Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was at a party. Roy’s party. Roy had finally been made Fuhrer; all his hard work and dedication paying off. He was going to make an excellent leader, Ed knew, and was glad that other people were finally recognizing it as well. Many of his policies and plans were already rolling out, especially those involved with reparations towards Ishval. There were some controversy over some of them; they hadn’t been able to tell the people of Amestris that their country had been ruled by monsters, after all. But having Roy Mustang, the Hero of Ishval, be the one to speak out to rebuild and unify certainly helped.

Ed was so proud of Roy and his accomplishments. Grumman had just stepped down, and Roy was the one elected to ascend to the position. Roy was one of the most driven individuals Ed had met aside from himself, and even during the time he had lost his eye sight, Roy never lost his vision to assume leadership and help the people of Amestris; all of them, even those he hurt.

And now they were here in Central, celebrating his success. His teams, old and new, with him; Roy was in the corner schmoozing with Hawkeye and Breda. The rest of his original team was dispersed around the room with his new political team.

Al and Mei were also there, having returned from their from their latest trip in Xing, Mei’s belly round. Al and Mei had become ambassedors, trading alchemy and alkahestry knowledge between the two countries in addition to forging political alliances amongst the clans of Xing. Ed was so proud of him as well and the man he was able to become.

Ed himself was still in the military, but only on a contractual basis. He wasn’t prepared to go to war for Grumman, but he would still help people in Amestris as he could, and specialized still in catching rogue alchemists and monitoring terror cells. People still had the potential for evil, after all, even if nothing had quite come close to the horrors he had Roy had experienced with the previous establishment.

He also wanted to monitor chatter for attempts on Roy’s life. He was never going to be the type to sit around safe at home when there were always going to be political assassination attempts against the leadership of any country, and like *hell* was he going to let Roy go unprotected.

“So, brother, how is your research going?” Al said from behing him. Ed felt himself light up at the sound of his brother’s voice as he turned around. They were in formal wear for the party, and Al was dressed smartly in Amestris attire with a Xingese sash denoting his position in Mei’s clan. Ed couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his brother. He looked older and was still taller than Ed.

“My research?” Ed’s mind stuttered; he hadn’t thought of research in a long time. Especially with the celebration going on, research was the last thing on his mind.

Something tickled at the back of his brain, a feeling of unease.

Al looked disappointed in him, a frown across his face. Ed felt light headed, his world narrowing as his breath and pulse sped up, and then Al’s voice cut across his consciousness before he felt himself come back to his senses.

“Brother, don’t you want to come back home?”

~~~~~~~

Roy wasn’t sure exactly what woke him then, but he quickly realized that he was in an otherwise empty bed. Blearily, he reached for the light on his nightstand and looked around their master bedroom. There was a dim light emanating from the bathroom door across the room. He could hear retching coming from the other room, and as he rose, he heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on. He made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door gently before pushing the door open and stepping in.

“Hey.”

Ed was leaning over the sink, resting his head on his flesh arm that was braced against the mirror. His hair and face were dripping from where he had stuck his head under the sink. He had bags under his eyes and glanced at Roy tiredly.

“Bad dream?” Roy asked, coming up behind him. He wrapped his arms around the smaller man.

Ed hesitated, the silence hanging in the air between them for several moments.

“The opposite.” His voice was bitter. “I dreamed we never left.” He sighed, leaning back into Roy with his eyes closed. They slid to the floor, Roy’s back against the wall, and Ed against Roy. Ed leaned his head back, resting it on Roy’s shoulder. He went silent again, and minutes ticked by as his heart rate slowed and his breathing began to calm.

“You would have been Fuhrer by now. Would have been able to rebuild and make reparations to Ishval. Al would have come back from Xing, a master of alkahestry. By now he will have probably married Mei; might even have kids of his own. Winry would have moved on, is probably super successful.” Ed’s voice hiccuped in a soft sob. “Teacher and Granny… I don’t know if they’re even still alive.”

Roy brought his left hand up across Ed’s chest, gently massaging the scar tissue surrounding Ed’s automail port. Ed shivered. “I wish we’d never followed that stupid letter.”

“I know,” Roy replied. “But we did and we’re here now. We could not have anticipated this.”

“It’s been years. We haven’t made any progress. There are no resources here and no one knows what alchemy is. If we could just find That Bastard…”

Roy hmm’d. “We have each other, at least; things could be so much worse. You’ve got a good career. A good team. This world has its own set of horrors, but no monsters that aren’t human.”

“When I dream, it’s like I’m there again.” Ed closed his eyes, then turned his head to look up and meet Roy’s eyes. “Don’t you dream of Amestris?”

“All the time.” Roy admitted. He tried not to sound bitter as he continued. “Sometimes I dream about the war or the coup, but more mundane things as well. I long for it too, Ed. But unless we make a major breakthrough, we aren’t going anywhere.”

“Is it bad that I’m so complacent in this world now that it doesn’t even seem like a terrible option? Roy, what if we really are here for the rest of our lives? Has everyone else from our world moved on? Should we do the same?” It was not a new or unique question they asked themselves.

Ed’s breath hitched again as Roy ruminated for several minutes. “Then we keep adapting and surviving. Our time here isn’t wasted, Ed. Look at all the good you’ve done even for the people in this world. Your work here isn’t meaningless. Your brother and your Teacher would be proud of the man you’ve become.” Roy planted a kiss on top of Ed’s head. “I know I am.”

Ed shrugged him off with a half hearted laugh. “God, you’re such a sap sometimes,” he grumbled, but there was no spite in his voice.

“Only for you.”

Ed snorted as he pushed himself away and stood, reaching his automail hand out to Roy, who grasped it firmly and pulled himself up.

“Speaking of doing good for this world, have you come up with how you’re going to tell your team that you’re an alchemist from an alternative universe with only one arm and leg?” Roy brushed himself off and held the door open for Ed as they stepped out of the bathroom and made their way back to bed.

“Yeah, the Triple A explanation. What do you think will freak them out more: the alternate universe, the alchemy, or the amputations?” Ed said and kicked the edge of the bed with the bottom of his automail foot.

“How do you foresee this going?” Roy asked, genuinely curious. They hadn’t spoken much about it since the party. The BAU was so important to Ed, Roy knew Ed feared their rejection, as rational or irrational as that thought may be.

“I have no idea, to be honest. Spencer might be able to offer some insight to maybe something we’ve over looked in the science side of this world. Penelope has access to pretty much anything that has brushed against the internet. Prentiss is connected to a ton of other countries so she may have resources that could help, even if she’s kind of standoffish towards me. None of them are going to cause a problem, I think.”

“Well,” Roy started with a smile. “If they do, no one will likely believe them, at least.”

Ed huffed a laugh. “Yeah there is that.”

As Ed crawled into his side of the bed, Roy leaned over and turned off his bedside light. “Let’s keep sleeping on it. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.”

~~~~~~~~

When dreaming,
I'm guided to another world
Time and time again
At sunrise I fight to stay asleep
'Cause I don't wanna leave the comfort of this place
'Cause there's a hunger, a longing to escape
From the life I live when I'm awake
So let's go there
Let's make our escape
Come on, let's go there
Let's ask can we stay?

Chapter Text

Reid set his bag down on his desk and looked up in time to see JJ and Rossi talking in quick, hushed tones above the bullpen. He glanced at Morgan and Prentiss whose eyes were also trained on the pair. JJ turned and walked towards Garcia’s office while Rossi jogged down the steps into the bullpen to their desks.

“New case. We’re on a short time frame, this one is moving fast. Grab your things, we’ll brief you in the jet.”

It was Friday. So much for the weekend, Reid thought. Too bad he couldn’t be the one on vacation right now.

His thoughts drifted to Edward. Enigmatic Edward, who had been gone for almost two weeks now. Edward had promised to come clean about his past when he got back, but… He’d probably have to drop his things and book a flight to wherever it is that the team was about to go to when he got back on Monday and it’d have to wait until this case was over. Reid himself hated it when he got back from trips to Vegas to see his mother and was immediately thrown back into the chaos of their job mid-case.

The inconsistencies around Edward and Roy had been there from the beginning. It had been easy to ignore at first; it was not like the team needed or wanted to learn every detail about each other’s lives. But more and more, things didn’t add up about Ed, and with the conversation that occurred at Henry’s birthday party nearly two weeks ago…

Ed being a child soldier just… made sense, when Reid put together bits and pieces of his personality. He had some degree of tactics training outside of the Bureau that was consistent with military operations, though no one specific division. He, like many veterans and police officers, never sat with his back to a doorway if he could help it and was always hypervigilant. Reid found it strange when he had first arrived fresh out of the Academy, but hadn’t chosen to comment on it.

Ed was a genius in the classic sense of the word. He didn’t have the eidetic memory that Spencer himself had, but he was able to perform mental computations and string together thoughts and puzzles at a speed that made even Spencer’s head spin at times during some of their in depth physics discussions.

Just what had Ed done though at age eleven to catch the eye of his country’s military enough to be actually recruited at that age? Ed’s paperwork said he was an immigrant from Germany. Prentiss didn't think so. Or if he was, her contacts in Interpol hadn't heard any whispers of a child solider in the light investigating she had done. Granted they wouldn't know of any in depth of the German military's secret special operations, but surely a child soldier would have caused enough of a stir over a decade and a half ago when Ed claimed he was recruited. Not to mention some of the other odd stories he carried about his childhood that he let slip from time to time.

Reid sighed and gathered his things, shaking away those thoughts. He reached for his go bag and saw Morgan and Prentiss doing the same.

There would be plenty of time to continue his ruminations later. There was another serial killer to catch.

~~~~~~~~~~

“This was already on our caseload to tackle this week, but there was another grouping found this morning.” JJ started with once they were all settled on the jet. “Our victims vary in age, race, and gender. This group of bodies seems to have been left in the middle of good ol’ Appalachia, not far from the first one that came up on our radar a few weeks ago.”

“Quick flight.” Rossi said banally.

“If it wasn't so time sensitive we would have driven. Right now we have access to the crime scene before a heavy storm comes in this afternoon and washes it away.” JJ said pointedly. “As it is, there have been thunderstorms in the area all week.”

“What's the similarity to the other killings?” Rossi asked, flipping through the file in front of him. It was from the first reported set of killings. He paused to look at the photo of a young naked caucasian woman, her face frozen and contorted in a silent scream. Her flesh was unmarred except for a massive, ugly red and black burn in the center of her breastbone. Her long blond hair was splayed out around her in a mockery of a halo.

“None. The only similarity in the first two cases is that they all appear to have been untouched with the exception of three who have been burned on various parts of their bodies. The medical examiner thinks possibly a blow torch. Cause of death was initially classified as asphyxiation; however, when the first ME did an autopsy, they found that it looked like their internal organs had been electrocuted, but there were no outward signs of trauma…”

“-except on the burn victims; they were killed by exsanguination from having their throats cut. No consistency in location of the burns.” Reid finished for JJ as his eyes flew over the reports.

“How many this time?” Morgan asked as JJ passed him another stack of photos. “And why didn't we know about it sooner?”

JJ made a face, something flashing in her eyes before it disappeared quickly. “Four. The other two initial incidents had two and three victims. The difference that made me expedite the investigation other than the obvious escalation… I'm having Garcia look into something for me. The Bureau has been receiving some reports that I'm not sure are isolated murders.”

“This one was missing his tongue; it looked like it had been burned out. His throat was cut.” Morgan noted. “What about the rest from this morning?”

“The others they found this morning… They were missing limbs. It looks like they bled to death, but the ME started on the autopsy for one of the victims and found the same odd electrocution pattern in the internal organs.” Prentiss said as she closed the report she was reading and looked up as Morgan startled.

He shifted, pulling his phone from his pocket as it vibrated. He checked the caller ID and accepted the call.

“Hey baby girl, you’re on speaker.”

“Thank you my handsome Adonis. I did some digging on a hunch and found several unsolved cases with similar MOs across the Appalachians. Missing people found in pairs or singularly with parts of the bodies burnt or with no apparent cause of death, but many of them were decomposed when they were found. We haven’t heard of it sooner because no one made the connection until this morning when the county sheriff contacted us about the mutilated bodies that were found in her neck of the woods and JJ had me go back through some other reports… all the murders occurred in small, remote towns without a strong police or forensics force.”

“So we are looking at something big here.” Prentiss stated.

“Oh yeah.” Garcia replied. “A couple of dozen over the past… ten years or so. What’s even more hinky is that there were other missing persons reported in the same areas that just…. never turned up. Unfortunately most of the victims are people you'd expect that would go missing and not have people looking for them- homeless and prostitutes.”

Rossi settled back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh. “Ten years. That’s prolific. And with three sets of people in the last, what, two months? Whoever is doing this is escalating. Going from picking off one person at a time to four at once is a huge leap.”

JJ was solemn, and a flash of guilt crossed her face as she hesitated and said. “At least one of these cases… I chose others to prioritize for our investigations. A missing child. An active arson case. I didn't… I didn't make the connection, or know it was part of something bigger.”

“You couldn't have known, Jayge. It's not your job to make connections like that.” Rossi said gently. “When we land we'll have Garcia send us all the information she can about the other cases and set up a command post at the station.”

JJ bit her lip and nodded, choosing to flip through papers instead of looking at any of her colleagues.

They were quiet as the plane began to descend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After landing and making it to the station, the team hurriedly split up to set up command at the station and send out the assigned agents to the crime scene. JJ and Rossi went into the department while the rest of the team climbed into an SUV loaned to them by the department. Reid was initially going to stay back with JJ and Rossi, but it was decided that he would join Prentiss, and Morgan to rendezvous with the local Sheriff at the trailhead of the crime scene.

It was cloudy, threatening rain. They were silent as they drove through the mist, the fog increasing as they rose in elevation. It really was a gorgeous area, despite the weather, Prentiss thought.

They arrived at a parking lot that was filled with vehicles with a dozen families milling about. The adult hikers and children eyeing them and the police vehicles with great interest. A short police woman with a dark complexion waved them down and directed them where to park.

“Sheriff Rosalie Godwin,” she introduced herself as they exited the vehicle. They made their introductions, and she continued,

“We’ll have to hike in from here. It’s a couple of miles in; pretty far off the closed trail.”

“Doesn’t seem like the weather has deterred people from camping and hiking the main trails.” Prentiss noted, subtly looking around at the disgruntled groups of people being escorted back to their vehicles.

“It’s a short hike on that trail over there to the primary look outs. It’s a popular tourist destination and it’s the end of summer before school starts up… And leaf season is coming. The fall leaves change colors and everyone goes nuts and flock here in droves, especially from Florida.” She paused and then waved a hand indicating the fog. “ They also gotta get a taste of why the mountains are called the smokies. They’re not too happy that we’re telling them to leave.”

“What are you telling them?” Prentiss inquired. She could hear the sounds of someone arguing with a park ranger.

“Nothing specific. We’re asking them if they’ve seen anything suspicious and are trying to evacuate the area due to recent criminal activities and the incoming storm.” She paused, gesturing towards the cars in the lots. “We also took pictures of all the license plates of the vehicles here for your analyst, but I doubt you’ll find anything. Whoever did this probably isn’t going to stick around for the after party.”

“You’d be surprised.” Morgan said, glancing over the parking area.

Godwin pointed towards the sky. “We’ll want to hike fast. Last night stormed pretty hard but it was a lot of dry lightning. It’s supposed to rain hard today and if we aren’t quick they’re going to pack up before we get there to prevent the rain from washing away any evidence. We were able to carry out three of the bodies discreetly earlier this morning, but I know the fourth is still up there; we had to call in a couple of ambulances from the neighboring counties to transport them to the ME. One is on the way back for the last victim.”

Godwin used her hands a lot to emphasize what she said, Reid mentally cataloged. It was second nature. He idly wondered if she even realized it.

He eyed the closed off trail head, leading up a steep mountain path. Reid wasn't looking forward to this hike. Neither was Prentiss, if the look she shared with him was any indication.

He heaved a sigh. Prentiss and Morgan had already started up the path.

Reid had the fleeting thought that he wished Ed were with them on this case. Ed enjoyed both the weird cases and the ones that had them tromping through nature. Nostalgia, he'd once said.

Reid felt a pang when he wondered what nostalgia looked like for a child soldier.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They passed the last of the victims being carried down the trail, the steepness and narrowness making it impossible for any utility vehicles to make it through. Morgan spoke with the coroner and the other investigators carrying the body were grateful for the break as they set down the backboard holding the body bag. Prentiss unzipped it with a gloved hand.

“I know the ME started already on the first of the victims they received, but were there any signs of how the killer was able to get them up there that you saw when wrapping them up?” Her hand trailed slowly down the length of the arm that ended abruptly at the elbow of the dark young man. She eyed the wound critically. A lot of coagulating blood that didn't hide that the lower half of the arm was removed with surgical precision.

A shake of the head in the negative. “No signs of anything the sort. Some signs of a struggle, sure, but who would walk up there in a group like that of their own accord?”

“It is possible they were coerced or walked with the UnSub willingly.” Reid said. “The question is why..”

“What happened to the missing limbs?”

“No sign of them. That's the weirdest part. It's obvious that the victim with his tounge burned out was killed there based on the amount of blood we found, but the damndest thing- the others, like this one… a ton of blood but no signs of footprints or blood trails.”

“Any tracking dogs up there yet?” Reid asked the Sheriff. She grimaced.

“There are no professionals locally. All of our search and rescue and human remain detection dogs are volunteer based. The ones I called are far out of town and wouldn't be able to make it back before the storm hits.” Godwin gave a curt nod to Prentiss and waved a hand in front of her. “When you're done, our crime scene is about two hundred yards off the trail around that ridge.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Morgan surveyed the crime scene before them. The air around him was thick with humidity and his clothes clung to him with a combination of sweat from their hike and the moisture in the air.

He and his team members studied crime scenes profiles like a second language. There was something eerie, something off about this one. He couldn't shake that feeling.

The scene was… messy. Thick, viscous blood jellied as it coagulated on the ground. The smell of death- of blood, of fascia and tissue, of urine and feces, of fear; intermingled in the aroma of the morning of the heavy mountainscape. Markers were placed where the four bodies had been found, but they were secondary signs to the pools of blood and struggle. The victims had been alive when their limbs were removed, based on the splatter and the upheaval around him.

They were remote enough that their screams wouldn't have been heard.

He walked around the crime scene, careful not to disturb anything as he built his profile. The ground was heavily disturbed, too much for it to be natural or to be the byproduct of the crime scene investigators combing over the area. It looked… swept over.

They had been there for maybe ten minutes when the clouds began to descend on them with the coming storm. The wind shifted. An hour of hiking for only ten minutes at the crime scene was almost not worth it for when they were surely going to be caught in a torrential downpour.

Morgan froze, feeling goosebumps tickle the back of his neck as the feeling of something out of place hit him. The wind shifted again.

“Wait, do you smell that?”

Redi, who had been crouched down at a marker near Prentiss, paused at Morgan's question. Morgan saw the moment it registered with the younger man what was out of place. “Is that… a fire?”

Morgan walked over to where Godwin was talking to the CSIs as they hurriedly finished cataloging and packing.

“Sheriff, do you get many campers in this area?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s far too remote; very few hikers come through this trail as it’s rough and steep and there aren’t many places to camp safely. Hunters use this land sometimes, but this isn’t really the season for it yet. Lots of tourists but this trail has been closed for a while. It’s a miracle the bodies were even found at all by the hikers that ignored the signs and came through anyway to find their loose dog.” She frowned, looked around her, and called out to an investigator. “Mullins, do you have that drone with you?”

A thin reedy man turned to face her and set down his pack, pulling out a pelican case. “Aye, I just didn't want to send it up because of how windy it's getting. Didn't want to lose it in the storm.”

“Send it up. High. Locate the fire but don't get so close that they know you're there.”

The team crowded around the man as he guided the drone into the air. It shifted haphazardly in the wind as it gained altitude. They watched the small screen with bated breath as he flew it up, turning it to observe the surrounding area.

“There.” Reid said, his finger pointing to the screen. “Its a thin plume, maybe from a campfire. How far out is that from here?” A wisp of grey smoke broke through the mist, adjacent, but not too far off the hiking trail that had continued wrapping up the mountain.

“Mile and a half, two miles, east of us.” The man swore as the drone faltered. “I'll get you the coordinates. But you're going to want to hurry. We've got about half an hour before the rain hits.”

“We move quietly. We don’t know who is in the area.” Morgan stated. That prickling feeling returned and he cracked his neck to relieve the tension he felt. Maybe they'd get lucky and their unsub was sloppy enough to get caught from the get go.

He didn't like this case. There was something off about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The rain had started sooner than Mullins’ prediction, but they were only partially soaked when they made it to the source of their fire. The hike to it had been quiet and terse; none of them risked unnecessary conversation when approaching the unknown.

The cabin was worn down, falling apart in several places and the area covered by an overgrowth of dark green kudzu and other foliage. It looked like a one or two room hunting cabin, a single window next to the door; their view inside obstructed by a dark curtain. Like their crime scene, it could only be accessible by hiking in by someone who knew it was there, that much was obvious. There was a fire pit in front, with blackened logs still smoking slightly as they were soaked in the drizzle of rain; the only sign of any recent occupation.

Morgan could hear a murmur of voices inside as they approached quietly. He motioned Reid and Prentiss around to the other corners of the structure while he himself stood adjacent to the door, opposite side of the window -out of the line of potential fire- and knocked.

“Hello, anyone there?”

The voices stopped immediately.

Several moments of silence passed.

Morgan knocked again, more firmly this time.

“FBI. We just have a few questions.”

He saw a sudden rustle of the window, caught a flash of light and movement from what could only be a person, before the door opened and Morgan's mind went blank as he fought to process what he saw.

“What happened?” Ed asked as stepped out, gloved hands raised. Mustang stepped up behind him, a flicker of suspicion flashing across his otherwise neutral expression on his face. He also wore a pair of white gloves, Morgan’s stunned mind processed. “I know cell phone service is sketchy out here so if you tried calling I definitely missed it. I was due to come back to the office Monday, anyway, but how the hell did you guys even find us? Garcia’s good but I didn’t think she knew about this place.”

Ed glanced at the gloved hand Mustang rested on his shoulder.

“Don’t know why you bothered. You’re still useless in the rain.”

Mustang snorted but didn’t remove his hand. If anything, he tightened his fingers across Ed's shoulder momentarily.

“Elric?!” Prentiss’ startled choked voice cut across the clearing.

“Uh, yeah?” The blond man glanced at their incredulous faces and his eyes narrowed suddenly as they fell on the sheriff, who had her hand resting tensely on her service weapon looking with bewilderment at the agents around her and at the couple in the doorway.

“Wait,” Golden eyes flickered between Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss’ wide eyed expressions. “You weren’t looking for us,” he stated flatly, eyes narrowing.

There was a rumble of distant thunder, breaking the rising tension. The rain started to come down heavier, visibility rapidly decreasing.

Ed sighed, keeping both hands visible he brought one up to pinch the bridge of his nose, before he glanced back to exchange a look with Roy and stepped aside.

“Well you guys might as well come in before you drown or get struck by lightning.”

Reid, teeth chattering with what was definitely the cold from the rain and not nervousness, thank you, was the first to move to step towards the cabin.

Whatever weird exchange was about to happen between his team members could happen inside the derelict little cabin. His confidence in that notion didn't mask his unease in his gut as he passed Morgan and crossed the threshold.