Separate Destinations

A quiet opening finds Roy lost in memory, recalling the Ishvalan conflict and the moment he resolved to climb toward the nation's highest office so he could shield the people serving under him. He also remembers Hughes pledging to back that ambition. Riza Hawkeye rouses him so the piled-up paperwork gets cleared before the unit relocates to Central City.

From his hospital bed, Edward walks Alphonse, Hughes, and Major Armstrong through what unfolded inside Laboratory 5, though the site's baffling collapse has stalled any deeper digging. Their planning is cut short when King Bradley appears in person, revealing that he already knows they have been chasing the Philosopher's Stone. He praises their loyalty yet orders them to stop probing and to keep silent, promising to summon them once their help is needed. After he departs, Winry arrives with tickets to Dublith, and the brothers explain they intend to consult their old teacher. Learning that the automail mecca of Rush Valley sits along the route, Winry arranges to join them.

That evening Hughes reviews reports of Letoist unrest in Reole and is suddenly struck by a chilling connection. He hurries to the records room and confirms his worst fear, but Lust intercepts him before he can warn his superiors. He recognizes the Ouroboros mark Edward once sketched for him, and though he bests her in the clash, her bladed nails wound him. Slipping away before she regenerates, he avoids the military phones and heads for a public booth to reach Roy. There Envy ambushes him wearing the face of Second Lieutenant Ross, a disguise Hughes sees through at once. When a dropped family photo catches the shapeshifter's eye, Envy takes the form of Hughes' wife Gracia and shoots him dead. On the far end of the line, Roy hears nothing but silence and senses something has gone terribly wrong.

Hughes is laid to rest with Mustang, Armstrong, and Bradley among the mourners, all shaken further by little Elicia's inability to grasp that her father is gone. Standing alone at the grave, Roy weeps and reflects on the posthumous double promotion his friend received. His own questioning of witnesses reveals evidence of a struggle and Hughes' deliberate use of an outside line to relay a warning, and Armstrong hints in guarded terms that several unknown culprits are involved, that Central Command has silenced him, and that the whole affair ties back to the brothers' search. Roy plans to dig further once his own transfer is finalized.

The installment draws on Chapter 15, Chapter 16, and Chapter 61 of the manga. The circles decorating the title card come from Mustang's gloves and Armstrong's gauntlets. Hughes' dying words here are unique to this version, since the manga kills him almost instantly and the 2003 series gives him a different flashback entirely.