Chapter fourteen

The missing body

Colonel Edward Elric's body has been discovered.

It was confirmed yesterday that the body found by a local woman did in fact belong to the late Colonel.

"It was horrible, when the stench hit me…" Ruth Beaver (74) begins. "And that it was that poor lad. I should have guessed so from the start, but still… and there were worms crawling on it, I have never seen anything so sickening before in my life. Such a young boy, left like that … it makes me want to cry."

Ms. Beaver wiped a tear from her cheek. "And now Mr. Mustang is accused of murdering him. I've talked to them plenty of times, the young boy was here many times together with his brother. I live next door after all. But just know that I don't believe one word of it. Mr. Mustang is a good man who loves those boys, you'll see."

"How can they say something like that?! They can't believe that General Mustang would do this to Ed, can they?!" Winry said, slamming the newspaper down on the kitchen table and looking over at Granny. "To suggest that he would torture Ed!" Winry felt her eyes fill up with tears at the thought that he had been subjected to so much pain as the last thing he ever did.

She knew what the General had come to mean to the Elrics, in a way she was a bit disappointed that Ed and Al had stayed in East City with him instead of coming back to Resembool once Al had his body back, but she understood it. And they deserved what he could give them.

And now the General was being accused of not only murdering Ed, but torturing him to death! Something wasn't right here. She hadn't talked much to him, but she knew that he wasn't someone who would do that to anyone, let alone Ed. He wasn't the psychopath that killed Ed and he certainly hasn't kidnapped Alphonse!

"Granny, I think something's up with the military and that Al is in hiding with the General. I think they found out what was going on and went underground," Winry said, still shedding tears.

"I think you're right, dear. And I also think that Al is safer with him than without him right now."

Not for the first time, Winry sunk to her knees and hugged her grandmother tightly, sobbing. "I miss Ed so much. I can't believe he's just gone like that."

"I know, Winry, neither can I."

The Hero(?) of Ishbal

Brigadier General Roy Mustang was supposed to be arrested yesterday for the gruesome murder and torture of Colonel Edward Elric. Incriminating evidence has recently been discovered, telling a very different story about the relationship between the two officers.

With his fingerprints on the knife used to behead the sixteen-year-old, General Mustang was to be arrested yesterday for killing his subordinate. An official concerned source has also testified to having been confided in by the young officer that behind closed doors, the General was in fact abusing Colonel Elric for months.

Führer Grumman threw the newspaper directly into the fireplace in his office. He knew Mustang, to make such accusations against him was scandalous. All this proved was that someone within the military was trying to frame him and nothing more. He had a suspicion that his undercover team had something to do with the disappearances, they hadn't been in contact for over a week now.

Which probably only meant that after the murder, they had no longer deemed it safe to make contact with him.

Well, Mustang, wherever you are right now, stay safe. And I hope you've got somebody to play chess with.

Where is Alphonse Elric?

With accusations of months of abusing Colonel Edward Elric, Brigadier General Mustang seems to have taken the final step of killing his young subordinate in the most brutal fashion. With the discovery of the rest of Colonel Elric's body in the forest behind his house, as well as his fingerprints on the murder weapon, it would seem that the Brigadier General is not the man the public believes him to be.

The only question now is where is Alphonse Elric? Many are saying that the fifteen-year-old must have met the same fate as his older brother in order to silence him from telling about the abuse. Whether these rumours are true remains to be seen, but it is clear that the General disappeared along with the younger Elric the day he was supposed to be arrested. The military is officially treating Alphonse Elric's disappearance as a kidnapping and –

"BULLSHIT!" Ed yelled, slamming these "news" onto the table in disgust. Every single newspaper in the country was in on displaying the false stories those racist bastards had come up with. Some were keeping an open mind while others seemed to be ready to shoot Dad on sight. It wasn't fair. And Ed could stop this. If he could just walk into the office of the Führer and tell him that he was alive and everything else was bullshit, then it would be a hell of a relief, just so these people would stop framing Dad for this.

There was just one tiny detail that made Ed kind of embarrassed, and that was the fact that his fake body was naked when found, which raised the question: did the doctor take a peek while Ed was drugged? Was a copy of his private parts freely obtainable for a lot of officers down at the morgue?

Ed felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Dad trying to be unreadable, but his eyes gave away some of the anger he felt as he saw what Ed had been reading. He sighed deeply. "So now I'm a torturer and a kidnapper to boot?"

"Yeah, and a possible serial killer," Ed said bitterly.

"What?" Al said, looking shocked as he placed the milk on the table in front of them, making Ed scowl at the offending carton. "They think Dad killed me too?"

"Apparently so," Dad said heavily as he sat down on Ed's right side, still keeping his left arm around Ed's shoulders. Like Al, he didn't seem to want to risk letting go of him for too long at the fear of losing him again. Ed didn't really mind. Instead, he just leaned his head against his shoulder, closing his eyes. He had missed them so much this last week, so to just have them here was a relief beyond words. He missed officially being alive, but at least now he had Al and he had Dad and they didn't believe him to be dead. They weren't hurting anymore because of it.

Al leaned against Ed's left side as Ed put his arm around him, leaving him in the middle of a hug sandwich of sorts.

"I'm sorry I can't just stroll into the office and get these ridiculous claims against you dropped," Ed said quietly. They left him angry beyond belief. As if Dad would do anything like that. And the newspapers were publishing this crap, only caring about sales and little else.

"Don't worry, Ed. At least now I know that you're alive. I'd be sitting in a cell thinking that I'd been framed for killing you and had failed to not just keep you safe, but your brother too now if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, but still. This could permanently hurt your reputation."

"Ed, that would have happened either way. Don't worry about it."

Ed felt a hand on his cheek and sighed. "You're a fucking hero, you know, you don't deserve this."

"Ed, I'm no war hero."

"I'm talking about taking us in. Taking care of two teenagers isn't that easy, you know. And now you're being accused of fucking torturing us instead! It's not right."

"Ed, we will clear my name someday. As long as I know that you two are safe, that's all I ask for."

"You're being too noble for your own good. Right, Al?"

"Kinda, yeah."

Al looked at his brother. He was wearing that black wig again, but his eyes were their usual gold. Al still couldn't quite believe that it was him. That he was sitting next to him, that it was his beloved brother that was sitting here, alive. Al had never seen the head or the body, but knowing that it wasn't him, that it was fake, Al had never been happier in his life. To go for a whole week, believing that he would never ever get to hug his brother again. To laugh along with him. To joke. Not even be able to smell him again so soon after finally getting his body back. It was the worst pain he had ever felt. But here they were, the three of them. A family. It didn't matter that they were living in a way too small apartment that they shared with Greg. It didn't matter that they couldn't go back outside. They had each other again. They were happy. And Ed was here with them. And Al knew that Winry and Granny would know that going into hiding with Dad was his own choice. After all, when they arrived the day before the funeral, Granny had done a full evaluation of Dad's capabilities as a father.

"You see? Al agrees with me and he doesn't lie!" Ed said stubbornly.

"Brother's right, you're sacrificing a lot for us. This could damage your career."

"As long as you two are there to back me up when the time comes, it will be all right."

"I hope so, Dad."