Katurdi, Thank you for the review. Thanks for pointing that out run on sentences have always been a big problem for me I'll make sure to work on it. As for the descriptions that's mostly because I didn't have the first few chapters planned out very well. Hopefully that will improve as time goes on. Again, Thank you for the review I'm always trying to better my writing for both my readers and I. Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Now on to the chapter!
"Ugh!" Cried Alphonse, "Damn it brother why do you have to be so hard to find." He tried to calm down. He knew it wasn't really his brother's fault it was so hard to find him.Even if he was quite reckless sometimes.He didn't mean to get mad at his brother. He was just getting very frustrated lately. It had been five months since his brother went missing and it seemed his search was moving at a snail's pace. He had been searching non stop and the exhaustion was starting to get to him.
Since he had only gotten his body back half a year ago it was still fatigued and malnourished. He had finished his rehabilitation, but he still wasn't at one hundred percent. Though this may have been somewhat of a good thing because if he had, he would have gone straight to looking for his brother instead of being patient and helping out Mustang's team. If that had been the case he would of missed many key details in the search and may have gotten in trouble himself. Another thing he had realised during the last few months- his human body needed food and rest he couldn't stay up all night like before and couldn't go too long between meals either, especially if he was going to get his strength back.
Alphonse was currently looking over some old leads. Closely examining everything and looking for anything he may have missed. It seemed he was out of luck; however, as he was not able to find a single thing. In fact it seemed like he was even farther away then before.
Maybe it was just the lack of sleep. It was late and he was exhausted. As much as he hated to, he decided it was probably best to get some rest. He'd be more alert that way too. Despite his best efforts he was unable to bring himself to his bed so he settled with pushing aside his books and laying his head on the desk. He was asleep in seconds
Knock knock. "He's not answering." Mustang turned to Riza who just lowered her head and sighed.
"Alphonse you in there?" He knocked again but there was no response. "I'm coming in then."
Mustang and Riza entered the dorm room only to find Al passed out on his desk.
"Again?" Riza sighed, "That's the fifth time this month."
"I guess it can't be helped he won't rest until he finds Edward. That's just how the brothers are."
Al had been staying in Edward's Military dorm after he had finished his rehabilitation. Since his brother was still technically in the military he was allowed, but with the Fullmetal Alchemist missing it was unclear how long that would last.
Mustang had decided to help look after Al since he knew that's what Edward would have wanted. He had made sure to keep him updated on the investigation and Al was more than willing to help in any way possible. Anything to get his brother found. Mustang hated to have to tell him that the investigation was out of their hands now.
Mustang walked over to the desk where Al was laying and shook the boy on the shoulder.
"Al wake up." The boy just groaned not bothering to get up.
"Come on Alphonse," Mustang chided, "You can't sleep all day. Besides we have some new information on your brother."
With this statement Al immediately shot up from his desk, alert and ready.
"Get ready and come to my office, we have a lot to discuss." With that Mustang turned to leave, with Riza following suit.
Al got ready in record speed changing clothes and combing his hair in less than five minutes. Then he was out the door and headings strait to Mustangs's office.
When he arrived the rest if the team was talking quietly waiting for him to arrive.
"Ah there you are Alphonse," Said Mustang, "We were just about to begin the meeting."
They closed the blinds and locked the door to make sure no one would be spying in on their conversation.
Then, the crew gathered around the table Mustang standing at the head with Riza to his right and Havoc to his left. Falman and Breda were further down on the right, and Fuery and Al were further down the left.
"Okay let's get straight to business," Mustang said, "We have some good news and bad news concerning Edward's disappearance."
Al stiffened. What kind of bad news? Was his brother hurt or worse? Fortunately Mustang answered his questions with his next statement.
"The bad news is that Edward's investigation has been handed over to the Investigations Department. This means we will have limited access to new information concerning Edward. It also means we will have to continue our search in secret."
Al let out a sigh of relief at least it wasn't as bad as he had thought. However this would make the search for his brother much more difficult and complicated. Considering they were already at a loss and the search hadn't been getting anywhere lately… No. Al shook that thought from his head. He couldn't start thinking that way now. He had to stay positive and keep searching no matter what.
"The good news is we have some leads that may help us find Edward."
Al perked up.
"There have been sightings of some suspicious looking men entering and leaving the warehouse where Edward disappeared. We believe they may have some kind of connection to Edward's disappearance. The men have also been said to mostly enter and leave during evening and night."
The group took a second to process the information.
"So you're saying these men might know where my brother is?" So asked hopefully.
"We don't know for sure yet," Riza replied, "But if they do have some kind of connection to the people responsible for Edward's disappearance it's possible. If not that they could at least lead us to someone who does."
Hope filled Al's mind. It was possible -even if it was a slim chance- that these people could lead him to his brother. He managed to remain calm though and listen to what else Mustang had to say.
"The plan is to steak out the area and find out more about these people. Hawkeye you'll be on overwatch. Havoc and Breda will be with me on the ground. Falman I want you patrolling the area; make sure there's no outside interference. Fuery you'll be handling communications back at base. Alphonse I don't want you out on field just yet, you'll stay with Fuery."
"Yes sir," the soldiers replied.
Alphonse obliged reluctantly. He wanted to be out there finding his brother. Though deep down he knew he wouldn't be much help out there anyway. He still wasn't at full strength and would probably just drag the rest of the team down.
"Meet here at 5:00 pm. sharp tomorrow." Mustang said.
With that they opened the blinds, unlocked, the door and the team went back to their routine. Al went back to his dorm to prepare himself. Even though he'd just be helping Fuery on communications he wanted to be ready. They hadn't had a lead like this in months and couldn't afford to mess it up.
After he was done preparing he decided to get some breakfast. He hasn't eaten all morning and his stomach was growling. He was still getting used to his eating schedule. He was still having trouble knowing when to eat Being trapped in a suit of armour for years without eating will do that to you.
I'm the mess hall he ran into Havoc. He sat down next to him at the table. His thoughts were still racing a thousand miles per minute.
"Hey kid," Havoc said placing a hand on Alphonse's shoulder, "Don't get to worked up about tomorrow, remember the whole team is with you. Don't forget we are going to to whatever it takes to find your brother. So don't worry to much about it. The team knows what they're doing, so trust us."
"Oh, uh, yeah thanks Havoc, I've just been kind of worried. What if something goes wrong, or this turns out to be a false lea-"
"Then we'll keep searching," Havoc cut him off sternly, "We will keep looking until we find him."
It was evening now and Al recalled his conversation with Havoc earlier. He was right. He shouldn't worry too much. The team was experienced, they knew what they were doing. He knew everyone would keep searching until they found him. He decided to go to bed early. He wanted to be well rested for tomorrow.
A/N Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend. That chapter took a little while because grades were due last week and there was a lot I had to get done. I should be updating more frequently now though. Hopefully I'll be able to set up an update schedule soon. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!