Chapter eighteen

Riza was woken by the sound of knocking at two in the morning. It made her scared of bad news. She had been worried ever since Freeman announced that the orders were "shoot to kill" if they ever found the General. If that was why someone was knocking on her door, then she'd rather not open.

However, she threw her dressing gown around her pyjamas and went over to the door, not removing the chain, so the door got stuck after fifteen centimetres. It was a safety measure mainly caused by Black Hayate's high level of curiosity.

Her eyes fell upon a boy with black hair and blue-grey eyes and a bag slung over his shoulder. She thought she'd seen him at the funeral, but that was all. He put his finger in front of his mouth and handed her a note.

Is the place bugged?

Riza shook her head.

The boy smiled. "Then how about you let me in, Captain Hawkeye?"

Riza froze. She knew that voice.

She'd known that he was alive for three days now, but to actually hear him speak was something quite different. She threw off the chain on the door and pulled him inside by the front of his blue hoodie before she hugged him.

Ed made a few noises that were only to be expected of a teenage boy being suddenly hugged by a female colleague for the first time, but Riza didn't care. After a few odd spluttering sounds, she received a few gentle pats on the back.

She pulled out of the hug and Ed was blushing profusely. She just smiled and closed the door. "I've already checked the place for bugs and cameras, but tell me about what's going on, Ed? How are you still alive?" Riza was actually a bit amused by his face at this sudden display of affection. Riza may be a soldier, but at two in the morning when her sixteen-year-old coworker returned from the dead, she was first and foremost a friend. The last time she saw him, he'd been an eyeless head without a body, so to see him smiling at her was a relief beyond words.

"First of all, I need you to help me track down Doctor Marcoh. Al's got a bad fever and it's not getting better, and now Dad's started as well."

The boy blushed, having realised what he just said.

Riza just smiled warmly at him. She was happy for the three of them and she was happy that they were back together. "Of course I'll help. How did you get here, though?" She could hardly see how the General would allow Ed to walk out in the middle of the night on his own when he was in such danger if anybody recognised him.

"Well, Al was asleep and the General tried stopping me, but he got sick again and had to run for the bathroom, so I snuck out. Greg's on a mission, so it's just us three right now."

Of course he'd snuck out while the others were incapacitated. The boy may look unfamiliar, but he was still Edward Elric and just as stubborn as always.

"Well, I am going to have to get dressed before we can go," Riza said, taking in Edward's worried look.

That seemed to remind him of something, and he opened the bag, throwing her a red wig. "Use this. I've also got some green-coloured contacts for you."

Riza had to say that the boy came prepared for sure. "Where did you get these?"

"Greg forgot them back at the flat. I'm simply borrowing them."

"You know, Edward, you have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know, but after we find Doctor Marcoh."

Ed felt a bit odd, walking through the streets of East City with a Riza Hawkeye that looked nothing like herself at three in the morning. Ed had no idea why she had a short, violently pink, tight-fitting dress in her closet, but he sincerely hoped that it was either because of undercover assignments or lost bets. Anyways, with the hair slightly unruly and a pair of stilettos as well as a lot of makeup, the woman looked very much like Ed was escorting her home from a party. Either that or that she was a hooker. Ed sincerely hoped that it was the former, seeing as how he still was just sixteen. To keep up façades, she was leaning on Ed's shoulders, slurring quite a lot and varying the volume of her voice.

Ed was frankly terrified by how good of an actress she was.

They reached the outskirts of the city at about six o'clock and kept walking until they came to some slums occupied by Ishbalans. Hawkeye knew that this was where Doctor Marcoh was currently residing, trying to help the people that he helped kill during the war. Places like these needed doctors, so even though Doctor Marcoh was one of very few Amestrians in the place, he had been welcomed by the elders of the community.

However, they got some very dirty looks as they walked through the streets, trying to find the place that Doctor Marcoh lived.

Ed was impressed by Hawkeye. She had been walking barefoot for the last two hours, insisting that she was fine and that she would change footwear and her clothes once they reached Doctor Marcoh's clinic. Ed had been carrying her clothes in his bag ever since they left the flat, and he was worried about the state of her feet after such a long time. It did help that most of the road had been muddy, but still, Ed didn't exactly envy her.

They finally reached a sign reading "Mauro" outside one of the tents. Recognising the alias from last year, Ed smiled.

Hawkeye was still leaning on Ed, looking like she was about to pass out. That was probably the only reason that these Ishbalans had let them pass without question. Ed cleared his throat. "Uhm, Doctor Mauro?" After a few seconds, the tent flap was opened and Doctor Marcoh looked at them confusedly. "Yes?"

"Doctor Marcoh, I need a favour," Ed said.

At the use of his actual name, the man tensed. "Who are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me, but we're not here to hurt you. We need your help, Alphonse Elric and General Mustang need medical assistance."

The man's eyes widened and he ushered them inside. The tent was larger than the others, probably because it worked as a doctor's office. Ed was saddened to see the squalor that these people still lived in despite the work that Dad had started.

"Your voice sounds familiar, have we met before?" Marcoh asked just as Hawkeye straightened up, immediately looking alert as always.

"Well, yeah." Ed scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm Edward Elric."

Marcoh froze and stared at him wide-eyed. "But how?! That voice, it is you! My dear boy, thank god!" The man seemed to light up at the realisation. "I heard you were tortured to death, it caused an uproar even here. How are you still alive?"

"Well, some guys kind of made a fake body so I've been living in hiding for two weeks now. The bad guys think I'm dead, so I need to keep it that way or they'll just kill my friends and family."

"So I'm guessing that it's the military that is behind this? No one else would manage to frame General Mustang for this."

"Yeah. They're trying to make him stay out of Ishbal," Ed said bitterly. Being in the middle of an Ishbalan "camp" of sorts, seeing what they had to deal with, made him angry as hell. And it made him certain that he was going to stride up to that bastard Freeman and clock him in the face. He just regretted not having an automail arm to do it with. Maybe he'd kick him in the nuts with his left knee? That sounded about right.

Then he'd just have to keep Dad from scorching him. Ed was still afraid of how Dad would react to it if he ever met Freeman. He kept moving his fingers like he was just itching to snap them whenever he was mentioned. Ed may hate the bastard, but he didn't want Dad to go on another rampage like he did with Lust and Envy. Even if he'd been brought back from the edge, Dad was still in danger of being consumed by his rage. And it scared Ed, because he was afraid that he'd lose another father if it happened.