[Fic] Immortality series Fic 3 "Full Circle"
Ya know... Trom, Chex... if you wanna throw something in here, go for it. XDDD
Title: Full Circle
Author: Me!
Rating: PG-13.... I think it's hard to write Envy not at PG-13, because he's just like that.
Timeline: Modern (2006-ish)
Comments: Roy gets to hang out, finally. Yeah, he's speeshul today.
Julian walked down the busy street, loaded down with grocery bags. The bus stop was a block away from his house, which happened to be on the main road.
He’d just seen another century pass a few years ago. That’d make the second he’d seen come and go. He didn’t care, though. He had thousands of lifetimes ahead of him.
A chime sounded in his jeans pocket. He stopped walking. He was three doors away from his apartment building, and he’d have to set the bags down to answer the phone. If it was Winry, he was about to see her. Mustang could wait, and any of his other passing acquaintances could wait. He decided to ignore it and check it when he got to the apartment.
“Winry! I’m home!” he said, kicking at the door as a means of knocking.
It opened immediately, and a smiling redhead greeted him. She was naturally blond, but she’d been experimenting with hair dyes lately. She took two of the four bags from him. “Get everything?” she asked.
“And more. I found something really weird.” He looked through the bags as Winry opened the refrigerator to put the perishables away. He produced a white box with white and blue lettering that said Twinkies across the side.
Winry laughed. Sometimes the kids that wandered into her workshop had those.
After they put the groceries away, Julian finally checked his phone. It had been Roy. “Wonder what the old man’s up to?” he said as he called him back.
It took a few rings for him to pick up. “Phones are made to be answered, Julian.” He said as an answer.
“You have shit timing. What do you want?”
“I’m inviting you to my house for dinner tonight. You, Winry, and whichever of your children you choose to bring. Just let me know how many.”
“They’re all out of town, so it’d just be the two of us. Well, maybe Ashley. I’ll ask her. She’s been wanting to meet you for about… 10 years, I think.”
“Yeah, I’ve been lying low for a while. Don’t want to throw the name around for too long or people might start connecting dots.”
“Yeah, yeah. Where are you now? You move around more than we do.”
“Right downtown. I’m in that new high-rise.”
“Someone’s done well for himself.” Julian smirked.
“There’s no sense in not using the money I have. Oh, and I’m a Colonel again. This makes what, three times?”
“You and the military. Why don’t you do something else?”
“Nothing else I can do. Besides, with the computers, I can ignore paperwork with more efficiency.”
Envy laughed. “When do you want us there?”
“How’s 8? I’m on the 45th floor, apartment 4578.”
He wrote it on the notepad on the refrigerator. “Got it. See you then.”
“What did he want?” Winry asked as he snapped his phone shut.
“He’s invited us over for dinner tonight.” He glanced at the date on the outside display of his phone. “That explains it.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s 50 years to the day since Ed died.” He said simply.
She nodded, looking a bit depressed herself. She had known the day would come. That still didn’t make her ready for that phone call from Central.
“Hello?” she had answered normally. She wiped the oil off her hands with a rag.
“Hello Mrs. Hohenheim.” Roy had said. She knew something must be wrong for his to be so formal with her.
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a car accident. Edward was a pedestrian and got hit when it lost control. The doctors say that at his age, he’s never going to wake up.”
She gasped. Her first instinct was to run back to Central and use her powers over him. But then she remembered that Ed had told her in confidence that his degrading body had frustrated him, and not to step in with anything beyond what normal doctors could do.
“Do you need us to do anything?” she asked after being silent for a few moments.
“Could you come back to Central? I know it’s too soon, but just for a little while.”
“Anything for you, Roy. We’ll get on the next train we can. At your place?”
“Yes, just come straight on over. I have room for both of you.”
“Alright, see you sometime tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Winry.”
“No problem.”
Just as she hung up, Julian had gotten home. He wanted to know why she was crying, and after she told him, he went straightaway to get some train fare, and pack some clothes for her. He didn’t need to.
By the time they had gotten to Central, Ed was gone. They were in a distant southwestern town, and it had taken 20 hours and two connections to get there. When they had arrived at Roy’s door, he opened it without a word. He led them to where Ed had been taken care of, and Winry gasped. As soon as she saw him she knew. She approached him slowly with shaking hands. When she touched him, one of her circles instinctually appeared, but she suppressed it.
They all knew the day would come. Winry had been the only one to cry. Once again, she cried on behalf of those that refused to.
Julian had just stared at Ed, resisting the urge to go and yell at him. He knew Winry wouldn’t want that.
Winry wiped a tear from her eye after remembering that day. Julian pulled her into a hug. “No, I’m alright,” she said, extricating herself from him.
They decided to walk the dozen or so blocks between their apartment and Roy’s. “How did he sound?” Winry asked.
“Hmm? Uh… Like Roy I guess. But it sounded like he was hiding something.”
She nodded. “That’s about what I expect.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
Julian stepped up to the intercom box near the main door. “Oi! It’s us.”
There was no response but the buzzer sounding to open the door. They went up in the elevator, and found his apartment.
Julian let out a long, low, whistle when the door was opened for them. The place was large, very well furnished, but yet very Roy. It had smooth, clean lines, mostly black and stainless steel throughout.
“Glad you’re impressed.” Roy said. “Come on in to the dining room. I have someone I want you to meet.”
They followed. In the dining room sat a very pretty blond woman in a very expensive looking suit. Julian narrowed his eyes at her, then turned to Roy.
“Sit down,” Roy gestured to the two. They sat on the opposite side of the long table from the woman, with Roy at the head. It was glass, with wide, blocky black legs, and a black velvet runner ran down the middle.
“Elizabeth,” Roy started. “This is Winry and Julian, my two most trusted friends.”
“Nice to meet you.” She said. There was something she wasn’t telling, Julian could tell, but he decided to sit and wait for it to come.
Roy went to a side table that was pushed up against the wall and grabbed a frame that was old, and seemed out of place with the greater design scheme. He looked at it as he walked around to the opposite end of the tabled and set it there, facing his guests.
It was Edward as an adult. Julian recognized it. It was taken about 5 years before he died. He was full grown, in glasses, and he had kept all his hair. It was already gray, though, a testament to the trauma and trials of his younger years. He was smiling brightly.
“Miss Elizabeth is here for one reason in particular.” Roy said when he returned to his place, standing behind his chair. “Simply put, I don’t believe I can take another 50, 500, 5,000 years without him.”
It was then that his face finally betrayed his cool demeanor. The pain he was feeling was obvious and he ran a hand through his hair as he sat down. He continued, talking around a lump in his throat. “I’ve been working closely with Miss Elizabeth, going through the research that Ed had done early on, and the leftover procedure notes. We think we may have discovered a way to… terminate my existence.”
“What?” Julian shouted. Winry just gasped her hands at her mouth. “You’re going to kill yourself?”
“You considered something similar at one point, Julian. Didn’t you want to return her to normal? And then have yourself eliminated.”
“How much does she know?” Julian asked, looking at the serious, yet smiling woman. She bothered him.
“Everything.” Roy said simply, eyeing him.
Julian jumped up. “We’ve been doing this for over a hundred years now, just fine. Then you go and just tell some woman who could easily go and tell the military, and we’d all end up in some research facility until they fucked up and accidentally killed us!”
“Calm yourself, Julian. There is no danger of that. She has no connections to the military or to any research facility. She is, however a Professor of Biological Alchemy at the University.”
“You can trust me, Julian.” She said calmly. He glared at her.
“Julian… please,” Winry tugged on his shirt for him to sit down.
He sat with a huff. He looked back at the woman. “Alright. If you betray that trust, take me at my word that I will kill you and anyone else you’re involved with. Are we clear?”
She leaned away form him, looking to Roy. He only looked back at her, waiting patiently for a response.
“Y-Yes, we are,” she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
“Good.” Julian said. “So what’s this theory of yours?”
“Well,” she still had been unnerved by the threat. “After doing some testing, we’ve discovered that the blue stones have all gathered just below his human heart. The plan is to go in and surgically remove them, and then either the heart will take over and he will finish the rest of his normal lifespan, or he will die on the table. He has been taking white blood cell boosters for some time to help his human blood fend off that of the Homunculus after the stones are removed.”
“That portion of the process is showing some promise.” Roy said. Then a moment later, as if on cue, he grimaced and clutched at his heart.
Elizabeth jumped up. “This is a side effect of the boosters. They’ve already started attacking the stones inside of him. This will pass in a moment.” She stood behind him and squeezed his hand as he grunted in pain.
It was a very long minute before Roy’s posture relaxed. He panted, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead with a handkerchief. “Thank you, Elizabeth.” He said. She just nodded to him as she sat back down.
“Are you alright?” Winry asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. It just hurts occasionally. But it will be over soon.” He offered a smile, but it lost its effect due to the obvious stress in his features.
“We will be doing the procedure tonight.” Elizabeth said. “You two are welcome to stay if you wish.”
Roy nodded. “I’m leaving everything I have to you two. The paperwork’s already in order, all that’s needed now is for me to, well…”
Winry stood up. “No, Mr. Mustang. Don’t do this!”
He looked up at her. “The pain won’t go away, Winry.”
“I wouldn’t expect it to so soon. But Ed wouldn’t want you to just remove yourself from this world.”
“So soon?” Roy said with an odd sort of look on his face. He looked to Julian like he had started losing it.
“Two hundred and thirty years,” Julian spoke up. “That’s how long I’ve been around. Fifty is nothing.”
Roy shook his head. “I’m not as resilient as you, Julian.”
“Bullshit. You survived that procedure initially, right? I’d say that you were pretty damned resilient. Even the cockroach probably wouldn’t have been able to survive it.”
“Havoc?” Roy said with a smirk. “He got killed by his biggest weakness.”
“And so will you.” Julian said. “Your own pride and conceit. How’s that taste?”
Roy laced his fingers together, and rested his forehead against them, looking down through the table at his black pants and socks.
The other three just sat, waiting for Roy to say something. Julian leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and legs.
Roy was thinking intensely. His hands separated and moves slowly through his hair, then down his cheeks as he lifted his head up.
“Alright,” he said. “You’ve made your point. I was being cowardly. Forgive me.”
“Damn straight you were a coward.” Julian muttered.
“So you’re not going to do it?” Elizabeth asked incredulously.
“I appreciate your help, Miss Elizabeth.” Roy said, extending a hand to her. “No, I am not.”
She was aghast, so much so that she didn’t even see his hand for her to shake. She stood. “I don’t believe this. You’d rather live as some sort of inhuman freak until the world explodes than die as a human.”
Julian and Roy met each others eyes. “Miss Elizabeth…” Roy started.
“Don’t give me that polite shit!” she screamed. “You’re not human.” She then growled.
She walked over to the armchair in the living room that held her purse. She pulled out her cell phone.
“What are you doing?” Roy asked her as he moved toward her.
“Calling the Fuhrer’s office.” She said as she scrolled through her phone book.
A needle shot from Roy’s hands into the phone as she moved it to her ear. She stared at it as it crumbled to circuit boards and plastic. She looked at Roy wide-eyed. He had a couple more needles in his fingers on his right hand ready to go.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Roy said. He put his left hand on her shoulder.
She jumped away from him. “What the hell was that?!”
He showed her the needles in his hand. He pulled them back into his wrist. “Just a product of the procedure. Now sit down.” He guided her toward a chair.
“No I won’t sit down!” she was still hysterical. She moved about 5 feet away from Roy.
Julian stepped forward. “She’s not going to listen, Roy.”
Roy put his hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He stepped toward her.
She stepped back, backing herself against a wall. “Just stay there.” She panted.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Winry started. “We’re not dangerous. You have to understand that.”
“I thought I did. But…” her eyes landed on what used to be her phone. She seemed to be calming down. She slid down the wall to the floor.
Roy went to her. “Remember, you mean a lot to me. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“If I mean so much to you, then why won’t you kiss me, or hold me?” she asked him. “There’s only so long I can be expected to wait for you to get over your issues. I’m not going to be here forever.”
“Because…I…” Roy was at a loss. He guessed that she felt this way about him, but he didn’t want to think he could have feelings for anyone else after Ed.
“Answer me, Mustang!” she shouted at him as she stood. “Otherwise I’m walking out that door and the next time you see me is when you’re all guinea pigs!”
“Feeling suicidal, are we?” Julian growled. He changed into his Homunculus form right in front of her.
“Stay out of this, Julian.” Roy admonished him.
“There is no way in hell I am letting her walk out that door. Even if she swears on her father’s life that she will not let this news out, I will not let her leave here alive. Not after what just happened.”
She got scared again. “Roy…” she whimpered.
“Julian!” Roy turned toward him. “Calm down. You are not making this any easier!”
“She’s running!” Winry shouted as she disappeared from the room.
Roy and Julian were right behind her. Julian caught her first. He grabbed her by her wrist as her other hand lay on the doorknob. “I’ll try not to enjoy this too much.” He said as he broke her wrist. She screamed and dropped to her knees.
“Julian!” Roy said, pulling him away from her. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“You know me. What? I’m not allowed to have fun with my quarry?”
Winry pushed past the two arguing men in the hall and went to Elizabeth on the floor. “I’m not going to hurt you. Let me see your arm.” She said kindly.
Elizabeth held it out. Winry laid her fingers on the break. A transmutation circle appeared, but nothing happened. She furrowed her brow, the circle changed, then all the pieces went back into place. “There, good as new.”
She stared at Winry. She rotated her wrist, making sure it still worked fine without hurting. It was better than before. That crack she’d developed from years of typing was gone too.
“Julian!” Winry said. He turned and looked at her. “You’re not to touch her, understand?”
“Why? She’s just going to go and spread this everywhere.”
“She’s our grandchild, Julian. She’s that daughter of Alphonse’s that we never met.”
Alphonse was their first child. He was named after his uncle that he never knew. Winry and Julian decided to explain their heritage to them once they reached adulthood. Until then, they handled questions and confusion as well as they could.
Alphonse had taken the news alright, “That explains a few things. Like why I completely failed the alchemy unit in science class.” He had stopped aging at 18, and he had inherited the bright blond hair of his father and uncles. He could shift shape like his father could, but also had resistance to wounding like Greed, but without the need for a shield.
Alphonse had moved out some time later, and met a girl and married and had two kids. The elder was a boy, but the younger had been a girl, born after they left Central to spend the next generational period in that southwestern town.
Julian turned to look at her. “She looks just like Ed… but if he were a girl.”
Roy slapped himself in he forehead. “That explains everything!” He smiled. He offered a hand to help her up.
She took it. “You’re my… but…”
“Your dad didn’t tell you?” Winry asked.
“But… he’s old and grey. The doctors say he could go at any time.”
“We get letters from him from time to time. He’s just pretending he’s normal so that he doesn’t hurt you.”
“I… see…” she said. She seemed stunned, letting all of this sink in. Roy led her to a chair and sat her in it.
There was silence for a while, and Julian shifted into the guise he wore on the way in. He made a stiff drink for her and she threw it back like it was water. “Exactly how many aunts and uncles do I have? Dad said he’s an only child and his folks were dead.”
Julian looked to Winry. “Uhm… 24 is it?”
“Twenty-five. One set of twins.” Winry answered.
“Wow,” Elizabeth said. She stood and moved toward her purse. “Roy, my question still remains. I’m in love with you. I promise I won’t say anything.” She was soon to the door again.
“Bye Grandpa, Grandma,” she said with a smile as she closed the door behind her.
“I’m not that old!” Julian shouted. Winry giggled.
Roy followed Elizabeth. His face was determined. Julian and Winry couldn’t hear the conversation, but they saw them kiss. When the elevator came, she left and he lingered there for a moment before turning and coming back to his apartment.
When he returned, Julian cracked his knuckles. “About that beating, Mustang…”
In response, Roy shot two needles through Julian’s hands. “Hey! That’s playing dirty!” Julian complained as he pulled them out.
Roy disappeared into the bedroom and came out in a suit. “Where are you going?” Winry asked.
“I’m meeting Miss Elizabeth in the lobby. I’m going to have to ask you two to leave.”
Winry giggled, and Julian rolled his eyes. “Alright…” he said.
“Oh, and Roy?” Winry said in the hall with a grin.
“Yes?”
“It’s 26. I’m pregnant again.”
“Wait-what?” Julian stammered.
Title: Full Circle
Author: Me!
Rating: PG-13.... I think it's hard to write Envy not at PG-13, because he's just like that.
Timeline: Modern (2006-ish)
Comments: Roy gets to hang out, finally. Yeah, he's speeshul today.
Julian walked down the busy street, loaded down with grocery bags. The bus stop was a block away from his house, which happened to be on the main road.
He’d just seen another century pass a few years ago. That’d make the second he’d seen come and go. He didn’t care, though. He had thousands of lifetimes ahead of him.
A chime sounded in his jeans pocket. He stopped walking. He was three doors away from his apartment building, and he’d have to set the bags down to answer the phone. If it was Winry, he was about to see her. Mustang could wait, and any of his other passing acquaintances could wait. He decided to ignore it and check it when he got to the apartment.
“Winry! I’m home!” he said, kicking at the door as a means of knocking.
It opened immediately, and a smiling redhead greeted him. She was naturally blond, but she’d been experimenting with hair dyes lately. She took two of the four bags from him. “Get everything?” she asked.
“And more. I found something really weird.” He looked through the bags as Winry opened the refrigerator to put the perishables away. He produced a white box with white and blue lettering that said Twinkies across the side.
Winry laughed. Sometimes the kids that wandered into her workshop had those.
After they put the groceries away, Julian finally checked his phone. It had been Roy. “Wonder what the old man’s up to?” he said as he called him back.
It took a few rings for him to pick up. “Phones are made to be answered, Julian.” He said as an answer.
“You have shit timing. What do you want?”
“I’m inviting you to my house for dinner tonight. You, Winry, and whichever of your children you choose to bring. Just let me know how many.”
“They’re all out of town, so it’d just be the two of us. Well, maybe Ashley. I’ll ask her. She’s been wanting to meet you for about… 10 years, I think.”
“Yeah, I’ve been lying low for a while. Don’t want to throw the name around for too long or people might start connecting dots.”
“Yeah, yeah. Where are you now? You move around more than we do.”
“Right downtown. I’m in that new high-rise.”
“Someone’s done well for himself.” Julian smirked.
“There’s no sense in not using the money I have. Oh, and I’m a Colonel again. This makes what, three times?”
“You and the military. Why don’t you do something else?”
“Nothing else I can do. Besides, with the computers, I can ignore paperwork with more efficiency.”
Envy laughed. “When do you want us there?”
“How’s 8? I’m on the 45th floor, apartment 4578.”
He wrote it on the notepad on the refrigerator. “Got it. See you then.”
“What did he want?” Winry asked as he snapped his phone shut.
“He’s invited us over for dinner tonight.” He glanced at the date on the outside display of his phone. “That explains it.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s 50 years to the day since Ed died.” He said simply.
She nodded, looking a bit depressed herself. She had known the day would come. That still didn’t make her ready for that phone call from Central.
“Hello?” she had answered normally. She wiped the oil off her hands with a rag.
“Hello Mrs. Hohenheim.” Roy had said. She knew something must be wrong for his to be so formal with her.
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a car accident. Edward was a pedestrian and got hit when it lost control. The doctors say that at his age, he’s never going to wake up.”
She gasped. Her first instinct was to run back to Central and use her powers over him. But then she remembered that Ed had told her in confidence that his degrading body had frustrated him, and not to step in with anything beyond what normal doctors could do.
“Do you need us to do anything?” she asked after being silent for a few moments.
“Could you come back to Central? I know it’s too soon, but just for a little while.”
“Anything for you, Roy. We’ll get on the next train we can. At your place?”
“Yes, just come straight on over. I have room for both of you.”
“Alright, see you sometime tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Winry.”
“No problem.”
Just as she hung up, Julian had gotten home. He wanted to know why she was crying, and after she told him, he went straightaway to get some train fare, and pack some clothes for her. He didn’t need to.
By the time they had gotten to Central, Ed was gone. They were in a distant southwestern town, and it had taken 20 hours and two connections to get there. When they had arrived at Roy’s door, he opened it without a word. He led them to where Ed had been taken care of, and Winry gasped. As soon as she saw him she knew. She approached him slowly with shaking hands. When she touched him, one of her circles instinctually appeared, but she suppressed it.
They all knew the day would come. Winry had been the only one to cry. Once again, she cried on behalf of those that refused to.
Julian had just stared at Ed, resisting the urge to go and yell at him. He knew Winry wouldn’t want that.
Winry wiped a tear from her eye after remembering that day. Julian pulled her into a hug. “No, I’m alright,” she said, extricating herself from him.
They decided to walk the dozen or so blocks between their apartment and Roy’s. “How did he sound?” Winry asked.
“Hmm? Uh… Like Roy I guess. But it sounded like he was hiding something.”
She nodded. “That’s about what I expect.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
Julian stepped up to the intercom box near the main door. “Oi! It’s us.”
There was no response but the buzzer sounding to open the door. They went up in the elevator, and found his apartment.
Julian let out a long, low, whistle when the door was opened for them. The place was large, very well furnished, but yet very Roy. It had smooth, clean lines, mostly black and stainless steel throughout.
“Glad you’re impressed.” Roy said. “Come on in to the dining room. I have someone I want you to meet.”
They followed. In the dining room sat a very pretty blond woman in a very expensive looking suit. Julian narrowed his eyes at her, then turned to Roy.
“Sit down,” Roy gestured to the two. They sat on the opposite side of the long table from the woman, with Roy at the head. It was glass, with wide, blocky black legs, and a black velvet runner ran down the middle.
“Elizabeth,” Roy started. “This is Winry and Julian, my two most trusted friends.”
“Nice to meet you.” She said. There was something she wasn’t telling, Julian could tell, but he decided to sit and wait for it to come.
Roy went to a side table that was pushed up against the wall and grabbed a frame that was old, and seemed out of place with the greater design scheme. He looked at it as he walked around to the opposite end of the tabled and set it there, facing his guests.
It was Edward as an adult. Julian recognized it. It was taken about 5 years before he died. He was full grown, in glasses, and he had kept all his hair. It was already gray, though, a testament to the trauma and trials of his younger years. He was smiling brightly.
“Miss Elizabeth is here for one reason in particular.” Roy said when he returned to his place, standing behind his chair. “Simply put, I don’t believe I can take another 50, 500, 5,000 years without him.”
It was then that his face finally betrayed his cool demeanor. The pain he was feeling was obvious and he ran a hand through his hair as he sat down. He continued, talking around a lump in his throat. “I’ve been working closely with Miss Elizabeth, going through the research that Ed had done early on, and the leftover procedure notes. We think we may have discovered a way to… terminate my existence.”
“What?” Julian shouted. Winry just gasped her hands at her mouth. “You’re going to kill yourself?”
“You considered something similar at one point, Julian. Didn’t you want to return her to normal? And then have yourself eliminated.”
“How much does she know?” Julian asked, looking at the serious, yet smiling woman. She bothered him.
“Everything.” Roy said simply, eyeing him.
Julian jumped up. “We’ve been doing this for over a hundred years now, just fine. Then you go and just tell some woman who could easily go and tell the military, and we’d all end up in some research facility until they fucked up and accidentally killed us!”
“Calm yourself, Julian. There is no danger of that. She has no connections to the military or to any research facility. She is, however a Professor of Biological Alchemy at the University.”
“You can trust me, Julian.” She said calmly. He glared at her.
“Julian… please,” Winry tugged on his shirt for him to sit down.
He sat with a huff. He looked back at the woman. “Alright. If you betray that trust, take me at my word that I will kill you and anyone else you’re involved with. Are we clear?”
She leaned away form him, looking to Roy. He only looked back at her, waiting patiently for a response.
“Y-Yes, we are,” she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
“Good.” Julian said. “So what’s this theory of yours?”
“Well,” she still had been unnerved by the threat. “After doing some testing, we’ve discovered that the blue stones have all gathered just below his human heart. The plan is to go in and surgically remove them, and then either the heart will take over and he will finish the rest of his normal lifespan, or he will die on the table. He has been taking white blood cell boosters for some time to help his human blood fend off that of the Homunculus after the stones are removed.”
“That portion of the process is showing some promise.” Roy said. Then a moment later, as if on cue, he grimaced and clutched at his heart.
Elizabeth jumped up. “This is a side effect of the boosters. They’ve already started attacking the stones inside of him. This will pass in a moment.” She stood behind him and squeezed his hand as he grunted in pain.
It was a very long minute before Roy’s posture relaxed. He panted, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead with a handkerchief. “Thank you, Elizabeth.” He said. She just nodded to him as she sat back down.
“Are you alright?” Winry asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. It just hurts occasionally. But it will be over soon.” He offered a smile, but it lost its effect due to the obvious stress in his features.
“We will be doing the procedure tonight.” Elizabeth said. “You two are welcome to stay if you wish.”
Roy nodded. “I’m leaving everything I have to you two. The paperwork’s already in order, all that’s needed now is for me to, well…”
Winry stood up. “No, Mr. Mustang. Don’t do this!”
He looked up at her. “The pain won’t go away, Winry.”
“I wouldn’t expect it to so soon. But Ed wouldn’t want you to just remove yourself from this world.”
“So soon?” Roy said with an odd sort of look on his face. He looked to Julian like he had started losing it.
“Two hundred and thirty years,” Julian spoke up. “That’s how long I’ve been around. Fifty is nothing.”
Roy shook his head. “I’m not as resilient as you, Julian.”
“Bullshit. You survived that procedure initially, right? I’d say that you were pretty damned resilient. Even the cockroach probably wouldn’t have been able to survive it.”
“Havoc?” Roy said with a smirk. “He got killed by his biggest weakness.”
“And so will you.” Julian said. “Your own pride and conceit. How’s that taste?”
Roy laced his fingers together, and rested his forehead against them, looking down through the table at his black pants and socks.
The other three just sat, waiting for Roy to say something. Julian leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and legs.
Roy was thinking intensely. His hands separated and moves slowly through his hair, then down his cheeks as he lifted his head up.
“Alright,” he said. “You’ve made your point. I was being cowardly. Forgive me.”
“Damn straight you were a coward.” Julian muttered.
“So you’re not going to do it?” Elizabeth asked incredulously.
“I appreciate your help, Miss Elizabeth.” Roy said, extending a hand to her. “No, I am not.”
She was aghast, so much so that she didn’t even see his hand for her to shake. She stood. “I don’t believe this. You’d rather live as some sort of inhuman freak until the world explodes than die as a human.”
Julian and Roy met each others eyes. “Miss Elizabeth…” Roy started.
“Don’t give me that polite shit!” she screamed. “You’re not human.” She then growled.
She walked over to the armchair in the living room that held her purse. She pulled out her cell phone.
“What are you doing?” Roy asked her as he moved toward her.
“Calling the Fuhrer’s office.” She said as she scrolled through her phone book.
A needle shot from Roy’s hands into the phone as she moved it to her ear. She stared at it as it crumbled to circuit boards and plastic. She looked at Roy wide-eyed. He had a couple more needles in his fingers on his right hand ready to go.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Roy said. He put his left hand on her shoulder.
She jumped away from him. “What the hell was that?!”
He showed her the needles in his hand. He pulled them back into his wrist. “Just a product of the procedure. Now sit down.” He guided her toward a chair.
“No I won’t sit down!” she was still hysterical. She moved about 5 feet away from Roy.
Julian stepped forward. “She’s not going to listen, Roy.”
Roy put his hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He stepped toward her.
She stepped back, backing herself against a wall. “Just stay there.” She panted.
“Miss Elizabeth,” Winry started. “We’re not dangerous. You have to understand that.”
“I thought I did. But…” her eyes landed on what used to be her phone. She seemed to be calming down. She slid down the wall to the floor.
Roy went to her. “Remember, you mean a lot to me. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“If I mean so much to you, then why won’t you kiss me, or hold me?” she asked him. “There’s only so long I can be expected to wait for you to get over your issues. I’m not going to be here forever.”
“Because…I…” Roy was at a loss. He guessed that she felt this way about him, but he didn’t want to think he could have feelings for anyone else after Ed.
“Answer me, Mustang!” she shouted at him as she stood. “Otherwise I’m walking out that door and the next time you see me is when you’re all guinea pigs!”
“Feeling suicidal, are we?” Julian growled. He changed into his Homunculus form right in front of her.
“Stay out of this, Julian.” Roy admonished him.
“There is no way in hell I am letting her walk out that door. Even if she swears on her father’s life that she will not let this news out, I will not let her leave here alive. Not after what just happened.”
She got scared again. “Roy…” she whimpered.
“Julian!” Roy turned toward him. “Calm down. You are not making this any easier!”
“She’s running!” Winry shouted as she disappeared from the room.
Roy and Julian were right behind her. Julian caught her first. He grabbed her by her wrist as her other hand lay on the doorknob. “I’ll try not to enjoy this too much.” He said as he broke her wrist. She screamed and dropped to her knees.
“Julian!” Roy said, pulling him away from her. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“You know me. What? I’m not allowed to have fun with my quarry?”
Winry pushed past the two arguing men in the hall and went to Elizabeth on the floor. “I’m not going to hurt you. Let me see your arm.” She said kindly.
Elizabeth held it out. Winry laid her fingers on the break. A transmutation circle appeared, but nothing happened. She furrowed her brow, the circle changed, then all the pieces went back into place. “There, good as new.”
She stared at Winry. She rotated her wrist, making sure it still worked fine without hurting. It was better than before. That crack she’d developed from years of typing was gone too.
“Julian!” Winry said. He turned and looked at her. “You’re not to touch her, understand?”
“Why? She’s just going to go and spread this everywhere.”
“She’s our grandchild, Julian. She’s that daughter of Alphonse’s that we never met.”
Alphonse was their first child. He was named after his uncle that he never knew. Winry and Julian decided to explain their heritage to them once they reached adulthood. Until then, they handled questions and confusion as well as they could.
Alphonse had taken the news alright, “That explains a few things. Like why I completely failed the alchemy unit in science class.” He had stopped aging at 18, and he had inherited the bright blond hair of his father and uncles. He could shift shape like his father could, but also had resistance to wounding like Greed, but without the need for a shield.
Alphonse had moved out some time later, and met a girl and married and had two kids. The elder was a boy, but the younger had been a girl, born after they left Central to spend the next generational period in that southwestern town.
Julian turned to look at her. “She looks just like Ed… but if he were a girl.”
Roy slapped himself in he forehead. “That explains everything!” He smiled. He offered a hand to help her up.
She took it. “You’re my… but…”
“Your dad didn’t tell you?” Winry asked.
“But… he’s old and grey. The doctors say he could go at any time.”
“We get letters from him from time to time. He’s just pretending he’s normal so that he doesn’t hurt you.”
“I… see…” she said. She seemed stunned, letting all of this sink in. Roy led her to a chair and sat her in it.
There was silence for a while, and Julian shifted into the guise he wore on the way in. He made a stiff drink for her and she threw it back like it was water. “Exactly how many aunts and uncles do I have? Dad said he’s an only child and his folks were dead.”
Julian looked to Winry. “Uhm… 24 is it?”
“Twenty-five. One set of twins.” Winry answered.
“Wow,” Elizabeth said. She stood and moved toward her purse. “Roy, my question still remains. I’m in love with you. I promise I won’t say anything.” She was soon to the door again.
“Bye Grandpa, Grandma,” she said with a smile as she closed the door behind her.
“I’m not that old!” Julian shouted. Winry giggled.
Roy followed Elizabeth. His face was determined. Julian and Winry couldn’t hear the conversation, but they saw them kiss. When the elevator came, she left and he lingered there for a moment before turning and coming back to his apartment.
When he returned, Julian cracked his knuckles. “About that beating, Mustang…”
In response, Roy shot two needles through Julian’s hands. “Hey! That’s playing dirty!” Julian complained as he pulled them out.
Roy disappeared into the bedroom and came out in a suit. “Where are you going?” Winry asked.
“I’m meeting Miss Elizabeth in the lobby. I’m going to have to ask you two to leave.”
Winry giggled, and Julian rolled his eyes. “Alright…” he said.
“Oh, and Roy?” Winry said in the hall with a grin.
“Yes?”
“It’s 26. I’m pregnant again.”
“Wait-what?” Julian stammered.