Crimson Angel
Chapter 2 Ð Prophesy
Colonel Vickers flipped through the sheaf of papers, again, and sighed. He was getting too old to move again. It had taken him three years to get comfortable, living out in the middle of nowhere, but it would be a relief to be back in Central. After three years of exile he was more than ready to return to civilization. It mattered little that he was being gently forced into retirement, or that those under his command would be sent to other units, or perhaps silenced. According to the orders in his hand, the military had no further need of their particular unit. Vickers had known, since Furher King Bradley was killed, that it was only a matter of time until his unit would be disbanded. He would have to distribute orders to his subordinates, before he could settle in to a life of ease, but he knew that he would always have to watch his back.
Approximately three years later.
Rae slumped under the huge piles of paperwork that had been shoved into her arms. She hated paperwork, almost as much as she hated the stupid colonel. Rae glared at the paperwork. It was bad enough that she was treated as simpleton by practically everyone, but she could handle that. What she couldn't handle was being treated like a secretary. Every day for the past three years she had reported to the office only to be handed a gigantic stack of paperwork. Rae wished her job could be more exciting. Before her transfer to Central she had been content to work under Colonel Vickers. He had given her actual assignments, not pointless paperwork. The actions of Colonel Vickers' unit were considered top secret, even now. Colonel Vickers, Major Northrop, Corporal Swift and Rae had been the top military assassins in all of Amestris. There hadn't been much interaction between the members of her unit, but to Rae it had been better than the loud and unconventional unit she was in now. After the death of Furher King Bradley had come the transfers. Swift had been stationed somewhere in the north, Northrop in the southwest, and the Colonel retired to Central. Rae had heard shortly afterwards that Northrop had been killed in the line of duty, but she didn't really believe it.
"Hello," someone called and Rae jumped, startled out of her thoughts. She found herself looking up into a pair of soft gray, smiling eyes. Though he looked somewhat familiar, Rae shot a glare at the good-looking young man, then stormed down the hallway. The last thing she needed was for someone to tell the colonel that she was slacking off; he'd love the excuse to double her paperwork. The halls she stalked through were blissfully empty and Rae arrived at her tiny office without incident. She closed the door behind her to deter interruptions. The room was barely big enough to hold her desk, chair and three large filing cabinets, and worst of all there were no windows. The desk was covered in stacks of papers waiting to be organized and filed away. Overhead a dim light flickered, only a small desk lamp provided decent reading light. Rae pushed around the stacks to make room for the newest bundle. She would have to be up all night to get everything done. She spent a few minutes examining each pile, then decided to work backwards through the accumulated documents. It took an hour to work through half of the first pile. She paused to stretch and get a cup of coffee before she sat back down to finish the pile.
It had been a long night, and Rae was feeling the strain. The first rays of day were struggling weakly through the tiny office window, and Rae's head was throbbing in time to the chirps of birds outside. She was more than half done with everything, she could even see the surface of her desk in some places. She finished with the set of papers she was organizing, slipped them into a folder, labeled it and inserted it in a drawer of her huge filing cabinet. She stretched her arms, twisted in her chair until she heard her back crack and then slumped against the back of the seat. A glance at the wall clock told her it was 4:13 in the morning. Rae's eyes drifted shut, her head began to settle on her chest. Rae jerked herself awake, but soon found herself drifting back off towards sleep. Rae pulled herself awake again, then let herself slide further down in her chair. Maybe, if she could just get a few minutes of sleep, she could have the rest of the paperwork done by the time Mustang arrived to dump more work on her. When her eyes crept shut again, she didn't fight it.
Rae awoke to almost blinding darkness. She was floating in an infinite expanse of inky blackness. Slowly, a dim light illuminated the space. Rae stood though there was no floor, and stepped forward towards the slowly growing light. Before her, the Gate loomed, looking like the gates of hell, but Rae felt no fear. She had been here before, many times, there was nothing about the Gate that scared her. It had scared her, the first time she stood before the massive portal, but time and familiarity had eroded her fear. Now, the doors almost brought Rae a feeling of comfort. They had never changed, and they never disappeared; Rae could always feel their existence. Despite the familiarity, Rae felt a deep gut sense of unease. Something was odd, but she wasn't sure exactly what.
The light continued to expand and grow, and as it did, the doors slowly parted, revealing an expanse of darkness that the light couldn't begin to illuminate. Rae stepped forward towards the portal, and hands shot out towards her. Rae took another step and let the soft black shadows caress her. A voice, grating and scratchy, whispered in her ear and then RaeÕs vision faded back to blackness.
Sometime Later
Rae opened her eyes, and squeezed them shut. Light poured into the room, making her head throb painfully. Cautiously, Rae eased her eyes open, and the throbbing faded to an ache. As the pain faded, Rae realized she was lying down, but even more troubling, she wasn't in her office. She had only been asleep for a few minutes, hadn't she? Somehow, she doubted it. If the brightness of the room was any indication, she'd been out for at least a few hours. Suddenly, she heard a door swing open and someone step into the room. Rae didn't bother to try to sit up, she knew it would only make her headache worse. She waited, staring at the white drop ceiling, for the person to make their way into her field of vision. A few moments later, Rae heard steps on her right, and felt a hand tug her wrist into the air, gripping it gently but firmly. Rae turned her head to look at the nurse. The woman was turned away from her, her back to Rae, and she was concentrating on a watch.
Rae cleared her throat, and tired to speak, but was surprised to find her voice scratchy from disuse. The nurse turned to Rae, nodded, then hurried out of the room. Rae could hear her conversing with people in the hall, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. A minute later the nurse was back, carrying a large pitcher and a cup, which she set on a table. She hurried over to the bed and propped Rae up on a huge mountain of pillows, making small clucking noises all the while. Once the nurse was satisfied that Rae was comfortable, she poured a glass of water and handed it carefully to Rae. Within ten minutes Rae finished two glasses of water. Her headache had begun to dissolve, though it hadn't disappeared completely. Her voice, too, was less hoarse.
"How long have I been here?" Rae managed to croak out.
"Two weeks," the nurse said cheerfully, "and I must say, it is good to see you're finally awake!"
Rae felt ill, two weeks she had been lying in this hospital bed? "What happened?"
"Colonel Mustang brought you in two weeks ago, and you've been here ever since. Now, you need your rest, so just lie down and go back to sleep!" The nurse pushed Rae further into the pillows. Anger pricked at Rae, but the nurse was right, she was tired, and though she fought against it, Rae slipped into a fitful sleep.
Shouts pulled Rae from her slumber, jolting her awake. She recognized the voices, the colonel and the nurse from earlier. They were in the hall, and the door was only slightly cracked open, so Rae couldn't hear what they were arguing about. Rae gave the room a quick inspection, something she hadn't paid much attention to earlier. Four stark white walls surrounded her, and an electric bulb dangled from the white ceiling. Aside from her bed, the only furniture in the room was a table, chair and an IV stand. Rae looked from the IV stand to her arm, and discovered a needle secured into her flesh. Without a though, Rae tugged the needle straight out and placed it on the bed. She tossed the covers aside, and swung her feet over the edge. Her clothes were folded neatly on the chair, and Rae pulled them slowly on. Her body ached, but it was no worse than what she was used to, and there were other things that were more important. First she had to talk to Mustang, and then....
The shouts in the hall continued, it seemed that no one had discovered she was awake yet. Once she was dressed, Rae sat down in the chair and then reached over and pressed the call button attached to her bed. She didn't have to wait long, Mustang and the the nurse were in the room in seconds and both appeared surprised to find her dressed and alert. The nurse started towards Rae, scolding the young alchemist that she needed to get back into bed and have her IV reinserted, but Rae's glare stopped her in her tracks, and Mustang guided her to the door and closed it behind her.
"Thanks," Rae mumbled. "What happened, Colonel?"
"I was hoping you could tell me," he responded as searched the shadows outside the window.
Awkward silence filled the room and stretched out. Rae wondered if he would believe her. "Lieutenant Hawkeye found you in your office when you didn't report on time."
"I saw the Gate." Rae said.
Mustang turned and regarded her for a moment, scrutinizing her. Rae fought not to squirm under his gaze. He said nothing, so Rae continued. "It," she paused to consider her words, "it gave me a message." Again, only silence met Rae's announcement. "Colonel?" Rae was hesitant to ask, there was a chance he wouldn't answer, but she had to ask anyway. "What went through the Gate?" For a moment, the colonel looked flustered in a way that went beyond what Rae was used to, beyond what she saw everyday when he was presented a choice between his paperwork and the business end of Lieutenant Hawkeye's gun.
"That's classified information," the colonel began. "There was an alchemist under my command. He disappeared five years ago." Mustang sounded tired. "His brother believes that he went through the Gate but we could never prove it. We were ordered to stop searching before we even started."
Rae considered the information. If an alchemist really had gone through the Gate Rae at least have a place to start her search.
"What was the message?" Mustang interrupted Rae's thoughts.
"If we don't return whatever went through the Gate to it's proper place, then the Gate will collapse..." Rae trailed off, not even wanting to consider the implications of the Gate collapsing.
Mustang nodded. Apparently he understood how bad things could get. "Can you make it back to your apartment?" It was Rae's turn to nod. "I'll let the nurse know your fit to be released. Take the rest of the day to rest, and then report as usual tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Rae saluted, and Mustang exited the room.