After Roy's discussion with his Drachman contacts, he instructed his men to begin tracking Emil Van Auren. He proved to be a difficult man to find, leading Roy back to his original idea, that Bernard may actually be Auren and he had one of his men play the General. Still... The man was convincing.
Even if he had actually spoken to Auren, was it a good thing? The man on the line was hardly pleasant, leading Roy to question his trust in the men and their cause.
What if Alphonse was right? What if he'd chosen the wrong side? He had helped to root out corruption...unless they were only men planted by Auren. Had Roy been undoing all of his own work in just several short years?
Had he been weakening Amestris' military? What if he wasn't the only one working with Auren… being suckered by Auren?
Hawkeye knew better, though. She, along with his loyal team, knew what his true intentions and aspirations were, despite others losing faith in him when they caught his actions. Roy was a bit disappointed with himself that he was able to act in the role so well. Lies. Deceit. Bribery.
Still, with Hawkeye by his side and aiding his judgement, he pushed forward, slowly phasing out his recent unsavory habits. He noted happily that headaches were less common as lies were no longer memorized, and within only a few short weeks, his reputation leveled out. He was still low on the trust ladder, but he paid it little mind as progress was made in tracking Auren.
"Sir!"
Roy looked up from his desk to see Havoc saluting him with a completely serious expression on his face, though it was quickly replaced by a grin when Roy set him at ease. "We found him."
"Auren?"
"And even his buddy Bernie." Havoc slapped a paper onto Roy's desk, grinning. "Not too far North of Xolemir."
Roy stared at the small map, eyes widening as he recognized the Drachman town of Kondrav. He had sent Amestrian men to the small town to investigate years ago. There was a Drachman military outpost there, its small size rather uncharacteristic of its proximity to Amestris. Though, with the difficult mountain pass to cross borders, Roy supposed it never really needed a large outpost.
"Kondrav? He's in Kondrav?"
"Ironic, isn't it? He was only miles from us before." Havoc tapped the locations on the map. "Reports say he works here…" He pointed to the military outpost, then to a home in the eastern part of the town as he continued. "Lives here; but he spends an awful lot of his free time… here." He pointed to one more location, which Roy recognized to be the 'Kruza Vsoki', the town's main restaurant and bar.
"You're kidding me." Roy gaped at the map in disbelief. "He's got a pattern? Predictability?"
"He probably thought we couldn't track him and got lazy," Havoc said confidently, tossing down one more paper.
"That or he's baiting us," Roy muttered, turning his attention to the new paper. "And this?"
"What we've learned of his description so far."
Roy made a noise of curiosity as he lifted the paper and leaned back. "Who was this information gathered from?"
"The few people we learned of his location from," Havoc admitted. "Namely, a few Kondravan civilians who shared enough of Auren's supposed views on peace to trust us."
"Well, that's awfully convenient," Roy muttered, laying the paper back down. "I would like to go after Auren, but… I'm starting to think this is all one big trap."
"You can't have trusted him for this long if he's really a bad guy," Havoc pointed out, reminding Roy of his relatively accurate moral compass. "I think you're right in what you've been doing. I don't know this Auren guy like you do, even after tracking him and hearing about him; but I think we can trust him."
"Then why does he keep hiding from me?"
"I wouldn't particularly call Kondrav hiding." Havoc's chuckle lifted Roy out of his sour mood. "And I would like to accompany you, sir."
"To Kondrav?"
"Well I know you're going. Whether this is a trap or not."
"I suppose I…"
"I'll be going with you as well," Riza stated, catching Roy's attention with a knowing smile. "You'll need me to save you from the weather."
"Remind me who has the gloves to keep us warm?"
"The same person whose gloves get soaked with snow within minutes."
Roy hung his head shamefully, sliding the papers forward. "Understood. We'll leave for Xolemir at once."
"I. Hate. Drachma." Roy clutched his warmest coat as tightly as he could, the double-layer of alchemy gloves and insulated mittens only slowing the progression of his hands into nearly useless frozen flesh. He was being irritable and miserable the entire way through the windy mountain pass, unintentionally keeping his two companions in good spirits as they managed to not laugh at him.
Finally reaching the foot of the mountain after hours, Roy complained that they needed to make camp to get warm. Riza reminded him of how easily that would blow their cover.
They trudged on.
The deep snow was the only thing slowing them down, and they reached Kondrav just as a conveniently veiling snowstorm was blowing in. Traveling into the town under cover of poor visibility and with the appearance of Drachman travelers, they went unnoticed by everyone, only furthering Roy's concern.
Is Auren that overconfident? That nobody would come after him? Roy ignored the cold as he focused on his thoughts. Surely, after coordinating everything within Amestris and against me, he couldn't be just stupid. Unless this really is a trap…
The three made it in short time to the Kruza, taking a moment to shelter themselves between buildings from the howling wind. None of them were warming any from their new position, but they certainly felt less hypothermic.
"Havoc, check the window. Do you see him?"
Havoc poked his snow-capped head up by the window, discreetly peering in and searching for the man that had been described for them.
"I see him, Boss!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I see him. Same hairstyle, hair color, glasses, he's even got his military jacket on. Who wears that after hours?"
"You do, to impress the ladies," Roy muttered, chancing a glance into the bar. There weren't all that many people, and Auren's back was mostly to them as he held up his beer mug, called out, and laughed, slamming the mug back on the counter while somehow managing to not break it. "He sure seems to be enjoying himself. Let's hope that mood remains when he meets his Amestrian friends."
"Time to get warm?" Havoc asked eagerly, clasping his mittens together.
"It's long overdue." Roy led them into the pub, casually holding the door for his companions before rubbing his hands together and shivering. A quick glance around revealed that nobody was really paying attention to the three thawing travelers, giving him the opportunity to lead Hawkeye to the blazing fireplace to return the color to her skin.
"Better?" Roy smiled warmly at her, earning a smile from his care and his pink nose. He was careful to speak in Drachman, as was Hawkeye.
"Thank you, sir."
When Havoc joined them moments later for the warmth, Roy decided to make his move. He nodded to Riza, slipped off his mittens and pocketed his gloved hands, walking casually toward the bar as if for a drink.
The two men on either side of Auren turned around, holding up guns aimed directly at Roy, stopping the man in his tracks. He heard Riza and Havoc whip their own guns out, but swore mentally when he heard yet another round of safety locks knocked off near the door.
"Drop your weapons, foreigners." The man to Auren's right spoke, not seeming to mind that his General hadn't even turned away from his beer.
"We are here on a meeting of peace," Roy explained, raising his hands to show his lack of weapon. "I'm here to speak with General Auren."
"What are they saying?" Havoc whispered to Riza, who only released an exasperated sigh which was usually reserved for the Colonel.
"You know I'm not fluent."
"Be quiet," one of their captors hissed. He pointed the gun at Havoc threateningly.
"You wish to speak with the General? He is a busy man, you should have made an appointment."
"He certainly looks busy with that glass of his. General, face me. Why are you avoiding me? Are you too much of a coward to-"
"Iyach!" Auren snapped, surprising his buddy who was speaking moments ago. He set his mug down loudly, straightening up before turning.
Havoc, Hawkeye and Mustang finally saw the elusive General. Dirty-brown hair pulled back into a short and high ponytail, small scar across his left cheek, and a stylish pair of silver-rimmed glasses. Though the passing years were clear on his face and his skin had lightened from the Drachman environment, there was no mistaking his piercing, contemptuous golden eyes or his abrasive voice.
"Hello, Colonel."
"Edward?!"