Chapter Text
When Winry and Edward woke up from a loud banging on their front door in the middle of the night, their first reaction was panic. Both startled awake nearly at the same time, their breathing hard and their chests tightening as they registered the threatening noise that had woken them up. It was a little after 3 am, so the reasonable response was to grab a wrench and a kitchen knife before tiptoeing to the front door. The banging had stopped for a while, then started again, before silence settled once more. However, as Edward led the way to the front door, he corrected that first assessment ; the person at the front door was talking. He had to take a couple steps before the words were finally understandable.
"Fullmetal, Ms Rockbell? Please open up."
Edward shared a glance with his wife, both of them recognizing the familiar voice. He lowered his knife as he crossed the rest of the hall at a determined pace.
"What the hell are you doing here, Colo-"
Edward's annoyed rant was cut short as he took in the unexpected sight the opened door had unveiled before him.
Major General Roy Mustang was standing here, and despite his uniform Edward didn't recognize him immediately. The man looked tired and rattled - more than Edward had ever seen him, even on the Promised Day. What's more, instead of Captain Riza Hawkeye, a frightened teen stood by his side : it was a girl with dark hair who could have been either 13 or 18 - honestly Edward couldn't really tell. During the lapse of conversation Edward's confusion had caused, the missing Capitain did appear, climbing up the few steps leading to the home Edward and Winry had first moved in the previous year, a wedding gift their friends had all helped to build. Hawkeye looked just as tired as her superior, and was also accompanied by a child: a boy about Elicia's age who was sleeping in her arms.
Thankfully, Winry recovered from the shock more quickly than her husband, and nudged him aside as she opened the door in full.
"Come in." She said softly.
Nodding their gratitude, the two soldiers stepped in, the Captain preceding her superior for once, while the man nudged the girl holding his hand tight to encourage her to move inside. Edward closed the door behind them, and followed their guests who Winry had led to the living room. Hawkeye had already sat down on the couch, and Edward saw her exchange a glance with Mustang before the man turned to their hosts.
"Can I talk to you both in private?"
Unwilling to cause a scene in front of the two kids and conscious that the situation was undoubtedly serious, Edward bit back any acerbic remark he might have thought up and agreed quietly. Mustang told the unknown girl to stay with Hawkeye before following Winry to the next room. Edward fell into his step, and the last thing he saw when he closed the door was the girl sitting down next to Hawkeye.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Edward demanded sharply as he turned, finally giving in to his tiredness and slight panic, yet keeping his voice low enough not to be heard from the adjacent room.
"Ed." Winry scolded as she frowned at him. She quickly turned to their guest. "General, would you like some tea? Should I make some for Captain Hawkeye and the young lady?"
"Yes please. Though Emma might prefer some hot chocolate, if it's not too much trouble?"
"No it's perfectly fine. Please, sit down."
Mustang complied, and Edward took place in the chair opposing his at the little four-places table. They both watched as Winry set some milk and water to warm, before setting up five cups on the table and sitting down next to her husband.
"What happened?" She asked Mustang.
Bless Winry's kindness and patience, Edward thought when his former commanding officer immediately started talking.
"Five days ago, a teenager burst through East City's 6th police station holding a crying boy in her arms. The kid was bleeding and officers quickly took him to their infirmary while others tried to calm down the panicked girl and get an explanation. She told them that she had been studying under an alchemist here in East City in exchange for some housekeeping and babysitting for over a year, and that this day when she came back earlier that she had thought from a rare lesson and duty free day, she had found her master testing experimental healing arrays on his kid - and a scalpel near enough to indicate where the kid's wounds had come from in the first place."
Edward swallowed as he listened to Mustang's speech, an emotionless report if Edward had ever heard one. Winry got up and busied herself preparing their drinks. He watched her, knowing she was probably just as affected as he was.
"Emma managed to overcome the shock quickly enough to knock the man out with a nearby book, grab the kid and run. Her story was confirmed by the nurse who had examined Sebastian's wounds and photographed the arrays for evidence. Given that Tyrrell Waltz was an alchemist, the police contacted the military and my team was put on the case, but by the time we arrived at the house Waltz was in the wind. No research notes left, closet empty. We looked for him for three days but he didn't seem to have any relation to anyone; family and wife dead, no known friends, spent his days in his office swamped by his research. No other interests than alchemy, didn't spend much time with his son - we had no idea what he would do next, except maybe run as far as possible to continue his research, in which case we might never find him. Meanwhile Sebastian was placed in protective custody while we waited for his father to be caught or for the case to be closed, and Emma stayed with him instead of returning to her parents' home in West City after giving her statement - an irregularity in procedure, but the officials allowed it once they saw how much calmer the kid was with the girl around.
Earlier today Waltz found them; we think he spotted them when they went to the park with the officers posing as their parents. He followed them back to the apartment and tried to force his way in. The man managed to injure one of the policemen before reinforcement arrived and he fled the scene. Since Waltz apparently has an interest in at least one of the kids, we decided we had to take them off the grid, and you two were the first people we thought of."
Mustang finally stopped talking, and crossing his fingers around the cup that had been placed in front of him, he raised it to his lips and took a sip. Struggling to keep up a contenance, Edward imitated him. Standing behind him, Winry stared at the cup in her hands without seeing it. There was silence for a minute, before Mustang stood up.
"I'll bring the Captain their drinks."
Edward watched the man exit the kitchen with a cup in each hand. When the door was pushed close, he turned to Winry, and seeing her distress, stood up as well to embrace her from behind. She tilted her head back against his chest while he leaned forward , and they both took comfort in the contact of their cheeks against each other. They only let go when Mustang walked back in, all of them sitting back down and trying to delay the upcoming discussion by drinking their tea.
"You don't have any idea why he would be after the kids?" Edward finally asked.
Mustang shook his head.
"And the kids don't seem to know anything either. My guess, either he's after Emma for revenge, or Sebastian to complete an experiment or something similar."
"Do…"
Winry trailed off, and Edward put a hand on her shoulder in support when she had to brush tears out of her eyes.
"Was it the first time? Or…"
Edward hadn't even thought about the other possibility, and he felt a pit in his stomach when Mustang shot them a dark look.
"Two years, more or less."
This time, Winry did start crying. Edward pulled her into his lap and drew her into a hug. Across the table, Mustang's gaze stayed fixed on the table. Only when Winry's sobs subsided did he look back at them.
"Will you take them in?"
Edward nodded, and felt Winry repeatedly do the same.
"Thank you."
Mustang's gratitude was the last thing he wanted right now - did the guy really believe they would throw the kids out? - but he was too emotional and tired to start anything. Feeling Winry fidget, Edward relaxed his hold and let her stand.
"I'll prepare the beds in the third room." She declared. "Ed, would you help the General with their luggage?"
Ed nodded. And addressed a "come on" at Mustang before stepping back into the living room.
The two women on the couch turned toward them.
"We have two guest rooms, one with twin beds and one with a double bed. The couch is also available if sharing is a problem."
"I can share with Sebatian." The girl - Emma - provided as she looked between Mustang and Hawkeye.
"There's no need, the both of us won't stay. We have to drive back to East City."
"Don't be stupid." Edward intervened. "It's the middle of the night and you're both dead on your feet ; you're staying 'til morning. The kids will double up for the night and we'll decide on their definitive staying arrangement tomorrow."
The two soldiers exchanged a glance, and the fact that they agreed without any protest spoke volume as to how exhausted they must have been.
"Hawkeye, the kids' room will be the second on the right. Winry's upstairs if you need her help. Come on Mustang, let's get your things."
Both of them did as asked, the captain standing with the boy still sleeping in her arms and telling the girl to follow her upstairs, while Mustang followed Edward out. To be honest, the soldiers' oddly compliant behavior was one other thing that unsettled him, but he had more important things to deal with at the moment.
They all settled for the night quickly and quietly, Ed and Winry's guests obviously too exhausted by the day's events and the long ride to stay up much longer. When the both of them finally settled back into their bed, an hour after they had left it, Winry scouted close and Edward took her in his arms. Despite the new information occupying their every thought and keeping them alert, their emotional exhaustion quickly managed to lure them back to sleep.
Winry was used to getting up before Ed. Unlike him, she had a job to get to every morning, so she was usually the first one in the kitchen and was in charge of making breakfast. Which was why she was rather confused when she arrived at the kitchen door, still half asleep, and heard footsteps and something frying inside the room.
Was Edward up? She hadn't paid attention to his side of the bed when she had left the room, but she could have sworn…
When discovering General Mustang and Captain Hawkeye preparing breakfast in her kitchen, Winry blinked a couple times before finally remembering what had happened.
"Good morning Winry." Miss Riza greeted, already impeccable in her uniform. Winry suddenly felt underdressed in her pyjamas. "I hope you don't mind that we got started on breakfast."
"No, it's okay…" She replied weakly. "Do you need some help?"
"I think we've got this." The general replied. "Besides, cooking breakfast for you is the least we can do."
Winry acknowledged his answer with a nod.
"Have you been up long?"
"Just about forty minutes."
They fell quiet. Winry moved to set the table while the soldiers worked on making toast, eggs, tea and coffee.
They shared breakfast in silence, each lost to their own thoughts. Winry took the time to observe her older friends. They looked less tired and more put together than they did only hours earlier - if anything, they looked as they usually did.
Winry had, like everyone else that knew them to her knowledge, never been able to truly understand the relationship between those two. They were incredibly close, and she would have thought they were involved in a romantic relationship, maybe a hidden one given the anti-fraternisation laws, if Edward, Alphonse and all of their subordinates hadn't claimed otherwise. "I'm not saying that they don't have feelings for each other, " Lieutenant Breda had told her when Mustang's team had visited them 6 months after Edward proposed, when he came back from his first trip to the West. "But for some reason, they don't act upon them, and I'm not sure they ever will."
They were mysterious characters, completely dedicated to their ambition. And yet, despite their goal, they hadn't hesitated in accepting Edward on their team, risking their careers by keeping the brothers' transgression a secret and protecting her friends from the worst of military life, just to help them get their bodies back.
(She hadn't known back then, just how much Mustang had done for Ed and Al. It was Alphonse who had told her, sometime during the two years they had all spent at Pinako's. Unlike Ed who wouldn't be caught dead being nice to the Flame Alchemist, Alphonse had acknowledged how much the team had helped them, providing them with plenty of leads over the years. Though the extent of that support hadn't been clear to even him until he had discussed with his chimera soldiers friends about their own experience in the military back when they were in Liore. At some point, it had become clear to the boy that his brother had been shielded from a lot of expectations and pardoned not only a lot of inappropriate behavior but also plenty of destruction that should have gotten him court-martialed. He had first thought this was the homunculi's doing, before remembering a couple incidents of Mustang stepping in when Edward was being disrespectful to a superior officer. Alphonse had been forced to wonder if Mustang's team was actually the one doing the damage control, especially given that the homunculi didn't actually need them in the military, just alive.)
With that in mind, Winry had tried to get closer to the officers over the years, encouraging Edward to keep in touch with them. She couldn't do much to repay their kindness, but they should know that it was deeply appreciated.
And now this, she thought. She didn't consider that keeping Emma and Sebastian was repaying the officers - they would have helped the kids regardless of who had asked - but she was glad to take the weight of the kids' safety off their shoulders. She glanced at the clock as she finished cleaning their plates and silverware before putting three new sets on the table.
"Edward should be up any minute now." She said to Mustang and Hawkeye, both of whom were sitting and enjoying their tea and coffee respectively. "Do you have to head back to East City soon?"
"It would be best. Especially as we should make a couple detours, avoid taking the most direct route just in case. Maybe make it look like we were in Central ?" Mustang mused.
"Let me make you something for the road then."
Thankfully she had brought bread the previous day, so she decided to make sandwiches and complete the meal with some fruits. As she had predicted, Edward joined them a few minutes later. He greeted them all quietly and started his breakfast.
"Winry. Edward. " The girl looked up from the tomato she was cutting. She didn't remember Mustang ever calling her that before, and she could count on her hands the number of times he had referred to Ed by his given name. She turned towards the officers. Her husband did the same.
"About Sebastian and Emma. There's a couple things… it would probably be best if we told you, so that you're not put on the spot when you find out."
The man paused.
"Emma blames herself." Hawkeye continued for him. "For not finding out sooner. She also thinks the fact Sebastian didn't tell her anything means he doesn't trust her - she can't seem to see how much he does."
"And Sebastian thinks Emma hates him for lying to her, despite the fact that he did so to obey his father who told him to keep their experiments a secret. At the same time, he can't see that what his father did to him was wrong. He said his father asked him if he wanted to help with his research ; from Sebastian's point of view, since he agreed, his father is not at fault."
The general fell silent. Winry felt ready to burst into tears - god, how messed up was all this? - but pushed that need back ruthlessly. She turned back to her cooking, and only sometime later did she manage an answer.
"Thanks for telling us."
She was finishing packing the lunch she had prepared while Edward washed his dishes and the cups the soldiers had finished, when two cautious pairs of footsteps were heard in the living room.
There was a knock on the door. The handle turned and it cracked open. Winry turned to see Emma standing in the doorstep, Sebastian holding her hand and hiding behind her.
"Good morning." The girl said hesitantly.
"Good morning Emma, good morning Sebastian." Hawkeye answered, echoed by the general.
"Good morning! Come in, come in. We'll get you some breakfast." Winry said, trying to sound friendly yet calm enough not to spook the obviously shy kids.
Emma nodded and went to sit down at the table, pulling Sebastian along.
"Maybe we should do some proper introductions, now that everyone is awake." Hawkeye suggested. "Edward, Winry, meet Emma Ross and Sebastian Waltz. Emma, Sebastian, this is Winry and Edward Elric. You'll be staying with them for a while."
"Nice to meet you." Emma timidly said to Winry as she put a plate in front of the girl.
"It's nice to meet you too." Winry smiled. "Will you two be having a drink with your breakfast? We've got tea, coffee and cocoa. Oh, and some orange juice."
"Orange juice please. Sebastian? What would you like?"
"Cocoa." The boy mumbled, hiding his face in Emma's side.
"One orange juice and one cocoa coming up!"
As she went to the fridge, Winry glanced at Ed who had been incredibly silent all morning. When she saw him meet Emma's gaze from where he was standing in a corner of the room and send the girl an awkward smile which she answered just as awkwardly, she finally connected the dots. Edward had no clue how to interact with these kids.
"We should get going." Mustang stated as he stood up, imitated by his aid. "We've got a long journey ahead of us."
There was a sound of cutlery falling onto a plate and hurried footsteps. Winry looked over her shoulder to see that Sebastian had latched onto Mustang and showed no sign of letting go. Reacting calmly to the kid's obvious distress, the man just picked him up and allowed the kid to hug him tight.
"Hey, it's okay. Winry and Edward are our friends, I promise they're very nice. Besides Emma will be with you the whole time. And if you really want to talk to us, I'm sure Edward and Winry have our numbers somewhere, so you can always call us, okay?"
The kid nodded, but didn't release his hold. Mustang rubbed Sebastian's back a couple more times, before pulling away and handing the kid over to Hawkeye. Emma, who had stood up as well, took the opportunity to hug him goodbye.
It was strange, she thought, to see the officers acting so parental. She had gotten a glimpse of it last night, but it was nothing compared to the tenderness with which they said goodbye to the kids.
Once they were done, Winry walked up to them and gave them the lunch she had prepared.
"Tell everyone hello for us, will you? You're all welcomed here anytime."
"We will. Miss Rockbell, Fullmetal."
They nodded their goodbyes, and both she and Edward nodded back. They all followed the officers to the door, and stayed on the doorstep as they watched them get into the car, before driving away.
Once they couldn't see them anymore, Winry spoke up.
"Come on, let's go finish breakfast."