Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Full Metal Alchemist : Asylum ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

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

it turned out, Ed’s homecoming was little more than his old crew sitting around in a bar laughing and drinking. Ed didn’t mind, however, he was just happy to see them all again. He looked around at the familiar faces seated around him at the dirty table.
Hughes was there, of course, and they had met up with Havoc, who was currently eyeing the waitress; and Hawkeye, just having arrived, was in the process of ordering herself a non-alcoholic drink. Ed smiled to himself, and returned his gaze to Hughes.
He began envying him again; this man who had a family and friends and more joy in his life than he could imagine. Al flashed through Ed’s mind, he felt so stupid, he was so excited and confused from the journey he completely forgot about his brother.
While it was on his mind, he spoke up: “Hey, has anyone heard word of Al lately?” He glanced from face to face, everyone appeared to be thinking except Havoc, who was trying to get a glimpse up the waitress’ skirt while she was picking up a five on the floor.
“Oh, actually yeah I have!” Hughes finally spoke up. “A few months ago he was married to your friend, Winry.” Hughes smiled, “They’re quite the couple you know.”
Ed returned the smile and sat a moment in silence, letting the information process. Al and Winry? To be honest it wasn’t exactly a shock, but still. Ed had always sort of liked Winry, and almost felt as if she should have waited for him. That didn’t matter now, though, as long as she and Al were happy.
He nodded to Hughes, “That’s great to hear, are they living back home then?” When Hughes gave a nod behind his beer glass, Ed continued: “Good. I think I’ll head out that way in the morning.” He wondered how he’d be able to afford the train ticket, but decided not to be concerned with it at the moment. He was with his friends again and wanted to enjoy the evening. Raising his glass up he spoke louder than before:
“To me and my homecoming, and to all of you! Cheers!” And downed the drink. He set the glass on the table and watched as the rest of the group did as well (except Hawkeye, who was still sipping hers). A smile began to grace his lips just as everything began to grow black again. ‘No, not now,’ he thought silently to himself, and felt the chair give way beneath him. The familiar voices called to him again and the thing he saw was Hughes jumping to his aide.

A vision flashed in Ed’s mind. It was Hughes, dead. A look of pure hatred and evil glared across his face, and then it was gone.
***************************************************

Al and Sloth arrived at the military Headquarters a few moments too late. The secretary informed him that Edward had just left a few moments ago with Hughes. This seemed to upset Sloth a bit, for her right eye began twitching rapidly at the news.
They turned and left the building without a word, and after they were outside, Al sat down on the top step.
“Now what, Sloth?” Al said, not looking at her but still admiring the city around him.
Sloth turned to him, slightly distracted and said: “Go find a room for the night somewhere. There’s nothing more we can do tonight, and I have someone else to see. I’ll be in touch with you in the morning, don’t worry, I’ll know where you are.” The last few words were echoed from her as she glided down the steps swiftly and seamlessly.
There was nothing left for Al to do but sigh and begin looking for a vacant hotel, which he found two blocks away. It wasn’t cheap, however, and he made a note to himself to charge Sloth for the room he had to get out of his own pocket.
He settled himself into the room, it was quite comfortable, but still not his own. Stretching out across the bed, he let out a loud sigh. When he woke up, covered in the symbols of alchemy this morning, he knew things would get more interesting. Just how interesting, though, he couldn’t have fathomed.
Growing tired, he closed his eyes and buried his wrists into them. The pressure felt soothing, and he allowed himself to drift off into a half sleep, half wake state.
His mind drifted between vague images of Winry and Ed. Memories of pleasant times faded in and out of the darkness. He felt himself smile, both inside and out. The images were pleasing to him, and he was lulled by them. Just as he was falling into a deep sleep, a gruesome image flashed across his minds eye:
It was Ed, laying on the ground, his throat slit. In the half a second the image was there, Al could see every detail; the blood trickling out onto the ground, matting Ed’s hair, he could even see a bit of bone in the gash.
Al’s eyes flashed open, and he jerked up, drenched with cold sweat. He began to sob softly, he was afraid it was more of a vision of the future, than a horrible dream. A few hours, and many tears later, Al finally passed out.

***************************************************

“Ed, ED!” Ed’s eyes slowly opened onto his whole group of friends staring down at him with concerned looks. Hughes was the closest, and obviously the one who awoke Ed. “Are you alright Ed?” His voice was both concerned and sympathetic.
“Y-yeah I’m ok. Probably just tired or something,” he lied. “I think I’ll get out of here and find a room or something, catch a bit of sleep, ya know?” He stood up and said his farewells.
“I’ll escort you back to headquarters, Ed. There’s a room there you can rest in tonight.” Hawkeye finally spoke up. Her voice was as serious yet feminine as he had remembered. “I was going back there to finish some work anyway.” She gave him a soft, almost motherly smile and followed him out of the bar.
Once outside and clear of the building, she leaned close to Ed.
“Full Metal, there’s something I need to discuss with you.” Her soft whisper tickled Ed’s ear.
“Yeah Hawkeye?” He returned the whisper.
“First you need to treat what I’m about to say as classified information, all right? You may not have been reinstated in the military yet, but I need your personal input and experience on it.” Ed glanced over, her eyes were serious and her face like stone.
“Ok,” his voice a little more hushed this time, “Go ahead. I’ll do what I can.” He walked a bit closer to her and listened intently.
“It’s about Hughes. Something just isn’t right with him lately.” There was almost a sense of terror in her voice, Ed thought.
“Maybe he’s just been out of sorts due to his daughter being sick. It’s not completely uncommon.”
She thought on this for a moment before continuing, “Yes, I had thought of that. I even went as far as to call on his daughter to see about her. They wouldn’t even open the door fully! Something odd is going on in that house, Fullmetal, and it gives me a bad feeling.”
Ed knew she was seriously concerned, “If you’d like, I could talk to him, try to find out what’s up and everything.” He smiled at her.
She returned his smile with a heartfelt one of her own, “Thank you.” Inside she kept thinking how much he had matured. At first she thought he may’ve just gotten taller, but no, he grew inside as well. She was glad to see it.
They continued on until Hawkeye had led Edward to the guest room at headquarters where he and Al had stayed so many years ago. She left him there by himself to get rest and assured him there would be a ticket waiting for him the next morning.
After she left, he took off his coat and shirt and stretched out on the bed, smiling to himself. He was happy to be back, no matter what happened now, he was home and that’s all that mattered.
***************************************************

“Greed.” Sloth’s voice was a mere hiss in the darkened alleyway. She took a step into the light so he could see her better. He smiled, she only glared. “I hope you’re not considering helping the boy. You know what they did to Lust, don’t you?”
Greed smiled at her, “Yeah, I know what they did, and don’t worry. I’m not planning on helping him. But as long as no one remembers what happened to me, I might as well not give him reason to distrust me, right? If I’m close to him, he’ll be all the easier to kill.” His smile was wicked, but Sloth wasn’t a hundred percent convinced.
“Just keep in mind, that boy is more than an average alchemist. If anyone is to remember who you once were, it would be him; Lieutenant Hughes.” She drifted back slowly into the darkness. “Watch your ass, I won’t protect you if you fuck up our plans, Greed,” and she disappeared completely.

***************************************************

Finally at home and alone in his room after a long and interesting day, Fuhrer Mustang removed his coat and gloves.
“Long day, boss?” A voice came sharply from the shadows beside Mustang’s dresser, causing him to jump.
“Dammit Pride, haven’t I told you not to do that shit!” He sighed and flipped the switch on. There, in the corner, next to the cherry wood dresser, stood the new Pride. Tall, dark skinned and white haired. Ishbalian in his former life. And a pain in Roy Mustangs ass then, too.
“Well, if you made yourself a bit more available throughout the course of the day, I wouldn’t have to scare the living shit out of you at night.” He began walking towards Roy with a smug look on his face.
“What is it you want anyway,” Mustang said with a sigh and began undressing himself. Pride began helping him, taking care to caress the Fuhrer’s muscles whenever possible.
“I saw you with him today. Tell me, is it really him? Were they actually right?” He tossed Mustang’s shirt on the bed and began to help him with his belt.
“Yes. It was him, the Full Metal Alchemist, Edward Elric. I can’t believe he’s back, really. It’s quite upsetting.” He removed Pride’s hands from his waste and finished undressing himself. This seemed to upset Pride, for his lower lip jutted out and his eyes filled with, what Roy assumed were fake tears. “And stop that, you act as if you have emotions.” He scoffed and removed his pants, tossed them on the bed and walked towards his dresser.
“But Fuhrer I do have emotions,” Pride said, closing in behind Mustang, “When it comes to you.” He kissed Roy’s neck softly.
Roy spun around instantly and slammed the back of his fist against Pride’s head, knocking him to the floor.
“Dammit Pride, I’m not in the mood for your games tonight. I don’t even fully understand why you do that shit, we both know you’re not gay.”
Pride lay on the floor, his hand to his face and a with a look of disbelief. “No, Roy, I’m not gay, but you know I’m bound to you in every way. I can’t help it if that means sexually, too! It’s your own damn fault, you’re the one who created me and bound me!” He rose and came face to face with Mustang. “The alchemy you used bound my body and mind, remember?” There was a look of fire in his eyes that pleased Roy.
“Yes, good point.” He sighed. “I guess it can’t be helped really.” He smiled at Pride, “All right fine, but don’t expect me to call you Pride while it’s going on.” He pulled Pride close and kissed his lips. Then he pushed him down onto his knees.
Leaning his head back he let out a moan of relief, “Oh Scar…”
***************************************************< br>
Winry paced back and forth across the bedroom floor. She still didn’t feel right about letting Al go off with that thing. But what could she do? She was his wife, not his master. She let out a heavy sigh and collapsed onto the nearby chair. “Oh Al.” There was a sadness in her heart she hadn’t felt since the day they realized Ed was gone. Funny that she’d feel the same way the day he came back.
Then it hit her.
“The only way I can protect Al from any danger,” she set her eyes onto the blank wall, and with a single tear in her eye she finished, “is to kill Ed myself.” She abruptly stood and gathered up a backpack of heavy tools and went out to her motorbike. After a quick kick to the starter petal, she flew off down the road, towards Central, and towards Ed.

“Well…that is certainly interesting.” Wrath smiled to herself and turned to her companion, Envy. “That girl may just save us some trouble, Envy. She’s off to kill Full Metal herself.” She laughed mercilessly, Envy joining her.
“I must say, Wrath. I enjoy you much more than that sniveling brat that used to hold your title.” He gave her an evil smile. “I’m very pleased the good doctor brought you back.”
Wrath returned his cruel grin, “So am I. And I am glad they decided to revive you. I was getting very annoyed at being the only free homunculi around, what with Pride and Greed stuck up the Fuhrer’s ass twenty four seven.”
Envy just nodded and continued smiling, he knew exactly how she felt. “Come on, let’s follow her and see what kind of fun she’ll bring to the party.” He said, and turned to follow Winry, Wrath close behind.
***************************************************

Click, squeeek, click.
The quiet sounds echoed down the empty hall outside of the headquarters’ guestroom. Ed stirred softly in his sleep, not realizing he was no longer alone in the room. It wasn’t until a warm hand slid up under the covers that he awoke with a start.
His first instinct was to transmute his arm into a blade, which he did, but before he struck out at the arm, it’s owner spoke up:
“Woa, not stho fasth, Edward,” It was Havoc’s voice, Ed recognized it in an instant. He turned on his bedside lamp and reassured it. Yes, it was Havoc indeed, a very, very drunk Havoc. A drunk Havoc with his hand currently resting on Ed’s upper thigh.
“Havoc. Move your hand before I move it for you.” Ed said coldly.
“Oh, what? OH!” Havoc chuckled in that drunken way and flopped his hand around until it was loose of the covers. “Sthowwy Edward, justh thought you might need a bith of company.” He winked at Edward.
“Oh Havoc, has your luck with women been that bad?” Ed almost laughed. Havoc had always had horrible luck with the ladies, but he never expected him to go ‘funny’.
“What, me? Naww..” Havoc laughed and took a swig out of the flask Ed just noticed he was holding. “I justh didn’t have much luck tonight.” He winked again. Every time he winked it gave Ed a bit of the creeps.
“Go on back home, Havoc, you’re sloshed.” He laughed and reached for the light switch, but Havoc grabbed his arm.
“I don’t think you understhand, Edward.” His grip tightened slightly, “I shnuck in here to give you a bith of company. You need a bit of company.” He took another swig and tossed the flask onto the other bed.
Ed stared at Havoc, the man’s face was red from drink and full of determination. Ed tried to loosen his arm, but he wouldn’t be able to fight off Havoc without severely injuring him. Still, he tried the entire time to free himself, not succeeding until Havoc had finished against Ed’s thigh and passed out on top of him.
Ed pushed him off and considered giving him a few swift kicks, but ended up feeling a bit compassionate for the man. He understood where he was coming from. In the other world, Ed had become desperate enough (and drunk enough) to help himself to a few unsuspecting women on the street. No, he couldn’t hate Havoc. Instead, he lifted him into the other bed and covered him up, before wiping himself clean and going back to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up and found Havoc already gone, but a note left by him remained on the bed:

Fullmetal,
Sorry about whatever happened last night, I’m not exactly sure what I did, but I hope you aren’t angry with me. Enjoy your visit to Al and Winry’s. It was good seeing you again.
Havoc

Ed sighed and let the note fall back on the table. No harm no foul. He’d just have to watch Havoc a bit closer when the man was drunk, and make sure to leave his bedroom door locked from now on.
He commenced dressing himself and readied to head to Al’s. When he opened the door to leave, he noticed an envelope taped to the door. His name was on it in Hawkeye’s handwriting. Inside he found a train ticket a few dollars for breakfast. He flipped it over and wrote a note of thanks and re-taped it to the door before heading out.