Sin

Chapter 4

Wrath did not want to go to Central.

He kicked and he screamed and he cried the entire way to the train until they sat down in their seat when he just settled to clawing and chewing on Sin's arm.

It was only the second time he had been on a train, and it wasn't very much different than the first save for the wonderful experience that came with having to deal with a very unhappy child with a low attention span in public. Sin was beginning to think it would have been a better idea to leave him in Rizembul, or just to bring the people Pinako wanted him to see to where they were.

Sin compromised and ended up taking Wrath up and down the aisles of the train while Al calmed his headache. The boy was still cranky, but moving seemed to help relieve some of his restlessness and the two walked up and down the run of the train a few times. Wrath wanted up on Sin's shoulders again, but the man had to explain to him that the boy would hit the ceiling. He would have to wait until they got to Central. But just the reminder of their situation made Wrath irritable and Sin chose just to give in and sit back in their seats to cradle in own headache.

Al had managed to occupy Wrath with a game of cat's cradle until they pulled into the Central train station, and as soon as the boy realized where they were, he had another outburst. He stood up as the train was pulling into the station and he stared silently out the window until the transportation lurched to a halt. He stood still until Sin and Al moved to retreive their luggage. Wrath then turned and ran as far and as fast as he could go.

Taken by surprise, Sin dropped the bags he was holding. "Wrath!" He called, starting after the boy.

"Wait!" Al said, catching the bigger man's arm as he spun. "We'll find him - right now we need to get off this train before it takes off with all of my hard work in it. I hate to sound selfish, but..."

He trailed off and Sin turned to do as Al asked. It didn't take them very long to pick up everything and move off of the train, but it was long enough for Wrath to have gotten away. The two of them explored the area thoroughly for him, and Sin was fixated with a whole population of strange looks as they failed to locate Wrath.

Sin turned to find Al, to see if the young man had found him, but instead he turned to find himself face-to-face with a funny-looking stranger.

"Maes?" The man asked, peering excitedly up at him as Sin took a step back, overwhelmed. "Oh wow, Maes! This is amazing! What kind of business did the military have you meddling in that inspired them to come tell us all that you were dead? That was a sick joke, man. My wife is going to be so happy to hear that you're just fine! How is Gracia?"

"Umm..." Sin stared dumbfounded at the man for a moment, totally at a loss of what to say. He was overcome with a flood of relief as Al appeared at his side, taking him away.

"Pardon me, but we're in quite a hurry," he apologized to the now confused man, moving Sin away as quickly as possible.

In spite of the importance it was to find Wrath in the city, Al quickly realized that it had become more important to get Sin out of the streets. People were looking at them, staring at Sin. The blonde could hear murmurs about Hughes and he was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to come back here in the first place as people finally came up with the courage to approach him.

"That Brigandier-General must be sick, convincing us that you were dead!" The cried.

"How are Gracia and Alicia?"

"We're so glad to see you home!"

"Excuse us please..." Al apologized, pulling Sin around through the crowds. It was growing more and more difficult to maneuver around the crowds when Al finally found the solution to all of his problems.

"Armstrong!" Al sighed with relief, approaching the big man with stars in his eyes. "I need your help!"

"HUGHES!" Armstrong sang, tears pouring out of his eyes and Sin managed to duck before the huge soldier could clutch him into what might have been the hug of a lifetime. "Hughes has come back to life!"

"Hurry!" Al beckoned, leading Sin down a long city street toward the military headquarters, Armstrong close on their heels.

However, although many people had known Hughes on the street, everyone knew Hughes in the military.

It was early in the morning and the lobby was rather vacant since people had just settled into their offices to do whatever job it was they were mean to do. But those who saw Sin enter fell silent, and those who didn't turned to see the cause of the vacuum of sound. Out of the corner of his eye, Al could see Hawkeye and Havoc stop doing what they were doing to stare. Havoc's cigarette fell out of his mouth, and Sin was swarmed as it hit the floor.

"Hughes! But... But you were dead!"

"What happened to you? Who did we bury?"

"Why would they play a prank like that? I was devastated!"

"Are you back in the military?"

And Armstrong was now an addtional part of the crowd. "Huuuughes!"

"Attention!" Hawkeye barked sharply, and the noisy people fell silent to turn and look at her, although not coming to attention. "Please refrain from intimidating our guests." She demanded, "all of you have work to do, so get doing it!" But as she spoke, she lay a strong hold on Sin's arm and started walking him swiftly and stiffly up the stairs, completely confident in her destination as Al obediently followed. Sin was confused by the mass of halls and corridors as she led them along, and as they moved more people managed to recognize his face, but they were quickly silenced under Hawkeye's penetrating glare.

They stopped in front of a particular door, and she opened it quickly and gestured them inside. "Stay here for now," she murmured quickly, "we will think of something." After this, she practically threw Al into the room, shoving Sin quickly after and slammed the door behind him. Sin turned to stare at the door as he heard what he thought might be gun shots, and the woman's stern voice shouting orders while Al whimpered and stood up right.

Sin turned to study the room to find a big office with bookshelves, a table and a desk. He had experienced a lot of recognition that day, and he was growing very tired of the same expression that shaded on the man who sat behind that desk. However, to this man, the mood was solemn rather than excitement.

Brigandier-General Roy Mustang. That was the name on his desk. He rose from his seat very slowly and walked around his desk, his hands running along the wood as he approached them. His footsteps and motions were slow and steady and smooth as he averted his eyes away from Sin to stare directly at the door, which he walked past them in order to open.

"Please excuse me," he murmured politely as he opened the door and left, closing it gently and leaving a lonely little click sounding in his wake.

"Brigandier-General..." Al sighed sadly.

Hawkeye was finally beginning to make some headway when it came to getting the building back in order after all the excitement and confusion that was left behind in the wake of the man who looked like Hughes. It had brought out some strange emotions in all of them... Even Hawkeye didn't know what to think, except to tell herself that there was a logical explaination that would be concluded in time.

She sighed with relief as she silently concluded that everything was well and fine once again in the military, and she finally turned to interrogate the look-alike when she came face to face with Roy Mustang.

He had his jacket slung over his arm and his hat in his hand, but he had only come in an hour ago...

"Brigan-"

"Leiutenant Colonel," he said respectively, not missing a beat and continuing down the stairs, passing her as he pulled his hat over his head, concealing his eyes. "There's a ghost in my office. Please have it exorcized immediately."

And then he left. And Hawkeye knew that he wasn't coming back. She sighed and turned to take care of the stranger in Roy's office.