When Things Slip

Disclaimer: Characters and setting are the property of Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just borrowing them for a bit of non-profit angst.


"Well?" Roy demanded quietly as soon as Maes sat down beside him.

"I should have followed up on the incident at Lab Five two years ago," Hughes said as he shook his head. "But the investigation was formally closed and the situation in Sorelane was becoming urgent. I was going to deal with that then quietly reopen the investigation into Lab Five on my own, but when Al… It slipped through the cracks."

"I don't give a damn about Lab Five!" Roy hissed. "I want to know where they took Edward. He hasn't been admitted to a hospital or psychiatric ward. Officially he's been transferred to the Fuhrer's personal staff but we haven't been able to find his posting. Farman attempted to follow the Fuhrer's secretary after she took Edward. Goddamn it Maes, I identified his body this morning!"

"Roy, the Fuhrer's secretary, Juliet Douglas, the woman who took Ed; she's been dead for four years. Edward told us that one of the creatures he encountered in Lab Five had the ability to mimic Brigadier General Gran's appearance."

"And they have Ed again," Roy said realizing what Maes was telling him. "A fucking shape shifter, who wants Ed to make him a Philosopher's Stone through mass murder has Edward. Maes, Edward doesn't have a clue what reality is on a good day, let alone if some freak is screwing his head. He'll do it Maes."

"I know," Maes said. "We know they still need a lot of people who can disappear without raising eyebrows. We're checking the prisons."

Roy rubbed his eyes. "Prisons aren't the only way to hide bodies."

"Roy?"

"The population of a prison would hardly have made a bump in the casualty statistics during Ishbal. While it was going on we wanted the Philosopher's Stone for a weapon, afterwards we wanted it to undo what we done. Wars hide bodies and fuel new heights in research. Are these things and their quest the reason we're always at war?"

Hughes looked a little sick at the realization that Roy's assumption was probably correct.

"Ed's not like me," Roy said a moment later. "I came up with a theory of human transmutation but I never went through with it; Edward did. After they made me into a murder I put a gun in my mouth but I couldn't pull the trigger. We have to get Ed before they convince him to do something he can't live with."

"I've got everyone I can trust on this. We're doing everything humanly possible but Roy," Hughes hesitated. "I hate to even mention this, but you can't afford to be this distracted. You have to let my people handle it."

"Would you if it were Elysia?" Roy asked.

"That's fighting dirty," Maes said quietly.

"No it's not," Roy said. "Not anymore."

Maes sighed, "We'll find him Roy, trust us."