Authors note: Make sure you read the summary of the story or you will be lost! Also, I don't have spell check so I apologize for any mistakes. Please, leave a review. :) Enjoy.
Chapter two
The night grew and crept up on the warehouse in silence. Inside there was a soft light that gently shone across crates and broken light bulbs hanging from the ceiling from a lone lantern someone had left behind with just enough propane to last the night. The glow reflcted warmly across the faces of the party that was staying here. Ed slumped down against a crate and stretched his left automail leg out long, keeping his right bent to rest his arm on. Alphonse sat with an eerie quiet on a crate not far from his brother, if he didn't move you could almost say there wasn't a boy there, just a magnificant old suit of armor. Winry found her own crate to lean on in between Ed and Al and she folded her legs at her side.
The only two who weren't sitting were in military uniform, colored a subtle blue color. Mustang's tail skirt swished behind him as he paced and his Liuetenants keen eyes follwed his movements with cool composure.
Winry tried her best not to interrupt his thought process but he had been pacing like this for almost five minutes and no one had moved an inch the whole time. "So... what now?" Immediately she had wished she had thought of a better question.
Mustang stopped pacing, his swooping tail skirt coming to rest around his legs. "By now Ling will have the entire Royal Guard looking for us." He thread his hands through his hair and turned away from the group. He was silent a moment then spoke into the darkness in front of him which threw his voice around the warehouse for the rest to hear, " I think I should turn myself in and insist none of you had anything to do with my actions. I will also be blamed for the actions of the other flame alchemist because Ling doesn't know he exists. You will be free to continue the search."
Ed's voice erupted from his dark corner in protest, "Hey! Justa second, you can't just give up like that!"
"With all due respect sir, I have to agree with Edward. There must be something else we can do." Ed was surprised to hear Riza agree with him.
Roy turned to look at his subordinates and dropped his hand from his hair, "You have to admit there aren't many other options and even most of those end with all of you getting blamed when it was only my fault in the first place. You have to find the other Flame Alchemist and stop him, and you can't do that if your hiding from the Emperor."
Riza accepted that Mustang wasn't changing his mind. "Fine, but after we find him Ling will let you go, right?"
"Maybe, but he didn't set fire to the capital of Xing."
Ed chimed in one more time with a mischevious smirk on his lips and slipped his arms behind his head, "Yeah, but Ling doesn't know that."
"Then you'll just have to give him a dangerous Flame Alchemist to take my place." A sideways smile played across Mustang's face. Regardless of the fact that Ed's smart remarks and risky methods often got them into trouble, Mustang appreciated how naive he was.
"Well I'm sure we can find a way to stop him from using his alchemy right? I mean, there has to be a way to stop YOU from using yours isn't there?"
Then there were Ed's comments that lacked tact and good thought. He sometimes blurted things out that would have been better left unsaid. Mustang frowned and looked at Riza. She, after all was the only reason he was able to use Flame Alchemy. It certainly didn't belong to him, it belonged to her and her father.
"I can take care of that part sir."
He nodded. "That settles it. I'll be Lings prize until you capture the other one. Just don't disable him until Ling sees what he can do or I may never get out of there."
Riza scanned him over with a neutral gaze. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. "Right, but you should stay and rest here tonight, you look tired."
Mustang nodded again and slumped his way down to the floor, leaning on a crate. He shut his eyes and was asleep almost instantly. It seemed setting fire to the rain had not been an easy feat.
As Riza placed herself on top of a crate, and leaned against another, Ed glanced at Winry who was wearing her usual black skirt and cream tank top with a small black overcoat, all of which were still wet since she wasn't outside for the fire show. She looked as though she was trying hard not to shiver and her damp hair didn't seem to be helping. He shrugged off his long red coat and dropped it in front of her knees, rolling on his side facing away from her. "Use that and get some sleep."
Winry didn't know what to say. It was hardly ever that Ed went out of his way to make her comfortable. Finally she came up with, "Thanks Ed." and pulled it on top of her, turning away from him a little. "Good night." She was thankful it was dark and Al couldn't see the blush that had spread across her face.
. . .
Al jumped to his feet, sure he had heard something this time. Like a angry whispering. Riza's eyes flashed open and she was on her feet in a moment, hand resting on her gun holster.
"What's wrong Alphonse?"
"This is the second time I've heard something, like loud whispering." He sat back down. "It's probably just some early workers."
Riza nodded and dropped her hand from it's familiar perch. "Wake me up again if you hear anything unusual."
"Mmm, I will."
Outside a dark figure cursed under it's breath. "Damn cat."
. . .
Edward gasped for breath when he shot awake from his dream. Images of his failed human transmutation shifted through his brain as he searched the room for Al. When he saw him he hung his head and closed his eyes.
"Brother," Al said softly, "Are you alright?"
Ed opened his eyes to the sound of Al's voice and stared at the floor. "Yeah, I'm fine Al."
Al looked at his brother, glistening with sweat. As terrible and frightening as it looked, Al envied his brother the opportunity to dream, and have nightmares, even though he knew Ed suffered from them more often than any teenage boy should. He suddenly felt bad for throwing him into the fire earlier when he had just been concerned about his safety.
"Um, I'm sorry about earlier. When I threw you into the fire rain, I should have handled it better. I was just worried about May."
"Mmm. It doesn't matter, I'm fine." Ed paused, "May is really important to you huh?"
Al lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his helmet for lack of anything better to do. "Uh... Yeah. she is." It felt awkward talking to Ed about May like that, he didn't usually ask about her. But he guessed that was probably because they never talked about girls period. Well, at least not since they had grown up enough to understand those conversations.
Ed layed back down again, just as put off by his question as Al. "Right. well, night Al."
"Sleep well brother."
. . .
The next day they ate a measly breakfast Ed had retrieved for them after everyone had agreed he was the best to go out, seeing as he was small enough to go unnoticed. The warehouse slowly seemed to turn into a sauna, the warm sun radiating through the walls, and shedding light through one the window on the back wall.
Mustang shifted his feet as he leaned back on his crate. "You know Fullmetal, it's a pity you didn't have enough money to buy some coffee, I'm going to fall asleep on my way to the palace." he smirked.
"Shuttup you bastard. While your up there getting your fill in prison we'll all be down here scrambling to get breakfast!" Ed pushed off the crate he was leaning on with his elbow and uncrossed his legs, "When are you leaving anyway?"
"Calm down Fullmetal, no ones going hungry." The Fuhrer stood up and straightened his blue coat, pulling a heavy bag of Xingese coins from his pocket, he handed it to his liuetenant. "Now. I don't see any reason to sit here for any longer."
Ed snorted as Riza took the money and looked at the Fuhrer with her watchful gaze. "Be careful sir." She didn't say anything else but traced her eyes over his shoulder. Four golden stars lay on each shoulder, each one a symbol to her of what they had achieved. Her thoughts were a blur of uncertainty though she didn't let it show in her expression. Even now, as the most powerful man in the country Mustang insisted he needed her at his side. She had already known he would but it seemed different now. After all, she was supposed to protect him, and now she was about to sit back and watch as he turned himself in.
Mustang nodded. "Take care Liuetenant. And Fullmetal," he looked at Edward carefully, "find that alchemist."
Ed gave him a serene look, knowing full well why exactly the Flame Alchemist had to be caught. Not only for Mustangs sake but for the sakes of Amestris and Xing. "Yeah, don't worry about it. He won't know what got him!"
The Fuhrer nodded then promptly left the warehouse, keeping his gaze dead ahead of him.
There was a great silence. One that seemed to feed on the thoughts of the people still sitting on crates.
After a long pause Edward finally said someting, "So what do we do now that he's gone?" he didn't sound as sure of himself as he had appeared to be just moments ago. "I mean, I know we have to find this guy, but what's our strategy?"
Riza had already planned what they would do and began to answer him while she slid her gaze away from the door Mustang had just walked out. "We start searching again right away. We'll split into two teams to cover more land and keep an eye on each other."
Edward did not look enthusiastic, nor did he look like he wanted to be separated from either Al or Winry. "Who said you get to make the plans?"
"I'm the highest ranking officer here Edward. Don't forget this is a military mission."
Ed sighed. He hated military missions, they took away his freedom. When he and Al traveled, they pulled the moves together, working as one unit. When it came to the military he and his brother were used as pawns, and the people he didn't want to get involved usually did. Winry had nothing to do with this mission and yet here she was being pulled into it. But he wasn't about to suggest she stay here alone while the three of them searched.
"Yeah, fine. Teams then."
"Winry and me." Al said. "It might be a good idea if one team didn't have any military involvment since people still don't trust the Amestrian military."
Al was right. Many people despised the Amestrian military and no one in Xing had any good reason to immediately trust it. Amestris was famous for bloodshed. The country had been founded for the soul purpose of creating a powerful philosophers stone, which was only achieved through killing humans, capturing their soul energy and compressing it into a stone. It was a dirty scheme and once the word had spread of the country's true purpose, a war was fought between the Homunculus named Father; who started it all, his pawns; homunculi and military men alike, and the people of Amestris, military men and women who fought to save the country from it's first purpose and give it a new one.
"Yeah but-" Ed glanced at the liuetenant. "I don't want to be stuck with her! No one has to know I'm part of the military, I don't have the uniform on." He looked at Winry for help.
Winry waved her hands and shrugged, "This sounds really familiar." She had often been the item of Ed and Al's arguments when they were kids, fighting over which one got to hand her her birthday present, teach her the new paths they had found to explore in the fields out back or even which one was going to marry her. Of course those had been childhood arguments that were forgotten as soon as something new and more interesting had came up. She knew this would be no different but still didn't want to be in the middle of it.
Ed blushed, remembering the arguments him and Al would have and scratched his head, "Fine, nevermind." He turned back to Riza, "Where are we searching?"
Riza nodded, "You and I will cover from here to Ling's palace," She looked and Al, "You and Winry will get from here to the train station. We'll search for any signs of excessive flames."
"But how are we supposed to find any signs of Flame Alchemy if Mustang set the rain on fire? Won't the whole city be a disaster?" Al asked.
"The buildings here in Xing are all made from a resistant sand stone, so the damage to the city was minor. We're looking for more concentrated signs of fire. Something that doesn't fit into the pattern the Fuhrer set." Riza straigtened her coat, "If you can understand any Xingese, listen to the townspeople for news, they could have useful information."
She barely had any time to finish her sentence before a loud bang was heard not far off. Everyone in the warehouse jumped.
"That was a gunshot right?" Ed was on his feet, ready to run out of the building and investigate the loud shot.
Riza gave Ed a warning look, "Don't go running into things before you have a plan Edward."
Al stood up in a hurry and brought his hands to his helmet, his metal arms catching the light through the window, giving it a sharp glow. "What about Mustang? What if they shot him?!"
The liuetenants eyes widened, a new urgency coursing through her. What if they had decided he was too dangerous to keep prisoner and shot him? She could feel the familiar sensation of adreneline rushing through her veins, and she immediately took control of it. It had been her best friend on many missions and she had learned how to keep it in check.
"Alphonse, you and Winry stay here. If Ed and I aren't back in two hours come look for us. Don't seperate."
Edward glanced at Al and Winry. He needed to know what had happened out there. He hoped it wasn't Mustang who had been shot, that it was someone else, and immediatley a wave of guilt washed over his tense body. What right did he have to wish another person dead? No matter who it was, someone would suffer.
"I'll be right back guys." He turned to follow Riza out of the building.
"Brother...!" Alphonse didn't like this. If Mustang had been shot, who's to say Ed couldn't be.
Ed seemed to know what his brother was thinking, "Take care of Winry while I'm gone ok?"
Her voice was small but she new Edward wasn't going to step down from this and she didn't expect him to. Mustang and him had some sort of complicated friendship that meant more than the playful insults they tossed back and forth. She didn't know if she'd ever understand it but she knew it meant more to Edward then he would ever admit. "Come back safe Ed."
"You got it." He turned his head away, his braid flicking in farewell and left the warehouse after the Liuetenant.
. . .
Out on the streets the air was warm for the first time in a week. It glowed off the sides of colorful brick buildings as Edward and Riza Hawkeye made they're way through the back alleys in the direction of the gunshot.
Edward watched what he could see of Riza's face as they pushed around garbage cans behind an old restaurant. Her eyes were set ahead of her and no part of her showed if she was worried. Examining her expression was only something to pass the time, Edward knew she was barely resisting the urge to sprint into the middle of the street to see what had happened, just as he was. She and Mustang had worked together since they had met up in Ishval and whatever promise, or bond they had, he knew meant more to Riza than anything else in all of Amestris or Xing. He was afraid of what would happen to her if Mustang was suddenly gone.
They rounded a corner and Riza stopped. From here they would be able to see the intersection the gunshot came from. So far the path they had taken was along the same route one would take to the palace. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, feeling Edward beside her, waiting for her to tell him what she could see. She opened her eyes and peered around the corner. Immediately she pulled back, her sharp eyes had quickly spotted what she was looking for.
The four stars shone brightly off the shoulder of Roy Mustang's bloodsoaked jacket as his body was pulled onto a cot and carried out of view.
