Trials Vol.1: The Sun Behind the Clouds

A/N:Some spoilers are ahead...just know who Dante is and the Homoculi\'s weakness and you\'ll be fine.

Roy skidded to a stop in front of Dr. Faith’s office. Ed had been moaning and crying the whole trip, clutching his stomach saying it felt like fire inside. Roy was surprised to find Dr. Faith and Dr. Larose standing out front with their scrubs and masks on. Larose was holding a wheelchair and quickly walked over to the car to pull Ed out. “Hughes called us about an hour ago and told us to expect you,“ she explained, opening the door. “Was he contracting at all?” Larose asked, carefully hoisting Ed onto the wheelchair. “Um...every 35 minutes,” Roy said, checking his watch again. From the time they had left Tringham’s to the time they reached Faith’s office had been a little under an hour and a half, so Ed was due another contraction soon. Larose nodded and wheeled Ed inside. “Is he going to be okay?” Roy asked Faith tentatively. She looked at him and snorted. “As long as he leaves you alone he will be,” she snapped rudely and walked away. Roy felt his cheeks burn as he followed Faith into the office.

“GOD!!!” Ed screamed as Larose wheeled him through the hallway. “THEY’RE TEARING MY INSIDES APART! WHERE THE HELL IS ROY!!” he yelled as Faith and Larose lifted him and placed him on a gurney. “Baby, baby I’m right here,” Roy called, coming beside the bed to take Ed’s auto mail hand. “I couldn’t do that if I were you,” Larose warned, checking Ed’s chart and then the time. Roy frowned. “He wants my comfort and-HOLY FUCKING SHIT! EDWARD! LET ME GO!” Roy screamed as Ed nearly crushed his hand. “I was going to tell you to wait until his next contraction,” Larose muttered, quickly injecting Ed with a muscle relaxer. Ed released Roy’s hand and sighed deeply. He felt like his body was melting away. Roy painfully wiggled his fingers and miraculously, none were broken. “You realize we have to Caesarean Section him, right?” Faith asked, setting out her surgery kit on the table. Roy swallowed as he saw the long sharp scalpels, prongs, scissors, ect. “I know,” he said in a hollow voice. He sat down in a chair across from Ed’s bed and stared sadly at him. “Don’t be so sad, Mustang. Hopefully in a few hours you’ll be a papa,” Larose told him while setting up Ed’s IV-drip. She and Faith quickly managed to get Ed undressed, into a gown, and wash his stomach with iodine before the rest of the crew got there.

Hughes and Hawkeye quietly crept in the room a few moments later, looking at Ed’s small frame in the bed. Ed looked over at them and smiled, motioning for them to come closer. “Well guys, looks like I’m about to have some babies,” he said with a soft smile. Hughes returned the smile and leaned down to kiss Ed on the forehead. “I have no advice or tips for you really, only to be safe. Roy loves you a great deal, Edward. Please, don’t ever forget that,” he whispered into Ed’s ear. Ed bit his lip and nodded, feeling the tears well up in his eyes.

Riza came up next and kissed Ed’s cheeks. “We’ve come a long way from the boy on the bathroom floor crying about being pregnant to now haven’t we?” she asked, her brown eyes shiny with tears. He laughed and reached up to wipe her tears. “No worries Miss Hawkeye. I’m a genius, remember? If I can get through being the ‘Dog of the Military’, being with Roy, and survive three human transmutations, I can give birth, right?” He gave her his classic smile, making her laugh. “Okay everyone, time to clear the room,” Larose called, making the final preparations for the surgery. Roy walked his friends to the door, promising to come out as soon as the babies were born.

He walked back to Ed and lightly kissed him on the lips. “As with any mission I send you on, this is no different. Don’t even think about dying on my watch,” Roy stated, glaring at Ed. Then he smiled and kissed the palm of his human hand. Larose came over with the sleeping gas and placed it over Ed’s face. “Breathe normally and count backwards from ten, Edward. I have to remove your auto mail, but only during the birthing process so that you wont accidentally hit us or yourself. When you wake up, your children and friends will be waiting for you.” Ed looked over at Roy, and reached to caress his face. “Ready, steady go?” Roy whispered as Larose turned the knob on the gas. “Ready, steady, go,” Ed whispered and closed his eyes.

Edward was in surgery for five hours. Faith eventually put Roy out of the room for trying to set Larose on fire for cutting Ed open, even though he knew she had to do it. He sat outside in the hallway brooding as Al, Hawkeye, Hughes, and Ramona played poker, deuces and sevens wild. “Stop cheating, Hawkeye,” Ramona warned as Riza set down yet another hand of twos and sevens. Hughes drew his knife on her. “Win again and I’ll slit your throat,” he threatened. She always cheated when playing cards, Pool, Lacrosse, and Scrabble. She even cheated at Solitaire! Riza snickered and took the jackpot, which at that moment was $215. “I fold. I came here to see my nephew and niece, not to go broke,” Ramona grumbled, throwing her cards down. Al tossed his cards down too, loathe to tell his brother that he needed help to pay off his gambling debt to Riza. Ramona walked over and sat beside Alex, whispering if he gave her some money, she’d give him an extra special treat. Alex smiled and rubbed her shoulders, noticing Roy was up pacing the floor for the millionth time. Alex motioned to Hughes and they both walked outside together.

“I’m surprised at Roy,” Alex stated, leaning on one of the posts on the porch. Hughes gave him a quizzical look. “What did he do to surprise you?” Alex folded his arms and scuffed his feet. “I didn’t think he loved Edward as much as he does. I thought he was going to use and then discard him like he has so many others.” Hughes nodded and smiled. “That’s true. Roy was a dog back in the day. But you didn’t see what I saw. I witnessed their first kiss. They kiss like Gracia and I do; like you and Ramona do,” he said pointedly, making Alex blush slightly. “You didn’t see him outside my house twelve days ago, grieved out of his mind. You haven’t sat up with him all those sleepless nights and when the poor bastard did find sleep, you didn’t hear him moaning ’Edward, I’m sorry’ the whole time.” Hughes’ eyes blazed temporarily with intense anger. Then his usual friendly look took over and he patted Alex’s shoulder. “Remember Alex, he’s going to be Fuehrer one day. As reserved as it is, Roy has a largesse heart and a huge conscience. Believe me, he doubts himself enough. He doesn’t need his friends doing that to him as well.” Alex hung his head and nodded; ashamed he questioned Roy’s honor and intent.

“Besides,” Hughes said grinning wickedly, ”We’re about to be groomsmen.” Alex’s eyes widened and Hughes smugly nodded his head. He opened his mouth to ask who, what, when, where, and why when Ramona popped her pretty head out of the door. “Hey assholes. Faith is about to come out and give us word on Ed’s condition. Be there or be square,” she said, blowing a raspberry at Alex. He came up to her and kissed her gently, smacking her wide ass as they walked down the hall together. “Crazy kids,“ Hughes mumbled, laughing to himself. All of them looked up when Faith came out, the entire front of her gown covered in blood. Roy paled at the sight. She walked over to him and smirked. “Worried? Don’t be. All three of them are fine. In fact,” she drawled, sitting in the chair beside Rush, “The poor children look like you. The only thing Edward gave them were those yellow eyes. Weird looking kids,” she muttered, reaching in her pocket for a cigarette.

Roy ignored her and rushed inside the room to see Larose stitching up the incision on Ed’s stomach. Roy looked around worriedly, for he expected to hear crying but the room was so quiet. He looked back toward the door and saw a small crib, and a fist punch straight out. Walking over, awed, he peeled back the blanket and gasp. In that blanket were the two most gorgeous children he had ever seen. Both had black curly hair, flawless creamy white skin, and light yellow eyes that peered suspiciously at him. The one that had punched through the blanket was his daughter, her tiny cherub fist reaching for her father’s face. His son stared at his sister, yawned, and then reached for Roy as well. Roy counted the twenty fingers and twenty toes one by one breathing a sigh of relief. Ten toes and ten fingers for each child.

He carefully picked both babies up and walked over to Ed, who was now awake. “I was beginning to think you forgot about me,” Ed said weakly, struggling to sit up. He smiled and took his daughter from Roy’s arm, tickling her under her chin. The baby laughed and placed her fist in her mouth, sucking loudly. “That means she’s hungry,” Hughes called from the door. All of them were crammed in the doorway, trying to see the miracle twins. Hughes pushed through and walked into the room over to the bed. “Babies suck their hands when they’re hungry, or atleast Elysia did,” he said, reaching for their son. Ed turned red as he realized what he had to do. “Ok, everyone look away for a sec. Roy,” he started, but Roy understood. He unbuttoned Ed’s gown and helped him steady the baby at his breast and they both gasp as she latched on immediately and noisily suckled. “She’s greedy, just like you,” Ed observed, looking at Roy with a smile. Roy rolled his eyes and took his son back from Hughes’ arms. “So what are we going to name these little brats?” Faith asked as she walked back in the room. “Corinthian and Cillian,” Edward stated. “Corinthian Alisha Mae Mustang and Cillian Talin Elrich Mustang.” He sat back proudly and looked at Faith. She nodded and scribbled the names on the birth certificates. After fingerprinting Corinthian and Cillian, she pulled on Roy’s sleeve to talk to him outside.

“The stitches on his stomach are sutured from the inside which will make scarring less visible,” Faith explained as she and Roy sat on the steps. “There is to be no heavy lifting, no strenuous activity, and no sex for atleast three to six weeks.” She put heavy emphasis on the words ‘no’ and ‘sex’. “I believe that as it stands, your babies are approximately five months old. There is a tooth in the girl’s mouth already cutting and the boy will probably cut in a few days. I’m not sure how fast they will develop, but eventually it will slow down. As far as I can tell, Edward will be able to conceive again later on if you want more children. Make sure he keeps his stitches clean and dry when possible.” She stood to leave and Roy grabbed her arm. “Is there anything else?” he asked, wanting to make 100% sure that Ed and his children were all right. Roy didn’t like the fact that Faith avoided his eyes while she talked to him. Usually, She would stare him down and make him feel like some pimply-faced dork. Faith smiled and handed him a box of cigars. “Yes, this was the other thing. Congratulations Roy. You’re a father. Be a good one,” she said, hugging him and kissing his cheek. He blushed and held his head down, nodding. Then confusion set in. \"Faith would never congratulate me,\" he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the woman as she walked off.

“I say, Full Metal you do make fine children with strong grip,” Alex admitted, holding his finger out for Cillian to grab. Both babies had been fed, changed, and nearly spoiled to death within their first few hours of life. Rush, Riza, and Ramona constantly fought over who got to hold Corinthian while Hughes, Al, and Alex battled over Cillian. At one point, Alex actually took off his shirt to challenge Hughes to a duel over who could change Cillian‘s pamper! The duel ended in a draw, with Al actually getting to change the baby. Ed and Roy watched as their friends and siblings fought over their children and couldn’t help but laugh. They both knew the children they had bought in this world were already well loved and would never be denied affection or attention. “Are you still afraid?” Roy whispered, watching Ramona rock his daughter to sleep. Ed shook his head. “I’m too happy and in too much pain to be afraid,” he stated, shifting slightly. Roy laughed and smiled, fluffing Ed’s pillow and drawing closer to him. “Sorry about punching you,” Roy apologized, kissing Ed’s hand. Ed nodded and winked. “Sorry for crushing your hand.” “You can take him home tonight actually if you‘d like,” Faith called into the room. Riza looked sharply towards the door. ‘Odd’ she thought. ‘Faith is known for keeping people for long amounts of time to observe them to make sure they’re okay. Maybe she just wants us out of her hair’ she surmised. Shrugging, she helped to gather Ed and his things, assisting the others in getting Ed and Roy ready to leave.

“So mom, how did things go?” Faith whirled around to see Envy standing in the doorframe in Parker’s form after everyone had left. Faith frowned. “You idiot. What if one of them had come back and seen you?” Envy shrugged and flopped down on one of the chairs in the room. “Then I would have had to become a namedropper. Then I would have had to call you Dr. Dante instead of Dr. Faith.” he dissolved into giggles as Dante rolled her eyes at him. She was already in a bad mood for having to transfer her old ass into another old ass body. She wanted a young fresh body, and hoped Corinthian would develop as fast as she needed her too so she could steal her body. “So does Larose know that the real Faith is also dead?” Envy asked, playing with one of the scalpels Dante forgot to put away. She snatched the sharp metal from her hand, almost cutting herself. “Of course not. She hates Roy just as much as we do. Even if she did know, it’s not like she’d tell them.” Envy shrugged and rolled his eyes. Dante walked over to another chair to sit and catch her breath. She hated the old woman’s body so much, but couldn’t find another to take. She had unsuccessfully tried to take Ramona’s body, but for some reason couldn’t access her properly. Feeling angry and wanting a way to displace that, she stood and walked over and ran her fingers through Envy’s hair, making him purr. The Homunculi then yelped as he felt fingers roughly pull his hair. “Remember who controls you; who your so called life belongs to,” Dante hissed, pushing Envy away from her. She walked away laughing, leaving him rubbing his sore head and sneering. “You don’t own me,” Envy muttered angrily, standing to leave. “Whoever has my bones owns me.” With that, he walked out of the front door, looking for his next thrill.

Roy stared in wonder at Ed. They were back at home in the Red Room, and the babies were sleeping in the bed, curled up almost in a ball beside Ed’s stomach. Roy offered to sleep in the easy chair, noticing that when he brought Ed and the babies home, their bed had not been slept in. He felt a pang of guilt, realizing that Ed wouldn’t sleep in their bed unless Roy was there with him. His sleep that night was peaceful, yet light as he jumped every time one of the babies would sigh, kick, or whimper. He had contemplated buying a crib for the babies, but decided to buy another bed since the children seemed more content being in the bed with them. Roy stood to walk over to the bed and stare at his love and his children one more time. Corinthian was awake, and shot out her fist again when her father’s face was within striking distance. “So you’ll be my little slugger, huh?” Roy softly cooed to his daughter, picking her up. Corinthian looked in her father’s face, decided that his nose looked delicious, and placed her little rosebud mouth on the tip of his nose, biting it with her new tooth. Roy laughed and allowed his child to gnaw at his nose while slowly walking her around the house, showing her pictures of flames. She smiled and after a few painstaking tries, managed to clap her hands together.

The child was obviously not going to sleep anytime soon, so Roy took her in the living room and sat her down her stomach so she could kick her legs and wiggle around. While playing with her, Roy noticed a shadow outside and quickly reached under the couch for one of his alchemy gloves. He was smart enough to keep matches and alchemy gloves stashed in mundane places around his house, cars, ect so that he would never be defenseless. He snapped his fingers and sent out a flame, barely missing the shadow. “Cori, stay here,” he commanded, like the baby understood him. She turned toward the window, awed by the beautiful bright colors. Roy ran to the screen door and flung it open to find Parker standing above him in a tree.

“Envy,” Roy said in an acid tone, preparing to set the Homunculi on fire. Envy raised his hands, signaling a truce. “I’ve come to warn you. Things are not what they appear. Everyone has a weakness. And the equation will be balanced, Mustang.” Envy morphed into a beautiful young woman with long golden hair and brown eyes. The woman looked like Ed, if Ed were a girl. Roy narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers, setting the branches of the tree on fire. When the smoke cleared, Envy was gone and Cori was sitting with her back against the couch, clapping her hands at the first fight she ever witnessed.

Roy closed the door behind him and sat down beside his daughter. \"What do you think all that meant, princess?\" he cooed to the wide eyed baby, who was chewing on the bottom of his shirt. \"Did you see daddy chase away the bad Homunculi?\" Cori stared at Roy for a moment, and then threw up milk and baby cereal all over his lap. Roy made a disgusted face and picked Cori up and placed her in the kitchen sink. \"Stay there,\" he commanded again and walked away to get some paper towels. Unfourtnately, Ed and Cil had awoken and Ed carried the boy in the kitchen on his hip to get him some milk.

\"ROY!\" Roy winced at Ed\'s shrill voice.

\"Dear?\" Ed frowned at the tenative and guilty sounding reply.

\"Why in hell\'s bells is our daughter in the kitchen sink?! And covered in barf no less!\"

Cil stared at Cori, who was still laughing and clapping her hands.