It was a stupid argument, inconsequential really. It was so stupid, and if Ed had known what it was going to lead to as he followed Mustang to his office, he would have dropped it. Really, he would have. But he didn't know what was coming, so he didn't stop, and as Mustang's hand landed on the handle to his office Ed's frustration boiled over and spilled out in two words.

"But, Dad!"

Ed froze; Al froze. Roy froze, staring at him over his shoulder, his black eyes uncharacteristically wide with shock. Everyone in the whole room froze, and the words Ed had just spoken hung in the air between them, seeming to echo back and forth.

But, Dad.

But, Dad.

Dad.

Ed had seen something like this happen before, when he was a kid in school. One of the boys had accidentally called the teacher Mom. The unfortunate student had been teased for weeks about it. But this, this was infinitely worse.

Then Havoc broke the silence and laughed. He tried to choke the sound back, but he laughed anyway, and the others started smiling though they tried valiantly not to. In that laugh, and in those smiles, Ed heard rejection. He heard stupid. He heard who wants to be your dad anyway?

Ed turned and ran, ignoring Al when he younger brother called out to him. He couldn't stay in there and wait for Mustang to get over his shock enough to smile that trademark sarcastic smirk of his, to say some putdown about how Ed was nowhere near good enough to be his son.

Who want to be his son anyway?

So Ed ran, he ran and pretended that he was only embarrassed, and that he wasn't hurt at all.

Hawkeye rounded on the others before Roy recovered from his shock enough to do it himself. "What's so funny?" she asked them.

Her glare quieted their mirth, but didn't dispel it completely. "The colonel's face," Havoc said. "I've never seen anyone look so stunned before; it was hilarious."

Hawkeye's eyes narrowed. "Do you think that's what Ed thought you were laughing at?"

That did sober them up, and made them look rather guilty besides. Ed and Al's dad walking out on them wasn't something that anyone talked about, but it was something that they all knew. Usually Roy's subordinates were good at avoiding topics or actions that might cross a line and actually be hurtful, but this was one time they'd messed up.

Then Hawkeye turned on Roy. "Well?" she said.

"Well what?" Roy asked.

"Aren't you going after them, sir?" Hawkeye asked in a tone of voice that said his answer had better be yes.

And say what? Roy wanted to ask. Roy's current preferred method for dealing with this situation would be to pretend that it had simply never happened, but one look at Hawkeye's stern countenance and he knew that wasn't an option.

"Fine, I'm going," Roy said, turning on his heel and heading back out into the hall.

Roy wondered how he was supposed to find the brothers. It wasn't like he knew where the two ran off to when Ed was upset about something. But as it turned out, the brothers weren't hard to follow at all. All Roy had to do was follow the trail of grumbling, glaring pedestrians that Ed had apparently knocked out of his way while dashing off from headquarters.

The trail led him to an alleyway behind a small, closed down shop of some kind. As he approached, Roy could hear Al speaking, and he slowed his steps to hear what was being said.

"Calm down, brother. It isn't that big a deal," he was saying.

"Not a big deal?" Ed responded, his voice teetering on the brink of shouting. "Of course it's a big deal! There's no way I can face that bastard colonel after I called him…after I said that!"

"I don't think it'll bother him," Al offered.

But it did bother Roy, though probably not for the reasons the brothers might expect. He simply had a hard time picturing himself as a father for anyone. Hughes was a good father. He gushed over Elysia, provided for her, left her with absolutely no doubt of his love and care. Roy couldn't see himself doing that for another person. He did care about Ed and Al, but still…

I'd make a terrible father.

"I'm not worried about that," Ed snapped. "He's going to make fun of me for weeks for this! The bastard will probably never let it go!" Behind the roughness in his voice caused by embarrassment and anger, Roy thought he detected notes of hurt.

"I don't think Colonel Mustang would do that," Al said.

"Of course he would," Ed said. "He makes fun of me about everything."

Roy's frown deepened. He did tease Ed a lot, and Ed could give as good as he got, when he wasn't losing his temper. But did the teasing genuinely bother Ed? That had never been Roy's intention.

So how do I fix this?

Coming to a decision, Roy stepped around the corner that hid him from sight and gained the attention of both brothers. Ed looked alarmed at the sight of him, with a wide eyed expression that might have been comical if it wasn't also so genuine.

Squaring his shoulders, Roy said, "How are we supposed to have a proper conversation if you decide to run off in the middle of it, son?"

The word felt weird coming from his mouth. Roy wasn't sure he'd ever really used it before; certainly he'd never said it with any kind of connection to himself, and he really wasn't certain how he felt about using it now. But the weirdness was more than worth it, for the look on Ed's face. If he'd thought Ed's eyes were wide before, now they practically bugged out of his head, and his jaw dropped open.

"Wh-what?" Ed stammered, and it wasn't often that Roy was able to reduce him to that.

"Are you deaf now?" Roy said crossing his arms.

"No!" Ed immediately snapped, starting to recover a shard of his composure. "But, but you just said…"

Roy tilted his head to the side. "Did I say something weird, son?"

Roy couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Ed speechless like this. He really wished he could have picture of Ed's face like this, because now the teenager was blushing, and when Ed blushed his whole face turned almost as red as his jacket.

Ed whirled around, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. "Whatever! It was a stupid argument anyway!"

Roy didn't try to stop him from walking off. Al took a step to follow Ed, but then he turned and looked back at Roy. The metal suit couldn't show facial expressions, but Al nodded at Roy and he got the feeling that the younger boy approved of his handling of the situation. Then he turned back to Ed and rushed to catch up to him, calling, "Brother, wait for me!"