Hello! I've taken a bit of a break from the FMA fandom, but I've come back bringing a new fic! I sincerely hope you all enjoy it!
I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Riza Hawkeye
Her hair whipped around her as a train pulled into the station. The platform buzzed to life as people got off and joined the others waiting for their own trains. She found herself in a sea of reunions and a few tearful goodbyes. Despite the crowd, it was impossible to miss the suit of armor towering above it all; however, she made no move toward him. Instead, she stayed put, giving the two brothers as much privacy as they could get on the busy platform.
She watched as Alphonse stepped onto the train. She scanned the platform for his older brother, relaxing when she saw Edward elbowing his way toward her. He stopped just a few feet away. A train horn blared over the dull roar of the chattering crowd. The corners of her lips quirked into a small grin when one of the windows dropped and Al peeked out of it.
"Don't forget to call, brother!"
He waved while the train started to roll out of the station. Ed shot his brother a brilliant smile. Riza couldn't stop the soft chuckle that escaped her.
"I won't!" he shouted with a slight wave of his own. "See you later, Al!"
Ed watched as the train pulled out of the station. He remained in his spot a moment after, staring off after it. His smile slowly faded away. With a brief shake of his head, he turned and approached her.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said.
Riza ensured her grin remained intact, noticing Ed's shoulders sag at her lack of impatience.
"No need to apologize." She checked her watch. "It's getting late, though. We should get you back to the dorms. We've got an early morning ahead of us."
She swiftly spun around on her heel and meandered through the crowd, ignoring the groan from the teenager behind her. He followed her to the car without any further complaint, wordlessly climbing into the front seat. The streetlights flickered on to illuminate the quickly darkening street.
"How long do you think this assignment will take, Lieutenant?" he asked as she turned on the car.
She swallowed, keeping her gaze forward while she drove away from the train station and onto the road.
"I'm afraid I don't know," she admitted, "but I hope it won't be long. Afterward, you should request some leave and head out to Resembool. I'm sure Al and Winry would love that."
She could see Ed perk up at the idea out of the corner of her eye. He relaxed back against the seat and stared out the window. A few minutes passed, and neither of them said a word. It wasn't until they passed Eastern Command that Ed finally spoke again.
"Thanks for the ride back to my dorm."
She turned down the street leading to the dormitories.
"It's not a problem," she assured. "Besides, I should be thanking you. I wasn't looking forward to dyeing my hair tonight until you said you could take care of that for both of us."
Ed cringed, and Riza nearly chuckled again at the sight. She parked the car. Ed got out and trudged toward the building. Grabbing a couple bottles out of the backseat and exiting the car herself, it only took her a few swift strides to catch up. Upon entering Ed's dorm, her eyes widened at the books strewn across the desk, a few even falling onto the floor. A couple stacks lined the wall near the bed as well; however, aside from the books and a massive suitcase lying in the middle of the floor, the room was practically barren. Ed quickly cleared the desk before disappearing into the bathroom. There was a brief flash, then he emerged with a small basin of water and a couple towels. He set the basin down on the desk.
What is he going to do with that? That's not much water. How is he….
"Can I see the hair dye?" he asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.
She handed him the bottles, which he quickly dumped into the water. He gave her the second towel and draped his own around his shoulders. She followed suit. Ed bent down until the tip of his braid was dipped in the water. He clapped and grasped the edge of the basin. Her eyes widened as black dye seeped from the tip of his braid all the way up to his roots. He straightened up, letting his hair rest against the towel.
"Your turn, Lieutenant."
Riza promptly took her hair down and tied it back in a ponytail before leaning forward so the tip was submerged in the water. Ed clapped and gripped the basin again. A coldness crept up to the top of her neck and spread throughout her entire scalp as her hair was dyed, but it was over in a matter of seconds. She stood up, ensuring her ponytail landed on her towel, staining the material black where her hair made contact. She couldn't stop her small grin from returning.
"Thank you. You certainly saved me some time."
Ed shrugged.
"This will save us time on our assignment, too. I'm not entirely sure how long the dye is supposed to last. This will be a quick fix." Ed glanced down to his braid and grimaced. "I hope we won't have to do this again, though. I don't want to look like the Colonel longer than I have to."
Riza couldn't stop the grin from spreading. She quickly dried her hair enough so it wouldn't drip on her uniform before Ed took the towel from her. She turned to the door but stopped with her hand on the doorknob. Her grin faltered.
"Have a good rest of your night and try to get some sleep. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow."
Ed nodded.
"See you in the morning, Lieutenant."
"See you in the morning, Ed," she replied, finally leaving the dorm.
Once in the hallway, she leaned back against the wall and sighed.
I really hope this doesn't take long, Ed. We need to get you back here as soon as we can.
You really shouldn't be going on this mission.
Edward Elric
"What do you want, Colonel?"
He plopped down on the lone couch in Roy's office and rubbed his eyes. Heavy footsteps rapidly approached at the question.
"Brother!" Al admonished, but Roy merely waved a hand.
"It's fine, Alphonse. You two got back in late last night. Fullmetal won't get any taller if I keep interrupting his sleep."
Two firm hands on his shoulders kept him from leaping off the couch, and Roy smirked at the scene before him. He opened his mouth, but the door quickly clicked shut when Riza sneaked into the office. Much to his surprise, she sat next to him on the couch instead of dropping off a stack of papers. Three files sat on the desk, and Roy passed two of them to his subordinates.
"General Grumman has ordered us to investigate a string of murders up in Marlowe," he began. "I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the city, but it's about two thousand kilometers northwest from here. So far, there have been four victims. All of them went to the same school: Henthorn Academy. It's the only private school in the city."
"I'm assuming an investigation of the teaching and administrative staff has already been started?" Riza ventured, opening the file.
Roy nodded.
"The officers already dispatched haven't found any promising leads, despite the mess at the crime scenes."
His eyebrows furrowed. He set the file down in his lap and crossed his arms.
"If the military police haven't had any luck, what does General Grumman think sending us will…." he trailed off, his eyes widening.
Roy couldn't stop the chuckle that followed. Casting a quick glance to Riza, he noticed her lips were quirked upward a tad.
"You've figured it out, haven't you, Fullmetal?"
He set his suitcase down and slumped into the seat. He barely managed to stifle a yawn. He let his head rest against the window and closed his eyes.
"Going to sleep already?"
He clenched his teeth and opened his eyes to find Roy settling into the seat directly across from him. Riza sat down beside him. He blinked and nearly shook his head, still not used to seeing her with black hair. He inwardly smirked.
I'm sure the others would probably say the same about me.
Jean plopped down next to him, a stack of folders in his hand. He shot Ed a wry grin.
"Sorry, Chief," he apologized, extending one of the folders to him. "We just have a few things we need to discuss, then you can sleep the rest of the train ride."
He snatched the folder and opened it, taking the first piece of paper out and skimming it. He glowered at its contents.
"Is there a problem?" Roy asked.
He didn't need to look at his commanding officer to see the smirk on his face. He couldn't take his eyes off the information at the top of the paper.
Edward Mason. Son of Roy and Riza Mason.
"Not at all, Colonel," he growled through gritted teeth.
Jean snickered beside him.
"You should probably start calling him 'dad.' You only have a few days before you start classes. I'm not sure how your fellow students would react to you calling their chemistry teacher 'Colonel.'"
The paper crinkled when his hands balled into fists, and Jean's snicker turned into a full-blown laugh. Ed's head throbbed, and he swore a vein was about to burst. A few people boarding the train shot the group a curious glance as they made their way down the aisle toward their seats. Ed slumped further into his seat, as if that would hide his quickly reddening face. A hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Lighten up, kid," Jean said, his smile softening. "Relax. It's going to be the last time you can for a while."
Ed cast his eyes back down to the file. Ignoring the name for the time being, he read the rest of the profile.
It says that I'm transferring from Kimbrel High School in East City to Henthorn Academy to finish out my first year of high school. The Colonel and Lieutenant have accepted new teaching positions at the school. I'm excused from all physical education classes due to me losing my arm and leg in a car accident…Mustang really thought of everything….
He scowled.
Damn him….
His eyes widened when he looked at the list of classes he would be enrolled in.
Geometry, chemistry, literature, Xingese, study hall…what the hell is that?
"It's a fairly small school, so there weren't many classes to choose from," Riza said, as if she'd read his mind. "There actually weren't many other elective options we could enroll you in this far into the semester. Since you're excused from physical education, we've made arrangements for you to go to the library and work on your other classes during your elective hour."
Ed could only nod, dread starting to form a pit in his stomach.
It's been years since I've even been inside a classroom….
The train lurched and started to roll out of the station. He flipped through the other papers in the file, having not had much time with them the previous day before being ordered to give them back to Jean when he was leaving Eastern Command. He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Giving more than a day's notice before a mission like this would've been nice.
He huffed and continued looking through the papers. He froze when he saw the first picture. A girl with short, brown hair stared back at him. He gently touched the photo.
Name: Adelaide Dorland
Age: Fourteen
"She was younger than me," he mumbled.
Jean tensed beside him. Any trace of humor dissipated at the comment.
"She was the fourth and latest victim," Roy murmured, slowly leaning forward. The rest of his subordinates followed suit. "Her mother found her yesterday morning. Once General Grumman got word of this, he knew he had to do more than send a few officers to investigate."
And that's why we were sent on such short notice….
Ed swallowed and nodded. He continued scanning the page, blood running cold when he read further into the report.
The victim was found lying on the kitchen table. Her stomach had been dissected, and her organs were pulled out and fanned around her.
He closed his eyes and shut the file. He leaned against the window again, the glass colder on his now clammy skin. His stomach churned. Someone snatched the file out of his hand.
"The coroner didn't find skin under any of the victim's fingernails, and there aren't any other signs of a struggle," Riza observed. "It looks like the victim had to be unconscious while the killer…."
He could feel her eyes drift to him when she trailed off. He ignored it and took a deep breath.
"Correct," Roy said.
"From what the other officers have reported, there's a tight knit community surrounding the academy," Jean added in, flipping through the papers. "Most of the students and faculty live on the same side of Marlowe. They said that it's been a peaceful community, until recently. Everyone knows each other. Most people didn't even lock their doors or windows at night."
Roy nodded.
"Only the victims' families have been willing to speak with the military. The faculty hasn't been too cooperative. General Grumman hopes that having some eyes and ears within the teaching staff will assist with the investigation."
"And he wants someone to see if the students know anything?" Ed ventured.
The Colonel nodded again.
"The students might not be comfortable talking to an officer or their parents if they know something they probably shouldn't, or if they think it might get them in trouble. They might be willing to talk to their peers, though."
He rubbed his eyes and slouched further into his seat. He could feel each military officers' gaze settling on him. It didn't take long for Jean to speak up.
"That's all you need to know for now, Chief. Why don't you get some sleep? You've got a lot of unpacking to do when we get to Marlowe, after all."
He nearly groaned at the thought, but instead crossed his arms and leaned his head against the window. It didn't take long for the constant clack against the train tracks to lull him to sleep.
Roy Mustang
He stared out the window. Different shades of green flashed by as the train sped through the countryside. His eyes drifted to the young alchemist sitting directly across from him. Ed had been asleep for the last two hours and hadn't stirred once. He couldn't help but grin at the sight.
He only seems to look his true age when he's asleep.
The grin disappeared at the thought.
All four victims are around his age….
Riza shifted beside him, not taking her eyes off the file in her lap. He knew she'd read every bit of information in that file, but she flipped the papers back over and started reading them again. He nearly chuckled when he recalled her bluntly voicing her displeasure the second the Elric brothers had left his office.
You know I don't want him here, either.
He rubbed a hand down his face. He took a deep breath and thought back to his commanding officer's words.
"I'm sorry, Colonel. I know this isn't ideal, but we have an opportunity that we can't refuse. Major Elric could get valuable information from the other students at that school. He's not just some kid. He's a state alchemist that has proved he can take care of himself. He'll be fine."
He opened his own file again and spread out the pictures of the victims on his lap. He looked at each one of them before his eyes drifted back to Ed.
He's never had to go undercover before. We've got a lot to discuss these next three days. I wish his first mission like this didn't mean catching a psychopath.
A smirk slowly formed on his face.
Although, if he wasn't already under orders from General Grumman and he found out about this case, he'd probably find some way to come out here and help hunt this killer down.
A firm hand on his arm pulled him out of his thoughts. Riza met his gaze for a brief moment before shifting it to Ed.
"You should probably get some rest, too, sir. You don't look like you slept well last night. Besides, you have a lot of work ahead of you, especially since we're touring the academy tomorrow."
Roy eyes seemed to burn at the reminder. He rubbed them, not even wanting to think about the preparations he would have to make during the weekend.
As usual, you're right, Lieutenant.
He nodded, gathered the papers back into the file, and closed it. He leaned back in his seat and looked out the window. It only took a couple minutes for his eyes to finally droop shut. The file was taken from his lap, and a reassuring hand squeezed his arm just before he drifted off.
Well, there's the first chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and are ready for a lot of Parental Roy and Riza to come! Let me know what you think. As always, constructive criticism is absolutely welcome as I'm constantly looking to improve. Until next time!