Omg I'm excited for the chapters after this, Scar incoming! I'm going to kind of follow the FMA:B storyline for this pretty closely- I'm doing a lot of research to make it as cannon as possible while sprucing it up a bit.

When Linor is right, she's right. Of course, Lt. Colonel Archer had added another day's worth of paperwork onto her load and she was two days deep into it. With a yawn and some light taps of her palms to her cheeks, Linor pushed her sunglasses up with her fingers and rubbed her eyes. Looking to the clock on her office wall, Linor fully took off her glasses and set them on her desk, rubbing her face roughly.

"Almost seven…" She groaned, tapping her fingers on her pile of work, debating on if she wanted to do a bit more or save it for tomorrow. Hearing the pattering of rain on her window and the dreary ticking of the clock, Linor sighed and returned her glasses to her face. Standing up with a stretch, the woman smacked her desk lightly. "Long day again tomorrow, I guess" She mumbled, shuffling her work into a neat stack. A light knock on her office door shocked her, but she mumbled a 'come in' anyway.

"You're working late, Major," Seeing Roy enter her office, Linor stepped out from behind her desk.

"Colonel," She greeted a bit surprised. "I was actually just heading out, what brings you here?" While Linor owed much to the Mustang man and they got along more than just fairly well, he rarely ever came down to her part of the Eastern Command, focusing mostly on his own division and happenings with the Elric boys.

"Sorry to bother you, but I have some things you need to look over." He replied, stepping closer and holding out yet another stack of papers. Dropping her head a bit defeated, Linor hesitantly took them. Seeing his own name and division number typed across the top, she looked up to him and opened her mouth. "Involving the Elric Brothers," That explained why it was addressed to him, but she eyed him questioningly. "I know they're for me, but those boys have kept me swamped with all their antics lately." She almost gestured to the large stack on her desk but refrained- those boys did keep the Colonel busier than others seemed to think. "Besides, I thought you might want to have a look at them."

"What are they?" She questioned, briefly scanning over the documents.

"The Shou Tucker case," Narrowing her eyes, she flipped over one of the numerous pages.

"Weren't you already looking into that?" She pointed out, remembering hearing about the incident earlier that day during lunch. "Wasn't his verdict already decided?" Roy was silent for a moment, making Linor peer up at him from over her lenses.

"He was murdered," Linor almost dropped the papers, "As was the chimera." Leaning back onto her desk, Linor dropped her shades slightly to look over the papers a bit better. She went to ask 'who' and 'how', but Roy looked over her shoulder to the rain-battered window. "It seems to be the same man that was murdering military personnel in Central." Placing the papers down on her desk behind her, Linor took off her glasses completely this time.

"You're kidding," She mumbled, looking directly at Roy who showed no signs of joking.

"Unfortunately not," He muttered back, "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes came down to investigate, he said the resemblance was identical." Unable to hold eye contact any longer, Linor's gaze drifted to the floor. "I understand you and Lieutenant Colonel Archer have been looking into the matters lightly with Hughes." Gripping her shades in one hand and clasping her chin in thought with the other, Linor hummed.

"Yes, we have, but we haven't had any incidents here, we've only been exchanging intel." Linor explained, a deep and concerned frown plastering her face. "If Lieutenant Colonel Hughes believes these deaths are the same in nature as the ones in Central, that means Scar is here in the East."

"Scar?" Roy questioned, earning a brief nod from Linor.

"The murderer. Is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes still here?" Roy uttered a curt 'yes' and Linor swiftly put her glasses securely back over her eyes. "I need to speak with him." Mustang was silent for a moment but agreed, and Linor followed him out of her office.

#

Hughes, Hawkeye, and another man Linor hadn't recognized were gathered solemnly outside of Roy's office. Self-consciously pushing her shades further up her face due to the two from Central, the youngest soldier followed closely behind Roy. When the duo approached, catching the eyes of the trio, Linor stepped up to Hughes and bowed.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, it's been a while." Hughes offered a friendly nod in return, obviously lost in thought so Linor didn't feel offended in the least, especially considering their situation. She had met Hughes once, briefly, but their interaction mostly consisted of phone calls; however, recently, Hughes had been exponentially busy and they hadn't had too much contact in the past week. Linor's hidden gaze looked up to the large stranger and she bowed before offering her hand. "Major Linor Ziegler, a pleasure, though I wish under better circumstances." She greeted, getting a firm shake from the man whose hand dwarfed her own.

"Major Alex Louis Armstrong, and yes, the circumstances are quite dire." His deep voice vibrated, releasing her hand and allowing her to take a seat next to Mustang.

"I hear Scar is possibly here in the East." Linor started, mostly addressing Hughes who looked at the floor thoughtfully.

"Not possibly, is." Hughes corrected, his eyes narrowing. "We have reports of him boarding the train from Central." Linor's chest clenched at the confirmation and she grit her teeth in worry. "And with the death of Shou Tucker and his chimera, it all but confirms it." Roy who had sat quietly shifted on the bench.

"So, Scar?" He asked, obviously not as much in the know as his comrades.

"Yeah, we don't really know much about him, so that's what we're calling him." Hughes mumbled, his intelligent mind no doubt bubbling with questions.

"Our target is both unidentified and elusive, the only information we've been able to obtain about him is that he has a large scar on his forehead." Alex explained, his words putting Roy into a pensive posture.

"The Military Police Command Center sent us down here once we got wind of Scar's train hop and what do we find but his handy work." Hughes added with a small sigh. "Meanwhile my work has been piling up, my head hurts." Linor nibbled on her inner lip at the news being thrown at her.

"But why would he come East?" Linor asked to no one in particular. "He only targets State Alchemists, surely if he was after them all, he would still be in Central to finish them off. Maybe he's only after a select few?" Hughes shook his head.

"No, there doesn't seem to be any clear correlation between his attacks besides the fact they're State Alchemists. It's a possibility, but it seems unlikely. More so, if he was only after a target few, why only a select group of State Alchemists? That seems a bit too particular." With a 'tch', Linor folded her hands between her open legs. Smart man that he was, she should have known Hughes thought everything he could through and if he was stumped, it was concerning.

"He's killed five State Alchemists in Central already and body count nationwide is up to ten." Alex informed, shedding more light on the severity of the situation.

"And five days ago, he took down old man Grand." Hughes said slowly, making the Eastern Command trio gasp.

"The Brigadier General?" The Colonel exclaimed, "But, he's an expert in weapons transmutation." Finally retracting his gaze from the floor, Hughes looked directly at Roy.

"And that shows you how dangerous this guy is." Linor leaned back in the bench against the wall. With their lack of communication the past week, he hadn't informed her about this and she hadn't realized how serious the situation actually was. Yes, he had murdered several alchemists, but to have not only the gall but the skills to go one on one with a Brigadier General gave his presence a whole new level of dangerous. "You should increase your escort and lay low for a while, nobody will blame you." Linor looked over at Mustang whose eyes flickered with disbelief- she worried for the man. Yes, she feared for herself as well, but Roy Mustang, Hero of Ishval, was a far more notorious name than hers. "You two and Tucker are the only State Alchemists of note in this area, right?" Hughes asked, making Linor's stomach drop.

"Oh no," Roy whispered, the terrible realization hitting him- Edward Elric.