This is the first chapter of TO CATCH A KILLER. I worked very hard on this chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

Author: Epicocity

Rating: T for Language, Blood, Some Disturbing Images, and Innuendo

Pairings: Edwin, Royai, AlMei, Ling/Lan Fan, HavBec, Lust/Havoc, and others

TO CATCH A KILLER

A Fullmetal Alchemist AU Fan Fiction

Chapter 1

"Not a pretty thing, boss," the man said, shifting his cigarette from the left side of his mouth to his right. Roy Mustang ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his narrow eyes flitting down to the chopped and mangled body near his feet. "Guess not even suburban streets are safe at night…"

"Why can't the killers come out during the day?" Mustang quipped agitatedly. "I lose enough sleep with the late hours…I don't need to lose more."

"Hey, you're head detective, we have to call you in on cases like this," his companion said.

"Shut it, Havoc!" Mustang said with venom. His hand slipped into his coat pocket and pulled out a lighter, the symbol of flame etched on it. As if a nervous tick, he clicked the lighter on and off three times.

"Hey, boss, mind giving me a light?" Havoc asked and Mustang's eyes narrowed in his direction. His arm moved quickly as the closed lighter was flung violently at Havoc's head.

"I told you: no smoking at a crime scene!"

"Don't take it out on Havoc, sir," came a more feminine voice. Mustang straightened his back as he stared at his partner who looked just as professional now as ever, even if it was three in the morning. Part of him was impressed. The other part, which was far more prominent in his sleep-deprived state, was exasperated that she couldn't let down her barrier for even a moment. "Where's Breda?"

"Hey, he lives over in New Optain; you can't expect him to drive over to Liore at three in the morning," Havoc said with a smirk as he bent down to pick up Mustang's lighter. For a moment he considered lighting his cigarette, but after looking the object over, he tossed it back. "Here's your lighter, chief."

"Chief, huh?" Mustang breathed, catching the lighter and producing its fire without a hitch. Neither of his two companions said a word as he continued to stare into the flame. Around them, people moved around, closing off the area and taking pictures, but Roy seemed oblivious to it all. He could faintly hear Hawkeye, his ever professional partner, and Havoc in the background.

"He seems kind of grumpy today," Havoc said quietly.

"It's that day," Hawkeye responded in just as quiet of a voice and Havoc made a noise of recognition. "It's been two years to the day. Why today…?" Mustang snapped the lighter shut.

"What about Armstrong and Feury?" he snapped and his two subordinates looked at him, Havoc sniggering at the question.

"You wanna deal with an over-emotional muscle man this early in the morning? I didn't call them," he answered. Mustang rubbed his eyes with some sense of frustration and surveyed the scene. Thankfully, it was so early in the morning that no one was out on the streets of Liore. To that point, the area around the body was cordoned off by yellow tape, the two sergeants that were the first to be called to the scene standing idly by.

"Hey, wait a minute…Where the hell is my Forensics team?" Mustang shouted, but paused as he felt Hawkeye's hand on his shoulder.

"They're not coming, sir," she began, but plowed on when Mustang looked ready to go into shock, "If you had done your paperwork, you'd know that Forensics is currently swamped. They couldn't send anyone out to Liore. It shouldn't last for long though, they're getting someone new in today. You have a meeting with him at eight thirty."

"I heard the guy's pretty good," Havoc said with a yawn and Mustang glared at him. "Word in the department has it that this guy caught the Slicer Brothers within two weeks of getting to Central. He was there for six months."

"Damn it, Havoc, I don't care what he did! He's not a detective and he's not here now!" Mustang yelled.

"Sir…" Hawkeye said sternly, yet with a soothing undertone. Roy took a deep breath and relaxed. He turned his head toward Riza and smiled softly.

"Why are you always the better part of me, detective?" he asked softly and Riza chuckled slightly under her breath.

"I don't know, sir." The sound of snickering was heard and the both of them turned to Havoc, Hawkeye with arched eyebrows, Mustang's in a stern glare.

"Aw, look at that, how sweet," Havoc laughed out and Mustang turned away from the man, "accidentally" hitting him as he strode over to the body.

"You shouldn't antagonize him, Jacqueline," Hawkeye said with a smirk and it was Havoc's turn to glare.

"That was one time! I was drunk!" Havoc protested but Hawkeye just turned away with a smile on her face. "Man, why can't the others be here…?"

"Sergeant!" Mustang boomed and Havoc looked at his boss a minute before turning to see two relatively rookie cops approaching. "You were the first to respond to the scene, were you not?"

"Yes, sir," the black haired woman responded. Mustang gazed at her in expectation and she cleared her throat. "Sergeant Maria Ross and Denny Brosh. We were on our rounds through Liore when we heard that woman over there, a Miss Rose Thomas, screaming. We went to examine the scene and we found the body. Brosh took the young lady away from the body as I called it in and closed the area off."

"Good work, sergeant," Mustang complimented crisply. "Has CSU made any examinations on the matter?" Mustang knew that the forthcoming answer was not going to be one that was pleasant to his ears, but he had to ask anyway. After all, in their line of work, any kind of information was useful information. Maria Ross shook her head.

"As of yet, they've been unable to make any real conclusions; without Forensics here…" Mustang emitted a low sigh that sounded more like a growl and he couldn't help but notice the sergeant stand back a bit. It was no doubt she had heard the rumors that circulated around the East City Police Department; she most likely thought the infamous Mustang temper was about to rear its ugly head. The thought of it made Roy want to chuckle, if he wasn't already so pissed. After all, on any normal day (if it was indeed day, and not this godforsaken hour) Mustang was calm, cool, and collected, if not barking orders to get investigations done right.

"All right…" he murmured under his breath. "Havoc!"

"Sir?" came the blonde's voice from a small distance away. Mustang turned his head to see Havoc stepping away from the coroner's van that had just arrived. It looked as though only one person was in the van, and to Mustang's chagrin it was not the coroner himself. Havoc quickly stepped up next to him, shifting his still unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Rope this alleyway off completely and put a twenty-four hour guard on the scene until I can get Forensics down here to check it out," Mustang said and Havoc nodded, considering his words for a moment.

"And the body?"

"It's a bloody mess; get it out of here. But don't disturb the scene, understand?" Mustang felt that usual exhilaration as Havoc moved off to follow his orders. This was truly his element: issuing orders that were effective, made sense, and, most important, got the job done. "Oh, and Havoc, I don't want some silly coroner's assistant examining it, with the state it's in. Make sure it gets to Knox for a proper autopsy."

"You got it, boss," Havoc said with a nod and he moved off to do what needed to be done. Mustang smiled slightly; Havoc might have been an annoyance once in a while but he did his job well. Turning away from the body, knowing that Havoc would see it taken care of, he instead shifted his gaze to the young woman who sat sobbing while a younger looking, blonde-haired man tried to console her.

"Should I assume we're going to question the witness?" Hawkeye asked from behind him and Mustang wondered how she had stayed so silent. However, the point was moot and he just gave a rough nod of his head as he walked over to the woman. She had long brown hair with part of it dyed pink, a strange combination in Mustang's opinion.

"Thank you, Sergeant Brosh, we'll take it from here," Mustang said to the man. He quickly stepped away to allow room for both Mustang and Hawkeye to look at the witness. "You are Miss Rose Thomas, is that correct?"

"Y-yes…" she hiccupped, looking up with shimmering eyes at the two detectives who were bathed in the faint glow from the street lights outside the alleyway.

"And you found the body?" She gave a faint and meek nod. "Mind telling me what you were doing out on the streets at one in the morning?"

"I…uh, I work for Mayor Cornello," Rose answered and Mustang closed his eyes but refrained from commenting, "and we…we have a big meeting tomorrow so I had to work very late in order to finish up all the paperwork I needed for tomorrow." Hawkeye cleared her throat rather loudly and Mustang scowled at her insinuation.

"What is your…relation to Mayor Cornello?" Hawkeye asked before he had the chance to speak again. Rose swallowed loudly and attempted to steady her breathing before answering.

"I'm…I'm his secretary," she answered firmly and Mustang could tell she was trying to lock her feelings deep inside herself. Mustang considered her words before reluctantly stepping to the side in order to allow her a view of the body again.

"And did you know the victim, ma'am?" Mustang asked and Rose measured things for a moment before answering.

"S-somewhat…" she responded. Mustang nodded, as if urging her to continue. "He and I both worked at City Hall, I guess. He'd talk to me every day, bring me coffee. And…and just the other day he asked me out." She couldn't control her sobs and the waterworks started flowing again.

"Thank you for your time," Mustang quipped before turning away. He registered Hawkeye soothing the girl and ordering Brosh to escort the young woman home. Havoc hopped out of the coroner's vehicle as the doors slammed shut and the vehicle drove away. Havoc shook his head in disgust, holding out a bloody wallet.

"Body was chopped up something fierce, but we were able to rescue the wallet," Havoc told him with a grim look, "though I don't think you'll like what you find."

"Why, Havoc, I'm already feeling Christmas Day anticipation in opening this wallet," Mustang told him sarcastically as he flipped open the wallet.

"Cain Leto, son to Mayor Cornello Leto, and Liore's city DA."

"Shit," Mustang cursed, "we're going to get roasted for this one if we don't solve it quickly. Make sure this doesn't get leaked to the press, you hear?"

"I don't want to invite this shitstorm on us any more than you do, Mustang, but we can't keep it quiet forever," Havoc told him with a grimace.

"I know that. So, I want all hands on deck for this one. Make sure everyone is in the conference room as early as we can be tomorrow. And I don't want a single word of this to be breathed to the rest of Cornello's staff, until we have all the facts we can gather from this." Mustang sighed again before lightly kicking a nearby dumpster. "This day just keeps getting better and better…" Mustang once again dragged out his lighter and began clicking it on and off furiously as he strode from the crime scene. He knew his job there was done: they were short-staffed, with poor lighting and exhausted to boot. There was no way they would be able to make any conclusions at this time. Mustang exited the alleyway and strode to his car. As he put his key into the ignition, he decided his best option would be to go back to the station and finish some paperwork; it wasn't like he would get any sleep anyway what with the two hour drive back to East City and an early meeting with his team. With another growl, he put the car into drive and began on his way to the station.

The sun was cresting over the tops of the city's skyscrapers when he arrived at the station. A few of the night shift were still on duty and he greeted all of them as he went to his desk and attempted to finish his paperwork. The first thing he did see was the note from the Chief stating that he had that meeting with the new Forensics specialist. Beyond that, he wasn't exactly sure how successful he was on the matter since the next thing he remembered was being shaken awake as a voice called to him. Mustang felt himself wave his arm as if to brush the voice away, but the voice didn't seem to be deterred in the slightest. Roy opened his eye a crack and felt light stream in.

"What, did you actually attempt to do paperwork?" came Havoc's cheery, if slightly sleep-deprived voice.

"Oh, shut it, Havoc," Mustang snapped as he righted himself in his chair. After a glance at his disturbed desk and the photo that was right in front of him, he concluded that he must have fallen asleep. Although, he commented to himself, I still feel like a piece of crap. He rubbed his eyes as he stood up and heard the TV blaring in the background, disturbing his still sleep-deprived brain.

"…resident Yao of Xing and his first lady as well as Crown Prince Claudio of Aerugo have agreed to meet in Amestris in two weeks time to discuss a peace treaty. President Dante has made clear her current stance on this issue."

"In these troubled times," came the voice of Amestris' president from the television, picking up where the news anchor had left off, "it is important to continue ensuring the peace and stability of our nation. To this-"

"Will somebody turn that racket off?" Mustang yelled loudly and noise from it seemed to cease. Mustang heard Havoc sigh but paid little attention to his grievances.

"Everyone, look out! The boss is in a bad mood today!" Havoc jeered and Mustang slapped him on the back of the head.

"Can it, and get in the conference room. I'm getting some coffee." Havoc muttered something about that putting him in a worse mood, but once again the head detective ignored it as he entered into the vending hall where both the vending machines and coffee machine stood. Mustang tousled his black hair as he went over to the coffee machine where a young man stood banging the piece of equipment.

"Work! Damn it!" he yelled angrily.

"Coffee machine giving you issues?" Roy chortled and the young man turned to him. The first thing that struck Roy was his unnaturally colored golden eyes (which were slightly creepy, if he were to be honest). Other than that, he seemed every bit a usual officer of the law, albeit not dressed like one. "You don't look familiar. I would guess first day, if you don't know about our absolutely crappy coffee machine."

"Yeah, well, I should have my wife take a look at it. She could make it work better than new," the golden-haired man said with a scowl. Roy thought he looked a little young to be married; after all, he was already in his thirties and had as much chance of a steady relationship as Havoc had of becoming police commissioner. The man turned away, the red coat he was wearing swaying slightly and he banged on the machine one more time, causing the coffee to finally come out. "Well, see ya…"

"Yeah, see you around the station, shorty," Mustang chuckled as the man began to move off. In his peripheral vision, Mustang noticed the young man stiffen for a moment at his words before he seemed to regain his composure and move on. Rookies these days…Mustang thought with a shake of his head as he pressed buttons on the coffee machine. He did have to thank the young man for getting the coffee machine to actually work for him as seconds later he was striding towards the conference room with the world's worst-tasting coffee in his hand. As soon as he opened the doors to the conference room he noticed the clock on the wall reading 8:20 and sighed; he really had overslept. However, the next thing he transfixed his eyes upon were his partners in solving crime, or as they liked to call themselves, Team Mustang.

Riza Hawkeye sat there, dressed as professionally as ever, her hair cropped up behind her head as it always was. Just as she had been earlier that morning, she was dressed in a crisp blouse with a smart, navy blue blazer. As far as partners went, Mustang could ask for no better. Even before he became head detective, he and Riza had had a rather…special bond, one could say. The funny part was how she was always a step behind him. He had asked her why she had never tried to surpass him and always remained behind her, to which she answered: "I trust you to watch your own front, sir, so I stay behind to watch your back." He never questioned her on the matter again after that.

Sitting next to Hawkeye was good old Jean Havoc. Mustang and Havoc went back a ways, all the way back to his days at the police academy. Havoc came in to the academy the year that Mustang graduated and joined the force. In some ways, it could be said he was a mentor to the young man. However, ever since becoming a detective, Havoc hardly needed a mentor. He was as professional as they came, when he wasn't hitting on the women on the force. True, Jean Havoc could roll with the best of them, and probably teach them all a thing or two when it came to his investigative skills, but his one vice was his unnatural attraction to women. Not that it was a bad thing, but when the ratio of investigations to boobs came to be 20:80, Mustang had to wonder.

On the opposite side of the table was Mustang's other good friend and Havoc's longtime partner on the force, Heymans Breda. Breda was a relatively beefy man who had been nicknamed the Department's "Snack Machine", only because of how much food he could actually managed to shovel in. However, he was one of the most respected members in the department because he had proven his skill at catching bad guys in an area that some officers barely even passed. Breda was very skilled at deductive reasoning and was the only detective in the past decade or two to have scored a 100% on that portion of the detective's exam. That trait was as useful as they could come.

Seated next to Breda was a relatively new addition to the team: Kain Feury. Of course, thinking about their younger member's name reminded him only too sharply about the case they were about to talk about. To the initial viewer, Feury seemed a very strange member to Mustang's team. He had only recently passed his DET and become a detective so his knowledge of working in the field was at a near minimum. However, there were two reasons that Mustang was glad he had picked Feury to be part of the team. The first of these was that the man's knowledge of police technology (and indeed, technology in general) was off the charts. If you needed a computer hacked or an encrypted file broken down, he could do it in a flash. That made him more useful than about 50% of the detectives in the department in a heartbeat.

The second reason was a little more…loud.

"Oh, Roy Mustang! My heart feels so low that on this day we should have to endure both one murder and the anniver-"

"Not now, Armstrong." Mustang barked at him and the large man seemed to silence himself and retreat back to his seat on the other side of the table. Detective Alex Louis Armstrong; a good detective and an even louder friend. He was currently partnered with Feury and everyone on the team, and probably the force, knew how much torture Feury was being subjected to as a result of it. But Armstrong was a good man, with a good head on his shoulders. He was certainly over-emotional, but when push came to shove, his muscles got the job done when they weren't busy ripping off his shirt unexpectedly.

"You look like crap, boss, no offense," Breda commented with a grunt and Mustang rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on, but knew he needed to repress it in order to get through the day.

"None taken," Mustang answered him. "Anyway, what do we know?"

"Doctor Knox performed an autopsy earlier this morning, puts the time of death at around eleven in the evening last night," Feury answered him as Hawkeye pushed the case file towards him. Mustang paid little attention to it, instead focusing all his faculties on listening to Feury. "Coroner reports multiple lacerations all over the body, in some cases the skin and muscle tissue was no longer even attached to the bone."

"In other words, we're dealing with a sicko here," Havoc told him and Mustang motioned for them to move on with the briefing.

"Knox told the two of us," Armstrong told him, indicating himself and Feury, "that the victim was killed with slice to the throat and he believes that the other lacerations were actually done both prior to death and post-mortem."

"Do we have any other leads we can glean from the autopsy, or is that it?" Mustang asked with a glance at his team. Breda reached for the abandoned case file and flipped it open, pulling a sheet from its contents.

"I did some back research. Cain Leto was a very beloved DA who did his job well. Liore's not really a city of that much crime so it seemed completely unnatural that some random criminal would want to kill him and as you spoke to the soon-to-be girlfriend it's highly unlikely this was a crime of passion. The lacerations seem to indicate a planned and orchestrated murder, impersonal even. Whoever did kill him didn't know him," Breda told his boss and Mustang nodded, agreeing with the theory.

"So it's either a paid job or a whacko?" Mustang questioned and Breda made a noise of assent.

"Sounds like The Chopper, if you ask me," came a voice from behind Mustang and he whirled around in his chair to see who had intruded in the meeting. Behind him was the young man he had met at the coffee machine, currently leaning against the doorframe that Mustang realized he had accidentally left open.

"I'm sorry, this is a classified meeting, above your clearance level," Mustang said angrily and the man shrugged with a smirk on his face. Hawkeye quickly stood up and Mustang was ready to smirk himself. His partner was likely ready to throw the young man out. So, it came as a surprise to him when Hawkeye shook the man's hand.

"You must be Edward Elric, I expect," she said and the man nodded with a smile.

"So, you've heard of me?" he responded and Mustang cleared his throat in order to insert himself into the conversation.

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Right, Edward Elric, Forensics," the young man, Edward, said to him, holding out his hand. Mustang refused to take it. This kid is my Forensics specialist… "Okay, no need to be a jackass."

"Watch it, pipsqueak!"

"Who're you calling pipsqueak, bastard?" Mustang sprang out of his chair in a chance to retaliate when he saw Hawkeye's glare and backed off.

"Edward, I've been told, is a very skilled member of the Forensics department. Doctor Marcoh has assigned him to our cases for the time being," Hawkeye told them all in a stern voice.

"Wait a minute…so you're the guy that caught the Slicer Brothers?" Havoc demanded to know and Edward nodded with another smirk on his face. Havoc made a low whistle.

"You look really young, though," Feury observed.

"Twenty years old. But I thought we were here to solve a murder," Edward announced, quickly changing the subject back to the matter at hand. Hawkeye motioned for Edward to pull up a seat next to them and Roy returned to his own with a disgruntled growl. "Like I said, that sounds like The Chopper."

"What? Is that some kind of…?" Armstrong began, but couldn't seem to finish the sentence.

"Serial killer, yeah, from Central," Edward told them and Mustang resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. "He committed three murders in Central, including one of Chief Gamelan. It was a nasty business, he was never caught."

"You mean you never caught him?" Mustang said as a sly remark.

"He disappeared," Edward reassured him. "No wonder, he probably moved out here to the East before we were able to lay hands on him. I was pretty damn close though."

"He's actually right boss," Breda said and Mustang suppressed a groan, "four cases prior to this were found in the police database with the same M.O. This Chopper guy is definitely our man."

"So, now it's just a matter of finding him," Mustang said in a low tone. "All right everyone, we've got work to do. Havoc, Breda, I want you to look into those Central cases. Call whatever officers were on the case there and gather as much information about this guy's methods as you can. Armstrong, Feury, make sure to visit Knox again and try to see what kind of weapon made those lacerations. Hawkeye and myself will take Mr. Elric here to Liore so he can examine the crime scene." There was a general voice of assent as everyone filed from the conference room.

"Shall I get the car started, sir?" Hawkeye asked and Mustang shook his head.

"No, let the whole department know that if Cornello calls I'm not answering any questions until tomorrow morning. Meet us at the car." Hawkeye nodded in assent and left the room. Edward stood up and stretched a bit, his black pant leg pulling up slightly. For a moment, Mustang thought he saw something that wasn't quite flesh underneath, but the spot he had seen was soon covered up.

"So, we going or what?" Edward asked and Mustang just strode from the room, leaving the Forensics specialist to trail behind. He couldn't believe that this kid was Forensics, and at only twenty! Mustang himself had only become Head Detective at the age of 27, which was unprecedented in the first place but it seemed like this generation was just becoming younger and younger. However, the kid's observations did match up with Breda's conclusions so he must have had something going for him. A few minutes later, he, Hawkeye and Edward were in the car and off to Liore. For the most part, the two hour drive was silent until they reached the city limits of Liore.

"So, Edward, I hear you spent the last six months in Central," Hawkeye commented and Mustang saw the young man nod from his rearview mirror.

"Yeah, I started at South City, and then I transferred to North where I made a name for myself, so they called me to Central. Then I requested to be transferred here to East," Edward answered her.

"Any particular reason you chose East?"

"My wife," Edward said quickly and Mustang could tell that Hawkeye couldn't figure out how to respond to that as well. Mustang put his eyes back to the road as they approached the scene of the crime.

"Fuck…" Mustang seethed under his breath, though it was clear Hawkeye had heard him as she glanced up. There was a small crowd gathered around the crime scene tape, and from the looks of it, standing there was none other than Mayor Cornello. Mustang parked the car and the three of them stepped out to greet him. "Mayor Cornello, what a surprise."

"Surprise? This is what you call a surprise!" Cornello said angrily, striding up to the young head detective. "My boy has just been murdered."

"I assure you, sir, we are doing everything in our power. We already have a suspect in mind and-"

"Not good enough!" Cornello roared. "I wonder, Head Detective Mustang, what would Commissioner Bradley do if he found out about this debacle?"

"Probably nothing, sir," Mustang answered coldly. "We just found the body last night. To have a suspect this early is a miracle. You may be a politician but you have to allow us to do our jobs." Cornello looked as if he was going to blow a gasket.

"Sir, with all due respect," Hawkeye began, looking the mayor straight in the eye, "we are working round the clock. We cannot go barging down any door we want. There is procedure and protocol we must follow. Once we have enough information we will post a BOLO on the suspect and hope for the best. But, rest assured, we will be using all our department resources to make sure the killer is brought to justice."

"Hmph. Well, you monkeys at the police department can at least talk well," Cornello grumbled and Hawkeye's glare sharpened, causing the mayor to step back a little.

"Understand Mayor Cornello, by getting in our way we can arrest you for obstructing justice. Now, you can either leave us to our jobs, or allow a killer to roam free." Cornello seemed to deliberate his next action for a moment before giving a curt nod.

"Fine. I'll leave you to it then, but," Cornello said and the two detectives' attentions were riveted upon his words, "if you fail to catch this killer, I'll have your jobs."

"Unlikely, sometimes you can't even find the killer, and the commissioner knows that," Hawkeye responded and Mustang felt a shiver go down his spine. Cornello's face seemed to scrunch up in disgust before he whipped around and led himself and his entourage away from the scene.

"Well, that went well," Mustang replied before looking around. "Where's Elric?"

"Why don't you come over here and see?" came Edward's voice from the alleyway. Mustang and Hawkeye walked over to the alleyway and ducked under the crime scene tape. "This is how you found the scene, right, minus the dead body?"

"I ordered them to leave it untouched," Mustang responded, wondering where the blonde-haired boy wonder was going with this.

"Where's all the blood?" Edward observed and Mustang quirked an eyebrow at him. "If he was killed here, where's all the blood? There's not nearly enough here for all the cuts that were made"

"So, he wasn't killed here then. Makes sense," Mustang agreed. "Time of death was put at eleven. How could he not be discovered until one if he was killed in a relatively open alleyway? He was dumped here, wasn't he?"

"That is The Chopper's style. He chops them up elsewhere before dumping the body on a street." Edward bent down and examined the ground around the area. "Transmission fluid…and a strange fiber."

"That's a start, isn't it?" Hawkeye remarked and Edward laughed.

"More than a start," he replied, "I can get this down to the crime lab and have Marcoh analyze it by tomorrow. Once we know that, we look for a credit card or a cash serialization for whoever paid for whatever outfit this fiber came from and for a transmission check."

"Likely a truck," Mustang told them and both looked at him. "I can smell the gasoline in the air now that the stench of the dead body is gone, and it's definitely too potent to be from a car. Not bad, Elric. If we cross reference we should at least get a tail on our killer."

"I'll call the station and have them put a BOLO out for The Chopper, then?" Hawkeye asked, but it seemed that she anticipated Mustang's response before he even gave it. "Or we can wait…see what the others have got back at the station." Mustang nodded and the three quickly left the scene, telling the guards there that they were done and were needed no longer.

It was late afternoon when they arrived back at the police station in East City. There were less people there than had been in the morning time. Feury and Armstrong were nowhere to be seen but Havoc was at his desk, clicking around on his computer. Edward left them at the entrance to the station in order to head down to Forensics and the Crime Lab. Meanwhile, Mustang and his ever industrious partner approached Havoc.

"Miss Amestris Season 4, huh? I see you're using your time wisely, Havoc," Mustang cracked at him with a smirk.

"Boss, didn't know you got back," Havoc said with a sheepish grin. "Me and Breda finished our work up. I know this is a big issue but-"

"What've you got for me, Havoc?"

"Mmm, right," Havoc said, facing back towards the computer, "Breda and I hit a dead end with the Central side of things once we found out that the Chopper, apparently, uses a refrigeration truck to carry his victims. This was because a witness came forward after the third murder to say she had seen a refrigeration truck by the scene of the crime. The Chopper was gone after that. We deduced that the killer must kill them elsewhere and then drop the bodies where the police find them using a refrigeration truck."

"That matches with what we found as well," Hawkeye assented, "I'll go and start looking for refrigeration trucks in the area with transmission issues."

"What about Feury and Armstrong?" Mustang asked.

"No idea. They left saying they were following a lead."

"All right. Well, give me a call when they get their answers. I need to go home and sleep." Havoc gave him a quick confirmation of his orders before he strode away. He was barely thinking as he slipped into his car and drove back to his apartment. He received a call an hour later saying that Armstrong and Feury had discovered the weapon used to kill Cain Leto was a butcher knife. With all the information swimming in his head, Mustang turned his cell off and opened his liquor cabinet, pulling out a bottle of whiskey and a rather large glass.

You wanna be chief one day, right?

Roy poured himself a heavy glass of the whiskey and took a big gulp.

Why don't I push you up to the top? I know, I know; you already got someone watching your back, but sometimes you need a push forward, right?

Roy's deluded gaze shifted over to his house phone, sitting on the counter next to him.

Hey Mustang, take this. It might help whenever you get agitated.

With fumbling fingers, Roy grabbed the phone and started dialing the number.

You keep moving up like this you'll get lots of enemies. So why don't you just ask Hawkeye out and get yourself a wife?

"Hello, this is Elicia!" cried a happy and young voice over the phone. Roy's voice got choked in his throat and he said nothing.

"Elicia, give the phone to mommy," said a quieter voice, a sadder voice. "Hello." Roy still couldn't find it in him to respond. The rest of his apartment was dark now, the sun having set completely. "Roy, is that you? Roy?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, before putting the phone back on its register and drowning himself in whiskey.

Author's Note: As I said before, this is the first chapter of my Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction. I have the major plot of this actually planned out, and I hope people enjoy it. And how do we show our enjoyment? Through reviews of course. Now, I'm only posting this now to test the waters as it were and see what kind of response I get. I won't post the second chapter for some time as I must finish my Pokemon fan fiction first but at least you'll have an idea (and do note I only have four chapters left of my other fan fiction so...not too long). Once I finish that story, my efforts will be fully focused on this. So, please Review and let me know what you think, and always remember: Dare to Be Silly.