Creation began on 06-08-11

Creation ended on 06-11-11

Fullmetal Alchemist

I have no time to die, but I have time to warn

A/N: Another alternate take set in the anime universe. Remember what I had said about the possibility of writing a story in which Hughes lives on? Well, this is it right here. Watch and be amazed!

Maes Hughes looked down at the slain person that was pretending to be Maria Ross, he sighed that he had no time to die, as he had a family at home waiting for him. As he turned to walk away, the Homunculus, Envy, regenerated and got back up, determined to silence lieutenant colonel once and for all to protect the truth about what was discovered.

"It'll take more than that to defeat me," Envy told Hughes, shifting his form again.

Hughes turned around and prepared to fight again, but hesitated at the sight of the last person he'd ever want to hurt: His wife, Gracia, who shot him dead. Falling to the ground, he couldn't believe that he fell prey to a cheap method of lowering one's guard. His thoughts of returning home to his wife and daughter were the closest his mind had ever envisioned tonight. Now he felt he'd never see them again. It wasn't fair!

No… He thought, his vision blurring up.

Envy shifted back into his preferred form and walked away, leaving Hughes to die further from the blood loss.

"What a fool," he uttered, and was gone.

Less than two minutes later, a man stepped out from the shadows and walked over to the injured Hughes, ascertaining the injuries he'd received.

"You're the fool," he uttered, referring to Envy himself, not Maes. "Come on, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. Let's get you to a doctor."

Picking the injured man up and propping him on his right shoulder, the dark man carried him to safety.

The next morning, Gracia was preparing breakfast, but was wondering where her husband could be. It was common that he returned late at night, but last night he didn't return. As Elicia was eating her breakfast, the little girl was wondering where her father was at his work. In short, both ladies were concerned about their very important man of the house.

DING-DONG! The doorbell rung, and Gracia went to see who it was. Slowly opening the door, she saw a young man whose dark face seemed similar to the those of Ishbal, but his eyes were dark. Dark…but filled with hope. He wasn't an Ishbalan, but he was mysterious, all the same.

"Can I help you?" She asked him.

"Are you…Gracia Hughes?" He asked her, sounding saddened.

"Yes," she answered him.

"I'm here to inform you about your husband," he expressed. "Last night, on his way home, he was attacked by a criminal that was looking to take down a State Alchemist. He had assumed your husband was one and assaulted him. I had found him last night and took him to the hospital. He's in recovery, but he's asking for his family and the doctors can't control him until he sees them."

Having his arm wrapped in a cast, removing the bullet from his liver that almost killed him and ordered to stay in bed for a solid week, Maes Hughes was less than pleased about this. Although the doctor had informed him that a close contact would be coming to see him, in addition to his family, just as he requested, Maes wasn't the least assured that his would-be assasin wouldn't try to assault him a second time.

"I doubt that your killer won't be coming after you again," he turned to face the door and saw the guy that the doctors told him had brought him here, saving his life. "How are you feeling?"

"I was almost shot dead last night by somebody who made me hesitate."

"All because the guy made himself resemble your wife?" The man saw Maes' face contort a little. "Hey, I believe you. And I believe the guy that tried to kill you was one of them. Homunculi. Created humans that have the Ouroboros symbol on their bodies. I saw him change and leave. That's when I came over and got you to the hospital."

"How do you know that Homunculi really exist? You don't even look like you're in the military."

"I study alchemy myself, so I'm versed in the lore of artificially-made people. Anyway, your killer won't be bothering you again. If he failed once, he won't be stupid enough to try it again. Your family's here now to see you and your military contact will be around shortly. Have a nice day."

The, somewhat, ordinary civilian got up and left the room, allowing two people to step inside and see him, which made Maes smile.

"Ah, my ladies," he expressed, seeing his wife and daughter here.

"…It would seem that you slipped," went Lust to Envy, having found out that Hughes had survived his assassination. "You should've cut his head off."

"But he was dying! He was hit in his liver!" Envy responded, hardly ever failing when he murdered somebody to either keep the truth hidden or for his personal enjoyment.

"This will be trouble if what he found out reached the ears of the Flame Alchemist," said Sloth to them.

"Then we'll have to make sure that never happens," responded Pride. "One or both of them will have a most unfortunate accident."

Unfortunately, such an accident never took place. Somebody had managed to acquire the information that Hughes had obtained and sent it to Roy Mustang, who used it to further his goal of becoming the führer and putting an end to the constant wars the country had been waged in. Unfortunately, however, when the Fullmetal Alchemist learned of Hughes' attempted murder and who was responsible, along with the discovery of the Homunculi and their master, he expressed to the Flame Alchemist that if he killed the führer, there would be no way for him to succeed him with his reputation. But it didn't matter, anymore. The information that Hughes discovered allow a lot more of the truth to be uncovered and exposed to those that were putting an end to the horrors of war and alchemy that were being used to obtain the Philosopher's Stone.

In the meantime, Hughes, once he had recovered, had been ordered by somebody that claimed to be speaking on behalf of the führer to relocate temporarily to East City as a safety measure until the trouble within the military blew over. What nobody every suspected (or even tried to suspect) was that the guy that saved Hughes, the person that told the Flame Alchemist about the failed assassination, and the would-be representative of King Bradley…were one in the same person, looking to correct a great mistake that was made.

Hopefully, things will change for the better now, he thought, knowing how things were going to end, but was pleased with the two facts that he was most proud of: Hughes would live to see old age…and his young daughter wouldn't lose her father any time soon. "Embrace the power of correcting one's mistakes and learning from them."

A/N: Well, I'll end it here. I'm sorry if I felt the need to rush it and tighten together things, but I was running out of ideas to add in on this story. At least I put it that Hughes will live instead of die. That I'm proud of. I couldn't help but feel sorry for his daughter, who didn't understand what death was about. But now, like Nina, there's no pain and suffering, only life and enjoyment. Please review. Peace!