Roy and Riza had already found a charming inn and rented a room for themselves, settling in and getting ready to get to the bottom of Edward's mysterious disappearance. Roy made sure to have a few pairs of gloves hidden in his coat, pants pocket and boots. Riza followed his lead and had a gun strapped to either thigh. They were ready.
On the short walk to James Rogers' house, they wondered of the condition they might find Ed in. They both knew full well the possibility that he could be badly injured, but silently prayed that he would be okay when they found him. Their footsteps halted when they reached a familiar wooden door. Riza nodded, and Roy knocked firmly three times. A shuffle could be heard from behind the door, the doorknob clicking before it swung open to reveal the man in question, mustache and all. Roy and Riza watched in satisfaction as they watched the colour drain from his face. He stuttered a moment before gathering enough words to form a sentence.
"Oh uh, w-well this is certainly a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure, Colonel Mustang?" Roy watched a bead of sweat forming on the man's brow. He smiled inconspicuously.
"Well, me and Riza here have been planning on heading out east for a while, and I don't know if you've heard, but Fullmetal has recently gone missing, and with the stress and all, we decided now was a good time for a break." The man shrunk in his place and grew more nervous by the second.
"O-oh, w-well yes, I unfortunately do recall hearing about Mr.Elric, yes." Rogers commented with a nervous look. He stood covered by the door and made no move to ask the two inside. Roy smiled.
"May we come in?" He asked, lacing his voice with a false politeness. The man froze for a second before opening the door fully and gesturing inside. The two soldiers stepped into the homey house and took in their surroundings. The forest green walls were littered with framed photos of family, hung over two leather couches sat around an unlit fireplace. It seemed like a nice home, certainly not the home of a creepy kidnapper. He led them into the kitchen and they sat around the table.
"Coffee?" Asked Rogers, standing by his counter. Roy smiled along with Riza.
"Sure, please." Rogers then went about filling the kettle and spooning coffee grounds into three mugs. Roy watched intently, leaving no room for the man to slip anything into the hot drink. Once they had all sat down around the circular table, steaming mugs in hand, Roy silently tapped Riza twice on the thigh as a signal.
"Excuse me sir, but do you happen to have a bathroom I could use?" She asked politely. He quickly nodded.
"Oh yes, of course, it's down the hallway two doors on the right." He explained. Riza nodded to him with a smile. Of course she already knew where the bathroom was from looking at the blueprints, and she also knew that next to the bathroom was the door to the basement. Riza dipped out of the room and padded down the hall, keeping quiet as she opened the basement door. The stairway down was dimly lit by a single lightbulb, and she slowly, silently, creeped her way down the stairs. At the bottom she was met with a slim concrete hall, barred jail cells on either side. She held her gun protectively by her shoulder. Upon peering into the first cell on the right, her heart dropped in her chest. There, cuffed to the wall, lay her youngest comrade, bloody and beaten.
"Edward?" She called quietly. The small figure lifted it's head in surprise, though gingerly. She saw hope twinkle in his tired eyes.
"H-Hawkeye? Is that really you, or has the dehydration finally caught up with me?" He joked lightly despite his battered appearance, though the crackling in his voice told her it wasn't an unreasonable concern.
"It's me Ed, the Colonel is here too, keeping Rogers busy upstairs. He did this to you?" She asked, though she was certain the answer. The boy nodded gently.
"Yeah, he's a nut job. Now can you get me out of here? I can't feel my hands." Hawkeye nodded sympathetically and grabbed the keys that were sitting on a hook near the cell. She made haste in unlocking the door and making her way to Edward. His pale, blood stained skin and blackened eye made her feel sick to her stomach. She switched the keys to the second on the loop and shook the key in the hole of the cuffs. Edward winced, but let out an audible sigh of relief as his flesh arm was let down, then began trying to massage feeling back into his fingers when the same was done to his automail. Hawkeye's eyes widened when she took in the state of the ring and pinky finger of his hand. They were swollen and stained a dark blue with splashes of violet, and were visibly crooked and broken. Her eyes then fell upon a rather deep cut on the inside of his upper arm, definitely needing stitches. His abdomen was covered, though his shirt was cut down the middle. The sides of his black tank top overlapped across him, though she could guess he wasn't left unscathed underneath it. His eyes looked up to her hopefully.
"Can we go home now?" He asked, his voice quiet and pained. She sent him a sad smile and nodded.
"The colonel should be calling down asking if I'm alright any minute. I'll say 'just a minute', our code phrase to let him now I found you, the he'll take care of Rogers, and we'll get out of here. Okay?" Edward simply nodded at her, letting his eyes slip closed. She frowned. "Edward, how badly are you hurt aside from what I can see?" He froze and opened his eyes to look at her.
"It's not that bad. I don't need to go to a hospital. I just need to go home." Riza frowned. She knew that just from what she could see he need immediate medical attention, and from his reaction, what's underneath his shirt would only further prove that. She gently took hold of either end of the torn shirt and looked up at Edward's eyes.
"May I?" She asked softly. He pondered for a moment before removing his arms from around his waist. Taking that as permission, she gently tugged the shirt open and gasped at what she saw. His chest had a long, deep cut going straight down the middle, caking his chest in blood. Any area not covered in blood was painted with a dark violet bruise, most likely meaning broken ribs. Looking down, there were three bad burns to the left of his belly button. The skin was weeping and blistered, an angry red in some areas and a scabbed over yellow in the rest. "Oh, Edward." She spoke gently. "Honey, you need a doctor." Ed frowned, but accepted this fact and nodded. Then, they both heard a deep voice calling out to them.
"Riza? Are you alright in there?" Called Mustang, silently asking whether or not she'd found Edward.
"Just a minute!" She yelled back up the steps. Then there were footsteps, thumping, and a bit of yelling they couldn't make out. She turned back to Edward. "Can you walk?" Ed looked as if he himself didn't know the answer. He shrugged.
"To be honest, I have no idea. I've been sitting for two days. Worth a shot." He replied, holding out his automail hand for assistance. Riza wrapped her hand around the metal appendage, carefully pulling the boy to his feet and wrapping his arm over her shoulders, and placing her free hand under his flesh arm in support. His feet wobbled beneath him a moment before steadying. Riza led him out of the cell as he gingerly placed one foot in front of the other, wincing slightly. Roy then came padding down the stairs to meet them.
"How is he?" He panted. Riza put on her professional exterior once again.
"He needs a doctor, sir. Immediately." He nodded and crouched down in front of Edward. The boy's pained and bruised eyes met Roy's.
"Edward, I'm gonna pick you up now, okay? So we can get to the doctors." He looked a little out of it from pain and blood loss, but settled on a nod and a quietly spoken "Careful." Roy nodded and gently placed his arm underneath Ed's knees and the other around his shoulders. Ed let out a small whimper as he was scooped up into the Colonel's arms, but quickly settled down. Riza was quick to shrug off her cardigan and lay it over Edward, his automail hand curling into it.
"What are his injuries?" Roy asked, now heading up the stairs with Riza not far behind him.
"He has a deep cut on his upper arm and another down the center of his chest, multiple areas of serious bruising and possible broken ribs, on his lower abdomen are three burn wounds nearing on third degree, possible infection. He has bruising under both eyes, raising suspicion of a possible skull fracture or concussion, and a significant amount of blood in his hair, leading me to believe there's a decent wound on the back of his head too." Roy felt nauseous upon hearing the list, only furthering his urge to burn Rogers to a crisp. They passed the man, unconscious and handcuffed to the railing. Riza kicked him in the ribs for good measure before they left the house to seek medical attention.