Velocity

Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes was ready to slam his head into the wall with frustration. A certain Colonel had stumbled into his office with a little too much whiskey in his system, and now Maes was reaping from the benefits of a very drunk Roy Mustang -

"And then, Hawkeye t-told me to come and see youuuu, my best friend! Maes, you are my b-best friend, aren't you?" the dark-haired man reached out to give Maes a sloppy hug, which he ducked away from.

"Of course, you dummy. Typical Hawkeye, dumping the babysitting duty on me," he mumbled half to himself, rubbing his exhausted eyes. Damn he should be at home in bed with Gracia after tucking his adorable little Elicia at this moment.

And then he remembered why he was doing this. It was a memory that stumbled to the forefront of his mind, which even blotted out Roy's drunken mumbling -

"This quiche tastes so good, Gracia! You were right, Hughes, your wife is the best cook in the whole of Amestris!" Ed had smiled gleefully with his mouth stuffed full of food from across the dining room table.

"I'm glad you're enjoying, kiddo," Maes closed his eyes contentedly. He could feel Gracia's warm breath by his side, and hear Elicia have an intense conversation about grapes with Alphonse as well as Ed devouring his food. A lazy purr rose in his throat.

Next time, he wanted Roy and Riza to come over. Heck why not invite Kain, Jean and the whole crew around for a barbeque. The weather was getting warmer after all.

Maes broached Gracia on the subject that night when the kids had gone to sleep. The boy's muttering and whispers had quietened as they fell captive to the sweet bliss of dreams.

He had sat in his chair listening and watching nothing in particular. He stared at the clock, which read past midnight and he yawned. It had been a long day in the office, but the evening had made it worth every second. Gracia sat by his side, her head resting on his shoulder. His arms were wrapped around hers, and he inhaled her sweet musk (of cinnamon and autumn leaves) deeply, feeling as though he had stepped into heaven.

"Honey-" he had started, but quickly was interrupted.

"Yes, Maes. They may have burnt their home to cinders, but they will always have a home with us." Gracia smiled and although she was weary from the long day, it was something genuine and sincere.

"Those children, eh," Maes chuckled lightly under his breath, and let his head fall onto Gracia's.

And if in response to his musing, his daughter emerged from her bedroom.

Maes watched as Elicia's bedroom door opened, and she glanced from side to side, oblivious of her father staring at her from across the hallway. She tiptoed along the corridor and sneaked into the Elric brother's room. His heart burst with love for his kids.

She then stayed with them until morning.

Maes snapped out of his reverie when he heard the persistent drone of "Maesmaesmaesmaes" coming inches from his left ear.

"Alright! I heard you the first time. And why does it have to be me, even if I'm the only one with children around here…" Maes said a little too quickly. He instantly swore under his breath at having said that. He knew he shouldn't have in Roy's current state, but it was too late to take it back.

"T-they're only children, Maes," Roy whimpered, a sound like a lonely dog, and a noise that the spawn-of-the-Devil-Flame-Alchemist should not have been making. It was like a lament, long and bitter and fearful.

"I know, Roy," he attempted to pull his friend closer to him (not that Roy had allowed him much personal space anyway).

Suddenly the man recoiled. "No!"

Dazed and disorientated (it wasn't surprising for 3 in the morning), the Lieutenant Colonel tilted his head to the side, "Roy?"

"No. Please. Just don't. I've got to get back to work," the last word left the Colonel's system as a moan. He proceeded to lean over towards Maes' bin and empty out his stomach contents. They weren't twenty anymore and couldn't tolerate their alcohol like they used to (but boy after Ishval they had tried).

"You're working your ass off, Roy. You need a break for the night," We all need a break for the night, Maes silently added.

However, Ed's smiling face stuffed full of quiche rang in his thoughts like a bell. The Fullmetal Alchemist was missing as was his younger brother. But Maes didn't give a shit about what the military thought of them.

They were his kids, and he wasn't about to give up on them.

Gracia would understand if the bed was half-empty for a while longer.

-Hopefully not too longer.-

We will find them, we're close…

-You have no leads, no information.-

We're close!

-You're afraid of what you will find. You've been witness to many murder and torture scenes, Maes Hughes.-

Piss off, you bastard…

-First you look, and see the decay of the corpse. You see the splinters of broken bone like ash lying on the floor. And then you listen to the sound of your men choking on the smell of burning flesh.-

No…

-You're scared of what you're going to see.-

"This quiche tastes so good!"

-And when you see it, will you be able to overcome the wave of guilt already churning inside of you?-

Fuck off…

-Just remember, look before you listen. Light comes before sound.-

"Get your ass out of my bin, Roy Mustang." Hughes barked the order without realizing he had said it. His hands were trembling slightly (quite a lot) and he grabbed Roy's bottle of whiskey. It was empty. He growled and threw its contents across the room.

Damn it took a lot for him to lose his temper and his composure, but once he did-

"H-Hughes?" Roy questioned sleepily, reeling still from his wave of nausea.

"You heard me, Colonel. We're going to find the Elric brothers even if we get lost in Wonderland on the way. We're going to get them two boys back home whether we have to go through fucking Hell to get there. And I will not accept no for an answer!

"I like this Hughes better than here's-the-millionth-picture-of-Elicia-Roy-boy Hughes," Roy grinned (drunken fool he was) and buried his head in a folder.

"Well, I don't," sober Hughes snapped back, before he took a file up from his desk and started to scan through its contents.

Maes vowed that he wouldn't lose his velocity. Not yet. He would keep moving forward faster and faster in one direction until those boys were safe and sound where they belonged.

Home.

The Fullmetal Alchemist had been a lot of things. He had been called a heathen for trespassing into the realm of God, and he had been a brother for nearly all of his life. He had been a Major, a brat, a shrimp, a pathetic boy who couldn't save one little girl. He had been a hero.

But he had never been speechless like this.

It was as if language was an alien conception to him. His mind swam in a vortex of pain and disgust (as if this wasn't new) and he wanted the bastard to die and be in pain and fucking die.

-Do it.-

-End his miserable life and then end your own.-

-Living is such a chore.-

Ed was salivating as if he was infected with madness. The bleeding had stopped, although a numb throbbing still pulsed in his brain. Bad, dangerous man, stay away.

"It's time for your medication, I believe, dear Ed," NoName murmured fondly and pulled a needle from his back pocket like it was an item people regularly carried with them. It was already full with a misty-coloured liquid, like the grey light at dawn.

Pain. Needle. Sharp. Bad.

He growled in a low tone that reverberated from his chest up his throat and out through his bared lips.

NoName approached indifferently. Ed's head swayed as his head was slammed into the back of the wall, the needle slipped into his wrist, pulled the restraints free and their captor left without saying another word.

Already rational thoughts were beginning to accumulate in his mind. The feral, untamed monster lurking in his brain was retreating to the shadows, leaving Ed in the prison where this had all started. Where all of that pain-

I did not think those things. I did NOT think those things. I did NOT mean them.

-So you say. Well, haven't you got a brother to see to?-

Al…

"Alphonse!" Al couldn't hear him. Al couldn't bloody hear him.

Edward stared at his brother, cowering and completely defeated, trembling like a leaf in autumn. It was summer in the world they had left behind and despite the passage of time; there was still several weeks of the hot weather to enjoy. Al should be eating ice cream and quiche and regain the childhood that he had lost.

His whole body was broken but Ed didn't give a shit about himself. He limply fell out of the chair he was in and when he crashed into the floor (he remembered having his head smashed into a wall and the insurmountable pain that accompanied it). There was no hope in him running. Or walking.

So he crawled.

This was the world that they were living in. The Elric brothers had entered a world of paralyzing fear and gloom. Hope was but a dim and fleeting thought.

But there it was, huddled in front of him.

His brother.

My brother. I love you so much.

-You wanted to leave him and die.-

…

-How can you love somebody in the state you're in?-

Because I'm human, you bastard!

-No. You're a monster.-

Al must have seen the flickering of a shadow because he raised his head. Gentle golden eyes stared back at him (one was sealed shut) and Ed cursed himself for ever considering surrendering to the pain. He meant everything he said. He loved his brother and would hold his soul close to his heart.

The tears resumed in sliding down his face.

"B-brother, are y-you crying? P-please d-don't cry. D-don't like to s-see y-you upset," Al smiled wanly and reached forward to wipe the tears from Ed's eyes. Ed however recoiled – this wasn't something Al was supposed to do. Ed was the older brother.

"No, Al. I'm sorry," Ed tried to keep his language short. Al's eyes watched his moving lips, watching the familiar move of his mouth that formed into words that he couldn't ever (would he ever hear again?).

"A-are they gone?" Al stuttered, his luminous eyes wide with panic turning his sore head from side to side, his back pressing against the wall in his fleeting panic. He winced as pain shot down his spine. Ed lowered his head for a moment. He understood. The pain lingered like a shadow - it was ever present, always there - and he felt like his head was being cleaved in two with an axe.

Every second that passed choked down his appetite further. He was sick to the stomach of the pain, inside and out. He inhaled deeply and tried to force back the salty tears. Ed couldn't risk losing his precious moisture.

-So why did you go and become incontinent, you golden fool?-

That was not my choice.

-It was you choice to give up. You could have fought harder.-

Breathe. Focus.

"Yeah," Ed mouthed, raising his head so Al could see his face clearly, carefully enunciating his words.

"I-I won't let them t-touch you…" Al brought his good hand closer to Ed. Ed curled his shredded fingers around Al's clammy palm and held it close to his heart.

"They won't. Thank you, Brother." Ed spoke and for the first time in six weeks, he held his brother. He had been craving that touch, the warmth of Al. It reminded him that they had succeeded on their mission. He had restored Al for normal and this life wasn't a waste. Each second had been worth it.

There could be hope in this reality.

-If you ever make it out of this place again.-

Shut it, brain or whatever the Hell you are. Leave me be.

A silence transcended between the two Elrics. Ed stroked Al's hair fondly as he had when he was a three-year-old mussing with Al's hair when he had been asleep by his side. The pain and throbbing in his arm never left, and he could feel his fever spreading. It would stretch and stretch over his body like an elastic band until it reached its limit.

And then-

Snap.

Ed had come close to that breaking point. But not quite. Al was there for him. Al would be here to stay.

"I-I'm sorry," Al started to mutter. Before Ed could interrupt, he continued, "T-they had to c-change you. And g-give you drugs to stop the pain. T-they said you were in pain."

"Al..."

"A-and then I w-was taken away." Al's voice then broke and shards of crystalline tears trickled down his cheeks.

-Such lonely tears.-

…

-Where were you?-

"Shhh, Al. I'm here," Ed crooned, even though he knew the action was pathetic. He tried to cradle his brother's malnourished form when Al-

"T-they were BAD! R-really BAD! T-they came b-back and t-touched y-you I made them s-stop but they b-beat me up and t-took me a-away from you. I f-failed you and th-they did things. BadbadbadbadBAD!" Al screamed, his fists flailing to the sides (the pain in his broken wrist seemed to be forgotten).

"I-I fell asleep. I-I couldn't h-hear them. The t-things they d-did, B-brother and I was w-weak. U-useless. I d-didn't wake up w-when you n-needed me." Al choked and sobbed before he curled his broken fist and smashed it into the wall.

"AL!" Ed cried and moved forward to restrain his brother. As if shifted his weight forward, he stretched the right side of his torso-

And the ground came rushing up to meet him once again.

The pain rippled through his body like a rush of lightning. The world was revolving around him, as if all gravity had melted away as the centre of Ed's universe became agony, pain, agony. He felt like he was being flagellated to death and his skin was being ripped apart. It made his body convulse as it tried to shake off the pain like a nightmare. He couldn't stop it. His body kept writhing and stab stab stab as his muscles screamed in protest.

"BAD!" Al's voice ricocheted off the walls of their prison.

Suddenly, the world was shrinking and constricting like an elastic band stretching and recoiling. His world was shrivelling up before him like a crumpled piece of paper. His mind was swimming, and he was falling from a great height. The reeling sense of vertigo caused the nausea to return full-force. Ed was barely able to turn over to his side to cough the bile up.

"B-brother?" Al questioned as Ed heaved. He wasn't even vomiting any more. He was hyperventilating and curled up on the floor, waiting for the waves of agony to pass. The older Elric had pursued his slips and clamped his eyes firmly shut but it didn't disguise the horrendous pain that had immobilised him. Ed didn't even have the strength to grunt in response or open his eyes or wave a tired hand in the air to let Al know he was alright.

That would have been the case several months ago, a time when everything had been alright...

But now, was it alright?

Edward lay trembling on the floor, his heart racing and he waited for the pain to pass. He abated the sickening, suicidal thoughts that threatened to engulf him. At the moment, he welcomed the pain and hearing his brother's wretched voice. It kept him on the brink of sanity. If he had been on his own - oh God - he would have probably slipped by now.

One thought rang in his brain: They used me.

They used me like dirt.

I am dirt.

They touched me and used me and my brother was left crying on my behalf while I was fucking unconscious!

Ed didn't want to sleep. He never wanted to close his eyes and doze again, despite how wonderful that certain prospect sounded. He fought off the urge to sleep and vomit some more.

Breathe. Focus.

He could feel his heart rate slow a little (it was still pounding at the speed of light but it was an improvement) as the initial surge of anxiety and fear and pain melted away back to the infection site. However, his mind was riddled with fever. He was delirious and crying had made him even more damn hydrated. The room was spinning around him. He gritted his teeth and stared at Al, his sobbing brother, who had once been the anchor of sanity that he had needed, cherished in this crazy world.

Now he couldn't hold on to Al.

He didn't have a right.

Sickened and twisted at the thought, he forced himself to step over and through his own blood, vomit, pus, bile, sweat and piss (which his once beautiful golden hair was now soaked in) to reach his brother. He was worse than an animal. He was dirt. He was a foul and despicable human being.

He had abandoned his brother. Damn he had lost his right to be called a human being after that.

I can't take much more of this Hell. Goddammit...

-That's the whole point of Hell. It's an eternal nightmare.-

"You did nothing wrong, Al." Ed mouthed as he slumped his exhausted body (ignoring the pang pang pang of his broken ribs rubbing sorely as he breathed). "Good."

"G-good?" Al had stopped screaming, and nestled against his brother's shoulder, falling into a troubled and uneasy sleep.

Edward refused to sleep. He shuffled to his side, facing the door and the machine, his eyes scanning through the darkness like a hawk. He would never let his brother be mutilated in the way that he had. More words danced on his tongue, but he didn't have the courage to say them.

Mutilated. Tortured. Abused...Raped.

The last one rang in his brain in a continuous circle like the Ouroboros, travelling round and round in one direction, becoming faster and faster. It gained more and more velocity, as the thread of sanity in his mind strained, waiting for its opportunity to snap.

6am in the morning. The dawn light was filtering in through the Investigations' office window. While the light shined through the window, lighting Maes' ruffled hair like a halo, his exhausted sack of bones of a body jumped in hysteric joy as he leaped to his glasses were askew across his face. Many cups of caffeine lay littered around the office. Something had been knocked over about an hour ago. However, Maes was hot on his trail. And as soon as his detective-wannabe side of his brain was activated, there was nothing in his path that could have quelled his fever.

He had found a lead - an actual lead! It was a blue folder with nothing particularly fancy about it, but for the Lieutenant Colonel it was like he had struck gold. And now he was mining and chipping away at the lead, scanning its contents just to be sure he wasn't on to a false trail.

Maes nodded his head in feverish excitement. He was sure this wasn't. The details (locations, timings, alliances) it all fit and made sense.

It had taken him damn long enough to find data to work with, but now that he had-

He could barely contain his excitement any more than Elicia when her Daddy returned home from a busy day at work. Hell, as soon as Maes had conducted this investigation and brought his boys back, he would take his daughter in one arm and his wife in the other. They would have that bloody BBQ even in the rain. Roy wouldn't be too pleased about that idea, but for Maes Hughes it was like his world of monochrome grey had had a splash of colour painted onto its canvas.

He didn't need a mirror to know that he was grinning like an idiot. Good. This place needed a breath of fresh air after these tormenting six weeks.

What was he doing?

He had to tell the Colonel about the revelation; Maes had been too caught up in his swirling thoughts to cast a glance at his superior officer, which he did at that moment.

A wave of familiar protection coursed through his body as the mighty Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang, was peacefully asleep on top of a folder, his mouth agape and the sound of snoring drifted gently across the office. Without thinking, Maes had shrugged off his military jacket and draped it over his best friend's shoulders. The black-haired man didn't make a sound and he didn't stir. His hands moved in a hazy blink of lucid dreaming to move his makeshift blanket closer around his delicate frame and finally earn some of the well-deserved rest that he had earned.

Maes had had the afternoon off yesterday (while Roy had been ploughing through work in the office, his pen as vicious as a blade at signing the mandatory paperwork before he could return to the Fullmetal Incident). He had walked through the front door, mumbled "I love you" to his family before he had fell asleep on the sofa. He had awoken refreshed (despite the obvious lack of sleep) to return for the night shift.

It had been worth it. That son-of-a-bitch called hopelessness could piss off.

The sunrise was making him too positive for his own good. He even had the desire to show the Central City HQ the latest pictures of Elicia running a mock fashion show with her teddy bears! It was absolutely adorable!

Maes smiled genuinely and his felt light and freer than he had been in a long while.

Just for the sake of being able to do so, he jumped into the air again and let loose a little squeal. Okay, this was going a little too far.

Had he drunk whiskey last night? He giggled. Maybe a little in his coffee! It didn't matter now though - they had done it!

"Damn it brain," the voice of Roy waking up rang through Maes' ears. Mustang's speech was slurred as he attempted to mask the discomfort his throbbing head must have been in.

The joys of having a hangover, Maes mused happily. However the thought of his friend having a hangover at work was alarming. The Colonel took his duty and line of work seriously, and even after Ishval, he had not brought his personal life into his office. Roy and Colonel Mustang lived very separate lifestyles. One was a worrying fool who cared too much about the people he loved and the other was a cool, level-headed leader who would ensure victory and success for his people. Both were snide and cocky bastards however.

And both cared too much about a certain punk hot-headed alchemist.

At that moment, a darker pair of eyes met his own green. The air crackled for a moment with tension, as if the two friends were standing on a precipice of dreams. Both shared a common goal - to have the Elric boys brought back to them. They had worked tirelessly for this one mission. And Maes' was only glad he wasn't about to provide the Colonel with "bad news".

Facing the Flame's wrath was one thing. But trying to reach an agreement with a very drunken, weary Roy Mustang was another matter entirely.

"Report to me, Lieutenant Colonel." Roy rasped as he gulped down consecutive glasses of water to clear away the fogginess of a hangover.

"Yes, Sir," Maes complied. "There is an eyewitness report of two young boys leaving an ice cream parlour at approximately 14:00 hours. It is suspected from their colourings and clothing that they were the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother, Sir!"

Roy's eyes flashed - it was a fleeting look, but it screamed relief.

Maes continued: "They then proceeded to Turinene's train station and left after 19:00 hours. They were last seen in a market square, Sir."

The information they had obtained, for any other investigation, would have been described as "pitiful". However, after scrapping through the whole of the military's records, this information was like a breakthrough for the Lieutenant Colonel. From the way that Roy sighed and stretched out of his chair told Maes that his best friend thought exactly the same thing: Finally, a place to begin.

"Turinene, hmm, Hughes," Roy picked up his littered coffee mugs.

Turinene was a small country town out in the East Area. It was midway between Youswell, the mining town and East City. The name didn't sound strange to Maes either; he had sworn he had heard the name of the place before, but the reason why slipped his mind.

"Thank goodness," breathed Maes.

"I know," those were all the words that needed to be spoken. The strain in their voices was still present, but the edge had been taken off of it in both of their tones.

"Where did you find this folder, Hughes?" Roy had reached the office door and turned back while opening the door on its hinges. The morning light sent dust particles dancing around Roy Mustang's face like fireflies and he batted them away with a grunt of annoyance. The Colonel was already carrying himself better with a presence that spoke of a leader and not a shadow, a haunted figure of the man he once was.

Edward Elric was a bugbear on them all.

However, as Roy was about to step outside of the office, he was abruptly stopped by Havoc and Breda. Both of the men looked refreshed after a long night's rest (a long night was five hours for Roy's team now) and even though their work hours were not due to start for another couple of hours, they had still arrived early. Even if Mustang wanted to be a jackass at times, he was brilliantly admired by his men (and women) for his dedication to them beyond their military alliances. It was a bond reserved for a few, but one that burned brighter than a bonfire.

Havoc's ever-present cigarette was missing. Breda wasn't snacking on food from the canteen either. Both men carried a heavy box between them, and the weight that their shoulders resonated deeply within Maes.

Something was wrong.

"Lieutenants - what is this?" Roy snapped, causing his men to blink in surprise.

"It is a package we found outside by the main gates, Sir," Havoc ushered his way into the office past his CO and after shuffling a few folders to the side, rested the box on the table with a thud. "And it is addressed especially for you, Sir."

"Very good. Let Hawkeye know I'll be back as soon as I can, and try to convince her not to shoot me," the Colonel's tone was flat despite the amusement he had tried to concoct with his words.

Breda let out a loose chuckle and lifted his shoulders flippantly, "We'll try, Sir."

"Thank you. Dismissed," and as Maes started to slink out of the office to follow Havoc and Breda, he was abruptly stopped. "Not you, Hughes, I need you to stay."

"Alright then," Maes said quietly and went to stand by Roy's right-hand side. The two men stood there, long shadows being cast by the waxy dawn light. They lengthened and contorted and merged against the wall. Two idiots fighting against the fate of the world.

Millennia seemed to pass as Roy opened the wooden crate of a box agonisingly slowly. One side of the crate fell open, and then another. Roy then peeled the lid off.

Inside was a smashed glass vase with waxy white daffodils resting within. They looked like they had been freshly picked too. And by its side was a waterproof bag. It was large and Roy lifted it with a shudder. Maes rushed over to help him.

Damn it was heavy.

They turned it upside down and clank! A journal fell onto the table. But the journal was quickly forgotten when the heavier item landed next to it.

Automail. A right arm.

Maes gasped and clung rigidly to the table as the world began to crumble and fall apart around him.

Thank you for reading! These quick updates are for you. So keep enjoying, and I'll keep updating. I love it when Equivalent Exchange can apply to reality.

The next chapter Caffeine-Depraved should be up soon. I'll see you then.

Edit: A few errors I just wanted to change before the next chapter goes up. If all goes well, that should hopefully be tonight (Saturday).