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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Eight
Edward kept sneaking glances at Alphonse when his brother wasn't looking. The two of them had reunited soon after Alphonse and the killer had vanished from the scene and Ed had the sneaking suspicion his brother knew something he didn't. And that something wasn't anything Alphonse was going to share with him any time soon. Alphonse hadn't said much about his personal encounter with the man in black, only that he was a capable fighter and a brilliant alchemist. Ed knew both those things already, but he was certain that the something Alphonse wasn't telling him had to do with what happened between the time he and the killer vanished and when Alphonse rejoined them.
Both were attending the debriefing of Rhys Houck, the intended victim and now only known survivor of an encounter with the killer. Alphonse had kept quiet for the most part, just listening to Rhys as he explained what had happened and then profusely thanked the Elric brothers for saving him when they did. Mallory was there, as well as a few of Mallory's superiors, and Ed knew they were all there to make sure Rhys didn't say more than what he was allowed about the translocation alchemy project. And as much as Ed listened, he couldn't figure out why the killer would be going after Rhys, since the man was only dealing with the alchemy meant for stabilization, rather than the alchemy meant for the actual translocation.
"He must've come down from the roof," Rhys was saying, "because no one saw him on the lower floors. And he seemed to know exactly where I was."
Mallory looked at his superiors and then scratched a few notes on the pad of paper by his elbow. "Well, you don't have to worry about him now. You'll be taken to a secure location and well-protected."
Rhys grinned, but Ed saw fear in his eyes. If the killer could get to him in a secure building like the one he'd worked in, then the killer could definitely find a way into the "secure location" and finish the job he'd tried to start.
When the superiors led Rhys from the room, Mallory looked toward Alphonse. "I don't suppose you saw his face?"
Alphonse shook his head. "No. It was too dark. But I don't think he's working alone, or killing willingly."
Both Ed and Mallory raised an eyebrow as they regarded Alphonse. Edward moved toward his little brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean, Al?" Ed asked, trying not to let his voice sound either too angry or too condescending. If he did that, Alphonse probably would never answer until he was confident he could back up his story.
"When I followed him into the alley, he was meeting with some woman." Alphonse replied, his fingers twining together and clenching tight. "I couldn't see much of her, but I heard her talking to the killer. She said something about this Olivier person making him pay."
"It could be this Olivier his paying the killer to do this." Mallory reasoned. "Take out any competition."
Alphonse shook his head. "No, I don't think that's it. Ed, you saw it. Not once did he try to kill us. He didn't want to hurt us. And when it was just me and him, all he did was try to escape. He didn't once try to hurt me, either physically or with alchemy. Ed, I don't think he wants to do this. I think he's being forced to do it."
Ed blinked at his little brother. Alphonse wasn't one to say things idly. He was honest, and if he believed what he was saying, then Ed wondered at the validity of his words. Before the elder Elric could say anything, Mallory snorted and slapped closed the file he had been taking notes in. Both brothers looked at him in askance.
Mallory snorted again. "Do you really think anyone would kill innocent people willingly? No, he wants to do this, why I don't know and intend to find out. He's killing in my city, and I don't intend to let him live long enough to regret it."
Ed frowned. "But if he is doing this against his will, shouldn't we catch him and then get him to help us catch whoever's putting him up to this?"
"Once we catch him and make him pay for what he's done, then we can wring out of him the name of the bastard putting him up to this." Mallory looked at Alphonse. "He spared you for a reason, I'm sure. So you should be able build a rapport with him. If we can find him, anyway. And when we do, you can convince him to come with you."
"Bold plan." Ed said dryly. "But it doesn't work if we don't know where he is. And I won't let you use my brother as bait."
Mallory just looked at Ed. The rotund lieutenant's face mottled a little bit, but then he seemed to get his emotions under control. Finally the lieutenant rose from his chair and stalked out of the room, leaving the Elric brothers alone.
For a while, Edward and Alphonse sat in silence. Both were lost in their own thoughts about the situation, and for a while they kept their thoughts to themselves. Finally, though, Alphonse looked at Edward and said, "Brother, I don't think we can do this by ourselves. If it was anyone else we were trying to capture, I think we'd be okay, but this guy... There's something about him that scares me."
Edward looked at Alphonse and frowned. "Do you think we're getting in over our heads?"
Alphonse shrugged. "I don't know, Ed. I only know what I saw. He... he protected me, brother. That woman tried to kill me, and he protected me."
There it was, the hesitation in Alphonse's voice. There was something else that happened to Alphonse, between him and the killer, and he still wasn't telling Edward what it was. So Ed forced his little brother to look him in the eyes, and asked, "What happened out there, Al? When you two were falling, you just vanished into thin air. And then you showed up on the other side of Central." He took a deep breath. "What happened to you?"
Alphonse hesitated. Then, softly, he said, "It's hard to explain."
"Try me."
Alphonse looked up at Edward and then away. The silence grew until it felt as thick and as smothering as smoke. Then Alphonse sighed. "He put me back together."
"What?"
Alphonse looked at Ed. "When we appeared in that alley, he tried to leave and I stopped him. He never hurt me. He just tried to get away from me. And then that lady appeared, after I chased him into another alley. And when she saw me, she attacked me with some kind of alchemy that created stone bullets and tore my armor apart." Alphonse shivered at the memory, though he hadn't felt any pain. He took a deep breath. "She had an alchemy circle carved into her hand, brother. The killer saw it and managed to deflect the worst of it from me, and then he turned on her. It looked like he was going to kill her for what she did to me, but he let her go. And then he fixed me. He drew the same circle you do, and he fixed me."
Edward stared at Alphonse, trying to comprehend what his little brother was saying. There was no one in the world who could put Alphonse back together except for Edward. That was because Ed had drawn the blood circle on the inside of the armor, anchoring Alphonse's spirit to the mortal plane and to the armor. Only Ed knew how to use the alchemical formula contained in that blood circle to put Alphonse back together without irreparably harming his soul. So how could a stranger, someone neither of them had met or interacted with beyond recent events, access that alchemy to do what he did?
Finally Ed swallowed. "You don't suppose..."
"I don't know, and I'm scared."
Edward rubbed his face and looked toward the door, wondering if anyone was on the other side listening. Then he looked at Alphonse, and the younger Elric nodded. They wouldn't discuss anything here, where anyone could eavesdrop, but as soon as they were alone, they'd begin bouncing theories off each other.
But judging by the look on Edward's face, Alphonse knew that his brother was thinking the same thing he was. Someone was trying to kill people working on this translocation alchemy project, and the reason why was starting to seem clear, if a little crazy. Someone was trying to kill the project, because that someone had already succeeded where this project hadn't yet, and it was a good bet that the killer was the result of that success.
Edward looked at Alphonse. "I'm going to call Mustang. If this is really what's happening," he didn't elaborate and Alphonse was grateful for that, "then we're going to need him."
"I think so." Alphonse agreed.
The Elric brothers left the interrogation room then and made their way out of the building. For all intents and purposes, they made it seem as if they were just going back to their room that had been provided for them in the closest hotel, but as soon as they got there, Ed made his way to the closest phone and dialed Eastern HQ.
"Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric," Ed said when the lady on the other end asked who he was. "I'd like to speak to Colonel Roy Mustang. Please." He tacked on at the end, knowing that him asking 'please' would get Roy's attention.
It wasn't long before there was a deep voice on the other end of the line. Ed smiled grimly. "Roy. We need your help."
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Time's Scar