tell him all about it. Loudly. These were the days he missed his silent girl.

“Don't pretend you don't know what's going on! You KNEW how a Philosopher's Stone is made and you didn't tell us.” Oh. That. Al sidled in and slipped closer, undoubtedly to hear Roy's excuse.

“How did you find that out?” First things first, what did they miss? He had had all material on the Philosopher's Stone moved to a special archive that required authority his boys lacked to access.

Edward blushed, “That doesn't matter, you lied!” Aha, breaking in. Well, he supposed it was to be expected, they were both very stubborn.

Sigh. “I didn't lie. I never said I didn't know how it was made, I said you shouldn't use it or try to make one. Yes, I do know how the only one was made. That does not mean there are not other solutions.”

“There, there were experiments! On people, human beings!” He looked like he would burst into tears. Al shuffled uncomfortably behind him.

“Yes, there were.” Roy's mouth tightened, “And they were disgusting. They had few, if any results and have since been stopped.” He hoped. He hadn't heard of any more, and he was keeping his ears open for even a hint of rumor. “I'm sorry, boys, I didn't know what to say and I wanted you to find another way, something else.”

The blond slumped and leaned on the desk. “What are we going to do? It was our only hope.” Roy reached over and grabbed his flesh hand.

“There'll be another way. There is. We'll find it, even if we spend our entire lives looking for it, we'll find it.” Al slid closer to stand beside his brother and take Roy's other hand. “I promise, you'll get your bodies back, one way or the other.”

“Did our father know?” Al sounded terrified by the prospect.

“Yes, he did. He ran one of the experiments for many years. He created several partially complete stones, but no perfect ones. I believe he intended for you two to add power to his and allow him to create a stone.” Might as well tell them, if they knew about how, they would learn about who soon enough. “You are not like him, you proved it when you refused to leave your brother and I behind. You are both much stronger than you realize, your potential has no bounds. But, you have excellent control, over your alchemy and yourselves. I am most proud of both of you.” He squeezed their hands. “Shall we go for lunch and maybe home early today? We'll start again tomorrow.” He stood and the three left for the sanctuary of home.