Chapter II: Alpha
Author's Note: Ok, I have decided to continue this here fic.
Edward stood outside of the Colonel's oak door. He had been preparing himself for a lecture and possible reprimand. I knew I shouldn't have stopped at that town. Ed thought to himself as he straightened his coat collar. Well, at least he can't kill me for trying to fix their backwards government… Can he? The young Alchemist held his breath as he turned the brass knob. Silently opening the door, Edward poked his head inside to see whether the Colonel was actually there. And he was. Sitting in his chair with his back toward the entrance, Colonel Mustang stared out the window. The setting sun's amber rays filtered through the glass, revealing a cloud of dancing dust specks. Edward stood hesitantly at the doorway.
"Sit Fullmetal." Mustang ordered.
Ed hastily made his way toward the black leather chair and quietly sat. The Colonel kept his back to him.
"I have a new assignement for you." Mustang began. "In the—
"But I haven't even completed my previous." Ed cut in.
Mustang whipped around in his seat and faced his subordinate. Edward just about leapt out of his own, he wasn't so much startled by the quick movement, but by the gaze his commanding officer was laying on him. The Colonel's usually nonchalant and bored gawk was now replaced with a fierce dominant glare that nearly melted Edward down to his boots.
"Uh—sorry sir." Ed tried to recover. He averted his eyes.
"As I was saying…" Mustang turned from the boy and stood up from his desk. "You will be heading down to a small town called Lambright near the southern border. There have been a string of animal murders happening every evening ranging between three to five killings a night. There are also rumors of Chimera sightings… I know I've been giving you some rather "boring" assignments lately, do to the lack of any substantial work, but hopefully this will put some excitement in your next few weeks." The Colonel looked back at Fullmetal. "And I will be joining you." He added.
Edward jerked his head up at Mustang, but didn't make eye contact. "Wha! ... Why?"
Mustang couldn't help, but smile at the kid's expression. "The Fuehrer has required that all active alchemists be evaluated on their performance during an assignment." The Colonel raised his index finger to his mouth and began picking his teeth. "Now, I could have one of my men take on this tedious task, but as I brought up the subject no one seemed eager to accept the job. Even with the overtime pay… And since you can't keep your little hands out of unauthorized affairs, it seems that you'd need someone around your level for a decent evaluation."
Edward twitched in his seat. Mustang was slyly trying to provoke him, but something about the atmosphere the Colonel was giving off told him not to go all ballistic. "So I have to go stop these killer Chimeras or whatever right? At least that doesn't require too much thinking." Ed sighed; his heart was all a pitter-patter. "When do we leave?"
Mustang glanced at his subordinate. "Tonight…"
"That soon? Al and I just arrived this afternoon…" A flash of the Colonel's eyes halted any further complaints. "Well, I better go inform my him." Edward stood, bowed and quickly left the office. What the heck is with him? A slight shiver slid down his back as he jogged across the hallway.
Mustang sat at his desk again. He bought it… The Colonel leaned back in his reclining chair and stared at the darkening sky. I'd rather not put another heavy burden on his shoulders, but I can't fix this by myself and if I stay here there's no telling how many people I might hurt… I just hope Ed's able… Mustang closed his eyes, the pain was returning.