Adult-FanFiction.org : Gundam, Beyblade, DBZ, FMA

Time's Scar	By : RotSeele Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 828 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Time's Scar
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Epilogue
- 2
- 3
- 4
Three
The train pulled into Central's station around noon the following day. The Elric brothers departed the train and, in Ed's case, stretched to loosen muscles grown tight by sitting for too long. Then he shouldered the bag he'd brought with them - it was easier to carry the bag than the trunk, which they'd left in Riza's care back at Eastern HQ - and Ed and Alphonse made their way out of the station. They had been told to go straight to Central Headquarters, where Roy was supposed to have called and inform the lead investigator on the case of their arrival, but Ed wanted to prowl around for a little while and see if he could hear any chatter from the people on the streets. That chatter led them all around the city but gave them nothing solid. Finally, close to the afternoon, Ed and Alphonse headed to Central HQ to find whoever they were supposed to meet and help on the investigation.
Lieutenant Mallory wasn't impressed with the two boys who showed up on Central HQ's doorstep, and Edward wasn't impressed with Lieutenant Mallory. Mallory was a short, squat man almost as wide as the desk he sat behind. He had thin, greying hair and beady little dark eyes that looked Edward from head to toe and then looked Alphonse from head to toe and back again.
"So you're the Fullmetal Alchemist," Mallory said to Alphonse. "I can see why."
"Actually..." Alphonse pointed at Edward, who stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Alphonse couldn't tell what his brother's expression meant, beyond the fact that he'd already decided that he didn't like Mallory.
Mallory's brows shot up to his receding hairline as he stared at Edward. "You? You're the Fullmetal Alchemist? You're like... Ten!"
"I'm fourteen. And he's my little brother." Ed replied, stressing the word 'little'. Alphonse tensed, if only because there was a tone in Ed's voice that said he was annoyed and ready to snap. "He's thirteen."
Mallory stared at them again, going back and forth between them for a little while. Then he sat back and rubbed his jaw. He looked about to say something, then seemed to think better of it. At last, he said, "Mustang says you're here to help with the investigation. I'm assuming he's already briefed you about the sensitive nature of the case."
"We're aware of the situation." Edward said. "We were hoping to take a look at the most recent scene, maybe get a look at the evidence and what the victim was working on."
Mallory didn't look pleased by that. Alphonse shifted and said, "What my brother means to say is that we'd like to get access to the files, preferably un-redacted, so that we can start formulating a hypothesis on why the killer is targeting these specific people and what we could possibly do to stop him."
"Are you sure you're the younger brother?" Mallory asked.
Edward let his breath whistle out from between his teeth, making a sound like a kettle about to boil over. "Okay, let's end the dance here. Are you going to let us do the job we were sent here to do, or not?"
Mallory glanced back and forth between the Elric brothers for a few minutes, then finally pushed his chair back. It made a loud creaking sound as he pulled his rotund body out of the chair, and when he stepped around the desk, it took all if Ed's willpower not to laugh. Mallory was only as tall as Ed himself, and Ed still had years of growing to do! Alphonse looked at his brother and glowered at him, but Ed only grinned at him.
"Follow me then." Mallory said as he began to walk out of the bullpen where his desk was. Ed and Alphonse exchanged a look with one another, then followed Mallory out of the squad room and into a stairwell. They went down several flights of stairs until they entered the climate-controlled basement where all of the evidence for the myriad cases Central HQ was working on were stored. Mallory nodded to the desk guard on duty, a woman with slicked black hair and baby blue eyes dressed in a crisply ironed uniform, signed in on the clipboard she handed him, then gestured for Ed and Alphonse to do the same.
"I hope I don't have to repeat myself about the sensitivity of the kind of work you'll be doing." Mallory said, leading the boys into the evidence locker. "You can't be going around blabbing about what you're going to see."
"The only people who'd care are alchemists and the government." Edward said. "Besides, I don't go around telling other people's secrets. The higher-ups wanted Mustang to do this, and he delegated it to us."
Mallory said nothing, but both Elric brothers got the feeling the rotund man was thinking rather nasty things about them. Or about Mustang. Or potentially about all three of them. Alphonse and Ed exchanged a look and then quietly followed Mallory through the magnetized gate when the lady in the uniform buzzed them in.
The hallway they were now in was long and narrow, made of whitewashed cinder blocks. There were doors set in the walls at even intervals with metal plates beside the doors, dictating in alphabetical order of case files. There were also numerical values attached to some of the plates, designating case numbers. The door that Mallory brought them to was halfway down the hall on the right side. The plate on the side of the door read "Al-Az 009-576". Edward rubbed his flesh hand against his thigh as if to try and quell some sort of nervous tic. Al knew his brother better than that, and knew Ed was trying to be as patient as he could. It seemed to be taking Mallory days to find the proper code to the door. Once Mallory keyed in the right code, the door hissed open and allowed them into a circular room filled with ceiling to floor with filing cabinets, each with their own little nameplate. A large round table dominated the exact center of the room, complete with four chairs and a large lamp.
Mallory flicked a switch set beside the door and the lamp and overhead lights flickered on. "Go sit. I'll bring the files out."
Knowing full well mouthing off might get them - and therefore Roy - in trouble, Ed and Al moved to obey Mallory. As they sat, the rotund officer brought them several thick folders and a box labeled with the name of the most recent victim, a man by the name of Viktor Murray. Ed accepted the box as Al took several of the folders. Mallory set the rest on the table across from the Elric brothers.
"I trust you can find your way back to the squad room when you're done?" Mallory asked.
Alphonse looked at the lieutenant. "Yes. We can manage. Should we put everything back when we're done?"
Mallory stared at Ed, but the blonde alchemist was already engrossed in one of the files and was hardly paying attention. Mallory looked back at Alphonse. "No. Just leave it out. I'll have someone come and put everything back."
Alphonse watched Mallory leave, knowing exactly why he was leaving the brothers alone, and why someone else would come in behind them to clean up. His attention was drawn away from the footsteps of the lieutenant by Ed's low whistle. "What is it, brother?"
"Looks like this guy is on par with a state alchemist," said Ed softly. He lay the folder he was studying flat on the table to let Alphonse take a look. "See? Look here. There's no way a dabbler could wreak damage this bad in such an elegant way."
Alphonse leaned over the file. The pictures of the body were grotesque at best, as if the camera person hadn't been able to focus properly on the crime scene because of the grisly nature of it. The body was of the first victim, one of the two state alchemists working on the translocation alchemy project. The man had been attacked right on the city's streets, between the laboratory where he'd been working and the apartment building where he'd been staying. Or, at least that's what the investigators had thought, since witnesses stated the man had been acting normal when he'd left the laboratory. He's started acting strange about a block from the apartment complex, suddenly sweating and clutching his chest as if he were having a heart attack. And before anyone could get close enough to try and help, his chest simply exploded outward.
"It's deconstruction alchemy." Alphonse stated, almost awed. "Whoever this killer is, he's able to stop the transmutation process exactly in the deconstruction phase."
"Kinda like someone else we know."
Both Ed and Al shivered slightly. Scar was still fresh in their minds, and though the Ishbalan hadn't been sighted for some time, his mere memory gave both boys reason to look over their shoulders and jump at shadows.
"Scar wouldn't be this elegant, though." Ed pointed out.
"No, and he only goes after famous titled state alchemists. This man, he wouldn't even be on Scar's list."
"But he was on somebody's." Ed said. He frowned. "It looks like the killer targeted his heart and lungs. Almost like he wanted the guy to suffer in the most horrible way possible."
"But the death was quick." Alphonse said. His metal finger tapped one of the hand written notes. "There wasn't as much blood and gore as there should have been for an explosion of that size."
Ed made a soft noise. He picked up another file, the second murder, and studied it. "I'll say one thing: this guy is good. It's almost like he knows where his victims will be at any given time, and how long he has to reach them before patrols show up."
"Then he must stalk them for a while. Learning their routes and habits and such."
"But he can do all that without being seen."
"Being an alchemist, changing his appearance wouldn't be that difficult. He could color his hair or pigment his skin. He could even alter his clothing."
Ed rubbed his chin. "This might be more difficult than we originally thought, Al."
Alphonse looked at his brother. "You think so?"
Ed nodded, a serious expression in his gold eyes. "Each victim was stalked and watched for long enough that the killer knew exactly where they'd be at any given time, and where the guards and patrols would be. Everything was calculated down to the last second. I wouldn't be surprised if the murderer is a State Alchemist."
Alphonse inhaled softly. "Ed, you know we can't go around accusing every State Alchemist."
"No. And we don't have that kind of time. We can probably eliminate all the State Alchemists outside Central, and anyone who had no direct contact with the victims." Ed paused. Wrinkled his nose. "Though, I don't think a State Alchemist would have the kind of time to do something like this, and they're too focused on their own projects to kill anyone over a project they have nothing to do with."
"So where does that leave us?"
"With a whole bunch of nothing, really."
Alphonse sat down in his chair and studied the open files before them. "So what do we do, Brother?"
Ed sat back and folded his arms over his chest. "I hate to say it, but without a fresh crime scene, we aren't going to get any more answers. I don't want any more people to die, but..." He let the sentence trail off.
Alphonse understood completely. Even with all the material splayed before them, they couldn't come up with more than a basic theory on who - or what - the killer was. That he was an alchemist was obvious. That he was skilled enough to use that alchemy quickly and efficiently in a deadly way, too, was obvious. The danger they now faced weighed heavily on the Elric boys. No one had seen the killer, so Ed and Al didn't have any sort of description of the person.
There were heavy footsteps outside the door and the Elric brothers looked up sharply as Mallory flung the door open, his round cheeks red from the exertion he'd just gone through. Ed pushed himself up from the table, his body tensing at the sight of Mallory's countenance. "What is it?" Ed asked.
"The killer's struck again." Mallory panted. "He was almost caught in the act this time. A few soldiers were able to keep up with him and find his hideout."
Ed clenched his fists. He looked at Alphonse, then at Mallory. "Can you show us where?"
Mallory nodded. "That's why I ran down here as soon as I found out."
Ed and Alphonse left the files on the table and hurried after Mallory, both eager and afraid of what they might find.
- 2
- 3
- 4
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Time's Scar