The Pink Triangle

Chapter 1 -- Verraten

“Brother, there’s someone here to see you,” Al said, knocking on the door of Ed’s study. When he wasn’t in town or visiting Noa, Ed was always in this room, which had an adjoining door to his bedroom so that he wouldn’t disturb anyone when he couldn’t sleep and just wanted to do research.

“Who is it, Al?” Ed said, looking up from the engineering book. Looking toward the door, his eyes caught the dazzling green eyes of Commander Hughes, who had just been promoted within Hitler’s army. “Commander, hey.”

“Good morning, Ed!” Maes said in his normal jovial fashion. “And how are you today?”

“Isn’t it a bit too early in the morning to be so loud and boisterous?” Ed groaned, putting a finger in his ear to keep his eardrum from exploding.

“Oh, come on, Ed, it’s after ten o’clock!” he said. “Remember, you said needed to talk to me about something, but you said not to show up until ten!”

“You’re right,” Ed said. “Sorry, Commander. Just please, keep your voice down. I’ve got a slight hangover from drinking a little too much last night.”

“Sorry,” Maes said. Al quickly excused himself, realizing that he had better things to do than listen to someone who was a part of something so much bigger than he was. “Finally, we’re alone.”

“Yeah, we are,” Ed said, pouring two glasses of wine and handing one to Maes. “To us, and the hope that the faction will never find out about us.”

“Cheers,” he said. “Have you told your brother about this?” Ed shook his head before kissing Maes quickly. “If my higher-ups find out about this, we’ll probably both be thrown into one of the Jew camps.”

“Is the Gestapo really that cruel?” the blonde said. “They would throw a faithful soldier like you out of your home, tear you away from your family and life just for loving someone who is imperfect?”

“Yes,” Maes said. “I may have black hair and green eyes instead of blonde hair and blue eyes, but they accept me because I am so faithful.”

“You’re a hypocrite, Maes,” Ed said. “But then, we’re all guilty of hypocrisy at some point. I was always told that human transmutation was a sin, and I said that I would never try it, but I did it anyway, and lost not only my arm and leg, but my brother’s body for a while.”

“I don’t care if your arm and leg are mechanical,” Maes said, taking the smaller man into his arms for a tight embrace. “Your heart is what makes me so damn attracted to you.”

“It’s dangerous,” he said.

“The entire world is dangerous, Ed,” Maes said. “But the road of life is paved with risks. One of the biggest risks right now is doing everything we can to protect ourselves.” They looked into each others eyes and Maes smiled at Ed. “But I don’t care how much I have to risk to protect you.”

“I love you, Maes,” Ed said, throwing his arms around Maes’ neck, tears in his eyes. Little did they know that on the other side of the wall, a man with very excellent hearing was listening to every word the two men said. Well, it wasn’t so much that he had such excellent hearing, but he had planted a bug in Ed’s office a few days before, and was now spying on him and his brother. But he’d had no idea until now that the young blonde man had a mechanical arm and leg, or that the two men were lovers. The spy was good friends with Hughes, and had no idea that he could commit such a traitorous act to the Nazi cause. This was definitely grounds for an arrest, as it was against everything that the Nazis fought for and taught.

“Heineman, what are you listening to?” Roberta asked as she walked into the room. This was the spy’s wife, a beautiful woman who was just as in favor of what Hitler was doing as Heineman was. Like her husband, she had gorgeous blonde hair and blue eyes, and was practically a poster girl for the Fuehrer’s cause. Although she was preaching the same ideals of Nazism as the men were, she seemed to be much more popular among the followers, and so she was being used to recruit the young boys into the Nazi Youth groups.

“I may have just discovered a traitor amongst the ranks, my dear,” he said. Handing over the headset to her, he let her follow the conversation, and her eyes widened.

“Him?!” Roberta cried, and Heineman nodded. “He’s one of those man-lovers?”

“Shhh,” he said. “They are in the next room, and I don’t need them to suspect that we know. The Gestapo will have their dealings with them as soon as they find out. Although the pain will be much worse for Mr. Hughes than it will be for young Edward. The boy will probably be sent to a Jew camp, and allowed to suffer to death of the sicknesses of the deranged, while Maes will be brought before the Fuerher himself, where a sentence of torture to death will most likely result.”

“It’s no less than he deserves,” she said.
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That evening, at dinner, Alphonse remembered the significance of the day, and suddenly understood why, of all days, Ed as unusually melancholy, even with Maes there, which usually made Ed unable to stop smiling.

“It’s Mom’s birthday today,” Ed volunteered when he saw Al’s face as he remembered. “She’d be 37 if she was still alive.”

“Yeah, I know,” Al said. “I wish you could’ve known our mom, Commander Hughes. You would’ve liked her.”

“If you and your brother are anything to judge by, I have no doubt of it, Al,” Maes said, and he raised his glass. “To her memory, and the hope that we never forget what we’re fighting for.” He raised his glass to his lips, and the boys did the same to their own glasses, Maes looked at his reflection in the glass, into the deep purple wine, and contemplated the decisions he was making. He didn’t have time to think for long before the glass suddenly shattered, the wine not having time to fall to the floor before it burned away.

“What the hell?” Ed shouted. He heard a number of men, probably soldiers, storming through the doors of the house, shouting as they made their way up the stairs towards the dining room. “It’s them!”

“THEM?!” Al cried. “Why are there soldiers breaking into our home?!” Before anyone could answer, the door burst open, and a man who all three recognized stood before them. Robert Maersten, who looked exactly like Roy Mustang from Ed and Al’s world, stood in the doorway, a look of blank anger on his face. “Captain Maersten, what are you doing here?”

“Alphonse Elric, you are to leave,” Maersten ordered. “If you leave now, I will say that you were not here, and that you did not know of the crimes being harbored inside your home. If not, I shall have to arrest you too, and believe me the punishments you endure will be severe.”

“What is the meaning of this, Sir?” Maes said. “What crimes have been committed here?” He knew what Robert was talking about, but he didn’t want to give the answer to Al either.

“Commander Maes Hughes, you and Mr. Elric are under arrest for…” He stopped, signaling one of his men to knock Al out to protect him. When Ed screamed Al’s name, he looked over at the young blonde with pity. The poor Alphonse Elric would probably never see his older brother again. “For treason to our Fuehrer, Adolf Hiter, for being homosexuals!” Ed’s eyes grew even wider than they had been before, not believing that someone already knew about them. Maes, the strong man that he was, simply stood there, eye to eye with his Captain. “I’m sorry, Commander, but I have my orders.”

“Bastard,” Maes said. “What proof do you have of this?”

“Maes!” Ed cried. “You would… You would deny that you have feelings for me?”

“Never, Edward,” Maes said quietly, and Ed rushed to his side. Maes knew that while Al was unconscious, he would not be harmed, and if Ed knew Robert well enough, he would ensure Al’s safety, as long as Al was in the dark to what was going on. Maes held Ed close with one hand, and pulled out his gun with the other.

“Hughes, please,” Robert scoffed. “I have all these men backing me up and you think that little pistol will be enough to stop them from taking you? You fire a single shot from that and you will never make it out alive.”

“Do whatever you want to me, Captain, but leave Ed out of it, I’m begging you,” Maes said, doing his best not to break down.

“Commander, as you well know, my orders are to eradicate all who are impure,” he said. “And that includes the Jews, the Gypsies, all traitors, and man-lovers like the two of you are!” He took the rifle from one of the soldiers and butted the end of it against Ed’s head before Maes could stop him. “Say goodbye, Commander!” With that, the soldiers dragged the unconscious older blonde out into the cold night air, with Robert holding Maes at gunpoint so he didn’t try to follow.

“EDWARD!!” he screamed, tears flooding from his eyes as he watched his lover being taken away.

END CHAPTER 1