In This Time of Mourning
In This Time of Mourning
Dublith
Curtis Butchers
Early Morning
Roy and Riza walked from the train station, each carrying a suitcase, and holding a leash, Riza was also carrying a full pet carrier and Roy two empty ones. The animals had handled the trip rather well, though they were ready for more freedom.
Roy had not bothered to call last night before leaving and was now arriving several hours early with extra guests. He probably should have called, he realized. There was nothing he could do about it not though, he was already here. With a heavy sigh born of frustration and exhaustion he wondered if the Curtis Household was awake yet.
They were still about a half a block away when they heard the sound of a fight and the heavy grunt that could only be Edward. Roy sped up, picking Franklin up under his arm, in his rush to get to his son. Riza and Hayete right beside him. He reached a fenced yard beside the Butchers just as Ed picked himself up off the ground and said, "See Teacher? I promise I've been keeping up on my lessons."
"I suppose you're passible, but perhaps I should test your Father's skills? If he is who your practicing with it would be a shame if he was substandard." Izumi said, having seen the others arrive though Ed hadn't since he was facing her still. "What do you say General? Care to test your skills?"
Ed whipped around to see Roy, Riza and the pets standing there. He jumped over the fence to throw his arms around Roy. "We weren't expecting you yet, is everything alright?"
"We shouldn't speak in the street with so many ears, but yes everyone is fine." Roy replied as Ed took some of the luggage to make it easier to put the dog back down. Izumi joined them a moment later and wordlessly took some of the luggage as well.
Once they entered the house, Izumi excused herself and disappeared into the kitchen to let Ed take the guests to their room and find out what all was happening. Ed led them upstairs, before saying, "Um there isn't a lot of spare room. I said it would be fine for Dad to share with me and Al, and the boys… I think we're going to have to put Ms. Riza in with Winry and Mei."
"That's fine, it's just Riza when we're at home, or here in this case Ed." Riza said with a smile. Ed nodded. It was true, if she was to be his stepmother, he at least hand to get used to calling her Riza. Ed then led them both into his room for now, since everyone else was downstairs waiting on breakfast. "You're right across the hall Riza, I'll ask Mason to bring up another bed later. Dad, Al offered to take the camp cot if you would be more comfortable in the bed, though keep in mind, Will has been sleeping with me and Yu has been sleeping with Al. I'd keep them both but the bed isn't big enough."
"That's fine, we'll work in out later." Roy said as he sat on one of the two beds and unhooked the lead on Franklin. He then opened the cat carrier and Cobalt jump onto the campbed and claimed the pillow. "I think the cat decided for us."
"Possibly. Now, what is happening." Ed said while Riza unleashed Black Hayete.
"The heads of the conspiracy are already in custody. Investigations is sweeping up the remainder." Roy said with a sigh. "You were right in a way, the Chimera Project was born simply to get your attention, it was planted so you would find it right away."
"Son of a Bitch." Ed fumed. "They hurt a bunch of innocent kids as bait? Who are these people?"
"General Hakuro led the movement with Colonels Archer and Haralson" Roy said. He saw the look Riza was giving him and knew he was going to have to tell Ed everything right away. " They intended to take both of us temporarily out of commission and then Grumman would have an accident or heart attack, with Hakuro the only available General he would then be name Fuhrer."
"Then you have to go back, he could still somehow pull it off!" Ed said, hating to send his father away so quickly, but they needed to keep Grumman and the country safe.
"I have the confession on tape. Grumman is also under guard from our teams only, and Armstrong should be arriving in the city…in the next couple of hours. Certainly before I could return." Roy said, and Ed sat back down. "The plan was to take out Hawkeye next, to weaken both mine and Grumman's resolve… I hate to tell you this. I wish I didn't have to, but they targeted Rose the same way. They assumed she was your lover and used her to get rid of you and it worked."
"No it didn't. I'm not going back yet, but I will be back. If what it takes to avenge Rose is pushing you all the way to the top in the next year, that's what I'm doing, because they will not win." Ed said, at the moment his anger pushing aside the guilt already welling deep in his chest. "What they did to her…it was unforgivable."
"It was intentional Ed." Riza said quietly. "After Promised Day enough of the wrong people pieced together what Al was and what that meant. They had no idea who you tried to bring back, but Haralson has seen the result of an attempt. He recreated it and left it for you to find. He hoped to push you over the edge so Roy would be distracted keeping you and the boys safe and they could make their next move."
"What is going to happen to them now?" Ed asked, already knowing the answer just like with the chimera. There was only one punishment for this.
"Haralson and Archer face the firing squad at dawn today, so an hour ago. Hakuro has been generously granted an extra day to say good bye to his children if they wish to come, and to get the list of others involved out of him." Roy said grimly. "None of that is your concern right now Ed. Right now I need you to worry about taking care of yourself."
"The hell it has nothing to do with me? They made it about me." Ed steamed. "They targeted my son's mother, my father, my stepmother, my grandfather. Next would be my brother and my sons. It has everything to do with me and I want to know everything you know Dad."
"I have given you everything I know at this time Ed." Roy said.
"Okay. Okay. Well then." Ed said, and he deflated, crumbling to the bed with a heart wrenching wail. Roy was at his side in an instant, wrapping him in a hug as Riza led the animals out to give them privacy. "I knew it! I knew. She died for me. I killed her, just like Nina, Hughes, Greed, Mom. I didn't keep them safe like I promised and they died!"
"Shh. Shh. Edward. You didn't hurt anyone. You help people wherever you go." Roy soothed as he held his sobbing son. "You were just a child, are just a child no matter how many pins are on your uniform. This was beyond your control."
"Why can't you just hate me? I got Hughes killed, I let Nina die, I trapped my little brother in an unfeeling shell for years. YEARS. I ruin everything I touch."
"You freed at least a dozen towns from tyranny, you took care of your brother every single day since your mother died. You had no way of knowing what was about to happen to Nina. They did this Ed, not you."
Roy had known this would be bad, that it may even knock the boy back toward that terrible day in the rain when Roy received the call about the Tucker girl. This was worse than that. This was tilting dangerously close to the boy Roy found in a wheelchair all those years ago. He would get Ed through this, somehow, he would get the boy back, because if he had been able to reignite the fire in a stranger with massive trauma, surely he could his son.
At some point they had laid down, Ed now laying with his head on Roy's chest and body smashed against the wall. The hitch in his breath had smoothed into a pattern Roy knew to be sleep. Roy held the boy all the tighter and drifted off himself.
Central Command
8:00 am
Parade Grounds
Grumman had insisted on being present for the executions. Likewise, he had insisted they be public. If he intended to start a new era, it had to be done with transparency, at least to this extent. This had pushed it back a scant two hours, which had done nothing but cause anxiety for the prisoners, who it seemed finally understood that no one was going to get them out of this.
The one person in the entirety of the military who may have protested the idea on principle they had removed from the city by murdering his loved one, and threatening the others. It wasn't supposed to go like this, they all agreed. Archer was counting himself lucky at the moment that they had been held in separate calls at least, because he feared the others would have killed him before the state had the chance, or at least beaten him until he wished he was dead.
He still didn't understand completely what had happened and could only assume he had been drugged, not that this knowledge did him any good, either as a way to stop this or to explain to the others, because drugged or not, he had said far too much and ruined everything.
A squad of MPs, all loyal to Armstrong, arrived to lead him to his fate, and Archer didn't fight them. There was no way out of this, no turning back or escaping. It was over. He was just glad that he had managed to shake that little bastard to his core. They tied him to a pole in front of a hastily raised wall and offered him a blindfold. He refused. He intended to look into the eyes of the gunmen, let him haunt their nightmares.
Grumman appeared after both were secured, surrounded by guards and looking far grimmer than anyone had seen from him in years. Haralson was still proclaiming his innocence which was falling on deaf ears, they had the proof, they knew what he had done.
The line of gunmen appeared, and the audience grew silent. Grumman calmly said, "For the crimes of High treason, murder, attempted murder, abduction, attempted abduction, and human experimentation you have been sentenced to death. Your sentence is to be carried out immediately by firing squad and witnessed by open invitation."
"You can't do this!" Haralson attempted one last time.
"By order of the Fuhrer." Grumman finished as if he hadn't been interrupted. No one protested.
Silence fell on the crowd of soldiers and civilians who had appeared. The late evening papers had been almost completely dedicated to the chimera research ring painting Edward Elric as a hero, and the subsequent kidnapping and murder of the young woman who was the mother of his younger son in retaliation. These men had no support from a crowd that considered Edward to be their greatest hero.
The preselected ten men stood in a line and fired at the same time. Only half of them had live rounds, and none of them knew if they had live ammunition or blanks. This was done to prevent anyone from feeling guilty later, or celebrating it depending on the person. With in moments it was over, and Dr. Knox, who had volunteered upon hearing who was being executed, came to confirm they were both dead.
Across the quad, with a perfect view from the room he was being interviewed in, the former General watched his allies fall. Colonel Armstrong had done this on purpose, on his sister's orders. She insisted it would be the easiest way to break the man's resolve, and they needed the rest of the names. Whatever means Mustang had used to get the original confession was a mystery that he had not shared with anyone else. Therefore they were forced to use different tactics.
"Mr. Hakuro, your wife and children are waiting just down the hall to see you. Do not force them to wait until your own execution to say good bye." Armstrong said quietly, there was no sparkle to his normally exuberant air. Just grim determination.
"You would allow two young children to grow up without their father? What honor is there left in your line?" Hakuro said in an attempt to disrupt Armstrong who was known for his near constant rambles about his legacy.
"What honor was there in the torture and murder of a young mother?"
"I know Edward Elric isn't the father of that child." Hakuro said. "He'll be an orphan by the end of the day."
"ENOUGH!" Armstrong demanded. "I will not have you sowing doubts into that boy. Give us the names and you can say your goodbyes to your family, or remain silent and we will find them all anyway."
"I already said my good-byes when they dragged me from my home."
"Very well." Armstrong turned to leave the room. He would send the family away, and recommend she not attend the execution this afternoon, or at least not bring her children. The man was a monster, but his children should not witness his death.
Curtis House
Late Afternoon
The quality of the sunlight when Roy next awoke said that several hours had passed. He could only assume that Riza had filled the others in at least to some extent because no one had come to check on them in that time.
The executions, all three, should be done by now. He had intended to listen to them over the radio, but it was probably for the best that they hadn't with the way the kids were all feeling. It was personal for them, but that didn't mean hearing the announcements would have been easy on them.
What had woken him was a combination of a full bladder and a numb arm. With a small groan he tried to slip out from under the sleeping boy without waking him, and failed miserably. Ed jolted awake, looking around frantically as soon as Roy stood from the bed. "The boys are downstairs with Winry and Alphonse." Roy said, guessing at what Ed was looking for.
Ed slumoed in relief before blinking slowly. "What time is it?"
"I'm not sure, we fell asleep." Roy said as he shook his hand to return feeling to it.
"Oh. So it's over by now?" Ed asked.
"Yes, I am going to call Armstrong when I return from the restroom to find out what they got out of Hakuro."
"Okay, the phone in Izumi's office is secure. Al checked this morning. Fuery taught him how last year." Ed replied.
A few minutes later Roy found the office, and was unsurprised to find that Ed was waiting in there already. Roy tried to talk him into leaving, but Ed just shook his head. He needed to know. Roy called and waited for Armstrong to answer after giving the correct passcodes.
"Ah General Mustang. It is good to hear you arrived safely." Armstrong opened with loudly.
"Hello Armstrong, yes the trip was uneventful. Unlike your day, I assume."
"Hakuro refused to give us any information that we requested, even with the promise of seeing his family to say his fairwells. He did attempt to start a rumor in his final hours, that Edward is not the father of young William. He implied that he himself was."
"Forget about it Amrstrong. It was simply another attempt to discredit and undermine Fullmetal and by extension myself."
"As I assumed sir, however I am uncertain if he had this conversation with anyone other than myself. I kept him in seclusion following his interview, but he had been in a holding cell last night."
"No one is going to listen to a condemned man's ramblings about another condemned man, if he had even tried to spread this last night. He may very well have come up with it during the interview to distract you."
"I am afraid it worked to some extent. I was agitated at the man and left the interview for a time. I did however allow my sister in to speak with him briefly. He said nothing to her at all, aside from implying that she had slept with both you and Grumman to keep her post. He was slightly more bruised than strictly necessary when he appeared before the firing squad."
"Understandable. Have you any other leads on who may still be involved?"
"His wife brought us all the paperwork she could find in his home office, and gave us permission to search the rest of the house. She read the evening paper. She was disturbed."
"Thank you Armstrong, please keep us informed as things develop." Roy said before hanging up the phone.
He turned to Ed, who had been listening into the conversation. "I suppose we no longer need to search for the ones we needed to arrest for war crimes." Roy said.
"Don't worry Dad. It doesn't matter to me. It's no different than Yuery as far as I'm concerned. I am not going to have an issue with that…. And Winry and Rose and I already agreed that William will be raised with the official story and not told the other part." Ed said with a frown. "Yuery is slightly different, in time I will tell him, but his parents were good people who died protecting him. Rose and them. It doesn't change that I am their Dad and now Winry is their mom. Now lets go find my boys and let the others know at least this part is over."
They went in search of the others, they found the babies in the kitchen with Mason, who looked every bit as out of his element as the last time he had been left in charge of Yuery. He also had William sitting in a milk crate on the counter while he stirred something on the stove and Yuery was sitting at the table.
"Why do you keep sticking my children in crates?!" Edward demanded as he retrieved the baby.
"I needed both hands!" Mason defended, though that was not strictly true. Babies made him nervous.
"Use the sling! It's right there at the table!" Ed said as Roy walked over to the table to check on Yuery. Izumi and Riza reentered the room from the garden as Roy reached for the toddler and Ed continued to yell about the sling.
Why is my grandson tied to a chair?" Roy asked calmly as he untied Yuery. Silence descended as everyone turned to Mason.
"He wouldn't sit still." Mason said, as Izumi stormed over to him and grabbed him by the ear. Before anyone else could react she had dragged him out of the room .
"I would leave them with Havoc before I left them with Mason again." Edward said, as he hugged both boys to him. "Don't worry guys, he won't bother you again."
"Where is everyone?" Roy asked Riza.
"Sig took Al and Mei to the Butchers to help him out. Winry wasn't feeling well, headache, so she's lying down. Izumi and I just went next door to get something, Mason only had to watch them for five minutes."
"Last time I asked him to watch Yuery because Al had been kidnapped, when I got back he had stuck Yuery in a crate behind the counter and just kept filling orders. He didn't even bother to change his diaper the whole time I was gone."
"There…is a lot to process in that statement." Roy said. "When was this?"
"Last year? It was right after I got out of the hospital when Lab 5 collapsed." Ed said. "I had gone down to turn in my annual paperwork in South City, when I got back Al had been kidnapped. Izumi knew something was wrong because Al left the broom out."
"Okay, and he left the baby in a crate? Around knives and animal parts and any number of possible hazards? Who took Al." Roy asked, still confused.
"Greed, the first one. He wanted to know about blood seals. I already beat Mason up for endangering my son, so did Izumi, but I think the lesson didn't stick. I think he might need to meet Winry's wrench."