Disclaimer: I don't own FMA..

The Fuhrer gave me a curious look as to my random demand. But I needed to ask Father a question, face to face.
"Alright. I'll send Envy to get you in two 's all for today. You may leave." The Fuhrer said, giving me a smile with an underlying meaning, "Until next time."
I stood, saluted, and walked out cautiously. All right. Time to get myself together. I had business to take care of. I pulled my game face on. Here we go.

First I stopped by Mustang's brand new office. It was empty of everything, not having been used yet. He was there, sitting at his desk, holding his head in his hands.
"Mustang, sir?" I asked, peeking my head in the doorway. Mustang rose to see me, and let me in.
"Cold Blood, why are you here?"
"I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry if this is intrusive or otherwise upsetting to you, but I'd like to know about the witness accounts to Hughes' murder." I said, biting my lip and looking cautiously at Mustang, who looked slightly surprised and mostly sober.
"Why?"
"I think I might have a theory."
"You know something?" Mustang asked suspiciously. I gulped.
"I have an idea. I'd like to look up on it." I said. Mustang put a hand on my shoulder.
"Let's go, then." He said, nodding to me. I sighed and followed him as he exited.

We retraced Hughes steps. We interviewed the witnesses, starting with Hughes' co workers, that had just arrived back at the office.
"Hughes just suddenly left, with a face like he had just realized something," one man said. I knew him, but I forgot his name. The others said the same thing, and I was shocked. None of them remembered me...?
I did that for you, I heard a voice in my head say. My eyes widened as I realized who that voice, or voices, belonged to.
TRUTH?! I exclaimed in my head. I was getting weird looks from Mustang and the people we were interviewing, but I didn't care.
Yes. Think of it as a thank you for not interfering too much, Truth said. I grinned, so happy I was about to cry.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I love you soo much! You're the best friend ever! I thought to Truth. I was safe. Who knew being friends with Truth would save my hide? I was so relieved!
You're... You're welcome, Truth said shyly.
I don't see how people don't like you. I'm gonna beat them up when I get back to my world. I thought, determined. Truth sweat dropped.
Just be careful, were its last words as I felt Truth's voice leave my mind. I closed my eyes for a moment and relished the feeling of relief before opening them and giving the people staring at me a reassuring nod.
We finished up with the witness cases, and ended up by the phone booth where Hughes was supposedly "murdered".
"So, did this prove your theory?" Mustang asked. I was frantically searching my head for an answer.
"No." I sighed. I couldn't come up with anything else.
"What was your theory?" Mustang asked. I swallowed hard.
"I was wondering about it, but Hughes told me something that might have something to do with this, but I was wrong... I think..." I said nervously. They're peeking in too close...
I could see the wheels in Mustang's head turning. I knew what he was thinking. But that doesn't mean I didn't jump when Hawkeye suddenly walked up behind me with Major Armstrong.
"Colonel, I found Major Armstrong, like you asked me to." Hawkeye said, saluting.

"We have a strong lead on some potential suspects on the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." Armstrong said. Mustang looked at him.
"Then why aren't you hunting them down right now?!" Mustang said in a slightly hostile voice. Armstrong didn't even flinch.
"We're confident we know who committed the crime, but we're unsure of their identities." Armstrong stated. I bit my tongue, as to not butt in in this crucial part of the story.
"That doesn't make sense Major, clarify for me!" Mustang commanded sternly. Armstrong looked a smidge apologetic as he continued.
"I'm afraid I cannot."
"I'm telling you to explain as your commanding officer!" Mustang demanded, "You're disobeying a direct order, Major!"
"I cannot tell you." Armstrong repeated. There was a long silence as Mustang and Armstrong had a stare battle, until Mustang sighed.
"Fair enough. I apologize for my tone. You're dismissed," Mustang said in a slightly softer tone.
"Sir!" Armstrong saluted, before turning and taking a few steps away, before pausing for a moment.
"Actually, sir, there is another matter I've neglected to mention. The Elric brothers were recently here. They only departed around two weeks ago." Armstrong said. I nodded to Mustang, confirming that fact.
"They were here, in Central?" Mustang asked the Major, who turned his head to the side to partially look at Mustang.
"Yes, sir, for a number of days." Armstrong replied.
"And did they manage to find whatever they were looking for?" Mustang asked. It was all I could do not to shout the answer at their faces. That's ruin everything I set up so far, and ruin the stuff Truth had helped me maintain, so I was stuck vibrating in place for now.
"No sir. That would be rather difficult, as they are pursuing a legend." Armstrong said, turning his head back to face in front of him.
"Is that so? Well, thanks for your help." Mustang said, and Major Armstrong walked away. He faced Hawkeye and I.
"So I guess he wasn't as helpful to us as we had hoped." Hawkeye sighed. Mustang narrowed his eyes, and I could see the wheels in his head rapidly spinning.
"But not a waste of our time. He was more helpful than he meant to be." That earned a curious look from Hawkeye as Mustang continued, "He said they had a strong lead, singular tense, on a few suspects, multiple suspects. Which leads me to believe the suspect a group is responsible. And his obstinate refusal to talk, even though I ordered him to can only mean... There's got to be an officer above me that's ordered him to keep quiet. Most likely someone of the senior ranking. The last clue was that he happened to mention the Elric brothers. They were researching the philosopher stone." Mustang finished, and Hawkeye gasped slightly.
"I hate to say it," she said, thinking deeply, "but it sounds like there might be a conspiracy going on here. But how does it all tie together?" I was silent, not trusting myself to say anything to mess this up.
"That's the big question. But Hughes, I say he deserves an answer. Once I move into Central, I'm going to start shaking things up until I find one." Mustang said firmly.
"It doesn't sound like you to mix your public and personal concerns." Hawkeye remarked.
"There's no difference between the two!" Mustang said, frustrated, "I will become the Fuhrer of this country and I will take vengeance for Hughes. I will do these things because I have to do them. I'm going after the senior staff. Are you with me, Lieutenant?" Mustang asked Hawkeye seriously. She looked at him with a straight face.
"Do you even have to ask, sir?" She said. Mustang then turned to me.
"Cold Blood?"
"All the way through this hell, sir!" I said, grinning lightly. Mustang nodded at me.
"Perfect."

~

Once I had finished with Mustang, I found my way to the Hughes house without a map. From my estimate, I had about thirty minutes left until Envy was coming for me.
"Daddy?!" I heard Elicia exclaim as the door opened. When she saw me, her face dropped, and she started to tear up. She ran and hugged me, crying into my military jacket. Tears welled up in my eyes and I lifted Elicia into my arms, and walked in the house, door held open for me by Gracia. We all went and sat down in the livingroom. She smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry." She said, but I put my hand on her shoulder to silence her.
"I know you're in pain, too." I said, my voice cracking as I continued, "You don't need to hide it. The more you hide it, the harder it's going to hit you later. You are so strong, some people would've broken down. But it's okay to cry sometimes. I'm here for you." My words effected Gracia greatly. She started to tear up, and I shifted Elicia over so I could wrap one arm around Gracia as we all shared the pain.
It hurt me. I knew Hughes was alive, he was okay. It hurt me, to see the person who had treated me like her own daughter, to break down. It hurt, to see a small girl that had been like a little sister to me cry out for her missing father. It pained me to the degree that I cried with them. Because I had come to love them like a family, and when they hurt, I hurt. It's one reason why I don't like love. You may share their happiness, but you also share their pain.

~

After Elicia and Gracia had fallen asleep, which had only taken about twenty minutes, I carried Elicia and Gracia separately to the room Gracia and Hughes shared, tucking them in side by side. Gracia was actually easy to carry, since I was used to carrying my friends, which weighed about the same.
I was currently in the bathroom, next to my room, washing my face clear of any traces of crying. Once I was sure I looked alright, I headed into my room to change.
"Cold Blood now, isn't it? Hurry up, let's get going." I heard a voice say behind me. I spun around to see Frosty sitting in the doorway, looking straight at me.
"Get the hell out so I can change. I don't want to get my brand new uniform dirty." I gave Frosty a glare. He huffed and, before I could punt Frosty out of the door, pranced out just as I slammed the door behind him.
I looked in my suitcase, and chose the clothes I wore when I came here. A long red t-shirt that read "Word to the nerds", a green camisole under it, and gray leggings and navy blue short shorts over them. I stripped off my military uniform, folding it nicely on the bed as I pulled on the original clothes. They were nice and clean, since Gracia had washed them for me a while ago. I scribbled a quick note on a scrap of paper for Gracia when she woke up.
"All set." I said, opening the door to reveal an impatient Envy in his green haired form leaning on the wall.
"Then lets go." He said, starting to walk down the hall. I followed him, but paused to slip into Gracias room quietly and put the note on the bedside table before stealthily sneaking out and closing the door behind me. I caught up to Envy and we both left the Hughes home, weaving through generally unseen alleyways for quite a while, before we reached a manhole in a deserted alleyway.
Envy opened it up and grinned at me.
"Ladies first," he said. I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, looking down the hole. It was a sewer.
I scrunched my nose up and looked at Envy.
"We have to go down there?" I whined. I hated smelly things. It was one of my major pet peeves. I didn't want smell stinky stuff, I didn't want to touch disgusting stuff, and I didn't want to look at horrid stuff, or I would start getting anxious and whining like a child.
"If you want to go see Father." Envy smirked. I took one more look, looked back at Envy, then stomped my feet really hard, waving my arms around randomly.
"NOO I HATE GROSS STUFF NO!" I whined. Envy sweat dropped and slung me over his shoulder, jumping in. I screamed as we thudded on the side of the sewer, the thin sidewalk that hit Envy's feet hard. I felt the vibration tingle my spine, and wiggled until Envy let me down.
"If I jumped, I wouldn't have survived." I pointed out, making Envy sweat drop.
"Childish ice freak." He muttered. I looked at him.
"Now, lead me to Father before I freeze you solid." I threatened. Envy have me the silent treatment as we walked through the sewers. Something eventually crunched under my shoe. I froze, and looked at the ground.
It was littered with human bones.
It was all I could do not to run away. I took a deep breath, and looked up. Glowing red eyes greeted me as I looked at the cieling.
"Don't worry. They won't hurt you as long as you're with me. Now hurry up!" Envy said. I gulped and continued on, stepping over the bones.
And before long, we had reached a giant door. Uneasiness welled up in me as Envy grinned at me, motioning to the door.
"Common, don't be scared," Envy said tauntingly. I gulped again and resisted the impulse to glomp Envy like a teddy bear. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them to look at the door.
I then pulled open the door, only to reveal a giant room before me. But one thing immediately caught my eye.
It was Father.

Hey guys! CLIFFHANGER! LONG CHAPPIE HURRAY! I'm SOO happy! You guys are the best! So many views and reviews!
Anyway, the story is getting better. I'm sorry, there's not a lot of Ed screen time right now, but there will be soon, I promise! Okay, how do you like it so far? Questions, comments, concerns?
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