Starting at the sound of the newly arrived manager's voice, Al blinked as he recognized her as their waitress. "Oh! You're the manager? This makes things so much easier," he sighed in relief.

"Do you know if...um..." Al trailed off, unsure of how to ask whether or not a teenager had gotten drugged in the woman's place of business.

"Do I know what, honey?" Colleen asked, "Ya need anything? Lookin' fer somethin'? We got a lost and found if yer lookin' fer yer belongings."

"My brother." Al said quickly, then blushed, "Or, um, I mean, my brother's been kidnapped. And we think he may have been drugged here, so...Do you know if anyone besides the chef had access to the food?"

"Drugged?" Colleen looked shocked, "I don't think anyone would be drugged here, Hun... but only the waiters and waitresses have access to the food." she said, "Want me to go check fer ya? I don't think anyone would be spreading poison 'round these parts..."

Al growled and clenched his fists.

How could no one else have touched the food? Nii-san had to have been drugged here.

"Think harder!" Al final yelled into the woman's face. "Was anyone in the kitchen? The counter? The damn REFRIGERATOR?! I don't care where, but figure it out!"

On the edge of boredom and adrenaline-crash induced sleep, Ed jerked at the faint sound of yelling. He twisted in the chair, trying to make out what was being said, but couldn't. He was just about to allow himself to slump back down when he realized he recognized the faint voice.

That was Al.

Winry held Alphonse back. "Al, there's no need for that!" She said, "The woman is trying to be helpful!"

"Oh, don't worry, dear." Colleen said, "I'm sure he's quite worried about his brother... Losing someone you love is quite..."

The woman paused, her eye twitching a bit, but she regained her smile.

"...taxing on someone..." she continued, as though nothing happened, "I'll double check with the cook, but I'm sure nothing has happened here... But would you like anything while you wait?"

"I didn't lose anyone I love! Nii-san's going to be fine!" Al shrieked, trying to push out of Winry's arms to throw himself at the woman.

Mei glanced at the hysterical boy nervously, before bowing quickly and excusing the group, "No, I'm sorry, ma'am. We'll be leaving now, though we might be back later after..." another quick glance, "We've calmed down a bit. Thank you for your time."

With that she took hold of Alphonse's elbow and half-led, half-dragged him from the establishment.

Winry followed the others out, still holding Al's arms.

Colleen looked after them, very concerned. "Well, ya'll come back now!" she said, "I'll still speak to the cook!"

"Al! Alphonse! Alphonse!" Ed screamed, jerking his chair closer to the door with sheer willpower, ignoring Black Hayate's whimpering in the corner, "Alphonse!"

Oh God, what if that nutcase had Al too! He had to get—

He let out a scream of sheer frustration as his chair tipped over at a particularly harsh jerk, and he landed roughly on the ground.

"Al!"

As Colleen walked back down the stairs, throwing her apron to the side, she gave a sigh.

"Damn... that was close." She said, kneeling beside Black Hayate's cage, "That was close, wasn't it, baby?" She cooed to the small dog.

At being ignored, Edward gave a wordless scream of rage from his place on the floor. He glared for all he was worth at the back of the woman's head and gritted out, "Get away from Black Hayate! And what the hell did you do to my brother!"

"Your brother?" Colleen inquired, as she opened the cage and took the dog out, "Ah... so that explains the resemblance..." Her eyes glazed over as her mind drifted elsewhere.

Ed stilled as it sank in once again just how off this woman was. He and Al were basically slightly miss-sized copies of each other, and she hadn't known upon seeing them that they were related? Not to mention that she seemed perfectly content to ignore the capsized teenager yelling at her—the one who she had tied to a chair in a creepy basement.

Ed breathed slowly and watched her for a moment before carefully asking in as even a tone as possible, "So...you let Al go?"

"Yep!" she replied cheerfully, "Of course!"

Edward gave a sickly smile in response and hunkered back into the chair. Somehow the woman was even more disturbing than she normally was when she was happy—or the twisted approximation of it that she displayed.

As long as Al wasn't actively in danger, Ed decided, he would shut up, try to think of a way out of this mess, and try very, very hard to not attract the lunatic's attention.

Meanwhile, Roy watched as Riza spoke to the hospital laboratory workers about the lab results they had gotten from Edward.

She always knew what to say and how to say it... He respected her for that. He tried to act cool as she turned back and came towards him.

"They're still waiting on the results, Sir." She said, "There were drugs in his system all right. A large amount of them."

"Is that so..." Roy said, nodding his head.

Hawkeye gave him a curious look. "Are you felling okay, Sir?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, "You're not acting like yourself at all."

"Of course!" Roy said, smirking, "But has anyone told you that you do phenomenal work, Lieutenant?"

Hawkeye took a step back, reaching minutely for her gun. "Yes, Sir..." she said, "Many have. Why?"

Roy leaned in closer, "Well, I just thought that I'd say it too." he said, "And I hope we find your dog soon."

Hawkeye found herself against a wall.
"So do I, Sir..." she said, uneasily. She looked around, like a cornered animal, trying to find a way out.

"Hiya Roy!" Maes chirped, suddenly there and stepping directly between the two officers. "Hello, Lieutenant Hawkeye."

He bent to examine the papers in Riza's hands, "So, what have you found out? Is our little Edward a druggie on the sly?"

Feeling very relieved, Hawkeye handed Hughes the papers. "According to his records he is." She said, "But I doubt Edward would take any kind of drugs unless given to him by his automail mechanic."

Roy silently cursed as he watched Maes talk to the Lieutenant. Dammit! I was so close!!

Maes gave a slow blink before laughing, "I doubt Ms. Rockbell would try to drug Edward. I mean, she's not that desperate!"

He chuckled for a second longer before freezing and turning ever-so-slowly to face Roy, "...Is she?"

"I doubt that Miss Rockbell would actually do that... but her giving him medication wouldn't be anything new." Hawkeye said, "But she is young. Perhaps she just overdosed him?"

"I...suppose it's possible. But she's been Ed's primary mechanic for years now. She should know his proper dosage." He shook his head, "Really, I'd almost say she'd have had to have done it on purpose."

"Well, she wouldn't have any malintention." Riza said, "That doesn't seem right."

"What if it was for his protection?" Roy asked, trying to get his mind off his romantic failure.

"What do you mean, sir?" Hawkeye inquired.

"Well, if he's in the hospital, it'd be easier to watch after him..." He answered.

"True... but that doesn't explain his disappearance." She retorted.

"No, I don't think so, Roy. I'll admit, it seems like something she would have done in the past, but now that Al's got his body back the boys haven't been in nearly as much danger." He sighed tiredly, "It really worried me though, hearing that Ed was in the hospital again..." Hughes trailed off contemplatively, before biting his lip in thought. "Actually, maybe that's what the kids wanted."

He rubbed his chin and leaned back on the wall. "Even though the boys are much better off than they have been in a long time, there's still so much that they'll never get back. Maybe...they wanted attention."

He shook his head roughly, "But that doesn't explain Ed going missing. They wouldn't take it that far. And Al's not a good enough of an actor to pull off seeming so upset over a prank."

"But what other answers could there be?" Roy inquired, "Do you think..."

Roy paused as an idea swept over him and he grew pale. "Y-you don't think some.... pedophile kidnapped him... do you?"

Hughes blinked. "What...You mean that the kids planned some attention-hogging scheme, and then some opportunistic pedophile just happened upon Ed's unconscious body?"

Maes shook his head, "I don't think so. I mean, it's Ed. It's not like he's a tiny, adorable, cherubic, little..."

He trailed off, paling rapidly, before spinning to grab Roy's shoulders and shaking him in panic, "Roy! Ed's been kidnapped by a opportunistic pedophile who happened upon his unconscious body after a desperate plea for attention went horribly, horribly wrong!"

"Are you really sure that is the case?" Hawkeye asked, "It seems quite unlikely..."

"However, my dear Hawkeye, it is not impossible." Roy said, raising a finger to correct her.

"Which means," Hughes ranted, "That horrible things could be happening to Edward as we speak! Why are you so calm?!"

"Do you understand?" Maes demanded, "Edward has already been through just about every traumatizing tragedy you can think of. He's had a parent abandon him, a parent die on him, what amounts to a sibling having had a terminal disease, was horribly maimed, went through torturous surgery wide awake, watched and was unable to help as a small girl was brutally murdered, and was manipulated by the government! If that boy is...is raped, he's going to have to kill himself before the universe starts getting creative!" He finished, gasping for air.

"Well, panicking won't do Edward any good." Hawkeye said, "We should just find him as quickly as possible. But we'll need to get back his lab results, which will take time."

Maes's jaw clenched, eyes glimmering with anger for the first time in a long while. "Panicking might do him no good, but neither will standing here waiting. We have to get out there and start looking."

He turned to Roy, "Post a man here as a runner for when the rest of Ed's tests come in. And then get moving, however you think we can track him down." He turned on his heel and started away stiffly, "I'm going back to Ed's old room to see if I can find anything."

Roy nodded, "Sounds like a good idea, Hughes." He said, giving the Lieutenant a sympathetic, apologetic look, "I'll go outside and get one of the cadets to act as a runner... otherwise we'll go and look around the town..."

Hawkeye saluted and nodded. "Sounds good, Sir."

As he turned the corner, Hughes's nails bit into his palms his hands were fisted so tight. He briefly regretted snapping at the Lieutenant, but he didn't have it in him to wait on this case. This was Ed. This was the kid he had watched struggle, and laugh, and play with his daughter since the boy was twelve and still unsteady on his automail.

This was Ed, and they were going to get him back.

TBC