For those of you who guessed something that started with an "R" you should've checked the rating! (A lot of you have dirty minds.) I thought I was going to let those of you who read this sweat for a week, then release the second chapter, but it's been six months, oops. So I guess I made you sweat until you didn't care anymore…? Whatever, just have the chapter, take it.
"Hello, Colonel." Alphonse greeted as he entered the hospital's lobby.
"Hi," Roy replied, taking a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolding it, "I have a lead on Liam's accomplice, but I need some straight answers from Ed before I can conduct a full investigation."
"Colonel…"
"I know. I don't like this just as much as you do, but if we want to catch whoever did this, we need his help."
"Do you…do you think if we catch him, he'd go back to normal?"
"It's what I'm hoping."
"He woke up a few hours ago," Alphonse explained as they walked past the receptionist's desk and toward his room, "but he still refuses to eat anything. So you can forget about getting him to drink the milk."
"Never even dreamed of it."
Al's metallic hand reached out and twisted the knob, standing aside to let the Colonel in.
"Thank you." He told Al as he passed through the threshold.
"Good morning, Ed." He tried as cheerfully as he could, setting his things down on the end table.
"…hi." He hollowly replied.
Mustang pulled a chair up to his bedside and unsheathed the piece of paper once again, "Ed, I'm going to have to ask you some questions."
Deep trepidation was carved cavernously across his face for a split second, before he closed his eyes and schooled his mouth into a straight line. He half-sighed-half-grunted and bunched the ends of the sheets in his fists.
"O…ok-kay." He answered shakily.
Uncertainty flashed across Mustang's face, but he unfolded the paper before he could doubt himself, "Can you tell me his hair color?"
"R-red."
"Eye color?"
"He was wearing a mask."
"What kind of mask?"
"It looked like he was blindfolded, b-but he could still see through it, I guess." He scratched his forearm.
"Can you describe the place he took you?"
"It was dark, and I couldn't see for most of the time."
"And if you're feeling up to it, we really do need to know what happened to be able to charge him."
"I – I think I can do this."
"Don't push yourself, Ed, we don't need a repeat of last—"
He grips the Flame Alchemist's sleeve with an inhumane force.
"I can do this."
There's a spark of determination in his eye that had been missing for the longest time.
"If you insist." Mustang says with lingering suspicion.
"Alright…It was after the mission. The brigadier general said he'd treat me since I'd down such a good job. I wasn't sure what to at the time, but then we arrived at a bar. I told him I should really be getting back to Al, but he slapped me on the back and said 'Nonsense!' When we were inside, he practically wrestled a drink into my hand. Then he – he threatened Al, so I had to drink it, but there was something that tasted funny in it. I blacked out soon after, and when I woke up, my automail had been ripped out of its port. Then he — he — I —"
"It's okay if you want to stop there, Ed, but did you see Liam again? After you woke up?"
"No, I didn't see him, but he could've been there. It was mostly the guy in the mask."
"Alright, well, I have a lot of work to do if we want to catch him." He announced, standing up from the stool and gathering his things, "I'll be back to check on you two tonight."
"Like always, sir."
"Like always."
And with that, he was gone.
AN:
I am not satisfied with this chapter, not satisfied at all. But if you want to review, you know, that's fine. I just wrote this to reassure readers nothing happened that would warrant an "M" rating, because that's not how I roll.