They were still blaming Ross. I was the first on the scene, and I reported seeing alchemic light around the one who had killed Hughes, but I said that the shadows were tricky, and I didn't know who it was. Ross was arrested. Things were moving quickly, too quickly, I could barely keep up.

Mustang had questioned me about what had happened, I had given the truth, partly. I was taking a walk, enjoying my ill gotten freedom from the hospital, when I heard a shot, and rushed to the scene. Everyone tread lightly around me, like they expected me to break. But they didn't know. They didn't know what really happened, and I couldn't tell them. I had realized a while ago, and tried my best to think of a way around it. If Hughes was dead in the show, then he would be dead here.

He had died for a reason, he couldn't pass on the information and Roy had to kill Lust in his rage. At least that's what my brother had told me at one point, long ago. So for all intents and purposes, for a plot device, my only friend was dead.

I collapsed on my knees beside Hughes, hands tentatively reaching for him.

"Lt. Colonel?"

My voice was timid, I was scared. Scared that I had failed, not only in my judgment earlier, but in my main mission. I was already a failure, but I had hoped that didn't mean that I had completely lost in the end. I touched his shoulder gently, trying to push back tears, and the oddest thing happened, he wheezed in a breath and tried to sit up. I froze, and he started to speak.

"Damn, Arcaro, I guess you were right, happy? Wearing your experimental body armor is a good idea. I think it's saved two lives in as many days."

My eyes darted to his wound, his hand was covering it, but it slowly moved away. He unbuttoned his shirt, swiftly, revealing his undershirt, a hole punched through it, with the gleam of metal still lodged in the armor underneath. I sat back on my heels, breathing deeply, and laughed. I didn't stop until Hughes touched my shoulder, concerned. At that I was reminded what I was doing. I looked him straight in the eye and spoke, more serious than I'm sure he had ever seen me. "Do you trust me?"

It was a loaded question. I was content to give him time to-

"Of course!"

I started, "That was quick."

He shrugged, eyeing me seriously.

"There's corruption in the military, I know you're aware of it, I've noticed your reaction to certain things during the course of investigations. You know something's happening, and you know it's not yet time to act. I also know that you're foreign, so you're basically untouchable to these people unless they can find this mysterious country of yours. There's no way they've corrupted you in the time that you've been here."

I looked at him blankly, then shook the thoughts away. We need to move. Anyone could have heard those shots.

"Well, I need you to exercise that trust. Run. Don't be seen. Don't talk to anyone. Don't go home. They think you're dead, keep it that way. Here's how to contact me. I may not always be in, but you can leave a message."

I handed him a slip of paper,

"This is a secure line, I should know, I built it myself. It's piggybacking off the civilian grid, so no military hacking, but I added some...personal touches to the wiring, so it couldn't be tracked." I handed him a bag,

"Don't ask how I knew, don't ask what else I know. There are some secrets that just shouldn't be told. Hide. I'll take care of things now. By tomorrow, everyone will believe that you died here."

He looked desperately like he wanted to argue, he probably didn't want to leave his family, the family man that he is. He opened his mouth to argue, but I shook my head.

"Go. Believe me, if you were 'alive' to the world, then there would be nothing stopping that thing from coming back again."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe.

"The Fuhrer, he's involved, he might be one of them!"

Shit, Taylor said that the only sins the same were-oh. Obviously it was a different sin. What the shit, Taylor?

"I know." Well, I didn't know that I knew, but I know now.

He looked at me startled.

"How!?"

I just gazed back at him, smiling sadly.

"My people were centuries more advanced than yours"

Technically true, and I could use the mystery behind that enigmatic statement to get his ass in gear.

"Were. You said were. They're gone. You didn't leave by choice."

I shook my head, surprised he picked all that up from one word.

"They're gone, true, but I did leave by choice, to save a life. Now there's nothing left for me but the here and now. So if you would kindly get your ass in gear and run for your life I would greatly appreciate it. And don't ask any more questions. Ha. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. I don't like to lie, I have never truly strictly lied to you, and I won't start now. Lies are the cancer of the soul, they eat away at it and leave destruction behind."

Quoting another world calmed me, and probably added to the enigmatic image. Or just proved to him what a lunatic I was, I was honestly feeling a bit unstable at the moment, adrenaline from the close call warring with the injuries I had been ignoring. We stared at one another until finally he looked away and sighed.

"I'll be in touch with you I suppose. Thank you, for this."

I rolled my eyes, muttering under my breath at his retreating back.

"Don't thank me yet."

From there I moved quickly, crouching down on the pavement, etching in a gentle chalk circle, easy to wash away once I'm done. circles-lines-my-own-creation-proud-of-this and then I clapped my hands. I knew it wasn't required to activate a circle, but there was finality to it, and it centered my mind. Lightning flew, and then darkness surrounded me. There were shadows now, but they were my shadows. I bent the light around this area so I wouldn't be seen. I knew there was some homunculus who could control darkness and spy through the shadows, but I also knew how to keep it away. As I went about my now hidden business I thanked God for my brother, who doesn't give a damn about spoilers, and gives character run downs, and gives away plot devices. True it would have been better if he had been more thorough, or even obvious so that I wasn't still finding hidden meaning in references, but beggars can't be choosers.

The paper with Ross' face on it shook in my hands. My hair covered my eyes. Hiding me from sight. I was in civilian clothing, still technically off-duty. Black skinny jeans, black under armor shirt that was standard for under military uniforms, and my boots. My jeans I had to transmute, but there was no way in hell I was wearing this 1910's crap. It didn't feel right, and it made me uncomfortable, constantly distracting me. I put the paper down carefully, contemplating life as a whole.

For me it was pretty straight forward. Keep this world from the terrible fate it was destined for. But Maria Ross was still a victim. I had no idea what happened to her in the original timeline. But I knew that there was no way that I could prove that it wasn't her. My job had changed on me, my entire unit was disbanded with the death of our superior officer, I was snatched up by Roy and his people. I don't know how, and I wasn't about to ask. I knew they already had a guy with encyclopedic knowledge and near perfect recall, so I didn't bother revealing what I could do. It wasn't something I liked to bandy about in any case. Not even Hughes knew. I'm sure he had an idea that there was something up with my brain and my thought processes, but he didn't know.

I was lost in thought, wondering for a bit that after all of this mess, (if I survived) what I was going to do with my life. I already knew there was no way home. I probably wouldn't want to stay in the military forever, but then again maybe I did. I knew Roy wanted to be Fuhrer. Maybe I could help with that. I honestly had nowhere else to be, and I quite liked working investigations. It was all very NCIS-ish. I was trying to decide if I should get a cat in 4 years when the door to the office burst open. It was Edward. Shit.

I ducked my head down, waiting for the shouting match between him and Roy to finish. It was all very distressing. Al stood solemnly in the background. I sighed, and stood.

"This is going to take a while. Does anyone want coffee?"

The soldiers shook their heads, only glancing away from the entertaining fight happening in front of them. I turned to Al,

"Alphonse?"

He started, I think everyone did. In that moment they probably remembered that they had never told me about Ed and Al's past. There was silence, even Ed and Roy had paused in their fight. I glanced around, as if confused, and Al answered,

"Ah, no, thank you."

I shrugged, making my way to the door, calmly stuffing my hands in my coat pockets.

"All right then, just for me then. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I glanced at Al again,

"Please make sure they don't destroy the building before I get back."

I swept out, swiftly making my way to the cafeteria, leaving them to decide. With my little prod at their memory they would have to discuss whether to tell me or not. It didn't matter to me either way. It might be better if they told me, so I could be kept in the loop about things. But if they didn't tell me then I had plausible deniability if I was caught by the bad guys for whatever reason. I paid for my cola and sat down at an empty table in the mess hall, bringing out my research book, I settled down for a long wait. I would give them the time they needed to evaluate my character.