Thanks so much for the review! I was beginning to feel a bit in my own world!
The train came to a slow halt. The doors opened, and Roy led the group of four behind him. Armstrong had recovered on the ride to Central, and the mirror remained on the storage racks above their seats. Edward sped up to walk beside Roy, then Roy stopped, just before stepping off the platform. Edward almost fell off the edge.
In front of Roy was Hawkeye. "Good afternoon, sir," she said. Roy could tell by her expression that something was wrong. "Any other news?" he asked, with a smirk on his face. Armstrong walked past them, gently pulling Rebecca and Joseph with him.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Edward called, and Roy recalled the phone call to Armstrong on the train.
"We found Mr. Anthony," she said, quietly, and they walked from the platform. "They want Major Armstrong to being Miss Argyle and Joseph Spruce to the gallery for questioning."
"And where are we going?" Edward asked, he looked very annoyed, a familiar expression that made Roy smile. Hawkeye just glanced at him.
"Where are we going, lieutenant?" Roy echoed, though more quietly and with less annoyance. Hawkeye frowned. "I'm to take you and Mr. Spruce back to Headquarters, sir."
"Why?" Edward asked several times along the way. Each time he was ignored.
Roy opened the door to his office. From the expression on Hawkeye's face, it wasn't going to be pleasant. And she wasn't to go into the room. Edward hesitantly followed behind him. There was an older officer, a Brigadier General, whom Roy didn't recognize, standing in the middle of the room. He paused by the door, and the general told Edward to close the door.
As soon as it was closed, water fell from the ceiling. Roy smirked, but it was more of a snarl. "I see, you installed water sprinklers," he paused, not able to hide the annoyance showing in his eyes.
The general chuckled, and revealed his hands from behind his back. One held a lighter that's flame quickly went out. "How observant of you, Flame Alchemist," he said, with a teasing expression, "or do you prefer to be called the 'Cause of Flaming Rage'? I never thought you to be the artsy type, Flame."
Roy didn't look beside him, but he could sense Edward boiling. There was no use denying it though, too many people had seen him in the gallery, in uniform or not. Just what to do now? Roy waited for the general to continue. He wasn't going to prove or disprove anything for him, not right away.
The general frowned. "You probably haven't heard of me, Flame, I don't get out too much," he paused, grinning as he held up one of his gloved hands. "My alchemy works much like yours," he snapped his fingers, and long branch of wood popped out of the wall behind him, missing Edward by mere inches.
Roy looked calmly at the mutated piece of earth. "Earth Alchemist," he guessed.
"Brigadier General Dan Strasbourg, the Earth Alchemist," he announced, and with a wider grin, snapped his fingers.
Roy pushed Edward out of the way, the stake piercing the wall just behind where Edward's head had once been. That explains the water... Roy thought.
"I hate rainy days," Roy grumbled under his breath, hoping only Edward would hear and get the idea. He couldn't tell whether he did or not. Then the smaller figure sped past the general and behind Roy's desk.
The general turned slightly, amused, and Roy slumped. He had no idea what Edward though he was doing.
"Got it!" came a shout a second later and the sprinklers shut off. Roy grinned this time, highly amused. The general didn't look very pleased, nor comfortable. Roy pulled out his gloves, lucky that at least the left one was dry, and slowly put them on as stakes missed him narrowly. The last one came straight for him, and he snapped his fingers. The stake exploded just a foot away from where he stood. The flames extinguished themselves in the soaked carpet.
The general was grumbling when the door opened. Hawkeye peered in, and she smiled. "Sir?" she said, a second before the general stumbled past her.
"What was that all about?" Edward asked, sitting on Roy's desk chair. Roy walked over and peered under the desk, where Edward had hid. The floor was torn up and one of the water pipes had been diverted elsewhere.
Hawkeye saw what he was looking at, but said nothing.
"Just an old trick I know," Edward said, grinning sheepishly, but nonetheless appearing pleased with himself. "Used to do it all the time at school. To get out of class, you know."
Neither replied. Roy looked questioningly at Hawkeye, who glanced back uneasily.
"Where are you going, sir?" Hawkeye asked, trailing Roy and Edward as they left the building. Edward looked just as confused as she was. "Yeah. Where are we going?" he asked.
Roy stopped at his house and walked inside. Edward followed, while Hawkeye lingered at the door. "Sir?" she called.
Roy appeared in the entryway a few minutes later in commoner's clothes and a sack on his back. He stuffed two passports into his pocket from the desk in the hallway.
"You're not planning on going back to the art gallery," Edward muttered, looking at Roy in the mirror and not noticing the passports.
Roy smiled smugly, and shrugged. He turned to him, "We're going to visit," he said simply, pulling up his hood before walking outside. Hawkeye sidestepped in front of him. "Sir," she said with a bit of urgency.
"Lieutenant," Roy greeted, circling around her. "Sir!" she called, catching up to him. "If you continue running, they'll think for sure that you and Edward committed the murder."
Roy smiled to himself. "We'll be fine," he replied quietly, when Edward appeared beside him. A few minutes later, Hawkeye stopped walking with them. Roy turned briefly and saw her running in the opposite direction.
"We should go get Joseph--"
"Joseph will still be there when we get back," Roy muttered, trying to get him to be quiet. They sat on a wooden bench on the platform, along with several others. Roy had used a fake passport, one he had created a long time ago, but hardly used, to get himself a ticket. The one he had given to Edward was the one that used to belong to Edward Elric, but was left behind with the rest of his belongings when the Fullmetal Alchemist disappeared. The photos did look remarkably similar, and Roy was personally glad now that he'd kept it, it saved him a lot of trouble.
In ten minutes the train was about to arrive when Roy heard footsteps coming from behind him. Edward looked before he did, and appeared surprised. "Lieutenant...?" he began.
"Sir," she said, dressed in traveling clothes, a small sack and purse slung over one shoulder.
"Are you certain you'd like to come, lieutenant?" Roy said, appearing calm, but was very startled by her sudden arrival.
"Yes," she nodded, then took out a ticket and passport from her purse. "I'm certain, sir."
Roy looked briefly at the passport and smiled. It was also fake.
"Why a ticket there?" Edward asked, pointing to the location on the ticker. The train could be heard in the distance.
"Your sister lives there?" Roy smirked, amused to see Edward gulp. The train came to a stop, and they boarded.