Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ By Sightless Lightning ❯ Part VI - Central ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Edward tried to sleep on the train, and only managed to fall into a kind of half-doze, propped against his brother in much the same way his brother was propped against him, both of them swaying with the motions of the train. He wasn't sure exactly what brought him to full wakefulness, but when he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was their interlaced fingers, the white cloth of his glove dovetailing around pale flesh.

I'll never let anything happen to you, he promised his brother silently, with the grogginess of that moment between sleep and waking. His fingers twitched a little, closing over Alphonse's, and the joints protested the change in position after stiffening over the hours he'd napped.

Glancing out the window, Edward saw that the train had left the farmlands behind and was approaching Central. So that was what had woken him, the subtle feel of the train beginning to slow down.

He had to find some way to keep Alphonse away from Mustang. Mustang would have something to say about his brother's condition, and Edward had no delusions that it would be anything good. If he was lucky, he could hope for merely snarky, something along the lines of, So this is the grand result of all those years of research and work. The College of State Alchemists will be thrilled to get your thesis and find out how little you managed to accomplish with their grants. Edward would probably murder the man if he said something like that, but it would be preferable to some alternatives.

The best scenario, of course, would be for Alphonse and Mustang to just never cross paths. Edward could tell Mustang that his brother was ill, or shy, or busy, or anything but broken, and it would be plausible only if Mustang never laid eyes on the truth. The fact that Alphonse could barely let Edward out of his sight was going to be a problem ... he'd have to let his brother get comfortable in wherever they decided to stay, and then sneak out and leave his coat behind or something.

"Inn again, definitely," murmured Edward, half to himself and half to his dozing brother. Edward knew of an inn in Central with a very nice innkeeper, who had always had kind words for them both; they had stayed there from time to time when they were in Central and didn't want to advertise their presence by taking a room in the dormitory. It was inconveniently far from headquarters, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing if one was trying to hide from military personnel, and if Edward paid extra he was sure he could get the innkeeper to check in on Alphonse from time to time.

He didn't like the idea of leaving his brother alone, though, even if there was someone checking up on him. Edward tried to mentally catalogue how long, in real time, he had spent loitering around headquarters in East City, and was discouraged by his totals. There had always been secretaries to charm into typing up his reports for him, held mail to sort through, itinerant alchemists to avoid, expense accounts to write, grants to request ... if he actually needed to talk to someone, he always ended up cooling his heels for awhile first ... it always took hours and hours, even when Edward was making a conscious effort to spend as little time there as possible. Leaving Alphonse alone for hours at a time would fray his nerves to the limit.

Letting Mustang see Alphonse, however, was just not an acceptable alternative. Once he had his next assignment, he would worry about how to manage it when the time came.

The sound of the tracks changed as the train moved onto the bridge into Central, and Edward nudged his brother. "Al. Al, wake up, we're almost there."

Edward tried to put his worries out of his mind as Alphonse blinked at their linked hands, and then sat up. The look that Alphonse cast around himself was confused and wondering, as if seeing it all for the very first time, but there was no fear yet and Edward smiled at him.

"We're almost there," he said again, and draped his arm over his brother's shoulders to hug him for a moment. The motion was unexpectedly painful, his joints grinding as he moved, and Edward frowned. He never used to get stiff like this just riding a damned train.

As the train pulled into the station, other passengers began to gather their things, stand up, and prepare to disembark. Alphonse drew a little closer to Edward and curled their fingers together, but wasn't hiding his face yet. "Just let them all get off first," said Edward, setting his suitcase up on the seat facing him, where it would be easier to grab when they left. Every motion was painful. "There's no rush."

Having decided to take each challenge as it came, Edward wondered how to get Alphonse to the inn. There were always one or two cars from the military motor pool hanging around the train station, waiting to be commandeered, and while Edward's honorary rank was insufficient to entitle him to one, his silver watch made up the difference. A car would make the trip a lot faster and easier, but would entail dealing with a military driver, who might spread rumors about the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother. On the other hand, walking all the way to the inn from the train station would not only be more difficult, it carried a high risk of someone seeing them and starting a rumor anyway.

They'd need to pick up something to eat at some point as well. The prospect of food made Edward feel a little queasy, but neither of them had eaten anything since breakfast, and Alphonse would be hungry, surely.

By the time the last of the other passengers was leaving, Edward still hadn't decided what he was going to do. Perhaps he could take his chances with one of the inns that clustered around the train station.

"Come on, Al," he said, standing and stretching; this failed to drive the ache out of his muscles the way he'd expected it to. Persuading Alphonse to stand as well was a lot easier. "Let's go."

Alphonse came willingly enough. One hand was tightly twisted in Edward's sleeve, but he didn't seem to find it necessary to graft himself to Edward's arm yet. Edward gave his brother a bright grin that he didn't really feel, and was encouraged when his grin was mirrored back at him.

"We're going to do this," he said, as they stepped off the train. "We've done so much before, this isn't going to break us. As long as we're together, nothing can stop us, right? I know I've been pessimistic, and I know I need to stop that."

People swarmed around them, moving here and there through the station to buy tickets, catch trains, leave trains, change trains, meet people who were stepping off trains, load cargo, collect cargo. Alphonse's courage seemed to desert him, and he pressed himself suddenly and tightly against Edward's side, both hands clutching Edward's red sleeve.

"It's fine, it's fine," said Edward, pulling Alphonse toward the station exit. "We'll be out of here in no time. I promise."

Then he yelped as a hand landed on his shoulder, and the very last voice he wanted to hear in the world said, "Fullmetal."



Mustang had a car. Of course Mustang had a car.

"How did you know I was coming?" said Edward. He sat in the middle of the back seat, between the Colonel and his brother with his arms folded defensively. Alphonse's face was buried in his shoulder again, and that made Edward unhappy. So did the headache that was beginning to throb in his temples.

The question was ignored, but Edward had half-expected that. "I suppose you weren't on your way to headquarters to request a room," said Mustang. "Where were you headed?"

"Why do you want to know?" It took real effort to keep his voice even.

"Because I'll take you there if you just tell me," said Mustang, with an air of great patience.

Damn the man. Edward flexed his fingers, which were still feeling stiff and painful, and tried not to think about how good it would feel to deck his commanding officer. "We were going to stay at an inn over on Davidson Avenue."

Leaning forward a little, Mustang surveyed both Elrics beside him, and said in a neutral tone, "That's a little far from headquarters, isn't it?"

Edward glared at the back of the front seat. "Yes sir."

"You want I should head that way?" asked Havoc from behind the wheel.

Nobody replied, and the car did not alter course. Edward could tell that they were on route to headquarters without even watching the scenery out the windows.

After a long, awkward silence, Mustang said quietly, "How were you planning to hide this, Fullmetal?"

Just the sound of the man's voice was enough to make Edward's rage bubble over. "Who said I was planning on hiding anything!?"

Because Edward's eyes were fixed on the back of the front seat, he felt more than saw the meaningful look Mustang gave him. Alphonse shifted, pressing himself more closely to his older brother. "Perhaps I should have read your letters more carefully," said the Colonel. "I don't recall you mentioning ..."

"Shut up!" said Edward, before he knew what he was saying. He didn't want that to come out of Mustang's mouth, especially not in that cavalier, look-at-the-amusing-thing-Fullmetal-has-done-now tone of voice. It at least had the desired effect; Mustang broke off instantly in surprise, and after a moment, Edward added in a lower tone, "Sir."

When Mustang spoke again, his voice was pitched a bit differently, and some of the tone that had been rubbing Edward wrong was gone from it. "Stashing Alphonse-kun in an inn while you pretend nothing is wrong doesn't strike me as the best plan. But perhaps there was more to it than that."

Since Edward hadn't yet come up with anything else, he said nothing, just frowned angrily forward. This situation was going to become intolerable. He just knew it.

After a long pause, the Colonel said, "Lieutenant."

"Sir?" said Havoc.

"Home, please."

"Yours, I assume?"

"Correct."

"What?" asked Edward. And was it his imagination, or did Alphonse raise his head slightly off Edward's shoulder at the exchange?

As Havoc took the next right-hand turn, Mustang said, "I want the two of you to stay in my guest room."

"What!?"

That tone of amused tolerance was back in the Colonel's voice as he said, "Obviously you don't want to stay in the dorms. I doubt you want your brother left alone for long periods of time either."

"That doesn't mean we want to live with you," said Edward. His headache spiked suddenly, and he resisted the urge to rub his temple.

Mustang gave him an odd look out of the corner of one dark eye. "You and I need to have a long, long talk Fullmetal. We can do this in my office, with your brother alone in an inn, or we can do it in my home with your brother sitting beside you. It's really up to you."

Alphonse made a soft sound in Edward's ear, one that wasn't easily categorized. Edward growled, and said nothing further.



The threatened talk didn't happen immediately, as Edward had more than half-feared. Mustang showed them his guest room and told Edward they were welcome to eat anything they wanted, and that he would be back soon. Almost before Edward could turn around again, the Colonel was gone on whatever business he had at this time of the afternoon.

"I really can't stand him," muttered Edward. He set his suitcase down on the floor. "Come on, let's see what that bastard has in his kitchen."

As soon as the suitcase was down, however, Alphonse tugged on him to make him turn around, and to Edward's surprise started kissing him. So great was his surprise at this sudden affection that when Alphonse lost his balance and fell against him, Edward overbalanced and fell as well, toppling sideways onto the bed as his leg caught the edge. Reflexes alone made him catch himself with his automail, and then Alphonse landed on him, heavy enough to bruise and still trying to kiss him. Very few of the kisses landed on Edward's mouth, and it didn't take much to figure out that Alphonse was looking for comfort more than sex.

"What's the matter?" asked Edward gently, holding his brother in a tight embrace that made his muscles ache. "It'll be all right, I promise. I promise."

The worst that could happen, of course, would be for Mustang to have Alphonse sent off a lab. That had been a danger for years, though, and although the Colonel liked to threaten, Edward had stopped believing that it would ever actually happen. He no longer remembered at what point the Colonel's threats had stopped sounding like threats and had started to sound like just one of those things the Colonel always said that meant nothing. When it had joined the same category as "Sit up straight, Fullmetal," "Don't glare at the General," and "Since you announce yourself everywhere you go anyway, why don't we have you fitted for a uniform?"

There were probably other things Mustang could do that would make life unpleasant. He'd probably have to put up with a lot of those judgmental looks, the cool ones that weighed everything he was and everything he'd ever done and invariably found him wanting. The ones that made him feel like a freshly-mortal twelve-year-old again. He'd already gotten one back in the train station, after Mustang had taken a good, close look at Alphonse. Edward, in his concern over what Mustang would say, had forgotten just how bad those looks could be, especially when Mustang wasn't saying anything at all.

There was no point in telling Alphonse any of this, though ... if Alphonse was capable of understanding, he already knew it.

Having a warm, pliant body next to his own was having the expected effect on Edward's libido despite the rust in his muscles and the light throb that signaled the beginnings of a headache, but he tried to ignore it. Rolling Alphonse over onto his back made him easier to kiss, but Edward tried to restrict himself to dry, closed-lipped kisses on his brother's cheek. "It'll be okay," he said once more, burying his face in the crook of Alphonse's neck. His coat spread out over the both of them, the chafe of cloth against cloth suddenly uncomfortable. "Nothing will happen to you. Or me. Okay?"

While his brother clutched him by the lapels of his coat, Edward stroked his sandy hair and kissed his temple, until Alphonse started to relax a little. "It's nothing," said Edward, soothingly. "Nothing is going to happen, I swear."

He hoped Alphonse didn't suddenly need comforting like this while Mustang was around. The clutching and hair-petting would be pretty easy to explain ... the moist kisses less so, and if Alphonse developed an erection, Edward might well die on the spot of shame. So far, Alphonse had remained well-behaved around other people, but given his brother's erratic behavior, it seemed like just a matter of time before Alphonse decided that he wanted a cuddle and forgot that they had an audience.

For this reason, Edward gave serious consideration for a few long moments to sliding down his brother's body, unfastening his pants, and using his mouth on his brother's cock until he came. It had nothing at all to do with his own desire to taste Alphonse again ... nothing at all. However, there was no telling when Mustang would get back. It could be ten seconds or four hours. It was tempting to assume a best-case scenario, but Edward's better sense was assisted by the headache and got control of him before things went too far.

Besides which, the man hadn't even said why he'd left. If Edward were inclined toward paranoia, he might get carried away in nervous speculation about military police and military prisons and military labs. So before Alphonse began to get more out of the kisses than the comfort he'd originally seemed to want, Edward drew back and laid his head on his brother's shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay," he promised softly.

He should really go find out what kind of stuff the Colonel had in his kitchen and feed Alphonse. Edward himself still felt a little sick to his stomach with nerves, too much so to eat, but Alphonse would probably eat if offered food. It was terribly comfortable to just rest here, though, sprawled half-over Alphonse with their limbs tangled together, and Edward was loathe to get up.

Before he knew it, he'd closed his eyes with his brother's arms around him, and dozed.