The Blue Squad

“You seem real distracted,” Jean pointed out, casually lighting a cigarette.

Alee looked at him glumly from across the table in the busy mess hall. Maybe if she’d actually been hungry, she would’ve chastised him for smoking while she was eating, but she’d lost her appetite long ago. She just sighed and pushed her plate away.

“Is it the raids?” he continued, leaning forward onto his elbows.

She shook her head.

“Well, they’ve got me going for sure. It’s like since we’ve captured their leader, the organization has all disappeared. I’m not stupid; I know they’re just waiting around for the right time.”

“Sorry, but are you talking about the Blue Squad?”

“Yeah. I can’t track ‘em.”

“Did you send Breda out again?” Alee chuckled, glad for the distraction from Isaac. “I couldn’t help but notice he’s not here.”

Jean frowned and puffed on his cigarette.

“Not happy, huh?” She imagined the hefty Second Lieutenant Breda’s face when he realized he’d been sent on yet another wild goose chase by Jean, and laughed.

“Anyway, it’s not like it’s my fault!” Jean huffed, crossing his arms defensively. “The higher ups keep breathing down my neck for results when they hardly give me anything to work with! How am I supposed to catch ghosts?”

“Lieutenant Colonel!” someone called from across the hall. “Lieutenant Colonel!”

Alee looked up, surprised as a bespectacled young man with a sweet, boyish face and black hair ran up to their table and saluted.

“Sir, Colonel Mustang says it’s imperative that you come to C-sec as soon as possible.” After a moment’s consideration, he added, “You too, Havoc.”

Needing no further invitation, they followed Fuery out of the mess hall.

“What’s wrong, Fuery?” Alee asked as they walked briskly down the hall, all business.

“It’s General Hakuro. We think he’s on a train that’s just been hijacked by the eastern extremists—“

“Lemmie guess,” Havoc groaned.

“—the Blue Squad.”

Havoc groaned again, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Stow it, Havoc,” Alee ordered, casting him a sympathetic look. “Any ETA on the train to East City Station?”

“Breda was working on it when the Colonel sent me to get you. He’d just gotten back to HQ when we got the call.”

“Just our luck,” Alee mused. “Now no one can go home early. Can’t the general take a vacation to the North for once?” Come to think of it, that sounded like a good idea. Maybe she’d take her own Northern vacation when this was over.

The tree of them quickly turned a corner and Fuery led them through the first door on the right. All kinds of beeps and whirs and typing and chatter greeted them as they entered the room. Soldiers flitted from screen to screen relaying orders, getting intel, reporting back. The whole room was buzzing; lights winking, every radio in use.

“Heeeeyyy,” a large, scruffy man greeted, raising his steaming cup of tea. “Glad you could join the party, sir.”

“Second Lieutenant Breda,” Alee acknowledged, striding towards him. She noted with distaste that his uniform was unbuttoned and wrinkled, as usual. How many times would she have to remind him to clean up before he would listen?

“Fuery, the Colonel wants you back on intel,” Breda said gruffly, waving what looked like a time table.

He nodded curtly and rushed past them.

“You’ll get it big time now, buddy,” Breda teased Havoc, eyeing him over his cup.

Havoc scowled at him, about to retort but Alee quickly cut him off. “Where is the colonel?”

Breda turned and pointed back behind him wordlessly.

“Thank you. Come on, Havoc,” Alee said briskly, heading in the direction Breda had pointed.

As they passed him, Havoc stuck out his tongue at Breda who swiped at him with the time table.

“Would you two cut it out?” Alee snapped. “I swear, you two act like children.”

“You’re one to talk,” Havoc shot back.

Colonel Mustang was bent over Sergeant Fuery as he worked furiously at a typewriter, headphones over his ears.

“Sir,” she addressed him, saluting. “You summoned us?”

He looked up and nodded. “Yes. You’ve been filled in, I imagine?”

“Yes, sir. Are we sure the General is on board?”

He shrugged. “Fuery’s getting the guest list to the party now. I sure wish one of my subordinates who was assigned to track down Blue Squad had actually done his job—“ (Jean scowled and pulled out a cigarette.) “—now we’re all stuck here.” Roy cupped his chin in his hand and leaned towards Alee conspiratorially, saying, “I guess the general’s just going to have to sacrifice himself so that we can wrap this thing up right away…”

Alee smiled and shook her head at him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, colonel,” Fuery said, voicing Alee’s thoughts as he pulled off the headset. He reached forward and tore a piece of paper off his typewriter and handed it back to Roy. “Here is the list of passengers, sir.”

Havoc sidled closer to Roy to look over his shoulder. “Ah. Old man Hakuro really is on board with his family,” he said, glancing up at Alee.

“Shall I mobilize a team to intercept the train, sir?” Alee asked.

“Good grief…” Roy muttered, ignoring her. “I’m sure he knew that the situation out east is unstable, and yet he still comes here on vacation…” He rubbed his temple and scanned the page again. Suddenly, his face lit up. “Hold on, everyone!” he announced loudly. “I think we can go home earlier today than we thought.”

Everyone paused in what they were doing to stare at him in confusion.

“Sir?”

Roy looked up at Alee, smiled, handed her the list and said, “The Fullmetal Alchemist is onboard.”

Everyone relaxed but Alee. Fullmetal was a good kid and all, but a hothead and was just as likely to do more damage than help in this hostage situation.

“As for intercepting the train,” Roy continued, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “no need. Assemble a cleanup crew, that’s all that will be necessary. Have them ready to be at East City Station at—what time, Breda?”

“Three fifteen, sir,” he answered promptly from across the room.

“Yes, there you are then.”

He motioned for Lieutenant Hawkeye and they started to leave.

“But sir,” Alee complained, following him as he made to leave. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You know how he is—“

“And so do you,” Roy cut her off sharply. “Elric is more than capable of handling these terrorists—probably not discreetly—but he’ll handle them.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and beckoned for her to come closer. “Listen AJ, I know you’re itching to fight. Your talents are squandered here in East City. I get it. I’m frustrated too. I’m reduced to lighting some of Havoc’s cigarettes sometimes, just so I can put on my gloves. It’s boring, it’s demoralizing, I know, but we can’t go mixing up in things unnecessarily. Think of it this way, if the general gets murdered, would you rather it be your fault or Fullmetal’s?”

Alee rolled her eyes at him. “That’s selfish! I just think that since this is happening in our district, we’re the ones responsible, we should take care of it.”

Roy smirked at her. “Just got transferred and you’re already trying to leave? You won’t attract anyone’s attention with theatrics, trust me. I’ve been trying for years.” He and Hawkeye stopped in front of his office door, his hand on the knob. He turned to Alee with an impish grin and said, “Face it, Alee: you’re stuck here with me for good.”

A Cryptic Call

A few weeks ago, a crazed, distracted Isaac called her in the wee hours of the morning with a puzzling, cryptic message. She’d barely had time to dissect the event herself, besides, she was told to stay silent…

“Hull? Whoisthis?” Alee mumbled sleepily, squinting at the numbers on the alarm clock on the bedside table. They read three twenty-six AM.

“Alee?” Isaac‘s deep voice gasped. It wasn’t slow and soothing like it usually was. He sounded awful, desperate, deranged.

“Master?” Alee cried, instantly awake and alerted. “What’s wrong? Why are you calling me now? Has something happened? Where are you? I’ve been looking all over the place for you! When I stopped getting your letters, I didn’t know what to think! And no one has seen or heard from you—“

“Stop! Alee! Shut up, I don’t have much time!”

Alee’s words died in her throat. She was taken aback and extremely hurt. Isaac has never spoken to her that way before, not even when he learned she’d attempted human transmutation.

He made an exasperated sound on the other side of the line.”Look, I’m sorry, alee,” he said more calmly now, but it sounded forced. “I know you must have been worried but there’s no time for that now I’ve discovered something…something terrible within the military.”

Alee just listened in stunned silence.

“There’s too much to explain. Besides, I couldn’t bear to think of them coming after you because of me… Which is why if they ask you anything, anything at all about me, you must claim ignorance. Never speak to anyone of this. Promise me.” He waited for her to respond, but dread had made her whole body go numb. “Promise me, alee!” he snapped.

“Y-yes,” she stuttered. “I-I promise, Isaac…”

He breathed a shaky sigh of relief, “Good… Good girl. You’ve grown up so much in all these years into such a glorious woman. You were a perfect pupil who became more than I had ever hoped you could be. I…” He paused. Alee hung onto the phone like it was a lifeline. “Alee, I need you to listen to me now the way you always have, are you paying attention?”

Alee nodded mutely before realizing he couldn’t see her. She carefully licked her dry lips and whispered, “Yes.”

“You need to leave the country. Please? You must quit the military and flee the country as soon as possible! It’s not safe. The military is dangerous, trust no one! They have been up to terrible things, really horrible workings, things you can’t even imagine…” He stopped again. Alee couldn’t breathe. Was he in pain? Here was he? And what was all this military nonsense? “Can you do this?”

Alee didn’t know what to say. Quit the military she had been a part of, worked so hard for, for twelve year? It was preposterous! This was crazy. She just wanted to see Isaac, help him, make him stop talking so crazy. He was really staring to scare her. “Yes?” she finally managed, feeling tears spring to her eyes. What else could she possibly say?

“I need you to do this, Alee. I need you to be strong, stick to your convictions, think for yourself…like you did in Ishval…my Ice Angel.”

She gasped. She thought no one knew about that. Was it coincidence? Was he just too far gone now?

“I’m about to do something…” he whispered now, more to himself than Alee. “I have to act. I cannot forgive myself if I just stood around, not again, not like in Ishval—“

Was he cracking?”

“It’s a slim chance it will work. We are dealing with greater powers now—“

“Isaac, please,“ Alee begged, finally finding her voice. “Come here, to the east. I’ve just been transferred, please come find me. Talk to me. Isaac…” The tears spilled over, falling, unbidden, down her cheeks.

He laughed humorlessly in response. “Were it so easy,” he murmured. “Alee? Whatever happens… I hope… I just wanted you… Nngh! Just, be safe, Alee. Do as I say. If all goes well, I will come find you, if not….” The line went silent for such a long time, Alee wasn’t even sure if he was still on the line. “Alee, I love you.” Then the line clicked off as Isaac hung up, leaving Alee clutching the dead receiver.

That was two weeks ago.

True to her word, she hadn’t told anyone, but she certainly hadn’t fled the country and she definitely wasn’t quitting the military.

She’d kept her eyes and ears peeled for any news of activity but there was none of that. There was no sign of Isaac anywhere. Not that she knew what quite to say to him if he did turn up. His message had left her unnerved to say the least with his last words ringing in her ears for days.

But where was he?

***

Making the Papers

"Didn't you hear the big news?"

Colonel Roy Mustang threw a magazine down onto Lieutenant Colonel Alee Justicar's desk, making her jump.

She turned her sky blue eyes up to Roy's wide, gleeful face with a questioning look. "Sir?" she asked doubtfully. She really hoped he hadn't said anything important since she hadn't even been listening to him in the slightest.

Roy just grinned and tapped on the magazine cover.

Alee looked down at it and immediately slammed her hand over the giant beaming picture of herself. "Ugh, here we go," she groaned, rolling her eyes.

Roy burst out laughing, doubling over her desk. Tears started streaming down his face.

Angrily, Alee rolled up the tabloid and hit him with it. He just raised his arms to ward off her harmless blows, still pointing and laughing. "'Most Beautiful Woman in Amestris,' huh?" he gasped finally, batting away her shots easily.

"Rrrrrr!" Alee wound up for a more powerful smack when Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc poked his head in the room.

"I think congratulations are in order, right ma'am? For being the most beautif--" The magazine flew hard into his face.

Colonel Mustang chuckled at Havoc's confused face before wiping away the last stray tears from his face. He straightened up, running his fingers through his shock of messy black hair and took a deep breath. "Sorry, Alee. I couldn't resist. Honestly though, why did you even agree to their interview? You hate this kind of publicity."

Alee sighed and threw herself back into her chair, letting her head fall into her hand. "When they forced me into the contest, I didn't think I'd actually win. I just wanted them to leave me alone. Do people really care about this garbage?"

"How could you think you weren't going to win?" Havoc asked, bringing the magazine back to Alee's desk. He glanced at the tabloid then looked away shyly mumbling, "S'not like you need to win a dumb contest to know that...."

Alee smiled sweetly at the tall man with rumpled dirty blonde hair. Like everyone else around here, he wore his standard issue gold embroidered, crisp, blue military uniform. The fact that it happened to be the same shade as his eyes was mere happy coincidence. He'd given her the warmest welcome when she'd first been transferred to East City Headquarters but she'd always secretly found him charming. It was too bad he was a habitual smoker though, it really put a damper on things.

Roy, on the other hand, was Havoc's opposite. He was small of stature with jet black hair and eyes and, unlike Havoc, didn't bat an eye at her transfer. He knew better. They were exes so she wasn't a novelty. They were left with no awkwardness after the breakup, just a mutual understanding and a strong friendship. Besides, Alee knew he was meant for someone else.

He ignored her exchange with Havoc, leaned on the desk, and started thumbing through the magazine. "It's just a popularity contest, Alee. You're a veteran of the Ishvalan War, the youngest State Alchemist, not to mention a rare beauty anyways. It'll blow over, I'm sure."

"Don't let the First Lieutenant hear you," Alee teased, making him tense up. She allowed herself a satisfied smirk. It was good to know that woman was still his soft spot, even if he was in denial about it.

"Except that she's not the youngest State Alchemist anymore," Havoc reminded them. "Remember, there's Edward  Elric."

Alee frowned and looked down at her lap. Yes, the Fullmetal Alchemist. She'd met him back at Central Command and had been there three years ago for his State Licensing Exam. She had joined the military at sixteen; the youngest State Alchemist to boot and also the first female, but Ed? That poor boy was twelve when he became the military's dog, a good kid with good intentions. Alee laughed bitterly. Didn't they all come in with"good intentions?" Anyways, she'd learned the hard way that sixteen was too young, she couldn't even imagine being twelve.

"How could I forget?" Mustang groaned. "You know, I think he'll be stopping by soon. He's been asking questions about bio-alchemy. I might introduce him to Shou Tucker."

"The Sewing Life Alchemist?" Havoc asked, surprised. "What for?"

"So this is where you're hiding," a crisp voice interjected.

The three of them looked up to see First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye standing in the door. Her blonde hair was sleek and fastened back tightly, her small, pointed features turned into a frown, her piercing brown eyes glaring at the Colonel. The entire room seemed to shrink at her presence. Lucky for Alee and Havoc, the Colonel was her only prey.

"I've got your paperwork, sir. I think that break time is over," she said, no suggestion in her voice.

Roy slumped out of the room dejectedly, casting Alee and Havoc a longing look before disappearing around the corner.

Havoc blew a long, low whistle. "The Lieutenant is unforgiving," he tsked, shaking his head.

"I'll say, " Alee laughed. "I never want to be on her bad side."

"It's no fun," Havoc agreed, fingering the magazine Roy had left on her desk.

As the silence stretched between them, Alee looked over her photo on the cover. At least they'd used a good picture. Her soft pink lips stretched into a small, mysterious smile, just reaching her big, light blue eyes. Her long blonde hair framed her lovely, slim face and cascaded over her fair skinned shoulders as she posed in front of the Central Command building. "Most Beautiful Woman in Amestris," indeed. To the left of her posing picture was the headline, "The Winter Alchemist Thawed Out!" Alee wrinkled her nose. Who came up with this stuff??

"Sooooo...have you been able to get ahold of your old teacher?" Havoc asked, snapping Alee back to herself.

"No," she replied softly. "I haven't been able to. I've got no idea where he dropped off to." Alee frowned, thinking about her master's mysterious disappearance.
"Don't worry," Havoc soothed, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "I'm sure he'll turn up soon."

She turned her face up to give him a small, appreciative smile which he graciously returned. He was a such a sweet man. If only he'd work up the courage to ask her out, she'd probably agree.

"Well, I guess I'd better get back to work too," he sighed. "See you at the same time for lunch, right?"

"You know it!"

He beamed brightly over his shoulder and waved before the door closed behind him with a sharp snap.

Alone in her small, messy office, Alee sighed. She looked around at all the alchemical and medicinal research books lining the walls thinking about her master, Isaac McDougal, the Freezing Alchemist. He'd always made it a point to keep in touch. As his prodigy, he was as proud of her as he was frustrated when she had gotten her State Alchemist license. She'd taken his alchemy, an intricate water based science, and gone on to become one of the most powerful alchemists in history. To its limits anyways.

All alchemists, of course, lived by three simple rules: obey the military, do not create gold, and absolutely, under no circumstances, transmute a human being. See, alchemists were still bound by the laws of reality, namely, the conservation of mass. In order to tansmute something, something of equal value must be given up. This was the basal law of equivalent exchange. Transmuting human beings was a taboo since what could be of equal value to a human life? It was strictly forbidden.

So, naturally, she'd attempted it.

And paid the ultimate price.

Isaac had been disappointed, but not at all surprised. "Greatness," he'd told her, "doesn't stay satisfying for long. I knew one day you would test the laws of the cosmos, but you, my dear, are not all powerful, and now you have to bear the burden of your transgressions." Both kinder and harsher words had been spoken to her before but she had been glad for his understanding. He was like a father to her, more father-like than her own, and so the fact that he seemed to be ignoring her now made her extremely ill-at-ease.

Alee had never shared this with Jean, but she had been contacted by Isaac recently enough.

An Introduction

We begin with an introduction. This is a story, a fan fiction taking place in the world of Fullmetal Alchemists by Hiromu Arakawa. All characters, concepts and events are hers but they greatly inspired me and made this monster. There are spoilers, so be warned.

This story takes place in the same world, same timeline as Fullmetal Alchemists but may occasionally switch back and forth between the manga and the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. There really isn't much difference save dialogue and a few technicalities anyways. However instead of following Edward and Alphonse's adventure, I follow Scar, a particular favorite.

Feedback is, of course, welcome. I hope I prove to be just as great of a storyteller, enjoy.