(Yeah...this fan-fic is waaaaaay over due.... and there have been countless versions of this part of the anime...so...yeah... I think I wrote this a week after I first saw the episode but never really wanted to post it anywhere. Odd way of saying good-bye to a beloved character, no?)
"Damn it, Roy! You're acting stupid again!" Lt. Col. Maes Hughes cursed as he placed the phone back onto its holder none too gently. He grimaced from the pain emitting from his throbbing right shoulder, wondering how great the risk of getting it infected especially when he considered how he had acquired that wound. Maes had met some freaky people before during the entirety of his military career, but that woman he had killed while escaping from that hotel could not have in any possible way been at all human. "With this information you could go straight to the top!" he added.
He continued to glower at the phone box as he pictured Roy and Riza on the train. At least they were en route to Central. He would be able to tell the Colonel in person, completely destroying the chance of them being overheard through a tapped phone line. It would be a lot safer to pass this information on when they were face to face.
"Sir? We should head to someplace safer." Lt. Ross informed him as she glanced around warily from where she stood outside the phone booth that Maes occupied. Her handgun held up at the ready in case any new danger might present itself
Since they had left the hotel, Maes had noticed something very peculiar about her. Something about her face, like something was missing. Not only that, but how had she been able to get to him in time before he became mince meat? Maes hadn't told anyone where he was going or who he was meeting up with, so how did she turn up when she did? When running down the hallway of that hotel, he just thought it to be a lucky break but now that he had time to think about it, he realized that there was something fishy about the whole deal.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." He replied with a submissive tone and turning around to exit the phone booth, "It's not like I lost any evidence here anyway." As he spoke, his right hand whipped out one of his knives from the sleeve of his uniform jacket, "Now there's something I'd like to bring up with you." He quickly held the blade of the knife to Ross's throat. "Lieutenant Ross has a mole under her left eye." Maes said pressing the blade a little into the imposter Ross's neck.
The Lt. looked ahead with blank surprise at being caught off guard, but she wasn't at all unnerved.
"Oh, is that so?" she said, her voice strangely unfamiliar, "How careless of me." She backed away from Hughes and turned to face him. The Lt. Colonel continued to hold his knife outstretched in a threatening manner towards her. Ross brushed her left fingers under her left eye, immediately a mole appeared in a flash of white light, just as Maes had described.
"That's an amazing talent." Maes commented grinning slightly, knowing fully well that he was in some deep trouble.
Maes was nervous, but he did his best not to show it. Something told him that his opponent, like the woman in the hotel, wasn't like him- in the sense that she was something other than human. A thought occurred to him, relating to what Ed and Al had revealed to him a few nights before. Homunculi.... Fake Humans... The idea was beginning to sound less far fetched.
Tension was heavy in the atmosphere as the Lt. Colonel and imposter Lt. faced off, waiting for the other to make the first move. It was the imposter who moved first but the Lt. Colonel was far faster. She had barely raised her gun when Maes' arm swung out in one wide arching movement, sending the knife blade sailing across the imposter's throat. Maes took a step back from the imposter as she stood there in shock from having been bested. Relieved at having survived the night, Maes turned to walk away from the scene.
"Sorry, but I have a wife and daughter waiting for me." He said giving one last glance out of the corner of his eye before turning his back to his dying would-be-murderer as she went into her death throes. He had only taken a few steps when he heard that same unfamiliar voice speak again.
"You're right, Hughes..."
Maes turned around instantly, his right hand brandishing the same small throwing knife. At first he thought he would be gazing upon a living corpse; a lifeless zombie that- by one impossible means or another- had come back to life to finish its task. However, what he laid his eyes on just then was far worse than any mindless zombie could ever be. He was staring at the one who had become the love of his life, the one whom he had claimed as his and his alone, the one who had given him his greatest pride and joy, his daughter Elysia. He was staring straight into the eyes of his beloved wife, Gracia.
She was pointing a gun at him.
Surprise and shock overwhelmed his senses and he found he couldn't move, as if he was frozen on the spot. His mind tried in vain to see through the lie that stood before him, both lobes of his brain fighting a war of its own. Gracia?! No, it-it can't be her! She would never! But...? Maes wasn't breathing.
"Maybe this is more fitting." It wasn't Gracia's voice that spoke.
She pulled the trigger.
Things seemed to have slowed down from when Maes heard the gunshot. More like a reverberating roar in his ears than a loud boom as the sound echoed out over the area. His mind became alive with memories of his unfairly shortly lived life. Years went by in seconds before his eyes; a camping trip with his parents; a day at high school; his first date with Gracia; the first time he held his beautiful baby girl in his arms; the time Roy told him of his master plan to become Fuhrur;
"I'll work under you, stay closer to the higher ups, and help push you to the top"
The memories passed and he was rudely brought back to the present at feeling the bullet rip into his body, piercing his chest and entering his lungs. His raised arm dropped limply to his side. For the first few moments he felt nothing, but slowly the pain coursed through him, over riding his senses, but most of it wasn't from the gun wound. It was the sense of failure. He hadn't been able to fulfill his promise to Roy. He wouldn't see all of their hard work finally be rewarded... He'd never see Elysia again...
As the imposter Gracia turned to leave, Maes felt his legs give way. The ground felt unusually soft as he landed on his back. His eyes misted and his gaze grew unfocused. He could feel the life slipping from him slowly. His blood flowing freely from both his shoulder and the gun wound, surrounding him in a dark crimson puddle. In its place, cold became a dominant factor, rushing through his veins. Maes tried to fight off the exhaustion his body had suddenly become infected with, but it was of no use. He gave in.
I'm sorry, Gracia, Elysia... Roy.... I tried...
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"Maes!" Gracia called out into the darkness of her bedroom. She found herself sticky with a cold sweat. She sat up in her bed looking around the darkened room, burying her face in her hands for a moment as she recovered from awakening suddenly from a nightmare. She had a really bad feeling and that was only intensified when she heard a voice. There was a loud, shrill scream coming from the room down the hallway, shortly followed by the quick pattering of bare feet on the wood lined floor.
"Elysia?!" Gracia called to her daughter upon entering the frightened child's room, "Elysia? What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked, flipping the light switch and walking over to Elysia's bed where the little girl was shivering under her bed covers. Gracia could hear small sobs coming from under them.
"Mommy, I- I had a bad dweam!" Elysia said, poking her head out to look at her mother. Her usually bright teal eyes were dimmed with tears.
Gracia sat on the bedside, wrapping her arms around Elysia in the most comforting embrace, rocking back and forth a little to soothe her frightened daughter.
"It'll be alright now, Elysia." Gracia whispered, "You should know dreams can never hurt you." For some reason, Gracia was thinking the exact opposite. She began to wonder if it was more than just a coincidence that the two of them had had a nightmare at the same time. "Do you want to tell me about it?"
Elysia did and as Gracia listened to her child's narrative, she couldn't help but get a sinking feeling grow in the pit of her stomach. There were so many similarities between hers and Elysia's nightmares. At the end, Elysia seemed to be a little better but she was still uncertain about something. She looked up at her mother with a curious expression.
"Mommy? When will Daddy get home?"
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Maes didn't know when, how, or why but at the moment he didn't really care to know those things. He was standing in the farthest back rows in the military officials' cemetery. Dressed in his favorite suit and red shirt, he walked along the rows of numerous officials that had assembled in his honor. He knew most of them, but there were a few that he hadn't met before but he didn't mind. For some reason or another, the feelings of hate and those that sprout from it wasn't on his mind. Not that he was in a good mood they just weren't present at all. He couldn't feel any of those emotions even if he wanted to.
The idea of him having become a ghost was hard to comprehend but slowly he got used to the fact that he couldn't be seen or heard by those surrounding him. He heard a drum roll and then saw a group of men carrying a coffin with the green flag of the State Military draped over it. It was strange, here he was standing but inside that brown box laid his body. He followed the procession down the aisle, towards his burial spot. His tombstone lied on its back a few feet away. It would be raised and inserted later after his body was laid to rest finally. It felt so odd.
"Mommy! How come? Why are they burying Daddy?" a small voice called out above the silence, capturing Maes' attention immediately. "Who are those people? Why are they burying him?" Elysia continued, pulling on her mother's arm, her eyes filled with confusion and fear, "Why?!" she questioned again.
Gracia looked down at her daughter, her eyes filled with pain. She wasn't sure what to tell her, but she knelt down and placed a hand on Elysia's shoulder.
"He's gone, baby." Gracia answered sadly.
"They can't! I don�t like it!" Elysia said, her voice reaching frantic.
Maes stood behind her. If ever there was a time he wanted to pick Elysia up and hold her it was just then. He knelt beside down and reached out to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder but then stopped himself, his hand hovering only a few inches away. He couldn't hold her. She wouldn't be able to feel him.
"Daddy said he has lots of work to do and if they bury him he can't do it when he wakes up!" Elysia continued.
It was then that Gracia broke down, crying out the girl's name and embracing her in a tight hug, something Maes would give anything to do just then.
"Elysia!" Gracia muttered between a sob.
"Stop them, Mommy! Daddy needs to do his work! He told me! Why are you burying Daddy, Mommy?! Why?!" Elysia�s voice cracked into sobs and cries.
Gracia couldn't answer and she just continued to hold Elysia, her tears coming heavily down her face. Let me do something...She needs me and I... Maes was still at a loss of what to do. He couldn't comfort his little angel when she needed him most. Elysia... I'm so sorry, Elysia.... Don't forget me, ok? He rose to his feet and noticed that they were almost finished with the burial. Already people were beginning to leave the cemetery. Soon only a small group of people remained, his closest friends and of course his family, but soon they too began to depart until there were only two people left. He recognized them to be Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.
Maes walked up to Roy who now stood in front of Maes' tombstone. He was reading the engraving.
"Killed in action" Roy read from the stone, "and promoted two ranks for it... Brigadier General Hughes..." Maes couldn't help but give a small smirk at being called by his new title he had snagged in death, though it really meant nothing if he wasn't alive to enjoy the promotion. Roy continued, "You were the guy who was gonna work below me and push me to the top... then you get yourself killed and surpass me in the ranks. I don't know what's more absurd... you� or the State."
Maes was speechless, not that Roy would have been able to hear him or anything anyway. His attention was grasped by Hawkeye as she approached Roy.
"Sir? Are you ready to leave?" she asked solemnly.
"You know, years ago, I had a theory on human transmutation..." Roy said, "After all we've seen, I was actually trying to remember it now. We alchemists are such hopeless, predictable things." He paused for a moment, as if to recollect his thoughts.
Maes felt like he should be somewhere else right now and turned to leave but then Roy spoke again, "Why didn't he tell me anything? Why didn't he tell me about the Elrics... and what was going on at the lab? If I had known, then maybe... I could've done something to help..."
Riza was silent for a time as she thought of a way to answer him. Her voice was solemn and calming, "Maybe because he knew you would try, sir." She said softly.
"What do you mean?" Roy asked, turning to face her.
"When those two boys are in harm's way, sir..." she began, "Well... Sometimes your decisions aren't exactly rational... Maybe... Brigadier General Hughes didn't tell you because he wanted you to concentrate on your own goals... instead of the Elrics... So you could make it to the top... without any setbacks or distractions."
Roy turned away from her, his grey eyes falling on the gravesite once more as he pondered over Riza's words. Though he wouldn't have liked to admit it, he found a sense of truth in them. He brushed a hand through his hair and placed his cap on once more and gazed up to the clouded sky.
"It's... going to rain today..." he said softly. Riza looked at him curiously and then noticed a single tear roll down the Colonel's cheek.
"Yes...it is..." she added, a solemn smile on her face.
Hughes couldn't help but find himself smiling sadly as well. I'm sorry, Roy... but please, don't let anything get in your way... complete your dream... for me... Hughes closed his eyes but when he opened them again, he was alone.
The scenery had changed again. He was standing on a deserted train platform. Again the odd feeling of knowing and not knowing what he was doing here passed through him as the sounds of a quickly approaching train was heard off in the distance. He placed his hands in his pockets and looked over to the train. His bespectacled eyes spotted a familiar smallish figure leaning against one of the windows with a mouth full of Gracia's famous apple pie. This was it. This would be his final moment in this world. Hughes could feel it with every fiber of his ethereal being.
An amiable smile shown on Hughes' face as he waved to the elder Elric. He knew the boy could see him and at the same time he knew that he wasn't being seen. Good luck Ed... be sure to stay on track with your own dreams too...
The train moved on past the old deserted station with a loud clack as the wheels rolled forward over the tracks.
Brigadier General Maes Hughes... loving father.... caring husband... best friend... annoying show-off... and wise mentor...
...Departed from this world...
 Dartanian Isthill · Sat Jun 17, 2006 @ 01:37am · 0 Comments |
