Chapter 19: On the Road Again

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

Yor felt her cheeks warm again as she thought of the words her "husband" had said before collapsing. She had managed to place him on the couch for a while, and he had woken up an hour or so later, but it was clear that he was till exhausted. She hadn't realized how hard being a doctor had to be, but she felt sorry for the poor man. Of course, she had also been horrifically embarrassed.

'Why did he say that,' she rubbed her cheek in embarrassment at the whole thing. Maybe he had just been delirious with victory, but it had still been really embarrassing. In fact, when he had woken up, they had insisted that the man take a break, and try and get some real sleep. That had unfortunately taken up most of the rest of the day, as despite his protests, he had actually fallen asleep, and had slept until the evening. He had woken up almost so late that it was dinner time.

"Let me take you both out to dinner," he's said as an apology. The three had then gone out to dinner, a fine little restaurant that specialized in Aerugean food, full of pastas and imported sea food. They had then gone home, and but not before stopping to buy Anya ice cream as an initial reward. Still, he had promised for an even bigger reward for Anya later, probably the next weekend since it would take time to plan and would allow Yor time for her trip.

That trip was why, on this Saturday morning, she had taken the first train to East City, leaving her new home for her old one before the sun had even risen in the sky. It had allowed her to pack enough of her things for her "job" and get on the train with relatively little issue. She had boarded it around three hours ago, and she only had around three hours left until she would finally return to the station that she had left only a few days earlier.

Her hand wiped across the outside of the suitcase in her arms. She had managed to fill the suitcase with her Thorn Princess outfit, as well as her standard needles. There had been a bit of concern about the possibility of a baggage check, so she only brought the needles, which could easily be said to be a hair decoration. She had four with her, two she would use initially, and two as back up if anything went wrong. And as the Shopkeeper had said not a week ago, during their conversation, even he was worried about a confrontation with the man known as Scar.

"I am afraid it is worse than you think," the shopkeeper had commented, the light from his chateau illuminating his form as he rubbed his chin, "Not only does this Scar have the power of destruction in his right arm, but he also seems to have once been one of the Warrior Priests of Ishvala."

"I thought they had been wiped out during Order 3066," Matthew McMahon had commented. The Shopkeeper remained deep in thought, looking down at a sketch that the other man had made in a few minutes of the description of the serial killer. Yor had given a very detailed description, and her closeness to the fight had been enough to get both Shopkeeper and McMahon interested.

"I suppose I should be grateful that one of them survived," the Ishvalan groaned, "And yet..."

"He is destabilizing Amestris," Matthew nodded, "The murder of several high ranking officers in the military not only causes a lack of faith in the institutions of the country, but it also reinflames the mindset of separatists and other malcontents that might lead to more civil wars, and more Amestrians dying."

Yor had never really understood the politics of these discussions, but she was able to add, "Not to mention, he is killing people out in the open, and also doing so to relatively innocent people," she looked down, away from her commanders, "Like Lieutenant Strauss," The kind older woman's face appeared in her eyes once again, and she felt her fists tighten again.

"Quite right," Shopkeeper nodded, and then stared at Yor, "I have some contacts throughout East City who should be able to locate some of the paths Scar is taking to keep from being discovered by the military. We should be able to locate him by Saturday, so Thorn Princess, please be ready to arrive as early as you can on that day, so we can begin the operation to deal with him."

"Yes sir," she then turned on her heels, preparing to head out for her last night in East City, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back, and saw a great deal of sadness in the Shopkeeper's eyes. He shook his head for a moment, before sighing.

"Yor, this man is dangerous," the red in his eyes was no longer crimson, now it was more tart, "He has been fighting and killing some of the best warriors in Amestris for nearly a decade and a half if he was actively involved in the conflict in Ishval. You will be fighting the closest thing to another member of the garden that you might face, you must go in with a clear mind," he shook his head, before adding, "I do not want you to die. If it comes down to it, run. We can regroup for a future assassination."

Yor felt herself audibly gulp. She'd engaged in several dangerous missions, but she'd never received a warning like this before. Every other time, even when she had been far younger, the Shopkeeper had emphasized precision and stealth, get in and get out. Scar must be dangerous...and she knew that, she'd nearly already died to him in a short fight, had Lloyd Forger not twisted her away from Scar's blow.
"I will."

Yor really hoped that those weren't her last words with the man who was like a father to her. And, as she looked into the window, and saw that there were still a tinge of red on her cheeks, she also thought about the man who was her "Husband". She thought about the compliment she had received, and about saw her cheeks continue to redden as she did so. And this caused her to frown.

'You can't let these new feelings get in the way of your job Yor,' she thought to herself, brushing her hair to the side of her head. She thought about Lloyd, and Ms. Anya, and then shook her head, 'I'll have to push them out of my mind if this mission is to go the way it needs to. I can't allow myself to be distracted.'

She had learned from the report she had received by the phone that her target would probably be passing by the sewers later in the day, having used the cavernous old subterranean canals to escape not only from the initial gathering of Colonel Mustang's forces, but also to keep hidden from the constant patrols of military police. Scar was brazen, but he didn't seem to want to kill anyone that wasn't a State Alchemist, and the only man in East City that now fit that description was the Colonel himself. That the Colonel was now permanently staying on site at Eastern Headquarters meant he wasn't an active target, and Scar was simply waiting for the Colonel to get so bored that Scar could actively hunt him.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

"Ah!" Yor's train of thought was cut off once more, and again she saw Lloyd Forger smiling as he looked up at her. She then slammed her head into the glass of the window, causing a large crack to appear in it. She pulled back, looked at the crack, and blushed, and then sighed as she remembered that she was the only one on this car. She sighed, and shook her head.

'It might be easier said than done to clear my thoughts,' she mused as the train continued on it's way back to East City.

"So the little brat actually did it," Franky Franklin was laughing, a cold can of beer in his hand. He held it up, and Twilight sighed as he toasted with the shorter man. What had originally meant to be the starting meeting for the next phase of Operation: STRIX, had instead morphed into a...brunch celebration? Twilight's eyes couldn't help but focus on the fact that five cans were laying around Franky, while he hadn't even finished his first, "Never thought it'd happen, but I guess that's why they put you in charge of this Mission."

"You know it's Ten in the morning right?"

"Five o'clock somewhere!"

'Did everyone really have so little faith we'd get this far,' Twilight couldn't help but consider as he looked over at Franky, 'Though I guess I don't have much of a place to talk, considering what I was planning on doing.'

"I am glad that she managed on her own," Twilight sighed, remembering his late night activity on the last Thursday, the scaling of thew walls into the library complex, the watching out for the guards, and the strange inferno that had taken the entirety of the building, "Considering I had actually been planning on sneaking in and giving her the correct answers on her tests the night after the exams."

"Wait, hold up," Franky began to chuckle uncontrollably, "You were going to sneak in to the government's library, past whatever security they had for those locations, and change your daughter's grade on the examination?"

"Of course."

"What about all that stuff about having faith in Anya?" he waved his hands out.

"Clearly, I had faith in Anya to get close enough that it wouldn't be to hard to change the grades to make a believable passing score," Twilight stared up at the ceiling, "But, I guess you are right, I should have had more faith," he closed his eyes, remembering flames dancing across the sky as he was about to sneak over the wall into the Military's library district, "It's all I had when I saw the 1st Branch go up in smoke."

"Any idea what might have caused it?" Franky was trying to be serious, though the blush on his face caused any serious observation to become less so.

"They are saying it's an electrical fire," Twilight shook his head, "They supposedly installed electrical lighting to allow for more reading during the night, but a fire started after closing hours. With everyone already gone, no one was there to alert the fire department of anything until it was too late. Just a faulty mishaps that happens sometimes."

"But..."

"That's bullshit," Twilight nodded at Franky, who had clearly gotten where he was going in the conversation, "An electrical fire might have caused the initial spark, but for a fire to spread that fast over the whole of a three story building would be more than just some kind of short circuit," he leaned forward, remembering the whole building already being in flames when he was climbing the wall to sneak in two nights earlier, "That place was burned to the ground in a few hours, and by the time the fire department arrived, every single inch of that place had been left as nothing but ash," he stared at Franky in the eyes, "That fire destroyed everything in that building. And I think it was made to do so."

"Arson huh?" Franky groaned, "Probably got in, lit multiple fires and had enough gas spread about to allow it to accelerate before the firefighters could arrive. Make sure not a single record got out."

"Exactly," Twilight leaved onto the counter, "I'm just wondering what they could have been looking for..."

"Sorry buddy," Franky shook his head, "I haven't got copies of any of that information. If that thing had stayed up a month, I'd probably have some copies of some records, but I just got here, and I hadn't had time to get in and start copying the data."

"Damn," Twilight cursed, before sighing, and asking, "Any idea what the arson might have wanted to burn away?"

"Well, there were court martial records," Franky was looking up at the ceiling for a moment, sipping on his can of beer as he did so, "Maybe someone wanted to get rid of any kind of investigative evidence against them...but that wouldn't make sense, since almost everyone in the court martial office is an internal issue, and I don't think they were keeping anything that related to our spying operation," Twilight nodded, as Franky continued to think, "Maybe someone wanted to force a retaking of the tests?"

"Probably too extreme, don't you think?" Twilight asked.

"Says the guy who was going to sneak in to change his daughters answers," Franky shot back, before shaking his head, "no, you're right, getting into this program probably isn't worth burning down a military facility, especially if you somehow got caught."

"Anything else that might have been in there?"

Franky tapped the tip of his chin, rubbing against the stubble that was seemingly permanently stuck there. He lifted up his beer, and tried to take another sip, and then stopped, and looked angrily down at it, as the can was likely empty. And then, his eyes widened, and he snapped his finger, and pointed at Twilight.

"It was also the location of files on alchemic research," Franky was smiling, "Destroy that library, and years of research on the ins and outs of the science are gone," and then, he stopped smiling, "With so many of them dead after Scar when on a killing spree, I guess someone took the chance to burn all their knowledge so no one could ever use it again."

Twilight nodded, and then thought about it for a moment.

"That makes sense," Twilight couldn't help but agree, honestly sounds like something WISE would try and do. The focus on no casualties almost seemed out of their book, but he was pretty sure Sylvia would have told him if they were going to do that, "I guess it is better to get rid of this sort of research before it ever hurts someone again," he thought of the men who likely had all their notes burned, "LIke that General Grand. Probably better everything about him is lost to history."

...

THWACK

"OW!" Twilight's hand came up and rested where the beer can in Franky's hand had slammed into the side of his face, "What was that for?"

"Don't ever say anything about like that about Basque Grand," Franky growled, his face now fully red, a mix of his anger and his drunkness, "That man's the only reason I'm still alive," He then turned around, and glared down at his little fridge, before pulling out another beer, "If it wasn't for him, I'd have been just another corpse coming home on the train from Ishval."

'Ishval,' Twilight had seen war. He'd seen death and destruction. But even he knew that he hadn't seen anything like Ishval. There were very few things that are like a genocide after all, 'I didn't know that Franky had been in Ishval...though I guess it does make sense, he's from the East, and new recruits would like be shuffled down to the fiercest area of conflict.'

"You know, I see what Cresta says about the Ishval conflict," Franky hands were fumbling as he tried to open the next beer can, and beginning to guzzle it down, "All it is is Amestrian's shooting kids," he coughed, and some of the beer splattered on the table before him, "And yeah, I can see why."

'The Ishvalan war was started when an Amestrian officer shot and killed an Ishvalan Child on the holiest day of the Ishvalan calendar,' Twilight remembered from his briefing on the conflict, 'Any sort of peaceful solution died in the crib, even after the officer in question was executed after he was court martialed. Ultimately, after nearly a decade of war, all of Ishval was subjugated and nearly the whole of that nation was wiped from the face of the Earth.'

"Well, let me tell you, I didn't see any kids," Franky was continuing to rant, "I was only there for six months, but out of the original one hundred men in my company, only seven of us made it home with all our limbs attached," he shook his head, before putting his right leg on the table, and ripping up the pants leg suddenly. Twilight's eyes widened when he saw some very distinctive metal, "And I wasn't one of them."

"You have automail?"

"Yeah," Franky groaned, taking a second to try and pull down his leg from the counter. Twilight slowly reached over, and lifted it up, pulling it down and placing it on the ground, "Thanks," Franky then took another sip of beer, "But I was lucky, that was just a random shot from some lone sniper during the last days of the war. A few days before that, some insane bastard named Fessler was about to order our unit to attack a dozen machine gun nests. He'd already lost like nearly a full regiment of soldiers the previous day attacking the same spot."

"He kept attacking even though he knew it was a meat grinder like that?" Twilight asked, his eyes widened. Cresta wasn't known for it's generals skills, but that seemed careless even for them.

"Of course, fucker thought he was the greatest military mind in history," Franky groaned, "My unit was up next, but then Basque Grand showed up," Franky seemed to puff up for a moment, "And he goes straight to the front lines, and smashes the Ishvalan line himself, using his alchemy," he threw his fist, and for a second, Twilight wondered where this rage was coming from, "But even after that, Fessler wanted to keep pushing. And just as we were about to make the push to the center of that town, we see a white flag."

"It was Logue Lowe," and then, a true sadness came over Franky's eyes, "The head priest of the Ishvalan religion. Looked straight out of central casting," he waved his hand to show off a massive beard, "And then, he asks to speak to the nearest officer. He was surrendering himself to try and offer himself up as a way to end the fighting, to stop the destruction of Ishval," he then laughed, though Twilight could begin to see tears in his eyes, "And you know, the officer that took him up on that, that was Captain Maes Hughes."

"No," Twilight still couldn't quite wrap his head around the goofy Maes Hughes being the most dangerous intelligence officer in all of Amestris, let alone a veteran of the Ishvalan campaign.

"Yes," Franky was really starting to cry, "And then I helped escort Lowe and Hughes to Fessler," he then spat some of the beer he had been sipping to the ground, "And you know, that fat son of a bitch told us to keep fighting despite the truce," he shook his head, "But then, BANG!" he made a gun motion with his hand, "Someone shot him."

"Lowe?"

"Not Lowe, Fessler," now Franky was both laughing and crying, "It was Basque Grand. The hardass. The monster," he began sipping his beer more quickly, "He just up and shot Fessler, and then he escorted Lowe to go meet the Fuhrer himself."

"Did i-"
"Of fucking course it didn't help!" Franky pointed to Twilight tears messing up his glasses, "We still had five days of fighting after that. The Ishvalans were beaten and I lost my leg," he then tried to right himself, before falling backward over his stool once more, "Ow."

Twilight got back off his feet, and rushed behind the counter. He grabbed Franky by the shoulders, and pulled him up to the counter. The man stunk of alcohol, and from the many cans around him, Twilight couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been drinking. At the same time, Franky was still both laughing and crying at the same time.

"Do you wanna know why I started working as an information broker?" Franky laughed, "I wanted to show the world that I'm not just a statistic," he shook his head, "Not just, Franky Franklin, Wounded," he tried to wipe his tears and snot away with the arm of his shirt, "That Basque Grand made the right decisions, and that Fuhrer Bradley made the wrong ones," he just shook his head, "And, I guessed I hope, if we can finally stop the next battle before it begins, dozens of other young men won't end up needing to get metal legs or metal arms."

"...That's a very good reason," Twilight nodded. He began to open up the back of the store, and carried Franky to the small room in the back with a cot in it. Twilight would have to come back later for any kind of information, but at the moment, he wasn't going to get anything remotely good out of Franky. Better to let him sleep it off.

"You know," Franky said, as he was laid down on the cot. Twilight endeavored to listen, as he walked over to a small sink, and poured the frizzled man a glass of water, "I nearly thought I should just lay in die after my wound," he then began to laugh, "I thought, what good was living, if I was going to have so much pain?"

"So," Twilight walked over with the glass, and handed it to Franky, who took it up, and guzzled it down, "What was the reason you decided to live?"
"...," Franky took a second for the water to settle, before looking back up at Twilight, "I told myself, "You don't want to die a virgin, do you?""

"..."

"..."

"PFFFFTTTHHHAAAAHHHAHHA!"

"Oh, come on," Franky pointed with accusation, "You don't know what it's like to have never experienced the pleasures of a woman."

"I'm a virgin too."

"What?" Franky's eyes seemed to widen, before his mouth bulged, and he began to laugh out loud as well. And then, seeing Franky laughing, Twilight couldn't help himself, and he began to join in the laughter. For the next several moments, they just stood there, and laughed with one another, before finally the laughter died, and they were just there, in the same room again.

"Take care of yourself Franky," Twilight patted the information broker on the shoulder, "I'll come by tomorrow for briefing on information."

"Sounds good," Franky waved as Twilight left his room, "Take care of yourself, Mr. Super Spy!"

"Excellent form Edward Elric," Ed dodged to the left, as Major Armstrong's mighty arm zoomed past him.

This was the first sparring he'd been able to get in days, and while he was grateful he had been able to practice with Al, another opponent would keep him from being sloppy. Ed then rolled forward, along, the Major's arm, and then slammed his fist directly into the Major's chin. It did not seem to cause the amount of damage that Edward had been hoping for, as the Major only slightly fell back, but neither was the Major completely unharmed. For a second, Edward smiled, glad to have slain the giant, only for the Major's arms to surround Edward, and crush him within a massive bear hug.

"YYYAAAHHOIYW!" Edward screamed, before falling limp. Major Armstrong then pushed him over his shoulder, and then turned to face the suit of armor near him.

"I believe that is enough sparring for one afternoon," he said happily, patting Alphonse on the head, "Wouldn't you agree Alphonse Elric?"

"Yeah," Edward felt his pride begin to waver when he saw Al look over at him disapprovingly, "Ed just seems kind of worn down."

It took only a few moments to walk back to the center of the Rockbells home, to get off their dirty clothes, and to be changed enough to join the two women for lunch. They were having a stew, the only way Ed would ever have something as disgusting as milk, and it had been a night of celebration. After all, this afternoon, they'd be off, taking the train back to East City, and then a train from there to Central. And there, they'd be able to get into the first branch, and finally use Dr. Marcoh's notes on creating a Philosopher's stone.

"So, you'll finally have your bodies back," Winry seemed to be a bit sad, but a bit happy too. It was kind of weird really, but she was a weird automail nerd, so what the heck did she know, "Guess a new chapter of life, huh."

"More like getting back to an old chapter if you ask me," Ed smiled. He slipped down another spoon full of the stew, and slurped it loudly. He then specifically dodged a strike from Granny Pinako's wooden ladle, and then pointed at her an laughed, "Ha, faster now, aren't I you ol-OW!"

"It's not polite to slurp loudly at the table Edward," Armstrong had slapped Edward across the back of the head, and then returned to having his stew, "The correct manner to eat stew has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations."

"...There is no way that's real," Winry offered, only to turn and look away when Alex glared at her. Alphonse just looked down at the stew, and sighed, before looking up into the ceiling dreamily.

"I can't wait until I can get my body back, then I'll finally be able to eat whatever I want again," he then rubbed the sides of his helmet, "Stew, baked goods, fries, sandwiches, milk," he then shook himself, "It'll be fantastic."

"Won't be the only thing we can do once we get our bodies back," Ed laughed, slurping up another spoonful of Granny's soup. As he went for another spoonful, Al scratched his head for a moment.

"So like leaving the military?"

"Yeah, like," Ed stopped, thought about it for a second, before continuing, "Yeah, like leaving the military," he then turned to Major Armstrong, and waved slightly, "No offense, but I really only joined to help get our bodies back."

"Completely understandable," Alex Louis Armstrong nodded, before he suddenly stood up, and began to flex, "Your devotion to your brother shows great spirit and honor. The use of the military for such a noble aim is one of the most worthy I have ever heard," his muscles cleamed in the mix of the light above his head from the lamp and the sun from shining inside from the window, "I have no problem with you leaving the military as soon as you have completed your quest!"

"...why did he take off his shirt?" Granny Pinako and Winry asked simultaneously.

"I'm glad you are listening to Doctor Forger though," Alphonse cut in. That caused Edward to spit up the stew he was putting into his mouth, and did so right into Winry's dog Den.

"I'm not doing it because that quack told me to do it!" he yelled, pointing at his metal brother, "I'm making that decision on my own!"

"Wait," Winry began to look between the two brother, her eyes wide with curiosity, "Who's this Doctor Forger."

"He was a psychiatrist that Ed and I met while we were in East City for a bit," Al interjected quickly, before Ed could make his point, "Ed met with him twice, and he seemed to find a lot of his advice helpful."

"That was before I found out he was an agent of Command," Ed stated flatly, "Turns out, he was just there to spy on the Colonel."

"But he did offer you good advice," Al then added, before pointing at Ed again, "Plus he saved your life when we fought Scar. That at least has to count for something, doesn't it?

"That is true Edward Elric," Major Armstrong added.

"A psychiatrist, huh?" Granny Pinako rubbed her chin, "One of those head doctors right," when the three military men nodded, she then burst out laughing, "Ha, what do you know. I think that sounds just likes something you'd need shrimp. I think you should go let this Forgery guy go and pick your brain a bit more. Maybe find out what's wrong in that little head of yours."

"DON'T CALL ME A SHRIMP!" Ed pointed angrily at Pinako, "I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions."

"Ed," Ed then turned to look at Winry, who was looking down at the table. She wasn't looking him in the eye, but Ed could tell she was being as honest as possible with him, "I think you should go see this Doctor Forger again."

"Oh don't you start too," Ed groaned, rubbing his temples. He then looked up, and his gold eyes met Winry's pale blue ones. And instantly, most of his impudence retreated backwards, as she tried to get him to work with her, "I just don't trust this guy. He lied to me about who he was, and then acted all high and mighty about me joining the military."

"I just think," Winry said, "If his advice helped you, and it makes sense to leave the military once you get your bodies back," she shook her head, "Maybe it would be good to talk to him again."

"...okay fine," Edward sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "If I see that guy again, I'll see if I can set up another appointment."

"Thank you," Winry nodded at that, a smile returning to her face, "That's all I was asking for," she then looked down at her watch, and then stood up, "Sorry, I have to get back to the shop. The metal for the anterior tricep cable needs to be turned!" she then bolted from the dining room, leaving the other four members of the household to look at the empty doorway as they heard her charging up the stairs.

Then the other three occupants all turned to stare at Edward.

"Brother is feeling the springtime."

"Make her cry and I'll make you have to get automail for your other two limbs."

"She will be a fine wife for you, Edward Elric."

"Don't you all start with me!"