Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Replacement ❯ Daddy's Home ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA but I do wish I had Roy chained to my bed.

 

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5: Daddy's Home

 

~*~

 

 

The group entered the office in the early afternoon to hear the sound of a screaming child in the next room.

 

“I said no, now go play with your toys,” her voice was firm but gentle.

 

“I want it! I want it!” a child's voice cried and the group looked through the doorway to see Woodgrove tap the small dark haired boy on the nose. Standing in front of the bulletin board with the Hollows was a woman with the same dark hair as Woodgrove.

 

“No. We don't always get what we want, Markie, you need to learn that,” Woodgrove stated as she stood up. “Ah, here they are, Catherine. Catherine meet Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Maes Hughes, Alphonse Elric, Alex Louis Armstrong, and Gene Havoc. All of you meet my sister, Catherine VanBuren.”

 

“Auntie Angie, Auntie Angie, don't forget about me!” the little boy cried tugging at Woodgrove's jacket.

 

“How could I? This is my nephew, Markie VanBuren,” she stated as she lifted the little boy into her arms, looking matronly with a child balanced on her hip. “Say hello, Markie.”

 

“Hello!” the little boy cried as he waved and smiled, his little button nose wrinkling as he smiled so wide it had to hurt. His dark hair matched his mother's and his aunt's, however he had bright green eyes, much like Maes', while his mother had a light shade of blue. “Don't worry, Auntie and Mommy will find your friend! Auntie can smell trouble, she'll find him in no time!”

 

“Hey, don't I get any credit,” VanBuren stated with her hands on either side of her telltale pregnancy bulge. The little boy straddled his aunt's hip obviously in thought.

 

“Mommy's the best at getting fat!” he cried and the group couldn't help but smile.

 

“I swear, somehow your sarcastic attitude got passed to my offspring,” VanBuren stated as she glared at Woodgrove.

 

“What can I say? I may baby sit a little too often,” Woodgrove chuckled before setting the boy down and handing him a toy car. “Enough pleasure, time for business. You might want to look at this report as well as the map, we found out quite a lot last night.”

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed watched as the woman dropped bundle after bundle of hay on the new bed, enough until the entire bed was covered. She painted a transmutation circle on the hay before changing the hay into a mattress. Ed didn't make a sound as he watched her prepare the bed with chains and sheets.

 

“Is Mommy's good boy happy about Daddy coming home?” she asked and Ed nodded behind his gag, his arm and leg still shackled. “Good, Mommy wants everything perfect, let's hope this is Mommy's Alexander.” She moved over to Ed, freeing his arm and leg, removing his gag and placing a tray of food in front of him.

 

“Are you excited to see Daddy again, Marcus?” she asked and Ed looked at her before nodding.

 

“Very excited, Mommy,” he stated as he looked at the oatmeal. She must need to do her shopping again. Slowly he ate as she watched him, smiling dumbly in a disarming manner. She sure didn't look crazy at the moment, but Ed couldn't forget the way her eyes could light up with that insane gleam or the way her face could contort into a vicious hag's. Ed shivered as he ate and found his blanket tucked around his waist.

 

“Mommy is so happy that she's found Marcus and Daddy, soon the whole family will be right again,” she sighed and Ed prayed that whichever one of his friends happened to look like `Daddy' would be heading back to Central for some reason.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Woodgrove looked at Havoc, then VanBuren looked at Havoc, then they looked at each other before Woodgrove looked at the reports Havoc was reading.

 

“If you don't understand it, please hand it back,” Woodgrove asked in a voice torn between a whine and a growl, a vein in her temple throbbing.

 

“Detective, you seem stressed this afternoon,” Hawkeye stated and Woodgrove nodded.

 

“I was stuck with that stupid chimera all night, I barely got three hours of sleep and then the pit monkeys delivered the papers to the wrong office. I've had to track it down while writing my autopsy report, thank God for Catherine coming to check up on the case,” Woodgrove sighed. “I'm just near my ropes end this week, hopefully the paperwork will help figure out the pattern.”

 

“So, you had trouble with exploding organs last night,” Roy stated as he read the report over Havoc's shoulder and Woodgrove nodded.

 

“The skin was transmuted not only into the bag form but also to be airtight. My guess is the killer didn't want the decomposition of the body to be noticed right away, allow the body to decay longer, luckily we've been in that area inspecting houses,” Woodgrove moaned. “But because the body was decomposing in that tight casing, gases built up in certain organs, making autopsy especially miserable.”

 

“Sounds like you had a bad night,” Havoc stated before handing off the report to Maes.

 

“So, Cornel, are you married?” VanBuren asked and Roy nearly exhaled his coffee across the reports if Hawkeye and Woodgrove didn't rip them out of the way.

 

“Catherine!” Woodgrove snarled and the pregnant woman held up her son like a human shield, something that seemed more appropriate for Maes to attempt.

 

“Oh come on, he's just your type, dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin, and if he's not married, perfect,” VanBuren commented and Woodgrove's eye began to twitch. “So answer the question, Cornel.” Roy stared at the woman as if she were some hideous monster.

 

“No…I'm…not,” he muttered and VanBuren smiled at Maes.

 

“What about you, Lieutenant Cornel?” VanBuren asked and Maes quickly showed his ring. “Pity.”

 

“Catherine, this is not professional,” Woodgrove sighed as she let her head hit against the table.

 

“Really, Angelina, you should think about it, you were only just commenting on the way a man in uniform makes you…” with that Woodgrove clamped a hand over her sister's mouth and glared at the pregnant woman in abject horror.

 

“What the hell is wrong with you? You're son is sitting right there and the boy in the armor is only fourteen!” Woodgrove hissed and the look of smug contentment was again something more familiar on Maes' face.

 

“Detective Woodgrove…we found the last of the reports Detective VanBuren was so…insistent about,” an officer said with a pile of reports in his hands.

 

“Thank you,” Woodgrove stated as she took the reports and began to pass them around the group. “Everyone read and Catherine, you get to do the map work. Try and keep your mouth shut, Little Sister.” With that, the Hollows began to tell its dark secret.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Marcus' hair is so beautiful, Mommy is so jealous of her son's pretty hair,” the woman sighed as she sat behind Ed, the brush moving from his skull down to his shoulders again and again. Ed sat there, thankful that the gag was gone and desperately trying to think of a way to escape. She was so careful about letting him move around now, especially since the chimera. Ed wished he had used his blood to draw a circle, but now it was too late, the only time he was allowed to move was when she was around.

 

Her fingers moved through his hair, teasing his scalp as her hot breath caressed the back of his neck. She hummed as she ran her fingers through his hair. Ed hated it, it was like he was a pet or something. His eyes widened at the thought. She called the chimeras `Pets', what if she was planning on making HIM a chimera. Ed shivered in fear at the thought of having his body transformed in such a way.

 

“Mommy is so jealous of her Marcus' beautiful hair,” she whispered as she rubbed her cheek against his hair and back. Ed flinched and the woman cooed as she rubbed his shoulders, one hand playing over his metal, automail port, the other up and down his arm. Ed began thinking of his brother as the woman stroked him, it made him ill to feel her touching him.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Hmmm, interesting, 2361 Bronze Street, bought with unmarked gold by a Joshua Woodgrove,” Roy stated and the two detectives were on his report.

 

“What?” Woodgrove cried, a familiar craziness that had been seen in another pair of gold eyes that the group knew all too well.

 

“Calm down, Angelina, calm down,” VanBuren growled as her nails raked the wood of the table.

 

“Is he a relative?” Hawkeye asked and Woodgrove growled, not looking at anyone as she added deeper groves to the table than her sister did.

 

“Yes, he was our brother, he died years ago,” she growled as she got up and stormed off, VanBuren was holding her son, looking away from the group. “This bastard went too far!” With that the detective was gone and the other turned to look at the report, still clinging to her son.

 

“She was close to him?” Maes asked and VanBuren nodded.

 

“You have to understand, she's the second eldest of seven children, Joshua was her senior by a year, they were the leaders, the strong ones. Joshua, Angelina, Thomas, and Daniel all joined the Military within three months of each other. Joshua and Angelina snuck to Central together, Joshua as a normal soldier and Angelina as a State Alchemist. They were close, they practically raised Genevieve, Daniel, Thomas, and me when Dad left for his trips and Mom was busy with Baby,” VanBuren stated. “Angelina is very sensitive about Joshua.”

 

“I'd think she'd be more sensitive about the ones she took care of,” Hawkeye stated and VanBuren shook her head.

 

“You don't understand. Joshua died in Ishbal. Angelina begged him to desert, find a way out like she did, she just knew Ishbal was bad news, Joshua, Daniel, and Thomas didn't listen to her. When Joshua was killed, our mother blamed Angelina for not getting him out. I think Angelina took that to heart, the fact someone is using his name…it's a disgrace to the both of us, but I think it's another reminder to Angelina how she failed him, failed to save his life and failed to save his name,” VanBuren sighed. “There are only three of us, Thomas, Angelina, and I. I think she feels a bit useless as of late.”

 

The group was silent as VanBuren set her son down and sat down heavily.

 

“She shouldn't be so hard on herself, this is not an easy case,” Maes stated and VanBuren shook her head.

 

“It's more her personal life's stress clashing with her professional life's stress, I haven't seen her march out of a room like that since Baby died,” VanBuren stated, rubbing her temples.

 

“Baby?” Havoc asked and VanBuren smiled one of those smiles that was both happy and heartbroken.

 

“Our youngest brother. It went Joshua, Angelina, Thomas, Daniel, me, Genevieve, and then Baby. None of us really used his name in life, it seems like we love him less to start using it now. He had the same condition as Angelina's son, we called him Baby because the doctors told us he wouldn't live beyond being one. He was sixteen when he died, he showed those doctors what for,” VanBuren smirked before sighing. “Angelina is very stressed, the anniversary of her son's birth marks several unpleasant family anniversaries for her. In three weeks it will be the anniversary of Daniel's suicide, then a week after that her divorce, and then the anniversary of our mother's death. She takes these anniversaries harder than I do.”

 

“Why?” Al asked and the group all looked down.

 

“Al, she's alone, she was deserted by her husband, lost her son because of a genetic disorder she passed down to him, and from the looks of the office, she really doesn't have a lot of friends,” Maes stated, looked at VanBuren, all playfulness gone.

 

“I have Jordan, he called to tell me he's crawling back tonight after work, I have Markie, and I was never as close to my brothers as I was to Genevieve,” VanBuren sighed.

 

“How may I ask did they all die? If I'm not prying too much,” Roy asked and VanBuren shook her head.

 

“Not at all, Joshua died in Ishbal, he wasn't an alchemist and he was slaughtered in one of the uprisings. They told us it was quick, he tripped and his neck was snapped when he was slammed into a building. Daniel also went to Ishbal, but he was a State Alchemist, he shot himself,” she placed a finger under her jaw in a place Roy had considered once before. “His note said that he wasn't worthy of forgiveness for what he had done in Ishbal. Genevieve died in childbirth, both she and her daughter didn't make it, her husband had died weeks earlier, an accident in the steel mill, I heard it was quick. Finally, Baby died when we were all out of the house, ten years ago. Mother found his body and hid it, she had a mental breakdown.” VanBuren looked at the door.

 

“Do you think Detective Woodgrove should be dismissed from this case?” Maes asked and VanBuren looked at him in horror.

 

“Oh no ! This case has become Angelina's life. I can't imagine her doing anything else with this kind of passion. You have to understand, when Al…when that bastard left her two months after their son had died, Angelina went into a mental breakdown, a lot like our mother did after Baby died. I thought for sure Angelina would try to kill herself…like mother. I asked her to come to the station with me after the first body was found. She took over this case,” VanBuren explained. “I think because all the victims, in a way, look like her son would have, if he had lived. No, I wouldn't remove Angelina from this case, I think it would break her completely without something like this to fuel her.”

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Oh Marcus, Mommy is going to bring home your Daddy tonight, we'll be together again and soon the family will grow as it's supposed to,” she smiled as she hugged Ed and all he wanted was to scream and escape. “So soon, I'll be whole again, no more void to fill, no more lonely nights. Soon…” Ed felt his stomach heave at the thought of spending his life down here, besides, how soon before she found someone else who looked like Marcus and she realized HE wasn't Marcus.

 

“Marcus? Aren't you excited?” there was a low growl and Ed smiled as best he could, which wasn't very good to say the least.

 

“Yes, very excited, I can't wait to see Daddy again,” he cried with false joy that anyone should have been able to detect, but the woman smiled, hugging him again before attaching his wrist to the bed again.

 

“Mommy has a wonderful plan to bring him back home, but she must be clever or those military dogs will find out and the Mommy will have to kill them,” she stated as she stroked his hair. “Now sleep, Marcus, when you wake up, Daddy will be back.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Woodgrove entered the room looking much more in order than when she left.

 

“I sent pit monkeys to look into the houses that were confirmed owned by people dead before the purchase date,” she stated as she pulled out a bank form. “And I went to the bank to find out something rather interesting. All the gold used to pay for the Hollows property was unmarked bars. We know our friend is an alchemist, so I've asked the quarry if anyone's been buying the crap lead they dig out with the marble. They'll let me know within the week.” The group watched her as she stood there and set the bank statement down.

 

“Are you alright, Detective Woodgrove?” Al asked and the woman smiled at him.

 

“I'm better now, I'm very tired and I will be heading home early tonight, I'm useless with this little sleep,” she sighed as she stretched and pulled the autopsy report out from under another pile of papers. “However, I still want to cover this before heading out and I mean all of us are heading out for the night. The chimera was formed using a Groveton Transmutation, for those of you who don't know that's the creation of two animals, one that will die immediately and one that will live on indefinitely. Not immortal, but with a lifespan longer than conventional chimeras.”

 

“Groveton…didn't your father develop that method?” Armstrong asked and the two detectives nodded.

 

“Father hated his work for the State, but he developed the Groveton Transmutation, best method for chimera creation, Tucker didn't believe in it, but it was a classified method, very few people would have access to it or even know it,” Woodgrove stated and Roy stared at her. “I have no doubt it was once a human, the brain was exactly human, the pelvic bone was as well, there was a human appendix as well as external genitalia. The shape of the skull was closer to a hound or wolf, but the digestive tract was a mix.”

 

“So, our suspect is a parent between thirty and fifty, State Alchemist, probably with a dead child, and with a good knowledge of the area,” VanBuren stated.

 

“Don't forget, living alone without much company,” Woodgrove added, chewing absently on her thumbnail. “Should I be concerned that I match this profile a little too much?” The military group stared at her, wondering how the woman knew what was on their minds.

 

“Angelina, there's no way…” VanBuren stated as Woodgrove growled.

 

“I feel like I'm being set up and I don't like this,” the detective snarled and then looked down. “I'm too tired for this. I need at good night's sleep before I become too paranoid.”

 

“You wouldn't mind some company on the way home would you?” Roy asked and Woodgrove looked at him, it was a cold, calculating look the two shared. A person could think it spoke.

 

`I know what you're up to and I don't like it' feeling went through the two. Hawkeye's hand moved to her gun while VanBuren's hand disappeared into her pocket. The two continued their stare down and for a moment it almost looked like the two were about to go for the other's throat like wild dogs.

 

“I've got nothing to hide Cornel Mustang,” Woodgrove stated and the Cornel tilted his head.

 

“Prove it,” he shot back.

 

“Walk me home then with whomever else you choose, I don't care if you feel the need to bring everyone of your men against me,” she challenged and Roy felt the ego prod. She was calling him a coward.

 

“Maes, Havoc, help me escort the Detective home,” he ordered and the woman stood up and led the way out, followed by the three military men.

 

“What about us, sir?” Hawkeye asked and Roy looked at her.

 

“I'll see you at the inn,” he replied and the group left.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed opened his eyes as soon as the door opened and there was the faint outline of a person at the doorway.

 

“So, you're the replacement,” a strangled voice gurgled and Ed felt horror building in his heart as he realized the person wasn't quite human. Ed tried to cry out behind the gag but it was useless. “I pity you, like all the others.”

 

The outline didn't move but Ed slowly made out the shape of extra limbs emerging from the figure's back.

 

“She did this to me, you know,” the figure choked again. “Used my pet hawk, it had lost a wing, and used my cat. She didn't want him to take me with him when he left her. She kicked him out, then she forced me into this body, making sure that there was no way I could escape her without becoming a pet for the State.” Ed felt ill as he realized who he was talking to.

 

“She went mad of course, realizing what she did to me, hid me away much like you are, chained me up. I was so confused, why would she do it to me, her baby? Daddy never knew the truth, he accepted it, and then he `left' her. Of course…he didn't really get that far. She killed him and showed me his body, just so I couldn't hope for a rescue,” the figure stated and Ed felt the urge to puke. “Mommy couldn't accept what she had done to `her Marcus', so she starting thinking I escaped her, forgetting what she really did. She pretends well enough, faking her sanity at wherever the hell she works now. But she's not, she's not sane at all.” Ed screamed as the figure moved towards him and then stopped, he could make out the extra legs that hung uselessly from his hips, the wing that was deformed on his back, and the long tail that seemed to bend in unnatural angles.

 

“I would help you, but she put out my eyes,” he stated and Ed realized why he couldn't see the classic chimera glow. “They were all that still looked like me, those gold eyes. She has them still, in a jar, with the heads of the others. I'm sorry, I pity you and the one she's after now.” Ed passed out as the figure turned, the profile was so very not human.

 

 

~*~

 

 

“Where do you live?” Maes asked and Grovewood made a noise before leading them on, she hadn't spoken since she bid her sister goodnight.

 

“Woodgrove, we are not going to take any risks, you match the profile too well,” Roy stated and there was a glare worthy of the missing State Alchemist. It only made Roy even more furious. “You are trying my patience.”

 

“Roy, leave her alone,” Maes stated as the woman stopped and looked around.

 

“Did you hear that?” she asked as she turned to looked at them, the childish anger was gone and all that was left was caution. “It came from back there.” The military men quickly had out their guns and moved toward the dark alley. Woodgrove appeared next to Roy, her shoulder bumping his as she started to pull back.

 

“Come out with your hands up,” Havoc cried as the three men stared down the alley in shock.

 

“I don't think so, Military Dogs,” Woodgrove's voice stated back and there was a flash of blinding alchemic light.

 

 

~*~

 

 

Ed woke up as the door was opened and the woman entered, a naked body draped over her shoulder, Ed couldn't see the man's face, but he knew without knowing it was one of his friends/coworkers. The woman panted as she placed the naked man on the bed, still blocking his face from Ed's view as she attached the chains.

 

“Finally, Daddy's home,” she whispered in joy as she pulled another gag out of her pocket, Ed listened to her attach it and she stepped back before smiling at Ed. “Marcus, aren't you thrilled, Daddy's finally home!” Ed looked over and his eyes widened as he stared at Gene Havoc's unconscious body on the bed.

 

 

~*~

 

 

AN: Sorry it took so long to get this done, I was really focusing on the Central group and the police part of this chapter and had very little creativity with the Ed pieces, I wanted to end with Ed and I wanted Ed to meet the real Marcus, but other than that...I was stumped, sorry if the Ed bits aren't up to my normal par. As always tell me what you think.