Maes Hughes, Kidnapper Extraordinaire

by Mepski

Summary:

"What Ed and Alphonse Elric did not realize, though, was just how much kidnapping experience Hughes had, and over how many years he had been perfecting the art. If they had had the time and inclination to investigate, they would have found not just two, not just three, but many data points throughout his past that would have shown how often Hughes had done this, and how he had honed his art over many years of trial, error, and careful study."

OR

A series of vignettes in which Hughes kidnaps people for their own good.

Notes:

This is my first work on AO3. I'm hoping that putting some chapters up as a WIP will help motivate me to keep writing :). I'm mainly just trying out the platform and hoping to have some fun. Hope you enjoy as well. I'll update this note when the work is done!

I haven't done a lot of background research on this fic (e.g., on the inner workings of the military). If I write about things that you happen to know more about, and I say something stupid, feel free to jump in and correct me! I may or may not update the fic, depending on how egregious the error and how much re-writing it will necessitate. But it will improve the next one :).

Same for tags - advice welcome :)

Chapter 1: Prologue

The first time the Elric brothers saw Maes Hughes kidnap someone, they didn’t think much of it. Sheska needed a job after all, and the lieutenant colonel needed someone to help him with his files promptly. So, maybe he pulled her out of the room a little vigorously, but that was just his eagerness to get started on the job quickly, surely.

The second time, it was a little harder to explain. Winry needed a place to stay, sure, but there wasn’t exactly a rush to get her settled anywhere, and it’s not like she was a major flight risk. (The Elrics themselves may have been a flight risk in a situation like that, but not Winry. She was too polite—to adults, anyway!--to disappear after having been clearly told to be somewhere at a certain time.) But Hughes just grabbed her and strode off towards his home, as quickly as Winry’s shorter legs could follow.

The third kidnapping they saw, they didn’t even realize was a kidnapping as such. And then, not long afterwards, Hughes died, and they all had bigger problems to worry about than his penchant for dragging people forcibly into his orbit.

What Ed and Alphonse Elric did not realize, though, was just how much kidnapping experience Hughes had, and over how many years he had been perfecting the art. If they had had the time and inclination to investigate, they would have found not just two, not just three, but many data points throughout his past that would have shown how often Hughes had done this, and how he had honed his art over many years of trial, error, and careful study.