Chapter 13: In Deep

Hospital in Central

Aang and Ed we're now explaining to Al, Zuko, Sokka, Toph, Armstrong, and Hughes what happened inside the Fifth Laboratory, and their encounter with the two mysterious strangers. Appa and Momo we're just outside the window of the room.

"The last thing I remembered was this guy kicking me." Ed explained as he pointed to two crude drawings of Lust and Envy.

"And they didn't give you any names or anything?" Zuko asked.

"No, not really." Aang answered. "And they knew I was the Avatar."

"That's no surprise, the Avatar is pretty big news." Toph said

"It's odd that they allowed you two to live; and what about these 'sacrifices' and these other armored souls?" Armstrong asked.

"Well we know they we're slated for execution." Zuko began. "And from what Aang and Ed told us from the information they received from Slicer, their 'talents' we're recognized and they we're transformed into tin soldiers, literally."

"These Ouroboros Tattoos and the Transmutation circles are disturbing to." Hughes added. "And Dr. Marco claims they we're using the Philosopher's Stones in Ishval.

"You think that's disturbing, I don't know what those two 'people' we're back there, but they weren't human." Aang stated; that got everyone's attention.

"Not human?" Al and Sokka questioned.

"Twinkle Toes maybe onto something." Toph added, getting their attention. "I could feel these weird vibes in them, like… it's hard to describe but… they just didn't feel right."

"What do you mean when you say you, 'feel'?" Armstrong asked.

"I can 'see' with Earthbending." Toph began to explain, "It's kinda like seeing with my feet; I can feel the vibrations in the ground, and I can even feel a person's heart-rate and see if they're lying."

"So you felt they we're giving off a weird heart rate?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know what I felt, but it wasn't a heart." Toph answered. "Not a human one anyway."

"I could almost sense this, weird aura around them." Aang added.

"Weird aura?" Ed questioned.

"Like some kind of dark force, inside them. Something twisted, and evil. I… I don't know how to explain it either. But I know this for sure, those two we're not human beings." Aang responded.

"Every clue we have to work with seems to lead to it's own mystery." Armstrong said.

"It's like a giant puzzle, and we're completely lost on putting the pieces together." Zuko added.

"Not much we can do about that though." Hughes said.

"Yeah, anything helpful is now under a ton of rubble." Sokka stated; resulting in looks from Aang, Ed, Al, Zuko, and Toph that silently said 'don't remind us.'

Meanwhile Outside

Brosh had his ear against the door to the hospital room. "They are talking about some seriously crazy stuff in there."

Ross currently had her eyes closed and was plugging her ears. "You heard about the old cliché of how 'curiosity killed the cat' right? Well it's true." She stated, not wanting to get to involved in this.

Brosh then saw a certain someone walking towards them that made his face gain a look of shock and surprise. "Pardon me Lieutenant, I'm looking for Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist? And a young boy named Aang as well." The man said.

"Sure, this is his… I mean their ro..." She opened her eyes to the man and gave a light gasp.

In The Room

"I don't know about this 'evil' or 'dark aura' stuff, but I'll run a search and see if I can find any priors to anyone who had an Ouroboros Tattoo." Hughes said.

"Very good." Armstrong began. "And while you do that, I'll continue looking into the research team that was working with Dr. Macro in Ishval."

They heard a knock on the door, it opened, and the man who was once inside came in. "Sorry to interrupt."

Zuko, Ed, Hughes, and Armstrong all paled at the man.

"F.. F.. Fuerer Bradley!" Armstrong stuttered as he and Hughes quickly saluted and Zuko tried to stand upright.

"Uh… who's this guy?" Sokka questioned.

"I don't know, but he must be pretty important to make all these guys' hearts stop." Toph said with an amused grin.

"Guys!" Zuko lightly whispered. "That's Fuerer King Bradley! He's the leader of Amestris!"

Sokka then immediately stood upright and did his best to look proper; where as Toph just maintained her casual demeanor.

"Yep, that sounds pretty important." She said.

Bradley raised his hand to calm the situation. "Calm down, gentleman. This is just an informal visit."

"Yes sir." Hughes replied. "But may I please ask the occasion, sir?"

Bradley stepped forward to the bed Aang and Ed we're currently sitting on; he took note of their injuries.

"These young men are quite injured. I thought a nice melon might cheer them up." He handed the two boys a basket with said melon in it.

"I guess…" Ed began as he slowly took the basket.

"Thank you sir!" Aang quickly thanked.

Bradley then turned to the other young man in the room. "You must be Fire Lord Zuko, I presume?"

"Uh, yes sir, that's me." The young Fire Lord answered.

Bradley then casually shook Zuko's hand, earning shocking expressions from Hughes, Sokka, and Armstrong. "It's a pleasure to met you, you're majesty." Bradley said with a casual smile.

"Thank you… sir." Zuko replied. "Same here."

He then turned back to his subordinates. "I understand that you have been checking up on some of the senior staff, is this true Major Armstrong?"

"Uh yes… sir… but uh… how did you know I was…"

"You should know that nothing gets past me, Major." Bradley then turned to Ed and Aang. "And you, young Alchemist, and Avatar, tell me what you know about the Philosopher's Stone. And I hope for both your sakes, you don't know too much."

Ed and Aang both paled. Sokka, Al, Zuko, Armstrong, and Hughes all looked somewhat worried, and Toph was ready to do some crazy Earthbending if things got out of hand. But surprisingly, King Bradley actually started laughing.

"I'm only kidding, there's no reason for you to be so uptight." Bradley eased; resulting in Ed and Aang taking huge sighs, and Sokka, Al, and Toph both comically falling backwards. Something though caught Aang's attention.

"Wait, how'd you know I was the Avatar?" Aang asked.

"Oh, you know what they say, news travels fast and the news of the Hundred Years War ending traveled quicker than a bullet." Bradley responded.

"I know that there's been some suspicious activity within the military lately, and I believe it's necessary for something to be done about it." He said as he picked up some of the papers.

"Finally! A king who gets right down to business. No offense." Toph stated.

Zuko sighed and said, "None taken."

Bradley looked at papers in his hand. "A list of research team assigned to study the Philosopher's Stone. Every person listed in this document has been reported missing."

That got the group's attention.

"Missing?" Sokka questioned.

"Guess whoever's behind this is making sure to cover their tracks." Zuko said.

"They all vanished several days before the Fifth Laboratory collapsed. It seems the enemy is always one step ahead of us. Even with my vast network of informants, I have no way of knowing how far deep our ranks have been infiltrated. The most we know about them is that they know a lot about us." Bradley explained.

"Man, this bigger than even I thought." Toph said.

"Major Armstrong, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, Elric Brothers, Fire Lord Zuko, Avatar Aang; you have all proven yourself to be men of trustworthy character. From this point forward, I am highly urging you to forget this matter and all that it concerns." That earned surprised looks from everyone present. "At this point, suspicion is our best offense, and our only form of defense is discretion. Do not trust anyone. Keep this to yourselves at all costs. However, when I deem the time is right to confront the enemy, I expect you to prepare to join me in the effort."

"Sir!" Hughes and Armstrong confirmed with a salute.

"Don't worry, your majesty; Team Avatar is on the case!" Sokka stated with confidence.

"Where is he?! Is Fuerer Bradley in here?!" A man from outside questioned.

"Gotta go!" Bradley said to everyone. "Damn body guard thinks he's my shadow." He began to walk towards the window. Everyone looked as they saw Fuerer Bradley climb up the window. "You see, I snuck away to get a few minutes of privacy. Well, farewell for now."

He jumped out the window and began to walk away, but not before walking past Appa and giving the Sky Bison a pat on the head, and a scratch behind Momo's ear.

Katara and Winry then walked in the room.

"Hey we're back!" Katara said, but the two girls noted everyone's looks; all but Toph had sweaty and nervous expressions on their faces.

"What's going on? Did we miss something?" Winry asked

"Oh nothing really…" Sokka began.

"Just a tornado passing through." Ed finished.

"And by that we mean Mr. Head-Honcho just stopped in." Toph said casually like it was nothing.

"Well, don't know what we can do about that." Katara began. "But all our stuff is packed up."

"Just in time." Ed replied.

"You kids are sure on the move." Armstrong observed.

"Well, two days of standing and doing nothing is enough for us, thanks." Toph said.

"Where are you guys heading off to this time?" Hughes asked.

"A place called Dublith." Zuko answered.

"Yep." Ed continued. "With the way things have been going, Al and I thought it might be best to go back and visit our old teacher."

Al's armored body began to shake. "I think I'm too scared brother." Al and Ed immediately took hands as they both had comic looks of fear.

"There's no way she's not gonna kill us!"

"Look, don't you chicken out on me now, I'm scared too! Okay?" Ed said as he and Al both sweated profusely.

Katara, Winry, Zuko, Aang, and Sokka all sweat dropped.

"What exactly does this person teach?" Sokka questioned.

"I like her already." Toph said with an amused grin.

"It appears you all have a long journey ahead of you." Armstrong said.

"Where exactly is Dublith anyway?" Katara asked.

Al then took out a map. "Well, let's see… there it is." He pointed to the southern region. "All the way down here."

Winry soon noticed something on the map that made her scream in excitement.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"That! Right before Dublith!" Winry pointed to the map. She then had a joyous expression on her face. "It's the Holy Land of Automail Engineering! It's Rush Valley!" Winry then had sparkles in her eyes as she waved her arms frantically. "We have to go! We have to go! We have to go! You have to take me!"

"Whatever. I don't have to take you anywhere." Ed dismissed.

"Somebody has to pay for my travel fair!" Winry stated.

"Why do we have to take you with us? We don't need another girl slowing us down." Sokka stated.

*BANG!*

"What was that?!" Winry asked as she held her wrench.

Sokka was lying flat on the ground with X's for eyes and a ghost coming out of his mouth.

"Come on guys, what's the big deal? It's on our way." Al said.

"Only if you want to Al." Ed finally accepted, turning around with crossed arms. Resulting in Winry cheering.

"I better go buy the train tickets!" Winry said in excitement.

"Why would we take a train?" Aang asked with a goofy grin as he gestured to the window, where Appa walked by and gave a light groan.

"She'll make you a fine wife someday." Hughes said to Ed as he put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't start that again!" Ed grumbled.

"Aw, you two are meant for each other." Toph teased.

"Shut up Toph!" Ed yelled.

"I rather talk about my wife anyway." Hughes said with his own goofy smile.

"What else is new?" Zuko said with a playful eye roll.

Hughes Residence

"It's time for bye-bye! Daddy's gotta go to work now." Hughes said to his daughter.

"Daddy! Come home early today okay?" Elisia asked.

"Hmm. Well I can try, but Daddy's got a lot of important work he's gotta get done." He then squeezed her cheeks a little bit. "But I promise to do it as fast as possible!"

Elisia giggled. "That tickles Daddy!"

Gracia then gave a warm smile. "Alright, don't be late now." She told her husband.

"Well; Winry, Katara, Toph; I probably won't see you three before you all head out, but it's been fun. Oh and tell all the boys I said goodbye."

"Thanks Mr. Hughes." Winry thanked.

"We really appreciate all the hospitality." Katara thanked as well.

"Yeah thanks for the roof and the food four-eyes." Toph thanked as well before punching Hughes in the arm; he gave an amused smile as he rubbed his sore arm.

"That's quite a punch there, young lady." Hughes teased. "All of you are welcome here anytime you're in Central. That goes for Zuko, Aang, and Sokka too. Our home is your home too. Till then, take care of yourselves. Bye!"

"Work hard Daddy! Bye-bye!" Elisia waved to her father.

"You be safe out there." Gracia told her husband.

Half An Hour Later

Winry gave a light yelp as Appa took off into the air. Aang was at the reins on Appa's head; while Ed, Zuko, Al, Winry, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo, and all there packed stuff was in the large saddle.

As Appa took off; Armstrong, Brosh, and Ross saluted, while Elisia and Gracia both waved.

Winry was breathing in and out quite deeply and fast.

"First time flying?" Toph asked.

"It's exciting, and scary at the same time!" Winry replied.

"Yeah, I hate it too." Toph replied back.

"Don't worry Winy, you'll get the hang of it." Aang assured.

It wasn't long before the group was soaring above the clouds.

"Why is it so important to see your old teacher again?" Sokka asked

"Well, there are a couple of reasons." Ed began. "For starters, I'm tired of getting my ass kicked."

"Wait, is this some kind of combat teacher? Why don't you just quit fighting?" Winry asked.

"Oh, that be nice. But sorry, it's not that easy." Ed stated.

"I second that." Aang said in agreement. "I usually opt for the more peaceful route, but even I have to admit, there's just no way out of a fight sometimes."

"This isn't just about fighting. Our core needs a little work too." Ed said.

"What do you mean by that?" Zuko asked.

"We feel like seeing our teacher will make us grow and be stronger on the inside." Al explained.

"I can understand that." Katara said in agreement, knowing the importance about having a master, thinking of Pakku.

"So what's the other reason?" Toph asked.

"To see what she knows about the Philosopher's Stone." Ed answered.

"She's an Alchemist?" Zuko asked.

"Yep." Al answered. "We also want to ask her about the 'Truth within the Truth'. We haven't gotten any closer to figuring it out. There's a chance our teacher knows something about it."

"Let's hope she at least gives us a chance to ask her." Ed began. "You should be more worried about explaining your appearance to her Al." His mood began to grimace. "Considering… considering… not to mention Zuko…"

"She's gonna kill us!" Ed explained as comedic tears came from him and Al.

"It would have been nice to have had a girlfriend before I died." Al whined.

Everyone, on the bison, and maybe even the bison itself, sweat dropped at this.

"Maybe you guys should get a new teacher." Katara said.

Something was on Winry's mind that she wanted to ask. She turned to Zuko. "So, you have a sister?"

Everyone's expressions grimed at that question.

"Yeah…" Zuko replied. "It's a little complicated."

"How so?" Winry asked.

Katara sighed. "Well it's a long ride, so maybe we should explain the whole story so you understand it. You see, it all started when my brother and I we're fishing back home…"

Later That Night, At Central

"Riots in Liore?" Hughes questioned as he read the newspaper containing the details.

"Yes." One of his subordinates began. "It was in response to that sham religion that was praying on the towns people; they finally realized they we're being suckered."

"Yeah; Ishval and Liore, the East has been a real hotbed huh?" Hughes observed.
Sheska was with them; quite exhausted as she lay on the desk with a ghost coming out of her.

"I'm afraid it's not just the East. There have been reports of uprisings in the North and West as well."

"The bodies are pilling up all over. The government is going to have a hard time keeping control at this rate; not to mention that war between the

Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom as well as the Water Tribes that's been going on for a hundred years ended just recently." Hughes said, but something came to mind that made him look serious.

Hughes quickly stood up and then made his way to the door.

"Colonel Hughes? Is something wrong?"

"I'll be in the archive room."

Archive Room

Hughes had a large map of Amestris laid out in front of him. He even took out an old map, which was in the very back of the room. He unfolded it and blew all the dust away; revealing the Four Nations on the other side of the planet.

"Liore…" He listed to himself as he circled the locations on the Amestris map. "…These endless uprisings, the Philosopher's Stone, human sacrifices, and the outright genocide of the Ishvalan people… wait a minute."

Hughes then looked at the old map of the Four Nations. "The Air Nomads we're also whipped out… not to mention all these major battles…" He looked at both maps and honestly could not believe what he was seeing.

"H… H… How could this even happen?! And who could have orchestrated something as terrible as this?! I've got to tell the Fuerer right away."

The door was suddenly closed, leaving him trapped in the room.

"Hello Lieutenant Colonel." Lust greeted. "It's nice to meet you; well actually, 'hello' isn't really the word I'm looking for." She brandished her claws.

Hughes backed up as Lust slowly walked towards him. He then noticed a certain mark just below her neck.

"Cool tattoo you got there." He said, observing her Ouroboros Tattoo.

"Those are your last words? Wouldn't you rather scream?" Lust teased before extending her claws forward, just as Hughes quickly pulled a dagger from his back and threw it at Lust's head, just as a blade pierced through his right shoulder.

Hughes then struggled out of the Archive Room. He fell to the ground and his body shook in pain as he gripped is bleeding shoulder. He got up and struggled to walk forward.

"Damn it!" Hughes grunted.

As he walked away from the Archive room; Lust pulled the dagger out of her head.

"'Damn it'? That's exactly how I feel."

Phone Room

The secretary turned around and saw Hughes as a smile formed on her face. "Oh my, you're back again already, who gets to hear about your daughter this ti…" she then gasped as she saw his wound. "Lieutenant Colonel! You're bleeding!"

"It's nothing!" He dismissed as he limped to a phone. "I need a private line." He picked up a phone. "I have to tell him." But something came to his mind that made him put the phone back down. He then began to limp away.

"Sorry, forget I was here." He told the secretary.

"But sir!"

Park Phone Booth

Hughes was outside, now on the phone in a booth.

"Good evening. Eastern Command."

"I need you to connect me to Colonel Mustang right away." Hughes told the receptionist on the other side of the line.

"I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to connect from an outside line."

"You are speaking to Lieutenant Colonel Hughes! This is a matter of life and death!"

"Can I have your code please?"

"What?! Are you trying to waste time?!" Hughes took out his book, not noticing a picture of him and his family fell out as he opened it. "It's Uncle, Sugar, Oliver, than 8, 0, 0!"

"Your code was verified. Please hold while I connect you."

"Will you hurry?! This is an emergency!"

He heard a gun click behind him and looked behind to see a woman who looked near identical to Ross point a pistol at him.

"I need to ask you to put down the receiver. Please sir." The woman said. "Go on, just hang it up."

"You look just like…" a knowing smile formed on his face. "But you're not. Who the hell are you lady?"

"I'm Second-Lieutenant Ross sir, you've lost too much blood."

"Drop the act already." Hughes said. "You're not Second-Lieutenant Ross. She has a mole under her left eye."

Envy actually looked surprised before smiling. "You're observant." He said in his true voice. "I can't believe I forgot." He placed a finger under the left eye, and with a spark of red electricity, a mole was formed. "There, how do I look now?"

Hughes was shocked at what just happened. "This is not happening. Please tell me I'm hallucinating or something." He said as he turned away in disbelieve.

"You really are a smart man Lieutenant Colonel, did you ever think that be the cause of your death?"

"Come on, have a heart, will ya? I've got a wife and daughter waiting for me. So the last thing I'm gonna do…" he let a knife fall from his sleeve into his hand. "..Is die on them!"

Hughes turned around ready to throw the knife but stopped. Envy now bore the appearance of his wife before a sinister smile formed on his face.

"You look surprised."

Hughes' expression was filled with shock, confusion, and horror. "What the hell are you?!"

*Bang*

Eastern Command; Mustang's Office

Mustang picked up the ringing phone.

"There is a Lieutenant Colonel Hughes on hold for you, he claims it's urgent." The receptionist said.

"Of course he does, put him through." Mustang said with a sigh before he was put through. "Look Hughes, I don't have time for daughter stories."

He was somewhat surprised when he didn't hear a response.

"Hey, Hughes…"

Phone Booth

The bloodied receiver dangled as Mustang tried to call him on the other side of the line.

"Hughes, you okay? Hughes!"

Hughes tried to reach and grab the receiver, but Envy already picked it up and hung it up. He then looked down at the near-dead Hughes with a grin.

"First that Water Tribe girl's mother, and now you. You humans don't make any sense to me, you throw away your lives for nothing." Envy then vanished.

Hughes laid there as blood began to spread over the phone booth.

"Gracia… I'm so sorry. Elisia… remember that Daddy loves you… I'm sorry…" those we're the last words of Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes.

The Next Day

Team Avatar, along with Winry, continued their flight on Appa. They spent the whole day yesterday telling Winry about everything that happened in the Four Nations; Aang being the Avatar, all the fights, beating Ozai, and finally Azula. At first, Winry resented her for tormenting Zuko and trying to kill Aang and the others, but then felt sorry for her as the whole situation about her's, Zuko's, Ed's, and Al's shared mother was explained; but she did have a great contempt for Ozai now, and was glad that he was locked away.

"Oh man! This is hands down, the best apple pie ever!" Ed said as he; as well as the rest of Team Avatar munched down on the pie that Mrs.

Hughes gave Winry, Katara, and Toph before they left.

"It's not meat. But it is so good!" Sokka muffled with his mouth stuffed.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Katara told him.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Zuko said with a grin as he ate his piece as well.

"Remind me to thank Mrs. Hughes the next time we see her." Aang said as he ate his piece on Appa's reins, and even gave some to Momo and to Appa.

"She really is really a great cook." Winry stated.

"And that, what did you guys call it again?" Toph asked.

"Quiche?" Ed replied.

"Yeah, that's it." Toph stated. "That was also pretty damn good."

"Yeah, I actually wrote the quiche down on a list of things to eat when I have a mouth again." Al said.

"And when that happens, I got so many meats to introduce you to buddy." Sokka said with a wide grin.

"Is there anything you eat besides meat?" Ed asked.

"Not really; meat is so tasty. I can't go a day without meat." Sokka replied.

"Guess that explains why you're such a meat head all the time." Winry cracked.

"I second that." Katara agreed as the two girls laughed; while Zuko, and Ed gave smiles and Sokka just looked unimpressed.

"Very funny." He dulled sarcastically.

"It was very nice staying with them; they we're really great people." Katara said. "And little Elisia was just so cute."

"Yeah, but Hughes is obnoxious." Ed said. "He doesn't know when to shut up and he spoils his daughter rotten."

"Well, he did come to see us when we we're in the hospital." Aang pointed out.

"Yep, every damn day." Ed replied.

"And he welcomed us with open arms." Zuko recalled. "He always made it his job to keep an eye on his."

"He was the nicest guy we met in Amestris." Aang stated. "I mean, Colonel Mustang is a little intimidating, and I'm not exactly fond of the part he played in the 'war for extermination'…"

"…Not to mention he's a huge womanizer." Ed added.

"Plus Hawkeye was intimidating herself." Aang continued "And Major Armstrong…"

"He's awesome! Are you kidding me! He's a major bad-ass!" Toph cheered. "But yeah, Hughes was really cool too."

"We should thank him the next time we see him again." Sokka suggested.

"Good idea." Al agreed.

Central

Multiple pallbearers carried a coffin that held Hughes' body, with an Amestrian flag draped over it, through the cemetery. It was placed in the ground; everyone present wore black, even the soldiers' uniforms we're black.

Attending the funeral we're Mustang, Armstrong, Hawkeye, multiple officers, Hughes' family, other people who knew him, even Fuerer King Bradley himself. Armstrong had tears flowing down his face, and Bradley held a sheathed sword by the handle and the tip on the ground. Gracia had a handkerchief near her face while little Elisia held her mother's hand.

Multiple officers shot in the air as part of the gun salute.

The soldiers then began to bury the coffin.

"Mommy? Why are they putting all that dirt on Daddy?" Elisia asked as she gripped her mother's hand tighter.

"They're burying him dear." Gracia answered.

"But if Daddy gets buried, then he won't be able to do all his work."

Elisia's statement made Gracia cry even harder as she picked up her daughter and held her.

"Daddy said he has a bunch of work he needs to do!" Elisia cried; resulting in Armstrong putting a hand to his eyes as tears flowed down. "No stop it! Stop putting dirt on him!" Bradley's hands we're shaking as she cried out. "Daddy!"

As the sun began to set; the only one still present at Hughes' grave was Mustang.

"Promoted to Brigadier General, just for dying in the line of duty. You we're supposed to help me work my way up through the ranks; you got it all backwards. You damn crazy fool."

"Colonel?"

Hawkeye stepped up to Mustang's side.

"Alchemists as a whole, we really are horrible creatures, aren't we?" Mustang began. "There's a side of me that's desperately trying to crack the theories of human transmutation right now. I think I understand what drove those boys when they tried to bring back their mother."

Riza looked at Roy with concern "Are you alright Colonel?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said as he put his hat back on. "Except, it's a terrible day for rain."

Riza looked around at the clear sky. "What do you mean? It's not raining."

Roy looked up. "Yes it is." He said as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Riza understood. "Oh, so it is. Why don't we head back? It's getting chilly out here."

Central Office

A subordinate of Hughes led Mustang down the hall.

"He said he'd be in the archive room and then he just left." He began to move away the lines that closed off the archive room. "He had this look, like he realized something terrible."

The door was opened.

"So he must have been attacked in here." Mustang deduced.

"Looks like it."

They took note of the small trail of blood droplets on the floor.

"He left a trail of blood, it leads all the way down the hall. Apparently, he was heading towards the phone room."

Phone Room

"He was hurt…" The Secretary explained as she shed some tears. "And he said he needed to call someone. But then, he just walked out instead, he didn't even dial a number."

Park

Mustang walked to the sealed off phone booth where Hughes died.

"He obviously picked up on something big. He was going to call from the office, but something occurred to him so he used an outside line. The code he gave the operator is only supposed to be used for military emergencies. So what was it? What the hell was he trying to tell me?" Mustang thought to himself.

"Colonel?" Hawkeye spoke up as she arrived, getting Mustang's attention. "I found Major Armstrong as you asked me to." She gestured over to him as he saluted to Mustang.

"We have a strong lead on some potential suspects on the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." Armstrong began to explain.

"Then why aren't you hunting them down right now?" Mustang questioned.

"We are confident we know who committed the crime, but we are unsure of their identities." Armstrong replied.

"That doesn't make sense Major, clarify for me." Mustang ordered.

Armstrong slightly looked away. "I'm afraid I cannot."

"I am telling you as your commanding officer! You are disobeying a direct order Major!" Mustang exclaimed.

"I cannot tell you." Armstrong replied.

After a few seconds; Mustang appeared to calm down. "Fair enough." He said, earning a surprised look from Hawkeye. "I apologize for my tone, you're dismissed."

"Sir!" Armstrong saluted before walking away, but stopped. "Actually… Sir, there is another matter I've neglected to mention. The Elric Brothers, as well as the Avatar, and their friends, we're recently here. They only departed a couple of days ago."

"They we're here in Central?" Mustang asked.

"Yes sir, for a number of days." Armstrong confirmed.

"And did they manage to find whatever they we're looking for?" Mustang asked as well.

"No sir. That would be rather difficult as they are pursuing a legend. But then again, the Avatar is quite legendary himself." Armstrong replied.

"Is that so? Well thanks for your help." Mustang thanked with a knowing smile. Armstrong then walked away.

"So, I guess he wasn't as helpful to us as we hopped." Hawkeye stated.

"But not a waste of our time; he was more helpful than he meant to be." Mustang began. "He said they had a strong lead, singular tense, on a few suspects, multiple suspects. Which leads me to believe they suspect a group is responsible. And his obstinate refusal to talk, even though I ordered him to, can only mean there's an officer above me that's ordered him to keep quiet, most likely, someone of senior ranking. The last clue, was that he happened to mention the Elric Brothers and the Avatar; they we're researching the Philosopher's Stone."

Hawkeye gave a light gasp. "I hate to see it, but it sounds to me like there may be some sort of conspiracy going on here. But how does it all tie together?"

"That's the big question." Mustang said. "But Hughes, I'd say he deserves an answer. Once I transfer to Central, I'm going to start shaking things up until I find one."

"That doesn't sound like you to mix up your public and personal concerns." Hawkeye noted.

"There's no difference between the two." Mustang replied. "I will become the Fuerer of this country, and I will take vengeance for Hughes. I will do these things because I have to do them. I'm going after the senior staff, are you with me Lieutenant?"

"Do you even have to ask?"