Ace Flamel, Assassin

Chapter 1

"Alphonse! Edward! Where are you two?" Trisha Elric walked into the family's study, her two sons comically buried under a pile of alchemical books. She bent down and ruffled the two boys heads. "You boys, what am I going to do with you? My little rascals,". Trisha smiled. "Edward, Alphonse, you know better than to be messing with your father's alchemy books. Come on, let's put them away." Trisha started reshelving the scattered books. "Mom, we're not messing around. We're studying alchemy! Look!" Edward shoved a pile of books aside to reveal a small transmutation circle, drawn in white chalk. He and Alphonse activated the transmutation circle together, sparks of blue light illuminating the semi-dark room. "Mom, look!" Alphonse held up a small folded paper crane. "Wow, that's really something! Did your father teach you this?" Edward's expression grew dark as he turned away. "How can he teach us something when he's not even here?" Trisha looked at Edward with a surprised, then slightly sad expression. "You're right. My little man is smart enough to learn alchemy on his own." Trisha slowly stood up and walked to the door, a wistfully sad look in her eyes. '"Don't worry, Mom. He'll come back soon. I know it." Alphonse walked over to his mother and hugged her around the waist. "Yeah…"

"Ace! Wake up! Ace!" I kept my eyes closed, ignoring Genesis, trying to reach back into my dream for any memory of my mother to hold on to. Mother. Even after all these years, I still longed for her. Damn my brother. She didn't deserve to die. I opened my eyes. Genesis was to the front of me, staring at my face with a slightly bewildered expression."'Ah, Ace. What happened?" I gently brushed my eyes, shaking away the last remnants of sleep. "It's nothing." Genesis didn't look convinced, but he went on nonetheless. "We have another mission for you. It's kinda complicated, so you might want to come to the briefing room to get Omega to explain it." Omega was head of operations, our go-to man for planning and the like. I followed Genesis out of the bunks and into the hallway. "It's an undercover mission, I believe. I don't know much on it, but I do know you'll be working with the 'Hawk's Eye.' " "'Hawk's Eye'? Never heard of him." I shook my head. "Him? No, no, no, this 'Hawk's Eye' is a lady. Surprising, eh? They say she's the best sniper Halcyon's ever seen. Her kill rate is 100%. I'm surprised you've never heard of her before, considering your own kill rate."