Without Flinching

Elucidation.

"You better start explaining, Fullmetal." Roy's patience was short, even shorter now that there was a time limit.

24 hours.

But what did that mean? Did that mean 24 hours since he opened the parcel? 24 hours since Ed and Al had been buried? 24 hours since their unknown adversary mailed him the package? If it was any one of those factors—then how were they supposed to know how many hours they had left?

It might have been ridiculous, but the idea crawled across Mustang's mind before he could stop it.

Is he… watching us?

He cast a quick, fleeting and discreet glance over his shoulder and out the window into the morning light over hot, sweltering East City. Curse it all—despite the fluttering panic inside him, it seemed the world was still turning on, beautiful and mundane as always. No one had any idea what was going on inside this office, what the flurry was about, what his team was frantically hooking up wires and arguing about.

And he suddenly realized, with cold certainty, that they couldn't let anyone else know.

After all, who was to say that the person behind this wasn't outside their door, walking down the same hallways he and his men did every day? Who was to say they hadn't taken on a disguise and was watching them from the streets below, grinning and silent. Yet guilty.

Short-tempered and angry at the silence, the Colonel barked into the walkie-talkie. He needed to know more. And now. "Fullmetal—"

"—okay, okay. Geez! Can't be trying to conserve my air, here, if you're making me talk all the time."

"Then, Brother, let me do the talking. Save your breath!"

"Don't start that, Al—"

Mustang felt the walkie-talkie tugged from his grip, and jerked instinctively at the loss, but upon seeing it was Hawkeye, froze and watched as she lifted it to her lips calmly and ordered. "Edward Elric."

Silence. Somehow hilarious and awkward at the same time, wasting time that could be spent finding information, and yet giving them all a glorious moment to slow down and just take stock of the situation.

"…yes?"

Mustang fought to hold back the laughing smirk that stretched across his features at the timid, meek response the boy genius gave, so unlike his normal, brash and loud behavior. Hawkeye continued. "You will listen to your brother, and you will stop talking. Keep your breathing shallow, and refrain from letting your heart beat any faster than normal. Is that understood?"

"Um…sure…"

"Now, hold down the button and let Alphonse tell everything from the beginning."

God bless Lieutenant Hawkeye—the only one of them who could truly manage the brothers. Although how she had such an intimidating presence right now over them, when she clearly couldn't shoot through six feet of soil and didn't even know their location, was lost to Mustang, it didn't matter.

Alphonse's voice came over the walkie-talkie a minute later, sounding very nervous and scared.

"Well, you know that new mission you gave Brother, Colonel? It…was a set-up. We were apprehended before we even got to the Train Station…"

It had been quick and easy. Alphonse would realize with a start and realization later, that it was too easy—planned, and put into motion. A trap. Something that he had always heard about, something he knew they were supposed to always be wary of, especially while working on a military assignment, but something that, after their five months of duty, they hadn't experienced yet. So, they hadn't been prepared for it. Hadn't even been keeping their eyes open.