Maes Hughes rushed down the hall as fast as he could towards the telephone office without daring to look back as blood ran down his arm. He tried wrapping his head around the fact that a Homunculus had shown her face in the military.
"Ah you're already back so soon?" The office lady joked but then she spied his injuries and immediately was concerned. "Lieutenant Colonel, you're bleeding!"
"It's nothing." Hughes muttered. "I need a private line." He picked up a phone from one of the military's telephone booths but paused when a thought occurred to him. He quickly dropped the phone back on the receiver, leaving a bloodied handprint on the handle, and turned away. "Sorry, forget I was here." He told the lady through a strained voice.
"Wait, Colonel-" She started to protest but Hughes was already gone.
It didn't take long for Hughes to make it to the telephone booth outside the base. He quickly dialed the number to Eastern Command with shaking hands and waited for a girl to pick up with the usual greeting but Hughes didn't have time to wait. "I need you to connect me with Colonel Mustang right away. It's an emergency." He demanded.
"I'm sorry but I am not allowed to connect with an outside line." She informed the soldier.
"You're speaking with Colonel Hughes! This is a life or death situation!"
"I need your code."
"What?! Are you mad, I said this is an emergency!"
"I'm only doing my job sir." Hughes mumbled with frustration as he dug out his wallet, not noticing a photo of his family fell out of it, and told the lady his code.
"You're code has been verified, please wait on hold."
"Hold?! This is an emergency!" He said for the third time before hearing a gun being cocked.
"I need you to put down the phone Colonel Hughes." A girl with short, brown hair and dark eyes said with a gun aimed at Hughes.
"You look just like…" Hughes narrowed his hazel eyes behind his rectangular glasses. "But you are not. Who are you?"
"Why, I'm second lieutenant Ross sir." She said cooly, still keeping her weapon up.
"No you're not stop lying! Second lieutenant Ross has a mole under her left eye." The imposter stood shocked for a moment at Hughes's response before smiling wickedly. When she spoke, her voice was different, more manly.
"Ah, you're so observant aren't you? I can't believe I forgot." She swiped two fingers from her free hand across her left eye, which sparked with red lightning, and offered a larger smile at Hughes's stunned expression from the new mole. "There, how is it now?" Hughes leaned against the telephone, telling himself he was hallucinating. "You really are a smart man Lieutenant, it's a shame really that it cost you your life."
"Come on, give me a break already." Hughes growled, recovering from his shock. "I have a wife and daughter waiting for me at home." A push knife fell into his hand from a hidden pocket in his sleeve. "The last thing I'm going to do is die on them when I promised to be home." He whipped around with his new weapon raised but didn't go any further when he rest his eyes on the person in front of him.
Gracia Hughes stood where the Ross imposter had stood moments ago but she still had the gun. "You look so surprised." She said with the same voice.
"What the hell are you?" Hughes asked in fear. Gracia merely chuckled.
"I'm your end. You'll die at the hands of your beautiful wife." Hughes grit his teeth, anger flashing in his eyes before he closed them.
"I told you, I'm not dying today." He lashed his knife out to cut deep into Gracia's throat. "My wife is at home with my baby girl, I'm not stupid." Hughes opened his eyes to see a different person on the ground. His hair resembled a pine tree, disgustingly dark green with a black headband wrapped around it with the alchemy symbol knitted on the front, and he only wore a black skirt and some sort of black bra thing. Purple eyes glared up at the soldier before the boy scrambled to his feet to retreat.
"You may have won this time but I'll be back!" He yelled over his shoulder.
"Hughes, this better be important." A deep voice came from the phone booth. Hughes quickly grabbed the phone, relief at hearing his friend's annoyed greeting filling his heart and made him forget he just attacked his wife...Well, what looked like his wife.
"Roy, we need to talk." He panted.
"About what? Are you okay, you sound hurt."
"I need you to come here. I just got attacked by some sort of shape shifter, I think he was a Homunculus."
"Homunculus? Where are you right now?"
"The phone booth outside the base. Roy, this thing, it's dangerous. I want you to be careful" Hughes leaned against the side of the phone booth so he could retain his balance.
"Understood. I'll catch the next train to Central." Hughes muttered a quick goodbye before hanging up. He allowed himself to rest for a few moments before bending down to pick up the photograph of his family.
"Lieutenant Hughes!" Someone yelled in the distance. "You are okay now, Alex Louis Armstrong is here!" Maes lifted his gaze to see Major Armstrong sprinting down the sidewalk at full speed, not running, sprinting. His shirt was missing like usual and tears ran down his face while sparkles flew off him. Hughes immediately bolted the other way, in attempt to avoid the Major while screaming, but he was soon smothered in Armstrong's hug.
*Bursts in on a wrecking ball* Hey guys, ZJ here to say I'm back. Sorry I've been gone for... *checks calendar*..A year? Eh, I don't care, the point is, I'm going to try writing Fanfiction again. Hint the word try.
PS. I know that the Major isn't in Central when the Hughes *single tear* thing happened.
'Kay I'm done.
ZJ out, peace! *hunger games salute*