Disclaimer: Characters in this fic are all SquareEnix branded. Fullmetal Alchemist was created by Hiromu Arakawa and Reno, Rude and Elena were created by Tetsuya Nomura…
And in the corner is a Moogle leading the way…
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Those who Fight Further
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"I'm still here, impatiently waiting for you to disappear, is this my cross to bear?" – Staind – Cross to Bear
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"What the Hell is that?" As the three entered their tiny apartment, Reno pointed to the bags that were strewn on the couch. Elena had completely forgotten about shopping with Riza the day before, but a look at the label on one of the bags jogged her memory.
"Oh! I got clothes for all of us yesterday," she replied as she handed out various bags. "I kind of… assumed about what you'd like." The tall bald man opened his plastic carrier and nodded approvingly. Reno stared at his contents. And continued staring for a moment longer until Elena kicked him in the shin. "Asshole."
"Ow! What?"
"I'm going upstairs to shower and change before we meet with the Colonel," Elena said and galumphed to the bathroom on the top floor. Reno glanced at his friend who just shrugged.
"So," Rude began, "about what happened last night when you left for your walk…" he eyed the holes that were in the front of his jacket and dress shirt as well.
"The funniest thing happened, Rude. I met a woman."
Rude raised an eyebrow as he fished for something to wear in his "Old Navy" bag. "I'm listening…"
"And she tried to kill me," Reno replied nonchalantly as he decided to find something as well. He picked up a navy-blue tee shirt with white writing that read: YOUR DREAMS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED… I'M HERE.
"Now why would she want to kill a sexy beast like yourself?" Rude mused.
"I don't know. But, damn, she was smoking hot. Wanted to know about a little runt with a giant suit of armor or something."
"So she tried to kill you?"
"Yeah!" Reno exclaimed as if it was the biggest thing that happened to him. "Get this! She pointed her hand at me, and her fingers became sharp daggers that came flying at me! If I wasn't so reflexive, that bitch would've gotten me dead."
"Reflexive? Don't you mean if you didn't have quick reflexes…?"
"Yeah, Reflexive…"
Rude smiled and said, "Dude… reflexive is, like another word for "reflective". What I'm telling you is right."
"No, dude. What I'm saying is right."
"Let's just go with impulsive and stop acting like idiots, Reno," Rude replied. The two men stare at each other for a few moments. They then continued their conversation as Reno placed a shirt he picked—out of the Hot Topic bag—over his torso.
"Fine. Anyways, there I am with her damned dagger-fingers in my shoulder. My natural response is to try to pull them out with my hand, right? But instead of that, when I grip them blades, something… cold shoots from my hand into her."
"Strange."
"It was! Then, not wanting to bleed all over, place my hand on the wound and it heals, man. Like when we'd use Materia for magic…"
"Magic," Rude repeated. Reno nodded and fished for pants. "I recall the treatment they used on you. The liquid you were doused in can have life-altering side effects."
"I remember that," Reno said as he headed for the kitchen sink. The water upstairs rushed as Elena was showering then. Reno smirked and looked at Rude, who shook his head and mouthed "no". Reno merely nodded mischievously and turned on the hot water. The water, running from the kitchen sink, forced cold pressure to travel up the pipes and into the shower-line. Without warning, it reached the showerhead and sprayed the icy liquid over the woman's body.
"Reno, you asshole!"
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Roy Mustang sighed as he drove towards the apartment that Lieutenant Havoc said the three new transfers were currently residing. He knew he was going to have many problems with the redhead from the moment he saw him again. Ever since the war in Ishval, Roy had loathed the boy. Didn't know where he came from; it looked like he'd decided to show up with those doctors from Resembool that had no side to take. They were only helping the wounded. Roy narrowed his eyes as he remembered the kind doctors. And if it weren't for his stupid actions, they'd still be alive…
He shook his head slightly and pulled his car to the curb, parking it and getting out in front of the tiny apartment building. He walked in front of his car and towards the door marked "4" and hesitated for a moment. If what he remembered was right, that redheaded boy should have been dead. Yet ten years later, it was the same boy who was caught between himself and Kimbley during an argument about using the small pieces of the Philosopher's Stone in their raid of the Ishvarlan village. In Roy's eyes, Kimbley was using them for his own personal gain, killing anyone who'd gotten in his way, military or Ishvarlan… woman or child. Roy eventually found his feet again and moved toward the door marked "4" and knocked.
The tall, bald man opened the door.
"Good afternoon, Colonel," he said curtly and let Roy into the tiny apartment. As the tall man walked away into the kitchen, he heard a scuffle from upstairs. Roy hesitated and followed the man into the kitchen; where the redhead was sitting in a chair at a round, glass-top table, sipping coffee—in a black T-shirt with white lettering that read "You shut your mouth when you're talking to me" and a black pair of loose-fitting jeans—his feet propped onto the edge of the table, covered with boots that had sharp-looking soles.
"Where's the girl?"
The redhead chuckled and replied, "she's upstairs. This is a surprise, what brings you here, Mustang?"
"You will address me as Colonel, and I wish not to say until your female colleague is present."
"Excuse me," the redhead hissed softly and drank his coffee. The three men silently waited for Elena. And the uncomfortable silence thickened—only when the blonde entered the small kitchen and glared at her redheaded co-worker. She gave him the middle finger, mouthing, I'm going to kill you asshole, before she sat down between the tall bald man and the Colonel.
Roy began to talk, and as he repeated their names for him to remember, he nodded in their direction. "Elena… Rude… … Reno…" Reno lifted his coffee mug in acknowledgment. "I assume we weren't properly introduced yesterday. It seems that the mishap that got you transferred here had gone on for a while. And with your previous commander departed, the Fuhrer King Bradley has appointed myself as your new commanding officer."
"Like we didn't know that," Reno mumbled. Roy cocked an eyebrow and continued.
"What had happened to your former commander?"
"Shouldn't it be, like, in a report or something? I could've sworn we told this to many others before we got here. Why don't you ask your secretary or something, Mustang?" Reno asked darkly. Elena laughed nervously and pushed the redhead's feet back, resulting Reno's chair tilting too far back and it and him collapsing on the floor with a newly empty mug of coffee on the floor.
"It was all too fast for me to remember, sir, "Elena began as Reno started to pick himself off from the floor. "But I'm sure we're ready for our first assignment when you're willing to give us one."
"I'm sure of it. Now, what were your occupations under you former commanding officer?"
"We're the Turks," Reno replied proudly. "We're basically the underdogs, used to do the dirty jobs that others are either too squeamish or unable to perform. Infiltration, assassination, you name it, Mustang, we'll do it."
"I told you to call me Colonel," Roy said, annoyed. He stood up. "Fine. You three want your first assignment? I want you in my office in two hours. And I want you to be punctual and properly dressed," he replied as he eyed the outfit the redhead was in. "Two hours," Roy repeated and left the apartment. He massaged his temples as his head throbbed with a migraine. He entered his car again and drove off back to the headquarters in Central.
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She was buried beneath a pile of papers marked for the Colonel's desk when Sheska suddenly tripped over a random crack on the floor. As she began falling face-first, she watched as paper-by-paper flew by her large, green eyes encased in wire-frame glasses. Before her fate of meeting with the floor, however, her right arm hooked onto something strong and cold.
"Be careful, Sheska," the thing that caught her said. She nodded wildly and allowed herself to fall onto the floor, knees together, but feet spread onto opposite ends. She sighed heavily.
"Thanks, Ed. That was a close one."
"What'cha got there?" the boy asked as he bent down to help pick up the miscellaneous papers. He stopped as he picked up what looked like an old profile of a young redhead. Sheska quickly took the paper from Ed and stuffed it in the pile she had worked up.
"Sorry, Ed. I have to get these to the Colonel. No peeking." She stood up swiftly and made her way down the hall again, quickly to make up for the time she lost on her visit with the floor. Ed stared at the back of the mousy brunette and shrugged.
"I wonder what that was about…"
Continuing on with Sheska as she trudged along through the halls. As she neared the Colonel's office, she slowed down. And then stopped. She wondered to herself why she was in such a hurry to give the pile in her hands to Colonel Mustang. She recalled him calling earlier to ask if she'd read any records that were from the Eastern Country—where the three transfers had come from—and if she could bring said records to his office. He said he'd be gone when she'd get there, and to leave them on his desk. She complied but never really though about what she was writing down. Was it important to her? Maybe not, she thought and entered the office. Second Lieutenant Havoc was at his desk, and he turned his head towards Sheska as she set the pile down on Mustang's escritoire.
"Those about the transfers?" He asked as he nodded towards the Colonel's oak desk. Sheska nodded once and started to head for the door as Havoc stood up. "So what's it say?"
"I—I didn't read it. I only wrote them down," she almost seemed embarrassed by her comment, but the Second Lieutenant shrugged it off. "Everyone seems curious about these three. But I'm so wrapped up in recreating the books from the library that burned weeks ago, that I haven't had time to…"
"It's okay. You're not the only one."
"Really?"
"So I've heard, anyways, that the Elric brothers have no clue about them."
"Really?" Sheska wondered. "Edward seemed pretty interested in the profile of that redhead…"
Havoc stood silently for a moment. "That one does seem rather suspicious…" He shook his head and looked at Sheska briefly. "I'll inform the Colonel about your visit."
"Sure thing," she replied and left the office. She'd become a tiny bit curious about the relocated trio.
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In the country east of Central lay a city within the ruins of another. Edge rose above its predecessor, the buildings making a grab for the sky as the slums did before. Not to say Edge was less polluted than Midgar once was; as the sky was nearing a dull-orange dusk. In the center of the city was a reminder: a monument constructed by the people of how they almost destroyed their world with one large company. A company that was, as a consequence, decimated by both the Meteor and the recent events that occurred in Edge.
Their President had been killed.
The President's operatives had left as a result of their bosses being murdered by a single man. He, with dark skin and hair of white, had a purpose in destroying the lives of two very innocent people. They'd merely gotten in his way of the man he was after. And anyone else who would.
The man he was after defied God. It was said he should have died during the Ishvarlan war. But yet he survived, and eludes the white-haired man.
The white-haired man prayed for his victims' souls and moved on—out of Edge—to where he could search, vowing to execute out the one who defied God.
He would head west of Edge.
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They stood in front of the Colonel's office in Central, as people walked by they stared before moving on. The tall bald man opened the double-doors and they proceeded into the office. Roy was sitting at his desk, looking over files and jotting down notes on separate sheets in front of him. The two lieutenants who normally occupied the office were on lunch, so it was only the dark-haired Flame Alchemist who sat. He looked up briefly, setting the files aside. In the empty space he cleared before him, Roy clasped his hands together in thought. He scanned the three operatives, resting his dark eyes on the redhead, and sighed.
"You're early." The three stayed silent. Roy continued, "I'm afraid I have no informative file for you, but for your first assignment…" he stopped to rephrase. "Your… only… assignment."
"Only?" Reno questioned.
"Yes. Only assignment. We're currently on a manhunt for a murderer of State Alchemists. If you three take the job, it will free up some of our military for more important matters."
"How many victims thus far?" Elena asked. Roy ruffled through some loose papers.
"Quite a few. Our State Alchemists are being safeguarded by non-alchemic militants. Lately he's been on hiatus; I'm sure in another country. His recent target had been Edward Elric."
"If we're going on a manhunt, Colonel, we're to be needing a description of our quarry." Reno replied, giving the Colonel a hard glare. Roy cleared his throat.
"I'm sure you've seen him before." Roy began, sifting through papers to find a suitable description. "Tall, white hair, dark skin and a white "x" on his forehead."
Reno froze. It was the same guy who'd murdered Tseng and the boss. He felt the rage seeping in and pushed it back, keeping his cool exterior. His partners stared at him, waiting for his answer.
"We'll take it."
"Remember, Reno, Elena, Rude… this is for military purposes. Not for personal gain," Roy set the papers aside and stared at each person for a minute each before speaking again. "He's extremely dangerous. I won't want to lose any of you three. Just be careful; we want him arrested only for questioning. If he resists, use force, but do not kill him."
"Right."
"You three are dismissed."
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"Not kill him?" Reno spat after they left the office. "I'd give my left nut to see that bastard dead."
"Don't be stupid, Reno. No one wants your nuts," Elena retorted. "Off that subject, now we can find a way to make him pay for what happened."
"I agree, but first we have to find him," Rude replied. Reno stopped and smiled.
"I think I know how, too. We'll meet back at the apartment, there's something I have to do."
Rude shrugged. "Another thing you have to do alone?" Reno gave a thumb's up and took off in the opposite direction they were heading. Elena and the tall man sighed.
"Sometimes I wonder about him," Elena said. Rude nodded as they headed towards their apartment.
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Edward Elric kept himself walking forward, despite where he was heading. Behind him was the 7-foot suit of armor known as his brother. But it was for his own reasons that Ed didn't want to walk. A visit to Roy wasn't always his favorite part of the day, especially when it came to business. Unbeknownst to him, though, Alphonse had stopped, leaving Ed to continue walking.
"Oniisan…" Al tried to call out, but it was too late. The small blonde was on the floor, wondering what he'd run into.
"Hey you're that kid…" a voice rang out as a hand extended down to help him. Ed followed the hand up to its shoulder and then to its face. Green eyes shone beneath strands of red hair. Ed took the hand and was pulled to his feet. He couldn't stop staring at the man's face.
"You're…"
"You're Ed, right? Listen I got a quick favor to ask you."
"Wait, what?" Ed asked. He looked past the man's eyes. They look almost the same…
"Hey, you listening?" the man asked as he snapped his fingers. Al looked at the man as well.
"You were just coming from Colonel Mustang's office, right?" the suit of armor asked. The man nodded. "What do you need Oniisan for?"
"Well," the redhead started, "there's a file in there that he won't give me. I need shorty here to get it. He looks fast."
Ed snapped out of his slight trance at the word "shorty". His blood boiled as he lifted his left leg to kick the man.
Who're you calling Short!" Before Ed could make contact, the man caught his leg and flipped the younger onto his backside. The man wagged his finger at the blonde.
"Shouldn't attack someone for just saying a word, kid." He replied. Al sighed.
"I've been trying to tell him that for years. My name's Alphonse," the suit of armor said as he stuck his hand out. The man took the hand and gripped it, shaking once.
"Reno."
"So what's this file you want me to get?" Edward asked as he stood up. Reno leaned in close.
"A file on Scar. You're just the kid I wanted to see anyways. Why don't you and Al come to this area," Reno found a pen and a napkin in his pants pocket, writing down the address to his apartment. He gave the address to Ed, "when you get it. Roy doesn't seem to like me for some reason." He stood up straight and headed off. "I'll be waiting."
They watched as he rounded the corner.
"What a strange person," Alphonse replied. Ed looked at the address.
"Yes, but that strange person is also Winry's brother… I'm sure of it."
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Endnote: It's going quite slowly lately… and I apologize for that. But then again, I have my ideas in my head for this. It's going to be a short fic, I just know it. But then again… I'm already on chapter 3 and no sign of action yet. I'm getting to it, I promise. I actually had to keep myself from adding more Final Fantasy characters into the little blurb in Edge. Of course that reminds me that this is also AU Set AFTER Advent Children…
I must watch that movie again…
I'll work again when I get more inspiration. Music's helping quite a lot. Especially Nightwish's CD Once. 'Tis being a good CD. I recommend it to people.
Read and Review. What do you like, what do you hate? I enjoy people reading it and fav'ing it and such, but I want feedback. How am I doing so far? Please let me know.