thedeadparrot | I Might Be Wrong (Part X) - In which there is yet even more by the way of crime scene.

crazythorn and

daringu. Play "spot the Alias reference!" I assure you that it is not subtle in any way, shape or form.

10.

It's twisted, the way Wrath has taken to communicating with Roy through murder.

This one's the same as all the others, and it doesn't surprise Roy in the least. The victim this time is Jonathan Bristow, a student at a nearby university. He was studying alchemy, Roy learns from the file that the investigators always hands him. He was still carrying his book bag when Wrath got to him.

The detectives used to look at Roy with a certain awe, even the older ones, the jaded ones. He was a State Alchemist, a war hero, the stuff of legend.

They don't look at him that way anymore, and Roy can't really blame them. This is the fourth murder, and they still have no leads. Well, he has a lead. A very good one, in fact.

But if he tells them, he has to explain Wrath, his own mistakes. Even the punishment for failing to discover the murderer is less of a punishment than the one for performing human transmutation. No, he will fix this himself.

There's nothing significant about this back alley, nothing special or distinguishing that separates it from the others, but the words written this time are so obvious and straightforward that Roy knows something's different this time.

"Meet me here tonight" is written on the wall in blood, illuminated by the occasional flashes of the police cameras. It's not like Wrath, Roy knows, to be so direct. There's something he wants from Roy, and Roy thinks he knows what it is. It's power, this knowledge, and Roy feels at ease for the first time since he performed the transmutation.

Havoc scratches his head and chews on his cigarette as he stares at it. "Who do you think he's talking to?" he asks, completely baffled.

Roy stares at it as well, as if the shape of the words, the way in which Wrath wrote it will give the real message away. "I don't know," he says, clipping his words. He needs to sound annoyed, not pleased. He doesn't like keeping this from Havoc, but he knows that the less people he tells, the better off they all will be. You can't give away information you don't have. Havoc makes a strange sighing noise of irritation next to him and turns away, trusting Roy to figure this puzzle out.

When they finish picking the scene apart (as far as it can be picked apart), Roy makes his way back to the car, only to be stopped by Hawkeye. "Be careful," she says quietly. She means it, too, something Roy won't ever take for granted.

He nods at her. "Thank you." He hopes she can hear the "for trusting me." that goes unsaid. He needs her to trust him, to let him do this.

There is no doubt that he will be back here tonight, in his mind or Hawkeye's. Wrath wants something that Roy has. That much is clear right now. And Roy wants to use that to his advantage.

---

The sun was dipping below the horizon when the man came back. He was smiling a little too brightly, as if it weren't quite as real as he wanted it to be.

"I have something I need to do tonight," he said to a pretty brunette who was doing some paperwork.

"Go ahead," she replied absently. "I'm sure it's important."