Chapter 2

The streets were alive with a quiet bustling, a warm afternoon sun enlightening the scene. It was a pleasant autumn day, just warm enough to be enjoyed without it becoming too hot for comfort.

Shops were open, people were enjoying the weather and multi-colored leaves fell from their summer perches on the trees.

Too bad all this could not be enjoyed by the youngest state alchemist in existence, Edward Elric, and his younger (yet much bigger) brother Alphonse.

The two had arrived in Central only a few hours ago by train, only taking a small amount of time to procure lodgings at a local hotel they favored, and were now on their way to visit their superior.

Or Edward's superior at least, seeing as Alphonse was not officially part of the state army, though he was just as familiar a face around the base as his older sibling was.

Not to mention the fact that if Al got a dime, every time someone mistakenly took him for the Fullmetal alchemist, he would be rich by now.

"You can bet I'll be giving the Colonel a piece of my mind when we get there..." The older Elric now grumbled, as they stalked along the streets.

Their latest mission had been a lead given to them by said man, but had them heading west on a wild goose chase. Rumors had it that there was some strange wizard who was capable of reviving people from the dead.

Naturally everyones first conclusion, and coincidently the most logical explanation, was the presence of a philosophers stone, which was exactly what the Elric's needed to regain all they had lost.

They had literally been searching for over 18 months now, and the repeated instances of false hope, without ever getting closer to their goal, left both feeling downhearted.
To they would never admit it to each other.

The older because of misplaced guilt about getting them into this situation to begin with, the younger because he did not want to make his brother feel worse than the boy already was.

However, as both were disappointed to learn, the 'magician' was only a charlatan, the person he supposedly brought back to life was just your average accomplice.
The man wasn't even an alchemist, and the siblings made short work of exposing him as a fraud and handing him over to the local authorities.

Long story short, it was yet another lead turning up empty, and Edward seriously began to feel the need to vent his annoyance to someone. Mostly the man sending him on these missions, which would be Colonel Mustang.

They had already arrived at the military headquarters, familiar with every nook and cranny by now, they quickly made their way to Mustang's office.

At any other place, the sight of a 12 year old and a giant piece of armor making their way through a military facility would have probably raised some questions, but every-one knew the Elric brothers here, and some even exchanged a friendly greeting with the 2.

Not that the older of the 2 returned these pleasantries, not today at least.
He was beyond pissed, and had quiet a speech prepared for his unsuspecting superior.

Roy had arrived late this morning, much to Riza's displeasure. Now she had to scold him for sneaking out early yesterday, leaving her stuck with an entire mountain of paperwork that was supposed to be already signed and processed days ago, and facing the wrath of higher up alone.

She knew she was partly responsible for making sure the Colonel did his job, but she didn't believe babysitting a grown man was part of her job description.
But somehow that was always what she ended up needing to do.

Somehow, however, she hadn't done the reprimanding whole-heartedly. While the colonel did bail on her too often, especially the last few weeks, she wasn't such an idiot not to notice something was seriously bother Mustang.

He may be too proud to talk about it, or it may be his weird obsession about dealing with all his problems on his own, but if this went on much longer she would need to put her foot down.

This morning he looked like he barely slept, even though he had gone home before his time.

Either Mustang was going out every night to some great party nobody else was invited to, or something else was bothering him.

In the end, Riza decided to let it be till tonight at least. Then, she would get her answers, one way or another.

Roy was sitting at his desk filling in the paperwork he had promised Riza yesterday. Yes, he felt bad about standing her up like that, it wasn't responsible as a leader and not nice as a person.

But he just felt like crap these past few days, still did to be truthful, and though he would normally suck it up and deal with it, that one night of going home early had been a dream come true.

Not that his dreams were much to talk of lately. Roy didn't know if he should see a doctor, or a shrink, but he knew he couldn't go on like this.

Soon, his credibility as a soldier would be in question, and if some sort of emergency struck now, he feared he wouldn't be of much use, the way he felt like lying down and not getting up for a week.

He just finished the last page, carefully disposing it on top of the pile, when the door to his office unceremoniously slammed open, making the entire paper mountain topple onto the floor.

Roy just lifted his eyebrows. He had dealt with Fullmetal long enough to know that sometimes, you just had to let the teen rage before you could get in a word edge ways. He had honed his bored expression just for occasions just as these.

Still, he didn't bend down to pick up those files. No need groveling in front of an inferior.

Turned out he didn't need to. While Edward was busy losing some steam, Roy barely registering a word the boy said, Alphonse bent down to collect the scattered documents, rearranging them neatly and laying them back on his desk.

Roy had learned long ago that the younger of these siblings was the one with more respect for authority, and he feared there was not much he could do to impress otherwise upon the older.

Just than he realized Fullmetal was done with his little rant, so he looked back at him and began his rehearsed speech.

"You know full well we do not compile these leads ourselves. They are just loose files passed on to me because they know you are part of my subordinates."

Roy ignored the way Fullmetal bristled at that last word. What did it matter if the teen disliked being called that, when push came to shove, the Colonel knew Edward would obey.
Except if an order went against every moral the kid had, but Roy could only respect that.

"And do you truly think I would send you on these missions if I did not carry some hope they'd turn our fruitful."

Edward had the decency to look slightly less angry at that. But he quickly reaffirmed the scowl on his face.

"Well, since that last one turned out to be so fucking helpful, I'm assuming you got nothing else?"

Roy could hear the hope in that question. The Elric's were clutching at straws by now. More than a year had passed and not a step closer to regaining their lost bodies had they become.

"Nothing right now." he confirmed. "But seeing as you're in central anyway, maybe you can look into this." he quickly dug up the file Maes had dumped on him yesterday.

If there was one thing Roy knew, it was that Fullmetal needed to be keeping busy. And besides information about the stone, some random mystery was the next best thing.

"Maybe I will..." He mumbled. If the Colonel thought he could be placated with something stupid like this, the man had another thing coming. In the meantime, he would be in the library, rereading every single alchemy book he could get his hands on.

"Give us the code!" The man screamed for the umpteenth time. His spit brushed Roy's face, and had he not been so busy keeping his cool, he might have been disgusted.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." He managed to ground out from between bloody lips.
He truly didn't. He didn't remember how he got here, he didn't know who these men were and he had no bloody idea what kind of code they were looking for.

The kidnapper just grinned down menacingly, his hand on a bloody knife he already used on Roy himself.

"If hurting you won't convince you..." The man hesitated for dramatic effect. A side door opened and 2 more masked man entered. They were dragging the unresponsive body of Maes Hughes between them.

"... Maybe hurting your friends will do the trick." With a grand movement, the man slashed his companions throat and Roy woke up screaming.

Same as last time. please review. i need feedback to survive!