Crimson Angel
Chapter 3 Ð A New Assignment
Rae was early. Twenty minutes early, in fact. No one else was in their offices yet, not even Lieutenant Hawkeye was in this early. After a few minutes of bored waiting, Rae decided to peek into her own office and see what mountains of paperwork had evolved while she was gone. Slowly, she eased the door open, and inspected the small space. As she had expected, new piles of papers had accumulated. Pleasantly, there were not as many new stacks as she had thought there would be. Rae sighed, she was quite sure paperwork was a true creation of hell, and Mustang was the devil sent to torture her.
Lost in her thoughts, Rae didn't hear the soft approach of her commanding officer. His gloved hand descended on her shoulder, startling her and instinctively Rae twirled and lashed out with her leg to throw her assailant off balance, shoving with her hands at the same time. Thankfully Rae's body was still sore from two weeks of disuse, making her movements much slower and more painful which gave Mustang a chance to sidestep deftly and avoided Rae's attack. Rae was not quite so fortunate and landed hard on the floor.
"I'm not particularly fond of paperwork in the morning either, but you really shouldn't take it out on your superior officer, you know," he drawled as he helped her to her feet.
Rae stared at Mustang. She had attacked him, granted she hadn't intended to, but she had and for some reason, he was acting as though she had simply saluted him. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to, but you did startled me." Rae trailed off.
"Quite alright. I'm sorry you had to come in this early while you're still recovering, but we're having guests, and I need you to be here to meet them. Don't worry about the paperwork, I'll have Havoc or Fuery do it later."
At some point Roy had taken hold of Rae's arm at the elbow and was guiding her towards the couch in his office. She let him push her towards the seat and sank into the cushions and pillows. As she sat there waiting, Rae began to understand why she so often caught the colonel napping on the couch; it was like sitting on a cloud. Mustang had seated himself behind his desk and seemed engrossed in reviewing a thick personnel folder. Rae watched him. She had always found her commanding officer strikingly handsome and supremely charming, and she could easily understand why so many women agreed to date him. Still, she felt no personal attraction to him, other than finding him easy on the eyes, and that supreme charm he possessed, though it could be extremely frustrating. While she waited for the "guests" to arrive, she fiddled with her necklace.
There was a knock on the door and Mustang called out to enter. Rae stood at attention, waiting to see who Mustang wanted her to meet. A tall blonde woman entered, followed by a slightly stocky young man with short blonde hair and gray eyes. Rae recognized him immediately; he was the man who had spoken to her that day in the hall. Rae knew she recognized him from somewhere else, but she couldn't place where.
"Alphonse, Winry, it's good to see you both," the colonel greeted. The man looked genuinely pleased to see the colonel, but the woman looked uncomfortable. Rae shifted slightly, and Mustang turned towards her. "Winry, Al, I'd like you to meet Rae, the Crimson Angel Alchemist. Rae, this is Winry Rockbell, the noted automail specialist, and Alphonse Elric, alchemist and private researcher. His brother wa- is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, the alchemist I was telling you about yesterday." Rae shook each of their hands in turn, before Winry and Alphonse took seats in two chairs and Rae returned to her place on the couch. All three waited for Mustang to explain why they were all sitting in his office so early in the morning, but he didn't appear to be eager to explain. Eventually though, he spoke. "Rae, if you would please repeat the message you were given?"
"The Gate will collapse, if what traveled through is not returned to the place it belongs." The message had echoed in Rae's head all the previous day. It hadn't taken her very long to decide that someone would have to retrieve what had gone through, and who better to go after it than herself, after all, the Gate had chosen her to deliver it's message. Rae watched Roy as she spoke, trying to make out if he believed her or not. Both Alphonse and Winry gasped at her words. Rae turned to see Winry holding Alphonse's hands, while he stared at her wide-eyed.
"Al, I called you and Winry in because I would like you to assist Rae in her new assignment." Roy spoke, calling their attention back to him. Rae found herself wondering just what her new assignment would be, she prayed it wouldn't involve paperwork.
"Does this have something to do with brother?" Alphonse asked, his face serious and hopeful, his eyes locked on Mustang.
Mustang ignored the question and turned towards Rae. "Angel," he began, using the nickname he knew Rae hated, "this is all off the record. I want you to go through the Gate a find whatever it is that went through, and bring it back. I can't send you officially, all research on the Gate has been classified and prohibited, but I've arranged it so that your absence wont raise suspicions." Rae would have been upset with Mustang for deciding without even asking her, but since she had already arrived at a similar plan, she didn't feel too upset.
Roy turned back to Al. "To be honest Al, I have no idea if this has anything to do with your brother, but he's as good a place as any to start, which is why I asked you to come.Ó He paused. "I'd appreciate it, if Rae deems it possible and safe, if you would go through the Gate with her. If this really does have something to do with Ed, I suspect you two will be very helpful to have along."
Alphonse and Winry looked stunned, Winry more than Al. "Why do you want me to go?" Winry blurted out, casting a suspicious glance at Mustang.
"Ed's been gone close to five years, right? After five years, I'm sure his automail is going to be pretty beat-up, knowing Ed. Who better to go fix it than you?" Winry still looked suspicious, but nodded. Rae felt Mustang's eyes return to her, and she nodded. "I already decided to go through, and I can't think of a reason why they can't come too, but I need a few days to prepare and get some things together, and I imagine they do too."
"Agreed," Mustang said as he stood. "However, I have to insist that you all leave Central tonight. Rae, you may collect what you need from your apartment, but then you should leave with Al and Winry this evening on the train to Resembool. Once you are there you can take your time to prepare, but please let me know when you plan to go through the Gate."
"Yes, sir." Rae recognized the dismissal, though it appeared that neither of the others had. "Mr. Elric, Miss Rockbell, would you like to have some tea with me? It would be helpful to get to know you better if you will be coming through the Gate." She smiled at them, and caught Roy nodding at her behind their backs. When she had led the two from the room, Roy slumped into his chair. He hated the idea of sending them into unknown territory where anything could happen, but he really had no choice. He knew they could all take care of themselves, and he would do everything he could to help them, but in the end, there wasn't much he could do but hope they would all return safely.
Rae led them through Central to her apartment in silence. She preferred to work alone, but she recognized just how helpful they could be. Since she wouldn't have time to research the missing alchemist his brother would be able to provide her with any information she needed, and since she couldn't predict what effect going through the Gate would have on automail, having the mechanic come along would be prudent. Rae's knowledge of automail technologies was limited, she could use it but she had no talent for the mechanics or repair. As they walked, Rae evaluated her companions. Both appeared to be in good shape, and Rae knew they were intelligent, so she wouldn't have to look after them too much.
Along the way, Rae stopped at a few food stalls and bought some food for the train ride, some fruit, bread and cheese. She also stepped into an alchemy supply store for a few minutes, asking Winry and Alphonse to wait for her outside. She bought a few sticks of white chalk. Rae had no intention of letting either know that she could transmute without an array and more prudently, she might need it on the other side of the Gate. Finally they arrived at Rae's tiny apartment. She let them in and guided her guests to the kitchen table as they still seemed dazed from the meeting earlier. Rae put water on for tea, and then excused herself. She needed to pack quickly, and it wouldn't hurt to give her guests a chance to speak together in private.
It didn't take her long to pack. She put all of her new chalk, except for one piece, in her duffle along with a few pairs of comfortable pants, undergarments, six shirts, two black dresses and the pictures of her mother, sister and nephew. She sat on the edge of her bed and looked at her bedroom. There was very little in the room, just her bed, a dresser and small table that served as her desk. Nothing in the room had any real value, other than the photographs. If something happened, and she never came back, there would be very little to prove that she had ever even existed. Rae wondered if she would come back. There were no stories about anyone going through the Gate and returning, in fact, before yesterday, she didn't know it was possible to go through the Gate. She just hoped that she could complete her mission before the Gate collapsed. She hadn't told Mustang, but there had been more to the message. The voices had told her that she had only half a year to go through the Gate and return, and since she didn't know how long it would take to locate the missing alchemist, or whatever else had gone through, the sooner they left, the better. She would send Mustang a message before they left Central, and let him know that they would attempt the Gate as soon as her companions were ready. Rae would try to go through herself, before she brought the other two with her, to make sure it would be safe but that could wait until they arrived in Resembool.
Her bag in hand, Rae left her bedroom and pulled the door closed behind her. There was a twisting feeling in her gut that made her sure she'd never set foot in her apartment again, but she pushed it down. Alphonse and Winry were speaking softly in the kitchen, and when Rae entered the room she saw that they had finished making the tea. "What time does the train leave?" Conversation had never been Rae's strongest suit, and she was unsure what to say to these two strangers to put them at ease. "Three-fifteen," Winry answered, and Rae pulled at the chain on her jeans. Her state assigned pocket-watch pulled free of her pocket, drawing Alphonse's attention to her. He stared at the pocket watch, making Rae wonder what was so interesting until she remembered his brother had been a state alchemist. She slipped the silver watch back into her pocket. "We've got an hour before we need to leave for the station. Is there anything you need to do or get before then?"
Again, it was Winry who spoke. "We were planning to leave today anyway, all of our things are already packed, we just need to pick them up." There was a tinge of distrust in the woman's eyes, and Rae wondered if it was because of the situation they had been thrust into or if it was because she saw Rae as only a dog of the military. Many people despised state alchemists, Rae was fully aware, but it would make working together unnecessarily difficult. She would have to do something to put the other woman at ease. Rae set her bag on the floor, poured herself a mug of tea and then sat down opposite Winry and Alphonse. "I know this is unexpected, it is for me too. If you're not comfortable coming along, then it'll be better if you tell me now. I can make the excuses to Mustang, that wont be a problem, and if you come I'll do all I can to protect you and get you back here safely. But I need you to trust me, and I need to be able to trust you." RaeÕs appeal seemed to be working. "Perhaps we should start over? I'm Rae, and I would appreciate it if you would accompany me through the Gate, and in return I'll do everything I can to help you bring back Edward and return you all safely."
Winry seemed to be put at ease, and Alphonse now seemed excited. "Do you really think we'll find brother?"
Rae nodded. "I don't see why we wouldn't; there is no evidence for anything else having traveled through the Gate, so it must be him we are meant to bring back."