Sorry for the hiatus, but I ended up with two jobs, going to college, and a bunch of other things going down in life. Again, I apologize. However, in light of my 21st birthday, I managed to get a couple chapters done. In this one, we have Mr. Mustang. His point of view. I added in his worry for the Elric brothers because, let's be honest, you know he worried about them on missions like a father would. I've also added some third person in there to add more light to the subject at the end because it didn't seem to be a full chapter for Taylor.

"Taylor, would you like me to call Armstrong?" I asked when Taylor looked more distracted than usual.

Taylor shook her head. "No, I don't want suspicion over there. The more I call, the more records there will be."

I sighed. I knew how she felt. When Fullmetal was under my command, I wanted to call him more than I probably should. Being my youngest subordinate always left room for worry. Not to mention he was notorious for hospital visits and stumbling on trouble.

"Have you heard any word about Tatum?"

"No, disappeared off the face of the earth."

I sighed at her sharpened, yet worry-filled tone. This was worse than my worry over the Elric brothers. But now, Alphonse was with Winry after his trip to Xing and Edward was with the topic that was causing Taylor grief. Edward was the one known for his escapades that left him injured.

I just didn't know what to tell her. I usually knew what to say to women. But Taylor wasn't just some ordinary woman I would pick up. She was different. Different like Hawkeye but in another different way.

Gah, there were too many differents to describe this woman!

I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to go on as if Ed wasn't in the North again with someone other than his only surviving family. As if my office mate wasn't having an internal breakdown because her cousin was under protection from someone we've yet to find out. As if nothing was wrong and everything was like it was before the Promised Day, before I became a Brigadier General.

All I needed now was Hawkeye shoving a gun barrel into my head until I finished half a stack of paperwork.

Before I knew it, the sun was beginning to descend, yest still over the tops of buildings, and my paperwork had been finished. My mind had been on autopilot until it realized it had signed the last paper for the day. I turned to Taylor, at least making sure she was alive. She was still thinking.

"Why don't you go for a walk to clear your head?" I suggested, knowing that's usually all someone needed to calm down some enough to focus.

She shook her head.

"Come on. I think walking helps you focus. You don't want to tip anyone off that something is wrong."

She shrugged.

I stood up with a heavy sigh and went to her. I took her elbow firmly in my hand to make sure I had her attention and guided her to her feet. She stared at me like I was the crazy one.

"Just go for one small walk down the hall and back. You're not focusing right, and you're farther behind on paperwork than I usually am."

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying to take a break, get some new oxygen in your system and see how you feel afterwards."

She nodded, stepping toward the door and disappearing behind it. I sighed again. I've never been the one to make someone stressed out go for a walk. Usually most can calm down by venting. But Taylor's a special case. I knew what she would say. I knew what was on her mind, stressing her out to the point of a mental breakdown.

Taylor returned a while after I had dismissed her from the room. The look in her eyes clicked in my head that was wrong. Her eyes were darker than usual, or what they had been usually. her face was drawn a little longer than what it was when she left.

"Taylor? What happened?"

She shook her head, pushing herself closer to tears. I stood up to face her. Concerned, I looked into her eyes, trying to get a hint as to what was going on in her mind. She tried to look away.

"Taylor?"

"He's the one that is sending Tatum after her! He told me when he saw me in the infirmary. I didn't want to believe it was him!" she said through dripping tears, wiping them away hurriedly.

"What do you mean? Who is he?"

"My fucking uncle is the one who wants my cousin dead!" she cried into my chest, muffling the sounds so no one else could hear.

I instinctively wrapped my arms around her, trying to comfort her. Feeling the shock override me of the news Taylor just delivered. Of course, when asked, General Lockert is only going to deny all claims and only say that Tatum is just a hired killer with a blood-lust like all serial killers are.

"I take it no one heard you two?"

She shook her head.

"We'd have to warn General Armstrong."

She nodded.

"Do you wanna do that at my house?"

She shrugged.

"Did you want me to tell her?"

She nodded, still sobbing in my arms.

I could see why Taylor was so torn up. Her uncle may have taken her in, but it was McKenzi that she was attached strongly to. McKenzi was like a little sister to her. Why would anyone want to take her away from Taylor?

"You've known he was a bastard," I said to her as I looked to the top of her head, placing a soft kiss on it.

She sniffed, trying to stop crying and compose herself. "I know, but I never knew he would stoop this low."

"Who would stoop that low?" came the familiar, yet eerie voice from the doorway. Hearing his voice, I wanted to roast him.

"A serial killer, sir," I said, removing my arms from around Taylor. The last thing I needed was to be court marshaled for sexual harassment and breaking the rules about in-office relationships.

General Lockert smirked a little, making my blood nearly boil. He knew exactly who we were talking about, but I couldn't do a damn thing. I had to keep a straight face. I had to pretend that I didn't know a damn thing. That pissed me off the most.

"Well, Brigadier General Mustang, thank you for comforting my niece. It is obvious that she is feeling the loss of McKenzi at her side."

With the way he said McKenzi made me want to do something I'd more than likely regret later: punch him. I held in the growl.

"Is it true?" I asked just as he was about to leave. The all-knowing smirk on his face was wearing thin on my nerves. Taylor had gone to her desk to continue her paperwork before we both left. I wasn't leaving without her.

General Lockert turned to me. "Is what true?"

"That you hired Eric Tatum?"

The general smirked. "What you're thinking might be right, Mustang. It could be what brings you to your end."

"I await it."

With that, he left. I looked to Taylor. She looked so broken. I stepped to her, bending down to her. "What did he say to you?"

She shook her head. "No, Roy."

"Tell me."

She sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you..."

Taylor had done what Roy had suggested, going for a walk. It did help clear her thoughts and get them straight enough to think critically and stop wallowing in her own pity about McKenzi. She had gone into the infirmary for something to further calm her nerves. Something just wasn't right about the whole case. It wasn't that it had her cousin involved. Maybe it was the fact that a member of the military was targeting her family.

"What are you doing?"

Taylor jumped at the sound, thinking she was alone. She put a hand over her heart, as if trying to calm it down through that. "Uncle Devon, you scared me."

"I'm sorry, Taylor. What brings you in here?"

"I was looking for something to calm me down."

He smirked a little, knowing exactly why she needed calming down. "Is it because there is some assassin after your precious cousin?"

DING, DING, DING!

Taylor widened her eyes, then lowered them. "She's your daughter, Uncle Devon," she snapped.

"So? I could disown her for the dishonor she's caused me."

"Dishonor?"

"Yes, dishonor. She's kicked herself out of nearly every private school in the country. She's become a disgrace to be called a general's daughter."

Then everything seemed to click. Everything from the sentences her uncle just uttered to the fact that he was high enough to send an assassin with hardly any paper trail. She didn't know how it clicked, it just did.

"So you sent Eric Tatum after her?" she snapped.

"He said he'd take care of her."

"He tortures his victims!"

"So? As long as McKenzi is out of my way, I don't honestly care." General Lockert crossed his arms, only to drive in his point more.

"Why do you want her gone?" Her mind reeled with different scenarios of what possible reasons there could be running through her uncle's mind. Just as fast as the thoughts ran through her head, tears formed and welled in her eyes, threatening to drip down in a single sign of strength yet weakness.

"I want more power. The people had great sympathy when I took you in and lost my wife. Imagine the sympathy I get when I say my only daughter, my flesh and blood, get murdered by a known assassin in which no one knows who sent him?"

"All this for sympathy and more power?"

"You got it. Now, if you don't want to have the same end met for you just like McKenzi, I suggest you keep that mouth shut. McKenzi will die, and that bodyguard you sent with her away from Central as well. I don't care who it is."

With that, General Lockert walked out of the room, leaving Taylor with a pounding heart, raw nerves, and her mind reeling of thoughts of Eric Tatum heading North to fulfill his assignment. Taylor covered her mouth to keep from reacquainting herself with breakfast and the small portion of lunch she had.

She leaned against the counter wall of the infirmary, the once threatening tears now dripping freely from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. "No."