I'm back!
mwagner3- I would consider writing an Edwin fic at somepoint, but tbh mostly parental Roy is my thing and I;ve got several ideas on the backburner atm. I might consider doing a barry the chopper re-write where Ed trades himself for Winry when she's kidnapped and Roy has to find him with the help of a terrified Winry at some point though. That soulds like it'd be fun.
It'd been awhile since Roy had done regular alchemy. When your signature attack was so useful, you didn't really have need for anything else.
But he still liked to dabble in it occasionally. He still got the monthly journal, still read the articles about newer forms of alchemy. He still liked to know about new discovery.
Fusing woof to other wood was a simple transmutation for someone as experienced as him. A simple chalk circle on the side windowsill- he touched two fingers to the small array he'd drawn, watching the blue light flash and focusing.
The blue light faded, and the wooden sash of the window was now fused to the windowsill invisibly. It couldn't be opened- either from the inside or the outside.
Roy was sure someone as experienced as Ed would be able to figure out and undo the alchemy if he'd needed to. But he was also sure that Ed respected him enough to at least be wary of changing things in his home. Hopefully if Ed realized Roy had gone to the trouble of using alchemy to fuse his window shut, he'd think twice about sneaking out.
Even though, having seen Ed at the office today, Roy was pretty sure the kid wouldn't try to sneak out anyways.
After he'd trudged back from the showers, Ed had looked worn out. If Ed hadn't been such a moron, lying to him and sneaking off on his own, then Roy might've pitied him enough to send him home early. But Ed had lied to him and snuck around, and so it was only fair he was forced to live with the consequences.
Still, as Roy peered into the guest room that night to find the boy sprawled out on top of the covers- his boots still on- he knew he was worried over nothing. Ed would stay close by. Where Roy could watch his back.
"You won't let me go anywhere. You won't let me investigate Banks. You might as well let me help with the Mr. Finger case."
"Mr. Finger?" Hughes looked surprised at the moniker. Ed had strode into Roy's office and flopped on teh couch, shrugging.
"All I do is sign paperwork. It's boring. Let me help you catch this guy."
"Haven't you had enough of him? You almost got tangled up with him yesterday- you brought back a severed finger. That's enough to give anyone nightmares." Hughes said, steeping his fingers.
"Yeah, that wasn't fun. But I'm also probably the only one who ever saw him. I can describe him."
Hughes sat forward, the sunlight reflecting off his glasses.
"Alright. So what did you see, Edward? Describe him for me."
"Tall. Lanky. Six foot, about- he walked... oddly. Shambling gait. All black clothing. Black knit cap. Black long sleeve shirt, button up. Black slacks. Black boots- size 12."
Hughes wrote it all down on a notepad, frowning as he saw Ed pause.
"His hands. Long fingers. Long, black, acrylic nails. Unusual... for a man."
"So you really did see him, then." Hughes set his pen aside, pushing his glasses back up on his nose so his eyes were once again visible through the glare.
"You thought I was lying?" Ed asked, looking at him quizzically.
Hughes shook his head. "No. I thought it might have been a copycat killer. But you saw the real thing- the finger you brought back- you remember which one it was? You saw the corpse... which one was missing?"
Ed leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees, pressing the heels of his hands to his closed eyes and trying to remember.
"Left ring finger. The same finger that would've had a wedding band on it, if she was married. I could smell the blood... I was standing in it..." Ed opened his eyes and looked up, eyes wide. "I could smell the glue."
"Glue?" Roy raised an eyebrow, interested.
"Yeah. Glue. Those fingernails- he'd put them all on recently. With glue. I didn't realize it at the time, all I registered was the smell of blood, but the glue... She wasn't wearing those nails when he killed her. He put them on her corpse. And cut off her ring finger for a souvenir. But the rat got it and ran off with it- he must've been looking for it."
"Where was the body, Ed?"
"Right by the manhole- the one in the alley of hammer and mill streets. I thought I told you about it yesterday?" Ed said, frowning.
"You did. We found the bloodstain and a bottle of acrylic nail glue- but no body." Hughes admitted grimly.
"So he moved her." Roy postulated. "Are you searching the sewers?"
"Currently- no." Hughes gave a quick, humorless chuckle. "I'm not about to send my team in there with the wedding band killer still on the loose down there, Colonel Banks rumored to be on the run, and possibly hostile Drachman agents lurking as well. We have no idea where to look. Those tunnels are miles long..."
"I could show you." Ed paused as both eyes landed on him. "I think I remember most of the way. I remember the turns- the tunnel I went in, the one I came out of. I saw which direction he was headed."
"You're so eager to go back to the sewers after your little escapade yesterday? With Banks and 'Mr. Fingers' down there?" Roy cocked an eyebrow. He shot Hughes a glance that clearly said- there is no way I'm letting him go back into the sewers, even if he is with us.
Hughes raised his head almost imperceptibly, acknowledging him. "I don't think having you underground would be a good idea, if you remember the turns you took above ground- the manhole you went down, where you saw him- that'd be helpful to our investigation- letting us know where to search."
"Okay. But I wanna see the casefiles."
"What case files?" Hughes feigned innocence.
"You called him the 'wedding band killer'. He's killed before. I want to see what you have."
Hughes shot Roy a glance out of the corner of his eye. Roy nodded from behind his folded hands, where his elbows rested on the desk, and Hughes pulled a large file folder from behind him. "Read up. We'll head out in an hour."
BREAK
"I went in here." Ed was standing atop a manhole in a deserted alley on Frost Lane, looking serious. Roy, Hughes, Ross and Brosch were with them for the investigation.
"I walked straight for 100m, about..." Ed was absorbed in his work, walking in the approximate direction he'd gone.
"I turned left here. And right here..." his full concentration was on the road in front of him. Roy's heightened senses had kicked in. The streets were quiet right now, but one never knew these days when a Drachman operative or hidden enemy would pop out.
Brosch was sketching a rough diagram as Ed was speaking. But Ross obviously wasn't assigned to keep the case- she'd been assigned to watching their backs. Her hand appeared to rest covertly in the pockets of her long black jacket, but Roy say the slight glance of metal- she had her pistol concealed in one hand and was watching.
He was grateful Hughes had thought enough to bring her along.
"Where did you find the finger, Ed?"
"There was an alcove, midway along the passage. The sewers form a T-shaped junction soon... a little further along, I think." Ed paused, before he kept walking on the sidewalk.
Three minutes later he'd stopped and was frowning. "We went too far. This isn't right."
He doubled back, frowning. "This would be a lot easier if you'd let me go underground." he said, frustrated.
"Not happening. Think. You're smart enough to retrace your steps above ground. What did you hear down there?" Roy asked pointedly.
"Besides running water, not much." Ed snapped, frustrated. It had started to drizzle, and Ed paused, continuing on to the edge of the street. He saw something that caught his eye, trotting into the road- just as a black car came around the corner too fast, heading in his direction.
"Ed!" Hughes shouted.
Breaks screeched, and Roy grabbed the kid by the back of his hood, pulling him back and into his own grasp. Roy spun to the side, ducking into a nearby alley for cover.
The black car had screeched to a halt in the middle of the street.
Hughes, Brosch and Ross had all drawn their weapons and approached cautiously, and Roy kept Ed tucked beside him and fingered his ignition gloves in his pocket with his other hand, watching from the shadows.
"Get out of the car!" Hughes shouted.
Ross opened the door with one hand, keeping her gun trained on the driver, and Brosch pulled the man out.
The driver was a young man- he couldn't have been over twenty- dressed in a button down shirt and slacks. He looked sufficiently rattled.
Roy watched Hughes grill the kid for a moment before drawing the conclusion the man wasn't a Drachman operative, but a young idiot who'd gone around the corner too fast.
He turned to look at Ed, who was shaking off his surprise. "Holy shit." the blond managed.
"No kidding." Roy said dryly, scrutinizing Ed carefully. Ed wasn't hurt- so Roy felt it appropriate to reach over and smack him upside the head lightly.
"You just walked into the middle of the road without looking?"
"I was absorbed in the investigation! I was remembering the sounds I heard in the sewer, like you said. There's only so much I can think about at once."
"Your parents never told you to look both ways before you crossed the road?"
"There was one dirt road in my town. It was never that busy. I always heard the horses coming before they came around, and people actually watched out for others..."
"Don't let it happen again."
"Right." Ed was peering out of the alley now, curious as to what was going on.
Hughes had let the driver get back in his car, and the man drove off at a much more reasonable speed.
Hughes nodded to Roy as they approached, letting him know he'd handled the threat, and Ed paused, looking towards the center of the road.
"That's what I was talking about." he pointed.
In the middle of the road was a grate. The road didn't form a T, but rather, it was an X, with roads going in all four directions, but the grate in the center clearly accounted for the waterfall Ed had seen underground. "That's the waterfall. Thirty meets left is where I found the body."
Ed was already moving down the sidewalk, though he made a point to stop and look both ways before crossing the road to continue his quest down the sidewalk.
The rest of the little tour was uneventful, with Ed concluding it at another alley manhole. "That's where I got out. Whoever he was- he followed me, grabbed my leg and tried to pull me back down..." Ed paled for a moment at the recollection, before he seemed to shake it off.
"Hope I helped with the investigation somehow." he said, shooting a glance over at Hughes.
"I think we have some leads to go off of after this." Hughes replied, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder. Roy knew what he was talking about- the fact that their was a battered woman's shelter two blocks down form where Ed had supposedly found the body underground was a big one.
They parted ways- it was nearly six, and as they walked towards home, Ed was silent.
"How long you think it will take to catching this guy?" Ed asked as they walked along, his gaze far off.
"I don't know. Hughes has it well in hand, though." Roy said simply. "You think about work too much. What do you want for dinner?"
"You think about work too little. And I want mac n' cheese." Ed said back. "Any word on Banks?"
"Nothing yet." The sun was starting to set. They were four blocks away from Roy's house. They were waiting at a crosswalk. Roy gazed up at the rooftops, watching the sunlight fade- and saw the reflection.
He grabbed Ed's hand and pulled them both behind a parked car for cover.
"What the hell!?" Ed groused, surprised.
Roy simply raised his hand and hailed a passing taxi, pulling Ed into the back of it behind him, giving him his home address.
Ed had fallen silent in his complaints, but was still looking at Mustang curiously. Roy said nothing, craning his next to look up at the rooftop as they drove out of sight. He vaguely saw a shadow, but it could've been any number of rooftop vents or chimneys in the long rays of the setting sun.
"Care to tell me what that way about?" Ed asked, crossing his arms and looking pissed.
"Saw a reflection on the rooftop. From a sniper's scope."
"You what?" Ed paused, looking shocked.
"Rooftops are excellent for snipers. Banks is at large, as well as the Drachmans. You weren't even paying attention." Roy admonished.
"I was so paying attention! I was paying attention to the road and the crosswalk saying don't walk and getting home for dinner." Ed protested.
Roy sighed. "You were paying attention to that, yes." but not to the right things. Roy's mind whispered. But he quickly silenced that voice. Ed had never been in active combat and didn't know what to look for.
"Snipers like to camp out on roofs. If they get sloppy, you can often see the muzzle flash in the dark if they don;t use a suppressor, or a reflection of light on their scope. I thought I saw a reflection of a scope up there."
"So are you going to send someone to investigate it?" Ed asked.
"No. Because if it was a sniper, they missed their chance and they;re long gone by now." and I'm not sure if I really saw one or my mind was playing tricks on me.
"I'm tired of this shit. Of hiding- we don't even know if there really was someone back there trying to get us. And if there was, we don't know who they were! I just want to get back to searching for the stone."
"You won't be able to help Alphonse if you're dead. And you won't be able to enjoy mac n' cheese if you're so pissy. So suck it up and at least pretend to be in a good mood for your brother."
They'd pulled up outside Roy's home, and Roy quickly paid the cabbie and they ducked inside.
Alphonse was perched on the couch, a book in his hands that actually wasn't about alchemy.
"You're reading those crappy dramas again?" Ed complained, flopping down on the couch beside them.
"I needed a break from all the alchemy. It helps refresh me." Alphonse commented cheerily.
"Just don't go prattling on to me about them this time. I don't care if Julia finds love or not."
Roy went into the kitchen to start a pot of boiling water.
Ed continued to tease Al for his taste in literature.
"You know brother, maybe women would like you more if you actually read something like this and learned some sensitivities." Al said as they sat down to dinner.
"Yeah right. Women love me." Ed shoveled bites of mac n' cheese into his mouth feverishly.
"With manners like that, who wouldn't." Roy said sarcastically.
Ed shot him a glare.
"Winry might like you more if you weren't such an idiot and read about feelings and love. You'll never get married if you don't learn how to communicate with women." Al said wisely.
Ed choked on his mac n' cheese. "I can communicate just fine! With my fists! I fight people, Al, I'm a state alchemist. I don't need a woman, and especially not Winry. She doesn't know the first thing about communication- she just hits people with a wrench!"
"Sounds like she speaks your language then. Violence." Roy smirked.
"You shut up!" Ed pointed his fork at him angrily, steam starting to come out of his ears.
He turned back to Al "And as for marriage- the only rock I care about is the philosopher's stone. Now quit ruining my mac n' cheese with your feelings and crap." and Ed was back to digging into his meal.
Al sighed, and Roy could've sworn he was giving Roy a look that said see what I have to deal with? before he retreated back to enjoying his book. After much complaining and badgering Ed managed to switch Al's drama novel for an alchemy book, and the boys chattered long into the night about research and theorems. Roy occasionally interjected from his armchair when he thought of something useful, but before long it'd grown quiet.
Roy looked up from his newspaper to realize it was almost one in the morning. And it'd been quiet for awhile- no one had said much.
He looked over to see Ed had passed out on the couch, a few notebook pages scattered around him and an open book in his lap. Alphonse was sitting cross-legged on the floor, having carefully bookmarked the page he was on in his alchemy book and resumed reading his drama.
Soulfire eyes looked up as Roy strode across the room, picking up a folded blanket he kept nearby and draping it over Ed's slumped form.
"Don't tell brother I started reading this again? He thinks they're a waste of time." Alphonse asked him gingerly.
"Learning to understand how women think is hardly a waste of time, Alphonse. In fact, it's one of life's great mysteries. It'll come in handy for you someday, when you get your body back." Roy smiled slightly, imagining Alphonse going on his first date.
"What you do in your time awake is hardly my business anyways, Al. Just please keep an eye on things and be quiet. You know where my room is- wake me if you need anything."
"Okay. Goodnight, Colonel." Al's voice was decidedly more chipper- almost like a young boy who'd just been praised by his father.
"Goodnight, Al."
There it is!
Sorry I took a break for so long- I wasn't sure where it was going. Sometimes I feel like the story drags, but then I remember- it's okay to take my time. I feel like the domestic scenes at the end where Roy, Ed, and Al spend time together are really important to building their relationship during the wonderful time of forced bonding.