"Interrogation"
When Edward got into the dining room after one of the employees announced him that the breakfast was ready, he saw Alex and Olivia already in the table, so he smiled ashamed. And he thought he had hurried…
"Good morning, Edward-Kun", the Major greeted him happily.
"Good morning, Armstrong-San, Olivia-San", he said taking a seat at the Major's side. Olivia didn't say anything.
"Did you sleep well?", Armstrong asked him when the employees placed the breakfast on the table.
"Perfectly, thanks", he said respectfully. He could be gentle with the Major since he knew him a little, but Olivia's presence only made him feel tense so he just answered politely.
"I'm glad. I heard that the phone rang in your bedroom rang tonight, did B. General Mustang call?"
"Yes, he called from the train station", he said while he took a bite of his food. However, he noticed Olivia had looked up, but immediately looked away. "Everything is ok"
"It's good to hear that", the Major said drawing a big smile, "The telephone line in your bedroom is private", he added when he noticed the boy was about to ask him something. The blonde just nodded grateful.
Edward glanced at Olivia, who remained silent the entire breakfast, even when he and her brother left towards the Headquarter. It was obvious that the Major loved his sister, but the woman seemed everything but kind as he had said. She was beautiful, he couldn't deny that, but other than that he didn't know what his father saw in her…or was exactly that's what he just saw in her.
In the Headquarter, the Major told the boy that they would meet in the same place the day before, so the blonde walked towards the Colonel's office. He opened the door and saluted the man who, as usual, had tons of paperwork and he was reading them attentive. The man didn't remember his father at all…Roy usually took a pile of papers when he was sick of them and signed the documents without reading them or made little planes with them.
"Good morning, Edward"
"Good morning, Colonel", he said still saluting him.
"I need you to go and find Schieska. She will give you some formats that I need. Here, the indications are written in this paper", he said handing it to the boy who quickly grabbed it. "Take this documents to Major General Hakuro and bring me two cups and some tea".
The boy found it weird the Colonel asked him for two cups, but maybe he was waiting for someone to come. "Major General Hakuro?", he asked not really remembering someone with that name.
"He had just got transferred from the West Headquarter, walked straight through the hallway and you will see his office"
Edward nodded. However, today he wasn't willing to go without answers. He approached the desk and stared at the man.
"Colonel Douglas, why is everything so…quiet?"
The man kept reading the paper he had on his hand not really paying attention to the boy's question, so Ed insisted.
"The only thing they had done is send Otoosan far from here, but there're other alchemists with him so it won't be easy if they want to catch him". Ed noticed that the man became a little nervous, so he just kept talking, "And if they wanted me, they could have sent me to a mission alone or Armstrong-San"
"Edward, I told you we must not talk about this here, walls have ears", the Colonel muttered not looking at him and making it clear that he didn't appreciate being interrupted. "In my opinion, they are trying not to attract the Fuhrer's attention, he suspects something"
Ed sighed and obeyed at the serous gaze of the man. The blonde walked towards the M. General Hakuro or at least he thought that it was the right way. However, he heard someone running through the hallway and turned around.
"Edward-Kun!"
The blonde saw Marcia Ross running towards him with a worried face. He smiled, but he flinched when the woman hugged him strongly. Confused, he hugged her back.
"I'm so glad you're fine. They didn't let me go yesterday to see you", she said hugging him even stronger, at the point that Ed felt that he couldn't breathe.
"I'm fine, but I will be better if you let me breathe", the boy muttered trying to hold his breath. The woman broke the hug and smiled ashamed, "I'm sorry I worried you"
"How could you say that? It's not like you asked to be kidnapped", she said in a low voice said taking a golden lock of the boy's face
"…Maybe not…but I'm no entirely innocent…"
Ross narrowed her eyes accusatorily."You put yourself in danger again, didn't you?", Ed smiled slightly nervous and scratched his head. Ross just sighed.
"Don't get mad with me please…", he finally said making the woman smile. Ed sometimes really behaved like a kid. "Help me find M. General Hakuro's office"
Ross stood up and walked at the blonde's side guiding him. "Everyone is acting like anything had happened, isn't they?"
Edward nodded, "Yeah, that only make me feel even more nervous. I don't know what to expect", he said muttering and looking around to verify that nobody was close enough to hear what they were talking about. "I though they wanted to do something since they sent Otoosan far from here".
"But you under Major Armstrong's care, I know he is keeping an eye on you even when you don't see it", she said smiling at him. Edward was surprised, he hadn't noticed that and the Major was not somebody that could hide easily. "Not everyone would dare to fight that man"
Edward drew a smile, but Ross suddenly stopped in front of a door indicating that they had arrived, "Thank you, Ross-San"
"I'll be expecting to see you at the cafeteria at lunch", she almost warning him and saluting him, just for the habit, and walked away,
The blonde knocked at the door and opened it when he heard a "come in" from the inside. When he saw the man, he was on the phone but he waved his hand telling him to come into the office.
Edward stood on his feet in front of the desk waiting for the man to finish the phone call. When he was done, Hakuro looked at him smiling, "Major Elric, I finally got to meet the youngest State Alchemist ever". Ed flinched at the comment and the man quietly laughed.
The boy lift a brow curious, "N-nice to meet you too, M. General Hakuro", he said hesitant, not really sure if it was the appropriate answer. He handed him the documents he had in his hand. "Colonel Douglas sent you this"
"Thank you very much, young man", Hakuro said taking one of the folders. But he stopped and opened a drawer and grabbed a folder handing it to Edward, "This is for the Colonel…and for you"
The blonde took the folder confused, why the General would have something for him? However, he saw some stuff written in the folder and looked up at the man.
"You're dismissed"
Ed saluted the General and walked out of the office reading the inscription in the folder. 'Took the paper in the middle, fold it and put it in your pocket. Don't read it here, wait until you got into the Major's house'.
The boy looked around confused, but decided to do it anyway. Soon, he entered the Colonel's office carrying a plate with teapot, the two cups and two sweet breads. He laid down the plate in the table between the two couches and poured some tea in one of the cups to hand it to the Colonel together with the folder the M. General gave him.
"Thanks", he said while he took a sip of the tea and read the documents, "Give me one of the sweet breads you brought and you can have some tea too if you want to"
Edward flinched and looked at the man not really getting what he had said, "Sir?"
Douglas glanced at the boy impatient, "Give me one of the sweet breads you brought and you can have some tea if you want to. Take the other sweet bread too"
Ed stared at the man, but he grabbed the plate and placed it in the Colonel's desk.
"Take a seat"
Edward did it. He drank his tea while he saw how the Colonel read and signed the tons of paperwork he had since he didn't know what else to do. The tea was incredible delicious, so he kept drinking it and eating the sweet bread while Colonel remained silent. Suddenly, the phone rang and the Colonel picked it up. Edward couldn't hear anything of the conversation since the man had turned his back on Ed.
When Douglas finally hung up, the man took a sip of his tea, but he seemed uneasy. The boy looked at him confused, but he wouldn't dare to ask.
"Edward, read the note that the M. General gave you", he suddenly said without looking at the boy.
The blonde analyzed the man face before he said something, "But he told me to wait until I got at the Major's house"
"Do it "
Ed didn't get why the man suddenly turned out somewhat cold once in a while, but he grabbed the paper and unfolded it.
"Edward Elric:
One of these days, they would come to pick you up to interrogate you about the kidnap. I strongly ask you not to say any name or anything relevant you found out while you were there, kept your story simple and believable. I can't give you any explanation, but these are the orders of an old friend of your father'.
The note wasn't signed, but it was obvious that it was from the M. General since the Colonel would have just told him. However, he felt a hollow in his stomach, Interrogation? What the hell was he supposed to say? He had to lie and be credible at the same time?
He couldn't even finish thinking about that when someone knocked at the door and opened it without waiting for the Colonel's response who was just drinking his tea. The blonde scrunched up the note and threw it into the bin discreetly when he saw that they were L. General Raven subordinates.
"Major Edward Mustang Elric, we have orders from the L. General Raven to take you with us"
The boy clenched his teeth. That was the reason why the Colonel had told him to read the note now, someone had forwarded the plan surely. Edward nodded and walked out of the office following the two men who didn't say a word. When they walked down some stairs, the blonde saw Major Armstrong at the bottom.
"Major Armstrong, you can't come with us"
"Brigadier General Mustang left the boy under my custody and the law says you cannot interrogate a minor without the presence of a tutor. So, if I can't come with him, the boy are not allowed to be interrogated".
He noticed that the men looked at each other, deciding if they should let the man or not, but they finally nodded, so they kept walking while the Strong-Arm Alchemist joined Ed at his side. The blonde only looked at the man out of the corner of his eyes.
"It's this…alright?"
The man just nodded, so Edward decided not to ask anything else. Finally, they arrived to the building where they held some prisoners that were waiting for a trial and interrogation rooms. They got into a barely lighted room, where some men indicated the blonde to take a seat in front of the desk while the door opened again and L. General Raven, his crew and, at Edward surprise, the Fuhrer himself entered.
The boy began to feel slightly nervous. He had planned to use some of his sarcasm and his rebelliousness in front of Raven, but he could never do that in front of the Fuhrer. Armstrong noticed the sudden nervousness of the blonde, so he placed a hand on one of the Ed's shoulders asking him to calm down.
One of Raven's subordinates took a seat in front of Edward and opened a folder analyzing some papers. Finally, he looked at the blonde, "Major Edward Mustang Elric, do you know why you are here?"
The boy flinched. Well, actually…he wasn't that sure, so he glanced at Alex, who just nodded. "I'm not sure"
The man didn't seem surprised. "We have been informed that you were kidnapped for 28 hours and, according to this information, you were able to free yourself and escape". Edward stared at the man for a moment, but then he nodded, "Can you tell us how that happened?"
The boy remained silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I don't remember, when Scar attacked me and the backup arrived, there was an explosion, caused by him probably, and I was unconscious after that".
The officer read one of the documents and Ed noticed that Raven had drawn a small smile. The Fuhrer, in the other hand, was emotionless.
"Did you have any contact with someone while you were confined? Do you know who the author of the kidnapping was?"
Ed shook his head, "No, nobody showed up while I was there. I don't have any idea why someone or for what reason would want to kidnap me"
"Then you don't have any idea who could have planned your abduction", he said one more time to confirm the information. Edward shook his head again, "Can you explain us how did you manage to escape?"
"…Since I have an automail arm, it was useful to break the ties without hurting myself…too much. That's how I escaped", he said trying to sound convincing. He had achieved, as he could tell by the man face.
"How did you get here, at Central?", the man asked quickly trying to put pressure in the blonde.
"I found the train station"
Edward felt how the anger was raising inside of him when he saw the smirk in Raven's face, however, he couldn't ruin it, not now when he had got this far.
"Did Brigadier General Mustang go to try to rescue you?"
The boy shrugged. "I don't know, I found him here when I arrived. I don't think so"
"Very well, you can take him to the Colonel Douglas' office, Major Armstrong"
Alex nodded and Edward rose following him and walking out of the room. Both walked in silence until they got out of the building.
"You did it great, Edward-Kun", the man told him, slightly surprised when he saw the boy's gesture when the blonde glanced at him with a weak smile. Ed was pale and sweating
He just sighed, "I just hope they believed what I said"
………
It was night already when Edward transmuted some rocks and destroyed them using his automail arm trying to do some exercise. Major Armstrong had helped him to train for two hours, showing him the famous coacher technique of the Armstrong family, and he had received a bad beat. The man had gotten some fun showing off his muscles with some sparkles around him, but Ed felt how his pride had been squashed again and again. He couldn't even put a finger over the Strong Arm Alchemist. If he couldn't at least be as strong as he allies, how on Earth did he think he could be stronger than his enemies?
Furious, he used all his strength to destroy the rocks, one by one, and transmuted them again immediately. He was exhausted, but the anger made him keep going. However, when he was about to punch one of them, the rock broke in two half and it fell heavily on the ground.
The boy stared at it for a moment confused, but when he heard some steps approaching him from behind, he turned and found Olivia Armstrong walking towards him.
"O-Olivia-San", he said slightly…scared, but immediately put his hand on his sides and bowed at her, "My apologizes If I woke you up, Miss"
The woman just stood there with her sword unsheathed staring at the blonde. She noticed that he was patting and seemed really tired. "On guard", she said suddenly lifting her sword.
Ed's eye widened, "…Miss, wha-what are you doing?"
Olivia attacked the boy, who barely reacted on time to stop the sword hits that woman threw him with his automail after he transmuted it into a blade. The woman's eyes announced him that he was seriously trying to cut him in two half.
"Wait!", he cried out trying to stop the slashes, "Olivia-San! Wait!"
However, the blond woman kept attacking the boy while he turned to see Alex to ask him for some help, but the man just watched the fight with sparkles around him. Suddenly, Olivia duck and kick Edward in the legs making him fell in the ground at the time she put the tip of the sword on his neck.
Edward almost hyperventilated and felt how the cold metal nearly cut his jugular. He glanced at the woman who was looking at him emotionless. However, she backed up and sheathed the sword turning around.
"You're too weak", Olivia said as she began to walk.
Ed remained silent for a few seconds, but he stood up, "Olivia-San". The blond woman stopped and glanced at the boy indifferent, "Olivia-San, please, train me", he said bowing.
Olivia stared at the blonde for a moment and approached him grabbing his chin gently. The woman looked at his eyes for a few seconds, making to boy to get nervous, but he didn't flinch worried that if he did it, she would say no.
"I know, for my Otouto's endless letters, that you're a brave boy, but stubborn and disobedient with a certain disdain to the Military rules", she said with a cold voice that made the boy shiver, "However, a good and determinant boy".
Edward kept looking at her in silence. He couldn't tell what the woman was thinking, if what she was saying were compliments or insults, or if she were accepting the request.
"I will train you every day at night", she finally said as Ed sighed in relief. "I won't take any kind of complaint".
Ed nodded smirking, and was surprised when he saw a smile coming from her.
"Now go to sleep, you will need it tomorrow"
The boy nodded again and followed Olivia to get into the mansion, where Alex was already waiting for them. Ed glanced at the woman. Her presence was really impressive, that was the only thing she and her brother had in common. However, the aura around them was totally different. Armstrong was really a kind, gently, optimistic man. She, in the other hand, was serious all the time and always had that arrogant gaze in her face. Maybe she had a good reason for that, she was a woman and a Major General. Both things together were really impressive even in their time.
"Something's wrong?", she asked without looking at the boy. Edward flinched at the sudden question, "You seem thoughtful"
The boy glanced at their smiling slightly ashamed, "It's just that…I though you didn't like me"
The woman remained silent for a moment making Ed regret that he had said anything at all. Maybe she really didn't like him and Major Armstrong had asked her to train him…
"I don't have any issue with you", she finally said catching the boy attention, "Your father, in the other hand…"
Edward sweat dropped. He always suspected that the woman's attitude towards him was the result of something his dad had done to her in the past, but now that she confirmed it, he felt mad. He would have to ask his father what the hell he did to the woman…
…………
Of course the train will be really rough, I promise XD