Foul Depths

A/N: I don't own anything. I'm not actually sure on the rating on this one. Let me know in a review if you think it should be upgraded.

Warning for the description of the deaths of children. Also, for kidnapping/torture situations and descriptions of wounds and illness.

Benighted

"But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts Benighted walks under the mid-day sun; Himself his own dungeon."

-John Milton

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you should send Ed and his brother away on a mission. At least until this whole mess is taken care of."

The past week had not been kind to Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. Two kidnappings in the past week brought the total up to six in the last three months. Three bodies had been found and verified in dumpsters around Central, but the remaining three victims were missing without a trace. The investigation had been sloppy and, after the head investigator had been relieved of his duties, Hughes found himself with a large mess to clean up. Dealing with missing kids, only to find them in pieces weeks later, was not something Maes wanted to get involved in. It made his stomach turn and, like many other people who no longer let their kids play outside, it terrified him deeply.

He had brought some of his files to Roy's office, hoping that going over the details with someone might reveal something that had been overlooked. But all he ended up doing was covering Roy's desk with more paperwork and pictures of children, both of when they were alive and of when they were found later, very much deceased.

"I don't currently have a mission to send Fullmetal on. Even if I did, he's just got out of the hospital again. He'll be staying nearby until he is cleared for active duty."

"Make him go back to Risembool then." Maes began to shift his files into a more organized stack. Roy regarded him closely for a moment. You didn't really need to know Maes Hughes well to see that there was something off with him. There were dark circles under his eyes and a hunch to his posture that wasn't there two weeks ago.

"You're really worried about this? Do you really think Fullmetal could fall prey to a kidnapper with no known alchemic ability? While he is staying in his dorm? With his brother constantly nearby? Fullmetal will be safe enough here. He might even be of use to your investigation once he is up to it."

"No." Maes head snapped up and Roy didn't miss the sharp look in his eyes and the edge to his voice. "I don't want his help with this." He slipped a picture from his stack and slid it across the desk towards Roy. "Jay Kroger was 11 and he was taller than Ed."

"Well, that's not saying much... and the report I read said he isn't considered a part of these kidnappings. It was too long ago. They say he was a runaway." Roy slid the picture of the frowning boy back towards his friend.

"They found remains just outside of the city, and we can't verify anything because there isn't much there to verify. But I think it's him. I'm going to request to have his case reopened." Hughes slid the photograph back into its appropriate folder. "Please think about it, Roy. As it is, I'm considering having Gracia take Elicia out of Central for a while. Just don't let Ed wander around alone." And there was that haunted look, brought on by too many nights unable to sleep; too many nights staring at the ceiling worrying for his own daughter and over children he didn't know at all… Because that last girl who was taken was only four and didn't she look a little bit like his Elicia?

Mustang narrowed his eyes. Hughes was getting too involved. "Ed's not supposed to be doing much wandering anyway. He's been ordered to rest and he won't return to active duty for at least another week." Maes considered this for a moment and shifted in his seat wearily.

"It was really bad then? His arm?"

"You saw it. He got blood all over the hallway and managed to slice up his face as well."

"I saw it, but I was hoping it wasn't as bad as it looked. I didn't get a chance to visit him in the hospital because this whole mess got tossed in my lap. I still can't believe he managed to punch his arm through that glass door. His automail leg I understand, but the way it all shattered around the rest of him was unbelievable."

"Well, he was running like there was no door there at all. Unsurprisingly, they've decided to not put any more glass doors anywhere in the building. So much for getting a little more sunlight in our corridors."

Hughes nodded at that, but couldn't find it in him to bemoan the lack of the bright light he would have had while walking to the cafeteria.

"It's all a mess," He muttered and Roy knew he wasn't just talk about the Fullmetal Alchemist's latest disaster. Roy let out a sigh.

"Is there really nobody else who can take care of this investigation? It's not like it's strictly a military matter. Anyone could have taken up this case."

"Kidnappings right under the military's noses, no solid leads and everyone is starting to panic. I'm not sure if I should be flattered that they think I will procure results or weary that I might end up the scapegoat when this all goes to hell." Maes picked up a picture of the latest found victim. A seven year old that had been dumped in an alleyway. She was mostly intact except for her eyes and her hair had been completely shorn off. "Not that it already hasn't," Maes muttered…his mind drifting off to a darker place.

If it would make his friend lose that haunted look and maybe rest a bit easier at night…

"Maes, I will tell Edward to be careful."

Hughes looked up at that and Roy thought he saw a bit of the shadow dissipate. "Not that he listens to me. I told him not to run around like a child indoors and you can see where that got us."

Maes let out a humorless laugh. "I appreciate you talking to him."

"It won't be a problem; he should be stopping by later today with his overdue report… or tomorrow, if he forgets again. I will speak to him."

"Thank you… Well, I'm late to have to turn in a disappointing report of my own. Thanks for letting me go through the case with you."

"I'm not sure how involved you want me in this, but you can use my desk again for your investigation board anytime you need to. You can even come back after your meeting if you want."

"You're just trying to get out of doing your own paperwork…again."

"What are unfilled out forms in comparison to a friend in need? Seriously though, I don't mind the interruption."

Maes let out a sigh as he gathered up his folders in his arms. "No. No more today. Tomorrow, though?"

"Sure. Around lunchtime?"

"It's a date."

Roy smirked slightly, at least his friend was still up for a bit of their usual banter. "Crime scene photographs and a meal? You do spoil me so."

"You know it."

Also, this way, he could make sure Maes was still eating. Roy would help out in any way he possibly could. As well as trying to help a friend, a solved case like this would give Maes a needed boost and, any advancement for Hughes, would ultimately work for Roy's benefit as well. He couldn't do much about his friend's lack of sleep, except maybe slip him a tranquilizer at lunch. He let that idea shift to the back of his mind; he probably wouldn't need to go to such lengths. Probably.

Hughes gave a wave before shuffling off with his paperwork gripped too tightly in his calloused hands. He looked like he had aged about ten years in just a matter of a few days.

Roy decided he would go home and locate his sedatives just in case.

Ed wasn't going to lie, his damn arm was sore. It hurt where the stitches pulled at his skin and his muscle ached from holding it awkwardly to protect it from bumping into things. The cut was long, extending from his elbow out toward the back of his hand. He had loosely bandaged his arm the first day out of hospital, but he grew impatient with the process. Unwrapping and rewrapping his arm every time the bandage got a little damp or dirty was a pain in the ass. Also, he didn't want to go around with his arm wrapped up so completely (it made it look worse than it was, really), He would just leave it exposed, but, quite frankly, it was ugly to look at and it made Al make high pitched squeaks whenever he saw it. His red coat, while relatively loose, rubbed uncomfortably against his healing skin. However, he decided it was better than bandaging it every day, so he would just have to deal with the cloth catching on his stitches a bit. It wasn't so bad, really. He just had to make minimal movement with his left arm.

His face was another matter. He couldn't hide the cut that began at the bridge of his nose and travelled under his left eye to end near his ear. The small stitches there were only in his cheek, where the cut was deepest, but it still looked awful. There really wasn't much to be done to hide it. Edward's hair could only cover up so much of his face and it was at an awkward place to bandage, as any movement Ed made with his face caused the bandage to unstick and fall off. He decided he didn't care and just carried on as if the cut wasn't there, but he was starting to hate the way people looked at it. People raised their eyebrows and pity would flit across their faces. Al stared too, but it was usually because he was checking for redness that could be a sign of infection. Ed hated it. He hated people looking and Al looking and all the damn mirrors in the world looking at him. He needed to be healed and he needed to get the stitches out and he needed to get back to work. This was why he was actually on his way to see Colonel Bastard, instead of blowing him off for another day.

Though, now that Ed was irritated and thinking on the subject, that hospital stay had been unnecessary too. Nothing was broken and once the bleeding was stopped, he was fine. He should not have had to stay there for two nights. Why did everyone act like he couldn't take care of his own stitches? He could remember to check for infection just fine… well… Al could remember to check for infection just fine.

"I hope I bled on his uniform and he wasn't able to get it out." Ed grumbled bitterly, thinking back on how the Colonel had been the first to find him and put pressure on his wounds. "Now he's probably going to lecture me too. Like I need a lecture. It's not my fault they installed a glass door while I was away on a mission."

Edward was in a foul mood by the time he arrived at the Colonel's office. He didn't feel better when everyone asked how he was doing or when they inquired about his hospital stay. They didn't look at him with pity exactly, but it was with some concern. Ed wasn't in the mood for concern. The accident was dumb and he wanted to just move on and pretend it didn't happen. By the time Hawkeye informed him that he could go inside the inner office to meet with the Colonel, he wanted to open the door with a kick, just so everyone would know how much of a mood he was in and how much he didn't need their concern. Havoc was giving him a bemused look though and Ed thought he was about to comment on his recent catastrophes with other doors. To escape their looks and their comments, Edward just quickly pulled the door open and closed it with a snap behind him. The only problem with this was that he was now in the room with Colonel Bastard and he was going to have to endure the lecture of a lifetime. First, for turning in his pointless report late, second for destroying military property and third… Edward wasn't even sure if there was a third, but he knew the Colonel would think of something.

"You do look terrible," Mustang said blankly. Ed's eye twitched and the slight movement pulled at his stitches. He let out an irritated puff of air.

"I was in the hospital. What's your excuse?" Ed placed his report on the desk. He would have slapped the papers down in annoyance, but he couldn't move that arm well enough to do so yet. Roy actually smirked at that.

"Don't put your arm through glass doors and you won't need to go to the hospital."

"Like I did it on purpose!" Ed's sudden shout was too loud and it made Mustang narrow his eyes slightly. Edward wasn't sure why he was so angry exactly, but he was. He was all wound up from having to stay still for so long… and he was still faced with at least a week of rest. It was making his skin crawl. The Colonel took the slightly rumpled papers and gave Edward a harsh look from over the top of his report.

"Fullmetal, you are aware you could have died?"

"Yes…" Ed ground out.

"If you had hit an artery-"

"I know!" Ed didn't want the lecture. He had known it was coming, but he still didn't want to hear it. Hadn't the stay in the hospital been enough of a punishment?

"Sit down," Mustang said abruptly.

"What?" Ed tilted his head to the side at the change of pace in the conversation. Was he not going to get the lecture after all?

"Sit down until I finish reading this, you look like you need to." The Colonel's eyes had softened a bit as his attention was turned to read the papers in front of him.

"…Fine." There was no point in arguing for arguing's sake and Ed really did feel tired all of a sudden. It was his pain medication, he decided. Perhaps I took too much? Ed briefly wondered. But, no... Alphonse helped him keep track of those things and he trusted his brother with it. Resigned to sitting down, but still not one to do anything with complete compliance, He clomped loudly over to the nearest couch and sat down to sulk a bit.

Edward was not expecting to fall asleep. The pain killers sometimes made him drowsy, but surely they weren't bad enough to make him pass out in Roy Mustang's office? When Ed was awoken by a hand on his shoulder, he didn't know where he was for a moment. Mustang ignored the undignified, surprised squeak he emitted and simply raised an eyebrow while his subordinate got his bearings. He noticed that the brat had drooled on his couch… fantastic.

"You were snoring, Fullmetal."

Edward looked around the room, but didn't seem to have a comeback ready. His mind hadn't really woken up yet.

"Your report is adequate. Pleas walk back to your dorm and get some rest."

"That's it? You're not going to…"

"Going to what?"

"Lecture me more?"

"…Not today."

Edward stood up, forgetting not to use his left arm as leverage against the arm of the couch. He tried very quickly to cover his wince with a cough. He didn't think it worked very well, especially with the way the Colonel was scrutinizing him. Edward started to make his way out to the door, but was stopped when Mustang called to him.

"Fullmetal." Ed turned to regard him and caught a strange look in his eye. He almost looked… uncomfortable? Whatever it was, there was a lack of confidence about it. The look was gone quickly though and replaced with an expressionless mask. "Until you are fully healed and return to active duty, you are not to go anywhere alone."

"What? Why?!" Ed demanded. That was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. Just because he put his arm through one door! So, yes. He had wanted Al at that moment when he had noticed his blood splatter all over the wall and maybe… hehadcriedalittlebit when Colonel Bastard showed up and was trying to stop his bleeding, but that wasn't reason to forbid him from going places alone!

"You just passed out in my office within only a minute of sitting down. You can't be fainting all over the city. It isn't safe," Roy said matter-of-factly.

"I didn't faint!" Edward was getting worked up now. "It's just- I'm just a little tired. What do you expect? Nobody sleeps well in hospitals!"

"Regardless, you are not to go out alone. You will stay close to your brother. If you can't do that, then I will have somebody assigned to you-"

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"Fullmetal!" Roy stopped and took a quick breath. The escalating argument didn't need to get any worse. "You will do as I say. Do I make myself clear?"

Edward had turned his head down and was glaring a hole in the carpet. He grit his teeth and gave a curt nod. That would have to do. No way was he going to say anything else to the bastard. Ed turned abruptly to leave; he wasn't going to wait for a dismissal. To hell with that.

It was because of his glaring at the floor that something out of place caught his eye. Near the bottom of the doorframe, there was a small, plain white square with some writing scrawled across it. Edward picked it up with only the fleeting thought that it might have been something he had dropped on his way in. While he didn't remember writing anything important down, he would sometimes keep notes in his pockets.

Claudine Oda, age 7 was written in hurried penmanship. Edward blinked. That didn't ring any bells. Edward turned with his hand out towards the Colonel. He had opened his mouth to say that somebody had dropped this, when he realized it was a photograph and he was looking at the back of it. He casually flipped it over and then found that all the air had vanished from his lungs. The result was an awkward choking sound being expelled from his mouth, but Edward couldn't hear it. A rushing noise, like a thunderous waterfall, filled his ears and his vision narrowed so that everything disappeared except for the small photograph.

It was a picture of a child… but her eyes were gone… just gouged out of her skull and all her hair was hacked off. Terrifying thoughts began to rush through Edward's mind. This couldn't be right. He must be mistaken. Ed blinked hard, but the image remained the same and Ed felt a cold drop of fear fill his gut. His heart stuttered to a stop and all he could do was gape in wordless horror.

Roy had sensed that something was very wrong. When he realized what Ed had found, Roy remarked that Hughes must have dropped it and, to be completely honest, he felt a pang of worry for his friend that had become so despondent lately that he would drop such a piece of evidence without noticing. Roy's worry had changed into something else when he heard the strangled noise Edward had made at sight of the picture. It wasn't easy to look at and Roy thought he understood why it would startle Fullmetal so badly. Nobody could casually glance at that photo and not react with some degree of horror. However, there was something deeper in Edward's expression. Not just revulsion or surprise, but a complete mind numbing fear. After the slightest hesitation, Mustang moved quickly and snatched the photo from his subordinate's hand. Edward, however, had a tight grip on the photo and he did not release it immediately. The abrupt movement caused Ed's arm to jerk and he let out a startled gasp as the motion brought him back to the present. While Roy moved to put the photograph away in his desk, Edward remembered how to breathe.

"Are you going to pass out?" Mustang asked. The question was asked in all seriousness as Edward really looked like he might faint or vomit. The boy shook his head and began to take a step backwards towards the door. Roy was reminded of a caged animal. Caged animals could be dangerous, but like hell he was going to let him leave before he got to the bottom of this reaction.

"Did you know her?" Roy thought that could make sense, but he needed to get Edward to open his mouth and explain. Something wasn't right. Edward shook his head, but didn't meet the Colonel's eyes.

"Did she just… remind you of something then?"

"I don't know her. I don't know anything about it. I-I have to go back to Al," Ed blurted. He was cradling his injured arm close to his chest at this point and he reached back and found the door handle with his automail hand. "I have to- I have to…"

Edward was out the door and gone before Roy could say anything else. Hawkeye soon appeared in the doorway with a confused look on her face.

"Sir?" She inquired. Roy let out a deep sigh. He could drop this. Let the kid have some space and ask him about it later or he could follow up on it before Edward did something potentially stupid. At least there weren't any more glass doors he could run through.

"Lieutenant, will you come with me?"

"Of course, Sir."

On their way to the dorms, Roy turned Edward's reaction over and over in his mind. Did Edward know something about the kidnappings? The murders? It was still possible that Edward had known this child and had refused to say anything about it. Or Roy could be seeing things that weren't there. Ed had been in physical pain (Roy wasn't blind, he noticed the way Fullmetal held his arm stiffly and the subtle winces he tried to hide); perhaps it was worse than he originally thought. No, it couldn't have just been pain that caused his reaction in his office. Something was going on... or maybe Hughes' investigation was putting him on edge too.

When they arrived at the dorm they were greeted by a very large and very flustered suit of armor.

"Alphonse, is your brother here?" Roy didn't have time to waste.

"Brother is ill," Alphonse said right away and he gestured to the closed bathroom door. The Colonel registered the sound of retching coming from the other side of it. A slight feeling of doubt began to grow in Mustang's mind. Had he really read the situation wrong? Perhaps Fullmetal had suddenly felt ill and the fear he thought he saw was only sickness striking suddenly.

"Alphonse, do you know anything about the kidnappings that have been happening around Central lately?"

"Kidnappings?" Alphonse straightened up, looking startled at the sudden change in conversation. "No, that's terrible."

"I thought your brother might know one of the victims." The brothers were rarely separated. Surely, if Ed knew the victim, then Al would too. "Does the name Claudine Oda mean anything to you?"

Alphonse hesitated for the briefest moment.

"… No. It doesn't sound familiar." Roy felt he was telling the truth and he hesitated on questioning him further. Maybe he had gotten it wrong. The doubt began to mar his thoughts.

"Brother really is ill… sometimes they don't give him the right medicine dosage for his…ah…size." The last word was whispered in fear that Edward might overhear through the door. However, by the sound of vomiting, Roy doubted Fullmetal could hear anything going on outside the bathroom. Was that it then? The scene created in his office was just a reaction from illness brought on by too much pain killers and antibiotics? No, Roy had seen fear in Fullmetal's eyes, not just sickness. He was sure of it.

"Will you tell your brother that he is to report back to me tomorrow when he is… feeling better."

"Yes, sir," Alphonse quickly responded.

"Take him to the hospital if he starts getting worse and tell them to be sure to account for the weight of his automail before they give him anything."

"Yes, sir. They usually do."

"If he doesn't show up tomorrow, I will come here looking for him. Understood?"

"Yes, Colonel."

"Thank you, Alphonse." With one last look at the closed bathroom door, Mustang and Hawkeye took their leave. Roy tried to push back the doubts in his mind. Perhaps Edward's reaction wasn't related to the case, but he couldn't ignore the growing sense of dread gnawing at the inside of his stomach. Something was amiss and he would figure it out no matter what.

To Be Continued…

A/N: I have the next part written, it just needs polishing. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think so far. I haven't watched Fullmetal Alchemist in a while, and I have never written a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction before (be gentle with me), but this idea has been haunting me for some time. The incident with the glass door and Edward busting through it, is a story I have had in my mind for a long time. But I felt the need to write Foul Depths first. If there is interest, I may go back and write it.

Also, I have (and always will be) inspired by Sevlow. I tried to make my own Roy and my own Maes, but I think they are a marred reflection of yours. I believe I unintentionally borrowed aspects of their characters from your stories. I did not do it in an attempt to infringe on your work, it just happened while I was writing.

Everyone, please do go read Sevlow's stories if you haven't already. Even the ones left unfinished are worth reading.

I'm going to get on a plane in a few days and go to London for a week. I will post the next chapter when I get back. Thank you everyone!