Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

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Your Last Day

Chapter 13

It was just sitting there, but it still kept Winry's attention. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. Al told her to take her time on deciding when or if to open Ed's letter. Her hand reached out to take it, but instead, it just brushed over it before falling back to her lap. To face Ed's last words to her would be too hard right now. She wasn't ready to face those words, not with all these questions going through her mind about why he was lost to her.

Why was he killed? Who did it? Why did he, impulsively, buy her a gift and write her a letter? Where was his grave? What were the soldiers doing to solve his death?

She wanted her answers before she read Ed's final words to her.

"Winry?"

Winry looked up to see Al hovering in the doorway of her room, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts.

She shook her head and stood up. "What is it, Al?"

"Lieutenant Havoc is here to take us to see Colonel Mustang." Al explained, glancing at the letter and gift than back at Winry.

With one last glance at the letter, Winry nodded and let Al lead the way out of the hotel to where Havoc was waiting for them.

*FMA*

The night before found Hughes at home. The only headway they had made in the case was that Ed made a lot of enemies, and clearly didn't try to avoid making enemies. With no new leads and getting nowhere, Hughes had his team head home and went home himself, but it didn't mean he got any rest. His mind was a whirlwind of questions ever since Rufus and Millan told him Hawkeye wasn't in the east.

If she wasn't there, than where was she? He found it hard to believe she would desert so she had to be doing something for Mustang that the Colonel didn't want anyone to know since he told everyone Hawkeye was in the east. Considering recent events, it was highly possible she was involved in Mustang's plot of the assassination of Ed.

But that information just brought him full circle to the question he has been asking him since he overheard Mustang talking with Havoc. Why?

Why did Mustang plan Ed's assassination?

Why was Havoc helping Mustang?

Why was it that Ed was the one killed?

Why did Mustang lie about the location of Hawkeye?

And most importantly, why was his best friend not trusting him with anything?

He has been one of Mustang's most loyal and trustworthy comrades since the academy. Hell, he was even supporting his friend to become Fuhrer so why was he being blocked out now?

Mustang said if he continued to dig, he would find danger. He said it wasn't a threat. So if not a threat, than he was warning him?

Was it a warning to not interfere with his plans?

Or something bigger?

By the time the next morning came, he had given up on sleep and spent the early morning hours in his living room mulling over everything he knew about the case so far. His mind kept going round and round in a circle as he tried to connect the facts he knew together.

After the Ishvalan Civil War, he swore to support Mustang for Fuhrer. With that oath, Mustang trusted him with sensitive information and he was his trusted ally in Central. To that end, he did what he could for his friend by sharing information and passing on missions that he could for his friend to deal with in the east so he could earn some more points.

They had been friends since the academy and trusted each other with their lives.

From what he knew of his friend, he was trustworthy, loyal, protective of his subordinates, courageous, and above all, he hated war.

That was the catch. He hated what he did in Ishval and despised his title–Hero of Ishval. The title burned him in a way similar to his victims in Ishval. Each time it was uttered, a bit of Mustang turned to ashes inside as the faces of his victims flashed in front of his eyes.

This was the man he accused of wanting another war for more glory.

But, if he didn't want war, then why would he say he had Edward killed for a reason? None of this was making any sense to him. It would help if Mustang would just talk to him, but it seemed that he didn't want to tell him anything. Anytime they ran into each other, Mustang was snapping at him for some reason. Why was he trying to make his job of finding out the reason for Ed's death harder?

Obviously, Mustang wouldn't want it revealed that he ordered Edward's death, but there had to be more to it than that. He was clearly missing something, but he just couldn't find the answer anywhere.

When the first rays of sun started to pour into his living room, Hughes gave up on his thoughts and decided to go into the office earlier than usual. He needed to be doing something more productive than just sitting around with the hope that the information he had would form into the answers he was seeking.

*FMA*

Winry leaned against the car as she stared at the graveyard in front of her. When Al told her Havoc was taking her to see a Colonel Mustang, she assumed they would be going to Headquarters. Instead, the Second Lieutenant brought them to a cemetery. She didn't need to ask why. This was the military cemetery where Edward was buried. Looking at the gates to it, she felt sickened to her stomach. This was where soldiers were buried when they died in the line of duty. It wasn't a place where her friend's body belonged. The thought brought tears to her eyes. Ed shouldn't be buried with soldiers. He should be in Resembool with his mom and her parents, not with soldiers he didn't know.

"Al, Ms. Rockbell."

The two teenagers looked up to see Mustang walking over to them from his own car.

Winry shifted a bit closer to Al as Mustang approached. "That is?" She asked softly so only Al would hear her.

"Colonel Mustang. You remember? You met him when he came to recruit Ed." Al explained quietly to her before giving his full attention to Mustang. "Colonel."

Stopping in front of the teenagers, Mustang almost winced when he heard the calm tone of Al. It didn't seem to matter the situation, but Al always seemed to be in control of his emotions. Despite that, Mustang could tell that beneath that calm tone was a layer of anger. Was that anger directed at Mustang? If it was, Mustang could honestly not blame the younger Elric. "It's nice to meet you again, Ms. Rockbell, but I am sorry that it is because of such a horrible circumstance."

Winry nodded, looking down as she bit her lip. She was not going to cry again. Edward wouldn't want her to cry so much. His wish would be for her to be strong through this. "Colonel Mustang." She greeted softly, but politely.

"What happened?" Al asked, not bothering to beat around the bush. Usually he would like to converse a bit before getting to the point. It was normally his brother who was completely direct and hated idle chitchat, but Al decided to take that role now. For days he has been waiting to get to Central to get answers. He was not about to wait any more. "Why was my brother shot? Who did it? Why didn't you protect him? You promised me you would protect him….always!"

Locking eyes with Al, Mustang refused to draw his eyes away from the young Elric that was demanding answers from him. He stalled the boy from reaching Central to give him time to get Edward out of the city, but despite that, he didn't know what to do. He didn't plan what he would tell the boy about his brother. His time was spent on waiting for Hawkeye to call, keeping Hughes distracted, and getting Fullmetal ready for his undercover job. Planning what he would say to Al was not at the top of his worries. "Nothing I say can express how sorry I am, Alphonse. I failed." With that said, he shifted his eyes away from Al and looked towards the rows of graves in the cemetery as he felt Havoc shift next to him. "We haven't found who killed him or why they did it. An investigation is still under the way."

"You don't know?" Al echoed, an edge entering his voice. "You don't know?! You always know!" His hands curled into fists so tight at his side that if he were in his flesh body, his nails would have cut into his palm to make them bleed by now. "Despite how long we were gone on missions, when Brother returns, you know everything we've done, and yet you don't know who would want him dead?!"

"Al," Mustang started with a sigh. "I can keep track of Fullmetal's exploits easily with news that travel, but the people who wanted your brother dead worked in secret. I haven't gotten any news from my contacts about this assassination plan."

"But surely you are looking into it?" Al demanded.

Mustang sighed and motioned the kids to follow him into the cemetery. "The investigation was handed over to the investigation department. I have no part in it."

"When has that ever stopped you?" Al asked.

"Al," Winry said, pressing a hand into Al's armor. "Please, I'm sure Colonel Mustang is taking this hard as well. Ed was under his command after all."

Al glanced over at her.

"When Ed came for repairs, he would complain about Colonel Mustang to me, but I could always hear the underlying respect he had for him. If Ed didn't have any trust that the Colonel would do what he could to help him, I don't think that respect would exist." Winry explained, drawing the eyes of all the men towards her.

Yes, she truly believed there was trust and respect hidden deep within Ed's complaints. She hated when her friend left to join the military, but she understood why he did it so she redirected her anger towards the colonel that came and gave Ed the chance. One time when Ed came back with destroyed automail and was complaining about Colonel Mustang sending him on another stupid mission, she let that anger out about the colonel.

Of all the times they have fought and argued, that day was the first and only time Ed ever got truly and utterly mad at her in a way she couldn't even express and it was because she insulted someone she barely knew. If he didn't trust the colonel, then he wouldn't have gotten so mad and defensive about his boss. He complained a lot, but after that day, she learned to read under his complaints about the military and she learned the names of his comrades and she saw that under all his complaints about them, there was true loyalty to them. And if he was that loyal to them, it meant they were loyal back. Ed did not hand out his loyalty and trust that easily after all.

It was what she believed. Ed never told her if she was right because she never asked. She wanted to believe she could read him properly.

So with that, Winry bowed towards the colonel. "I'm sure you did what you could for Edward and I don't blame you for his death. Thank you for watching over him all these years when I couldn't."

"Winry," Al said softly as he looked at her in surprise.

Just like Al, Mustang was staring at the young girl in surprise. This…..was certainly not what he was expecting from Ed's childhood friend. He was expecting complete hatred from her for getting her friend involved in the military in the first place. If Ed never joined the military, then he wouldn't have had faced so many difficulties. Joining the military was the only way to get the resources he needed to fix his mistake, but it put him in the direct path for a lot more difficulties and danger in his life.

"Still," Winry rose to her full height and shared a look with Al. "I'm not leaving without answers. I want to know who and why."

Al nodded. "Yeah," He said, determination melting back into his voice as he looked at Mustang. "I'm sorry, Colonel. It wasn't right of me to direct my anger at you. You are not a god, but a human. There is no way you can know everything that is going to happen, but Winry is right. We aren't leaving until we find out the truth of what happened."

Mustang sighed as he came to a stop in front of Fullmetal's grave. He stared down at the gravestone with a frown. Why did these kids have to be so stubborn? "Al, you need to leave it to the military to investigate this. They are the professionals."

"So?" Al retorted. "That has never stopped you from sending my brother on dangerous missions. We're not exactly professionals either!"

"I did what I could to prepare him." Mustang replied softly to himself so no one else would hear him as his eyes traced over each letter in Ed's name on the gravestone. He did what he could to prepare Ed. This operation was not going to end with this grave actually having a body in it. That was not allowed. Louder, Mustang cleared his voice and turned to face the armored teen. "Al, I want you to listen and understand what I am going to say. Assassinations happen and most of the time, the culprit is not found and we can never answers the question of why this happened. I don't want you to get your hopes up of getting all the answers you need because you most likely will not get them." His eyes drifted to Winry then back to Al. "I know it's hard, but if the investigation doesn't get anywhere after a while, this will turn into a cold case."

"You can't!" Al shouted, taking a step forward. "You can't do that, Colonel! Someone out there killed my brother. They could be killing others! And what if they did it for a reason? We have to know what that reason is!"

Mustang sighed. "Al, I want answers too, but sometimes we just don't get them. It's hard, but we have to move on."

"Move on?" Al echoed, anger creeping back into his voice. "Move on?! You just want me to forget my brother! If it was me in that grave, he would never just give up on finding the answers as to why!"

"And what would you do? If we only live in the past, we will make mistakes. Do you think your brother would want you to live in the past and not move pass his death? I know it's hard, Alphonse, but you need to let us, the military, handle looking into this. If we find anything out, I promise I will inform you, but for now, I think it is best if you think of what your brother would want." Mustang stepped forward and resting a hand on Al's chest. He did this so he could lower his voice without Havoc hearing. "And that would be for you to get your body back. You won't stop searching just because your brother is gone, right? I know that one day he would want you to be back in your body. Continue your search and fulfill his dream and your dream of having your body back. That is what he would want for you."

With those parting words, Mustang left the two teens at Fullmetal's grave and motioned for Havoc to follow him a few steps away.

"With Fullmetal gone, Al no longer has clearance at the library or HQ and I want to keep it that way." Mustang glanced towards the solemn teens then back at Havoc. "I would like to give him the chance to continue to research at the library, but it just isn't possible and I need him to stay away from HQ. I can't have him coming into contact with Hughes and learning about how Hughes suspects us."

Havoc bit down on his cigarette as he nodded. "I will do what I can, but if their stubborn streak is anything like the chief's…."

"I don't want excuses." Mustang retorted before turning on his heel and making his way back to his car.

Collapsing behind the steering wheel, Mustang leaned back in his seat as he pulled his hand over his eyes. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see Winry bowing in front him. "Thank you for watching over him all these years when I couldn't."

How could she say that? She thought her friend was dead, but she still found the strength to say that to him? Perhaps she was simply saying it as a way to make him feel less guilty about Fullmetal dying on his watch, but instead it just did the opposite. That boy has been under his command for two years, and yet it felt like he simply has not done enough for him. When he first recruited the kid it was to get himself some points and he lorded the fact that he did human transmutation over the kid's head to get him to behave. Of course he justified it as that he was trying to make sure the kid remembered that he couldn't let people find out about it, but he still did it. How could Winry say Ed trusted and respected him? What did he do to earn that? He used the kid when he first recruited and manipulated him with his secret. Sure, since then, he has developed trust and loyalty to the kid, but could it really be said that he watched over him?

He made that promise to Al to watch over his brother. The way he did that was by using his contacts and informants along with the newspaper to always know what the Fullmetal Alchemist was up to. Ed made a lot of detours after he finished a job so Mustang was always checking in with his contacts or the newspapers to get the latest scoop on the 'hero of the people.' He knew it infuriated the kid to have Mustang know everything he did, but he did it to make sure the kid was still alive and on the move. If Ed was in different cities it meant he was alright and just causing more mischief as he delayed his returned to HQ.

But just because he knew what the kid was doing, did that mean he was watching out for him like he promised? It wasn't his job to protect the kid. Fullmetal was a soldier so he needed to be able to handle himself, and yet Mustang did make that promise to Al.

Was he following through on it?

He didn't know.

Was he constantly throwing the kid into dangerous situations one after the other?

Without a doubt, the answer was yes.

Did he trust Fullmetal to handle himself?

Yes.

So then why did he feel so guilty about this operation? He trusted the kid. If he didn't, then there would be no way in hell he would send him as Hawkeye's backup up north. He trusted him so why did it worry him so much to send him away on this operation? There was always a lingering worry that his men would get killed on the missions he sent them on, and yet Fullmetal was the only one he was constantly checking in on.

Perhaps he was just overthinking this. The kid was only fourteen, twelve when he joined Mustang's unit, so wasn't it natural for him to worry about the newest rising star of the military who was so young and naïve to how the world worked?

Shaking himself out of his melancholy thoughts, Mustang pulled away from the cemetery. It was time to get to work. Havoc could handle Fullmetal's brother and friend.

*Hughes*

"An alchemical tunnel connected to the sewers." Hughes mused, tapping his pen against his desk as he read through Ross's report of what they found. A professional sniper took Ed out and an alchemist made the entrance and exit. It was possible that the sniper and alchemist were one and the same, but that did not seem to be a high possibility. In fact, he saw the best chance was that the assassination of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric was done by a two men team. A sniper and an alchemist.

Unfortunately, Hughes knew of a great team that consisted of just that. In any other situation, knowing of a team like Hawkeye and Mustang would mean nothing, but they have been on his radar as acting suspicious for days now. Mustang said he had Ed killed for a reason and the soldiers from the east let it slip that Hawkeye wasn't in the east.

It was enough to make Hughes extremely suspicious, but it wasn't enough to do an official investigation. He had no evidence to prove that they did anything wrong. Even Hawkeye not being in the east like she was said to be wasn't enough as an emergency could have called her away. Central didn't get all the news of what soldiers were doing in other parts of the country. General Grumman would be the one to know in the east if she got called away. But he had no reason to tell Hughes as it wasn't vital to his case on Edward's death. He needed to prove a connection to get information on the movements of Mustang and his team.

"Why did Lieutenant Colonel Elric have to make so many enemies?" Brosh moaned, head dropping onto the pile of files in front of him.

"He apparently likes to keep busy." Lieutenant Miller replied. "Seriously, he's what? Fourteen? Didn't he ever take a break?"

"Doubtful," Ross replied as she dropped a heavy stack of files onto the table, glaring at the resting Brosh. "Rumor has it that the Lieutenant Colonel was a workaholic."

Groaning, Brosh pushed himself off the papers and looked at the new stack of files that Ross was giving them. It seemed like it was going to take forever to go through all the boxes of Lieutenant Colonel Elric's files. The kid had only been in the military for two years, and yet, he had so many boxes of files. Just how often was he out on a job to get this much? Of course it wasn't just mission reports. There were arrest files, damage reports, complaints (from towns and from Edward Elric as well), commendations, and so much more. It seemed that the Lieutenant Colonel didn't do anything halfway.

"A workaholic?" Warrant Officer Kayle repeated as he flipped through the pages of a complaint from Edward Elric. "A good chunk of the complaints in his files are from him just complaining about things from his missions or about the dorms or the hospitals."

Despite the situation, Ross felt her lips twitch into a smile. "Well, he was just a fourteen year old boy. Teenagers do have a habit of complaining for the sake of complaining."

"I've never met Fullmetal, but I feel like I am getting to know him very well from all these files." Miller added as he leaned back in his chair and lifted another report from the top of the new stack. After reading the first few lines, Miller threw himself forward so fast that it surprised his comrades. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Hughes asked, looking up from the report.

Miller stood up and made his way to the head of the room to hand the file to Hughes.

Confused, Hughes accepted the file with furrowed brows. He briefly took notice of Ross frowning as she rustled through the stack of papers she had just put on the table

Vacation Request
Name: Major Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist
Commanding Officer: Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist
Date: August 1, 1913
Time requested: Two weeks
Date: August 12, 1913 to August 26, 1913
Signed and approved by: Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist

"Vacation?" Hughes repeated, staring at the form. "Ed was supposed to be on vacation this week? Then why was he here in Central working at a military function?!"

"This might hold the answer."

Looking up from the file found Hughes staring another form that Ross had found. Flipping open the manila folder to see the form inside had Hughes's eyes widening.

Vacation Rescinded
Name: Major Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist
Commanding Officer: Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist
Date: August 14, 1913
Explanation: As of August 14, 1913, Major Elric, your vacation has been rescinded and you are to report to Central immediately for an emergency.
Signed: Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist

"It seems that two days into his vacation, Colonel Mustang rescinded his vacation and ordered him to HQ." Ross reported as Hughes flipped through the file on the rescinded form. "Besides saying there was an emergency that Lieutenant Colonel Elric was needed for, it does not say what that emergency is. So far, we haven't found any files about a job he was working on before he was killed either."

Hughes stared at the files in front of him, but he wasn't really seeing them. How could this be? Edward wasn't supposed to be in Central this week. If he wasn't here and on vacation like he was supposed to be, he could still be alive right now. No, there was no "could be" about it. He would be alive right now if he didn't get ordered back to Central.

"Sir, we'll try to find the mission file to see what Lieutenant Colonel Elric was working on, but it might be easier to go to the source." Ross's voice broke Hughes out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I imagine it would be." Hughes replied as he stood up. "If you find anything, inform me immediately."

"Yes sir!"

*Mustang*

SLAM!

Mustang slowly raised a brow as he stared at the manila folders that Hughes had slammed onto his desk the moment he barged rudely into his office. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," He looked up into his friend's eyes, glaring back at the glare he met there. "The only person I allow to slam my door open and provide such blatant disrespect is Fullmetal so there had better be a good reason for this or I will have you court martialed."

Well, that wasn't really true. Hughes always slammed his door open in his excited manner, but he never showed disrespect when they met. Fullmetal slammed his door open and openly disrespected and disregarded orders. He had many soldiers comment to him that he should teach the kid to be more respectful, but he never did. Fullmetal, despite what he liked to insist, was still a child and this was how children behaved. Fullmetal did not respond well to authority as he didn't like controlled. If Mustang tried to get him to behave, he would just rebel even more. Besides, he thought the kid deserved the chance to be a bit bratty. It showed his true age so Mustang wasn't about to tell him off for it and make him act like a real soldier.

He threated to court martial the kid all the time for disregarding orders, but he never went through it. The threat was only made when the kid truly scared Mustang by getting injured enough to have to go to the hospital or when he disregarded an order. He made the threat so many times. In the beginning when he first started the threat, he saw the worry flash across the kid's face, but by now, that worry no longer existed. Fullmetal took the threat in stride and made his own snappy comeback. It seemed that Fullmetal learned to read through his bluffs and when he was being serious about something.

But right now, the threat of a court martial against Hughes was a complete accident. It had just slipped off his tongue. He was so used to Fullmetal being the one to slam his door open. He was so used to Fullmetal stomping across the room, making as much noise as he possibly could. He was so used to Fullmetal slamming his reports down on his desk. He was so used to making the threat, no matter even if it was just a bluff, of a court martial that it just slipped out to Hughes.

It was spoken though and right now, he couldn't take it back. Hughes was the one he put their friendship on hold to be suspicious of him getting his subordinate killed. If Hughes wanted them to be on opposite sides because of this issue, he would take it in stride and wouldn't take back what he said. It would be just like their academy days when they were constantly competing with one another. If he took the situation like that, he could handle Hughes hating him for now.

Eventually, once Fullmetal and Hawkeye had completed their job and made it back to Central, the truth would get out and he could explain everything to Hughes. He had no doubt that Hughes would be furious at him for not telling him, but he would get over it. And hopefully, their friendship could go back to what it was before.

One of trust and honesty.

Hughes's eyes narrowed at him as he tapped the files he put down. "Vacation." He hissed quietly so the soldiers in the room wouldn't hear them. "He was supposed to be on vacation and you rescinded that request after only a couple days so he could come here to get killed. You said you planned his death."

Mustang flipped the folders open in front of him with a frown. He was hoping that Hughes's team would be so buried in paperwork that it would take them longer to find this. They must have been working with very few breaks to find it this fast.

"So what was it?" Hughes demanded. "What was this mysterious emergency that you had to pull Ed off of his vacation early? Or was there not one?"

Mustang flipped the folders closed and leaned back in his seat with a calm expression on his face. "Hughes, while it is rare for vacations to be rescinded once they have started, it has been known to happen. I needed Fullmetal here for a job."

"What? To perform at the parade?" Hughes asked.

"An added bonus." Mustang replied flippantly as he admired his nails. "The actually job I had requested of him is confidential, Lieutenant Colonel, so if that is all, I have work to do." He motioned to the stacks of paperwork on his desk.

Eyes narrowed at the uncaring way that Mustang spoke, Hughes straightened to stand at attention in front of Mustang's desk. A firm frown set onto his face as he snatched his files back up. "I came to you first because of our supposed friendship, Colonel, but that was the last chance I was willing to give."

With that said, the Lieutenant Colonel turned on his heel and marched out of the office.

"Sir," Breda said as he stood up and moved over to the colonel's desk so he could lower his voice when he spoke. "That didn't seem like it meant this was going to end well."

"Hmm, I might be pushing this." Mustang replied as he leaned his chin on his hand. "Get ready, Lieutenant Breda. An investigation into our unit is coming. We need to stall for as long as we are able to keep them safe."

Breda looked over his shoulder to see the other men in the unit trying to pretend that they were working, but he could clearly see them trying to listen in. Lowering his voice even more, Breda asked, "How much do we have to stall?"

"According to Fawkes, the Drachmans got into the country through the help of a Briggs soldier." Mustang chose to keep it short.

It was all that was needed though. With that one sentence alone, Breda was able to quickly figure out the situation. If a Briggs soldier helped the Drachmans get into Amestris, that person, without a single doubt, was a traitor. But why? General Armstrong ran a tightknit group of loyal soldiers at Fort Briggs. How and why would one of the soldiers betray like this? But if there was a traitor up there, it meant they couldn't take any chances. They couldn't let word of their operation get out now. It would jeopardize Hawkeye's and Ed's position and get them killed. It was no wonder that Mustang was being so tight lipped and being so harsh to Hughes about the investigation. He was purposely trying to make things harder for the investigation group to keep their operation hidden for as long as possible.

Doing so would keep Hawkeye and Ed safe, but at the same time, it put Colonel Mustang and his unit in deep water. They would be investigated if Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was able to get enough evidence to convince the Fuhrer to open an investigation of their unit. Everything they were doing would be pulled and come to light. They could lie and stall, but someone would let it crack that they were operating from a warehouse as well. Most of the unit didn't know everything they were doing. They didn't know Ed's death was faked, but they all knew that someone was trying to assassinate the kid. It was the main purpose of their secret operation. If the unit was questioned, that fact would come out and at that point, how much longer could they keep the rest a secret?

Probably not long.

Which meant they had to hope that Ed and Hawkeye didn't take long to finish the job.

With how good Hughes was at his job, he doubted it would take long to get the Fuhrer to approve of an investigation into Colonel Mustang's unit. At which point, if they were lucky, they would have a week until everything went to hell. And only if they were lucky.

With how things were going though, he could easily conclude that they were not lucky.

*FMA*

It was raining.

Sitting on the window ledge, Ed watched as the rain came pouring down outside. He hated the rain. It used to be something he liked, but anymore now, rain just foretold bad happenings. It was raining when he and Al met Izumi. If it wasn't for her, Resembool would have flooded so that day didn't turn out too bad at least. Although it wasn't the last time that Resembool almost flooded because of a bad storm. It was storming when he and Al did their human transmutation. That day ended horribly. And now when it rained, his leg and arm ached horribly. With the pain and reminder of the horrible things that happened in the rain, he no longer saw the rain coming down as something relaxing like he did as a young child.

"Edward."

Hearing the calm, composed voice of the First Lieutenant broke Ed out of his staring so he could turn his head to look at her. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

Hawkeye stood next to her young boss as she regarded the thirteen year old with a slight frown. "Are you doing anything today?"

Ed's brows furrowed in confusion. "No?"

Hawkeye nodded and snatched the kid's wrist, tugging at it to get the newly turned teenager off the ledge and to follow her.

"Lieutenant?" Ed's voice held only a questioning tone as he looked helplessly over his shoulder at his commanding officer and the rest of the unit who just waved at him. He glared back at them for being so useless. This is what he gets for coming to HQ to write his report earlier and deciding to stay to wait out the rain. "Where are we going?"

"Edward, how long have you been in the military now?" Hawkeye asked, still pulling her young boss along behind her. Had Edward been older, she would never had pulled him along like this since his rank was higher than hers. But since he was still a child, one that didn't care about rank at that, and she needed his attention, she decided to tug at his wrist.

"About eight months." Ed replied, brows furrowed in confusion. He didn't try to pull free of her hold and just let himself be dragged away. He would have to make it a new habit of his to have his report written and done before he even returned to HQ after this.

"You just turned thirteen, right?" Hawkeye asked.

At that, Ed's eyes brightened as he was reminded that he was another year older. "Yeah, a few weeks ago."

Hawkeye nodded. "You're still young, but there is something I want to teach you."

Before Ed could question what the lieutenant could possibly want to teach him, they seemed to have reached their destination as she let go of his wrist and pushed him into the room that they stopped outside of. He was feeling more and more confused about what was going on. He had never been in this part of HQ before. "Where are…."

His question cut off when he stepped into the room to see the shooting range. With all the blood draining from his face, Ed looked over his shoulder at Hawkeye as she pulled the door shut. "Lieutenant?" He asked unsure.

Hawkeye gave him a reassuring smile as she pushed the teen forward.

Shaking his head back and forth, Ed didn't say a word as he was pushed forward and left to lean against a wall while Hawkeye went to the armory to talk to the soldier. She was only gone a few minutes, not enough time for Ed to fully comprehend the fact that Hawkeye had brought him to a shooting range.

When Hawkeye stepped back in front of him, Ed tilted his head up slightly, letting his bangs fall in front of his eyes. "Lieutenant, I don't want to." He said softly, eyes shifting downward to look at the gun in Hawkeye's hand.

Looking down at those big, pleading eyes had Hawkeye softening, but not enough to give in. She gently took Ed's hand into hers and put the gun in it. When he made no move to grip it, Hawkeye closed his fingers over it. "I know you don't like guns, Edward. To you, they are just tools for killing, but they're not. Guns can be used to kill, but guns can also be used to protect. You are a great martial artist and alchemist so I doubt you would ever need to use a gun, but you never know what may happen and it is best to know how a gun works before you end up in a situation that requires you to fire."

"I'll never be in that situation." Ed insisted.

"You don't know that." Hawkeye argued, closing her hands over Ed's. "When you run off on your missions, I can't help you, but I can at least teach you this form of protection so if you are ever in a situation where alchemy isn't possible, you still have a form of protection."

Looking up from the gun in his hand to stare into Hawkeye's eyes, Ed found himself biting his lip. Hawkeye had put the gun in his flesh hand so he could feel the weight of it pulling him down. She was right in what she said. He saw guns as weapons to kill so he hated them. But any weapon could be used to kill. He used spears and knives all the time in fights but he avoided killing blows. Guns could be used the same way. They could be used to incapacitate an enemy in the same way he used his knives.

Even knowing that, it still didn't make it any easier to hold it.

"When you get older, it will be more expected of you to know how to use a gun. If you learn now, you won't have to be forced to deal with this later." Hawkeye explained. "I'm not asking you to carry a gun, Ed. I just want you to know how to use one just in case."

Ed gave the smallest of nods. "I understand, Lieutenant."

Hawkeye smiled. "Then let's first start with all the mechanisms of a gun. I am going to teach you how to strip and reassemble a gun to help you learn all the different parts of it before we even get into firing one."

Grimacing, Ed looked back down at the gun in his hand. He really shouldn't hang around HQ.

Eyes cracking open, Ed watched the scenery flying past outside. No longer was it green fields flying past him. Instead everything he was seeing was covered in snow. Despite it being against his nature to be polite with Mustang, he would have to thank him later for buying him a private compartment for his trip north. If he had to take such a long trip by himself in a public compartment, he would be too worried to sleep peacefully. By himself, he always had to be on edge in case someone attack. In a private compartment, he could lock the door and just relax.

Stretching his arms to get the knots out that developed from sleeping upright for such a long, Ed sighed in relief as he felt his bones crack. At this point he should be almost near his destination. It was a good thing he slept so long. It would probably end up being the last bit of good sleep he would get for the next few days. Once he reached Renez, it would probably be very busy as he and Hawkeye worked to catch these Drachman spies.

"Attention, passengers, we will be reaching our next stop, Renez station, in two hours."

Ears perking up at the train wide announcement, Ed sighed. Two hours, huh? He was that close to continuing his mission.

Squashing down his sudden nerves about being so close to his destination, Ed made his way out of his compartment to go find some food to fill up on. After all, he didn't know when his next meal would be once the next phase of the operation got started.

*Fawkes*

Standing under his church, Fawkes found himself staring at his black market store of weapons. Since he left the military years ago, he rarely used guns anymore. For the most part he simply sold them to his comrades from the military when they were doing special operations like what Colonel Mustang was currently doing. Even then, not many of his former comrades knew about his black market of weapons. That was for the best since his black market here was technically illegal.

Honestly, he's not even sure why he opened this black market in the first place. If he had to guess, he would say it was because of Colonel Mustang. It was probably some offhand comment made by him in one of their many meetings.

But that was despite the fact.

Because right now, there was a child currently being sent north on a dangerous operation. Colonel Mustang insisted that he trusted Edward to be able to handle this operation with Hawkeye, but Fawkes had his doubts. An operation like this was not one done without bloodshed, and he saw it in the kid's eyes. Those eyes still held innocence in them. No doubt the kid saw plenty of horrors. He had to have known some type of horror that would drive him to join the military at only twelve years old. But that horror was not killing.

And he would do anything within his power to make sure that child didn't learn what it meant to kill.

For the first time in years, Fawkes discarded his cassock and cross to instead arm himself with the familiar weight of guns.

A/N: Please Review!