"Welcome, Dr. Mustang"
Three months before, Roy Mustang was signing some paperwork while his crew played Shogi…o rather Breda were kicking Havoc's ass while Falman and Fuery laughed of his defeat. The man shot them an annoyed glare, so everyone shut up and talked in whispers.
"I have to finish this for before lunch and you're not helping"
Havoc growled, "…You had those papers on your desk since 5 days ago, don't complain now"
Mustang just glanced at him angrily, so the man remained quiet and got back to the game just to find out how Breda was one step far from winning. Damn the man.
In that moment, Riza opened the door and walked towards the desk with an envelope on her hand. Roy just sighed in resignation.
"More paperwork?"
"Actually no, Sir", she said as she handed the document to the man, "Major General Hakuro gave me that, but he didn't tell what it was"
Roy raised a brow and hurried to open the envelope while everyone approached to know what this was about. The man read the paper as fast as he could as his crew noticed the weird faces he was drawing as he read further more.
"They HAVE to be kidding me", he said as he stood up and threw the paper away, "The stupid paper says that I have one month to prepare myself since I have to infiltrate the 5th Laboratory as a doctor"
Everyone shut their eyes open wide. This wasn't a common mission, not for a Colonel at least.
"…A doctor?", Fuery asked, "You have to learn what it takes years for a person to learn to become a doctor?"
"Seem so, but I'll go to find out what this is about and why they chose me", the man hissed as he walked towards the door, "They can't just 'order' me to do something like that"
"Actually they can", Falman told him as the man turned and shot him an angry glare, so the Warrant Officer closed his mouth.
"I'll be right back", Roy muttered as he slammed the door shut.
His crew looked at each other worried, but there wasn't anything they could do. Roy walked fast through the hallway trying not to run. Yes, he was angry. He was a Colonel now and they couldn't just tell him to disappear from his job from months to do something a State Alchemist could do.
Roy knocked at the door and he opened it when he heard a 'come in' from inside.
"Ah, Colonel Mustang, come in"
The man closed the door behind him and walked towards the desk stopping in front of it saluting the Major General.
"I assume you're here to discuss the mission I assigned to you", the man said drawing a smile.
"Yes sir", Roy said lowering his hand, "I think I have to say I'm confused"
"And why would be that?"
"I don't understand why you assigned me to that mission when a common State Alchemist is able to do it…and their job actually"
Hakuro stared at the man still smiling for a moment. Then, he stood up and approached him, "Well, that's why I haven't told you the reason of the mission, take a seat"
Mustang raised a brow but did it anyway, so the Major General went back to his seat and smiled, "This is classified information, only you and your crew can know about this, am I clear?", Roy nodded frowning…this had to be really serious, "Some Generals had let me know about their concerns regarding the 5th laboratory. It is supposed to be used to High Profile Experiments that involves alchemy and animals of course, but they are worried that the scientists – called doctors for the cover – are using prisoners"
"…Humans?", Roy muttered with wide eyes, "You really think they are…?"
"I don't know, that's why I can't send a regular State Alchemist, this is beyond them. We must sent someone reliable and discrete that knows how to proceed in case this is real information"
The man remained silent for a moment as he lowered his head. This was a huge mission in case he found out this was true, it could mean his promotion.
"So, what do you think? I'll give you the opportunity to reject the mission"
Mustang shook his head, "Of course I'll do it, Sir"
Hakuro smiled and grabbed an envelope, "I knew you would. This is for you, all the details necessary are there"
The Colonel took the document and stood up saluting the man.
"And Colonel…Please be ready, if this is true, you'll see horrible things there. Be sure you will able to handle that. You're dismissed"
Roy nodded and left the office with the envelope on his hands walking towards his office. When he opened the door, he saw everyone sitting in the couch with worried faces and jumped at the sudden noise.
"Why such long faces?", he said with a smirk as he closed the door and headed towards his desk.
Havoc raised a brow, "As you didn't know why"
The man took a seat and unfolded the papers as he read them as fast as he could. His crew just stared at him waiting for him to say something, but he just remained silent for some minutes. He finally sighed and looked up.
"Well, I won't come to the Headquarter tomorrow…and who knows how many months after that", he said with sorrow. Even though the mission was quite interesting, he had to forget about his regular job, his crew…his dates, "I have one month to become an excellent 'doctor'"
Everyone's jaws dropped almost literarily as the man put the papers in the envelope again.
"But Sir, will you be able to do that in just one month?", Riza said concerned. It wasn't like he had to read just one book, he had to read an entire area of the National Library.
Roy stared at her for a moment, but then nodded, "Of course"
The woman just shook his head, but when the man stood up again, everyone saluted him, "You will receive orders by Colonel Douglas while I'm gone. I'm sure you will show the same respect you do for me", Havoc raised a brow, but Roy shot him a warning glare, "Or better, show some respect"
All his crew smiled and man did the same. This was going to be hard since he had to go alone, but well, it was something different for a change.
………
"That's certainly interesting….and dangerous"
Roy nodded as his best friend put more books in the table and sit down lifting his glasses.
"Are you sure you should do this?", Hughes asked him concerned at the man's huge bags under his eyes.
"For the hundredth time Maes, yes, I want to do it", the man answered slightly exasperated.
Hughes sighed as his friend opened some books, "So, I won't see you in…how many months? Elysia's birthday is in 4 months"
"I'm not sure, it depends and how well my performance is", Roy told him as he wrote some notes down. "I'm expecting to be 3 at least"
"What a shame". Hughes saw the amount of books around the table and in the floor that the dark-haired man had checked out of the National Library, "Are you really learning something or just memorizing?"
"….Sometimes I wonder the same thing", Roy said with a weak smile.
"I really hope something good come up from all this"
"Yeah, me too of I'll burn some asses"
Hughes smiled and glanced at the kitchen which, of course, was a mess, "If you're going to be like this for two more weeks, you should hire someone to clean your house"
"…That's the last of my concerns now, you know?"
The man went to the fridge and grabbed a beer he had brought, "It shouldn't be"
"Come on, Hughes"
"Alright, alright, I will stop", Hughes said taking a seat and smiling.
"Thank you"
Hughes stared at the books for a moment, but then sighed in resignation, "So, another year without a wife I think"
The man sweat dropped and glared at him. Hughes moved his hands scared so Roy wouldn't take his gloves and burn his hair.
……….
Roy grabbed his luggage and glanced at everybody at the door of his house. The month had passed away too quickly, but he was sure he was ready to his performance as a 'doctor'.
"So, this is it", he said as he smiled to everyone, "I'll call you every week, Hakweye, as we agreed. You'll inform everyone about the situation".
Riza nodded, "Just be careful, Ok?"
"I will be"
Hughes approached him to help the man with the luggage since the taxi was waiting for them.
"Take care everyone, see you in a few months"
All raised their hands as a goodbye sign and Roy and Hughes turned around to walk towards the taxi and put the luggage in the trunk.
"If you notice something dangerous, get the hell away from there", Hughes told him placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Maes, I'll be fine"
The man nodded, "Then I see you in few months"
"See you, say goodbye to Gracia and Elysia from me"
Roy got in the car and Hughes closed the door as the car-driver started the engine. The dark haired man stared at the window watching all the building passing by and the people just running their lives happily.
He, instead, was about to be confined in a weird place surrounded by crazy old men that thought it was justified to experiment with humans. Yes, he was sure that they were doing it, where there was a lead, something had to be true.
The trip took almost thirty minutes since the laboratory were hidden in the forest that surrounded the city, Roy was almost slept when the car-driver announced that they had arrived. The man got out of the car and saw the huge building in front of him as the car-driver took the luggage out of the trunk.
Roy grabbed it and paid the man watching him leave the place for a moment. Then he stared at the building for a moment before he walked towards the entrance, but he saw a woman on there…waiting for him apparently.
"Dr. Mustang, we were waiting for you", she said bowing, so Roy did the same. "I'm Dr. Lyra, it's a pleasure to meet such a wonderful man"
Roy did his best to avoid raising a brow…what in Earth they told them about him?, "It's my pleasure, Dr. Lyra"
"Follow me, I'll show you your dormitory"
The man nodded and walked at the woman's side in silence. The place was far from pleasant, it was cold and everything seemed…death. He couldn't figure out how to describe it, but it was pretty disturbing. They walked for a long time before the woman opened a door and let Mustang in so he left his luggage there.
"You can make the necessary arrangements later, now come with me to introduce you to the personnel"
Roy nodded and followed the woman again through the hallways. Fortunately, they reached their destiny soon. It was a large room with glass walls and a sterile environment that made Roy sick, but he managed to draw a polite smile when they were in front of the doctors.
"Everyone, he is Dr. Mustang, the man Hakuro-San sent". All the doctor stood up and bowed as Mustang did the same, "Dr. Mustang, they are Dr. Marcoh, Dr. Knox and Dr. Majhal"
"Well, Dr. Mustang, you must show us your knowledge since Hakuro-San spoke wonderful things about you", Majhal told him with a smile.
"Don't become impatient, I'll do it", Roy said smirking, so all the doctors laughed.
Knox made a sign with his hand, "Come here, I want to show you some notes"
Roy nodded and approached the man and everyone took a seat in the table. Well, the first step wasn't hard after all. Now he had to forget he was a Colonel and think as a Doctor…that was the tough part of course.
He relaxed when he noticed he was able to understand what they were saying, it only meant that his studies were a success and he will manage to do a good performance…or so he hoped.
…………
After a month, Roy was begging to question himself why he had accepted the mission. He thought he was doing a good job since the men talked to him as a fellow, drink beers and talk, but other than that they kept doing the same things every day…when they didn't disappear mysteriously.
He had looked around trying to find something that confirmed his suspicions, but or they were being really cautious or nothing bad was happening there, and that was getting on his nerves. Well, the fact that he couldn't leave the place was worst of course, but he would be able to bare with it better if he just found something that incriminate the 'doctors'.
Roy opened a book while Dr. Marcoh and Dr. Knox had a discussion about the behavior of a small white rat, they had injected some weird substance that it was supposed to make the animal stronger.
"No, nothing happened", Knox said almost angrily throwing a book away.
"This isn't working, we must find something else"
The dark-haired man stood up and grabbed the recipient looking it for a second before he drew a complex transmutation circle that impressed Marcoh. Roy touched the circle to activate it and then handed it to Knox.
"This should do it"
Knox stared at him for a moment, but then introduced the substance in a syringe and tested it on the rat. A few seconds later, the mouse's muscles grew significantly and broke one of the bars of his cage.
"Amazing, Dr. Mustang", Marcoh told him, "Where did you learn to use such complex transmutation circles?"
"I saw that in a book", Roy said as he sit down and looked back to the book he was reading, "I always remember all the circles I see"
"Very impressive indeed", Knox said as he analyzed the rat.
Well, one point to Dr. Mustang it seems. After two hours of experimenting, Roy decided to go to the balcony to grab some fresh air, he really hated the smell of the place, so he excused himself and left the lab area. He opened the door and walked through it until he saw a young woman standing over there, it was Sciezka, she was Dr. Lyra's apprentice.
"Dr. Mustang…It's not common to see a doctor here"
"I need some fresh air….really needed"
The woman smiled and both glanced at the forest that blocked the view from the city, "I like to come here when I feel suffocated there"
"Yeah, I think I'm going to steal that tradition from you"
Sciezka nodded happily. Both remained silent for a moment just hearing how the wind moved the trees, it was an amazing view after all. However, Roy noticed someone was in the gardens of the Lab. He moved to see it clearer and noticed he was too small to be a adult…it was a kid actually. Blonde hear and white clothes sitting in the grass…what people here had with the 'white' color anyway?
"Hey, Sciezka, who is that?"
The woman saw the kid, but didn't say anything for a moment, as she was thinking what she should say. "I saw him just once a time ago…and Dr. Lyra didn't want to talk about it"
"…Do you happen to know why?"
She shook his head, "No, but I wouldn't dare to ask her again"
Roy then stared at the kid raising a brow. Of course the fact that it was a kid worried him even more. Should he ask the doctors? Or try to find out by himself? Well, the second option sounded better.
"See you later, Sciezka"
She nodded and Roy turned around and left the balcony. Even when he hoped to find something already so he could go home, he just didn't want that kid to be his lead…that would be horrible. The man sneaked out of the place trying to avoid the doctors from seeing him, if they had hid the boy, there should be an important reason for that.
Roy walked through the grass staring at the boy who was rolled up with his arms around his legs and hiding his face. Even when all he could see was he back and his golden hair, the man noticed that he seemed sad and that couldn't just be good.
However, the dark-haired man almost jumped when the boy suddenly turned to see him with his brows frowned. Was he…angry? Maybe, but his main concern was the dull and void eyes the kid had. They were golden as his hair, but they looked…lifeless.
Roy stopped at the boy's side as he kept staring at the man, so he decided to sit up even though he noticed the blonde didn't appreciate the company.
"Hi"
………….
The chapter didn't turn out as I wished, but I think is OK :D Thank you for all the reviews you left me already! You make me happy!