Country Boy

"You want me to what?"

Roy leveled a cold look across his desk. Why did this always have to be difficult? Honestly, he didn't think he had this many headaches before they added the blond terror to his team.

"Stay in East city for a while," he said for maybe the third time. Didn't this kid ever pay attention?

"Why?"

Roy grit his teeth and let out a sigh, reigning in his temper. This. This is why he didn't want kids.

"Because, Fullmetal, the Crime Unit has requested an alchemist be added to their team for their investigation and I'm assigning you."

"But-,"

"You will report to the police headquarters tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM sharp and-,"

"-what about me and Al's work?"

"-work with the Crime Unit to help them solve their case."

The two looked at each other over the Colonel's large desk. Ed looked like he wanted to say a million things to the older man, none of it good, but didn't know where to start. He took a deep breath. "We had a deal that you'd give us leads about the….you know. The stone," he ground out.

Roy leaned back in his seat and studied the teenager. "And I will. I've given you lots already. Not my fault they turn out to lead nowhere," he said, shrugging.

"However-," he continued as Ed opened his mouth to retort, "I don't have anything right now and you," he said, reaching into the top drawer of his desk, "still need to do some real work. So deal with it." Roy pulled out a plastic bag and tossed it across the desk towards the other alchemist.

Edward gave him his best death glare but Roy was immune to it by now. After a while, the teen's curiosity got the better of him and he walked up to the desk and picked up the bag.

"What's this?" he said, holding it up to examine its contents. There were three brown coins sitting in a neat line at the bottom of the bag.

"Evidence. You're to examine it thoroughly and write a report on your findings to bring with you to the meeting you're attending tomorrow morning."

Ed's eyebrows came together and he looked up at the Colonel with a blank expression. "You want me," he said slowly, "to write a report on three copper coins?"

Mustang returned his blank look before a hint of a smirk crept into the corner of his mouth. "Honesty, Fullmetal…And you came so highly recommended," he said with a dramatic sigh.

"Asshole! Are you making fun of me!?" snapped the teen.

"Why don't you take a closer look," Roy told him flatly, letting the insult roll over him.

Ed huffed as he plopped himself into the chair facing Mustang's desk. He tore the bag open and dumped the contents onto the polished surface. The three coins skipped over the wood, coming to a rest with a clatter. Two faced up, the other down.

They were plain, standard Amestrian coppers, worth a couple cenz each. Ed had almost expected them to be covered in blood or something but they were clean.

"Six fucking cenz," he said moodily.

"Your investigative capabilities astound me," replied Roy sarcastically.

"Hey, you're the one who's assigning me to this case! Jerk."

Roy rolled his eyes but caught himself. Having the kid around sometimes made him revert to his own teenage mannerisms. Something Hawkeye was only too glad to point out.

"Because you're an Alchemist, aren't you?" he said pointedly.

Roy saw the moment the gears in the young prodigy's mind clicked into place. His gold eyes slid back to the coins and he pulled the glove off his left hand with his teeth.

Taking one of the coppers between the thumb and index finger of his good hand, Ed closed his eyes and rubbed the coin between them.

"It's a fake," he said with certainty holding it up so it caught the light. The copper was shiny and looked newly minted. Ed dug around in his pocket and came up with a real copper coin, holding the two side by side. He was no expert on Amestrian coinage but the copper looked legit to the naked eye. The weight, size and design were perfect replicas.

"Why do you say that?" Encouraged Mustang with a bit of a smile. He already knew this, of course, because he had been briefed on the case beforehand. But he wanted Ed to figure it out for himself.

"Because it's too perfect. No one mints pure copper coins," answered the teen again with certainty.

"Very good. That's what you'll write in your report. The crime unit is currently investigating what they believe to be a widespread network of counterfeit money. They've requested the assistance of an alchemist to help them tell the good from the bad. I'm sending you to help."

Ed let the fake copper spin across the desk top. "For how long?"

"As long as it takes. Could be weeks or it could be months," replied Mustang simply.

Ed shot to his feet looking stricken. "I can't stay in East City for months! What about Al?"

"You'd better solve the case quickly then."

"Bastard, What about-,"

Roy was getting tired of this conversation already. His other subordinates would have listened to the briefing, said yes, sir. Thank you, sir. And been out the door in ten, maybe fifteen minutes flat. Why did he put up with this?

"Fullmetal," he growled, letting impatience seep into the words, "in case you've forgotten, again, you work for Amestris out of Eastern Command. And I'm in charge of Eastern Command which means you work for me! And if I say you're going to work with the crime unit until they solve their case, you're going to do it or you can kiss that shiny watch of yours good-bye! And I don't want to hear you whining about it! Grow up!"

There was a moment of tense silence as the two glared at each other.

"Fine!" retorted the young alchemist, swiping the coins off the desk and stuffing the lot in his pocket. Mustang's eye twitched at this serious mishandling of evidence but decided to let it slide.

Ed looked like he wanted to say more but settled with a muttered "Fine, asshole."

There was more tacked on to the end of that, none of which Mustang wanted to know. As the teen reached the door, he gave his superior officer a glare that could melt glass. "When I'm done with this, you'd better have something useful for me," he spat. And with a final flourish of the garish red coat, the door slammed and he was gone.

Roy sat back in his chair, eyeing the door with murderous intent. "Always a pleasure, Fullmetal. Always a pleasure."

At least nothing in his office was broken this time.

Ed took a deep breath as he stood on the sidewalk outside of the police station. He knew the police was just an extension of the military but everything was run differently.

"Don't worry brother, you still have authority over everyone in there," encouraged Al.

As much as his brother liked to assert himself (sometimes a little too violently) as a confident, genius State Alchemist, Alphonse knew him better than anyone else. He knew, deep inside, that Ed was just as nervous as anyone would be walking into a room full of strangers. He was confident. And he was a genius. But he was also only thirteen. He faced moments of uncertainty, just like everyone else. And he struggled with asserting authority over men three times his age, though the silver watch helped a great deal.

Above all, Al knew that what Ed wanted the most, aside from finding the stone of course, was to prove himself. He wanted people to stop looking down on him both figuratively and literally. He was smarter and more skilled than most people around him but what mattered was what could be seen. He was young and he was small.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" asked the younger Elric.

Ed shook his head with a gentle smile. "Nah, I'll live. Besides, since I'm stuck doing this, it'll be more efficient to split our time. You can keep doing research on stuff that actually matters."

"Solving crimes matters too, brother."

Ed looked down at the sidewalk. "It's not going to get you your body back," he said quietly.

Al watched him for a moment. He really didn't like it when Ed was like this. The guilt and self-pity and depression were just not the right fit for him. "Don't worry, we'll get there."

He laid a giant gauntlet on Ed's shoulder in what was clearly meant as a gentle, friendly bump but instead almost sent his brother face first into the pavement.

Ed sprang up like a spring board giving the armor a playful punch. "Watch it!" he snapped, without the usual venom.

"Oops, sorry Ed! I guess I'm still not used to my size."

"That better not be a jab at my size!" quipped the older Elric. A woman gave them a wide berth as she entered the station.

Al wished he could roll his eyes. "Honestly, brother… You should go or you'll be late. Let's meet back at the hotel for dinner time and please try not to kill anyone today."

Ed sighed. "Fine! Don't get into any trouble," he raised his metal fist and Al bumped it (gently this time) in a familiar gesture.

"Same to you!"

Edward gave his little brother his trademark grin before waving and walking through the doors. This should be interesting.

The woman at the reception desk looked up and then lowered her gaze to the blond standing in front of her.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked politely. She had one of those smiles. The motherly kind. Ed suppressed a shudder.

"Yeah, I'm expected for a meeting with the crime unit? Which way do I go?"

The woman's eyebrows rose slightly but that was all that betrayed her astonishment. She was very professional. "And your name?" she asked.

"Edward Elric"

"Let's see." She shuffled around the papers on her desk and pulled out a ledger book. "Ah, here we go. Elric…..," she nodded, finding his name where she obviously expected it to be. She looked back up at him and frowned slightly. "You're Edward Elric? I'm sorry, but you're going have to show me some identification," she said with a hint of skepticism.

Ed was prepared though and he had his watch out before she even finished her sentence. This proved to be enough to convince her and she nodded.

"The meeting is scheduled to start in ten minutes. Board room number three," she said and pointed down a hallway to the left of the reception area.

"Thanks." Ed gave her his best grin as he stuffed the watch back in his pocket, along with his hands and sauntered down the hall. He was aware of the receptionist's eyes on him all the way down the hallway and knew they would be whispering about him the moment he disappeared around the corner.

He was surprised to find he was getting used to it.

The boardroom was already mostly full when he got there and all eyes turned to him when Ed walked in. He firmed his resolve under their scrutiny.

"You lost, kid?" one of the men sneered. He was a middle aged man with a scruffy beard and sharp mean eyes.

"I'm here for the meeting," Ed said with a convincing confidence he did not quite feel inside.

They all laughed.

"Look kid. This here is Crime Investigations," the older man said with self-importance. "We don't go looking for lost puppies and kittens," he jeered, to more laughter.

Ed frowned at this and flashed them his watch "I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

The men paused disbelievingly at the sight of the silver watch, but many of them scoffed.

"Is this a joke?" barked the same man. Ed could tell he was a bit of a ring leader. "I thought they were supposed to send us an alchemist not a half-pint!"

Ed felt his ears flush red and he snapped "Who're you calling-," but his retort was cut short.

"Why don't you go back to whichever sheep hole you crawled out of, coun-try boy," continued the scruffy man in a terrible imitation of the distinctive East Country accent Ed and Al tried so hard to hide, "-and tell Eastern Command to send us a real alchemist. Preferably one that's not still in diapers." The men laughed even harder at that.

Edward grit his teeth and pressed his hands together. Without so much as a warning, the man's uniform, which was a darker colour than the military blue, fused itself with the chair the man was occupying. The wood of the chair's arms twisted up, trapping the man's wrists where they rested.

The men closest to him jumped out of their seats in astonishment.

"What the-" was all he managed to say before he found himself completely trapped by the furniture.

When the light of the transmutation faded, Ed was satisfied to note that he had the complete and silent attention of the entire board room.

"How's that?" he said, letting his accent bleed through out of pure spite. "Real enough for ya?"

He could see that some of the men looked impressed, others amused and others just staring blankly, not able to understand what had just happened.

"You little shit!" snarled Scruffy. "I'll kick your ass, you-," his eyes snapped up to somewhere above Ed's head at the same instant his mouth snapped shut.

A deep voice boomed from that same point. "Gentlemen! Now that we're all here, we can begin."

Ed spun around and found himself looking into the chest of an older man wearing an important looking uniform. His eyes scanned the black fabric quickly looking for a rank, but he wasn't very familiar with the police branch. The man looked to be in his late fifties, with peppered hair and a matching mustache. His eyes were dark like Mustang's, with the same amount of cunning but with more kindness.

Even without a uniform, it was obvious to Ed who was in charge by the way the other men behaved. They stopped talking immediately, looking somber and well behaved and Scruffy did his best to reign in his temper, though his face was turning purple from the effort.

The old man smiled down at him kindly.

"Fullmetal, why don't you take a seat," he said politely, gesturing to an empty chair away from the scruffy man.

Ed did so without a single complaint from anybody. The old man sat himself at the head of the table and looked around at the men and women. There was about a dozen, including Ed. If he noticed that Scruffy was fused to his chair, he didn't say anything and everyone else was just as happy to keep their mouths shut.

"Now then," he said in a matter of fact tone. "Oh, before we begin," he said, turning to Ed who had picked a seat on his left, "Fullmetal, would you be so kind as to release Detective Hartley from his chair?" He said it as if this sort of thing happened on a regular basis.

Ed blinked up at the man innocently before placing his hands on the table top in the most casual manner possible. The surface lit up in a flare of arcing alchemical lightning. Several of the officers whipped their hands off the table or quickly lifted their papers and coffee mugs in surprise. But the table was not his intended target.

Scruffy's chair, which was touching the table on one corner, lit up and the wood and fabric separated as easily as it they had merged. Scruffy, or rather Detective Hartley, glared murderously at him and Ed met it as a challenge accepted. He hadn't let people bully him before and he wasn't about to start now.

Still though, he thought grimly, if this was a preview of how this job was going to go, he hoped now more than ever that it would be over quickly.

The old man introduced himself as Commissioner Barnes then proceeded to introduce the team he had gathered to work on the case. It was obvious that most if not all of them came from within the department and already knew each other.

"-and finally we have here the Fullmetal Alchemist, Mr. Edward Elric from Eastern Command. Fullmetal will be taking time from his busy schedule to work with us as our alchemy analyst and consultant."

Ed leaned back in his chair and picked a random spot on the wall to stare at, avoiding the curious or jeering glances sent his way.

Barnes ploughed on regardless. A thick file folder was passed to each of them as the old man plunged into the details of the case. After about half an hour, Ed had already read through the file while Barnes was still talking and his mind began to wander.

He wondered what Al was up to and thought that whatever it was, it had to be more interesting than this. He stifled a yawn.

He wondered what Winry was up to. Wondered if the farmers were out in their fields right now, planting their crops. He wondered what was going on at the office. And his mind eventually came to rest on Havoc. Havoc and his stupid fiddle.

Can you play? His eyes rested on his gloved automail hand which fisted at the thought. What a thing to ask a one armed cripple.

He heard Granny's voice in his head and could almost feel the sharp whack to the back of his head. You lost your arm, not your life. The only reason you can't do things the way you used to is because you're just not trying hard enough! It was early in his recovery when he'd sat at the table looking forlornly at a juicy steak he couldn't cut. If there was one thing he admired about Granny was that she didn't beat around the bush.

Working with amputees gave her enough ammunition to kick his sorry ass into gear. Edward was certain, though he'd never asked, that Pinako had seen people with worse injuries than him.

Maybe he could- no! He didn't have time to play around re-teaching himself how to play. Not with Al the way he was. Havoc could take his fiddle and shove it.

With a sudden jolt, Ed realized that two hours had passed and he hadn't heard a single thing of what Barnes had lectured. It seemed as if the meeting was coming to an end and people were gathering their things.

"Well then, that's all for now. Fullmetal," he said turning to the young alchemist, "I want you to head down to warehouse six right away and begin with the analysis of the evidence. Ask reception and someone will show you the way."

As the team got up, Barnes gave them a signal to remain in their seats. Apparently, Ed was the only one dismissed. So nodding politely to the Commissioner, he picked up is folder and left, closing the door behind him.

He made to turn down the hall and collided with a harried looking woman. Papers went flying as they both dropped what they were holding.

"Shit!"

"Oh dear"

They both looked at each other in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry," she said hastily gathering the papers she had dropped, which Ed saw was a pile of pamphlets. "Ah, this is what happens when you rush! And I'm already late for my meeting…"

Ed felt sorry for her and helped her pick up her pamphlets before gathering the files from his own folder. She thanked him profusely and rushed away.

As he picked up the case files, trying to put sense and order into the pile, he could still hear Barne's deep voice carrying through the door. He wasn't necessarily listening on purpose, but Elric caught his attention. He only heard words that Barnes put extra emphasis on like disappointed, embarrassed and behavior. He sounded angry.

Ed moved closer to the door quietly.

"…don't need to remind you that not only does he out-smart every single one of you, he also out-ranks you. So unless you want to be cited for insubordination, you'd do best to remember that!"

There was an uncomfortably long silence before Barnes said "Dismissed"

Ed did not wait to be found eavesdropping by the door and was gone by the time the first person left the boardroom.

He suddenly liked Barnes a whole lot more and thought Well maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all…

A/N: 1. If you noticed that Ed calls it a fiddle rather than a violin, this is not a mistake

2. I'm aware that an east country accent is not a thing in the series but I thought, why not? It could happen, all countries have local dialects so why not Amestris?