Chapter 21

Alphonse was getting frustrated and it was not because he had been sitting in one spot inside a dirty, cramped, rat infested basement for what had to have been weeks now. That was a part of it, of course, but the factor that was chipping away at his usually sturdy composure was Riece. To be more specific, it was the way he suddenly decided to use nearly all of his time by personally keeping an eye on Al, allowing him almost no opportunities to work on the transmutation circle that was obscured from view behind his back.

He couldn't imagine what had prompted it, but his captor went from checking up on the kid once or twice every few hours at the most, to spending the vast majority of each day in the basement. He occasionally left for a few hours at a time but Alphonse had no way of knowing if he left the building all together, or if he was just sleeping.

Knowing where exactly where Riece was as often as possible was in fact very important, Al recently discovered. He was surprised he hadn't realized it sooner, but it appeared that the kidnapper was able to hear the scratching on the wall from upstairs. The alchemist knew he should have noticed sooner, but perhaps the lack of stimulation was dulling his mind or something. He had considered just how possible death by boredom really was at times, after all.

Not long after Alphonse first started on his latest attempt to create a fully functioning transmutation circle, only a few minutes had passed before he heard a flurry of footsteps trekking down the staircase. The coincidental timing alerted him to Riece's suspicions, so he was quick to scratch out the small line he had created with the edge of one of his dulled spikes just before the man entered the basement and examined Al's surroundings.

Thankfully, he didn't deem anything out of order, but the young alchemist was much more careful about when he worked on it after that. Once Riece would leave him alone for a few hours, he would chip away at it slowly to test the waters. When he got such a chance, he rarely heard any response upstairs, so he figured his captor was indeed sleeping or elsewhere completely. However, it was a rare occurrence.

At the rate he was going, it was proving difficult to predict when he would have the circle completed. He had only about a half of it done and was making very slow progress. The circle itself wasn't terribly complex, but it did requite extra details since he wanted the energy to be directed out towards him, rather than on the surface it was drawn onto. If it continued like this, he probably would not be able to make his escape attempt for a few more days.

The fact that he struggled to even see what he was doing didn't help. Without legs, turning himself around to get a good view was quite challenging, not to mention risky. Besides that, his helmet wasn't able to turn enough to face the circle completely, which forced him to be more careful, and therefore slower, than before.

As of late, Riece had been coming across as an overly optimistic person who had lost all of his friends without realizing it. He would pull up a chair in the basement and try to coax Al into talking to him for hours at a time, unfazed by how clear the kid made it that he didn't want to be anywhere near him. He could only assume that something must have happened to make the man so especially happy, but he couldn't say what it was. But whatever the case, Al was certain that it could only mean bad news for him and his brother.

That is what he was expecting, and that is what he received when his captor returned once again, looking like a child who was too excited about something to properly contain it. He strolled in with freshly pressed clothing and a smile that might had been infectious, had Al not known that it's owner was a psychopath.

"Hello Alphonse," he greeted as he pulled up a chair, sensibly keeping himself a few feet away from the suit of armor. "How are you feeling today?"

Al made a sound that resembled a wary sigh. He had long since grown tired of the man's infuriating mind games.

"Same as last time," he replied flatly. Remaining silent only encouraged the man to keep talking, and giving a decent answer also encouraged him to keep talking. There was no way to win.

"Ah, but that's what you have been saying for days now. I will just assume that your last real answer is still valid. Which means, you're feeling 'annoyed.' Understandable. But you know, it isn't healthy to remain in such a state for a prolonged amount of time."

Alphonse didn't respond that time.

After a moment, Riece chuckled to himself and shifted his weight on the old wooden chair across from the young alchemist.

"The silent treatment again? I would advise against doing so, since I have some interesting news for you," he explained, eyes sparkling with an excited anticipation.

Oh great. More news, Al thought solemnly. He knew it was nothing good, considering the last piece of information Riece had given him was that his brother was going to kill Colonel Mustang. Since that was clearly nothing more than a pack of lies, he knew better than to worry about whatever he was going to be told this time.

The man shifted again and pulled out a folded newspaper from his back pocket, then proceeded to open it up. He then eyed Alphonse over the edge of the paper.

"Edward has been quite busy, it seems," he said lightly. "Wouldn't you like to know what has happened?"

Al would have glared at him if he was able to. "No, I don't. You're only going to lie to me again. I can't trust anything you say."

From needing help looking for his lost daughter, to accusing Ed of murder: nothing Riece said could ever have been true.

"But can you trust what the newspaper says?" he asked, quirking a brow and gesturing to the paper in his hands.

The conversation about Ed being told to kill Mustang still rang clearly in his mind. It couldn't be about that, right? Riece wasn't about to tell him that the colonel was found dead, right? No, of course not. That was impossible. He needed to stay strong. He couldn't allow himself to be overtaken by doubt; especially in regards to Ed. He would never doubt is older brother. Never.

"This has nothing to do with Roy Mustang, if that's what you're worried about," he added, having somehow noticed Al's concern and read his mind.

That quelled some of his worries, but he remained wary. Slowly, Al dropped his soulfire gaze back on the captor. "You're going to tell me whether I want to know or not."

Riece's smile widened. "Right you are," he replied cheerfully, once again failing to act like a typical kidnapper. Without waiting for reaction from the kid, he crossed his legs and shook the paper once in his hands to straighten it out. He then cleared his throat and began to read aloud.

"Hero of the People arrested for suspected murder," he read the headline, glancing back at Alphonse for a moment, who was now frozen stiff. "The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, was arrested by the military Saturday, November seventh. He was apprehended by colonel Henry Douglas of the military police and the Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang. Neither officers were available for comment."

Ed was arrested... by Colonel Mustang...?

And just after he was supposedly told to kill him...

There was no way that his brother actually attempted to take the life of his superior officer. It simply wasn't possible. No matter how Al looked at it, there was just no way...

Even if Riece was holding Al's life above his head... Right? Right?!

It had to have been untrue. It had to be another lie. It had to.

Please, please, please, be a lie.

Maybe he was just missing something. It was possible that Edward was falsely arrested for the first death- Al would much rather believe that.

But then why was Mustang of all people the one to bring him in? He knew the two state alchemists had a rather difficult relationship, but he was certain that the colonel was far more likely to help Edward in secret than to arrest him for murder. Surely the man doubted Ed's involvement just as much as Al did.

So what had happened?

No, he couldn't believe it. He couldn't jump to conclusions out of fear. He didn't have enough information. Heck, Al didn't have any real information. All he had was what Riece chose to tell him, and even that couldn't be trusted.

Alphonse looked back up to the beaming man, ready to call him out, but the newspaper was quickly turned and shoved into his view. A monochromatic photo of what appeared to be Ed's mugshot was housed on the front page of the newspaper. Al stared blankly at the picture, ashamed that he barely recognized his brother at first.

Because his days were not divided by sleep like most people, they blurred together and time had a way of traveling by quickly. Despite that, it still felt like an eternity had gone by since he last saw Ed. Apparently, a lot had happened since then, judging by the distinct differences that jumped out to Al on his brother's face.

His eyes were heavy, but alert- or rather, alarmed. His expression gave Al the impression that he was watching out for something to attack him, but outside of relying on instincts, he wasn't quite sure what was happening around him; as if he was caught in a whirlwind.

There was something else hidden deep underneath the surface that surely no one else besides Alphonse was able to notice, but even he couldn't quite place it. If anything, he was afraid to place it. He almost wanted to say that Ed looked damaged, as if something had happened to him just before the photo was taken. Something that somehow had the strength to weigh down his very soul.

But... Al was reading too deeply into it, surely. He was overreacting. Seeing things that were not there, perhaps. Letting his fears get the better of him.

However, if he was right, he didn't want to brush something like that off. Al certainly hoped it wasn't true, but the alternative did nothing to relive his concerns. Even so, that didn't necessarily mean that something happened to Mustang, or that Edward did anything wrong. Or tried to, anyway...

Yes, he couldn't allow himself to jump to conclusions. In a matter of days, he would escape from this place and he would be able to find Ed and clear the whole thing up.

"So what do you think, Alphonse?" Riece asked smartly, still holding the paper loosely in his hand as he studied the suit of armor. "Have you finally come to terms with Edward's actions?"

"Maybe he did get arrested, but it could have been a misunderstanding," Al fired back without hesitation. "You're just twisting things to frighten me!"

"Oh but I've only told you facts so far," the man replied lightly. "It's true that I told Edward to kill Colonel Mustang, and it's true that he was arrested by the very same man. You're a smart kid, Alphonse; I believe you can put the pieces together. Acting naive will get you nowhere."

Was he being naive? Was it wrong of him to have so much faith in his brother? Al didn't think so, but if it was to the point where he denied facts... But no, there were no facts! Riece had proven to him countless times that he was an unapologetic liar. And it was only heavily suggested that Edward attacked Mustang and got thrown behind bars for it. That didn't necessarily mean that that is what actually happened.

"You- you're just not telling me everything. You just want me to believe that for your own pleasure," he accused, but he inwardly flinched as he heard the conviction flee his tone.

"Oh, come now, Alphonse," the man sighed and uncrossed his legs, leaning forward slightly in his chair as concern flashed across his face. "Don't you think this stubborn faith will only hurt more when you finally see your brother again? You need to be prepared for that." He leaned back again, then finally pulled out a small notepad and began to write down notes. "You'll come face to face with Edward and ask for the truth, but how will you react when he's unable to look you in the eye? I've been watching him, and I'm certain that he'll be far too consumed by guilt to give you a straight answer. Will you still think he's so innocent then?"

"No, he won't- he'll... I-" Al stuttered for a moment before silencing himself, unsettled by how the doubt that was planted so long ago began to grow. All he wanted was for it to go away. He couldn't stand the idea of doubting his brother. Ed would never do the same to him, so how could he justify it? He couldn't- he didn't want to. It was so easy to say that Riece was lying even now and none of it was true. How could he know the difference, locked underground? But even if he couldn't prove their worth, all of these supposed facts stacking up against the older Elric still held a weight that he couldn't ignore.

Alphonse couldn't stand to acknowledge it, but he couldn't quite deny it either. Not anymore, anyway. Even without a body, the thought still managed to make him feel sick.

He couldn't believe that Ed was guilty. He just couldn't... But at the moment, he was given nothing else to believe.

Roy Mustang stepped down the wide hall of Central Command, lacking the usual sense of purpose that often accompanied him on a daily basis. It was turning out to be just another day filled with questions and doubt with no answers in sight.

Once again, he was not able to accomplish much and the day was already drawing to a close. Roy planned on paying Edward another visit, but he was hoping to bring the kid some kind of update in the case. And so far, nothing has changed.

He had just returned from getting a very late lunch (or early dinner) at the cafeteria and was making his way back to his office, polished boots echoing down the corridor with every step. His walking slowed to a stop and he gazed out one of the large windows that overlooked the vast city, squinting his eyes as the setting sun broke through the clouds and reflected its light off of the snow. A gentle snowfall had covered everything in sight with a crisp sheet of white, but the sun added an orange tint and cast long, dramatic shadows over the landscape. Many would have been able to find beauty in such a sight, but it only served to further annoy the colonel. He suppressed a shiver, almost able to feel the cold that would surely greet him after he left the safety of his workplace later that night.

Shaking his head, Roy continued down the hall, sparing no mind to the other uniformed officers who passed him by. He had to keep his attention on the matter at hand; figuring out a way to get Edward out of jail.

Simply breaking him out was out of the question for a plethora of reasons. Even considering doing so in the first place would had been laughable, if Roy was in any mood to laugh. Every other idea included some amount of deceit, but he was certain Ed would agree if it meant getting closer to Alphonse, in spite of his earlier reluctance. All they needed was a solid story and some evidence to back it up.

Perhaps they could switch blame onto Riece and claim that Ed didn't say anything in fear of him harming Al. That was plausible enough, and not entirely untrue, and it would also gain them the support of the rest of the military in search for the kidnapper.

But if it didn't work, if they found out that Roy was lying for the sake of his subordinate, then he would end up in just as much trouble as Edward.

Roy blinked as he recognized the door that suddenly faced him, realizing that he had arrived at his office. He reached forward to grab the knob, but a voice down the hall caused him to stop and look over.

"Roy," a familiar call echoed as hasty steps followed. Maes quickly approached the colonel with a solemn expression that said he meant business. "I need to tell you something."

The alchemist nodded and he proceeded to walk into his office as his hopes wavered. Judging by the man's expression, he wasn't quite sure if good or bad news awaited him. He instinctively casting a glance over his staff as he walked through while Hughes was quick to follow. The five of them were all hard at work (by their standards) and all simultaneously stopped to watch him as he mutely crossed the floor over to his inner office. Without uttering a word, he and his friend stepped into the private room and the door was closed behind them.

Roy sat down at one of the sofas in the center and folded his hands on his kneed, watching carefully as Hughes took the seat across the coffee table from him.

"What is it?" he finally asked, struggling to keep his curiosity from chipping away at his composure.

Thankfully, Maes was quick to get to the point.

"I was doing some digging, and it turns out that my hunch was right. Do you remember Markus Riece?"

Roy's eyes widened as the vaguely familiar name rung in his ears. He felt the blood in his veins run cold as old forgotten memories came to light.

"What about him?" he asked slowly even as realization had already rammed into him like a train, leaving him feeling slightly disoriented. He did what he could to banish the distracting feeling, knowing he had no time for it.

"He was released from prison a few weeks ago."

"What!?" Roy demanded, straightening his back to sit up straight. "How is that possible?"

"From what I heard, he got out early for good behavior," Hughes replied, sounding just as doubtful as Roy felt.

"This can't be a coincidence." Roy dug his fingers into the chair's armrest and glared at the coffee table, cursing himself for not knowing sooner. He had shortly considered the possibility of Markus Riece being the man who had kidnapped Alphonse back when Ed first opened up enough to tell him the name, but he brushed the thought aside since he was still under the assumption that the man was sitting behind bars back in East City.

Four years ago, Roy was a recently promoted lieutenant colonel and was actively searching for work to take up to bump himself higher in the chain of command after he had recovered marginally from the psychological effects of the war. That was when he found and arrested Markus Riece, who had been charged with participating in some rather inhuman experiments. After that, he hadn't heard the name or thought of him once. He was just a stepping stone that quickly faded in Roy's memory, obscured by more important matters.

If he blamed Roy for his arrest, that certainly explained why the man wanted him dead. It also wasn't hard to see that he was simply using Ed to get close to him. However, there were still countless holes in the story.

"But what connection did he have with Victor Tresler?" the colonel asked as if he was speaking to no one, but his eyes fell on his friend anyway. He had no doubt that the man did some looking into it.

"It's too soon to say. I put in a request for the full case file from East Command. Hopefully, I'll have it by tomorrow," Hughes explained, then paused and pursed his lip. "Riece was born in Central and spent the majority of his life here before his arrest. It's possible that they knew each other somehow, although it seems like a long shot. We can only hope that there's some clear connection in the file."

Roy nodded slowly and leaned forward, intertwining his fingers as his gaze focused idly on the coffee table. He remembered very little from that case, despite how disturbing it was. After recently returning from the war, he felt as if nothing could shock him anymore and all thoughts regarding the matter were easily brushed under the rug, along with the countless other unpleasant memories.

Even his efforts to dig up those memories were not very successful. He was in a strange state of mind back in those days; he simply went through the motions, doing all he could to keep his darker thoughts at bay as he struggled to keep his eyes on the future. Markus Riece was simply one criminal out of hundreds- just another tool to distract himself.

"Do you think it's him?" Hughes asked, although one look at him told Roy that they were thinking the exact same thing.

"It couldn't be anyone else. How did you know to look into that anyway?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I remembered you talking about that case a few years back; didn't think looking into it would be all that promises, which is why I didn't mention it. I guess I just got lucky," his friend added with a hint of a shrug.

A thin smile tugged at Roy's lips. Luck seemed to be in short supply these days, but it seemed like it didn't run out just yet.

"Thanks for telling me this, Maes," the colonel said as he placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself back to his feet. "I want to know right away when that file gets here."

"Sure thing," Hughes replied easily as he too stood up. "What are you going to do until then?"

Roy paused and seriously considered the question for a moment. However, he didn't spend long on it before coming to a verdict.

"Not sure. But first and foremost, I need to tell Edward about this." And with that, he was already rounding the couches and making his way for the door, oblivious to the amused smile on his friend's face.

"Alright," Hughes said, failing miserably at keeping the smile from his voice as well as he followed his friend out. Roy gave him a short look over his shoulder, but was far too mentally preoccupied to allow Maes' jovially reaction to slow him down.

Again, without a word to his team, Roy walked through the main office and straight for the second door. He would explain it to them later, as his main focus of priorities was still on the subordinate who was sitting alone in a jail cell.

He was fairly certain that he heard Hughes say something to them on their way out. The mentally occupied colonel was given no reason to believe that it was anything he had to concern himself with, so he paid no mind and continued onward.

"I'll see you later, Roy," his friend said to him just as Roy was walking through the door frame. He gave him a curt wave in response before heading out into the hall.

Pulling up the map of the base in his head, he promptly turned to the left, subconsciously reminding himself not to appear too excited in front of the scrutinizing officers that paced the halls.

But it was exciting, so who could really blame him? He had just more-or-less discovered who was behind a kidnapping and the mental torture of a child.

But on the other hand, perhaps he should try to calm himself down. There was nothing to directly link Markus Riece to this case. When Hughes said he got out of prison for good behavior, then maybe it was true...

Except that was extremely unlikely. He would have to see it with his own eyes to believe it. So until it was proven otherwise, he was going to go off of the assumption that he was right about this, never mind the holes that remained.

As he swiftly turned a corner, he began to compare everything he remembered about Markus to what Edward had told him and still, some things didn't quite add up. For one, Ed described the man to be a very happy person. The man who he arrested four years ago was definitely anything but. Of course, few people had the gall to appear happy while getting arrested, but he didn't even seem capable of such emotions back then. But still, that wasn't enough to cause him any doubt. A lot could change in four years, after all. And even more could change in four years of prison.

Finally the door to the cell block was in sight, growing larger and larger with every hasty step he took towards it. As he was closing in on it, the door opened from behind and two officers dressed in blue began to walk out. Roy thought nothing of them until he saw Edward trudging out behind them.

His mind and body both froze at the sight of his subordinate. Ed's wrists where still restrained and one look at his nervous expression was more than enough to know that something wasn't right. By the looks of it, he was nearing hysteria. He stared ahead with wide, anxious eyes and was fidgety as one of the soldiers pushed him to keep walking.

Roy quickly shook himself out of his alarm and stepped to intersect their path. "Hold on," he ordered, efficiently causing the two lower ranking men to pause. "What do you think you're doing?"

One of them was visibly hesitant, clearly not expecting to get challenged. The other, however, barely even blinked at the colonel as he responded with a confident ease that Roy found rather worrying.

"We were ordered to escort the Fullmetal Alchemist for questioning."

"By who's orders?" Roy asked without missing a beat, just barely keeping the bite from his tone. If Douglas was moving his subordinate around without his knowledge, then there would most certainly be hell to pay. After the new discovery of Markus Riece, the colonel had forgotten about Douglas just long enough for him to pull something.

"By orders of the Fuhrer."

…

Wait... what!?

Roy just stared at them for a moment, fighting to digest the shocking information. All thoughts pertaining to Al's kidnapper were temporarily forgotten, eclipsed by his skyrocketing fear for Ed's future.

The Fuhrer?! What could he possibly want with Fullmetal? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. There was no possible way this was going to end well. Call him a pessimist, but as someone who had seen him in action, Roy knew that there was no one else who was capable of inspiring terror quite like Bradley, all underneath the kind exterior that he often carried around.

Well, that at least explained the soldier's confidence. Roy reluctantly stepped out of the way. "... Carry on then," he forced himself to say, keeping an eye on Ed as they did just that. The kid cast him an anxious glance as he passed, which the older alchemist could only return with sympathy.

He wasn't able to stand in their way, but he could at least follow closely behind.

Roy was amazed that he completely forget to consider how someone like the Fuhrer would react to the news about Ed. A Sate Alchemist being accused of murder was a big deal. And of course Bradley would keep himself updated regarding Ed's situation. Roy didn't hear anything about the opinions of the higher-ups until now. The fact that the rest of the country, including the military, was watching was obscured by other, seemingly more important thoughts.

Edward was right to be worried. There was no telling what the man was planning, but he had the power to do anything he wanted. Hell, he could order Ed for execution and Roy wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it.

No- if it came to that, he would have to do something. But trying to stop it could only get himself killed too for insubordination- or at least get demoted, but he was in no mind to test his luck. If it came down to that, then the only options were for only one of them to die, or both. Or worse. Well, that just wasn't fair.

But wait- hold on, he was getting ahead of himself. It was good to consider the worst case scenario, but he had to be reasonable as well. State Alchemists were valuable resources for the Amestrain military; the Fuhrer of all people wouldn't want to just get rid of one, especially one as skilled as Edward.

Roy exhaled slowly as he followed, willing himself to calm down. Don't overreact, he told himself. It won't be as bad as you think.

But sadly, comforting words did very little when faced with the grand set of double doors that divided him and one of the most powerful men in the world. The colonel was certain that his ribs would crack from the force that his heart was beating against them. He curled his hands into fists by his sides, suddenly extremely grateful for all of the experience he had with hiding his worries behind masks.

However, Edward couldn't say the same. Sure, the kid had an impressive endurance and didn't get shaken easily, but even he could see the dire situation that loomed over them both. His jaw was tensely set and he looked a little unbalanced, but that was likely primary thanks to sleep that he clearly hadn't been getting.

The two soldiers stopped at the door and turned towards the blond. "He wants to speak with you alone," the surer one said as he placed a hand on the door handle, seeing as Ed was unable to open it for himself without much struggle.

Roy was usually keen to keep himself from showing any outright concern for the boy in front of other members of the military, especially those who answered directly to the Fuhrer, but he couldn't stand to remain quiet when the door began to open and Ed cast him another nervous look from over his shoulder.

"I'll be here when you get out," he stated, succeeding with keeping his own worry from his tone.

It looked like Ed would have smiled if he was physically capable of doing so at the moment. But instead, he just did a stiff half-nod before reluctantly turning back towards the door.

His heart was still racing and he'd even wager to say that he was more nervous than Edward was. The kid didn't know what King Bradley was capable of, after all. He had no idea what exactly was waiting for him. But to be fair, Roy didn't know either. Countless possibilities came to mind, but none of them were favorable. He could only hope that Ed didn't say anything that would ruin his chances of freedom.

Roy could only stand back and watch as his subordinate walked into the lion's den, nearly suffocating on a form of fear that he had never felt before.

AN: Cliffhanger! This next week is going to be very busy for me as well, but I will do all I can to avoid postponing the next chapter by a week. I'm going to do that again soon, so I apologize if it ends up happening without proper warning. Don't forget about the chapter updates that I put up on my profile. :)

21 chapters. Wow. Thanks for sticking around, everyone! And as always, thanks for reading!