Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!
Summary- "Roy Mustang what is it you're afraid of?"
Chapter 3: Meeting Adriana
…
Hawkeye waited until they were gone before she went back in the room and fell into the nearest chair, exhausted. Telling her most trusted friends about her adolescence was more difficult than she thought it would be, not that she thought it would be a walk in the park. Truth be told, she never did go and check on the report, she just wanted an excuse to get out of the room for a minute. Signing she put her head in her hands trying to clear her mind and comprehend everything that had happened that day so far. The weight of it all felt like it was coming down to crush her.
She was then startled out of her thoughts when Mustang put his hand on her shoulder. The captain had nearly forgotten he was still there. He looked at her with all the worry and understanding in the world in his eyes. For a minute he just stood there, his hand on her shoulder, staring into her eyes.
"Captain if you need a rest I think we can hold off on going to see your friend for an hour or two." She looked back up at her commanding officer and shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. I just needed a minute to catch my breath. The sooner we talk to Adri the better. It's even possible that Miranda went and saw her. If that's the case then she might be able to give us some clues as to why Miranda was murdered." She then stood up, shaking the man's hand off her shoulder and straightened her already perfectly straight uniform.
"Listen Hawkeye, I know you want to find your friend's killer, believe me I know what that's like, but you can't go pushing yourself to hard. If you don't take care of yourself then we have no chance of finding this killer." He brought his hand up to brush her bangs out of her face, but then dropped it. Hawkeye saw then gesture, but chose to ignore it. She looked into his eyes that were so full of understanding that she almost had to sit back down.
"Sir, I understand what you are saying, but I promise you I am fine. There is nothing to worry about. We need to be going; I don't know how long this is going to take." She then turned to face the door and started to walk away from the man she cared so much about. About half way to the door she stopped, and in a quiet voice that he rarely heard she said, "Thank you though, for worrying about me. This has been difficult, but I promise you I am alright." Then she started walking again. Mustang just smiled to himself and for once he followed her.
.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.
It took them approximately 20 minutes to reach the home of Adriana Collens, formally know as Adriana Lukas, and her husband, Henry. It was a small house on the east side of Central City. It was about two stories, but did not have much of a yard and only had three bedrooms. Although the number of rooms and the size of their yard meant little to the Collens' because they had no children, and had no plans to have any. Their house was the perfect place for them, Adriana had enough of a yard for her garden and Henry had enough room for his home office, so they were both perfectly content with their small house and their lives in general.
The most important thing about the house, at least from Adriana's perspective, was that it was just three short blocks away from Central Asylum, where Adriana's closest friend was to live out the rest of her days. She thought of it as her responsibility to keep her dear friend company, even though she rarely remembered anything other than the torment she had suffered at the hands of her own father's apprentice. So every day the 36 year old woman walks three blocks to visit her friend, even though it's been 15 years and there has been no significant improvement, she still goes because she knows that if this had happened to her then her friend would be doing the exact same.
Adriana had just gotten back from her daily visit when the tow military officers came to visit. At first she didn't even recognize the blonde haired woman who addressed her. It had been so long since they had seen each other. This was definitely not the same little girl she had cared for 20 years prior. No this was a strong, proud woman, who had seen her share of horrors and come out on top.
"Hello Adri." Was all she said at first, it was almost as if she was afraid of what the older woman would think on her.
"Riza, is that really you? Well this is a shock. I didn't recognize you there for a second. I'd heard you'd gone and stayed in the military. It's been so long since I've seen you last though. Oh, you let your hair grow out, I'm sure if you'd let it down it'd be beautiful. Please come in, who is this with you?" Adriana asked, indicating the tall man with black hair and eyes so dark blue they almost looked black.
"Oh, yes, this is Brigadier General Roy Mustang, he's my commanding officer. Actually we're here to ask you a few questions." Hawkeye said stepping into the house with Mustang right behind her.
"Well this is interesting, first Miranda, now you." Hawkeye was not quite shocked to hear that Adriana had heard from Miranda, in fact she had been expecting it, but to hear it confirmed still set her uneasy from come reason.
"Miranda was here? When did she contact you last?" Adriana thought about it for a minute.
"Well she called me last week to say that her and Emma were coming into Central. She said there was something important she needed to tell me, but she couldn't do it over the phone. Then two nights ago she called me from their hotel room, I guess, and said that she would like to see me. I was busy that night so we made plans to meet up yesterday, but she never showed. Actually now that I think about it, she also asked if I had you and Nila's numbers, but of course I didn't. She seemed really upset by that. I figured that she was just looking to catch up with everyone. I tried calling the number she left me, but no one answered. Why, what's going on?" By now Adriana could sense that something was wrong by the look in Hawkeye's eyes. "Riza, what is happening?"
The younger woman took a deep breath, no happy that she was the one who had to share this sad news. "Adri, Miranda is dead." Adriana gasped and fell back against the wall. "She was found in an ally towards the center of town, this morning. Please, you must tell us everything you know. What time were you suppose to meet her? If we know that, then that can help us establish some sort of a time line. I don't suppose you know what hotel she was staying at? Anything at all could help lead us to her killer. And you said Emma was supposed to be with her? Was she going to be there when you met with Miranda? Please try to remember Adri."
Hawkeye started to panic a little at the mention of Miranda's younger sister. If she was missing then there was no telling what was being done to her or where she might be. What if the killer had got her too and they just hadn't discovered her body yet? No, if she was going to solve this then she needed to keep a clear head. For now they needed to work under the assumption that Emma was still alive.
"Umm, I don't remember where they were staying exactly, but I do know it was suppose to be somewhere near Central Command. We were going to meet at a bar close by, not one I would usually go to, but she insisted. We were supposed to meet at 7'o clock, but like I said she never showed up. I waited until close to 9, but I never heard from her" Mustang now broke into the conversation.
"Do you remember the name of the bar?" He had a feeling he knew which one she was going to say.
"Uh, I think it was called Christmas or something like that. It was one of those bars that had those call girls working there. Why she wanted to meet in a place like that I don't know, but like I said she insisted." The officers looked at each other recognizing the bar she was talking about. It was the same bar that Mustang's foster mother, Chris Mustang a.k.a. Madame Christmas, owned and operated.
"She never indicated why she wanted to meet at that specific bar?" Hawkeye asked imploring her older friend to have some sort of answer.
"No, and it didn't seem like the kind of place she would choose for the scenery. I mean to be honest the place seemed a little seedy to me." Mustang let out a small chuckle at that, though thankfully neither woman paid any attention to it. Hawkeye signed in resignation.
"Alright. Please contact us if you remember anything else. Here's the number to get to the direct line in our office. Our team is personally handling this case." Hawkeye said, handing Adriana a slip of paper. "I also wrote out the number for my home line and for the General. That way you should be able to get a hold of one of us, should the need arise. Also, do you still have the things I gave you?" Adriana nodded lightly. "Good, it may be best for you to keep them with you, just in case. We don't know the killer's motive yet, but it appears to be related to the secrets. We have no way of knowing whether or not this person has any knowledge of the rest of us. Please be careful."
"I will. You said you think the motive had something to do with the secret, how come?" Hawkeye sighed again.
"Well, we don't have the full report yet, but we do know that there was extensive damage done to her back. From that it looked like to me, whoever killed her was trying to destroy all traces of the tattoo, and they did a pretty good job of it." This almost made Adriana sick to her stomach. Then she realized something, Riza was talking about all of this in front of her commanding officer like it was nothing.
"I think I need to sit down." They then followed her out of the front room, where they had been talking, to the living room, where Adriana unceremoniously collapsed into her favorite chair. "SO I'm to take it that you know all about this?" She said addressing Mustang.
"Uh, yea." He answered not quite sure what to say.
"How long have you know about us?" Her face was stern, still unsure if she could really trust this man, even though Riza seemed to.
"I've known about hers," indicating Hawkeye, "for about 14 years. I only just found out about the rest of you today." Adriana's face hardened even more.
"How did you find out about hers? And why was it any of your business to know?"
"I was her father's apprentice. After he passed away she offered me the secrets to her father's alchemy, since he never taught it to me while he was alive."
"And you didn't force her to tell you? You didn't threaten her or hurt her in anyway to make her give you the secrets?" Mustang looked at the woman, disgust visible on his face.
"I would never. She means entirely too much to me for me to do such a horrendous thing. How could you even thing that I would do such a thing?" Mustang was furious. How dare she insinuate that he would ever even consider harming the woman he held most dear? Then he remembered something Hawkeye had told him just that morning. That one of the others had been hurt for her secrets. He instantly clamed down, though still unhappy about the implication, he did understand where it came form. Unfortunately Adriana didn't see the change in his demeanor and began screaming at him.
"How dare I! I'll tell you something Roy Mustang, my best friend who never even wanted anyone to ever know about this damn curse our fathers placed on us all, was tortured for her secrets. Even still, 15 years later it still haunts her, what he did to her. She is going to be stuck inside that asylum for the rest of her foreseeable future, because of him. Another was thrown out of her home because her people did not believe in alchemy and did not want her near them because they felt she was unclean, all because someone happened to see her back and realize what it was. And Me! I have to live every day in constant fear that the neck of my shirt is to low in the back for fear that someone might see it. My wedding dress had to be specifically altered so none of my back is showing. And I know Riza has similar issues. She was frightened going through the military's academy because she had to share a room with so many others and she was worried someone might see it and ask questions. And now you come here telling me that another of my closest friends, one of my sisters is dead because of what she had hidden on her back. SO YES, I will be suspicious, because I have reason to be. These girls are all like my younger sisters and I've seen enough of them suffer. I was the first one to get my tattoo. I had to sit back and watch as every one of them had to deal with the pain and humiliation of getting their own. Did Riza ever tell you how old we all were when we got our tattoos?" This time she gave Mustang a second to answer, all he managed was a weak 'no'. "The specific ages varied slightly, but I was the oldest to get mine, and I was 12 when it happened to me and Riza, she was the youngest, she was only ten years old. I guess our fathers just grew impatient. The rest of us had to sit back and listen to her cries as they held her down and forced her to become little better than a piece of paper. Not a single one of us accepted this willingly, but each of us has had to carry this burden."
Mustang was speechless. He had never heard about it like that before, and Hawkeye had never told him how it had happened. Originally he had assumed that n some level, she had consented to carry the secrets, but to hear that she had been forced, held down as she screamed for someone to help her, it was almost to much for him to bare. He felt sick and numb, but mostly he wanted to grab a hold of his beloved captain and just hold her to him. He had known that he was in love with her for some time, and it was times like this, when he was reminded of just how much suffering she has gone through that he felt it difficult to contain. He just wanted to pull her into his embrace, kiss her softly and show her that not all the world is the terrible, cruel place she had known. He fell onto the couch he was standing in front of and put his face in his hands, much like Hawkeye had done earlier. She then walked over to him and in a reverse of that morning, put her hand on his shoulder.
"Adri, that's enough." She said quietly and calmly. "I promise you, he did not hurt me, or force me to give him the secrets. Not in anyway. I gave them to him freely, of my own free will, because I believe in him and his dreams to make this country better. It was all my choice. He isn't like Kimbly." Upon hearing that name Mustang sucked in his breath and attempted to speak.
"C Captain, you don't mean… you're not talking about… it isn't that Kimbly is it? Are you saying what I think you are saying?" She looked away before answering.
"Yes sir. Major Solf J Kimbly was the apprentice of Anthony Markus, who was the father of Karina Markus. I did not know, necessarily, that it was the same person until much later, but yes he tortured her because he found out that she held her father's secrets and she would not give them up willingly. He tortured her for almost a month before he got what he wanted and left her alone. After that she went insane, always afraid that he would some back and hurt her some more." She sat down next to him and looked at her lap.
"But I thought you didn't know the names of each other's father's apprentice, how do you know him?"
"I found out on one of my visits to her since she's been here in Central, when I was in the academy. Something set her off and she started yelling his name. I didn't know for sure that it was the same person until we were in charge of filing the paper work on his death. In his file they listed his teacher as his next of kin, and for obvious reasons, I recognized the name."
Adriana then saw something between the other two. She could see the love they had for one another. She could see just how much they belonged together by the way they were interacting, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. Somehow she found it in herself to break in and speak.
"Look, I'm sorry I blew up at you. And Riza I'm sorry I upset you and let out all of your secrets. It's just this is a lot to take in all at once. Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm tired. I will call you if anything comes up, and I'll see what I can do about getting a hold of Nila. I'm sure she'd want to know." Hawkeye and Mustang stood up.
"Of course Adri and I'll try to keep you informed about the progression of the case. Call me if you manage to get Nila. If nothing else, during the week you can always come to Central Command. I'll give the guards your names, so there shouldn't be any trouble getting in, and I'm sure someone would be willing to show you to out office. I'll see you later." Then Hawkeye walked over and gave the older woman a hug and a kiss of the cheek, and started to walk towards the door. Mustang was about to follow when Adriana stopped him.
"Hey, you make sure and take care of her okay. I know she's trying to hide it, but this is affecting her too. She seems to trust you, but I swear if you ever hurt her in anyway I will seek you out and kill you. I've lost too many of my sisters to see any more get hurt." Mustang, instead of taking offence to this smiled.
"I promise I will do everything in my power to ensure her safety." She smiled at this answer.
"You'd better." And then he walked off to the woman who had protected him for so many years, maybe now it would be his turn to protect her.
…
A/N: Wow, that was over 3000 words. SO what did you think? I didn't mean for the whole Kimbly thing to slip out so soon, but it fit so I went with it. Don't ask why I did it, it just seemed to fit his character, and then it does explain a bit better some of Hawkeye's dislike of him in the Ishval flashback. Also, I realized half way though this that I left out Hayate, but since I didn't feel like going back though and adding him we'll pretend that Hawkeye left him at the office to protect the paperwork. Yea, that works. SO like I said, as of this chapter I am going to start responding to your reviews, though only the ones that actually that something that needs responding to, everyone else will get a mention though in the special thank-you section that is being added at the end of each chapter.
A/N 2.0: Okay so I know I have taken absolutely forever to update this, but I assure you that I am continuing with it. My life these last few months has been wonderfully crazy and it's getting more hectic by the day. I am hoping to be able to update more often though. Now I will get to review responses.
Review Responses:
Chameleon52: I am glad that you appreciate the story so far and yes there will be much more. I hope to hear from you again as I get more out.
InsertDecentNameHere: I am glad you like the story thus far. You are one of my most loyal readers and so I would hate to disappoint you. I agree that the premise is a bit strange, but it got into my head and wouldn't leave until I got it out here. My major hope for this is that I can get it out without making everyone to OOC and with it being interesting and maybe even a bit believable. I'll hold it to you to make sure I keep with it.
Inma: I am sorry for the long wait, but hopefully that shouldn't happen again. I am glad that you are enjoying both my works and hope you continue to do so. Also about your English, it's just something you need to keep practicing and eventually you will get it. I applaud your efforts to learn a new language and hope your studies are going well.
Tigrette-of-Fire: I am so happy to hear that you like my idea so well and hope that I don't end up disappointing you.
I want to thank those of you who have reviewed on here so far and hope that you will continue to do so as I post more.
Next Chapter: Chapter 4- The Search for the Red Haired Girl