A/N: Sheesh! You know when you have one of those moments where you just invision something in your brain and you're like; "Dude! That would be so wicked awesome! I need to write that." That is how this story was born. However, all the exposistion is literally killing me! I need action! I need stuff going on! Unfortunately I also need to make the story sensible and understandable. *sigh* However thankfully I'm going to get this chapter right up to the juice!
Also, there seems to be a little confusion between some of the reviewers about what it is thats going on. I can't give it all away yet, but there are some things you people really shouldn't be confused about that you are, so I'm gonna have to explain that. This story is in the anime-verse, and it begins right before the epilogue of episode 51. That means that this is directly after Edward transmuted himself to bring Alphonse back to life, and also right after Roy kills Fuhrer Bradely. You've probably guessed by now that Edward Elric is not the exact same state alchemist we know and love, but his alter from our world. The reason as to why will become clear as the story progresses.
One final thing. I am not acknowledging the presence of the Tringam brothers. That is to say they will not be appearing in this story. I know thats a disappointment, but I just couldn't fit them into the giant hoard of characters who are going to be appearing. Not to mention I didn't find them all that valuable to the original story line. Just imagine that they got themselves a nice military escort home, because that is what I assume actually happened to them. I'm trying to stay as true to the canon as I can here.
So here we go, get ready for a whole swamp of exposistion.
Riza Hawkeye was quite simply a mess. Her usual calm and orderly demanour had deteriorated, leaving the young lieutenant gaunt and disheveled. Her amber eyes were dull and sleep deprived, and her blonde hair had fallen out of it's clamp. However, she managed to remain faithfully outside the door, never once flatering from her posistion. To any passerby it looked like the woman was about to break into hysterics, but she had managed to keep from falling apart this long. For the first time since she had arrived, the door opened and the doctor stepped out, equally as exhausted as she.
"How is he?" she asked immediately, not giving the doctor time to respond on his own.
"He's not going to die." the doctor murmured, sinking into a chair beside her. "But his injuries are very terrible, he'll need time to recuperate."
Riza heaved a sigh of relief, and it appeared that the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. "So he's alright then?"
"Well I wouldn't say he's perfectly fine," the doctor said, adjusting his glasses. "He's in a great deal of pain, has suffered major blood loss, and his left eye is ruined." The doctor looked at Riza sullenly. "He'll no longer be able to use it."
Riza nodded. She'd guessed as much when she'd first seen his injuries. He had come so close to...
"What about the boy?" Riza asked, shaking the memory of Roy's injuries out of her mind. "Did you manage to help him as well."
"His neck was snapped," the doctor said sadly. "There was nothing I could do."
"I see..." Riza lowered her head. She assumed that must have been the Fuhrers work, seeing as how the boy had been fine when he had gone back to the mansion. She buried her face in her hands. "My fault," she choked out. "This is all because of me."
The doctor made a move to comfort her, but she took a breath and calmed herself. She straightened herself up, quickly wiping the tears from her face. She reached into her pocket and shakilly took out a wallet.
"You don't need to pay me." the doctor said. "I did my job that's all."
"You're risking a lot to help us," Riza replied. "By now he's probably the most wanted man in the country; thats bad enough, even without the fact we have the body of the Fuhrer's son with us."
"It won't stay that way for long," said the doctor. "As we speak there are government forces trying to wrap their little fingers around this country. By morning he'll be a hero of war, and believe me, he'll let all the attention go right to his thick head."
Riza smiled half-heartedly. "It'll probably take a little longer than that."
"Anyone who could take out that tyrannical scumbag is welcome here." He yawned and pulled himself off the chair. "I'm going to get some rest," he said. "There's nothing more we can do tonight." He looked at Riza. "You should sleep too," he told her. "You look like you need it."
Riza shook her head. "I'm fine," she said softly.
The doctor raised an eyebrow, but chose not to argue with her. "If you want to see him you're welcome to," he said as he walked towards his bedroom. "Though I doubt that he'll be very alert."
Riza nodded, and the doctor went to bed. She continued to sit quietly, contemplating all that had occured in the last forty-eight hours.
The plan had gone by as smoothly as it could've possibly gone, that was up until Brigadier General Archer had appeared. With his interference, Riza had been unable to return to Roy's side quickly enough to save him, or to prevent the death of the Fuhrer's son, Selim. When she had managed to make it, she found that Archer had all but mowed down Roy.
But what did that matter now? Archer was dead, and the only person left for Riza to blame was herself. The plan had been perfect, and the only one to fail at the execution had been her. Roy had needed her, more than he had ever needed her, and she had failed.
With a sad sigh, Riza moved from her seat and went over to the door. She hesitated a moment before softly opening it. "General Mustang?" She whispered softly, treading lightly as she entered the room.
Roy was lying on the bed. He was pale and weak, covered in many bloody bandages, the most ghastly being the one that covered his left eye. His breath came out in shallow rasps, and he was clutching the sheets beneath him.
"Lieutenant?" he gasped. Riza guessed he was half awake, and that the pain was too much to allow him to rest.
"I'm right here General."
"W-where are we?" he asked.
"Do you remember you're friend, Dr. Knox?" Riza asked. "We're in his home, you're injured."
"Knox?" Roy stammered.
"That's right." She placed a hand on his forehead, and found he had a fever. "You need to sleep," she told him. "You're weak."
"W-why, Why can't I see?" Roy asked.
"Your eye is injured," Riza said calmly, stroking his forehead.
"C-can't see," Roy repeated.
"Just rest and you'll feel better," Riza whispered.
Roy continued to gasp for breath, but his wheezes became less ragged. Slowly his breathing eased into a gentle and even sound, alerting Riza he had fallen unconcious.
She stayed with him for a while longer, keeping her hand on his head and comforting him in his sleep. In return, being near him comforted her, allowed her to think rationally. She cleared her mind and organized her thoughts, deciding what her next move was going to be. It didn't take her long to decide that she needed to make a few phone calls.
~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~
When the phone in Central Headquarters rang, Maria Ross was the one to pick up.
"This is Second Lieutenant Ross," she said quickly.
"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" She exclaimed, recognizing the voice imediately. "Are you alright? What's going on?"
"General Mustang is injured." Riza said from the other side of the phone. "He and I shall be laying low for a while, until this mess dies down. Otherwise we both are fine. What is the situation with you?"
"Well, Headquarters is a little scrambled," Maria explained. "Everyones alright though, but the whole command center is in an uproar about the Fuhrer and his family. The old assembly is trying to weasel power away from the military, and they seem to be suceeding too." All around Maria, soldiers, and doctors, and clerks rushed by. All of them very busy with different isolated issues.
"I assumed as much," Riza sighed. "Have you heard anything from the others at the front?"
"Yes actually," she answered. "Everyone is fine. The coup was a sucess, the entire eastern command center is behind General Mustang."
"That's wonderful." Riza said. She sounded relieved to know no one else had been injured.
"Have you heard from Edward and Alphonse?" Maria asked. "I'm getting worried, it's been almost three days."
"You mean they're not with you?"
"No, I don't know where they are," Maria said. "I heard some news that they had been finishing off the rest of the homunculi, but they should have returned by now."
"Can you send out a squadrine to look for them?"
"We would, but everyones so swamped over here," Maria explained. "Not to mention they're both wanted criminals, seeking them out would probably do more harm than good."
"That's true." The other side of the phone was silent for a moment, and Maria assumed Riza was busy contemplating.
"Please Lieutenant," Maria said. "Don't worry about anyone but you and General Mustang right now. We can handle ourselves."
"Thank you Lieutenant Ross," said Riza. "Please, take care of yourselves, and if anything changes I'll contact you."
"Right," Maria smiled. "Take care."
Just as Maria placed the phone on the receiver, Sergeant Denny Brosh came rushing in.
"Lieutenant Ross!" He came very close to tripping before he made his way into the room. "We just got a report from one of the mobile units."
"Mobile unit?" she asked, turning to face him. "What is it?"
"They just arrested two young boys," said Brosh. "One of them was claiming to be Alphonse Elric."
"Alphonse?" Maria exclaimed. "You mean he's turned up?"
"That's the thing," Brosh said. "His description doesn't say anything about armor, it doesn't fit him at all in-fact."
Maria furrowed her brow. "Do you think it's another impostor?" she asked.
"I don't think so," came another voice. Izumi Curtis strode into the room, followed by her hulking husband. "The description of the other boy who was found with him matches up to that of my son. Thats a very strange coincidence." She looked up at her husband for a moment, and then back to Maria and Brosh. "Even if it isn't Alphonse they've captured, I know that Wrath must be here, and I think we should find them anyway."
Maria nodded. "Me and Brosh can go down there an secure them, and then get them back up here safely. With all this ruckus going on, I doubt anyone would notice."
"Right," said Izumi.
~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8~
"Let us out!" Alphonse demanded, pulling on the bars of the Jail cell. "We haven't done anything to deserve this, I swear!"
Neither of the guards responded to him, which only infuriated him more.
Most of the people who knew the Elrics had Edward pinned as the hot head. Those people however, had never seen Alphonse reach his breaking point, which he was dangerously close to now as luck may have it. He had had it with every single person he had met today, and if he didn't start getting answers soon he was going to transmute something big and heavy to pound his guards with
"Why're you doing this? Where's Edward?" Question after question spilled out of him, as he was no longer able to contain them. Behind him, Wrath sat sulking, not adding any input of his own.
"Don't worry," one of the guards said. "If your brothers out there, we'll find him and have him thrown in there with you."
"And then what?" Alphonse asked.
"You'll both be executed." The other guard smirked as he said this.
Alphonse eyes widened. Was this because they had committed the taboo? Because he had tried to bring his mother back, would he be put to death? He didn't even know wether his mother was alive or not, or Edward for that matter.
"What is this?" Alphonse demanded. "What is going on?"
"Excuse me!" Alphonse turned to see who it was that was speaking. Two different military officers were making there way down the hall, one who was a tall man with blonde hair, and another who was a woman with dark brown.
"We've been ordered to escort these to upstairs," the woman said. "Some of the higher ups would like to interrogate them."
The guards looked at each other and shrugged. "Alright then," the first one said. He turned and unlocked the cell, letting Alphonse and Wrath go free.
"Come with us," the woman said sternly. "No funny business."
For a moment, Alphonse considered running. However, the odds were against him, as it was a narrow hallway and all of the soldiers had guns. Plus he couldn't very well leave Wrath to fend for himself.
So he helped the boy to his feet, and followed the officers down the hall. When the reached the elevator however, the stern soldiers seemed to have a change in character.
"Alphonse?" the female soldier exclaimed as the doors closed. "My God is that you?"
"Uh...yes?"
The woman looked astonished. "It definitely sounds like you, but you looked so different from how I imagined you'd look."
"Huh?" Alphonse was becoming more confused by the second.
"You're so puny!" the blonde officer realized. "I was expecting you to be seven feet tall with all that armor you had."
"Armor? What?"
"Speaking of which, what happened to your armor?" the female officer asked. "How on earth did you get your body back? Where's Edward? Is he alright?"
Edward? Body? "Wait a second." Alphonse interrupted. "Y-you know me and brother?"
"Of course we do, " the female officer replied simply. She looked confused. "Alphonse are you alright?"
"This isn't possible," Alphonse moaned. "You all can't know me! I've never met any of you."
Now both military officers looked concerned. "What're you talking about Al?" the female officer asked. "You know us, it's Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh. We went and visited you in Resembool just a week ago."
"No you didn't!" Alphonse exclaimed. "Me and my brother were training with teacher a week ago. I was in Resembool yesterday, but I woke up here."
"No Alphonse, no you weren't." Lieutenant Ross said. Her eyebrows were creased in worry.
"Maybe he is an impostor." Brosh pondered. "It's possible."
"I am Alphonse Elric!" Alphonse yelled. "I'm not an impostor."
Just then the elevator doors opened, and Ross and Brosh could no longer speak to Alphonse. The quickly guided him through the halls, until they reached a room.
"Right in here," Maria said softly, motioning for him to go in. Alphonse followed her instructions, and found inside something he had been so desperate to see.
A familiar face.
"Teacher!" he cried, racing towards her and throwing his arms around her before she had time to react.
"Alphonse!" she exclaimed in surprise. "You're-You're."
"Teacher!" Alphonse was now on the brink of tears. "I'm sorry, I don't know whats going on. Brother and I, we-" he trailed off and just kept his head buried in his mentors chest.
Izumi however, was rigid. Alphonse had his body back, and that didn't just happen. Not unless there had been an exchange.
"Where's Edward?" she demanded.
"I don't know." Alphonse sniffed.
"What did he do? What did the two of you do?" she asked.
"We tried t-to...We just wanted to see her again teacher, I don't know what's going on."
"What do you mean Al?" she asked, her voice was still and cold sounding.
"We tried to bring mom back." Alphonse admitted. "I woke up in a theater, and I don't know where Edward is."
Izumi froze. "Wha-?"
"He doesn't remember." Everyone turned to look at Wrath, including Alphonse. It was the first time he'd spoken in a while.
"What?" Al asked. "What do you mean?"
Izumi understood.
"Alphonse." she said grabbing him by his shoulders. Al instinctively flinched. "What year is it? Right now?" she yelled.
"N-nineteen-ten." he stammered.
Izumi stared at him, her eyes narrowed. Alphonse could see she was doing calculations in her brain.
"Is that wrong?" he asked, but Izumi wasn't listening. Instead she turned to Wrath and asked him a different question.
"Where is Ed?" she asked quietly.
Wrath looked down, a grim expression on his face. "He's dead."