The Inferno

Chapter 4

'Faced With That Truth Which Seems a Lie'

Riza poured her fifth cup of coffee that morning and glanced at the clock. Still two more hours until lunch. She adjusted the strap on the sling and put a spoonful of sugar into her drink and allowed her mind to wander away from the mundane forms that had piled up in her absence. The rest of the was occupied with their own work and without the Colonel to supervise, it was oddly quiet. Sadly, that was probably her biggest issue since the lack of noise was allowing her eyes to slowly shut and consider dosing off. She barely got any sleep last night, even after Roy finally nodded off, as she was left to think through everything he had dropped in her lap.

She didn't blame him for how he delivered the statements. An eloquent and charismatic speaker most of the time, anyone who didn't know him close enough would be surprised that he was capable of just speaking his mind. That's exactly what it was, an outpouring of thoughts he was thinking without filter or consideration of how they would be received. They were never supposed to be heard, they were his thoughts, and for him to actually share them with you was a sign of trust. It also meant, just like his signature flames, that you'd be lucky to emerge from the aftermath without being singed.

She was more upset by his feelings, this overwhelming guilt and confusion about his goal that just seemed completely out of place. He was shaken but determined when he went in to be tended to by the surgical team and when he came out he was distant and lost. She heard of people having a brush with death and suddenly changing their lives, but this wasn't some life threatening procedure. What the hell happened in there?

"Riz?"

Riza turned and looked at Havoc as he leaned against the counter where they housed the coffee pot and smiled. "I'm fine."

Jean Havoc could see from the dark circles under her eyes and that she had not had much sleep in the past week. She was back to work too soon and nobody would have been upset if she took the week off. However this was Riza Hawkeye, and she did not miss work. "Really? You just put five scoops of sugar in your coffee and have been staring at the motivational poster on the wall for about five minutes."

Riza closed her eyes and groaned. "I haven't been sleeping well."

"You don't say." Jean cocked his head and took the coffee away from her and started making her a new drink. "We are here to help, you know. We're capable of handling things if you want to recover."

"No." She shook her head. "I'm fine."

Havoc put the mug in her hand and whispered, "You're making sure you get that wound treated right?"

"Yes. I go to the infirmary and have the bandage replaced and the healing process monitored, mother." She said and Jean gave her a grin.

"Ok. Just checking."

She looked up as the door swung open and the Elrics arrived, at least her worries about the office being to quiet could be put to rest. She smiled, the boys were worried about Mustang and her and they stayed close to HQ, helped with some of the staff duties and even offered to drop off 'get well soon kittens' to Roy's apartment. Seeing Mustang injured, possibly taken out of commission, was a shock to them all. She was sure that these two were the main reason he came to visit before the surgery. He wanted them to see that he was a long way from being defeated and wasn't going to abandon them, not than any of them would ever admit to any of that. Well, perhaps these two could go check up on him and spark something familiar in him. Certainly he wouldn't discuss these matters with Ed! Ed seemed to be the one person who would handle Roy in a foul mood and somehow throw it right back at him, just like Hughes used to. That was the real medicine Roy needed, not the Hughes in his mind but the one telling him he was missing out on life. Ed...would have to do.

"So how's the Colonel?" Al's chipper voice asked.

"Cranky." Riza replied.

"Hey, any way we can go talk to him?" Ed asked.

Riza raised her eyebrows, everyone else was surprised as well as Havoc almost dropped his cigarette and Breda choked a little on his sandwich. "Sure Ed. If you promise to make sure Hayate gets walked. I went over this morning to make sure he gets out, but I'm sure he'd appreciate another break." She was proud of herself for that one, being as tired as she was. It gave her an excuse for leaving Mustang's place in the morning in case someone would question her. So sad that that was the height of her accomplishments for the day.

"Great! I want to talk to him about that bone reconstruction procedure. He mentioned it when we saw him before he left for the hospital, we're really interested in it!" Ed rubbed his hands together. "It's one thing to create bone from scratch but to repair a living tissue like that with so many variables is impressive."

"That's going to go over well." Havoc mumbled. That was probably akin to trying to pet a bear you just shot four times and missed all it's vital organs.

"Well it's not like he has anything else to do." Ed shrugged.

"That's true. Falman, the Colonel is doing a lot of reading and is going to run out of material soon." Hawkeye saw the man's eyes light up eager to help make their leader feel better. Perhaps while she was on a roll of productivity she'd tackle another obstacle. At this rate, she was going to reward herself with a nap at lunch. "He's been reading The Inferno by Dante perhaps you can find him the other books in the series?"

"Would he rather us find books that are actually relevant to today's Aerugo?" Breda asked. "We could help quiz him on current events."

"Quiz him?" She asked and paused as she was about to hand Roy's address to Ed. She could just feel her momentum coming to a halt as the fog of confusion obscured her focus again. She was really going to have to consider Madam Christmas's offer to watch over Roy for a night so she could get some much needed rest. This situation was enough to wear out anyone and she was dealing with sleep deprivation and a injury her body was begging to recover from.

"Since the Prince is coming to town next month for treaty talks." Breda said and saw her reaction. He assumed it wasn't a coincidence he was reading Aerugian literature, that maybe he had a briefing before he went into the hospital. He apparently was wrong.

Havoc frowned. "They didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Riza asked. Sure she was the one in charge of the office while Mustang was on leave, but she hadn't exactly been in the office much. She felt that creeping sense of dread return and her stomach lurched as her gut instinct told her that none of this was coincidental.

"We're going to be protective detail for Prince Claudio on his visit." Havoc wondered why the information hadn't been passed to her yet. They had received all the itineraries and pre-planning information after Mustang left to go to the hospital two days ago. They had all assumed that he had made his rounds that day, checking in with his superiors and giving the go ahead to allow the team to start this without him. Riza's posture told him that that was not the case. "It was in the works prior to the Colonel's injury."

"So the hijacker..." she swallowed hard. If plans of their participation in this bodyguard duty were leaked, it would explain what happened on the train. "Disabled our Colonel prior to an unprecedented visit from a foreign dignitary."

"Our Colonel and our sharpshooter." Havoc said. "We've reached the same conclusion."

Ed looked at them, he had remained silent as he really wasn't in the loop to begin with on Politics. He was brought in on that train hijacking because...well that's what he did. He didn't know this went deeper than a solitary incident but clearly that wasn't the case. "Mustang has the job to protect this guy when they knew how badly he was injured?"

"He's a Colonel, Ed." Havoc said. "Standard operating procedure for an officer of that rank is to delegate."

"If the Flame Alchemist isn't ready to come back..." Breda frowned, "Then the duty falls to you big guy. Mustang can still be in charge, but if he won't be able to take action himself than he's going to have to order you to do it for him."

"He just had surgery!" Al exclaimed. "His hands won't be mended by then! There has to be someone else that can do this job!"

Breda folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. He wondered why nobody had been sent in to cover for Mustang while he was on leave. He glanced at Hawkeye who seemed lost in thought, the wave of realization that these events were tied together hit her when she was already so worn down. "Nobody with a reputation like Mustang's and, to be honest, yours Ed. Amestris is built upon the belief that our military superiority is imposing enough to keep this country safe. I think the higher ups feel that now, more than ever, they have to prove that by showing that Mustang can't be sidelined. Giving this job to someone else would show a weakness."

Hawkeye cleared her throat. This was much more than that. This was setting up their Colonel to be a scapegoat if the Prince met with any harm while on Amestris soil. This news, coupled with his post-operative mental state, was enough to convince her that nothing was coincidence. Not the train incident. Not the timing of the visit. Not the way Roy was thinking after that operation. She needed help and she saw from the looks Havoc and Breda were giving her that she didn't need to ask for it. She just needed to tell them the truth, which in this situation, meant admitting that she had their boss were much more than co-workers. "Don't tell the Colonel just yet. He doesn't need to rush coming back."

"I'll find him those books." Falman said and left.

Ed looked to Hawkeye and saw the concern written all over her face. She might have a load of work to keep her occupied, but it didn't mean he and Al couldn't report back to her about the Colonel. "We'll go check in on the Colonel and keep him busy. Don't worry about him."

Havoc chuckled. "He's going to be so happy."

"I'll give you a key since he can't open the door with his hands bandaged." The Elrics visiting would put Roy on the defensive and she doubted he would be so 'honest' with them regarding his thoughts. She hoped their questions regarding alchemy and his surgery would start him thinking again. Either way, the result would be that he would have to stop reading for at least the duration of their visit. That would be a victory. Riza rummaged through her purse and Ed waved her off.

"I'll open it with alchemy. Don't worry."

"This keeps getting better and better." Havoc mumbled. "We're going to end up with another broken alchemist."

He waited for the heavy fog to lift as he stood there on that hallowed ground. The dampness hung in the air and he could hear the whispers in the shadows as he subdued the feeling of dread and fear that threatened to overtake him. He took deep breaths and felt in his pockets for his gloves. He knew they wouldn't be there.

"Hey Roy, wanna see pictures of my beautiful daughter?"

Just like before, Maes Hughes's voice came from a glow in the fog and he walked towards him. His best friend was his guide through this hell and without him he'd remain lost in dense fog that covered Central Cemetery in this early hour. He knew his way through the cemetery all too well, not because he visited often, but because he memorized every step he ever took in it. He wanted to remember each agonizing step, the cold stones, the dying flowers and the soggy ground beneath his feet. The smell of freshly dug soil and the taste of tears as he let them roll down his face. The sounds of a little girl screaming for her Daddy and a twenty one gun salute to send a fallen hero on his way. He memorized every step he took after that and the etching of Maes Hughes's name and dates of birth and death might as well have been carved into the backs of his eyelids.

"Roy! Quit moping and come look at her! Look at how much she's grown!"

The glow was now a human, a human he knew well. His best friend and guide, his very own version of Virgil. "I know."

"Thanks for getting her all that stuff for her birthday. You know Gracia's got to be careful living on just my pension."

"Yeah." Roy nodded and walked over to the grave site and looked down at Hughes sitting with his back against the stone like it was a lounge chair. A perfectly crisp and detailed imaged emerged in front of his face, a picture of a little girl in front of her birthday cake blowing out the candles, seconds before she announced she wished she could have her Daddy back for her birthday. "She wants her father. That's what she asks for for her birthday and I took you from her."

"That was the job." Hughes looked up at him and frowned. "Don't try and take that away from me, I died a hero."

"It should have been me." Roy closed his eyes. "It should have been me they put in the ground. You had so much to live for."

Hughes stood and put the picture in his pocket. "You have to let that go. We knew the risks Roy, I knew damned well what I was getting myself into. Right now we need to get you out of here."

Roy looked around the cemetery and sighed. "That's right, death would be too kind."

"This hell is in you." Hughes said and cocked his head. "Nowhere else."

Roy sighed. "Then let's get this journey over with."

"You don't quite grasp what this is, do you?" Hughes asked. "This isn't Hell, Roy. It's your mind trying to help you understand the Truth."

"Well it would be easier if this took place in Central Library then because I know my way around there very well."

"Don't get me wrong, this place can consume you." Maes said and looked at the picture of Elicia cutting her cake. "The torture you see is very much a part of your psyche. The sins, all things you have attributed to yourself. Your final resting place among the traitors where you have chosen to cast yourself into. This is your Hell."

"The fact that you're here giving me the guided tour...well I doubt that God is really that cruel. You're the one who doesn't belong here."

"Well clearly you forget I was in Ishval too. You forget I turned away and ignored that a fellow officer was murdered right in front of my eyes. I killed Heathcliff, I didn't hesitate. No, I have sinned too." Maes sighed. "This isn't about me though. I'm gone, I can't contribute anything else to this world. But you can. So maybe you should stop dwelling on the sins and circles of Hell and remember that there are two more books to the Divine Comedy and an amazing woman who you have yet to marry waiting for you."