![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessHaunted by Water
Author –![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cornerofmadness
Disclaimer- not mine, all rights belong to Ms. Arakawa
Beta –evil_little_dog & bob_fish
Artist – all the wonderful illos belong tobob_fish
Rating – overall NC-17 but mostly it’s R or less.
Genre- mystery, action
Pairings – Roy/Riza, Maes/Gracia, Roy/Maes, Roy/Maes/Riza/Gracia
Timeline/Spoilers – manga based, no direct spoilers except for Roy’s parentage and things that happened in Ishbal. So hmmm, spoilers for anything past chapter 50
Summary – crimes of today resurrect ghosts of the past. When Maes asks for Roy’s help investigating arson and murder, Roy never expected to have to face his past or that they would have to find a killer before Edward is targeted.
Warning – spoilers as noted above, all sorts of sex (Het, m/m, threesome), violence, off screen rape and murder of young teens, arson, Roy & Ed’s potty mouths.
Word Count -48,088
Author’s notes – this was very hard to finish in time. The plot was expansive. Thanks to everyone who helped me knuckle down and finish. Thanks especially toevil_little_dog, bob_fish and to enemytosleep for the encouragement.
Chapter Six
Lauren knew if she watched the bar, eventually her patience would be rewarded. She hadn’t seen the bitch who put her father in jail to die, not in years. Christmas had come and gone several times while Lauren watched from across the way, sitting on a park bench. She counted herself lucky to have a handy park as a cover. Lauren made sure the wide brim of her ridiculous floppy-brimmed hat was pulled down. The last thing she needed was for that woman to spot her.
She almost got up and left when night fell but there might be more to gain by waiting. Lauren had kept tabs on Mustang, but not immediately after he first left their household. There was too much turmoil for that and, at the time, she had no idea the little brat she used to burn with her father’s lighter would amount to anything. Lauren never expected him to become a hero. Once he came back a lauded war veteran, she decided it was in her best interests to know where Mustang was. He carried grudges, at least when he was a sniveling whiner hanging onto that slant-eyed bitch of a mother.
To her delight, Lauren spotted someone heading for the bar: Mustang and a lanky man she didn’t know. They didn’t even look her way. She didn’t dare go into the bar to spy on them but maybe she should wait and see where they went next. Granted, she might be here the rest of the night. Lauren knew for sure that it was no longer safe in Central for Nick and her. If Mustang found out what they were doing, he could kill them with a snap of his finger and call them terrorists. He’d probably earn another medal. Nick and she would have to be careful.
* * *
“I can’t believe Mom gave you your own love nest.” Maes pouted at the couch in the little apartment above the bar. “She never gave me a love nest.”
“You never dated a girl you couldn’t be seen with,” Roy reasoned, setting the files Breda had gotten from Kavita.
“No.” Maes threw his arms around Roy, pressing into his back while nibbling the smaller man’s neck. “Just you.” His hands ventured down Roy’s body. He squeezed Roy’s crotch. “But you don’t count as a girl.”
Roy tried to squirm away. “Maes, we have a lot of work to do.”
“And he hasn’t visited the pharmacy yet,” Riza said, coming in with a tray of sandwiches. “And your mother and at least one sister are on their way up. Try not to sear their eyes with your inability to keep on track.”
“I have too visited the pharmacy but it’s still all back at my temporary quarters,” Roy protested. “And I’m not the one misbehaving.”
“Ah, so that little dance you were doing was an escape attempt. I thought…” Riza shrugged, her lips quirking up.
“Have you ever seen me be that graceless about it?” Roy stabbed a finger at her. “Don’t answer that.”
“Eat a sandwich to shut that death trap of yours,” Maes suggested cheerfully as he sat down on the couch.
“I’m not just a sex toy,” Roy grumbled, throwing himself sideways onto a padded chair.
“Do I even want to know?” Christmas asked, coming into the room with a pitcher of beer in hand.
“No, you don’t. Gross, Roy boy,” Janina, his sister who usually tended bar, added, swinging into the room with a tray of glasses.
Roy flushed but recovered enough to shoot back, “You only say that because you haven’t…”
Riza stuffed the end of a still-wrapped sandwich into his mouth. Glaring at her, he plucked it out and peeled away the paper. He took a bite of his food.
“Ah, he does eat. I was beginning to think he lived on the foods he merely imagined.” Christmas set the beer down.
“Don’t make me show you just how rock hard my belly is. I’m wiry not skinny.”
“Roy,” Riza said with just enough sharpness to make him swing his legs off the arm of the chair and sit up straight. He reached for a file without being told.
“Why did you tell me to send someone for this stuff, Madam?” Roy looked up at his mother then dutifully took another bite.
“There might be things in there you can use,” she replied, patting Roy on the head. “Eat two sandwiches.”
Roy yanked up his shirt. “I’m not skinny.”
“No, just silly.” Janina said before darting out the door.
Roy glared, letting his shirt fall back down. Why did he always feel like he was twelve when he came to see his mother?
“Roy, here, pair up the blueprints with these photos Kavita sent along.” Maes pushed the blueprints Roy’s way. “I’m going to give Gracia a call and tell her it’ll be a late night. Hmmm, phone’s probably downstairs.”
As Maes headed for the door, Hayate perked up, trotting over. Riza set the beer pitcher down before pouring herself a glass. “I’ll go walk Hayate and come back to help.”
“And I’d better get back to my own business,” Christmas said. “If you need me, Roy boy, you know where to find me.”
“You don’t want to help me match photos to boring blueprints.” He made eyes at his mother.
She snorted. “That look has no effect on me.” Christmas patted him on the head again and left.
Roy unrolled the first of the blueprints, poured a beer, drank it and helped himself to more. He wasn’t cut out for this investigation crap. He could stare at an array all night long but blueprints? Boring. He nosed into the files and saw one marked for Hughes only. Why the hell would Kavita do that? Roy took out the wad of newspapers and sat back with his beer and his half-eaten sandwich. Reading quickly and processing the information was much more his forte.
Maybe by losing himself in the black and white past held in his hands, Roy could forget that they had found another body in that rubble. A boy and a girl. Maes and Armstrong had gone uncharacteristically silent at the escalation. Roy couldn’t decide it Maes’s playfulness when they got into the apartment was merely to cover his own bad mood or if he really did want a short break to lose himself in pleasure to try and wash out the horrible images in his head.
Roy didn’t have to work hard to figure out what articles Kavita thought pertained to the case or should he say Chris thought since he had no doubts who was the one who sent Kavita after the stuff. His sister had folded the borrowed newspapers and put them in the folder so that the stories were face up. The sandwich in his mouth turned to cement and he could barely swallow it. His stomach lurched, moving the bite back up his esophagus. It took a drowning of beer to get the food back down. Stewart Hograth. He couldn’t escape that bastard’s name. It had been haunting him ever since he learned of what was happening here.
Hand shaking, Roy set the sandwich down. He drained the beer and then a second before eating the sandwich. He shifted through the papers until he found one that was two full pages of court proceedings. As a little boy, Roy had been aware that the man who killed his mother had been sent to jail. His older sister and Chris Mustang made sure he didn’t see too much of it. He had been upset about it at the time. It wasn’t like Sis had been that much older but Hograth had hurt her less often. His sister was so tough. As he grew older, Roy realized that he had been so badly hurt by Hograth that Chris hadn’t wanted him to relive any of it. With that in mind, he should probably put the paper down. He wasn’t a child any more so, stubborn, Roy read on. He already knew that Hograth beat his mother to death after she found out Hograth was abusing her children. She hadn’t confronted the man. She tried to run in the middle of the night but those horrible children of his had woken up and told their father. Roy hated those brats as much as their murdering pedophile father.
His gaze snagged on the recounting of Hograth’s charges. Pedophile ring…selling children. Now he understood why Kavita had selected…selling? The word rang inside Roy, shattering walls. Forgotten agonies oozed past the gaping holes. Roy hunched up, dropping the paper. He could feel Hograth’s hands on his hips. Clenching down hard on his internal muscles, Roy propelled himself up off the couch before he did something in his pants he hadn’t done since Hograth was his ‘daddy.’
Barely making it to the cramped bathroom in time, Roy wasn’t even sure of his aim. The only thing he could see was what he had blocked out for oh so very long. Hograth handing him off to men whose faces he still couldn’t see, didn’t want to see, might go insane if he remembered all the details. He couldn’t let them find him again. Under the bed? No, he always got hauled out by an ankle then beaten before it started. He had to get out of here.
Stumbling downstairs, he heard the voices. Lured into the crowded bar, he felt safe. He could hide among the masses. Janina’s face went pale seeing him as he took the bottle from her. Roy found a table in a dark corner that no one wanted and pressed himself into it.
* * *
“Roy, you need to hear about the very cute thing Elicia did today,” Maes said, bounding back into the apartment. He looked around, seeing no one, hearing nothing. He assumed Riza was still waiting for Hayate to find the perfect tree to potty on but where did Roy go? “Roy?” Maes went to check out the back rooms but the only evidence Roy had been around was a half-eaten sandwich, a drained beer glass and papers everywhere. He was always such a mess. Maes leaned down to pick them up when Riza came back with Hayate. “Did Roy decide to follow you out with the dog?”
Riza shook her head, letting Hayate off his leash. “No. Why?”
“He’s not here and, while we all know how he likes to get out of doing stuff, this wouldn’t be one of those times,” Maes said, his tone far more serious than he usually was.
“Maybe he went downstairs to ask for appetizers instead of sandwiches. You know how picky about food he is.” Riza snapped a finger at Hayate who was pressing his nose against the coffee table, eyeing the sandwiches.
“Maybe.” Maes glanced down at the papers in his hand. His eyes widened, his stomach dropping to his toes.
“Maes, what’s wrong?” Riza said, picking up on his fear.
Maes flung the paper down on the couch. “He was reading about Hograth’s trial. We need to find him.”
“Why would he…damn him.” Riza, still holding the leash, scooped Hayate up and followed Maes back down the stairs. They nearly collided with Christmas and Janina.
Christmas caught Maes by the arm. “You know what’s wrong with Roy, don’t you?”
“He’s in there downing a bottle of whiskey like it’s water,” Janina’s voice squeaked tightly. “He’s going to end up in the hospital if he doesn’t stop.”
“He read a newspaper article about Hograth or so I assume,” Maes growled.
“We only left him alone for five minutes,” Riza pushed forward, heading into the bar.
“I had those marked for you only, Hughes,” Christmas said.
“Roy is too nosy for his own damn good,” Maes replied. “And that’s coming from the nosiest man around.”
“He’s his own worst enemy.” Christmas stomped across her bar. Roy looked up at his family and lovers converging on him. Maes doubted Roy could even accurately tell who was standing before him. In the short span of time he was out of Maes’s sight, Roy had consumed far too much alcohol. His eyes had glazed over. Maes made a mental count. From the dent in the pitcher, at least two glasses of beer and a frightening amount of whiskey, provided he had gotten a full bottle, had already passed Roy’s lips. He weaved on his seat when Christmas snatched away the bottle, thrusting it at Janina. Roy’s bottom came off the seat as he thought about lurching after the bottle, hesitated and flopped back down at the glare the older woman used to melt him.
“That was mine,” he grumbled.
“No, technically it’s mine,” Christmas countered. “I own this place and you are cut off.”
“I am not,” Roy whined like a petulant child.
“Let’s go back upstairs, Roy,” Riza said, reaching a hand out to him.
“No, I can’t.” Roy swung off the seat in the opposite direction, trying to rabbit past them.
Maes got in front of him. “Roy, come on, let’s just go upstairs or to the madam’s office, all right? This is not the place to talk.”
Roy shoved past him, remarkably solid for a lean, little drunk. He managed to skirt away and get all the way outside before Maes caught back up to him, dragging him to a halt. Riza, Hayate struggling in her arms, and Christmas followed them out into the balmy autumn night. “Let me go,” Roy said without any heat to his voice.
“No, not right now. Let’s go inside, Roy,” Maes said. “Let’s talk while your brain is still actually processing things.”
“I need to walk,” Roy argued, trying to pull Maes down the sidewalk.
“Roy, you really need to come inside.” Riza took his hand.
“No.” Roy jerked so hard, he pulled Riza off her feet, spilling her to the sidewalk. “Riza!” The alchemist tried to catch her before she hit the concrete but lost his own balance. Maes caught him by the belt loops before he slammed Riza even harder into the ground. The taller man steadied Roy for a moment then leaned down to help Riza up.
Christmas caught hold of Roy. “Son, please, you need to calm down.”
Roy glanced back at Riza, biting his bottom lip. Hayate danced around her, barking. “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. Is she all right, Hughes?”
“I’m fine, Roy,” Riza said, examining her bleeding elbow. “Are you ready to come back inside? Let’s just go to the apartment and sit down.”
“I can’t…please, got to walk, gotta think.” Roy covered his mouth, trying to stem the ragged sob that ripped past his throat. “He was selling kids for sex.”
Christmas held out her arms and Roy folded himself into them. He clenched her white-knuckled tight, his fingers digging into her fleshy shoulders. She didn’t flinch, merely holding him tighter. “He is dead, baby boy. He can’t hurt you any more.”
“But you think that’s what I’m facing now,” Maes said softly, bending down to pick Hayate up, hoping to hush the beast.
“I do. That’s why your name was on those files. Should have known Roy couldn’t resist,” Christmas said, stroking Roy’s back.
“He does get into trouble,” Riza said, taking her dog from Maes as Roy squirmed free of his mother.
For a moment, Maes thought Roy was going to go inside but instead he started walking. “Roy, you should go back into the apartment.”
“Want to walk, clear my head,” Roy said, nearly staggering into a lamp post.
Maes sighed, glancing back at the two women. “I’ll walk with him and give you a call once I manage to get him to lie down someplace and pass out.”
“Take care of him,” Riza said, “I’ll stay here and work. The Madam can help me sort through some of this. I’ll call Breda over if need be.”
Maes nodded and trotted off after Roy who had scooted further down the street than the investigator would have thought possible. He didn’t try to reach for Roy. He merely kept pace with him. “We should call you a cab, Roy.”
Roy looked at him, his head bobbling like a child’s toy. “How is that walking and clearing my head?”
Maes sighed again. “Do you want to talk about it, Roy?”
“I didn’t remember so much of what that man did to me. Enough to make me sick. Hell, every time it rains I think about him. He loved to come to our rooms when it was storming.” Roy stumbled over uneven sidewalk and Maes caught hold of the man’s shirt, keeping him on his feet. “Damn…I forgot about the others. Until now. Hograth had a fishing cabin on the lake, that’s what he told Mom it was. Those men…they’d swap us kids like Creatan courtesan postcards.”
“You just had to disregard the warning.”
“I’m sorry,” Roy whispered.
Maes had no doubt of it.
* * *
“Ed, it’s pretty late,” Al said, looking up at the street lamps.
“It’s not that late. The diner was still open,” Ed protested.
“Brother, it’s a diner. I’m not sure they ever close.” Al shrugged. “We stayed at the museum too long and we didn’t get much done.” Al’s head swiveled toward his brother. Ed thought for a moment Al’s eyes narrowed even though he knew it was impossible. “And you didn’t help me that much.”
“I wanted to start cataloging the books,” Ed said, though the truth was he had been caught up in a particularly interesting, rhyming code.
Al harrumphed at him.
Ed yawned prodigiously, rubbing his belly. “That was a really good smashed potato dish but now I’m sleepy.”
“If we had left the museum when I said,” Al said but Ed waved a hand at him. He didn’t want to hear his brother telling him what they should have done for the tenth time.
“It’s not that much further to our quarters.”
“Brother, what if Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and the colonel are right? What if there is someone dangerous out here?” Al glanced around, making Ed do the same in spite of himself. He didn’t see anything in the shadows.
“What would anyone want with us, Al? We,” he hooked a thumb at his chest, giving Al his best grin, “can handle ourselves.”
“But they said this person was killing kids.” Al put a hand on his brother’s arm. “Why would anyone do that?”
Ed didn’t want to think about it. “Don’t know.”
“Brother…do you think they did things to the kids first before killing them?”
At Al’s drawn out, hesitant tone, Ed stopped, giving his brother his full attention. “What do you mean, Al?”
“You know…things.”
If metal could blush, Ed knew Al would look like a horseshoe freshly pressed to the anvil. “Do you mean…sex?” Ed uttered that last word in a soft hiss. “Al!”
“Think about it, brother. Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and the colonel weren’t telling us something. Killing kids is bad enough but did you see their faces?”
Ed nodded. “I thought they weren’t telling us everything but that? Hmmm. I guess.” He shrugged. “That would mean we really have nothing to worry about. Who would want me?” He gestured to his metal leg with his equally metal hand.
“Is it a matter of want?”
“I don’t know, Al. What I do know is I’m not running away. How will we ever get our bodies back if I run at the first sign of danger?” Ed asked, shamefully grateful that his brother lapsed into silence.
They walked farther along the street, getting closer to their hotel, before Alphonse broke the silence. He raised his hand, pointing. “Is that the colonel and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?”
“Damn it, why? What the hell could they possibly want, following us?” Ed growled.
“I don’t think they are, brother. They’re in front of us, after all. Colonel Mustang looks sick. He can hardly walk.” Al’s voice was steeped with sympathy.
Ed snorted. “That’s not sick. He looks drunker than that miniature hag Pinako when her card-playing friends come around.” He stalked over to the two adults. “Hey, Colonel Shit, what’s wrong?
“Brother.” Al’s leather fingers brushed his metal brow in embarrassment.
“Edward? Alphonse?” Mustang jerked free of Hughes, staggering toward them with grim determination. “What the hell are you doing out here so late? I told you it was dangerous.” The alchemist stabbed a wavering finger in Ed’s general direction. “Are you stupid or just trying to piss me off?”
Ed’s fists balled. This guy was such an asshole. As many times as he wanted to punch Mustang in his smug face, this moment was the worst. The older alchemist hadn’t ever yelled at him like he just did since that very first day when Mustang realized, in horror, what Ed and Al had done. “We were working in the museum. Look, you shit, we can take care of ourselves. We don’t need you.”
“You have no idea what’s out here, none.” Roy made a slashing movement, nearly knocking himself over.
Maes steadied him, his expression grim. “Ed, Al, he’s right.”
“Hughes, you know we can handle ourselves.”
Letting Mustang to sway without support, Hughes reached out and clamped a hand on Ed’s shoulder. “We know you’re both very capable boys.”
“Wouldn’t gotten you into this if I didn’t,” Mustang slurred, leaning on a mail box to help keep himself upright.
“Exactly.” Hughes wagged a finger. “That said, you shouldn’t be out at night. I know it’s not tremendously late yet but with that fire last night, we ended up with two more dead kids.”
Next to Ed, Al’s armor jarred plate against plate. Ed tried to hold in his own shock. “That won’t be us.”
“Will be if you don’t fuckin’ lissen to us,” Mustang clutched the mail box as if he thought gravity would suddenly fail him and he might float off. “You’re just a kid with delusions of adulthood. You need to lissen to your elders.”
“Roy,” Maes said sharply.
Ed took a deep breath in but was too mad to actually form words. It was all he could do not to just transmute the mailbox into a cage for Mustang and poke him with a sharp stick. Instead, his brother interrupted softly. “Sir, they’re doing more than just killing the kids, aren’t they?”
“Yes, Al, they are,” Hughes replied.
“Like you have no idea.” Mustang roused himself off the mail box. “That’s why you have to go. I’ll talk to Bishop. No rush. That crap isn’t going anywhere but you are, Fullmetal. You don’t get to defy my orders.”
“Don’t breathe on me.” Ed fanned a hand in front of his face. “You stink.”
“Ed, Roy, enough. Not tonight,” Hughes took hold of Mustang’s arm. “Boys, why don’t you run home? Roy’s not having a good night. I need to get him home, too.”
“I wanna walk,” Roy protested.
“We’ve been all over the damn town. You’re walking home,” Hughes replied, shaking Roy’s arm.
Ed’s eyes widened at the snappish tone. He had never heard Hughes like that. Ed decided tonight definitely wasn’t the time to push either man. Something was going on that didn’t make any sense. “We’ll go home.”
“Thank you.”
Ed waited until the two officers were out of sight before rapping his knuckles on his brother’s chest plate to get his attention. “Something weird is happening, Al.”
“I know, brother. Those poor kids.”
“No, I meant with Mustang and Hughes. I know Mustang likes to drink but I haven’t ever seen him drunk like that before.”
“To be fair, Ed, we’re kids and we don’t hang out in bars,” Al protested, his helmet swiveling back the way they had just come. “But I doubt he’d want us to see him like that. He’s in a terrible state.”
Ed thought about that for a moment and realized his brother was right. Mustang would be humiliated to be seen so out of control. He rubbed his chin. “Yeah, but…well, there’s something more going on that they’re not telling us. Mustang seems afraid. I’ve never seen him show that emotion, not like he is now.”
Al nodded. “I noticed. It makes me want to get back to the officer’s quarters faster. He and Mr. Hughes don’t scare easy but something is bothering them now. Maybe we ought to listen to them, Brother.”
“Yeah,” Ed said without conviction. It was what Al needed to hear. Ed had no real intentions of giving up quite so easily but the twelve year old had to confess, the odd encounter had him on edge.
* * *
Lauren had considered following Mustang but when he came out of the bar there were simply too many people with him. She didn’t like her chances of getting caught so she had left immediately. There were people she could use to find out where he was staying in Central. It would be to her benefit to head home and work harder on her plans to move the operation out of Central. It wasn’t that Mustang was known to investigate crimes but that woman who took him in as a child did know far too much about too many things and Mustang always had an overgrown sense of what was fair. He wouldn’t have much tolerance for her and Nick.
As she headed back to the home she shared with her idiot brother, Lauren purposely went by the street vendors that lined the streets near the bars ringing around industrial area of town. Bars in Central could be found in clusters, the rough ones here in the industrial area, taverns outside of the military base and the more upscale pubs in the heart of the city for the more upstanding citizens.
She chose this street because it wasn’t far from the Ishbalan slums and Downard and Miller, the thugs they used to procure the kids, worked these streets. They had a plum spot close to some city benches. Once it got dark, they stuck around to serve those stumbling out of the bars – at least that’s what it said on their operator’s license. In the dark, the Ishbalan children would creep out like rats, looking for food. It was easy to dose their food with some chloral hydrate and let them sit on the benches. Downard and Miller used so much of the stuff, it didn’t take that long for the kids to be woozy enough to cart away.
Lauren didn’t approach the vendors. Downard nodded at her, a brief indicator that they had gotten another kid. She hailed a cab, plentiful around any place that had a collection of drinking holes. Once home, she hunted down her brother. Nick was engrossed with tallying the nightly take from their various ventures. Glancing up at her, he scowled.
“I can’t believe you want to leave,” he whined.
“Another fire last night,” she replied. “They killed two more kids. We don’t get to make repeat money from these kids if they keep murdering them.” Lauren kicked off her shoes, letting her toes breathe. “Mustang was with Christmas tonight. That can’t possibly mean anything good. We’ll do just as well anywhere else. We already have more money than we can spend.”
“There’s never enough,” Nick replied, shortsighted as ever.
“Stay if you want. I’m moving my portion out,” Lauren’s tone left no room for argument. She knew Nick would argue anyway but in the end, she would win out, just like always.
Chapter Seven
“Ed, I think you’re just reading to keep from helping me and not because you’re learning anything.” Al wished he could glare at his brother but he thought he was getting his point across. Not that Ed cared.
“I have to see if there is anything we need in these books.” Ed settled back, head on the pillow he had carted into the museum’s storage area. While Al was up to his loin cloth in boxes, Ed was stretched out on the floor on top the blanket he had brought with the pillow, reading and occasionally snacking from a paper bag full of nuts roasted with cinnamon that he had smuggled in from the outside.
“You’re so full of sh…” Al stopped, heading someone coming down the corridor.
“They seem like good boys,” Bishop was saying, his cane clicking along. “I do hope they’re making progress. I haven’t had the time to come check on them. I’m sure they’ll appreciate a helping hand.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Damn! Is that Mustang?” Ed popped up. “What is he doing here?”
“Be nice, brother.” Al shook some rubber tubing at Ed. “The colonel can’t possibly feel well after being so drunk last night. The last thing anyone needs is your…” Al thought better of pointing out his brother’s loud mouth but it was too little too late.
Ed’s head swiveled around, a smile that had been classified more than once as demonic spreading over his face. “My what?”
“You know what. We’re in a museum. Quiet is a rule,” Al said, thinking maybe it just was one at that. Ed huffed at him but made an attempt to look busy with the boxes he had been ignoring as Bishop led mustang in. As Al expected, Mustang looked sallow and lost inside his uniform. Bloodshot eyes were half shuttered but Al doubted they missed a thing. Al wondered if he smelled as bad as he looked. He remembered the mornings after one of Granny’s parties. She always sent them and Winry for a sleep over during the parties but the next day…well, how many stomach flus could one old woman have?
“You have a visitor, boys,” Mr. Bishop said cheerily. “Colonel Mustang said he would like to see your progress and lend a hand.”
“We’re still slowly unpacking,” Ed said blandly, surprising Al by not raising a stink about Mustang’s presence.
“This is a big job,” Al added.
“No rush, boys, no rush. Around here, our best work is done at a nice slow even pace,” Bishop said. Al wondered if the man could move at any other. “I’ll leave you to show him around.” The old man squinted at the opened boxes. “Yes, you do have a ways to go before we can tell what we might want to put out in the exhibit.”
“We’re trying to see what’s all here first then find you the best stuff,” Al replied brightly.
“Excellent. It looks like you have things in hand. I’ll leave you to orientate the colonel to your system.”
Bishop clip-clopped his way back out of the storage bin. Al waited until he heard the elevator doors before saying, “Seriously Ed, that’s going to be you at that age.”
“SHUT THE HELL UP!”
Roy chuckled then clutched his forehead. “Oh, don’t make me laugh. Either my head will explode or I’ll throw up.”
“What the hell do you even want?” Ed snarled. “Go away before you puke on my boots.”
Roy’s hand dropped away from his forehead as he drew himself up to his full height. He managed to look honestly contrite. “I owe you boys an apology.”
Ed snorted. “Yeah, right. What do you really want?”
“Brother,” Al sighed.
Roy simply cocked up an eyebrow before peering into the nearest box. He selected a book. “To apologize for my behavior last night. I was not myself.”
“Sure you were. Just augmented by a barrel of whiskey,” Ed said but he didn’t see Roy wince. Al did. “We don’t need you here getting in our way.”
“You don’t get a choice. I am your commanding officer,” Roy reminded him. “And General Gran has decided that while I’m here on temporary duty, Hughes is my commander and he commanded me to come here with you boys.”
“I’m gonna kill Hughes.”
“Why, sir?” Al ignored his brother’s temper.
Roy stretched out on the blanket, nestling his head on Ed’s pillow, blithely ignoring the young boy’s bleat of dismay. “To quote Hughes and Hawkeye, you’re my babysitter, Alphonse.”
“Me, sir?”
“Yes, they said you’re the only adult in this group.” Roy struggled past his hangover to smirk at Ed who turned a dangerous shade of purple. Al could hear his brother’s servos whining as Ed clenched his fists.
Al’s chest plate puffed up at the praise then realized what it really meant. His spiked shoulders sagged. “Just what I needed, two of them,” he muttered not quite under his breath. Ed punched Al with his metal fist and the resulting clang made Mustang groan.
“Have you read this book yet?” Roy waved the one he had pulled out of the box.
“No.”
“I’ll start here.” He laid back down, shifting around before sitting up again. Mustang stripped off his uniform jacket. “Uncomfortable thing.” He settled back with the book but within a minute the book was resting on his face, his breathing becoming soft and even.
“Look at him. He’s going to drool on my pillow, Al.”
“Ask the hotel for a new one.” Al shuffled over to Mustang as quietly as he could. “He’s just like you.” He pointed to where Mustang’s shirt had hiked up. “Always sleeping with your bellies out.” He picked up the discarded jacket and covered the older alchemist up.
“You’re going to make someone a good wife someday, Al,” Ed sneered. Al sauntered over casually then flicked his brother’s ear hard, surprised Ed’s yelp of pain didn’t do more than make the colonel mumble in his sleep.
The brothers unpacked a box of old chemical supplies that Al thought should be properly dumped out and the old bottles cleaned if Mr. Bishop wanted them for the exhibit. Al rather liked their old shapes, more squat and thick than bottles nowadays. Their dark blue and brown glass were inviting to an alchemist like him.
“You know why Colonel Jackass is really here, don’t you, Al,” Ed said after several minutes. “He’s here to be sure we leave here at a decent hour and make sure we go right home like little kids.”
“And the embarrassing story about needing a babysitter accomplished what for him exactly in your theory?”
Ed shrugged. “Hughes probably did say that and the shit knew Hughes would tell us.”
“I said it because it’s true,” Roy muttered behind them. He shifted the book off his face, squirming onto his side. “And Alphonse, your brother is also right. I am here to keep an eye on you two.”
“We’re not kids.” Ed’s growl reminded Al of the little fiest dog that ran around Mr. Fitch’s store back home.
“And I’m not overly familiar with a little thing called fire,” Roy grunted. “We know you can take care of yourselves. Hell, you’re downright dangerous to yourselves and others but the truth is, we have no idea how this person is getting hold of so many kids your age. You can’t protect yourself against the unknown.”
Al nodded and even Ed slumped a bit at that. “We know, sir.”
“You are stubborn and so convinced you’re right about everything, Edward. I don’t need to point out the problem with that, now do I?” Roy’s eyes narrowed, flicking to Alphonse.
Ed bristled. “You’re such an ass.”
“And trust me when I say I know what I’m talking about, Edward.” Roy sighed. “You should let Hughes and me help you from time to time. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
“We will,” Al said quickly before Ed could start cussing again. “Sorry we woke you up.”
“Your brother is so loud for a boy so little.”
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE NEEDS A MEGAPHONE TO BE HEARD!”
“Edward, no one said anything like that.” Al sighed. “Be quiet before you make Mr. Bishop think he’s made the wrong choice in having us do this. Mr. Mustang, maybe you should go back to sleep.” Al tried to be mild but the two of them were insufferable. Still, it was somehow good to see them back to their usual selves. It had been strange seeing the colonel alternatingly overly concerned and manic.
“Is that your way of telling me to stop winding him up, Alphonse?” Mustang smiled, shifting again on the hard floor.
Al kept his ‘what do you think’ to himself. “Sir, we know you’re trying to keep us safe but shouldn’t you tell us everything that’s going on so we understand better?”
Mustang shot him a curious look. “What is it you think we’re not telling you, Alphonse?”
“Exactly what’s happening. I mean…” Al’s metal plates rattled. “This man is hurting them, you know.”
“Jus say it, Al,” Ed said, yanking things out of the box with more force than necessary. “Hughes said there was sex.” The redness of Ed’s face told Al his brother was regretting saying it as much as Al did for bringing it up in the first place. “And you seem really upset about everything,” Ed added.
Mustang flopped over onto his back and pulled his jacket over his face. “You know everything. The kids were taken, raped, killed and set on fire and I don’t want to see it happen to you. And yes, Edward, things like that actually upset me.”
Ed mumbled something that was probably supposed to be an apology or ‘no kidding’ but the words never really took form.
“That’s why I want you two to leave. I’ll square it with Bishop. You can come back in a month or two once Hughes solves this case,” Roy said, peering back out from under the jacket. “You can follow other leads.”
“Tell me how we pass this up, Mustang?” Ed demanded. “What we need might be in these boxes.”
From the look on Mustang’s face, Al suddenly had his doubts. Had the older alchemist sent them here, grasping at straws himself? “Please, sir, think about it. We aren’t your average kids.”
Roy snorted. “No, you’re not. For once, Alphonse, I’m not entirely sad that you’re in that body. At least they can’t hurt you.” He covered his face again. “I’ll think about it.”
Ed opened his mouth to argue but Al held up a hand. Glaring, Ed lost himself in sorting the stuff in the box and Al let the conversation die, almost regretting he had pushed as far as he had. But now they really knew. Raped. Murdered. Burned. He couldn’t imagine anything more awful.
Soon, the soft sounds of sleep slipped out from under the jacket over Mustang’s head. Al wondered if the alchemist was really sleeping off his hang over or if he was pretending and listening in. He decided it was probably the former. “Ed, maybe we should go.”
“We’ll just be more careful, Al. Promise.” Ed glanced over at his brother. “Don’t give Mustang any ammunition.”
Al stifled a sigh, going back to work.
* * *
Maes felt slightly bad about inflicting Roy on Alphonse, not to mention inflicting Ed on poor hung over Roy, but neither he nor Riza felt Roy should be alone. The alchemist was in no shape to work today and Maes knew his friend would feel guilty about that once he was more himself. As it was, he hadn’t been able to convince Roy to go back to Christmas’s and the apartment there and he wasn’t going to leave Roy alone in his temporary quarters. Roy hadn’t wanted to sleep on Maes’s couch the night before but he had passed out before even getting that far. Maes had to carry Roy in. Thank goodness Gracia was an understanding woman. He certainly owed her. Maybe he’d take Elicia for a stroll and let Gracia nap for a few hours.
Maes had met back up with Knox to find out one of the victims from last night’s fire had blue eyes, the other red. It served to further convince Maes that the killer was culling his victims from the poorer segments of society. The blue-eyed girl was a bit of an anomaly but the Ishbalans weren’t the only poor in Central. So far, in spite of pleas in the paper, no parents had come forth to try and find out if the victims were their missing kids, at least no parent that the child could probably belong to. A few frantic parents had appeared but outside of the lone blue-eyed girl, they couldn’t possibly be the parents. He had no idea this many children went missing in the city. It terrified him and all he really wanted to do was go home and hug Elicia.
Instead, Maes was wandering around trying to pull the pieces of the puzzle together in his head. He needed to stop and see the Madam and find out if Shanti had checked in but at this point Maes wasn’t hopeful she could help either. He had taken the time to really read the information Kavita had passed on at Chris’ insistence. A pedophile ring made sense. Maes wondered vaguely what happened to Roy’s step-father’s children. How would kids raised like that turn out? He would have to look into their whereabouts to satisfy his own curiosity. He’d get Breda and Armstrong on that tomorrow.
Tonight, he needed to go wrangle Roy and the Elrics. He’d rather herd feral cats. They’d be easier. Roy was surely still feeling the effects of his hangover and his mood was plain rotten. Maes knew he should feel guilty about inflicting Roy on the brothers but hoped Roy would be able to convince them to leave. Roy was right; they shouldn’t be here.
Once he got to the museum, Maes introduced himself to Mr. Bishop and convinced him that no guide would be needed to find Roy and the brothers. He figured they’d be so loud in the basement that the deaf could find them. By the time he tracked them down, they were arguing with Roy about it being time to leave. Roy was sitting on a pile of books, still gray-faced and obviously in need of being tucked into bed. Sadly, there was too much to do before that could happen.
“Ready to go boys?” Maes poked his head into the room.
“We’re not done,” Ed said with all the tenacity of a young mule.
“Edward, we’ve had this conversation. You’re going if I have to drag you out by your braid, kicking and screaming.” Roy actually looked delighted at the prospect.
Ed’s fists balled up. “I’d like to see you try.”
“It’s not been a conversation. You two have been shouting,” Al said, pushing his brother toward the door.
Maes tossed a casual arm around Ed’s shoulders, using that leverage to directed him out of the room. “I know your stomach, Ed. It’s probably been deafening Roy for the last hour. Let’s all go get something to eat then we’ll get you boys back to your quarters.”
“Hughes,” Ed grumbled but he walked.
Roy shot Maes a grateful look. Maes knew his friend still wasn’t quite himself, since he was relatively quiet. Still, there was certain lightness in Roy’s dark eyes, a sign that Ed and Al had the desired effect. Maes knew it would only be a matter of time before the boys would poke Roy into taunting them. He couldn’t resist it.
“We can get our own food,” Ed pouted. “You don’t have to walk us all over town.”
“We’re not going far,” Maes said, starting them all down the path that led to Sparky’s. There might be more the madam could tell them and the bar had good food, cheap, too. He wasn’t sure if Ed even cared about things like that given his alchemist stipend. “And you’re coming to my house tomorrow at five for dinner. No arguments.”
“But that’s so early. We’ll have to really cut our work short,” Ed protested.
“That was an argument,” Maes pointed out. “And Roy is paying for the catering.”
Ed was lousy at hiding his emotions. No sane person would trust the smile that blossomed on his face. “I’ll bring my appetite.”
Roy groaned, dropping back a bit. Maes knew he could have called for a cab, though it would be a tight fit, but Roy had ran him all over town last night. It was his turn to return the favor. By the time they got to Sparky’s, the alchemist was sweating and his color had worsened. Maes knew he shouldn’t blame Roy for getting so drunk. He understood the trauma Roy had suffered. He was annoyed that Roy had ignored the warnings and caused his own pain. That’s what Roy needed reminded of. The expression on Roy’s exotic face promised Maes this wasn’t over. He probably wasn’t going to be warming Roy’s bed any time soon.
“You brought us to a bar?” Al asked somewhat incredulously. “Should the Colonel have anything more?”
“I’m hoping the mere smell will be a reminder of his folly,” Maes replied, surprised at Al’s astute observation.
Ed led the way inside. “Hey, is that Hawkeye over there?”
“Yes, let’s go join her,” Maes said, not really expecting Riza to be here but that was fortuitous. Roy didn’t say a word; he simply slinked over to her table. “Room for more, Hawkeye?” Maes asked.
She waved a hand across the table. “Have a seat. Hello, Edward, Alphonse. How are you?”
“We’d be better if Colonel Shit would quit harassing us about leaving town until Hughes is done with his investigation,” Edward said, flopping down.
Riza’s big brown eyes pinned Ed. “Edward, you’ll find that obeying orders is actually part and parcel of being in the military. If you annoy him long enough, he might even find some place truly tedious to send you.” While she said it with a smile, there was nothing joking in her tone. Ed grimaced, groaning.
“I have a list of chores and places just for you, Edward. Alphonse, you’d be free to go home. I’d hate for you to suffer because of your brother’s irritating nature,” Roy said with a smug grin.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Al mumbled and Ed glared.
“You said I could stay for now,” Ed reminded Roy as he reached for the menus still on the table. “I’m staying.”
“For now,” Roy agreed.
A waitress Maes didn’t know approached the table, giving Alphonse a wary eye. If the poor kid noticed, he had no way of showing it without being as vocal and rude as his brother. Maes figured her to be an employee and not one of Christmas’ inner circle. “Can I get you anything or do you need a minute?”
“We need time with the menus but drinks would be nice.” Maes turned to Ed. “Ed?”
“Water’s fine,” he replied in a tone of someone hoping for a soda fountain but knowing he wasn’t in luck.
“I’ll have a beer,” Maes said.
“Mmm, after the day I’ve had, that would really do the trick. I’ll have a beer, too.” Riza’s smile had just a tiny bit of smirk hiding in it and she made sure Roy saw.
Roy’s shoulders slumped and he said in a soft voice, “I’ll have juice.”
“What kind, sir?”
“Does it matter? Surprise me.” Roy shot both Riza and Maes a hostile look that Ed caught.
“What’s up?” the boy asked as the waitress headed off with their orders, not even waiting to see if the ‘person’ inside the armor wanted anything. Ed’s golden eyes studied Roy who glared back. “You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”
Maes really needed to sit Ed down and talk to him about letting his emotions be so blatant and about his obvious glee in provoking Roy, not that he thought he’d get far on either personality point. Ed, like Roy, was a rude brat. “Yes, he is.”
“The colonel has been…bad,” Riza added.
Ed snorted. “He’s always bad. I don’t know why you haven’t just shot him.”
“Brother,” Al chided.
“Just look at the menu and shut up,” Roy grumbled, obviously not quite up to a witty comeback.
Ed picked up the menu, chuckling. Maes didn’t need a menu. He ate here enough on his visits to know Sparky’s served a great fried chicken and a mashed sweet potato side dish. While Ed was perusing the menu, apparently unable to make a decision, Janina headed over with their drink orders. She smirked at Roy, setting grape juice in front of him.
“I figured this was close to wine,” she said and the look he shot his sister should have had him up on charges of murder. “Here you go.” Janina put down the beers and Ed’s water. She turned her gaze to Al. “Did you want something?”
He shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Tell me if you need another juice, Roy boy,” she snickered, heading back to the bar.
“Is there a girl anywhere who you don’t flirt with? Do they have your name written down somewhere? If Roy comes in, be all sweet to him?” Ed wrinkled his nose at Mustang.
“Jealous?”
“Of a goofy looking guy like you? Hardly.”
“Listen you little fu-”
Riza cut off the explicative, clamping her hand over Roy’s mouth.
“WHO ARE Y-”
Al used a similar method to silence his brother.
“Let’s just order peacefully before we’re banned from the bar,” Maes suggested.
When the waitress returned, Riza placed the same order as Maes. Ed ordered three different sandwiches, the onion loaf and soup. Roy’s order for a bowl of chicken and dumplings seemed to upset her though. “Is that all, sir?”
“Have them put it in a big bowl. I’ll pay extra,” he replied wearily.
“A bowl of soup?” Maes eyed his friend once the waitress was gone.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Still that hung over?” Riza asked and he grunted at her.
“At least I didn’t order enough food for an army like Edward.”
“Growing boys have to eat,” she reminded him and Ed beamed at that.
Maes got the brothers talking about what they were finding in the museum. Maybe what he needed was to let go of the case for a little while and let his mind relax. Roy took relaxing to the next level, sliding down in his chair, all but asleep and he stayed that way until dinner came. Roy managed to rouse himself enough to prop himself up on one elbow and slowly spoon thick dumplings into his mouth.
“Sir, really? Elbows off the table,” Riza scolded.
“Leave him, Hawkeye. He’s going to fall asleep in his soup.” Ed grinned. “I want to see how long it takes him to drown.”
“Just concentrate on eating your food without inhaling the silverware,” Roy replied without opening his eyes.
Ed opened his mouth but at look from Riza made him rethink it. He took a healthy bite of sandwich instead. By the time they were nearly through dinner, Maes spotted the madam in the doorway. She nodded at him.
“I need to go call Gracia.” Maes pushed back from the table.
“Why? It’s not like you aren’t going to be home soon?” Ed asked.
“Brother, honestly. You are so unromantic.”
“Exactly, Alphonse. Do make sure Roy doesn’t fall into his soup while I’m gone.”
Maes didn’t have to look back to know Roy was making an obscene gesture at him. He left Riza to tend to Roy, who didn’t seem to be much of a problem unless he garnered a second wind. Maes followed Christmas back to her office and took a seat in front of her desk.
She lit up before speaking. “Roy looks like hell.”
“He was acting a little more like himself today,” Maes replied. “I should probably send him back east but I doubt he’d go now, no matter how much this is hurting him.”
“If he would obey orders, he’d hurt less.”
“He never could be reasonable,” he said and Christmas laughed. “Did you learn anything?”
Christmas took a long drag. “Shanti said she thought she found one family who lost a child but they don’t trust her any more than they do us.” She let the smoke trickle out between her lips. “It’s been an unsettling realization for her.”
“I have no doubt.” Ever since the war, his former ‘sister’ had become so bitter and so proud of her heritage. Maes was sure it had to feel like a slap to the face to be mistrusted by other Ishbalans.
“Shanti wants you to meet her tomorrow by the old clock tower. It’s just outside of the tent city. That family really does want to know if you found their child but they don’t want to risk coming into the city. Do you feel safe meeting her there? That close to the tenement, no telling what could happen.” Christmas leveled a hard stare at him.
Maes shrugged. “It needs to be done. I can take care of myself.”
“I know that you can. Be smart.” She held up a hand. “And I know you’re plenty that. It’s Roy I usually worry about. For someone so smart, he can be incredibly dumb from time to time.”
“Right now Edward is taking bets on how long it will take Roy to drown in his soup. I think it’s safe to say, Roy is all right for tonight. I’ll tell him about this in the morning. I want him to sleep. I’ll try to convince him to stay here when Riza can stay with him. Or at the very least, I’ll see him home.”
“Do your best. It’s probably not in my interest that those young boys get a good look at me from what you and Roy have said.”
“Ed is a smart one. He might figure out more than you’re comfortable with.” Maes glanced back at the door. “I better get back out there. Anything else, Madam?”
She shook hear head. “I’ll let you know when I learn anything else.”
“Thanks.”
Maes headed back to the table where he’d have to wrangle two brats into submission. At least, when he got home, he’d have two slices of paradise waiting for him.
* * *
Beckert nibbled the end of his thumb.
Mudica, the school librarian, glanced over at him. “Should you be doing that? You touch sick kids all the time.”
Beckert yanked his hand down. “Didn’t you hear me? The Hograths are leaving town. How are we going to find our dolls?”
“Maybe we went too far and that’s why they’re leaving,” Mudica suggested, his tone shaky. He tugged at a lock of thinning hair.
Beckert glared. “What was better for you, Phil? Cuddling your doll or making it shut its eyes for good?” For a moment, the nurse thought his partner in crime would deny that killing the kids was as arousing, if not more so, than the actual sex with them.
Mudica flung his hands up. “Before we started with making them sleep, the Hograths had no problems.”
Beckert had to concede that point. “We may have to find others like the Hograths or do some of our own collecting. We do work in a school.”
Mudica sat upright as if he’d been goosed. “You can’t take kids from there. Breckenridge is an academy. The richest people in Central send their kids there. It’s not like taking some desert rat no one is going to miss.”
“Aren’t you tired of red eyes and that disgusting tanned skin?” Beckert hugged.
“It suits me just fine. I was nervous enough last night with that blue-eyed doll they got from some slum dweller,” Mudica fretted.
Beckert spread his hands in concession. Mudica would be no help to him. “You have a point. I’ll start looking into other options to find our dolls.”
Mudica nodded frantically at that idea. The man was a useless coward. It might be time to arrange an accident for the man. It wasn’t like they had the some taste in dolls anyhow. At least Mudica was good with capturing their dolls on film and knew someone who would let them borrow a dark room. Still, it might be time to go solo.
* * *
“You didn’t have to walk with us,” Ed said. “We would have gone home like good little boys.”
“It’s not that far from the restaurant,” Maes shrugged, waving the brothers up the stairs to their second floor room.
“You only did it because Colonel Shit told you to.”
“Actually, I would have seen you two home even if Roy hadn’t suggested it.” Maes followed them up.
“Sir, the colonel really seems upset. He was so…not himself last night,” Alphonse said as Ed unlocked the door.
“Drunk, Al, you can say it. He was drunk off his ass,” Ed slammed his way into the hotel room.
Maes shoved his glasses up. “Edward, do you ever so anything quietly?”
Ed scowled at him. “The asshole was drunk.”
“Yes, he was, very much so,” Maes said, wondering if Ed’s mother ever tried washing the boy’s mouth out with soap. “He regrets you saw him like that.”
“I don’t blame him,” Al sat on the floor, against the wall. “Brother will never let him forget it.”
Ed snorted at him then flopped over backwards over the arm of the suite’s couch. “Why should I? He was a complete idiot. I don’t see why he thinks we should go. We can handle ourselves.” He rapped a hand against the metal of his shoulder. “Who’d want this anyhow?”
“You’d be surprised,” Maes said darkly, wishing he could make the kids understand. They were at the age where they believed adults did everything just to be sure the kids had no fun. Adults knew nothing and it would take a few years before the Elrics grew out of that stage, no matter how smart and mature they were.
“Sir, something bad happened to the colonel, didn’t it?” Al’s helmet canted over at Maes. “He was so…afraid last night.”
“He was drunk and bossy,” Ed protested. “I didn’t see scared.”
“That’s because you’re always in competition with him, brother,” Al said and Ed whipped around to stare at him. “What? You are.”
“Am not, whatever,” Ed muttered.
Maes ignored it, trying to decide what if anything he could tell the brothers. Alphonse was altogether too perceptive. Roy would not be happy but it might actually help level the playing field. Ed hated that Roy knew their secret, hated the power it potentially gave Roy over the brothers. That was part of the antagonism between them, Maes didn’t doubt.
He sat on the chair opposite the couch, catching Ed’s attention. “Al, you sound worried and you, Ed, well, I guess you’re just your usual rude self, but I know under that you’re wondering what’s gotten Roy so upset.”
“Eh,” Ed huffed, shrugging the shoulder he wasn’t lying on.
“Roy is an orphan, like you boys,” Maes said then held up a hand when Ed’s mouth opened, his cheeks reddening, “Yes, I know your father is probably alive somewhere but he hasn’t been a part of your life in a long time. Anyhow, I’m not entirely sure Roy ever knew his father. I don’t even know if he passed away when Roy was very young or if he just left the family, leaving Roy and his sister.”
“There’re more of them?” Ed’s eyes rounded into saucers.
Maes tried not to laugh. “His sister is downright scary. I’ve met her. She’s a year or two older and don’t tell him I told you about her. Don’t tell Roy I told you any of this.”
“We won’t, sir.” Al held up a hand in promise.
Maes noticed Ed shot his brother a look and didn’t promise but he decided to trust the boy. “Roy’s mother married another man, Stewart Hograth. Maybe he seemed charming or maybe she was desperate to find someone to help her support two kids. Again, Roy was so young at the time I doubt he knew.”
“He was a bad guy?” Ed asked.
“He hurt kids,” Al added.
“Yeah, he hurt kids. Roy and his sister and later he went to jail for doing what the guy I’m chasing now is doing, selling, molesting and hurting children.”
“That’s horrible,” Al whispered.
“Very. Their mom found out and she tried to take the kids and run away but the man caught her and beat her to death in front of Roy and his sister. The last thing she did was make the kids go. They ran off and he didn’t catch them. They lived on the streets for awhile before finding a foster mother who took them in.”
“We were lucky.” Ed’s chin dropped toward his chest. “Granny Pinako took us in.”
“And Teacher, we were very lucky,” Al said and Maes hoped they couldn’t see how stunned he was at their optimism. He wouldn’t have called their young lives lucky. “And we won’t tell anyone about this, sir, no one.”
“Yeah, this isn’t right,” Ed said, sitting up.
“No, it is not and I trust you boys. That’s why I told you,” Maes assured them. “So if you think Roy’s been too hard on you, it’s because he’s trying to protect you. There was no one there to protect him and he’s just looking out for you two. Roy likes you.”
Ed snorted. “Right.”
“He does,” Maes protested. “Think about it, Ed. How many commanding officers would give you so much free rein? Roy doesn’t impede your quest at all. He tries to help you. And could you imagine what would happen if I spoke to General Gran the way you speak to Roy?”
“You’d be in jail,” Al offered.
“Exactly.”
“Okay, I know he helps us.” Ed held up his hands. “A lot. It’s just that he’s so damn smug and arrogant I want to slap him.”
Maes couldn’t hold back the bubble of laughter. “Get in line and it’s a long one. There are plenty of openings behind me and Hawkeye.”
“Ugh, poor Lieutenant Hawkeye, stuck with him every day. I don’t know how she does it.”
Al’s helmet seemed to regard Ed intently. Maes just shook his head. One brother might actually get why Riza put up with Roy. “Don’t worry about Hawkeye. She has her ways of coping.”
“How are you friends with someone that smug and arrogant?” Ed demanded.
“Same way I’m friends with you,” Maes replied, making Al giggled. Ed glowered. “Of course Roy is arrogant. When you are as smart as he is, as smart as you two boys, it’s part of the deal, I think. Al has a more sedate personality but I bet he has his moments, too.”
“Oh yeah,” Ed bobbed his head and Al squawked out a protest.
“Try not to be too hard on Roy, Edward. He’s doing his job and he usually does it well if you let him.” Maes got up. “He knows what he’s talking about.”
“So he thinks,” Ed replied, not ready to give up the point.
“I’d better get home,” Maes said, knowing when it was time to give up. “Good night boys.”
They chorused their goodbyes and Maes went to the front desk of the visiting officers’ quarters to arrange for transportation. He didn’t relish the long walk home. He just hoped the brothers finally understood exactly what was at stake here.
on to chapter 8-9
Author –
cornerofmadnessDisclaimer- not mine, all rights belong to Ms. Arakawa
Beta –
evil_little_dog & bob_fishArtist – all the wonderful illos belong to
bob_fishRating – overall NC-17 but mostly it’s R or less.
Genre- mystery, action
Pairings – Roy/Riza, Maes/Gracia, Roy/Maes, Roy/Maes/Riza/Gracia
Timeline/Spoilers – manga based, no direct spoilers except for Roy’s parentage and things that happened in Ishbal. So hmmm, spoilers for anything past chapter 50
Summary – crimes of today resurrect ghosts of the past. When Maes asks for Roy’s help investigating arson and murder, Roy never expected to have to face his past or that they would have to find a killer before Edward is targeted.
Warning – spoilers as noted above, all sorts of sex (Het, m/m, threesome), violence, off screen rape and murder of young teens, arson, Roy & Ed’s potty mouths.
Word Count -48,088
Author’s notes – this was very hard to finish in time. The plot was expansive. Thanks to everyone who helped me knuckle down and finish. Thanks especially to
evil_little_dog, bob_fish and to enemytosleep for the encouragement.Chapter Six
Lauren knew if she watched the bar, eventually her patience would be rewarded. She hadn’t seen the bitch who put her father in jail to die, not in years. Christmas had come and gone several times while Lauren watched from across the way, sitting on a park bench. She counted herself lucky to have a handy park as a cover. Lauren made sure the wide brim of her ridiculous floppy-brimmed hat was pulled down. The last thing she needed was for that woman to spot her.
She almost got up and left when night fell but there might be more to gain by waiting. Lauren had kept tabs on Mustang, but not immediately after he first left their household. There was too much turmoil for that and, at the time, she had no idea the little brat she used to burn with her father’s lighter would amount to anything. Lauren never expected him to become a hero. Once he came back a lauded war veteran, she decided it was in her best interests to know where Mustang was. He carried grudges, at least when he was a sniveling whiner hanging onto that slant-eyed bitch of a mother.
To her delight, Lauren spotted someone heading for the bar: Mustang and a lanky man she didn’t know. They didn’t even look her way. She didn’t dare go into the bar to spy on them but maybe she should wait and see where they went next. Granted, she might be here the rest of the night. Lauren knew for sure that it was no longer safe in Central for Nick and her. If Mustang found out what they were doing, he could kill them with a snap of his finger and call them terrorists. He’d probably earn another medal. Nick and she would have to be careful.
* * *
“I can’t believe Mom gave you your own love nest.” Maes pouted at the couch in the little apartment above the bar. “She never gave me a love nest.”
“You never dated a girl you couldn’t be seen with,” Roy reasoned, setting the files Breda had gotten from Kavita.
“No.” Maes threw his arms around Roy, pressing into his back while nibbling the smaller man’s neck. “Just you.” His hands ventured down Roy’s body. He squeezed Roy’s crotch. “But you don’t count as a girl.”
Roy tried to squirm away. “Maes, we have a lot of work to do.”
“And he hasn’t visited the pharmacy yet,” Riza said, coming in with a tray of sandwiches. “And your mother and at least one sister are on their way up. Try not to sear their eyes with your inability to keep on track.”
“I have too visited the pharmacy but it’s still all back at my temporary quarters,” Roy protested. “And I’m not the one misbehaving.”
“Ah, so that little dance you were doing was an escape attempt. I thought…” Riza shrugged, her lips quirking up.
“Have you ever seen me be that graceless about it?” Roy stabbed a finger at her. “Don’t answer that.”
“Eat a sandwich to shut that death trap of yours,” Maes suggested cheerfully as he sat down on the couch.
“I’m not just a sex toy,” Roy grumbled, throwing himself sideways onto a padded chair.
“Do I even want to know?” Christmas asked, coming into the room with a pitcher of beer in hand.
“No, you don’t. Gross, Roy boy,” Janina, his sister who usually tended bar, added, swinging into the room with a tray of glasses.
Roy flushed but recovered enough to shoot back, “You only say that because you haven’t…”
Riza stuffed the end of a still-wrapped sandwich into his mouth. Glaring at her, he plucked it out and peeled away the paper. He took a bite of his food.
“Ah, he does eat. I was beginning to think he lived on the foods he merely imagined.” Christmas set the beer down.
“Don’t make me show you just how rock hard my belly is. I’m wiry not skinny.”
“Roy,” Riza said with just enough sharpness to make him swing his legs off the arm of the chair and sit up straight. He reached for a file without being told.
“Why did you tell me to send someone for this stuff, Madam?” Roy looked up at his mother then dutifully took another bite.
“There might be things in there you can use,” she replied, patting Roy on the head. “Eat two sandwiches.”
Roy yanked up his shirt. “I’m not skinny.”
“No, just silly.” Janina said before darting out the door.
Roy glared, letting his shirt fall back down. Why did he always feel like he was twelve when he came to see his mother?
“Roy, here, pair up the blueprints with these photos Kavita sent along.” Maes pushed the blueprints Roy’s way. “I’m going to give Gracia a call and tell her it’ll be a late night. Hmmm, phone’s probably downstairs.”
As Maes headed for the door, Hayate perked up, trotting over. Riza set the beer pitcher down before pouring herself a glass. “I’ll go walk Hayate and come back to help.”
“And I’d better get back to my own business,” Christmas said. “If you need me, Roy boy, you know where to find me.”
“You don’t want to help me match photos to boring blueprints.” He made eyes at his mother.
She snorted. “That look has no effect on me.” Christmas patted him on the head again and left.
Roy unrolled the first of the blueprints, poured a beer, drank it and helped himself to more. He wasn’t cut out for this investigation crap. He could stare at an array all night long but blueprints? Boring. He nosed into the files and saw one marked for Hughes only. Why the hell would Kavita do that? Roy took out the wad of newspapers and sat back with his beer and his half-eaten sandwich. Reading quickly and processing the information was much more his forte.
Maybe by losing himself in the black and white past held in his hands, Roy could forget that they had found another body in that rubble. A boy and a girl. Maes and Armstrong had gone uncharacteristically silent at the escalation. Roy couldn’t decide it Maes’s playfulness when they got into the apartment was merely to cover his own bad mood or if he really did want a short break to lose himself in pleasure to try and wash out the horrible images in his head.
Roy didn’t have to work hard to figure out what articles Kavita thought pertained to the case or should he say Chris thought since he had no doubts who was the one who sent Kavita after the stuff. His sister had folded the borrowed newspapers and put them in the folder so that the stories were face up. The sandwich in his mouth turned to cement and he could barely swallow it. His stomach lurched, moving the bite back up his esophagus. It took a drowning of beer to get the food back down. Stewart Hograth. He couldn’t escape that bastard’s name. It had been haunting him ever since he learned of what was happening here.
Hand shaking, Roy set the sandwich down. He drained the beer and then a second before eating the sandwich. He shifted through the papers until he found one that was two full pages of court proceedings. As a little boy, Roy had been aware that the man who killed his mother had been sent to jail. His older sister and Chris Mustang made sure he didn’t see too much of it. He had been upset about it at the time. It wasn’t like Sis had been that much older but Hograth had hurt her less often. His sister was so tough. As he grew older, Roy realized that he had been so badly hurt by Hograth that Chris hadn’t wanted him to relive any of it. With that in mind, he should probably put the paper down. He wasn’t a child any more so, stubborn, Roy read on. He already knew that Hograth beat his mother to death after she found out Hograth was abusing her children. She hadn’t confronted the man. She tried to run in the middle of the night but those horrible children of his had woken up and told their father. Roy hated those brats as much as their murdering pedophile father.
His gaze snagged on the recounting of Hograth’s charges. Pedophile ring…selling children. Now he understood why Kavita had selected…selling? The word rang inside Roy, shattering walls. Forgotten agonies oozed past the gaping holes. Roy hunched up, dropping the paper. He could feel Hograth’s hands on his hips. Clenching down hard on his internal muscles, Roy propelled himself up off the couch before he did something in his pants he hadn’t done since Hograth was his ‘daddy.’
Barely making it to the cramped bathroom in time, Roy wasn’t even sure of his aim. The only thing he could see was what he had blocked out for oh so very long. Hograth handing him off to men whose faces he still couldn’t see, didn’t want to see, might go insane if he remembered all the details. He couldn’t let them find him again. Under the bed? No, he always got hauled out by an ankle then beaten before it started. He had to get out of here.
Stumbling downstairs, he heard the voices. Lured into the crowded bar, he felt safe. He could hide among the masses. Janina’s face went pale seeing him as he took the bottle from her. Roy found a table in a dark corner that no one wanted and pressed himself into it.
* * *
“Roy, you need to hear about the very cute thing Elicia did today,” Maes said, bounding back into the apartment. He looked around, seeing no one, hearing nothing. He assumed Riza was still waiting for Hayate to find the perfect tree to potty on but where did Roy go? “Roy?” Maes went to check out the back rooms but the only evidence Roy had been around was a half-eaten sandwich, a drained beer glass and papers everywhere. He was always such a mess. Maes leaned down to pick them up when Riza came back with Hayate. “Did Roy decide to follow you out with the dog?”
Riza shook her head, letting Hayate off his leash. “No. Why?”
“He’s not here and, while we all know how he likes to get out of doing stuff, this wouldn’t be one of those times,” Maes said, his tone far more serious than he usually was.
“Maybe he went downstairs to ask for appetizers instead of sandwiches. You know how picky about food he is.” Riza snapped a finger at Hayate who was pressing his nose against the coffee table, eyeing the sandwiches.
“Maybe.” Maes glanced down at the papers in his hand. His eyes widened, his stomach dropping to his toes.
“Maes, what’s wrong?” Riza said, picking up on his fear.
Maes flung the paper down on the couch. “He was reading about Hograth’s trial. We need to find him.”
“Why would he…damn him.” Riza, still holding the leash, scooped Hayate up and followed Maes back down the stairs. They nearly collided with Christmas and Janina.
Christmas caught Maes by the arm. “You know what’s wrong with Roy, don’t you?”
“He’s in there downing a bottle of whiskey like it’s water,” Janina’s voice squeaked tightly. “He’s going to end up in the hospital if he doesn’t stop.”
“He read a newspaper article about Hograth or so I assume,” Maes growled.
“We only left him alone for five minutes,” Riza pushed forward, heading into the bar.
“I had those marked for you only, Hughes,” Christmas said.
“Roy is too nosy for his own damn good,” Maes replied. “And that’s coming from the nosiest man around.”
“He’s his own worst enemy.” Christmas stomped across her bar. Roy looked up at his family and lovers converging on him. Maes doubted Roy could even accurately tell who was standing before him. In the short span of time he was out of Maes’s sight, Roy had consumed far too much alcohol. His eyes had glazed over. Maes made a mental count. From the dent in the pitcher, at least two glasses of beer and a frightening amount of whiskey, provided he had gotten a full bottle, had already passed Roy’s lips. He weaved on his seat when Christmas snatched away the bottle, thrusting it at Janina. Roy’s bottom came off the seat as he thought about lurching after the bottle, hesitated and flopped back down at the glare the older woman used to melt him.
“That was mine,” he grumbled.
“No, technically it’s mine,” Christmas countered. “I own this place and you are cut off.”
“I am not,” Roy whined like a petulant child.
“Let’s go back upstairs, Roy,” Riza said, reaching a hand out to him.
“No, I can’t.” Roy swung off the seat in the opposite direction, trying to rabbit past them.
Maes got in front of him. “Roy, come on, let’s just go upstairs or to the madam’s office, all right? This is not the place to talk.”
Roy shoved past him, remarkably solid for a lean, little drunk. He managed to skirt away and get all the way outside before Maes caught back up to him, dragging him to a halt. Riza, Hayate struggling in her arms, and Christmas followed them out into the balmy autumn night. “Let me go,” Roy said without any heat to his voice.
“No, not right now. Let’s go inside, Roy,” Maes said. “Let’s talk while your brain is still actually processing things.”
“I need to walk,” Roy argued, trying to pull Maes down the sidewalk.
“Roy, you really need to come inside.” Riza took his hand.
“No.” Roy jerked so hard, he pulled Riza off her feet, spilling her to the sidewalk. “Riza!” The alchemist tried to catch her before she hit the concrete but lost his own balance. Maes caught him by the belt loops before he slammed Riza even harder into the ground. The taller man steadied Roy for a moment then leaned down to help Riza up.
Christmas caught hold of Roy. “Son, please, you need to calm down.”
Roy glanced back at Riza, biting his bottom lip. Hayate danced around her, barking. “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. Is she all right, Hughes?”
“I’m fine, Roy,” Riza said, examining her bleeding elbow. “Are you ready to come back inside? Let’s just go to the apartment and sit down.”
“I can’t…please, got to walk, gotta think.” Roy covered his mouth, trying to stem the ragged sob that ripped past his throat. “He was selling kids for sex.”
Christmas held out her arms and Roy folded himself into them. He clenched her white-knuckled tight, his fingers digging into her fleshy shoulders. She didn’t flinch, merely holding him tighter. “He is dead, baby boy. He can’t hurt you any more.”
“But you think that’s what I’m facing now,” Maes said softly, bending down to pick Hayate up, hoping to hush the beast.
“I do. That’s why your name was on those files. Should have known Roy couldn’t resist,” Christmas said, stroking Roy’s back.
“He does get into trouble,” Riza said, taking her dog from Maes as Roy squirmed free of his mother.
For a moment, Maes thought Roy was going to go inside but instead he started walking. “Roy, you should go back into the apartment.”
“Want to walk, clear my head,” Roy said, nearly staggering into a lamp post.
Maes sighed, glancing back at the two women. “I’ll walk with him and give you a call once I manage to get him to lie down someplace and pass out.”
“Take care of him,” Riza said, “I’ll stay here and work. The Madam can help me sort through some of this. I’ll call Breda over if need be.”
Maes nodded and trotted off after Roy who had scooted further down the street than the investigator would have thought possible. He didn’t try to reach for Roy. He merely kept pace with him. “We should call you a cab, Roy.”
Roy looked at him, his head bobbling like a child’s toy. “How is that walking and clearing my head?”
Maes sighed again. “Do you want to talk about it, Roy?”
“I didn’t remember so much of what that man did to me. Enough to make me sick. Hell, every time it rains I think about him. He loved to come to our rooms when it was storming.” Roy stumbled over uneven sidewalk and Maes caught hold of the man’s shirt, keeping him on his feet. “Damn…I forgot about the others. Until now. Hograth had a fishing cabin on the lake, that’s what he told Mom it was. Those men…they’d swap us kids like Creatan courtesan postcards.”
“You just had to disregard the warning.”
“I’m sorry,” Roy whispered.
Maes had no doubt of it.
* * *
“Ed, it’s pretty late,” Al said, looking up at the street lamps.
“It’s not that late. The diner was still open,” Ed protested.
“Brother, it’s a diner. I’m not sure they ever close.” Al shrugged. “We stayed at the museum too long and we didn’t get much done.” Al’s head swiveled toward his brother. Ed thought for a moment Al’s eyes narrowed even though he knew it was impossible. “And you didn’t help me that much.”
“I wanted to start cataloging the books,” Ed said, though the truth was he had been caught up in a particularly interesting, rhyming code.
Al harrumphed at him.
Ed yawned prodigiously, rubbing his belly. “That was a really good smashed potato dish but now I’m sleepy.”
“If we had left the museum when I said,” Al said but Ed waved a hand at him. He didn’t want to hear his brother telling him what they should have done for the tenth time.
“It’s not that much further to our quarters.”
“Brother, what if Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and the colonel are right? What if there is someone dangerous out here?” Al glanced around, making Ed do the same in spite of himself. He didn’t see anything in the shadows.
“What would anyone want with us, Al? We,” he hooked a thumb at his chest, giving Al his best grin, “can handle ourselves.”
“But they said this person was killing kids.” Al put a hand on his brother’s arm. “Why would anyone do that?”
Ed didn’t want to think about it. “Don’t know.”
“Brother…do you think they did things to the kids first before killing them?”
At Al’s drawn out, hesitant tone, Ed stopped, giving his brother his full attention. “What do you mean, Al?”
“You know…things.”
If metal could blush, Ed knew Al would look like a horseshoe freshly pressed to the anvil. “Do you mean…sex?” Ed uttered that last word in a soft hiss. “Al!”
“Think about it, brother. Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and the colonel weren’t telling us something. Killing kids is bad enough but did you see their faces?”
Ed nodded. “I thought they weren’t telling us everything but that? Hmmm. I guess.” He shrugged. “That would mean we really have nothing to worry about. Who would want me?” He gestured to his metal leg with his equally metal hand.
“Is it a matter of want?”
“I don’t know, Al. What I do know is I’m not running away. How will we ever get our bodies back if I run at the first sign of danger?” Ed asked, shamefully grateful that his brother lapsed into silence.
They walked farther along the street, getting closer to their hotel, before Alphonse broke the silence. He raised his hand, pointing. “Is that the colonel and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?”
“Damn it, why? What the hell could they possibly want, following us?” Ed growled.
“I don’t think they are, brother. They’re in front of us, after all. Colonel Mustang looks sick. He can hardly walk.” Al’s voice was steeped with sympathy.
Ed snorted. “That’s not sick. He looks drunker than that miniature hag Pinako when her card-playing friends come around.” He stalked over to the two adults. “Hey, Colonel Shit, what’s wrong?
“Brother.” Al’s leather fingers brushed his metal brow in embarrassment.
“Edward? Alphonse?” Mustang jerked free of Hughes, staggering toward them with grim determination. “What the hell are you doing out here so late? I told you it was dangerous.” The alchemist stabbed a wavering finger in Ed’s general direction. “Are you stupid or just trying to piss me off?”
Ed’s fists balled. This guy was such an asshole. As many times as he wanted to punch Mustang in his smug face, this moment was the worst. The older alchemist hadn’t ever yelled at him like he just did since that very first day when Mustang realized, in horror, what Ed and Al had done. “We were working in the museum. Look, you shit, we can take care of ourselves. We don’t need you.”
“You have no idea what’s out here, none.” Roy made a slashing movement, nearly knocking himself over.
Maes steadied him, his expression grim. “Ed, Al, he’s right.”
“Hughes, you know we can handle ourselves.”
Letting Mustang to sway without support, Hughes reached out and clamped a hand on Ed’s shoulder. “We know you’re both very capable boys.”
“Wouldn’t gotten you into this if I didn’t,” Mustang slurred, leaning on a mail box to help keep himself upright.
“Exactly.” Hughes wagged a finger. “That said, you shouldn’t be out at night. I know it’s not tremendously late yet but with that fire last night, we ended up with two more dead kids.”
Next to Ed, Al’s armor jarred plate against plate. Ed tried to hold in his own shock. “That won’t be us.”
“Will be if you don’t fuckin’ lissen to us,” Mustang clutched the mail box as if he thought gravity would suddenly fail him and he might float off. “You’re just a kid with delusions of adulthood. You need to lissen to your elders.”
“Roy,” Maes said sharply.
Ed took a deep breath in but was too mad to actually form words. It was all he could do not to just transmute the mailbox into a cage for Mustang and poke him with a sharp stick. Instead, his brother interrupted softly. “Sir, they’re doing more than just killing the kids, aren’t they?”
“Yes, Al, they are,” Hughes replied.
“Like you have no idea.” Mustang roused himself off the mail box. “That’s why you have to go. I’ll talk to Bishop. No rush. That crap isn’t going anywhere but you are, Fullmetal. You don’t get to defy my orders.”
“Don’t breathe on me.” Ed fanned a hand in front of his face. “You stink.”
“Ed, Roy, enough. Not tonight,” Hughes took hold of Mustang’s arm. “Boys, why don’t you run home? Roy’s not having a good night. I need to get him home, too.”
“I wanna walk,” Roy protested.
“We’ve been all over the damn town. You’re walking home,” Hughes replied, shaking Roy’s arm.
Ed’s eyes widened at the snappish tone. He had never heard Hughes like that. Ed decided tonight definitely wasn’t the time to push either man. Something was going on that didn’t make any sense. “We’ll go home.”
“Thank you.”
Ed waited until the two officers were out of sight before rapping his knuckles on his brother’s chest plate to get his attention. “Something weird is happening, Al.”
“I know, brother. Those poor kids.”
“No, I meant with Mustang and Hughes. I know Mustang likes to drink but I haven’t ever seen him drunk like that before.”
“To be fair, Ed, we’re kids and we don’t hang out in bars,” Al protested, his helmet swiveling back the way they had just come. “But I doubt he’d want us to see him like that. He’s in a terrible state.”
Ed thought about that for a moment and realized his brother was right. Mustang would be humiliated to be seen so out of control. He rubbed his chin. “Yeah, but…well, there’s something more going on that they’re not telling us. Mustang seems afraid. I’ve never seen him show that emotion, not like he is now.”
Al nodded. “I noticed. It makes me want to get back to the officer’s quarters faster. He and Mr. Hughes don’t scare easy but something is bothering them now. Maybe we ought to listen to them, Brother.”
“Yeah,” Ed said without conviction. It was what Al needed to hear. Ed had no real intentions of giving up quite so easily but the twelve year old had to confess, the odd encounter had him on edge.
* * *
Lauren had considered following Mustang but when he came out of the bar there were simply too many people with him. She didn’t like her chances of getting caught so she had left immediately. There were people she could use to find out where he was staying in Central. It would be to her benefit to head home and work harder on her plans to move the operation out of Central. It wasn’t that Mustang was known to investigate crimes but that woman who took him in as a child did know far too much about too many things and Mustang always had an overgrown sense of what was fair. He wouldn’t have much tolerance for her and Nick.
As she headed back to the home she shared with her idiot brother, Lauren purposely went by the street vendors that lined the streets near the bars ringing around industrial area of town. Bars in Central could be found in clusters, the rough ones here in the industrial area, taverns outside of the military base and the more upscale pubs in the heart of the city for the more upstanding citizens.
She chose this street because it wasn’t far from the Ishbalan slums and Downard and Miller, the thugs they used to procure the kids, worked these streets. They had a plum spot close to some city benches. Once it got dark, they stuck around to serve those stumbling out of the bars – at least that’s what it said on their operator’s license. In the dark, the Ishbalan children would creep out like rats, looking for food. It was easy to dose their food with some chloral hydrate and let them sit on the benches. Downard and Miller used so much of the stuff, it didn’t take that long for the kids to be woozy enough to cart away.
Lauren didn’t approach the vendors. Downard nodded at her, a brief indicator that they had gotten another kid. She hailed a cab, plentiful around any place that had a collection of drinking holes. Once home, she hunted down her brother. Nick was engrossed with tallying the nightly take from their various ventures. Glancing up at her, he scowled.
“I can’t believe you want to leave,” he whined.
“Another fire last night,” she replied. “They killed two more kids. We don’t get to make repeat money from these kids if they keep murdering them.” Lauren kicked off her shoes, letting her toes breathe. “Mustang was with Christmas tonight. That can’t possibly mean anything good. We’ll do just as well anywhere else. We already have more money than we can spend.”
“There’s never enough,” Nick replied, shortsighted as ever.
“Stay if you want. I’m moving my portion out,” Lauren’s tone left no room for argument. She knew Nick would argue anyway but in the end, she would win out, just like always.
Chapter Seven
“Ed, I think you’re just reading to keep from helping me and not because you’re learning anything.” Al wished he could glare at his brother but he thought he was getting his point across. Not that Ed cared.
“I have to see if there is anything we need in these books.” Ed settled back, head on the pillow he had carted into the museum’s storage area. While Al was up to his loin cloth in boxes, Ed was stretched out on the floor on top the blanket he had brought with the pillow, reading and occasionally snacking from a paper bag full of nuts roasted with cinnamon that he had smuggled in from the outside.
“You’re so full of sh…” Al stopped, heading someone coming down the corridor.
“They seem like good boys,” Bishop was saying, his cane clicking along. “I do hope they’re making progress. I haven’t had the time to come check on them. I’m sure they’ll appreciate a helping hand.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Damn! Is that Mustang?” Ed popped up. “What is he doing here?”
“Be nice, brother.” Al shook some rubber tubing at Ed. “The colonel can’t possibly feel well after being so drunk last night. The last thing anyone needs is your…” Al thought better of pointing out his brother’s loud mouth but it was too little too late.
Ed’s head swiveled around, a smile that had been classified more than once as demonic spreading over his face. “My what?”
“You know what. We’re in a museum. Quiet is a rule,” Al said, thinking maybe it just was one at that. Ed huffed at him but made an attempt to look busy with the boxes he had been ignoring as Bishop led mustang in. As Al expected, Mustang looked sallow and lost inside his uniform. Bloodshot eyes were half shuttered but Al doubted they missed a thing. Al wondered if he smelled as bad as he looked. He remembered the mornings after one of Granny’s parties. She always sent them and Winry for a sleep over during the parties but the next day…well, how many stomach flus could one old woman have?
“You have a visitor, boys,” Mr. Bishop said cheerily. “Colonel Mustang said he would like to see your progress and lend a hand.”
“We’re still slowly unpacking,” Ed said blandly, surprising Al by not raising a stink about Mustang’s presence.
“This is a big job,” Al added.
“No rush, boys, no rush. Around here, our best work is done at a nice slow even pace,” Bishop said. Al wondered if the man could move at any other. “I’ll leave you to show him around.” The old man squinted at the opened boxes. “Yes, you do have a ways to go before we can tell what we might want to put out in the exhibit.”
“We’re trying to see what’s all here first then find you the best stuff,” Al replied brightly.
“Excellent. It looks like you have things in hand. I’ll leave you to orientate the colonel to your system.”
Bishop clip-clopped his way back out of the storage bin. Al waited until he heard the elevator doors before saying, “Seriously Ed, that’s going to be you at that age.”
“SHUT THE HELL UP!”
Roy chuckled then clutched his forehead. “Oh, don’t make me laugh. Either my head will explode or I’ll throw up.”
“What the hell do you even want?” Ed snarled. “Go away before you puke on my boots.”
Roy’s hand dropped away from his forehead as he drew himself up to his full height. He managed to look honestly contrite. “I owe you boys an apology.”
Ed snorted. “Yeah, right. What do you really want?”
“Brother,” Al sighed.
Roy simply cocked up an eyebrow before peering into the nearest box. He selected a book. “To apologize for my behavior last night. I was not myself.”
“Sure you were. Just augmented by a barrel of whiskey,” Ed said but he didn’t see Roy wince. Al did. “We don’t need you here getting in our way.”
“You don’t get a choice. I am your commanding officer,” Roy reminded him. “And General Gran has decided that while I’m here on temporary duty, Hughes is my commander and he commanded me to come here with you boys.”
“I’m gonna kill Hughes.”
“Why, sir?” Al ignored his brother’s temper.
Roy stretched out on the blanket, nestling his head on Ed’s pillow, blithely ignoring the young boy’s bleat of dismay. “To quote Hughes and Hawkeye, you’re my babysitter, Alphonse.”
“Me, sir?”
“Yes, they said you’re the only adult in this group.” Roy struggled past his hangover to smirk at Ed who turned a dangerous shade of purple. Al could hear his brother’s servos whining as Ed clenched his fists.
Al’s chest plate puffed up at the praise then realized what it really meant. His spiked shoulders sagged. “Just what I needed, two of them,” he muttered not quite under his breath. Ed punched Al with his metal fist and the resulting clang made Mustang groan.
“Have you read this book yet?” Roy waved the one he had pulled out of the box.
“No.”
“I’ll start here.” He laid back down, shifting around before sitting up again. Mustang stripped off his uniform jacket. “Uncomfortable thing.” He settled back with the book but within a minute the book was resting on his face, his breathing becoming soft and even.
“Look at him. He’s going to drool on my pillow, Al.”
“Ask the hotel for a new one.” Al shuffled over to Mustang as quietly as he could. “He’s just like you.” He pointed to where Mustang’s shirt had hiked up. “Always sleeping with your bellies out.” He picked up the discarded jacket and covered the older alchemist up.
“You’re going to make someone a good wife someday, Al,” Ed sneered. Al sauntered over casually then flicked his brother’s ear hard, surprised Ed’s yelp of pain didn’t do more than make the colonel mumble in his sleep.
The brothers unpacked a box of old chemical supplies that Al thought should be properly dumped out and the old bottles cleaned if Mr. Bishop wanted them for the exhibit. Al rather liked their old shapes, more squat and thick than bottles nowadays. Their dark blue and brown glass were inviting to an alchemist like him.
“You know why Colonel Jackass is really here, don’t you, Al,” Ed said after several minutes. “He’s here to be sure we leave here at a decent hour and make sure we go right home like little kids.”
“And the embarrassing story about needing a babysitter accomplished what for him exactly in your theory?”
Ed shrugged. “Hughes probably did say that and the shit knew Hughes would tell us.”
“I said it because it’s true,” Roy muttered behind them. He shifted the book off his face, squirming onto his side. “And Alphonse, your brother is also right. I am here to keep an eye on you two.”
“We’re not kids.” Ed’s growl reminded Al of the little fiest dog that ran around Mr. Fitch’s store back home.
“And I’m not overly familiar with a little thing called fire,” Roy grunted. “We know you can take care of yourselves. Hell, you’re downright dangerous to yourselves and others but the truth is, we have no idea how this person is getting hold of so many kids your age. You can’t protect yourself against the unknown.”
Al nodded and even Ed slumped a bit at that. “We know, sir.”
“You are stubborn and so convinced you’re right about everything, Edward. I don’t need to point out the problem with that, now do I?” Roy’s eyes narrowed, flicking to Alphonse.
Ed bristled. “You’re such an ass.”
“And trust me when I say I know what I’m talking about, Edward.” Roy sighed. “You should let Hughes and me help you from time to time. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
“We will,” Al said quickly before Ed could start cussing again. “Sorry we woke you up.”
“Your brother is so loud for a boy so little.”
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE NEEDS A MEGAPHONE TO BE HEARD!”
“Edward, no one said anything like that.” Al sighed. “Be quiet before you make Mr. Bishop think he’s made the wrong choice in having us do this. Mr. Mustang, maybe you should go back to sleep.” Al tried to be mild but the two of them were insufferable. Still, it was somehow good to see them back to their usual selves. It had been strange seeing the colonel alternatingly overly concerned and manic.
“Is that your way of telling me to stop winding him up, Alphonse?” Mustang smiled, shifting again on the hard floor.
Al kept his ‘what do you think’ to himself. “Sir, we know you’re trying to keep us safe but shouldn’t you tell us everything that’s going on so we understand better?”
Mustang shot him a curious look. “What is it you think we’re not telling you, Alphonse?”
“Exactly what’s happening. I mean…” Al’s metal plates rattled. “This man is hurting them, you know.”
“Jus say it, Al,” Ed said, yanking things out of the box with more force than necessary. “Hughes said there was sex.” The redness of Ed’s face told Al his brother was regretting saying it as much as Al did for bringing it up in the first place. “And you seem really upset about everything,” Ed added.
Mustang flopped over onto his back and pulled his jacket over his face. “You know everything. The kids were taken, raped, killed and set on fire and I don’t want to see it happen to you. And yes, Edward, things like that actually upset me.”
Ed mumbled something that was probably supposed to be an apology or ‘no kidding’ but the words never really took form.
“That’s why I want you two to leave. I’ll square it with Bishop. You can come back in a month or two once Hughes solves this case,” Roy said, peering back out from under the jacket. “You can follow other leads.”
“Tell me how we pass this up, Mustang?” Ed demanded. “What we need might be in these boxes.”
From the look on Mustang’s face, Al suddenly had his doubts. Had the older alchemist sent them here, grasping at straws himself? “Please, sir, think about it. We aren’t your average kids.”
Roy snorted. “No, you’re not. For once, Alphonse, I’m not entirely sad that you’re in that body. At least they can’t hurt you.” He covered his face again. “I’ll think about it.”
Ed opened his mouth to argue but Al held up a hand. Glaring, Ed lost himself in sorting the stuff in the box and Al let the conversation die, almost regretting he had pushed as far as he had. But now they really knew. Raped. Murdered. Burned. He couldn’t imagine anything more awful.
Soon, the soft sounds of sleep slipped out from under the jacket over Mustang’s head. Al wondered if the alchemist was really sleeping off his hang over or if he was pretending and listening in. He decided it was probably the former. “Ed, maybe we should go.”
“We’ll just be more careful, Al. Promise.” Ed glanced over at his brother. “Don’t give Mustang any ammunition.”
Al stifled a sigh, going back to work.
* * *
Maes felt slightly bad about inflicting Roy on Alphonse, not to mention inflicting Ed on poor hung over Roy, but neither he nor Riza felt Roy should be alone. The alchemist was in no shape to work today and Maes knew his friend would feel guilty about that once he was more himself. As it was, he hadn’t been able to convince Roy to go back to Christmas’s and the apartment there and he wasn’t going to leave Roy alone in his temporary quarters. Roy hadn’t wanted to sleep on Maes’s couch the night before but he had passed out before even getting that far. Maes had to carry Roy in. Thank goodness Gracia was an understanding woman. He certainly owed her. Maybe he’d take Elicia for a stroll and let Gracia nap for a few hours.
Maes had met back up with Knox to find out one of the victims from last night’s fire had blue eyes, the other red. It served to further convince Maes that the killer was culling his victims from the poorer segments of society. The blue-eyed girl was a bit of an anomaly but the Ishbalans weren’t the only poor in Central. So far, in spite of pleas in the paper, no parents had come forth to try and find out if the victims were their missing kids, at least no parent that the child could probably belong to. A few frantic parents had appeared but outside of the lone blue-eyed girl, they couldn’t possibly be the parents. He had no idea this many children went missing in the city. It terrified him and all he really wanted to do was go home and hug Elicia.
Instead, Maes was wandering around trying to pull the pieces of the puzzle together in his head. He needed to stop and see the Madam and find out if Shanti had checked in but at this point Maes wasn’t hopeful she could help either. He had taken the time to really read the information Kavita had passed on at Chris’ insistence. A pedophile ring made sense. Maes wondered vaguely what happened to Roy’s step-father’s children. How would kids raised like that turn out? He would have to look into their whereabouts to satisfy his own curiosity. He’d get Breda and Armstrong on that tomorrow.
Tonight, he needed to go wrangle Roy and the Elrics. He’d rather herd feral cats. They’d be easier. Roy was surely still feeling the effects of his hangover and his mood was plain rotten. Maes knew he should feel guilty about inflicting Roy on the brothers but hoped Roy would be able to convince them to leave. Roy was right; they shouldn’t be here.
Once he got to the museum, Maes introduced himself to Mr. Bishop and convinced him that no guide would be needed to find Roy and the brothers. He figured they’d be so loud in the basement that the deaf could find them. By the time he tracked them down, they were arguing with Roy about it being time to leave. Roy was sitting on a pile of books, still gray-faced and obviously in need of being tucked into bed. Sadly, there was too much to do before that could happen.
“Ready to go boys?” Maes poked his head into the room.
“We’re not done,” Ed said with all the tenacity of a young mule.
“Edward, we’ve had this conversation. You’re going if I have to drag you out by your braid, kicking and screaming.” Roy actually looked delighted at the prospect.
Ed’s fists balled up. “I’d like to see you try.”
“It’s not been a conversation. You two have been shouting,” Al said, pushing his brother toward the door.
Maes tossed a casual arm around Ed’s shoulders, using that leverage to directed him out of the room. “I know your stomach, Ed. It’s probably been deafening Roy for the last hour. Let’s all go get something to eat then we’ll get you boys back to your quarters.”
“Hughes,” Ed grumbled but he walked.
Roy shot Maes a grateful look. Maes knew his friend still wasn’t quite himself, since he was relatively quiet. Still, there was certain lightness in Roy’s dark eyes, a sign that Ed and Al had the desired effect. Maes knew it would only be a matter of time before the boys would poke Roy into taunting them. He couldn’t resist it.
“We can get our own food,” Ed pouted. “You don’t have to walk us all over town.”
“We’re not going far,” Maes said, starting them all down the path that led to Sparky’s. There might be more the madam could tell them and the bar had good food, cheap, too. He wasn’t sure if Ed even cared about things like that given his alchemist stipend. “And you’re coming to my house tomorrow at five for dinner. No arguments.”
“But that’s so early. We’ll have to really cut our work short,” Ed protested.
“That was an argument,” Maes pointed out. “And Roy is paying for the catering.”
Ed was lousy at hiding his emotions. No sane person would trust the smile that blossomed on his face. “I’ll bring my appetite.”
Roy groaned, dropping back a bit. Maes knew he could have called for a cab, though it would be a tight fit, but Roy had ran him all over town last night. It was his turn to return the favor. By the time they got to Sparky’s, the alchemist was sweating and his color had worsened. Maes knew he shouldn’t blame Roy for getting so drunk. He understood the trauma Roy had suffered. He was annoyed that Roy had ignored the warnings and caused his own pain. That’s what Roy needed reminded of. The expression on Roy’s exotic face promised Maes this wasn’t over. He probably wasn’t going to be warming Roy’s bed any time soon.
“You brought us to a bar?” Al asked somewhat incredulously. “Should the Colonel have anything more?”
“I’m hoping the mere smell will be a reminder of his folly,” Maes replied, surprised at Al’s astute observation.
Ed led the way inside. “Hey, is that Hawkeye over there?”
“Yes, let’s go join her,” Maes said, not really expecting Riza to be here but that was fortuitous. Roy didn’t say a word; he simply slinked over to her table. “Room for more, Hawkeye?” Maes asked.
She waved a hand across the table. “Have a seat. Hello, Edward, Alphonse. How are you?”
“We’d be better if Colonel Shit would quit harassing us about leaving town until Hughes is done with his investigation,” Edward said, flopping down.
Riza’s big brown eyes pinned Ed. “Edward, you’ll find that obeying orders is actually part and parcel of being in the military. If you annoy him long enough, he might even find some place truly tedious to send you.” While she said it with a smile, there was nothing joking in her tone. Ed grimaced, groaning.
“I have a list of chores and places just for you, Edward. Alphonse, you’d be free to go home. I’d hate for you to suffer because of your brother’s irritating nature,” Roy said with a smug grin.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Al mumbled and Ed glared.
“You said I could stay for now,” Ed reminded Roy as he reached for the menus still on the table. “I’m staying.”
“For now,” Roy agreed.
A waitress Maes didn’t know approached the table, giving Alphonse a wary eye. If the poor kid noticed, he had no way of showing it without being as vocal and rude as his brother. Maes figured her to be an employee and not one of Christmas’ inner circle. “Can I get you anything or do you need a minute?”
“We need time with the menus but drinks would be nice.” Maes turned to Ed. “Ed?”
“Water’s fine,” he replied in a tone of someone hoping for a soda fountain but knowing he wasn’t in luck.
“I’ll have a beer,” Maes said.
“Mmm, after the day I’ve had, that would really do the trick. I’ll have a beer, too.” Riza’s smile had just a tiny bit of smirk hiding in it and she made sure Roy saw.
Roy’s shoulders slumped and he said in a soft voice, “I’ll have juice.”
“What kind, sir?”
“Does it matter? Surprise me.” Roy shot both Riza and Maes a hostile look that Ed caught.
“What’s up?” the boy asked as the waitress headed off with their orders, not even waiting to see if the ‘person’ inside the armor wanted anything. Ed’s golden eyes studied Roy who glared back. “You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”
Maes really needed to sit Ed down and talk to him about letting his emotions be so blatant and about his obvious glee in provoking Roy, not that he thought he’d get far on either personality point. Ed, like Roy, was a rude brat. “Yes, he is.”
“The colonel has been…bad,” Riza added.
Ed snorted. “He’s always bad. I don’t know why you haven’t just shot him.”
“Brother,” Al chided.
“Just look at the menu and shut up,” Roy grumbled, obviously not quite up to a witty comeback.
Ed picked up the menu, chuckling. Maes didn’t need a menu. He ate here enough on his visits to know Sparky’s served a great fried chicken and a mashed sweet potato side dish. While Ed was perusing the menu, apparently unable to make a decision, Janina headed over with their drink orders. She smirked at Roy, setting grape juice in front of him.
“I figured this was close to wine,” she said and the look he shot his sister should have had him up on charges of murder. “Here you go.” Janina put down the beers and Ed’s water. She turned her gaze to Al. “Did you want something?”
He shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Tell me if you need another juice, Roy boy,” she snickered, heading back to the bar.
“Is there a girl anywhere who you don’t flirt with? Do they have your name written down somewhere? If Roy comes in, be all sweet to him?” Ed wrinkled his nose at Mustang.
“Jealous?”
“Of a goofy looking guy like you? Hardly.”
“Listen you little fu-”
Riza cut off the explicative, clamping her hand over Roy’s mouth.
“WHO ARE Y-”
Al used a similar method to silence his brother.
“Let’s just order peacefully before we’re banned from the bar,” Maes suggested.
When the waitress returned, Riza placed the same order as Maes. Ed ordered three different sandwiches, the onion loaf and soup. Roy’s order for a bowl of chicken and dumplings seemed to upset her though. “Is that all, sir?”
“Have them put it in a big bowl. I’ll pay extra,” he replied wearily.
“A bowl of soup?” Maes eyed his friend once the waitress was gone.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Still that hung over?” Riza asked and he grunted at her.
“At least I didn’t order enough food for an army like Edward.”
“Growing boys have to eat,” she reminded him and Ed beamed at that.
Maes got the brothers talking about what they were finding in the museum. Maybe what he needed was to let go of the case for a little while and let his mind relax. Roy took relaxing to the next level, sliding down in his chair, all but asleep and he stayed that way until dinner came. Roy managed to rouse himself enough to prop himself up on one elbow and slowly spoon thick dumplings into his mouth.
“Sir, really? Elbows off the table,” Riza scolded.
“Leave him, Hawkeye. He’s going to fall asleep in his soup.” Ed grinned. “I want to see how long it takes him to drown.”
“Just concentrate on eating your food without inhaling the silverware,” Roy replied without opening his eyes.
Ed opened his mouth but at look from Riza made him rethink it. He took a healthy bite of sandwich instead. By the time they were nearly through dinner, Maes spotted the madam in the doorway. She nodded at him.
“I need to go call Gracia.” Maes pushed back from the table.
“Why? It’s not like you aren’t going to be home soon?” Ed asked.
“Brother, honestly. You are so unromantic.”
“Exactly, Alphonse. Do make sure Roy doesn’t fall into his soup while I’m gone.”
Maes didn’t have to look back to know Roy was making an obscene gesture at him. He left Riza to tend to Roy, who didn’t seem to be much of a problem unless he garnered a second wind. Maes followed Christmas back to her office and took a seat in front of her desk.
She lit up before speaking. “Roy looks like hell.”
“He was acting a little more like himself today,” Maes replied. “I should probably send him back east but I doubt he’d go now, no matter how much this is hurting him.”
“If he would obey orders, he’d hurt less.”
“He never could be reasonable,” he said and Christmas laughed. “Did you learn anything?”
Christmas took a long drag. “Shanti said she thought she found one family who lost a child but they don’t trust her any more than they do us.” She let the smoke trickle out between her lips. “It’s been an unsettling realization for her.”
“I have no doubt.” Ever since the war, his former ‘sister’ had become so bitter and so proud of her heritage. Maes was sure it had to feel like a slap to the face to be mistrusted by other Ishbalans.
“Shanti wants you to meet her tomorrow by the old clock tower. It’s just outside of the tent city. That family really does want to know if you found their child but they don’t want to risk coming into the city. Do you feel safe meeting her there? That close to the tenement, no telling what could happen.” Christmas leveled a hard stare at him.
Maes shrugged. “It needs to be done. I can take care of myself.”
“I know that you can. Be smart.” She held up a hand. “And I know you’re plenty that. It’s Roy I usually worry about. For someone so smart, he can be incredibly dumb from time to time.”
“Right now Edward is taking bets on how long it will take Roy to drown in his soup. I think it’s safe to say, Roy is all right for tonight. I’ll tell him about this in the morning. I want him to sleep. I’ll try to convince him to stay here when Riza can stay with him. Or at the very least, I’ll see him home.”
“Do your best. It’s probably not in my interest that those young boys get a good look at me from what you and Roy have said.”
“Ed is a smart one. He might figure out more than you’re comfortable with.” Maes glanced back at the door. “I better get back out there. Anything else, Madam?”
She shook hear head. “I’ll let you know when I learn anything else.”
“Thanks.”
Maes headed back to the table where he’d have to wrangle two brats into submission. At least, when he got home, he’d have two slices of paradise waiting for him.
* * *
Beckert nibbled the end of his thumb.
Mudica, the school librarian, glanced over at him. “Should you be doing that? You touch sick kids all the time.”
Beckert yanked his hand down. “Didn’t you hear me? The Hograths are leaving town. How are we going to find our dolls?”
“Maybe we went too far and that’s why they’re leaving,” Mudica suggested, his tone shaky. He tugged at a lock of thinning hair.
Beckert glared. “What was better for you, Phil? Cuddling your doll or making it shut its eyes for good?” For a moment, the nurse thought his partner in crime would deny that killing the kids was as arousing, if not more so, than the actual sex with them.
Mudica flung his hands up. “Before we started with making them sleep, the Hograths had no problems.”
Beckert had to concede that point. “We may have to find others like the Hograths or do some of our own collecting. We do work in a school.”
Mudica sat upright as if he’d been goosed. “You can’t take kids from there. Breckenridge is an academy. The richest people in Central send their kids there. It’s not like taking some desert rat no one is going to miss.”
“Aren’t you tired of red eyes and that disgusting tanned skin?” Beckert hugged.
“It suits me just fine. I was nervous enough last night with that blue-eyed doll they got from some slum dweller,” Mudica fretted.
Beckert spread his hands in concession. Mudica would be no help to him. “You have a point. I’ll start looking into other options to find our dolls.”
Mudica nodded frantically at that idea. The man was a useless coward. It might be time to arrange an accident for the man. It wasn’t like they had the some taste in dolls anyhow. At least Mudica was good with capturing their dolls on film and knew someone who would let them borrow a dark room. Still, it might be time to go solo.
* * *
“You didn’t have to walk with us,” Ed said. “We would have gone home like good little boys.”
“It’s not that far from the restaurant,” Maes shrugged, waving the brothers up the stairs to their second floor room.
“You only did it because Colonel Shit told you to.”
“Actually, I would have seen you two home even if Roy hadn’t suggested it.” Maes followed them up.
“Sir, the colonel really seems upset. He was so…not himself last night,” Alphonse said as Ed unlocked the door.
“Drunk, Al, you can say it. He was drunk off his ass,” Ed slammed his way into the hotel room.
Maes shoved his glasses up. “Edward, do you ever so anything quietly?”
Ed scowled at him. “The asshole was drunk.”
“Yes, he was, very much so,” Maes said, wondering if Ed’s mother ever tried washing the boy’s mouth out with soap. “He regrets you saw him like that.”
“I don’t blame him,” Al sat on the floor, against the wall. “Brother will never let him forget it.”
Ed snorted at him then flopped over backwards over the arm of the suite’s couch. “Why should I? He was a complete idiot. I don’t see why he thinks we should go. We can handle ourselves.” He rapped a hand against the metal of his shoulder. “Who’d want this anyhow?”
“You’d be surprised,” Maes said darkly, wishing he could make the kids understand. They were at the age where they believed adults did everything just to be sure the kids had no fun. Adults knew nothing and it would take a few years before the Elrics grew out of that stage, no matter how smart and mature they were.
“Sir, something bad happened to the colonel, didn’t it?” Al’s helmet canted over at Maes. “He was so…afraid last night.”
“He was drunk and bossy,” Ed protested. “I didn’t see scared.”
“That’s because you’re always in competition with him, brother,” Al said and Ed whipped around to stare at him. “What? You are.”
“Am not, whatever,” Ed muttered.
Maes ignored it, trying to decide what if anything he could tell the brothers. Alphonse was altogether too perceptive. Roy would not be happy but it might actually help level the playing field. Ed hated that Roy knew their secret, hated the power it potentially gave Roy over the brothers. That was part of the antagonism between them, Maes didn’t doubt.
He sat on the chair opposite the couch, catching Ed’s attention. “Al, you sound worried and you, Ed, well, I guess you’re just your usual rude self, but I know under that you’re wondering what’s gotten Roy so upset.”
“Eh,” Ed huffed, shrugging the shoulder he wasn’t lying on.
“Roy is an orphan, like you boys,” Maes said then held up a hand when Ed’s mouth opened, his cheeks reddening, “Yes, I know your father is probably alive somewhere but he hasn’t been a part of your life in a long time. Anyhow, I’m not entirely sure Roy ever knew his father. I don’t even know if he passed away when Roy was very young or if he just left the family, leaving Roy and his sister.”
“There’re more of them?” Ed’s eyes rounded into saucers.
Maes tried not to laugh. “His sister is downright scary. I’ve met her. She’s a year or two older and don’t tell him I told you about her. Don’t tell Roy I told you any of this.”
“We won’t, sir.” Al held up a hand in promise.
Maes noticed Ed shot his brother a look and didn’t promise but he decided to trust the boy. “Roy’s mother married another man, Stewart Hograth. Maybe he seemed charming or maybe she was desperate to find someone to help her support two kids. Again, Roy was so young at the time I doubt he knew.”
“He was a bad guy?” Ed asked.
“He hurt kids,” Al added.
“Yeah, he hurt kids. Roy and his sister and later he went to jail for doing what the guy I’m chasing now is doing, selling, molesting and hurting children.”
“That’s horrible,” Al whispered.
“Very. Their mom found out and she tried to take the kids and run away but the man caught her and beat her to death in front of Roy and his sister. The last thing she did was make the kids go. They ran off and he didn’t catch them. They lived on the streets for awhile before finding a foster mother who took them in.”
“We were lucky.” Ed’s chin dropped toward his chest. “Granny Pinako took us in.”
“And Teacher, we were very lucky,” Al said and Maes hoped they couldn’t see how stunned he was at their optimism. He wouldn’t have called their young lives lucky. “And we won’t tell anyone about this, sir, no one.”
“Yeah, this isn’t right,” Ed said, sitting up.
“No, it is not and I trust you boys. That’s why I told you,” Maes assured them. “So if you think Roy’s been too hard on you, it’s because he’s trying to protect you. There was no one there to protect him and he’s just looking out for you two. Roy likes you.”
Ed snorted. “Right.”
“He does,” Maes protested. “Think about it, Ed. How many commanding officers would give you so much free rein? Roy doesn’t impede your quest at all. He tries to help you. And could you imagine what would happen if I spoke to General Gran the way you speak to Roy?”
“You’d be in jail,” Al offered.
“Exactly.”
“Okay, I know he helps us.” Ed held up his hands. “A lot. It’s just that he’s so damn smug and arrogant I want to slap him.”
Maes couldn’t hold back the bubble of laughter. “Get in line and it’s a long one. There are plenty of openings behind me and Hawkeye.”
“Ugh, poor Lieutenant Hawkeye, stuck with him every day. I don’t know how she does it.”
Al’s helmet seemed to regard Ed intently. Maes just shook his head. One brother might actually get why Riza put up with Roy. “Don’t worry about Hawkeye. She has her ways of coping.”
“How are you friends with someone that smug and arrogant?” Ed demanded.
“Same way I’m friends with you,” Maes replied, making Al giggled. Ed glowered. “Of course Roy is arrogant. When you are as smart as he is, as smart as you two boys, it’s part of the deal, I think. Al has a more sedate personality but I bet he has his moments, too.”
“Oh yeah,” Ed bobbed his head and Al squawked out a protest.
“Try not to be too hard on Roy, Edward. He’s doing his job and he usually does it well if you let him.” Maes got up. “He knows what he’s talking about.”
“So he thinks,” Ed replied, not ready to give up the point.
“I’d better get home,” Maes said, knowing when it was time to give up. “Good night boys.”
They chorused their goodbyes and Maes went to the front desk of the visiting officers’ quarters to arrange for transportation. He didn’t relish the long walk home. He just hoped the brothers finally understood exactly what was at stake here.
on to chapter 8-9
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 03:34 am (UTC)I love how absolutely stubborn Ed is in this story. Such a brat.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 03:38 am (UTC)thanks
I learned my lesson -Roy
no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 09:54 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're enjoying this. Thanks.
Roy is definitely considering flames
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 12:20 am (UTC)I love your Alphonse.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-20 07:13 am (UTC)I’m guessing that Izumi is Roy’s as-yet-unnamed sister from the hints you’ve put in from time to time. I can’t wait for the boys to figure that out if that turns out to be the case. I was really disappointed that Arakawa didn’t do that in the manga, considering how alike she draws them. Oh, well, that’s what fic is for!
no subject
Date: 2011-06-20 11:25 am (UTC)yes tha is who i was refering too, i wish arakawa had gone there