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batsutousaiTitle: Reverti Ad Praeteritum
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood/manga
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Mature
Pairings: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang, May Chang/Alphonse Elric, Gracia Hughes/Maes Hughes, post-Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Warnings: Spoilers like whoa, Ed's potty mouth, canon-typical violence, pile 'o OCs, mute!Ed, original character death, angst, fluff, past dub-con, past adultery, Ed has all the guilt
Summary: Unwillingly forced to serve as a human trial for a crazy alchemist experimenting with time travel, Edward Elric finds himself standing across from Truth in the moment it takes his leg from him. Armed with the knowledge of what's to come and burdened with guilt for the choices he'd made as an adult, Ed sets out to fix every mistake he ever made and save every life they ever lost, no matter what it takes.
Key: "Speech" | 'Mouthing words'
'Writing'
:Sign Language:
"In another language" | 'In another language'
A/N: A couple people have asked me about where we are in the timeline. I finally remembered to unbury my paper copy of the calendar (which is more exact than what I have on my comp; I should fix that), so I figured I'd tell everyone: This chapter takes place Tues 11-Mon 17 August 1914. The Promised Day is in spring of 1915, of course. ;) (I usually place it on the first full week of April, for my own sake of keeping track. ^^; )
If people want me to start adding notes to the beginning of future chapters with the dates they cover, let me know.
So, there's a canon character death in this chapter. Character does die in canon, but their death is gonna be different this time. (Not nice enough to tell you who, though I promise it's not Hughes or Nina.)
Man, early medical 'science' was fucking weird when it came to blood.
(Related, I research some pretty interesting stuff for this fandom, sometimes, trying to find out what was or wasn't common/possible during this time period.)
I admit, Ed's water alchemy took on a distinct water bending bent in this chapter, which I didn't realise until after I'd finished that scene. I'm not sure I'm sorry.
Chapter Twenty-Three
-0-
Ed hadn't been in Investigations long, on Tuesday, when Armstrong ducked into the cramped translation office, looked vaguely uncertain for a moment (while all of the translators – Ed included – shot him disbelieving or amused looks, because there wasn't really room for him to move around in their office), then motioned for Ed to follow him out.
It wasn't entirely unusual for someone from Hughes' command to pull him out about something, so Ed stood and caught his jacket, putting it on as he walked toward the door, which Armstrong had stepped back out of. He tilted his head at the man once he'd cleared the doorway, letting the door fall shut behind him and leaving his fellow translators to their work in peace.
Armstrong cleared his throat, his expression a little uncertain. "I was asked to pass on that the...majhul had returned?"
Ed blinked. Scar was back? Well, that was good to know, and he really should have guessed that Zouheir would pass that on as soon as he knew. He nodded to show he understood, then signed, :Friday?: because he was about ninety-eight percent certain that the man knew the signs for the days of the week.
Armstrong nodded. "Friday," he agreed, then turned and left.
Ed hummed to himself and returned to his desk, wondering what sort of bribe he was going to need to put together to get Al out of the office early, without Hawkeye attempting to shoot both of them.
As it turned out, he didn't need a bribe at all. When he dropped by on Friday afternoon, to collect Al for their pre-reporting-to-Grand lunch break, Hawkeye cleared her throat and said, "Have a good weekend, Alphonse, Edward."
"You as well, Lieutenant," Al replied cheerfully, while waving at Havoc and Breda's pathetic faces. Once they were out in the hallways of Command, he said, "I mentioned you were meeting with Majhul this afternoon, and the lieutenant suggested I should take a half day."
Ed raised an eyebrow, then snorted. :It's not like he's going to attack me or anything.:
Al shrugged. "You're the only one who's met him, Brother, and you have a habit of understating how dangerous a given situation is; you can't tell me the colonel isn't worried."
Ed barely resisted a grimace, because Roy had actually cancelled a date – just because Ed knew the bastard's dates didn't care, didn't make it any less notable – just so he could be home that night. And while he hadn't, actually, said so straight out, Ed had received the impression that, if he wasn't home for dinner, the bastard was going to ring Hughes and they were going to drive out to the hideout with the intention of 'rescuing' him, or some bullshit.
Ed had zero intention in taking that long, if only because he had a feeling that a surprise meeting between Scar and Roy would go very, very poorly.
They got food at one of Ed's usual haunts, got through the meeting with Grand without any more trouble than had become the usual – things were still a little strained, and would continue to be until Ed heard back from Madam Christmas' spy about whether or not Grand could be trusted, assuming the answer was yes; if it turned out he was dirty, Ed would just have to resign himself to slightly strained meetings until they finished this whole mess and Grand was behind bars with the rest of the brass – then headed out.
They picked up Envy on the parade grounds, and lost him about four blocks later, with the help of one of the shopkeeps Ed was on good terms with, slipping out their back door into an alley, and following that around to an abandoned ground floor flat that Ed had cut through a couple of times, paying for the silence of the resident squatters by fixing a couple minor things.
"It's a wonder, some days," Al said with a helpless sort of smile, once they'd stepped out of the flat and back onto a main street, "that you haven't been arrested."
Ed rolled his eyes. :I'm not breaking any laws,: he insisted.
Al shot him a disbelieving look. "Brother," he said, tone suggesting he was well aware that Ed was only behaving because Al was with him.
Ed shrugged and flashed him what he hoped was a disarming smile. :Well, we ARE going to consort with a serial killer.:
Al huffed and shook his head, a helpless sort of amusement curling through his qi. "You're the worst influence."
Ed couldn't find it within himself to be ashamed about that.
They made it out of the city without any trouble, but Ed slowed a bit when he sensed more than just Scar and Zouheir in the hideout. No homunculi, but there were four strangers.
"Brother?" Al murmured, frowning at him.
:Scar has friends over,: Ed signed.
Al glanced ahead of them, toward the screen of trees hiding them from the hideout. "Are they hostile?"
Ed felt his frown deepen, reminded that his brother's range was smaller, and took a moment to consider the group of qi they were approaching. Scar still felt angry, but less so than the last time Ed had seen him, and Zouheir was as calm as ever, with maybe a hint of interest? The other four felt fairly calm themselves, all with that hint of sorrow that Ed had come to associate with Ishvalans. Which didn't really tell him whether or not they'd attack a State Alchemist on sight, but Ed did actually trust Scar and Zouheir not to be so calm (or, at least, as calm as Scar got) around people who were looking to restart the war, so he shook his head and signed, :I don't think so. Pretty sure they're Ishvalan.:
"That would make sense," Al admitted, fingers worrying his sword strap. "I can't imagine Majhul would be comfortable with too many Amestrisans."
Ed snorted; that was an understatement.
He took the lead in the approach of the house, knocking rapidly at the door and offering a smile when Zouheir opened it. :Got your message.:
Zouheir offered him a faint smile in return. "I'm aware." He glanced past Ed, nodding to Al, then said, "The major Ishvalan leaders gathered to meet with you."
Ed felt his eyebrows raise, could sense Al's surprise and rising nerves behind him, and couldn't resist signing, :You couldn't have passed that on, too?:
Zouheir coughed and shrugged. "I wasn't made wholly aware until I arrived here this morning."
Al caught Ed's right arm before he could sign again, somewhat drily saying, "It's fine. We're honoured at the chance to speak to the leaders of your people. Aren't we, Brother?"
Ed sighed and nodded; he was hardly a diplomat, and meeting with the de facto leaders of the Ishvalan people had never figured into any of his plans for this mess, but he could hardly refuse a chance to ease the tensions between the military and the Ishvalans, not if it might help Roy.
(He couldn't even pretend to be ashamed at his priorities.)
Zouheir smiled and motioned for them to follow him in, then led the way into the front room, which was the largest in the house. Scar and four other Ishvalans were sitting on the floor in there, two of them vaguely familiar – Ed had either seen them in the camp on the Armstrong grounds a couple weeks ago, or he'd seen them before – but the other two were complete strangers. All of the newcomers turned to watch them filing in with blank expressions, their qi ranging from forced-calm to more than a little bit uncertain, but no one was even vaguely hostile (except Scar, who Ed didn't really think counted), which eased some of the tension Ed could feel building up in his shoulders.
"These are the Elric brothers," Zouheir offered to the crowd, "Ed, the Silent Alchemist, and Al, the Mending Alchemist." He turned to Ed and Al as the Ishvalans nodded their heads, in recognition or a sign of greeting, Ed couldn't quite tell. "These are Emran, of the northern tribe; Barika, of the western tribe; Laith, of the southern tribe, whom you met two weeks ago; Majhul, whom Ed knows; and Sabir, of the eastern tribe."
Ed and Al gave a respectful bow, nearly in sync, while Al offered, "It is an honour to meet you all."
There was a momentary silence, during which the four leaders' qi all flickered with surprise, before the man Zouheir had called Emran commented, "It is not often we hear such from Amestrisans."
"Put not the sins of the whole on the shoulders of the one," the only woman, Barika, cautioned.
"I'm not," Emran returned flatly.
Sabir let out a quiet hum and motioned to a cleared bit of floor, where Ed, Al, and Zouheir could sit to close the circle of people. "Please join us, sons of the east."
Ed frowned at that, even as he settled on the floor with his brother and Zouheir.
Al, pre-empting his question, explained, "Leader Sabir was the person I met outside East City."
Ed nodded in understanding, then signed, :Thank you for not killing my suicidal little brother.:
Al grimaced. "Brother."
Zouheir cleared his throat and said, a hint of amusement in his voice, "Ed would like to thank you for letting Al pass unharmed through your home."
Sabir inclined his head. "In truth, we were unaware of his status with the military; he showed us no violence, so we returned the same."
Ed nodded again; he'd sort of assumed as much.
Scar shifted, scowling slightly. "I assume you're still waiting."
Ed sighed and nodded, while Al agreed, "Dad hasn't showed up yet, no." He shrugged, then added, "I don't think we're really expecting him for another month, and then we'll have to try and have some sort of all-together meeting, to plan this out properly." He grimaced. "We have so many intricate parts to this whole thing, I half expect it to fall apart at any moment."
Ed patted his shoulder, then signed, :It'll all work out in the end.:
"I hate it when you act optimistic," Al informed him drily.
Laith cleared his throat. "Intricate parts?" He glanced at Scar, briefly, before looking back at Al. "We have been told there is a monster shaping this country, and it plans to use our souls for some perversion of your blasphemous science. And we have been told of Majhul's part, and that you have intention to meet this monster in battle, but nothing of the specifics."
'Oh!' Ed mouthed, remembering, then undid his jacket and pulled the maps of the tunnel system from inside his sash.
Al cleared his throat. "Right. Majhul, Brother said he was going to make maps for you?"
Scar focussed on Ed, his qi sparking with interest. "So you did."
Ed nodded and quickly unfolded the map in the middle of the circle, so everyone could see, while Al explained, "These are the tunnels that connect the military's alchemic research labs with the maze of tunnels under Central Command, at the bottom of which the Dwarf in the Flask has his lair. Brother said your best route is going to be through either labs one or three, and he's marked the quickest route from either to the central point."
A couple of this Ishvalans murmured something in their own language, while Scar looked the map over with sharp eyes.
Sabir cleared his throat, and Scar immediately looked at him, his qi almost seeming to...shrink away, like a chastised child. "He already goes to defy our ways on your wishes, and you would have him step through a building built to laugh in the face of Ishvala?"
Ed shrugged. :There's another path, but I couldn't safely map it, and I can't guarantee it won't lead straight to the Dwarf in the Flask's lair.:
Al helpfully translated that, grimacing, then shook his head. "I'm afraid going through the labs is simply the least protected course. We understand alchemy makes your people uncomfortable, but we want to suffer as few deaths as possible, which makes this the best course."
"You call a path with alchemists the least protected?" Emran demanded. "What could be worse than you mulahad?"
"Emran!" Barika and Laith hissed, while Sabir frowned at him, and Zouheir and Scar both shifted, uncomfortable.
Ed just raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the man.
Al swallowed and straightened. "I know you don't like alchemists, and that's your right, but I would appreciate it if you'd try to accept that we want to save both our people, same as you do, and that requires us working together, not squabbling over insults." He took a deep breath, while all the Ishvalans turned to look at him, and Ed rested a supportive hand on his shoulder. "We can send soldiers with you, as far as you're willing to allow them to come with, and they can hold the alchemists back. Moreover, there are no State Alchemists assigned to lab three, which specialises in healing alchemy and chimera research; the worst you'll find there are some terrified researchers, and a few of the less violent chimeras."
Emran sneered, but, before he could speak, Scar ordered, "Enough," and leant forward to collect the map and begin carefully folding it up. "It is not your place to complain of my path."
Emran looked away, all unaware of the fact that Ed and Al could sense the spark of fear that had shot through him at Scar's interruption; it was nice to know that the Ishvalans were as terrified of Scar as most of their Amestrisan group was. (Pity that actually mentioning that to any of the Amestrisans would just make them more nervous; Ed thought it was kind of funny, himself, but he was also, apparently, the only person who trusted that Scar meant none of them any harm. Maybe this meeting would soothe whatever fears Al had, and he could find some way to pass on to the others that Scar wasn't a threat and they needed to stop freaking the fuck out?)
Laith sighed and looked at Al. "Forgive Emran's prejudice."
Al gave an uncomfortable shrug, while Ed just shook his head, resigned. "I...do understand," Al offered quietly. "I've seen some of the terrible things alchemy is capable of, but I also know humans don't need alchemy to do terrible things." He glanced down at his hands, pressed them together like he was activating an array, but no sparks lit to warn of a building transmutation. "There is something monstrous in having the power to immediately create or destroy, with little effort on your own part."
"Then why do you?" Sabir asked, and Scar's qi shrank back a little more.
Al shook his head and looked up. "Because it's a part of me–" he glanced at Ed "–of both of us. Alchemy is in our blood, the same it is in our father's, and we can no sooner deny it, than we can the colour of our hair and eyes. The best we can do, is wield it to save as many people as we can, to make up for those we can't."
"Healing alchemy," Zouheir murmured.
Al nodded. "To an extent, yes. But, sometimes, you have to fight to protect the people you care the most for, so we just learnt everything we could, even the terrible things. Not to use them, necessarily, but to know them, and to combat them when we find them."
"There is wisdom in that," Barika murmured, before sighing and looking between Ed and Al with such sorrow, her qi nearly wept with it. "Yet it is cruel, that two so young have such understanding."
Al started to respond, but Ed was distracted from the conversation by a rush of souls stepping into the furthest range of his qi-sense, and he twisted to face the direction it was coming from, closing his eyes and trying to push his senses out further.
No, not just one homunculus, two of them, now. Not Bradley, and not spread out enough to be Selim, unless he had his shadows held close to his body, but Ed couldn't tell more than that.
Fuck. It didn't matter which homunculi they were, any of them finding Ed and Al chatting with Scar was bad news. They couldn't chance the homunculi taking word back to the Dwarf in the Flask, and if they'd tracked them this far, they'd track them even if they split up, and probably find out anyway, but not letting them go back at all was going to raise some serious red flags, if anyone knew they had followed Ed and Al.
"Brother," Al stressed, shaking his arm a bit, and dragging Ed back to the world closer at hand.
:Homunculi,: he signed, before shrugging out of his jacket and setting it and his journal on the floor next to him, safely out of the way for a fight: Red flags they could handle. The homunculi realising they were in cahoots with Scar and plotting with other Ishvalans, then taking that back to their maker, could well mean guns held to the Hugheses' heads, to ensure their cooperation, and Scar and all the Ishvalans in Central murdered.
No fucking way Ed would let that happen.
"Here?" Al squeaked, and the Ishvalans all tensed, uncertainty curling through their qi. "But I thought we lost Envy!"
Yes, so far as Ed had been able to tell, but... :Gluttony can track by scent.:
Al breathed out a curse in Xingan, then asked, "Can we just lead them away?"
Ed snorted as he stood. :This close, this house is compromised. We either need to take them out, or scrap this place and hope they don't follow any of the others to their hiding places.:
Al squeezed his eyes shut, looking sick. His experience with the homunculi, so far, had been limited to Envy following them around and meeting Bradley a couple times, Ed knew, and this situation was a lot more kill or be killed than either of them had been anticipating so soon.
"What is going on?" Laith demanded, his voice tense. "What can you lead away?"
Ed shook his head. :The monsters,: he signed for Zouheir, because he'd never bothered showing the translator that particular sign, had simply stuck to calling them 'monsters'. :The Dwarf in the Flask's minions, who are nearly as close to immortality as he is.:
Zouheir looked pale and sick, his qi curling in tight around him. "Near-immortal monsters," he offered quietly, and the other Ishvalans joined him in looking a bit unwell, themselves, save Scar, who just flexed his right hand, his qi pulling in tight and vengeful.
"One of them can track by–" Al started a bit shakily, before tensing and looking in the direction Ed could sense them in. He shook his head and turned back to the Ishvalans, grimacing. "–by scent. Just...stay in here. Brother and I can handle them."
"You're just children!" Laith snapped, rushing to his feet and revealing a short sword that had been behind him. "We can't ask you–"
"We are State Alchemists," Al returned, his qi and voice both laced with a sort of terrified anger, as he got to his own feet. "So far as they're aware, we're on their side."
"And what's to say you aren't?" Emran snapped.
Scar rose to his feet and shot Emran a brief cold look, before turning his stare on Ed. "I will not sit in idleness."
Ed snorted – he'd halfway expected something like that from the crazy fucker – and signed a brief, :Fine,: before starting out of the house, leaving his jacket and journal behind.
Whether someone translated that or not, Scar followed him and Al outside. Two of the Ishvalan leaders did, too, but they stopped just outside the door, while Ed, Al, and Scar all spread out a bit in the clearing in front of the house, giving themselves space.
"Tell me you got that array working, Brother," Al requested tightly, as he unhooked his sheath and tossed it and his jacket back towards the house, his jian sword naked in his hand.
Ed flashed him a sharp smile. :We're about to find out,: he signed, before pulling out two kunai and letting himself relax into a lazy stance, one that he could easily shift into a fighting stance from.
It was Gluttony who appeared first, bouncing a bit and grinning. "I fooooound you!" he called, delighted.
Ed held out a hand towards Scar when he shifted, trying to tell him, silently, to hold back until the other homunculus showed themselves, so they didn't have to worry about them running back to Central.
And then the woman, Lust, stepped into view, flicking her hair out of the way as she looked them over. "So, this is where you've been running off to," she said to Ed, before her eyes caught on Scar and narrowed. "The State Alchemist killer?"
"Yes," Scar replied, before dashing forward, his right hand pulled back.
"Watch out for her claws!" Al shouted in warning, even as he moved in to help cover Scar, his jian sword catching sunlight and gleaming, not unlike the weapons of the righteous armoured knights in old paintings.
Which left Ed with Gluttony. He flashed the fat fucker a grin, then tossed a kunai at him. Gluttony caught it in his teeth, his grin falling slightly, but Ed had actually kind of expected that, and he clapped his hands together to activate the best of his attempts to translate the Stone destruction array into something that could be used with the Dragon's Pulse.
Nothing happened.
'Fuck it,' Ed mouthed, before clapping again and using his deteriorating connection with his kunai – how strong were Gluttony's stomach acids, or did stuff just start phasing into his faulty Gate once it got a certain distance down his oesophagus?– to yank all the water out of the homunculus' body.
Gluttony let out a pathetic wail as his skin sort of...drew in tight and cracked, a globe of water appearing in the air before him. As it streaked towards Ed's outstretched hand, red started crackling over Gluttony's skin, healing the damage. "Lust!" he cried. "Lust, it hurts!"
"We don't–" Lust said, dodging Al's sword, "–want to...kill you boys!"
"No," Al said, his voice shaking with, judging by the sharp edges of his qi, disgusted fury, "you just want to use us to turn this entire country into a Philosopher's Stone."
Lust's scream and the crackle of Scar's destruction alchemy said at least one of her opponents had managed to land a hit.
Ed, for his part, was manipulating the water globe into a whip and using it to keep Gluttony having to heal himself, while trying to get close enough to use the western array to destroy his Stone. (He was pretty sure Envy had been unable to change shape while he was healing, and Ed was hoping Gluttony couldn't open his bastardised Gate under the same circumstances.) Of course, Gluttony was flailing around like a mad man, whining about how much it hurt and calling for Lust to help him. (As if she wasn't otherwise occupied.)
"Watch out!" he heard Al call, and then Scar let out a grunt of pain. "Brother!"
Ed glanced over, saw Al fending off one of Lust's claws on one side of her, while she'd managed to pin Scar's right hand to a tree, two claws stabbed through the flesh of his arm, on the other side.
Dodging another flail from Gluttony, Ed shoved a kunai in his globe of water, so he could continue controlling it from a distance, then tossed it at Lust, directing the water to surround her head and suffocate her. He dodged a much more purposeful swipe – Gluttony was yelling something about not being allowed to hurt Lust; sheesh – then clapped his hands to sharpen the edges of the kunai he grabbed from inside his sash, which he then threw to cut through the two fingers impaling Scar's arm.
He didn't get the chance to celebrate that brief victory, as Gluttony's massive arms wrapped around him from behind and squeezed tight.
Ed gasped as something in his chest cracked – at least one broken rib, awesome – then grit his teeth against the pain and forced his hands together, activating Marcoh's Stone destruction array and twisting one hand to touch Gluttony's arm.
Gluttony screamed, red alchemic light sparking almost-painfully against Ed's skin. And then he started disintegrating into nothing, leaving Ed to fall to his knees and gasp against the agony of his chest.
One down.
He glanced up in time to find Al pressing one sparking hand against Lust's soaked arm – the water globe had broken when Gluttony had grabbed Ed and he hadn't been able to concentrate on it any more – and she disintegrated without looking away from where Gluttony had been standing just behind Ed, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Brother!" Al shouted, dropping his jian sword and rushing over to kneel in front of him, his eyes wide and skin pale. "Where are you hurt? Your ribs?"
Ed gave a tight nod.
Al only had the most basic knowledge of rib placement, so far as Ed was aware, but he hurt too much to even consider stopping him as he clapped his hands together, then rested them lightly on Ed's shoulders.
Feeling the bones shift and twitch under his skin was fucking weird, and almost hurt more than when Gluttony had broken them in the first place, but Ed grit his teeth and forced himself to straighten, to make it easier for everything to heal in the correct position.
Once Al let the transmutation go, Ed relaxed a bit, was pleased to find that he could breathe fine, and it didn't feel like anything was out of place.
"Anything else?" Al said, looking a bit like he was about to keel over. "Are you breathing okay? What about your arms? Do I need to–"
Ed yanked his brother forward and hugged him tight, making shushing noises when Al let out what he was fairly certain was a relieved sob.
He looked up when he sensed Scar's qi approach, and found the man had wrapped some cloth around his arm, where the two puncture wounds had been. "You're unharmed?" he asked flatly, while a sort of uncertain concern curled through his qi.
Ed shrugged and nodded; he would likely be sore for a couple days, but he would live.
The door of the house slammed open, and Ed and Scar both turned to watch as Zouheir hurried out of the house and toward them, his steps a little unsteady and his skin noticeably pale. Behind him, the other Ishvalans were watching with wide eyes, Emran holding tight to the doorframe.
"Ed!" Zouheir gasped as he reached them. "Are you both okay?"
Ed nodded and let Al go so he could sign, :We'll be fine, but I think Al might be in shock.: The odd sort of...flatness of his qi certainly suggested such, and Ed couldn't really blame him; he had distinct memories of being a fair bit freaked out himself, after his first time meeting Envy, and more so, once he'd realised exactly what the homunculi were, and what that meant, in terms of fighting them.
Zouheir let out a strained laugh. "I wonder what he could be shocked about," he said with such heavy sarcasm, Ed raised both eyebrows at him.
Scar, for his part, snorted and started toward the house and the rest of their audience.
Zouheir let out a cough that sounded a little embarrassed. "I may be in shock, myself," he admitted quietly.
Ed quirked an understanding smile. :I told you they were monsters.:
"You did." Zouheir knelt and lightly touched Al's back. "Al?"
Al sat back, his eyes looking a little hollow, like after he'd realised Ed's leg and voice were gone, and Ed swallowed and clenched his jaw against those memories, reaching out to rub at the wet lines on his brother's face.
"Blood," Zouheir murmured, his voice strained.
Ed couldn't quite help a flinch, his heart picking up speed, and he looked at his own shoulder, where Zouheir was pointing at a bloody handprint, then down at where Al's hands were curled together, finding the culprit there, in the shine of fresh blood coating Al's hands and soaking through the fabric of his sash, where his hands were laying. He pressed his hands together, activating a healing array, and wrapped his hands around Al's, closing his eyes as the alkahestry went to work clotting blood and knitting skin back together.
The damage didn't look bad, at a glance, was mostly the same sort of minor cuts they'd developed while learning to catch kunai, but one of them had nicked the edge of one of the arteries in his arm, and while his wrist was curled inward just the right way to sort of plug it, at the moment, it wouldn't have been while he was fighting. No wonder he'd been so pale.
Damn.
There wasn't really an array to help with that, either. The best thing they could do was get Al home, make him take it easy for a few days, and force an iron-rich diet on him. (Ed had done this song-and-dance plenty of times before.)
As the transmutation finished – his hands seemed to be the only thing damaged, so far as Ed could tell with a quick extension of the alkahestric energy – Ed opened his eyes and mouthed, 'Al?'
Al blinked, a little bit of life returning to his eyes, even if he was still way too pale. "Brother?" he whispered, his voice so fucking small.
Ed nodded and squeezed his hands. 'We're okay.'
Al swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut, as a twisted rush of self-recrimination arced through his qi. "I killed her."
Something sick crawled along Ed's throat, and he swallowed it down.
"It was self-defen–" Zouheir started.
Ed shook his head and held up a hand to stop the man, because they had fought plenty of battles in Xing without killing anyone. And, given, they hadn't been fighting homunculi, but still. Ed had managed not to kill any of them, before – had even gone so far as to pass Selim back to Mrs Bradley – and Al knew that. Knew that Ed had always made it his policy to never kill, not even homunculi. (The Dwarf in the Flask, maybe, but that had always been as much Greed's doing as Ed's own actions; he'd just sped up what was already the Dwarf in the Flask's end.)
But, it occurred to Ed, it didn't have to be about killing the homunculi. (Even if it always would be, at least in part. They would always carry that sin, and Ed wished there was a way he could have saved his brother from it.)
He reached out and shook Al's shoulders until he opened his eyes again, then pinned him with a sharp look and mouthed, 'NO.'
Al frowned, confusion licking at the edges of his qi.
Ed withdrew his hands so he could sign, :We freed our people.:
Because both Gluttony and Lust had Philosopher's Stones from the Dwarf in the Flask; within them had been thousands of Xerxesians. Suffering.
Al's eyes widened. "Oh," he breathed, then looked down at his own hands. "I...forgot."
Ed got it, though; it wasn't easy to remember the people you'd saved when you'd just watched someone die by your own hand. And Ed, himself, had never considered himself a 'hero', no matter what other people saw in him; any good he might have done, any people he'd saved, had never outweighed the sins he'd committed. And Al...
They were far too alike, especially in this.
Al let out a kind of strained laugh, a sick sort of humour curling through his qi, and held up his bloody hands between them.
Ed grimaced and clapped his hands to draw up some groundwater, use that to clean both of their hands, as well as the bloody handprint on his shoulder, and the blood soaking in to Al's sash.
They both looked over as Scar approached, a hint of concern still showing through in his qi, and found he was holding Ed's jacket and journal. "Go home," he ordered, holding the items down to Ed. "Come back when your watchers are less watchful."
Ed couldn't quite help a grimace at that. They may have taken out the best tracker among the homunculi, but there was a good chance that Envy, at least, knew he'd been following Ed and Al; losing him wasn't hard, but if he dragged Selim into things...
"Thank you," Al said quietly, while Ed accepted his things with a nod.
Scar grunted and left them to return to the house.
"Do you need help getting home?" Zouheir asked, sounding a little...desperate? His qi was sort of, almost, twitching, desperate to do something.
Ed frowned, but he did sort of understand. Sometimes, you just needed to be able to help.
"I think," Al admitted quietly, "that I might." And then he turned to Ed, likely sensing his spike of worry, and insisted, "I'm not hurt, I just... It's a long walk, and I'm–" He stopped, took a careful breath, then admitted, "I don't know if my legs can hold me."
And they actually had a sort of curfew, with Roy (and likely Hughes and Gracia) worrying about their safety, so it wasn't like they could really take their time. Ed could probably carry Al, at least part of the way, but he knew he'd never stand for being carried himself, and if Al thought he was strong enough to walk with help... That was a good sign. Or a stubborn one, but Ed was hoping for the former.
'Okay,' Ed mouthed, as he slipped his journal away into his sash.
Al slumped, clearly relieved.
Ed shrugged into his jacket, then signed to Zouheir, :Help him up? I'll get his things.:
"Of course, yes," Zouheir agreed, before lightly touching Al's shoulder. "Al? Let's get you up..."
Ed stood himself, frowned at the way his right leg was a little wobbly – the sudden absence of adrenaline, likely; Al wasn't the sort of have missed any potential internal bleeding while he was fixing his ribs, and Ed didn't feel like he was losing blood (he was plenty familiar with the sensation to be able to tell) – but his left leg was more than capable of taking a little bit of extra strain, so he shrugged it off and went to collect Al's jacket and sword sheath, where he'd thrown them, then his jian sword and his own kunai, which he slipped away. Then he buckled Al's sword sheath over his own jacket and slipped the jian sword away, because he figured he was far more capable of taking the added weight, for the moment.
Al and Zouheir were both standing when he joined them again, Al very obviously leaning on the Ishvalan. Ed offered over his jacket, and Al shot him a sort of helplessly amused look as he took it. "I'm not sure I should trust you with that," he commented, looking down at the jian sword.
Ed rolled his eyes – just because it'd been a couple years since he'd practised with one, didn't mean he couldn't still use the damn thing – then signed, :Let's go, before someone else comes looking for us.:
Al winced. "You got that threat, too?"
Ed snorted and nodded, because both of their commanding officers were massive worrywarts.
"Your commander?" Zouheir guessed as they started out, Ed taking the lead.
"Both of them," Al agreed a bit tiredly. Zouheir must have made some sort of request for more information, because Al added, "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and Colonel Mustang."
Discomfort curled through Zouheir's qi, and Ed glanced back to find him grimacing slightly. "Ah. Best, perhaps, not to have the Flame Alchemist pay a visit."
"Brother said something similar. But, well... Majhul makes everyone a little nervous, and Brother is the only one who'd really met him, before today."
"Not a polite meeting, I've heard."
"No, not really. I mean, he and Majhul are the only ones who really know what happened; Brother won't tell anyone specifics–" Al's qi jabbed Ed in the back a couple times, which he very pointedly ignored "–and I don't expect Majhul is the sort to share, either."
"Majhul is not the sort to do much of anything," Zouheir admitted, sounding a little tired and a lot wry. Then he let out a sigh that was loud enough that Ed could hear him, even though he was a good five paces ahead of them. "But, the way he speaks, sometimes, of different people, of Ishvalans and soldiers and other State Alchemists, he speaks of Ed more like he does of our people, than yours."
Well, that was...interesting, and unexpected. He couldn't even begin to guess what he might have done over the course of their association to have become any better than grudgingly tolerated. (He doubted he'd ever find out. Being able to read Scar's qi didn't really help with getting answers out of him.)
Al let out a thoughtful hum, and then must have said something too quiet for Ed to hear, because Zouheir's qi sparked with a sort of helpless amusement.
He glanced back to frown at them and found Al giving him a faint, slightly tired smile. Huffing a bit, he returned to facing forward, resigning himself to being left out.
Zouheir walked with them all the way to the Hugheses' house, where they found Roy's car parked out by the kerb. Ed just sighed – he should have known the bastard would start getting antsy before dinner and just come over to wait – while Al let out a brief, helpless laugh, then told Zouheir, "You can leave, if you want. That's the colonel's car."
Zouheir's qi twitched uncertainly, but he was shaking his head when Ed glanced over. "I think," he said quietly, "I should, perhaps, meet your Flame Colonel."
"If you're sure..." Al said, echoing Ed's uncertainty about the wisdom of that choice.
Ed pulled out his key as he approached the front door and unlocked it, then let out a whistle as he pushed it open.
"Ed?" Hughes called, before stepping out into the hall from the dining room. He stiffened as soon as he saw Ed holding the door open for Al and Zouheir, fear and concern rushing through his qi. "What happened?" he demanded, stepping forward.
"We're fine," Al insisted, while Ed closed the door behind them, taking the chance to roll his eyes at how stubborn his brother was where no one could see, because Al was most assuredly not fine, even if he would be, given sufficient rest. "We just...met up with a couple tails."
"A couple tails," Roy repeated icily, and Ed looked past Al and Zouheir to find him stopping next to Hughes. He was tense, his qi a mass of uncertainty and worry and a sort of heart-in-your-throat sensation, which Ed hadn't known could actually translate to qi. (Stupid bastard and his impossible qi.)
Ed stepped around his brother and frowned at their commanders. :We're not hurt. Stop snarling and let Al sit before he falls over, or I'll punch you both.:
A sort of startled amusement rushed through Zouheir's qi behind him. "Ed, if you will take your brother?" he suggested.
Ed huffed, but he did turn to take over helping Al, and Roy and Hughes had stepped out of the way by the time he had him, so they had a clear path into the kitchen, where Gracia was corralling Elicia and Nina.
"Go help Zouheir," Al murmured once he was seated, patting Ed's arm.
He escaped while Nina and Elicia were freed to ask Al what was wrong, and found the three men exchanging tense greetings in the front hall. He rolled his eyes and shoved Roy a bit so he could get past him, then stepped off to the side a bit, between Roy and Zouheir, and signed, :We lost Envy in the city, same as usual, but Gluttony and Lust managed to track us out there. They're dead.:
Roy and Hughes both stiffened, surprise streaking through their qi. :Dead like–?: Hughes signed.
"Disintegrated," Zouheir offered quietly, because there wasn't really a sign for that.
Roy's worried frown seemed to deepen, while Hughes looked back towards the dining room. "Al?" Hughes asked quietly, looking back at Ed.
Ed winced and shook his head. :Blood loss. He'll be fine if he takes it easy.:
"That should prove interesting," Hughes murmured, clearly wondering how to juggle 'take it easy' and two hyper girls.
"Let me know how he's doing on Monday," Roy said, his qi a tight pillar of slightly strained, forced calm. "He can come down with a cold, if necessary."
Hughes nodded.
Roy turned to Ed and signed, :Is it likely they'll notice Lust and Gluttony are missing?:
Ed let out a vaguely irritated snort. :I have no idea. I assume Envy knows they went after us, but they're so certain of their own strength, I can't see them actually figuring out we killed both of them. I'll keep my head down for a week, though; the last thing I need is Pride stalking me.:
Roy and Hughes both grimaced. "Once was more than enough," Hughes muttered.
"Pride? Envy?" Zouheir asked, looking between them with sharp eyes. "You call these monsters the names of sins?"
"Homunculi," Roy corrected.
Ed huffed, then signed, :They're born from the Dwarf in the Flask, each gifted with one of his sins. He named each one for what it was he threw away.:
Zouheir raised his hands, paused for a moment, then signed, :There were seven?:
Ed, Roy, and Hughes all nodded. "You didn't fill him in?" Hughes asked Ed, while Roy signed, :Greed is neutral and Sloth is otherwise busy, but the others have been around.:
Ed shook his head at Hughes, signing, :I told Scar a bit, but he didn't share, and there's never really been a need.:
"Gentlemen," Gracia called, interrupting them, and they all glanced down the hall towards her, Hughes and Roy's qi both twisting with guilt, while Zouheir's qi just sort of...drooped. "Did you want dinner, or have I spent the past hour slaving over the cooker while you worried at the table for nothing?"
Roy let out a slightly embarrassed cough. "We're sorry, Gracia. We just–"
Gracia snorted. "Save it, charmer."
Ed couldn't quite stop a snicker, while Hughes practically chortled, elbowing Roy.
Zouheir cleared his throat. "I should go."
"You're welcome to stay," Gracia called, and Ed didn't need to be able to sense her qi to know she meant it. "There's plenty of food for one more guest."
"Anyway," Hughes added, shooting a smile that was only a little strained at Zouheir, "as many times as Ed came home late because he was visiting his Ishvalan friend, my daughters may never forgive any of us if they don't get the chance to meet you."
Zouheir shot Ed a slightly helpless look, and he shrugged. :I'd invite Scar, but most people take his glares too seriously.:
"I wonder if you don't have a death wish, some days," Zouheir returned drily.
"Oh, now that sounds like a story. You'll have to stay so you can tell it," Hughes insisted.
"I–" Zouheir sighed and inclined his head, clearly giving in to the inevitable. "If it is truly no inconvenience."
"None," Gracia promised. "Ed, could you get the extra chair from Maes and my room?"
Ed nodded and slipped past everyone to get to the stairs. He was almost to Hughes and Gracia's room when he heard the top step creak, and looked back to find that Roy had followed him. He frowned and signed, :What?:
"Are you okay?" Roy asked quietly, concern unfurling through his qi.
Ed shrugged and nodded. :I'm fine. It's not like I'm suffering from fucking blood loss or anything. Shouldn't you be–:
Roy stepped forward and caught his hands, used them to pull Ed into a hug.
Ed was helpless against the rush of terror and rage and self-disgust that went through him, suddenly freed from whatever prison he'd been unconsciously locking it up in, so he could focus on Al. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed as close to Roy as he could, let the gentle curl of his qi – concern and relief and love – ease the rush of his own emotions into something a bit more manageable, something he could slip back into a box and go back to ignoring for a while.
He took a careful breath and stepped back, out of Roy's arms. :I need to worry about Al right now,: he signed, couldn't quite meet Roy's eyes.
"I know," Roy replied quietly, and Ed chanced a glance up, found he was smiling a bit sadly. "I might stay here tonight, take the couch. Assuming Maes and Gracia aren't sick of me."
Ed felt a tired smile pulling at his mouth and let it show. 'Thank you,' he mouthed.
Roy shook his head and gently cupped Ed's cheek, leaning in to press their foreheads together. "I understand needing to make someone your priority," he murmured. "As long as you're not hurt?"
Ed paused for a moment – partially because he felt like he really should tell Roy that he had been hurt, partially to debate whether or not the faint ache of recently healed ribs counted as being hurt – then shook his head.
But Roy had already tensed, the pause just long enough for him to notice, and he pulled back, concern practically dripping from his qi. "Edward?" he asked, a suggestion of fear in his voice.
Ed sighed and admitted, :I WAS hurt, but Al healed me. Just a little sore right now.:
"Hurt how?" Roy demanded, his eyebrows drawn in tight and unhappy.
:Broken ribs.:
Roy closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "How sore?" he asked as he opened his eyes.
Ed rolled his eyes. :It's a decimal point on a scale from one to ten.:
Roy let out a quiet, slightly startled laugh. "So a one or two for normal people?"
Ed scoffed and shoved him, then turned to finish his errand.
Roy hadn't moved by the time he got back with the chair, and Ed couldn't even pretend to be surprised when the stupid bastard took it from him. He was, maybe, a little surprised when Roy leant in and pressed a kiss against his mouth, but not so much that he didn't respond.
"I love you," Roy whispered once he'd pulled back a bit, the words tickling Ed's lips. "I'm glad you both made it back safe."
Ed pulled back far enough that Roy would be able to see his lips, then mouthed, 'Stupid bastard. I love you, too.'
Roy smiled at him, a little too sappy, and pressed another, quick kiss to his mouth, before turning and starting down the stairs.
Ed sighed to himself and detoured to leave his jacket and Al's jian sword in their room, then joined everyone else downstairs.
Dinner had proved to be a lively affair, with Nina (and also Elicia, to an extent) asking questions about Ishval. Zouheir had rather obviously been a little uncertain, at first, if it was okay to answer them, but then Al took his hand at answering one, turned to Zouheir to verify, and the next thing they knew, they were all getting a crash course in Ishvalan culture. Roy and Hughes' qi said they were both sort of cautiously interested, while Elicia and Nina lost interest when the subject started getting into more complicated topics.
But Ed and Al (and Gracia, judging by her qi and interested expression), were absolutely interested. Partially (for him and Al; he couldn't say for Gracia) because they'd lived among a very different culture for two years, which had given birth to an interest in how other people lived. (Something Ed had actually developed, to a lesser extent, while he'd been travelling, before, but lost a lot of after slogging through Creta's warzone.) Too, the Ishvalans were the closest thing to a desert people they had access to; other than asking Hohenheim – which Ed really had no intention in doing – this was likely as close to understanding the Xerxesians as they'd ever get.
Zouheir did, eventually, insist that he needed to head back to the Armstrong estate. Hughes ended up walking with him, pointing out, with honest regret, "This isn't really a neighbourhood where a lone Ishvalan would be welcomed." Which they'd all grimaced at, because it was true – there were, in fact, very few places in Central City where an Ishvalan would be safe without an Amestrisan escort – and Zouheir had agreed to the company.
Ed forced Al to go to bed at the same time as Elicia and Nina, promising he wasn't going to stay up much longer, then filled Hughes, Roy, and Gracia in on their interrupted meeting with Scar and the other Ishvalans.
"It may well have been Alphonse leaving with you that made them so interested in knowing where you were going," Roy commented once he was done.
"That's not a bad point," Hughes agreed, while Ed grimaced and nodded. "You'll have to go on your own next time, I guess."
Judging by the qi of the other three, none of them were really comfortable with Ed visiting the Ishvalans on his own.
Ed sighed. :I know he makes you nervous, but I really don't think Scar is going to attack me again. Trust that I know what I'm doing.:
Roy carefully folded his hands against the top of the table. "Edward, consider that this is a little like when Alphonse and I left for East City last year. Just because we, intellectually, know that there's little chance of something happening, it doesn't mean we don't worry."
"Especially when things like homunculi tracking you down happens," Hughes added dryly. "You're not infallible."
Oh, Ed was quite aware of that, was reminded every time he had to write or sign to communicate. But he did understand their fear, as unfounded as he believed it to be. :I get it,: he signed a bit tiredly. :But understand this: If Führer Bastard shows up on Scar's doorstep without warning, someone's going to get hurt.:
"No more threats to come hunt you down if you're a little late," Gracia translated, looking knowingly between Roy and Hughes, both of whom looked suitably chastised.
Ed snorted – he sort of expected they'd find some other way of driving him insane with their worrying – and stood. When the other three looked over at him, he signed, :I'm going to bed, before Al comes looking for me.:
He got back three understanding smiles, and Gracia said, "You know where we are if anything happens."
Ed nodded and turned to leave, before pausing.
It was...odd, but, last time he'd slept over at the Hugheses', the last thing he'd wanted to do was give Hughes or Al proof that he and Roy were...anything. And yet, in the intervening two and a half weeks, he'd sort of...settled, he supposed, into this. Maybe because Roy had – mostly on accident, at least at first – shoved his own feelings in Ed's face, or maybe just because they'd had the space to get used to each other without having to dodge knowing looks and that damn camera.
"Ed?" Hughes called, and he wasn't the only one whose qi had taken on an edge of concern.
Whatever the reason, Ed realised he wanted to say a proper good night to his bastard of a lover, more than he wanted to hide it from Hughes. So, huffing at himself a bit, he stalked around the table to Roy and hugged him.
Roy let out a quiet, surprised laugh, even as love curled warmly through his qi and it folded around Ed, like it had a bad habit of doing. He twisted slightly in his chair and brushed Ed's bangs away from his cheek, murmuring, in Cretan, "Good night, my sun."
Ed couldn't help a slightly embarrassed smile at the idiot and his fucking pet names, or whatever that bullshit was. (He absolutely, one hundred percent, refused to enjoy them. Ever.) 'Idiot,' he mouthed, and the amused gleam in Roy's eyes said he'd seen it. He leant in and pressed a brief kiss to Roy's mouth, mostly to keep him from saying anything else stupid.
And then he pulled away and stalked from the room, ignoring Hughes' delight and Gracia's gentle approval.
Maybe three hours after he'd got to sleep, Ed woke to a rush of terror and loneliness coming from Al. He pushed himself up slightly on one elbow and found his brother held tense, his expression twisted with the same emotions as were threaded through his qi; the nightmare about waking to find himself alone next to the blood-stained array, Ed would guess, still familiar with how it looked and felt. Unlike with Roy, Ed didn't feel even a little bit at a loss for what to do, because he hadn't needed words to calm his brother since he'd fully figured out qi-sensing.
He gently touched Al's shoulder, let himself fill with that warm rush of fondness/protectiveness/love that he felt for his brother, then wrapped his qi around him.
Al's own qi smoothed out, a sort of serene sense of safety filling it. "Bwovuh?" Al mumbled sleepily, the same mangled attempt at 'brother' that he'd used when he'd been learning to speak.
Ed squeezed his shoulder, then reached up to brush his hand through Al's hair.
Al let out a content hum, shifted a little closer to Ed, and fell back into more peaceful dreams.
Ed sighed and laid back down. And, miracle of miracles, his mind kindly let him fall back to sleep without having to get up and walk off his restlessness.
Al was very much forced to take it easy that weekend, and while Roy went home Saturday – he'd rescheduled his date for that afternoon, and Ed had ended up having to shove him out the door, while the Hugheses and Al laughed – and Sunday night, Ed ended up staying over the whole weekend. And he... Well, okay, he supposed he could admit that he'd missed Roy, but Al had to come first, and the bastard was stupidly (perfectly) understanding about that fact.
Rather, it was Al, when Ed walked back with Hughes after work on Monday, who met them at the door and refused to let Ed inside. "Go home, Brother," he insisted. "I'm fine. Stop hovering."
Ed took a moment to eye him a bit suspiciously, but Al did look a lot better, probably could have gone into work that morning, actually, if Ed, Gracia, and Hughes hadn't all banded together to insist he should just take the extra day. So, giving in, he signed, :Okay. But ring if–:
Al smacked his hands and ordered, "Home. Now," while Hughes laughed at both of them and vanished into the house.
Ed huffed, but obediently turned and made his way back to Roy's place, keeping to the street-level mostly so he could greet a couple of people he knew along the way, and pick up some things for dinner, assuming Roy hadn't just settled for take-out.
There was a very definite loneliness to Roy's qi, Ed noticed as he started up the walk, and that was... Ed felt bad. Yes, he'd needed to focus on Al, and yes, Roy had understood, but it still wasn't really...fair, to him, was it? Ed had spent the weekend with his brother and the Hugheses, but Roy had ended up having to come home to an empty house. And maybe he could have kept sleeping on the Hugheses' couch, but he had a bed, and he didn't have changes of clothing over there, not like Ed did (because he'd never quite fully moved out, even if most of his things, including his locked paper box, were at Roy's). And, too, he was twitchy enough as it was about his dates when it was only Ed meeting him at the door; he couldn't imagine how more uncomfortable it would be for all of them if Al realised he always came home smelling like some woman's perfume. (One of these days, Al might actually get over the fact that, to keep from raising any awkward questions, Roy had to keep dating people, but Ed suspected that would continue being a point of contention until Ed came of age and he and Roy became public. Or, you know, everything fell apart because of something other than the dating, and Ed returned to Xing.)
When he put his key in the lock and let himself in, surprise and a sort of cautious hope filled Roy's qi, and when he whistled to announce himself, the answering rush of relief and love nearly bowled him over.
Roy appeared in the living room doorway as Ed shoved the door closed behind him, and Ed...
He'd missed him. It had only been a couple days, but he wanted nothing more, in that moment, than to just fucking hug his stupid, sappy bastard.
"Welcome home," Roy said, quiet and warm, his qi curling and reaching out towards Ed, full of love and fondness and everything that he was kind of embarrassed to realise had come to mean Ed to the bastard.
Ed dropped the little bag of food he'd picked up on his way home and stepped forward to hug Roy, felt like a weight of stress that he hadn't even noticed had fallen off and joined the food on the floor. It was a little like stepping into lab two's greenhouse, the rest of the world just seeming to vanish, until it was just the two of them, warm and in love and all that stupid, sappy romancing bullshit that Roy had a bad habit of springing on him when it was just the two of them.
And then Roy leant in and kissed him, a little desperate, and Ed found himself reciprocating, tugging on the bastard's shirt in a bit of a pointed manner.
Suffice to say, it was probably for the best that he hadn't bought anything perishable.
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