Author’s Note: Major spoilers—especially after Chapter 61 of the manga.

“Sinful Betrayal”

Chapter One

Four months ago:

“You idiot!”

“Hey, I’m your older brother. You can’t call me that.”

“I’ll call you whatever I want, especially when you act like—” Alphonse’s tirade was abruptly cut off by the slice of apple stuffed in his mouth.

“Chew and swallow,” Ed instructed as he sat cross-legged next to him on the bed, cutting the apple into slivers like their mother used to. “You can bitch at me later. Promise.”

Alphonse bit off half of the apple slice, then did as he was told before sighing and leaning back against the mountain of pillows behind him. Popping in the second part, he hmphed. “You know, I said I wanted to eat an apple pie after I got my body back, not an apple.”

“Back in your body a few weeks and already, you’re complaining.” Edward handed him another slice, which Alphonse lifted gingerly to mouth. “Hey, you actually got it in. Maybe by next week, you can actually feed yourself the entire time.” He cut the third piece in half and deposited it in his brother’s mouth himself.

“I’m still not done with the whole ‘Sure, I’ll become Pride. Why not?’ ” Alphonse mumbled through his chewing and finally swallowed. “I can give you a hundred reasons why not. ”

At the hint of weakness in his brother’s voice, Edward couldn’t fight the urge. With his automail hand, he reached out and brushed the few stubborn strands from Al’s face. “I told you to shut up about that until later.”

The smile upon Ed’s own face only grew when Alphonse’s head turned toward the petting. With a yawn, Al’s entire body relaxed, and though it was the hundredth time, Edward caught a glimpse of those deep golden eyes—his own eyes. They weren’t exactly the same. Sure, vehement emotions burned in both Ed’s and his brother’s, but Al’s were a little lighter, more innocent. And it didn’t matter how many times Alphonse looked at him; he would never tire at staring at those beautiful golden irises.

They softened at the sight of Ed, only to harden when they shifted to the automail hand in his hair.

“I still don’t understand you, Brother.” Alphonse’s voice was hoarse after the few weeks, having not been used in almost four years.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Edward replied in soothing tone. He found himself giving into his guilty pleasure and touched the side of Al’s cheek with his flesh hand, drawing the boy’s eyes toward him again.

Alphonse refused to give Ed what he waited those long years for and had only received a few weeks of enjoyment. “How can you say it’s nothing?” Al whispered.

Edward’s smile widened, and he tugged playfully on his brother’s long locks. “It’s nothing compared to what I’ve regained.”

He found himself still waiting and even confused when Al strained to raise his hand to Ed’s face. Then, the trembling hand formed a fist and connected directly with Ed’s cheek. The older brother hardly moved. Even though his brother’s fist used to hurt, especially when Al’s soul inhabited armor, now the boy’s frail flesh hardly stung Ed’s cheek.

“You idiot.” Al’s turned into his pillow; his eyes drooped shut. “We promised we’d get our bodies back together.”

“We’ve been through this before,” Ed sighed again and looked away, too, clamping his automail hand in a tight fist. “Just let it go.”

“I can’t let it go,” Al admonished. “Not when you’re still lugging around metal limbs.”

“The Stone didn’t have that much power.”

“Then you should have—”

“You’re my little brother, Al, and I wasn’t going to let you stay in that metal body one more day. It was my fault you were in that can to begin with.”

Alphonse let out a deep sigh, then opened his eyes. “It was our fault, Brother. When will you realize that?”

“Maybe when you realize how much you mean to me.”

Though it was weak and a little shy, Alphonse’s genuine smile, still after these few weeks, was the greatest gift Al could ever give him.

When Edward finished the apple and worked on an orange, Al let out a yawn and looked back to see the broken window and then the rest of the tiny room. Al still flinched at the dirty surroundings, but back when Alphonse could hardly stay awake for five minutes, Edward needed to keep them safe, even if that meant taking a dingy apartment in the slums of East City.

“Now what?” Alphonse asked, stealing Edward’s attention from peeling. “We have to get your arm and leg back.”

“Al, not now, okay?” Edward ran his flesh hand through his brother’s hair, then lifted up an orange slice. “You just get stronger. Even with me eating and sleeping for us, you’re still nothing but a twig.”

Alphonse bit his bottom lip—something Ed didn’t remember at all from his little brother’s memories—then shook his head. “Ed…I don’t remember the Gate. Shouldn’t I? At least… something?”

Ed took the open mouth as an opportunity to plop in a slice then quickly looked away. “Uh…I don’t know…maybe equivalent exchange has to do something with it? The Gate takes away the absolute truth?”

Al swallowed quickly. “But what about you? The Stone—” He jerked and tried to lift his back off the pillows, but Ed easily pushed him back to the bed.

“Hey, hey. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“How could you do that?” Al asked softly, his eyes starting to droop shut from all the attention and action. “How could you ever—”

Edward grabbed his brother’s hand suddenly. “I’m here. See? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Alphonse blinked and fought through a yawn. “But what would have happened if you had been turned into Pride? How could you leave me—”

“It’s over,” Ed replied sharply and placed the partially eaten orange on the endtable. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. Maybe you should get some sleep, and I’ll feed you some more later.”

Al’s body seemed to disobey him, his eyelids falling, his breathing already evening out. “You still shouldn’t have—”

“We’ll go through that again later. Promise.”

“But…” There. Again. That nervous gesture—when had Al gotten that? In the Gate? “What are we going to do, Ed? If you’re not Pride, then…”

Ed laid down next to his brother, content to feel the warmth he hadn’t before a few weeks ago. “The only thing we can do, Al.”

“I only gave you one order. I allowed you leave, even though you used the Stone.” Father stood with his back completely straight, his hands clasped gently and pressed into the small of his back. He looked down almost disinterestedly, the curve of his forehead so defined it cast shadows over his already dark eyes. “Still, you disobey me.”

“What? I’m sorry. Didn’t hear you there. Could you repeat that?” Edward retorted. He subsequently grunted when Greed punched him in the back of the head.

“Petulant child. You are precious but not infallible.”

Greed shook his hand, sprinkling little droplets of Ed’s own blood sprinkled onto him.

As if being beaten by Envy and the new Greed and dragged back to “Father’s” compound wasn’t bad enough, Edward loathed being forced to kneel in front of the guy as if he were some sort of servant or slave. And as if the situation couldn’t get any worse, it unnerved Ed that Father looked like his father. Of course, Ed could dismiss that, for the only better target than Hoemheim was Roy Mustang. In fact, his father and Mustang swapped the top place daily on “The People’s Whose Asses Need Some Kickin’ ” list, but Father quickly surpassed the aforementioned two and attained the top spot when he turned his malevolent attention toward Alphonse.

Edward growled and tried to free himself, but with a hand on the back of his head, his automail discharged on the floor next to him, and his good arm twisted behind his back by Greed, Edward was helpless to save his little brother when Father touched Alphonse’s cheek. The older man’s lithe fingers caressed up and down Al’s pink skin, and when the boy’s soul had been attached to armor, Edward would have laughed. But his brother, soft flesh and pumping blood, now flinched, and that only fueled Edward’s anger.

“Leave him alone!”

Greed scoffed. “You’re being way too overprotective. You ever think that maybe you should let your brother handle his own problems? Let him grow up.”

“I swear, Lin. You’re on my list, right below the old man.”

“How many times do I have to tell you before you finally get it? It’s Greed.”

“Tell me, child. Where were you headed?”
When Alphonse remained silent, Father continued to touch his cheek with his bent knuckles. Edward wanted nothing more than to punch Father, and he only became more enraged when Alphonse recoiled and tried to pull away. Unable evade Father’s reach due to Envy’s unrelenting grip, Al tried to push Father away with his free hand. Envy just twisted his other arm further, halting the boy’s struggling by force.

“Stop that!” Edward shouted, and he cringed through Greed’s tightening grip on his head. “We were on our way to Xing, okay?”

Father immediately allowed his hand to drop, and Edward let out a relieved sigh. It was times like these he really wished his brother didn’t insist on coming with him. When Al’s soul occupied armor, his younger brother followed him to get their bodies back, though, as Ed thought that, he knew it was a lie. Alphonse followed him because he loved his older brother, and the feeling was mutual, if not born greater in the older brother. Edward had lived without Alphonse, and life was so much easier when he and Al fought it together.

Though Edward feared before that Al’s blood rune would wash away, that mortal fear intensified. Alphonse had been, essentially, immortal until his suit rejected his soul, but now his soul was incased in vulnerable flesh. He would never trade his brother’s flesh body for his tin one, if for no other reason than the treasure of Al’s smile and the light in his golden eyes, but his little brother could bleed until there was nothing left. If Father wished that, at the moment all Edward could do was watch. Ever losing his brother would kill him, but to physically watch Alphonse writhe and scream would leave nothing left of him.

Father speared Edward a fleeting glance, then cupped Alphonse’s chin to lift it upward. “Why were you going to Xing?”

Edward realized the unspoken threat. “Vacation.”

Father straightened his back, and his expression, though hardly changed, seemed suspiciously like a grin. “How did you know my dear Alphonse was your brother when you found him at the Gate?”

“W—What!” Edward’s eyes immediately widened, as quivering fear pierced his very soul. He tried to control his breathing, which only increased. His shocked mind groped to find some sort of comfort, but none caught purchase. There was only one way Father would know Alphonse wasn’t Edward’s blood brother.

“It was you.”

“Yes,” Father said at once. “How were you able to be there in order to retrieve him?”

Alphonse stared at Father before shooting a questioning glance toward Ed. “B—Brother?”

“Hush, child.” Father nodded to Envy, who immediately clamped his hand over Al’s mouth. Letting out a mumbled growl, Alphonse gripped Envy’s hand to free himself, but the homunculus’s hold allowed no movement.

Edward’s light eyes darkened, and he squeezed them shut in despair. Sins, bonds, Father…shit. Of course, now it made sense. He should have put it together years ago when they first started to fight the homunculi, but now the appalling truth twisted in Edward’s gut. Father. He had been the one who tried to transmute Alphonse all those years ago.

His own guilt overshadowed Father’s deed, and he refused to open his eyes, so he didn’t have to look into Alphonse’s innocent ones, pleading the truth not to be.

“You didn’t answer my questions, son of van Hohenheim.”

“What do you want me to say?” Edward bit back, his head still hanging, his eyes clamped shut. “The Elric Brothers Bond informed me?” A dangerous glint promised more pain to Father than the man give Al. “I’ve reserved an ass kicking for you, but for now, I’ll settle with my own question. Why the hell would you try to transmute a ten year old? What kind of sick bastard would do that?” The end was barely audible, a gut-wrenching whisper tearing at his soul.

“You can’t even begin to understand the interworkings of the Gate, child.” Father met his glare unflinchingly, and the calmness in the man’s eyes only conveyed the depth of his malice. “I am surprised at you, Elric. I didn’t think a cynic such as yourself would accept another as his brother at face value alone.”

Wait. He didn’t save Al at the Gate because they were brothers. He took Al as his brother only after they were both alone, lost and frightened, but Alphonse didn’t know that. Neither should the old coot. “What are you saying?”

“Ah, now the truth is discovered,” Father chuckled, fluffing Alphonse’s bangs again. “So, you did not know.”

“Know what!”

“That you had a brother.” Father smiled when he looked down at Alphonse and rested his hand on Al’s blonde crown. “You see, I asked Envy to seek out your father and return him to me, so I might transmute him into a being I could use. Envy returned without van Hohenheim but with even greater news. My ‘child’ had a child of his own. I did not, at the time, think it was possible for van Hohenheim to procreate, but I knew at once his children would be his downfall.”

“What are you talking about? Our father doesn’t give a shit about us.”

“I instructed Envy and Pride to take you,” Father continued nonchalantly, as if in casual conversation, not speaking about the lives of the very people in the room, “but by the time they returned, your mother had given birth to a second child. Your father interceded when my children attempted to take both of you, and he made a choice.”

Edward averted his eyes when he felt his own tears rise at the sight of Alphonse. His brother came to the same, silent realization, wide-eyed and shocked. Edward despised everything about his father, from his hairstyle to his smell to the very mention of his name. Yet, all those years ago, when given a choice, his father chose to save him instead of Al. Perhaps that was why he hated his father so much. Perhaps, deep down, he knew the choice his father made and hated him all the more for not saving his little brother.

Which meant Alphonse was truly his brother.

Oh, God.

It was probably the first time in his life he had something to thank Someone for. Winry had always said how much they looked alike, that how could not they be brothers? He only scoffed at her and told her she was an idiot for speaking about his deed, but she was right. All those years he spent fearing Alphonse’s real family would return dissipated in a relieved sigh.

Yet, the tension in his body returned as Father massaged Alphonse’s cheek with his thumb when Envy dropped his hold. “You do not remember, child, do you?”

“What are you talking about?” Alphonse growled. “I didn’t meet you before Ed was swallowed by Gluttony.”

“How could you forget us?” Envy chortled, tightening his grip on Alphonse’s arm until the boy cried out.

“Stop!” Edward shrieked. “He doesn’t deserve this. Please…Let him go…Use me instead. Just let my little brother go.”

“The Great Edward Elric, reduced to a sniveling child.” Envy smirked and twisted Alphonse’s arm violently.

When Alphonse screamed, Edward tugged desperately against Greed’s hold upon him. A feral need deep within him wanted nothing more than to protect his brother, to stop the torture, but neither Greed nor his own body’s limitations let him.

Envy leered. “He’s human. To me, that’s enough reason to—”

“No.” Father retracted his hand and stood slowly, his back climbing until it was completely straight. “The boy is right. He is your sibling-in-soul, and you should not harm him. He is, after all, older than you, Envy.”

“Only in sin, not in this form.”

“Sibling-in-soul?” Edward yanked again, startling Greed enough break loose and shoot to his feet. However, his automail leg gave way and brought Edward to his knees once more.

“Pathetic, really,” Greed chuckled, grabbing a hold of Ed again. “Why do you even try?”

“You’ve got me. You don’t need him.” A deadly glint shone in his eyes, as he looked at his automail arm helplessly on the floor next to him, wanting nothing more than to change it into a dagger.

“On the contrary, Elric.” Father chuckled and ran a hand through Al’s long hair, which had been freed from his ponytail. “Your brother is probably more important to me than you are. After all, he is one of my children.”

Edward stopped breathing. “…what? Alphonse?”

“When I fed him the Red Stone, he seemed stubborn, at best, to accept it.”

“Screaming and crying,” Envy chortled. “I love seeing humans suffer.”

“He tried to transmute it out of him, what your people call ‘human transmutation.’ The tollkeeper recognized my child and offered your brother freedom from me in exchange for his body, spirit, and the Stone.” Father bent down once more to Alphonse, and this time, the boy succumbed when Father cupped his cheeks in his hands. “Your older brother transmuted his own memories and input them into your spirit, but now, I will show you your true path.”

Edward screamed, but from his mouth came nothing. He struggled, but Greed’s hold was unremitting. Alphonse cried out when blue lightning flashed about him, and everything Ed prayed would never happen, everything he wished to never confront, occurred when the wind blew up Alphonse’s hair and bangs. Envy’s hold slackened, and Alphonse’s usually bright eyes, more golden than any metal, darkened, became half-lidded and dazed. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move. He simply slumped, his eyes unfocused on Father’s knees, his arms limp at his sides.

“…Alphonse…?” Edward asked tentatively. He feared his brother’s reaction, but he would have taken anger or anything just to hear the boy’s voice. What did Father do to you? “Alphonse, please. Say something…”

Alphonse turned to him, his eyes blank, and then screamed in sheer agony. He hunched over, clutching the side of his face as veins of power raced through his body. His eyes burned with pure fire, and his arms tightened about his waist. He beseeched silently once at Edward, and the older brother lurched forward.

“I thought I already warned you,” Greed teased as Edward struggled futilely.

“Al! ALLLLL!” But nothing helped his brother. Tears surged over Ed’s eyelids as he watched Alphonse fight the demon in his blood, and he fought the one holding him from his little brother.

He couldn’t lose his brother. Not now. Not after finding out they were related. Not after getting Al back in his flesh form.

Not ever.

He just had to reach his brother, then he could do something. Transmute the Stone out of Al successfully or just hold him until it all passed. Something, anything, at least to stop that screaming that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Al’s eyes ever so slowly lost their rage. The veins on his cheeks and his forehead seeped underneath his skin again, and Alphonse crumpled to the ground, motionless, his eyes once more blank.

Father gripped his brother’s chin, tugging it upward once more and redirecting Al’s eyes from Edward. “Do you remember?”

“…”

“Your father forsook you the moment he chose your brother. You must know that. I took you in, made you one of my children, and even if your brother’s stubbornness lives within you, you cannot escape your ‘Father.’ ”

“No!” Edward objected desperately. “He’s not one of your children. He’s my brother.”

“Ah, but you and I are alike in many ways, aren’t we, son of van Hohenheim?” Father leveled his dark eyes at Edward. “You transmuted your memories, changed them as you saw fit, and then injected them into the boy’s mind through his blood rune without his consent. You created his personality, gave him idiosyncrasies and feelings that didn’t belong to him, so he would act like you wanted him to.”

“No! That’s not—”

“You used him just as I have, Elric, and I have let you. Now, I am taking back what is rightfully mine.”

Edward looked away and fell back on his haunches, his mouth slightly open.

Alphonse didn’t move, didn’t take his eyes off of Father, and Edward thanked Whoever might be up there that his little brother didn’t. He truly didn’t think he could take the hurt and betrayal that must be in Al’s eyes. Above even that, he feared his screaming night-terrors would come true. Alphonse would hate him, and Edward’s soul would die if he ever saw that.

“Child,” Father beckoned Alphonse, who haggardly pulled himself onto his knees in front of Father, “the time has come to once more take your place at my side.”

Alphonse’s eyes shook, as did his body. His arms wavered slightly as he was jerked to his feet by Father’s hand upon him.

“You mustn’t disobey me,” Father grated, his hand tensing on Alphonse’s face. “You remember what happens when you do.”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“Yes.”

The coldness in Alphonse’s voice sent shivers through Edward. He had never heard his brother’s voice emotionless, and he didn’t care to again.

“Then you know what you must do.”

Alphonse dropped his head, squeezing his eyes shut. His hands clenched into tight fists as he spat out the word, “…Yes.”

“Then do so.”

Father backed away, and before Envy followed, he grabbed Alphonse from behind, wrapping a hand around the boy’s collar bone, the other about Al’s chest. “Welcome back, little brother.”

“He’s not your brother, bastard!”

Edward bristled at the mere thought of Envy taking his place in his little brother’s eyes. That loving look and the way that Al’s eyed softened and his mouth opened slightly in excitement every time he saw Ed—the older brother never wanted to lose that. It brought him through those years with Alphonse in his armor, even though he had only seen the look once—at the Gate. He was Alphonse’s older brother, had lived with his brother and cared for him, and he would remind Envy of that physically when he and Al escaped Father’s plan.

However, his ideas for revenge stalled when Greed pushed him down to the ground, then walked away. Ed blinked, his eyes narrowing at Greed’s retreating back.

Resounding footsteps reverberated in Edward’s ears, and turning his face to the side, he saw Alphonse near, his strides short but forceful. When Ed pushed himself onto his knees, his eyes darkened at a single glance of his brother’s crestfallen expression, the glint in his eyes a mixture of fear, anger, and hurt.

He knew in his injured condition he wouldn’t be able to fight his brother, and in all honestly, he wouldn’t even if he had all his facilities—he couldn’t. Alphonse was his brother, blood or not. And if Alphonse were to leave him, then he didn’t want to live. He would rather die with his brother here and now than face losing Alphonse forever.

“…Al…” he gulped, “…I’m sorry…”

Alphonse looked at him, his eyes never wavering until he clapped—Homunculi couldn’t perform alchemy, could they?— and transmuted Ed’s automail leg back to its original form. Lifting Ed into a sitting position, Al grabbed the automail arm and inhaled sharply.

“Ready?”

Edward blinked. “What the hell are you doing?”

That damned voice again. “Attaching your arm.”

“What? Why are you—OW!” He grunted suddenly, his arm reattached and his nerves searing. He leaned over, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. After a few, agonizing moments, Ed unclenched his mouth and uttered, “You could have warned me.”

“You could listen. Ever think of that?” Alphonse spat before wrapping an arm about Ed’s waist and heaving him to his feet. “Come on.”

“WHAT?” Ed exclaimed, his strength returning just a bit faster than usual. “We’re leaving?” He shot a look toward Father. “And they’re letting us?”

“You’re leaving,” Al corrected, helping his brother along toward the exit of the massive structure and never looking back, “and yes, we’re letting you.”

Al’s word choice grabbed Ed’s heart, and he grasped onto Al, not letting his brother go. Al didn’t respond, only looked ahead as he helped his brother out of the compound. It wasn’t until they breached the streets and started down the alley that Al stopped and detached himself from his brother’s side, turning around to glance back at the path.

Ed reached forward but stopped just short of grabbing his brother’s bloody arm. “Al…You’re not going back, are you?”

He couldn’t imagine losing his brother again, but if Al left…

Ed looked away. If Al joined Father and the homunculi, Ed’s entire existence would be dedicated to getting his brother back—again. Or…he could join them. That would be the only way to secure Al’s life, to willingly submit to Father’s authority and dedicate himself to his cause—whatever it was. After all, they needed him as the only confirmed human sacrifice, right?

But all the death and destruction—could he really do that, become a human weapon?

For Alphonse, he would do anything.

Pebbles shifted under Al’s boots, drawing Ed’s attention. Alphonse strode past him and started his descent down the mountain. “Come on. Wrath will be expecting you, and you’ll probably want to call Winry about your arm. Get her to meet you in Resembool.”

Ed stared at his little brother’s back for a few moments before he saw it. Al’s long blonde hair wisped back and forth just over his shoulders, and through the strands, Ed saw his brother’s back, right where his soul had been attached to the armor.

And where the red tattoo now resided.

The mark of the Ouroboros.

His little brother was a homunculus.