151I appoligize for the errors- I've gotten annew job and am working mroe lately, so less time to write, hence the infrequent updates. I didn't proofread this too much because I wanted to give it to you guys asap after my vicious cliffhanger. I'm looking froward to writing the next chapter as well- it's going to be a hot mess and I'm smiling just thinking about it. Let me know your favorite parts!
Roy slammed the door of his car, staring up helplessly at the blaze in front of him. A good half of the military dorms- the very stairs he'd sat in front of mere hours ago, watching both Elric brothers climb- were long gone, swallowed up in the heat and ash. Flashing lights and startled soldiers in their bedclothes, some with a smattering of ash, some dazed form sleep, still others moaning on the pavement, clutching their injuries as their comrades tended to them as best they could.
The bright flashing lights were no competition for the raging orange inferno that devoured the darkness, sinister tendrils of smoke curling into the sky.
Suddenly, Roy found it hard to breathe.
"Roy! Hey, stay with me now!" Hughes shoved him back into his car, which was still running. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, wondering why he was shaking so badly and why he was suddenly nauseas. He hated the stench of burnt flesh.
It was hard to hear Hughes over the loud humming of his own brain, but his friend was cranking the air conditioning in his car. The cold air was a relief- he was sweating, a lot.
"You with me, Roy?" Hughes asked.
Roy had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, but he nodded.
"My boys- where are they?" he managed quietly.
Hughes frowned. "We don't know."
Roy had a sinking feeling in his gut.
"The fire seemed to start on their half of the dorms- some privates reported hearing sounds of explosions and at one point they saw 'a flash of blue flame'."
Roy went rigid at this. "That was probably Ed's alchemy. He was alive- he was trying to get out."
Roy fumbled for the car door handle, a wave of renewed energy pulsing through him.
"Roy, wait!" but he was already bounding across the compound, dressed in only jeans and a t-shirt. The fire wasn;t nearly as bad on half the side tht'd already been drenched, and what was left was being put out by fire fighters. He trudged up the ashy stairs onto the landing, only to see broken glass from blown out windows and a charred boot that was far too large to below to either of his boys.
A gust of wind carried a blast of heat on his face, he smelled the fire, and felt a heavy weight begin to drag him down again.
"Roy. You can't do anything here. Let's go back to the car."
The only thing Roy could really feel besides the pounding of his own heart was Maes hand on his shoulder, and he let the man guide him back downstairs.
"No one has been confirmed dead yet. We're missing three people still, and your boys are two of them." Hughes confided in him, climbing back into the car and turning the AC up again.
"When will we know?" Roy tried to keep his voice from cracking. Since when had life become so hard? Had they been scared? Or had Ed just slept on, never even waking when the smoke rendered him unconscious and the heat carried him away, up towards the heavens like the swirling ash...
The fire was now half the size it'd been when Roy arrived. The crews were making quick work of it with their fire trucks and hoses. But it did little to quell the hollow ache inside Roy- because dorm room 302 was in the middle of the block of rooms that was still engulfed in flames.
"As soon as the blaze is out the firefighters will start to sift through and search. There's nothing either of us can do now but wait."
They sat in silence, watching the water crash down on the flames through the car windshield as if it was some sort of movie.
Hughes frowned. "You really think Ed used his alchemy to get out?"
"That fire wasn't hot enough to have a blue flame. Someone did alchemy- if not Edward, then Alphonse. Alphonse can't sleep- I don't think. Maybe he got Ed to safety, if Ed wasn't able to himself..." Roy frowned. Then why hadn't either boy shown up outside yet?
Hughes frowned as well, stroking his goatee in contemplation. "Where would they go? If the dorms were damaged, what are their only other places in the city they visit?"
"Shou Tucker's place. They used to visit there. But Ed would never go back there, not after... what happened. Your house. But Gracia would've called if they'd showed up. The only other place they really go is the office at Central HQ." Roy admitted. "And there's a bakery Al mentioned Ed likes, but that's closed."
"You think they went to the office?" Hughes asked, frowning. "Then why wouldn't they call us?"
"I don't know, but the only other alternative is that they;re dead!" Roy spat with such vehemence he surprised himself.
Hughes frowned, and Roy took a breath, running a hand through his hair and trying to calm himself. "Hughes. Sorry. I didn't mean to snap, I'm just under a lot of pressure right now." Was Ed hurt? Had the fire vaporized Al's blood seal?
"I get it, Roy. If it was Elicia who'd been in there- I don't know how I'd feel." Hughes admitted.
Roy fell silent. He looked over at Hughes. "I'm going to go by the office. See if they stopped there, at least. It's worth a chance."
"You sure you're up for it?" Hughes asked.
It was two in the morning, Roy was looking at the burnt out husk of the dorms, wondering if his prodigy and his prodigy's little brother was dead or not. He could handle a drive to the office.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. You want to come?"
"Can't. I need to be here for when the arson specialist arrives." Hughes opened the door and stepped out of the car. "Good luck, Roy. I'll call you if I find anything."
Roy nodded, before he was backing the car out of the driveway and taking to the streets of Central.
He felt like a doll- disembodied, floating- he piloted the car without thinking, as though it were a reflex.
What if Al had made it, not having a body to succumb, but ed hadn't? How on earth was he going to be a single parent to a thirteen year old soul bound to a suit of armor? How was he going to get over the loss of Ed?
What if Ed had made it but Al had melted away? How would he keep the angry little blond from drowning in the guilt?
Maybe it was best if they'd both gone together. neither brother would have wanted the other to be alone, and neither would've wanted to continue on alone.
All he could think of was Ed, saying goodnight to his brother and crawling into bed, not realizing it'd be the last time he ever did. Of Alphonse, noticing the smoke too late and being unable to rouse his brother in the suffocating heat and fumes, only to give up and lay down beside him until he, too, was swallowed in the flames...
His chest seized tightly, and he had to fight the convulsive urge to let a sob escape his lips.
He was so lost in his own little world he nearly didn't see it. His headlights caught it just in time- it was only years of combat and hair trigger reflexes that allowed him to slam on his breaks and swerve to the side, barely missing a rather large, gaping hole in the road.
He paused, throwing the car in park and leaving it running. They were nearly to Central HQ, now, he could see it in the distance. The glow from his headlights illuminated where the road had seemingly exploded. There was a large, eight foot hole where the pavement had lost its structural integrity, crumbling below. A rusty ladder climbed the wall of the sewer that had been exposed below, and Roy thought he caught a faint hint of transmutation marks. His heart sped up in his chest. Had Ed been here?
Central command was within a block's walk, and he found himself running, ignoring the pain in his chest as he took the stairs two at a time, letting himself into the office and navigating the dark hallways with practiced ease, taking the elevator and trying not to hold his breath. Either the Elrics had gotten out fo the fire and they were here, or some rogue alchemist had blown up the street.
He was hoping against hope his destructive brat had made it here.
The hallways were dead silent- his own footsteps seemed deafening- but as he jogged down the hall towards his offices, he saw a light under the door and heard a muffled voice from behind the door.
"Relax, Al. I'll call him in the morning. He won't have to pick me up this way- it'll be easier for everyone."
Ed's voice. Ed.
He threw open the door to his office, and watched as a seven foot tall, grimy suit of armor and teenage blonde alchemist froze like raccoons caught amidst a trash feast.
Ed was sprawled out on the couch in Mustang's office, his feet up and hands resting behind his head. His hair looked a little singed, as did the edges of his coat, but he was otherwise looking unscathed. A large suitcase sat on the nearby coffee table, with a variety of papers sticking out from the edges, and Alphonse, smeared with ash and soot and clean only from the ankles down, sat comically in a chair that was too small for him, looking worried for a suit of armor.
Ed peered over the couch, looking exhausted and surprised.
"Oh, hey. What are you doing here?"
Roy didn't answer, stalking across the room and pushing aside the suitcase on the coffee table so he could sit on it instead, staring at the boy in front of him. Ed's face was sooty, his hair was grimy- his golden eyes stood out in sharp contrast to the dirt around him, making him look even more like a raccoon.
"Stand up."
"What?"
Roy reached over and Grabbed Ed's arm, moving to pull the boy up. He didn't miss it when Ed winced and let the boy go.
"How badly are you hurt?"
"It's nothing. A little burn on my arm is all. I'll be fine." Ed nursed his flesh arm that'd just been grabbed in his automail one, looking back up at Mustang with uncertainty. "What are you doing here?"
Roy wanted to hug the kid and never, ever let him go. He wanted to make sure nobody came close to harming a hair on this boy's head ever again. And he wanted to strangle the kid at the same time.
"I get a call at 2am that the dorms are on fire and you and Alphonse are missing, presumed dead, after the court martial we just went through. I drive around like a maniac scouring the city for you both, nearly crash my car into a hole you transmuted into the street, find you ready to sleep on my couch in the office, and you have the nerve to ask me what I'd doing here!?" he bit out tersely.
Ed was looking at the floor, and Alphonse looked remorseful. "I told you we should've called him, brother."
"I figured he wouldn't appreciate being woken up at 3am." Ed said simply, chancing a glance at Mustang.
"I was already up. I got a call from Hughes at 2am saying you're presumed dead and have to go and find the burnt out shell of the dorms and sit and wonder if you're dead or not."
"Sorry." Ed reached up to rub the back of his sooty hair gingerly. "I guess I wasn't thinking straight."
"No, you really weren't." Roy snapped.
Ed looked at the ground, and Roy figured being angry with the boy wouldn't do much for either of them anyways.
"So you're really alright? Both of you?"
"Brother got burned when he was packing the suitcase." Al admitted.
"It's nothing bad- just my arm." Ed admitted.
"Right. Since you're a bastion of good judgement, I'm in charge now. Shirt off."
Ed grumbled but complied, and Roy moved over to his desk, pulling a first aid kit and a glove from within his desk drawer before he was moving back to Ed.
The boy looked surprisingly unscathed for having been in a blaze. Though looking at him closer, Ed realized the boy was soaking wet. The boy's flesh forearm was burned- but as far an burns went, it was first degree- reddened and irritated, about the width of a man's hand and circling the boy's arm.
Roy slid on his glove, and Ed watched him with interest. Roy wordlessly reached forward, placing his hand on the burn, not missing how Ed flinched at his touch, and activating the array.
Soft blue alchemical light lit up the darkened office for a moment, a wisp of steam emerging from the boy's skin.
Roy didn't miss the way the boy sighed in relief after the alchemy faded, looking more relaxed.
"What was that? That glove doesn't have your normal array on it." Ed looked at the glove with interest- the array on this one was blue, not red, and the design was different.
"Cooling array. Draws heat out. Useful to have when you get as close to fire as I do." Roy said simply, sliding the glove back into his pocket and reaching for the burn cream.
The office was silent save for the ticking of the clock for one moment, two. Roy moved onto dressing the wound, not looking up. "So- what happened?"
"Went to bed. Woke up to a lot of smoke and Al yelling. My head was kinda fuzzy, I think the smoke was getting to me, shit was on fire, so I did the first thing I could think of- I started packing."
"Which was stupid." Al added.
Roy looked over at the suitcase overflowing with papers Ed had brought with him. "Don't you know you're not supposed to try and bring anything with you in a fire? You're supposed to get to safety immediately."
"That's what I said!" Al agreed.
"Yeah, well, we couldn't afford to lose that. It's our research on the stone- all of it. If I lost that, all these years of work would've been for nothing."
"But you took too long packing, and the wall went up in flames and burnt your arm." Al said disapprovingly. "And by the time he was done, the door was blocked off by the fire, and there was no way out."
"There's always a way out." Ed said dismissively. "I gave Al the suitcase and deconstructed the floor below us. We fell to the first floor and it wasn't much better- in fact, it was hotter. I didn't have much time to think- so I deconstructed the floor of the first floor as well. Right through the concrete foundation. Took a lot of energy, I blacked out for a minute- woke up in the sewer. We started walking. It was wet and gross, but better than burning to death."
"And you blew up the street to get out?" Roy asked curiously.
"That wasn't part of the plan, actually." Ed admitted. "When we fell into the sewer the first time, I just blew the entire floor beneath us. But when we wanted to get out- Al was too big to fit through the manhole. I had to make that hole so he could get out."
"And you came here?" Roy asked.
Ed shrugged. "Too late to get a hotel. Was the only other place I could think of that was relatively safe. Plus there's a couch here. I was gonna call you in the morning and let you know I was already here so you didn't have to bother coming to pick me up."
Roy couldn't help the laugh that tore through him at the ridiculousness of it all.
"You're a prodigy, but sometimes you're such a child, Ed. You couldn't have called?"
"I didn't think it was a big deal! I had bigger things to worry about- like getting Al out and getting the research. Once that was over I figured I could rest."
"You were planning on living on my couch. In my office." Roy deadpanned.
"It was something, okay!? It might not be the best plan ever, but it was all I had." Ed glowered.
"Yeah. It was something, that's for sure." Roy finished wrapping the bandage around Ed's arm and stood, nodding to Alphonse.
"Alright- let's go."
"Go where? The dorms burnt, remember?" Ed asked.
"We're not going to the dorms. We're going to my apartment. Come on." Roy bent down, picking up the suitcase full of research Ed had been so determined to save.
"You don't have to do that, Colonel." Alphonse said gallantly. "Brother and I are used to sleeping on the streets. Some people don't like state alchemists, so brother can't always get hotel rooms."
Roy's lips formed a firm line. "It's not a suggestion, Alphonse. It's an order. Banks may have set fire to the dorms. I want you boys near me so I can keep an eye on you. Now let's go."
Roy nodded towards the door.
Alphonse stood, as did Ed, and they headed towards the door, Roy behind them.
Ed was limping, a creaking sound happening when he placed one foot in front of the other, his gait odd and shuffling.
Roy paused. "How'd you hurt your leg, Fullmetal?"
"Huh? Oh- automail is messed up. I think I landed on it when we jumped from the second floor to the first. Or the first to the sewer, maybe... Dunno." Ed wiped a hand on his grimy face, smearing the soot and ash around. "I can get it fixed later."
"Does it hurt to walk?"
The creaking, grating sound when the boy extended his leg was unnerving.
Ed shrugged. "Had worse. The nerves are used to it, they've been through a lot. I'll take an aspirin and be fine."
Roy nodded, leading the boys out of the office and back to the street.
Thankfully, his car was still where he'd left it, headlights on and still running.
Alphonse headed to the backseat dutifully, but Ed hobbled over so he stood before the large hole in the street, gingerly kneeling on the pavement.
Roy watched the boy clap and slam his hands to the pavement. There was a flash of blue light for one moment, two...
The street was whole again. Though it wasn't the high quality transmutation Ed normally did- the transmutation marks were large and obvious, but it was structurally sound, at least.
Ed stayed on his knees for a bit longer than necessary- the kid seemed more worn out than he usually was, and Roy saw a bit of sweat on the boy's face as he limped to the passenger seat of the car, settling in with relief.
They pulled up outside Roy's apartment a moment later- it was a bachelor pad, a rather sparse apartment, but Ed gratefully collapsed onto the couch with a grunt and tugged a throw pillow under his head, letting out a relieved sigh.
Roy ducked into the bathroom, grabbing a glass of water, a wet rag, and some aspirin before he was back in the living room, handing the pills and the glass to Edward.
The boy blinked tiredly, before he was mumbling his hands and downing the water and pills, sitting up and draining the glass of water appreciatively.
Roy dabbed at Ed's sooty face with the rag, and Ed swattered at his hand, scrunching his face up in protest.
"You look like a chimney sweep, brother. Let him clean you up." Alphonse goaded, trying to persuade his brother to cooperate.
"Whatever. Wanna sleep." Ed muttered. But he let Roy scrub the majority of the soot from his face, revealing a rather large scrape on his cheek, before he was flopping back on the couch, letting out a tired sigh.
Roy grabbed the folded blanket from atop his nearby armchair, tossing it to the boy, who happily wrapped himself in it, before he was sinking down in his own armchair.
It was nearly four am. Roy was exhausted, his muscles begging for rest- his bed was upstairs, he knew he should head upstairs to retire, but something in his chest tugged violently at the thought of letting the Elrics out of his sight.
He'd been so close to losing them tonight- uncomfortably close. If it hadn't been for Alphonse being perpetually awake as a suit of armor or Ed's quick thinking- he didn't even want to think about it.
He needed to sleep. He knew that. There was a court martial tomorrow, something he should've been more concerned about, but he was't. He should go upstairs to bed. He should sleep.
He'd stay in his chair for a few more minutes, watch over the boys- Ed sleeping on his couch peacefully and Alphonse sitting beside the case of research Ed had saved, carefully thumbing through a book- for a few minutes longer.
He didn't even remember closing his eyes, but somehow, he was asleep.
Please review!
