It was a rainy day at Eastern Command, and Colonel Roy Mustang was not happy. The rain itself, although a nuisance in preventing him from fighting properly, was only a very small part of his mood. A slightly larger - although not by much, Roy thought with a moment of humor - was the new State Alchemist that was currently causing a headache for the Colonel in Lior. But most alarming of all was the news of a traitor in their midst - an outed traitor, thankfully, rather than a spy, though he was no less dangerous.
Mustang set the file back on his desk, and rubbed his temples with one hand, the other reaching for the cup of coffee, and missing. He stared at the empty spot where his mug had been just a minute ago, puzzled, and looked up. "Lieutenant-" Mustang was cut off as Riza Hawkeye reached from behind him and placed a full, steaming cup of coffee. "Your cup was empty, Colonel, and considering your distraction, I thought you would need more soon." With that, she returned to his side, still standing at attention, until Mustang signaled for her to relax, frowning down at the blank, seemingly harmless folder laying on his desk, and reached for the new cup of coffee."Yes...thank you. I suppose I have been a bit distracted lately. Any news on our guests?"
Hawkeye looked down at the notepad she held, and her finger stopped at a line near the top. "Yes, the trains they were arriving on have already passed through, and their escort has picked them up. They should be here any minute, Colonel." Setting the notepad down on the desk, she glanced at her superior officer for a moment. "Sir...do you really think they can be trusted? They fought alongside him for years, and they both cut ties with the military. Do we know for certain they aren't in contact with him?"
He set down the coffee, and placed his fingertips together, eyes closed in silence for several moments before he answered. "I trust them, Lieutenant. They were already wary of him when I met them, near the end of the war. But besides that...I'm not sure we have much of a choice. He's evaded all of our efforts to catch him so far, and the few times we've gotten close enough to take shots at him, he's shown little or no reaction to our weapons. Even when State Alchemists were dispatched last week, we were unable to stop him..." At that, Mustang grimaced, having been part of the team that had attempted to apprehend the criminal, and having achieved no greater degree of success than the previous efforts, prompting his current meeting.
A knock on the door halted their thoughts, and Havoc's head appeared. "Colonel, they're here." Mustang nodded. "Thank you Lieutenant, show them in." Within a few minutes after Havoc closed the door, the two men they'd been waiting for all morning opened it once again, and stepped through. The first one they saw had what looked like a white shirt underneath a black jacket, dark red pants, and a pair of sunglasses that wrapped around his eyes. His pale skin made it clear that he spent little time outdoors, which made the sunglasses an oddity, to most people, though Mustang knew the reason. With a cigarette hanging from his grinning mouth, he looked less than respectful, and aside from the overwhelming confidence and and competence he carried like a cloak, he didn't look like one of the most dangerous alchemists in the country. His hair looked completely buzzcut at first, though a short ponytail could be seen behind his neck when he stepped sideways to let the man following him step into the room.
The man who followed was much more grim, the simple black pants and buttoned shirt seeming far more fitting than the large white coat practically draped over him, his pale skin also implying more time indoors than out, his white hair reaching past his shoulders, the two black streaks starting at his temples an indication of the past they shared, and his prescence carried a threat in every movement, if only from the cold stare of his dark blue eyes. Behind them stood a woman, little of her figure and tanned skin shown because of the heavy military uniform that was standard in Amestris, though her brown eyes narrowed, then trailed upwards in annoyance on sighting the cigarette the first man carried, her dark brown hair held up while on duty. "Sir, I've escorted your guests here...am I dismissed?"
"Sorry Lieutenant, but not yet. This is a very important discussion, one you definitely need to hear. Now shut the door, Lieutenant. No need to spread news too quickly." Looking confused, the woman shut the door, then moved to stand beside the Colonel. "Now, Lieutenant, I have a question for you. Do you know who these two are?" Now looking even more confused, she stared at them hard for a few moments, then nodded her head side to side. "No, sir." Mustang nodded, then reclined in his chair, and picked up two more folders that had been set off to the side."I didn't expect you to. Allow me to introduce you. Lieutenant Colonel Amora Valentine, meet Lieutenant Colonel Devlin Mardes, the Vampire Alchemist" - he indicated the man with the sunglasses, who raised a hand briefly in acknowledgement - "and Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Treyos, the Bonereaver Alchemist." He indicated the other this time, who simply nodded in her direction. She stared for a moment, before her eyes widened slightly. "Oh...so you two, you served with the Colonel, in Ishbal?"
Both men stared at her, even Devlin's permanent grin dropping off for a moment, and Nicholas' cold stare turning, if anything, even colder, before Mustang answered, breaking the tension before it could build, especially as Nicholas' response would've been a horrible way to start things off. "Yes, we served together, though not in the same areas. But the reason you're here is because of a former comrade, one you two happen to be close to - I doubt I need to explain who, but I need to explain anyway. Three weeks ago, we started getting reports of a criminal who managed to slaughter a half dozen MPs after causing some trouble and attracting their attention. We still don't know exactly what kind of commotion warranted calling for reinforcements, but it didn't work, regardless. Since then, we've had more and more incidents, and a week ago, when the attacks had started coming every day, we discovered the identity of the killer." He lifted the file he had been looking at just minutes ago, and opened it, laying it back down on the table, displaying the military profile compiled for records. The photo was of a young man, black hair slicked back, and a small, confident grin on his face, dark brown eyes betraying nothing of the monster they now face. Mustang and Valentine observed the two newcomers, Valentine more with surprise, as she could see little reaction from the unsmiling Devlin, apart from the twitches in his neck that betrayed his anger. Nicholas was far more obvious, hands clenched into fists that shook so forcefully, she had no doubt as to the depths of his hatred for the man.
"Alexander Caldroy, the Fleshweaver Alchemist. He stayed on for several years after you two left, but eventually, he disobeyed an order to retreat - he was officially marked as a traitor after he butchered his commanding officer. He was on the run for a few weeks, but eventually he just...disappeared. We were a bit worried, but otherwise glad that he seemed to be staying out of trouble, or so we hoped. When he resurfaced, we sent every State Alchemist in the city after him - the survivors are in this room." Devlin and Nicholas both looked over Mustang's shoulder, at Riza, then glanced at Valentine, curiosity showing for the first time since they had arrived, noticing the shaky left hand, the distant eyes, and clenched jaw. "Lieutenant Valentine and I were the only survivors of that hunt, and we only survived by a stroke of luck, when some idiot driver thankfully wasn't watching the road, and ran over him. I'm sure you can imagine our surprise when he started standing up, seemingly unharmed, and we made a retreat. There was obviously no weapon we had that could stop this man, whatever he's done to himself, so when we returned here. I immediately started digging through his old files, and I found you two. I went to the Fuhrer, made my proposal...and here you stand."
Mustang opened a drawer in his desk, and pulled out two pairs of rank insignia, two lines at each side, with two stars in the middle, and placed them on the desk with a small smirk. "Welcome back, your retirement has been revoked, by order of the Fuhrer. Lieutenant Amora Valentine will be working with you from now on, as an observer, a bodyguard," - Nicholas grunted, Valentine narrowing her eyes at him - "and a fellow alchemist." This time, the curiosity returned, and she grinned at them, lifting her right hand, revealing the automail arm, clawed fingertips clenching. "Lieutenant Colonel Amora Valentine, the Claw Alchemist." Devlin studied the clawed automail with obvious interest, but Nicholas scowled and turned to Mustang. "Sir, I can deal with being pulled out of retirement - it really isn't that bad, since I have a grudge to settle with Caldroy. But this...why do we need some kid tagging along? She's barely out of diapers!" A second after the words left his mouth, he found a metal claw under his chin, sparking with electricity, Valentine's cold eyes staring at him. "I am not a kid.I've faced that...thing, and survived. I've hunted down a few rogue alchemists myself before, and captured every one. So you better start showing me a little respect, sir." The cold fury in his dark eyes betrayed the slow smile spreading across his face. "Oh, really? Well guess what, kid, I've seen an actual war. I've seen bodies blown apart, men, women, children. I've seen little kids trying to point a gun they picked off a dead soldier, just cause they were trying to protect their dead parents. I've seen carnage that would make your head spin, kid, so I think you're the one that better start showing respect. Besides..." - his lips lifted into a cold smirk, and with a quiet tearing sound, Valentine glanced down, staring wide eyed at the pair of pointed white bone spears pointing out from Nicholas' chest - "I'm a professional killer. All I did in Ishbal was fill the shallow graves, and build the burning mountains."
They both flinched when a ball of flame flew between them, trailing from the fingertips of a scowling Roy Mustang. "That will be quite enough. You three will need to rely on each other, so stow the banter till after you've got Caldroy, got it?" Three curt nods answered, Nicholas and Valentine carefully ignoring each other, a slight smile on Devlin's face as he stayed off to the side. "Dismissed!" With three crisp salutes, the trio exited the office, and Mustang sighed, slumping in his chair. "Those three are going to be the death of me, I just know it..."
