Chapter Text
Mustang groaned as he read through the rather straight forward, if somewhat short, report one of the corporals that had ‘assisted’ Edward on his latest mission had written and sent him. Mustang had learned early on in Edward’s rather destructive military career to have standing orders that at least one other military soldier was to submit a report to him so he would have an idea of what damages he would need to report to the Fuhrer so he could sign off on what the military would pay for and submit it to the treasury department. Mustang had realised that sometimes Edward either forgot – which given how much property damaged he sometimes caused, was entirely possible – or he simply neglected to put it on the report because he didn’t think it mattered that the building that was, in Edward’s words, one slight breeze away from falling over was used to cushion a bad guy’s fall. Mustang had tried very hard not to bang his head on his desk when Edward had told him that and he had issued the standing order to every military command or outpost by the time Edward had been sent on his next mission.
Mustang had – perhaps foolishly, it seemed – hoped that after their rather unexpected adventure to New York and working with the BAU that Edward would’ve learned to be a little more aware of his surroundings and stop using people's cars as shields and weapons against the criminal he happened to be fighting. It didn’t help that Alphonse was out of hospital but not cleared to assist his brother with missions so Edward was even more anxious to get back to Central as quickly as possible, using any means to make that goal happen. Including using an alchemised stone pillar to launch a parked car at the alchemist, who successfully dodged it so it hit the shop behind the criminal but stepped right into Ed’s automail fist and was promptly arrested by the irate blonde. According to Corporal Jackson’s report, there were many complaints about how he could’ve just saved everyone a lot of time if he’d surrendered but no, he had to be a dick and put up a fight despite the fact he wouldn’t have won a fight against him. Mustang groaned once more. Ed was right but there was no reason the car and shop had to be damaged to win that fight. His phone rang and he picked it up without opening his eyes. It was his first day since his promotion to Brigadier-General yesterday and the phone rarely went fifteen minutes without ringing.
“Mustang,” he answered and was relieved and scared to hear his Captain’s voice on the other end of the line. His promotion had also come with a rise in the ranks for all of his team. Edward had been the only exception, telling Mustang to fuck off with his offer to promote him to Lieutenant-Colonel.
“The Elric brothers are here to see you, Sir.” Mustang almost sighed. It wasn’t a call to inform him there was more paperwork – something that seemed to have tripled thanks to his promotion – but at the same time he didn’t want to deal with Edward’s yelling at the moment.
“Send them in,” was all he said as he hung up the phone and glared at the report in front of him. He didn’t even have the time to gather his strength to try and not respond to Edward as he normally did, something he admittedly was getting better at considering the teenager was much less likely to rage as much as before Promised Day. That didn’t mean the blonde took being told that his methods were too destructive for the military’s liking calmly.
“What up, Colonel Bastard?” Ed said as he entered the room. At least he didn’t kick his way in, another thing that had changed since Promised Day.
“Brigadier-General, brother,” Al reminded him as he shut the door behind them. Ed made a face.
“It doesn’t really roll off the tongue the same way. ‘Brigadier-General Bastard’. See? It doesn’t sound right,” Ed complained as he flopped onto the couch, barely wincing as his ribs and other minor injuries were jostled.
“Be nice, brother,” Al sighed as he knocked Ed’s feet off the couch so he could sit down next to Ed. Ed just put them in his brother’s lap. Al sighed but left them there. Mustang gathered the report Corporal Jackson had sent and went to sit on the couch that faced the brothers.
“Being nice takes so much effort, Al, and I already have to put a lot of energy into not swearing around Elysia,” Ed whined softly as his brother chuckled and pet his knee soothingly. Mustang felt himself relax slightly. If Ed was this relaxed that he would joke with Al like that in front of him, maybe this wouldn’t go as badly as Mustang thought.
Thanks to their trip to New York and their time spent with the BAU where – at the start, anyway – the only person they could fully trust was the other alchemist, their relationship had grown stronger, if only a bit. Then there had been the anticipated fallout from their actions against Harding that had resulted in the rogue alchemist’s death. Edward had handled it in his usual fashion; refused to acknowledge it was a problem and became increasingly reckless on missions before pulling a stunt so dangerous, Mustang had cancelled any meetings he’d scheduled the day Ed was to report in and somehow got Hawkeye to agree to leave any paperwork he needed done from the time Ed was supposed to arrive until after Ed had left or the next day, depending on how quickly the issue was resolved. Mustang was under the impression that Hawkeye had only agreed because she liked Ed more than him but he didn’t want to be shot so he kept that thought quiet and merely thanked her. Edward had not taken the treatment lightly and Mustang was glad his newly built office was soundproof for this exact reason.
Once he’d realised that yelling at him wasn’t going to get him to open the door, Edward had threatened to alchemise a new door in the building and Mustang had told him he would only prolong the issue and cause Al even more stress. It was a very low blow but Mustang didn’t regret it since it got Edward to sit down. Then nearly an hour passed where neither said anything before Ed broke down and told him what had been going on. There had been tears, apologies and advice given before they were finished and Mustang let him stay in the office for a little while longer so Ed could compose himself. They walked out to find only Hawkeye in the outer office and both looked at the clock and only then realised how long they’d been locked in the office. Hawkeye had simply looked at them, commented how she hoped she wouldn’t be filling out requisition forms for property damage and that she hoped they’d resolved their differences before reminding Mustang he had paperwork to finish tomorrow so he had better be on time to work.
Mustang liked to think that his and Edward’s relationship had only gotten stronger since then but he also knew how volatile the blonde was likely to be still. Their relationship was better and he trusted Ed was likely to come to him with any problem – professional or personal – a lot easier than before Promised Day but he also knew there was a part of the blonde that still believed that Mustang would abandon him or betray him or something else of the like. It didn’t help that, in public, Mustang still treated him like he had before Promised Day, if only a little better since neither of them was likely to fall for each other’s taunts like they had before.
“So, what’s the issue today, Mustang?” Ed’s demand broke Mustang out of his thoughts and brought him back to the present. Mustang shook his head slightly and gestured to the report he’d placed on the coffee table. Edward glanced at it before raising a brow at Mustang in question.
“I need your report, Fullmetal.” Ed groaned as he sat up, swinging his feet out of his brother’s lap before reaching into his red coat’s pocket and pulling out some papers and handing them over. Mustang accepted them with an annoyed scowl at their condition before reading them quickly.
“At least it matches Corporal Jackson's.” Mustang sighed as he put it down. He didn’t miss Edward’s scowl or the casual way Al gripped his brother’s arm to stop him yelling straight away. Mustang was grateful. “Can you tell me why you decided it was necessary to throw a car into a shop? Because I certainly didn’t read anything in yours or Jackson's reports that told me there was no other way than catapulting a civilian's car at the criminal to stop him.” Mustang couldn’t stop the slight snark that came through with his words and he could see Al tighten his grip a little on Ed's arm.
“How would you have dealt with that dick then? Assuming you didn’t have your flame alchemy?” Ed asked, voice barely below scathing, as he crossed his arms and glared at Mustang.
“Why didn’t you just use the stone pillar to try and stop him? That’s what I would’ve done,” Mustang told him and Ed scoffed.
“The only reason that idiot didn’t see me coming was because I used something big to throw at him. He couldn’t see me move around the car and ambush him when he dodged,” Ed pointed out like it was something obvious and Mustang could give him that but he’d never admit it.
“Why not construct a stone slab to throw at him then?” Mustang parried back and Ed raised a brow.
“You mean ‘why did I choose the less-than-a-tonne car as opposed to making a two or three tonne stone block to throw at the person who I knew would dodge which means the shop behind him would be hit’? Gee, let me think,” Ed said sarcastically. Even Al winced at the amount of sarcasm Ed put in those last four words.
“You could’ve made it lighter or hollow,” Mustang said, feeling his temper rise at the rate it normally did when dealing with an argumentative Edward.
“Except I would’ve had to be more careful with how much force I put behind it or risk him figuring it out and destroying it and damaging more property,” Ed pointed out. “He is one of the better stone alchemists out there,” Ed begrudgingly admitted while rubbing his shoulder. The rogue alchemist had managed to land a good hit there. He was not very appreciative of the nasty bruise there.
“You can’t keep causing so much in property damage, Fullmetal! The military can’t afford to keep covering it!” Mustang snapped, his temper having got the better of him. Ed’s eyes widened in shock before narrowing almost immediately.
“Next time you think you could cause less damage than me, you take the fucking case!” Ed snarled as Al tried to keep the situation from getting worse.
“That wouldn’t help since you wouldn’t be learning the lesson! Maybe I should see if the Fuhrer will take some, if not all, of the costs out of your pay! You might learn something that way!” Mustang suggested scathingly and Ed was about to growl out a response when the phone rang. “We’re not done here. Don’t you dare go anywhere,” Mustang told him as he stood and strode over to his desk. “Mustang,” he bit out when he answered before frowning. “Did they say what they wanted?” A pause before “Put them through.”
Ed and Al were having a whispered argument while Mustang was on the phone. He only had to wait a few moments before the phone clicked and the person on the other end of the line told him why they were calling him. He barely contained his sigh before responding, telling the soldier that he’d send someone out right away. The soldier thanked him before Mustang hung up.
“We’ll discuss this further, Fullmetal,” Mustang said before facing the brothers. “There’s a suspicious death out near the pub on East Street. Go assist with it until they figure out if it was an intentional or an accidental death,” Mustang ordered. He saw the mulish expression on the blonde’s face and knew their unfinished argument was about to bite him in the arse.
“Why don’t you go and investigate it? I would hate to cause some unnecessary property damage for the military to deal with,” Ed snarked and Al facepalmed from behind him. “Better yet, why don’t we go with you? Wouldn’t want to pass up the opportunity to watch a master investigator in action, now would we?” Al looked like he was considering praying.
“Fine.” Ed’s shocked face almost made the lecture he was going to get from Hawkeye worth it. “Let’s go,” he said, heading for his coat rack and snatching his jacket before walking out, the two Elric brothers following suit. He didn’t notice them giving the team an ‘I dunno look’ as they walked to the door. “I’ll be back for my 2pm meeting,” Mustang said, risking a glance at Hawkeye and yup – he’d probably end up with a bullet lodged somewhere in his body when he gets back.
The walk to the military car lot was quiet and Mustang could still sense the general ‘what the fuck’ feel coming from the two brothers but he didn’t say a word, except to requisition a car and a driver for a couple of hours. Private Parton was their driver and Mustang gave him the address they were needed at as he and the boys climbed into the back seat.
“Alright, we give. What the fuck, Mustang?” Ed asked with his usual tact.
“You said you wanted to see a ‘master investigator’ – if I remember correctly – in action,” Mustang reminded him.
“Yeah but that doesn’t explain why you’re with us. Now, if you were Miss Riza, that would make more sense,” Ed told him and Mustang thought he heard a suspicious sounding cough coming from their driver. Mustang chose to be the bigger man and ignore him.
“How is your recovery going, Alphonse? I’m sorry I didn’t ask earlier,” Mustang said instead. Both Mustang and Al ignored Ed’s muttered ‘nice change in subject’ as the elder Elric leaned back in his seat more.
“I’m doing a lot better, Sir. Thank you for asking. I have a doctor’s appointment in a month’s time to see if I can be cleared to accompany Brother on his missions once more,” Al told him excitedly. Ed’s features softened slightly, as did Mustang’s. Both of them knew the other would never call them out on it. It was one of the few times they didn’t mention anything about the other showing the slightest bit of weakness.
“That’s very good to hear, Alphonse. I hope it goes well for you.” Mustang smiled gently and was rewarded with the younger blonde smiling back. Being able to see Al show any kind of emotion was still something the team wasn’t quite used to yet.
“Thank you, Sir,” Al said as Ed nudged his foot and nodded out of the car’s window. Mustang looked to see what he’d spotted and noted they were driving down East Street now.
“We’re here, Sir,” Private Parton said right on time. “Would you like me to remain here with the car, Sir?” Mustang thought it over.
“Yes. I doubt we’ll be too long,” Mustang said and Parton nodded as the rest of them climbed out. The smell hit them first, even though the body was further in the alley.
“Oh,” Ed said as soon as he’d shut his door. “No wonder they called you.” All joking was gone as both Ed and Mustang tried to hide their reaction to the charred meat scent on the air.
“What is it?” Al asked, confused. Ed winced. His brother hadn’t been exposed to this kind of thing much. Even when he was in the armour, Ed had tried to hide as much of the death side of the military from him as he could.
“Burnt body,” Ed whispered back to him and he heard Al’s sharp inhale. “Don’t ask me right now, Al. I don’t think I can answer,” Ed said quietly, not looking at Al or Mustang. He heard Al’s quiet noise of protest and he saw Mustang’s worried expression for the moment he allowed it show before the mask was back in place just as the lead investigator on the scene approached them.
“Brigadier-General Mustang?” the woman asked as she stuck her hand out for Mustang to shake. Mustang did. “I’m Lieutenant-Colonel Granger,” she said before eyeing up the two boys. “The Fullmetal Alchemist, I presume?” she asked, presenting her hand for Ed to shake.
“Yup,” he said as he shook her hand before gesturing to Al. “This is my younger brother, Alphonse.”
“Pleasure,” she said, shaking Al’s hand before facing Mustang. “He was discovered roughly thirty minutes ago by the waitress who had come in to set the restaurant for its lunch service. First responders arrived but pronounced him dead at the scene. They ended up taking the waitress to the hospital for shock. Coroner should be here any moment to hopefully give us time and cause of death. If you would follow me?” she asked before giving them really no choice. The three followed, though Ed did suggest Al stay at the mouth of the alleyway. Al just followed him and Ed didn’t argue. Stubborn may be one of the first words you come up with to describe Edward but it was certainly a trait present in both Elrics.
The body was half burnt, the mid-torso and up was charred enough that the man wasn’t recognisable. Both Ed and Mustang took a deep breath before steadying their stomachs and steeling their nerves so they could crouch next to the body to get a closer look. Al took a few steps back and focused on his breathing for a moment. No one blamed him. There were other officers milling about, taking photos of everything and hunting for potential witnesses. Lieutenant-Colonel Granger stood a respectful distance away before the sound of a vehicle pulling up caught her attention and she motioned for a nearby Captain to go and lead the person through.
“That will be the coroner. What are your thoughts, Sirs?” she asked as the two men straightened.
“That burn pattern is weird, right?” Ed asked, not worried about seeming like he knew everything for the moment. This was something he’d only ever dealt with the one time and he’d barely glimpsed Harding’s body after he’d destroyed one of the walls that had trapped the mutated alchemist.
“Yes. It appears something flammable was tipped or spilled on his head and face. See how the burn isn’t as severe on the back of his head and neck?” Mustang pointed out. Ed nodded. “Since we’re in an area known for its pubs and nightlife, I’d hazard a guess he went out drinking,” Ed and Mustang moved aside to let the coroner through before Mustang continued, “last night and either had a drink splashed in his face just before stumbling out here or spilled some alcohol onto himself. It’s possible he came out here for a cigarette, lit it up and the fumes caught fire,” Mustang said. “If there’s a head wound, it could be caused by him trying to escape the flames, jerking back and hitting the wall hard enough to stun or knock himself clean out,” Mustang suggested to the coroner. The man nodded as he started working.
“Ed, Brigadier-General Mustang?” Al’s voice sounded and both men turned to see what was wrong. He pointed to a dark brown, half-broken, half-melted bottle of whiskey everyone had overlooked a few feet from the body.
“Private Wilson! Photograph and bag this,” Granger called, waving the man with the camera over and gesturing to the bottle. Wilson immediately did as he was told, softly asking Al to move as he snapped the photos needed before producing a bag and using a gloved hand, placed it inside and scribbling something on it before heading to the parked cars to place it in the growing box of evidence. As per protocol, this death would be treated as suspicious until the investigators were told otherwise.
“I have the man’s wallet, Sir, Ma’am,” the coroner interrupted them, handing it to the gloved Lieutenant-Colonel, who immediately opened it and looked for his identification.
“It seems like he was in the military as well. Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Chambers,” Granger told them and Mustang immediately stiffened.
“What did he do for the military? I’ve never heard of him,” Ed asked before anyone else could say anything.
“He was an assessor for the State Alchemy program. It was his job to sort through applications. Those he approved would go on to actually sit the exam. Those he rejected would be given the reason but were free to apply once they felt like they could,” Granger told him. Ed and Al nodded however the clearing of a throat had them looking at Mustang.
“I apologise, Lieutenant-Colonel. Fullmetal and I will need to excuse ourselves from this investigation,” Mustang told her. Ed looked surprised while Granger looked suspicious.
“May I ask why, Brigadier-General, Sir?” Her voice was polite enough but there was an undercurrent of thirst to know sounding there.
“Yeah, what gives?” Ed asked, sounded annoyed and confused. No one commented on the soft ‘brother’ coming from behind them.
“Three weeks ago, Chambers denied an alchemist I had recommended to the State Alchemy program for having a minor assault charge for a street brawl on his record. Chambers and I got into an argument because I pointed out that it shouldn’t affect him, not under Fuhrer Grumman’s new rules since the man hadn’t started the altercation, hadn’t resisted his arrest or the charges and had served the time he’d been sentenced. Chambers had still declined his application and refused to budge in his decision. This alchemist would be an asset to the military, something I tried to argue as well, and I threatened to take this matter higher if Chambers refused to change his mind or supply a reason under Fuhrer Grumman’s new rules as to why the alchemist couldn’t be approved,” Mustang explained. Ed vaguely wondered who this new alchemist was considering he was the only one – as far as he knew, anyway – that Mustang had ever recommended. “I filed the necessary paperwork last week and was expecting the results of the inquisition sometime late next week. As far as I knew, Chambers was planning on filing paperwork to accuse me of using my position to push through unfit applications but I don’t know for certain how true that accusation is,” Mustang told her before gesturing to Ed. “I’m ordering Fullmetal to stay away from this for the same reason. I don’t think you would appreciate all your hard work being thrown out because the defence argues conflict of interest when you finally manage to find the killer and this case goes to trial since this is no longer an accidental death.” Granger sighed before nodding.
“Thank you for your assistance, Brigadier-General Mustang, Major Elric, but I believe you are correct in this matter,” Granger said. The three turned to leave, Al having stayed silent during the exchange, when Granger spoke up again. “If I may ask before you leave, Sir; why do you believe this to no longer be the accidental scenario you described earlier? With the spilled whiskey and cigarette?” Granger asked, puzzled at his wording when he told them why he was having Ed not stay involved in the case.
“Chambers wasn’t a smoker and was very vocal about his displeasure for anyone who did,” Mustang told her and she nodded. She watched as the three retreated and climbed back in their car.
As it pulled away, Granger had the thought that Mustang was right to pull himself and his subordinate back from this case. If he’d stayed on and that information had come to light, he would’ve been accused of trying to influence the investigation away from himself and frame someone else. She, of course, would have to investigate his story further and ask him for his alibi for the early hours of this morning and last night, assuming the coroner could give her time of death. It didn’t slip by her that given the way the victim appeared to have been killed and what Mustang had just told her, the Brigadier-General likely would’ve been her first stop so she could clear him and move on to other suspects. After all, Brigadier-General Mustang wouldn’t have had anything to do with this.
The same thoughts were crossing the minds of those who had heard Mustang. He would’ve definitely been a suspect but the man was a war hero and one of those who were vital to the plans to defeat Father. There’s no way he would have killed a man like this because of a silly argument that was already being resolved legally. The investigative team all mentally shook their heads as they got back to work. As disappointing as it was not having Mustang’s knowledge or Edward’s help on the matter, they still had a job to do.
“Brother?” Al asked as they left Central Command. Mustang had dismissed Ed almost as soon as Private Parton had pulled the car into its spot and headed back up to the office without wanting to discuss Ed’s most recent mission further. Edward didn’t argue.
“Yeah, Al?” Ed asked as they headed back to Gracia’s.
“Are you alright?” Al asked and they both knew exactly why he was.
Harding’s death had messed him up to the point that Mustang had been worried enough to stage an intervention to get the reason for his recklessness. Neither of them were idiots; both had known why Ed was acting that way but Mustang had understood that Ed wouldn’t say anything until he wanted to. He’d been forced to act as he did when Edward had nearly gotten himself blown up because he’d taunted the criminal far more than necessary.
“I think so. It was more of a shock but I think I was kind of expecting it, you know? Why else would they call Mustang out personally?” Ed said as they crossed the street. “I mean, everyone knows he’s only called in when there’s a fire or something similar so I’d already suspected that’s what we’d be going to see,” Ed told him before shaking his head and scoffing. “Still didn’t mean I was ready to be hit with that, though,” Ed said almost too quietly to be heard.
“It’s weird that it was someone the brigadier-general knew and was arguing with though, wasn’t it?” Al hummed thoughtfully. Ed shrugged.
“You heard what the bastard said. Chambers, or whatever his name was, had turned that alchemist down for a dumb reason. If he’d done something like that to someone that was recommended by Mustang, imagine what he’d done to those that came with no egotistical Colonels or Generals recommendations?” Ed asked rhetorically. “I’m glad I’m not in charge of that case though. I don’t envy Granger at all,” he admitted.
“Why’s that, Brother?” Al asked and Ed smirked.
“Can you imagine me listening to dozens of whiny alchemists telling me their sob stories about how they were turned away? Most of them would probably ask me to recommend them then they’d get pissy when I don’t. You know how well I deal with people like that,” Ed told him, full on grinning as his brother laughed.
“Yes, it’s probably for the best Mustang pulled you away. I don’t think he’d appreciate all of the paperwork you would cause him for punching that many people,” Al said, still chuckling as they continued down the street, heading back for Gracia’s so they’d be home before Elysia was finished her half-day of school.