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Blind to the Truth

Summary:

Despite their success in catching the killer, the Elric Brothers fail to prevent the murder of twelve year old Will Kelly, leaving the boy’s mother devastated and lost in her grief, and the two boys blaming themselves for the boys death.

But when Sarai Kelly’s pain manifests in deluding herself into thinking Edward is her deceased son, things take a turn for the worse.

Roy Mustang leads the search for a kidnapped Edward while Ed has to try and get through to Will’s mother and break her from her delusions.

Chapter 1: Taken too Soon

Chapter Text

Edward Elric liked to think he wasn't one to make a fuss over things… But genuinely believing this would be lying to himself.

So rather than do that, the Fullmetal Alchemist found more sense in flopping face-first onto the bed, letting out a loud and exasperated groan while his brother, Alphonse, settled into their modest inn room. It was a humble arrangement. Just a couple of beds, a dresser, and a bathroom. A curtained window was at the far side of the room.

It was clear the inn didn't get many visitors. The paint was chipped on the furniture topped with dust, and the once vibrantly colored green curtains had faded over time.

Still, Alphonse felt letting some light into the room with his brother in such a moody state could do them both some good. 

The armored boy set down his brother's suitcase and opened up the musty curtains, letting in rays of the setting sun. It wasn't a direct view of the sky, the window actually faced an alleyway in the side of the building, but it was enough to brighten their surroundings a tad.

However, in response to the introduced light, Edward buried his face deeper into the pillow, causing Alphonse to chuckle at his brother's brooding. Edward could be pretty resistant to being cheered up by any means. Though this wasn't going to stop Alphonse. Just like his brother, he could be equally as stubborn about lifting people's spirits.

"I'm pretty sure sulking isn't going to make a philosopher's stone appear just like that, Brother." Alphonse lightheartedly joked as he sat beside Edward on the bed, the weight of his armor pushing the mattress, creaking the rusted springs inside it, and forcing Edward to shift his position. Though the older alchemist still did not lift his face from the pillows.

"Maybe I'm just not sulking enough ." Edward's pillow-smothered voice joked back, albeit still bothered. Alphonse sighed at Edward's childish sulking. Though it was to be expected of him.

Edward tended to take failed leads at a philosopher's stone harder than his young brother did. The Elric Brothers had traveled to the far west side of Amestris for an assignment that lined up with another one of Colonel Mustang's possible leads. Apparently, there'd been a trafficking ring that'd employed the use of alchemists to do their bidding. When the military caught wind of their scheming, the smugglers set off on the run toward the Cretan border, supposedly in possession of a particular fabled red stone. The brothers broke up the ring to find the assumed stone was nothing more than a hoax, a lie meant to string along their victims and keep them in control. It held absolutely no power to get their bodies back.

Alphonse knew this was why Edward was always so frustrated when their journeys came up short. He'd carried the guilt and responsibility to get Alphonse's body back, and it weighed heavier on him than Alphonse could ever understand. 

As much as Alphonse wished his brother wouldn't torture himself like this, Edward could be incredibly headstrong when he wanted to. Which was most of the time.

With the lead falling short, all that was left to do was travel back to Eastern Command and research more possible tips. Though after a long train ride from the west, the brothers decided to rest and stay the night in a small town on the way back before finally returning to East City first thing the following day. 

Hence Edward now moping in their inn room. 

"Don't you think we should call Colonel Mustang?" Alphonse suggested after a few seconds of letting his brother stir in his defeat. "He told you to call when we were on our way back."

"You do it," Edward replied tiredly, waving his hand up in a gesture for Alphonse to do just that while continuing to keep his face sunk into the pillows. "The last thing I need right now is to talk to that smug bastard."

"Brother…" Alphonse pressed chidingly. For being the older brother, Edward sure needed Alphonse to remind him to be responsible most of the time. Edward groaned once more before finally coming up out of the mattress and walking to a phone on the dresser.

"Fine… Not like it matters anyway." Edward complained under his breath. He half expected the Colonel to say most of the same things about not finding the philosopher's stone and asking when he'll be back in East City. Not that Edward felt he owed his superior officer such a play-by-play of his doings. He sometimes thought that the military was more of an inconvenience than it was worth.

Edward dialed the number and gave the operator his name and the necessary codes to reach Mustang's office, waiting to be connected. He could physically feel his displeasure grow the minute he heard Roy Mustang's greeting on the other line.

"Colonel Mustang." As miffed as Edward was already, he was a little disappointed when Mustang actually picked up the phone. 

"It's me." Edward could hear the Colonel deeply sigh on the other end. Here we go-

"What do you need this time, Fullmetal?" Roy asked, less than thrilled about receiving a call from Edward this late in the day when he was probably getting ready to head home. 

"Nice to talk to you too, Colonel," Edward said sarcastically to Mustang's irritation. Edward could almost imagine the Colonel rolling his eyes at that moment. Not to say he wasn't doing just the same. If one good thing ever came out of these phone calls, it was the chance to get on Mustang's nerves a little bit. "Another thing, why'd you just assume I needed something? Is it too hard to believe I could be calling you for any other reason?"

"Skip the sarcasm, Fullmetal. I'd like to be out of here within the next five minutes." Roy replied, evidently not in the mood for Edward's attitude. Not that he ever really was. "Where are you right now? Still in Oblyth?"

"Nah. Some small town on the way back called Hollowstone." Edward answered, absentmindedly looking out the window for a dismal view from their room on the second floor. The orange sky peeked out above a dirty alleyway littered with the inn's and the neighboring building's garbage. "Lead was a bust, so we're heading back to East City. We're catching the next train out of here tomorrow morning."

It was about here that Edward expected Mustang's usual routine of asking when they'll be back; maybe they have new orders. At worst, the Colonel had come up with some new cheap shot towards the younger alchemist's height. Edward considered tuning him out or just hanging up the phone altogether if that's what Mustang started into. 

"Did you say Hollowstone?" The Colonel asked. Edward was confused. He hadn't expected to be posed this question instead of their typical back and forth. He wondered the seeming significance behind the boring little town's name but answered all the same.

"Uh yeah, it was on the route back to East City." He said again with a scoff at the end. "Geez, Colonel, are you already so old you're not hearing me well?" Another heavy sigh from the other end of the phone. And an added one from Alphonse behind him. 

It seemed Mustang elected to ignore the comment as he continued.

"Eastern command recently received a report from Hollowstone. In the last month, there's been a small string of murders. At least three known victims so far." Mustang relayed seriously. While Edward's interest in the situation heightened slightly, he was able to rationalize immediately. It was unlikely the exact same day they heard about these incidents while passing by for one night, they would encounter a crime of this nature.

Even their luck wasn't that bad.

"Are you telling me this because you're worried about us?" Edward teased. "C'mon, Colonel, you should know by now, Al and I can take care of ourselves."

"I don't doubt it," Mustang replied without missing a beat, though it seemed his subordinates' jab at his supposed care for the boys still elicited a response. "But I'd caution you to take this seriously, Fullmetal. An official investigation into the matter is set to start as soon as the military can manage. I only ask that if you notice anything and are in a position to do something about it that you do so… And that you're smart about it too." Roy was prompt to add that last bit, fully aware of Fullmetal's tendencies to get himself into trouble when he didn't think things through.

"You say that like I'm never careful," Edward complained. He spoke up again before Mustang had the opportunity to assert that Edward had never given him a reason to believe otherwise. "And why should I have to worry about this? Isn't that the MP's job?" The brothers had come into this town in the first place to rest. The last thing Edward wanted was for the Colonel to think he could just saddle him with more work.

"You would've found out and gotten involved anyway," Mustang explained. Edward hated to admit the Colonel was probably right about that one. He'd gotten the title 'Hero of the People' for a reason, after all. He just couldn't sit around if something was wrong, and he had the power to do something about it. 

Hopefully, Edward wouldn't find himself needing to get involved. But might as well be prepared should the need arise.

"Damn it- Fine. Who were the victims?" 

"All three were children aged nine to thirteen years old. No other clear correlation besides that." Mustang explained. Edward felt his stomach coil when he realized it was kids who were being murdered. Messing with the sacred value of human life was one thing... But to cut someone down when their life barely had a chance to start was something he could never wrap his head around no matter how hard he tried. Not like he'd ever wish to understand the depravity of such monsters. "Basic serial killer situation concerning enough to warrant further military attention."

"If I see anything suspicious, I'll look into it," Edward confirmed, about to hang up the phone and get back to the rest of their night. 

"Good," Mustang returned curtly. "And by the way, when you return tomorrow, I expect your report from Oblyth on my desk as soon as you get to Eastern Command." Edward suppressed a guttural growl upon the reminder. Handing in reports late was something he'd become notorious for since joining the military. Not like that was his fault.

"Well, excuse me for having to write the stupid reports using my non-dominant hand!" Edward shot back with intensified ferocity. Writing with his automail hand would be even more challenging and time-consuming than just using his left, though neither was easy. And to have to do that while writing a boring assignment report frustrated him to no end.

"I'm sure you'll manage," Mustang responded simply before ending the call on his end. Edward brought the phone back down on its stand forcefully, rattling it atop the dresser. 

"Bastard." Edward reiterated. As if his call with Colonel had been enough to confirm that Mustang was, in fact, just that. 

"What were you two talking about, Brother?" Alphonse asked. He'd only heard Edward's part of the conversation. Mentions of victims and military police were enough to cause him some amount of apprehension.

"There's some sick freak killing kids out here," Edward said bitterly, moving away from the phone. "Colonel wants us to keep an eye out just in case we see anything."

"Oh. That's awful…." Alphonse said morosely, feeling just the same about the horrible nature of the crime as his brother. He could see Edward's face fall as he said it, his golden eyes downcast.

"Exactly. Mustang just figured we could help if anything happens while we're out here." Edward wasn't too interested in dwelling on the morbid possibility of encountering the serial killer and opted to end the topic now and shift his focus. "I doubt anything'll happen."

"I guess…" Alphonse chimed in, sounding unconvinced of his words. Edward shot him a reassuring smile. It was a reasonable concern, but one he felt his younger brother shouldn't have to worry himself over just now after a stressful assignment. Best to close off their night focused on resting up to return to eastern command tomorrow. 

"C'mon, Al. I know our luck isn't the greatest, but it's not so bad that we're just going to waltz right into some killer's path. I mean, what are the chances?

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As their luck would have it, Edward had almost completely forgotten about the information Mustang had given him earlier within the hour.

The brothers opted to leave their room and go to a tavern down the street for a quick meal before calling it a night. As they usually anticipated from strangers, the pair received a few strange looks from Hollowstone's residents as they walked in. After all, a boy walking around with a seven-foot-tall suit of armor wasn't exactly a regular sight for anyone. Much less, citizens of a small run-down town.

Edward could only imagine their reactions if they knew Alphonse was hollow inside that armor. Fortunately, most people were blissfully unaware the two alchemists were any stranger than they appeared.

Coming in through the tavern door still turned a few heads from patrons before they returned to their own conversations. Edward and Alphonse headed towards a table in the corner, hoping there'd be fewer onlookers if they stayed off to the side.

Like most places in this town, it seemed that Kelly's Tavern, as it was so named, was just as worn down over the years. It appeared Hollowstone at some point in the past had been a lively, bustling destination that'd since fallen behind the rest of Amestris. Not that the Elric brothers minded much. At least the warm lighting from the fireplace and a few wall lamps, and the lively nature of the customers lightened the atmosphere. A friendly shadow of a once lively scene. 

As they waited for someone to come over and attend to the two of them, Edward, under Alphonse's suggestion, decided to get his report for Colonel Mustang over with. Just as he'd come to expect, it was tedious and infuriating as always. 

Edward eventually shoved the report and his pencil to the side with a huff. He slammed the paper in between the pages of his travel log.

"Forget it. I'll finish it on the train tomorrow." He resolved firmly, not about to waste any more energy on the arduous task.

"You'll just get mad at it on the train tomorrow then." Alphonse reminded him, knowing absolutely better than Edward did, that the older alchemist would not be any more inclined to do his report on the train. If anything, he'd just fall asleep as he customarily did.

Edward knew this too but elected to ignore that fact. So what if the report was late again? Mustang wasn't going to die over it or anything.

Just as Edward thought to tell his brother this, he heard the crashing sounds of falling, breaking glass to his right, and whipped his head around to see what the source of it was. 

A young boy, maybe eleven or twelve, stood over what looked to be a dropped tray. The broken glass used to be a mug filled with some hot drink now spilled everywhere on the floor at his feet.

"Oh, not again-" The boy lamented, pulling out an old stained rag tucked into his belt and getting down to wipe up the spilled liquid. Edward could deduce that dropping things was a regular occurrence for this child from how recently stained the rag looked. The boy was skinny in appearance, with shoulder-length brown hair falling over his pale face as he cleaned, prompting him to blow the strands out of his green eyes once or twice. Light freckles dotted the boy's nose and cheeks.

But regardless of all of those features, Edward noticed one, in particular, that'd caught his eye.

This boy had a missing right arm. The empty sleeve of his tan collared shirt rolled up and pinned up near his shoulder. 

Edward unconsciously ran his left hand over his automail one. He didn't often come across many people with missing limbs, much less someone so young.

"Hey kid," Edward started, pushing himself up from his chair and coming over to the boy; Alphonse followed suit. "You need any help?" He dropped to his knees and started picking up the shards of glass scattered around, placing them on the tray the boy had lost hold of earlier.

"Don't worry, mister, I've got it." The boy insisted, not quite looking up at the approaching alchemists. There was a kind air to his voice, with upbeat energy, as he continued wiping up the wooden floor.

"It's no problem, really." Edward countered, finding the last of the pieces and setting them on the tray. At this point, the boy looked up to see the brothers, his eyes lingering for a moment on Alphonse. 

"Uh, gee, thanks, mister." He said to Edward, having seen the glass all picked up. Though currently, his eyes didn't leave the tall suit of armor. They were wide with amazement and childlike wonder. Alphonse had become used to this reaction from younger children and wasn't put off by the staring. Instead, he gave a boy a friendly wave.

"Hello. Nice to meet you." Alphonse greeted, polite as ever. The boy gave a smile in response, fascinated and delighted by the unusual sight.

"Hi! I'm Will." The boy introduced himself, tucking his rag back into his belt to continue the new conversation with the Elrics.

"I'm Alphonse. This is my older brother Edward." Alphonse replied, gesturing to Edward, who'd just stood up beside him. Will tilted his head and furrowed his brow, looking at Edward strangely.

"You're the older brother?" He asked. It was an innocent enough question, though one that happened to get under Edward's skin as it often referred to his stature. "But you're just as tall as me."

Edward's eye twitched as he tried to keep himself restrained. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, Will was correct. He and Edward came around to just about the same height.

Which meant this child just compared Edward's height to that of a twelve-year-old. 

Alphonse could see Edward's trembling fist and could almost see steam coming from his brother's ears, like a kettle about to boil over.

But knowing Edward's typical reactions to his height being called into question, Alphonse would say a more accurate description would be a powder keg about to explode.

"Uh, is he okay?" Will asked, looking helplessly back up at Alphonse.

"Yeah. Brother just gets this way sometimes." He explained, trying to avoid bringing up anything that would tip Edward into his usual shouting. "But yes. I'm fourteen, brother is fifteen." 

"Oh," Will said, his previously upbeat tone coming down to what sounded to be disappointment. "Huh. I thought I'd get taller when I turned fifteen." 

Alphonse groaned. Here came the explosion.

"HEY PAL, YOU SAID IT YOURSELF! WE'RE THE SAME HEIGHT, SO SHUT UP, YOU LITTLE PUNK!"

"Brother! That's not very nice of you!" Alphonse scolded, though Will didn't seem phased at all by Edward's yelling. He actually seemed somewhat amused, having not expected such an explosion from the small alchemist. The boy giggled at the outburst and came back at Edward quickly.

"If we're the same height, and you called me a little punk, wouldn't you just be calling yourself little too?" 

Edward was pushed over the edge at that remark, yelling a string of unintelligible phrases neither Will nor Alphonse could even begin to understand. Not that Will minded, he just kept laughing.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." The boy said between chuckles as Alphonse tried to calm Edward down. "I didn't know how mad you'd get about it. To be honest, I think it's kind of cool." Edward took a pause at that, looking at the child bewildered but still kind of irked from their previous exchange.

"The hell do you mean by that?" He asked, not quite back to being polite about it. Will smiled innocently, still cheerful despite Edward's tone.

"Well, we're the same height, which means I'm as tall as someone older," Will explained. Edward could admit it would make sense for a kid Will's age to be as easily impressed by something like that, even if it shot at his pride. 

"Glad I could help ya there," Edward remarked drily, bits of sarcasm still dripping from his tone. Will's eyes locked onto Edward's braid, and he smiled more.

"Hey! And we both have long hair too!" Will exclaimed, apparently finding some joy in now pointing out their physical similarities. "Next you're gonna tell me you're missing an arm too." Will half-heartedly laughed at the very suggestion. Edward, of course, didn't appear to be missing any limbs.

Though, he was about to be surprised.

Now having settled down from his temper, Edward looked back at Will's rolled-up sleeve where his right arm would've been. Will joked about the matter with a sort of forced quality to it. 

Edward knew first hand having a missing limb wasn't easy on someone so young. Even if you tried to make light of it, it was tough to wrap your head around. 

As expressionless as his armor-plated face was, Alphonse somehow conveyed a knowing look in Edward's direction. Despite previously losing his temper at the boy, Will was a kid and seemed to be a good one. He'd clearly taken a liking to Edward, admiring someone older as younger kids did. It could be nice for him to see someone who knew what it was like to have lost an arm.

Edward sighed before smiling again at Will with a laugh, rolling up his right sleeve.

"Now that you mention it...." Edward said, fully showing enough of his automail for Will to have a close look. Will's eyes got as wide as saucers as he looked at the metal limb, and his jaw dropped. 

"Wow!" The boy exclaimed, leaning in for a closer look. "You got a new arm! How'd you do that!?"

"It's called automail, kid," Edward said, his smile now genuine upon seeing Will's reaction. He supposed it felt nice to make the kid happy.

"Where can I get one!? I want a new arm too! It's so cool!" Will looked like he could practically bounce off the walls for how excited he was. It was almost like he'd never even heard of automail limbs at all.

Which Edward was only just now starting to realize could very well be the case. It was unusual. Most people who'd lost their limbs started looking for automail mechanics immediately after the fact or at least began saving up for the surgery. So why was Will so unfamiliar with the concept?

Nonetheless, Edward happened to know the best mechanic in the business. If this kid wanted automail, he ought to get the most high-grade quality possible.

"A friend of mine in Risembool could do it for you. Her name's Winry Rockbe-"

"Will!" Edward was interrupted by an older female voice calling the boy's name. The source of it, a tired-looking woman with brown hair tied into a messy bun and sharpened green eyes, came up to the boys holding an identical tray to Will's with food and drinks atop it. She went to Will's side and looked at the broken cup he'd put down earlier. The look on her face told the brothers she was not surprised by the state of it. "… I'm guessing that's Mr. Lowes coffee?"

Will sighed dejectedly. 

"Yes, mom…" He answered. So this woman was Will's mother. The brothers supposed it made sense as they shared features, and both seemed to be working the tavern. "I'm sorry I dropped another cup."

Though Will seemed crestfallen about breaking the dish, his mother smiled, giving him an understanding pat on the shoulder.

"It's alright, dear, just go back to the kitchen and fix him another one, okay?" Will's mother requested sweetly. The boy nodded and sent a slight wave in Edward and Alphonse's direction before departing. The woman sighed heavily as soon as Will moved.

"Sorry, boys. My name's Sarai Kelly. I own this tavern." She said her sweet demeanor from before dropped in favor of something less informal. More direct. 

Edward had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. When adults spoke to him with that tone, it usually meant he was in trouble for something. But he just met this woman. What could he have already done wrong?

...Was she listening in on their conversation with Will? If so, why and what had upset her?

"I'm Edward. This is my brother Alphonse."  

"Hi, Mrs. Kelly," Alphonse added, having not come to the same conclusion about Sarai's manner that Edward had. "It's nice to meet you and your son." 

Sarai laughed lightheartedly at Alphonse's politeness. Edward was still waiting for a lecture. He could be distrustful of adults sometimes, but how fast she made her way over to a conversation Edward had thought was entirely innocent in nature made him doubt he was pulling such feelings out of nowhere. He eyed her carefully.

"Yes, Will, bless his little heart." She remarked. "Take my eye off him for two seconds, and he's already gone and gotten distracted again ."

"So, you have your son help you out around here?" Edward asked, looking behind Sarai to see Will now balancing another tray of coffee and serving it to a man at the other end of the tavern.

"He insisted on it once we moved out here from Mouhed," Sarai answered. "I couldn't afford to hire help after buying the tavern, and I was doing everything by myself. Within the next few years, Will ended up begging to help me out just to lighten my load… Such a sweet kid." Edward still wasn't exactly sure why Sarai had come over to start talking to them. He was sure she'd been brought over by something she overheard. But the last thing they'd been talking about was automail.

A procedure Will had been unaware of until Edward brought it up... Was that his mother's doing? 

"Seems like it," Edward confirmed, still looking back at Will as he moved on attending to other customers. "He helps even if he doesn't seem used to doing it with one arm yet." Edward supposed that was a bit of a personal topic to touch on, especially with Will's mother, but maybe returning the subject back to Will's arm could get them back to why she hadn't wanted them talking about automail.

Sarai's face went from her tired but warm smile to a saddened expression within seconds of Edward mentioning it.

"That uh… Will lost his arm during Ishval." She said hesitantly. "We were living near the conflict when it broke out. We lost Will's father during the war as well." Edward felt a pang of guilt hit his chest as he heard her explain. Most everyone knew the Ishavallan Civil War wasn't something many Amestrians liked to talk about. Especially if they'd experienced some form of loss from it.

Edward couldn't help but feel kind of bad for prodding at that point. He should've known touching on a personal subject would lead to a painful retelling.

"Oh… Uh, I uh-"

"We're sorry to hear that." Alphonse covered for him, noticing Edward's reaction to the news. But it seemed just as Edward had wanted to know why Sarai came into their conversation, Alphonse was equally as curious. "My brother and I know a great automail mechanic in Risembool if you're interested in that for Will. We could get you in touch with her-"

"Yes, um, that's kind of what I came to talk to you two about…." Sarai interrupted once again, and Edward knew they were about to get answers for her aversion to that topic. "Money is tight as it is for us, and automail surgery is very costly. I'm not even sure if we could afford it. Even if I could, I'm sure you know it's an excruciating process. After everything that's happened to Will… I'm not sure I want anyone getting his hopes up for something he's not ready for." Edward was stunned by that reasoning. This mother didn't want her son to have a new arm? Financial reasons he understood, even concern for how painful the surgery is. But how could she not see the benefit in the long run…

"Mrs. Kelly, I understand your concerns but take it from me. I've been through the surgery myself." Edward started, hopefully putting some of her anxieties at ease. "The surgery is painful, but think long term. Having an automail arm could really help your son. If it's money you're worried about-"

"Edward, was it?" Sarai cut him off sharply, and a chill shot up Edward's spine. A simple request turned to demand faster than the flip of a coin. "I've already made it clear I don't want my son getting that surgery. He's too young, and he's not ready for any more of that pain. If you will please respect my wishes, I would rather you not put these ideas in his head…." The urgency and strictness in her tone set him back, as well as a dangerous glint in her eyes. Edward understood mothers being protective of their children, but he'd never met one so easily provoked. 

While he was aggravated and surprised that Sarai wouldn't even want to consider something that could help her own son, Edward opted not to push her any further. He supposed it wasn't even really his business.

"Fine. Sorry I guess." Edward muttered, annoyed by his position in this. It seemed cruel to him to deny someone a service that could undoubtedly change their life for the better. Getting automail had afforded him more opportunities and improved his quality of life when he'd almost thought he'd ended it for good. To see a child want such a chance only for their mother to bar them from it for what sounded to Edward like overprotection and sheltering just pissed him off.

Still, Sarai was Will's mother and ultimately had the final say for as long as Will was in her care. As much as Edward wished she'd let Will decide for himself what he wants, there wasn't much he could do about it.

As soon as Edward relented, Sarai's face returned to that warm smile she'd given them earlier.

"I thought you'd understand. Thank you, Edward." She replied kindly, giving Edward a small pat on the head. This action only served to irk the young alchemist further. There was a sudden flip in her nature. One he couldn't understand. One minute she's severe and irritable, then she goes right back to amiable once he said what she wanted.

Needless to say, Edward didn't like Sarai Kelly in the slightest.

Soon as that conversation ended, Will came running back over to the group, utterly unaware of the tense dissension between Edward and his mother. 

"Okay, mom, I'm finished. Can I keep talking with Edward and Alphonse? There aren't any other orders for me to take." Will asked, clearly having found some fun in talking with the out-of-town alchemists. The boy's desire to make conversation with them after they'd presented him with something his mother had kept from him made much more sense to the brothers now.

"We wouldn't mind, Mrs. Kelly." Alphonse informed her. "He can stay if he likes." While not outwardly keen on the idea, Sarai shot a warning gaze at Edward's direction, which he returned with an equally cutting look of his own. It seemed they understood each other and what was expected of the brothers. And that she'd be observing what they said to her son. Sarai let go of her frown as soon as she turned back over to Will, smiling at him and pointing at the broken mug he'd left behind earlier.

"Why don't you throw out those pieces before you take care of these two, okay?" She suggested. Will seemed willing to follow out with his mother's request and went to take care of the mug before Edward got an idea.

He wasn't sure if he thought first of being helpful or just wanted to get on Sarai's nerves. Either way, it worked.

"I can help." He said, stepping toward the broken mug before anyone could react and clapping his hands together. He put them down near the shards, and with a quick flash of alchemic light, the cup had been returned to its unbroken state.

"Wow!" Will exclaimed for a second time, his face lit up with fascination and wonder.

Sarai, on the other hand, was less than impressed. Far from it, though, Edward was more than happy to have caused the forced grin on her face that her eyes made it look like it hurt to maintain.

"You're an alchemist…." She remarked upon realizing it, sounding very unenthused by that news. More things she neglected to inform her son about? "How wonderful." Her tone made it sound like it was, in fact, anything but wonderful.

Edward sent a cocky smirk her way.

"Pretty cool, right?" Edward asked the elated kid, purposefully getting him more and more excited just to displease his mother. As he expected, Sarai rolled her eyes with a huff before walking away from the trio. Though Edward knew she'd most likely be watching them from a distance. 

"Way cool!" Will confirmed Edward's prior statement before striking up a chat about alchemy with the two brothers. Alphonse explained some of the basic principles for Will while Edward skeptically looked over at the woman still with her eyes trained on them.

Natural as it was given their experiences, Sarai Kelly seemed a bit too attached to her son for Edward's liking. She kept information from him about anything she decided could hurt him. If that excuse was to be believed. Maybe she just wanted Will to rely on her more or keep him close. That would make sense for having almost lost him with her husband during Ishval.

Though such attachment would more than likely prove detrimental to them both...

 Edward supposed it didn't matter so much since he and Alphonse were going to be out of town by tomorrow and tried to shake off the lingering suspicions of Sarai.

She was just unpleasant at the most. Plenty of people Edward had encountered were that way…

Still, something was nagging in his mind about her. Like he needed to be on guard around the woman. 

Edward had seen enough by this point in his life to know his instincts had a funny way of being right. But he couldn't fathom why a mildly vexing widow would set them off…

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The boys had talked well into the night before Sarai bothered them again. She sternly informed them that it was time for Will to get to bed and that they should do the same. Edward had very nearly told her she wasn't his mother and couldn't tell him what to do.

But he just so happened to yawn right when he was about to tell her off, which didn't help his case. 

So the boys bid each other farewell, and the Elric brothers returned to their inn room. Edward didn't bother changing for bed or even kicking off his boots. Just like he'd done when they first arrived, he flopped down face-first onto the pillows with an exhausted huff. Alphonse laughed.

"Again? What's upsetting you now?" He asked, reaching for a book he'd brought with him to keep him occupied for the night. When he couldn't sleep and Edward wasn't awake, there wasn't much else for a suit of armor to do.

"Nothing. Just tired." Edward replied through the pillow. It was true, after all. He almost always passed out by this time of night. Staying up late talking with a kid that had boundless energy was fun but draining.

Not to mention how many questions he had to deflect whenever Will asked about automail. He'd been tempted to explain several times until Sarai shot him a menacing look.

He could swear that woman had the sharpest ears he'd ever encountered and the eyes of a hawk. 

They'd still managed to chat for hours about alchemy or Edward and Alphonse's travels. And the boy telling Edward he wanted to be an alchemist himself one day was just a cherry on top of spite to Sarai.

Still, it'd been a long day, and Edward was more than ready to get some shut-eye.

"Night, Al." He mumbled, turning over on his side to finally go to sleep. For how beat he was, he'd wager that wouldn't take much time at all.

"Goodnight, Brother," Alphonse replied, settling on the opposite bed with his book.

With Edward falling asleep and Alphonse quietly reading, it seemed like another usual end to a day in the life of the Elric brothers. 

That was until the sound of something bouncing off their window got Alphonse's head to perk up, distracted from his book. Edward didn't move. 

"Did you hear that, brother?" Alphonse asked, reasonably sure his brother hadn't fallen asleep yet. 

These assumptions were confirmed when Edward tiredly moaned and shifted in his position.

"Can you check it? I don't wanna get up...." He said in response, and Alphonse nodded. He stood up, placing his book down on the bed before walking over to the window to take a look. He didn't see anything right away and decided to open it and get a better view. Just as he did and poked his head out to get a look around, a small rock hit his helmet and bounced off, much like the noise he'd heard before. Alphonse looked down to the source of the thrown stone, wondering who'd be throwing rocks at their window at this hour. 

"Will!?" He exclaimed when he saw the one-armed boy alone in the alleyway picking up another rock to throw up at them. Will paused when he heard Alphonse's voice and smiled once he'd got their attention.

"Will?" Edward said quizzically, pushing himself off the bed and joining his brother at the window. "Al, what are you- Will!?" Edward echoed his brother's last exclamation once he saw the boy as well, smiling and waving from beneath their window. 

"Hi, guys!" Will called up. He tilted his head to the side when his eyes landed on Alphonse, confused to see the boy still fully clad in armor. "Do you wear that armor to bed, Alphonse?"

"What the hell are you doing here, kid? It's past midnight!" Edward interjected, avoiding any questions about his brother's body. More importantly, trying to get to the bottom of why Will had followed them to their inn room. "Didn't your mom put you to bed or something?"

"Yeah! But I saw you guys leaving from my window!" Will shouted back up, not seeing the problem with him being here. "I snuck downstairs and followed you here! But uh, it took a few windows to find you." He nervously laughed at the end, and Edward and Alphonse briefly thought about how many other guests the boy must've woken up in his search.

That couldn't have gone well. No doubt some angry patron that'd been woken from his sleep was going to complain to the front desk.

"Why did you follow us?" Alphonse pressed, as Will hadn't fully answered Edward's question. "You should be asleep!"

"I know, I know it's just-" Will paused anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck and biting his lip. "I uh... I kind of wanted to finish talking about automail."

"What?" Edward said, stunned this kid was still on that despite Sarai making them move on from the subject hours ago. Had he been waiting all this time just to get away from his mom and get some answers?

"Yeah," Will answered plainly and continued to explain. "I know my mom told you not to get my hopes up or something, but... I really want a new arm, and maybe if I knew more about what getting automail is like, I could talk her into it!" Edward figured that was kind of foolish hope. Sarai didn't seem willing to listen to reasoning if it came to her son. Edward didn't like that she wasn't letting her son explore this option, but this was neither the time nor place to discuss such things. Sooner or later, Sarai would figure out Will wasn't in bed and come looking for him. And if she found him here with Edward and Alphonse, no doubt she'd be furious. 

Edward sighed, running his hand over his face in stress. It was too late at night for this.

"Look, Will, I'm sorry, but you really should go back hom-"

"We can't let him walk back all by himself." Alphonse interrupted. "Remember, brother, what Colonel Mustang said on the phone? It isn't safe." Right, Edward had nearly forgotten about the killer Mustang mentioned that was terrorizing Hollowstone. 

"Damn, just when I thought I wouldn't have to think about that." Edward cursed but agreed with his brother. In any case, it was safer if this kid had someone walking back with him making sure he got home safe. "Will, stay right there. We're gonna walk you home-"

"Can you tell me about automail on the way back?" Will pleaded before Edward could leave the window, his eyes imploring the alchemist to agree. "Please?" 

As tired as he was and kind of annoyed to have to do this initially, Edward couldn't deny the opportunity to at least give the kid some insight. He didn't know if it would help Will with his mom or how mad at Edward she'd be by the end of it, but hopefully, he'd be long gone before she even found out he'd told Will anything. 

"Alright, we'll talk on the way back. Give us a sec we'll be right down." Edward replied and turned around. His last view of the boy was a wide, excited smile eager to learn more about his chances to get a new arm. 

And maybe a shadow moving out of the corner of his eye. Right behind Will before Edward turned around...

No way. It'd been a trick of the light or just his own paranoia getting to him about this whole thing. 

Even still, Edward found himself going as quickly down to the ground floor as he could with a sense of urgency and panic he couldn't shake. 

It was nothing... He swore to himself that shadow had been nothing but his mind playing tricks on him...

"What's the matter, brother?" Alphonse asked, picking up on Edward's heightened anxiety as they went out the doors and toward the alleyway where Will was waiting.

"Nothing." Edward insisted, turning the corner into the space between the buildings. "I just thought we should get down here soon before-"

Will wasn't there.

Edward's heart stopped. 

"Damn it..." He growled out, whipping his head around the area, trying to spot where the kid had run off to.

That was it. Will had just wandered off a little way. Kids were easily distracted, after all. The shadow Edward saw was still nothi-

Edward heard a scream.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried, already running in the direction of the sound. Adrenaline shot through Edward's veins, sending him running before he had a chance to think about it. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears and his mind racing faster than any train he'd ever ridden on in his life. 

This wasn't possible...

The two boys came skidding to a halt when they finally saw something moving in the darkness. Towards the back of another alleyway down the street, Edward spotted two figures shrouded by shadow created between two buildings. 

Though he still couldn't quite see what was going on, Edward could see the moonlight reflect the gleam of a knife clutched in the hand of one of those figures...

The knife was dripping red... Edward could feel himself about to be sick before he locked a fierce glare forward.

"Hey!" Edward shouted, his initial shock and horror traded in for righteous fury burning up inside him. He bolted toward the darkness, lighting it up with an alchemic reaction once he clapped his hands and transmuted a wall behind the killer and his victim, blocking them from simply running away in the other direction.

He was closer to the scene now and could make out the figure of a dirty-blonde-haired man, maybe in his early thirties, with a crooked nose, unkempt beard, and dark, almost soulless eyes as he threw down the knife and took off running past Edward.

"Alphonse!" He yelled behind him. Calling his brother to action. 

"I've got him!" Alphonse called back. He'd already hastily prepared a transmutation circle ready to be activated. Once it was, the man was caught between the rising bars of a cage Alphonse had transmuted from the stone road. 

The man clearly wasn't prepared to be caught in such a way and nearly ran straight into one of the bars before stopping himself. He stared in disbelief at his prison.

"Wha- How-!?" The man tried in vain to shake down the bars before turning back towards the Elric brothers with a hateful glare. "You brats are alchemists!"

Edward could barely hear the man, now shouting a plethora of curses and threats his way, past the rising panic hazing over his mind as he shifted his gaze back to the small boy crumpled on the ground. A pool of blood was already forming beneath Will's limp body. Stabbed countless times in the chest, neck, and once more between the child's eyes in a messy display of blind sadistic release.

The wide-open green eyes once filled with wonder and joy were now forever frozen in terror and pain.

He was too late...

Edward could now feel himself trembling, and his knees buckled underneath him. He collapsed to his knees on the ground across from the body, choking on wretched sobs that couldn't make it out of his throat. His breath hitched and cut short, and his lip wavered, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the lifeless ones that stared right back at him in petrified agony. Piercing him right to his very soul.

Why... Why couldn't he have been faster? Why had he spoken to this poor child in the first place and gotten him to sneak out only to be murdered in cold blood right in front of him?

This was Edward's fault... 

"No... Gah-! GODDAMNIT!" Edward's scream echoed in the small space as he slammed his fist into the ground. Hot, furious tears dripped from his eyes which he carelessly tried to wipe away on his sleeve. Alphonse had now joined his brother's side and witnessed the brutal display. If he had any similar reaction, Edward didn't hear it. He was too lost in his own guilt and the weight the cost of his failures put on him.

A child's life had been taken because he wasn't fast enough... Why hadn't he been fast enough...

Edward couldn't tell you how much time passed before other people were drawn out by the commotion and military police were called immediately. At some point, one of the black-clad officers had cautiously approached the boy, still in shock on the ground. Edward was brought to his feet away from the scene. He could tell the officer was asking him questions, but the sounds were muffled in his ears. 

He could see paramedics loading Will's body onto a stretcher, draped in a white sheet of cloth.

The officer that'd led him away sat him down on the curb outside, trying to get through to him a bit more before Edward saw Alphonse approach. His brother must've said a few words before she left them alone.

There were more sights; he half-remembered the criminal he and Alphonse had captured being led away in handcuffs. As he tried to come more to his senses, he could hear Alphonse telling him to breathe even though the suit of armor sounded just as distressed as he was.

But nothing entirely broke him out of this state until he heard the shrill scream of a woman.

Sarai.

"Where is he!? WHERE IS MY SON!?" She demanded from the military police. They tried to explain the situation to her, but she was so frantic she wasn't listening to a word they said. "I want- I want to see him. WHERE IS HE!?"

Edward felt like he'd been shot through the chest at the sound of Sarai's cries. He may not have gotten along with the woman when they first met, but now all he could see was the one person he had to answer to for letting her son be killed. 

He hoped she wouldn't notice him and Alphonse sitting off to the side, silently watching as an MP finally gave her the news. The look of her face fell from alarm to crashing disbelief in seconds.

And another grief-ridden agonized cry filled the night. 

Edward didn't process when he tried to stand up, not wanting to be around this scene any longer than he could handle. He was shaky on his feet but still tried to step away.

"Al... Al c'mon, let's go-"

"YOU!" The single word stopped the boys dead in their tracks and made Edward's blood run cold. He slowly turned around to see Sarai, angered tears streaming down red cheeks and her eyes burning in hatred for them. "You had something to do with this! What did you do to my son!?" 

Edward wanted everything in him to run away and never see this woman or face the guilt he felt for Will's death ever again. But he was frozen in place, trying to find something, anything he could possibly say to somehow make up for what had been lost.

But there was nothing.

"I-" Edward paused and swallowed to rid himself of the lump in his throat. He bowed his head in shame, hiding his face from Sarai as he tearfully explained. "He snuck out. Al and I- we were going to walk him back but then... I wasn't there in time to save him... I'm sorry, Mrs. Kelly. I'm really sorry..."

"We caught the killer," Alphonse sadly offered, but he knew this wasn't enough to make up for Will's life. "But he'd already-"

Alphonse found himself cut off when Edward's jacket collar was abruptly snatched up by Sarai, forcing him to look her in the eyes as she screamed down at him.

"My son is dead because of you, Edward! H-He would've never snuck out if you hadn't talked to him! Now he's dead, and it's you- IT'S YOUR FAULT-! THIS IS YOUR FAULT-" Alphonse had to get behind Edward and pull him away from the screaming woman while the MP's took care of Sarai on their end. Edward was still too shaken from the encounter and let Alphonse pull him aside.

"Are you okay, brother?" Edward heard Alphonse say at some point. He thinks he gave him a response.

They didn't take too long to leave after that and go back to the inn. But Edward didn't get a wink of sleep for the rest of that night.

The accusations were still too loud, ringing over and over again in his mind no matter how much he tried to force them out...

Your fault... This is your fault...

And he truly believed it was.

 ------------------------------------------------

"I see... While it's unfortunate catching Samson Abernathy came at the cost of another child's life, at least we can rest easy knowing Hollowstone is safe for now." 

Samson Abernathy... That'd been the name of the man who killed Will Kelly. But even with this knowledge, Edward could still not relinquish the guilt for Will's death he felt he deserved.

He'd just finished recounting the previous night's events to Colonel Mustang over the phone while he and Alphonse waited at the train station for their ride back to East City. They still had another hour before the next train would come.

"Yeah, for sure..." Edward replied half-heartedly into the phone. The Colonel had said they could 'rest easy.' Edward could safely say it'd be a long time before he could do that again... 

"There something wrong, Fullmetal?" The Colonel asked. Edward could've sworn Mustang almost sounded worried. "I already told you if there's more to the case, I can come down there-"

"No, it's fine, Colonel..." Edward wearily insisted. The lack of sleep from the night before wasn't doing him any favors. "We caught the guy. Now we're just letting the MP's take it from here."

"If you're sure. I should expect to see you back in East City next Monday?" Mustang asked, which surprised Edward when just yesterday the Colonel demanded Edward's mission report by today. Now he was willing to let them have the weekend?

"I thought you wanted my report today."

"I know you didn't do it," Mustang replied simply, which was the truth after all. "Besides, it sounds like you didn't sleep. Get some rest and hand it in when it's actually filled out well and not while you're half passed out." Edward didn't know what to think of these new orders. He knew the Colonel was affording him the extra time out of some form of pity or concern. Mustang knew how these cases messed with Edward. To anyone else, it would appear the Colonel pushed his youngest subordinate as much as he would any other member of his team. But Edward knew Mustang had already bent the rules or what was expected from the Fullmetal Alchemist several times before.

As much as he usually hated charity or pity, Edward was grateful for it in this instance. 

"Right, I'll have it by then." He confirmed and hung up the phone. He walked over to a bench where Alphonse sat, watching the tracks for when their train would come. Edward stopped and stood next to him, setting his eyes to the rails as well.

"Did Colonel Mustang say anything?"

"Just that he'll see us Monday."

"I thought you had a report due today."

"Guess he moved it up."

Neither Edward nor Alphonse were too in the mood for talking. After everything that'd happened last night, it just wasn't something they had the energy to do. No matter what they talked about, they still avoided discussing what they'd seen. And what they'd felt since then...

They'd felt the guilt of failing to save someone's life before. 

It still hurt just as much as they remembered.

But unlike that time they'd failed to revive their mother, Edward knew this time there was someone else who'd lost something dear for this tragic turn of events.

Sarai. 

While last night Edward hadn't been able to offer her much more than some unworthy explanation and a small apology, he felt the woman deserved more than that from him when she'd endured this kind of loss.

He couldn't ever truly fix it, there was no reclaiming what was lost once death came to someone's life, but Edward still felt if there was anything he could do to atone, he would have to at least offer. He could still give her a proper apology at most.

"...Al, I'm gonna go take a walk," Edward stated plainly, much to Alphonse's confusion. He'd already begun to wander off from the station.

"But Brother, the train-"

"It won't be for another hour." Edward dismissed Alphonse's concern. "I just want to clear my head..."

Alphonse couldn't figure out why Edward wanted to leave so suddenly. He rose to follow him.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He said, not thoroughly convinced he should leave his brother alone to his devices. Not with both of them in such a low state.

"That's okay... I'll be back before the train gets here," Edward said and walked back into Hollowstone for reasons Alphonse didn't know and found himself worrying over. He hoped Edward would tell him later what he'd needed.

It wasn't long before Edward found himself right back at Kelly's Tavern, looking at the sign above the door with dread. This wasn't going to be easy. It hadn't been last night, and it wouldn't be now. But that didn't change the fact that it needed to be done. If for nothing else than to ease his guilty conscience.

He took a deep breath and walked through the door.

What little life or warm feeling had been inside the tavern last night before Will's murder was snuffed out completely when Edward stepped inside. A light had been taken from this world, and it seemed the places Will had illuminated were robbed of it.

"What do you want?" Edward turned around toward the bar counter where he'd heard the voice come from. Sarai Kelly sat there, an almost empty bottle of wine clutched in her hand as she looked ahead with dulled eyes. The anger Edward had seen in her last night quelled down to utter despair and defeat.

He could remember feeling just the same only a few years ago. 

"If you're not going to speak up, you can get out." The woman demanded harshly, setting Edward back into his reasons for coming here.

"I- I wanted to apologize again for Will-" Edward started but was cut off by Sarai's cynical scoff. He didn't let this deter him. He'd expected that kind of reaction. "I know that doesn't sound like much, but... Believe me, if there was anything I could do to make this right, I would-"

"Well, unless your alchemy can bring my son back, I doubt there's much you can do." Edward winced at the implications of what she'd said, knowing too what it was like to consider such thoughts... And knowing too the cost of having them.

"...If I had that kind of power," Edward started bitterly. "I would've already done it by now." 

How true those words he'd spoken hurt him inside. But there was only so much an alchemist could do with the power they held... 

No alchemist could ever bring back the dead... not ever.

"Just, if there's anything I can do to make this up somehow- Or just to help..." Edward's offer felt so much more meaningless when he actually said it out loud. How stupid he was to think he could come in here and fix things...

...And yet, the words had shifted something in Sarai's mind. She looked over to the boy standing across from her.

Help . He'd offered to help . Just as her Will would do so often out of the kindness of his heart. 

She could've sworn she saw him standing right there in the tavern with her. His bright green eyes were looking back at her with the same eager, anticipating look he'd give her when he offered his service. Alive and right there waiting for her to tell him what she needed...

If she could just make sure he wouldn't leave her again... If she could just make sure he'd always be right there like she saw him and she wouldn't lose him...

Edward sighed as Sarai oddly stared at him without saying a word. His attempts had fallen just as flat as he felt they did. Well, no one could say he didn't try. He turned to exit the tavern and head back to the train station-

"Edward." Sarai's voice turned his head back around. She'd stood up from the bar, looking at him strangely...

She was almost smiling...

"I think I might've been a bit harsh before," She said, her voice no longer carrying any animosity toward him. Edward wondered why that was. 

He could feel some of the instincts he'd felt about Sarai the night before returning, setting off alarms in his head he ignored for the sake of hearing her out. He wasn't about to let unusual feelings get in the way if he had an opportunity to repay her for what he'd cost her last night.

"Okay..." He replied, stepping over to Sarai as she moved behind the counter, gesturing for him to follow.

"If it's not too much trouble, there is something you can do." She said, pulling out what looked to be two pieces of a broken glass tray from underneath the counter. "This was Will's when he first started helping me. Broke it on his first day. It's why we use the metal ones now. If you wouldn't mind using your alchemy to mend it, it'd mean a lot. Just so I can keep  it in memory of him..." The request gave Edward pause for a moment. He wasn't sure why. It just seemed odd that she wanted him to fix a simple tray.

But it also seemed wrong to question. If this was what Sarai wanted, it was what Edward would do. He owed her at least that much...

"Sure, no problem." Edward agreed, coming over to the tray and clapping his hands to start the repair.

He didn't see Sarai behind him taking one final swig from her wine bottle before raising it behind his head, ready to strike.

"Well, it's fixed-" The hairs on the back of Edward's neck raised for only a split second as he was cut off by a direct hit to the back of his head that sent him toppling face-first to the floor. He'd heard the sound of shattering glass behind him when he came down.

The attack had come out of nowhere, giving him no time to stop it. Now Edward's head was throbbing with pain; the edges of his vision were already starting to blur and fade to black. 

His instincts were screaming for him to get up and run. Do something other than lie there helplessly for whatever came next. But he was already slipping rapidly into unconsciousness while a quiet, muffled voice reached his ears. He could feel someone's hand gently tousling his hair.

"Shhh... It's alright. Go to sleep, Will."

... Will?

Edward's eyes closed, and everything went dark.

Chapter 2: Denial

Notes:

Hello everyone who’s read this far! Thanks so much for your comments, I was really happy to see y’all enjoying this especially since I don’t have experience writing for these characters. XD

Sorry for the wait, here’s chapter 2!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It was late afternoon in East City, and Colonel Roy Mustang could feel himself growing more restless by the second. For how important he found his ultimate goal of becoming the Fuhrer of Amestris and how instrumental working through the ranks of the military was to accomplish that goal, he sometimes wished his ambitions didn't require him to go through so much paperwork. On slower days, he'd resort to folding the damned documents into airplanes and passing an hour or two stuck at his desk by throwing them into his trash bin. 

That was, whenever his Lieutenant didn't catch him in the act.

And unfortunately for Roy, Riza had seen him doing just that about an hour ago and advised against it. She reminded the Colonel of his priorities and how he must go through even the most mundane tasks should he wish to make progress. 

While Roy often appreciated the Lieutenant looking out for his wellbeing, he wasn't sure just how much he could agree with her on the importance of paperwork. Hours of sifting through monotonous, drawn-out forms and mindlessly scrawling his signature on each one that required it couldn't be doing any favors for his mental wellbeing. 

He'd even half considered ignoring Riza's advice altogether. At least for today. But it seemed she'd predicted this plan and, for the next hour, proceeded to check in on Roy at random times. It wasn't explicitly clear this was what she was doing; she mostly came in with a question of some sort unrelated to Roy's papers to disguise her reasoning for coming to his desk. These unnecessary questions, of course, did not prevent Roy from inferring her true intentions.

And so here he found himself, twenty minutes from the freedom promised by the end of a workday still drowned in the draining depths of paperwork. 

That was until the perfect chance to get away came waltzing through his office door with an effervescent ear-to-ear grin, a spring in his step, and a cheerful booming greeting that filled the entire room.

"Roy! How you doing today, buddy!?" Maes Hughes. He and Roy made plans when they learned Hughes could get off early by the end of the workweek and catch a train to East City. With Hughes coming all the way from Central to grab a few drinks with his friend tonight to wrap up what had been a long week for the both of them. Usually, Roy would come up to Central, and the two would visit his aunt's bar, but Roy's schedule had been a bit tighter this week. 

Mainly in part because he kept putting off paperwork. 

 But for now, Hughes' arrival was also Roy's ticket out of here, for which he was most grateful. He was pretty sure if he had to sign his name on one more paper that day, he'd just as soon set it on fire.

Roy smiled as his friend traversed the room to his desk and pushed aside his work to stand up and meet him.

"Hughes. Good to see you." He returned the greeting given to him, albeit more formal than his outgoing friend had been. Not that Hughes minded this. Roy had always been less expressive than him.

Then again, it wasn't hard to be. 

"You just about ready to go?" Hughes asked, looking down at the stack of remaining papers he was fully aware Roy had no intention of going through. "I know you had a lot of work this slated for this week."

"Actually, I'm just about finished." Roy lied, eagerly taking the excuse to blow off the rest of his work. He moved away from his desk to grab his coat. "And a good thing too. No doubt I'm lined up for a half hour's worth of gushing about your wife and daughter before the night can even  really  get started." 

"Finally accepted how nice family life sounds, huh?" Hughes remarked with an insinuating glint in his eyes. "Does this mean I should expect you to be looking for a future Mrs. Mustang pretty soon?" Roy gave a hearty chuckle at that.

"Hardly. I simply prefer your rambling over spending any more time here." He answered, pulling his arms through the coat sleeves and joining Hughes at his door so they could depart.

"Eh, I'll get through to ya' one of these days, Roy," Hughes said with a determined smirk and shrug of his shoulders. Roy rolled his eyes fondly, knowing he was in for another one of Hughe's regular speeches about married life and how settling down could do him some good. But as he stated before, listening to his friend lecture him beat sitting around signing papers. "I'm telling you the minute you come to your senses and get yourself a wife; it'll be the greatest joy you've ever-"

"Colonel Mustang." A stern female voice broke into their conversation, and the two men turned to face Riza Hawkeye, who was currently giving her superior a strict look. Hughes had to resist the urge to comment on the Lieutenant's impeccable timing. 

"Lieutenant Hawkeye." Roy returned, not breaking with formalities while he was still technically on the clock. "I'll be heading out with Lieutenant Colonel Hughes for the evening." He considered making up some excuse about important business to discuss but knew Riza would see through this immediately. She more than likely already knew Roy was leaving behind unfinished work to hang out with his friend.

"I see, sir." She replied coolly. "I'll see to it your finished documents are sent out before the night is up. We wouldn't want them sitting on your desk all weekend..." Roy cursed under his breath. He could never pull the wool over Hawkeye.

"Actually, Lieutenant, best leave them," Roy said with a noncommittal wave of his hand, passing her as Hughes stifled his snickering at his friend's predicament. "I'd like to go over a few of the more sensitive documents on Monday before sending them out." Roy knew he was just postponing another inevitably slow workday but preferred this option over staying late and finishing the papers tonight.

It seemed Riza understood this sentiment. 

"Very well, sir. Have a good night." She said with an exasperated yet understanding smile, dropping the subject for now, much to Roy's relief. He appreciated her pushing him toward his goals and being his supporter; he appreciated when she'd let him off easy from time to time even more.

With the rest of his night free, Roy returned Riza's smile thankfully.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. You have a good night as well." It was a simple exchange, not one the pair of military officers were unaccustomed to, but a nice one all the same. 

Of course, that simple nice feeling dissipated when Roy realized Hughes would undoubtedly take his and Riza's interaction and run wild with it. He'd encouraged Roy to pursue the Lieutenant before after all. 

"C'mon, Hughes, let's get moving before-" Roy would've said something along the lines of 'before something else interferes with me leaving,' but it would just so happen such an occurrence would cut him off. 

The dreadful ringing of his office phone reached his ears, and Roy's irritation skyrocketed.

"Don't you think you better get that?" Hughes suggested, and Roy suppressed a growl.

"One moment..." He promised, and he was almost sure he meant it. Whoever had the nerve to call him this late in the day better not have much to say. 

Roy practically stomped back into his office and answered the phone.

"What?" He said, rather impatiently. However, the operator didn't seem to take notice of the Colonel's bad mood.

"There's an Alphonse Elric waiting on hold for you, sir." The voice on the other line said, taking Roy by surprise. Alphonse? The younger Elric brother never called. It was always Fullmetal that ever had much of a reason to.

But Roy was aware Alphonse knew how to reach him. In case of an emergency...

"Put him through," Roy instructed as soon as he realized something must've happened. Had Edward gotten hurt somehow? He never really called Roy if he could help it, even when he was injured. But perhaps Alphonse felt Edward's condition was severe enough to warrant it.

That still didn't seem right, but Roy was sure Alphonse would fill him in on the details.

"God, Fullmetal, what'd you get yourself into this time?"

"Colonel Mustang?" Roy heard the armored boy's tinny voice come through the phone. He sounded distressed.

"Alphonse, why are you calling me? Is your brother alright?" Roy questioned, cutting straight to the point. Of all the nights for his youngest subordinate to land himself into trouble...

"I don't know. I haven't seen Brother since this morning." Alphonse replied worriedly. 

"What?" Roy said, not sure he'd heard correctly. He talked to Edward on the phone this morning, and now he was missing? What could've possibly happened in a few hours? "Alphonse, tell me exactly what happened."

"We were at the train station. Brother had just gotten off the phone with you. Then he said he wanted to take a walk and went back into town."

"Why weren't you with him?" Roy asked, his urgency rising. He was surprised to hear Alphonse hadn't been at his brother's side as he typically was. While Roy knew Edward could defend himself, even the most capable fighters were safer when they had someone watching their back.

"Brother said he wanted to be alone," Alphonse said with some small amount of dismay. "But even after the train had already come and left, he still didn't come back. I went into town to look for him. I thought he might just be upset somewhere and wanted to be by himself. But I looked for hours and couldn't find him anywhere." 

Roy could understand why Alphonse had thought Edward just wanted to be alone. The boys had just witnessed a brutal murder, and Edward had never handled such incidents well, not that he should have to at such a young age despite choosing to put himself through the military. Enlisting had only increased the amount of death he'd seen in his fifteen years. But it was always enough to make him panic before closing off.

Roy would be lying if he said he hadn't detected some of that when he spoke with Edward on the phone. It's why he'd thought to give him some more time to turn in his next report. Roy knew what it was like to witness the horrors of stolen life. That couldn't be easy on someone so young...

But even if Edward had shut down as he did in these situations, he wouldn't have stayed away from Alphonse for so long. The brothers relied on each other too much for that. He would've ultimately thought of his younger brother and came back.

So what happened to prevent his return to the train station?

Roy thought about the events as Alphonse had described them. State Alchemist goes missing not too long after busting a serial killer...

Roy had a hunch, and it wasn't good.

"It's possible the killer you and your brother caught wasn't working alone." Roy proposed grimly, hoping that this suspicion was wrong. Because if he was right, it wasn't looking good for Edward. "And if Abernathy wanted revenge-"

"You think he knew someone that could've hurt brother?" 

"I'm not sure, but in any case, this warrants investigation." Roy determined. "I'll be in Hollowstone tomorrow morning. We'll get to the bottom of this."

Roy hoped, perhaps in vain, Edward wasn't in danger but reasoned quickly that his youngest subordinate wouldn't have disappeared if he wasn't. No doubt about it, Edward Elric had gotten himself mixed up into something bad.

And Roy wasn't about to let that happen. If anyone harmed Edward, they were going to pay.

"I hope brother's okay..." Alphonse worried out loud, his voice down and melancholy. Roy sighed...

Me too, Alphonse. 

"We'll find him. Make sure to notify the local MP's. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Roy said instead of what he'd just thought. He and Alphonse exchanged final, solemn goodbyes before he hung up the phone with the weight of the situation resting heavily on his mind and shoulders. 

Hughes could see Roy had become visibly stressed by the end of that call and could understand why. He'd only heard Roy's end of the conversation but gathered most of the needed details from that alone.

It made sense to Hughes that Roy would be anxious to know what had happened to Edward. It was apparent he cared about the kid, even if he wouldn't always admit it.

But within seconds, Hughes could see the flame Colonel's hands clench into fists, and his shoulders hitch up in resolution. A protective fire was burning in his eyes.

Roy was going to find Edward and make sure whoever had messed with the young alchemist suffered.

Hughes had a feeling their plans for the weekend would be postponed indefinitely. He couldn't say he mourned the loss so much when Roy had such an emergency come up. 

After all, Roy would've understood if Hughes were worried about Elicia. And this wasn't too different from that at all.

"I take it you'll be making arrangements for tomorrow?" Hughes said with an understanding grin. Roy released a deep sigh.

"Something's come up," He said as if he didn't know Hughes pieced together the chain of events from what he'd heard of the phone call. "Fullmetal went missing in Hollowstone after bringing in some child killer. If one of my subordinates is in trouble, I have to look into it...."

Roy trailed off. Hughes knew there were unspoken worries for Edward's safety Roy was holding back for the sake of professionalism.

He'd kill himself trying to keep up his stoic facade to the bitter end even if people like Hughes were able to see through the cracks for the genuine, messy, more caring than he'll let on, Roy Mustang. 

...And yet there was another side to Roy Hughes could see in his friend. The one that had rightly earned him the title of 'Flame Alchemist.'

A dangerous spark in his eyes that promised pain for whoever crossed him or anyone he cared about.

Hughes realized how readily Roy would defend the people he valued most. He also recognized that both himself and Riza were among those Roy would kill for.

But so was Edward. 

Which meant if this went unchecked, Roy, blinded by his own emotion and fear for his subordinate, could lead to a costly loss of control. 

He could use someone there to keep him in check. Hughes knew Riza could do this well but figured some extra support wouldn't be doing any harm. Besides, he was worried for young Edward's safety as well. He'd always felt the boy was endangered too much at his age by the military. And look what came of that...

"So, we leave tomorrow?" Hughes offered, hopefully helping ease Roy's nerves by doing so. The Colonel turned around, confusion written across his features.

"We? Hughes, you really don't have-"

"No, it's no trouble." Hughes insisted, joining his friend's side and laying a reassuring hand on his tense shoulder. "It sounds like Ed needs some help, and I'd like to do what I can to help him."

Roy still seemed unsure of Hughes committing to this case.

"But won't Gracia be expecting you tomorrow morni-"

"I'll call her tonight and explain the situation. She'll understand."

There was a silence between the pair of friends for a few moments. Roy was not positive he could pull Hughes into such matters that needn't be personal for him, and Hughes was insistent on being there for Roy and helping Edward in any way he could.

And after thinking about it more, Roy appreciated the help. Having an investigator's eyes on the case would hopefully expedite the search for the missing alchemist.

Hughes always had a way of understanding how important something could be to him.

"Thank you, Maes."

"Don't mention it, Roy. Let's go find your kid."

...Of course, Hughes ruined the moment. Roy was quick to answer Hughes' insinuation with shouting.

"What the hell? Hughes, Fullmetal's not my-! He's my subordinate, and I'm just looking out for my team!"

"We're bringing Hawkeye too, right? We should ask her what she thinks."

"Drop it, Hughes!"

------------------------------------------------

Pain...

The first feeling that came to Edward as he began to slowly drift back into consciousness. 

Just a constant, throbbing pain that started in the back of his head and spread to the rest of it, giving him the most splitting headache he'd ever had the misfortune to experience.

Damn... What happened?

The circumstances that'd landed him here, eyes closed and the anguished aching of his head, were muddled together and clouded in some indecipherable memories he hadn't unlocked yet.

Wake up... Get up... Run...

That was it, wasn't it? He'd been in some form of danger before landing here... But what was it? Was that why his head was hurting now?

As more of Edward's senses were dragged awake with his mind, he sluggishly tried to piece together his current situation. Despite his primal instincts wanting to shoot him full of adrenaline and get him on his feet. The rest of his body simply could not oblige. 

While his eyelids still felt too heavy to open, Edward relied on other means of assessing his surroundings. 

He was lying down on something soft. 

Maybe he'd gotten hurt and was now in the hospital?

No, he would've already smelled the antiseptic and felt the cold draft that always seemed to be running through those places.

Speaking of which, this place was warm. Edward somehow found it wrong to call this place comfortable but still didn't know why.

There was more... He could hear humming. A soft feminine tone that hummed a classic Amestrian lullaby Edward hadn't heard in years... Gentle hands were stroking through his bangs with an almost familiar touch.

In fact, the whole thing seemed rather familiar when he half-remembered some far-off memory from a happier time—the feeling of his mother lulling him to sleep and stroking his head whenever he fell ill.

In his pained, still foggy state of mind, Edward could've sworn he'd been sent back there.

"...Mom-" He could hear himself murmur, still mostly asleep and lost in uncertain thought.

... That wasn't right .

Mom was dead. She had been for almost ten years now. There was no way whatever this was touching him was his mother.

This was  wrong.

And now, all Edward could focus on was trying to force himself to be fully awake and alert because nothing about this situation felt right anymore. Even in his confused state he knew that for sure.

He could hear the voice that'd been humming moments ago give a small, pleased laugh.

Get away...

"It's alright, Will. I'm here." 

Will.

Will was dead too. Edward had felt guilty about it. And then he went to-

... Sarai. She'd knocked him out.

That was just the final piece Edward needed to connect his obscured thoughts and force his eyes wide open. His brain finally got the reason to start him up with adrenaline, making his heartbeat rapidly within mere moments. 

Edward shot up to a sitting position from where he'd been lying, nearly convinced he'd be immediately ready to get himself up and out of danger as fast as possible.

Of course, that plan turned out to be short-lived, as Edward was still injured from having a wine bottle smashed against the back of his head. The consequence for having moved so quickly turned out to be a blinding dose of pain, causing Edward to cry out and move to hold his head in his hand-

...His right arm didn't move. His automail wasn't  there.  Instead of moving, Edward felt the multiple shooting pains of having the command to move end at nerves now not connected to anything. Edward hissed to prevent a small cry. That wouldn't have happened if his arm was correctly removed. It must've been smashed to hell.

And hell was precisely what Winry was going to give him if she saw the damage.

Speaking of damage-

He looked down where his arm would be, only to be disappointed to see he couldn't assess the extent of how badly Sarai had wrecked it. His port and whatever remained was hidden underneath a soft blue nightshirt sleeve, pinned up at his shoulder. He could feel that his trousers were of the same material, and his boots were gone. He also felt his leg was hidden under a thick blanket.

...Since when had he changed?

It was just one startling realization after another, wasn't it?

He felt his right shoulder being touched and jerked away on instinct, turning to face Sarai Kelly. She was sitting in a chair next to the bed, where it appeared Edward was currently sitting. The room was dimly lit, illuminated barely by a lamp on a bedside table next to Sarai. 

Was it night already? Or was it the next day? Just how long had he been out?

The woman seemed confused by Edward's abrupt, panicked behavior and his angered expression. She looked at him bewilderedly.

Something in her eyes seemed off, unhinged in some way.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. It's only me-" She spoke in a way that was meant to be comforting, but it only served to heighten Edward's panic. She reached for him again, and Edward still would not allow her to touch him. He jerked away a second time, and just like before, the sudden movement caused his head to flare up with pain.

Though for how mad he was, Edward couldn't care less.

"Where the hell am I!?" He demanded, furious that Sarai had knocked him out and brought him to some unfamiliar room but also unsure  why  she'd done such a thing. "Where's my brother!?" 

"Brother?" Sarai asked incredulously. She looked at Edward pitifully and reached for him  again.  "Oh, Will, you must've hit your head harder than I thought. Baby, you never had a-"

"Don't touch me!"

Edward had half a mind to slap her hand away. But he'd instinctively tried to do so with his right hand, which he'd almost forgotten was now missing. Edward received another shot of pain from the split nerve endings. He grit his teeth which turned to practically snarling in Sarai's direction when she tried to cup his cheek in her hand.

She flinched back for a moment.

"Will... I understand you're not feeling well, but that is no way to talk to your mother."

... Mother!?

And she'd been calling him Will this whole time. Did she  really  think he was-

"What?"  Edward said in stunned disbelief. He barely had words. How could she be so blinded by her grief to delude herself into thinking Edward was her dead son? 

Doing anything she could think of to bring him back...

Sarai stared at him for a moment more, perhaps waiting for another rage-filled outburst Edward could not process going through with right now. When it didn't come, she gave him a pout, brushing some of Edward's messy, overhanging bangs out of his eyes. Edward was still too shocked from the realization of what was happening to him sinking in.

"I'll get you some water," Sarai said, moving to stand up. "It'll help your head."

Edward's eyes followed Sarai as she moved across the room, his vision adjusting to see mostly through the dimly lit space. From what he could see, he and Sarai were in a standard bedroom. The bed Edward was in at the center of the room with a dresser across from it. There, it appeared, Sarai was pouring some water into a glass from a pitcher.

Edward tore his gaze from observing her and looked more around the room. The door was on his right side of the room. Along with that, the chair Sarai had been sitting in earlier pulled right up next to the bed. A window was on his left.

Edward recalled seeing a window of the same size above the tavern when he came in. He must be in the living quarters above the establishment. At least she hadn't taken him too far.

He could see some moonlight coming into the room, but it wasn't much. The curtains were drawn, preventing any view of the outside world...

Or rather, Edward thought more, preventing the outside world from any view of him.

Upon looking at the two old, wooden nightstands on either side of the bed, Edward came to yet another harrowing realization.

While the stand on his right held up the lamp, the nightstand on his right had a few books stacked upon it. When Edward read the worn titles on the cracked spines, he could recognize the titles of old adventure classics. Along with a small, well-loved stuffed dog with a missing button eye.

The books, the toy, it added up to this being a child's bedroom.

Will's bedroom.

God, this felt all sorts of wrong- Edward could practically feel the chills traveling from up his spine to all across his body. 

He was being called by a dead child's name, brought into their room. The nightclothes he was wearing probably once belonged to Will too.

Speaking of that, he hadn't seen the full extent of the damage Sarai did to his automail yet. 

Sarai didn't look like she'd be too hard to fight off, but thanks to her, Edward still had his head injury and was now missing his prosthetic arm. He'd at least like to know how badly she'd screwed it up.

"You better not have messed up my arm too badly." He said irritably. "Otherwise, my mechanic's gonna give you hell."

He only half-listened to Sarai dismiss what she considered another unusual statement and telling him she couldn't have messed up his arm. He supposedly lost that during Ishval.

God, he couldn't wait to be out of here. This was just too weird.

Edward moved his left hand over to his right shoulder, where his sleeve was pinned up... Or at least he tried.

Right before he could reach there, something held his arm back and resisted the action. Edward looked at his flesh wrist to see a thick rope tightly tied around it, restricting his movement. He continued to tug at it for a few moments, hoping it would come loose or something. It did not.

"Damn it..." Edward mumbled to himself as he looked for where the other end of the rope was tied. The restraint made it so he couldn't reach any further than about two feet from the edge of the bed. He could hear Sarai talking some more and her footsteps coming closer as he continued furiously struggling and trying to find where the rope was tied off.

"Oh sweetheart, you know I'd never want to do something like this..." She calmly explained, much to Edward's annoyance. She acted as if it was entirely casual to knock him out, take his arm and then tie him up in his sleep. "But after last night, I had no choice. I got so worried, and I just couldn't have you running off again."

Edward was trying to keep himself from becoming frantic. No matter how messed up this all felt, he couldn't lose his head. He traced where the rope from his wrist ended and saw it go off the edge of the bed and underneath it. From that, he deduced it must be tied off underneath the bed to the frame. 

He tried to move closer to the edge to inspect it but found himself unexpectedly stopped by another tie on his right ankle he hadn't known about. It must have been tied in the same fashion as his wrist but on the other side of the bed from how it held him back.

Great. Just great.

Upon testing the bond around his flesh ankle, he was disappointed to discover it was just as tight as the one on his wrist. He also found that when he tried to move his automail leg, Edward was met with the same pains that came from cut-off nerves that he'd felt earlier from his shoulder port.

She'd taken his leg too.

Goddamnit, she'd cut down his means for self-defense considerably. He could feel his dread and anxiety rising.

Don't panic, don't-

"Here." Edward could hear Sarai's voice on his right side again and looked up toward her. She was back in her chair, her detached stare trained back on him as she held out a glass of water. "Drink this, Will. It'll help-"

"You want to help me!? Then let me go, you crazy bitch!" Edward shouted in fiery indignation, pulling more at the rope binding his wrist. "Don't you see how sick this is!? I'm not your son!"

"How could you say that!?" Sarai exclaimed, seeming offended by Edward's words. She set down the glass of water on the nightstand hard enough to make the water ripple. "I'm sorry I have to keep you from running off anymore, but I am your  mother-"

"You're  not  my mother!" Edward refuted, stalling in his struggling to shoot her the fiercest glare he could muster. "My mother's dead! And so is your son!"

"No-"

"Listen to me! You're just upset because you lost Will!" Edward was so wrapped up in trying to get through to her. But because of this, he couldn't see the dangerous flicker in her eye that became more apparent the more he shouted. "But kidnapping me and tricking yourself into thinking I'm him won't change the fact that he's dead! I'm sorry! I tried everything I could, but Will is dea-!

"NO!"

Edward hadn't expected to be so roughly grabbed by his shoulders, shaking his entire body and rattling his head injury. He only just recovered from the sudden movement to his head when he looked up to see Sarai's wide green eyes staring furiously into his. Edward felt his heart stop when he saw it, the somehow far-off and demented look to her but still trained and focused on him alone. To look straight into his eyes and not see him for what he was...

She looked absolutely insane.

"No! Listen to me, Will! I refuse to ever let you go again!" With every word, Sarai's grip on Edward's shoulders tightened. He could eventually feel her hands dig in so hard it was enough to bruise. "I know you're upset and not feeling well- But for the love of God, don't say things like that! I can't- I- I won't-  I won't lose you again! Not again, okay!? I won't lose you!"

Edward couldn't move. Aside from her painful grip on his shoulders, he was chilled to the bone by her unstable stare. It was becoming clear to him now just how lost in her grief-induced madness she was. How desperate it made her...

He stopped to think logically for a second. This woman had already knocked him out and injured his head, smashed his automail limbs, and had just violently grabbed and shaken him.

If he continued to push her over the edge, it was unpredictable how far she would lose control and hurt him. And as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't in much of a position to fight her off if that happened...

He also hated to admit just how much the thought of being that helpless scared him.

Edward knew he wasn't down for the count yet, but until he could find a way to escape, he'd have to tread carefully. There was no sense in risking Sarai losing it even further than she already had. 

Fortunately, it seemed, once Edward had stopped fighting her, Sarai's eyes calmed down slightly. They still held the potential to return to the blazing, demented state Edward had seen before, but for now, at least, they were calm.

"Oh..." She looked into Edward's eyes, which he realized were still wide in shock. "Oh Will I- I didn't mean to frighten you- I'm so sorry, baby-"

Edward wished he could've stopped it before Sarai moved in and pulled him into an unwelcome embrace, holding her arms tightly around him. A very brief attempt to pull away only resulted in her holding him tighter. 

Edward had hated how fast Sarai could go from one emotion to another before, and now it was just scaring him.

He felt his insides coil and his face contort in aversion. This entire thing was highly uncomfortable. He already wasn't big on anyone touching him, especially hugs from anyone except occasionally Alphonse or Winry. The only other person he'd ever been okay with hugging him was...

His mother.

...That's it. He hated this. Edward wasn't a stranger to being kidnapped. A couple of times before, he had been by inexperienced criminals who thought they could get something out of taking a state alchemist. But even if he hadn't easily escaped those instances, this was still somehow a thousand times worse.

He had to get out of here.

Edward inwardly cringed when he felt Sarai's hand move to the back of his head and winced when it flared up his injury. She stroked his hair in what Edward supposed was meant to be a comforting gesture. It had the exact opposite effect.

He felt her hand stop once it met his braid. Once it had, Sarai, after what felt like forever, released him from the unwanted physical contact. She withdrew to look at Edward quizzically. He noticed her gaze fixated on his hair.

"W-What-?" 

Before he could ask about her perplexed expression, Sarai once again reached her hand out toward Edward's hair, bringing his braid over his shoulder, still looking at it strangely. Edward himself was pretty confused by her action.

Sarai's hands got to eagerly undoing the braid. 

"Hey, what do you think you're-?" Before Edward could finish his protest, Sarai hurriedly mumbled something.

"You always wear your hair down..." 

Edward rolled his eyes but bit his tongue. Maybe if he were Will, that would be true, but he wasn't-

But he'd already discovered saying anything about that just made her angry. 

Pick your battles, Fullmetal.

God, his inner voice was starting to sound like Mustang-

Once Edward's braid had been completely undone, Sarai moved to adjust the strands to fall loosely over his shoulders. With that accomplished, Sarai smiled again.

Edward knew what she'd done. It was a minor alteration, but she'd wanted him to resemble Will more closely. 

No matter how much Edward felt he'd settled his nerves about his plight, the further Sarai dug herself into this sick charade only served to unsettle him more. 

"Oh, Will," Sarai said endearingly. She cupped Edward's cheek in her hand to better see his face. This time he resisted the urge to jerk away. Getting panicked or angry only brought out an unbalanced, maddened reaction from her.

He didn't want to tip an already unstable person over the edge. He breathed and tried to reason with her calmly.

"Mrs. Kelly-" Edward's reasoning didn't have much of a chance to go anywhere before Sarai interrupted him.

"No, sweetheart, you know that's not right." She said, laughing at it as if Edward's way of addressing her had been a joke. He frowned at that. She moved her hand from his face to take Edward's left hand into hers. Sarai holding it pulled enough at the rope to strain it, the tight loop around his wrist biting into his skin. The fact that Edward had fought and struggled against it earlier had already started to rub the skin raw.

"Geez, Mrs. Kelly, you're hurting me-"

"Will, it's Mom." Sarai corrected, still mainly seeming amused. But she'd squeezed Edward's hand firmly as she said it. "Call me, Mom."

...The blood that had run cold before was starting to boil again. 

There were a lot of things Edward was prepared to do to protect his own safety. But there were perhaps more things he'd be stubborn on despite any threat.

And there was no way in hell Edward would  ever  betray his mother's memory and call anyone else by that title. Especially someone who'd kidnapped him to replace her deceased son.

She'd never scare him that badly.

"I can't do that." Edward persisted, looking at Sarai calmly but gravely, hoping to make her realize the seriousness of what was happening. "It's like I was trying to tell you before I'm not Wil-"

"Stop it!" She seized up for a second time; her grip on Edward's hand turned into practically crushing it, drawing a stifled cry from the alchemist. 

Seriously, not even being calm had worked!? How was Edward supposed to win in this situation!?

He stopped himself from snapping, not wanting to make his precarious situation any worse. Fortunately, Sarai cooled down from this outburst faster than she had from the first one. Perhaps it was because Edward hadn't gone as far this time.

Still, if her grip on his hand was any indication, he'd pushed far enough.

Sarai looked down at her hand and then up at Edward's glaring expression. She sighed disappointingly and released him. 

Edward wished he had his automail hand about now just to hold the other one. He swore he thought Sarai was going to break his flesh hand too.

"You're just tired. That's all it has to be..." Sarai said, more to herself than Edward, trying to justify why her illusion wasn't acting as her son would. She stood up, swaying slightly on her feet like her body was becoming just as unsteady as her mind. "You just need rest. You'll be better in the morning..."

Edward's immediate instincts were to tell her not to leave him here like this. He didn't want to stick around for another second. He had to get through to her.

"Wait, Mrs. Kelly-"

She cut him off with a light kiss on his forehead. Edward's face coiled in disgust, and he ran his hand over where she'd planted it, despite how much that tugged at the restraint on his wrist.

"Goodnight, Will," Sarai said, a sad hint to her tone. She turned off the lamp, leaving the room only to be lit by the few small slivers of moonlight coming in through the drawn curtains. "Don't worry. I'll have you feeling like yourself in no time."

"Like hell, you will," Edward muttered bitterly, unable to hold himself back for that one. He was only able to keep his frustration in check for so long. 

Luckily it seemed Sarai hadn't heard him. And she left the room without another word, closing the door behind her.

As if it wasn't enough that Edward was tied down with his limbs removed. But a few seconds after he heard the door close, he also listened to the clicking of a lock.

Great. Just perfect.

"Damn it!" He swore loudly, at this point not caring who heard him, and he took to trying to loosen the rope around his wrist again. His attempts this time around were more wild and desperate. 

Edward couldn't let this go on. He had to get back to Alphonse and continue their journey. He couldn't allow himself to get any more hurt by some madwoman...

He couldn't let Sarai keep him here to replace Will...

It seemed wrong to betray his own mother's memory. To even unwillingly participate in betraying the memory of Will seemed just as wrong...

------------------------------------------------

It wasn't hard for Roy to get Riza onboard with the plan once he and Hughes caught up to her. She'd barely heard any of the details other than Edward was missing and needed their help before she readily agreed. And so the arrangements were made to travel to Hollowstone as soon as possible.

There all three of them arrived at the train station the following day. Roy yawned and stretched out his arms as he stepped off the train and onto the platform. God, he was tired.

"I told you to sleep on the train," Hughes said chidingly with a slight smile. "You barely slept last night as it is."

Roy shrugged haplessly in response. For some reason, he hadn't been able to sleep either last night or on the train here. His mind had been too restless no matter how many times he tried to tear his thoughts away from the circumstances.

"The Lieutenant Colonel is right, sir." Riza was quick to chime in. Roy wasn't surprised. His wellbeing had always been more of a concern for her rather than Roy himself. 

"What can I say? He never listens to me." Hughes jokingly returned.

"As grateful as I am for both of your concerns, we're not here to discuss how much sleep I get." Roy addressed the two officers, hopefully refocusing them on the task at hand. 

Finding Edward was his priority right now. If he lost sleep over it, so be it.

"Colonel Mustang!" Thankfully Hughes and Riza didn't get another opportunity to scold Roy about his sleeping habits before a familiar hulking suit of armor began making their way toward the trio. 

"Hey, Alphonse!" Hughes said with a smile and a wave. His presence came as a surprise to Alphonse, but it seemed his company was still welcomed.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" He said as they approached. "I figured Lieutenant Hawkeye would be with Colonel Mustang, but it's nice to see you here too."

Roy couldn't help but smile a little despite the circumstances leading to them meeting up. Alphonse, as always, was polite and pleasant upon seeing them. 

Still, Roy could hear the sense of urgency in Alphonse's tone that he'd had on the phone last night. 

"Hughes is here to help us find your brother," Roy explained.

"Happy to be of service," Hughes commented cheerfully with a slight grin.  

"Thank all of you for helping," Alphonse said gratefully as they walked toward the edge of the train station and away from any civilians still boarding or getting off. Alphonse seemed more downcast now that greetings were over and he'd been brought back to why they were all here. "I just hope we can find brother before anything too bad happens."

"If what you were saying on the train is correct, sir," Riza began calmly, and she looked at Roy. He'd filled in her and Hughes on all of the details on the way here to make up for the incomplete explanations he'd given last night. "And if this Samson Abernathy Edward and Alphonse caught two days ago had an ally on the outside, I suggest we begin our investigation at the MP station. They'll have the criminal in custody, and we may be able to extract information on if Abernathy had any hand in this."

Roy could always count on Hawkeye to be straight to business. And he immensely appreciated it in this case.

"Good plan." He confirmed. "We'll interrogate Abernathy and see what he knows."

It certainly seemed like a solid plan, that was if Hughes hadn't thought of one crucial detail. 

"Hate to put a damper on this, Roy, but I'm not sure we have the proper jurisdiction just to waltz in and interrogate him when the MP's have more than likely already run their own-"

"I doubt the MP's will refuse us once we explain the situation." Roy dismissed quickly, unconcerned with Hughes' point. 

Hughes could infer from this that Roy would probably pull rank on the Military Police and demand they allow him to interrogate Abernathy. Roy was nothing if not stubborn about what he wanted.

"Right," Hughes said with a sigh. He'd expected Roy not to waste time doing whatever it took to find Edward. At least demanding his way into an interrogation session was nothing too far yet. 

So the group began to set off toward the MP's station, led by Alphonse, who'd been there earlier to report Edward's disappearance. One good thing about small towns was how easy it was to get from place to place. So at least it wouldn't be long until, hopefully, Roy could start getting some answers. 

It was how he planned to get those answers Hughes was wary of keeping an eye out for.

"Colonel Mustang..." Alphonse started quietly as they walked. His voice wavered ever so slightly. "Do you think- Maybe- Do you think whoever might be working with Samson Abernathy could've-"

He was hesitant to ask as if the question was almost too horrible to utter. Roy thought he knew what the younger alchemist was concerned about.

"I don't think anyone could've killed him, Alphonse." He reassured, trying to sound more sure of that fact than he felt. "Your brother's a tough kid and a strong alchemist."

"Then why hasn't he come back yet?"

...That was the question, wasn't it? One Roy still couldn't wrap his head around.

"...We're going to figure that out. I promise."

While Roy spoke with Alphonse, another conversation was going on beside them, unbeknownst to the two alchemists. Hughes and Hawkeye had struck up a topic both of them were beginning to notice more as their investigation began to progress.

"Roy sure does care for those kids, huh?" Hughes teased. If Riza found this funny or endearing, she didn't show it. Her stoic expression was not breaking even for a second.

"He looks out for everyone on his team. It's what I've learned to expect from him." 

"I know he does," Hughes replied, realizing he may need to be more clear on the point he was trying to make. "But you see it too, don't you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"That look in his eyes. The one he gets when he wants to protect someone." Hughes could see Riza's eyebrow raised at that. It seemed she knew what he was talking about now.

And she had seen just the same thing Hughes did. The look in Mustang's eyes showed that Edward was more to him than just a subordinate. Riza would be lying if she said the Colonel didn't feel a sense of responsibility for the Elric Brothers. And it certainly applied here.

"I take it you're worried about that?" She asked curiously.

"Aren't you? I'm just saying we might need to keep an eye on him for now. You know how Roy can get when he cares this much. If he gets close to Abernathy, and he thinks he had something to do with Ed disappearing-"

"You're right," Riza said, Watching Mustang's back with a trained, focused eye. "We wouldn't want to have to put out an unnecessary fire."

Notes:

Shorter chapter, less to cover for this one.

I’m facepalming at myself honestly because ROY YOU’RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE

But it’s fine he’ll figure it out eventually maybe-

Sure not until Ed suffers more that’s for sure. ;)