CHAPTER 14: ***[13 was released recently, make sure you read it first!]***

They were still blaming Ross. I was the first on the scene, and I reported seeing alchemic light around the one who had killed Hughes, but I said that the shadows were tricky, and I didn't know who it was. Ross was arrested. Things were moving quickly, too quickly, and I could barely keep up.

Mustang had questioned me about what had happened, I had given the truth, partly. I was taking a walk, enjoying my ill-gotten freedom from the hospital, when I heard a shot, and rushed to the scene. Everyone tread lightly around me, like they expected me to break. But they didn't know. They didn't know what really happened, and I couldn't tell them. I had realized a while ago and tried my best to think of a way around it. If Hughes was dead in the show, then he would be dead here.

He had died for a reason, he couldn't pass on the information or people would just keep coming for him and anyone they thought he told. It wasn't time yet, no one was ready. So, for all intents and purposes, for a plot device, my only friend was dead.

I collapsed on my knees beside Hughes, hands tentatively reaching for him.

"Lt. Colonel?"

My voice was timid, I was scared. Scared that I had failed, not only in my judgment earlier, but in my main mission. I touched his shoulder gently, trying to push back tears, and the oddest thing happened, he wheezed in a breath and tried to sit up. I froze, and he started to speak.

"Damn, Arcaro, I guess you were right, happy? Wearing your experimental body armor is a good idea. I think it's saved two lives in as many days."

My eyes darted to his wound, his hand was covering it, but it slowly moved away. He unbuttoned his shirt, swiftly, revealing his undershirt, a hole punched through it, with the gleam of metal still lodged in the armor underneath. I sat back on my heels, breathing deeply, and laughed. I didn't stop until Hughes touched my shoulder, concerned. At that I was reminded of what I was doing. I looked him straight in the eye and spoke, more serious than I'm sure he had ever seen me. "Do you trust me?"

It was a loaded question. I was content to give him time to-

"Of course!"

I started, "That was quick."

He shrugged, eyeing me seriously.

"There's corruption in the military, I know you're aware of it, I've noticed your reaction to certain things during the course of investigations. You know something's happening, and you know it's not yet time to act. I also know that you're foreign, so you're basically untouchable blackmail-wise to these people, unless they can find this mysterious country of yours. There's no way they've corrupted you in the time that you've been here."

I looked at him blankly, then shook the thoughts away. We need to move. Anyone could have heard those shots.

"Well, I need you to exercise that trust. Run. Don't be seen. Don't talk to anyone. Don't go home. They think you're dead, keep it that way. You know as well as I do that there's no reason to target Gracia or Elicia if you're already dead. Here's how to contact me. I may not always be in, obviously, but you can leave a message."

I handed him a slip of paper,

"This is a secure line, I should know, I built it myself. It's piggybacking off the civilian grid, so no military hacking, but I added some...personal touches to the wiring, so it couldn't be tracked." I handed him a bag,

"I think I've got a way to make it convincing. I'll take care of things now. By tomorrow, everyone will believe that you died here."

He looked desperately like he wanted to argue, he probably didn't want to leave his family, the family man that he is. He opened his mouth, but I shook my head.

"Go. Believe me, if you were 'alive' to the world, then there would be nothing stopping that thing from coming back again. For you, or your family. You know that."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"The Fuhrer, he's involved, he might be one of them!"

Shit, Taylor said that the only sins the same were-oh. Obviously, it was a different sin. What the shit, Taylor?

"I know." Well, I didn't know that I knew, but I know now. Maybe?

He looked at me startled.

"How!?"

"Alchemy bullshit, well, Xingese approximate bullshit. Dragons n shit. Don't worry about it right now, I'm still trying to figure it out myself. I knew something was very wrong, at least."

The force known as the 'Dragons pulse' was a convenient excuse as well as a colossal headache for me as I bumbled my way through figuring it out now that I was consciously aware of its existence with the more I dabbled.

I was feeling a bit unstable at the moment, adrenaline from the close call warring with the injuries I had been ignoring, I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't accidentally tell the truth if he kept asking. We stared at one another until finally he looked away and sighed.

"I'll be in touch with you I suppose. There are some leads I can look into better now that I'm 'dead'. Thank you, for this…look out for them?"
"Of course."

I let myself watch him walk away, alive, but from there I moved quickly, crouching down on the pavement, etching in a gentle chalk circle, easy to wash away once I'm done. circles-lines-my-own-creation-proud-of-this and then I clapped my hands. I knew it wasn't required to activate a circle, but there was a finality to it, and it centered my mind. Lightning flew, and then darkness surrounded me. There were shadows now, but they were my shadows. I bent the light around this area so I wouldn't be seen. I knew there was some homunculus who did something with shadows (Taylor, you little shit, spoil nothing or everything this half-measure shit is killing me-), but I also knew how to keep it away, hopefully and theoretically. As I went about my now (hopefully) hidden business I thanked God for my brother, who doesn't give a damn about spoilers, and gives character run-downs, and gives away plot devices. True it would have been better if he had been more thorough, or even obvious so that I wasn't still finding hidden meaning in references, but beggars can't be choosers.

The paper with Ross' face on it shook in my hands. I put the paper down carefully, contemplating life as a whole.

For me, it was pretty straightforward. Keep this world from the terrible fate that was trying to drag it down. But Maria Ross was still a victim. I had no idea what happened to her in the original timeline, not this one at least. But I knew that there was no way that I could prove that it wasn't her. My job had changed on me, my entire unit was disbanded with the death of our superior officer, and I was snatched up by Roy and his people. I don't know exactly how, and I wasn't about to ask. I knew they already had a guy with encyclopedic knowledge and near-perfect recall, so I didn't bother revealing what I could do. It wasn't something I generally liked to bandy about in any case. Not even Hughes knew. I'm sure he had an idea that there was something up with my brain and my thought processes, but he didn't know.

I was lost in thought, wondering for a bit what after all of this mess, (if I survived) I was going to do with my life. I already knew there was no feasible way home, Truth wasn't the sort of creature to go along with things that would make people happy, and like fuck was I capable of blackmailing some kind of god-approximate. I probably wouldn't want to stay in the military forever, but then again maybe I did. I knew Roy wanted to be Fuhrer. Maybe I could help with that. I honestly had nowhere else to be, and I quite liked working in investigations. It was all very NCIS-ish. I was trying to decide if I should get a cat in 4 years, daydreaming at my desk during work, when the door to the office burst open. It was Edward. Shit.

I ducked my head down, waiting for the shouting match between him and Roy to finish. It was all very distressing. Al stood solemnly in the background. I sighed, and stood.

"This is going to take a while. Does anyone want coffee?"

The soldiers shook their heads, only glancing away from the entertaining fight happening in front of them. I turned to Al,

"Alphonse?"

He started, I think everyone did. In that moment they probably remembered that they had never told me about Ed and Al's past. There was silence, even Ed and Roy had paused in their fight. I glanced around, as if confused, and Al answered,

"Ah, no, thank you."

I shrugged, making my way to the door, calmly stuffing my hands in my coat pockets.

"All right then, just for me. I'll be back…eventually."

I glanced at Al again,

"Please make sure they don't destroy the building while I'm out."

I swept out, swiftly making my way to the cafeteria, leaving them to decide. With my little prod at their memory they would have to discuss whether to tell me or not. It didn't matter to me either way. It might be better if they told me, so I could be kept in the loop about things. But if they didn't tell me then I had plausible deniability if I was caught by the bad guys for whatever reason. I paid for my cola and sat down at an empty table in the mess hall, bringing out my research book. I settled down for a long wait. I would give them the time they needed to evaluate my character, it was about time for me to take a lunch break anyway.

/./

Kind of a double update, have fun (Innieminnie - I just like cliffhangers lol, and it was supposed to be rushed, she's feeling the pressure and not liking it)
The perpetual reminder that reviews fuel my evil soul
(For those who read my other stuff, just know that I just wrote two chapters (later on chapters) for two different stories where I made myself cry and don't know if I'll keep them or if I'm choosing violence, so, you know, dread that or whatever)
~TimeLordOfPie