Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Descent ❯ Plans ( Chapter 27 )

 

Descent

 

Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

Plans

 

 

Winry leaned against the door frame of Al's bedroom. The alchemist was sitting at a small desk with his back toward her. She could tell he was writing something, and whatever it was that he was writing was frustrating him.

 

The sandy-haired teen would scribble something, look at it, then shake his head before crossing it out. As she watched him, it became apparent that this cycle had been going on for sometime as he finally crumpled up the paper and dropped it into the almost full waste basket beside him. A few balls of papers dotted the floor around his chair as well.

 

Sighing, Al dropped his head into his hands and shook his head. She smiled when she heard him mumbling to himself, then asked, “What are you writing?”

 

Winry's smile grew when he jumped at her voice and scrambled out of his chair to face her. “Nothing! I'm not doing anything! Why do you ask?” he replied quickly, his face turning a dark red.

 

His embarrassment was so prominent that she started laughing. “It's okay, you don't have to tell me.” She paused, then said mischievously, “You want me to take your trash out for you?”

 

“Er…no, that's alright…” he said slowly, his eyes darting away from hers, then back again. “What do you want?”

 

She shook her head. It wasn't like Al to be so direct. Figuring something important must be on his mind, Winry decided to stop playing with him and get to the point. “Lunch is ready. I thought you might be hungry.”

 

He blinked at her as if trying to process the new information, then said, “Oh…okay. I'll be down in a few minutes…”

 

Winry nodded, then said playfully, “You're sure you don't want me to take out your…” But before she could finish, Al walked over, gave her a small glare and closed the door.

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Roy sat in a chair by Fuery's bed and stared at the unconscious man. The man's pale skin clashed horribly with his short dark hair. He also looked so different without his glasses on… All the wires and tubes attached to his subordinate made Roy wince. There was one for feeding, one for some sort of medication, and a couple for life support… Every so often the life support machine would make a beeping sound and it reminded him of when Ed had been in a coma.

 

Reminded him why he couldn't get Ed involved…

 

The doctors all agreed that his master sergeant would recover physically, but they were still unsure about mentally. He'd hoped the man would wake soon so that they would be able to find out for sure. But still, after two weeks, Fuery slept.

 

He sighed and cast his eyes around the room. There were cards, flowers, balloons…even little stuffed animals. It seemed Kain Fuery was quite well known. Roy really hadn't had any idea that his subordinate volunteered his free time to animal shelters, soup kitchens, and various other nonprofit organizations…

 

Well, you learn something new everyday.

 

Roy's eyes rested on a large poster that was hanging on the wall. It said “We Love You Kain” in big, bright letters and then it was signed by the more than three hundred children that lived in Central's government run orphanage.

 

It all just made him feel that much worse…

 

Fishing out his watch, Roy depressed the button and gazed inside at the picture of him and Maes.

 

It had been his fault that Maes had been killed too. He should have insisted his friend tell him what was going on. He'd had a feeling the man was hiding something from him, but… Roy shook his head. He hated risking the lives of his subordinates, but if they were willing…

 

I'm so pathetic… he thought as he snapped the watch shut. He'd take all the hits if he could, but he knew he couldn't. They were all trying to help him to the top, help him so that he could better this country.

 

Standing up, Roy looked down at the short master sergeant before heading toward the door.

 

I won't let this all be in vain, he thought as he let himself out of the room.

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Fletcher groaned and pushed himself up off the grass. His whole body hurt and all he wanted to do was give up and lay there, but he couldn't. Not yet. He still had the energy to go on, so that's what he would do. As he got to his feet, the small alchemist turned to face Izumi and put his hands up again.

 

“Once more!” the woman commanded, and at that Fletcher ran toward her, intending on striking her left side, but again he was knocked down. His nose hit the ground first and seconds later he felt blood gush down his face.

 

“That will be all for now,” she said in a hard voice, then continued more kindly, “Why don't you go find something to stop that.”

 

He nodded and, with a hand over his face, rushed into the house. He knew exactly where the medical supplies were kept, since he had to use them often, and was able to find himself something to hold over his nose.

 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Fletcher scowled. This wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind when he'd asked her to train him, but everyday he trained physically as well as mentally. Some days she trained with him, others she only sat and watched him. Fletcher had a feeling that she'd never sat and watched Ed or Al train on their own, though she might have watched them train together...

 

Maybe...

 

Probably not.

 

No…now that he'd spent more time with her, he was beginning to see that these little things were actually big indicators that she was truly unwell. Fletcher had a bad feeling that she felt fifty times worse than what she showed. That just seemed to be the nature of the woman...

 

When he finally got his nose to stop bleeding, Fletcher washed his hands and walked back outside. He stopped when he saw Sig and Izumi talking.

 

“…and I'll need to get a new one,” Sig was saying.

 

Izumi nodded. “Well, it was an old knife. That type of thing is bound to happen. Don't worry about it.”

 

“It's not the knife I'm worried about,” the big man rumbled.

 

“I'll be fine. You'll only be gone for a week. I'll have Fletcher here, so don't worry,” she said with a small smile.

 

The blond boy watched as Sig reached out and tenderly hugged his wife. With a small smile, Fletcher retreated back into the house. He wasn't meant to see that, but he couldn't help feeling happy at how much love his teacher and her husband shared.

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Ed stared glumly out the train window and took another bite of the meat-filled bun he had bought at the train station.

 

Two weeks.

 

Two fucking weeks…

 

Instead of going straight to Rush Valley, Ed had gotten off at every major town along the way and stayed for a few days. He'd done stupid touristy things, like sightseeing and annoying the locals.

 

He'd even bought a few souvenirs...

 

None of it had been too exciting, but it had kept him from getting to his destination. There really hadn't been a big hurry for him to get there, but he had just wanted to get away...

 

Ed was trying to work everything out in his mind, but so far the only thing he accomplished was dull anger, hurt and confusion when he thought of his fight with Mustang. He didn't want to be angry, and perhaps he'd overreacted a little, but it wasn't fair!

 

The other officers knew what was going on, but he didn't, and he was a higher rank than them! He didn't know anything... How could the colonel keep him in the dark about what was going on? Especially on something that might get him hurt like...

 

Ed took another bite of the bun, looked at it, then tossed it in the paper sack it had come in. He returned his gaze to the passing scenery as he chewed.

 

Of course, there was the even more painful question of, `Do I have any sort of real relationship with Roy Mustang?' This question had been eating at him the whole trip. They lived together, slept together, and fucked each other senseless, but did that really mean they had any sort of real relationship?

 

What exactly was a `real' relationship?

 

He didn't know.

 

Maybe they had one. Maybe there was nothing more to relationships than what they already had, but...

 

Ed had fantasized about the man for quite a while after he'd woken up in the hospital, and to have those fantasies realized was just… well, it had been much better than anything he came up with, but…

 

With a sigh, he stared longingly at his bag on the seat across from him where his almost empty pack of smokes was stashed away.

 

Damn `no smoking on passenger trains' laws...

 

Hawkeye had told him that Mustang had a lot of problems, but who didn't? He definitely had plenty of problems... Ed shook his head. He was still surprised the lieutenant knew about them. She knew, and disapproved, but she hadn't said anything. It was a good thing she was so loyal to Mustang. Fraternizing with your subordinate could mean serious problems…

 

He looked across at the seat in front of him.

 

It was empty.

 

Of course.

 

It made him sad, seeing that empty space. He and Alphonse had done so much traveling together that it just seemed unnatural not to have a huge suit of armor sitting in front of him. Ed shook his head. If Al were here they might be playing cards or arguing about something silly, or…

 

But he wasn't here.

 

He was in Rizembool with Winry.

 

Ed snorted. Al probably didn't have a care in the world right now, except perhaps… He frowned and felt guilt flood through him. His brother was probably worried about him… Al always worried about everything.

 

With a sigh, Ed plucked irritably at the white shirt he was wearing; his uniform was packed away in his suitcase. Mustang thought he was acting childish by not calling Al, but…well…perhaps he was. Perhaps he was being selfish, but he didn't want to chance Al finding out…

 

But still…he didn't want the colonel to think of him as… With a start, Ed realized where his train of thought was going and growled. Why did all his thoughts have to come back to that bastard anyway…

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Russell stepped onto the platform and stretched. It felt good to be off that dumb train. He'd never been a big fan of trains…

 

Adjusting the pack on his back, the chemist made his way through the mass of people and looked for the exit. It was back to walking now. He could probably scrape enough together to take him another fourth of the way, but then he'd have no money for food.

 

Nope, it was back to walking and camping…

 

This he didn't mind much, now that he was out of the south. Summer in the south was just atrocious. Russell hated the heat, and he didn't mind complaining about it either. Thank goodness Rizembool was to the north(1). It would still be warm, but not bad.

 

“Russell Tringham,” a voice yelled and he turned around to see who had called him. Suddenly his eyes fell on a brown-haired teen that was jogging toward him. When the brunet caught up he said, “You remember me right?”

 

Russell nodded. “Urayami, right?”

 

“You do remember!” the teen said ecstatically.

 

How could I forget? Russell thought sarcastically, thinking of the horrible name the guy got stuck with.

 

“Where are you headed?” Urayami asked.

 

“North,” he answered, then asked, “What are you doing here?”

 

“Oh, I just had some things I had to do, no big deal.” The brunet looked around. “Where's your brother?”

 

“He's staying at that woman's house you told us about,” Russell said sourly.

 

“Excellent,” Urayami said with a pleased smile. Before he could ask why it was so `excellent', the teen said, “You don't mind if I travel with you, do you?”

 

“I guess not…why?” he asked.

 

“You said you were going to tell me all about your new government,” the brunet said, then grabbed a hold of the tall blond and said, while dragging him to the train station exit, “I can't wait to hear about it. You have to tell me everything. Not just about the new government, but about you and your brother as well…”

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

When Roy let himself out of Kain's room, he saw Vato Falman sitting on a chair by the door. The graying man stood, saluted, and said, “Sir, the nurses told me you were here.”

 

He nodded and said, “You were hoping to see Fuery?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Roy nodded, caught the attention of one of the nurses, and made a gesture that said he was taking Falman with him into the room. The head nurse, an older woman with red hair, nodded curtly and returned her attention to what she'd been doing before.

 

The rules for visiting a patent in intensive care were pretty strict; family only, unless the patient was in the military. Military personnel were allowed to be visited by their superior officer. Of course the loophole for the military was that a superior officer could bring in junior staff members; therefore, any lower ranking officer could see a patent as long as they were with a superior officer.

 

Roy shook his head.

 

It would be better not to have such a dumb rule in the first place. That would save superior officers a lot of time.

 

Falman looked around the room at the accessories and smiled. “It was nice of the nurses to put all this stuff out for him.”

 

The colonel nodded.

 

There had been plenty of unhappy people who had wanted to see the master sergeant, but had been turned away. All they could do was leave their cards, flowers, balloons, etc., and say they would come back when he was awake.

 

Of course, with all the doctors saying he would live, there was really no reason to keep him in this ward, but they were doing it for security reasons. Not that it would stop someone determined to kill the man off, but Roy didn't think anyone else would be going after Fuery.

 

“You couldn't have done anything,” Falman said, and Roy looked up in surprise. He had let his thoughts wander…

 

“Perhaps,” Roy said noncommittally.

 

“He wouldn't want you to blame yourself,” the other man said and put a hand on Roy's shoulder. The colonel could only nod. He didn't believe it, not for a minute. If it hadn't been for him, then Fuery would probably be fine.

 

Falman looked as if he wanted to say more, but held himself back. Of course he held himself back. They both knew the room was heavily bugged.

 

“I'm sure we'll catch whatever punk kids did this,” the graying man said meaningfully, then paused for a moment before saying, “I have to go, thanks for taking me in to see him.” The man held out his hand and Roy took it.

 

After shaking hands, Roy was about to let go, but Falman held tighter. “Take care of yourself, sir.” The worry was evident in his eyes. “You look tired. Try taking a break.”

 

You mean take care and watch my back. Perhaps try taking a break from this case... he thought, then said, “I'll try to take care of myself, but I have a job to do, and I'll do whatever it takes to get it done.”

 

With a sigh, Falman nodded and let go of Roy's hand. With a salute of farewell, the man left the hospital room.

 

For a moment, Roy just stood there, then sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. After a minute, he let go of the paper Falman had slipped him, took his hands out of his pockets and left the room.

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

“This is really good,” Al said, grinning at Winry.

 

She blushed slightly and his grin widened. It was always great to be able to say something that made her blush or smile.

 

“I agree,” Pinako said. “Your cooking skills have really improved recently. I suppose when you have an incentive to excel in something it really makes a difference.”

 

Winry looked down at her plate and her blush deepened.

 

Incentive? Al thought. He opened his mouth to ask what the old woman was talking about when suddenly the front door crashed open. All three of them turned to look and when Al saw who it was he scowled angrily.

 

“Well, I hope we aren't interrupting anything, but we're here to inspect. Make sure everything is alright,” Colonel Archer said and walked into the room. The man was followed by Kimblee and a group of soldiers.

 

The three of them stood and Pinako walked toward them and growled, “Well as you can see, young man, we are all fine.”

 

The pale man gave her a tight lipped, condescending smile. “We'll just check around to make sure you don't have any `uninvited guests' hanging around your house,” he said, then motioned for the soldiers to begin their search.

 

“The only `uninvited guests' here are you and your soldiers,” Pinako replied.

 

“Hey!” Winry yelled, when one of the soldiers dumped a box of screws onto the floor, but the soldier paid her no mind.

 

The blond mechanic growled and began walking forward as if to show the soldier who was boss, but Al grabbed her and held her back.

 

“Winry,” he hissed softly.

 

“But, Al…” she looked up at him and he could see hurt frustration in her eyes.

 

Pressing his lips together, the teen turned to Archer and said, “I don't think your men are going to find anyone hiding in little boxes.”

 

Archer only shrugged and walked across the room to where the stairs were. Motioning to a few soldiers, the man began up the stairs to where the bedrooms were located.

 

With an angry look on her face, Winry again tried to storm away, but Al kept a hold of her.

 

“This is stupid,” she raged. “They're just doing this to be assholes!” The blonde turned her angry glare to where Kimblee was standing with an amused grin on his face.

 

“Winry, calm down,” Pinako said and pointed to a chair. “Sit. Being angry, or arguing, isn't going to help anything.”

 

With a huff, the girl sat heavily in one of the chairs, folded her arms and looked away, but not before Al saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

 

Feeling more upset about the fact that these men had made Winry cry than the invasion of their privacy, Al stepped forward as if to follow Archer up the stairs, but Kimblee instantly moved to his side and grabbed his arm.

 

“I don't think so,” the dark haired alchemist said, still wearing a small smirk on his face.

 

Quickly, Al weighed his options. He could fight the other alchemist, and probably lose, creating problems for all of them, or he could hold back…

 

The tall teen looked back at Winry who was now staring at him with frightened eyes.

 

Frightened for him…

 

With a sigh, Al nodded and said, “Fine.” He tried to shake the man's hand off, but Kimblee wouldn't let go. In irritation, Al looked over at the man and said, “You can let me go, I won't cause any trouble.”

 

The other alchemist's grin broadened and he tightened his grip on Al's arm. “I'm sure you would make a fine bomb,” the man murmured, then brought his other hand up to caress Al's face. “After I played with you a little.”

 

The teen's eyebrows knit together in confusion. After he was played with? What did that mean?

 

With a cry of rage, Winry launched herself at the dark haired man and began hitting him with her fists. “Stay away from him, you sick pervert!”

 

Letting go, Kimblee started to fend off the angry mechanic, but Al had read enough about this man to know that he wouldn't hesitate killing her if he wanted to. The sandy-haired teen reached out and grabbed a hold of her, pulling her away from the surprised man.

 

“Winry,” he said, trying to calm her.

 

“Let me go, Al!” she screamed hysterically.

 

“No! Stop it! You're going to get hurt!” he yelled, wondering how long he'd be able to hold her back.

 

“What the hell is going on here?” Archer asked, descending the stairs with the other soldiers.

 

“This bitch just started attacking me for no reason,” Kimblee said mildly.

 

At that, Winry screamed, “You liar!”

 

“Winry, stop!” Al pleaded. “Just ignore him.”

 

With a sigh that was obviously fake, Archer said, “Really…I just don't see it…”

 

Al looked at him in confusion, then his eyes widened when he saw the piece of crumbled up paper in the man's hand. Anger flared up inside of him at having something so personal looked at. He almost wanted to let Winry go so that she could attack him, but he didn't. It would just make things worse.

 

“Have you thought about my offer?” the pale man asked.

 

Al silently glared at the man.

 

“I see. Well, think it over. I would hate for something…bad…to happen…” When he said the word `bad', Archer's eyes flicked to Winry, then back. The man motioned the soldiers to the door, then said, “Sometimes soldiers get out of hand…I mean, I can't watch them all the time…”

 

“Get out of my house, now,” Pinako demanded.

 

With a shrug, Archer walked toward the door. Kimblee was slower at leaving. The long-haired man looked at Al and let his eyes travel up and down the teen's body before smirking again and following the others out the door.

 

After the door closed, Winry turned around and wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. “I hate that man. I hate him!” She sniffled and he knew she was trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

 

With a sigh, Al wrapped his arms around her. He hated the man too. He didn't like anyone who made her sad or upset. He only wanted to see smiles on her face.

 

“I'll protect you, Al,” Winry said fiercely.

 

She would protect him? What was she talking about? Al tightened his hold on her with a bad feeling that perhaps she was the one who needed protection.

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Colonel Henry Douglas(2) stood with his arms folded as he scanned the darkness of the abandoned warehouse. He was here on orders from the higher ups, but also on orders from Kagegkuski.

 

He was sort of the middle man in the communications between The People's Army and those in the military who supported them. Of course, he was sure there were others. He wasn't so stupid as to believe himself indispensable, but he knew he was fairly well trusted by both sides, and that made all the difference.

 

This was why Henry had been given this particular assignment. The higher ups in the military that were conspiring with Kagegkuski knew there were a few investigations that were focused on finding them, and they wanted to put a stop to it.

 

He'd already detoured most of the investigation groups, but there was one in particular that…

 

The sound of pebbles crunching met his ears, and Henry whipped his head around toward the sound. It was dark and he couldn't see who was coming, but he knew it could be no one else than who he was waiting for.

 

When the sound stopped, the colonel pushed his glasses up and said, “It took you long enough.”

 

Silence.

 

With a sigh, Henry said, “Has the investigation stopped?”

 

“No,” the other said simply.

 

“Damn…” he whispered and ran his fingers through his white hair. “I've been told the target is still alive, but I don't think that matters. He was only to be a message anyway. That damn upstart doesn't know when to quit. Well, I guess we'll have to make him quit.”

 

Henry felt no remorse at killing off the leader of this investigation. The man was an annoyance and a threat to his career. No one should be able to advance in the ranks that quickly.

 

“Those who surround him will protect him,” came the voice from the shadows. “They are extremely loyal.”

 

Henry chuckled and asked, “All of them?”

 

To that, there was no answer.

 

--

1- In chapter five I made a footnote about Rizembool being to the north, because on the fansub I had it said north, but then I was listening to the English dub and it said East... I was like, WTF?? So, there was nothing for it but for me to put it on Japanese and actually listen to what they were saying, and wouldn't you know it? Al said east... That really doesn't change much in this story. Rizembool will still be to the north in this story, and most likely in every other story of mine that you read because I think I like it being to the north… haha But I just wanted to put this note in for all the die-hards out there.

 

2- Henry Douglas is from the Manga.

 

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