A/N: So this chapter has more and really builds up the plot. It might not have a whole lot of action but I just wanted to get this out of the way so I didn't have to keep doing flashbacks every second paragraph. I've always wanted to do a story where Elicia was the protagonist. I loved Hughes in both FMA series and the manga and his love for his little girl always made me wonder how Elicia turned out after all that.
Elicia walked through the halls of central command with a big yawn, her boots lightly thudding on the carpet as she made her way to her office. A few young soldiers walked by her and saluted as they made their rounds dispersing the morning's mail and assignments. She took a quick turn around a corner and stopped at a small cart where there was an assortment of cups, condiments and some much needed coffee. She poured herself a mug and added a couple spoonfuls of sugar then went into her office just across the hall. She took a seat and grabbed the first file in a small stack and began reading through it. Coming in early always left her a little more tired than she would have liked but she enjoyed the silence. The rest of her team hadn't arrived yet and once they did she knew she'd be up to her eyeballs in requests and shenanigans to get any work done. She worked silently and diligently as the members of her office slowly trickled, some yawned and greeted her and a couple just plopped down into their chairs and sat there like living zombies. By noon there was a buzz of light chatter as everyone was fully awake and awaiting their lunch break, the sound of pens scratching and papers being shuffled could be heard as a young man no older than twenty walked in and saluted as he stood before her desk. "Is there something I can do for you lieutenant?" The man lowered his hand relaxing into a more comfortable position as he nodded, "yes ma'am, Brigadier General Elric requests your presence." Elicia nodded and put away the file she had been looking at. Glancing at the clock she noted it was about time for lunch anyways. "Alright thank you for letting me know. Dismissed." The man saluted one last time and left dissolving into a sea of hungry uniforms that were passing by her office towards the cafeteria.
Elicia meandered through the crowd until she came upon the door she had been looking for. The room was empty except for a blonde man in his early thirties sitting at his desk sipping on a cup of coffee as he watched a small hummingbird dance around outside his window. She made a small noise to announce herself and saluted the man before her. "Colonel Hughes reporting, Brigadier General Elric, Sir." Ed shot her a warm smile, "there's no need for formalities sweetie, everyone knows you're my daughter." Elicia frowned at this. "With all due respect sir there's a time and place for certain behaviors and while at work you are my boss and by Amestrian law I am obligated to address you as such." Ed frowned at this but already knew it was coming. It had been eight years since he had taken Elicia in and in that time he could never get her to relax when he was in uniform. He got up and grabbed a small bag out of his desk and moved over to one of his subordinate's empty desks and motioned for Elicia to take a seat next to him. He laid out a couple sandwiches for them and smiled at her. "I've been going over our research and think I might have found something." He motioned over to a folder she hadn't even seen him take out. She opened it and glanced through it her eyes darting quickly back and forth as she skimmed the paper before her. She closed it with a frown and slid it back. "I came to this conclusion yesterday. Though putting it into practice will be tricky without the Fuhrer's permission and even then I don't think we could find a way to test it humanely." Ed nodded as he took a bite of sandwich. "You might be right but we've been finding new bits of information as we go so maybe a humane way to test it will pop out too." Elicia took a bite of her sandwich as they both fell into a comfortable silence, watching the little hummingbird outside flit around happily with no cares in the world.
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They had finished their lunch uneventfully and went back to their respective desks to finish up the days work, promising to both be home in time for dinner. Memories of the past swirled around her head as she absently tapped her pen on a report that had been sitting before her for the last twenty minutes. It had been a little over eight years since that day, the day her mother had finally given in to all her grief and taken her own life leaving a twelve year old Elicia alone in the world. Eight years since after hearing about what had happened Edward had showed up on her doorstep and dropped to his knees before her and wrapped her in the first embrace she'd had in over three years. She could still hear his pained breathing in her ear from that night and the almost inaudible apologies that he kept whispering over and over again to her. At the time she thought he was just broken up about her mother's death but as she grew older and Ed explained what had happened, how her father had died, why he had died, and subsequently why her mother had taken her own life she understood then why he had given up everything to take her in as his daughter, even going so far as to leave his own family and children behind because of some sense of misplaced guilt. She had never blamed him for what had happened to her family. It all would have come out eventually anyways and who knows how it would have played out a second time but the guilt that gnawed at her was that she had destroyed his family. She had no one and because of her stubbornness to not leave central Ed had agreed to move in with her instead of the other way around. She had forced him to abandon his family, his principles. She had forced him to become his father and even worse, to support them he had to rejoin the military that he despised. For that she would never forgive herself.
Elicia jumped as she heard a door slam down the hallway and a uniformed man walk by casually tossing his keys in the air and catching them as he whistled. She looked out the window and with surprise realized she had been there much later than she intended. She shuffled the report that had been lying there for the last hour back in to it's folder and put it into the pile she had to do tomorrow and got up sighing. She knew Ed wouldn't approve of her plan but she had to make everything right. Her father's death, her mother's, and she had to fix the fact she ripped apart Ed's family. She'd started learning alchemy at five years old with her mother's blessing and Ed as a teacher and by ten she was delving into her own research and developing a new type of alchemy that once she had been accepted into the military at the young age of thirteen had been classified by the upper brass. No one knew about her research except a handful of high ranking military officials and an even smaller group of friends that knew her before she was accepted as a state certified alchemist. She specialized in brainwaves, or to be more specific she specialized in manipulating them. Of coarse when Fuhrer Mustang heard of this research and she proved she wasn't just blowing smoke he was ecstatic to welcome her aboard. An alchemy that could alter memories, behaviors, and even physical defects was indispensible especially in a military setting but because of the nature of her research and how dangerous it could be it had to be classified so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. What she hadn't told Ed was the real reason why she had begun researching it. He believed it to be because she wanted to help those with depression, like her mother had suffered from. To save the lives of those who couldn't handle life anymore. The truth was far from that though. In secret she had been developing another specialized alchemy that she wouldn't dare even share with Ed. With Xingese alchemy she had learned that alchemy could be applied in one place and materialize in another. She had heard Ed's tale about his mother, about his journey with Alphonse and the hardships they endured but what she had grasped at the most was the gate. The gate provided knowledge but where did it lead? If her theory proved correct in just five days time everything would be as it should have been.
The next day progressed as normal until around 3:00pm when she heard a knock at the door and a secretary requesting her presence before the Fuhrer. She excused herself from her office giving her subordinates a small warning glare to keep working without her supervision and proceeded through the corridor's until she found herself in front of the Fuhrer's office. The massive mahogany double door's glinted in the afternoon sunlight and two guards stood their barely acknowledging her presence as they opened the doors to let her pass. Raven hair bobbed happily as the man took a sip of tea at a small table where Ed was seated already. Elicia walked up before the table saluting. "Fuhrer Mustang, Brigadier General Elric." They nodded and motioned for her to take a seat as Mustang poured her a glass of coffee. He looked almost like he had back in his twenty's, it was almost eerie how the man didn't age. At the young age of forty-four he was the youngest Fuhrer to grace Amestris and also the most cunning. After the promised day Grumman had set about rebuilding Amestris to her former beauty and for 7 years after that he ruled with an iron fist, rooting out the old regimen, re-establishing border security, and strengthening Amestris's trade relations with the now allied nation of Xing, with a little help from Emperor Ling Yao himself of coarse. Then once he felt like he had done his bid he had retired to the country leaving the command to none other than Roy Mustang. To this day she still heard stories and rumors about the extravagance of the celebration party and of the…shenanigans…that ensued.
Elicia ignored the two men as they chatted on about this and that, her mind was racing too much to keep up with such trivial things like small talk anyways. Elicia felt a little nudge from Ed and shot him a small glare. Mustang let out a small chuckle at that and she glared at him too. "What is it?" She said in a huff. Ed's temper might have rubbed off on her over the years a little too much. "Pony-boy over here said he found a good candidate for us to test our theory on." Elicia perked up at this and turned to him. "Really?" It was more a question directed at Ed but if Mustang wanted to elaborate then all the better. Roy nodded as he shot Ed a glare from across the table over the pony-boy comment. "I had her brought in last night. She's about 25 and lost her child during childbirth. She's distraught and has tried to kill herself twice. The family doesn't have the money for long-term round the clock care if she remains this way so they petitioned the state for help. When I told them about your research they agreed on the condition you make her forget she was ever going to be a mother." Elicia nodded ecstatically. This was perfect. With her plans moving forward in four days having someone to test her theory on could only help her understanding. "When do we meet her?" Mustang was surprised at how eager she seemed to be but put it off. She'd been researching the topic for most of her life so he shouldn't be surprised that she was excited to enter the testing phase. "We'll have her prepped and ready tomorrow at 10:00am in exam room 6." Elicia nodded and stood up. "Alright, I'm going to go prepare. I'll see you two at 10 tomorrow." She saluted them and began making her way home. The reports could wait she wanted to be as ready as she possibly could for this and with any luck she would be left alone to test her theories and get a few answers for herself in the process.
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She found herself standing in front of a woman who looked like she had died weeks prior. Her skin was sallow and the veins in her arms stood out. There were bags underneath the bags under her eyes and her hair was stringy and clumped as if it hadn't been washed in months. She lay there staring blankly at the ceiling; an occasional tear would leak out but she other than that there seemed to be no indication that was alive. The room had been prepped and she was standing next to Edward as he read over the research notes one last time before the procedure. There were two windows in the room each opening up to a different room. One opened up to a small man holding a handkerchief up to his eyes as he watched his broken wife on the table before them. The other window opened up to the Fuhrer who was standing there watching them intently. Elicia nodded towards the window with the husband and he was slowly led out of the room he was watching from leaving just Ed, Roy, and her to witness the proceedings henceforth.
Ed dropped to his knees and clapped his hands together, a large circle began to appear below the woman, the intricate runes bleeding into shape as swirls arched sharply to connect to one another. He stepped back admiring his work and knelt down again to make a quick adjustment. He stood back up again and nodded satisfactorily and gave Elicia a smile. "You ready?" Elicia nodded. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and suddenly she was the only one in the room. She knelt down slowly and touched her hand to the circle as it began to glow dimly. As if a movie was playing behind her closed eyes she sifted through the memories of the woman that lay before her, she zeroed in on the memories that were to be removed; a nursery painted yellow, the announcement of a child, the baby books she had read while eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich topped with chocolate chips. One by one she ripped them apart with alchemy and instead placed memories that she was familiar with; a day at the park, watching the clouds float lazily across the sky, watching a couple go bike riding through a busy central street surrounded by blossoming trees that lined the streets. Anything she could think of that was neutral and happy.
Slowly the glowing died down and she pushed herself to her feet. She swooned forward a little and Ed caught her arm to steady her. She smiled gratefully at him then turned to the woman on the table. She still looked haggard but there was a spark in her eyes that hadn't been there before. She turned to the two of them and smiled. "Hello, may I ask who you are and, pray-tell where am I?" She gave a curious look around her surroundings but didn't attempt to get up. "You're in a hospital Mrs. Malarie. Could you tell us why you seemed so upset when you were first brought in?" Mrs. Malarie gave her a strange look. "I don't recall being upset. The last thing I remember was my husband asking if we needed milk before he left for the store." Elicia smiled. It was a success. She felt Ed's hand on her shoulder squeezing lightly. "Well, it seems like our work here is done," Ed said and gave Elicia a happy smile. Elicia shook her head, "we accomplished our goal but with your permission Sir, I'd like to stay and ask her a few more questions, administer a few tests." Ed nodded "doesn't sound like a bad idea I'll-" Elicia cut him off giving him a big reassuring smile "Don't worry about it General, you and the Fuhrer have a lot on your plates already, I'll finish up here and submit a report to you once it's finished. The last is just a bit of busy work anyways." Ed nodded. "Alright, but you know where I am if you need me." Ed gave her one last reassuring smile as he exited the medical room and entered the room with the Fuhrer. She could see them gesturing a little bit and what looked like Mustang giving him a pat on the back as they both headed back to their offices.
"Ok, I just have a few more tests to perform and then you'll be free to go." Mrs. Malarie gave her a quizzical look. "Why do I need tests?" Elicia gave her a kind smile as she placed her hand on the woman's shoulder trying to comfort her. "Your husband brought you in and you were in quite a state, we've fixed you up but I just need to make sure that your back to 100%." Mrs. Malarie gave her another look but relaxed on the table. Elicia bent down and drew a small transmutation circle outside the original one with a piece of chalk she had in her pocket. The first one glowed and the second began to meld into an even more intricate version of the one that Ed had made earlier. Sharp points began to jut outside the edges and at the bottom the sharp edges crisscrossed just outside of the circle then looped back together twice more. She nodded and stood up. "Alright Mrs. Malarie I'm going to put you under now, please don't be alarmed as it is perfectly normal. I'll see you in a few minutes ok?" Mrs. Malarie had started to turn a little green but nodded in understanding.
Elicia dropped down again and activated the transmutation circle. It began to glow a soft blue until it started to turn purple. She winced as she felt the energy draining but pushed on if her transmutation worked right it would work in conjunction with her research and it would burn part of her life force to pay for the transmutation. She had read about it in Ed's diary from back when he was fighting for his life against the state. The purple color began to die down and turn back to blue and she relaxed a little. It was working. Suddenly she felt a tug and everything around her melted away. She stood in front of a gate with a small shadowed figure standing before her. "I've come…" The shadow silenced her holding up its hand as it gazed upon her. She could feel her very soul being scrutinized. "I know why you've come and you've paid the price. Give me the information that you want to pass along." Elicia nodded and stepped forward. The being placed a hand on her forehead as she conjured a memory; it was the most horrific one she could think of. It was of her discovery of her mother's body hanging from a rafter in her parent's bedroom. The shadowy figure turned around and flung the doors open. She let out a gasp as the information began to pour into her head but she fought it. This wasn't what she came here for. She stepped forward and clapped her hands together forming an alchemic circle directly in front of the gate mid-air. The shadow came next to her and tossed something into the glowing circle then almost as if it were a dream, she found herself back in the hospital room, sweat pouring down her body, her breath coming in short gasps.
Elicia clapped her hands mindlessly dissolving the circle below the woman and she stood up shakily. She shook the woman before her awake gently. "How do you feel Mrs. Malarie?" The woman smiled. "Did everything check out?" Elicia nodded, "I just have one question for you, and if it's alright with you I'd like to keep it between us if that's ok?" Mrs. Malarie nodded giving her a small smile. "You made me better, I think I owe you at least that much." Elicia gave the woman another appreciative smile. "Can you tell about the worst memory of your childhood?" The woman before her had gone rigid a deep frown plastered on her face. "I don't know who it was…I was just sort of there…"The woman was rambling. "All I remember was I was in this room and it felt like my whole world was crashing down. There was a woman, just hanging there from the rafters, I don't know who she is but it felt like she was someone very important. Someone that should not have died." Elicia's eyes widened. It worked. Not only had she performed her alchemy and put it in two different locations but she had put it in two different times. This could work. She could save them. She could save everyone! "Thank you Mrs. Malarie, you've checked out quite well, your husband is awaiting you in the waiting room. I'll take you to him." The woman got up shakily off the bed and followed Elicia out to the waiting room.
The last days passed in a blur as she made her preparations. She had called out sick and it was about 1:00pm. She had the weekend off so if anything happened no one would be the wiser until Monday morning when she didn't show up to work. She worked quickly laying out the transmutation and going through her hastily scrawled notes from the days previous. This had to be perfect. She had one shot. The circle below her began to glow and once again she was teleported before the gate. The apparition simply nodded and stepped to the side, waving his hands and opening the gate before him. Once again she was ensconced in information, her head felt like it would explode but she couldn't be distracted. "Are you sure you want to do this?" The shadowy apparition asked. Elicia nodded as once again he placed his hands on her forehead then tossed something into the transmutation circle she had formed. She only hoped father's pseudo gate didn't intervene. She was sending everything and if he intercepted it she could be wiped clean; a living doll. There was a flash and another shadow beside her as everything went dark around her.
A/N: Next chapter marks the first real chapter where the story begins. It takes place before Hughes' death when Ed was just starting to realize his search for the philosopher's stone.
