A Trial of Sin – Chapter 13: That Which is Hidden
Story Started: December 23, 2005
Chapter Started/Completed: September 30, 2008/October 6, 2008
CCD

A/N: I'm so sorry about my lack of updates lately. I've been working on my original stuff and I've been busy, so I haven't given my fan fiction much thought lately. Sad, I know, but I haven't given up on them. This was number two on the polls so here's a new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

REMEMBER TO VOTE! (for your favorite 3 stories. This was number two and it came up from being tied for number 3 last time)

"FULLMETAL, WHERE ARE YOU!"

Edward looked up from the book he was looking at, he glanced at the clock to see that he had been so engrossed in his work that he hadn't noticed the time. The lazy ass Colonel was just ready to go home. Ed gathered his paperwork and walked towards the entrance to the library. The librarian was giving the Colonel an ugly glare. Behind the Colonel, Hughes was trying to keep from laughing.

"I'm right here. You couldn't come look for me like normal people do?"

"I did, but I didn't see you, after all, you are really short."

The younger alchemist fumed, but he didn't say anything which was rare for him.

"I'm tired, let's head back to the house. I need to finish my paperwork and then I want to get some sleep."

He walked passed his two superior officers and headed for the waiting car. Mustang and Hughes watched as he opened the door, climbed in, and slammed it shut.

"Is it just me or is Ed really mad at you," Hughes asked glancing at his friend.

"He's mad, but I'm not sure if he's mad at me or if he is mad at something or someone else. He's been pleasant lately and I think he's starting to be happy, but I can't really say for sure."

"Do you think he'll be in the mood to talk about the investigation?"

"Probably not, but you always know how to get a good response out of him."

The investigation into Edward's attempted murder was at a standstill. Hughes hadn't questioned the teen since he was in the hospital, and he hoped that now that Edward was fully recovered, he might remember something.

"I suppose you're right. In any case, I could remind him that others could be killed, and that he nearly was killed. It might provoke him to say something."

Mustang climbed into the back of the car with Ed while Hughes climbed into the front passenger seat next to Lt. Havoc. The four of them didn't say a word as they road all the way to Mustang's home. When they arrived, the blond alchemist opened the door and slammed it shut again before entering the house without a word. The three men heard a door slam from inside the house.

"Um…what's going on with the chief," Havoc said in a puzzled tone.

"We're about to go find out," Mustang said as he climbed out of the car followed by Hughes.

"Lt. Havoc, I have a lot of things to cover with Ed and Roy, so I'll probably end up spending the night here. Why don't you head home and pick us up tomorrow," Hughes said with a smirk as he walked to the door leaving the stunned Lieutenant outside.

"Edward, open this door right now, or I will burn it down!"

"Um…Roy, I don't think that's the greatest idea. You could burn down more than the door," Hughes said trying to calm his friend down.

"Well then, what do you suggest I do?"

"Let me handle it. Go down and make some tea. We'll all need a level head if we're going to get some headway on this."

The dark haired alchemist looked at his friend and then the locked bedroom door that held their blond-haired companion. He sighed and without a word, he went downstairs. Hughes waited until he was sure that the Colonel was completely downstairs before knocking on the door.

"Ed, it's me. I sent the Colonel downstairs, so can you please open the door so we can talk."

He paused and listed only to hear a faint clicking noise of the door unlocking. When nothing else happened he reached up and turned the doorknob. He opened the door slowly to see Edward was sitting over his desk looking at military paperwork. The teen was tired and irritable.

"Edward…"

"I'm almost done. Just two more papers and we can talk, Hughes."

The elder man sat down on the bed and waited for the other to finish. With a small flourish, he placed his pen down and neatly stacked his papers before placing them into the folder they came in.

"I'm done now, Hughes."

"Well, there is something important, that I want to talk to you about, but first, I want to know how you're doing?"

"I'm fine. Just a little tired today, that's all."

"And I suppose that's why you're moody," Hughes said with a smirk.

"A little…I more or less mad that Mustang could have discovered what it is I'm doing."

"I still think you should tell him. He might be able to help you get some of your research accomplished."

Ed shook his head and looked down at the floor. The last thing he needed was to tell Roy Mustang what he was doing.

"If I tell Mustang, then it could get back to the higher ups. I don't need any interference right now, if they take it the wrong way. This is something I need to do on my own, until the military trusts me again."

"Why are you so concerned about all of this, Ed. You've told me what you're doing, but not why?"

"I told you because I knew I could trust you not to say a word to anyone. As for the why, I haven't quite figured that out myself. Just let it go for now and I promise, when I figure out why, you'll be the first to know."

"Is that why you won't tell anyone else? …Because you don't have any justification for what you're doing?"

Hughes waited for an answer. He saw Ed smirk before he opened his mouth.

"The truth is, Hughes, I do have a reason, but it's a selfish one. I want to have a better reason to do it."

"Even a selfish reason, can be a valid one. Let's hear it and maybe I can help you find the other reason."

The silence filled the air with a small tension. Ed sucked in a deep breath to calm his nerves before speaking once again.

"I promised Al and Mom that I would live, and take good care of myself. Once I did that, I needed to find a way to make that happen. It's the only reason I have for doing what I'm doing, but for the state to find it valid research, it has to be for their benefit or for the benefit of others."

"You could use it to benefit others though."

"Yes, but I'm not sure I could face failing someone again. Not someone who put their complete faith in me…expects me to help them, and I can't do it. I can't make myself believe that I can do some good with this."

Hughes listened to his dilemma. He understood how the young teen felt. He had failed his mother, brother, and many others. His biggest fear was failing again.

"Ed, only time will be able to help you. You can only try your best, and when your best falls short. You have others you can lean on. I'll keep your secret until you find that strength to try again, but for now, let's let the chips fall where they need to."

The blond nodded and smiled.

"Thanks Hughes, I needed to hear that."

"Now, there's something else we need to discuss, and unfortunately, we have to include Roy in on this, so let's go downstairs and get this done."

The three men sat around the table. Hughes placed a set of documents in front of them to look at.

"Ed, it's hard to admit this, but we're at a standstill as far as the investigation into your poisoning goes. I need to ask you if there is anything you can remember, now that you're healed. Anything at all…"

The two elder men looked at the younger. He looked like he had something to say, but was reluctant to say it.

"Edward, if you have something to say, then spit it out," Mustang said in a commanding tone.

"Fine, but don't chew me out. I just got the results back today and it was on a hunch."

"What was?" Hughes asked as he gave his friend a harsh look.

"I know you had a theory about me being poisoned while I was in the hospital, but after thinking back, I had only been sick since I had started living with the Colonel. I started to think about it, and I decided to have the medicine prescribed to me tested for poisons."

"And?" Mustang questioned, clearly upset at the whole situation.

"It was laced with an unknown poison that ate away at me slowly. That's why we never noticed it at first. On my good days, I would get up and move around which brought about my bad days when I could barely get out of bed."

"I see, so when you would be active, it would cause the poison to spread faster," Hughes said, thinking aloud.

"Yeah, but I think because the dosage was so small, it took a long time to actually achieve any devastating results."

"What led you to look at your medicine, though," Mustang asked, giving his ward a questioning glare.

Ed thought for a moment. Truth be told it was his research, but he wasn't about to tell Mustang that.

"Like I said, it was a hunch. I had nothing better to go on and Hughes had told me they were hitting dead ends, so I just experimented," Ed shrugged.

"Well, at least you gave us something more that we could work with. Good work, Ed. Do you have your medication still?" Hughes asked.

"Yeah, it's in my room with the results."

"Great, I'll take this back to the investigations department and we'll check out the next lead tomorrow…"

As Hughes continued to gush over the new lead, Mustang watched his young ward carefully. When he asked Ed what led him to believe his medicine had been tampered with, the young alchemist had paused and lied to him. He had known Ed long enough to know when the younger alchemist was lying to him and he was also avoiding him too much lately. He stood causing his chair to scrape across the kitchen linoleum.

"Edward, I need to talk to you,"

"Ok…what about?"

"Outside! Now!"

He turned to walk out missing the look shared between Hughes and Ed. Ed did get up and follow him though. Mustang pulled the front door shut behind him. They stared at each other a long time. Ed was the first to speak.

"So, are we both just going to stare at each other or are you going to say what you wanted to talk about?"

"Why are you avoiding and lying to me?"

"Who said I was…"

"Don't give me that crap, Edward. I know you've been avoiding me and lying to me the past couple of weeks and I want to know why!" Mustang was yelling now.

"I'm not so there's nothing to tell you!" Ed yelled back, trying hard not to spill his precious secret.

"You won't talk to me, but you'll talk to Hughes, and you lied to me when I asked you what made you look into your tampered medication. I know you well enough to see the signs. What are you doing Edward?"

"Colonel…please just drop it. It's not something I can tell you right now, OK."

"Is it military related?"

"I'm not going to say another word about it. Goodnight Colonel," Ed said before he went back inside.

The Colonel was left outside with his thoughts. What would it take to get Ed to tell him what was going on? What could he do to find out? He was lost as to what to do, but determined to do it anyway.

"Fine, but if it's the last thing I do, Edward, I will find out what you're doing."