Mustang's Crew

Eden quickly headed to the Turks' office from the cafeteria, stepping inside to see several familiar faces while they all worked intently and tiredly on things at their desks. Reno was the only one to acknowledge him enough to give a smirk and wave, then point at the open door to Tseng's office. Giving the red haired Turk a small wave in recognition, he made his way to the door, stopping at it for a moment as he saw the PHS in Tseng's hand. He was about to close the door when the Wutain held a hand up to stop him, eyes focused on the blond.

At the moment, Tseng was listening to something on the other end, but it didn't take long before he said, "So that's what happened. Fine, head back here to get some rest, and we'll work out what to do once you've recovered." Moments later, he hung up the phone and looked up at Eden. "Is there a particular reason you aren't coming in and sitting like you should—would normally—have done?"

"Shouldn't I close the door?" Eden asked in reply.

"Not right now," the Wutain answered. When Ed didn't move, he ordered, "Sit."

The younger Turk thought petulantly that he should just sit where he was, but decided it would be better to move over to the chair he usually sat in across from the man. As he sat, he wondered why it seemed fine to have everyone in the other room hear everything they said this time, and oddly enough, having the open door (1) made him wary. It was also part of the reason why he hesitated to be—childish and take the order completely the wrong way very deliberately.

After a silence, Eden asked, "So, the five Amestrians are here now. Did any do anything as interesting as M—Kamil did?"

"No, not so far," Tseng answered. His dark eyes were staying on him with an unsettling intensity. "Mrs. Curtis was taken to the Hospital Wing rather than here, though, because she fought until she collapsed." He paused, then said, "The doctors gave me a very interesting report on her general health. Apparently, about half of her internal organs are missing from her body?"

"They are, and have been for—about sixteen or seventeen years. No, an ordinary person wouldn't have lived, let alone for so long, but she's not an 'ordinary' person," Eden answered evenly. "If she really kept fighting for so long, it doesn't surprise me she had to be taken to the Hospital Wing. Anything else?"

"We've already spoken with them about the things the Briggs men wanted to know, other than Mrs. Curtis, some of us last night and some of us this morning. I told them to start thinking about what they may want to do, from opening a shop or going into research or the usual military options. You're the one who will finish explaining the world situation and work out their positions so we can finalize this. It would be best to start with the ones here because Mrs. Curtis hasn't woken yet. Do you know how she lost so many of her internal organs?"

"By trying to bring her stillborn son back to life," Ed answered flatly. "The Gate and Truth aren't forgiving when people try to play God. She got as close to Al and me as she did because we were around the same age her son would have been if he'd lived, but the price she paid to try to bring him back meant she could never have children herself from then on, so the best she got was to adopt them. Until she took us on, she never forged a bond like that with any other kids, even though she helped their parents take care of them, and part of the reason she forged it with us was because she had been hoping to keep us from making the same foolish mistake she did. You already know how that turned out."

"I see," Tseng answered, then gave a small nod. "Do you think she'd be willing to take on a promising student or two—mainly for martial arts, but she's welcome to teach them anything she wants—regardless of the place she takes in our society?"

"...It's possible, if they're orphans and have a determination to better themselves," Eden answered slowly. "I can't give a definitive answer, though, because she may flat-out refuse if it's for the purpose of having them join the Turks or SOLDIER in the future."

The man looked a little amused as he said, "No, those wouldn't be the only options or reasons, and yes, the two children I'm thinking about are orphans she would legally adopt. Before you went to Wutai and managed to end a years-long war for us, their only real options probably would have been the Turks or SOLDIER. Now, they're also able to join Gaia's Refuge or the Guardian's Forces—what Emperor Godo's army has been generally renamed to. The elite of those are still Crescent Unit, though. The renaming of the military now defending the resort towns and Wutai was part of the agreement between him and President Shinra."

The words were a little amusing, but Eden shrugged as he said, "Good to know, and it makes it more likely she'll agree to take on one or both, but I still can't say for sure. If no one's had a chance to talk with her yet, let me be the first one besides the doctors or I can guarantee you she'll just walk out, healed or not."

Tseng inclined his head in recognition, then said, "I'll let you know when she wakes up, then. You're free to go talk with them, since I have medical arrangements to make for Alvis after his mission. And Eden, the shelves you wanted should be there by the time you get there. Is there anything else organizational you need?"

A golden glower met his dark gaze as the blond Turk answered with a near-snarl, "A permanent marker and orders to every production facility in and outside the city to put labels on their fucking boxes! Because I'm not going to do this again, even under orders, if there aren't any labels next time I get put in there."

With raised brows, the Wutain commented, "That makes it sound like you're expecting to be disciplined like this again. It's not an encouraging thought."

"Knowing you, now that you've found something I loathe doing, you're always going to make me do this as your means of disciplining me. Don't try to say you won't. And you're putting a lot of faith in me never doing something worthy of being disciplined for ever again when you know as well as I do that probably won't happen when I'm only sixteen."

At the words, the older Turk inclined his head, lips twitching, as he said, "Point taken. I'll give them the order, and if I know Reno, he's already found a suitable marker, or will have by the time you're done with the Amestrians."

"Good to know. I'm done now," Eden answered, rising—and even more irritated by the reference to Reno and the open office door. The worst part was that he didn't know why it bothered him so much that the door had been open, other than possibly because he didn't like the change in pattern.

As he headed out, Tseng said, "If it's nearly noon by the time you're done, head straight to lunch and go back to organizing after you've eaten."

Eden's only response was a bit of a wave to let the Wutain Turk know he'd heard him. He then headed to the four guarded offices around the corner down the hall and blinked when he realized the guards this time were three Turks (Freyra, Cissnei, and Rude) and a SOLDIER—Kunzel, unless he was missing something. He asked the four of them, "Have you been here all night?"

"Nope, we just got here for guard duty about an hour ago," Freyra answered cheerfully as the others gave him amused looks. "But Tseng remembered what happened with Kamil, so he thought it was better for us to guard 'Turk-trained Infantrymen' while they were awake and aware. Who do you want to start with?"

For a moment, Eden hesitated, then said, "Hawkeye." After all, at times she had been motherly to him, and she was fairly easy to get along with for a discussion.

"Here, then," the brown haired woman grinned as she flicked a thumb at the door she stood in front of. Rude was at the next door down and Cissnei was across the hall from her, with Kunzel at the door across from Rude.

With a nod, Eden moved to that door, opened it, and stepped into the room. It was just like all the other times he'd stepped into the 'interrogation rooms', but with Hawkeye sitting at the table, an empty plate in front of her. The woman's dark blue eyes widened when she saw him, and he noted how she had her hair down now, rather than up in the not-quite-bun she usually kept it in, her bangs the same as always. It was also obvious she had no weapons on her, though she was otherwise just as he'd seen her in the video feeds from the Turks' cameras.

"Edward—a Turk?" she asked him in surprise, and he held a hand to his head tiredly.

"Why does everyone feel the need to question that?" he asked petulantly as he dropped his hand to glare at her.

Her gaze turned amused as she said, "Because I—we—never took you as the type to kill on command. Especially not for a company."

"Well, I wasn't about to join the Science Department while a sadist is in power there, and the Turks and the Science Department are my only two free passes to research and data. In that, the Turks even trump the Science Department unless something is deliberately being kept from us," Eden replied. He moved over to sit at the table and commented, "My boss told me you've been updated on the different positions in Shinra or society you're most likely to want. I'm here to find out if you have another option or a preference."

At the words, Hawkeye's brow rose and she asked, "Straight into work without a social visit? How unlike you."

Ed's expression turned sour as he said, "I got into trouble and have disciplinary duty after this—I know my boss, and he's really only giving me until noon to sort all of you out."

For a minute, the woman was quiet, then she said softly, "While it's good to know we're essentially being handed free livelihoods, I can't help but wonder why. And why were several of us brought along to Amestris when we weren't even on or near the array?"

"Apparently, for Truth, being in the same room counts as being 'near enough to' it, just like the ones who can be designated to pay the price of a transmutation don't have to be the ones activating the array," the sixteen-year-old sighed. "Part of the 'why you' is that you have blood in you which allows you to function here. I'll start by giving you a run-down of things as they stand." He then explained to her the world situation and Chaos and Omega Theory, finishing up with, "And all of you are here because you'll be able to help fix things. The Turks and top SOLDIERs know all that, and are trying to gather as many allies as they can to fix the things which need to be fixed with as little death as possible. To do that, you need livelihoods."

For several long moments, the woman met his gaze, then asked, "Have you ever regretted your decision to get involved, let alone by joining the Turks?"

"What am I supposed to regret? This is my home now, and if things stay the way they are, the world will die," he replied with a sharp tone.

There was sadness in her eyes as she reached across the table to rest her hand on his arm, saying, "But you've done things you regret, nonetheless. I'm a solider, Edward, in the truest sense of the words, and I know what it means to obey ruthless orders—and to regret having done so. What happened?"

"It's Eden now," he muttered, glaring at the tabletop as she raised a brow slightly, but her gaze was no less worried or sad. Finally, after a minute, he sighed and said, "Look, I just had to relive this with Al, so I'd rather not talk about it again so soon."

"...You told Alphonse about the horrors of your job?" The thought disturbed her for more than one reason, knowing how hard the younger, gentler brother would have taken whatever those horrors were. For Ed—en to have opened the door to that world for Al was also alarming in itself because they were both still children, and Ed was usually so very protective of his brother.

"...He needed to understand how much I've changed in the last five months, Hawkeye." The gold gaze caught and held hers with an intensity which surprised her. "I always intellectually knew what it meant to be a soldier, but in Amestris, no one ever enforced it on me. Sometimes things happen and there's no choice left anymore, and with my usual alchemy out of the equation here—let's just say there were no corners I could cut to avoid obeying those orders, unspoken or otherwise. Now, I can fully grasp what the job means from experience. He wanted me to be just like I'd been before, and even though some of my bad habits tried to come back—may still do so—I can still never be the person I had been before."

"Did he need to know that while still a child?" she asked quietly.

The corners of his lips turned up in a mirthless smile and he said, "Both Shinra and Wutai designated fourteen as the 'age of majority', and once you hit fourteen, you're disciplined like any adult and expected to behave like one. If I don't open his eyes now, he's going to walk into a bloodbath with no way to wrap his mind around it. I know I hurt him, Hawkeye, but I'd rather drop things on him in some degree of safety and give him some time to sort them out than to have him walk into it suddenly with no forewarning. With things the way they are right now, he wouldn't have been able to stay ignorant for long, and I'd rather not see him break because of what kinds of horrors happen here if no one keeps them in check."

Pausing to think about the point Eden was making, she then asked, "Things like the Ravens, you mean?" Her hand released his arm as she sat back.

"Plenty besides those, but yes, that's one we're going to have to face," the blond sixteen-year-old agreed. "Which is why we need all the help we can get."

Hawkeye slowly nodded, then asked, "Everyone is safe, yes? Have you been able to talk with Roy yet?"

"You're the first one I'm talking to, and yes—everyone's safe," the boy agreed. "I know you're likely to take whatever position the Bastard tells you to take, but if you were to choose for yourself, what would it be?"

She looked amused by the question as she answered, "Myself, likely the Turks—as much as Gaia's Refuge has its good points, I prefer something with a more stable, solid structure, and I'd be able to use and develop my sniper skills more with the Turks than anywhere else. Learning to use a sword doesn't sit well with me, either."

"Nothing on a more civilian end?" he asked in amusement.

"There are very few jobs which would appeal to me on that end after all the years I've been with the military," the older, blond woman answered with something like a shrug. "Of course, if Roy chooses SOLDIER or the Infantry and wants me with him, I'll go, even if that means learning skills I don't care for."

"I think you should know one other thing about SOLDIER, though—something people like Tseng and Genesis don't know because they never saw the Alchemist's Gate like those of us from Amestris did," Ed told her, and she blinked, then nodded. "If you get the Mako infusions, you're going to start hearing the voice—voices?—of the Lifestream. I think short-term you'd be able to handle the influx of information, but Mako is liquid Lifestream, which is this world's spirit energy, like Mei's veins of the dragon, so if any of us gets an infusion of it, we won't be able to shut off that influx. You may have to choose something of your own accord regardless of Mustang's decision if he goes for SOLDIER, because as was said to me by someone else who has that ability, not everyone can handle it—even if Mustang can, that doesn't mean you can."

Blinking several times in surprise, the woman looked away into the distance for a minute while she thought. Finally, she said, "You'll need to talk with Mustang, then. As much as you're probably right that I could do it short-term, I doubt I'd be able to handle having any other voices in my head for long. My preference is still the Turks unless there's a specific other position he wants me to take."

Eden grinned at the words and said, "I knew it."

"What did you know?"

"You'd pick the Turks. All it will mean is that you're going to have a very short sign-in process," the younger blond answered, pushing himself to his feet. "And you'll be able to skip basic training because you already went up against a Turk and held your own. But, I'll talk with Mustang and return to you with his word before I tell Tseng to sign you up with us. I'll be back later."

"Thank you, Ed—en," the woman said as he headed out the door.

Outside, once the door had closed behind him, Freyra asked, "So, did she make a decision?"

"A tentative one which depends on Mustang to finalize," the younger Turk answered, making the others give wry grins.

"Here, then," Rude said, motioning at the door behind him.

"Yeah—I want to talk with Fuery first, though, since he's probably going to do the same thing as Hawkeye and I'd rather not have more discussions with the Bastard than I have to," Eden answered with a bit of a grin at the older man, who gave a nod of understanding.

"Mine, then," Cissnei smiled. Eden stepped up beside her, but stopped as her hand rested on his arm. She gazed at him for a moment before saying barely above a whisper, "I don't know what got into you last night, but please don't do something like that again—we can't protect you if you start breaking obvious rules or ignoring logical orders. Okay?"

He blinked at her in surprise for a minute before giving a faint smile and saying softly, "Thanks, and I'm sorry for being such an ass and making you worry." With an answering smile, her hand dropped from his arm, so he stepped into the room—

To see Fuery fiddling with the window locks after having dragged the chair over to the window. He closed the door and asked dryly, "Trying to escape? Really?"

Fuery started and nearly lost his balance in the process, causing a 'whoa' and cartwheeling arms before he managed to control his drop off the chair to land on his feet on the floor. The black haired man straightened his glasses, then looked up at Eden with a wry smile as he said, "No, not trying to escape, just get some light in here. What are you doing here, Fullmetal?" The man's eyes scanned over the blond's black suit with mild surprise, but he said nothing about it.

"It's Eden now," the Turk answered dryly. "And I'm here to help you work out what kind of job, what kind of livelihood, you're going to have here. Were you told this was a one-way trip?"

"M—Roy indicated that's probably what it was," Fuery agreed. "He didn't want to worry the kids until he had enough data to know for sure, but he let Riza and I know because we would be most responsible for our livelihoods and the kids." He moved the chair back over to the table while talking and sat as he finished, so Ed sat across from him.

"So, I was told you were given details of combat positions you could take, but part of what I'm here for is to find out if there's anything else you'd like to do, something I should pass on to Tseng and Mustang for you," Eden explained. "Also, there are some other things you need to know." He then gave Fuery all the same data he'd given Hawkeye before, including what the Mako infusion would do to them.

For a minute, Fuery frowned thoughtfully, arms crossed over his chest, until he finally said, "I'm—a communications person, and normally my first choice would be something like laying phone lines, but the technology here is—beyond what I know how to work with. I may have to default to a military position otherwise."

Ed's brow rose momentarily, then he said, "Give me a minute to see if I can pull a few strings." He then pulled out his PHS, picked Tseng's number, and dialed it.

"What's the matter, Eden?" the Wutain's familiar voice asked.

"I was right and Fuery's a communications person through-and-through, but his one deterrent to that is in learning the technology Shinra has. What kinds of positions do you think you can get him, and what training would he need for them?" Fuery's eyes were intent on the device he held to his ear as he talked, the interest in them obvious.

"There's potential of someone giving him some lessons before he starts a position in our marketing and media department. For training, I think we could get Reeve to assign him a newcomer as a teacher in technology for a week or two before he starts. Depending on the path he takes through that system, his job could range from setting up things like press conferences to working out the wiring and programing for recordings to go to the public to acting as our switchboard operator to generally making sure lights and communication wires don't go out. At first, it would start on the low end of largely running errands or double-checking wiring, but there are some holes to fill right now, so he'll have a place there. The sooner he starts work, the sooner he'll be able to continue independent studies in our libraries."

"That sounds like it'll be a nice fit. Thanks, Tseng," Eden agreed, then hung up and pocketed it.

His gaze met Fuery's excited, interested gaze as the man said, "I've seen PHS's in use before, but haven't had the chance to use one. Will I be able to if I join Shinra?"

"Yeah, in just about any position here," the blond answered in amusement. "More if you go into the marketing and media department. Tseng told me they need a lot of positions filled, and that there's a good chance someone from the Urban Development Department will be able to give you a week or two of training to get you up to speed before you start. Once you start, you'll have ID to give you access to the libraries for more independent studies on the topics. Interested?"

"Marketing and media?" Fuery asked cautiously. "I'm not into public representation positions, especially not when that will require lying."

"Most of the jobs Tseng listed were types of wiring and depend on the direction you take through the department," Eden answered. "You'd probably like being a switchboard operator, but you'd really have to check with them about your options when you start unless your teacher can tell you all the things you could do."

"I see. In that case, unless Mustang needs or wants me somewhere else, I'd go with that option," the black haired man agreed.

Rising, the blond gave a nod and said, "I'll check in with Mustang, then, and tell you his answer." As he rose, he paused and raised a brow to say, "Please stop trying to open the windows, though, because they were sealed for a reason."

"All right," the man grinned in amusement.

Eden left the room, then turned to face the door behind Rude...and stopped.

Notes:

(1) This open door isn't actually open because of Eden's potential behavior, it's open to remind Tseng not to act on the anger he's still trying to manage while he has to deal with Eden, at least for the morning. From Eden's perspective, though, it gets twisted into something it's not. We're ALL guilty of this from time to time! :D