Doting Father

Hughes: What?

It happened so fast, the moment he turned around to attack the person who looked like Maria Ross but wasn't actually her, surprise taking over his features when the dagger he was aiming at was... GRACIA!

Terror shuddered through him, the shock, the confusion as to why they looked just like her.

"W-what are you--?"

B A N G!

He hits the back of the phone booth, sliding down while blood trickles out of his body, his mind going crazy, but his body can't keep go anywhere.

They shot him, they fucking shot him.

"Hughes-- Hughes are you there? Hughes!" Roy's voice was yelling from the phone as Envy hung up it up for him, showing their original human looking form. Hughes realizes it was the one Edward had drawn to show what they looked like.

"You humans don't make any sense to me, you throw your lives away for nothing." They uttered, watching him for a moment before pulling away to move away from them, they had already had an idea in mind. They didn't exactly shoot at the heart, so if they could get someone to get the body in time-- then they could keep him alive, but now they could cover this up as a death and nobody would know.

Hughes was bleeding, trying everything he could to stay awake. His head feeling woozy. Everything turning blurry as his body finally gave out.

As that was happening he could hear a faint voice in the distant and then nothing.

Darkness pitch black.

Hughes had no idea what was happening, but he felt like he was in a dream.

He woke up hours later on a bed that wasn't his own, hazel eyes blink as he adjusted to the light that was blinding him. He wasn't in any pain, but wasn't he? He sat up slowly and looked down at his chest, it was completely healed. Why, though? His heart racing as he stared down at his surroundings. Why was he here and that homunculus.. where did they go?

"Awake, I see." A voice replies before he gazed over towards the direction the voice was speaking at. He saw the shadows and watched as the homunculus that had shot him appeared before him.

"Looks like we're not through with you yet, Mr. Hughes." They gave him a smirk and soft chuckle.

"What do ya want from me? Ya shot me before. I was supposed to die, right?" He was fuming, he had a family to get home to, people to see! He had to help Roy get to the top like he promised!

"We need you to cooperate with us, we know you're very important to a special candidate of sacrificing." They snickered, they knew he already knew their plans, no point in hiding it now.

He knew it! Just what he saw in the information he dug up. He knew that they were planning another genocide, but with Amestris. He couldn't believe that all of this time the real reason for the war was all orchestrated by the homunculi in order to create philosopher stones.

"Special candidate... you don't mean...--" Who else could it be? The only one he can think of is Roy because of how powerful he was. That wasn't good, not good at all. He needed to tell him everything.

"Not if I tell Mustang what you're all planning, he won't--" He was cut off by them.

"You won't tell him or ANYONE what we're planning or I'll personally see to it that your precious family dies by my hand." They knew just what to say to get him to shut up real quick.

His family was the most important to him, so of course it was easy for them to get him to cooperate. Maes shuddered and stayed quiet as he stay seated on the bed he was sitting at. This wasn't right, this wasn't fair, WHY him??? Why Roy???

That also meant that Ed and Al are potenial sacrfices too, and Maes can't say anything or his family will die. He'll be damned if he involved Elicia and Gracia into this, but he wasn't sure what would happen to them after all of this is said and done.

No, Roy was going to get through this, he was going to defeat them. Roy and the others were their only hope at survival.

"You monster."

"Oh, how CRUEL of you to say Lieutenent Colonel. Or should I called you Brigadier general now that you're 'DEAD'?" They already knew he was going to up the ranks.

"Wait....What?" He blinked, "What do you mean?"

"At this point you're considered dead to the public and the records. You no longer live up there anymore. You'll be staying down here till Bradley figures out a plan for you." They weren't hiding the fact that King Bradley was with them.

Knowing that fact alone Maes knew that the Fuhrer was also with them and that meant... he could be... Maes swallowed thickly. He felt his stomach fall, it was... he wasn't surprised that he was the reason behind this war, but the fact is they did it to make Philosopher Stones. He always wondered why they were actually there and now it all made sense why so many innocent people died. Even still they still died by his own gun.

"Will I ever get to see them again?" He says out loud, a sigh finally escaping his lips.

"Who knows, you may see them soon enough." They didn't specify what that meant, but they were giving him an evil grin. "So, if you want to live and your family to live another day you will listen to what we have to say from now on. You're staying here till the plan we have is set in motion. Do enjoy your time here, you'll probably be here for quite a while." Then they made their leave, the door shutting behind them leaving alone a very tired and scared Maes Hughes behind.

"What am I going to do...? How am I going to see them...? How am I going to see Roy?" He laid down on the bed and curled into a ball as he realized just how dangerous this situation had just became. He couldn't tell anyone about this not even Roy or his family will...