The next morning Edward took the girls and headed to the train station. Natalie and E.J. tagged along to see them off.
“Have fun and good luck,” Natalie said as she hugged her baby girls. “Take care of them alright Ed?” she said turning to him and giving him a kiss good-bye.
E.J. clung to Nina’s leg crying. “Don’t go Big Sis,” he said.
Nina picked up her little brother and hugged him close. “I have to E.J. but how about if I bring you a present when I come back?”
His face lit up when she mentioned a present. “Really?”
Nina nodded and ruffled his hair. “You bet,” she said then put him down. When she did he then went over and hugged Edward.
Amy just stood there with her arms crossed waiting for them to get done with all the mushy stuff. “Can we just get on the train already?” she asked sounding irritated.
Nina and Edward just looked at each other and laughed. “Impatient much Amy?” Nina poked.
Amy just scowled. “Whatever. I just want to go and get this over with alright? Is that so wrong?”
“OK, fine. Let’s go,” Edward said as he hugged E.J. one more time and hugged Natalie as well. “We’ll be back in about a week. Take care alright?”
Natalie smiled at them. “We will, now get going before the train leaves without you.”
The three of them boarded the train and took a seat. Edward and Nina sat by the window and waved to Natalie and E.J. when the train started to pull away. Amy made herself comfortable and closed her eyes. They were stuck on this train for the next three days until they reached Central Station so she figured it would be a good time to catch up on some sleep.
Nina stared out the window watching the landscape go by. Edward couldn’t help but smile seeing her like this. It was rare when he saw her look wistful. He actually wished he saw that look on her face a bit more often. Nina had always been so serious about studying, he actually worried that she was missing out on the better parts of being a kid. That was actually the one of the few things he knew she’d gotten from him and there was a part of him that wished she hadn’t. He’d spent pretty much all of his childhood as a ‘Dog of the Military’ so that he and Alphonse could fix their bodies. The girls would never have to go through that thankfully, or at least he hoped they never would, but even to see a bit of that need to be more grown up than they were made him a bit sad. It couldn’t be helped though and he couldn’t help but also be proud of her for being responsible like she was. That had to have come from Natalie.
Nina caught her father staring and looked at him with a brow raised in curiosity. “Everything alright Daddy?” she asked.
Edward laughed and blushed a bit. “No, nothing is wrong at all. I was just happy to see you actually staring blankly out the window.”
“Why would that make you happy?” she asked sounding like she thought he was completely mad.
“You’re always so serious these days Nina, always reading and studying, never just going out and having fun. I worry about you sometimes that’s all and to see you actually letting yourself relax like that made me happy.”
Nina shook her head. “You’re a weird one Daddy, you know that?”
Edward just grinning and shrugged at his daughter. “No one ever said I was normal.”
The rest of the trip passed and three days later they were in Central. When they got off the train Colonel Armstrong was there to meet them looking as muscled and sparkly as ever. Edward sighed heavily seeing him there.
“Hello again Colonel,” Edward said sighing. “Why are you here?”
“Hello Edward. I’m here at the Fuhrer’s request to escort you and your daughters to Central Command.”
“But they’re supposed to be going to the dorms. They have their acceptance exam tomorrow…”
“And they will still be going but for the time being it would be safer to have them under the guard of the military.”
“But…”
Armstrong shook his head. “No Edward, you will be briefed by the Fuhrer himself when we get to Central.”
Edward grumbled. “Damn it, I had to see him anyway but I was hoping it wouldn’t be so soon.”
Amy’s face lit up. She was going to get to see Fuhrer Mustang after all and she was even going to be staying in the same place with him. This trip was going to be better than she’d thought after all. Nina wasn’t as happy, she had actually hoped to stay in the dorms, and it would be easier to study. Being at Central Command was going to be noisy and she wouldn’t have any privacy.
Edward turned to the girls and sighed heavily. “Come on girls, get your bags and let’s get going.”
“Please, allow me,” Armstrong said as he easily lifted all three’s luggage. They followed him outside where a car was waiting for them. Edward, Amy, and Nina climbed into the back seat and after putting their bags in the trunk, Armstrong got into the front seat. The trip to Central was made in silence and it was thankfully a short one.
When they arrived one of the Military Police took their things and brought them inside while Armstrong escorted them all to Fuhrer Mustang’s office.
“Sir, Edward Elric and his daughters are here,” Armstrong said as he poked his head into the office.
“Send them in Colonel.”
“Yes sir,” Armstrong said as he opened the door the entire way and allowed them to come inside.
“Hello Fullmetal, long time no see,” Mustang said as he leaned back in his chair and grinned.
Edward just rolled his eyes and sat down on one of the couches in the room. Nina and Amy sat on the couch opposite their father. “Yeah, yeah, so what’s this about Fuhrer? Why did you have the Colonel meet me at the station and why are you having my girls dragged here?”
Mustang chuckled. “Still so impatient Edward, some things never change. But alright, I’ll get to the point,” Mustang said as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk so he could rest his chin on his hands. “We’ve had trouble here in Central with young women disappearing, all of them about the same age as your lovely daughters. Until recently it was only one here and one there and we didn’t think they were connected but recently they have been disappearing at a frightening rate. I’ve asked the Colonel to keep guard on your girls while they’re here as a precaution. I’m sure you know what that will entail Fullmetal.”
Edward sighed. He remembered full well what a military guard meant from the days when Scar had been killing State Alchemists. He and Alphonse had been on constant watch, though he also knew how imperfect it was seeing as they’d been able to slip that guard to go to the Fifth Laboratory. “Are you going to guard them better than you did my brother and I while Scar was on the loose?” Edward asked sounding a bit scathing. The last thing he wanted for his girls to get hurt and he knew they could be just as crafty as he and Alphonse had been, especially Amy.
Mustang narrowed his eyes at Edward clearly not happy that he’d taken that tone with him. “I can leave them to their own devices you know. I’m doing this as a favor to try and help you and here you are being a jackass about it.” Mustang sighed. “Come on Edward, after all these years you should know you can trust me.”
Edward looked away from Mustang and sighed. “I know, I know. But why do you have to be such a cocky bastard about it?”
“Edward! You can’t talk to his Excellency that way!” Armstrong protested but Mustang put up his hand and stopped the Colonel from protesting further.
“It’s alright Colonel,” Mustang said. Edward was probably one of the only people in Amestris that could get away with talking to Mustang that way. Mustang owed him a lot and he knew it but then if he ever tried to forget he knew Edward would quickly remind him. “Anyway Fullmetal, I’ll have the girls stay in one of the officer’s quarters here at the Command Center and to make you feel better I’ve arranged for the room next door to be yours while you’re here. Armstrong and his men will keep watch outside.”
Edward looked back at Mustang and his expression softened a bit. “Thanks Mustang…”
Mustang smiled slightly. “No problem. Now I’m sure the girls would like to get settled in so they can do their last minute preparations before the exam. Colonel, would you escort them?”
Armstrong nodded and went over to Amy and Nina. “Let’s go girls.”
Nina didn’t hesitate but Amy didn’t want to leave just yet. Nina just shook her head and poked her sister to get her moving. “Come on Amy…” Sighing, Amy got up and followed Armstrong and Nina out of the Fuhrer’s office, stealing one last glance before she left.
Edward made to follow them but Mustang stopped him. “Hold on Edward.”
“What is it?”
“Look, I know you’re a teacher now but I could use all the help I can get and weeding stuff like this out was always one of your stronger points. This situation is really making things troublesome around here so if you hear anything…”
“Yeah, yeah I know. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Any ideas on who the person responsible for the abductions is?”
Mustang shook his head. “No but I have a really bad feeling that it might have something to do with the old days.”
Edward quirked his brow confused. “What makes you say that?”
Pulling a file from his desk drawer, Mustang withdrew a photo and slid it over towards Edward. “We found that not too far from one of the abduction sites a few months after the girl was taken. What does it look like to you?”
Edward walked over and took the picture from the desk and looked at it. His face fell pale as a ghost. In the picture there was what appeared to be a child and there were wings, or the remains of them anyway, coming from its back. “This looks like…”
“That’s right. Someone is trying to make chimeras out of kids…”
Edward couldn’t help but to feel ill. The last person that had tried to make a chimera out of a child was Tucker. He could still feel the pain of seeing his daughter Nina that way, of seeing them dead by Scar’s hand afterwards. Had someone gotten their hands on his old research notes? He thought that those had been locked away forever.
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