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"Classified"
Mustang deeply sighed and folded some papers. He glanced at the clock which read 11:32, almost midnight, and yet he still had a lot of paperwork to finish. The next time he wouldn't be so lazy at office hours…yeah, he knew he would be. The man scratched his head and looked around the table searching a document, but there where hundreds of them…he better be more organized.
In that moment, he noticed how awfully quiet the house was and stood up. When he stepped on the living room, he found what he was looking for; Edward sleeping in the couch with a book on his hands and Fuch in the floor rolled up. Roy approached him and covered the kid with a blanket since the night was quite cold, and began to grab all the books the blonde had left around the living room. The kid sure was messy.
While collecting the books from the floor, he noticed the titles of some of them and stared at the books for a moment; they were really hard if he remembered correctly, he had studied them when he was…what? 18 years old? The man smiled to himself and glanced at the little – no insults intended – blonde laid in the couch feeling proud of him even thought he was sure he shouldn't feel that way. He was becoming too attached…
In that moment, the phone rang and Roy hurried to answer it so it wouldn't wake up Edward, and it didn't; Fuch just raised his head but decided to go to sleep again.
"Mustang", he said almost whispering, but he sweat dropped when he heard all the giggling on the other side of the phone. "Hughes, do you know what time it is?"
"Of course I know", he said slightly irritated, "And Elysia just don't want to sleep"
"Are you sure you're not the cause of that?"
Hughes coughed a little but then his voice tone became serious, "So, what did it say?"
Roy sat down in the dining room table bringing the phone with him, his browns frowned, "How did you-"
"Come on, don't insult me", he said almost mischievously, "Just tell me"
"Yeah yeah", the man answered followed by a sigh. A sigh Hughes knew very well and nothing ever came from it, "I have to be ready, there are possibilities that they will call State Alchemist to battle"
"Possibilities?", Hughes repeated feeling how his chest contracted, "High possibilities?"
Roy didn't answer for a moment and his friend knew that he was analyzing the situation, not ignoring him, "We could say that there are 70 chance that they do it"
"….High possibilities, then"
"Yeah…What am I going to do with Ed? I just can't leave him with someone, he is not dangerous but only I know how what to do in case he lose control"
Maes noticed how worry the man was and it made him smile. He didn't remember his friend that way since…well, ever. And he liked it more that he was worried over a kid, "Have you told him?"
"No, I don't know how, I don't know how he would react", Roy said glancing at the sleepy boy who had rolled up, "I can't leave him, Hughes"
"I know, Roy"
If the kid wasn't sleeping in that moment, he would have hit the table with his fist; He hated not having control over the situation
"It's not for sure yet", Hughes told him trying to be a little optimistic, "For now do your best to find something about Ed's father"
"We haven't found anything", Roy said with sorrow, "I can't place where I read about him before"
In that moment, Edward stirred awake and glanced around still half slept. He could hear Roy's voice, but only his, so the man surely was talking to the phone. The kid got up of the couch and began to pick up the books of the floor to put them back in the bookshelf; he was too tired to read something.
He heard Roy saying something about Hohenheim, how they couldn't find information, so he had to be talking to Hughes. Wasn't quite late anyway? The blonde put most of the books back, but one of them had its spot at the higher shelf of the furniture. He wordlessly cursed for being so short and decided to hide the book on a commode that was at the right.
He opened the drawer and put the book at the end so he could take it out tomorrow discretely; however, when he was about to close it, something caught his attention. It was another book, with a black leather cover and gold letters that read 'Classified Information'. He knew he shouldn't read it, but his eyes shined of excitement and quickly opened it to see if it was something interesting for him.
And it was. Inside the book, he read 'Alchemy Prohibited by the Military'. He felt shivers along his spine and threw the book a fast glance leafing through pages. Formulas, transmutations circles and more were contained in that book…transmutation circles…maybe he should look for the one he saw on his dreams every now and then. He had read again some books trying to find it but he was unable, so this could be his opportunity.
Confirming that Roy was still talking to the phone, he hurried to his bedroom and hid the book under his bed. He thought it again and decided to take a removable cover of some book, put it on and hide it inside his backpack, it would be less risky.
With a sigh, he went downstairs where he heard Mustang yelling at Hughes since he was ignoring him for Elysia. A second latter, the man hung up the device so strong he thought he had broke it, but the boy could understand the man's frustration.
"Riza-San would have shot you if she had heard how you hit the phone", the kid said suddenly catching the man's attention who only smirked.
"But she is not here", Roy assured, "And you should be sleeping"
"Who can sleep with all that noise?"
The dark-haired man noticed the grin on the boy's face, he was just teasing him, "Do you want to take a walk?"
The blonde threw the man a dumbfounded look, "Now? It's 12:35 at night"
Roy straightened up to grab his coat and threw Ed's his own, "Don't be such a baby, come on"
"Who are you calling a baby?!"
The man was already outside the house, so Edward growled and closed the door hurrying to catch up Roy. He put on his crimson coat and shrugged since it was a cold night, a beautiful yet cold night. The blonde threw Roy a sidelong glance and noticed that he was just lost on his thoughts, but he seemed worried.
"Mh…Mustang-San?"
The man snapped out of his thoughts and looked down and the kid drawing a smile on his face, "Yes?"
A fake smile of course, "Is it something wrong?"
Roy stared at the blonde for a moment, he surely was perceptive, "Well, nothing is wrong at the moment, but do you remember what I told you at the Headquarters?"
The boy leant his head to one side, "About what?"
"You asked me if I had to go with those soldiers, remember?"
OK, this just suddenly took a dangerous direction, "…Yes"
"When we went to the National Library, the Fuhrer sent me a document"
Edward nodded apprehensively, "…OK…"
"And", Roy sighed, not sure why, "It's probable that I will have to go with those men…eventually"
The blonde stopped abruptly, so the man had to do the same a few steps forward turning around to see the kid's face, which made his heart squeeze. Ed's face was a combination of fear, angriness and confusion.
"B-but you told me…"
"I know", Roy said with a soft voice approaching him, "It's not for sure yet and I swear to you that I didn't know about it, I'm still trying to find out why they need State Alchemists since the battle isn't out of control yet"
Edward's angriness disappeared, but he was still confused and full of fear, "But you can't go. It's not fair"
"Military is not about fairness, Edward", he said gently pushing the kid so they would start walking again, "Don't worry, OK? We will work something out, I will not let you here unprotected"
"I'm not worry about me", he suddenly complained with a grumpy tone of voice.
Roy then looked down at him cocking a brow, "What?"
"It's not me that I'm worry about", he repeated frowning, "You're going to battle, why should I be worry about me?"
Well, the dark-haired man didn't expect that and took him off guard, but he couldn't hold back a soft smile, "I'm the Flame Alchemist, there's nothing to be concerned of"
"I would care less if you were the Mega Hyper Lava Alchemist, you're still be on battle"
Roy almost chuckled, but he was more touched than anything. He ruffled the boy's golden hair and smirked at his cute angry face.
"I told you it's not sure yet, so let's forget about it for now"
Edward rolled his eyes, but he did as told. He felt a cold breeze and crossed his arms trying to keep himself warm, but then, a hand on his shoulder pushed him gently against the man. He looked up just to see how Roy was lost on his thought again, so he decided not to disturb him. However, this felt so good. He wanted to hug him, but he decided against, it was embarrassing enough that he enjoyed this.
…………
Golden eyes glanced around quite awkward. He was sitting in the middle of the living room since Alphonse and Winry had gone to the kitchen to grab some snacks; they had been reading for almost 3 hours now. Well, Winry was busy analyzing a piece of automail or something, but still the same.
Roy was in that moment at the Headquarters with the hope that he would receive a justification about the calling and he had to stay at Pinako's house. It wasn't that bad actually, he was having fun discussing alchemy with Alphonse, but the looks Winry threw him every now and then to his arm made him nervous for moments. Probably she had figured it out that he had an automail arm by now, but no way in Earth he would let her put a finger on it, so he didn't say anything.
Finally they showed up with a plate full of food and sat at the floor where he was reading one of the books.
"We brought sandwiched, drinks and some candies", the girl said cheerfully.
"Thank you, you shouldn't have bothered"
Al shook his head, "It wasn't a bother at all. Let's continue that one"
Edward nodded and both began to talk a transmutation circle they had found while Winry heard their conversation. She wasn't really interested in alchemy, but their debates were quite fun to hear.
"I think something is missing in this circle", Al suggested scratching his head.
The blonde analyzed the page for a moment with a finger on his lips. Yes, something was definitely missing. He grabbed a sheet and began to copy the circle slowly so he could get the logic of the circle. Then, he added something and Al smiled satisfied.
"Of course", he said nodding, "You're a genius"
"Nah, I just have read a lot lately"
Alphonse grinned and he was about to open another book, but in that moment, he saw how one was almost out of Ed's backpack, one he had never seen before. "What's that book about?"
The blonde glanced at his side and his eyes widened when he realized it was the book, he had forgotten that he had put it in there.
"…It's nothing, a boring book Mustang-San asked me to read"
"So why it says 'Classified'?"
Both kids turned to see Winry. She had noticed the fake cover and from her angle she could read the title. Edward was speechless for a moment looking at the two kids, just blinking without a clue of what to do. Should he show them the book? What if they told Roy? He had any reason to believe they would do that, but still it was a risk.
"You have to promise you won't tell Mustang-San", he said with a hint of nervousness on his voice, but he relaxed a bit when he saw how his friends nodded for real.
"We won't tell, we promise"
Edward sighed and grabbed the book. He hasn't even opened it yet, but he laid it at the floor and did it. The kid leafed through the pages for a while and nobody said anything, they were away to shocked to articulate a word.
Chimeras, destruction, torturing…human transmutation – Ed flinched – and more could be found in that book. The kids stared at the pages, but Winry decided to look away and wait until the boys satisfied their curiosity.
"This is…horrible", Al muttered, "How can anyone use alchemy for this?"
Ed didn't answer or said anything since he was one of those 'anyone's'. However, he shook his head and began to draw the transmutation circle that he kept seeing on his dreams to show it to Al, "Help me find this one"
The boy grabbed the sheet and analyzed the drawing for a moment while Edward began to read the book, "It's so complex, where you saw this?"
Damn it. He couldn't say 'in a dream', so he had to make up with a excuse, "Once, a long time ago…I'm not sure where"
Fortunately, Alphonse bought the lie and approached him to read the book too while Winry decided to go back to what she was doing, "Alchemy can be used for that?", she innocently asked.
Both boys looked up at her and nodded, "As everything, in the wrong hands, can be used for bad", Alphonse began raising a finger, "Like automail, some people add weapons to their arms or legs"
A very convincing argument Edward thought, and so did Winry since she just looked away.
………….
Roy was in front of the Fuhrer's office waiting until he finished the meeting he had with some Generals. He wouldn't leave the Headquarters until he heard a convincing explanation. He knew he could be called as a State Alchemist, but it has to be for strong reason.
He waited like an hour until the door opened and he saw the Generals walking out the office, so when they were gone, he waited at the frame of the door.
"Colonel Mustang, come in please"
And so he did. He stopped in front of the man's desk and saluted him, "My apologizes, Fuhrer. But I need to share a word with you"
"And you may, Colonel. You can rest"
Roy lowered his hand and put them at his side firmly, "Fuhrer, I need to know why State Alchemist are needed at the battlefield"
The Fuhrer smiled, "I knew you would come, Colonel"
The dark-haired man then waited until the Commander in Chief began to talk again, he was taking his time for sure.
"How's Edward?"
….Right. "He's fine, sir. Healthy and happy"
"Good, good"
Roy cocked a brow confused, but he wouldn't dare to question the Fuhrer, he had to wait.
"Have you found how to control his alchemy?"
"He's well trained, sir, he can control it now", Roy said doing his best to remain emotionless, "As long as he is not pushed too hard, he will be able to live perfectly normal"
Bradley smiled satisfied by the answer, "I see. However, what will happen if he is pushed too hard?"
The Colonel didn't like the question, at all, "Then it could be fatal for him and anyone around him"
The Fuhrer's smile made him feel uneasy, like he was checking if everything was going as planned. "There isn't another way to make sure he won't lose control again?"
Ah, what he was waiting for, "No sir, we're researching but so far, no"
"Good", he said as he opened a folder, "State Alchemists are needed at the North because the rebels from Drachma are stronger that we thought. We need to hold them back"
Roy frowned, "Sir, with all the respect, you don't need me for that"
"Of course I do", the Fuhrer added with a playful voice, "Your alchemy would be helpful since they use the snow to their advantage. Don't you agree, Colonel?"
The Colonel stared at the man for a moment, but then sighed in resignation, "Of course, sir"
"Wonderful"
………..
"I found it!"
Edward and Winry flinched at the sudden announcement of Al, but the boy quickly approached his friend who had a finger over a transmutation circle of the book he had taken from Roy's house.
"This is the circle"
Ed grabbed the book and began to analyze it quietly, but he grinned when he realized that indeed it was what he was looking for, "Thanks Al!"
Winry just saw how both began read apprehensively, but she was already tired, "Hey, let's go outside to play something". However, she was ignored by the boys, "HEY!"
The girl sweat dropped since neither of the two made a sound or something, just kept reading. Anyway…
Suddenly, Winry noticed the weird face Al had in that moment, it was like he was scared, "What's wrong?"
"This circle…who could have thought of doing something like that?", Al said not really directing the question to someone.
Edward ran his fingers through his golden bang, his eyes widened, feeling his mouth completely dry. "This thing, once activated, will suck the essence of whatever is over the circle leaving an empty 'shell'. It has been used in humans and the result is a state of comma for the victim for the rest of his life"
Winry wasn't sure what that could mean at all, but she decided not to ask. Alphonse, on the other side, stared at Ed.
"Ed, are you alright?"
But the kid didn't answer right away, his thoughts were focused in remembering his dream. This had to be just a coincidence…it had to.
"Ed-Kun", Winry tried again pocking the kid's shoulder that made him react.
"Eh, what were you saying?"
Al and Winry glanced at each other confused, but Edward was already reading again, so they decided to stay quiet until he was finished.