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Chapter Text

Fuery would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about his friend. He hasn’t seen him this out of it since… well… it’s not really his place to tell. But whatever was going on with him was making everyone worried. I mean, it says a whole awful lot about the situation when someone as gifted as Falman was not able to remember a single room for the layout. It was concerning, but maybe he’s just tired. Although… 

Tired or not, Falman always gets the job done. No matter what condition he is in, he always strives and comes out at the top, the results are never a disappointment. Fuery knows that this scares him, and if it scares him it surely scares his teammates. And it should most definitely scare his Boss the most. 

Don’t be so doubtful, Kain! He tells himself as he gets closer to the bedroom. Have some faith! Maybe it’s nothing. Everyone has an off day. 

Yeah, an off day. That has to be it. That has to be the reason for all of it. It makes the most sense, so he’s going with that.

“Hey, Falman, it’s Fuery.” Nothing. He knocks again. “Vato. If you can hear me, we’re going to dinner. If you want to come with us, you can. If not, we can bring you something.” Nothing again. He frowns. “Vato–”

The door swings open, a very pale individual standing out. “You said dinner?”

“Oh, man, you don’t look so good.” His frown deepens. “You sure you don’t want to stay?”

“No, I’ll go.” Falman mutters, rubbing his eyes. “Besides, I would rather not be alone in a strange house like this.”

That got Fuery to chuckle a bit. “Fair enough.”

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

They found a diner not too far from the mansion. It seemed cozy on the outside, but jammed packed on the inside. The place was hopping with customers, families laughing and spry music playing on the jukebox. Luckily they had a big enough booth for all of them to squeeze in, and the waitress was hot on their feet; Drinks were ordered, but not before Havoc’s attempt at one liner and Mustang’s poor flirtatious comment that went over the auburn’s head.

Breda made a ‘tsk’ sound. “Oooh… better luck next time, gents.”

“So predictable.” Ed mutters and rolls his eyes.

“I’m actually quite hungry.” Fuery says, flipping the menu over to the other side.

“Nah, I might stick to something light. Play it safe.” Falman said, while rubbing his sore temple.

“Sure you okay, Falman?” Roy asked, still worried.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, sir. Maybe all that traveling we did yesterday caught up with me.”

“Mmm, it’s possible.” Havoc said, frowning a little. “I remember the last time I traveled a long distance I got a bit sick.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s it.” Falman agrees before turning his gaze to the youngest. “I gotta hand it to you Major, I don’t know how you do it. Traveling all the time. How are you not tired of it?”

“Easy.” Ed says, setting his menu down with a proud look on his face. “I just think of the prize that might be on the end. The possibility of getting my brother and I’s bodies back.”

Fuery smiles warmly. “Well that’s a good way of thinking.”

“Yeah. That or I do what Al does.”

“What does Alphonse do?” Roy asks, eyebrow raised.

“He thinks of every trip as a vacation. Keeps his spirits high.”

That got him to laugh a little. “Maybe I need to start doing that.”

“Well if that is what keeps you on track to do your work, I support this, Colonel.” Riza replies with a ghost of smirk as she stirs the lemon in her ice tea, ignoring the defeated look on her Boss’ face.

Eventually their waitress came back and they placed their orders, and she promised them it’ll be out before they know it.

“So, did you guys find anything earlier when I was sleeping?” Falman asked, curiously. 

“Not really.” Roy responses, tiredly. “We went through the first three rooms up top on the right, and couldn’t really find much.”

“It’s a lot of work, despite some of the rooms not having much in it to begin with.” Havoc adds.

“Yeah.” His shoulders dropped a bit from his mood. “I didn’t really want to do this, but if we’re going to meet our deadline, we’re probably going to have to split up more. Singles, maybe.” That got all his subordinates to frown.

“Well, If we do that, we’re probably going to have to mark the rooms we go in with something.” Ed stops to think. “Maybe with some colored tape so we don’t accidentally search the same rooms like the last person.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea. We’ll have to check the storage rooms for that tomorrow.” Roy agrees with a nod. “If not, you and I both carry chalk, we can always use that too.”

“True.”

“So splitting up and marking the rooms.” Breda said, sighing.

“This is going to be so tedious.” Fuery replies, head hanging low.

“I know, Men, I know. But hey, if this makes our search go quicker, we might actually be able to leave sooner.” Roy says, smiling. “Wouldn’t that be nice.”

“God, I hope so.” Havoc says, all dreamy. “I want to get back to Rosaline.”

“Your imaginary girlfriend?” 

The blond scoffed at his Boss’ teasing. “I’ll have you know, she’s real, and like I mentioned, she has her own boutique off fifth street.” He grins all happily. “She’s tall, with gorgeous brown curls and eyes that look like honey. And she’s the sweetest girl I’ve ever met.”

Breda chuckles as he takes a sip of his drink, but not before saying, “Probably has big knockers too.” His comment made the teenager snicker in his hand and his best friend turned a shade of red.

“That is not the reason.”

“Sure it’s ‘not’.”

“Says the ass man over here.”

“Hey!”

“And let’s be respectful now–” Havoc gestures to the lady amongst the group. “Our dearest Lieutenant Hawkeye is present.”

Breda sighs quietly. “Alright…”

“Actually, Gentlemen–” Riza begins with a strange look in her eye. “I would love to hear all your preferences.”

The boys all froze under her intriguing gaze, all thinking the same thing: ‘It’s a trap!’. But despite the dangerous teasing, someone decided to give in.

“You know I’ll give into this Drachman Roulette.” Ed says with a snarky look. “So… Colonel Bastard, what’s your preference in a lady?”

Roy jaw clenched as he felt everyone look his way before glaring. “Damn you, Fullmetal.”

“So, what is it?”

“Oh, yes, sir.” Riza replies, with one of her rare grins. “Please, do tell.”

 “Uh…” The Flame Alchemist clears his throat. “All I look for is a woman with a great personality, and would cherish the moments we have together since I tend to be a very busy man.”

“That’s bullshit.” Ed said after a brief pause, his jab deflating the adult.

“Everyone knows you have a thing for girls with light hair.” Havoc adds.

“And are known to be acceptably gorgeous.” Falman finishes.

Roy felt his eye twitch as he sunk into the back of his seat. “You guys have no faith in me. I’m not that much of a womanizer, you know?”

“Says the one who uses ‘Date Stories’ to disguise his alchemy notes.” Havoc pokes, making him sigh.

Ed rolls his eyes and under his breath says, “If the fertility laws weren’t there, we know who he’d be dating.” His comment made Fuery nearly spit out his drink and Falman turned his head away to hold back a laugh.

“What was that, Fullmetal?” Roy asked, oblivious to what he just said.

Instead, the teenager just grinned all smug again and replied, “Nothing.”

“Did you hear anything?” Roy asks his right hand woman, who couldn’t respond in time because their food suddenly arrived. They thanked their waiter and began eating, but the raven haired man wasn’t going to let it go. “So, what about you, shorty? When are you going out with your mechanic?”

“I’M NOT SHORT!” Ed yells, his flash turning hot pink. “And… she’s a friend.”

“Sure, ‘Friend’.” Havoc cuts in with a shake of his head. “You know how many times I hear that excuse from my sister?”

“So? You and Breda have been friends since childhood, and I don’t see you two dating!”

“Now, who says we haven’t?” Havoc cheekily says as his Breda plays along with a nod – the Fullmetal Alchemist groaning into his hands at this conversation.

“Ugh, why are we talking about me? Someone else go next!”

“Mmm, I think we should stick with you.” Roy mocks as his subordinate sends him a glare.

“Bastard. I swear to–”

“Fine.” He holds his utensils up as a surrender. “Uh… Hawkeye, what about you?”

Riza stops her movements, sending him a stern look too. “You really want to go there, sir?” She asked, in a tone that nobody at the table (minus Roy) could figure out. 

It made the man sweat under her gaze. “Um…”

Ed lets out a sigh, still trying to take the heat off him. “Ugh! Fine! Falman, you’re up.” His reply caught him off guard; Like a deer caught in a never ending headlight.

Roy’s expression drops too, almost concernedly. “Uh, don’t ask Falman.”

“What?” Another sigh. He didn’t feel like arguing on ‘why’. “Fine! Fuery, you’re up.”

“M-Me?” Fuery said, his face flushed as well. “Uh… I-I don’t know. Girl’s don’t really like me. N-Never have.”

Ed felt himself twitch at the response. “That’s it?”

“Uh, oh. We went around the whole table.” Havoc said, grinning again. “Looks like you can’t get out of this, Chief.”

“B-But– I-I–”

“Listen, Fullmetal–” Roy begins, amusedly. “We all know that down the line you’re going to marry Miss Rockbell, and you’ll live happily ever after in a house at the top of the hill that has ever lasting sunlight. The end.”

“Y-You…” Ed furiously points in his Boss’ direction and spews, “You sound just like Hughes!”

Roy stares for a second before bursting out laughing, everyone else soon following in the domino effect. Meanwhile, the eldest Elric’s face turned as bright as his infamous coat, before hanging his head low and sinking lower and lower into his chair until he was practically under the table.

This…

This was going to be a long few days . He thought with a hidden smile.

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Fuery felt the tickle in his throat as soon as they set foot back on the property. At first it was bearable, but then as they walked up the cobblestone path it started to almost hurt as he covered his mouth in his jacket sleeve. Yet, as soon as the door opened, it became so intolerable to the point his eyes were on the brink of watering.

“Jeez, you okay?” Ed asked, worriedly; Him and everyone else stopping their movements to check in on him.

Fuery feels like he was choking on something but waves them off nonchalantly. “Y-Yeah. *Cough* I’m f-fine.” He nods and starts wondering from the group. “I-I have a– ti-tickle in m-my throat. *Cough* I’m g-gon-na get so-me water fro-m the ki-tchen.”

He felt their eyes on him as he made his way to the kitchen, whatever they were mumbling amongst themselves was inaudible as they headed up to their rooms. He hears himself making some strange noises as he runs for the sink, hands gripping the counter as he tries to hack up whatever’s lingering there. Whatever was stuck inside, he could definitely feel it now, he could definitely feel the pain. 

He coughed and coughed and coughed and–

He coughs some more, this time a little bit harder, enough for whatever was lodged in his throat to come up. Relief washed over him immediately as he subconscious spits into the sink, only for the clear color he was expecting turned out to be pure red.

Blood pooled out slowly from his mouth and all he could do was stare with his big dark eyes, confused on what could of–

He felt something sharp sit on top of his tongue.

Carefully he reaches inside, nearly gagging as he pulls out a jagged piece of glass. His pupils shrunk and he felt pale when he noticed it had the colors of yellow and blue, just like when–

He drops the piece into the sink, jumping back, and furiously wiping his mouth clean with the back of his hand; His mind going a mile a minute. 

How did I swallow it? When did I swallow it? But why does it look like– Fuery feels like he’s going to start hyperventilating, maybe go into a full blown panic attack again but…

He gnaws into his hand, looking at the mess he made. The sink was stained, the floor had some droplets of crimson too. Shit… if someone finds then–

Kicking himself into high gear, he leaves the kitchen and starts making his trek to the storage closet.  

“You okay, now, Sergeant?” 

He froze, and turned to Riza who was standing on top of the stairs. “Uh, y-yeah!” He hopes that sounds convincing enough.

“Just making sure. I was coming to check on you.”

“Oh, I’m fine, Lieutenant. I-I just made a mess. I’m going to go find something to clean it up. Be up in a jiffy.”

He only picks up the speed down the hallway when he senses her going back up. He practically ran straight for the storage area, grabbing some paper towels and whatever cleaning product caught his eye. He prays nobody went into the kitchen. I mean how does he explain that he just coughed up a piece of glass?

But oddly enough when he returned…

.

.

.

The blood and glass were gone.

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Ugh, there’s that smell again.” Breda complains as he gets closer to his room. 

From right next to him, his ‘next door neighbour’, Havoc, rolled his eyes like he did the last time. “Dude, no one else smells it. Are you sure you don’t have something on your mind?”

“No. Seriously. How can nobody not? It’s so…”

The blond raises his brow. “What? You still can’t describe it?” He gets no reply and he sighs. “Look, maybe you’re coming down with something too. I mean look at Falman, he’s not in his right mind either.”

“Yeah, maybe, I…” Breda groans, so confused. “Maybe I’m finally losing it.”

Havoc scoffs playfully. “You’re too young to be losing your mind. You’re not even twenty-five yet.”

Breda gives him an amusing/smugish look. “Jean, we’re both twenty-six.”

“Wha–” He blinks. “Wait…” He starts counting on his fingers, making his friend bust a gut.

“I told you from day one of high school to lay off those cigarettes.” The ginger man hums as he opens his door. “They’re making you even more of a himbo.” But Jean couldn’t believe it, no matter how many times he recounted.

“There’s no way–”

“1888, remember? And you’re the second oldest in your family.” Breda reminds, shaking his head with a grin. “Night, Jeanie.” He closes the door.

“1888…” His blue eyes widened, his cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth. “Oh my god.”

How has he forgotten how old he is? And how many dates/ex-girlfriends has he told the wrong age too? Should he really consider giving up smoking now?

Well I be fucking damn. He sighs and then perks up when one of his buddies walks by. “Hey, Fuery. If I’m born in ‘88, then am I really twenty-six?” The Sergeant’s smart, he could tell him the truth. Yet, he didn’t get a reply. “Fuery?”

Saying his name a bit louder seemed to do the trick.

“Huh?” Fuery mutters, looking his way all frazzled.

“If I was born in ‘88, does that make me twenty-six?”

“Uh…” He thinks for a split second. “Yeah. You would be.”

“Fuck.” Havoc said, scratching the side of his head. “Maybe I should lay off the cigarettes.” But it sure was an addiction. How does one break that? “Nevermind me. How are you feeling now?”

“M-Me?” Fuery blinks. “Uh, f-fine. I guess my throat dried up.”

“Is that so?” He gets a hum for an answer. “Shouldn’t you have taken some bottled water with you just in case?”

“Uh, I-I can just drink out of the sink at night.” Fuery said, with a nervous chuckle. 

Havoc gives him a look. “I remember you saying you didn’t like to drink out of the sink.”

“I-I don’t remember saying that!” Another chuckle. “Uh– goodnight, Havoc.”

And before the blond could blink, Fuery was already inside his room. 

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After Havoc’s strange encounter with his fellow teammate, tiredness started to settle in, but it didn’t feel right to crawl into bed without a proper shower; Especially since he hasn’t taken one since he left for this mission (Eternally blessing the Chief for finding the water pump). Before stripping he takes a moment to ponder on with his cigarette, still can’t believe his encounter with Breda. He’s baffled he forgot how old he was, and even more baffled he’s considering quitting either. I mean the whole reason he started smoking was because all the “cool kids” in his school were doing it – And it was totally not because of tall, attractive and popular Lisa Greene who dug guys who smoked ( It was totally not the latter ). 

He sighs, amused at himself. I really am just a good old country boy. 

He snickers and puts it out before stripping. Stepping inside his shower, his feet adjusting to the cool square tiles below, he turns the faucet on for some much needed hot water. Of course it decided to give him trouble. He could hear the squeaking of the pipes but nothing was coming out.

“Seriously?” He said, realizing he’ll have to mess with it a bit. Playing a game of trial or error, the squeaking did get louder, but he definitely started hearing the water run behind the walls. He sighs with relief. “Finally.”

He waits a second before getting blasted in the face by something that isn’t even water.

Instead, white and scorching sand came wisping through his hair and all over his face. Shielding his eyes by shutting them tightly and quickly, he blindly tries to find the handle. When he does, he shuts it off, the sand stopping its immediate downpour out of the shower head. 

Havoc stood in silence, other than the occasional spitting some of the grains out of his mouth, he wasn’t even sure what to say – to even think! He couldn’t believe it. He just got doused with sand. SAND! How does sand come out of the shower head? 

He wipes the corner of his eyes cleaned before staring at his feet, the little mounds encasing the floor. He felt his heart rate spike so suddenly. How could something so innocent could cause so much trauma? So–

He heard his front door slammed and footsteps approaching.

The Lieutenant felt like someone dipped his veins into ice because this felt way, way, way too familiar. All he could think about was, ‘No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t be–’

The bathroom floor creaked, and he could see a silhouette through his shower curtain. With a shaky hand, Havoc reached behind himself to pick up the bottle of shampoo while not taking his eyes off the shadow. He’s not sure how effective of a weapon this will be, but there was no fucking way in any hell he was going through this again.

Bracing himself to fight whoever was coming, he took in a deep breath and ripped the curtain to the side, bottle in the air and–

Nothing.

No one was there.

Somehow, that freaked him more out than anything.

“Um, H-Hello?” He manages to call out just before being doused with hot water,

.

.

.

The sand disappears with it. 

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Ed let out a cuss when his faucet didn’t come on. He flicks the knob off and then back on and still nothing. He groans loudly. He just fucking washed his hands a few minutes ago! Why is there nothing coming out now?

He steps out of the bathroom all irritated, and flicks open his pocket watch that was on his bed. 10:29 it read. He’s been trying to fall asleep for almost thirty minutes now to no advantage. Between the Fuery’s pacing next door, and the underlying urge to drink a butt load of water, he finds himself twisting and turning again in the mattress. 

He groans once more. I really don’t want to walk down there.

But his throat was dry as heck, so Ed opens the door and heads into the darkness of the manor. He won’t admit it out loud, but this place creeps him out. It was just… way too big and way too quiet for his taste. He’s not even sure how Stephen Rivers lived in this place all alone. 

He flicks the light on in the kitchen, having to open a few cabinets until he finds a cup. He turns on the tap, and chugs down a full glass before filling it up again. Might as well take some up to his room. But as he started to turn around something caught his eye. Down at the very end of the counter was–

A pie? He quickly surveys the room before wandering over to it. It smelled fresh, heavenly actually – it smelled like cinnamon and apples – and smelled warm too. Using his flesh hand he hovers it over the top, the heat touching his palm instantly. What the? Who the heck made a pie?

Ed’s mind trailed back to Falman, remembering on their train ride here that he said he would like to cook at some point, but… that doesn’t make sense. It hasn’t even been an hour since they all got home from dinner, and he saw the older man go to his room for some much needed rest, so there’s no way he baked. Right?

And I don’t think a pie bakes that quickly anyway. But it did smell so good. The pie reminding him of his–

.

“Edward.”

.

The blond gasps quickly, his amber eyes snapping towards the entrance. It was just a small whisper, a whisper that didn’t seem to belong to anything. Or… was someone there?

“Uh, is someone there?” He takes a step towards the door, squinting a bit to see if he could make out anyone in the darkness. “Hello? Colonel Bastard?” Nothing. “Lieutenant?” Silence. “Fuery?” Quiet. “Anyone?” He sighs after a minute, frowning. “I swear, if any of you jump scare me or prank me, I’m sending you through the floor.”

Unless it’s Hawkeye, if it’s her he’ll just accept it (He’s not going to an early grave yet). As he turned back around to check on something, a small gasp left his lips – The cup immediately slipped out of his hand from the shock. As the pieces broke beneath his feet, his fight or flight instincts started to kick in as the figure before him creepily smiled; His hands holding out the desert like a peace offering.

.

“Hello, Eddie.”

.

Ed felt his breath get caught short as he took a small step back, only wincing slightly when he felt a piece of glass get stuck in his heel. No, no, no, no! Get away! Get away from me! Get away–

.

“Do you think you can play with me today?”

.

His voice seemed into his bones, his paling body started to tremble. No. You’re not real. You can’t be. Go away! Go away! Don’t–

He suddenly found himself falling backwards, tripping on his own two feet and landing on his back; But as soon as he made contact with the floor, he was scrambling to get up, to get away from this vile person. He starts frantically waving around his automail arm just to keep the man away if he gets close. 

“Get away! Just get– what…” When he finally took a good look once he backed away enough, the figure was gone. He didn’t want to dare to blink in case he returned but he did – several times actually to see if he would just spawn out of thin air again. Yet…

He saw nothing but the broken glass on the floor.

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Breda couldn’t take it any more. The smell was becoming unbearable to the point it was hard for him to even fall asleep; And cracking the window open a bit wasn’t helping at all. He frustratedly gets up from bed, rubbing his face and scrunching up his nose. He just wants to sleep, especially with what they all have to do tomorrow ( he’s really not looking forward to looking for research notes ). He wonders if Falman would let him have one of his candles. Sage and Citrus. What an odd scent, but it’ll do the job.

So that’s how he found himself lightly knocking on the Warrant Officer’s door. “Hey, Falman, I hate to bother you, but is there any way I can borrow a candle? My room’s got a weird smell.” He waited for a response, feeling a bit guilty that he has to wake him up for this. He knocks once more. “Falman? You hear– Huh?”

He caught a glimpse of someone standing at the end of the hall, the someone being the First Lieutenant who’s back was facing him. Why is she up?

Hawkeye’s usually the first one asleep, it’s just in her nature. So why is she…

“Lieutenant?” Breda says, his voice a bit louder than before. It was strange, she didn’t even hear him, or at least acknowledge his presence. “Hawkeye?” He starts getting closer, even purposely making his steps heavy for her to hear. “Hawkeye? Riza?”

As soon as he touches her shoulder, the barrel of her gun is shoved in face. 

“WHOA! It’s me!” He shouts, hands in the air.

The scared expression on her face faded for a second to surprise as she lowered her gun. “Lieutenant?” 

“Yeah, It’s me.” He frowns, noticing the way she was standing and sounding. Her body was stiff but the shoulders were slacking, and only people closest to her could hear the quiver in her tone when she spoke. Something was wrong, and it was definitely scaring her. 

His stoic face softens a bit just for her to see. “What’s wrong?”

Her sherry orbs turned back down the hallway. “Someone’s playing music somewhere.”

He blinks. “Music?” He takes a pause to listen, but– “I don’t hear music.”

“What?” Riza looks back at him. “Someone turned a radio on somewhere. You don’t hear that?”

He shakes his head. “Hawkeye, I don’t hear anything. You sure?”

“But…” She hears the music, that damn song he used to play all the time, so why couldn’t Breda? “I…” She shuts her eyes to think. Why was he in her head all of a sudden? She hasn’t thought about him in years, she…

Breda continues to look at her worriedly, carefully deciding to say, “Do you want me to go look?”

Does she want him to go look? But what if sees–

She mentally slaps herself. He’s gone! There’s no way Breda would see him! He’s dead. Been dead for a long time and… the music’s gone now too.

She opens her eyes and listens again, but that song she heard had rapidly faded from her range of hearing. Her heart skips a beat and she quietly sighs.

“Maybe I’m just tired…” She mutters, looking down at her feet, lost in her thoughts again.

Breda bites his lip, the fact that she was admitting she was tired set off another red flag for him. “Do you… feel sick?” He asks, slowly touching the back of his hand on her forehead for a few seconds.

“No.” She shakes her head, his hand falling back to his side. “It’s probably exhaustion. We did a lot these past two days.” Yeah, she’ll just go with that. “Why are you up? Need something?”

“I was going to ask Falman if I could borrow a candle because there’s a weird smell in my room but…” His dark orbs cast to his room. “I knocked a few times and got no response. Whatever sickness he has has got him KOed pretty good.”

“It’s probably for the best though, sleep is the best medicine they say.”

“True.”

“Do you have any matches or a lighter on you?”

“I carry matches around for emergencies.” He raises an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I got some incense in my bag. I can give you a few to burn if you like.”

He smiles. “That’ll be great. Thanks, Hawkeye.”

“Sure thing.” She said, heading back to her room, him right on her tail. “Let me get you some.” She does, handing him a half empty box from her luggage. “This should help with the smell.”

“Thanks.” He holds them close and replies, “Hey, if you hear the music again, don’t hesitate to wake one of us up. Alright?”

She smiles back gratefully. “Alright. Night, Breda.”

“Night, Hawkeye.”

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Roy wakes up to the sound of a… phone ringing? He woke him up abruptly, his heart falling to his feet as he searched around the room in the dark. A phone. A phone? It’s loud and it’s clearly in his room but–

He doesn’t remember seeing a phone in his room? But it gets slightly louder, the ringing seems like it doesn’t want to end. He turns on his bedside lamp and takes a proper look, from here he’s finally able to see a telephone on the dresser.

What? He shakes his head, so confused, yet he wastes no time to throw the covers off and rush over to where it was ( Maybe he really did overlook the phone in the room and it totally didn’t just spawn out of air ). Who the heck could be calling me? Does anybody I know have this number?

Despite his doubts he answers it anyway. I mean what could it hurt, right? It’s probably a wrong number. That, or Hughes somehow figured out where he was staying.

And if Hughes woke me up in the middle of the night, I’m going– He didn’t finish his thought, he just replied with, “Hello?”

• [ ‘Is this Chris Mustang’s residence?’ ]

Roy froze upon the name. “I-I’m sorry?” Did he hear that right? Or was his sleepiness getting to him?

• [ ‘Is this Chris Mustang’s residence?’ ]

The voice repeated again, but it felt like it still wasn’t registering. His Aunt? Why would someone be calling here about his Aunt? “I’m sorry.” Roy pushes, getting a bit overprotective now. “Who is this? ‘Cause you’re calling the wrong–”

• [ ‘We’re calling about your Nephew.’ ]

“What?” He says, puzzled. Is this a prank? Who is this guy? “I don’t know who you are, but I’m actually–”

• [ ‘You’re brother and sister-in-law have been killed.’ ]

Now his heart was really in his throat. 

Did he just hear that correctly? Did this person just say–

• [ ‘I know this is difficult to hear, Ma’am. But there’s been an accident. A terrible one. And says here in your brother’s will that you’re the guardian of his son if anything happens.’ ]

Guardian of– What kind of sick prank is this?! “Hey, listen–”

• [ ‘Your Nephew, Roy, is going to need a lot of love. Witnessing a parent’s death is very tragic and impactful on a child’s life.’ ]

“Listen, I don’t know the hell you are, but is this is a fucking joke, cut it out. Now.” The Colonel hissed through his teeth. “I don’t know how you found this number, but if you call me or my Aunt again, then so God help me, I will–”

.

• [ ‘Did you enjoy all the people you’ve burned?’ ]

.

It was like a swift stab to the gut, it hurt so much. “What…?”

.

• [ ‘Did you enjoy all the people you’ve burned, Major Mustang? Did you enjoy helping yourself move up in the ranks?’ ]

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He doesn’t realize his hands are shaking now, still can’t say anything else other than, “What…?”

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• [ ‘Aw. This isn’t what you imagine you would be doing with your alchemy, right? You didn’t imagine you’d be using it to taint your hands, your heart, your soul, your legacy, right? You didn’t imagine any of this, didn’t you, Major?’]

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He grit his teeth and the phone. “For fuck’s sake, who is this?!” As soon as those words left his mouth, smoke suddenly clogged his nostrils. The hair on his neck stands straight up as he whips his whole body around to his front door. He could see a trail of smoke coming from the crack below, and could make out tiny orange hues as well.

Oh, my god.

The house is on fire!

Dropping the receiver, he puts it into high gear, racing to open the door and to get his subordinates out. The doorknob practically embedded itself into the wall from the force, but who cares! His team’s safety come first, and–

And there was no fire.

Roy brings himself to a stop, standing just a few steps outside his room, everything looked the same and seemed completely fine. No smoke, no fire, nothing out of the ordinary. He felt a line of nervous sweat go down his face, so dumbfounded at the last thirty seconds of his life. Was he really just imagining all this? That’s when he could hear the person laughing on the other side of the phone like a maniac, like this was some funny ass joke. 

Bitterly he runs back over, snagging the phone and placing it up to his ear again. “Who the fuck are you?! What did you do?” He gets a silent response, no words, no taunts, no laughing, not even the sound of breathing. Nothing. For some reason that made his blood boil more. “Hello?! Hello?!”

He slams the phone down with a grunt. What in the world is going on? Roy ends up walking back to the entrance, taking another look around. Did he miss something? Was something put into food earlier? What? What is it? But his racing mind was put on hold when he was practically almost plowed over by his youngest subordinate who seemed in a big hurry. 

“Fullmetal?” He said, with a hint of confusion. He thought the kid would have been asleep already. “Hey, Fullmetal–”

“Shut up, Bastard!” Ed yells as he bolts into his own room, slamming the door behind him.

The adult just stared in the kid’s direction, not really sure what to say. Shit… he’s not sure what to say about everything that just happened. Scratching the side of his head, he takes one last good look around before closing his own door. 

He makes no plans to sleep at all for the rest of the night. Especially when memories of the other day flooded in, the case file about Stephan Rivers hit him at full throttle. 

-Sleepless night. 

-Phone calls of just breathing. 

-Seeing things in the corner of their eye.

Those were just a few he could remember. 

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“Colonel James Roberts, alongside with three of his subordinates, was supposed to be assigned for the case for a two weeks and only lasted three days when Roberts appeared to be having a Post Traumatic Stress Disordered episode, or in worst terms, a full mental breakdown after claiming to have seen a family member of his.”

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Roy just brushed that all off as paranoia thinking it was the only logical explanation for all this but…

Now he’s not so sure anymore.

God. He ran a hand through his hand in distress. What have I gotten my team into?

• °•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“What do you mean I missed him?”

The sun was coming up and over Eastern command. It was a rare occasion that it was finally quiet, no raging teen in a red coat kicking down doors and causing a shouting match with a man that could conjure flames from his hands. Hell, even the lively Strongarm alchemist was away from his post, so it was just nice and peaceful.

Unless you count the five-eleven, green eyed, boisterous man who no matter where he goes always shows off his beautiful family loudly and proudly for everyone to hear and see. Unfortunately for him, it looks like he was a day late and a dollar short.

“Yeah, Colonel Mustang left with his team Thursday morning. They won’t be back till Friday.” The receptionist at the front desk said, making him frown.

“Awe, man. I wish I knew that before coming up here. Then again… I did want this to be a surprise.” Hughes sighs at his mess up. Gracia had taken Elicia with her to visit her sister down South and couldn’t go with them because he got stuck with work. A few days passed and he finally had some spare time, which led him with the brilliant idea of surprising his best friend.

But of course… 

Mustang just had to be put on a case when he arrived. 

“Damn. I can’t stick around till then. My superiors will have my head.” What the heck was supposed to do now? He took a train ride over here for nothing.

“Sorry, sir.”

“It’s not like it’s your fault. Don’t apologize.”

The door behind the desk opened and out came a familiar face with a stack of books in her arms. “Oh, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, what a nice surprise.” Sheska said, with a smile.

“Morning, Private.” Hughes said, happily.

“What brings you here?”

“I was going to surprise Roy, but I hear he’s out on a case.”

“Yeah.” Sheska’s face drops a bit. “He’s actually in your neck of the woods. Ends of Central, West side.”

“Seriously?” Hughes deflates too, kicking himself now. “Damn. Now I wish I had talked to him beforehand. Do you know why he’s out there?”

“It’s an odd case, an order that came from high up. From what I understand, the Colonel and his team are tasked with cleaning up an old State Alchemist’s home.”

“That’s it?”

“That sounds like a waste of time. Especially sending our guys all the way to Central.” The receptionist chimes in.

Sheska nods. “I can’t say I disagree. But apparently this case has been passed around a lot in the past year, so I guess they’re trying to get the best-of-the-best to handle it. I mean… you should see this General Rivers’ file, it’s the biggest I’ve ever seen.”

“No kidding. Really?”

“Yeah.”

“W-Wait…” Hughes’ voice creeped into the girls’ own little bubble, the two of them looking his way with a bit of surprise. His eyes were a bit wide and his face looked like he’d seen something haunting.

“Lieutenant Colonel?” Sheska said, worriedly. 

“Did… did you–”

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“Did you mean THE General Stephen Rivers?”