((IT'S FINALLY HEEEEEEERE~ This is a collaboration between me and the lovely nlnatucker on Tumblr. It's based off a plot bunny I got... Oh, probably shortly after the episode "Jailbreak" of Steven Universe aired, back when fusions became really trendy. I didn't have what it takes to do anything with it on my own, so it kinda just stewed in my brain for a while until we eventually started this collab. Mad props to Samantha for putting up with me throughout all this :'D
Things will get exciting really soon, so please enjoy this first chapter as a little teaser~))

Roy Mustang really hated meetings.

Honestly, if his superiors didn't insist on putting him in meetings what seemed like five times a week so they could check up on him like suspicious parents, he'd be able to dedicate that much more time to doing his actual job, and then they wouldn't be able to complain about him not working hard enough anyway. It was a vicious cycle, really.

"I just don't understand why you're struggling so much with such an ordinary task, Mustang," droned Lieutenant General Hakuro, who even after so many years somehow managed to remain convinced that Roy did absolutely nothing productive ever. "A string of kidnappings shouldn't take this long to resolve. You have the resources, why have you not closed this case already?"

Roy bit his lip and resisted the urge to sigh loudly. "With all due respect, sir, if you had read my report you wouldn't need to ask that question. This isn't just an ordinary kidnapping case. We have no leads as to the motivation, or much of a connection between the victims. Not only that, but the perpetrators seem to move around the country without warning or pattern, which is why I'm on the case instead of delegating it to a local district."

"Was that back talk, Mustang?" Hakuro sneered.

"No, sir."

"You seem very lax with this case Mustang. Do you even care about the missing people?" Hakuro asked with a hint of disappointment.

"Of course I care sir, however we lack the evidence to properly track the kidnapper. Whoever it is is great at covering their tracks, any and all bases we managed to locate were all abandoned or destroyed, sir." Mustang took a breath and held up the report on the kidnappings.

"It's all in my report, If you read it that is. We have very little evidence that these are even connected as well, the only thing connecting them is that two people are kidnapped two at a time. Some are relatives, some lovers, other than that people who've been taken were of all ages, races, social status, genders, and sexuality. Also, any eye witnesses who've seen the kidnapper all have different descriptions, meaning it's probably a cult or underground organization of some kind."

"Don't you have anything new to report at all?"

"No, unfortunately. I'm sorry, but we haven't learned anything since our last meeting," Roy replied dryly.

Hakuro scowled. "Very well then, I suppose we have no more to discuss. But I'm warning you, General, if you don't make progress on this case soon there will be consequences," he said, which Roy very well knew meant do something exciting soon or you'll be demoted.

"Understood, General Hakuro, sir. I'm sure it won't come to that," Roy promised.

"Very well then, you are dismissed."

Roy let out a sigh of relief as soon as Hakuro was out of earshot, rubbing the bridge of his nose to try to relieve his growing headache. Much as he dreaded going back to work, going through more mediocre missing person reports that ultimately told him nothing of importance, at least he could do so in his own office, surrounded by people who actually trusted him.

"So, how'd your meeting with the dear old Lieutenant General go?" Breda asked, giving Roy a casual salute as he entered the office.

"Same as always," Roy replied bitterly. "'I just don't understand why you can't magically pull results out of your ass'," he imitated Hakuro's voice with a haughty air, resulting in a chuckle from Breda.

The ever-professional figure of Riza Hawkeye, now a captain, interrupted Roy's satirical act. "Here's the updated list of suspected victims, General. I... think you'll want to see this one," she said with a hint of concern.

Roy took the document from the captain, wondering what exactly she meant, and scanned the list of names. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until he came to the last two names on the list, and his eyes widened in shock.

Elric, Edward. M. 19. Resembool, East. Last seen: June 20th, Resembool, East.

Elric, Alphonse. M. 18. Resembool, East. Last seen: June 20th, Resembool, East.

"You can't be serious," he gasped.

"I checked the transmissions three times, there's no mistake," came the nervous voice of Kain Fuery, Roy's communications author. "I'm just as surprised as you are, sir."

"But… I mean… This is the Elrics we're talking about, how do we know they didn't just go off on some adventure without telling anyone?" Roy pointed out, the slightest hint of desperation in his voice. It just didn't seem possible for anyone to kidnap Edward Punched-God-in-the-Face Elric and his equally capable brother.

"Apparently, they went grocery shopping and never came back. A few witnesses reported hearing what sounded like a fight in an alleyway nearby around the time they disappeared," Fuery explained.

"Well this is just wonderful," Roy huffed, throwing the list on a desk annoyedly.

"Don't worry, General, you know how those two are. I'm sure they'll be fine," Breda insisted, giving Roy a sympathetic look.

"Oh, that's not what I'm worried about," Roy clarified. "The real problem is that whenever those two are involved in anything, it turns out to be a huge mess. I think I've had more than enough ancient national conspiracies for one lifetime."

"Well hey, at least we know we don't have to worry about them. If we're lucky, maybe they'll bring the mastermind to us," Breda suggested optimistically. "It wouldn't be the first time, after all."

"I guess you've got a point… Back to work then, I guess," Roy announced, deciding not to worry. After all, the Elrics had been kidnapped before, and they always came out just fine in the end. Still, he couldn't ignore a nagging feeling that this wasn't going to be like the other times.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. Roy finished his paperwork, with some 'help' from Hawkeye. Few leads came up for the kidnapping case, and it was about 10 o'clock now. He actually finished his work early (for him), however he worked through dinner. He groaned. His headache from the morning still hadn't quite gone away. Hoping that sleep would do the trick, he headed to bed early.

They had been searching for months. Always, always looking, but whenever it seemed they were close to finding them, it turned into a dead end. The Elric brothers had been missing almost long enough to be automatically proclaimed dead, but Roy hadn't given up, not yet, not ever. He knew those boys, they could never die. They would find them.

He sat down at his desk, pushing aside the massive pile of papers demanding "Where are they?" and "Why haven't you found them yet?"

"Fuery, status report for today?"

"We've found them, sir."

Roy gasped. Could it really be true? While he had been sleeping, his team in the field were working tirelessly. Had they really found his boys?

"Would you like to see them?" Fuery asked.

"Yes, of course, right away," Roy replied slightly excitedly, so relieved that their search was finally over.

The office doors swung open, and Roy immediately stood up to greet them, but nobody seemed to be there. He started down the hallway, confused, when suddenly he tripped over something.

Roy looked down and saw the lifeless, broken bodies of Edward and Alphonse Elric lying on the floor. They were chained together, back-to-back, the tight rusty chains cutting into long-dead flesh. Roy felt his stomach lurch, and leaned against the wall, dizzy and horrified at what he saw.

No. No. It couldn't be true. It couldn't…

Roy gasped and opened his eyes, his heart pounding in his chest.

"It was just a dream," he muttered to himself, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was no stranger to nightmares, but still deeply shaken by what he saw. The images were still vivid in his mind, and he shook his head, trying to instead picture the happy, very much alive faces of the boys he knew.

It was just a dream, after all. Such a thing could never become reality. The Elric brothers were some of the toughest people he knew, and he had his best men working on the case. Surely it was only a matter of time before they would turn up, good as always. Wasn't it?

Everything was going smoothly, they had just successfully captured their next experiment. These two would most likely combine perfectly, unlike most of their previous tests. These boys had similar DNA and both had opened the Gate. These two would combine well.

"Number 60, what are the reports on number 65?" She asked, voice stern and commanding.

A figure walked closer to the woman. This figure had a slender body, however it was somewhat deformed. Its face had a sturdy head, yet in its eyes were deformed pupils and irises. The irises were a clashing green and brown, and they looked like there were trying to pull away from each other, like two cells in the middle of splitting. Short brown hair covered their head. The body, however, was what was truly wrong with them. They had an extra set of arms and their chest was deformed and elongated. Number 60 held two files in two of their hands.

"Subjects 65A and 65B have been sedated and striped down to nothing but provided clothing, ma'am. I hate to inform you of this, but 65A is missing their left leg." The voice 60 spoke with was calm but had zero remorse or emotion to it, it was glazed over and dull.

"Is that so? Hmm, we can work around that. Do they show any signs of illness or disease?" The woman asked, monotoned.

"No." was the simple response number 60 gave.

"When should the sedative wear off?" She asked them.

"They were given a heavy amount of sedatives in large doses due to them being difficult when captured." 60 handed the woman the files in their hands. "We used a bit too much, so they should wake up in about 10 hours."

The woman sighed and returned the files to number 60. She brought her hand to her face, pinching the bridge of her nose. This would be troublesome, in order for her experiment to work the two boys needed to be awake, it was that simple. Groaning, she decided to go look at her new subjects.

Walking down the corridor to where she kept her experiments and soon-to-be ones, she opened the door that was at the end of the hallway. The room itself was very large, cages meant for large dogs lined the walls, most unoccupied. She walked to a cage that was labeled '#65A'.

Inside there was a boy- no, a man; she knew what the man had gone through, he could hardly be called a boy anymore. The man had long golden blond hair that was draped over the floor as he slept. He had on something similar to green pajamas, however she knew it was made from a special fabric. She could see the man's metal foot, it was obviously automail. He gave out small snores as he slept, too.

In the cage next to 65A was 65B. This man was 65A's younger brother. He had much shorter golden hair that parted to the left. He was much taller than 65A, too. He also wore similar clothing to his brother. This would go well, it might even be close to perfect.

The woman was excited, but didn't show it. This would be the most successful experiment she would ever have. Now she just needed them to wake up.