Roy looked at himself in the mirror and sighed at the dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep ever since he and his subordinates were moved from Eastern to Central Command. He was getting used to all of the noise of the city as well as the many strange encounters he had already had in the city. Ever since he got there, things have been happening at a rapid rate, strange things occurring. The strange case of Shou Tucker and the truth behind his experiments, Laboratory Five, what happened to his friend…
Roy sighed again at his ragged and haggard appearance. He almost wished that he were one of the many men in Amestris whose only worry was that they forgot the milk on the way home and had to try and explain it to his wife, or what to get for his girlfriend for their one week anniversary. He smiled at possibly having those prospects.
"If only…" he said to the mirror.
He looked down and turned the water on, splashing water on his face and then grabbing the towel to dry it off. He looked back at the mirror and frowned since it didn't do anything to keep the tired look off of his face. He went to the living room of his apartment and began to look through the files he had on his table. There were files on labs, the Homunculus, one buried deep beneath the current ones that contained information on Brigadier General Maes Hughes.
He would look at that one a little later.
He began flipping through the files to see which one seemed more interesting when he came across a flyer between two of the folders. He pulled it out and was about to crumble it when the words caught his attention.
*ARE YOU FEELING TIRED, SLUGGISH, AND OLDER THAN YOU LOOK?*
Roy turned his head at the attracting title and began to skim over the explanation and what it did for you. He made a face in interest and intrigue of the product and read it a little more thoroughly into the fine print of the product. There weren't very much side effects, restrictions, or additions to the drug but something strange caught his eye.
"Must not take with alchemically effected food or drink… What the hell does that mean?"
He shook his head but decided to keep the flyer and he'd ask Havoc or Breda if they had ever heard of the stuff. He set the flyer on the table and then grabbed the stack of files to look through, skimming their contents for something that sounded remotely interesting. He skipped over more than a dozen before two words caught his attention and he sat up, pulling out the file.
He began to take out the papers and look over the profile of what was going on. Looked like some unknown scientist but the words 'red liquid' had caught his attention so this man must have been doing something with the Philosopher's Stone. Ed and Al had told him that they had met someone who let them know that even though the Philosopher's Stone was called a stone, it supposedly could take on any form it please. Upon hearing that it was most likely red, he had been on the lookout for anything so he could send them to investigate.
To his dismay, it wasn't about the Philosopher's Stone but the subject in question was definitely an interesting one. He sat back on the couch and began reading more on the project. He flipped it open to see what the title was called and lifted a black eyebrow.
"Fountain of Youth, huh? Why would anyone want to go back to their childhood? My childhood was horrible…"
Though the idea was preposterous, he couldn't help but be curious about what this project was to be used for. It talked about using it as a punishment for criminals or prisoners of war, a way to reverse diseases, all different kinds of ways to use it. There were many different strengths to it as well as durations; permanent for the criminal idea, temporary things for spying, strong doses, weak doses, diluted types for clinical studies to use in diseases… Roy could actually see the use of this particular project on a lot of things and nodded, impressed.
"I wonder what would happen if we used some of this stuff on a Homunculus…" he thought with a smile.
He kept that one aside to look into later as he thumbed through the rest of his files.
As Riza Hawkeye worked at her station in Mustang's office, she noticed that her superior was late as usual. She didn't show any disappointment but it was clawing at her from the inside. Her phone rang and she picked it up.
"Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking."
"Lieutenant, the Fuhrer would like to have a small word with you. He said the he tried to call the Colonel but he was not answering…" a young woman's voice said on the other side of the phone.
"I'll be right up." Riza said, slamming the phone down and standing.
Havoc and Breda watched her leave.
"Where ya going?" Havoc asked.
"I am needed by the Fuhrer. When the Colonel gets in, tell him I know he's late."
Havoc smiled. "Will do."
Riza left the office and headed to the Fuhrer's office. She knocked and was beckoned to come in. She stood at attention, saluting to him.
"You rang for me, sir?"
"Yes, I tried to get a hold of Colonel Mustang but he didn't pick up…"
"I apologize, sir, he left to get some coffee and had not returned. I will relay this message to him as soon as I get back to the office."
The mustached man nodded and pointed to his seat in front of the desk.
"Please, sit…" Hawkeye did as told. "I have a special mission that I would like for Colonel Mustang to go on but I have to brief him on it. His flame alchemy will be very useful for it."
Hawkeye nodded. "I will definitely give him the news and have him come straight to your office when he gets back from his coffee."
She got up and headed back, her anger showing on her face and making everyone move out of her way.
"That lead was bogus! There was nothing worth anything in that town." Edward Elric growled as he stretched at the train station.
"But we did save those people… and they were very nice." Alphonse Elric, Edward's younger brother, said.
"That's nice but still! How are we going to get our bodies back if the Colonel keeps sending us on wild chases across the countryside?"
Alphonse laughed at his brother as they walked toward Central where the Colonel was. Even though they told him about the Philosopher's Stone and what it was made of and everything, he still had them go looking for it across Amestris. He said it had something to do with gather more information on what people were doing with fake ones. Edward usually took the assignments because he had nothing else to do and it kept him from having to stay in Central all the time.
They hailed a cab and got driven to Central so that they could debrief Roy on what they had learned in the town they had gone to. As they started heading up the stairs, Roy happened to walk in unison with them.
"Morning, Fullmetal." He said, buttoning his top button on his military jacket.
Edward jumped and looked at him.
"What the hell, Colonel? Why are you out here at this hour?"
"I overslept. How was your trip?"
"Exhausting and uneventful."
"Brother is lying," Alphonse said, looking at his brother. "We had a lot of fun and there was a lot of things to do. Ed just doesn't like being nice all the time."
"It's bad for your health." Ed quipped.
Roy just smirked and they stepped into the elevator.
When they got to Mustang's floor, the doors opened and Roy sighed heavily.
"What is it?" Edward asked.
"I'm in deep shit…" he said, looking straight ahead.
Hawkeye was guarding the door and looking straight at him with her arms crossed, brown eyes narrowed. Mustang gulped and walked down the hallway to his subordinate.