Part I: Chapter I:
Consternation
Colonel Roy Mustang was exhausted. There just was no other way to describe how he felt. Sad. Frustrated. Angry. Stressed. Worried.
'Yup. "Exhausted" works just fine.' He had thought to himself, after having searched through the dictionary for a word to describe his feelings. Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes had told him it would help. Help with the pain. Help with the overbearingly nagging hole in his heart.
Not like Hughes was any better. Hughes had that same look in his eye. The one that spoke clearly of exhaustion. The one where you have no idea what was happening. The one where you were in a state of strong disbelief.
Roy decided he should best get used to that look. After all, that look haunted many others as well. Major Alex Louis Armstrong. Second Lt. Maria Ross. Sergeant Denny Brosh. Master Sergeant Kain Fuery. Warrant Officer Vato Falman. Second Lt. Heymans Breda. Second Lt. Jean Havoc. Even normally stoic Lt. Riza Hawkeye was affected.
Nobody could blame them. After all, they were just told the impossible. The unbelievable. The inconceivable. The unimaginable. The out-of-the-question. It was so outrageously, irrationally, implausibly, absolutely absurd.
Roy shook himself out of his thoughts. 'You can't think about that now...' He mentally scolded himself as he steered his chair over to the mountain of paperwork that stood in front of him. 'Focus on your work.'
Of course, that was impossible.
So, for once in his life, he was eternally grateful when his best friend Maes Hughes walked into his office at Eastern Command.
"Hughes." Roy acknowledged the emerald-eyed man, who sported a smile. A fake smile. And a fake cheery tone to accompany it.
"Hey, Roy! How are you doing? I know I'm doing great! After all, I've got my wonderful baby girl, Elysia and my beautiful wife, Gracia! Oh! Would you like to see some pictures? Ah, who am I kidding, of course you do!" Hughes ranted on and on, and for once Roy felt like he could feel normal. Normal-even if the atmosphere was completely and utterly fake.
"Hughes," Roy started with a warning tone, for a second feeling as if things were normal. But things were not. And this sense of "normalcy" he was feeling...was fake. "What are you doing here?"
Hughes playfully groaned, walking over to the desk and pulling his arm over Roy's shoulder. "Oh, come on, Roy. Is there anything wrong with wanting to go and pay a visit to a friend?"
"There is when said friend is waiting for important documents to be delivered."
Hughes' fake smile dropped, replacing it with his true feelings of a deep glower. "Roy...I-I can't. I wish I could but I can't."
Roy ground his teeth together. "And why not? As a Colonel, I'm ordering you, Lt. Colonel Hughes. I outrank you. Disobeying my orders is an act of insubordination." Hughes briefly flinched, before responding painfully.
"Roy...I just can't."
A few seconds of silence passed through the air, which at this point felt like daggers were pointed in every direction. The slightest movement or sound would set it off, bringing the atmosphere to chaos.
"You're dismissed."
"Yes Sir." Was Hughes' brief response. With that, he left the room.
Roy pressed his index finger and thumb to his forehead, sensing a headache coming on. "Fullmetal..." He muttered. "...I'm sorry."
Winry Rockbell didn't know how she felt. She didn't feel sad. Or lonely. Or angry. Or confused. Or terrified. Or frustrated. Or tired. Or depressed. She didn't know.
She felt...empty.
If that was even a feeling.
She stared at the letter for hours, not moving or saying anything. Granny had already left the room, the strong little old woman hiding her own tears, pricking at the corner of her eyes but never falling.
That's how shocking the news was; that it could reduce Pinako Rockbell of all people close to tears.
Her eyes scanned the letter once more, despite having memorized it's horrific contents already.
'...we regret to inform you...this is a matter of utmost urgency...please come to Central immediately...the Department of Internal Affairs would like your assistance...ongoing investigation...' Over and over again Winry read it. Her mind stubbornly stuck on the first sentence. 'We regret to inform you-' And then her mind just stops. It was almost as if she physically could not continue reading the sentence.
She didn't cry. Instead, she just fell into a silent submissive state. A numb acceptance.
Or was it denial? Winry had a feeling that somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it wasn't true. It couldn't be. It was impossible.
She snapped out of it only briefly when Pinako walked in, gently taking the letter from her trembling hands, and then wrapping her arms around Winry in a comforting embrace. But Winry didn't want comfort. She didn't need it. Suddenly, that feeling she had in the back of her mind started nagging.
The two Rockbell women stayed in each other's arms for a while before they broke apart. "Winry," Pinako asked softly. "Are you alright?"
Was she alright? She didn't know. After all, the closest word she could use to describe her feelings was "empty". But what did "empty" mean exactly? Was it good that she couldn't identify her feelings? Or was it bad? Did it mean she wasn't okay if she didn't understand something. 'No,' She thought to herself. 'That would be silly.' Silly or not, she wasn't sure if she could answer honestly. She just didn't know.
She took in a deep breath, thinking back to the letter in her grandmother's hands. Suddenly, her answer came. It came from the nagging feeling in the depths of her mind, as well as the resurfacing memory of an emotion she had always carried with her, an emotion a specific someone helped her with. "Granny," She started, her voice stern and unwavering. "I'm going to Central."
Her declaration was met with a concerned but supportive smile. "Of course," Granny closed her eyes. "He's going to need your help."
Winry nodded, her sparkling blue eyes burning like fire. "Naturally."
Winry finally figured out what she was feeling. It was a feeling she hoped would last long. It averted her from emptiness.
That feeling was determination.
Maes Hughes stared at the documents in front of him, the words blurring together in swirls of black and white. He sighed and threw his head back, examining his office. It was fairly empty. After all, it was incredibly small with only a large bookcase. His subordinates worked in the next room over, where he could watch through the large glass window in his office.
"There is when said friend is waiting for important documents to be delivered."
"Roy...I-I can't. I wish I could but I can't."
Maes flinched, remembering his friend's next words being spoken in an icy, cold tone.
"And why not? As a Colonel, I'm ordering you, Lt. Colonel Hughes. I outrank you. Disobeying my orders is an act of insubordination."
Maes sighed and put his face to his hands, glancing at the documents in front of him, the documents that Roy so desperately wanted to get his hands on, the documents that were vital to this new case which has had everyone in a frenzy, the documents which he wished he didn't have to look at, given the circumstances.
The Elric Brother's files.
There were many documents. Their birth records, incidents involving the two during their travels(and there were a lot of incidents), their medical history, their academic history, and the elder Elric's State Alchemist certificate and files.
Roy wanted in on this case, but the Central higher ups wouldn't let him. It was too "personal" for him, and as such there would be bias when investigating and prosecuting.
'Too bad they didn't know that I knew the Elrics,' Maes had thought triumphantly upon receiving the case. His smile deflated when he saw Roy's confident smirk towards the higher ups, indicating he was still going to investigate this case. After all, his best friend was on the case. 'Too bad Roy knows that I knew the Elrics.'
By law, Maes wasn't allowed to share details on the case with anyone. Even if one of the subjects of said case was previously one's commanding officer.
He sighed and rose from his chair. Brooding in his thoughts was not getting him anywhere. Right now, he had to go interview the suspect of this case. Luckily, the Department of Internal Affairs didn't decide to completely take over this case.
Maes grabbed his coat and the documents, walking over to the next room, where Major Alex Louis Armstrong and his two officers Maria Ross and Denny Brosh stood waiting. As soon as he arrived the trio saluted him.
"Sir! We would like to accompany you to interrogate...the suspect, sir!" Denny and Maria spoke in complete precision and unison, Hughes had to wonder if that had been practiced. Then again, anytime the two says something together, it's always practiced.
"...you want to...?" Maes was at a loss for words, but staring into the determined eyes of the two lower ranking soldiers made him make up his mind. His face turned unusually stoic. "Alright."
"I shall come with you, as well." Alex boomed, making no room for argument.
"...come on then. We have an interrogation to get to."
Not like he even wanted to get to the interrogation.
Maria was nervous. She really didn't want to go to the interrogation, but she had to know. She had to know why. She had to know why one of those sweet boys that she came to care about deeply would be capable of something as horrifically disgusting as the vile concept that is murder.
Judging by the look on her superior officers' faces, they thought the same, though they kept it well hidden under a professional mask. Denny, on the other hand...Maria spared a glance towards her partner, dropping her soldier demeanor for just a few seconds.
Denny was sweating bullets, fidgeting, and his eyes were glancing wildly back and forth every few seconds. Maria felt her heart hurt. It hurt for her partner. It hurt for Alex and Maes, her superiors, it hurt for every soldier she was close to that knew the Elrics, it hurt for herself...and most of all it hurt for the Elrics themselves.
Maes cleared his throat suddenly, startling Maria out of her thoughts. He gestured towards the door to hell in front of him. "I'm going to go in. You two wait outside. Major, you're with me."
Alex nodded and followed Maes through the door that he hesitantly opened. Maria and Denny tensely waited outside. Of course, the two of them wouldn't settle for just waiting. So they leaned in towards the door and listened in.
It hurt.
Maes inhaled sharply when he saw the child sitting at the interrogation table, his golden hair falling in front of his face. His hands were in wooden shackles, keeping them around eight or so inches apart, making him unable to transmute. The child was deathly quiet, not showing any emotion.
Maes's heart pounded in his chest. Every beat rattled his body, and all he could hear was the sound of his own breathing and the blood rushing to his head. He shook his head. He had to focus. He had to make sure what happened wasn't true. If it was, he was hoping, desperately pleading, for it to have been an accident.
Alex took his position at the doorway, the soldier in charge of recording the investigation stood up from his typewriter and saluted Maes before sitting back down, and Maes walked slowly towards the chair sitting across from the child. He set the documents of the Elric Brothers down on the table and took out the case files and opened it.
He took in a deep breath, catching the attention of the child staring at his restraints. Golden eyes met green ones, as Maes opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the child.
"Hello Lt. Colonel." The voice was dull. Dry. Devoid of any emotion. The soldier at the typewriter paused for a second, startled that the child made the first move, but then began to rapidly type.
"Hello." Maes responded unhappily. This entire situation regarding the two boys he cared about deeply was taking its toll. He suddenly found it very hard to smile. The only times he was even able to give a proper smile and not a fake one, was when he was at home with Gracia and Elysia. But he knew that would all go to hell once the media got hold of this incident. His beloved wife and daughter were the family of those boys too, and he had no idea how he was going to explain this to his little girl, who was too young to understand any of this.
"You don't sound too happy to see me." Emotionless.
"I don't see why I should, considering..." Maes trailed off, not sure how to start the interrogation. He inhaled deeply. Maybe he should have given this case to someone else. He cleared his throat and began reading the details of the case, trying to be as vague as possible, because it was so hard to read his name. "Two days ago, a resident witness walked into your room at the military hotel in Central, because the door was left wide open. As for how long, that would be anyone's guess." He paused before continuing, not seeing any change in emotion in the child. "The resident walked in and saw..." He felt a lump in his throat. "A...body. On the floor in the center of a large transmutation circle. The body was later identified as...as..."
"My brother."
The cold response sent shivers down his spine. 'No way...'
Maes cleared his throat, hoping for the life of him that no one could see his eyes began to get glossy for a brief moment. "Yes..."
There was a moment of silence before Maes spoke up again, and the soldier began to type rapidly once more. How the hell he could type that fast, Maes was sure he would never know. But that was unimportant. He then asked the million dollar question that everyone wanted answered. Well, the second question. If the answer to this was "yes"...then...
"...Did you..." Maes gulped. "Did you kill...your-your brother?"
There was no response. Maes cleared his throat and licked his lips. He was about to say something before the boy spoke up in a cold tone. The response sent almost everyone who heard into pure shock and disbelief. Maes could of sworn he heard two distinctive gasps coming outside the doorway-most likely from Maria and Denny, the eavesdroppers, and a choke of disbelief coming from the kindhearted Major. Even the soldier in charge of the typewriter stopped typing for a moment, muttering "I don't believe it..." under his breath.
Maes just couldn't speak. He sat their gaping like a fish at the cold response said with a smile. A smile. A smile of all things.
"Yes. I killed him."
'No...please no...this is impossible...why...why...' Maes's mind went into overdrive, and the glossiness in his eyes returned once more. A sound similar to that of a sob was heard from where the Major had been standing.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and desperately tried not to cry, scream, throw something, do anything, or break down. Instead he asked the true multi-million dollar question. The one that came after the first if he answered the horrendous, "Yes".
"Why? Why did you do it?"
"Why?" Emotion filled his voice again. And once more did his answer fill everyone's hearts with ice. The boy they once knew was gone. "Because-I hated him."
'Oh god...no...please no, please!' Maes suddenly felt dizzy. He couldn't breathe. One of the boys he thought of like a son. One of the boys he knew his best friend thought of like a son, no matter how many times he denied acting like the Elrics' father. One of those two wonderful kids...he killed his brother. 'Stop...no...it's not true...not my family...'
Maes imagined what would happen if he tried to kill Gracia, or vice-versa. He shuddered. That was impossible. You don't kill family. 'It's not true, it's not true, it's not...'
But looking at the smile on the boy's face, the pause on the typewriter, and the finality of his statement...oh god, it was.
Alphonse Elric, now in his human body, who was sitting right in front of him, had killed his older brother, Edward Elric.
Consternation Definition: "feelings of anxiety or dismay, typically at something unexpected"
Defined from online google dictionary.