Author's Note: 'cries' I really didn't want to write this chapter… the really bad part was having to watch the episode multiple times in order to write this chapter…

TheCrazyScotswomanOfDOOM: 'hunches over' I'm sorry. I can change the storyline somewhat since this is my story, but this is too big an event to leave out…

Your favourite plushie: Can I please rewind time and go back to first grade? I don't wanna go to high school… phooey. Oh well... I'll have to deal with it.

EdwardElricsFan4Ever: I must have used a million tissues while writing this chapter… hopefully, you won't need that many…

JuniperScaymoore: 'what the cheese'? I guess that's better than saying some other things… I LIKE CHEESE!! Crap, I should've added cheese in Saya's random rant a couple chapters ago…

Arion Naomi: Yeah, I admit the idea of Saya's father was sort of cheesy and conventional and Star Wars-ish… but it does fit, at least, in my mind it does.

kyyrin allorma part faerie: We're feeling mildly excited, are we now? 'mumbles' I can doubt the 'mildly' part… Where's your sugar supply? I need to confiscate it right now.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA

Chapter Thirty-Six: Brigadier General Hughes

Hughes had fallen asleep on his desk when Schezka gently woke him up. "Lieutenant Colonel… Lieutenant Colonel, excuse me!"

"It's okay, I will wait," said a different voice.

Hughes looked up blearily, then suddenly stood to attention so hard that his chair fell over. "F… Fuhrer!"

The Fuhrer nodded. "Will you come talk with me?"

Once they had reached his office, the Fuhrer got right down to business. "You seem to be conducting an investigation on the high command of the military."

"Y… yes. I was investigating a matter related to the 5th Laboratory."

"I took direct command of that case and found out there was the possibility that Brigadier General Basque Gran had teamed p with some Ishbal remnants to conduct dangerous research. That is the conclusion I came to. Are you not satisfied with that?"

"Well um… I am not."

"Does it have to do with the Philosopher's Stone?"

Hughes blinked, then answered. "Yes. I assume there was research in the military to create the Philosopher's Stone, and there were many illegal acts involved in it." He handed the Fuhrer a folder containing several papers. "This was not done by Brigadier General Gran alone. At least Dr. Marco's fomer superiors were involved. There is a high possibility at the people listed there were also involved."

The Fuhrer looked over a piece of paper. "Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel… all these people?"

"Yes. During the past year, those people have either passed away or turned up missing. But the fact that the 5th Laboratory was active… and just a few days ago, someone hired mercenaries to attack Ishbal refugees. If we assumed these people were in the military…"

Juliet Douglas, the Fuhrer's secretary, listened quietly without saying anything.

The Fuhrer looked up. "So what you're trying to say is that there is still a faction in the military that wishes to create the Philosopher's Stone?"

Hughes looked down at the carpet and scowled.

"If such a thing becomes apparent, the military will loose all authority!" the Fuhrer boomed. He let the tension hang for a second before chuckling. "I'm kidding. Investigate this matter fully."

Hughes looked up in surprise.

"They secretly performed forbidden human experiments, and tried to get rid of all evidence with assassins called Homunculus. I cannot allow such outlaws to be on the loose. We must extract the bad part out."

Hughes smiled and saluted. "Thank you very much! Another thing, Fuhrer…"

The Fuhrer nodded. "About Dr. Marco, correct?"

"I wish to ask him some new questions."

"Juliet," said the Fuhrer, addressing his secretary.

She looked up. "Please visit Central City right away."

"Only she knows where Marco is hiding out," the Fuhrer explained. "It's to prevent me from leaking the information if I should fall into enemy hands."

Hughes nodded. "I see… then please show me where he is, er…" He looked at her nametag. "…Douglas-san."

"Extract the bad part out…" she murmured quietly, so neither man heard.

Everyone sat in Ed and Al's rooms in Central Headquarters. No one really wanted to remember the event that had happened at the hospital two days past… (hint: involving stealing the hospital's checkout list, smoke bombs, accidentally setting off the fire alarm and the sprinklers, fire trucks, wailing sirens, and having to perform several KOs). Hughes and Armstrong had joined Winry, Ed, Al, and Saya as Ross and Bloch stood guard outside.

"So the higher-ups that are assumed to be involved with the 5th Laboratory either die or turn up missing…" Ed mused.

"The criminal with the tattoo of Ouroboros wasn't on the list," Hughes pointed out.

"Seems like they're talking about something serious," Bloch said, trying to listen through the door.

Ross made a face and covered her ears. "I don't want to get involved in any more weird stuff, so I'm not going to listen."

"But the scientists who worked under Dr. Marco should still be alive," Armstrong said. "If we can find them…"

"Just leave it to me," Hughes said.

Ed, Al, and Saya all traded glances before Ed spoke up. "Um about that… we don't really care anymore."

"What are you guys talking about?!" Winry exclaimed.

"We don't have to deal with dangerous stuff like the Philosopher's Stone or Homunculus," Saya said. "We thought it would be better to look for a different way to get their bodies back."

"It's true that is a good thing," Armstrong said uncertainly, "but…"

"If it were that easy, you all wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble!" Hughes said irritably.

"We know of one person who may know," Ed said.

"Our teacher," Al explained. "She lives in the south, in a place called Dublis."

"AH!" Winry screamed, pointing with a shaking finger to the map of Amstriss on the wall. "Here, on the way to Dublis…"

"Winry?"

"The Mecca of automail, RUSH VALLEY!" she swooned. "I want to go there! Please take me! Please take me! Please take me! Take me!" she begged.

"Go on your own," Ed grumbled.

"Who'll pay for the travel expenses though?"

"You're trying to make me pay?!"

"I think it's fine," Al said. "It's one the way anyways."

"… fine."

"YAY!!"

On both Ed and Saya's belts, a little silver bell rang cheerfully. Hughes noticed this and grinned. "Oh? Have you both finally hooked up?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Lieutenant Colonel..."

Saya laughed. "Hughes-san, it was his birthday present. And we get separated too often in weird situations. If he has it, I'll be able to find him like that," she said, snapping her fingers. "That's the point."

Hughes laughed. "I suppose I'll let you off easy… just this once."

Ed and Saya both groaned in exasperation.

Hughes and Armstrong left the room. Bloch sighed in relief. "Those three have finally given up on sticking their heads into something dangerous… they probably understand the trouble that we, their bodyguards, had to go through."

Hughes made a face. "If they really did, everything would be just perfect."

"It's to avoid making us the next victims," Armstrong explained to a surprised-looking Bloch and Ross.

Hughes scratched his head and glanced into the room where Saya was jumping up and down on the bed and making funny faces and doing wild antics, making Winry, Ed, and Al all laugh hysterically. "They're just kids, and yet…"

The train whistle rang throughout the station. Ed, Al, Saya, and Winry all hung out of the train window, waving goodbye to their friends in Central. Hughes and his family, Armstrong, Ross, and Bloch had all come to see them off. Little Elysia was holding back tears at watching her 'older sister' (Winry) leave, but she bravely put on a smile. They stuck their heads out the window and waved to their farewell party until the station was gone.

After the station had disappeared from sight, Ed broke down and told Winry the truth.

"You're not going to Dublis?!"

"But we'll go to Rush Valley," Al reassured her.

"Then that's okay… but I thought you were going to ask your teacher for a way besides the Philosopher's Stone."

Saya shrugged. "I don't know anything about their teacher…"

"If we do that, we'll be killed," Ed said flatly.

"Killed?" Winry and Saya repeated.

"We haven't told her that Nii-san has become a State Alchemist or that we tried to perform human transmutation," Al explained.

They both got blue lines over their heads. "I want to live longer," Ed shivered.

"I at least wanted to fall in love, Nii-san!" Al moaned.

This brought a faint pink tinge to Ed's cheeks, but he ignored that. "And even if we put those issues aside, I feel that we shouldn't ask her."

"Then where are you going?" Winry asked.

"We heard there was a large Ishbal camp in the mountains to the south. Scar and the others went there," Saya grinned. "But man… I'm so glad I got to restock on pea-bombs, even if that old man always gives me too many…"

"You all are going after Scar?"

"The Philosopher's Stone has been said to have been created in Ishbal," Al explained. "But alchemy was never taught to them, so we believe they created it through a different method."

"I'll beat him up and make him spill the secret," Ed said darkly.

"Nii-san… he isn't that bad of a person."

"He's a murderer who uses alchemy to kill people."

"He tried to kill you both," Saya said flatly. "I'm not going to forgive him for that." She looked at her hands and scowled. "No more killing… but I don't want to see him again, not really."

"Why didn't you tell me that the Elric Brothers were hospitalized?!" Mustang barked into the phone. "Or Saya, for that matter!!"

"What? I didn't tell you? Oh well, it wasn't that big of a deal," Hughes grinned.

"Not that big of a-"

"More importantly, your transfer to Central City might become permanent soon. Hurry up and become more important so the rest of us can have an easier time! Oh, and you should get a wife-"

Mustang slammed the phone down.

"Colonel, please be quiet when using the phone," Hawkeye said, but Mustang interrupted.

"Lieutenant, book me a train."

"To Central?"

Mustang narrowed his eyes. "Something is happening."

"Mustang-san is worried about those three too you know," Glacier reminded her husband.

"There's no reason for him to worry about something he doesn't have to," Hughes said, tucking in Elysia. "And he doesn't need to know about the trivial things. There's also the possibility that our line is tapped."

Glacier gasped.

"I'm sorry," Hughes said. "I still have to investigate something."

She sighed sadly. "Okay. Be careful."

"Daddy still has a lot of work to do," Hughes cooed to Elysia. "Bye bye!" He kissed her forehead tenderly.

Elysia murmured softly in her sleep. "Papa… do your best…"

Hughes smiled.

"Get me the papers on Lior's riot!" Hughes barked.

"Yes sir!" Scheska answered, frantically picking up books and bringing them to Hughes. He kept her running back and forth between the bookshelves and his desk.

"The drawing of the transmutation circle in the 5th Laboratory! Where is it!?"

"Yes sir!"

"Get me the third and fourth volumes on the Ishbal rebellion!"

"Yes sir!" When Hughes stopped for breath, she moaned, "Am I going to be paid overtime for this?"

"Here! I'll give you a picture of Elysia!"

Lieutenant Ross walked through the halls of Headquarters.

Hughes continued to pour over books and papers. "Ishbal, Lior, and Magwar's mine… they all perish when they get close to the Philosopher's Stone… that's weird." He looked at Ed's picture of Envy. "If they want to motivate people into making the Philosopher's Stone, why did they start a rumor that says those who get close to the Philosopher's Stone vanish? Is it to erase all the evidence… or could it be the opposite?"

He realized something. "Wait… the cause of the outbreak of war in Ishbal was a squadron called Douglas… I've heard that somewhere…"

"Excuse me!" Schezka interrupted. "It's a call from the Fuhrer's secretary."

In the brisk manner he had adopted for tonight, he swiftly picked up the phone and barked a question.

"Yes," the secretary answered. "Dr. Marco is in Central City right now. He will be at the hotel."

"Thank you," Hughes said. "I will head there right away." He thought for a moment, then his eyes widened. He picked up a book. "Douglas… Juliet…"

Suddenly he stood up so hard, his chair fell over. "Schezka! Return all these books at once!"

Schezka ran into the room. "Yes sir!"

"And you're fired! Never come here again!"

Schezka turned to stone.

In a dingy old hotel, Juliet Douglas led Hughes down an equally dingy old hallway.

Hughes cleared his throat. "Ms. Secretary… Douglas-san, are you aware of the Ishbal war?"

"No. I have done office work all this time."

"Me too. I recently had to look up some stuff, and did you know that the rebellion was caused by a soldier who was staying there? He shot a helpless Ishbal child… and his name was Juliet Douglas."

"It is a common name," Douglas said placidly.

Hughes grinned. "It gets interesting here. The soldier with that name should've been dead two years before the Ishbal rebellion."

"Strange."

"It gets even more strange. Douglas should've been dead, but the name Juliet Douglas was never removed from the military list. Not only that, a soldier with that name received a promotion in the past two years."

Douglas stopped and turned. "She was selected to become the Fuhrer's secretary."

Hughes' smile twisted. "Who are you? Were you in Ishbal? Or did you use Douglas' records to sneak into the military?"

Douglas gestured to a door. "The doctor is waiting."

"Is Marco behind that door…?" Hughes mused. He reached for the doorknob… and Lust burst out of the opposite room and placed a claw at his throat.

She smiled. "Nice to meet you… or should I say goodbye?"

Hughes stared in astonishment, then grinned. "You have a cool tattoo there babe."

Lust's claws shot out, but right before they reached Hughes, he threw a dagger into her forehead. She fell backwards with a scream.

Ross came running down the hall, firing. "Lieutenant Colonel!"

Hughes ran, with Ross covering his retreat.

Lust pulled the dagger out of her head. "He's pretty good."

Hughes and Ross ran down the dark streets. "Lieutenant Ross, the enemy has gotten near the Fuhrer and has infiltrated the military. Their goal isn't to create the Philosopher's Stone, but…" He stopped and looked at her. "Never mind. Just come with me."

"Yes sir."

Hughes ran into a public telephone booth. When security asked for his identification number, he scowled. "Damn, this is so time consuming," he growled, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket. Unknown to him, the picture of him and his family that he kept in his pocket also fell out onto the ground. Ross eyed it.

"What?! Roy's gone?!"

Warrant Officer Falman had picked up the phone. "He headed for Central City with Lieutenant Hawkeye. Did something happen?"

Hughes hung up. "You could head to the top with this information!" he growled.

"Anyways, let's go to a safe place," Ross said.

"Yes, it's not that I've lost the clues." He took a dagger out of his sleeve and placed it at Ross' throat. "Now… tell me some things. The Lieutenant has a mole under her eye."

Ross chuckled. "Really? I was careless." She turned and faced him, putting a hand under her eye. When she brought it away, there was a small flash of light, and a mole was there.

Hughes grinned. "That's amazing."

Then he slashed her brutally across her neck. 'Ross' fell, and lay twitching on the ground. Hughes turned away. "Sorry. I have a wife and child waiting at home."

"I am going to become the Fuhrer. I will change how this country runs. That's the only thing I can do."

Envy stood, changing his form as he did. Hughes whirled and prepared to throw a dagger… but stopped from killing the image of Glacier at the last moment… albeit a Glacier who was pointing a gun at his heart. She chuckled. "Don't you think this is a nice effect, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?"

She fired.

"To do that, you'll need someone who understands and supports you." He took a bite of Glacier's apple pie. "I'll work under you, and push you upwards."

There was no sound. Not even the wind dared to blow as Envy walked away from the body.

The funeral procession dressed in black followed a coffin decorated with a military cap. No one spoke. It was completely silent, save the steady patter of feet on the ground.

The military personnel all saluted. Glacier and Elysia stood at the front, with Schezka standing behind. Mustang watched wordlessly as his friend's body was placed gently into the ground.

Elysia couldn't take it. She began to cry and she clutched her mother's sleeve. "Mommy why?! Why are they burying Daddy?! Why are those people burying Daddy?!"

"Elysia…"

"I don't like this! I don't like it at all! If they do that, Daddy can't go to work anymore, and he has lots of important work to do, just like he always tells us! Mom, stop them! What are they doing!"

Glacier broke. She knelt and held her child close. "Elysia…"

"Daddy said he had a lot of work to do! Don't bury him Mommy! If they bury him he can't come home! Stop them Mommy, make them stop! Daddy! DADDY!!"

Several of the military personnel broke into silent tears. Tears flowed freely from Armstrong's eyes as the little girl cried out for her father. Mustang's eyes were hidden under his cap.

When the funeral procession had left, Mustang walked forward to face the grave. "Killed in action and promoted two ranks… Brigadier General Hughes, eh? The guy who said he would work under me to assist me went above me. How absurd, the idiot."

Hawkeye walked forward hesitantly. "Colonel…"

"I have built a theory on human transmutation before. I was trying to remember it just now… alchemists are such sick living things. Why didn't he tell me that Saya and the Elric Brothers were involved in all this? There was no need for him to do this alone."

"Perhaps he meant it for your own good."

Mustang turned. "How so?"

"Wherever those brothers are involved, and especially Saya, you sometimes cannot make calm decisions, Colonel." Her eyes were dark. "Brigadier General Hughes kept the information about them to himself so you could keep your eyes focused on the top."

Mustang was quiet for a moment. "Now I can understand what made Saya and the Elric Brothers try to revive their mothers." He quickly put his hat back on. "It's starting to rain," he said stiffly.

Hawkeye blinked, then nodded slowly. "Indeed."

The sun shone down brightly, and there were only scattered clouds.

Winry and Al sat opposite of Saya and Ed. "Oh!" Winry said. "I just remembered, Glacier-san baked an apple pie for us to eat on our trip."

Saya grinned. "So that's what I've been smelling! Well let's have some then, I'm starving!"

Winry took out the pie and gave a slice to both Ed and Saya before taking one herself.

Ed took a bite of his and chewed thoughtfully. "Is this what they call a mother's taste?"

"So philosophical," Saya teased. "It tastes like apple pie."

"Shut up."

Winry smiled. "Hughes-san, his wife, and Elysia-chan are all good people. They were so kind to me while I stayed at their house."

"Lieutenant Colonel is an idiot who's obsessed with his kid and likes to poke his nose into other people's business," Ed said nonchalantly. "He's annoying."

"He came to make fun of us a lot," Al said.

Saya pointed at them all with her pie. "Well think about it. As an inspector for the military, he's always busy, but did you notice he's always come to say hi to us whenever we were nearby?"

"Why does he care so much for us though?" Al asked.

"How should I know?" She took another bite of her pie. "I know I'm never going to forget when I first met him though, remember that? He's crazy."

"You all had better say thanks to him when you go back to Central City," Winry said.

Ed and Saya suddenly stood violently and stuck her head out the window, looking back at the station they had just passed.

Winry blinked. "Is something wrong?"

"Did you guys see something?" Al asked.

They both sat down slowly. "Nope," Saya said, shoving the rest of her pie into her mouth.

She and Ed traded glances, and in that instant, they both knew that they had seen the same thing…

Hughes, waving farewell.

Next: Rush Valley and the unfair arm-wrestling contest! Winry looses her temper! 'shivers'