Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Once More, With Pirates ❯ Worst Day Since Yesterday ( Chapter 17 )

A/N: I did it! I did it! …snoopydances… This puts me across the finish line for that 50K words. Of course the -story- is nowhere near finished. You think I'd leave Ed and Spike like that?

 

Warning: Spike and Ed really have potty mouths in this chapter. I guess stress and being stuck in a compromising position will do that to you.

 

Chapters: 17

Word Count, This Chapter: 2709

Word Count Total: 50,387

Words Left: 0!

 

 

The Worst Day Since Yesterday

 

Hell says hello, well it's time too I should go; To pastures green, that I've yet to see; Hurry back to me, my wild calling; It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday -Flogging Molly (Swagger)

 

Fullmetal stared at the growing puddle of red water in front of him, and memory roared in his ears. The glowing reaction the water had on his flesh when he touched it, and the tingle it left behind was a pure alchemical response. Minor…very, very minor compared to another time he'd attempted to run through a much larger puddle of the same substance, and it nearly killed him in an overload of alchemic power surging through him.

 

This lab, on a distant planet in another universe far from his home, was creating the same substance. Fullmetal tried to suppress the hope and thrill welling up inside, but it broke the dam and flooded him, paralyzing him with the overwhelming intensity of possibility. Were they creating a Philosopher's Stone here? And if so, were they doing it without sacrificing lives?

 

In that brief moment of realization, Edward Elric did something he hadn't done since he was very, very young. He prayed. Prayed that what he was looking at was what he thought it was, prayed that an end to his quest was near. Prayed he would be able to restore his brother's body without sacrificing any other lives. His throat started to hurt, and grow tight at the thought.

 

He was rudely yanked out of his thrall by the feeling of something slapping down on his ass, and he screamed.

 

“Jeeze, Ed,” Spike said. “Don't do that!”

 

Fullmetal wriggled, and squirmed until he was rolled onto his back and could look behind him in the tight space. He shined his light on his assailant, making him squint and hold up a hand to block the brightness. “What the hell, Spike?”

 

“We need to get the fuck out of here. Now.”

 

“Huh?”

 

As if in response to his question, the crawl space started rumbling and shaking. Spike glanced back over his shoulder, then quickly snaked forward, sliding up on top of Fullmetal, and curling up in an attempt to act as a shield for the boy. The small space quickly filled with dust that even the breathing filters couldn't handle, and they both started coughing.

 

When the quake stopped, and the rumbling started to fade, Fullmetal could hear Geordi calling to them. Except he couldn't respond because his nose was jammed deep into Spike's armpit and the long-limbed man had his arm wrapped tightly about his head. The boy refused to contemplate too closely about the location of his knee.

 

Spike snatched the light out of Fullmetal's hand, and shined it back. He kept the other arm wrapped around his head, holding it up at an awkward angle; and didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to move. “Looks like going back is out of the question,” he said, then whistled shrilly. The noise reverberated off the surrounding rocks, and Fullmetal winced.

 

“You guys alive in there?” Geordi yelled, but it sounded muted and far away to the boy's ears.

 

“Yeah,” Spike called. “We're alright. But we're blocked. Gotta go forward.”

 

“Hold on, we'll get you out of there.”

 

“Get your asses out of here. This place is getting ready to collapse around our ears.”

 

Fullmetal's eyes went wide and he felt the icy chill of panic. He squirmed and pushed to get away from Spike, and out of that tiny space. The action caused Spike to drop the light, and cast them into complete darkness. A wordless grunt escaped the man's lips, and he held onto the boy tighter, effectively pinning him. “Dammit Ed hold still. That metal knee of yours is dangerous.”

 

The boy froze, but scowled, and grit his teeth. “Can you at least get my nose out of your sweaty armpit?” he asked. At least he tried to, but his voice was severely muffled.

 

He felt Spike shift, and long, angular bones ground painfully into shorter ones, as he tried to squeeze into the space next to him. Then he laid one arm under the boy's head like a pillow. It wasn't working, so Spike's other arm came around and grabbed Fullmetal's safety straps near his hip, forcing him onto his side. It put him nose-to-chest with Spike, and made him extremely uncomfortable. He was grateful for the sudden darkness.

 

Then, to his shock, Spike's lower arm came up, and pushed the boy deeper into his chest, while the other one came around his waist in an awkward embrace. He felt the man's hand brush his ass briefly, and he instinctively lurched his hips away from the touch; except then it forced him into an even more uncomfortable spot, and he jerked back.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?” the boy squeaked.

 

“Will you hold still,” Spike said. “You're like a goddamn jumping bean hyped up on caffeine, here.”

 

Fullmetal stammered, “I really don't think this is the right time or place.”

 

Spike stopped feeling around in the dark, and the boy could feel him staring down at him. There was an eternity of silence, and then Spike busted out laughing.

 

“I fail to see the humour in this,” Fullmetal grumbled.

 

“Don't flatter yourself, Ed,” Spike said, when he could finally stop laughing. “I'm trying to find the damned light. Besides, I prefer my lovers to be female…” He paused, and the boy could hear suppressed laughter. “And quite a bit taller.”

 

Fullmetal growled low, and wondered if the temperature controls on the pressure suit had gone haywire. He felt incredibly warm all of a sudden.

 

0o0o0

 

Havoc watched as three forms took shape in front of him. He'd played hell convincing the Captain to let another child beam to the planet's surface, but the logic of it was that the stringbean was available to hack into the systems in the complex, and Data was not.

 

He didn't blame the man. The place was unstable as all hell, and liable to just sink into a giant, smoking hole that would take everyone with it, if they didn't hurry. But according to Jet and Riker, the information they should find in that computer system was vital.

 

He grumbled, because he didn't know shit about computers, but he trusted Jet enough to accept that he did, and that the girl could do what he claimed. “Whatever the hell `hacking' is, anyway,” he mumbled. It sounded like something rather violent, and dangerous, in his opinion.

 

He was trying to figure out who or what the third form was that was materializing in front of him. He knew there was supposed to be Ed, and a power source, but beyond that…

 

As soon as the form became clearer however, he snapped to attention and saluted. Then he immediately dropped the salute and lurched forward to catch the now solid, and quite shocked Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. The other man blinked at Havoc, and said, “That was some ride.”

 

Havoc chuckled, and helped Hughes get his feet back under him, and said, “Yeah, a thrill a minute. You okay?”

 

Hughes straightened himself up, and nodded. “They offered a shuttle craft, but said this way was quicker. I think next time, I'll take the shuttle, and ride with my eyes closed.”

 

Havoc grabbed the handle of the dolly that held the power source, and accidentally hit a button on the grip. The dolly jumped about 18 inches into the air, and tried to take off without him. He instantly let go, and the dolly gracefully settled back onto the ground. Havoc stared at it.

 

“They showed me how to control it,” Hughes said and grabbed hold of it. He didn't do much better than Havoc did.

 

“Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho!” Ed gasped, and the two men looked down at her. She was staring around her, wide-eyed, and grinning.

 

“Get your breather on,” Havoc said, and Ed did. Then she danced around, and headed for the command center. She stumbled, caught her balance, and got back on track, only to stumble again.

 

“I don't think that kid fears anything,” Havoc said.

 

“Shoes,” Hughes responded. At Havoc's questioning look, he said, “We got the suit on her fine, but getting those boots on her was an exercise in frustration. That child hates shoes.”

 

They managed to get the dolly under control, and followed Ed to the command center.

 

As Hughes and Ed were getting the contamination sensors strapped on Havoc filled them both in on what they'd found so far. “Damned strange,” he said. “The lower level looks like it's been reinforced, or something. It hardly got any damage. But that's not the really bizarre part.”

 

The three of them started off again, and headed for the complex. Havoc continued, “On one of the doors, there was this symbol. Jet recognized it as a logo for some company in his universe, but… Lieutenant Colonel…” He paused, and grasped Hughes' forearm. “I've seen that symbol, myself. And I know you did, too.”

 

Havoc watch as the investigator's brow furrow. He had no idea of how to prepare the man for the shock of what he'd see; and they'd seen so many strange things already. He struggled to find the best way to say it.

 

“You may as well just spit it out, Jean,” Hughes said, softly. “I have a feeling it's going to be disturbing no matter what you say.”

 

“It's an alchemic symbol, too.” Havoc said, finally. “I recognized it from one of Fullmetal's reports. From the Tucker case.”

 

Hughes boggled.

 

“Come on! Hurry up!” Ed called from near the entrance. She snapped to attention, then shot an arm straight up into the air, and with all seriousness, she said, “I have work to do and you slugabeds are slowing me down!”

 

Havoc shook his head and chuckled, as the two of them started moving again. “That is one strange kid.”

 

“Dr. Crusher says she's been quite a help in Sickbay, though,” Hughes said. “She's some kind of genius. I hear she understands chemistry as well as Alphonse. In fact, I heard them arguing over some chemical compound when I went to fetch her.”

 

“Those two seem to have become good friends.”

 

Hughes sighed, and shook his head. “I think for Al, it might be just a little bit more than that, though.”

 

Havoc's brows shot up. “Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?”

 

“Good question.”

 

Havoc saw Ed topple over near the entrance an instant before he felt the rumbling. He also saw a large chunk of debris balanced precariously on some of the remaining framework the next instant.

 

“Dammit!” he shouted and ran for the girl. His own balance was precarious, as he felt the ground shake and shift out from under him. “Ed! Get out of the way!” he shouted, then stumbled, skidding and catching himself with a hand as it hit the dirt, and launching himself forward. The large chunk of concrete wobbled and rocked, and came closer to plummeting right for the child. Havoc poured on the steam. The girl blinked, and slowly wobbled uncertainly to her feet. She glanced at Havoc, puzzled; then looked up as the chunk of debris broke loose from it's makeshift cradle, and started to fall. The horror of the event filled the Lieutenant, and he pushed himself to move faster; his eyes on the concrete, knowing he would never make it in time, and hoping he would.

 

He suddenly had the air knocked out of him, and found himself on his back with a great weight pressed down on his chest and abdomen. He was certain he was about to die under the chunk of concrete, and only hoped Ed had managed to get out of the way in time. The thought that his back must be broken, because he wasn't in any pain skirted around the edges of his cluttered thoughts.

 

The he saw the smiling face of Hughes hover over him, and he knew he was dying, for certain.

 

“You're some hero, Havoc,” Hughes said, and chuckled.

 

Havoc felt the weight lift off of his chest, and blinked. “Huh?”

 

“You should be more careful,” Ed quipped. “You coulda been killed.”

 

Havoc braved a look down his body, and saw a tousselled mop of wild red hair, huge gold eyes full of wonder and concern, and a grin that even the breather couldn't contain; all attached to the weight that was now just resting on his abdomen.

 

Ed got up, and helped him sit, as Hughes knelt down next to him. “Say something, Lieutenant,” he said, laughing.

 

Havoc blinked, and faced Hughes. “I think I need a cigarette.”

 

0o0o0

 

Jet and Riker held onto the handrails of the catwalk until the tremor stopped. It was felt, but there were no effects in the giant chamber except for the violent sloshing of the red water in the floor.

 

“I think that was bigger than the last,” Jet said.

 

“Let's hope we can get what we need before they get any bigger,” Riker said, and launched himself down the stairs.

 

They'd reached the clear floor at the bottom of the chamber, when they heard another rumbling, but they didn't feel anything but a slight vibration under their feet. It was quickly followed by a wet, whoosh, and they stared down at the floor, as it started to empty itself of the red liquid under it.

 

“That can't be good,” Riker said.

 

0o0o0

 

Another quake hit, harder than the last, and Spike wrapped himself around Fullmetal until it passed. When it was over with, he said, “Let's get the hell out of here.”

 

“Well, if you'd stop feeling me up, we would already be out,” the boy snapped a little more sharply than he'd intended. He was trying to hide the fact that he was starting to get very scared and claustrophobic, and doing a lousy job of it.

 

Spike just snorted and shined the light ahead of them. “Looks clear, still. At least from what I can tell.” He wriggled around until he was practically on top of the boy, and started to move. “I'll go fir-- Aaahhhhhshiiit!”

 

Fullmetal felt the man's full weight slam down, nearly knocking the wind out of him. He pushed at his chest in order to keep breathing and grew alarmed at Spike's sudden labored gasps.

 

“I'm caught, Ed,” he managed to get out between low groans.

 

“What?”

 

“My ankle. It's caught.”

 

Fullmetal snagged the light from Spike's weak grasp, and shined it down. It was an awkward angle, but he could see the man's leg was buried under rock. He also saw that red water was flowing down through the cracks in the pile of rocks in a stream. It was pooling in a low spot near his feet, but that pool was rapidly filling, and about to run over. And when that happened…

 

“Dammit,” the boy said, and squirmed around until he could bring his hands together. Then he slapped one against the wall of the tunnel, and sent an alchemic surge at the pile of stone. The small area was filled with blue-white light that concentrated at the rockfall, twisting it, manipulating the stone to create space around Spike's ankle, and form a solid block to stop the red water from pouring down on them in a deadly rush.

 

When the light faded, the boy asked, “Can you move?”

 

Spike nodded, and started to pull himself forward.

 

“Lift up,” Fullmetal said. “Let me go first.”

 

The taller man lifted, and the boy slid himself out from under him. As soon as he was free of Spike, he flipped himself over and started shimmying through the tunnel. He heard Spike close behind. Low, pained grunts told the boy that the ankle was in worse shape than Spike would admit.

 

“That was a quick and dirty job,” he said over his shoulder. “I don't know how long it'll hold.”

 

He was answered by an angry rumbling from behind, and the sound of stone weakening.