AN: Oh my goodness, you guys, the response to Chapter Seven was amazing! A million thank you's to justaislinn, LuvversLuvvie, Sakurita Elric and Neko, TheWarriorpony, Secret Companion, and Regina lunaris for your awesome reviews! You can't imagine the way my heart soars when I see such positive responses! I'm so glad you guys are loving the twisted aspects of this story. Because it gets worse. xD

No warnings for this chapter, as it is in Mustang's POV, therefore it's a nice, mellow, cool-down chapter. It's also a bit short so I apologize. I want to check in with Roy every four or five chapters so it's not constant Ed battery in your face all the time, and I like trying to write the good Flame Alchemist. For some reason he's so much harder to write than Edward. O_o

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Eight

The office was held in a suspended, palpable silence as men looked to one another, then to the floor, or to the table. Second Lieutenant Havoc kept narrowed eyes fixed on the sunlight streaming in through the large bay window that looked out onto the parade ground, while Sergeants Breda and Fuery glanced at each other then around the room randomly. Warrant Officer Falman had his head hung, facing his boots in a gesture that seemed too defeated. First Lieutenant Hawkeye's heavy gaze was the only one locked on their superior.

And Mustang... he could only examine his men with eyes that weren't completely clear. His mind was tumbling over itself in a hundred different directions as he sat behind his desk with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. After being in this position for over a few minutes he was becoming annoyed by the scratch of his uniform on his wired skin, which just caused more tension to leak into his wound muscles. He felt like he might explode soon if there wasn't some kind of change. He mentally urged one of his men, someone, to say something to break the silence.

For what seemed like the hundredth time he trained his vision on the sunlight that fell across the floor, the shadows lengthy and the light having a reddish tinge that introduced the oncoming sunset.

It had been five days since the Drachmans attacked.

Amestrian forces were doing their best to beat back the invading army, and they were near victory, Mustang could feel it. His tactic had been correct- the Drachmans hadn't expected Central to gather themselves so quickly, and when five thousand troops had arrived in the north the very evening of the attack, it was like snuffing out the flame of a candle. Or so that's how it felt at first. The Drachmans were numerous, yes, but didn't have nearly the sufficient training or weaponry that Amestrian soldiers were provided. Before two days had passed, most of the enemy soldiers were either dead or had surrendered and were being held in the cold cells at Northern Command.

But still, Drachmans continued pouring through from the decimated remains of the Wall of Briggs. Several attempts had been made to set up a barrier, but the Amestrians were being overwhelmed in that place.

On the morning of the fifth day, they had finally made some ground with over three thousand men stationed at the wall itself, and several thousand more scattered around the Northern landscape. Drachman terrorists still cropped up and attacked a few times a day, but they were dwindling in number, and the king of their country had called a meeting with Fuhrer Grumman, who had refused the summons at the insistence of his advisors and Roy Mustang himself.

It may lead to all-out war instead of these little skirmishes, but Mustang wasn't going to allow their leader to put himself in such an endangering position. Of course his words and opinion had surprised the Fuhrer, and Grumman even had the nerve to suggest that if he was assassinated, Mustang was that much closer to the top.

In which the Flame Alchemist responded with an amused huff, 'Sir, my Fuhrer you may be, but you were and are one of my closest allies, first and foremost.'

The old man had peered over his glasses with a smirk, 'Well, Mustang, it's good to see that you've kept your ambitions and your upstanding character throughout your rise through the ranks. You'll make a good Fuhrer one day.'

'But not today, sir. Just stay alive and let your Generals handle this for now.'

Mustang sighed and uncrossed his arms, dragging a palm over his face to smoothe out the kinks he could feel forming in his brow.

What a mess.

'Sir.'

Dark eyes rimmed with shadows looked up to see a young officer standing in the doorway of his office, the young man's eyes were scanning Mustang's team with something akin to pity.

'What is it, Major Wright?'

The Major straightened and met his gaze, approaching the General's desk and extending a manila folder. Mustang hesitated but took it, not needing to even open the file before Wright began to give him the run-down.

'Investigations has located General Hakuro and his family, along with Colonel Stevens and State Alchemists Timber and Willington. They were being held in one of the Drachman camps in the West, just past the border. Investigations is searching the area further and is in the process of interrogating a few of the prisoners they captured in the camp.'

Roy opened up the file and let his eyes run over the words but gave up when the ink letters just squirmed like little bugs on the pages. He'd read and signed and written so much over the past few days he was physically sick with seeing their language on paper, 'And what of the Fullmetal Alchemist?'

The Major seemed to hesitate a moment before steeling himself, 'No concrete word as of yet, sir. One of our prisoners did reveal that a group of theirs never made it to their compound, and said that those men were supposed to have been transporting a "special" State Alchemist, but they don't know any more than that. And... it may be unrelated, but there was a vehicular crash between West City and Pendleton, on one of the small roads that is rarely travelled. Three bodies were recovered of men in their late thirties to early fifties, all having been shot from a range of at least twenty feet with what appears to be a standard-issue rifle. Investigations is currently collecting the morgue photos of these men to get a verification from the prisoners that they're Drachman.'

Absorbing this, the Flame Alchemist watched his men rouse from their differing states of stress and exhaustion at the news, and he didn't miss the smile that Fuery flashed Breda. Hope was a powerful thing, but just as dangerous.

'So in the end there's still no conclusive news of Edward Elric,' Mustang stated, his voice level and cold in a way that made his men cringe- except for Hawkeye, who just pressed her lips tighter together.

The Major deflated, 'Not at this time, sir.'

'Thank you, Major Wright, you're dismissed.'

With a quick salute, the young man left the office and the silence returned for just a few moments before Havoc ticked his tongue and stood up from one of the couches, 'Sir, I want to go to West City and search for the chief. If there was a crash and he escaped, the first thing he would do is look for medical attention! He might be in a hospital in one of the surrounding cities, so we should-'

'No.'

Havoc regarded him incredulously, 'But sir, Ed could be hurt! And we need him here! He should be our top priority! Let me go alone, I can find him!'

'I said no, Second Lieutenant,' Mustang's eyes narrowed and he stood up behind his desk, crossing his arms behind his back as he turned to look out the window at the soldiers milling around the parade ground below, 'I need you here. As much as I wish I knew where Fullmetal is, we can't spend resources to go out and search for him. That's Investigations' job.'

'But sir-!'

'Havoc,' The blonde cringed when Hawkeye's cool brown eyes settled on him, 'If we were to go out searching for Edward, that would appear as favoritism. What if we did find him, and in that time the Lieutenant Colonel and Major General were killed? What if all the other Majors were disposed of? And we had only gone out looking for Edward. It would not only look bad on us, but the General's character would be called into question as well. There are those in the military already wondering if the General is loyal to the many, or to his few selected favorites. We can't allow those suspicions to fester any more than they already have.'

Mustang's jaw twitched but he kept his back to his men, able to feel their disappointment and frustration without having to see their faces. Hawkeye was right, of course, and was able to say the words that he never could.

How could he tell his men that the only thing he wanted to do right now was throw caution to the wind and go search for Fullmetal himself? How could he then tell them that there was no way he would? There was no sugar-coating the fact that his own ascension in this government was more important than spending all their manpower searching for one of their own.

The first day when this all began, Mustang had been in the Investigations office, speaking to the Colonel now in charge of the department after Archer was killed, when Hawkeye had entered with barely a knock to the door. His First Lieutenant had appeared frazzled and worn-down, and her eyes when they sought his were all he needed to see to know that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

'Edward is not at the University and is not at home, sir. A neighbor of his said she saw him leave his home last night with a boy she thinks was his student, but he never returned. We're trying to find out who the boy he was with is, and if Edward maybe is still with him at the moment.'

But there had been doubt in her words, and confusion had come over Roy. Was Fullmetal teaching private lessons in his own home now? As far as the General knew, Ed had never once mentioned a student ever being in his house. It might be seen as inappropriate, if not unfair to the other men and women in Ed's classes.

Then his mind began to broach the idea that maybe it wasn't Ed's student, but a lover? That thought made his heart twinge in the strangest way, but he smoothed over that tiny sting with ease. After all Mustang had been through, numbness came easily, even if he didn't quite understand what he was covering. So what if it was a lover? Did that mean that Ed was staying at the boy's house now? If so, why would he not be there to teach his classes the next day? Edward as a child had been irresponsible, yes, but the blonde was now unquestionably an adult, and took his work with his pupils seriously.

Ed would not have just abandoned his students for a romp with a teenager.

Mustang's doubts had been eased on the third day of the skirmishes with Drachma when Hawkeye had entered his office while he was filling out a status report for the head General at South HQ. She had closed the door quietly behind her and approached his desk, gave a quick salute, and updated him with practical swiftness, keeping any emotion from her voice.

'Edward has been confirmed as abducted, sir. The teenager he left his home with three nights ago was a student of his- a James Yankovy. There was a small amount of blood found near the apartments beside the University, enough to show that there was some kind of a struggle, and residents nearby admitted to hearing a racket at a few hours to midnight. As of now, James Yankovy has been pronounced missing by an advisor that he sees every day there at the University, since he's a minor. Yankovy's family in East City haven't heard from him in nearly a month now. And there have been no sightings of Edward at all since that night.'

Mustang had stared through her, disbelief being the strongest emotion he was feeling. After all, this was punch-first-ask-questions-later Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, who could easily pummel Roy into the ground at hand-to-hand combat. How could he get taken so easily?

But he was with one of his students, his mind had reminded him, and Ed was easy to manipulate when there was someone he needed to protect involved.

Roy was guilty at the brief relief he had felt at the revelation that the two weren't lovers.

Because it was illegal, he pointed out to himself almost defensively, Edward was an adult now and to have relations with a young teenager was against the law and could land him in trouble.

You're such a fucking hypocrite.

Shaking himself, he finally turned back to his men and took in their helpless expressions.

'I put my trust in the Investigations department, as should all of you. I'm just as worried about Fullmetal, but we can't allow that to distract us. Drachma is our main concern right now, so let's get back to work. We're useless if we just sit here and worry all night.'

His men snapped ready salutes and rose to their feet, filtering away into the outer office while Hawkeye remained behind for just a few moments, long enough to step the last remaining feet to his desk and lean towards him slightly.

'Edward will be okay, sir. They'll find him.'

The warmth and sympathy in her voice had him glaring at her without any real heat.

Curse Hawkeye and her perceptiveness.

Once she had exited, he turned back to the window.

Now, the information that was coming in to him was just getting stranger and stranger. So Fullmetal had been abducted along with his student. Had Ed been the one to cause the car crash and somehow shot their captors afterward? Or had they escaped before then? And if Ed and Yankovy had escaped, why had Roy not been contacted already? If they had gone into any of the adjoining towns or cities there would have been phones and military personnel. In fact there were checkpoints set up all along those roads. No doubt Investigations was already tracking down soldiers at those posts for questioning about the now dead men. But apparently no one had seen Fullmetal or the boy with him. If it was a rifle that had gunned down the men... could it have been soldiers that had caused the wreck? If it was, Ed would have been transported to Central by now, though. There was no way the military had done that. But if not... then who? What the hell was going on and where the hell was his subordinate?

Agitation gripped his chest once again, and this time it was harder to force away. All he could see was a young Edward Elric, weeping on a set of stone steps in the rain, fear and depression consuming the boy with such a passion that Roy's heart had yearned to reach out to the blonde.

No, it was much too difficult to bury the unsettling anxiety that was building in him with every passing day that he didn't see those fierce golden eyes that were always sparking with an incredible intelligence, yet were so open and easily read. He wouldn't be able to relax until he had Ed by his side once again.

You better be alright out there, Fullmetal.

AN: Chapter Eight end. Guys, am I writing Roy right? Is he a bit OOC? If so, how do you think I should fix it? I'm trying but I'm just not sure about this man...

Anyway, hope I didn't bore you to death. I'll probably be binge-writing all night so I MIGHT have Chapter Nine up early. Maybe. If my hands don't fall off before then. This story is beginning to take over my life, I swear.

OH! Also, after assessing the outline I'd written up a few weeks ago and after analyzing the pacing of this story, it might end up being upwards of thirty-some chapters. I think. We shall see.

Love y'all, see you next chapter!