Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong ❯ Chapter 11
[ 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: 02.12.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 401 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.12.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 401 | Status: Completed
Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chapter Eleven
Sheska nearly dropped the stack of files she was carrying when she saw the golden haired young alchemist walk through the door. "Oh no, not the crazy girl again," She thought as she hurriedly put the files in their proper places.
"Excuse me." Edward said once he reached the desk.
"Yes?" Sheska responded dropping the last file onto the floor. It was a rather thick folder of loose pages and they made a nice mess on the floor when she dropped them. "Ah, one moment," Sheska said kneeling down to pick up the loose pages. It took maybe about thirty seconds for her to reorganize the pages in the folder, a task that would have taken someone else much, much longer to complete. Due to her amazing photographic memory Sheska was able to get things done in less than half the time it took most people, but for that reason she often found herself over worked.
"May I help you?" Sheska smiled nervously. "Please, don't say you're here for Brigadier General Mustang again."
"I'm here to see Mustang." Edward said flatly. He didn't want to see the general at all, but knew he'd be in deep trouble if he didn't report to him as ordered.
"Doh!" Sheska thought believing she had somehow jinxed herself. "I'm sorry, but he's not in today either I'm afraid." The woman said apologetically.
"Again!?" Edward shrieked. He had waken up extra early that morning, a very difficult feat pull off since he had spent all night perfecting his fabrication of how he ended up as a she.
"I'm very sorry." Sheska said sweating. Edward looked as if he would explode; his face seemed to have swollen five times its original size and was bright red. Letting out maybe the hugest sigh Sheska had ever seen Edward's face went back to its original size and color in no time flat. "Whatever, you can just tell Brigadier General Shit I said he could bite me." Edward said nonchalantly as he turned on his heal and started to walk off.
"And who are you again." Sheska asked without thinking and sweat dropped when Edward turned back around, his expression mirroring her own. Pulling a pen and notepad seemingly out of thin air Edward scribbled something on a sheet of paper, ripped it from the pad, folded it in half then handed it to the woman. "Don't look at it." Edward instructed then left.
Sheska took the note and sat it in a small desktop basket full of messages for Mustang. It only took fifteen minutes for her curiosity to get the better of her. Telling Sheska not to read something was just like all the files labeled 'classified', it only made her want to read it even more. After reading the note Sheska's face turned white from shock and disbelief. "That was Edward Elric?" She thought remembering the boy who had helped her out a little over a year ago. Everything in her wanted to deny that the busty girl she had just seen that day and the day before was the Fullmetal Alchemist, but she remembered his hand writing as clear as her own name, that girl was indeed Edward Elric. "People have always said something was strange about him. They've even said he wasn't human. I don't believe the not being human part, but strange…. No, more like down right weird. Is he a woman or a man? And if he can change genders like that then does that make the not being human thing true?" There were many rumors about the Fullmetal Alchemist most of which were nowhere near the truth. Among the military in the area it was believed that Edward Elric was some kind of genetically engineered experiment of the military and that the suit of armor Alphonse was actually a robot. Sheska usually paid the outlandish rumors no mind, but now she didn't know what to believe.
Alphonse was supposed to be waiting for his brother outside on the stairs, but shortly after Edward entered the building a cat wondering the street had caught his eye. "Poor thing it must be hungry and lonely." Alphonse thought getting up from his spot and following the cat into an alley.
"Here kitty." Alphonse called sweetly. "I won't hurt you. Here kitty." Alphonse called again to the reluctant pussy cat from a kneeling position on the ground. The cat remained still and seeing this Alphonse came closer to the stray. Reaching out to pick it up the cat scratched at his hand drawing blood. Alphonse snatched his hand back in pain. The cat then hissed at him and ran away.
"Al, there you are!" Edward called as he entered the alley. Alphonse didn't respond. "What are you up to?" Edward asked coming closer expecting to catch his brother picking up yet another stray animal. Alphonse had a bad habit of picking up various animals and feeding them, most of which were feline. Sometimes though Alphonse would pick up the occasional human being and while his need to rescue seemingly every stray animal he came across did irritate Edward to no end he found Alphonse's tendency to scoop up humans as well just plain freaky. "Hey, Al." Edward said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder put drew it back when Alphonse turned around foaming at the mouth.
Edward's eyes grew three times their size and he took off running as Alphonse had immediately started attacking him. Edward ran out of the alley at top speed Alphonse close behind. He didn't get far at all before Alphonse pounced on his back biting him so hard in the shoulder it drew blood. Edward could hear himself screaming in agony just before passing out as his brother's teeth cut into his flesh, ripping and tearing as they clamped down. It wasn't long before police officers were on the scene. Sadly they had to stun gun Alphonse before they could remove him from Edward's body without running the risk of being bitten themselves.
A few hours later the siblings woke up in the same room in the city's hospital. Edward turned his head to see Alphonse bond to his bed by various straps across his body.
"Brother, I can't move." Alphonse said sounding like a small child.
"I'll free you!" Edward said getting up but fell back onto the bed suddenly feeling lighted headed. After regaining his bearings Edward looked over at his brother angrily. "Hey! Why did you bite me anyway?"
"I didn't bite you." Alphonse denied not remembering what happened just a little under an hour before.
"Yes you did. How do think this bloody bandage got on my arm." Edward said angling his face down at his left shoulder.
"Sorry." Alphonse said smirking.
"What's so funny!?" Edward demanded. "You bit me so hard I thought I was going to be eaten alive!"
"Sorry, Brother. It's not like you didn't have it coming." Alphonse said on the verge of laughter.
"Had it coming? Why you little…" Edward said moving as to leap on his younger sibling but the pain in bleeding arm stilled any further aggression.
"I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe, that's all." Alphonse replied still smiling.
"Well believe it. I'm almost certain you took a chunk out of me."
"Hello." A nurse said entering the room. Straight away the woman went to widening the blinds to let in more sunlight. "Is it safe to untie you?" She asked coming to stand beside Alphonse's bed.
"Yes, please." Alphonse said looking up at her pleadingly and she removed the restraints.
"You were out cold on the transport here, but when you arrived you had come to and it took ten men just to hold you down." The nurse informed him as he sat up, leaving out the part that consisted of a good deal of fighting which resulted in black eyes, missing teeth, concussions and all ten of the male nurses needing to get rabies shots as well just in case. The first floor lobby of the hospital looked more like a war zone than a reception area; lucky for them Alphonse was too far gone to use alchemy. "What I'm curious to know is how you two ended up with rabies in the first place." The nurse said looking at Edward then to Alphonse.
"Yeah, how did you end up giving me rabies?" Edward questioned his gaze heavily settling onto his brother.
"I guess it was the cat that scratched me in the alley."
"Cat?" Edward yelled. "How many times have I told you to stop picking up stray animals?"
"I know I'm sorry, Brother." Alphonse said causing the nurse who was sitting on the bed beside Edward to double check his chart.
"Brother? It says here this one is female. What's wrong with that boy?" The nurse thought giving Alphonse a split second quizzical look.
"Awe, forget about it." Edward sighed. His shoulder really was hurting badly and the bandage on it was already drenched in blood.
"Ooh, I better get you a new bandage." The nurse said looking at Edward's arm. Then without warning Alphonse suddenly vomited and on the floor mixed with blood, stomach acid and other bodily fluids lay a half digested chunk of skin. "Oh dear." The nurse said unexcitedly though her expression said differently, her eyes had bulged making her pupils appear to be tiny dots in a sea of white. "So, I guess that explains where the missing skin from your arm went." She said after her features returned to normal.
"What?" Edward exclaimed becoming dizzy. Of course it hurt like hell when Alphonse bit into him, but had his brother really tried to eat him alive like he said?"
"I'm a monster." Alphonse thought tears streaming from his eyes which quickly turned into gushing waterfalls as he openly whaled like at the site of what had just come out of him on the floor.
The nurse sweat dropped as her heart started to race, she had no idea how to handle such a situation. "I'll go find something to clean this up." She said rushing out of the room. The nurse's colleagues eyed her suspiciously as she exited the room since Alphonse's wailing was very loud and could be heard a good distance down the hall.
Edward sat holding his wounded arm as he watched Alphonse; he still couldn't believe what had happened despite the blood, the pain, and the mess on the floor. "Al…" Edward said getting off of his bed and taking a clumsy step forward nearly walking right into the festering mess on the floor, letting out a small sound of disgust he avoided it and came to sit beside his brother.
"Al." Edward called again, but Alphonse was far too distressed and couldn't hear his gentle calling over the sound of his own voice crying out. Reaching out Edward wrapped his arms around Alphonse pulling him over close to his body resting his head on his uninjured shoulder. Alphonse squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head upon getting an up close look at the bloody bandages around Edward's arm.
"I'm sorry!" Alphonse's voice was muffled and quivering uncontrollably.
"It's okay." Edward said patting his head. Alphonse was saying something, but the words only came out as unintelligible groans through the sobbing. "It'll heal. I'll be fine."
"Okay, I'm back said the nurse as she entered the room with cleaning supplies and wearing a thick pair of latex gloves. Kneeling down she picked up the skin with a pair of tweesers. "Interesting." She said taking a moment to examine it. Edward sweat dropped as he watched her place it in a preserve jar.
"Um, what are you planning on doing with that?" Edward asked as he continued to hold Alphonse who had calmed down considerably but was still shaking in his arms.
"I'm going to study it. I've never seen such a thing."
"It's just skin." Edward said sweat dropping.
"Yes, but I've never seen human flesh that has been eaten." The nurse said sending Alphonse into another fit of tears. Edward put his brother's face to his chest to muffle the awful noise he was keeping up.
The nurse quickly went about cleaning up the floor and making sure the room was sterol once again. Alphonse's crying made her extremely uncomfortable. The nurse wasn't particularly good with people and she definitely didn't know how to handle a hysterically sobbing teenager. "I'll send another nurse in to change your bandages." She said appearing to be the picture of calm then ran like lightening out of the door.
Edward put Alphonse, who once again calmed down though still crying, at arms length holding his shoulders. "Al, you've got to pull yourself together." Alphonse gave no response and his eyes remained downcast. "Snap out of it already!" Edward said shaking him only achieving another eruption.
"I'm a horrible person!" Alphonse whaled.
"Please stop!" Edward pleaded. While it did hurt to see Alphonse in such a condition that feeling was running neck and neck with the irritation he felt as his siblings high pitched wailing grated on his nerves. Edward pulled Alphonse's head back down somewhat muting the noise again. Resting his head on his brother's shoulder he sighed. "What's going on with you?" Edward thought unable to understand his brother's strange behavior at all. It couldn't have been the rabies because they had both been treated for that, so it must have been something else, but what? Granted vomiting up a chunk of your sibling's skin was no small thing, but Alphonse was inconsolable. It was very disturbing for Edward to see his brother distressed in anyway because that usually meant something had really gotten to him. "What are you doing? You are supposed to be the level headed one. It'd be different if it was me acting like this because I'm moody as hell but you're always there to calm me down. Alphonse if you break what am I going to do?"
When the other nurse finally came to change Edward's bloody bandages Alphonse had cried himself to sleep in Edward's arms. Not wanting to risk waking him up Edward didn't move a muscle except for the arm the nurse needed to place the bandages on.
Some time later Alphonse woke up feeling a bit better, but still unable to shake the memory of how his brother's blood tasted in his mouth, nor the feeling of his flesh in his throat has he swallowed it. Those memories had come flooding back to him just before he got sick. He could remember everything and it greatly disturbed him. While the disease had polluted his brain making him unreasonably angry and violent he could remember feeling a rush of excitement the whole time; the more violent he was the more he enjoyed it. Remembering the sick thrill he got from tearing into Edward's skin like a piece of well done steak made him ill and if there had been anything left in his stomach he surely would have vomited it out.
Opening his eyes he sweat dropped as he realized what he was laying on. "This is weird." Alphonse thought. "For so long I've wanted to touch him and now that I can it seems like I'm touching some stranger that isn't him. Maybe it's because this really isn't his body. Still, that shouldn't matter. He never treated me any differently while I was in the armor, so why can't I do the same for him? Ever since I've realized what's happened I've been treating him like my sister. It's so confusing. Am I doing what's right by acknowledging Edward is female now or am I giving up and betraying his hopes of being restored to his real body? And after what I did to him today I don't think I can ever forgive myself for that, even now I feel nervous being this close to him. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt him again." Alphonse thought feeling his eyes burn with tears. "I love you, Brother."
"Al, you okay?" Edward asked noticing he was awake.
"Hm-hmm." Came the untruthful response.
"Okay, then could you get off of me? You're cutting off my circulation."
"Sorry." Alphonse said getting up and quickly wiping the tears from his face.
Edward dangled his legs over the side of the bed feeling them tingle as the blood flooded through them. Not only had his legs fallen asleep, but his neck and back hurt. "Why don't you stay here and finish healing up?" Edward asked as he stood up bending and stretching as he tried to work out the knot in his back.
"I'm fine." Alphonse answered in his usual cheerful tone.
"Don't give me that. You were already injured and then that damn cat and the rabies… Al, you're in pretty bad shape. You need to take time out to heal."
"Like when we were in Farmland for nearly a month?"
"That was because my lazy ass passed out in the woods." Edward said becoming irritated. "And don't even think about trying to reason away what I did to you."
"It's not like you enjoyed it." Alphonse thought too ashamed to say so out loud. "Me staying here is only going to slow down our research."
"You waited five years on our research, brother. We both have the same blood in our veins so I'm sure I can tough it out just as well as you did." Edward said with far more confidence than he actually had. "Except for this scrape I'm fine, so I'm going down to the library here to see what I can find and I'll be back later on tonight." Edward said changing out of the hospital clothes into what he had on before until he picked up the torn, blood stained shirt and sweat dropped. "Since you're not going anywhere I'm going to barrow your shirt." Edward said taking Alphonse's clothes and putting them on before rushing out the door.
Alphonse fell over on the bed with a heavy sigh. "He calls it a scrape. He says he can tough it out, but we both know how difficult it is for you to wake up each day in that body. I don't want to upset him, so I'll stay here until I'm well if that's what he really wants."
A week later Edward and Alphonse were still in East City partly because Edward didn't want to do any heavy traveling while Alphonse was still not completely healed and partly because he still had to meet with Mustang who didn't hesitate to call the hotel the siblings were staying in to threaten a court marshal if he left town before reporting to him. Not that Mustang was looking forward to seeing the Fullmetal Alchemist. The threat was only to save face so that he wouldn't appear to be irresponsible. If he felt he could have Mustang would have let Edward do whatever he wanted just to keep him as far away from him as possible.
It was afternoon and Alphonse was returning from the library to check on Edward who fainted earlier. As he walked a cat darted in front of him letting out a mean hiss before running off into an alley. Not giving his actions a second thought Alphonse chased after it. The cat stood on top of a dumpster hisses fiercely at its pursuer.
"That's the same cat that scratched me that day." Alphonse recalled as he stared at it. He wanted to pick it up and take it to a vet to be treated, but he couldn't do so without risking getting scratched again. "It's horrible, but there really are times I miss my armor." Alphonse thought as he cautiously approached the cat. Putting on his gloves he removed his coat and tossed it over the feline. Grabbing it up he hurriedly ran out of the alley and to a veterinarian.
The person that met him was a girl about seventeen, maybe eighteen. She had long light brown hair, big blue eyes, and wore bright pink lipstick which almost looked purple. The white apron she wore completely covered the black and purple striped mini dress she had on underneath. "May I help you?" She asked curiously eyeing the violently moving bundle of red cloth Alphonse carried in his left hand.
"My cat has rabies." He said holding up the coat turned cat-sack. The girl jumped away.
"I'm only an assistant. My mom's the one who runs the place." She said quickly bowing and excusing herself. A moment later a tall woman with short dark brown hair and glasses appeared.
"Hello, I'm doctor Eiselstein. I hear you have a rabid kitty." She said looking at the sack Alphonse was now holding with both hands in front of him.
"Yeah." He sighed handing the bundle over to the doctor. The woman reached out with hands covered in thick rubber gloves and took the diseased cat away from him. Working quickly Dr. Eiselstein removed the cat from the confines of Alphonse's coat and jabbed a needled into its behind. The animal immediately stopped moving and fell over.
"That was just a sedative." The doctor said seeing the worried expression on Alphonse's face. Taking out second needle she gave the cat another shot. "He should wake up in a few hours. Make sure to keep him warm until then." She said handing the limp animal back to him.
"Thank you." Alphonse said before paying her for her services and leaving.
Two and a half hours later the veterinarian's daughter found Alphonse sitting on the ground near the alley he had found the cat in. "Here's my chance!" She thought making her way over to him. "Hi." She said smiling a closed mouth smile at him.
"Hello." Alphonse said looking up briefly.
"Is he okay?" The girl asked carefully sitting on the ground next to him.
"He's been sleeping ever since your mom gave him the shots."
"Oh…" The girl said not knowing what else to say. "My name's Mary-Ann, Mary-Ann Eiselstein." She said beaming another closed mouth smile.
"My name's Alphonse." He said returning her smile. Stirring the cat woke up, jumping out of Aphonse's arms when it saw Mary-Ann then ran away straight through the alley to the next street. "Come back!" Alphonse weakly called getting up to chase it, but the animal was already gone. "Oooh." He sighed moving to walk away, but Mary-Ann was blocking his path.
"You're really cute." She said still smiling.
"Ah, you think so?" Alphonse asked a bit caught off guard by her comment.
"Hm-hmm." Mary-Ann nodded.
Edward had awaken in an awkward position even though his brother had taken care to lay him straight on his back. Walking down the street he stopped momentarily to stretch when he caught a glimpse of his brother across the way talking to some strange woman. Edward frowned and once traffic cleared he stomped across the street. "Let's go." Edward said grabbing Alphonse's arm in a motion to pull him away, but Mary-Ann had grabbed his other arm holding him in place.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Mary-Ann demanded.
"Take a guess!" Edward said yanking Alphonse over.
"I saw him first!" Mary-Ann said giving Alphonse's arm a strong tug.
"Who do you think you are pulling on him like you own him? Let him go you bitch!" Edward yelled letting go of his brother's arm.
"Who are you calling a bitch you little slut!" Mary-Ann shot back her attention falling away from Alphonse as well.
"LITTLE!? WHO ARE CALLING MICRO SIZED YOU BUTT UGLY PURPLE WHORE!?"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN UGLY WHORE YOU TINY-WINEY LITTLE SKANK!?"
A crowd had quickly formed around the two arguing girls and everyone was waiting to see who would throw the first punch. "Uh-oh. Ed's going to be in big trouble if Mustang finds out he was throwing down in broad day light with a civilian." Alphonse thought jumping between the two girls who were about to start fighting and knocked them down.
"Hey!" Mary-Ann shouted.
"What's the big idea Alphonse!?" Edward angrily asked having landed hard on his behind.
"I'm sorry." Alphonse said apologizing to Mary-Am while wearing a sheepish grin, he really didn't intend on hitting either of them that hard. Picking up Edward he ran as far away from the crowd as he could get carrying him under his arm.
"Brother!" Alphonse yelled setting Edward on his feet after they were a good distance away. "How could you? I really liked her!" Alphonse said in a sad voice as tears hung from his eyes.
"You don't even know her!" Edward shouted back, his head becoming ten times the size of a beach ball. A strong wind blew from his mouth as he spoke nearly knocking Alphonse down. "Beside that I didn't like her." Edward said much calmer than he was only seconds before. "You have some taste in women." He said giving the thumbs down sign.
"I get the feeling you don't want me to have a girlfriend." Alphonse said with an angry edge to his words.
"No, it's not that. It's just that she wasn't good enough for you, that's all." Edward said putting his arms behind his head and walking away with a smile on his face. So what if Alphonse was mad at him, he had successfully foiled any potential romance that may have occurred and was hoping he'd be just as successful if the need to do so again arose. There was no way Alphonse was going to get married and leave him all alone. After all who the hell would want to marry a jerk like him? For this reason Edward had made it his mission to poke fun at his brother's romantic dreams and to drop kick every woman that even dared look his way. He knew what he was doing was selfish and wrong, but he hated being alone even more and so he'd do what he had to to keep that from happening.
~ To Be Continued ~
Author's note: no snazzy end comments this time around just questions.
Chemical Love wants to know; "Will Ed and Al's teacher make an appearance in this story too?"
Answer; Oh, you can bet on it!
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chapter Eleven
Sheska nearly dropped the stack of files she was carrying when she saw the golden haired young alchemist walk through the door. "Oh no, not the crazy girl again," She thought as she hurriedly put the files in their proper places.
"Excuse me." Edward said once he reached the desk.
"Yes?" Sheska responded dropping the last file onto the floor. It was a rather thick folder of loose pages and they made a nice mess on the floor when she dropped them. "Ah, one moment," Sheska said kneeling down to pick up the loose pages. It took maybe about thirty seconds for her to reorganize the pages in the folder, a task that would have taken someone else much, much longer to complete. Due to her amazing photographic memory Sheska was able to get things done in less than half the time it took most people, but for that reason she often found herself over worked.
"May I help you?" Sheska smiled nervously. "Please, don't say you're here for Brigadier General Mustang again."
"I'm here to see Mustang." Edward said flatly. He didn't want to see the general at all, but knew he'd be in deep trouble if he didn't report to him as ordered.
"Doh!" Sheska thought believing she had somehow jinxed herself. "I'm sorry, but he's not in today either I'm afraid." The woman said apologetically.
"Again!?" Edward shrieked. He had waken up extra early that morning, a very difficult feat pull off since he had spent all night perfecting his fabrication of how he ended up as a she.
"I'm very sorry." Sheska said sweating. Edward looked as if he would explode; his face seemed to have swollen five times its original size and was bright red. Letting out maybe the hugest sigh Sheska had ever seen Edward's face went back to its original size and color in no time flat. "Whatever, you can just tell Brigadier General Shit I said he could bite me." Edward said nonchalantly as he turned on his heal and started to walk off.
"And who are you again." Sheska asked without thinking and sweat dropped when Edward turned back around, his expression mirroring her own. Pulling a pen and notepad seemingly out of thin air Edward scribbled something on a sheet of paper, ripped it from the pad, folded it in half then handed it to the woman. "Don't look at it." Edward instructed then left.
Sheska took the note and sat it in a small desktop basket full of messages for Mustang. It only took fifteen minutes for her curiosity to get the better of her. Telling Sheska not to read something was just like all the files labeled 'classified', it only made her want to read it even more. After reading the note Sheska's face turned white from shock and disbelief. "That was Edward Elric?" She thought remembering the boy who had helped her out a little over a year ago. Everything in her wanted to deny that the busty girl she had just seen that day and the day before was the Fullmetal Alchemist, but she remembered his hand writing as clear as her own name, that girl was indeed Edward Elric. "People have always said something was strange about him. They've even said he wasn't human. I don't believe the not being human part, but strange…. No, more like down right weird. Is he a woman or a man? And if he can change genders like that then does that make the not being human thing true?" There were many rumors about the Fullmetal Alchemist most of which were nowhere near the truth. Among the military in the area it was believed that Edward Elric was some kind of genetically engineered experiment of the military and that the suit of armor Alphonse was actually a robot. Sheska usually paid the outlandish rumors no mind, but now she didn't know what to believe.
Alphonse was supposed to be waiting for his brother outside on the stairs, but shortly after Edward entered the building a cat wondering the street had caught his eye. "Poor thing it must be hungry and lonely." Alphonse thought getting up from his spot and following the cat into an alley.
"Here kitty." Alphonse called sweetly. "I won't hurt you. Here kitty." Alphonse called again to the reluctant pussy cat from a kneeling position on the ground. The cat remained still and seeing this Alphonse came closer to the stray. Reaching out to pick it up the cat scratched at his hand drawing blood. Alphonse snatched his hand back in pain. The cat then hissed at him and ran away.
"Al, there you are!" Edward called as he entered the alley. Alphonse didn't respond. "What are you up to?" Edward asked coming closer expecting to catch his brother picking up yet another stray animal. Alphonse had a bad habit of picking up various animals and feeding them, most of which were feline. Sometimes though Alphonse would pick up the occasional human being and while his need to rescue seemingly every stray animal he came across did irritate Edward to no end he found Alphonse's tendency to scoop up humans as well just plain freaky. "Hey, Al." Edward said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder put drew it back when Alphonse turned around foaming at the mouth.
Edward's eyes grew three times their size and he took off running as Alphonse had immediately started attacking him. Edward ran out of the alley at top speed Alphonse close behind. He didn't get far at all before Alphonse pounced on his back biting him so hard in the shoulder it drew blood. Edward could hear himself screaming in agony just before passing out as his brother's teeth cut into his flesh, ripping and tearing as they clamped down. It wasn't long before police officers were on the scene. Sadly they had to stun gun Alphonse before they could remove him from Edward's body without running the risk of being bitten themselves.
A few hours later the siblings woke up in the same room in the city's hospital. Edward turned his head to see Alphonse bond to his bed by various straps across his body.
"Brother, I can't move." Alphonse said sounding like a small child.
"I'll free you!" Edward said getting up but fell back onto the bed suddenly feeling lighted headed. After regaining his bearings Edward looked over at his brother angrily. "Hey! Why did you bite me anyway?"
"I didn't bite you." Alphonse denied not remembering what happened just a little under an hour before.
"Yes you did. How do think this bloody bandage got on my arm." Edward said angling his face down at his left shoulder.
"Sorry." Alphonse said smirking.
"What's so funny!?" Edward demanded. "You bit me so hard I thought I was going to be eaten alive!"
"Sorry, Brother. It's not like you didn't have it coming." Alphonse said on the verge of laughter.
"Had it coming? Why you little…" Edward said moving as to leap on his younger sibling but the pain in bleeding arm stilled any further aggression.
"I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe, that's all." Alphonse replied still smiling.
"Well believe it. I'm almost certain you took a chunk out of me."
"Hello." A nurse said entering the room. Straight away the woman went to widening the blinds to let in more sunlight. "Is it safe to untie you?" She asked coming to stand beside Alphonse's bed.
"Yes, please." Alphonse said looking up at her pleadingly and she removed the restraints.
"You were out cold on the transport here, but when you arrived you had come to and it took ten men just to hold you down." The nurse informed him as he sat up, leaving out the part that consisted of a good deal of fighting which resulted in black eyes, missing teeth, concussions and all ten of the male nurses needing to get rabies shots as well just in case. The first floor lobby of the hospital looked more like a war zone than a reception area; lucky for them Alphonse was too far gone to use alchemy. "What I'm curious to know is how you two ended up with rabies in the first place." The nurse said looking at Edward then to Alphonse.
"Yeah, how did you end up giving me rabies?" Edward questioned his gaze heavily settling onto his brother.
"I guess it was the cat that scratched me in the alley."
"Cat?" Edward yelled. "How many times have I told you to stop picking up stray animals?"
"I know I'm sorry, Brother." Alphonse said causing the nurse who was sitting on the bed beside Edward to double check his chart.
"Brother? It says here this one is female. What's wrong with that boy?" The nurse thought giving Alphonse a split second quizzical look.
"Awe, forget about it." Edward sighed. His shoulder really was hurting badly and the bandage on it was already drenched in blood.
"Ooh, I better get you a new bandage." The nurse said looking at Edward's arm. Then without warning Alphonse suddenly vomited and on the floor mixed with blood, stomach acid and other bodily fluids lay a half digested chunk of skin. "Oh dear." The nurse said unexcitedly though her expression said differently, her eyes had bulged making her pupils appear to be tiny dots in a sea of white. "So, I guess that explains where the missing skin from your arm went." She said after her features returned to normal.
"What?" Edward exclaimed becoming dizzy. Of course it hurt like hell when Alphonse bit into him, but had his brother really tried to eat him alive like he said?"
"I'm a monster." Alphonse thought tears streaming from his eyes which quickly turned into gushing waterfalls as he openly whaled like at the site of what had just come out of him on the floor.
The nurse sweat dropped as her heart started to race, she had no idea how to handle such a situation. "I'll go find something to clean this up." She said rushing out of the room. The nurse's colleagues eyed her suspiciously as she exited the room since Alphonse's wailing was very loud and could be heard a good distance down the hall.
Edward sat holding his wounded arm as he watched Alphonse; he still couldn't believe what had happened despite the blood, the pain, and the mess on the floor. "Al…" Edward said getting off of his bed and taking a clumsy step forward nearly walking right into the festering mess on the floor, letting out a small sound of disgust he avoided it and came to sit beside his brother.
"Al." Edward called again, but Alphonse was far too distressed and couldn't hear his gentle calling over the sound of his own voice crying out. Reaching out Edward wrapped his arms around Alphonse pulling him over close to his body resting his head on his uninjured shoulder. Alphonse squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head upon getting an up close look at the bloody bandages around Edward's arm.
"I'm sorry!" Alphonse's voice was muffled and quivering uncontrollably.
"It's okay." Edward said patting his head. Alphonse was saying something, but the words only came out as unintelligible groans through the sobbing. "It'll heal. I'll be fine."
"Okay, I'm back said the nurse as she entered the room with cleaning supplies and wearing a thick pair of latex gloves. Kneeling down she picked up the skin with a pair of tweesers. "Interesting." She said taking a moment to examine it. Edward sweat dropped as he watched her place it in a preserve jar.
"Um, what are you planning on doing with that?" Edward asked as he continued to hold Alphonse who had calmed down considerably but was still shaking in his arms.
"I'm going to study it. I've never seen such a thing."
"It's just skin." Edward said sweat dropping.
"Yes, but I've never seen human flesh that has been eaten." The nurse said sending Alphonse into another fit of tears. Edward put his brother's face to his chest to muffle the awful noise he was keeping up.
The nurse quickly went about cleaning up the floor and making sure the room was sterol once again. Alphonse's crying made her extremely uncomfortable. The nurse wasn't particularly good with people and she definitely didn't know how to handle a hysterically sobbing teenager. "I'll send another nurse in to change your bandages." She said appearing to be the picture of calm then ran like lightening out of the door.
Edward put Alphonse, who once again calmed down though still crying, at arms length holding his shoulders. "Al, you've got to pull yourself together." Alphonse gave no response and his eyes remained downcast. "Snap out of it already!" Edward said shaking him only achieving another eruption.
"I'm a horrible person!" Alphonse whaled.
"Please stop!" Edward pleaded. While it did hurt to see Alphonse in such a condition that feeling was running neck and neck with the irritation he felt as his siblings high pitched wailing grated on his nerves. Edward pulled Alphonse's head back down somewhat muting the noise again. Resting his head on his brother's shoulder he sighed. "What's going on with you?" Edward thought unable to understand his brother's strange behavior at all. It couldn't have been the rabies because they had both been treated for that, so it must have been something else, but what? Granted vomiting up a chunk of your sibling's skin was no small thing, but Alphonse was inconsolable. It was very disturbing for Edward to see his brother distressed in anyway because that usually meant something had really gotten to him. "What are you doing? You are supposed to be the level headed one. It'd be different if it was me acting like this because I'm moody as hell but you're always there to calm me down. Alphonse if you break what am I going to do?"
When the other nurse finally came to change Edward's bloody bandages Alphonse had cried himself to sleep in Edward's arms. Not wanting to risk waking him up Edward didn't move a muscle except for the arm the nurse needed to place the bandages on.
Some time later Alphonse woke up feeling a bit better, but still unable to shake the memory of how his brother's blood tasted in his mouth, nor the feeling of his flesh in his throat has he swallowed it. Those memories had come flooding back to him just before he got sick. He could remember everything and it greatly disturbed him. While the disease had polluted his brain making him unreasonably angry and violent he could remember feeling a rush of excitement the whole time; the more violent he was the more he enjoyed it. Remembering the sick thrill he got from tearing into Edward's skin like a piece of well done steak made him ill and if there had been anything left in his stomach he surely would have vomited it out.
Opening his eyes he sweat dropped as he realized what he was laying on. "This is weird." Alphonse thought. "For so long I've wanted to touch him and now that I can it seems like I'm touching some stranger that isn't him. Maybe it's because this really isn't his body. Still, that shouldn't matter. He never treated me any differently while I was in the armor, so why can't I do the same for him? Ever since I've realized what's happened I've been treating him like my sister. It's so confusing. Am I doing what's right by acknowledging Edward is female now or am I giving up and betraying his hopes of being restored to his real body? And after what I did to him today I don't think I can ever forgive myself for that, even now I feel nervous being this close to him. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt him again." Alphonse thought feeling his eyes burn with tears. "I love you, Brother."
"Al, you okay?" Edward asked noticing he was awake.
"Hm-hmm." Came the untruthful response.
"Okay, then could you get off of me? You're cutting off my circulation."
"Sorry." Alphonse said getting up and quickly wiping the tears from his face.
Edward dangled his legs over the side of the bed feeling them tingle as the blood flooded through them. Not only had his legs fallen asleep, but his neck and back hurt. "Why don't you stay here and finish healing up?" Edward asked as he stood up bending and stretching as he tried to work out the knot in his back.
"I'm fine." Alphonse answered in his usual cheerful tone.
"Don't give me that. You were already injured and then that damn cat and the rabies… Al, you're in pretty bad shape. You need to take time out to heal."
"Like when we were in Farmland for nearly a month?"
"That was because my lazy ass passed out in the woods." Edward said becoming irritated. "And don't even think about trying to reason away what I did to you."
"It's not like you enjoyed it." Alphonse thought too ashamed to say so out loud. "Me staying here is only going to slow down our research."
"You waited five years on our research, brother. We both have the same blood in our veins so I'm sure I can tough it out just as well as you did." Edward said with far more confidence than he actually had. "Except for this scrape I'm fine, so I'm going down to the library here to see what I can find and I'll be back later on tonight." Edward said changing out of the hospital clothes into what he had on before until he picked up the torn, blood stained shirt and sweat dropped. "Since you're not going anywhere I'm going to barrow your shirt." Edward said taking Alphonse's clothes and putting them on before rushing out the door.
Alphonse fell over on the bed with a heavy sigh. "He calls it a scrape. He says he can tough it out, but we both know how difficult it is for you to wake up each day in that body. I don't want to upset him, so I'll stay here until I'm well if that's what he really wants."
A week later Edward and Alphonse were still in East City partly because Edward didn't want to do any heavy traveling while Alphonse was still not completely healed and partly because he still had to meet with Mustang who didn't hesitate to call the hotel the siblings were staying in to threaten a court marshal if he left town before reporting to him. Not that Mustang was looking forward to seeing the Fullmetal Alchemist. The threat was only to save face so that he wouldn't appear to be irresponsible. If he felt he could have Mustang would have let Edward do whatever he wanted just to keep him as far away from him as possible.
It was afternoon and Alphonse was returning from the library to check on Edward who fainted earlier. As he walked a cat darted in front of him letting out a mean hiss before running off into an alley. Not giving his actions a second thought Alphonse chased after it. The cat stood on top of a dumpster hisses fiercely at its pursuer.
"That's the same cat that scratched me that day." Alphonse recalled as he stared at it. He wanted to pick it up and take it to a vet to be treated, but he couldn't do so without risking getting scratched again. "It's horrible, but there really are times I miss my armor." Alphonse thought as he cautiously approached the cat. Putting on his gloves he removed his coat and tossed it over the feline. Grabbing it up he hurriedly ran out of the alley and to a veterinarian.
The person that met him was a girl about seventeen, maybe eighteen. She had long light brown hair, big blue eyes, and wore bright pink lipstick which almost looked purple. The white apron she wore completely covered the black and purple striped mini dress she had on underneath. "May I help you?" She asked curiously eyeing the violently moving bundle of red cloth Alphonse carried in his left hand.
"My cat has rabies." He said holding up the coat turned cat-sack. The girl jumped away.
"I'm only an assistant. My mom's the one who runs the place." She said quickly bowing and excusing herself. A moment later a tall woman with short dark brown hair and glasses appeared.
"Hello, I'm doctor Eiselstein. I hear you have a rabid kitty." She said looking at the sack Alphonse was now holding with both hands in front of him.
"Yeah." He sighed handing the bundle over to the doctor. The woman reached out with hands covered in thick rubber gloves and took the diseased cat away from him. Working quickly Dr. Eiselstein removed the cat from the confines of Alphonse's coat and jabbed a needled into its behind. The animal immediately stopped moving and fell over.
"That was just a sedative." The doctor said seeing the worried expression on Alphonse's face. Taking out second needle she gave the cat another shot. "He should wake up in a few hours. Make sure to keep him warm until then." She said handing the limp animal back to him.
"Thank you." Alphonse said before paying her for her services and leaving.
Two and a half hours later the veterinarian's daughter found Alphonse sitting on the ground near the alley he had found the cat in. "Here's my chance!" She thought making her way over to him. "Hi." She said smiling a closed mouth smile at him.
"Hello." Alphonse said looking up briefly.
"Is he okay?" The girl asked carefully sitting on the ground next to him.
"He's been sleeping ever since your mom gave him the shots."
"Oh…" The girl said not knowing what else to say. "My name's Mary-Ann, Mary-Ann Eiselstein." She said beaming another closed mouth smile.
"My name's Alphonse." He said returning her smile. Stirring the cat woke up, jumping out of Aphonse's arms when it saw Mary-Ann then ran away straight through the alley to the next street. "Come back!" Alphonse weakly called getting up to chase it, but the animal was already gone. "Oooh." He sighed moving to walk away, but Mary-Ann was blocking his path.
"You're really cute." She said still smiling.
"Ah, you think so?" Alphonse asked a bit caught off guard by her comment.
"Hm-hmm." Mary-Ann nodded.
Edward had awaken in an awkward position even though his brother had taken care to lay him straight on his back. Walking down the street he stopped momentarily to stretch when he caught a glimpse of his brother across the way talking to some strange woman. Edward frowned and once traffic cleared he stomped across the street. "Let's go." Edward said grabbing Alphonse's arm in a motion to pull him away, but Mary-Ann had grabbed his other arm holding him in place.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Mary-Ann demanded.
"Take a guess!" Edward said yanking Alphonse over.
"I saw him first!" Mary-Ann said giving Alphonse's arm a strong tug.
"Who do you think you are pulling on him like you own him? Let him go you bitch!" Edward yelled letting go of his brother's arm.
"Who are you calling a bitch you little slut!" Mary-Ann shot back her attention falling away from Alphonse as well.
"LITTLE!? WHO ARE CALLING MICRO SIZED YOU BUTT UGLY PURPLE WHORE!?"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN UGLY WHORE YOU TINY-WINEY LITTLE SKANK!?"
A crowd had quickly formed around the two arguing girls and everyone was waiting to see who would throw the first punch. "Uh-oh. Ed's going to be in big trouble if Mustang finds out he was throwing down in broad day light with a civilian." Alphonse thought jumping between the two girls who were about to start fighting and knocked them down.
"Hey!" Mary-Ann shouted.
"What's the big idea Alphonse!?" Edward angrily asked having landed hard on his behind.
"I'm sorry." Alphonse said apologizing to Mary-Am while wearing a sheepish grin, he really didn't intend on hitting either of them that hard. Picking up Edward he ran as far away from the crowd as he could get carrying him under his arm.
"Brother!" Alphonse yelled setting Edward on his feet after they were a good distance away. "How could you? I really liked her!" Alphonse said in a sad voice as tears hung from his eyes.
"You don't even know her!" Edward shouted back, his head becoming ten times the size of a beach ball. A strong wind blew from his mouth as he spoke nearly knocking Alphonse down. "Beside that I didn't like her." Edward said much calmer than he was only seconds before. "You have some taste in women." He said giving the thumbs down sign.
"I get the feeling you don't want me to have a girlfriend." Alphonse said with an angry edge to his words.
"No, it's not that. It's just that she wasn't good enough for you, that's all." Edward said putting his arms behind his head and walking away with a smile on his face. So what if Alphonse was mad at him, he had successfully foiled any potential romance that may have occurred and was hoping he'd be just as successful if the need to do so again arose. There was no way Alphonse was going to get married and leave him all alone. After all who the hell would want to marry a jerk like him? For this reason Edward had made it his mission to poke fun at his brother's romantic dreams and to drop kick every woman that even dared look his way. He knew what he was doing was selfish and wrong, but he hated being alone even more and so he'd do what he had to to keep that from happening.
~ To Be Continued ~
Author's note: no snazzy end comments this time around just questions.
Chemical Love wants to know; "Will Ed and Al's teacher make an appearance in this story too?"
Answer; Oh, you can bet on it!