"And how long do we have to find him?" the raven haired officer demanded, slamming is fist into the unbearing wood of his hand-me-down desk.
Slater, a snot-faced second lieutenant fresh out of training, gulped loudly and dug his nails into his sweaty palms. "He said he'd give us twelve hours to hand over the information before he…uh…" the reply trailed off into a stuffy silence that met the nervous air filling the room. It was Slater's second week in his new assignment, and he could already tell Mustang was less than impressed with a lackluster performance. Had it not been for the terrible mistake Slater made the day before, the team would not be in this position and Central Headquarters would be conducting a different caliber search party.
As it happens, the mistake Slater couldn't take back had half of the military personnel in Central in a knot. It went as high up as the Honorable General Grumman—the elected leader of Amestris— who personally delivered direct orders to Colonel Mustang to amend the situation as soon as possible. Grumman landed temporary blame on Mustang for the condition Central found itself in, but Slater knew that his ass was fired the minute the case closed.
Mustang finally looked up from his fist, "Slater," he growled, "tell me again EXACTLY what happened."
Another big gulp, "Well I was sorting the file cabinet like you asked, sir. And—and—"
"Goddammit! Just spit it out Lieutenant!" Mustang roared.
"Yes, sir... I was in the storage room and I heard everyone running around. I hadn't heard that a high-profile prisoner escaped, sir. So I thought I'd keep working and stay out of everyone's way until it settled down. Then a man wearing a uniform with a major's ranks opened the door and asked what I was doing, so I stood up, saluted, and told him I was working.
"He told me that there was a situation and at first he told me to report to my commanding officer, but then he stopped me and asked who I reported to. So I told him you, sir. He said that he was trying to find you anyway, so he followed me back to this office where Captain Hawkeye was at her desk getting weapons ready for the field."
Slater paused for a moment hoping he didn't have to keep going. The glare Mustang held on him prompted that he continue, "The next thing I knew, sir, he turned and knocked me out. I woke up on the floor and Captain Hawkeye and the man were gone."
The colonel's face was red with anger by the time Slater had ran through his account of the kidnapping. He had so many questions that seemed impossible to answer: how did that man overpower her when she had her weapons in hand? How did he overpower her at all? How did they leave without anyone seeing them? Was this part of his plan? Or did he just happen upon Hawkeye and decide that she was useful to him?
Interrogations were conducted to collect witness accounts of the description of the man and the disappearance of the Captain. It was imperative to discover if the inmate that had escaped a couple of hours before had been the same man to abduct Hawkeye, and it was almost immediately confirmed that he was.
The escapee, Thaddeus Pave, had killed three state alchemists and five soldiers in order to break out, completing his rampage by taking Mustang's subordinate captive. She had been missing for nearly 24 hours when Pave contacted Mustang's office to make exchange demands.
Mustang returned to his original question, "How long do we have to find him?"
Slater's sweaty palms and clammy visage had broken down. He felt the weight of his mistake crushing him; he felt solely responsible that the Captain who had been so helpful and understanding with him had been taken and possibly killed.
Breda had been leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as Mustang grilled the new kid for his baffling error. But after a while, the expression on the poor kid's face brought him to step forward and begin calming the Colonel into a mindset that would be more productive.
"He said he'd give us twelve hours, sir. Twelve hours to convince Grumman to grant him a full pardon, provide compensation for the four years he spent in prison, and make a public announcement of his innocence," Breda reported.
Mustang turned his head furiously, "I didn't ask you, Lt. Breda! I asked Slater, and I EXPECT AN ANSWER! I didn't ask because I forgot!"
Breda sighed, "Sir, give it a rest. You can punish Lt. Slater after we find Hawkeye." Mustang threw him a cold stare as he continued, "we need to spend our time speaking to our sources and devising an action plan to recover the Captain."
A long pause filled them room. Slater held his breath in thanksgiving for Breda's intervention while Mustang took a moment to rationalize his thoughts, "Yes, Breda. You're right. Fuery, contact every source he have and gather any intelligence that's been gathered since the Captain went missing. Havoc, head to Grumman's office and meet with him directly to get an update on orders and report progress. Breda, you and I are headed to the prison to see if we can figure out anything else about this guy- his plan, where he's from, where he might be going. That sort of thing. Dismissed!"
The question everyone and no one wanted to ask hung in the air as Feury, Breda, Mustang, and Havoc left Slater alone in the room. The newest second lieutenant on the team stood immobile for what felt like hours before kneeling and silently asking forgiveness of the empty room.
Author's notes:
The rank promotions I used for Lieutenant Colonel Mustang and First Lieutenant Hawkeye to become Colonel Mustang and Captain Hawkeye are based on the ranks in the US Air Force. The ranks on the show seemed to be nearly identical to those anyway, so I went ahead and employed them here.
The Honorable General Grumman took the place of Furhur King Bradley, but preferred not to be called King.
This story introduces new characters (like Slater and Pave) and new situations to the world of FMAB, but is centered around Mustang and his team rather than the Elric brothers.
Let me know what you think :)