Hey all. Sorry this one took a while, but I've gotten so many wonderful reviews and it makes me nervous that I'll post a piece of shit and everyone will hate me. .
Although, I suppose the extra pressure is good, as it forces me to try to produce my best work.
On another note, this will probably be the last update (for this story, at least) for a long time. Because I'm going to Scotland on July 8th (Friday, oh my Dumbledore, I am so excited!), until the 23rd, I believe.
So yeah. I won't have a lot of time to write. However, if I can use my laptop on the plane, then I might be able to finish at least part of a chapter (because the flight is 7 hours long). But the flight is from 7 pm-2 am (my time), so my parents want me to sleep. -.-
Sorry about that. But since I will not be updating much in the next month, I will take some one-shot requests (if anyone happens to want a one-shot. I'll have a list of categories and pairings I'm willing to do on my profile).
I believe that's all. I hope everyone has a lovely time
Chapter Three
Edward and Alphonse bolted upright as the room shook. They heard Reid fumbling around in his room and then his footsteps running down the hall.
"What was that?" Alphonse asked as the brothers hopped out of bed. Edward shrugged as he pulled on his gloves, a black button-up shirt and slightly baggy jeans. Alphonse put on a baggy blue t-shirt and beige slacks.
"Come on." Edward said, running from the room with Alphonse at his heels. They flew out the open front door, nearly running straight into Reid and a strawberry blond woman with blue eyes, who was covered in soot.
"I'm so sorry!" The woman exclaimed, dusting off her Harvard sweatshirt and faded jeans. Reid just sighed, chuckling slightly.
"It's fine, Olivia." He replied, glancing behind the woman at the door to her apartment. "I won't even ask what you were doing." Olivia grinned.
"Just another little experiment." She said before finally noticing the Elrics. "Who're they?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the blonds.
"...Eli and Adam Hensley, they are key witnesses in a murder investigation. They don't have any parents, so they are staying with me." Reid explained. Edward frowned at the aliases but neither brother said anything as they shook the hand Olivia eagerly offered them.
"Hey there! I'm Olivia Dyson! Nice to meet you!" She said, grinning. "Sorry about waking you, I was mixing some elements and well... Boom." Olivia explained, making wild hand motions as she spoke. Edward resisted the urge to face-palm
'What a rookie mistake...' He thought. He and Alphonse exchanged a glance. Alphonse was thinking the same thing.
"It's not trouble, I'm sure Spencer has to go to work soon anyway." Alphonse said kindly. Olivia's grin grew.
"I like this kid, he's an optimist... Like me!" She exclaimed. Edward scoffed, causing the woman to squint at him. "You look like a pessimist. You know, like a glass-half-empty kind of guy."
"I'm a logic guy. I recognize you need a smaller glass." Edward replied dryly. Olivia grinned again.
"Well said. Anyway, I have to go clean up. Bye Reid! Bye Eli! Bye Adam!" She waved enthusiastically and disappeared back into her apartment. Reid turned to the Elrics.
"Come inside and finish getting ready, then we can grab some breakfast and get going." He said. Edward and Alphonse nodded and followed him inside.
"Got any scissors?" Edward asked. Reid gave him a questioning look, but grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen. Edward thanked him and the Elrics disappeared into their room.
Twenty minutes later they re-appeared and Alphonse's hair had been cut short. Reid looked at them curiously, but knew it wasn't his place to ask questions.
"Okay, grab whatever you want to eat and we'll head to the BAU." He said. Edward got an apple. Alphonse got an orange. "Excellent, let's go." Reid said, leading them out of the building.
...
"Well, hello there." The amused voice was silky and warm, like melted chocolate, and had a faint accent Scar couldn't place.
Scar turned slowly and looked at the woman who had spoken. She was young, only in her late twenties and very beautiful, with large ice blue eyes and inky black hair that fell to her waist. She wore a tight white leather jacket and black skinny jeans with knee-high black leather boots. She reminded him faintly of Lust.
Beside the woman stood a tall man with tanned skin, green eyes and thinning brown hair that was peppered with grey. He looked to be about forty. The man wore baggy jeans, a white shirt under a plaid flannel shirt and hiker boots.
"So, are you the new little killer we've heard so much about?" The woman asked, gliding toward Scar with a smirk. Scar backed away a few steps. The woman frowned. "I'm Janet." She purred. "And this guy is GOD." She added. "What's your name, Hun?" Scar frowned at the woman warily.
"I'm known as Scar." He replied. Janet smiled and slid a little closer to him. She didn't seem to walk, but instead to float over the ground, never making a noise. It was odd. Unnerving, even.
"Well, Scar..." She purred, slinking closer to him. "Would you like to join us?" Scar paused.
"Join you?" He echoed, confused. Janet laughed a musical laugh.
"Yes, GOD and I are like you. GOD kills immoral people, mostly criminals. I prefer men. You like hookers and druggies, right? We could use someone like you." Janet's hand ran over Scar's bicep. "You seem like a strong man." Scar looked between Janet's inviting expression to GOD's stoic one for a moment.
"I guess."
...
"I don't understand why we need alliases. No one here knows us." Edward said. The Elrics sat at the table in the War Room with JJ., Reid, Morgan, Prentiss and Rossi. Garcia and Hotch were nowhere to be found. Edward and Alphonse were trying not to marvel at the pieces of technology in the room that were so odd to them.
'The FBI agents seem used to these weird gadgets, so we should be too... Right? Yes, right. It makes sense... I think... I should just drop it, this is giving me a headache...' Alphonse mused to himself, frowning slightly in thought.
"It's just a precaution. Besides, Scar knows you." Rossi said. Edward's fist clenched. He couldn't argue with that.
Then again, this is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist.
He could damn well try.
"You say that like Scar couldn't track us down without our names. I'm sure he'll find a way." Edward retorted. Rossi frowned at him. Alphonse sighed.
"Ed." He warned lightly. Edward looked at him.
They had a brief stare-off.
Edward frowned.
Alphonse smirked.
And Edward caved.
"Fine." He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. Alphonse smiled smugly. "Don't get used to this." Edward scowled, sulkily. Alphonse chuckled.
"I won't, Brother." He replied cheerfully. At that moment, Hotch and Garcia walked in. Hotch's face was set in grim lines. He looked ancient and worn. Garcia scurried behind him with her laptop in hand, her brow furrowed.
"I have bad news." Hotch said. Edward huffed.
"Brilliant." Hotch ignored the short blond. (A/N: *cowers as Ed bursts through the door with an AK47* Oh dear...)
"As you know, Scar has killed three more people. His victim count is now four. This is a large jump in victims. That means it will only get worse from here." Hotch said. The profilers looked calculating. They were obviously working the acceleration into Scar's profile.
"How can someone go from not killing anyone to killing four people in under twenty-four hours? That's a massive acceleration." Prentiss commented.
"It's odd, but not unlikely, we've seen this kind of thing before." Reid stated. Morgan shook his head.
"I don't think we've ever seen someone accelerate this much in such a short period." He argued.
"He was killing before, you just have no record of it." Edward spoke up. The room went silent. Edward fixed his gaze on Hotch. "Remember, we told you about Nina."
"How can we not have record of it? I've checked every crime database from here to Hong-Kong!" Garcia countered. Edward shrugged. He didn't know what a 'hong-kong' was, but he didn't care.
"Just trust me on this. He's been killing for at least a year now. And he won't stop until he's caught or he's dead." He said. The FBI agents all frowned. They didn't like having to go on the word of a kid who seemed to just appear out of thin air.
"Fine. Now, Edward and Alphonse, we'd like you to see a FBI sketch artist and tell him what Scar looks like. Can you do that?" Hotch asked, although from his tone it did not sound like he was asking, more like commanding. Edward was instantly reminded of Roy Mustang.
"Yeah, whatever gets us out of here soonest." Edward replied. Hotch nodded.
"Good. Follow me."
...
They approached a boy in an alley. He was jittery, probably on some kind of drug.
Janet glided to Scar's side and leaned close to his ear.
"Show us how you kill." She whispered. Scar looked at her uncertainly and then at the ever-silent GOD before walking forward. The boy didn't notice Scar until he loomed over him.
"Hey, who are-" Scar's palm pressed against the boy's forehead.
Red alchemy crackled down his arm like tiny forks of lightning.
And blood splattered the wall.
...
"No, his eyes are red, but he usually wears sunglasses." Edward said. The sketch artist, Tom, looked sceptical.
"You can't have red eyes..." He said. Edward sighed irritably.
"Well, he does. And he has a X shaped scar across his eyes, like this." Edward ran his gloved finger over the rough sketched-out face's eyes and forehead in an X shape. "It's lighter than the rest of his skin."
Tom still didn't look convinced. "Are you sure-"
"Drop the bullshit about the red eyes and finish the damn picture." Edward snapped. Tom flinched slightly and put pencil to paper. The picture didn't look much like Scar. Edward didn't care.
"His jaw is more square, and his nose is lower." Alphonse said softly, smiling encouragingly. Tom looked at the younger brother and nodded, quickly fixing the mistakes, probably fearing Edward's wrath.
'What a pathetic man.' Edward thought, rolling his eyes. Alphonse elbowed him and gave him a look. 'Geez, I can practically hear him telling me to behave... He's taking advantage of the fact that I can't be mad at him in his own body... This better not last, I need to be able to assert my older brother authority.'
"Is that accurate?" Tom asked, pushing the sketch toward the brothers. They both looked at it. Edward was surprised by how much it actually resembled Scar.
"Yeah, it looks almost exactly like him." Edward said. Tom looked relieved. Hotch, who had been talking to someone outside the door, walked in and looked at the sketch.
"Excellent, we'll air it on the News tonight." Hotch said. The Elric's exchanged a dumbfounded look.
"The News?" Alphonse asked, uncertainly. Hotch nodded, seeming to miss the look the Elrics had shared.
"Yes, it could be risky, but we're fairly sure that Scar isn't following the investigation, so we think it's safe." Hotch explained. The brothers nodded slowly.
'What in the world is "The News"?' Alphonse mused as Hotch led them back to the war room. 'Why did the Truth send us here...? I don't understand this situation at all. I don't think Ed does either, he must be so frustrated...' Alphonse glanced at his brother through the corner of his eye before looking at the floor, frowning. Edward noticed his glance and looked at Alphonse.
"Al? You okay?" Edward asked quietly. Alphonse looked up with a start.
"Uh... Yeah, fine. Sorry, Brother." He replied quickly. A little too quickly. Edward tilted his head and watched Alphonse for a moment before looking ahead again. Alphonse would tell him what was on his mind when the time came.
'Why, Truth, why are we here... And why did you seem so surprised?'
-Flashback-
"ALPHONSE!" It had all happened so fast. Scar appeared in front of Alphonse and before he could react, Scar's hand was through the armour's chest, an inch away from the blood seal that bound Alphonse's soul to the armour.
Alphonse was an inch away from death.
"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" And then Edward's hands slapped the back of the armour. Scar's deconstructing alchemy was cracking a hair's breath from the blood seal, while Edward's alchemy sparked through the armour. Alphonse would later discover that even Edward didn't know what he was trying to do.
And Alphonse's soul hung in the middle, waiting.
Scar's fingertips touched the blood seal. Scar's and Edward's alchemy clashed and Alphonse felt like his soul was being torn apart.
Next thing they knew, all three of them were in the endless white expanse where the Truth waited. Alphonse's soul had been shoved back into his frail body. He could hardly stand.
"Alphonse..." Edward whispered, taking off his red jacket and handed it to Alphonse, who quickly wrapped it around his body. The door stood looming over them. Truth stood beside it.
"The Elrics? What... Why are you here? This isn't supposed to be happening..." Truth trailed off as the doors creaked open and black and white arms stretched out, grasping at the Alchemists, pulling them toward the door. "No! This isn't right! It isn't their time yet!"
They had never heard Truth sound afraid, or nervous, or confused.
They didn't know he could sound like that.
"Truth! What's going on?" Edward yelled, ripping the hands off of himself and Alphonse, trying to get away.
Scar was trying to free himself as well.
But there were too many.
It just wasn't possible.
Truth watched on in shock. It was all Truth could do.
Truth knew it was possible, but it had never happened before. It was something he had no power against, something he could not control.
It was infuriating.
"I... I don't know... This wasn't supposed to happen. Not yet... Damn it!"
And then the hands dragged them through, and the door slammed shut.
-End Flashback-
'Wait... There were white hands too... Aren't they usually just black...?' Alphonse thought. It was all too odd, he just couldn't wrap his head around it. 'I'll ask Ed about it tonight, knowing him, he has some theories.'
"What do you think, Alphonse?" JJ. asked. Alphonse looked up, startled, to see all eyes in the room on him.
"Uh, sorry, I zoned out for a moment there. What are we talking about?" Alphonse said, smiling innocently. Edward's brow furrowed.
'Al always pays attention... He's been acting odd today, something must be bothering him...' He thought, putting his hand in his pocket and taking out his pocket watch. 'Hm, yeah, something. Maybe the fact that we're stuck in this weird place. The calender in Reid's house said 2011. That means that we were dumped nearly one hundred years in the future... Yeah, that must be what's bothering Al.'
"I think Scar's just scared. He's not used to such a large, busy city." Alphonse said and Edward tuned back into the conversation.
"He's probably killing people in his way. Do you have a map with the places where the bodies were found?" Edward asked. Garcia pulled up a map on her laptop and then hooked the laptop up to the projector. "The first victim was found here. The second here. The third here and the fourth here." Edward walked over to the slide and ran his left index finger over the network of streets and alleys. "He's moving east, toward the centre of the city, it appears."
"As he moves forward, their will be more people in his way, and more victims." Reid said, examining the map.
"But, where is he going?" Prentiss mused. Hotch frowned, flipping through some papers.
"That's what we have to find out."
...
"That was... incredible." Janet breathed as Scar dropped the boy's lifeless body to the ground. Scar wiped his hand absent-mindedly on his pants, slightly confused.
"Incredible?" He echoed. Janet nodded, in awe. Even GOD looked slightly impressed.
"Yes, you don't even need a weapon to kill! How do you do that?" Janet asked, leaning closer to Scar. Scar leaned back.
"It's just alchemy." He said, his brow furrowed. Janet looked confused.
"Alchemy?" She asked, then glanced at her cell phone. "We should get going, I want to make it to the North part of town before midnight."
And the trio carried on.
...
"Agent Hotchner?" A male voice asked as someone knocked on the door. Everyone turned to the man at the door. He had dark skin, slightly darker than Morgan's, soft features, black hair that went down to his shoulders and he was tall and slim.
"Oh, hello, Detective Marker. Come in." Hotch said. Marker walked in and sat in the chair beside Alphonse that Hotch gestured to. "These are our witnesses in the Scar case. Edward and Alphonse Hoenhiem. Boys, this is the head Detective on the case, Detective Michael Marker."
"Hello." Edward said, leaning past Alphonse to shake Marker's hand. Alphonse followed suit, smiling his usual kind smile.
"I'm afraid I have bad news." Marker began. The mood in the room -which had already been somber- took a nose-drive. "We've found another body."
"Where?" Edward asked, straightening up. Garcia put the map back up on the projector.
"There." Marker said, pointing at a small alley off the side of a large street.
"Wait, what?" Edward asked, blinking. "But that doesn't make sense! He was going East... Why would he suddenly start going North?" Marker shrugged.
"He killed a boy, Mike Lenard. He was sixteen, and we've brought him in once for drug abuse. The coroner confirmed Lenard was on meth when he died." He said. Garcia bought up a school picture of a thin, ash blond boy. His hair was streaked with black and blue, and his eyes were brown. Alphonse flinched. Edward glanced at him.
'He's the same age as Ed... Could Brother ever end up like that? ... No, I'm being stupid. Ed's way too smart for that... And he's way too strong to die like that... Right? Yes. I should really stop thinking about it.' He thought. Edward nudged him.
"Al, are you okay?" He whispered. Alphonse shrugged weakly.
"I'm fine, Brother. Don't worry about me." He said with a small, strained smile. Edward frowned and grabbed Alphonse's hand in his left hand.
'Easier said then done.'
Midnight in the North part of town
"There are three on the next street. All men. I'll go in first. Wait one minute and then follow me." Janet said, giving Scar and GOD a dazzling smile and a wink before rounding the corner. GOD looked at his watch. The two could hear laughter from the street, Janet's bell-like laugh standing out from the deep chuckles of the drunken men.
After a minute GOD walked around the corner. Scar followed quickly. The men had their backs to them, Janet, who was facing them, smiled and slid closer to the tall man on the left, her hand disappearing into her jacket pocket.
GOD took the stocky man in the centre, which left Scar with the thin man on the right.
It all happened really quickly.
Janet pulled a switch blade out of her pocket and flicked it open, stabbing the tall man twelve times in the stomach and chest. The man crumpled to the ground, hacking up blood.
GOD pulled out a gun and shot the man in front of him in the back of the head, point blank. Executioner style. The man immediately dropped to the ground, dead. His misty eyes were wide with shock.
Scar hesitated slightly. These men hadn't committed any crimes that he knew of. They weren't even in his way. Scar wasn't that cold blooded.
But these two were the only help he had in the strange world he knew next to nothing about. He couldn't give that up. No matter what.
In Scar's two second pause, the man in front of him turned, his face twisted with fear. Scar took a breath and placed his hand on the man's forehead.
The last thing the man heard was the crackle of alchemy.
I hope you guys enjoyed it. :)
GOD belongs to Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur.
Janet and Michael belong to Dangerous ().
Olivia belongs to Pop'n'lock7.
If I haven't used an OC that was sent in, they will probably be introduced later.
READ THIS: (because I'm sure no one actually reads the bold text XD)
Since I will not be updating much in the next month, I will take some one-shot requests (because I want to do some one-shots, but I can't think of any good ideas... FML), if anyone happens to want a one-shot. (I have a list of categories and pairings I'm willing to do on my profile).
I believe that's all. I hope everyone has a lovely time while I'm gone. And to anyone who reads Of Legend and Lies, I WILL update it before I leave... Maybe...