Welcome back you guys

Welcome back you guys! It's great to have ya here to read up some more on my latest fanfic 'Departmental Issues'! Things are a little hectic on my end, but it's all worth it if I get some real good feedback every once and a while. But enough about that. Let's get on with the show! I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any shape or form, but having a Mustang plushie would be the most awesome thing right now. Enjoy!!

"Iii" speech

Iii thoughts

Chapter 6: Painful Memories

Walking back towards the elevator doors with his younger brother walking right next to him. Just like old times. He thought, almost smiling at the memory of heading down a dirt road in the summer sun. Back when his leg had been normal and their mother was still with them. Ed fought down his hate towards their father. Now wasn't the time to be remembering the man who'd vanished without even bothering to tell them why he wouldn't be coming back. Looking over at his younger sibling, the blonde felt questions rising as they neared the metal doors of the elevator.

"Why was Mustang confused when you told him I was your brother?" he had to ask his sibling. It was a little strange that Al had a neighbor who knew little about him.

Perking up at the question, Al just smiled a little sheepishly. "Oh that? I guess I kinda failed to mention you to him. Only Winry knew about you to be honest."

"No one else?" Ed couldn't help but look extremely incredulous at this concept of only being known by one person other than his new coworkers.

"Afraid not. I guess… I was still sad about not being able to find you." Al said with a dismal smile, his eyes miles away.

Ed's annoyance at this lack of information brought him back to reality as the older of the two scowled at him from under the thin layer of dust. "Would've made it a lot easier knowing that there was a cop living here. Not to mention the fact that I now have to see him here but also at work! How strange is that?"

"I'd say that's definitely a little weird." Al said with a small laugh, ducking in time for Ed to take a swing at him.

"Don't smile! The guy's a complete bastard." He snapped, looking enraged that not only had he missed, but also that his little brother was smiling over a guy he'd come to dislike intently.

Alphonse just rolled his eyes at his brother's almost childish behavior. "Well… I wouldn't say that."

The blonde in question raised an eyebrow, curious at what his younger brother was getting at. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that you're just using your first impression as a means of judging him too quickly. Why don't you try opening up to him more? He might prove that he's more human than you think." Al said with a knowing smile.

Ed just scowled in annoyance. "Something tells me I'm not gonna like where you're takin' this conversation. He's conceited it makes me sick to my stomach!"

"C'mon Ed. He's not that bad." The younger of the two said, rolling his eyes at his brother's predictable stubbornness at denying what he knew to exist. "I've known him for almost four years so I know what I'm saying when I tell you he's capable of more stuff than anyone we know."

Ed's scowl deepened to an almost dark and suspicious look. "I'll hold you to that."

"I bet you will." Alphonse said with another kind laugh before his own curiosity kicked in just in time for the elevator to come to a stop, the doors opening to allow them to exit the metal box. "Are you really gonna take his car?"

The blonde's angered expression instantly transformed into triumphant glee that would make one believe he'd won the lottery. "You bet! That thing is a pretty sweet set of wheels."

Al could only shake his head with a laugh as they came to a stop in front of the apartment doors, Ed standing in front of his own while Alphonse came to stand in front of Roy's. "Only you, Ed, only you can talk about cars like they're girls."

"What are you saying?" the scowl had returned ten fold.

"Nothing."

It deepened further and with a vengeance as Ed practically screamed into his brother's ear. "Like hell! Spit it out!"

Oddly enough, Alphonse merely ignored his brother's demand, literally waving away the blonde's words. "You just go shower and head out to work. I'll get some of Roy's clothes and head back upstairs. We'll make sure to save some food for when you come back."

"Damn straight! Later bro." Ed said with a cocky smile, apparently having let the subject slide.

Literally parting ways, the two brothers headed into a separate door: Alphonse into Roy's while Ed stepped through his own. The door shut behind him with a finality that made it seem as though it would never open again. Thankful of the cane, the wooden curve fairly warm in his hand, Ed knew that without it he'd be on the floor from the pain his leg was giving him. Not the annoying twinge, but a silent screaming that threatened to be voiced from his own throat. Another saving grace came from the fact that he had been smart to put the pill bottle in his pocket before leaving the office. The sad part being that he wasn't supposed to drive after taking them.

Deciding instead to ignore the pulsating agony in his leg, the blonde man made his way towards his bathroom where he instinctively shut the door behind himself, hanging his cane on a towel rack as his clothes fell to the tile floor. It wasn't long before he had the water running at full speed, calmly waiting for the deceptive water to go from ice cold to steaming hot. Upon stepping into the crash of water did the blonde regret setting it to high as he let out a small hiss of discomfort. Thankfully his reflexes were sharp enough for him to quickly turn the knob to a lower temperature, easing the loud protest of his skin.

Amidst the steam and sound of running water, Edward stared down, quietly observing his legs as he did every time he was in the shower. One leg, being the left, was unmarred and perfectly normal. Smooth skin, completely natural in the purest way. The right however, was not like the left. Color and texture set the two legs apart: one smooth and intact, the other discolored by a light brown patch/line making a jagged path across the much paler skin. Every time, Ed didn't know whether to laugh bitterly or to just start crying like he'd done the hundreds of times the year it'd happened. Instead he smirked sullenly to himself and set to washing himself off. He was tired of crying over his past, and such a thing would do nothing to reverse it so he could go back and undo it all.

It felt like hours before he finally left the bathroom in search of fresh clothes with only a towel around his waist, feeling renewed but close to sleepy. But he knew better than to just fall asleep now. Riza, though only knowing her for about a day, didn't seem like one of those people who liked to be kept waiting. So, against his own wishes and that of his tired body, Ed redressed and got ready to leave for another serving of work with mutilated dead people on the side.

--About 20 Minutes Later—

Riza had returned to the large meeting room when Ed walked through the door, completely clean and dust free. What puzzled her, however, was the fact that his attire hadn't changed that much at all since the last she'd seen him. Black jean jacket over a navy green v-neck t-shirt, atop navy blue jeans and the same black boots/sneakers he'd had on when he'd shown up that morning. As usual, he had his cane with him.

She raised a delicate eyebrow in question at this somewhat lacking change in the blonde man's appearance. "Did you change out at all? Or did you somehow wash your clothes in time to show up here for the rest of your shift?"

The blonde in question stopped in his tracks, blinking in surprised before giving her a half-felt scowl. "Of course I did! I just like to keep things simple. Besides, no one told me if there was a dress code or not so… I come in what I feel like wearing. And this is it."

"I see. Well, I managed to organize some of the new data Roy and I managed to dig up before we were all called to that scene. It seems that our serial killer has been doing some moving around." She said calmly, ignoring his expression enough to point at the pile of file folders sitting at her end of the table.

For all she knew, the handicap man teleported from the front of the room to the end of the table and right next to her as he started flipping through the manila folders and their contents. His expression barely changed, though his golden eyes seemed to hint confusion or deep thought. Beyond that, he might as well have been as stoic as Roy when he was dealing with something he cared nothing for.

The blonde's voice brought her out of her mental comparison. "Hm. I thought as much. From the older case that I managed to dig out of my notes before I came back, you can see just how similar the path taken between the two events are when you take a look at this map I made back when I first started following the case on my own."

It wasn't until then that the older woman noticed that Ed had walked into the room with a folder of his own from which he pulled out a rather old map of New York State, old ink marking cities and small towns with dates scribbled next to them. The mere number of the ones marked astonished the seasoned detective. "This is… extensive. Are you sure that these aren't the work of the same guy?"

"I'm positive now that I've seen just how different the scenes are. The first killer always had these circles made of the victim's drying blood at his scenes all over the walls and even on the ground." Ed said coolly, looking down at the old map in a thoughtful manner, as if he were perplexed by something. "But with our much more recent scenes, he's only just now beginning to incorporate the circles into his 'masterpieces' and then some."

Riza nodded in understanding. "That bomb you found before it exploded. But why circles with other shapes in them when you can just right some kind of weird message? That doesn't make any sense."

"Not when you know what they're for." He said, shaking his head before bringing his free hand up to rub his chin, still staring down at the map. "These circles are called 'transmutation circles', and they're a key element in performing alchemy."

Though she always remained stoic and collected, Riza couldn't help but let her confusion shine through her calm mask. "So… what? He's trying to turn lead into gold?"

Ed merely smirked, waving away the question. "No. He's probably trying to do something a bit more serious. And he definitely thinks it'll work when he's done."

"Which is what exactly? And why alchemy?"

He could only shrug, giving her a look that said that he was just as lost. "To be honest, alchemy is considered a science and the very roots of chemistry. Each of these involves dealing with elements in a mineral or substance. Despite the fact that early on it was used to try and make other metals into gold and prolong human life, it was killed off before every scientist in Europe created its more serious and ethical descendant."

"Modern day sciences."

Ed nodded, a ghostly smirk playing on his lips. "Exactly. So my guess is that this guy thinks that if he uses the old 'hocus pocus' version of chemistry, aka alchemy, he's going to accomplish something that normal science and laws of nature can't."

Riza couldn't help but look deadpan. "What? Prolong his own life span?"

"Maybe but we can't jump the gun just yet." Ed said, calmly looking away and back down at the map, worn edges showing how many times it'd been folded and moved around again and again. "I'll need to dig a bit deeper if we want to be absolutely sure of what this guy's up to and why he's murdering people."

The older woman could only sigh, the slight indication of bags appearing under her amber eyes a bit more apparent now as she picked up the old map and began to pin it to an extra board on the wall. "In the meantime, we had to wait on the crime scene photos to come in. that is if they haven't come in already. Just how big was the explosion?"

Once again, Ed merely shrugged the question off. "Not all that big but powerful enough to take down half the building it was next to it would seem. Lucky for us that building was already abandoned."

"I just hope that it doesn't run out on us." she said, sound tired for once as she headed for the door with her mug in hand before pausing to inquire. "Coffee?"

But what she saw troubled her. Though she'd known the younger man for at least a day, the fact that he was standing before the meeting table, leaning a bit too heavily on his cane with his other hand hiding his face from view was a bit more than troubling in her mind. Cautiously, she spoke again. "Ed?"

He suddenly looked up, a look of puzzlement on his face. "Hm? Oh. No but thanks, I had some before I came back in."

"Are you sure that you're all right Edward?" Riza asked, a look of worry marring her normally emotionless features. "You seem a little pale."

"I-it's nothing. Just my leg being a complete nuisance is all." he knew he was lying to her. The pain was almost overwhelming as always. But he wasn't about to tell her that when there was work to be done. "I'll be fine."

Apparently Riza didn't take no for an answer as she practically marched back to where he stood, the look of worry still lingering as she pulled out on of the chairs. From what Ed could see, she was determined to ensure his well being regardless of what little they knew of each other. "Why don't you sit down? You look like you could use a few minutes off your feet."

Only then did Ed cave, giving her a kind smile as he nodded before moving to obey with a calm chuckle. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, I still need to look over all these files. We still need to figure out why this is happening."

"Very true." Another question lingered in her mind before she let it past her lips, knowing that Ed was the only one who knew the most. "Is Roy alright?"

Ed chose to shrug again, focusing his attention of the files laid out on the tabletop for him to truly read through. "He'll be fine. I left him with my brother."

"Your brother? I didn't know you had family here in New York Ed."

"Well, he's been here longer than I have so it seemed better than leaving him by himself. Especially with a migraine like the one he has." The blonde man said coolly, not even fazed by the fact that Mustang was feeling ill.

Riza could only look a bit surprised at the blonde man's prediction of her coworker's ailment. "A migraine? Are you serious?"

Another calm shrug answered this inquiry. "I've seen it before. He may've appeared drunk but lacking the slur and the smell from alcohol."

As if on cue, Breda, Fuery, Falman and Havoc walked in, all looking a bit ruffled and perhaps a little dusty from being around a half collapsed building for close to an hour or more. The first to speak was Breda as he held up what appeared to be a manila folder, let out a big grin and spoke in an all-too cheerful voice at the younger blonde seated at the table. "Hey boss! Lookin' for these?"

"Boss? Is that my new nickname or something?" Ed inquired with a smirk, leaning back into his chair while Riza claimed a seat across from him.

The grin seemed to grow as if in pride, the other officers seeming to follow suit with the red haired man. "Well yeah! Since you, Roy and Riza are the brains behind this whole thing, we kinda thought you'd need a nickname of a sort. After all, we heard you attacked Denny with a stool over in Tox earlier today."

Riza was quickly intrigued but this new piece of information. "You attacked Denny? What for?"

"Um… well…" Ed stammered nervously, hoping the blonde woman wouldn't think any less of him than she did.

"He called him sho--." Fuery began to say before Havoc, upon realizing what the mousy mortician was going to say, went deathly pale and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth before another syllable of the word could be uttered.

Almost instantly, Ed's expression had gone from calm and kind natured to deathly enraged, golden eyes flashing with hidden, seething rage as he glared from across the room a the four men who'd entered. "What was that?"

"Nothing!" Havoc said almost a little too quickly, understanding when he noticed that his three friends had begun to pale under the blonde man's murderous gaze burning holes into their skulls. "Nothing at all! Honest!"

"Better have been nothin'. Or else…." Ed let the words hang in the air, making Riza, not to mention the four officers at the front of the room, worry about the sanity of their new profiler even as he went on to begin reading one of the files on the table in front of him. Despite this sudden calm, it still didn't ease their sudden fear of the blonde. One could now say that 'hell has no wrath like a testy blonde scorned'.

--With Mustang—

Even though it'd only been a few minutes, it felt like an eternity before Al finally showed up with a new set of clothes for him. At least now he knew that Winry wasn't exactly cursing his name every five to fifteen seconds when he was within earshot. Now it seemed as if her anger had merely given in to sadness over her loss. His foolish mistake of actually doing what he was told. It was thoughts like this that made him wonder if he should've swallowed a bullet by now. This time, like all the other times, he chose to ignore such thoughts. Last time he'd tried it, Al had come in with groceries for him while the time before that, Winry had walked in after returning with a load of clean clothes she'd voluntarily cleaned for him despite his not asking her to do so. He could only shiver at the memory of the time long before where Riza had caught him. Never had he seen such rage in her amber eyes.

"Roy?" a voice inquired from somewhere above him, making him snap out of his thoughts long enough to force an eye to open. Wincing at the oddly bright lighting in the room, Roy caught sight of Alphonse staring down at him with a look of concern. As he silently cursed himself for not being attentive, the 22-year-old man spoke again with the same tone of worry in his voice.

"Are you alright Roy?"

His throat felt unusually dry while his tone was obviously expressing his slowly growing fatigue. "Yeah. Just… really tired."

Blurry vision made it a little difficult to see the understanding smile on the younger man's face. "Can you stand up? I have your clothes and some others to sleep in if you want to crash here for the night."

"Sleep sounds good right now." Al's kind laughter filled his ears. It was apparent that he wasn't really taking his answer all that seriously. He really did want to keep on sleeping. Or at least until he stopped feeling like an old newspaper that had stains of ink where words and pictures should be.

"You need to get clean first silly! Not to mention some food in your stomach. If I know you like I do, you probably haven't eaten in hours."

Roy knew that the younger man wouldn't leave him be, and Winry would only just come and help if he failed. Not wanting to make the girl even more upset than she probably already was, the raven-haired man chose to give in. "Alright… you win."

"Good! Now c'mon. Up we go." Al said encouragingly, making the older man aware of the warm hands lifting him upright.

Roy allowed himself to be pulled upwards and onto his still unsteady feet. Even after having such a peaceful lie down, he still felt very dizzy and his vision was still a bit on the blurry side. But he let himself be led out of the room, down the hall and towards the bathroom where Al eased him onto the toilet seat.

He knew that the room wasn't all that different from his own considering that all the apartments had been designed all the same. The only difference was that everything was just facing a different direction. "Do you need any more help?"

Shaking his head at the blurry image of the younger brunette, Roy wanted some time to himself. He hated being treated like a weak old man. "I don't think so. Unless the shower stall is on the ceiling, tell me."

Alphonse just chuckled at his words, patting him gently on the shoulder before heading for the door. "No, it's not. I'll be around if you need me."

"Right." He said simply, not knowing what else to say to him.

Almost soundlessly, the light haired brunette left the older raven-haired man to himself and his thoughts again. Fighting down the pain in his head, Roy somehow, as if by some miracle, managed to stand up by himself and shed his coat. Immediately he felt his shoulders protest at the movement. Biting down a hiss of pain, Roy managed to focus all his attention on getting his clothes off all the while hoping not to make a sound that would alert the young couple that something might be wrong.

When he finally got his shirt and tie off, he was thankful to sit down and pull off his shoes, nearly falling over from vertigo. It almost made him think that the whole room was spinning and he was stationary while sitting on the porcelain bowl. Somehow he ignored this and continued with his task, thankful that it'd only lasted a few moments before he had to stand up again to deal with his pants.

--Meanwhile, Elsewhere—

Since his latest attempt at sending a message had failed, he felt rage boiling under his stoic demeanor. But he knew better than to let it show through. Not that he cared what they thought of him that much. He simply wasn't used to expressing himself to an extent that made others aware of what he might be thinking. No use scaring the sheep half to death when you're just going to strike them from behind when no one's looking. That would just spoil the hunt. Leaving such thoughts for later, he turned in the darkness of his lair to face his latest catch trying to wriggle their way out of a spindly chair.

Eyes wide and darting, the woman's hands flopped around, as if hoping to catch onto something that was far beyond their reach. Shoulders twisted and shook against the thick layers of duct tape that kept her in place as her breathing raced like a horse that'd just finished a race. Her attempts to scream were muffled by the cloth over her mouth as a small river of red mixed with her sweat. Little did she know how her fear calmed his foul mood to where he could ignore how annoyed he'd been at the lack of results from the bomb he'd set nearly a day before. If he'd known it'd be so damn weak, he'd have built it differently.

Oh well. I'll deal with that later. For now, I need to make up for lost time. He thought almost absently as he gripped the weapon in his hand. The woman's muffled screams of terror grew a little louder, eyes as wide as humanly possible as the dim glisten of light on metal flashed in the dark only to swiftly come down in an arch of silver as it pierced cloth, skin and flesh. Within seconds of striking, red was everywhere. It'd been only a matter of hours since he'd seen such a thing as he quickly brought the blade up again for another strike, not caring that the woman was still weakly struggling against her bounds even as she slowly lost life and energy.

After what felt like hours, the woman had gone still, her eyes staring at nothing while her face remained contorted in fear and pain. This was common for him, even when the target had been male. They'd tried to fight against what held them down and failed. Looking down at the complex circle drawn onto the worn, concrete floor, he could only hope that he'd been able to get the soul. Even if he didn't think of them as people, they still had souls. To him, souls meant energy. Power. Elements to be mixed with others of his choosing so that the desired outcome could occur as per his design. Only he needed more souls, more energy, in order for it to work the way he wanted. Sadly, like all the times before, the circle under the chair didn't even flicker to life with power or light to show that her soul had been collected. Instead, he looked to his arm.

The markings upon it had always puzzled him. He'd never really known what they were for, only that his brother had sacrificed his life for him to have it. Where his shoulder ended and the arm began was separated by a thick, jagged line, one skin a little darker than the other. Written down under the slightly darker skin, the black lines of graceful designs, their exact meaning unknown to even him. All he knew was that it was when he killed that they glowed a strange red color, just like they were now.

Hm. Another soul added to the collection. How odd that the markings work but the circle doesn't. Oh well. I still have so much to do before I can stop now. He thought, his bare feet padding quietly on the cold concrete as he traveled up the concrete stairs to the small house he owned a good half hour out of the big city limits. All he really needed to do at this point was get rid of the woman before she started to stink in time to find another useless soul for his strange arm to collect. But even he knew better than to be walking around the Big Apple with no clothes on and with blood covering him from nearly head to toe.

Right hand twitching from the marking's recent activity, while ignoring the sight of an 'x' shaped scar adorning his own forehead and oddly reddish brown eyes, the unnamed man made the silent journey to his small bathroom to rid his tanned, muscular body of the woman's blood like he'd done so many times before. As he turned on the water and waited for the temperature to rise, the scar faced man couldn't help but wonder just what to do about the golden blonde now walking in the midst of his countless enemies.

--With Ed—

The blonde in question somehow held back a powerful sneeze, making the blonde woman seated across from him raise an eyebrow. Letting out a sniffle and a sigh of relief, Ed pretended not to notice her scrutiny.

Riza wasn't so indifferent to this close call of possible allergies. "Are you coming down with a cold Ed? I can finish up here."

"No. I'm fine. Someone's probably just talking about me or somethin'." He said with a calm shrug, flipping through another one of the many files before letting it come down with a flop onto the top of the pile as he grabbed for another one.

"Oh? A girl?" Havoc inquired from down the table, sounding a bit too hopeful for someone who looked like he was about to break down and cry like a baby from on going depression.

Ed just scowled at him from over his notes. "Are you kidding me? I've only been here a week! The only people who actually know me are you guys, that bastard Mustang and my brother and his girlfriend."

"Your brother has a girlfriend?" Riza inquired, her usually toneless voice hinted with disbelief at this piece of information.

The blonde man nodded before looking down at his notes again, flipping through a page or two before coming back again and writing something down. "Yeah. Some blonde girl named Winry Rockbell."

"Winry?" they seemed to say in unison, looking a little surprised to hear the name coming from someone they barely knew.

He couldn't help but look a little surprised himself that they knew the girl at all, having thought that only Roy and Al knew about her. Apparently not. "You guys know her?"

"Sort of. She and Roy have known each other for quite a while. But we didn't know you were Al's brother." Falman said from across the table, his words confirmed by their nods of acknowledgment, obviously feeling a little awkward for not seeing the connection before.

Man. Did Al really keep to himself about me? Ed could only shrug away his thoughts and the man's words, trying to ignore his growing annoyance over the matter as he jotted down a few more quick notes. "Yeah well, Roy didn't know about me until Al pointed out the fact that our last names are the same."

"That's Roy for you."

"I don't know him all that well so no, I don't." the blonde deadpanned, not looking all that amused over the whole thing.

Ignoring his words entirely, Riza gave him a prolonged glance before looking away again. "Now you're sure you don't want to leave early?"

This time Ed just let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm pretty sure Riza. I need to be able to read these later on. Hopefully good ol' Detective Bastard'll be conscious to read them too."

"How was he when you left anyway?" Havoc inquired even as Breda and Fuery tried to hold back snickers at Ed's nickname for their superior officer.

"Pained, not to mention sleepy as hell." The blonde said calmly, not even bothered by his description of the older man's suffering. "Poor asshole couldn't even stand up on his own two feet."

Riza merely scowled at her own papers, apparently holding back annoyance and seething rage over the raven-haired man's stubbornness. "I warned him about staying up so long like that. Hopefully he'll listen this time around."

"Well, you sounded like you were going to force your hand through the receiver and shoot him in the ass if he didn't so I think he will."

The blonde woman, as well as all others in the room, looked right at Ed in obvious surprise. But surprise gave in to confusion, as Havoc was the first to speak. "How do you know that?"

"Experience." He said bluntly. Ed didn't see any point in lying.

All the man seemed to nearly stand up in surprise. "What? Really? You've met someone as harsh as Riza?"

The woman in question scowled defensively at Havoc but said nothing as Ed scratched his chin in thought. "Well… probably not someone as harsh, but definitely strict."

"So? Who was it?" Breda asked, his expression showing how he and his comrades wanted to be informed of this other Riza-like individual.

If only blunt was Ed's middle name. "My foster mom."

There was a long, awkward silence, only Ed wasn't feeling anywhere near awkward. He knew they'd ask such a question. And he'd prepared himself for it over a thousand times over.

"Y-your foster mother?" even as Riza spoke the one thing on their minds, the four men occupying the table with the room's two original occupants could only sit in a shocked silence. "What about your brother?"

Ed refused to look their way as he continued his task of flipping through pages and occasionally taking notes. He didn't want them to see his pain. "He got sent to a different home."

"O-oh. I see." He knew that if he looked, Ed would see the pained look in her eyes as she tried to go on. "I didn't mean to--."

Putting on a calm expression, Ed cut her off. "No, no. It's fine. I'm just glad I could track him down after all these years."

Ignoring their shocked scrutiny of him, Ed continued to work calmly as if he hadn't said a thing. Though it wasn't until a few hours later that he finally gave in to Riza's insistent nagging that he packed up what he had and, fingering Mustang's keys as if they were the key to the biggest secret on earth, Ed headed out into the parking lot and into the night. Even though his first day on the job had been a strange one, it was still well worth being near his brother again.

--With Roy—

Hot water, fresh clothing, a little food and two foul tasting pills were all the raven-haired man needed to feel refreshed. But it also made him very sleepy after only being truly conscious for about two full hours of dealing with a young couple who nearly scolded him for his brash way of working too hard every ten to fifteen minutes. Just thinking back about it almost made him chuckle. Al and Winry knew him a bit too well for his own good. But it wasn't really all his fault that they'd come to know him as a friend rather than a neighbor. Not with the past he had.

Wincing at the horrible memories threatening to surface, Roy somehow pushed them aside as he almost flopped lazily onto the couch where Al and Ed had left him nearly five hours beforehand before Ed left for work and Al left to get him the clean clothes he was now wearing. He didn't like to impose on the young pair who tried to treat him just like family. Not that he didn't want to be treated as such, only he didn't see why they'd trust him in the first place.

Is it their way of saying 'I forgive you'? Or are they just tryin' to keep me from drinking again? He thought absentmindedly. It'd been when he'd tried to commit suicide that he'd also been drinking heavily. Real heavily and not just two bottles of tonic and gin either. He could really hold his liquor now that he'd gotten used to the taste and the slight buzz that came later and later into his frenzies. But what didn't really change was the taste of the drinks he practically inhaled in his times of depression. Even if the drink was meant for a happier occasion, with a sweet taste and enlightening smell, it was never really enough to get him back to reality.

"Hey." Roy looked up to find Alphonse standing only a few feet away from him, that kind smile ever present on his lips.

Blinking in surprise and pushing away his thoughts, Roy managed to get his voice working again. "Huh? Oh, hey."

Kindness shifted to worry as the younger man sat down next to the detective on the couch, looking right into ink black eyes. "Are you feeling alright?"

Roy only shrugged. "Sort of."

"Well, 'sort of' isn't going to cut it." Al said a little sternly, a rare thing for the man to do even as annoyance gave way to concern again. "Do you want to stay here? Or do you want to go back to your own place?"

This time Roy only shook his head, feeling fatigue hit him like a runaway eighteen-wheeler that had no driver behind the wheel. "I think I'll crash here for now. I don't think I want to fall asleep while walking out the door."

"That would be something." Al chuckled mostly to himself, making the older man scowl through his dizzying weariness.

"Shut up."

"Okay, okay fine. Mr. 'I'm Not Suffering From Lack Of Sleep'."

Roy merely scowled at the younger man, none too pleased with his words. "Did you come in here to taunt me? Or did you have something to say?"

"Yeah, I've got something to say: stop working yourself so hard. Winry and Riza won't be to happy when they find out you're not taking care of yourself like you should these days. Especially now that you're working on a case."

This sent them both into a calm silence, though Roy looked almost as though he'd been slapped before the scowl returned a little. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

Al just smirked in a disturbingly knowing manner. "No. Only that Brother's coming home in an hour with notes on your case that he made for you to read when he gets here."

"Ah. That's if I'm awake when he gets here."

The younger male just chuckled at his words only to give in to the ever-persistent concern that always hid beneath the surface. "Roy. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Roy said nothing, deciding to focus his gaze on his hands rather than look into the kind, cool grey eyes boring holes into the side of his skull. "I'd rather not go into it."

"You're sure?"

"I'm pretty sure Al." then something occurred to him that'd escaped his mind for a while now. "But why didn't you tell me you had a brother? I didn't really think to see the connection between your names but… honestly Alphonse, why?"

Something in the man's eyes flashed, something that Roy didn't like seeing even if it was practically the second time in his life to have seen it coming from such a gentle person as Alphonse. No one should see such a strong gloom. Ever. Alphonse merely shook his head, the look in his eye vanishing as the smile returned once again. "Get some sleep Roy. If I know my brother like I do, he'll just try to keep you awake no matter what you say to him."

"You're avoiding the question here." Roy growled, not liking how he wasn't getting any kind of answers from the man.

Al just smirked at him as he stood up. "Look who's talkin'."

Roy didn't really have to think it over. "… Fair enough."

Smiling kindly at him, Alphonse left the older man to sit in the barely lit living room to stare into the dark to ponder their brief discussion. Why, of all things, had Al left out the one thing about himself upon first meeting him all those years back? Did Winry know about Edward before he did? What else was the younger man keeping from him that made him wonder if something else was happening that he didn't know about? And why didn't I notice that Ed and Al's last names were the same? How could I've been so stupid to miss something that obvious?! He thought to himself in frustration, only to feel that ever-insistent pain that should've been masked by pills.

Clearing his mind in the hopes of dulling the aching pain that pulsated through his head, Roy tried to focus on getting a good night's sleep rather than staying up all night deep in thought or doing something work related like he'd done for the past couple of days. Only now he realized that it'd been a stupid thing to do. Before he could lay back down onto the wonderful piece of furniture dubbed the couch, the raven-haired man noticed that something had been left on the coffee table seated a mere half foot away from him. Curious in as to what it could be, Roy made a reach for it.

The object in question turned out to be an old photo album, obviously worn with age and constant viewings of the contents within. Hoping that he wasn't going to be looking at something that was none of his business, Roy cautiously flipped the thin leather book open. What he found surprised him: a miniature version of Ed and Alphonse Elric smiled up at him with their young and content expressions, Ed holding up a large fish hanging from a string of fishing wire, Al holding up one that was a little smaller in size compared to his brother's. Both looked happy at their success, Al smiling that kind, gentle smile he always had while Ed… Edward had a grin that shined almost as bright as the sun shining down on them in the background.

Flipping the page, he found the two boys smiling into the invisible lens with such happy smiles, a older woman standing behind them with a kind smile that mirrored Al's a bit too well. Her dark brown hair and kind eyes of grey stared back at him, seeming to shower him with warmth and gentleness from beyond the sands of time. But after flipping a few more pages, only Al remained as Ed and the woman merely ceased to exist for some reason. Confused by this, Roy tried doubling back only to find it was true. Ed and the woman simply disappeared after nearly six pages of pictures. Beyond that, strangers of varying ages surrounded the light colored brunette for nearly twenty solid pages until Winry finally appeared next to the boy, Roy chuckling to see himself hanging out in the background.

After turning another page, as if by magic, Ed had appeared once again. This picture in question was a bit bigger than all the others in the book, and it appeared to be recent. Probably a month old at best but still recent nonetheless. Al looked like he'd been crying, even though he was smiling to where he was almost grinning like a fool. Ed, however, seemed more collected as he smiled coolly up at him. But even then, the older blonde had a cane in his hands and seemed to be favoring his left leg. From what Roy could discern from that one photo, the two young men seemed to be the happiest they'd ever been in their lives. Flipping ahead some more, the rest of the book was predictably devoid of more photos, the one of the two reunited brothers being the last entry that Roy could actually look at.

But where did he go? Why did Edward disappear until this photo? Did something happen to them to where they were separated? And why didn't any of the earlier photos of Ed have him with a cane in his hands? What the hell are these two not telling me? Roy thought in frustration, closing the leather book and setting it down on the table where it belonged. Once again, fatigue hit I'm like a runaway truck on an open highway, instantly making him want to lie down before he'd been forced to get up. Letting gravity do most of the work for him, he felt an ache make itself known in his spine before spreading to the rest of his bones. Somehow holding back a groan of neither pain nor relief, Roy Mustang felt the world drift away as his mind slowly sunk into the dark abyss that was known only as sleep.

Cleaning up hadn't really been a problem. It never really was when you were especially careful of possibly nosy neighbors. Getting the woman out of his basement and into his care hadn't been all that heard either since he'd done it so many times before. He'd gotten good at this sort of thing. Calmly driving through the practically empty big city streets, the dark skinned man with the 'x' shaped scar on his forehead, kept on trying to think of a good way of getting the male blonde cop out into the open. Right where he wanted him to be. Smiling to himself in the dark of his car, the man took a left onto a smaller road in search of a good alleyway to dump and destroy his latest victim.

Wow. This took a bit longer than I thought it would. But at least it's done right? Right on! I hope you guys haven't been waiting too long for this to get posted. Otherwise I might have to punish myself for bein' so damn lazy. But in the meantime, if you guys have any question, go ahead and ask me in your reviews or just send me a private message. Either one's fine. While you're doin' that, the rest of you can check out what's to come here on 'Departmental Issues':

Next chapter:

Chapter 7: Raising The Stakes

Our killer's on the prowl for our dear old Edward! And it seems he's concocting a plan to try and outwit him in a test of wills. Can Ed figure out what the killer is planning that involves transmutation circles? It's up to Ed and Roy to try and figure it out before another person is found dead. Or is our favorite blonde destined to fall victim to one man's apparent acts of insanity? If so, will Roy be able to protect Ed from death? Find out in the next installment of 'Departmental Issues' with:

Chapter 7: Raising The Stakes!!