Soldier Keep On Marching On

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Friends are the ones who play by the rules. Best friends are the ones who break the rules and call you to tell you their latest adventure.

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In the four days since she'd been back, Aiden hadn't seen Roy or Riza because the three were too preoccupied with their work to get any word out. Well, Aiden was anyway. Riza had said something to Roy who then passed the information along to her when she 'accidentally' bumped into him in the hall. Her folders had fallen from her arms and when she went to leave he handed her another, claiming she missed one. She thanked him and continued on her way to her office, passing the folders to Jack and keeping the last for herself. 

The paperwork in the folder was ordinary enough but a second look at the order of names and the first letter to each told her exactly what Roy wanted her to know. Selim Bradley was a homunculus. Aiden nodded to herself, mentally calculating where she was in the timeline. Then she grimaced. Edward had been impaled by a steel beam and had it pulled out on the same day without an anesthetic. She shuddered and grimaced at the thought. She knew he'd be okay in the end but the thought that her boy was wounded so mortally by Kimblee... It disturbed her.

"Hey boss, you're gonna wanna see this."

Aiden's head snapped up at Jed's words, hearing the apprehension in his voice. He silently held out one of the folders she'd given to Jack and she flipped it open. "Edward was classified as missing?"

Sheska nodded, "Yes, it seems that way. It looks like Mr. Kimblee was the one to file the report as well."

Aiden glared at the signature at the bottom of the page and almost wished it would burn into ashes. Though now that she thought about it... it'd only be right to tell the commanding officer that one of his men had gone missing. She snapped the folder closed and grabbed the other sitting on her desk before heading out. There wasn't any reason for the team to question where she was going, they already knew.

Roy's office was more silent than usual; something she was coming to terms with now that his team was scattered to the four winds. On a normal day, she'd walk in to find laughter and jeers and the occasional threat from Riza that set the men straight. However, with their friends gone the silence was almost deafening, only being interrupted by the scratches of a pen against paper.

He glanced up from his papers, "Oh hey, did you need something?"

Aiden nodded and strolled forward. "We must have mixed up a folder somewhere, this is yours." She held out the object and he nodded in thanks. "There is another matter I'm here for, unfortunately." The second folder was placed in front of him. "The Fullmetal Alchemist was reported missing two days ago by Solf J. Kimblee. As his commanding officer, you should be informed."

A look of surprise and concern flitted across Roy's face before he settled on neutrality. Everyone knew that the Fullmetal Alchemist and his commanding officer, the Flame Alchemist, didn't get along. Though from what she had heard of and seen, it was more like the two had a mutual respect for one another even when they were fighting. When the boys had still been deciphering Doctor Marco's notes and Ed had been knocked out on one of the chairs, Aiden had taken to talking to Al to make sure he wasn't lonely. They spoke about many things, including his brother's relationship with the Colonel.

"I don't really think he hates him," Alphonse had said. "Otherwise he would've gained a new C.O., like Hughes." He leaned forward and began whispering. "Don't let him know it, but I think Ed sees him as a father figure."

Aiden's eyes had grown wide. "You really think so?" she whispered back.

"The Colonel's always done what he can to help us, even if he acts like he doesn't care. Though he does it in his own tough-it-out way. Brother's always complained about how our own dad left us but I barely remember him, so I can't make the connection that he can. I think most of the time Ed pushes his anger for our dad onto the Colonel and he doesn't act any other way because he doesn't know how to act around a father figure."