Chapter 1 -

Two and a half months after New York…

Brigadier General Roy Mustang groaned as he read through the report that one of the corporals assigned to "assist" Fullmetal during his most recent mission had written and sent on to him with the daily dispatches. The report was somewhat short, but it was straight-forward and concise. Mustang appreciated that fact, considering all the paperwork he reviewed on a daily basis. He had learned early on in Edward's rather destructive military career to issue standing orders to all bases and MP outposts in Amestris that at least one other soldier or MP was to submit a report to him so that he would have an idea of what damages he would need to report to the Führer, as the financial disbursements would need to be authorized before Mustang could submit the forms to the treasury department. He had realised that sometimes Edward forgot to include the damages in his reports – which given how much property damage he sometimes caused, was entirely possible – or he simply neglected to put it on the report because he didn't think it mattered that the building was (in Edward's own words) "one slight breeze away from falling over" when he used the destruction to apprehend his target.

Mustang had tried very hard not to bang his head on his desk (or use his ignition gloves to set Edward's prized red coat on fire) when Edward had told him that after the first mission where he hadn't been able to use alchemy to repair all the damage caused in his attempts to apprehend the criminal he'd been sent after. The very next day he'd issued the standing order to every military command or outpost before Edward had been sent on his next mission.

Mustang had hoped – perhaps foolishly, it seemed – that after their rather unexpected adventure to America to assist the BAU agents with the capture of Thomas Harding that Edward would've learned to be a little more aware of his surroundings and would stop using other people's cars as shields and weapons against the criminal he happened to be fighting. Of course, it didn't help matters that Alphonse had finally been released from the hospital, even if he hadn't been cleared to travel or assist his brother with his missions. That fact made Edward even more anxious to finish his missions quickly so he could return to Central, which had led more than once to Edward taking an expedient route to finish the mission instead of the most tactically wise approach.

In this case, the "expedient route" apparently had involved using an alchemically created stone pillar to launch a parked car at the rogue earth alchemist. The rogue had successfully dodged the car, causing it to hit the shop behind him, only to step right into Edward's automail fist. The irate blond had promptly arrested the rogue, amid many complaints about how he "could have just saved everyone a lot of time and energy if he'd just surrendered, but no, he had to be a dick and put up a fight despite the fact he had to have known that he wouldn't have won a fight against the Fullmetal Alchemist".

Mustang groaned once more after reading that part of the report. Edward wasn't wrong, but there was no reason the car and shop had to be damaged for him to win that fight. The phone on his desk rang and he picked up the receiver without opening his eyes. It was his first full day in his new office and rank since his promotion to brigadier general at a special ceremony the previous Friday. The weekend had been spent moving his team into his new, larger office and arranging things according to their established manner, and then the previous night had been spent at a celebratory feast thrown by Gracia Hughes at her apartment. Today his new responsibilities as coordinating commander for the State Alchemist program had begun and the phone rarely went fifteen minutes without ringing.

"Mustang," he answered and was both relieved and scared to hear his captain's voice on the other end of the line. Along with his promotion, the rest of his team had also been given a rise in the ranks, with the exception of Second Lieutenant Falman, who had already recently been promoted during the months when he was posted to the North. Edward had been the only one to refuse his promotion, telling Mustang to fuck off when he'd heard that he was eligible to become a lieutenant colonel. Even the promise of higher pay and the right to begin assembling a team of his own hadn't been enough to sway the younger alchemist.

"The Elric brothers are here to see you, sir," Hawkeye said calmly.

Mustang almost sighed. It wasn't a call to inform him that there was more paperwork – something that already seemed to have tripled thanks to his promotion (and it was only the first day!) – but at the same time, he didn't want to deal with Edward's attitude at the moment.

"Send them in," was all he said as he hung up the phone and glared at the report in front of him. He didn't even have time to gather his strength to try not to respond to Edward as he normally did, something he was getting better at these days, considering the teenager was much less likely to fly into a rage than he had been before the Promised Day. Of course, that didn't mean that the blond alchemist took being told that his methods were too destructive for the military's liking calmly.

At that moment, the door to the outer office opened and the teen strode in as if he owned the office. "What's up, Colonel Bastard?" Edward said as made a beeline for one of the couches, ignoring proper military protocol as always. At least he didn't kick his way in, Mustang thought with relief, grateful that Edward had acquired at least that much restraint and respect since the Promised Day.

"Brigadier General, Brother," Al reminded him as he closed the door behind them.

Edward made a face of dislike. "It doesn't really roll off the tongue the same way. 'Brigadier General Bastard'. See? It doesn't sound right," he complained as he flopped down onto the couch, hiding all but the briefest of winces as his ribs and other minor injuries were jostled.

"You could try being nice or referring to him by his name, you know," Al scolded gently as he knocked Ed's feet off of the couch cushions so he could sit down next to Edward. Edward just picked his feet back up and put them in his brother's lap. Al sighed, but didn't argue or remove them a second time. Mustang gathered up the report that Corporal Jackson had sent him and went to sit on the second couch, facing the brothers.

"Being nice takes so much effort, Al, and I already have to put a lot of energy into not swearing around Elysia," Ed whined.

Al chuckled and patted Ed's flesh knee comfortingly. Mustang felt himself relaxing slightly. If Ed was this casual and relaxed that he would joke with Al like that in front of him, maybe this wouldn't go as badly as Mustang had thought it might since Edward could be unpredictable when it came to mission briefings and debriefings.

Thanks to their trip to America and their time spent with the BAU where – at the start anyway – the only person each of them could fully trust was the other one, their friendship and their working relationship had grown stronger and more genuine, if only a little. Then there had been the fallout that Mustang had anticipated from their actions against Thomas Harding that had resulted in the rogue alchemist's death. Edward, of course, had handled it in his usual fashion; he had refused to acknowledge that it was a problem and had become increasingly reckless on his missions until the day he'd pulled a stunt so dangerous and potentially lethal that Mustang had known he'd have to intervene.

He'd somehow convinced Hawkeye to not only cancel all of the meetings he'd scheduled for the day Edward was due to report in, but he'd also been able to get her to agree to ignore any paperwork that he needed to have done from the time Edward was supposed to arrive until after he had left, or the next day, depending on how quickly the issue was resolved. Mustang suspected Hawkeye liked Ed more than she liked him and that that was the only reason she'd agreed but he valued his life enough to not say that comment out loud and merely thanked her. Once Ed had arrived, Mustang had locked the door and then sealed it shut with alchemy, determined to keep the teen there until he gave in and talked about how he was feeling about Harding's death.

Edward had not taken the treatment lightly once he'd realised what was happening, and Mustang had simply been glad that his inner office was soundproof, due to the need for confidential, high-level meetings that he sometimes held inside it. Once Edward had realised that yelling at Mustang wasn't going to get him to open the door, he'd threatened to simply alchemise a new door in the building. Mustang had quietly stated that he could, but it would only prolong the issue and cause Al even more stress during the final stages of his recovery. It was a very low blow, but Mustang hadn't regretted it, since it did get Edward to calm down and sit down. Then nearly an hour had passed where neither of them had said anything. Finally, even Edward's legendary stubbornness had broken down and the teen had confided in Mustang. There had been tears, apologies, and advice given before they were finished and Mustang had allowed Ed to stay in his office for a little while longer so that the teen could compose himself.

They had walked out of the office together to find Hawkeye was the only one left in the outer office and both had simultaneously looked at the clock before realising just how long they'd been locked in the office. Hawkeye had simply looked at them, commented on how she hoped that she wouldn't be filling out requisition forms for property damage in the morning, and that she hoped they'd resolved their differences before reminding Mustang that he had paperwork to finish tomorrow so he had better be on time to work.

Mustang liked to think that his working relationship with Edward had only gotten stronger since then, but he also knew how volatile and unpredictable the blond alchemist could still be. Their relationship was better and he trusted that Ed was more likely to come to him with a problem – whether personal or professional – than he had been before the Promised Day, but he also knew that there was a part of the teen that still believed that Mustang would abandon him or betray him in some way. It didn't help that, in public, Mustang was still forced to treat Edward much the same way as he had before the Promised Day, mostly for the teen's protection, since he had no doubt that there were still those in the military who had been secret supporters of Father and Bradley and who would take advantage of any perceived weakness or affection between the Flame and Fullmetal Alchemists.

"So what's the issue today, Mustang?"

Ed's demand broke Mustang out of his thoughts and brought him back to the present. He shook his head slightly at his woolgathering and gestured to the report he'd placed on the coffee table. Edward glanced at it before raising a brow in question.

"I need your report, Fullmetal."

Ed groaned as he pushed himself upright, swinging his feet out of Al's lap before reaching into the pocket of his red coat and producing some folded and slightly crumpled papers, which he handed over. Mustang accepted them with an annoyed scowl at their condition before reading them quickly.

"At least your report matches Corporal Jackson's," Mustang sighed as he put the papers down. He didn't miss Edward's scowl or the casual way that Al gripped his brother's arm to prevent him from yelling right away. Mustang was grateful for the younger teen's intervention. "Can you tell me why you decided it was necessary to throw a car into a shop? I certainly didn't read anything in either your or Jackson's reports that told me there was no way to apprehend him other than catapulting a civilian car to stop him." It was purely habit – or so he told himself – that caused the slightest hint of a snarky tone to creep into his voice with his question, and he could see Al tighten his grip on Ed a little.

"How would you have dealt with that dick then? Assuming, of course, that you didn't have your flame alchemy?" Ed asked, his tone just below the edge of being scathing as he shook free of Al's grip and crossed his arms as he glared at Mustang.

"Why didn't you just use the stone pillar to try to stop him? That's what I would have done," Mustang pointed out and Ed scoffed.

"The only reason that idiot didn't see me coming was because I used something big to throw at him. He couldn't see me move around the car and ambush him when he dodged." Edward pointed it out like it was something obvious, and Mustang could give him that, but he'd never admit it.

"Why not construct a stone slab to throw at him then?" Mustang parried back, and Ed raised a disbelieving brow.

"You mean, why did I choose the less than a ton car as opposed to making a two- or three-ton stone block to throw at the person who I knew would be able to dodge it, which meant that the shop behind him would be hit? Gee, let me think," Ed said, his tone moving right past scathing and well into the realm of sarcasm. Even Al winced at the level of sarcasm present in the last four words of his brother's reply.

"You could've made it lighter or hollow," Mustang said, feeling his temper and blood pressure rise at the rate they regularly did when dealing with an argumentative Edward.

"Except that I would've had to be more careful with how much force I put behind it or risk him figuring it out and destroying it and damaging even more property," Ed pointed out. "He is one of the better stone alchemists out there," he added begrudgingly while rubbing his left shoulder. The rogue alchemist had managed to land a good hit there, and Ed wasn't appreciative of the nasty bruise that was still healing.

"You can't keep causing so much property damage, Fullmetal! The military can't afford to keep covering it!" Mustang snapped, his temper having got the better of him. He blamed it on the stress of his new responsibilities.

Edward's golden eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before they narrowed again with his anger. "Then how about the next time you think you could cause less damage than I would, you take the fucking case!" he snarled back as Al tried to calm his brother.

"That wouldn't help since you wouldn't be learning the lesson! Maybe I should have the Führer start taking some, if not all, of the costs out of your pay! You might actually learn something that way!" Mustang suggested scathingly. Edward was about to growl out a response when the phone on Mustang's desk rang again. "We're not done here. Don't you dare go anywhere," Mustang snapped as he stood and strode over to his desk to answer the phone. "Mustang," he bit out when he answered, before he frowned. "Did they say what they wanted?" A pause before, "Put them through."

Ed and Al were having a whispered argument while Mustang was on the phone. He only had to wait a few moments before the phone clicked and the person on the other end of the line told him why they were calling. He barely contained his sigh. "I see. I'll send someone out right away."

"Thank you, Brigadier General Mustang, sir." the soldier who had called said before Mustang hung up.

"We'll discuss this further later, Fullmetal," Mustang said as he turned to face the brothers. "There's a suspicious death out near The Central Circle pub on East Street. Go assist with it until they figure out if it was an intentional or accidental death," Mustang ordered. The sight of the mulish expression on his subordinate's face came with the realisation that their unfinished argument was about to bite him on the ass.

"Why don't you get off your lazy ass and go investigate it? I would hate to cause some unnecessary property damage for the military to deal with," Ed snapped back while Al buried his face in his hands behind him. "Better yet, why don't we go with you? Wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity to watch a master investigator in action, now would we?" Al looked like he was praying for patience if his body language was anything to go by.

Mustang made a snap decision, seizing the opportunity that Edward had just granted him. "Fine. Let's go." He put the reports down on his desk and headed for the door and his coat rack, leaving the teens to scramble to follow after him. Ed's shocked face almost made the lecture he knew he would get from Hawkeye worth it. He seized his top coat and slipped it on, pulling his plain white dress gloves from the pocket and sliding them on to conceal the scars on his hands before walking out while the Elrics followed several paces behind him. He spotted the curious looks that his team wore when they saw he was wearing his coat and gloves. "I'll be back for my two p.m. meeting, Captain," he said risking a glance at Hawkeye and… yes, he'd probably end up with a bullet lodged somewhere nonfatal in his body when he got back.

The walk down to the military car pool was quiet and Mustang could still sense the general 'what the fuck' feel coming from the two brothers, but he didn't say a word except to requisition a car and driver for a couple of hours from the master sergeant manning the desk. A private introduced as Parton who was assigned to the lot was summoned and minutes later Mustang was giving him the address they were needed at as he and the boys climbed into the back seat.

"Alright, we give. What the fuck is going on, Mustang?" Ed asked with his usual tact.

"You said that you wanted to – and I quote – 'see a master investigator in action'," Mustang reminded him smugly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why you're with us. Now, if you were Lieutenant – I mean, Captain Hawkeye, that would make more sense," Edward told him, and Mustang thought he heard a suspicious cough coming from their driver.

Mustang chose to be the bigger man and ignored Edward's jab. "How is your recovery going, Alphonse? I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier," he said instead, focusing his attention on the younger brother. Both of them ignored Edward's muttered 'nice change in subject' as the elder Elric slouched down in his seat more.

"I'm doing a lot better, sir. Thank you for asking. I have a doctor's appointment in two weeks to see if I can be cleared to travel and accompany Brother on his missions again," Al told him cheerily.

Ed's features softened slightly, as did Mustang's. Both of them knew the other would never call them out on it though. It was one of the few times they didn't mention anything about the other showing the slightest bit of weakness, considering how relieved they both were to see Al happy and healthy again. In both of their minds, any concern about Al's health and well-being would never be a weakness.

"That's very good to hear, Alphonse. I hope it goes well for you," Mustang smiled gently and was rewarded with the younger blond smiling back. Being able to see Al show any kind of emotion was still something the team wasn't quite used to yet, even if he had mastered using his tone of voice to convey what he had been thinking or feeling during the years he'd been trapped as a soul bound to a suit of armor.

"Thank you, sir," Al said as Ed nudged his brother's foot and nodded out the car's window. Mustang looked to see what he'd spotted and noted that they were driving down East Street now.

"We're here, sir," Private Parton said, right on time. "Would you like me to remain here with the car, general, or should I return later to pick you up?"

Mustang thought it over for a moment. "Wait here please. I doubt we'll be here for very long." Parton nodded and they exited the vehicle. The smell hit them first, even though the body was further back in the alley and not visible from the main road. It was faint, but unmistakable to anyone who had smelled it even once.

"Oh," Ed said as soon as he'd shut his door. "No wonder they called you." All joking and sarcasm was gone as both State Alchemists tried to control their reactions to the scent of charred meat in the air.

"What is it?" Al asked, confused and not recognizing the odor, although his nose wrinkled in displeasure. Edward winced. His brother hadn't been exposed to this kind of thing much. Even when he'd been in the armor, Edward had tried to keep as much of the death side of the military from Al as he could.

"Burnt body," Ed whispered back to him and he heard Al's sharp inhale. "Don't ask me any questions right now, Al. I don't think I can answer," he added quietly, not looking at either his brother or Mustang. He heard Al's quiet noise of protest and saw a flicker of worry pass across Mustang's expression for the single moment the older alchemist allowed it to show before his practiced mask was back in place. Before anyone could say anything further, a woman whose rank insignia showed that she held the rank of lieutenant colonel approached them.

"Brigadier General Mustang?" she asked as she snapped out a sharp salute. When he nodded and signaled for her to be at ease, she relaxed and offered her hand for him to shake. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Granger." She eyed the teens as Mustang released her hand after shaking it. Her gaze settled on Edward. "The Fullmetal Alchemist, I presume?" she asked, presenting her hand for Edward to shake as well.

"Yup," Ed replied as he shook her hand before gesturing towards Al. "This is my younger brother, Alphonse."

"Pleasure," she said, shaking Al's hand as well before returning her attention to Mustang. "The body is male. He was discovered roughly thirty minutes ago by one of the waitresses who had come in to set up the restaurant for its lunch service. First responders arrived but pronounced him dead at the scene. They ended up taking the waitress to the hospital for shock. The coroner should be here any moment to hopefully give us time and cause of death. If you would follow me?" she asked before heading back towards the alley, giving them no choice but to follow.

As they reached the mouth of the alley, Ed suggested that Al stay there, but his brother ignored him and Ed didn't argue. Stubborn might be one of the first words that someone would come up with to describe Edward, but it was definitely a trait that both Elrics had in abundance. Mustang only shook his head and hid his amusement before the sight of the body killed any lightheartedness about the situation.

The body was half burnt, from the middle of the torso up to the head. The charring was deep and severe enough that the man wasn't recognizable, and the body was curled up slightly, in an almost defensive stance, with the burned hands in an approximation of a boxer's guard. Both Ed and Mustang took a deep breath to steady their stomachs and steel their nerves before they crouched down next to the body to get a better look. Al took a few steps back and focused on his breathing for a moment, but no one blamed him if he looked a little green at the gruesome sight. There were other officers milling about, taking photos of everything and hunting for potential witnesses. Lieutenant Colonel Granger stood a respectful distance away before the sound of a vehicle pulling up caught her attention and she motioned for a nearby captain to go and lead the person through.

"That will be the coroner. What are your thoughts, sirs?"

"That burn pattern is weird, right?" Ed asked, not worried about seeming like he knew everything for the moment. This was something he'd only ever dealt with one time before (since he didn't count the fake body that Mustang had burned in order to aid Lieutenant Ross' escape from custody), and he'd barely glimpsed Harding's body after he'd destroyed the alchemised box that he had used to trap the mutated alchemist inside with Mustang's flames.

"Yes. It appears something flammable was tipped or spilled on his head and face. See how the burn isn't quite as severe on the back of his head and neck?" Mustang pointed out. Ed nodded. "Since we're in an area known for its pubs and nightlife, I'd hazard a guess that he went out drinking last night and either had a drink splashed in his face just before stumbling out here or he spilled some alcohol onto himself. It's possible he came out here for a cigarette, lit it up, and the alcohol fumes caught fire."

"General Mustang? Brother?" Al spoke up and both alchemists turned to see what was wrong. The younger teen pointed to a dark brown, half-broken, half-melted bottle of whiskey nearly buried in trash a few feet from the body.

"Sergeant Wilson! Photograph and bag this," Granger called, waving the man with the camera over and gesturing towards the bottle. Wilson immediately did as he was told, softly asking Al to move as he snapped the photos he needed before producing a bag and, using a gloved hand, placed it inside and scribbling something on it before heading to the parked cars to place it in the growing box of evidence. Per protocol, this death would be treated as suspicious until the investigators were told otherwise.

"If there's a head wound, it could have been caused by him trying to escape the flames, jerking back and hitting the wall hard enough to stun or knock himself clean out. Once he was unconscious and on fire, the heat and the smoke from the flames would have sealed his airway shut," Mustang continued as he looked over the body's head again. "I think the coroner will find that he died of suffocation, rather than the flames themselves."

"What about the position of the body?" Al asked. "That's a defensive stance and he's got his hands up to protect his face. It's also hard to tell under the burns, but it looks sort of like there are some other wounds of some kind. Doesn't that mean that he might have been fighting someone?"

Mustang shook his head and straightened up to allow Doctor Knox through. "Doctor Knox, good morning."

"Yeah, yeah, good morning Mustang. Get out of my way."

"To answer your question, Al, no. If someone is alive and unconscious when they're on fire, the body's natural impulse is to curl up like that. It has to do with the way the muscles stiffen and shorten as they're burned," Mustang added, a somewhat clinical tone to his voice as he stepped aside to allow Knox to pass.

"Are you going to do the autopsy for me next, Mustang?" Doctor Knox grumped in ill-temper. The coroner was crouched beside the body, and after a moment produced a wallet from the pocket of the victim's pants. He held it out to Lieutenant Colonel Granger.

"I would hate to deprive you of the pleasures of your job," Mustang replied with a small smile.

"Colonel Frank Chambers. He was an assessor for the State Alchemist program," Granger told them after checking the victim's identification. Mustang immediately stiffened and stepped away from the body and towards Alphonse.

"I apologise, Lieutenant Colonel. Fullmetal and I will need to excuse ourselves from this investigation," Mustang told her. Ed looked surprised while Granger's expression was a blend of suspicious and curious.

"May I ask why, General Mustang?" Her voice was polite enough, but there was an undercurrent of thirst to know sounding there.

"Yeah, what gives?" Ed asked, sounding annoyed and confused. No one commented on the soft, scolding tone of "Brother" coming from behind them.

"Conflict of interest," Mustang replied. "Three weeks ago, Chambers denied the application of an alchemist whom I had recommended to the State Alchemist program because he had a minor assault charge for a street brawl on his record. Chambers and I got into an argument because I pointed out that it shouldn't affect his application, not under Führer Grumman's new guidelines for potential State Alchemists. The alchemist in question hadn't started the altercation, hadn't resisted his arrest or the charges levied against him, and had served the time he'd been sentenced before being released without any negative marks about his behaviour or mental health indicated on his record. Chambers still declined the application and refused to budge in his decision. This alchemist would be an asset to the military, something that I had tried to argue as well, and I threatened to take the matter higher if Chambers refused to change his mind or supply a valid reason under Führer Grumman's new rules as to why the alchemist shouldn't be approved," Mustang explained.

Edward vaguely wondered who this new alchemist was, considering he was the only one – as far as he knew, anyway – that Mustang had ever recommended to the State Alchemist program.

"I filed the necessary paperwork last week to take my complaint further up the chain of command and was expecting the results of the inquisition sometime late next week. As far as I know, Chambers was planning on filing paperwork accusing me of using my position to push through unfit applications, but I don't know for certain if he actually filed the paperwork or not," Mustang finished before gesturing to Ed. "I'm ordering Fullmetal to stay away from this for the same reason, since he's my subordinate and I don't want to even create the appearance of a potential conflict of interest. I don't think you would appreciate all of your hard work being thrown out at trial because we were involved."

Granger sighed before she nodded. "Thank you for your assistance, Brigadier General Mustang, Major Elric, but I believe you are correct in this matter and I appreciate your forthrightness." The three alchemists turned to leave, Al having stayed silent during the exchange, when Granger spoke again. "If I may ask before you leave, sir?"

Mustang and Ed turned back to face her. Seeing as how she had their attention, Granger continued. "You mentioned a trial. Why do you no longer believe this to be the accidental scenario you described earlier? With the spilled whiskey and cigarette?"

Mustang sighed. "Chambers wasn't a smoker and was very vocal about his displeasure for anyone who did," he replied. "Even drunk, he wouldn't have come outside to smoke."

Granger nodded in understanding and the three alchemists turned and headed back to their car, Mustang giving Parton the order to take them back to Central Command.

As the car pulled away, Granger decided that the brigadier general had been right to pull himself and his subordinate back from involvement in the case. If he'd stayed on and that information had come to light, he would've been accused of trying to influence the investigation away from himself with the purpose of framing someone else. She, of course, would have to investigate his story further and ask him for his alibi for the early hours of this morning and last night, assuming the coroner could give her time of death. It didn't slip by her that, given the way the victim appeared to have been killed and what Mustang had just told her, the brigadier general would likely have been her first stop so that she could clear him of any involvement and move on to other suspects. After all, Brigadier General Mustang was a hero of the Ishvalan Civil War as well as the Promised Day – he wouldn't have had anything to do with this.

The same sorts of thoughts were crossing the minds of those who had heard Mustang's words. He would've definitely been a suspect, but the man was a war hero. There was no way he would've killed a man like this because of a silly argument that was already being resolved legally. The investigative team all mentally shook their heads as they got back to work. As disappointing as it was not having the Flame Alchemist's knowledge or the Fullmetal Alchemist's help on the matter, they still had a job to do.

"Brother?" Al asked as they headed towards the gate leading out of Central Command. Mustang had dismissed Edward almost as soon as Private Parton had pulled the car into its spot and headed back up to his office without wanting to further discuss Ed's most recent mission. Edward hadn't argued, since he didn't feel like getting into another verbal sparring match with his commander over his last mission at the moment.

"Yeah, Al?" Ed asked as they exited through the closest gate and turned down the street to head back to Gracia's apartment.

"Are you alright?" Al asked pointedly and they both knew exactly why he was asking. Harding's death had messed with Ed's head to the point that Mustang had been worried enough to stage an intervention to help him overcome the guilt he felt about taking a human life. Neither of them had been idiots; both of them had known why Edward had been acting that way, but Mustang had reminded Al again that Edward wouldn't say anything until he wanted to. He'd only been forced to intervene when he had because Edward had nearly gotten himself killed when he'd single-handedly taken on an entire gang of thugs and provoked them to a killing rage while being alone and sleep-deprived due to the nightmares he'd been having since their return from America.

"I think so. It was more of a shock than anything, but I think I was kind of expecting it, you know? Why else would they call Mustang out personally? I mean, everyone knows that he's only called in on investigations when there's a fire or something similar, so I'd already suspected that's what we'd be going to see," Ed said quietly as they crossed the street together.

"It's weird that it was someone the brigadier general knew and was arguing with though wasn't it?" Al hummed thoughtfully.

"You heard what the bastard said. Chambers, or whatever his name was, had turned that alchemist down for a dumb reason. If he has done something like that to someone that was recommended by Mustang of all people, imagine what he might have done under Bradley's regime to people who came without the recommendation of an egotistical colonel or general?" Ed shrugged. "I had enough trouble getting permission to take the entrance exam because of my age, and I had Mustang's recommendation. If Chambers had been the one assessing me, I suspect that I wouldn't have been given permission to take the test, period. My assessor just humored Mustang – I could tell he thought that Mustang was crazy for sponsoring a twelve-year old. I'm just glad that I'm not the one in charge of that case though. I don't envy Lieutenant Colonel Granger at all."

"Why's that, Brother?" Al asked, and Ed smirked before reaching out to ruffle his brother's golden hair affectionately.

"Can you imagine me having to interview all the people that Chambers has turned down over the years and listen to their sob stories about why they were turned away? Most of them would probably ask me to recommend them, and then they'd be pissed off at me when I wouldn't. You know how well I deal with people like that," Ed replied, his smirk turning to a full grin as Al laughed out loud.

"You're right Brother. It's probably for the best that General Mustang pulled you away. I don't think he'd appreciate all the paperwork you would cause him for punching that many people."

"HEY!"

Alphonse laughed and began to run down the street as Edward pursued him, the two teens' laughter mingling as they raced back toward Gracia Hughes' apartment.

A/N - So here is a brand new story for all of you! This is the third installment to my Agents, meet Alchemists series (fourth if you count my FMA/Voltron crossover as part of the series because I did mention the agents in there and the Paladins will be mentioned in this story as well). Updates, as always, will be weekly unless there is a reason I can't post it that day, in which case I will post it ASAP. Many thanks to my lovely beta, PhoenixQueen, who has been helping me with the chapters for this story and is reviewing them as we go. If you're new to this series, you'll notice that AMA2 is written differently and that's because it hasn't gone under revision yet but it will be soon so the series should read so much smoother! I would absolutely love to hear from every single person who reads this chapter, pretty please!