Disclaimer in previous chapter. Please see Author's Notes at the end.

- x -

The Blue Room was so labeled because its color scheme was a very soothing set of light blues and whites, accented here and there with the deep navy of the Amestrian military uniforms. One such accent was seated at the oblong conference table.

Everything about the General complimented the room. His stripes and ribbons added a slight air of warmth to the otherwise cool colors, his short-cropped hair was long silvered, even his eyes were a blue so diluted it appeared grey. He sat very straight-backed in the seat, though he suspected this was because Hakuro heard the door opening, and while he did not stand as his Prime Minister entered the room, he coolly inclined his head.

There was no doubt he would have looked better sitting in the seat at the end of the table. Older, distinguished, serious and direct.

But the job required more than looks. His capabilities were limited but could be put to good use. It was one of the only reasons he still had the position he enjoyed. That and it would look tacky, even this far after the elections, to demote the decorated general. He was sure fully one-quarter of the goldcoats in the House would immediately veto anything he put before Parliament if anything were to happen to the more-than-occasionally contrary officer.

Mustang gave an equally cold nod in return, dropping the meeting notes carelessly at the head of the table and taking his designated seat. It was generally considered good manners not to sit directly next to the Prime Minister if having a one-on-one meeting, though he'd never figured out why. Hakuro had left the required empty seat, though Roy was not fooled; what courtesy the general showed him was usually meant to be mocking.

General Hakuro had a long memory, and they'd butted heads too many times. Mustang's reinstatement with promotion after the Thule Invasion had pretty concretely solidified the man's dislike for him and truthfully Roy hadn't been that concerned about mending that bridge. After the election, they'd settled for this . . . truce. Which they'd been keeping to pretty well, so long as neither stepped over the line.

And they'd stick with it, likely for another year at least. Until the re-election date was scheduled, at any rate. That was why Hakuro was predictable; he wouldn't do anything to risk the country, but he was largely an uncreative man who was exceptionally good at following orders.

Even his.

"I assume you've not actually reviewed that," the general began, nodding his chin to indicate the sheet of paper peeking out from between the edges of the manila folder. Roy looked at him steadily.

"Should I have? You don't usually waste my time."

The general leaned back in the seat, a sure sign he felt he had the high ground. Perhaps he should have read the outline. "In this case, I've saved a significant amount of it." He had two folders sitting on the table beside him, and he put his fingertips on one, sliding it across the table. "Let me get to the point, Minister. You're moving too slowly and not aggressively enough in the search for the informant or informants that are obviously providing intelligence to your enemies. I took the liberty of speaking to Parliament on your behalf, and these are the results of that preliminary investigation."

Mustang narrowed his eyes slightly but accepted the folder silently. The first page, a summary of the half-inch thick stack of reports below, confirmed the general's words.

Hakuro had met with Parliament and been granted permission to carry forth investigations on Mustang's staff, all military personnel with the required security clearance, Parliament members, and the National Alchemists.

He read it several times, making sure he wasn't misunderstanding. Parliament – including the Speaker, he would have had to have been included for this to have been authorized – had met with the head of the military. Without his knowledge. Weeks ago, if the date on the document was any indication.

And had only resulted in an investigation . . . ? Why would Hakuro tip his hand if this was all he had? Why reveal that he had the power to call Parliament and keep it from him and his staff if this was all that had come of it?

Or perhaps he didn't have a choice?

Was this investigation Hakuro's purpose for calling that meeting, or was it merely the result of some other request? Why had the general approached them in the first place? He had enough authority – and permission – to conduct thorough investigations on his own.

Of course, that list included people higher up than the general was. Ranking officials not in the military. And the National Alchemists, over which he had no jurisdiction. But then why not just come to him for that permission?

Not allowing his expression to slip, Roy flipped to the second page, which began an exhaustive list of names of military officers that required further investigation, and the general took that as a signal that he should continue.

"I apologize for keeping you in the dark," he started blandly, "but I felt it necessary and the Speaker agreed. Internal investigation of your people was headed up by Major Heymans Breda."

Mustang glanced up, allowing his displeasure to show. That made sense; of all his personal staff, Fuery and Breda were the least busy. But that was for a very good reason. "The major was to be kept to light duty only-"

"Most of these investigations were done at a desk. Reviewing timecards and security logs. Nothing too strenuous."

Roy dropped the pages back to the stack, clasping his hands and folding them neatly over the report. Going over lists of names was a waste of time at this point. So was yelling and screaming. What was done was done. At least he knew about it now. Hopefully the investigation had been focused around their whereabouts during the assassination attempts, and not their activities prior. "And did you find anything of interest?"

"We did." Hakuro opened the second folder, which did not, as Mustang had guessed, contain a duplicate report. It seemed to contain copies of personnel files. He flipped through until he came to a paperclipped set of pages, and he pulled them. "Given the last attempt, which was a poisoning that was successful despite a deviation from your planned agenda for the day, we determined an informant would likely have to have been in your personal staff, have access to your personal staff, or have a connection to the Academy you visited."

Which was perfectly logical, if the poisoning had been an assassination attempt.

Which it hadn't been.

For the second time in an hour, he found himself having the urge to strangle Edward Elric. "This is the same conclusion my security detail arrived at. Is there anything of use you have to report?"

The general gave him a dry look. "Outside of certain discrepancies with your statement concerning the events surrounding Johann and Craege Irving's attack on the city?"

Damn.

"And what would those discrepancies be?" He'd been in the hospital room when Edward had created a statement out of thin air, which meant his own description of the day's events had been the same. Which was, unfortunately, a lie. That he repeated, multiple times, to Parliament, investigational committees, and the general. He had been unconscious when Hawkeye had eventually awoken, but she'd always been quick on her feet, and without any prompting from anyone had claimed she didn't remember anything after leaving Edward's class. She omitted the letter altogether.

This had led the main investigational committee to assume the poison had been in the Academy, which in turn had led to the Academy being shut down for several days while an exhaustive testing had been completed. Alphonse Elric had been especially helpful during that process, hypothesizing that it could have been something broken down by light, by oxygen, or even by time itself to dissolve harmlessly, thus the reason no one else was poisoned. This was backed up by Russell Tringum. The investigators had had no choice but to report that they were unable to find any poison, and listed the two accomplished alchemists' explanations as the likely cause of this failure.

In reality, Falman had been quick enough to retrieve both the letter from Irving and his jacket from Edward's car prior to anyone finding it. Roy had ordered the man to destroy it even as he'd slipped on the jacket and hurried out to the publishing house, and been assured when he'd woken later that week that there was no other evidence remaining.

So the only discrepancy Hakuro could have found was that there was no evidence of the supposed 'Drachmans' that had kidnapped them in the first place, besides their injuries. That and some letters Edward claimed he'd gotten from Craege Irving. Edward had later forged one letter, saying he'd forgotten to keep it with the others that had presumably been lost or stolen when he abandoned his car. The lack of applications was explained away by Edward, though he supposed the Academy's secretary could have testified that she never recalled seeing them. At most it was circumstantial, but if he'd put enough of the pieces together . . .

"It is my belief Edward Elric was lying," the general replied. "Your continued lack of interest with any leads found from that attempt on your life seem to support my hypothesis."

Mustang quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Hakuro sighed. "His lie stood up rather well to inquiry, thanks to the timely amnesia Colonel Hawkeye suffered as a result. Your willingness to parrot such nonsense also helped it tremendously." He glanced back down at the report. "Frankly, so long as it continues to survive scrutiny I have no choice but to continue to act as if it is fact. But due to my . . . lack of faith, you might say, I chose to overlook that attempt and concentrate on two attempts after you took office."

Mustang stared at him flatly for a moment. Where was Hakuro going with this . . . ? "You just said the conclusions reached in this report were based on information gathered from that day."

"That report, yes," he agreed. "I submitted it to the Speaker this morning during your meeting with the Drachmans." He tapped the folder in front of him. "This one contains a much more narrowed list. I am informing you of this at this time because I will need to complete exhaustive investigations on several of your most trusted staff, and I require your cooperation."

He finally picked up the paperclipped report, sliding it over to Roy, who immediately picked it up. The first personnel sheet was Sergeant Sheska. He flipped to the second. Fuery. Havoc. Patterson. Even Brooks, one of the bodyguards he'd swiped from the Speaker.

He was less than a quarter through the pile.

Had this research come from Breda, or was he under investigation as well? It was fully possible Hakuro was taking this all the way back to the uranium bomb incident, since the first attempts on his life had been before he'd even taken office. In which case he could easily figure out why Havoc, Fuery, and Dr. Patterson were on the list. Sheska had probably sent up a warning flag because she'd identified some of the real evidence they had so quickly. Brooks was a more recent addition, and as the Speaker's bodyguard he would have been standing in most of the otherwise closed meetings.

But he worked so closely with Goodman, Roy couldn't believe one was dirty without the other knowing. They'd been a team since the day they'd been selected to watch the Speaker, which had been just after the Thule invasion, when Parliament had really taken control. It had been extremely difficult to pry them away, but given the near success of the 'assassination' attempt that was the Irvings, the Speaker had had no choice. And he hadn't even considered trying to split them up, which told Roy they really worked best together as a team.

He continued flipping through the reports to see if Goodman was also on the list, but his hand froze as the next name jumped off the page.

Russell Tringum.

Hakuro had obviously noted his sudden stillness, because he started talking again. "It also contains several suspect National Alchemists, as you can see."

He brought his eyes back up to watch the general, trying to judge his expression. It was . . . guarded. Obviously Hakuro didn't know how he was going to react to this.

And just what the hell was this? Had Hakuro made some kind of play to get the State Alchemists out from under him? Taking control of them would prevent him from using them without approval from Parliament, and also prevent him from keeping his promise to keep them off the front lines. Despite their precarious political position, if he had the National Alchemists Hakuro could move forward with his plan to make war on Drachma.

How the hell had he pulled this off without anyone knowing? Obviously Hakuro had ordered Breda's silence, but couldn't the man have given the rest of them some kind of clue? Or was he so angry about being kept on light duty . . . ? Heymans wasn't the type to hold a grudge like that.

Had he threatened Breda with something? Medical discharge, maybe? Surely Heymans trusted him enough to know he'd never let it happen.

"Tringum? Surely you're not serious." He felt like he was right back in the previous meeting, testing an enemy's position.

The general seemed to relax a little, as if he'd been expecting a shout. "There are others. Morris, Sorn, and of course Edward Elric."

Roy let the reports fan through his fingers back to the folder, staring at Hakuro. "He wasn't even on the planet when the first attempt was made-"

The general inclined his head. "I'm not sure I believe that story either, but I do accept he wasn't in the country at the time. And while many of his actions have been extremely suspect, I'm certain he would kill you personally if he were so inclined."

Mustang tapped the reports. "You truly believe these people could have served as informants?" How was he justifying this list? Who in their right mind would think Russell Tringum was trying to kill him? Or helping someone else get rid of him? Tringum was ecstatic about the Academy and the path the State Alchemists were taking. Things couldn't have worked out better for the Tringum brothers if they'd mail-ordered them.

He, too, could be on this list for the assistance he rendered during the election. Or possibly because he'd been involved with the creation of Irving's crystal . . . ?

The general didn't respond for a moment. "If I am understanding things correctly, the poisoning of you and your chief of security was not related to this. But the fact is, someone is trying to topple this government. You continue to insist it is not the Drachmans when every shred of evidence we have points to them. If you refuse to provide some sort of explanation for your belief, there is no choice but to pursue the evidence."

. . . did Hakuro seriously think he was dealing under the table with Tolya? Mustang leaned forward despite himself. "That choice is mine-"

"That choice will be taken from you if you do not act," the general interrupted sternly. "You cannot continue merely calling together committees and shuffling troops around the country. If you're that certain it's not Tolya's doing, that doesn't mean a faction within Drachma isn't responsible."

Mustang bit off his retort with a thinning of his lips. That was true; there was nothing saying someone wasn't actually trying to get rid of the current Supreme Commander. In fact, that could explain some of the quasi-supportive things the older man had said. But even if it was true, and he was certain the other leader had already launched his own investigations, they would have to wait either for Tolya to offer up some Drachmans – which was not going to happen – or they'd have to actually capture one alive and get a confession. One they believed.

And arguing with Hakuro here was pointless. They'd been around this circle enough times that he was certain they were equally sick of it.

"I can and will continue to pursue these investigations thoroughly," he said calmly. "As always, you have permission to continue your own investigations and I encourage them. But the choice of war is mine, and it will not be forced by outside influences until I am certain it is necessary."

Hakuro shook his head, expelling a sigh loudly through his nose. "You're damn lucky the Irvings happened when they did," he growled. "You have the people's wholehearted support and currently that's the only thing that's keeping you from being overruled. But winter is well on the way. If you put this off much longer, you're going to have mass losses from the climate alone –"

"I'm well aware." It would actually work to his favor, to use the oncoming winter as a reason to put off deploying troops to the far north. "Find the informant. Bring me something to change my mind. Otherwise, continue the border netting operations and hope the next one manages to stay alive long enough to tell us who hired him."

Hakuro glared, but gave a jerky nod. He knew an order when he heard one, and Mustang was rarely so heavy-handed with him. "Due to the investigations of the National Alchemists and some of the staff of the Academy, I will be increasing the military's presence in the academy for the duration of the investigation. I also need the academy's records and the cooperation of its director and his personnel."

Meaning Fullmetal.

"You'll have it." Hakuro had made it very plain that he could use any refusal as further fuel. He needed to determine just how much support Hakuro had before he did anything else. Hopefully the notes from the conversation earlier would loosen the noose around his throat a little.

"Speaking of which," the general added, almost smugly, "I feel obligated to inform you, if you weren't yet aware, that the court-martial for the Full Metal Alchemist Edward Elric's desertion from the military in 1915 is proceeding. He has been stripped of his military rank for the duration of the court-martial."

So Edward would have no authority to order the soldiers out of the academy even if he wanted to.

That was a pretty minor thing, all said, though the timing was a little suspect, since Edward had been back in Amestris nearly a year. He wondered if the general had been holding that court-martial up just for the chance to use it in this manner.

"Very well. Continue your investigation." He closed the folder, though he had no intentions of letting the general take it with him when he left. It would be given straight to Hawkeye, and from there, she would launch her own investigation. So long as she was able to get more information than Hakuro was, for better or worse, it would prove she was doing her job adequately to ensure his safety.

As for the rest of it . . . he could only hope Hakuro had little luck. There was almost no chance of him discovering what had been done to the bomb, even if he was using this excuse to investigate that more completely. But Ed's lie was much more flimsy, and if he could prove Mustang had lied to Parliament, repeatedly, the fact that he'd done it to hide a Philosopher's Stone would be moot compared to the political fallout. Parliament would never trust him again.

Though if the Speaker was meeting with Hakuro in an effort to work around him to make war on their neighbors, he wasn't sure he was ever going to trust either one of them again.

Hakuro stood and bowed, leaving the reports on the table and making his way to the door on the opposite side of the room.

- x -

It's been about two weeks now, but she's still limping pretty heavily. She won't let me look at it, and has been taking care to shut her door every time she goes into the bedroom or bathroom, so I haven't even gotten a peek.

He shook his head, hoping to banish the mental image of Winry sneaking around the Rockbell home, trying to catch Pinako in only her skivvies.

She'd been complaining about it in the past, but in that kind of grumbling way she does. I guess I just never thought she'd gotten this bad. I mean, I noticed that she shrank, so she's even shorter than you now – HAH! I can see that look from here! – but she's granny, you know? It's really hard watching her trying to hide it from me. I don't think she's getting any better.

Leaning back farther in his chair, he took his feet off the desk, letting them fall gracelessly to the floor. A familiar metallic ring continued to peal out long after the heavy thud of impact had died, and he glowered down at his left leg.

That was something they needed to fix. Since the 'automail' was hollow, merely a covering armor over his flesh leg, if he hit it just right it had a tendency to think that it was a badly-shaped church bell. It was one of the few giveaways; Winry and Pinako had done a really good job with this last one.

Just like they'd done a good job with the one before. And the arm before that, the one they molded into a safe.

It really was hard to think of Pinako getting old. Even if she'd flat-out told him, the last time he was sitting on her porch, that she was considering replacing her hip. He'd not given the comment a second thought, since it was coming from someone as formidable as the Rockbell woman, but now he wondered if she hadn't been dead serious.

And that she'd told him, but not mentioned a thing to Winry . . .

She couldn't seriously be thinking of replacing her hip with automail. For one, she'd probably have to lose her leg, as well. Otherwise there'd be two ports to fit and there'd have to be some way to get blood past the automail. For another, the rehab process would kill a woman her age. Even a Rockbell her age. She'd never survive to really use the limb the way it ought to be used.

And he knew she knew that. If she was frail enough that a simple fall had hurt her that badly –

He blinked. Then what the hell was she still doing in Resembool?!

Suddenly angry, he turned back to the letter. If the next paragraph wasn't Winry telling him when they were going to be in Central Station he was going to take a couple days off and get the battle-axe herself.

I don't think she's getting any better.

You know granny – she won't admit anything, she won't see the doctor here. I guess I don't really blame her. Jeffreis retired last year, and the partner that replaced him told the Martins that automail caused cancerous tumors to grow in the kidneys, since the blood ran so close to metal and carried it into the bloodstream. Which is complete shit! For one thing, it's steel! Maybe mixed with a little aluminum, but there's no evidence that any of that metal is being absorbed by the body! We've had customers who have had the same automail for twenty years (SOME people don't break theirs annually, or have it disintegrated, or mix alchemy-negating powder into it) and his limbs and ports showed no signs of degradation outside of normal wear and tear to the joint!

Honestly, what are they teaching people in medical school? Don't suppose you have any contacts there?

He just shook his head sadly at the letter. She knew he'd been a doctor in Germany, during his stay in the world beyond the Gate. But she didn't know what he'd used his knowledge to do. He hadn't even considered practicing or studying medicine here, and he certainly didn't have any university contacts. Hell, the only doctor he really knew was Patterson –

Patterson, who had contacts throughout Central's hospital systems. He wouldn't be a bad choice; he'd probably be happy to speak with Winry. Ed was pretty sure the doc remembered her, considering he'd actually let her observe his surgery only a few days after he'd returned through the Gate to Amestris.

In fact, why hadn't she thought of that? He'd probably be willing to make a house call, if Pinako couldn't take the train.

Anyway, sorry about the rant. I kind of need to ask you a favor. I was ho-

Beside his elbow, the phone jangled to life.

I was hoping you could give me the contact information fo-

It rang again, vigorously enough to almost knock the half-balanced receiver off its cradle. He was pretty sure he was the only one that had a phone this old and this loud, and he was pretty sure he knew why.

Rolling his eyes, he reached his flesh hand across the desk and picked it up. "Professor Elric speaking."

There was the briefest pause. "I do wish you'd include your first name in your introduction. It's very difficult to tell the two of you apart on the telephone."

He half-smiled, and his prepared smart-ass comment was stashed away for another time. "You don't often call me, colonel. Perhaps if we spoke more often it would be easier for you to tell the difference."

"I truly believe you have a phone-related allergy," the female voice on the other end retorted. "You do have a dialing device on yours, correct?"

Yes, so he could call as well. He just never really had a reason to ring up the Chief of Security for the Prime Minister. One, because she was busy, and two, because he might then have to speak with the Prime Minister.

"No, I had it removed," he replied. "Prime Minister Bastard isn't planning on crashing another one of my classes, is he?" Probably to gloat, now that he occasionally allowed transmutation as a teaching aide.

"I'm afraid not," she said formally, and he realized this was a business call. "General Hakuro will be stationing half a platoon in the Academy during an internal investigation of the State Alchemists and staff."

Half a platoon. That meant a squad and commanding lieutenant, at minimum. That was about ten privates and a couple support officers.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he snapped, before he could stop himself. "What are a dozen soldiers going to accomplish?" All the State Alchemists were, well, State Alchemists. The vast majority of them could eat a dozen Amestrian enlisted for breakfast. He didn't even need to ask what the general was investigating; Hakuro was looking for the informant that had poisoned the Prime Minister and Hawkeye when they'd visited the Academy almost six months ago. The one that didn't exist.

And she knew that.

"You are to give them full access to whatever they request, and to facilitate interviews with your staff," she continued calmly, as if she hadn't heard him. "This request for cooperation should come from you, rather than appearing a military order. Please make the announcement as soon as possible."

Edward Elric glared at the phone a moment. The alchemists had already been investigated once; the fact that he was coming back for round two either meant he'd found something, or he was certain there was something to find. And Ed knew damn well the general knew he'd been lying in his statement; though he'd never been able to explain where the supposed 'letters' from Craege Irving had gone, it hadn't really been pursued.

So was Hakuro trying to find proof that he'd lied, thus the Prime Minister had lied? Shitty timing, considering he knew the Drachman leader was in town, and Parliament was probably getting twisted bowel syndrome waiting for the outcome of those audiences.

"I really hate the general," he said aloud, to no one in particular.

"Not as much as you will in a few minutes," Hawkeye responded cryptically. "You have your orders, major."

He was opening his mouth to ask what that meant when the line went dead. Ed continued to glower at the phone a moment before he dropped the receiver back to the cradle. Damn. He only had about twenty minutes before class, and now he needed to script the announcement and make sure it was read on the overhead. Which meant disrupting the class, and since he had the alchemists next, rather than the physicists, that meant half the class period would be wasted with speculation.

The physicists were civilians, thus they'd be accepting of military interference because, well, it was the military. The alchemists all held the military rank of Major or higher, so they were a lot less likely to be impressed by some private demanding answers to a barrage of foolish questions.

Sighing irritably, he turned back to the letter in his hand.

I was hoping you could give me the contact information fo-

The knock on his door was so startlingly loud he was half-surprised the doorknob hadn't given. He knew that Alex Louis Armstrong was supposed to be back in town, which meant in class, but this couldn't have been him.

The door would have gone flying.

He stared at the letter a second more, intending to pretend he wasn't there, when whoever it was merely tried the handle. It wasn't locked; there was no point in locking doors around the Academy. All the students could bypass them, one way or the other. Few, however, were brave enough to simply barge into Edward Elric's office as if they owned the place.

And Al wouldn't have knocked to begin with.

The deep blue of an Amestrian uniform came into view, and Edward found himself on his feet before his brain made the decision to stand.

That was fast.

The soldier – a lieutenant, given his stripes – fully entered the room, spinning on his heels without a salute. Edward raised an eyebrow but didn't mention the slight. He honestly didn't care, though as a major he outranked the lieutenant. "Do you understand what a closed door means?"

The lieutenant forcefully thrust forward a large envelope. "I am here to serve your subpoena. Major Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist, is to report at 0900 hours on thirtieth of the month for a court-martial to face charges of contempt, desertion, and willfully disobeying a direct order."

So not related to the investigation. Edward stared at the envelope flatly, not taking it from the outstretched hand. "I'll admit to the charge of contempt. You're dismissed."

The lieutenant raised his chin. "Until such time as the court-martial releases its findings, you are hereby stripped of your military rank of Major. Your travel documents have also been suspended. Your ranking as a National Alchemist still stands."

Well, wasn't that convenient. A National Alchemist that couldn't order a soldier . . .

Which meant he couldn't order the soldiers Hakuro was sending to the Academy.

That was why they'd waited so long on the court-martial. Hakuro had simply been waiting for a good time to use it.

Edward suppressed a curse, instead opting for a quiet laugh. "Of course. Am I under house arrest as well, lieutenant?"

The officer continued to hold out the envelope. "If you refuse to accept your subpoena, you will be placed under full arrest."

Edward clasped his hands as if in thought, rather than clapping, then reached out for the envelope. Because of the more subtle bringing together of his hands, the lieutenant didn't make the connection, and never flinched. A brief flash of red alchemic light lit up the room, and then the envelope was flaking apart in the man's hands.

"I'm afraid I can't accept documents in this condition," Edward observed cheerfully to the suddenly-blanching lieutenant. "Could you possibly get another copy of them for me? You can deliver them to my secretary, as I will be teaching class later this afternoon."

It would probably take the lieutenant all day to get signatures on all those documents again, as well as to track down a notary and witnesses. In the end, it didn't really change anything, since he had been verbally notified of the stripping of his rank.

But it made him feel a little better.

Edward tucked Winry's letter – still in his armored hand – into his jacket, stepping around the still-surprised lieutenant. They'd wasted too much time talking, and he didn't have time to read it and still script the suitable announcement. Obviously Hakuro was up to no good, if he'd gone out of his way to so obviously limit Ed's ability to hide things from his investigative staff. Not that there was much to hide; he'd long ago forged Craege Irving's application to the Academy, and that was really all he had to do. He didn't really think any of the State Alchemists were responsible for the real assassination attempts on Mustang, but he supposed there was always that chance. And if one of them was, then by all means they should be investigated and found.

Of course, the alchemists were the only military-related force still under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister. Casting doubts on them may have simply been a political move, to show that Mustang couldn't control them, or some other half-baked scheme for Hakuro to gain power with Parliament.

Ed hated politics.

His trip to the main office didn't yield any more military uniforms that weren't alchemists, and he gave the school secretary, Paise Dueys, a tight smile.

"Announce to the school that there will be an increased military presence while Parliament and the military complete an investigation of the faculty, staff, and students." It was blunt, but she'd water it down for him. "We will be giving them our complete cooperation."

Dueys, to her credit, just jotted down the note on her pink message pad without so much as a blink. "Are we glad or sad about this, Professor?"

He knew she was only asking because she could put whatever spin on the sweetened message that she liked. "We're tolerant of this," he responded.

"We do not appear tolerant."

"We're really fucking pissed off about something else." It was a weird quirk of hers, using a plural pronoun when referring to only him. According to Al, when she'd first started working, Edward's mood swings had frightened her so badly she'd apparently thought he had more than one personality. Now that she'd known him for almost a year, he was pretty sure she still used the 'we' as an inside joke. She was nothing like Mary Marguerite, but she was certainly as loyal.

"I see," she responded agreeably. "I will summarize this information and make an announcement as soon as I'm finished."

"Great. Thanks." This time he gave her a slightly nicer grin, and she beamed up at him from her seat behind the large desk. He glanced at the clock there, noting the time, and nodded his head to the other staff before turning right back around. His class was on the other end of the building, so he'd need to hustle or he wouldn't beat the bell, and he was never late to a class-

"EDWARD ELRIC!"

An enormous hand clasped his armored shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks. Sometimes the soon-to-be Major General Armstrong could walk as quietly as a cat.

Edward turned his head with a painful smile. "Welcome back, Brigadier General." Alex had left Central to go collect his family for the upcoming ceremony, which had been many months in the making but eventually even Hakuro couldn't come up with any more reasons to delay the promotion. "How was your trip?" Might as well kiss getting to class on time goodbye . . .

The Strong Arm Alchemist looked just as he always did, an immense tower of deep blue and barrel chest. His long blonde curl stood at attention on his almost sparkling bald head, and his mustache was especially tidy. His eyes appeared small in comparison with his gigantic head, but they were bright and filled with some emotion Edward couldn't put his finger on. They were also tearing up.

"Always so concerned for the welfare of others! Truly you are the Alchemist of the People-"

"Stop babbling," a cold female voice snapped. "And if you start crying again I will kill you."

Edward blinked, turning fully around despite the hand on his shoulder. Whoever had just spoken sounded as if she meant every word.

Beside the Brigadier General was another soldier, her shoulderpads indicating her to be a Major General. Her eyes came up to Armstrong's shoulders, indicating she was quite tall by other standards, and her long blonde hair artfully concealed half her face The other half was as sharp and cold as her voice had been. Her uniform was nearly the same as Alex's, but seemed to be made of thicker material.

Her words, appearance, and most importantly her uniform, told Edward exactly who this formidable woman was.

This was obviously Major General Olivier Milla Armstrong, Alex's older sister. She had apparently once said that if he ever caught up to her in rank, she would deign to be present at the ceremony. The fact that she was here probably meant more to Alex than she would ever know.

Or maybe not, giving the crying comment. Apparently she knew her younger brother quite well.

"You must be Olivier," he spoke into the sudden silence, as Alex released him and badly muffled a short sob. Ed offered her a hand, which she eventually accepted. Her eyebrow raised as she shook his hand, though she said nothing.

Of course. The automail.

"Has discipline degraded so much in Central that it is no longer standard protocol to salute a superior officer?"

Edward tried to hide his surprise, glad that he actually had an excuse. She was nothing like her brother, which made him wonder about the rest of Alex's family. Apparently Havoc had met them once, but he didn't talk about it. It had happened while Ed had still been working for Mustang, years ago, but was still occasionally a topic of conversation among the men. Usually coming up when they were discussing finding poor Jean a woman.

Not that he thought anyone would have been foolish enough to think this woman would have seen anything in Havoc. Maybe Armstrong had more than one sister.

"I've been stripped of my military rank for an upcoming court-martial," he responded truthfully. If Hakuro thought that was going to somehow embarrass him, he was dead wrong.

The woman accepted the information, giving him a once-over. "Full Metal, correct?"

He inclined his head. "A pleasure to meet you, major general. I've a class waiting. I'll catch up with you later, brigadier general?"

Alex managed a somewhat subdued goodbye, and Olivier simply stared at him as he made his way back down the hall. The woman was Alex's polar opposite. No wonder Armstrong was such an emotional guy. If the rest of his family was like that, he was probably crying for all of them. And they'd probably never thought such a 'soft' man would be promoted to such a high rank.

Edward lengthened his strides, managing to slip into the lecture hall just as the bell rang. It was a fairly small class, only a dozen or so alchemists, and Fletcher Tringum flashed him a grin as he took the stairs in a half-jog.

He counted heads as he hurried up to the lectern, eager to get class underway before the announcement was made on the overhead. It wasn't until he'd opened the notes already laid out on the large wooden podium before he realized someone was missing.

Edward scanned the upturned faces, noting three of his students frowning. Fletcher was standing next to them, still grinning like a lunatic. When he saw Ed's eyes on him, he subtly patted a bulging pocket.

Coins.

A bet. They'd been betting he wouldn't make class on time.

He resisted the urge to shake his head, instead counting heads again. Nine, ten, eleven . . . who was missing . . .?

Of course. None of the heads he was counting were red.

"Anyone seen Sorn?"

A few glances around the lecture hall, then headshakes.

Great. Stupid kid was probably out cleaning up the feedbacking materials again. Edward sighed and picked up the first page of notes. "Today's class is half lecture, half lab. We're going to be discussing molecular structure . . ."

- x -

Author's Notes: Look at me, not furthering the plot! Oh, wait, I did . . . just boringly. Hakuro is up to something, which doesn't look good for our heroes. Things will pick up quickly, however, in the next chapter. Possibly explosions! Who doesn't like those?

As always, posted without a beta, I read through and caught what I could see. If you see any issues, let me know! Also, this is your VERY LAST CHANCE to remind me of plotholes in the anime and movie. I have several more that are going to be cleaned up in this, one of them pretty major. (HAH! Get it? Major? Sometimes I crack myself up . . . and actually, I think he was a Lieutenant Colonel, but that's beside the point! You get gooey fudgey brownies if you figure out who I'm talking about before I get there. )