A/N: And Kimblee makes his first formal appearance. He has a role later on so this isn't the last you'll see of him. And he does so like playing with Ed… (the mines are one of my favourite scenes).

Flame and Fullmetal
Chapter 10 – Crimson Alchemist

Roy didn't know quite what he was expecting, but his boss and the guy they'd been told to capture having an almost pleasant chat wasn't it. Granted, the place looked…trashed, for want of a better term. So they obviously hadn't been spending all that time chatting. There were droplets of blood about as well, and Roy didn't think the guy he presumed was Kimblee could be particularly comfortable, considering both hands were stuck in concrete. But still, it was quiet except for the words they threw at each other. Almost calm.

Why did they all need to come if the situation was already under control?

'They're here, boss,' Havoc called, and Fullmetal gave a distracted sort of nod.

'Careful where you step.'

Roy blinked, then checked the place again. The blood seemed sporadic, and he didn't see arrays anywhere else either. Though he saw a lot of ash and charred stuff.

The Crimson Alchemist's specialty was exploding things, so it couldn't be helped, he supposed.

And there were other transmutation marks as well. And he was sure the road used to be thicker, and smoother, and the walls didn't have random bits jotting out of them. Fullmetal's work, he presumed, since Lieutenant Havoc wasn't an alchemist.

But nothing else out of the ordinary, and Roy carefully plodded his way over.

The Crimson Alchemist eyed the silver chain looped around his belt. 'Pet alchemist, huh,' he said, as though he were commenting on the weather.

'Something like that,' Fullmetal agreed. Roy didn't know if he should feel insulted or protected. And insulted in what respect: the implied servitude or the implication that he was in a sexual relationship with his superior…who happened to still be a minor. Because he wasn't sure about Fullmetal, but the other guy just screamed impurity. And people in the military weren't above making such references…or indulging in such behaviour themselves.

'You're the Crimson Alchemist?' Roy asked. Start with simple.

'That I am.' The man shrugged his shoulders. 'I'd shake your hand –'

'And blow it right off,' Fullmetal muttered.

'And that,' Kimblee agreed. Roy decided that couldn't possibly be a sane comment, considering he was still talking in that "nice weather we're having" voice. 'Of course, didn't realise that Fullmetal's automail here is custom made. Who does it?'

Innocent question, but Fullmetal's face immediately sprouted a scowl. 'None of your business, Kimblee.'

The man whistled. 'Riled you up, did it?' Then he chuckled. 'See, this is why I say you're no soldier. Still a kid at heart.'

This time, Fullmetal just raised a gold eyebrow. And fair point, Roy thought. Kimblee was stuck in concrete. Which reminded him… 'Why are we here?'

'Thought you might like to meet another alchemist.' Fullmetal shrugged. 'And I needed a car.'

'He's lying,' Kimblee said unhelpfully. 'By omission.'

'You're not one to talk,' Fullmetal replied. 'But out of curiosity, that briefcase wouldn't happen to have your research notes, would it?'

This time it was Kimblee who raised his eyebrow. 'Think you can crack them?'

A smug grin replied him. 'I am an alchemic genius, if you recall.'

And thus Roy saw plainly that humility was not one of Edward Elric's strong points. Though pride was.

'Now, if you'll let me out of this concrete –'

'Not a chance,' Fullmetal cut in. 'Though you'll get a nice knock on the head regardless, so don't worry.'

'Worry?' the man laughed again. 'You don't know the half of it, kid, to think I'm afraid of the firing squad.'

'You've already mentioned that.'

Kimblee grinned again. Fullmetal suddenly tensed, suspicious, and Roy found himself tense as well. What was different about that grin? White teeth, bleeding a little –

No, that was too bright to be blood. It was something else emitting that red light.

'You kept that abomination!'

And Fullmetal seemed to recognise it.

Kimblee's tongue poked out, then went back in. The red light vanished. 'Of course,' he said calmly. 'Why would I sacrifice the power it provided? I'm not a foolish child like you who refused to even take it.'

'Tch.' Fullmetal turned a little. 'And what do you plan to do with it?'

Maybe Roy had been wrong about the pleasantness of the conversation, he thought. The Crimson Alchemist looked comfortable even if he was caught, but Fullmetal certainly was not, even if at points he tried to brush it off.

'Listen to the glorious sound of more screams,' was Kimblee's reply. 'I'll wait for another Ishbal in jail.'

'You do realise there's a shoot on sight order for you.' That was Havoc. Fullmetal was silent for once.

'Ah, but I got caught by the one team who'd never execute that.' The grin showed that red light again. 'Am I right?'

Fullmetal regarded him a moment longer, then clapped his hands sharply and slammed them into the wall beside him. A fist shot out next to Kimblee and knocked him flat.

Nothing came out of his mouth but a little blood. Fullmetal frowned. 'Who wants the honour of searching his mouth?'

None of them stepped forward. Fullmetal sighed. 'Of course… Fuery? You have tweezers in that kit of yours, don't you?'

'Yes, sir.' Fuery sighed, resigned, and got out the tweezers, and a pair of gloves. 'What am I looking for?'

'A small red stone. You should see it glowing.'

But he didn't. He couldn't find it, and neither could Fullmetal when he took the tweezers himself. Still, he mentioned it to the Fuhrer when the man was deposited at Eastern Command and escorted into a more permanent custody. Though he had a frown on his face when he came back in.

Roy wondered what he was thinking about, and almost missed himself being addressed. 'Mustang, what do you think about the Philosopher's Stone?'

'It's an alchemist's dream come true?' Roy replied. 'Bypasses the laws of equivalent exchange and creates things out of nothing –'

'Nothing,' Fullmetal cut him off, voice suddenly hard, 'can be made from nothing.' He took a deep breath. 'But you gave the standard alchemist's answer. The answer to those who don't know any better. Do you know how they're made?' Without waiting for an answer, he pressed on, 'Of course you don't. They're made from human lives. Thousands of souls in a stone that could fit in the palm of my hand.' He clenched his automail fist, then relaxed it. 'Thousands of souls,' he repeated, 'to bypass simple costs like a bit of water, a bit of clay. And you know what? It still won't allow you to bypass nature's own law, that everything flows in one direction.'

'Human transmutation?' Roy guessed.

'Human transmutation,' Fullmetal agreed. 'So if you ever come across a Philosopher's Stone, remember both those things.'

A thousand human souls. He shivered a little at the thought. A thousand people were a lot, and for something that, ultimately, didn't accomplish much. Maybe it allowed quicker alchemy for a time, or stronger alchemy, but it didn't sound like the alchemist's dream, the alchemist's answer, from Fullmetal's description of it. And that voice, it sounded like he knew. But why would he know?

He should start making a list, he thought to himself, of all the little tidbits of Edward Elric he wanted to know more about.

'To happier thoughts,' Fullmetal said, changing the flow of the conversation. He gestured to Kimblee's briefcase. 'Kimblee's specialty is combustion. That being said, there are some similarities between his style of alchemy and your own.'

Roy considered that. Yes, there could be similarities, beyond the obvious differences. 'Did you want me to crack the code?' Had that comment to Kimblee been just cockiness then, he wondered.

'Can you?' Fullmetal asked, before shaking his head. 'You're cleared for your mission to Briggs now, so I want you to concentrate on that and the problem with your gloves. Kimblee tattooed his circles into his palms, so I doubt the notes will help you in that regard anyway. I'll look over them and show you anything if it's relevant to you.'

Roy nodded. That was fair enough.

And Kimblee was tucked under the table and not thought about again for a few years.

'But,' Fullmetal continued. 'I'm sure you've heard a few rumours about his alchemy by now. Nothin good came of it. So you're going to tell me how you could use that sort of alchemy for good before I let the cat out of the bag, when it comes along.'

'Not more cats?' Breda asked, wandering in at that moment.

'No,' said Fullmetal, with a last meaningful look at Roy. 'No more cats.'

Roy missed the reference entirely. 'So reasons why combustion alchemy is useful? Got it. Anything else?'

'Your mission to Briggs,' Fullmetal flicked through the file case again. 'Who's going with you?'

'Uhh…Private Riza Hawkeye. Her commanding officer, Corporal Clipper, has given her permission.'

'Riza Hawkeye?' Fullmetal repeated, though he didn't sound surprised. 'Can you trust her to watch your back?'

'She's been watching it for some years,' Roy replied, answering something slightly different to what Fullmetal meant.