Ch. 2

A quiet yawn escaped the young blonde's mouth as he stretched his stiff body. A puff of steam blanketed his train window outside in white warmth. The boy stood and jumped to grab his luggage from the rack above him, just barely reaching it. He popped his neck and nodded to his brother that they were leaving.

The two brothers walked off of the train and headed out to the train station exit. Their train actually had been earlier than scheduled, so they would have to wait a few minutes for their ride to pick them up. Edward sighed.

"I still don't know why the Colonel said we had to go here… What's so great about Fotcett anyway? It's just another border town!" the blonde teen got a few looks for his outburst. "Brother, I'm sure he had good reason! He always does, whether for us or others."

Alphonse shifted his stance, not that it mattered since he couldn't feel anything, let alone pressured standing. He looked to his older brother who was now fumbling around with his silver pocket watch on an old station bench. He sure was antsy.

Open.

Close.

Open.

Close.

Open.

Close.

Edward snapped it shut and leaned back to where his long gold hair fell over the back of the bench and he groaned. He hated waiting. He hated wasting time that he could be using to find the philosophers stone. He hated Mustang's orders. No, scratch that, he just hated Mustang…

But something about the order he was given made alarm bells go off in his brain. It was a telegrammed order, not the usual call he got. Roy knew where they were when Ed received the paper, so why not just call them upright like he usually did? That alone made Edward feel nervous. His boss was usually so easy to predict… However, now Ed had absolutely no idea what he was up to.

His mind snapped back to reality when he heard a car park close by. He and his armored brother looked at the car and Ed stood up as his colleague stepped out. "Lieutenant Hawkeye? Wait, you're our escort?" He asked, both surprised she was there and not at the same time.

The woman nodded, and Ed took notice that she wasn't in uniform and that her civilian clothes very pretty on her, but she looked so awkward in them. She motioned to the car and she got back in the driver's seat and started the car up. The two boys grabbed their luggage and got in the vehicle. Hawkeye began driving away from the station, silent and not looking back at her passengers.

Edward and Alphonse sat in the deafening silence for a few minutes. "Ahem…" Edward coughed, trying to break the ice. The woman didn't falter her gaze from the road. "So, uh, Lieutenant… Why is it that Colonel Bastard decided to order me by telegram? Or will I have to ask him myself because things were 'too dangerous'?" Edward asked, air quoting as he impersonated Roy's voice. Of course it sounded nothing like him, but that was the point.

Hawkeye again did not break her concentration.

"So… I'll have to ask him myself?" Ed asked again, slightly more annoyed. Hawkeye glanced back at him and looked back to the road, but her expression was more somber. "I'm waiting until we're on the trail to talk about this." "Why?" both brothers asked, being very confused. Edward added "And what trail? Why are we going on a trail? I thought the mission was to go here and then we'd get a lift to the hotel and there would be more info given there?"

Hawkeye shook her head slowly.

Now Edward was really worried. Not only was Mustang being very out of character, but he also wasn't making any sense. He always made sense! He swallowed a little, his throat becoming dry. The three passed through the tiny town, ignoring all the people that walked by the historic buildings and scenery. Edward actually let out a gasp when they hit a small bump, burying his face in his palms from the embarrassing reaction. He was getting way too worked up.

He slumped back in his seat only slightly when the Lieutenant started to speak. "Before I tell you the details, I suggest you sit up straight." Edward raised an eyebrow. "There is no literal road to trek on so it'll be very jumpy and I don't want for you to accidentally get hurt." Edward blushed slightly and sat up.

Sometimes he swore this woman was his parent the way she talked to him.

"Anyway, I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you boys what's going on…" she dropped her voice she used when she was working and it was replaced by her normal voice. This definitely got the brothers worried. They almost never heard her speak like this. Edward could clearly remember when he was younger, she would speak somewhat like this to him since he was still a child. But he quickly proved he didn't need the sugared attitude, and she dropped it just like that. He recalled the last time he heard her speak like that was when she was on break and she was talking to her dog which helped guard the Colonel's office. But if she was using this voice now, it meant something was surely wrong and it was more personal than official.

"I'll answer your question first, Edward. There's a very good reason why the Colonel didn't call you and instead used the telegram…" The woman's grip on the wheel adjusted, her hands becoming slippery with a cold sweat. "It's because he didn't. Mustang never gave you orders to come here."

"What!?" both brothers asked, their voices loud and shocked.

The lieutenant nodded and continued.

"I… I hate to tell you this, boys, but I actually sent that out. You see, the Colonel was given a mission to complete within a week of his departure… And the deadline was three days ago. Yet, no reports or word from him or his assigned team ever came in to HQ. Half way through the week, a team of soldiers was sent in to help guard the building they were to be taking shelter in, but on their way there they found the car the Colonel and the others had taken to get there.

"They reported that there was blood on the inside of the car, splashed everywhere, presumably from an attack. However, the blood was old and some parts were washed away from the rain that had fallen the day before. As soon as they reached the town, they called in their find and another team was immediately sent in to act as a search party…"

She paused. She looked in the rear view mirror at the teenager in her car and she felt her heart tighten. His face was twisted in a look she never saw on him. Fear. Not for him, but for what she was telling him. She took a slow breath and started again.

"They found nothing. Nothing aside from the populace of the town—which I'll get to in a moment—and muddy puddles." Edward knitted his brows together. "What about asking the citizens what they saw happen? Wouldn't that be easy compared to a search party?" Hawkeye shook her head. "No, and they couldn't no matter how much they wanted to." "What do you mean? Was the town rebellious or something?" Again, Hawkeye shook her head.

"The townspeople have been turned into chimeras; none of them can speak."

Alphonse and Edward sat in silence. Not moving, not blinking, not even breathing. Edward's lips quivered. "W… What…? But that's…" "Impossible? Hardly. It was confirmed before by the officials in the area and every report since has proven them correct." The lieutenant sighed and looked back to the sorry excuse for a trail they were travelling on.

"Back to what I was saying before… They found nothing. Aside from the car, which was on the trail every other mission had taken and where they all disappeared. It was when the backup took this trail that they were still able to report. Unfortunately, it's obvious that Mustang didn't take this road…"

Edward hung his head. No wonder he was so nervous the whole trip. When he got that order. He just had a feeling something was wrong about it, but he had dismissed it. Now, he couldn't stop thinking horrible thoughts. Images of a distorted face, blood dripping from its pores, took over his mind. He couldn't help feeling sweat collect on his forehead.

It was their transmuted mother—more accurately the failed transmutation of their mother.

But now it's face was melting away, a raspy moan escaping its mouth.

And now it was Roy's face that was staring him down.

"EDWARD!" Hawkeye shouted. The boy jumped and hid head shot up, not yet removing the horrified look from his face. The woman's expression immediately softened. "Are you okay, Ed? You look… Well…" The boy blinked away whatever was eating at him and he wiped his forehead with his arm. Hawkeye took notice that it squeaked as he moved it. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He was trembling.

She looked back at the road and continued talking. "Did you catch anything that I just said?" Edward looked out the window and shook his head. "No, sorry, I kinda zoned out… Could you say it again?" The lieutenant repeated herself.

"The reason we need you boys to help with this is because—I know you're going to get mad at this Ed—but you and the Colonel think almost exactly the same way. If he were to be taken anywhere, it would have to be somewhere where he couldn't easily escape or find out where he was. We need you to try and find where he would be. And you will be leading a squadron including me to go look for him. I know it's a heavy order, but we really need to find him. Even if he turns out to be… Well…"

Edward looked down at his hands. They trembled from nervousness and fear. It suddenly occurred to him that in those gloves they looked like Mustang's whenever he thought no one saw him being emotional. Edward had only happened upon him by chance when he was, but he realized the man did the same thing Ed did when he was scared or remembering a painful memory. Edward clenched his hands into fists. Now someone had taken away a man who was almost his parallel.

They were going to pay.

"When do we get there?" He asked suddenly, his voice clear and deeper than normal. Hawkeye had to look back to make sure it was him who had spoken. She had seen Edward focused and determined before, but never to the point where he actually sounded somewhat intimidating. She regained her composure quickly thought and responded. "It should be around twenty minutes until we're in our temporary headquarters."

Edward folded his arms and stuck out his lower lip. Alphonse and the lieutenant both stayed silent so that Edward could think. Only the hum of the engine and the thumps and cracks from the trail were audible in the car.

Edward stared intently at the back of the passenger car seat. He unfolded his arms and leaned on the doorframe to his left, but he kept his gaze. His mind was now separate from the world around him. He tried to put himself in Mustang's place. He had never done so before—never had to. But he soon realized from what he knew about the man that Hawkeye was right. He almost smirked.

They really were alike.

"Attention! Major Elric is here. Be sure to give him your highest respects!" Ed slapped his face with his hand. This was exactly why he never did a military mission where he was the highest in command. "Hey, chief! Ya mind not telling everyone here to worship me?" Edward said loudly to the captain. The man faltered his salute slightly as his mind tried to process what his superior had said.

"Okay, listen up, men!" Edward directed to the soldiers who were currently in salutes for him. Heh. No wonder Mustang always took advantage of his rank… "I may be your commander here, but that doesn't mean that I'm not human. Nor any of you. Lose the formalities while I'm in charge, understood?"

If there had been a cricket in the house, it'd be chirping as the men all stared at Ed.

Edward felt his cheeks flush slightly from being stared down on. "I said, UNDERSTOOD?!" All the men jumped at the shout that was unnaturally loud from the young major. "Sir, yes sir!" they all shouted back. "Good! At ease! … And stay at ease, you hear?" Ed smiled kindly.

He knew nobody liked having to conduct themselves by protocol, so the few times he had to order others around due to a mission he made sure to treat them as equals, and have it returned. Of course, this made occasions when Roy would return and see Edward talking with the soldiers like they weren't in a dangerous situation or around other officials very hard to put up with. It usually resulted in Edward getting a lecture in front of the men he commanded as a sort of punishment for his misconduct.

But Mustang wasn't there.

It both hurt Ed and made him grin thinking that. He could probably get more trust out of these men when he wasn't bossing them around, and Mustang not being there to make him change his style of commanding would make things very easy. He looked back to the men he commanded.

They were all older than him (of course they were, he was only 15) and all were taller than him. Sad to say, he actually liked this, since this made looking away from him when he spoke to them next to impossible. And another thing that Edward was even more regretting to admit, but Roy had actually helped him know how to find ways of using a soldier's avoiding gaze against them. He actually still remembered the old conversation from back when he was only 13.

"C'mon, Colonel! I don't want to order these guys around!"

"I figured you wouldn't, but there's something else, isn't there?"

Edward stood there silent, his face slowly turning into sad expression. He closed his eyes and turned away from his boss. He nodded slowly and he clenched his fists. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at his commander.

"Do you want to tell me what exactly is bothering you about it?" Roy asked kindly. Edward blushed slightly. He was not used to talking to his boss like this. "Um… Not really, no."

Roy knelt down and sat on his heels. "Edward… Just tell me. One man to another." Great. Now he was pulling that trick.

"It's stupid… And I sure as hell am not talking about it to you." Edward looked away from his boss, his face even redder. He wasn't really embarrassed by the conversation, but he just didn't like being talked to like he was a kid.

"Fullmetal…" Roy pulled Ed's face back to face him with his index finger. "Just tell me what's wrong. Please." Edward hung his head.

"It's just… Everyone won't even look at me. And when they do, they don't look at me seriously—all they do is stare me down like I'm some idiot child!" He clenched his teeth. "They keeping looking down on me… Even though I know they all have to anyway, it still hurts…" Roy nodded slowly, looking into Ed's eyes with a feeling of understanding.

"I know how you feel. I'm the shortest of my rank, AND the youngest as well, you know." Edward couldn't hide the look of surprise that was now plastered on his face. Roy grinned. "But you know how I make sure to keep them from doing that?" Ed shook his head.

Roy lifted a finger and winked one eye shut. "You threaten to court martial them!" Edward shook the man's hand off his shoulder. "Like hell I'm doing that! That's cruel!" Roy stood up and laughed. "Not just to court martial them though, Ed, you have to have an excuse. And the one I used to stop them was 'ignoring a commanding officer's orders and their actions.' After all, isn't that what they're doing by not looking at you or taking you seriously?" Ed stared at his boss in amazement.

` "And that actually works?!" Roy grinned widely. "Yes, but you need to keep that threat as long as you're in command. As soon as you aren't—drop it. That really gets them nervous." Edward smiled and headed away waving behind him.

"Thanks for the tip, Colonel!"

"You owe me one, squirt!"

"HEY! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I COURT MARTIALED YOU!?"

"You can't! I'm YOUR superior!"

"DAMN IT, MUSTANG!"

Who would've thought Edward actually took to heart the Colonel's advice? He smiled sadly, not because of the memory, but because now knowing the Colonel was depending on him made it bittersweet. He sighed and returned his gaze to the men that were now under his command.

"Now, who here can offer a map and some information on the surrounding area?" A hand shot into the air. Ed pointed him out, "Okay! Stay put for a sec.! Who here is good with medical equipment?" Another hand shot up farther away. "Okay! Same goes for you. Finally, I hate asking this, but who is good with guns? We'll need protection should an enemy try and stop us."

Ed searched the room in front of him, but he was met with awkward silence. "What?" One man wiped a bit of sweat from the back of his neck. "Well, Major Elric" "Ed." The soldier blinked. "Uh… Sir?" Edward put his hands on his hips. "Call me Ed, not 'sir' or 'major' or 'mister.' I'm not big on formalities as you'll learn." The soldier faked a small smile. "Yes si—Ed! Ed… Ahem. Well, all of our men who are skilled with artillery and weapons are the guards you see around town. Aside, of course, from the woman behind you…"

Edward raised a brow and looked behind him to see Hawkeye barely raising her hand. "Oh… Right, sorry! I thought you knew you were already accompanying the team, Lieutenant?" She lowered her hand. "Well, Edward, I didn't know if that would still stand since you're in command here." He smiled. "Yeah, it still stands. Okay! Those of you who I picked out, follow me upstairs! The rest of you…"

He trailed off as he ran up the stairs. He popped his head out from behind the wall frame and yelled with a grin. "Keep up the good work!" And he was gone. The soldiers stared at the place their commander was just at, startled by the sudden change in attitude. Hawkeye was half-way up the steps when she looked back to the men Ed had chosen. She coughed a signal for them to follow, and they did so hastily.

They found Edward in one of the guest beds of the hotel they were currently keeping as a headquarters. He was currently sitting cross-legged on top of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked up when the soldiers and his brother entered the room. Hawkeye stopped Alphonse before he got through the doorway. "Sorry, Al." Edward jumped up to his feet. "What're doing, Hawkeye!? Let him in!"

"Edward, I'm sorry, but even if you're in charge, this is military business. I'm sure you know the conditions." Edward bit his lip. "… I'm sorry, Al." Alphonse shook his helmet. "No, brother, it's fine! I'll just go talk to the soldiers." And he descended down the stairs.

Edward sent a glare toward the lieutenant who ignored it as she closed the door. "Um… Sir?" Edward quickly redirected the glare to the brown-haired soldier. "Ack! Uh, Edward, no, Ed! Ed! Sorry!" The teen sighed away his scowl. "What?" The soldier continued.

"That was your brother?... I mean nothing of it, of course! It's just… ya know…" he trailed off, almost shaking. Edward smiled kindly, trying to calm the man down. "Yeah! That's my younger brother, Al." Now both the soldiers were blinking in confusion. "And if you ask 'your younger brother?' then I will personally kick your ass till you apologize!" Both men gulped and straightened immediately.

Hawkeye could only raise a hand to her temple and try not to object to Edward's words.

"Now. Gimme your names so I don't have to call you by your ranks because doing so is just stupid to me." Edward extended his right hand out for one of the men to take. They stared at it, as if confused by the action. The cinnamon haired soldier took his hand and gave one shake. "2nd Lieutenant Christain Mache. They call me Chris." Edward smiled and looked at the brown haired man. "And you?" The man blushed slightly. "I'm… I'm Master Sargent Martin Northrop. They call me Marty." Edward smiled again, though awkwardly lowering his hand when the man hadn't taken it.

"Well, Chris, Marty, good to have you on the team! Now, do either one of you have a map of the town?" Chris nodded and unfolded a map from his breast pocket. "Here's a map of the entire town, S—Edward…" A loud clunk rang as Edward smacked his forehead with his automail. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF—Look, if you feel the need to call me sir, fine, whatever, just no rankings, got it?" "SIR, YES SIR!" the two men called back. Ed rolled his eyes annoyed.

"ANYWAY. As you were saying, Chris?" Christain flinched slightly. "Oh! Yes, sir, here it is." He spread the paper out on the table and he pointed out the areas that appeared to be blotched with red. "We've searched these areas top and bottom and found nothing there. Though, searching those areas took up a lot of time, you see? We still have the whole town to search."

Edward leaned in closer to the map. "Mind if I take this for a second?" "Uh… No, sir, go ahead." The soldiers and Hawkeye watched as Edward took the map up and looked it over. His eyes darted from point to point, moving incredibly fast. He paused when he realized they were all watching him. He felt a little bead of sweat form on his neck. How did Mustang put up with this sort of thing every day!? He brought his face even closer to the map to shield his face from their stares.

Chris wasn't kidding—they had barely even searched any of the city! Ed paused suddenly. Something was weird about this map… But what? "Hey, Chris." "Yes, sir?" "What're all these markings and letters for?" Christain leaned over Edward to look. "Oh! Those are just the sewer lines. They mark them for this city because it rains here every day, and they teach the residents which sewer lines are which so when they announce on the radio that one of them is flooded, they can quickly give a letter name and get people out of there quickly."

Edward grinned wildly. "And which line floods the most?" Hawkeye perked slightly, seeing where Edward was going with this question. "Uh, that would be… Here. Pipe C. It's a small pipe that is in an inclined area, so it floods quicker than the others." Edward turned to the man. "And how big is it exactly?"

"It's approximately two meters in diameter," Martin spoke. Edward almost raised an eyebrow at him if not for the information being good. "Okay… And what is the largest building that this pipeline is connected to?" The two men looked at each other and then turned back to their commander. "Well, the largest is this hotel, sir." Edward groaned. "… What's the second largest building the pipeline is connected to?"

Martin pointed on the map. "Here. This is an old house owned by a used-to-be resident that died a month ago. He has no relatives so no one has tried to clean out the house or tried to sell it. The state was actually going to claim it but then before they could start, this whole incident occurred and they aren't allowed in yet due to us trying to keep this 'Chimera City' under the table of the public."

Edward nodded slowly. "Martin…" "Yes, sir?" Edward turned to him. "How many medical supplies can you get in a pack weighing less than five pounds?" The man raised a brow. "Quite a few, sir, why?" Ed knitted his brows. "We're gonna need to bring the essentials and then some, but we need to pack lightly so we don't make a lot of noise or get slowed down."

Hawkeye rested a hand on Ed's shoulder. "So, are we checking here first?" Edward nodded, rolling the map up, much to Christain's horror. "And hopefully this will be the only place we'll have to check." The two men glanced at each other a look of doubt. There was no way a child could predict where a kidnapped military war veteran would be held.

"So! Start getting ready because we'll leave at…" Edward checked his watch. "… At 18:30. That gives everyone twenty minutes to get everything together and ready to go for when we head out." He raised his automail to a salute, signaling for the soldiers to leave. As they closed the door behind them Edward lowered his arm, the metal squeaking loudly.

Lieutenant Hawkeye immediately grew concerned. "Edward, does it need to be oiled? I'm pretty sure automail isn't supposed to sound like that…" The boy groaned and popped the right side of his neck. He sat down on the bed and pulled the mechanical arm across his chest, the loud scratching of metal and gears causing him to wince from the high-pitched noise.

"No, I wish it were that simple. My automail always gets like this when it's in humid areas. And considering what those two said about it raining everyday here… Ugh, this is gonna be a painful stay." He hung his head before falling back on the mattress. Riza couldn't help but smile sadly. "Does it hurt terribly?" Edward shrugged. "Yeah, but I've been having this problem since I first got automail. I'm used to it by now. Besides, it's a medical thing, not the machines. So no help there."

The woman breathed out silently. She looked back up at the blonde teen laying on the bed.

"Do you think we'll find him?" she asked softly.

Edward's eyes opened quickly. He looked over at the lieutenant who now wore a pained expression. He frowned slightly. "I wish I could say that we were for sure going to find him, but I can't. But I do think we have a pretty good chance at it." She smiled and nodded. "Do you want for me to go get Alphonse so you two can talk a bit?" He nodded. "That'd be great, thanks." When the doorknob turned as she went down the hallway toward the stairs, Edward felt his body shake.

He turned on his stomach and hugged the pillow tight, trembling, and he held the pillow close to himself as he curled on his side. He had never done something like this before! He'd never conducted a search party, let alone as the highest ranking officer! He whimpered slightly.

He hoped he knew what he was doing. He REALLY hoped he knew what he was doing. He heard the clank of his brother's armor as he came up the stairs. He listened to hear if there were any other footsteps, but there weren't. He wouldn't have to hide his worry from any of the soldiers, and that calmed him somewhat.

As Alphonse entered the room he noticed his brother laying curled on the bed and cuddling a pillow to his chest. "Ed? Are you okay?" Edward nodded. "Can you close the door, Al?"

Click.

Ed sighed, his breath shaky. "Al, do you think I'm really able to do this?" The armored boy walked over next to the bed and kneeled to be eye-level with his brother. "I don't know, but you'll be okay, as usual, Brother." Edward looked up into the empty space his brother's "eyes" were. "But what if I'm not? What if I screw up the entire search mission? Or… What if we do find Mustang but he's…!" Ed choked before he could finish. He buried his head into his pillow.

He wasn't crying, but he questioned why he wasn't. Was he just so stubborn that his body even refused to cry now? His breathing was heavy and quick. He felt a heavy hand rub his back and he tried to calm down.

"You'll find him, Brother. I know you will."

"I hope so, Al. I really hope so…"