To Thine Own Self Be True
Chapter 38 - The Reason, The Truth, The Answer
Hawkeye rose and saluted, she then walked across the room where she sat down in the empty chair. She crossed her legs and folded her hands over her lap. Out of the group, she was the only one who had done this once before. She was the only once present when the court was originally tried. The magistrate approached and stood before Hawkeye, making sure to block her view of Mustang.
"Officer Hawkeye, where were you on said night of the assassination?"
"I was with Colonel Mustang."
"What was the plan that night?"
"Colonel Mustang believed Fuhrer Bradley to be one of the created human, known as homunculi."
"Did you know the full plan?"
"Yes."
"Please tell the court."
"Mustang discovered information on Bradley. After calling us together, he told us part of the plan. After assigning us to jobs, he and I adorned disguises and left the hospital. We took his car which was parked further down the street. In the car, he told me the rest of the plan. He was planning to assassinate the Fuhrer on account of being a fake..."
"And by fake you mean a homunculi?"
"Yes. Once at the Fuhrer's residence, he got out and proceeded to head for the back wall where he climbed up and disappeared."
"What were your orders?"
"I was to head home and stay safe until he contacted me, then we would take it from there."
"And instead of doing as he said, what did you do?"
"I parked the car a distance away and climbed the front wall. Atop the wall, I could see Mustang behind the house jumping down and heading to the house. I proceeded to run across the front lawn and ring the bell at the house. A servant answered and I requested the Fuhrer. When the Fuhrer arrived, he invited me inside and I saw his family celebrating his son's tenth birthday. He then questioned my appearance and I told him of Mustang's plans. Just then, a loud noise was heard in the basement showing Mustang was in the house. The Fuhrer then proceeded to have me arrested and removed from the house, along with his family. I was cuffed and escorted into one of the family cars with the family and we were taken away from the house."
"Why were you cuffed? Why didn't he request your assistance to fight Mustang? If you were warning him of the attack..."
"My guess is he knew Mustang knew the truth about him and had a feeling Mustang told me the truth. He didn't want to be out numbered."
"But both he and Mustang were alchemists. You are not. You would of been easily taken out if things were not going his way."
"Yes. Maybe it was because he had something to hide. And the less people that knew the less he would have to get rid of. And the less speculation that would rise."
The magistrate shook his head. and continued on.
"After you were arrested, what happened? How did you get back to Mustang where the medics found you?"
"The cars were stopped by Archer. He demanded a car. He turned to look inside and saw me in the back seat. He was shocked. At the moment, I was currently un cuffing myself. When he saw me, he knew Mustang was already at the house. He took off running. I freed myself and took off after him. I had a hidden gun and I began to fire at him. In the driveway of the Fuhrer's house, he and I had a show down. I was shot in the shoulder and in the distraction of being wounded, Archer took off for the house. I followed, aiming my gun. When I got to the house, I saw Mustang staggering out of the house which as currently on fire. Archer was heading to attack him. I shot seven times, finally taking him down."
"All seven shots? It took seven to kill Archer?"
The magistrate moved to the side and leaned against the judge's stand. It seamed like forever until Hawkeye replied.
"...no..."
The magistrate stood back up.
"Then how many did it take?"
"Six..."
"Now, your a registered military sniper is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"So you know the rules? You must account for every bullet in triplicate? Did you?"
"Yes, yes, and ... yes."
"Well, where did the seventh bullet go? Remember, your under military oath"
Hawkeye hesitated. She looked straight at Mustang. It didn't hit her until now what happened that night. She fired seven times, only six hit Archer. The final bullet flew over Archer's falling body. The object directly in front of Archer was Mustang. To be exact, Mustang's head. The driveway was slanted, Hawkeye was slightly lower then Archer and Mustang. So she had to fire up, making it perfect aim to hit Mustang. Her mouth slightly fell open. She couldn't believe what she did.
The magistrate was not prepared for answer. He expected her to say she lost track of it. Or it landed in a tree or the burning house. The fact that he noticed tears slowly forming in her eyes, barely noticeable tears, but he was trained to notice everything. Hawkeye kept her voice steady and was able to hold back the tears which disappeared back behind her eyes... for now. She took in a deep, unnoticed breath.
"...it hit Mustang. His face to be exact..."
The magistrate moved to block her view of Mustang. The court room fell silent. All eyes were on Hawkeye. The woman who swore her life to protect Mustang. His right hand woman. His devoted follower. She was the one who had cost him his eye. This couldn't be. This just couldn't be. To make matters worse, the magistrate paused his questioning, allowing this news to sink in to everyone's minds, permanently.
This was going to open another can of worms. Hawkeye would now be tried for assaulting a superior officer and for not using her gun with caution.
"No more questions. You may sit... I now call Officer Mustang."
The magistrate called Mustang quickly. As Hawkeye returned to her seat, Mustang took the empty seat. The magistrate moved to black his view of Hawkeye and began questioning. At the table, Hawkeye's face was burning, it couldn't be seen, but her face felt hot. She wanted to crawl away and die. She wanted to hide her face. But she couldn't. She had to pay attention, or at least look like she was.
"Officer Mustang, you were the brains of the operation?"
"...yes, sir..."
Mustang needed to collect his thoughts. He could see around the magistrate and saw Hawkeye. Her eyes were not as bright as they once were. She looked lost. Scared. The magistrate continued to question him and he answered. His eye never leaving Hawkeye. He answered the questions truthfully, but his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about how happy Hawkeye was just the other night. And looking at her now, it didn't even look like her. She was a wreak.
"Did you or did you not, kill Fuhrer King Bradley?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I had hard evidence to believe he was no who he claimed to be. He was a homunculi named Pride."
"Where did you get this from?"
"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. He witnessed a gathering of homunculi and claimed to see Bradley there. Another was Sheska, she and Winry Rockbell over heard Bradley's secretary talking to homunculi. Then, weeks after hearing this information, I confronted Bradley in a gathering. He neither denied it or confirmed it. But he did show a look of horror on his face. Then, the death of my friend Brigadier General Maes Hughes. No evidence was ever found? Reason, a homunculi killed him, under orders of Bradley. Hughes was getting too close to the truth.
"The night he was killed, witnesses claimed to see him running down the street with Lieutenant Maria Ross. Ross was not in Central. She took a midnight train to Northern City to rush to the bed of her dying grandmother. When I returned to Eastern City after the news of his death, before the funeral, I was handed a memo from Hughes. The night of his death, he tried to call me but I was not in. I was on my way to Central. I was going to confront Hughes. I knew he was holding something from me. Important information. I was right. Hughes needed to talk to me about the Fuhrer. As he hung up the phone, the recorder who took the memo, over heard Hughes commenting to Ross that she was missing her mole. The phone line went dead after that."
Lucky for Mustang, Ross was in the audience. She was front row along with his other friends. He pointed at her and all heads turned. Sure enough, Ross' mole sat right where it always had been.
"A missing mole? Maybe Hughes didn't see it?"
"The mole is not the point. Ross was in Northern City with her family. How could she be behind Hughes in Central City, when she was holding her dying grandmother's hand in northern City?"
Mustang was getting angry. The magistrate sighed and walked back and forth. He approached the judge and made a request. Court was recessed. The officers were escorted to holding cells behind the court room. They were all closely guarded. Here, they each had their own cells. Hawkeye placed her head in her hands and was silent. Soon, they were summoned to the court again. The officers all sat down and waited. Hawkeye refused to look at Mustang.
"Bring in the boy."
A young boy was escorted in. He looked to be about fifteen years old. He had black hair and looked like a young King Bradley.
"Selim Bradley."
He was announced and brought to the empty chair. He sat down and crossed his legs. He was wearing a nice looking outfit. Black dress pants, a green dress shirt and a matching tie. His hair was brushed back and he looked very nice.
"Now Mr. Bradley. You were present the night of your father's death?"
"He was not my father."
The crowd gasped.
"What do you mean?"
"He acted it at first. Actually, my whole life he acted it. But that night, the night of my tenth birthday, he wasn't."
"Explain please."
"I knew he had something important in a safe in his bedroom. With the house burning, I ran to get it. I heard some noises and went to investigate. When I got there, he pulled me into a hug. I told him what I did, then I showed it to him. It was something in a brown sack. I never saw it. Because after I showed him the sack, he froze up and tossed me across the burning room. Then yelled something to that man there, something about this being the reason he hates humans. and me the one he hated the most. The next thing I knew, I was being treated in a hospital for burns."
"Thank you. You may leave."
The boy was escorted out of the court room. Mustang was called back up.
"What was in the bag, do you know?"
"Yes. A skull. The skull; from the real person Pride was created from. Thin alchemy, there is a forbidden taboo called Human Transmutation, or Human Alchemy. When this takes place, a homunculi is formed. The homunculi bears resemblance of the person that was attempted to bring back to life. But, these homunculi are not human. The transmutation is a failure each time due to equivalent exchange. So this homunculi can not use alchemy. But each have a special ability. Prides was to see all possible outcomes, so he can be one step ahead of his enemy. The only weakness of these homunculi are a remain from the human that they were created from. Pride's weakness was the skull from the real Bradley."
A/N - Well?
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