tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Wednesday, February 6
Rating; PG?
Characters; Riza Hawkeye [

guardianed], Edward Elric [

chrysopoeia] & Roy Mustang [

flameroy]
Summary; The Colonel has requested that Hawkeye catch Edward up to speed on what the Crimson has been getting up to in Amestris. Report ensues.
Log;

It was with a grim sense of determination that Hawkeye made her way out to the riflery range. She understood very well the necessity to give Edward the information, more so since the Lieutenant had just been dealing with him. But spending her days talking about, dealing with, or otherwise having to think about Kimblee wasn't truly high on her to-do list. As much as it might be a necessity.

And the Colonel was no help, pulling a stunt like that. Hawkeye was still rather cranky.

The shooting range was deserted, as she had thought it would be. The blonde woman found a bench back behind the long space of grass; there was no point in standing to wait for Edward, and sitting down would be more comfortable anyhow. Resisting the urge to pull a gun out and practice for the few minutes before Edward would arrive, she folded her hands in her lap and waited.

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Somehow, Edward never expected to have it easy by any sense of the word. It wasn't what he had grown to expect and for all the attempts to effectively tie up loose ends throughout his various travels through countries and worlds he never seemed to rid himself of some lingering concern completely. In fact, the City was making an utter mockery of almost everything he'd fought so hard against by presenting him with previously defeated enemies. The previously lost friends, of course, were the more welcome side of the coin, and it was with a tired kind of smile and a sigh that he'd accepted to. That equal trade thing and all. And Al was there, flesh and all.

Still, it almost felt like business as usual, which in itself was strange since it had been years since he had felt like he should have sat up and taken interest in matters considered to be under military jurisdiction. But the City was not back home and the military was not the power. But for Ed to wave a hand and tell friends (the colonel didn't count... ) to get on with it themselves went against all his inner morals. That in itself made him draw his attention away from what was logically impossible and agree without question.

Hands shoved into his pockets, the standard slight scowl on his face, Ed made his way to the location Hawkeye had suggested, his eyes darting around not only trying to catch sight of the Lieutenant but keeping himself alert for anyone else who may be present (again, the Colonel didn't count...) When his gaze caught sight of her, a sort of relief spread through him, a half-smile came to his lips and a hand raised in automatic salute... He'd most likely never shake that reflex completely.

"Lieutenant."

Taking a Stroll. Yes, that was definately what he was up to - he was entirely sure that he knew everything Hawkeye was going to say to Edward, and knew that there was no need for him to be present during the Liuetenant's report to the teenager, but something compelled him - although he didn't like to admit to what it could possibly be, having thoughts like he was - really wasn't a part of his makeup.

Of course, Edward would detest his presence, and after the other day he wondered whether Hawkeye would be less than pleased to see him. Still, that was his job was it not? Keep his subordinates on their toes lest something might crop up and leave them all feeling rather lost and disorientated. No, that wouldn't do - and especially Hawkeye - now she had a very important job to do. If things were bad in her version of Amestris he had a kind of desire to keep the Colonel of that world safe too, although it was impossible directly, if keeping Hawkeye on her toes here meant she was prevented from slacking then really that was a good thing.

A slight smile rose to his slightly wind-swept pink cheeks, and he lifted a hand to straighten his hair idly, shoving both hands in his pockets as he neared the two blondes.

As much as the rest of the military considered the Elric boys to be mere tools of the military, Hawkeye herself knew full well that they were still boys. Edward- well, this Edward- seemed to be a young man rather than a boy, but he still carried many of the traits she knew so well. Like that semi-permanent scowl that seemed to be omnipresent on the State Alchemist's face.

She rose as he came near her, returning the half smile rather than the salute. He'd never seemed to salute her much, back home; even in the face of discrepancies, the Lieutenant found respite in normalcy. "Hello, Edward."

She gestured towards the bench, and leaned up against the railing of the shooting range. It afforded her the best view of the area, and it would let Edward sit. It was easier to pull a gun from standing, and if anyone was going to be a lookout, it would be her.

"I'm sorry I have to give you so much bad news in one sitting, but it's always better to be informed." It was said almostly wistfully, but expertly covered with her standard professionalism.

A flash of dark movement caught her eye, and she threw a sharp glare over towards it automatically before making the identification; the Colonel. A flash of annoyance swept across her face before the blonde woman turned back to Edward. "It would seem the Colonel has arrived."

There was a brief moment where Edward was aware that perhaps he didn't need to give the gesture with his hand and lightly pushed his fingers through his bangs to the right side of his head sort of sheepishly before letting the hand fall to his side once more.

Taking a seat as wordlessly suggested, Edward rested his forearms against the knees, fingers of either hand lacing together as he stared ahead while offering a reply.

"It's all right," he began, a rather serious expression on his face "You're quite right, better to address these things sooner rather than later and get as much information as possible. It'll be better in the long run."

He noticed the Lieutenant's slight tension for the split second, but the swift confirmation made him blink, then scowl and glare off to the side briefly. There was a brief moment where he wondered why Hawkeye still had a vague look of annoyance about her but he certainly wasn't going to question it.

"Great." He muttered sarcastically, moving to hold his cheek in his hand and grumble something undefinable under his breath before slipping a glance over to the Colonel out the corner of his eye, deeming that he wasn't worth actually turning his head to look at properly.

Really. He knew they'd both noticed him, from the sharp glare from his First Lieutenant and the hopeless way Edward pretended not to have seen him. A soft sigh escaped him at the thought of the lapse of respect Ed showed for him. Still, he did actually have a purpose for being here - not just to listen to what Hawkeye had to say to Edward and supply valuable information to backup on events, but also a very interesting conversation had transpired between himself and Kimblee - they needed this meeting.

"Morning." He said simply when he was within earshot, removing one hand from his pocket to let it hang at his side, standing just angled from where Edward sat, able to see both the younger alchemist and Lieutenant

Hawkeye usually dismissed Edward's attitude towards the Colonel with the same smile she reserved for the Colonel's inanities; but today the blonde was more inclined to agree with the blonde alchemist, although it did raise the question of how they managed to share an apartment without trying to kill each other. The Lieutenant refused to stand again, and merely acknowledged the ranking officer's presence with one more quick sideways glance and a curt "Colonel."

Better to get this over with quickly, if the Colonel was going to continue to be aggravatingly smug about this whole mess.

"Kimblee, as I think you know, is the Crimson Alchemist, and uses the circles inscribed on his palms in order to create bombs out of people and things. He was one of the many State Alchemists present in Ishbal, and one of the more ruthless. He used his own men as shields from explosions, for instance." The Edward from her world would have known this; she had told him everything she knew about Ishbal. Now it seemed she would have to do the same thing, focussing only on the most disconcerting and hypocritical parts of that war.

"He single-handedly destroyed most of Kanda District in one massive explosion, and shortly thereafter was arrested, placed in solitary confinement in a military prison, and his military title revoked."

"Since my reassignment, he has been released from prison on the Fuhrer's orders on a full pardon, and proceeded north to Briggs. The last time the Crimson was here, he told me that he was chasing Scar, and had been in frequent contact with Envy."

Edward would, no doubt, be full of questions; this was very different from the world he knew. It would be difficult to explain the way he twisted your own words and challenged your logic; poking holes and smirking- that was the worst part of dealing with him. And his ability to somehow always have the upper hand. But Edward's questions first.

The frown on the teen's face became briefly more prominent as the Colonel gave his greeting, waving his hand lightly in his direction and casually stating "Mornin'..."

Though of course he fell silent as Hawkeye began the briefing, glad in way that she wasn't leaving much room for chit-chat. As willingly as he may have snipped and bantered with the Colonel there really were more pressing matters at hand.

Kimblee was not someone Edward would usually want to think too heavily on in normal circumstances. Nothing about the city could be considered as 'normal' and really Edward was never one to shy away from the generally unpleasant.

As Hawkeye illustrated, he knew the first part concerning Kimblee well, it was very similar to the version of the Crimson Alchemist that he had encountered. The rest however deepened that frown to a far more serious scowl, eyes narrowed, jaw set and the material of his white gloves pulling taught as his finger flexed against the opposite knuckles slightly.

"A full pardon, you say." He was mostly musing aloud before leaning back against the bench, his shoulders rolling back and his upper arms laying themselves on the back of bench as he closed his eyes to think.

"Sneaky in both worlds, I see. The version of Kimblee was pardoned in our world as well by one Lieutenant Colonel Frank Archer. Kimblee had dealings with Homunculus as well, but to my knowledge it wasn't to the extent you're describing here. I never knew if he had direct contact with Envy, but I do know he betrayed his alliance with Greed to get himself back into the military."

He half opened an eye then, first shifting it toward the Colonel then toward Lieutenant Hawkeye before giving a single, humourless laugh "But I'm sure the Colonel has told you about this."

Both eyes turned skyward then, gaze narrowed thoughtfully.

"...but if he was pardoned by the Fuhrer himself and has connections with Envy that's more worrying than the version we knew, even. If he was tailing Scar I'll bet he was aiming for the philosopher's stone as well." That was something he hadn't had to bring up in a few years. "But what the hell is he doing with Envy? Was he sent North under the Fuhrer's orders? Andm the Fuhrer himself--"

Edward paused, letting his gaze fall straight ahead in a kind of glare at nothing in particular.

"I assume he was a homunculus in your world as well, right?"

Talk of Archer made him recoil slightly into himself, although he managed to maintain a generally composed expression. It was hearing Edward talk about Kimblee in such a knowledgable way, that made him realise just how much he had forgotten to explain to Hawkeye.

Instead of making his body language spill everything to Hawkeye, he stood with his arms folded now, leaning his weight onto one leg. It was a difficult concept now, he hadn't really spoken to Ed on a personal level now, or with the Edward from before - although the events had gone through his head a million times before, he had never had the opportunity to recount them with anyone else, after Bradley had been 'disposed' of, no one had seemed to want to talk to him about the events it was a sensitive subject, just hearing Ed speak about it made it so real - and brought it back to him, too. Afterall, since being in the city he had been reunited with a dead friend, and a Lieutenant who was from another version of the city, combined with fact that he had regained an eye he had thought to have lost forever seemed to make him almost forget the events of back home.

His gaze shifted to Ed, before moving to the Lieutenant, watching for her hands on her holsters.

Well, this was news to Hawkeye on more than one front. Hawkeye had never heard of a Lieutenant Colonel Archer- and an alliance with Greed? Curious. ...How would a Lieutenant Colonel have the authority to pardon a convicted criminal?

Hawkeye turned from Edward to face the Colonel, cold steel in her eyes, and a challenge laying deep within them, face stern and glance unwavering. "No, the Colonel hadn't told me any of that."

Turning back to the younger alchemist, Hawkeye managed to control her surprise into an acceptable level at the rest of Edward's statements.

"A homunculus? No, Kimblee is merely a dangerous alchemist."

Turn back to earlier statements; obviously there were more differences here than the Colonel had chosen to explore, and it never failed to surprise the Lieutenant that things were so very different between their worlds, when things had started out so very similar.

"A philosopher's stone? I believe he possessed one in Ishbal- it was how he destroyed all of Kanda district. I believe the Fuhrer's orders were merely to pursue Scar, and Scar himself had headed north."

"The Fuhrer himself is the homunculus Wrath in my version; I understand that he was Pride in your world."

Hawkeye turned from her sober contemplation of Edward's words back to looking at the Colonel, as he stood cross-armed and pensive, and back to Edward, glaring forwards at nothing in particular. They had lived a life she knew nothing about, and it was times like this she realized exactly how little she did know. She could pretend- and did, frequently, but lapses in information, the things people just forgot to mention, were so often the most critical.

Blinking a few times, Edward shot a brief glance at the Colonel, eyes narrowed in thought for a moment. Had the Colonel forgotten to tell Hawkeye those things, or had he kept them back for a reason? Regardless, he hadn't been told otherwise so he had no reason to withhold information from the Lieutenant.

"Ah--! I meant King Bradley being a sin, not Kimblee. Sorry, I should have been more specific." He scoffed a little, an unamused smile touching his lips "...and the Fuhrer is even under a different sin there. Interesting. Then, it's safe to assume in his place our version of Wrath is Pride, right?"

Edward was going by general logic that if there was a change like that then it would surely have been a simple case of flipping matters around. Strangely, the idea of other sins that he hadn't even encountered never crossed his mind.

His line of vision fell to the floor, taking a moment to digest the information before groaning to himself and shaking his head slightly.

"But anyway... No, not a philosopher's stone like the military was providing the state alchemists; a completed philosopher's stone."

There was a pause once more, the younger alchemist running his tongue over his upper lip briefly to dampen it as he shifted in the seat slightly. He was uncomfortable. Talking about the past wasn't something he would skip over or avoid, but it sure as hell was hard to bring up again.

"In the version of the world we're from, war broke out in the city of Lior because of the homunculus manipulating the citizens and using our visit as a catalyst for their plans. The military was summoned to the area to neutralize the conflict and from there things got worse," Ed missed a beat, his hands clenching into fists on his knees "Without our knowledge at the time... Scar found out how the stone was made and drew a massive transmutation circle around the whole city. He wanted to lure the Military over to create the stone. It was formed within Al's armour at the time.

In your world, Scar and Kimblee are both still alive, huh? That's kinda worrying. I wonder then if Scar's idea is the same as he had in our world, or if he's even at the same level of knowledge about the stone as he had in our world. Or if Kimblee knows and if he does it's easy to assume that the Fuhrer does also."

Damn... As if all this stuff wasn't confusing enough without throwing alternate world theories into the mix. Edward couldn't help but give a bitter kind of smile at irony; life was never going to be boring for him, at least.

Insubordination. That's what this was.

A soft sigh escaped him as he acknowledged Edward's galnce in his direction, and he averted his eyes, arms still folded as he stared at the floor in thought. This conversation was getting jumbled far too fast for his liking. It was too in depth, too raw, too difficult.

His head turned from either of them at the mention of Lior, he assumed Edward still had difficulty in discussing his brother's status as the Philosopher's Stone during that time in their lives. He kept reminding himself that really, there was nothing more he could have done. It was a shame he couldn't meet a younger version of himself and somehow change time... a pathetic notion.

He cleared his throat, and looked at both subordinates in turn, shifting his weight onto one leg. "Whatever Kimblee has or hasn't done in our respective worlds, the fact is that he is here - and knows as much as Hawkeye does. The only helpful thing you and I can provide Edward, would be any reference to his reactions to events. My concerns are not just for our safety, but the safety of the citizens here in the city who will fall prey to his mind games." He started, closing his eyes.

"Our Primary focus is to remain informed, the purpose of our meeting." He added, with a sigh. "Scar is... also as different as our worlds could offer us?"

The Colonel was acting up; as much as Hawkeye kept her eyes fixed on the younger alchemist, a part of her was very alert to the Colonel's movements.

But what Edward was telling her was troubling; the Colonel had indeed chosen to keep many of the details of his world from her, for whatever reason. It was probably the same reason she'd tried to keep details of her own world from him, although with the dangers from their world mostly coming from her version of events, that had mostly failed.

A completed philosopher's stone- Hawkeye knew about the stone that had cracked on the ring of the Founder in Lior, and that the military had been sent in and failed to quell the uprising there. But Scar had not been a concern then. Not until their transfer to Central had he become a focal point of their lives, definitely not while the Colonel had still been stationed in Eastern HQ.

Something was bothering the blonde Lieutenant about the philosopher's stone. The homunculi were different- that much had been made clear in the fight against Envy and Lust, and in the Colonel's brief explanation. They had a philosopher's stone as their nucleus- did that mean the philosopher's stones themselves had different properties in the two worlds?

Hawkeye raised one hand to rub at her temple, other arm raising to catch her elbow and prop it up against herself.

There was a slight pause while the Lieutenant absorbed all the information being thrown at her, before replying to the question Edward had almost posed, the question the Colonel had posed. "Scar, while he was still in Central, was claiming to be a messenger of divine retribution against State Alchemists, and killed a great number of them. I don't know what his goals in your version were."

"Kimblee is claiming amnesia. And while it's certainly possible, I find it by no means plausible. Kimblee is expert at manipulation; he is liable to find any weakness of yours and exploit it. He presents a kindly face, and is a very suave talker, but will take anything you give him and use it."

Like the rank he wanted to have acknowledged, like the knowledge she'd unconsciously given that she wanted nothing to do with him, wished she could stay as far away from him as possible.

"He was, in his last presence here in the City, very confident of his position in the military, with the support of the Fuhrer. Little we can do will change that. I would recommend letting Alphonse know he is dangerous, if you wish him to avoid being a pawn of Kimblee's power game."

Hawkeye paused, closing her eyes before voicing her last warning. Or, in any case, the last one she would choose to voice in front of Edward. The Colonel, most likely would hear more of them. "If the Crimson is indeed feigning his amnesia, he may choose to discard it at any time it proves to be inconvenient."

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Log; Ongoing

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