Okay, here we go with another one! *groans* Oh shut up! *throws book* Anywho, I hope you like it, and I'm prewarning you... NOW! It you like yaoi, this isn't it. It's more a parential Roy thing. And if you don't like yaoi, this IS it. I guess you might consider it yaoi if you squint, hop on one foot, and drink some Brisk, while counting backwards from infininty. Anywho... '3' hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

The Town Called Kenter

Like an icy wind, the two stared at each other, onyx eyes glaring into golden eyes. They both looked like statues, neither moving for minutes, and when it seems the minutes would encroach upon hours, the shorter of the two snorted and broke the stare. "You're fooling yourself. I won't do it."

Mustang gave a signature sneer and turned to the papers before him, his small and childish victory won and tucked under his belt. "Yes you will. You need this position."

"Like I need a hole in my head."

"It's not like anything much would fall out. We both know you need the military cover so cut the crap. You, being the obedient dog that you are, will investigate this man," he continued folding the paper, then judged the weight and threw it at his protégé. It landed on his lap. "And I, being the brilliant and dashing," insert Ed's snort. "Lieutenant Colonel, will calmly sit back, do the paperwork, and wait for you to return with this man trussed up like a Thanksgiving Turkey."

"But…!"

"Fullmetal…" there was a dangerous tone underneath the single word.

"But…!"

"I know that's not all you can say, but I know you so I'm glad that's all you are saying." Ed stood up, nearly knocking back the chair.

"C'mon Mustang! Cut me a break, will ya? I need to get looking for the Philosopher's Stone again, not for some crazy psycho in," he glanced down at the paper, then back up at the smug 20-something year old. "Kenter! I just got back from your last mission and that nearly got me killed!"

"Well that's not my fault," Mustang replied coolly, still content that he had won. "You just need to fight smarter. Maybe try a different tactic than your usual run in with your guns blazing ploy." Edward felt his gaskets breaking in his mind, and however comical it was, could practically picture the steam flying out of his ears. Finally, he sighed, defeated at last, but only because he held in about library full of comments.

"Fine, but if I die, I'm blaming it on you." He muttered, turning around and exiting, slamming the door behind him.

"Like I'd get that lucky," Mustang joked, still filing through his papers. Outside, Edward was livid, storming out of the building and rampaging past his waiting brother, who instantly bombarded him with questions.

"Brother! What's wrong? What happened? Do we have another mission? What did Mustang want? Brother!?" Edward sighed and just kept walking, answering the questions in order and with minimum words.

"Dang Mustang," he paused and grinned, "Dang Mustang, yes, to get a lower dog to do his bidding." Al gave a childish laugh, betraying his large size to his actual age.

"Where are we going? Do you think we'll find any leads?" Ed laughed at his brother's easily aroused excitement, now in a better mood. He thought about the latter question for a moment, but never halted his quickened pace to the train station.

"We're going to a town called Kenter to find some psycho kidnapper and 'detain' him." He gave a snort, "Mustang's fancy way of saying kill the guy before he causes more trouble. I don't know, hopefully this will be quick and harmless," he stopped talking to his brother to buy two tickets to Kenter, ask how long the trip would be, and then bid a polite, albeit grumpy, good day.

"Great," Ed grumbled, sitting on the hard train seats, though they were used to them, but Good God it got monotonous. "A two hour ride to nowhere." He knew he was complaining, but frankly he didn't care. At the moment, he just wanted to get this small hurdle over with, so he could run the rest of the race.

"Ed?" Al asked, his voice tinny and quiet. It took a moment, but the blond alchemist grunted in response. "Why do you think Colonel Mustang keeps giving you the tough jobs?" Edward sighed, not really feeling like looking the little kid with the big mouth on the train.

"How should I know? Probably just can't wait for me to fail so he can kick me out."

Alphonse seemed taken aback by his brother's abrupt answer. "Mustang wouldn't do that! Would he?" Ed shrugged, but never let his gaze wander from the leaping countryside.

"I don't know, but you asked for my opinion," his voice was slightly muffled by the white glove as he leaned into his hand. The rest of the train ride passed uneventful and boring. The train moved too fast for the countryside to be of any entertainment, and all wells of conversation between the brothers had long since dried up. All ideas of games or anything that would make give them entertainment had disappeared like the countryside. So, the boredom slowly leeched into drowsiness and that gave way to sleep for the Fullmetal Alchemist.

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Alphonse didn't have the heart to wake his slumbering brother, knowing this would probably be the only time for days or weeks that the young man would get any sleep. And besides, he looked so cute when he slept, all worry fell off like his braid sliding off his shoulder. His aged face actually looked it's age as he slowly leaned against the window.

Al sighed, shaking his head slightly, and glaring at the glint of automail that peeked out from that small space between his white glove and jacket. Your automail should be gone by now! But instead you're stuck running around… he clenched his fist, reminding himself that, he too, wasn't quite himself.

Suddenly, the train lurched, causing the alchemist to slowly slide off his hand, mumble something in his sleep, then catch himself before he fell out of his chair.

"Crap!" he muttered, orienting himself enough to curse rather lividly. He rubbed absently at the red spot on his cheek and glared out the window. "Are we really already there?" he muttered, his voice low and dangerous.

"Yup! You were asleep for a long time brother." Al laughed, standing up and looking down at his brother. Said brother muttered something incomprehensible and stood up, shaking off nonexistent dirt, then gently pushed his brother into the aisle.

"Hurry up! I wanna' get this over with," his voice still showed evidence of sleep as his words were slightly slurred, and Al giggled inwardly. He always was a slow riser. "Al!"

His name came out in an annoyed moan as he realized he had stopped in the middle of the aisle. "Oops," the younger brother muttered, hurrying down the train aisle, bumping almost everybody sitting down and letting out a meek 'sorry'. Once they made it out of the train (alive), Ed let out a drowsy chuckle.

"And I thought I was socially awkward." Al turned to make a retort, but when he turned around, his brother was already walking away, heading into the town. Without a word, he ran after his brother, admiring the town at the same time. It looked like an old western, with one big road right down the middle (of which Ed was currently sauntering down the middle of) and smaller alleys branching off. Tall buildings glared down at the street, and the iron soul thought he could feel curious eyes peering at him through the windows. As he passed a small alley, he glanced down it through the corner of his eyes. He could feel a chill, knowing that the kidnapping predator was probably lurking in the dark shadows, leering at the children, waiting to steal them.

Ed stopped and turned to his left, admiring a building with a slight tilt of his head. His brother finally caught up and asked the question he'd been thinking. "Brother? Why would a kidnapper stay here?" Ed chuckled darkly and stared down the road for a moment then glanced up at a building and there was the telltale snap of a shudder.

He turned his golden gaze to the sand and shook his head, "It may not look like much, but that's because everyone's hiding. There are plenty of kids here, Al, but the parents have finally got wise," he sighed and stepped up to the building, opening the door and pulling out his stopwatch at the same time. Al would've asked him where they were, but he was interrupted by quite a sight that struck him with déjà vu.

Men in uniforms ran around the small building, slamming down a folder, or picking one up every now and then. Phones were ringing off the hook and Al wondered for a moment why he couldn't hear it outside. They looked like bees in a honeycomb, and they were the intruders. Ed took a single step forward and everyone, everything, stopped and turned to look at him. Ed held up his pocket watch deftly as a sign of good faith, and put on his signature smirk.

"I need to speak to the mayor." He announced, using all the cockiness and authority that came with being such a high-ranked alchemist at such a young age. Only one man stood forward, placing down a folder and muttering a quick goodbye to the phone. He regarded Ed with frosty blue eyes, respect apparent, but the respect came up short compared to the frosty look in his eyes.

"Are you the alchemist they sent?" his voice asked, rough with experience. Ed's cockiness seemed to wither slightly at the man's cool regard.

"Yes!" his voice slightly higher as he indignantly tried to recover. The man gave a snort of resignation and turned to the back of the room,

"Follow me," he muttered, walking through the crowd. Al followed as his brother drew himself up as high as he could (which wasn't really much) and made a beeline after him, ignoring the gazes shot his way, as they were all from above him. They stopped at a door, though it wasn't decorated at all, and the man straightened up, managing to grunt before the door opened. "I'm Sheriff Julian Conner." Before Ed could even utter a response, the door opened and a man greeted them.

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He wasn't really old, in fact he was younger than Conner, who was brunette but graying. His dark eyes were guarded as he carefully appraised Edward. He looked him up and down, his sharp eyes not missing a single hair on his head. Ed felt a shiver run its tendrils down his spine. His clothes hung loosely around his thin frame, making him look like a little kid who had tried to put on his father's clothes. His face hadn't been marred by wrinkles, but when his face broke into a grin, his eyes crinkled up softly.

"Why, you must be Edward Elric!" he gently grabbed said alchemist's arm and shook it. "I'm so glad you're here! You don't know what this means to me, that the busy government in central took the time out to send out a state alchemist to help out cause!" he suddenly paused, his happy expression turning slightly darker. "If you don't mind me asking," he asked, his voice lowering as he still gripped Ed's hand, "how old are you?"

The blond was taken aback for a moment, not used to being asked how old he was, merely being taken for a short adult. He actually had to think about it for a moment. "Fourteen," he answered, the word felt weird, foreign, on his tongue as he was not used to saying it. The mayor seemed almost as taken aback as Edward had been.

"Fourteen…" he echoed, his eyes once again becoming guarded. "Not a child, but not old enough to be an adult." His whisper suddenly raised to a normal voice. "The government is sure finding some young talent these days, aren't they?" he laughed, but it sounded rusty and hardly used.

"Uh… yes sir…"

"Call me Xald, sir sounds so… stuffy." He squeezed Ed's hand for a second before releasing and retreating back into his office. "Come in, come in." The door opened wider to reveal an office with papers scattered around the room, almost making it look alike a tree slaughter house. Books were stacked around the room, opening their bindings and daring anyone whom came around to be drawn in by their alluring words. Ed glanced out the corner of his eyes at one of the books, glancing over a sentence. Then, last you remove the bone… Ed felt his mouth draw up into a confused scowl. A cooking mayor? He banished the thought, cause who honestly didn't have their little habits? Still walking into the room, he glanced up at the mayor, and stopped in his tracks when he found himself starring into the dark eyes of Xald. It scared him that even as he caught him red handed, he kept staring at him, his gaze never wavering from his golden pools.

Ed swallowed, trying to work up the words to say, though his mind was muddled. "Can I use your phone? I need to call and tell my higher-ups I've arrived safely," it came out hushed, but the mayor nodded towards his own phone, his eyes never leaving the blond as he walked over and dialed the number.

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Though dozing, the Lieutenant Colonel had managed to stay upright in his chair with a paper in front of his face, looking for the entire world like a dutiful man reading a document. Still, he was disgruntled when the door to his office flew open to reveal a rather hurried Hughes.

"Hey, Roy!" he said it loudly, though there was no need. It was quiet in the office, and Roy's foggy mind really didn't want to hear it. "Have you heard from Edward yet?" his face, at first weary and slightly scared, now turned ecstatic. "And have you heard my darling Elicia talk yet? She's talking like a regular little social butterfly!"

"Hughes! What do you want?" The Flame Alchemist's short temper was even shorter, about as short as his nap. Maes seemed to lapse back to what he was talking about.

"Well, it's about that mission you sent Ed on, we just found some new stuff," he dropped the folder on the already crowded desk, threatening to make everything overflow, but Roy only regarded it coolly.

"Okay, I'll get to it," he looked back to his paper and pretended to read it. But, he soon realized that his friend had other plans. The paper in his hands disappeared and it was replaced swiftly by the manila folder. Roy blinked, trying to figure out exactly why he was seeing things.

"Roy," Hughes asked, his voice conversational, "How old is Ed, exactly?" Roy pretended to think, but he knew it down to the day. He opened his mouth to answer as Hughes sat on the desk, regardless of the papers.

"Fourteen," he answered, deftly flipping open the folder to look at the information. There was a small stack of pictures, so he looked at that first, though immediately wishing he hadn't. He felt his stomach turn, and a searing flash of fear lashed out in his stomach and settle down, leaving a burning horror that lingered and wasn't going to go away anytime soon. He opened his mouth, but Hughes beat him to it.

"Those children all range from ten to fifteen. They were missing three days before they showed up dead."

"They weren't just killed," Roy muttered, a growl growing in his throat. Hughes grunted and Roy watched as he took off his glasses and gently blew on them, rubbing them on his shirt.

"You're right about that. They were killed and then their bones were removed." He put his glasses back on. "Or, their bones were removed and then they were killed. This man's sick, and he's just running around, rampant." He stopped and gave the Flame Alchemist a look, then turning his dark gaze to the phone. "I figured I should show you that, seeing how he is serving under you. That information could help, and," his face turned serious, deathly. "Anything that happens to him could be blamed on you for not telling him anything." Roy really didn't need his friend to tell him that. He had the information and he was going to pull his protégé out of there. He'd send in someone older, not at a risk for this psycho killer to get his hands on. He tried to keep his mind from picturing the young man in that danger, but nevertheless… he shuddered, thoughts always found a way to sneak in.

Roy reached for the phone, but almost as soon as his fingers touched it, it rang. The two jumped before he picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Mustang?" Roy let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He was safe and the horror in his stomach died down a bit, but it was strange, Ed never called him by his title.

"Edw-Fullmetal!" he paused to catch his breath and speak his normal and cool tone. "I take it you've made it to Kenter?" Hughes regarded him coolly for a minute, before hopping off the desk and walking over to the door. He opened the door a crack, then turned to look at Mustang, his gaze thoughtful.

"I'd be careful, Roy. If you keep it up, people," he took his gaze to the ceiling then back down, "might just think this is too personal for you." And then he disappeared out the door, leaving Roy to stew on that thought. He turned back to Ed's voice, and it was uncharacteristically quiet and respectful.

"Yes sir. We made it here safe and we're speaking with the mayor." That explained it. Mustang let out a chuckle and settled back in his chair, the burning horror hardly there.

"So that's why you're talking so respectfully. I thought something happened for a minute, you've never been so uptight." He could practically see Ed seething on the other side of the phone.

"Yes sir," but his voice was perfectly in check. Roy sniffed and picked up the folder, flapping it open and trying not to look at the pictures.

He cleared his throat, "I've got some information for you. I want you to come back here and I'll give it to you," he knew that if he told him to get out of town, he'd stay and probably get himself into more trouble.

"Why can't you just tell me over the phone?" he asked and Roy sighed, this was probably going to end in a fight.

"Because I need you to get out of that town!" There was a sharp cough on the other side of the line.

"Why? Just tell me the information, I'll catch the suspect, and then I'll come back." There was a muttering on the other side of the phone. "And if I come back now, some other child might get killed."

"Fullmetal, I am your commanding officer, you will come back and you will not say another word!" his voice had risen to a quiet shout and he could just picture the other people staring at the boy.

"I can handle it," his voice now constricted as he tried to keep calm. "Just give me the information, it'll make this a quicker search so I can get back. You know I'll stay anyway, so why not just make it easier for me?" Apparently, the mayor was forgotten as he broke though his strained respect and came out with his anger.

"Fullmetal, you're age puts you right in the target range! You could be the next child killed!" His voice grew louder. "And I'm sure you don't want your bones forcibly removed from your body!" There was a pause as the facts seemed to sink in on the petite alchemist, then there was a sigh.

"I'm not a child," he muttered, his voice dangerously border lining a snarl. "Bones?" There was a soft waver in his voice as if he had just seen a particularly scary scene. Mustang covered the phone so he could sigh with relief, he had him on the ropes.

"Yes, we don't know which order it happens in, but the kid's bones are removed and by the time we find them, you can hardly tell what it is. And, the ages all range from ten to fifteen, you fit right in there."

"Thank you for the information," Fullmetal's courtesy was back in place and Roy knew he'd lost him, the fear and horror whipped again in his stomach. "Seeing as I'm right in that age group, I'll probably be able find him that much easier. I'll be sure to catch this man and return as quickly as I can."

"Full-" but he was gone, and the phone dinged obnoxiously in his ear. He placed it down and poured himself over the papers in the folder, trying to find a small loophole, small enough for the short alchemist to fit through.

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He stared at his next victim, his fingers clenching and unclenching. So, he thought that it would be easy to catch him? Ha, no one would ever catch him. Such a young, gorgeous person. Eyes full of life and such a young, fit body, he was going to be fun to catch. He always did like gold, but mixed with crimson… he gave an excited shudder, hardly able to contain his anticipation.

Bwa-ha-ha-*hick*. Sorry, that's my like-to-torment-characters part coming out. I hope you enjoyed it! Review and you get a cyber Starbucks! *holds out coffee*