Soldier Keep On Marching On

Surprise Sacrifice

Even though you know what's coming, you're never prepared for how it feels.

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Flames burst into the room and forced the overgrown fat man out of the tower and onto one of the houses below.

"I barely made it," Roy whispered. He'd been worried that he'd lose another friend and judging by the situation he came in on, he was correct.

Kain sighed in relief and Hayate wagged his tail.

Riza rounded on her superior with narrowed eyes. "Colonel, why the hell did you leave your post? No matter what happened to us you could still have kept your involvement a secret! That was the whole idea! But you just come waltzing in here, plain as day! Are you a complete idiot?" she shouted.

He rubbed his ears as her words rang in his skull. "Yeah, yeah, I'm an idiot. Happy?"

But the Lieutenant wasn't done yet. "What would I have said to Aiden if you'd gotten yourself killed?"

It was a low blow and she knew it, but Riza needed to express the seriousness of his actions. Roy grimaced and looked away without an answer.

Kain called out that Barry and the rampaging man were on the move. The Colonel ordered him to stay behind and clear the mess while Riza told Hayate to stay behind. They rushed out of the tower and jumped in the car, taking an alley to get behind Barry and the thing.

The car stopped and Jean went to hop in when the distinctive clanking of metal reached his ears. He turned just in time to see Alphonse walk up behind him.

"Are you going after Hughes' murderer?" he asked.

"You in?" the Colonel responded.

"Yeah."

Alphonse hopped in the back with Jean and they took off down the road in an attempt to catch up to Barry. The moment they did Roy ordered Barry to not lose their target. There was no way in hell he was going to pass up a chance at avenging Hughes.

The revelation of that walking piece of fat being a homunculus did throw him though. It was said that homunculi were supposedly artificial humans, but any attempts at creating one weren't successful and it was classified as human transmutation. The fact that homunculi were tied in meant that they were working with the military and if that was the case who knew who was on which side.

They followed Barry to the Third Laboratory. Roy stopped the car around the corner and they walked the rest of the way to peek around the wall and open gate.

"My body went in there," Barry chimed, pointing at the building. "Seems to think it can hide from me."

The Third Laboratory wasn't guarded by more than a single guard dozing. Regardless, they would need clearance and at the very least a reason to enter the building. Any notice prior could alert the enemy and they may clear out, which wasn't what he wanted. They needed an immediate response to a threat. Roy smiled. Either it would work, or it wouldn't.

"You're all terrible at being discreet," a voice drawled. The group looked up in unison to stare at Aiden who was perched on the wall with a raised eyebrow. "With the exception of Jacqueline who is dressed for the part. So explain to me why I wasn't invited to bring in our suspect?"

"Get down! Someone will see you," Roy ordered.

The woman rolled her eyes and slid off the wall. "For the record, I'm dressed in black, I was behind a tree, and those scientists at the door can't see for shit."

He looked her over and true to her word, she was wearing all black. Every item on her was black. The hooded trenchcoat, combat boots, fingerless gloves, shirt, and slightly baggy leather pants. In Aiden's mind, she was the very definition of Paint It Black. He raised an eyebrow at her choice in pants and another part of his mind commended her for it. But there was no time for that.