Major Alex Louis Armstrong and Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes both stood up from their chairs and raised their hands in customary salute as Colonel Mustang entered the small conference room.
"At ease, gentlemen." the colonel said immediately, dragging out a chair from the table and falling back into it gracelessly, "I am very much not in the mood for formalities."
"As you wish, Roy." Armstrong nodded as he and Maes lowered themselves back into their own chairs.
"I apologize for my tardiness; the nurse who was stitching me up was unreasonably slow." Roy grouched, gesturing at his arm vaguely. The two majors couldn't actually see the wound because of the long sleeves of the colonel's military jacket, but when Lieutenant Breda came in to report earlier that morning he had mentioned that the bite wound Roy had sustained was pretty nasty.
Maes looked over at his superior and longtime friend critically, taking in his appearance. Roy looked exhausted and harassed, his brow set in a vague, constant furrow that made Maes wonder if he had a headache... he knew better than to ask, though. Roy was in a bad mood and had been since last night when he and Second Lieutenant Breda had finally arrived back in Central after rescuing Fullmetal—and his trip to the hospital this morning to doctor his wounds had clearly done nothing to ease his ill temper.
Roy had called Maes' investigations team yesterday afternoon, reporting on what terrible things had been found in that converted lab. The whole operation had been kept very classified and even now Maes and Major Armstrong were two of the very few people outside of the rescue party who knew exactly what had transpired there. Roy had always been very good at keeping himself somber and professional in the midst of a crisis, but even over the phone lines Maes could practically feel his concealed distress as he spoke about what had been done to Edward Elric. Maes wasn't very well-read on chimeras, but Roy's dismay told him all that he needed to know.
If Roy Mustang is upset about something, then everyone should be upset about it.
"Has anyone been able to track down Alphonse yet?" Roy asked, popping open the briefcase he'd brought in with him and pulling out a haphazard stack of files.
"Not yet, sir." Armstrong said sadly, his deep, booming voice reverberating in the small room.
Roy sighed unhappily, massaging his temple with one hand, "He needs to know what's going on. He needs to know what's happened to his brother."
"We're still looking even now." Armstrong agreed apologetically, "We think that he hit another dead end in his own searching for Edward and is most likely on his way back here now. He may just show up back in Central before we can find him."
"As long as he gets here eventually, I suppose it doesn't really matter..." Roy conceded, then turned his attentions to Maes. "Have you sent your men out to the site?"
"Yeah. Early this morning." Maes replied, "I'll probably head out myself tomorrow. My men are already reporting some pretty crazy shit there, Roy... Some of them are getting really spooked."
Roy smirked eerily. "They are wise to be frightened. Unspeakable things happened there, Maes. You can practically taste it on the air. Alchemy was never meant to be used like this..." he trailed off, shaking his head. Maes felt Armstrong give a tiny, barely suppressed shudder beside him.
"...How's Ed doing?" Maes ventured to ask quietly after a moment. Maes was very fond of the kid—of him and Al both—and had been horrified to hear that he'd been so badly abused. Roy gave another steadying sigh and closed his eyes for a moment before replying.
"He's still at the... vet." he said after a moment, the last word leaving his lips as a disgusted sneer. Maes knew that Roy had wanted to take Ed to a real hospital, but Lieutenant Breda had eventually convinced him that taking the kid to a veterinarian would be a better course of action. Maes hadn't seen Ed for himself yet, but from the way Breda spoke it was clear that he could no longer pass for human and his dog physiology was much better suited for the practices of an animal clinician. "I actually have to go pick him up in a few minutes, so I'll keep this meeting brief."
"What are we going to do with him then?" Armstrong asked softly.
Roy shrugged, "I'll take him home with me, I guess. I don't know what else I can do. I don't feel comfortable taking him back to his dorm and just leaving him by himself until Al gets here... he's in pretty bad shape."
The colonel stared down at his hands distantly for a moment, lost in dark thought. Maes' heart clenched with pity as he wondered what Roy's definition of "pretty bad" was.
"No... I mean in the long run." Armstrong amended, his voice a little disturbed, "What are we going to do with him? Just leave him as he is...? Do we even have any other option?"
Roy inclined his head a little as he looked at his fellow alchemist. "That is precisely why I called this meeting, Alex" he said quietly, "We do have a couple of options... Ideally, I want to try and split him from the dog."
"...Do you know how?"
Roy sighed and leaned his elbows on the table, rubbing at his temples again, "No."
No one spoke for several beats, but then Mustang cleared his throat and continued, "But we can't just leave him like this, Alex. I will not just leave him as he is. You are one of the few alchemists that I would trust with something like this, so any insight that you may have on how to fix him... anything at all..."
Armstrong looked at Roy sadly and his massive shoulders slumped, "I'm sorry, Roy. I don't know any more about human transmutation than you do... probably a great deal less, in fact."
Roy deflated a little. "I figured... just a hopeful thought, I suppose." The man fell silent and then chuckled bitterly, "You know, I can only think of two people in the world who can help him now: Shou Tucker and Ed himself... and neither of them are exactly available for consultation." He gave another little laugh and shook his head, darkly amused by the irony.
God, he looked so tired.
"...What are our other options?" Maes asked, "You said that we had more than one."
The sick smile playing on Roy's lips died and for a moment he didn't say anything. He just looked back and forth between the majors as if silently deciding whether or not to tell them the options he had in mind. Finally he straightened, rolling his shoulders back and taking on a very professional air that immediately discouraged any sort of argument against what he was about to say. Maes' stomach knotted; this was not going to be good.
"As an alchemist and as a human being," the colonel began, "I cannot allow Fullmetal to suffer staying as he is for the rest of his life. If I can't reverse what's been done to him, I am going to euthanize him."
Maes stared at him. "You can't be serious..." he breathed.
"I have given it a lot of thought and it's the kindest thing that can be done for him if all else fails." Roy maintained calmly, although he didn't quite seem to be able to meet Maes' eyes as he spoke.
"You call that kind?" Maes hissed angrily, "You call killing a child kind?"
"This is not open for discussion. It is entirely my decision."
"Your decision?" Maes said disbelievingly, as Armstrong shifted uncomfortably and remained silent, "What about what Al wants? Shouldn't he have a say in this? I mean, my god, Ed is his only family, Roy! Aren't you even going to talk to him about it?"
"No. I'm not." Roy said flatly. "I already know that he would not support my decision to euthanize Edward, so there is no point in debating it with him."
"But—"
"If he has a problem with it, then he can take it up with the Fuhrer. This matter falls under the jurisdiction of the State Alchemists and as the highest-ranking member, it is left to my judgment."
In a cold, very businesslike manner, Roy slid a document across the table toward Major Armstrong.
"I do, however, need the consent of another State Alchemist if I have to do this." he said, giving Armstrong a significant look as he pulled out a pen and offered it to him. "The Fuhrer wants documented proof that there really is no other choice for Edward if we cannot fix him, so if you agree with me, Alex, I need your signature."
Maes made a scoffing, incredulous sound and looked at Armstrong. The Strong-Arm Alchemist would never agree to this... he was too tender hearted. There was no way in hell that he would ever allow for Roy to have this kind of power over another human being. Roy was wasting his time even asking...
Armstrong stared at the black pen that the colonel was offering to him, gloomy thoughts stirring like storm clouds behind his blue-grey eyes.
"If you have an alternative, I am more than willing to consider it." Roy rasped, "If you have any thoughts... any ideas at all, no matter how far-fetched... please share them with me."
The big man was silent for a long time, sitting in deep, motionless thought. But then he closed his eyes for a moment and took the offered pen. He set it to the paper and signed it without a word.
Maes sat back in his chair in horrified shock as he watched Armstrong flourish out his name on that terrible document. He must have seen the reproach on Maes' face, for he flinched a little before pushing the papers back toward his superior and making his expression as hard as stone.
"...Thank you, Alex." Roy said sincerely, "You can go, now."
Armstrong nodded slowly and all three men got to their feet in a parting salute. Armstrong then turned on heel and exited the room, but not before Maes could see the beginnings of tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
When the door to the conference room closed, Roy turned back to Maes, "Now, about the investigation, I need—"
"Are you out of your mind?"
Roy stopped and looked up at his friend, his face cold and blank. "I don't expect you to understand, Maes..."
"Then explain it to me!"
The colonel gave a harsh sigh and ran his hand through his hair, but said nothing. Maes growled and grabbed his friend roughly, forcing him to meet his eyes. Roy looked up at him, a sudden anger contorting his face.
"Look, it's not like I want this!" Roy exploded, pushing Maes off of him, "I'm going to do everything in my power to avoid this outcome, but if there is nothing I can do then I don't have a choice, Maes!" But then Roy shook his head, looking defeated, "Do you think this was an easy decision for me to make? Do you really think me that much of a monster? ...I really need your support on this, my friend."
Maes clenched his jaw and looked away, not wanting to see the sickened guilt in his best friend's eyes, not wanting to believe that killing Edward really was mercy rather than sin.
"Besides," Roy continued seriously, "this is only as a last resort if I can't change him back. This is why I need the help of your investigations team, so please just hear me out..."
Maes took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and closing his eyes briefly. Finally he nodded and lowered himself back into his chair, leaning his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers diplomatically.
"Alright, Roy. I'm listening."
Roy seated himself quietly and handed Maes the stack of files that he'd taken from his briefcase when he first entered the conference room.
"Good. I need you and your team to gather some information for me. I've detailed everything I need in these files, but just about anything you find could be of use to me... I'm fumbling in the dark here, Maes. I have no experience with this level of human transmutation, so I need you to bring me any logbooks or files that the Anarchists might have left behind regarding their experiments... especially anything regarding experiment number twenty-eight."
"Number twenty-eight?" Maes asked, opening the file that Roy had handed to him, "Is that Ed?"
Roy nodded, "Try to dig up information on number twenty-seven as well; I think they might have been part of the same experiment since they were... caged together."
"...I'll do what I can."
"That's all I needed to hear, Maes. And I want you to know that I'll be doing the same." Roy told him with a sad kind of sincerity, "I've collected all of the manuscripts that were confiscated from Tucker's home after his arrest. It's going to take days—maybe weeks—for me to get through all the information, but I'm confident that there will be at least something of use..."
"Right."
Roy looked at Maes glumly for a moment, then closed his briefcase and got to his feet again. "...Well, that's all I needed to discuss with you."
"We're not done talking about what you're going do to Ed if you can't fix him..." Maes warned, his voice low. Roy flinched.
"Let it go, Maes. It's out of your hands. Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that, okay? ...Are you really so doubtful of me that you can only think of what will happen if I fail?"
Maes exhaled slowly and collected the files that Roy had given him, hugging them to his chest. "You're right." he said softly, standing up, "I apologize. I know that this can't be easy for you."
Roy shrugged a little awkwardly, rubbing at his eye with the heel of his palm. Maes could tell that his exhaustion was wearing him thin; he probably hadn't slept at all since before Ed's rescue... and the pain of his bite wound and the worry plaguing his mind certainly just made things worse.
"You should go home and get some sleep, Roy." Maes said, gripping his shoulder kindly.
"Can't." he yawned, "I have to go get Edward."
"Then let me come with you. I want to see how bad off he is for myself... and then I can keep an eye on him while you get some rest."
Roy looked up at him blearily, then he bowed his head a little, "...Thank you."
Maes smiled at him wanly and the two of them exited the conference room.