It was the most silent Roy had ever seen the Elric brothers. Usually, Edward was proud and snappy in his presence, Alphonse apologetic and polite. Now, though, the former looked drawn and combative, the latter seeming sad. Neither spoke.

Not that Roy himself was any bettter. He was as - miserable? empty? - as he had been all month. Some part of him felt bad about having taken it out on Edward, but another part - the part screaming ar him now - could only think of Wrath and what he would do to Riza.

Roy would honestly have been glad to help the Elrics find Winry only a month before. But - and he had admitted this to himself early on - he was brooding. The drive to keep the offensive up against the Homunculi was still going strong, but the wheels needed to turn before things could happen, and there was only so much he could do fill the time. Even the paperwork he now did without complaint or delay could not distract him from his new subordinates and their obvious spying. It made him angry in a frighteningly passive way, and it had settled into a pit of bitterness with shocking speed.

"We're here." Al's small voice cut through the thick silence, and both Roy and Ed started. The latter jumped up from his seat, but the former simply turned to the window. Looking at him, the blond alchemist snarled.

"Come on, Mustang," he began, and stopped short. Roy's expression had, for a moment, made him pause, but then the colonel stood, wiping his expression blank.

"Yeah," he said tiredly, "let's go."

-

Garfiel, tissues in hand, was red-eyed and subdued when the three arrived. Roy had decided he would do the talking - neither Elric seemed up to it - but before he had even opened his mouth, Ed spoke up.

"What happened?" he asked flatly. Though he still seemed beat down, there seemed to be a new spark in his eyes. Roy supposed it came from being so close to where Winry had last been - they were on the path to finding her, finally. It made him glad to see that the blond alchemist hadn't simply crumbled under this blow. Edward was an admirable kid in many ways, not the least being is fortitude in the face of tragedy. It was a sign of how much he cared for his mechanic that he had been felled so low.

Wringing his hands, Garfiel looked miserable, hesitating before answering. "I don't know much more than you boys do. Winry worked late last night - there's her finished piece." He pointed at a beautifully crafted piece of automail lying on the worktable. It was a forearm piece, looking light and streamlined. "When she wasn't upstairs by eleven, I got worried and came down here." The man paused, dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. "Winry was gone. Her tools were all on the worktable with the automail - nothing was stolen. There was a note on the counter from someone saying their friend needed a leg - they put down nine th-thirty five at th-the end." Garfiel hiccuped and dropped his head into a big hand and wailed, "She was gone for over an hour and I never even knew!"

There was something incredibly disturbing in seeing this man sob. Roy shifted his weight uncomfortably for a moment before asking, "Where is this note?" Garfiel hiccuped again and pointed a wavering finger at the counter, blowing his nose loudly into a tissue and sniffling.

Ed strode to the counter and snatched up the note, Al following after a moment. Both bent over the paper silently for a beat. Roy hung back, unwilling to intrude - it went without saying that he was excluded from what they were feeling.

Lost in his own thoughts, Roy jumped slightly when Ed stomped back over to him, thrusting the scarp of aper into his hands. "Here," the blond said, dissappointment and disgust in his voice. "Keep it if you want - it's not worth anything. We're going to look around."

Roy watched his stride off before glancing down at the paper. He could see why Edward saw is as frustrating - what had been the possibilty of a good hint was, in actuality, just a simple note, almost word-for-word for what Garfiel had said.

Pocketing the paper, Roy turned towards Ed in time to miss the door slamming open. Swinging back around, the colonel caught sight of a girl makng a beeline toward Garfiel, angruish written all over her face.

"Paninya!" the automail mechaic cried, and scooped the newcomer into a hug. "You heard, honey?"

The girl - Paninya - struggled free. "Yeah, I heard." She balled up one hand into a fist, the other coming up to cover her eyes. "I couldn't find her," she continued, her voice low and thick as she struggled to keep in control. "I looked everywhere, asked everyone - nothing came up." Garfiel wrapped her in another hug, ignoring her muffled, half-hearted protestations, and led her to the back of the shop where they were shielded by boxes and display cases.

Al made as if to follow, but faltered as his brother shook his head. Both Elrics turned away from Winry's friends and returned to their work of searching for anything that could help lead them to her. Ed's expresseion seemed to echo Paninya's as he sighed, balled his fists, and wandered towards to workbench.

Roy gazed after the two in the back of the room long after they'd slipped from sight, his dark eyes inscrutable as pieces shifted around in his mind. He stood there for several minutes before he blinked, his mind returning to his current surroundings. Then Roy moved to the center of the room and looked around, marking in his head what surrounded him.

"There's nothing!" Ed barked statement startled the colonel out of his thoughts. Making his way over to the worktable where the blond stood, Roy waited silently as Ed picked up a large wrench gently. "We haven't found anything," the boy began softly, his voice raising in volume and heat as he continued, "Where the fuck do we go from here!"

"I..."

Roy had been about to say 'I don't know' - there truly were no leads. But he had spotted something, and a new idea had presented itself.

"Yes, Colonel?" asked Al, and Roy blinked.

"Nothing. I don't know any more than you two." A door closed noisily in the back of the room, making the Elrics start, and as Garfiel returned to the front, Roy turned to him and continued, "Do you know any places we can stay?"

The colonel left as Garfiel gave directions to the two boys. Circling around back, Roy smiled to himself without humor and clearned his throat.

Paninya's head whipped up, an arm dashing across her eyes. "What the hell do you want?" she demanded angrily.

Roy's mirthless smile had been replaced by a businesslike frown, but his voice was soft as he answered, "I think there may be a way you could help us."

-

When he rejoined the Elrics a few moments later at the front of the shop, Roy Mustang wore the same down-turned, thoughtful expression he had sported for the whole train-ride down. But his eyes had a hard spark to them, and as they set off, his steps were newly purposeful.

--

AN: Again, thank you to Yellow Mask for her wonderful beta-ing

Joy-girl got it right in her review - Roy's been pissy because this is the right thing to do, but he's most likely putting Riza in danger for it. I hope this chapter explained it better .

Also - I apologize for the length of my chapters. I've been roleplaying for a few years, and my style really settled into a bit of a sparse one - I can put across who the character is, what he's doing, what's generally going on, but it's fairly boiled down. Writing so many oneshots probably doens't help either, haha. Even so, I hope you all enjoy my writing. Maybe, at some point in the future, I'll be able to work up my wordcount :3

(speaking of word count - this chapter is about 1200 words. hehe. i think it's going to be the longest chapter in this fic...)