Chapter thirty-six

Ed was spinning back and forth in the office chair, smirking at Havoc's still stunned expression, even if it had been twenty minutes ago that they had told him. "So you're getting adopted, huh?"

"Yep."

"Congratulations, kid."

"You know you've said that twice already?" Ed asked with a raised eyebrow, suddenly lifting his leg to knock Havoc's pack of cigarettes out of his hand. "And no smoking in the office."

Havoc looked at him in wide-eyed horror. "What are you on about, Chief? It wasn't a problem before."

"If Riza gets pregnant then there are tons of shit that could hurt the baby..." Ed raised an eyebrow at him threateningly.

Havoc just looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Ed decided to make it very clear. "There's a lot of health problems associated with secondhand smoking."

Havoc's eyes widened in horror. "...So you want me to quit smoking in the office in case Sergeant Hawkeye becomes pregnant?"

"Damn right. Unless you wanna risk having your boss' kid to be born prematurely and get asthma... And then there are the increased risks of miscarriage."

Havoc picked up his cigarettes from the floor, having paled considerably, before shoving all of them into the nearest desk drawer.

Ed raised an eyebrow at him. "...Aaaaand not to mention that there's a thing about how babies exposed to secondhand smoking during pregnancy have increased risks of suddenly dying within a year after being born. So I suggest you take those home with you to lessen the temptation, don't you agree, Havoc?"

His eyes widened even further. "Uh, yeah, I think that's a good idea."

"Great."

Ed suddenly had an idea strike him. "I'll be back seven minutes!" he announced as he shot to his feet. Herb needed to know and therefore eat dinner with them too of course, and Ed wasn't going to have anyone put a lid on his fun. And so he ran towards the office door, deftly pushing down the handle with his forehead, before opening the door completely with his foot.

"Hey, Chief! Where do you think you're going?!" Havoc exclaimed, getting to his feet.

"Riza's grampa, see ya!" And with that, Ed ran off before Havoc or the others could stop him. He took a bit of a detour to throw Havoc off, basically running in the illogical direction.

...Only to run straight into someone's stomach at the second turn instead, causing him to yelp from the impact because of his broken arm.

The person he had crashed into had grabbed his shoulders to keep him from falling. "Whoah, there, Edward... We can't have you falling on that bad arm of yours," came a calm and smooth voice that made him both scared and furious.

And so he looked up at Archer, glaring. He hadn't exactly forgiven him for what he had done yesterday. "Oh, uh, yeah... Sorry... I was in a bit of a rush, Frank."

The DI removed his hands from his shoulders, the left corner of his mouth tilting up just slightly. He was obviously pleased about something. "...I see you're not one for being too formal, but I understand, considering your history..." he said without any sort of compassion. It was more of a taunt. "So where were you going?"

"The Superintendent's office, I wanted to have a private word with him." Ed was seeing a golden opportunity to get some dirt on this bastard. Ed was getting adopted and this was the guy who wanted to discredit his adoptive parents. And Archer couldn't actually hurt him. So if Ed just persevered the smug bastard's bastardly manner, then he could find a way to get back at him. "Our conversation was cut off so soon yesterday, how about you escort me so that we can finish it?"

He smiled slightly. "Of course, Edward, it's only fair after the mishap yesterday."

"Yeah. Now let's take the scenic route so as to make this as thorough as possible, considering the fact that you probably have to get back to your office soon."

Archer nodded. "Sounds like a plan, Edward. Now you just lead the way."

Ed just began walking, sneering slightly. "Did you fix up that mess you made?"

"As thoroughly as I could in such short time... One of the DCs noticed that your foster mother had a new ring, but I wouldn't dare assume that it would be of such a specific kind, considering how little time that has passed since they met."

Ed wanted to make the bastard stop behaving that way towards Roy, but then he stopped himself. He was supposed to be annoyed with Roy, or at least not protective of him, otherwise, he'd give the game away to Yoki. "They're engaged. The Old Fart proposed this morning 'cos he banged Riza and she could get pregnant... So he panicked and decided that it's better not to alienate Al and me by letting a kid of his own seem more important to him and as a better reason to get married, so now they're adopting us as well..." Ed mumbled. This might not be the best idea he'd had after all. He could end up saying stuff that lost Roy his credibility for good. He had acted too rashly, just like with Yoki, and now he couldn't back out of this either. He couldn't defend Roy and he could ruin his reputation as a result.

"You look scared, Edward, is something wrong?" Archer asked calmly.

Ed decided to use the truth to his advantage, even if it had nothing to do with his fear right now. "What do you think, Detective Inspector?! Mom died less than three months ago, and now we're getting a new couple of parents and so of course I'm scared! It's only a part of being human!"

Archer smiled slightly back at him, nodding once. "Of course... It's only natural to have something like that worrying you... Especially after having had one father walk out on you, and the other murder your mother brutally right in front of your eyes... Those crime scene photos really were some of the most disturbing I've seen... And that arm just lying in the middle of the pool of blood..." He paused a bit. "...No wonder you're scared of getting new parents..."

Ed felt like the guy had slapped him. A lump in his stomach was building rapidly and he was feeling sick at the thought of the crime scene. Of Mom's body and his arm just lying there. He could still remember her screams. Could remember what Barry's laughter had been like. Could still imagine the feeling of leaning over Al to shield him. Pressing Al into his chest. The sudden weightlessness of his right shoulder. The laughter. The screams. The screams and the laughter and the screaming and Al's sobs and all the blood that made the air almost taste of iron and the screams... Mom's terrified screams and his arm... He was imagining his arm lying there...

"My, Edward, you're looking very pale... I'll go get you some water, you just sit down."

Ed felt panicked nausea fill him, and he leant against the wall, sliding down, watching Archer nod.

"I'll be right back, Edward, you really ought to take it easy..." Archer told him smoothly and walked off.

As soon as the man rounded the corner, Ed got to his feet and bounded for the men's toilets, not giving a damn about his arm as he locked the door to the booth with his fingers. The throbbing from his remaining arm just made it worse.

I'm gonna cut you to pieces! How about your left arm? Or your leg? I need to make it last, there's so little meat on those bones!

Laughter... Never-ending laughter... And the screams... The laughter, the screams... Mom's, Al's, Ed's... Laughter... Laughter...

I'm gonna finish my work one day, I won't be able to rest until I know what it feels like to dig my cleaver into you until you're all in pieces!

Ed emptied his stomach contents into the porcelain bowl in front of him.

Roy looked up as there came an urgent knock on his office door, having returned to working on the case together with Riza. He went over and opened the door to find Alphonse looking very worried. "Al?"

"Brother ran off to tell Herbert, so DC Havoc ran after him, but they haven't returned and it has been fifteen minutes now."

Roy paused. That didn't necessarily mean that something was wrong, but the words "Brother ran off" never bode well.

...Especially when there came a new set of knocks on the door of the outer office this time and Archer walked inside. "Oh, DCI Mustang, it's very good that I found you."

Roy strode over, feeling his anger boiling. Archer had obviously said or done something that Roy definitely wouldn't like. "What's going on, Archer?"

"I met Edward in the corridor and he wanted a word with me after yesterday's events... I thought it was only fair that I gave him a few minutes. He told me about your engagement and his fears concerning it. And so I expressed my sympathies as it is obvious that his fears are caused by the way that his mother died and the way that he lost his arm. He suddenly turned very pale and so I told him to sit down while I brought him a glass of water, but when I returned, he was nowhere to be seen. I looked for him, of course, but he seems to have disappeared, so I concluded that I should talk to the people that know him best." His face was impassive with a slight hint of faked worry.

Roy felt his guts twist, his anger spiking as he strode forwards to him. "You bastard, stay away from those kids, you hear me? Now get the hell out of my sight!"

Riza was understandably by his side in a flash, looking highly worried, and they strode past Archer before the man even had the chance to reply. "Riza, he's most likely in the men's toilets. If we find him there, then I want you to go look for Havoc. Ed's going to be very embarrassed by being cared for in the men's toilets by a woman, so at least this way we can make him feel like he has preserved at least some of his pride. If he's there, then I'll be locking the main door and obviously start a queue, and he won't like having a woman escort him out with all those people watching."

Riza nodded as they began jogging, Roy practically slamming the door open as he reached the toilets. He found one of the cubicles locked, and there was the unmistakable smell of vomit in the room. "Edward, are you in here?"

"R-Roy?" Ed said weakly, his voice a bit raspy and choked.

Roy felt relief flood him, and he gave Riza a nod, realisation hitting him. And so he pulled out his wallet and car keys, threw them at her, and mimed brushing his teeth as well as rubbing his hair and then straightened out his shirt. She seemed to get his point and nodded again before walking off. Roy locked the door and strode over to the other end of the room to open the window to air it out, before walking over to the cubicle. "Ed, please let me in. I've locked the door so that nobody else can come in here."

"I-I don't want to move right now," Ed replied shakily, obviously at the verge of tears.

"Do you mind if I use my tiepin to open the lock from the outside?" Roy asked gently, already removing said tiepin out. The cubicle doors were of the kind that could easily be unlocked by turning a screwdriver in the middle of the mechanism that both locked the door and made the red half circle appear. It was mostly just as a safety mechanism, and you didn't necessarily need a screwdriver either. All you really needed was just to pin something in there that fitted enough to be able to turn the lock.

"S-sure... I just don't want to move... I... I got vomit in my fringe... I-I'm sorry... I just wanted to get back at him for yesterday and I shoulda just turned around, and then he brought up having seen the crime scene photos a-and my arm just lying there... And I could hear M-Mom's screams and Barry laughing and suddenly I just felt really sick..."

Roy got the door open, and looked down at the trembling kid in front of him. He was immediately crouching down behind him and stroking his back, shoving the tiepin into his trouser pocket with his free hand. Ed was pale and obviously haunted by the images in his head. "I'm sorry, Ed..." Roy knew that logically, he should tell Ed off for not doing as he was told, but the boy had obviously realised that just fine on his own.

"No... I shoulda just listened to you... Havoc's gotta be worried..."

Roy sighed again. "Riza's looking for him and I gave her my wallet so that she could buy you some clean clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste and some shampoo."

"Oh... Th-thanks... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to worry you again..."

"Just please don't go off on your own like that again, Ed."

Roy was standing in front of the blackboard with all the information that they had gathered. Usually, they would have hung pictures of the victims on it too, but with the boys in the same room, that certainly wasn't an option. Said boys had just finished eating their box of vanilla ice cream. Ed had been queasy and shaken and ice cream ticked both boxes as to how to make him feel better.

...Still, Roy was beginning to notice that their pattern of pleasing the boys through food that wasn't entirely healthy would need to come to an end. He would have to sit down with Riza and Nan later and make a plan for what exactly they would feed the boys. Nan knew how to make the best food in the world, and most importantly, everything that she cooked was also nutritionally sound.

However, Roy was noticing that he had two destinations that he should probably go to. One of them was Liore. Bailey had been arrested for the murder of an occultist. She had been provided with an alibi, but he would still like to look at it for himself. Talk with the people there. The way that Solaris Bailey had been involved with not just one cult, but two, hinted towards something that would give them a broader insight into her life.

...And the second place he wanted to visit was Resembool. He had, without the boys' knowledge, looked into the disappearance of their biological father, and something seemed off. And as he was the twin brother of the leader of the group that was being targeted, Roy felt like talking with some of the people that had known him before his disappearance was only logical. There was a possibility that John Van Hohenheim's disappearance eight years ago might even have been the beginning of this case. Because it could very well be that these murders were all part of some unknown scheme to punish Father Kent. And even if that wasn't the case, then he might find out just what this missing brother had thought about Father Kent.

Roy would begin there. Resembool was only twelve hours away by train, which meant that he could do some digging and still be back in time for Yoki's next meeting with the boys in six days. Liore was two days away because there were no trains that went there directly, and Roy wanted to do this unrestrainedly.

And so it meant that he should probably head out to Resembool as early as with the night train that left tonight at around eleven. He knew the basic train schedules for the Eastern Area, he had always had an affinity for remembering numbers.

...But he also felt uncomfortable about leaving Riza and the boys behind the same night that he got engaged to her. But there was also a serial killer about, and no matter how little he liked it, the investigation needed to be prioritised. And he couldn't tell the boys the destination. They would be scared and upset and Roy figured that it was also classified information, which worked in their favour. Ed and Al didn't know about the existence of their uncle, and they weren't technically allowed to disclose the name of said uncle anyways.

And so he sighed, just as there was a knock on the office door, and Superintendent Grumman came into the office.

Roy paused.

...Because his boss wasn't looking entirely too pleased. "You know, Mustang, there is a funny rumour going around the station that Riza is wearing an engagement ring."

Roy was feeling very singled out, seeing as how Riza was currently having a toilet break.

"Yes, she is, sir."

"So you're engaged to my granddaughter after having been her boyfriend for only four whole days?"

Roy nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Mind telling me why?"

"How about I do so in my office, sir?"

It was seven minutes later that Roy was sitting in the visitor's chair in front of his own desk, Superintendent Grumman having taken Roy's chair. "I see," was all his boss had to say to Roy's explanation.

"I know that it isn't exactly an ideal situation, but Riza agrees with me that this is the best way for the boys... So if you want to join us for dinner today, then Nan's making a celebratory meal. It will probably be the best that she's cooked."

There was a small smile building on the old man's lips, and Roy felt relief flood him. "I would very much like that. So will it be at your house?"

Roy shook his head. "It's at Riza's flat, actually. I went to Nan to get Mum's old wedding ring, and Nan was being Nan, so she insisted on joining me so as to hear Riza's answer right away. So she's spending the day cooking. Hughes will also be joining us, so we'll be sharing a very fine meal over a coffee table with three of us in chairs and the remaining four on the couch."

Grumman chuckled, but then frowned. "There is something about today that is bothering you."

"I'm still the leader of a murder investigation, meaning that there are a few towns that I have decided that I ought to visit as our case is otherwise at a standstill at the moment. As it is only six days until I need to be back here, I have found out that I ought to leave with the night train."

Roy was lying in a halfway uncomfortable position, seeing as how the beds in the sleeper compartments weren't exactly known for their width.

However, they had both agreed that it was far more comforting that Riza slept next to him. Meaning that they were both lying on their side, Riza pressed against his chest while resting her head on his right shoulder, her right arm around his waist. He was resting his left hand on her bare back. Riza was only wearing her knickers and Roy his boxers, because the summer heat had already reached them, even if it was only May. But that was how it was in the Eastern Area, especially as they were headed for a town near the Eastern Desert. Which meant that they had taken the thin sheet from the bed above them and used it as a blanket.

...Although Roy had a feeling that Riza too was just enjoying the feeling of the other's warm skin of their bare chests pressed to their own, even if they weren't doing anything other than just lying there.

She was already asleep, Roy having rubbed soothing circles into her back as she dozed off. That was another reason for their current sleeping arrangements. None of them had a particular affinity for sleeping easily on trains, but this was peaceful and calming. And it also made the jostling of the train a bit less intense as they could wedge themselves in between the wall and the raised edge on the other side of the bed. Sid edge was there to keep the bed's occupants from tumbling out in case of an emergency stop.

So a bit cramped, but a lot better than the alternative. He felt a bit odd about it all. He was sharing a bed with his fiancée and they had started the process of adopting the boys this afternoon.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "You know, Hon, you're turning me into a family man, congratulations."

Roy hadn't planned for Riza to join him. She was supposed to be staying back in East City with the boys, but then Ed had protested against it after discussing it with Al for about five minutes. They firmly believed that it was Riza and Roy's duty as detectives to prioritise catching their serial killer. And that Riza, as his work partner, should join him. The boys would therefore be staying with Nan at the hotel with Maes while they were gone. Serial killers breaking into a hotel room situated on the sixth floor was a lot less likely to happen. Ed had been the one to suggest it, seeing as how Nan was familiar with helping boys with broken arms and Ed and Al trusted her to take care of them. And it was a good way for them to get to know Nan better.

And then there was the fact that they could use it to show Yoki that they were acting on an opportunity to get information on Maes Hughes.

Basically, Roy was a bit nervous, a bit happy, and hoping very much that they could bring this case to an end soon.

...Because if the theory about this being all about targeting Father Kent, then Ed and Al might soon find themselves attacked too. If Yoki was behind it, then that meant that he wanted to keep the boys alive. And the fact that Father had no interest in the Elrics also meant that killing them would have zero impact. Which again was most likely why the members of The Church of Eternity were being attacked instead.

Either way, DC Havoc was a good shot, and was also keeping Ed and Al company at daytime, and Maes at nighttime.

...And Nan always had her taser.

And so I'm back! And thank you so much for your reviews, and please keep them coming :D

And, as always, please no flames ;)