Summary: After discovering the horrific truth of Tucker’s experiments, Mustang faces a race against time to get Nina to safety and away from a life in a government lab. Out of ideas, he calls in the Elric brothers, independent alchemists of the people whom he knows to have an interest in human transmutation, and more specifically, reversing it.
Determined to do what they can for her, Ed, Al and their mother provide a safe home for Nina, and over time, they work out how to help her back to her normal state.
Rated: T
Safe and Sound
“It’s a mess, sir.”
Roy looked out of the window at the rain teeming down outside the Tucker home. Hawkeye’s blunt summation of the situation hardly did it justice, but he couldn’t think of a more apt term to use. He turned to Tucker, who still seemed unable to see what he had done wrong in the name of scientific advancement, and he felt the anger begin to burn through his veins once more, even hotter than when he had first entered the place and realised with sickening horror what Tucker had done, and what he must have done two years prior as well.
He strode across the room, grabbing the front of Tucker’s shirt and lifting him bodily out of the chair he had been sitting in whilst Fuery had recorded his statement and confession.
“Colonel.” Hawkeye’s voice was sharp, and Roy glanced over at her. She was kneeling in the corner, next to the chimera (Nina, her name was Nina, she gave him a flower crown the last time he was here), who was watching the scene with wide eyes.
“Don’t hurt Daddy,” Nina pleaded in that low, uncanny, unreal voice, slow and pained but every bit in earnest. The anger in Roy’s blood roiled afresh, and his grip on Tucker’s shirt tightened.
“Lieutenant, get her out of here. Take her out the back way and get Havoc to sneak her into HQ.”
“Daddy…”
“Come on, Nina,” Hawkeye coaxed. “We need to go now. We need to get you somewhere safe.”
“Daddy…”
“Colonel Mustang needs to talk to your daddy, Nina. Come with me. Are you hungry?”
Hawkeye guided Nina out of the room. Once the door was closed and he could no longer hear the lieutenant’s soft cajoling, Roy sank his fist into Tucker’s face. It did not make him feel any better. He hadn’t expected it to.
He let Tucker back down into his chair, leaving the room as Fuery completed the final bits of paperwork.
He needed to work out what to do about Nina. If anyone got word of her, she’d be locked up in a lab and experimented on as an alchemical freak of nature for the rest of her life. He needed to keep her safe, and if there was the slightest chance of getting her and Alexander back to normal, then he had to pursue it.
Roy was not in his area of expertise here. Human experimentation, bio-alchemy, the many varied and illegal and impossible forms of human transmutation - none of that had ever been in his remit and he had never had any desire for it to be. He ran a hand through his hair, desperately trying to think of a solution. Smuggling her into HQ was only a temporary measure and not a perfect one at that; there was still so much that could go disastrously wrong. He needed to get Nina out of sight and out of mind as soon as possible, hiding her away where the military would leave her alone.
A thought struck him and he moved through the house towards the telephone, dialling Falman at headquarters.
“Falman, can you find out if the Elrics are still in town?”
“Yes, sir. On it.”
Roy had first come across Edward and Alphonse Elric four years ago, when news of a couple of young but extremely talented alchemists researching human transmutation and Philosopher’s Stones had come to him through the state alchemist grapevine. With the military always interested in those with an interest in the alchemic taboo, Roy had been despatched to take a look at the lay of the land as regarded the Elrics, and potentially recruit them.
He hadn’t reckoned on their being quite so young, just eleven and ten years old, and he absolutely had not reckoned on their mother. Trisha Elric was a tiny, frail-looking woman with perpetually pale blue-tinged lips and a constant cough from the Frontline Flu that had almost killed her in ‘04, and she was a force of nature who had told Roy in no uncertain terms that her sons’ interest in Philosopher’s Stones was highly personal and that there was no way in hell they were becoming state alchemists despite the research opportunities it would afford them.
Roy had reported back that the Elric brothers were a dead end, and had left them in peace to follow their own research, whilst still keeping an eye on them every time they came to Eastern City to the large library there.
With their secretive nature, their no-nonsense mother and their persistent interest in human alchemy, Roy held out the tiniest hope of Nina’s best chance being with the Elrics.
Hell, anything was worth a shot at this stage.
“Sir?”
“I’m listening, Falman.”
“The Elrics are still in town, sir. They’re in a guesthouse by the station.”
“Thank God. Get someone to try and persuade them to come to HQ.”
“Will do, sir. And, erm, Ms Elric?”
“She’s here too?”
“Yes, sir.”
Roy sighed. “Probably best if she comes too.”
“Yes, sir.”
He hung up, winging up a prayer that this hunch would pay off.
X
“So…” Ed stretched out his legs, uncaring for who in Eastern Command might trip over them as they waited for Mustang to make an appearance and tell them why they were there. “What do you think the Bastard Colonel wants us for this time?”
“Edward.” The sigh that his mother gave was a long-suffering one rather than showing any real disapproval, and he could see that she was trying very hard not to smile.
“What? You call him the Bastard too!”
“Not in his place of work, I don’t.”
“Officer Falman was really quite apologetic when he picked us up,” Al mused. “Maybe something’s gone terribly wrong and they need us to fix it. You know. Someone outside the military.”
Mom raised an eyebrow. “If that’s the case, they’d be better off picking anyone other than you two. You’d hold it over them as blackmail material for the rest of their lives. Honestly, I don’t know where you got your devious streak from. It wasn’t your dad, which leaves me with the uncomfortable conclusion that it must be from me.”
“Where do you think Dad is right now?” Al asked. “It would be just our luck if he chooses this weekend to come home and we’re not there. I can imagine him going over to Granny’s: ‘Pinako, I swear I had a wife and two children when I left but I appear to have misplaced them.’”
Mom laughed, but Ed didn’t respond. Although he now knew the full story of why Dad had left, the fact he’d left in the first place still rankled even now, and he knew that he would continue to view his father with mixed emotions until the man himself was back in the flesh and could answer for his own actions. Still, that hadn’t stopped him and Al from setting out on the current quest that had occupied them for the last four years, namely finding a way to get Dad back to normal so that when he did return, he and Mom could live a vaguely ordinary life together.
“I’m really sorry about all this.” Falman appeared in the corridor again. “It’s just that we’ve got a bit of a… situation.”
Ed raised an eyebrow as they got up to follow him, deciding to reserve judgement. Falman led them into Mustang’s office, where the rest of the team was clustered around the colonel’s desk with nervous expressions.
“Ok… Anyone want to tell us what’s going on?”
Mustang came over. “We have a situation that requires some discretion.”
Mom snorted. “You picked the wrong two for that.”
“I think when you see what we’ve got, you’ll agree with me.”
Intrigued, Ed approached the desk and peered under it.
It looked like a dog, on the face of it, although it appeared to have some kind of mane of long dark hair, and there was something about the eyes and mouth that didn’t look quite right.
“Chimera?”
Mustang nodded.
“I’m guessing the majority is from a dog, but what’s it fused with?”
Mustang didn’t get the chance to respond before the chimera spoke, a soft, desperate whimper.
“I want Daddy.”
Ed’s blood ran cold. “Someone chimerised a human child?”
“Yes.” Mustang’s voice was deadly serious. “This is Nina Tucker. Her father decided to create a chimera capable of human speech. He’s in jail now.” He gave a heavy sigh. “If anyone gets wind of this, she’ll be shut up in a military lab for the rest of her life. We’re giving out that Tucker’s chimera didn’t survive the transmutation to try and buy us some time. This is the reason why I wanted you to see her. I know that you two are probably the leading state-independent researchers of human transmutation right now. If anyone can help her, you can.”
Ed looked at Al, who was staring at Nina with sad horror, and then at his mom, who was having a coughing fit. Falman brought her some water.
“Mom? You ok?”
She nodded, before slowly, deliberately, getting down on her knees and shuffling under the desk.
“Hey Nina,” she said gently. “My name’s Trisha. How old are you, honey?”
“Six.”
“You’re scared, huh?”
Nina nodded. “Want Daddy.”
“Your daddy can’t come, honey. He did something very, very bad, so he has to go away for a while.”
“A very long while,” Ed muttered.
“Don’t be scared, though,” Mom continued. “We’ll look after you, me and Ed and Al.” She reached out, carefully brushing Nina’s hair out of her eyes. “It’ll be all right, I promise.”
She was just being Mom. In her eyes, Nina was just a scared little kid. Mom didn’t see the alchemy or the implications. She just saw someone who needed a family to keep her safe.
Ed crouched down beside her. “Hi Nina. I’m Ed, and this is Al. We’ll get you sorted out, don’t worry.” He had no idea where he would even begin, but he had to do something to help her out.
Nina looked at Trisha.
“You… Ed Mommy?”
“Yeah, I’m Ed’s Mommy. Why don’t you come with us now, and we’ll take you home, somewhere nice and safe and quiet.”
Nina nodded slowly, and Mom looked up at Mustang.
“I’ll look after her,” she said. “She’ll be safe and off the grid in Resembool. I can’t say we can help her, that’s up to the boys to decide what they’re prepared to try and what they’re capable of doing. But I’ll look after her, and in return, you make sure that the monster who did this never sees the light of day again.”
Ed was beginning to see why Mustang was scared of Mom.
X
The frenetic logistics of getting Nina home with them without being discovered by the military at large took a while to sort out, and Trisha couldn’t rest easy until she was safely behind her own front door. Winry and Pinako had been brought in on their secret, it would have been near impossible to keep it from them.
Actually looking after her proved to be just the same as taking care of any other child - she was just a little larger and more unco-ordinated. From the moment that she had seen Nina and decided that no matter what, she was going to take care of her, Trisha had not really given any thought to the difficulties that might be involved in caring for a chimera. At the end of the day, Nina was a little girl and Trisha intended to treat her like one, even if she didn’t exactly look like a little girl.
She required a little more concentration than the boys had done, because whilst she could speak, full sentences were difficult simply because of the shape of her mouth, so articulating her needs wasn’t as simple as it could have been. But she would eat at the kitchen table with them if one of them spoon-fed her, and she loved to watch the boys practice their alchemy and listen to the bedtime stories they would weave her.
Occasionally the odd trait that was definitely dog rather than human would forcibly remind Trisha that Nina was two beings in one now - most notably she preferred to sleep curled up behind the couch in the living room rather than in a bed - but generally, Nina was the daughter she’d never had.
“Dad could fix her,” Al said one evening whilst they were sitting around after dinner. Nina was dozing, her head in Trisha’s lap. They’d taken to braiding her mane to keep it out of her eyes, and she’d decided on blue ribbons today. Trisha stroked the silky ends through her fingers. “I mean, he’s a Philosopher’s Stone, he should be able to do anything, right?”
“He probably could,” Ed agreed. “The difficulty would be finding him and explaining the situation. We haven’t known where he is for ten years, tracking him down now to break off from his quest and come home to un-chimerise a chimera wouldn’t exactly be the easiest solution.”
“Yeah.” Al sighed. “I guess it’s back to the drawing board and Dad’s books. I don’t really recall any of them talking about chimeras, but then, we weren’t really looking for any information about them.”
Trisha coughed, startling Nina out of her doze, and she looked around for a while.
“Big brother Ed?”
Ed grinned. Trisha was surprised at how quickly Nina had decided on Ed as a surrogate big brother, but he was definitely the person that she seemed to have latched onto as her link into the family. Ed was Big Brother. Al was usually just Al. Trisha was Ed-Mommy. (Occasionally, when she woke up crying from nightmares, she was just Mommy, and Trisha would hold her as close as she possibly could.)
“Hey Nina.”
“Where’s Daddy?”
The grin dropped as quickly as it had appeared on his face.
“Your daddy had to go away, Nina.”
“No… Ed-Daddy.” Trisha followed her sight-line over to the opposite wall; she was looking at her and Van’s wedding photo on the mantel.
“Oh. He had to go away too.”
“He did bad?”
Ed snorted, and Trisha laughed.
“I think that depends on who you ask, honey. No, Ed and Al’s daddy didn’t do anything bad. He’s travelling around the country at the moment. Ed’s daddy is a very powerful alchemist and there are some things he has to do to make sure everyone is safe. It’s sad that we don’t see him, but he’s the only one who can protect us. All of us.”
“Oh.”
They fell into silence again, until Al spoke up from the floor where he was sitting in the middle of a sea of books.
“Maybe if we knew how Tucker did it in the first place we could reverse engineer it.”
“I guess.” Ed sighed. “I’d be afraid of making it worse, though. Sometimes I’ve thought about asking her if she can remember what happened, but I don’t want her to relive what was probably a very traumatic experience.”
“Exactly,” Trisha said. Nina’s head was resting in her lap and drowsing again. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t help her, boys. No one is expecting you to. You’re already giving her the care and love and safety that she needs, and that’s all that matters. If we do get a little girl and a large dog out of this, then that would be wonderful, but right now, Nina’s wellbeing takes priority.”
She thought about the picture that Mustang had sent her, along with a packet of documents from the Tucker household that might be useful - birth certificate, medical records and the like. A sweet little girl and a huge, goofy-looking dog. She stroked one of Nina’s front paws sadly. Although she was mostly aware of her changed shape and size, there were the odd little moments where she forgot she didn’t have hands, and it always distressed her. Trisha wanted nothing more than for the chimerisation to be reversed and for Nina - and Alexander - to live normal lives, but if that wasn’t to be, then Trisha would just take care of the chimera for as long as she needed it.
X
They’d settled into the routine of having Nina with them remarkably quickly, and Al was pleased by just how easily she’d become part of the family. It was very clear that Ed was her favourite, but he didn’t seem to mind that at all. It was strange, Al had never really thought of Ed as being particularly good with kids, but then again, they had never really come across all that many over the course of their research. He completely doted on Nina though, and whenever she and Mom had been making flower crowns, he would always wear the one Nina picked out as his without any complaint.
Although he was used to Nina being around, it was still a surprise to see her bounding out of the house towards them as he and Ed made their way up the hill having been to see Winry in town.
“Ed! Big Brother Ed! Ed! Daddy’s here!”
Al looked at Ed, Ed looked back at Al, and they both started to sprint up the hill. Nina’s father was still in jail in Eastern City, there was no way he should be in Resembool, it had been given out that Nina was dead, who had spilled that she was here…
Al barrelled into the kitchen with Ed hot on his heels, and both of them stopped dead.
“Oh.”
It wasn’t Tucker. The man standing in the kitchen hugging Mom tightly was their own dad.
There was the click-click-click of Nina’s nails on the floor tiles behind them.
“Ed-Daddy,” she said proudly.
So that was what she meant.
Eventually, Mom let go of Dad and he turned to them. It must have been just as much of a shock for him to see them now, considering how small they had been when he had left.
“I’ve been gone so long,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise how long I would be. I’ve missed so much. I’m sorry.”
“I…” Ed seemed to be having trouble taking it all in, and he shook his head. “It’s so weird. I’ve rehearsed this moment for years and now it’s here and I have no idea what to say.”
Al stumbled as Nina butted his legs and peered around him.
Dad looked at her, curious.
“I see our family has grown whilst I’ve been away. Hello there.”
“This is Nina.” Ed moved closer to her protectively. “She’s our little sister.”
“Big Brother Ed!”
Dad looked from Nina to Ed to Mom and back again.
“I’ll explain later,” Mom said.
“It’s ok. I think I know what’s happened.” Dad came over, crouching in front of Nina and offering her his hand. She tentatively placed her paw in it, and he shook it gently. “It’s nice to meet you, Nina.” He smiled. “You’re like me, aren’t you? Made into something different by alchemy you had no say in.”
Al knew at that moment that he didn’t have to worry about his father not accepting Nina or not being prepared to help her.
Much later, once Nina was asleep on her cushion behind the couch, and once Dad had explained everything that had happened over the last ten years - and before that - in his own words, and once Ed had stopped yelling at him, and once Nina’s situation had been explained, Al voiced the thought that had been at the forefront of their minds ever since Nina had come to live with them.
“Dad, can you help her?”
Dad didn’t reply for a long time, his brow furrowed in thought, but Al’s heart leapt to his mouth as he eventually nodded.
“Yes,” he said. “I think I should be able to, but it’s the kind of thing that I’d only get one shot at. It would have to be perfect first time, because if I get it wrong, it’ll just make it worse.”
Al looked at Ed, and then at Mom, who nodded.
“I think it’s worth the risk,” she said. “She’s the sweetest darling just as she is, but I can’t imagine what kind of internal distress she’s in, and I think she’d be happier if she was back to her old self.”
“In that case, I will do what I can.”
It took a couple of days for Dad to work out exactly what he would need to do, during which time Al was incredibly conscious of the fact that although he had come home now, he had not come home for good and there was still a lot of work that he had to do around the country in order to be prepared for the Promised Day coming and everything that would happen then. He still couldn’t quite get his head around the scope of it all, but it was a reasonably valid excuse for leaving them for so long. If something went wrong and it ended up backfiring on Dad, then what would happen to them all then? It would all be for nothing if they were doomed into a massive transmutation circle in a couple of months anyway.
Eventually, Dad announced that he was ready, and Al ventured into the study. All the furniture had been pushed back against the walls, and the most complex transmutation circle that Al had ever seen was drawn on the floor. Dad was kneeling in the middle of it, tracing out all the lines to make sure that there were no breaks.
“This should separate her out into two separate entities again,” he said. “The souls should be able to provide the power needed for it.”
Mom brought Nina into the room, and she shied away from the circle, hiding behind Mom’s legs.
“Scared,” she said. Al couldn’t really blame her. The last time she’d seen a circle this large and complex drawn out on the floor was probably the time she was chimerised in the first place.
“It’s ok, honey. I’m right here. This will make you feel a lot better, I promise.” She stepped into the circle. “Come on, Nina. I’ll be right here with you.”
“Mom, are you really sure that’s a good idea?” Ed asked. “Considering everything that could go wrong?”
Mom looked at Dad, who would have to be inside the circle as well in order for it to work.
“I trust you,” she said simply, and she sat down, holding out her arms for Nina.
“Scared,” Nina whimpered, but she padded across the floor and curled up in Mom’s lap.
Dad looked up.
“Step out and close the door,” he said. “This could get disturbing to watch.”
“But…”
“Edward.” Dad’s tone was non-negotiable, and Al dragged Ed out of the study, shutting the door behind them. Ed continued to grumble for a while, but then bent down to watch through the keyhole.
There was a deafening crack of alchemy, and bright red light flared out below the door.
X
The light was blinding, and Ed couldn’t really see much after Dad plunged his hands into Nina’s chest. The alchemy was roaring in his ears and he couldn’t hear anything useful, so he was forced to step back from the door and just hope that everything would be all right.
It seemed to take forever. It was the kind of thing where once it was started, it couldn’t be stopped until it was done. It wasn’t a job that could be left half-finished whilst Dad took a break to get his breath back. He imagined what it must be like, having to separate out two souls and two bodies into two completely separate entities and not leave anything mixed up.
He was glad it was Dad doing it and not him. He glanced across at Al.
“Do you think they’re all ok?”
Al shrugged, but his expression was just as worried as Ed knew his own was.
“I guess all we can do is wait and see and trust Dad.”
“Hmm.” Ed didn’t trust his father with a lot of things, but when it came to alchemy, he couldn’t think of anyone he could trust more than Dad with something like this.
The alchemy roared louder, and Ed could see sparks under the door.
“That’s it. I’m doing something.”
“Ed, don’t be stupid, what on earth can you do?”
“I can do something!”
“Ed!”
Suddenly, everything was dark and silent. For better or worse, it was all over. Ed looked at Al, and after a moment, Al nodded.
Ed flung the door open...
“WOOF!”
...and was immediately bowled over by a very large, very shaggy dog. He could hear Al laughing above him, and he took that as a good sign. Finally managing to dislodge the mutt long enough to sit up, he peered into the room.
Dad was flat on his back, drenched in sweat (or possibly dog saliva), and breathing like he’d just run the Central City marathon, but Mom was still sitting in the circle, and in her arms, clinging on for dear life, was…
“Nina, honey,” Mom said softly. “You can open your eyes, it’s all over now.”
Nina opened her eyes and looked around the room.
“Al. Big Brother Ed. Alexander!”
She rushed over on slightly wobbly legs, throwing her arms around each of them in turn with the longest and most exuberant hug being reserved for the dog. Ed supposed he could understand that, he’d been her closest and longest friend, after all.
Mom got to her feet and held out a hand to pull Dad up, slipping her arms around him and going in for a long kiss.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much.”
“Thank you, Ed-Daddy!” Nina did not let go of Alexander, who seemed content to be hugged for as long as necessary, but she was beaming at Dad. “You’re right, I feel much better now.”
Dad smiled. “You’re welcome, Nina.”
“Come on, Nina.” Al was trying to shepherd her out of the room, and considering how gooey and love-eyed Mom was looking, Ed was happy to leave his parents to smooch in peace for a while.
“Let’s get some cookies for you and Alexander. It’s a good job we keep dog biscuits here for Den when Winry brings her over.”
They left the study, Ed closing the door behind them, and the four of them made their way into the kitchen.
Nina had always seemed to be remarkably content considering what had happened to her, but seeing the sheer joy in her face as she was able to hold a cookie and feed herself again was wonderful.
“What do you think happens now?” Al asked as he poured milk for him and Nina. “The colonel asked us to take care of Nina and help her if we could, and we’ve done that now.”
“I guess everything just stays the same as it was before.” Ed snaffled another cookie. “Nina doesn’t really have anywhere else to go, so we might as well just keep looking after her. What do you say, Nina? Do you want to stay here with us?”
Nina nodded. “Yes. I like it here with you.”
“I don’t think Mom and Dad would have a problem with it. I think Mom feels outnumbered by us sometimes and she’s enjoyed having another girl in the house.”
Nina just giggled, and then gave a theatrical sigh as Alexander found his way into the box of dog biscuits and got his large nose stuck in it, running around the kitchen with it over his face like a muzzle.
“Alexander!”
Ed laughed. “Well, I think that the latest new arrival might take a bit of getting used to, but I’m sure Mom won’t mind him either.”
(They were all so absorbed in chasing the dog around the kitchen that none of them noticed the flash of red alchemic light under Dad’s study door again.)
X
To say that everything surrounding the Promised Day had been one big frantic mess of alchemy, planning a highly organised and highly secret coup, and learning the most extraordinary things about what had been going on in the world for the last few centuries would be an understatement, but at the end of it all, Roy was simply glad to have made it out of the other side unharmed. There was an awful lot of work still to do, but with the immediate threat gone, they could take their time a little more and not have to worry about the entire country potentially being made into a giant Philosopher’s Stone at a moment’s notice.
Speaking of Philosopher’s Stones, though… Roy thought of Hohenheim. It was a small world, after all. He had been surprised to find out that their independent benefactor who had been working behind the scenes to stop Father and the homunculi for over a decade was the Elrics’ father, and moreover that he was the reason for their intense interest in human alchemy and Philosopher’s Stone research, but having met him, everything made a lot more sense.
Everything was also a lot more confusing, but Roy got the impression that someone like Hohenheim just created confusion wherever he went, without necessarily knowing why or indeed intending to.
All of that explained why he was now on a train to Resembool to go and see the Elric family for himself, because after the dust had settled and Father had been defeated and Hohenheim had vanished off as suddenly as he had appeared, going back to his family for good now, a single thought had pushed itself into Roy’s brain and refused to leave.
Nina.
She had gone with the Elrics months ago and they had promised to do what they could for her with their knowledge of Philosopher’s Stones. Now that they sort of had one to hand, surely something could be done? Or would it be impossible to undo Tucker’s work?
Roy made his way up the hill towards the Elric home, repeating the journey he’d first made five years ago when they had first come into his sphere of knowledge. He hoped that Trisha wouldn’t chase him down the road with a shoe as she had threatened to do on that first occasion.
“Hello, Colonel.” He was pleasantly surprised to find her out working in the garden but still rather wary of the fork she was holding. “What brings you here?”
“I… I was actually wondering how Nina was getting on.”
Trisha smiled. “She’s doing well, Colonel. She’s settled in nicely. It’s as if we’ve always had her. Van and I would be happy to adopt her if you’re willing to sort out the paperwork for us.”
There was something different about Trisha, Roy thought. She seemed stronger, more vibrant, and her lips were a normal pink colour rather than the blue tinge he’d grown used to seeing on her. Something or someone had healed her lungs.
“Colonel? You’re staring, sir.”
“Oh. Yes. Right. Yes. I mean, of course. I’ll get the paperwork as soon as I get back.”
“Excellent. Everyone will be so pleased.” She stood up, brushing down her apron. “Do you want to step in for a while, get your breath back after tackling the hill?”
“Erm, all right.” He stepped through the gate and followed Trisha up the path towards the house. The door opened before they got there.
“Mr Mustang!”
A large white shape bowled him over and started licking him voraciously, and he heard a familiar little giggle from the doorway.
“Hello, Alexander,” he finally managed.
Nina was standing in the doorway with Ed, who was smirking in the way only Edward Elric could smirk, and Roy knew that he’d lost all dignity in Ed’s eyes - if he’d even had any to start with.
“You did it,” he said, looking from Nina to Alexander and back again.
“Well, Dad did most of the work,” Ed said. “But she’s safe and happy here.”
Nina nodded. “I have big brothers now! I never had them before. I’m kind of hoping for a little sister too. Maybe now that Ed’s Daddy is back and Ed’s Mommy is well again I’ll get one.”
“Oh no.” Ed threw his hands up. “We are not thinking about that at all.” He sighed. “Thanks, Nina. Now I need brain bleach.”
“Ed, Nina, are you going to let the colonel in through the door?” Trisha’s voice called out from inside the house.
“I don’t know.” Ed looked down at Nina. “What do you think? Shall we let him in?”
“Yeah. We might need to get him a towel for Alexander’s drool though.”
Roy rolled his eyes as he got to his feet, following Alexander into the house. It was good to see Nina happy and thriving with a new family, who she seemed to have accepted readily as her own. It was good to see Trisha no longer suffering the after effects of her illness, and it was good to see the Elric family all together once more.
He hung back in the kitchen doorway, watching them all for a moment, very much feeling like the outsider that he was until Trisha pulled him in to join them.
Considering that the state alchemist programme had been little more than a device in which to form potential human sacrifices for Father’s plans, Roy had no idea if it would be continuing into the future, but the thought still remained in his head even as Ed was showing him back to the front door an hour or so later.
“Edward?”
“Yes, Colonel?”
“You and Al, and your parents... don’t ever stop doing what you’re doing. Using alchemy to help people, and taking care of those who’ve been wronged by it.”
Ed grinned. “Oh, we don’t intend to, Colonel. You’ve got my word on that.”
Roy felt a sense of peace as he made his way back to the station. As long as there were people like the Elrics in the world, he could hope that everything would be all right in the end.
Here is a prompt for you: Bronze being happy and enjoying something with a friend
MORE FLUFF?!?!? *WHO AM I AND WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH SHADOW*
Don't worry! It's only because someone else stole my angst gremlin lol. BUT HERE YOU ARE. *HOW ABOUT SEVERAL FRIENDS*
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Bronze was slightly nervous. Not for any fault of his own. It was just...this was the first time that he would be seeing some of his first friends in a long time. He hadn’t seen them practically since ARC training, and now that the war was over there was time to enjoy things. To sit back and relax.
He stepped off the gunship, splitting off from his eager brothers as they went their separate ways to meet up with surviving batchmates, old squadmates and battalions and sometimes just friends if they’d managed to make any of those. Bronze smiled as the familiar building loomed up in front of him. The GAR barracks. Spread evenly out underneath the shipyards to house the clone army whenever the ships weren’t a feasible place to be. And now, Bronze was here looking for not one, but two battalions and a few straggling friends he was excited to see.
Jesse saw him first, nudging Hardcase wildly and Hardcase let out a whoop, bounding off of the pipe he’d been reclining against to start towards Bronze. Bronze couldn’t help but grin as he tugged off his helmet, knowing he was a bit of a sight. The last fight he’d been involved in hadn’t been pretty and he still had a black eye from where he’d gotten punched by a droid unluckily. But he was still here. And so were they. Which was all that mattered in the long run.
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Continued beneath the cut!
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“Bronze!!” “‘Case!! Jesse!!” Bronze clasped Hardcase’s forearm and was immediately pulled into a hug. Jesse reached around Harcase and joined the hug. “Kriffin’ good to see you again, Bronze!” Hardcase rumbled and Jesse nodded. He looked tired, but unharmed. “It really is.” Bronze replied, looking both up and down. “Where’s the rest of Epsilon?” He asked and both Jesse and Hardcase grinned. “They’re setting stuff up. Were going to have a movie night and vodpile on one of the couches Senator Amidala brought. You interested?” Jesse explained and Hardcase nodded, finally breaking the hug and giving Bronze space, bouncing a little bit in space. “Oh hell yes. That sounds like the perfect finish!” Bronze said quickly, already moving past them towards the barracks. Hardcase and Jesse quickly caught up and Hardcase started rambling on how he’d been stuck on Coruscant with General Skywalker while Jesse had gone with the 332nd to apprehend Maul. Jesse cut in at one point as they walked down the winding hall towards the rec room. “You’ll never believe how big our little Commander got!” He said, a grin threatening to split his face. Bronze smiled fondly at the memory of his tiny Commander protecting him and his squad as well as them teaching her to play sabaac. “I’ll have to say hello to her when I get a chance too.” He said and turned the corner to the rec room. Everyone was there. Denal, Singer, Kameron and Koho squabbling over a bucket of popcorn while Kix munched on his own bucket. Ridge in the corner already curled up and fast asleep in a blanket, Rex fighting with projector with Echo giving him tips and Fives rolling his eyes. Tup was curled around Dogma while the latter squawked wildly. Coric was overseeing the slight wrestling match with a sigh and Bronze stared at the scene with a swelling in his chest. They slowly seemed to recognize he was there and he smiled at seeing all of them, feeling the smile warp slightly where his scars were, but of course no one cared. “Bronze!!” “Vod!” “Vod’ika!” Rex actually let out an exclamation at seeing him and passed the remote over to Echo before moving over quickly and wrapping Bronze into a hug. “So good to see you Bron’ika. Glad you’re safe.” Rex mumbled into his ear and Bronze happily hugged back. “Glad to be back. And to be safe. I’m glad you all are safe too.” He responded and the group of 501st troopers let them have their moment. “There’s a spot on the couch for you.” Koho said from where he was munching happily on the popcorn and Bronze’s smile widened impossibly. “Let me ditch the armor, vode. I’m finally home.”
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AAAND THERE YA HAVE IT!!!
Prompts still open in the ask box!! Things will be appropriately spoilered and tagged if needed!! Please remember to read those to decide if you do or don't wanna read as more prompts come!!
THANK YOU!!!
Me: *replaying Detroit Become Human the second time.* I'm going to play the Ultra Good Route and then Everyone Lives! Other gaming friends: Really? Don't you want the nuance of playing a dark Connor or killing off Kara in the first chapter or Markus going full rebellion - Me: *Aggressively Saves The Fish* Everyone. Lives. *pause* Except Leo. And Evil Connor. And Zlasko. Fuck those guys. Seriously I do not like those mofos. They can die in a fire. I saved Todd simply because I want to see if Alice gets some emotional closure later on so she's not scarred for life. Everyone else though is going to LIVE in the wonderful Pacifist/Canada/Hank Anderson Loves Me world I am going to build for them.
