FMA fic: Transient (part 13)
Title: Transient (part 13)
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Rating: PG
Category: Gen
Approximate length: 65,000
Summary: With Ed suffering from what he thinks is the seasonal flu the Elric brothers track a rogue alchemist in a small town outside of East City.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12
Spoilers: This story takes place about a year before the boys go to Lior. Anything that happened before that is fair game.
Disclaimers: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist. This story was written for entertainment only. I’m not making any money.
Notes/warnings on this part: Angst, pain and recovery. Icons for this and several other parts of this story by Sweetlittlelie. I felt like this icon fit the part well. Once again, please point out any mistakes and I will address them.
Enjoy.
PART 13
Hughes was gone and morning had arrived by the time Ed opened his eyes. Ed had slept through the lieutenant colonel’s departure. That alone was enough to upset him on a fundamental level. Besides, Hughes’ visit had awakened a restless feeling in Ed. Just by being there he had reminded Ed about his obligations to the state and to the colonel, two things he’d been trying hard not to dwell on until now.
Ed was silent during breakfast. He was hungry but the food didn’t taste right, so he set it aside after a few bites. He was bored but he couldn’t concentrate on any of the books that Al had brought. He itched, but all of the squirming and fussing with the sheets and pillows did nothing to soothe him because the itch was in his head and under his skin.
When Gloria came to collect his breakfast dishes and take his temperature he demanded, “When can I get out of this place?”
Ed knew how ungrateful he must sound but his illness and days of lying around on his back had made him so physically miserable that he didn’t care.
“If you have enough energy to complain, then hopefully not much longer. We’ll see what the doctor says. He should be in to see you a little later.” She aimed a stern finger at him like it was a weapon. “Don’t push it, though.”
She and Ed had spent enough time together now that she didn’t need to get specific.
At that moment Ed felt no need to push it.
Gloria gathered up Ed’s breakfast tray with a closed-mouth smile.
“Thank you,” Al chimed in.
“Of course, dear,” she said. Her smile widened, became genuine, and Ed felt an absurd pang of jealousy.
Al waited until Gloria had closed the door and her footsteps had receded down the hall before pinning Ed with a stare. “That wasn’t very nice, brother.”
Ed opened his mouth to argue. Then he rethought his strategy. He’d been on edge all morning, irritable and rude, and he knew from Al’s comment that he’d finally succeeded in dragging his little brother to the brink with him.
Ed forced his features to relax. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I know that everyone is being nice. I’m just... I don’t know… sick of being in one place.”
Al’s expression softened, if such a thing was possible.
Ed continued, “I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing. I’m tired of reading. I’m tired of the food. I’m tired of being tired.”
“You hardly ate any of your breakfast. You need to eat to get your strength back.” Al brightened. “Would you like me to go to the bakery and get you one of Zelda’s cinnamon rolls? You liked those, didn’t you?”
Ed let a slow smile spread across his face, like the sun coming up, “Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks.”
Al eagerly got to his feet. Ed’s clothes, including the small purse containing a disorganized wad of paper money, were hung in a tall, narrow wardrobe in the corner of the room. Al fished around for change small enough to cover Ed’s midmorning snack, even though they both knew that Zelda would most likely refuse Al’s attempts to pay.
“Is there anything else that you need while I’m out?”
“Come to think of it… hey, is there a pen around?”
Al listened and nodded as Ed dictated a list of raw materials, writing them on a sheet of notebook paper. “What are we going to do with all of these?”
Al couldn’t have been more pleased when Ed revealed his plan to transmute gifts for Carmen and Gloria.
“Just small things, you know? Something to say ‘thanks for putting up with me’,” Ed explained.
Al beamed proudly at his brother. Ed felt his cheeks grow hot.
“I’ll be back soon, brother,” he said, waving to Ed over his shoulder. The feather attached to his helmet flowed along behind him as he hurried to begin his errand. Al's enthusiasm had Ed a little concerned because his brother tended to forget his size and strength when he got excited about something.
Ed held his smile for several moments after Al had gone, just in case his brother forgot something and had to turn around. When he could no longer hear his brother’s clanking footsteps the corners of Ed’s mouth turned down, forming a hard, determined expression.
Ed took a deep, steadying breath and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He had to sit for a moment, gathering his strength before he could go any further. Once he was on his feet Ed felt a sense of triumph. It was only a short walk to the phone in the hall, in fact he could see it when the door to his room was left open, but that would be the furthest that Ed had been from his bed in days.
The muscles attached to Ed’s automail had atrophied to the point that his balance was affected. He remembered this feeling. This was how it had felt when his automail was first attached. His left leg dragged and his right arm weighed down his upper body, made his spine bend and his posture slump. Ed had to force himself to stand up straight, and when he did he felt an answering burn in his underused muscles that signaled the start of his recovery. It would take a lot of work to get his body back into shape, but it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the first time, not even close.
With a slow, rolling, lopsided gait Ed maneuvered himself cautiously toward the door to his room. He looked right, then left, checking for signs of life. No one was around and the only sound he could hear was the ticking of the clock in the hall.
He crossed quickly to the phone and lifted the receiver.
Ed took one more deep breath and dialed the number to Colonel Mustang’s office phone. He surprised himself that he could do it from memory.
Ed hoped that that Mustang would let the phone ring for a while, or maybe not answer at all. Then he could tell Hughes that he’d called and still be able to walk away with his hearing intact, for a while anyway. He should have known he wasn’t that lucky. The colonel picked up on the first ring.
“Mustang.”
Ed had to clear his throat before speaking, but that didn’t do much to improve his voice, “Colonel?”
“Yes, who is this?” Mustang asked impatiently. If there was one thing that Ed knew Mustang hated, it was idle chitchat, be it over the phone or in person. Ed was amazed that Mustang and Hughes could even tolerate being in the same room with one another, let alone get along well enough to be friends.
“Colonel Mustang, sir,” Ed said nervously, thrown off by the awkward way that this conversation was beginning. “It’s me, Edward Elric, uh, reporting in.”
There was a moment of silence, and Ed thought that he’d lost the connection. Then, “Fullmetal,” Mustang said, making Ed’s title more of an announcement than a greeting.
The ambient noise of a working military office, which Ed hadn’t noticed until then, abruptly ceased. Ed got the distinct impression that Mustang’s end of the conversation was the focus of the room’s attention. He wished the hallway floor would just open up and swallow him.
“Well?” Mustang prompted him when Ed didn’t speak.
“Well what?” Ed asked, belatedly adding, “sir.”
“I assume you’re calling to let me know when you’ll be returning to active duty.”
Ed’s shoulders slumped. So much for him getting a little sympathy out of the colonel. Hughes was a dirty liar. Mustang didn’t give a damn about Ed outside of how useful he could be in helping the colonel achieve his own ends. Despite that Ed immediately began thinking ahead to when and how he could convince the doctor that he was well enough to be released. That was going to be a challenge considering that the walk across the hall to the phone had left him a little winded and dizzy. As badly as he wanted to get on a train and put as much distance between himself and this place as possible even Ed had to admit that it just wasn’t in the cards right now.
“I don’t…have an answer for you right now.”
“I see. Is that all?”
Jeez, was he bothering the man? Mustang made it sound as if Ed had become ill for the sole purpose of inconveniencing him.
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
Mustang was silent for a moment. Maybe the apology had caught him off guard.
“It might interest you to know that I had a visitor last week, a young man. I believe you know him. Apparently his uncle did some work for the state years ago.” Mustang put subtle emphasis on the words ‘work’ and ‘state’. “He expressed interest in following in the man’s footsteps. We had a nice, long talk.”
“Leon?” Ed asked, stunned.
Mustang made an affirmative noise.
“Where is he?” Ed tried to keep his sentences short. His throat felt dry. He wasn’t sure if that was because he was talking to Mustang or because he was thirsty. Either way he didn’t want to start coughing. If he did he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“I have an old friend who needed some help with his landscaping,” Mustang told him.
Ed was pretty sure that was Mustang’s enigmatic way of saying that he’d set Leon up with an apprenticeship. Either that or he had Leon working under heavy guard in a quarry somewhere. Either way the rogue alchemist and his future were out of Ed’s hands and Ed was both glad and relieved because of it.
Ed drew a breath to thank him, but he breathed too deeply and what came out instead of gratitude was a coughing fit so violent that it folded Ed in half. Ed cradled the receiver against his chest and buried the lower half of his face in his elbow. When he finally had enough air to breathe and the ringing in his ears had died down Ed found himself on his knees, still gripped the receiver like a lifeline. He could hear Mustang’s muffled voice on the other end of the line, saying “Fullmetal? Edward?”
Ed swallowed and brought the handset to his ear.
“Gotta go,” he gasped out.
“Fullmetal!” he heard Mustang protest as he groped blindly behind him, trying to replace the receiver.
Ed was still sitting there when Gloria found him. He must have looked pretty pathetic, because she didn’t even bother to scold him. Instead she dropped down to his level, brushed back his bangs and put a cool hand on his forehead.
“Did have a good conversation?” she asked, tilting her head to peer at him.
Ed didn’t see the point of trying to lie about what he’d been doing in the hall, even if she hadn’t exactly caught him in the act. “No.”
Gloria sighed. “Where is Al?”
“He went to get something to eat.”
Patiently, she took his flesh hand and helped him up off of the floor. Then, like she was talking to a slow child she said, “Ed, everyone here knows that Al doesn’t eat.”
Ed’s eyes opened wide and he felt a familiar moment of panic. “He’s, um…” he started to say, trying to fabricate an excuse, but just looking in her eyes he knew it was no good. She knew. He should have realized sooner that it was impossible to keep secrets from people who watched him twenty-four hours a day.
“Edward,” Gloria told him in a sincere voice. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Understand?”
Ed looked her in the eyes for a long moment, trying to decide if he could trust her, if he could trust any of them.
He nodded helplessly.
“Are you ready to go back to bed?”
Another nod, then he stood on his own and walked back to his room. Gloria followed a pace behind, not touching him, but close enough to be there for him if he needed help.
Ed had hoped to keep his little excursion secret from Al, but from the moment his brother returned from his errand Al could tell that something had happened while he was gone. Ed didn’t have the heart to keep the truth from him.
“I called Colonel Mustang.”
“Oh,” Al said. Clearly that was not what he had expected. He glanced at the phone in the hall and back to Ed, who was still a little shaky from the activity. Al looked like he wanted to chastise Ed for getting out of bed, but at the same time he seemed pleased that Ed had been thoughtful enough to call the colonel. He asked, “What did he say?”
Ed shrugged. “Not much. We didn’t talk for long.”
“Oh,” Al repeated. He seemed disappointed. “Was he busy?”
“I guess.” How the hell should Ed know? And why would he care?
Al was still looking at him expectantly so Ed decided to throw him a bone. “Oh, I guess Leon turned himself in after all.”
“Really? That’s great! See, I knew that everything would work out in the end. You just have to have a little faith, brother.”
“Yeah.” Ed looked down.
Ed felt the end of the bed sink under the weight of Al’s armor.
“What’s the matter?”
Ed paused. His sickness had brought his emotions so close to the surface, made him transparent as a pane of glass. He couldn’t believe how deeply Mustang’s few words had hurt him. Any other day he would have been annoyed, even angry, but instead he felt tired, low, defeated. He wanted to pull his sheets over his head and sleep. Ed couldn't tell Al that. Instead he said, “The staff here, I think they know… about your armor.”
“Oh,” Al said, looking down, playing with the corner of the blanket. “I know. I didn’t tell you because I thought you would be upset. I didn’t want you to have to worry. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Ed assured him. “Kind of a tough secret to keep from people when they’re around us all the time.”
Ed could have sworn that Al’s helmet blushed.
“What?”
“Don’t be upset, brother. I’m sure they would have figured it out anyway, but… ” Al sighed. “You told them… when you were sick.”
“I did?” Ed asked, dumbfounded.
“You kept talking and talking,” Al rushed to explain. “I’ve never heard you talk so much. I hoped that they would think it was just the fever, but like you said, it’s hard to hide the truth from people who are around you all of the time.”
Ed took a moment to digest what Al was telling him.
“So, the doctor knows? And the nurses?”
Al confirmed Ed’s suspicions with a nod.
“Does anyone else know?”
“Walter and the sheriff. Mason. Samantha.”
“Okay,” Ed said.
“Okay?”
“Well, if they were going to turn us in, they probably would have done it by now. I’ll buy their silence if I have to.”
“You don’t think…? They wouldn’t, would they?” Al asked.
“I don’t know, Al. I hope you’re right about these people.”
The gravity of their situation seemed to hit Al all at once and his shoulders slumped forward. Ed felt a pang of guilt. He tried to lighten the mood, “Don’t worry. It’s my fault. I’ll make it right, whatever it takes.”
Empowered by Ed’s words, Al straightened up and said, “I don’t think they’d tell anyone. I really don’t.”
“I hope you’re right, Al.” Ed wasn’t convinced, but Al didn’t need to know that. He changed the subject, “Did you get everything?”
“Oh,” Al glanced down. There were two sacks on the floor near his feet, forgotten until now. He hunched over and began pulling things out, “Everything but zinc, but I’m pretty sure we can find a workaround… ”
Alchemy was a fantastic distraction. Ed and Al spent the rest of the afternoon in companionable near-silence, working together to make small tokens of appreciation for the nurses and, at Al’s suggestion, Samantha and Zelda. It felt just like the old days, when he and Al used to work at making trinkets to impress their mother, trading ideas, building on each others successes learning from each others failures. Ed tried not to see the gifts as bribes, knowing what he knew now. He’d save the real bribery for later, but for the moment there wasn’t much he could do, so Ed lost himself in the purity of destruction and creation, of science, and as long as he thought of nothing else, he was happy.
“Two days,” Doctor Nikola said.
“Two days?” Ed asked as he watched the doctor write his pronouncement, or perhaps some completely unrelated note, onto a clipboard containing Ed’s chart.
The doctor looked up at him and raised his eyebrows. “The infection in your lungs has cleared up. In two days I think you will be well enough to travel.”
Ed stared, open-mouthed. Until now the doctor had given him no idea about when, if ever, he planned on releasing Ed from the clinic. All of Ed’s pleading and complaining had, until this moment, fallen on deaf ears.
The doctor continued, “I want you to take at least a week off before you return to active duty. Try not to exert yourself too much or spend long periods of time outside. Follow my instructions and it’s likely that you’ll make a full recovery, but right now your lungs are weak. If you suffer a relapse you could still have lasting damage.”
Ed blanched at the word “weak”, but before he could think of a retort Al said, “He’ll do exactly what you say. Won’t you, brother?”
“Sure,” Ed said, remembering the promise he had made to his little brother.
“Drink plenty of fluids, get your rest and try to avoid things that could irritate your lungs, like open fires and cigarette smoke. If you have any symptoms: headache, fever, a cough or chills, I want you to stop what you’re doing and see a doctor. Understood?”
“Understood,” Al answered for him, and Ed thought that the doctor’s words were more for Al than for Ed anyway.
“Any questions, Major?” the doctor asked.
Ed scowled and looked to the side. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a little intimidated by the man, not by his physical size so much as the way that he looked at Ed, like he could see right through him. Ed bet that the doc thought he had him all figured out. “No. No questions, and don’t call me ‘Major’.”
Doctor Nikola cocked his head to the side as if he were a little surprised by Ed’s reaction. It was the kind of interest that a man might show an animal that has done something unexpected but inconsequential.
“It sounds like you’re making fun of me,” Ed explained.
“I am not mocking you, Edward,” the doctor assured him. “I was in the military myself years ago. Old habits die hard, I suppose.”
“You were… ” Ed began, realizing that he had mistaken respect for mockery. “I see. We might know some of the same people. Did you serve during the Ishvalan uprising?”
“That was after my time,” the doctor said. “And even if I had still been serving then, I wouldn’t have seen that conflict.”
“Because you’re a doctor?” but Ed knew as soon as he said it that he was wrong. Winry’s parents had been doctors and they had served in Ishval, had died in Ishval.
“Because I did not serve in the Amestrian military.”
That’s when things began to fall into place and Ed understood the man’s actions. What he had taken for mockery was actually respect, and the doctor’s manners were not Amestrian. His accent did not sound foreign to Ed’s ears, his pattern of speech was a little strange, almost rude in its bluntness, but that was how Drachmen spoke to one another.
“In my home country military service is compulsive for all able-bodied men over the age of eighteen. It was… a good experience. I learned many lessons that I still remember to this day. Respect- ” he made steady eye-contact with Ed- “was important. After my service ended the government helped pay for my education. It was a very good trade.”
“What made you come here?” Ed asked, not really considering whether or not the doctor might find the question rude or intrusive.
Doctor Nikola answered frankly, “Some things were happening in my homeland that were not so good. I could not change them, so I left.”
Ed hadn’t realized until then that such a major experience in a man’s life could be boiled down to so few words.
“Don’t you miss your home?” Al asked.
“This is my home,” the doctor explained. “As for where I came from, it lives in here,” he placed two fingers on his chest, over his heart.
“Will you ever go back?” Ed wasn’t sure who asked the question, him or Al.
“No. I want to remember it as it was.”
The doctor’s words made Ed think of his mother. He would remember her as a smiling chestnut-haired woman in an apron, beautiful and warm and perfect. But even that memory was stained with blood, because when he thought of his mother he would also remember a black, twisted corpse writhing in agony on a basement floor.
Ed’s chest ached.
“So you see, Edward,” the doctor continued, bringing Ed back to the present, “I am not mocking you. I do find it strange, however, that a boy your age would be allowed to serve in the army. I don’t believe that you are old enough to understand the consequences of your actions.”
“I understand enough,” Ed assured him.
“Because of your limbs and your brother, you understand?” the doctor asked him doubtfully. “No. You’re selfish,” he concluded.
“Maybe I am,” Ed admitted. “But for right now we need the military. We’re using them and they’re using us. It’s a fair trade, like the one you got in exchange for your service. The only difference is that our circumstances are a little more urgent than yours. We don’t have time to sit around and philosophize about how the world should be. This is how it is.”
The doctor set his clipboard on Ed’s bedside table. He leaned in towards Ed in a way that was almost threatening. Ed fought the urge to scoot back.
“You are a skilled alchemist. I can see that, and valuable to the military no doubt. It is in their best interest to keep you alive, isn’t it?”
When it was clear that he was waiting for a reply, Ed nodded. “For now I guess.”
“Then do me a favor Edward Elric, and obey my instructions. Take care of yourself. Stay alive long enough to see that I’m right.”
On his own Ed didn’t think that he could do what the doctor was asking, but fortunately for him he had Al there to watch his back.
To be continued... part 14
Thank you for reading. Feedback is welcome.
End notes: If anyone is still reading, thank you. Barring any more distractions I should have all sixteen parts posted by the end of next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Rating: PG
Category: Gen
Approximate length: 65,000
Summary: With Ed suffering from what he thinks is the seasonal flu the Elric brothers track a rogue alchemist in a small town outside of East City.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12
Spoilers: This story takes place about a year before the boys go to Lior. Anything that happened before that is fair game.
Disclaimers: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist. This story was written for entertainment only. I’m not making any money.
Notes/warnings on this part: Angst, pain and recovery. Icons for this and several other parts of this story by Sweetlittlelie. I felt like this icon fit the part well. Once again, please point out any mistakes and I will address them.
Enjoy.
PART 13
Hughes was gone and morning had arrived by the time Ed opened his eyes. Ed had slept through the lieutenant colonel’s departure. That alone was enough to upset him on a fundamental level. Besides, Hughes’ visit had awakened a restless feeling in Ed. Just by being there he had reminded Ed about his obligations to the state and to the colonel, two things he’d been trying hard not to dwell on until now.
Ed was silent during breakfast. He was hungry but the food didn’t taste right, so he set it aside after a few bites. He was bored but he couldn’t concentrate on any of the books that Al had brought. He itched, but all of the squirming and fussing with the sheets and pillows did nothing to soothe him because the itch was in his head and under his skin.
When Gloria came to collect his breakfast dishes and take his temperature he demanded, “When can I get out of this place?”
Ed knew how ungrateful he must sound but his illness and days of lying around on his back had made him so physically miserable that he didn’t care.
“If you have enough energy to complain, then hopefully not much longer. We’ll see what the doctor says. He should be in to see you a little later.” She aimed a stern finger at him like it was a weapon. “Don’t push it, though.”
She and Ed had spent enough time together now that she didn’t need to get specific.
At that moment Ed felt no need to push it.
Gloria gathered up Ed’s breakfast tray with a closed-mouth smile.
“Thank you,” Al chimed in.
“Of course, dear,” she said. Her smile widened, became genuine, and Ed felt an absurd pang of jealousy.
Al waited until Gloria had closed the door and her footsteps had receded down the hall before pinning Ed with a stare. “That wasn’t very nice, brother.”
Ed opened his mouth to argue. Then he rethought his strategy. He’d been on edge all morning, irritable and rude, and he knew from Al’s comment that he’d finally succeeded in dragging his little brother to the brink with him.
Ed forced his features to relax. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I know that everyone is being nice. I’m just... I don’t know… sick of being in one place.”
Al’s expression softened, if such a thing was possible.
Ed continued, “I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing. I’m tired of reading. I’m tired of the food. I’m tired of being tired.”
“You hardly ate any of your breakfast. You need to eat to get your strength back.” Al brightened. “Would you like me to go to the bakery and get you one of Zelda’s cinnamon rolls? You liked those, didn’t you?”
Ed let a slow smile spread across his face, like the sun coming up, “Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks.”
Al eagerly got to his feet. Ed’s clothes, including the small purse containing a disorganized wad of paper money, were hung in a tall, narrow wardrobe in the corner of the room. Al fished around for change small enough to cover Ed’s midmorning snack, even though they both knew that Zelda would most likely refuse Al’s attempts to pay.
“Is there anything else that you need while I’m out?”
“Come to think of it… hey, is there a pen around?”
Al listened and nodded as Ed dictated a list of raw materials, writing them on a sheet of notebook paper. “What are we going to do with all of these?”
Al couldn’t have been more pleased when Ed revealed his plan to transmute gifts for Carmen and Gloria.
“Just small things, you know? Something to say ‘thanks for putting up with me’,” Ed explained.
Al beamed proudly at his brother. Ed felt his cheeks grow hot.
“I’ll be back soon, brother,” he said, waving to Ed over his shoulder. The feather attached to his helmet flowed along behind him as he hurried to begin his errand. Al's enthusiasm had Ed a little concerned because his brother tended to forget his size and strength when he got excited about something.
Ed held his smile for several moments after Al had gone, just in case his brother forgot something and had to turn around. When he could no longer hear his brother’s clanking footsteps the corners of Ed’s mouth turned down, forming a hard, determined expression.
Ed took a deep, steadying breath and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He had to sit for a moment, gathering his strength before he could go any further. Once he was on his feet Ed felt a sense of triumph. It was only a short walk to the phone in the hall, in fact he could see it when the door to his room was left open, but that would be the furthest that Ed had been from his bed in days.
The muscles attached to Ed’s automail had atrophied to the point that his balance was affected. He remembered this feeling. This was how it had felt when his automail was first attached. His left leg dragged and his right arm weighed down his upper body, made his spine bend and his posture slump. Ed had to force himself to stand up straight, and when he did he felt an answering burn in his underused muscles that signaled the start of his recovery. It would take a lot of work to get his body back into shape, but it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the first time, not even close.
With a slow, rolling, lopsided gait Ed maneuvered himself cautiously toward the door to his room. He looked right, then left, checking for signs of life. No one was around and the only sound he could hear was the ticking of the clock in the hall.
He crossed quickly to the phone and lifted the receiver.
Ed took one more deep breath and dialed the number to Colonel Mustang’s office phone. He surprised himself that he could do it from memory.
Ed hoped that that Mustang would let the phone ring for a while, or maybe not answer at all. Then he could tell Hughes that he’d called and still be able to walk away with his hearing intact, for a while anyway. He should have known he wasn’t that lucky. The colonel picked up on the first ring.
“Mustang.”
Ed had to clear his throat before speaking, but that didn’t do much to improve his voice, “Colonel?”
“Yes, who is this?” Mustang asked impatiently. If there was one thing that Ed knew Mustang hated, it was idle chitchat, be it over the phone or in person. Ed was amazed that Mustang and Hughes could even tolerate being in the same room with one another, let alone get along well enough to be friends.
“Colonel Mustang, sir,” Ed said nervously, thrown off by the awkward way that this conversation was beginning. “It’s me, Edward Elric, uh, reporting in.”
There was a moment of silence, and Ed thought that he’d lost the connection. Then, “Fullmetal,” Mustang said, making Ed’s title more of an announcement than a greeting.
The ambient noise of a working military office, which Ed hadn’t noticed until then, abruptly ceased. Ed got the distinct impression that Mustang’s end of the conversation was the focus of the room’s attention. He wished the hallway floor would just open up and swallow him.
“Well?” Mustang prompted him when Ed didn’t speak.
“Well what?” Ed asked, belatedly adding, “sir.”
“I assume you’re calling to let me know when you’ll be returning to active duty.”
Ed’s shoulders slumped. So much for him getting a little sympathy out of the colonel. Hughes was a dirty liar. Mustang didn’t give a damn about Ed outside of how useful he could be in helping the colonel achieve his own ends. Despite that Ed immediately began thinking ahead to when and how he could convince the doctor that he was well enough to be released. That was going to be a challenge considering that the walk across the hall to the phone had left him a little winded and dizzy. As badly as he wanted to get on a train and put as much distance between himself and this place as possible even Ed had to admit that it just wasn’t in the cards right now.
“I don’t…have an answer for you right now.”
“I see. Is that all?”
Jeez, was he bothering the man? Mustang made it sound as if Ed had become ill for the sole purpose of inconveniencing him.
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
Mustang was silent for a moment. Maybe the apology had caught him off guard.
“It might interest you to know that I had a visitor last week, a young man. I believe you know him. Apparently his uncle did some work for the state years ago.” Mustang put subtle emphasis on the words ‘work’ and ‘state’. “He expressed interest in following in the man’s footsteps. We had a nice, long talk.”
“Leon?” Ed asked, stunned.
Mustang made an affirmative noise.
“Where is he?” Ed tried to keep his sentences short. His throat felt dry. He wasn’t sure if that was because he was talking to Mustang or because he was thirsty. Either way he didn’t want to start coughing. If he did he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“I have an old friend who needed some help with his landscaping,” Mustang told him.
Ed was pretty sure that was Mustang’s enigmatic way of saying that he’d set Leon up with an apprenticeship. Either that or he had Leon working under heavy guard in a quarry somewhere. Either way the rogue alchemist and his future were out of Ed’s hands and Ed was both glad and relieved because of it.
Ed drew a breath to thank him, but he breathed too deeply and what came out instead of gratitude was a coughing fit so violent that it folded Ed in half. Ed cradled the receiver against his chest and buried the lower half of his face in his elbow. When he finally had enough air to breathe and the ringing in his ears had died down Ed found himself on his knees, still gripped the receiver like a lifeline. He could hear Mustang’s muffled voice on the other end of the line, saying “Fullmetal? Edward?”
Ed swallowed and brought the handset to his ear.
“Gotta go,” he gasped out.
“Fullmetal!” he heard Mustang protest as he groped blindly behind him, trying to replace the receiver.
Ed was still sitting there when Gloria found him. He must have looked pretty pathetic, because she didn’t even bother to scold him. Instead she dropped down to his level, brushed back his bangs and put a cool hand on his forehead.
“Did have a good conversation?” she asked, tilting her head to peer at him.
Ed didn’t see the point of trying to lie about what he’d been doing in the hall, even if she hadn’t exactly caught him in the act. “No.”
Gloria sighed. “Where is Al?”
“He went to get something to eat.”
Patiently, she took his flesh hand and helped him up off of the floor. Then, like she was talking to a slow child she said, “Ed, everyone here knows that Al doesn’t eat.”
Ed’s eyes opened wide and he felt a familiar moment of panic. “He’s, um…” he started to say, trying to fabricate an excuse, but just looking in her eyes he knew it was no good. She knew. He should have realized sooner that it was impossible to keep secrets from people who watched him twenty-four hours a day.
“Edward,” Gloria told him in a sincere voice. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. Understand?”
Ed looked her in the eyes for a long moment, trying to decide if he could trust her, if he could trust any of them.
He nodded helplessly.
“Are you ready to go back to bed?”
Another nod, then he stood on his own and walked back to his room. Gloria followed a pace behind, not touching him, but close enough to be there for him if he needed help.
Ed had hoped to keep his little excursion secret from Al, but from the moment his brother returned from his errand Al could tell that something had happened while he was gone. Ed didn’t have the heart to keep the truth from him.
“I called Colonel Mustang.”
“Oh,” Al said. Clearly that was not what he had expected. He glanced at the phone in the hall and back to Ed, who was still a little shaky from the activity. Al looked like he wanted to chastise Ed for getting out of bed, but at the same time he seemed pleased that Ed had been thoughtful enough to call the colonel. He asked, “What did he say?”
Ed shrugged. “Not much. We didn’t talk for long.”
“Oh,” Al repeated. He seemed disappointed. “Was he busy?”
“I guess.” How the hell should Ed know? And why would he care?
Al was still looking at him expectantly so Ed decided to throw him a bone. “Oh, I guess Leon turned himself in after all.”
“Really? That’s great! See, I knew that everything would work out in the end. You just have to have a little faith, brother.”
“Yeah.” Ed looked down.
Ed felt the end of the bed sink under the weight of Al’s armor.
“What’s the matter?”
Ed paused. His sickness had brought his emotions so close to the surface, made him transparent as a pane of glass. He couldn’t believe how deeply Mustang’s few words had hurt him. Any other day he would have been annoyed, even angry, but instead he felt tired, low, defeated. He wanted to pull his sheets over his head and sleep. Ed couldn't tell Al that. Instead he said, “The staff here, I think they know… about your armor.”
“Oh,” Al said, looking down, playing with the corner of the blanket. “I know. I didn’t tell you because I thought you would be upset. I didn’t want you to have to worry. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Ed assured him. “Kind of a tough secret to keep from people when they’re around us all the time.”
Ed could have sworn that Al’s helmet blushed.
“What?”
“Don’t be upset, brother. I’m sure they would have figured it out anyway, but… ” Al sighed. “You told them… when you were sick.”
“I did?” Ed asked, dumbfounded.
“You kept talking and talking,” Al rushed to explain. “I’ve never heard you talk so much. I hoped that they would think it was just the fever, but like you said, it’s hard to hide the truth from people who are around you all of the time.”
Ed took a moment to digest what Al was telling him.
“So, the doctor knows? And the nurses?”
Al confirmed Ed’s suspicions with a nod.
“Does anyone else know?”
“Walter and the sheriff. Mason. Samantha.”
“Okay,” Ed said.
“Okay?”
“Well, if they were going to turn us in, they probably would have done it by now. I’ll buy their silence if I have to.”
“You don’t think…? They wouldn’t, would they?” Al asked.
“I don’t know, Al. I hope you’re right about these people.”
The gravity of their situation seemed to hit Al all at once and his shoulders slumped forward. Ed felt a pang of guilt. He tried to lighten the mood, “Don’t worry. It’s my fault. I’ll make it right, whatever it takes.”
Empowered by Ed’s words, Al straightened up and said, “I don’t think they’d tell anyone. I really don’t.”
“I hope you’re right, Al.” Ed wasn’t convinced, but Al didn’t need to know that. He changed the subject, “Did you get everything?”
“Oh,” Al glanced down. There were two sacks on the floor near his feet, forgotten until now. He hunched over and began pulling things out, “Everything but zinc, but I’m pretty sure we can find a workaround… ”
Alchemy was a fantastic distraction. Ed and Al spent the rest of the afternoon in companionable near-silence, working together to make small tokens of appreciation for the nurses and, at Al’s suggestion, Samantha and Zelda. It felt just like the old days, when he and Al used to work at making trinkets to impress their mother, trading ideas, building on each others successes learning from each others failures. Ed tried not to see the gifts as bribes, knowing what he knew now. He’d save the real bribery for later, but for the moment there wasn’t much he could do, so Ed lost himself in the purity of destruction and creation, of science, and as long as he thought of nothing else, he was happy.
“Two days,” Doctor Nikola said.
“Two days?” Ed asked as he watched the doctor write his pronouncement, or perhaps some completely unrelated note, onto a clipboard containing Ed’s chart.
The doctor looked up at him and raised his eyebrows. “The infection in your lungs has cleared up. In two days I think you will be well enough to travel.”
Ed stared, open-mouthed. Until now the doctor had given him no idea about when, if ever, he planned on releasing Ed from the clinic. All of Ed’s pleading and complaining had, until this moment, fallen on deaf ears.
The doctor continued, “I want you to take at least a week off before you return to active duty. Try not to exert yourself too much or spend long periods of time outside. Follow my instructions and it’s likely that you’ll make a full recovery, but right now your lungs are weak. If you suffer a relapse you could still have lasting damage.”
Ed blanched at the word “weak”, but before he could think of a retort Al said, “He’ll do exactly what you say. Won’t you, brother?”
“Sure,” Ed said, remembering the promise he had made to his little brother.
“Drink plenty of fluids, get your rest and try to avoid things that could irritate your lungs, like open fires and cigarette smoke. If you have any symptoms: headache, fever, a cough or chills, I want you to stop what you’re doing and see a doctor. Understood?”
“Understood,” Al answered for him, and Ed thought that the doctor’s words were more for Al than for Ed anyway.
“Any questions, Major?” the doctor asked.
Ed scowled and looked to the side. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a little intimidated by the man, not by his physical size so much as the way that he looked at Ed, like he could see right through him. Ed bet that the doc thought he had him all figured out. “No. No questions, and don’t call me ‘Major’.”
Doctor Nikola cocked his head to the side as if he were a little surprised by Ed’s reaction. It was the kind of interest that a man might show an animal that has done something unexpected but inconsequential.
“It sounds like you’re making fun of me,” Ed explained.
“I am not mocking you, Edward,” the doctor assured him. “I was in the military myself years ago. Old habits die hard, I suppose.”
“You were… ” Ed began, realizing that he had mistaken respect for mockery. “I see. We might know some of the same people. Did you serve during the Ishvalan uprising?”
“That was after my time,” the doctor said. “And even if I had still been serving then, I wouldn’t have seen that conflict.”
“Because you’re a doctor?” but Ed knew as soon as he said it that he was wrong. Winry’s parents had been doctors and they had served in Ishval, had died in Ishval.
“Because I did not serve in the Amestrian military.”
That’s when things began to fall into place and Ed understood the man’s actions. What he had taken for mockery was actually respect, and the doctor’s manners were not Amestrian. His accent did not sound foreign to Ed’s ears, his pattern of speech was a little strange, almost rude in its bluntness, but that was how Drachmen spoke to one another.
“In my home country military service is compulsive for all able-bodied men over the age of eighteen. It was… a good experience. I learned many lessons that I still remember to this day. Respect- ” he made steady eye-contact with Ed- “was important. After my service ended the government helped pay for my education. It was a very good trade.”
“What made you come here?” Ed asked, not really considering whether or not the doctor might find the question rude or intrusive.
Doctor Nikola answered frankly, “Some things were happening in my homeland that were not so good. I could not change them, so I left.”
Ed hadn’t realized until then that such a major experience in a man’s life could be boiled down to so few words.
“Don’t you miss your home?” Al asked.
“This is my home,” the doctor explained. “As for where I came from, it lives in here,” he placed two fingers on his chest, over his heart.
“Will you ever go back?” Ed wasn’t sure who asked the question, him or Al.
“No. I want to remember it as it was.”
The doctor’s words made Ed think of his mother. He would remember her as a smiling chestnut-haired woman in an apron, beautiful and warm and perfect. But even that memory was stained with blood, because when he thought of his mother he would also remember a black, twisted corpse writhing in agony on a basement floor.
Ed’s chest ached.
“So you see, Edward,” the doctor continued, bringing Ed back to the present, “I am not mocking you. I do find it strange, however, that a boy your age would be allowed to serve in the army. I don’t believe that you are old enough to understand the consequences of your actions.”
“I understand enough,” Ed assured him.
“Because of your limbs and your brother, you understand?” the doctor asked him doubtfully. “No. You’re selfish,” he concluded.
“Maybe I am,” Ed admitted. “But for right now we need the military. We’re using them and they’re using us. It’s a fair trade, like the one you got in exchange for your service. The only difference is that our circumstances are a little more urgent than yours. We don’t have time to sit around and philosophize about how the world should be. This is how it is.”
The doctor set his clipboard on Ed’s bedside table. He leaned in towards Ed in a way that was almost threatening. Ed fought the urge to scoot back.
“You are a skilled alchemist. I can see that, and valuable to the military no doubt. It is in their best interest to keep you alive, isn’t it?”
When it was clear that he was waiting for a reply, Ed nodded. “For now I guess.”
“Then do me a favor Edward Elric, and obey my instructions. Take care of yourself. Stay alive long enough to see that I’m right.”
On his own Ed didn’t think that he could do what the doctor was asking, but fortunately for him he had Al there to watch his back.
To be continued... part 14
Thank you for reading. Feedback is welcome.
End notes: If anyone is still reading, thank you. Barring any more distractions I should have all sixteen parts posted by the end of next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.