Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

Chapter 21

What Was Lost

"Hey Roy, mind if I borrow a person or two? I've got a tip and need some help checking it out to see if it pans out or not."

Glancing up from his paperwork, which seemed to have inexplicably tripled since the day before when he had first seen Hughes, Roy scowled. "Can't you see we're busy, Hughes."

"It's just you that's busy, Colonel since you showed up two hours late," Breda spoke up. "I'm free."

"Me too," Havoc chirped. "I'd love to get out of the office, it's such a nice day out."

"The two of you can go, Falman and Fuery can help out too unless they have work to do," Riza added.

"What about you, Hawkeye? Want to join us," Hughes asked cheekily.

"No, I'll stay here and make sure the Colonel does his work."

Roy groaned dejectedly, wanting nothing more than to get out of his office and do something that wasn't paperwork. Like dust off his books in his actual office, it had been awhile since he'd done that.

"Well kids, don't have too much fun," Hughes sang with far too much energy for Roy's liking. He then disappeared from the room with everyone but Riza in tow.

"You should get back to work. Paperwork doesn't sign itself you know," Riza said blandly, picking up a book from her desk and flipping to a page near the center.

"What exactly are we doing out here?" It was Havoc that asked the question that was on the forefront of everyone's mind. He had a cigarette popped into his mouth and he was looking around in confusion while scratching at the back of his head.

"We're looking for someone and I have reliable source out here that says this is the area to start looking," Hughes answered seriously.

"So who are we looking for," Fuery asked.

Digging into the pocket of the black coat he was wearing over his uniform, Hughes pulled out several sheafs of paper. He passed each person their own sheet and let them examine the three sketches on it. "The largest sketch in the center is most likely what he looks like now, the others are how he looked in the past. He would be fifty one this year, dark brown hair and brown eyes. His name is Geoffry Heartner, though it's doubtful he still goes by that name since he's trying to hide and all. "

"You want us to split up and ask the people in the neighborhood if they know him," Falman inquired.

"That's right," Hughes replied. "If we can't find him in this section we'll keep scouring East City until we find him. Lets get started shall we," Hughes sang in a cheesy enthusiastic pitch. "The sooner this is over with the sooner I can get back to my dear wife and daughter."

"Talk about mood swings," Breda mumbled.

"Can you blame him," Falman spoke up. "He deals with a lot of serious things that make our work look like child's play. Acting that way probably helps him take his job a little less seriously."

"In his line of work that's probably a good thing," Havoc finished. "What do you say we get this show on the road?"

After deciding who would investigate where it was decided that the group would meet back up in the same spot in two hours to report their findings, if there were any. To their surprise they all found out a great deal, including the address of the building that the man who now called himself Geoff Heart lived in.

"I wasn't expecting to get so much information in just two hours," Hughes said, rubbing at his neck while looking over a several sheets of paper that had the information everyone had collected written on them. "This is good though, means I might just get to head back home a lot earlier than I had expected."

"So what now? It's still early are we going to go and check this place out to see if it really is the guy we're looking for," Havoc inquired.

"Couldn't hurt," Hughes replied thoughtfully. "We'll find a nice place to watch from a distance. I wasn't expecting to find him so quickly, I'll need to put a team together and move in on him tomorrow once we've confirmed that it really is Geoffry Heartner."

Riza raised her brown eyes from her book that she was very nearly done with when Hughes walked in, followed by the four men who had gone out to assist him. "How'd it go?"

"Unbelievably well," Hughes answered. "It's almost too good to be true just how well."

"You found some helpful information it sounds like," Roy asked, glad for the interruption and dropping his pen to massage his tired wrist.

"More than that, we found our man," Hughes replied happily. "Seems like I'll be out of you hair by this time tomorrow. That is if you don't mind helping me put a team together to go in and retrieve the guy."

"You found your target already? That sure was fast," Roy observed. Leaning back into his chair, he savored every moment of his temporary freedom from the boring mounds of paperwork.

Hughes scratched at his stubbly chin. "Tell me about it. I wasn't expecting things to go so well on my first day here. There's no doubt that I've got my man though. He looks different, a lot older and worn, but it's definitely him."

"So he was hiding in plan sight?" Riza mused.

Shrugging, Hughes answered. "Seems that way. Most of the shop owners and peddlers we talked to all at least recognized him. Said he was a very nice man, but that he kept to himself more often than not. He lives alone in a pretty decent one story house in an older neighborhood."

"Take whoever you want tomorrow. Riza can assist you if you need a skilled gunman. She could use a break from the office," Roy suggested, adding, "And from ordering me around like a dog," under his breath.

"Someone has to do it or nothing would ever get done," Riza shot back sternly.

"I'm going to go make a report to Central, I'll take whoever you can spare. Riza's help would be appreciated though I hear this guy used to be pretty skilled with a gun. It doesn't look like age has treated him kindly so I doubt he'll be a problem, but just in case having someone like her around would make me feel at ease."

"Here's the plan," Hughes said to the group of people gathered around him that consisted of Roy's tea as well as a few other soldiers that Hughes didn't personally know.

They were all gathered outside of the brick fence that surrounded the house of Geoff Heart, AKA Geoffry Heartner. The wall was tall enough to hide them from view from the house and since they were gathered along the south wall, from the eyes of any onlookers for the time being.

"There is only one opening in the fence at the front of the house. We'll go in there and circle the-" Hughes was cut off by a series of shouts that were followed by a bone chilling scream that hung in the air for several long seconds. His eyes widening, her turned to look behind him at the house they were about to raid, but he was unable to see much with the wall blocking his view.

"What was that," Fuery inquired shakily, cowering behind Falman while looking in the direction the scream had come from.

"I don't-" Once again Hughes was cut off by an agonized scream, this one seemed to be ripe with pain and fear. When the scream faded the group exchanged uncertain and weary looks, the world around them seemed far too quiet all of sudden. There were no birds chirping, no wind rustling through the trees, nothing just silence.

"Time to go," Hughes said.

Everyone nodded and followed after him. Running through the gate that led to the house, the group circled it to ensure that no matter what, their target didn't escape them. Hughes, Riza and Falman made their way to the front door and Riza swiftly shot the knob off of the door. Falman kicked it open and drew his gun before stepping into the dark house, followed by Riza and then Hughes.

The atmosphere in the house felt oddly heavy, the shadows appeared to be too long and the sickening sweet scent that lingered over everything was nauseating. Searching the rooms one by one, they didn't find a single person in the house. It was fairly well kept, but there were dirty dishes in the sink and books and magazines lying haphazardly throughout the living room.

"Over here," Riza called, grabbing the attention of Hughes and Falman who were conversing with Havoc through a door that led to the backyard.

"What is it," Hughes asked urgently, making his way over to Riza to see that she had opened a door he had thought was to a pantry to find that it actually opened to a dark stairway. There was a dim light at the bottom, judging by the way it was flickering it was a candle.

A series of looks was exchanged and Riza plunged into the darkness, maneuvering down the stairs quickly and silently. There was another door at the bottom of the steps that she pushed open slowly, her gun held at the ready should anyone try to attack her. Falman and Havoc rushed into the room after her, but they found that the only thing in the room were two candles in steel holders against the far wall that illuminated yet another door.

Hughes watched Roy's team work and it wasn't hard for him to see why had chosen them. They worked well together and they performed their duties exceptionally well. Except for Fuery who was cowering in the kitchen still, but that was understandable to Hughes. Fuery wasn't used to being out in the field, his skills had less to do with fighting and more to do with being an expert in communication and surveillance devices.

"There was something this guy really wanted to hide," Breda stated, making his way down the stairs to stand by Hughes.

"It would certainly seem that way," Hughes replied solemnly, his eyebrows drawn together and a frown pulling at his lips when Havoc opened the door across from them.

Riza gasped when the door was pushed open to reveal a dungeon like room that was lit only by the candles that were flickering by the door. The smell here was overwhelming, metallic and bitter, but slightly sweet. In the center of the room was a body and judging by what could be seen of his face, the man that they were looking for.

"Does someone have a flashlight," Hughes called.

It took a several minutes, but a flashlight found its way into Hughes' hand and once he flicked it on, he stepped forward to shine the beam on the body in the center of the room. He grimaced at the sight of it. The man's eyes were open wide in terror and his mouth was stuck in an eternal scream. Blood was dripping out of his mouth and everywhere Hughes looked there was more of the red substance.

"There's a lot of blood. It doesn't look like it came from just him," Hughes observed, moving the flashlight's beam across the floor and wall in front of him. He had yet to examine the opposite wall, the one the door opened out of, but he figured he'd find the same thing there.

"I've seen something like this before," Riza said, her eyes widening when she saw the transmutation circle on the floor beneath the corpse.

Hughes never had a chance to question her about what she meant. There was a raspy, wet intake of breath from behind and them and they whirled around, Riza drawing her gun and Hughes preparing to throw a dagger or two if needed. When the beam of light landed on another body that was propped up by the door, covered in blood and missing a leg, Hughes found it hard to believe the person was alive. The amount of blood pooled around them was more than enough of a reason for them to be dead. It was when the beam illuminated the dirty, thin and blood smeared face of an unconscious woman that he nearly dropped the flashlight in shock.

It took him several seconds to find his voice and when he did, it came out as little more than a whisper. "Get Roy down here. Now."

Riza couldn't move, her eyes were transfixed on the face of the bony girl that was sitting in a growing pool of her own blood.

"What's going on," Havoc asked, poking his head around the door to see what the commotion was all about. His cigarette fell from his lips and he gaped open mouthed down at the person on the floor. "No way."

It was Falman that would jump into action, stirring everyone out of their dazes when he walked into the room to see for himself what was causing everyone to pale and look like they had seen ghost. Crouching down by the emaciated girl, he used two fingers to gently feel for a pulse on her neck. "She's alive, but she's needs medical attention. Quickly." He pulled off the black overcoat he was wearing to protect him from the cold and began to rip into pieces. "Havoc, call for an ambulance. Riza.. you should call Roy."

A/N- It's a bit short, I know, but it was originally going to be the ending to the last chapter. I decided that I wanted to split it up instead and prolong the tension. Hopefully it worked.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I really appreciate it. I apologize for not answering the majority of the reviews, I just haven't really had a lot of time to do much outside of work lately..

Please review!