Chapter Fifteen – The Road of Hope Part I

"I've got a ton of work waiting for me back at Central."

"I can't leave the East Headquarters."

"I'm too busy babysitting the Colonel. Someone has to keep him in line."

"I don't think I can protect him from someone that dangerous."

"Our thoughts exactly."

'But why … of everyone they could have sent,' Gilbert thought, squished against the window and his companion. 'Why does it have to be him?!' He complained looking somewhat ill while sitting next to a cheerful Armstrong.

XXX

Earlier that very same day …

Armstrong was in tears as Gilbert looked horrified and before he could blink, Armstrong was crushing his ribs in a spine breaking hug.

"OH, GILBERT BEILSCHMIDT! I'VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU!" Armstrong said releasing the elder Beilschmidt. "The pure love that led you to try to resurrect your dead mother! The brotherly love that made you risk your own life to being back your younger brother's soul! I AM SO MOVED!"

"Stay back," Gilbert said. He turned to Alfred looking stressed. "So, um, who told him all about me, Colonel?"

"Well … when the Major is leaning on you, it's extremely hard not to tell him what he wants …"

"Knowing the details of you past …" Armstrong said, using a handkerchief to wipe away his tears. "… That's why I've decided to escort you on your trip to your engineer!"

"What?! You must be crazy!" Gilbert exclaimed. "I don't need a guard!"

"Gilbert. You're planning to travel around in that state when Scar could attack you at any moment?" Alice asked him catching his attention. "Of course we're going to assign a guard to you. Otherwise you'll be totally defenseless."

"Plus," Densen added from where he was sitting. "With your arm the way it is, you won't be able to carry Ludwig either."

Gilbert sighed, gripping his right shoulder. "But it doesn't have to be the Major!"

"I got a ton for work waiting for me back at Central," Antonio said.

"I can't leave the East headquarters," Alfred added. Alice was next.

"I'm too busy babysitting the Colonel. Someone hast to keep him in line."

"I don't think I can protect him from someone that dangerous," Densen said.

"Our thoughts exactly," the rest of Alfred's group said.

"So it's decided!" Armstrong said.

"Nothing's 'decided'!" Gilbert yelled.

"Now, you boys … please listen to your elders," Armstrong said, bending down to look the albino in the face.

"Don't treat the awesome me like a kid!" Gilbert objected. "Why you …" He turned to Ludwig, his only ally at the moment. "Hey, West! Are you going to take that?!"

"I see no problem with Major Armstrong escorting us," his brother replied. Gilbert felt like nothing was going his way. Of course his brother would see the logic, but what about family loyalty?

"If you still plan on making a fuss, would you prefer if the hero court-martialed you for disobeying orders?" Alfred asked, laughing evilly.

"WHAT?! You dirty …!"

"Now that it's decided," Armstrong interrupted Gilbert's angered mutter. "Let's pack up."

"Tada!" Armstrong said, motioning towards where the younger brother was packed up. "Baggage fees are cheaper than travel fees!" Was Armstrong's logic for putting Ludwig in a crate. Gilbert however was on his knees muttering;

"My poor bruder …"

"You get ready too, Gilbert Beilschmidt," Armstrong added turning to Gilbert. "Did you bring your handkerchief?"

"I told you, don't treat the awesome me like a kid!"

Gilbert sighed, remembering that conversation.

'Now I can look forward to a whole unawesome train ride with this bozo …'

A knock on the window beside him caught his attention. Turning his head, he saw Antonio standing beside the train window.

"Lieutenant Colonel Carriedo!" The albino said, somewhat in surprise.

"Hola. The guys at headquarters say they're too busy to come, so I came here to see you off. Oh, and I have a message from Alfred."

"From the Colonel?"

"'I won't allow you to die in the hero's jurisdiction because it'd be a pain to the clean up the mess.' His words, not mine."

"Ja. Tell him; 'Understood. I'd never die before you, Colonel, you #*$ idiot," Gilbert replied, without a missing a beat. Antonio just laughed at that.

"They say that the ruder you are, the luckier you are! In that case, you and Al are going to live forever!" The train whistle blew and Antonio noticed that the train was going to be leaving. "Well, amigos, I have to get back to the office. Let me know if you're ever in Central – I'm certain that you'll love to meet my darling Lovi!" Antonio saluted the State Alchemists and they did the same, only Gilbert had to use his left arm.

XXX

"So, this person you know is an Auto-Mail Mechanic? I've never met anyone of that line of work," Armstrong said, a little while later.

"Well, they're actually a surgeon, a weaponsmith specializing in prostheses, and an auto-mail expert. The awesome me gets a good deal 'cause I've know them all my life. And they do awesome work."

"And what kind of place is this Resembool?"

"A quaint little town. Nothing for miles. Everything got destroyed because of the Civil War. It could have been a bustling city if the military had been more awesome."

"You're making my ears hurt."

"Should I say more?" Gilbert asked, solely saying that, hoping that it was making the blond man suffer. "… It's actually a really nice place. It's in the middle of nowhere, but you can get things that you can't get in a city. It's mine and West's hometown …" Something then hit the albino's mind. "By the way … you did put West on this train, right?" He asked, turning towards Armstrong.

"Yes, I took care of everything."

Ludwig was not very pleased with being stuck in the livestock car with only sheep. Their baaahing was getting quickly annoying.

"I thought he might get lonely by himself …"

"YOU JERK! THAT'S WORSE THAN THE LUGGAGE CAR!" Gilbert yelled.

"Really, what's the problem? He's got plenty of room, it's cheap, there's lot of living things … wooly friends …"

"QUIT MESSING WITH MY BRUDER!"

The blond woman sitting ahead of then just smiled, listening to the yelling.

XXX

A few hours later, the train had stopped at a town. Gilbert had just started to take a nap when Armstrong noticed a man walking by the train.

"DR. MARCOH!" The blond yelled, recognizing the elderly man and waking up the albino. "Aren't you Dr. Marcoh?" The man in question looked panicked when he saw Armstrong. "It's Alex Louis Armstrong from Central!"

The man – believed to be Marcoh – started running away, trying to get away as fast as he could from the State Alchemists.

"Someone you know?" The white haired alchemist asked, annoyed at being woken up.

"Yes … he's a skilled alchemist who was involved in the alchemy research department at Central. He was studying the use of alchemy for medical purposes, but he vanished during the civil war."

"Let's get off!" Gilbert said, moving to get off of the train.

"Don't we get off at Resembool?" Armstrong asked, confused.

"If he used to do that kind of research, then he might know something about biological transmutation too!" the teenager explained. "We have to get West and the luggage off too!" He called over his shoulder, stepping off the train. He turned to an official. "Excuse me. We're getting off here!"

As Gilbert was mentioning about how his brother smelled like sheep, the blond woman from before stood in the shadows, listening to them.

"Dr. Marcoh … vell, vell …"

Gilbert ran up to a man suddenly. "Excuse the awesome me … we're looking for someone who just passed by …" he started but Armstrong pushed a notebook with a sketch of the doctor's face in front of him.

"Have you seen an elderly man who looks like this?" He asked. Gilbert looked at the picture.

"You're a good artist, Major …" he managed to mutter.

"It's the skill of portraiture that's been passed down for generations in the Armstrong Family!"

The man looked at the picture, recognizing the man.

"Oh that's Dr. Mauro!"

"Sure we know him!" Another added, grinning.

"'Mauro?'" Armstrong asked. The first man who spoke started to explain.

"As you can see, this isn't the richest town in the world. Most people around here can't afford doctors, but Dr. Mauro treats people for free."

"He's a good man," a blond added.

"He treats patients that most doctors say don't have a chance to survive!"

A man sitting down laughed, slapping his leg. "'S true! When I got my leg stuck in the weed puller and almost died, he fixed it good as new!"

"When he treats you," a woman said. "It's like there's a flash of light and then you're healed!"

"A flash of light …" mused Gilbert.

"Yes, it must be Alchemy," Armstrong agreed. The two asked for directions to 'Mauro's' house and got an address on the other side of town.

"So he's been using an alias – unawesome – and hiding out in the countryside. But why? What's he hiding from?" Gilbert asked.

"Apparently, when the doctor disappeared, some of the top-secret research material disappeared too. It was rumored that he stole it and ran …. Perhaps he thought we were sent here to bring him back …" Armstrong explained, as the three waked up the stairs. (Well more like Gilbert and Armstrong walked up – Ludwig's crate was being carried by Armstrong.)

"Hallo …?" Gilbert asked, opening the door. "Anybody … home?" The albino was surprised by the barrel of the gun pointed at his face and jumped to the side when it was fired at him, yelling.

"What did you come for?" Marcoh asked, holding the gun in front of him, hands shaking.

"Please calm down doctor," Armstrong said, calmly as Gilbert recovered from his heart attack.

"Did you come to take me back!?" Marcoh yelled. "I'll never go back to that place! I beg you! Let me go …!"

"No, that's not possible," Armstrong answered.

"So you came to KILL me and shut me up for good!"

Gilbert watched the exchange, quietly for once.

"First, if you could please lower your gun …"

"You can't fool me!"

Armstrong's patience finally ran out and he threw the crate at Marcoh.

"I SAID, PLEASE CALM DOWN!"

XXX

Several minutes later, Marcoh had let the Beilschmidts and Armstrong into his house and they were sitting around a kitchen table – other than Ludwig who was sitting on the floor near them.

Marcoh broke the silence.

"I couldn't stand it anymore … having to obey their orders … dirtying my hands to research the things I did … and then seeing it used in the civil war to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people … it was an awful war … so many innocent people died … I couldn't make up for my actions if I paid for them for the rest of my life. But I still try to do what I can … that's why I work as a doctor in this place," he finished solemnly.

"What were you researching before you left? What did you take with you …?" Armstrong. Marcoh rested his hand on his forehead, looking shaken.

"I was researching the Philosopher's Stone."

To Be Continued …

Hello again! I'm sorry for the long delay, but I've been really busy. I've only just moved up north about two weeks and one day ago, so this is the first time I've gotten the time to write anything. But now that I have, I've gotten time to continue this story. I've been looking over this, and I will be making a few changes in the story – like character names and what not, but nothing major.

Well cookies and brownies for the people who review and are still reading this story!

Until later!