Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Being an underground hero has its perks. The biggest benefit Aizawa loved about it was the lack of publicity and flexible schedules. Unfortunately part of being an underground hero meant that he got the most horror-filled jobs. Sometimes it involved some form of cannibalism, or other times the job consisted of hunting down psycho-pathic freaks who took genuine joy out of hurting other people. As much as the job mentally drained him, he got satisfaction from being able to catch them and make sure they never got onto the streets again. Plus with his job as a teacher, he got to see the positivity and got to play a role in the next generation of heroes. He got to raise them to be better and prepare them for their future. 

He thought he’d seen it all , he truly believed that through his years of experience, he saw the true horrors of the world. But in this case… It was unlike anything he’d seen before. He stood frozen in front of a huge circle, blood splatters surrounding him, and in the center of it all was a mass of what would be human bodies. 

Part of him questioned where it all went wrong? Why was he the one to have to face this alone? He remembered the assignment given to him only a few hours ago. 

–

Earlier

Aizawa got to go home before he was needed at his agency and shared a meal with his dear husband and daughter. Shinso had left a few hours ago to hang out with his friends and wasn’t due home until later. He didn’t have any papers to grade (shocking) so his afternoon was free. Or at least it should’ve been a free afternoon if his work phone hadn’t gone off in the middle of dinner. 

He let it ring before rolling his eyes and accepting the call. The familiar voice of his boss greeted him. “Eraser! I knew I could count on you to pick up the cell. I just wanted to inform you about an update on your shift later today. A case came in earlier today dropped off from the Number Two Hero himself and well, I think this case is right up your alley.”

“What are you talking about, Pinpoint?” He moved his gaze to his plate as he moved the leftover food with his fork. 

“The case! I can’t give too many details over the phone but this is interesting, to say the least. Please plan accordingly and try to arrive half an hour earlier than usual to analyze the case. I will hand it to you in person” Pinpoint said their goodbyes and hung up, leaving him very confused. 

Aizawa looked at his phone confused before shutting it off and setting it back down. 

“What happened?” Hizashi asked, “Thought your boss rarely called ”

“He does. Just letting me know of a new case that I am assigned. Not sure what it entails though , he didn’t give much details.” Aizawa shrugged. “Not sure what time I will be home ”

“Hopefully not too late , you still have classes to teach ” 

“Don’t remind me , I’ll probably have them watch a movie if anything ” 

Hizashi laughed and shook his head. The topic was soon dropped as there wasn’t much to discuss and spent the rest of dinner talking about the podcast and new upcoming projects. 

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly. They spent time together and then he got ready to go to the agency. Something seemed off about the whole case. Although it is not unusual to be assigned a case directly it was unusual to be given it under such short notice and well … the cases he has personally been in charge of never happened to be pretty. He wished his family goodbye as he made his way to receive his new case. 

As he arrived at the agency, he noticed there weren't many other heroes in the building. Not even in the conference room. He entered the room where it was only his boss and a case file on the table. 

“Is this the case?” Eraserhead reached out to the file, surprised to find it empty with only a notecard with an address. “Is this some kind of joke?”

Pinpoint adjusted his monocle. “Not quite. See, the commission holds their cards close to their chest. As you know, Hawks is currently undercover to infiltrate the League of Villains and he overheard two guards talking about a warehouse, a kid, and a failure. He managed to get an address and asked specifically for you to investigate.”

That caught him off-guard. Hawks and him never really interacted much when he wasn’t undercover so it was hard to think of a reason why he would pick him out of everyone. 

“So my job is to just investigate it? You couldn’t have told me this over the phone?”

“Not quite, we can’t risk compromising Hawk’s role in the case and well it’s easy to hack into a phone call.” 

He nodded. “Anything else I should know?”

Pinpoint hummed and turned to look outside the window. “One more thing. This is your case . This agency has nothing to do with it , the only reason I was informed was because he knew you belonged here. That being said, you get to decide who gets to be involved. Whether you decide to allow us to help is up to you ” 

Eraserhead nodded. He thanked him and bid his goodbyes as he got started on his case. While he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he took the quiet night to get his thoughts in order. It’s strange to believe that Hawks trusted him to give him a case directly , he barely talked to the guy. Only talked in passing during raids. 

Another thing to mention was Hawks gave the case directly to him, not the agency but why? What does he have that the agency doesn’t? He wasn’t even a top 10 hero , he was barely in the top 20. Not that it’s a testament to his skill , it’s just that his hero persona isn’t very public. To climb the ranks means being famous and that was one thing he swore to himself he would never seek out. He could care less about the rankings. But still, why give the case to him? Could it be because of his quirk? He tried to find the logic behind it.

Nothing made any sense. He landed swiftly on the rooftop about a few blocks away from the warehouse when a red feather embedded itself on the ground in front of him. Instantly, he was alert and turned in the direction where the Number 2 hero waited in the shadows. 

“You accepted the case,” Hawks stated matter-of-factly as he stepped out of the shadows. 

Eraserhead grunted the affirmative. “Why me?” He spent no time beating around the bush. In this field of work, small talk was a waste of time. 

Hawks glanced around his surroundings, seemingly searching for something. He seemed to find it (or lack of it) before he answered. “I can trust you. The commission can’t know the full details of the case. What they would do…” he trailed off. “Point is. You took in Eri, didn’t you?”

His eyes immediately narrowed. “Why do you need to know?”

“You’re protecting her. Look, I don’t have much time. I haven’t yet climbed their ranks , it’s getting harder to gain their trust. I overheard some of their most trusted guards talking outside where I was, and they mentioned some kid with a similar quirk as Overhaul” Hawks paused to let the information sink in. Another threat so soon? Did Overhaul have another kid he failed to mention? Either way, they took him down but there’s a chance that the league could’ve kidnapped the kid while they were distracted with Eri. “They’re a foreigner and it’s unclear if they are doing this willingly or not. I doubt it but they mentioned a failure at the warehouse. If there’s a kid involved, I can’t let them get hurt. You managed to get Eri out… maybe… maybe you can help get them out too.” Hawks met his eyes. “But you have to promise me you won’t get the commission get ahold of them ”

“Why can’t the commission get involved?” 

“Can’t tell you that ”

He sighed. Of course, it would be confidential. Why can’t his solo case be easy? “Where’s the kid from?”

“Not sure. I’ll try and get more information and somehow send it your way. I’m risking a lot just talking to you right now. I’m sorry I can’t help more but maybe the warehouse will provide more insight on the ‘ failure’” Hawks handed him a piece of paper with a number on it. “Keep me updated. This is my personal cell , it’s always on silent so don’t worry about blowing my cover. Below is a number only for emergencies , use it wisely.” Hawks glanced up. “I have to get going but good luck, you’re going to need it.”  Hawks dipped his head in farewell and flew off, leaving him alone on the rooftop. 

This case just got a lot more complicated. Now with a kid involved the stakes are higher. Plus a foreigner? That adds a whole other problem considering international relations. Maybe a tourist who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That would be the best-case scenario. 

He continued to make his way towards the warehouse and a pungent smell hit him. He used his scarf to create a makeshift mask to protect him from the smell. If it smells bad out here, he doesn’t want to imagine how it smells inside or even the source of it. It had such a strong and rotten smell. 

I better still get paid for this, he thought as he arrived at the warehouse. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about it other than the oder. Judging by the looks of it, it seemed to be an old cotton factory with a bright white exterior. He grabbed his flashlight from his belt and flicked it on, waiting until it stopped flickering before entering inside the warehouse. 

If the warehouse looked interesting on the outside, it definitely didn’t share the same sentiment on the inside. Although it was pitch black, he could make out a long hallway, when he walked in with rooms at either side of him, opening each door and clearing them as he made his way down the hall. He cautiously walked down the hall examining every bit of the hall. It seemed clean enough until he reached the last door that had a trail of blood leading to it. He stared at the closed door , dread filled his chest as he opened the door. 

He illuminated the room and promptly regretted eating dinner prior to the case. The other rooms were clean rooms with nothing inside , this room appeared to be the exception. It looked like a torture chamber with chains hanging from the walls and blood painting the ground. By the looks of the amount of dried blood, this happened a while ago and the person probably bled out or barely survived. 

The room seemed to only be chains and blood until his flashlight caught something shining. He entered the room and crouched down to pick up the object. To his surprise, it was a pocket watch with some kind of figure on the front with shapes. The watch didn’t open, it was as if someone had sealed it shut. Why carry a watch that proves no function? He grabbed an evidence bag and dropped it in and gathered some blood on a cotton swab to test for DNA before clearing the room. He followed the trail of blood to the end of the hall where it led to a vast open space. The smell was definitely stronger here.

He shone the light to follow the trail until he found the puddle of dried blood covering some markings on the ground. He backed up to take in the markings. It seemed to take up the whole room. Maybe if he found the light switch he could take in the bigger picture. He stuck close to the wall and felt around for the switch. He hoped that the lights still worked and to his surprise it did. His small victory was short-lived as he turned back to see the markings. 

-

Horror filled his features as he took in the sight before him. The markings formed a huge circle that seemed to cover the majority of the ground with other runes in the middle connected through lines made with some sort of chalk. It looked like witchcraft and what he found in the middle didn’t help. In the center was a mass with various hands reaching out. He stood there, frozen, as his mind processed what he was looking at.

He hesitated to lean closer and see what it truly was. He slowly crept closer and he could make out various body parts merged together. In the center of the mass he could see the organs mashed together to create one body and the worst part was how mutilated they were. It could barely be considered human. Through basic math, he counted 5 sets of arms. This used to be 5 people and wasn’t that thought horrifying?

This has to be the failure Hawks mentioned, but what were they trying to accomplish? He jumped back the moment he saw the eyes open, staring at him. His heart pounded while he wanted to see if it would move. The eyes were glazed over and dead so it was safe to say that they’d been dead for a while. 

He crouched down , securing his scarf around his nose, and observed the bodies. They were all burned and mangled. The skin barely held the skeleton together. It was literally skin and bones, with the bones sticking out in unnatural ways. Even through the burns, he could see geometric marks, almost like small rectangles.

“I’m so sorry someone did this to you,” Aizawa told them as he made a move to close their eyes but to his surprise, they didn’t have any eyelids anymore.

He didn’t know what to make of that but he didn’t have time to waste. It’s already getting late (or early?) and he needs to collect evidence. Bottling up his emotions as he so expertly does, he got to work. Repeating in his mind that he’s seen worse and probably experienced worse, this is nothing. This is part of the job. 

But still, this is different. The back of his mind whispered. Usually with these cases it’s in terms of quirks but wasn’t a quirk at all. A quirk wouldn’t need chalk drawings. He tried not to think about it and secured the evidence before taking pictures from above to get the full picture. 

There was so much to review and analyze but he did know one thing for sure: he was going to need as much help on this case as he could get. His agency probably wouldn’t be the best support, mainly because if they could help then Hawks would have given the case to them and have him lead. But that’s not what happened and he’s left to assume that it was intentional. So, he’s going to need the help of someone who has access to information that can help him figure out what causes this as well as an organization that is independent .  

Luckily, he knows exactly who can help. He called the station to get a crew sent out to secure the crime scene before he went to the organization he had in mind. Once the police arrived, he gave them a quick debrief before showing them the circle. He grimaced as he heard one of the officers lose their lunch behind him. Yeah, it really isn’t a pretty sight at all. He guided them throughout the scene before heading over to UA. If there was anyone who could help, Nedzu could. That mouse/bear/hamster thing is a genius , he’s helped him out on cases before so this should be no different. 

Using his scarf as a grapple, he arrived at Campus in about an hour. Driving would’ve been faster but he didn’t have a car and besides, the fresh air helped him think and calm down from the warehouse. He couldn’t close his eyes without seeing the scene again. 

He quickly unlocked the gate, walked past the 1A dorms (he swears if any of his kids are still awake he will personally lock them all in their rooms), and made it to the main building. Nedzu resides on the top floor so he just took the elevator like a normal person before knocking on the door. 

Within minutes the door opened, revealing a recently awoken Nedzu if the sleepwear attire gave any indication. The mouse rubbed his eye. 

“Shouta? What are you doing here? Why are you covered in dust and why do you smell like blood?” Nedzu stepped aside in a silent invitation. 

Dust? He glanced down and discovered that his hands and arms indeed had dust on them. Covered was a bit of an exaggeration and he couldn’t do anything about the blood either , that’s what he got from the warehouse. More trauma and dust.

“I need help on a case” There was no use beating around the bush. Nedzu put on a tea kettle for them. 

“I wasn’t aware you had a case ” 

“I was assigned today , it’s complicated. Hawks gave me the case directly so I have the sole authority to decide who gets involved, and I need your help.” 

Nedzu hummed with interest. “Well, get on with it.” He waved his paw. Before he got to show him the evidence he found, Nedzu made him shed his jacket and wash his hands.

He reached into his belt and pulled out the watch he found earlier. In clearer light, he could tell that the image resembled a lion/dragon figure with geometric lines around it. He handed it over to Nedzu to see what he thought of it. He watched as he messed around with it and tried to open it before failing. 

“Where did you get this?” 

“At the crime scene.” He showed him the pictures he took and watched as the smile fell away from Nedzu’s face. “It’s not pretty ”

“Shouta… do you know what this is?”

“No, that’s why I came to you ” 

“This is alchemy. This shouldn’t exist anymore, at least not in Japan. The only place that still practices alchemy is isolated from the rest of the world. This watch belongs to a military official , the fact that you found this along with the alchemy is not ideal.”

“Hawks did mention this was the work of a foreigner, a kid got kidnapped but I don’t think they would be the military official ”

Nedzu went to his bookshelf and pulled out a book on “ The History of Amestris” It was shockingly thin. The outside world doesn’t know much about the isolated country. If his memory serves, they were highly militaristic and refused to conform to the new order of government now that quirks appeared, so they broke off and closed all borders. No one was allowed to get in or out.

“The pictures you took match something similar in this book” Nedzu flipped to a page and pointed at an example of a circle he saw earlier. It wasn’t as complex as the one he saw but it was indeed similar. 

“You really believe this is alchemy? Not even quirks are as powerful to do something like this. What I saw in there… it wasn’t humane. It was barely human.” 

“We will never be able to confirm our theories without consulting an expert. We could attempt to send a letter and get their attention but nothing is guaranteed. You mentioned Hawks gave this case to you? If that’s true then the League is involved and that brings a new level of conflict. You also said you decide who gets involved, if I write this letter, I want in”

“That was the plan. I would like to include all of UA. The commission cannot be involved with this ” 

Nedzu nodded , he never liked the commission anyway. “We will do our best to keep them out of it. Now, to draft a letter.” 

“What would we even include?” 

“For starters, those pictures and a summary of the case. Vague details to gain their interest. Leave a number at the bottom or an address where they can send a letter back and wait and see. We can write it in English, as it is the most used language. ” Nedzu poured them each a cup of tea.  

“And what if they don’t respond?” 

Nedzu shrugged. “It’s the only lead we have right now, isn’t it ?” 

Fair point. You gain nothing if you don’t at least try. They discussed potential information to send to get the best reaction. This wasn’t a situation to be handled lightly , this letter holds the fate of future alliances , it has to be perfect. 

Aizawa ended up mailing the letter on his way home and got home at around 5 in the morning. His class will definitely be watching a movie while he catches up on sleep. 

—

Meanwhile in Amestris

After a month since the incident, things finally calmed down in Central. Sure, they never gave up hope and searched for their alchemist any chance they got but with Central in shambles after the war, there was only so much they could do. Mustang and his team followed any lead they got but they couldn’t spend all their time searching. It was as if Ed vanished off the face of the Earth, and the only evidence they had that confirmed that he was kidnapped was the attack. His hotel room was trashed and destroyed, walls and fists formed from the floor in defense of the apparent enemy but they didn’t know who. It was infuriating. 

Roy had to make a decision within the next few days to sign the form and declare Ed dead. He had been avoiding that paperwork more than the others, allowing it to sit menacingly in the corner of his desk. Riza understood and didn’t pressure him as much as she did for the other papers. She’s been looking after Al for the time being as well as searching for leads. It’s not her fault that the leads happen to be so difficult to come by. 

Al has been inconsolable since the disappearance. Without the title of state alchemist, he couldn’t really join in on the investigation and help look for his brother. Al couldn’t help which was driving him insane but eventually, he understood. The initial shock passed after 2 weeks and although he was still upset, he was more understanding now. It doesn’t stop him from calling every week to ask for any updates. It was a sad sight. He hasn’t gone back to Xing to continue his studies since the incident. 

He couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for Ed’s disappearance. He was the one who signed off on the mission (but he checked and made sure it wasn’t too dangerous). The mission itself was innocent enough. A chance for Ed to gather more research on the outskirts of Amestris. Some people went missing without a trace, so Ed was the most logical choice to send. He has the experience and the ability to defend himself. It wasn’t even one of his first missions that he was being sent alone , he’s gone to other places without Al, so why was this time different? Why couldn’t he find him? 

Who could’ve been powerful enough to take the Fullmetal Alchemist? The same Fullmetal who fought a war went toe to toe with various homunculus and punched God in the face. Maybe he let his guard down? Even that seemed unlikely. 

Roy stared at the MIA paperwork, wondering if he really should call the investigation off. They were wasting resources that they needed to rebuild central. His hands were tied. While he contemplated the decision, Riza walked in and slammed a letter on his desk. 

“Lieutenant, what is the meaning of this?” Roy glanced up. Hawkeye’s eyes didn’t leave the envelope. 

“Open it”

Roy gave her an odd look before picking up the envelope , he glanced at the return address and was shocked to see it was from the outside world. With Amestris secluded in the map, barely any news or people emigrate from the outside. 

UA High, Japan

What could they want with the military? He opened the envelope and pulled out some pictures and a letter. He took a glance at the pictures and gasped at the horror, Hawkeye was at his side in an instant and her eyes widened at the sight. 

“Is this some kind of joke? A threat?” He mumbled to himself as pictures of a failed human transmutation stared back at him. With various pictures from different angles, he could tell the transmutation by the circle and the globbed mess that was inside with blood puddling around it. By the looks of it, the blood was dry with some wet patches (the blood was fresh by the time the picture was taken.) From his understanding, the outside world doesn’t have alchemy , that’s something native to Ametris. So what was this doing in the outside world? Not to mention only a select few knew how to even make a human transmutation circle and one of those people is currently missing… that can’t be a coincidence… could it?

He couldn’t get too ahead of himself. He set the pictures aside and read the letter. 

Dear Amestris and to whom they may concern,

We are contacting you to inform you of a new case that has arisen in Japan. We have recently encountered something similar to your alchemy (?) Please see the pictures attached. We also found a silver pocket watch at the scene which according to our sources, belongs to your military? This is unlike anything we have ever seen before and we are hoping you would be able to provide some insight on what we are dealing with. We are aware of Amestris’ closed borders policy but we ask for you to reconsider and help us put whoever is behind this behind bars. Here’s what we know so far. 

Below was a formal case report of the findings in a warehouse. There was a mention of a child, combined with the findings of a state alchemist pocket watch… it was too much of a coincidence to think otherwise. 

We have more information if you are willing to join our investigation. For more details please feel free to call us at XXX-XXX-XXXX or mail us back. 

Thank you for reading this,

Pro-Hero Eraserhead

“Get Fuery in here” Mustang scanned the letter for more information but it seemed to be intentionally vague. Couldn’t blame them. Amestris isn’t exactly known for being friendly but with Fullmetal missing, any lead is valuable.  

“Right away sir” Hawkeye gave a salute before leaving and getting Fuery. Within minutes, the youngest on their team stood in the office.

“Sir? You asked for me?” 

“Yes, quick question. Could we make a phone call to the outside world?”

Fuery’s eyes widened at the request before nervously laughing and scratching the back of his neck. “Well, sir… no one has really attempted and well our technology isn’t as advanced as theirs- but hypothetically speaking considering our slow advancements with the Rockbells-” He rambled. 

“Yes or no, it’s quite a simple answer ”

“Hypothetically speaking, yes?”

“Get your equipment in here , we’re going to attempt to make a call.” It’s technically not illegal to interact with the outside world it’s just… very much frowned upon. Besides with the government in shambles, who is here to enforce the law? To get his son- to get his alchemist back , he’d do anything .  

About an hour passed since the request and it took some time to get all the gear and wires connected. That hour felt like forever. Hopefully, this was truly a lead and not some cruel trick that Truth is playing. He anxiously waited as Fuery took his time to make sure the connections were right before he announced that he was ready to attempt the call. 

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and Hawkeye placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he dialed the number and let the phone ring. He glanced at Fuery who gave a thumbs up to confirm that the call indeed went through. Now they hoped that they would actually pick up the phone. He drummed his fingers nervously as the phone continued to ring. He was about to call it quits when the call was eventually answered. 

“Pro-Hero Eraserhead speaking, who is this?” A bored (or tired?) voice came through. 

Roy smiled and Fuery gave a silent cheer from across the room , Even Hawkeye let out a breath of relief. “Colonel Mustang from the Amestris Military pleased to meet you. I received your letter and we are interested in your case.” 

There was movement from the other side. “I’m glad you received our letter , we were hoping it reached you in time.”

“ Yes well, I have a couple of questions for you before we begin , starting with : Do you know who has done this? Any suspects? Motives?” 

“Well, not yet. We have a villain organization that could potentially be behind all of this. Unfortunately, we don’t have much information, only rumors that this is the work of a foreigner ”

“Yes well, the transmutation circle you found is a forbidden form of alchemy. I would need to see the circle in person to confirm the components used, but I can tell you that this is the work of an alchemist.”

“That’s what we suspected but we aren’t familiar with this alchemy. We have quirks and I would assume it works similarly to your alchemy, would it not?”

“From my understanding of quirks, which is limited, it is not similar but can be just as dangerous. Tell me more about the silver pocket watch you found, anything specific about it? Any… carvings-?” he hinted at Fullmetal’s watch, if this was his watch then there should be a date carved inside. 

“It doesn’t open? It looks like a pocket watch but it’s not functional. Does that help?”

Hawkeye nodded. “Fullmetal sealed his watch shut so no one could open it,” She told him, soft enough so the phone didn’t pick it up. 

“Very helpful. The watch you found is a state alchemist pocket watch , think of it as our certification for the military. We currently have an open case of a missing alchemist , one of my men went missing last month and we haven’t been able to find a lead here.”

“You think the cases are connected?” 

“It’s likely”

“So one of your men went rogue?” The pro-heroes voice is laced with distrust. 

“Not quite. If I am right then he would never do this willingly. I can send you a case file that contains the information we’ve gathered which isn’t much but maybe there are some similarities?”

“Go ahead and send it , any information you have can be useful. About the transmutation circle, is it still dangerous? How does it work?”

“It works with energy. It should no longer be dangerous but to be safe you could break it by erasing a line to disconnect the circle. I would prefer to see the circle in person to analyze it and the room it was found in. Sometimes that can give some insight into the purpose of the transmutation.”

“You are willing to come here and join us?” Eraser sounded shocked. 

“If you are dealing with this, yes. Unfortunately, I cannot spare a team to investigate but my lieutenant and I can go and offer support where we can.”

“That would be amazing. We are technically a high school but with the technology we have and our training, we are pretty much our own organization. We have apartments within the campus where we can house you two and I can work out further details with our principal. How soon can you be here?”

“In a week. Travel will take about 4 days because of our closed border policies, and that gives us 3 days to get the research in order and files in place. Is that okay, or do you need us sooner?”

“That works just fine. Thank you so much for your support.”

“Of course, I look forward to working with you.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Fuery smiled and cut the connection. “I can’t believe that worked but sir, forgive me but isn’t traveling outside forbidden without permission?”

Roy waved him off. “It’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it.” He spun his chair to face Riza. “Looks like we got our work cut out for us.”

“I only hope you actually fill out the paperwork this time” She sighed but wore a small smile on her face. 

This was their first actual lead and it seemed promising. Human transmutation and a sealed pocket watch? Ed would be the most capable of committing something like this. Human transmutation comes at a toll , they can only hope that he’s still alive. It’s not going to be easy but it’s worth a shot to bring home his subordinate. 

He has to let Alphonse and Winry know of the new developments… forge some documents… and collect some research… yeah they definitely had their work cut out for them and now they’re working against the clock. It’s fine.

It’s worth it.

Chapter Text

If only Ed had taken more precautions that night, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He wouldn’t have been forced to go against his morals and lose his arm again. The 5 people he had to transmute would have still been alive, and they could’ve gone home with their families and now there are 5 families mourning and planning funerals all because of him. It was all his fault and he can’t do anything to change it. 

Sitting in the dark cell, his one arm chained against the wall, there was nothing he could do to escape. Not even with alchemy, he can’t touch the chain or the wall and he doesn’t have anything to draw a circle with. Just forced to sit in this bland ass room, staring at the stone walls. All the thoughts and current events are replaying in his head on loop. He doesn’t even know how long it has been, were they even searching for him anymore? He had hoped that the Colonel would find him but as the days went by and meeting unfamiliar people, he was starting to have his doubts. Even the people he did recognize just sent a chill down his spine. He’s been trying to avoid thinking about that but he doesn’t know how much longer he can ignore them. He’s almost tempted to believe it was a figment of his imagination because he hasn’t seen them since that night. 

It was supposed to be a simple investigation, Mustang said. ‘It should only take a few days’, he said. Well, he fucking lied. The string of disappearances turned out to be a lot deeper than he thought. The moment he thought he had a lead, everything went down the drain and he found himself face to face with old enemies who shouldn't be alive.

Envy showed up and caught him off guard along with Lust.

In his defense, he was not expecting dead homunculi to come back to life . Something like that should be impossible to do. Sue him for getting kidnapped, he tried to fight them back but they were stronger (he should’ve expected that), and next thing he knows he woke up in a bag, on a ship, being transported to who knows where. The moment he arrived at his new ‘home’, the duo vanished and he hasn’t seen them since. 

So far he’s met a guy with pale white hair and with a serious skin condition. Constantly scratching the back of his neck and his face in general, it was honestly freaking him out (He mentally gave him the name, Crusty). Given what he’s noticed so far about this guy and the occasional other team(?) members, it’s safe to say that this guy calls the shots. He’s the main one that has been questioning him and trying to figure out how his ‘power’ worked. 

If there was anything he learned about this freaky new world he was transported to, it’s that they have powers that do not rely on alchemy. At first, he thought that maybe they had the transmutation circles hidden but after an unfortunate hands-on experience, he quickly learned that was not the case. Crusty seemed to have a similar ability as Scar who just decays anything he touches. He learned this the hard way when he refused to answer any of their questions about alchemy and would lose his fingers as punishment, he would scream in pain as his fingers turned into ash. But he didn’t break, it hurt like hell but he was not going to give this freaky guy a lesson in alchemy. 

Once his captor also came to that conclusion, they changed their tactics. Now they were forcing him to do the transmutation. He resisted as long as he could. He took the beatings, the burns, and the slow loss of his limb, he even resisted when they let this weird girl into his cell for the sole purpose of cutting him up. It wasn’t until they brought innocent people into play that he was forced to break. 

He can handle any pain directed towards him, he’s handled worse. It was the moment they brought in an innocent woman where everything changed. Now the torture wasn’t directed at him, anything he refused they took it out on the poor woman. He had to hear her screams and begs for mercy. He hated every second of that and wished to never hear that again. 

He gave them everything they needed to know. He didn’t dare to give them false information, he wasn’t willing to risk her life for his mistakes. 

During the nights, he would try and plan an escape. He’d been planning one for a while but he didn’t know much about his surroundings to get help, but if he escaped with the woman, maybe she could help him in return. It was the perfect plan, but once it came time to execute it, they got caught. 

He got to meet another man that night, one covered in purple scars and staples who had power with flames. He watched as the man set the woman on fire, he tried to look away but someone came up behind him and forced him to look and hear her screams as her flesh melted off her body until there was nothing but a charred body on the ground. 

“Bet you won’t try that again, now will you?” The burned man laughed. 

Burned man was right. When they brought in another hostage, he didn’t dare attempt another escape attempt. Even when they gave him a set date to do the transmutation. They told him what they wanted, to make a thing called a ‘nomu’, a superhuman being with the power of many individuals and multiple quirks. They wanted to see if there was a ‘faster way’ to make them. Even after trying to explain to them that alchemy doesn’t work that way, he was ignored. The hostages they brought to keep him in check soon became his victims. 

Now, he wasn’t a religious person but he prayed that something would stop him as he drew the circle with chalk. He even took his time with it to give the military a chance to stop him. He didn’t want to ruin more lives than he already had but to his dismay, no one came to save them. He was forced to go through with the transmutation. 

The transmutation was never going to work but Ed made sure of it. He coded the circle specifically to make sure no one came out alive. It’s one thing killing 5 people, but it’s another to keep them alive through it and ruining their quality of life. As much as he hated it, he had to make sure they didn’t survive. Not only to protect them but to also prove a point: What they wanted was not possible through alchemy.  

So what if he ‘accidentally’ added the wrong formulas? So what if he rigged the circle to make sure that there would be a rebound and fail. It was a price he had to pay and a price he will never forget. He couldn’t live down the guilt of knowing that he was directly responsible for multiple deaths. The gun might’ve been placed in his hands but it was his decision to pull the trigger. 

He will never forget the cries of pain and fear, the trip through the gate, nor the pain of losing his right arm again. He won’t forget the alarmed look on his kidnapper's face as one of them was grabbed and torn apart by the tiny black hands, leaving no trace they ever existed. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his wound. As he was dragged away, he took one glance at the product of his creation and felt nauseous at the sight. The transmutation worked, instead of 5 bodies there was a giant mass of all of them combined. He couldn’t see any of them breathing so it was a success. 

What the fuck did they make him do?

He hated the swell of pride followed by the immediate guilt he felt when he noticed that his plan worked. He lost consciousness while leaving the building and woke up back in his cell where he was chained up and forgotten about. He couldn’t determine if that was a good or a bad thing. 

He banged his head against the wall in thought. Hoping this was all some fucked up dream that he can wake up from. He’s more useless than the Colonel is in the rain. Fuck, why can’t he be better? He’s fought a war and became a state alchemist at 12, he knows better than this. He stared at his missing arm, he bled through the bandages a while ago and his kidnappers didn’t seem to care. 

Someone has to come soon. The colonel would never give up on him, or at least he hoped that he wouldn’t. Al also has to be looking for him. (As more days passed by, the more he started to lose hope)  He has to stay alive and keep going for Al, he won’t leave him an only child. He has people to live for, damn it, he is going to make it out alive. He wasn’t going to make Winry cry again. He has people to live for. Just has to wait for the right moment and he can get out of this place and go home, this time will be different now that it’s only his life on the line. 

—

Back in UA

Today was the day their guests would arrive. Aizawa already informed the other teachers and Nedzu of the arrival , so he already had clearance to leave his class a few hours early to go pick them up. This was going to be a stressful day but hopefully, it will pay off in the end. During his lunch break, he made copies set up the files that were sent over for everyone, and prepped the conference room. He even got to convince Hizashi to cover for his class( mainly because he has no class during that time and he would appreciate the company). 

His class for the most part behaved, except for that one time when Mineta ended up taped to the wall and everyone refused to get him down so he had to proceed with his lesson with a student taped on the wall. Because yeah, that sums up the teaching of the next generation of heroes. The moment the clock struck 1, he attempted to dismiss his class and leave but of course, his students wanted to be little shits and start an interrogation. To which he did manage to get out without saying anything. (It did delay him quite a bit, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle)

He made sure everything was in order before officially hitting the road. This one car ride will change the future of this case entirely. Not only that, he’s going to meet people from an isolated place that no one knows about outside of the rumors. After the original discussion, he spent the week trying to learn everything about Amestris as much as he could. He didn’t really find anything helpful, only the rumors and conspiracy theories that they were all cannibals and were constantly in conflict. He can believe the latter but cannibalism? Really? The research on Alchemy didn’t provide anything at all. 

Arriving at the dock a few minutes late (fuck traffic), he got Suneater and Lemillion to provide some security. Technically Lemillion shouldn’t be out on the field so soon after Overhaul but they needed someone bright who could provide a welcoming presence. The arrival was very tight-lipped and no one should know about it but one can never be too careful. He’s not an idiot to believe that everyone will be friendly, he doesn’t want to assume that the Colonel and his Lieutenant will cause harm but he doesn’t know them that well. The security also served another function as they kept them company until he arrived. 

“Oh, there he is now! Good Afternoon, Eraserhead. I have your guests here safely.” Mirio waved. Aizawa observed them. Colonel Mustang was taller than his partner, with black hair with blue military uniform, and a long black trench coat on top. Lieutenant Hawkeye was next to him, in the same military uniform, her blond hair was in a claw clip. Seemed friendly enough. 

Aizawa nodded. “Thank you, I apologize for the late arrival. My students and traffic seemed to conspire against me. Pleased to meet you, I spoke with you on the phone” 

“Nice to meet you as well. I believe introductions are in order. Colonel Roy Mustang and Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye” Hawkeye gave a salute at her name. 

“Eraserhead, though you can call me Aizawa” He shook their hands. “Thank you Suneater and Lemillion, I’ll see you back on campus?” 

They both nodded. “Goodbye, sir. Nice to meet you two!” Said their goodbyes and left, taking the hint that they were no longer needed. Aizawa watched them leave before turning back and putting all of his attention on his guests.  

“Thank you for coming, once again I’m sorry for being late but I see that my third-years kept you company.”

“Don’t be sorry, things happen sometimes. Are they also heroes?”

“Yes, in training but they are close to graduating. Come on, I can drive you back to campus and let you get settled in.” Aizawa guided them back to his car. 

“Thank you for everything. Have there been any updates on the case since we last talked?” The colonel asked so casually as if he was merely commenting on the weather. Aizawa shouldn’t be surprised, as a military officer he probably deals with cases like these all the time.

“None really. I’m hoping for a new development throughout this week but there have been no new murders or transmutation circles. We still kept the other one untouched for you to look at. The bodies have been moved to the morgue, however.” He informed them as he helped them move their suitcases to the trunk and got in the car. They both got in the backseat, leaving Aizawa alone in the front. He didn’t comment on it. 

“Is there any way we could stop by and I can take a look at it? The sooner I can analyze it, the quicker we can get information and get rid of it.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t dangerous” He narrowed his eyes. 

“It is not dangerous, just… unsafe” He chose his words carefully. “I don’t want to disrupt your plans, however.”

“It’s not a disturbance at all. The crime scene is on the way back anyway, might as well knock two birds out with one stone” Aizawa pulled out of the dock and started driving, observing the 2 from the rearview mirror. They both seemed like quiet people or maybe it was the unfamiliar environment. Hawkeye seemed more observant than her partner, glancing out the window and sneaking glances at him. Mustang just looked out the window, lost in thought. “How was your trip here?” 

“It went well. No delays luckily, the boat ride here was calming.” Mustang replied, no longer lost in thought.

“You guys don’t have planes?” 

“No, we’re not that modern. I’m not sure how much you know about Amestris but we are very old-fashioned. Slowly becoming more modernized after the war though.”

“You had a war?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. You’d think being isolated would prevent that but no, we’re somehow always fighting. Not even for a good reason either” At the mention of war, Hawkeye averted her gaze back outside but otherwise kept quiet. “Though that should be our last war in a while. Planes might be something we’d invest in the future but not now. The moment people figure out they can actually get to Amestris, it’ll be… interesting to say the least. What can you tell me about these quirks that you all have? According to the research we have , it’s supernatural abilities?”

Aizawa nodded. “Yeah, it’s something people are born with and it evolved through time. It can do a variety of things, for example, I can erase other people’s quirks for a short amount of time, leaving them defenseless. My husband’s quirk works with his voice, he can raise his voice and cause a significant amount of damage. The current number one hero has flames, it really just depends on genetics.”

“Flames? How useful is he on rainy days?” Hawkeye asked rhetorically, giving Mustang a side glance. Mustang refused to meet her eyes. Aizawa gave her an odd look and kept driving. 

Aizawa pulled up to the warehouse, acknowledging the lack of patrol cars guarding the scene. There were about 3 guards at the entrance, all gathered in a circle talking. Aizawa parked the car and led the officers to the guards. 

“This used to be an old cotton factory, but it was shut down a few years ago. Then last week we got a tip that something happened here and I was sent to investigate and well… you know the rest.” He explained on their walk over. The guards turned and straightened the moment they saw Eraserhead. 

“Mr. Eraserhead, sir, we were just about to call you. Who do you have with you?” The lead guard lowered the screen of her laptop. 

“Some colleagues of mine with information about the incident. Don’t worry about them, what did you need to tell me?” 

The guards looked nervously at each other before opening the laptop again , revealing a paused clip. She sighed and explained, “The bodies never made it to the morgue. Somewhere during the trip something happened but we have nothing on record. It’s like they disappeared without a trace. We can’t find the van or the workers.” She rambled nervously. 

“I thought they came to collect them last week? You’re telling me that the bodies have been gone for that long and no one bothered to contact me?”

“Well, sir. We thought the morgue would have informed you. It was going to take a while for the transport because the morgue had to prepare for them due to the circumstances and find a bigger truck and-“

“So you’re saying that these bodies have been rotting away here for the past 10 days?!”

“Well no, we had a med student with a frost quirk lower the temperature inside in the meantime to preserve them. We had everything set up a few days ago and they came to pick them up but they never made it to the morgue.”

“How long ago is a few days?”

“They picked them up 4 days ago”

“So let me get this straight. It’s been 4 days since they went missing and no one bothered to contact me?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. This was the last time he was hiring private companies for his cases. 

“We have been checking our cameras to see if we can see who picked them up but,” She held up a broken camera. “They all got destroyed, I think it was water damage.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s all we got and have no leads on it either, I think they were new hires so they didn’t have a file to send us. But this is all we have, the time they came for the pick up”

The video starts off normal enough, in broad daylight. A truck parks in front of the building, and two people climb out. One had pitch black, long, black hair wearing medical scrubs and the other had a similar outfit but was blond with short hair.  The faces were covered by a mask and clear visors. They shared a short conversation with the guard on duty before walking in and gathering the bodies. The truck was big enough to fit the bodies as they quickly transported them onto a large bed and rolled them in. The camera began to glitch out, before shutting down as the truck drove off. The faces were never revealed, which means they couldn’t run facial recognition. 

Mustang and Hawkeye took a look at it. “Are there any audio clips?” Hawkeye asked as she looked up at the guard. “Maybe they introduced themselves or have recognizable voices.” 

The guard nodded. “Yeah, they didn’t drop their names and the guard on duty went on vacation. We can’t reach him either. I can turn up the audio but I doubt we will find anything.” 

She turned up the audio and replayed the clip. Just as she said there was no telling information revealed. It seemed so normal but then they caught something. Near the end, before the camera glitched, while the worker was packing up the bodies a third voice was heard. It sounded almost childlike. 

“Who is talking?” Aizawa asked, mainly to himself, as he scanned the screen. “Damn, it’s too mumbled to make out.” he sighed. Why can’t his job be easy?

“Voice is from inside the truck” Mustang stated, before pointing at a sliver of uniform from inside the truck. It was barely noticeable. “There are 3 workers.” 

The guard shifted nervously. “I didn’t realize, we only had one guard on duty that day”

“You all don’t work in pairs?” 

“We’re an independent company” 

Yeah, he was starting to regret that now. He should’ve just gotten the police involved but part of the instructions was to keep the commission out of this . In order to do that, he had to hire a private company and pay them under the table. He was starting to regret that, if he knew they were this incompetent, he would’ve gotten some of the teachers to do this instead.   

Aizawa took another glance at the clip but wasn’t in the right mindset to figure this out. He asked the guard to send it to him, with the audio attached. The guard assured them that nothing else was disturbed, only the missing bodies. He nodded and led the 2 officers into the warehouse. 

—

To say that this entire thing was completely surreal was an understatement. Mustang would have expected anything but this level of modernization and evolution. In Amestris and the surrounding land, it was filled with fields. Even after the war/coup, the town slowly grew but it was still farmland. Here, there was no farmland in sight. Only tall buildings and sidewalks. The man who drove them here, Aizawa, gave them some information to clear up but he still had questions. They might have to do some more research when they get situated. 

Speaking of confusion, the clip that was played earlier was unnerving. He was hoping there was another explanation for the childlike voice especially because who it sounded is supposed to be dead. Not to mention it was 3 works and one of them had long black hair and pale skin, although that’s normal, combined with other factors it could be someone they faced before. One glance at his Lieutenant and he knew she recognized it as well. It was not showing a pretty picture, if his suspicions were corrected then they were going to be here for a while. 

Besides, they’re dead now. People can’t come back from the dead but were they ever really people? Fueled by a philosopher stone, hypothetically speaking they could come back… and it would explain how Ed could’ve gotten overpowered… no, it can’t be. All the homunculi are dead for the most part and Pride isn’t a threat anymore without memories…

The lingering smell of something he was all too familiar with pulled him out of his thoughts. Even though the bodies were missing, the smell was always a bitch to get rid of. Mustang stared at the remains of a human transmutation circle in front of him. 

Right, one problem at a time.   

He walked around the circle, careful not to touch any of it. Even though it was broken, he didn’t want to risk any chances. “Nothing was altered, right?” 

Aizawa shook his head. “No, we left it alone after erasing the lines but we made sure none of the drawings were damaged.” 

He nodded and crouched down where the most blood was pooled. He noticed that in his position, his right arm was directly on top of the blood. Did this brat really lose his arm again? He thought as he took a glance at the equations. 

He took little comfort in the blood, if there was blood chances are Ed was not taken by Truth and there was a chance he was still alive. The more he looked at the equations the more it confirmed his theory that this was indeed Ed. Some of the formulas caught him by surprise, recognizing it from a certain infamous state alchemist. 

“Sir” He heard Hawkeye’s monotone voice call out from behind him. He turned to see Hawkeye staring at the wall, he followed her gaze to see a shadow etched into the pale white wall.

“Oh,” How the fuck did he miss that? “That explains…” He glanced at the circle and back at the shadow. “Nothing.” Why did Truth take a full-on human sacrifice? Who it was is also important but irrelevant. This just got so much more complicated. 

He glanced at the drawings within the circle while Hawkeye engaged in small talk with Aizawa behind him. He can see the work of the sewing life alchemist within the equations and also because of the combined bodies he was sent. Was the goal to make a superhuman? 

“Do we know what the intention was?” 

“Not yet, once we talk with everyone else we can piece something together” Aizawa commented. 

He nodded. Whatever the intention was, the rebound was great enough to take a full body. Did they try to create more power? The only time he saw a rebound that took a body, the Elrics tried to bring their mom back. They tried to create life out of nothing. Did they try to create someone? Bio-alchemy was used to merge the human bodies safely but clearly, something was missing. With many uncertainties, one thing was certain: the Law of Equivalent Exchange played a significant role in this transmutation.

“Hawkeye, next time we contact Central Command, make sure we ask for Tucker’s research files.”

“Tucker?”

“We have bio-alchemy, if I had to guess I would say it was probably used to provide some stability. We also have this.” He waved his hand at the circle. “But how does that-“ he gestured to the shadow. “-come into play? We have the toll-“ he nodded to the pool of dry blood. “And the ingredients-“ he looked at the bloodstains and burnt floor in the center of the circle . “So how did you die?” He asked the shadow.

“Mind sharing with the class?” Aizawa placed his hands in his pockets and leaned back, looking at him expectantly. 

“If there are more heroes involved in the investigation, I’d rather wait. It’s going to be a long explanation” He’d rather not do the whole explanation twice. 

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. He doesn’t blame him for being suspicious, hell… he’d also be suspicious if he was in his shoes.  “We’re heading there to meet them after this.”

Mustang sighed. “Okay well, I have all the information I need from here” 

“How do we dispose of the circle before it does more damage?”

“It’s chalk, you could just pour water on it. But here, I’ll make it easier” As he walked away, he snapped his fingers. A wave of flames came out, burning every marking on the ground. Aizawa took a step back in shock before glaring at Mustang. 

“What the hell was that?”

“Alchemy” Mustang turned back to make sure no part of the circle remained. He walked next to Hawkeye, who seemed unfazed while readjusting her hair clip. After years of working together, she knew his flames pretty well. 

“There better be a damn good explanation for all of this” Aizawa took one last look at the charred ground and turned to walk toward the car. He followed along with Hawkeye next to him. 

As they traveled to their next location, he let his thoughts wander. Trying to fill in the blanks of what the possible end product could have been. He hoped that it was Ed behind it all and tried not to think about what his captors could’ve done to break him. Ed was tough to crack and get information from, not to mention make him do a forbidden transmutation. Because it had to be Ed behind it all, right? It can’t be a coincidence that he went missing and this happens. 

And if it is a coincidence, that complicates this case a lot more because that means that someone got a hold of restricted and heavily monitored research documents and knew how to apply them. In a society that primarily functions with quirks, an alchemist doesn’t quite fit in.

Looking outside the window, he could almost believe they traveled dimensions. This level of evolution that could physically change people’s appearances should not be possible. It was a stark contrast to the world he protected. It almost made him homesick. 

He glanced at Hawkeye, who looked straight ahead. Anyone who didn’t know her could’ve assumed that she was unbothered by it all. But he knew her, he could see the worry and concern in her eyes, covered by the mask of indifference. Anything that happens beyond today, they are on their own. If this entire thing happens to be a trap, no one can save them. They have gotten themselves out of worse situations, and together they can face anything this world has to offer. He looked at the clear sky above.

God, what did he get themselves into?

Chapter Text

Mic absent-mindedly scrolled on his phone, he took on Aizawa’s last class which turned out to be pretty fun even after they took Mineta off the wall. He kinda forgot the lesson plan so they ended up doing nothing but they had a great last class (to be fair, he already knew that none of them would’ve done with work except for the top students and the kids could use some fun after everything that happened). The professors sat in the U-shaped table, although some of them had to move to accommodate their new guests.

So now he was sitting next to Aizawa and Ectoplasm, while the others remained in their assigned seats. Beside him was a box with multiple files and an evidence bin. There wasn’t a lot in the bin which could mean that this case isn’t that serious or it was a lot tougher than expected. Considering they are getting foreign officers involved, he was going to assume the latter. No one knew anything about the case, not even him even though he lives with the main person running this. It was kept under close wraps. 

 The conference room buzzed with energy. Everyone was nervous to meet their foreign guests, no one knew what to expect. He would listen in on some of the phone calls Aizawa had but there wasn’t much to go off of, they sounded nice enough though. He stared at the time and noticed that it was about time for the meeting to start but Aizawa, Nedzu, and their guests still hadn't arrived. 

He texted him throughout the day to make sure everything was going smoothly but he didn't get any response back. Luckily, his location was still on so he knew they were on campus so it was weird that they hadn't arrived yet. Just then everyone’s phones dinged. 

<4:04pm> Nedzu: Sorry everyone! We will be arriving momentarily, we are currently waiting for Eraser and the guests to go through security. Apologies again for the tardiness.

He then got a separate message outside the group chat from Aizawa. 

<4:04pm> Aizawa: How many guns can someone have? I’d feel threatened if this wasn’t mildly impressive.

<4:05pm> ???

He received no further explanation. 

Everyone glanced at each other. Somehow this only increased the tension in the room. Midnight chose to break the tension in the room. 

“How serious do you guys think this is? To bring in foreign heroes, that sounds pretty serious” Midnight asked and leaned back in her chair,  breaking the silence. the other teachers stared at her before contemplating the question. 

“It’s going to be hard to get the resources we need since we can’t get the commission involved. Did Eraser ever explain why?” Vlad asked. “The commission can make this go a lot faster.” He picked at the corner of his file and looked up at Mic expectedly. 

Mic glanced up from his phone and noticed everyone staring at him for an answer. 

“He just said he was given strict orders to keep the commission out of it. Something related to Hawks— I’m not sure. He’s been tight-lipped about it, even to me. He’s been busy this week making accommodations for our guests with Nedzu, and making sure they have everything they need, so we really haven’t had any time to talk much about the case.” 

“Yeah well, hopefully we’ll get answers soon.” Ectoplasm piped up. Collectively all of their phones buzzed, a message to the group chat by Nedzu informing them that they have arrived and will be up momentarily. “I hope they’re nice”

“Yeah, it’ll be annoying to work with jerks the entire investigation.” Midnight rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t know though, I listened in on some of their conversations and they sound polite?” He shrugged. “They probably won’t even be here too long, just help us out on this portion of the case and leave.” He shut off his phone and slid it into his pocket. 

“Let’s just hope it’ll be that easy,” Ectoplasm commented before changing the topic, “it’s rude to talk behind their back and we don’t even know them, they’ll be here any minute. So Mic, how was covering for 1A like?”

Mic grinned. “They got no work done but we did have a mini little party so their morale is up.”

Vlad stared at him. “Is that what all the noise was? I banged on the wall to make you all quiet down.”

“Oh… I thought that was the music. Oops” he gave an apologetic smile and shrug. “Should’ve joined us” 

“You know damn well if we did that, we would be filing incident reports” 

“Yeah, fair enough”

As the sounds of footsteps drew near, they began to quiet down. They tried not to stare at the door, but the suspense was killing them. The door knob turned and the door opened to reveal Nedzu leading 2 military officers with Eraser tailing behind. In an instant the two officers scanned the room and they all glanced at each other wondering what the appropriate response was. 

They weren’t expecting the military, no one even mentioned that they were going to be working with military officers. Maybe from where they are from all heroes are in the military? Maybe it’s like the commission for them. It was clear that the other heroes in the room were caught off-guard about this too. 

Mic subtly analyzed them, taking notes of everything. He didn’t know too much about military ranking, but it was obvious that the one in power was the guy, not only did his military uniform hold more medals than his partner but it was also the way he walked into the room. He radiated authority and it was pretty intimidating. Another thing he found interesting was that he wore gloves while she did not. His hands were at his side while hers were clasped in front of her. 

Nedzu smiled brightly at the officers. “Welcome to our conference room! Here we have our fellow heroes who will be involved in the investigation. Heroes, allow me to introduce you to Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye from Amestris, in order we have Snipe, Power Loader, Cementoss, Midnight, Thirteen, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, and All Might.” He gestured to each of them as he introduced them and then showed them seats before taking a seat themselves. 

He could hear Midnight comment something under her breath but it was too faint to make out. No doubt it was a question about the whole situation.  

Mustang raised a hand as a greeting. “Good evening everyone, I look forward to working with you all.”

Hawkeye took a seat first, next to All Might and Mustang followed, sitting at the edge of the table. 2 case files were passed down and handed to them and thus the meeting began. They didn’t have much time to waste. 

“We brought them over to give some context on the case, as most of you know I was given a case by Hawks to investigate a lead for the league of villains. During my investigation I discovered something foreign and not quirk-related so I consulted Nedzu and found out that what we found was actually alchemy. We brought in 2 officers from the Amestrian military who specialize in alchemy to help give us some insight on the case.” 

“Amestrian Military? From like.. The isolated continent?” Midnight asked. 

Eraser nodded. “I’ll let them explain the general basics of their power system” 

Mustang thanked him and began to explain alchemy as simply as he could. He explained that it was a system based on balance, science, and morality. He clarified that in order for alchemy to be used, the user needs to have a deep understanding of their material. Comprehension, destruction, and reconstruction. He put emphasis on balance and explained the law of equivalent exchange and what would happen if the equation isn’t equal. 

“Wait, what do you mean, rebound?” Vlad asked. 

“Most often it’ll be similar to when a gun backfires and it explodes on the user. It would look something like that but related to the transmutation they're trying to do. In more extreme cases it’ll be a loss of a body part, but that’s rare” he glossed over the last part as if that wasn’t deeply terrifying. 

“What kind of extreme cases?” Vlad asked the question they were all thinking. 

“Ones that violate the laws of alchemy other than equivalent exchange.” Mustang seemed to think about it. “There is one restriction in alchemy: don't transmute human souls. That is our most extreme case. Otherwise anything can be transmuted. For example, I am the Flame Alchemist and as my title suggests I control flames” He showed the back of his glove where a red transmutation circle was embedded with red thread. Mic narrowed his eyes to get a closer look, it looked very complex. 

Snipe looked at Hawkeye. “So what type of alchemist are you?” 

Hawkeye kept her hands clasped in front of her. “I am not an alchemist, just a soldier”

“Wait, you can join the military without alchemy? What about quirks, what are your quirks?” 

Mustang exchanged a look with Hawkeye. “We don’t have quirks”

“What about your heroes?”

Mustang paused in consideration. “I’m sorry I believe there is a misunderstanding somewhere along this conversation. Our country doesn’t have heroes, it functions purely in a militaristic way. No one in Amestris or neighboring countries have quirks.”

“So is alchemy your version of quirks?”

“No. Alchemy is a science as I explained before and anyone can do it if they have an understanding of it. It’s not easy” 

Snipe looked at Hawkeye in concern. “How can you be a soldier without alchemy? How are you going to defend yourself? This is a dangerous job”

Hawkeye met his gaze and her expression hardened. “With skill.” She deadpanned as if it was obvious. 

Mustang looked amused at the interaction. “You all are aware there are more ways to fight than with quirks, right?” 

His question was met with silence. Mic thought about it, there are more ways to fight than with quirks but it was still dangerous. The reason quirkless can’t be heroes is for their safety. Being a hero or a soldier is dangerous and life threatening, those with quirks have to protect those who don’t. Shouldn’t it be the same with alchemy? 

Eraser broke the silence. “Is that all that we need to know about alchemy?” 

“Not all but the general information. There are different types of alchemy depending on the transmutation circle. All alchemy is founded by Truth and is governed through moral rules. And in order to do alchemy, you need an understanding of philosophy, math, and science.” 

Eraser opened the case, leading everyone else to do the same. Instantly, they were greeted with the pictures Eraser took that night and a detailed report of the incident. A quick glance around the table and he noticed that his colleagues looked horrified and disgusted through the pictures. He and everyone else looked at him and silently demanded an explanation. 

Not even quirks could do such horrific shit. Is alchemy even ethical? 

Eraser began to explain the process of his case, from his talk with Hawks to his discovery at the warehouse. 

Mustang raised his hand and Eraser paused. “The hero you walked to, Hawks, he specifically said a kid did this?” 

“Yes, does that mean anything?”

“Possibly, the silver pocket watch you found. Do you have it with you?” 

Eraser nodded and reached into the evidence bin and handed it over. Mic leaned closer to the table in interest and the other teachers did the same. They all watched as Mustang held the watch chain up to let the watch hang. The watch was simple and plain, nothing too special about it. Mustang cupped it in-between his hands and blue electricity surrounded his hands and All Might backed up from the unexpected action. When the sparks faded, he uncupped his hands and flicked open the watch. 

“Was that alchemy?” Nedzu asked excitedly, clapping at the little show. 

Mustang nodded and handed Hawkeye the watch. On the inside of the watch, there was something engraved but he was too blind to see it. “Right, so I believe I just found my missing alchemist, and the person who may have done this transmutation” 

“Fullmetal?” Eraser asked. 

“He went rogue?” Mic asked. He glanced at the pictures, if this missing alchemist did this then they are a threat. Who knows what they could be working on right now? Maybe in a few weeks they’ll find more mangled bodies. 

“No, he didn’t go rogue. He was kidnapped a month ago and we searched everywhere for him but we got nothing. The pocket watch you found, that’s our state certification.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an identical one. “We have to carry this around to get access to certain files but this watch in particular belongs to him. Coupled with the fact that Hawks mentioned a kid, that would be Fullmetal. Not to mention that he is more than capable of doing this” 

Mic gave Eraser a look. Were they just going to gloss over the fact that a child is in the military ? If he didn’t trust them before he definitely doesn’t trust them now. What does he mean that he’s more than capable? Who trained him? 

Nedzu hummed in thought. “Before diving deeper into that, do you mind explaining what this is first?”

“Of course, my apologies. Before I begin, anything I say here cannot be repeated outside this room. Do I make myself clear? This is highly classified information” Mustang’s voice left no room for argument so all heroes nodded and he began his explanation. “This is human transmutation.”

“You mean the one thing you said alchemy can’t do?” Mic asked, stunned. What was the whole explanation in the beginning for if it was going to be tossed out the window? He was mainly concerned as to why a child would know how to bypass the laws of their own power system. 

“I didn’t say it can't do it, I said it was a restriction. Technically it’s impossible to perform considering it will never be successful which it wasn’t and the rebound is too traumatic. This is an example of what happens when someone tries it, the blood you see on the edge of the circle is the toll the user paid to even attempt it. The etched shadow, I’m going to take a guess and say that was part of the rebound.”

“What do you mean by a toll?” Nedzu tilted his head.

“When someone attempts this transmutation they get sent through the gate and visit Truth, the trip through the gate costs something that Truth deems as… valuable.”

“Truth?”

“The universe, a higher being, God. Take your pick, it goes by all names. Once the toll is taken you get sent back to the mortal realm and face the consequences of their actions.” 

“You sound like you speak from experience.” Mic narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. 

Mustang turned to face him while Hawkeye gave him a once-over. “It’s our job to know, after many interviews and lines of questioning, you start to learn a thing or two. I’m sure you understand as heroes, having to understand your villains to take them down.” He paused to give room for any more questions. When no one spoke up he continued. “In this case, I can tell you that Fullmetal did not want to commit the transmutation. I can vouch for him, he would never do this intentionally, and considering he’s been missing for about a month…” He paused and let everyone make their own conclusions. “It was done against his will.  Look at the formulas, it’s not equal but it was stable. The rebound could’ve been worse, but with the use of bio alchemy it made it less severe.”

He proceeded to give context on the origins of bio-alchemy and chimeras. Briefly glancing at Nedzu before continuing to explain. He told them about the sewing-life alchemist, a former state alchemist that specialized in merging animal bodies into one to make a new breed that could talk but eventually, out of desperation, turned to people to make it successful. “Fullmetal studied under him for a week before Tucker was apprehended. He was actually the reason we caught him.”

“How come?” Midnight asked. Mic could tell she wasn’t trusting him either. 

“That’s classified and unrelated.” He stated. “What I can tell you is that he is one of the only people who has the knowledge”

“Even for human transmutation?”

“He would sit in with me during the interviews. Not only is he an alchemist but he is my team’s researcher and to be quite honest, these types of cases are rare to come by so I have him research what he can. Even then, anyone knows that human transmutation will never be successful. Even bio alchemy rarely worked.” 

“But it did work” Eraser confirmed. “When I arrived at the warehouse, they were all merged together.” Mic squeezed his knee in comfort. 

“When you say it worked, could they move around or only talk?”

“Neither, they were dead. Hawks did say they considered it a failure but what could they gain from this?”

“Then technically because there was no sentience, it didn’t work. Human transmutation will never work because what is equal to the value of a soul?”He asked and no one had an answer for him. “Alright, I gave you information now it's time for the reverse. Who is after you?” 

The teachers all looked at each other. Eraser began to explain the League of Villains and their goal. He went through the way the heroes operated in the country, the ranking they have and vaguely mentioned the commission. Mic wonders if he even told their guests that the commission doesn’t even know that they’re here. He observed them as Eraser kept giving them the general explanation they needed. They both paid close attention to everything being said. Most of the teachers already knew all of this so they looked over the case. It was important to also mention that the league has been quiet since the Overhaul raid a few months back. 

“The real question here is, how did the league find out about alchemy? Or even knew that Fullmetal possessed the knowledge to do this?” 

“Well, Hawks did mention that his quirk- I mean his alchemy worked similar to Overhaul. When we raided the Yakuza headquarters, there was a room filled with books. As most of us do, it’s possible he ran across research about alchemy and used it as a base for his quirk.” Eraser guessed. “As for how they found out about him… could just be a long chain of events”

“Although that is important, I believe that we should focus on why they were making him commit this transmutation.” 

“Nomus” All Might spoke up for the first time. Everyone turned to look at him in a silent demand to elaborate. He noticed everyone’s eyes on him. “The League of Villains are constantly using this superhuman who can defeat me. I guess I should introduce myself more formally. I’m All Might, the former number 1 hero. They have tried to defeat me since the beginning and I am not as strong as I used to be. I retired but that doesn’t stop them. Nomus are basically a huge thing that has the manpower of multiple people not to mention with multiple quirks.” 

“I thought they already had a process to make Nomus, why bother changing it?” Midnight pointed out. “And they changed it to a process more unstable and something they don’t understand.”

“The process to make a Nomu has to be long and tedious, they might be looking for shortcuts” 

“In that case we have to be on guard. We don’t know what they’re planning next.” 

“What about Fullmetal? We need to rescue him before they attempt this again”

“Or dispose of him. After all they have no reason to believe that this will be successful” Midnight shot a look at Mustang. “Sorry”

“Don’t be, this is the reality we’re currently facing. It would be best to start looking at possible locations they could be holding” 

Mic realized something the moment Mustang said that. “The League of Villains aren’t known for being the best at kidnapping. They barely held Bakugou for a day and he’s a student. Plus they didn’t even kidnap Eri, they just helped and then betrayed the Yakuza. We don’t even know why they joined forces in the first place” 

“Yeah they aren’t exactly welcoming, but they do team up with other groups since Stain caused a rise in crime. If they teamed up with another gang, that would explain the missing bodies” Eraser told them about going to the warehouse before arriving at the meeting and how the bodies never made it to the morgue. There wasn’t much to unpack. “This other organization needs information on Amestris if they had all this planned out. And a good location. Are you guys currently fighting anyone?”

“Not since the Promised day which was about a year or so ago. I can have my team look into the officers and see who has access to certain information. I doubt they’ll find anything because we are still rebuilding.” 

“Well, it’s a start. I can try and contact Hawks during patrol later and see if he has more information for us.” 

“Well if he had information, wouldn’t he have called you already? We can’t wait around while a defenseless kid needs our help.” Snipe argued. 

“Although I agree where you are coming from, Fullmetal is far from defenseless. He might be in a compromising situation right now but he’s stubborn and intelligent. If anything he tried to break out before but failed, either he made it out but could find help in time and was recaptured or never made it out in the first place”

“I can look into potential locations and narrow down the search. I’ll ask local police if they encountered someone with his description, or if someone was reported. Judging by the blood,” Nedzu pointed to the pictures, “I do not think your alchemist has much time left” 

A somber silence fell over the room. They spent the rest of the meeting, assigning minor tasks to the heroes. There wasn’t much to do except wait until something showed up. Nedzu collected all of the files from the heroes and placed them back in the bin.

Nedzu opened the floor for any questions, now unrelated to the case. 

The plan was to have a moment where the heroes could ask them questions about anything related to Amestris or the military but Nedzu decided that it was getting late and it would be a better idea to let them get situated before bombarding them with questions. Mic wasn’t completely thrilled with the idea, he had so many questions he wanted to ask but they would have to wait.

—

As they were escorted out the conference room, Nedzu took the walk over to do a tour. Mustang paid attention half-heartedly, he mainly ran through the meeting again in his mind, trying to process all the information. Nedzu didn’t seem to mind, happily riding on All Might's shoulders. He began to focus on the conversation the moment they stepped out of the building and began to walk towards the apartments. 

“You have quite a big campus” Hawkeye observed, noticing a few students roaming around the campus. 

“Yes! In case of emergency we are also a place of evacuation so we have all the materials needed to sustain most of the city.” Nedzu nodded in agreement. “But this is all our campus dedicated to form the next generation of heroes” 

“And it’s all suited for quirks?” 

“Yes, we train their quirks to reach their full potential and we have made quite the heroes. Take All Might for example, he graduated from here”

All Might kept walking. “Yeah, it’s a good school and the students here are promising. How does it work in Amestris?”

“To be a soldier or state alchemist?”

“Both”

Hawkeye took a moment to think. “To be a soldier you go through multiple psych exams and fitness training. After you pass the initial tests, there’s a program that lasts a few weeks that puts us through different types of training and then you get assigned a team. Usually the Colonel picks their team” 

Mustang glanced at his gloves before answering their question. “For a state alchemist, it’s a little different. You pass exams about alchemy and the basic laws. Afterwards you do an interview with all the other higher-ups watching plus the Fuhrer, you are given a chance to demonstrate your alchemy and the same process to be a soldier follows.” 

Fullmetal’s pocket watch burned in his pocket. He’ll never forget his exam, the sheer determination on his face or the surprise when he noticed that killing Bradley wasn’t as easy as he thought. The kid’s been through hell and back, almost literally, he better keep fighting. 

“No schools for alchemy?” Nedzu sounded a little upset. Seeing that he is a principal, he can kinda see why. 

He shook his head. “Alchemy doesn’t have the best reputation. All alchemists usually study under someone but others learn on their own. We don’t have schools dedicated to it though” 

“Fascinating” They entered an apartment building. “Well it’s different here. To be a hero, the students need to go through a hero course program. We offer our own and it’s one of the best in the whole country. During the program, they can get scouted and work under a current pro hero before getting their provisional license. Once they graduate they take the exam for a full license and work from there. Being granted a hero license allows people to use their quirk legally”

“You can’t use your quirk without a license?” 

All Might scoffed. “Can you imagine a world where everyone could use their powers? It’ll be chaos” 

Based on what I've seen, this world is already chaos, Mustang  thought to himself. He didn’t dare voice it, just nodded along. Eventually, they arrived at their temporary apartment. To their surprise, their bags were already dropped off, seemingly untouched. Additionally, there was a bin with all the guns they confiscated from Hawkeye earlier. He saw All Might’s eyes widened at the large bin. Pinned to the bin was a note written in Japanese. They might have spent the whole week learning how to speak the language, but not so quite the reading part. 

Nedzu seemed to notice and translated. “They registered all your guns, you’re free to carry. Some of the third years transferred your luggage here, is this all?” 

Hawkeye nodded. “We travel light. Part of the job” She wasted no time in securing her weapons. 

Nedzu opened the door and handed them both a key plus a spare. “Here are your keys. I took on the honor to stock your fridge with ingredients and food, but let me know if I missed anything. If you need anything else you know where to call me. Don’t worry about anyone intruding, we pride ourselves on privacy.” He extended his paw. “Welcome to Japan.” 

Mustang shook his paw (and wow wasn’t that a strange sentence) while Hawkeye gave a salute. “Thank you for your hospitality” 

“I will come to collect you around noon tomorrow.” Nedzu waved goodbye and closed the door behind him, leaving Hawkeye and Mustang alone in the apartment. It wasn’t a surprise they were going to share an apartment, in fact they requested it when they were first coordinating their visit. 

Before they could unpack, they took a moment to look around the apartment. All things considered, it was a pretty nice place. Better than the military dorms. Walking in there was the living room with some type of screen on a stand close to the wall with couches. Next to it was a small dining table with a kitchen attached, down the hall there were 4 doors, the master bedroom (a bedroom with a small bathroom attached), a normal bedroom, a bathroom, and a small closet with extra things. They checked everything to make sure that they really weren’t bugged. 

“Clear” Hawkeye called from the kitchen. 

“Clear” He confirmed from down the hall, he walked back to meet with her. “At least they're honest.” he joined her in the kitchen. Their bags were still in the living room, but there wasn’t much to unpack. 

Hawkeye sighed and let her hair down. She leaned back onto the counter. “What have we gotten ourselves into?” 

“Funny, I was asking myself the same thing. At least we know Ed is here” He pulled out the watch he kept from the evidence bin. “Now we just have to hope he’s still alive” He really didn’t want to sign the paperwork and plan a funeral. “But both Nedzu and Midnight raised a good point. He’s already lost a lot of blood and I doubt they would waste resources to save him. Besides, have you seen the placement of the blood? He might’ve lost his arm during the transmutation.”

She turned her gaze to the ground and sighed. “The heroes are strange, aren’t they? This whole place is widely different” 

“Makes you wonder if this is what Amestris would look like if we never closed our borders. Seeing chimeras occur naturally is odd.” He agreed. “The way they run this country is different too. A ranking system? That’s just begging for corruption” 

Not that they had any room to say anything. Amestris was at peak corruption when he staged a coup. Even now, a year or so later, they’re still repairing themselves. There is no current Fuhrer so everyone is functioning on their old ranks until Central Command gets itself in order. If they’re talking about corruption, he isn’t any better. He just used his contacts and power to be able to leave the country. He didn’t dare to mention how illegal it is to break the closed border policy but it was their only lead. He has his team working together to hide the fact that they’re gone. Right about now, they should be stationed in Eastern Command for 2 weeks. 

Hawkeye hummed. “It’s too early to make assumptions but I can already tell that it’s not going to be easy to gain all their trust” 

“We gave them information they needed and we got some information in return. Although it’s not as much as I would’ve liked, it’s something. One of them said something that we need to talk about: how did Fullmetal end up all the way out here?” 

“It’s probably related to the missing bodies, no doubt about it. This might be a bit far-fetched but did one of the medical examiners look a little familiar to you?” 

“A little bit, it doesn’t help that they worked with 2 others. But that’s impossible, they’re dead” 

Hawkeye paused to think before shaking her head. “We should get in contact with the team before we get some rest.”

That was a good idea, he hasn’t been able to contact his team during their travels and he last talked to them about 4 days ago. He trusts his team with his career and his life, he just needed to make sure they weren’t running into any issues. 

He agreed and went towards one of their smaller suitcases. They managed to bring one of their telephones to keep in contact with the team, hoping that they would actually be able to get on the frequency.

The phone rang twice before static filled its line and a familiar voice came through.

“Identification number?"

“Fuery” he greeted. 

“Oh Colonel! Let me transfer us to a private line.” A beat of silence. “Okay, we should be good. Any updates? Did you find Ed yet?” 

“We haven’t found him yet but we have confirmation that this is him. I have Hawkeye with me.”

“Hello”

“Hawkeye! Wow, this place has been quiet without you two around but don’t worry we’ve been holding down the fort pretty well over here. Almost everyone is in the office right now, the only one out on the field is Havoc. Armstrong came in earlier and asked him to run a wellness check on Mrs.Bradley.”

“Is she okay?”

“We think so, we haven’t been able to check up on her due to everything going on right now but don’t worry, we have this covered. You just focus on bringing Edward back home. How is the outside world?”

“Careful, just because this is a private line it doesn’t mean that it’s secure” he warned. 

“It’s been… interesting.” Hawkeye answered. 

“Treating you all well?”

“For the most part.”

“I’m glad everything is going well over there but I doubt this is a wellness call, do you need anything from us?” 

“As a matter of fact we do, could you get the access logs from the library from about a month ago, right near the time Ed went missing.” He assigned him. “Check the officers stationed near the border as well, if Fullmetal made it all the way out here, someone had to help them” 

“Yes sir. I can get the information to you by tomorrow night. Should I use your identification code?” 

“Sure. I don’t think they’ll ask for reason but if they do just make something up, tell them I’m working a case or something”

“Yes sir. Anything else?”

“None that I can think of. Give the team my thanks” 

“Okay. Take care and bring him home safe.” Fuery bid his goodbyes. It was best not to risk a long phone call. 

They packed up the phone and placed it next to the coffee table. If this was any other place it would be best to keep it hidden but he doubted the people here knew how to work it. Next they discussed sleeping arrangements but that wasn’t too complicated since they have gone undercover together before. He offered her the master bedroom but she refused. She used the excuse that since he was the superior officer he should have it, he honestly could care less so it wasn’t worth making a fuss about. 

“Goodnight Lieutenant, I'll see you in the morning” 

He walked into his room and shut the door behind him. There was no doubt they had a long journey ahead of them. He hoped this would be over quick, he didn’t want to stay longer than he planned to. Just rescue Ed and leave, nothing more and nothing less. He thought back to the video from earlier, the woman with long black hair and slender frame, even though he never saw her face, he can already envision her sly smile. If they really are back, that would complicate their mission. There was always a chance that it could be a coincidence and they’re overthinking it, but past experiences prove that there are such things as coincidences. 

Whether it is her or not, one thing is for certain: they need to be very careful. It’s just the two of them in this new world, things can go south very quickly. 

Chapter Text

After the meeting, once their guests left, it was just the pros that lingered. Aizawa packed up the evidence bins and stored the files away, while he was putting everything away he noticed he was missing a significant piece of evidence. 

The silver pocket watch.

Damn, they took it. Guess it wasn’t needed anyway, they already got all the information they needed. When he invited them over he wasn’t sure what he expected, but he was grateful that it was the right decision.

He left with Hizashi before the others could ask him questions, they’ll probably have another meeting in the future to address those but right now, it was getting late and he had night plans. There wasn’t much time before nightfall came. He didn’t have to worry about picking Eri up, he knew Shinso picked her up on his way home from school. His kids were probably just waiting for them to come home. He waited for Hizashi to walk home together. The teacher’s dorm wasn’t too far from the actual school campus but it was a decent walk away. 

Once he met with him they started to walk home together. Looking back once when they saw All Might with Nedzu leading their guests the opposite way. Usually the walk home was quiet, a way to calm down before heading home. Dealing with kids all day can be stressful, especially with his current class. It seemed that his husband had a different plan. 

“I don’t trust them” Hizashi lowered the volume from the radio. Aizawa looked over at him.  “Something about them doesn’t feel right. Their alchemy seems so brutal. They’re so… monotone, they don’t have that fun vibe to them, you know?”

“Not everyone has a ‘fun vibe’, they’re in the military. That’s just the way they operate.”

“How can we even prove they’re in the military? How do we know they aren’t impersonating a military official?” 

Aizawa gave him a side eye. “I’m not stupid. I talked to them prior to them coming here, they are military officials. They have the uniform and the experience”

“Then let’s talk about the fact they indoctrinated a child, a literal child, into the military. He’s seventeen now but who knows how old he was when he joined. They sent him on missions alone , we don’t even do that with our first years!”

“Class 1A was on the field during their first month”

“That’s different. We don’t even let the students go to the corner store alone. We couldn’t control the attacks the heroic classes faced but they weren’t alone. The class had a pro with them. At the USJ, they had you and Thirteen and then we showed up as backup. They were with pros during the training camp, they had pros during the internships and the few that did a work-study had support from a professional. Who did that kid have? And look what happened! Kidnapped for a month!”

“Keep your voice down.” He warned. “We don’t know the full story-”

“We don’t need to know the full story. Why would someone need to know that? Like I understand he studied under someone but why did that person know how to do it? And then to say it’s classified? That’s hiding information. Oh, and that interview nonsense? You can’t learn that much with so much detail through an interview.”

“Look. I’m not defending their actions. I agree, they should not have put a child on the front lines alone. We both know what could happen when someone tries to go off on their own with no support but we can’t judge them too harshly from one meeting. I’m not saying I trust them but we would not have gotten this much information without them.” 

“Just something about them is off”

“I can see what you mean but it doesn’t change the fact we need to work with them. We don’t know what the league of villains were planning and we need all the information we can get.”

“Sure we do but they just seem so brutal. Especially their toll system, losing limbs for an unbalanced equation? That’s so morbid but you’re right. We need their information but I just want it on the record that I don’t trust them”

“Noted.” They stayed quiet for a moment before he asked. “How did we not realize that the league had someone hostage for months?” 

“They’ve been quiet since Overhaul’s arrest two months ago. We had no reason to suspect anything. Plus we were distracted with Eri and helping her get settled in.” He pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. 

Aizawa took a deep breath to clear his thoughts before entering the house. Inside, Shinso was in the kitchen while Eri played in the living room. There was no fire nor screaming so everything was running smoothly. 

“You guys are home. I made dinner” Shinso welcomed them and proudly showed them the noodles he made. Yamada walked up next to him to see what he made and nodded in approval. Shinso seemed to notice something because he asked, “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, just been a long day” 

“Don’t you have patrol later?” 

He sighed and nodded. He checked the time and noticed he had just enough time to have dinner and take a short nap before he had to go on patrol later. So that’s exactly what he did after he checked on Eri and made sure all of his students were in the dorms. He was going to need all the energy he could get to work Hawks’ case. He just had to hope that it didn’t get more complicated than it already was. 

—

Hawks casually strolled in the same warehouse he’s been meeting Dabi in for the past month. The same old abandoned warehouse with dust in the air and barely any windows. His footsteps echoed throughout. Ever since he brought Endeavor to the Nomu fight, he’s been slowly gaining his trust even if he wasn’t showing it. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked towards him. 

“You’re late,” Dabi sighed. “You know I hate waiting.” 

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m only 5 minutes late.” He smiled. “Had to finish up paperwork for my agency, you wouldn’t know” 

He rolled his eyes. “Right. I have a job for you, if you do it well enough I’ll let you meet the boss, how does that sound?” 

“Like a trap. What do you need me to do?” Hawks asked, cautiously.  

“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of our recent failure and well to be honest… we kinda don’t need him anymore. The boss is letting me take care of him now. Recently, we faced a setback with our Nomu production. Ever since the raid and the heroes stole all our Nomu, we’ve been figuring out ways to make more. Long story short, we have a kid with us who I believe fucked this up on purpose.”

He rolled his shoulders back. “Where do I come in?”

“ Your job is quite simple and easy, I’ll even give you multiple options for you to pick. Either get the kid to admit how he sabotaged the ritual, have him reattempt it, or kill him. Just make him useful again. Do it and I’ll have the boss consider you” 

“How exactly am I supposed to do that?” 

“Torture.” He blinked at him. “How else? You have thousands of feathers on you I think you can make them useful”

“Why don’t you dispose of him?”

“Because if I do that, then how else are you supposed to prove yourself to me? After all, there isn’t anything more un-heroic like than hurting a kid. You still do want to  prove to us that you believe in our cause, don’t you? If it helps and you decide to kill him, think of it as releasing him from this prison. Sometimes the only way out is death.”

“I don’t see how the league’s cause is related to killing a kid, what does the kid have to do with destroying the hero society?” 

“It’s the means of production. Look, do you want the job or not? I can cut my losses here and move on to the next recruit if-”

Hawks cut him off. “Yeah, I’ll do it.” What was he saying? He can’t hurt a kid. But the commission would be upset if they knew he failed his mission. He already signed up for this so there is no going back. “When?” 

“Tonight. The place where we are holding him isn’t too far from here. I’ll take you there but if you happen to not be serious about this I won’t hesitate to turn you into ash on the spot. Oh, and if somehow the heroes find out about this place, I’m assuming you snitched and you won’t be meeting the boss”

“No need for threats. I got it. Just give me the address, I have patrol in the morning and I prefer not having to take a nap on the job” He plucked out his biggest feather and held it like a sword. “Let’s go”

“Someone’s eager” He narrowed his eyes and scanned him, he turned on his heel and began to walk. Hawks followed him. 

Crap. He can’t give Eraser the location if Dabi was onto him. He’ll have to change strategies, the original plan isn’t going to work. The job was a curveball but a perfect opportunity to prove himself. Maybe if he gives them a code? Leave clues around without Dabi noticing. As he walked he dropped some of his smallest feathers, stashing them in the alleyways under trash. With a glance at Dabi, he knew he was in the clear. Even if he gives away the location of the kid, he will know if the heroes arrived that it was him to give the location, so he will need a diversion. 

“I don’t get it. Why a child? What quirk does he have?”

“I’m not telling you more than what you need to know, I don’t trust you. Not until after you finish the job, I’ll be watching” They arrived at a small abandoned apartment, Dabi unlocked the door and led them inside.

The apartment was beaten down, there was rubble everywhere and the air smelled stale mixed with metal. Dust covered the place, as if no one cleaned it in ages. He made note of the other people here, in the other rooms. He could hear soft talking through the walls. Must be the other league members, he guessed. If he listened closely he could also hear repetitive thudding, that was odd. 

“Aw, If you just wanted to see me in action you could always just watch the news. Or ask me, I’ll happily give you a show” He joked and smiled. He ruffled his wings, sending out small feathers around the door. 

Dabi sighed with irritation, “That’s not- whatever. We’re here. It’s down the hall, I’ll stand in the doorway, watching. Don’t fuck this up”

“Who’s in the other room?”

“No one important. The boss insists that they stay here to keep watch over the kid” Dabi waved off the room. It might’ve been a flick of the light but he could’ve sworn he saw a black shadow with an eye, but once he blinked it vanished. He opened the door and kicked the wall next to him. “Stop it, brat. You’re going to give yourself brain damage” 

Hawks walked in the room. It was fairly medium sized, no bed or carpet, just hardwood floor. Inside, there was the kid, his left arm was chained to the wall and his head leaned against the wall. His other arm was… gone, a mess of bandages that were bled through covered it, and his legs were also chained away from him. It looked uncomfortable. The kid looked at him with tired golden eyes, his golden hair long and over his shoulders in a tangled mess with dried blood crusting it together. 

“What happened to him?”

“Why don’t you ask him? After all this was all his fault.”

Hawks turned to the kid (he looked so tiny) and subtly drew his feather sword near. “What did you do?”

The kid attempted to glare at him but he didn’t have much energy left so it fell flat. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Hawks kicked his left leg and a metallic clang echoed through the room. He winced. The kid had a nerve to let out a small laugh. “Did that hurt?”

Okay, this kid was a little shit. “Do you really have to make this impossible?” Dabi groaned. “He sabotaged our nomu process”

“I already told you I don’t know what that means. Human Transmutation is impossible and it was never going to work. You saw the price I had to pay for this, the price your comrade had to pay” The kid shouted, Dabi looked at him to see what he was going to do. 

Hawks knew to prove his loyalty he was going to have to defend him. He got close and held the feather to his throat, causing the kid to gasp in surprise. “Watch it, remember who has the upper hand here. If it truly is impossible, how have we made the nomu before? I think you aren’t skilled enough to do this”

“I have the skills, the laws of nature don’t allow it. I didn’t need to sabotage it to know it won’t work. I don’t know how you got it to work before.” He insisted. 

“Well in that case. Dabi, why do we need him alive?”

Dabi shrugged. “We don’t need him alive, I just wanted to see if you could get information from him.” 

Hawks stabbed his shoulder, and pressed down. The kid screamed. “Is there anyone else more qualified to do this?”

“I ain’t tellin’ you shit.” 

He peered over his shoulder and saw Dabi smirk. Success. “If you don’t tell us, we’ll just have to find out for ourselves, right? I mean, we found you, it can't be that hard to find more people like you.” He dragged the feather down, creating a gash and more screams of pain. 

Shit, I don’t know how long I can keep this bluff. It’s not like Dabi gave me anything to work with. He thought. 

“How exactly will you do that? The sins? Please they only care about themselves, they’ll betray you the first chance they get.” he said between breaths. 

“I think we’ll take our chances.” Fuck, who are the sins? This isn’t going as planned and I don’t know what information Dabi wants. 

Hawks thought back to earlier and what Dabi told him he had to do. He could kill him, but how could he call himself a hero afterwards if he does? He isn’t willing to go that deep for the commission, but he doesn’t have much option. He recalled something Dabi said. 

Sometimes the only way out is death. Perfect. 

“Dabi, I don’t think he’s talking.” Hawks pulled the feather out and shook the blood off. “Should I just kill him?” 

Dabi looked out and down the hall. “Go for it. Make it quick.” He seemed amused. “Just a reminder that death is permanent, can’t really come back from that” 

Yeah, he was well aware of that. Which is why he has to only make it look like he’s dead. A cut deep enough to make it seem like he’s dead. Maybe have his heart stop for a brief moment and when he goes to dispose of the body, he can give CPR and have Eraser find him. It’s a shitty option but so far it’s his only one. 

“Well, I know it’s your first kill but we don’t have all night.” He checked the time. “Don’t tell me your chickening out” 

“No, just thinking of the best way to do it.” Hawks stood over him and mouthed, trust me, the kid stared back at him. There was no fear in his eyes, just utter defeat. He lifted his feather and stabbed him near the heart. The kid choked out a scream before going slack in his chains. 

Hawks didn’t expect that to happen so quickly. Crap, he doesn’t have much time. He took out the feather sword and used a smaller feather to plug the wound to keep him from bleeding out. His wings were wide enough to prevent Dabi from seeing. He resisted the urge to gag and turned back to face Dabi and ignored the blood seeping into the cuffs of his pants. 

Dabi whistled. “Damn, I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” He patted Hawks on the back. “The first kill is always the toughest” He knelt down and took a pulse. “Well.. I’ll tell the boss you completed your mission”

“There was no information, was there?”

“Nah, I just wanted to see what you would do.” Dabi got up and dusted himself off. “Time to dispose of him” 

“I can take care of it”

“Nah, we have our personal garbage disposal.” He stepped out and knocked on the other door. “Your up” 

“Did you kill the kid?” A new voice asked from the other room, He couldn’t see them. Something was wrong though because Dabi demanded to know where the others were. 

He knew he should be focusing on the conversation to get as much information as he can but he couldn’t stop staring at the kid. He didn’t consider the possibility that they had their own janitor, he might’ve actually killed this kid. While Dabi was distracted he knelt down next to the kid. He desperately searched for a pulse and breathed a slight sigh of relief when he found a faint pulse. It was barely there but his heart was beating. He wondered how Dabi missed this and if he just never learned how to take a pulse… honestly considering his track record that is highly plausible. 

Dabi walked back in. “Change of plans, you might need to dispose of him. Our guy is occupied with other matters with the boss.” 

Hawks stood up and broke the chains with his wings. “I can drop him off on my way to my agency. I’ll take a different route.” 

“Do whatever you want. Maybe someone will find him and the family will get closure, or maybe he’ll rot away without anyone missing him.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’ll contact the boss, I’ll see you around.” 

Was it that easy?

“Am I in?” Hawks asked but Dabi just walked off without another word. Guess he’ll just have to wait and see. 

He didn’t waste a second to fly off, he needed to contact Eraser quickly and he didn't have much time. He could always drop him off on Eraser’s patrol route, and have him take care of it from there. He flew through the night sky, holding the kid close to make sure the injury didn’t get worse, he was lucky he remembered Eraser’s patrol route. 

He landed on a roof and placed the kid down. He checked the time, Eraser should be here soon. He just had to keep the kid alive until then. He contemplated on calling him to make him arrive faster but decided against it, if someone found those messages then the mission is as good as over. But there was something else he could do, he just had to hoped it worked. 

Regret settled in, he should’ve never taken this job. 

—

Aizawa started his patrol near midnight and the first thing he did was attempt to contact Hawks but received no answer. He thought back to what Hawks said when he first gave him the case,  This is my personal cell, it’s always on silent so don’t worry about blowing my cover. Below is a number only for emergencies, use it wisely. Wanting information didn’t count as an emergency so he just had to assume he was busy with his mission. Being undercover means limited contact, he knows that. He’s been undercover before but still something felt wrong.  

It might just be paranoia but it didn’t stop him from being extra observant during his patrol. He walked through the alleyways and used his capture scarf to travel long distances. It didn’t take too long until he ran into something odd near a warehouse (it’s always a warehouse, one might start to think that it's cursed), he found a small red feather near the entrance and the more he observed the surroundings, he discovered a trail. 

As he maintained his distance, he followed the trail of feathers from above in the rooftops. Somewhere along the trail he started to hear two voices in a secluded part of the area, considering how shady the area was he decided to check it out. He strayed from the path for a brief second to check out the commotion. He remained in the shadows as he heard two people talk. He couldn’t get a good angle to see them without risking being spotted. 

“-please just listen to me. We can be together like how we used to be! Why can’t you remember, you sacrificed everything for me” They sounded rather young as they pleaded to the other person.

“I’m sure I meant something to you, but I’m not him anymore and I’m not ever going to be him. Think of me of a cooler version-” They sounded older, more gruff as they brushed the other off.

Okay, so nothing important or shady. Just some soap opera version of an amnesia trope? He guessed. That was a waste of time, he hoped they worked out whatever issues they were going through but thankfully relationship counseling was not in his job description. He continued back on the trail, ignoring the argument in the alleyway. 

He never managed to see where the feather trail was going to lead him because halfway through, the feathers started to vibrate and rise and all head to one direction. Hawks seemed to be calling his feathers back. He quickly followed the feathers to Hawks location, careful to make sure he wasn’t seen in case he was with someone. 

The feathers led him to a rooftop on his patrol route, Hawks anxiously pacing around and someone on the ground. Eraser looked around to make sure no one was with him and made himself known. 

“Hawks?” 

“Oh thank god you came. I may have messed up but on the bright side I saved the kid” Hawks nervously laughed, he ran his hands through his hair as he tried to calm down. 

He looked on the ground and immediately jumped into action. It was Fullmetal, the kid they’ve been searching for. He looked… dead. He froze when he caught sight of a missing arm. “What happened?”

“Dabi had a job for me to finally be able to join the league. Look, I didn’t want to do this-” He was beginning to ramble so Eraser held up his hand signaling him to stop.

“You can tell me after I get this kid medical attention. I’ll get in contact with you by this morning, keep your cell on. Get out of here, we can’t have you blowing your cover.” He ordered and noticed how Hawks hesitated. “Go!” He insisted. 

“Keep him safe” Hawks flew off, looking back once before disappearing in the night sky. 

Eraser nodded and quickly got to work. He took off his jacket and used it to apply pressure to the wounds. He knew that UA wouldn’t have the resources to treat this level of injuries so he had to go to a hospital and hope that the commission won’t catch wind of this. 

He tapped his comm, “Pro-Hero Eraserhead requesting medical assistance. I found a teenage boy on a rooftop, heavily injured.”

“Gotcha, I sent the ambulance. Need back-up?”

“No, that’s all.”

The comms went dead and he made another phone call to Nedzu to let him know of the new situation. He couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong, this seemed to be a little too easy… too anti-climatic. Don’t get him wrong, he loves an easy case but everything about this screams trap. Hawks would never though… probably… hopefully. 

The mouse picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Found the kid.’ He could hear Nedzu’s surprised gasp through the phone. “Ambulance should be here soon, tell our guests. Prepare them… this isn’t looking too good.”

“Oh dear, is he alive?”

“Barely. I’ll explain more when I see you.” It’s not secure enough to speak here. 

Nedzu seemed to understand. “I’ll have Recovery Girl meet us at the hospital. Stay safe.” Nedzu hung up and now he just had to wait until the medics arrived.

He put his phone back in his pocket and waited. He couldn’t hear any sirens nearby so it was probably going to be a while. The night was quiet and oddly calm, which only added onto his paranoia. He could hear distant heavy footsteps slowly coming closer. 

He knew it was too easy. He couldn’t necessarily move him to another spot without risking making the injuries work. 

“I smell him. You promise I can eat him?” A child-like voice asked as the footsteps drew closer. The person he seemed to be talking to didn’t respond. All the alarm bells went off in his head. 

His heart raced as he activated his capture scarf. A big glob emerged onto the rooftop, struggling to climb up. As the glob became more clear, he could see a giant fat man with an all black tank top and pants with red stripes stretching from his shoulders to the back of his hands. 

Despite his humane features, the creature looked terrifying. He was huge, easily towering over him. 

“Oh there’s also someone else here, can I eat him too? Please?” He begged. Eraser stood over Fullmetal protectively, hoping the ambulance would arrive soon. He noticed that he wasn’t talking to anyone physically here and when the glob turned his head he saw the earpiece. He should probably call for backup but he didn’t want to move. 

The glob whined when he (assumingly) got rejected. His beady eyes flickered from Fullmetal on the ground and Eraser. He pointed at Ed on the ground. “My lunch” 

Eraser shook his head. “No.” 

Glob frowned. “Yes” He rushed forward at an alarming speed. 

Eraser activated his quirk and stood his ground and sent out his capture scarf to hold him still. It didn’t quite work as well as he wanted it to. The capture scarf was too short to comfortably hold him in place but it got the job done. Glob struggled before just chewing through the cloth and breaking free. 

“That’s not very nice” he pouted. 

Impossible. He thought and rushed to meet him. He drew his knife and sliced at Glob. He could hear the sirens coming near. Glob looked at the cut and back at him before healing. How is he healing? His quirk is erased. Is this a new type of Nomu?

Glob fell back and stood up straight. His stomach tore open with his ribcage sprouting from within. He inhaled and it was like facing Thirteen’s quirk first hand.  A strong vacuum sucked him, he grabbed Ed with one arm and onto an A/C generator to avoid being sucked in. He blinked to avoid getting dust in his eye and kept his eyes closed.

What is this creature? A new type of Nomu? All he knew is that this battle was painfully one-sided and he was not equipped for this fight. 

He didn’t know how long this was going to last and he was already at a disadvantage when he had to carry an unconscious kid along with him. All of a sudden the vacuum stopped and Glob screamed in pain. 

Eraser opened his eyes and gently placed Ed back on the ground. He turned to see what caused the cry of pain. He saw a new person join him on the rooftop holding a sword. 

This new person had on a black jacket with tan baggy pants. His long black hair was tied in a ponytail as it flowed in the wind. Bandages flowed from the end of his sword. Glob’s hands covered his face as red lightning emerged from his head. The person turned and tossed a dagger over to him. 

“Who are you?” He asked as he caught it. 

The person smiled. “Someone who’s about to save your life!” He said cheerfully. “I can take care of him, get him to the paramedics, they’re waiting below” 

“What hero are you?”

The person ignored him as he went to lunge at the Glob again. 

“No! No, please I don’t wanna die again” The glob begged and sniffed the air. “Oh, I know you.” He grinned. 

“Go! I’ll lure him away.” And didn’t that feel familiar. Only a few moments ago he was told Hawks to go away and now he was being saved by someone who probably was the same age as his students. “I can take care of this, don’t worry about me.”

Well, he wasn’t one to think twice about an escape route. He’ll be back to help him once he gets Ed to the paramedics. He carried him carefully and made his way down to the ground where, surely enough, an ambulance was ready to take care of them. He gave them a brief rundown of the noticeable injuries before calling in backup. He knew he wouldn’t be able to help without his weapon and his quirk wasn’t useful in this battle. Might as well stay out of the way and have someone more experienced handle it. The nearest pro was only a few minutes away so he wasn’t leaving the kid completely abandoned. 

He followed the ambulance transport Fullmetal over the hospital. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around what just happened. 

He hoped Hawks had information to explain all of this. He’s glad Fullmetal is safe now but he was expecting it to go like the Overhaul raid. Thank god, it didn’t. He didn’t think the hero society was ready for something like that. As he made his way to the hospital, he dialed Nedzu again to let him know what just happened.

“Hey Nedzu? We have a vigilante problem” 

Chapter Text

Both Mustang and Hawkeye awoke in the middle of the night due to the phone ringing. Which was odd because the only person that would be calling is from Amestris and he just checked in with them before they went to bed. 

He stumbled into the living room and picked up the call, he took a moment to adjust to the sudden rambling from the other end. 

“Havoc?” He put a pause to the rambling when he realized that it was Havoc rambling, which was odd since he was the most laid-back one of the team.

“Roy! Look man, I know you mentioned that we weren’t supposed to bother you while you were away but I think you need to know this.”

“Just spit it out, Havoc I don’t have all day” He looked over at Hawkeye, still in her pajamas, who walked in to join him. 

“Ms. Bradley was found dead at her home. Armstrong asked me to come along to check up on her and we found her dead. Selim is missing.” 

“Okay, I’m going to need a little more details here. How long ago was this?”

“Coroner's officers place the time of death 2 months ago and based on the decay I’d have to agree. But if it was two months ago then… that places it before Ed went missing. It’s too much of a coincidence to not be connected.”

“Damn it. Nothing on Selim?”

“Nada. The place was still intact, there doesn’t seem much of a struggle. Armstrong wants to host an investigation but we aren’t prepared for that.”

The doorbell rang, which interrupted their call. Hawkeye answered the door but he couldn’t hear who it was. 

“Tell Armstrong to keep an eye out but don’t get in too much trouble. Our government is unstable as it is, we can’t handle another attack so soon.-”

“I know but-”

Hawkeye knocked on the table. “Sir. They found him.” 

His eyes widened. “I have to go” He hung up and went towards the door. A blond skeleton man and a mouse waited at the door. All Might and Nedzu. “You found him?”

The mouse nodded. “We must be quick, they will be arriving at the hospital shortly. Go get dressed, preferably in non-militaristic clothing. We don’t want to get unwanted attention.” 

They both nodded and allowed them to enter while they got ready. It took less than 5 minutes to get everything in order and to get in the car. He put on his casual outfit, white short sleeved shirt, jeans, and his black overcoat (plus his gloves). Hawkeye dressed similarly with a black short-sleeved turtleneck, blue cargo pants, and her white overcoat. 

He was surprised to find someone else joining them, someone he didn’t recognize. At his confused look, Nedzu explained. 

“She is recovery girl, her quirk allows her to heal anyone with stamina. She’s going to help your alchemist to the best of her ability. It’s not looking great. Eraser didn’t say too much about his condition or how he found him.” 

Mustang grimaced. He suspected as such. Ed barely survived his first human transmutation, it’s no surprise he’s on the brink of death for this one. Not to mention the other hardships he had to go through while captured. The car ride over was tense with All Might trying to fill the silence with radio but no one paid attention to it. 

It didn’t take too long to arrive at the hospital and as All Might parked the car Nedzu gave them some key information that would’ve been nice to know prior to.

“Considering the circumstances, we aren’t able to tell the real situation so as of right now, Edward Elric is a UA foreign exchange student in general studies who was targeted a month ago and we’ve been searching for him since. We’ve kept the case under wraps to protect him. This will allow UA have complete control over his case and keep it in secret” 

“How does that work?” Hawkeye asked. 

“I falsified documents!” Nedzu gave her a thumbs up. Hawkeye gave him a look and he shrugged. He can’t say shit cause he’s done the same thing. 

“Sounds about right” All Might muttered and parked the car. 

They all climbed out and rushed into the hospital. They spotted Aizawa instantly, he was waiting in the waiting room near one of the patients rooms. Doctors rushed in and out of the room. They tried to approach him but were stopped by one of the nurses with a clipboard. She stared at Hawkeye and him. 

“I'm sorry, are you his parents?” 

Without hesitating, Hawkeye wrapped her arm around his arm and fell into character. “My son? I was told he was here, can I see him?” She asked, panicked. “Is he okay?!”

“We came as fast as we could. Is he alive?” He joined in, calmer than her but still reasonably worried. He patted her shoulder in a comforting way. 

“He’s in good hands. Come with me” 

He could feel the shocked looks of All Might, Aizawa, and Nedzu looking at them. It shockingly wasn’t the first time they had to pretend to be his parents and the nurse seemed to believe them and led him over to the window looking in the room. To be honest, he didn’t expect it to be so easy. He hoped it was because of UA’s influence and not because they played the worried parent card. They kept the act going until they reached his room and were informed of the intensity of the injuries. 

There was a small window next to the door where they could look inside. The doctors were doing everything they could, treating the various injuries. Ed looked so small in the hospital bed. He was missing an arm and had blood and dirt pretty much everywhere. Recovery Girl went in to help. Hawkeye gripped his arm tighter. 

No one else was with them so the nurse began to explain. “I’ll start with the more pressing injuries, he lost his right arm but fortunately it does seem to be a clean cut so we will treat it with medication and bandages, maybe look into prosthetics in the future. He was stabbed near his heart and on his shoulder, lost a lot of blood so we’re doing a blood transfusion. Multiple burns, varying in degrees all over his torso. He also has head trauma and a moderate concussion, it appears as if he was hit in the back of the head repeatedly not hard enough to cause any brain damage though. Otherwise he has minor cuts and bruises.” 

“Recovery Girl will be helping on this case until it’s safe to transfer him back to UA.” Nedzu informed, sitting on one of the chairs. 

The nurse nodded. “She will be very helpful. He’s not out of the woods yet but his chances are higher. Please wait here while the doctors work.” She handed him a clipboard with some paperwork to fill out. 

She left to go assist the team of doctors and the blinds closed. Mustang stared at the paperwork and realized he had no idea how the fuck to fill it out. They sat down on the available chairs and glanced at Aizawa in a silent question of what happened. 

To be honest, he didn’t look the greatest either. He was missing his scarf and his jacket that he had on earlier and had dried blood on his hands. Aizawa seemed to notice everyone’s eyes on him and shrugged. 

All Might was actually the one to break the silence. “You didn’t tell us you were Young Elric’s parents? This must be so hard for you.” 

Hawkeye didn’t let go of his arm just yet. “We’re not his parents, not biologically. It would seem like a lot of work to explain military relations to the nurse and I’m assuming you don’t want anyone to know we’re in the military.” 

“What about his actual parents?”

“Him and his brother are orphans. As his superior officer, I was assigned as his guardian so I’m in charge of signing all of his paperwork” Roy began to fill out the general information (he just hoped he was answering the questions properly). “What happened to you?” 

Aizawa rubbed his eyes. “I’m not sure. It’s best not to talk about it here” 

They all nodded. Now they just had to wait until the doctors were finished. It was safe to say that those were the most tense and stressful moments of his life. He desperately wanted to know the details of Ed’s rescue and part of him wished he was a part of it but he knew that circumstances can change everything. He also knew that revealing sensitive information in a public place like this can be dangerous. Sure, it was a hospital and almost everyone is occupied with their own issues but one can never be too careful. Maybe once they actually get in the room or some place more secure he will be able to get the information. 

He couldn’t help but worry about Ed. He knew that he would be fine, he was always fine. The kid’s been through hell, besides with this type of modern technology he was going to be fine. Still, they were so close to losing him forever. He had the paperwork on his desk ready to change his status from missing in action to presumed dead, and he was about to sign it. Everyone Mustang knew was searching everywhere for him. His team, Armstrong’s team, hell he even had the general’s team in Briggs keeping an eye out for him. And now, a month later, halfway across the world, Ed was in the room next to him. 

The injuries weren’t something to be taken lightly either. A missing arm (which honestly wasn’t anything new but still a readjustment), a concussion, and a stab wound near his heart. It was definitely going to be a while before he was going to be completely healed. 

After what seemed like hours (in reality it was probably about 30 minutes), a nurse came out to bring them in. 

Upon entering the room, the first thing he noticed was the difference between this hospital room and the rooms they had back in Amestris. He shouldn’t be surprised they looked so different but this was a new level of technology. The Iv ports weren’t too surprising, neither was the oxygen mask, but it was surprising to see a machine that seemed to measure their heart rate. Usually nurses in Amestris would check in periodically for vitals. 

Ed looked just about how he expected him to look. His missing arm had clean bandages, his head was wrapped with some gauze. Honestly speaking, pretty much everywhere was wrapped with some sort of bandage, but he looked peaceful resting in the clean white covers. 

Recovery Girl waited at the foot of the bed, looking tired and another emotion that he couldn’t quite figure out. 

“How is he?” Hawkeye went over to his bedside to hold his hand. 

“He should be recovering quickly. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much stamina for my quirk to make a real difference but with the little he had I managed to speed up the healing process for the stab wound near his heart. We have him on blood transfusions and medications to prevent infection and everything but he shouldn’t wake up anytime soon.” She reported. 

“What exactly is your quirk if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“I can heal physical injuries with a kiss using the stamina the person has” Neither of them knew how to react to that. Is that just a normal thing here? The confusion must’ve shown on their faces because she quickly reassured that it was strictly kept professional. “I will remain here and help out the hospital until I can fully heal Ed in order to transfer him back on campus. Which means,” she turned to All Might and Eraserhead, “take it easy on the training.”

Both of them looked at each other. “The training isn’t even that intense” All might admitted but agreed.  

“I’ll look into finding a bodyguard just in case” Nedzu informed, pulling out his phone and scrolling. 

“Thank you. I don’t believe I have thanked you all yet, but thank you so much for bringing him back and calling us” Mustang bowed his head and Hawkeye did the same. “As for bodyguards, Hawkeye and I have it covered. We’re both trained to handle this”

“Extra protection never hurt anyone” 

Well, he couldn’t argue with that. The UA Staff took their leave short after. All Might, Eraserhead, and Nedzu headed back to campus while Recovery Girl did rounds around the hospital, promising to check in periodically. Then they were alone to process this chaotic morning. 

—

After they got Mustang and Hawkeye settled in, they decided to leave and give their guests some space with their newly-rescued alchemist. True to her word, Recovery Gir remained in the hospital and helped the other patients while she was there and kept an eye on Ed. She promised to give updates if anything changed and Nedzu logged onto the hero network to find a bodyguard for them. He tried to find someone to come as soon as possible so he reached out to the agencies UA worked closely with. 

Aizawa let Nedzu take care of all of the technicalities because he had more important things to worry about. As much as he was glad that Ed was found in the nick of time, he will admit that the recuse was pure convenience and unexpected. If Hawks followed the plan of getting a location to send him and they could raid, maybe Ed wouldn’t be on the brink of death, but then again, he doesn’t know what happened with Hawks to make all of this happen. 

Plus, he was attacked on the rooftop by some Glob (which he does need to tell All Might and Nedzu now that they were here) and somehow that was connected with the League of Villains. He suspected that the Glob was a more modern version of a nomu but if that was true then the heroes need to work quickly to shut that down as soon as possible. He hoped that Hawks would give more information when he confronted him, he already sent out a message asking to meet but he hasn’t gotten any response. 

When they stepped into the parking lot, Nedzu asked about what happened. Aizawa knew he was going to have to repeat this story multiple times so he tried to keep it as brief as possible to then give the full explanation to the other UA staff who joined the investigation. He didn’t know what would happen with their guests now that their mission is accomplished, would they just leave? That was a future him issue. 

He told Nedzu and Allmight about the attack and his suspicions of it being a nomu. They both wore the same grim expression on their faces. Nedzu nodded slowly as he explained that his quirk didn’t work on him. 

“Has Erasure worked on the other Nomu?” All might asked as he walked towards the car. 

“I don’t remember attempting to erase its quirk. During the USJ attack, I focused on keeping Shigaraki from using Decay and then during the training camp I fought Dabi and the clones. I don’t think there was a Nomu at the camp” Aizawa tried to recall. “But if it was a Nomu that attacked me, it was really developed. It could speak and it kept asking for permission to eat. It could rationalize on their own, like an actual super soldier.”

“From what you said, it had a different quirk, like a vacuum? Combined with regeneration”

He nodded. “It was a ridiculously one-sided fight. The only reason I managed to escape was because of the vigilante. Speaking of them, the backup I called never found any sign of them.”

“Well that isn’t good. What’s your plan now?” All Might unlocked the car.

“Find Hawks, then search for the vigilante. I should have enough time before class starts.”

Nedzu looked at him. “You have the day off tomorrow. You need a break, Shouta.”

Aizawa stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “I can still work tomorrow. If this situation is getting serious then we need to prepare the hero students in case. Especially since the League seems to be specifically targeting 1A, they need all the training they can get, I don’t need a day off.” 

“All Might has their training covered, don’t you?” Nedzu looked at All Might who simply nodded. 

“You’ve been working nonstop since they gave you the case. You were also just attacked, take the break”

“I’m not winning this, am I?”

Nedzu smiled. “No!”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine. But that doesn’t change the plan. I need to find Hawks so I’ll see you all later”

All Might glanced at Nedzu and back at him as he walked away. Nedzu was the one that spoke up. “Shouta, where do you plan on going?”

“To find Hawks.”

“Right… How exactly are you doing to get there? You don’t have your capture scarf or a method of transportation”

Aizawa froze. He was such an idiot, he turned back and walked back to the car. All Might smiled as he tried to hold back a laugh. 

“Get in the car,” Nedzu pointed at the open car door. “We’re going to UA and you are going to regroup before getting back out there” 

He did as he was told and they traveled back to UA. The drive didn’t take too long and no one talked, everyone was too tired, busy, or distracted for that. 

Once they arrived in UA, they all split their own separate ways. Aizawa walked back to his apartment, he walked carefully to make sure he didn’t wake anyone up. He grabbed another capture scarf and went back on his way to find Hawks. Sometime along the trip, Hawks replied to his message with a sole address. After looking up the address, he assumed it was just a safehouse. 

He left a note just in case he wasn’t back when everyone woke up, he didn’t want to worry them, before quietly leaving the apartment. He made his way over to the address. It was a simple penthouse on the top floor with a beautiful view of the city. He knocked on the window, looked inside to see Hawks pacing back and forth. When Hawks spotted him, he opened the window. 

“Hey Eraser, fancy seeing you here” Hawks grinned, he tried to keep his playful demeanor and it would’ve worked if it wasn’t for the blood stained clothing and the distressed look in his eye. 

“Drop the pleasantries, what happened back there?” 

Hawks stiffened. “Well the important part is, I’m in”

“That’s the important part? Hawks, he almost died. He nearly did if the paramedics weren’t there”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “I know. I know. I had to, my cover would’ve been blown if I didn’t. Dabi tested me to see my loyalty and I had to follow. He said that the hostage was no longer needed and gave me a false ultimatum. Either I get more information from him or I kill him. Obviously I tried to get more information but the kid is stubborn so I faked his death. I’m surprised it worked but I don’t think anyone in the League has medical training, or at least Dabi doesn’t”

“What makes you say that?”

“He doesn’t know how to check for a pulse, I think that’s the only reason I got away with it.”

“That was a risky move, it could’ve ended badly. I didn’t think you’d prioritize your mission over a hostage.” 

Hawks chewed on his lip in thought. “That wasn’t- I didn’t” He struggled to find his words. He took a deep breath. “I can’t prioritize one life over an entire city. Now that I’m in, I’ll have access to everything and I can give the commission information that can prevent future disasters. I would’ve lost that if I played my cards any differently.” 

Aizawa stared at him. He could think of other options that weren’t so dangerous. Of course the only reason he could think of them was because he has more experience in the field. Hawks can be the youngest hero to make the charts and start his own agency but that doesn’t negate the fact that he is just 22 years old. He doesn’t have much experience in the actual world, only in hypotheticals. It doesn’t matter how well the commission can train him, nothing beats raw experience. He let the topic drop. 

“Do you know who the league is working with?” He really wanted to have more information on the Glob that attacked him. 

Hawks shook his head. “Not yet. I just got the call from Dabi that I’m in. After I dropped him off with you I headed straight here”

“Dabi hasn’t mentioned anything so far? If what attacked me was a Nomu then we need to put an end to that quickly.” 

“You were attacked?”

“Yeah when you left,” He proceeded to tell him everything that happened after Hawks dropped Ed with him. Hawks listened closely and nodded along as he reported. “I still don’t know who the kid was that rescued me, when the backup arrived they saw no sighting of the Glob or the kid. We can only hope he’s still alive.” 

“Well, I can tell you that it wasn’t a Nomu. Before Dabi gave me the mission he told me that the Nomu production faced a recent setback after we raided the Nomu lab a few months ago. He said that the kid we rescued knows how to make Nomu without the use of medical materials but he fucked it up on purpose? Not sure what that meant but either way, whatever attacked you was not a Nomu. They wouldn’t waste a Nomu on something like that.” Hawks remembered. “However, there was someone else in the building with the kid. Dabi didn’t tell me anything about it but when I was dealing with the kid, he mentioned something” He blinked as he tried to think back to what the kid said. “The sins. Something about the sins. He said how they only think about themselves”

“The sins? What are they? Some kind of religious group?”

“Maybe? After I.. killed the kid, Dabi said they had their own personal garbage disposal and went into the other room. I couldn’t hear too much of what they were saying.” 

“Well, that's a lead. I might have run into their garbage disposal then, the glob would inhale everything, it was like Thirteen’s quirk.”

“Thirteen?”

“Space hero, quirk: Black Hole. Unimportant, anyway that gives us a lead and something to work with. Anything else you can remember?” 

Hawks shook his head, averting his gaze to the ground. He looked distressed which was warranted considering everything that happened. He sat down on his couch as he got lost in his thoughts. Aizawa checked the time and noticed they’ve been talking for almost 2 hours discussing the case. He could tell Hawks was really beating himself up about hurting Ed. 

Aizawa walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. “You did what you could and you’re right. The important part is that the kid is safe and you managed to complete your mission. We have a lead now, hopefully we can prevent others from going through the same thing.”

Hawks nodded but didn’t look too convinced. “You should get going, Eraser. Maybe someone saw the vigilante and has information.” He got up and stretched, extending his wings to its full length before tucking them back in. It was an obvious dismissal so he took it as his cue to leave. 

He walked out the same way he came in, through the window and used his scarf to lower himself safely to the ground. He looked up one last time and hoped he would be okay, the kid has a promising career ahead of him, it’d be a shame if it went to waste so quickly. 

Hawks did raise a good point. He could see if anyone saw the vigilante near the area he was attacked. He remembered the couple he overheard, maybe they knew something? He’d have to find them. He turned to the horizon and saw the sun rising. He probably wasn’t going to get any sleep until the afternoon, he has a busy day ahead of him. 

He made his way back to the crime scene, it was time to get some answers. 

—

After the heroes left the hospital room, Riza and Roy got comfortable in the hospital couch and chairs. Recovery Girl and other nurses would occasionally come inside to check on Ed but otherwise the room was kept to themselves. He got admitted almost immediately so he was in his own room, it was pretty quiet considering it was 4 in the morning. 

Riza remained at Ed’s side, she watched him, making sure he was still breathing. The past 2 months have been chaotic, everyone close to him has been searching day and night for him. She was glad that they found him but couldn’t help being a little confused. How did he get to the outside? How did the League of Villains know who he was? 

She frowned every time she saw the thick bandages covering his right side. He lost his arm… again… after just getting it back. She doubted there was any chance to get his arm back this time. The old lady’s quirk couldn’t bring back lost limbs. Not only did he lose his arm but his automail from his leg had rusted, she doubted he had full mobility on it. He lost a lot of weight during his captivity. He looked tired, even though he passed out, he looked exhausted. Blood and grime was smeared across his face and arms. The nurses promised to clean him up soon. She took her time, running her fingers through his hair and undoing any knots that accumulated throughout his imprisonment. 

Roy sat on the couch next to the bed, deep in thought. After a while in silence, he spoke. 

“Havoc called.” She knew that. “Selim is missing and Mrs. Bradley is dead” He informed. 

She looked at Roy in concern. “How long?”

“He estimated the incident to have occurred a few weeks before Ed’s disappearance.” Roy muttered, he glanced at Ed in thought. “It’s too much of a coincidence to not be connected.”

“But Selim doesn’t remember being Pride. Ed made sure of that.” 

Roy frowned. “I know, which is why everything is so confusing. Unless somehow the effects were reversed but that’s impossible. We don’t even know if he’s Pride right now, he could still be a helpless kid”

“But you doubt it” She stated matter-of-factly, she knew her partner like the back of her own hand. She would argue that she knows him better than he knows himself. She could sense the uncertainty in his statement. Which means if Pride is back then there’s a bigger issue at hand. She subconsciously glanced at the shadows in the room. Memories flooded back to her as she remembered about that hallway incident once Pride was revealed. 

“Pride could’ve given the league information about Ed. It would explain everything.”

She hummed. There was still too many unknowns to be able to make a definitive statement. “We still don’t know how they managed to rescue Ed.” 

“I doubt they’ll tell us anything any time soon. Once he wakes up we can hopefully get more pieces of the puzzle.” 

“We have to let Al know, and Winry. He’s going to need a new automail arm.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Roy’s gaze wavered over to outside the window, no doubt wondering what was going on out there. They needed a plan for what was going to happen now that Ed was back in his care. She was fully prepared to take him in once they arrived in Amestris, he was in no state to take care of himself. She knew she wasn’t his mom but she couldn’t help but fuss over him sometimes. Besides, it wasn’t like it would be the first time she had to look after the two brothers. After the promised day, everyone in the military pitched in by making/delivering meals on a schedule and making sure they had full support. 

The nurses coming in and out of the room let her know that she wasn’t going to get any rest anytime soon. She also had to move away from his side of the bed to give the nurses more room to work, she moved over to where Roy was sitting on the little couch. She made herself comfortable, she kept a distance between them, not wanting to blur the professional boundaries. However, that was tossed out the window when he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side. She gave him an odd look but didn’t fight against it, she leaned her head on his shoulder and watched the slow rise of Ed’s chest as it reminded her that he was still alive. 

“He’ll be fine, you know? He’s a tough kid.” Roy said after a while. 

She hummed. “He’s been through worse,” she agreed. “Still… he shouldn't have to deal with this.” 

“It’s part of the job.” 

Unfortunately, that was true. She knew that Ed would bounce back. He bounced back from his first human transmutation attempt, he bounced back after the promised day and the events before it, at this point they have a running bet in the office on whether or not he’s immortal. He’s like a cockroach, never able to die even when times were tough. 

They lapsed into comfortable silence. Neither of them could sleep, so they just stayed quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Not exactly sleeping but they were resting. Her mind replayed the last month on repeat, the desperation the office faced after the second went by with no lead or clues. Havoc smoked more, Roy nearly fell back into alcoholism, Al struggled to take care of himself, and everyone overworked themselves. They tried to finish current cases as soon as they could to make sure they had time to keep looking. It was a frustrating time. 

Hours passed and soon it became morning and someone arrived. It wasn’t anyone they recognized or met so she kept her hand near her waist, ready to pull her gun out. The new person dressed in a yellow costume with a black mask so maybe they were a hero? The assumed hero waved at them and silently walked in. 

“Hello! I am pro-hero Fatgum. Nedzu contacted me to offer some protection, he filled me in on the situation, I assume you two are Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang?” The hero, Fatgum, introduced himself, and shaked their hands. It was odd for someone to introduce themselves so casually to them, usually because of their rank no one would dare to shake their hands. Always giving them a salute instead. It was weird to temporarily lose their rank in order to keep their story straight. 

Roy gave him a tired smile, he was always the people person between the two of them. She prefers to stay quiet at his side, so that’s what she did. 

“That’s right. Pleasure to meet you, I assume you are the bodyguard sent to protect my son?” Roy glanced over to the bed where Ed was still sleeping. 

“That’s right. I’m so sorry this happened, on behalf of the hero community we’d like to apologize.” He bowed. 

“Thank you but that won’t be necessary. We understand these things happen.” 

Fatgum frowned as he took in Ed’s condition in front of him. “This is Edward Elric? I’ve heard much about him, quite the studious one.” 

Studious? They both shared a look. Yeah, he was pretty smart and loved to read but they doubted he would be the same way in the classroom. If something didn’t interest him, he simply wouldn’t listen. Of course, the others didn’t need to know that.

“Yes, well… he was always one for research” Roy agreed. 

“What is he like?” Fatgum asked, she knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to make a connection to make them feel at home or at least more comfortable. From his side of the story, it would seem that they let their kid go to a school out of state, to a school that was apparently the safest in the nation, then got their kid taken away from them and recently traveled to go see him. It was quite the story but they shouldn’t look too deeply into it, there were many holes in the story. 

“He’s a good kid. Very loud” Roy chuckled. “Trust me, enjoy the silence while you can because once he wakes up… you’ll start to miss it.” 

“Oh so the complete opposite of one of my interns. Suneater is pretty quiet and shy, I’m currently working with him to boost his confidence. My other intern is balanced, not too confident but doesn’t doubt himself on the field. They’re going to be great heroes one day” 

Suneater? Wasn’t that the hero that greeted them on the docks? He did seem very shy if she remembers correctly. 

“I’m sure they are, they sound promising already.” 

“Your kid doesn’t want to be a hero? UA has a fantastic hero course.” 

“So I’ve heard. No, Ed prefers to stick on the sidelines.” That was the biggest lie ever told. 

Fatgum nodded and didn't say much else, opting to observe the boy in the hospital bed. “He has quite the recovery ahead of him” 

“Yeah. He’s a tough kid though” 

“I bet he is. I will make sure he stays safe throughout his time here so I will stand outside and guard the room so don’t mind me. Remember the cafeteria is down the hall, if you’d like to grab some breakfast.” He advised and bowed his head before walking out and standing outside. 

Riza waved goodbye before getting up and dusting herself off. “I’ll grab us some coffee and something to eat.” 

Roy nodded and kept watch. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Fatgum to guard them, it was more that they weren’t stupid. Besides, having two people to look after him was safer. Riza made her way to the cafeteria, there was nothing odd around, it was so different than what she was used to. Everything was so modern and domestic. 

She paid no mind to the other families, simply ordered herself and Roy a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich and went back to the room to deliver. As she entered the room she noticed the nurse from UA inside. 

“Is everything okay?” She asked after she saw the frown on the nurses face. 

“Yes, nothing too serious. I would think he would have more stamina by now. Do you mind if I ask a few questions about his medical history?”  

“Go ahead” 

“Ed has a lot of scarring on his right shoulder outside of his current injuries, it seems old, would you happen to know what caused this?”

“We do. Unfortunately that is classified information, unless it is impeding on his current state of health I am not authorized to give you that information. Is it preventing medical treatment?”

“No but it would be nice to know what my patient has been through so I can make him comfortable.”

Although it was a nice gesture they couldn’t give that information up. Roy shook his head and Riza gave her a sympathetic smile. “That won’t be necessary” 

“Well then, there isn’t much I can do at the moment until his stamina goes back up but he’s making quite the recovery. Usually with my quirk he would be awake right now but his stamina is taking a while to regenerate. You wouldn’t have to know why would you?”

Riza looked at Roy, they both had a good idea why it could be but Ed would need to confirm it for them. Seeing as how alchemy used stamina to operate, it could be that part of the sacrifice from his human transmutation. Nothing can be for sure though. 

“Not a clue.” Technically not a lie.

“We’ll just have to ask him when he wakes up. If all goes well he should be awake by this evening or tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

“That quick?”

“My quirk speeds up the healing process. Most of his wounds right now are somewhat healed, the most life threatening injuries have been healed to cuts.”

“How useful”

“Yes, I suppose that’s why Nedzu keeps me around. I’ll be going now. It’s been a stressful night, try and get some rest.” Recovery girl bid her farewells and continued to help other patients. She was blunt and straight to the point, something Riza could respect. 

They finished their breakfast and once again got comfortable. It wasn’t much they could do, but they couldn’t rest. Sure, they had a bodyguard but still… What if something happens? They left the apartment without anything on their hands since they left in a hurry, no files to study, no one to call, just them and their thoughts to keep each other company. Time seemed to move slowly as they waited for the evening to come. 

Chapter Text

After visiting Hawks, Aizawa spent the rest of the night looking for the vigilante that helped him earlier. It was almost morning but he had hoped to find something. He returned back to the crime scene and found it pretty empty. Other than the blood stains that were being cleaned, it was as if nothing happened during the night. 

He landed on the rooftop and searched for anything that might show who that person was. The vigilante looked young, almost as old as his class, but yet had the experience of a pro. They didn’t look like they were from here and there was no evidence of their quirk. With the sword they were wielding, it could be possible that the vigilante wasn’t from here. Most heroes in Japan don’t use a weapon, mainly just support items. Some underground heroes do have weapons (like him) but he knows the Underground heroes and he can safely say that he has never met that kid before. 

He thought back to the attack. The glob was capable of speech, which was weird for a nomu, but not only that but it seemed to recognize the vigilante. This implies that it’s not the first time they got attacked, it begged the question of how long has this kid been fighting for their life? Although vigilantism is widely illegal, he could ask Nedzu and have the kid enrolled in UA. But in order to do all of that, he would need to find the kid first.

He talked to the pros that took care of the search after he left but they said that the kid simply vanished with the Glob. He hoped nothing bad happened. It was near an apartment complex but no one saw or heard anything. It was frustrating to have so many leads but all of them were running cold. 

He checked the time and saw that it was only 9am. He supposed he could head home, shower, and get some rest for later. It’s been a while since he had a day off. He never liked having days off because there was always something he could do, besides now more than ever his students need him. They’ve gotten so far since when he first got them but if the Glob proved anything, it’s that they are woefully unprepared for the next threat. 

The league has somehow gotten stronger without them realizing it and they are more dangerous than ever now. The raid from a few months ago had only involved Twice and Toga if he remembered correctly. Both of them got away and they didn’t question where the others were and it's clear that that was a huge mistake. While they were saving Eri, Elric was getting kidnapped by the league. How much have they missed by focusing solely on the Yakuza raid? 

He ended up not resting at all and at 12pm, before his class started, he arrived at UA to train like usual. Nedzu can take his vacation days back. Like hell was he actually going to take a day off. He needs to make sure his class can protect themselves against these deadly threats. It was never truly going to be a day off, he still needed to figure out where the league was.

He walked into the teachers lounge where Midnight and Present Mic were sitting and gossiping per usual. They both looked surprised to see him but he simply nodded a greeting and joined them, stealing his husbands cup of coffee.. 

“Uh- Shota, weren’t you supposed to have the day off?” Mic asked, leaning back on his chair. 

“Plans change” He mumbled while taking a sip of the coffee. It tasted like shit but it was something. “I need to train 1A to make sure they are prepared”

Midnight laughed. “I’m sure All Might can take care of it, he has gotten better at teaching.”

Aizawa just stared at her. He thought back to the multiple times he’s seen All Might holding a ‘how to teach’ self-help book. He does not trust the number one hero with his students. He was the sole reason his two problem children got suspended. “No. They need to be prepared to defend themselves”

“Is this about the missing kid?” Midnight asked. “Our students should be better equipped, they can hold their own.” She reassured.

She didn’t get it. He knew that Elric was going to be in bad shape but he didn’t think he was going to be that bad. The blood loss should’ve been a clue about how bad the injuries were going to be. He’s seen Midoriya destroy his body trying to be better, he’s seen multiple of his students get hurt but something about this was different. His students never got injuries to the point they lost a limb. Midoriya has limited range and use in his arms with his quirk but it’s manageable. Elric’s case was horrific, something he never wanted to see replicated. He needed to make sure that his students knew how to defend themselves outside of combat and battles. 

Mic frowned after noticing he got lost in his thoughts.. “Don’t tell me you just got back from last night. I heard from Nedzu that you found him and he’s in the hospital now.”

Aizawa set down his cup and ignored Mic's comment. “The kid is apparently highly qualified, I don’t think it's about who is better equipped. There were some complications in his rescue and I need to make sure my class, which is being targeted, is ready to face that.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll explain later at our next meeting” He was not about to repeat this story again. It’s exhausting and he did not have the energy for that. He checked the time. “I’ll see you all later.”

He headed over to his classroom and per usual, it was pretty loud. From outside he could hear Iida scolding Kaminari for laughing and causing some trouble. He braced for the headache that was to come from dealing with his class. Inside Ectoplasm was looking over the math worksheets he had them do. Looked like the class was over already. 

He opened the door and walked in. He could hear pieces of the conversation that was happening. 

“I swear! She’s real!” Mineta argued, scrolling on his phone.

Kaminari was trying not to laugh again. “I’m sorry but you want us to believe that you actually got a girlfriend?”

Mina also laughed. “It’s just so convenient that she doesn’t go to this school. No girl would want to date a pervert like you” She argued. Aizawa had to admit she had a point. He already had to file multiple reports for harassment, it’s surprising that Mineta hasn’t gotten kicked out yet. The kid had potential (somewhat) but if his behavior isn’t changing, then he didn’t think Mineta was going to last long. 

Ectoplasm looked confused to see him but waved nonetheless. His class on the other hand, were also confused and did not keep quiet about it. 

“Mr.Aizawa! You’re back!” They all cheered. He motioned for them to settle down. He looked around the room, the usual friend groups all moved seats to sit closer together. When the class noticed that they weren’t sitting in their assigned seats they looked down and silently went back to their proper seats. 

He didn’t pay them any mind. He looked over the plans the other teachers left behind to get a sense of what his class did today. It seemed like they had a pretty easy class, Mic covered for homeroom and they didn’t do much. It’s not like they do anything during homeroom anyway. 

He found All Might’s training plan in the stack of papers and he read through it. Suddenly, he was glad he came back to take over the lesson. All Might had planned for them to train their quirks to the fullest potential. There wasn’t anything wrong except the plan was so vague and usually when it comes to training quirks, he needed to be there just in case it goes wrong and he could erase the quirk. 

“I thought you weren’t going to be here today, sir!” Iida bowed. “I took the privilege to make sure everyone behaved.”

“Thank you Iida. Alright class, get dressed and meet me in Ground Beta.” he pressed the button that unlocked their hero uniforms. He watched his class grab their suits and head over to the locker room. He waited a few minutes to look over his own lesson plans. 

“Where are the students?” All Might asked. “Oh! Weren’t you supposed to have a day off?” He phrased it as a question but they both knew it wasn’t. All Might was literally there when Nedzu forced him to take a day off. 

“Weren’t you supposed to be a better teacher?” He shot back. “Training their quirks alone, seriously? Even Vlad has Midnight on standby”

All Might shrugged. “They have more control of it now. The training camp helped them a lot.” 

“Mishaps can still happen. It’s not worth the risk, especially not since Recovery Girl is not here at the moment.”

“So what are you planning?”

“Self-defense”

“They already know defense”

“They know how to defend in a battle. This is just for standard safety, in case they need to fight and back-up is taking too long-”

“You’re preparing them for the threats they may face.'“ He stated and Aizawa nodded. There was no point in denying it. All Might thought about it. “So how are you planning on doing that?”

Aizawa handed him his lesson plans and walked past him to go to meet up with his students. They should be ready by now.

—

Bakugo was suspicious. Aizawa had never missed a day of school. When they were attacked by the USJ all classes were cancelled so that didn’t count and then Aizawa continued to work even with all of his bandages. 

In the morning, rather than being greeted with no teacher, All Might was sitting at the desk. He had to do a double take to make sure he didn’t enter the wrong classroom but 1A was on the door. All Might noticed his confusion and said he will explain everything when everyone arrives. 

Of course, people started to make up their own theories as to where their homeroom teacher was. He didn’t participate but he still listened to the conversations happening around him. Most of them were between that something happened with Eri and he was needed elsewhere or he was injured really badly. The first one was more plausible than the latter.

All Might reassured that Eri was fine and that the mission got more complicated than usual and Aizawa needed a day off to regroup. The explanation was underwhelming and they couldn’t get many details out of the Symbol of Peace. For once he was being quite tight-lipped about it all. Which only made things weirder. They were all under the impression that their teacher would not show up at all today and will return tomorrow. 

But then their teacher walked in right on time for training. As expected Aizawa ignored all of their questions, which only made the locker room gossip 10x more interesting than usual. His friends finally shut up about Mineta’s imaginary girlfriend (seriously, it was ridiculous that they entertained it for so long), and tried to figure out what happened with Aizawa. 

“Maybe Mr. Aizawa’s mission finished early and he came to work.” Deku offered. “All Might mentioned that his mission got complicated so maybe he solved it and figured it out and came in. It’s known that he doesn’t like missing classes unless he absolutely needs to so this case could’ve been really important” 

Still… something wasn’t adding up.

“Yeah, personally if I already had the day off I would take it.” Kaminari chipped in. “He might only came to see how much we improved since the work studies” 

He’s already seen their improvement. There's something missing that Bakugo can’t figure out and he was determined to figure it out. Plus, just yesterday he left early for a case. How important was this case that it hasn’t even made the headlines. If a case was really this important, it should’ve been broadcasted already. 

Then came the training. It was basic self-defense training with no quirks. That was it. Nothing more and nothing less, however it was clearly needed because half the class struggled with it. They could all defend themselves in battle but this training was filled with ambushes and with the add-on of no quirks, it made it more challenging. But Bakugo loves challenges and adapted. 

However, he will admit that he did have trouble with some of the attacks. He will be taking that statement to the grave. 

Once the class ended, they were sent back to class. The others didn’t get it, they didn’t understand what point he was trying to make. Kirishima, his best friend, tried to listen and agreed that there was something up but didn’t think it was important enough to investigate. So he was forced to go to someone who loves following insane theories. 

Icy-Hot. 

After classes, he knocked on his dorm to talk to him. He knew he would be in there. While everyone spent their time in the common room, IcyHot preferred to be alone to do his homework. Unless he was dragged out by someone else, chances were that he was just in his room. Bakugo can respect that, if Kirishima didn’t drag him out or he had to cook something, he also rarely left his room. That or he was in his friend's dorm. Point is: they both avoid the common room. 

As predicted, Todoroki opened the door. “Bakugo? What are you doing here?” 

“I want to hear your thoughts on something. Are you busy?”

“No”

He walked in and sat down on one of the cushioned mats in the corner of the room. As always, the room was neat and tidy, only a few papers (their homework) was scattered on the desk. Todoroki gave him an odd look and sat down at his desk. 

“Can I help you?”

“What do you think of Mr. Aizawa?” He asked. 
 
“I think he’s a great teacher”

“No, you idiot! His behavior”

Todoroki took a minute to think. “What about it?”

God, he really is dense. He was going to have to spell it out for him, wasn’t he? “Everything that happened this week. He’s infamous for never having to miss a day of school, not even leaving early, and strict teaching. For all the years he’s been teaching that never changed, but suddenly everything changes. I think something is up.”

“Are you doubting Mr. Aizawa’s loyalty? All Might did say he was busy with a mission, do you think All Might is in on it too?” 

He facepalmed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, they weren’t lying about the mission, but if the mission is really as important as they claim, shouldn’t we know about it?”

Todoroki stayed silent for a moment before reaching into his desk drawers to pull out a whiteboard with multiple different colored markers. “Are you asking me to make a conspiracy theory?”

“… Maybe”

He narrowed his eyes. “So now you want me to do my theories? First it was ‘no that’s stupid’ and ‘That kid from the sports festival can’t possibly be Mr. Aizawa’s kid’-”

“Well to be fair, that was still a stretch. Have you even seen him since then?” 

“-And then it was ‘Present Mic and Mr. Aizawa can’t possibly be married’ but I was right!”
 
Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Are you going to help or not?”

Todoroki shrugged. “Sure. What are you thinking?”

Bakugo began to rattle off his theories. This super important mission might have to do with the league and they may be refusing to tell them to look out for them but if he was right then they should be training even harder to prepare for it. Or there is no mission at all and UA is facing some sort of crisis. The common factor in all the theories is that this is very important and may even be world-altering. 

Todoroki pitched some ideas of his own. Apparently Endeavor has heard nothing about this mission but Hawks hasn’t been as active as he used to be. To the public he is active but Todoroki overheard Endeavor talking about Hawks being late to some cases recently and having to pick up the slack. 

“So Hawks is also involved?”

“It could be unrelated”

It could be but if they were right about this world-changing mission, it would make sense for the number 2 hero to be involved but if this was just the league then it’s probably an isolated incident. After the kidnapping, the league hasn’t really acted as a whole in a while, the whole Overhaul incident the heroes only saw 2 members and they both got away. It could be that the league was dispersing or they were preparing for something bigger. 

While they were planning our their theories as to why their teacher was acting so strange, the whiteboard was filled with writings and time was flying by. A knock on the door interrupted them. Todoroki flipped the whiteboard over and answered the door.

“Midoriya? Is everything alright?” 

Bakugo rolled his eyes. What does that nerd want?

“Todoroki! Yeah everything is fine just wondering if you wanted to join us in the common room- oh is that Kacchan? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t worry about it Deku-”

“We were trying to figure out why Aizawa was acting different”

“Oh. It’s probably nothing.” Deku said too quickly. That wasn’t suspicious at all. He narrowed his eyes and didn’t feel like asking further. 

“I’m going for a walk.” He announced and walked out. “I’ll text you later” he told Todoroki and simply left. He took the side exit to avoid the common area, he didn’t feel like dealing with the extras. He hated being left out of something important and he really wanted to know what this mission was. 

He couldn’t tell you why he was so obsessed with this. He just didn’t like to be left in the dark and if this mission has the possibility of impacting him in the slightest then he wants to be prepared. He doesn’t want to be caught off guard again and relive the same situation at the training camp. Sure it happened months ago but he hated feeling so helpless and he wishes to never feel like that again. 

Plus the training being self-defense didn’t ease his worries. It was like they were trying to prepare them for the worst without them knowing they were being prepared. If they were trying to prep them for something, they should tell them so they can make personal adjustments. The self-defense training was also ruthless, the machines kept attacking even if they couldn’t get up.

While on his walk, he noticed someone familiar walking towards the main UA building. He quickly caught up with them. “Mr. Aizawa?” 

Mr. Aizawa paused and turned, he was in the middle of texting someone. “What are you doing out of the dorms?”

“It’s not past curfew yet” 

“What do you want, problem child?” Aizawa slipped his phone in his pocket.

“I wanted to talk to you about today’s lesson”

“Can’t this be an email?” 

“You never reply to my emails” Bakugo doesn’t send many emails, only those that he thinks are worth it but for some reason he never gets a reply back. 

Aizawa seems to consider this. “I don’t tend to respond to emails that are a waste of my time. Asking for points back on an assignment when you already got an A on it is not worth my time, especially if it wouldn’t change your grade in the end”

Details… anyway to his point. “Why did you decide to teach us self-defense now?” 

“Questioning my teaching?”

“Just curious. Seemed out of place when we just came back from internships”

“It was part of my lesson plan, what’s so strange about it?”

Bakugo didn’t know how to answer that without sounding stuck-up. He frowned. “Just thought we would be reflecting on what we learned”

“You will eventually, now is there anything else you need? I have places to be”

“No sir. Have a good night” Bakugo kept his head down and walked away. He was going to find out one way or another. He just had to figure out how to approach the topic without being so direct. 

—

Aizawa was impressed that Bakugo caught on about the last minute change to the training session, the kid was more observant than he looked. That was a good thing for a hero but he had to be careful or else he would find out things that shouldn’t be found out. The current mission was getting more intense as time went on and he was determined to keep his students out of this. 

After the training lesson, he was avoiding Nedzu and continued to finish up his work but he couldn’t stop the inevitable email that was sent to him after Nedzu found out he went to work anyway. So now here he was, heading over to his boss's office. 

Nedzu was waiting for him at his desk. A single thin folder sat on top of his desk, underneath his crossed paws. “Shota! Welcome.”

“Nedzu-” He began but was immediately cut off.

“I thought my orders were clear, were they not? I gave you the day off to rest and to collect yourself after last night but imagine my surprise when I heard about you teaching your students for training.”

“All Might?'“

“Leave Toshinori out of this. I gave you the day off for your own well-being. I know with this case you will neglect to take breaks and rest, you haven’t changed a bit since you were my student.”

“I am no longer your student, I’m an adult now.”

“Yes, well you are still my employee. You’ve been working non-stop since you took Eri in, this case will tip you over the edge. UA prides itself in creating a healthy workplace environment-”

He knew this argument was pointless. Nedzu could be quite stubborn when he wanted to. “Fine. I’ll take the day off tomorrow completely.”

“I know you will. I have Hizashi the day off as well to make sure you don’t come into work.”

Well that was a low blow. “Is that all you called me in here for?'“

Nedzu opened the folder on his desk. Inside was a single piece of paper- actually it wasn’t even paper. It looked like a napkin with writing on it, and a used one at that. The napkin had grease stains on it. “This appeared on my desk today” he slid the napkin closer to him for him to look at. 

The napkin read:

‘Hello! I’ll take a wild guess and assume you all are the ones that rescued my friend #5! Thanks for that, I was beginning to think he was a goner. Figured we’d find him chopped up haha. However I feel inclined to let you know that the hospital you took him to… let’s just say its the equivalent to the infirmary. Ask the Colonel. He’ll know. -The Prince’

The prince? Well this person surely thought very highly of themselves. The note seemed to be everywhere, he didn’t quite know what to make of it. Looked like nonsense. The words were written messily and in a rush. 

Nedzu hummed. “It looks like the person is well acquainted with our guests. However I don’t think our guests know they are here, otherwise they would’ve told us don’t you think?”

He grunted. “Probably. Did the cameras catch who left the note?” 

Nedzu shook his head. “The cameras were looped and no alarm was triggered.” 

“I will need to set up a meeting to discuss this further and update everyone on last night's events.” The meeting will have to be tomorrow, they can’t just let this wait any longer. Not when the league is still out there. Maybe the Colonel can clue them in on who the person who sent the note is. 

“The meeting will need to include our guests, do you think they will be so willing to leave Elrics bedside so soon?”

“It shouldn’t take too long, maybe about an hour or an hour and a half.”

“For tomorrow?”

“The earliest we can set this meeting up the better. We can’t afford to wait and risk another attack.”

Nedzu seemed to think about this. “I suppose this cannot be avoided.” 

He was given permission to use the conference room on the condition that he was still given the day off. The meeting was the only reason he should be at work. He’ll probably just work from home. He can’t really take a day off completely, not with everything going on. Since there was nothing else to discuss, he took his leave and headed back to his apartment where his family was waiting for him. 

This meeting couldn’t come soon enough.
—

Ling glanced behind him where UA stood proud. He still had a few minutes before he had to track down Greed. He doesn’t know exactly what he was doing. First his goal was just to help find Ed and get him back to safety and then he saw Greed, Envy, and Gluttony and he had to get involved. Greed was arrogant enough to let a few details spill and that was enough to put some clues together. 

Apparently this hospital is a front for something else and the doctors there aren’t exactly the most credible. He’ll pay a visit tomorrow and check it out for himself, maybe even check in on his friend while he was at it. For now though, he has a homunculi to convince. 

Chapter Text

The evening came and went and there was no sign of Edward waking up anytime soon. Hawkeye didn’t know much about medicine, so she had to trust that the nurse knew what she was doing. She has always hated the waiting game, she would much rather have something to do. When it came to this, there was nothing she could do to help. 

Recovery girl came by occasionally to check on him and when he had enough stamina she would do another round of treatment. It was good that he would be healed sooner but that also meant it would take longer for him to wake up. Hawkeye didn’t quite know what to make of her, she seemed nice and knowledgeable but she was asking too many questions. The doctors back in Amestris wouldn’t be asking so many questions but they also wouldn’t have the equipment to save him. That was a scary thought. They were so close to losing Edward forever. Now that he was back in their custody, she swore she would give her life to protect him. 

While on the topic of protection, Fatgum had to leave sometime during the next morning but it was reassured that the hospital security was enough during the day and that heroes will be coming in to check on them periodically. Not to mention that there will be heroes patrolling the area to make sure no one suspicious enters the building. The heroes were interesting people, they were like soldiers but without all the formality. Personally, she wouldn’t like the idea of being a hero but she can see the appeal. She wasn’t too worried about the security, before they left the apartment she made sure to grab a few guns. Plus Mustang wasn’t helpless either, they both could take down any threat that enters the room. Cover story be damned. 

She knew Mustang was just as worried as she was but he didn’t show it. If Pride really was back on the field, it could raise a whole new set of problems. If any of the homunculi are back, it could raise some big problems. There was no way to reverse Selim back to Pride, it should be impossible. Bringing back the homunculi should be impossible with Father dead but it seems like the reality that they know is different from this one. She wasn’t sure if they could handle the threat this time around, it took so much manpower to stop them the first time. She knew he was trying to come up with plans as a precaution. This time around, if the predictions are right, they were going to need the heroes' help, which also means they need the heroes' trust.

“We can’t keep saying it’s classified information for the scars Edward has.” She broke the silence. Mustang hummed and looked up. “They might get the wrong idea”

“We also can’t tell them how he got them, that would destroy all trust we have with them.” Mustang frowned. “They already don’t trust us.”

“Being too guarded won’t help with that.” 

“Being too open won’t help either” He countered. “Gaining their trust shouldn’t be too hard, after all they did invite us over.”

She let the argument die out, she trusted that he knew what he was doing. Her job is to make sure he stays alive and has the resources he needs to enact his plans, plus keeping Edward safe. She was just his Lieutenant, always there to watch his back. 

Around the afternoon, she got up to get some lunch for the both of them. When she came back, nothing much had changed. An hour passed and someone knocked on the door. When she got up to answer, it was just Aizawa. She let him in and he leaned against the wall next to the door and she went back to the couch. 
 
“How is he holding up?” 
 
Mustang sighed. "He has shown signs of improvement but it doesn't look like he's waking up any time soon. How's the investigation going?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Last night we received a letter that mentioned you on it. We were planning on discussing that as well as his rescue during a meeting later today.”

“A letter?”

“Signed by the Prince. Does it ring any bells?”

Mustang hummed. “This meeting is later today? How long will it take?”

“2 hours max.”

Hawkeye looked at him and glanced at Ed. She could watch over him for a few hours while he went to the meeting. Mustang seemed to understand her message. “I would love to attend this meeting. Hawkeye can take care of everything for a little while.”

Aizawa watched them both and his eyes landed on Edward who was still asleep. “The meeting should be quick, not longer than 2 hours. I can give you a ride back so you can get ready before the meeting. Classes end in about an hour, so we should start leaving soon.”

Mustang nodded and turned to Hawkeye. “Let me know if anything changes”

“Yes sir.” She gave a salute with a look that said, don’t do anything stupid. She wasn’t going to be there so it wasn’t like she could keep him in check. Although she didn’t like the idea of being separated, it was necessary. The more information they have, the better they can plan. Mustang simply smiled back at her, I make no promises.

She waved goodbye and watched them leave the room and shut the door behind them. Left alone with her thoughts. Nurses came in less frequently so she pulled a chair next to Edward to keep him company. As she brushed his hair back, she began to talk to him softly. 

“How do you manage to find yourself in these situations?” She chided and as expected, she got no response. 

The Elrics and the Colonel were going to send her to an early grave. When the Elrics got their body back, she and Mustang helped house them for the first few months of their recovery. The hospital was close to where they lived (they share an apartment building but don’t live together) so it was just a matter of convenience. Alphonse was still getting used to getting his body back and she doesn’t have enough hands to count how many times he has accidentally gotten hurt after forgetting that he could get hurt now. Not to mention the amount of times Edward has broken his right arm. The brothers were a chaotic bunch but not unwelcome. 

Her eyes drifted back to the wad of bandages on Edwards’ right side. It was a shame he lost his arm so soon after getting it back. She doubted he would be able to get it back this time. Committing the transmutation must have been traumatizing. She knows all too well how it feels like to have your own ability used against your will. After the Ishvalan War, she hated her perfect aim but it was part of who she was. The military needed her skills and she couldn’t just quit. It took months to learn how to cope with it and she hoped Edward wouldn’t hold the same resentment to his alchemy.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. Her hand flew to her waistline and she turned in that direction and saw nothing there but a shadow. 

‘Has that shadow always been there?’ She thought. She tried to dismiss the thought, it was nonsense. Pride isn’t on the field and he wouldn’t be attacking so soon if he was. It’s just a shadow, just a harmless shadow.

‘Is it darker than the other shadows?’ It would be a defining characteristic if it was but maybe she’s imagining it. 

She narrowed her eyes and deemed the shadow as nothing but it didn’t help the sudden anxiety she felt. The room seemed to turn colder than it used to be. She looked around the room, keeping note of all the shadows and details within the room. It was nothing and it was definitely paranoia but it felt like she was being watched and her gut instincts are rarely wrong. 

She had to make sure there really was a threat before pulling out her gun, once the hospital staff saw it, there was no chance she was going to be able to keep it. On a more important note, their cover would be blown. 

“Who’s there?” She dared to ask. Best case scenario, she is being paranoid and no one will answer. Worst case scenario, she’s in danger. Reasonable odds. 

“Perceptive as always, Lieutenant.” A familiar voice called from above. In an instant her gun was pointed up. From the ceiling, an ally dropped down and landed sitting criss-cross on the end of the hospital bed. Ling held his hands up with a smile. 

She didn’t put away her weapon, not yet at least. This person may look like Ling, but she couldn’t know for sure. As far as she’s concerned, the Prince of Xing was still in Xing. 

“Ah, you want me to prove myself, eh? Well let’s see… remember that one time I racked up a hotel bill so high on Ed’s card that you all ended up lecturing him and then he blamed me and we both got lectured? Then you made us work it off by doing odd jobs around the office?” Ling recalled but Hawkeye wasn’t convinced. “Alright you want more hm… oh! Just last month you and the Colonel came to my country to conduct an investigation and got arrested and I had to bail you out” 

That… did happen. In their defense, they conduct investigations differently. How was she supposed to know that luring a worker to a back room and pulling a gun out was illegal there? In Amestris it was just another Tuesday. She lowered her gun and tucked it away. “Ling?” She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Of course it would be Ling, who else would sign off a letter with The Prince.  “What are you doing here?”

“Helping, of course. Who do you think helped rescue him?” At her confused glance, he added. “Oh, the homeless dude didn’t fill you in yet? Whoops. I couldn’t stick around too longer after Gluttony attacked-“

“Gluttony?” She froze. So the homunculi are in play. Now the question lies in how many of them are in play. 

“Oh they told you two nothing? Wow” Ling got comfortable and took the cup of water that was supposed to be for Edward when he woke up. It didn’t matter too much since they also had the pitcher. “Heroes are pretty interesting.” he added as an afterthought. 

“The Colonel went to the meeting to get updates just about an hour ago. How did you know we were here?” 

Ling paused to think. “Well after I got rid of Gluttony, I had too many people looking for me so I had to lie low for a bit at my place. I took note of the ambulance and looked it up and got the address, then I just checked the rooms until I found you all.” He explained as if it was the most simple thing in the world. “Oh! You mean how did I know you guys were here, I kept investigating after you left Xing. I didn’t find anything and I figured I’d pay you all a visit. Imagine my surprise when you and the colonel were allegedly in Briggs for two days.” 

She closed her eyes and sighed, internally facepalming. To keep their location a secret, Colonel gave Havoc the job to keep them located at different bases and it appears that Havoc already messed up. Due to the Colonel’s flame alchemy, they tend to stay away from Briggs and they definitely wouldn’t visit for only 2 days. A simple mistake that could cost them their job. To be fair this entire situation could cost them their job but it would be worth it. She would have to talk to Havoc about this. 

“So I went to your office and asked around and they told me. Since I am not at war with any countries at the moment, the travel was pretty easy. I went to China and flew from there.” Ling sipped the water. “Pretty easy, I only arrived a few days before you two did. I found quite a lot out by asking around. Wasn’t able to find Ed on time though, not until Hawks dropped him off on the rooftop. How is he doing? He lost his arm again?”

“The doctors think he will make a full recovery. One of the nurses was able to use their power to heal him faster at the cost of his stamina. He is almost fully healed but probably won’t wake up until later today” She actually didn’t know when he would wake up, it was all hopeful thinking. 

“A shame he lost his arm so soon after getting it back.” He frowned. “Alphonse was pretty worried last time I saw him, have you updated him yet?”

“Not yet, the Colonel will call before he returns.”

Ling nodded, he took a minute to think and looked at the door. He then spoke in a hushed tone. “You should know that they are back. Not just Gluttony. Envy, Lust, and Greed are also back. The heroes don’t stand a chance against them alone.”

She leaned back against the wall and brushed Ed’s hair back. “I figured. Selim is missing as well.”

“If it helps, I haven’t heard anything about Pride. Greed is the most social one, he’s off doing his own thing.” He bit his lip. “He doesn’t remember me. At all. If I had to bet, I don’t think any of them have any actual memories of the Promised day. This hospital also isn’t the best place for him to be at. As far as the others are concerned, Edward Elric is dead.”

“Others?”

“Envy and the people they are working for. Don’t know them too well. This area feels… weird. It’s not safe here, you should try and get him out of here as soon as you can.” Ling set down the cup. “The heroes aren’t capable of withstanding the homunculi on their own. I ran into a few and I can’t say I would bet on them to win a fight. I ran into this flame hero, he’s an absolute jackass. If he’s how they all are, try not to trust them too much.”

“The colonel is trying to stay to help with the investigation. The heroes we have been working with are interesting but we need their trust and that is a two way street. This isn’t our first time dealing with a situation like this, we can handle this.”

“I can help out here and there but I’ll be doing my own thing. I want to see if I can get through to Greed.” He admitted. “Alphonse will be a great asset. So would Winry. I could help them get here safely”

“We’ll have to see what the heroes say.” It’s true that having the two of them would make it easier. Alphonse has knowledge and Winry can make a new arm but they would have to see what the heroes think. They are in foreign territory, they can’t call the shots. She hoped the Colonel was behaving himself. 

Ling got up and walked around the room. “I’ll have to get going but I’d take it that you are staying on UA campus?” She nodded. “Going to be a hassle to get in but I’ll try and meet up with you all at least every week. I should get going. Good luck Lieutenant!” He smiled and waved before jumping up and leaving the same way he came to him. 

What an odd kid. She refilled the water before she took a seat and waited for Edward to wake up. She stayed awake and alert of any threats, Ling already confirmed her doubts.

—

If Ed was going to be completely honest, he didn’t expect to wake up. A small part of him wished he wouldn’t wake up. He was convinced he lost his mind, a product of being held hostage for who knows how long (it felt like years) after he saw a bird man attempt to interrogate him and then stab him. 

He didn’t want to open his eyes just yet, he already knew he had a headache but he didn’t want to make it worse. Besides if he was still held hostage, it could buy him some time to… it could buy him some time to rest and have a moment of peace. He tried to focus on his surroundings, the cell he was held in was usually cold but he was oddly warm now. 

There was the smell of antiseptic in the air, so he guessed he was in some kind of clinic or medical center. Why would the villains try and save him? He was supposed to be dead, he heard them literally negotiating his death before he was stabbed. Did they find a better use for him and try to save him? He did recall, earlier in his captivity, the burned man explaining the concept of Nomu, how the doctor made them using people. Was he going to be turned into that? He hoped not.

He shifted slightly, enough to see how much mobility he had without alerting anyone that he was awake. He couldn’t hear anyone but he doubted they wouldn’t leave him alone. There was a key thing he noticed when he shifted: he was no longer in restraints. Fools. However, unfortunately for him, his automail leg was busted. Anytime he tried to move it, it sent sharp pain up his leg. He technically has nothing to lose… he could attempt another escape. Probably wouldn’t get too far but it was worth a shot. 

The door opened softly, he could hear footsteps coming up next to him. Someone with a gruff voice spoke. 

“His vitals are getting better, he seems to be responding nicely.” 

Responding nicely? What did they give him? 
 
Against his better judgement, he cracked his eyes open and the white light momentarily blinded him. When his vision cleared, he saw a middle age man looming over him. 

The man said something he couldn’t quite understand and reached out to grab him. He flinched back and glared at him. 

“Don’t touch me” He snapped and moved to sit up. Not his best decision but he needed to get out. 

He looked around the room, it was small with pale blue walls and a window but more importantly the door wasn’t too far away. He could make it, but he would have to take his leg off to even have a chance. He didn’t let the man get out of his sight, the man kept talking but it didn’t make much sense to him. 

The man, once again, attempted to reach out again so in self-defense, Ed swung his good arm and hit the man in the face, causing him to stumble back holding his nose. The man pressed a button and suddenly the alarms started to go off. 

Shit. 

He felt someone grab him from behind and he turned sharply and came face-to-face with Hawkeye. That… that wasn’t right. She’s not here, she can’t be here. She should be with Mustang back at Central. It has to be Envy trying to impersonate her to play some kind of mind game, it wouldn’t be the first time they tried that. They chose the wrong person to impersonate. Hawkeye would never be seen alone without the Colonel at her side. 

“Edward, listen to me-” She grabbed his hand and started to tap in a specific pattern. “You have to calm down.” He recognized this pattern. It was a code they created after Envy died to make sure that they couldn’t be fooled again. She wasn’t in military gear though, she was dressed as a civilian. But that doesn’t make sense- nothing is making sense again. Hawkeye can’t be here, besides if it really is her then where was Mustang?

More people rushed in the room, one held a syringe. Like hell was he going to be stabbed with that. Hawkeye reached out a protective arm over him as she pleaded with the people.

[“Don’t touch him, I can handle this! Please! Don’t touch him!”]

The people didn’t seem to be very receptive as one of them grabbed her by her arm and pulled her away from him. 

“NO!” He yelled. “Lieutenant! Please! Help me” He cried out but Hawkeye was already out the door. 

He was left alone with these people dressed as nurses? The uniform was different so he couldn’t be too sure. Someone grabbed his arm and held it down while others held him down to prevent him from moving around so much. That didn’t stop him from trying though. Every movement may hurt like a bitch but he was not going down without a fight. He was too late to realize that the syringe was already at his IV with the plunger down. He screamed and continued to squirm in their grasp but it wasn’t long until the corners of his vision blurred and his limbs felt heavier by the second. 

He was out in less than 3 minutes. 

—

All Might looked over his lesson plan, it was almost time for them to start training. Since Aizawa was out, he covered for 1A pretty much the entire day. He really wanted the students to trust him and come to him for anything. As long as they did their work, he let them do whatever they wanted and sit wherever they like. He wasn’t too fond of Aizawa’s strict teaching style, he knew the guy had his reasons but he wanted to take a different approach. 

The lesson plan was the same one as yesterday that he didn’t get a chance to follow through. He remembered Aizawa’s warning but it shouldn’t be that bad. Not everyone has an eraser quirk and the other teachers work just fine so it was probably just an overreaction. He did alter it to make it a little safer but he didn’t change the overall components of it. They did need to gain more control over their quirks and work on their weaknesses so why not combine them. He even made a list to keep track of what everyone needs to work on. The moment the next period began he sent them out to get changed into their hero uniforms. 

He set everything up on the big screen to have everything prepared for when the students arrived after changing. He was proud of himself, he was really fitting into his new job. From the distance he heard the students chattering excitedly about the upcoming training session. 

Bakugo walked alongside Kirishima as they made their way over to the training ground. Mina and Kaminari trailed behind them, loudly complaining about the training they were about to endure. Sero would’ve usually joined them but this time he walked with Todoroki, having a one-sided conversation about a manga he recently read. 

“What do you think we’ll do today?” Kirishima asked as he rested his hands on the back of his head. 

“Something you extras will struggle on” Bakugo rolled his eyes. They eventually arrived at the training ground and the others filtered in. All Might could hear Midoriya mumbling about the possibilities of the exercise as he walked in.

“Is Mr. Aizawa not doing our training again like yesterday?” Kirishima asked. “Is he okay?”

All Might chuckled, it was all agreed on to keep the students out of the loop for their safety. “Do not worry Young Kirishima! Aizawa is fine, he is just working a tough case. He should be back tomorrow to cover everything as usual”

“How come he showed up yesterday?” Mina asked.

“Don’t worry about that. We have no time to waste, just because he isn’t here doesn’t mean you all get to slack off.” He gestured towards the big screen behind him. Maybe the students didn’t think that the training will be too hard since he was in his skeleton form. Since the Kamino Ward he stopped trying to hide it, he was already exposed. 

“What will we be doing today?” Yaoyorozu raised her hand as she spoke. 

All Might grinned. “Today we will be working on your weaknesses” He held his hand up. “And before anyone says otherwise, I know you are not weak. Your strength is impressive however we will continue to work on your weak spots and get you out of your comfort zone. I chose this room specifically because of its wide area and multiple terrains. I will meet with you all individually and tell you all what you will be working on. Just a heads up, not all of you will be working on your quirks so be prepared. Those who will be using their quirks, please be mindful as we do not have Aizawa to erase it in case it gets out of control. Recovery Girl is also on leave and should only be contacted in emergencies so keep injuries at a minimum. That should be all. Everyone please get in a single file line.” In less than 10 minutes he gave everyone their assignment and sent them along to their gym. He specifically chose Gym Beta to have different types of environment so that they can really work on their weaknesses. 

He looked at the cameras and observed everyone from a distance. If anything went south, he was sure he could take care of it. 

-

Bakugo liked a challenge, it made him feel accomplished when he succeeded. He won’t deny he wasn’t a little bit interested in seeing what his weak spot was. He bet it was something he already considered, like fighting in close quarters or working together. Though, he did improve on the latter considering he won that joint training battle against class 1B. 

He got in line and waited for his turn. He was near the front so it wasn’t a long wait. Deku was in the front so he got his assignment first, he had to work on using his quirk for long range attacks. Specifically his air punches that he learned during the School festival. Bakugo was somewhat surprised to see that he wasn’t going to practice black whip but maybe that was because this was a class and not personal training. What a nerd. 

Once it was his turn, he was told to work on maneuvering himself through tight places. All Might said that his attacks would only work when there was open space and he should work on moves that he could do indoors. That was about what he expected and he was given a building that looked like a parking deck to work in. It was open space but there were some cars parked in to provide some obstacles. Not too bad. He was paired up with Todoroki, who had the same issue with control. 
 
“Icy Hot? What are you doing here?” he demanded. 

The asshole had the nerve to look unphased. “All Might told me to come here and spar with you to work on self-restraint.” He told him. 

That would make sense. “Fine. But you better give it your all- I don’t want that half-assed fight like in the sports festival! Fight me like you mean it, damnit!” 

Todoroki didn’t react and instead got into a fighting stance. Bakugo followed his lead and it wasn’t long until the fight got intense. He hated to admit it but he was having trouble keeping track of both his opponent and his attack. Usually Bakugo could just attack without thinking but this time he had to be mindful about the property damage. The calculations he had to do were easy but it did distract him. 

He barely dodged an ice attack, which caused him to get a cut on his cheek. He glared at Todoroki who gave him a small victorious grin in response. “Damn you, IcyHot” he didn’t even yell as he dodged a flame attack. Once he saw his opening he catapulted himself towards him and sent a kick to his stomach. That wiped the grin off his face. 

Todoroki quickly got up and made a shield of ice to protect him while he got back on his feet. He sent another flame attack over his way combined with ice so Bakugo would have a hard time to dodge so instead he kicked the ice into pieces and avoided the fire. Unfortunately that little stunt did weaken the foundation a bit and the building trembled a bit. 

“Self restraint” He reminded him as he attacked back. He positioned his small explosions on the walls of the building to allow himself to fly in a spiral. 

The battle went on like that, with attacks and dodges all while keeping the building intact. It seemed like it would go on forever and even end in a tie until Bakugo made one fateful mistake which would result in his loss.

He miscalculated. 

He tumbled in the air and hit the ground. He face-planted onto the ground and skidded across the parking deck, he skinned his arm and leg trying to break his fall. He stopped once he hit one of the pillars and he rolled onto his back. He stared at the roof and tried to ignore the pain that pulsed from his limbs. He knew he broke his arm and possibly fractured his leg. 

Todoroki rushed over to offer a hand up but stopped once he noticed Bakugo’s arm twisted in a weird angle. “How?” He asked as if he didn’t just see Bakugo wipeout. 

“Shut up!” He groaned. Before he could tell him to get All Might, something or someone flew into the parking deck. Next thing he knew the pillar collapsed and the building crumpled with them inside. 

—

Izuku was the first one in line to get his task for the day. All Might instructed him to perfect his air attacks using All for One. He had his gloves so he shouldn’t strain his fingers too much, he needed to make sure he didn’t overdo it since Recovery Girl wouldn’t be here to heal him. 

He was directed towards an open area with a few of the buildings his classmates were trained in that surrounded him. He knew Bakugo and Todoroki were training in the building behind him and Uraraka was practicing basic martial arts with Shoji next to him. They were a good distance away so he didn’t have to worry about hurting them with his wind attacks. 

He stared at his targets ahead of him, they were just some ordinary robots that would fly around or roll over to him. There was a line drawn in the ground that the robots should not pass. He braced himself as he got started on taking down a few robots. He grabbed his arm to brace himself and positioned his feet so he wouldn’t fly away with his attacks. It wasn’t too hard but it did prove to be a challenge to do it consistently. Whenever his finger started to hurt he would move onto the next one. 

“Good Job, Young Midoriya. You are getting better at this!” All Might walked up to him while he was bringing down the robots. He was slowly starting to get the hang of it. 

“Thank you All Might!” He couldn’t afford getting distracted now, not when the robots were slowly swarming him. 

“Try to do the attacks in the air now.” He advised. 

He nodded and jumped up. He used 5% on his legs so he got pretty good height. As he fell he launched another air attack. It wasn’t any stronger than the ones he used on the ground but for some reason the recoil was more than he expected. He didn’t have anything to brace against to stop him from flying backwards. 

Izuku could barely hear All Might’s shout as the wind blocked out most noise in his ears. He tried to reach behind and send another air attack to counteract the first one but he couldn’t focus enough to execute it. 

He flew into a building that he vaguely registered as the parking deck Bakugo and Todoroki was training in. He shifted a little to look behind him and he could see Bakugo on the ground bleeding with Todoroki next to him. Todoroki looked up and looked at him with a confused expression as he slammed into the pillar, causing it to break. 

He learned quite a few things in the span of 2 minutes. First thing he learned was that the pillar he took down was one of the main ones keeping the building stable. As soon as it went down the building shook and the section collapsed. The second thing he learned is that having a building fall on you is painful, something he should’ve already known considering all the battles he’s been in but he’s never actually been inside the building when it collapsed. Third thing he already knew but Todoroki had quick reflexes, in an instant ice surrounded them and provided a small barrier but still some of the ice cracked and the debris fell through. 

Izuku fell back onto the remains of the pillar and tried to ignore the rubble that was digging into his back. 

“What the fuck was that, Deku?!” Bakugo yelled. 
 
“Not like I planned this” He mumbled. 

“You two alright?” Todoroki asked, he looked down at Bakugo who was already giving him a death glare. “Don’t answer that. Midoriya, what are your injuries?”

“I think I’m just bruised, nothing feels broken. What about you?”

“My leg is pinned under some of the rocks but overall I’m fine.”

“All Might should come soon. He’ll get us out.” He reassured as he attempted to shift around. 

“Deku… what the fuck did you do? Weren’t you training the air shit”

How did he know that? He shouldn’t be that surprised, Bakugo has a habit of eavesdropping. “I didn’t measure the recoil”

Bakugo didn’t say anything for a minute. “You IDIOT!” 

He just sighed and waited for rescue. None of them said much, they just waited for rescue to come. 

“Guys! Are you okay?!” Uraraka called out as she touched more of the fallen building and moved it out of the way. 

“Yeah!” Izuku called back. He shifted and sat up, he took note of Bakugo’s condition. “What happened to you?” 

Kacchan simply glared at him so Todoroki explained. “He miscalculated and fell on his face.” 

“Shut up!” 
 
Light began to pour in, it seemed that Uraraka finally reached them. Behind her was All Might and some of their classmates. They rushed in and helped them out. Todoroki grabbed Bakugo before he limped out. Izuku sheepishly walked out. 

“Sorry guys” 

“Oh my god, how did this even happen?” Mina asked as she looked at Bakugo was bleeding. 

“That happened before the crash” Todoroki added helpfully which earned him another glare from Bakugo, at this point he was immune to it. The remedial course desensitized him to all of Bakugos antics. 

All Might scanned him and once he noticed the broken arm he sighed. “You three wait here, I have to make a phone call.” 

The class hovered around as some of them brought over a first aid kit to help patch up some of the open wounds. All Might came back quickly. 

“Alright, you three come with me. We’re going to the hospital.” 

“Hospital?” Uraraka cried in alarm. “Why?”

“No need to worry. Recovery Girl is currently stationed there and she will be able to heal them up. I already let her know that we’re on our way.”

“Can I come with you guys?” She asked.

All Might rested a hand on her shoulder. “It should be a quick trip, it’ll be best if you stay here with the others and get cleaned up. Iida, as class rep I trust you to escort everyone back to the dorms.” 

Iida walked to the front and gave him a salute. “I will! Safe travels” 

All Might allowed Bakugo to lean on him for support and they made their way over to the car. It was a simple UA van, nothing too attention grabbing. Izuku got a shotgun while Bakugo and Todoroki rode in the back. 

“I apologize. Please forgive me, this should’ve never happened.” All Might adjusted the rearview mirror to get a better look at his two injured students. 

Bakugo scoffed and nodded but kept his gaze to look out the window and Todoroki nodded in acknowledgement. “It’s not your fault” 

“Why is Recovery Girl in the hospital?” Izuku asked. “Is she sick?”

“No, she’s fine. She was needed in the hospital for a special case.” 

“Is it related to Mr.Aizawa’s case?” Bakugo asked.

Izuku looked at All Might, the case must be important if it was requiring 2 of the UA’s staff members. 

“It is. His case is very sensitive so I cannot tell you much about it, I’m sorry. Young Bakugo, I assume the collapsed building didn’t skin your arm and leg?” 

Bakugo frowned. “I miscalculated” And he left it at that. He was clearly embarrassed about getting injured in such a careless way. “How the fuck did you forget about recoil, Deku?” 

He sighed. “I don’t know. I didn’t break my finger though!”

 “Congrats,” Bakugo said dryly, slightly lifting his broken arm in response. “Must be nice”

They tried to get more information about their teacher's case but All Might didn’t answer many of their questions. They eventually arrived at the hospital. All might warned them to be mindful of their voice so as to not inconvenience any other patients. Of course he should’ve known better. Bakugo immediately picked a fight with Midoryia not even 2 steps in the building and got a lot of side eyes from the nurses. After a quiet scolding everything seemed to be going smoothly.

They walked through the halls as they tried to find Recovery Girl. The halls were fairly empty when they walked in, which was to be expected. He looked at the numbers of the rooms, trying to remember which one was Young Elric’s. Maybe now that he’s here he will pay them a visit while his students get healed. 

Maybe he should’ve called Recovery girl ahead of time to let her know that he was on the way but it didn't matter. It probably shouldn’t take too long to find her. He asked for her at the front desk and the receptionist was a great help. It didn’t take long for them to be guided to an empty room where Recovery Girl was waiting inside looking disappointed. 

“I gave you one job.” He didn’t even get one foot through the door.  She smacked him upside the head with a cane before getting the students situated. “What happened?'“
 
“Kacchan miscalculated,” Midoriya said as if it explained everything. He took a seat on one of the empty beds behind him.  

The room was a small room with 3 cots all separated with a thin blue curtain. It looked like a standard hospital room, nothing too fancy. Bakugo and Todoroki claimed the other two empty beds. 

“Shut up! I did not miscalculate, it was your fault for slamming into our building in the first place after your dumbass forgot about recoil!” 

“I’m pretty sure you fell before Midoriya flew in.” Todoroki corrected, Bakugo turned to face him. 

“No one asked you!” He let out some small explosions in frustration. The noise echoed throughout and it sounded worse than it was. All Might looked behind him and towards the door to make sure no one else heard it or panicked over it. 

“Keep it down, there are other people on this floor. Don’t make me call Mr. Aizawa”

That caught their attention and they looked at him.

“I thought you didn’t want to call him and admit you messed up” Todoroki commented off-handedly while picking at his nails. 

All Might decided not to dignify that with a response but the threat seemed to do its job. They didn’t try anything else.  Recovery Girl took her time to figure out what happened and how it happened while she evaluated the injuries. 

“So how are they?” 

Recovery Girl hummed. “Nothing my quirk can’t fix. They will need to stay here until they are fully healed and well-rested. They should be able to return to the dorms by tonight.” She gave them all a kiss and let them rest. 

All Might figured that while he was here he could ask for some updates on Elric. Recovery Girl  reported that overall he’s well and healing nicely but that there was a commotion earlier today. She didn’t clarify what happened but he could tell that it wasn’t something she approved of. He figured he’d get more answers by asking them directly. He thought he would have time to stop by and pay them a visit but his phone went off as he exited the room. 

 Reminder: Meeting in 30 mins.

 He internally cursed. That’s right, Aizawa did set up a meeting for when after the classes ended so they could discuss the new updates on the case. He checked his watch. If he went a little bit over the speed limit he should make it on time. But that would also mean that Aizawa would find out about his 3 students in the hospital… maybe he would be distracted enough that he wouldn’t get lectured. He didn’t have time to waste, he rushed out of the hospital and prayed he didn’t get caught in traffic.

Chapter Text

The car ride over to the apartment was uneventful, he found out that Aizawa wasn’t much of a small talker which was fine because he wasn’t either. Besides, he couldn’t stop thinking of his kid that has already seen so many horrors and now has seen a few more. He needed to call Al and Winry to give them an update on the situation and then pack a bag for Hawkeye to change. 

Mustang tried not to worry about leaving Hawkeye alone in a strange world in a new place without backup. She was fully capable of taking care of herself and protecting Ed at the same time. He trusted her, but he didn’t trust this new place. It was too modern than he was used to, and their quirks were some of the most impressive things he’s seen. That nurse healed Ed almost back to full health with only a kiss and some medical equipment. What else was she capable of? How far do quirks go? It’s not based on science he knew that, the files he brought over and studied told him that much. The files lacked information and he doesn’t have time to fully study them, not when there’s still a threat looming over their heads. Maybe this will be something he can give to Ed while he recovers. 

He would ask Aizawa for more information about quirks but they don’t have the time to talk about that. There are more pressing issues to talk about. He was looking forward to this meeting. He wondered how exactly they found Ed, he was gravely injured and Aizawa looked a mess, it left many questions. Questions that will hopefully be answered. 

The note Aizawa mentioned in the hospital room was something he wanted to see. The Prince has to be Ling. He is the only one who would be that bold and unpredictable. Ling knew the way they communicated so maybe there’s some secret message he can uncover that can shed more light on the whole situation. 

Mustang almost didn’t realize they arrived to UA until the call pulled to a stop. 

“I have to talk to Nedzu before the meeting. I or someone we know will come by to grab you for the meeting in about an hour or an hour and a half.” Aizawa climbed out of the car and locked the door once he got out. With that, he walked off towards the main building and Mustang took that as his cue to head to the apartment. 

Once he got in the apartment, he wasted no time in taking a shower. He got dressed back in his civilian clothing but in his jacket he made sure to store his silver pocket watch and gloves. He grabbed a bag and packed Hawkeye a bag with a change of clothes. He didn’t know when the next time they would be back was so he made sure to pack for the both of them for about 2 days. With the miracle worker that was the nurse, he doubted Ed would be in the hospital for much longer. He secretly hoped he didn’t wake up while he was gone. 

After everything, he noticed he still had some time to kill. Perfect, it was enough for one quick phone call to update Al and Winry. Even though Ed is safe (although it’s questionable on how safe) they might stay longer. If Ling has to get involved, he’s sure that they will need their help. 

He heard the phone ring and wondered what he would say. He was so accustomed to giving the other type of news, he didn’t quite know what to say. Al picked up within the first few rings. 

“Hello?” Al sounded hopeful and so tired. 

“Hey Alphonse. I have some good news for you” He couldn’t help but smile. A month or 2 of searching and they found him. Alive. “We found him, he’s currently in the hospital receiving treatment.” 

Sounds of pure joy echoed throughout the room. Mustang had to hold the phone away from his ear. “Winry! Granny! They found him!” He called out to the background and he could hear footsteps getting close to the phone. '“He’s okay?” Al asked to confirm.

“He will be okay. He hasn’t waken up yet but he will be soon.” He thought about what he was going to say next, but Winry beat him to the chase. 

“Will be okay? What happened?”

“It appears that Ed was forced to do human transmutation and as a result he lost his arm again. His automail was not kept in the best of shape while he has been captive but otherwise the injuries are common to those one would usually see in these cases”

Al gasped. “But we just got our bodies back” He whispered. 

“I know and I’m sorry. From my knowledge, no arrests have been made so it is likely our stay will be extended to make sure this never happens again. Hawkeye is currently with him while I attend this meeting” 

“Can we come visit? Just to see him? Please” Al pleaded. “Or at least talk to him once he’s awake.”

“Let me talk to the ones in charge and I can see if I can arrange something. We will keep him safe, don’t worry.” He reassured. Since the country was facing threats similar to what they faced, he could probably bring them in as extra support. He was a little hesitant on having both of Elric brothers together simply because somehow trouble seems to follow them. 

He updated them a little bit on the people here and how different it was. Winry was particularly interested in the technology that they had here but he had to wrap up the conversation. Someone would be knocking on his door soon.

“Mustang? You keep that boy safe, you hear me?” Granny spoke up from the background. 

“Of course ma’am. I will make sure Ed arrives back home safely as soon as possible” And with that, he hung up.

He can call his team at a later time, he doubted he would have some time after the meeting. There was still missing information so the phone call wouldn’t be very informative. He had to figure out a way to get Al and Winry over but he knew there was already a risk involved with them being here. Winry will be needed to help repair Ed’s leg and make his arm and Al can be helpful with his skills in alchemy but he would probably need to find a way to convince them and a way for them to arrive. 

The knock on the door distracted him from his train of thought. Outside waiting for him was Nedzu. Perfect. He grabbed his coat and figured he could come back for the bags. 

—

Aizawa finished set up the files for everyone and started to pass them out, placing them in front of each seat. He tried to tune out Midnight who was excitedly showing Vlad a video of something that happened earlier. He didn’t pay much mind to it since he had more important things to take care of. At least he planned not to pay much mind to it but Midnight didn’t give him much of a choice. 

“Hey Aizawa! Have you seen what happened to your class today?” She walked over to him and played the video for him. “Bakugo wiped out in training today.” She leaned on the table to watch his reaction. 

In the video, it was the security camera within the building. Bakugo and Todoroki were training within the building and it looked like they were training their quirks. Bakugo used his explosions to fly across the building to attack bit miscalculated and hit the ground, breaking his arm in the process. Todoroki rushed over to help but as he reached him, something (or someone judging by the green energy he was going to say it was his number 1 problem child) slammed into the building, causing it to collapse and the footage cut out. Aizawa sighed. It seemed that All Might went through with the training exercise he specifically told him not to do. 

Vlad seemed to read the concern for his students on his face. He reassured him that the students were fine and being taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. “They’ll be fine. I hear Recovery Girl is in charge of Elric’s injuries, how is he?”

Aizawa frowned. “He will make a full recovery” is what he chose to say. 

 He glanced at the medical report that Recovery Girl wrote, focusing on the side note she made. He gave everyone a summarized version of it, which contained:  ‘Extensive scar tissue, some injuries dating back to several years ago.’ On his specific copy of the medical report, he had a little more details. He wanted to share this version with his team but he wasn’t sure how the Colonel would take such sensitive information being taken without being consulted first. His copy clarified that some of the injuries were near death experiences, and how the most gruesome scar seemed to be about 5-7 years ago. That would place Elric at 10-12 years old. Too young to be facing all of this. 

“Will the Colonel and his Lieutenant be joining us?” Midnight asked, showing the video to the other professors in the room.

“The Colonel will!” Nedzu walked in the room with Mustang next to him. Mustang gave a polite wave. 

“Lieutenant Hawkeye will not be joining us today, she is needed in the hospital.”

'“Of course” Vlad nodded. “How are you guys holding up?”

“We’re okay.” He took a seat where he sat last time. “Hawkeye stayed behind to keep an eye on him in case he wakes up.” Aizawa would see there was something he wasn’t telling them. 

“We won’t take too long” Aizawa promised. “Is All Might joining us or is he too busy putting my students in the hospital?”

Nedzu grinned. “All Might will be joining us shortly, he is currently stuck in traffic.” He walked over to his seat. “The students are fine, this isn’t even the worst they have encountered and you know that. Or did you forget about the final exams?”

Aizawa thought back to the final exams when All Might beat the shit out of both Midoriya and Bakugo. That was a fair point but it was different because that was from actual training and not irresponsibility. He would’ve clarified it but that would’ve been a waste of time, instead he sighed and stayed quiet.

“Your training sounds rigorous,” Mustang commented. 

Midnight nodded. “Of course, hero work is no joke. I’m sure you can relate, Colonel” She smiled and walked over and leaned on the table. Mustang backed away to a respectful distance. 

“You raise a good point. Our training is quite taxing as well, more so if you're an alchemist.”

“Oh? Please do tell, I’m curious what training looks like in Amestris” Midnight purred. Aizawa sent her a warning glance to tone it down. Midnight ignored him. 

Mustang seemed to think about it. All the teachers in the room glanced at each other, they would finally get some answers about what Amestris is like. Most of the teachers were in the room, Present Mic walked in the room and took his seat, glancing at the papers in Aizawa’s hand.

“It’s about what you’d expect for military training. I’ve explained to Nedzu how to be a soldier, you have to complete fitness training and some psych evaluations, and then go through a program for 6 months. Within the program is stealth training, battles, how to shoot a gun, as well as some other things. It’s made to filter out the newbies and have them prepared for what they might face out in the battlefield.” 

“Do you train people? I wonder how tough of a teacher you are” Midnight tried to lean closer but Mustang was unfazed. Aizawa was familiar with Midnight’s strategy, she would either try to make them uncomfortable or fall for her so they would give her more information than they otherwise would. Usually worked on other men. Mustang seemed to recognize what she was trying to do. 

“Guess we will never know. I don’t train the newbies.”

“Ever? Who trained Elric?”

“Fullmetal was a special case. He didn’t go through this program.”

Present Mic decided to join in the conversation. “You didn’t train Elric?” He asked, keeping his tone completely neutral.

Mustang shook his head. “He had prior experience before joining the military. Fullmetal was a trained martial artist before joining the military. He was very much qualified when he joined. Besides, under my command he had support and backup provided for most of his missions. If you are trying to imply that I sent an untrained child to a battlefield, it would be a waste of time.” He gave a smile that didn’t seem friendly but it got the interrogation to stop. Midnight pushed herself off the desk and gave Aizawa a look of ‘are we seriously trusting him?’ before making her way to her own seat.

That got them to stop the interrogation. Plus not even a second after he stopped talking, the door opened and a disheveled All Might walked in. Aizawa raised a brow at the display. 

“Care to explain why 3 of my students are in the hospital?”

All Might paled. “The good news is that they are all fine. Just a minor mishap. They’ll be back by tonight.”

Aizawa glared at him. “You knew this would’ve happened, I even warned you.” 

All Might sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “I thought they could handle it”

“We’re talking later about this” Times like these he seriously questioned why Nedzu hired the number one hero as a teacher. Sure it sounds great in theory but in reality, not even the self-help books can help him. He made sure everyone had a copy of the file.

Within the file was a report that he wrote the night Elric was rescued, some notes he took after talking to Hawks, the medical report, and a copy of the note signed by ‘The Prince’” He heard some of them mutter about the note. He saw Mustang out of the corner of his eye, glance at the note and tuck in under the other papers. Nothing revealing on his face. 

Nedzu cleared his throat. “Although Elric is now safe and sound in the hospital, there are still many loose ends that need to be addressed.” He gestured so Aizawa can take the lead. 

He began to explain everything that happened that night. From what Hawks had to do with Dabi to secure his undercover role to the attack on the rooftop by the advanced Nomu. When he was retelling what Hawks had to do, he pointed at the injuries on the medical report they corresponded to. Many were shocked that Hawks had to go as far as to stab Elric in the chest and having to almost kill him but they understood it was part of the job. He had trouble accurately describing what attacked him. 

“The figure was similar to a Nomu but more advanced. It had a quirk similar to Thirteen, capable of regeneration, and enhanced strength and speed. It was also able to speak, they would ask for instructions and follow it. They understood what was going on and what their objective was.”

“I’m sorry, what is Thirteen’s quirk?” Mustang asked. 

Present Mic leaned back in his chair and in his announcer's voice stated “Thirteen’s quirk: Black Hole! This quirk allows them to form black holes which can suck in and disintegrate matter! It even works on certain types of energy, like light!” 

“Thank you Mic. She’s also a teacher but wasn’t able to join us this afternoon. The Nomu had something similar to that. At first it would unhinge their jaws to try and swallow everything and then its stomach opened and created a stronger vacuum… My quirk, Erasure, didn’t work on it. It wasn’t even human. If it wasn’t for the vigilante I probably wouldn’t be here today.”

“Did they sound childlike?” Mustang asked, looking up from the documents. 

“Yes, they did.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you familiar with it?”

He hummed. “Remember the audio clips from the warehouse and the missing bodies? Do you think they are correlated?”

Aizawa blinked and thought back to a few days ago. With so much happening, he forgot about the audio clips. Within the clips, out of the 3 voices, there was a childlike voice, it was the most identifiable out of the 3 of them. “They could be. It would definitely explain where the bodies vanished too.” The league did refer to it as a garbage disposal. “The two other voices could be other league members but they didn’t sound like anyone we’ve faced.”

“What audio clips?” Vlad asked. 

“At the warehouse, the bodies went missing I believe I mentioned that in the last meeting. I will forward you all the email I was sent with the video and audio clips. They were so corrupted, it’s barely usable.” He stopped to think. “Power loader. Do you think Hatsume could find a way to fix the files” he quickly jotted it down on the side of his folder so he could remember. 

Power Loader nodded. “it’s not her area of expertise but she can definitely find a way or if not one of my other students. Send it to me”

“I apologize, with everything happening at once, I completely forgot about it.” 

“A lot has happened in 3 days.” Mustang agreed. “What about this vigilante?” 

“Right. About them. For the record, it is still illegal to be a vigilante and to use a quirk without a license, however I don’t recall them using a quirk during the battle. The Nomu seemed to recognize the vigilante and it seemed like it wasn’t the first time they’ve faced each other. They had long black hair, tied back into a ponytail. Their sword had bandages around the hilt of it, I assume they use it to store it. They distracted the Nomu and took them away from us, I sent out some of the other heroes to look for him and I went to look for him but I haven’t seen him since. No sightings of him either” 

Midnight looked at the note signed by the Prince. “You don’t think they are the same person are they?” She pulled out the note from the stack of documents. Aizawa glanced down at the note. 

‘Hello! I’ll take a wild guess and assume you all are the ones that rescued my friend #5! Thanks for that, I was beginning to think he was a goner. Figured we’d find him chopped up haha. However I feel inclined to let you know that the hospital you took him to… let’s just say it's the equivalent to the infirmary. Ask the Colonel. He’ll know. -The Prince’

“They are,” Mustang confirmed before he could answer. 

“How are you so sure?”

“Trust me. This is definitely Ling. He was and still is an ally back during a conflict a few years ago. Him and Fullmetal worked together for a while. He’s not from Amestris, but instead he’s from our neighboring country of Xing and as he so kindly placed in the note, he is a Prince” 

“So you know him?”

“Yes. He’s highly skilled and can hold his own ground. He’s not someone to worry about. I have no idea how he got here or how he knew where we were but he’s not an active threat.” Mustang reread the note, if he figured something hidden within the note he didn’t share.

“Do you know what the note is referring to? By the infirmary?” 

“I do. Our infirmary is obviously not as modernized or secure, although it has gotten slightly better. Basically means that the hospital is not a safe nor secure location. If I had to guess, Ling is warning us about a potential threat within the hospital and it would be best to transfer Fullmetal out of there as soon as possible.”

All Might frowned. “I can assure you that our hospitals are safe-”

“I don’t doubt it but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Is there a way to talk to Recovery Girl about this after the meeting is concluded?”

“We can discuss this afterwards.” Aizawa nodded. “What about the other information in the note” It looked coded with some hidden message but he couldn’t figure it out. 

“Considering it’s Ling I wouldn’t think too much of it. He’s quite the character”

“Do you trust him?” Mic asked.

“He’s a good kid, capable as well. He’s about a year younger then Fullmetal but just as reliable. He was able to hold his own during the Promised-Day.” 

“You mentioned the Promised-Day before, in the last meeting. What is that?” 

Mustang frowned. “It was a great tragedy a few years ago, many lost their lives. Especially in the events leading up to it. We were attacked by Homunculi, which I believe that is what your advanced Nomu was. They were named after sins and their existence was unethical on its own. They aren’t human to say the least. One of the homunculi was Gluttony, I believe you faced him. The glob you mentioned with the child-like voice and would inhale everything? Did they happen to have a red tattoo on their tongue?”

“I don’t remember, there was more pressing matters then.” Aizawa confessed.

“The whole description matched him. He was difficult to face.”

“How long were you holding onto that information?” Mic asked. Aizawa subtly kicked him under the table. He understands where he is coming from but it probably wasn’t the best idea to attack someone they are trying to ally with. 

“Waiting for the right time to reveal it.” 

“Hawks did mention the sins when I went to talk to him after. What happened to them?”

“Gluttony was killed by Pride, his own teammate. He’s dead or at least he should be unless someone brought him back. Pride was held captive after his memories were taken away.” Mustang paused. “However I did receive intel that Pride went missing a few months ago. It would be impossible for him to regain his memories, Fullmetal made sure of that, unless there is a quirk or something that could reverse it. Maybe someone from this league of yours. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone that can rewind a person, is that even possible with quirks?”

Aizawa thought back to Eri who was rescued a few months ago. She would’ve been with Overhaul when this happened, so it is possible. “That is. A case we worked a few months back, a child had the quirk to rewind a person. She’s currently under my care. She was abused and had no control over her quirk.”

“Is there a way to ask her if she knows anything about this?”

“She’s only 8 years old, heavily traumatized at that. I could try and ask her but I make no promises.”

Mic gave him a look but otherwise didn’t comment anything. They were definitely going to talk about this at home. He didn’t want to expose Eri to this case and he definitely didn’t want her to feel guilty over it but this was necessary information. It would give some much needed answers but did the answers outweigh her own mental well-being?

“Is there a way to get in contact with Ling?” Nedzu changed the topic. 

Mustang shook his head. Working with Ling was a nightmare because he was impossible to get in touch with. “We’ll just have to wait until he shows himself.”

“How many Homunculi are there? If they are as dangerous as you are making them out to be we need to be prepared.” Mic leaned forward. 

“Most of them are dead. There were 7 but 6 were killed except for Pride and of course now Gluttony. Unless we have confirmation which ones have been revived, or evidence that they could be back, it’s hard to say. To create a Homunculi you need a lot of human lives.” He said. “To kill them is near impossible. Flames seem to do the trick but you just need to keep attacking until they stop regenerating.” 

Nedzu didn’t push for an answer, instead hummed understandingly. “Well then, what were the injuries Elric faced while in captivity?” Aizawa noticed his Nedzu kept changing the topic when the room got too tense. It made sense, they need to be on good terms to work with one another. 

Midnight picked up the medical report. “How can this help us?” She asked as she skimmed through it. Aizawa glanced at the medical report, without Recovery Girl, Elric would not be here today. He was honestly surprised he made it to the hospital alive.

“We can figure out who was involved of course! On this list we have stab and burn wounds, we can assume Toga and Dabi were involved.” 

“He’s missing an arm, could we assume that Shigaraki got better control over his quirk? And his leg, although this is listed as an old injury.”

Mustang shook his head. “His arm was a rebound from the transmutation and his leg is unrelated to this case. It’s also not my place to tell.” 

“His career is over, isn’t it? He needs his arm to be able to perform alchemy, doesn’t he?”

“No, Fullmetal can still work. A lot of our population are amputees, which allows Amestris to be the best at working with Automail. He has all motion in his leg so with the same technology he can be back at work in no time. All we will need is an automail mechanic.”

“If he chooses to go back to the battlefield.” Midnight clarified.

“Of course, Fullmetal always has a choice. Knowing him and having to raise him for the past 6 years give or take, he’s going to want to rejoin the battlefield. These people you are mentioning, I’m assuming are the league of villains? What exactly are their quirks?”

All Might took on the responsibility to explain every member of the league (that they know of) and their quirk. He explained it in detail and even explained some of the conflicts they had. He explained the USJ incident and summer camp incident that led to his retirement. “They are a dangerous group of individuals” 

“I can see that. I’m sorry to hear that” It sounded very sincere. Like he understood what they were facing, which he probably did with the Promised-Day and everything. “What are the next steps or is now a waiting game?“

“Well Fullmetal has been returned safely, you have the option to leave and not get involved-” Nedzu began.

“With all due respect, the Homunculi are back if our evidence is right and if that is the case, I have experience in defeating them and I can tell you from experience that they are not easy to take down and you’re going to need all the help you can get. Besides if they are back that implies that my government and my team did not do an adequate enough job restraining them, we want to get rid of them once and for all”

“And your help will be appreciated. However we currently have no leads on the league at the moment so it really just is a waiting game. Maybe try and make contact with Ling.” Nedzu proposed.

The meeting was soon concluded with a few losing remarks and some questions that were clarifying information that was already shared or more information on the homunculi. The meeting was over in 2 hours as expected. Aizawa quickly forwarded the email to Power Loader before he forgot. He got All Might and Mustang to start driving over to the hospital. 

They decided to take separate cars, if he could he wanted to keep his class out of the case as long as he could. With luck, maybe he can continue to protect his class from the league but that was wishful thinking. He hoped it would be a while before the league attacked. 

—

Overall the meeting went okay. Did he behave like Hawkeye asked? For the most part. They definitely lost trust in him but he can’t be too worried over how much they trust him. He can’t exactly tell them all the information, he hesitated in telling them about Pride because it would reflect horribly on them but also it could be a false lead. However Pride being missing seems to be the connection of the two countries. 

The meeting was destined not to go well from the beginning. The moment they asked about the training he knew it wasn’t going to end well. Their military does have training but he got Elric exempt from it because he knew how to fight and he was determined to keep him out of major conflicts (although that didn’t really happen) but on paper it looked like he sent an untrained child to go fight. Since Amestris has been in conflict for years now, their training mainly consisted of how long can they survive and can they kill the enemy but he wasn’t going to tell them that. He definitely wasn’t planning on telling them about the war in Ishval, if they don’t trust him now they definitely won’t trust him then. He needs to keep things secret to keep the country safe. They’ve spent centuries being separated from the outside world, they don’t need to concern themselves now with them.

The note Ling gave was definitely encrypted. It was a message for him and only him but Ling does speak nonsense at times so he wasn’t completely lying when he said he was ‘quite the character’. He could tell they didn’t totally believe him but once Ling makes himself known that will hopefully secure the cover. 

The friend he mentions is Ed, that’s for sure. But number 5? Definitely a clue. Chopped up sounds like a clue. The only thing that comes to mind is Barry the Chopper, which would make sense if the 5 was referring to the 5th lavatory.

But why would Ling need to reference that?

Then saying it’s equivalent to the infirmary? He knows where he’s coming from. The infirmary wasn’t exactly known for being very secure, anyone could’ve gotten in. Which is why whenever one of them were in the infirmary, they were rarely left alone. He might need to find a way to get Ed out of the hospital and into a more secure location. Hawkeye has it handled if anything happens now but hopefully they will be able to get him discharged soon. He hoped that once they arrived at the hospital they could discuss a transfer. 

But the 5th laboratory… that’s specific. He thought back to everything they knew about the 5th laboratory. It was an abandoned warehouse next to a prison and it was where they found out where they got the souls to make a philosopher's stone. The next part of the note which talked about the infirmary but what if that had two meanings? What if he was referring to both the infirmary not being secure but also that the hospital is contributing to the making of a philosopher stone? For the Homunculi to be back they need a philosopher stone and a strong one at that. They left Pride with a weak stone so the souls lost at a hospital could fuel that. When Gluttony returned (somehow) they could’ve easily made a philosopher's stone. Pride definitely knows how to do it too.

This is a problem and makes it a lot more likely that the figures they saw in the footage back at the warehouse to be more Homunculi. One of the people definitely looked like Lust as much as he doesn’t want to admit it. This complicates everything. 

He expected another interrogation in the car. A line of questioning directed towards the Promised Day and the events leading up to it. But instead Aizawa didn’t ask any of that. He did get a line of questioning though. 

“What is Elric like? Personality wise” He asked after they’ve been on the road for a while. 

“Fullmetal? He’s an interesting kid. He can tell you all about chemistry and alchemy but fails at basic tasks. He’s a genius and I would argue he’s too smart for his own good. He’s a pain to deal with sometimes, as a teacher I’m sure you know about having to deal with uncooperative kids”

Aizawa hummed. “Tell me about it. My students seem dead-set on not listening”

“Exactly. He’s the same way but it’s gotten better. His brother on the other hand is an angel. Alphonse is the sweetest kid you’ll meet.”

“And he’s not in the military?”

“Oh god no. He’s joined Fullmetal on his missions because he needed to but not officially part of the military but we treat him with the same respect. Despite popular belief we don’t make it a habit to recruit child soldiers.”

“So how did Elric join the military?”

Mustang thought back to the day they met, the day when he found the room where they attempted human transmutation. The broken child he met with fire in his eyes. 

“We received news that there was a powerful alchemist in the East and Hawkeye and I went to see who it was. Headquarters neglected to tell us that the alchemist was just a kid who lost everything. We still gave them a job offer because it was complicated and he needed it. He took the exam, I put him under my command, and the rest is history.” 

“They got the documentation wrong?”

He nodded. He remembered coming back to the headquarters and yelling at the person in charge. The paperwork was promptly fixed within the week and it was the last they heard of the Elric brothers up until the state exam. He remembered staying late in the office after Edward was placed under his command and talking to Hawkeye about how he was going to help them get their bodies back. It all worked out in the end. 

They arrived at the hospital soon after. All Might was behind them and pulled up next to them. All Might and Aizawa made his way over to the room with the three students to check on them while he went to Ed’s room. He knocked twice before walking in. 

Upon arrival, he could sense that something had changed. Ed was now covered in Hawkeye’s cardigan and Hawkeye wore a murderous look on her face. She stood to give a salute but he gestured for her to stop. “It’s just me, there’s no need” He shut the door behind himself. “What happened?”

Hawkeye glanced over at Ed and sat back down, sighing. “He woke up.”

“He did?” And he missed it? 

“He panicked and started lashing out when the nurses came in to check on him. I could’ve calmed him down but they didn’t let me. Instead they called security and had me escorted while they sedated him.” She took a deep breath. “He screamed for me… and I had to walk away.”

He frowned. Good thing they were going to get him transferred out as soon as possible. He squeezed her shoulder in reassurance and sat down next to her. “It’s just the way things work here. We have no power in this country so we’re going to be treated as such. He won’t be here for much longer though.” 

She turned to him and gave him a questioning look and he told her everything that happened in the meeting. He left out no details and even mentioned the contents of the note to her, he didn’t tell her what his suspicions were just yet. They weren’t in a secure enough location for that. She didn’t seem surprised at the mention of Ling being here nor of the reemergence of the homunculi. 

Hawkeye also told him about what happened earlier with Ling and the confirmed Homunculi. It was going to complicate everything but if they did it once before then they can do it again, and make sure they don’t come back this time.

—

Aizawa headed to the room where his three students were with All Might following behind. He had a plan to lecture him about the training exercise but he really didn’t feel like it, nor was it the time for a lecture. As he walked in the room, he saw all three of his students awake and bickering amongst themselves. Bakugo was yelling something at Midoriya but he quickly put an end to it by wrapping them both up in his capture scarf. 

“Glad to see you are all fine” He said as he walked in, his three students wouldn’t meet his gaze. He released them. “Any lasting injuries?” he asked Recovery Girl.

She shook her head. “They’re fine and already slept. You should be able to take them back to the dorms now.”

He nodded. “Can I talk to you outside? All Might, keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t break any more of their bones” And with that he stepped back outside to ask Recovery Girl about Elric. “How is he?”

“He woke up earlier but had a panic attack and the nurses had to sedate him. Hawkeye wasn’t too happy about it and frankly neither am I with the way they treated him so I am the only one allowed to enter the room to check on him. Overall, the lad is fine. Just needs some more rest and some last minute healing and he’ll be right as rain.”

“So technically speaking, can he be moved back to UA?”

Recovery Girl nodded. “He could but there really is no rush” But there was a rush and he explained that to her. She nodded along while he explained. “I’m guessing Elric will move in with the officers?”

“Is there a reason why he shouldn’t?”

She hummed. “I sent you my concerns in the medical report. But if you’re sure and want to go ahead and transfer him, he is okay to be moved. On the condition that I see him once a day.” 

He nodded. That was manageable and he’s sure they would agree to that. He thanked her for her time and went over to Elrics room to relay the information. All Might can keep the kids distracted for a little while. 

Aizawa knocked on the door and Hawkeye let him in, she smiled and gave a small salute as a greeting. Mustang sat beside Elric, looking at him as if he was remembering something before looking up and waving hello. “Anything?” 

“I have good news, Recovery Girl is going to discharge Elric and transfer him over to UA on the condition that she checks on him on a daily basis.” 

Mustang hummed in approval. “That works. His injuries aren’t completely healed after all.” 

“We can begin moving him as soon as you are ready. With your permission, I’d like to use my 3 students to help aid this transfer and ensure that everything goes smoothly.”

As much as he would like to avoid involving his students he’s starting to realize that’s impossible. His class will need to be involved since the League is still attacking them and they are stronger than ever. Having his top three students help with this would make the news a little easier for them to adapt. He doubted that they would attack but one can never be too careful. Especially not since they are vulnerable at the moment. He was aware that Hawkeye was armed, where exactly she was storing those guns was another story but she has her ways. He learned that when they were going through UA security, she declared almost 20 guns on her person. It was equally as impressive as it was horrifying. 

Was he going insane or was there faint thumping coming from above them? It could be a commotion on the floor above them but it sounded too close for comfort. He subtly glanced at them to see if they could hear it but if they did they didn’t show it. 

“Of course, we’d hate for there to be a repeat of last time. Will they be fully informed, I recommend that they should just so they can know what they could be facing.”

“Yes, they will be informed with the true story, just give us a few minutes to debrief…” He trailed off as the thumping was becoming very noticeable now. He looked up and the two of them did the same. They didn’t seem concerned about it in the slightest. The ceiling tiles above shifted as if there was weight on them and he could hear shuffling. It stopped for a moment and one of the ceiling tiles began to move. 

Pale fingers wrapped around the edge of the square and lifted it up. Aizawa didn’t hesitate to activate his quirk and get his capture weapon in hand. 

“I was wondering when you guys were going to transfer him” A young voice called from above. It sounded familiar. The person dropped down and he only caught a glimpse of the light colored clothing and long black hair before he wrapped them up in his scarf. “Hey! What gives?” The person struggled to free themselves. 

Aizawa froze and blinked at the kid. Because that was the kid, the one he’s been looking for. This was the vigilante which also means this was Ling. That could explain why Mustang and Hawkeye seemed so unbothered but how did they know? 

“I send you my help and this is the thanks I get?” Ling tried twisting in awkward angles to free himself. 

“You’re Ling?” He asked to confirm.

“Yes! Now this is very uncomfortable, let me go please. Colonel! Help” He whined. Mustang only facepalmed in response. 

“You can let him go.” He reassured and Aizawa let go of his scarf and secured it around his neck. Ling fell ungracefully on the ground and he sat up, crossing his legs on the ground and pouting. He was dressed the same as Aizawa last saw him with the yellow vest and baggy white pants with his sword strapped to his back. 

“What are you doing here?” Mustang asked and made no effort to help him up. 

“To help with the transfer of my best friend. You almost got killed by Gluttony so you really should be grateful for my help-” Oh and this kid is just as annoying as his own students. 

“While I am thankful for that, was this really necessary, there was a door” He stepped back to reveal the door to the room. Ling shrugged and waved his hand. 

“Doesn’t fit my style. Anyway, this interrogation can happen back at UA. Let’s go debrief your students, we don’t want them to get killed now, do we?” Ling got up and dusted himself off and walked off to the door. “And I’ll use the door this time” 

“Do you trust him?” Aizawa asked, looking back at Mustang and Hawkeye. Hawkeye wore a fond smile and Mustang sighed for the millionth time. 

“Unfortunately.” 

Ling held the door open as he waited for Aizawa to follow him. He really didn’t have a choice but to trust him. As chaotic as he seemed, he did save him. He walked out and Ling waved goodbye. “We’ll be back soon! Oh and Ed’s waking up, you might want to explain everything. Bye!” And Ling shut the door after dropping the news. As the door shut, Aizawa could see Ed beginning to wake up. 

This day really did just get more chaotic and something told him it just begun. He walked towards the room with his students trying to think of a way to explain Ling to them. Ling happily followed him into the room. 

He really didn’t get paid enough for this. 

Chapter Text

The next time Ed woke up, he made sure to play his cards carefully. He could faintly hear voices in the room, he heard a really familiar voice but couldn’t make out anything of what they were saying. He could hear the door close and he couldn’t tell if he was alone or not. He subtly shifted his wrist and was surprised to see that he wasn’t under any restraints at all. After his last stunt he shouldn’t be able to move at all. Or maybe they think the drugs they are keeping him under his enough? Either way, it was stupid of them to be so careless. 

“Fullmetal? You with us?” Mustang’s voice echoed in his mind. It sounded like it was coming from right next to him. Shit, was he too obvious in his movements? Although it sounded like Mustang, it could always be Envy pretending to be Mustang to get his guard down. He doesn’t quite remember how he ended up in this medical facility... he remembers getting interrogated and something about red feathers but that didn’t make any sense. He felt someone grab his hand, their touch was ice-cold and he flinched at the feeling and the hand retreated. 

He couldn’t keep the act up if they already knew he was awake. He carefully opened his eyes. The room was just as bright as last time, he squinted to make it a little more tolerable for his headache. He looked around and saw both Mustang and Hawkeye next to him. He tensed and didn’t know what to do. 

It can’t possibly be them. He left Amestris, that much he knew for sure. He was definitely in the outside world if the changes in the power system gave any indication, and he was also well aware how illegal it was. It would jeopardize everything if they were actually here, especially since Amestris was so vulnerable after the war. The Colonel wouldn’t throw his career away for him… right?

There’s no way they would risk that much to find him, not to mention that he’s been missing for a month. Most cases run cold after 2 weeks and they stop investigating, they wouldn’t drag it on. Nothing was adding up the way it should. This was all a hallucination, probably one of their abilities. This was just a way to humiliate him, wasn’t it? Give him a shred of hope to destroy it later as another attempt to break him. 

Killing an innocent woman in front of him didn’t break him.

Forcing him to kill 5 people didn’t break him (that he knew of at least). 

The torture they put him through didn’t break him.

And this last attempt wasn’t going to break him either.

It has to be two impostors, one of them could be Envy and he vaguely remembered that the group that kept him captive also had a shapeshifter on their own but they needed blood to do so. Something wasn’t adding up and he wasn’t exactly in the position to defend himself. After being tricked so many times, he has to be cautious. 

He watched the both of them closely, trying to see if he could make sense of the situation. Hawkeye smiled at him. “Glad to see you awake” 

“Welcome back to the land of the living” Mustang watched him closely. “Are you feeling alright?” 

Ed looked between the both of them unsure on what to say. He could see the door behind them and a window next to him. It was bright and sunny out, which only confirmed his suspicions. Amestris should be in rainy season during this time of year. Good news out of this all was that he was out of the dreadful room that served as his cage for the past few weeks, much more comfortable too. He bit on his lip as he tried to think of what he could do. Was it even worth trying to escape? 

A part of him hoped that it was the real Mustang and Hawkeye, because then it meant that he didn’t have to suffer anymore and he could go home… if he even was allowed to go home. He wondered how Al was doing, did he think he was dead? His eyes flickered over to Mustang who moved around the room to get a cup of water and placed a straw in it. Ed looked at the cup and back at him. He swallowed and realized how dry his throat was but this was properly all part of the plan. The water probably held the sedative (he was aware of the IV sticking out of his arm but if that was the case then he probably wouldn’t be awake), and since it’s the ‘Colonel’ giving it to him, they probably think that he would drink it without a second thought. 

“You’ve caused quite the scare but don’t worry you’re safe now. I’m not sure how much you remember-”

“Prove it.” Ed said, wincing at the words. He didn’t think two words would hurt or cause this much discomfort. 

“How exactly do you want me to prove that?” Mustang set the cup down. Ed noticed that he didn’t have his gloves on. They both didn’t have their uniform on, in the case that they were real, they would always be in uniform and have their gloves on for protection. The Colonel always got on his case for not wearing uniform and made it a point about how presentation is everything. 

He blinked and raised his hand to touch the desk. Knocking on the desk twice, he began the code the team came up with in case they believed they were in the presence of a shape-shifter again. 

The code was simple, it would begin with the melody of a radio morning show, one that was often heard throughout the office, the next person would follow it with the song from the ice cream truck, then they would both finish the code with a specific set of taps they made up that day.

He watched them closely as he tapped the first part. The look of recognition from the both of them comforted him slightly, there was another expression on their faces that he couldn’t quite read. Once his part was finished, Mustang continued it and Hawkeye joined in on the final part. No errors. Hawkeye grabbed his hand and this time he let her.

Mustang picked the cup of water and brought it towards him and he accepted the water. He couldn’t exactly hold it up himself but the Colonel didn’t seem to mind holding it for him. It tasted fresh for once, not contaminated at all. 

“I promise it's just us right now. It’s really us. You’re safe now, we have you.” 

If Ed had the energy for it, or if he was processing this information he would’ve been in tears. Instead, he kept looking around the room. He noticed (what he assumed) was Hawkeye’s sweater on top on him. 

“Why aren’t you in uniform?” He asked. His first question since being rescued. Mustang didn’t seem to be expecting the question and simply chuckled a bit. 

“Well we had to go through a few loopholes to get to you. I think you’ve noticed we aren’t in Amestris” 

He nodded. The infirmaries in Amestris aren’t as nice as the one he is in now. It was well-stocked and more comfortable, unlike Amestris where the beds feel so stiff, the beds here are fluffy. It was the small things that caught his attention, the way that the words on the walls were a different language and how bright it looked outside. 

“Look, I’m sure you have many questions but we are in a little bit of a time crunch. I’ll explain things briefly and when we get to the apartment, I’ll explain everything, alright?”

“Everything? Like every detail with nothing left out?” Ed had to check to confirm. 

“Sure. Deal?”

He nodded and listened to the explanation. Apparently, one of the people who was in the room was a spy for the government and alerted a hero (because they have heroes and villains which was… interesting to say the least) and that hero, who rescued him, got in contact with Mustang and Hawkeye and they came to help. They mentioned a few of what they found and he was going to tell them about the Homunculi that he knows are back but before he could the door flew open and a close friend of his walked in. 

‘What the fuck?’ he mouthed. “Ling?” He asked. 

Ling grinned and waved. “Long time no see. Quite the situation we got ourselves in, huh? Don’t worry your little head about it”

Ed just blinked at him. He could see more people entering the room and none of them he recognized. 

“You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

“I was getting my explanation when you rudely interrupted.”  He kept observing the new people in the room. He was trying so hard to act normal, as if nothing happened, as if he wasn’t tortured for the last month, but one wrong move and it’ll be over. He didn’t feel completely real if he was going to be honest but he couldn’t exactly show that. He can’t show weakness… not yet at least. He looked up at Mustang, who looked so tired, as if Ling took all of his energy the moment he walked in the room. Hawkeye pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. 

"Well I’ll just cut to the chase. We’re breaking you out of here”

“I beg your finest pardon?”

The hero sighed. “We are arranging a transfer for you to go to UA safely. Thanks to Recovery Girl’s quirk, you are mostly healed and able to move. My name is Shouta Aizawa, pro-hero Eraserhead. I was the one that rescued you”

Ed didn’t know what to say. “Thank you, I don’t know how to repay you for that” He began but before he could say anything else, Aizawa raised his hand.

“Don’t worry about that. It’s part of my job. I’m just glad I arrived on time. These three behind me are some of my students. They are heroes in training that will assist in your transfer. This is Todoroki, Bakugo, and Midoriya”

Ed nodded and chewed on his lip. He took note of each one of them. The one with split hair looked indifferent but it was obvious (to him at least) that he was uncomfortable with Mustang in the room. Ed knew Mustang could look intimidating to others but maybe he underestimated how intimidating he looked (or maybe he just got used to it). The one with spiky hair was full of himself. That much was obvious, the way he held himself reminded a little bit of himself when he was younger. He scowled as if he was probably forced to be here but he could tell by the way he leaned back that he was watching them just as closely as they were watching him. Finally, the one with green hair fidgeted with his fingers and looked like he was about to burst in a million questions. His eyes shined with curiosity and he observed Ed and his missing arm which kind of made him feel a little self-conscious.    

One thing that really stood out to him was their clothing. They were dressed in costumes, even Aizawa. He guessed that it was part of being a hero (in the little of what he understood) but it still looked odd. In Amestris, they would never wear anything so odd… and colorful. In fact they dressed in a more traditional style with a dull color scheme, and within the military they had their uniform. He wondered if being a hero was similar to being a state alchemist. 

Truth, this was a lot of thinking for just waking up a while ago. It was making his headache worse. Actually, everything was starting to hurt, not a lot, but more than it was a few minutes ago. Was the drugs wearing off? 

“Thanks for helping?” Social interactions were never his strong suit. That was more of Al’s job. Oh shit. Al. How was he? He knew he was safe, last he checked he was in Xing under Ling’s care but if Ling was here… no he was probably still safe. They wouldn’t go after him, right? Al was more capable then he is so he probably won’t be easily taken like he was. “Where’s Al?” He looked back at Mustang who seemed to be caught off-guard by the question. 

“Alphonse? Back in Resembol with the Rockbells. We have people stationed nearby to keep them safe.”

He nodded. That was a good enough answer for now. He turned his attention back to the topic at hand. 

“So what exactly is the plan?” Mustang asked, leaning against the wall.

Ling grinned and explained what he came up with, Aizawa pitched in every once in a while. All Might, who was another hero waiting outside, was going to drive them over to UA. In the car, the 3 students were going to join them to offer protection in case they got attacked. Ling was going to follow them from above with Aizawa and keep an eye out above but mainly out of sight. Once they arrived, the students were going to go to their dorms while Ling helped them move him to the apartment. Overall, a very simple plan. 

Ed will be honest, he didn’t pay that much attention as he probably should have but he could see Mustang and Hawkeye paying close attention so they can take care of it. He settled for staring at nothing and zoning out until he was needed again. The others can take the lead for now. 

—

Bakugo leaned against the wall while he waited for everything and everyone to get ready to go to UA. The Colonel and his Lieutenant were signing the last minute paperwork to get Ed discharged. Deku and IcyHot waited alongside him, trying to stay out of the way of all the commotion. All Might and Aizawa were talking outside to coordinate last-minute details. The three of them were given strict instructions to not ask any questions since they aren’t going to get involved in the investigation (which he is calling bullshit on) so there wasn’t really anything for them to do except observe. 

So he did. He noticed how Ed had the distant look in his eye throughout the debriefing, he wondered what the alchemist had been through. It was no doubt worse than what he experienced when he was kidnapped by the league. Ed started to pay attention again when he noticed everyone moving around. 

He turned over to his Colonel (that whole situation he had many questions about but of course he wasn’t allowed to ask them). “Is now a good time to mention that my automail isn’t working?” Ed asked. Mustang’s pen froze mid-signature for a moment before he finished signing it. 

“Of course it isn't,” he exhaled. “Ling, make yourself useful and find me a wheelchair” 

Ling gave two thumbs up and went to go find one. Bakugo realized that this meant that Ed was a double amputee but Ed was barely a year or so older than him. What kinds of things did he face for this to happen? He doubted that the league was the only person responsible for all of this. Ling returned with a wheelchair and helped move his friend over. 

It was time to start heading to the car so the three of him helped grab some stuff. All Might and Aizawa led the way with Ling (pushing Ed’s wheelchair) followed them and the Colonel and his Lieutenant trailed behind. The three of them walked amongst them in no particular order. 

If he was going to be honest, he really didn’t see the reason for this whole thing. The league is a threat but they never really went after hospitals as far as they know. They get intel that the hospital isn’t safe by some new guy and suddenly it’s all hands on deck? Seems like overkill to him. Bakugo looked around suspiciously while they walked through the hallway. He’s been at this hospital multiple times and it feels the same every time… like a hospital. So he really doesn’t understand what the new guy was talking about.

It wasn’t like Ling proved himself reliable or anything. Speaking of the new guy, he really couldn’t stand him. He glared at him through the corner of his eye. They didn’t exactly start off on the right foot.

“Who the hell are you?!” He shot up from the bed and Deku grabbed his arm to hold him back. They were getting their things together to head back to UA when Aizawa and this guy walked into the room. 

Aizawa sighed while All Might shouted. “Sit back down, the both of you! This is-”

“Ling Yao, Your savior for tonight. Pleasure to meet you all” Ling grinned and gave a slight bow. 

Bakugo glared at him. “What the hell do you mean savior?”

“It means I’m better than you” Ling’s smile widened as Bakugo had to be held back again and Aizawa got involved to defuse the situation. 

Better than him? He’s the top of his class, thank you very much. He’s been training his quirk from a young age and he’s better than all these extras in the class. Way better than Class 1B, so where does Ling get off trying to make the claim that he’s better than him. He’d like to take him on a spar to really settle the score. 

Then Ling introduced himself as a Prince of a Country he’s never heard of. Deku heard some rumors about the place but nothing substantial. The only thing Deku has heard off is that the continent that the country is located in is almost completely quirkless. Seriously, who was this guy? The guy probably couldn’t even hold his ground in a fight, probably used to other people fighting for him. The sword on his back was probably just for show because who wraps it in bandages to store it?

Ling seemed oblivious to his internal thoughts and what Bakugo thought of him. The guy was currently pushing the wheelchair they placed Ed in, down the hall, talking about some sort of nonsense. He tried eavesdropping but he really didn’t even know what the hell the guy was talking about. He heard dragons being mentioned once or twice and then turned him out. 

The guy didn’t even look like a prince. He looked like a child, probably younger than him, and he certainly acted like one. He had a bounce in his step as he pushed Ed and spoke very animatedly. 

Ed groaned, cutting off whatever Ling was going to say next. “I hate being in a wheelchair”

“Well, it’s not like you can walk.” Todoroki kindly pointed out.

Ed looked at him. “Really? I couldn’t tell” he deadpanned which earned him a flick to the back of his head by Mustang. Ed brought up his hand to rub at the spot with a soft ‘ow’. 

Mustang scolded him to behave under his breath. Ed frowned and apologized. 

“But seriously, being trapped with you is like torture on its own” Ed looked back at Ling. “And I would know.”

“What did I just say?” 

“Truth forbid I find a coping mechanism” He mumbled under his breath and none of them knew how to react. Luckily Ling broke some of the tension, if it could be called that. 

“Think of this as karma for losing your arm.” Ling grinned. 

“It’s not like I had control over it?” 

“So you had no free will?”

Ed buried his face into his hand. “You’re impossible. I rather bang my head against the wall than start that conversation again”

“ Boys” Hawkeye didn’t raise her voice but it was clear that she was fed up with their antics. After that, she dismissed Ling from pushing the wheelchair and she took over. It was peaceful while they finished the walk to the car. Bakugo didn’t know what to make of Hawkeye and Mustang. Overall they seemed like okay people. Mustang reminded him a lot of Aizawa during the beginning of the semester, the same intensity in his presence. 

Once they arrived at the car, that was when the plan began. All Might was driving with Mustang as a co-pilot. Hawkeye was going to sit next to Ed and the three of them were going to squish together in the backseat. Ling and Aizawa were going to meet them there but follow them through the rooftops, as if they were on patrol. Bakugo doubted Ling had much experience patrolling since he was royalty but there must’ve been a reason why it was structured like this. Nonetheless, he was going to look forward to seeing Ling fall or trip trying to catch up with his professor. 

The car ride started off calm enough, as expected, but it didn’t remain that way though. While on the way over, there was a vibration that came from behind them, as if something heavy landed on the road. Pedestrians began to look around and run for cover. Bakugo was about to turn out when Deku screamed.

“All Might, Look out!” Deku shouted, pointing ahead. All Might was trying to see what was happening behind them and almost hit someone with the car. At the speed they were going it caused the car to flip over and land on its side. Shockingly, no one was seriously hurt from the accident. More cuts and bruises. 

“Everyone out!” Mustang ordered. Hawkeye grabbed onto Ed and crawled out through the broken window. Bakugo and Todoroki crawled out through a different window and Deku crawled out through the back. 

“Don’t do anything rash!” All Might ordered. 

Bakugo dusted himself off and took a look around. Aizawa and Ling were already on the ground but have yet to jump into action. He could hear a scraping noise in the background.

Why were they hesitating? He thought and looked at the situation ahead. The area was completely cleared out except for two figures standing in the middle of the street. One had long spiky hair, black crop top, and some gym shorts that kind of also looked like a skirt. They were laughing maniacally. 

“No one told me the Flame Alchemist was out to play.” They gave a predatory grin towards the Colonel, who was glaring at them. “Don’t worry, I’ll make this quick”

“Envy… and here I thought you were dead” Mustang grumbled but stood his ground, holding up his hand in a way that revealed a red circle on the back of his white glove. He snapped his fingers and the circle glowed blue and flames emerged from his fingertips, in a direct path towards Envy. Envy barely dodged and jumped forward, to which Aizawa tried to capture them in his scarf and he leapt into battle. Ling edged closer to the thing next to Envy.

Next to them, stood the most gross thing he’s seen in a while. It looked like a pile of dough with gross beady eyes and a mouth that was too big. The thing grinned ear to ear and everything about them felt unnatural. He must’ve made an audible noise of disgust because the thing’s grin faltered and even the other person next to it paused. Before they could react, a flash of blue lightning appeared in front of him and in less than a second he was suddenly looking at a concrete wall. 

“Really, Kacchan?” Deku gave him a look of exasperation. 

The moment of distraction gave Mustang and Aizawa a small opening to attack but he lost sight of the battle with the newly formed wall in front of him. He turned to try and see the source of it. 

Ed shifted away from the circle with stuff inside that he created with a piece of metal that fell from the car. So that’s what the scraping noise was. Bakugo noticed that he was alone, where did Hawkeye go? 

“Yes, I just did that. That’s alchemy.” He answered their unspoken question as he propped himself against the new wall he created as cover. “Don’t be fucking stupid.” He was interrupted with a set of gunshots, Deku looked at him and was about to join the battle but Ed spoke up. “Don’t. That was Hawkeye, it’s fine. One of you has to go find help and backup or otherwise we’re not going to see another day.” 

“What are those things?” Deku asked. 

“Homunculi. They are borderline unkillable. Only way to take them down is to keep attacking until they stop regenerating.” He said. Bakugo took a look from behind the make-shift wall, and sure enough the thing was healing from the bullet holes that were in its head. With his explosions, it should be over quick. 

“Well then, it seems like an easy job to me.” Bakugo grinned and set sparks off in his hands. Using explosions to propel himself up, he jumped over the wall and joined the battle. He ignored Ed’s call for him to come back. 

Ed looked up in exasperation. “Do you guys not listen? Your friend is going to get himself killed. Look, I’m currently rendered useless and the alchemy I can do is limited-”

“Don't worry, I can protect you. Todoroki, call for help. Maybe Endeavor can help. Where’s All Might?” Deku looked around and spotted All Might who was trying to make his way towards them while avoiding the battle entirely. Since losing his quirk, he wouldn’t be much help in this situation. Any time there was a moment where he was about to get caught, gunshots flew through the air, providing him an escape. It seemed that Hawkeye was keeping them distracted. It wasn’t long until All Might caught up to them. 

“You’re bleeding!” Deku pointed out when he saw the red stain on his shirt.

“It’s nothing Young Midoriya. Just a scratch.” All Might lifted his shirt to show them. It was indeed a small scratch but it should probably be taken care of when all of this was over. “I have called for backup, they should be here soon.”

“Good. Until they arrive, we just have to fight and try and stand our ground” Ed created a small hole in the wall to watch what was going on. “Damn it. They’re not going to last long if they keep on like this. Fuck!”

“Calm down, Young Elric. The pros are skilled, once they arrive, everything will be okay” 

“Don’t underestimate them, they’re stronger than they look. Alright, I don’t know much about this place but from my understanding, you all have quirks? Are those helpful for this?” 

Deku blinked. “Um. Yeah, that’s kind of how we fight. I have an enhancement quirk and Todoroki can create fire and ice”

Ed turned to look at Todoroki. “You can create flames? How good are you at them?’

“I have decent control over them, I trained-”

“Don’t care for extra details at the moment. While your ability might be best suited to defeat Envy, Mustang and your teacher seemed to have it covered. Try to go after Gluttony however with your flames, try to avoid shooting at his mouth. Your best bet might be to get him from behind. Same does to you,” Ed turned to Deku. “Go help your friend and Ling with Gluttony. Try not to get eaten, will ya?” Ed planned out. 

“I will keep Young Elric safe until backup arrives.” All Might promised. Ed simply nodded and waved them off. 

—

Bakugo quickly surveyed the area and tried to find the best starter attack. Ling was already engaged in battle and was using various methods to take down the thing. Ling’s attack was a range of various different techniques but none seemed to be working so he opted for a more direct approach. He grabbed the thing's head and set off an explosion right in its face. In most games, a headshot is an effective one-hit kill. While Ed did warn him about them being unkillable, if he attacked the source of the regeneration then it won’t be able to regenerate anymore. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. All the attack did was deform its face and stun him momentarily. He watched as red lightning stitched the flesh back together in real time and had to bite back the urge to gag. Ling gave a slight nod in approval and shot forward with his sword in hand to cut off his head. Bakugo watched as the slab of flesh slid slowly off his face and red lightning appeared again to replace the damage. 

Ling noticed his discomfort and laughed. “It’s all part of the job, you want to be a hero don’t you? Don’t tell me you’re reconsidering now because of Gluttony” 

He wasn’t. He would never reconsider being a hero. He’s faced worse than this pile of dough. But it was something about it that made it so unsettling. He just didn’t know what. 

Instead of admitting that, he laughed. “Please! I’ve faced worse than this” He launched himself forward when Gluttony opened its mouth to inhale, he chose that moment to send a huge blast into its mouth. When the smoke cleared, he expected to see the same red lightning but instead he saw Gluttony burp out a cloud of smoke, completely unphased.

Did he just… eat his explosion? 

Ling bit back a laugh. “Yeah, Gluttony does that. Aim for anywhere but his mouth, he eats attacks as if they are 5 course meals.” Ling grabbed a flash bang and pulled the pin with his teeth, rolling it under Gluttony to blind him for a minute. 

Bakugo rolled his eyes and used the distraction to send a series of explosions to its back. His vision was also limited and he didn’t see its hand swinging at him full force. Gunshots rang out next to him and the hand was suddenly filled with 8 bullet holes, however he wasn’t able to avoid it fast enough and skidded to the ground. 

He didn’t hesitate to get back up, and look up to see where the gunshots came from. On top of the wall, on the edge that was taller than all the others, was Hawkeye holding a gun. Where did she even get a gun from? 

 “How the hell do you kill this thing?”

“Killing? That’s not very heroic of you” Ling taunted and grabbed some wire from god-knows-where. He managed to toss him the other end of it and together they ran or flew in circles to keep them contained. “To kill him is a little difficult. You just have to stay alive.”

“Hah? You have to be kidding me”

“Afraid not” Ling frowned. “Gluttony is complicated like that”

They ended up on opposite ends pulling the cord with all they have. Bakugo tried to ignore its childish whines. None of them noticed how one of the wires was caught in its mouth and how it was actively chewing through the wire. Suddenly the wire snapped and they were both sent stumbling backwards. Before Bakugo could hit the ground, someone caught him from behind. He turned around and saw Deku hovering behind him. On the other side, Todoroki was helping Ling get back on his feet. 

Gluttony, now free from its makeshift cage, grinned and stood up to its full height. Its stomach opened up vertically, its rib cage expanding and started to create a vacuum that was absorbing everything around him. Ling, in a panic, threw a grenade that exploded before it could get inhaled and Todoroki created an ice barrier in front of it to prevent anything (or anyone) from being sucked in. 

He wondered what would happen if someone got sucked in. Would it be an immediate death by being disintereged or slowly dying due to lack of oxygen? He didn’t want to find out. 

Deku jumped up and punched Gluttony from behind. A purple portal showed up next to it and Deku used that as a chance to kick him into the portal. None of them knew where it ended up but for now that seemed like a future issue. It looked a lot like Kuroguri’s portals so he just assumed it was the League calling for them back. They certainly weren’t in a condition to engage with the whole league at the moment. 

—

When the car crashed, Mustang quickly swapped gloves to use his fire alchemy. When he looked up, it was clear they were surrounded. The pedestrian All Might was about to run over was Envy (so it was a good thing he decided to swerve, otherwise they might’ve actually all died). 

What the hell was going on? An attack so soon? I thought they faked his death to prevent this from happening. He thought. That was the whole reason Hawks stabbed Ed the way he did, to fake his death and buy them time. So why are they attacking? They clearly missed something. 

Envy locked eyes with him and grinned. “No one told me the Flame Alchemist was out to play. Don’t worry I’ll make this quick” Envy dropped to a fighting stance.

“Envy, and here I thought you were dead.” He raised his hand, prepared to snap. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hawkeye getting Ed to safety.

Envy laughed. “Not quite. You see, the Master gave us a new form with some cool new perks. I would’ve gone with a cooler, cuter model, but what can I say? Old habits die hard.” Envy lunged forward, shapeshifting along the way to pack a punch. 

He snapped his fingers and sent a wave of flames towards them. While Envy was momentarily stunned, Aizawa swooped in and tangled them into his capture scarf. Envy transformed into a smaller version of themselves in an attempt to shake off the scarf. They grabbed onto the scarf and threw it to the side and effectively threw Aizawa to the side. Aizawa loosened his grip on the scarf and took it off to regain his footing and lessen the impact of his landing. He ended up landing next to him. 

“I don’t want much, you know? Just looking for that pipsqueak of yours. Just hand him over will ya?” 

“I thought you didn’t need him anymore” Aizawa commented as he drew his knife. Behind him, a familiar flash of blue emerged and suddenly there was a new wall formed. Mustang smirked proudly, of course Ed would somehow find a way to use alchemy while indisposed. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ling fighting Gluttony, using everything he had to take him down. 

“Well there’s always use for people. Human suffering has no limit.” Envy growled. “Stay still damn it”

“Face it, Envy. You were never much of a frontline fighter.” Mustang taunted as he kept snapping away, giving Envy no time to recover. “I’m surprised they sent you” The flames weren’t doing as much damage as they used to.

“Yeah well, the others aren't exactly ready for combat just yet” Envy extended their arm and swiped at them, luckily Aizawa was able to cut the arm off before it reached them. Red sparks emerged as they tried to heal from the damage of the burns. “Well that wasn’t very nice” 

While they were recovering, Aizawa closed in on them and swiped at them with his knife, engaging in close combat. He sent flames their way when there was a safe opening. 

Some gunshots rang out and Mustang quickly looked for the source and was relieved to see that the shots were from Hawkeye. It seemed that when Ed created the wall, he used it to place Hawkeye higher up so she could have a better angle. People rarely remember to look up. She was helping Ling out with Gluttony, providing distractions to keep the attention away from the people behind the wall. 

Envy grew frustrated and did what they did best: psychological warfare. In a split second throughout the attacks, they changed forms into a young innocent child. They had long white hair and wore a childish red dress covered in paint. Aizawa faltered in his attacks and fell back, staring at Envy in horror. 

Envy cackled. “Works every time.” An unnatural grin spread on their face and they took that opportunity to escape and punch the wall with enough force to make it collapse. 

Shit. Ed! 

He couldn’t worry about Aizawa at the moment and instead ran towards the rubble. His vision narrowed on Ed who was trying to crawl back but his automail leg was caught under the stone. Ed’s eyes widened in surprise and quickly pulled the lever to detach the leg. He bit down on his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain. Hawkeye noticed the common and emptied a clip of ammo into Envy in a desperate attempt to slow them down. With every bullet that entered their body, they jerked and movements slowed down a bit. Mustang rushed forward, sending flames in their direction. Ed crawled back until his back hit the side of a building. Ed flinched back and used his arm to cover his face in an attempt to protect himself.

Why weren’t his flames working the same way? This technique worked before, so why was it that this time it seemed that his flames barely made a dent. 

Envy dove and grabbed onto Ed’s leg. “Gotcha!” They pressed on a button near their ear and a purple portal opened up next to them. Envy gave a victorious laugh and fell back into the portal. Hawkeye frantically shot at their wrist and it effectively severed their hand and Aizawa used his binding cloth to pull Ed closer to him and away from the portal.

“NO!” Envy cried in the distance as the portal closed. 

Mustang sighed in relief when he noticed that the portal also took Gluttony away. Hawkeye quickly scaled down the wall to run towards them. Mustang didn’t hesitate to pull Ed into a hug, and pretended not to notice how badly Ed was shaking and how unfocused his gaze was. Aizawa took a minute to catch his breath and process what just happened. 

“All Might!” Deku called out and propelled himself next to the rubble. Mustang looked back and noticed All Might climbing out from underneath the rubble relatively unharmed. He kind of forgot about the guy… sue him. 

“What the hell was that??” Bakugo demanded as he stomped over to them with Todoroki following behind them. 

“So much for ‘an attack being unlikely’” Todoroki commented off hand while he surveyed the damage around. Pedestrians were nowhere to be seen which was strange. Usually when there was a big villain attack there was a crowd not too far away recording everything, but this time the streets were completely empty. Not even the media was here. 

“Is everyone alright?” Hawkeye asked after making sure that Ed was okay. All of them that were attacking Gluttony gave a thumbs up. She looked at Bakugou directly. “Gluttony hit you pretty hard, are you sure you’re okay?”

Bakugo scowled. “Fine. Nothing I can't handle.” He purposely ignored the roadburn on his arm and the blood running down his arm from the various scratches. It really wasn’t that bad, it could’ve been worse if Hawkeye didn’t shoot when she did. He should thank her once everyone stops paying attention to him. 

Hawkeye nodded and checked on All Might who was also alright. They all looked at one another trying to subtly check each other for injuries that they could be hiding. Mustang remained on the ground holding Ed like a lifeline. Envy got too close to taking him back… they almost lost him a second time. 

It wasn’t long until two vans pulled up, they were unnamed but it was obvious that it was 2 of the UA vans. Driving them was Midnight and Present Mic. They both pulled up and rolled down the window. 

Midnight whistled as she surveyed the damage. “Damn, what happened here?”

“We got attacked.” Ling said in a monotone voice as if it should’ve been obvious. 

“Who are you?” 

Ling waved. “Not important at the moment.”

“He’s the vigilante,” Aizawa informed. “Ling’s right, it's not important right now. What is important is getting back to UA and getting out of here before the press decides to arrive. Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya, ride back with Midnight and All Might to the dorms. Try not to speak about this to your classmates until I say you can. The rest of us will go with Present Mic.” 

“I want to know what just happened, what exactly were those things?” Bakugo demanded. 

“If you didn’t just jump straight into battle, you would’ve had more information.” Ed mumbled while getting up from the ground, leaning on Mustang for support. There was some blood where his leg was attached to but nothing too bad. Other than being covered in dust and tiny rocks, he was fine. 

“Rich coming from you, Elric” Mustang commented and Ed glared at him. 

“There was no time, your friend would’ve been killed.”

Ed looked at Ling who held up a peace sign with a grin and then turned back to him. “Don’t underestimate him, Ling is capable of holding out for longer while you get more information, maybe then you wouldn’t have become such a liability!”

“A liability? I have training to deal with these situations, probably more experience than you will ever have!” Capture tape covered his mouth while his friends held him back and tried to pull him towards the car. 

“Yeah? I sincerely doubt that! A year of schooling means nothing against-” Ed was cut off by Mustang covering his mouth. 

“Stand down, Elric” He ordered, then in a lower tone for only the two of them to hear. “It is not the time nor place for this idiotic argument” He pulled his hand away and Ed just scowled. Meanwhile, Bakugo and his friends were climbing into the car. 

“I apologize about that, his temper gets the best of him sometimes” Mustang mustered up the best polite yet apologetic smile he could. Ed was about to protest but with a single look, Ed stayed quiet. 

“No need for apologies, if anything I should apologize on behalf of Bakugo’s behavior and rest assured it will not go undisciplined. Let’s head back to UA before anyone else decides to pay a surprise visit.” 

Chapter Text

When Edward saw that he was being summoned back at Central immediately, he couldn’t think of any reason why. After the Promised-Day and getting their bodies back, he wanted to retire from the military or at least quit but since the country was left in shambles, he decided against it and dedicated himself to humanitarian missions. He asked the Colonel to station him in areas that were most impacted so he would be able to help them rebuild faster with his alchemy that he managed to keep. 

The whole deal with his alchemy was a complicated one but he doesn’t regret the decisions he made. To get Al’s body back, he needed to give something up of equal value. At first he thought about giving up his alchemy and nearly went through with it but didn’t feel equal. Afterall, nothing is equal to human life… unless of course another life. So the decision was a logical one. 

For every year Al spent in the suit of armor, he gave up a year of his own life to compensate for it. And to get his soul back, he gave up some alchemical knowledge. Not the knowledge for human transmutation, Truth allowed him to keep that to avoid the situation from repeating itself, but knowledge that he can make himself/use himself as a philosopher stone and some attack techniques. 

If you ask him, this was a very fair exchange. However, no one other than him knows the full story. If you ask the military, Ed gave up some alchemical knowledge (which is not a lie!). If you ask Al, he used their father’s philosopher stone (which is a lie but it was for his safety. Al would feel guilty if he knew that he gave up alchemical knowledge for his body back). No one knows that he gave up years of his life but that isn’t necessary for anyone to know. Afterall, how would they be able to tell? 

Regardless of the exchange, he kept his alchemy and continuously used it to help rebuild cities and help people get their homes back. He felt fulfilled doing this type of job. It was a break from the action he grew so familiar with but a part of him didn’t mind that. The break was well needed. Besides, Al was in Xing and stayed with Ling to learn more Alkahestry with May. Al wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that Ed was still in action so this was also for his peace of mind too. Studying was a good idea since Al couldn’t do a lot of physical activity while he was recovering so it was a way to keep him occupied and helped him heal. 

Everything was perfect, or as perfect as he could hope for. Their lives were no longer at risk. That was… until he received that letter. On the first train out, he found himself standing at the Central Station and making his way over to Central Command. The city didn’t look too different after the conflict, they did have some upgrades but even though it faced a lot of damage, it was one of the first buildings rebuilt. 

He walked into Central Command and entered Team Mustang’s office. He waved hello to everyone he came across which consisted of his old friends and spent a little time catching up with them until Mustang came out of his personal office to greet him. 

“Hey Fullmetal, long time no see” Mustang leaned against the doorframe. He looked the same as always just with bigger eyebags. Trying to rebuild Amestris from the political mess can’t be easy. Every time Ed opened the morning paper, there was always something new. But they were slowly heading closer to a democracy. 

“Colonel Bastard,” He grinned. “Should’ve been longer but I guess you all missed me too much” 

“Don’t be so full of yourself, you know I would have you out in the countryside if I could. The farthest away you are from major scandals makes my job a million times easier. Come to my office so we can talk about your new assignment.” 

Ed waved them all goodbye and entered his office. It was filled with a lot of paperwork. Mustang definitely was as busy as the papers made him seem. He couldn’t help but notice something… or someone missing. 

“Where’s the Lieutenant?” He asked as he took a seat. 

“Hawkeye had to take Hayete to the vet, she will be here at around noon. Hopefully you don’t miss her.” He pulled out a file from the stack he had on the corner and handed it to him. 

Within the folder there were multiple missing person’s reports from the outer cities of Amestris. All of them disappearing within a few days of each other, no bodies found. 

“I thought I was retired from crime-solving work” Ed commented off-handedly while he flipped through the papers. 

“You are for the most part but I can’t spare anyone from my team right now or trust anyone else to take care of it.” 

“What about the Investigation’s Unit? Lieutenant Armstrong and his team, shouldn’t they be in charge of this?”

“They have their hands full with the situation here, they have been working closely with us trying to rebuild the hierarchy. Anyway, it seems like a basic missing person’s case but the local military officers asked for extra hands on this one. The culprit seems to be moving too fast for them to keep up”

“Or a team of culprits. If they are moving fast and judging by these dates it’s almost too fast, it might be a team of them.” He theorized aloud. 

Mustang raised his hands up in a surrendering motion. “That is up to you to figure out. This seems to be in your area of expertise so I figured you can handle it. Mission shouldn’t take longer than a few days if I am being honest, maybe a week or two at most.”

Ed nodded and shut the file. “Sure, I’ll take it.” It’s not like he had much of a choice to begin with. “When do I need to be there?”

“They are requesting your presence as soon as possible. I’d say try to get there within the next 3 days” 

“Works for me. Guess that means I should start packing and looking for the next train out, huh?” He sighed. “And here I thought I left that all behind”

“It’s just for one mission, Fullmetal, don't be so dramatic.” 

Ed stuck his tongue out at him and got up. “Well Colonel, thanks for this I guess. I’ll report back when I get there. Tell Hawkeye I said hi” 

“Will do. Old rules still apply: don’t do anything stupid and please for the love of Truth do not blow anything up. We don’t need an additional city to add on our list of reconstruction.” 

“I make no promises” And with that, he walked out of his office and waved goodbye to everyone. He promised he will try and spend more time in town when he comes back and before he returns back to his humanitarian mission. 

Packing his bag and finding a ticket over was the easiest part. It was almost like clockwork with how often he had to do things like this. It was going to be kinda different considering Al wouldn’t be joining him (he should probably call him before he leaves to let him know-) but it would be an easy mission. Find the group mass-kidnapping people, figure out where they are held, free them, and head back. He’s done harder things than this before, what’s the worst that could happen?

-

When he got to the city, it was already about to be night time. The train ride took a long time since it was heading from the center to the outer edge, almost near the border in South City. Thinking more about it, he really hoped this wasn’t some international conflict where the neighboring country is kidnapping their citizens. That would make it really messy and a problem they don’t need. 

Ed figured he would find a hotel nearby to check into before he stopped by the military station. The nearest one was about 2 blocks away and it unfortunately didn’t have any openings for the night which meant he had to venture 4 more blocks to find a room. The hotel he ended up finding a room at wasn’t too bad, it was more of an inn than a hotel but he couldn’t complain. It had free breakfast in the morning and a bar at night. He personally wasn’t one to drink but it was good to know there was a social life downstairs, that way he could get to talk to the townsfolk easier to get some information about what’s going on. It did look a little shady but he’s stayed in worse places. 

Most of the victims weren’t kidnapped around this area, it was more on the other side of where the station was located so he shouldn’t have to worry about that (but that of course doesn’t mean he’s going to let his guard down) but it did mean that it wasn’t the worst possible place to be. Once he settled down in his room, he figured he would head to bed early. While the plan was to originally head to the station after, exhaustion got the best of him and he didn’t feel like going out. 

The next morning, he introduced himself to the other officers.

“Woah, you’re the Fullmetal Alchemist? Welcome to our city, I’m the captain, Captain Hilton.” A tall muscular blond guy shook his hand. 

“That’s me” Ed shook his hand with the same strength. “I’ve heard you guys have gotten quite the case on your hands.”

“Thanks for coming. Yeah, it's getting rough out there. Here let me introduce you to the team.” 

The first day was pretty much spent making introductions and getting the basic information of what was happening. 5 people have gone missing in 2 weeks, all from the same area, all with the MO. They were leaving their jobs at night to walk home and they were never seen again. The professions weren’t even correlated. It was just the fact they were all from the same area and had a family. So far 3 women and 2 men were the current victims. 2 of the women were mothers, 1 man was a father and the other was an uncle. The 3rd woman was an older sister it seemed. 

He had the transcripts of the interviews conducted by the family members but the victims seemed so ordinary. There was nothing to make them targets at all. They didn’t even look the same. It almost seemed that they were grabbing people just to grab them. There was no sign of struggle nor were there any witnesses at the scene of the crime or before then. There weren't even cameras that worked in the crime scenes. The last camera that picked up the victims showed nothing unusual. It was as if they all vanished into thin air. 

Since he arrived, no one else has gone missing. The last victim was grabbed earlier in the week but he doubted that it was over. There had to be something that managed to get them to come willingly. 

On the fourth day, almost a week since he got there, he figured it out. During his lunch break, he was walking around the area the victims were last seen and sat down in an outdoor seating area to observe the people. It wasn’t unusual to see children run around without their parents, having run in the city and running small errands. However while he was eating, he noticed this one child seemed to get lost. He watched the child look around at the buildings and street signs trying to figure out where they were (the streets were confusing after all) and noticed a woman stopped in her tracks to help this little kid find their parents. The kid would wander back to where they last saw their parents and the woman followed them blindly. When Ed was about to intervene, the kid found their parents and the situation was over. 

But that made him realize something. Lost children often get adults to sympathize with them, making it more likely for them to help. The victims… they were all mothers, fathers, uncles, or an older sister. All of them had to take care of a young child at least sometime in their life. What if, on their way home, they all saw a lost child and let the child guide them over to an area that made it easier for them to get jumped and kidnapped. 

It would make perfect sense. They would all have their guard down since they wouldn’t suspect a lost child to be part of a bigger scheme. On the contrary, they would be more willing to help because this was a lost child at night. It all clicked. They would see a child, follow them to help them find their parents, probably get led to some alleyway, and get kidnapped. No signs of struggle because they would probably have their back turned on the perpetrator and it would be too late to fight back because they would be reeling from shock. 

He quickly headed over to the station to share his theory and they all listened closely. 

“We didn’t even consider that” The captain mumbled. “We’ll make sure to send out an alert to make sure people don’t walk alone at night and to not send their kids out late” 

Ed blinked. “You haven’t sent out a warning to make sure they don’t walk alone? It’s been 2 weeks almost 3 now” 

“Well we didn’t want to make the people panic” The captain dialed a number on the phone (probably to a journalist) and held his hand up to halt all the conversations. 

Ed couldn’t believe that they hadn't sent any advisory out but that wasn’t his place to criticize. He was just supposed to get information and find the perpetrators. That narrowed down the suspect pool to look for families or someone with a child. The motive was still unknown though but it was something. It was progress. 

That night, he decided to spend some of the night at the bar to observe the dynamics of the people. He wanted to see what their culture was like. Ed technically should’ve done that sooner but work got ahead of him. He found himself sitting on a barstool with a soda, chatting with the bartender. 

“How long have you lived here?” Ed asked, trying to make small talk as he stirred and poked the ice in his drink with his straw. 

The bartender smiled fondly and shook his head. “My whole life, kid. Saying goes that if you're born here, you never leave. Of course it's not true but it’s nice out here. Away from politics and everything. First time here?” 

Ed hummed. “Yeah, it is. It does seem peaceful out here. I’m guessing this missing person’s case is the first major crime around here?” 

“It is actually. That’s why a lot of people are freaking out. Usually there’s more people here.” He nodded over to the somewhat empty bar. It wasn’t really empty, it had a decent amount of people here but Ed guessed that it was usually more packed than this. 

While Ed asked more questions about the city, someone entered the bar and sat down next to him. The man was dressed in formal attire. He had a dark orange almost red long sleeve formal shirt with a black vest on top with a bolo neck tie with a blue pendant in the center, and black dress pants with white boots that clashed with the outfit. The most interesting part about the man was the fact they had an automail on left arm. 

“I’ll take a beer, thanks” He told the bartender. Something about him gave him weird vibes. Call it a gut feeling but something didn’t feel right. Ed kept the guy in sight through the corner of his eye. The guy seemed to size him up as well. “You have a prosthetic too.” The man noted, looking at his leg. 

Ed simply nodded, not knowing where he was going with that. 

“Sorry, I should’ve introduced myself. My name is Atsuhiro Sako, I’m new in town. I haven’t seen many people with prosthetics other than myself.” He commented. 

“Oh? Where are you from?” Ed asked. Amestris was pretty known for having people with automail. Especially the southern-central area. Afterall, that’s where Rush Valley is. 

“Just another city from here. It's more up.”

“Yeah? Like near Dublith or Rush Valley”

Sako snapped his fingers. “Rush Valley, that’s the place. Just on the outside of that”

Ed tried to share a look with the bartender but he was busy serving someone else. Sako never saw someone with an automail living so close to Rush Valley? Doesn’t seem possible at all. He decided to play along. “Oh well that’s surprising, a lot of people in Rush Valley have automail. What brings you here?”

“You know, just wanting to get away from the city for a while. Hey, you know this might seem like a weird question but you look familiar. Are you famous or something?”

Ed was flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to say, everything felt so wrong. “Or something is right. I work for the military. I’m well known but I wouldn’t say famous”

“Oh! The Fullmetal Alchemist? Is that it? Huh… I thought you had two automail limbs” 

Ed didn’t know how to respond to that. “I got a medical procedure done” he said and left it at that. He took a sip from his soda, trying to calculate his next moves. 

“That’s so cool,” he said, leaning forward. “I’ve heard so much about you, here let me buy you a real drink” He put his hand over his soda and attempted to slide it away from him. 

Ed held his cup firmly. “I think I’m alright with my drink, thank you” Ed got the man’s hand off his drink and continued to take sips from it. After a minute of awkward silence, he got up. “Well I think it’s time for me to head out. Nice meeting you” He waved goodbye and paid the bartender. The man attempted to get him to stay but he insisted on leaving, apologizing that he had a busy day tomorrow. 

As he headed upstairs to his room, he made sure to take a longer route to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He walked around on the wrong floor, making it seem that he was lost before he got to his room. That was a weird interaction. He noticed that as he was walking to his room, he started to feel weaker. The floor seemed to move underneath him and he felt light headed which was impossible since he didn’t drink anything. Was he drugged somehow? Impossible. He didn’t feel the greatest but it didn’t stop him from making it back to his room and locking the door behind him. He sat down on the edge of his bed, trying to ground himself and ignore the uneasy feeling. 

He doesn’t know how much time passed (if any at all) when a knock echoed from his door. He froze as he considered the possibilities. It can’t be that man, right? That would be impossible. 

The knock echoed again and then a voice calling out. “Room Service” 

He never ordered Room Service, he figured he should answer the door to tell them such. He was probably paranoid from the interaction and felt sick from the nights he hasn’t been sleeping well. That’s all it is. 

When he opened the door he froze momentarily as he locked eyes with Envy. The same grin with the same spiky black hair, black crop top with gym skirt/short that matches. 

“Hey there Fullmetal Pipsqueak, miss me?” They grinned. Ed tried to slam the door and pretend that he was actually going insane. Because the dead don’t come back to life. That’s impossible. But Envy beat him to it and blocked the door and forced their way in. 

“What the fuck-” He whispered as he fell into a fighting stance. He clapped his hands together and dropped to the ground, manipulating the ground underneath him to throw Envy off and attempt to shield himself. 

Envy began to laugh as they avoided all the walls coming towards them and managed to punch him. 

Shit. He thought, ‘I am in no condition to fight. Not when I can barely see straight for some reason.’ 

“You know I had my doubts with Mr. Compress, but I have to give it to him, he did his part well” Envy gloated as they continued to dodge the attacks. 

“Who-?” He started to ask but out of the corner of his eye he saw the man from downstairs enter his room, now holding a mask in hand. “You! How-”

Mr. Compress smiled as he placed the mask on his face. “A magician never reveals his secrets.” He placed a finger over where his lips would be. 

Ed was struggling to keep up and the corners of his vision were quickly fading to black. He wouldn’t be able to win this fight in this condition and there was no way for him to call for backup. He looked around desperately to see if he could even leave a clue somehow but it was becoming harder to think straight. 

Crap. 

With the last of his energy, he grabbed something off his nightstand (he doesn’t even know what it was, it was just something sturdy enough) to break the window behind him. A way for people to be alerted of the attack going on and tried to shield himself but it was worthless. Once Envy lunged at him, his vision turned black and he knew no more. 

—

Envy and Mr. Compress walked away from the scene of the crime as if nothing happened. In Mr. Compress’s hand, he held a tiny blue marble that if they focused in enough, they could see the silhouette of Edward within it. 

Envy chuckled once they were far enough to start their way back over to their checkpoint. 

“Who knew it would be this easy to kidnap the pipsqueak?”

“The Boss’s plans never fail. He knew Fullmetal would be sent out here to investigate and now we have all the pieces to the puzzle. Our work here is done. Let’s go, we don’t have much time.” Mr. Compress opened up his pocket where there were 5 other marbles in it, he dropped the newest marble in.  Our train leaves soon and if we’re late, there’s no guarantee the boat will still be waiting on us. 

Envy waved their hand in the air as they shapeshifted into another person to be able to board the train. “Yeah, yeah. We still got to make it back and everything. This is going to be very interesting”

“Oh my dear Envy, this already was interesting. Having you play a child while I captured them in the marbles was child’s play. There was a thrill in the crimes we did this week and we now have enough to please the Boss. The league will be stronger than it was before” Mr. Compress grinned and held all 6 marbles in his hand, playing around with them.

“Don’t drop them now” Envy placed their hands on the back of their head and kept walking. 

Mr. Compress placed them back in his pocket. “Who do you think I am? An amateur?”

Envy rolled their eyes.

The both of them needed to make it back to the port where the league has a boat waiting for them. Once they get on that, they are free and ready to commence with the next part of the plan: making more Nomus. 

The next time Ed wakes up, he will no longer be in the country he knew so well. The horrors will continue to haunt him and he will be left with little to no hope. 

Chapter Text

The car ride over was tense to say the least. Aizawa was softly speaking to Hizashi about everything that happened during the attack while Mustang was trying so hard to ground Fullmetal with Hawkeye. Since they got in the car, Ed went completely unresponsive which was slightly understandable considering the circumstances. Ling was also in the car pitching details that Aizawa might’ve forgotten. Hizashi got more answers as to who Ling was so he was up-to-date on what Aizawa also knows about Ling. Mustang figured there was something off about Ling but he figured he would ask him later. This entire case has them stressed.

Ed was staring into the car floor, his gaze vacant. He leaned against Hawkeye, his arm crossed over him as if he was shielding himself. He wasn’t responding to anything except for the occasional hum when he heard his name but otherwise there was nothing else. Ling kept glancing at them but decided to give Ed space. Hawkeye held Ed’s hand between her own, pressing in a pattern in an attempt to ground him while Mustang gently squeezed Ed’s knee in a different pattern.

“Envy is another sin?” Hizashi asked, louder than the tone he was using.

 Ling nodded. “Yup.”

Mustang sensed this was an attempt to include them in the conversation. “Yes, Envy is back. That’s who Aizawa and I faced.” He said, glancing at them before returning his attention back on his ward. 

“Notice anything different?” Ling prodded. 

“Other than the fact Envy suddenly became immune to flames? I noticed that”

Ling tilted his head. “Yeah, not sure how they did that” 

“Envy apparently transformed into Eri?” Hizashi asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road but looking at the rearview mirror to ask. 

“I’m sorry?” Mustang turned back to them. Was he supposed to know who Eri is?

“The reason I hesitated, which I sincerely apologize for, was because the little girl Envy transformed into looked a lot like my daughter that we took in a few months ago.”

“Oh, don’t apologize for that. Envy is known for psychological attacks like that, it makes their victims hesitate.” Mustang was suddenly reminded of his best friend who couldn’t pull the trigger on Envy because they looked like his wife. Hughes didn’t deserve that death and the fact that Envy is alive shows that justice wasn’t served. It was a miracle he kept his cool during the battle. 

-

Ed was half-listening to everything going on around him. He knew they were talking about the situation but it was difficult to keep track of the conversation so he eventually gave up. He was aware of Hawkeye squeezing his hand but he didn’t really feel it more so than he could see that she was doing that. He kept back at Envy grabbing his leg. 

He could still feel their hand wrapped around his ankle attempting to pull him back. He couldn’t help but think about what would’ve happened if he was taken back, would they kill him? Force him to kill more people? Or would he be the one merged with others to be their weapon? Either way it was a nightmare to think about and to think that nightmare almost came true. He didn’t want to go back and he didn’t hurt anyone else. Ed didn’t mean to commit human transmutation and he didn’t think he would survive it again if he had to. Everything would have been left behind and everyone-

Would they all be disappointed in him?

Through his spiraling thoughts, he could hear Mustang talking to him. “Then that would make plutonium the 136th element-” His thoughts were immediately halted.

Ed looked at Mustang and blinked. “What did you just say?”

Mustang smirked. “Plutonium is the 136th element”

“No? It’s not? Plutonium is…” Ed mentally tried to picture the table in his mind. “94th? The table doesn’t even go up to that, it ends at 118. What are you talking about?”

Ling grinned. “It’s actually been updated. It’s now 119 to include Emerald”

Ed stared at Ling, absolutely baffled. “You shut up. Emerald isn’t an element nor will it ever be. Why are we talking about chemistry right now?”

“If you paid attention to the conversation, you would know,” Ling commented. 

“You guys were talking about Envy or something? I zoned out”

“Zoned out is generous” 

“What’s generous is me not throwing you out this window”

“As if you could,” Ling taunted. 

“Alright, that’s enough of that” Mustang gave Ling a look, to which Ling responded with a shrug. 

“That was an effective way of grounding him, I guess?” The same person who visited him in the hospital room said. Ed tried to remember his name… was it Aizawa? Maybe? 

Ed suddenly became very aware of what was going on around him and he noticed the two people in the front part of the car and he only recognized one of them. He looked out the window and realized he had no idea what was going on. He looked up at Hawkeye. 

“I don’t know what’s going on” He whispered to her while Aizawa and Mustang talked and leaned closer next to her. 

Hawkeye gave him a fond smile. “We’re heading back to the place where we are staying at.”

“How are you doing, kiddo?” The blond guy who was driving asked. 

“Fine? I’m sorry but um. Who are you?” He doesn’t remember being introduced to him at all. 

“I’m Hizashi Yamada but my hero name is Present Mic. I am a teacher at UA and one of the people working on your case!” He introduced himself as he drove. 

“Right… my case…”

“We can discuss more of that when we get to UA, we’re about 5 minutes out”

The school was nothing like he had ever seen before, this was a whole campus dedicated to its students with various different buildings and training grounds. He didn’t get to see much of it but something told him that, given time, he would grow to know this place like the back of his hand. If this is how the campus looks to train people he could only think about how their libraries look like. That must be like a gold mine. His mind raced with the possibilities of different theories and science waiting to be explored.

–

Getting to the apartment wasn’t a big hassle especially since they were on the first floor so they didn’t need to worry about any flights of stairs just yet. Still Hizashi offered to bring mobility aids as soon as possible since the wheelchair got destroyed in the accident but it probably wouldn’t be able to get to them until the morning. Which was fine, it was getting late anyways and Mustang already had plans to get Ed to sleep in the next 3 hours. 

Ed looked at the two heroes. “Do you guys not want information?” He asked once he realized that they were saying goodbye. 

Aizawa gave him a sad smile. “Kid, you need to rest and the information can wait.'“

“Might as well get the information exchange over with now, right? That way less people can get hurt-” 

“Fullmetal, you are currently in no position to give a report. Let yourself heal first” Mustang said. He was genuinely concerned about Ed’s wellbeing especially since it took a while to get Ed alert after Envy. 

“Is it because of my arm and you think I can’t write? I can still write or give a verbal report. Last I checked I haven’t lost my ability to speak” Ed insisted, desperation almost creeping into his voice. His gaze shifted quickly to all the adults as if trying to fix something that they weren’t aware of. 

Unfortunately he hasn’t lost his ability to be stubborn. 

“Do you think I’m not capable anymore?” Although he sounded angry, Mustang could hear the hurt behind the words. Ed looked at Hawkeye for reassurance. He’s been leaning on her to maintain his balance and move around. “I can still be capable-”

Oh, that’s where this is going. Mustang pieced it together. 

“It has nothing to do with capability, I can promise you that” Hawkeye reassured him. “How about this,” She turned to Aizawa and Hizashi, “Are you free tomorrow to discuss?”

“Tomorrow? We can be.” Aizawa nodded.

“Perfect.” She turned back to Ed. “Let’s let the Colonel deal with the details and we will head inside.” She reasoned and unlocked the door, giving a quick wave of goodbye to everyone and headed inside. She was no doubt going to deal with that whole thing, he would help once he coordinates this meeting.

Once inside, Ed frowned. “If it’s not capability then what?” He asked in a low voice. “Do you no longer trust me? Because of the things I did?” 

Hawkeye set him down on the couch and knelt down in front of him. “You know as well as we do that the things we are forced to do in this line of work does not reflect who we are as a person.” 

“Then why…” He trailed off. He couldn’t finish his thought mainly because he didn’t know what he was going to ask. Why couldn’t he give a report? Why do they all look at him with the same sad eyes? Why can’t he think like he used to? Why did everything change? 

“You need to rest before you can give a report. There’s no reason to rush things.”

“But there is a rush, isn’t there?”

She shook her head. “Not particularly but Mustang can worry about that. Whether or not there is a rush or not is up for the people outside to figure out. Your only concern should be to recover” She got up and ruffled his hair. “Now, you haven’t eaten all day” 

She walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a small loaf of bread and handed it to him. “Nibble on that until I make dinner.” 

Ed gladly received it. He hasn’t had actual food the whole time he was captive it got to a point where he stopped feeling hunger. He took small bites of the bread, taking it slow since he didn’t feel very hungry. “You’re going to make dinner? I thought we still wanted to live here?” He hid a grin behind the bread.

Hawkeye rolled her eyes. “You burn soup one time,” She said under her breath. “Eat your bread, will you?” 

He could hear her in the kitchen and allowed himself to finally look around and observe his surroundings. He figured the apartments inside would look the same as it did back in Amestris but he was both right and wrong at the same time. Walking into the apartment (or being carried into the apartment in his case) was a whole different experience. Inside, there was the usual kitchen, living room, and a hallway that led to the rooms. But what was within each section was totally different than he imagined. The kitchen was more modernized with sleek looking appliances and grey scale colors, the living room had couches but instead of the radio it had a TV. Amestris recently adapted to have TVs but it was nothing like this, it was thinner, bigger, and probably capable of so much more.

Being able to think about these things and all the differences was a nice distraction from the reality he was facing. He knew it was only a matter of time until everything was processed and he realized what he’s done to survive. Just a matter of time until he was going to be questioned about what happened and he would be forced to relive it all, so for now with the time that he has, he’s going to let his mind wander to the possibilities of change.

It was a while before Mustang walked in, notably without Ling following him in. While he filled them in on the new meeting which was to occur in the afternoon of the next day.  There were going to be more people present however if it felt too overwhelming then they could move things around. Ed was kind of grateful to have everyone there so that way he didn’t need to repeat anything later on. It was going to be like pulling off a bandaid… a trauma filled bandaid. 

While Hawkeye made dinner, Mustang helped him get cleaned up and showered and in a more comfortable set of clothing. Luckily, they brought some of his clothing with them (it was the same clothing he had in their apartment when he slept over) but they probably would have to go shopping for clothing. Apparently the principal of the school left a box with phones and credit cards for them on the kitchen table that somehow both Hawkeye and him missed. This country was so strange with its modernization. 

They spent dinner catching up on the extra details of what happened outside and doing an update on what was going on in Amestris and how they managed to be here. They tried to avoid information about the case to try and preserve the remainder of the peaceful evening. The only update he got was that Alphonse and Winry were going to be coming to town to help. 

That caught him off guard. Mustang explained that Winry was going to be needed for the automail which yeah that makes sense but Al was joining to help keep her safe. He loves his brother, don't get him wrong but he wasn’t ready to quite face him yet. It wasn’t safe here for him and he didn’t want to be the reason if he got hurt. He can’t afford for Al to get hurt again, he already stole years of his childhood Al will never get back, it wasn’t fair for him to stop studying on his account too. 

They also called it a night rather early since they had a busy and action filled day but also because tomorrow had a lot of things planned. Ed wasn’t going to complain, after all this was going to be his first night where he got to sleep finally feeling safe. He wouldn’t have to worry about what was going to happen tomorrow, he wouldn’t wake up with dried blood and heavy chains around his wrist.

He tried to ignore the memories that were being forcefully resurfaced, of the similar hallway with peeling walls and the room that held no comfort and only pain. He could see the blood on the ground and still hear the chains rattling against the wall and hear the same raspy laugh echoing throughout his mind. The room around him was empty and  the dark corners only seemed to darken the more he stared at them. 

All the lights were already off and he could only assume that Mustang and Hawkeye were already asleep. He laid down and tried to reason with his thoughts, nothing could get him while he was here and it was irrational to believe that this will all fade away in a blink of an eye. Sleeping with two trained soldiers, ones that he trusted with his life, was the most safe he could ever be. It wasn’t long until he fell into what he thought was a dreamless light sleep. 

—

Aizawa made his way over to the dorms, already mentally preparing himself for the day to end. He yearned for his yellow sleeping bag, he wanted nothing more than to just crawl into it and sleep for the next 48 hours but noooOOooo he has to plan travels for two more guests and figure out how he is going to introduce Ling to the other pro-heroes. The guests shouldn’t be too complicated since they weren’t military officials and they will be useful but still. He also had to figure out what he was going to teach his class now that things have changed so much. His class needs to be prepared for the chance of getting attacked in the future. The league is getting stronger. It's only a matter of time before they attack again, he can’t afford to lose any of his students. 

Upon opening the door, he noticed that most of his class was in the common room having fun but he couldn’t help but notice his 3 problem children missing from the crowd. 

“Mr. Aizawa! You’re back! Will you be back tomorrow for class?” Kaminari asked while draping himself on top of the couch to look back at him. 

“Yes,” he confirmed. Like hell will he let All Might cover another one of his classes, no matter what Nedzu says. “Where are they?” he asked, not needing to say their names since he was sure his class knew who they were referring to. 

“Oh Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki? They are in Todoroki’s room, want me to go get them?” 

He shook his head. “I’ll find them. Thanks. Don’t burn down the dorm'“ He walked down the hall, pretending that he didn’t just see smoke emerge from the kitchen. A few of his students shouted in alarm and ran towards the kitchen. They’ll take care of that… probably. They had Iida and Momo, his two responsible students who can take care of it. He had more important things to worry about. 

When he arrived at Todoroki's room, the door was ajar, as if they were waiting for him. He slightly knocked on the door before he walked in. Todoroki was sitting on the ground holding a conspiracy board, while Midoriya activity paid attention to what was being told, sitting crisscrossed on the ground. Bakugo sat also on the ground but laid back on the wall, holding his head up with his fist. His leg bounced impatiently as he listened to their thoughts. 

The conspiracy board had shockingly a lot of details on it trying to figure out why he missed classes this week. His name was in the middle of it with multiple reasons why he missed class including UA in a crisis, he’s dying (seriously, why would he be dying?), and the most accurate: a mission in regards to the league). The last one had more strings to it with information they were given in the hospital room: missing alchemist, prince, military officers. It’s about what he expected. What really surprised him was that they somehow figured out Hawk’s involvement. 

“Impressive” He complimented. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll answer any question you have honestly within..” He checked the time “30 minutes give or take.”

“Like a practice interrogation?” Midoriya’s eyes lit up. 

He nodded. Typically hero students don’t start training interrogation until late in their second year or even third year but his class is advanced. Might as well give them a chance to attempt it.  Besides, it was better for them to ask the questions so he could know what they wanted to know and he didn’t have to risk sharing too many (or too little) details. As long as they are satisfied with their answers the more they will leave them alone. Having too many hands in a case was always annoying as hell (he was starting to think that there were too many hands on this case already but he figured it was necessary to keep everyone in the loop).

Bakugo asked the first question. “Is UA in danger?” 

Aizawa shook his head. “Not at the moment” There was no proof the league was planning a further attack at UA for the time being so it wasn’t a lie. “But it could always change in the future. UA will keep you safe though. I promise I will do everything in my ability to keep you all safe and if there is a threat you will be warned.”

Todoroki asked the next question. “Why do we have foreign officers here with a prince and why doesn’t my father know about it?”

“The foreign officers are here to retrieve their alchemist who is also an officer in the military. I do not know how Ling arrived, but according to him he got news about activity here and came to help.” That was the story Ling gave them back at the apartment. “Only people involved in this case know about them.” He still remembered what Hawks told him about keeping the commission out of it. Endeavor works closely with them so I guess it was a good sign that he didn’t know. He just needed to keep it that way. He still doesn’t know why the commission can’t be involved but he also knows how shady they are. “How do you know your father doesn’t know?'“

Todoroki frowned. “He would’ve been upset about it. How come Hawks knows then?” 

“How’d you figure out Hawks was involved?”

“Father mentioned he hasn’t been showing up to work and it was the same day you also didn’t come in. Hawks was investigating the league, that’s why he had Tokoyami intern with him so I connected the dots” He explained. 

That was impressive detective work. “We don’t want outside people to know for their safety. We don’t want them to get targeted somehow so I believe it goes without saying that you aren’t to tell anyone about them. Not even your classmates”

“Why not?”

“They don’t need to know right now. This can be revisited in the future” 

“Can we help in your case? Because I was making some analysis and-” Midoriya began but he got him off before he could go on a mumbling rant. 

“In this case? no. You can focus on your school work and training. However, if you do want to help out, there might be an opportunity for that. Elric is a researcher, it would be appreciated that sometime in the future you all could help explain quirks, heroes, and how the system works”

“Oh that’s right they do have a different system! Yes” Midoriya eagerly agreed and by extension so did the others. 

“That’s fine. How do those things exist? Like we know what they are but they didn’t exist before” Bakugo asked, referring to the Humonculi. 

“Not a clue. I’m sure I’ll find out soon.” 

“All Might mentioned that the reason Hawks found out about him was because of an incident in a warehouse where it seemed the league was trying to make a Nomu-”

Aizawa mentally cursed All Might out. Why does this man always have to tell his protege everything? “Before I answer that, what exactly did All Might tell you and when?”

Midoriya bit his lip. “Um. Since they arrived. He didn’t tell me much, it was more of a warning!” He waved his hands in front of him. “Just that um, the incident that started the case, that’s all!”

He narrowed his eyes but allowed him to continue with his question. 

“Was that how they were created?”

“Possibly. It’s definitely something worth investigating but that’s not for you to worry about. Anything else?”

“Can we talk to them? The military officers?” Bakugo tapped his foot impatiently or maybe anxiously?

“I’ll ask them. However, don't think I forgot about your little outburst out there.” Aizawa remembered Bakugo’s and Elric's little argument that was so uncalled for. “Anything you want to say for yourself?”

“He started it.” Aizawa just stared at him. “He did!”

“You can’t be reactive to people you are trying to help. Imagine if all heroes fought with the people they saved, it would be a mess and their popularity rating would plummet.”

“I thought you don’t care about popularity?” Midoriya pitched in.

“I don’t but that doesn’t mean I am going to be rude to people. People need stability after a traumatic moment, you fighting them isn’t going to help. There’s tons of research out there that talks about this.” 

“But you are mean to us”

“I’m strict with you guys because you are my students, not the victims. It’s different. Either way, Bakugo, you are going to write me a 5 page report on why having manners matter in a hero backed up with evidence. Consider this as a reflection of your behavior”

“That’s unfair”

“Don’t care. On second thought, you do this assignment as well Todoroki. Some of your comments were uncalled for.” 

Todoroki just shrugged and accepted his fate. It wasn’t a long paper, he had made his class write papers that were 20 pages long. His students have bright futures ahead of them but without manners it wasn’t going to get them far. Endeavour may be the current number one hero but as Hawks once pointed out, his popularity is very low which affects his rating. It’s part of the reason All Might was so popular. 

“Any other questions?”

“Can we ask for updates?”

He thought about that one. “Sure. Don’t see much use for updates when you can’t get involved” But if it’s for peace of mind then sure. It wasn’t like he was going to give them detailed updates.

His watch beeped to let them know that the 30 minutes were up. Now it was finally time to go home. 

—

Eri was coloring in the living room with Shinso, she was drawing one of the cats, Sushi, who was asleep on the couch next to her. Hizashi came home a while ago and once he made sure they were okay he went on to make dinner. They were all just chatting about their day and what she was drawing when Aizawa finally came home. She looked up and cheerfully waved at him. Sushi woke up and ran to the door to greet him as well as the other cat. 

Aizawa scooped up one of the cats and went over to greet them and to see what she was drawing. He complimented it and went over to the kitchen to talk to Hizashi and to see what he was making. They talked quietly amongst themselves but she couldn’t hear the topic. She figured it wasn’t something for her to know. 

“Oh Shinso! We might not be able to train tomorrow morning but instead tomorrow night, is that okay?” Aizawa called from the kitchen, leaning back on the counter. Shinso gave him two thumbs up. 

“That works! We don’t have to train, I know you’re busy with your case-”

“Don’t worry about that. Don’t even try to use that as an excuse to get out of training.” 

“Damn it” Shinso whispered under his breath. He turned to Eri and dramatically whispered. “He’s going to kill me!”

She followed along and gave a playfully dramatic gasp. “Oh no!” before falling into a fit of giggles. 

“Dad, Monoma wants to know if he can join us?”

“Yeah that’s fine.” 

The rest of the evening remained domestic. Dinner was nice and calm and they talked about random things as they usually do. Asked her how her day was with Mirio and she happily explained how they spent the day looking up different animals and how he promised to take her to the zoo someday. 

It was then time to get ready to bed. Hizashi went to the kitchen to clean up while Shinso excused himself to go to his room. She was about to do the same when Aizawa began to speak.

“Eri, I have a question and you can refuse to answer this. Okay? This question doesn’t change anything”

Eri tilted her head but nodded slowly. 

“It has to do with Overhaul.” he said gently.

She nodded. “Okay.” 

“Did you ever rewind anyone that survived? Maybe someone not from here?”

Eri froze and thought back to her time with Overhaul. Now that she was with her new family she tried not to think of it. It was too painful to remember. She averted her gaze to the ground as she was suddenly reminded of the small boy Overhaul brought her a few months before she ran into Deku with Mirio. 

Overhaul placed his hand on her back while guiding her to a room that was down the hall where the lights flickered. She was never able to wander alone and her arms already hurt from the blood drawn from earlier. She slowly shuffled forward but he didn’t seem to mind walking slowly. The lights also weren’t helping her headache, her horn already grew so much and the longer it grew the worse her headache was. It was almost unbearable. 

He opened the door and her eyes had to readjust to the flood of light. Inside there was a small boy chained up, sobbing. Tears and snot covered the kids face but she would guess that he was about her age. Next to the kid was a teenage girl in a school uniform with a man wearing a black suit and mask, the top half of it was white. They weren’t chained up, they just sat next to the kid waiting.

Overhaul gave the two guests an unamused look. “And you’re sure this will work? This isn’t exactly where my ideals lie” 

“Shigaraki said that this kid is the key to everything.” The girl with a school uniform just shrugged. 

“And the information is valid how?” 

“We did research.”

Overhaul rolled his eyes and knelt down to Eri’s level. “Eri, I want you to use your quirk on the kid.” He nodded to the chained child currently wailing. 

“You killed my mom!” The kid cried.

“Ignore him. Go on. Don’t make this harder on yourself” 

Eri blinked back tears. “But he’ll die”

“He won’t die.” He reassured and then added, “Probably'“ he shifted his grip to a firm one on her shoulder. It almost hurt. “I’d say it’ll be best for you two to wait outside. Don’t want any accidents” He motioned for the two of them to leave. 

“I want to watch through the window” the girl giggled and grabbed her friend's hand and they went outside. 

Eri bit her lip but she knew there was no way out of it. She activated her quirk onto the boy. She could hear a faint hum that she always heard when it was activated. The boy was surrounded by yellow energy and screamed as he was rewinded. The lights above flickered hazardously before shattering above her. She yelped but couldn’t stop the flow of energy. 

The boy didn’t change much but he managed to get out of his restraints and curl up into a ball. The shadows around her started to develop eyes, multiple ones all around the walls, along with some sharp toothed grins. She shut her eyes to stop herself from seeing more. 

In the matter of minutes her headache went away and everything went still. She stumbled forward and opened her eyes to catch herself. Overhaul held her up by the back collar of her dress. In front of them was no longer a crying kid, instead a kid with a murderous expression and a glob of dough. The kid was holding back the glob, who was sucking its thumb, with the shadows around him. The eyes remained on the wall, grinning down at them. The girl and the guy walked back in. 

Overhaul glanced at them. “Is this what you wanted, Toga?”

Toga grinned and nodded. “It worked! Twice it worked!'“

Twice nodded. “Wow that’s really cool!”/ “No that’s gross as hell” 

Eri started in horror at what was in front of her. The boy didn’t die but his innocence sure did. The kid glared at them. 

“Who the hell are you guys? Where am I?”

Toga waved. “I’m Toga, we brought you here. What’s your name?”

The kid glanced her up and down, unimpressed. “Pride. This buffoon here is Gluttony. This isn’t Amestris so where am I?” He asked, making a sharp tentacle out of the shadows and had it creep up on Toga. 

“You lost your battle a few years ago. We’re going to help you get revenge but you have to help us too. Do you know how to make more of you?” 

“I lost my battle?” Pride groaned. “No wonder the voices are screaming at me. Well then. I’ll assume Father is dead and I’m being told that brat defeated me. I want more information and I want to meet your leader. I don’t work with just anyone” 

“We thought you might say that. By all means, join us” Toga laughed. “Our boss wants to talk to you too” 

Overhaul pushed Eri to move towards the door. “Consider this your only favor. Get out. Come on Eri, let’s go back to your room.”

That was the last time she saw the boy and the dough boy. 

She explained everything from that day to Aizawa, apologizing when she reached the end of her memory. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone! I-”

Aizawa pulled her into a hug, ignoring the tears that were soaking into his shirt. “Don’t apologize for this. None of this is your fault, nor will it ever be.” She only cried harder. “You were put in a situation where you didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry this happened to you. You are very brave for telling me this, you know that?”

“But I caused everything!”

“No, this was outside your control.”

She sniffled and used her sleeve to wipe her tears. “Can I sleep with you guys tonight?”

“Yeah, come on let’s get you ready for bed” 

She held his hand while they got her dressed and ready to go to sleep. She could only hope the nightmares wouldn’t come for her at night.

Chapter Text

Ed found himself standing in front of an alchemical circle. It was one for a transmutation he never wanted to see again. He knew what was about to happen but couldn’t control his actions. He lifted his gaze from the markings to the center and just as he expected, 6 pairs of eyes stared back at him, pleading for mercy. The transmutation hasn’t happened yet, it was just the six of them tied up in the center. One managed to spit out their gag. 

“Please! Don’t do this! I have a family! I have kids-” One pleaded, tried their hardest to bow. Ed could only stare at him. 

‘I’m sorry. It’s the only way’. He thought back, unable to speak. He clapped his hands together and dropped to the ground, he shut his eyes just as he did that day and could only hear the energy flow to the center. Through his closed eyes he could see the flashes of light and hear the screams of anguish that flooded the room. 

When it was all over he slowly opened his eyes to the charred bodies in the center. Hands were reaching towards him but overall the bodies were unrecognizable. The room was empty around him, or so he thought. 

“Brother? What did you do?!” Al’s horrified voice called out from behind him. Al’s voice was filled with disgust and hatred. 

No, this didn’t happen. Al wasn’t supposed to know, he wasn’t supposed to see the monster he became to survive. 

His voice cracked as he tried to find the words to justify himself. But there were no words because what could possibly justify murder? What could justify the action that killed his mother and nearly killed his brother?

‘I had to do it. To survive. There was no other way. Please…  Al don’t turn your back on me! You’re all I have left! I don’t know what I will do without you…. Please. Little brother… you’re all that I have left. Don’t leave me alone’

He turned to see his brother look down at him. The look in his eyes… it was as if his own life was worth nothing. 

“I don’t even know who you are anymore. You’re not my brother. My brother wouldn’t do something like this. Something so…” Al shook his head, not daring to say the word. Al turned away, didn’t even look back at him, and walked towards the exit. 

Wait a minute… the exit? There was no exit here. He looked down at himself and didn’t see any chains.

Could he have just left? Without needing to do this? Did.. Did he want to do this? If he had the option to leave, why didn’t he take it?

He reached out to Al. Begging for him to return. He began to crawl towards the exit but with every step he took the farther away it seemed. 

“Fullmetal. What is the meaning of all of this?” Mustang suddenly appeared next to him, stepping down on his injured hand. He grabbed Ed from the collar and dragged him back to the edge of the circle. “What did you do?” He grabbed his jaw and forced him to look ahead at the mangled bodies. His victims. 

“You think you deserve another chance? I should report this and have you placed in the firing squad where you belong. You’re a monster, Elric. First your mom, then your brother, and now this? You never learn your lesson, do you?”

‘Colonel… I didn’t want to do it. You have to believe me’

Mustang looked at him the same way he looked at Envy that day as he roughly put on his glove. The day where he watched Hawkeye point a gun to his head. But Hawkeye wasn’t around, there was no one to stop him from killing him. 

When he snapped his fingers, the fire was a different color. Instead of being the orange flame he knew, it was the cyan blue one he remembered the burned man using. Ed was helpless to invade this. All he could do was stare at the person who looked out for him and helped them get their bodies back, attempting to kill him. 

His vision went white and when the flames faded he was now in a dark room. 

“I told you we were more alike than you realized.” Someone else said, sitting next to him. Ed slowly turned over to the new person not bothering to wonder how he survived that. 

He hated the person he saw next to him. Someone he never wished to see again, someone so despicable. 

Shou Tucker sat next to him, on the ground, seeming looking ahead as if he was a long lost old friend. 
 
“You understand what we need to do. The things we are capable of. Why put it to waste. You get it now, don’t you” Shou Tucker smiled. “After all, why else would you do something like this? You’re just like me”
 

‘I’m nothing like you-’ He thought back but then faltered. Was he like him?

Ed followed Tucker’s gaze ahead. Instead of the fused mess he created, in the center stood Nina combined with Alexander.

“Big… Brother… it hurts” Nina called out. “Why did you hurt me?” 
 

He really was just like Shou Tucker. He was no better than him, using human lives to make a chimera. He swore to himself he would never become like him. 

“Just admit it. You and me? We’re the same. Nothing you do will change that” Tucker laughed.

He doesn’t want to be like HIM. He promised himself that. But he already created a chimera, he’s capable of it even if he sabotaged it himself. 

He locked eyes with Nina in Alexander’s body. “It hurts. Make it stop. I don’t want to play anymore!”

Her voice echoed. Tucker’s laughter only echoed louder and louder. He curled up on the ground to cover his ears. Voices of people he cared about echoed in his mind all saying a variation of the same phrase. 

“You don’t deserve to live” 

“You’re a cold-hearted killer.”

No no no no no. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He didn’t mean it. NO! 

-

He awoke with a gasp and someone firmly grabbing his shoulders. He violently flinched away from the touch, nearly falling off the bed. The same hand grabbed him to make sure he didn’t fall. He gasped and struggled to get air into his lungs, his vision flew across the room, trying to figure out where he was. He was aware that someone was talking to him but it sounded wobbly, as if it was through water. 

He needed to get out. To leave. To do… something. He managed to break out of the person’s hold and tumble onto the ground back backed up against the wall. He curled up and tried to get as far as away as he could but he couldn’t do much. 

His lungs struggled to get air in them and he couldn’t hold in air for longer than a second. He could only think back to the dark room and he was-

Not in a dark room. 

Where was he? 

“Ed. You’re alright. I need you to breathe, kid.” He knew that voice. 

“Don’t crowd him” Another voice said, they sounded farther away. He also knew that voice though. 

“It’s just a nightmare. You’re safe now. You’re in your room, it’s just Hawkeye, myself, and you here. No one else.”

A nightmare? He quickly tried to survey the room. His hand curled on the ground underneath him, instead of feeling smooth cold concrete as he was expecting, he could feel carpet underneath him. Slowly he began to actually look around, noticing the bedside table that was next to him, the unmade bed above him, and the two very worried superior officers watching him with concern. He noticed Mustang didn’t have his gloves on. Hawkeye must’ve stepped out without him noticing. 

“I’m sorry” he mumbled once he could breathe on his own without coughing. “I didn’t mean to wake you”

“Don’t ever apologize for that. Are you alright now?”

Ed nodded. He could breathe now and he knew where he was. Physically he was completely fine. Mentally was another story that he didn’t want to think about. 

“Okay, do you want to get back on the bed or do you want to stay on the ground a little longer?” He held his hand out. 

Ed looked at the bed and grabbed his hand. He climbed back on the bed and immediately sat down. Hawkeye came in with a light knock and a bottle of water. He gratefully took it and took small sips from it. “Thank you” 

She made sure he was okay before stepping back out giving him space which he appreciated. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked. 

He bit on his lip as he thought back to his dream. People always said it was better to talk about it, no? This time they’ll actually listen and believe him that he didn’t want to do the transmutation, he can plead his case. 

“It was about the transmutation.” He brought his knee up to his chest to rest his chin on top of his knee, he kept his gaze on the ground. “I didn’t want to do it. They… made me. I didn’t want to hurt anyone” He looked up at them. “You have to believe me”

Mustang nodded.

“Ed, we believe you. No one in their right minds would ever believe that you did this willingly and if they have doubts then we’ll take care of that like we always do.”

Ed let out a watery laugh and his vision blurred with tears, he tried to hide his face. Hawkeye took the cup from his hand and he curled up within himself. He hated this. 

Mustang reached out and placed his hand on top of his head. Ed looked up to see Mustang giving him a sad smile. 

“You cannot blame yourself for this. It’s a slippery slope and it’s not worth going down that spiral” 

“I killed them.” He choked out. “On purpose. They didn’t have to die”

“Would it really be quality of life though?”

He shook his head. That’s why he did it. But who was he to play God and decide who lives and who dies?

“You did what you had to to survive and that doesn’t reflect on who you are as a person. If you didn’t do it, then they would have killed them.”
 
“Then why did I have to be the one to pull the trigger?” He couldn’t stop the sobs as he leaned forward to cry on Mustang’s shoulder. Mustang didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his crying son- kid. 

“Fullmetal. I am going to be honest with you. You can either let this event break you or motivate you to be an even better person, but that decision is up to you. I’m here if you want to talk, Hawkeye is here if you want to talk to her. We both understand what you are going through”

How? How could they possibly- oh. The Ishvalian war. 

“I want to help people” He said softly. “That hasn’t changed.” He sniffled. “But how… How do you live with guilt? It’s different this time” 

Mustang hummed as he thought about the question. “If you want me to say that it goes away, it doesn’t. But you do learn to manage and helping people is definitely a stop forward to achieve that. If you want to leave the military-”

Ed shook his head firmly. “I don’t want to leave. I want to still help”

“You can help without the military”

He kept shaking his head. “Can’t get rid of me yet. I want to finish my contract.” And when that contract expires in 5 years, he will see what he does then. He doesn’t want to leave the only sense of normalcy he has left (he’s being somewhat dramatic but who can blame him?) so chances are he might renew the contract. 

Mustang chuckled. “Alright. Then you keep going. Taking breaks when you need them and you keep working towards making a change. The guilt will ease, trust me. What you are feeling right now isn’t forever. It’ll lessen. And if it gets to be too much you come find us and we’ll help, alright? I’m sure Al will love to help… Ling.. Ling is an option”

He snorted. “Ling is an option,” he echoed. “I don’t want Al to know”

“He doesn’t have to know but if you are worrying about if he is going to judge you, he would never will and you know that better than anyone. Don’t let those thoughts doubt the people you trust, once you go down that slope it’s going to be even harder to get back up.”

Easier said than done in his opinion. 

“Can I help in this case?” He asked before quickly adding on. “I want to help avenge them”

“We can definitely see what the other heroes say but even if they say no, you can help behind the scenes.” He reassured which was a long winded answer for yes he can help. 

“Thank you” 

Mustang tightened the hug. “Don’t thank me. It’s good to have you back Fullmetal” 

Ed pulled back from the hug. “This never happened” He admitted once he realized he quite literally cried on his boss’s shoulder (he was only lying to himself admitting that Mustang wasn’t his father figure).

“Sure” Mustang checked the time. “You have two options. It’s early so do you want to go to back to sleep until the sun rises or we can call it an early day”

He thought about it. “If I go back to sleep…” Truth he felt so ridiculous to say this, he felt like a child. “Can you stay here? You can say no” He quickly added on the last part. 

“Sure. Let me update Hawkeye and I’ll be back. Unless you want to join us in our room?” 

God what is he? A child sleeping in his parents room after a nightmare? The answer was yes because he didn’t want to deal with the chance of having another nightmare. Sleeping with someone else in the room usually helps (Al was a huge help even if he didn’t realize it). 

“Would Hawkeye mind?” he asked?

“No but we can ask. Hawkeye!” 

“Yeah?” Came the call from down the hall, she was awake if not distracted. 

“Mind if Ed joins us?”

“No”

“Told you. Come on.” 

Hawkeye had a book open when they walked in and she smiled when she saw him. She set her book down and scooted over for him to join them. Their room wasn’t that different but it was slightly bigger. She asked him her own questions to make sure he was alright and he nodded. Once they got situated, she turned off the light and got ready to go to sleep.
 
He actually got decent sleep for the remaining hours. 

-

When morning came, they all got up to get ready for the day but Ed ended back on the couch for another nap. He fell back asleep to the sounds of Mustang making food in the kitchen talking to Hawkeye about something he couldn’t care enough to listen to. He slept the morning away with little issue. No nightmares bothered him. 

He officially woke up with Hawkeye gently shaking his shoulder, he stretched and slowly let the light blind him. 

“Good morning” He sat up and kept the blankets around his shoulders. He looked around to see that nothing much had changed other than the kitchen table having more papers laying around. He also noticed the crutches near the door and the wheelchair in the corner. “What time is it?”
 
“A little past 1. We have a meeting at 4 with the other heroes but we figured you might want to read over the files first.” Mustang told him from the kitchen while placing a bowl of left over soup on the table. “Come and eat, you missed breakfast”

With help from Hawkeye, he managed his way over to the table. He thanked them before beginning to eat and tried to read the papers on the table. Mustang slid the papers away. “Eat first, then the files.”

He pouted. “Who stopped by?” he asked, referring to the crutches.

“Hizashi stopped by while he was on break. Didn’t stay too long.”

Ed frowned. He figured he wouldn’t sleep too deeply and would notice someone entering the room. Or maybe, even in subconsciousness, he trusted Hawkeye and Mustang enough to keep him safe. After all, he did feel well-rested for once. 

“What were you guys doing?"

Hawkeye lifted her gun cleaning kit. “Cleaning and sorting out the documents.”

Roy gestured to the phone. “Making calls and arrangements in Amestris because for some reason no one sleeps.”

“What arrangements?”

“Trying to get Al and Winry over. With luck, they can be here in the next 2 days.”

“Thats quick”

“Well, Ling has connections and I figured you’d want to see them and get your automail back as soon as possible.” 

He nodded. “So who exactly are the heroes that I’m meeting later?” 

Mustang set down his pen to count on his fingers, naming each hero that was there in the past few meetings and how they were like. Ed listened while he finished his soup, keeping note of who he should be wary of. Present Mic, whom he met, seems to be more suspicious than the other heroes which was strange because from his first impression… he didn’t come off as suspicious. Ed half considered calling this a just Mustang issue since Mustang does have a reputation of being… not.. Trustworthy. He could’ve probably found better words to describe him but none came to mind. 

Ed finished his soup like halfway throughout the talk and was now skimming the files of information they had which wasn’t much. It was kind of disappointing actually. All that was left was for him to clean up and go to the meeting. He really shouldn't be this nervous for that but he couldn't help it, this was completely new to him. He just hoped it wasn't too different.