EASTERN CITY MILITARY HQ
“I see.” Roy Mustang put down the phone, and sighed. Leaning back in his chair, he looked out the window and watched the rain trickle down.
“Problems?” Asked Hawkeye.
“Possibly. Marcoh’s in military intelligence’s hands now. The Fuehrer sent his secretary down personally to take charge of him.”
“His SECRETARY?”
“I really don’t understand it myself. Something to do with that mess in Central, two nights back. She should be arriving by train any time now.”
“Actually, she’s arrived. And she’s not the only one.”
Roy and Hawkeye snapped their heads around, to see a familiar lanky figure leaning against the door.
“Maes! You old dog…”
“Roy, Roy! You’re looking swell… But not as swell as MY ELICIA! SEE?”
Brandishing photos in both hands, he advanced on the two suddenly nervous and sweating officers.
“Ah-haha… Maybe later, Maes…”
“But look! This is Elicia on her little tricycle, she follows me around everywhere I go now! And this is Elicia’s first attempt at wiffle-bat! Okay, now this next one is Elicia saying sorry to daddy after the wiffle-bat hit daddy in the groin and he had to lay down a while…”
“Maes.”
“And here she is asleep, in her tiger-jammies! See? See!”
“ MAJOR MAES HUGHES!”
“Actually, it’s Lieutenant Colonel now, Roy. I got a promotion while you were kicking around here.”
“What? Oh no… Don’t tell me…”
“Yep! I’m EQUAL RANK to you Roy…”
Roy Mustang slumped into his desk, and thumped his face against it, sending random paperwork flying. “No justice! NO JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD!”
“…at least, that’s what I’d like to say. But it’d be a lie.”
“What?”
“Command’s impressed by the job you’re doing out here. Your prompt pursuit of the alchemist killer, and the finding of Dr. Marcoh… Well, that and a few other things… You’re getting promoted, too! I had to come and deliver the good news as soon as I heard.”
“Well, now.” Mustang leaned back and smiled, as Hawkeye suppressed her own grin. “This is good news, but you didn’t have to come all the way down here…”
He looked up. Maes was shutting the door, his smile gone from his face. “Actually, it’s not the only reason I’m here, Roy.”
All humor vanished, Mustang nodded as he shut the window. “Go on.”
“Something went down a few nights ago in Central. Something that killed 23 soldiers. And I still don’t know quite what happened, or why those men are dead. It’s being sold as a cell of Ishbalan terrorists rooted out, but…”
“Bunk.”
“Plain and simple. What’s more, the Fuhrer himself led the assault, with Major Armstrong the only alchemical backup.”
“Hm. This must be connected to the Fuhrer’s absence, when the rest of the bigwigs from Central ran here.”
“Got to be. He also knows more about this whole detail. Odd, how much he knows… And I don’t know where he got the intel. It didn’t come through me, or any of my colleagues.”
“What makes you say that?”
“There was an armored man guarding the assault site. He took several bullets right through the armor… Roy, I put one in his HEAD. But he kept on going. And when Major Armstrong rusted his armor away from him, there was nothing underneath. Sound familiar?”
Roy’s eyes snapped to Hughes. “Another bound soul, like Fullmetal’s brother?”
“Must have been. Armstrong didn’t know what was going on, but I recognized the signs. But the hell of it is, Roy…”
“The Fuhrer had me up in a sniping spot. When he came by to check, I reported one armored figure in the yard. His exact orders to Armstrong on hearing that were… “Your orders are to disable that armored thing, and prevent anyone from escaping.”
“That armored thing.” Mused Roy.
“Yep. Not that armored MAN, but that armored THING.”
“And how would he know about that beforehand? And if he did, why didn’t he warn you that bullets would do no good?”
Maes shook his head. “I don’t know, yet. But listen, we retrieved two captives from the lab. One was the Fuhrer’s secretary…”
“Strange. Might explain why he knew it, someone could have been trying to blackmail him.”
“…And the other was this woman.”
Maes pulled out a photograph.
Roy took it, and frowned. His eyes widened, and he reached inside his desk, pulling out a roll of paper. He compared the two, the drawing to the photograph. “It’s her. Has to be.”
“Yep. It’s a perfect match to that description that you telegraphed to every post yesterday. Who is she, Roy? Why is she so important?”
“Believe it or not, I really don’t have a clue. Here’s what I know about the whole thing…”
“It’s okay brother, we’ll just have to go back to Resembool.”
The Elric brothers had been shuffled off to the barracks, to rest and recuperate. Guts had invited himself along, at Lt. Col. Mustang’s request. No one seemed to mind their presence there, and the soldiers were out canvassing the streets.
Looking for the Scarred man…
Ed sighed. “This is a real delay. And after we got so close…”
“We have Doctor Marcoh’s clues, anyway. It won’t take long to get to Central after that.”
“Central?” Asked Guts. He was in the middle of scouring out his cannon, using a rag to clean the powder residue and swab the barrel attached to his stump.
“Yeah. It’s the capital of Amestris.” Ed said, not looking at him. Though the older Elric brother had been civil to Guts since the alley, he still wasn’t speaking to him except to answer questions. Guts didn’t mind.
“Amestris… Nice name. Wondered what this place was called.” Guts finished swabbing, and looked at the muzzle. Can’t reload it without the arm covering the muzzle. The ball’s a tight fit, but I don’t want to risk it falling out, or the powder leaking…
“Uh. Sorry to ask, but why do you have a cannon in your arm?” Al asked, his voice sounding odd with half of his body blown open.
Puck grinned, as he drummed his heels on Guts forehead. “It’s like a holdout knife, you know those things people keep in their boots, or up their sleeves.”
“Yeah, but… A holdout CANNON?”
“Yep.” Guts stowed the greasy rag, and pulled out his sword. Frowning, he looked it over.
Not even a scratch. And this is after a tunnel fell on me… What’s going on here?
“What the Hell do you need that heavy weaponry for?” Ed burst out, face flushing. “You know what kind of horrific damage those things do to people?”
“I know it well.” Said Guts.
“Then why do you use them? Why not use something that doesn’t maul, cripple, or kill anyone it hits?”
Guts was quiet for a long time. Finally, he slid the sword back into its harness, pulled his pants leg up, and studied his new leg. Looks good. This is some pretty nice work… I’ll strip it and give it a cleaning when I’ve got two arms to work with.
“Brother…” Al started, as Ed ground his teeth in the silence.
“Hey, don’t pretend like you didn’t hear the question! I want to know, dammit…”
Guts turned his head, his face unsmiling, and calm.
“I use these because the guy I’m after, and all of his troops… This can kill them.” He touched his sword, briefly.
“And a lot of times, it’s barely enough.”
“You’re joking.” Al said.
Puck shook his head, moving over to one of the bunks. “No, he’s not. Trust me on this… The people he’s after, they’re not human anymore... Or maybe some of them weren’t to begin with.”
“Not human…” Muttered Al.
“Oh, so it’s revenge.” Ed leaned back. “Still, I guess… I’ve heard worse reasons. And you saved us back there. Gotta admit, that was some pretty good fighting. You didn’t have that much trouble with Scar.”
“Are you kidding?” Asked Guts.
“It was all I could do not to die. If he’d grabbed my other arm…” Guts shook his head. “This world of yours is hard on limbs.” He thumped his artificial leg against the floor, and glanced over Ed’s own prosthetics.
“Heh. You got that right.”
“Wait. You said this world of OURS.” Al broke in. “And the people you’re after aren’t human anymore? Look, where are you from, anyway?”
Guts laid back on the bunk, adjusting his cloak underneath him. “That’s… A long story.”
“Well, we’re not going anywhere right now.” Said Al. “Lt. Col. Mustang’s orders.”
“Huh.” Guts muttered. Do I have a problem with telling it? He studied the Elrics for a minute. Not really. These two, I get the feeling they’re okay.
But where the Hell do I start?
He opened his mouth, and thought, as Puck watched him with an expectant look. “Oooh, story-time…”
“Okay. So, have you ever heard of a place called Midland?”
The door slammed open, and all four of them jumped. Whipping their heads around, they saw a small figure in the doorway, practically quaking with rage. A bandanna was around her head, and a wrench was in her hand…
“EDWARD ELRIC! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ARM?”
“Ahhh….” Ed babbled.
“Uh, hi Winry…” Al piped up.
“Um…” Guts said, as sweatdrops rolled down each of their faces.
The wrench turned into a whirling blur of metal, colliding with Ed’s skull as she grabbed ahold of his dizzy form, and ranted for a full two minutes, chastising him about picking fights, and busting up some of her best work.
Guts watched with his eye wide open, and held up a placating hand as she turned to him. “AND YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TELL HIM TO BE CAREFUL, REMIND HIM THAT oh my gosh, what happened to your arm?”
“Well, uh…”
Winry sighed, then glared between Ed and Guts. “You weren’t fighting each other, were you?”
“No, no. It was…”
“Good. Because then, I couldn’t forgive you. But losing that masterpiece… That’s a problem.”
“Yeah.” Guts looked down. “I know. Didn’t have any choice in it.”
“Actually, we saved the parts.” Said Al. “They’re in that bucket over there.”
Winry was at the bucket in a flash, sorting through the bits of metal. “Mmph. No good, it’s in too many pieces. I could maybe do a jury-rig, but it’d never work as well. Those weights were perfectly balanced…”
“We could do it with alchemy.” Al offered.
“You could?” Guts looked up, feeling the first stirrings of hope.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be too hard. The inner workings might be a little tricky…”
“Would these help?” Winry pulled out a few sheets of paper, grinning as she rolled them open. Inside were blueprints and sketches, showing levers, pulleys, and… fingers.
“Huh.” Said Guts, looking them over. “That’s some good drawing.”
Winry blushed a bit. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s some great craftsmanship, the best I’ve seen. I had to make a record of it, and it’s given me some ideas…”
“That’s great, Winry! We could put it together now, no trouble.” Al said.
“Well, we could if I had MY arm back.” Ed snapped. “Hello? We’re kind of in pieces, here?”
Winry sighed. “You really don’t deserve this, but c’mere.”
“No way!” Ed glanced at the wrench.
“Oh, you big baby… No, come here. I was working on a prototype for you. I figured you’d outgrow your old arm soon, so I was going to drop it off with your commanding officer.” Winry dug around in her backpack, and pulled out a gleaming metal arm.
“YES!” Ed cheered, as he surged forward… To be met by Winry’s straight-arm to his chest. “Hoof!”
“Not so fast! You take care of this one, okay? Don’t go getting it broken so easy… Don’t fight so much…” Guts watched her scold Ed, and smiled. For a second, she sounded familiar. She’s got it pretty bad for him. Wonder if he knows it?
“Alright, alright, geeze don’t be such a nag… Ow!”
Winry put down the wrench. “Anyway, I’d prefer a table with restraints for this, but we can attach it right now if you’re ready.”
“Yeah. No time like the present.” Ed shrugged off his coat, and bared his stump.
“Good, the nerve feeds are still intact.”
“This is the moment I always hate...” Ed clenched his left fist, and held himself perfectly still. He grunted, as she snapped it in place, and tightened the screws, aligning the wires one by one…
And then it was done, and he was flexing metal fingers once more. “Perfect! Now for you, Al. Got the box?”
“It’s right over there. Guts, could you bring it over?”
“I’ll do it, he’s only got one arm right… now…” Winry’s voice trailed off.
Guts had used his foot to kick the bulky box into the air, and caught it one-handed. He hauled it over, and looked down at Al. “Where d’ya want it?”
“Uh, just put the scrap around me, in a pile.”
He complied, and leaned back as Ed clapped his hands together.
“Ready, Al?”
“Ready, brother!”
A flash of light, and Guts squinted. Huh. It’s just like that light that I saw when I came through the gate. Except there’s no pictures and people talking really fast in this one…
And when the light cleared, Al was standing there, good as new. “Thanks, brother!”
“Anytime! So, want to give it a workout?”
“Not yet. Remember, there’s still one more thing to do.”
“Right, right.” Ed grabbed the bucket, and studied Guts. “Okay. Sit down, and put your arm here on the bed… Since your arm’s an intricate mechanism, we’ll have to put the pieces in relative order…”
With the help of Winry’s notes, they spread the fragments out around his stump. Finally, after double-checking, Ed was ready.
“Hold real still.” Clap! Flash.
And Guts raised his arm, once more. He grunted, and turned it from side to side.
Good.
He tried the fingers, one by one… And the thumb wouldn’t move.
Not so good.
“Not bad. Thumb’s off, though.”
“Huh. That’s not good.” Ed said, his brow furrowed. “That part was pretty intricate. We might have to take it back apart and realign the calipers…”
Guts tested the grip by grabbing his left hand with his right, and felt a surge of warmth run up his arm. What was that?
He pulled his metal hand away, and studied it again. And this time, as he turned it around, the thumb wiggled. He flexed it, again.
“Oh, you’ve got it. Good, it must have just slipped out of joint before.”
“Guess so.” Guts said. It wasn’t working before, and I didn’t even touch it with my grip. What’s going on here?
“Allright. C’mon Al, let’s get going!”
Ed was across the room, and holding open the door. “What? But brother, we’re under orders…” Al cried.
“Orders, schmorders. We’ve got to get to Central, so we can-“
“Excuse me, young man.”
Ed looked around. A woman with mousy brown hair, and a pink dress was smiling down at him. For a second, for just a SECOND, he knew her. Then it was gone.
“Uh, sorry…” He got out of her way, and she swept through the door, a file in her hands.
She looked over the three sitting on the bunks, pausing for a second. And Puck shivered, as her eyes passed over him.
She was looking at me!
But now her eyes were solely on Guts. He stared back.
“Colonel Mustang tells me that you’re looking for this woman.” She held up a small square of card, and his heart nearly stopped. It was an intricate drawing of a woman, very realistic. And-
It was Caska!
He had no memory of getting to his feet, or crossing the distance between them. He had her arm in his grip before she could move, and was staring into her face with an almost animal-like intensity!
“Where?” He demanded. “Where is she?”
She didn’t flinch. She didn’t stop staring. And Guts’ eye widened, as he felt a sudden itch…
From the back of his neck. From the brand.
Slowly, he released her arm. “Sorry.” His own face slid into a mask, as he studied her.
She smiled. “There are a few people in Central who would like to discuss her with you.” Behind her, in the door, the spectacled and lanky form of Lt. Col. Hughes leaned against the frame. His face was grim, as he studied the scene.
“Well then.” Guts said, his voice raw. “Why are we still here?”
And she lead the way out the door, with Guts in tow.
Al looked at Hughes. “What’s going on, Major?”
He shook his head, unsmiling. “I can’t talk about it. Orders. But…”
“You wouldn’t happen to have business in Central, would you?”
Ed grinned. “Actually…”
“Good.” And with that, Hughes followed after Guts and the strange woman.
Ed glanced at Al, and Winry looked back and forth from one brother to another. “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll find out. Come on Al…”
“I’m going too.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re going to get your arm broken again, if no one’s watching over you.”
“I’m sorry… It really was pretty bad, I tried to help him…” Al squeaked. “It’s not your fault.” Winry said. “He really should be old enough to look after himself, but…”
Ed sighed. “Do what you want. But I think we’re going into some pretty heavy stuff. Look, if it gets too bad… Don’t risk yourself.”
“Edward Elric! I, at least, have the common sense the Creator gave a goat! I’M not the one who takes stupid risks.”
Ed flinched, and Al chuckled. “She’s got you there.”
“Yeah, yeah… Come on then.”
“Let’s go to Central…”