It wasn't really surprising. Now that he thought about it, it was already winter. So the probability that it would start snowing was actually quite high. He had just been so busy that he hadn't given it a thought.
He sighed deeply in something like defeat, letting his shoulders sink. His whole posture became lax before he lifted his head and squared his shoulders again. He didn't really have anything against snow, he actually liked it, but the cold caused his ports to ache. So no, it wasn't the snows fault.
He let out another deep breath and watched how it formed a cloud in front of him before vanishing. The snow flakes fell down slowly, playing with each other in the wind. He kept walking along the streets of central, which were still and quiet. it was the snow the caused it, he thought while walking briskly ahead to keep warm, it caused the whole city to quieten. It was like it was sleeping under the white blanket of snow.
He wanted to sleep too, curl under the warm blanket in his own bed, but that wouldn't do because the Colonel had asked him to meet him this afternoon in his office. He didn't really want to go, the Colonel was irritating at the best and downright annoying most of the time. Not that he couldn't cause gray hears to people if he wanted to, but Colonel could be very tiring if he was in the bad mood.
He rounded a corner and the Central's Military Headquarters came into view. It was a huge building, biggest in Central, actually. Even thought it was late, he could still see lights inside. People were working late today.
It seemed that the Colonel actually wanted his help in something. He wasn't a stranger to this, hell, he was like some sort of military agent. Traveling undercover and acting like a police. He couldn't even count all the times when he had stopped a criminal or criminal alchemists from causing havoc, hence the name hero of the people. But this was different, usually he helped the military, but he worked separately. Sometimes he even helped the milises but did not take orders from them. Mustang did then and then, time to time order him to places were the situation was difficult and he quieted it down, saving Mustang from troubles and for that Mustang left him alone and sometimes gave him rumors he had heard about the stone. It was a nice symbiosis, both respecting the agreement and gaining profit from it. He didn't really have anything against it.
But never had Colonel asked him to be part of the Military operation. He was fine with this, for he didn't have proper training to wok as a soldier even if he was part of the military. No, he wasn't really a soldier, more of a researcher. A damn good one, but still a researcher. Now it seemed that Colonel needed him as well, whether as a researcher or soldier, he didn't know but he trusted the man in any case.
He had been in the army for two years now and had formed an agreement of sorts with Mustang. It seemed that Mustang was reluctant to involve him deeply with the Military and he respected him for that, even if it was mostly a failure.
He had traveled with his brother around the country, fought battles better left alone, met people he wished he hadn't met and seen things he wished he hadn't seen. This involved many from the military. He had learned a lot about it nearly without setting a foot inside the building. Funny how much one could learn with sheer experience alone. But whatever was the case, Mustang never placed him in those kind of situations on purpose, and he was sure the Colonel had saved him from a lot of shit. It was hard not to give him respect for that.
But he would be damned if he ever told him that, the man knew it anyway, just like he knew that he respected him in his own way. Some thing don't need to be voiced to be known. He should know, he did it with Al all the time.
He walked through the gates of Central command, which were just as huge as one could except from the building with seven stores, nodding to the guards who were standing on guard by the gates. From their faces he could tell that they were freezing their asses off, who wouldn't when the wind started to pick up?
The guards answered to his greeting by saluting, Well, both seemed to be sergeants so it was according to the protocol. But the smiles they offered weren't, and he grinned back before continuing his way across he grounds,
Mustang and his team had just been transferred from eastern headquarters to the central command. The Colonel had been ridiculously happy and managed even to inform him in the middle of nowhere. In a town as small as Recemboll, but situated in a forest. He still suspected that the Colonel just wanted to avoid doing his paper work and given the excuse of tracking down him and his brother.
And he wanted to call him small.
Stupid lazy Colonel. He wasn't really short, just a bit under the average. Then again, he had also gotten his laughs when he heard the first lieutenant's gun firing and from the frightened yelp he concluded that the shot was aimed next to the Colonel's head.
The man deserved it.
He grinned a the memory and climbed the stairs to the command (Seriously, how many steps did they build? It wasn't like they really needed this many.) and went through the doors and continued his way through the corridors.
He hadn't been many times in the central command but he had a good sense of directions.
One had to have when traveling as much as he and Al did. He noticed that he collected quite many stares while walking briskly along the corridors. He wondered if it was because they knew who he was or because they didn't. In any case he was still receiving more stares than Hawkeye's smiling face.
And that was a lot.
He ignored them, he was used to stares anyway. Suddenly he was forced to acknowledge a man, who seemed to step out of nowhere right in front of him, causing him nearly to walk straight into him. He glanced up to the man's face and then to his rank.
A second lieutenant.
At least he couldn't cause him any troubles. He hated dealing with those tight ass generals.
He stepped few steps backwards so he didn't need to bent his head in such a big angle (stupid abnormally huge people) and then glared at him. Judging by the stupid smile plastered on the mans face he taught he was a lost child in big scary building. The poor man couldn't be more wrong.
" what ?", he asked never-too-politely. He hated dealing with these kind of people, couldn't they just mind their own business? Was that too much to asked? Besides, he did not look like a lost kid. He was thirteen, dammit! He didn't have the air of some lost brat around him so why did they think he had?
The man seemed unfazed by his tone and bent down so that he was in the eye level with him. He suppressed the urge to growl at the man. " Hi, what are you doing here alone? Are you lost-".
I dare you, he thought I dare you to say it.
" -little guy?"
He said it. He clapped his hand and touched the wall with his fingertips. The lieutenant soon found himself looking up to him with his legs in the floor.
"Well Lieutenant", he said and made sure to stress the rank " for your information I am not lost and- " He leaned down so that his face was inches from the mans face, giving him his best I'll-kill-you glare that sent shivers down the mans spine. Kids weren't suppose to glare like that.
" I am NOT a little guy and I. am. not. SHORT. "
It seemed that his glare worked very well because the guy shrank under his gaze, thought he still didn't seem to understand exactly who he was dealing with. Well, the poor guy probably wasn't at fault, but he still called him SHORT. He withdrew his face and straightened his back making sure that he had the feeling of superiority around him. He had developed it while dealing with idiots who didn't take it well when a brat was giving orders to them. It worked, and the guy started to look unsure.
He noted absentmindedly that whispers had broken out all around him and by now they had quite the audience. It seemed that he wouldn't be forgotten very quickly at Central command. Oh well, hopefully he wouldn't be called SHORT anymore.
He glared angrily down at the guy. " If you do not give your superior proper respect, you will face trouble in the future." He said as coldly and sternly as he could and then marched off ignoring the Don't-leave-me-stuck-here -yell behind him. Pulling a rank could be so satisfying sometimes. No wonder Mustang liked to do it so often.
He was still angry when he arrived at the Colonel's office and stormed through the door with little more force than necessary. If you are being sarcastic.
The occupants in the office didn't seem too surprised by his loud entrance. They were used to it by now.
Havoc looked up from his poker game with Breda. " Yo, chief! Did you really melt the ground under the poor man's feet?" he asked curiously.
"You know already? Gossip sure travels fast here." Ed asked in turn. That explains the lack of surprise then, he thought.
"You should not underestimate my information network" Came the familiar voice of the Colonel behind his stack of paperwork. Edward glared at him before allowing his gaze to travel around the office.
Everyone except Havoc and Breda seemed to be working hard, even Mustang, and judging by the glares that Hawkeye was sending at them, their game was going to end soon. Fuery and Falman were both writing furiously and Mustang seemed stressed. He hadn't stopped writing even when Edward had entered the office and Ed could detect few firing marks on the wall behind him. Seems like he doesn't dare to slack off anymore today, he thought.
Edward's eyes landed on certain figure who was standing next to Mustang's desk, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand and few documents in other.
"Well, I'm not sure about your network, Colonel, but if it's him who told you, I'm not at all surprised that you know."
The man grinned happily, abandoning his cup of coffee and the documents as he walked towards him an threw a hand around his shoulders. " Aawww, Ed, I take that as a compliment", Maes Hughes said while leaning his weight on Edward's shoulder. He changed his mind rather quickly when he felt the coldness seeping through his clothes.
"Ack, you're freezing!" He cried while launching off of him. Ed threw him a look. " Well yeah, have you noticed how cold it is outside? And my arm is made of metal, of course it's cold." Maes gave him a look of concern but it was Hawkeye who opened her mouth to comment; "Is it not a bit dangerous for you? The winter is going to get a lot colder and you could get a frostbite."
Ed smiled slightly at her concern. "Don't worry lieutenant, I won't be in trouble before it's colder than minus 15 Celsius, and even then I just need to be careful." Falman, who automaticly shared information even without being asked added: " In automails a specific mixture of metals is used in order to reduce the conduction of heat. And in colder weather a special kind of automail is used. The design was developed in North were..."
"Thank you Falman, that was very enlightening but it is enough" Came Mustang's annoyed voice behind his desk. " Fullmetal, feel free to warm your automails in front of the heart if needed" He added to Edward, who didn't have any objections against getting rid of his pains.
When he walked towards the warming fire Havoc repeated his question: "Hey chief, did you really make the poor guy sank in the floor?"
Ed scoffed. "Considering that it was Hughes who told you I don't think I need to answer that." Breda whistled quietly. "Seriously? What did he ever do to you, called you small?" Ed shot him his I'll-kill-you -glare and snapped: " I'm not small. And no, he asked me if I was lost. Stupid bastard."
The whole office burst into laughs, even Hawkeye smiled, thought she still added "You should not make people sink in the floor, you might cause damage."
"To the floor or people?" Asked Fuery.
"I don't cause damage! ….much anyway..." Ed protested, which only caused more laughs. Mustang raised an eyebrow at this. "Funny, the damage reports that I keep receiving constantly say otherwise. What was it that you destroyed this week? I think it was a warehouse. A big one."
"That was NOT my fault! It was already collapsing! I kinda just knocked over the wrong wall." " The wrong wall? You knocked over the wrong wall?" Havoc snickered. "YES. It wasn't my fault" Ed yelled exasperated. Maes chuckled at the boy. "Seriously Ed, you need to be more careful. You might get hurt."
Mustang scowled. "He is already hurting the money funds. How can someone so small cause so much damage?" Ed's eyes flashed dangerously and he grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be one of Fuery's screwdrivers, and threw it at the Colonel hitting his forehead while yelling: "WHO IS SMALL YOU STUPID COLONEL!".The Colonel rubbed his forehead angrily. "Ouch! Oi, brat, I could court martial you for harming your commanding officer."
Ed glared at him. "But you won't so no use telling me that." Hawkeye sighed. Some things never change. Fuery rose and retrieved his tool. "Ed, please don't throw my repairing tools around. They can still break and I need them to keep the radios going." Ed looked at Fuery and smiled sheepishly. " Sorry about that. If they do, I'll by you new ones. I have enough money and knowledge to do so."
Fuery looked at him "You sure? It's not as easy as it seems." Ed rolled his eyes. "Please, I grew up with an automail mechanic."
"That reminds me," said Breda turning to Ed, "where did you leave Al?"
The armor was always with Ed, and it was weird for the people in the office to see the boy without his brother. "Yes, where is Alphonse, did you have a fight?" Asked Hughes, bit worried. When the Elric brothers fought, there were always consequences.
"No no, nothing like that," Ed assured them " He just found a kitten and asked to keep it. I said no, but he wouldn't let her be so I allowed him to take him home until we can find someone who can take care of her." Hughes laughed. " How does he find so many cats." Ed sighed wistfully. " I wish I knew, I wish I knew." Laughter filled the office again but this time ed joined it also.
When the laughter subsided Ed turned to face the Colonel, who still sat behind his desk, signing reports with the air of martyr around him. "Now, Colonel", he said, getting his attention even if still kept on writing. Hawkeye must have been in bad mood today, annoyed when the man was ignoring him. "What is so important that you have to call me here?"
The colonel sighed and put his pen aside. He lifted his head and looked him straight into eyes. Ed felt how the atmosphere quieted and frowned slightly. "Would you look at these pictures and tell me what you can say about them." The Colonel said while picking up the documents that Hughes had left on his table. Ed strode to his desk and took the pictures in his hands. He glanced at Mustang before focusing to the pictures. And gasped quietly.
"Oh no, no no no no no." He whispered quietly. He didn't want to face this, not yet.
They where about syntetigrams. Syntetigrams that held horrible familiarity in them. He remembered the one he had drawn with Al and his automail ached from the memory. He still dreamed of it. Woke up covered in cold sweat and gasping for breath.
Roy watched the teen in front of him. When he had seen the pictures he had gasped and gone white and very still, staring at the pictures like he couldn't turn his gaze away, which he probably couldn't.
He hadn't wanted to show them to Fullmetal, but he knew that Fullmetal was the expert in this. The case was confusing and he didn't like the feeling he got from it. Hughes, who was also working on the case, felt the same.
The whole office watched Ed's reaction. They knew approximately what the pictures were about and watched with concern as the teen gazed at pictures, his face was pale, but his eyes held a hard calculating look. Roy could see weariness that no-one his age should have in their eyes.
Fullmetal, with a visible effort, collected his composure and looked up at him.
"Human transmutation." His words held certainty in them. He had recognized the patterns.
Roy nodded. "Two transmutations. No witnesses, no remains. No-one noticed anything strange about the alchemist. They didn't have any loved ones to revive. The whole case has something fishy in it and I don't like the feeling of it."
Ed's eyebrows shot up. "No loved ones? Human transmutation is very difficult. Even the most arrogant alchemist that study it realize that it holds a risk. They wouldn't perform it unless they had a strong motive."
Roy nodded. "That's what we also think. And that's exactly why I want you to look at these array's. I have a feeling there is a lot more into this and you might also gain something from this."
Ed looked at Mustang. He didn't want to deal with this shit anymore. He didn't want to remember, the memories were still too strong for his liking. But Mustang was also right. Human transmutation was something that dealed with same kind of alchemy that he was researching. He might get leads how to get Al's body back. The chances were slim, but they were always. He looked for legends, myths, things that were not supposed to be known and this fit the description. He pushed his fear aside, they were irrelevant. Al was more important, he always was.
He nodded. " I'll look into these."
Mustang observed the boy. His stand was straight and his eyes held certainty. If he was afraid or hesitating, he hid it well. His eyes shone with such a determination and stubbornness, that for a while, he looked much older than he actually was. Mustang smirked. That boy could probably face anything if he really wanted. Fullmetal indeed, heart and mind.
"Very well, I hope that you could conduct the research either in here or somewhere private. Those array's are not something I want anyone to see."
Fullmetal nodded.
"Come here tomorrow eight o'clock sharp, and will look into possibilities where you can work."
"We could hire a private research room from library." Hughes put in. "There you'd have the research material. Or you could work here in the office were we know the array's will be safe."
"I need to analyze these before I can say for sure, but I think I could work here if I get a desk big enough and about a half dozen books from library." Ed mused. "And Al" He added.
Mustang nodded. "Of course, I didn't think you would work without him anyway." He waved his hand in dismissing manner. "Get some rest and come back tomorrow."
Ed mock saluted and grinned. "Yes, yes see you all tomorrow."
A ring of goodbyes rang in the office as the young alchemist strode off, his braid flapping behind him as he closed the office door with a bit more force than necessary.
Mustang sighed.
"Does he have something against door in general or does he that to annoy me?" he wondered.
Hughes snickered. "Probably the latter. Or he just likes to make noise."
Havoc snorted. "Hah, he must be one of the loudest brats I've ever come across with. Sometimes when he rants at chief I think my ears will start to bleed."
"Well, for that we can also blame the colonel." Fuery said, "I mean, do you have to call him short?"
Mustang leaned back behind his desk, ignoring his paper work, which earned him a glare from Hawkeye. Which he blatantly ignored.
"It's a good stress reliever," He said in his defense, and glanced sorrowfully at the poor door. "I just wish he wouldn't take his stress out into my poor door. We have more dents in it than I want to count."
Hughes laughed but then sobered. "Do you think he'll be alright. I mean, it must be vary hard for him to face this again. It's been two years since the incident, but it must be traumatic for him."
Mustang nodded. "It is, but didn't you see the look in his eyes when he said he'd do it. He is determinant to look into anything if there is even the slightest chance it might help him to restore Alphonse's body."
"Could this really help with that?" Breda asked "What I mean is, this doesn't exactly deal with anything like that. This is forbidden alchemy."
"Yes, but this is also in the border between possible and impossible. Everything in alchemy that is situated in that area is linked in one way or other." Mustang answered.
Hughes sighed. "I only hope this will not swell into anything too big."
Mustang nodded. "Me too, Maes, me too."
All right! This is gonna be longer story and I want to apologize in advance if I give hints about something and then nothing happens. My mind usually works faster than what I write and I only have the skeleton thought ready. I just improvise as I write, hence the mistakes. Just point them out and I'll try to correct or explain them.
I'll do my best to update, but don't except me to update every week or anything, since I have other stuff to do also, and I try to make this worth reading for you.
See ya, guys!
- Saki-nee