Havoc was scheduled for the early shift, which he generally didn't like, but he'd managed to get to bed early the night before, and this morning he was feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to conquer...something. Paperwork, maybe. Riza would be proud.

Havoc had been on his way to his desk when he'd heard voices from Roy's office. It sounded like Riza's voice, which was strange, because he was sure Riza wasn't scheduled for the early shift today and he was doubly sure Roy wasn't.

Havoc walked over to Roy's office and tentatively pushed the door open, half-sure he was about to catch his two superiors doing something illicit. Instead, he found Roy fully clothed and lying on the ground, which seemed...strange, even for the Colonel. Riza was leaning over him, looking concerned. For some godforsaken reason, the Fullmetal Alchemist was also there, also lying on the ground, and they were next to a flipped over desk.

"Um," Havoc asked. "What's happening?"

At that precise moment, the phone on the floor beside Riza began to ring. "That'll be the hospital," she said, lunging for it.

"What?"

Riza scooped the phone off its cradle, giving Roy an absentminded pat on the shoulder as she did. "Hello? Yes, this is Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."

On the floor, Ed began to stir, blinking slowly and looking extremely unhappy. Riza made as if to move towards him, then stopped as the phone cord tugged at her. She looked back to the phone, then to Ed, her face filling with frustration.

Havoc still had no idea what the hell was happening, but as usual, it seemed that Riza was having to juggle about fifty things. He wouldn't be able to talk to whoever it was that the Lieutenant was on the phone with, or give anyone any sort of useful information, but if awkwardly patting the Colonel was one of the duties that Riza had to fulfill, he thought he could probably handle that.

Dropping his bag by the door, Havoc hurried over to Roy's fallen desk, kneeling down beside Ed, who was moving weakly, golden eyes dazed. Riza shot him a grateful look and stepped away, taking the phone with her.

"Hey, you okay, Chief?" Havoc asked, trying his best to sound cheerful rather than hopelessly confused. Ed didn't look hurt, per se, but he didn't really look like he was okay either. He was still lying curled on the ground, and he didn't make any move to get up.

"Owww," Ed whispered, his hands going to his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. His face crinkled in pain, and Havoc rubbed his back sympathetically.

There was a sudden rustle from behind him, and Havoc whirled to find Roy propped on one elbow, looking almost as sick as Ed. He was pale, even for Roy, and his usually sharp eyes seemed slightly out of focus.

"What…?" Roy trailed off, apparently forgetting what he was saying. He went to push himself upright, but before he even made it up to his knees, Havoc could see that it wasn't going to happen. Roy was trembling badly, listing to one side as he tried to catch his balance.

"Don't try to stand yet, sir," Havoc said, transferring his focus from Ed to Roy and effortlessly pushing Roy back down, before he could make it to his feet and fall. He was slightly unnerved by how easy it was - he was a lot bigger than Roy, but the Colonel was usually surprisingly strong.

"Why...why are you here?" Roy asked, squinting at him. "Where's Maes?"

Havoc swallowed the urge to sarcastically remind the Colonel that he did, in fact, work here. Usually, he would have taken that particular comment as one of Roy's regrettably tasteless jokes, but the Colonel was clearly genuinely confused. Unfortunately, Havoc was just as confused if not more, but it would probably make Ed and Roy feel safer if they didn't know that.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye is figuring that out," Havoc said with a confidence that was entirely fabricated.

"Al isn't here," Ed said from behind Havoc. Havoc turned. He had managed to get himself into a sitting position by leaning heavily on the overturned desk. He still looked pale, and his eyes squeezed tight shut.

Havoc grimaced - he wasn't exactly sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Was he relieved Al wasn't here, and hadn't been involved in the attack? Or was Al supposed to be here?

Havoc decided to stick with simple honesty. It was very obvious Al wasn't here. "He isn't," Havoc said, giving Ed's shoulder a quick rub.

Ed's face fell. Al was apparently supposed to be here.

"Where is Al?" he said, voice carrying surprising strength for someone who looked so physically weak. "Where is he? Where is my brother?"

"I...I'm not sure," Havoc said. He still had no idea what was going on - he didn't know why Ed and Roy were expecting Al and Hughes to be there, why Riza had arrived so early, why everyone seemed to be shaking off unconsciousness. He hadn't the faintest idea where Al was.

"Where is Al?" Ed's voice was rising in panic. He didn't seem to really be expecting an answer anymore, just trying to let the world know he was upset.

"The Lieutenant is figuring that out right now," Havoc said. "As soon as she knows something, she'll-"

"He's gone!"

"I'm sure he's fine-"

Havoc hadn't really registered Riza talking quietly on the phone, but he did notice when she stopped. He looked over at her, and realized that she had hung up. Now, she seemed to be staring into the middle distance with an expression of confusion and horror.

"Lieutenant?" Ed asked softly. "Where's Al?"

Riza shook herself slightly, and her professionalism snapped back into place like a costume she needed to put on. Silently, she took a piece of paper from the ground next to her and handed it to Ed.

Ed read whatever was on the paper, and his face instantly went hard and cold.

"What does it say?" Havoc asked cautiously.

"It says 'Men came for Ed and the Colonel. Lt. Col. Hughes and I took their place. Find us.' It's signed "Al.'"

Ed's voice was steady, but Havoc realized he had gone a horrible greyish color. Havoc was desperately glad he was still sitting down - otherwise, he looked like he could have very well collapsed.

There was another frantic rustling sound from Havoc's other side, and he half-turned as Roy was dragging himself up to a sitting position. Havoc twisted to block him, putting up a cautionary hand.

"Sir-"

Havoc was interrupted by Roy's hand planting itself firmly in the middle of his chest and shoving him backwards. Havoc's center of balance was thrown off by the awkward position he'd twisted into, and he fell, sitting back heavily as Roy lurched to his feet.

"I have to find Maes," Roy muttered, looking extremely unsteady. Havoc guessed what was about to happen and pushed himself up off the ground, reaching out just as Roy wobbled, swaying alarmingly.

The Colonel tipped sideways into him, and Havoc grabbed his elbow, steadying him. Roy pressed a hand weakly to his temple, closing his eyes and involuntarily clutching at Havoc. Havoc hung on patiently and waited to be told what was going on.

The second he opened his eyes, Hughes regretted it. The side of his head was throbbing in rhythm with his heartbeat, and everything seemed slightly out of focus. Hughes blinked a few times before he realized that he wasn't wearing his glasses, and no matter how much he tried, his vision wasn't going to clear.

"Colonel? Are you okay?"

Hughes squinted across the far side of the room, towards the fuzzy form of Alphonse. His arms were chained in front of him, but the armor didn't seem to be damaged at all, at least from what little Hughes could make out.

"Fine," Hughes said with a shrug, pushing himself upright. As he did, he noticed one end of a manacle locked around his right wrist. The other end was bolted to the wall. The chain looked to be long enough to give him some range, but not long enough to make it to Al. In his other arm, a medical IV line led into the hollow of his elbow, connected to a bag hung on the wall. Hughes stared at it, feeling slightly sick to his stomach at the thought of being fed unknown drugs.

"What...what is this?"

"They said something about an antidote," Al answered. "I asked, but they didn't tell me very much. I...I think you might need it, though."

"Where are we?" Hughes asked, tugging weakly on the chain. Unsurprisingly, it didn't go anywhere. He frowned at the floor, which was made of rough wood paneling that matched the walls. "Some kind of cabin or something?"

Al's head bobbed up and down. "I don't know where it is exactly, but we were only driving for about an hour and a half. When they took us out of the car, it looked like we were in the middle of the woods."

Hughes nodded, regretting it as a spike of pain shot through his head. If they were truly stranded in the middle of the woods, that would make an escape attempt difficult. They wouldn't be able to rely on the safety of a town, or even access to a telephone to call in for backup. Still, any information was good information.

"How are you doing...Fullmetal?" Hughes caught himself right before he called Al by his name. He wasn't sure if the kidnappers were listening, and he couldn't let them realize they had the wrong people.

"I'm okay!" Al said, his voice awfully bright for a fourteen-year old who'd found himself chained up in a strange room. "My brother will find us. He's probably already looking."

Ed and Roy probably were already looking, assuming that the strange gas hadn't had more than a temporary effect. Hughes decided that he probably didn't need to mention that to Al, though. He was searching for the right response when the door opened, and two men entered.

Hughes pushed himself up straighter, ignoring the spike of pain caused by the movement. "Hey," he said. "Do you...do you know who I am? I'm Colonel Roy Mustang. I refuse to be treated this way, I...I demand that you release me and my subordinate at once…."

The men looked over at him, but neither of them said anything. The shorter of the men moved to check Hughes' IV bag.

"Hey, this is almost out," he said. "He'll need another bag soon."

The first man grunted in response.

"How many more bags we got here?"

The first man frowned. "Weren't planning to keep them this long. Not enough. But at least it's just the one of them."

Hughes felt his heartbeat start to speed up at the idea of an unknown substance coursing through his bloodstream. He didn't think he felt any different right now, not sedated or poisoned or anything like that. But maybe that was part of the drug - it made him think he was completely fine when really it was doing something awful to him.

"What is that?" Hughes said, trying to keep his voice commanding instead of terrified. "What are you doing to me?"

The shorter man paused in the inspection of his IV. "They didn't tell you?" He looked at the first man accusingly. "Thought you said they were gonna tell him?"

The first man shrugged. "He was unconscious when they brought him in. Kyrenol didn't wake him up for some reason."

"Kyrenol? What-"

"You've been given a powerful paralytic," the shorter man said. "You inhaled it in your office. This-" he gestured at the IV bag, "will keep it from having much of an effect on you, at least for a couple of days. But if you try to escape, you'll be flat on your back in less than an hour."

Hughes' mind was racing. The gas in Roy's office...it had completely knocked Ed and Roy out. Did that mean they'd inhaled more of it somehow? Were they paralyzed too?

"But what do you even want with me?" Hughes asked desperately. Someone having access to both Roy and Ed...the sheer number of horrible possibilities was almost dizzying.

"Oh," the man said, shrugging slightly like it hadn't occurred to him that Hughes might not yet already know this information. "We want money. We're demanding that Military Command pays your ransom if they want to get you back alive."

Roy had woken into a nightmare. The last thing he remembered was a white gas hissing out of the grenade, and Hughes' worried face as he slipped into unconsciousness. That had been bad enough, but he'd come to feeling dizzy, sick, and weak, and Maes and Alphonse were nowhere to be found.

"They called Military HQ this morning, about two hours ago now," Riza explained. "They said they had you and Edward in custody, and they demanded a sum of money for your safe return. They sent me here to investigate while they negotiated. I was hoping to find something that would lead to your safe return without the military being extorted. Instead I found the two of you unconscious on the ground. I thought they might have been lying, but Al's note...they likely do really think they have the two of you."

"Does Military HQ know they have Maes and Alphonse instead?"

"Yes," Riza said softly. "I called them as soon as I found you. I'm not sure if they've communicated with the group who had you again yet."

Roy closed his eyes. The Amestrian Military didn't care about individual lives, clearly, but they at least saw some value in their State Alchemists. Even if they weren't willing to negotiate money for Ed and Roy, they at least would have tried to extract them. But if the Military knew they just had a regular Lieutenant Colonel and the Fullmetal Alchemist's younger brother….

"Stupid," Roy hissed under his breath. "Dammit, Maes…." It was just like Hughes - making a thoughtless, knee-jerk decision, wading deeper into danger to protect Roy. Didn't Hughes realize that Roy could take care of himself?

"What are we gonna do?" Ed's voice broke through Roy's thoughts, and he turned around slowly, still supported by his Second Lieutenant. Ed was sitting up now, his eyes wide and frightened. Roy wasn't used to seeing fear in those eyes.

"We're going to find them," Roy said quickly. "I'm going to call General Grumman right now."

Riza frowned at him, and he realized for the first time how worried she looked. "Sir, you just woke up. Are you sure that you're feeling strong enough?"

"Where's the phone?" he asked, ignoring her question. He wasn't feeling strong, exactly, but if he was awake then he was strong enough to help his closest friend. He wasn't going to waste a single second, not while Hughes was out there risking his neck for Roy.

Roy pulled away from Havoc, and he was a little dizzy but it wasn't too bad. Across the ruins of his desk, Riza was holding the telephone, offering it to him. Roy took it.

"Someone from the hospital is supposed to meet me outside the command center," Riza said. "I'm going to go wait for them, but...let me know what the General says."

Roy blinked. "The...hospital? But-"

"I don't know all the details right now myself, sir, and I'm sure I'll be able to explain more when I get back. But it seems that...you and Ed were drugged with something."

"That much is obvious-"

"No sir. It didn't just knock you out. It's still in your system, acting as a paralytic, and you'll need more medication to combat it. I've had several phone conversations with them, and they're bringing me the medication now. I'll also have a chance to ask a few questions."

Roy stared at her for a long minute. He couldn't think of anything to say. "Go talk to the doctor, Lieutenant."

She nodded sharply and left the room.

Roy realized he couldn't stay standing much longer, and the last thing he wanted to do was collapse in front of Havoc and Fullmetal. His desk chair was still upright, miraculously, but it had been shoved to the corner. Roy sank into it, balancing the phone precariously on his lap. Clutching the receiver in one hand, he dialed the number for Grumman's office. As soon as his secretary put Roy through and Grumman picked up, Roy began talking.

"General. I'm sure you've been informed of the situation, that the kidnappers have Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and Alphonse Elric-"

There was a heavy, regretful sigh from the other end of the phone. Roy winced - the end result of the phone call was already decided. Still, he couldn't just give up.

"I need a team," Roy said, putting as much conviction as he could muster into the words, trying to force himself into believing it was possible. "With the help of the military, we can locate and extract the two of them."

"Colonel Mustang-"

"There's no time to lose," Roy said desperately. "They could be discovered at any minute, and if the kidnappers learn that they don't have the Flame and Fullmetal Alchemists, then Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and Alphonse-"

Roy forced himself to stop talking as Ed's saucer-wide eyes burned into him from across the room. It didn't matter, anyway. Grumman was already responding.

"Mustang...listen. I guessed you'd be calling. I talked to the leadership at Central Command as soon as I understood the situation. There are people above me in the chain of command, and they believe that Colonel Hughes and the Elric boy are an acceptable loss. They have a strict non-negotiation policy."

"There is no such thing as an acceptable loss," Roy snapped, suddenly feeling like he couldn't breathe. "This is one of our soldiers, and a child."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

He forced air into his lungs, closing his eyes until he no longer felt like he might pass out. "Please, at least…don't tell the kidnappers that they have Maes and Alphonse. If they continue to believe that they've captured Fullmetal and Flame, that will give me time to...gather more information."

There was a short silence, and Grumman cleared his throat. "I'll get them to stall. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up, but I'll get you as much time as I can. Good luck with your...investigation."

The pause before "investigation" told Roy all he needed to know. He hadn't planned on asking permission to plan an extraction - the military would never allow their precious State Alchemists to wade into such a dangerous situation, especially with no backup. He and Grumman both knew that, and Roy was better off asking for forgiveness rather than permission.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Good luck, Mustang. I hope you find them." With a click, the line went dead. Roy placed the phone back onto the cradle, hands trembling slightly.

"What did they say?" Ed's voice was loud, almost aggressively hopeful. But when Roy looked at him, at the worry lines around his eyes, he knew that Ed had heard enough of the conversation to understand what was happening.

"If we want them back, we have to do it ourselves."

"I'm sorry, what?" a sharp voice said from the corner. So much else was going on that Ed had kind of forgotten that Havoc was there still, and had apparently been listening to the entire conversation. "Sir, I don't think you and Ed are in any shape to-"

"The Lieutenant is talking to the hospital now," Roy said. "I believe me and Edward just need a further dose of medication, and then we will be fully recovered."

Ed didn't feel like someone who just needed a few pills to mount a daring rescue mission. He felt like someone who needed to spend a day curled up in bed. A sick headache pulsed behind his eyes, and it was making him feel vaguely nauseous. He had managed to get to his feet, but his legs were shaking. Roy didn't look much better - he had sounded pretty commanding when he was talking to General Grumman, but he was pale and clammy-looking. It looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over.

"At least let's call the rest of your team," Havoc said insistently. "Maybe we can get a few members of Hughes' team too - the train will get them to East City pretty quick-"

"Can't," Roy said. "This only works if the kidnappers really believe they have me and Fullmetal. It's best if as few people know where me and Fullmetal are as possible. If the media figures out we're just fine...I might as well sign Maes' death warrant."

"Oh," Havoc said mildly.

The door to Roy's office opened, and Riza came through. She was holding a bag - which Ed hoped was full of medication - but she looked stressed.

"Hawkeye!" Ed took a few steps forward, but paused to lean against the wall when his shaky legs threatened to spill him. "Is that-"
She made her way to Roy's desk, and set down the bag. "I have good news and bad news," she said. "First off, from the symptoms I described, and the way you reacted to Kyrenol, the doctor I spoke to was almost completely sure you'd been dosed with a paralytic agent called tychine. The name may sound familiar to you, Roy. It was used occasionally by the Ishvalans."

Ed looked to Roy, but the man didn't react aside from an uncomfortable-looking swallow.

"Tychine has an activator - it can be mixed in with the toxin itself, but it doesn't have to be, and I'm not sure if that's what happened here. It sounded to me from Al's note that Hughes had made the conscious decision to take the Colonel's place, which means the tychine can't have knocked him out. They obviously chose to attack at a time when Eastern Command was virtually empty, but I suspect they were also hoping to identify Ed and the Colonel based partially on who was affected by the tychine."

"Makes sense," Roy hazarded, but he looked just as confused as Ed felt.

"Was there any way you and Ed could have been given the activator without the Lieutenant Colonel?" Riza asked. "The activator can be distributed through the air, but it can also be injected, taken orally-"

"The cookies," Ed said. "The goddamn cookies. We thought they were a State Alchemist perk."

"What cookies?" Havoc said blankly. With a grimace, Roy waved to the tin that had fallen to the floor when his desk had tipped.

"Those. They were delivered yesterday. The note attached said that they were being sent to all the State Alchemists. As a thank you."

Riza looked like she was resisting the urge to bury her head in his hands, but Ed didn't really think he and Roy had done anything wrong. How could Ed be expected to not eat delicious cookies that had been delivered right to him as a gift?

"Did Lieutenant Colonel Hughes eat any of the cookies?" Riza asked.

"No," Ed said. "I'd already eaten all mine, and the bastard wouldn't share."

Riza really must have been distracted, because she didn't reprimand Ed for his language. Instead, a look of relief crossed her face. "Good. That means Colonel Hughes probably hasn't been dosed with the tychine - the gas wouldn't have any effect on him. That might give us a little more time."

"A little more time?" Roy asked, sounding worried. He was still sitting down - he hadn't gotten up after the phone call - but it was starting to look like that was even a little much for him. "What-"

Riza looked down at the bag on the desk. "Tychine...it stays in your system for almost a week, and Kyrenol is only a patch fix. The doctor I just spoke to...she said the effects could be kept at bay for a couple of days with consistent doses. Every hour on the hour. In fact, it's almost time for your next dose."

Riza took the bag from Roy's desk and opened it, pulling out two clear-ish bottles full of small white pills. She set one next to Roy, and handed Ed the other.

"So we have to take one of these every hour?" Ed clarified. Riza nodded, checking the clock on the wall.

"Luckily, I made note of when your first dose was administered. You should take the pills in three minutes. I will continue to keep track, although the two of you should as well."

Ed frowned. "What if we split up? Or if one of us forgets? We should all get stopwatches. We can synchronize them to go off every hour."

Havoc, who up until now had been staying pretty quiet, made a small, enthusiastic sound. Ed glanced over to find Havoc waving his hands sheepishly.

"Oops. Forget I'm here. Synchronized stopwatches are cool, is all. Good idea, chief."

Despite himself, Ed smiled a little. The idea of having synchronized stopwatches was cool, and it made it seem like they were doing something exciting, rather than something stressful and dangerous. Al would have thought it was cool, too. Maybe when Ed found him, he could tell Al all about it.