Authors notes: So, a lot happens in this part. While most of you may understand why I did what I did, I still need to explain some parts. By the way, please don't read this if you haven't read the second part yet, there are a lot of spoilers in this.

So, lets get down to business.

No, as Ed found out, he is only related to royalty, not actually royalty. And he is nota god either or a demi-god. That part actually came to me in a dream, what would it be like if Ed were a demi-god. He'd make a pretty kick-ass one, maybe I'll write about that later. But anyways, hopefully that's clearer.

When Mel is having Ed read about the gods, they're real gods. I did some background research and then bent it to my will.

Don't know if I'm pleased with the result or not. I have a feeling I should be.

Also no, Mel Justin was manipulated and he was manipulating Ed in turn, to him at first, it was a game. But after meeting Ed again he had a change of heart and warned Ed, but ended up getting killed for his troubles and because of that his assistant shoots Roy and Ed. (or tries to at least)

If there's anything else you're confused about, plot holes, etc mail me and I'll be happy to answer any questions!

Part II (2/2)

Justin let his mouth curve into a smile as he stared down at the piece of paper. It wasn't just any piece of paper, it was a…story, a story that could change the whole world and if he had the power to use it well. There's a reason I'm trying to destroy Edward's life. I hate him. He doesn't even know what he has – doesn't know that he has what I've worked on finding my whole life. He's gotten or found it what seems to be three different ways. I thought he'd be useful to my research and he was in a way, but he was never what I needed. Then after we parted ways he got everything I'd been trying so hard for. I can't really blame him though, if I had been as persistent and as involved in some of the things he was I might have found it sooner. None of that matters now though. All that matters is that Edward comes back to me. Comes back to me and gives me what I need. He chuckled and his assistant looked up.

"No, it's nothing. Nothing at all. It's just something funny I remembered."

Ed lounged on the park bench with an air of uncaring. But he was secretly watching what was going on around him. There was a very good reason that he was sitting here for lunch rather than his regular place in the library. Hughes had reported back to them about the woman he had seen. He had said there were no records of her and that unnerved Ed. Justin wouldn't use undocumented people, that'd be too dangerous. Instead he'd use the poor or those who were easily corruptible. So, who was the woman and if he thought back was she really watching him? He had thought she was and he was pretty sure she was, so what was his problem? Was there something else going on behind the scenes? If there was it'd just have to wait. He bit into his apple uncomfortably and swallowed almost all in the same movement. As he stood to throw out his apple core, he noticed a good looking woman with her two sons crossed the street, the mother always making sure they were by her side. He smiled fondly remembering his own childhood. He knew Risembool was nothing compared to Central, but still the mother's affection for her sons was just like his mother for him and Al. As he pulled out of his memory he walked back to work, pushing the unanswered questions out of his mind.

The library was quiet when he walked in, no disturbances of any kind, just the smell of books and the quiet rustling of pages as the people turned them. One of the librarian girls, Hanna, pointed to a cart stacked high with books and a label: "TO SHELVE". He had a map of the library imprinted in his mind, he knew where each section was located and could point a visitor or put a book back where it belong in about thirty seconds. So he had all the books shelved in about thirty three minutes and twenty two seconds. Afterwards he returned to a desk chair to wait until it was time to go home.

The office was always quiet after Edward had left it, Roy reflected sadly. The boy had been invigorating and it seemed the whole office felt it as they were slumped over their desks in despair at the piles of paperwork. Sometimes he wondered how they even got through it all. He yawned and planted his cheek on his propped up fist and signed a loopy signature on the necessary line before moving onto the next file. Which was quite lengthy.

It was when he was almost finished with the file the harried soldier raced in and gave a short salute before launching into a torrid of words.

"Slow down soldier, what's wrong?"

The soldier took a deep breath and repeated what he'd said. Roy Mustang jerked out of his chair and raced to the doorway calling to Hawkeye, "I need to speak to Edward. I'm ringing out for the day. Send all important files to me at home."

Hawkeye nodded sharply and looked at the pale face soldier. She knew better than to ask what had the General in such a panic to talk to his – partner? – but still it was obviously a matter he was uncomfortable in and believed Edward would be able to give a more satisfactory answer.

She hoped beyond reason that whatever it was, it was going to be nothing serious but by the look the soldier wore it was going to be a lot worse.

"Ed how much do you know about the shifting of the world?"

Edward's head jerked around to stare as Roy barreled into the kitchen where he'd been cooking.

"Hello to you too, how was your day, you're home early, and why are you asking me that?"

"Sorry – good evening, it was passable, I'm home early because it relates to how my day was, why I'm home early and why I'm asking you the question."

Ed put down the spoon he'd been stirring the soup with thoughtfully. "I know enough. I know that the world has been shifting a lot more recently. That the ocean on the other side of Aerugo's been encroaching and with all the shifting in the past couple years – alchemical and not – it's advanced far more than anyone's comfortable with."

Roy's face was grim. "Why? Roy, what happened?"

"Exactly that. The sea is not lapping at a beach in South Amestris. Aerugo was split in half last night, all border wars have now ceased. The alchemists down there said it wasn't an accident. Someone encouraged it with alchemy. And a strange unknown magic. So now, we have an ocean border which means we'll need a Navy."

"It also means more trade with other countries, more chance for knowledge!"

"And more chance for our National Security to be breached. Ed, I'm afraid that with this problem Justin'll have a better chance to get at you."

"Not likely. I may not be in the military or train as much anymore – I feel like I'm becoming too domesticated – but I can still defend myself. There is no reason to worry. I'm an adult."

"I know that but –" the phones ring cut him off and he moved in the hallway to answer it. His head was bowed and he was nodding. "Yes, sir. I'll deal with it. Yes, sir. I understand. Thank you. I'll do my best. Yes, sir, you have a good night too."

Ed turned back to the stove and shut it off before pulling bowls out of the cabinet and filling them with the soup. He handed one to Roy who had retrieved napkins and silverware. They settled at the table and ate their dinner in the silence that engulfed them.

Roy didn't have to say anything because they both knew what the phone call was about – the Brass wanted Roy in the South since it was alchemy related and as a general he'd get more information and he could charm a snake. Ed didn't look up and his normal voracious appetite was gone, after a bowl he dumped it into the sink and moved towards the door.

Arms turned him and one cupped the back of his head and neck and the other his cheek. Ed gave him a tiny smile and went to pull away but Roy kissed him, slowly, gently. His eyelashes fluttered against his cheek as Roy kissed him again, harder this time, less gently and much more forcefully. His tongue pressed close against Ed's and Edward gladly responded, his arms curling tightly around the man's shoulders as he rose to his toes.

The coherent thoughts they'd been trying to say were slowly fading from their minds as they grasped at each other with intent. Roy loosened Ed's hair and let it fall against the hand cupping Ed's head and Ed undid Roy's white dress shirt with quick little twists of his fingers.

He could feel Roy's heart thumping against his, pounding, alive, and if Ed was reading Roy right, happiness. Tenderness seemed to come back and Ed had no doubt that Roy was going to drag this out as long as possible spend as much time showing Edward just how much he cared for him. And Ed didn't mind one bit. Just the simple fact of being wanted by this man was enough for him to give Roy all the control for then night.

His own shirt was then discarded across a chair, probably on top of Roy's before they moved to the bedroom where the rest of their clothes came off as well. Roy's mouth was gentle as he nuzzled at Edward's neck. Normally the man was very careful about leaving marks that could be seen, too many things could go wrong with that. When Roy lifted his mouth to look at Ed, Ed gave him a little grin and murmured, "You can if you want, bite me that is."

Roy's eyebrow lifted slightly and he smiled and kissed Ed's mouth again, "There are actually more things I want to do than just bite."

Ed's face flushed, sometimes he still couldn't get used to the way Roy talked when they were like this, open, vulnerable, completely trusting, together, making love. The words to Ed, sometimes seemed so blunt, seemed like they didn't fit what they were doing, since it seemed like they were becoming one, creating something new and breathtaking every time.

Warm amusement seemed to leak from Roy when Ed blushed. Ed knew Roy liked seeing him lose control, lose control to him. And Ed would let him do that.

Ed felt Roy lap at his nipples at the same time as his hands skimmed the young man's sides and held him still before he could arch into the touch. Edward rolled his head to the side and tried to breathe. So simple an action had him breathless and asking for more – and the more always led to one thing.

The man's mouth and hands had moved on before he could say anything, do anything. He felt as one hand curled around him gently and the other slip up his side to touch his cheek and watch him. Roy's eyes narrowed.

"You're thinking about what I'm doing to you," he laughed. "You always do that at first, well, you do that until I do this-" and he twisted his hand and Ed fell into the oblivion of pleasure his lover was offering him.

Ed could feel his hand probing, slick, entering, the slight burn before his body settled on, not-pain. He shifted against the man and waited for a moment before tugging at the man's shoulder.

"I'mfineI'mfine."

Roy murmured something against his throat before pushing in. It usually never lasted long between them, but Roy was determined to drag it out, make it last as long as he possibly could before throwing them off the edge and send them reeling.

Ed took great pleasure in the fact that he could make the man lose control when they were like this, so wrapped up in each other, so uncaring about the rest of the world, that only the two of them mattered. He – although he still denied it to the rest of society and whenever he could to Roy – loved that Roy's attention was focused solely on him. He loved the feeling of Roy inside him, and their simple movements that created all that wonderful friction and pleasure.

This time, as Roy thrust inside of him, he slowed and gazed down at Ed who was looking up with eyes that were glazed with pleasure. Ed squirmed beneath him, adjusting and trying to force movement out of him. He was a little bit like a pinned butterfly at the moment, beautiful and unable to move himself. As Roy began to move again, Ed pulled him down until they could kiss, clumsy though it was.

When Roy peaked just after Ed, he bit down against the young man's throat, worrying the skin, tasting it, marking it (bruising it) until he was sure there would be a mark there that probably wasn't going to go away for a while.

As he refocused his attention he rolled to the side and Ed pushed himself inside the circle of his arms and whispered, "Is there anything I could say that would convince you to stay?"

Roy would never have dreamed of Ed admitting that he wanted him to stay with him, but he had and now he needed an answer.

"If you asked me, I'd want to stay, you could do anything and it would convince me – no – in fact you wouldn't even have to convince me. I'd stay. But, I have orders and I can't just disobey those orders."

"I hate the military," Ed muttered before drifting off into sleep.

He didn't say it aloud but thought it, Sometimes, Ed, so do I.

Ed woke first and found his body was only mildly sore after last night's escapades. He gave a little grin and looked down at the sleeping man. What the man had said last night resonated within him. Damn the military for making him leave. Damn the military to hell. Ed swung his legs out of the bed and staggered down into the kitchen and retrieved the mail from the floor when the phone rang. He grabbed it off the hook and, "Hello?" he asked into.

"Edward?"

"Hawkeye?"

Ed's mind drifted for a moment as they exchanged greeting and asked about each other's families. His family. He didn't know where his father had disappeared to, but he could only assume he was in Risembool with the rest of his family. If Roy was going South, maybe he should too and bring Al along and they could visit Teacher. He was sure she'd like a visit from them.

"He's late."

"Late? What – oh. Yeah, okay, I'll go get him up." He idly flipped through the mail as Hawkeye lectured about the need to be punctual and as he half-listened he uh-hmmed in the right places to soothe the woman. But when he opened a letter and saw a signature on the bottom he took in a sharp breath.

"Edward…" Hawkeye's disapproving tone came through the line.

"Sorry, I'm a little distracted and all. I'll go get Roy up, so I'll let you go now. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and finished reading through the letter.

He tossed it onto the table with the phone in fury.

But first it was time to roust Roy from bed and get him to work. And tell him the awfully bad news he'd just received. It seemed this year wasn't going to get any easier.

As it happened he hadn't needed to go "roust" Roy from bed, the man had gotten up, showered and shaved and was in the kitchen waiting for him. "Do you have a minute before you go? I need to show you something."

"Don't be long, I'm already late and – "

"Hawkeye's not happy, I know. She called."

"Lovely," Roy answered sarcastically. "What is it that you need?"

"It's something I received in the mail today. It's worrisome to me."

Roy wriggled his fingers for letter Ed had retrieved from the table and was now holding up. Ed dumped into the larger hand.

Roy snapped the letter open and began to read.

Edward,

My lovely assistant, Edward. How are you? I hope you've been well. I see you've figured out the person behind those deaths, I don't know if I particularly feel sorry for them however. I do feel bad that they died without truly knowing why. So, I thought, who better to tell than you? Well, you and your lover Roy Mustang, excuse me, Brigadier-General Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, since I know you'll show him this.

Anyways, the reason those people died was you. Not because they were close to you, but because you might have let information slip or they may have had information on your work. Your studies, what you knew. The first years they were because of the Philosopher's Stone. I should congratulate you on that, dear boy, shouldn't I? You did achieve what you wanted, perhaps not in the way you would've liked, but you did. So, congratulations on that.

By now I suppose you've heard of the water crisis in Aerugo? I sent one of my henchmen to do that. He was born here but he visited the far south and came back with some interesting studies. Maybe you'll visit and you two can discuss them?

Oh, and, the woman you had Maes Hughes look into? I took care of that. I can offer you protection you know. So she'll no longer be bothering you, one less worry on your mind, eh? I can tell you all about her when you come to visit. You will visit won't you?

Right, back to the second reason I started killing those people. Have you ever gotten a good look at your lineage? No, you know your father's from Xerxes and he was born a slave, that's all he knows too. But I know more. I found books and recorded history, people who saved oral stories.

Aren't you curious now? I hope you are. Because if you are, I'm located in South City. It's a great distance, but you used to ride trains all over the place, so you'll be fine.

Your lineage is part of the problem Edward, darling boy, my sweet assistant. If you only knew what you had! If only! You obtain the things I desire most, and when you get them, well, you make them seem so much more evil than they seemed to be at first. That must be a talent, hmm?

You will come to me, I have no doubt about that. I'm giving you this first option – making it your choice. If I have to come retrieve you or send one of my men to do it, you won't like the consequences.

I've missed you my darling, and I hope you'll come see me soon. There is so much we have to catch up on. Don't bother sending a return letter, just come to South City. I'll know when you're here.

Love,

Mel Justin

Roy's hands shook on the letter as he looked up. "Is he insane?"

"When I knew him I think he was mostly sane. At that point I probably wouldn't have noticed though. He probably was starting to slip over the edge if you think about when the killings started. But at this point, yeah, he's insane. Fucking insane in fact. But I suppose I have no choice. I should just go to him and get this over with. It'll make everybody feel better in the long run."

"Won't make me feel any better."

"Oh be quiet, I'll be going with you South in any case. Now I have an excuse to come along with you." And not visit Teacher after all he though semi-gleefully.

"I suppose you could. But this isn't going to be a pleasure trip – but I'm sure you know that, I'm only reminding you because you know how it'll look to other people. We might end up having to tell the truth."

"I think we will anyways, since I don't know how I'm going to explain this." He pointed to the bruising mark on his neck.

It seemed to remind the man of last night as he sidled up to Ed and kissed him. With a lot of tongue Ed noted.

"We're getting carried away again," he noted casually.

"Yes, we are." Roy agreed and lifted Ed up onto the kitchen table.

"You're going to be realllllyyy late."

"Yes, I am."

"Hawkeye's gonna be pissed."

"Yes, she is."

"Bastard."

"Yes, I know."

Ed slapped his back irritably but not before the man had him stretched out on the kitchen table.

"Oh, fuck it," Ed groaned and let Roy have his way.

Havoc knew it was a good idea to keep out of the way of Hawkeye – she was pissed because the Chief was late – and keep out of the way of the Chief – he was wearing that grin that said I got laid – and Havoc seriously didn't want to think about who it was with.

He'd had the decency to keep quiet about their relationship. He would continue to keep quiet about it as well. He liked the Chief and the Boss. They were good people despite what some people thought. He suspected Hawkeye might have guessed but he knew no one else was aware. They should be glad no one does. There'd be a whole lot of betting pools going on in that case. Then no work would ever get done.

He watched warily as Mustang cleared his throat for attention. "I have an announcement to make. In the aftermath of the Aerugo Water Crisis we are being sent to cooperate with the South and figure out how to deal with the problem. Ed will be coming with us on personal matters he has to attend to in South City. We'll be leaving the day after tomorrow so I'd like you all to get prepared. Bring your uniforms and civilian clothing. We could be there for a while. If you have any questions, please come talk to me."

With that he dismissed them with, "You can now return to your work."

The Boss was going with them, hmm? Idly he wondered what personal matters the kid – not really a kid – could be attending to. He knew Ed had a Teacher in Dublith, and that he'd visited South City before, still…

Hawkeye was glaring so he figured getting back to work was probably the best idea at the moment.

Trisha sat at the kitchen table quietly peeling an apple and then slicing it into small pieces like she had used to do for the boys. She gave a little smile and looked at their newly restored house. Hohenheim and Al had done a very nice job.

She glanced out into the yard and saw Al and Winry sitting next to each other under the tree and for a moment – just for a moment – wished that it was Ed and Winry. She had always assumed that's how it was going to be, but Winry seemed quite taken with Al. She supposed it would be natural, who, after all, would put up with her eldest son's brash ways and seemingly careless way of living. Al too, was staring at Winry with doe eyes.

She smiled then wondered if there was a need to start talking to Pinako about living arrangements. As she glanced at the calendar on the wall above the phone she realized it'd been almost a month since she'd talked to Ed. That wasn't unusual in the least. She got most of her news through Al who talked to his brother weekly, sometimes daily.

That was one bond that was never going to be broken. As if he had heard her call his name, Al looked up smiled and waved. She raised her hand in return. Then Al turned back to Winry and began animatedly telling her something.

She heard Hohenheim answer the phone that started ringing in the other room. What had started as good natured cheer turned to somberness.

"Are you positive, Mustang? Absolutely positive?" he sighed. "Thanks for the heads up. Please look after Ed, you know how he gets."

Trisha saw her husband look around furtively, making sure no one was around. "Also, I suppose I should be saying, 'if you do anything to hurt my son I'm going to kill you' but I don't think I need to tell you that. Make sure you treat him right. Oh, don't give me that. To be blunt the moment I saw the two of you together last time I knew you were fucking. Don't get bristly! If I didn't approve you'd already be misshapen. However if my other son and Trisha found out…that's another story. No, I'm not going to tell them! Ed gets to do that! Now listen here you…"

Trisha tuned out the rest of the conversation. So, her son was having an affair with the man who was supposed to be protecting him? She knew that she was happy that Ed had found someone that he wanted to spend time with, but she still wasn't sure she liked the Brigadier-General. What she really wanted to know was why her son hadn't told her he was involved with the man. It's not like she would have maimed him…maybe she would have.

Hohenheim came into the room interrupting her thoughts. "It seems our son has to go to South City. A problem has arisen. I'm going there just to make sure he'll be okay. I think I'll bring Al with me, it'll be good to travel some. I don't suppose you'd like to come?"

"No darling, I'm too tired as of late. You and Al enjoy yourselves. Be good and tell Ed I said hello."

Ed was mighty uncomfortable. It wasn't the train seats or his companion (Roy), but it was the staring (and Havoc's lack of staring).

Hawkeye had her eyes narrowed in contemplation, Fuery was gaping open-mouthed, Falman was clearing his throat every few minutes, and Breda had his face screwed up trying to figure it out.

They'd all get it sooner or later and he rather hoped it'd be sooner so they'd all stop staring! Breda finally spoke up tentatively. "That's some hickey you've got there, Boss."

"Love bite," Roy corrected and put a hand over his mouth to hide his grin.

"Love bite," Breda corrected.

"I'm well aware," Ed agreed.

Falman cleared his throat (it seemed he was the brave one) , "May I ask if it was you sir," he addressed Mustang, "if you were the one to put it there?"

"You may," Roy's response was almost gleeful.

"Was it?" Fuery piped up.

"It was," the smirk came out in full force. "And you enjoyed it, didn't you Ed?"

Edward glared at the man and didn't answer, turning his back to him.

An arm slid around his waist and pulled him back against Roy's side and he let his back rest there – reluctantly he told himself.

Hawkeye hmmed under her breath. "This wasn't just a onetime thing was it? I suppose I already know the answer to that though."

"Not a onetime thing," Havoc muttered.

"Oh good, I was right." Hawkeye nodded sharply.

Ed simply grumbled about the whole thing.

"Can you tell us why you're going to South City Ed?"

"Not really, it's kind of complicated and hard to understand without going back to well, when I was twelve."

They arrived at South City Station in good time and when they disembarked there were two people waiting for Ed on the platform. He surveyed them shortly before nodding and pulled Roy into a small alcove.

"Here's where we say goodbye. I'll contact you after I talk to Justin."

He put his hand on Roy's chest. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Ed." He placed a kiss on the man's forehead. "I'll see you soon though."

"One last kiss?" Ed asked ruefully.

Roy laughed, "Yes, of course."

He leaned down and planted a kiss on Ed that ended with them tangled in each other's arms, unwilling to part.

"We have to let go."

"Mmm." Roy nuzzled the bite he'd left. He licked it gently and Ed shivered. "I suppose you'll be staying with your father and brother? Meet me at," he looked around quickly, "that café over there at eight and we can exchange location and number information."

"Okay," Ed agreed and reluctantly untangled himself from Roy and stepped away quickly before they could launch themselves into each other's arms again.

His eyes lowered, Ed spoke, "See ya later."

"Goodbye," Roy said softly after him.

Roy watched as Ed embraced his brother and as Al wrapped his arms around the elder, he realized what he was keeping Ed from. For a moment he wished he could give Ed that, that he could have the courage to let go of the man and give him what was right.

But…he was selfish and he knew Ed was happy with him. If Ed were unhappy you'd know it within moments. He's grown now, and he's matured so much even in the last year. It's as if the time he spent with me, mellowed him out, gave him poise and sophistication. The fire that had burned in him, that rebellious nature, was still there, simmering under the surface and in moments of strong emotion they bubbled to the surface and were once again visible if only for a short period of time. He kept his emotions masked from other people much better now. Sometimes even Roy had difficultly reading him but mostly they were completely open with one another and that had allowed a good relationship to form between them, had changed Edward from a completely innocent, shy, blushing virgin, a boy uncomfortable in his own skin, into a handsome, still somewhat shy, mature man who was comfortable with himself. In other words, he had grown up in the aspect of relationships and the knowledge within of what he wanted. He wasn't unsure anymore and he wasn't afraid to voice his fears and ideas to Roy about their relationship. Again, Roy appreciated this. He would willingly spend the rest of his life with this man. And they'd only officially been seeing each other a year. Delight curled in his belly at being able to return home and take Edward into his arms again and please him until the man was suffocating in pleasure.

Hawkeye was waiting patiently for him by a car that would take him to a hotel the military had reserved since apparently the military dorms were either full or undergoing renovations since they no longer met the requirements. The hotel the driver had taken them to was about three blocks away from the café and train station. Not too bad considering that he'd have to use car and train to go back and forth between negotiations. The manager at the hotel handed over a key to his room and told him that, "If you need anything, please call down to the desk and we'll do our best for you,"

By the time they were all completely settled it was time to leave and meet Edward at the café.

Ed, Al and their father decided to go have an early dinner at a restaurant about two blocks from the station before going back to the hotel. Ed decided that it was about time he admitted his relationship with Roy to his family.

"Hey, I have something to tell you both."

Al and Hohenheim looked up at him.

Roy and I are fucking was probably not the best thing to say, but how did one word things like that?

"Roy and I are sleeping together."

Al didn't stop eating, but he did look up and remark, "That's nice, Brother. Is it going to last?"

"It's lasted a year."

"Good, I approve. He'll keep you in line."

Ed glared and Al gave him the Al-grin.

Hohenheim just leaned back. "I already knew. Subtle you and Mustang were not."

"Were we that obvious?"

"No, but Havoc isn't." His eyes twinkled and Ed bitched about "unsavory people".

Al and Hohenheim stopped by the desk for another key to the room so Ed could let himself in and out as he pleased. It was decided Ed and Al would share a bed and their father would take the other one.

"I don't know when I'm going to meet him. I suppose he'll find me, or send a letter to me about where to meet him."

As Ed glanced at the clock he realized that it was about time to meet his lover at the café. "I've got to go. I'll be back later." He raised a hand in farewell and left the room.

Ed stirred in the bed next to Al and thought about last night. He and Roy were just a floor apart, apparently Hohenheim had somehow retrieved where the military was housing the guests and registered there as well. Sneaky, he thought.

He glanced at the door, waiting for the knock, waiting for the letter or a henchman to appear and drag him off to meet his fate. But no knock came at the door and no one burst into the room ready to carry him off at a moment's notice. In fact, nothing in particular happened. He didn't know if this should irritate him or please him. It could mean a) he'd been tricked and Justin was in fact, not here at all and it was a trap to get rid of him b) the man didn't know he'd gotten here yet and therefore it'd be a bit before he got a summons or c) the man was making him suffer, making the anticipation and nervousness grow. Knowing Justin, it was probably the last one. He was intentionally dragging this out, making Ed nervous and unprepared for when the summons did come.

Twitching the covers aside he stood and stretched before closing the bathroom door and showering under the cold spray. All of a sudden felt like an immature kid again who was still being manipulated. Where had that confident person he'd become gone? Into hiding apparently. As Ed thought about this, there was a knock on the outside door and someone announced that there was a letter.

"I've got it," his father's voice rumbled and a bed creaked as he stood up. With a slightly regretful sigh, Edward turned the shower off, nearly slipped on the floor and stumbled into his clothes so that he could read the letter.

Edward!

I'm so delighted you decided to visit, and on such short notice, I wasn't expecting you to get here so soon!

Hah! Served him right. He was glad he'd caught Justin off guard.

I can't say that I'm ready for you yet but I'll do my very best to prepare in the meantime. Since I know you have other obligations here I won't keep you long. Maybe you'll spend the day with me, won't you? Like I said before, there is so much I want – need – to tell you. After I write this I'll be going to gather up all sorts of goodies to show you. Since you enjoy knowledge this'll be a great experience for you. And afterwards, who knows, maybe you'll decide to stick around when everyone else returns to Central or to Risembool, hmmm?

However, if you too decide to go back with them, I can't let you bring any notes, books, or papers back with you. You don't need to have that research at your disposal. But if you do decide to stay you can look at them whenever you like. Wouldn't that be nice?

Oh, by the way, no pictures I either. I'm well aware that you won't be able to remember everything you see and read so don't even try. Do you understand?

If you agree to any of this meet me at the Café you met your lover at last night. Say, around nine thirty? If you're not there by ten thirty I'll take it you're not interested in what I have to say and I'll leave and you'll never hear from me again.

I'll see you soon.

Mel.

Ed scratched at his head irritably. He could remember most of the things he read so what was the guy thinking? He paused for a long moment. Oh, he couldn't do that when he was twelve but at eighteen he certainly could. He grinned. Advantage: Elric! But that also meant he had to get going or he wouldn't make it in time.

Mel smiled in delight as he watched the young man approach. He'd become very handsome in the intervening years and now that it occurred to him he was slightly jealous. Jealous of something he probably never would have had. His smile faded a little bit but perked up when the chair across from him was dragged out.

"Justin." The young man was obviously trying to keep his voice unemotional but a hint of excitement and nervousness? - worry, tinged it. He offered his hand, but Edward didn't take it.

"It's good to see you Edward. You're very handsome, but I suppose that lover of yours tells you that all the time, doesn't he?"

"I don't know why you keep bringing Roy up, but no, he doesn't call me handsome all that often."

"But he should, because you deserve to be praised. You're worth praising."

"I don't care about that. I want to know what you have that you think I'll be so interested in."

Mel smiled. He'd fallen straight into the trap. "If you stay here and have a cup of coffee with me and a decent conversation, I'll take you to where all my research is without any more games. If you're unable to do that, then I'll continue playing games and you might never see the research."

Ed's mouth tightened and Mel watched with joy as he debated whether or not to take his offer.

Then, he nodded. "I'll play your game. And I'll win."

That old confidence was back and it pleased Mel more than anything to play this game. He raised a hand and asked the waiter to bring them some coffee – without cream for Ed, but lots of sugar – and after the waiter complied, he turned to face Ed and grinned.

"Now, tell me about your mother since I know she's alive and all."

"I don't know how she's alive, I don't care why, I'm happy she is. But I have a feeling it was my father's work. Or, my father's, my brother's and mine. But we don't really know. If my father does, he's not saying."

Edward was being honest with him, that was a surprise. Mel knew the answer to why she was brought back, but he was curious to hear the other man's thoughts first considering that once he saw the research he too would understand the why.

"So, what's your theory?"

"My theory is that during all the hectic promise day the souls that were being returned weren't just pulled from the living, they were pulled from other places too. Such as my mother and Hughes' souls were used as well since they still lingered, and when the souls were brought back to Amestris, they found their bodies and entered them."

Mel's lips curved. "That's a very intriguing hypothesis. I'll accept it for now."

He sipped at the coffee slowly. "Is Mustang a good lover?"

He had the pleasure of seeing Ed nearly spit out his coffee. "What?" he croaked.

"Is he a good lover? I'm curious. He was known as a womanizer so is he any good?"

"I'm not answering that – that's' far too personal."

Mel supposed it was, and he couldn't hold it against the man for not wanting to answer it. It was exceedingly private and they were in a society just adjusting to the fact that men who loved other men or women who loved other women weren't abnormal or wrong in the head.

He moved on. "Then if you won't talk about that, tell me about Alphonse."

Al too, was a touchy subject. One wrong way of wording something and he could be decimated.

"Al's good." Again, Ed was wary. "What do you want to know?"

But he was also offering. He must really want to see my research and since our coffee is almost gone I'll ask this one last question and then take him to what he wants.

"Tell me how he's been – how he's been recuperating and such."

"At first it was slow, ever so slow, but after the first months, it was good. He improved very fast. He's also thinking about going to university next year. He said it was senseless to continue basic education when he already knew it. He'll do well in university. He's in love with someone and I have a pretty good idea of who. He's happy to be back in Risembool but I also know he wants to come back to Central and live there for a while as well. He's grateful our mother's back and that he gets to spend more time with her. Her and our father and Winry and Aunty Pinako."

Mel smiled. "I am glad for you, don't doubt that, but sometimes I wish I was the one to have figured all this out."

Ed's face was serious. "No, you really, really don't."

Justin shrugged and let it go. He knew that the younger man probably wouldn't have seen it that way, being in the middle of the whole thing anyhow.

"Either way, it's time I took you to my research and let you see it. But it's only for today because if you do decide that you want to return you'll leave it all behind."

"Justin, I already know my choice. I wouldn't leave my brother or Roy for anything."

Mel had hoped, but now that Ed had made it clear that his family was most important there would be no changing his mind.

"Well then, do your best with the day you have." Ed gave him a wolf's grin. "Of course I will."

The older man knew that he would. Edward would do his best to take everything in. But there would always be so much more to look at. And he wouldn't have nearly enough time to do so unless he read speedily or skipped certain things, which he could do but could also lead to misunderstandings.

"Is there a specific order I should start in?"

"Start with the old mythology and lore. And after that everything else should make sense. It shouldn't take too long for you to go through that, especially if you already know part of it. And I'm sure you do so it'll be review."

Ed nodded and sank into his thoughts.

Well, Justin thought, this'll probably be the last time I see him. I should soak it up, should take it in and imprint it on my memory.

Roy woke up later than usual and wondered why his bed was lumpier than usual and why Ed wasn't in it. When he was fully awake he realized that he was in a hotel and was supposed to be negotiating with the Aerugan people. How he should start that, he didn't know.

The ocean or sea or whatever would be neutral territory, occupied by both, but not owned by either. This he thought, could lead to peace between their two countries and it was a starting point.

Belatedly he remember that Ed was going to see Mel Justin today and hoped that everything would be okay. Ed could take care of himself and Roy knew it was best if he remember it. A quick glance at the clock showed it was forty-five past ten. He'd call the Elric's room and see if Ed was there.

Alphonse answered and told him that his brother was already gone, had gone to meet with Justin. Roy felt the nerves come back, the fear that he'd never see the young man again.

"It's obvious that," Alphonse's voice came over the phone, "that he means no harm to Brother. If he did he'd have killed him already and this is obviously not his intent."

"That doesn't mean he won't try later though."

"I don't think so. He needs something from Brother I think and Brother has to be alive. So, don't despair or worry. Brother will be fine. I'll call you when he gets back, whenever that is."

"Thanks Alphonse, that's much appreciated."

"I can assume if you don't answer you're entrenched in meetings? If Brother asks how he should get ahold of you – if we need to get ahold of you and it's an emergency, where should be contact you at?"

"Talk to Havoc and he'll get the message to you. This is his number." Roy read off the number to Al quickly.

"Good luck, Sir. I suppose you'll need it."

"Again, thanks Alphonse. Enjoy your stay and I don't need to remind you, be careful."

"I will Sir. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

When Roy had rung off he had accepted that both Elrics would come to him when they had news of what was going on with Mel Justin and he just had to hope Al was right about the fact that Ed was more valuable alive than dead. Alive for what though?, was the nagging question.

He shook his head, he couldn't worry about that now, there were other problems that needed solving at the moment. He pulled on his blue jacket and fixed his hair before striding towards the door with the attitude of a Brigadier-General.

Hawkeye and Havoc fell in beside him.

"Lieutenant Havoc, if the Elric brothers call and ask to talk to me, please come find me. If they call you…it's probably urgent. So I'd like you to stay in the room today and Falman can take your place."

"Yes, Chief!" Havoc gave a little salute and slipped back into his room and sent Falman out to him.

Mustang nodded quickly and started down the hallway with his men trailing after him.

At the embassy (when was there an embassy here?) he met with an Aerugan lower Prince who seemed to be fairly down to earth. The table they sat at was round and held at least twenty five people but only twelve of the spots were filled.

Starting with him the occupants at the table going to the right were: Falman, two Amestrian soldiers whose names he was unaware of, and next to them were two Aerugan soldiers, on their other side was the lower Prince and one of his generals, an advisor was next to him. Continuing on there were two more Aerugan soldiers and finally there was Hawkeye.

The occupants at the table were all uncomfortable, muttering to each other quietly, the soldiers glaring at one another in irritation. Since all weapons were left outside the only thing they would have to kill each other with were pens, papers and the table.

He nearly snorted. Ed must have been rubbing off on him more than he'd thought. To cover his laughter he cleared his throat and spoke.

"I suppose the first order of business is to welcome you to Amestris. The second is to hope that there were not too many casualties?"

"Not too many," the advisor agreed stiffly.

"Then, let me start. The other countries surrounded with water have laws that regulate the ocean, but at the same time claim it belongs to none of them. I suggest we take their example and have the ocean belong to none."

The prince was nodding his head in agreement but the advisor was shaking it. "I don't think so. The sea took over our land, so therefore it should still be considered ours."

The prince spoke against the advisor. "Not so anymore. The land doesn't exist. It only makes sense if we follow –"

"Brigadier-General Mustang," one of the Amestrian Soldiers supplied helpfully.

"Yes, Brigadier-General Mustang's solution."

The General shifted in his seat and leaned forwards. "I think this is an excellent opportunity for both armies. We can train together for a Sea Army, hmmm, a Navy I think that's the word for it. Normally I wouldn't be so accepting of this, but this is dire, we're both now unprotected with this land shift and if we can call a truce and a minimal alliance it can boost all sorts of things for us."

The advisor shifted in his seat, muttering. "Oh be quiet," the Prince snapped at him. "You're so backwards, you refuse to accept change, you keep on insisting on the most inane things, I'd rather like to drown you actually."

The General coughed and leaned forward to whisper in the Prince's ear who began scowling.

"Fine, I won't threaten to drown him again." He smiled politely. "I'm sorry about that,"

Roy waved it away. "It's no problem. I more than once threatened to light my best friend and my – ah-" Here he stopped uncomfortably and Hawkeye filled in.

"He used to threaten to light his former subordinate and now lover Edward on fire as well as his best friend. He wields flame alchemy which is why."

The Prince's eyes opened wide and he leaned across the table. "Your lover is male?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"It's just we've heard stories about how unaccepting this country was of that lifestyle."

"It still is. That's changing slowly however. I'm doing my best to change it."

The Prince grinned. "It seems I have worried for nothing after all. Perhaps our countries and ourselves will get along better than I thought. Do you think I could meet this Edward?"

"He's actually on personal business right now, but I can ask him if you'd like."

"I'd like it very much! Now, let's get down to signing this alliance thing…"

Wouldn't the upper Brass be thrilled to know that he'd convinced the Prince to sign the treaty because he had a male lover? He laughed quietly to himself. It seemed that he had a few vacation days.

Ed had reluctantly allowed himself to be blindfolded and led to Justin's research room as he called it. There were books and papers everywhere, thrown idly in random spots but the table area was clear of any mess.

"Feel free to work over there, but remember, no notes. I'll be over in that chair if you have any questions."

Ed scavenged the room and pulled up several of the mythology and lore books. He knew even these held truths to them as old as they were.

From inside a note fell out.

Read pgs. 101-103; 308-310, 590-592.

Ed flipped to the first pages listed when the name Zeus/Jupiter appeared on the heading. He sighed. What could this have to do with anything at all? Zeus was the king of all Gods, he was one of the most powerful and he slept around a lot. Okay, fine. Whatever.

The next section of pages contained Apollo. He was the Sun God, he had given the people of Xerxes their golden coloring and their brightness as a gift since they had pleased him immensely. He loved them so much he often mingled among the women and the men of Xerxes leaving a few children behind.

The final section was about Amphitrite, a Goddess of the Sea who was married to Poseidon. She had affairs but not many and the children she bore from those affairs were adept sailors, lovers of the sea or great swimmers. They enjoyed being near the water immensely.

"So," he asked, "What do these myths have to do with me?"

Smirking, Justin pulled a large covering off the wall and revealed a genealogy tree. "I took it upon myself to record your history once I learned where your father was from, I once knew him you know. He was a friend of sorts. He told me his ancestors came from Xerxes."

"He did actually."

"I figured that out when I went to Xerxes on a trip. I brought a whole team of excavators to dig deep into the earth. I sent people in all directions looking for wandering gypsies who recorded the stories of their ancestors. Though Xerxians didn't travel often the few who were traveling escaped the destruction of the city. They passed on their legends, stories and such. They wrote it down and shipped it to many different countries. Preserved it. I have the most extensive collection of Xerxian History here." He smiled. "But you don't need to worry about most of it. I took the liberty of looking up your father's family."

"Okay…so?"

"So. You know the Emperor of Xerxes is determined by his divinity?"

"Of course. So is Xing's."

"Yes, but they only believe he is divine. The Xerxes Emperor was divine, or at least half. He had a God's blood running in his veins. "

"So he was actually partially divine. That's cool, but what's that got to do with my father?"

"Well, this is the interesting part. The King's records are impeccable – they keep who is mother's mother was all the way back and their heritage too. So basically that whole side over there in this room is dedicated just to that. Years it took to go through it bit by bit and record each person who had divine blood. In essence it boils down to this: the last King of Xerxes had divine blood from Zeus. This blood obviously fades with time but when combined with another source of divine blood it becomes stronger again. He took a mistress – her name was Tryphosa, or something like that, no one is really sure since he kept her secret. But what is known is she held the blood of Amphitrite, the Sea Goddess. She bore him and illegitimate son, a prince. This prince would never inherit anything unless all his other legitimate brothers died. He grew up and took a lover who had Apollo's divine blood. To continue the story, she lost his interest after a time as all women did – he rather liked sleeping around, didn't like keeping one woman too long. When he lost interest she was pregnant with his child and so she decided to disappear barely leaving a trace of herself. When the Prince was told he was furious. He asked his soldiers to find her and return her to him – he had begun to fall in love with her. She refused to return and he unleashed his fury, he had her murdered after the child was born. The child was then placed into slavery never to know his true heritage. That child was your father. Isn't that interesting?"

"So, what you're trying to tell me is that I have 'divine blood' running through my veins?"

"Exactly! And like I said when it's combined it's that much more powerful. There've been stories about those who have the ability to access a god-like power or shape. I want to see if you can."

"No fucking way. You're insane and in any case if I'd had divine blood it'd probably already be accessed. But it's not. So. I think you'll be able to live with that."

"But you don't know how to access it – do you?"

Ed's eyes narrowed. "What're you saying?"

"There's a certain way you have to access it. I know the way, but if you don't believe me, well…"

Edward could see the bait clearly. And he finally understood what Justin wanted from him. He wanted his divine power – if it existed – and his way of accessing it would probably mean that he'd be stealing it.

"I don't think so. I'd rather it not be around. Alchemy is already enough of trouble."

"But with a Gods power there'd be no need for equivalent exchange!"

"Equivalent exchange helps the world. Don't ignore it. Sometimes it may seem unfair, but there is a reason for it."

"I'd have thought you of all people would have wanted to dispense with equivalent exchange."

"Well then, you guessed wrong. I don't care to hear any more of your ramblings. I'm going to return to my room now."

Justin's mouth twisted down into a frown. "That's just not acceptable. You need to access it. You'd have unlimited power!"

"And power corrupts. Like I said, I'm not interested. Though, your research will prove helpful to those who believe in those Gods. As I do not, there is no need for me to pay attention any further."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Justin," Ed's voice was impatient. "My father lived in those times. He told Al and I that all those stories about God and Divinity were created to make them seem more powerful. There is nothing to them. While I agree that they may have existed and Apollo may have blessed the Xerxian people or someone who acted as a God, there is no divine children. My father can attest to that. I'm sorry your research failed you."

"You're lying," Justin snapped. "It's just not possible."

"I'm quite sure it is though. Everything else you said is true though I have no doubt, it's just I don't think the divinity parts are true. I'd be hard pressed to believe them."

"If it had been true and you had accepted that divinity you'd have been rendered nearly immortal."

It was like a blow to Ed's gut. There it was, the concealed reason Mel Justin had been so interested in his lineage. He'd thought that if he'd had divine blood he could have attained an immortality of sorts."

"I'm just curious, but in Xerxian history did anyone try to attain divinity if they didn't have it?"

"Oh yes, they believed if they drank the blood of a person with divine blood they'd inherit divine powers. But the divine person would have to die for it to take effect."

"Much like the vampire legends that exist today?"

"I see you noticed the similarity too. They were an advanced society and even though they disappeared they left their mark firmly on the world."

Ed gave a low laugh. "Guess this trip wasn't as pointless as I thought."

Justin gave him a look. "What's that mean?"

Ed shrugged, "Well, obviously, I'm not fond of you. You've murdered, you've done terrible things and well, I just don't like you. You're still probably planning on trying to kill me eventually. You want my immortality if I have it."

Justin's eyes were wide. "I never killed anyone myself, I had other people do it for me. I don't want to kill you. One reason I asked you to stay was that I wanted my assistant back. You were good at your job, but I see you're quite happy where you are."

"I am. But why send the note with you have less than a year and that the mirror always told the truth?"

"Oh, I thought it would get your attention, you always did like danger."

Ed gave a wry smile. "Not so much anymore. In case you noticed we all went into hiding."

"Yes, I did. That's why I sent the letter."

There was a moment of silence. "I don't suppose the military will be able to charge you with anything. So I'll let you go. Your research is important and one day I hope to be able to see all this again. I'd like the time to study it."

"I hope you know that there is always more than one piece in chess. I never set out to hurt you. Never wanted to. There are people who want to though, so be careful of them. I may want your immortality but I wouldn't kill. It's not that important to me. To them however… Oh, one last thing, sometimes stories get distorted and changed to fit the purposes of the teller."

To them, Edward thought, so it wasn't Mel manipulating the game. Someone else was working behind the scenes.

"Goodbye Mel. Although I'd say it was unpleasant seeing you, it wasn't that bad. Good luck with the rest of your research and if you find fool proof evidence, then you know where to find me."

"Goodbye Edward. Stay safe."

Mel watched him go before turning back to his research. He'd need to find a good hiding place for this. And as he gazed out the window and at the foundations for the new library, he grinned.

When the task was finished and he returned to his home, there were two people waiting for him.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

"Justin. Why the hell did you let Fullmetal live?" the voice was irritated. "You were supposed to drink his blood and gain the immortality."

"I ran into a snag when reviewing my work. I think I misread or miswrote some things. I'm not even sure if…"

"So what you're saying," the other butt in, "is that the he's not the one?"

"No, probably not. I'd hoped…but, he brought up a good point. There may not be any people left with the divine blood running in their veins. If it was there at one point it'll have completely faded out."

Angry eyes surveyed him. "I hope you're right. If you're not, there'll be serious consequences."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"Good." There was a pause. "Also, I do hope you didn't tell him about us."

"No. There was no need for him to know. They won't connect it."

"I hope not, otherwise you're going to find yourself in a good bit of trouble," the voice bit out silkily.

"Yes, sir."

Ed managed to gather Roy, Al and his father in one room and tell them of his conversations with Justin.

"So, in conclusion, it's not him pulling the strings. It's someone with far more power than he has. He warned me about chess pieces. Roy – you use the analogy of chess pieces in the military, could he have been hinting -?"

"It's possible. He seems from your story he also hinted that to them killing was almost normal. A military man would be accustomed to that. And if it's true we've got a big problem."

"So," Al asked. "What's the next step? We can't just sit here. Dad, is any of what Justin told Brother true – about the divinity?"

"Probably not. I wouldn't think it would be but there are always possibilities we're unaware of." He smiled sadly. "This man gave me back my family – my heritage and as unpleasant as it is, I'm glad to know it." He looked at his two sons for a moment and said, "You may be a lot more important than you think you are Edward, Alphonse."

"Why?" Roy asked.

Hohenheim watched as understanding dawned on his eldest sons face.

"Oh, hell no. No, no, no, no. NO."

"Can I refuse?"

Hohenheim laughed. "It's not as if I'm going to try and resurrect Xerxes. You're the Prince Heir in name only, not in actuality."

"Prince Heir –oh." Alphonse understood. "Because we're the last of the 'royal family'. Isn't that just a little weird how that happened?"

"Not if the homunculus in the flask figured it out, he probably had. That's probably why."

"This is just unbelievable," Roy muttered, "Ed are you going to be okay?"

"Sure," he smiled. "It doesn't even matter anymore. And there are probably people closer to the 'throne' than we."

"In that, you might be right, Ed," Hohenheim remarked. "But because you carry the most status and – if it's true – divinity it makes you the most eligible, not to mention you're one of the oldest."

Ed just shook his head. "Let's leave this conversation alone. You also know, Justin may be lying about it. He said stories were distorted to fit the purposes of the teller."

Al thought about it. "So he was saying it to tell you that the truth is still out there and the story was invented because they wanted you to be divine."

"Probably."

"This sucks!" Al announced. "I'm so confused about everything. There's too much at play here, too much at stake, what with the Aerugo being split by the sea and us gaining an ocean and the fact the Justin was here and so were apparently those stringing him along…"

Roy laughed softly. "Al, I think you've gone and done it!"

"What?"

"I know where the orders are coming from, and it's not just from one side.

"The Prince today was more than interested in Ed, and his two henchmen and advisor and a General, they all put on a good show. But it seems that some of our Generals are consorting with them already. Apparently they all want your head. I'd ask who you offended, but there were a lot of people whose toes you stepped on."

Edward glared grouchily at him. "So, how do we find out who it is?"

"Tomorrow are the final negotiations. I'll bring you with me and we can see what happens after that."

"No, let's not do tomorrow, but a few days from now. Give us more time to research and such. There are a few things that I'd like to look into before we go meet him. Especially if it'll give us an advantage."

"So, maybe we should say Wednesday afternoon for lunch?"

"Sounds good to me."

When Al and his father had left the room Ed turned to Roy and raised his eyebrows. "Was the Prince really interested in me?"

"Fishing more like it. Seems as if he did research and wanted to get actual details."

"Bad tidings it seems. What I want to do is find out about the upper brass who work here. If I do that I can start eliminating people who have nothing to do with this."

"How will you know that?"

"They'll have a background in war and they will also have looked into certain files and as you know, even as a general you have to record what files you've looked at. Which means, I need your records for all my files."

Roy's eyebrows rose. "I need to see who looked at them."

Roy shrugged. "I can have them shipped here within a day. I'll make the call."

"Good," Ed's grin turned shark-like.

By Wednesday morning Ed had a decent idea of who could possibly be orchestrating the whole thing. He'd complied charts and lists of people who were accessing certain books in libraries and his files and the list was small: it contained four names. Four names in which the culprit could be.

And as he was getting ready to leave there was a knock on his door and the employee announced he had a letter. Ed took the letter with curiosity, he wondered who would be writing to him.

Edward.

I write to you once again, not to play games. Read carefully and you'll understand while I reminisce. At twelve you were excitable and loved books, even now you love books. You loved the library in Central, and I suppose that's why – I'm guessing here – you were devastated when it burned down to its foundations. The South City library burned to you know, they're redoing the foundation at the moment actually. Sometimes the truth is hidden deep in things – like the truth of why people do the things they do.

Ed continued to read as the man reminisced about their past together. But his eyes skimmed the first paragraph again. The South City library hadn't burned, it hadn't met the building requirements so they were redoing it. And truth what was – oh. Oh oh. He needed to talk to Roy. He needed to get to the library and quickly.

Ed's breath came out in sharp bursts as he searched the ground around the library looking for clues.

Do you remember our conversation about mirrors? How sometimes they reflect what we hate most, but they are the most truthful things there are. They cannot lie. They cannot lie like we humans can. They can show our pasts and futures. It cannot show us what we want to see, it only shows us what is. The mirror is a symbol, a symbol that has existed for…

He was looking for a symbol of the mirror. And there in a foundation stone a crude round mirror was etched.

Lines and symbols were always important, especially if you want to get through locked doors. You used to use them all the time to get into places in my library where I didn't want you. Don't you remember that? I used to find you in there reading my books.

Ed grinned and etched the remaining lines into the circle and the array lit with a blue glow before the foundation stone shifted away. Below were stone steps circling down, down, down.

The one thing you hated was going down those stone steps into my basement. You hated those rickety things. You always wanted to make them steady because you were afraid one of us would tumble to our deaths if one were to break.

Ed clapped again and let his alchemy create supports for the winding stone staircase. Very carefully he lowered himself down each step with precision making sure to test each one so that he didn't accidentally fall to his death.

He smirked proudly when he reached the bottom. It hadn't been so bad – but now, where were those books?

As he looked around the room, his eyes fell upon an empty shelf. A small wall lined up and down with shelves.

At twelve you were short – still are – and I used to keep all my alchemy – rare, precious alchemy – textbooks up on the highest shelves so they wouldn't get damaged. You'd climb up those shelves just to retrieve them. You were always addicted to danger. Again, and again I'd tell you, be careful you don't fall, or you'll get yourself killed. If your foot wasn't in the right spot, well, there were many dangers of climbing.

Stupid, stupid. Ed thought as he climbed. Mel had obviously booby trapped the goddamned shelf, so he'd have to look for the clues to pull himself up. The first clue was the title of an alchemy book. He remembered it's synopsis. He advanced the shelf following the clues given by the title of the books, he grabbed onto the top shelf and levered himself into a cave like place. And there they were – boxes upon boxes of disguised books. Carefully, ever so carefully he dropped each one to the floor and then he dropped to the floor himself.

He opened his hand on the letter in his hand that had been pinned to the back of the secret alcove.

Mel had just given him the advantage. The information he needed to beat the guys who'd very much like to kill him.

Stepping up onto the bottom steps he called up, "Roy?"

"Ed?" he saw Roy lean over the edge.

"I'm going to need help carrying up these boxes."

"How many?"

"Errr…six I think."

Roy sighed and made his way down, surprised. "We're going to need help."

Ed grinned. "Feel like making a call after you bring up one of these boxes?"

Roy rolled his eyes and picked up one of the largest boxes. "I'll go call and have several more cars brought."

A phone call to his men, another to the Prince telling them they were running late by an hour and eight, not six boxes later, they were finally at the restaurant.

Ed shifted in his seat in the booth opposite the Prince and his General. Roy who was next to him had donned a pleasant smile and was mediating the conversation.

The General was rambling about some sort of maneuver when the Prince finally turned to Edward.

"So, you're the Edward we hear so much about in this country. You were once the famed Fullmetal Alchemist if I recall correctly?"

"Yes I was. Sometimes it's not a title I bear with pleasure."

"I'm quite sure. Times of war are never pleasant. Havand would know, wouldn't you?" he asked turning to his General.

Havand nodded. "They can be most unpleasant. I was just talking about training some of our armies to be Navy men, sailors. We could train together. But the men would have to be willing and god knows, the men are still at odds after fighting for so long."

Ed smiled politely. "I don't know a whole lot about the conflict. I was more worried about our inner conflict."

"Nasty thing, I heard about it from one of the General's, General Arvins, I believe. He talked a good bit about you."

"Did he?"

"Yes, he did," the Prince smiled kindly.

"Ed here doesn't really like his fame however, so we generally don't discuss it."

Ed placed a piece of bread into his mouth and nodded before swallowing and saying, "I don't know Arvins that much, so I'm surprised he knows about my missions. You were pretty tight lipped about them, weren't you Roy?"

"I was. People didn't need to know all of the things you were doing."

And all of a sudden it became a game of cat and mouse.

Havand's eyes narrowed and he smiled politely. "Really? We don't usually keep important things like what you were searching for from our superiors."

"It was a matter of national security," Ed announced with authority. "Certain people didn't know. Greedy people, people who would misuse it. People who believe in fairy tales."

The sting was sharp and to the point. He had let them know he knew what they were up to in one moment – without letting them realize what he was alluding to.

"Yes, fairy tales aren't conductive to scientific research. I did enough research to know your coloring is unusual. Your heritage is Xerxes is it not?"

"Yes it is. Don't be too curious though. There are certain things I can't tell you."

"Oh, no," the Prince exclaimed, "we wouldn't ask you to divulge any secrets, but we are curious, they often mention divine blood, is it true?"

"Only if a person makes it so."

Roy and Ed watched as the other two men exchanged looks. "So it's possible?"

"I didn't say it was possible. I said if a person makes it. They'd have to truly believe."

"So – like vampires?"

"But do you know what I'm most curious about? How you know it's like vampires because as far as I was aware that information was either lost or classified. So the fact that you know it, well, it's a little suspicious."

"Unfortunately, it is." Roy admitted in a tone with false sympathy and regret, "but it also means we have to suspend treaties and alliances until we get this sorted out. Our security is very important to us."

With blank faces the Aerugans rose from the table, politely excused themselves and thanked the Amestrians for a nice lunch before leaving.

Roy sighed. "I hope this doesn't adversely affect our future relationship, but we just can't have them trying to attack a civilian. You in this case. But we also can't have a general freely dishing out information to them."

"I'm sorry Roy. I wish these things weren't connected." Ed scrubbed at the back of his neck and sighed.

"I'm going to return to the hotel and sort through those boxes. Maybe I'll come up with something of interest that'll be useful to us. Maybe I'll find out where we're really from."

Roy smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "I'm sure you will."

"I'm glad one of us has confidence."

Shaking his head, Roy departed to South City Military Command where he was to meet with some of the other upper brass.

Ed locked himself in his room and began sorting through the books and scrolls Mel had accumulated. With a pen and paper on one side and files on the other, he began his quest to find his lineage. He started with his father once he'd found his paper.

Dareios (father) m. Euanthe (mother) - Charis(daughter)

Hesiod (father) m. Agape (mother) - Bion(son)

Charis (mother) lover- Bion (father) - Hohenheim (son)

The records continued on back. He found that they were related to the Tryphosa in the story. So although they were related to royalty they were not in fact, royalty. His grandmother had died in childbirth and his father was left parentless and because he was parentless he was made into a slave. He found that his grandfather (!) had been enlisted and sent off to explore other countries. There were several records that showed he had never returned to Xerxes, perhaps unaware that he had a son, or he had died. In either case he had lived even after Xerxes had fallen. Sighing he put the papers down. There was nothing in there in the genealogy about divine blood so his best guess was that they didn't have any. His mind was lightened. He would have no burden placed upon him to be something he had no interest in being.

Later as he lay in bed thinking, he wondered what they would do now. They'd deal with the problem of the General and the Prince, then they'd return home peacefully and he could sort through the rest of the Xerxian mythologies and stories and chronicles in peace. He grinned, and turned over.

Now, that was something to be excited about!

The afternoon was bright, sunny, and unfortunately cold. October was banging on their doors. After the whole fiasco with the Aerugans life had settled down somewhat and they'd returned to Central. General Arvins had been summarily reprimanded by the loss of his rank and suspension from the military until further notice.

Ed had no doubt Arvins was still dangerous – more so because the person he'd been hunting had been the one to disclose the truth. Ed glanced over to the other desk where a new librarian of a month was seated. He was a quiet thing, barely talked, but he was most definitely older than Ed. He often read to pass the time when there was no one asking for help or waiting to check out.

Although Ed loved the library the past few months adventures had sparked his adrenaline and he was silently wishing he could do something more fast paced than simply working in a library. He knew Roy knew it. And he also knew that Roy was busy sucking up to the Brass so he could attain a promotion. The silence in the library unnerved him sometimes as of late so when he saw Roy standing outside leaning against the library wall he leapt up and scrambled out the door.

"Hey! I was about to lose my mind in there! I really need to find somewhere else to work before I lose my mind."

"We can look into that in the next few weeks." Roy leaned down and kissed him slowly. Ed gave him a little grin as he pulled away.

Ed felt the rush of a breeze and a sharp pain against his cheek at the same time as he heard another gunshot. He whipped his head around to see the new librarian standing with a gun in his hand. Gone was the personality that Ed had been accustomed to this past month, instead, it was the face of an insane killer.

Ed had had many confrontations like this in his life and undoubtedly so had Roy. He glanced over to see the man with a hand pressed against his side. "I'm fine Ed. Don't worry, it's really just a nick."

The man opposite seemed pissed when he heard this. "I'd be hoping I'd hit somewhere much more vital, actually. Maybe I should try again?"

"I'd rather you didn't," Roy remarked wryly.

"Ahh, but I think I will."

Ed had moved quickly to the side where he could more easily defend Roy from the onslaught of bullets.

The man was quick Ed had to admit, but he wasn't nearly quick enough. He wasn't like the homunculus – they were fast, so this man was slow in comparison. He had erected a wall of stone in less than ten seconds.

There was an irritated noise on the other side of the wall and the clicking of another cartridge being put into the gun.

"Are you sure it's only a nick?"

"I'm positive. It's already stopped bleeding, but it seems a bullet nicked your cheek too."

"Doesn't really hurt though. Stings."

Roy offered him a tiny smile. Ed clapped and made the sidewalk beneath the new "librarian" buckle and rise beneath his feet so as to make him lose his balance. Ed could hear the man cursing in annoyance and grinned. He'd have the advantage now. With a quickness he hadn't used in years he slammed his palms right to the ground and launched an attack of sharpened spikes at the gunman who was attempting to dodge them. One clipped his shoulder and he staggered to one side and glared.

He raised the gun again but didn't get far because Roy had finally found his gloves in his coat pockets and then

SNAP

There was a burst of flame in the air as tall as the library building. Ed took that moment to smack the gun out of his hand with a downward sweep of his leg and then with a satisfying thunk he clipped the man's head with his fist. The man dropped within a moment. There was a moment of breathless exhilaration as Ed breathed in the crisp air around him.

Roy appeared at his back and looked down at their assailant. Roy's mouth twitched up sardonically. "Well, it's been awhile since that's happened."

Ed choked on his silent laughter.

At the hospital Roy received his stitches and Ed received a bandage for his cheek. After this was done they retreated to the main part of Central Command, Ed wearing a visitors pass, and down towards the interrogation rooms.

The man was glaring at them when they entered.

The General who was already there – Henderson as Ed recalled – briefed them. "His name is Carl Yesgrit. He was Mel Justin's assistant. He claims he wants revenge on the both of you."

Henderson stared at them seriously. "Apparently Arvins sent someone after Justin and had him killed because he divulged information to you and lied to them, Elric. So Yesgrit blames the both of you for turning in Arvins."

Ed winced. Justin was dead? He'd probably expected it, probably known when he'd hidden those books. Had used this as a way of repenting for the murders he'd caused. Ed felt regretful; the man had truly been sad about those deaths, but he had also been losing his mind, slowly but surely. Still, he felt bad. No one deserved to die – except maybe really bad people, people like serial killers.

Henderson was continuing. "It really is too bad it had to end this way with you getting all those new rights and treaties and alliances worked out with the Aerugans. That was some pretty fast talking you did there. We were all quite impressed." He nodded towards Ed. "You too. Apparently you haven't lost any of your reflexes as evidenced by tonight's episode."

"I'll agree with that."

Henderson gave him a wary smile before he turned back to watching the man in the interrogation room. "It was only attempted murder so at most he'll be in jail for five years, not nearly long enough I think, but we do have laws for a reason. It is what keeps us all in line and makes the world turn."

Ed would very much have liked to dispute that claim, but he just couldn't work up the effort to do so. He was exhausted mentally. He wondered why Roy liked playing these political games, they seemed to get very, very dangerous.

At that moment, Ed understood something very, very clearly. And it was something that scared him to no end. If he stayed with Roy – and he was sure he was – he'd be dumped into the middle of political schemes very much like this one more often than not. Roy lived this stuff, and because it was so much a part of Roy, and Ed liked Roy, it would influence Ed too. And if Roy was getting himself in trouble Ed figured he'd need to be there to keep Roy safe.

Which meant…he'd be in the middle of political games.

He sighed.

The day I win against Roy will probably be the day I die, he grumbled to himself.

The first of November it snowed. Snowed in huge gigantic piles and Ed felt his inner child sit up and become giddy with glee. He wanted to jump in them. Roy seemed to have gotten very good at reading his mind and was doing his best to stay away from the huge snowdrifts as he walked out the door. Ed pressed his nose to the window and watched. His job didn't start for another hour. He had started an alchemy business – where he would create an array for your use, or create something of the sort. The more size, the extravagance, the time etc that were necessary to create it would mean more money and cost. But when done right they were beautiful. Business wasn't exactly booming per say. It was slow, not enough people needed alchemy of that sort – those who did need it mostly needed broken things to be fixed. Ed would fix them for half the cost of the actual piece. So like yesterday this woman had brought in an expensive vase worth quite a bit of money about 100,000 cens. She'd have to pay 50,000 cens to have it fixed – and she did.

Ed had just finished an array yesterday for his only other client, and again, the amount it cost was almost through the roof. Time was never an issue. Ed had worked the array out within a day whereas for other alchemists it may have taken a week or two. It was a large array with many symbols and lines that would be difficult to replicate. The user didn't need to totally understand it, he just had to know what he wanted it to do. That was all.

But like with the fixing of broken objects, Ed would sell easy day to day arrays as well, for a standard price of 310 cens. While it'd be easy enough to look them up, if one didn't understand the creation of alchemy very well or the lines, it was easy to mess up, or if one simply didn't have the time, this was a quick, easy, reusable way to achieve the same affect.

Ed was quite pleased with himself. He wasn't bored anymore and he was doing something useful – helping other people.

The rest of the day was spent working on an array order he had received that morning in the mail. He hadn't quite completed it by the time Roy got home so he packed it away in a alchemically locked storage box and placed it on the bookshelf that was located in their kitchen.

Roy greeted him with a smile and started over towards the fridge. Ed coughed.

"You didn't cook did you?"

"Err, I got distracted. I can if you'd like?"

"No, it's not a problem Ed. We can just order out."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive. You looked like you were working hard. What's that array for?"

"Some convoluted mansion structure. Don't know why anyone would want to live in something that's going to come out…"

Roy laughed and called in their takeout.

Roy was appreciative of the fact Ed cared enough that he'd offer to cook, but tonight, tonight it was better that he didn't.

Roy hated what he was going to tell Ed today. He knew it was going to be a strain on the both of them. And for a moment he wished that the military would just disappear so he could live with Ed in peace.

Ed would kick him if he could hear his thoughts and as if he had, he heard Ed's voice from a conversation they'd had a week and a half ago, "Hey, Bastard? You know, I'm not going to just leave when you get involved in political schemes. I know it's part of your job. I may not like them, but I know your reasons and if I can I'll help you get there." Ed had worn that determined face he wore when he thought someone was going to be stubborn. He may not have worded it in the best way, but that was Ed. He could be blunt, but he was also honest. It was his integrity that made him so endearing at times.

"Ed," he began once at home, "There's this thing happening at headquarters."

Edward looked up and sat back to listen, leaving his food untouched. "What kind of thing?"

"Mostly talk. But…"

"Talk can often turn into reality. What is this talk?"

"Rearranging of personnel. Generals are retiring, so well…" Roy left the sentence hanging.

Ed's head bent down. "You're going to be ah, maneuvering aren't you? You want a promotion."

"Yes. This is the season for balls and such and I need to go to those."

"Can I come?" Ed asked suddenly.

"I was hoping you'd join me. You'll be good support. Having the support of the former Fullmetal Alchemist is a good thing."

Ed laughed and began to eat. "'slong as I get to go, I don't mind." He shrugged. "Maybe I'll get more clients out of it."

Roy raised an eyebrow at that. "Really, now you're starting to sound like me."

"Shut up, bastard. I don't need to hear that."

Roy's chuckle was infectious and Ed couldn't help but laugh with him. "We're rubbing off on each other," he admitted reluctantly.

"The hazards of living together."

Roy's hand touched his for a moment where it rested on the tabletop before retreating.

Ed couldn't help but give a little smile at that simple moment of affection. He ducked his head and let the blush coat his cheeks as he thought of well, Roy.

"You're turning me sappy," he grumbled a little while later from where he lay underneath Roy on their bed which was now mussed.

Roy cuddled him again. "I kind of like it."

Ed poked him.

Roy poked him back.

This started a wrestling match which Roy won a little too easily for his liking. He looked down into the face below his which was trying to attain an innocent expression.

"En garde, redux," Ed whispered.