"Barry"
"Another successful mission?"
Roy was reading Edward's report, the boy now 13 years old, from his last mission with curiosity. He had liberated an entire city from some criminals, which Roy wasn't counting on, because he had sent Edward to check out the city's economical situation.
"It's really odd that the army never knows about those situations", Edward said trying not to show that he cared, but Roy knew he was really pissed off. "At least that people now can live peacefully".
"Go to get some lunch", the Colonel told him while closing the folder. Edward nodded and raised a hand before getting out of the room.
Riza got close the Colonel's desk and looked at the door where Edward has just walked out. "Edward got back really fast"
"Yeah, faster every time", he told her with hint of regret in his voice. The faster the boy finished his missions, the more he got, more complicated…and dangerous.
……
In the dining room, Edward was eating a sweetbread while reading a book that he bought in the last city he went. The National Library didn't have any more books that he could read anyway, just a bunch of romantic novels and he wouldn't dare to take out one of that again. The last time he read one of that books he was 7 years old and he asked his father what 'The man would give the lady the ride of his life' meant ; Roy freaked out of course. The man grabbed the book and threw it away when he read the title: 'Forbidden Love' and scolded the boy who really didn't understand what big deal was. Edward blushed ashamed for being that stupid at that age. Anyway.
Like usually, a picture of Elysia blocked his sight and the boy shut his eyes exasperated. "Hughes-San, you know I hate being interrupted when I'm reading", he said peevish and moved the photograph away.
"But he is getting cutter every day!", Hughes took the picture and kissed it before placing it in his pocket. "Has you just got here?", he asked, his voice suddenly taking a serious tone, the same he usually had when he talked about military issues.
"Yeah, just a couple of minutes ago", he said before biting the bread.
The Lieutenant Colonel looked around when he felt some gazes on him. But they were not staring at him, but at Edward. Some State Alchemists were looking at him displeased and seemed to be discussing something. "I think your rebelliousness in your missions hasn't made you very popular around here".
The boy just drank his juice. "That doesn't bothers me", he told the man emotionless, which surprised the L. Colonel. Edward sometimes really spoke like an adult.
The boy didn't exactly disobeyed the orders, but he always went further and helped the people in any way he could, beyond orders of course. The people now called him "The alchemist of the people", which didn't please the others State Alchemists.
Hughes just smiled and patted the boy's head before standing up. "See you later, Edward-Kun. Stay away from angry alchemists".
Edward looked at the man surprised, but gently nodded.
………..
The L. Colonel entered Roy's office, who appeared to be discussing some stuff with the Lieutenant Hawkeye. "Your son has a lot of fans out there", he said smiling amused.
"He had always had them", he answered, smiling too.
"You should be careful; a pissed off State Alchemist could lose his head and go after him".
"I always am", Roy turned to the window and saw Edward, who was feeding Black Hayate even though he recalled seeing Riza giving him food. "Don't you have any new about Scar?", he asked turning back to Hughes.
"There's no news that he had entered our jurisdiction, if you're talking about that", Hughes told him taking a sit in the office's couch. "The north are looking for him"
Roy just signed. It's been a while since the man had been seen and there was any information about his whereabouts. That simply couldn't be good.
……………..
"Come on, Black Hayate, go for the ball!", Edward threw the toy away to the dog who ran amused and fast. The boy thought that 4 legs weren't that bad if you could run that fast…but he surely wouldn't like to be a dog. Being a dog of the military was enough for him.
Hayate came back with the ball in his snout and Edward took it to throw it away again. He smiled when he saw how the dog enjoyed something that simple like catching a ball.
"Edward Elric-San"
The boy jumped somewhat scared and turned to see a woman officer. He hadn't noticed when she had got that close…
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you", the woman told him saluting him.
For some reason, Ed didn't like the woman gaze. "Don't worry, what's wrong?", he asked drawing a polite smile.
"Edward-San, can you come with me to the mail warehouse?", the woman asked him, "There's a package for the Colonel Mustang and I can't get somebody to help me carrying it".
The boy looked at her for a moment, somewhat puzzled, but he reacted when the dog approached him with the ball in his snout. "Of course", he said patting Black Hayate's head. "I'll be right back, wait here".
The dog barked thrilled, like he had understood the order. The boy then followed the officer through a route he didn't know, but it wasn't like he knew all the Headquarter anyway. "Don't worry, it's just a shortcut", the woman told him when she noticed the boy was disquiet.
They arrived to the warehouse fast, so Edward decided to calm down; it was a shortcut after all. The woman opened the door using a key and turned on the lights.
"Looks like somebody moved the boxes", the woman said when she started searching for the package, "I had it in hand because I'll come for it".
"Let me help you"
Edward approached some boxes and read the labels looking for his father's name; however, the package seemed to have vanished. "Don't you have a track number?", the boy asked while turned towards the woman. "Maybe that way it would be fa- "
The boy was hit in the nape of the neck making him fell heavily into the floor unconscious.
…………..
When he opened his eyes, he felt a strong pain in the back of his neck, but when he tried to take a hand on it, he noticed that he was tied down and chained to a wall. However, he panicked when he noticed that he automail arm was gone.
"What the hell—!"
"Well Well, you're awaken".
Edward looked up and saw the woman who was staring intently at him with a horrifying smile in her face and something that seemed to be a meat cleaver in one hand.
"Who the hell are you? What do you want?", he asked defiant moving violently to get rid of the ties.
The woman's gruesome smiled widened. "I knew It would be fun, little one", she said, but the blonde noticed that the officer's voice was different. Then, the woman pulled his hair off his head revealing that it was only a wig. "Let me introduce myself, the name's Barry, and you and I are going to have a wonderful afternoon, little one".
"STOP CALLING ME LITTLE!", the boy yelled, who was only trying to gain some time because he felt that his hand was slipping from the ties. The man only laughed loudly and started walking towards the blonde. Totally frighten, Edward moved back until hit a box. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
The man kneeled and strongly took Edward's jaw. The boy tried to get the hand off of him moving his head, but he couldn't do anything so he shut his eyes down to avoid seeing the man's face so close.
"You don't have to act like that", Barry gently told Edward, which surprised the boy…but worried him at the same time.
"If you want Otoosan to pay for a rescue, I warn you, he won't", the boy said in a threatening voice, hoping that would scare the man. "He'll come and burn your ass off".
"Your father?", Barry said confused, "I have no interest in him"
However, those words only made Edward get more scared. This wasn't for money or for his father?...Then why?… But he didn't have to wonder so long what this was about. The man let his jaw go and ran a finger through Edward's check. "There's been a long time since I wanted to slice this delicate skin with my cleaver".
Edward was shocked, hearing the laughs of the man. "W-what a-are you t-talking about?"
"You'll see, little one".
……………
No, I don't like to see Ed suffer…really! XD
Thanks for reading and reviewing:D