Challenge - Write Maes Hughes in some sort of comedy of errors. this was as close as i could get in a short piece. and the challenger admited it worked for him. -fireun
"….I thought you had her."
It was a phrase more terrifying than any mad alchemist, any malformed chimera that they could imagine. It threatened more pain, more death, and more terror…
And it had been such a simple thing. Maes had asked Roy to baby-sit. Roy had a date, and so had asked Jean to do it. Jean had run out of smokes and had told Cain to take care of her. Cain had let her tussle with the puppies he had found that morning until they were all tired out, and had then asked Farman to watch them while he want to the store to get more dog food.
And that's where it got hazy…
Farman swore Breda was the last person to take care of her. Breda swore Farman had been the one looking after her. Roy, coming back from his date was horrified to learn that little Elysia was nowhere to be found. And Maes was due back in less than an hour.
And if he was anything, Maes Hughes was prompt when it came time to get back to his family. "You passed her off to someone else, Jean! Is that anyway to handle an order from a superior officer?"
"To be fair, sir, you did the same thing yourself." Jean chewed frantically on a cigarette, trying to ignore the fact his brain was showing him different ways he would be stabbed to death when Hughes returned. "Cain, where the hell is she?"
Cain was wishing he was shorter than normal, so as to better melt into the background. "I thought Farman could handle it. He did a good job with Barry the Chopper that once…"
"Farman could handle what?" broke in Maes' jovial voice. They all turned in a sort of terror to meet the smiling, scruffy face of the man they were dreading. "You all look like hell. What happened?" The smile shifted swiftly into something quieter and darker. "Where is Elysia? Is she alright?"
"About that, Maes…" Roy started clearing his throat. "Jean, don't you have something to say in regards to this matter?"
Maes' right arm twitched a bit, the aborted form of a motion that usually ended in a knife, and his eyes glittered behind his glasses. "Where is my daughter?"
The phone chose a most opportune time to ring, breaking through the tension. Roy leapt to answer, face breaking into a beaming, serene smile a moment later. "Understood. I will send him directly." Roy looked up at Maes. 'That was your wife. Elysia wants to know why daddy is so late getting home."
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as Maes sped out of the office, intent on getting to his precious baby girl.
"Well, we got out of that rather easily." Roy yawned.