Roy would have ditched Maes in a situation like this but for once he actually agreed with his crazy friend. Something was really wrong with their new friends.

He met up with Maes and the two began their mission to follow Alphonse Elric home. Thankfully Maes hadn't told their other friends because they would have tagged along as well.

Soon they had arrived at the Elric's home again and they watched as Al quickly shuffled inside and closed the door. They ran up and Maes expertly picked the lock, allowing them to sneak in. The inside of the house looked normal enough albeit it being quite bare of any personal items.

They heard a car pulling into the driveway and the two dove behind the couch, peeking back out when they heard someone running down the stairs.

Both of their eyes widened when they saw Ed standing their with a bandage on his cheek and his right arm bandaged from his fingertips to his shoulder. He had a determined look on his face as the front door to reveal a man with long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and glasses. He had an annoyed look on his face as he kicked his shoes off and walked past Edward to sit on one of the lounge chairs.

"Well?" Edward ran to the kitchen and came back with a beer that he gave to the man. Roy was slightly confused at their relationship. Was the man his father? Guardian?

Just then the man took the bottle and threw it at the wall next to Edward, the boy flinched as it shattered. The two friends froze at what they watched next.

"You fucking faggot! You never do anything right!" he walked over and yanked on the younger boys hair, Ed flinched and make a pained expression but didn't make any move to release himself. Ed was thrown down and kicked across the floor.

"I'm sorry, sir," the man snorted and kicked Ed hard in the face.

"Damn right you are," Ed coughed blood onto the floor and the man cringed. "have this cleaned up when I get back, faggot," Ed continued to cough as he left. Roy and Maes stood up as Alphonse flew down the stairs and over to the coughing Edward.

"Brother! I told you to rest, your not well yet," Al rubbed his back and Ed heaved as he threw-up all over the floor. Alphonse and Maes gasped when they saw it was dyed red with blood.

"Brother! Why didn't you tell me it got this bad?" Ed shook his head and Al helped him up just to notice the two other Juniors standing in the room. His face paled and he held Edward tightly to him.

"Wait here while I put Brother back to bed," Alphonse tried to pull Ed up the stairs but he kept losing his grip since he was shaking so much. Roy ran over and helped Al carry Ed. "Thanks," they carried the half-conscious teen up the stairs and laid him down on a twin bed that was most likely Edward's. When they got downstairs Maes was cleaning up the barf off the hardwood floor.

When they finished cleaning up Alphonse had them sit down on the couch as he fetched them drinks. He came back with some bottled waters for them and he sat down on the lounge chair. They didn't speak until Roy finally broke the silence.

"Who was that man?" Al looked at them guiltily.

"Our father."

"How long has he been like this?"

"Since I was eight, it started after our mom and Ed got into an accident."

"Car accident?"

"Yes, our mom was killed and Ed got into a little….. predicament so to speak," Roy narrowed his eyes.

"What happened to Edward?" Alphonse shook his head.

"It's not my place to tell," Roy was going to ask another question when they heard Ed talk.

"Hey Al? Who are you talking too…" they all turned and saw Ed standing at the bottom of the stairs with wide eyes. Edward was shaking visibly and he grabbed his bandaged arm. "W-what are y-you doing h-here?" Roy stood up and Ed flinched.

"Ed, please we just want to help," Ed's eyes widened and he shook his head hard. He was close to having a panic attack.

"They said they would help to, but they lied! How can I trust you…" Ed trailed off when they heard the engines to a car come back. Moving quickly, Ed shoved Roy and Maes into a closet. "Stay here for 15 minutes then go out the front door, we can talk more tomorrow," before they could protest Ed shut the door and both of them sat there. They heard some commotion outside and a few thumps before there were heavy footsteps up the stairs and the slamming of a door.

After a few more minutes they opened the door and went to leave, Roy stared at the door that led to Ed's room as they closed the door.

Roy didn't see Ed or Al the day after that or even the day after that. Soon it was the weekend and Roy was trying to think of a way to contact the Elric's without going to their house. He debated asking Maes to help him but they would probably end up doing something illegal. The thought of calling the police crossed his mind but then Edward probably wouldn't tell them anything.

Groaning in frustration, Roy dropped into the chair that sat in front of his laptop. It was currently on an English paper he had been working on; he opened up a new tab and typed into the search bar "Edward Elric". What came up was way more than he wanted.

An article about a car crash popped up. It had happened seven years back and was a big disaster at the time. On the highway there had been an 8-car pile up and all but one died. The boy was found under his dead mother's body trapped in-between two pieces of metal that had collapsed. One had killed his mother and ran through his right arm at the shoulder and the other sheet and completely crushed his left leg and mother. They only found him because of his pained screams. Roy shook and stopped reading. God, could that have been Edward?

Skipping the descriptions of who else had died he found the next part with the boy. He was eight-years-old and named Edward Elric. The woman that had died was Trisha Elric. Roy leaned back with a horrified expression at the picture of a young, smiling Edward and the woman that was supposedly Trisha Elric.

"Damn," Roy began to stand up when his cell beeped. Frowning he picked it up and looked at the text that showed up. He didn't recognize the number but his heart sped up as he read it.

From:(xxx)-xxx-xxxx

meet me at the crimson cafe. me and Al will explain some things.
hope your not mad

-Ed

Sending a quick response without wondering how Ed got his number, Roy ran down stairs to pull his shoes and jacket on. Maes popped up right as he did with a curious look.

"Where ya' going Roy-boy?" he had the urge to ignore his friend and meet up with Ed, but if he didn't say anything Maes would get suspicious and follow him like the creep he was. He looked back and flashed a devious grin.

"Just going on a little date with this hot girl Ella, why? Do you want to see some action?" Roy wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as Maes stuck his tongue out.

"You know I am faithful only to my darling Gracia! Hmph!" with that Roy was free and ran outside to hop into his car. On his way he thought that maybe he should pick up Edward, but shook his head and continued.

A few minutes later he arrived at the cafe and walked in. He looked around and when he didn't see the Elric's he sat down and ordered himself a coffee. While waiting he looked around at the other people. A few older women sat in their chatting lively and a couple sat in a booth cuddled together. Who he didn't notice was the Elric's walking in and sliding into the booth with Roy.

"Hey, you okay Roy?" the raven-haired man turned back and felt his heart jump when he finally saw the boys.

"Don't scare me like that! How long have you two been here?" they glanced at each other before Al responded.

"We just arrived, it took a while to walk here. Brother didn't really seem all that happy about going out today," Al sent a sad smile towards his sulking older brother. Roy nodded silently and watched them. So many questions ran through his mind as they called a waitress over and ordered drinks for themselves. He looked at Ed's gloved hands but specifically the right one. What had happened after the incident? Did he have scars? How was he still able to walk or move even? He watched as Al cracked a joke, making the older Elric smile.

How could he smile?

The brother's drinks had arrived and they both slurpped away happily. Ed leaned back and hiccuped, making Al giggle and Roy smile. Ed stuck his tongue out at both of them and continued to drink.

"How can you still go on?" Roy only realized he had spoken out loud when two pairs of golden eyes were watching him questioningly.

"W-what do you mean Roy?" he looked at Ed's confused and fearful face. Roy bit his lip, should I really push it? Giving in, the older man asked him.

"How long has that been going on Ed? I don't like it," the blonde chuckled nervously and began to play with the straw on his cup.

"Well…" he glanced at Roy from under his bangs and fidgeted when the onyx eyes bore back at him. "I guess… just a few years, it usually isn't this bad. He just had.. this problem with his job or something!" Ed scratched his head nervously and went back to his drink. His fingers drummed out a beat on the table with one hand and the other held his cup tightly.

The younger Elric was fidgeting and glanced back between the two elder boys.

"Um-" Roy reached out and grabbed the hand that was holding Ed's cup. Edward stopped and stared at Roy. They held the staring contest for a while before Roy let go and stood up. He threw a few dollars on the table and turned to leave.

"You can always come if you need help, Edward. Not everyone is out to get you, you know?"