Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Phoenix Hoshika 
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.16.2005 | Updated On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 371 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.16.2005 | Updated On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.2K | Visits: 371 | Status: Completed
Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chapter Nine
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable Alphonse opened his eyes noticing the darting glances of by-passers. As a living suit of armor Alphonse had come to accept that people would stare since it's not everyday you see someone walking around in full armor and was just thankful that no one got too curious and kept their distance for the most part, but now there was no reason for the stares that he could see. Suddenly Edward's body went limp in his arms. "Not again." Alphonse sweat dropped as he hoisted Edward over his back under curious gazes then made his way to the hotel down the street.
Edward was coming to just as Alphonse entered their room. Groaning he opened his eyes to get a good view of the floor and his brother's backside. "Hey, the blood has all drained into my head."
"Sorry, Brother." Alphonse said setting Edward on his feet who almost fell over backward from dizziness. Luckily Alphonse caught his arms and helped him balance. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine, just need to sit down for a while." Edward said plopping down on the foot of the bed. The truth was Edward was feeling as if he would pass out again. "Geez, it's hot in here." He said unzipping his shirt and taking it off.
"Ed! What are you doing!?" Alphonse nearly shouted. He had sat down beside him, but had bolted to the other end side of the bed when Edward started stripping.
"Relaxing," Edward said pulling off his pants and tossing them to the other side of the room straight into the chair where the rest of his clothes were flung. Falling back on the bed Edward let out a heavy sigh. Alphonse had almost immediately busied himself neatly hanging the cloths up in the closet.
"How many girls just take off their clothes in front of their brothers like that?" Alphonse wondered as he turned on the radio pretending to listen to the broadcast as he sat at the desk with his back turned to Edward. "Winry never took her clothes off in front of us, but Winry isn't our sister and Ed is actually my brother… though in that body that's not really true anymore. He's acting as did before for the most part. Brother knows he's a girl now, but I don't think he's fully accepted it yet. And I have? I'm a horrible brother!" Alphonse thought as he grabbed his head with both hands and started sulking.
"Hey we should go check it out." Edward said propping himself up on his left arm.
"Huh?" Alphonse uttered lifting his head.
"The commercial for the bath house that just opened up here, we should go check it out."
"Yeah." Alphonse agreed keeping his back turned, he was so focused on mentally berating himself he didn't hear the advertisement.
"First thing in the morning before anyone else can get there." Edward said enthusiastically.
"Hm-hmm." Alphonse responded then stood up. "I'm going to get something to eat." He said stiffly hoping Edward would want to come along which meant he would have to put his cloths back on.
"Bring me back something." Edward said rolling over and closing his eyes.
Alphonse flinched as if someone had dropped a ton of brick on his head. At least he'd be able to get away from the room for a little while without seeming suspicious. "Okay." He agreed and left.
It was only after a twenty minute nap that Edward realized that his gold watch was lying on the floor. When he awoke he had looked down and saw it on the floor between the bed and the night stand. "Oops can't start being so careless with this now." Edward said picking it up along with the wallet that had ended up on the floor with it. Then it hit him. How was Alphonse going to pay for the food without any money and more importantly why hadn't he come back to get it? While in Central he had made a quick stop by the bank for some traveling money. Even though he could have just flashed his watch and have whatever purchases he made charged to his military account Edward was extremely uncomfortable doing so and not every town welcomed military personal, not to mention he didn't even truly consider himself one of them. Being a State Alchemist was simply a means to and end. Sitting on the bed Edward's face turned a bright red as a frown overtook his features.
"I'm going to kill him!" Edward thought as he sat boiling. "I'm going to wait and when he comes back I'm going to murder him, because if I go find him now there will be witnesses.”
Forty more minutes had passed before Alphonse wearily made his way back to the hotel. Before leaving the restaurant he had ordered Edward something to eat and was carrying the still warm meal in a paper bag. Alphonse had barely touched the door knob when the door flew open and he was grabbed in before he could blink.
"Explain yourself!" Edward demanded.
"Sorry, I took so long." Alphonse apologized handing Edward the bag who snatched it away and angrily removed the food and started eating. "You know if you had come with me-"
"That's not what I was talking about!" Edward growled as he greedily finished off the pork chow mein. "You!...." Edward started, but grabbed his stomach and sat back down on the bed. "Guess it wasn't a good idea to just swallow everything like that, but I was hungry and I can't kick his ass on an empty stomach." Edward thought as he took a minute out from his angry rampage to recover from eating nearly a quart of food in less than two minutes.
"Brother?" Alphonse said concerned taking a cautious step toward him, but quickly backed up when Edward looked up at him with an enraged expression glued onto his face.
"How could you, even after I told you not to!? Edward demanded as he stomped over to Alphonse who was backing away in tune with each step Edward took toward him. They were standing face to face and Alphonse's back was to the door.
"I didn't pick up any strays today, honest." Alphonse said holding up his hands.
"Don’t play innocent! How did you pay for this stuff? You left right out of here without my wallet so how did you pay for it?"
"How could I have been so careless?" Alphonse thought. "I was in such a hurry to get out of here I totally let that slip my mind. He must be really upset because he didn't come after me like he usually does when I do something to upset him. This means he's really going to lay into me for this one, but what choice did I have?"
"Resign! Quit right now!" Edward shouted.
"No, I can't do that." Alphonse solemnly refused.
"You mean you won't. If I can't talk any sense into you then I guess I'll have to beat it into you!" Edward said attacking his brother who ducked and moved away from the door.
"You can't do that you'll disturb the other guests." Alphonse pointed out hoping to stay Edward's rage to no avail as the teen continued his onslaught, so much for no witnesses. Alphonse continued to dodge and block his attacks until his foot slipped on the rug by the bed and he fell back onto it. Edward wasted no time pouncing on him and before he could raise a hand to strike him the door to their room flew open.
"Is there a problem?" A male hotel staff member asked from the door with his back turned. The Elric's room was between two unoccupied rooms so despite the commotion within the room no one else heard or was disturbed by it. The staff member just so happened to be passing their room when he heard what sounded like a violent struggle and thought maybe a thief or something was attacking whoever was in the room. When he opened the door he ended up misinterpreted what was going on when he saw Edward on top of Alphonse practically naked.
"No, and can't you see we're in the middle of something? Get out already!" Edward boomed."
"Hm, yes. Please excuse my interruption. Enjoy your stay." The man said quickly closing the door and going about his business.
"Now where was I?" Edward said out loud looking down at Alphonse. "Awe, damn it, Al," Edward noisily uttered as he got off of Alphonse letting him up and sat beside him. Edward couldn't bring himself to mercilessly pound the crap out of his little brother even if he thought he did deserve it, but he wasn't going to let him off that easy. An evil expression came across Edward's face as he balled up his left hand and punched Alphonse in the stomach as hard as he could. Letting out a sound that sounded somewhat like a squeak Alphonse toppled head first onto the floor.
"It's bad enough I'm caught up in the military and have to do God only knows what at their command, but now you're caught up in it too. I was hoping you could at least remain safe, that if someone's hands had to get dirty that at least yours would remain clean. Why did you do it? Why couldn't you have just stayed away like I told you to?" Edward questioned his voice quivering, but he held in the tears that threatened to fall.
"…I…I just couldn't…let you do it… all on… you own." Alphonse whispered from his position on the floor. It hurt to breath and considering how hard Edward had hit him it hurt to think; now he expected him to talk?
"You could have continued helping me as you always did and you still haven't given me a good reason for this." Edward said flatly.
"It was because… I can't… I can't truly help… if I'm restricted." Alphonse said still struggling to speak. "I can't stand seeing you in such pain. If we both have access to restricted material then the research on how to change you back would go much faster. Brother, I can no longer let you go at it alone like this especially with your health the way it is now. You have secrets you're keeping from me too that I wish you'd tell me, so I just hope you can accept this for now. Besides it's not like I was all that innocent to begin with." Alphonse thought as he quivered on the floor. "Like you said that person we created may not have been our mother, but we still pulled him into this world and caused him to live a horrible existence even if it was only for a few minutes before he died. You say you killed him, but if it had been the other way around I don't see how I would have done much differently."
Edward sat on the bed looking down at Alphonse's quivering body as he thought things through. He was still very upset with him for doing what he did, but it was his choice no matter how foolish of one it may have been. No one had beat him up when he decided to become a State Alchemist and even though she could have Pinako didn't stop him. Even though she strongly disagreed with his methods she did everything she could to enable him to accomplish that goal by outfitting him with her best automail work. "I'm sorry." Edward solemnly apologized.
"I… it's okay." Alphonse tried to assure, but when Edward took a better look he noticed a small puddle of blood on the floor under Alphonse's face and nearly had a heart attack
"No it's not okay! You're bleeding!" Edward screamed as he rushed to pick him up off the floor.
"Just a little…" Alphonse said not aware of the constant stream of blood falling out of his mouth. Edward ran to the bathroom to get a washcloth.
"Stop talking!" Edward commanded as he held the washcloth to his brother's face then leaned him back against the bed. Lifting up his shirt Edward could see a nasty, large black and blue bruise on his abdomen. Alphonse let out a painful whine when Edward touched it, his eyes swirling.
"EEEE! Don't you dare die on me! Edward screamed slapping his hand over his brother's mouth as what looked like a ghost tried to come floating up out of it. Edward's heart was pounding so fast his chest felt as if it would explode and the sound of it made his ears ring. Picking Alphonse up Edward ran out of the hotel like gust of wind to the hospital.
It was after 2 a.m. when Alphonse came to. Aside from the nasty bruise Edward had given him he had a slight concussion from falling over on the floor like he did. When the doctor's asked how it happened Edward shamefully admitted that they had gotten into a fight. This of course resulted in strange looks from the doctors who of course talked about him like a dog, but as long as Alphonse was going to be okay he didn't care, after all it wasn't like he didn't hit him which resulted in his falling and gaining a concussion to go along with the internal injuries he had given him. Edward had refused to leave the hospital and though weary about doing so the doctors let him stay in the room with Alphonse. Currently he sat fast asleep beside the bed, his head resting on the mattress beside his brother's body.
"Ed." Alphonse called weakly. "Brother." He called again lifting his hand to shake him, but found it near impossible to move beyond a slight wiggle. "What's wrong with me?" He thought still struggling to sit up.
"Huh?" Edward said waking up. "Al? Al! Are okay?" Edward asked relieved. Before Alphonse could answer the alarm clock sitting in Edward's lap went off, its annoying ring immediately starting to give Edward a head ache. "Damn!" Edward said unable to find the off switch and instead clapped his hands together using alchemy to break it into a million tiny pieces. "I'm supposed to wake you up for fifteen minutes every hour. They gave me this stupid piece of crap just in case I fell asleep. The nurse said she'd check in on you anyway. I guess they don't trust me." Edward said sweat dropping. Just as he was finishing his sentence the nurse appeared turning on the lights in the room.
"Oh! You're awake." She said surprised when she saw Alphonse's open eyes.
"Yeah, just like the time before, and the time before that and the time before that, need I go on?" Edward questioned angrily.
The nurse gave him a dirty look before addressing Alphonse. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, I think, but I can't move my arms and legs."
"Oh, that's because of all the morphine we gave you. It should wear off sooner or later." She said as she took his temperature for the eighth time that night. "Glad to see you're fully aware this time around." She said taking his blood pressure.
"This time?" Alphonse asked trying one last time to sit up.
"Yes, you've been here since six thirty last night."
"Last night?" Alphonse said the panic evident in her voice.
"Don't worry, it's only a little after 2 a.m. you haven't even been here a twelve hours yet."
"How did I get here?"
"Your sister apparently carried you here half naked." The nurse said giving Edward a disdainful glance. "I can't believe that little amazon monster would do such a thing to such a sweet boy."
"Ed?" Alphonse said turning his attention to his brother who was wearing a hospital robe and slippers.
"I guess I'll leave you two alone now." The nurse said excusing herself from the room.
"I'm so tired…" Alphonse said closing his eyes.
"Ah! No! I mean you can't! Stay awake! Stay awake!" Edward shouted running from one side of the bed to the other.
Alphonse gave a small giggle. "I'm okay, really." He said trying to close his eyes again, but Edward wouldn't let him be.
The nurse smiled to herself as she stood listening outside the door. "I guess it's okay to really leave them alone." She thought as she walked away.
"Al, I'm sorry." Edward finally said.
"It's okay." Alphonse assured.
"How can you say that when it's my fault you're in here?" Edward demanded. "I really am a jerk."
"Brother, do you remember when I accidentally broke six of your ribs when we were sparing one time?"
"That was a long time ago… you hadn't even been in the armor a year yet and you were still trying to get accustomed to that body. I just lost my temper and hurt the person I care about the most." Edward added sadly.
"Ed, we both know you're a jerk, but I'm not bothered by it so it's okay." Alphonse said with a smile, even though he did believe his brother to be "high maintenance" he had only called Edward a jerk as a joke
"That's a load off." Edward said sarcastically. "Just because you're okay with me being the biggest asshole in the world doesn't make what I did to you okay! Damn it Al, why do you have to be like this?" Edward asked breaking down into tears. Edward knew Alphonse wouldn't take even a quarter of the crap from anyone else he took from him, he knew if it were someone else he wouldn't be laying in that bed saying it was okay that they put him there. As far as Edward was concerned it was worse that it was him and not someone else that put him there yet here he was saying it was okay. It had always been like this. Edward knew how much his brother suffered being in that armored prison yet he was always there comforting him whenever he woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares or the pain the artificial limbs caused him. He hated how his little brother constantly kept watch over him because more than anything it was a testament to what a failure he was to him as a big brother. He was supposed be the one watching out for him not the other way around.
Alphonse watched his brother's body heave as he sat with his head face down on the mattress. He could tell by the labored breathing that he was crying again. There was a time when Alphonse thought that if Edward let it out every once and while that he wouldn't feel so burdened, but now he didn't know what to believe since Edward had been sadder and shedding more tears then he had ever seen or expected to see seen since their mother died and at that moment more than anything Alphonse wished the doctor's had not pumped him full of pain killers because despite the pain he might have been at least able to give his brother a hug.
"Ed, I love you. Who will if I don't? You said yourself all we have is each other. It's not because I feel it's an obligation, it's because I want to. Ed, I love you no matter what happens." Alphonse thought as he forced himself not to cry. "Ed, nothing can break the bond we have. Brother, do you hear me?" Alphonse said trying to sit up again to find he was no more capable of doing so than the last few times he tried. "Nothing can break the bond we have, nothing." Alphonse said his words an inaudible whisper as he drifted back into slumber.
During the night, partly out of guilt and worry, and partly because his back had begun to hurt sitting in the chair the way he was, Edward had climbed into the small twin sized bed with Alphonse. He lay on his side squished between the bed rail and Alphonse's body. It wasn't exactly the best resting position, but at least his back could get somewhat of a break.
"Morning..." A nurse said choppily as she entered the room. Her voice had trailed off and she sweat dropped seeing the two teens in the bed. "They told me his sister was here. Is that really his sister all over him like that?" The nurse wondered as she tried to figure out what to do. "My brother has been in the hospital many times because of his asthma and I've never once gotten into the bed with him. If these two are really brother and sister what kinky things are these kids into?"
"Rise and shine!" The nurse shouted her eyes tightly closed and her face the slightest shade of red as she turned on the lights.
"Geez, you don't have to yell." Edward complained rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
"Time to get out of bed!" The nurse yelled again as she continued to keep her eyes tightly closed.
"Okay already, grief." Edward mumbled as he shook Alphonse to wake him up.
"Hey, get up before Nurse Bullhorn has a heart-attack." Alphonse just gave a small moan as he unconsciously wrapped his arms around Edward's waist snuggling up close to him. The morphine had apparently worn off. "What the #$%@ is wrong with you? Wake up and get the hell off me!" Edward screamed. Alphonse bolted up.
"Who? What? Where? Huh?" Alphonse uttered wildly looking around before feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen. Finally he realized someone was sitting next to him and looked over at Edward. "What are you doing in my bed, Brother?"
"Get out of the bed already!" The nurse roared becoming angry. "This isn't a love hotel!"
Hopping out of the bed Edward was in the woman's face in no time flat. "What the @#*$ do you think was going on here!? Don't push your sick fantasies off on us!" Edward raged.
"You were the ones in the bed together!" The nurse shot back just as nasty.
Edward was starting to hyperventilate. "YOU BI-" Before Edward could get the last word completely out of his mouth Alphonse had ran up behind him slapping his left hand over his sibling's mouth and was holding him back with his right arm.
"I'm sorry Miss, but you're terribly mistake about us. This is my relative and she was just very concerned about me." Alphonse said trying his hand at correcting the woman.
"I saw the chart you know. For someone so concerned about you she sure had no problem sending you here." The nurse said holding up a clip board. Edward continued to scream profanities even though his mouth was firmly covered and Alphonse sweat dropped as he tightened his hold on Edward who tried to lung at the nurse again, arms and legs flailing in the air like the tentacles of a crazed octopus.
"Our fighting does get out of hand sometimes, but it really was an accident." Alphonse insisted as he continued to seemingly effortlessly keep Edward at bay. The nurse observed this and sighed.
"I guess I was wrong. I do apologize." She said and Edward finally calmed down. He didn't want to attack her anymore, but he was still rather angry and one wrong word could trigger another temper tantrum, Alphonse knew this so he never once loosened his grip on him.
"As you can see I'm just fine so there really wasn't anything to worry about." Alphonse continued.
"Your chart says otherwise." The nurse sternly pointed out.
"Maybe so, but there is no reason for me to stay here," Alphonse said as he moved toward the door.
"You can't just walk out of here, you're severely injured!" The nurse said jumping in front of him stretching out her arms blocking his path.
"I’m leaving." Alphonse said his usually soft eyes settling heavily on the woman. "Miss, I don't want to get into a confrontation with you." He said still holding Edward who was ready to lung at the nurse again, his golden eyes piercing into her like daggers.
"I could loose my job for this." The woman thought lowering her arms and stepping aside.
Once outside the hospital Alphonse released Edward and doubled over in pain. "Ah! Are you alright? Why didn't you just stay? What was all that shit about 'I'm just fine', just fine my ass! We're going back." Edward said grabbing hold of Alphonse's arm.
"Brother, it hurts still, but it's okay. I'll be fine." He said standing upright.
"If that's really what you want…" Edward said letting go of him then noticed that the couple that had passed them was staring at them. "What the **** are you looking at!? Edward boomed.
"You are in public walking around in a bathrobe." Alphonse pointed out.
"Like what you have on is any better?" Edward snapped. Alphonse was wearing hospital issue pajamas and was bare foot. Edward gave a huge sigh. "Let's, go back to the hotel and get dressed." He said walking off.
"Yeah, you still have to report to Mustang don't you?" Alphonse reminded.
"Oh $#%&! I nearly forgot!" Edward said then ran off out of sight.
Alphonse sighed and continued to slowly trudge along. Seconds later there was a gust of wind which caused some of the debris on the street to fly up and Edward was standing in front of Alphonse with a worried expression on his face. In his haste to get to Mustang's office early he almost let it slip his mind that his brother wasn't exactly in the best condition. Lifting Alphonse's right arm he put it around his shoulders.
"You'll be late if you help me along like this." Alphonse said as they slowly moved along.
"I was just about to tell you to stop moving." Edward said giving his brother a strange look. "I'm not about to be late, that's why I'm carrying you on my back." Edward said moving so that Alphonse was behind him. Edward quickly pulled his brother up onto his back and took off running.
"This is so embarrassing." Alphonse thought as tears streamed down his face through his closed eyes.
~*~ To Be Continued ~*~
A/N: More answers to your questions. Am being rather brief here so feel free to e-mail me if you want my special gift of gab answers LOL. If you do just make sure to use the story title as the subject so I don't mistake you for a spammer.
AnimeFreak92 wants to know;
"I went to your website and it said you have chapters 9-12 also, if so, why haven't you updated it yet? Or is that just how many chapthers this story is going to have in it?"
Answer: (edited from email) Dead links to chapters mean they aren't done yet and are the estimated number of just how many I'm more than likely going to have done before a writer's block attack. (sweat drop)
Fayte Angel wants to know; "u said something earlier about Al being the main character in your stories right? Get Ed with Roy and Roy introduce an OC to Al! can ya do that?"
Answer: Al is often overlooked, so I'm making the effort to give him just as much play if not more. Can't promise the requested pairings, but something along the lines of romance is sure to pop up sooner or later. ;)
Meirelle wants to know; "Why do people think this is perverted?"
Answer: Maybe the way I'm writing this makes things come off ever so slightly ambiguous giving room for people's minds to wonder? Maybe it was something I said? LOL (sweat drop).
We Want Roy Damnit!
I seriously thought Roy was going to make his début in this fiction for sure this chapter, but by the time I got to the end… LOL I'm sure he'll turn up in the next chapter. LOL (nervous sweat drop)
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chapter Nine
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable Alphonse opened his eyes noticing the darting glances of by-passers. As a living suit of armor Alphonse had come to accept that people would stare since it's not everyday you see someone walking around in full armor and was just thankful that no one got too curious and kept their distance for the most part, but now there was no reason for the stares that he could see. Suddenly Edward's body went limp in his arms. "Not again." Alphonse sweat dropped as he hoisted Edward over his back under curious gazes then made his way to the hotel down the street.
Edward was coming to just as Alphonse entered their room. Groaning he opened his eyes to get a good view of the floor and his brother's backside. "Hey, the blood has all drained into my head."
"Sorry, Brother." Alphonse said setting Edward on his feet who almost fell over backward from dizziness. Luckily Alphonse caught his arms and helped him balance. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine, just need to sit down for a while." Edward said plopping down on the foot of the bed. The truth was Edward was feeling as if he would pass out again. "Geez, it's hot in here." He said unzipping his shirt and taking it off.
"Ed! What are you doing!?" Alphonse nearly shouted. He had sat down beside him, but had bolted to the other end side of the bed when Edward started stripping.
"Relaxing," Edward said pulling off his pants and tossing them to the other side of the room straight into the chair where the rest of his clothes were flung. Falling back on the bed Edward let out a heavy sigh. Alphonse had almost immediately busied himself neatly hanging the cloths up in the closet.
"How many girls just take off their clothes in front of their brothers like that?" Alphonse wondered as he turned on the radio pretending to listen to the broadcast as he sat at the desk with his back turned to Edward. "Winry never took her clothes off in front of us, but Winry isn't our sister and Ed is actually my brother… though in that body that's not really true anymore. He's acting as did before for the most part. Brother knows he's a girl now, but I don't think he's fully accepted it yet. And I have? I'm a horrible brother!" Alphonse thought as he grabbed his head with both hands and started sulking.
"Hey we should go check it out." Edward said propping himself up on his left arm.
"Huh?" Alphonse uttered lifting his head.
"The commercial for the bath house that just opened up here, we should go check it out."
"Yeah." Alphonse agreed keeping his back turned, he was so focused on mentally berating himself he didn't hear the advertisement.
"First thing in the morning before anyone else can get there." Edward said enthusiastically.
"Hm-hmm." Alphonse responded then stood up. "I'm going to get something to eat." He said stiffly hoping Edward would want to come along which meant he would have to put his cloths back on.
"Bring me back something." Edward said rolling over and closing his eyes.
Alphonse flinched as if someone had dropped a ton of brick on his head. At least he'd be able to get away from the room for a little while without seeming suspicious. "Okay." He agreed and left.
It was only after a twenty minute nap that Edward realized that his gold watch was lying on the floor. When he awoke he had looked down and saw it on the floor between the bed and the night stand. "Oops can't start being so careless with this now." Edward said picking it up along with the wallet that had ended up on the floor with it. Then it hit him. How was Alphonse going to pay for the food without any money and more importantly why hadn't he come back to get it? While in Central he had made a quick stop by the bank for some traveling money. Even though he could have just flashed his watch and have whatever purchases he made charged to his military account Edward was extremely uncomfortable doing so and not every town welcomed military personal, not to mention he didn't even truly consider himself one of them. Being a State Alchemist was simply a means to and end. Sitting on the bed Edward's face turned a bright red as a frown overtook his features.
"I'm going to kill him!" Edward thought as he sat boiling. "I'm going to wait and when he comes back I'm going to murder him, because if I go find him now there will be witnesses.”
Forty more minutes had passed before Alphonse wearily made his way back to the hotel. Before leaving the restaurant he had ordered Edward something to eat and was carrying the still warm meal in a paper bag. Alphonse had barely touched the door knob when the door flew open and he was grabbed in before he could blink.
"Explain yourself!" Edward demanded.
"Sorry, I took so long." Alphonse apologized handing Edward the bag who snatched it away and angrily removed the food and started eating. "You know if you had come with me-"
"That's not what I was talking about!" Edward growled as he greedily finished off the pork chow mein. "You!...." Edward started, but grabbed his stomach and sat back down on the bed. "Guess it wasn't a good idea to just swallow everything like that, but I was hungry and I can't kick his ass on an empty stomach." Edward thought as he took a minute out from his angry rampage to recover from eating nearly a quart of food in less than two minutes.
"Brother?" Alphonse said concerned taking a cautious step toward him, but quickly backed up when Edward looked up at him with an enraged expression glued onto his face.
"How could you, even after I told you not to!? Edward demanded as he stomped over to Alphonse who was backing away in tune with each step Edward took toward him. They were standing face to face and Alphonse's back was to the door.
"I didn't pick up any strays today, honest." Alphonse said holding up his hands.
"Don’t play innocent! How did you pay for this stuff? You left right out of here without my wallet so how did you pay for it?"
"How could I have been so careless?" Alphonse thought. "I was in such a hurry to get out of here I totally let that slip my mind. He must be really upset because he didn't come after me like he usually does when I do something to upset him. This means he's really going to lay into me for this one, but what choice did I have?"
"Resign! Quit right now!" Edward shouted.
"No, I can't do that." Alphonse solemnly refused.
"You mean you won't. If I can't talk any sense into you then I guess I'll have to beat it into you!" Edward said attacking his brother who ducked and moved away from the door.
"You can't do that you'll disturb the other guests." Alphonse pointed out hoping to stay Edward's rage to no avail as the teen continued his onslaught, so much for no witnesses. Alphonse continued to dodge and block his attacks until his foot slipped on the rug by the bed and he fell back onto it. Edward wasted no time pouncing on him and before he could raise a hand to strike him the door to their room flew open.
"Is there a problem?" A male hotel staff member asked from the door with his back turned. The Elric's room was between two unoccupied rooms so despite the commotion within the room no one else heard or was disturbed by it. The staff member just so happened to be passing their room when he heard what sounded like a violent struggle and thought maybe a thief or something was attacking whoever was in the room. When he opened the door he ended up misinterpreted what was going on when he saw Edward on top of Alphonse practically naked.
"No, and can't you see we're in the middle of something? Get out already!" Edward boomed."
"Hm, yes. Please excuse my interruption. Enjoy your stay." The man said quickly closing the door and going about his business.
"Now where was I?" Edward said out loud looking down at Alphonse. "Awe, damn it, Al," Edward noisily uttered as he got off of Alphonse letting him up and sat beside him. Edward couldn't bring himself to mercilessly pound the crap out of his little brother even if he thought he did deserve it, but he wasn't going to let him off that easy. An evil expression came across Edward's face as he balled up his left hand and punched Alphonse in the stomach as hard as he could. Letting out a sound that sounded somewhat like a squeak Alphonse toppled head first onto the floor.
"It's bad enough I'm caught up in the military and have to do God only knows what at their command, but now you're caught up in it too. I was hoping you could at least remain safe, that if someone's hands had to get dirty that at least yours would remain clean. Why did you do it? Why couldn't you have just stayed away like I told you to?" Edward questioned his voice quivering, but he held in the tears that threatened to fall.
"…I…I just couldn't…let you do it… all on… you own." Alphonse whispered from his position on the floor. It hurt to breath and considering how hard Edward had hit him it hurt to think; now he expected him to talk?
"You could have continued helping me as you always did and you still haven't given me a good reason for this." Edward said flatly.
"It was because… I can't… I can't truly help… if I'm restricted." Alphonse said still struggling to speak. "I can't stand seeing you in such pain. If we both have access to restricted material then the research on how to change you back would go much faster. Brother, I can no longer let you go at it alone like this especially with your health the way it is now. You have secrets you're keeping from me too that I wish you'd tell me, so I just hope you can accept this for now. Besides it's not like I was all that innocent to begin with." Alphonse thought as he quivered on the floor. "Like you said that person we created may not have been our mother, but we still pulled him into this world and caused him to live a horrible existence even if it was only for a few minutes before he died. You say you killed him, but if it had been the other way around I don't see how I would have done much differently."
Edward sat on the bed looking down at Alphonse's quivering body as he thought things through. He was still very upset with him for doing what he did, but it was his choice no matter how foolish of one it may have been. No one had beat him up when he decided to become a State Alchemist and even though she could have Pinako didn't stop him. Even though she strongly disagreed with his methods she did everything she could to enable him to accomplish that goal by outfitting him with her best automail work. "I'm sorry." Edward solemnly apologized.
"I… it's okay." Alphonse tried to assure, but when Edward took a better look he noticed a small puddle of blood on the floor under Alphonse's face and nearly had a heart attack
"No it's not okay! You're bleeding!" Edward screamed as he rushed to pick him up off the floor.
"Just a little…" Alphonse said not aware of the constant stream of blood falling out of his mouth. Edward ran to the bathroom to get a washcloth.
"Stop talking!" Edward commanded as he held the washcloth to his brother's face then leaned him back against the bed. Lifting up his shirt Edward could see a nasty, large black and blue bruise on his abdomen. Alphonse let out a painful whine when Edward touched it, his eyes swirling.
"EEEE! Don't you dare die on me! Edward screamed slapping his hand over his brother's mouth as what looked like a ghost tried to come floating up out of it. Edward's heart was pounding so fast his chest felt as if it would explode and the sound of it made his ears ring. Picking Alphonse up Edward ran out of the hotel like gust of wind to the hospital.
It was after 2 a.m. when Alphonse came to. Aside from the nasty bruise Edward had given him he had a slight concussion from falling over on the floor like he did. When the doctor's asked how it happened Edward shamefully admitted that they had gotten into a fight. This of course resulted in strange looks from the doctors who of course talked about him like a dog, but as long as Alphonse was going to be okay he didn't care, after all it wasn't like he didn't hit him which resulted in his falling and gaining a concussion to go along with the internal injuries he had given him. Edward had refused to leave the hospital and though weary about doing so the doctors let him stay in the room with Alphonse. Currently he sat fast asleep beside the bed, his head resting on the mattress beside his brother's body.
"Ed." Alphonse called weakly. "Brother." He called again lifting his hand to shake him, but found it near impossible to move beyond a slight wiggle. "What's wrong with me?" He thought still struggling to sit up.
"Huh?" Edward said waking up. "Al? Al! Are okay?" Edward asked relieved. Before Alphonse could answer the alarm clock sitting in Edward's lap went off, its annoying ring immediately starting to give Edward a head ache. "Damn!" Edward said unable to find the off switch and instead clapped his hands together using alchemy to break it into a million tiny pieces. "I'm supposed to wake you up for fifteen minutes every hour. They gave me this stupid piece of crap just in case I fell asleep. The nurse said she'd check in on you anyway. I guess they don't trust me." Edward said sweat dropping. Just as he was finishing his sentence the nurse appeared turning on the lights in the room.
"Oh! You're awake." She said surprised when she saw Alphonse's open eyes.
"Yeah, just like the time before, and the time before that and the time before that, need I go on?" Edward questioned angrily.
The nurse gave him a dirty look before addressing Alphonse. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, I think, but I can't move my arms and legs."
"Oh, that's because of all the morphine we gave you. It should wear off sooner or later." She said as she took his temperature for the eighth time that night. "Glad to see you're fully aware this time around." She said taking his blood pressure.
"This time?" Alphonse asked trying one last time to sit up.
"Yes, you've been here since six thirty last night."
"Last night?" Alphonse said the panic evident in her voice.
"Don't worry, it's only a little after 2 a.m. you haven't even been here a twelve hours yet."
"How did I get here?"
"Your sister apparently carried you here half naked." The nurse said giving Edward a disdainful glance. "I can't believe that little amazon monster would do such a thing to such a sweet boy."
"Ed?" Alphonse said turning his attention to his brother who was wearing a hospital robe and slippers.
"I guess I'll leave you two alone now." The nurse said excusing herself from the room.
"I'm so tired…" Alphonse said closing his eyes.
"Ah! No! I mean you can't! Stay awake! Stay awake!" Edward shouted running from one side of the bed to the other.
Alphonse gave a small giggle. "I'm okay, really." He said trying to close his eyes again, but Edward wouldn't let him be.
The nurse smiled to herself as she stood listening outside the door. "I guess it's okay to really leave them alone." She thought as she walked away.
"Al, I'm sorry." Edward finally said.
"It's okay." Alphonse assured.
"How can you say that when it's my fault you're in here?" Edward demanded. "I really am a jerk."
"Brother, do you remember when I accidentally broke six of your ribs when we were sparing one time?"
"That was a long time ago… you hadn't even been in the armor a year yet and you were still trying to get accustomed to that body. I just lost my temper and hurt the person I care about the most." Edward added sadly.
"Ed, we both know you're a jerk, but I'm not bothered by it so it's okay." Alphonse said with a smile, even though he did believe his brother to be "high maintenance" he had only called Edward a jerk as a joke
"That's a load off." Edward said sarcastically. "Just because you're okay with me being the biggest asshole in the world doesn't make what I did to you okay! Damn it Al, why do you have to be like this?" Edward asked breaking down into tears. Edward knew Alphonse wouldn't take even a quarter of the crap from anyone else he took from him, he knew if it were someone else he wouldn't be laying in that bed saying it was okay that they put him there. As far as Edward was concerned it was worse that it was him and not someone else that put him there yet here he was saying it was okay. It had always been like this. Edward knew how much his brother suffered being in that armored prison yet he was always there comforting him whenever he woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares or the pain the artificial limbs caused him. He hated how his little brother constantly kept watch over him because more than anything it was a testament to what a failure he was to him as a big brother. He was supposed be the one watching out for him not the other way around.
Alphonse watched his brother's body heave as he sat with his head face down on the mattress. He could tell by the labored breathing that he was crying again. There was a time when Alphonse thought that if Edward let it out every once and while that he wouldn't feel so burdened, but now he didn't know what to believe since Edward had been sadder and shedding more tears then he had ever seen or expected to see seen since their mother died and at that moment more than anything Alphonse wished the doctor's had not pumped him full of pain killers because despite the pain he might have been at least able to give his brother a hug.
"Ed, I love you. Who will if I don't? You said yourself all we have is each other. It's not because I feel it's an obligation, it's because I want to. Ed, I love you no matter what happens." Alphonse thought as he forced himself not to cry. "Ed, nothing can break the bond we have. Brother, do you hear me?" Alphonse said trying to sit up again to find he was no more capable of doing so than the last few times he tried. "Nothing can break the bond we have, nothing." Alphonse said his words an inaudible whisper as he drifted back into slumber.
During the night, partly out of guilt and worry, and partly because his back had begun to hurt sitting in the chair the way he was, Edward had climbed into the small twin sized bed with Alphonse. He lay on his side squished between the bed rail and Alphonse's body. It wasn't exactly the best resting position, but at least his back could get somewhat of a break.
"Morning..." A nurse said choppily as she entered the room. Her voice had trailed off and she sweat dropped seeing the two teens in the bed. "They told me his sister was here. Is that really his sister all over him like that?" The nurse wondered as she tried to figure out what to do. "My brother has been in the hospital many times because of his asthma and I've never once gotten into the bed with him. If these two are really brother and sister what kinky things are these kids into?"
"Rise and shine!" The nurse shouted her eyes tightly closed and her face the slightest shade of red as she turned on the lights.
"Geez, you don't have to yell." Edward complained rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
"Time to get out of bed!" The nurse yelled again as she continued to keep her eyes tightly closed.
"Okay already, grief." Edward mumbled as he shook Alphonse to wake him up.
"Hey, get up before Nurse Bullhorn has a heart-attack." Alphonse just gave a small moan as he unconsciously wrapped his arms around Edward's waist snuggling up close to him. The morphine had apparently worn off. "What the #$%@ is wrong with you? Wake up and get the hell off me!" Edward screamed. Alphonse bolted up.
"Who? What? Where? Huh?" Alphonse uttered wildly looking around before feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen. Finally he realized someone was sitting next to him and looked over at Edward. "What are you doing in my bed, Brother?"
"Get out of the bed already!" The nurse roared becoming angry. "This isn't a love hotel!"
Hopping out of the bed Edward was in the woman's face in no time flat. "What the @#*$ do you think was going on here!? Don't push your sick fantasies off on us!" Edward raged.
"You were the ones in the bed together!" The nurse shot back just as nasty.
Edward was starting to hyperventilate. "YOU BI-" Before Edward could get the last word completely out of his mouth Alphonse had ran up behind him slapping his left hand over his sibling's mouth and was holding him back with his right arm.
"I'm sorry Miss, but you're terribly mistake about us. This is my relative and she was just very concerned about me." Alphonse said trying his hand at correcting the woman.
"I saw the chart you know. For someone so concerned about you she sure had no problem sending you here." The nurse said holding up a clip board. Edward continued to scream profanities even though his mouth was firmly covered and Alphonse sweat dropped as he tightened his hold on Edward who tried to lung at the nurse again, arms and legs flailing in the air like the tentacles of a crazed octopus.
"Our fighting does get out of hand sometimes, but it really was an accident." Alphonse insisted as he continued to seemingly effortlessly keep Edward at bay. The nurse observed this and sighed.
"I guess I was wrong. I do apologize." She said and Edward finally calmed down. He didn't want to attack her anymore, but he was still rather angry and one wrong word could trigger another temper tantrum, Alphonse knew this so he never once loosened his grip on him.
"As you can see I'm just fine so there really wasn't anything to worry about." Alphonse continued.
"Your chart says otherwise." The nurse sternly pointed out.
"Maybe so, but there is no reason for me to stay here," Alphonse said as he moved toward the door.
"You can't just walk out of here, you're severely injured!" The nurse said jumping in front of him stretching out her arms blocking his path.
"I’m leaving." Alphonse said his usually soft eyes settling heavily on the woman. "Miss, I don't want to get into a confrontation with you." He said still holding Edward who was ready to lung at the nurse again, his golden eyes piercing into her like daggers.
"I could loose my job for this." The woman thought lowering her arms and stepping aside.
Once outside the hospital Alphonse released Edward and doubled over in pain. "Ah! Are you alright? Why didn't you just stay? What was all that shit about 'I'm just fine', just fine my ass! We're going back." Edward said grabbing hold of Alphonse's arm.
"Brother, it hurts still, but it's okay. I'll be fine." He said standing upright.
"If that's really what you want…" Edward said letting go of him then noticed that the couple that had passed them was staring at them. "What the **** are you looking at!? Edward boomed.
"You are in public walking around in a bathrobe." Alphonse pointed out.
"Like what you have on is any better?" Edward snapped. Alphonse was wearing hospital issue pajamas and was bare foot. Edward gave a huge sigh. "Let's, go back to the hotel and get dressed." He said walking off.
"Yeah, you still have to report to Mustang don't you?" Alphonse reminded.
"Oh $#%&! I nearly forgot!" Edward said then ran off out of sight.
Alphonse sighed and continued to slowly trudge along. Seconds later there was a gust of wind which caused some of the debris on the street to fly up and Edward was standing in front of Alphonse with a worried expression on his face. In his haste to get to Mustang's office early he almost let it slip his mind that his brother wasn't exactly in the best condition. Lifting Alphonse's right arm he put it around his shoulders.
"You'll be late if you help me along like this." Alphonse said as they slowly moved along.
"I was just about to tell you to stop moving." Edward said giving his brother a strange look. "I'm not about to be late, that's why I'm carrying you on my back." Edward said moving so that Alphonse was behind him. Edward quickly pulled his brother up onto his back and took off running.
"This is so embarrassing." Alphonse thought as tears streamed down his face through his closed eyes.
~*~ To Be Continued ~*~
A/N: More answers to your questions. Am being rather brief here so feel free to e-mail me if you want my special gift of gab answers LOL. If you do just make sure to use the story title as the subject so I don't mistake you for a spammer.
AnimeFreak92 wants to know;
"I went to your website and it said you have chapters 9-12 also, if so, why haven't you updated it yet? Or is that just how many chapthers this story is going to have in it?"
Answer: (edited from email) Dead links to chapters mean they aren't done yet and are the estimated number of just how many I'm more than likely going to have done before a writer's block attack. (sweat drop)
Fayte Angel wants to know; "u said something earlier about Al being the main character in your stories right? Get Ed with Roy and Roy introduce an OC to Al! can ya do that?"
Answer: Al is often overlooked, so I'm making the effort to give him just as much play if not more. Can't promise the requested pairings, but something along the lines of romance is sure to pop up sooner or later. ;)
Meirelle wants to know; "Why do people think this is perverted?"
Answer: Maybe the way I'm writing this makes things come off ever so slightly ambiguous giving room for people's minds to wonder? Maybe it was something I said? LOL (sweat drop).
We Want Roy Damnit!
I seriously thought Roy was going to make his début in this fiction for sure this chapter, but by the time I got to the end… LOL I'm sure he'll turn up in the next chapter. LOL (nervous sweat drop)