Black Widow

Redwalgrl-RG: You know the deal, back for another one-shot! 3

RATING: PG-13. For implied violence and language.

GENRE(S): Horror/Crime (My first Crime-fic!)

PAIRING(S): None. Hinted Kimbley/OC, but it ain't real.

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: There are two, you'll find out about them. But they aren't main characters.

OUT OF CHARACTERNESS: Hey, I tried!

SUMMARY: Now that Lieutenant Colonel Zolf J. Kimbley is reinstated, he's being kept under the watchful eye of his superior, Colonel Frank Archer. While Archer is working on a ten-year-old cold case, Kimbley starts enlightening the other on the crimes committed.

Yaaay! And with that, READ AND REVIEW, DARNIT!

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Ten years ago in a small town south of Central… A young woman and a little girl were brutally murdered. Their bodies were found burnt within a shed outside of town. It is unknown what happened to them. The woman's name was Lorelai Harrades. The girl's name was never discovered. Cause of deaths; unknown.

Frank Archer sat back with a sigh, running a hand through his short hair. He'd never had so much trouble with a case before. Unlike his predecessor, Maes Hughes, he was efficient and constantly working. Even here, at his own house, at midnight. Of course, he wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway; a certain said-to-be-dead alchemist was causing paper to explode in the next room over. "Do you mind?" Archer asked loudly enough for the other to hear. Rubbing his eyes briefly, he flipped a page in the case file. He'd reread the entire file ten or more times and there was still nothing new. How had he been assigned for such a case? Oh that's right; Mustang was slacking off again, so they pushed the work to my department. That Flame Alchemist…

"Hey." Zolf J. Kimbley, the Crimson Alchemist, popped his head into the room and walked in, discarding paper ashes as he entered. "Whatcha doin'?"

Leave it to Kimbley to be so crass. Archer massaged his temples briefly before deciding to show Crimson the file. "Don't blow it up." He warned before letting Kimbley examine the file. "I need to get this done by Friday."

"That's a week from now." Kimbley stated calmly, slipping a picture out of the file's pockets. His golden eyes hardened upon examining it. The woman, a short, pretty thing, had dark brown—maybe black—hair and sky blue eyes. She was wearing a sundress and a large-brimmed straw hat with a daffodil on the brim. Beside her, the child was wearing a similar outfit. The girl, on the other hand, had much lighter brown hair and green eyes, holding a flower out towards the camera. "Feh." He tossed the picture on the desk, retreating to sit on Archer's bed.

"What's wrong?" Archer recognized that thoughtful look on Kimbley's face. It clearly had something to do with Kimbley's past. That was the only time that the Crimson Alchemist bothered to think rationally. He was so impulsive…

Kimbley shook his head silently, flipping a page in the file. "Nothing, nothing. She just… No, never mind."

Well that wouldn't do. Archer walked over, snatching the file effortlessly away and returning to the desk. "If you aren't here to help, Lieutenant Colonel Kimbley, then I suggest you return to your room."

Damn, he knows I hate being called out by rank! Kimbley frowned at Archer's back before walking over and leaning over his superior's shoulder. "They got cause of death wrong."

Archer was silent for a moment. "They did?" It was rare he asked questions. He was usually so sure of himself. But this late at night with such a difficult case…

"Yeah. Look." Kimbley pointed to the second picture of the bodies. "They blamed the fire for cause of death. Look…" He traced a finger down the woman's scorched abdomen. "Marks. It's alchemy."

"An alchemist…" Archer frowned, immediately writing notes down on a small pad. "How did we miss that?"

"You all aren't alchemists." Kimbley responded simply. It wasn't stated in a hurtful manner, despite the condescending words.

"Mm." Archer didn't respond right away. After finishing his thought, he turned to glance up at the alchemist. "I suppose you're right."

Kimbley studied the photographs for a few more seconds. "Pretty woman." He stated finally, placing them back on the desk and kneeling beside Archer, dragging the file off the desk so he could see it.

Sighing and reorganizing the papers Kimbley had messed up, Archer watching him closely. Though Kimbley certainly was a little off, he did have many positive qualities that made him a good soldier, and an even better alchemist. "Anything else?"

"She was married." He pointed to the picture. A barely noticeable mark was around her finger. "The girl's her daughter."

"And how do you know that?" Archer sighed again, curious now. How was Kimbley seeing this?

Silently, Kimbley pointed out the mark and then switched to the other photograph of the two before their deaths. "Look… Their face shapes are the same. You can tell they're related. And I'm assuming she's her daughter. How many women do you know would wear dresses to match their niece?" He responded simply, arching an eyebrow.

Archer nodded slowly. "Right…" It was hard to believe that no one else had seen that. "Thank you, you're dismissed."

"No problem." Kimbley stood back up, holding out the file for Archer to take. "You'll never catch their killer though." He shrugged slightly and walked out the door calmly, as if he hadn't just said something so major.

"Wait, why?" Another question, at this rate, he was going to be asking them all night. "How do you know this…?"

Kimbley smirked back at the Colonel. "There are some things that you don't need to know, sir."

"Lieutenant…" Archer stated warningly. "Don't make me file an insubordination paper for you. You wouldn't like to end up in that prison again, would you?"

The smirk remained. "Don't worry, sir. You ask, I answer."

That was his way of saying that he was open to questions. Archer shook his head, Kimbley could be so strange. "Why do you know so much about this case?"

"That woman… Lorelai." He stated, shrugging slightly. "She was my wife."

There was a stunned silence from Archer for several minutes. He examined the file, searching for a record of her marrying Kimbley. Nothing. She didn't even share his last name!

Seeing his frantic search through the file, Kimbley elaborated, "It wasn't anything official. Do you really think I'd go into a church?" He laughed harshly at the thought. "I'd never do something like that. There was no record of our marriage. Good thing, huh?"

"I don't know what you mean." Archer stated softly. This file was ten years old, Kimbley must have married her just before the Ishbal war… "Why?"

"Hmm?" Kimbley asked, frowning. "Why what?" Hadn't he just explained himself about the whole church thing?

"Why… Why did you marry her?" Why did she accept?

Kimbley laughed. "Oh, that. Well… I guess you could say I was young and foolish." His expression hardened as he returned to the room, lying down on Archer's bed thoughtfully. "I thought I was in love with her. She thought she was in love with me… It was a lie. I found that out too late." He snarled, clenching his fists in the blankets.

"Don't blow it up." Archer stated calmly. It was hard to imagine Kimbley feeling something for a woman who was dead. Kimbley just didn't seem like the person to hold onto the past. "You really did love her. What happened?" He was beginning to see a pattern. At this rate, he'd know what happened very soon.

"I guess I did love her." Kimbley shrugged. He was silent for a long time, staring up at the ceiling quietly. "She… She cheated on me. I never knew his name, his identity. She was afraid I would kill him. I didn't even know about the affair… until that bastard child of hers was born." He hissed, removing his hands from the sheets to keep from blowing them up. "It still infuriates me… that she cheated on me… that she had his child…"

Archer was silent, watching Kimbley rant for a little while. "You killed her." It wasn't a question. "You killed them both."

"Blew them to hell." Kimbley smirked back, but it seemed a little pained. "If she couldn't be mine, then she couldn't be anyone's. And that child… she wasn't mine. Ever. So why bother to keep her?" He sat upright, resting his elbows on his knees and fixing Archer with a predatory golden-eyed gaze. "You going to tell the military?"

"It's my duty." Archer sighed, writing down a few more notes. "You'll be imprisoned again. For life, I'm assuming."

"Nn." Kimbley shrugged, standing upright and walking over, resting a hand on Archer's shoulder. "But you won't turn me in."

"I know I won't." Archer brushed the hand off airily, locating a red pen and writing down two words on the file.

Case: Unsolved.

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Black Widow: (N) A woman who has murdered her spouse. Usually for monetary purposes.

Kimbley's a woman! XD Okay, sorry. I just liked the name for the title. Now review, darn you!