Equivalent Exchange

Chapter Summary: The military's reaction to the new knowledge of vampires. The truth is unfolded.

& to my reviewers- Thank You & Love yah~

Chapter 6: The Meeting

~ROY~

1 Hour Earlier, over at The Central Military Headquarters, 8:01am

Roy Mustang was heading towards the main conference room; that today's special meeting was in. Although in the notice for the meeting, the details highlighted the fact it was starting at EXACTLY 8:00am, and early attendance is always very respected in Fuhrer Bradley's appointments. Indeed, Roy remembered, he'll have to rush because not only that, the time and location were the ONLY details that were contained in to notice. He already knew he would be the last to arrive; even if it is only a few minutes after 8:00am, Fuhrer would wait to begin. The fact that the meeting was being held at the 'main' conference room, which was in the center of the headquarters, next to Fuhrer Bradley's office, was a good enough hint that the Fuhrer had very important information for ALL the higher-ups to aware of. Not only that, but he was also told this was an emergency and mandatory meeting.

In truth, he was not rushing, the only time The Flame Alchemist had attended a meeting in the 'main' conference room was when the Fuhrer had informed everyone about the Ishval Civil War. All in all, he did not have good memories about the room. It was a large, dark, and cold room. The atmosphere the room held was a serious one; like a war zone. Because, somehow, when he entered the room years ago he knew by everyone's mood, good news was not coming, it was the same feeling you get when entering a war zone. He already was expecting those memories for that room to not change. And it was what he heard last night that made Roy Mustang think that and it was also the cause for his 'tardiness' this morning.

-Flashback-

Last Night, Central Military Headquarters; The Hospital Wing, 6:18pm
Roy Mustang was on his way to the hospital section of the military to visit Fullmetal. He had just finished his overly procrastinated paperwork; he was exhausted and hungry. But he knew if he were to stay in his office until his shift ended at 9, he would only receive more work to fall behind on. He also wanted to check on the pipsqueak because he had not heard any more information at all on the boy nor his condition today.

When entering the hospital the atmosphere had darkened, it was much quieter, and there was a very little amount of people moving about. Though Roy calmed down and simply brushed off the weird vibes around him. Gossip in the military was not rare, and Roy knew he'd learn this piece of information soon enough. Although this news was strangely popular in the hospital division's staff. The Flame Alchemist shrugged it off until he saw his subordinates room. Blocking the entrance were 2 guards. 'Guards NEVER came into the hospital section...' Roy thought when he noticed this.

Roy took a few steps closer to see, through a crack in the doorway, the room to be empty. 'Why are there guards here then?' he stared at the crack for a minute then turned to guards, nothing made sense, but it was all starting to worry him, 'where is Ed?'.

As the colonel turned to leave, he noticed two nurses whispering something next to the exit. Roy continued walking as if all was fine but when he approached the doorway by the nurses, he slowed his pace. Still looking ahead, and moving forward, he nonchalantly listened:

"-nd the armored one is being questioned now."

"But what about the patient?" The other nurse questioned,

"What do you think? I heard he's a monster now. He's behind bars of course!"

"B-but is he really? Do you'll think they'll kill him? I heard he was a state alchemist... That's kind of harsh, and he is so young."

"I hope they do! Rather that than a vampire on the loose, he's evil-"

Roy let the door shut behind him, as he began to run to his office. 'Edward... What are they doing to you?'

-End of Flashback-

What Roy had heard that night, ran over and over in his thoughts, before he knew it it was well past midnight. Even after getting home and climbing into his bed, his brain was to racked with too many questions to let him sleep. It was the reason for why he had slept in; and upon arriving to his office that morning, and seeing the letter from Bradley on his desk, he knew he'd be late.

He was right, of course, it was 8:07 by the time he walked into the meeting. Everyone, who had been sitting silently looked up at him.

"Thanks for finally joining us Colonel, once you take your sit, we will begin." The Fuhrer's cold features moved into a harsh and emotionless smile, he eyed Roy until he bowed his respect, followed by, "Yes sir!" in response to his command.

Riza Hawkeye stood and raised beckoning for him to a sit next to herself, as his adjutant. In which Hawkeye was next to Heymans Breda, Vato Falmon, Jean Havoc, and Kain Fuery. After sitting down Roy looked up to see Maes Hughes, sitting with a cool and calm expression. He turned to see the many others in the room, but became confused when noticing the were all looking up, past him. He turn to look and notice Fuhrer Bradley had begun speaking;

"...begin with the discussion of vampires. It has-"

"But, sir, vampires? Those creatures are mythical!" Maria Ross interrupted,

"She's right sir, why are we discussing mythical creatures?" Rebecca Catalina agreed.

Bradley smiled again hearing this, he waited for a few seconds to pass for any other outbursts but none came.

"I would like to ask, for ALL questions to be waited until the END of this meeting, unless I say otherwise. But to answer your question, 2nd Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina, we are discussing vampires, because through recent findings we have discovered they are indeed not at all mythical. But in fact are very much so a reality."

Gasps were heard in the back, and Roy noticed that once again, the Fuhrer was smiling to this.

"Yesterday we found proof of these... creatures. But for some time now I have been recording evidence of strange things happening; and I have known about the existence of them for awhile now. I have discovered, these harsh and blood thirsty monsters to be very alluring and VERY deadly.

"They have inhumanly beauty to lure prey, but also, paper white and stone hard skin. They have dark cat-like red eyes, and sharp white fangs, which can point these monsters out from humans. They are simply animals disguised as humans.

"Their weaknesses include sunlight and holy water. But beware because they are amazingly fast, powerful, and very strong. They are very dangerous and very lethal creatures."

Fuhrer Bradley paused for a minute to let his little speech settle into the heads of everyone before continuing. Roy remarked that this was the new beginning for a whole new story, He knew that Fuhrer also had a spot somewhere in this for Ed as well. The look Fuhrer Bradley had in his eyes was nothing less than determination, and he knew that the Fuhrer would soon bring up his way to solve this and how we'll begin this new fight. He looked up to see Maes Hughes silently pondering what was to come-

"Do you think this has something to do with Major Edward Elric sir?" Riza asked him. A little ataken back by the fact she had realized this as well, he was looking at her now. It seemed like everything he knew, she also knew too. Maybe she didn't have the same facts, but she still somehow always managed to piece together what she knew to make out the truth. Roy could easily see all the seriousness in her face, he could also see something she didn't even know was there. The worriedness in her eyes.

"What you think is right Riza." Roy replied, but then looked away quickly as to avoid more questions.

The Fuhrer stood up to speak again. He patiently waited until everyone had noticed and ended their own private little whispered conversations.

"Therefore I wish to find a solution to exterminate these creatures. The first step is to publicize this news; I wish for everyone to be aware of this, as well as have the knowledge of how to protect themselves from these vampires. So far I have scheduled for some of the the military staff who have helped me in the past with these 'special' investigations, to go on look outs to find other vampires. Once we have more vampires, we may perform more experiments, and learn more about these dangerous creatures. As of right now it is your duty to also spread to word to Central of what they should be aware to look out for, and I will also be scheduling more searches to find more of these creatures...

"And as for the experiments, I will be handling that, unless help is requested. Furthermore I hope you all take this information into a serious account, as this is a matter that is not to be taken lightly.

"That is all there is to be said today. I will inform everyone more about these cases in the future. Is there any questions?"

Everyone was either to deep in thought or to baffled to speak. And if it were possible the atmosphere in the room had darkened since Roy had entered. Although this meeting was shorter than most, to Roy it felt like it had been hours.

It had been several minutes since Bradley had finished his speech and not one person had the courage to ask a question. Even though, Roy was sure almost everyone had curiosity in their minds. But Mustang couldn't blame them, as he to, was sticking to his own thoughts. That is, until a young man in the back bared one of the questions in Roy's mind.

"Umm... Sir King Braa-a-dley... Ah aren't vampires made from humans? ...Um what I-I mean t-to say sir... Aren't vampires ex-humans?" The boy whispered out, you could hear the fear in his voice that indicated he was not typically one to speak his mind, especially not on occasions like this one, he thought. Roy had a feeling it was a new member in the military, though he couldn't be sure, as he was to far back for Roy to even see his face in the dark room.

"Good question my boy! It is true a vampire shares the body of a previous human, the are not to be mistaken as an ex-human. They are soulless, heartless, and ruthless monsters, the body was once human, but the thing inside is something completely inhuman."

The boy gulped as the Fuhrer happily answered the question-

"Sir" Major Louis Armstrong spoke out, it was the first time Roy had seen his face or heard his voice all day, "I have a question. Actually two questions."

"Go on." Bradley stated,

"Well the last question somehow reminded me of this... But who is this vampire we have captivity right now? Why didn't you talk about him?

"And also... Sorry a third question if I may sir, but why... Why isn't Major Edward Elric here with us today?"

Roy's eyes widened; he couldn't believe someone had actually asked that! And it was Armstrong... Roy's eyes shot to him, to see a very nervous face, 'He must've noticed Edward's disappearance as well!'. Mustang looked around to see many heads turning, and whispers, 'He isn't here!' 'Where is Ed?' 'Isn't he in the hospital?' 'I was wondering that too.'... He took a second to calm down his shock, then turned to the Fuhrer. He could tell his superior wasn't very prepared for such a question. But in a matter of seconds he returned to his calm and poised posture.

"That's enough!" Bradley commanded as to silence the group of people.

"I am not to surprised someone remarked that. I guess you caught onto what I was trying to hide Major Armstrong. You are correct in your observation that the Fullmetal Alchmist is not with us today... And I am terribly sad to announce this but Edward Elric passed two weeks ago-"

"You liar! I saw him just the other day!" Roy did not catch this man's face, but in the corner of his eye he saw the man quickly raise from his chair. And just as quickly, sit back down.

"I'm not lying. I regret to inform you all that Fullmetal died in a recent attack with a vampire. His soul and body have now been consumed by a vampire, and turned him into one. Mr. Elric's body is now behind bars, as it is a soulless and blood thirsty animal. We plan to kept the monster alive for now, and use him for experimentation, but he is secured for all and is under a 24/7 hour watch. We have questioned his brother but have no reason to believe he was involved in the attack, nor did he know any of the information we spoke of today. I wish for everyone to forget Edward and to not try to visit the creature dwelling in his body... That is all I'll say for today. This meeting is dismissed."

With that, Fuhrer Bradley quickly exited the room followed by his bodyguards.

Roy raised as well, expect for himself and Bradley, nobody had made any motion to leave the room. Everyone simply sat and stared with shock or was telling a friend their thoughts on the very recent news. Roy could heard the soft cry of Major Armstrong in the corner. Hughes also at that moment decided the raise and quickly exit the room.

~RIZA~

Riza, who had noticed her superior's attitude, quickly raised as well. She looked at Roy for a minute only to realize he wasn't moving. She leaned toward him,

"Are you alright Sir?"

To her surprise Roy answered her by moving and heading toward the door. She quickly followed and exited the room with him. The hallway, compared to the conference room, was filled with dead silence and bright florescent lights. In this lighting Hawkeye noticed Roy was silently pale and sweaty. A second later Roy began speed walking down the corridor. She quickly and silently followed him go in the direction of the military dorm rooms. Riza heard Roy mumble to her;

"I must speak to Al immediately"

~ED~

Ed sat quietly sitting on the concrete hard floor of his cell. His body was in so much pain, but he wouldn't let any of the guards see it. He stared at the floor, not moving, not talking, not doing anything.

He heard a guard rush over with a little tin can and a white piece of paper.

"Fuhrer Bradley told me to give you this." The guard said while pushing the gift into the cell with a wooden stick. Once it was well inside, the guard got up and ran off.

Ed raised his head to see what is was, and decided to crawl over to it; as he didn't have the energy to do anything else. He silently eyed the paper and read the inscription,

This is all I can do for you for now, use it well,

Wrath

Ed had read the short note at least 10 times before deciding to finally open the tin can. Opening it he felt a strong rush of pain and fear. He felt an odd sensation in his eyes, and a burning flame raise in his throat, he knew what the contents were immediately from that smell.

'Blood'

Thanks for reading!

(wow almost 3000 words I am pretty proud of myself :) I hope you enjoyed; remember read&review)