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Fullmetal Alchemist: Conspiracy

Fullmetal Alchemist quote:

"A gun is good. Unlike a sword or knife, it doesn't leave the feeling of a person dying in your hands."- Riza Hawkeye

"Talking"

Thoughts

Chapter 13: A New Search

Al sighed and pulled his brother to the side so he wouldn't run into the little boy on the sidewalk that was playing marbles with his friends. His brother grunted in thanks or annoyance at Al. Al wasn't sure which it was. He was either grateful that Al pulled him out of the way so he wouldn't run into someone or he was annoyed with his brother because he was writing his report and walking at the same and Al pulling him might have messed up his writing.

"You had us stay an extra night in Youswell, brother. You said you were going to write the report then." Al scolded his brother as they neared Central Command.

Ed scowled. "I started it and got most of it done last night. I just didn't have time to finish it and it's impossible to write neatly on that train." He stopped walking and turned to the wall that was surrounding Central Command. He put his report flat on the wall and started to write slowly. "And you try writing with your left hand when you are right handed while trying to keep it as neat and grammatically correct as possible."

Even as hardheaded as Ed was, he was a completely organized, neat perfectionist. Everything he did had to be perfect or it would drive him crazy until he made it perfect. It would keep him awake at night if he knew something he was working on and said to be finished wasn't perfectly done and he would have to work all night to make it perfect. It drove Al crazy when they were younger and shared a room. If the room was dirty at all, Ed would have to get up and clean the room before he could sleep. Everything had to be in the right place before he could sleep.

"I guess it doesn't really matter. You're already a day late." Al replied, sitting against the wall as his brother finished his report.

"That's the spirit, little brother!" Ed said, grinning down at his brother with a feral grin. He put the finishing touches in his report before putting it in the manila folder. "Since it's my job to piss the Colonel off, I'll take you to the dorms first, Al."

"I can go by myself, brother." Al replied offended. His brother was making it sound like he can't take care of himself. How dare he? He was the better of the two at hand-to-hand combat.

Ed smiled at his brother's offense. "I know you can, Al, but you can't get in the dorm because you aren't military personal. I have to be with you to get you in."

"Oh." Al muttered embarrassed. "Okay brother."

"Besides, I want to drop my suitcase off." Ed replied, shaking his suitcase. "We should have done this before we left so we didn't have to lug all our clothes with us."

Al snorted. "Brother, you have what two or three outfits? Doesn't seem that hard to lug around."

Childishly, Ed stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"And they are all the same." Al continued, pretending like he didn't see his brother. "All black! You should wear something besides black."

"I do. See this," Ed grabbed the front of his coat. "A red coat."

Al laughed. "Yes, brother, that is so much."

"Maybe I just don't like color. Did you ever think about that, Al?" Ed retorted.

"Then why the red coat, brother?" Al asked.

Ed didn't reply. He looked up at the sky and fell silent. There was a reason behind his red coat.

"Brother?"

But he never told his brother why he wore the red coat or the black clothes.

"What's wrong, brother?" Al asked worriedly.

Ed looked at his brother and smiled. "Nothing, Al. Don't worry about it."

Al frowned at his brother. He looked ready to protest, demand, beg, and yell at his brother to tell him what was wrong, but at that moment they reached the dorms, which were only a short walk from Central Command.

After arguing with the officer at the front desk to let his brother stay in the dorms with him and dropping his suitcase off in his room, Ed said goodbye to his brother and left the dorms.

In Central Command, he walked cheerfully down the halls, saluting the soldiers he walked past or nodding his heads at the lower rank soldiers who saluted him as soon as they saw the silver chain on his pants.

"Welcome back, Major Elric." Hawkeye greeted with a salute when Ed entered the office.

Ed grinned at her. "Hi-ya, Lieutenant."

"You do realize you were supposed to return yesterday, sir?" Hawkeye asked.

Ed shrugged. "I had a deal to fulfill with the people of Youswell." He tilted his head to the side as he looked at her with the eyes of a curious child, making him look like an innocent little boy, which everyone knew he wasn't by everything he's done since they met him. "Can you not call me sir? It makes me feel old."

Hawkeye gave the young boy a smile. "Of course, si….Major."

"Good enough!" Ed declared. He whipped around to face the rest of the officers in the room, innocence replaced with eyes full of pain, wisdom, fire, and old age that didn't belong there. Only Hawkeye got his innocent look at the moment. "That's goes for you four as well."

"Yes sir." Havoc replied with a smirk, looking up from his paperwork with mischievous eyes.

Ed narrowed his eyes. "Were you not listening, Lieutenant?"

"Well, what am I supposed to call you then?" Havoc asked. "I don't want to call you Major, because it makes me feel down that a kid is a higher rank than me, and you don't want to be called sir, so what?"

Ed shrugged. "You can figure that out for yourself."

"Aww, you're no help." Breda replied, leaning back in his seat, throwing his pen down, and ignoring his paperwork.

Fuery and Falman shook their heads in quiet amusement, but kept working. They didn't want to get on the bad side of Hawkeye.

Ed smirked. "Good."

The doors to the inner office slammed open and Colonel Mustang stood there, glaring at his youngest subordinate. "I thought I heard your voice. In. Now." He stepped to the side and pointed into his office.

The smirk Ed was wearing dropped to be replaced with a scowl.

Mustang closed the door and stalked over to his desk. He sat behind his desk and slammed his hand down onto it. "Fullmetal, you were supposed to return yesterday. I knew that, Lieutenant Hawkeye knew that, your brother knew that, and I know you knew that. This mission was supposed to be done weeks ago, but you kept getting hurt and having to go to the hospital. I could have passed the mission on to someone else, but I wanted you to do it because I wanted an easy mission for your first mission. So, you are basically, weeks late with this mission, but I can't hold that against you with everything that happened."

Ed frowned. "So?"

"I want to know why you didn't return yesterday." Mustang explained.

Ed stood up, marched over to the desk, and threw his report onto Mustang's desk. He sat back at the couch with a huff. "It's in the report."

Mustang raised a brow and picked up the folder. He flipped through the report with an impassive face. "Your job was to inspect the coalmines, not take down the military officers there."

"Well, they were corrupt and I didn't like them." Ed scoffed. He threw his feet onto the table in front of him.

"Feet off, Fullmetal." Mustang ordered without looking up from the report.

Ed smirked at him and kept his feet on the table.

Mustang's brow twitched in annoyance. "You sold the deed to the town back to them?"

"Yep. They seemed very happy about that." Ed replied cheekily.

Mustang smirked. "Interesting, Fullmetal. You are definitely not like other alchemists, or soldiers for that matter, I have met. Alchemist be thou for the people, isn't that right, hero of the people?"

Ed quirked an eyebrow. "Hero of the what? What are you talking about, Mustang?"

"That's the name that the people in Youswell are passing around and it's even reached here to Central before you even got back." Mustang replied, amusement hidden in his eyes.

"Hero of the….." Ed grumbled to himself. "Why though?"

"You're the only state alchemist that has the guts to go against the military and do what you think is right, not caring what anyone else in the military has to say or being afraid that you will get in trouble for it." Mustang threw the report to the side. "Like being a day late to turn the report in, which would get you warning, but if you keep doing it, I would have to court martial you."

Ed looked at his boss lazily. "Would you really court martial me? I don't even want to be here."

"I might court martial you." Mustang replied without giving anything away.

"What do you know of the Philosopher stone?" Ed asked abruptly.

Mustang masked his surprised at the question. "Why?"

"Al was asking about it and he wants to go on a search for it." Ed grudgingly explained.

"It's a fool's search. I don't even know if it truly exists." Mustang replied. "You can spend years searching for it and never get any closer to it than when you started."

"Sounds like an impossible mission." Ed replied. He rolled his tensed shoulders and looked up at the ceiling in thought.

Mustang raised a brow. "You sound interested, shorty."

Ed's brow twitched and he jumped to his feet, pointing a shaky, but aggressive finger at Mustang. "WHO THE HELL IS SO SMALL THAT A MIDGET BEATS HIM IN HEIGHT?"

"Well, now that you ask, I would have to say you." Mustang replied nonchalantly.

Ed growled and plopped back down in his seat. "So, the stone?"

"I'm not an expert on it. But I know it amplifies your alchemy and bypasses the laws of alchemy." Mustang explained. "Why does your brother want such a thing? The military might tail you because you want such a dangerous item that can destroy us all."

Ed snorted. "Like I'm going to tell you anything."

Mustang leaned back in his seat and with his elbows on the armrests of the chair, folding his hands in the air. "And why not?"

"Because I know what you'll do." Ed narrowed his eyes. "If I tell you anything promising, you'll report it directly to the Higher-Ups so you can get more points around here so you can get promoted."

"Then you don't know me." Mustang replied evenly. "I don't turn my back on my team."

Ed raised a brow. "Do I look like an idiot? Al isn't in the military."

"No, but his brother is and said brother is on my team. I'm not about to turn information in on the younger brother when the older brother is on my team. That's the perfect way to lose trust." Mustang retorted. He looked at Ed with calculating eyes. "I know you did something incredibly stupid and dangerous to lose your arm and leg, and I'm going to figure out what."

"Do you feel the need to know everything about everyone?" Ed growled in annoyance.

"Just my team." Mustang replied, not bothered at all by Ed's annoyance.

Ed sighed. "Can we just finish the report?"

Mustang picked the report back up and leafed through it again. "Everything seems to be in order. I'm actually surprised that you did it all correctly, with correct grammar and punctuation too."

Rolling his eyes, Ed looked back at the ceiling. "I take pride in my work."

"With everything in order, I can get it filed away quickly." Mustang said.

"So, I can leave?" Ed asked hopefully.

"Not yet. I need to ask you what you plan to research or study." Mustang said, tossing the report to the side once more.

Ed blinked. "What?"

Mustang sighed. "A state alchemist has a yearly assessment when he gives a report of his research or he has a practical assessment. Just something to prove his skills so he can keep his state alchemist title."

"Oh, I don't know what I'm going to research yet." Ed replied.

"Well, you better figure it out soon." Mustang said. "Go talk to Lieutenant Hawkeye now about getting your gun and lessons."

"Yes sir." Ed replied stiffly, but made no move to get up.

Mustang sighed and put the pen he just picked up back down. "Fullmetal, I have work to do. What do you need?"

"Do I really need to get a gun?" Ed asked.

"All officers are required to have a gun, which includes state alchemists, no matter the age." Mustang replied.

Ed raised a brow. "And what if an eight year old became a state alchemist? Would you really make him get a gun?"

"I would wait until he was a teenager, but that is only me. The final decision would fall to the officer's superior." Mustang explained.

"And why are you making me get a gun?" Ed demanded.

"I think you are old enough to be able to handle it and it will be useful to you. Plus, you've used one before. You understand that a gun isn't a toy." Mustang explained.

Ed shrugged. "Do I really have to carry it all the time?"

"Only when you are on duty, which will probably be all the time as you will be traveling all over the place to do missions." Mustang replied, shifting his papers around on his desk.

Ed turned calculating eyes onto Mustang. "Colonel, I'll obey all your order and do the missions without complaint if you allow me to take side trips after I complete my mission. Al and I want to see more of the country and I want to see how different people use alchemy….and I would also like to do some research on the Philosopher Stone."

"Why do you want to research it? It's a fool's search." Mustang asked.

"I just figured I would research it since Al is curious about it. I think we should research something he wants to for once. In the past, we've always researched what I wanted to." Ed explained carefully. "And I do want to learn more about it."

Mustang leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling as he thought. "As long as you listen to my orders, carry your gun with you at all times, and call me regularly, I can let you do what you want after missions to a certain degree."

"Why do I need to call you?"

"So I know you haven't gone AWOL." Mustang replied.

"So, if I agree to those three terms, I can research the philosopher stone and take side trips?" Ed concluded.

Mustang nodded his head. "You also have to return here every few weeks to give me your report of everything you've done the weeks you were gone, even if it wasn't part of your original mission. I want information on your side trips."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know what you are doing to make sure you are safe and so I know how many enemies you will have hunting you down." Mustang explained.

Edward looked at Mustang annoyed. "I'm not going to go around making enemies."

"Not going to stop people from hating you." Mustang said knowledgably. "So, what do you say?"

"You got yourself a deal, Mustang." Ed replied.

"Then go get your gun." Mustang said as he picked his pen up to get back to work.

Edward sighed, stood up, and left the office. "Hey Lieutenant Hawkeye."

Riza looked up at her superior. "Yes, Major Elric?"

"Mustang wants you to take me to get my gun and to teach me how to use it now." Edward explained to her quietly so she was the only one who could hear him.

Hawkeye smiled gently at him and nodded her head. "Let's go, Major Elric."

"Aww, why does Hawkeye get to leave while we're stuck here doing paperwork?" Havoc whined as he watched the Major and Lieutenant leave the office.

Edward fell into step behind the First Lieutenant and stared at the ground like a little boy who was following his mother to be punished.

Hawkeye looked back at him with a gentle, sad smile. "It won't be that bad, Major."

Ed shook his head in disagreement. It was easy for her to use a gun. It's all she had. She didn't use alchemy or swords. A gun was all she had for protection. So a gun is easy for her to use. Anyone who doesn't use alchemy can use a gun easily, especially a war veteran.

The young alchemist looked up when they reached the equipment room. They stopped in front of the desk. Behind the desk was a young private who looked around eighteen.

"Lieutenant…." He looked at Ed uncertainly until Ed flashed his watch. "Major." The private saluted. "What can I do for you?"

"Get us a .41 caliber, a rifle, a sniper rifle, a Walther P99, a semi-automatic pistol, a shotgun, and a 9mm pistol." Hawkeye ordered.

Ed looked at the Lieutenant confused. "Why so many?"

"I'm going to teach you how to use all types of guns, but the gun you'll be carrying and really need to know how to use is the 9mm pistol." Hawkeye explained when the private left to the get the guns and bullets.

When the private came back with them, Hawkeye and Ed took them and left for the shooting ranger. Hawkeye placed the guns down in a station and got earmuffs for herself and Ed. She handed a pair to Ed and began to explain how each gun works and showed Ed how to load the gun, then unloaded it so Ed could load it himself. Usually she would explain one gun, then let the soldier learn that gun and practice with it first, but she knew Ed was a prodigy and knew he could learn it all at once.

Once they got through learning all about the guns and how to load them, Hawkeye and Ed put their ear muffs on. Hawkeye picked the rifle up and handed it to Ed. She helped him hold it correctly and directed him through the process of aiming and shooting it.

Through the whole teaching process, she only had to correct Ed one time or not at all on the correct way to use each gun. He was taking these lessons very seriously and maturely and for that, Hawkeye was grateful. It showed that he really understood how dangerous guns were in immature, ignorant hands.

The two officers spent the whole day in the shooting range with Ed learning and becoming a pro at guns in a short amount of time. It showed just how much of a prodigy Ed really was. The aiming took the longest and was the hardest part for Ed, but by the end of the day, he got it down.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye thanks for teaching me." Ed said as he looked at the black 9mm pistol that was handed to him by the private behind the desk in the equipment room. He took it warily and checked for the bullets in the gun and that the safety was on.

Hawkeye nodded approvingly as she watched Ed. Most kids would be gleeful at the idea of getting a gun and start pretending to shoot it around, not worrying about the safety. It showed just how responsible and wise Ed was.

"It was no problem, Major Elric." Hawkeye replied warmly. She, personally, thought Edward was too young to get a gun, but at the same time understood why Mustang wanted him to have a gun. Having lived through and fought in a war taught her the dangers of the world and it was best to have as much protection as possible. And now Edward had that in the forms of alchemy, hand-to-hand combat, and his use and knowledge of all weapons.

Edward slipped the gun into his coat pocket.

"We should report back to Colonel Mustang." Hawkeye said.

Edward sighed irritably. He just had a long day of using guns, the most hated weapon for him, and now the Lieutenant wanted to take him back to that man. So troublesome.

"Just keep your gun away from your brother. I don't want either of you getting shot." Hawkeye replied as she led the young major out of the equipment room. "Major, I should also inform you that when you shoot your gun, you are to fill out a form explaining why you fired, who you fired at, and how many times so you can get a refill of bullets."

"Why do I need to fill out a form?" Edward asked confused.

"So we know that you fired your gun and keep track of your bullets so we can prove that it wasn't your gun involved in a murder if there is one." Hawkeye explained.

"Seems like a lot of work just for bullets." Edward replied.

"Needs to be done if you don't want to be the main suspect for a murder," Hawkeye said.

Edward shrugged. Honestly, he didn't expect to ever use his gun. He would carry it because of his deal with Mustang, but he would probably forget about it. He was also planning to keep it hidden from his little brother. Only one of them should have to be burdened by the thought of a gun being with them.

"Hey Ed, Lieutenant Hawkeye," Major Hughes greeted in the hallway. He stopped and spun on his heels to walk with them. "Where are you two coming from?"

"Shooting range." Ed replied, frowning.

Hughes stared between the two. "S-shooting…range? Why were you there?"

"Colonel Mustang asked me to teach Major Elric how to use guns." Hawkeye replied.

"A GUN!" Hughes shouted, startling a few soldiers around. His fatherly side was coming out to protect the young Elric from the hardships of adulthood. He grabbed Ed's shoulder and looked at him urgently. "Ed, please tell me you weren't assigned a gun."

Ed grimaced and pulled his gun out of his coat pocket to show it to Hughes.

"I'm going to murder Roy." Hughes growled. Anger was flashing in his eyes with a mutinous expression on his face. "I am seriously going to murder him this time. He's gone too far this time."

"Be careful where you say those kinds of things, Major. One might think you actually will and report you." Hawkeye warned.

Hughes eyes flashed dangerously. "Maybe I am serious. No kid should have a gun. Hell, no kid should be in the military."

Edward pocketed his gun. "I don't like it either, but don't kill the Colonel, Hughes."

"Why not?" Hughes asked dangerously.

"We have a deal and I think he is the only superior that will give me this deal." Edward explained. "All the others would make me follow the military rules to the book. With Mustang, I don't have so I don't need a uniform or need to salute him. I like it. He's probably the only superior I'll get like that."

"What deal?" Hughes asked.

Edward smirked. "That's for me to know and for you to never find out!"

"Little punk." Hughes said good-naturedly.

Edward froze in mid-step and slowly turned his head to Hughes with a twitching eye and frown. "WHO THE HELL IS SO MICROSCOPIC THAT A SUBATOMIC PARTICLE IS BIGGER THAN HIM?"

Hughes held his hands up in defense and took a few steps away from the young major who could easily destroy him. "Relax, Ed, I didn't say that much and never will."

Ed's brow twitched, but he backed down. "You better not." He hissed.

"You really need to control that small temper of yours, Fullmetal."

"SMALL?" Ed screamed. "I am not SMALL!"

"Roy!" Hughes said angrily, ignoring Ed. "I have a bone to pick with you."

Mustang stopped teasing Ed and looked at Hughes, all teasing gone from his face and voice. "Yeah? About what?"

Hughes pointed at Ed. "Him having a gun. Why the hell did you order him to have a gun? He's twelve!"

"I trust my subordinate to be able to handle a gun. I want him to have as much protection as he can have. He's going to have to have a gun eventually. It's best he learns now so he will be ready for everything. Don't question my motives, Maes." Mustang replied.

"I'll question them when I think you're making a mistake." Maes argued.

Edward rolled his eyes and walked away. Personally, he didn't want the gun and agreed with Hughes, but would take it if it got him the deal with Mustang. If those two wanted to argue about it in the middle of the hallway with soldiers all around that was their problem. It was getting late and he wanted to go back to his dorm.

"Al, I'm back!" Edward yelled when he entered the dorm.

"Brother, you've been gone all day. Where have you been? I thought you were just turning in a report." Al demanded as he came out of the kitchen, wielding a wooden spoon.

The sight of it and what Al said made Ed laugh. He doubled over and wiped a tear from his eye. "You sound and look like a scolding mother."

Al paused, thought about what he said and looked at the wooden spoon in his hand, and laughed. "It's like when mom would come out of the kitchen and scold us when we would come inside covered in mud."

Edward laughed and collapsed on the couch. "Then she would get a better look at us and laugh. We would be completely covered in it that our hair looked brown instead of gold."

"Then she would drag us outside by our ears or shirts and get the hose and hose us down." Al leaned against the back of the couch as he thought about that day. "Which ended up in a water war between the three of us."

Edward smiled at the memory. He really missed his mom. Why did she have to die? If she didn't, then he and Al wouldn't be here in a military dorm, Edward wouldn't be a state alchemist, he wouldn't have two metal limbs, they would probably never have trained under Izumi, and they would still be home in Resembool with their mom and Winry.

"So, why are you late?" Al asked, breaking his brother from his train of thoughts.

"I had some work I needed to do at Central Command." Edward explained. "Were you making dinner?"

"Yep, stew."

"It was my day to cook though." Edward protested.

Al smiled sadly. "Let's face it, brother, you are busy with your military work. If we took turns cooking, we won't eat until ten at night because you get home late because unexpected things happen. I'll do the cooking. You just focus on work."

"It's not fair to push that on you, Al." Edward said.

"It's not a problem, brother. I need to feel as if I'm doing something to take care of us. And if this is all I can do, I'll do it. I'll be the chef and you'll be the source of our income so we both have a job to do in taking care of us." Al said.

"And we both work on keeping this place clean." Edward said.

Al looked at his brother with a sly grin. "You are such a neat freak, brother. You better hope that no one in the military founds out about that. You'll be teased merciless if the guys find out about you being such a clean freak."

Edward stiffened at the thought. "Oh, shit."

Al laughed and went back into the small kitchen to finish the stew.

While Al finished cooking, Edward got up to look around the dorm. It wasn't that big, which was fine for the boys. They were probably going to spend most of their time traveling and wouldn't need to use Ed's dorm that much. There was a bathroom, one bedroom with one bed (the dorm rooms were supposed to be accommodated for only one person), a living room, and a small kitchen with a small table with two chairs. All the walls were a light green color and the carpet was tan. The bedroom had a dresser, a wardrobe, a nightstand with an alarm clock on it, and a bed. In the living room was a couch, a desk in the corner, and a coffee table. On his desk was a pile of books and research notes. This room was obviously one of the nicer ones reserved for someone of the rank of major or a state alchemist, which Ed was both of those.

"Hey Al, I talked to Mustang earlier." Edward called into the kitchen.

"Yeah? About what?" Alphonse asked, poking his head out of the kitchen.

"The Philosopher Stone." Edward watched Al look at him surprised. "We made a deal. Mustang is going to let us do what we want after I finish my mission so we have time to find dad. Also, a state alchemist needs to turn in yearly research or have a practical to keep their state certification. I decided to do my research on the Philosopher Stone in our travels. I thought it was time we researched something you wanted to. We researched Human Transmutation because I wanted to, so we'll research the Philosopher Stone for you and try to find it, but we don't need it for anything. I don't have a problem with prosthetic limbs."

Al grinned at his brother and propelled himself from the kitchen doorway over to the couch where Edward was sitting once more. He jumped on top of his brother and hugged him. "You are the absolute best big brother ever!"

Edward laughed and pushed his brother off him and onto the floor. "But the Colonel thinks it's a fool's search. I want to prove him wrong by finding it."

Al rolled his eyes. "Oh, honestly brother, I thought you were doing this for me."

"I am. Proving the Colonel wrong is just a bonus." Edward replied with an evil gleam in his eyes.

Al laughed and got off the floor. "The stew is done if you want to eat."

"STEW!" Ed yelled excitedly and ran into the kitchen with his brother.

A/N: I know nothing about guns so that's why I didn't explain it.

I'm having Ed use a gun because in Brotherhood Hawkeye gave her gun to Ed and Ed said he knew how to use. So, I'm guessing he was taught by someone and I chose Hawkeye since she seems to be the best at using guns.

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