A Trial of Sin
Chapter 9: Investigation
December 23, 2005
By CCD

Mustang and Hughes walked into Edward's hospital room. Edward had been in the hospital for three weeks and the military was undergoing an investigation. The Colonel was considered a suspect in the case, so he was not allowed to take the young alchemist home. Hughes had received word from the hospital that Ed was conscious and coherent enough to answer some questions.

Roy could not come to visit Ed without another officer so when Maes had heard that he was going to go talk to Ed, he immediately called his friend to see if he wanted to come. Ed was laying down in bed looking out his window. He turned as the two officers entered. The young alchemist attempted a smile.

"Hey Ed, How are you doing?" Hughes said a bit more enthusiastically than one should in this situation.

"Um…all right, I guess," Ed replied, his voice was still a bit hoarse from the hospital trying to get the poison out of his system and hook ups from his minor surgery from where the poison had messed with his lungs.

Mustang didn't say anything. He leaned against the wall and listened to the lighthearted conversation between Hughes and Edward. It was good to see that Ed was doing better. His memories of carrying an unconscious Ed and finding our about the poison stuck haunted him more than anything else.

"Roy, you're awfully quiet," Hughes said.

"I'm just letting you talk, Maes," he replied.

Ed and Hughes looked at each other. The Colonel was acting weird.

"What's eating you, bastard," Ed said as he tried to sit up wincing in pain.

"Take it easy, Ed," Hughes warned.

"Lay down, Edward. I'm just worried that's all," Roy said.

The room was silent for a moment. Hughes sighed. He needed to get on with the investigation.

"Edward, do you have any idea who could have done this to you?"

"No, I don't."

"Who came to visit you while you were in the hospital?"

"I had a lot of military come and ask me questions about what happened. Other than that it was you, Gracia, and Elyssia, or Mustang's crew."

"Do you remember any of the names of the other officers that came to see you?"

"No, I didn't think they were important and I wanted to not think about what happened."

"How many times did Roy come and see you?"

"What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"He's a suspect since he is your caretaker, though we suspect that you were poisoned while still in the hospital."

"He didn't come till the day he came to get me from the hospital. Why do you think I was poisoned at the Hospital?"

"We've been investigating this around the clock. Since we started, we discovered that there were three other deaths. Whoever did this didn't really care and since these victims were in the Hospital the same time as you. It's possible that one of the workers or someone who visited you frequently slipped it into your IV or hospital food. It was a very slow acting poison and you've been the least active of all of them thanks to the Colonel's insistence that you stay in bed as much as possible. Out of the cases we know of, you're the only one to survive. I think with all of this evidence, I can clear Roy and get you back home."

"You're sure you can clear me, Maes," Mustang said, concern in his voice.

"You were in the hospital one time. If you came more than once, doctors or nurses would have seen you and throw Edward's testimony out. I seriously doubt either of you would lie to me so we have nothing to worry about. There were others that were poisoned at the same time as Ed, and you didn't have any contact with them."

"Because I came in once," Mustang muttered sick of Hughes repeating himself.

"The toxin levels were the same for those that died as they were for Edward which means that that you weren't giving him any poison while Ed was staying with you. It clears you indefinitely."

"…and if they argue the case?" Ed asked.

"I'll just remind them that they were the ones who insisted that the Colonel would be the best caretaker for you. They'd be embarrassed at that and worry about it getting out."

"So when can I get out of here? Hospital food sucks," the blond alchemist said as he sulked.

"Doctors say you have to stay here for another week or two just to be sure that you're going to be fine. It's just a precaution. They normally don't make people stay this long…" Hughes said taking a deep breath.

"…but then again they don't deal with people getting poisoned all the time," the dark haired Colonel said clearly aggravated.

"Yes, that and the hospital had been told not release Ed until the State found someone to take care of him. Look on the bright side, Roy; once you're clear, Ed can probably return back home with you," Hughes said cheerfully causing the other two to give him a strange look.

"Why is it you can always do that?" Ed asked Hughes.

"Do what?"

"…Be so damn happy when there's nothing to be happy about," Mustang said after he and Ed exchanged another look.

"If I was so depressed like you two all the time, we would never have any fun. Anyway, I'm going to go document something real quick. Do you think I can leave the two of you alone and you won't rip out each other's throats?"

"I think we'll be all right for five minutes. Go do what you need to do, Hughes."

"All right, play nice you two," he said as she slipped out the door with a goofy grin on his face.

Roy stood there for a moment. He wanted to ask Edward so many questions, personal questions that were bound to hurt both of them.

"I know you want to ask me something, bastard. Just get it over with."

"First tell me how you're really feeling,"

"Terrible. It hurts to breath and I have a really bad headache. It doesn't help that the doctors keep poking and prodding and asking all those questions that I don't have answers to."

"Edward, when did you know something was wrong with you?" Mustang asked, "Why didn't you say anything to me?"

"I've been sick since I left the hospital. First it was dizzy spells and weakness in my muscles and then the more active I got, the more I started fainting and coughing. I started having trouble breathing the day Hughes, Havoc, and Hawkeye came to visit. I didn't say anything, because I thought it would just pass. I thought…" he paused

"…that you were just sick from all the drama you did in the hospital in the first place," Mustang said.

Edward looked away, confirming that what Mustang said was correct.

"Did you think I was going to be upset or angry? Edward, I'm responsible for your health and well being. I have to worry about those things now and to be honest, I do get upset. Not at you, or at the fact that you're sick, but at my inadequacies in taking care of you. I'm angry at myself and for the first time in my life I was terrified at the thought of you dying, anyone dying."

Ed was quiet, listening intently to what the Colonel was saying. It was the first time he had ever heard the Colonel spill his guts without any argument or prompting. Mustang ran a hand through his hair.

"I just want you to trust me a bit more Ed. I don't want something like this to happen again. I keep telling you that over and over again and I hope that one of these times it will finally sink in."

The room was silent for a moment. Roy held his breath hoping to get an honest answer from Ed.

"It'll sink in when I can do a successful Human Transmutation, you bastard."

The Colonel sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by his younger ward.

"At least that's what I want to say, but I guess I can't keep saying that. You ruined all my fun."

The raven haired man smiled for the first time in days. Now he could only hope that his young ward wasn't lying to him.

"Someone has to; you get away with too much."

"…too much of what?" Hughes asked as he reentered the room.

"Nothing, you need to worry about, Hughes. Ed and I were just coming to an understanding."

"Well good, it's about time you two play along. I hate to cut this short, but the doctors want to come in and see how Ed is doing. We'll be back tomorrow to see how you're Ed. Until then, I suggest you get some rest and let us take care of all this stuff."

Ed nodded slightly. The Colonel rose from his chair and towards the door. He walked out followed by Hughes. The walked down the hall a bit, before Roy opened his mouth.

"Maes,"

"Yes, Roy,"

"When you find the bastard who did this? Let me know?"

"Roy, your not going to do anything rash again are you?"

"No, I just want to make it so that he wishes he'd never messed with Ed."

"Roy, that's not a good idea."

"Don't worry; I know what I'm doing. I have a hunch that this is the military's doing so I know that there's only so much I can do, but I'll figure something. You just catch this guy. I'll take care of the rest."