Orphaned

Early the next morning, short arms stretched, lazily, and a groan woke the unwelcomed sunrise. One golden eye opened to look around the room and saw that nothing had changed. Everything was exactly how he had left it the previous night, and that was a good sign. It meant no one had been in there while he was sleeping, nothing big had happened, everything was normal. Normality was one of the irregularities in Ed's life, and he was thankful when it popped its most welcome head up to have a look around. Of course, some weird, annoying bastard always came and beat it back down with some problem or another. A small sigh escaped his lips as he knew this peace would last only until he left his room, "Best to enjoy it while it lasts."

At that moment, a head stuck itself in his door, framed with short black hair and beady little black eyes, searching for any conscious Elrics. Upon seeing the one gold eye, he smiled slightly, "Morning." he offered as a greeting.

'Too late.' Ed thought, groaning and turning back over in his bed in response.

Roy chuckled to himself, "Well, if you don't want breakfast..." he trailed off, knowing the mention of food would wake Ed from a coma.

"Damn cheater." the younger boy mumbled and stood up, stretching again.

"Now, now. Respect your elders." the man chided, jokingly.

The boy before him, however, was not in the mood for jokes and glared as he stalked past to the kitchen, "Damn pedophile." he added, not at all jokingly.

Shaking his head, Roy turned back to Al, who was still sound asleep, 'To wake him or let him sleep...decisions, decisions...'

Ed's voice interrupted his thoughts, as it often did, "Let him sleep you've already pissed one of us off enough for both of us!" he called from the kitchen, munching on a piece of toast.

'He's such a morning person.' the older one, thought, calling back, "Don't forget your bib! Don't need to get crumbs everywhere!"

"Damn bastard!" was shot back and just as quickly forgotten. Ed was never a morning person.

After breakfast was finally over and done with, and Al had woken up and somehow calmed his brother down, Roy stood from the table, 'Feels like I've been going out a lot lately.' he thought. Of course, it had all been due to Kanone coming into his life and this whole Underground business. Roy had never thought much of the place, even though it was a huge deal to the others. They saw it as an unstoppable force that no one would dare go against unless they had a death wish or was out of their right mind. Maybe it was, who knew, but Roy still saw nothing special about it. Kanone, it seemed, wanted control back badly, though the older man couldn't figure it out for the life of him. If Kanone was that powerful, what was stopping him from taking it back from Wright? Perhaps there were other factors involved. All the black-haired man knew was he was part of something that was probably way over his head and might get him killed. Of course, he'd never let that happen, but what did he know?

Ed looked up from the last of his fourth serving and swallowed the food before speaking, a new trick he had learned last week, "Going out again?" he asked, looking slightly saddened.

"Yeah." Roy responded, not sure of what else to say. What could he say? That he was leaving again to go meet some strange guy that was using him for some purpose he had no clue to? He knew Ed didn't like Kanone from what Roy had told him, and he was sure it was killing the basically non-existent relationship that they had. Hell, he wasn't sure Ed hadn't just broken it off completely and not told him. Though, he knew that really hadn't happened, Ed wouldn't be that cruel. He did know, though, that he was testing the other's patience with all this running around, coming home late at night, not saying much about where he'd been or who with, though Ed could easily figure that one out.

A small nod acknowledged the answer, but that was all the more thought Ed gave to the situation. He didn't want to think too much on it or he'd get depressed again. He couldn't remember the last time he and Roy had really been together, and though he knew it felt like a hell of a lot longer than it was, it had still been a while. Ever since he met that Kanone person. Ed wondered if Roy was really telling him everything, or if maybe his boyfriend was cheating on him. Not like he could actually call it cheating, technically, since they really hadn't been together yet. Still, it would be nice to know if the person who said he loved him and only him was sleeping with someone else. His eyes closed as he heard the front door shut with a small click and let his head fall to the table, groaning slightly as it hit with a thump.

The younger brother looked over to his almost identical sibling, "Brother? Is everything alright?" he asked, more asking what was wrong than if there was anything wrong, since it was clear that there was. Unless, that was, Ed had taken up a hobby of hitting his head on things. If that were the case, they might need to have a talk about things to do and things not to do.

Ed let the side of his face rest on the table as he turned his head to look at his brother, "What do you think of this guy Roy's been seeing?" he wondered. Maybe it was just his imagination that his boyfriend was cheating on him.

"Well," Al said, pausing for a moment to think his words over, "I don't really know him that well. I've only heard things about him from what you and Roy have said, and that hasn't been much. I mean, neither of us have met him, and while that is a little suspicious, maybe Roy just doesn't want us involved in things that aren't really our business."

"But it's involving my boyfriend, it is my business!" Ed defended his nosiness, his head raising slightly to emphasize his point.

In reality, Al was probably right, "It's really not, brother." he pointed out, "It's Roy's, we should stay out of it."

The older one stared at his sibling for a minute before dropping his head back to the table, "Whatever." he muttered. He knew Al was right, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

"Brother, I know you're worried, but you know Roy can take care of himself." Al said in that innocent tone of voice that usually made Ed give into whatever he wanted.

"I know." Ed conceded with a sigh, 'But this guy was the one that saved him before. I know Mustang can hold his own, but what if he can't against this guy or whatever he's planning?'

This time Al didn't try to comfort the lost-in-thought boy as it would have been useless. He knew at this point, Ed would just mumble a 'yeah' or 'of course' or something along those lines, pretending like he was hearing a word of what his brother was saying. So, instead, Al just stood up and walked out of the kitchen, up to the bathroom to get ready for the day with one final thought, 'I hope I'm right.'

Another, rather loud, sigh escaped Ed's lips after his brother disappeared from earshot. He was still thinking about the older man when a shadowy figure entered the room he was still in. It came to stand behind him, hands on its hips, "Hey, kid." the teenage looking boy said, smirking slightly.

Ed jumped and spun around, glaring at the intruder, who had long, green hair and a fairly revealing black outfit on. He wore a grin on his face that wasn't hiding anything. This kid was up to something, "Who are you? How did you get in?" he demanded.

"My name's not important and I picked the lock." the older one answered easily.

"Then how will I know what to call you?" the golden-haired boy countered. He didn't like this guy already and had a bad feeling about the whole situation.

"Just call me whatever the hell you want, I don't care." the taller boy said, shrugging, "I'm not here to make friends."

"Why are you here?" Ed got around to the obvious question.

"Well, I thought I should at least meet my little-" 'Damn, not time to tell him yet.' he thought, sighing in disappointment.

"Your little what?" the child of the two demanded, glaring more.

"My little chipmunk." came the snickering reply, pinching Ed's cheek, "Your baby fat make you look like a chipmunk."

Ed slapped the hand away as his glare intensified more and he stood up, "I'm not your little anything, and I don't have baby fat!"

'Still such a child.' he thought, laughing and patting the much shorter one's head, "Of course you don't." he said in a mocking, baby voice.

Another slap sent the hand flying once more, "Don't touch me. Leave before I make you."

"Such a little spitfire." the older one commented, taking out a necklace with a small, oval, black crystal cage on the end, holding a crimson stone that fit it perfectly.

Ed backed up a step, "What is that?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly as his eyes traced over the stone, almost enraptured with its presence.

"A gift for you." came the simple explanation. The necklace was extended to him by the silver chain, dangling and swaying back and forth slightly. The stone seemed to almost glow from what Ed could only guess was the light reflecting off of it.

"Why would you give me anything and why would I take it from you?" he demanded, still staring at the stone.

"Obviously you'd take it because you want it, I can tell."

The stranger was right about that, Ed was using all self control not to grab it right out of his hand. Still, "That doesn't explain why you'd break in my house just to give me something." he pointed out, eyes still glued to the crimson rock, unconsciously taking a step closer to it.

A small grin appeared on the other's face at the action, "Well, what better way to give it to you than directly?" he wondered.

"You could have knocked." Another step. Instead of answering, the boy simply shrugged and his grin widened as the blond took yet another step toward him, or rather, toward the necklace. A few more muttered comments about better ways to have delivered the jewelery accompanied by a step closer with each, and Ed was right in front of the boy and necklace. No, not any necklace, his necklace. He reached out a hesitant, gloved hand to the stone and tilted it slightly, eyes widening as it felt almost warm.

"Go on." came the slight encouragement, "It's yours."

"Mine." Ed whispered, taking it from him and putting it around his neck, gasping softly as the stone glowed brightly, making everything seem as if it were a shade of red. The glow died done as quickly as it came and Ed looked down at his gloves as an emblem was seemingly etched into them, "Wha...?" he began, looking up to the boy. He was even more confused when no one was there. Blinking, he looked around his surroundings. The front door was closed, locked, and deadbolted just like it had been after Roy left and nothing was out of place or stolen. He looked back down at the necklace and tilted his head in slight admiration of the stone. It was a fascinating color and the way it seemed to glow with energy made it even more appealing.

"Brother?" Al asked, coming down the stairs, holding something in his hand.

Ed looked up, not bothering to hide the necklace, "Yeah?" he asked, wondering what had the younger sibling so concerned.

Al held up the object in his hands, a broken watch. More specifically, the watch Ed had given to him last year for his birthday, "I found it in the hallway." he said, frowning.

The older one frowned slightly, too. The watch hadn't been the most expensive or important gift ever, but his brother appreciated the sentimental value. Ed had been barely able to afford it and had put a lot of thought into the gift itself. He reached out a hand to pick it up, "Don't worry, Al, I'm sure we can get it fixed." he offered, trying to bring the younger boy's spirits up.

"But...it's in so many pieces." Al objected, "How can it be fixed."

Ed really didn't have an answer to that, and picked it up instead. As he did, the stone around his neck glowed, as well as the emblem on his gloves. Ed blinked and looked down at the stone, then back up at his brother's surprised gasp, "Huh?"

"Brother, the watch." Al said, pointing to said object that was now shining in the same crimson light. The boys watched as the light died down, revealing the watch, fixed and working as if nothing had happened, "How...?" Al looked up to the older one, "I didn't know you could do that." he commented, "You've really been practicing your alchemy!" The naive one thanked his brother and grabbed the watch, running back upstairs.

Ed stayed where he was, hand still extended, 'But, I haven't.' he thought, 'And if that was alchemy, why was the light red instead of blue like it usually is? And where was the circle?' He didn't know what had just happened, but he did know it wasn't alchemy. At least, none that he knew.