Chapter 37 –
"What do you mean Fort Briggs has been attacked?" Ed asked incredulously, standing stock still near the steps that led up to the North City train station. Al, Ayala and Chester had all come to a stop next to him when he froze and it was only thanks to the surprise and caution he could feel from the two Animals that he knew he was speaking out loud. Thankfully there didn't seem to be anyone else within earshot of them so he likely hadn't been overheard but he had a feeling that this was something General Armstrong wouldn't want publicized, if he was reading Rachel's thoughts correctly so he made sure he continued the rest of the conversation telepathically. "Who attacked it?"
"I have every reason to believe it was a homunculous," Rachel told him and Ed felt his blood run cold. A homunculous showing up only a few hours from where he and Al were right now? Ed couldn't believe it was just a mere coincidence. Was the homunculous sent as a warning for Ed and Al to back off? If so, why was it sent to Fort Briggs? Unless, Ed thought with horrified realisation, it was sent to prepare Briggs to be bled for the final point of the array. "I can't be certain since Vato and I haven't seen or been near enough to a known homunculous for me to learn their scent. However, from what Ayala, Chester, Nala and Leo have all told me, this creature smelled like what I would expect one of them to smell like," Rachel explained.
"Is everyone alright? What happened?" Ed asked, moving to a nearby bench and sitting on it, mindless of the snow that covered it. He had a feeling this conversation might take a while. He heard and felt Al and the Animals moving with him and two warm weights were sitting on either side of him.
"There were no deaths and no one – as far as Vato and I know of at the moment – were injured seriously enough to have permanent damage. As for what happened, it appears you were right in your theory that one of them were digging the array under Amestris because it dug itself underneath Briggs then came up through the floor of the basement level," Rachel told him. Ed sighed in relief that no one was seriously injured or killed but that begged the question of how no one was injured or hurt.
"What happened with the homunculous?" Ed asked, not believing for a moment that the Ice Queen would let something that managed to infiltrate her base so successfully just walk out alive, even if she was working with Bradley. It wouldn't do any good for the reputation and respect she had gained for herself and the fortress for her to just let something like that go with no Fort Briggs justice inflicted on it.
"We couldn't do anything to it," Rachel told him, a healthy amount of fear in her voice. "Bullets bounced off it, blades shattered against its skin, none of the bigger Animals so much as scratched it. Even the tanks' missiles did absolutely nothing to put this homunculous down," she revealed and Ed reeled slightly with shock. The homunculi he'd come across and fought before – Envy, Gluttony, Lust and Greed – had all been able to be injured by guns, blades and claws so why couldn't this one? Did it have some sort of ultimate shield like Greed?
When he asked, Rachel informed him that she didn't think so. "He didn't cover his body like your memory showed Greed doing. It seemed like this homunculous was just bullet-proof," Rachel told him and Ed sighed. That was just what they needed right now: a homunculous they wouldn't be able to knock down so Ed or Al could get close enough to use their array on him without risking their lives more than necessary.
"Alright. I'm glad you and Falman are safe," Ed said, giving the stingray a mental smile, "but I'm assuming there's another reason you're telling me all of this other than letting us know you've run across a homunculous."
"General Armstrong has asked Vato to ask you to report to Fort Briggs immediately to dispose of the homunculous and answer some questions for her," Rachel revealed and Ed knew his shock had to be showing on his face.
"She wants us back at Fort Briggs?" Ed asked incredulously. "The last time I spoke with her, I was certain she was trying to find a way to kill me without leaving any evidence or risking Aya's wrath!" Ed exclaimed, causing Rachel to chuckle.
"Well, you can rest assured that she won't shoot you on sight when you come back," Rachel promised and Ed sighed once more.
"Nala is going to be very unhappy," Ed said, this time out loud for the benefit of the others. "We'll see if we can hitch a ride, at least to Datepul. I'll let you know how I go with traveling," Ed promised Rachel.
"Thanks, Ed," Rachel said gratefully. "Hopefully we'll see you before the end of the day."
"I hope so too. I don't think I want to spend a night outside in a northern winter," Ed said, chuckling slightly.
"You really don't want that. If something happens that delays you, let us know. We might be able to convince the general to send a car to Datepul to meet you." Ed sincerely doubted that but he thanked Rachel anyway, promising to do as she asked and they let go of their connection.
"I take it we're heading to Fort Briggs, Brother?" Al asked and Ed nodded as he stood and took a look at the train station.
"Yup. They have a problem they think we are the best ones to deal with and General Armstrong has ordered us to report to Briggs immediately," Ed told him. "We need to see if we can find a ride to Datepul, Briggs if we're lucky enough," Ed said, already dreading the thought of trying to track down someone who would be able to take them to Datepul and keep their mouth shut about it, since he had figured General Armstrong didn't want the world – or the military, at least – about this attack.
Ed swore he heard Al sigh somehow before he realised it was Chester. "That's a tall order. It's not like we know people here in North City who would do us this kind of favour," Chester explained when Ed queried the sigh.
"Chester has a point," Al said, worry tinging his tone. "Why would a North City soldier do us – people they barely know, if they know us at all – a favour like that?" Al asked.
"I don't know, Al," Ed said with a groan. "It's not like the universe enjoys making our lives easy so we can't exactly expect an answer to drop in our laps," Ed said, snarling slightly.
"Major Elric? Alphonse?" a barely familiar voice called in surprise and both boys and their Animals spun on the spot to find Sergeant Kemp out of uniform and looking as shocked to see them in North City as they were to see her near the train station. "I thought that was the two of you. I heard you were supposed to be leaving North City this afternoon though," she said, giving them a smile as she approached them. James waved his small paw at them from where he sat on Kemp's shoulder.
"Hey, Sergeant Kemp," Ed said, giving James a small wave back. "Yeah, we were supposed to catch the 2:00pm train back to Central this afternoon but something's come up and we need to get to Fort Briggs ASAP," Ed told her.
"Oh, I hope it's nothing too serious," Kemp said, face pinching slightly in concern.
"We do as well," Al said. "Actually," Al went on to say, voice sounding a little hopeful, "maybe you can help us. Brother and I need to get to Fort Briggs but we don't want to bother the military with arranging a car and a driver. Is there some sort of taxi service or something who will take us to Fort Briggs? Or at least Datepul?" Al asked and Ed mentally grinned at Al. He hadn't even thought of the possibility of public transport so he was glad one of them had. Ed didn't appreciate Ayala's mental eyeroll and quip about how thankful she was that one of the brothers had some smarts about them.
"Well, sure," Kemp said, obviously thrown by Al's casual comment about the military since she knew as well as the boys did that the military wouldn't question why they needed a car and that they wouldn't keep them waiting for any longer than it took for a driver to be found. "There are a few taxi's who will drive you to Datepul but they charge you ridiculous amounts for the trip. I don't know of anyone who will risk the drive to Fort Briggs though," Kemp told them. They went to thank her and ask for the names of those taxis when they noticed she seemed to be debating something with herself. "I'm actually going to be leaving for Datepul in half an hour to stay with a friend for a couple of days while I have the time off. If you're willing to wait, I can give you a lift. My friend may even know someone who can take you the rest of the way to Fort Briggs," Kemp offered, looking a little unsure of herself. Ed had the feeling that she thought they might take her offer as an insult or something.
"What does Al think?" Ed asked Chester.
"He's a little unsure about her offer. On one hand, he thinks it might bring her trouble but on the other hand, we don't really have any other feasible opportunities right now," Chester told him and Ed nodded slightly. He truly hadn't expected a different answer from the leopard.
"We'd be extremely grateful for that lift, Sergeant Kemp," Ed said, giving her a blinding smile that she returned.
"I just need to pick up some things for the trip but if you'd like to, there's a coffee shop just down this block on the corner," Kemp said, pointing in the direction she was talking about. "I can meet you there once I've finished packing, if that's agreeable?" Kemp asked and the boys exchanged a look.
"Yeah, I think we could use a coffee," Ed said. "Thanks, Sergeant Kemp."
Kemp waved a dismissive hand. "You're welcome, Major Elric. Always happy to help out someone when I can," she told him, giving him a smile. With final nods all around, the group left Kemp to finish her shopping while they headed to the recommended café.
"That was extremely nice of Sergeant Kemp," Al said as they walked and Ed nodding, letting loose a breath of relief.
"Yeah, that was a massive stroke of luck," Ed said in agreement.
"So much for the universe having it out for us," Chester said with a toothy grin that had Al and Ayala chuckling and Ed rolling his eyes.
"You know full well that if the universe really could work for or against a particular person, it would've heard me and decided to prove me wrong again even if it meant doing me a solid at the same time," Ed grumbled at the leopard, scowling when no one had the decency to hide their laughter.
As Kemp had promised, she and James had picked the four Elrics up from the coffee shop half an hour after they had left her to finish her packing. The trip to Datepul was completely uneventful once they managed to figure out seating arrangements since Kemp's car was a little smaller than most of the military cars so Ed ended up in the front with Kemp. Chester had to sit on the floor between Ed's legs while Ayala stayed in the back with Al, sitting half on him and half on the little of the seat that remained. Neither Animal was very happy to be seated where they were but they didn't put up anymore fuss than a small grumble.
"My friend's house is only a couple of streets away," Kemp assured them as they travelled into Datepul.
"No worries," Ed said, giving her a smile that told her he wasn't annoyed in the slightest.
When they did pull up, Ed took in the house they parked in front of. It was a non-descript wooden house painted cream that would likely need a touch up in a couple of years, if the small amounts of chipping paint Ed could see on the corners and edging of the house were telling him anything. It had a small porch, only three steps from it to the front path that led to the gate a handful of metres from the front door. There wasn't any garden in the front yard to speak of but Ed wondered if that was more because of the time of year than anything else. It was only a little one-storey building but from what Ed had seen during their last brief visit and the drive through just now, that seemed to be the norm for houses in Datepul. Kemp pulled the car in front of the house rather than in the small carport Ed could see that sat on the left of the house but he was quickly able to see that it would only hold one car and it already had a car parked in it.
"What's your friend's name, Sergeant Kemp?" Al asked as Kemp turned the car off.
"Sarah Russell," Kemp told them as they climbed out of the car.
"Sweet freedom!" Chester moaned happily as he stretched languorously in the middle of the road.
"Stop bitching. It wasn't that bad," Ed chided as he took a moment to crack his back. Chester glared at him but elected not to make any sort of comment back just yet.
"Miranda!" A voice called excitedly from the direction of the house and the six humans and Animals looked over to see a woman waving to Kemp from the small porch of the house. The brunette seemed to notice there were others with her friend and Ed could see the confused look she was shooting Kemp. "I didn't realise you were bringing friends. Come on in when you're ready," she called though she made no move to enter the house.
"Do you guys want to come in for some tea or coffee? You can ask Sarah about public transport inside, if you'd like," Kemp suggested once more and Ed nodded.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," he said, glancing at Al, Ayala and Chester and got no arguments from them.
Kemp smiled at them before she grabbed her bag and locked the car. "Just follow me," she said and they did as she said, following her through the front gate of her friend's property and towards the front door. "Hi, Sarah!" Kemp greeted with a delighted grin that her friend returned with just as much enthusiasm.
"Hey, Miranda," Sarah said, giving the other brunette a hug.
"I'm sorry for the surprise guests but I promise they don't want a place to sleep. They just want to ask someone local a couple of questions," Kemp assured the woman, who seemed to relax slightly.
"Good, because I do not have the room to put up with three extra bonded pairs for the night," Sarah said with a laugh before she faced the Elrics. "Hi, I'm Sarah Russell," she introduced herself, holding out a hand for them to shake.
"Edward Elric," Ed said, grasping the woman's hand. "This is my wolf, Ayala, brother, Alphonse and his Animal, Chester," Ed introduced the three with gestures.
"Pleasure to meet you," Sarah said, nodding to the others. "My Animal's running around somewhere in the house but I'm sure he'll come out to say hello eventually." She shrugged in a 'what can you do?' motion. "Do you want to come in for a coffee? It's not the warmest environment to have a conversation in," she half-joked.
"Coffee would be appreciated immensely," Ed told her, voice completely serious.
"You need help with your caffeine addiction," Ayala muttered as Sarah chuckled slightly.
"You need to hush," Ed sniped back as they followed Sarah's silent invite to follow her inside her home.
Sarah's home was warm and cosy and Ed almost shivered at the drastic temperature change. The source of the heat became apparent as they entered the sitting room and spotted the large, open fireplace set against the back wall. Lounging in front of it was a large Siamese cat with white fur, a brown face, ears, paws and tail. When it blinked its eyes open, they were bright blue and Ed was reminded quite harshly of Cleo. This cat looked unnervingly similar to his mother's Animal, with the only major differences were that this cat had more brown on it and shorter hair than Cleo. The cat – upon seeing Sarah – stretched where it lay before getting to its feet and meandering over to her.
"I figured you'd be sprawled in front of the fire," Sarah said affectionately as the cat jumped onto the back of the couch to make it easier for Sarah to pat him. "This is my Animal, Nick," she told them before she went silent for a few moments, most likely using her bond with her Animal to introduce them, Ed figured.
"Hey, Nick. Good to see you again," Kemp said with a smile once she'd felt Sarah was finished speaking with him. The cat made an affection chirping noise at Kemp but he didn't move any closer and Kemp didn't try to touch him.
"How do the two of you have your coffees?" Sarah asked, taking a couple of steps towards the kitchen. Once she was given Ed's coffee order and was assured that Al didn't drink coffee as much as his brother and he was alright for the moment, Sarah left them with instructions to make themselves comfortable in the lounge room while she got those who wanted coffee their order.
It didn't take very long for Sarah to come back with three coffee cups in her hands and hand them to those who wanted them before she took her own seat near the fire. She waited until Ed had taken a couple of sips of his coffee before she asked the question she wanted to know the answer to ever since her best friend had turned up with two bonded pairs of strangers. "Miranda said you wanted to ask a few questions. What do you need to know?"
"We need to get to Fort Briggs but we couldn't wait for a military vehicle to take us. Is there anyone in Datepul who could take us? A taxi or something?" Ed asked. Sarah pursed her lips in thought for a few moments.
"There is someone who might take you most of the way to Fort Briggs. He won't take you all the way because he doesn't have permission to enter Fort Briggs' territory but he'll get you to its border. Should only be another hour or so of walking for you from that point," Sarah finally said. "I'll give him a call if you'd like," she offered.
Ed and Al glanced at each other for a moment before Al gave a slight incline of his head. A check with both Chester and Ayala tole Ed what he needed to know and he looked back at Sarah. "We would really appreciate it." She gave him a nod.
"I'll go call him now. I assume you guys want to leave immediately?" Sarah asked and Ed gave her a confirming nod. "Alright. It shouldn't take me long to get an answer for you."
True to her word, five minutes later Sarah joined them once more in her lounge room. They hadn't even heard her speaking with anyone, not even a muffled conversation, which told Ed the phone must've been in the other end of her house, perhaps her bedroom, or the conversation was behind closed doors. Sarah reclaimed her seat and her unfinished but cooler cup of coffee before letting Nick on her lap. Once settled, she faced Ed. "My friend will be happy to take you up as far as he can to Fort Briggs. He's not free and he's not cheap either," she warned.
"We weren't expecting another free ride today," Ed said. "What's he asking?"
When Sarah told him, Ed almost scoffed at the exuberant price-tag. Ayala did actually scoff. "That's a bit steep for a couple of hours' worth of driving," Ayala said.
"Considering he could get shot if someone spotted him near Fort Briggs' perimeter? I don't think he'd charging enough," Ed said back before speaking to Sarah, who was waiting patiently for his answer. "Did he say where we should meet him?"
Three hours later found Ed, Al, Ayala and Chester fighting to walk through the knee-deep snow as they headed in the direction Sarah's friend, TJ – the only name they were given -, promised Fort Briggs was in. His Animal, a bloodhound named David, had been kind enough to imprint his memories and the scents he'd gotten on the few risky trips he and his human had taken to see Fort Briggs onto Ayala and Chester to help them lead their humans in the right direction. Once David had done so, TJ and he had left the Elrics alone in the middle of a snow-buried field with only themselves and a direction to start walking in.
"Who knew walking in this much snow would be so freaking difficult?" Ed grumbled as they forged their path.
"You could walk behind me, Brother," Al suggested. "I'm not having any trouble walking through the snow."
The two Animals snickered in Ed's mind as he did as his brother suggested. "Yuck it up, you two, but I know you're contemplating ways to ask Al to carry you so you don't have to walk in the snow," Ed said, smirking as their faces fell. "By the way, I wouldn't bother asking. Wouldn't be a good idea for your wet paws to be touching Al's freezing armour. It'd be very painful to get them back off," Ed informed them, grimacing slightly as he imagined what would happen.
"You have a point," Ayala said, swallowing slightly as she resisted the urge to hide her paws. Chester seemed to be doing the same thing.
"It was nice of Sergeant Kemp to offer to send our things back to Central for us," Al said as he followed Ayala through the snow. Since she was the one with the keenest senses in this kind of environment, everyone had elected her to be the leader. Ed had almost laughed at the conflicting feelings of displeasure and pride Ayala felt at that.
"Yeah, it was," Ed said, unconsciously clenching his automail fingers tighter around his suitcase handle. "Too bad we don't know how long we'll be stuck in Fort Briggs for so we couldn't take her up on her offer."
After Sarah had told them about TJ and how much he charged, Ed and Al had asked for any further details, such as meeting place and time. Once Ed had finished his coffee and the boys had thanked the women – Sarah for arranging the lift and Kemp for driving them to Datepul – they'd headed out of Sarah's house, intending to follow the woman's directions to the meeting place TJ had given her. Ed had wrapped himself up in his winter coat once more and pulled out the scarf, beanie and gloves Sheska's mum had knitted for him from his suitcase. He'd just finished putting the beanie on to go under his hood when Kemp had followed them out of the house.
She'd made the offer to take their suitcase back with her to North City in a couple of days and put it on the next train to Central and notify whoever they wanted to pick it up with an approximate time of its arrival. Ed and Al had thanked her but turned down the offer, citing they weren't sure how long they'd be at Fort Briggs so they'd possibly need their clothing and other gear. Kemp had then offered to take them to the meet up with TJ, worried they might end up turned around in unfamiliar town, but they'd assured her they weren't strangers to navigating places they didn't know and finding their way. Kemp had still looked unconvinced but she hadn't argued, instead she'd wished them luck and told them to have Ayala or Chester contact James if they needed her help. With a last round of thanks from the boys, the Elrics had left, waving goodbye to Sarah and Kemp, Sarah having joined Kemp on the porch.
"Do you think Nala's noticed yet?" Al asked and elaborated at Ed's questioning hum. "That you aren't on the train back to Central."
"Ah," Ed said eloquently. "Well, considering the lack of enraged screeching in my head, I'm gonna go with 'no'," Ed told them, causing all three to chuckle.
"Don't you think you should warn her?" Al asked and Ed sighed.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Ed said. Reaching for Nala's bond with him, Ed spoke. "Hey, Nala."
"Hey, yourself? How's the train trip going?" Nala asked, her happiness at hearing from him and from possibly seeing the lot of them soon. She must've picked up something from Ed because she didn't sound as happy when she spoke next. "What happened?" she asked, sounding resigned and anxious.
"We didn't catch the train," Ed told her.
"Please tell me you just missed this one and you'll all be on the next one," Nala nearly begged.
"Sorry, I can't do that," Ed said, wincing as he felt her disappointment.
"What happened?" she asked. "Please tell me you're at least safe."
"Well, right now our biggest threat is not finding Fort Briggs before we freeze to death," Ed told her, trying to lighten the mood. Nala didn't seem impressed with his efforts so he moved on to answering her original question. "Rachel contacted me a few hours ago. Something attacked Fort Briggs and Rachel is certain that it was a homunculous. A new one, before you ask," Ed said before she could. "General Armstrong asked Falman to ask us to report to Briggs so we could deal with the homunculous and answer some of her questions," Ed told her.
"Are Falman and Rachel alright?" Nala asked. Ed could feel her worry building before he could answer.
"They're fine. Not a scratch on either of them," Ed assured her.
"That's good. So, you're on your way to Fort Briggs to speak with the Ice Queen?" Nala asked and Ed gave her a mental nod. "How long will you be in Fort Briggs for?"
"We don't know," Ed said apologetically. "It depends on how long General Armstrong needs us around for," Ed told her.
"Don't think this gets you out of trouble with me for missing your train and you'd better deal with that homunculous before I get my claws into him," Nala said, voice growling slightly before sighing. "I'll let Roy know what happened though but I know he'll want more details than what you've given me and he isn't the only one," Nala said. "So, spill. What did Rachel tell you?"
It took another hour and a half after his conversation with Nala for Ed, Ayala, Chester and Al to get any sign of Fort Briggs being within quick reach. After he'd finished being squeezed of all information she could get from him, Nala had threatened Ed with death-by-crushing-hug if he let anything happen to him or his brother and Ed had a feeling that she'd threatened both Ayala and Chester with worse things if something happened to them or the brothers. Once happy that they'd all do their very best to stay unscathed for their stay at the mountain fort, Nala had disconnected from Ed to fill Mustang in on everything while Ed focused back on following the path Al forged in the snow.
Their first sign of the fortress was actually a scent the wind carried. Ayala and Chester were obviously the only ones who picked up on it but there was no mistaking it: homunculous. The two Animals confirmed that it wasn't one they'd picked up on before so that left Ed to wonder if it would be Sloth, Pride or some other unmentioned homunculous they'd find frozen in the snow outside Fort Briggs. Once Ayala and Chester had informed their humans what they'd scented, Chester had joined Ayala up the front of the group and both of them worked together to try and keep on the scent trail, something that proved difficult in the fact that the wind would drop suddenly or change direction.
Finally though, they did manage to spot the intimidating walls of Fort Briggs only a kilometre or two in front of them when the snow and wind had died down enough to give them a clear view of their surroundings. Invigorated by the sight, the boys and the Animals picked up their pace. Of course, the closer they got, the more the wind picked up once more until they were unable to see more than a few metres in front of them once again and were relying on Ayala and Chester's superior noses to lead them to the fortress' front gates.
"We can smell the homunculous a lot clearer. We can't be too far from it now," Ayala warned Ed. The blonde nodded in response. From what he felt from Chester, he knew the leopard had warned Al.
"Stay sharp," Ed warned, speaking out loud for Al's benefit. "Rachel said Armstrong had frozen the homunculous but we don't know whether the stone will let it stay frozen for long."
"Got it," Chester and Ayala said in tandem while Al nodded once, moving his arms so he could bring them to defend himself easily.
Ed, despite wanting to stand next to him, stayed behind Al. His brother was still making a trench that allowed Ed freedom of movement he wouldn't otherwise have and in the event of an attack, he didn't want to be struggling to move in the snow if something came for them. It didn't hurt that his being hidden by Al's armour could potentially prevent him being spotted by anyone who did approach them and as a result, they could be taken aback enough by his presence that Ed and Al could take them down without much of a fight.
They continued moving forward as a unit. Everyone was on high alert as they continued walking in the direction of where they'd last seen the fortress' walls. It took nearly twenty minutes of them moving by sense of touch, smell and hearing alone to reach close enough to the fortress that Ed was certain he could almost make out the walls that towered over them in front of them. A couple more steps later, Ayala and Chester's hackles raised so high, Ed thought each hair was standing vertically on their skin. Another few steps and Ed and Al finally saw what had their Animals as high strung as they were.
The homunculous was frozen in a kneeling position, a confused look on his face that had Ed thinking that at the time he froze, the homunculous had no idea what was happening to him. His long hair was frozen in a way to look as though the breeze was still blowing through it. Like Ed had seen with Lust and Gluttony, this homunculous was wearing tight-fitting clothing made from what seemed to be the same material as them. Unlike Lust and Gluttony, the material was made into a pair of pants with suspenders over his shoulders and a band of the same material wrapped around his mid-chest area. When they got closer, Ed realised that what he'd thought was hair seemed to be a little more than that. The locks of black hair were shoulder length but seemed to melt smoothly into his head, covering his entire scalp before continuing down to cover his forehead and eyes.
"So that's the homunculous?" Ed asked, needing clarification.
"That's him," Ayala confirmed, nose scrunching at the scent of homunculous and fuel.
"Should we take care of it now or go knock on the front doors first?" Ed asked, shivering slightly as the perspiration he'd shed during the hike to Fort Briggs started cooling rapidly on his skin now that he was no longer moving.
"Maybe it's a good idea to wait," Chester suggested quietly.
"Why?" Ed asked as Al made a confused noise of his own. Ed hadn't actually expected anyone to suggest they wait on removing another pawn of Father's.
"Mainly because I think it would be best if General Armstrong saw you destroy the stone with her own eyes. That way she can see we were telling the truth about having an array that destroys the stone and that we are definitely not on the side of the homunculi," Chester said. "I think the only way we could convince her completely that we are definitely on humanity's side is if she sees us destroy the stone in front of her. Otherwise, it could look like we simply defrosted him and let him go to someone as suspicious of everyone as General Armstrong is," Chester pointed out.
"Chester has a good point, Brother," Al said after a moment. Ed looked up at Al, slightly stunned. Despite being the one who asked, Ed truly expected everyone to have said to destroy the homunculous right away, that it was too dangerous to leave him sitting there on the off chance he thawed out somehow and got away. As though he'd been able to read his thoughts, Al continued. "I'm confident he won't be leaving under his own power for a while. We can wait a couple of hours before we take care of it." Ed went to open his mouth to argue when he realised what he hadn't before. Al sounded hesitant about what they'd be doing and Ed was quick to realise why.
"Al, we can't leave the homunculous alive," Ed said softly. The fact that Al didn't make a noise of protest or try to argue against Ed's statement was all the confirmation the oldest Elric needed. "It's dangerous. Even if we were guaranteed that it would stay frozen here until after the plans the original homunculous has, we would still need to deal with it eventually. It's best to do it now so it can't be used by Father to fight against us."
"I know, Brother, but still…" Al said, trailing off and Ed sighed slightly.
"Think of it this way, Al. We aren't taking a life; we're freeing the souls who would be sacrificed otherwise to hurt or kill innocent civilians," Ed said gently. "I don't like the idea any better than you but we can't let those souls suffer any more than they already have. They're our people, Al, and they'll be used to hurt even more of our people." Both Ayala and Chester didn't say a word but Ed knew that they were thinking the same as he was and he knew Al would be sensing Chester's thoughts just as well.
"You're right, Brother," Al said after a few moments. "We owe it to Dad's people, our people, to free them from the stones Father created and stop them from being hurt even more by his plans." Though Ed could hear his brother's displeasure, Ed could hear the resolution in his voice.
"Elrics," a voice snapped from in front of them and all four jumped before looking first at the homunculous then behind it when it became apparent the homunculous hadn't managed to become defrosted enough to speak and saw Buccaneer looming over the shoulder of the frozen creature, "we've been expecting you. General Armstrong is waiting for you in her office and her patience in wearing thin," Buccaneer informed them, a slight grin on his lips as though he was thinking of the trouble the boys would be in if they didn't hurry. "Follow me."
"You took far longer than Lieutenant Falman reported you would," General Armstrong said the moment Buccaneer led them through her office door before he took his side behind Armstrong's right shoulder. Eric stood in a similar position on Buccaneer's right. She sat behind her desk, much like she had been the first time the boys and their Animals had met, only this time she looked far angrier. Ed hoped it was because her base had been infiltrated for the first time in her reign over Fort Briggs and not because they hadn't been able to somehow get to the fortress quicker. Just as he trying to figure out if she was expecting an apology or something from them, she spoke again, stopping anything Ed would've said. "I assume you saw that creature outside?" She asked and they all nodded. "Well?" She barked when they said nothing.
"Ayala and Chester have confirmed it smells similar to the other homunculi we've faced," Ed said immediately and Armstrong's icy-blue eyes settled frostily on him. "Unless you or your men managed to damage it enough to make it use the stone and witnessed it heal itself, we fight it ourselves or we destroy it with our array, we can't confirm it for ourselves."
"Why didn't you destroy it out there? I'm sure you had plenty of time to do so between Captain Buccaneer spotting the four of you approaching the creature and when he spoke to you," Armstrong said, eyes narrowing slightly as she watched their reactions. Anahlia made herself known when she slithered up Armstrong to come to rest on the desk, just beside the paperwork in front of Armstrong.
"In the interest of full honesty, Sir, we didn't think you'd believe we'd disposed of the homunculous unless you saw us doing so with your own eyes," Ed said unabashedly. Only Ayala and Chester were privy to just how nervous Ed truly was.
To his surprise, Ed didn't see the anger he expected from Armstrong. Rather, he thought he saw a flicker of approval cross her face instead. "I do not need that monster somehow waking up and trying to infiltrate my base once more. You will be taking care of this creature now," Armstrong said, standing from behind her desk. Buccaneer didn't look surprised at this development, merely stood aside as Armstrong rounded her desk, pausing only to let Anahlia climb her way from the desk to Armstrong's shoulder.
Ed and Al barely managed to exchange glances with each other and their Animals before Armstrong swept past them, Buccaneer and Eric on her heels. They didn't hesitate as they followed behind Buccaneer and his Animal as Armstrong led them to the elevator. They all stood in the elevator car in silence for the entire ride down and when the elevator came to a stop, Armstrong barely waited for the doors to open before she strode out of it and onto the same floor she'd first faced the homunculous on. The workers and soldiers on the floor immediately saluted as they saw Armstrong but she paid them no attention except to dismiss them from their stances. Ed didn't spot Falman amongst the people on the floor but when he checked with Rachel – who was barely containing her excitement at seeing Ed and Al soon – he found out that Falman was working on a completely different floor anyway.
Armstrong didn't bother speaking to the soldiers standing guard at the door. She just glared at them silently as they sprung to do as she silently ordered. Ed had to brace himself against the cold as it barrelled into the room but neither Armstrong nor Buccaneer so much as twitched despite the fact that Armstrong had forgone her winter coat entirely and Buccaneer's was wide open. Not sparing the men a glance, Armstrong walked right through the doors and Buccaneer followed just as soon as he gave the order to keep the door open until they returned. Ed, Al, Ayala and Chester headed into the snow once more and followed obediently as Armstrong led them back to the creature.
"Destroy it," Armstrong ordered as Buccaneer came to stop behind her once more.
The creature was still frozen in the position Ed, Al and their Animals left it in. Ed glanced up at Al before stepping forward with Ayala and approaching the homunculous. Once he was within arm's reach of it, Ed clapped his hands together, visualising the array he needed and placed both hands on the homunculous' closest arm before activating the array against it. The blue energy created by the alchemic reaction danced its way across the homunculous' body, touching every inch it could reach as the array did what Ed and Al had created it to do.
Much the same as Envy had done, this homunculous started disintegrating into dust that was immediately blown away by the wind whipping around the group. Ed thought he heard a low groan from the homunculous as it disappeared before their eyes and, as had happened the last time he used this array, Ed felt the souls in the stone thank him as their prison was destroyed. Though he'd tried to prepare himself for it, the effect the souls' gratitude had on him was still the same and Ed took a step back as though trying to escape the overwhelming emotion he felt.
"So it was a homunculous," Armstrong stated, voice flat and emotionless as she watched the last of the creature disintegrate in front of her. Buccaneer seemed just as unaffected as his commanding officer was. Ed thought he saw some distress on Eric's face, which gave Ed some hope that the two humans weren't as callous as they seemed to be.
"Yes," Ed said simply.
"That array destroyed it completely? There is no way for it to somehow reform as a threat?" Armstrong pushed and Ed almost snapped before Ayala stopped him.
"She's just making certain," Ayala soothed and Ed nodded once.
"Unless the homunculous who created all of them has a way of recovering the souls I freed from this homunculous and the one who attacked myself and Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes nearly two months ago than no, they can't be reformed," Ed told her. "The homunculous certainly never mentioned anything when we spoke to it," Ed muttered before he could stop himself.
"I have more questions for you and am in no mood to have to deal with any potential eavesdroppers," Armstrong said. "We'll discuss this further back in my office." Without another word, Armstrong turned back to Fort Briggs and started marching along the path that had been made towards the front door. "Captain."
"Sir?" Buccaneer asked
"Find Lieutenant Falman and escort him to my office. I have a few things to ask him as well," Armstrong ordered and Buccaneer saluted in response.
Once through the doors, Buccaneer and Eric split from the group and headed for a separate elevator while Ed and the others joined Armstrong in hers. There was no attempt at making conversation and Armstrong seemed unaware or uncaring of the tense silence in the elevator car. She didn't check to see if they followed her off when the elevator stopped on her office floor and Chester barely got inside her office completely before the heavy door swung shut, missing his tail by mere inches. Armstrong settled back behind her desk, allowed Anahlia to slither back onto it before addressing the Elrics since the destruction of the homunculous.
"Sit," she ordered, nodding minutely to the two chairs situated in front of her desk. Ed noted they looked almost brand new and wondered if that was because they were recently ordered or whether they'd just been rarely used. Not wanting to offend the general and because he didn't know how long it would be before they were dismissed from the office, Ed took a seat on one of the chairs. Al, however, remained standing since he couldn't fit into the chair and even if he could, there was the chance the chair wouldn't hold his weight anyway.
When Armstrong raised a brow at him, Al felt the need to explain. "My armour wouldn't fit, Sir."
"Surely you can take it off. I much prefer being able to see the face of the person I speak to rather than allow them to hide behind a suit of armour like a coward," Armstrong sneered slightly and Ed couldn't stop himself.
"He can't take the armour off," he snapped before Ayala could try and stop him. Not that she did try as at the same time Ed spoke, both she and Chester had loosed angry snarls at the general. It was the first time Ayala had ever become threatening towards any higher-ranked officer for something they said – aside from Mustang – since their first encounter with Archer.
"Guys, settle down," Al whispered, laying a calming hand on Chester and Ayala before moving one hand to Ed's flesh shoulder.
Armstrong didn't flinch at having two predatory Animals showing such aggression towards her but Ed knew he saw a minute flash of surprise and undiluted curiosity cross her face. Anahlia, on the other hand, was quick to raise herself and hiss dangerously in warning at the two Animals. "Now why would the three of you be so defensive over that comment?" Armstrong asked curiously.
Ed froze where he sat. Aside from Gracia, he'd never told anyone he didn't know very well what had happened that night and why Alphonse was forced to walk around as a suit of armour without circumstances forcing his hand. Even then, he'd trusted Gracia an inexplicable amount for someone he'd only had a handful of meetings with prior. General Armstrong wasn't someone Ed was sure he could trust with the truth about what they'd done. Never mind the stupidity and arrogance they'd shown by making that decision to activate that array, they'd broken one of the biggest military laws and the biggest taboo an alchemist could commit. They knew full well that it didn't matter how old they were at the time nor how many years had past, the military could and would have them face a firing squad, no questions asked, and Ed couldn't trust that Armstrong wouldn't turn them in.
"We apologise for our actions, General Armstrong. The lack of sleep and unexpected trip to your fortress has obviously taken its toll on my brother and our Animals," Al said politely. "I wear the armour for my alchemy training and am not permitted to remove it for any reason."
Armstrong's eyes narrowed suspiciously before she shook her head. "The two of you must truly take me for a fool," she sneered at them, making the four of them jump from her ferocity. "There isn't an alchemy teacher cruel or stupid enough in this world to order their student wear a suit of armour to Fort Briggs in the middle of winter! Unless you wish me to believe that the two of you were idiotic enough to travel north twice without informing your teacher that you would be absent for lessons both times?" She asked. Neither boy answered, sensing the questions were rhetorical. "There isn't a lot in this world that I can tolerate less than liars," she informed them, "so I'll ask one more time and only once more before I put you in our holding cells for refusing to follow a direct order from a higher ranked officer. Why exactly can't your brother take off the armour, Major Elric?"
"Ches?" Ed whispered quietly through their bond.
"Al says it's not worth us being thrown in jail over this. It's not like Fuhrer Bradley would actually punish us for what happened – what with the fact that that would require sentencing us to death – and Al and I both share the opinion that General Armstrong won't turn us in. She didn't report us to Bradley before after all," Chester said but Ed was still hesitant. "You have our permission to tell her what happened."
"I'm with Chester. I'm not sensing anything that's telling me that you filling her in on everything will end badly for us," Ayala told Ed without any prompting.
Armstrong was still watching him carefully, her eyes betraying nothing as to what she was thinking or feeling. Anahlia was switching her gaze between Ed and the others, paying more attention to the two Animals than humans though Ed figured that was simply because of the way Ayala and Chester had behaved just a few minutes prior. There was silence for nearly two minutes as Ed had an internal fight with himself, his need to protect Al and their Animals from anything the military could do to them for that array in their basement and the assurances from Al, Ayala and Chester that telling General Armstrong everything was a good idea warring inside himself before he came to a decision.
"When I spoke to you last, I told you that there were homunculi and they were carving an array for some reason that would encompass the whole of Amestris," Ed said, forcing himself to keep his composure and not let his emotions affect him. "Since we last spoke, Alphonse, the Animals and I have discovered more about the plot, including how we factor into the homunculi's plans." Ed cleared his throat before continuing, not letting Armstrong interrupt him. "Just before Alphonse turned 10 and when I was 11, we moved back to Resembool from the town our alchemy teacher lived in after two years under her tutelage. A few months after we came home and after studying everything we could get our hands on a specific array; we readied our basement and the ingredients needed to commit human transmutation in an effort to bring our mother back from the dead."
The rest of the story spilled out of Ed almost without his say so. As he described the meticulous way they'd set up for the transmutation, gathered the ingredients, measured them obsessively, drew the array millimetre by millimetre to make sure not a single section of it was incorrect, Ed risked a few glances up at Armstrong as he continued speaking but saw nothing other than a blank mask that would've put Hawkeye to shame. Not even when Ed described what had happened in the basement did Armstrong so much as twitch a facial muscle. He finished talking by wrapping up the story with a very short description of what had happened in the first few weeks after their failed transmutation and the office sunk into silence.
"Why would these homunculous be interested in you because of this?" Armstrong asked, sitting straighter in her chair.
Ed didn't answer right away, too stunned by the fact that the general had seemed to brush aside the fact they'd committed the ultimate taboo like all he'd told her was they'd created a simple earth wall but he soon found his voice. "We survived the transmutation and our payment to Truth. For some reason, those are the requirements you need to fulfil to be chosen to be a sacrifice for the original homunculous," Ed said with no small amount of bitterness in his voice. "We still don't know when this plan will go down and we still don't know for sure what this array will do exactly but we've got a pretty good idea." Ed glanced at Al, not bothering to try and keep it subtle, and Al nodded once. "We think Amestris will go through the same thing Xerxes did over 400 years ago."
This time, Armstrong allowed herself to show her reaction in the form of a single raised eyebrow. "Major Elric, I do not doubt that you and your brother are geniuses and alchemic prodigies but even you cannot possibly know what happened to Xerxes four centuries ago. There is no written or spoken record and you certainly couldn't have found any surviving Xerxians or their descendants to hear their tales of what happened. The military tried for decades once it was established to locate anyone with Xerxian blood after the tragedy that befell Xerxes happened to try and learn what happened and they found no one. How could you possibly know?" Armstrong asked, her disbelief evident in her voice.
Ed sighed through his nose before asking both Chester and Ayala once more what their thoughts were and what Al's was on the subject. Once again, he got three go-aheads so he did so. "The day I arrived back in Central, I got word from my adoptive grandmother back in Resembool that she needed me to pay a visit. Only me and not Al," Ed explained before he started going into detail about the three days he spent in Resembool with Hohenheim. This time though, Armstrong was apparently dissatisfied with the details he gave as she littered his report with questions about everything from how Hohenheim survived to how he survived crossing the desert to Xing to what Xerxes was like and everything in between.
The time it took Ed to tell General Armstrong everything about Hohenheim and what Ed was told over the three days he spent with his father – the only exceptions were the things that were private and for Ed and Al only – and to answer all the general's question gave Buccaneer enough time to locate Falman and escort him back up to the general's office. Ed had just finished answering a question about Calix when a knock came at the door. Ayala and Chester were quick to assure Ed and Al that it was just Buccaneer and Falman and Ed assumed Anahlia had done the same because Armstrong called for them to enter with no annoyance in her voice at the interruption.
"Hey, Ed!" Rachel greeted as she followed the men and Eric inside the office. The stingray flapped a fin at the group as she entered the room and neither Ed nor Al could resist waving back, Ed grinning as he did so.
"Hey, Falman. Hey, Rachel," Ed said, giving the lieutenant a nod that was returned.
"Major Elric. It's good to see you again. Thank you for taking my call," Falman said and Ed could hear what the older man wasn't saying.
"Yeah, you had some impeccable timing. We were just checking out of the hotel when one of the employees there told us you were on the phone," Ed said.
"Are you alright? You didn't tell me what was going on after we spoke," Rachel said, sounding worried and a little hurt.
Ed winced. "Sorry, Rachel. I forgot. We're fine, as you can see," Ed told her, speaking through their bond while Armstrong asked Falman something. "We ended up finding a lift to Datepul and from Datepul, we hired someone to drive us up to Fort Briggs' border and drop us off. We walked the rest of the way," Ed told her.
"You're definitely alright? Captain Buccaneer told us you'd already disposed of the homunculous," Rachel said and Ed winced slightly at the reminder.
"Yeah, I did but I'm fine," Ed reassured her. Since she was nearby and they were bonded, Rachel would've felt his reaction to the souls a lot more clearly than Nala or any other Animal he was bonded to – Ayala and Chester obvious exceptions – would have. "How are you and Falman?" Ed asked, changing the subject.
"We're alright. We didn't even get a scratch on either of us," Rachel told him. "Vato is about to give you guys the rundown on what happened, if you want to listen," Rachel said, giving Ed a small smirk.
Ed grinned sheepishly. "I really do need to learn how to listen to two conversations at one time," Ed said before dulling his and Rachel's connection just as Falman started telling him, Al and their Animals about how this homunculous burst through the floor of the lowest floor level.
"Did the homunculous say anything?" Ed asked, interrupting Falman with an apologetic look. "Whenever we've gone up against a homunculous, it's bragged about something," he said in explanation to the looks he was getting.
"I didn't hear it say anything as I only faced against it when it moved up to the research and development floor but from the reports I've heard from those who were on the scene first, the homunculous was talking about being finally finished its task and wondering if it could finally get some rest," Falman reported.
"'Finally finished its task'?" Al asked and Falman nodded. "Does that mean it's finished carving the array?" the youngest Elric asked and Ed shrugged.
"I assume so. Unless it had some other task it needed to do," Ed said before sighing. "What happened after that?" Ed asked, prompting Falman to finish his report.
Falman launched back into the report he was giving, telling the boys and their Animals about how they drove the homunculous up another floor and how Armstrong appeared and took charge of the situation. Ed was impressed with how she thought of dousing the homunculous with the fuel and using the elements to put a stop to the homunculous. He wasn't egotistical enough to try and claim that he could've come up with a plan just as effective as that if he didn't have his array. Falman finished up by telling the boys about how Armstrong and Buccaneer managed to get the monster over the edge of the railing.
"Well, the homunculous is now dead but if it has finished carving the array underground, we can't really count it as a win against Father and his plan. That homunculous was likely just a pawn so all we did was rob him of one of his pieces in play. We still haven't managed to do anything to really hinder their plans," Ed said. "Maybe we should've started looking for this stupid tunnel earlier rather than just leaving it," Ed muttered, looking away from everyone.
"We couldn't have known, Ed. We didn't even know for certain there was a homunculous carving the underground array," Ayala said, trying to provide some sort of comfort to Ed. He thanked her by giving her a pat between the ears.
"I've sent a team through the hole that homunculous," Armstrong nearly spat the word, "created in my basement. They're all to return within a day or send a messenger back with a report if they've found anything. Until such time, you, your brother and you Animals are not permitted to leave this base. You are to stay here in case my soldiers come across another homunculous in that tunnel and require you to deal with it," Armstrong informed Ed, whose initial response was to gape in disbelief at her.
"Brother, it's not an unreasonable order," Al said but Ed could hear what his younger brother wasn't saying. He didn't have legitimate reason to refuse these orders since Al was right, they weren't dangerous orders that would put him or civilians in undue danger and unless Mustang or the Fuhrer called Armstrong to give him new orders, he didn't have any conflicting orders from his commanding officer or a superior of Armstrong's that would give him just cause to refuse Armstrong's command.
Rather than saying anything – knowing he'd likely give away his feelings by his tone of voice – Ed nodded, both to Al and Armstrong. The general didn't seem fazed by Ed's lack of verbal response but from the way she looked like she was still trying to silently weasel out any other secrets Ed, Al and their Animals held. Ed fought internally to make sure he didn't give her any reason to think he was still hiding anything from her but he knew from the look in her eye that he'd failed.
"Is there anything else I should be made aware of?" Armstrong asked, leaning back slightly in her chair and keeping her eyes on Ed specifically. "Unlike my snivelling coward of a brother, I am not one who is content to allow you four to walk freely in my fortress while you are still plainly hiding something important from myself. My brother may be willing to let you keep your secrets but I am not so what are you still hiding?" Armstrong asked, eyes daring Ed to try and deny it.
"Rachel?" Ed asked through their bond, a mimicry of what he'd done to get Al's opinion through Chester. "The only thing I haven't told her about is my abilities. Does Falman think it's a good idea to tell her?"
"Vato believes that the only reason you should keep that to yourself is if you believe she could be on Bradley's side. Vato would like to go on the record saying that he is confident she isn't on his side and that she wouldn't betray your secret without a good reason," Rachel told Ed. The eldest Elric looked up and over at Falman and met the man's eyes. After a moment, he nodded and Ed relaxed before he looked at his family. Receiving three more nods, Ed looked over at Buccaneer and Armstrong.
"During my trip through the Gate of Knowledge, I gained some unexpected information from it. As a result," Ed said, keeping eye contact with Armstrong, "I can bond with any Spirit Animal I choose. The bonds I create are basically the same as the one you would have with your Animal only less intense. This means I can talk with someone else's Animal but I usually need to be closer to it than I would Ayala. Same thing for sight-share, the ability to sense each other's location and pain, emotions, etc.," Ed explained. "The closer I am to an Animal, the stronger our bond but no bond will ever reach the level I have with Ayala."
"That is preposterous!" Buccaneer sneered. "No person can speak with other people's Animals! Do you truly expect us to believe that folly?" He snapped, stepping forward threateningly only to be halted by Armstrong.
"I assume you can prove this claim easily enough," Armstrong said, looking pointedly at Anahlia. "Let me be clear though. If you are lying to me, I will show no mercy," she growled. Ed had absolutely no doubts that she would keep her word.
"I'm not but with your permission, I'd like to prove it to you," Ed said and Armstrong gave one short nod. "Would you mind telling Anahlia something? A phrase or random word? Through your bond, please?" Ed asked. Armstrong's eyes narrowed slightly before she nodded and Ed focused on the snake on Armstrong's desk. "Anahlia, can you tell me what General Armstrong told you?" Ed asked out loud. "Just reach out like you did when you first initiated your bond with General Armstrong."
"Why didn't you do that?" Armstrong asked before Anahlia could say anything. "Reach out first?"
"If I am the first one to reach out and she responds, we form a bond," Ed told her. "I want her to have the option of choosing not to be bonded with me. The only way I'll end up with a bond with Anahlia is if she allows one."
Armstrong didn't say anything to Ed in response but she did glance at Anahlia, seemingly giving permission as there was soon an unknown voice in Ed's mind. "Olivier told me that her sword has been passed through her family for generations. Specifically, the sword was a gift from her great-great-great-great grandfather, David Joseph Armstrong, to her great-great-great-great grandmother, Eloise Layla Armstrong, for their tenth anniversary," Anahlia told him. "Olivier also wishes me to tell you that she believes it would be in our best interests strategically to bond. Of course, she is aware that she cannot force you or I to bond but I have no objections. I believe sharing information prudent to our planning would be much easier if we were bonded," Anahlia said, surprising Ed. He hadn't even realised Armstrong had discussed it with Anahlia.
Sensing no doubts or unwillingness from the snake, Ed gave her a slight nod. "Thank you," he said, completing the bond. "Your sword is a family heirloom. Your great grandfather, David Joseph, gave it to your great grandmother, Eloise Layla, for their tenth anniversary," Ed told Armstrong, who nodded in response.
"I assume you took up Anahlia on her offer," Armstrong said and Ed nodded. "Very well." Armstrong looked to Falman before she looked back at Ed. "Who else are you bonded to?"
Ed sighed for a moment. "Ayala and Chester, obviously," Ed said before continuing. "Nala, the Animals on Mustang's former team, my best friend's Animal, my adopted grandmother's Animal, my teacher and her husband's Animals, the Hughes' Animals, your brother's, Lieutenant Maria Ross' and Sergeant Denny Brosh's Animals, Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes' secretary's Animal, Hohenheim's Animal, a Xingese prince's Animal and now Anahlia. I think that's everyone?" Ed said uncertainly and looked at Ayala, who nodded even as she rolled her eyes fondly. "Yeah, that's everyone."
"So you are bonded with Lieutenant Falman's Animal?" Armstrong asked and Ed nodded. "Which means that you lied to me, Lieutenant Falman, when you said you managed to get a hold of Major Elric at his hotel and that Major Elric was complicit in that lie." Both Falman and Ed paled considerably as she spoke and there was a small vindictive spark in Armstrong's eyes. "I'm sure I'll find a way to make sure the two of you are appropriately apologetic while Major Elric is staying with us." Armstrong seemed to consider them for a moment before she once again turned the conversation in a direction Ed hadn't expected. "Is there anything else, Major Elric, that you believe is important enough to be brought to my attention?" Armstrong asked.
"Ah," Ed said ineloquently as he tried to both adjust to the road this talk was now taking and to think of anything Armstrong would need to know.
"Maybe you should tell her about Raven," Ayala suggested and Ed would've given her a strangling hug if he'd been in front of near anyone else.
"Yesterday, Alphonse, the Animals and I returned to Colonel Trevor Moon's office to return some files we'd borrowed the previous day. Before we could leave the colonel's outer office, a General Raven arrived for a meeting with Moon," Ed told her and Armstrong scoffed.
"How is a general attending a meeting with a colonel something I should know about?" Armstrong asked and Ed shook his head.
"It's not the meeting that I wanted to tell you about. I don't even know what they were meeting about. It's Raven himself," Ed said. "Ayala and Chester both went straight into protective mode when he entered the room," Ed told her. "When I asked Ayala about it later, she told me that he smelled far too much like Fuhrer Bradley for her comfort." Again, Armstrong interrupted.
"He's a Central general. I imagine they have meetings with the Fuhrer every week, if not more frequently."
"Yes, but from how strong the Fuhrer's scent was on Raven, Ayala and Chester both believe that he's spent several hours several days a week with Fuhrer Bradley. Our Animals believe that General Raven is one of those corrupted by Fuhrer Bradley and the homunculi," Ed told her. "When I asked her, Nala confirmed that she and Mustang were keeping an eye on him in Central after their run in with Fuhrer Bradley."
"What run in?" Armstrong asked. She didn't look or sound impressed with the fact that Ed had neglected to mention anything about the confrontation.
"Oh, right. Ah so maybe two weeks ago now, Al, the Animals and I decided to lure Scar out into the open by using ourselves as bait because we were fairly certain that the homunculi would send someone to come and stop us from being killed by Scar," Ed started explaining.
Ed continued with the report, describing in detail how Ling, Lan Fan, Fu and their Animals overheard the conversation between him and Al about luring Scar into the open and offered their help. He then told her about the fight and how Gluttony came to find them. He moved on to tell her about them questioning the homunculous and how he, Al and the two Animals ended up escorting Gluttony back to Central to confront Father about his plans. Ed then went on to tell Armstrong about Mustang's talk with Wrath in as much detail as he could remember before doing a quicker overview on what had happened with Father, the homunculi and Scar.
"Since that meeting with Bradley, Mustang and Nala have been very suspicious about the generals in Central and they warned me to steer clear of Raven if I could help it," Ed said, wrapping up his report. "Also, Mustang had Nala warn me about the release of State Alchemist who had been on death row. A Solf J. Kimblee, the Crimson Lotus Alchemist, also known as the Crimson Alchemist," Ed told her.
"I know of him," Armstrong said, brows furrowing slightly. "My brother told me about his actions during the Ishvalen Civil War. I may not think much of my brother nor of his opinions but from what my own brief investigations into the man told me, he should never have been released."
"From what we've heard of him, we agree," Ed said. "Mustang told us that his release came from direct orders of Fuhrer Bradley. Kimblee was tasked with hunting down Scar," Ed revealed. "Last we heard, Kimblee was heading west after Scar was spotted that way."
Armstrong seemed to take a few moments to absorb the new information Ed had given her before nodding. "Very well. A few of my trusted soldiers and I will make sure to get our own readings on General Raven, should he pay a visit to this fortress," Armstrong said, glancing up significantly at Buccaneer, who nodded subtly in response. Armstrong turned back to Ed and the rest of his family before speaking once more. "Major Elric, I believe the room you stayed in last time is still free. You can stay there until you're permitted to leave. Dismissed," Armstrong said, effectively ending the lengthy conversation right there without giving them the opportunity to say anything else.
Following Falman's lead, Ed stood from his chair and saluted General Armstrong before leaving her office when she waved them out of the salutes. Buccaneer didn't follow them out and there wasn't anyone outside the office so Falman gestured silently for the boys and their Animals to follow him, something they did willingly. Rachel was very happy to be able to greet the boys, Ayala and Chester like she'd wanted to earlier and that greeting was a very enthusiastic one. Falman watched in amusement as Ed, Al, Ayala and Chester tried to give the stingray the attention she wanted without accidentally hurting her or themselves.
"Rachel, let them breathe," Falman said, managing to keep his amusement out of his voice as he watched his Animal flitting around the four others in the elevator, unable to choose the one human or Animal to stay near longer than a few moments.
"Sorry," Rachel said sheepishly to both Falman and Ed.
"Don't worry about it," Ed said. "We're happy to see the both of you too." He gave the stingray a smile that was nothing but genuine.
"Oh, congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant Falman," Al said, having remembered that Armstrong had greeted him by that title earlier.
"Oh, yeah, congrats," Ed said as well.
"Thank you, Alphonse, Edward," Falman said with a dip of his head. "Your room will be up ahead. Do you guys remember your way around here well enough that you don't need an escort?" Falman asked.
"I think we can manage," Ayala said while Chester nodded.
"Yeah, Falman, we're good. The Animals reckon they can manage on scent trails if we get in a bind," Ed told him and Falman nodded in thanks.
"I have duties to get back to and dinner will be served shortly," Falman said. "I doubt the general will expect you to do anything tonight but I'm sure you'll be given orders for tomorrow before long."
Ed nodded like he wasn't expecting anything else and he truly wasn't considering what their stay was like last time. The only differences were that Kemp wasn't there helping him with interviews and he and Ayala would be expected to help out around the fortress. Suddenly, Ed remembered something he'd noticed. "Is Major Miles out on patrol again?" Ed asked. "I haven't seen him around the fortress but considering he was with us when we last spoke to the general, I figured she would've had him attend the meeting as well," Ed said and was a little surprised when Falman shook his head.
"Major Miles was ordered to leave to for North City an hour before our unexpected visitor arrived," Falman told them. "I don't know the details about his orders but he should be back tomorrow morning at the latest, according to the talk around the fortress."
"Huh," Ed huffed, eyebrows raising slightly, "we didn't hear about anyone from Fort Briggs heading to North City while we were around town this afternoon," Ed said.
"It's not that unusual for someone from Fort Briggs to travel to North City for any reason," Falman told them. "It's likely that no one blinked an eye at the news," he pointed out and Ed nodded.
"Yeah, probably," Ed said as they rounded the last corner. "Hey, Falman?" Ed asked and the older man nodded to show he was listening. "What are your thoughts on Raven?"
Falman seemed to contemplate his answer. "I've never heard or witnessed anything that would suggest that Raven would have allowed himself to follow along with the Fuhrer's plan. I personally have not spent much time around the general myself so I haven't had much to form my own opinion of him," Falman told them. "However I will say that if Colonel Mustang, Nala and your Animals are telling you not to trust General Raven than I suggest you listen to them, as I will be," Falman said, giving the boys knowing looks that Ed felt was slightly unjustified until Ayala started running through a list of the moments he'd elected to ignore their warnings and had gotten hurt because of it until Ed told her she'd made her point and that she could shut her face. His suggestion had had Ayala grinning until they got to the door of the room the boys and Animals would be staying in.
"Thank you for escorting us, Lieutenant Falman, and we promise to listen to your advice," Al said before Ed could say anything. Ed just knew his brother was daring him to try and argue with him.
"Thanks, Falman," Ed said rather than rising to Al's bait.
"No worries, boys. Make sure you get some rest. I'm sure General Armstrong will have a long list of things you can help out with around for you," Falman said, one corner of his lips twitching up slightly, the only sign of his amusement.
"We will," Al promised him.
"See you around," Ed said, nodding to both Falman and Rachel.
"You will. I'll make sure Vato finds some time while you're here to join you for a meal," Rachel told Ed, who grinned at the stern tone directed at Falman. The grey-haired man simply nodded in surrender, knowing that a fight would be pointless.
"Looking forward to it," Ed said, not bothering to suppress his amusement. Falman didn't look awfully impressed with his amusement. Another round of goodbyes saw the boys and their Animals entering the room to get themselves settled and Falman and Rachel heading back down the corridor to get back to their work.
"Brother, I think you should use the time before dinner to talk to Nala. Get her and Colonel Mustang up to date with everything that happened," Al suggested as he helped Ed sort his suitcase out.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Ed said as he pulled a book out to place aside for Alphonse later. "Hey, Nala? You too busy for some gossip?" Ed asked.
"Never," Nala told him immediately, causing Ed to grin widely and share a look with an equally amused Ayala. "What do you got for me?"
As Falman had predicted, Ed and Al were met the next morning on their way to breakfast with the Animals by Captain Buccaneer who had a list of jobs Armstrong had created for the both of them. The captain seemed a little too happy to be giving them the lists and Ed had to wonder why considering none of the jobs seemed to be overly harsh or disgusting. In turn, Ed was almost tempted to ask if he even knew what Armstrong had written on the paper but in the end, he decided to leave it.
Ed had been assigned to the floors that had taken the most damage from the homunculous' unplanned tour, starting with the floor that held the tanks and other vehicles and projects, and helping the soldiers and civilians get their workstations and area back in order. Ed relished not being asked to use his alchemy for every little thing and being given the opportunity to learn from the Fort Briggs men and women. Al was sent to the medical wing to give assistance with any remaining patients from the previous day's fight and because – as Ed found out later when they met up for lunch – the medical staff had asked for him. Apparently, they'd taken a shine to him and Chester last time the Elrics had visited Fort Briggs, having been especially enamoured by how much interested Al showed in the medical field. Ed was less enamoured than they were when Al informed him that he was mostly interested in learning the procedures so he could help Ed when – in Al's words – Ed was too stubborn or stupid to find professional medical help himself. Ayala and Chester had thought Al's reasoning was extremely fair considering Ed's past. Ed hadn't appreciated that very much either.
Only two hours after they'd broken for lunch, Ed looked up from where he was working – helping one of the tank crews with their tank – and saw General Armstrong marching straight at him. Only Ayala's assurances that her thunderous expression wasn't aimed at him stopped Ed from immediately offering his sincerest apologies for whatever she'd thought he'd done and begging for his life. When she finally got to him, flanked by Buccaneer and Eric, she seemed to have to exert some self-control over herself before she spoke.
"Major Elric, where is your brother currently?" Armstrong asked and Ed sent Chester the question, though he was pretty sure he knew what the leopard's response would be.
"He's in the medical bay," Ed answered as soon as Chester confirmed it.
"Inform your brother that he is to get to your room immediately," Armstrong ordered.
"Why? What's going on?" Ed asked even as he sent Chester the order.
"I've just received a report from Major Miles. He was detained in North City to interview a man who was admitted to the hospital last night," Armstrong told him, obviously displeased with either Ed or the situation at hand. "He'd overheard some northern soldiers discussing a major being admitted to the hospital and they mentioned him by name. The moment he heard it was Major Solf J. Kimblee, he called me with the news, having recognised the name," Armstrong said and Ed shared a worried with Ayala. "He'd been admitted with wounds to his abdomen indicative of an impalement injury and Major Miles was ordered by myself to interview him."
"So Kimblee's been hospitalised in North City. I bet that means Scar has decided to rejoin Mei and whoever was accompanying her," Ed mused out loud but Armstrong didn't seem to hear him or care what he was talking about.
"I hadn't heard from Major Miles until twenty minutes ago when he radioed to report that he was accompanying General Raven to the fortress. Evidently the general wishes to speak with me about something," Armstrong said, a sneer on her face.
"And you want us to stay in our room?" Ed asked, a little confused. Ed knew that usually meetings happened inside offices and that generals didn't tend to stick around for chit-chat after the meeting's conclusion so Ed wasn't sure why Armstrong was having him and Al stay in their room like naughty children.
"No one knows you're here or about the attack on Fort Briggs yesterday. I don't need General Raven asking me questions about your presence and he's unlikely to do that if the four of you aren't anywhere to be seen," Armstrong informed him. "You can stay in the room you've been assigned or you can stay in one of our holding cells," Armstrong told him, giving him the ultimatum.
"We'll stay in the room," Ed said, wisely listening to Ayala's advice to not argue with the general. He went to turn away when an idea struck him and he turned back to the general. "General Armstrong, how far are you willing to go to help us with the fight against the homunculi and their plans?"
Armstrong raised a brow. "That, Major Elric, depends entirely on what you're thinking."
"I was thinking, General," Ed said, "that we may be able to lay and trap for Raven and if he manages to fall for it, you could possibly take his place in Bradley's inner circle."
"And act as a spy for you and those supporting you, including Mustang," Armstrong finished saying for him. The subtle snarl that flickered across her face at Mustang's name had Ed worried that he might've overstepped his bounds or somehow managed to insult her when her expression smoothed into one slight interest. "Tell me your plan. If it isn't as idiotic as I'm expecting it to be, I'll consider it."
A/N - sorry for the wait but here is chapter 37! Everything's starting to happen now and now there are only 10 chapters left to the story! I really hope to hear from a lot more of you about what you thought to this chapter than I did for last weeks update. Many thanks to PotatoShip7 who has been so amazing and left me a review every week without fail.
To my guest reviewer - you cannot eat Kimblee yet
To my other guest reviewer, WS - Thank you for your review! I'm glad you still have the same feelings for Armstrong as you did before. Sassy Al is the best XD I'm sorry I couldn't give you Hughes harassing Leo this chapter. I do hope you enjoy my version of the Briggs arc :D
To everyone else, reviews would be absolutely loved. As a writer, I can assure you that the minute or two it would take you to let an author know what you thought to their work absolutely makes their day. I don't think it's an awful lot to ask and I really, really love to hear your thoughts so please? See you all next week!