This chapter is closer to normal length, so that's good, eh? XD
The last one was evilly short. Mou hikui!
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At exactly 9:13 PM, Edward Elric, eyes still brimming with tears, packed his suitcase and climbed out Roy Mustang's second-story window and took off into the night.
By 6:00 AM, Ed was in Sector 6. He'd come because it wasn't too near the harbor and it was a slightly run-down part of the city where people tended to mind their own business. It would be a good place to transmute a house out of the rubble in the neighborhood without too many people making any kind of fuss over it.
Ed was shivering from a night spent outside looking at the houses in Sector 5 to see if any of them looked out-of-place or had traces of transmutation marks. He wasn't even thinking about how soon Roy would wake up and find him gone. Right now he was preoccupied by a strange feeling in his gut. He felt like he was being watched. But who would be watching him, especially this early in the morning? He was betting it was a homonculus, but he didn't know how to lure it out and he didn't want to make a scene and wake the residents of the neighborhood.
He continued to walk down the street, keeping an eye out for any movement, as the sun rose. He stopped to watch it for a while, thinking about Risembool and the sunrises he'd witnessed there. He could still remember the first time the sunrise had really made an impression on him. On Winry's fourth birthday, she, Ed and Al had all camped out and slept in a tent in front of Pinako's house. When they'd woken up the next morning and ventured outside, Ed had noticed a vivid pinky-orange color in the sky. Knowing, in his infinite four-year-old's wisdom, that all girls like pink, he had pointed it out to her, declaring it was a special sunrise just for her birthday.
Ed heard the rustle of a paper bag and his gaze trained itself on the space beneath a porch on a house to his right. He stared at it and began walking toward it. The bag rustled again, the person holding it swore quietly, and a car drove by on the street behind Ed.
"Hello?" Ed crept closer. More whispering.
"Why are you hiding? You've been watching me haven't you? Who are you?" Ed asked the last question more aggressively. He heard a footstep behind him and he swiveled, coming face-to-face with General Hakuro.
"Perceptive as always, FullMetal. It's hard to keep an eye on you," he said coldly.
"I'm not a snoop myself, so I wouldn't know about things like that," Ed goaded the man, stalling for time.
"There are more misunderstandings between us than I feel are healthy," the General said, lightening his tone.
"What do you want?" Ed snarled, feeling trapped as he heard the man behind him coming out from under the porch.
"If you would take a drive with me, I would like to sort out some of those misunderstandings."
"Where would we be driving to?" Ed asked, standing up a little straighter.
"Just in big circles. I wouldn't want anyone to see us standing here and get suspicious," Hakuro just barely smiled, trying to earn Ed's trust with his body language.
"Sounds reasonable... And if you try anything, I always have alchemy," Ed subtly warned Hakuro.
"Shall we, then?" Hakuro stepped toward the black car, parallel parked to the sidewalk.
"Might as well," Ed said, more to himself than to Hakuro.
Once they were inside the car and traveling, Hakuro cut right to the chase.
"You're the Colonel's adopted son and you're part of the military. You must know what he's looking for. That's all I want to know."
"No shit," Ed laughed. If he had thought ahead, he might not have answered the question the way he did, but in a rebellious act against his overprotective colonel bastard, Ed said, "He's looking for my biological father!"
General Hakuro's mouth dropped open just a little bit.
"My father left us, my mother died, and now the colonel's looking for the jackass."
The General flinched at Ed's crude language, then began to press Ed.
"What makes you think you can find him?"
"He payed us a visit a while ago and tried to take me back to his house. I didn't want to go, so he disappeared."
"But!" Hakuro's eyes widened. "But legally, you have to go-"
"I became a State Alchemist when I was twelve years old. I did it by myself, with no help from anyone else. I'm not just some orphan the State can pass around to whoever wants me at the time," Ed growled, setting his fiery, unsettling stare on Hakuro. The man from under the porch, with the paper bag full of snacks and drinks and who was now sitting next to the General, squirmed a bit. He'd never met FullMetal before and he was just now getting to see the boy confirm his reputation for being an indiscriminate, rude, fireball.
Hakuro remained silent until the edge of Ed's anger had worn itself off.
"Why is Colonel Mustang hiding this from his superiors? He claimed he was looking for a stolen car."
'Oh shit,' Ed though for a split-second. Then his brain kicked in and he sent a mental thank you to the Gate who, he assumed, was responsible for his amazing improvisation talents.
"He's looking for the car along the way. He thinks my father's committed some kind of crime and that's why he's hiding out. 'Cause no one can find him."
"But what does that have to do with the rest of the military? What kind of crime is he talking about?"
'Crap. Crap crap crap.'
"My father was discharged from the military. Dishonorably," Ed whispered. Hakuro's eyes widened.
"Roy doesn't want anyone else looking him up and going after him before he gets a chance to speak with him. Before I get to meet him again."
"I see, I see," Hakuro replied, with utterly fake concern, "what is your father's name?"
"Uh, Jass Kholl, Sir."
I see, I see. Well, this clears things up rather nicely. Thank you, FullMetal. Now. Where shall we drop you off?"
Ed knew that if he didn't tell Roy what he'd told Hakuro, then Hakuro would eventually figure out that the two alchemists didn't have the same story and then the General would bring out the big guns and really start digging around in Roy's business. So he asked to be dropped off at a park that was near Roy's house. He swung on the swingset for a while to make sure the General had really left, then hoofed it to Mustang's house, thinking all the while that the General had acted very suspiciously, not even mentioning being caught digging through Roy's things the other day, or actually mentioning any of their "misunderstandings".
The door was locked, so Ed transmuted it open, figuring he'd leave Roy a note if he'd left for work already. He walked in the door and came face to face with Alphonse. Both brothers froze. Ed flexed his muscles, ready for a fight. Al saw the gesture and took a small step back.
"Brother," he whispered almost inaudibly, "Dad's lost it. He snapped."
"Are you alright?" Ed growled, his expression and stance still aggressive.
"Yeah. Lust distracted him and told me to go get help."
"Why are you whispering?" Ed whispered.
"I think Envy's watching me. I'm supposed to be getting help for Dad."
"What kind of help?"
"I don't know! That's why I came here, but everyone was gone and..."
Ed finally relaxed out of his fighting stance and got closer to Al.
"What do you mean, 'he lost it'?"
"Yesterday, he asked me if I wanted a sandwich and I said no and he just snapped. He kept asking me why it wasn't good enough for me and how did I get to be so spoiled." The ruffled look on Al's face made it clear that the accusations had irritated him.
"Lust said once that when Hohenheim created Gluttony, something went wrong and he got some kind of brain damage," Ed confided in Al.
"What should I do?"
"Let's go to HQ."
"Go get Roy?" Al asked timidly.
"Or we could just leave him where he is, now that you're back with me," Ed mused.
"No, Ed!" Al said loudly. Ed looked disappointed.
"Then let's go get Roy and the crew."
"What about Envy?"
"If he tries to attack us, I'll turn him into an owl pellet."
Al wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but it sounded like Ed was pretty sure he could deal with Envy. Ed headed for the front door again and Al followed, but instead of exiting the house, Ed suddenly wheeled around, automail blade freshly transmuted.
"Are you Envy?"
"NO!" Al squeaked, alarmed at the sudden change in his brother's demeanor.
"Prove it."
Al wracked his brains for a moment, then said, "Roy's Ishvarlan name is Tae Fos Mallute. And he knows an Ishvarlan lullaby- he sang it to you in the car on the way back to Central!"
Ed nodded and put his blade away.
"Now, come on. Let's run." The two blond brothers hoofed it through Central and all the way through HQ to Roy's office. Not realizing that each had gone in the other door, Ed went straight into Roy's personal office and Al went into the one shared by Roy's subordinates.
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Roy jumped when Ed slammed the door open and closed, his body beginning to shake with relief at the sight of the little blond who'd disappeared on him earlier. Ed saw Roy blanch and begin to shake and the words he'd been a bout to utter died on the tip of his tongue. He stepped toward Roy's desk, absorbing the cold, furious look in Roy's eyes. The colonel stood and stepped clear of his desk and Ed jumped forward, obviously expecting or hoping for, a hug. Roy took Ed's shoulder in a vice-like grip and slapped him across the face, hard. Ed staggered slightly and started to cry. This wasn't a time for Roy to be angry with him! Al was here- Ed swiveled his head. Where had his brother gone? Before he could voice the question, Roy slapped him across the other cheek, just as hard. Ed gasped, caught off-guard by the punishment.
"R-Roy," he said, speaking through the beginnings of tears, "Al was with me. He was right behind me. Hohenheim went crazy on him and Al came back!" Ed sobbed a little, looking up at Roy with pleading eyes. Roy stayed frozen, staring at Ed with an icy chill of unimaginable depths.
"Roy?" Ed was confused. "Say something," he cried.
"I can't deal with this right now," Roy said simply. Ed tried to huddle closer to his guardian, but Roy was still holding his shoulder painfully tightly at an exact distance from his own body. The man finally reached down and wiped Ed's face with the cuff of his sleeve, before releasing him.
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Al swung into the room and stepped aside a bit so that his brother wouldn't run into him. When Ed didn't appear, Al made to go back out into the hallway to see where he'd gone, but a strong pair of hands grabbed his arms, restraining him.
"It's Alphonse! Somebody get the colonel!" Breda yelped. Jean pulled Al into the office and kicked the door shut.
"No, wait, Ed's here too!" Al yelled. "Let go of me!"
"Are you OK? What are you doing here?" Jean asked, putting Alphonse on the couch, still holding his wrists.
"Dad kind of snapped, I don't know what's wrong with him, but the homonculi said I should run and get help for him, so I ran to the colonel's house and met my brother there. Edward said we should come here and... I don't know where he went! He was right behind me in the hallway!"
"He probably went straight to the colonel's office," Havoc surmised. He picked Alphonse up and headed to the door, Alphonse suddenly immersed in the long-awaited discovery of why Ed allowed himself to be picked up and carried places. It felt bouncy up here, and warm and cuddly and safe. Sure, Hohenheim had picked him up once or twice and sure he'd hugged Al, but he had never really combined the two as Jean was doing so thoughtlessly now.
Jean opened the door and Alphonse found himself staring down at Ed. The colonel had been in the process of sitting back down at his desk, and Ed's face looked red and blotchy.
"Al! See, I told you," he murmured in Roy's direction. The colonel didn't pay him any heed.
"So it's true," he addressed Al.
"That I'm here?" Al questioned the colonel with skepticism in his voice.
"That you're here of your own free will."
"You didn't believe me?!" Ed yelled. Roy ignored him and Al immediately asked, "What's going on between you two?"
"Obviously, he's being an unfair bastard," Ed said callously.
"FullMetal's immaturity is pushing me to the edge," Roy said calmly. Al didn't know if he wanted to get in the middle of them or not.
"So, did your father lose his temper?" Roy asked.
"Uh, y-yes. He totally lost it..." Al looked down, blushing.
"And?" Roy asked calmly.
"I was supposed to get help for him. But I wasn't sure what kind."
"A prison psychiatrist might do him some good," Roy said.
"WHAT?! NO!" Al yelled, outraged.
"I don't know what else you want the military to do."
Al grit his teeth in fury. "I've seen my brother come to you for help before. I had assumed the privelage was extended to me as well."
"Well, your brother is a special case..." The way Roy said it, "special cases" were not good things.
"ROY! You bastard, how could you treat my brother like that-"
Havoc scurried out of the room with Al, ignoring the boy's protests. As soon as they were in the other office with the door shut safely behind them, Jean reassured Al.
"It's OK, we'll help you. Don't worry about the colonel and your brother right now. I think they're having some trust issues..."
"What's the colonel's problem?!" Al wanted to know.
"He got scared and now he's having an inner crisis. I think."
"Edward promised the colonel that he would stop disappearing and getting into trouble," Hawkeye cut in. "The colonel was extremely shaken when Edward broke his promise."
"Yeah, but I didn't break any promises to him!"
"It would be best to put your encounter with the colonel behind you for now, Alphonse. If you'd like, a group of us could take a military car to the place where your father is. It would allow us to assess his mental state."
Al stared at her. "You must really love him."
Riza blushed and opened her mouth to give her usual, "it's my job" disclaimer, but Al said, "Would you arrest my father?"
"I would promise not to as long as he didn't harm anyone and you came back with us," she offered. Fuery was nodding very supportively and he came to stand behind her.
"Well..." Al scratched the back of his head, "let's go, then."
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I don't want to upset anyone, but pretty soon I'm gonna have to take my annual bi-monthly break, I think. I'm going to be on the school track team and I'm also going to be doing rifle and archery again this year. Not shotgun and pistol, thankfully, but now that I'm in a public school, every spare moment of my time will soon be spent at the shooting range. But I'll try to have a few more chapters up before I have to break.
Was Hakuro OK in this chapter?